#he really is having intrusive thoughts and control issues and worrying about thought crimes

[guided-by-stars]

Siffrin has OCD. If you even care.

[septic-skele]

Some headcanons for my interpretation of the Underswap brothers -- which literally no one asked for -- but I wanted to get these written down somewhere for my own peace of mind ^^

Blue

He’s the older brother and rolls his eyes about those who think     otherwise.

It’s just “Blue”, not “Blueberry.” He’s nicknamed “Blue” due to his special attack.

He’s actually made it into the Guard already; now his aspiration is to be Knighted by the queen (for whom he may or may not be a fanboy.)

Call him a...”pacifist lite.” He’ll try earnestly to negotiate before a fight, but he’s not idealistic about it. He’ll fight if he has to. It’s killing that he’ll strongly avoid.

Undiagnosed OCD

Very emotionally attuned. He can read others’ emotional state pretty easily (but that doesn’t always mean he knows the best way to help.)

Sometimes he struggles with anxiety and self-doubt in the form of intrusive thoughts but keeps it “in check” by choosing optimism (to a fault, sometimes to the point of toxic positivity.) 

But that doesn’t mean all of his optimism and positivity is faked. More often than not he really is an upbeat, genuine person.

Lying to him could be a deal-breaker.

Food issues. Starvation is one of his big fears. Stashing food away in various hiding places “just in case” is an old habit.

He’s Papy’s advocate. He’ll say the things to people’s faces that     Papyrus won’t, but he’ll phrase it cheerfully and cleverly so people may     not immediately realize they’re being insulted (or threatened.)

Speaking of Papy: His wellbeing is always on Blue��s radar. If Papy’s not doing well, Blue will take it to heart and feel like he’s not doing enough to help him.

(Seeing him physically ill can be a trauma trigger for Blue because of a couple near-death experiences Pap had in childhood, both of which Blue witnessed.)

Very self-reliant. He doesn’t like anyone trying to do something for him that he can already do for himself (but a bit of hypocrite since he’s always doing things for other people.)

It’s a very, very rare occasion that Blue’s eyelights black out, but if they do, it’s best for the object of his disdain to give him some space for a good while.

Stretch

1 HP, chronic fatigue, janky joints, probably immunocompromised.

He probably wouldn’t be in such a state if he took his meds regularly but he’s not a fan of pills and really not a fan of needles, so that can be tough.

He likes puns, of course, but his favorites are good old fashioned knock-knock jokes.

He would commit crime for Muffet’s honey cinnamon bars.

He used to be a great singer before he started smoking.

Undiagnosed ADHD

Lots of self-deprecation and...not distrust, exactly, but detachment and poor assumptions of others’ intentions toward him. If someone shows care for him, he’ll probably assume that it’s only because they pity him or want to “fix” him. 

Part of that assumption is to avoid getting his hopes up. One of his big fears is abandonment, so in his mind it’s better to push people away before they can push him. People have to work long and hard to be in a comfortable relationship with him.

Once you’ve earned his friendship and he’s sure you’re not abandoning or betraying him any time soon, his loyalty’s pretty unshakeable. 

Feelings for Undyne *cough* Undyne is dear to him.

Probably/Definitely allows Blue to control more of his life than he should (also to avoid being abandoned, and to make sure Blue feels like he’s doing enough to help (see above))

Very carefully suppressed jealousy of Blue’s high-energy social butterfly status. A part of him deep, deep down wishes Blue could experience life the way he does, even if it was just for a day, but he would never admit it.

He usually won’t resort to calling Blue “Sans” unless it’s a serious, worrying or painful moment.

He carries over some scars from old resets because, thanks to some broken code, he’s been in both positions at least once: dying in the forest in Snowdin, and dying in the Judgement Hall.

Touch sensitive; he can be pretty flinchy if he’s touched without advance notice. That being said, if it’s someone he trusts he’ll gladly cuddle up to them, especially if he’s near someone who runs warm. He hates being cold. He’ll glomp onto them by instinct (and he’ll fall asleep pretty much instantly if they start petting his skull. It’s his weakness.)

When he’s giving it his all, he can be pretty agile -- a benefit of learning from Muffet how to dodge like a jumping spider. His specialty is defense, Blue’s is offense.

[oxbridge-quality-fanfiction-co]

The Spring of Burning Forests: Chapter 10/10 ❤️ (Geraskier)

A happy ending with Jaskier? The idea is inconceivable, really. Impossible. 

But it’s at least worth a try.

Read on AO3.

For a full summary, see this post. Go here if you want to start from the first chapter.

Big thanks to @booichiboo, @sdmcburney, @goshdraws, Rita, @valdomarx, @carmillacarmine, @thelastsock, @katesierra @ro-the-bard-writer @geraskierficrecs ❤️ Dedicated to @variousnoises.

No more updates, of course, but I have a Geralt Fluff Week entry coming up on the 4th August.

Here’s the first scene:

The closed border meant customers were scarce, and the inn was nearly empty. The place had an unsettling, ghostly feel. As they walked through the front door, Jaskier had glanced at the name, The World’s End, stopped for a moment, and stared at it. 

It was as if a premonition hit him, eyes wide, hope draining from his face. 

Geralt wasn’t eager for them to go into their rooms, having bad premonitions of his own. He was convinced things were about to turn bad and hated the uncomfortable wait much more than he ever hated a confrontation. A tongue-tied Jaskier was not something he was prepared for. Not as bad as a self-sacrificing Jaskier, for sure, but bad nevertheless.

No way he could stay quiet that long and yet, they got as far as an awkward climb up the stairs, the steps creaking underneath their feet, without a single world from Jaskier still. 

At the top of the stairs there was a long corridor. All doors were open, not a single soul in sight. They stood in front of their respective rooms, almost ready to go in when, finally, Jaskier broke the silence.  

‘That was… something.’ 

Geralt was relieved to hear him talk. Not interested in reliving the experience, he wanted to skip right to the point. Only the point proved difficult to discern, let alone skip to.

‘Listen, I know you…’ Geralt hesitated, and his voice was unusually raspy. 

He barely started and was already getting frustrated, unable to articulate any fucking thing.

Jaskier seemed startled by that beginning.

‘No, Geralt. You really don’t need to...’ he paused, flustered.

‘No, I really think I should.’

‘Just forget it,’ he blurted, sounding more insistent than he intended. ‘It’s not like I was hiding this before. It was far from a dark secret.’ He seemed slightly amused by the idea but his smile was sad. 

‘No, but-’ Geralt started again, and Jaskier stopped him.

‘It was pretty obvious. And because you didn’t seem to see it that way, I just…’ He didn’t quite know how to describe what he ‘just’ did. ‘But I did try. And even at minimum you were finding it…’ he considered a couple of options before arriving at ‘…intrusive.’

‘Sure.’ Geralt nodded lightly. 

He was just about ready to continue but Jaskier wouldn’t let him.

‘So don’t worry about it.’ Jaskier took a deep breath. ‘I mean, regardless of what you might think, I wouldn’t have said anything. It’s just that today…’ He was getting agitated by the memory. ‘Well, in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have been able to imagine a shitshow of such magnificent proportions. To be fair, I had no clue I’d be capable of that… but I just really went with it, didn’t I?’ 

He seemed to find that half tragic, half funny. 

‘And I’m glad I did,’ he concluded, confidently. ‘Even if it was all just a morbid joke to them. Even seeing what I saw. And even if it made this the perfect time for you to state you don’t want me. Like, out loud, directly, using words, not through whatever-the-fuck you did before… looks, stares, grunts, movements, sighs… any physical manifestation available, I suppose.’ 

Geralt grunted uncomfortably in response, and Jaskier just nodded, resigned.

‘Exactly... although,’ he started again, remembering a distant mountaintop, ‘I can recall some words. Quite a few, actually. I guess that task required extra measures. And it wasn’t to this exact end but it was pretty close. There was a significant proximity to the issue at hand, there, I’d say. So it’s not like I wasn’t aware of what you were trying to convey. You can’t exactly surprise me now. It’s not the most important thing, really.’ 

He suddenly realised something, and blinked a few times, obviously unsettled by the idea. 

‘I definitely didn’t do this to exert any pressure,’ he added, quickly. ‘I’m not hoping for anything. I’m not…’ He stopped himself from saying ‘delusional’, worried he might be making the situation worse. ‘I just didn’t want you to die. That’s all. That’s hardly a horrible crime.’

He was just about ready to finish but then hesitated a bit, knowing his effectiveness was highly questionable. 

‘It seemed like the right strategy at the time,’ he said in the attempt to justify himself. ‘It was worth a shot. I did the right thing. I’d do it again, if needed. I guess it makes me a bit more useful.’ He realised he was starting to sound bitter. ‘You’ve always been a great friend, Geralt. You did so much for me. So…’ he did his best to sound perky but failed ‘…does this even matter?’ 

‘I think it-’ Geralt started but Jaskier didn’t let him finish.

‘I know you don’t feel the same way. You’ve made that abundantly clear… in hundreds of ways… for years. So you don’t have to worry as far as clarity is concerned.’ 

It didn’t take long for Jaskier to get worked up. He just kept going, and his discussion with himself was becoming increasingly heated. 

‘And it’s not like this changes anything now, right? Or does it?’ He wondered for a second. ‘Are you going to leave because of it?’ He didn’t wait for an answer, his thoughts running ahead at a frantic pace. ‘Fuck… I said it out loud and we’re done now, aren’t we?’ 

He seemed shocked by the realisation. 

‘Jaskier-’

‘It doesn’t matter that I… I mean, regardless of what I implied before… and what I did, sure. Why would you want me whining in your ear, now that you know? Feeling guilty… and for something nobody should feel guilty about, by the way,’ he sighed, his frustration slowly transforming back into sadness. 

‘Ja-’

‘But can I change anything by saying this?’ he just kept going. ‘No… You might feel like you’re not doing the right thing by staying, regardless. And we can’t have that.’ 

He was now upset by his imaginary conversation with Geralt, who was just slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was not allowed to participate.

‘Well, it’s not your fault,’ Jaskier continued. ‘It’s quite certainly beyond our control. If I did have a choice in this matter… you know, ehm… there are safer, less deadly, more welcoming options out there. Let’s face it.’ 

Geralt just blinked a few times and Jaskier nodded as if he was trying to convince himself. 

‘Although, none of them is…’ Jaskier threw a glance at Geralt and stopped, weirdly shy all of a sudden, backtracking again. ‘Regardless...  my ideal romantic adventures do not involve waiting to hear that your dead-crisp-of-a-body was discovered in the forest, or putting my life on the line, just to find out it was actually some fucked up game. And yet, the consequences are real and now I have to…’ 

He suddenly realised something. 

‘While also knowing that, of course…’ He slowed down, his mind racing again. ‘None of this would have happened if you…’ He stopped. 

‘If I what?’ Geralt was glad to finally break through the flood of words.

Jaskier didn’t dare to say it. 

‘I meant what I said to her, you know,’ he started again. ‘I really did. But there are those days when… sometimes I believe the bullshit she spews. Because it’s hard… it’s like, fucking… swimming against the current from morning till night. It’s pushing, and prodding, and trying. It’s… Sometimes you’re a bit much, Geralt.’

‘I’m a bit much?’ Geralt’s confusion was turning into anger. ‘I didn’t make any of this happen. I never asked-’

‘But the way you treat me… sometimes. It’s like I’m nothing more than an annoying child.’

‘That’s because sometimes you act like one.’ Geralt raised his voice in anger. ‘I told you to leave. What the fuck were you thinking?’ 

Jaskier was genuinely hurt this time. 

Geralt felt a sudden pang of guilt which almost stopped him.

‘Everything I’ve done was to avoid what just happened,’ Geralt continued. ‘Let alone what could have happened. But no matter what I do… there you are. It’s like you have a fucking death wish. It’s like you want me to give you a hard time.’

‘I have a death wish? And I want...’ Jaskier laughed, sounding borderline hysterical. 

He shook his head in pure frustration. 

‘Yes, you.’ Geralt was getting carried away, and decided to just give into it, no reservations. ‘Has it ever occurred to you that you ask for too fucking much?’ 

‘I never asked for anything. I offered.’

‘Don’t fucking start…’ Geralt raised his voice again and Jaskier flinched slightly. ‘All you do is want and ask. Every time I look at you… you’re like a fucking human-shaped question mark. A ball of fucking need and hope, demanding more than I can give.’

‘But I just…’ Jaskier stared at Geralt for a moment, looking as if he was slapped in the face. 

Geralt hated the sight. The thought that he just finished what Aliya had started crossed his mind. And he did a good fucking job too. 

Jaskier looked much more hurt and shocked than he had under the threat of a sword. He blinked a few times, shaking slightly.

‘How did we even get here, hm?’ Jaskier asked, his voice faint. ‘Not that bloody long ago, I was perfectly happy...’ He was determined to get back on track, and desperate to ignore Geralt’s last words ‘...chasing after women who like my singing. This…’ Both his hands motioned towards Geralt. ‘This… was far from my plan, believe me.’ 

He sighed angrily, but his voice was breaking again. His mind was working against him, frantically replaying Geralt’s words. He forced himself to speak again.

‘I could cope at first, I really could. But then… I honestly don’t know how.’ He stopped, realised what he was doing and got angry with himself. ‘What am I even saying? Why am I even...’ His breath turned shaky. 

He stared at Geralt. It was clear he was craving some reassurance. Perhaps he was still hoping Geralt would take back what he said. He was strangely disoriented as if he was genuinely surprised by his own response, and disappointed with the both of them. 

Geralt just stood there, confused. 

‘I’m sorry…’ Suddenly Jaskier seemed exhausted and resigned like a long-distance runner giving up a few meters before the finish line. ‘It’s not fair. What I’m doing. What we’re both doing, I suppose. It’s not fair. And I just can’t… anymore.’

He rubbed his temples and started again. 

‘Back there, I’ve said enough. And I can’t take it back now, can I?’ He looked down, and his voice was growing weaker and quieter by the second. ‘And I did mean every word.’ 

He punched out the last words with determination and strain as if admitting that again was more difficult than it was before. 

‘I guess,’ he whispered to himself before speaking up again. ‘I just wish I could feel this way about someone who...’ He stopped again, feeling like there was a wall slowly growing between them. ‘Or, at least, who could appreciate…’ 

He shook his head, and closed his eyes for a moment. 

‘Listen-’ Geralt started but Jaskier just shook his head in response.

‘Well, emerging from this with a broken heart rather than a broken neck is, in itself, a success of a kind.’ He laughed and it was the saddest laugh Geralt has ever heard. ‘I really don’t know what the fuck I was thinking...’ he said, gasping for air a bit ‘...all this time.’ 

He was clearly on the verge of tears but managed to stay calm, his breathing restricted.

‘Jaskier…’

‘No, don’t. I’ve had enough already.’ He moved away from him and walked into his room. ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ he stated, his tone of voice suddenly assertive. ‘We’re going into these lovely, separate rooms, having an uneventful, restful night, and tomorrow… we probably should say goodbye and go our separate ways. Goodnight.’

He shut the door in front of Geralt’s surprised face.  

Read more on AO3.

[goodbyejuly]

[Vigilante!Seulgi] PT1

Warning: Violence, Language, Kidnapping

Genre: Angst, AU!

Kang Seulgi is the best girlfriend you could have ever asked for

She's kind, cute, a amazing dancer, and a talented artist

In fact, she has a whole sketchbook filled with drawings of you

There's just one issue you have with her

Her constant habit of staying out late

You've talked to her about it multiple times and she always says the same thing

"I went to work out. It takes my mind off things"

And you do believe her since her body is so toned there's no way she's not working out

You just hate how tired she looks in the morning after her workouts

"Seulgi, baby, maybe you should just stay in for the night. I know what working out does for you but you shouldn't over work your body" you says as you try to pull her back in bed

When you touch her hand she hisses and pulls it back slightly you look down at your lovers hands you let out a loud gasp

Her knuckles are covered in dark bruises

Before you can ask her what happened the TV cuts you off with a flash news report

"Good evening everyone" the news anchor starts "We have recently been informed that 5 men involved in underground dog fighting have been found beaten and tied to poles outside of a police station. When one man was asked about how they ended up there he told police that a woman wearing all black had beaten the 5 men with her bare hands and threatened to beat them again if they did not tell the police of their crimes. When he was asked about the appearance of the woman he said he couldn't see because she was wearing a mask that looked like a black bear."

You were extremely shocked by this

One girl took down 5 men like it was nothing

When you look up at Seulgi you see her give a small smile at the mugshots of the criminals

"Police say they still don't know all of the motives the girl may have and that she is very dangerous, so, police advise making safe choices while going out at night. If you have any knowledge on this situation the police encourage you to contact them immediately. Again, It is be-"

Before the news anchor can finish her sentence, Seulgi changes the channel and kisses you on the cheek

"I'm going to the gym" she says while picking up her duffel bag "Stay safe, we don't know if this vigilante girl's trouble. I love you, Y/N"

That's weird, you think, why is she worrying about me when she's the one leaving?

You again try to ask her a question but Seulgi's already out the door before you can say a single word

As time goes by you can't stop thinking about the 'vigilante' girl from the news

And you try you hardest to not worry about Seulgi, she's stayed out late before and always made it back in one piece

But you fear she'll run into the girl and become her next victim

You know Seulgi's strong but you don't think she can compete with a girl that can beat down 5 full grown men to a pulp

Having enough of your wild thoughts, you decided to call Seulgi's phone only to met with her voicemail several times

"Great, she leaves this late and doesn't even answer her phone" you sigh to yourself, having only one other option

Go find the girl yourself

You quickly get dressed and head out to search for your ditzy girlfriend

After a few minutes of walking you hear panicked breathing and hurried footsteps from behind you

When you turn around, a man, bleeding from his forehead, grabs you by the shoulders and tries to catch his breath

"Help me, please!" he begs. He shakes you causing you to panic

You start to panic even more when you see two other men run towards you in the same state as the first

"She's coming!" they say before running past you

Unsure of what to do you run with them

Whatevers coming after them probably won't treat you any differently

You turn around to catch a glimpse of what you're running from

And then you see it

You see her

The girl that beat up 5 men for dog fighting and threw them to the police like it was nothing was running so fast in your direction

"Fuck" is the only thing that you can say as you feel her get closer and closer to you

Tears start blocking your vision and you prepare for the worst only to have the girl run past you and jump on top of one of the men, bringing him down to the concrete

Out of panic and confusion you hide in a alley as the girl ruthlessly beats all three men

Only a minute passes and the only audible sound is the three men groaning in pain

You pray that the girl forgets about you and just does what she needs to do to the men

But, your prayers are soon denied as you hear the girl's footsteps get closer to your hiding spot

You try your best to curl up and hush your crying so the girl doesn't see you but she kneels in front of you, helps you up and tells you in a stern voice to go home

You don't give any second thoughts or objections to the masked girl and you run off to your house and when you get home you don't even think about sleeping

You wait for Seulgi to come home so you can tell her about everything that had happened

When Seulgi comes home a few hours later she looks pissed off, but that doesn't stop you from telling her what you had gone through

"Why would you leave knowing what was out there? I even told you to stay safe and you decided to ignore all of that!" she practically yells as she paces back and forth in your living room

"I did it because I was worried about you! I couldn't stop thinking about what you would do if something happened. You wouldn't answer your phone either!"

She softens up when she sees the worry in your eyes and opens up her arms to hug you

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just don't want you putting yourself in danger for me" she whispers "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you ,Y/N"

You stay in each other's arms for a few minutes, basking in the familiar warmth the hug gives

When you pull away, you see her knuckles have split open and are slightly bleeding

"Oh my god, Seulgi! What are you doing to your hands?" you say while leaving to find the first-aid kit you have

Seulgi whispers a soft 'shit' before going back to her soft, ditzy attitude

"Oh, guess I'm punching the punching bag to hard" she nervously giggles

You tend to her hands in silence apologizing every now and then when she winces from the pain

As much as you trust your girlfriend you knew she was lying

There were too many things point to her doing way more that punching a gym bag

But, you say nothing and continue to aid to her knuckles

When you finished, she held your hands and gently kisses both

"Thank you, honey. We should sleep now, it's late and I know you're tired" she says while trying to pull you into your bedroom

You get in without hesitation and cuddle up to her but you still feel uneasy even in your girlfriend's arms

And it wasn't because of your incident earlier

It was because tonight was the first time in your years of dating Seulgi that you 100% knew she was lying

And it scared you

You always trusted Seulgi and knew that she would never lie to you

But knowing that the story of her wounds is a complete lie, you fear that the truth must be awful if Seulgi wants to keep it from you

Turning to face your now sleeping girlfriend, you place a quick kiss to her forehead before closing your eyes trying to clear your mind of any intrusive thoughts

When you wake up you notice Seulgi sitting up in bed facing you with her art journal

"Please don't move. I'm trying to draw you" she says with a soft voice

You were kinda used to this, Seulgi loved to draw especially if she got to draw you

But, she's never drawn you while you were sleeping so it was a little weird but still endearing

"Drawing me while I'm sleeping? A little weird don't you think babe?" you joke

"Hey, talking causes movement, love. Plus, you're adorable when you sleep"

You stay still until she puts down her pencil and shows you her work

"Woah, you're so talented" you say in awe

"And you're so beautiful. I'm gonna go take a shower, I forgot to last night"

"Yeah, you should. I love you but you really smell" but all Seulgi could do was smirk at your comment

"Aw, don't say that you really hurt my feelings" she pouts "Gimme a kiss"

When you playfully shake your head no, Seulgi lunges for you

"Ah, no stop!" you giggle as she continues to litters your face with small pecks

"I just wanna kiss my baby!" she says while struggling to place one finally kiss on you lips

"You can kiss me when you're out of the shower, smelly" you tease, still trying to stop her overflow of kisses

She pouts once again and finally gives up before getting out of bed

"Fine, but when I'm done I expect one out of this world kiss"

"You can have infinite kisses when you're done" you say with a wink before your girlfriend heads to the bathroom

While waiting for her to finish, you hear her phone go off in her gym bag

Deciding to find it so you could give it to her, you begin to start looking through her bag for it

But your search was soon put on hold when you see a black journal stuffed in there

Your first thought was that it was just another one if her many art journals but Seulgi's never had a plain black journal

There were no stickers, doodles, and her name was no where on the outside

Even though you knew it wasn't good to look through your partner's stuff, your curiosity took control and you opened up the journal

You stunned to see a drawing of a random person you'd never seen

But it wasn't a normal drawing, it looked like a wanted poster

The drawing of the person looked so intimidating and it was accompanied by information like height and the places they could be found at

But the part that scared you the most was the section titled: Crime

Shocked by the page you decide to flip through the whole journal in hopes of finding a different image but you are only met with similar ones

Murder, Robbery, Abuse

Your shoulders sink as you see the crimes in this book

You also notice how some of these images have huge red X's drawn on top of them

If you weren't already scared and confused, the next thing you saw definitely changed that

You see drawings of the 5 men found outside of the police station. Each one having a huge red X drawn on top of them

Then, to add to the already horrifying discovery, you see the 3 men from last night

The 3 men that were beat senseless by the vigilante girl. Each one decorated with a huge, red, X

"Oh my god" you whisper, trapped in a frozen state, unsure of what to do

You look back into Seulgi's gym bag unable to believe this was in her possession

As you search through her bag looking for any possible explanation you finally see it

A black bear mask

The same from last night

"Alright love, I'm ready for my kis-"

You turn to face her and are met with a face of sheer panic

"I-I uh..." she struggles to say anything as she continues to look at your scared face

"Please, don't call the police" she softly begs

She looks like she might cry and you see her nervously fiddle with her fingers

"I won't, I promise. I just want to know what's going on"

Your soft tone calms her down and it especially helps when you hold your hand out for her to hold

She takes it and sits next to you before begins to tell you everything

"I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you to get more involved than you already were. It's already dangerous that your dating me and I just thought if you were aware of my secret it would just make things worse for you" she says, sadness obvious in her voice

"Baby, I understand why you would be worried about me but, you need to tell me these things. I'm here for you, always"

Your words give her comfort but she is still hesitant

"I understand if you don't wanna be with me anymore. What I do isn't safe and I don't want anything to happen to you. It's r-"

"Are you kidding" you interrupt "You're the city's badass hero and I have the privilege to date you. Oh my God, I could be your sidekick!" you say with excitement

She giggles, feeling much better because of your words

"As cool as that would be, I would much rather you be my girlfriend"

"Suit yourself, I would make a great sidekick though."

You stare at her for a moment, just admiring her beauty

"I love you. And I always will, no matter what dangers your 'hobby' brings, I'll always stay by your side" you say staring into her eyes. Wanting her to see that you truly mean it

"Thank you. I love you too, more than anything"

"You know I never gave you that kiss you wanted" you say with a smirk

"Yeah, you know you should always keep your promises, love" she says before leaning in to kiss you

Sure, you and Seulgi did have plans to go out today but you figure it would be better for the two of you to stay in

After hours of laying together and talking you finally look at time and realize just how long you two had stayed in bed

"Oh my God, Seulgi it's almost 9 o'clock. We've been in bed all day!" you say. It was quite surprising to see that you've spent almost the entire in bed

"Let's keep it like that. This is nice" she says while still trying to cuddle you

"Hey, don't you have some vigilante stuff to be doing?"

"It can wait, I wanna spend my time with you"

As she buries her face in your chest you can't help but feel a little bit of guilt

"No. There are people that need help, bad guys that need their ass kicked. All of that's done by you. I can't let you pick me over them"

When you finish talking she looks up at you, searching your face for any emotion she can grasp

"Are you sure? I know what I do is important but you'll always be the most important person in my life. I don't want you to feel like y-"

"It's ok, Seulgi" you interrupt "People need you now, I can always have you later" you say with a soft smile

Seulgi pouts but nods and starts to get up

"Alright. I'll go save the day, again. Promise you won't come and look for me this time."

You stick out your pinkie with a smile

"I promise"

She interlocks her pinkie with yours and gives you one final kiss before grabbing her bag and leaving

While Seulgi's gone, you pass time by aimlessly scrolling through your phone

After a hour of doing nothing, you hear a soft knock on your door

Thinking it's just Seulgi knocking since she probably forgot her keys (again)

But when you open your door, you're met with nobody

Only a pink box accompanied by a small tag with the words 'To the lovely Y/N'

Taking the box inside, you begin to open it

Opening that box was one of the worst things that you've ever seen

You're met with a picture of you and Seulgi in your apartment

Taken from the outside your apartment

You continue to look through the box, only to be met with more pictures

You've been so oblivious

Thinking you were completely fine when you've been watched for over a month

Finally, when you reach the bottom you see a note

Hoping it had some explanation you quickly read it

Being the city's vigilante girl is pretty time consuming.

I wonder if she has enough time to protect you?

~Draco

You could barely move

You wanted to cry

Someone knew Seulgi's secret

You quickly ran back to your bedroom, grabbed your phone to call Seulgi

You prayed Seulgi would answer quickly

"Hi baby! I'm almost home so you d-"

"Somebody named Draco knows about your secret and I think they're coming after me!"

The slight pause from Seulgi's line only fills you with more fear

"Get out of the house. Go somewhere where there are a lot of people, I-I don't care just don't stay in house!"

Before you can utter out a response you hear glass breaking from your living room

"Seulgi I have to go I think someone just broke into our house!" you say before hanging up

Knowing it would be impossible to leave, you hide in your closet

While hiding, you hear the faint footsteps of the intruder in your kitchen

Your phone vibrates as you receive a text from your girlfriend

From:My bby💖💖- I'm almost there, I promise you'll be safe

You look around for something to defend yourself with

No matter what happens, you refuse to go down without a fight

Deciding one of Seulgi's heels is your best bet, you grab it and prepare for the worst

You hear the footsteps enter your bedroom and you hold your breath

You feel tears burning in your eyes but you continue to stay ready

Suddenly, the closet door flies open

You swing the heel into your intruder's face, causing him to fall to the ground with cries of pain

You push yourself off the floor and make a run for it

Your short escape was quickly put to a halt as you're met with 5 other men just like the first

You can barely think as all the men run towards you

You try your best to fight back but they still manage to pin you to the floor

"Well, well. Draco will be very happy to see that got our target. And, must I say, you somehow manage to be even prettier than you pictures" one man says while trying to caress your face

Disgusted by his actions, you turn towards his hand and try to bite it

"Oh!" he says with a smirk "That's cute, I like em' feisty"

"Fuck off" you spit out

You wish you could express your anger in more violent ways, but because of your current position that wasn't gonna happen anytime soon

Just as the man opens his mouth to respond, the man from before enters the room covering his right eye with his hand

"Woah, what happened to you?" one of the men questions

"This bitch hit me in the eye with a heel!"

You can see the anger radiating off of him, but all you can is smirk at his state

"You little-"

He raises his foot to kick you but is quickly punched and shoved to the ground

"Look, we promised Draco we would get them back unharmed. So until Draco's command, you don't lay a finger on them. Understand?"

As the two men continue to argue, you notice something about all 6 men

All of them have a Cerberus tattooed to their forearm

"Alright, tie em up, we gotta hurry before that bitch gets here. Hold still for us sweetheart~" one of the men coos as they bring a rope your way

You squirm but it is futile as they tie you up and carry you to a black van parked in front of your apartment

As you ride in the van, you take the time to memorize the features of your kidnappers

You want to remember who did this to you

After a hour of so of driving, you come to a stop

"Alright angel, I hope you're ready to meet Draco. They've been dying to finally meet you"

4 men leave the car while the other 2 carry you inside what looked like a regular building

But of course this wouldn't be a normal building. You already no that from your situation

You just pray that whatevers in that building won't be too bad

Inside is a woman, all by her self

The men place you on a chair and walk to the back of the room, watching

"No, no, there's no need to stay here. I wanna talk to them. Privately" she speaks

Her voice matches her appearance perfectly

Sultry with a slight hint of danger

Just as the men begin to leave, she stops them once again

"Oh, before you go, please untie our guest, I can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be"

A quiet 'yes ma'am' is uttered from the 6 men as one comes to untie you

While you're getting untied, you look at your surroundings

Everything is black and gold

If you weren't being kidnapped right now you'd actually be enjoying the scenery

You soon notice the 3 statues of dogs right under a huge painting of Hades with his Cerberus

"I see you noticed my painting" the woman started "It's one of my favorites. I just find it so fascinating how even the God of the underworld can have such a loyal companion. A powerful duo that can make Gods quiver"

You're not quite sure how to react

One second you're being shoved into a van and now you're getting a lesson on Greek Gods?

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Draco. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Y/N. And might I say, you're pictures don't do you enough justice"

She gives you a big smile, one that causes her eyes to smile as well

But you don't let her nature fool you

"What do you want with Seulgi? I know you have no interest in me so quit the bullshit and tell what you want"

Draco giggles

A giggle that soon turns in to a hysterical laugh

Suddenly, she slams her hands on table in front of you and her whole demeanor changes

"You know, I tried to make this some what decent for you but since you can't appreciate it I tell you. I am the Kingpin of this city. Almost every criminal you know works for me. But a little issue started to arise. You see some of my people started ending up in jail. Some drug dealers, dog fighters, and my best men had a new home in a cell. And, you know who's responsible for that don't you, Y/N?"

It was a rhetorical question buy you still nodded hesitantly

"Good, you're as smart as you are cute" she says, smirking "I am Hades. I am the God of this city's underworld. But you're little Seulgi want's to be Hercules and try to stop me. But I won't let her"

"And if you're really smart..."

You gasp as she pulls out a gun and points it straight to your head

"You won't let her either"

To be continued...

[gradstudentwriter-blog]

Chapter Four Sarah, too, had dropped down like Iron Man, the natural posture, the American birthright, of more than one generation.  She held still, listening.  She was listening for footsteps or any other sign of intrusion.  What she heard was commotion.  No, she thought, always searching for exactly the right word or phrase.  No, what she heard is… a prison riot.  No, it was slaughter.  There was growling and screaming and loud thuds and she knew people were being killed.  The panic that assailed her at times held her in place now, pressing on her skin like deep water.   She stayed in place for over an hour.  When she toppled over sideways, just like cow tipping she thought absurdly, she worried only about audible creaking in her old, over used knees.  When she had pointed out the Snap! Crackle! Pop! in both joints to her Sports Medicine doctor, he had extended his own knee which made the same sound.  “We don’t care about noise,” he’d said.  Well, we do now, she thought. Page twenty On the down drop from the ceiling she’d gotten a look at a room full of guns.  She rolled over on her back now and looked around. Crates, big heavy crates crowded one end of the room. There were ordinary cupboards with small hooks meant for coffee cups that held the trigger guards of hand guns, semiautomatics, revolvers.  Holsters, spare clips were tossed carelessly on the counter.  The room saw a lot of action. Because of previous research, she recognized a Walther PPK.  It must have been stolen from a private home, she thought, they were worth a fortune. In World War II, it was the sidearm issued to the German military, German police and the Luftwaffe, all the same gun.   PPK stood for Polizeipistole Kurz ( police pistol short).  It was a tremendous machine whose design has not been further modified since 1971.  It was the gun Hitler used to kill himself in his bunker and the weapon of choice for the director of the South Korean CIA Kim Jae-gyu when he assassinated South Korean President and dictator Park Chung-Lee in October 1979.   Page twenty one The PPK was just barely too small to meet the requirements of the “sporting gun”, an odd phrase because the sport referred to is never named, defined by the Gun Control Act of 1968.  The PPK was modified by an increase in height of 4 mm, increase in weight of 1.8 ounces and increased payload of one cartridge.  When the agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms were accused  of getting out of control with the wide latitude granted them by the Gun Control Act, the Firearms Owners Protection Act was passed in 1986, though it never affected the slightly larger design of the PPK.  Finally Walther went the way of all import restrictions and granted license to make the weapon in the United States to Ranger Manufacturing in Alabama in 1978. Smith and Wesson picked up the right to the famous weapon in 2002, which was still unwillingly relinquished by Walther, who built their own U.S. plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas and began making their own gun again in 2017. Such a fine weapon had to be appropriated by the victors for whom the message sent over the Atlantic was clear: we do everything better.   At least weapons and movies, Sarah had long thought, when it comes to weapons and movies, don’t even try. The PPK became the handgun the Americans assigned a Page twenty two fictional British antihero with the world’s most desirable accent, a Scottish brogue, right up front in Sean Connery’s first portrayal of Bond in Dr. No. Elvis Presley owned a silver plated PPK inscribed with the letters “TCB” for Taking Care of Business.  Sarah looked at the gun and smiled.  I’m here to steal guns, she thought, this is my gun now.   Guns made her happy, a fact she took some pains to conceal, at least before now.  She strapped the Walther to the inside of her left thigh and went to work, piling on the accessories of warfare with duct tape: sniper scopes, Kevlar vests, silencers, night vision goggles, until she found herself too weighed down to pull up for the return trip, but not at all weirded out by dressing up like the bounty hunter in Star Wars.   Painstakingly, she unstrapped everything, placing it gently, quietly, across the ceiling tiles until she knew she could pull up silently.  Then she strapped it all back on again. The return trip was quieter, anyway.  As she grew closer she heard the sound of bones breaking.  It sounded like the International Wolf Center at dinnertime.  She slid back a tile with difficulty, soaked in sweat and unsure of the best way to move while keeping all this hardware quiet. Boy Wonder was in his place, resting slightly against a ping pong table.    He heard her but never looked up.   Page twenty three There were beads of sweat on the back of his neck and there were lots of little furry things making happy noises, bustling around cleaning the place up.  They looked like a cross between a Christmas elf and a Yorkshire terrier.  They took care of the mess with their furry little bodies as well as with soap and water.   “Crime scene cleaners?” Sarah asked incredulously.  The little animals looked as if they lived for the day they got to clean more blood and brains off the wall.  There were snorts and giggles and a regular flurry of activity.  “Yeah,” said Boy Wonder, quietly, almost reverently.  “Nineteen items,” said Sarah.   “Stack them up close to the wall.  You were smart to wait.  How you holding up?” “I need to come down for awhile.” “Now is good then. They don’t really sleep but they get quiet after they eat.” She crawled by millimeters to the edge where the roof met the ceiling and took off each item but the Walther, hidden by grey sweats cut off below the knee.  She did not need to rest or eat as much as she needed to take her place by Boy Wonder, to feel his calm, even if it was quiet engendered by respect for the dead.   Page twenty four “I think they may have gotten my kids’ dad.  He came in with my group.  I didn’t see if he was with the next group or not.” “The guy in that green jacket?”  Boy Wonder nodded so slightly she would have missed it if she hadn’t been paying attention, at a cheap quilted jacket hanging on a peg near the door.  When she nodded it was easier to see. “He was playing both sides, trying to help the humans with inside information, playing the aid and comfort to the enemy look.” He had been a double agent, who blew his cover looking for her. “They got him.” Tears burned her eyes while she stared straight at the red light above the shoe struck door without blinking to make the tears go back inside her head.  Reflexively, she did not move or make any sound, only stood quietly while the tears receded. “It was quick.” Already, she could tell he was lying and wanted to thank him for it.  Her journalistic insistence on accuracy had put off more than one family member who seemed to want to say in exasperation, Could you, for once in your life, tell a polite lie?”   It had not been quick.  He had been carrying.  He went down in a gun battle. Page twenty five So.  Now.  What was the word?What was the phrase?  Blood sport.  No, that carried with it the implication of pointless violence for entertainment.  Revenge.  No, it was bigger than that.  This was the violence deplored as antithetical to the larger goals of a nation state as well as generational, and therefore useless in achieving positive change.  Not useless, however, in achieving genocide.  Not useless, however, in winning a war.  Not useless in a vendetta.   Sarah looked around at the zombies, now bloody and somnolent, and thought, I will kill you and everyone you know.

[nothingman]

There are three main sets of laws that Trump’s associates could possibly be charged for violating.

The growing number of allegations about President Trump’s links to Russia sounds really incriminating. But would any of them actually be illegal?

As the FBI probes possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow in the run-up to the 2016 election, an array of Trump associates find themselves in the crosshairs of federal and congressional investigators.

There’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, pushed out of the White House for lying about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the US. There’s Trump adviser Roger Stone, who has admitted to exchanging messages with a hacker thought to be a front for Russian intelligence. There's former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who is accused of failing to publicly disclose taking millions of dollars from a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party and a Russian oligarch. There's Carter Page, Trump’s foreign policy adviser, who advised Russia’s state-controlled gas company Gazprom and was once unsuccessfully courted by Russian spies to become one himself. And that’s not close to an exhaustive list.

But there’s a difference between unseemly conduct and criminal conduct, and I spoke to legal experts to separate one from the other. What I learned is there are three main sets of laws that — at least given what we know now from news reports — could end up being the basis for criminal charges against Trump associates: violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, failing to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and making false statements to federal investigators. All of them are felonies and carry the potential penalty of prison time.

At the moment, we don’t know exactly what information the FBI has or if anything especially damning will come to light, and there’s no indication that Trump himself would be implicated in any charges related to cooperating with Russia during or immediately after the election. But if his closest aides end up being indicted for effectively working with a foreign power that the US doesn’t have friendly relations with in order to undermine the US electoral process, that would likely create a political crisis of Watergate proportions.

Why treason isn’t on the table but other crimes are

The legal experts I spoke to almost all said, without prompting, that the issues at play here didn't come anywhere close to treason, a word tossed around by some advocates on the American left.

That’s because being guilty of treason would mean that someone from Trump’s team would have to have been aiding a country or group that was legally at war with the US. Russia isn't.

“Formally, we're at peace with Russia, so even the most outrageous assistance to Russia or benefit to Russia wouldn't count as treason,” Carlton Larson, a law professor at the University of California Davis, told me.

When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were prosecuted in the 1950s for sharing atomic secrets with the Soviet Union, they were tried for espionage, not treason, for this exact reason. The Cold War was already underway, but the US and Russia were technically at peace. If the Rosenbergs weren’t guilty of treason back then, it’s almost impossible to conceive of how Trump affiliates could be guilty of it today.

But those experts say there are many other acts the FBI is likely looking into that could potentially amount to criminal activity. A substantial caveat: We don’t know what kind of information and evidence the FBI has, so right now we’re operating in the realm of educated conjecture based largely on news reports. That said, there are three big sets of possible violations that are most likely being investigated:

Whether any Trump campaign members encouraged or aided the hackers who broke into the email servers of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton chair John Podesta, in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Whether any Trump campaign or administration officials intentionally avoided registering with the Department of Justice that they were working for a foreign government or other foreign entity under FARA. So far, we know Flynn didn’t register for his paid activities on behalf of the Turkish government on the campaign trail until March. We also recently learned that in past years Manafort did not disclose his work on behalf of a Russian oligarch with the intention of advancing Putin’s agenda, and failed to do so with activities for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.

Whether Trump associates have made false statements to federal investigators. This could be particularly dangerous for Flynn, who reportedly misled the FBI about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador to the US in December.

They’re all felonies, although some are enforced more rigorously than others.

What laws the Trump team really needs to worry about

Based on what we know, the FBI’s top priority is to determine if any of Trump’s associates cooperated with the hackers who broke into the email servers of the DNC and Podesta.

Whoever hacked the servers almost certainly violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which bars unauthorized intrusion into a computer or computer network and makes it a federal crime. The intelligence community believes those cyberattacks were carried out by Russian hackers taking orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The question is whether anyone from the Trump campaign knew what Russia was doing and encouraged it or helped Moscow choose specific targets. Someone on the campaign could also be charged for promising some kind of quid pro quo in exchange for the hack. That could be punishable with up to 10 years in prison.

Another likely major focal point for the FBI probe is the Trump team’s compliance with FARA, a statute that dates back to the World War II era. In the US, private citizens have freedom to work on behalf of foreign governments or foreign entities affiliated with the government — but they have to register with the US to disclose that they’re doing so. A failure to register is a felony offense. There’s also a separate statute that holds that public officials in the US cannot act as foreign agents at all.

So far, there have been a few major revelations that suggest Trump associates may have violated FARA laws. In March, we learned that Flynn failed to disclose the fact that he was being paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government while serving as an adviser to Trump on the campaign trail, and only registered retroactively in March.

We also know that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort had failed to disclose lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian political leaders in previous years, as well as a Russian oligarch in Putin’s inner circle. Federal investigators are almost certainly looking into whether Flynn, Manafort, and other Trump advisers deliberately defied the mandate of FARA while working for those and other foreign entities.

FARA is typically lightly enforced — the Justice Department tends to bug violators to comply with it rather than taking them to court. But it is a felony if registration is violated intentionally, and it can be punished with prison time. “It’s not something that the government generally tries to criminally enforce, but they could,” Ryan Goodman, an NYU law professor and former senior Pentagon lawyer, told me.

The biggest potential danger facing the Trump team has to do with whether they’ve told the truth in their interviews with federal investigators. It’s not illegal to lie to the press, but it is illegal to lie to the FBI, and federal prosecutors routinely bring charges in such cases.

Flynn may have the most to lose since news reports suggest he misled FBI agents about whether he discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the US in December. What he discussed with the ambassador appears to contradict what he told the FBI, but he also followed his denial to the FBI by saying he didn’t recall all of his conversation, and he disputes whether the exact terms he discussed really counted as part of Obama’s sanctions package. In other words, the case might not be that simple. But that could be a factor in why Flynn offered to testify before Congress in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

As Goodman notes, false statements are not that hard to pin down and are often used to convict high-profile people when prosecutors can’t necessarily prove the underlying crime, like with Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, who was convicted for lying about his role in the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

The biggest issue is the political fallout

It's too soon to know what charges, if any, federal prosecutors might bring against Trump associates, let alone whether any would be convicted.

In the short term, the more immediately consequential issue is the possibility that some of Trump’s associates might flip on their bosses and reveal misdeeds by senior members of the Trump campaign or transition team.

Having top-ranking Trump associates convicted of criminal acts tied to the election would be politically toxic for Trump — and would also put him in a tough position.

“If we enter a phase in which the national conversation turns to whether the president will exercise his pardon power for some of the Americans currently under FBI investigation, we will have likely crossed over into a crisis of immense Watergate proportions,” Goodman says.

Stephen Vladeck, a national security law expert at the University of Texas, agrees — and says that whether Trump’s associates broke the law is likely to be just the opening act of this story.

“I’m not holding my breath about any of these cases going to trial,” Vladeck told me. “To me, the real story is whether indictments of any current or former senior Trump staffers might open the door to discovery of additional inappropriate and/or unlawful conduct by other senior Trump officials — perhaps including the president himself.”

That’s possible, of course. It’s also entirely possible that neither Trump nor anybody in his White House will end up facing any charges at all. The only thing we know now is that less than three months into the Trump era, this investigation is taking the US into entirely uncharted waters.

via Vox - All