#mo won't leave them because he's intrigued

[skloomdumpster]

If you were the writer for Fate S3, what would you do with it? (I'm super intrigued)

You know Brian, you're not the first ask I get about this and I'll be real that I've tried sitting down and working on it many times, but I inevitably grow bored, because I already wrote various different fics covering the points I'd want addressed.

A couple things I'd for sure want would be the expansion of the world. I think we end s2 with most of the characters in a pretty bad place, but also with their own plot.

(Btw, a lot of the ideas here are a product of me and Mo spiraling, so credit where credit is due, this is as much hers as is mine @gossipqueen2000 )

So my ideal season 3 isn't in Alfea.

Secondly I wrote all of how I'd see Bloom in the Realm of Darkness in the HEX fic (A Merry Fucking Life), but that fic is heavy in the introspection, which I know wouldn't be that interesting to be watched, so I'd add more threats inside the Realm of Darkness and mysteries too. Not only Bloom's memory is slowly slipping between her fingers and she has to come to terms with the fact that Marion is not her friend and that she already has parents, but she also has to realize that she killed herself at the end of the season 2 and deal with the monsters that are out to get in the Realm of Darkness.

One idea I toyed with when writing AMFL was that the tower would be a safe haven in a hellscape. So the first time Bloom attempts to escape it, she's chased by this sand-shadow creatures, which are manifestations of hers and Marion's fears. The only safe place is the tower, but that in turn has Marion inside it, a glimpse into the future of what she's going to become if she doesn't leave fast: a relic locked in a tower, with no memories of her loved ones or herself.

Bloom aside, the second thing I'd be *dead set* on wanting in season 3 is Burned Ones. They were my favorite thing in s1 and I think it simply makes sense they'd be attracted back now that the Dragon Flame is gone. We can imply they were searching for her for years, thousands of years in the Otherworld, then baby Bloom was unlocked from stasis and taken to the First World, so they stopped attacking people, since they could sense she was no longer in this world. Then she comes back to the Otherworld in s1ep1 and they come back. Season 2 we don't see them as much because they are regrouping after Bloom demolished them in the finale of s1, also Rosalind's specialists are just fucking better.

"But Jo, she's no longer in the Otheworld, so if they're attracted by Bloom, by this logic they shouldn't be in season 3!"

YES BUT- The Dragon Flame and the Shadow Guy are essentially the same thing.

The presence of the Shadow Guy who escapes at the finale of s2 is enough to bring forward the Burned Ones. To them, they're essentially the same thing. Same power.

Anyway and anyhow, now we have B.Os again, hurrah. Then, I'd have the characters divided. I'd put Sky, Saul, Dane, Kat, Riven and Musa in the same package [The Specialists] and have them deal with the Burned Ones.

Sky is a wreck, he's reckless and no one wants to be his partner. Riven is the only one putting up with him, but that's going to cost him too. Dane and Musa actually build a friendship. Musa refuses to use her powers, she's deadset she wants to be a specialist. This has to cost her too.

I've written it before, but I think Musa should get attacked by a B.O, an attack she could've prevented, if she had used her magic. Musa's refusal to grow and avoidance is one of the things about her character that bothers me the most, so if she won't learn via love... Then she'll learn via pain. You don't get to avoid a scar going across your face, sorry. I also just really like scars. + mini arc where she gets to go home and we see more of her father and her mom, or the space she left with her death.

(for the sake of makeup department the scar would eventually fade to a red line on the side of her face, but FIRST we need this big thing that is a testament of how much she's failing herself by avoiding half of her nature).

Riven needs a plot of his own and I guess is a little too late to tackle the gigantic glaring "Internalized homophobia" thing he's got going on. That was a season 2 issue that they did a fucking shitty job on. Time to tackle his self esteem and what future he sees for himself. If Sky already decided he'll die by the end of the season, Riven is the one who realized he'll have to live and now, for the first time, is being forced to make all this mature decisions and pick a future he's not even sure he's ready for. + the weight his own family is putting on him. Let's finally give a face to those gigantic daddy issues we all have sensed since s1.

Talking about gigantic daddy issues... Saul would be headmaster, but he's way in over his head. Not only he had trauma to get past from jail, but he's got a suicidal angry son in his hands, B.Os on the loose that he needs to send his own students to hunt and he has to deal with the loneliness he finds himself on. All of his relationships have been severed, be it by choice (Ben, Sebastian), be it by death (Farah, even Andreas). This man is incredibly tired and alone... Then we give him the new headmistress for the fairies, after ep 2 or 3. Saul cannot lead the fairies, it's obvious the Queen would appoint someone to the position, but he's not ready to allow this stranger into his school, near the kids he's meant to protect, especially not after going through Rosalind all over again. Saul vs Griselda showdown.

That's the "Alfea" people, but they're hardly at Alfea most of the time. They're in the surrounding area, Blackbridge and region to hunt the B.Os.

Meanwhile, Terra and Flora pack their bags to go get Sam and Ben back from Malacoy Academy. Malacoy has been their "enemy" school since always, but there's a difference between petty rivalry and whatever is happening there now.

Beatrix crawled out of her grave once the Shadow Guy loomed over it ominously at the finale and she went in search of her two sisters, Darcy and Isobel, only to find that they were in Malacoy. Naturally, she enrolls and tries, once again, to pull the same thing she did in season 1. Except this Beatrix is not the same from before, now she opened up to Stella, now she had the taste of doing something because she believed it was good... She craves having these two sisters, but she cannot turn a blind eye on how horrifyingly weird they are.

Because turns out that while little Bea was rescued from the Aster Dell bloodwitches (who were extremists) and raised like a fairy, she's not an actual fairy. She, just like her sisters, are the product of what Rosalind says in season 1: Sacrificing fairies to put their powers inside of Blood Witches (#fuck the season 2 B.W lore).

Beatrix was raised believing she's a fairy, but she only has the air powers. Unlike other fairies, her powers can be great but they'll not ever turn into the other elements. This she realizes in Malacoy Academy.

Meanwhile Isobel and Darcy had escaped the blast by fate and they were raised by the B.W who escaped. The extremist ones. They do believe in the ancient practices of sacrificing fairies for their powers and they've done this. Their next victim is Sam Harvey and Beatrix doesn't even like the guy, but she knows him and now she has this horrible thing called a moral compass and ugh... Fine, fuck, she'll save his life- And now Terra's and Flora's too, she guesses? Why can't these people just stay in their own castle.

Talking of the extremist Blood Witches, well... They didn't just get nuked in Aster Dell. A good number of them escaped, enough of them to indoctrinate even more Blood Witches in the future. They were living in the shadows, but Luna's declaration of war in season 2 pushes them forward. They need to take on the fairies, they need to do this in an organized manner. This means they need a leader.

They turn to Sebastian's people- Except Sebastian is no longer there. Grey is. Grey who has a moral compass and people he likes (even loves maybe?) in the fairy side, but suddenly has an entire group of people asking him to lead them. He doesn't budge easily, he's been in contact with Aisha, they're hopeful that they can get the Andros people and other mini realms to see what Luna is failing to see: the blood witches need protection from Burned Ones just as much as the fairies, not all of them are evil.

This can be done in a civilized manner.

This is why Aisha leaves Alfea alongside Stella. Stella needs to be introduced to her court, her training needs to be harder, Luna wants her there. Meanwhile Aisha believes, just like Grey, that they can build a case and being in court, talking to politically relevant people is instrumental for this.

What Aisha doesn't realize is that by going to the Solaria castle she's not just building a political network against the queen and this counts as a coup attempt, one that could put Stella's head on a platter, but also that she is, physically, in Luna's grounds. She's a hostage just as much as Stella is.

Suddenly Grey is out of moves, the things he thought he could do in a civilized manner are no longer feasible. There's a Shadow Guy going around bringing the dead back and attracting Burned Ones, there are Burned Ones attacking his people. He can't afford to let them die just because Aisha is scared for her parents or for Stella. He has to put his people's interests first.

Stella, in the other hand, knows that it was her letter that got Bloom in stasis. She was instrumental in the decline of Bloom's mental health at the last two episodes and this guilt is eating her up. Beatrix's death? Also on her. So many things are directly her fault and she needs to clean it up, she needs Bloom back- But Beatrix is back? How? The Shadow Guy.

Well what if... What if they could catch the Shadow Guy. It came through the same portal Bloom vanished, didn't it? It's the same magic.

Stella believes, furiously, that she can bring Bloom back if she catches the Shadow Guy. Beatrix's resurrection aids this belief.

Sky is angry at the whole lot of them for not making an effort on bringing Bloom back, he's angry at himself for not going with her, he's angry at Silva and Riven for wanting him to live the future that is knocking at his door - He'll do whatever Stella asks. Including lying to Riven and the others about the "burned ones" they're tracking, which is not a Burned One at all.

If only Musa wasn't wearing the cuffs and in denial about her magic, then she could sense Sky is lying to them and weaponizing Silva's and Riven's sympathies.

Beatrix wants to save the Harveys from her own sisters and this is how she gets roped into the Blood Witches fight, this is how she gets to know about the stealing magic ritual, the bidding ritual for the Shadow Guy, she has people of her own that she wants back from the dead... This is how she ends up in Grey's power, her life in his hands.

Griselda, for all that Saul hates her and wants to undermine her, used to work in Malacoy Academy. She knows the students suddenly being amazing at magic tests and tournaments isn't normal, she just needs to find out what is going on. If only Silva would let her get closer to the students, stop shielding them from her prodding, then she could get the full picture of what is happening at Malacoy, with the blood witches right under their nose.

And then they could trace it back to Grey and Aisha and Stella and the fact that Stella isn't seeing that in her insanity to save Bloom, she's falling into the same trap that Sebastian fell in. The same power from darkness that is whispering in her ear that if she sacrifices enough people, they'll be able to bring back her loved ones (in this case just one), she just has to open that portal back again for Bloom.

Surely nothing worse is coming out of it.

[hulijingemperor2]

What are the emperor bros up to✨️✨️

Team Dimple: *still hanging out with A-Yao. They were all awestruck after getting kissed by him*

Su she: *grooming A-Yao's hulijing tail*

Mo xuanyu: Yao gege, did you use a new floof oil?

Yao: yea! I'm so glad you noticed. It was introduced by my floof groomers.

Xue yang: I see that you surpass hotness now.

Su she: already did.

Xue yang: *kisses* foxy. *lifts chin* why don't you give me more candy.

Yao: yangyang. *smirks* do I look like a candy shop.

Su she: good one.

Mo xuanyu: hehe.

Xue yang: yes, you do look like one. But if you're out of candy, then I can just a get a kiss.

Yao: *shows him a piece of candy*

Xue yang: *grinning*

Yao: come get it. *feeds him*

Xue yang: mmmm. How generous

Yao: *kisses him on his cheek*

Xue yang: ah!

Su she: *blushing like crazy*

Mo xuanyu: WHERE'S MY OTHER KISS, YAO GEGE!

Yao: *kisses mxy* relax. Don't be jealous of xue yang.

Mo xuanyu: Yao gege, you're mine!

Xue yang: no he isn't!

Su she: Huangdi, may I have a kiss? Well....if...if you don't won't to....then that's fine.....I won't force you.

Yao: lean in.

Su she: *turning red* yes Huangdi.

Yao: *kisses*

Su she: *blushing* I'm going to write this in my diary.

Yao: *laughs*

Mo xuanyu: lol your what?

Xue yang: you didn't read his diary. Lol, he's a total simp.

Su she: it's a diary, xue yang. I write down important events, and how my day went.

Xue yang: and how hot Jiggy is!

Huangdi did this, Huangdi said that, Huangdi looked at me, Huangdi smiled at me, Huangdi looked nice today. Huangdi's dimples.

Su she: leave my diary alone! I'll hide it from you!

Xue yang: and I'll find it!

Mo xuanyu: tell me more!

Su she: no. That's invasion of my privacy.

Yao: I want to hear some more. It's intriguing.

Su she: you like them, Huangdi?? Ok tell him, yangyang.

Xue yang: there was this fanfic too. About him ruling the world with you. And the Lans are your servants.

Yao: ahahahhaha. What about Huan?

Su she: *blush* he was a head maid, Huangdi.

Lan lips is in charge of organizing your study, then sometimes he plays the guqin in your imperial court.

In the fanfic, you always appreciate it but it was never good enough to me, cuz you deserve the best. So to punish him, I would force him to eat five bowls of rice.

Yao: omg! Minshan you're so savage.

Xue yang: why five bowls of rice?

Su she: Lans are only allowed to eat three bowls of rice.

Yao: oh no, take it easy on him, *laughs*

Su she: it's already written, Huangdi.

Mo xuanyu: where's team D?

Xue yang: fortunately we remained Jiggy's bfs, then we became richer than everyone else.

There's also a page about Jiggy's silky hair and kisses!

Su she: hey hey hey! now are you done!

Anyways I'm planning on writing a  fanfic, if you two simps are interested.

Mo xuanyu: take all my money.

Yao: interesting!

Su she: it's called Miss the Dragon.

Lan lips is a dragon, while Huangdi is the immortal of fate as well as a fox spirit. But Dragon Huan had locked Huangdi away from the world. And when I mean world, I mean team D.

At the end we will save the lonely ~sorry Huangdi~~ immortal of fate from the Lan Dragon.

Yao: *shocked* Shanshan.

Lol, why is it called Miss the Dragon?

Su she: because no one will miss him.

Mo xuanyu: you're a writing genius.

All I do is draw Yao gege in hot poses. And NSFW when I'm horny.

Xue yang: same!

Su she: is team D ever not horny.

Xue yang: shhhhh. Don't let Jiggy know.

Yao: um...I'm right here. Team dimple.

Mo xuanyu: see how much we love you, Yao gege. *hugs* Yao gege!

Su she: *kisses A-Yao's dimple* I'm glad that he's team dimple's. And not Xichen's!

Mo xuanyu: you have a point!

Xue yang: we told Dianxia to dispose of him.

Su she: project Dispose the Lan!

Xue yang: it's good for the environment!

Yao: what??? What did you three do to him!

Trio: *kneels* Jiggy, don't hurt us. But if you do, it will be very hot.

Su she: don't listen to xue yang. We told little Dianxia to keep him occupied.

Mo xuanyu: he's safe Yao gege.

Xue yang: he's safe in his cage. Dianxia is maybe feeding him leaves or something.

Su she: do you mean veggies?

Xue yang: same thing.

I see Zixuan eating a lot of it too.

And Jiggy as well!

Mo xuanyu: they're very health conscious.

Xue yang: now why is Song'er putting Lan lips on a diet?!!

Su she: cuz he's out of shape.

Yao: you know he has an eight pack right?

Mo xuanyu: eight packs of nuts.

Yao: how do you get so savage day by day, team dimple?

Su she: whenever I look at my Lan hate board in my room. I get so fueled!

By the way, my hate board is called Twin Jades Of Can You Ever.

Then I channel some positivity by worshi-- I mean admiring my A-Yao shrine.

Xue yang: jiggy, I was born savage.

Mo xuanyu: I practiced.

And I'm also a Jin. We're born to be savage.

Yao: yes yes we are.

Zish is very savage at times too.

Once someone gave him stale tea, and he says I'm afraid that I can't drink anymore, before I get drunk. Then the guy was like, "from tea? It isn't wine."

He replied, "what's the difference in preparation?"

Well, Huangdi, tea can be quickly brewed. And wine is aged.

Then Zish said, exactly. The tea was so old, I mistook for wine.

Don't give me stale tea again.

Xue yang: yikes.

Mo xuanyu: slayyyy Xuan gege!!!!

Su she: it would be so funny if Huaisang worked for him. 

Yao: I know right.

Xue yang: and he looks so innocent. Lol.

Mo xuanyu: it's in the genes

Yao: yea.

Xue yang: no wonder Song'er is so savage.

~~~

Now speaking of Zixuan......

In the Peacock Spirit empire 📍.

Xuan Mansion 📍.

Jintang: Huangdi, did guangshan pay you?

Zixuan: hmm no. Why?

Jintang: the hulijing emperor hasn't gotten paid.

Zixuan: how dare guangshan!

Jintang: please calm down, Huangdi. Should I request more rose petal tea?

Zixuan: *sigh* no. That will be enough.

Jintang: the hulijing emperor is waiting. But if he doesn't pay, he'll sue him.

Zixuan: so smart of my Yaoyao.

How are my empire affairs?

How was I in court today?

Jintang: splendid and beautiful as always, Huangdi.

Zixuan: thank you. You know sometimes I try to avoid interaction. Do I look like a chatty and political person?

No right?

Jintang: Huangdi, in your empire, the matchmakers are on vacation, because they were fed up of people's demands.

Zixuan: oh really?

Jintang: there was this woman who wanted to break up with her fiance just  because he has a poor sense in fashion.

Zixuan: *laughing* oh my.

Jintang: there's many more, Huangdi.

Zixuan: should I present a stipend to the matchmakers?

Jintang: your will, Huangdi.

Zixuan: ok then.

Zixun: *grumbling in the corner* that stupid Wei wuxian! He feels he's better than me because his sister is the empress.

Zixuan: how dare you poison me with your negative vibes. Jintang, sanitize him.

Jintang: yes Huangdi.

Zixun: no no no no. Stop! Don't throw alcohol on me again! Huangdi!

Zixuan: stop.

Jintang: yes Huangdi.

Zixuan: why aren't you trimming my rose bushes! Or picking up rotten fruits in my orchid.

Zixun: *sigh* I just did!

But why rotten fruit?

Zixuan: because I have someone else collecting ripe ones.

Now tell me why you're grumbling.

Zixun: Wei wuxian is being an idiot again.

Zixuan: anything new. Anyways I try not to pick a fight with him, because of A-li.

Zixun: he thinks he's entitled because Yanli is the empress of peacock spirits.

Zixuan: *corrects* Yanli Huanghou. Or Li Huanghou. Ah, entitled you say. That has nothing to do with me. *opens fan*

Zixun: why?!!

Zixuan: because you're an entitled jerk as well.

Now you're an entitled gardener.

Sorry, I don't wish to join your jerk party.

Zixun: but can you just beat him up for me!!

Zixuan: *glares* I'm an emperor. Not a kick boxer!!

Zixun: *sigh* understood Huangdi. I'll get back to my garden work.

Zixuan: lovely!

Afterwards...........

Yanli: *taking off her hairpins*

Zixuan:  *hugs from behind* empress.

Yanli: *blushing* emperor. You're back.

Zixuan: mhm.

Yanli: should I get some soup for you? I just made a batch.

Zixuan: *lifts her hand* you did? Didn't you get burn or anything.

Yanli: no. I have been cooking all my life. I don't get burns.

Zixuan: ok good.

Zixuan: A-li. Jinling is with his uncle.

Yanli: I know.

Zixuan: that means we're alone. And look, our anniversary is coming up.

Yanli: *blush* so.

Zixuan: I can get to kiss you in private. With no interruptions.

Yanli: naughty emperor.

Zixuan: *reclines on their bed*   A-Li.

*opens his beautiful peacock feathers*

Yanyan.

Lili!!

*ruffles* Li Huanghou.

Yanli:...... *giggles*

Zixuan: *ruffles peacock feathers* too extravagant?

Yanli: Zixuan, what has gotten into you.

*giggling*

Zixuan: *puppy eyes*

Yanli: *walks over and hugs him* Xuanxuan, where did you learn that puppy eye thing from.

Zixuan: Yaoyao.

Yanli: heehee, well it worked. *kisses*

Zixuan: *caresses face* A-li.

How about we give Jinling a brother.

Yanli: *chokes* ZIXUAN!!

Zixuan: *startled* I was only teasing you, beloved.

Yanli: behave yourself. *blushing*

But, I would like to have more children, because I'm a hands down mom.

Zixuan: ahh, how about we have 5 more.

Yanli: hmmm. Certainly. But You'll be pregnant with them.

Zixuan: me??

Yanli: exactly.

Now, do you have anything else to say, emperor peacock?

Zixuan: that's it.

Yanli: *kisses him on his nose* good.

Both: *snuggling together*

Zixuan: *kissing her gently*  A-li. You're my everything. And I love you.

Yanli: awww, I love you too.

*fumbling lovingly, while they ramp in bed*

[graymalkyn]

“The only thing they could do was wait for news of that guy…”

New uniforms for the kids because they’ve changed schools… Well, all of them but one… OTL

As usual, a million thanks to the amazing @bisho-s for being so nice and putting up with my sudden requests. She managed to capture the image I had in mind beautifully.

[asnowperson]

Takemiya Keiko's Boku dake ga Shitteiru

I bought a random Takemiya manga from Mandarake one day without knowing anything about it, and I want to share my findings.

Boku dake ga Shitteiru (僕だけが知っている - Only I Know or Nobody Knows But Me) is a collection of two stories published in 1991: Boku dake ga Shitteiru and Dare ni mo Yaranai (誰にもやらない - I Won't Give It to Anyone Else). I just found out that both long stories are also published in a later digital edition, Dare ni mo Yaranai (also why does this sound like an edgy BL title from the 90s?). So I'd advise you to get that if you want to read those. The digital edition has two more one shots too.

Front and back covers.

Boku dake ga Shitteiru

Title page.

First story, Boku dake ga Shitteiru, was originally published in Asuka Extra-Fresh Fantasy's 1990 #1 issue (prologue) and Asuka Extra-DX 1991 issue (main story). It tells the story of Yuuta, a cute little boy who can see and hear things, and the things he sees are captured on video. Like, when he touches a VHS tape, what he's seen is reflected on the screen. One day, he sees a terrifying demon when he's out to play, and it touches his hand. Afterwards, he becomes sickly, and has to quit school to undergo psyhological treatment.

This boy be suffering.

On his way to the hospital, he meets a cute miko at a temple, Nachi, who doesn't like to be associated with the holy and calls herself a simple esper. Nachi knows that something's up with Yuuta, but thinks he's an esper-lite, and doesn't think much about him. She says that the demon who's hanging around him is actually his guardian spirit, and nothing to be afraid of. She names the demon "Rasetsu" (and makes it take on a handsome human appearance-it's what you see on the volume cover), and Yuuta becomes friends with it. Nachi's views on Yuuta change after Yuuta discovers the dead body of a woman with the help of Rasetsu. The perpetrator comes after Yuuta to shut him up, but with the powers he himself is unaware of and Buddhist magic, Yuuta scares the murderer shitless. At the end, Nachi is very impressed with Yuuta's skills, and it ends on an omoshiroi note.

Nachi flying into Yuuta's life.

This story feels so... incomplete. I expected to see at least a second part where Yuuta's powers are explained and we get to learn more about Nachi, but nada. This feel more like a prologue than a stand-alone oneshot. That's why I wasn't feeling it with this story.

Have some cute.

Dare ni mo Yaranai

And the second story, Dare ni mo Yaranai, is a more psychological than supernatural story. It was published in 1988 June and July issues of LaLa.

Had to steal this color title page from the trial reader of Booklive. I wish printed books kept these nice color pages too. And are you enjoying that peak 80s fashion as much as I do?

It's about Kichijouji Makoto, a young man majoring in psychiatry and working part time as counselor, and his neighbor, junior high student Naoyuki. Makoto is into young boys and doesn't hide it, so he can't help but watch his cute neighbor. However, he shows him a different face at times, not the cute face of an innocent junior high student. Intrigued, Makoto digs deeper only to find out that... Naoyuki has developed a multiple personality disorder.

Let me introduce you Naoyuki A, Naoyuki B, and Naoyuki C.

Sensei, this angle is illegal for an underage boy.

It turns out that when Makoto was in high school, he once tried to strangle this kid because he was frustrated with his mother, because she wanted him to go to a certain university. What a jerk! Makoto's chuuni speech about how he belongs to himself and himself only, and he should not give himself to anyone, and stay true to himself leaves an impression on young Naoyuki, upo which he creates different personalities to respond to different expectations from him. One of them is a wimpy kid who is bullied at school and easily influenced by others, another one is a delinquent-type who shoplifts, and the third one is the smug bishounen who has the hots for the neighbor onii-san.

When you want to save bae from his terrible personalities at night.

He works with Naoyuki's girlfriend and delinquent friends to put an end to this, and they make him get caught in flagrante delicto while shoplifting. However, even though the case doesn't make it to the police because Makoto pulls a "trust me I'm a doctor and he's sick" on the staff, the rumors make it to school. Naoyuki is shunned by his friends and is feeling confused, because his personality A has no idea what personality B did. In the end, he is called out by teachers. His mother is summoned to school, and she takes a very blaming tone against Naoyuki.

But what is this fashion sense?

After being saved from committing suicide at a railroad crossing and being forcefully kissed and confessed to by Makoto, Naoyuki goes back to his life with the help of his strong girlfriend Machi.

Delicious bad end.

I liked this story much, much more that the first one and will re-read it. The underlying theme of this story is the unrealistic expectations of parents from their children, and how vulnerable children are in the face of such pressure and even the smallest remark can leave a permanent scar on them. Makoto's mother forced him to study psychiatry because his father was a pshychiatry professor, and he now hates his life and his mother. Naoyuki felt absolutely devastated when his mother didn't believe that his son didn't steal, but reprimanded him instead of trying to understand him. In different panels, Takemiya-sensei drew the mother figures without a face, which I thought was an interesting "symbolism".

I am proud to have read another manga from my random backlog of manga.

[minitonies]

Letters to Juliet

|| Stony/WinterIron/Stuckony (pick whichever you'd like)

We don't know where Tony's mother was from (in italy i mean, but lets say she was from Verona), but I imagine a young heartbroken Tony, who Maria thought taking to Italy would be a good idea to distract him from his recent breakup, walking past House of Juliet. And he's curious about all the people, tourists, crying and sitting around writing letters so he asks his auntie (a cousin or sister of Maria's) what that was about. And she explains: many people, tourists mainly, travel to Verona to write to Juliet in hopes of answers. They come with troubles of failing marriages, breakups, being in love, married to someone they dont love etc.

And hours before Tony is to go back home to New York, he unconsciously makes the decision to stop by Juliet's house before he leaves. And he writes her a letter, he pours his heart into it, saying he was in love and he thought that the love would be reciprocated. And that he is not sure if he would ever heal from this heartbreak. And he, just like Claire had, hides the letter behind a rock, not knowing the letters were taken by Juliet's Secretaries every day

Fast forward years later (this can be stony, winteriron or stuckony) someone(s) visit Verona and find the house of Juliet and are intrigued by the letters and the tourists leaving them. They find Juliet's Secretaries and learn of their job, so they decide to help collect the letters and wouldn't you know it, the rock that was hiding Tony's letter all these years falls out, exposing the long lost letter.      And just like Sophie, they decide to write back. Tony had left his auntie's address on the letter, so they receive it. And Tony who had been in New York sleeping, gets a call saying "Juliet sent you a letter" and he's confused for a minute before he remembers the letter he left all those years ago. (For the sake of I want Tony to have a baby, Morgan exists, Pepper and him had been together at one point but it didn't work out so they share custody of Morgan, some days she stays w Tony, some with Pepper. Also Maria is still alive because i said so) So two days later we have Tony on a plane w his mama and Morgan making their way to his mother's family home.

He has no idea how to respond to the letter, and quite frankly he is a little upset by them saying love will come to him when he's had other breakups and one divorce so far. So he goes to the secretaries and asks for who wrote his letter, and low and behold there they are, still helping the ladies out.

He goes on a little rant, of why they thought writing him was a good idea, why they want to give him false hope, how they managed to remind him he isn't deserving of love, and why couldn't they just leave the goddamned letter where it was or better yet throw it in the rubbish where it belonged because he was a stupid young kid who believed he would ever NOT feel lonely. Because every relationship he's had has ended with him in tears and a handful of insecurities.    Tony leaves without letting them answer, and passes by Juliet's house, it is empty. And he talks to her "Why, why couldn't you have kept it hidden longer. It was between you and him (his younger self),  why did you let them find it. He's gone, and he won't come back just because someone decided that telling him he'll heal and find the person who'll love him forever will come soon. I'm too old for these little fairy tales. It's not going to happen. "

Tony isn't bitter, he's learned to accept that finding his true love was just a Far-fetched dream.  He smiles when he sees happy couples, young and old. He cries and laughs when he watches romance movies (which is like every five new moons because its not his thing and because he always ends up weeping). But sometimes, sometimes, this younger version of himself that he's hidden deep down inside him, who still believes in live, cries out to him, that they'll find their someone, it's just not his time yet.

And this trip to his mother's home becomes an adventure, because his "Juliet(s)" find that leaving Tony to believe that love will never knock on his door is a load of bull. It's a slow-build of flirting and secret touches and smiles and laughs and hand holding. But the day tony goes back home, he has a heavy heart because he is not ready to say goodbye to this (these) person(s) he met.    His mama thinks he's a fool. Morgan thinks her daddy is just a little confused and should invite them to their home back in new york, because she loves seeing her daddy happy, and daddy doesn't smile as much as he does when he's with them

When Tony sees them again, he's in central park, just walking down and enjoying a day out on his own. And he hears someone clear their throat behind him. He turns around and there they are.

"I've (we've) been told, that the phrase 'if you love them, let them go, and if they come back they were meant to be yours' is just another way of giving up on someone. Because if you love someone, you shouldn't let them go, ever. Because they're meant to be yours forever"

Hope you guys can enjoy this, feedback is always appreciated ❤️

I kinda wrote this as a 'gift' to someone, I tend to send ppl these cute little stories in hopes they will like them, figured it's better to share them on my acc instead of sending them as asks or dms to others considering they always think i want something like a story out of it or they just delete them and ignore me completely. 

[purpolmonster]

二哈和他的白猫师尊 2Ha

Title: 二哈和他的白猫师尊 / Èr hā hé tā de bái māo shī zūn / 2Ha / The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Author: 肉包不吃肉 / Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat

This novel is the very definition of don't judge a book by it's cover, title, and even author name. 2Ha is not fluffy. Although, well, it is fluffy in some instances. And the title is also sort of accurate. And the author name sounds funny and interesting which this story also is. Anyway, if you're confused and intrigued, I just want to say that 2Ha is the most daring, crazy, funny, angsty novel I've ever read. And that, my friends, is why this ranks as the top of my favorite danmei list so far.

2Ha is the story of Mo Ran who dies and leaves his somewhat tyrannical life and is reborn into the past. With his memories still intact, he lives to right the wrongs he thinks he made and vows revenge on his shizun whom he blames is the reason for him growing up into a tyrant. But all is not that simple when he finds out bits and pieces of the truth along the way of what happened to lead him to become a tyrant and that apparently, he's not the only one who got reborn into the past.

Okay, first of all, you've probably noticed by now that there is nothing in the summary about a dog and a cat. The title actually describes Mo Ran being the husky and Chu Wanning, his shizun, being the white cat. It describes Mo Ran's relationship with Chu Wanning as being like an adorable dumb dog with a snobbish, anti-social, somewhat arrogant cat so you can just imagine how that'd be like. (But really, I love them both a lot and think these two are so perfect together).

The plot in this story is craaazy. Like, it's really out of this world. The further you get into it, the more insane it gets. And I love it. The fact that it's crazy is the reason why I was able to push through and finish it even if the second half of this novel at the time I was reading it was only machine translated. As of this writing, this novel has only been translated until Chapter 152, I think. But the story is so intriguing and interesting, hair-raising, and so entertaining that I wanted to finish it to know how it ends.

But it's not for everyone. The themes in this novel is very dark. The translators were kind enough to warn you in every chapter that 2Ha has a lot of violence, murder, suicide, underage sex, rape, explicit sex, drugs, and more. So yes, it's not at all fluffy like the title or book cover makes it out to be.

So why did I even like it? Because it was interesting. The dark side of the story were all necessary. All the warnings there play a big part in this whole story. If you were to separate it from the story, you won't be able to get the complexities of Mo Ran's character and how you feel about him as you read through the entire novel. I've seen a lot of takes how maybe 2Ha can do without that much dark themes but in my opinion, it had to be there and it was important for readers to go through it to better understand and feel for the characters.

Meatbun is a very talented writer. I like the way she made you feel things just through the scenarios and words she puts out. She makes you laugh so hard at the funny scenes, enough that my sister from across the room would stare at me as I read and laughed out loud by myself. She makes you want to pull the two main leads together and bonk their heads or something. She makes you horny lmao and I say this as a compliment because the good sex scenes in here makes you pine after the two leads to just get it on. She twists your heart into making it hurt so bad at the sad scenes that even if I deem myself an emotionally strong person and wouldn't tear up easily over sad movies and stories, I admittedly shed a tear at this one. She made me feel so deeply in love with Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, and even the side characters like Xue Meng, his aunt and uncle, and more. It's like you want to reach down into the novel and save them all yourself so they don't have to suffer anymore.

But don't worry. I don't read novels that don't have a happy ending. So even if this is a bit spoilery, this novel ended on a good note. And I think I've mentioned this in one of my reviews that I like a story where it just twists your soul and your heart and then puts it back again. This is it. This is how 2Ha made me feel.

So do I recommend it? Yes! 2Ha is a favorite and is right up there with TGCF as one of my favorites. It has a crazy yet incredibly written plot that all comes together in the end. But do not push yourself to read this if you don't think you can handle the themes and warnings mentioned above.

Score: 10/10

[jaeminscoffee]

Illicit - Not legally permitted.

Pairing- Lee Haechan x reader.

Genre- Angst, Suggestive, Fluff if you squint your eyes, Mafia au.

Word count- 2.6k [not proof read]

Warning- A lot of swearing, mention of violence, heavy make out session towards the end

Request made from prompt

18."Isn't this, like illegal?" "Probably, Who cares?"

68."You drive me crazy"

-x-

Breathing the same air as Lee Haechan meant trouble. 

Especially for you, someone as simple as a book store cashier, it'd be the best to stay away from him. 

But there was something so intriguing about him the first encounter, that made both you and him go back to each other.

Maybe it was a mere coincidence, or maybe it was because you'd pray to clash paths with him each time you went to work. 

But it was on a Sunday, night shift, when the owner of the small bookstore expressed her concerns about her granddaughter being sick, stating that she needs to leave for the day, leaving you by yourself to close up when you met him. 

You were fine with that, your house was just around the corner. 

There was hardly an hour left, and only about a customer or two came in, leaving after getting what they what they wanted. You decided to pack up for the day. Walking lane by lane, table to table to clean up the place. 

Reaching over shelves to place the books that were scattered on the table, you hear a bang from behind, startling you. 

You cautiously approach the front, staying behind the shelf in case it'd be a thief. There, near your counter, stood a boy, his back facing you. His back was moving up and down frantically. Thinking that he's a customer, you come out of your hiding, already wearing a smile on your face. 

"Welcome Si-" you see the boy flinch, not expecting anyone to be there. He swore he saw the lights dim from outside and no movement. He turned back in a swift motion, clutching at something inside of his leather jacket. Upon examining his features carefully, noticing faint red at the corner of his lips, hair disheveled, you let out a gasp. 

You approach him with fast steps "Sir are you ok-" your steps were halted, the boy, who had his hands inside his jacket, took it out, unstable hands pointing a gun at you. You stood dead on your track, breathing uneven as you stood in a life and death situation. "Back off." The boy opened his mouth the first time that night. Voice rough, yet honey like. 

The longer you stand there, the more you see his eyelids drop. As scared as you were, you being the nice person you are, take small steps one after the other. It was extremely silent, when he lost consciousness, falling face first onto the ground in front of you. You fasten your steps towards him, the distance shortening with each step you take. 

"Sir?? Mr.??" you turn him around, carefully placing him back onto the floor, his front facing you, the proximity of your faces made it easier for you to see the scratches that scattered all over his face, moles spilled here and there. The boy was good looking, no doubts. 

With great difficulty, you lift him up, placing him on your back, going back towards the end of the book store, where the students usually sit to study without getting disturbed.

The seats there were much more comfortable than the wooden ones at the front of the store. You drop him onto one of the seats, going back to the counter to get out the first aid kit, when you hear the door being slammed open. 

In came 3 guys, all in similar attire, they were all over 6'0 from the looks of it, or maybe you were just short. They were panting hard, just like how you'd seen the other boy at the back of your store. 

They screamed danger.

"Where the fuck is he?" one of them asked, the tallest among the three, they were definitely here for the unknown boy, all three carrying pistols in their own hands. You feign confusion, oblivious to the guys. "Pardon me?" The one beside the guy who spoke up, looked you up and down, turning front, facing the shop scanning his eyes all over the place. "Lee Haechan. Where is he?" he asked. 

Haechan. That's what the boy's name is. 

"I'm sorry i do not know who you're talking about" you turn back to your counter. One of them approached you, standing extremely close, the only thing preventing your bodies from touching being the counter.

"Did you see anyone pass by here?" his voice was deadly low. You gulp down the lump forming in your throat in a subtle way. You shake your head. "But i did see someone run past the corner store" the boys all nodded their heads, exchanging glances as you look at them exit the store, amused at how gullible the guys were. After making sure they left, you make your way to the back, this time with the first aid kit in your hand. 

On reaching, you set the box down, taking your towel from your pocket, approaching his body, his breath now normal. You wipe the sweat from his forehead, the nape of his neck, cleaning it up. 

Satisfied, you reach out for a cotton ball, pouring a little bit of antiseptic onto it, dabbing it over his bruises. 

You started from the scars at the sides of his face, then the edge of his slit eyebrow, to his left cheek. The only thing left, his lips. 

You turn back setting the used cotton ball, taking a new one out when you feel yourself being watched. 

He said not a word, just stared back, sending shivers down your back. You decided to resort back to cleaning his wound, approaching him for the third time that night, almost placing the cotton ball at the dried blood in the corner of his lips. When seeing him, not put up a protest, you continue. 

You face the boy, Haechan once again, immediately dropping the cotton as you find him stare right into your soul. Breathtaking. The only word that can explain the boy. His features cold, eyes void of any emotion, it was scary, horrifying even. You unintentionally stammer "I-i was just cleaning up your wound" 

"if you don't mind me asking, wha-what happened to you?" silence. "Haechan..?" that clearly caught the boy off-guard. "How do you know my name?" he asked, voice no longer hoarse as it was when he passed out.

It was sweet, but still stern enough to scare anyone. "Oh there came these - these three guys looking for you, i assumed, an-d they said Haechan, so i thought that's your name"

You hear him mumble something under his breath, looking down, you spoke once again. "I sent them the wrong way though so you're fine, we can call the cops and tell them you were being chased-" 

That's when he got up from his seat, obviously taller than you, his demeanor intimidating. 

"Thank you for the service, but next time, try minding your own fucking business" and with that, he made his way out of the store. 

And that was one out of n times you saved the boy, Lee Haechan's life. 

That wasn't the last of Haechan that you saw.

Yes, he tried pushing you away each time you dashed each other. He'd ignore you, but you followed him around, still wanting to figure out what led to the boy having a fresh bruise each day. 

-

It was 7:45pm you were let off work that day, exactly two weeks after the incident, two weeks of following the boy and two weeks into your new found interest. 

Your house was the last one in your street, so it took at least 3 alley ways to cut short the route to your house, without walking on the main road

You stop at the store nearby to get some snack to munch on your way, paying for it and taking a turn into the corner street, house being just 2 minutes away now. 

Passing by one of the alley ways, through your peripheral, you see a figure hunched over, leaning against the wall while 2 others, holding the boy, with another throwing blows after blows. 

Not wanting to turn a blind eye, you hide behind the wall leading to the alley, taking out your phone, searching for a cop siren sound, because as much as you wanted to help the guy, you weren't going to risk your life going in there, not like that would do much anyways 

Upon finding the desired sound you turn your volume to max, playing the audio, sparing a second glance into the alley way. 

"Fuck fuck fuck run!" they collectively screamed, bolting out of the narrow road, as you pressed yourself hard against the wall in order to hide your figure from them. They didn't pay much attention to their surroundings, running further down the busy road far away from the street you stood in. 

After making sure the coast was clear, you turn back, making your way slowly into the alleyway. Seeing him walking towards the entrance, hands clutching his middle, crouching.

"Hey are you okay?" you call out, hearing a voice, he looks up, "Haechan??". You see Haechan grit his teeth, turning his head to the side as you came in as hid life savior for the 14th time in a 2 week span, "For fuck's sake…"

You quicken your steps towards him, replacing his hand in the middle with yours, placing his hand over your shoulder. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Haechan asks, turning his face towards you with a glare, which softened just a bit after seeing the worried look on your face. 

"Helping you. Again." He spits out blood, as you scrunch your face seeing the red substance. You start walking towards your house with fast steps, tumbling now and then when he loses his balance. "where are you taking me?" he asked, "Home."

"No Y/n not your house, they'll get to you" 

Over the past weeks of you chasing him, him pushing you away and then you rescuing him, he had gotten to know quite a lot about you, as you were a bubbly person. Even so you knew nothing about him, besides the fact that his name is Lee Haechan and he is 20 years old. 

"They won't" you say after reaching your house, gently stepping away from him to take out the keys.

You hear him mutter a few curses under his breath. 

You open the door and reach out to hold him again, to which he pushed your hand away, making his way into your house on his own. He sat down on your couch, as you made your way to your room, placing the bag down on your bed before heading into the washroom to get the first aid kit. 

Haechan sat motionless, looking around the studio apartment, seeing a bunch of pictures hung on the wall, pictures varying from your childhood days, to your highschool years and then to present, a smile unintentionally made its way onto his face. 

Pathetic 

Haechan growled at himself for how fast he'd gotten a soft spot for you. Yes he hated you the first few days, yes he envied you for living a normal life, but the genuine worry that would take over your expression each time you see him, made him feel human feelings that he hadn't felt in years. 

It made him feel warm, made him feel the want to reach out to you again and again, but he knew that's wrong. 

So immersed in his thoughts, Haechan didn't notice your presence until he heard an object hit the glass table in front of him. 

"Take your shirt off" you said, placing the bowl of warm water down, alongside the first aid kit. 

Haechan obliged, too drained to put up a protest, there covered multiple tattoos, most plain drawings with no meaning, but some so beautiful that you couldn't take your eyes off them. 

"You wanna fuck me you just ask nicely Y/n, staring is rude" Haechan spoke, as you shift your gaze from his abdomen to his eyes, a smirk playing on his face. 

"S-shut up" you say, turning back to take the towel, dipping it in warm water, bringing it up to his face, wiping it clean, as you slowly drag it down his chest, scrubbing clean of any dirt and blood. 

Reaching his wound you softly wipe over it, careful not to increase the cut or the blood flow. 

Haechan let you do what you did the best, knowing that you're dying to ask him a to z of everything that's happened from when you met him, till date. 

"Haechan..?" 

"I know what you're about to ask, don't." he said. 

You didn't notice the position your in, leaving closer to wipe the last bit of blood off of him

"I think I have the right to know a little at least Haechan, this is plain unfair" you let out, sitting down as you felt your knees go numb. Haechan lets out a groan the moment you found a comfortable position to stay in, confusing you.

You look down, to see why he had let out the sign of discomfort, noticing now that your knees were directly at his groin, and you had made yourself comfortable on his thigh. Eyes widened, you immediately jolt up, only to feel yourself being pulled back down. "Stay." 

You nod, slightly flushed as you felt Haechan draw circles with his fingers on your hips that he had used to keep you in place. 

Haechan contemplates for a while, thinking whether to tell it to you or not. 

"Y/n" he called out, you hum in response too concentrated in cleaning the wound on his shoulder to look up. You were right, it was unfair considering you save him from death's door step each time you could. 

"my world is something that everyone asks you to stay away from. You especially, I regret coming into that store of yours the other day. It's dangerous, and definitely not a place for you." Haechan sat up straight, causing you to shift on top of him.

He picked you up by the waist, placing you on top of his lap once again, this time on both legs rather straddling one. 

It's come this far, he gets to let his guards down just this once, right? 

"I'm dangerous, Y/n. Not just my world. My world is all about selling drugs, gambling, stealing, murder you name it" 

"Isn't that, like illegal?" you open your mouth finally, looking up from your hands, to his eyes. The innocence they held melted Haechan's heart, smiling at your question. 

"Probably, who cares?" his casual reply had you worried about him. 

The longer you stare at him with pure concern, a little nervousness and maybe, maybe just a bit of want, fueled up Haechan's desire. 

Fuck it. 

He reached out, pulling you down using your neck, pressing his lips firm against yours, the sudden contact made you flinch, but soon enough had you melting right into his touch. 

He took your hands, that held the towel with his blood, removing the clothing from your hands and wrapped it around his neck. 

The kiss was nowhere near soft, it was purely out of lust, frustration, and maybe a little love even. 

Haechan pushed your hips further near his crotch, holding you there tightly, dragging his tongue across your lower lip, retreating it to bite down on the flesh, causing you to let out a soft moan. 

You feel him smirk against your lips, his hands leaving your hips, going further down to your ass, giving it a light squeeze. "H-haechan.. Fuck" left your mouth as he attached his lips onto you neck, placing wet kisses in a rushed pace, almost as though he'd been wanting to do this all along. 

"You have no idea, princess. But-" he nibbled on the skin of your neck, letting out a soft groan as your hips buck, hitting his clothed member. 

"You drive me crazy"

[ohmyprodigalson]

Can I request a Malcolm x reader where the reader is taken by the junkyard killer but she doesn't fit his MO (is a good church girl never done drugs and such) so he can't/ won't hurt her. But he knows that Malcolm is in love with her (maybe he was just getting ready to tell her?) and taking her hurts him so he uses her to taunt Malcolm. If not its ok!

I REALLY liked writing this one! Thank you for this prompt 🧡

Trigger Warnings: Abduction, violence towards a woman. 

Word Count: 2,105

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

(Y/N) and Malcolm were walking home from a date when she started to shiver. Even though she was wearing a heavy coat, she still managed to feel cold. So, Malcolm offered his scarf to her. She gladly accepted it and promised to return it to him in the morning. Time passed by quickly for them as they talked and laughed, until they reached their fork in the road. It was time for them to part for the night. She would walk in one direction towards her apartment, and he would walk another direction towards his own. He gave her a kiss goodnight, and as they parted, he almost said, “I love you.”

Malcolm thankfully caught himself before the words slipped out, but his heart was still racing. As he walked back to his apartment, he thought about how he would like to be able to say those words to her, but he wanted the first time to be special somehow. He was also a little afraid that she wouldn’t feel the same way towards him, but he tried to push that concern from his mind.

(Y/N) thought of the fun they had during their date as she walked alone, in the dark. She had never been afraid to walk alone at night because of all the streetlights, so she wasn’t paying attention when a windowless van came to a screeching halt in front of her. She was shocked into immobilization as the driver, wearing a mask, ran towards her. He punched her, stunning her with pain, and then picked her up and threw her into the back of the van. Before she knew it, she was trapped in complete darkness with nothing but cold metal all around her. (Y/N) screamed and cried out for help, but no one could hear her from inside the van as it drove quickly down the road. She looked for her phone, but he must have grabbed it out of her pocket when he threw her into the van.

(Y/N) started to shake in fear, and her face was in immense pain. When she reached up to cup her cheek, her hand brushed up against Malcolm’s scarf. It smelled like him – the warmth of the cherry blossoms in his shampoo and the musk of his cologne married together to form his unmistakable scent. (Y/N) lifted the scarf and held it against her face as she cried. Malcolm would know she was gone when she didn’t text him to let him know she had gotten home safe. It was something he always made her do. And when he found her missing, he would turn over every stone in the entire city until he found her. Malcolm would find her, and she had to stay strong until he did.

Malcolm thought it was strange when he arrived at his apartment with no text from (Y/N). She lived closer to their parting point than he did, and she should have texted him by now. Maybe she had to stop by a store? He waited for her text, but he never got it. Two hours and many unanswered calls later, he started to truly worry so he decided to go out and look for her. What if she just forgot to text him? If he found her safe and sound in her apartment, it would have still been well worth the walk to find her.

Malcolm walked quickly, looking for her along the way, but then he stepped on something. He bent over to pick it up, and when he held it in the light of the streetlamp, he saw that it was a delicate earring; the exact same earring (Y/N) had been wearing during their date.

Calm logic told him that she might have just lost an earring along the way, so he continued to walk towards her apartment and look for her. But his heart was racing and there was a small pit forming in his stomach. He banged on her door when he reached his destination, but there was no answer. There was no calm logic to be had now.

Just as Malcolm was about to call her again, his phone began to ring. The caller ID said it was (Y/N), and he answered without hesitation. “(Y/N)?! Are you ok? Where are you?”

There were no words, only screams. She sounded like she was a considerable distance from the phone, and Malcolm’s entire body stiffened. His eyes were wide as he listened to her blood-curdling screams.

He started to yell into the phone. "(Y/N)?! (Y/N)!!"

The man had drug her out of the van and locked her in a car. She looked all around her and scanned her surroundings for any clues about where she might be and who the man was. (Y/N) saw that she was surrounded by a bunch of other cars, and piles of cars that had been flattened. She was in a junkyard. He was the Junkyard Killer.

It all made sense now. He had abducted her to mess with Malcolm. Her cries for help turned into screams warning Malcolm. "Malcolm!! He's the Junkyard Killer!!"

The man thought about ending the call right then and there, but he was pleased that (Y/N) recognized him and he was intrigued to find out how Malcolm would react. He stayed on the line and listened for Malcolm's next words.

Malcolm’s voice was deep and dripping with anger. "I don't have to tell you that if you hurt her, I will kill you. But I do have to tell you that this is no idle threat. You know me. You know my father. And you know that we are the same. I will hunt you down, and when I find you, I will take great pleasure in making you suffer before you die. If you let her go now, I won't look for you. You have my word."

The Junkyard Killer laughed. "You can try." He hung up immediately and threw the phone on the ground, stomping on it until it shattered. He continued to laugh as he imagined the look on Malcolm's face, but then he turned towards the car (Y/N) was in. She had stopped screaming, but she was sobbing loudly. He had put her in a car under the crusher, but he didn't feel like killing her.

He did his research while figuring out who would be best to take away from Malcolm, and he found that she was the polar opposite of his usual victims. (Y/N) had a completely innocent soul. She'd never done drugs, she'd never hurt anyone, and she volunteered at the local animal shelter every weekend. Not only was she innocent, she was also pure.

The man couldn’t bring himself to murder her. He achieved his goal of hurting Malcolm, and nothing more needed to be done. However, he couldn't let her go. That would have nullified his threats, so he decided to leave her behind. If she died because she was never found, that blood would be on Malcolm's hands.

(Y/N) banged her fists on the car windows. How could Malcolm find her in a place like this? Was her tip-off enough? What if she was crushed by someone that worked there because they didn't check the car? What if Malcolm never found her? Still crying, she held Malcolm's scarf in her hands. (Y/N) had to have faith that he would find her and save her. But her cries were still too loud for the Junkyard Killer's liking. She could be found quickly if someone heard her, so he unlocked the car and opened it, punching her hard enough to knock her out. He locked the car again and left without looking back.

After the Junkyard Killer hung up, Malcolm gripped his phone tightly and looked down at the earring still in his hand. He was hyperventilating and his hand was shaking severely. It was already the wee hours of the morning, but he had to call Gil. He needed everyone's help if he was going to find (Y/N) in time.

Gil rubbed his eyes as his phone rang. He assumed it was just another call about a murder scene, so he answered without looking at the caller ID. He was met with Malcolm's nonsensical words, masked with hysteria. It woke Gil up in less than second. "Malcolm? What's wrong? Slow down!"

Malcolm forced himself to take a deep breath. "He took (Y/N)!!"

Gil stood up and went to his closet, getting dressed while listening to Malcolm. "Who did? Where did he take her?"

"The Junkyard Killer! He took her, and he's going to kill her!" Malcolm was frantic. His whole world was falling apart.

A while later Gil, Dani, and JT met Malcolm on the sidewalk where he found (Y/N)'s earring. He explained what had happened that night and told them about the phone call. He was still frantic. "I just don't know what to do. How can I possibly find her? This city is so big, and there are so many junkyards. I-"

Dani grabbed Malcolm by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. "You need to calm down. You can find her; you just need to take a deep breath and think. Profile the Junkyard Killer. What does he want from all of this? How would that impact where (Y/N) is?"

She was right. If he just focused, he could solve this puzzle. Malcolm looked to the ground, thinking as hard as he could. His voice was low and quiet, as if he were only talking to himself. "It's obvious he wouldn’t go back to his old junkyard. He wants me to find her; to see the pain he inflicted upon her. So he wouldn’t put her in a junkyard too far away, or in a weird location that I wouldn't think of. She’s close. Painfully close. So close that if I find her dead, it will hurt even more."

JT had already started to look for junkyards on his phone. He clicked on one and then turned his phone around to show Malcolm. "What about this one?"

Malcolm looked at JT's phone. The junkyard met all his criteria. But could it be this easy? Maybe the Junkyard Killer made it this easy for him to find her because she was already dead? Maybe it was because, despite how close she was, he couldn't save her? Malcolm tried to push those thoughts from his mind as he nodded.

He could barely contain himself when they arrived. Malcolm started to run through the junkyard, screaming (Y/N)'s name. When he finally found her car under the crusher, he ran to it. He peered inside and saw her lying there, unconscious, clinging to his scarf. Malcolm screamed louder and banged on the windows. Panicking, he looked around himself for anything to break into the car, but couldn't find anything. That's when he made eye contact with Dani and it hit him. He reached out to her and begged for her gun, but instead of handing it to him, she shot the driver side window herself.

After reaching in to unlock the car, he pulled (Y/N) out of the back seat. She was still unconscious, and he could see the dark bruise forming on the top of her head. He cradled her in his arms, cupping her cheek and rocking slightly as he cried. "(Y/N), please! Please wake up!"

The words fell out, and he didn't care who heard it because he desperately hoped he had said them sooner. "I love you. I love you so much, (Y/N). Please, please wake up!" She didn't move. This was the most fear he had ever felt, but it quickly turned to immense sadness as he bent over her, shielding her from the world while he sobbed.

(Y/N) heard his sobs and slowly started to wake up. Her head was throbbing, and she was exhausted from screaming and crying. Her voice cracked and was barely more than a whisper. "You found me."

The sun was rising and softly illuminating the world around them. (Y/N) stopped clinging to the scarf and clung to Malcolm's coat instead. He lifted his head to look at her and a small cry escaped his lips as a huge smile spread across his face. Malcolm whispered back to her, "Yes, I did."

He moved his hand to stroke her hair. "I'm so sorry. This happened to you because of me; because I love you."

(Y/N) smiled. "It's ok, Malcolm. This isn't your fault." She closed her eyes, safe in Malcolm’s arms, and she buried her face in his chest. "I love you, too." 

[t1bb1zoey]

Character Development

So, real quick, just want to go over the development we got this chapter for Mo, She Li, and Buzzcut.

We learn a lot about each.

Starting with Mo, who really is the star of this chapter when it comes to development, we see that he was infact abused by She Li, mentally and physically. We know that Mo's father has been incarcerated following a fight that broke out in his restaurant. Just as Mo was going to be "used" by She Li as someone to frame the sexual assault on, Mo's dad may have refused to be used as a pawn for the mob, and was punished by having his hotel trashed and family attacked (you hear him pleading for them to stop). He is incarcerated after, probably framed in exchange for his family's life, and unable to protect Mo and his wife. Mo, then, probably stepped up and joined the gang as a thug to protect himself and his mother. He is low-ranking, so he is expendable and can be used to take a fall. So, Mo is trapped between needing protection and the threat of being "used." We learn in this that even the teachers target Mo, as was seen after Mo was attacked with the pop can by She Li and the teacher asks He Tian why he would ever hang out with someone like Mo. Furthermore, we learn this about the teachers:

If Mo dares stand out or dares to have something nice, the teachers will target him even more. And look at how pissed off knowing this makes He Tian. Look at his face. His insecurity of being unable to protect what he loves is really showing, especially when we see him despondantly sitting alone in thought. If he is leaving soon, making sure Mo is protected is his priority, and he needs his presence to still be known. The earrings are the way, but it seems that Mo is going to refuse his very desparate demand that he wear them. But then, Mo does something incredible:

He accepts help, for the first time in the series. He Tian told him that day he gave him his jacket not to take everything on all by himself anymore, and Mo is listening and letting himself depend on HT. He isn't letting his pride or his need to be manly or his fierce tendency to be independent get in the way: he is trusting He Tian. And He Tian is the only one who pulled him from needing protection and needing protection from the same gang. He Tian has faced a gang for Mo already, and that has gained Mo's respect and his friendship, at least. Mo not only wishes to comfort He Tian...

...but he is willing to be protected by him as well. WOW. That's some big BIG character development from our boy. And imagine He Tian's relief and elation that Mo is letting him protect him and is showing such trust and willingness. This is a far cry from Mo being disgusted by He Tian. He Tian has proven himself to Mo.

Now, She Li:

I want to know more. I am intrigued. She Li's parents are probably the head of some gang. She Li probably is depended on for grooming new henchmen to be compliant and fearful of resistance to the gang's demands. His childhood was probably turbulant and loveless. Look at this:

Why is She Li so paranoid about betrayal? Why does he need to keep people close to him through fear? To make his mark on them so they won't ever forget to be loyal to him? This kid craves closeness and has no idea how to get it in a healthy way. He lacks social ability and is deeply damaged. When he visits Mo in the hospital and asks why he never told him he was in the hospital, was it a threat as much as it was his way of trying to understand why Mo didn't run to him? Why he never needed him? I want to know more. His psychology is interesting. I sense neglect and abuse, maybe worse than HT's. At least HT had a brother and Jian Yi had Zhan, but maybe She Li was left in that violent and loveless world alone? Doesn't excuse him, but it does explain him.

And finnally, Buzzcut:

Mo took the fall for him and stood up for him when no one in their right mind would. This is why he follows him and is friends with him to this day. Buzzcut sees the good in Mo, and they are probably in similar situations. Despite everyone looking down on Mo, Buzzcit never will, even if Mo loves a guy. That's what I think. I love this friendship even more. Mo is followed by his boys because they respect him, not because they fear him. They probably see the hardworking and independent guy He Tian sees and loves.

Overall, a very good chapter :)