#because evil AU seemed to be the THEME of this month

[seungkwansphd]

let me...

pairing: idol!seungcheol x gn!reader word count: 1.2k synopsis: you can tell that seungcheol is frustrated by his injury. if he would just let you...you'd be happy to help take his mind off of it. themes: SMUT, MDNI, squirmy/whiny scoups, oral sex (reader giving to seungcheol), explicit descriptions of oral sex, idol au, established relationship, comfort-ish?. (lmk if there are others to add)

a/n: my brain is fully rotted out these days. thanks @the-boy-meets-evil for instigating/encouraging this behavior🫶

You snuck a glance at Seungcheol again and exhaled sharply. He had been in the wheelchair for nearly a week now and you were officially concerned. You imagined it would be tough for anyone to adjust to the change, but it seemed particularly challenging for him. He was, after all, the capable, strong, and self sufficient leader of Seventeen and despite his doctor’s orders, he seemed intent on refusing to ask for help.

“Hey! I said I would get things for you!” you yelled, concern rising as you watched Seungcheol try and fail to stand from the wheelchair.

“I can do it!” he insisted stubbornly, trying again.

Your hand shot out to his shoulder, pressing down as you rounded on him, pinning him with a stern look.

“It has not been that long since your surgery. If you tear something again I will truly kill you,” you narrowed your eyes at him menacingly. “Now what is it that you need?”

Seungcheol’s words died in his mouth as you turned from him to look at the cupboard. Even after months of dating you, the sight of your shape from behind never failed to drop his jaw. His brow furrowed. Yet another reminder of this godforsaken injury hindering him from the things he needed and wanted to do.

“Cheol? What was it you needed?” you turned your head to question again. His eyes shifted quickly back to the top shelf of the cupboard, but the hungry look in his eyes did not escape you.

“Tupperware from the top shelf. The blue one,” he answered.

“Okay,” you nodded, standing up on your toes, arching your back to reach for the item. You grinned as you did so, pushing your hips back towards your boyfriend because you could absolutely feel his eyes burning into you.

“Got it!” you chirped, letting yourself fall back into your heels and your ass to bounce gratuitously.

“This is killing me,” Seungcheol groaned, shifting in the wheelchair.

“Baby,” you turned to him with a simpering smile, “I know you hate asking for help, but what if you just let me…” you trailed off, tracing your fingertips up the brace on his leg.

Conflict played across Seungcheol’s brow as he considered your words. You knew it was tough for him to relinquish control, but you hoped he would so you could take his mind off of things, even if just for a while.

“Help me how?” he finally spoke, eyebrow raising expectantly.

You chuckled softly.

“You know I'm always good for you,” you smiled, tongue touching the corner of your lips playfully.

“Go ahead,” he nodded, giving his permission.

Your eyes lit up at him as you sank to your knees before him. You reached around the chair to lock the wheels before trailing your hands back over his hips and down his thighs.

He inhaled sharply and your pulse raced with pride. You leaned forward and started nuzzling your lips gently up the inside of his thigh. He squirmed as you drew closer and closer to the apex of his thighs. You were poked in the cheek by his tented erection when you finally arrived. Grinning at him, you nuzzled your cheek against him through the fabric of his sweatpants and Seungcheol was surprised at the way he reacted. Possessiveness and pride surged through him as you knelt between his legs, nuzzling his heavy cock eagerly.

“Someone’s eager,” you teased as you pushed the hem of his shirt up above his belly button. You kissed and lapped at the exposed skin above his waistband, knowing that this would drive him wild. The cool trail of your thin saliva set Seungcheol’s nerves alight and his hand found familiar purchase in your hair.

“Ah ah!” you shook your head, pulling his hand away. “I said…let me.”

Seungcheol’s eyes smoldered at you, but he gestured for you to continue.

“Good boy,” you teased and returned to the task at hand. Your hand stroked him over fabric as your lips continued their foray across his midsection. The feel and sound of him gasping and squirming underneath you was dizzying.

“YN, please,” he finally choked out. He felt ready to burst.

You hummed up at him before tugging at his waistband. He shifted his hips up, allowing you to pull it down around his thighs. You were mesmerized at the way his cock bounced when he sat back down, your eyes transfixed on the swollen, thick head.

In fact, many things about this moment were hypnotizing. The slight tension of elastic biting into Seungcheol’s thick thighs, the way the weight of his cock caused it to rest against his tummy, and the sturdiness of aforementioned midsection as the complimentary backdrop. After several moments of ogling, you literally had to shake your head to clear it of thoughts.

“You’re practically drooling,” he teased wryly, head cocked slightly as you regarded him. It was nothing short of a boost to the ego and he allowed himself to enjoy it. After a week of feeling frustrated and helpless, he let himself bask in your attraction and the power it made him feel.

“And?” you challenged him, lacing the fingers of one hand in his as the other grasped his thick cock eagerly at the base.

“Nothing,” he shook his head, eyes widening a hair as you started trailing kisses up his inner thigh.

At first through the fabric of his sweatpants and then on the bare skin of his upper thigh, Seungcheol was squirming by the time you closed your lips around his cock, sucking him hungrily into your mouth.

“Fuck,” he exhaled, voice breathy as he slouched slightly in the chair. You chuckled as you drew back up, lips stroking along the ridges and veins of his shaft. Seungcheol’s hands fisted as you began bobbing up and down, stroking him with your tongue.

“Feel good?” you asked when you came up for air. You nuzzled and nipped at his wet erection and he nodded.

“Fuck! Your mouth feels so good,” he let out a strangled groan as you shifted lower to suck on his balls. They were heavy and hot in your mouth as you sucked gently. You rolled them around on your tongue and were delightfully surprised at the whiny noise that Cheol let out. 

“Oh?” your eyebrows raised with delight. You licked a long, wet stripe up his length before swallowing him whole again, this time relaxing your throat to take him entirely.

Seungcheol let out another breathy whinge as you swallowed around the part of him that was lodged firmly in your throat. His whines grew louder and more frequent and you knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Pulling back, you fucked him with your mouth and throat as he panted your name desperately and repeatedly.

“Close,” he cupped your chin and warned you.

You nodded as well as you could with your mouth full and you reached down to cup his balls, tugging gently as you increased the suction with your mouth.

“Fuck! Shit. Fuck,” Seungcheol’s entire body tensed.

You watched with hungry eyes as his thick brows knit together and his eyes squeezed shut before he emptied himself into your ready and waiting mouth. You enjoyed the way his chest heaved with deep breaths until he came back down to earth and met your eyes.

“Thank you,” he pulled you up for a kiss. “Thank you, thank you. You always know what I need.”

[seokgyuu]

part of the @svthub 70's collab

Lee Seokmin is a very successful and admired Detective in the NYPD. Up until now he has had no trouble catching the bad guys. But when an especially horrific serial killer starts roaming the streets of New York City and he faces perplexity for the first time in his career - his superiors send a unit from the FBI trained to profile Serial Killers, which contains none other than you - Seokmin’s High School Sweetheart.

Pairing: Detective!Seokmin x FBI Agent!Reader

Genre: Criminal Minds/Detective AU, exes to enemies to lovers, Serial Killer AU, angst, Smut (MDNI!)

Warnings: Serial Killer theme, description of violence, description of dead bodies, cult themes, mentions of suicide, mentions of blood, mentions of abuse, mentions of suicide, character death (none of the main characters); smut warnings: fingering, penetrative sex, dirty talk, usage of the word “baby”, begging, reader has female anatomy, unprotected sex, creampie

Wordcount: 15.8k

a/n: I finally made it!! after months and months of writer's block I finally finished this fic, and I am actually really happy with it. Please mind the warnings, as this goes into darker themes. I also want to note, that I am no expert in terms of criminal language especially during the 70s in the us. So, if you spot anything that isn't all that accurate, i apologize! I also want to thank @multi-kpop-fanfics, @bitchlessdino & @strawberryya for reading through this and telling me i, in fact, do not suck at writing lmao. ily guys!!

taglist: @the-boy-meets-evil, @wooahaeproductions, @wongyuseokie

Lee Seokmin was a proud man. Proud of his grades in school and university. Proud of the man his parents had shaped him into. Proud of all the cases he had solved as a detective. With pride comes vulnerability, though. Especially in cases like these when he doesn’t have the right to be proud of himself. When he feels lost and helpless and his superiors look at him as if he had never solved a single case in his career. 

He knows. He knows he isn’t giving them or the people of New York City anything to go by. All he can do is say he needs more time. Time that no one has. 

“More people will die, Lee.” 

Seokmin hates Jeffrey Stolper. Hates him like fire burns. There is nothing he can do about it. Balling his fist under the table, Seokmin slowly raises his head. There is a certain emotion in Stolper’s eyes, an emotion Seokmin was happy to say he hadn’t seen many times before. His older colleague was gloating. While they were working together, their boss put Seokmin in charge because of the very obvious numbers differentiating them. Seokmin solved cases. Stolper left them cold. Seokmin couldn’t count the amount of times he had helped Jeffrey from drowning in his own misery, and this was the thanks he got. The older man was gloating because, for the first time in practically ever, Seokmin was lost. 

“Thanks, Stolper, couldn’t figure that one out myself,” he mumbled, letting his free hand roam over his sweaty face. Scoffing, the older male with the slowly graying hair leans back in his chair.

“Not the hot shot everyone says you are, aren’t you?”

“Shut the fuck up, this is not the time.” Seokmin’s voice is quiet but sharp, and Jeffrey laughs, his chest heaving as he seems to be vibrating with the horrendous sound of his arrogant laugh. It takes everything inside Seokmin not to get up from his chair and punch the hell out of the man. 

“Lee, Stolper.”

Both of them get up when their superior walks in, a big man with a receding hairline, a stubble on his strong face, and an old suit on his large frame. Frederic Bream isn’t much of an empath, but he does a good job. 

“Captain.” Seokmin and Stolper speak at the same time, watching as the captain nods and then waves his hand, telling them to sit back down. Once all of them are seated, he clears his throat.

“I know you hate to admit it, Lee, but we have no leads on this. No leads and a new victim.”

Seokmin’s heart falls down to his feet. Fuck. Another dead girl? Who will it be this time? He feels sweat starting to form at the top of his head. 

“Another one?” Stolper is serious and reaches for the case file Bream put on the table. Seokmin feels as if someone had dumped him in ice water, unable to move, shivering. He hates the fact that Bream is right - there are no leads. So far they haven’t gathered anything from what this monster does except that he always does it the same way. 

“Lauren White, 23. Student at Columbia,” Stolper reads, his face in a grimace, “she was found near Times Square, too. Fuck, Lee, I told you to put more patrols out!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Even if we put every man we have on the streets, this city is huge, Stolper. He could just start moving them somewhere else.”

Stolper doesn’t respond. Instead, he shoves the file over to Seokmin, who takes it with his jaw tensed.

“This is different from before, boys,” Bream clears his throat, “this is a high-profile murder. She is the daughter of the district judge.”

Seokmin looks up from the file. 

“Why is this different from the other four victims? Because she has an important dad, suddenly the tables turn?” 

Bream sighs, pulling a hand over his red face. 

“It’s not fair, I know that, Lee. But this changes everything. The judge is furious. Was a real fucking asshole about it too, even for someone who just lost his daughter. He wants the slasher to be caught yesterday.”

“Oh, and we don’t? Captain, please, this is bullshit!” Seokmin scoffs, throwing the file back on the table and glaring at his superior, who looks straight back at him.

“I know. We all know Seokmin. It’s a bad situation. But, some might say, it did bring something good.”

“And what’s that?” Stolper speaks up, crossing his arms. Bream clicks his tongue.

“We got sent help. From the FBI.”

Silence is what follows. Seokmin feels the ice inside his veins melt and instead get replaced by fire. He knows Stolper feels the same. Everyone here feels the same. The fucking feds.

“They can’t take this from us. We’ve been on this for months,” Seokmin hisses, and Bream nods again, licking his dry lips.

“They won’t take it from us, Lee. They are only here to help. In fact, they aren’t… our usual feds.”

“What does that mean?” Seokmin raises his brows, leaning forward, hands on top of the table.

“They are a completely new department. Focused on the behavior of criminals, analyzing them, trying to figure out what is wrong with them.”

“They are killing people. That’s what's wrong with them!” Stolper shouts, and Bream holds up his hand. 

“I understand that you’re upset. God knows I am, too. But there is nothing I can do. Go talk to them. They just arrived.”

The ice is back, and this time it hits Seokmin right in the face. They are here already? Waiting for them? Embarrassment flows through his veins, mixed with an emotion he has never felt before regarding his job: failure. His legs are shaking as he gets up, but he tries to play it off, his body tensing when Bream leads them to the door and opens it. 

The hallway to the main hall suddenly feels longer than it is. The walls are closing in on Seokmin, the gray concrete threatening to suffocate him as he walks over the horrendous blue tiles he never understood were placed in the first place. Nothing really seems to be matching in this precinct. Most especially Seokmin and the federal agents waiting for them downstairs. He doesn’t know how his legs lead him to the glass front that shows the inside of the busy station downstairs. Everything is the same gray color. Everything is the same horrible blue. The only difference is the people standing in the right corner of the room all gathered around the whiteboard Seokmin has so carefully put together these past few months. 

His hands are sweating. This isn’t fair. This is his case. They aren’t supposed to be here and take credit for what he has done so far. What exactly have you done, Lee Seokmin? The voice in his head reminds him, and he balls his hands into fists as Bream opens the door leading to the stairs that will finally bring him to the federal agents he knows he’ll hate already. 

The atmosphere in the room is tense. More tense than usual because everyone in it is unhappy with the current situation. As if it isn't hard enough that there is a killer on the loose, now there are FBI agents trying to take this away from the NYPD? This is his town, Seokmin’s town! No one knows it as well as him. He knows every corner, every store. Every good place to eat, every bar to avoid. The people know him; they trust him with this, and now he is just supposed to accept that he can’t continue what he started?

He doesn’t know how, but somehow, he does end up right behind all the agents and one of the other detectives, Jeanne, and doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he is bitter. His arms are crossed as he listens to Jeanne explaining what is on the board. She had been a part of this - just like all the other detectives had been whenever they could. It’s not like crime suddenly stopped in New York City just because a serial killer was roaming around. If anything, it just got worse. 

“That’s about all we’ve gathered. I know it’s not much, but it’s all we got.” Jeanne closes her explanation, and Seokmin watches the backs of the agent's head nodding. Bream then clears his throat, making the others aware that they have joined and once the team of strangers turns around, Seokmin thinks someone has yet again taken a bucket of ice and dumped it all over his head. Because why on earth are you here? 

You see him the second he sees you. It’s almost funny how your professionalism slowly slips out of your control, how seeing him makes memories flood your brain and almost drowns you. Why is he here? He, who had left you with a sour taste seven years prior to this moment? Why is he standing there in a well-fitted suit, looking the best he ever had in a precinct that shouldn’t have anything pretty inside it? 

“Detectives, may I introduce you to agents Son, Song, Kim, Seok and Y/L/N. They were sent here by the FBI to help us with the investigations.” Jeanne smiles, but Seokmin knows it’s not an honest smile. You see it, too. When you had gotten the memo to go to New York City and help with the slasher murders, you had already known the detectives wouldn’t be too happy to see you and your team. 

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m the team leader, Hyunwoo Son.” You hear your boss speak, and you want to look at him, but your eyes are back to being glued to Seokmin. Lee Seokmin. The one who had taken everything from you when you were nineteen. 

“You too. I’m Detective Stolper. This is Detective Lee.” Bream doesn’t sound sincere. For once, Seokmin is relieved his older colleague likes to speak over him. He doesn’t know if he would have been able to say a word. 

Catching a serial killer is one thing. Catching him with someone you share an uncomfortable history with, another. You are sitting as far from Seokmin as you possibly can. With as many people between you as there are. 

Hyunwoo is standing at the front with Matthew, explaining what your team has gathered as of now. The rest of the precinct is listening to the presentation, and you just know they are all biting their tongues. No one wants you here. All of them think you’re a fraud. While you understand where they are coming from, you also think it’s time for them to accept the newly found ways to analyze the behavior of killers like the case at hand: the Manhattan Slasher. The air is thick with sweat, and you are sure 70% of it is yours. 

“We want to make clear that the work your precinct and especially you, Detective Lee, have done so far is incredibly helpful. We don’t want to discredit what you’ve done and we also don’t want to make you feel as if you’re getting kicked off the case. We aren’t your usual federal agents, Detectives, we are here to be of support to you. You still go outside and look at the crime scenes. You still get to do your work. We are here to assist, to see things we have been trained to see, things you cannot see, not for lack of smarts but lack of training.”

You had always admired Hyunwoo. How he spoke so clearly and calmly, how he never failed to make a person feel seen. You can feel the atmosphere shift. Some of the police officers visibly relaxing in their seats. You still don’t dare to look at Seokmin.

“Now, to what we have gathered. Dr. Matthew Seok will lead you through it.”

Seokmin wonders how old Matthew Seok is. He can’t be any older than 23. How on earth is he already a part of one of the newest FBI departments? And gets to be in charge of the presentation? And how does he already have a god damn PhD?

“Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Matthew Seok. With the help of the information you’ve gathered, we were able to come up with a profile for our unsub.”

Seokmin feels a scoff in his throat but manages to hold it back. A profile? What is he talking about?

“We are positive the unsub is a white man in his early to late 30s. He most probably grew up with an abusive mother, which explains why he only picks women as his victims. He doesn’t care about their race or social standing, which tells us he doesn’t hate one specific type of woman, but all of them. The age range of his victims is from early to mid twenties, meaning his mother had him young and gave him up around that time.”

You should be used to it by now. The reaction from the precincts. But it bothers you just as much as it usually does. The way they look at each other, the way they are already fed up with you being here. Your eyes wander over to the rest of your team, who you know are just as fed up as you, but they are better at hiding their emotions. Yuqi just stands there with her gum in her mouth, her arms crossed, and hoping she’ll get to go on the field soon. While she is an excellent profiler, she did train to become a field agent. It was pure coincidence that Hyunwoo had overheard her talking about this one case even Matthew had been struggling with. Jungwoo is the quietest one of your team, especially in situations like this. He just stands there, hands folded in front of his frame, eyeing the situation calmly. The team leader himself stands next to Matt still, his arms crossed as well and his gaze wandering over the crowd of people. A traitorous part of you envies him for being able to look at Seokmin without any repercussions. 

“How the fuck do you know that?” A voice now erupts from the sea of people. You turn around to see the man who had walked in with Seokmin. Stolper, you think his name was. A frown appears on your face.

“It’s not our job to explain profiling to you,” you say coldly and the older man’s eyes find you - just like Seokmin’s do. You decide to ignore them and turn back to face Matthew.

“Uhm. Yes, well, we do ask you to look into certain… well, behaviors. People like our unsub aren’t exactly the most masculine. He is probably very thin and might even have a disability - perhaps a prosthetic leg or something that makes him feel inferior. Look into churches, veteran centers, see if you find anyone that could match the profile and-,”

“You mean to tell me that the killer could be a vet?” Bream now interrupts, his eyebrows raised. Seokmin presses his lips together. If his colleagues hadn’t been wary of your bunch before, they sure as hell are now. War Heroes? Their precious American patriots that fought for their country and won a war? How could you even dare to speak ill of them? 

“No. He most probably didn’t serve. He tells people he did and that that’s the reason he has said disability,” Matthew continues calmly and you smile slightly. It was a reach, your reach, but so far all your reaches had been a shot to the bullseye. 

Then there was a sudden thud somewhere behind you, followed by hurried footsteps and news none of you could pretend didn’t make you sick to your stomachs.

This feels wrong. It’s broad daylight, there are people everywhere. You stand next to Matthew, your hands buried in your pockets, and listen to the statement of the girl that had called the police. 

���She was just next to me and then.. and then suddenly she wasn’t. I- I was confused and looked around and then I saw this- this man and how he dragged her by the arm into his car. No one did anything, no one- no one helped her and I- I didn’t-,” her voice breaks off and another set of tears well up in her eyes. Seokmin nods understandingly.

“Miss, you have nothing to blame yourself for. It is a busy street and you and your friend were not glued by the hip, alright? We will do our best to find her and you shouldn’t worry about what you could have done differently. You called us right away and that's the best thing you could’ve done.”

Tears are rolling down her face, sobs are erupting from her tiny body, and you wonder if Seokmin would ask her out if it wasn’t for the circumstances. The second the thought hits your brain, you freeze. What the hell? Why on earth would your mind go there? In a situation like this? You shake your head to yourself and look around - the police have put tape around the area where Kelly has gotten abducted. Her friend, Jean is being questioned, along with the few other people who claim to have seen something. But other than the witnesses, there isn’t much to go on about. The car he had dragged Kelly into had been an old one and Jean couldn’t exactly tell what kind. She also hadn’t been able to make out the license plate. So, all in all, it was all more or less useless information. 

“Detective Lee, I will need you to go to the morgue with Dr. Seok and Y/N,” Hyunwoo is suddenly there, right next to Seokmin and you hear his voice and feel your stomach tighten. The professionalism has to stay in its place, you know that. There is no room for you to fall back into old patterns; that one silly thought you had earlier was enough. You can’t let it get any further. 

But the tension is there and it's suffocating. You’re in the backseat of Seokmin’s car and Matthew is talking the man’s ear off with information you have heard millions of times before. Thankfully your friend and colleague doesn’t feel what you feel, what Seokmin feels, and for a short second you ask yourself how he even became the youngest member of your team - only for you to remember you have never met a mind as brilliant as his, with the exception of human interaction. He isn’t too good at those. 

The morgue is just like any other you’ve been in. This one still feels different, though. Probably because of the young girls you know shouldn’t be dead laying on top of the examination tables with nothing but a thin blanket over their pale, lifeless bodies. You should be used to this by now, you think. But you doubt you ever will be. 

Matthew is standing next to one of the women, the fourth victim, Fernanda Franco, with this look on his face you’ve seen many times before. You’re standing opposite him, your arms crossed and your eyes shifting over the body, wondering how much pain these women had been in.

“He did a thorough job with the cut,” the coroner says now; he is standing on the side of the room, holding a file, “my guess is he is good with a knife, maybe working with animals.”

“Right,” Matthew mumbles, a frown on his face as he leans forward, eyeing the victim from top to bottom. It’s somewhat fascinating how good he is at spotting things others haven’t seen before. Perhaps it had made you jealous a while back, but fortunately, that is over. Instead of being jealous, you appreciate his work and his abilities. 

Seokmin, meanwhile, is also looking through files. Mostly from the crime scenes. How the women looked before the coroner took care of them. The fact that they are all still here, and not yet down under, no funeral held at this point, makes his stomach turn. He knows it’s wrong. But as long as they haven’t found the killer, as long as there might be more evidence on the bodies… Seokmin suppresses a sigh. He wants to give the families the chance to find closure so badly. If only by giving them the opportunity to put their daughters, sisters, grandchildren to rest. 

The pictures are still hard to look at. The blood everywhere. The stained clothes. The signs of clear torture. Nothing sexual, at least. But then again, perhaps the killer doesn’t need to sexually assault them to feel arousal. That’s what Matthew said earlier. Seokmin closes the file and pulls a hand through his hair, his hat safely stored on one of the cabinets. 

“Dr. Richmond,” Matthew’s voice makes Seokmin look over to where you are standing. 

“Dr. Seok?” Richmond walks over to Matthew who is standing bent over the body, his hand holding… the victim’s ear. Immediately, you and Seokmin step closer, both of your eyes glued to the women’s earlobe. Something inside your stomach turns, goosebumps suddenly all over your skin and you feel your breath getting stuck in your throat.

“Why wasn’t this in the files?” Matthew now continues to ask, his eyes not leaving what he found. Dr. Richmond feels his face go pale and sweat starts to form on the palms of his hands. Blood is rushing through his ears and there is nothing he can say, nothing he can try to come up with because the bitter truth is-

“He didn’t know it was there,” Seokmin finishes the thought and Richmond swallows hard, hands wiping away at his lab coat. The detective is right. 

“Do all of them have this?” You ask now, finally able to move away from Fernanda and move over to Jennifer Cartwright, who looks way too peaceful for what had happened to her. But then, you are happy she does. A part of you hopes she is feeling peace wherever she may be. When you reach for her earlobe, you already know it will be there. You take a deep breath. 

“I’m- I don’t understand. I never… nothing like this ever happened, I-,” Richmond’s voice echoes through the room, but none of you pay him mind. The small crosses, carved into the soft tissue of the women’s earlobes, take all of your attention. 

There were only a handful of people in the meeting room. Your team and Seokmin and his superior officer. It bothered you, kind of. More people had to know. 

“These crosses, they have been used before,” Matthew is pacing through the room and Hyunwoo is right there at the front of it, his arms crossed and his thumbnail between his teeth. He is thinking, listening.

“This was in the late fifties, early sixties. A cult, they all followed this one man, Jonathan Brixley. He claimed to have somewhat superpowers, and while most didn’t actually believe him, he was such a good preacher, they followed him anyways. They weren’t known for being violent up until they seemed to vanish. Many thought they might have done a suicide pact, but no bodies were ever found. But what we do know is that whenever one of their own died, they would carve a little cross into their earlobe. Almost unnoticeable. Almost like a birthmark - it’s not even that surprising Dr. Richmond didn’t catch on.”

“He didn’t catch on that all of the girls have the same strange birthmark?” Seokmin frowns. You roll your eyes.

“We are all aware that this isn’t the ideal situation, Detective, but perhaps being bitter about it doesn’t make it better.”

It’s the first time you and Seokmin have directly talked. Or more like, the first time you had openly acknowledged each other's presence.

“With all due respect, Agent, I don’t care. I want to be bitter, I am allowed to be bitter. If we had known this weeks ago, we might have cracked the case by now!”

“I highly doubt that, Detective. With all due respect,” Matthew chimes in and the (unpleasant) moment between Seokmin and you is over. 

“And why is that?” Seokmin’s superior officer asks. 

“Well, as I said, the cult vanished. Finding out where the last remaining members are is almost an impossible task. If there even are any - I doubt they’d wanna be found. For all we know, they could be hiding in plain sight and we wouldn’t know.”

The atmosphere gets even more uneasy. If that’s even possible at this point. Seokmin scoffs and looks away, his hands in fists. You should know how to de-escalate but your head comes up empty. It’s almost as if there is an invisible barrier that forbids you from actually trying to be reasonable with Seokmin. 

Just when Hyunwoo seems like he wants to say something, the door opens. One of the police officers, a woman with red hair you don’t know the name of, comes in.

“We have a situation,” she says and her eyes are full of something even you, a profiler, isn’t so sure what the meaning of is. It looks like fear, confusion, but also something like hope. Immediately, everyone gets up and follows her outside, where you spot the board with all the pictures of the victims on it… and a red thread connecting one of them to a new face.

“That’s the girl I talked to earlier.” Seokmin breathes and he looks over at Ruth, who nods. 

“Yes, Detective. Jean told us that she knows one of the girls - Rebecca Twain. They used to go to the same church, same goes for her friend, Kelly, that she called in as abducted.”

Your eyes widen at that and you look over at Matt, who has his hand over his mouth, his face in a frown. A church. That fits the idea of the cult. All of you who were in the room earlier know that. This is good, this is an actual clue, one that might even lead to something after all! 

“What church?” Bream now asks the police officer named Ruth. 

“She wasn’t too sure. Said they haven’t been there in ages. She knew Rebecca when they were children and Kelly came to join them a few years later. But they haven’t gone to the church in at least 12 years. She said she would call us with more information, but so far she hasn’t.”

It doesn’t take a genius to understand why she hasn’t called the station yet. You sink down, leaning against one of the desks now, a hand rubbing over your face. This was bad. Seriously bad. Whenever a cult was involved in anything, it could only be so much worse than anticipated. Of course, her parents wouldn’t let her talk about it. Who would ever want to talk about something like this? Being part of a cult, if now or in the past - with everything happening these past years. 

“We need to speak to her parents. Now.” Hyunwoo is already out the door, probably heading to his car and you look over at the rest of your team, who all seem more or less as lost as you. It turns out to be Seokmin who follows your team leader first and once you see his figure speed past you, you also begin to move. 

The ride is quiet. Hyunwoo’s hands are white around the steering wheel. You sit next to him in the front, Seokmin in the back. All of this feels surreal to you and you are sure it’s not that different for Seokmin. Serial Killers were a constant part of both of your lives, but you - you haven’t been for a good amount of years. It’s like a bad taste in your mouth, as if somehow the food you would always cook perfectly suddenly went bad, had a foul ingredient in it, was cooked for too long. You’re not sure what it is, but it doesn’t sit right with you. 

Seokmin, in the back seat, feels about the same as you. He is used to gruesome murders, to killers who don’t care about anything but themselves, but he isn’t used to having you around in all of this. Someone from his old life that he doesn’t associate with any of this. Never in a million years would he have predicted you becoming a federal agent. When you dated back in high school, you had always talked about wanting to go into politics, fighting for women’s rights, feminism, all that jazz. You had even applied to all the IVYs, wanting to study political science. So, how did you end up here? 

“We will have to be careful.” Hyunwoo now breaks the silence and makes Seokmin and you look at him.

“The parents won’t be too happy to share their story, I can imagine. No one likes to admit they were in a cult, not after Manson.” 

You nod and Seokmin scoffs, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. 

“One would think people wouldn’t even join any cults after Manson,” he says and Hyunwoo laughs bitterly, nodding slightly as he takes the next right at the intersection.

“Right. Sadly, it isn’t as easy as that.”

You look at Seokmin through the rearview mirror, watch how his jaw is tightened and how his arms are crossed, how his suit jacket is discarded next to him on the backseat. You wonder how long he has been part of this lifestyle, how long he’s been a cop. You hadn’t heard from him in years, not even when your friends offered to do some digging for you. It wasn’t because you weren’t interested. More so because you felt like you would get too invested. Looking away again, you straighten out your shoulders. This isn’t the time to think about the past, there are way more important things to focus your energy on. 

Five minutes later, Hyunwoo finally parks the car in front of the house of the Roger’s and the three of you get out to walk over to the front door where Hyunwoo rings the doorbell twice. It only takes about twenty seconds before the door opens and a slim woman with bright red hair and red lips stands in front of you, an apron around her waist and a mitten in her hand.

“Yes?” She looks at you with blinking eyes and the three of you take out your respective badges. The woman’s eyes widen. 

It is safe to say that getting information out of Jean’s parents is almost impossible. They are a middle class family with middle class friends, he works in real estate and she does her best to keep the house and children under control. They don’t want to talk about their past at the church, or more like, they try to deny it ever was a part of their lives. Talking to them comes close to talking to a wall, if the wall felt guilt and shame and was worried about its reputation. Only when you mention Jean for the third time, reassuring her parents that they aren’t in trouble and that no one was going to find out, that the only mission you had was to find the missing girl and find out who had killed the other innocent women - they budge. 

Mr. Rogers gets up, a certain shake in his knees, and walks over to one of the dark hardwood dressers standing on the right side of the spacious living room, where he opens a drawer and takes out what looks like a little notebook. You, Hyunwoo and Seokmin look at him attentively. 

“We haven’t talked to anyone from that church in years. Or well, we hadn’t. Up until a few weeks ago. You see, there used to be this… this farm. It was for retreats, we would go there every other month. Sing and pray, meet new people from other parts of the country,” he begins to explain as he walks back, reluctantly handing the notebook to you. Taking it with a small thank you, you look at the page he had opened it to and see a number and a name. 

“This is the name and telephone number of the couple that bought the farm years ago. We- we haven’t been going to the retreats since 1961, but a couple weeks ago an old acquaintance from the church called us. Kathryn Anderson, she was pretty close to Pastor Brix-,” he stops himself mid sentence, “to, uh, to Mr. Brixley. She wanted to know if we knew who bought the farm.” “And what did you tell her?” Seokmin asks now. 

“He told her no. That we were never interested in knowing,” Mrs. Rogers now answers the question for her husband, “you see, when we left the church it was mostly because of Jean. We figured after a while that perhaps this church wasn’t what we wanted for our daughter. So, we left. It wasn’t easy, but we did it. A couple months later, the whole thing fell apart anyway. Kathryn wasn’t around for that because she had been arrested about six months before we left the church. Got a good couple of years behind bars for attempted murder, the woman. When she got out, she couldn’t reach anyone - after all, the church didn’t exist anymore. Jonathan had perished, no one knows where he ended up and she was unsure what to do. So, she finally got a hold of us and wanted to know everything about the farm. But again, we told her we didn’t know who bought the farm. We just told her it was over and that she needed to find a different safety net.”

You look over at Hyunwoo, wondering if he thinks the same thing you do.

“But you obviously do know who owns the farm now.” He says calmly. The housewife swallows, then nods.

“We do. Paul actually sold the farm to them.”

How convenient, you think. Hyunwoo smiles and Seokmin clicks his tongue.

“I see. Well, thank you for the name and number, but now it would be great if you could also let us know the address.”

“I don’t understand,” you say, your arms crossed in front of your chest. Hyunwoo is sitting at his makeshift office desk, rubbing his temples.

“What exactly do you not understand, Y/N?” 

“Why we need to go to the farm. Or no, why he and I need to go.”

“Don’t be stupid, Y/N. Matthew confirmed it, the cult used this farm back in the day. There could be a lead there. And you and Detective Lee are going because you’re my best agent and he’s their best detective. I also feel like you two need some bonding time. Honestly, I’ve got no clue what your issue is with him, but you’ll need to get your act together. This is a serious case and I can’t have you dislike the main detective.”

Dislike. That’s one word to describe it. You bite the inside of your cheek. 

“So, you will drive to the farm with him and talk to the couple as well as check out the surroundings. See if you find anything that could be helpful to the case, got it?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Hyunwoo nods, satisfied. He then waves his hand, telling you to get out and do your job. You suppress a sigh and instead walk out and almost into your newly assigned partner - Seokmin. He looks about as happy about the situation as you feel, but neither of you says a word while you walk out of the precinct and to the car that would take you the 100 mile drive to Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. 

“You drive.” Seokmin’s voice rips you out of your thoughts and you thankfully react quick enough and catch the keys he throws at you. Rolling your eyes, you walk over to the other side and open the car, sitting down in the driver’s seat. The second your door is closed and Seokmin’s door is closed, his presence almost drowns you. 

“I was always better at reading maps than you,” he mumbles next to you and you feel your cheeks heat up and your stomach turn and you decide to ignore him and instead start the car. 

Seokmin presses his lips together, the map on his lap and his heartbeat loud and clear in his ears. Bream really thinks he did something. Putting Seokmin in a car with you for the next two hours. Apparently, your little bit of tension did not remain unnoticed and now this was his punishment. But what was he supposed to do? Tell Bream that you were his ex-girlfriend from high school who he had left seven years ago with nothing better than a pathetic letter goodbye. It hadn’t been his finest moment, but god, he was nineteen. Back then, he had enlisted in the army after high school, something he was bound to do anyways, and being cowardly as he was, he just hadn’t felt like telling you in person. Then, when he had been discharged, he had signed up for the academy and here he is now. He knows he should say something, apologize for the way he left you. But his pride and the shame don’t let his lips move, don’t let the words come out. And so he just looks at the map and waits to give you instructions. That’s what he can do. That’s how he can cope with being next to you. 

The drive is long and quiet and you turn on the radio at one point, listening to quiet music almost soothing. The highway is wide and the city is behind you and you wonder how long you’ll have to be in this car before your head starts to actually fume from all the thoughts running around. 

When you see the sign for Schnecksville, you almost sigh in relief. Seokmin tells you which exit you have to take and you follow his instructions, wondering how you actually got through this drive without any actual communication besides his directions. 

Schnecksville is filled with nothing and a gas station. You also pass a motel and a convenience store on your way to the farm that is a few miles away from the city center. Once you finally arrive, you can’t get out of the car quick enough, shoving the keys into your jacket when the car is locked. The farm is bigger than you had anticipated and Seokmin, who has discarded his jacket and hat on the backseat, looks just as surprised as you.

“Guess we have some ground to cover. Come on.” He takes the lead and you follow him, even though a part of you feels the need to run ahead. You don’t. You’re not a child. 

The woman who opens the door is in her early sixties with graying hair and a cat in her arms.

When you and Seokmin introduce yourselves and show your badges, she gasps slightly.

“Oh, you know, my sweet peach always runs out when I open the door, she is sick, can’t really find her way back when she gets out. Come on in, agent, detective.”

Her name is Mabelle Travis and her husband is Keith Travis, but he isn’t at home right now. He is getting some groceries for them. 

“How kind of your husband to help you with that,” you say as you sit down on the couch in the pastel colored living room. Mabelle nods, letting the cat back down.

“Oh, he is the one with the driver’s license, dear. I can only go grocery shopping if he comes with me. Or our son is in town.”

You nod and look over at Seokmin, who is looking at some of the family pictures on the dressers by the door. 

“Your son doesn’t live with you, ma’am?” He asks and Mabelle shakes her head as she sits down on one of the horrifically green armchairs. 

“No, Detective. He used to, you know, live with us. But that was before we bought the farm. My husband always dreamt of having a farm. When he retired, he thought it might just be the time.” She laughs and looks from Seokmin to you.

“But, what can I do for you?”

“Well, we were wondering if you’d be alright with us looking around the farm? We don’t know if you know, but the farm used to belong to a church before you bought it.”

“Ah, yes. We did know. I think that’s why we got it cheap. What exactly are you looking for, agent?”

“We’re not sure. But we think the church might have some connections to a case we are currently working on.”

Mabelle nods, her face in a frown. 

“Oh my. Well, you’re in luck then. We bought the farm years ago, but only recently moved in. So, most of the barns are still untouched. Only this house has been through some construction,” the cat jumps up on her lap and Mabelle smiles down at it, her hand carefully caressing its fur.

“That’s good news, Mrs. Travis. We’ll go take a look then.” Seokmin nods his head towards the back door and you smile at Mabelle before getting up and following Seokmin outside. There are three barns in total - one is large and two are on the smaller side, leaving the two of you with enough ground to work with for the next few hours. You exchange looks and decide to check out the smaller space first, a barn that is completely bare except for a wooden table at the far right that holds a few blueprints. Seokmin checks them out, his eyes scanning them for anything out of the ordinary. You, meanwhile, begin to knock at the wall, listening for hollow spaces, but also come back with nothing. The barn seems as normal as a barn could be. 

The second one is a little trickier. It’s not empty, instead it’s filled with boxes that, after checking as good as each and every one, all seem to be empty. You check your wrist for the time, wiping your forehead with the back of the other hand. You’ve really been at it for the last two hours. 

“I think we should move on to the last barn. I doubt the rest will hold anything of worth. Come on.” Seokmin is next to you all of a sudden and you flinch, looking away from your watch and at the man, who has sweat dripping down his temple. His eyes are set on your face and you wonder if you look just as exhausted as he does. Clearing your throat, you nod and turn away from him, walking out of the barn and to the next one. 

Seokmin sighs, following you outside and grabbing your arm once he catches up with you. 

“Y/N, I am just as delighted about doing this with you as you are with me, believe me. But perhaps we should at least try to do our job.” 

His words sting more than they should have and you are well aware of that. Funny to think that such wounds would have healed after seven years. You shake off his hand and turn around to face him.

“Oh, is that right, Seokmin? You’re just as delighted as I am?” You raise your eyebrows at him. “As far as I can remember, Detective, you left me with nothing more but a joke of a letter.”

Seokmin bites down on his tongue. You are right. Maybe it wasn’t right of him to compare the two of you.

“I know that. I know I hurt you. And I should have apologized for that years ago. I was young and-,”

“Let me guess? Stupid? That is in fact correct, Seokmin. But I don’t care about an apology, at least not anymore. I just want to get this over with, not have chit-chat with you about the past which neither of us can change anymore. So, will you go to the third barn with me so we can finally leave this stupid town?”

Seokmin watches you walk away, his heart heavier in his chest than before. He really should have reached out sooner. Pulling a hand through his hair, the detective suppresses another sigh and finally follows you to the third and last barn for you to check. 

The Travises invite you for dinner and Seokmin and you are both too polite to decline. Thankfully Mabelle is incredibly talkative, loves telling you all the tales about their son, Henry, and how they used to live in the city but then moved to a smaller town. She is excited about her husband’s birthday coming up soon and Henry coming over to visit, and basically her favorite topic to discuss is him. You try your best to resist the urge to look over at Seokmin next to you, to see if he is as amused about this as you are. He is not your ally, not your friend. You shouldn’t be looking for his gaze, shouldn’t be curious of his thoughts. 

“Does your son visit you often?” Seokmin now asks after taking a sip from his glass filled with tap water. 

“Not as much as we’d like.” Mrs. Travis sighs and pats her husband’s hand.

“He is busy with working in the city, not always available.” Mr. Travis now explains and Seokmin and you nod. That makes sense. You try to remember the last time you had time to visit your own parents. You couldn’t even really remember. 

“If there is something we want to check again, would it be alright if we came back?” Seokmin asks when you finally stand at the front door, saying your goodbyes. The Travises nod, allowing you to come back whenever. After waving at them you walk back to the car, Seokmin now getting into the driver’s seat. As you sit down on the passenger seat the atmosphere quickly becomes tense now that you’re alone again. The second your doors are closed, a familiar sound is heard.

“Oh, you’ve got to be joking.” 

Rain. It’s starting to rain. What starts with a few drops on the windshield turns into a full on piss of rain that has the both of you staring at the scene for a few seconds. When a second later you hear thunder so close it almost shakes the car, Seokmin reluctantly starts the engine.

There is no way in hell you can drive home in this weather. As much as the both of you hate it, you’ll have to stop somewhere and wait out the storm. Seokmin suggests the motel you had seen on your way here and you nod, knowing there wasn’t much else you could say or do. Having to stay somewhere with Seokmin, somewhere you couldn’t just flee from, seems like the number one worst scenario you could find yourself in. You look at him from the passenger seat, trying to my sly about it but of course he notices your eyes on his face.

“Believe me, I would rather not do this either, Y/N. But I’d rather be safe than drive on the highway in this weather.”

You don’t answer him. Mainly because you would have to tell him he is right and that’s most definitely not going to happen. 

“What do you mean by that?” Seokmin looks at the bored looking woman in her fifties. She sighs and shoves the one room key towards him again. 

“I mean, Sir, that there is only one room left. We are fully booked. Have you seen the rain?” 

It’s very obvious a rhetorical question but Seokmin is about to go on a rant to tell the woman that, of course, he has seen the rain but how on earth does this justify there only being one room in a god damn motel miles away from any big city? 

“We’ll take the room,” you quickly interject, handing the lady your credit card that she looks at with a straight face.

“Honey, you’re in the middle of nowhere. Do you really think we take those things?” You feel your cheeks heat up, retreating the card again.

“That’s 16.50$ for the night,” she continues and you hand her a twenty that she takes without a word, shoving the change over the wooden surface, “have a pleasant stay.” She shoves down the small plastic window and you and Seokmin exchange a quick look before making your way to the room you will now have to share. 

There is only one bed. You stare at it and so does Seokmin. Because - of course there is. How could you have not asked the woman at the counter? But then again even if you had… there wasn’t much you could have done about it. Maybe a saw, you think, just saw it in half. The two of you stay silent for a good minute, before Seokmin finally sighs, pulling a hand over his face. 

“Looks like we can’t do much about this. Just… it’s just one night, alright? We can do this.” 

You don’t really understand why he would say that. Why he would speak for you, when you both know it isn’t okay and you most definitely can’t do this. You take a deep breath, throwing your bag onto the very dirty looking armchair next to the door. 

“Whatever,” you respond, rolling your eyes as you make your way into the bathroom, if only to get away from Seokmin for a short while. His presence is stressing you out more than you thought it would. Perhaps that had been foolish of you - thinking this wouldn’t be the absolute worst thing to ever happen. But at the same time, it’s not like Hyunwoo had given you much of a choice. He had straight up told you to get your act together and yet… You sigh, the door closed next to you. The bathroom isn’t even half as bad as you had feared. It’s small and the shower could need a scrub (or three), but other than that it’s decent. The toilet looks clean and the mirror hanging over the sink shows you your exhausted face. Dark circles under your eyes that you touch with your cold finger tips. You remember how you looked back in High School. How much you smiled, how happy you were almost every single day. And all because of him. He, who promised you the world only to rip it away when you needed stability the most. It wasn’t fair. Him being here, him playing such a big role in something so important to you. Finding this killer that took lives like it was nothing. Seokmin is here with you and he sure as hell isn’t going anywhere else. The effect he has on you is annoying, to say the least. You don’t want to feel this way, feel insecure and small and like you need to prove yourself to him. He isn’t worth your energy, your thoughts. Not him as a person at least. Him as a Detective is a different story. Another deep breath followed by some water that you splash into your face, is what finally makes you step out again and face your ex-boyfriend that has taken a seat on the bed, the case file spread next to him. 

He is handsome. High cheekbones, perfectly shaped eyebrows. His hair is styled back, but slowly the front strands are falling into his face. His face is in a small frown as he looks at the documents, as he tries to make sense where you all fail to find any. Your heart betrays you by skipping a beat, by suddenly sending a wave of sadness over you. He never told you why he left. He just did. 

“Anything making more sense now?” You ask cautiously, walking over to him with slow steps. Seokmin looks up slightly before shaking his head. 

“Not really,” he mumbles, “it doesn’t make sense. None of this. Why is he curving the crosses into their ears? Why is he choosing these girls specifically?” You sit down on the other side of the bed, gnawing on your lower lip.

“Well, Matthew told you our theory. Abusive mother, hatred towards women.”

“But why- why would he just go after any woman if his mother was a certain type?” Seokmin looks up at you and you feel a sting in your chest. You shrug.

“You’re right to question this theory. It’s not perfect and it will take a few years until we can really say that we have a high percentage of accurate profiles. So far we’ve been good, very good. But not as good as we can be. This unsub is unique because he doesn’t have a type - it almost seems random. Like he goes out on the street and sees a girl and just takes her,” you lick over your lips, letting your eyes wander to the window, the storm on full display, “he is violent, but he also kills them quickly. No signs of sexual abuse. It’s odd and not like anything we’ve seen before.”

Seokmin listens to you speak and allows himself to actually listen. The whole profiling thing - it most certainly hasn’t been something he trusted so far. But now, hearing your words, seeing the look on your face - he almost feels ashamed of his earlier suspicion. 

“It’s just-,” he begins, his hand pulling through his hair, “it’s confusing. Why would he not go for people who look like his mother? Why is he not taking revenge on her over and over again?”

You feel your thoughts stumble over that sentence for a good thirty seconds. Seokmin is right - why wouldn’t he take revenge on his mother over and over again? Why would he kill women that look nothing like her? Without really noticing, you get up, your feet carrying you over to the window, staring at the rain outside, hoping it would give you the clue you so desperately need right now.

“You agree, don’t you? That it is odd!” Seokmin gets up too, only to turn around and look at the files again, his arms crossed, eyes scanning all the pictures and clues the team has gathered so far. 

“Yes, it definitely is odd,” you mumble, heart racing in your chest. 

“Okay. We’ll go over this again. There has to be something we’re missing. A connection between them, a club they all go to. Anything, just… fuck, it feels as if there is clue right there, hidden in plain sight and we are missing it because it’s too damn obvious!”

Hidden in plain sight. You blink against your reflection in the window. Hidden in plain sight. Matthew had said the same thing back at the precinct. 

For all we know, they could be hiding in plain sight and we wouldn’t know.

You swirl around, eyes wide and Seokmin looks at you with a confused expression. 

“What?” 

“The barn,” you breathe, eyes flickering to the table, where the car keys lay right where Seokmin left them, “we need to go back.”

Seokmin tries to stop you, the storm still howling outside, but you’re not letting him. This is too important, too obvious. You want to kick yourself for not realizing it earlier. For seeing something that was right there, but not actually seeing it. 

You run to the car, soaked from head to toe when you sit down on the driver’s seat. The door to the passenger seat opens and Seokmin plops down, just as drenched as you are.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N, will you tell me what the fuck is happening right now?”

Instead of answering, you start the engine, the wipers doing their best to clear your view.

“Y/N!” Seokmin repeats loudly and you let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you were holding.

“It has to be in there! In the barn. All those god damn empty boxes. One of them has to have something in it, something they don’t want us to find. Fucking hell, we could have had the whole team here by now, Seokmin! If only we hadn’t been lazy!”

“Wait, hold on. So you think the Travises have something to do with this?” Seokmin asks and you shrug.

“Honestly? I don’t think they do. But it’s still their property now. And most of these boxes are theirs. I’m sure we’ll find something there. We just have to look at every single box.”

You’re almost in a haze, Seokmin thinks. Your eyes have completely changed and the way you drive this car would have been scary if only you weren’t so damn impressive. You have been impressive the whole day, Seokmin thinks. He would never say it out loud (not to you at least) but this job seems to fit you like a glove. Never did it cross his mind back in High School that you’d end up in the same field as him. He gulps down the nostalgia and instead looks out the window, wondering if the rain will stop anytime soon. 

It hasn’t been long since the two of you left the Travises and yet, when you arrive, the house is dark. Checking your watch you see it's already after 9pm. 

“They said we can come back whenever.” You say more to yourself than Seokmin, but the latter still nods, cursing under his breath when he steps out of the car and into the horrible weather. You run alongside him, passing the house and first barn, setting foot in the one you had a hunch about with both of you drenched from head to toe. Ignoring the cold creeping up, you begin examining the boxes once again. There is nothing extraordinary about them. They are the usual cardboard boxes one uses for moves, all over the country. It’s nothing you haven’t seen thousand of times before and-

“Y/N, look at this.” Seokmin’s voice fills the silence that has only been accompanied by the sound of rain and thunder before. Looking over at him, you see that he is holding up two different boxes upside down. There is a green dot on both of them. Your eyes widen. Quickly, you check your own box - but nothing. There is no dot. Confusion mixed with frustration begins to rise within you and you throw the box to the side, pulling clam hands through wet hair. 

“There has to be a system,” you mumble, closing your eyes as you try to calm yourself down. Seokmin hears your words and looks around the room, trying to make sense of how the boxes are lined up. They all look the same. They were all stacked the same when you came in earlier today. There isn’t anything about them that makes one different from the other - except for the dots he had discovered. His brain is working at full speed, his eyes roaming from one side of the room to the other. Only when he looks down, does he see something.

“Y/N, look,” he puts the two boxes he held up to the side and crouches down, your figure standing over him a second later. There were clear lines painted on the floor. He looks up at you and you feel your eyes beginning to shake, as you move as quickly as possible, shoving more boxes to the side and focusing on the floor. And yes, only a few moments later you find yet another line, one that contains boxes with more dots - orange ones. But it doesn’t stop there. Seokmin finds another line and boxes that, once again, don’t have a dot. He wants to pull his hair out, but once you begin looking at the boxes with him, your gaze full of determination, he calms down. Together, the two of you turn over every single box until, after what feels like hours, you let out a gasp. The box you’re holding now doesn’t only have a red dot on it - it also contains something. Seokmin is next to you right when you pull out the small key that makes both of you almost jump in glee. Your hunch had been right. Now all you had to do was find where the key belonged. Your eyes met and without words, Seokmin went to the left side of the room and you to the right one, both of your hearts beating at rapid speed at this point. Neither of you wants to or will leave this place until you find whatever door is hidden behind the wooden planks decorating the walls. Your hands flew over them, knocking to hear a hollow sound, anything that would indicate there being a hidden space. Nervous sweat was now mixing with the rain on your face, the earlier cold all forgotten thanks to the adrenaline you were feeling. 

“I got something!” Seokmin suddenly yells after a few minutes and you immediately turn and run over to him, seeing him break the wall free of the plank. Just that there is no wall. It is a thin wooden door with a small lock that looks like it was made for the key safely stored inside  the pocket of your jeans. Without any hesitation, you move forward, key back in your hand after pulling it out, and reuniting it with its lock - the door clicking open a second later. Seokmin and you look at each other again before you push the door with your hand, it easily swings open for you and Seokmin to see a narrow hallway led down by an old looking staircase. There is a string hanging down from the ceiling which Seokmin pulls on, lighting up the hallway for you to see more clearly. 

“Well, let’s go,” you say and Seokmin nods, both of you with one hand on your gun belts as you walk down the stairs, all the way down to a door that, thankfully, isn’t locked. Pushing this one open as well, you are met by another hallway, longer this time, with three doors leading to different rooms on each side. You feel adrenaline rush through you as you begin walking, Seokmin right behind you. The first two doors lead to empty storage rooms, you taking the ones on the left, Seokmin on the right. Your hands feel clammy and your senses are all heightened as you continue to the next door, opening it at once and checking the insides carefully, gun in your hand. No one is in there - but it’s also not empty. 

“Seokmin!” You call out and the man is beside you right then, eyes scanning the room. It’s an office, or at least it appears to be. Right on the wall across from you hangs a portrait of a beautiful landscape and only barely hides a very obvious closet of some sorts. You shove your gun back into your belt and walk straight up to it, while Seokmin goes to examine the desk standing at the left side of the room. He pulls out a pair of gloves from the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls them over his fingers before he begins to open each and every drawer. 

“There isn’t much dust around here,” you suddenly say and Seokmin looks over at you.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone comes here regularly. Cleans it of dust, keeps the floors clean.” You look around for a moment, then your focus is back on the painting hanging over the closet. Your hands are also wrapped up in a pair of gloves and you move slowly as you grab the edges of the frame to heave it off the wall. It occurs to you that the last time someone was here, they hadn’t succeeded in putting the painting back into its usual spot. You can tell because it comes off the wall without any problems, having been crooked from the beginning on. Now, you lean it against the wall next to you, before your hands open the closet. 

“Is something in there?” Seokmin walks over to you now, nothing interesting inside the desk.

Once he comes to a halt next to you, he feels himself gasp. There is a whole shelf with files that seem to be alphabetically organized. Your heart beat speeds up once more as you grab a random file (Br-Bu) and open it. 

“That-,” Seokmin’s eyes widen. As you continue staring at the page, he moves to pull out more of the files. He brings them over to the desk and opens them one by one, until he finds all the names he has been looking for.

“Broshard, Cartwright, Franco, Rogers, Twain and White.” 

Seokmin and you are staring at the files. It was all of the girls’ parents. They had all been part of this cult before. It made sense, of course it did. And yet, having it here, black on white, was still a shock. This meant their connection had been right there, so easy to grab, and none of the parents had thought about sharing this with the police. You lean against the desk, hands pulling through your damp hair. Seokmin’s hands are propped on his hips, his eyes reading over the names over and over again. 

“We have confirmation now,” he states, “we need to call the precinct.” He looks over at you and you nod, your hands still resting in your hair. Worry rushes through Seokmin and he finds himself standing in front of you a second later, his hands around your wrists to bring your hands back down softly.

“We will get him,” he says then, eyes boring into yours, “we will get him and he will be punished, Y/N, I promise you.”

It’s unprofessional, he knows it and so do you. You don’t ever promise to catch a killer. 

“Why didn’t the parents tell you?” Your voice is quiet and Seokmin sighs, shrugging. His hands are still holding you.

“I don’t know. Shame, fear? Whoever is doing this is a cold blooded murder, Y/N, they were probably scared he’d take even more from them.”

“More than a child?” You look up at him, letting the feelings that you’ve been holding back finally crack through. 

“I guess so? We will find all of this out tomorrow, we just need to get back to the motel and call the precinct.” 

He says the words but doesn’t move. Neither do you. You both stay right where you are, your eyes locked on each other. The air around you shifts, the exhaustion mixes with something you only have faint memories of.

“You are incredible, do you know that?” Seokmin whispers finally, “the way your brain works - it’s incredible. Admirable.” 

His body heat engulfs you, makes you feel hot and cold at the same time. You swallow down your doubts and instead let your heart do the talking.

“You’re just as incredible, Seokmin. All the work you’ve done in this case already… if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Seokmin feels himself holding his breath as his one hand moves from your wrist to your fingers, interlocking them with his own while the other moves up, cupping your cheek, thumb caressing the side of your chin. He feels your skin, the softness he remembers better than he wants to admit. 

Neither of you is sure who does it. Who dares to close the distance. But you’re kissing, his lips warm and familiar on yours. Your arms move by themselves, wrapping around Seokmin’s neck as he deepens the kiss, his tongue licking over your bottom lip slowly, asking for entrance that you give him without any hesitation. He kisses better than he did back in high school and his hands are more experienced, moving down and up to grab your hips and hoist you on top of the desk, standing in between your legs now. You grab his face, your tongue licking against his, feeling the stress and discomfort of the day leave you with every touch of his skin. The kiss grows more and more desperate, both of you panting against each other and only after a good five minutes do you part, his hands in your hair and yours on his nape.

“We should get out of here,” he mumbles against your lips then and you nod, letting him help you down the desk.

This time the drive isn’t awkward. It’s filled with something else, something you haven’t felt in so long. Not just regarding Seokmin - but in general. Your work is your everything and you and your team travel around the country more than you don’t. Wanting someone, feeling wanted by someone, this hasn’t happened to you in a while. Your gaze keeps wandering to the driving Seokmin, to the man that had once hurt you so much and now was the only thing you could concentrate on. 

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that I will park this car on the side of the road and not give a fuck about anyone seeing what I want to do to you, Y/N.”

His deep voice made your insides turn deliciously, the heat between your legs rising as you licked over your dry lips, eyes shaking as you nodded, averting your gaze from Seokmin’s intoxicating frame. As much as the idea excited you it also seemed like a stupid idea considering the motel really wasn’t that far away. 

It doesn’t take half as long as it usually would with Seokmin speeding down the road, finally parking the car in the parking lot, getting out of the car and opening the door for you, his hand around yours in no time as he leads you to the door, both of you drenched again when you step inside. But even with all the tension between you two, Seokmin walks over to the telephone on the wall, passing a young man who just seemed to have left his room to go outside. You present him with a nod when he smiles at you, quick to look at Seokmin again who is now dialing the number of the precinct. 

When he explains what you found, he speaks quietly and rushed, you by his side the whole time, holding his fingers between yours. The tension doesn’t subside, it only gets shoved to the side as Seokmin talks to his superior, who was still at the station at this time, waiting for your call. Your head feels dizzy, the situation bizarre but also somewhat addictive. The second Seokmin hangs up, knowing his colleagues will leave for Schnecksville as soon as the storm gets better, he wraps an arm around your waist and leads you to your room with hurried steps. 

The door falls shut behind the two of you and your body is pressed against it, Seokmin’s one hand skillfully wrapped around both of your wrists, pinning them over your head as he dips down to kiss you, his thigh pressing between yours. A moan escapes you, your hands wiggling under Seokmin’s grasp. He kisses you with the same desperation as before, his free hand underneath your shirt, fingers pressing into your skin. 

Nothing is inside your head except the need for him. You don’t want to feel anything but his touch, his kisses, the way his tongue feels against yours - hot and wet and perfect. He moves his arm around you again, picks you up as if you weigh nothing, carrying you over to the bed where he drops you, your eyes wide as you stare up at him. There is no light in the room beside the one coming from outside, making him look angelic. His carefully styled hair is falling into his face now, his lips red from your kisses. His pupils are blown out and the look in his eyes runs shivers down your spine. You watch as he gets rid of his jacket and belt, following his movement as you sit up a little bit, skillfully opening the belt with your gun and leaving it on the floor next to the bed, feeling the mattress move the next second as Seokmin lowers himself onto the bed. Your hands find his nape once more just as he presses his lips against yours again, hands roaming from your hips to your stomach and under your shirt, gripping your breasts one by one and moaning into your mouth when his thumb feels the stiff nipple underneath your bra. 

His tongue licks against yours again, your back arching against him as he moves to kiss down your neck, biting and licking and kissing all the same. When he hears your sounds, he feels himself growing harder, his composure almost breaking as he takes off your shirt with your help, shoving the cups of your bra to the side to dip down and suck your nipple into his mouth, your legs wrapping around his waist as you push him closer to you, teeth sinking into you bottom lip. It feels like electricity between you, the way he touches you sends shocks through your body in the best way possible. 

“God, I can’t believe I have you under me again, fuck,” Seokmin breathes against your neck now, his breath tickling you. “Been thinking about you so much, you know? About how much more I know now… how I can make you cum, baby, eat your sweet pussy and have you scream my name.”

His words send another wave of shivers down your body and you nod, wishing for nothing more than for your and his clothing to land on the floor. 

“Seokmin… just want you to fuck me, please, need you so so bad.” 

He groans, cock twitching and he finally moves to open his pants. It’s all hurried and a little bit frantic, the way you pull on his shirt next and the way your bra basically gets ripped off your frame by him. It drives you crazy, how he kisses you, pushing you further up the bed, your head hitting the pillow as he devours your lips and tongue, his hand squeezing your tits over and over, his stiff cock right there between your legs, still caged in by his briefs. 

“How bad do you want it, hm?” He breathes out, his fingers now moving downwards, ending up over your clothed pussy, making you squirm.

“Fuck, so bad, Seokmin. Please.” 

He sucks on the skin underneath your ear and lets his fingers shove your panty to the side, sliding through your wet folds and moaning against you. You’re so wet, wet and ready for him. 

“I wonder if you still taste the same, baby,” he mumbles, continuing to let his fingers glide through your lips, letting one of them sink into you. Your pussy practically sucks him in, eager to feel him inside. Seokmin kisses you again and your nails are dragging along his back as your hips move against Seokmin’s digit inside of you. 

“M-more, want more of you,” you cry out when you come up for air and Seokmin nods, letting a second finger slide in too, fully finger fucking you now as he smothers your neck with more kisses, preceding to suck marks onto the sensitive skin of your breasts, your whimpers becoming more and more frenzied. You need his cock and you need it now. So, you let your hand wander down, grabbing around the wrist of his hand that is currently fucking you.

“Want your cock, Seok… fuck me with your cock.” His eyes meet yours, gaze almost crazy as he curses under his breath, nodding before pulling his fingers out of you, bringing them to his mouth to suck them clean - making you whimper in the process. He licks his lips after.

“Still so tasty, baby… all for me.” 

He kisses you one more time, deep and emotional and dizzying, before finally ridding himself of his briefs and you of your panties, hand pumping his length a few times. You watch and swallow, remembering how he had felt back then. He had been your first. And now he was going to claim back what he had made his so many years ago. 

When he sinks into you, both of you cry out in pleasure, his arms on the mattress next to your head and his lips kissing your cheek, chin and lips. You are still hugging him close, fingers pressing into his nape and back. His first thrust is deep and slow and your eyes roll back, a long moan escaping your kiss-bruised lips. He can’t keep going slow, he knows that. As hard as he tries - he knows he won’t be able to control himself. Which leads to his thrusts becoming faster, to his moans becoming louder and your pussy clenching around him more often. It’s hot and wet and quick, it’s making you feel like you’re in a dream, his teeth sinking into your flesh, your cries spurring him on. Your legs are around his hips, his cock hitting you right where you need it to with every thrust and when you feel his hand sneaking in between you, thumb pressing down on your clit, rubbing it in perfect circles, you know you won’t last long. 

“You feel so good, baby, take my cock so fucking well.” He moves, on his knees in front of you now, your legs over his shoulders the next second. The new angle makes you see stars, especially with his thumb still on your clit.

“F-fuck, Seok! I’m so close.” Your cry makes him smirk, his movements becoming less and less controlled, as he is chasing both of your releases. You give up on keeping your eyes open, enjoying the way he feels, the way he hits you right where it feels so incredibly good. Your body is on fire, everything feels more intense and if you had the capacity in your brain you’d probably worry about exploding. 

And you do - you explode only a few seconds later, your orgasm hitting you hard, leaving you to cry out his name, nails back in his skin, leaving clear marks that he will be proud of later. 

“That’s right, baby, look at you, so pretty coming on my cock, fuck,” Seokmin feels you pulsate around him, feels how your pussy clenches over and over, milking him for all he has and there isn’t anything he can do but reach his own high, cum shooting out his cock and into your spent core. He collapses on top of you, your legs falling off his shoulders, spasming at the intensity of your climax. His breath is right there in your ear and you finally open your eyes again, fingers moving to stroke through his hair. You stay like this for a while, just catching your breath, feeling him so close after so long. Only when he slips out of you, laying down next to you, his lips pressing a kiss to your cheek, do you regain some senses. Smiling at him, you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. 

When you come back out, Seokmin is asleep. Chuckling, you pick up his shirt from the floor and slip it over your head before laying back down, cuddling into his side and letting yourself drift off into a dreamless sleep. 

For Seokmin it’s not a dreamless sleep, though. It hasn’t even been two hours he’s been asleep when he wakes up, cold sweat covering his body. He looks down and sees you peacefully sleeping right beside him, one of your hands on his bare stomach, the other under your own cheek. In any other case he would have loved to look at you for as long as he could, but this isn’t like any other case. 

The man, he thinks, the man we saw yesterday. Seokmin gets up, careful not to wake you up, grabbing his underwear from the floor, just like his pants. You’re in his shirt so he has no other choice but to leave the room with his chest still bare. His feet carry him out the room and to the small entrance space, right to the phone where he dials Bream’s number again. The second someone picks up, Seokmin begins talking.

“It’s the son, Sir, the Travises son - he’s the unsub.”

The area in front of the farm hasn’t been this busy in years. There are cop cars everywhere, a S.W.A.T team is about to arrive. Seokmin has his hands pushed into his pockets as he talks to his superior officer. You are standing further away next to Matthew and Yuqi, listening to Hyunwoo’s orders. 

Seokmin had recognised the son, Henry, from the pictures at the house. You feel stupid for not realizing it sooner. 

“Don’t linger on those feelings, Y/N,” Hyunwoo says, “it had been a long day.”

Yes, a long day that ended with you being too horny to do your job properly. You don’t tell him that of course. Instead, you press your lips together and just nod. 

Henry is inside the barn now, the barn you and Seokmin found the secret door in last night. His parents and the missing girl, Kelly, are with him. It’s a classic hostage situation and yet even your team is at a loss of words. It all doesn’t make sense right now. Why is Henry doing this? You let your gaze flicker over to the barn, wondering what he is doing to them right now. 

The head of the S.W.A.T team is walking over to Hyunwoo now. They apparently arrived just now

“We are ready for your orders, Sir,” he says, shaking Hyunwoo’s hand. Your boss nods.

“Alright, thank you. I’ll let you know when you can go in.” The man leaves again after that and you look at Hyunwoo, unsure.

“We need him alive, don’t we?”

“In theory, yes. But it’s not always easy, you know that. Whatever is going on inside of him, we will only find out if we get him out, but we need to look at the bigger picture. We need to figure out what his deal is.”

Just then, Jungwoo arrives at the scene, carrying a white box. 

“You won’t believe this,” he says, putting the box on top of the police car next to you. Seokmin is suddenly next to you, his arm brushing against yours and making you shiver. You ignore the effect once again. 

“Henry Crawl, 36, was adopted by the Travises when he was 9 years old. It says here that his mother committed suicide and the Travises took him in - Mrs. Travis being is paternal aunt. She felt responsible for him, considering the father left right after his birth and his mother died.”

“So, they aren’t his biological parents. They didn’t mention that.” Seokmin frowns. 

“Which means that there is a chance his mother was part of this cult. Is there an autopsy report for his mum?” You take step closer to the box and Jungwoo nods, handing you the document. Scanning it, your eyes widen as suddenly the reason for all of this is starting to make sense. 

“There were signs of abuse - of years of abuse. Scars, bruises, internal damages.” You shake your head, “he isn’t killing women because he hates them. He kills them because he is avenging his mother.”

“She was part of the cult, probably around the same time as the parents of the girls. They probably knew about the abuse and he somehow figured it out.” Matthew chews on his bottom lip as he shoves his glasses up his nose. 

“We need to talk to him. Need him to let the girl go as well as his parents.” Hyunwoo looks over at the truck where all the special units are gathered. He excuses himself and goes over to them. The atmosphere shifts, there are nervous droplets of sweat running down your face. The storm might have stopped, but it’s still slightly drizzling down on you. Seokmin’s hand finds the small of your back. You flinch, your head turning to look at him wide eyed.

“It’s gonna be okay, we’re going to get them out of there,” his voice is soothing you, as much as you hate to admit it. You swallow down whatever you’re thinking and shake his hand off, before walking over to Hyunwoo and the special forces, leaving Seokmin behind.

“I want to talk to him.” Your voice breaks through the conversation Hyunwoo is having with the captain. Both of them look at you, eyebrows raised.

“Y/N-,” Hyunwoo starts, but you interrupt him.

“You know it has to be me. I am roughly the same age as his mother was back then. I am a woman. I know what is going on inside his head. Please, Sir, let me do this.”

If there had been more time, maybe they would have argued with you. But there isn’t any time. And so, they nod. As much as it makes you nervous, you also know that you’re right. You’re confident that you can do this, that you have the ability to save this girl and Henry’s parents. Taking a deep breath, you look over at Seokmin, who’s eyes speak more than a thousand words. He knows why you walked over there and he knows that you are the only one for the job. The smile on his lips reassures you more than you want to admit. 

Not even five minutes later you have a walkie-talkie in your hand. The other one landed in the barn roughly a minute ago. Now, you’re waiting for Henry to respond after your first attempt at contact. The rain is still falling softly, the sun nowhere to be seen in the sky. It’s early, you’re not sure how early, but you estimate it to be sometime after 6 am. 

“I won’t let them go!” The voice coming from the device in your hand brings you back to the here and now, blood rushing in your ears.

“Henry, hello, it’s good to hear your voice,” you say softly, looking over at one of the windows of the barn, wondering if he is watching you.

“I don’t- I won’t let them go,” he repeats and you lick your dried out lips.

“Okay, Henry. I hear what you’re saying, alright? You don’t want to let them go. Could you tell me why?”

“They need to pay for their sins!” It’s not hard to make out that he’s enraged, crying, but still hurt and confused. 

“What are their sins, Henry? Can you tell me?” You look over your shoulder at the rest of your team, Hyunwoo nodding at you and you nod back.

“You- you really want to know?” The shift in his voice tells you that your question had been exactly what he wanted to hear. 

“Yes, Henry. I want to know, I want to understand.”

There is silence on the other line for just a few moments. You remain calm and don’t ask again. It’s important you give him space, important for the hostages as well as to earn his trust. 

“They- they knew about my mum. My adoptive parents. I heard them say it. They knew why the police came to visit. It was because of her, because of mum. She was tortured by them, by the whole cult! And everyone who knew about it and didn’t do anything needs to be punished.” His voice is shaking as he speaks and you wonder if the hostages are in the room with him or if he has them hidden underneath the barn in one of the rooms you found last night.

“You’re doing this for your mum, Henry? You’re avenging her life?”

“Yes!”

“I understand. You did well, Henry. You hurt them the way they hurt you. They should have never taken your mother from you, Henry, that was wrong of them,” the words leaving your mouth aren’t what you’re actually thinking, but they will do the trick. Henry will trust you, he will listen to what you have to say.

“I- I did this for her. I wanted her to know I never gave up on her. B-but-,” he stops and you hear a sob, sure now that he is indeed crying. 

“But? You can talk to me Henry, I am here for you.” You bite your lip, hoping you’re not pressing the matter too far.

“B-but…,” Henry starts again, “but he- he betrayed me. He told me- he told me they were the only one’s at fault. He told me he wanted to avenge her too…”

He? You once again turn to your team, all of their faces in frowns. 

“Who is “he”, Henry?” 

No answer. Henry isn’t responding. You feel a slight panic arise inside of you. 

“Henry, it’s okay. You don’t need to tell me, okay? Just- tell me about you, about your mum. You must miss her dearly, right?” 

“My mum deserved better than what she got. She shouldn’t have killed herself, she should have fought through it! But she couldn’t. She was so scared of what they had done to her, what he had done to her! I wanted them all to suffer, wanted them all to know what it feels like losing someone they love. And I did that, I did that to him too!” He gets louder with every word. 

“Henry, you’re frustrations are valid. But, please, it is enough. You’ve showed them, you’ve hurt them. Enough people have died, Henry. Let your parents and Kelly go and you will be free.”

Henry is silent for a short while again.

“If he doesn’t respond, we’ll go in,” the S.W.A.T team’s leader is now saying to Hynwoo and latter holds up his hand, as if to signal to give it more time.

“Henry? Can you do that for me?” You ask again. Everyone is growing more and more uneasy, the more time passes. Your hands are sweaty and you feel like the rain isn’t the reason for why your clothes are damp again. Just when Hyunwoo is about to take his hand down, to let the special unit do their job - the doors of the barn open and Kelly runs out, the Travises right behind her. They all seem completely out of it but there are clear signs of relief on their faces. Seokmin and Stolper run towards them, helping them when they see, that Mr. Travis is limping and both women are spurting wounds on their face. You close your eyes and take a deep breath before pressing the button to talk again.

“Henry? Henry, are you there?” 

“My parents always loved me. They raised me when mum died. But they knew, you know. They knew! Which means, they need to suffer, too.” 

Your heart skips a beat when you throw the walkie-talkie to the side and run towards the barn, your team right behind you. You don’t think you’ve ever run as fast as you do right now. The air is tight around you and its rough to breathe. 

Henry is right there at the back of the barn, holding a gun to his head. You scream and Hyunwoo shoots forward to tackle him down - but it’s too late. The shot is heard but your eyes are closed, your knees growing weak but you stay standing. Henry is dead even before he hits the floor and there is nothing you can do. 

The hostages are free, so it counts as a win. The Manhattan Slasher is finally caught. He lays there, dead on the ground. He is getting carried away now, by two coroners who present you with a nod as you wait for Matthew and Jungwoo to come back upstairs. You hadn’t felt like you could go downstairs and see whatever Henry had left for you to find. 

You're sitting outside now, seeing Seokmin approach you, with a file in his hands. You look up at him, blinking against the rain. When he stands in front of you, it’s almost like the sun showed its face after all. He isn’t smiling, though. He just radiates this energy that immediately gets your spirits up.

“The judge,” he says, handing you the file, “it’s all in here. He was the one controlling Henry. Told him all those parents were the reason his mum suffered. And while it’s not all a lie - the judge himself was the actual perpetrator.”

With a slightly shaking hand, you reach for the file and open it, reading through what is evidence of Seokmin’s words. Now, this was something neither you nor your team has predicted. You swallow down a set of tears.

“He used Henry. But for what?”

“My guess is as good as yours, but, if I may try myself at your job: They probably got fed up with his shit. Told him they would rat him out to the police if he didn’t turn himself in for abusing that woman. He began killing their children as a way to keep them quiet. My guess is, that he has been keeping them quiet ever since Henry’s mum committed suicide and they all only recently began to wonder if maybe this was wrong.” 

Seokmin’s words reach your brain and they make sense as much as they don’t. You’ve been working this job long enough to know that there will never be something as full closure. People act irrationally all the time, do things no one understands. There is nothing you can do about it but wait it out, wait for the injustice to die down within you. In the end there is no point to try and understand people like this. Not that these parents deserved to have their daughters get killed. 

You thank Seokmin with a small nod and he sits down next to you. Next there will be the arrest of the judge. Then the parents will be questioned, and will get a punishment of their own because they didn’t stop the murders when they had the chance. You know they couldn’t because they were scared, but the law is clear. 

You feel Seokmin’s hand capturing yours and you look over at him. The business around the farm isn’t done yet. Boxes get carried and there is more forensic personnel than you’ve seen in a while, probably taking apart the basement you and Seokmin had found. It should be relief you’re feeling but right now you’re just tired. 

So, when Seokmin pulls you against him, arm around your waist, you don’t even try to stop yourself from laying your head on his shoulder and closing your eyes. 

header by @wongyuseokie.

[elisaintime]

Woah, I must have missed something, why are people jumping down your throat?

From what I can gather at this point, it seems like they feel like anyone who likes Anne Rice herself and the books better than the show=automatically racist. Even if they ALSO enjoy the show and support the race change of the characters and all the racial conversation the show incorporated into its adaptation.

Personally, I think it does a disservice to the fandom to assume that the only reason one could like the books over the show is because of racist reasons. Anne's books speak to so many people in so many ways, especially those who have ever felt like outcasts or apart from mainstream society, and many fans have extremely personal connections to the books for a huge variety of reasons.

Like I said in my videos, I was excited and intrigued to see this AU version of the story (I love AUs!) but my complaints with the writing of the episodes mostly came back to when the show was trying to stick TOO MUCH to the books.... Because the show was really making its own thing with its own versions of the characters and all these new ideas, but then suddenly it would shove in a scene/dialogue straight out of the books which would contradict or make no sense with everything else the show had already worked to set up with the new direction it was taking itself.

Critiquing sloppy/weak writing does not mean I or any other fan who feels the same is doing it for racist reasons. Much of my criticism was about how the scripts changed Lestat's character to make him so much worse than he was in the books (which would be fine, it's their story, whatever--except the show runners told us over and over again that the whole reason Louis was doing a second interview was so that this time we could see the real version of Lestat and how Louis felt about him instead of the mean, insulting version he gave in the first interview). There was a lot promised by the showrunners about what their adaptation would be like that was not delivered ("closer to the books than the 1994 movie," "true to the spirit of Anne Rice" etc). The entire reason I made my videos was to evaluate how well the show measured up to those promises.

Worse than making Lestat so irredeemable, the way the first season ended in a way that made so many fans believe that Louis might have been lying about everything didn't sit well with me at all--it's a harmful stereotype to make the black man a liar, especially when it comes to abuse. I know the "the DV didn't actually happen and black Louis was lying or mind controlled by his evil non-white boyfriend" became a running fan theory, but I personally don't believe it one bit. But I can see why so many fans do--again, sloppy/weak writing on the show's part.

Like I said in my video, the only thing Louis actually lied about in ep7 (and he was lying to himself, not deliberately lying to Daniel) was the depth of his love for Lestat at the end. And that's entirely canon for Louis to deceive himself about--admitting how much he truly loves Lestat always came hard for him. I personally don't think it's going to turn out that anything Louis told us in season 1 was a lie. I think the show would have revealed that at the end of the season, not waited another season (or two or three) to reveal that. And the theme of season 2's promotional material has all been about memory, not honesty. I don't think Louis could mistakenly remember getting dropped from a mile in the sky and the months/years of recovery afterward, so I personally think all those memories were real.

The first three episodes of season 1 made Louis's struggle with race its primary focus, and the series description began with how Louis was chafing at society as a black man. But then from episode 4 on, the focus of the show shifted entirely. Obviously racism still existed in Louis's world, but the show pushed it all entirely to the background with little things, like segregation on the bus, and we saw the characters quietly taking in stride, not making any plot out of it. Suddenly all of Louis's character-driving moments weren't about that anymore and we were in a whole new story, when his battle against racism had been the entire theme of the first three episodes. This was something I noticed and pointed out in my videos--I didn't say it was a bad thing (after all, seeing people be racist to Louis on screen, while "realistic," isn't exactly fun for anyone, and we'd already seen plenty), but I did think the sudden dramatic shift in story focus weakened the show's themes and throughline.

Again this comes down to writing, and the premise/script was written by white people. I think they could have done much better with much more non-white involvement on the writing level. I think the show could have been stronger with some more care taken to create consistency and smoother transitions between episodes (like when they take Claudia out to feed in episode 4, suddenly all the race riots are gone, when everything was on fire 2 hours ago). It's common for shows to have each episode written by a different person, even though they all collaborate in a writer's room, but to me it felt like the show lacked efficient script supervision to make sure all the scripts flowed into each other without any contradictions or inconsistency.

When I talked about these things in my videos, when I said I would have liked the show to do better with the way it missed the mark sometimes in handling racial aspects (even though other parts I commended as being great), and the way I critiqued the inconsistencies and contradictions, some people took that to mean I hated the show entirely. The point of my videos was to see how well the show measured up to Rolin Jones's promises that it was so faithful and respectful to the spirit of the books and that all he wanted to do was honor Anne's work. I know the books back and forth, enjoy having a ND hyperfixation that gives me near-encyclopedic knowledge of the texts and Anne as an author. So people ask me questions about them all the time, especially in comparison to the adaptations. Who better to make videos evaluating how well the show measured up to RJ's promises and claims of faithfulness? But some people took me comparing the show to the books to mean I thought it was a bad thing that they weren't the same, and I hated the show entirely for not being the same as Anne wrote it, and therefore that meant I (and anyone else who loves the books) was racist 🤷

[disruptivevoib]

hi! ive listened to some of chonny jash's songs but did not realize that there was really a story? Or i vaguely knew but didn't have the time/energy to get into it and with the release of the bidding animation ive realized theres like a bajillion awesome animations and art and i want to get into cccc but have no clue how. also why does soul have a trident.

OH man!

The story of CCCC has an overall seeming narrative, but much of it's smaller points are interpretive due to Jash himself leaving it up to fans of the album. But! Overall it kind of goes like:

-Jash or, what most people call Whole, splits as due to mental dissonance and waning mental health. (Time Machine Reprise).

- Whole fades into Soul (End of TMR into Dream) and from there its Mucka Blucka as a sort of introductory song. The recap for a story you have or haven't heard yet.

- (The entire album is a time loop! Which is a big metaphor for the cycles of mental health and illness people go through.)

- From there its the section called "Cacophony" which starts off with Soul, but eventually it turns to Heart and Mind + their fighting and inability to see or listen to one another or their points of view. Of course, as Logic and Emotion, they both have valid ideas or opinions, but believe themselves so contradictory that the other must be evil or out to get them.

- Heart attempts to shoot Mind, as referred to in Ruler of Everything. Literal or Metaphorical as you take this, it is seemingly symbolic for an attempt at one's own life if not self sabotage. If not then both.

- The rest up until Soul Eclectic is sort of just the Mind and Heart fighting and their own personal views each on the situation.

- Soul in The Soul Eclectic reaches his breaking point. Threatening to kill them all (A more direct attempt at suicide)

- Mind and Heart in the subsequent songs decide to get their shit together.

- (Two Wuv) Soul realizes that not only can they be happier now but that trying to force themselves to conform to society's ideas of mental health or belief or love is just plainly unbeneficial. Sort of a song about unapologetically being yourself.

- Welcome To Tally Hall is a tribute to Tally Hall themselves more than anything.

- This transfers into Concord soon after! Concord is Whole or Jash by himself, though many of the songs seem to carry themes from Cacophony in them. Self sabotage, disagreement, importance placed on the wrong thing, the idea that no one person is better off than another. It concludes with Taken for a Ride. Which is also sort of CJ's epic "im burnt out as hell" song towards the end. But exaggerated to my knowledge for lyrical shenanigans.

That is CCCC as neutrally told as best as possible. I highly recommend forming your own ideas on it, but I'd be happy to also discuss more in depth my opinion on each song should you or anyone else express interest!

Getting into the Trident: The fandom took the metaphor of "Tridential Sovreignty" and "This trident he formed (found? Lyrics.) is both weapon and motive" and said "Soul's got a trident" to which Jash responded with "Absolutely yes he does now" Same with the crown most people put Mind in, and that is referenced in the "Trident, Crown and Blindfold" line.

Soul really did get noose imagery, a trident and a mask. All Heart n Mind got were a blindfold and crown. Lmao

Though Heart is also commonly drawn with wings. Which is semi-canonical according to album covers. I choose to ignore them because I don't particularly have an attachment to the idea!

Getting into the fandom itself, I can recommend looking around for the Chonny Jash Fan Server (CJFS) Discord link. But it can be extremely intimidating and even I just stick to discussion and one other thread channel. (Sides from my au channels which pop up every once a month or so).

Important note is that only Tally Hall covers have to do with HMS. Any of Jash's other music (of which I highly recommend, always) is unrelated. There is also a fan QnA somewhere that was done like a year ago now which has some neat answers in it.

I, again, am happy to go into my interpretations of HMS and the music as a whole but skdmsm saved you the reading hopefully should that be undesired!

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Internverse (RC9GN AU) [Name Subject to Change]

Lovely timezone, my dreamers!

So, I blame the constant brainrot I have somehow developed for a ridiculously dead fandom (but we continue to exist lol). The idea, however, is not entirely my own and I do have to give credit where its due (it simply wouldn't be possible without @7-inches-of-satanic-panic having made a post about it and i simply decided to write something for it!)

Now, to explain this AU- canon divergent storyline- it mostly follows McFist and Viceroy (it was Viceroy pfft) coming up with a new plan on capturing the ninja which leads to them creating an internship program in an attempt to unmask the city's 'vigilante'. By the power of well-placed plot logic, and because well, it'd honestly fit the theme- Randy's accepted as an intern and begins working at McFist Industries as he's using the opportunity to figure out the evil duo's next steps but of course, the question remains: what happens if he gets caught?

Unable to easily back out, Randy is left having to complete the internship and if he happens to be enjoying himself a little, that would be a lie- what are you talking about?

Now everything after this is my own interpretation!

Everything takes a sudden turn because Randy isn't exactly the most qualified, but at the same time- i feel he does have some range of skills that McFist and Viceroy could be interested in. ADHD! Randy taking an interest in math for instance? Absolutely, but now he's literally interning for his archenemies and for the time being, the Sorcerer isn't as major of a villain as he would be in the canon; anyway, moving on-

Randy doesn't really seem to find anything amiss and mostly spends his time interning under Viceroy as McFist is, well, McFist- but things get interesting when he (Randy) ends up in the radar of McFist who's a bit suspicious and comes to the conclusion that Randy might be the Ninja due to the type of slang he uses- (which becomes dismissed by Viceroy because apparently Randy is a bit clumsy, and how could someone like that ever be the Ninja, amirite? /lh)

Though I also like to imagine at least Randy and Viceroy bond because, well, who wouldn't be slightly interested in the new technology Viceroy's developed for video games? Honestly- this might be partially inspired by me having read other AU's where Viceroy sort of adopts Randy and I will get my dues with this pfft, but anyway-

At some point, things get tense because Randy mysteriously vanishes when a robot attacks the city, and now has to come up with a plausible excuse to why he left McFist Industries-

(author's cut: i might either write this as a long one-shot or it's going to be a multi-chaptered work where it explores dynamics a little bit more and may gain more 'lore' behind it so to speak)

Headcanons + Thoughts

~ To fit the theme a little, Randy is something of a math prodigy- though it's not something he made an effort in showing before and it's due to this he's accepted into the internship program

~ Personally the program is only meant to last the course of a single month since it's mostly to unravel the Ninja's identity, but things kind of... derail- because Randy does have his skills and Viceroy's curious

~ Randy is peak ADHD in this; I can cover everything about it in a separate post (but basically- he can't sit still for longer than five minutes and is always fidgeting with something)

~ McFist isn't a total idiot and he suspects something strange about Randy, but it's mostly him realizing that Randy uses the same sort of slang as the Ninja- even attempting to bring this idea to Viceroy, though it's not enough

~ All of the expenses are paid for- including lodging in order to make the internship seem more legitimate (and it is, it's also a ploy to capture the Ninja but no one needs to know that)

~ Bash and Randy? We'll see where this goes, but they'll definitely have interactions with Bash being McFist's stepson and well, Randy's interning so they're bound to see each other repeatedly

~ the Sorcerer isn't an overarching element in this as he would be in canon, but he might get cameos- or it's something introduced in the second half of the series to keep things interesting, genuinely we'll have to see

~ if there is going to be reveal, I honestly want the suddenly dawning realization that the Ninja is a teenager- that it's not something to be taken lightly, and while McFist may honestly ignore it, Viceroy certainly will not (and that's all I'm saying on the matter right now)

~ what lesson am i going to be using for this? i'm honestly on the fence of whether i use a preexisting one, or if this is going to be something entirely new Randy's facing-

~ for the sake of how things are going to run, Randy's family is absent during this- i do think he either lives with another relative (half-credit to @7-inches-of-satanic-panic since it's possible it could be an aunt acting as his surrogate mom? or the hc i've talked about before- that his parents are just constantly working and busy, and tend to neglect Randy a lot)

Under-the-Cut Information (+ Thoughts)

I am definitely treating this as a more lighthearted story, but there's going to be serious elements because there isn't a single way that Randy's completely fine being the Ninja and sure, he does love it, though there's got to be an emotional toll happening he isn't realizing (we've seen this in canon, it isn't out of the realm of possibility)

I do want to say that I am using neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ headcanons and elements in this piece, and if that's going to be a problem- please, find something else to read

I'm going to explore the depth of Randy's personality as he genuinely should've gotten more development and I felt his character had a weird... switch during the second season-? Like, it still felt like him but he also could be a massive jerk for seemingly no reason and then regret his actions as if this isn't the most adhd coded kid i have ever seen in my life, it would explain a lot

might play around with character designs? i'm not sure yet honestly-

currently the au will be titled intern randy au until further notice, so if you want to follow the story- the tag is #internrandyau

That is all I've got for now!

Mod Danny (They/Them)

[mothxmoons]

Into you

Transported au/ yandere themes

When you first arrived in the resident evil universe, you weren’t expecting to be involved at all with the story. But then you were. And now you have to deal with the consequences of the universe’s actions. One of said consequences was the main villain for a long time being absolutely obsessed with you.

From day one as a STARS member, Wesker just seemed to be watching you. Constantly. You’re pretty sure he put a tracker on you, because when you went to your new home, ahem- given by the government to keep your secret that you’re from another world, he just so happened to walk by. Then you’re at a restaurant you enjoyed, and he just so happened to walk in. Next you’re at a cafe, enjoying your morning, and guess who walks in….

Yeah so you’re pretty sure this man has a tracker somewhere in your clothes. You haven’t felt it yet though, but at the same time. You find it strange, you can’t let him know that of course. But why did he take such an interest in you? Big enough interest to hand pick you from the training grounds onto his team. It rose a lot of red flags, and you couldn’t help but watch him as well. To which, he took great delight in.

He spent lots of time getting to know where you lived, where you liked to frequent and what stores you go to, just to get to know you a little better. It delights him so that you are also interested in him just as much.

“You have beautiful eyes.” You said to him one day, out of the blue really. You two were just walking around the city together and talking about activities in the city. The compliment made him flustered for a second before he regained his composure and smirked back.

Perhaps that was the beginning of your relationship? Since the next day you were asked out on a date by him when everyone else had left the office.

You agreed of course, who would pass up an opportunity like that? And it was a good way to keep an eye on him.

Wesker proved to be a surprise on dates, some nights you two would stay in and enjoy each other’s company while watching a bad movie, others he would invite you to a fancy restaurant, even helping you pick out an outfit, sometimes you two would just walk around in the rural area nearby, and just talk, and rarely when you two had work, you two would train together and laugh.

He was such a romantic as you got to know him. Flowers when you two went out on dates, chocolates as a gift in the office, he even loved to hold your hand. It was odd to see a side of him many others will never even catch a glimpse of, weirder still that he didn’t want to tell anyone on the team. You didn’t ask, you think you already know. Should his actual employer be revealed, you could very easily be suspected as an accomplice.

Months went by like this, you two never officially said what you two were to each other, but it never needed to. The shared kisses in the morning, the hugs during work hours, the shared nights together, it was obvious what you two were.

You two went on missions together alone as you two were close, the rest of the team also complimented how well your two worked together, god if only they knew.

You were still a mystery to Wesker, but at the same time, god did he love you. Perhaps you would be open to marrying him, you would make the perfect spouse for him, and then you couldn’t leave him, even if he was discovered as an umbrella higher-up. Discovered or not, you would be his, till death do us part.

Like that would happen.

[junk-thrillz]

I wanna hear you talk more about Cody because he makes me insane.

Anon, I would LOVE to talk about Cody. He makes me insane too, he's been one of my favorite pnat characters since I first got into the comic (he was my ultimate favorite until Violet shoved him out of that spot a few months later). Putting all of this under a Read More because it got to be a LOT

It's hard to say what his initial appeal for me was. I think I mostly loved his whole theme of masks and actors and mysteries! The school store scene and its surrounding scenes was my favorite part of pnat basically from the moment I first saw it, and I was DELIGHTED to find out that all of these background characters had insane, hidden depth to them. Cody was especially delightful because him being a dhampir is a crazier fucking reveal than even the school store's existence itself, and once that was revealed it was like a layer of his character had been peeled away. Suddenly his status as the nice, responsible boy was turned on its head, revealing an underlying personality that's a million times more jaded and hurt than was ever previously comprehensible and FUCK it was just so!! Good!! I don't think it was ever about him being a monster, I think it was about the reveal and the intrigue.

I've always loved digging into his character. Before Chapter 8, Chapter 5 was the majority of what we had to go off of for his characterization, and what was in Chapter 5 was already a goddamn goldmine of information. There's a reason why Chapter 5 is my favorite pnat chapter (though my favorite page in the whole comic is in Chaper 4 lmao)!

In the centuries-old past of late 2020, your local weirdo Junk was incapable of separating Cody and Violet from each other in aus, analyses, headcanons, etc. They used to be tied for my favorite character, and it was because I was (and still am) fascinated by their dynamic, the way their respective complexes and insecurities and emotional walls cause problems for them... their argument in Chapter 5 was my favorite scene-within-a-scene for a very long time. All this to say that there's a reason I keep bringing up Violet in a post about Cody; it's still really hard for me to consider one without the other. I love the way they're both protectors (knighthood theming goes crazy in this comic), and I love the way they differ so fundamentally in why they're protectors and how they approach that sense of protectiveness. I love the way Cody jumps to revenge during the Hijeff situation, and I love the way Violet counters that with appalled confusion.

God, can we talk about the revenge thing? The way Cody behaves is fascinating. He's very clearly picked up certain behaviors from his dad, but he thinks that makes him some sort of evil rather than understanding that everyone is a product of their environment. Compared to his dad he's just so... fundamentally kind, with his heart in the right place, but he can't see that because he's 12 years old, in a horrible situation with a horrible parent, and a complicated social situation at school and and-

I'm really glad that he has nice things he can cling to. I can't imagine the nightmare it must be to live in that house. He's got fun clothes he can wear at home on the weekend, he gets to go over to Jeff's house, and those might seem like small victories but they are still victories. I really hope he gets out of there soon. Jesus Christ

Oh oh oh, let's talk about fancontent! I'm going to talk about my own stuff, because there are a lot of very old ideas that will probably never see the light of day otherwise. In the post I'm assuming you came from, anon, I mentioned how I'd mischaracterized my way into the right characterization, and by that I mean both my earliest and most recent interpretations of him really played up his cutesy, smiley demeanor. Very anime girl esque vibe, very over exaggerated movements, very 'actor in a play' type energy. I would often come up with au's that would shove him into some sort of magical girl role, often paired with a healthy amount of body horror for the tonal dissonance. It was, of course, also an excuse to put him in cute, fun outfits. To this day I struggle to draw him in normal outfits that don't make him look like the leader of a magical girl. (If you want a funtastic magical girl au that was actually made for me, check out astralibrary's AU over here.) One of my favorite au's I've ever made was one in which Cody was a magical warrior from another world who fell through a portal and ended up in an ordinary, spirit-free Mayview, where he then had to rely on Violet to get him through the day normal-guy-style. Looking back it's one of my favorite au's in part BECAUSE it involves so many shenanigans revolving around Cody trying to be normal and failing miserably. I believe it to be accurate to canon LMAO

I have so much more I could say about him but I think I've hit the point where I can't put my thoughts into words. To wrap it up, here's a compilation of my favorite Cody panels and bits of official art;

^Chapter 8 Page 44!!

^Chapter 5 Page 44!!

^Chapter 5 Page 58!! I love the way the blur makes his ear look pointy!! You can even see his fangs, a bit!!

^Chapter 5 Page 57!! I love Zack's expressions for him so much

^Chapter 5 Page 165!! "So embarassing", he says, as if he isn't VERY invested

^Chapter 5 Page 167!! Top ten panels that permanently altered my brain chemistry

^Chapter 5 Page 283!! This panel made me nauseous the first time I saw it. Kill your dad, Cody

^Chapter 1 Page 33!! A classic. I love his Chapter 1 look a lot. I love how he's climbing on his chair/desk

^I have an emotional attachment to his old cast page photo.

^CHAPTER 5 PAGE 48. This panel inspired the tiger spectral cody au (not my au, if you haven't heard of it before), and thus made me insane

I think I might have hit the image limit. I got carried away. Here are the honorable mention pages

Anyways. Thank you, anon, for giving me an excuse to go absolutely insane about Cody. I did NOT know this post was going to get THIS long, but once I started it was like I couldn't stop LMAO. I hope you enjoy this thought dump, feel free to send in more asks if you want to ask about something specific/want more lovingly crafted Cody content. If I ever manage to upload a fic to Ao3 with Cody in it, it'll be dedicated to you in the author's notes or something LMAO

[llminal-circus]

My New TADC AU: The Darkest Night

TW: This AU is dark. It goes over dark themes such as: sacrifice, cult themes, death, grief and more.

This will most likely be my only post about this AU due to its nature. This AU is NOT made to praise cults or cult leaders, but rather just an AU based off of my interests. (I have studied cults for fun for years. It was a hyperfixation of mine for months on end, they are fascinating to me, I in NO WAY condone the actions of cults, all cults are inherently evil.)

"Join the cause Pomni. The Brightest Star awaits you."

The Circus Town has been a long running village, all members looking inhuman, led by a man who lacks all features but a set of teeth and two eyes. It seems that those who move into the town have a special connection to a deity only referred to as "The Brightest Star" who granted them such forms.

Pomni was a police officer investigating the village disappearances when she was ambushed by an unknown entity and forced to seek refuge within The Circus Town. Almost as soon as she woke up her first morning, all the current residents visited her. Her uniform had been removed in her sleep, as Ragatha (the one housing her) had dressed her in proper attire while she rest.

Then she met him.

He was like a monster that only the depths of hell could produce, a being that has never known of humanity. His voice was gentle and soothing, like a serpent readying itself for the strike.

Pomni became his next unwilling subject, convinced that because they helped her heal through her injuries, at the very least she could watch a "ceremony." This ceremony was the ritual that bound Pomni to her new, inhuman form.

Meeting The Brightest Star, the deity gives Pomni a new identity as a jester, seeing through her mask and discovering the person she really is beneath the cop persona. It is also a prophecy that The Brightest Star gives to her, insinuating that Pomni will be the one that will bring The Circus Town to its knees.

This isn't without it's trials though.

In order to become one of them, Pomni has a tough process of attempted brainwashing as Caine's hands. She endures the verbal assault of Jax, the body dysmorphia that Zooble would wish upon nobody, and above all, the constant reminders that there is no way back to her previous form, and that she'd become an outcast if she left.

It was only two months later that Caine saw Pomni unfit for the town, and tried to have her sacrificed to The Brightest Star.

This... is where we are now.

[ukittyu]

Jack In The Box!

Summary: You never seen it's face but you've seen it's silhouette. You've heard it's laugh and sometimes it calls your name. It's always been this way but it was always at the back of your mind, until, due to a series of unfortunate events that led you to a mental hospital for a couple weeks, things started to get trippy.

Part 2

TW: Yandere themes, traumatic childhood, substance ingest, Imaginary friend turned sleep paralysis demon!Hoseok AU! Slow-burn. This episode contains violence, leave if you're sensitive. TW will be updated if needed.

You woke up feeling as if you were stranggled, gasping for air, trashing up in your bed. You opened your eyes and saw it was still dark outside, you calmed down and turned on your bedside light. The clock said 05:04am. You held your head as you felt the hangover kicking in.

You're glad it's already saturday, another day to rest ahead. So now you lied in your bed but couldn't get back to sleep. You hate sleep paralysis so much, you're tired of nightmares and you hadn't much of it lately but they always coming back. Then the thought of it make you wonder, why suddenly your mind it's playing games with you again? The shadow, his shadow, because you know him well, because, even though the years got to him as well, his sinister smile was the same, the apple of his cheeks.

But he looked so creepy, so dark and evil now, it made you fear closing your eyes and seeing him again. Why did you have to get back to the bad thoughts and even personalize them? Because that's what you did you invented one person in your mind, haven't you?

You got up from the bed soon as the sun rised up. Body heavy and your head tummering. With a grunt you got ready to do some house chores, once you finish you'll have some snacks. It was a warm spring day, you couldn't find much to do, tv shows were so boring and none of your friends answered your messages, seems like they were still sleeping, you thought.

You spent the rest of the day eating, watching some movies slumped in your couch till the sun was begin to set. The orange sunlight felt so cozy in your face, you were so tired but you couldn't sleep nor take a nap. You got up and put on some music, you wanted to forget about how lonely you felt today and the uncomfortable nightmare. You closed your eyes and danced. Danced like you always did when nobody's watching, feeling yourself and feeling lucky for this new beginning, this new place, your friends.

All your happy memories spread out in your head, so you smiled with your eyes closed, while you danced and...it did too. A cold breeze break through your window as the sunlight disappeared. You opened your eyes to see darkness. As if the sun was never there, you could still see the silhouettes of the buildings outside, your house but the sky was a deep green color, the music no longer sounding.

You felt a knot in your stomach and chills running up your spine. You breathing got heavier, your vision dizzy. Everything started to spin, you lost your balance but you never hit the floor. Eyes heavy and in the dark did not make much of it but you felt arms around you, one arm on your waist and the other holding your head.

You felt his breathing just above your upper lip, mind out of this world you opened your mouth unconsciously and whispered "Hobi?" The room got silent, all the buzzing, the white sound that could've been was gone and the rush of all your senses burned in your body. Your eyes adjusted to the dark and you saw a shadow hovering above you, it had no face just to little dots shinning were eyes were supposed to be. The fear rushed into your brain and the hands holding you snaked off your body to tangle in your neck, chocking you.

You tried to move your arms, tried to scream but again you were paralyzed. You thought this was the end of your life, or maybe your life was just a dream? Maybe you never got out of your miserable life and these last days, months and years were all an illusion and that's when it hit you. You were dreaming. "I'm just dreaming." The desperation got into you, "I'm just dreaming, I'm just dreaming" you repeated like a mantra as the hands around your neck got tighter.

"I'm just dreaming" you let out your last breath when you hit the floor. Astonished, you woke up in your living room, the sun has already set but the sky was still blue. The TV was still on, did you fell asleep in your couch? So you never played the music? It was a sleep paralysis again? You got up head and bum hurting because of the fall. You were now pissed off, how come you cannot sleep without being strangled in your dreams?

These last days were wonderful, you wanted to keep it that way and rest before getting back to work the monday. You went to the bathroom, when you turned on your light to see your reflection in the mirror, you were horrified. There were marks in your neck.

Your blood ran cold, how come? It cannot be, it was a dream. You fell asleep in the couch and the vision again, the paralysis. You looked ar the mirror again, the marks were still there, they were real. You tried to make it make sense.

Maybe you tangled your earphones around your neck? They werent even on the couch. You felt like your sanity was starting to cramble, if this was real, you didnt know what to do. Was a demon trying to steal your soul? A ghost in the house who wants you to leave? No one will believe you and youll probably will be sent to a mental hospital.

You laughed in frustration, even though you fight to keep it out of your mind it kept coming back, it was just a childhood imaginary friend, right? So why is it hunting you still after all these years. You dont remember the last time you saw it, nor how the whole situation ended. There was just one person who knew about it, your psychologist.

It's been years since you had an appointment with them, you were a teenager and this imaginary friend thing long forgotten but maybe you could give it a try and maybe she knew what was this all about.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: Heey I'm so sorry for taking so long:(( my personal life has been pretty crazy before I even started to write this and after I published the first part I've been so busy and unmotivated. Hopefully I'm doing and feeling better now so I can keep up! Thanks to all the people who supported and like my writing, I'll try to improve every day. Your feed back is always well received!

Love, Kitty~☆

[sunny6677]

Disney/Fairytale AU(A Spooky Month AU)

Part 1: Leon and The Six Children.

Explanation for this AU before we begin: In this au, the Spooky Month cast have been reincarnated several times in the past, in past lives that were basically heavily based on Disney movies. The life they are all currently in is well.. Spooky Month. And while they can't remember their past life's on a conscious level, they can subconsciously remember it somewhat. This short series will kinda just be an explanation of all of their past lives, in order of which they all happened.

TWS: PROFANITY, DEATH MENTIONS, ATTEMPTED MURDER, DEATH, BASICALLY ABUSE, CARMEN BEING A DICK, ORGAN MENTIONS, POISON.

(Clarification: Any sort of problematic themes from the Disney movies all of their past life's are based on shall be removed.)

Without further a do, let's explain this part of the AU. But I'll show the designs first. (Apologies if the designs might be a bit shitty, I was trying to match the medieval style of this part in particular.)

It opens up with Carmen speaking to her magical mirror(nicknamed Dexter occasionally but just referred to as Magic Mirror most of the time, he also happens to actually be Dexter by the way), asking who the fairest one of them all is. Dexter tells her like always that she is the fairest one of all, but that there may be some competition in her midst. You see, Carmen has a nephew by the name of Leon(they are related in this life), and the only reason he is in her care is because both of his parents are dead due to her greedy and evil actions, and she basically only took him in because she was jealous of him in general and wanted to use him as a personal servant. Carmen is furious by this, of course, and plans on doing something about it.

Now, introducing Leon. Leon is technically a prince due to being in Carmen's care, but he is not treated like it due to.. ya know, Carmen. He is very kind and gentle, especially with animals, and remains ever polite despite the circumstances he is in. But while he is doing chores, his childhood best friend and crush Ethan kinda happens to hop over the palace gates just to come and see him. Ethan is actually a prince, and they both do love eachother(by the way, since this is an alternate universe, despite it being in medieval times, homophobia is not a thing in this life.), but rarely get to see eachother due to Carmen. So they have a romantic meeting with the other, but Carmen happens to be watching from a window, furious.

Carmen then orders a hunter named John to literally kill Leon, but John is hesitant, but Carmen also doesn't give a shit. So she requests that as proof that he killed him, he has to bring back his fucking heart, or at least some kind of other proof that he killed him.

So John goes out to kill Leon, who is kinda just minding his own business and chilling with animals. He tries to stab him while he's distracted, but guilt overcomes him, and he just can't seem to kill him. Leon, confused and terrified, asks what the hell is going on. John gives no actual explanation, and tells him that Carmen is gonna fucking kill him if he doesn't get away somehow, so he screams at him to fucking run for his life. That is what Leon does exactly, and he literally runs into the forest, but out of his own anxiety of the new information, he begins to have a panic attack due to paranoia of Carmen finding him. After a bit, he drops onto the floor while weeping, clearly not in a healthy state of mind yet. But nearby animals manage to calm him down somehow, and he manages to stop crying.

Leon, now that he's not completely panicked, decides to search for a new home with the help of the animals. And of course, he does, but it's empty and dusty. So he decides to organize it by himself, but the animals attempt to join in, and almost make the place messy again until he kindly stops them and decides to get them to help in some other way. Leon also assumes that the house must belong to some people, for there would be no reason as to why the place was so messy, and why there were several beds upstairs. He assumes it must belong to children, and realizes that they must be orphans. Feeling sad for them, he decides to organize one last time, just incase they arrive.

He then rests upstairs for the night, but the owners of the house happen to return in the middle of the night. Of course, the owners are six orphan children(The dwarves are replaced by the kid characters in Spooky Month in this au). Roy(he is not related to Carmen in this life), Ross, Robert(he actually does have one last relative, which is John. But his parents died in an accident, along with many other relatives, and John happened to be present during that, but he survived without Robert knowing. Both Robert and John think the other are dead.), Susanna(nicknamed Susie), Sam(Lila fucking died in this life, so that's why he's an orphan) and Paul(Susanna's brother). They have seemingly come back from getting supplies for themselves.

They obviously panic, seeing him as an intruder. But after a bit of chaos, he manages to calm them down a bit, and tells them that he means no harm. After a bit of a tense conversation, he explains himself and they actually do pity him, but Roy is pretty intent on getting him out of the house despite his story. Even so, the others decide to let him stay, and Leon is kind of happy, but mostly because he doesn't want these children to be by themselves without a parental figure any longer.

So for a bit, he cares for them like an actual father, one of them even accidentally calls him 'dad' at some point. Roy also eventually warms up to him, but he doesn't want to admit it.

But of course, cutting back to Carmen, she receives a box of what looks to be a heart from John, and obviously thinks it's Leon. But this was a trick John put up so she wouldn't go looking for Leon, and eventually, she finds out that it wasnt Leons heart, but just the heart of a pig. So out of her own fury, she decides to finally deal with Leon herself.

She makes a potion, and once she drinks it, it disguises her as an innocent little girl. And in order to kill Leon once and for all, she poisons an apple, fully intent on killing him with it.

So, she happens to run into him while he's taking a walk, and the plan sets into motion. He, not suspecting a thing, offers her to come inside since he doesn't want a "child" to be walking by herself, and even offers to go and look for her "parents" in the mean time. She of course agrees, and comes inside. The six children are still there, and they are very suspicious of her, though Leon is not. He makes a pie for her. And Carmen basically says(while still disguised as an innocent little girl) that since he's being so kind to her, she'll give him something. So she tries to offer him the apple, and he's about to accept it, but Sam and Paul(Skid and Pump) happen to somehow sense that something is off, and attempt to literally destroy the apple. Leon gently scolds them(still oblivious as ever), and decides to take Carmen elsewhere.

He takes her outside, and she finally gives him the apple, and he eats it. He then promptly dies, and she retreats, laughing manically as she does so, slowly turning back into her real form. The six children come outside, and are devastated by the sight, each traumatized and already in grief.

In honor of the only father figure they've all had in life, they bury him inside of a makeshift casket, weeping as they do so.

But Ethan happens to come into that area, and recognizes Leon's dead corpse. He goes into a state of grief, and begins to weep at the sight of the man he loved being dead inside of a casket. Out of his own grief, he hugs his corpse, still weeping and letting out weirdly poetic sad comments as he does so. But like a Disney movie, his tears manage to get onto Leon, and it somehow magically brings him back to life. True love managed to bring Leon back to life instead of a kiss like in Snow White, since I found the prince kissing her corpse a little weird.

Once he is revived, the six children and Ethan are all relieved at him being alive, and they all have an emotional reunion with him. Afterwards, Leon tells Ethan about why he was there, and tells him about the six children as well. Ethan is furious and sad with both Leon's situation, and the six children's situation, so he takes action immediately. Since he can easily do so, considering he's a fucking prince.

He manages to expose Carmen for what she did, and manages to get her arrested, which makes Leon take her place as head royalty instead, which makes him 'King Leon' now. And after a bit, Leon and Ethan decide to adopt the six children as their own, giving them all a happily ever after.

Now, as for how this life would effect their subconscious behaviors in their current life, I do not know. But I assume Leon would probably be fearful around Carmen if he ever saw her again, and Carmen would feel an unreasonable rage upon seeing Leon. Ethan would probably feel a weird emotional attachment to Leon, not knowing if it was platonic or romantic, but still feeling it. He'd also feel weirdly enraged if he ever saw Carmen, and wouldn't know why. Leon would also feel as if Skid and Pump looked oddly familiar when he saw them in the haunted house, and would probably look almost shocked for a moment. Ethan would probably feel that way as well. If John ever saw Leon, he'd probably feel as if he looked oddly familiar, but wouldn't think much of it. And if he saw Carmen, he'd also feel the same way, but a bit fearful. Carmen would probably feel enraged if she saw any of them to be honest. But that's just what I think.

[dandylorian]

🗒️📝❕

oh boy oh boy ok ty bud <3 <3 <3

📄What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?

The one I think of when I think of my WIPs is from Haikyuu!!, which is a VOLLEYBALL ANIME I had no business falling in love with but certainly did (*looks at my 94 published fics*). Sports animes are big on drawing blatant narrative foils. The mc Hinata and his rival/bestie/boyfriend Kageyama are light and dark, gregarious and awkward, intuition and skill, but both share one brain cell and have literally said to each other, "As long as you're with me, you're the greatest." ANYWAY....

The funky thing about going on the fic journey with a sports anime is eventually you'll arrive at an AU that's just character themes and nothing else? This WIP is peak achy/sad, where H is summer/growth and K is winter/death, and they are eternal, but have very little time they can spend with one another bc they are opposites at their core. K must carry sleeping chestnut seed!Hinata in a pouch against his heart as he blankets the world in snow, and has to plant him in a sacred grove and move on in the hopes that the seed will grow and warmth will come again. It's a very pandemic winter trying-to-preserve-hope-in-the-dark-months vibe.

📝Share a snippet of an unposted WIP, with or without context.

Dorian was lucky that only his lyre was broken – and not his hand – from a close call just moments before. His armor and travel gear clung to him in a sweaty film as he raced after Opal, Dariax, and Orym, with Fearne right on his heels.

“Remember that time I said breaking into a scary-evil-awful-glowing tower was probably a bad idea?” he yelped, narrowly dodging a sconce that ripped at his sleeve like a clawed beast as they advanced down the steadily contracting hallway. He yanked Fearne after him, the both of them escaping for the moment with shallow scrapes. Orym glanced over his shoulder at them, and the red-orange of flames reflecting in his wide eyes proved the trigger downstairs was far from exhausted.

Dorian didn’t have more time to stare, because the stone floor erupted under them in a tremendous wave, like it was made of storm-roughened waters, or billowing fabric, instead of solid rock. 

“Since when do we make smart decisions,” Orym grunted, darting up the side of the wall for a breathless moment to dodge flying shrapnel.

“That Orroyen lady said, ‘the wizard has answers,’” Opal hissed, sliding down the hall on her heeled boots as the walls warped and squeezed threateningly. 

“She didn’t mention if he had hospitality!” Dariax said in that way he had, which – despite everything – had the lot of them wheezing with disbelieving laughter as they sprinted deeper along the twisting corridors. 

Dorian loved these idiots. He felt awful, completely flattened and horrible and dirty and exhausted, but life was nothing if not exciting with them, every single sweaty day.

“Queen bitch, you plan on helping us anytime soon?!” screamed Opal, glaring upward.

Whatever the response was, all the rest of them could hear was the creeping sound of crawling insects, and then the hallway straightened out in a snap, revealing a tall, narrow, turquoise door that had seemed eons away just moments before.

“Check for traps, Dari – okay.” Orym reached out, but Dorian caught him by the armor and pulled him back, nearly slamming him into his and Fearne’s legs where they were plastered against the wall. 

Dariax narrowly avoided the dart that ejected from a hole in the wall, when he finally unlocked the door.

[terribleninjagoaus]

all the evil misako aus on this blog give me immense enjoyment. mod, what’s your favorite au so far?

What a great question :D and I’m glad my blog has brought you joy :))

Okay I wanted to put my answer to this ask under the cut because I have a lot to say but frickin web browser tumblr seems to be broken or something so I guess this is just gonna have to be a longass post😔😔😔

I was a big fan of @/hyperfixation-gang’s au where kai is trans and open about it but no one realizes except Nya- it’s an easy au to love just because people had so many additions to it. One of my favorite additions to it was this one from @/jay-reid:

I just think it’s very silly and in character

And I also loved the au from @/damion-the-skeleton where zane and all other nindroids were replaced with “Clyde”

My favorite au RECENTLY has been cat nya and mouse jay❣️❣️i really love jaya and I really love animals (especially cats) so it works out hehe :))

Also, when I got this ask, i thought I might as well go through my blog a bit to find some more AUs that I particularly liked, so here are some screenshots of them

I just liked this au because I thought it was sweet because it’s like !!! This is my blog !!! And this au is about the ninja running it !!! And I love the ninja !!!

The last sentence of this au just caters to my sense of humor really well

Now for some of my favorite aus that IVE written, hehe

I can’t even really explain why I like this one, I just do :3

I wrote this one when I was doing the pride themed aus every day for pride month, and you can tell that I came up with this one near the end just because of how weird and unhinged it is pfffff. I like it because it’s so dumb but it still got a decent amount of traction so I guess people were vibing with it

Also???? I’d just like to give an honorable mention to ANY au that @long-lost-mcguffin has ever sent in. I didn’t even actually tag anyone else in this post but I’m tagging them now because i actually want them to see this. His aus all just have such good vibes, yknow? (And one of her aus made me laugh the other day, which I said in the tags when I posted it). Plus!!! I also like their username and profile picture. It is a joy seeing him in my inbox😌

[musecaravan-info]

Finn Ilios

"You are magic. Don't ever apologize for the fire in you." ~ Unknown ~

Basic Information

FACE/BODY CLAIM: Amy Adams

AGE: Very Old; born in 8000 BCE - probably during the summer months

EYES: A blue so pale it's almost disconcerting

HAIR: Bright Orange; she usually wears it long and loose down her back

HEIGHT: 5'4

PRIMARY OUTFIT: She loves a variety of styles, but the themes tend to stay the same: lots of warm colors - red, orange, gold, yellow - with a splash of shine, sparkle, or glitter as accents

Personality

On the outside Finn had a very bubbly, friendly demeanor - it’s not all that she is, but it does play a large part. This is what often gives others the impression that she’s naïve or simple-minded. It’s not a façade, per say, it’s just how she chooses to be - to always see the happiness and good in things. She knows there’s bad and evil in the world, but she doesn’t want to give it power by acknowledging its existence. Like all dragons, she has a wisdom that isn’t often matched (even by Apollo) and if someone managed to make her angry it would come in a sharp burst of intensity - the kind where she wouldn’t realize or regret what she’d said or done until she’d had a chance to calm down.

Powers & Weaknesses

To avoid repetitiveness, go here.

Romance

Finn isn’t an overly sexual creature, despite how one might be mislead by her physical appearance and overly-friendly personality. She’s not immediately going to hit on someone she finds attractive, although she will openly and honestly compliment them. But Finn doesn’t see it as the same thing - she’s just being honest - not flirty. However, she appreciates sex as an act that creates pleasure for both partners, and is rarely offended or put-off when someone expresses an interest in her. Finn also doesn’t see any reason why two people need to be ‘in love’ to take part in such things, so if she were propositioned, she wouldn’t be likely to say no if the one suggesting it was someone she found physically attractive. There might be other things which would factor in that might lead her to say no (like a really terrible personality) but in general, she won’t.

Where to Find Her

Finn is one of those people that can be found just about anywhere, so in regards to picking a place to start an RP, I'm pretty flexible. Here are some generic ideas:

Ballet/Music/Theater performance

City park/botanical garden

Famous landmarks

Fashion show

Museum

Verses

Just because a verse isn't listed here doesn't mean I'm not interested in writing it. I adore all kinds of AUs, and welcome the chance to get creative with my muses. If you've seen a verse that another of my muses has, and you'd like to see this muse in something similar, let me know. You can also check out my 'Plot Ideas' tag, too. ^_^

Main Verse:

Finn's main verse can actually be explored in this bio post. It seems silly to re-type it all here. ^_^;

Current/Ongoing Threads

If your thread with Finn isn't listed here it's probably because it's been long enough since your last reply that I thought you'd dropped it. Message me to let me know you're still interested, and I'll happily add you to the list (with no pressure for a reply.) ♡

Marcella:

The Nature Of Secrets

Stuff That's Good to Know Before Starting a Thread

She has a sun-shaped scar over her heart where Apollo critically wounded her.

Apollo was the love of her life - her mate; there won't ever be anyone who comes close to him. However, that doesn't mean Finn isn't capable of caring/loving someone new. It won't be the same for her, but she can still show affection for someone given enough time and trust.

Links

Please keep in mind, this blog is an ongoing work in progress. Not all of these links may lead somewhere, but they're here because they link to potential tags for this muse.

All Things Finn

Headcanons

Drabbles

All Threads

Ask Replies

Meme Replies

Aesthetics

Face

Special Links

Original Blog

Finn's Wardrobe

Return To Full Muse List

[dememarquette]

Season Finale

Jo killed the set.

The show fizzled, leaving the blank screen mirroring the town. It’s face reflected everyone. Friends, neighbors, family- all of their faces turning to Adria in empathetic horror-

Except Demetrius.

Silence fell like a guillotine. Energy warped as the deputy siphoned all power from the room, cultivating it into an oppressive force that hung over the diner at large. Her ire was a tsunami, and the subject of it kicked the leg of the stool, twisting his body her direction with a squeak.

Stone-faced, he was ready for the breach. His plastic, coiffed, red-carpet face stared down his nose at his co-star:

A stricken, destroyed Adria who’s life, all at once, was blasted before America as prime-time entertainment.

"You unbelievable bastard," Her voice trembled, severe. "You son of a bitch."

"Adria-” 

"Deputy," She snarled. "And I don’t want to hear it."

He rolled his eyes. “Deputy,” He indulged. “I can explain.”

"You're going to explain?” She jolted to her feet. Her hand jerked from her mother’s grip, and her sister ducked out of the way. A chair clattered between them. “You’re going to explain what? How you lied to my face? How you humiliated me in front of…of the whole fucking country? How you tricked me into thinking you gave a damn about anyone other than yourself? How you sat here, watching me watch you make a fool of me so you could get one more laugh at how stupid I am?"

“C’mon-”

"You swore to me!”

“I swore to you?” He blinked, awestruck. "I swore to you? ’Thanks for putting me through Hell’? That was my promise?”

"How could you do this?!" She seethed, bulldozing past his nonchalance. Her face was breaking. As her vision blurred, its pain chipped into a much deeper chasm. 

Predictably, Demetrius thought. Such audacity. She was serious. She was honestly serious and that was somehow more nauseating than her stage persona.

He shook his head, huffing a derisively impressed breath. In his eyes, this episode was a long time coming. With it, their cutesy charade would die and, for once, they would be on the same page. 

But alas, here she was. Continuing her role. Feigning hurt, faking a deep sort of betrayal so sickeningly trite that it should be saved for the cameras.

All of this was coming after everything she had been doing to tear down his career. After she destroyed his arm, after she blasted his integrity in front of the whole town, HE was the bad guy? Like the episode didn’t just prove she was the cause of the town’s misery? And that she wasn’t even capable of cleaning up her own mess without devolving into an emotional heap, a helpless bleeding wound oozing all over America’s heartstrings? 

This was a job for him, sure. But it was getting exhausting.

"I trusted you!” She wailed. “And I cared about- and I thought that you- that we were-" 

“NO.” Her cut her off. “You do not get to pull that shit. You lied. God, Adria. You can’t deny it, you were loving it!”

“What-?” Her furor doused under a wash of confusion. Everything she’d been planning to say came to a still.

Demetrius was a sociopath. He was a traitor, a bastard who put her on blast before all of America, yet knowing all this did not disarm the awful power he had to cast doubt.

‘You were loving it’  he said. 

She was. Honest to God she was, but the malicious look in his eyes said their contexts existed onto two different planes.

“What are you talking about?”

Demetri slid off the stool. Serpentine, he moved with purpose, stopping toe to toe in front of her face. At the same height he took in every detail. Every blood vessel about to break. Every tear that formed at the corners on the edge of her lashes, ambling to spill over.

“You live in the past. Always have. That’s been your schtick since the beginning. ‘Oh no, woe is me. I can’t handle the bare mention Cyrus.’ Like it was a keyword, a self-destruct button, but get real. He was your middle school crush.”

He moved into a slow prowl around her. Adria stood as a frozen totem in the center. 

“And all of that would make sense except you just happen to wear that cross around your neck? That the compound hurt too much to discuss yet you didn’t mind the cameras pouring over it? That it wasn’t your goddamn idea to investigate in the first place? Tell me, Adria.” He moved into the crook of her neck. His words, another secret to Ashwater. Wouldn’t that drive her wild? “Were you thrilled when I asked?” He whispered acidically. “Were you waiting for that moment? The chance to finally get it out? That this fabricated mystique you’ve been building for eleven. fucking. years was now free for the presses?”

Her head swam. Effortless, he hit every button. Every teeny insecurity, he ripped them to the surface. They were wounds overed but never healed. All that frantic, hysterical energy hardened. The betrayal locked her inside herself. Excruciating, his rant coursed through her body like a current, holding her prisoner.

But an underlying impulse was there. Her hands shook. One by one fingers curled into her palms.

“I mean, what do you guys think?” He spun on the crowd, determined to turn this into a real spectacle. It’s what they were vying for, wasn’t it?  “You were all there! Was it chance that the first person she happened to,” He pinched his fingers into airquotes, “‘TRUST‘ was a television celebrity? That I was more reliable than anyone else in her life? Even her own family-? It sounds like a big ‘fuck all of you guys,’  right? C’mon, let’s hear it-”

He clapped. His hands pounded into one another like the rest of the world was supposed to join in. 

Adria stood at the center. Humiliated.

She wasn’t even hearing him anymore. Or anything- not over her heart hammering in her ears. Her tears dried. The blood in her veins, once icy was now boiling. Under the intense pressure of her personal hell mutating, it metastasized. It became something far worse than what went on HBO, and that’s when it dawned on her: 

He was not completely wrong. He was right, if only about one thing: this was her fault. It was her mistake. Demetrius would not have had the power to destroy her if she hadn’t given it to him.

She always had one rule for herself: keep people away for a reason- to avoid this. And she'd broken it. She didn't get to cry about being hurt when she'd done it to herself. She had been too pathetically starved for companionship to remember that at his core, Demetrius was a liar. All the good she'd thought she'd seen was a front so that he could get what he wanted out of her. And she’d fallen for it- again.

“Congratulations Adria” He continued, ever oblivious to his limits. “You got what you wanted! Now everyone in the United States of America can see how miserable, and maudlin, and heartbroken their sweetheart deputy is. Now, if I can stop babysitting-”

She slugged him.

The priest crashed against into bar. Stools dropped as he barely caught himself. His good hand snagged the counter, palm screeching across its face like sneakers on linoleum before it got its purchase. As it did, his head jerked and lulled. His vision broke between images of a red-eyed Adria and a diner full of people alienated by his presence. 

No one said anything. No one raced to help, but wasn’t that his point? 

This hokey town, this community built on deceit, this fake brand compassion he was constantly subjected to- it was all over. None of their lives would have been in danger if she hadn’t ever loved that prick. If she hadn’t let him escape, there would be no monsters. No cult, no fake prime-time show romanticizing a fucking psychopath, and most importantly no can-do-no-wrong cop that was nonsensically still a bleeding heart.

It didn’t matter if they didn’t see it immediately. They would, eventually. He was sure of it.

“‘is doesn’ change an’ing.” He sucked blood off his lip. “Nothing.”

She took a step closer. Towering over him, Adria’s fist was a powerhouse ready for more but motivation behind it died. Her eyes were dull. The fire was put out. Forced to come to terms with the fact no one was left in her corner- and no one ever would be- soberly left her with a grim, apathetic resolve. Yes, trust was a mistake. And no, it would not happen again.

He wobbled- timid of the looming figure, but determined. He couldn’t defend himself. Not a chance, but when he looked up, he saw the glimmering moment she crashed to Earth. This wasn’t about trading barbs or blows anymore. They were past all that emotional nonsense. 

“Remember, Dep,” He yanked himself level with the counter, wild-eyed and teeth smeared red. “You and me have a date. Are we saving this town or not?”

[littlemessyjessi]

"Guardians of Stone": Age Thirteen: Chapter Four : Poly Fantasy BTS AU

=

Poly BTS, Fantasy, Supernatural AU,

Fallen Angels, demons,angels, yandere themes, fantasy themes, supernatural themes.

💜 chapter 4: age 13 💜

======

Anxious fingers continue to fidget with the handle on the cello case. 

There were people everywhere. 

Her father had a function and Jessabella was meant to perform. 

It wasn't a question or a request but rather a direct command.  

The place was the picture elegance. 

Truthfully, the function itself probably cost more than most people would make in their lifetime. 

And her father spent it like it was nothing because to him that's exactly what it was. 

Money was no object for him. 

He thought it could solve all problems. 

"Everyone has a price, Jessabella.  Anything and anyone can be bought, for the right amount. You would do well to remember that." he had said to her more times than she could count. 

She hated him for that. 

For that mentality. 

The very idea that he thought he could just buy people off. 

After all, it had never worked for her and she was his own blood. 

His only child and one that he had given ever material thing anyone could ever desire. 

But she would never accept him because he was evil. 

She truly believed that. 

In her thirteen years of life, she had seen the true dark, cruel twisted side of him and it didn't matter what other thoughts. 

She had seen the wicked grin that lay just behind the charming smile he gave to the socialites. 

He was dashing and handsome and successful but she knew exactly who he was. 

However, she was still a child and there was only so much she could do. 

She had tried. 

Oh, how she had tried. 

She'd ran away more times than either of them could keep up with but she never got far for long because he had people everywhere. 

It was only a matter of time before she was deposited right back into his hands. 

"You're meant to inherit my legacy, Jessabella.   You are the only heir and it's expected of you." he would say every time.   "But apparently you have another lesson to learn." 

It was always followed by a statement to the public that she was off on another vacation with her 'doting, loving father'. 

To the public, he was the widowed single father to the daughter who he spoiled and adored. 

No one else saw the absolute hell behind closed doors. 

A month later when the bruises had healed and he was convinced he'd broken her spirit enough- only then would he allow her to go out into the world again. 

A hand settled on her shoulder, a little too hard to be comfortable. 

"Darling." 

She nearly gagged as the word leaving his lips. 

"It's time for your performance." he said. 

Jessabella looked up at her father. 

His black hair glinting in the light, the smile on his face sharp- a warning. 

She simply nodded tugging her cello out and getting settled. 

She had chosen "Numb" by Linkin Park. 

She hadn't bothered to run it by him because there would be no lyrics and she knew it wouldn't matter. 

It was simply about the music and the idea that his 'beloved daughter' was a prodigy. 

In truth, she was but she hated that he referred to her as such. 

She just loved music, of any kind. 

Music put her feelings into the words that she couldn't seem to get out. 

She took a deep breath before she let the song overtake her. 

The bow sliding across the strings effectively captivating the audience. 

She knew it was. 

The song was beautiful and the composition of it was gorgeous. 

The lyrics spoke to her personally and even without them… the emotion bled through in the melody. 

She sang along in her head as she played, the pads of her fingers calloused from hours against the strings. 

'I'm tired of being what you want me to be.  Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface.  Don't know what you're expecting of me.  Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes.' 

Tears brewed behind her closed eyes but she would be damned if she let them fall. 

She thought of her mother often.  

There had definitely been struggles but she hadn't deserved to die. 

And Jessabella missed her. 

'I've become so numb.  I can't feel you there.  Become so tired.  So much more aware.' 

She hated being alone with her father. 

She hated it. 

At times, she understood her mother's reasons. 

Her eyes opened focused in across the street. 

The back of Bangtan Mansion displayed before her, guarded by the iron gate. 

It was right across from the local country club. 

It had been three years since she'd been back. 

She was still terrified of her experience but at times, she wondered if whatever happened… might've been better than this. 

Her eyes slid down to the crowd to see her father standing there. 

He looked proud. 

Not of her. 

But of the envy in the other's eyes. 

She was nothing more than a possession to him. 

Something to gloat about and lord over others. 

She hated him. 

Her eyes closed again, trying to just focus on the music. 

'I'm becoming this.  All I want to do is be more like me and be less like you. 

And I know I may end up failing too but I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you. 

I've become so numb.  I can't feel you there. I'm tired of being what you want me to be.  I've become so numb.' 

She finished her performance to an outstanding ovation and her father all but leapt on the stage, harshly tugging her into his side. 

He went on to brag about his 'prodigy' of a child and she barely kept it together. 

She gave a few polite bows before she promptly got as far away from the stage as she could. 

Normally, he would take this opportunity to cart her around like a prized show pony but he was distracted by some politician. 

She saw her chance and she took it, sneaking out of the party and down the street. 

Her black heels clacked on the sidewalk, the matching black dress blowing in the wind a bit. 

She already missed her cargos and combat boots. 

Her hair had been pinned into submission and her face painted to look much older than the young teenager that she was. 

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost ran into something as it swung out in front of her. 

Her eyes narrowed at the iron slightly swaying in front of her feet. 

Eyes dragging up to see that it was in fact a gate and she was standing right outside of Bangtan Manor. 

Apparently, it had an entrance in the back that she'd never noticed. 

Though truthfully, it was a bit overgrown. 

She gnawed on her lip for a moment, deciding if she should go in or not. 

"Last time you nearly got yourself killed." she said to herself.  "But then again, here lately, maybe…" 

She shook her head of the dark thoughts… but apparently not enough to clear them because soon enough she was pushing through the vines and stepping onto the property again. 

It was quiet. 

The kind of quiet associated with horror movies before the main character got ripped to shreds. 

Even with that knowledge… she pressed on. 

She slid her heels off, the grass tickling her bare feet but soothing the soreness. 

She sighed. 

There were no voices. 

She was sure that they were angry with her, after all, what would she expect after the last encounter. 

She'd nearly been killed. 

Though, at times when she lay awake at night, she wondered if that had been intentional. 

She had many conversations with Jimin before. 

That in and of itself sounded insane, she knew. 

He was a statue after all but she had long since accepted that she wasn't normal. 

And he had always been kind to her before. 

She ventured further into the property where she knew a small pond sat. 

It was still a bit overgrown but there were flowers blossom in varying shades of pink and the little wooden bench was still in tact. 

She took a seat as she looked up at the statue closest to her. 

If anyone had been blessed by Aphrodite, it was that man. 

He was truly beautiful in every way. 

"Hello, Seokjinnie." she said.  

She received no answer but she didn't really expect one to be honest. 

It would be a miracle if she managed to leave there alive today and somehow… she had made her peace with that. 

"Your flowers are looking lovely." she commented.  "I see that the azaleas are a new addition." 

The statue remained looking over the water managing to look both pensieve and serene at the same time. 

"I'm sorry I haven't been back, Seokjinnie." she said.  "I have missed you.  But with what happened last time, I've been afraid.  I- I thought I was going to die.  I thought Jimin was going to kill me.  But now, even if that is what happens, I'm no so afraid of it anymore." 

The water of the pond turned vicious, churning in a way that a pond never would. 

Jessabella grew afraid again but moments later the pond settled into a gentle ebb and flow. 

Music drifted around them as it floated out of the manor. 

The tinkling of piano keys filled the air. 

"I know this song." she smiled.  "My mother used to play it for me.  It's 'Jasmine Flower'." 

Warmth blossomed in her heart that the good memories of her mother and before she knew it she was singing. 

"What a beautiful jasmine flower! What a beautiful jasmine flower! Buds and blooms are here and there, pure and fragrant all do declare.  Let me gather some with tender care, sweetness for all to share.  Jasmine fair, oh jasmine fair." she said, breaking into a fit of giggles as she leapt to her feet and spun in circles around in the grass. 

She fell backwards, encased by the flowers. 

She hadn't felt that light or joyous in a long while. 

"Thank you, Yoongi." she whispered, eyes prickling with tears.  "It was as if my mother was here with me again." 

She expected nothing in return but when the deep, soft voice invaded her mind with a comforting, "You're welcome, flower." … she wept. 

All of her emotions, all the trauma and the bullshit bubbled ot the surface and she cried in the flowers. 

Her wretched father, the loss of her mother, the constant war she was in, the expectations, the suicidal thoughts, everything. 

The damn broke and she just laid there. 

Her tears falling into the warm of earth of spring. 

In that moment, she was both ready to die and yet, wanting nothing more than to live. 

On the one hand, she wanted her life as a her father's daughter to end. 

She wanted that girl to die. 

But here, in the garden with the flowers where no one expected her to be anyone but herself… she wanted to live. 

She wanted so badly to live there forever. 

"You could." 

The fuzzy voice invaded her mind again and she tensed a bit at the sweeter tone. 

"Jimin?" she spoke. 

"I never meant to hurt you." his voice said, warmth bleeding in around the edges.  "I got a little jealous that you had brought someone else and then you were leaving. I thought you would never come back and-" 

There was a rush of many voices all at once again, talking too fast and too low in her mind for her to be able to sort them out or what they were saying. 

But it didn't matter. 

She thought she would be terrified but it brought her comfort to have them there again. 

She laid back in the grass again, eyes closing. 

There arguing almost served as quiet background noise. 

She had made up her mind. 

Whatever happened, happened. 

But in that moment, she was going to enjoy the blissful peace of the garden. 

No one was expecting anything of her. 

She was just a girl laying in the flowers. 

===== 

Hello loves and tahnk you for checking out my work! If you'd like to see more Kpop content, just check out the navi link in my bio and click on Masterlist 2.0! I hope you're doing well and I would love to know your thoughts!

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Please enjoy purple Seokjinnie for healing!

======

[fic-heaven]

CARDIAC ATTACK!

Young! Metalhead! Silco x Fem Artist! Reader

(Chapter 1. Wake up! - next-)

[Modern Au/ Strong Vander x Reader themes but this story is Silco x Reader aimed]

[fluff/ heavy angst/ jealousy/ use of alcohol and drugs / smut / brats being brats]

C.1: (mention of cheating, maternal abandonment)

Something became crystal clear the moment you moved from Piltover city.

Your mother will never come back. And honestly? As much as it stung, you and dad were much better without her... She confirmed it the moment you two came back home early from your school's art exposition while she stayed home because "she was feeling sick" and found her with none other than her boss playing adult's Wii sports on the couch.

Before your father could even react she pushed him out of the door and dragged you with him.

You weren't stupid, you knew exactly what they were doing when dad said with fat tears sliding from cheeks to chin that they were probably having a private meeting. I mean... You were eighteen not six, and you always knew you mother wasn't the greatest person... But this? This was extreme.

Anyway, after that nightmare of a day, you two moved to your grandparents' house... Which was pure disaster since you never got along with your dad's side of the family. Luckily, you two didn't last long there after two months later your dad excitedly told you that two were moving with his new girlfriend who happened to be his best friend for a long time until your mother decided she was too good for him to have female friends. Which was fine? I guess? Except she lived in ZAUN. Your mother always warned you about that city, but oh well, fuck your mom. She was a virus and your father and you were no longer infected by that woman.

Besides! Dad's new girlfriend didn't look evil at all, actually, she seemed nice! She was excited to meet you, she even came to your grandparents' to help you guys move and presented herself as Silvia. Silvia was really friendly, cuddly and empathic when she learned about the whole situation from your perspective, and apparently she had a son around your age so you wouldn't feel too lonely you supposed.

Your curiosity increased when you asked about said boy and Silvia said he couldn't come because he had a very important meeting with his "cool kid rock band". That totally lit your eyes, your stepbrother seemed cool, you were hoping he was just as friendly... You should ask him if he would let you hear how they played if he's okay with it.

After a long car ride to the new place, you noticed Zaun didn't seem as bad as every Pilt citizen painted it. Sure the roads seemed murderous and the people looked tired and done with life, but the neighborhood you guys were staying in was calm and everyone seemed polite enough, that was far more than your old neighborhood.

Maybe the only pain in the ass was finding a new summer job... But Silvia had the greatest idea as she was showing you two around town that Benzo, your stepbrother, had plenty of friends everywhere and could plug you somewhere for the summer "You two will get to know each other better!" She smiled. You tried not to have your hopes up just in case but that plan sounded alright.

Surprisingly Benzo didn't come to your new home for like a week until Silvia abruptly opened the door grabbing the boy by the ear, she was fuming and talking so fast you couldn't understand a word when the boy stumbled to drop himself to the couch you were sitting on. You thought she would join you both in the living room but she went upstairs, her face an angry red surely going to your father to fuss about what happened, she probably already said all she had to say before she even arrived home with her son.

So you and him stayed there. Silent.

You looked at him from behind your sketchbook as he seemed to fumble with his school bag. Yeah he totally looked like her mum. With brown hair thrown backwards in a bun and dark eyes, he was also pretty big looking like a grizzly bear. He was wearing the typical rebellious teenager kind of clothes, with big black military boots, chained plain brown pants and a black shirt you couldn't quite point for details since his patched bag was right in the front of his chest covering the design.

"Y'know it's rude to stare."

Tensing, you hid your face more behind your sketchbook and blinked up at his bored eyes.

"I... S-sorr-"

"I'm just fucking with you kid, I'm Benzo."

Oh!

You relaxed your posture once more and smiled, he seemed to do the same straightening his shirt of... Slipknot, you noticed. Ah you knew that band!

"Hey! Haha okay, you scared me for a second, I'm (y/n), your-"

"Step sister, yeah mum told me on the phone. Sorry I couldn't greet you properly. One morning I went out with the boys, one thing led to the other and before you know it you get a call from your mother screaming 'cuz it's been days since you left your bassist's garage."

You gave him a puzzled look at that and he seemed to find your reaction amusing but didn't have enough time to continue before you interfered.

"You have a band right?"

And that led to a pretty chill conversation with Benzo about his passion for music, apparently he was the drummer of his best friend Vander's band and didn't get along with their bassist and Vander's second best friend, Silco. You didn't press for information, the guy pretty much told you much more than you thought he would share being the first time you two met, you did kind of voice your surprise at his open behavior, he shrugged saying you were the new addition to the family and you had a good vibe. That totally made your cheeks burn, chest puff and smile for the rest of the conversation because of your delight. Also contrary of what Silvia said, they didn't play rock, they played something called Old School Deathcore, whatever that was.

You weren't very familiar with all the music terms he was using but Benzo seemed nice and he was comfortable sharing his passion with you, so that was great.

You two didn't break the band conversation until you leaned slightly forwards, that caused your sketchbook to almost fall out of the couch until he broke the fall quickly grabbing it and curiously peaked the page you were doodling, you usually would have snatched it back but heck, he was your new cool stepbrother who shared his passion with you and-... Was making a weird face at the page?

You suddenly felt embarrassed, you loved drawing demons and monsters here and there sometimes but some people found them too graphic and disgusting.

"Did you do this?" He asked not looking away from the page, you hummed in agreement and then he lifted his gaze to meet your eyes with a mischievous look "Vander is SO going to love this... Would you like to design something for us? Like a cover or something? Or maybe some shirt designs? I like yer art style, you are hella skilled!" That earned another wave of delight hit you and you couldn't help but smile widely which he mirrored

Y- "SURE! Wait, only if you help me find a job though-"

B- "Wanna meet the band?"

Y- "Heck yes"

B- "Then you got yourself a job as our artist and if Vander likes you enough, which I'm sure he will, he'll make room for you at his grannie's coffee shop, he said they were looking for people."

Y- "Are you... Sure?"

B- "Absolutely positive"

You couldn't help but give him a big excited hug, one he thankfully returned but less crushing and more assuring.

"Welcome to the Children of Zaun, lil's sister"

.

.

This was something I thought of last night. It's hella hard for me to finish whatever I write but I'll make extra effort in this one, we will see where it leads me lmao