#he was literally just some guy that murdered several people and cried about it without any real intention of fixing the mess he made

[paragonrobits]

periodically i come across some baffling discourse centered around the earliest parts of Immortal Hulk: specifically, characters like the gunman and immortal scientist father from the first couple of issues of Immortal Hulk, during a point where we don't really know WHAT the Devil Hulk is actually up to and we have to piece together the rumblings of the plots, with Jackie McGee as arguably our viewpoint character (since while we see Bruce's perspective, we have no more clue of what's going on with him, and McGee puts the pieces together)

specifically, the discourse i find inexplicable is people arguing that those two antagonists were unfairly victimized by the Devil Hulk or that it would be in character for him to be sympathetic towards them instead of the brutal torments he visits upon them as punishments for their crimes (murdering several people in a gas station robbery including a young girl, and killing a lot of people personally and by extension) and I find this kind of argument to be incredibly baffling!

This is also compared to Charlene MacGowen, whom is recruited by the Hulk after she is previously a member of a group hunting the Hulk and experimenting on gamma mutants; the Hulk hires her after taking over the group, rather than tormenting or killing her has he does previously. I've seen people try to argue that Hulk SHOULD have done the same with those previous characters, or think its unfair of them.

And the rebuttal to this, starting with 'of course he didn't, they deserved what they got' amounts to a few different points. The first is that Immortal Hulk is a horror story. The Devil Hulk is very explicitly a horrifying force of retribution; when he brutalizes the gas station robber by beating him so badly he will be in a coma for the rest of his life, or rips the limbs off an undying man and leaves him to rot underground, deprived of all sensory input forever, its SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable and horrifying, if a twisted form of justice.

The second part of it involves a bit of analysis.

The robber, well, robs a gas station to pay off debts. He's scared, trying to provide for his family and in over his head; he's thus a scared man whose murders are partially a result of panic. However, Hulk's insight all but states that he killed because he wanted to kill people to feel strong. He discusses how the man was at the target range, tempted by the thought of letting that power loose. He killed several people, including a young child not too different from his own child, not because he was scared... but because he WANTED the power of it, to kill just because he could. Tellingly, when the Hulk outright says so, he loses his nerve and instead of trying to argue or justify himself, pleads for mercy. He asks "I'm not a bad man... am I?" And the Hulk simply leers and asks what he thinks, the implication being that he IS, and he knows it, as the Hulk delivers his gruesome fate.

The scientist is initially less malicious; afraid of death, he created a gamma-based treatment to save himself and his son, but when he injected his son with it, killed him on the spot, and over time, his own treatments mutated him into a gamma mutant; an undying man with his skeleton visible through his skin, death incarnate. His crimes are two-fold; beyond accidentally killing his son, his son... didn't stay dead. He's still alive down there, insane from the sensory isolation, while his radioactive body is killing everyone who comes to the graveyard to mourn, suffering lethal radiation poisoning.

To quote Hulk himself, "How many died because you were scared!?"

That's not the end of it though; the scientist is also deliberately and explicitly murdering everyone who comes across him to cover up what's happened to him, and he has killed a lot of people this way.

This is where we come to MacGowen. She's not particularly innocent compared to them, working for the primary antagonist of the comic at that point, but the crucial difference is that while she, just like them, has largely been forced in to her situation, there is one very big difference.

The gas station robber did the robbery to pay of a debt and care for his family, but he also killed multiple people because he wanted the power of it, needlessly doing so just so he could feel big and tough. The scientist accidentally killed his son and a LOT of other people due to radiation poisoning, but he also deliberately killed many other people to cover up what he had become, even though this served no purpose.

In the same situation, MacGowen actively tries to minimize the suffering of gamma mutants she's studying (specifically the scientist's son, driven to insanity by the deprivation and experiments performed on him too), going out of her way to do so. She puts herself at significant risk to do this, fully aware that other people working in the same organization are facing horrible suffering and punishment for going against orders, and she is DELIBERATELY doing so, doing the best she can even as it means her potential death.

She goes the extra mile to try to comfort and minimize suffering, even when its not actually going to do her any good, and might outright get her killed, but she still does it. This is the reason why, I think, the Devil Hulk chooses to recruit her.

The robber and scientist didn't minimize any suffering; they outright killed people because they could, or because they were scared. MacGowan goes out of her way to help others, at very serious personal risk, after being stuck in a bad situation with no real hope of things getting better for herself. The Devil Hulk's sense of justice is uncompromising and cold, demanding accounting for the crimes you've commited, and the first two here answer him by first making excuses and then weakly begging for mercy, pleading that they don't deserve it, and he is unmoved. MacGowan doesn't make any such excuses, but just does the only thing she feels she can, which Devil Hulk actually DOES respect.

In other words, from a moral perspective, they're weak and cowardly, hurting others and then begging for a mercy they never shared with anyone. They're puny. And as Joe Fixit himself later says, the likes of McGee (and later, MacGowan) ain't puny.

[sacredsorceress]

Who Am I? || Peter Parker

pairing: peter parker x avenger!reader

summary: spider-man’s identity is exposed to the world after the death of mysterio. the issue? spider-man has a known relationship with your superhero alias, sorceress, but peter is in a relationship with y/n y/l/n. your identity remains a secret as you are forced to decide to either reveal your identity to the world or to allow your boyfriend to have his reputation tarnished further.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: angst angst angst

masterlist || request || taglist

You stood, shocked, in your bedroom with the television still playing in front of you. For a moment you were unable to move as you watched a photo of your boyfriend, Peter Parker’s face flash across the screen with footage of Spider-man playing alongside it. You always knew the day would come where both you and Peter’s identities would be exposed to the world, but you thought you would be the one to decide when and that you would have so much more time.

Your hands began to shake as you paced your room, picking up your cellphone and dialing your boyfriend’s number. Your identity hadn’t been exposed yet, but you knew there was only a matter of time until there was a decision to be made.

You and Peter had an ongoing relationship that everyone in your shared school knew about. However, it was a known fact across the world that Spider-Man was in a relationship with your superhero alias, Sorceress.

In this moment you were kicking yourself for never realizing that this situation could happen. If they weren’t already, you knew soon enough that people would begin connecting the dots. Peter Parker had you- Y/n Y/l/n- whereas Spider-Man had Sorceress- a woman with an unknown identity. You would either have to come forward and reveal your identity or remain in hiding, allowing the world to believe that you had never known of Peter’s super human abilities and that he had been seeing an Avenger behind your back.

You cursed to yourself as your call went to voicemail, about to call again until you heard banging against the glass of your bedroom window. You rushed across the room, pushing open the window for Peter as he climbed in before you slammed it shut once more.

“What the-” You began.

“Fuck.” Peter cut you off. “Shit. Shit. Shit! What am I going to do, Y/n?”

He began pacing your room, pulling the mask off of his face before tossing it aggressively across your room.

Just then, the phone in your hand began blowing up, buzzing and dinging from texts and direct messages in between phone calls from your family. You knew everyone had started to hear the news.

Silencing your phone and threw it on the bed.

“I- I don’t know, Pete.” You said confused and frustrated. “God, I could just kick that guy’s ass right now. What are we going to do?”

Looking at your boyfriend, you noticed as his eyelids grew red, water brimming on the edge and spilling over them as he tugged at his messy hair. His chest contracted and relaxed rapidly as his breathing quickened and you could hear soft huffs and puffs spilling from his mouth.

Meeting him where he stood in your bedroom, you cupped his face in your hands, pushing your own thoughts aside.

“Peter, look at me.” You told him, searching to meet his eyes. “You need to breathe, baby. We’re going to figure this out, okay? I know this looks bad, but not everyone can believe this, right? You’re Spider-Man. You’ve helped save the world. You’ve never given anyone a reason to believe shit like this because you’re a good person, Pete. They’re gonna have to believe you.”

Watching the tears fall from his eyes and stream down his cheeks, he shook his head, moving his hands out of his hair to instead wrap his arms around you, pulling you tightly against him. Shoving his face into the crook of your neck, you could hear his muffled voice.

“I don’t know what to do.” He sobbed into your skin, his fingers digging into the cloth of your shirt. “It feels like everything goes wrong. F-first Mr. Stark and now this. The world is literally against me, Y/n. I- I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Listening to your boyfriend's soft cries, you rubbed your hand in circles against his back, soothing him.

You swore you could feel your heart shattering in your chest, watching your favorite boy fall apart right in front of you. Although you both had been through a lot- Peter was going through your worst nightmare and had been hit repeatedly back to back to back. You wish you could turn back time and make it right for him just so you could see a smile grace his face once again.

“I’m not going anywhere, Peter.” You whispered. “We’re going to figure this out together-”

Just then, you heard your name announced from the television, your yearbook photo displayed on the screen alongside Peter’s, below it a photo of Spider-Man with his hand rested against Sorceress’ lower back, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Shit.” You cursed to yourself in so low a voice you hoped Peter wouldn’t notice, but he did.

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked pushing himself out of your embrace.

As hard as you tried to hush him and keep him in your arms, he backed away, turning his attention towards the television.

“This just in! Sources confirm that Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, has had a long-term girlfriend, Y/n Y/l/n, pictured here since before the Blip! Now, for those of you out there that don’t know, Spider-Man has also been in a relationship with fellow Avenger Sorceress for the past seven months! If you’re keeping up- that’s two women! We’ve been unable to reach Miss. Y/l/n so far for any comments at this time, but fellow classmates have been eager to share their sides of the story.”

“This whole thing is just so crazy.” You watched Betty say on screen. “I thought Peter was so nice, but journalist to journalist- Y/n was way above his league. That’s what’s so shocking! I can’t believe he’d cheat on her like that. I guess being an Avenger really does go to your head.”

“Do you know what this means?” Peter asked suddenly, turning towards you.

Feeling your heart thump in your chest, you furrowed your eyebrows at your boyfriend. “What are you talking about, Peter?”

Pointing at the television he raised his voice.

“Y/n, they don’t think that you’re Sorceress.” He explained to you. “They think that I’ve been seeing the both of you behind your back. You... you can still get out of this. You don’t have to go down with me.”

Staring at your boyfriend’s face, the severity of the situation written all over it, your eyes grew wide.

You understood what Peter meant. You had been given an out by some lucky chance. You could lie and say that you weren’t Sorceress and that you had never known a thing about Peter being Spider-Man. You could lie and pretend that you didn’t know who your boyfriend really was.

You could lie and allow Peter to have his reputation tarnished even further by making him out to be a two-faced cheater.

Shaking your head, you wrapped your arms around yourself.

“Peter, I can’t do that.” You told him. “You’re innocent! If I lie and say that I didn’t know anything- that I’m not Sorceress and that you’ve been cheating on me behind my back- then you look guilty. You can try to prove you’re innocent for the whole thing with Mysterio right now because you’ve never given anyone a reason to believe otherwise, but if I let you take the fall for me, Peter, and make you look like a liar and a cheater then that will give them all the more reason not to trust you. It’ll be impossible to change their mind.”

Listening to the words you were saying in disbelief, he pushed his fingers into his hair, tugging hard on the strands and shaking his head.

“Y/n!” He shouted your name. “You don’t think they’ll bring you down with me? If you tell everyone who you are, they’ll think you knew about it the whole time. They’ll think that you knew what I was doing with Mysterio and that you’re just as guilty as me. I can’t ask you to reveal your identity for me just for everyone to turn on you too!”

Flinching from the volume of his voice, a part of you knew that he was right.

You had always wanted to keep your identity a secret to allow you to live a normal life outside of avenging, but seeing Peter’s situation just gave you all the more reason to protect yourself by living a double life.

At the end of the day though, you loved Peter.

You and your boyfriend had chosen each other every day regardless of the hectic lives you both led- sometimes even risking your lives for each other in the process. 

Your lives weren’t easy by any means, but you always had each other and promised yourselves that you always would.

“So what?” You asked. “What am I supposed to do, Pete? You think they’re going to stop at you? You don’t think they’re gonna start wondering who’s behind my mask? And God, what kind of life would it be if I kept mine a secret now? I can’t live normally anymore- not when I’m apparently the ex-girlfriend of the Avenger who they think murdered someone. Besides... what? We’d have to see each other in secret from now on so nobody finds out who I am? It’s not worth it, Peter-”

Throwing his hands in the air, he shouted.

“It’s worth if you’re safe, Y/n!” He raised his voice at you once again, before taking a deep breath. “What don’t you get?”

Taken back by his outburst, you both stood there staring at each other in silence.

When you finally reached your hand out for him, you winced as he shied away from your touch.

“I- I’ve lost to many people.” Peter said, his voice nearly a whisper. “I can’t lose you too.”

The way his voice cracked, made your breath catch in your throat as you stared at the broken boy in front of you.

Peter had undeniably lost so much- his parents, his uncle, his mentor- there was no doubt about that and it broke your heart knowing that he worried about losing you too.

Gazing at his tear-stained face- you swore to yourself that he never would. You would do whatever it took to make sure that Peter Parker was never alone.

“I know, Pete. I’m sorry.” You said, slowly stepping towards him. “You’re not going to lose me. I mean, Pete, we went to space and turned to dust for five years and still found our way back to each other. We’re going to figure this out together, Peter. We’re gonna clear your name, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I promise you.”

When the palm of your hand met his rosy cheek this time, he didn’t flinch away, instead nudging his head into your touch.

“I can’t ask you to do this.” He said softly, meeting your eyes.

“I wouldn’t ask you to either, Pete, but you would do it anyway, wouldn’t you?” You asked, brushing your thumb against his cheek.

“Yeah.”

Not being able to help the light chuckle that slipped from your lips, you threw Peter a soft smile.

“I know.” You whispered. “So just... let me do this, Peter.”

Just as Peter opened his mouth to speak, the sound of his phone interrupted him as it began ringing in his pocket. Stepping back from your touch, he pulled the device out from his suit and brought it to his ear.

“What? May, slow down.” He said sniffling. “I’m at Y/n’s.”

Watching as he furrowed his eyebrows, you crossed your arms.

“What?” He asked. “’Check outside her window’?”

Rushing across the room, you pressed yourself against your window, looking down at the street below you. On the sidewalk stood at least a dozen reporters, clamoring outside the door of your building. Eyes growing wide you stepped back, throwing the curtain over the glass.

“Shit.” You muttered to yourself, wringing your hands and turning to look at your boyfriend.

“May, I know.” He said. “I just- let me call you back.”

With that he hung up the phone, slipping it back into his pocket and strode across the room to meet you in your spot. Resting his hands on your arms, he squeezed tightly.

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Peter said meeting your eyes. “I know I can’t tell you what to do, but I want it to be your decision, Y/n. Make sure whatever it is that it’s... that it’s what you want because t-there’s no going back.”

Nodding your head along with his words, your focus shifted from your boyfriend to the dresser in the corner of your bedroom where you kept your suit.

This was it.

You had to make your decision.

You wished more than anything that you had more time, but you knew that you had had enough allotted to you already. You had been given more than any other member of your team and standing there now, you were thankful for every second of it.

No matter what your decision was, your life would change for good from this moment on.

Your heart racing in your chest, you memorized the feeling of your boyfriend's touch and the way his eyes glistened from the tears in his eyes, his cheeks stained red. You remembered the way he smiled when he first saw you again after the Blip and the way he held you so tightly after returning from his trip.

Taking one last, shaky breath you looked up at Peter and nodded.

“I’m ready.”

[itsthestutterforme]

Don't Pretend (Vincenzo)

Y/N is a very successful civil rights investigator and a friend of Cha-young. Cha-young called her when she needed help building their case against Babel. Chairman Han seo thinks she's a threat, but Jun woo thinks otherwise.

Pairings: Joon woo x reader (romantic), Cha young x reader (platonic), Vincenzo x reader (platonic)

--

I didn't even set foot in my apartment yet and Cha young called me for help. I love her and all but it seems like she's always in trouble with someone. She wants me to meet her at a theater because she wants me to meet someone.

She said it was urgent, so I didn't even stop by for food, so this person better be the President of South Korea or something.

I step out of my vehicle and walk through the entrance to see a swarm of reporters surrounding a group of people. One of those people was Cha young and I spin around on my heel, not in the mood for talking to reporters.

"Y/N!" Cha young calls. "Damn it," I say to myself before turning back around. "You didn't mention there would be reporters," "Surprise," she says.

I shake my head and she shrugs. I look to a random spot outside and say, "Oh my God, is that Jay Park and his new girlfriend? Look over there by the garden!" You point to a random couple that was walking past the garden.

"Jay Park! Where?" The swarm of reporters then went outside towards the garden. I roll my eyes and said, "They're like ants searching for food." I make my way towards the group and Cha young links her arm with mine.

"I missed you," she says and I grumble lowly. "Y/N, this is Vincenzo Cassano. Mr. Cassano, this is my colleague and close freind, Y/N," Cha young introduces.

"Seems like you're far from home, Cassano." I say in Italian, much to his surprise. He raises a brow at me and says, "I could say the same for you. The last I saw you, you were handling business in Siena."

"And you were handling business in Milano. Nice touch with the garden. It was beautiful," I compliment and he smiles. "Thank you, I try."

Cha young looks between me and Cassano and says, "You two know each other?" "Vaguely," I comment. "And who are they?" I add, motioning to the older woman, older man and two young men. "The enemy," Cha young says nonchalantly.

"For enemies, you seem awfully close," "Believe me, we're not," an older woman snaps. "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm just making an observation." I snark. "Excuse me?" she steps closer to me and Cha young does the same.

"Careful, she hates being touched." Cassano states. "I'm heading back to my loft," I say before giving Cassano and Cha young a nod.

"Who are you?" The older woman asks but there was something about her that urked me. I give her a once over before walking back through the entrance.

--

"She's Y/N Y/L/N, a civil rights investigator and the top in her firm. Not only that, but she has correlations with mafias across three different continents. She has the resources to take us down," Han seo says and a small smile creeps on Joon woo's lips. "Why are you smiling?" Han seo asks.

"She's very accomplished," Jun woo answers. "And it's her accomplishments that scare me, brother." "Don't be. I'll handle her," "Handle her how? Like kill her?" "I don't want to, she seems interesting. But I will if she continues to be a threat to us."

--

I have to get back into the my workouts. I feel like I've put on a little weight while I was in Italy. It's not like I had any choice. Telling Nonna no is like kicking a puppy, no one can do it. Nonna offers you food, you always say yes. That's an unwritten rule that everyone follows.

My sneakers wrap around perfectly around my feet and I could barely feel the ground when I ran through the city park. I always make sure that it was light enough for things to be visible but early enough that there was only a handful of people in the park itself.

I was on my third and final loop when I saw the black van move across the street and park next to the sidewalk I was running on. I stopped to catch my breath for a moment before running in the other direction. I hear a door open and several footsteps run behind me.

I grab the nearest thick branch I could find and wait until they were close enough. I swing the branch as hard as I could, hitting three men in the face. They fell to the ground and I focus on the two guys rushing towards me at once. I duck around one and punched the other in the throat, leaving me with just the one man.

I bring up my guard and shuffle my feet but the man runs in back into the van and drives away. "You okay?" A voice asks from behind me and I feel a hand on my shoulder. I spin around and kick his leg out from under him. He falls to the ground and I apply pressure to his chest.

"Relax. I'm not the bag guy here." He strains. "Wait a minute, I know you. You're the-" "A friend of Cha young." He places his hand on my outter thigh and I say, "I wouldn't know if friend is a term I would use. She called you the enemy."

"She was referring to the rest of them," "What ever helps you sleep at night." I finally stand up from his chest and he takes a deep breath.

He stands up from the ground and that's when I notice that he was shirtless. My eyes softly scan the smooth, tanned skin of his pecks. My eyes snap up to meet his and he cocks his head teasingly.

"Speechless?" "I'll never give you that satisfaction," I snark as he steps closer to me so I have to look straight up just to meet his eyes.

The next thing I knew, I am washing off his touch and scent in the shower. Well trying to anyway. Halfway through my shower, he decided to join me and trail his hands down my hips.

I moan softly when he presses my body the cold tiled wall and kisses my neck. He hooks one of my legs around his waist and slowly trails his hand along my inner thigh.

My phone blades, scaring us both. I pull away from him and he says, "Just ignore it." "She's been calling me all day, she already knows that something is up." I walk out of the shower and dry my feet before wrapping a towel around my body.

I answer the phone and Cha young yells, "About time! Where have you been!" "I, uh, I went shopping. There was no food in my refridgerator or cabinets." I answer calmly.

"Don't you have a maid for that?" "I'm not lazy enough to have a maid, Cha young." "Well, you had me worried. I thought someone took you hostage or something." She finally says without yelling.

"You really think they are capable of that?" "They are capable of many things. Be careful, Y/L/N." Vincenzo says in Italian.

"Bene, ciao," I say before hanging up. I turn around to see Joon woo inches away from my face. "Did you enjoy the past few hours?" I ask. He steps closer to me and motions to the scratches on his chest from my nails.

"What do you think?" He says softly. There's just something about him speaking softly that makes my knees buckle. The worst part is, I think he knows that.

"Good, because that's the last time that'll happen." "Do you know how many times I've heard that? And how many crawled back to me?" He says cockily. "Yes, but I'm sure you'll be the one crawling." I say, tapping his chest before walking out of the bathroom.

--

My worst nightmare came true today. One of my closest friends was murdered last night by a rival mob leader. The boss says not to engage them and that he will handle it, and my anger dwindled down to sadness. I took a day to myself and cried my eyes out in my bed.

Goosebumps littered my body as cold chills rolled through. I wince as the cold, damp fabric of the t-shirt grazes over my warm back and I took it as a sign to hop in the shower. Squatting down on the shower floor, I duck my head under the scalding hot water. The water rakes through my hair and trails down my body when I hear the doorbell ring.

I dry myself and slide on some shorts and a sweatshirt Joon woo gifted me in attempt to see me again. It took Joon woo two weeks before realizing that I wasn't going back to him. After wards, he sent me flowers, teddy bears, sweatshirts and a 10k watch that looked like it costed a fortune.

I gave the teddy bears and flowers to random people in the street and the watch to Cha young and the look on Jun woo's face when he realized it was the gift he gave was aboslutely priceless. But I gladly kept the sweatshirts because they were too cute to give up. I walk down the stairs and wipe away my tears before opening the door.

Joon woo stands in the door way and he looked happy about something. But his smile soon falls when he sees that I've been crying. "You've been crying. What happened?" He tried reaching for my face but I slap his hand away. "Stop. Don't pretend like you care about me." I snap but he lunges forward to grab my face.

I take a few steps back and his hold on my face softens. "Of course, I care about you." He says, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. He takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom. I sniffle and wipe away more of my tears. I always hated crying in front of people, it made me feel weak.

He grabbed the remote and sat on the bed. He pulled himself to the head of the bed and takes me with him. He pulls me between his legs and leans my back into his chest.

He searches through the channels and stopped at a cartoon before wrapping one arm along the clavicle of my neck. He wraps the other across my waist and says, "You don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"Why are you here, Joon woo?" I croak, wiping away my tears. "We won our settlement case and I wanted to celebrate with you." "We're literally enemies," "Isn't that how it always is? Enemies and polar opposites attracted to each other?" He asks and I look up to meet his gaze from behind.

He examines my face as he waits for a response. "I guess that is how it goes, isn't it " I lean on his shoulder and he presses the side of his face against my temple. "I lost my best friend today," I add with a sigh.

[ladykissingfish]

Movie Night with the Akatsuki

Pein

This was another of his ideas, to promote a sense of bonding within his lil group of killers. The Pein-body accompanies Konan to the grocery to buy the snacks and drinks they need (but only non-alcoholic beverages, because alcohol tends to make a lot of the others angry and erratic and Himself-knows that these people are ALREADY plenty of angry and erratic). Everything is paid for out of his own pocket, not so much from a sense of generosity as a means to keep Kakuzu from going ballistic over what he’d call “frivolous expenses”. Pein(Nagato) personally has no solid preferences when it comes to films, although he tends to favor flicks with fast-paced plots and a bit of intrigue.

Konan

Konan is more into the idea of a group movie night than the others had anticipated. She takes the time to set up the chips, popcorn, dips, drinks, and candy neatly on the table (which is really a bit of a waste, as all the boys just shovel food into their mouths like animals anyway), and she makes the schedule for movie times diplomatically; everyone gets to pick one movie for everyone to watch ((should be noted that “movie night” technically is movie night(s) as it takes several evenings to get through everyone’s picks)), and who goes first is decided by games of rock-paper-scissors. Her personal movie preference is 80’s teen romance movies; she adores Molly Ringwald and the others have heard her recite lines, verbatim, from Sixteen Candles more times than they can count. She also likes to turn movie night into a half-spa day, sitting in her chair and combing her hair, putting special mud-masks on her face, buffing and re-painting her finger and toe-nails. Several of the Akatsuki members join in her rituals, allowing her to style their hair ((Deidara)) or moisturize their skin ((Kisame)).

Kakuzu

The old guy is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a fan of old movies. He’s seen (and can give detailed lectures on) every Hitchcock film known to man. His favorite of these (and the one he picks to watch most frequently) is Rear Window; it tickles him to no end how the antagonist of the film “almost gets away with such a sloppy murder; if he had done it like THIS —“. The others think these movies are too slow-paced and reeeaaaally boring, but Kakuzu doesn’t care. Hidan likes to tease him with “of course the ancient fuck likes these movies; he was probably a kid when they were made!” His preferred movie-watching spot is in an easy chair, with the footrest up and a can of mixed nuts on his lap. 9/10 will fall asleep before the movie ends and the others will hurry and change it to one of theirs before he wakes up and notices.

Kisame

Always says he’s not the biggest fan of movies, but will watch whatever the others are watching. Although he says this it’s clear that he enjoys comedy movies the most; the others can’t help but smile when hearing his deep guffaws over anything with Adam Sandler in it. The Waterboy in particular made him laugh so hard that he cried. Likes to sit on the couch in-between Itachi and Konan. Doesnt really care for the snacks that the others have, so will make maybe 5-6 boxes of fish sticks and munch on those the whole evening.

Deidara

Should be no surprise that the guy really, really likes action movies. His favorite series is Die Hard, and every time it’s his turn to pick a film, he’ll pick one of the movies from this franchise. Does the absolute worst John McClane impression, but nobody can point this out without getting a little exploding birdie tossed at their head. He and Tobi are the biggest snack-eaters of the bunch, and he has to have his own bowl of popcorn as he’s banned from the community bowl ((his habit of swallowing popcorn with his hand-mouths weirds out the others to no end)). His favorite sitting position is cross-legged on the floor, usually in front of Konan so she can style/play with with his hair (which he finds really relaxing, the way a child might be soothed by his mother brushing his hair). However he’ll jump up frequently to act out his favorite scenes from the movie, which the others get annoyed by (but are so used to that that don’t really put up too much of a fuss).

Hidan

Hidan is a freak for horror movies. The gorier, the more depraved, the better. If it was anyone other than the Akatsuki watching these movies with him, they would likely be horrified at how the white-haired immortal laughs hysterically at brutal murders. As it is, even this group has a hard time stomaching some of the stuff Hidan likes to watch; Tobi had to lift his mask and vomit on the floor the first time Hidan brought Cannibal Holocaust out to play. Can sometimes be convinced to pick an action movie instead, although it’s very rare. Likes to manspread on the second couch and will munch on a jumbo-sized bag of sour cream and onion chips the whole night.

Sasori

Really into documentaries, and if that wasn’t bad ((boring)) enough, it’s almost always foreign documentaries, so everyone is forced to squint at subtitles for two-three hours. His absolute favorite is a film called Grey Gardens, a 1970’s documentary about two eccentric, aging socialites, and the groans from the other members when he puts this on can be heard clear across the country. Hidan wants to know why he’s “obsessed with two old cunts and their hundred cats” but all Sasori will do is shush him and stare, rapt, at the screen, silently mouthing the words to the picture he knows so well. Of course he doesn’t eat or drink, so he doesn’t take part in the snacks; however will occasionally bring a puppet out with him and slowly work on it during the movies ((but only the others’ movies, as he lays completely and undivided attention to his own)). Like Deidara he prefers to sit on the floor, and will literally growl at anyone who gets too close to his personal space.

Tobi/Obito

As Obito, he would prefer to watch romantic movies. This guy could live off of the flicks they show on the Hallmark channel, and is an absolute sucker for 80’s rom-coms. However, as Tobi, he must do what everyone expects of him, and pick an animated, cartoon, or family-friendly live action movie. In one year the Akatsuki as been made to sit through what must be the entire catalog of Disney and Pixar films. He does the best possible rendition of The Little Mermaid’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” song, so good and so evilly realistic that it actually gives the others goosebumps; especially at the end when he starts laughing maniacally — it’s like his voice changes completely. They’re also witness to Tobi’s massive breakdowns over anything that depicts a sad or hurt animal. One time Hidan brought home Old Yeller for him, told him it was about a dog “who was a good boy” ... and let the chaos ensue. Likes to sit on the floor next to Deidara (until he gets on the blonde’s nerves and is made to move) and dig into whatever candy is available. Will go to bed with a horrible sugary stomach ache if not properly monitored.

Itachi

Itachi really likes crime-based movies, especially ones depicting an intelligent main character carrying out equally intelligent crimes. He’s tried to get the others to watch The Godfather series with him, but they can only make it through the first hour or so before complaining about how slow-paced it is. His next favorite thing to watch is Taxi Driver, which the others find more tolerable; he mentions all the time how much he “gets” Travis Bickle and his deteriorating mindset. Itachi likes to sit curled up in a blanket at the very end of the couch, sipping sweet tea or hot chocolate and eating dango (if they have it; ice cream if not).

Zetsu

It depends on which Zetsu you’re talking to. White Zetsu likes science fiction movies. He’s made the others watch Alien more times than they can count, and always declares Sigourney Weaver to be his “dream girl”. Black Zetsu, however, is similar to Hidan in that he prefers monstrously gory horror movies, particularly ones from the 70’s and 80’s. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is his go-to, and he likes to say that in anther life, he and Leatherface would have made good Akatsuki partners. If they were watching movies by themselves, their snack of choice would be fresh human entrails. However, as this (understandably) sickens the others, they will stick to a lot of leafy greens/salads.

[nanachingu]

Drama Review: In Family We Trust (2018) (Thai Drama)

My first Thai drama review is coming from In Family We Trust (2018). First, let me tell you how I found this drama and decided to binge-watching it. I often see this title when I scroll Netflix but never trying to watch it till someone attach me. My whole reason to start this drama is Thanapob Lee or we can called him Tor. He’s one of the main actor in this drama and I love him in his next drama Hua Jai Sila (2019). I think his acting in that drama is really good, he’s perfect potraying his character so I want to find out his another project. To be honest, before this drama I already see him in several movie like Ghost Lab and May Who? and shockingly he’s cameo in the end of The Stranded (Netflix series) but I don’t have any idea that it’s him all this time. Really Hua Jai Sila make me open my eyes and make me found this worth-watching drama.

So here I am ready to review this family drama with a touch of mystery and plot twist story that you can find it in Netflix. When I see the title, I already familiar with that name like I think I see this a lot when I scroll Netflix and just need like 3 days to finish this!!! This is one of my favorite genre, I’m weak with family drama and really love with plot twist story. Because this is a family drama, of course there are so many character in this drama. They’re of course a big family, Jiraanan family. Grandpa or called A-goong and Grandma we called A-ma have 5 children (but we only see 4 children in this drama) and of course their children have their family too.

So in the beginning of the story, we’ll be seen that each of Jiranaan family are get along with each other well and prepared to celebrate their A-goong birthday. A-goong and A-ma eldest son is Prasoet, followed by another son called Mate, and they have a daughter called Phatson, and the youngest son is Konkan. I think they have another child that already passed away because we can see one grandson that live together with A-goong and A-ma. Of course their sons and daughter have child too, so the family become much bigger. Let’s see the family tree first so we didn’t confused.

From the left, the son is Prasoet (Songsit Rungnopakunsi) and right beside him are his wifes. The one in the right is Cris (Sopitnapa Chumpanee) and their son is Pete (JAYLERR). This is the family that he brought into Jiraanan family.

Little does his family know, he had another son with another women who claimed to be his girlfriend in college. His another wife is Nipha (Apasiri Nitiphon) and his son Chi (Ice Paris). From the picture below, we can see Prasoet really love his second family eventhough they’re not officially Jiraanan’s family. This drama will revolve around Prasoet so finally in the end all know that Prasoet has another family beside his family with Cris and Pete.

Next, is Mate( Saksit Tangthong) and his daughter Meimei (Sawanya Paisarnpayak). Mate always pick up Meimei at school. This is quite a little family, but Mate really love his daughter and vice versa. The only daughter left in Jiraanan family is Phatson (Kathaleeya McIntosh). Phatson married with a police and automatically her last name changed into Suriyapairoj. They have 4 sons, the eldest is Yi (Thanapob Lee), 2nd is Ern (Captain Chonlathorn), 3rd is Tao (Third Lapat) , and youngest is Toei (Jackie Jackrin) who in the same age with Meimei. To be honest I love this family the most. So lucky that Phatson has 4 son that love and protect her. Next, they didn’t introduce the parents but A-goong and A-ma has grandson that live together with them called Kuaitiao (Porsche). Last, youngest son is Konkan (Lift Supoj). If we can choose which one is the most chill family, we could say that Konkan family is very chill~ They have 2 son, Vegas (JamyJames) and Macao (Ryu Vachirawich). (The parents like casino very much🤣).

So enough with the introduction, and I will tell a little bit of the story before doing an overall review.

This suspense drama revolves around the Jiraanans, a wealthy Thai-Chinese family that operates its own hotels in Bangkok and Pattaya. The drama follows the members of the family, which seem to enjoy a strong and unbreakable bond. But things are not what they seem. One day, the eldest member from the second generation mysteriously turns up dead in the family estate. His nephew Yi, the oldest son of the victim’s sister and the prime suspect in the case, desperately tries to find out the truth. Source: MyDramaList

Before an incident happen in Jiraanan’s family, all of them just celebrate A-goong birthday together. It is so warm to see a big family gather together, it must be a happy day for A-goong and A-ma that they live till now to see their son and daughter with their little family and have a handsome and beautiful grandchilds. We also can see that the grandchilds really love their A-goong and A-ma. It’s like their family are in happiest moment. Even they took a family picture together.

But who knows, that it’ll be A-goong last birthday. A few days after they gather together, A-goong passed away. This is the real beginning of the story about dark secret that Jiraanan’s family have but no one knows anything about it even the family itself. After A-goong death, it just going worse because of the tradition and old generation believe about differences between son and daughter in the family and honestly A-goong make it worse with his last will that shocking all the family because only his daughter that didn’t accept anything related to their business eventhough she work hard build their family business from scratch. All she got only his father savings; money. Instead, the eldest grandson from eldest son got 1/4 share of the family business. All of it, ended up we’ll see Prasoet the eldest son lying still on the floor.

Yes, the eldest son of Jiraanan family was shot dead. He was found first by his sister Phatson who came over to his house talking about their father’s will and end up screaming when saw his brother was dead. Another family at that time in their house hear someone screaming and rush to get out to see Phatson panicked and said that Prasoet was shot in his home so they ran and as we can see in the picture A-ma, Kuaitiao, and Meimei saw that Prasoet lying still on the floor in his bedroom. After that this murder case became the talk of the town, get into the news, so police tried to find the motive why the murderer killed him. Honestly, this event create a most damage for Phatson family. As people know, Prasoet rarely confront someone and had enemy but the last thing he argue with someone, it’s Phatson. But I said in this drama, it’s not over till it’s over. We can’t be sure that the killer is his sister itself because as we go through this we could see that Prasoet had a few secret that we didn’t knew before and it could be a motive to someone done a murder. We just need to see it clearly and evaluate it carefully. I’m not gonna give a spoiler in this review, but I think you guys will guess it right like I am.

My first thought about this drama is I like how the story always give us a new plot twist in almost every near-end episode and make us wanna watch the next episode as soon as possible. This is one way to make us never bored by the story and they can wrap it successfully. Although honestly I can guess the biggest plot twist of this story but still it’s interesting because this drama get some details that we can’t get pass and that’s also give us some plot twist. You can’t guess it throughly, like you can guess this overall plot but still you’ll miss the little part of plot twist that make this story much better. Because it’s a story related to family, it’s really deep even when we already know the real murderer and all we need to see is just see the person in trial, in another drama we usually feel relieved and happy finally the killer is captured. But I think this drama makes me feel more sad and broken?? When we all see the truth, I think the circumstances are not getting better. The story really revolves only between Jiraanan family and the story behind it give us more pain than the murder itself. It’s not easy left by people who we loved especially it is a family, but it is more painful when we know that the one who doing it also our family. But I can say that all of this happens because of karma from their all bad action that happened in the past. When we know literally all the truth we finally realized why all of this happen to them, because every each of them are deserved it. But it’s all in the past, so eventually we must move on. In the end, life goes on. They’re still our family. We just need to let go of the past, and open a new chapter because only family is the place that we can lean on again. I can really feel it how every character in this drama just doing everything that they could to save their family. They’re not bad people, they’re just doing everything to protect their family. Lesson learned from this drama;

Family is the most important thing in our life because in the end it’s only family that we can go back into, and only family that will stay on our side and tried the best to support, protect, and defend if we get into problems. They’ll do anything. But without us knowing, the closest person that standing with us that can hurt us the most, is family too. But in the end, because the name of ‘family’ that will lead us back together and family is the only place that we can still lean on. Mistake happens all the time.

For each family, if I have to choose whose family I love and attached the most, I would say that I really like Phatson family. I can feel their warm family and all of their sons are really get along well. They always root for each other, trying to protect the only woman in the house, their mother Phatson, and the eldest son Yi will do anything to protect and support his family.

One of my favorite scene is when Tao the 3rd son is a celebrity and when he feel he can’t hold back anymore he burst out to his brothers because only them that can give him comfort and feel protected. It’s also my best scene when they give us this brother scene gather together in one room and talking about anything and end up sleeping together on the floor. I can see from that scene, how they think that family is everything and they’ll never let them down because they have each other.

For the character, I have a few character that I like and attached my attention:

My favorite character; I got 2 character that I love, but first the character that I love the most is (of course) Yi. Despite in this drama his character more leaning to the bold action, like doing anything in a rush, bluntly, and doing a few illegal action but I think he did his best for his family. I don’t understand why he must critized by society in the drama because of his action? I think what he did was right because he already doing everything right and ask everyone that connected but no one helping him instead they just block him away. We can see that he never intented to hurt anyone else too so I’m pro to Yi side. I love his scene with his youngest brother, Toei. If I’m Toei, I’ll cherish Yi all of my life till I die. Because when everything is too hard for him, only Yi that confidently always stand on his side. (okay enough it’s a little spoiler). From this drama, I think I know why Thanapob Lee finally got casted in Hua Jai Sila. I noticed him because his acting in that drama was really really good, I can feel all his emotions there. It turned out here we could see him potray Yi perfectly, and it’ll really help him to get his next drama. He’s not only smart and catch the little detail in his family, but his action is always on point eventhough not all of that is always a right thing. But sometimes to get what you want, you need to do a little more dramatic so the thing you want will show up.

My favorite character; The next character that I like is Pete. Unexpectedly, for sure. To be honest I don’t think that his personality is thaaat nice. It’s about his first impression. When I his first scene with his mother, my first impression of him is he’s a boy who like to spent their parents money for fun and study abroad so he can get away from his parents to have fun🤣🤣 in my opinion; he loves money. TURNS OUT I’m 100% wrong. Pete is the most responsible person in this drama. His responsibility and his fair judgement is the best. He didn’t judge people by his relationship, if he know that this person is wrong then it’s wrong. I love how his attitude to his father’s another family. I just thought he’ll upset and didn’t accept them, turns out he accept them, and he cares them just like his father would do if he’s alive. You deserve happiness, Pete!

Ice Pariss as Chi. He doesn’t have much screentime but still his character ini this drama really shocked me. Kinda same with Pete. Look the picture above. Both of them looks like they have a personality that have anger issue but actually not. I watched his drama and movie like Bad Genius The Series and Ghost Lab, and I didn’t like his character but I admit that his face suited the most for that kind of personality. Being a jerk, brave action without thinking, not a literally bad person but not really a good personality too. So I thought he’ll become a jerk too since his dad didn’t bring their family to Jiraanan family and only went to their house 1 time/week. So what did he expect? But he has good attitude even to his step brother, he’s really polite and when he know that his family didn’t get single penny from his father’s will he accept it. He didn’t get mad eventhough in the end of his dad ‘s life, his mother was the legal wife. HE ACCEPT IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY. Okay, respect Chi!

From Pete and Chi, I learned that Prasoet maybe not the best brother, best son, best husband, and best father. But he did really well raising both of his sons to the point that his sons really have a good attitude and personality. I adore their personality so much!

(This is one of the difference between this drama and another drama. It is usually the first son didn’t accept that father has another family and another son demand his part from father’s will and clashed BAM!)

My appreciate for Jackie Jackrin for his acting as Toei. I just know him from this drama ( I think) and he’s potraying Toei really good. I can’t tell too much since it’ll become a spoiler but he can pour his soul and heart so well in this drama. I can see how much he adore his brother Yi so much and wanna say that you did it, you made it to survive with your consistency. You didn’t loose yourself just to make you free when your mother told you to do something. I think Yi had a big part that made Toei become a better person and learn from his mistakes.

The most disappointing character of this drama is *give an applause to* Vegas!!! This is the opposite of Pete. I put a lot of hope for him in this drama that he’ll become one of the rightest people but turns out a big nope. At the very beginning he shows us that he’s honest, fair, doesn’t like act wrong and even brave to tell his father lies. He’s the right person. But as the drama continues, we reach a point that Vegas just an ordinary boy who still has heart. His love is bigger than his principle. The only thing that I hope will be released in this drama, turns out it’ll hidden forever till end because of him. It’s the only proof that clearly helping this case but he choose to hide it forever. Another lesson learned I took from Vegas;

Sometimes we just know that human is not perfect. A person who always doing the right thing, eventually will become a bad person if someone we really love and cherish got a problem. They can ruin their life principle as long they can save their loved one. And often happens that the loved ones is Family.

In this family drama we learned that culture and tradition are taking a big part in our family. When a son and a daughter have a big gap in it, when a daughter didn’t considered as part of family just because she married a man and took his last name. Like having a daughter didn’t as good as if having a son. But actually if I think about it, the one who give birth to is a woman????? Why then a son is more valuable descent. They also differentiate their grandson status into a primary grandchild (son and daughter of the son’s family) and secondary grandchild (son and daughter from daughter’s family). But still we couldn’t get rid of the culture and tradition entirely. We just need to adapt well to the good culture and sort the not-so-good culture better.

Overall, I’m really happy that I found this Thai drama. I watch several dramas from Thailand but never found this kind of genre. A family drama that really warms heart but with a touch of mystery and dark secrets in it. But not like another drama that compete for power and will doing everything evil things between family and make things chaos and ruin their relationship as a family because their greedy and selfish will. In this drama we’ll have a dark secret but it’s not always about money, and I still feel their deep kinship, how this problems solved legally but a touch of their kinship because of their dark past. They need to let it go and open the new chapter because life still goes on for the living one.

Since I really love this drama, I’ll give 4.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. Thank you Tor for making me found this drama!

“Family is not always about getting along well everytime, but for sure Family is the place that we can always go back in the end no matter what happen.”

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】  Tears of Themis: Xia Yan Personal Story 4-2 Translation

Translation Masterlist | Xia Yan Masterlist | Video

Chapter 4: 4-1 / 4-2 / 4-4 / 4-5 / 4-6 / 4-7 / 4-9 / 4-10 / 4-11 / 4-12 / 4-13 / 4-14 / 4-16

Xia Yan’s Home

In the days after, Xia Yan and I worked on collecting information on other corrupt detectives as we waited for Sphinx’s investigation results.

Before heading out today, Xia Yan handed something to me.

Xia Yan: Here, I’ve made a copy of the house key for you.

Xia Yan: We’re always going around together, but having a key is still more convenient.

Xia Yan: Actually, I should’ve given you a copy on the day we reunited.

As he spoke, he handed a silver key to me.

I looked at this key that was identical to his and couldn’t help smiling.

MC: How reminiscent. We always had the same key in the past – even the keychain was the same type.

Xia Yan: Yeah, so I specially made two keychains this time. See if you like them!

Smiling, Xia Yan took out two chibi-styled pendants of me and him.

MC: Whoa, they’re so cute!

I reached out to take the Xia Yan-modeled pendant, but Xia Yan simultaneously handed me the one modeled after me.

MC: ???

Xia Yan: …

Xia Yan looked at me as I reached out for his pendant, looking somewhat hesitant.

Xia Yan: Uh, mine doesn’t really suit you.

MC: …

⊳ How does it not suit me? ⊳ I want yours

MC: How does it not suit me? I’ll definitely treasure it well, is that not fine?

 ⊳ How does it not suit me? ⊳ I want yours

MC: But I want this one… can’t I?

--

Xia Yan: That’s not what I mean.

Xia Yan: It’s just that you’ll be carrying the keychain at all times, so other people will see it easily…

MC: I don’t mind others seeing… or do you mean that you don’t want others to see?

Xia Yan: How could that be!

Xia Yan: I mean, if you want this keychain, I need to modify it.

MC: Modify? But I feel like this already looks great.

Xia Yan: Not its exterior. I need to add some functions to it.

Xia Yan: Actually, aside from being a keychain, this pendant is also an alarm.

Xia Yan pulled down the keychain based on me, and an alarm quickly resounded throughout the room.

After the display, he fixed the keychain based on me back onto the keychain.

Xia Yan: The decibel count from the alarm on this one is higher than typical alarms, and its battery endurance is also longer. Plus, it’s more durable – it’s water- and fire-resistant for a short period of time.

Xia Yan: I thought that you would want the one based on you, so I only installed an alarm onto that one.

Xia Yan: If you want “me”, I need to make some slight modifications.

MC: Okay, then I’ll leave it up to you, Great Detective Xia!

Xia Yan quickly started working on modifying the keychain alarm.

Right after he had just finished, Sphinx called.

--

Sphinx gave an overview of his investigations for the past several days in the call for us.

According to his investigation, he noticed someone that he suspected to have relations to “Oedipus”.

Xia Yan: You mean that Oedipus might have to do with this “Bedo Loan Company”?

Sphinx: Indeed. For the past few days, I’ve been investigating all the corrupt detectives, including Meng Qishan.

Sphinx: I noticed that Oedipus only had relations of benefit with corrupt detectives after a certain period in time.

Xia Yan: What period in time?

Sphinx: After I faced off with corrupt detective Qian Yi.

Note: What a name… this “Qian Yi” guy’s name literally means Money Benefit (钱益)

Xia Yan: Qian Yi? I don’t think there’s this guy listed among the resigned detectives of Stellis…

Xia Yan looked at me.

Not long ago, Xia Yan organized a list of all the Stellis detectives who had resigned in the past three years, in our search for Sphinx. However, Qian Yi was not among them.

Sphinx: I’m afraid that this is because, not long after my face-off with Qian Yi… he died.

MC: He died?!

Xia Yan: …

Sphinx: According to the police’s death report, Qian Yi died due to cardiac failure, and it was one week after I cut off communication with him.

Sphinx: Right after, Meng Qishan and other corrupt detectives were found and lured by Oedipus to find out about my plan.

Xia Yan: The timeline is indeed quite suspicious.

Sphinx: So, I went to Qian Yi’s house to investigate.

Sphinx: I noticed the same Trojan Horse virus on his computer that was in Tian Xin’s, as well as similar indications of large amounts of data being wiped.

MC: If so, Qian Yi and Oedipus really do have some sort of relationship between them.

MC: Right, Sphinx. Why did you seek out Qian Yi back then?

Sphinx: Qian Yi was a detective in name, but his actions indicated that he was more like an information broker.

Sphinx: He was skilled at using various methods to obtain different kinds of information, to sell them.

Sphinx: Sometimes, he would also use the information he had for extortion and blackmail.

Sphinx: Either he’d directly demand money, or he’d coerce the other party to agree to his requirements.

Sphinx: But his death is likely unrelated to what I found out about him.

Sphinx: I’ve verified with the victims who were harassed by Qian Yi. Up till now, none of them have received any more harassment.

MC: Is that so…

Xia Yan: If it has nothing to do with the victims back then, then the point of suspicion probably has to do with Qian Yi himself.

Xia Yan: As an information broker, his social relations would have been very complicated.

Xia Yan: I’m guessing that Qian Yi might have gotten certain information on Oedipus back then, provoking Oedipus.

Xia Yan: And due to the intersection in timelines, Oedipus thought that you, who was investigating Qian Yi, had already gotten or had a high probably of having gotten information on him.

Xia Yan: Which is why he had to find you, no matter what.

Sphinx: That’s what I was also thinking.

Sphinx: I’ve already investigated the people related to Qian Yi anew. Accept the document I’m sending.

Sphinx soon sent over a document. Xia Yan opened it on the computer.

According to Sphinx’s investigations, Qian Yi had considerably frequent business partnerships with Bedo Loan Company.

Xia Yan: Wait, I remember now. Isn’t “Bedo Loans” that trap loan company that was on the news a few months ago?

The so-called “trap loans” were a sort of criminal act that falsely used the title of “private lending” to commit fraud.

First, the victim would be induced to sign a loan agreement with a low borrowing threshold. After, they would use both gentle and forceful methods to defraud the victim of their money.

Sphinx: Yes. Qian Yi secretly tailed the debtors in these trap loans.

Sphinx: And Bedo Loan Company would violently coerce the debtors when they were unable to repay the money, using the private information Qian Yi had provided to threaten the victims.

MC: That case has already ended. If Qian Yi hadn’t gotten into an accident, he probably would’ve also been convicted, right?

Sphinx: Evidence was insufficient. Qian Yi is proficient with legal clauses and making use of legal loopholes, so he made himself seem completely innocent.

Xia Yan: …

MC: …

Sphinx: Aside from that, I found a person related with Qian Yi. Search up “Ji Xiaoyu”.

Xia Yan searched up this name according to Sphinx’s instructions and soon found a video recording.

--

[Flashback]

Stellis Suburbs

Caution tape surrounded the riverside grass. A woman’s remains, pixelated in the video, were lying on the grass, with blood mottling the area all around.

A rumble of whispers came from the crowd around, saying things like “I heard it was a car accident” and “What a pity, she was so young”.

Young Girl: Sister… sister – sister!!!

A girl hysterically cried “sister”, throwing herself on the body on the ground.

The police forcefully pulled at that girl, trying to persuade her.

Police: Miss, we understand how you feel… but please calm down. We need to do on-scene investigations.

After several minutes of wildly trying to pull out of the police’s grasp, that girl finally slid down to the ground without energy, sobbing bitterly.

Young Girl: It’s all because of me… It’s all because of me that my big sister died…

Lying prostrate, she sobbed for a good while, then suddenly straightened and grabbed onto the uniform of the police officer in front of her.

Young Girl: No, it’s also because of them! They’re all murderers! I beg you, please catch all of them!

She grabbed onto the hem of the police’s uniform, begging piteously, her sobs soundless.

[Flashback end]

--

It was obvious that the video was taken by a bystander – the camera was shaky and the image wasn’t clear enough, but the girl’s weeping made me feel irrepressibly sorrowful.

Sphinx: This girl is Ji Xiaoyu. The deceased is her older sister, Ji Xiaoqing.

As he spoke, he transferred the Ji sisters’ information to us.

The year that the older sister Ji Xiaoqing tested into university, their parents passed due to an accident. Ji Xiaoqing worked as she studied in university, all the meanwhile taking care of her little sister Ji Xiaoyu like a mother.

When little sister Ji Xiaoyu tested into university, she started working as she studied as well, trying to lighten the load on her older sister.

The two sisters had always had a good relationship, until Ji Xiaoyu entered second year, when she fell into the trap of a trap loan due to a desire to buy things.

Sphinx: After the death of older sister Ji Xiaoqing, Ji Xiaoyu came clean to the police about owing money in a trap loan, and thus being harassed and threatened by Bedo Loan Company and Qian Yi multiple times.

Sphinx: At the beginning, she did not dare tell the police or her older sister out of fear of the company. Instead, she desperately worked to return the money, but the amount owed kept growing.

Sphinx: After, Bedo Loan Company faked a court verdict, forcibly seizing the real estate that the sisters’ parents had left behind.

Sphinx: Only then did Ji Xiaoyu’s older sister, Ji Xiaoqing, find out about the full truth.

Sphinx: Ever since then, Ji Xiaoqing became absentminded for a long time and even dropped her job.

Sphinx: The police performed an autopsy on Ji Xiaoqing and noticed that the alcohol concentration in her blood severely exceeded safety standards.

MC: So Ji Xiaoqing might have been using alcohol to forget her woes, then came to the mountain road while drunk and got into the car accident…

Sphinx: That was the police’s conclusion.

As Sphinx spoke, Xia Yan searched up the aftermath reports on this traffic accident case.

Due to issues with the surveillance equipment on that road, no information could be found on the vehicle that caused the accident. The police were currently still offering rewards for anyone who provided information.

And according to Qi Xiaoyu’s accusation, the police filed the case and investigated Qian Yi and Bedo Loan Company.

Bedo Loan Company was shut down for investigation, but due to insufficient evidence, Qian Yi was released after many days of fruitless police investigation.

Xia Yan: One week after Qian Yi’s release, he died unexpectedly due to cardiac arrest.

Sphinx: At the beginning the police suspected that this had to do with Ji Xiaoyu, because she was extremely furious due to the release of Qian Yu and lost control of her emotions.

Sphinx: Though the police investigated this after and found that this was not because of Ji Xiaoyu, I noticed a violation ticket related to Ji Xiaoyu.

Sphinx sent the violation ticket over.

Xia Yan: Illegal carrying of restricted blades… the date of the violation ticket is one day before Qian Yi’s death.

Sphinx: Indeed. I did a little investigating.

Sphinx: The police who gave Ji Xiaoyu the violation ticket was the one who dealt with her sister’s car accident. He sympathized with Ji Xiaoyu greatly and feared that she would take extremes.

Sphinx: So he always secretly kept an eye on Ji Xiaoyu. The day Ji Xiaoyu bought the restricted blade, he noticed.

Sphinx: As a police officer, he had to give Ji Xiaoyu a violation ticket, but he paid the penalty fine himself, and did his best to persuade Ji Xiaoyu after.

Sphinx: When Ji Xiaoyu was suspected of being related to Qian Yi’s death, this police officer testified for her, saying that Ji Xiaoyu did not have the time to commit the crime.

Xia Yan: Even if Ji Xiaoyu has nothing to do with Qian Yi’s death, if she was following him back then, she might have noticed clues.

MC: Then let’s go find Ji Xiaoyu to get an understanding of the situation.

[djemsostylist]

The Great Dizi List, Part 3b (The Alperen Dizis)

Okay, so allow me to start by saying that I've finished Son Yaz, and as as result I may have fallen the tiniest bit in love with Alperen Duymaz and thus have embarked on the journey of watching all his dizis. He has this sad, earnest puppy vibe combined with an incredible amount of BDE in all his roles, plus he's just so damn pretty. Anyway. And by all I mean just two others bc I like him beardy and his teen one is a little young for me.

Son Yaz

This one will actually get its own post, because it deserves its own post. Tbqh it deserves sonnets written to its beauty, bc this is one of those shows that I watched all the way through in like, 3 days, and then immediately wanted to go back and watch again. It was that good. The main quartet are a delight, and honestly I haven't loved a ship like AkMur in far too long. (okay technically Edser but that ended in disaster and in retrospect I kind of think they were awful and I'm not even really sure what I loved about them tbh they kind of sucked.) They are one of those ships you can believe in, where you know they are going to work out no matter what and you want them to. The way they are together--they make my heart happy.

Zemheri

This show I actually started to watch back in September of last year, when I had just started watching Turkish dizis. Back then I was entirely on my own and I got about 40 min in and then freaked out. I read some reviews, freaked out some more and bailed. But I'm a dizi pro now, and with this being a combined Alperen AND Ayça dizi I basically couldn't resist. It helped that it was only 10 episodes and that meant it couldn't get too crazy. Both Alperen and Ayça were amazing, of course, and they are just so damn beautiful together. Their chemistry was electric and since they spent about 90% of this dizi crying at each other (and let me tell you that these two may be the best dizi criers I've seen) it was incredibly well done. They are so pretty when they cry. There is one story line which didn't make a whole ton of sense and kind of pissed me off, but honestly it gets so little screen time as to render it easy to dismiss or headcanon. (Hint: It should have been a hysterical pregnancy). But the acting was great, the ending was intensely satisfying, and honestly if you want to watch Alperen with curls and turtlenecks and peacoats (his curls, btw, may or may not have caused a few minor breakdownsif they give Akgun curls I won't make it) cry at Ayça beautifully while she cries beautifully back for 20 hours or so, then I highly recommend.

Çarpişma

Okay, so I've watched several mafia/crime dizis. They're probably my favorite kind tbh. Usually they feature super smart main characters who are always a step ahead (you think they are in trouble but they always had a plan) and a bad guy with infuriating but understandable motives who usually lives too long, and at least one minor henchman guy who gets what he deserves. And usually our mains live happily ever after. Usually.

This show was not that. I should preface this by saying that my brand of humor is what you might call "dark"--I laughed more at the Americans than I ever have a comedy, lets put it that way. Anyway, this show featured 4 of the stupidest people ever to exist in a tv show, and I do mean that, and was also technically I guess kind of horrible what with the death and killing but tbh I laughed a lot. Now, I should say that the cast was excellent, and the acting was excellent and I loved every single one of those stupid idiots. But they were, in fact, extraordinarily stupid. These people got kidnapped like, and I'm not joking, at least once an episode. Sometimes twice. There actually came a point where they were getting kidnapped from their kidnappers by other kidnappers. And then literally every episode they'd get saved (and by they I mean the women, the two dudes never got kidnapped really) and then literally like, go right back to life as normal. Neither dude ever made sure their respective girlfriend got back in the house at night, neither girl ever believed in calling their respective boyfriend to, idk, buddy walk anywhere, they never checked before opening doors, they drove away without looking, got in cars without looking. It may sound like I'm exaggerating but I swear I'm not. And mind you, this dizi started with the main characters family getting blown up, and the other one being kidnapped and forced to shoot her husband in the face to save her kidnapped daughter. Spoilers I guess. So you'd think they'd be a little cautious but nope. Not even a little. Just out there, living their lives. The main villain of the first half of the dizi actually got redeemed and tbh by the final episode I was rooting for him to live his best life an co-parent with Kadir. At least he had a reasonable motivation, and he also did try and make up for the atrocities he committed. And really, what's a little murder now and again. The other bad guy's motivation was, and I swear this is true, "my son hates me for blowing up his family bc I didn't know it was his family, so bc he hates me I'm going to kill the rest of his family." That was literally it. The thing is, while the constant dying and torture would make you say "Djem, wtf is wrong with you, how did you get glee out of this show?" let me tell you that by the 945th kidnapping, you too will be like "can't even feel sorry for you really" and the just settle into this state of low level amusement and glee. Like, literally 90% of these kidnappings and deaths could have been prevented by like, idk, actually having police protection, or staying inside the house, or not opening the door for strangers, or watching to make sure the love of your life got inside safely, or not walking alone at night, or not GOING TO THE PARK TWO DAYS AFTER YOUR BESTIE WAS KIDNAPPED AND HAD A BOMB STRAPPED TO HER. So like, I mean, not to victim blame. But. Let's say by the end, while I loved the fuck outta the mains, I honestly was more emotional over Veli. Bc they were just so fucking stupid. Like, kidnapped, from a kidnapper. You really can't make it up. They make Akgun and Soner look like geniuses. And that's saying something. Anyway it was great and if you ff through most of the boring shit, I highly recommend. The acting is superb, the foursome is hilarious, and tbh Veli is a great villain that I loved. It was the stupidest dizi I've seen (that's a lie I watched parts of two Ayşe dizis) but tbh it was enjoyable as hell, so that's saying something I guess.

And that is BITTI for the Alperen dizis. For now. Son Yaz will be back soon and I can't wait!

Next up is Kuzey Guney, bc I made promises.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

[rosiehunterwolf]

For the Romping and the Roaring- Part 5

My submission for Day 5 of @serpentfever's Inhuman Event!

It's the last chapter of this fic, guys. I'm sad to see it go, it was such a fun time to write. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, it's been a really fun ride :,)

Link to read on ffn.net (Recommended if you are on mobile or haven't read the previous parts yet)

Preview:

“Kai,” Nya choked out, sounding like she was moments from passing out, “If they leave here without finding us, we die. You have to keep going, you have to be louder-” She broke off into a strangled scream, writhing as she tugged at the collar.

“Take that off and it’ll kill you,” Borg yelled.

Nya’s fingers darted away, and she choked on her sobs, saliva bubbling at her lips as she, with great difficulty, turned her gaze up to meet his. “Kai-”

No, no, no, he couldn’t do this, Borg would kill them, and then it would be all his fault-

His gaze met Borg’s, the man’s eyes livid with a ferocity ten times anything Kai had seen before. He knew for certain, in that moment, that Borg would kill them, slowly and painfully, if they didn’t get out of this.

Nya was right. If they didn’t escape now, they never would.

(Full chapter under the cut)

Prompts Used: Acceptance, Comfort, Safe (haha went all out on this one)

Word Count: 8,008

Rating: T

Trigger Warnings: Dehumanization, Torture, Attempted Murder, Mentions of Racism/Speciesism

Cole clicked the flashlight in his hands.

On. Off. On. Off.

Jay glanced over at him. “You okay?”

Cole sighed, setting the flashlight down. “I don’t know. I’m just scared. What if we’re too late?”

Jay was silent, adjusting his sling. “But maybe we’re not. If there’s even a chance they’re still alive, we need to take it.”

“Yeah, I know. I just am terrified of walking in there and finding them already gone.”

“Me too.”

The police car slowed to a halt, and Cole looked out the window.

They were here.

“You ready for this?” Grey asked them, turning around from the driver’s seat to look back at them.

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Zane murmured, from where he sat in the passenger’s seat.

The four of them exited the car, and met up with the other police officers who were gathering outside of Borg Tower. As the officers headed through the doors, Cole paused. This was the place he had been trapped in for twenty-one years, his whole life up until a few weeks ago. Did he really dare go back inside?

He had to. His friends needed him. This was no time to get selfish.

Besides, they had a whole squadron of police protecting them. Borg wouldn’t be able to get them again.

Taking a deep breath, Cole stepped through the doors.

The scene around him resurfaced the memories he had been trying to bury. The employees bustling around, the sterile scent that hung in the air, and the thick, restricting white walls. He suddenly felt like he was coming back from one of his monthly outings again.

Jay stumbled backwards beside him, whining softly, and Zane put a hand on his shoulder.

“Remember why we’re here. As soon as we get them, we’ll leave.”

Jay swallowed, nodding, and the three of them trailed after the police officers.

All around them, people were sharply turning to look at them, panicked whispers among them. Although most of them had gazes on the cops, there were a fair amount of eyes on them too- some with shock and fear, but a few with sharp interest- those ones, Cole recognized as caretakers and trainers. One raised a walkie-talkie to her mouth and spoke into it. Cole bit his lip. They were surrounded. If Borg didn’t feel threatened by the police, then… well, they didn’t stand a chance.

The police Commissioner marched up to the front desk, her gaze expressionless. The poor young receptionist stared at her with wide, terrified, blue eyes.

“Can… Can I help you?”

“I need to speak with Dr. Issac Borg immediately.”

“Um, he’s not… he’s busy right now, ma’am. Is something… has something happened?” The girl was literally shaking by this point.

The Commissioner sighed, obviously realizing that she wasn’t going to be any help. “Get me the highest-up superior you have available right now.”

“Uh… yes, yes ma’am, I’ll be right back-” the girl practically bolted from her chair, scurrying into the back room.

As they waited, Zane elbowed him gently. Cole turned to him, expectant, but Zane just gave him the slightest shake of his head, tilting his head slightly towards something behind them.

Trying to look casual, Cole glanced back to see that several Borg security officers had entered the scene, subtly lurking among the crowd gawking at them.

Nudging Jay gently, so that he saw, too, he whispered, “Be ready.”

Jay gave him an incredulous look that probably said something along the lines of “are you crazy, we can’t take them all on by ourselves,” which was true, but what else were they going to do? Surrender? There wasn’t a way out, now, with a guard standing in front of the door, so running again wasn’t an option. Besides, they had come here for one reason, and Cole didn’t intend to leave until they had succeeded.

He just hoped the police would be enough to protect them.

The receptionist hurried back, a man in a suit storming after her.

“What is the meaning of this?” he barked at the Commissioner.

“Sir, we need to speak with Issac Borg now.”

“He’s not available at the moment.”

“Well, he better find a way to clear his schedule, because his corporation has been accused of some pretty serious crimes.”

The man’s eyes widened, before he quickly hid his shock in a scowl. “You can’t be coming in here without any warrant!”

“We can if we have a good enough reason!”

“Yeah? What kind of reason would that be- you!” he hissed as his gaze found Cole, Zane and Jay. “You little brats been telling lies about us again?”

“We have been given strong evidence to believe they’re not lying-”

Cole’s attention was snapped from the Commissioner’s argument with the man when Jay gave a startled shriek from behind him. He whipped around to see that a Borg security officer had wrapped his arm around Jay.

Hissing, Cole lunged forward and kicked him in the shin. The officer pulled back with a sharp cry.

Cole pulled Jay closer to him, holding a fist up towards the guard. “Don’t you dare touch him again.”

The guard scowled, reaching towards him. “I’m gonna have to ask you to step away from-”

Cole shoved his arm away and punched him in the shoulder. The guard lunged for Jay again, and Cole darted in front of him, raising an arm-

His feet were swept out from under him as the guard tripped him, and he fell to the ground, his chin slamming against it and causing him to accidentally bite down on his lip, busting it open.

“Cole!” Zane cried, and as Cole quickly struggled to his feet, his friend streaked past him and punched the guard in the face. He turned away, gasping, but the rest of the guards quickly advanced on them.

“Stop!” Grey snapped. “Fighting us will do no good. You will face consequences for disobeying officers of the law.”

“Not if we win,” a security guard snapped.

“You are outnumbered, and are fighting a losing battle-”

“Uh, Grey?” Jay interrupted in a soft voice.

“What?”

Jay pointed behind him, and everyone followed his finger to see a squadron of security officers hurrying towards them.

Cole swallowed. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

The two groups just stared at each other tensely for a few moments. Both sides had hands resting on their guns, although no one dared to shoot. Cole held his breath. Maybe they could-

Ducking low, Cole spun around suddenly and kicked the legs of the guard with the gun aimed at his head, sending him to the ground before he could pull the trigger.

Cole stared at him in disbelief. He had almost died.

Apparently his movement had been all that was needed to start the fight. Shouts broke out around them as the blue of the police uniforms clashed against the gray of Borg Security. Cole, Jay, and Zane backed up against each other.

Guards were going after the police, keeping them busy, but more were heading towards the three of them, alongside a couple trainers, holding chains and ropes in their hands. Cole backed away, growling, and, immediately, Zane transformed into a falcon and soared past their heads, swooping at them with outstretched talons as he passed.

Several guards turned to deal with Zane, but it wasn’t all of them. Many were still heading towards Cole and Jay. They were going to have to fight.

“Cole, what do I do,” Jay whimpered. “My arm’s still injured. How can I fight like this?”

“Follow my lead, you’ll do fine. And stay close to me, I’ll protect you.”

As Cole covered Jay’s injured side, the two fought in sync, striking down the guards as they approached. Their most dangerous ploy was still their guns, but, even with his injured arm, Jay’s speed was knocking them out of their hands before they could shoot.

It was only a matter of time before he missed one, though. And the longer they kept fighting, the greater those chances were.

As he continued to fight the guards, Cole found himself using his strength in a way he never had before- fierce, accurate, unrestrained. He had wanted to try out these battle moves for so long, but now that he actually was… even though these were the same people who had hurt and kidnapped his friends, Cole wasn’t enjoying this nearly as much as he thought he would.

Maybe it was the thought of what it would be like if the tables were turned. His strength, Jay’s speed, Zane’s cunning and elusive flying, all working for Borg- it was a scary thought.

He wasn’t a fighting machine. None of them were. Just because they had these special abilities, didn’t mean that they should be used, like tools. Cole didn’t want to spend a life beating up other people, no matter whose team he was on. He just wanted to have a good, long, happy life with his family.

And if he wanted that, he reminded himself, he was going to have to fight one more time. Kai, Nya and Lloyd were somewhere in this building, scared and upset and counting on them. He had to press on, for their sakes. It would only be after they were reunited that they could find peace.

By this point, many guards were lying on the floor, some still struggling to their feet, while others didn’t get up. There were police officers on the ground too, but not as many. They were close. Just a few more guards, and-

“Cole…” Jay whispered.

Cole whipped towards him, feeling dawning horror spread through his body as he caught sight of what Jay was warning him about.

More guards were advancing on them, these ones equipped in heavier armor. The initial benefit of the element of surprise had worn off, with these guards having time to prepare after their colleagues had warned them.

The falcon flapped over their heads, and Zane reappeared with a flash, panting as he fell into a battle stance on Jay’s other side.

Cole himself was also growing tired. How long could they keep this up?

As the fresh wave of guards came upon them, Cole drew closer to his teammates. “Pull together, gang. Whatever happens next, we’re not going down without a fight.”

---

Thump. Thump.

Kai groaned softly at the sounds, putting his arms over his head and trying to bury his face deeper into the mattress.

Thump.

“Kai,” Nya whispered, “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think’s going on?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

Lloyd yelped suddenly, and Kai sat up, looking over at him. He was sitting on his bed, head tilted and ears rotating.

“What is it, bud?” Nya asked.

“Someone’s here.”

“Who?”

Kai waved a hand, shushing her, and pricked his own ears. But after so long cooped up in this little room, his senses felt muffled. He could detect that the thumping noises were coming from somewhere above them, but that was all he could hear.

They both turned their gazes to Lloyd, watching anxiously as he adjusted his ears, trying to pinpoint the sounds.

“I think people are yelling,” he murmured after a moment. “Maybe fighting.”

“Why would they be-” Nya’s voice cut off abruptly, her eyes widening as her gaze met Kai’s. “You don’t think-”

Kai felt his breath catch in his throat. Was it possible? Was it really possible that someone had come to rescue them?

Kai jerked to his feet, immediately falling down as his legs gave out beneath him. He gripped the bars, panting.

“If someone’s here, they're never going to find us down here,” he whined.

“We can’t let them leave without finding us,” Nya insisted. “This could be our only chance. We can’t pass it up.”

“What are we going to do? There’s nothing down here to help us, no way out-”

“Make noise! If Cole, Jay, and Zane are with them, then- well, none of them have as good hearing as you two do, but if we’re loud enough, maybe-”

“They can follow the sounds! Genius, Nya!”

“The compliments can wait. We have to hurry!” Turning to the wall, Nya began to pound on it. “Help!” she screamed. “Jay! Zane! Cole! Somebody! We’re down here!”

Kai joined her, screaming even though his throat was dry and raw, grabbing the door of the cage and rattling it so that the brassy sound echoed through the room. Even Lloyd began to help, screeching and chirping loudly.

There was a jiggling near the door at the far end, and Kai whipped his head towards it hopefully. It had worked! Their friends were here to save them!

Borg burst through the door, storming into the room as two trainers firmly locked the door again behind him.

Kai shrunk back fearfully as the tall man seized the bars of his cage, spitting down on him as he spoke.

“Shut up! Shut up, the lot of you! What do you think you’re doing? I am this close to getting everything I want, and I’m not going to let you pests take it from me! Is that clear?”

Kai met his gaze, the man’s dark eyes glinting with malice. He knew Borg meant it when he said he would stop them- he had never purposely not made good on a threat before.

What they were doing wasn’t working. If they wanted to be rescued, they were going to have to do something else, and fast.

Kai jerked away from the bars, throwing back his head and roaring. The sound echoed through the room, loud and fierce and desperate.

“Stop him!” Borg cried, and electricity jolted through him as the collar was turned on. They didn’t waste any time on the lower settings, the pain coming in so fierce and quick that Kai lost his footing. His voice faltered for a moment, but he kept on. He couldn’t stop. The moment he gave up, they died.

“He’s not going to listen to that, don’t you see?” Borg snapped. “He’ll die if it means they get to go free! You have to turn on theirs, too!”

Shrieks of pain sounded from the cells behind him, and Kai whipped around to see Lloyd and Nya crumpling to the floor.

He stopped roaring, darting to the bars, but Nya screamed at him. “Don’t stop, Kai, we can take it!”

With a reluctant glance over at them, Kai roared again, his throat aching. Come on, guys, where are you?!

The pain shot up abruptly, and Nya’s scream ripped through the air, broken and nightmarish. Lloyd’s cut off altogether, and Kai whipped his head towards him to see that he was lying limp on the ground, convulsing like he was having a seizure.

“Stop!” Kai screamed, “They’re not as strong as me, you’re going to kill them!”

“Then you better be quiet,” Borg demanded.

“Kai,” Nya choked out, sounding like she was moments from passing out, “If they leave here without finding us, we die. You have to keep going, you have to be louder-” She broke off into a strangled scream, writhing as she tugged at the collar.

“Take that off and it’ll kill you,” Borg yelled.

Nya’s fingers darted away, and she choked on her sobs, saliva bubbling at her lips as she, with great difficulty, turned her gaze up to meet his. “Kai-”

No, no, no, he couldn’t do this, Borg would kill them, and then it would be all his fault-

His gaze met Borg’s, the man’s eyes livid with a ferocity ten times anything Kai had seen before. He knew for certain, in that moment, that Borg would kill them, slowly and painfully, if they didn’t get out of this.

Nya was right. If they didn’t escape now, they never would.

He just hoped she was right about her and Lloyd’s abilities to take the pain, as well.

Kai roared, roared like he never had before, even as tears blurred his vision, even as he fell to the ground. He couldn’t stop. He was stronger than Borg’s stupid gadgets.

“Why isn’t it working!” A female voice cried, one of the trainers. “You said he would stop if we shocked the others!”

“Why won’t you stop,” Borg hollered. “Lloyd’s already out, Nya not far behind! I thought you loved them, why are you doing this to them?”

Kai’s heart skipped a beat, and he mustered the strength to crane his neck in Lloyd’s direction. The boy was unconscious on the ground, completely still except for the slight vibration of the electricity.

Kai squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to look away. No! That was what Borg wanted, to make him think he was the one doing this to them. It was Borg who was responisble, not him. None of this was Kai’s fault.

“This isn’t working,” Borg spat. “He’s not going to stop. Turn it up, all the way.”

“Sir, are you sure? That’ll-”

“I know perfectly well what it’ll do. If it’s the only way to shut him up, so be it.”

Before Kai could even register their words, indescribable agony shot through his body, and his roar broke off, replaced with a bloodcurdling scream.

Kai’s brain stopped thinking. His limbs seized up, his vision blurred as colorful spots danced in his eyes. The only thing that registered was pain.

What was this, he felt like his body was being ripped inside out, surely this couldn’t just be electrocution, he felt like he was going to be shaken to pieces-

Something, through the haze of pain, seemed to grab at his attention. He… he was meant to be doing something, he was meant to be-

My friends. They’re here, just above me.

Fighting back the scream, fighting back the froth in his mouth, he roared.

Slow, weak, at first, but quickly, it got louder, stronger, more powerful. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, fueling him and the roar to be louder than ever before.

But his body was faltering, failing, and Kai fought to keep consciousness, fought to keep roaring-

“Stop it, Borg! You're going to kill him!” The scream sounded warped and faint, as if Kai was underwater. He thought it was Nya, maybe.

Was she right? Was he dying? He didn’t know what dying was like, but he had thought it wouldn’t hurt this much.

And there was no relief, no end. No break, just constant, agonizing pain.

Without stopping his roar, Kai began to cry. He just wanted this to end, to be over.

Where was Jay? With his lightning fast speed, he could knock the remote out of Borg’s hand. Or Zane, who could swoop in, steal the keys, and get him out of this wretched cage. And Cole, who could lift him up with strong arms, and carry him far, far away from here and make sure he was safe.

He just wanted to be safe.

Kai choked on his sob. Where were they? He needed them, he needed his family, he just needed-

To his horror, Kai realized his voice was giving out, his roar dying in his throat. No, no, no they were so close, they couldn’t- he couldn’t-

Oh gosh, he needed that remote. He needed that remote or he was going to die-

He knew he couldn’t get it from Borg, but he didn’t care, he just needed to stop it. Lurching to his feet, they immediately gave way beneath him. Kai tried desperately to recover his balance, instead tripping over his own foot and falling, his head slamming against the ground.

Nya’s screams were the last thing he heard before his world was pitched into black.

---

Jay whipped around as Cole and Officer Grey walked up to him and Zane.

“Anything?” he asked breathlessly, hoping that his voice didn’t sound as desperate as he felt.

Cole shook his head. “Nothing. There’s no sign of them anywhere.”

“They have to be here,” Jay wailed. “The security guard said so, back at the jail! And they fought so hard to keep us from entering!”

“Tell me about it,” Gray muttered, shaking his head as he cradled his injured arm. “It wasn’t easy to take them all out. They were definitely defending something.”

“But we’ve looked everywhere,” Cole snapped, sounding close to tears, “and they’re not here! We can’t have gone through all of this and they’re just gone!”

“Maybe Borg moved them,” Zane proposed. “Maybe he found out we were coming and took them somewhere else.”

“But how?” Jay whined. “How would he have found out soon enough to get them away safely?”

Grey put a hand on his shoulder. “We won’t give up. We’ll send out search parties, put rewards on their heads. Both Nya and Lloyd are eligible for an AMBER alert, as well.”

“But what if it’s too late?” Jay whimpered. “What if they’re gone? I just wanted to come here and see them, we’ve never been apart this long, and now I don’t even know if they’re alive-”

“Jay, shh!”

He jerked his head towards Cole, hurt- but his friend wasn’t even looking at him, his gaze glued on Zane.

Zane’s head was tilted, staring off at nothing as the feather tufts near his ears shifted slightly, angling back and forth. His brow was furrowed in concentration.

“Everyone, quiet!” Cole cried, gesturing to the police scattered around the room, most of whom were tying up and chaining the Borg security guards.

The room seemed to hold its breath as the three hybrids froze, ears perking as they listened for the sound Zane had heard.

There- a muffled sound, something familiar, sort of like a yell, but louder, wilder, kind of like a-

“It’s Kai!” Cole cried. “I can hear him roaring!” “It’s coming from below us!” Zane squawked. “There must be some sort of basement down there!”

“There’s no basement in Borg Tower,” Jay protested.

“How else do you explain this? The sound’s definitely coming from below us.”

“Borg must’ve been keeping it a secret,” Cole agreed. “Which means the entrance is probably hidden, too.”

“But where? Why wouldn’t anyone have found it when we were looking for them?”

“It’s over there,” Zane said suddenly, pointing towards the elevators on the far wall.

Jay blinked at him. “What?”

“That elevator. It always had that out-of-order sign on it when we came down here for our outings. No one ever went to fix it. It has to be there.”

“Great thinking, Zane,” Cole told him, and the three of them, along with Grey and a handful of other police officers, rushed over.

“It looks like there’s some sort of panel here,” Zane observed. “For a passcode, most likely.”

“Well, we don’t know it, and we don’t have time to figure it out,” Jay barked. “Cole, you think you can get this door open?”

Cole eyed it uncertainly. “I dunno, maybe if I had something to push on…” He turned to the police officers. “Do any of you have a crowbar?”

“No, but maybe you could use a baton,” Grey offered, handing Cole the metal rod.

Cole wedged the end of it in between the elevator doors, then shoved on the rod. They held their breath, waiting, until a screech of metal sounded, and the doors pried open a couple inches. The police officers quickly grabbed the doors and, together, pulled them back.

Jay peered over the edge. There was no elevator inside, just the shaft. Pointing to something in the wall, he remarked, “I bet that’s a sort of staircase that pulls out when someone puts in the password. But since we didn’t…” he stared at the elevator cable, swallowing.

A police officer shone her flashlight down. “It’s not that far, I’d guess about forty feet. We can climb down the cable.”

“Let’s go,” Cole grunted, not even wasting any time as he reached out and started descending.

“I can’t go,” Jay yelped, waving at his arm in the sling. “Or do you expect me to do it with one arm?”

“Do you forget I can fly?” Zane smiled. “I’ll carry you down.”

“I’ll stay here,” Grey told them. “I don’t think my arm is safe enough for climbing, either, and I don’t want Zane to have to stop and come back for me.”

“Alright,” Jay nodded. “If all goes well, we’ll be back soon. With our friends.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

“Ready, Jay?”

“I guess,” he sighed, and Zane picked him up before jumping down the shaft.

Jay bit back a scream as they fell, and Zane spread his wings, catching their fall and allowing them to flutter safely to the ground.

The officers switched on their flashlights, revealing a long hallway with several doors on either side.

“Seriously?” Cole groaned. “We don’t have time to search all of these!”

“You forgot, you’ve got me!” Jay reminded him. Breathing in the air around them deeply, he let the scents around them wash over him.

Lloyd’s scent was immediately apparent, and Jay felt his tail wag.

“You smell them?” Cole asked.

“Yes. It’s weird, Lloyd’s scent seems to be out in the hallway too, while Kai and Nya’s are staler. But they’re all originating from over there.” He pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.

They hurried towards the door. Jay’s heart was pounding in his chest. What would they find behind it?

Cole jiggled the handle. “It’s locked.”

“Here,” one cop said, holding up a battering ram. He and another cop held onto it, slamming it against the door- wham after wham after wham- until it finally burst open.

The group filed into the pitch black room, many clicking on their flashlights. The light reflected against metal bars making up prison cells.

“Don’t take another step.”

Jay froze.

Issac Borg was standing in the room, a gun pointed at them.

“Borg,” Cole growled, his voice dripping with so much venom that Borg actually faltered for a moment- which was all the time Jay needed to dart forward, knocking the gun from his hand.

“Surrender!” the Commissioner barked. “You have nowhere to run. Hands in the air!”

Borg blinked at her, fury in his eyes, but as he glanced around at the police officers closing in on him, on Jay, Cole, and Zane’s smoldering gazes, and his only weapon trapped firmly under Jay’s foot, he scowled, raising his hands above his head. Handcuffs were clicked on as the police hauled him back.

“Who else is in here with you?”

Borg was silent.

The Commissioner shook him. “I said, who else is here?”

“Two of my employees,” he growled. The flashlight was shone on two caretakers, who slowly lifted their hands up as the police rushed over to them. “And… the prisoners.”

Jay felt his heart skip a beat. Borrowing one of the flashlights from the officers, he jogged down the hallway, shining the light into cell after cell, each one empty, until-

Jay froze.

The girl scrambled back from the beam of his flashlight, hissing. Jay blinked at her. She was so different from the last time he had seen her- long, black hair a tangled mess, eyes wide and scared, a gaping cut on her forehead, crusted with dried blood, and her movements skittish and jolting- but there was no denying it was her.

“Nya!” he cried, rushing forward to the cell, yanking on the door.

Nya’s bared teeth unclenched slightly as recognition flitted across her gaze.

“...Jay?”

“I’m here! We’re here to rescue you!”

To his surprise, moisture welled in her eyes. “Stoppit, go away,” she mumbled, crawling into the corner.

“Nya? What’s wrong?”

She pulled her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. “This isn’t real. I’m imagining you. This is a dream.”

“No! It’s not! I’m really here!” Desperately, Jay yanked harder on the door. “Ugh! Just open, already!”

A police officer came up behind him. “We got the keys from Borg,” she told him, handing him the one to Nya’s cell. “It’s the only way you’re getting through.”

Jay shoved the key into the lock, nearly dropping it in his haste. The door swung open, and he hurried in, the officer close behind him.

“Jay!” Nya screamed, scrambling back into the corner and pressing herself against the wall. “Behind you!”

“Nya, it’s okay,” he soothed, crouching down next to her. He reached for her hand, but she flinched away, and he hung back, giving her space. “The police are on our side. They’re not going to hurt you.”

“They want to kill us,” Nya gasped, her eyes wild. “Borg said-” “Borg was lying,” Jay said. “As usual. They’re here to help us. If it weren’t for them, we would’ve never been able to find our way to you.”

Nya fell silent, watching the female officer with wide eyes. The officer’s gaze was gentle and sad. “It’s alright, honey. I just want to help you out.”

Nya took a slow breath, nodding, and the officer leaned forward, using the keys to unlock her cuffs and the chain around her ankle. Nya moved her arms around, looking at them carefully in a way that made Jay’s heart want to break. She had been down here way too long. They all had.

Suddenly, Nya was launching herself into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. He hugged her back, fiercely, stroking her hair and whispering that he would never let her go again.

When Nya finally pulled back, wiping at her eyes, she caught sight of his sling. “What happened to your arm?”

He waved her off. “Ah, it’s no big deal. I’m fine.”

She frowned, sniffing, looking as if she was about to question him further, but, this close, Jay could see the exact moment the color drained from her face.

“What?!”

“Kai.” The murmur was barely off of her lips before she was racing out of the cell, and Jay hurried after her.

In the cell across from hers, a police officer was pulling the door open, and Nya darted past him, skidding to a halt inside and falling to her knees next to a figure on the floor.

Jay felt his stomach drop.

By the time Jay reached her side, she had Kai cradled in her arms, weeping over him as she brushed sweaty strands of hair out of his eyes.

Jay watched his friend’s face in horror. It was pale, expressionless, unmoving. Even in sleep, Kai had always been restless, but now, he was absolutely still.

“What happened to him,” Zane cried, running over to them and dropping down next to Kai. Jay whimpered, leaning over to angle his ear above Kai’s mouth. He caught the sound of his breathing, but it was shallow and uneven.

“They… electrocuted us.” Nya’s fingers traced the collar around her neck, shuddering. “We heard you fighting, and he tried calling out for help, so Borg turned it up…”

Jay felt fury flash through him. “Let’s get that stupid thing off of you,” he growled, reaching for the collar-

“No!” Nya yelped, flinching back. “You can’t take it off, it’ll… it’ll kill me.”

“It’s okay, Nya,” Zane assured her, rubbing his fingers across the back of her hand gently. “We powered down the system. It won’t hurt you anymore.”

Nya swallowed, her fingers reaching for the buckle. She hesitated, looking up at Zane. He nodded reassuringly, although there was a pained sadness in his eyes.

Nya clicked the buckle, and the collar fell to the floor.

“We need to get him to the hospital, right away,” Zane insisted, using the key to unlock his chains, then hoisting Kai up into his arms. “He’s still alive, but barely. We don’t have much time.”

“Neither of them do,” Cole grunted from outside the cell, and Jay’s gaze darted to his arms.

Lloyd laid there, limp and pale. Cuts decorated his body, dried blood crusting on his clothes. Jay tried not to gag at the bloodied, mangled leg that Cole was carefully supporting. What had Borg been doing to them?

It was then that it hit him- really hit him- how close they had come to losing their friends.

And they still weren’t out of hot water yet- Kai and Lloyd needed to get to the hospital, fast. He wasn’t about to come all this way to save them only to lose them again, anyway.

“C’mon,” he called to Nya, letting her put her arm around his shoulder so that he could support her as she walked. “Let’s get you all out of here.”

---

“Ha! A plus two, take that, Cole!”

“What if I stack it?”

“What? Jay, now I have to draw four and Cole’s going to win!”

“I didn’t know he had that card, Nya! If you’re so smart, why don’t you stop him?”

“I can’t, nitwit, because you played that reverse card a few turns ago!”

“How was I supposed to know-” he cut off, sucking in his breath. “Zane! Did you seriously just give me a plus four? I know you have yellow cards!”

“Yes, but I’m pretty certain that Cole does as well. I needed to change the color.”

“Choose wisely, feathers.”

“...Blue.”

“No! He’s smiling, change it back-”

“I can’t, that’s against the rules-”

“He said blue, zaptrap, so zip it-”

Kai groaned, blinking awake at all the noise. He sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes. What kind of weird dream was this, Cole, Jay and Zane were-

Here.

Kai’s heart skipped a beat. They were here, across the room from his bed, sitting at a little fold-out table, throwing Uno cards at each other and laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. Nya was with them too, bandages wrapped around her head as she ducked a card from Jay. Lloyd, who was lying on the bed behind them, bandage-ridden and an IV snaking along his arm, snatched the card out of the air, giggling triumphantly.

“...guys?”

Five gazes whipped towards him, the room going quiet.

“Kai!” Nya cried, practically leaping over her chair and running over his bedside, throwing her arms around him. “You’re awake!”

He squeezed her back, his brain still trying to catch up with him. “What… what happened? Where are we?”

“You’re in the hospital,” she murmured, pulling back, although she didn’t let go of his hand. “That damn collar almost killed you.”

Instinctively, Kai’s hand darted to his neck, but there was nothing there. It was gone. “I don’t understand, I…”

“You saved us, Kai. It worked! The others were above us with the police officers, and Zane heard you. If it weren’t for you, we’d be dead by now.”

“I… he…” Kai stopped, swallowing. He turned his gaze to the others, who were gathering behind Nya. Cole was helping Lloyd pull his IV pole over so that he could come see Kai, too.

“He’s gone, Kai,” Zane assured. “The police arrested him. Borg Industries is under lockdown as the employees are being questioned to figure out who was involved.”

Jay reached out, putting a hand on top of his. “It’s okay, Kai. You’re safe now. We’re here.”

Kai felt his vision blur, and launched himself into their arms, sobbing. Arms wrapped around him- Jay, Zane, Nya, Cole, and even Lloyd’s little fingers gripping him somewhere in there. For the first time in a week, Kai let himself relax, melting into their warm, safe embraces.

He didn’t know what was going to happen next. He didn’t know what they were going to do, or what challenges still laid ahead of them. But he knew that everything was going to be alright, because they were together again.

---

Epilogue

“Nya, come on, we’re going to be late!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” She ran out of the hallway, slipping the pack of crayons and the notebook into the green backpack he was holding. “It’s not my fault you guys didn’t do this last night when you got home from work!”

“Fist to Face 3 just came out yesterday, are you kidding? Jay and I preordered that months ahead of time, you couldn’t expect us not to play it!”

“You didn’t have to spend five hours doing it! And on the last day of summer, no less! Zane, how’s that lunch coming?”

“All ready!” The falcon hybrid hurried over, slipping the Starfarer lunch box into the backpack. Pointing a finger at Lloyd, he reminded, “Don’t eat that until lunch time, okay? If you eat it all in the first five minutes of class, you’re not going to have anything to eat for lunch.”

Lloyd hardly seemed to hear him, bouncing excitedly on his feet as Kai zipped up the bag and slipped it onto his shoulders.

Lloyd scurried for the door, tripping over his own shoelaces, only saved by Jay, snatching the back of his hood in the nick of time, as Cole intercepted Lloyd and tied his shoes before he could escape Jay’s grasp.

“Don’t worry,” Kai laughed, clapping a hand on Zane’s shoulder. “I think he’s going to be just fine.”

“I know. It’s just hard. He hasn’t been on his own since…”

“Hey, Nya and I did some research. This is a really good school, okay? He’s gonna do good here. And it’s super close, so if anything goes wrong, we’ll be right there. If this isn’t the place for him, nowhere is. We can’t spend our lives hiding, Zane. That chapter of our lives is over.”

He smiled at him. “It is, isn’t it?”

A purr budded in Kai’s chest. “We’re our own people now.”

It had been nearly a year since they had been freed from Borg. Charges had been pressed, and Borg Industries had been shut down for months, until it had been bought under new ownership and rebranded as Julien Industries.

As for them, the Ninjago City Government had provided them with a house and had offered jobs to Cole, Zane, and Kai, and they alternated shifts so that someone could always be with Lloyd. Jay and Nya had enrolled at the local high school, and had been working hard to catch up with their peers. Fortunately, both of them were very bright and planned on pursuing careers in mechanics and engineering. Kai, Cole, and Zane were taking night classes, as well, so that they could eventually work their way up to a job that they were more passionate about.

Through it all, though, they always made sure to have family time every day, where they would just relax, play games, and laugh. It was a life far different than anything Kai had experienced before, and took some adjusting- but he wasn’t complaining. For the first time ever, there was no weight on their chests, no doors locking them in. They were free.

“Are you two coming?” Nya hissed at them, her, Cole, Jay, and Lloyd already halfway out the door. “We’re going to be late for Lloyd’s first day of school, don’t make me leave you behind!”

“Hold on, we’re not missing that,” Kai cried, running after her before she could close the door. He felt a warmth in his chest as he passed the hat rack without grabbing anything. They had nothing to hide anymore.

They caught up with the others a little ways down the sidewalk, and Kai cracked a grin as he saw Lloyd, skipping alongside Cole, holding his hand and babbling about something that sounded like Starfarer- the kid had been obsessed with the show recently, there had been a fair number of tantrums trying to get him to stop for bedtime. Jay and Nya walked a few paces behind them, Nya holding out a homework sheet as the two argued over one of the problems, Zane hurrying over to help them before it got too heated.

Kai bounded over to Lloyd and grabbed his other hand, smiling down at him. “You excited for your first day of school, Lloydster?”

“I can’t wait!” he yelped. “Nya says I’m gonna do so many things! I’m gonna color, play with toys, meet friends- she says they even have play-doh! I only got to use that once before, and it’s really squishy-”

Kai glanced up as Lloyd rambled on, catching sight of a couple walking on the other side of the road who was staring at them, whispering to one another as they pointed at the long tail unfurling from under Lloyd’s coat, swishing behind him happily.

Kai sharply turned his gaze forward again, making a point of flicking his tail as he walked on.

Life wasn’t perfect, now. Since their story had traveled the news, and they had stopped hiding who they were, many citizens were uneasy around them in public. And when one of them snapped playfully at each other, or yelled too loud, it was often enough to send people scurrying away. He would be lying if he had said there hadn’t been a few awkward confrontations from some particularly bold citizens, but… it didn’t bother him as much as he would’ve thought. What these people were doing to him was still a hundred times better than anything Borg had ever done. Kai had done everything he could to be kind and welcoming to people, and if they still weren’t going to accept him and the others just because they were different… well, that was on them, not him.

Besides, no one had ever promised that their life was going to be all cupcakes and rainbows now that Borg wasn’t a threat to them anymore. Life was never like that- it was messy, and that was just part of the fun. He and his family were safe and happy now, and that was the only thing Kai really cared about.

When they arrived at Lloyd’s school a few minutes later, they walked to the classroom Lloyd had been assigned, the boy watching the students laughing and chatting around them with wide eyes.

The classroom itself was filled with young kids, some looking as excited as Lloyd, others hiding behind their parents. Some were even bawling. Lloyd gripped his hand slightly tighter as they walked, but he didn’t shy away from his classmates.

As Zane and Cole went to speak with the teacher, Nya grabbed Lloyd by the face and kissed him all over. Lloyd squealed as he tried to pull out of her grasp, although there was a purr rumbling in his throat.

“You have a great day, alright bean? Behave well, and be nice to the other kids. Zane will be here to pick you up after school.”

“After dinner,” Jay added, “We’ll go out for ice cream and you can tell us all about your day!” Lloyd perked. “I’m gonna have the best day ever!”

Nya laughed. “I hope so, bud. You deserve it.”

“Lloyd,” he asked, pointing at the cubbies on the far wall, “should we go find your cubby?”

Lloyd hurried over, Kai following, as he checked each label printed above them. “Here,” he pointed, a little ways down, “Lloyd Garmadon. This one’s yours, bud.”

As he helped Lloyd out of his jacket and began to put his things in the cubby, Lloyd squealed, darting away from him. Kai whipped around to see that he had thrown his arms around a little girl, who was hugging him back tightly, a huge grin on her face.

“Lloyd, what…”

“It’s Raina! From the mall!”

Kai looked closer at the little girl and saw that Lloyd was right, it was the girl he had been playing with at the mall last year, before all the chaos with Borg had happened. Kai had thought they would never see her again.

“She’s in your class? How crazy!” “Raina, what are you doing, bring your coat over-” The woman walking up behind her, who he recognized as Jessica, Raina’s mother, froze as she saw Lloyd. Her gaze darted up to Kai, and their eyes met.

“You… you’re the ones we saw that day, aren’t you…” her voice trailed off, gaze flicking from Lloyd’s long ears to their tails.

Kai shuffled closer to Lloyd, placing a hand on his shoulder.

But the woman’s face broke into a tentative smile. “I can’t believe it, I had thought you would never call!”

“Yeah…” Kai’s gaze dropped, and he ruffled Lloyd’s hair gently. “We kind of had… other things to worry about. In all the chaos, I kind of forgot about everything, and I also had to get rid of my phone-”

“Oh honey, you don’t need to make excuses. It’s alright, I saw… I saw everything on the news…”

Kai felt moisture welling in his eyes, and turned his head, blinking hard. They had watched the news, too, for those first few nights, hoping to get some closure on the Borg case- but the pictures, the videos they had shown, had brought back unpleasant memories, and they had quickly stopped watching after that.

To his horror, he realized he was crying now, and quickly tried to wipe at the tears dripping down his cheeks.

Suddenly, Jessica was hugging him. Kai gasped slightly, caught off guard for a moment, before returning the embrace, allowing himself to cry into her shoulder.

In a way, it was humiliating. There he was, a young man, crying and clinging to a woman who was hardly more than an acquaintance of his, in front of a room full of five-year-olds.

But on the other hand, it felt good to be held. He had spent so long being the one holding others up, and… it was nice to be on the receiving end of that, for once.

It had been a year since Borg, and his emotional wounds were healing. But the scars were still there. Some days, more than others, but… they never truly went away.

“Sorry,” Kai sniffled when he finally pulled away, wiping at his eyes.

“You have no reason to be sorry,” she told him gently. “No one should ever have to endure what you did, especially not someone as young as you are. Sometimes, we just need a really good hug.”

“Thanks.” He smiled warmly at her. “Lloyd and Raina will have to meet up sometime.”

“For sure,” she agreed.

“Where are you gonna sit?” Lloyd asked Raina. “We should sit at the same table!”

“Let’s go over here,” the girl cried, grabbing his hand and dragging him away.

Jessica laughed. “We definitely will.”

As Kai walked over to the others, who were getting ready to leave, Nya shot him a glance. “You okay, bro?”

“I’m fine. Are we ready to go?”

“Wait! Don’t leave yet!”

He turned to see Lloyd running towards him, and the boy launched himself into his arms. Kai laughed, hugging him back tightly.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he mumbled.

“Me too. But you know what? You’re gonna have so much fun here with Raina, that it’ll be time to go home before you know it, and then we’re going to have an awesome night of ice cream, Starfarer, and videogames.”

Lloyd smiled, burying his face in Kai’s shirt. “I like when things are like this.”

“Me too, bud. We all do.”

The others crouched down around them, hugging Lloyd too, so that the boy was sandwiched in between them, causing him to squeak in surprise.

Everyone laughed, and they hugged him tighter. A warm, tingly feeling spread through Kai’s chest, and, right then, despite everything they had been through, he felt like the luckiest person on the planet.

As they unfurled from the hug, the feeling still remained in Kai’s chest. As they walked out of the room, the school, even as they took their separate ways for work and school, the feeling never went away.

It was the feeling of love. Undeniable, unbreakable love.

Because no matter what happened, from here on out- as they all grew up, as life changed in the turbulent matter that it did- one thing was always going to remain the same, and that was the love they had for each other.

Family was forever, and Kai’s family was the best one there was.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Sinking under Part 2

Pairing: detective!Steve x Reader Warnings: yandere, stalking, death of minor character, allusion to non-con, swearing, brief mention of suicidal thoughts. Words: 1931. Summary: You are suspected of a murder you did not commit. Steve Rogers, a detective employed by the mother of a victim, makes your life even more pitiful than it already is. Part 1 P.S. A big shout-out to awesome @tansypoisoning​ who helped me a lot with this part! If not her, I think I’d never write this :D Sending you lots of love! _____________________________________  You were shaking like a leaf, your hands trembling so badly you couldn’t hold your phone, and Steve quickly put it in the pocket of his formal black pants. He was hugging you close, your head on his chest again like when you had encountered him in a supermarket half a year ago. You were leaving the courtroom. You were not the defendant. You were asked to participate in the trial as a witness.

“You’re a fucking slut!” A woman’s high-pitched voice almost made you deaf. “I KNOW IT WAS YOU! IT WAS YOU! YOU! I’LL SUE YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH!”

Steve fastened his pace, and the two of you were pretty much running away to the exit, rushing before the crowd would come out of the room. The murderer had been found, and they proved he was guilty for your neighbor’s death, not you. It took them long six months before the judge stated that the best friend of the victim was found guilty as there was more than enough evidence to support his charge. 

Six months. Six months of constant fear for your own life, barely moving outside of your house, being scared to touch your phone to see hate messages from the family of that dead bastard, taking more pills than you had your entire life. Six months of being continuously bullied and followed around. You could hardly count how many times you wanted to jump off the bridge or take too many pills at once.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, darling.” Steve easily pushed through the line of reporters with their microphones, recorders, and cameras. “We’re close, hold on to me.”

All other voices blended into incomprehensible noise: people asking you thousands of questions, someone still yelling from the back, and policemen demanding everyone to keep out the way. You saw nothing, moving fast with Steve to his car. He was your shield; the one who kept protecting you at all costs.

When he found out about hate mails, he simply took your SIM card and gave you a new one with just his name in the list of contacts. When he saw his own employer coming over to your house to harass you with her accusations, he found a cheap apartment in the outskirts of the town and helped you to relocate fast. Steve had been helping with the investigation, tracking every other suspect down and telling you every significant detail he wanted you to know. He followed you too, of course, to pretend he was doing his job and avoid any suspicion. No one needed to know the nature of your relationship.

What was it, anyway? First couple of months it was hard to tell. You felt like he was simply using you to satisfy his own needs, though Steve was a considerate lover to an extent. He could fuck you literally anywhere, including the back of his own car. He enjoyed making a mess out of you, your makeup smeared and hair wild, and sometimes it was either driving you mad or making you frightened. But then he was really great at aftercare, getting very affectionate. He could help you to wipe your face and adjust your clothes carefully, and if you were home he would bring you to the shower and wash your hair so tenderly it could make you cry.

Nonetheless, it felt rather strange he was ready to trade sex for protecting you from the accusations of his employer. You couldn’t understand why he went through all this hassle just for a chance to fuck some girl. With his angelic appearance women would probably line up to get into his bed.

You had finally landed on the car seat, Steve on your left already turned on the engine and moved before you were approached by a few reporters who kept following you.

“You’re safe.” He said softly, turning his head to you and curling his lips in a heartwarming smile. “We’ve won, baby. Fuck all these scumbags, we’re done with this shit.”

You burst into tears with your hands still trembling, and Steve reached out to grab your palm. Forcing yourself to smile back at him, you wiped your face with your other hand. You were lucky he was with you.

“T-thank you, Steve.” You murmured quietly as if you still couldn’t believe it’s over. “Thank for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Come on, darling. I only did what I thought was right.” His smile grew wider at your appreciation of his efforts, and he rubbed your hand. “You can’t imagine how happy I am we’re through this goddamn investigation. It calls for a celebration, don’t you think? I want some champagne and oysters.”

You laughed through tears, shaking your head. Steve had one quality you were always jealous of – he was optimistic. Even at the worst times, he was able to keep his head high and pull himself together. Then he helped you to get through with your issues too. Of course, he demanded to listen to him, to follow the rules he set for you – don’t mess with other men, don’t go where I can’t follow, don’t speak to police unless I instruct you to, don’t leave without telling me first – but it was a small price to pay for the protection he offered.

“Now we don’t have to hide anymore.” Steve turned the car, and you saw he was bringing you to his house. Naturally, celebrating there would be better than in your half-empty apartment since Steve’s place was more comfortable and cozier.

“Do you mean I can finally return to my house?” You thought of the grass on your backyard that probably grew higher than your pretty red fence.

“What?” He sounded surprised. “Why would you want to come back there, right next to the house where that piece of shit died?”

“I can’t keep living in the apartment. I’m very thankful to you, it really became my hideout, but I have my own place.”

“No, baby, come on. Friends of that guy still live in the neighborhood. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He brought your hand to his face and left a tender kiss on your knuckles, bringing you to tears again. “You can live with me now before I find a better place for us somewhere else.”

You gaped at him openly and heard your heart pounding in your head. Did he just offered you to live together with him? Was he so scared those men would hurt you for real? Or did it had to do something with your relationship? Wait, no, it couldn’t be. Maybe Steve liked to cuddle and spent some evenings together as if he pretended to be your boyfriend, but you never took it seriously. There was no reason to.

“You mean… you want to live together? Like a couple?”

“Well, yeah?” He flashed his beautiful smile, and you held your breath. “We can start like a couple if you need more time.”

What’s that suppose to mean?

“Steve, I don’t understand anything.” You told him honestly.

“We don’t have to pretend like we’re strangers, darling, since that old bitch can’t do anything anymore. Honestly, I’m tired of dating secretly, aren’t you too? All this precautions, living in different places so that no one knew, hiding from the windows. It was exhausting.”

Although you could agree it was really unnerving, you still didn’t understand why he called it a secret dating. Wasn’t it just… sex?

“Now we can take our relationship to the next level.” Steve was delighted, a bit too exited maybe, and then whistled, turning the car again – you were already in his neighborhood.

You couldn’t bring yourself to say anything and just kept staring at the man, taken aback by his words. Apparently, you had been missing something very important all these months. But you could swear you had never talked about anything like that before. You didn’t even remember discussing your feelings for each other much.

Obviously, Steve wasn’t happy with your silence, peeping into your absent eyes. He frowned with annoyance: usually you were much more responsive than now, always listening to what he had said.

“What is it, baby?” He asked you, his voice tight. “Don’t you want it?”

You awakened from your stupor and grasped the fabric of your dark blue skirt.

“No, it’s not that… it’s just…” You mumbled, unsure of what to say and feeling a bit scared of his displeasure with you. “We just never talked about it. I thought… I thought you didn’t want t-to be romantically involved.”

Steve blinked at your sudden confession. It took him a moment to put his thoughts together, and he rubbed his forehead with his thumb several times. Meanwhile, you remembered all those times when he brought you nice food and wine, watched movies with you, combed your hair because he really liked how pretty it looked, and made you a shoulder massage when you were too tired. He bought your meds and always took care of your mental health the best way he could. Even if you had never talked about love, do fuck buddies normally do things like that? You were not so sure anymore.

“Damn, I get it.” For some reason he laughed, shaking his head. “I didn’t say it properly to you. You’re right, it’s completely my fault. I took it for granted that you saw me as I saw you, but I’ve never verbally admitted what I wanted from this relationship. I’m sorry, darling. Please, let me do it properly this time.”

You nodded, still feeling uncertain about all this. It felt a bit unreal at best.

“I love you.” He said with a grin and placed his hand on yours again. “You’re my precious little girl, and I want you to be with me. I want to keep you safe. I want you to stay close, so I would be able to protect you.”

You didn’t know why you cried, but your pathetic whimpering made Steve look at you with awe and admiration, his other hand gently caressing your wet face. He unclasped his seatbelt and moved closer to you, kissing your forehead. It only made you cry harder.

“It’ll be alright, baby. I know you’ve been through a lot this half a year. I’ll keep helping you, ok?” He shushed you gently, your phone still in the pocket of his black pants.

“Ok.” You managed to utter between your sobs.

“That’s it, darling.” Watching you with adoration, he took a wet wipe from the box in a car seat pocket and gently rubbed your face with it. “Everything gonna be alright. When you move in with me, I’ll take care of those guys, the friends of your neighbor, and you’ll be safe. But before that, promise you’re gonna listen to me, alright?”

You nodded once again, and Steve carefully wiped the tears streaming down your cheeks.

“You’re so good for me, baby. I’ll take care of you, I promise. Just keep following the same rules we had before I deal with all those fuckheads, and nothing bad gonna happen, believe me.” He was gently rubbing your face with the wet wipe and taking off your smeared makeup, occasionally kissing your face. You kept nodding at him, not even listening to his words properly and trembling again like after leaving the courtroom when your neighbor’s mother shouted behind your back.

It was over. The trial was closed, and you were ought to be safe. But why, why did it feel like nothing had changed?

[ifeveristoday]

I got out my DVDs for this rewatch (that’s not actually a big deal. I only have season 3 on DVD. 😂) so let’s get to it.

I forgot they did a cold open for this episode!

I know it’s for ambiance but man does Angel have a lot of candles displayed. Probably too ‘mainstream’ for his taste but the thought of Angel furtively going to a Bath and Bodyworks in the mall during their semi-annual sale and just buying out their whole candle selection gives me the purest joy. Let’s be real though, Angel would shop at some boutique/hole in the wall owned by a wizened old character with a twinkle in their eye and everything marked up 20%. Or it would be a steel and glass monstrosity with a collection labeled Candles for Men. That’s the range.

Back to the enormous fire hazard that this scene is -

Wait. Does fire burn on stone?

Shout out to the stunt doubles.

I think that Angel getting food for Buffy for a sort of alfresco picnic while training is really sweet, actually. Also, can't miss the opportunity for both carbs and phallic symbolism ala bread.

Everyone is so embarrassingly horny in this moment. I'd say get a room except they're in a whole giant mansion.

Always remember the bread! What did Angel do with the food after Buffy fled? Fed the no-doubt cursed pigeons that live in Sunnydale.

Thanks for the workout (insert stereotypical dirty laugh).

Oh yes, the awkward 'let's talk about your birthday without mentioning the last birthday you had at all because it's horrifying' chitchat. God, the anxiety Angel is radiating here and Buffy trying to smooth it over. You can't unfrost that trauma cake!

Angel, you utter dork. You're lucky Buffy finds you pretty. Very powerful himbo energy here. And it's nice to see some light-hearted flirting/banter between them.

How do you know when someone's aura's dirty? Buffy is only asking the reasonable questions everyone has.

Do you hear yourself, Giles. "I'm aware of your distaste in studying vibratory stones..." I can't imagine what that section of the Slayer handbook looks like. Are there pull-out charts?

Faith being conveniently gone for this episode. Boo, hiss.

That workout really did a number on Buffy. I see what you're doing with those crystals.

One of the sad parts of rewatching Buffy is that you just don't have the first time discovery feels of watching it - that magic is gone, but even though I know why Buffy's wobbling in her fight, the reveal is still upsetting. Thinking about how in Season 5, when she does get staked, just as she's questioning her powers - and here, where she's losing them.

Also, obvious observation is obvious - the sexual violence imagery is really, really blatant here - with the vampire crouched over her with the stake aimed toward her heart, just as she playfully staked Angel earlier in a more romantically set scene.

AND THEN THE THEME KICKS IN. Like, damn! Three minutes and you can pretty much tell what the plot is going to be - Buffy and Angel's UST is getting out of hand, Buffy's lone Rangering it, and something is wrong with her. And it's her birthday.

And Buffy's resourcefulness saves the day.

Perhaps you shouldn't be throwing knives in the library, Buffy.

Did they do a geography lesson on Cuernavaca? It's also just fun to say. Like La Cienega. Brief moment to ponder yet again about a show set in Southern California, actually shot in Southern California, with the huge Latine population we have and the Spanish-influenced names and culture and - getting sidetracked by all this casual 90s racism.

"We do it every year for my birthday," except your seventeenth, presumably because of the murderous ex-boyfriend stalking the town you live in and all your loved ones. [Or, he did take her and it was not shown on screen!] Sometimes I wonder if the continuity editors just go, you know, I'm going to let this one go for the 'emotion' and not just so years later, a Virgo with a deep-seated need to obsess over throwaway details will go into a thought spiral to make it make sense.

I think this is also the last time Hank Summers was spoken of with any real affection because then he was Deadbeat Dad for the remainder of the show. Oh, look. The Scoobies are surprised about the traditional birthday ice show that I'm going to nitpick about forever.

Oz is so supportive, and then the clunker of a 'deep' line of ice being cool because it's water then it's not. I do like the Whedonesque school of dialogue, but sometimes you gotta reel it back. I remember the dialogue on Dawson's Creek was getting pinged for the teenagers talking like grad students.

Quiet reflection. Oh you poor girl, you have no idea.

Quarterly projections - is a convincing filler phrase for when you don't need to know what the job is, because it's boring but sounds vaguely official. What does Hank actually do? Who cares! He's an asshole.

Sunnydale Arms, because of course, Sunnydale has a broken down abandoned murder hotel.

Quentin Travers. Boo. Hiss.

The scary music is very scary. Also one of the Council flunkies looks like a very young Vincent D'Onofrio.

This scene with them in the library is so bittersweet because Buffy is fishing for Giles's attention as a father figure substitute ("very sophisticated people go!" breaks my heart) and he pointedly is rejecting this for training talk.

Look for the flaw at its center. THE FLAW IS YOU GILES. YOU YOU YOU.

it's just so terrible, this scene because of how methodical and clinical it plays out. And Buffy is just not there, and then Giles smiles like nothing has happened.

Buffy makes it through another night - next day (another reason why this trial is so horrifying is that it takes place over several days - it's not on Buffy's birthday but leading up to it, so the idea of her getting weaker and weaker and unable to fight to make it to 18 in the first place) and it's time for the Cordelia has had enough of toxic masculinity scene!

Also, Willow blithely ignoring a person's feelings and treating Amy as just a rat is played for laughs and cuteness, but yeah...you can't treat people like puppets or rats [law and order sound]

I love Cordelia's coat. And also, while it does suck that she stood him up, he's not entitled to her time or attention and certainly not to threaten her. Go, Cordy! Fight like a girl! Yes! Pummel him into the hallway.

I also love Willow's outfit here because I think the colors are so complementary and warm and it's a cute outfit. Okay, the knit wooly hat is a bit too Blossom-esque, but whatever.

Buffy is tiny, we all know this, but I do think they purposefully dressed her in larger than her size coats in this episode to make her look even more tiny and vulnerable.

Giles is TOO BLASE for this scene also shut your mouth about throwing knives like a girl

"It's an archaic exercise in cruelty." SO WHY DID YOU GO ALONG WITH IT, BRAIN TRUST. (I am going to be very mean to Giles this whole rewatch, deal with it.)

"But I'm the one in the thick of it." No, you're not. You are going to be adjacent to it, at best.

Hey it's that guy!

Okay, in better lighting, flunkie does not look like Vincent D'Onofrio.

It's impossible to pin down one type of Vampire in the Whedonverse, except for the delineation between Grunt Bait Vampires, and Special Guest Star/Master vampires, but Kralik is the only other example of a vampire with mental illness besides Drusilla, yet he's medicated. Makes me wonder how exactly they got Kralik...he was a monster before he was a vampire, but who vamped him? I don't put it past the Watchers to have vampires created for this purpose.

Curse against lawyers!

Xander and Oz bonding over comic books is so fun. I regret they didn't really get closer until after Xander and Willow cheated because Oz was the one male friend Xander had.

They mentioned her birthday! Thinking about Buffy's love of poetry later on, this is a nice little detail, and it *is* a thoughtful, sweet gift. Also those poems: horny. Oh yes, maybe in a restrained way, but Elizabeth Barrett Browning knew what was up.

The Buffy and Angel relationship in season three is full of these starts and stops that I can see why and agree with others about how it's frustrating on a number of levels. They know why they can't be together, but they still try to find a common ground because they want to need the other one. They still have their identities to figure out - Buffy as the slayer and a young adult, Angel as a person, separate from Buffy and being Buffy's ex sort of maybe.

But this conversation in Helpless is genuinely sweet and a glimpse at what a normal couple at the crossroads would talk about - I think I'm also being soft on this because the other Important Male Figure in Buffy's life in this episode lets her down so spectacularly bad, that Angel being supportive and kind in his awkward way is a nice respite. It's good to be away from the angst and the horror that their relationship has had.

And the self-aware puncturing of the Moment between them is something Buffy does very well. "Taken literally, incredibly gross - I was just thinking that too". Look, it's cute and soft and I will allow it.

The horror of this episode (and there are so many) is that we have to watch Buffy become the helpless blonde in a slasher flick who is being chased by the monsters and she can't do anything about it - that she has to be rescued or die. That the real world with men catcalling and bystanders who ignore women's cries of distress is far scarier than the literal demons that inhabit the town - and Buffy brokenly saying she can't just be a person, she can't be helpless like that [like women are, still, today] is a gut punch. It's uncomfortable and unhappy because Buffy is supposed to be the hero, the [sigh] strong female lead who can kick ass and take names, and this episode is all about finding who Buffy is, separate from her super powers. Also an exercise in emotional torture, but must be Tuesday.

The physicality - the weakness that both Buffy and Giles display in this scene is so, so good. The way Buffy's hand trembles toward the needle in the case and the dawning realization of what Giles has done, has chosen to do - and he bloodlessly tells her what the Cruciamentum is.

Her tiny little "Liar."

GOD WHY DIDN'T SHE GET AN EMMY (rhetorical we all know genre tv only matters if it was Game of Rapey Thrones)

"You will be safe now, I promise you." LIAR.

Another puncturing a heavy moment - Cordelia as cavalry - I love it. Cordelia taking the most obvious approach to the situation - 'oh Buffy might have lost her memory, well he's Giles,'

I can't believe they robbed us of a conversation in the car scene with Cordy and Buffy.

Kralik had to have found a polaroid camera and a metallic sharpie for this whole scenario -- OH I KNOW WHO HE REMINDS ME OF. The Night Stalker and any number of serial killers that terrorized SoCal. Is the show being self-aware of the problem with mothers and parents in general?

Probably a glib accident.

I don't have much to say about the part where Buffy hunts Kralik because it's so masterfully done with the atmosphere and music.

Nice of Giles's backbone to enter the chat now.

This is not business. Ooo.

Buffy's "I thought I killed a man" emo overalls!

Like it's shadowy, but there's still enough light to see facial expressions. Lighting guy, I salute you.

Little red riding hood metaphor. Oh, that's so her stunt double.

CREEPY SEXUAL VIOLENCE REARS ITS DEFORMED HEAD AGAIN

Jump stair scare. I remember the first time I saw it, I jolted in the living room.

Serial Killer Shit. Why are vampires such drama queens?

THAT'S RIGHT, BUFFY DID THAT

The ending scene in the library is cathartic in that Buffy gets to stand up for herself finally, and recognizes what Giles gives up by helping her, delayed as it was, also there's the feeling of hate punching Quentin Travers via your eyes.

Still don't think she should have forgiven Giles so easily, but we don't get to see a lot of aftercare for Buffy when she gets hurt, and it is a very tender scene.

The Scoobies are being way too upbeat if they knew about the fact that Giles poisoned Buffy, which is why I'm assuming she told a very abbreviated version of events ending with Buffy killed the bad guy and Giles got fired, oops.

Xander's big strong man comment and then looking immediately to Willow to open the jar and not Oz...

I could watch this episode again with episode commentary from David Fury, but another day.

[tae-cup]

The Chief | Night Terrors (1)

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Summary: The prestigious department of police and investigations in Seoul, Korea, is called to the small town of Cape Springs in rural California. Nothing is quite what it seems here.

Warnings: Blood, violence, you know crime stuff? Fluffy stuff somehow

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Angst, a lil humor, sexual innuendos, BUT I DON’T WRITE SMUT OKAY

Word Count: 7.2k Words (Holy guacamole. This took forever to write.)

A/N: Let me know your thoughts! Any suspects? Just message me if you want to be tagged! I’m sorry there’s literally no Reader in here, but she’s coming in next chapter, I swear. No, you did not stumble upon an x OC fic, and no I did not tag this wrong, just bear with me XD. Please please read this one, it sets up some good background. 

 Thank you so much to @seokjinsultimatesimp / @kingbewwy for helping with my story planning and ideas!!

Beautiful header by the wonder @dee-ehn / @dnrequests

Other:

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       The flight was long. Long, tiring, and utterly boring. Jungkook knew he should have packed something to do on the plane. He had been dependent on the movies in first class and reclining chairs to pass the time. Well, now he was halfway through his fourth movie and sleep was nowhere in sight. Yoongi was quiet across the aisle from him and Taehyung was watching a movie next to him with some snacks he raided from the service cart. Not wanting to bother either of them for entertainment, especially Yoongi, he decided to sit in silence. The movie was getting boring so he turned it off and prayed sleep would arrive. 

It did not. 

He arrived, jet lagged and lacking 13 hours of sleep. 

“Did you sleep?” Taehyung tilted his head as they stood to collect their belongings from the baggage claim. The boy just tiredly shook his head. 

“Hah, guess we’ll have to be getting you coffee!” Seokjin chuckled, having slept most of the flight in peace. Yoongi, despite sleeping for the entire 13 hours, still looked exhausted.  The others just seemed focused on getting their luggage and leaving. They had a lot of suitcases to store their equipment. Jungkook rolled his eyes at his older counterpart.

“I’m fine.” But as he said it, a huge yawn ripped from his chest. Jin grinned, but didn’t mention it as Jungkook’s ears started turning red with embarrassment. 

“Guys, we have to get going.” Namjoon announced. 

“Aye aye, chief.” Jimin saluted cheekily. Namjoon just pressed his lips into a thin line, not amused. The younger male just sighed and nudged the police chief. “You really need to loosen up.”

“And you need to remember that we’re here to solve a murder.” 

“Even better! It’s several murders!” Taehyung chirped, earning a glare from his superior, Yoongi. 

“Aish, you kids.” Hoseok scratched his head. “You shouldn’t be excited that a bunch of people are dead.” He muttered. 

“Sorry, hyung, we just rarely get cases that Joonie agrees to investigate. How else am I supposed to keep up with Yoongi if I never get any experience?” Taehyung glared right back at Yoongi. The older man muttered something under his breath and dragged the younger away by his collar. 

“Where are they going?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow. He was still trying to get used to the group dynamics and while he wasn’t entirely innocent, he tried to fill up that role in the meantime. The other members looked at each other, sharing a knowing smile. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Kookie.” Jimin winked. “He’s probably...teaching Taehyung his place.” 

“Oh…” Jungkook tilted his head, trying to make the connections. “So like yelling? Hyung could’ve just done it here. I mean, he does that all the time!” 

Jimin exchanged a look with Jin. Jin shook his head, Jimin smiled. 

“Kookie, no, Yoongi’s going to-”

“Oh my god, he’s too innocent.” Jin cried, rushing to cover the maknae’s ears. 

“Too innocent for what?” A lazy drawl came across the group, making Jin and Jimin jump. Namjoon chuckled and Hoseok pretended to be distracted on his phone, only stealing a quick glance up. 

     Yoongi’s hair was messy, as if hands ran through them several times. His lips were swollen and he had a large dark spot on his neck, which he quickly covered with his shirt collar when he saw them staring. Taehyung trailed behind him, dazed. He looked relatively the same. Jungkook jumped into action, shoving Jin away. 

“Oi! Yoongi-hyung, I know you wanted to teach Tae a lesson, but isn’t that too rough?!” He shouted pointing at the other’s ‘bruise’. Hoseok began giggling and Yoongi turned impossibly red. 

“Oh yeah, he taught me a lesson for sure.” Taehyung chuckled. Jungkook gaped, eyes flicking between the two. 

“But he didn’t need to beat you up! Why are your lips swollen and there’s obviously a bruise on your neck!” 

      Yoongi began laughing softly and Taehyung’s ears went red. Namjoon sighed and dragged Jin over to help load the car. Hoseok was quick to follow, leaving Jimin to watch the scene unfold. 

“We didn’t beat each other up.” Yoongi explained with a grin. 

“So someone else did?!” Jungkook’s nostrils flared with anger. “Where?!” 

“Slow down, coffee boy.” Taehyung said, amused by his younger friend. “You wouldn’t be able to fight anyone off.” 

“Okay fine, but I could hold my own!” 

The two began to open their mouths to respond when Namjoon shouted at the remaining four. 

“Get over here! We’ve got a long ride.” 

Jungkook rubbed his temples, scrunching his eyebrows up in distress. “Fine, I’ll drop it, but you better tell me soon.” He said in a huff and stomped off to the van, leaving Jimin, Yoongi, and Taehyung to burst out laughing while the youngest pretended not to hear them.

       The town of Cape Springs was old. Old as in ‘stuck in a total time warp’ old. It looked like nothing had been updated since 1950. The van felt out of place, despite the various modern vehicles littering the road. Main street was all one story, one street. The boys looked peered curiously out the windows. The town could be considered charming if it weren’t for the murders happening every Saturday. 

        A stomach growled from somewhere in the van and it set everyone else off. 

“You know, I’m kinda hungry, Joonie.” Taehyung said. “I missed breakfast on the plane.” He complained. 

“Yeah, me too.” Yoongi agreed reluctantly. 

“You slept the entire time, you lazy ass. What are you even using all that energy for?” Hoseok snorted. 

“Thinking, you dumbass.” Yoongi retorted. “Unlike what you do all day, I actually use my brain.” 

“Sure thing, Mr. Head Investigator.” Hoseok said, clearly annoyed by his comments. 

“Yoongi and Taehyung aren’t the only ones.” Namjoon finally gave in, tired of listening to them bicker. It often felt like babysitting children and not a team of well trained detectives, investigators, and policemen.

       Then there was the actual child of the group, 24 year old Jungkook. He was far too innocent for someone of that age, to his hyungs, having grown up around the protective nature of the other boys. Jin pulled into an open spot and parked the car. Taehyung and Jimin threw open the door, rushing to get outside and tumbling out in a heap. The other men chuckled at their antics. 

“You clumsy idiots!” Yoongi reprimanded, climbing out and helping them up nonetheless. Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Jimin just pouted. The townspeople passing by were quiet, eyes trying not to stare at the obvious newcomers. 

“Let’s go to this diner.” Namjoon said, pointing to a faded sign that read Betty’s Diner. Jin’s eyes surveyed the street. Despite their being people with modern clothing and devices, it still felt like they were transported back to the 1950s. 

“It’s not like there’s much of an option.” Jungkook pointed out, gesturing around the small mainstreet. It was either Betty’s Diner or Isabella’s Ice Cream Parlour and there was only one that held savory food. Jimin, Taehyung, Jungkook, and Hoseok fought to get through the doorway at the same time, earning an annoyed look from the locals inside. 

“Great, we’re making such a nice first impression.” Yoongi mused, gazing at the four men arguing at the door. Namjoon tried to soothe the wrinkles between his brow as he nodded along. 

“You guys are going to give me wrinkles before I’m 40.” The police chief sighed. 

         When they could finally sit, they were put at a table in the back. The diner had to move several tables and chairs together in order to accommodate. As they ordered, they didn’t even notice the dirty looks they were getting. Seven new, rowdy, men have arrived in town. That could only mean trouble. 

“I do not snore.” Namjoon said, offended. 

“You do too!” Jin fired back. “I sat next to you for 13 hours and god knows how many nights I’ve spent in your-” 

“That’s enough!” He cried, exasperated. The poor man was always under scrutiny from his partners. He loved them all dearly, but dear god it could be a lot to handle. Jin frowned and huffed, looking away. 

“One order of french toast and orange juice.” A waiter interrupted, tone harsh. The group turned to him, surprised. The name tag read ‘Hak-kun’. 

“Here.” Taehyung raised his hand awkwardly after a brief silence. The waiter let out an annoyed sigh and practically threw the plate down with the glass. 

     Taehyung cautiously pulled the plate toward him and the other men eyed Hak-kun. The waiter stormed away without another word. The cook was watching him, everyone in the diner was watching him. There was muffled shouting and next thing they see is Hak-kun is when he’s leaving, throwing his uniform apron onto the ground in frustration. The locals stared before going into a muttering frenzy. Anger issues….always fired...psycho...etc etc.

“Should I have gotten pancakes instead?” Taehyung asked after a tense silence. Yoongi narrowed his eyes. 

“Obviously. Who eats french toast for lunch?” He scoffed. 

“Pancakes aren’t exactly a lunch food either.” Jin piped up. 

“But at least they fit into a category.” Yoongi started, ready to rant. “They know their place. They’re a breakfast food! French toast is like in mealtime limbo. Nobody ever wants french toast just for breakfast; they can also have it for lunch and dinner!” 

     Jimin was in a fit of laughter at the usually subdued man’s outburst. 

“Think they poisoned it?” Jungkook playfully nudged Taehyung who grumbled something under his breath. It sounded an awful lot like ‘They might’ve’. Lunch continued as normal. Yoongi sat in silence for the rest of the time while Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin made the group laugh with their antics. 

        The police station was dusty. Old and dusty, looking like a ghost town. Namjoon peered inside, glancing around to see a bored desk attendant. He waved, but the attendant even spare him a glance. Jin cleared his throat. The attendant jumped, looking up with dazed eyes. 

“Oh, hello? Has there been an emergency?” He asked with a questioning gaze. The seven men shifted awkwardly. 

“Uh, hello, we’re from the Bangtan police department. Were you not expecting us? We can come back at another time-” Namjoon began and the man quickly stood. 

“No! Not at all! Sorry, it’s been slow recently.” 

The men exchanged glances. 

“But...there have been a lot of murders recently, have there not?” Yoongi tilted his head. The man was sweating and they couldn’t tell if it was because it was hot or because he was guilty of something. Of course, Yoongi and Taehyung tended to intimidate people, it was part of their job, so that could also be the issue. 

“Yes! That’s why you’re here. Uh, I’ll grab the chief.” The man quickly left, rushing into the back. He opened a door into the backroom and loud talking could be heard before it was muffled once more by the door. 

      Namjoon looked lazily down at his watch, Jungkook tapped his foot nervously, Yoongi was whispering with Taehyung, Jimin was giggling about something with Hoseok, and Jin kept his eyes trained on the door. 

      A pudgy man walked through the door, a faded blue officer uniform on. He took in the men standing in his station, then looked uneasily back at the attendant. They exchanged looks and then the attendant scurried back to the desk, shrinking in his seat. The chief smiled at the men. 

“Hello boys!” He said cheerfully. “Welcome, welcome! When did you get in?” He ushered them into the back where there were empty desks lined up next to each other. Dust hung in the air, only seen in the thin streams of light coming through the slats in the windows. 

“We arrived a few hours ago, we ate at Betty’s Diner.” Namjoon said. The others nodded along with the statement. The police chief’s eyes sparkled. 

“Ah, great food yeah?” 

“Definitely!” Taehyung piped up, only to be nudged hard by Yoongi. Despite being part of Yoongi’s investigative team, he had trouble reading the room. The chief seemed cheerful but there was an odd cloud of tension. 

“What’s your name, sir?” Namjoon cut in. 

“Oh right, you can call me Officer Nam.” He held out his hand and Jin reached forward, shaking it. 

“Officer Kim Seokjin, but I go by Jin.” Jin introduced himself. 

“You can call me Namjoon.” The younger man smiled, taking Officer Nam’s hand after Jin and gave him a firm shake. Before the office could respond, the other men were taking his hand, shaking it and introducing themselves. 

“Officer Min, head of investigations.” 

“Oh don’t mind the grump, I’m Officer Kim, but just call me Taehyung. This dumbo is Yoongi.” The energetic man shook Officer Nam’s hand several times excitedly. 

“Hoseok.” The other officer was formally trained. He gave Nam a firm handshake, his grip like iron. 

“I’m Jimin, pleasure to meet you sir.” The smaller man smiled widely. Officer Nam returned the smile warily. “That’s Jungkook.” He nodded towards the younger boy who had fallen silent. “He’s training with us, he’s mostly here to observe the process.” 

“Sorry, we can be a bit much in the beginning.” Jin said. It didn’t take a detective to see that Officer Nam was overwhelmed. 

“Oh it’s quite alright. There hasn’t been much we’ve been able to figure out much information with these murders. People are on edge, ya know? They clam up, won’t talk much.” Officer Nam explained. “We often leave it to our intern to handle public affairs, she’s more versed in...talkin’ to people.” 

“Intern?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow, speaking for the first time. The officer seemed surprised to see him standing there, but nodded nonetheless. 

“She’s studyin’ to be an interrogation officer and needs some experience with a more experienced crew than us. The town is usually quiet.” 

“I see.” Namjoon murmured. 

“She won’t get in yer way!” Nam exclaimed, shaking his head. “She’s just a little shy.” 

“Where is she?” Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Well, she should be clocking in right about...now.” The office glanced at his watch. As if on cue, the door squeaked open. 

“Officer Nam? I’m here!” A soft voice called into the station. The men whirled around to see a small girl. She looked almost fragile with dark hair and a lithe frame. She looked startled to see the seven brooding men. “Sorry!” She squeaked, ready to flee the room. 

“Actually!” Officer Nam interrupted, halting her in her tracks. “Come here, I want to introduce you to Bangtan Police.” 

       She tentatively walked in. She looked like prey walking into a lion’s den; and she could’ve been with the way they were looking at her.

“Yes?” She shakily pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“This is Namjoon, Jin, Yoongi, Taehyung, Hoseok, Jimin, and Jungkook. They’re from The Bangtan Police Department and I’d like you to spend the remaining time in your work study with them to help solve this case.”

“W-why?” She turned, alarmed, to look at her superior. 

“Because they have much more experience and you haven’t gotten much experience with us here.” He explained, his gaze filled with something akin to fatherly love. “Now, introduce yourself.” He nudged her towards them. 

      The girl looked up hesitantly. Her gaze flickered away quickly, despite the encouraging smiles on their faces. 

“I’m Hae-won.” She murmured. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and I hope we can work well together.” 

     The boys were already swooning, hearts beating loudly. Once the chief left to discuss details with Namjoon, the boys split off to look around. Jungkook immediately took a place next to Hae-won. 

“Hey, Hae-won.” He grinned. She flushed and looked away. He was reminded of Y/N, but Hae-won was 10x shyer it seemed. “Wanna show me around?” 

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Her voice was barely a whisper. 

“Now come on, how are you going to be an interrogation officer if people can barely hear you? Speak up.” He teased. Hae-won looked up startled, eyes wide. 

“Oh right, yeah, that.” She murmured, more to herself than anything, but Jungkook heard it. 

“Do you not want to be an interrogation officer? That’s perfectly fine, y’know?” Jungkook paid no mind to her confused expression. “It’s not perfect for everyone.” 

“Hm.” She didn’t seem amused, just lost in thought. She seemed to notice the awkward pause, however, because she tugged on his arm. “Right, let me show you my favorite part of this station!” 

        As Jungkook was dragged away, Yoongi spoke with Jin. 

“The people here are...odd.” the paler man spoke. 

“It’s a small town, Yoongles.” Jin said.

“I guess...and don’t call me that.” 

“What?”

“Yoongles.” The man scoffed. Jin swatted his arm. 

“Now, is that anyway to talk to your hyung?” The older man teased. 

    In the corner, Taehyung and Jimin were looking around the empty station. 

“Where is everyone?” Taehyung scrunched his nose, trying not to sneeze as a plume of dust flew into his face. Jimin ran his finger along the edge of a desk, tilting his head as he looked at the fine layer of grime on his finger. 

“Not sure. Maybe it’s just an off day.” Jimin shrugged, wiping his finger off on his pants. 

“I mean, why have all these desks if you don’t use them?” 

“Hae-won suggested we get them.” Officer Nam said, arms crossed as he appeared in the doorway. Taehyung jumped, goosebumps running up his arms as Jimin tapped his foot nervously. 

“Why?” The detective asked. 

“She said ‘just in case’.” The officer mimicked the young girl. They surveyed the room. Eight desks. 

“Hm. Interesting.” 

Officer Nam just shrugged nonchalantly. “That girl can be a little weird sometimes. She’s too eager, too soft for this line of work.”

“I’m sure she’ll get the hang of it.” Taehyung suddenly felt the need to defend the poor girl. Officer Nam’s lips slid into a sleazy grin. 

“I see.” He said. 

“Let’s split up.” Namjoon announced upon arrival. The alleyway was in a rather shady part of the town. There was fresh blood on the stones, a smear on the pavement, an arc of blood across the wall. None of them even flinched, not even Hae-won. 

“I’ll take Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jimin.” Jin said. “Let’s look over the crime scene.” 

        Taehyung nodded, pulling out his camera to take pictures. Yoongi crouched near the blood smear on the pavement and Jimin wandered around, handing them gloves and then running his hands over every seam in the wall. 

        Namjoon took Hae-won, Hoseok, and Jungkook to interview witnesses and the surrounding townspeople. 

        Jimin knelt on the ground, hand running over a soft texture. Curious, he carefully picked up the object. In his hand was a soft tie, one that looked oddly familiar. He lifted it to the air, examining it in the fading sunlight. It looked new, not exactly a week old. It was possible that it was planted there, but he needed to bring it in nonetheless. The pink haired man took out a ziploc bag and placed the tie inside of it before sealing it up once more. 

“Who was the victim and how was she found?” Hoseok asked, holding a notepad and pen. Officer Nam scratched his head for a minute before walking over to the spot. 

“Right here.” He gestured to where a pool of blood was at the end of the blood streak. “She was leanin’ up against this wall, throat slit as y’know.” 

“Mhm.” There was the scratch of the cheap pen against the notepad as Hoseok wrote down his words. “What was her name?” 

“Mun-hee.” 

“Great. Thank you for your cooperation, if you have any further information, please do tell us.” Hoseok dipped his head. Hae-won observed from a distance, standing next to Namjoon as he explained the process to her. 

“So Hoseok here is going to ask the most important question first and then go on to specifics. Pleasantries aren’t too necessary until the end. He’ll close with a polite statement and leave.” The chief said as they watched the interaction. “In fact, here he comes now.” 

Hoseok waved at the two and winked at Hae-won. “Didya learn anything?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Hae-won smiled anxiously under his gaze and he laughed. Namjoon pulled at them to regroup with the others as night drew nearer. 

     The next day, they decided to have a formal meeting to discuss the situation. 

“So, we have Mun-hee, killed and placed in the exact same way as Jane Doe.” Jin laid out the facts. “She even looked a bit like Jane Doe. Were they relatives?” 

“No.” Hoseok shook his head. 

“I found a tie at the scene.” Jimin held up the plastic bag. Hae-won looked on curiously. Now Jimin had their attention. “It looks familiar, I just can’t put my finger on it.” 

“That’s from Betty’s Diner.” Hae-won interrupted. “I recognize it and I think it’s Hak-kun’s.” 

“Why?” Namjoon turned to look at the small girl. She pressed her lips into a thin line. 

“Well, he didn’t show up for work so I’m guessing he quit. He called me before that to say he lost his tie and broke down because his boss scolded him for forgetting to wear it.” She mused to herself before straightening again. “Those are just speculations.” 

       The chief of Bangtan smiled at her with a nod of approval. Even Yoongi quirked an eyebrow, Taehyung mimicked his expression. She was wary of the two of them. It always felt like they could see right through her. 

“Listen, it’s Friday. The killer strikes again tomorrow and if it’s Hak-kun, then we need to bring him into custody.” Yoongi said factually. 

“Are you seriously going to gamble people’s lives? What if it’s not him? Then we have no one watching out for the killer because we’re all trying to watch him.” Hoseok looked appalled at the suggestion. 

“Listen, I’m fine with that. We could see if there’s a pattern.” Yoongi shrugged. 

“There are people’s lives at risk here!” Hoseok shouted, slamming a fist onto the table. The other members jumped, surprised to see Hoseok so worked up.

“Jeez, you cops always get so worked up about people’s lives.” Yoongi said with a groan. 

“You’re technically a cop too, ya know?” The man sighed and slouched in his chair, defeated. 

“He has a point.” Taehyung piped up, earning a glare from his mentor. Instead of cowering back, as per usual, he jutted out his chin and continued. “Besides, don’t you think these murders are just too...delicate? Too well thought out for someone who’s doing this simply out of a moment of anger.” 

“We still can’t discount the fact that his tie was found at the crime scene. That’s damning evidence.” Jin jumped in. 

         There was a tense silence, Yoongi and Taehyung exchanging warring glares and Jin now staring intensely at Hoseok. A muscle in Taehyung’s jaw twitched uncontrollably. Namjoon’s gaze swept the room before he slowly stood, hands pressing to the table. 

“I say we bring him in for questioning. We don’t have to guard him if we just put him in a cell overnight.” He said, trying to reach a conclusion both sides would agree with. Jimin, who hadn’t spoken his opinion, just watched as the team was already divided. 

“Doesn’t it feel like the killer is toying with us?” He murmured, but with the silence in the room, everyone heard. 

“What do you mean by that, Jiminie?” Hoseok turned his attention away from Jin. His movement stirred the other members to look at him, Hae-won remained silent. 

“Mun-hee is found in the exact same situation as Jane Doe, as if the killer expected us and wanted to put on a show. A show of power. They’re saying ‘look, I did it once, I can do it again, and stump you every time.’ A subtle fuck you.” Jimin’s eyes darkened. The other men visibly stiffened, looking around nervously. 

“But how would they know?” Namjoon asked. 

“Small town, word spreads fast.” Taehyung said dryly. 

“That doesn’t narrow anything down.” Jin sighed, running a hand down his face in exasperation. 

“Well, actually,” Jungkook piped up. The attention turned to him and he swallowed, suddenly nervous. “Eye witness accounts say they saw a ‘strange man’ walking around.” He spoke, tapping his pen against the notepad in front of him. They pondered over this discovery. 

“Hak-kun fits that.” Taehyung muttered, saying what was on the others’ minds. 

“Just because he’s a man?” Hae-won scoffed, a sudden hard tone to her voice that had Jungkook turning to look at her, surprised. She quickly cleared her throat, returning to the quiet voice she usually had. “I mean, I just, I don’t know if that’s enough information, but with his tie, I think it’s a good idea to investigate him.”

“Right.” Namjoon nodded, rubbing his chin with his fingers. “Well, we’ll bring him in, get a warrant for his arrest, there’s substantial evidence, and interview him. Any objections?” 

       The six men’s eyes scanned the room before they all nodded. They waited, staring expectantly at Hae-won. She flushed a bright red from being thrusted into the spotlight. 

“Y-yeah. That sounds great.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. They all smiled fondly at her.

“Saturday, the countdown begins.” Jin mused, picking up his watch from his bedside table. 

“You’re setting a bad example, joking about these murders.” Namjoon sighed, rolling over, throwing an arm around the older man. The tips of Jin’s ears went red, goosebumps rolling up and down his body. 

“Joonie, some people have a sense of humor.” He snorted, turning over to face the man next to him. He placed his hands on either side of Namjoon’s face and slowly leaned in. The chief met the distance, lips brushing Jin’s. Then the chief smiled, pulling away to look at his second in command. He loved this man. 

“I have a great sense of humor, I fell in love with you after all.” 

“I don’t know if I should be offended or touched by your proclamation of love.” Jin huffed, shifting to sit up, hotel blankets pooling around his waist. 

“You’re unfair, Jin.” Namjoon murmured. “So handsome and, fuck.” He sighed, obviously conflicted. 

“We already know I’m the handsomest, Joonie.” 

“But how did you end up with a mess like me? Sometimes you handle the children better than me, and I’m supposed to be the police chief!” 

“They just need a little mothering. And don’t underestimate yourself, I’m sure a person like Y/N would throw herself at you if she got the chance, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” Jin laughed, getting up and pulling on his suit. 

        It was sort of a uniform, black linen pants and a white button up. This was paired with a navy blue suit jacket that had his badge in the pocket. He went to the bathroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth, mumbling something about there being a lack of room service at this motel. Namjoon just chuckled at his grumbling and got dressed as well. He wore black pants, like Jin, and a white button up shirt, except his suit jacket was a faded brown. 

“You always bring up Y/N, it’s almost like you like her too.” Namjoon pointed an accusing finger at his partner. 

“And what if I did?” 

“Well it would be unfair because I met her first.” 

“You can’t just claim women, Joonie.” He rolled his eyes and opened the heavy hotel room door. 

“I’ll do what I want.”

“You say that now, but we all know she has you whipped.” 

“Who has who whipped?” Jungkook’s curious voice echoed through the hallway. Jin spun on his heel to face the maknae. 

“Now look what you’ve done.” Jin glared at Namjoon who just shrugged innocently. 

“I’m just kidding.” Jungkook sighed. “I’m not as innocent as you guys think I am.” He wandered down the stairs, finally getting tired of acting dumb, the Chief and Second in Command now following him. 

“Elaborate.” Namjoon demanded. 

“Oh please, you guys actually bought that I was that oblivious?” He sat down, ignoring the other men at the table whose conversation came to a halt at the sight of them. 

“Well, I-” Jin’s face was red. 

“Come on, I know Taehyung and Yoongi are practically eye fucking each other every minute and quite literally fucking each other every night. Please keep it down guys.” The youngest pointed a finger at the two men sitting next to each other. They looked away with a huff, but their faces were red. 

“And You two.” He turned to Namjoon and Jin. “You make me sick, really. You’re so cute and reliable. Then you go and flaunt your cuteness to everyone. We all see it! Hoseok and Jimin-guys, just ask each other out already!” 

      There was a long silence. Jungkook shrunk back in his seat, bravado gone, now worried he took it a little too far. 

“Kookie, you’re not aware of the full story here.” Namjoon chuckled after a tense moment, the noise echoed by the other men at the table.

“You really want to tell him?” Jin eyed Joon warily. 

“It’s time he knows.” Taehyung sighed. 

“What? Know what?” Jungkook felt the bubble of envy in his stomach. They kept so many things from him; little secret, jokes. One time they forgot to invite Jungkook to his own surprise party. 

“Well,” Jimin reached out and grabbed Namjoon’s hand. “We’re actually...all together already.” 

“Oh.” The younger’s voice was soft, trying not to betray the emotions flowing through him. They were all dating? And without him? Was he fucking seventh wheeling??? “Without me?” He furrowed his eyebrows. 

      Jin started laughing his windshield wiper laugh as Hoseok smiled. Taehyung and Yoongi exchanged glances. 

“That was an unexpected answer.” Yoongi muttered under his breath. 

“That’s what we wanted to talk about this morning.” Jimin said soothingly, touch relaxing Jungkook easily. “We want you to join us.” 

“R-really?” 

“Yes.” Taehyung nodded quickly. 

“Is that a yes?” Hoseok asked, watching Jungkook’s mouth open and close. The sounds of the guests around him went underwater. He couldn’t hear anything, emotions spiraling out of control. All six of them? It was insane. But then he couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else. 

“Yes.” He said quietly. “Yes!” He said again, louder. Namjoon smiled, cupping his chin with his slender fingers. 

“Then, may I?” He asked for permission softly. 

        Jungkook simply nodded and Namjoon tentatively placed his lips against his. It was quick, brief, one might even think it was an accident if it hadn’t been for Namjoon’s hand on his chin. 

“Did I do something wrong?” 

“No, baby, it’s just that...this is a small town. That’s why we’re trying not to be very open.” 

“Oh, I see.” Jungkook refused to pout. He wanted to have some big romantic story, but that would have to wait. They were trying to solve a series of murders, dammit. 

“We should get going.” Yoongi glanced at his watch and the others agreed, standing and taking their suit jackets off the backs of their chairs. 

    The morning breakfast rush had dissipated, now only the metal containers of bacon and eggs left. The place was just as dusty as the police station and it made Jungkook’s nose twitch with the urge to sneeze. 

“Why is everything so dusty here?” Jimin complained, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. 

“Yeah, it’s making me-” Taehyung was interrupted by the loud sneeze that escaped his mouth. 

“Bless you.” Yoongi responded immediately, rubbing Taehyung’s back caringly.

     It was the first sign of affection Yoongi had openly given Taehyung. They were alone, for one, and for two, Taehyung seemed a little down today, just a little sad. 

“Let’s get going, Hak-kun should be in his apartment still, according to the schedule Hae-won gave us.” Jin checked his phone to pull up the screenshot. 

“Why does she have his schedule?” Jimin asked innocently. 

“It’s a small town, who knows?” Yoongi pressed his lips into a thin line. 

Knock knock knock. Namjoon waited patiently, his partners waiting near the car so as to not scare Hak-kun off. There was the sound of footsteps and a loud groan. The door opened a crack, stopped by the chain inside. 

“Who are you?” The voice was gruff. 

“I’m Kim Namjoon from the Bangtan Police Department. I’d like to ask you a few questions regarding the murders of Jane Doe, Mun-hee, and others.” 

“Okay one second.” The voice was more awake this time as he shut the door. The chain rattled on the other side and then the door opened fully. A man stood in clothes that looked like he’d slept in them. Namjoon immediately recognized him as their rude waiter. 

“Had a rough night?” He tried to be pleasant. 

“Yeah, slept in the car again. The damn heater broke in my apartment.” The man grumbled, stepping aside to let him in. When Namjoon walked in, already tense, his eyes had to adjust to the darkness. 

      Despite the thin streams of light shining through the slats in his windows, the room was in utter darkness. As he adjusted, he could make out piles of clothing on the floor, dishes in the sink, unwashed, and cups littering the floor. There was also an odd assortment of broken items in the corner of the room, hidden in the darkness. 

      It looked like someone threw a rager in this house and then left. The brown haired police chief was surprised anyone could be this messy. Like, he was messy, yes, but he would never let himself degenerate to this state. 

“What do you need to know?” Hak-kun somehow found a place to sit on the couch, but it had a dent carved in it and Namjoon was sure that was the only place you could sit on that couch. 

“Actually, we have a warrant for your arrest due to substantial evidence implicating you in the murder of Mun-hee.” Namjoon dug around his pockets and took out the papers. 

“Oh, I see.” Hak-kun’s eyes didn’t quite meet Namjoon’s. He looked around, jaw clenching in signs of annoyance. 

“What’s that?” The chief asked, pointing to the broken objects in the corner of the room. The man’s nostrils flared in anger. 

“I just get mad sometimes and things happen, okay?” He snapped. “I’ll go with you willingly, I have nothing to hide.” Hak-kun stood and dusted off his pants, though they were already dirty with food stains. 

Namjoon grimaced and nodded, in a hurry to leave the dirty apartment. 

Audio recording #1:

MYG: Is it alright if we record this?

HK: Yeah, it’s fine. 

MYG: Great, okay, please tell us how you are connected to Mun-hee. 

HK: Mun-hee...ah, Mun-hee. We went to school together. Wait, can I get a glass of water or something? I have a splitting headache. 

MYG: Of course. 

KTH: So you knew her?

HK: Hah, well, we grew up together.  It was often just us, this stupid town, the old schools. A lot of kids come here because it’s the closest school around these parts, but only a couple actually live here. 

MYG: Who else lives here?

HK: Hm, there was me, Mun-hee, Joo-Eun, and another girl, her name is slipping my mind. 

KTH: You grew up with these people, though, how do you not know their names?

HK: She was always easily forgettable. She’s not much trouble though, I remember her being a nice girl...until, nevermind.

MYG: Until what?

HK: It’s not my place to say. 

KTH: Well it would do you good to say it.

MYG (muffled): Taehyung get it together. 

HK: I don’t want to talk about it. 

MYG: That’s alright, Hak-kun, I can call you that, right?

HK: Yeah. 

MYG: What do you remember about last saturday? 

HK: Not much. I remember I drank some weird shit at the party-

MYG: The same one Mun-hee went to?

HK: Yes. 

MYG: And why were you there, Hak-kun. 

HK: Mun-hee is, was, my friend, sir. I would never do anything to hurt her, if that’s what you’re wondering. Listen, I know you guys are trying your best, but just drop it. I have nothing to do with it. That tie went missing long before Mun-hee’s body was found. I’ve obviously been framed and you stupid ass-

MYG: Okay, I think that’s enough for today. Thank you for coming, Sir. Please calm down or we’ll be forced to detain you. 

HK: DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, ASSHO-

Beep. 

“Well that was certainly insightful.” Yoongi mumbled, glancing over to where Hak-kun sat, dejected, in his cell. Taehyung sighed and played the tape again, taking more notes of the important information along with his personal thoughts. 

“I thought you guys were supposed to be good at this.” Namjoon eyed the two with a raised eyebrow. 

“Joonie, he was a difficult person to interview. I could tell he was annoyed the entire time except when he spoke of Mun-hee.” Taehyung frowned, flipping through his notes. “Here, I wrote down ‘aggressively making eye contact and frowning.’”

“Are those seriously your notes?” Yoongi looked through his notes which were pages longer. “Do I need to train you in note taking as well?” 

“No! I just, I don’t notice as much as you, oh wise Yoongles.” Taehyung crossed his arms, pouting. Yoongi just softened his expression. 

“You can always tell me what’s wrong.” He placed a tentative hand on Taehyung’s arm. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Hae-won’s soft voice hovered in the air. She was closing the door of the security room behind her. 

     Jin often handled the security room, but he trusted her to watch Hak-kun while he went to the bathroom. Jin slipped back in as she stepped into the room with the others. 

      Yoongi immediately dropped his hand, to the disappointment of Taehyung, and straightened. A cold look once again cast over his face. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to let you know that I have to head back early to finish up some school work.” She explained with a gentle smile. 

“Okay, rest up and study well.” Namjoon nodded and she dipped her head, heading out the door. They all stared fondly at her retreating form. “The same goes for the rest of you.” 

       They had spent all day just interviewing and wrestling answers out of Hak-kun and yet they came up empty every time. Maybe he was truly innocent and they were trying to convict a good man. This was the kind of case where things could get really messy if they kept going on intuition instead of hard facts. 

“Let’s wrap it up and head back to the hotel. Jin, are you coming?” Namjoon called as the others filed out of the station. 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna check some things and then I’ll be back in no time.” 

Trusting his second in command, Namjoon left. 

      The first sunlight was filtering through the windows of an empty cell. A glass of water was on the ground next to the cot, tipped over, the ground wet beneath it. 

“How could he have escaped? Where did he go?” 

-

Hands reached out to the unsuspecting man. 

“Do you have a headache? You look in pain.” The voice said, hiding the glinting blade in the moonlight. 

“Who are you?”

“Just a nice person. I have something that could really help.” 

“What is it?”

“Oh, just some medication for headaches. It works wonders.” 

“Pass it here.” 

The man is passed out soon enough and the shadowy figure grabs the keys off one of the hooks in the back and unlocks his cell. Then the figure dragged him out, put him in his car, slit his throat, and placed his face down at the dashboard. They were back home in 10 minutes, bloodlust satisfied. 

-

“The feed is just looping. How did I not notice this before?” Jin mumbled, head in his hands. 

“Hey, it’s okay, the killer was...tricky.” Namjoon comforted his lover. 

“Boss.” Jungkook piped up, holding a phone in the air. “It’s for you.” 

     The chief of police stood and walked over with purposeful steps. It was easy to see why he was the chief. He was sure of himself, walked with purpose, passion, and he always looked like he had a mission. 

“Mhm?” He murmured. “This is he. What? How did it get there? Okay, okay, I’ll send my best men out to investigate. Please hang in there and don’t touch anything.” He hung up, rushing to throw on his suit jacket. “Hak-kun’s body was just found.”

“Where?” Jimin stood as well and the others followed suit. 

“In his car. No one disturbed him, claimed he slept in his car all the time and no one thought much of it. It’s just...so odd.” Namjoon sighed. 

“Why?” Yoongi tilted his head. Their fearless leader wasn’t usually thrown by anything, always keeping a cool facade. But here he seemed to be cracking. 

“His car was found across town.” He raced out the door, watching the others pile in and Jin took the driver’s seat. “I just feel like this case is getting away from us. We’re obviously missing something.” The chief stared out the window, thinking intensely. The other members knew not to make too much noise. 

“Do you think...it’s time to bring someone else in?” Taehyung asked quietly. 

“What do you mean by that?” Jungkook said defensively. 

“I mean,” Taehyung shot the younger boy a look that shut him up. “That we may need more of a specialist in here. There’s one thing we haven’t been able to look at.”

“And that is?” Yoongi closed his eyes lazily as he leaned back in his seat. 

“Blood. We haven’t been able to test the blood.” 

“Well, we only know one reliable person who can do that and she’s probably very busy.” Jin scolded the younger males. “But it’s a good idea.” 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s just take a look and then we can decide.” 

      The street they pulled up to was quiet, not a person in sight. The leaves shifted in the breeze, skittering across the ground. It made for an uneasy sight. They stepped out and Jin locked the car. 

     Jimin handed out gloves and then he went around, feeling over the creases of the blue car, completely ignoring the dead body inside. 

“Found anything interesting?” Jungkook called. 

“Nope.” Jimin responded flatly, concentrated. He peered inside, seeing the blood pooling on the dashboard and dripping into Hak-kun’s lap.

 “I think it’s definitely the same killer. He has the same neck slice.” He felt over the windows. Not a single scratch. “No signs of forced entry or struggle with the car.” He dictated as Hoseok took careful notes. 

“I see no bruising visible on the victim, wait.” He crawled onto the back of the car, peering through the back window. “I see some purple markings on the back of the victim.” 

    The shadowy figure dragged Hak-kun, his back bumping over every curve, spine taking the brunt of the blows. He moaned in pain, starting to stir. The figure panicked. They need to get this over with quickly. 

“Anything else?” Hoseok asked. 

“No, I’d have to see the inside.” Jimin sighed, brushing some hair out of his face. 

“We’ll see what we can do to get the keys.” Namjoon nodded at Hoseok to write that down. 

“This case has me stumped, Namjoon. Obviously, the killer must be drugging them, how else can they get away with all this with no struggle?” Jimin stretched his arms. 

“It’s confusing to me too, but I’m sure we’ll find out something soon enough.” 

“Namjoon, I think we all know who we need to call.” Yoongi set a firm hand on Namjoon’s shoulder and the police chief’s shoulders drooped. 

“But I don’t want to bother her, besides I think we can figure it out, right?” 

“This is her job, It’s time to man up and call Y/N.”

A/N p.2: Hey guys! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged!! Any predictions yet? I’m sorry this took so long, I was in a creative block

Other: 

Previous (teaser) | Next 

[dilly-oh]

Three Strikes

    “Listen up, team,” Captain Yamato says, his face deathly serious, “we are going to murder these guys. They are going to be sent home in body-bags. They’re the enemy, and we’re gonna slaughter them.”

    Kakashi glances over at the other team. They look like a bunch of sweaty highschool kids, same as them, though their baseball uniforms look like they’ve seen better days. Or months. Two messy brown-haired boys are passing around a joint, a douchey-looking kid with silver hair is blatantly screwing around on his phone, and another is straight up sleeping on the bench. Their Captain is facing them, hands on his hips as he tries to rouse his teammates, ponytail bouncing at the effort. It seems a lost cause, just like their chances of winning.

    “Even their parents aren’t going to be able to identify their remains.”

    Yamato’s doing that thing again where he gets too serious and starts creeping everyone out. Kakashi looks over at Coach Minato to see if he’s going to put a stop to this, but he’s too busy giggling and sexting his wife to notice. As usual.

    “Kakashi, we’re counting on your pitches to really massacre them, got it?” Yamato fixes him with that soul-killing stare, all blank and dead-eyed.

    “Mmm,” Kakashi hums noncommittally, his lower face hidden behind his catcher’s mitt. He finds the smell comforting. Also, Asuma is sitting next to him, and reeks of a nauseating combination of B.O., cigarette smoke and Kurenai’s perfume. As if they’re fooling anyone by claiming to be ‘just friends’. 

    “Can we hurry this up?” Genma cuts in, snapping his gum. “I have a hot date in, like, two hours.” 

    “I’m sitting right here,” Raido states. “You’re so fucking embarrassing.”

    “Love you too, babe.”

    “Where the hell is Gai?” Asuma asks, glancing around.

    “He ate too many protein bars again. He’s in the can.”

    Kakashi can’t wait for this to be over so he can go home and chill with the dogs. All eight of them. He makes a mental reminder to pick up some more Milkbones on the way home. 

    The thing is, Kakashi is damn good at baseball, even though he loathes it. He’d drop it in a heartbeat and spend all his free time playing CoD, except his father insists he play a sport to ‘round out his resume’. As if his straight A’s since Kindergarten and 160 IQ wasn’t enough. Kakashi’s pitches are precise, powerful, and virtually unstoppable. The ball almost seems to move as if he controls it himself. He strikes everyone out with 99.9% accuracy, able to analyze an opponent in a single glance and determine their weaknesses. It’s the reason their team has made it so far, despite his teammate’s determined efforts to goof off. 

    The two coaches finally get their shit together and shake hands (the other coach is an elderly man who winks at Asuma for some reason, who groans). The game begins, and Kakashi takes his place on the pitcher’s mound, rolling the ball soothingly around in his hand. The other team’s Captain is up first. After adjusting his ponytail under his helmet, he walks to the plate, taps the ground with his bat, and looks up at Kakashi just as he winds up to throw.

    He’s a nerdy looking kid with gangly arms, a scar over the bridge of his nose, and a determined scowl on his face. 

    He’s the most gorgeous thing Kakashi’s ever seen. 

    The ball slips off his fingers, goes spinning off in a corkscrew, and clocks a drink right out of a bystander’s hand. Soda sprays everywhere, thoroughly coating a good portion of the meager crowd. 

    “Foul!” the umpire cries. The boy blinks in surprise, then squares up again, bat waving tauntingly. Kakashi gets another ball and winds up.

    This time his ball hits a car in the parking lot, the burglar alarm wailing away. The car’s owner wails even louder.

    “Foul!” 

    Kakashi throws another foul. And another. 

    “Ball!”

    The boy walks. He glances at Kakashi as he trots by him, confused. Kakashi keeps his eyes on the ground, cursing inwardly.

    This will not happen again.

    It happens again.

    And again.

    And again. 

    It’s not so bad when the boy’s on second base, because then he’s directly behind Kakashi and out of his line of sight. But when he’s on first or third, he can see him out of the corner of his eye, and his gaze is naturally drawn to him, concentration wavering. It’s even worse when he’s on the bench, because then Kakashi can see him in his natural state, smiling and chatting amicably with his teammates. 

    But nothing compares to when he’s up to the plate, standing ready for the pitch. The intensity of those deep brown eyes is staggering, making his legs weak. He walks each time, Kakashi’s near-perfect pitches always spinning out of control and destroying something of value. He’s just glad he’s hit mostly inanimate objects and not people. 

    After several innings of this, Captain Yamato has had enough, and he calls a time-out, dragging Kakashi to the side of the dugout for a polite chat. 

    “Kakashi, the fuck is going on? You’re throwing the damn game! Literally!”

    “I’m sorry,” Kakashi mumbles, miserable. “I...I don’t know-”

    “Are you feeling alright?” Captain Minato has decided to finally do his job and actually act like a Coach, walking over to join them.

    “M’fine.” Kakashi shakes his head, hiding his face behind his glove. “It’s just...I keep getting...distracted.” Yamato sputters indignantly, but Minato’s studying him, a thoughtful look on his face. He glances over at the other team, and Kakashi’s traitorous eyes follow, latching onto the boy, who is busy scolding his teammates again, cheeks flushed with frustration. Kakashi’s ears start to burn. Minato chuckles and he hurriedly snaps his gaze back.

   “...I think I see what the problem is.” He pats Kakashi’s shoulder with a knowing grin. “Listen, Kakashi...why don’t you sit this one out? Just...relax and enjoy the view.”

    It feels like Kakashi’s ears are going to burn down to nubs.

    “What?! He can’t sit out, we need him! How else are we going to bathe in their blood?”

    “Bathe in their- what? Christ, Yamato, it’s just a game. Calm down. Are we going to have to have another talk?”

    Kakashi drags his feet back to the bench and plonks himself down. The others glance over at him in concern. 

    “What’s up, Kakashi?” Genma asks. “Constipated?”

    “Gai, give him some of your protein bars.” Raido elbows the other boy in the gut, who groans. 

    Nevermind, they’re just idiots. Kakashi cowers behind his mitt in shame. 

    The game continues, and his teammates manage to do remarkably well without him. Gai makes a surprisingly good substitute pitcher, although he screams “Dynamic Pitch!!” every time he throws the ball until Coach Minato tells him to cut it out. Asuma is jacked enough that he can hit a home-run every time he connects, and Kakashi is pretty sure the other team is terrified of Yamato and his intimidating stare. The game makes a quick turnaround, and in the blink of an eye, they’ve won. He’s been staring nonstop at the boy, too, so that might have something to do with the quick win. 

    Everyone cheers and high-fives while Kakashi quickly grabs his stuff, shoves it in his duffle, and scuttles off towards the bus. Coach Minato is suddenly next to him, blocking his way. 

    “Why don’t you go say hi?” he suggests, nodding his head at the other team.

    Kakashi can’t think of anything more horrible.

    “This was an away game,” Minato reminds him. “You might never see him again.”

    ...Dammit. 

    Dropping his bag in the dirt, Kakashi forces himself to turn around and walk robotically towards the boy, who is just wrapping up a speech to his teammates about how they’re still winners for doing their best, but no-one’s really listening. He turns away from them, shaking his head in exasperation, and blinks in surprise as Kakashi stops in front of him. He’s even cuter up close. Kakashi keeps his eyes on the ground to keep from being blinded. 

    “...Hi.”

    “Uh. Hey.” The boy regards him warily. “You alright out there? The Coach made you sit down.”

    “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” Kakashi pauses long enough for the silence to turn painfully awkward. “I’m Kakashi, by the way.” 

    “Iruka.” God, even his name is cute. Kakashi scrambles to think of something to talk about. 

    “So, um. Do you...like baseball?”

    “Not really, no,” Iruka answers. “I’d rather be home playing CoD, to tell the truth.”

    “Oh my God, me too,” Kakashi slumps over, awash with relief. “Have you seen the latest updates? They have a new map that-”

    The next five minutes are incomprehensible gibberish to everyone but them as they debate the best maps, guns, and loadouts.

    “Iruka, let’s go!” a voice calls impatiently from the parking lot. 

    “Yeah, yeah, just a minute,” he calls back, waving at his teammates. Kakashi’s stomach tightens. 

    This is it. His last chance. 

    “Hey, uh...” He takes a deep breath. “You wanna...hang out sometime?” 

    Iruka stares back at him blankly. 

    “I live, like, twenty miles away from you.”

    “Oh.” Kakashi blinks. “Right. Sorry.” He feels like a complete idiot. Here he was, thinking he actually had a chance-

    “Here’s my phone number. Message me so I can friend you and we’ll play later.”

    ...Then again, maybe he did.

    They exchange numbers, Kakashi happily adding a dolphin emoji after Iruka’s name. 

    “So is this a friend thing, or a boyfriend thing?” Iruka asks, blunt as can be. Kakashi just gapes at him, wide-eyed in horror. His face feels like it’s on fire, and he desperately wishes he’d brought his glove to hide behind.

    “...Only...if you want it to be,” he croaks out. Iruka stares at him a beat longer, then breaks out into a blinding grin. 

    “Yeah, sure, why not. You were pretty cute out there, spazzing out every time I was up to bat. I’m surprised you didn’t hit a bird.”

    Oh my God. He knew. Oh my GOD. 

    “I have to warn you, though...” Iruka went on, grinning cheekily, “three strikes, and you’re out.”

    Kakashi has never been more in love.

(Written for @kakairu-fest, Week 1 Prompt: Summer Sports)

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Ep33 S4 pt 1: Deus Ex US Military

Been a little distracted but was reminded--yo--I gotta finish S4 of Yugioh this year. I think I can do it. There’s like...what...two episodes left? Three? Like I don’t want to tempt 2020, but like...I think I can finish this thing.

That and a bunch of my Photoshop files corrupted, I don’t know why, I’m very scared for my hard drive, and I need to do a big ol defrag and hope that’s enough. Really hoping this is my bad and not my computer’s bad. I’m pretty hard on this computer when I paint digitally.

and I was immediately gifted by the anime gods because yo, it’s my favorite storyboarder! They're back to carry me through my election burn out, every episode they touch has so much style and no matter how freakin weird or confusing the plot is, this storyboarder/animation team doesn’t seem to care. They will this kids show about cards with this attention to detail. They just have a lot of enthusiasm and that’s a thing about anime that I really like to see. No matter how weird it is, you gotta go 150% without any shame. Love it. Love to see em back.

First off, that earthquake from last episode?

Just a little bigger of an earthquake than I originally thought, coincidentally, this is when Roland shows up, only to realize that he’s like...10 minutes to late.

Well, maybe a little longer than 10 minutes when you consider that Mai freakin died and Yugi almost died, and Joey is absolutely dead and being carried across Tristan’s back.

Anyway, Roland just walked into a whole lot and is just trying to process his life. Roland is all of us in October/November of 2020.

If Roland only knew how many times Seto and Mokuba have totally biffed it when he wasn’t looking.

Like for reals...how is Roland still alive? Like...I don’t think the guy has ever died. Not even once. Maybe that’s Roland’s superpower as the secret FourthKaiba, by just being the only one to stay very far away from the constant BS strewn at this family.

Roland is just...too inept to die. He’s always too far away, he comes after the big bad has already murdered a few people, he’s just...too bad at his job to ever be a target. Live long, Roland. The Kaiba who was the smartest of all by actually being the dumbest.

Also, look at him parking far enough away on the actual helicopter landing pad. He is the only ‘Kaiba’ that follows the law. This could also be the other reason for his secret to longevity.

(read more under the cut)

Faced with a stairwell between their freedom and this weird earthquake chasm that just opened on the top story of this building, Yami decides it’s his job to carry...................

...................Raphael.

(Never forget that we know the exactly weight of Yugi Muto.)

And like Yami is weirdly strong because of magic powers but like...maybe Yami should take Joey and then Tristan should pick up Raphael? I’d say Tea could also pick up Raphael, but I feel like she just wouldn’t want to.

TBQH maybe the reason that Yami is carrying Raphael is because literally no one else feels like it? Like no one likes this guy?

Just kinda feels like Yami is holding onto Raphael out of a sunk-cost fallacy. He’s already done so much work to this guy, can’t lose him now. Gotta save Raphael to make up for killing Gurimo, Weevil, and Yugi. Can’t fail a fourth time.

Anyway, you know what else this storyboarder is good at?

How did they even get reference for drawing this? They didn’t, right? They’re just so good at art that they were like “I can draw ANY person in ANY outfit straight up the crotch, I dare you.”

Seto decides to...not help out, much like virtually all of Yami’s other friends, who also just kinda...yelled and cried at this situation instead of...helping.

Which is fine, because the stairwell gave out and then Raphael decided to uhhhh throw this directly at me.

Just one more yeet for the road. Youknow this guy has yeeted the Pharaoh not once but twice in one season, and both times he just chucked him like he was made out of foam core. (Also, please admire the millennium puzzle in this shot going out at like a 90 degree angle. Just...A+, this storyboarder is hilarious)

At first, I really thought Yami was dabbing his way over that ledge.

In a moody shot with his hair and his jacket swaying in the breeze, almost designed for you to lift and stick into your Youtube AMVs, Seto looked onward and seemed...kind of bored because no one’s throwing any cards. And like who can blame him, he has been on the top of so many ledges and so many buildings that he’s seen Yami make this same speech of “DON’T DO THIS DAMN LEDGE THING I SWEAR TO GODS” like...so many times.

He just immediately accepts Yugi died and is like “Well I guess that makes me king of games.”

And Raphael, after like several minutes of begging Yami to just let him die, decides to let go of that ledge on his own, because this is Yugioh, and you gotta fit in that suicide within the first 10 minutes of the episode. Which, PS, is not the weirdest thing that happened this episode.

And because Roland is freakin late to everything, he showed he could have done this the entire time. Honestly I think Roland just didn’t want to deal with Raphael. We can blame this on Roland, right?

PS we never see this building again in this episode.

I don’t know........why they bothered showing this. If anything it makes the next plot twist more weird because it’s like...what was the point of the random ass earthquake and the random ass concept art building if we, in fact, aren’t coming back here???

I mean I guess it’s a nice shot for your Artstation portfolio, good on you, Yugioh background artist.

Unfortunately this chip contains Seto Kaiba’s greatest weakness. (SanDisk card? Jump drive? Which PS--if they had jump drives this whole time, why was Seto using floppies earlier in the season? Like what happened there?)

And then, with the hatch of their helicopter just wide open, no one in a seat belt, and walking away from the destruction of one of the largest buildings in San Fransisco, finally the cops showed up. Real cops this time, not possessed cops. Also, it’s the Marines.

Am I going to get my Monty Python ending? I mean...if cops can recognize these kids in this universe...I might get my Monty Python ending. :) :) :)

For some reason, back on the mean streets of San Fransisco with no people left alive in it, Rebecca just kinda started losing her mind. Maybe this was to make up for the 2 seasons I had to watch Duke Devlin flirt with a 12 yo? That now we have to suffer Duke saddled with this small crazy person?

This small crazy person who is painted as this intolerable person next to Duke Devlin, but is also a love interest for the main character? Like Yugi’s into some weird ass angry girls.

PS the orcs were no longer needed for the plot so they have turned into streams of light in order to join with the Leviathan mass. So now Rebecca and Duke Devlin will just have literally nothing to do for the rest of the season. I guess they can go to Ghiradelli square...someone’s gotta eat that ice cream before it melts.

Also this happened.

In case you were like “Wow Rach, you didn’t update the Death Count, how dare you”--it’s because I uh...completely forgot that the Oricalchos crew is immune to fall damage. Raphael’s just fine now. He fell down 50 stories...and then 50 stories fell on him...but don’t think about it.

Meanwhile, on the back of some aircraft carrier, far into international waters, the kids get recruited into the military of a foreign country and it’s just as weird as you think it is.

Hey guys.

So, Bandit Keith was weirdly in Hell this season for no reason, right? What if he died offscreen because, earlier in the season, the US military threw him at Dartz because they couldn’t get a hold of Yugi or Kaiba? What about that headcanon? What if that’s why his angry ghost wanted revenge?

Anyway, they join the ranks of Shadow T. Hedgehog, which makes sense because...these guys look like human OC’s of Shadow the hedgehog already.

Sorry I just had a moment because Shadow uses guns a lot despite not needing them at all so “people won’t get uncomfortable with how powerful he is” while in Yugioh they can’t even...show a gun. That really is...you ever think about how weird that is? That Shadow the Hedgehog, a strange remix of a 90′s sega mascot, has a million giant guns but Kaiba’s actual gun (which, apparently he does have in the Japanese version of this show) got edited out completely?

Sometimes it just dawns on me and I have a moment.

Now the US Military just hand delivering them to Dartz is so wild because their reason for the USA not doing anything on their own with their fleets and fleets of ships is:

Have you MET the US? I live here, and if we were like given the choice to shoot the ocean...or just die...we’d be like “wait...for reals? So no one gets hurt, we just shoot guns at the water? You mean we finally found our true calling? For REALS? I just shoot this water bucket!??? FOR REALS????” and it would become a national holiday. All pop songs would be devoted to it. Our ancestors would make movies about it.

I mean, our dumbass president considered nuking a hurricane in 2019...in case you forgot because damn, it’s been a STUPID 4 YEARS. (And you better have voted already because for reals do not make me go through 4 more years of this. I do not think this blog would survive it...or the hurricanes that will keep getting nuked.)

Also....the show actually threw the word “proof” out there. Seriously show? You OK?

I figured the mind control situation would be a better reason not to arrest Dartz other than “Dartz is just so good at covering up his tracks” when the TRACKS have a broken down Caltrain on one side of them, and the other side of the tracks have the rest of that same Caltrain at the bottom of a river.

Seto is not amused but he never is. He will take this Nobel Peace Prize and step up to the microphone at the UN and be like “I WANTED IT TO BE A CARDS PRIZE.”

PS--we HAVE a map already, right? Raphael died to give us this map--and then didn’t die, but it’s not like anyone else here knows that. So like...why did we need the US Military to show up at all? Why is this scene important? Other than to look cool, I guess? Like...

...why is the US military here we already have a Deus Ex Machina delivered by Raphael? At least that one was deserved--the whole point of that duel was to get this MAP.

A map that we are never going to use.

...There’s a good chance that two writers wrote this episode in two different buildings and just...glued the two halves together. Animation is wild. Weird ‘Cinema sins’ things like this happen...all the time. This one though, this one is kind of funny because it’s a ton of wasted effort on the very best storyboarder.

Anyway I broke this up into two segments because I’m tired, and also, while a lot of people like long posts, the smaller posts are kinda easier to read. More will be upcoming in like...I dunno it really depends on a lot of things right, now, I’ve been having a time, but at least Yugioh is always there to enjoy. Maybe I’ll need so much distraction you’ll get an update tomorrow? Good things can happen, and it’s not like I get to do anything else for Halloween.

Happy Halloween Y’all! Lets make the most of it!

(here’s a link to read these in chrono order)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[forever-more-never-again]

Thaw (A Request)

Requested: Anonymous

Word Count: 2375

Pairing: Natasha X Reader

Warnings: Mentions of blood, murder, fighting

Request: Could you do a Natasha x mutant reader where the reader has frost powers and she can control ice/snow/temperature? Maybe the reader starts off as a villain and gets arrested, then the avengers find out about her powers and send Natasha to recruit her? Thx luv

A/n: Didn’t specify a happy ending so ahahahaha....I may have made this a little angsty....  hahaha don’t hurt me, enjoy

Masterlist

Time seemed to stand still as you ran through the siberian forest.

The snow was pristine and the lack of any animals made it seem like you were running through molasses.

The scenery never changing.

Of course you didn’t feel the biting cold, you couldn’t feel the freezing snow under your bare feet, or the ice cold air drawn into your lungs.

Perks of being a mutant with ice abilities. You never got cold. Never felt cold. It was like you were immune to the one thing that made you a freak to normal people.

The reason you were currently on the run.

“Find them! Now! We can't let those documents fall into the wrong hands!”

The stern, bellowing voice broke through your reverie and you picked up your pace. The files in your hands tucked against your chest.

You had been paid top dollar to steal confidential files from an Avenger sanctioned Blacksite.

You didn’t know what was in the files, you didn’t need to know. 

To survive in a world that had only looked down on you, had been cruel and unjust, you did what you had to to survive. Which was how you found a group of mutants in America that used their abilities to be sold to the highest bidder to survive.

It didn’t matter who bought your service. Be it government, villains, civilians, as long as they followed the guidelines used by the group.

No real names. No contact except through a secure site. Payment up front. And complete discretion from both sides.

You had survived breaking a prisoner of war out from camps in the middle east, stealing a priceless artifact from high security museums. You had even gathered evidence on the occasional cheating spouse.

This was the first, and you thought grimly, last time you would take a request to steal something from the Avengers or SHIELD. 

When you dropped off the files, you would make sure to pass the info to any customers. 

Because being chased by Captain America and Iron Man was not something you ever wanted to experience again.

“Got visuals on them...Holy Shit Cap’ it’s the Mercenary FrostBite!”

You growled low in your throat. Shit.

“Turn yourself in FrostBite! This doesn’t have to get messy!” Iron Man’s electronic voice boomed through the sky.

Turning quickly, without losing momentum, running backwards, you smirked up at the suit flying after you.

“How about no!” You shouted up at him before gulping in a breath of air and releasing it in a slow stream.

Before he could dodge, Iron Man’s entire suit was coated in ice and he fell like a brick out of the sky.

“Tony!”

Looking down, you saw Captain America sprinting towards me, gaze burning with determination.

You winked at him and blew a kiss, which brought up a huge wall of thick ice. And caused a flurry of snowflakes to block his line of sight.

Giving you just enough time to jump into the portal of one of the other Mutants and disappear back to the base in New Jersey.

“Woah. [Y/n], you look like hell. What happened?” The portal wielder, some young guy named Amuk, asked before shaking his head, “Never mind. I don’t care. Just get to the drop off site so you can go on your next mission.”

You huffed. You had just gotten chased by some of the Avengers. But that was the way it was around here. Everyone for themselves. No one was friends. If you died, no one cared. It was just a way to get money and survive.

You had a day before you had to drop the file off at the designated drop off site. And now you were curious.

What was so important in these files that someone paid for you to get them out of a blacksite used by the Avengers?

You tried to never look into what you were paid to steal, but this had your attention now, and the more you tried not to think about it, the more it called to you.

Finally you couldn’t take it anymore, and in the safety of your room, which was really just a hollowed out hole in the side of the abandoned subway station where the group lived, you flipped open the file.

A picture was the first thing to meet your curious gaze.

It showed a cell with the walls covered in plans and diagrams.

You were interested in them as they seemed to depict doomsday devices like bombs, pathogens, and different ways to take out high powered world leaders and officials.

The next page showed a picture of the guy who you believed was responsible for the frantic words scribbled along the diagrams.

A disgraced Hydra scientist. Adal Herscher. Seems like SHIELD had captured him during a raid on a Hydra bunker several years back and now Hydra wanted him back.

Your skin crawled. The money that sat innocently in your backpack now seemed menacing. Blood money.

Inner Ward you were wondering why this bothered you now. You never cared who bought your services before.

Then another side of you piped up saying you never knew who bought your services before so you never had to worry but now that you knew it was Hydra…

Now though, you wanted to destroy this file and get rid of the money you had from the organization.

You knew all about Hydra and you knew what they did to Mutants. How could you be sure that they wouldn’t come after you? 

Even though you were anonymous, everyone who used the group knew that it was run and provided by Mutants. Particularly, mutants that had nowhere else to go. No one to miss them if they went missing.

And then you got to the page that showed who caught him. Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow.

You were embarrassed to admit you felt your cheeks warm as you stared at her picture.

She was so strong and beautiful and deadly. 

“Oi! [Y/n]! Just received a transmission. Whoever asked for that item you acquired wants it at the drop site today instead. Top Priority, they’re willing to give another five hundred grand for it.”

Startled, you slam the file shut and look up at Amuk. He just raised a disinterested eyebrow and waved a hand, opening a portal to where the drop site was.

For the first time in the five years since you had joined this group, you hesitated.

Drawing a deep breath, you stepped through the portal. And immediately regretted it. The sun blazed down on you. Causing you to drop your temperature to stay cool, but also taking a lot more energy from you to do so in the presence of such intense heat.

Looking around, you saw that the drop site was apparently outside the Colosseum in Rome. Great. You knew the client had said the drop site was an underground arena, but you had thought they meant like an underground boxing ring. Not a literal underground arena. 

A bunch of tourists were giving you strange looks as the portal closed behind you.

You were still dressed in the outfit from Siberia which consisted of bare feet, black spandex and a plain tshirt.

Minimum protection, but it allowed you to use your mutation to its max capacity.

You held the file close to your chest, avoiding the weird looks you were getting as you walked to the ticket line and flashed your most innocent smile.

“Hello. There should be a ticket on hold for me. Under S.S. Dereks.” The woman behind the counter clicked a few times on her computer and smiled back at you.

“Yes. Here you are. Looks like you have a pass to tour the construction that is happening to the underground area of the Colosseum, so if you follow that path,” She pointed you in the direction away from the rest of the tourists, “You’ll see the security. Just show them your ticket and you’ll be good to go!”

You thanked the woman and followed her directions, ignoring the uneasiness that came from being underground.

The security guards gave me no trouble, but I eyed the stun guns they had on their belts. 

The underground arena was quiet, and a lot cooler than it had been up top. There were boards of wood and power saws and tools scattered everywhere. Tarp covering areas, and signs marking certain historical stones and areas that weren’t to be touched.

You found a small insignificant toolbox off to the side and opened it up. Inside was the extra five hundred grand promised and you took it out and replaced it with the folder.

“I’m so sorry. I hate that I’m doing this. But I need to survive.” You didn’t know who you were apologizing too, or why you were talking out loud to yourself. But it didn’t help ease the small amount of guilt you felt as you closed the toolbox and began walking back out.\

That was when you felt it. The sensation of being watched. Not giving away that anything was wrong. You began forming icicles over your fingers.

And with one quick twist, you released the sharp claws up towards where you thought the person was.

There was a dim sound of the ice hitting stone, but no one cried out and nobody dropped from the rafters.

“Hmm…” You eyed the dark area suspiciously for a moment, before turning around, and immediately jumping back.

In front of you stood Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow, in her SHIELD outfit and glaring at you.

Snow blew in her face as you threw your hands up and let ice grow on your fingers again in preparation to strike.

But she didn’t charge. She didn’t settle into a fighting stance. 

So you took the incentive to start the banter before the inevitable fight, “How did you find out about this?”

Black Widow shook her head, her gaze softening, “[Y/n] [Y/l/n], alias FrostBite. Mutant Gene carrier that gave ice and snow abilities. Abandoned and ran away from foster homes before seeming to disappear off the map. Joined a Mutant group in New Jersey that sells out their services to the highest bidder. Wether that be murder, arson, stealing, or otherwise. But you, you’ve never killed. The most you have done in the past five years is steal and spy.”

Your eyes were blown wide as she recited your history to you. How did she know all that?

“What do you want with me!?” A growl and snarl ripped from your throat as you raised your hands, the ice on your nails growing to a sharp point, ready to fire at a single moment.

Natasha cocked her head, you tensed, “You stole a file. Did you read it?”

Your eyes swept over to the toolbox quickly, but not fast enough that Natasha didn’t see it.

“We know Hydra wants that file. That they want that scientist back from the black site you stole it from. Why steal for them? You know what they do…”

You felt heat sting your eyes and silently cursed at yourself telling yourself not to cry. You would not show weakness.

“You remember what it’s like, don’t you Natalia Alianovna!” You spat her name, enjoying her mild look of surprise, “Yeah, I know who you are. You should know what it’s like for us who don’t fit into society's perfect little mold. You do what you have to to survive. To live another day. To hope that one day it will get better. I do what I do to survive. You seem to have forgotten what that was like ever since you became oh so popular Black Widow.”

Natasha’s shoulders dropped the longer you spoke. Your voice was growing in volume until you were nearly shouting. And then, with horror, you realized you were crying.

The tears were hot against your cheeks as they fell to the dusty floor.

“Then let me help you. Let me use the power I have now to give you a better future than the one you have right now.”

Her words were so soft. So warm. You wanted nothing more than to agree, to take the hand she held out to you and let her take you away. But you knew that the future was not going to happen.

“Your promises are empty Natasha Romanoff. Empty and cold just like my heart. I have done things you will never find out, things that haunt my nightmares. You can’t save me. No one can.”

A sob heaved through you, causing the ice on your fingers to melt off.

A soft hand on your cheek had you jerking and then you were swimming in emerald green.

“You can choose to be good. You can choose to help instead of hurt. If I can be redeemed, so can you.”

In a sudden decision that you would most probably later regret, you surged forward and captured Natasha’s lips with yours.

The salt from your tears mingled with the heady aroma of cherries and the taste of vanilla on her tongue.

It was everything you dreamed and more. 

Just as suddenly, you tore away from her with a gasp, stumbling out of her reach.

She stared at you with wide eyes, one hand reaching up to touch her lips.

“Take the file. Once I knew it was Hydra that hired me, I didn’t want to complete the mission. Take it and never come after me again. Or I will fight you. Goodbye...Natasha.”

And before she could recover you ran.

You ran with your tears streaming down your face.

Regretting leaving her behind already.

But you knew nothing good could come of you going with Black Widow.

She didn’t know. No One knew. You had been the one...all those years ago...that had murdered your parents when they tried to beat you. You had been the one...that had shot and killed a witness...by shooting through Natasha’s abdomen.

Your crush would go unrequited, but, as you jumped through the portal, you touched your lips, remembering the taste of her, at least you got something to remember her by during the lonely cold nights.

FOREVER Taglist:

@sxph-t​ @mialeelavellan​ @rainydaysrnevergrey​ @platonic-plots​ @sociallyawkwardcircus-freak-hi​ @queenbbarnes​ @mythixmagic​ @chas-z​ @thefridgeismybestie​ @strangersstranger​ @princess-evans-addict​ @rororo06​ @timelordhunterandmysterysolver​ @xxxtwilightaxelxxx 

Natasha Taglist:

@ludwigvonbaethoven​ @hanjiscience-slut @kitten-q-p​ @morbid-gaymer​ @honeybadgerwhodoesntcare​ @sunnyandtwisty​ @zoeyknight​ @kurlyafro​ @thewomanofwonder​ @5aftermidnight​ @myfemininelesboworld​ @gaytrashgoblin​ @marvelb00kwolf​ @multifandom-imagines-things​ @turtlelurky​

Avengers Taglist:

@jadepc​ @marvel-is-a-mood​ @brynnloh​

[jxdedfeelings]

“You’re scaring me.” -chase and hen

It had required hours of persuasion. Days of practice. Weeks of perfecting.

It was finally time to put it to the test.

He was a suitable target for such purposes, after all, Henrik wasn't exactly a people kind of person. He tended to be alone and isolated, akin to a deserted island. No one would realise his absence unless a postcard had been sent out.

A bonus was how tonight just happened to be one of his graveyard shifts. What an opportunity.

Needless to say, Henrik hadn't expected the visit, but he wasn't one to turn down Chase. Though he knew something was immediately off the second those sneakers shuffled into the room.

It was when Henrik spun in his chair and swivelled to face the younger of the pair that shock had struck. The doctor paled at the sight. "Chase? What... what has happened to you?" If he could even begin to describe the appearance of his friend...

Chase's hair was sticking in directions of all sorts, his clothing was tattered and the very fibres of the material were beginning to unravel. His build itself had deteriorated. He'd lost obvious weight... too much of it by Henrik's standards. Bags sagged under his eyes, sank even. They practically glared at the doctor with how deep they'd become. His skin had become pallid, had lost its tan. It was as if someone had dunked him in bleach.

But what was the most unsettling of all was the carved grin.

It beamed at the doctor. Shone brighter than the lit display of his desktop, brighter than the flickering LEDs littered across the ceiling and brighter than the pristine coat that wrapped snuggly around the one sat at his desk.

When they champed, Henrik realised just how much he'd have preferred that they stay still. "Oh, nothing much." He begins, too casually. Henrik grips his armrests as Chase starts off a meander towards him. Chase continues after a small shrug of his shoulders. "Not like it really matters, right?" A chuckle accentuates the edge in his voice. Sharpens it to a point. "You all did a great job of proving that."

Another step forward has Henrik shooting up from his chair. The wheels roll and run across until it hits the corner of his table. Knocks over a pen or two. "Chase... let me help you."

A bark of laughter breaks through the air and Henrik recoils as a shiver eats away at his spine. "Help me?!" The comical expression drops suddenly. Plummets like a meteorite falling to Earth. "Don't make me laugh." Bitterness throws itself into the mix as hard eyes fall on Henrik's cowering figure.

"As your friend, Chase I think it's be-" If looks could kill, Chase's would slaughter Henrik where he stood.

"You're not my friend." That's the catalyst that sets off Chase, causing him to stride forward and grip the turtleneck encircling the column of his throat. He hoists the doctor and with a little effort, shoves him against the wall. "Friends don't abandon each other." Slam. "Friends don't ignore a cry for help." Smash. "Friends don't exist." The next collision knocks off the glasses that had rested atop the bridge of Henrik's nose.

A resounding crunch breaks out as Chase delights himself in snapping the pair.

Ragged breaths leave Henrik as he attempts to collect himself, or grasp at any shreds of composure that might be left on offer.

None presents itself. Fear is all that remains.

"Ch-Chase you're... you're scaring me." Chuckling, Chase's grip twists and tightens as he wounds the material around. "Good." It drips with poison as Chase pulls the fearful from the wall and tosses him towards the bed in the distance. With a hop, Chase clambers on top to straddle the male.

The frame creaks, the mattress dips and Chase doesn't yield as the German struggles underneath him. He giggles as he observes him writhing and wriggling like some little worm. "I wonder doc..." His eyes flit to the side before they sparkle with newfound excitement. It doesn't take much to reach the tray lined with several instruments. Just a little stretch.

He hums in satisfaction as the small tool rests in his palm, glistens under the dim lights. Chase resumes as he fiddles with the metal. "...do you know what it's like to scream bloody murder? What it's like to lose your voice as you cry out? Beg for help from the people you thought gave a shit about you?" Between his fingers, he plays with it. Henrik can't help but pin his gaze at it.

"You all promised to be there when I needed it." He stops the spin. "I was always there when you needed me." His fingers adjust, poising the scalpel. "Where were you, huh? I fucking needed you guys..."

"Chase, wait-!" Henrik's cut off. literally, as the blade punctures his shoulder. With a firm grip on it, the father rotates slowly. Torturously slow. "I screamed for hours." 180. "I cried for days." 270. "You didn't even realise I was gone.” Chase twists it again after the full revolution. Again. Again. He can hear the flesh being snagged before a spin has it ripping off. Can feel the bone grate as he pivots his wrist. He can even notice as blood vessels split with the puncture and eye as blood pools around the glinting edge.

He yanks it from the fresh wound and moves down to create another gaping hole. This time, he simply jabs. Once. Twice. He relishes in the ear-splitting screams from below.

"No one can hear you, Henrik. Not one soul." Sinister laughter trickles, following the rivulets that scathe the doctor. Deep ribbons of red that spill with intricate patterns.

"No one's coming to save you." Chase bubbles with a giggle. "It's just you and me." His hand slicks with red and reeks with copper. "I bet you don't even know what day it is."

More amusement escapes with scornful laughter. Mockery. Detest. "He remembered." Through tear-filled eyes, Henrik gazes up. They widen as realisation dawns on him, but another strike has his mind rattled yet again.

"He even got me a present." The plunges stop, but the drag starts. A glaring line, across his torso. "But I don't get to open it yet. Not until you all join us." A gleam in his eye dulls the swirling blues as Chase brings his wrist into Henrik's view.

Surrounding the circumference, thin strands illuminate with a garish red. "Aren't they pretty?" Henrik shudders with a broken gasp, too choked on a river of scarlet. "Don't worry though, doc." Chase's attention reverts to the blood-stained chest of Henrik's now. Without thinking, he's already dipped and licked a stripe of crimson. Lips now stained, he grins revealing pearlescent teeth.

"I'll get you all dressed up for my party. You'll see." With a swift removal, Chase shoves the scalpel into Henrik's throat. At first, he gurgles and Chase can see the damage in his mouth. Each turn of the blade has it rising, bubbling from the depths of his throat until finally it slides out and flows. Rampant like a river.

With a lift of his limp arm, Chase smiles and witnesses as red claims the left limb and shortly, the right.

The birthday boy is already standing tall when the deed is done and his never-faltering sneer only widens more as the doctor sits up.

"Let’s go get the others."

Tag List: @antis-gauge, @coffee-bean-boi, @miishae, @n-anon, @10th-no-name-person, @the-pumpkin-demon, @egopocalypse, @immabethehero, @lower-your-expectationss, @taikeero-lecoredier​, @averyancora

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

She tried to start a lynch mob using the old white lady trick of “two black men demanded drugs then stole my money and phone” as a cover up for murdering her son. Don’t let this slide, I’m literally begging you. Not this time. 

This boy was nonverbal, so when he was heard screaming he couldn’t explain to people that his mom was trying to kill him. They only realized after she took him to another canal to drown him that she’d been trying to kill him the first time. Because you guys don’t listen to us. You don’t believe us. You believe the people who do this to us. We end up dead because many of us don’t have a voice and you won’t raise yours with us. You say “he’s in a better place” instead of making this a better place for him

(Article from 23rd May, 2020)

This happens so often. I’m lucky to be alive because I was abused horrifically by people who were trying to “cure” me. Don’t believe me that this is common?

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (an organization I actually support, as opposed to Autism Speaks) reports that “In the past five years, over 600 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.”

Earlier this year, an 8-year-old autistic boy was murdered by his father who had sole custody of him. He called the child a “piece of shit” two days before the child died in a freezing New York City garage in the dead of winter. His father said after the death that he’d been through “more stressful things”. They had home video footage of him beating his children. 

His name was Thomas Valva

In 2018, a 5-year-old boy with “ fragile X syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, impulse control disorder and dysphasia” was the subject of 11 different complaints to child services because of suspected abuse, but as was true in my case no action was taken. He died of asphyxiation and a drug overdose. “Brayson suffered a broken arm, broken femur and numerous burns and bruises in the years before his death, court records state. Price withdrew Brayson from school a month later. It was October. By November, he was dead.” (Classic abuse tactic, isolating the victim.) When child services investigated her prior to the death, the mother claimed he couldn’t feel pain.

“Prior to his death, Price googled "Risperidone overdose" multiple times, according to the court transcript. Ingalls searched multiple phrases, including "beat child with fragile X abuse, I want to kill my autistic child, painful ways to die (and) most painful torture."

Ingalls told Price via text message that he hated her son, wanted to buy a ticket to see Brayson take his last breath and thought she should "kill him while he is young and do something with your life before he robs you of any chance of ever being happy or being anything other than a stay-at-home retarded caregiver,"”

really indicative of how you see us, guys

His name was Brayson Price

here we have a woman who is anonymous and said she was “overwhelmed and felt totally alone after her child was diagnosed with autism.” (Like cry me a fucking river, Karen.) Pled not guilty by insanity. She googled suicide attempts and mothers who killed autistic children in the 48 hours before she smothered her 3 year old daughter with a Minnie Mouse pillow. She was convinced the child’s form of autism was “more severe” than it was...which...okay are people who cover this story expecting me to believe it would be justified if it WAS more severe?

Her name wasn’t printed, but she’s not forgotten.

Here we have a Tennessee mother covering up her husband’s abuse and murder of her 5-year-old autistic son

His name was Joe Clyde Daniels

Think this is getting depressing? It’s state enforced

Up to 50% of people killed by police have registered disabilities

911 Can Be a Death Sentence for Blacks in a Mental Health Crisis

Last year, a non-verbal autistic man became agitated and shoved an off-duty police officer when in line for samples at Costco in California. His parents tried to apologize and explain, but the police officer fired on them 10 times - killing him and wounding his parents. No charges were pressed.

His name was Kenneth French

We have a manslaughter charge for a cop killing a 6 year old boy? At least he got 40 years for it?

His name was Jeremy Mardis

I don’t know how many times we have to tell you this before you believe us, but our lives are not worthless. Regardless of what “level of functioning” we’re at (which is already a ridiculous metric because I’m apparently considered high functioning even when I barely hold a job), we’re not burdens and we’re not inherently dangerous. People keep saying they’re in a better place now, but that’s just excusing it. Make HERE a better place! Stop letting these news stories slide! Stop spreading thinkpieces by Autism Speaks lamenting over a poor mother who has been burdened with an autistic child and saying she’s so brave to not murder her child! Hell, sometimes you guys make whole documentaries about mothers who murder autistic children SYMPATHIZING with them! And stop calling cops on autistic people having meltdowns, for fuck’s sake! 

Autism isn’t something we suffer from, not inherently! We suffer from the trauma of being forced to live in a world where people abuse and kill us for being different! You keep killing us instead of listening to us! Being non-verbal should NEVER be a death sentence! 

I made some posters just because I, too, sometimes need a catch phrase. Feel free to make more.

(Image: “Autism isn’t deadly, ableism is. Stop passively condoning the murder of autistic people. Hear us. Believe us.”)

(Image: “Autism shouldn’t be a death sentence. Neurodivergent children have a higher risk of being bullied and abused. Black autistic children are at a higher risk of corporal punishment at school. 50% of the victims of police shootings are neurodivergent. Hear us. Believe us.)

(Image: “Silence shouldn’t = death. Non-Verbal autistic children are routinely abused and killed by parents because nobody can hear the cries for help. Non-verbal autistic adults are shot by police because they’re assumed to be dangerous. Hear Us. Believe us.”)

Something for my non-verbal or selectively verbal peeps out there.

(Image: Non-Verbal but not silent. Some autistic people aren’t capable of verbal communication. This doesn’t make them undeserving of life or respect. Others can communicate with text or sign or are selectively verbal. It’s important to learn how to communicate with an autistic person in their specific way and to not force them to conform to yours. Practice conflict resolution. Be patient. Hear us. Believe us.)

For people like me who can speak, or for any allies who will stand with us but not talk over us:

(Image: I don’t take my voice for granted. I lift my voice for all those who can’t speak for themselves. I see you. I’m with you. I respect you. You deserve to be here. Hear us. Believe us.)

(Image: Vaccines don’t cause autism. I literally don’t know how to tell you that those findings were debunked over 2 decades ago and you’re bringing back deadly diseases. Autism won’t kill your child. Measles will. I can’t believe I still have to say this. Hear us. Believe us.)

Anyway, that’s my message. I’m sick of this. Feel free to spread this like anti-vaxxers spread measles, because people DO talk about this, but I don’t see NTS willing to do much about it usually. Unfortunately we do need you on our side to hold yourselves accountable.

And it goes without saying that even though this is an autism specific post, this post is also friendly to other types of neurodivergence. We’re all in this (risk category) together.