#so we'll have bigger and-for a time-much more subtle problems

[duckapus]

Okay, so the first hints of this whole situation happen during an episode where the Mario Bros are hosting the most recent Mario Family Reunion. Surprisingly Emulator isn't actually the focus of the episode despite it being the start of her eldritch corruption arc. Instead the focus characters are the Haltmann siblings. You see, most of the crew, including the newcomers like the Admins and kids, have been around long enough by this point that they've all been able to meet Mario and Luigi's immediate family at least once (Emulator and Mama Mario actually get along really well), but the Haltmann kids have only been around a few months, so while they've met some of the Marios over the phone or webcam this is their first time meeting any of them in person. And of course, their first time meeting them just had to involve meeting all of them at once. The four of them are a little nervous about being able to make a good first impression, especially Vee considering she's...not exactly easy to get along with.

Also nervous about all this is Susie (who as the creator and co-parent of Mario's kids is obviously invited), given it's not exactly a secret how and why her kids were originally created.

So the Haltmann's are having five different flavors of nervous breakdowns, the Crew's being the Crew, Mr. L might decide to crash the party for a scheme since it seems thematically appropriate given he's technically part of the family, and meanwhile mostly in the background Emulator's periodically glitching. Obviously some of the characters are concerned about this given what happened last time that sort of thing started happening with her, particularly Mama Mario, the USBs and Manifest (who obviously got invited given she's Emmy's girlfriend. Some of the Adminspace crew used up more than a few favors to ensure that she got the full reunion off), but she reassures them that it just happens sometimes. Expected consequences of being as old and beat up as she is. Though she does reassure them that she'll get it checked out if it doesn't clear up in a few days, given that she also remembers the bug incident all too well.

[gramoturtle]

I can't believe I'm seriously considering making an art archive website.

Ok maybe I can because my problem solving brain is itching to do it (but where is the time and what about all those design decisions) and make it neat and "done properly" ish but -

But as for why I want to do it? Thank you Tumblr. And a little on cohost (although not surprised). And even though pillowfort is more transparent about their status and they seem to be doing ok for the next half year or so, I still want a more permanent option.

(Unless github and google drive and my computer all explode at the same time. Then we have much bigger issues.)

I've never coded a website but I'm excited to try it and play around with some automation and stuff. I'm excited and nervous. (We'll see where this goes in time.)

It's funny. I had been debating making a post to talk about times when to find fanart from Japanese artists (and maybe non-Japanese artists as well), each artist had their own site. There were search engines to find sites based on their content (and webrings?) and stuff. What I thought was neat was artists would indicate ratings (like gen vs shipping, etc..) which is something I've really missed. Either grouping each fandom's art that way or having little icons for each art piece (ex circle = general, triangle = subtle shipping hints, etc).

But anyways. Guess I might be adding making a website to the neverending Projects List!

[scnsualforalphas]

Noel would have likely argued with the assessment of his own being called naive - which ironically possibly just confirmed that this categorization was rather fair and accurate. Of course, from the student's point of view, it probably made sense why he considered himself the smart one in this situation, an entrepeneur of sorts. He was aware that he was good-looking, and catching the eye of a handsome and successful man like Hunter didn't feel completely shocking to him. But the sheer size of his paycheck left no doubt within Noel that no matter what he would be asked to do, would be so very worth it. And it wasn't like he had never heard of quid pro quo. Sure, he was most definitely going to have to do a bit more than simply keep the older male company, but where was the problem with that? Hunter was hot, and Noel could imagine he'd happily have sucked the other's cock even without a paycheck attached to it. The fact that said paycheck existed and was humongous... that only had the younger man more excited.

He didn't quite notice that dark side within Hunter that seemed to be awoken the moment the other saw his signature on the contract - but what Noel did notice was the subtle dominance the other exuded, the calm confidence of a businessman who just had closed a profitable deal. It was an arousing yet intimidating aura at once, as the younger male could clearly tell this man was of a caliber that was far outside of what Noel was used to. Fooling around with guys at school or drunkenly making out with some dude at a club was one thing, but this was not a fun game - it was, quite literally, business. "Oh, yes, I'm sure we'll both be more than happy", he agreed with a pleased smirk, eyes glinting with the sheer thought of all the stuff he could afford easily now that his money problems had vanished in an instant. He was very much motivated to keep the tycoon happier than he'd ever been, and in return hoped the other would live up to his promise and truly treat him like a princess. The nickname by itself was nice and all, but Noel was ready to be spoiled like one as well.

"Well, you sure do seem in need of constant company, eh?", he chuckled smugly, shrugging with a casual nod. "Don't think I'll be terribly missed in classes, and even if so, travelling the world should be worth failing one or two", he mused. Hunter certainly seemed more high maintenance than Noel had initially suspected, though he didn't necessarily mind - he wasn't too keen on spending his days studying at the library when he could just as easily make money and please some hot hunky billionaire. Besides, receiving an entire new wardrobe sounded like a great bonus. "Oh, nice...! That sounds exciting, was barely able to afford designer clothes before. I bet I'll look all fancy...", Noel mused, briefly raising a brow when the man took his drink away without asking, the glass still half full. Hunter certainly appeared to be used to doing and getting whatever he wanted, his behavior a bit blunt at times. Having his shirt pulled off without a word of warning, as if he was a mannequin, would take some time to get used to - but Noel quickly got over that impoliteness as the other pulled out his massive cock. "Holy fuck...", the student chuckled under his breath, shaking his head in soft disbelief while licking his lips. "That's a hell of a lot of cock to worship... Now I get why you pay me this well", he purred, stepping closer and dropping to his knees. As he reached eye-level with Hunter's crotch, the brunette swallowed hard; this dick was truly enormous, even bigger than that jock he'd sucked off last semester after a college party. Wrapping a hand around the thick shaft, barely managing to even reach around with his fingers, Noel stroked it slowly, leaning in and running his tongue along the underside of the fat shaft, moaning as he wrapped his lips around the tip and began to suck, tasting the business mogul's precum on his tongue.

It was true that the amount Noel was being offered per week was more than some made in two or three months of working a fully salaried job; but little did the naive, beautiful boy realize that he would, in fact, be earning every last dollar that he got. Hunter currently had decades of repressed, unsatisfied sexual desire that lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce on the other. Hunter had his own smug look as he took the contract in return for the drink and he quickly thumbed through to see that the other had, in fact, signed, initialed and dated each and every page of the detailed document. It was done. He felt something dark and primitive inside of him stir at the thought of that. He looked up at Noel like the other was a piece of meat in front of a starving lion. He owned him now. The other was his in every sense of the word and he could what he pleased, when he pleased with him.

Hunter had signed and sealed many contracts and deals in his life; some worth more money than any normal person could comprehend, but this one felt unlike any other. He calmly set the document down and picked up his own drink, slowly walking to the other, "I think you've just made us both the happiest men in the world, Princess," he said, lifting his glass to softly 'cheers' before taking a long drink, though his eyes never closed and they never left the other. His cock stirred as his brain ran through the countless opportunities now presented before him. "From tomorrow, you'll live wherever I do - for the most part we'll be in this city, unless I have foreign business to take care of then you'll accompany me there," he said. "I'll be replacing most of your things so all you really need are your personal documents and maybe one or two sentimental items if you have them," he continued, reaching out and starting to gently brush Noel's hair with his fingers into a way he preferred, "A tailor will come through tomorrow and measure you up and we'll have a new wardrobe for you by the end of the week," he hummed, "You won't need much clothes for now, don't worry," he winked devilishly.

Whether Noel was done with his drink now or not didn't matter to Hunter as he took the glass from the other's hand gently and set it down before casually beginning to undress him, again, without warning or asking, starting with getting his shirt off, "We can discuss more details but I think I'd rather we ... really seal the deal now, Princess," he said lowly, reaching down and unzipping his designer slacks and easing his cock out in a smooth motion and revealing his already half-hard and massive member along with his full, heavy balls, "You see this cock, Princess?" he asked, "Your job - no, your life from now on is keeping this cock happy," he licked his lips, "All you need to worry and think about from now on is woshipping this cock," he arched an eyerbrow, "So you better get started."

[aneenasevla]

Spookengan 9 - Devilish Face

Previous / MasterPost

Made in Collab with @useless-bi-otch

"Now that I'm thinking about it…" Kaneda mutters as he slides the knife around the pumpkin's handle "It's the first time I've entered the Heavy Bakery's kitchen. I had only seen it through the window from where the orders come out."

"Oh, now that you mention it, it really is. Welcome then" Hiro smiles "Everyone's busy with Kanny's party, so it's up to me and Paikon to pack things here at the bakery for Halloween, which is the 31st. And, well…" he nods to the janitor, snoring softly in the corner "It means it's just me, really. Thanks for the help, Mr. Kaneda."

"Haha, no problem. And thanks for having me", He smiles as he finishes opening the “lid” of the pumpkin, then picking up a big spoon to remove all the pulp "It's the least I could do, considering the good service I get whenever I come here. And I won't deny it, I'm very curious about this decoration."

"Oh, it'll look great. Kanny will bring a lot of stuff from her party, then it'll look spectacular. I've already been to one of her parties and it's a blast" Hiro nods while drawing on the other pumpkin to mark the places he needed to carve "But it was a pity that there weren't many people at the time, so my Draco Malfoy costume from Harry Potter went to waste" Hiro sighs "I think I'm going as a little devil this year. What about you?"

Kaneda needs to hold back his laughter. As a devil, uh? Hiro and him weren't very close, but he already saw enough of him to know that there couldn't be a more appropriate costume.

"I'm not sure. They said I could go as a ninja, but I think it's too cliché. People look at me and can only imagine the most traditional, Edo period-like thing possible, haha." 

"And when they look at me, Drag is the first thing that comes to their minds" Hiro chuckles lowly "Boy, I can be pretty open with my sexuality, and I respect my sisters a lot, but I'm not good at it. I'm only good at playing myself."

Kaneda's smile only widens at that. 

"And knowing that, you chose to go as a devil. Your self-awareness is admirable."

"Oh, c'mon, everyone knows that Daddy Satan loves me. I'm not going to disrespect him by pretending I'm an angel" Hiro laughs "And what about you, huh? I'm well aware that you're not just a fox in appearance. You're actually worse than Tomori. You both are masters at hiding your predator-like tails under the sheep's clothing."

"Oh, but who says I hide it? People catch glimpses of it often. It's just that everyone chooses to see me as harmless, either because of my appearance or my personality" He arches an eyebrow suggestively "And that has been proven to be very useful to me, several times."

"I know", he starts to cut where he had drawn "With me it's more or less the opposite. Everyone assumes I'm dangerous because of my charm. Even the two gorillas that are always with you are scared of me. But in reality I'm just a plant dad who happens to have a sharp tongue and knows who to call if he needs help. That includes a fox-man who takes down people bigger than him."

"My, am I part of your emergency contact list then? I'm flattered" He laughs as he finishes removing the pumpkin pulp "I think I have to reciprocate in this case. How about joining my emergency contact list when it comes to costumes? Because I really have no idea what to dress up in,” he admits with an embarrassed smile.

"We can match!" Hiro says suddenly, then he cringes and clears his throat when the other widens his eyes at him "I mean, we can match costumes. Why don't you go as Angel? Or... I don't know, if you don't like the idea, maybe we'll find something that resembles a fox, like a thousand-year-old kitsune, then you'll wear a very chic white outfit with silver and gold adorns, and those fluffy little ears and... huh..

“Aah…” Kaneda had expected everything but to hear him suggest something like that with such excitement. And much less that he'd be embarrassed like that at his surprise. The cashier was a lot more subtle when it came to flirting, as far as he'd realized. And that, strangely, made him a little shy too "Matching costumes, eh? It'd be funny. Everyone would probably say that the two of us should have gone as devils, hehe…"

"Oh, that's a good idea too!" Hiro smiles "How about the two of us wear black suits, red ties, horns and a tail? Trouble always comes in pairs, like the pair of gorillas you have as pals."

That makes Kaneda laugh, despite his embarrassment ​​"And if there's one thing that pair is good at, it's getting others in trouble too. But yes, it's a good idea. Simple and effective. But this also reminded me of Team Rocket's motto, you know? 'Prepare for trouble and make it double'...  now I'm imagining ourselves dressed as Musashi and Kojiro."

Hiro's face lights up "Ooohhh!!! I'll go as Musashi, your hair suits Kojiro better. Also because Musashi loves to do male cosplay, and Akane knows some temporary dyes that'll look great! Ohohoho, this is going to be awesome!" He almost jumped in the chair he was sitting on.

"Haha, indeed. And I know Kojiro likes to dress as a woman, but I'll stick with the standard uniform if you don't mind.” He watches him with a chuckle as he uses the knife to give his pumpkin a face. His friends had mostly wild, boisterous personalities, so he was used to those outbursts. And coming from Hiro, they were kinda cute, too "Nothing against it, it's just that the Team Rocket uniform is a classic. And maybe I'll borrow a couple of Pokemon plushies with Tomori. I know Okubo gave some to her..."

"I have an Arbok…" Hiro admits, blushing, looking sideways "Life size…"

Kaneda wanted to say he was surprised, but the truth was, he wasn't.

"Good, that's half of our work done, haha! Even I'm excited now" He admits with a crooked smile "The day was more productive than I expected. I even finished my pumpkin while we were talking" And he shows his pumpkin.

Hiro's was still halfway through, but the eyes at that stage looked suspiciously similar to the guy's next to him.

"Oh, don't give me that face, I'm just the cashier. I can count all these seeds in the blink of an eye, but I'm a little slow when handling knives,” he says, his face a little red.

"… Oh. Very funny" Kaneda says simply, staring at the pumpkin in exasperation "But I can't say it's not creative, in a way. I will carve my next pumpkin in your honor as a thank you."

"Ahh… it wasn't intentional, but thanks…" he blushes more "It still needs more details, but since you liked it I can leave it like that, ehhe…"

"Don't fall for his antics, Mr. Fox" they hear a voice in the corner of the kitchen "That one is trouble, I tell ya."

Kaneda nearly drops the pumpkin on the ground "Aah! Gods, Mr. Paikon…!"

"Eek! You scared the crap outta me, Paikon!" Hiro drops the knife "In addition to being a zombie, now you've turned into a ghost too?"

"It’s a good idea for a costume" Paikon laughs "As a zombie, I only have to show up when you ask me to dance to Thriller, hehehe…"

"Ahaha… we are happy to help you" Kaneda says, a hand on his chest as he recovered from the shock "I'll also be excited to see this performance. But tell me, what do you think of the pumpkins we've carved so far?" He shows the pumpkin again "Are they worthy of decorating the bakery?"

"Oh yeah, they look great, but I think you'd have done it way faster if all the flirting hadn't been happening, you know..."

The two men turn very red while the janitor stretches, getting up and collecting the pumpkin seeds from the table on a platter "I'll roast the seeds, then we'll eat them for lunch later. They're good for the guts, ya know..."

He exits the kitchen, leaving the two extremely embarrassed men behind. Kaneda cleared his throat a little.

"So…" He hesitates, not quite knowing what to say. He looks to the side, seeing the other pumpkins waiting to be carved as well. And he takes one, showing it to the other while offering with a smile:

"What do you think about carving Mr. Paikon's face in this one, Mr. Hiro? It'll be our payback."

"Hehehehe…" Hiro smiles very mischievously, showing his knife; a face worthy of his nickname, 'Satan's Spawn' "Perfect."

Next Chapter Soon

[valewright67]

Hey hey I had a Mama Mel thought. Do you think he’ll take the boys he adopted dragon hunting?

Y E S I ABSOLUTELY DO.

Kavan is 14 and Soren is 16 when he finally agrees to take the two of them. Zeldris, who had been very irritated upon finding he knew next to none of the royal spells, diligently drilled each one into his mind. So now it was no problem for him to give them a simple blessing, so that they'd be able to withstand the miasma of the Demon Realm. That's where the best hunting grounds were at, after all. They were VERY rare in Brittania, but abundant in the underworld.

Kavan had turned into... well, a bit of a gremlin, really. Mischief radiated from him and there was a spark in his eyes, a twist to his grin. He'd gotten very good at using his shadow magic to pull pranks.

That wasn't to say Soren didn't have his share of the fun, they were brothers after all. But he tended be a bit more responsible. Supposedly. In reality, he was just as much of a little shit as Kavan, but he hid it better.

It took about an hour, but eventually they decided on a dragon to hunt. Meliodas pointed it out. "See its wings? They've been scared heavily, so the poor thing is lame now and can't keep up with the rest of its Thunder, that's what a group of dragons is called, remember? Also, it's older, and has started slowing down. The other members will sometimes try and care for it, which puts them in danger of being attacked by Indura, or being underfed. And besides that, look at the way it moves. It's not healthy, and it's in pain. So we'll trim this one off the population to keep the rest of them healthy."

They stalked it for hours, until the rest of the Thunder was gone, and it rested on the ground before beginning the actual hunt. Meliodas made sure the boys were safe and showed them where to strike it with their weapons to shut off its nerve responses, so it wouldn't feel pain. "Do you want me to do the final blow, or would you rather do it?"

They exchanged glances, and Soren went to stand in front of the Dragon who had very quickly ceased its suffering. Meliodas’s eyes widened, worried he'd get snapped at, or scorched, but he put his hand on its nose and rubbed gently. "I'm sorry for taking your life, but you won't hurt anymore, at least. I'll make sure of that." It puffed a little breath of smoke at him and it ruffled his clothes as he smiled. He pulled its soul from its body as its eyes dulled, and Kavan used his shadows to crack its MASSIVE neck, cutting off its life force instantly.

Soren stood there for a moment, holding the blue orb with its little flame like tail in his palms. It was bigger than an average humans, by about double. Meliodas walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. (He was TALLER than him now, the AUDACITY.) "Id like to show you something that we do down here. May I?" He nodded and Meliodas took the soul from him gently. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled as he released it, nudging it gently towards the Dragon nesting grounds. It started to fade about 10 feet away from them until it was no longer visible. "It'll go on in that direction, and find a hatchling to be reborn as."

He patted them both. "Good job. Come on, let's get this back to the palace kitchens." He lifts it up and they start their trip back.

They're not exactly subtle. They don't purposefully put on a show, but they don't go out of their way to remain subtle either. Which means, especially as they get closer to the palace, where the population is denser, a lot of people see them. Meliodas has been seen around the underworld, and there's rumors he has children through overheard conversations with him and his brother. ("How are the boys?" "Oh, you know them. Getting into all sorts of trouble.) But they've never actually been SEEN, this is their first time in the underworld.

Meliodas dips his head to demons who stop to stare at their former heir and a couple of TEENAGERS, apparently. Kavan and Soren are laughing, chasing each other and wrestling, and Meliodas watches them with a fond look. When they do make it the palace, he knocks on the outside entry door to the kitchen. The door are opened by a servant and he smiles as he holds up the dragon. "The boys and I hunted a dragon, and we can't exactly eat the entire things ourselves. I'd offer to help cook, but-"

The boys immediately broke out in protests, yelling about how they did NOT feel like being poisoned by his atrocious dishes tonight, and he smirked. "That."

The dragon was placed on a large tarp like fabric, and the three of them got to work on skinning it. Kavan and Soren made some faces, but Meliodas had worked on building up their tolerance to this by teaching them how to skin deer, and other Brittanian creatures. A dragon was just... bigger. Once the scales were removed, he strung it onto a large frame and began to strip it. The kitchen workers began to prep the meat. "You can use the scales to make anything from armor and weapons to jewelry and dress garments." They were a lovely color, onyx black with silvery patterns and swirls scattered throughout it.

Eventually, they were finished, and he took them inside to bathe. They did make a stop in the throne room first, to say hi. Well, Meliodas was going to have them wait, but they ran off before he could say anything.

"Uncle Zel, guess what we just did??" Kavan said barging in with little wisps of shadows drifting off of him in his excitement. He was covered In dirt, ash, and some blood from the butchering. Soren came up behind him and threw his weight on top of his younger brother, eyes literally glowing as he shoved him down while he protested. "We just hunted a DRAGON!"

Zeldris blinked at them. "...That's nice. Where is your father?"

"Here!" Meliodas called, jogging up behind them and pulling them back as they yelped. "Boys, we're filthy, we need to go clean up. Besides your uncle has an audience right now, come on, be more observant." They blinked and turned back towards the room where, indeed, there was a small gathering of Demons. They both flushed bright red and started stuttering out Apologies while their father smirked. Zeldris chuckled and waved them off. "It's fine, I'll see you at dinner and we can talk then. Go clean up, you all really are filthy."

They took off immediately, and Meliodas snorted as they watched them retreat. "Sorry about that, Zel. They were excited to talk to you, and ran off before I could stop them. You know how they are."

He smirked. "I know, Mel. You're filthy too, get out of here, before you stick up my throne room."

"Yeah yeah, I'm going. See you in a few hours."

[smileyoongle]

Deception (A Kim Namjoon Mafia AU)

Summary: A damsel in distress and a lonely mafia leader. Different but not too different. The two worlds collide on a rainy night when Kim Namjoon, a renowned Mafia leader is called for an emergency and Y/N Y/L/N is on the run from her abusive father. Feelings stir and he rescues her. But one of them is a liar. And the other's life is on the line. It's only a matter of time until all secrets are out in the open.

Will love be born? Or will death conquer?

ςhαp†εr †εη: Lost In Delirium

Character Count: 11,574

Pairing: Namjoon×Reader (Appearances by the whole of BTS)

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Because I have been lonely, I value love.

-Leonard Nimoy

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“How’s your business tycoon of a boyfriend doing?” 

The immediate reaction of yours should have been an eye roll but instead, you ended up dropping the empty whiskey glass that you were cleaning. You gasped as the glass broke, sending sparkling bits scattering here and there. To say you were a little distracted was an understatement . Whatever had happened between Namjoon and you was consuming your senses completely. You had come close to kissing him, twice and every single time you were interrupted either by your thoughts or someone else. You were confused and…angry? You couldn’t tell.

Did you want him or did you not?

You sighed, crouching down to pick up the broken pieces as your coworker, Isla, towered over you.

“He’s not my boyfriend. How many times are you going to make me say it?” You muttered, your voice laced with annoyance and frustration. Annoyed, because Isla kept calling Namjoon your boyfriend. Frustrated, because it wasn’t true, no matter how much a part of you wanted it to be.

You carefully cleaned the shiny marble floor, the bar counter hiding you from the eyes of your manager, a very moody and rude man who had no respect for his workers whatsoever. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the perverted kind at all. That was probably the one thing that made you stay, along with the money, of course.

 “Oh come on, Y/N! If Mr Kim isn��t your boyfriend now, he will be very soon. I can tell that you like him a lot. And you even stay under the same roof. You want me to believe that a man and a woman can stay together without-“

“Maybe you should focus on restocking the bottles rather than prying into Ms Y/L/N’s domestic affairs.”

Your eyes widened, your head jerking up to see your manager glaring at Isla. You winced, crawling towards the bin to throw all the glass bits you had collected, knowing that Isla was probably being burnt to the ground by your manager’s eyes. He was scary, more than Hitler. Okay, that was a bit of exaggeration on your part but he was horrifying, nonetheless.

“Sorry sir, I’ll get to work right now.” Isla apologised in a small voice and you swore this was the first time she sounded so weak. Isla was a very driven person, capable of a lot of things but when problems stood before her, she preferred to cower away. That loud and giddy girl existed only in front of you. It was a surprise that within a week you had managed to grow so close to someone.

Isn’t it the same with Namjoon?

You pursed your lips, moving to help Isla before the club opened for the night. 

∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

"Namjoon, just because you're doing what your father wants you to do, doesn't mean you're a bad person."

Hana's words kept replaying in Namjoon's mind, like a broken record player that he was unable to fix. There had been so much warmth and love in her voice that Namjoon had thought he was dreaming. He was only 19 when his father pushed him into the Mafia business, his mother running away soon after she saw him making his first kill. To this day, Namjoon wished it had all been a dream. His father breaking the awful news to him. His mother leaving. Hana dying, only to come back alive as someone who didn't wanna stand by him anymore.

Maybe if it had all been a dream, then Namjoon's life would have been better. Maybe he would have lived like a normal guy with a normal job and a normal family. Everything would have been so perfect.

Namjoon clenched his jaw as the car came to a halt, the club's name flashing in the darkness of the night. It was a few minutes past 9, everyone's anxiety growing bigger than they could ever imagine.

"Okay so, just a recap. We'll be scattered around, trying to blend in until Hana comes and we confront her." Rex confirmed, earning a groan from Jungkook who was seated beside Namjoon in the backseat along with Yoongi.

"Once again, this isn't a movie. We aren't gonna go to her until she's done talking to whoever she's planning on meeting." Jungkook replied, his eyes glaring at Rex who sighed in disappointment and sulked in his place. The others were in the car that followed behind, hoseok's voice ringing in the earpiece that all of them had.

"She could be here any minute, we should go in."

There was heavy silence for a second, the air very thick and suffocating. Jungkook knew he had lost his favourite person, she wasn't the same Hana now and he had to let her go. The girl that used to be his link to the innocence of the world was gone and he let it happen. No matter how much he told himself that it wasn't his fault, he failed to believe it.

"Let's just get this over with." Yoongi muttered under his breath, pushing open the door of the car and stepping out onto the gravel. It was a cold night, Yoongi's blue suit jacket doing nothing to keep him from getting cold. The only thing keeping him warm was the adrenaline rushing in his veins, a subtle ache in his heart on seeing Namjoon's grim expression. Whatever was gonna happen, Yoongi could only hope they all would be okay again. To him, this wasn't that big of a surprise because he saw it coming. But Namjoon and Jungkook, he knew they were hurt. Very hurt.

As the club loomed over them, they all glanced at each other, Jungkook's eyes falling on Namjoon towards the end. There was a silent message being passed, Namjoon's eyes softening at the look of betrayal in the younger's eyes. In that moment, Namjoon swore he was gonna be strong for the rest of the members. He had to step up as the leader and take care of everyone. He didn't worry about himself too much because he knew. He knew that at the end of the day, he'd go home and he'd find you waiting for him with the smile you wore all the time. Maybe someday he'd be able to tell you what you had done to his heart, but for now, he knew he'd be okay.

∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

You placed the different glasses of drinks on your tray, moving through the crowd as you kept track of which glass goes on which table. The mass of bodies grinding against one another in the middle of the dancefloor, made it difficult for you to navigate your way through but you had to do it. This was probably why Isla always took charge of the other end of the club. That was the VIP section. You shook your head in envy, grabbing the glass of beer and placing it on a single table where a man with a black cap sat, bobbing his head and looking around the club. "Enjoy your drink." You stated, your robotically sweet tone having been perfected with practice. It was the same everytime, no matter who you were serving. The man looked up at you as you passed by him, not noticing his face in the flashy lights that reflected throughout the place.

Rex was positive he had seen that face before. It wasn't very clear in his mind but he knew he had seen those eyes.

The only question that remained was when?

He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about who it was. That waitress had a very familiar face but he couldn't put a finger on where he had seen her.

"Rex, I see you zoning out. There's a man at the bar who just arrived, he looks like he's waiting for someone, keep an eye on him."

Namjoon's voice rung in Rex's ears, making him flinch at the suddenness of it. He quickly shook himself back to reality, eyes falling on the man who had, indeed, just arrived. Nonetheless, he saw the same waitress again, picking up another round of drinks as she laughed at something her colleague said. Rex wondered if Namjoon could see her. Maybe he'd know who she was, because the curiosity was killing him. He had such a bad memory, that's probably why he failed half his tests in school.

"Hey boss. Do you see that girl at the bar? The waitress? The one with the ponytail?"

The response was immediate, all the members' heads turning to look at who Rex was talking about. Namjoon couldn't see very clearly, only the back of that waitress was visible to him. But upon seeing her, he felt something familiar, like he knew her.

"You don't actually have to describe her, there's only one waitress there." Jungkook snapped, glaring in Rex's direction from the corner of the room. He was just growing irritated at how long it took Hana to get there, nothing personal against Rex. No matter how annoying the kid was.

Rex pursed his lips, seeing that there was only one waitress there, thankfully it was the one who he wanted to ask about.

"So does anyone of you know her? I think I've seen her before but I can't remember. Help me out, my dudes. I'm dying out of curiosity."

Jimin rolled his eyes at Rex's words. My dudes? He was definitely not fit for being in a gang. Yoongi narrowed his eyes, shifting a little in his place but he still couldn't see her. Seeing that there was no sign of Hana yet, he decided to move closer to her, pushing through the dancing bodies until he was in the clear. Under the colourful lights, he somehow managed to see that face. The one that made his eyes immediately move to Namjoon who was standing on the floor above. Before Yoongi could do anything, he saw the way Namjoon's lips parted in surprise, his eyes stuck to your figure hunched over the bar table.

"Is that...." Hoseok voiced, still trying to come to grip with the situation. They were here to find Hana but looks like there was someone much more interesting there.

"..Y/N." Taehyung added, glancing at Namjoon who had his jaw clenched, his fingers tightening against the railing as he glared at you. Not that you knew. He had been caught way off guard, finally catching onto your lies. You worked at a cafe? Bullshit.

Jungkook raised his eyebrows, taking in your appearance. A pretty one, he wasn't going to deny that. Your eyes were very... expressive. They shined under the lights, telling everyone that you were content with how your life was going. For a second, Jungkook saw the same flash of innocence that he used to find solace in. The only difference was that you weren't Hana. He cleared his throat, looking at Namjoon and concluding that no one knew about your little job. Oh.

So the new girl was a liar.

That thought made Jungkook feel better. A part of him blamed you for whatever was happening, but he also knew he had no reasons to hate you yet. You seemed like a good person, he could understand why Namjoon took you in. He would have probably done the same anyway.

You patiently waited for the bartender to make the next round of drinks, your elbow resting on the shiny black counter as you looked around the club. You hummed a little tune to yourself, feeling grateful that tonight there had been no catcalls or inappropriate comments directed to you. It had been a good day, you were sure of it. You wondered what Namjoon was doing, recalling how he had told you he had a meeting to attend. He surely had a very tiring job.

Your eyes wandered to where Isla was standing, her expression distraught as she tried to get her hand out of a stranger's grip. You immediately straightened up, your breath hitching as he pulled Isla onto his lap, his companions laughing at the scene. You were fuming at this point, your feet taking off in her direction, ignoring the calls of the bartender behind you as your shoulder brushed against Yoongi's. But you didn't notice.

Every single member had his eyes trained on you, watching in confusion as you ran to the other end of the club. Right then, Rex happened to look at the entrance, a hooded figure making its way to the mysterious man that was sitting near the bar. He inhaled deeply, looking back at you and then the others. No one was paying attention.

"Guys, Hana's here I think."

At that, everyone's eyes shot to the bar, where Hana took off her hood and began having a serious conversation with the mystery man. Jungkook's blood boiled at the very sight. He was surprised at how quickly he began to hate her but anyone who hurt his family was his enemy. No matter the reasons. He saw Namjoon, fuming and making his way downstairs. Wrong move.

"Let her go." You bellowed over the music, prying the man's hand off of Isla's waist and pulling her to you. She was crying by the time you came, hiding behind you as she sobbed into her hands. You weren't gonna lie that you weren't scared when he stood up but this was no time for that. It was time for you to be strong, to learn to protect yourself.

"And what do you think you're doing?" The drunk man seethed, clenching his fists as the people around you stopped their activities to see what was going on. You breathed heavily, taking a step forward. "I'm sorry but you cannot touch a woman without her consent. We can throw you out for inappropriate behaviour towards the employees." You stated calmly, reminding yourself that you still had a job to keep. Hopefully, your manager would see that you were on the right.

Namjoon was joined by Yoongi as he made his way towards you, his eyes burning holes in the back of your head. You had a lot of explaining to do but that was for later. Right now, he could tell you were getting yourself in trouble. Jungkook discreetly pushed his way towards Namjoon, walking beside him.

"What are you doing? Hana is there and this is gonna grab too much attention." He explained, only to hear a scoff from Namjoon. The leader halted, turning to Jungkook as he stared at him with cold eyes. "Y/N needs to be taken out of here. We don't need to wait for Hana to see us. Go and do what needs to be done." He instructed, earning a reluctant nod from the younger male.

"Oh baby, did you want to be in her place? You just have to ask, you know?" You wanted to throw up at the stench of alcohol in his breath. You were beyond disgusted, your head bringing back unwanted memories when you used to be treated like this by strange men. You swallowed thickly as his friends laughed, his hand inching closer to you. Just as his fingers grazed your skin, he was punched to the side, his body landing on the floor with a loud thud. You gasped, your eyes widening as you looked at whoever had saved you.

Namjoon's eyes looked back into yours with anger and disappointment, your heart fluttering on seeing him but you knew it was over. What you didn't want him to find out, was laid out before him in the clear.

"Namjoon..."

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Tell me if you wanna be tagged! What do you think? I just love cliffhangers.

-XX

[sabakos]

I think this is probably true, but the more I've thought about it in the past couple weeks, I think I'm still more sympathetic to the argument that we should hold off on ambitious projects like that for now until the science improves by a lot. Probably not something to expect in our lifetimes unless science funding suddenly goes through the roof. Sure, maybe we won't make a mistake exactly like, e.g. cane toads again now that we know more about biology, but even ignoring that, we also have far more dangerous tools at our disposal that we still don't understand, that allow us to make even bigger mistakes!

Science is wrong about things all the time and previous best practices often turn out to have been horrible ones we understand things better. Sometimes this causes horrible things to happen! Lobotomies, for example, were horribly inhumane, and we should have waited to learn more about the brain first, because then no one would have gotten one. But even those, one of psychology's worst mistakes, only affect a finite number of people, and once we stopped doing them, the amount of harm our over-eager misconceptions caused also stops. But instead of just a few human beings, this is the whole ecosystem we're talking about: if it turns out mosquitos were important for something that we missed and we kill all of them anyway, now maybe hundreds of millions of people die of famine and nobody much cares that malaria and zika aren't killing anyone because there are food riots all over the tropics.

But take the reblog @bogleech added for example: scientists thought that the reintroduction of wolves to an ecosystem had some measurable impact on the direction that rivers flow, through a complex and deep chain reaction of effects, and presumably some rather intelligent people made some (at the time) entirely reasonable conclusions from their data! But then their findings were later debunked once we learned more. This sort of thing happens all the time in science. On the other hand, there are other subtle and unpredictable effects that do bear out from further investigation. So it seems fair to conclude that sometimes there are deep, non-obvious effects of any change to an ecosystem that we might care about, and that we're just not good at observing them reliably yet.

I admit that I'm still not comfortable with the idea that that means we can never know enough, though. I see those arguments made often, and I can sympathize from a practical perspective now, but they don't sit well with me philosophically: I'd like to think there might be a time in the far future when we can safely determine that we don't need mosquitos, maybe when somebody builds Biosphere 3 on the moon and we learn more about ecology that allows us to test all our hypotheses in a safe and controlled environment to see what breaks. But that's not a question we'll be able to settle any time soon, so for now I think I'll defer to the experts that it's best to hold off on large-scale changes, because we're still making rookie mistakes about just how exactly wolves impact erosion. And instead we should work on other ways to prevent mosquitos from spreading disease, that don't involve killing all of them, because we're not sure enough that that won't kill more people than disease does.

Also this is silly but I want to say that I never made it clear but I don't actually mind bug bites all that much? I think they can feel kinda nice actually. Certainly not hurting anything, not a real problem anyone should be solving on its own. And so the only ethically justifiable reason I can think of to destroy all mosquitos is that they spread diseases that kill people, it's hard to see how the minor annoyance of bug bites alone would justify any intervention at all. So if we can stop the spread of disease other ways, I concede that none of it is worth the trouble and everyone should just work on other things.

Already worked it out with @sabakos, the way I worded part of the bug post just looked too much like I was saying something else