#extreme oppression my sister wife

[midnight-omega]

No but the problematic parts of omegaverse is what makes it so good

[askganon]

I'm really tired. I just transferred to a new university to study psychology and it has been the actual worst experience in every aspect. The two biggest issues are the fact that I am autistic and thusly have issues making friends, and that I have this god-awful professor in my counseling class.

This professor is OFF his rocker. He actively talks about the secret society he is in, trying to teach us preposterous things that have no place in that class or even the school at all. I could write a novel about every problematic thing he has said, but my most major issue with him is how he views and treats women, and continuously brings sexual topics up when they have no relevance to the course material.

He has disrespected his wife over the phone in the middle of class and then tried to justify his behavior using his gender, spoken extensively about what features men don't like on women such as makeup or plastic surgery. He says "natural" women are "healthy" (well-endowed) in either the chest or behind but not both, and are uneven in the chest. He specifically targeted my classmate, who was the only one wearing false eyelashes, to say that men don't like that either.

Another time he told us that women run the world because men are obsessed with us, that we are not oppressed at all, yet he turns around and tells us how women in the corporate world go commando under their skirts and sleep around to work up the corporate ladder. He says this in a way that puts women to shame for this as well.

This week, though, was completely different. His departure from the course material started with the extremely invasive question, "what do you remember about your transition to adolescence?" Again targeting that very same classmate. I blink and he is now telling us that the male experience during puberty is far worse than what women experience, basically saying that—excuse my bluntness—getting a boner in class is much worse than anything women go through, even turning to our singular male classmate for backup on this.

He also tries to tell us that its so so bad for boys because the girls actively try to touch them or make them "psychologically disturbed," as he worded so decoratively. What adolescent girl wants anything to do with that when she's going through her own problems? Since when were young girls going out of their way to trouble boys like this? I was actively trying to deter boys during this time.

I and the other two women in my class were disputing all of this, until our professor finally said, "I will just let that go over y'all heads cause you will never understand the male experience," to which I, shaking with rage, replied, "—and vice versa."

My mental health has been suffering severely, and much worse since this happened Monday. I had never felt such pure, primordial rage towards someone before. This man makes me feel not only objectified but also demonized. Last night was my breaking point, working on one of his assignments. I experienced the most intense mental breakdown of my life so far, and afterwards spent all but two hours of the night trying to cram the project that was due today.

I guess my point is that I would report him, but my school makes it nigh impossible to do so. I'm perpetually exhausted and I do not know if I can make it through the last two weeks of class. I want so badly to be petty and spiteful to his face, but for the most part I've controlled it.

I don't really know what I'm looking for by doing this. I guess I just want to know what you think? Apologies for the length of my message.

Such is the mentality I encountered often in my youth by Hylian men, and women, toward my sisters. They would lust after my sisters based on their attire and physique, while also attempting to demonize them and ostracize them for the exact same reasons.

In short, men are cowards who carry the darkest urges shamelessly, but are too prideful to admit the problem within themselves. Instead, the vilify women for their own indiscretions.

They will openly mock my Gerudo for their appearance, while desiring nothing more than to own their flesh in the most disturbing of ways.

This professor seems like a prime example of the Hylian males I encountered. But if this is the case, then so too is his weakness.

He has likely been thwarted in his past in his attempts to procure a mate to his liking, and due to his pride, he believes it is all of womanhood to blame, and not himself.

This one he singles out is likely similar to those he desired but could never obtain in his youth. As such, he blames all others for his own shortcomings.

Likely too with his mate. I would assume her physique does not fit the desires he now feels entitled to, and as such he makes her the target of his criticism.

But through all of this, he reveals a second weakness.

Fear.

He fears that which he cannot control, and women as a whole seem out of his grasp. Every slight, every jab, and every assault from his lips is but proof that he is afraid of what women are capable.

In the midst of a Gerudo warrior, this professor of yours would crumble like kindling to a flame.

Take solace in the knowledge that you are superior to this worm, for you are what he can never have.

[the-owl-tree]

There’s so many toms that I hate because they were shoved into the plot to steal a she-cats story for themselves… it’s SO OBVIOUS when the Erins do this. The she-cats deserve to have just as much of an arc and character depth as the toms do, yet the writing team consistently devolves it’s female cast into accessories for their male counterparts.

Examples:

- Alderheart (blatantly having been written to strip sparkpelt of an arc that so clearly should’ve been her own - ie “the spark that remains” - sparkpelt is then twisted into a xenophobic jerk at the drop of a hat to make alderheart look better than her, when previously she was VERY MUCH in support of SkyClan’s return. What the fuck, Erins??? Sandstorm is also iced for this loser’s manpain.

- Nightheart (basically every she-cat has their personality altered to fit his victim complex, and we all KNOW that Finchlight would’ve been more interesting and deserving of a pov than him. If they kill off spark, finch, or sun to further his angst, I will be so pissed off…

- Tree (violetshine’s character growth, struggles, and arc completely disintegrates with his introduction. in tbc, she’s reduced to your typical background protag mother… while tree remains a major character, and is not only hugely valued by the plot, but also by its characters. violetshine deserved so much better than to be shoved to the sidelines by this random-ass character who was *totally not introduced just to make her into a a generic wife and mother*. that’s not even getting into how stupid the Sisters fiasco is, where ‘waaah tree was oppressed by all the women in his life and kicked out, isn’t he just so tragic and sad???’… good god. that was bizarre

- brambleclaw: probably one of the worst offenders of this, right alongside alderheart. Tawnypelt should’ve gotten his pov, considering her personality in TNP… it seems liked they flipped their stories around just because she’s a she-cat, and they just *had* to make the main protagonist of the arc a tom. very disapointing

- rootspring: bristlefrost’s character arc was absolutley DERAILED by this character, and it’s such a shame. even her most iconic scene, her sacrifice, was primarily focused upon rootspring and his pissbaby manpain. also… needleclaw, anyone? she’s the one who should have the sisters’ abilities, after all, but instead she has none… how does she feel about that? I think exploring that would be much more interesting than ‘whiny loser is upset and feels weird that he can see ghosts in a society that values the ability to see ghosts, gets a girl by being weirdly pushy and not taking ‘no’ for an answer, and goes through extreme manpain after she’s iced to further his development’.

- crowfeather: I don’t have any qualms with early crowPAW, but what I DO have an issue with is just how much feathertail’s death is twisted to revolve around *him*, when, in reality, it should’ve focused on Feathertail herself, as well as her brother. FeatherCrow was just awful in general though… especially considering that her name is only invoked later on as an excuse for crowfeather to be an abuser, implying that he’s justified in hurting his wife and son, as well as leafpool and her kits, ‘because manpain’.

real & true, it sucks seeing how many mollies in the series will have really interesting stories and potential conflicts then have the writing team choose whatever supports the main dude around them. more i think about tree the more annoyed i am that it wasn't violet, the big prophecy kitten who had survived the kin and would have more reason to want to keep the clans from tearing each other's throats out. the mediator role is a dumb one (i say with my mediator oc) but it would have been nice if it was actually a character who we followed who got the position instead of "my mommy is mean to me :(" rando dude who just shows up.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for not trusting my daughter’s evil counterpart?

…Maybe ‘evil’ isn’t the right word to use. I’m not sure. This will take a lot of explaining.

Okay, so! Hi! This is my (30s F GNC) first time posting to ‘Am I The Asshole,’ but my wife (30s F) has used the site before. You might remember her from her posts about growing our daughter in a test tube and her hating her dad.

Recently, the two of us had an… I don’t want to call it an ARGUMENT, but something came up that we haven’t been able to see eye-to-eye over, and so we decided to post here to get a third opinion.

For some context, though:

We come from a world with multiple parallel universes. One of these parallel universes is the… Mirror World. This world is a twisted reflection of our own; a dimension in which counterparts of every person in this world exist, derived specifically from what we most dislike about ourselves.

For example, my Mirror counterpart is a too-prideful troublemaker who’s loyal to a violent fault. I’ve met him once or twice, and all I can say is I am not a fan.

But that’s not the only reason I don’t like the Mirror World or people who come from it. You see: many years ago, something truly awful happened to me because of that place.

My wife at the time (different from my current wife; I’ll refer to her as my ex-wife from hereon out) (20s F) came into possession of an artifact connected to the Mirror World. And although neither of us knew it at the time, this had a horrifying effect on her.

Forces within the Mirror World conspired against our world, and seeking to gain power, they slowly began to corrupt my ex-wife. They drove her, quite literally, to the point of evil insanity. Not only did she become abusive towards me, but she began to subjugate and oppress innocents; all of this culminating in her needing to be killed just to save thousands of lives.

Needless to say, I was heartbroken. I didn’t even know what happened at the time. I only learned about this ‘Mirror World’ and the dark forces conspiring within it later, and I’ve hated them ever since.

Thankfully, though, I was able to…

I don’t want to say ‘move on,’ because that’s not it. I will always, ALWAYS love my ex-wife. But I… was able to heal a bit. I found someone else who made me happy, and although I well and truly thought I’d never love again, I somehow did. As such, I ended up with my current wife, who I love more than the world. She’s everything to me.

As is my daughter, who I mentioned she grew in a test tube. Said daughter, who I’ll call P (9F) is a very smart, talented girl. I’m very proud of her and love her so, so much.

Which is why I’m so worried.

Recently, P found out about what happened to my ex-wife (who’s a close friend of hers. Long story, but she has spirit medium powers), and she was extremely upset. She wanted to punish the people responsible. And as such, she made an extremely journey into the Mirror World to try and find them.

She didn’t, THANK THE STARS, and she also thankfully wasn’t hurt, but while she was in the Mirror World, she met her own Mirror Counterpart, and her reaction to the doppelgänger has been… disconcerting, to say the least.

Inexplicably, she’s decided they’re friends. Mirror P is rude, standoffish, and impulsive, but P doesn’t care. She’s decided she’s like a little sister. According to her, Mirror P’s parents (Our Mirror Counterparts, I suppose) aren’t nice to her, and so she thinks we should take her in so she has someone to love her.

I… get the gesture, but I just cannot condone it. P is my everything. I cannot let something happen to her. The Mirror World is dangerous. If she continues to interact with it, I may very well lose her. I will NOT fail her like I failed my ex-wife. Mirror P needs to stay the hell away.

I know not all Mirror Worlders are plainly evil. A friend of mine (4M) manages to get along with his Mirror World counterpart. But this is exceptionally rare. More often than not, Mirror Worlders are conniving and cruel. They are quite literally based on everything we don’t want to be.

And not only that, but apparently Mirror P is close to a person who I’ll call ‘Mirror M.’ Mirror M is a monster. He is one of the people responsible for what happened to my ex-wife. He served the dark forces that drove her insane and ultimately killed her. If she trusts him, then she HAS to be bad news.

My wife disagrees, though. She’s suggested I’m being an asshole and says it seems to her like Mirror P is just a scared child in need of support and a home. “Yes, she’s difficult,” she agrees, “But as a reflection of our daughter, it would be cruel to turn her away.”

I can’t NOT though. Not knowing what the cost would be. Please tell me I’m right. Please tell me that Mirror P needs to go. I can’t let her hurt P. If I did, I would never forgive myself. I’ve already lost so, so much. I can’t lose my daughter too.

AITA?

[chrisjake-cp]

[CH-ENG translation] Interview 3: The poem "She and Her" is Lin Zhenye's redemption. Jake Hsu cried after reading it: "That is his love for his sister" (29 November 2022)

Picture: Interview with Jake Hsu

Jake Hsu plays twin siblings with Tiffany Hsu in "Shards of Her". Most of the time he found himself in an extremely negative mood. When interviewing him, he said laughing: "I'm [supposed to be] holding a very large grudge, but the atmosphere among the crew and the actors was very friendly. In the beginning I didn't quite know where to summon this hate from."

Jake revealed that in the scene where he was about to strangle Chen Yiwen (playing the teacher), his mood was quite complicated.  In the end he recalled a drama/movie he had filmed with Chen Yiwen before. "I played a human dog raised by him. At that time he humiliated me." From that anger he found the hatred he needed now, and was able to film the scene. The problem he encountered with Yi Ziyu (playing the teacher's wife) was even more serious. "Before filming started I was talking happily with Yi Ziyu. She is very kind. While we were chatting, I suddenly recalled we would have to come to blows in a little while. "

While filming, Jake got a very deep understanding of his character Lin Zhenye. "All of his hate comes from self-blame. It's just that he doesn't know where to direct all his emotions, so he just finds a target to hate."  Lin Zhenye leaves texts in all kind of places, like information on the bathroom wall and on his desk, and the poems he writes down. "When I read the collection of poems for the first time, I cried a lot." When he read about the stories that the characters experience in the script, he partly got a feeling of oppression. "That's the deep level of oppression that the director and the screenwriters want to convey to everyone."

He gradually speaks of his mood at that time. "My character needed a redemption arc. It's just that when I [his character] wrote those poems down, I felt..love. In the end I found a way to say goodbye to my sister. I wanted my sister to be well, that is the love for his family and his sister condensed into these words. That's what those poems were."

Before filming ended, he talked to Tiffany Hsu and said: "It's hard work filming these kinds of emotions." But he regretted it as soon as he had said the words. "She had it ten thousand times more difficult than me!" Leaving a big impression on him was when filming started at the script reading, Tiffany Hsu relentlessly discussed her every crying scene with the director. "She hoped to show layers, and wanted to differentiate every crying scene in a detailed way." The final scene was when he was together with his family. Jake said laughing: "We were hugging each other as a family, it was finally done, and I didn't need to hate anyone anymore. Or else I'd see Ding Ning (playing his mother in the drama) in every scene. She really had it tough."

Picture: Jake Hsu understands the role of Lin Zhenye.

After filming ended, Jake couldn't get out of the role for a long time. "There's no happy thing happening to this character at all. It's a stifling experience." Firstly there was no way to leave the role behind, secondly, after this hatred was released, he was impacted by the character's mood. "Lin Zhenye wanted to protect his sister and help his sister get revenge in the past. So what about after that? When I disengaged [from the role], I felt was sort of at a loss." For him, leaving behind the hatred, took a long time.

Fortunately the role he took on after this drama was a high school hero of the day, a carefree, lively and sunny personality, in great contrast with that of Lin Zhenye. He also cut his messy long hair because of this reason. "My ceremony to let go of the role was to cut my hair, but on the day I cut it, I felt very heavy, as if cutting my hair was equal to really leaving the previous role behind." In a complicated mood, he formally said goodbye to Lin Zhenye. "Even though I felt reluctant, I felt happy after cutting my hair."

Picture: Jake wearing clothes from the ‘Allsaints’ brand. 

Interview link:  https://ynews.page.link/79UQZ 

[want2belikegracekelly]

The Diddler and other stories

I'm back dah-lings

It's mid September and alot of things have happened and so I shall begin with the arrest by the (actual) Feds of Brother Love. Wow it get's better the ninja just got denied bail. Even after he diabolically offered a 50 M bond. how much evil money does this guy have. it's quiet all over celebrity land as the indictment was unsealed and the government confirmed there was videos. So DIddy Evil or Sean Johnson n' Johnson (1000 bottles of baby oil is beyond narsty sir!! its fcken diabolical)

is wearing the orange jumpsuit in fed jail awaiting his next court hearing. I know all them attendees of the "freak offs" needing IV transfusions coz the sessions be so back-to-back are all wondering am I next on the meet the Feds? I feel that this mans need to be under the jail. For all those caught up in his evil web may your freedom be soon and may your peace be abundant.

I will never be able to articulate the fact that black women survivors are rarely believed and that a video of an egregious act had to surface for y'all to believe that brother Love was a monster. May he get all the years

Onto other stories, so this couple of weeks have been hard for the women who have been putting trust in ninjas. all I have to say to you is you have got to listen to the prophetic message of sister Khia when the she said Don't Trust No Niggaz

It all began when everybody was shocked when Dave Grohl had a baby on his wife after 21 years of marriage. Gworls were crying, vomiting, losing their damn breath but since i have been on the words of Khia I knew "you put your trust in a nigga? Stupid ho, how you figure He won't fuck your best friend and your sister? lie to ya, a-then screw ya" so 21 years hasn't changed who he is inside

the were still trusting in some British podcaster whose platform is mainly black women and they went to a white very racist podcasters show in USof A to keke with him. Shucking and jiving to derogatory stereotypes of black women, Nigerians and Muslims. My brothers just sat there and got dog walked on a podcast laughing at themselves. that white boy played you like a fiddle and laughed at you. we knew you were for the snow but to just sit there and take it like that, bruh STAND the FUCK UP!!!

but to say fight or flight in your apology. both you dudes was bigger than that guy and could have made his ass uncomfortable with just a "What do you mean by that?" make everybody uncomfortable.

but now you know Khia wasn't lying!!!

(also to say you didn't find a hot babe in ATL we know you fucking lying!)

so, before you go forgiving them coz of that weak ass apology remember Khia's words " Oh, you forgave him, ho? Dumb, silly ho That nigga don't mean you no good"

What I'm trying to put across to all you ladies with list of "non-problematic " men including Chosen running mate Tim you had better decenter these men from your lives, free yourself, stay knowing it could all blow up in your face coz good men also be benefiting from the systems of oppression. Hope for the best on your list sis but anything can change

Finally, I remember wondering how extremely racist DT campaign was going to be and I must say, final boss racist statements were not on my bingo card. to have the audacity to say immigrants are eating pets. Wow! Turns out some Karen in Ohio wrote this in her Facebook post and the thing caught traction. Now schools be closing early in Ohio due to death threats all on the backdrop of white woman lies! JD I fuck couches guy even has the gall to say they will make up lies to get people to listen. The brown woman who bore your kids must be one of them self-hating ones. this also applies to all the black and brown people descendants of immigrants voting for this man. you gotta hate yourself alot to think racist whitpypo will be salvation!

I can't help you see the truth but imma just leave it at how long will they play in your face before you stop licking them boots. As for the whites riding with this madness, under the banner of God's chosen or saving America, I never fucked with you, never will and stay losing forever!!

It will always be black women, believe black women, black women are beautiful up in here

[vitos-ordination-song]

I never realized how gender oppressed I was raised bc sexism was so normalized I didn’t notice it, I believed in my mom’s right wing “girl power” rhetoric, and my brothers were actually treated worse than I was bc they were male. I now understand that that last point was also a part of the larger gender assumptions of my parents/my father’s childhood trauma, it fits in just fine with misogyny and it is sexist. “Benevolent sexism” is when women are assumed to need special treatment when men aren’t. In my family this played out through my dad not beating me or my sister (my mom handled our punishments) and the boys having to do hard manual labor and sadistic endurance challenges.

A lot of the misogyny I dealt with I just took as fact I think. Like, from the time I was 2 years old, I had already been convinced my older brother was smarter than me and always would be. It was in like 2018 when my dad just said that to my face—“you’re smart, but of course Zach is smarter”—and I was like “are you fucking serious? Of course he’s not smarter than me.” It was this built in hierarchy, and my compensation was getting to feel smarter than my adopted sister and brother (my family is extremely sick, that’s a whole other issue but I can’t get too off topic). Anyway I believed my older brother was inherently smarter than me, because he was male and I was female, for most of my childhood; I let his judgment rule me until I reached the age of 16 or so.

Even though I eventually rejected the way I was belittled, it’s still true that it shaped my life. I grew up constantly being told my brother was a genius, but as we entered adulthood, I realized I didn’t respect him as a person which set me free. But when I was just tiny, under three years old, I was constantly told how good he was at math and directions. “He’s already got Atlanta memorized and he’s only four!” He was so impressive, and I was flat out told I would never be good at math or directions because I was a girl and women don’t have “calculating minds” or something. How much did that limit me? Is that why it took me until age 22 to start trying to figure out where the fuck anything was in relation to me?

My mom had a couple talks with me growing up where she imparted some sort of girl power values on to me. She also is quite a dominant woman and was the true power in my parents’ marriage. Because of my naivety, it took me a long time to realize just how backwards she is on gender issues. I mean, there’s her conservative Christian values, but I always thought she had respect for women’s abilities. She was my role model as a little girl, competent and strong. So imagine my shock on becoming a teenager and actually listening to the shit that would come out of her mouth. Not just pushing anti-feminist garbage and rape culture, but acting like women are men’s natural inferiors.

Years ago we were listening to one of the family’s favorite bands, a husband and wife duo. A song came on and she went “this one isn’t very good, must have been written by the wife.” I sat there speechless and then went “what??” She replied “well women just aren’t as good at writing music, their minds aren’t equipped for it.” (She was wrong btw because both the husband and wife are credited on almost all their songs.)

When she came and visited recently, she spewed a lot of crazy right wing stuff, but the one that got under my skin the most was when she started ranting about how women’s economic freedom is a bad thing because it made labor less valuable. She also implied that it’s women’s duty to raise children at home. Mom. Please. First of all, the reason your childhood was marked by terrorism and horrific abuse is that your mother was financially dependent on your father. You told me that yourself when I was a little girl. Your father beat your mother, your siblings and you. He inflicted psychological torment on everyone around him, and he was a child rapist. Your mother was stuck under his thumb because she had no money. How can you believe all these lies about perfect god fearing American families when that was your childhood and your father was a preacher?

And she HATED being a stay-at-home mom. She pretends otherwise now but she used to fantasize openly about abandoning us, she complained that I ruined her body, she talked about how much more fun she had before she had kids, and how much she missed her career. Please tell me more about how a woman’s place is at home and not in the workforce.

[basicsofislam]

THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET (PBUH) : Tufayl bin Amr (r.a.)

The scorching desert sun continued burning the land and the people as usual. A small piece of shade, a handful of water and slight coolness gave great happiness to people.

The most terrible thing was that the Arab land and Arabs were burned by unbelief, polytheism and savagery. However, the people started to attain coolness, elixir of life and happiness. For, there was Hz. Muhammad (pbuh). Despite all kinds of trouble and tortures, he continued emitting his light.

One day, when the scorching sun was dominant and it was extremely hot, somebody came to Makkah. He was walking toward the Kaaba on his attractive horse with his smart clothes and chivalrous looks. He was the poet Tufayl bin Amr, one of the notables of the Daws tribe.

A group of people including Abu Lahab, Abu Sufyan and Abu Jahl surrounded him in excitement. Tufayl answered those who welcomed him and tried to understand why they were so excited.

When Allah protected His Messenger from the oppression of the polytheists, they started to prevent the people coming from other towns from meeting the Messenger of Allah. They wanted to isolate him and prevent him from talking to others. It was possible for Tufayl bin Amr to talk to him and to be influenced by him. Therefore, the notables of Quraysh surrounded him and tried to dissuade him from talking to the Messenger of Allah.

Unbelief was in fear; polytheism was wincing; injustice was shivering.  Finally, one of them started to speak: “O Tufayl! Welcome to our city! You know the man who emerged among us. Do not meet and speak to him. His words are like magic. They cause division between fathers and sons, between brothers and sisters and between husband and wife. If you do not want what happened to us happen to you and your tribe, do not speak to him and do not listen to him.”

Tufayl was a polytheist and he was there to visit the Kaaba and worship the idols. He was not expected to think differently from the other polytheists. He said,

“I swear that I will not listen to him and speak to him. My decision is definite. Should I meet him in the Kaaba, I will turn a deaf ear to him. I do not want to listen to him.”

Tufayl bin Amr left them and went to the Kaaba alone. He saw that the Messenger of Allah was performing a prayer there. He remembered the words he had just heard. The words of the polytheists rang in his ears. However, the Messenger of Allah was worshipping aloud and Tufayl heard him. What nice words he uttered! They did not sound like any Arabic poems he had heard. Were they really magic as the polytheists said? No, it was impossible. He heard so many magic words. This did not resemble any of them. Tufayl started to think: “I am one of the notables of the Daws tribe. I am a poet. I can distinguish between what is good and bad. Are there any signs of evil and bad things in his words? Why should I not listen to him from a closer place? If his words are nice, I will accept them. If they are bad, I will refuse them.”

When the Messenger of Allah finished his prayer, he headed toward his house. The poet of Daws could not help following him. When the Messenger of Allah arrived his house, Tufayl entered his house and said,

“O Muhammad! By Allah, they told me terrible things about you. I even plugged my ears so as not hear your words. However, I liked the words that I heard from you. Tell me about your religion.”

The Messenger of Allah read some verses from the Quran to Tufayl and told him about Islam. Tufayl accepted Islam at once. Then, he said to the Messenger of Allah,

“O Messenger of Allah! My people obey me so I want to return to my tribe and invite them to Islam.Pray to Allah to grant me a sign which will increase my influence on them.”

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said, “O Lord! Give him light.”

After leaving the Messenger of Allah, Tufayl set off in order to invite his tribe to Islam. He wanted to transmit the elixir of life he had to others. When he reached the place called "Saniyya", where his tribe could see him, a light radiated appeared on his forehead. He got very excited and prayed Allah Almighty as follows:

"O Lord! Put this light somewhere else, not on my forehead. I fear that my people will think that this is a form of illness because I left their religion.”

'The light then moved to the top of Tufayl’swhip. Therefore, he was given the nickname “Dhunnur [Owner of Light]”.

Tufayl bin Amr summoned his people and told them about Islam. However, they did not accept the invitation of Tufayl. Tufayl was excited and angry. He expected the people to accept Islam at once. He returned to Makkah, to the Messenger of Allah, hopelessly and sadly. He said,

“O Messenger of Allah! The people of Daws did not accept my call. Pray against them.”

The Messenger of Allah did not pray against those who could accept the true path. He prayed as follows: “O Lord! Guide the tribe of Daws.” Then, he turned to Tufayl and said,

“Now return to your tribe and call them to Islam. Do not treat them harshly. Use soft words to tell them about Islam.”

Obeying the order of the Messenger of Allah, Tufayl bin Amr stayed in the land of Daws for a long time and called people to Islam. During this period, the Messenger of Allah migrated to Madinah and the battles of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq were over. When he told people about Islam in the way that the Messenger of Allah told him, his call was accepted by some people and the number of people from his tribe that accepted Islam reached to 70-80.

As years passed, Tufayl’s desire to see the Messenger of Allah increased. He could not put up with it any longer and went to Madinah with the Muslims from his tribe to see the Messenger of Allah. He rejoined the Messenger of Allah. He took part with his tribe in the Battle of Khaybar. Afterwards, he did not leave the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) until he died.

He fought heroically in the wars against apostates during the caliphate of Hz. Abu Bakr. In his dream, he saw that he himself and his son Umar would be martyred in the Battle of Yamama. After a while, he was martyred in Yamama and his son Umar was martyred at the Battle of Yarmuk.

May Allah be pleased with him!

[spite-and-waffles]

I feel like neither the pro-Talia Al Ghul camp or the anti-Talia camp really care to delve deeply into the fact that she has been abused and used by her father her whole life, and is as tragic a character as Jason. Her fixating on a man as emotionally distant and obsessed with his mission as Ra's, knowing full well that he will never choose her or his children over it, is a completely accurate showcasing of the way people perpetuate their own trauma cycles.

And while I hope more people refuse to take anything Grant Morrison wrote about Talia to account, making her a good mother in reaction to it also just does not make sense. Just like Bruce, she's an example of someone who loves her child fiercely but is too traumatized and emotionally stunted to express it in healthy ways. Unlike Bruce she grew up in a literal terrorist cult and raised Damian in it as well. Her being exacting and teaching Damian to be ruthless and trust no one were all incredibly damaging and abusive, but it's also the only fucking way he could have survived the League or Ra's. Yes, she could have sent Damian to his father and keeping him by her side was selfish, but this woman, who had been starved of love and had never been anyone's priority since her mother died, finally had a person to be hers and only hers. It's horribly, tragically human to guard that love jealously and possessively.

The Tiger Mom as a trope is racist, but the emotional effects on women made to prove their worth as humans via motherhood is very much a reality that women of colour can relate to, and one not confined to just Asians. I'm only going to speak for my own people here, but the way Asian mothers make their sons their whole reason for being stems directly from the oppressively patriarchal cultures we grow up in, where a woman's worth is predicated on being a wife and mother and the highest honour she can aspire to is having a son. Ra's is the original patriarch who drilled into his daughters that they could never inherit his legacy no matter how much they proved their love, and that they owed him male heirs. Damian's very existence is tied up with Talia's idea of her own personhood and worth and achievement, which is why she piles on so many contradicting expectations on him - that he's fiercely independent but also stays by her side, become his father's perfect heir but take only her values, never be a pawn like she was, but align with her own wishes.

However you want to negotiate the racism of the way Talia is written is up to you obviously, but I feel that there's no realistic way that Talia can be a good mother (even in Son of the Demon she acted in Bruce's best interests, deceived him and abandoned her child, which actually might have been kinder than attempting to raise him in the LoA). I feel that making her one is an extremely simplistic way of dealing with the racialized misogyny her character is subjected to, and a disservice to real-life children of mothers like her, who love their children fiercely but perpetuate abuse cycles because of that very love.

For me, deconstructing and reaching past the misogyny and racism means humanising her and not making her value and sympathy as a character contingent on how good of a mother she is to Damian and Jason. Trauma and abuse slows or arrests your emotional development and makes it difficult to regulate your emotions and impulses, which is why it's a requirement for traumatized people to cognitively work on themselves in order to be good parents to their own children. Talia cannot. There's absolutely no therapist she can trust, the last time she felt close to someone she was decieved, tortured and brainwashed by her, and not only can't she get away from her father but she received a harsh object lesson from her sister on what happens when you try. This woman is a goddamn victim in every possible way, even more than Jason. It's also one of the reasons I don't buy that she allowed herself to be close to Jason, maternal feelings notwithstanding.

(Also her sleeping with him was pretty gross and unnecessary of Winick, whose writing is far from unproblematic when it comes to WoC, but it makes for a fascinating character deconstruction because afaik it happened right after Nyssa tortured her until she was brainwashed against Ra's and Bruce. So at that point in time she was basically in tatters and locked in the same self-destructive spiral as Jason, and maybe she wanted to nuke her sense of maternal care towards him in a bid to feel less emotionally vulnerable. I love this kind of psychological yarn balls in fiction.)

Absolutely none of this should absolve her choices. None of this means she's a good anything or that she should be seen as a purely sympathetic and wronged character. She's obscenely rich and powerful, ruthless, cunning and manipulative. She's one of the most dangerous people in the world. She's not fit to raise anyone. But if you can't accept all of that and square it with a fiercely loving heart and find a deeply human character then I really can't relate to you.

Let female characters of colour be human, morally grey and complex. Let fictional mothers be traumatized and deeply damaging without demonizing them. And stop moralizing female characters, I am begging you. We're far past Victorian England. Making them be on their best behaviour all the time to be sympathetic is oppressive as hell and not what storytelling is for.

[rueluxprince]

Different taboo topics between English and Chinese fandoms

Because of course there is, different cultural context, different things people find abhorrent, and so one must take extra care not to go all “if you don’t also find the things I find disgusting, then you are being disgusting” when one is entering into a fandom that was not of your culture. *nudge* *nudge*

Case in point: Chinese fandom, does not really care if you ship incest, or underage. They really don’t give a shit. Yeah the shippers wouldn’t do it in real life, but if someone does an incest side-pairing in a fantasy webnovel the readers wouldn’t bat an eye. Like, Thor/Loki is still one of the biggest ships in Chinese pop culture today, while Thor is Patron God of Lesbians in the West with no prominent ship of his own. MCU!Peter Parker/Tony Stark is also pretty huge there, while in the West those two are kept strictly familial. And that’s not counting the literal thousands of Chinese webnovels with the specific trope of “old and wise master raises poor but cute disciple, disciple grows to want to top his master.”

Even when Jin Guangyao’s various crimes were revealed, the fact he accidentally married his biological half-sister had the smallest splash. His stans didn’t really care and proceeded to make a lot “Qin Su: I am his First and Proper Wife until my death! And you! Lan Xichen! Will forver remain his side piece!” crack fanfics. His antis mostly focused on his murders. No one really dragged him for that? It won him a lot of pity points actually? Whereas here there were a lot of Horrifed Gasping when that plot was revealed.

(Sidenote: incest ships depends also depends on the chemistry of the characters, like you would with any other ship. Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian is decently big in China, in the West not so much. But no one anywhere really pairs Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian together, or her and Jiang Cheng. The latter two ships is way too familial and filial to even be conceivably turned romantic.)

On the other hand, Chinese fandom does not take to polyamory or polygamy or even “I had previous relationships before I entered this one where the plot things started happening.” They do not like it. The ship must be exclusive and monogamous. One of them can have some previous relationships but the audience will hold that as a black mark against their soul forever onwards. Seriously. To the point where a character who had several previous romances is often used as a narrative shorthand to show how horrible a person they are.

Again: platonic 3zun, decently popular in China. Romantic polyamorous 3zun, does not exist, a blasphemy to even suggest it. You are either a Nieyao or a Xiyao or a Nielan. You are either Stony or Stucky or WinterIron, you pick a lane and you stick to it. No Chinese fan will ever suggest “just do a threesome.” Absolutely not. Inconceivable. They will send you puking emojis and “I’ll book a psychologist appointment for you” gifsets.

(Sidenote: legit. I watched this C-Drama called Love is Sweet in October and the love triangle follows this phenomenon almost exactly. There were solid foundations for the main girl to go with either the male lead or the second male lead or for the two men to come together. Good basis for a poly ship right? Well. I’ve found exactly one fanfiction that had those three be in a poly romance, and it’s on Ao3 and in English. Everywhere in Chinese? Three different monogamous ships producing their own fan edits and fanfictions, ignoring the other two completely. Seeing this unfold in real life is extremely trippy tbh.)

And I honestly have no idea how to dissect this. The closest explanation (read: bullshiting) I have is that fanworks and fandom activities and shipping are largely driven by women, and whom, unconsciously or otherwise, chose to back away from the deeply ingrained cultural harm their fandom taboos has historically wrought upon them.

Historically, in the West, it was socially acceptable or even encouraged for close cousins to marry (hello Hapsburg family, honestly all the European nobility. Also Darwin, he did that too). While in Ancient China it was never socially or even legally acceptable (you can’t marry your cousin if they are related to you in three generations. So if you share the same great-grandparent, no can do. And they would know. One does not mess with Ancient Chinese record keeping.)

Whereas in the West, Europe and North America, monogamy was largely the norm for marriage. The nuclear family is the staple. Husband and wife and not legally recognized mistress on the side if the husband is a bit of an asshole. In China, polygamy was the norm. Men could have as many concubines as they could afford, Qianlong Emperor had close to forty. There are also inheritance laws and ceremonial regulations and all manner of legal rules giving them legal status. And the wife would have to tough it out and bear it and be nice to them, or else they are labeled as “jealous” and “not a good wife” and that is enough grounds for a divorce.

And as the modern fandom is often a place where anti-culture scenarios and relationships are imagined and interrogated, it can be argued that fandoms from different cultures have different taboos because they grew as backlash to different historically oppressive cultural practices.

[rcksmith]

Spring breeze part.4 — Spencer Reid

Icon by @obiwansjedi

Part.1 Part.2 Part.3

Sumarry: After the breakup, Spencer and the Reader follow different paths and lives. But, after 8 years, Gideon's death brings an avalanche of emotions, putting the two face to face again in a reencounter that could break their hearts again — season 10 —

Couple: Spencer Reid /Gideon's daughter!reader.

Warnings: mention of death, mention of violence, death of the father, depressive thoughts, murder, crying, swearing, a lot of anguish, mention of love, fluff (but it has a very fluff too, I'm not a monster)

Word count: 5k.

A/N: This is the most sad chapter that has, I promise that the next will be very cute.💖

I saw Gideon's death episode again to make it as faithful as possible for you guys. I used the original Criminal Minds chronology too, being 8 years from Gideon's last appearance until his death.

English is not my first language, so I so sorry if have a mistake.

Let me know if you want to be added for a taglist for a specific fandom (Criminal Minds, The Umbrella Academy, Riverdale, Roman Godfrey, or all)

Requests are open. Love you ❤️

— — — — —

Hunting bandits. Save people. Improve the world a little bit every day. Those were the three things Spencer believed it was worth to be at BAU. It was worth fighting for, holding on, staying sleepless for days, being haunted by murderers by day and nightmares at night. For what it was worth looking at the abyss, even when it looks to you

Reid could deal with human perversion, with the thousand and one ways to practice heinous crimes, the sowing of evil and cruelty. He could cope with constantly being inside insane minds, learning his whys and mechanisms. He could take it. He put up with it day after day, case after case. He endured being tortured, stay being held at gunpoint, having a piece of his essence plucked with red-hot iron month after month. Spencer knew he could handle it.

But he couldn't handle death. Goodbye. It shattered his soul far more than difficult cases, pushed his own sanity to the limit. Perhaps burying his feelings as deeply as possible was just a method of delaying the wave that would drown him at one time or another. Inevitably.

Each farewell took a piece of Reid away. His father, his mother, Ellie, you, Gideon, JJ, were just a few of the people who left, living their lives elsewhere. But what about those who died? The victims, the children, Hayley, Maeve, Emily (even if only for a short time) and so many others. These took much more than a piece of him. Maybe costu his whole soul.

Spencer felt himself harden over the years, the cases, loss after loss, day after loss. He felt the purity of his own heart slip through his fingers like sand, the faith in humanity to be put to the test. Sometimes even faith in himself.

Was that the price to pay for that job? Being constantly vulnerable? See his life and the lives of the people his loved most at gunpoint?

It was worth?

Maeve's death shook him more than any other, sucking all the pink glow from his world, leaving him with only the cold feeling of hopelessness. A very deep void. It took a long time for memories of she not to hurt like red-hot iron, for his breathing not to be heavy. It took a long time to be happy again.

And when Spencer felt healed from the deepest wounds, the most visceral pains, he was hit again. Deeply. If Maeve's death was a wave that brought him down, Gideon's death was the tsunami that destroyed him.

“It's Gideon.” Hotch's voice confirmed the fear of everyone in that cottage.

Then Spencer felt shattered. Torn apart. Torn like a rag doll and placed on the fire. He wanted to scream, to scream so loudly that he would never regain his voice. He wanted to break something, destroy some, run away.

But run away from whom? From what? That pain or himself? If Spencer had been able to tear off his own skin at that time and be someone else, he would not have hesitated. Not having dropped to his knees in that cottage was a miracle, because Spencer no longer knew what was holding him upright.

Jason Gideon, in many ways, was all that Spencer had. He knew that they took different paths and traveled different roads, living different lives, but he believed that they always end up on the same, even one they was old. Spencer was sure that if he was dying on his knees, Gideon would be to rescue him. For all those 8 years, it was extremely comforting to think that Gideon was out there, living life, finding the hope he had in college, finding the brilliance the world had.

And Reid knew that Jason had you. And you had Gideon. That was the most soothing and comforting thought. No matter what, he knew that you would take care of Jason, just like he would take care of you. But now... now Spencer's world had dissolved in the air. Like a sandcastle knocked over by the wind.

And the pain was surreal.

When he realized, he had left the room, close to the... body. If he could, Spencer would have moved away from himself. How would he take it? One more death, another psychopath. How many other people he love will are died at the hands of the work he did every day?

The answer to all of these questions was frightening, and Spencer wasn't sure if wanted them.

The trip to the coroner was the worst Reid had ever done, talking about the body was the worst conversation he had ever had. And when Morgan put his hand on his shoulder and said that he couldn't close himself now, that they were going to get that son of a bitch, all Spencer wanted to say was that he couldn't take it anymore. That he couldn't breathe. The emptiness was too oppressive. So much visceral pain.

But that was not what Spencer said. He just clung to the only lifeguard in the middle of the rough and deserted sea: justice. Gideon deserve it.

Reid doesn't know how he managed to get back to the Gideon’s house, how he managed to hear Hotch and Rossi talking about what could have happened. But he was there, standing, by some miracle.

“Do you know who might want to have done this?” Hotch asked Stephen, who had arrived, his eyes red from the crying he struggled to hold.

“No. I know he had a list of things he wanted to do before he died... That's how we came back to speak, one of the things was to get back in touch.” His voice was so reminiscent of Gideon's that it was stabbed in the heart of Reid.

“Didn't he talk about being chased? Feeling anything strange?” Rossi commented.

Reid watched Stephen's expressions carefully, first because he reminded Gideon a lot, and second because he looked for any clues in his reactions.

Stephen took a second to think before saying: “No, but we both don't keep in touch daily, you know?” He swallowed a sob, probably with regret, but then his eyes lit up with some information: “'But Y/n surely know, they both spoke to each other every day, if my father was thinking differently, surely she know.”

The mention of your name hit Reid with a very different wave. Bringing a very different feeling than it should. At that moment, he felt himself holding the air.

For a second, a lapse of consciousness, Spencer had not connected any of this with your physical presence. The notion that you were Gideon's daughter was obvious but, for some reason, Spencer didn't think about the fact that you were going to be there. That you would share the same air with him again, the same place...

“We will have to call her, bring her here to see if something has been left, or taken. If there is anything important on the scene.” It was Hotch.

“I called her as soon as you guys called me.” Stephen said “She arrived from California the day before yesterday, my father and she were going to travel.” He tried to swallow the crying, his eyes trembling.

"And you weren't going?" Rossi added.

“I have a son and a wife.” He gave a smile broken by the sadness of the mourning “They would stop by before I go… Y/n was going to tell me the news, since our schedules hardly match much, she works as an astronomer in…”

“Caltech.” Spencer completed, without even realizing it, like a thought out loud.

“Yea.” Stephen agreed.

Spencer felt a chill go from head to toe, and another ton of feelings were thrown at his back. The reality that he was going to see you again hit him hard. Like an arrow. Suddenly, Reid wanted to get out of there. Run as far as possible.

He couldn't see you. He had no ability to deal with those feelings now. Not now, when his life was so overwhelmed with emotions for Gideon’s death that he still hadn't dealt Not when you aroused the feeling of... hope. Spencer can’t could hope, of any kind. Not for them to be taken from him with visceral force. Reid was already hurt enough for handling another fall.

“... But I don't think it's a good idea for my sister to be here, anyway.” Stephen continued to speak.

Rossi and Hotch frowned: “Why?”

“They were very connected. Seeing this scene is not going to do her any good...” he sobs this time “Y/n is not like me… she is sentimental, emotional. ”

“As long as you're trying to stay calm, she'll be the opposite.” Hotch completed.

“I just don't want my sister to suffer anymore and...”

But it was too late for Stephen to complete. It was too much for Spencer to escape. It was too late to be born again, in a different life.

A gray car moved forward on the stone road, at too high a speed not to have washed several road fines. That was so much typical of you who hurt Spencer's heart pieces more than he thought possible. More than he thought he could feel at the time. You were always so wild at the wheel. But Reid didn't have time to finish a thought, not even Rossi, Hotch, Morgan who was with them or even Stephen. Because car brutally stopped it, the door opened and…

And it was as if the sun came out from behind the clouds after years. As if summer had finally come after decades of overwhelming winter. In a burst, everything you've ever represented for Spencer has come back for him once again. And he felt the same thing that he felt when he first saw you, 8 years ago. And he was catatonic.

You got out of the car in a very hurried and desperate way. And as much as there were tears in your eyes and redness in cheeks, Spencer has never seen anyone so beautiful. Your hair was longer, in a brighter shade, maybe you had dyed it. Your features were more lyrical and beautiful, and Reid thought that the passage of time had no effect on you. While he considered himself just less clumsy over the years, you proved to be blooming like Romania's most superb rose.

“DAD!” But that was when your desperate voice brought Reid's consciousness back to earth.

You weren't calling your brother, you weren't asking why, you weren't in mourning. You were in denial. Disbelieving. You called out to your father, with the certainty that he would show up. And the despair in your eyes hurt Reid more than being shot.

But before the agents could do anything, you were running towards the house and Stephen ran towards you, taking you in his arms, trying to keep you from getting inside.

“LET ME GO, STEPHEN!” You struggled, trying to get rid of your brother's arms, your hair messing with the wind, tears streaming down your eyes. “They are wrong! It's not our father! Let me fucking go! DAD!”

“Y/n” Stephen had a broken heart in his eyes, some tears streaming down his eyes “You need to calm down before you get in there !”

“LET ME GO!” Yours sobs broke the hearts of the four agents over there “DAD!” You was cryng out, almost like a prayer, in a desperate call.

"He's gone, Y/n.” Your brother kept his arms stronger in you, trying to contain you while you struggle in trying to break free and go inside the house, under the illusion that you would find your father there.

“NO!” Now your crying was continuous “I spoke to him yesterday! It's not him, Stephen!” Then your brother turned you to him, holding you tight, and you melted into a visseral pain “It can't be him!”

“I know...” he sobbed, looking at you with the same shared pain “I know...”

So you gave yourself up to a painful, loud and desperate crying, the kind that won't let you breathe. And, unlike Reid, you fallen down. Your knees found the stone and grass floor, your hands clasped on Stephen's shirt, who knelt on the floor with you, delivered the pain you both shared.

You knew what your father's risks were in working in such a dangerous profession. Expose yourself to constant and frightening danger. You always knew about the risks, you just tried to ignore them all your life, sinking your fears about your father not coming home at night. Then, when he let the BAU, that fear dissipated. You felt a colossal weight being lifted off your shoulders, like tons of lead, and you let go of a fear so great that you didn't even know you had it.

For 8 years you thought that the chances of him not coming home were over, that the chances of seeing him the next day had increased dramatically. For 8 years you two traveled together, stopping at every type of diner for milkshake, chocolate ice cream and mint - his favorites - For 8 years you had your best friend, the only thing you knew you had in the world. You always knew that if you were drowning in the ocean, it would be your father who would give his lungs for you to breathe.

You didn't see a life without Gideon.

For you, you were crying for hours in what one day was your father's backyard, totally devastated, but for the rest of the world it was a matter of minutes.

Your sobs were so loud and real that Hotch and Rossi caught themselves with watery eyes, perfectly understanding the pain you were going through, the devastation. The two had lost many people, many of them being essential pieces to be able to continue breathing. Many of them felt wounds that would never heal.

But it was Rossi who approached you, the pain at the top of his throat, his mind wandering the day Gideon said he was going to have a little girl. Unlike Stephen, Rossi never saw you in person, but the sparkle in Jason's eyes whenever he talked about you, or with you on the phone, was enough to know that you were one of the essential pieces to keep breathing.

“Hi, my name is Rossi.” He knelt in front of you and your face went towards him, your cheeks and nose as red as your eyes.

“M-my dad talked about you."” You were still sobbing, slowly letting go of Stephen's shirt.

"Good things, I hope.” The two of you laughed like a sigh, and soon the pain returned to your eyes in a visseral way. “I know this is not fair, and I know it is asking too much, but I need you to go inside and try to find something out of place. Something that whoever did this to your father may have taken or left. ”

You closed your eyes in pain, tears streaming as you sobbed. Your hands, trembling and cold, went to your face, perhaps trying to hide from reality, perhaps wiping away tears. Maybe both. When you looked back at Rossi again, you saw the pain in his eyes too.

"I don't know if I can do it.” You admitted, your voice shaking.

"I know.” Rossi took his hand to yours, squeezing comfortingly “But only you can help us now, help other daughters not lose their father to the same killer. Being inside in the house can bring information that is in your subconscious. I promise you will make it, we will all be here with you.”

His handshake got stronger, and it reminded you of your father. That should have been the same way he comforted the victims' relatives, the way he was supposed to act with people.

'Everyone is somebody's son.' That's what Gideon said. It hit you like an atomic bomb. And, for a moment, you thought it was possible to die of sadness.

You squeezed Rossi's hand tightly, as if you were looking for courage. When you opened eyes again, you gave a weak nod. Carefully, as if any sudden movement is capable of causing you more pain, you stood up, your legs wobbly, your heart bleeding, sadness clouding your vision. Rossi put his hand behind your back, in a way to make sure him were there, as an anchorage in reality that would not let you get lost in the valley of sadness and pain.

As you walked up to the house, you didn't see the other agents, you didn't see the trees, the cars. At that time, you didn't even know what color the sky was anymore. It was like a suspended moment, when the world is in slow motion, the hemisphere is terrified. The sadness was palpable in the breeze, in the way that the rays of the sun did not reach the ground. The whole land looked like mourning.

As soon as you stepped inside the house, the smell of home and Gideon hit your nose, and you felt your face tighten in an expression of pure pain. You didn't notice the agents coming in behind you, you didn't notice Penelope and JJ. You just saw the furniture, the decor, his stuff. As if Gideon had just left for the market and was going to come back.

Everything was in was there. Minus the most important thing: him.

You did not notice when Rossi left you, you did not notice who approached. Everything was in a haze of pain.

But that's when you saw the strong blood marks on the floor, stuck to the wood with possession. A cold shiver as sighed from death ricocheted through your entire body, bristling all over your skin. In a burst, like the bursting of a violin string, the mist dissipated, the state of tupor burst, and reality hit you with overwhelming force.

And then the plug fell.

Jason Gideon had died.

You fell again, barely noticing the sobs and loud crying starting to come out again, the most desperate and painful in you life. But this time the arms that took you were different, bringing with you sensations that you haven't felt in a long time. That a long time ago you forgot that you could feel.

They were long, thin, and contained a vigor hidden beneath the thin facade. The smell of his presence was… heaven. That feeling was your anchorage on the high seas, in the valley of despair, and you clung to him for fear of drowning, of not finding your way back home.

You didn't have to see it to know who it was.

You turned to the arms that took you, now Spencer kneels with you on the floor, and you cried in a way that you never cried before, with a visseral pain. Your hands went to the brown cardigan he wore, closing there as if the fabric was your only chance for salvation.

So you looked at the immensity of the his brown irises.

"He was the only thing I had, Spen.” You sobbed loudly with the crying, gently swaying his coat, your voice utterly torn.

Spencer felt his eyes sting, his throat lock and the remains of what was his heart ache in a hideous way.

“I know.” He felt a tear run down his left cheek, his hands on your arms.

At this time, the two of you supported each other. Gideon meant a lot to you two. An irreplaceable role in yours life. And Spencer knew that was what you were talking about when you said:

"He was the only thing we both had.” You closed your eyes, your hands still firmly on his coat, your heart pounding.

But this time Spencer's voice was just as broken when he said: “I know.”

Then he hugged you.He hugged you for everything. He hugged you because it was a pain that only you two could understand. He hugged you because you needed it, and because he needed too.

Jason Gideon had a special connection with you two, a connection that only the two of you had ever experienced. Each relationship with Gideon was different, special in different ways, but only the two of you had him as a protector, mentor, a much more paternal and confidant figure. He was the kind of person you could leave your life in his hands, the kind who would teach you the secret of the worlds, show you what goodness was and at the same time strength. And you two had that.

You stained Reid's coat with tears, and Reid stained you with the strong smell he had. He stepped far enough away to be able to see your face perfectly, at a considerable distance, and, against everything he had ever done before with anyone, he took your face in his hands, his eyes fixed on your in pain shared.

“We will catch how did it.” Reid assured you, as if he had tattooed this words on your skin. You closed your eyes in pain, but he brought you back “Hey, keep looking at me."

So you did it. Because you would always follow Spencer. To hell if he asked.

"Don't take your eyes off mine, okay?” His voice was so sweet, so gentle, and you couldn't have done anything but agree. “When was the last time you spoke to Gideon?”

“Yesterday.” You replied “We were going to travel to the beach today, I took a vacation from work.”

“Was he at home when you two talked?”

The team looked at each other, with several questions in those look.

You denied it, the hiccup now because of the shortness of breath you had because of the crying.

“He stopped at Roanoke for...” and that's when you seemed to remember something.

Your eyes widened softly, your lips trembled, and you let out a stammering sigh as you try to remember something very important.

“What do you remember?” Spencer stroked your cheeks with his thumbs, trying to calm the beating of your heart that went back to being frantic and making you focus on the question, not the sea of ​​emotions you felt.

“He…” was when your eyes fluttered before meeting Reid's again. “He said he saw a woman on the news who was found dead. And ... and that he had to make sure of one thing ”

Rossi looked at Hotch, who gave an attentive and objective expression.

“Did he tell you why?” His eyes closed again and you sobbed. Reid moved closer, bringing your face back in his direction again “Look at me, Y/n.”

As soon as you did, he gave you a gentle smile, but contained all the pain in the world. He understood what you were felling.

“Why was he interested in the case?” He changed the question.

“I-it was something about...” you searched in your mind “Girl named Tara. I don’t know. He mentioned about a blue butterfly tattoo on her ankle as well, and that it was something to do with a… a case or something.”

“1978” Rossi interrupted and everyone looked at him “Gideon and I worked on a case in 1978, the suspect was never caught and Tara was a teenager who we thought had been kidnapped by him. The killer left dead birds in the hands of the victims ”

“But he didn't mention birds and...” That's when your eyes, fluttering, darted around the room and you stopped abruptly.

Spencer turned his attention to you again, seeing that you were staring somewhere. His hands slowly left your face and he asked:

“What?”

“The board.” You pointed to your father's board, which had a beautiful brown bird.

“Does say anything to you?” Rossi turned his attention to you.

You shook your head, your body too exhausted to go to the painting and examine it.

“He shot the board.” You looked at the agents “My father loved that painting, he never would have done that. Even though my father is stunned, he has the best aim I have ever seen.”

“The devil is in the details." Rossi went to the pinting and, after two seconds, turned to the team and said “I already know who did this.”

You let out a gigantic sigh of relief as the agents split up to continue the case, speaking so fast that you couldn't keep up.

“I helped?” You looked at Spencer, tears still shining in your eyes.

He smiled and nodded “Very.”

But when he got up, you took his hand, making Reid turn his attention back to you again, a questioning look on his face.

“You're going to get it, aren't you?” The sob invaded your voice "Promise me that you will catch him, Spen."

Reid took his hand in your, giving you a strong, comforting squeeze before saying:

"I will. I promise.”

And then he left, along with the other agents.

- - -

You thought you knew what pain was, the loss, the tightness in the heart. You thought that your many relationship breakdowns showed you what it was like to suffer. But you have never been so wrong. None of that compared to how you were now, to what you felt.

You would trade that feeling for anything in the world.

This was terrible. A cold, coercive, brutal and cruel feeling. As if you were at the bottom of a black ocean, unable to breathe, falling deeper and deeper, consumed by the overwhelming cold of the water.

It was impossible to say in words how you felt. But if it were you had to define it in one word you would say: pain. A pain that bends you, a pain that makes you want to scream, that pierces your lungs so that it is not possible to breathe, but that even so, you fight for air.

It was pain at its rawest, most brutal, sharp and atrocious like a dagger blade. You would go through Dante's hells for eternity instead of living one day with that pain.

Since Spencer and the agents went after the person in charge, you have sat on the steps of the front door, watching the nature, the shaking of the trees, but your attention was so far, far away. Perhaps unattainable.

Gideon always loved watching the seasons go by, and in that moment, you wondered if looking at the same thing he looked at every day would make you feel close to him. Feel with him. It had only been three days since you last saw him, when he picked you up at the airport, but you felt like you were past three lives. How would you go without it? How were you able to think of living without it?

You pulled your knees up against your chest, hugging your legs, the metallic, atrocious and icy taste of devastation stuck to yours in your mouth. The trees shook hard, forcing the birds to fly away, but you didn't feel cold. You were not feeling the cold breeze hit your body, nor were your muscles contracting in exhaustion from the hard wood of the steps you were sitting on.

The hunger, the cold, the heat or the craving could not reach you, as if the pain had paralyzed all your system. Probably your soul.

You didn't see when Stephen put father's blanket over your shoulders, nor did you hear his sobs for seeing you so devastated. But you smelled Gideon, and the warmth of the blanket was like having his arms around you again. Then the rest of the water in your body found its way to your eyes and crying was as automatic as breathing.

You were clinging to Spencer taking the son of a bitch who did it, trying to chase away any other thoughts that weren't about that. You didn't want to think about what would happen after he was caught. Which meant his capture for you. It would bring justice to Gideon, honoring his name, his life, but it wouldn't bring him back. What was taken from you would not be repaired, regardless of the end of that damned man.

When he was caught, you would have nothing else to focus on instead.

You don't know how long you stayed there. Hours? Days? The those peach and gold tones in the sky is from dusk or the dawn of a new day?

You had lost track of time, as if your watch had stopped since the time Gideon died.

The sound of cars on the road was the only thing that pulled you out of your fucking valley, and as soon as the black SUVs stopped, you stood up as if you had been waiting your whole life for that moment. The blanket fell from your shoulders, heart accelerated at an alarming rate, and for a second, everything was gone from your mind.

Rossi was the first to get out of the car, but yours eyes darted to Reid. You wanted to run, ask what had happened, listen to the answers. But you were paralyzed in place. Afraid of the truth, of reality.

What would become of you after that news?

Spencer came towards you without hesitation, and you couldn't take your eyes off him for a second. He didn't say anything, nor did he explain anything. It was not needed. The way he reached out his hand and placed your father's rings in your palm were enough answers.

Your whole body shook and you looked at Reid with more emotions than askers.

"He is dead." He told you, and it made you fall down again.

But this time you fell into his hugging, clinging to him in despair. There were many meanings in that embrace: gratitude, relief, fear, pain and grief. And Spencer hugged you back in the same way.

You two stayed that way for a while, even when the agents went to talk to Stephen, even when Garcia and JJ left the house, even when the cold wind hit you both.

“Thanks." You heard yourself say it, and Spencer shook his head, signaling that it wasn't necessary, and the two of you moved away.

So you went to Rossi, and hugged him too. In that second, Rossi could feel Gideon in that hug, and it took a second to not cry.

“Your father was a great man." He told you when the two of you walked away, and you agreed on a sad smile.

"He was." You looked down at the rings in your hand, staying a second there before turning to the agents and saying: “You guys are going to the funeral, aren't you? I ... my dad would like it w-very much.”

"Of course." Rossi guaranteed it.

As they walked away and went back to the car, heading for their own houses, your eyes met Spencer's and he whispered in the air to you:

“I will see you at the funeral."

You nodded, giving you a sad, grateful smile. And while everyone was leaving and you were looking at the rings in your hand again, you had a feeling that your story with Spencer had just started over.

A/n: I also lost a very important person to death, and for everyone who went through it too, I mean that no one is alone! My message box is open if you need anything! Love you❤️

Tagged @gublersuvula

@peculiarinsomniac

@measure-in-pain

@nobutalsoyes

🍒 @misshale21

[flowerwrites06]

break my mind’s eye V — jjk

Plot: Jungkook thinks marriage is the only way to seal a deal.

Pairing(s): Druglord!Jungkook x Fashion Designer!OC (Name: Belle)

Rating: G | PG | M | R 18+

Type: Drabble | Oneshot | Two Parter | Series

Parts: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Special 

Word Count: 9k+

Genre: Mafia | Angst/Smut/Fluff

Tags & Warnings (for entire series): drug dealing, marriage through trickery, explicit smut, drug use, dubious consent, prostitution, miscarriage, lots of manipulation, impregnation through manipulation 

The new routine of embedding her older brother into their lives again became somewhat casual in a fortnight. Though the presence of their ‘guest’ now created a significant rift between the new couple especially when it came to certain less than elegant activities. Not that they did not try of course.

One week into the modified living condition, Jungkook and Belle had been chatting at the bar which now mysteriously had an abnormally good stock of fruit juice compared to actual alcohol. A few instances where the drug lord would pull out a glass of cloudy apple juice creating some suspicious looks from his clients. Apparently Master Jeon was now going on a cleanse from alcohol for a while to prolong his rule over the empire.

The innocent conversation turned to absentminded touches, fingers intertwining and standing dangerously close together so Jungkook could smell her coconut shampoo. One peck turned to a deeper kiss and completely by mistake, Belle jumped on the counter with her now slightly favourite crime lord between her legs, his rough hand sneaking underneath her skirt and his lips nibbling on her neck.

Of course this was the perfect time for Taehyung to decide for a walk finding a criminal fooling around with his little sister while she giggled.

Belle practically flew off the counter almost twisting Jungkooks’ hand and simply put, the two decided to keep it more on the down low next time.

Another week passed and the cartel had been going through some brewing tension with the authorities after a new mayor was elected. Which meant Jungkook barely showed up in the bedroom to sleep and when he did come to the bedroom, it was to work more at the study table.

Belle on the other hand now sat in the designing level of Madame Saito with her large glasses, a red sweater dress to match the confusing mixture of cool and warm. Long hair tied up in a loose bun that lobbed to the side a little when she lowered her head to focus on the little details of the blue hydrangea pattern across white silk.

She approved Seokjins’ offer of becoming his designer for the Sangria House so they could conjoin the Spring Line with the angels’ attire. As much as it ignited a tiny hint of suspicion on the owners’ intentions, Saito advised that it was a powerful business decision. Being a designer of one of the biggest establishments in the city could boost her reputation as a sole businesswoman. Instead of just being Jeon Jungkooks’ fiancée or Saitos’ protégé.

Most of the Spring Line designs were already displayed on mannequins behind her, few of them approved for the runway while others still needed more detailing.

Her thumb already pricked a few times but she grew a good resistance for it at this point carefully creating gradients on the embroidered flowers. Belle quickly learned the importance of clothes in the Sangria House. Even though it was kind of ironic considering the type of establishment.

Angels wearing white fabric were meant to be the ones still in ‘training’, red meant available for entertainment both casual or carnal, lavender represented angels who were trained in more daring acts for entertainment especially ones that were erotic. Then there were the gold angels; extremely qualified in all kinds of entertainment but were already ‘taken’. They were married to someone but still had to entertain customers for a living income. If a customer wanted to spend more intimate time with this angel, it would take the price of a mansion which only one or two clients have ever really paid.

After hearing all this, Belle felt a little silly just calling it a brothel considering how much detail went into orchestrating the whole system down to their clothes.

“Belle!”

Her hand immediately stilled staring up at the figure in a vibrant yellow pantsuit walking towards the working table.

Saitos’ eyes flickered down to the sewing pattern, a smile creeping on her red lips. “I thought you said you weren’t good at embroidery.”

The younger female chuckled nervously poking the needle into the fabric. “Not as good as how you do it.”

“I was forced to sew since I was seven.” She laughed. “Don’t let my younger self being oppressed by toxic femininity stop you from believing you can’t do it now.” She joked, patting her shoulder lightly with her gaze focused on the pattern. “All you need to do is just cut out little loose threads.” Finger gently pointed towards the little threads poking out of the design. “Always make sure it’s smooth. Sometimes when a few parts are imperfect, you can add little extra pieces over top that match the shade of the embroidery design.”

Belle nodded, eyes following wherever Saitos’ finger moved.

Then the senior designer stopped herself. “Oh! Mrs. Jeon is waiting downstairs, she has some news about your engagement.” She straightened up, fixing her blazer before gesturing over to the stairs.

Her words took a moment to sink into her mind before she pulled the hair band out of her bun and tried to make it look presentable again. Glasses placed carefully on the table while the work in progress now supervised by Saito.

Almost rushing down the stairs, Belle came face to face with the woman who wore a body hugging lavender midi skirt and a matching blazer. A smile quickly stretched across her red lips as Boyoung held onto her hands excitedly.

“I’m sorry to disturb you during work but I got too excited.” She giggled, holding up her left hand to admire the ring wrapped around it as if she had never seen it before. “It’s about the wedding.”

Heart raced against her ribcages but Belle tried to keep her expressions calm. “What—what about the wedding?”

“The date, of course!” Boyoung laughed, swinging their arms again. “See we have been saving for Jungkooks’ wedding since his nineteenth birthday. Twenty one is the traditional age to marry in our family.”

Explained the constant suitors Jungkook had to tolerate. Something Belle could relate to. Her parents had been talking about her marriage since she was thirteen because it was a good way for them to gain money. Or to get rid of her. Either way she found herself having one big thing in common with the man. “That’s very nice of you.” Nice was not the proper word Belle wanted to use but Boyoung had proved to the nicest person she met in this new world. She was not going to ruin that safety.

She nodded in acknowledgement. “Since we have more than enough money saved up for the event. I wanted to tell you that we could have the wedding in a month.”

Blood chilled in her whole body struggling to keep her smile up to such a point where it was just her lips curled up while her eyes widened a little. “A month?” She chuckled nervously.

“I know it seems a little quick…” Boyoung admitted while lowering her head for a split second.

Quick was one way to describe a thousand crates dropping right on top of you while you were just working on a pretty dress.

“But it’s good to keep up with tradition.” She nodded mostly to herself, quickly giving her a bright smile like she forced it out of her after a mental pep talk. “And you two already love for each other so it shouldn’t be too hard to fathom.”

Love.

That fucking word again. Everything just came crashing back to her as the ring felt like it was suffocating her finger until it fell off. This wasn’t real, this wasn’t real… those three words swirled around in her mind as she watched the joyful smile adorn Jungkooks’ aunt. It was a game…a deal to protect her family and her own life.

Strange how the two were thinking about the same thing but one had a grey cloud and the other had sunshine.

“Of course.” Belle smiled again a little weakly but the older females’ excitement seemed to mask any suspicion. Admittedly, sparks of interest did fly between the fresh new pair but truthfully it never moved deeper than a sexual attraction. They stopped being rude to each other and grew quite successful in pretending to be a happy engaged couple. Behind closed doors, there were smiles, maybe a little flutter in her belly whenever she saw him but—love?

No.

Love was sacrificing her entire chance at a proper relationship with a happy marriage and children so she could protect Taehyung. What Belle and Jungkook had was not love itself but a consequence of loving someone far too much to lose them.

With that thought, her pounding heart hardened. This was all for the best. The deal is simple. Marry Jungkook and be the perfect wife while Taehyung is given all the resources to recover back to a better version of himself again. What was the point of worrying so much about marriage anyway? Her career showed so much potential, Belle probably would have ended up a single business woman like Saito.

To put it more accurately, this deal was perfect. No one pressured her about marriage, Taehyung was healing and her career moved smoothly.

“So we’ll do it at my mansion then, yes?”

Boyoungs’ voice breaking into the barrier of her thoughts pulled Belle back into reality and she instinctively gave the older another grin. “Yes…your mansion is beautiful, Mrs. Jeon.” She nodded. “It’s the—perfect place for a wedding.” Perfection seemed to be all she could gain at this point.

“You’ve made a desperate aunt very happy.” She joked, patting her cheek. “Now I’ve kept you away from work long enough, we’ll talk soon.”

Belle led the woman across the boutique to the exit where her car awaited, allowing the cool air to ease some of her slightly heated anxiety.

She stood politely in front of the vehicle watching Boyoung climb inside before the driver closed it gently. Though her attention flickered over to something moving on the other side of the street where the park was. Usually filled with children running around, people jogging but her focus directed more towards the bushes fencing the area.

For a quick moment a more sensible side assumed it may have been an animal of some sort merely rustling between the branches.

Though the side that was fully aware of the new gaze on her after the engagement knew better. Animals did not wear black coats neither did they hold cameras pointing right in her direction while trying to look inconspicuous in nature.

At some point Belle suspected the photographer saw her looking into the camera because she saw the figure rush to keep themselves hidden again.

Sighing, the girl gave one quick smile to Boyoung before the car drove away and she tried to fix her attention on her work again.

-

Coffee stained papers flipped and dropped either on the other side of the crowded table or on the floor. Phone rung at some corner constantly while not a single employee had a minute without running around somewhere leaving Namjoon s’ head spinning. On his right were a pile of cases he should be doing according to the captain who insisted that vandals and petty theft was more his specialty. Granted the man could not blame her considering his biggest undercover case went downhill with no leads whatsoever leaving him to be the runt of his precinct for the past year.

He kept a decent aura of respect however, no one really wanted to piss off someone who had been personally trained to cut off important parts in a body.

Taking a sip of his possible fifth cup of coffee, his pile of useless cases forgotten on the side while he stared at the recent pictures sent to him. A few years had already passed with this growing ambition towards finding out how to expose the mystery that was the Jeon Cartel. Apparently each associate took some kind of tight fucking oath which prevented anyone from uttering a single secret about them.

The infamous Jeon Jungkook was a master of words. The golden elite of their city. Contributed to around half of the buildings in the city and factories overseas. Donated near millions of dollars to medical and disaster care.

Namjoon had to admit he was good at what he did. That is until the first drug scandal. One of the factories that Jungkook owned was caught manufacturing cocaine and distributing it to Osaka and Hong Kong. Though quickly swept under the rug when the man had two hospitals built under the guise that it was Jungkooks’ personal apology to the city. His undercover mission which he worked on for months destroyed in two days.

Now the man was left with looking at any recent changes. Anything that so much as leaned the slightest towards suspicion caused his ears to prick up and his eyes peeled.

“You know Pornhub exists, right?” Yoongi spoke in his usual gruff tone, sipping on his espresso while watching over Namjoon s’ shoulder at the pictures he was looking at.

The younger male rolled his eyes continuing to observe the photos taken three days ago. A woman wearing a striking red dress conversing and smiling with the second most powerful lady in the city. “It’s Kim Belle.” Namjoon remembered the name on the newspaper article in front of him. “Seems Jeon Jungkook is getting engaged.” He sighed, brows furrowing slightly.

“Okay…” He nodded walking over to his desk right in front of Namjoon s’ desk. “And that’s our problem because…”

“Well it doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s marriage, it almost never makes sense.” Yoongi leaned back on his chair.

Namjoon moved in to try and keep his voice down since anyone who so much as heard him talk about Jungkook started writing out complaints to the captain. “But why now? He’s been an eligible bachelor for years and all of a sudden, an engagement?”

The older male tried to suppress rolling his eyes. “Probably an arranged marriage then.” He shrugged.

“To a fashion designer?” He winced. “What the hell is he going to gain by marrying a fashion designer?”

“Free suits for a life time?” Yoongi smirked but immediately sighed seeing the warning look on Namjoon s’ face. The man had clearly dedicated his entire livelihood to exposing Jungkook which was something he could never understand. He spent most of his days going undercover and being damn good at it too, exposing all kinds of rings. The Jeon Cartel, on the other hand was a hard ice wall to crack. “Look…you’ve been at this for a long time. At this point if you so much as mention Jungkook, the captains’ just going to let you go on the grounds of insanity.”

“But something isn’t right.” Namjoon emphasized desperately wanting anyone to see under that perfect young man façade Jungkook harbored. “You don’t just get engaged to some random girl, that’s social suicide.”

“Social suicide? This isn’t fucking high school.”

“You know what I mean.”

The two men stayed silent letting the ambient noise plunge through their personal atmosphere.

Yoongi mulled over his thoughts for a moment, watching Namjoon look down at the pictures with a defeated sigh. He understood the passion behind exposing someone who was doing a harmful thing under the guise of righteousness. So many powerful heads still needed to be exposed, unfortunately Jungkook was only a newer one. “Let me see the file.” He curled his fingers in and took the thick file onto his own desk when Namjoon handed it to him.

His gaze fixated on the picture of the woman, who looked around about Jungkooks’ age except with a softness to her as opposed to the other mans’ mischief. There were a couple of news articles that Namjoon collected with that same face plastered all over. A couple of them were positive while others were out to scandalize one way or another no matter how stupid it sounded. “So you’ve never seen her with him before?”

Namjoon shook his head. “Not until a little too recently. It’s like she just appeared out of thin air.”

Flipping through the photos, Yoongi came across one where she wore a brown-ish bodycon dress walking into an establishment. “This is a rehabilitation clinic.” His brows furrowed, interest now piqued a little too much for his own liking.

“You think she’s an addict?”

“Hard to tell. Could be anything.” He muttered, eyes on the picture as he took a sip of his now cooled down espresso. “Maybe she’s visiting.”

“There has to be something weird about this, right?” Namjoon gestured towards the file.

Crime lords taking in beautiful, young wives for no reason was not an uncommon trait but usually those leaders would have a reputation of that sort. Jungkook had been a bachelor from what they knew and rarely found himself in any kind of sex or romantic scandal. Something was going on but much like everything else with this man, it was hard to tell what exactly. “Okay don’t tell anyone I said this.” Yoongi almost whispered now leaning in. “But we have a possible drug bust…thanks to our new mayor, we’ve been getting orders left and right to fish out dens.” He stopped himself for a moment letting a trainee walk past them before speaking again. “The one we’re looking at tonight—few of us suspect that it could belong to Jeon.”

Namjoon shifted in his seat as his heart leaped right up to his throat. Finally those words were coming out of someone else’s mouth instead him saying the same thing like a broken record. More people were seeing the truth. “Where is it?”

Yoongi gave him a warning look now. “Joon…”

“Come on, I’m not gonna follow you.”

“Yeah but this is still a secret bust, alright? Even some of the seniors don’t know about it.” His eyes flickered over to the sides where the older officers were sipping coffee at their desks looking at their computer. About two of them actually reading cases while others watching porn. “The mayor wants a full clean-up.” Yoongi whispered again. “And I mean—full.”

“Meaning…” He pointed to his desk but referred to the whole precinct and Yoongi nodded.

“All our jobs are on the line.” He muttered. “Even the captain…but—this could help us be on the mayor’s good side since they’re trusting us already.”

A light hint of excitement tingled down his spine knowing there was a lead now. While Namjoon would have wanted to accompany the team, the older male had the right idea. The captain did not trust him in this mission. He needed to be subtle if he was ever going to feel the satisfaction of seeing Jeon Jungkook behind bars.

-

Golden rays peeked through the curtains as Belle walked to the vanity with nothing but a crème silk slip and a white robe over top.

The couple along with Taehyung were invited to the Sangria House to celebrate their new business partnership. Apparently the best angels would be readied for their entertainment in the night. Something Belle was not sure she was going to enjoy.

Either way it was always good to look as presentable as possible. The dress code stated that white, red, lavender or gold were not allowed in the establishment for obvious reasons Belle understood now. So with the thought in mind she opted for a deep green velvet dress, a slit for one of her thighs to peek through and one loose strap sleeve that hung off her shoulder smoothly.

The gorgeous dress lay neatly on the large ottoman in the center of the walk-in wardrobe while the woman curled a few undone pieces of her hair.

Deep peach lips and a simple terracotta shaded eye look, Belle briskly made her way downstairs to see how Taehyung was doing with getting ready.

Her older brother had been extremely reluctant in coming to the event but she suggested it would be good to do something other than sitting around. Maybe getting his mind off of any messiness even for a few hours. Still hesitant he silently agreed but Belle had a nagging feeling he was still napping.

Down the stairs as her curls bounced a little in the process, Nana smiled and rushed over to her.

“He’s fine, mistress.” She quickly reassured as they both stopped near the entrance archway.

Belle let out light sigh before chuckling, head lowered for a moment. “Is the suit okay?”

“Very handsome.” She nodded in acknowledgement. “You should be dressed too.”

The younger female hummed before hearing a few voices back and forth as if in argument. Brows furrowed, Belle walked to the other side of the mansion where the second living room was while Nana continued on with her work.

The area was empty but she still heard angered voices coming from the left room. The second living room led two areas. It had a similar design to the first one except instead of a bar, there was another fireplace. Past the couches in the center led to an open archway towards the kitchen on the right while the left was closed; Jungkooks’ home office.

Curiosity and slight concern seeping through her entire body, Belle walked towards the door which in mere minutes opened harshly. A clear air of smoke flowed out into the second living room touching her nostrils and making her wince.

The once angry looking men immediately stopped in their tracks for a moment before waving off the smoke and bowing. “Excuse us, mistress.” One of the older ones acknowledged as they took turns walking past her to the exit. Jongho and another guard led them properly to the door but the womans’ gaze was more on the figure sitting at the chair, rubbing his face.

Entering the office, she closed the door behind her.

His slightly reddened eyes flickered to meet her gaze before lowering his head. “Belle—” Jungkook sniffled, fingers running through messy hair. White shirt a little crumpled, almost half unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It became a usual sight for the man ever since this new election. “Sorry…I don’t usually yell.” He sighed attempting to messily fix up the papers.

Staying silent, feet padded closer to the table and gently took the paperwork in her hands, stacking them neatly with a tap on the edge before placing them back on the surface. “I know. You haven’t slept.”

“Park Chul clearly isn’t planning on sleeping.” Jungkook almost seethed just mentioning the mayors’ name.

Belle moved to stand behind him, hands on his shoulders lightly squeezed the knotted muscles. “That doesn’t mean you stop taking care of yourself.”

He let out a drawling hum, throwing his head back. “You can take care of me.” A soft smile tugged at his lips as her vanilla scented perfume graced his nostrils. For hours Jungkook had been forced to tolerate the tobacco, weed and alcohol, it felt nice to have someone pleasant around him again.

“What if I’m not here?” Another million dollar question that silenced them both for a few minutes. Even the woman grew uncomfortable at how heavy those words were. Their deal was perfect. But what about twenty years from now? Fifty years? What if Jungkook being married didn’t matter anymore?

“You’ll always be here…won’t you?” He stared up at her.

Belle stopped massaging him at this point, mind crowding with unwanted thoughts and unanswered questions. Too much to think about in such little time. “I made a promise.” She smiled. “I’m gonna keep it.” Seemed the best reply in the pile of things she truly wanted to say to him except there was no time to worry themselves over delicate details.

Jungkook chuckled a little under his breath as the vanilla scented goddess now moved to sit on the table in front of him. “Shouldn’t you be dressed by now?”

“I could ask you the same question, Mr. Jeon.” Her eyes flickered up and down his body.

Fingers accidentally pushed her robe aside to let those soft thighs peek out in display, the feeling of it under his pads allowed for a sense of relief to wash any stress down. All she had to do was sit here and Jungkook felt instantly revived. Even the scent of alcohol and tobacco faded away with her presence bringing him nothing but light bliss. “I like this outfit.” He smirked, hand tracing down her leg so it sat on the arm rest, slightly caging him in much to his pleasure.

Belle smiled placing her other leg on the left arm rest giving him a small peek of her satin black panties. “Do you want me to wear this outfit?” She purposely softened her voice.

The sweet sound tingled down his spine, head turning to kiss the inside of her thigh.

Eyes closed feeling each kiss lurking closer to the thin barrier hiding the womans’ core. Leaning back a little, she buried her fingers gently in his thick hair. Grip tightened when Jungkooks’ lips finally pressed against her panties. “We don’t have time for that.” She spoke breathlessly.

“We’ll make time.” His voice rasped.

She felt her panties being pushed to the side, exposing her core to his hot breath before his tongue licked a stripe up from her slit to her little nub. Legs jerked a little almost locking her thighs together but one of his hands kept one of them still. Tongue lapped on her throbbing clit making it hard to keep herself steady without knocking over the desktop computer behind her; light moans melted out of her like a long unsung melody. A little hesitant but she had to sing it regardless. “Dai—”

Her voice made his heart flutter immediately concealed with a light groan that vibrated against her core. Lips wrapped around the sweet bundle of sensitivity and suckled, relishing in the feeling her plump thighs pressing against his ears.

Belle almost lost her balance as she pushed the keyboard away to the side. The familiar warmth constricted around her lower belly now welcomed itself, moans fading into desperate whimpers to reach her orgasm.

Feeling her hips jerk against his mouth, Jungkook breathed out through his nose not leaving a single break as he pushed her to her release. Clit throbbing between his lips, he shook his head.

The rough pressure torturing her bud as she drowned in the warm explosion seeping through every vein, body trembled in bliss. When Belle felt his tongue still moving causing her to jump a little from the sensivity as she pushed his face away softly. “No more.” She giggled, still trying to catch her breath.

Jungkook kissed it once more with a cheeky smile before standing up.

She wiped off the glisten on his chin with the fabric of her robe and pressed a light kiss on his lips. “What about you?” Her hands pulling at his belt but he held onto them.

“It’s okay.” He whispered, giving her a reassuring smile. “I just needed a little treat.”

Belle slapped his chest softly not able to get rid of the blissful smile gracing her features. “We should get dressed now.” She muttered even though their hands were still slowly caressing each other.

“We should.” Jungkook pushed away the loose curl over her eye.

Whether it was the ecstasy still flowing through her or a genuine feeling from within, the woman found herself in complete comfort under his touch. Maybe something more than just sexual attraction. Not that it could ever be anyway, there was no real use in true feelings for something false. Despite the thought in mind Belle smiled up at her clever captor turned fiancée and felt tingles run down her spine at a mere kiss on her cheek.

-

Sangria House reeked of luxury from its royal purple and gold tapestries, crystal lamps with warm lighting, scent of wine mixed into vanilla while the inside adorned with colorful angels entertaining their patrons. Since the house colors were not allowed to be worn by visitors, many of them opted for the classic black which made Belles’ deep green velvet dress stand out a lot more than she expected.

Arm hooked onto Jungkooks’ while Taehyung walked with them on her left, the three were welcomed by an angel with white attire. She bowed, smile gracing her features before leading them past the main lobby of entertainment where a few angels in white played instruments on the small stage.

Upon observing, a lot of the members in the lobby only wore white while some red ones sat in a few corners.

Belle assumed the higher ranking ones would have more private sessions or maybe there were certain times where each angel arrived. So many things still left unanswered for the workings of the Sangria House but it did not change the fact, it was a quick profit hungry establishment exploiting vulnerable young people who were desperate for a living.

The young angel slid open a door to an empty private room. Table full of light snacks and three cushions for them to sit on. “Mistress Angel and Master Jimin will see you shortly.” She bowed again until her knees touched the floor waiting for them to enter the room so she could leave respectfully.

Jungkook sat in the middle while Belle and Taehyung took each side waiting patiently in a small period of silence.

“Was bringing me to a brothel really necessary?” He glared more at Jungkook even though Belle was the one who received the invitation and accepted it for the business deal.

“If it were the brothel, I would’ve been groped at least a good three times by now.” The woman replied simply knowing this establishment in particular had extremely strict rules and a different crowd of clients.

The comment silenced her brother almost instantly.

Mere minutes passed and the door slid open again bursting with bright colors. A woman with long brown hair wearing a gold georgette dress with a matching overcoat giving her the look of royalty. In a similar fashion, a grey haired male stood beside her wearing a similar design except silk lavender. Walking closer to the table, they both bowed down to their patrons adorning those award winning smiles.

Taehyung felt like something clipped his tongue when saw the angels. The ones in white were pretty but this house owner had some real gems hidden under his sleeve. Especially the lady in gold who perched herself next to him, smiling like a princess from a fairytale that the man seemed rude smile a little back.

“Welcome to the Sangria House. On behalf of Mr. Kim, we’d like to thank you for accepting this momentous partnership, Madame Belle.” She smiled at her and gave a little bow of acknowledgement. “Jimin and I will be your hosts for this evening.”

Jungkook smiled kindly and the chatting began quite smoothly since the angels were extremely talented in holding an air of entertainment. Especially these ones. Getting a lavender and a gold coated angel were not regular feats and only done if the patron was an important one to impress. The last time he saw two of these angels together in one room was when he was first anointed leader of the Cartel but it was all paid by his father and mother. Belle checked that box without any aid. He would be jealous but a jolt of pride burst through him without knowing.

“Your name is Angel?” Taehyung asked, expression softened so much he could resemble a cloud.

Angel giggled under her breath while serving his tea. “It’s a little strange.” She placed the teapot down glancing over at Jimin who was chatting along with Belle while Jungkook listened to her. “We were called faeries before but—Mr. Kim changed it after I was given the gold coat.” She gestured to her outfit.

Taehyungs’ brows furrowed looking down at her dress hoping the princess would explain why the change in her outfit was so important. Instead the criminal sitting in the middle began speaking.

“When an angel is given the gold coat, it signifies that she’s take—” Jungkook cleared his throat. “Apologies…she’s married.”

The princess nodded with a reassuring smile.

“Married.” Taehyung breathed out, feeling like a grey cloud engulfed him into a cold hug. Of all the things…of all the angels he had to melt in front of the one who was married.

Belles’ smile disappeared hearing Jungkooks’ correction. The smallest tiniest detail managed to snap a nerve that had been long hidden with her own pride and stubborn strength. He was wrong. Angel was taken. No real, true spouse would continue to let their wife be used as a sensual commodity for extra cash and this gold angel definitely brought in a lot from what she learnt. No real, true husband would manipulate someone and threaten her family just to keep up a good appearance as a married elite. This was far from being married. Marriage was something else entirely and these suited pigs would not ever understand the meaning. It was a business transaction. Her body deflated a little feeling that nudge of anxiety once again bubbling up but she quickly gave Jimin a kind smile.

Jimin knew fake smiles from a mile away but it did not take an expert to realize Mr. Jeons’ comment changed something in the gorgeous designer. Though he had to admit, she was good at holding one like she had been giving conveniently fake smiles for a while. He did not know if he should be impressed or terrified. Either way it seemed the perfect to initiate the next stage of the evening that Seokjin planned out for them. He gently touched Angels’ arm to give her the signal before speaking once everything was quiet. “Mr. Kim has private sessions booked for each of you. I will be taking Madame Belle to another room and Mr. Jeon is expected in a meeting with Mr. Kim.”

It might have sounded like Jungkook was forced to work while relaxing but he never really delved into the antics of the Sangria House. When he was a bit younger and curious, he did book a red angel occasionally but now nothing really compared to what he already had. Though something he did not like was Jimin offering his hand to Belle. “You don’t have to do that.” He muttered to the woman.

“It’s okay.” Belle spoke a little coldly, accepting Jimins’ hand as they walked out of the room.

Another angel wearing white walked into the room to escort Jungkook to wherever he needed to go but Taehyung did not really care where. All he could focus on was the fact he could now be alone with the gold princess. “Can I ask who you’re…married to?”

Angel smiled. “No one really asks. They like keeping my truth as far away from the confines of this room to make their evening more enjoyable.”

“What if I don’t want to do that?”

“Then you’d be the first.” She took a polite sip of her tea. “Is there something in particular you wanted me to do?”

“No!” Taehyung cleared his throat, cheeks heating up. “Uh—no, I—Talking is fine. I haven’t…spoken to anyone new in a long time.” He chuckled mostly to himself. Most of the friends he had left him in the dust the more he found his comfort in other things. He talked to Hoseok a lot but only when a transaction was involved, the nurses were anything but just highly paid nannies and Belle had a life of her own to lead. Sitting in this room now with the soft-spoken princess, he quickly felt how lonely he truly was.

“Am I doing a good job?” She giggled seeing the little sags under his eyes that resembled she saw in the mirror this morning.

He nodded without hesitation. Her mere presence seemed to bring a warmth in his belly, reassuring him that he was not lonely. That everything was okay even just for a moment.

-

The room Belle was escorted into had a similar structure to the previous one except instead of plain walls, there were cherry blossom designs giving the area a subtle pinkish hue. She walked inside and sat down on the cushion this time sitting in the middle while Jimin perched himself on the other side so they faced each other. “So…why the private session?”

Jimins’ eyes flickered up to the female while he served the tea before smiling. “Mr. Kim wanted each of you to fully enjoy the services we can provide.”

Her heart bounced a little at his words. “Ser—Services?” She breathed out a small chuckle. “What kind of services?”

The lavender adorned male could not help but giggle at her adorable reaction. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything unless you ask me to.”

“What if you don’t want to do what I ask?” Belle tilted her head. Not on her life would she ask Jimin or anyone to do anything disgusting for her own benefit but she was curious just how put together this establishment actually was.

He smiled. “It is my job to make you happy, Madame Belle.”

Clearly not that put together. “It would make me happy if you just called me Belle. ‘Madame’ is only used for senior designers.”

Jimin bowed. “Apologies—Belle. I looked at the designs you sent in for the House…you could be a senior designer if you wanted.”

Belle giggled lightly trying not to look too proud of herself since as Jimin said, it was his job to make her happy. “Thank you. Let me know if you want me to change anything.”

“That’s not really my decision but I think it’s perfect just the way it is.” He shrugged. A small moment of comfortable silence passed through them before Jimin spoke again with a careful thought. “Forgive me for asking, Belle…but–I saw you were very upset hearing Mr. Jeons’ comment.” Every word sounded so carefully calculated Belle wished she could speak like that in front of strangers. “Part of the responsibilities in Sangria House is to detect signs of…domestic disturbances. Our patrons tend be loose tongued which helps us find out if there is anyone who needs help getting away from something like that.”

“Oh—” She tried her best to hide how much her heart almost cracked her ribcages when it leaped in both fear and a strange excitement. “You don’t have to worry about all that.” Belle shook her head with a smile. Though a small lump still grew in her throat at how Jimin spoke his concerns despite barely knowing her. “Sangria House tracks domestic disturbances?”

Jimin nodded, smile softly adorning his ethereal features. “Most of our angels are from toxic environments.” He took a breath to say something as he glanced behind him. Then he leaned in with a smaller voice. “Angel…the golden lady used to be the mistress of a powerful club owner. I—I was the one who found the signs after a private session.”

Belle swallowed down the painful lump. “Who did she marry then?”

He sighed. “Since the man was so influential, he wouldn’t just let anyone marry her.” Jimin shook his head. “So—Mr. Kim offered his hand. Well…Angel trained five times as intense compared to the other angels so her status as a gold member would be valid.”

What little hope Belle had of the Sangria House being somewhere of help quickly dwindled down back to her original opinion. Angel moved from one controlling person to another. Maybe Seokjin was not an abuser of any sort but it did not change the fact she became a commodity just so she could be free from abuse. A ‘better’ life but did that make it a good life?

Though Jimin looked quite convinced that this was a righteous path for the House.

He could not exactly be miserable about it like she was since he had to actually live through all these routines and schemes.

Same way Belle couldn’t be upset about her deal with Jungkook otherwise it could make her insane with misery. Every time the small hint of reality hit her, she felt like her whole body was drowning in it all. Something so wrong damaged the entire structure of her future. If soulmates existed Belles’ would be left waiting or they would run to someone else they were not truly meant for.

“I’m sorry…I was supposed to entertain you, not make you feel awful.” Jimin chuckled nervously, shifting in his seat.

“No, no—” She shook her head smiling at him more genuinely this time. Her hand unintentionally slid closer to his as a way to comfort the angel. “Please, I—like talking about these things sometimes. It feels—real.” Her genuine smile faded into something a little sad but it still rang with truth. “I need a lot of real in my life right now.”

Jimin hummed in acknowledgement, one of his fingers lightly tapping against her hand. “Well if you ever want to visit again this House will always be open to you.”

Regardless of what she thought about this place, that was the first time anyone ever gave her words of comfort since the ‘engagement’. “Thank you, Jimin.”

-

“We’ve been in casual dealings for a long time now, Mr. Jeon.” Seokjin walked towards his desk after bringing out a wooden box from his shelf and placing it on the dark wooden surface. The lighting in the office had been a lot more dim with rarely any heavy decorations save for a few plants. This place clearly was only meant for business. “But I feel this new project may be able to solidify a stronger partnership between the two of our entities.” He tapped the closed box.

Jungkook sat on the chair in front of the desk, eyes fixated on the box before flickering up to the older male. “We don’t—share the same supplies, I’m afraid, Mr. Kim.” He shook his head a smirk lightly playing on his lips.

Seokjin chuckled settling down on the chair. He flicked the gold latches on the box and pushed the lid open before sliding it towards the young lord. “I believe you do share a similar interest for this kind of product.”

Giving the house owner a look of apprehension, he slowly leaned in and peeked into the box where he saw an indigo shaded stick almost resembling a cinnamon stick. On the left was a small bag of the same colored powder and then a liquid version in a vial. “What is this supposed to be?”

“There isn’t a name for it yet.” He shrugged. “But from I’ve asked a few of my white coats to try this product out and see the effects.”

Jungkook picked up the liquified version to examine it closer, little pink glitters seemed to shine through in the light making it look like some potion from the ancient times. “And? What were the results?”

“At first the usual, loss of inhibition maybe a little sense—then…we have increased sex drive, high performance and concentration ability, pain relief and for some people, a serious case of the giggles.” Seokjin rested his elbows on the table with his fingers intertwined with one another.

“Side effects?” He met the older males’ gaze, placing the vial back in the box.

“Didn’t think you were kind of man to worry about that.” He smirked.

“I didn’t get this kind of success by selling bad drugs, Seokjin.” Jungkook smiled with a slight bitter hint.

Seokjin sighed before nodding. “Of course—unfortunately, this drug is new and not exactly made by creators of your Cartels’ stature. Side effects included heavy addiction, loss of coordination, extreme mood swings, excessive coughing with blood traces, insomnia, sensitivity to light and cold and nightmares.”

“So nothing then?” He joked, raising a brow. “It’s going to take work to ensure at least lessening those side effects by half.”

“I take it that’s a yes on the partnership.” The corner of his lip twitched up a little.

Many club owners usually turned to him and his manufacturers for new and improved drugs that surpassed the traditional ones. Though in Jungkooks’ opinion, the originals always sold the most because they were effective for years. Except brothel or teahouse owners never really dabbled into the interest of his line of work. “Why the interest in this new field?”

Seokjin smiled leaning back on his chair. “I’m a businessman, Jungkook. There’s no field I don’t want to get into. It has been an interest of mine for years since many herbs and substances have yet to be discovered. Don’t you ever wonder if there was something out there in the world that could bring you more profit…more glory than your predecessor?”

Jungkook sat silent as the question lingered in the air for a few moments. Being so young and handed the cartel without his fathers’ death caused a disagreement amongst many associates. Despite the fear harbored by whoever crossed his path, the young man was always on the path to better himself in proving that he was the most capable and most influential. There was no room to be soft or complacent in this business.

“Also the lack of knowledge for this product may prevent any…mishaps from our new beloved mayor.”

Those clever words made his ears prick up quicker than he liked. A substance with similar effects to the originals but the look of none of them. If they succeed in perfecting it then maybe it would make being discreet that much easier. “I’ll talk about it with my manufacturers.” He spoke trying to be as emotionless as possible. But the prospect of his vulnerable mess of a cartel getting some security was soothing.

-

The sessions and a productive meeting flowed through deep into the dark night until the three were escorted back to their car.

Belle kept her eyes out on the window feeling a light emptiness gut after an angel walked into the room and told their session came to an end. Perhaps it was Jimins’ immense talent in luring his patrons. Whatever it was she had no interest in talking to the men in the car. She felt like her whole being was ripped apart, now she needed a few moments of deep silence to stitch herself back up.

Truthfully the girl did not say anything too detailed to the lavender angel but she never needed to. Somehow he had the talent of seeing her story with a few hints. That alone made her even more reluctant to uttering a single word to her brother or her makeshift fiancée.

Jungkook peeked from the rearview mirror at the woman looking out the window wondering what happened in the private session. Even as they met again in the lobby, Belle had a cold sheet over her to a point where he could feel the chill.

-

When they arrived to the mansion, Taehyung shyly suggested that they should visit the house more often which Belle agreed to with a slightly exhausted smile.

“You looked beautiful tonight.” Jungkook commented watching Belle take off her earrings and necklace, placing them in a black box.

“Thank you.” She replied under her breath, unpinning some parts of her hair relieving the light headache that ensued. Stop acting miserable, Belle told herself. It would only make it worse—her chest could not clench all her life. Her gaze still focused on the vanity, she pushed all her curls over her shoulder. “Could you unzip me?” Belle asked coyly. The woman had all capabilities of unzipping her own dress.

Shrugging the soft shirt off his shoulders, Jungkook padded towards the beauty and stood behind her. Eyes flickered to her reflection in the mirror watching her glow in the golden lights of the vanity. Hands carefully held onto the zip and pulled down tantalizing slow, wanting to stand this close to her as long as possible. The scent of her perfume blessed his nostrils, he had to lean down and nudge his nose against her hair.

Belle couldn’t help but close her eyes, chest rising and falling. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. Why did something fake feel so good then? His slightly rough fingers sneaking through the slit of her unzipped dress tracing up her back making her shiver a little. She shrugged off the one sleeve keeping her clothing hanging, nipples now peeking out from the green velvet.

Jungkook kept his gaze on the reflection as his hand reached out to push down the fabric so her gorgeous breasts could be full display. Fingers brushed up her chest before wrapping around her neck and turning her head up, lips devouring hers. Tongue pushed through her teeth not wasting any time exploring every corner of her mouth.

She sneaked through the slit of her dress and rolled her panties down to her thighs. Sneaking her hand behind her, Belle palmed the tightening bulge in his pants feeling him groan into her mouth which only made her moan back. Nothing fake should ever feel this good.

Losing all his sense and patience, he pulled her dress to see her beautiful ass in bare display as she bent over slightly on the table. Jungkook unbuckled his belt and pulled his pants down watching Belle cheekily sway that gorgeous peach. No one should be this irresistible. One little tiny move from the woman had his head floating in the clouds. Nails dug into her skin, fingers wrapping around his cock before teasing her slit.

As much as Belle loved his tongue, feeling his hardened tip had her body tingling for more. Heated arousal leaked out of her awaiting core while she pressed her ass against his member silently asking to hurry.

“Did Jimin see this?” He slapped his cock against one ass cheek making the woman hum.

She shook her head looking at him through the mirror. “Only you.” Voice came in a whisper that leaked of a little desperation.

“Only me.” Jungkook muttered, giving her an almost borderline sinister smirk. Hands grabbed at her hips as he stuffed his cock into her pussy without a single warning.

Belle lightly groaned under her breath, nails scratching against the surface of the table. Her wet core swallowed his entire member with a light ache but it quickly faded into a warm filling that she craved for too long.

“Say it again.” He demanded.

She glanced over her shoulder for a second trying to hide the small smile tugging at her lips. “Only you.” A harsh thrust from behind had Belle’s body trembling in the best way possible.

“Again.” His voice grew breathless, each thrust snapping with rough need.

“Only you.” Belle moaned out feeling the tip of his cock rubbing against the sweet spot. Arms around her body, chest pressing against her back making his shaft hit deeper and slower pushing through his deprived orgasm. “Only—” She gasped when she felt her sensitive spot get tortured, her legs momentarily losing balance from the sensation.

“Fuck, baby—” He cursed in a breathy mumble, face buried in her hair as his orgasm raced closer.

“Master Jeon!” A yell echoed upstairs but Jungkook merely groaned at the horrible timing.

Pushing Belle down further, he rammed into her like an animal. All the makeup and skincare products stumbled and fell over the shaking table.

“Master Jeon!”

Each time the yell echoed, his thrusts grew more vicious. Her skin burned from the friction against the table surface while her limbs lost all ability to have any control of their own. Belle still could not control the small smile on her face. The feeling of her body completely submitting to the beast fucking her from behind brought a new rush of adrenaline.

Jungkook grabbed onto a chunk of her hair relishing in her little moans being drowned out by the impact against the contents of the table.

Loud knocking on their bedroom door interrupted their heated air for a second.

“Baby, don’t stop please…” Belle whimpered feeling her release reach tipping point.

That nickname again made his thrusts sloppy as the warm heaviness in his lower belly reached its uncontrollable, quickly pulling out of her. Juice spluttered all over her ass and back making her look like a sinful piece of art.

Her legs felt like pure jelly as the jolt of overwhelming pleasure clouded every other thought ever constructed in her mind. When she almost stumbled, Jungkook held her gently.

“Master Jeon! It’s an emergency!”

Jungkook groaned under her breath.

“It’s okay, go.” She whispered patting his arm.

Reluctantly letting go of the beauty and zipping himself back up, he stomped towards the door and almost pulled it off its hinges. Much to his increased frustration one of his sweaty associates stood on the other side of the door. “What could possibly be so important that you had to disturb my private time?” He glanced back at the walk-in wardrobe to see Belle completely getting rid of her clothing.

“S-sir the—” He stammered giving Jungkook the urge to strangle him right there and then.

“Speak or I cut your throat.”

“The den, sir.” He shivered. “One of our dens...police did a raid, we lost of our twenty percent supplies…sir.”

Jungkook narrowed his gaze at the older male feeling the deep warm bliss now cut through by his harsh reality. They actually fucking did it. Ever since that scandal, not a single soul in the police force dared to take them down but now suddenly someone decided to play hero in front of this new mayor. “You’re the one who supposed to keep the den under guard.”

The male gulped down hard. “I—I had to get out of there.”

“You should’ve died with it.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Sorry…” God he fucking hated that word. What did it ever solve? Jungkook nodded, rubbing the back of his neck walking over to the study table. Pulling out his gun he pointed it at the mans’ left leg and took a shot. Then another on his right leg.

He limped down screaming in agony while the drug lord merely stared him down in disgust.

“Jungkook!” Belle called out, heart jumping to her throat at the sound of gunshots. Her body now adorned a thick robe which she hugged close to herself. He looked back over his shoulder to meet her gaze, eyes reddened once again with anger and maybe a hint of distress. “Don’t…”

His entire body wanted to melt into hers for the rest of the night. Maybe it would make him forget all his problems for a while but he couldn’t. The mayor worked day and night trying to get one step ahead of him and now they were. Jungkook couldn’t let this happen. He had to send a message. A damn good one. “Go to sleep, okay? Close your ears if you have to.” He whispered.

Belle took a breath to say something but nothing came out so she sucked in her bottom lip, watching him close the door so all she could do was hear it all. The man screamed, sounds something crashing and choking. Feet backed away until her body plopped down sitting on the edge of the bed. This was his job, she knew that. But it all went back to what Jungkook was truly capable of. Why taking his deals were so important. Every sound reminded Belle of how it could be Taehyung going through the same fate. Maybe one day when the drug-lord grew tired of the same face, she would be on her knees allowing him to seal her fate just as he took control of it.

So she took his advice and pressed her hands against her ears tightly hoping to block the reality she was trying so hard to suppress.

<< PREV CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER >> 

[dl-oblivion]

Reactions Masterlist

! NSFW and TW asks will have an (*) !

General:

- "We've been dating for a while, can I kiss you?" (Sakamakis)

- Daughters cursing in front of them (Sakamakis) *

- s/o whos a seamstress (Mukamis)

- Preference in lingerie? (Sakamakis) *

- Preference in lingere? (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- s/o who doesn't shave (Sakamakis)

- s/o offering to help with Christmas dinner (Mukamis +Tsunkinamis)

- Cheating on s/o nonchalantly (Sakamakis) *

- Yui doesn’t care about them anymore after they cheated (Sakamakis) *

- Hearing WAP ring on phone (Sakamakis) 

- Hearing WAP ring on phone (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) 

- Rating Yui’s behind (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- Rating Yui’s behind (Sakamakis) *

- Ayato and Subaru falling for the same girl (Sakamakis)

- s/o having a roast blog dedicated to Kanato (Sakamakis)

- Secret pervert s/o (Sakamakis) *

- Secret pervert s/o (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- Walking in on Shu with his wives (Sakamakis) *

- asexual bride reaction (Sakamakis) *

- lesbian bride reaction (Sakamakis)

- Bride affectionate towards Yui (Sakamakis)

- Sister who’s a dhampir (Sakamakis)

- Finding out Yui’s bi through old photos *

- Pregnant s/o who is unsure about parenthood (Sakamakis) *

- s/o who doesn’t want a child but to live with them forever (Sakamakis) *

- Pregnant s/o who doesn’t want the child (Sakamakis)

- Pregnant s/o who doesn’t want the child (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- Holding newborn baby girl (Sakamakis)

- Female friend is warded off by the idea of children (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Bride with baby brother (Sakamkis)

- Pregnancy joke turned into a reality (Sakamakis)

- Sexy nurse outfit reaction (Mukamis) *

- opinions on yoga pants/leggings (Sakamakis) *

- opinions on yoga pants/leggings (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Laito sleeping with Tsukinamis sister (Sakamakis) *

- s/o who listens to Jack Stauber (Sakamakis)

- s/o who listens to mother mother (Sakamakis)

- Reacting to Grimes (Sakamakis)

- Reacting to Ariana Grande (Sakamakis)

- Reacting to Ariana Grande (Mukamis)

- Male s/o who crossdresses (Sakamakis)

- Thicc insecure s/o (Sakamakis) *

- Insecure s/o with a beautiful body (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Chubby Sacrifical Bride (Sakamakis) *

- Chubby Sacrifical Bride (Mukamis) *

- Daughters asking for Kanato to make them dresses (Sakamakis)

- First time with s/o who was abused (Sakamakis) *

- Affectionate female friend (Sakamakis)

- Truly in love with a human woman (Sakamakis)

- Yui wearing makeup to school (Sakamakis)

- Yui getting ready to go to a club (Sakamakis)

- s/o making their favorite food (Sakamakis)

- Shu’s ex getting with Reiji (Sakamakis) 

- s/o with synthesis (Mukamis)

- s/o with social anxiety (Mukamis) *

- Bride with genetic anemia (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Yui getting asked out by classmate and saying yes (Sakamakis) *

- Yui getting asked out by classmate and saying yes (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- Yui getting flirted with at school (Sakamakis)

- Boys getting flirted with when they have a s/o (Sakamakis)

- Yui likes another brother instead of them (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- s/o with a lot of experience (Sakamakis) *

- bride who is 6′5 (Sakamakis)

- bride who is 6′5 (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- s/o with 1940′s clothing (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- s/o who dresses goth (Sakamakis)

- s/o wears 80s inspired clothing (Sakamakis)

- s/o acting out nsfw scene with another actor (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- s/o is a world famous idol (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Pulling them into a room and saying “fuck me” (Sakamakis) *

- Going too far with sex (Sakamakis) *

- Petite s/o with high libido (Sakamakis) *

- Petite s/o with high libido (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- Wearing thigh-high stockings to dinner (Sakamakis) *

- Wearing thigh-high stockings to dinner (Sakamakis) *

- s/o sends nudes (Sakamakis) *

- s/o biting ear at school (Sakamakis) *

- s/o cries over being called a pervert during sex (Sakamakis) *

- Bite marks left all over body (Sakamakis) *

- Seeing their crush naked (Sakamakis) *

- Caught going “solo” (Sakamkis) *

- Walked in on by mom (Sakamakis) *

- demigod s/o (Sakamakis)

- s/o hurt by yelling and nicknames (Sakamakis)

- s/o playing Mortal Kombat X (Sakamakis)

- Long lost s/o who they cant remember (Mukamis) *

- Rich s/o spoiling them (Mukamis)

- Extremely Careful s/o (Sakamakis)

- Teenage daughter gets killed (Sakamakis) *

- s/o passing out after being proposed to (Sakamakis)

- Public proposal rejection (Sakamakis)

- Public proposal rejection (Mukamis + Tsukinamis) *

- s/o has fever and is oblivious to it (Sakamakis)

- s/o having random stomachaches (Sakamakis)

- Cute jealous s/o (Sakamakis)

- Kuudere s/o (Sakamakis)

- S/o with fox ears (Sakamakis)

- s/o paints flowers (Sakamakis)

- Girlfriend with a lot of henna tattoos (Mukamis)

- super religious and oppressive family (Sakamakis) *

- Yui is a youtuber (Sakamakis)

- s/o that’s tiktok famous (Sakamakis)

- s/o does lewd tiktoks (Sakamakis) *

- bride with onlyfans (Sakamakis) *

- Buying tampons and chocolates for menstruating s/o (Sakamakis)

- s/o with period cramps wanting to be comforted (Sakamakis)

- Yui being a swimsuit model (Sakamakis) *

- Special made flower just for them (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- s/o asleep in the middle of the hallway (Sakamakis) *

- Butt is smacked by s/o while exclaiming “yummy” (Sakamakis)

- s/o dancing to toxic (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- s/o dancing to toxic (Sakamakis)

- s/o depressed about not getting into college of choice (Sakamakis)

- s/o owns clothing store and surprises them (Sakamakis)

- Girlfriend hurt at party (Sakamakis) *

- s/o crying into pillow (Sakamakis) *

- s/o having traumatic flashbacks (Sakamakis) *

- s/o is skilled aerialist (Sakamakis)

- Crush turns out to be the true eve (Mukamis)

- Shu and Reiji love the same person (Sakamakis)

- s/o has a nightmare and comes in room crying (Mukamis)

- s/o has a nightmare and comes in room crying (Sakamakis)

- s/o running after puppy (Sakamakis)

- s/o pulls them to chest randomly (Sakamakis)

- s/o dyes hair a crazy color (Sakamakis)

- s/o kisses them on the neck randomly (Sakamakis)

- walking in on Subaru having sex (Sakamakis) *

- Kanatos s/o destroys teddy (Sakamakis) *

- Someone asks to be friends (Mukamis)

- s/o part of idol group (Sakamakis)

- s/o who doesn’t shave (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- “What am I, your wife?” (Sakamakis)

- s/o asks favorite animal seriously (Mukamis + Tsukinamis)

- Receiving a ‘groom’ instead of a ‘bride’ (Sakamakis)

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

Shu:

- Wife dressed as sexy Mrs. Claus *

- facial treatment reaction

- Breastfeeding s/o

- Wife and kid playing with Reiji’s family

- Surprise pierced nipples

- s/o looks like Natsumi Suga

- Getting tackle hugged by s/o

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- s/o smacking his butt *

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now” 

- s/o wears virgin killer sweater *

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?”

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o with tomboyish style

- s/o singing amazingly in the shower 

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- An s/o that insists on taking care of him 

- s/o below 5 ft

Reiji:

- Delinquent MC with similar grades

- Decorating the yule with his s/o

- s/o who makes suicidal jokes *

- suicidal s/o *

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- Breastfeeding s/o

- Wife and kid playing with Shu’s family

- Surprise pierced nipples *

- s/o masturbating and moaning their name *

- Schizophrenic s/o *

- Child walks in on bdsm session *

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?” 

- s/o with tomboyish style

- s/o dies from taking bullet for him

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- Getting praised for having excellent grades

- human and vampire friend au

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

- s/o breaks his lab equipment on purpose *

- s/o asks for threesome *

Ayato:

- s/o whos an e-girl

- “Can I draw you nude?” *

- facial treatment reaction

- Getting tackle hugged by s/o

- s/o who looks like Kyle Jenner

- s/o who’s obsessed with their hair

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- “Ayy shawty your man still there?” prank 

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now”

- s/o who can manipulate gravity

- s/o is executive for the Mafia

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?”

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o with tomboyish style

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- Stronger male s/o 

- s/o below 5 ft

- s/o speaking to sister in another language 

Laito:

- s/o whos an e-girl

- Decorating the yule with his s/o

-  s/o who makes suicidal jokes *

- “Can I draw you nude?” *

- Wife wants to use a strap on *

- facial treatment reaction

- “Can you dress like a maid?...”

- Breastfeeding s/o

- Surprise pierced nipples *

- Getting tackle hugged by s/o

- s/o who looks like Kyle Jenner

- Playing a game with Laito

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- “Subaru can I have a hug?”

- Moaning someone else's name *

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now”

- s/o who can manipulate gravity

- s/o wears virgin killer sweater *

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?”

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o singing amazingly in the shower

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- Stronger male s/o

- s/o below 5 ft

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

Kanato:

-  s/o who makes suicidal jokes *

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now”

- s/o with tomboyish style

- Stronger male s/o

Subaru:

- Wife dressed as sexy Mrs. Claus *

- Getting pulled under the mistletoe

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- facial treatment reaction

- s/o wants to have sex in his coffin

- Breastfeeding s/o

- s/o looks like Natsumi Suga

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- Going through a scary maze with s/o

- s/o masturbating and moaning their name *

- “Subaru can I have a hug?”

- s/o smacking his butt *

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now”

- s/o wears virgin killer sweater *

- “Subaru is my crush, can you talk to him?”

- Bringing home 12 parakeets

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o with tomboyish style

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school

- s/o singing amazingly in the shower

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o below 5 ft

- s/o speaking to sister in another language

- s/o cursing cause it feels so good

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

- s/o asks for threesome *

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

Ruki:

- Ruki can you help me with a math question?

- s/o whos an e-girl

- Wife dressed as sexy Mrs. Claus *

- Decorating the yule with his s/o

- “What’s your opinions on Catcher in the Rye?”

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- facial treatment reaction

- Breastfeeding s/o

- “Can I call you dad again?” *

- Surprise pierced nipples *

- s/o who looks like Kyle Jenner

- s/o who’s obsessed with their hair

- s/o with schizophrenia

- s/o smacking his butt *

- “Ayy shawty your man still there?” prank

- “Is that what I am to you?”

- s/o who can manipulate gravity

- s/o wears virgin killer sweater *

- Bringing home 12 parakeets

- Child walks in on bdsm session *

- Finding out s/o is good artist 

- s/o is executive for the Mafia

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o with tomboyish style

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school

- s/o singing amazingly in the shower

- Mother insults s/o in front of them *

- Getting praised for having excellent grades 

- human and vampire friend au

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o speaking to sister in another language

- s/o who smokes or vapes

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

- s/o has period accident

- s/o asks for threesome *

(Legit my favorite cg in the whole series, LOOK AT THEM)

Yuma:

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- Getting tackle hugged by s/o

- s/o who looks like Kyle Jenner

- s/o who’s obsessed with their hair

- Caught going through s/o’s underwear drawer *

- s/o smacking his butt *

- “Ayy shawty your man still there?” prank

- s/o smacking his butt *

- s/o who can manipulate gravity

- s/o wears virgin killer sweater *

- Finding out s/o is good artist

- s/o is executive for the Mafia

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school

- Stronger male s/o

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o below 5 ft

- s/o who smokes or vapes

- s/o has period accident

Kou:

- s/o whos an e-girl

- Decorating the yule with his s/o

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- Getting tackle hugged by s/o 

- “Kou are you single?”

- s/o who looks like Kyle Jenner

- s/o who’s obsessed with their hair

- Someone with cat like features *

- Trolling Kou

- s/o smacking his butt *

- “Ayy shawty your man still there?” prank

- s/o addicted to video games

- s/o who can manipulate gravity

- s/o is executive for the Mafia

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school

- Mother insults s/o in front of them

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o below 5 ft

- s/o who smokes or vapes

- s/o has period accident

Azusa:

- Happy Birthday from Azusa

- Getting pulled under the mistletoe

-  s/o who makes suicidal jokes *

- “Can I draw you nude?” *

- s/o who ran away with their child *

- s/o who’s obsessed with their hair

- Extreme sadist s/o takes the lead *

- s/o masturbating and moaning their name *

- s/o addicted to video games

- Bringing home 12 parakeets

- s/o takes swing and 2 step classes after school 

- Short workaholic s/o

- s/o speaking to sister in another language

- s/o who smokes or vapes

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

- s/o has period accident

- s/o asks for threesome *

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

Carla:

- Breastfeeding s/o

- Surprise pierced nipples *

- “Thoughts on Humans?”

- s/o addicted to video games

- Schizophrenic s/o *

- Bringing home 12 parakeets

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?”

- Intelligent s/o who is very clumsy

- Mother insults s/o in front of them

- Getting praised for having excellent grades

- Getting complimented 

- human and vampire friend au

- s/o kissing him out of nowhere for gift

- s/o who smokes or vapes

- s/o asks for chokeslam *

- s/o has period accident

- s/o asks for threesome *

Shin:

- Surprise pierced nipples *

- “Thoughts on Humans?”

- “Ayy shawty your man still there?” prank

- s/o addicted to video games

- “Well the wedding is next week, guess you’re my brother now”

- Girlfriend’s family is super nice 

- “Subaru is dating a first blood?”

- Intelligent s/o who is very clumsy

- “I missed you so much. I want to stay like this for a while”

- Mother insults s/o in front of them

- Getting praised for having excellent grades

- s/o kissing him out of nowhere for gift

Yui: 

- “Subaru is my crush, can you talk to him?”

[jordanianroyals]

Princess Haya: Dubai ruler had ex-wife's phone hacked - UK court

By Frank Gardner (BBC Security Correspondent), 6 October 2021

The High Court has found that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, interfered with British justice by ordering the hacking of the phone of his ex-wife, Princess Haya of Jordan.

The phones of her solicitors, Baroness Fiona Shackleton QC and Nick Manners, were also targeted during their divorce custody case, according to the court.

Princess Haya said the discovery had made her feel "hunted and haunted".

Sheikh Mohammed denied any knowledge of the hacking.

He said the court's findings were based on evidence that was not disclosed to him, and that they were "made in a manner which was unfair".

The judgments are a blow to the sheikh and a further revelation as to his treatment of female members of his family.

'Serial breaches'

The High Court judgments, which were published on Wednesday afternoon, referred to the hacking as "serial breaches of (UK) domestic criminal law", "in violation of fundamental common law and ECHR rights", "interference with the process of this court and the mother's access to justice" and "abuse of power" by a head of government.

The president of the Family Division of the High Court found that "the mobile phones of the mother (Princess Haya), two of her solicitors, her personal assistant and two members of her security staff had been the subject of either successful or attempted infiltration by surveillance software. The software used is called Pegasus software and was that of an Israeli company, the NSO Group."

The court concluded that the surveillance was carried out "by servants or agents of the father (Sheikh Mohammed), the Emirate of Dubai or the [United Arab Emirates] and that the surveillance occurred with the express or implied authority of the father".

Difficult to detect

The extent of the hack is shocking in what data it gave the hackers access to.

NSO's Pegasus software, often referred to as "spyware", is able to track the location of the individual using the phone, read their SMS messages, emails and messages in other apps, as well as eavesdrop on their phone calls and access their contact list, passwords, calendar dates and photographs. In other words, it gives the hacker complete access to all the data they want to see in their target's phone.

It also allows the hacker to activate the target's phone without their knowledge, recording their activity and even taking photographs and screenshots.

Similar spyware is alleged to have been deployed by Saudi government agents, working on the orders of the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, against dissidents living abroad, including associates of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It is extremely difficult for a victim of such spyware to even detect that their phone has been infected with Pegasus.

'Very substantial amount of data'

In the ongoing custody case between Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya at the Family Division of the High Court, her legal team said the hacking took place with his "express or implied authority".

The president of the court concluded that "in relation to the mother (Princess Haya), it is clear that the [hacking] attempt succeeded with a very substantial amount of data (265MB) being covertly extracted from her phone".

Sheikh Mohammed denied any knowledge of the hacking and said he did not instruct anyone to use NSO "or any software in this way". His legal team said he was not prepared to enter into any debate in relation to what security systems the UAE might have.

The allegations against Dubai's ruler were supported by testimony given by an expert technology witness, Dr William Marczak, who is based in California and is a senior research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which researches digital surveillance.

He told the court he had no doubt the phones were hacked using NSO's Pegasus software. He also concluded "with high confidence" that the phones were hacked by a single operator in a nation state. He concluded with medium confidence that it was most unlikely to be any state other than the UAE.

Alarm raised by Cherie Blair

Princess Haya's legal team first became aware that they had been hacked after an urgent phone call made by Cherie Blair QC, the wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, to Baroness Shackleton. Mrs Blair acts as an adviser to NSO Group on business and human rights related issues.

A senior member of NSO's management team called Mrs Blair from Israel on 5 August 2020 to inform her that "it had come to their attention that their software may have been misused to monitor the mobile phones of Baroness Shackleton and HRH Princess Haya".

The NSO staff member then told Mrs Blair that those phones could no longer be accessed using NSO software and they asked for her help in contacting Baroness Shackleton.

NSO, which has previously been accused by human rights groups of enabling autocratic states to carry out intrusive surveillance of dissidents and journalists, has insisted in public statements that it only supplied its spyware to enable governments to counter criminals and terrorists.

NSO is believed to have terminated its contract with the UAE.

'Living in fear of her life'

The hack took place during a critical phase in Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya's divorce custody case at the High Court in the summer of last year.

The guardian appointed for her children said it "impacts crucially on the mother and her wellbeing. It is a very pernicious experience if the mother has been subjected to surveillance of the type that she understands that she has been".

Princess Haya's legal team told the court that "the mother has been living in fear of her life frankly, and in fear of the children's security since April of [2019]".

The court also heard how Sheikh Mohammed had attempted to buy a property in Surrey, Parkwood Estate, so close to his ex-wife's home at Castlewood, that "if anyone chose to use it, it is in prime position for direct or electronic surveillance".

Her legal team said "there is a powerful objective case as to why the mother should be genuinely in fear if the father has access to a property overbearing her own".

Referring to the proposed property purchase, Princess Haya told the court: "It feels as if I am being stalked, that there is literally nowhere for me to go to be safe from (the father), or those acting in his interests. It is hugely oppressive."

Hacked during 'significant events'

Princess Haya, a daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan and half-sister of King Abdullah II, fled Dubai in 2019 for Britain along with her two children after learning that her husband had ordered the abduction of Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa.

She has since said she is living in fear of her life after receiving threatening messages from agents of her former husband.

Now her legal team is accusing agents of the Emirate of Dubai of acting on his behalf in hacking the phones of Princess Haya, her solicitors, Baroness Shackleton and Nick Manners, as well as her personal assistant and two members of her security staff.

The hacking took place in July and August 2020 "at a time of significant events" in the court proceedings when hearings were taking place over the welfare of the children.

The judgment concluded that "the allegations of hacking came before the court at a time when it had already made very serious findings against the father".

'Terrible life or death game'

During the long-running custody case at the High Court, Sheikh Mohammed has tried on several occasions through appeals to keep details of the allegations against him out of the public eye. But both in March 2020 and now, in October 2021, they have been made public, although he did not seek to appeal the most recent order permitting publication of these judgments.

Wednesday's ruling that, despite his denials, a sovereign ruler has interfered in the course of British justice by ordering the hacking of UK phones, including of a member of the House of Lords is both shocking, embarrassing and damaging to Sheikh Mohammed's international reputation.

Summing up the hacking allegations made by Princess Haya, her barrister Nicholas Cusworth QC told the court: "It is now clear, essentially, that the mother is engaged in a terrible game, a terrible life or death game of grandmother's footsteps in the dark. While she seeks answers about property purchases, hackers apparently get to work interfering with her privileged communications."

After the publication of the judgments Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement: "I have always denied the allegations made against me and I continue to do so. These matters concern supposed operations of state security.

"As a head of government involved in private family proceedings, it was not appropriate for me to provide evidence on such sensitive matters either personally or via my advisers in a foreign court."

He added: "Neither the Emirate of Dubai nor the UAE are party to these proceedings and they did not participate in the hearing. The findings are therefore inevitably based on an incomplete picture.

"In addition, the findings were based on evidence that was not disclosed to me or my advisers. I therefore maintain that they were made in a manner which was unfair."

Embarrassing as this is for Sheikh Mohammed, there is little or no prospect of his ever having to face any police questioning.

As Dubai's sovereign ruler, he remains a huge figure in the equestrian world, he owns extensive properties in the UK and has been photographed with the Queen at race meetings such as Ascot. The emirate of Dubai is home to around 100,000 British expatriates and both he and the wider UAE government are considered close allies of the UK.

The story is unlikely to get much coverage in the government-monitored media in the UAE, and here in London the UAE Embassy has declined to comment on the case, saying it is a private family matter.

The sheikh himself has sovereign immunity from any future potential prosecution.

[creepingsharia]

“There Was Blood All Over”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, January 2021

by Raymond Ibrahim

The following are among the abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of January, 2021:

Attacks on Churches

USA: Arsonists torched an Armenian church in San Francisco in a spike of anti-Armenian hate crimes believed to have been inspired by Armenia’s recent clash with its Muslim neighbors, Azerbaijan and its Turkish supporter.  According to the Jan. 6 report,

In the San Francisco Bay Area alone, there have been four hate crimes committed against the Armenian community over the last six months including a local Armenian School being vandalized with hateful and racist graffiti, which was followed by an arson attack on St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church. There are about 2,500 Armenian-Americans living in the San Francisco Bay Area, so these crimes per capita is a very high number given how small the community is. For a region of the country that prides itself on its progressivism, diversity and acceptance of all cultures, these latest attacks should be a warning sign that hate and violence can rear their ugly heads irrespective of where you may live….  The vandals at the Armenian School in San Francisco spray-painted the colors of the Azerbaijan flag and used threatening language in Azerbaijani. In many ways, these latest hate crimes, coupled with the resurgence of hostilities in the South Caucasus, are a continuation of the Armenian Genocide that is now finding its way to the San Francisco Bay Area.  It is often said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We are clearly seeing these prophetic words come to life for Armenians in the San Francisco Bay Area who have fought for decades for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. As victims of oppression, Armenians see these latest attacks as an extension of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s denial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and a threat to their very existence.

Sweden: Twice over the course of four days, an 800-year-old church in Stockholm was firebombed.  First, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, several Molotov cocktails were hurled at the twelfth century Spånga church, which is located in a Muslim majority area.  According to the church’s pastor, “the alarm was triggered when a window was smashed and flammable liquid thrown at the front gate and one of the windows. However, the fire was quickly put out by the police, who used a powder extinguisher.”  The same church had been fire-bombed just four days earlier, on Jan. 20, 2021: two explosives were hurled at and smashed through the church windows, and another was lobbed at the church gate.  Moreover, according to one report,

Spånga parish has been subjected to attacks on several previous occasions. In December 2018, an explosive device was detonated in the same parish. No one was convicted for the blast.

Hailing from the 12th century, the Spånga Church is one of the oldest in the Swedish capital. It is located on the outskirts of Tensta and is flanked by Rinkeby, both notorious for their heavy presence of immigrants (about 90 percent of the population)… Both areas are dominated by immigrants from Muslim countries and are formally classified as “particularly vulnerable” (which many consider to be a palatable euphemism for a “no-go zone”) due to failed integration and major problems including unemployment, rampant crime and Islamic extremism.

Attacks against churches have become a familiar sight in Sweden. Last year alone, a number of churches, mostly those in troubled suburban [i.e., heavily Muslim migrant] areas, were subjected to various types of attacks and vandalism, including those in Gottsunda, Uppsala and Rosengård, Malmö.

Philippines:   An Islamic group consisting primarily of teenage Muslims opened fire on a church.  According to the Jan. 8 report,

the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters [BIFF], a terrorist group based in the southern Philippines, attacked a parish church after conducting a raid on the town’s military and police outposts. After a 15-minute firefight, both the church building and a statue of the patron saint bore bullet holes.  Police and military authorities said the BIFF had also plotted to set ablaze Sta. Teresita parish church and the church-run Notre Dame of Dulawan high school in the area. However, their attempt to burn the two church facilities was foiled by policemen and soldiers.

BIFF is an Islamic separatist organization operating in the Philippines; it swore allegiance to the Islamic State in 2014.  Right before the church attack, dozens of gunmen from the Islamic group attacked the local police station and burned a police vehicle parked outside.  The police attack came after two men connected with the group were arrested and is seen as a reprisal attack against police.  Muslim terrorism has been on the rise in the Philippines, the population of which is 86% Christian.   According to the report,

In August [2020], pro-ISIS terrorists blew themselves up in attacks that killed at least 15 people … and injured 80 others in the city of Jolo … in the far south of the country, whose population is majority Roman Catholic.

In 2019, terrorists set off two explosive devices at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral, also known as the Jolo Cathedral, in the Mindanao region. The attack resulted in approximately 100 injuries and about 20 dead.

In August 2019, pastor Ernesto Javier Estrella of the United Church of Christ in Antipas, Cotabato Province, was shot and killed on the Island of Mindanao.

In June 2018, Catholic priest Richmond Nilo was gunned down in a chapel in Zaragoza town in Nueva Ecija province, at the altar where he was preparing to celebrate mass.

Slaughter of Christians

Pakistan:  The bloated bodies of two Christian sisters, who had long rebuffed the advances of their Muslim employers, were found in a sewer in January 2021. Earlier, on November 26, the sisters, Sajida (28) and Abida (26), who were both married and had children, were reported as missing. The two Muslim men for whom they worked had regularly pressured them to convert to Islam and marry them. Even though the young women “made it clear that they were Christian and married, the men threatened them and kept harassing the sisters.”  Forty days after they were reported missing, on January 4, 2021, their decomposed bodies were discovered. Their Muslim supervisors, during their interrogation, “confessed that they had abducted the sisters,” said Sadija’s husband; “and after keeping them hostage for a few days for satisfying their lust, had slit their throats and thrown their bodies into the drain.” The widower described the families’ ordeal:

When police informed us that they had identified the two bodies as those of our loved ones, it seemed that our entire world had come crumbling down…. I still cannot fathom the site [sic] of seeing my wife’s decomposed body.

Discussing this case, Nasir Saeed, Director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement in the UK, said,

The killing of Abida and Sajida in such a merciless way is not an isolated case, but the killing, rape and forced conversion of Christian girls have become an everyday matter and the government has denied this and therefore is doing nothing to stop the ongoing persecution of Christians. Unfortunately, such cases happen very often in the country, and nobody pays any attention – even the national media – as Christians are considered inferior and their lives worthless.

Nigeria:  On Jan. 16, Muslim Fulani herdsmen opened fire on and killed Dr. Amos Arijesuyo, pastor of Christ Apostolic Church and a highly respected professor at the Federal University of Technology.  “The university condemns in the strongest terms this senseless attack that has led to the untimely death of an erudite university administrator and counselor par excellence,” the university said in a statement. “Dr. Arijesuyo’s death is a big loss to FUTA, the academic community in Nigeria and beyond. It is a death that should not have happened in the first place…. Our prayers and thoughts are with the wife, children and family members of our departed colleague at this difficult period of unquantifiable grief.”

In the two weeks before this murder, Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 26 more people and wounded three in Christian majority regions.  A separate report appearing in mid-January revealed that “More Christians are murdered for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country.”

Finally, in a speech released in January, Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram, made clear that, despite Western claims that his organization is motivated by secular interests, religion colors everything. According to the Jan. 28 report, Shekau called on the new Chief of Defense Staff, Lt. General Lucky Irabor, a Christian, to “repent and convert to Islam.”  He also told the new Chief of Army staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, that, by going against Boko Haram, his behavior is “un-Islamic” and “he is no longer regarded as a Muslim.”

Attacks on Apostates and Evangelists

Uganda: A Muslim man beat his 13-week-pregnant wife, causing her to miscarriage, after he learned that she had converted to Christianity.  On Jan. 13, Mansitula Buliro, the 45-year-old woman in question and mother of seven, was preparing for Muslim evening prayers with her husband when she began to have Christian visions.  On the following day she secretly visited a Christian neighbor, prayed with her, and put her faith in Christ. Right before she left, a Muslim man knocked on the Christian neighbor’s door and said, “Mansitula, I thought you were a Muslim—how come I heard prayers mentioning the name of Issa [Jesus]?”  Then, when Mansitula returned home her husband informed her that he had been told that she had become Christian.  “I kept quiet,” Mansitula later explained in an interview:

My husband started slapping and kicking me indiscriminately. I then fell down. He went inside the house and came back with a knife and started cutting my mouth, saying, ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar [jihadist slogan “Allah is greater”], I am punishing you to not speak about Yeshua [Jesus] in my house. This is a Muslim home.’

Her screaming caused her two youngest children (six and eight) also to start screaming, prompting neighbors to rush and stop the attack.   “There was blood all over from my mouth,” Mansitula said. “My in-laws arrived, and in their presence my husband pronounced divorce: ‘Today you are no longer my wife. I have divorced you. Leave my house, or I will kill you.’”  A neighbor took her by motorcycle to a nearby hospital.  “I was examined, and they found that my fetus had been affected, and after four days I had a miscarriage….  It is now very difficult to reunite with my family. I am now Christian, and I have decided for Issa’s cause.”

Separately, on Dec. 27, around 7 pm, eight Muslims ambushed and beat Pastor Moses Nabwana and his wife, a mother of eight, as they were walking home from a church function: “They began by beating my husband, hitting him with sticks and blunt objects on the head, the back, his belly and chest,” Naura, his wife, said. “I made a loud alarm, and one of the attackers hit me with blows and a stick that affected my chest, back and broke my hand.”  Christian neighbors rushed to their cries, prompting the assailants to flee.  Due to the severe injuries they sustained, the wife was hospitalized for five days and her husband, Pastor Moses, was hospitalized for several more days.  The assault came after area Muslims learned that an imam had converted to Christianity and joined their church; mosque leaders incited the attack.  On that same night, “area Muslims demolished the roof, windows, doors and other parts of the[ir] church building that has a capacity for 500 people, leaving a heap of broken debris… Chairs, benches, musical instruments, amplifiers and other items were destroyed.”

Then, around 4:30 am on Sunday, Jan. 24, while the pastor was still recovering at the hospital, three Muslims broke into their home, again beating his wife, Naura—who was still recovering from her first beating—as well as two of their eight children.  “I heard loud noises and plates being broken,” Naura recalled. “The children and I woke up.  The attackers had broken the door and entered in. One started strangling me, while another threw one of my daughters outside through the window and broke the skin on her leg.”   The Muslims fled before inflicting more damage once they learned that her brother-in-law and his family were rushing over: “The assailants left behind a Somali sword,” she said, “which I think they possibly had planned to use to rape and then kill me.”  Naura’s 10 year-old daughter suffered a deep cut on her knee, and her 12-year-old daughter suffered an eye injury.  Atop all the injuries she suffered from her first beating, Naura’s neck was injured: “I am still in great pain, and the doctor has recommended that my uterus, which is seriously damaged, needs to be removed,” she said. “This will need a big amount of money.”  According to a church leader who visited Naura and her family in their thatched-roof dwelling the day after the attack, “She is still in pain and needs basic assistance in the absence of the husband, the bread-winner.”

Iran: On Jan. 18, the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” arrested Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi, a 22-year-old convert to Christianity and human rights activist, on the accusation that “her trousers were too tight, her headscarf was not correctly adjusted, and [that] she should not be wearing an unbuttoned coat.” This is the third time officials arrest Mary.  She did six months of prison time, after her first arrest, for being a member of a house church—which the regime recently labeled as “enemy groups” belonging to a “Zionist” cult; she also spent a brief time in jail after participating in a peaceful protest in April 2020.   Officials have also pressured her employer, whom she always had a good relationship with, to prevent her from returning to work as a gymnastics instructor; and she was kicked out of her university on the eve of her exams.  Reflecting on her travails, Mary wrote that:

Everything is affected…  Your work, income, social status, identity, mental health, satisfaction with yourself, your life, your place in society, your independence….  And as a woman it’s even harder to remain patient and endure, in a society so opposed to women and femininity, though crying out for them both.

Attacks on Christian ‘Blasphemers’ in Pakistan

Pakistan:  On Jan. 28, hospital employees slapped and beat a Christian nurse who had worked there for nine years, after a Muslim nurse told them that she had said “only Jesus is the true Savior and that Muhammad has no relevance.”  A hospital member recorded and loaded a video of the attack on Tabeeta Nazir Gill, a 42-year-old Catholic gospel singer.  It shows the woman surrounded by a throng of angry Muslims who slap her and demand she “confess your crime in writing.” “I swear to God I haven’t said anything against the prophet [Muhammad],” the Christian woman insists in the video. “They are trying to trap me in a fake charge.”   “Fortunately, someone called the police, and they promptly arrived on the scene and saved her life,” Pastor Eric Sahotra later explained. After questioning the accused, police concluded, based also on the testimony of other co-workers, that “A Muslim colleague made the false accusation due to a personal grudge,” continued the pastor:

Other hospital employees were misled into believing the allegation, so they also attacked Tabeeta….  News of the incident spread quickly through the social media, raising fears of mob violence outside the hospital and other areas.

A Muslim mob later descended on and besieged the police station; this prompted police to register a First Information Report against Gill under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statues—which calls for the maximum death penalty for anyone who verbally insults Islam’s prophet, Muhammad.  Last reported, the woman’s two young children were “in a state of shock since the time they saw the graphic video of their mother’s beating,” said the pastor.  No legal action was taken against the Muslim nurse who fabricated the blasphemy accusation to instigate her coreligionists.   The report adds that,

In Pakistan, false accusations of blasphemy are common and often motivated by personal vendettas or religious hatred. Accusations are highly inflammatory and have the potential to spark mob lynchings, vigilante murders and mass protests. Many of those accused of blasphemy never reach the courtroom; violence has killed 62 accused people since 1990, with few prosecutions.

Separately, hundreds of Muslims descended on the village of a 25-year-old Christian man, and threatened to behead him and torch his and adjoining homes, soon after it became known that he had shared a Facebook post critical of Muhammad.  According to the Jan. 5 report, on first learning that Muslims were angry, Raja Warris apologized, pointing out that he had only shared the post “for academic understanding between Christians and Muslims and did not mean to offend any Muslims.”  The matter seemed to be closed after that; but then, and in the words of Rev. Ayub Gujjar, vice moderator of the Raiwind Diocese of the Church of Pakistan,

[W]e were informed by our congregation members in Charar that a huge mob had gathered in the locality on the call of a cleric affiliated with the extremist religio-political outfit, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan [TLP], and were demanding the beheading of the catechist.  Fearing violence, hundreds of Christian residents fled their homes while around 400 anti-riot policemen were deployed in the area to thwart violence.

Rev. Gujjar and other Christian leaders rushed to the police station, which was quickly surrounded by Muslims who “chanted slogans against Christians,” prompting police to insist that Warris be handed over.  Police then registered a First Information Report under Section 295-A and Section 298-A of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which call for up to 10 years imprisonment for blasphemers, and then showed it to the mob leaders, at which point they called off the siege and dispersed.  Discussing this incident, Bishop of Raiwind Diocese Azad Marshall said that “Warris is an educated youth who loves to serve God.”  Even so,

Christians especially need to be more careful in sharing content, because any faith-based post could be used to instigate violence against the community…  We need to understand that Islamic religious sentiments run high in our country, therefore it’s important to carefully analyze the content before posting it online.

General Hostility for Christians and Christianity

Pakistan: On Jan. 5, a Muslim man severely beat his Christian employee because he had taken leave to attend a Christmas Day prayer service.   Even though Ansar Masih had compensated for the missed day of work by working on the following Sunday, his manager was abusive.  “When I argued with him, he called four other staffers to teach me a lesson for going to church and arguing with him,” Masih later explained. “They abused Christians for their religious practices and said derogatory words when they came to know that I was busy praying at the church.”  The Christian man sustained several injuries during the assault and was taken to a local hospital.  According to the report, as often happens in such cases,

Police officials and the men that assaulted Masih are now putting pressure on his family to settle the matter out of court. Masih has submitted an application to police regarding the incident, but not action has been taken by officers against Masih’s assailants.

Austria: According to a Jan. 5 report, approximately 40 Muslim migrants rioted and burned down a Christmas tree in Favoriten.  On coming to extinguish the large tree, the fire brigade heard one of the migrants yelling: “A Christmas tree has no place in a Muslim district,” even as the raging mob pelted the emergency service officials with projectiles to screams of “Allahu Akbar.”

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic.   Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1)          To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2)          To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

Watch video below as Ibrahim describes his monthly report.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Robin and Gale Hood; Ben Hardy x reader Chap. 10

*Author’s note*

And here we are with the next chapter of Robin and Gale Hood guys. Now I’m thinking after I post up chap. 11 it’s either gonna be 2-3 more chapters after that idk I haven’t quite figured that part out yet, but hopefully soon I’ll have the next chapter up :) Also for King Richard I’m imagining a late 80′s early 90′s Roger Taylor look. 

Warnings: extreme swearing C word is used here (and no I’m not meaning the other word for balls or a rooster), attempted murder, severe injury.

Chapter 10,

Return of the King

Taglist:

@simonedk​

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queensdivas​

@queen-paladin​

@queendeakyy​

@wormzteef​

@sparkleslightlyy​

@geek-and-proud​

_________________________________________________________

“It can’t be……” Robin muttered.

“But it is.” Little John said as a smile spread across his face.

“Uncle Richard!” Marian proclaimed.  All went quiet as the people cleared a path and slowly riding on top of his magnificent dark brown armored covered shire horse was King Richard himself.

Much like his son Prince James, king Richard was a handsome man. Piercing blue eyes that resembled the great ocean, hair still having a tint of blonde (but not as much as it did when he was younger), he wore a golden suit of armor with a lion crest at the center piece of his uniform, and a large sword sat at his side.

Looking at this middle aged man you could see that he was a true king.  There was just this regalness about him, like a true lion.

As he walked forward towards the gallows, the people of Nottingham all bowed before him, even the Sheriff’s guards bowed before him. When he reached the gallows, the Sheriff, Sir Heston and Prince John all stared at him in shock.

“Richard, I—I did not expect you to…….” Prince John started but Richard snarled as he pointed at him.

“I’ll deal with you later.”  Immediately Prince John coward to his knees as Richard’s eyes now turned to the Sheriff. “Now I ask again Sheriff, what is the meaning of all this?”

“A witch trial, your majesty.” He looked up towards his son who was protecting the so called ‘witch’ by shielding her with his own body.

“Were you willing to take my son along with her?”

“That was never my intention your majesty. I would never harm the future King.” The Sheriff tried to save his own hide by acting innocent.

King Richard spoke not a word as he dismounted from his horse onto the stage.  He walked past the Sheriff and stood before his son.  The two look-alikes stared at each other as Richard told his son.

“James, stand aside.”

“I won’t!”

“I know how you feel about these trials, but it is the law son.”

“I don’t care! She’s not a witch.”

“And how do you know that exactly?”

“Because this is the girl I fell in love with six years ago. The girl who’s always been on my mind even as you sent me away to London with Marian.” Richard’s eyes softly widened and he said.

“This is the girl? The one that broke your heart?”

“Yes. But that’s in the past now. Because I love her father.” All was silent in the village square.

“Your majesty. It’s clear that for six years your son has been under this witch’s spell, and…….” The Sheriff spoke into the King’s ear.

“Another word out of you and I’ll cut off your forked tongue!” Prince James threatened.

“How dare you speak to me……”

“And how dare you treat my son that way! Remember your place Sheriff!” The Sheriff backed off glaring at the young prince.

“Look around at what these two have done. They’ve oppressed the people and nearly killed an innocent woman without a proper trial. And she’s not just any ordinary woman. Her name is Gale Hood, sister of Robin Hood.”

James turned back towards Gale and pressed his forehead to hers as he wrapped his hand around the back of her head cradling it away from the stake.

“Together along with their friends, they’ve kept Nottingham from falling to ruins. Father would you willingly kill a hero of the people?” King Richard looked down at his people.

All of them looking up to their king, pleading for this execution to not happen.  He then turned to see his niece locked up in a cage along with Robin Hood and his band giving him the same look.  Finally he turned back to his son who held a fire in his eyes.  A fire that was passionate about his beliefs and words.

Much like his late wife Queen Dominque.

King Richard withdrew his sword.  Everyone waiting on bated breath on what would happen next, but to everyone’s surprise he held his sword in a surrender position.

“My son speaks with the wisdom beyond his years. When I returned to my kingdom I’ve seen anger and prejudice in my staff’s hearts. But he comes with courage and understanding. From this day forward; if there is to anymore killing, it will not start with my rein.” He placed his sword back into its saber.

He then turned to one of the guards down below and ordered him to release Gale and her friends as well as his niece.

The guard raced up and cut Gale from the stake and as soon as she was freed, James took her in his arms, spun her around and the two embraced each other tightly.  The people of Nottingham all cheered for the renouncing claim of Gale’s blood.

Prince John couldn’t believe this and neither could the Sheriff.

“Do something you fool!” whispered Prince John harshly. The Sheriff glared at the prince and said to one of his loyal guards.

“Shoot them all down.”

“No.” the man said.

“What?”

“With King Richard back, we no longer follow you.”

“You’re insane. I gave you this position! You follow and obey me!” but none of his guards obeyed him.  Only gathered around and dropped their bows at his feet.

Twitching his eye in anger he grabbed one of the crossbows and notched an arrow as he snarled.

“Fine. You won’t serve me so long as Richard is alive will you?” he aimed the crossbow right for King Richard’s head.

Gale looked towards the Sheriff and saw him getting ready to shoot at the King.  She immediately got out of James’ embrace and cried out.

“NOOO!!!” she pushed King Richard out of the way, taking the arrow just above her right breast.

“GALE!!!!” Robin called from the ground.  As Gale collapsed to the ground with the arrow in her chest, James knelt down beside her and held her in his arms.

The Sheriff’s eyes widened as one of his ex-guards snarled out.

“You shot the Prince’s love.”

“She-she stepped right…right into it. It was her own fault! Prince John! Heston! Tell them it wasn’t my fault!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I begged you not to kill her.” John shrugged nonchalantly.

“Prince James and Maid Marian were right all along!”

“We never should’ve believed either of you!”

“GET THEM!!” the three then tried to make a quick get away from the guards but all too quickly the people of Nottingham got to them and began to tear right through them angrily.

“UNHAND ME YOU FILTHY PEASANTS!!” the Sheriff exclaimed. He soon had the crossbow taken from him as Maid Marian stood over him and she proclaimed.

“Put them all in chains!”

“I’ll see you hanged for this you cunt!” the Sheriff growled.

“And sew this one’s mouth shut!” Marian said as amongst the people of Nottingham, the guards pulled the Sheriff away from Marian’s face.

Her pride soon turned back to fear as she raced up to join Robin, his friends, Arthur, James, Friar Tuck and her uncle up on the gallows to check on Gale.

Both James and Robin knelt down at Gale’s side each of them holding her hand.  Friar Tuck and King Richard knelt down beside her head.  Friar Tuck wiping her forehead as she kept hissing and groaning in pain.

“Sister, please just hold on. We’re going to get you help. Oh Friar Tuck please tell me she’ll be okay!” pleaded Robin.

“She’s a fighter, but I am no doctor Robin. All I can do is pray to the good Father that he’ll spare our beloved Gale.”

“Isn’t there any medical supplies your staff can use?” Little John asked.

“We have some but nothing that Gale needs. If we are to save her, she needs to go to London. There we might have a chance to save her.” Arthur said.

“Then prepare the royal carriages. Make sure we hook up the fastest horses we’ve got. There will be no stopping till we reach London.” King Richard said.

Within minutes the royal carriage was prepped and ready. Gale now lying on a small portable bedspread.  The blanket covering up her bare body so that the arrow was the only thing being shown.

James came up and knelt down beside his love and took her hand in his.  He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and he told her.

“You’re gonna be alright my love. I promise. Just stay awake for me.”

“I’ve had worse than this.” Gale told him before hissing in pain.

“Try not to speak so much my love.” Robin soon came up and walked towards them.  James kissed her hand before gently placing it down and walked away giving the two siblings some alone time.  Robin knelt down beside his sister and stroked her cheek.

“You are either the single bravest woman I’ve ever seen. Or the craziest.”

“I learned from the best, brother.” Gale grinned weakly. “Will—will you come with me?” at that point Robin’s face grew solemn.  He felt his sister’s hand touch his cheek and he said.

“Someone has to stay here and help rebuild Nottingham. Marian and I have elected to do just that.”

“Then……so will I.”

“No sister. You have to go to London.”

“But—but we promised each other we wouldn’t leave one another.” Gale said with tears in her eyes.

“And we never will. No matter what happens, I’ll always be with you. Just like you will with me. And—just like our mother always has.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to his sister’s forehead.

He lingered on the kiss till he finally separated from her. The two siblings looking at each other teary eyed, hoping that this wouldn’t be the last time they ever see each other again.  As two of King Richard’s guards picked up the bed, Robin and Gale’s hands kept hold of each other till the distance finally forced them apart.

She was placed in the royal carriage with King Richard and Prince James.

“Godspeed Gale Hood.” Friar Tuck said as he gave his final prayer to Gale.  The curtains closed around the royal coach and the coachman urged the horses onward and in a cloud of dust, the royal coach rode out of Nottingham straight to London.

The royal escorts rode up front to show that this was a dire emergency and that anyone on the path ahead needed to clear the way for the King.

Inside the coach, James kept his hand intwined with Gale’s, stroking the back of it and giving it a kiss every now and then.  King Richard, who had been observing his son’s affections for the young female rouge, finally spoke to Gale.

“Answer me this child. Why did you take that arrow for me? Knowing you could die.”

“Father, Gale can’t……”

“I can speak James, just—not in so many words.” She then turned to the great King and replied. “People always do crazy things—when they’re in love.” Her eyes then shifted towards James who looked down at her with sad but loving eyes.  Tears pooling behind his green orbs as he pressed her hand against his cheek. Richard reached his hand out and gently placed it on top of Gale’s head, softly stroking through her raven black hair.

“You’ll get the finest medical treatment London has to offer. I swear to you. England, my son, and I owe you a great debt Gale Hood.” Gale smiled tiredly before feeling the fever starting to take affect on her as she soon passed out.

James’ heart suddenly stopped as he looked down at his beloved in fear.  He felt her forehead and winced at the sudden heat that radiated from her.

“She’s burning up father!” Richard reached for a bowl of water and a towel.

“Dab her lightly around her forehead and collarbone. It’ll have to do for now till we get to London.” James took the rag and wrung it out first before placing it onto her face.

“I can’t lose her. Not when I just got her back. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose her again.” he wept as he continued to dab his beloved’s face with the damp cloth.  Richard stared at his son with empathy.

He knew what his son was going through because he once went through that when he lost his beloved Queen years ago.  That familiar feeling of heartbreak fearing that your soulmate will leave this world leaving you alone in this dark hell that was the living realm.  Leaving nothing but pain and heartbreak in the wake of their death.

“Step on it will yah! Gale’s fever is spiking and we don’t have much time! Double time!” Richard banged on the roof of the royal coach, crying out to the coachman.  He then turned to his son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I can promise you this my son. We will do all that we can to save your beloved. But you have to be strong for not only yourself, but for her.”

“Yes father.” Richard pressed his forehead against his son’s and the two of them stayed in that position for a moment before turning their attention back to Gale.

It took almost an entire day but just a few hours before dawn, the royal escort finally arrived at the heart of London.  The horses charged through the gates of the castle that stood at the heart of the city and with no time to waste, Gale was brought in and taken to the medical wing.

She was now awake for a brief moment as a doctor was prepping to first remove the arrow from her chest before proceeding to heal the actual wound itself.

James was forced to wait outside because he vowed that he wouldn’t leave his love’s side for even a second.  Even if he was forbidden to enter the room, he still wanted to be there for Gale.

Inside the room, the doctor had candles lite all over the room so that he could have the perfect lighting for what he needed to do.  He first numbed the area with some oils and turned to Gale and said to her.

“The area’s sterilized. Now comes the hard and most agonizing part. Are you ready?” Gale nodded then the doctor took out a towel and Gale opened her mouth so that he could place the towel in her mouth to prevent her from getting lockjaw.  Gale’s chest anxiously rose and fell at a heavy pace as the doctor reached out for the arrow and took hold of it.

Soon all that could be heard was a muffled but agonizing scream.

James covered his mouth with his hand, feeling his love’s pain almost as if it were his own.  All he could hear was her agonizing screams and groans coming from the other side of the door.

As the sun began to rise, Gale’s screams and groans went silent.