#then they’d try to get other brotherhood members to realise this as well and get them to leave the organisation

[vault81]

Found a mod that adds Scribe Haylen as a settler, it makes her available after the Blind Betrayal quest! Which makes perfect sense ofc, she’s not massively into the brotherhood anyway but after what they did with Danse I could see her easily being persuaded to leave them behind to follow wherever Danse went to, or maybe just to join a new group like the Minutemen or Railroad.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: I’ve Got The Power!

AU-gust Day Eight: Superheroes/Superpowers AU Fandom: Once Upon A Time Pairing: None

Rated: G

Summary: Emma Swan has just discovered she has superpowers. Really useless superpowers. Luckily, there are several other individuals with… not very useful powers… who can help her out.

===

I’ve Got The Power!

Emma Swan had had superpowers for all of forty-eight hours before she decided that they were really not all they were cracked up to be.

It would have been all right if her superpower had been something cool like all the superheroes she saw on the TV. If she’d had superstrength or laser vision or the ability to fly, then Emma would quite happily have signed on to be part of the next generation of the Super League or the Brotherhood of Justice, or any of the other groups of costumed heroes who protected America’s cities from the threats that regular folks couldn’t handle.

As it was, Emma’s superpower wasn’t cool. It wasn’t even all that useful. In fact, it was just a downright pain in the backside. Emma Swan, in the most ironic and clichéd case of nominative determinism ever, had just discovered that she could turn into a swan. Not even a majestic-looking swan. More a gawky-looking cygnet that was only just coming into its adult plumage.

Well, that made sense, she was only eighteen and only just coming into her human adult plumage, so to speak. Maybe in a couple of years she’d look better.

In the meantime, what the hell was she supposed to do with this newfound power? And more importantly, how the hell was she supposed to control it?

One minute she was sitting in the back of her bug quite happily, eating chips. The next she was flapping about in the footwell with chips flying everywhere. These random transformations had been going on for the last two days without much chance of respite, and they were getting to be a severe hindrance to her lifestyle. She’d have driven off and moved along by now usually; she never liked to stay in one place too long, but she didn’t want to run the risk of transforming whilst behind the wheel. Swans lacked the opposable thumbs necessary to grip the steering wheel for a start, and there was no way that her webbed feet would be able to reach the pedals.

At least she was learning the warning signs now. So far, each transformation had been preceded by a numb, tingling sensation in her extremities, like pins and needles, and she sighed as she felt it again. She was never going to be able to finish this bag of chips at this rate.

Emma flapped her wings in frustration as the transformation completed, battering the windows with her strong feathers before letting out a scream of frustration that came out as a series of ear-splitting and extremely non-human sounds.

It was only once she was comparatively calm again that Emma realised that she was not alone. A man and a woman were standing a short way from the car looking alarmed. Had they seen her transform? She quickly ducked down out of sight – no mean feat when her neck was now several times longer than it used to be.

“Now, I don’t claim to know this part of town very well,” the man began, “but I really don’t think that there should be a swan in the back of that car.”

“David…” The woman’s voice was faltering, as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying. “David, it’s not a swan.”

“A goose, then. Whatever it is, it does not belong in a car.”

“David, it’s a human.”

There was silence for a long time, and Emma chanced to peep up out of the window. The man and woman were looking at each other.

“Well,” David said eventually. “You would know.”

The woman looked over at the bug again and Emma quickly hid. When the woman spoke, there was a strange, echoey quality to her voice, as if she was talking directly into Emma’s head as well as the sound going in through her ears at the same time. Was she a telepath?

“You’re human, aren’t you?”

Emma had no idea what to say – or indeed think – in response. Were these people friend or foe? Had she just stumbled upon the town’s latest new supervillain duo, and the only thing she could do was flap her wings and screech a bit?

“Please say something, I can’t read your mind.”

Ha! That was exactly what an evil telepath would say to lull her into a false sense of security! Emma remained smugly silent, although she knew that wouldn’t exactly help if the woman was in fact an evil telepath.

It was then that she felt the all-too-familiar tingle in her fingers and toes – webbed feet and wingtips – and she groaned inwardly. Not again. Especially not now and especially not with an audience.

Too late. She was human again, falling off the back seat with a garbled shout of alarm. By the time she had picked herself up, David and his possibly telepathic companion had moved closer and were peering n through the window.

Emma waved awkwardly. “Hi.”

“Are you all right?” David asked. Emma nodded vigorously, wondering what the best and quickest way to get them to go away was. She could hardly pretend that nothing had happened now that they had seen her transform, but that didn’t stop her trying.

“Yep,” she said brightly. “Absolutely fine, nothing to see here, you definitely did not just witness a woman turn into a swan and back again.”

David and his friend looked at each other and back at Emma.

“Yeah, powers are hard to control when they first turn themselves on,” David said. “How long have you had yours?”

Emma sighed. She definitely wasn’t going to be able to get rid of them, and if there was something psychic going on with the woman then maybe they’d be sympathetic to her plight and leave her alone to wallow in misery of their own accord. She rolled down the window to talk to them properly.

“Two days,” she said. “It’s the most useless power ever. How am I supposed to save the world by turning into a swan?”

“You’re telling me.” The woman held out a hand and Emma shook it through the window gap. “I’m Mary Margaret. I talk to animals. Welcome to the Lame Superpowers club. Our motto is ‘I’ve got the power! Now what do I do with it?’”

Well, that explained why her voice had sounded so weird when Emma had been a swan. She was slightly mollified about the possibility of Mary Margaret reading her mind now. She turned to David.

“What about you?”

“Long jump,” he said.

“What?”

“I can jump a long way. As long as I have a decent run up. Good for dramatic jumping between rooftops, not much good for pretty much anything else.”

It was good to know that she was not the only person in the world with a stupid superpower.

“I wasn’t kidding about us having a club,” Mary Margaret added, looking around the bug that Emma was quite clearly living inside of. “If you need a place to crash for a bit, we hang out in the cabin by the lake.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that place haunted?”

“No, just full of people with weird powers. We like to keep the rumours going though. It means less chance of someone finding our hideout.”

Emma looked around the back of the bug. On the one hand, it would be nice to have a roof over her head for a bit. On the other hand, she had no idea whether she could trust David and Mary Margaret or not, and if she entered this supposedly haunted cabin, then she might not come out again. They seemed like genuinely nice people, but Emma was still sceptical.

“What do you do there?” she asked.

“Train our powers, mostly.” David shrugged. “Try to control them better and make them more useful. Mr Gold says that we must have been given these powers for a reason other than to annoy us. Sometimes I think he’s trying to turn us into the superhero team that we’re all convinced we can’t be.”

“Who’s Mr Gold?”

“He owns the cabin and is the founding member of the Lame Superpowers Club. Well, the official title is Unusual Superpowers. His son’s around your age, actually. I think you would get on.”

Emma considered the proposal for a moment. In the end, what did she have to lose? “All right.”

A few minutes later found Emma following Mary Margaret and David down a winding forest track towards the cabin. It was slow going towards the end, as Emma transformed again and could only waddle at a swan’s pace, and Mary Margaret got distracted trying to mediate a dispute between two squirrels who were arguing over acorn ownership – in strong Brooklyn accents, according to Mary Margaret.

Eventually, they made it inside.

“We’ve got a new member!” David announced to the cabin at large. The rest of the occupants looked at David and Mary Margaret and then at the swan standing beside them, and then back to David and Mary Margaret with concerned expressions.

“Erm, David? It’s a swan.”

“Oh, just give her a minute, she’ll change back. Everyone, this is Emma. Emma, this is everyone, starting with Ruby.”

“Werewolf,” Ruby said cheerfully. “I can turn into a wolf but only at night when there’s a full moon visible.”

“Leroy.”

“Insanely good at chopping things with a pickaxe and literally no other weapon.” Leroy gave a nod of welcome to Emma.

“Not great at chopping things with kitchen utensils either,” Mary Margaret added. “This is Bae.”

“I can open portals that might lead to anywhere and that I have no idea if I’ll be able to come back from if I go through one.” Bae waved. He looked to be in his late teens, and Emma surmised that he was the son of the mysterious Mr Gold.

“There’s also Bae’s dad but he doesn’t appear to be here at the moment,” Mary Margaret concluded. “Mr Gold, who, in another case of extreme nominative determinism, can spin straw into gold.”

Emma felt herself beginning to transform again, and she only just managed to grab David’s arm to keep her balance as she shot back up to her normal height and centre of gravity. To give them their due, the rest of the gathered group seemed completely unfazed by what they had just witnessed.

“Hi. I’m Emma. I’ve been randomly turning into a swan for two days.”

“Cool!” Bae waved her over. “I’ve only had my powers for a week too. They’re so annoying, aren’t they?”

Emma nodded, glad to have found a kindred spirit so quickly. Maybe being part of the Lame Superpowers Club wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[robotslenderman]

Think I’ve finally nailed down Mehra’s story in between getting exiled and ending up in the Dark Brotherhood.

Post-Morag Tong, she meets Quen and helps rebuild the Thieves Guild, going through the quests and everything.

She’s pretty highly ranked in the Thieves Guild except there’s a problem... she keeps killing people on jobs. This isn’t too much of a problem at first, but other thieves are like “The hell, Mehra?” She’s supposed to be a disciplined Morag Tong-raised woman, they don’t kill people they’re not supposed to. But she keeps doing it.

(Sometimes she swears she hears Velsa or Zeira or Quen telling her to kill someone, but it becomes quickly apparent to Mehra that that's... not actually happening. They wouldn't do that and then get mad at her for it. Not all three of them at once. Surely?)

Eventually she brings too much heat on the Thieves Guild and she’s asked to leave by Zeira. It's not a hostile kicking-out - it's a sad parting, and Mehra is understanding. She's secretly paranoid the whole thing was orchestrated, but she doesn't let herself resent them and just. Leaves.

Floats around for a while. She knows the DB is probably the only place left to go, but she doesn't want to. Still, she researches them. Stalks a few DB agents she runs into. Ends up tracking down and watching the Black Hand at some kind of Black Marsh ceremony where the Shadowscales are hatched. She's hiding in a basket, watching through the gaps.

When suddenly Nevusa (my headcanon Listener) opens the basket and, without looking down, drops a book on Mehra's head. The Night Mother, she says to the rest of the Black Hand, told her to do that, and then they leave.

it's the Litany of Blood.

Mehra ends up spending the next few months fulfilling it, because... why not? She doesn't have anything better to do. Meanwhile in the Kvatch Sanctuary they're boggled that an outsider has been chosen to do the Litany, and red spectral statues are appearing but the killer hasn't been recruited yet.

Eventually each pedestal is filled, but... still no killer. The Night Mother still hasn't told Nevusa where to find this killer. In reality, Mehra moves around too quickly to be reliably tracked down, so NM is still waiting for her to settle.

(Headcanon is that the Litany is only ever completed by future Listeners. So the whole Kvatch Sanctuary is especially apprehensive and excited because there's a future Listener out there, and nobody, not even Nevusa, knows who it is.)

Eventually Mehra hears about the DB presence in Kvatch, so goes there. She still doesn't want to join, but it's not like she has any other career options.

there's no Thieves Den there, so she relocates to Anvil.

By day she poses as a beggar, using the disguise to scope out houses. By night she cleans out houses and, occasionally, kills. Sometimes she just kills - she hovers on a roof, waits, then just drops on someone on an alley and stabs them in the back.

The DB eventually get wind that there's a serial killer in Anvil. The NM still hasn't said anything to Nevusa - Mehra isn't sleeping anywhere secure, but Nevusa wonders if it's their Litany killer and puts out feelers.

Nobody ever looks at Mehra twice. She's got horrific burn scars and she pesters people for money - people avoid her, they don't stare, so nobody notices her Tong tattoos, let alone anyone who'd recognise them. Mehra thinks it's hilarious, because the second anyone spotted her tattoos they'd quickly realise she's the killer.

But nobody ever looks, so they don't. She sticks out because she's very distinct as both a Dunmer beggar and one so badly scarred, but still people ignore her.

The killer is eventually active enough that the Kvatch Sanctuary actively investigates. Nevusa is pretty sure it's the Litany killer because the method of killing is the same as the Litany victims - as Nevusa found out when she out out feelers. A single knife to the back, right in the artery beside the spine.

Kvatch Sanctuary gets excited again because their future Listener is in the area and fucking up people for the lulz.

But they can't. Fucking. Catch her. There's never any witnesses, or survivors. Nobody acting suspicious at night (by DB standards, anyway). Remains-Silent, Venom and Mirabelle are brought in to try and find suspects - nothing. Elam is stationed at the Thieves Den full time to keep an eye out for potential hit men or freelance assassins - nada.

It doesn't help that Mehra got shy when they showed up, and stopped killing for a while.

Elam does spot Mehra in the TD occasionally and points her out to Nevusa as one of the more suspicious denizens of the TD, but she doesn't like to talk to Elam and her entire face stays covered, so he doesn't yet connect her to the scarred beggar.

Eventually things get quiet enough that Terenus gives Astara permission to pull everyone out of Anvil, so she does. Clearly, the litany killer has moved on.

And the fucking killings start up again almost immediately.

Cue DB facedesking. This time they just keep Mirabelle and Elam down there.

Mirabelle is a servant listening for gossip, working at the barracks. She's to report any progress the guards make on finding the killer, and to inspect the bodies whenever she can.

Elam is to stay in the TD and just get work. In game, IIRC, not everyone uses the Black Sacrament to get the DB's attention and if I remember right Elam is the one they contact if they don't. So in my headcanon Elam spends a lot of time in Kvatch getting work the old fashioned way. Well, now he's charged with doing it in Anvil and he's not allowed to come home until the litany killer comes with him.

So Elam spends time bored out of his mind, missing home, hoping nobody is messing up the Sanctuary too much, and getting work.

The TD is, for once, grateful there's an agent of the DB hanging around because the litany killer keeps picking off *their* guys, because who else is hanging out in alleyways at 3AM?

There isn't much privacy in the TD but he still has to give out work, and the thieves and pirates and so on give Elam as much leg room as they can.

Eventually his Brothers and Sisters start complaining their targets are dead before they can get to them. Elam has Mirabelle look into it, but still lets clients think the DB did it.

Mirabelle reports back that their would-be targets are getting killed by a single knife to the back.

Nevusa's reaction upon hearing about this: "Oh, for fuck's sake."

Elam's is to break down into laughter so hard he can't breathe.

The litany killer is now actively fucking with them and stealing their kills.

and they still don't have a clue who it is

Good news: this means the litany killer comes by the Thieves Den often enough that they eavesdrop on Elam's business deals, or at least enough to know who's pissed at who and who's planning on getting the DB involved.

Elam still thinks this is the funniest thing ever, but when the fences of the TD are notified they are Not Amused and start more actively working with the DB. They want the litany killer dead. The DB decide not to disclose that they're recruiting them.

The fences and the denizens of the TD do some fund raising and ask everyone to pitch in for a DB contract. At this point they've started calling her "Litany", since the DB have spread her moniker.

Mehra contributes a huge amount because she thinks it's just as funny as Elam does. They have the exact same sense of humour.

Those who know Litany stole the DB's kills no longer bother going to Elam and just stand in the middle of the TD and yell, "Hey, Litany, kill X for me!"

which she does

Some with a sense of humour start egging Litany to steal the underwear of someone they hate and stick it on the spire of the nearby Chapel.

She does this too

Litany is suddenly as popular for their sense of humour as they're hated for killing people's buddies.

Elam is like "our future Listener is *awesome*"

Nevusa doesn't know whether to be amused or exasperated.

Astara is Not Amused.

Then a break comes - someone fresh off a ship hears about Litany, and mentions it's similar to some killings in Hew's Bane. They're practically kidnapped and taken to Elam.

They tell Elam that they're a footpad from Abah's Landing, visiting some relative or other, and that some high ranking Dunmer in the Thieves Guild got kicked out for killing too many people while on the job. Mentions that she's a former member of the Morag Tong.

which... seems to fit Litany's MO. Nevusa is aware that *somehow* the Litany of Blood ended up in Litany's hands from Black Marsh, and the killings were done so professionally even the DB can't track them down. For it to be Morag Tong sounds right.

Cue Nevusa going to Abah's Landing, personally, to visit Zeira.

Who - if reluctantly - confirms that... yup, there was a Dunmer here called Mehra Adrano, former Tong. Liked to backstab people she shouldn't. Lovely woman, just... too stabby for the guild. Very lost after her exile from the Tong. Talked openly about how she thought she was going to wind up in the Brotherhood until the Thieves Guild took her. Zeira's surprised she hasn't ended up in there yet.

"We're working on it," says Nevusa. "We're finding it difficult to track her down."

Zeira gives Nevusa a description and as much info as she can. Nevusa does some research, uncovers Mehra’s backstory as Dralsea Sadri.

Nevusa returns to Anvil, where Elam and Astara still haven't tracked her down, and gives them Mehra’s description.

Elam is like "fuck, she's that scarred redheaded Dunmer?! I give her a few coins every time I buy my lunch! I talked to her like five minutes ago!"

They grab the Shadowscales and go to confront her...

Mehra’s sitting on her pallet, notices the Dark Brotherhood's Listener, Executioner, and a bunch of Shadowscales approaching her, and is like "and it only took you lot eighteen fucking months to track me down. Oh, by the way, here's your book back, Nevusa."

And the rest is history.

[astrotranslations]

ASTRO for The Star (2017 December issue)

MJ

Which is the song that you favour the most amongst the tracks included in this album? It’s 'Run'. I wanted to quickly record for it as soon as I heard the song. I liked it the most.

What makes people join your fandom? My bright energy. I’m in charge of being the happy virus in our team. Wouldn’t my ability to make the people around me happy be my charm?

What are you hooked on lately? Eating. I’m not picky. I’ve been eating well recently so I’m super happy. I gain strength from eating.

When is it that you usually feel the happiest? It’s the most fun whenever I’m fooling around with the members. Even when we meet eyes on stage, it’s so funny. There’s a certain thrill. Even more so when it’s a live broadcast.

I heard that you want to challenge musicals. Are there any musicals you want to try or that you like? The musical that I first watched was a musical called <Mum>. The subject matter was really sad, that was the first time I felt touched watching a musical. I think it’s pretty charming how you can both act and sing on stage.

JinJin

ASTRO who have returned with their 5th mini album. Between the refreshing and sexy concepts for this album, which do you think you’re closer to? Before attempting this album, I thought of course I was refreshing. There’s the thing about my eye smile and my image has always been cute but doing the rap for the new song and having reviewed a lot on my facial expressions, I guess fans think I’m a little sexy.

Which is the song that you favour the most amongst the tracks included in this album? The song titled 'Better With You'. I think I always favour the ballad track with every album. The rap part that goes with the slow tempo is long so it’s fun since I get to tell different stories. I’m also satisfied with how it turned out.

What are you hooked on lately? Rap making. I got a lot closer to MONSTA X’s Jooheon hyung and SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups recently so we often talk about rap. They’re hyungs who have always liked rap so I get really motivated too.

You wrapped up your first solo concert last July on a successful note so I’m curious how you feel. We have an official lightstick called 'robong-ie'. I saw how the concert venue was glowing with the purple light from robong-ie and it made me feel really happy. It made me realise how it was worthwhile working hard. I remember crying towards the end of the concert. If the opportunity arises then I’d like to show fans our diverse sides in an even bigger concert venue.

You’re showing us charms which have matured a level higher going from boys to men so who are the members with the manliest personalities? It’s Bin-ie. There are two members in our team with blood type B and it’s Eunwoo and Bin-ie. Eunwoo has a meticulous side to him so he’s a little bit careful. Bin-ie on the other hand, his personality is slightly more fiery. He’s the sort who’s more direct with his words. My personality’s too soft so that kind of quality is actually a lot of help to me.

Cha Eunwoo

Are there any episodes you remember from when you filmed the music video for your title track, 'Crazy Sexy Cool'? When we were filming, there was a set decorated to look like a dorm. I joked with the director that I was going to take home with me the blanket that I used to cover myself and that blanket is at our dorm right now. I’m making full use of it (laughs).

What are you hooked on lately? I like Japanese dramas and animations. I’ve rewatched <Ties of Shooting Stars> and <Death Note> recently. I watched them wanting to learn Japanese but I’m slowly getting hooked.

You’re in charge of an idol role in <Revenge Note>. Is there a role you’d like to try out if the opportunity arises? I want to try a school drama while I’m still young. I was studious ever since I was younger so my image is an upright one even within the team, but I’d like to try the role of a delinquent. I’ve a younger brother so I’d also like to try a production involving brotherhood.

I heard that your sleeping habits are unique. What is the sleeping habit which you heard from the members that had you the most taken aback? Honestly, they’re all funny (laughs). There was once before when I went on an extreme diet and during that period, one of the foods that I really wanted to eat was chicken with green onion. They said that I was chanting, "Chicken with green onion, chicken with green onion," in my sleep so how badly must I have wanted to eat it. They said they thought I was awake.

What are the goals you want to achieve both as a member of ASTRO and as an actor? I want to become someone who cares about the little things. A cool person inside and out. Someone who keeps to the words he says, who gives off a good impression to the people around him and who those people can put their trust in.

Lastly, a word to your fans. One of the things I’ve been practicing lately is uploading one post per day on the fancafe. I made a separate category called 'AROHA and Eunwoo’s Room' and uploading there so please leave lots of comments and think often of Eunwoo.

Moonbin

Which is the song that you favour the most amongst the tracks included in this album? I’m really fond of our title track, 'Crazy Sexy Cool'. I gave the other track nominees a listen but 'Crazy Sexy Cool' really spoke to me as a title track. We tried a pop feel this time round and the song came out good so I’m proud.

What makes people want to join your fandom? My gap on and off stage and my lean muscles (laughs). I’m the sort to focus when I’m on stage but when I’m off it, I’m a little more friendly and bright.

Is there anything you’d like to do on Christmas? If it’s during our break then I want to go to hang out at a ski resort or some place and grill meat. As the members and I rejuvenate ourselves together.

Contrary to your cute nickname, 'puppy-kitty', you don’t seem to have a lot of aegyo so when is it that you yourself think you’re the cutest? It’s a nickname our fans made for me because I’m like a cat when I’m sat still with a straight face and then like a dog when I smile, but I’m not sure, I don’t know whether I’m cute or not.

They call you the master of pancakes so do you like cooking on the regular? When we were trainees, we always made food to eat in the dorm rather than eating out. We had to regulate our meals so I tried my best to make my own food in order to be able to control my weight. Adding soy sauce to egg soup or stir fried vegetables to enhance the flavour is my secret method.

I heard that you have a lot of interest in pictures. How was filming for today’s pictorial which had flowers accompanying you? I feel a lot of regret. I had a late dinner yesterday, I didn’t know I’d get bloated this much. But it was really enjoyable shooting with the flowers and the pictures turned out good so I really like it. We’ve mainly shot for a lot of bright and cheery pictorials up till now so I wanted to try shooting for a pictorial that had a chill and carefree vibe like this one.

Rocky

ASTRO who have returned with their 5th mini album. Between the refreshing and sexy concepts for this album, which do you think you’re closer to? I’m going from 19 to 20 so I feel like I suit sexy more than refreshing.

Which is the song that you favour the most amongst the tracks included in this album? There’s a song called 'Butterfly' in which JinJin hyung and I both wrote the lyrics for together. I liked it to the point that the lyrics just came to me right as soon as I heard the melody.

Are there any episodes you remember from when you filmed the music video for your title track, 'Crazy Sexy Cool'? The scenes where we were playing instruments. The sound wasn’t going to be heard (in the music video) anyway so we could’ve just pretended to play but maybe because I’m greedy, I really wanted to blow the trumpet. So in the end I learnt how to play an instrument.

The sexiness you’ve been hiding all this time is being set free and I think your ash gray hair in particular has a lot to do with it. When is it that you yourself think you’re the sexiest? When I’m coming down from the stage after performing. I’m the kind to easily bloat but all that goes away when I step off the stage. So I commemorate the moment with a selfie (laughs).

I heard that you’re interested in acting as well. If you take up acting later on then what kind of actor would you like to be? A warm one. I hope that people will harbour dreams and have hope when they watch me act.

Please say something to your fans. You’ve been seeing only our refreshing side up till now so you may feel a little awkward seeing sexiness added on to that image this time round. But we gave our best in preparing so I hope you’ll look upon us kindly.

Yoon Sanha

ASTRO who have returned with their 5th mini album. Between the refreshing and sexy concepts for this album, which do you think you’re closer to? I think I’m still refreshing. Even I don’t think I look sexy when I’m monitoring our stages (laughs).

What do you think makes people join your fandom? My cuteness and how I’m like the youngest one. I’m not sure myself but whenever people look at me, they always tell me that I act like the youngest one and that I’m lovable.

You’re the youngest one both at home and in your team so what are the good and bad points of being the youngest? What’s good is that even though I may make a mistake, there are a lot of times when they’d understand it because I’m the youngest. Also, rather than it being a bad point, I try not to cross any lines even when I’m messing around since I’m young.

You’re in charge of cuteness and enthusiasm in ASTRO, who’s the member that reacts the best to your energy? MJ hyung and JinJin hyung. All the members react to me well. I’m not the only enthusiastic one, the hyungs are like that too. If one member starts fooling around then we all go crazy together.

I heard that you’ve been playing the guitar since elementary school. I think you have a vocal colour that suits well with acoustic sounds. If there’re any songs that you’ve been listening to lately then please introduce them. I’ve recently been enjoying MeloMance’s Gift. I also tried copying MoonMoon’s Contrail with my guitar and it was really good.

Is there anything that you want to do on Christmas? I want to spend it with my family. My mum’s birthday falls on Christmas. I want to hold a birthday party with my family and make good memories with them.

Translations by @9​9pmh Take out with full credits

[believerindaydreams]

Part 5 of "this was a bad idea"

"So what did happen with this brain surgery then? Caesar seemed pretty ready to kill you over it." Trust Boone to get to the point.

Arcade chews over how to say it, smoothes out his bedroll. They have a tent to themselves for the night, sparse but better than nothing. "I have no idea. They let me into the contraband chem tent to fix up a soporific, I realised I was in way out of my depth, medically speaking, and uh...overindulged. A bit. In my defence, the surgery wasn't supposed to take place until the next day."

Boone's not quite as uncommunicative as he looks, once you learn his vocabulary of Hard Stares, and this one is pure bewilderment. "So you don't know what the fuck you did, because you were high?"

"...I came to with my hands covered in Mentants chalk, wearing a pair of lucky eyeglasses that weren't mine, the most hideous suit in creation that also wasn't mine, and Caesar congratulating me on a job well done. I might have cured him. I also might have injected so much Med-X into his system he couldn't help but feel better afterwards. I don't even know if I turned the Auto-Doc on that night, frankly."

It's not his proudest moment as a doctor.

He hadn't thought Craig Boone capable of hooting, but apparently he was wrong about that. It sounds uncommonly like a man choking to death.

"And I thought I had it beat on trying to kill Caesar. I have a gun, I have a pile of Stealth Boys, how far can I get killing every Legionary I see?"

"...where did you get a pile of Stealth Boys?"

"Cleaning out the old Repconn test site, we kept getting ghouls coming up the road to Novac. They said they'd leave if I helped them launch a rocket, I said okay and landed up knee-deep in Nightkin. Went pretty well. The ghouls left, I wiped out Cottonwood Cove and caught their last raft to the Fort." Boone's actually chuckling now. "Couldn't have got as far as I did if I hadn't barked my shins against the Legion stash of Stealth Boys, mind you. So much for being anti technology, the hypocrites."

There's a difference between knowing the patient he's been treating and worrying over and occasionally checking out must have racked up an inordinate body count just to be here, and getting that information with a smile and a chuckle. Suddenly he feels more alone now than he has the whole time he's been here, a friendly face just as murderous as the Legion that surrounds him.

Brotherhood, Brotherhood. Sometimes their members can be reasonable, he's learned that from the new Followers trainee. Maybe they can cut a deal of some kind. A gun for Boone, safe passage back to New Vegas for him...

He can dream about it tonight. Reality won't strike until morning.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?" The habit of politeness is cultivated for situations exactly such as this, so the automatic response is the correct one.

"...you ever meet Manny when you were in Novac? Sniper working the day shift?"

"I might have met him in passing, but not so as to know him, no. Is it important?"

"...maybe not. But if you're ever there again-" Boone frowns, lets a troubled expression through the barrier of his stoicism. "Tell him that I'm sorry I ever doubted him. Should have given him the chance to watch my back one last time."

His attenuated gaydar rears its curious skull. How does that fit in with the Carla situation, what other secrets is Boone hiding under that crew cut?

Maybe he'll ask some time.

Maybe, if they live long enough to start hoping for forgiveness.

[spiralatlas]

GCAP (Game Connect Asia Pacific) 2017 Day 1

I’m in Melbourne for GCAP and PAX Australia, and GCAP started today.

Sadly things were cut short by me BREAKING MY WHEELCHAIR in a DOOMED QUEST FOR A SMOOTHIE. I got a replacement, but it was a hassle and I needed to go rest afterwards. But what I saw of GCAP was good!

Below: descriptions of talks by Steve Gaynor and Karla Zimonya (creators of Gone Home and Tacoma) and by David Gaider (narrative designer on Dragon Age), plus misc other conference things.

There were three introductions, all about How Great The Melbourne Games Scene Is and how Everyone Is Friends And Awesome.

Keynote: Steve Gaynor and Karla Zimonya from Fullbright Games: The names didn't mean much to me but then I realised THEY'RE THE PEOPLE WHO MADE GONE HOME AND TACOMA :D

The theme of GCAP this year is The Ripple Effect, and the theme of this talk was how people connect and affect each other.

Steve and Karla met as part of the team for Bioshock 2. Karla was a researcher, and Steve a level designer, and when they were in those roles they didn't interact. But they both finished their assigned tasks and asked around for other things that needed doing, which led them both to the massive task of writing all the little bits of extra dialogue around things like what enemies say when they attack, flavour text on objects, optional little stories told through random audio diaries etc. They made a great team (Steve as writer and Karla as editor) and got really into it. I think you can totally see how this grew into their later approach to games.

The company 2KMoran being willing to let them develop like this was part of them being a good company, with many ex-employees who have gone on to make interesting games.

Steve then got to design his own DLC, and went I MUST BRING IN KARLA. And after they did that, and Bioshock 2 was done, they created Fullbright and started working on Gone Home.

At some point Steve encountered some cool Bioshock fanart and became mutuals with the artist on twitter. Since she was a lesbian, he asked her if she'd be up for discussing things to help with the game. She brought along her wife for an extra point of view. The wife turned out to be a 3D artist, and both of them ended up hired to work on the game.

David Gaider: Creating a World and Making it Stick

So this was like 50% general advice and 50% morality tale about the Hubris Of The Writer Who Thinks His Worldbuilding Stands Alone.

Basically he created all the basic Thedas worldbuilding by himself, then told the rest of the team, and worked with his writers, and never checked in to make sure the game worked as a whole until it was Far Too Late.

He was trying to create a relatively grounded, dark, realistic story...and the art team was making orcs and bikini armour. He had lore about the mages being too oppressed to learn offensive spells or do anything flashy in public, while the gameplay team was implementing fireballs, and specialisations like Reaver which were not connected to the worldbuilding at all. And by the time these incompatibilities became apparent everyone was committed and refused to budge. So the final game is a hodge podge of inconsistent parts that all make sense individually but don't fit together.

Now my general notes:

He scrawled out the original Thedas map on paper the same way he would for a D&D game (his original draft looked very Middle Earth-ish in style), expecting someone who knew geography would go through and fix the rivers at some point. They did not.

One lesson he learned is that you can't just throw pages of worldbuilding at people and expect them to both read and be engaged with it. You have to have a "razor", a short description of the core of the game, and make sure everyone understands what it is. Anything that doesn't fit the razor gets cut. For example, DA2 had themes of The Price of Freedom, Family, and All Things Change. And you have to sell them on why your worldbuilding elements are interesting, and what makes them cool. Once the art team understood what darkspawn were they got invested and redesigned them to not just be orcs.

Remember to feel: Don't just come up with the history of your city: what is it like to visit, is it loud and friendly and sunny or oppressively silent?

Pick your battles: choose the parts of your worldbuilding you really value and emphasise those, be willing to let the others go, especially if it’s to follow changes that make the game more fun. The game being fun is the final aim, your worldbuilding is just a tool to get there.

He got confused by his cursor a lot :)

One good thing about the DAO worldbuilding is that he didn't know where it would be set at first, so worked out all the history for everywhere, and that added lots of depth.

Names are the devil, totally subjective so everyone argues about them and hates any new suggestion. Many names for DAO were bandied about, like "Chronicle". He has a rule to never put Shadow, Dark or Blood in a list of possible names or the publishers will go THAT ONE.

His two rules: 1) People aren't allowed to complain about a name unless they have a better suggestion. 2) Wait six months. Chances are people will be used to it and not mind any more.

When the Grey Wardens were first suggested they were supposed to be pretty minor, based off the rangers in Tolkein. So they got named the White Rangers, but that was too similar, so White Wardens, but that wasn't morally grey enough, so: Grey Wardens! Which was fine until they turned out to be important, people suggested "cooler" names like Blood Knight Brotherhood/Lords of War/Disciples of Pain (not sure if he was joking) but he waited six months and took a vote and lo, the old name stuck.

Track your changes.

Have an elevator pitch (not the same as the razor) If you can't come up with one your concept needs work.

Question your biases. He was originally inspired by Middle Earth and D&D, and his own ideas of Medieval Europe...all of which are way too white. Some of this could be fixed in later games, but the world he created closed off a lot of possibilities (he didn't say any examples but I guess he meant, like, Africa and Asia equivalents)

When he took inspiration from Jews and Romani for the elves he thought he was being very clever, and only later realised that this created all sorts of unfortunate implications, since now anything that happens to elves seems like a statement about those cultures.

He was happily surprised to be able to include bi characters in DAO.

The writers were all pretty happy with how they'd handled gender in DAI, then the Voice Over person was like "why are the vast majority of our lines for men?" and they realised they'd all made most of their background characters men for no reason.

At the start it's hard to walk the line between a long, boring, exposition heavy intro, and players getting confused by lack of explanation. (It felt like he wished players would just be smarter lol) He said "If DAO had started at Ostagar then the PC's backstory would have felt irrelevant" which made me think "So like DAI?".

Players have to know why to care about an event before it happens, or the emotional reaction will fall flat.

When you introduce the first member of a group, they should be fairly typical so the player gets a feel for the default. For example, Sten is a pretty typical Qunari. Only after that can you introduce outliers like The Iron Bull.

Every main character the player interacts with (for a RPG, the party members) should represent a different interesting facet of the worldbuilding.

They didn't think DAO would get sequels, and thus had those wildly differing epilogues. He isn't sure he'd change letting the player died, since it was a cool moment. But it was certainly inconvenient to deal with later.

They had a rough idea of how the history of Thedas would continue after DAO "but no plan survives contact with the enemy, in this case I guess that's EA" loll

Having player decisions affect so much has been a bit of a nightmare.

Card tricks in the dark: if you do something clever and the player doesn't notice, it doesn't matter.

If the enemies drink potions and it's not obvious they're doing it, it just looks like the AI is cheating. If a choice affects the plot but this fact isn't made clear, players will just think that's how the plot always goes. Need to heavily lampshade that this is the consequence of that choice. And keeping track of all the possibilities gets ridiculous with characters like Alistair, who can be any one of dead/king/a drunk etc.

The players who DO pay attention to these changes tend to want way more reactivity than is practical. So nobody is impressed. And most new players found the save game editors confusing and off putting. He thinks perhaps it would be better to have a smaller number of major choices.

He's not going to judge other writers but the HUGE changes at the end of the Mass Effect trilogy mean they can now no longer set anything in that galaxy again.

Question time!

Something about the process leading to Krem being written. He talked about the bad stuff previously, and them realising they'd screwed up. A trans fan on the forums said "Could we have a trans character who isn't a sex worker or the butt of a joke?". They got jumped on, but the team read it and went "Oh."

Gaider wrote Maevaris in the comics, talked to a trans woman friend about it. One of the other writers was working on Kress...*audience shouts KREM* and he seemed a bit boring so he got made trans, since it added some interest and fitted in well with the worldbuilding about the Qun etc.It would have been better with a trans voice actor but they couldn’t find one.

What program is best for explaining stuff to the art team etc early on: Biowre had a sort of Grey Box level for playing through choices, but something like twine is good, just to test pacing. (not sure this actually answers the question asked)

Are there any genres you would like to work on but haven't: Yes :D :D But he can't tell us about it yet :D :D

He got sick of high fantasy after ten years. Would look longingly at Mass Effect sometimes just for a change but then they would implode and he'd think"Actually I'm fine".

Off the top of his head: Victorian London, finding husbands for your girlfriends while fighting zombies and also it's a Western?

Misc other things: I didn't make it to any more talks because Wheelchair, but met some cool people, and played some of the student games on display. My favourite was a time travel murder mystery called Lacuna where you have to connect clues. Apparently I was way better at it than most people :D I also actually enjoyed one of the puzzle platformers (I forget the name but it's about a little grumpy blue hexagon), which is a pretty big achievement.

GCAP has a "food intolerances station" with special food options and knowledgeable staff which was pretty great. Morning tea was just various gluten free biscuits, but for lunch there was poached chicken and salmon and various plain chopped vegetables, as well as dressed salads and gluten free bread and dessert. I could eat about 1/3 of it which is pretty good odds, I ended up happier than my partner who doesn’t have as many intolerances but just didn't like any of the food options.

[praydastles]

Title: Think you can hack it? Yes this is a bad pun Fandom: BAP Member: Jongup Genre/Warning: Smut, Sir!Jongup, skydive!au, SNAKES THIS ONE IS FILLED WITH SNAKES, death (sorry guise blame the snakes), this is very smutty, EXTREMELY EXPLICIT (this will not be everyone's cup of tea) and very rough; includes slapping (not of the face), spit play, foul language and more.  Summary/Request: Jongup smut with sir would be p coolio. Maybe smth like a gang!au and jongup being the boss and the reader smth like a hacker/tech worker for the team?? A/N: Have a sir!Jongup gif x On his merry way to get him some pum Sorry this took so long me long to finish and I’m sorry that you have to read this x_x ALSO!!! MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @jongup-is-an-enigma FOR BEING AN ENCOURAGING AND SUPPORTIVE BABE! (follow her guys!) Word Count: 5751 (fml)

You chew lazily on the now stale popcorn, monitoring the activity on your computer screen as you had been doing for the last six hours. Today was the day and if you fucked this up then you may as well be dead.

You had to rely purely on your skills, following the boy’s movements through traffic cameras, security surveillance, street cameras, anything that allowed you to track them.

The car they used, black through and through weaved through back roads, trying to avoid traffic, trying to keep to schedule. You briefly wondered how each of them were feeling. You especially wondered about the feelings of a particular person and felt your lips twitch to the tiniest of smirks knowing that he was just anticipating the downfall, the surprise when it comes to an end. You knew he would get off on the fact that they were so unaware, so unprepared, unsuspecting of a single thing, you knew this, because that’s how you felt too.

It was harder to track them now, the car meeting the dust roads of abandoned Seoul, old cars and other rubbish building up in the dirt. The roads were more open, no clear marks of roads and rarely any cameras. When they reached more open space you were cut completely from their view and instead looked down at your watch.

They were give or take a few minutes behind schedule, but that didn’t matter. You only cared that they reached their destination. From the cut off point they should be there in about 15 minutes, especially if the heavy footed Himchan was driving.  And so, you waited patiently, slowly chewing more stale popcorn as you switched to the cameras you had personally installed in the warehouse.

Inside was empty, or so it appeared. Dark corners held worthless money seeking thugs, lives that could be disregarded easily. They were nobodies. You smile, remembering the reward you had got for finding them, for fitting them into this little plan that had taken over your being for the past 6 months. You bit your lips, shifting in your seat as the heat surged through you at the mere thought of what your reward tonight would be. You were even tempted to give yourself a little pre celebratory reward, knowing he wouldn’t like it,  but much too excited to wait.

Too bad you were much too focused on your task. One thing that all the boys liked about you was that you put your work - no matter that it was illegal - first.

The time passed slowly, with your eyes burning as you focused on the monitor until eventually you saw the dust clouds when their car had pulled up.

They piled out and you licked your lips looking at one particular delight, but quickly focused again to watch them briefly speak and then head toward the opening of the warehouse.

You switched to the cameras inside. Your heart rate suddenly picked up; a number of emotions ran through you as you memorised their faces. A sliver of something foreign ran through you; it wrapped around the contents of your stomach and stirred till you were left with a sick feeling. You briefly pondered your actions, briefly debated with yourself: Does it have to be this way? But the moment your eyes landed on his face, sweet eyes soft and calm, you knew your answer: Yes.

It was rather comical. To watch the great leaders face slowly morph into an expression of confusion. The other boys taking glances around the nearly bare warehouse. You grinned, already knowing their thoughts: Where the fuck is the stuff?

But the answer was clear. Nowhere. There never was anything in that shitty abandoned warehouse. And Guk probably had a feeling that would be the case too. God, that man asked too many fucking questions and you were even surprised with yourself that you were able to convince him to go for it. It was all worth it. This was the main event after all.

And in that moment your trusted thugs, clad in police wear appeared from the cracks to surround your precious boys. Your boys were quick and obviously would not go down without a fight.

Guns were drawn and with a sickening smile you watched the beautiful scene unfold. Bullets ripped through the air and you could only imagine the surprise of your little army of lowlifes when they began to drop one by one like flies. Oops, I guess the uniforms aren’t bulletproof.   

Another twinge was felt however, when Jongup was shot. But that’s not what got to you. It was the way you saw the shout leave Youngjae’s mouth when his arm wrapped around a dying Jongup, shooting haphazardly.

The way the blood splattered on the camera had you shooting up in your seat. You were momentarily worried that the bullet hit Jongup in a soft spot, but when Youngjae fell atop of Jongup unmoving you realised he was fine.

It was quite the show. To watch the boys, to watch the anguish as their brotherhood was broken. It was just so typical for them to put themselves in the line of fire together. Maybe if they thought to themselves to pull out, they’d be alive.

It was a bloody mess, something resembling a Shakespeare play. Everyone was dead. Well, nearly everyone.

Youngjae, a cold carcass, useless for anything now, was pushed without a care to the side and you watched with glee as Jongup slowly rose to stand. You checked your watch, already counting down the minutes for the building to be demolished. Everything had happened on time and now Jongup could come home to you and celebrate and what the fuck is he doing?

There were times Jongup reminded you of a sloth. He could be slow and unbothered, taking his time with no care in the world. So when you saw him lazily stumble toward a person you couldn’t help to grind your teeth in irritation.

Upon closer look you could see Jongup crouching down to someone. Daehyun.

You nervously checked your watch again, but you knew this was the cherry on the top for Jongup. To personally watch Daehyun suffer and die. But still, was he really that stupid?

Jongup reminded you of a sloth. So when you saw the 2 minute mark as you counted down on your watch you couldn’t help but panic, suddenly shooting out of your seat causing it to fall backward. You slammed your hands down on your desk, face drawing closer to the screen as you watched a weak Daehyun pointlessly lift his gun toward Jongup. You zoomed in, catching the smirk on Jongup’s face. You could tell he enjoyed watching the pointless efforts of this dying man. Jongup gripped the gun easily, leaning forward while he turned the gun onto Daehyun and you could only imagine how cold Daehyun must’ve felt to see such empty eyes up close. Only imagine the question in his eyes when Jongup, his brother pulled the trigger so easily.

You breathes harshened, the timer under a minute when a splay of blood left Daehyun’s mouth in his final moment. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE YOU SHIT!” You couldn’t help to voice your displeasure. This was not the plan. He should have gotten out of there with enough time to be clear of the explosion. But there he was with fucking seconds!

The monitor cut off and you realised why. Your eyes widen. Rage bubbling to the surface as hands shoved at whatever was on your desk, including your monitor as your anger got the best of you. You in destruction mode was not the best so when you calmed down just a little, sweat coating your forehead and empty space filled with your rough breathes, you realised you had no chance to find out if Jongup was alive.

Your monitor was effectively destroyed and anything else was useless. The thought suddenly had your chest aching, your heart violently clenching as the thought materialised within you, twined itself into your reality and you just wanted to cry. But you couldn’t. You refuse to cry for that idiot.

Kicking and flipping chairs and destroying what you could was your only solution for the time being so when you heard the slow clap of applause and turn to see none other than Jongup, you’re wrapped in a new kind of anger, frozen with narrowed eyes aimed at the smirking man.

“Miss me baby?”

Your heels never turned so fast, your strides angry as you approach the bane of your life, Moon Jongup. “What the fuck?”  Jongup is barely surprised by you snarling at him, nor is he surprised to find you fired up and in the middle of destroying your little room. He’s taking enjoyment in watching the way your eyes ink out into a colour so dark, it nearly blends in with your pupils. You’re pissed and that was an understatement.

You’re in his face breathing heavily and your hands come up to shove at his padded chest with a snarl, “What the ACTUAL FUCK YOU BASTARD?” Jongup is smirking, titling his head slightly as specks of spit fly onto his face. He’s never seen you so angry. Eye’s wide and face marred with lines of your anger.

Jongup side steps you, slowly walking around as he states in a bored tone. “I’m not sure what you’re pissed about, but the job is done. The plane to Russia is boo-” Your hand roughly grabs his arm to swing him around to face you and neither of you have time to register your actions when Jongup's head snaps to the side, cheek already reddening; the aftermath of you slapping Moon Jongup.

You’re breathing heavily, hand deadweight at your side as you stare back at an impassive Jongup. He’s silent and just as still as you, actually it seems like he isn’t even breathing and as the realisation of your actions wash over you, it's your turn to freeze, blood seeming to slow to a stop as each cell, nerve, organ shut down.

It happens in a blur. Jongup’s fingers press into the back of your neck, holding your face down onto the cool surface of your work desk. “It seems you were worried baby girl?” His voice was light and playful, but you knew better as you struggle beneath him, trying to push yourself up. “I’m not in the fucking mood. You could have died, do you rea-” His fingers tighten, nails pinching your skin. “But, I didn’t baby girl. I’m here. So don’t you think you were a little out of order for your actions back there?” You harshly swallowed, thinking your answer through, knowing it would determine your punishment. “I’m sorry… sir. I just got scared.” Jongup shifted so his crotch pressed into your behind, bringing his other hand up to stroke your hair. “Aw baby girl I know,” he cooed, “But, you shouldn’t have doubted me.” He spat. You immediately shook your head, which was difficult under his grip, denying his accusations. “No Jong- sir! You were on the screen and then the explosions went off and I, AH!” Your bottom stung, his palm coming down harshly on your arse cheek that rippled with the force. “Baby girl I really wanted us to celebrate our victory today.” He told you, hand tightly gripping an arse cheek till his nails dug in. His breath fanned against your ears, the tips hot and red. “I really did want us to but, I think we’re going to have to put that on hold hm?” You inhale sharply, heart speeding as the anticipation fills you. “Is that okay baby?” You whimper, not trusting yourself to talk, because the possibilities are running through your mind and it nearly has you salivating. You yelp when Jongup’s hand on your neck quickly shifts to fist into your hair and drags you upwards, twisting you till you're facing him. “Let’s see how pretty we can get you baby.” Your vest top was pulled down beneath your bra, breasts pulled out shortly after, jutting over the material. You braced yourself, the sting still making you whimper when Jongup slapped a breast. “Back straight and legs apart… please.” He added, a sickly sweet smile on his face. You straightened up, back arching just slightly and Jongup licked his lips. “Like that sir?” You asked quietly, looking straight ahead as you voluntarily placed your arms behind your back, eager to please. Jongup chuckled lowly, his hand shifting your head back by the hair so your neck was more exposed to him. This close you could smell the strong odour of industrial site on his clothes.

“Just like that baby girl.” His mouth sucked the skin of your neck into his mouth, coating you with saliva as his tongue drew patterns against skin. He bit where he could, teeth sinking in to elicit your little whimpers of pain. Your hands resisted the urge to push him away as his own came up to pull and twist your breast. Your neck was a pretty painting of dark blues and reddening skin and Jongup was determined to paint you all over.

His lips left your neck, mouth immediately lowering to your sore breasts to bite. He was slow and enjoyed watching your expression change the more his teeth sunk in. He enjoyed how you tried to hold your noises in, tried to act unaffected and to be honest he admired your tolerance for pain, especially when he was the one dishing it out.

Your nipples were sore and slick with his saliva and Jongup pulled back to admire the shine of spit and discoloured skin before he released a long trail of saliva from his mouth. A hand came up to rub his fluid over your breasts before he was slapping your breast again, dick hardening as he watched the way they bounced and sprung back to their position. He alternated between your mounds, slapping at times and harshly pulling your nipples till your skin stretched at others. Your breast fitted comfortably in his hand and you nearly jerked away feeling how uncomfortably tight he was gripping. His nails made dents in your skin, little white crescents that stood out against the deep red.

One last slap and then his hands were on your hips pushing you back till you met the desk. You were lifted and shifted around in quick succession, Jongup wasting no time in positioning you to his liking. Your head hung off the table, blood rushing to your head while Jongup's fingers rushed to unbutton your shorts.

“Let me fuck that mouth of yours baby girl.” Your mouth dropped open, throat relaxing even when you felt Jongup shove a hand through your unbuttoned shorts. “Thats a good girl.” he whispered as his other hand guided his semi hard cock toward your mouth.

The feeling of him sliding against your tongue and slowly filling your mouth, the thickness of his cock stretching your lips had you moaning.

He wasn’t gentle or caring as his rough fingers parted your slit for his fingers to find your clit. The harsh circling immediately had you moaning; his fingers slid to your hole to find your wetness seeping out.

“Just how I like you baby.” You release a long and deep groan around his dick feeling his fingers work you. Your mouth clamps around his cock when he slips one, then two fingers inside of you, immediately setting a fast pace, his fingers scissoring into you till you felt the heat building upside of you. Jongup looked down at you as he pulled out of your mouth; he saw the way your throat was taught as your scream remained trapped, your mouth wide open, drool slipping past your lips, your eyes frantic, just a little bit crazy and it was all because of him.

“Keep that mouth open.” His voice was rough but soft and Jongup grinned when he felt you tighten around his fingers, slick with your wetness. He pushed his hips forward again, slowly filling your mouth as much as he could before he slowly pulled back. He continued this pace, rocking steadily into you, each time going just a bit deeper. He enjoyed watching his cock disappear into your mouth, he enjoyed the way you would try to take a quick breath when he pulled back. “You take me in so well don’t you baby? I’m sure you can take some more.” Jongup thrusted his hips, his cock gagging you as it slipped into your throat. He looked down in amazement at how he could see the bulge of his cock in your throat. “Fuck baby, you look so good.” Jongup resumed scissoring your pussy just as he began to throat fuck you, your eyes watering from the effort. In your position it was hard to properly breathe and you choked around his cock, drool spilling copiously.

The sound of your wetness around his fingers and the sound of you gagging as you took his cock into your mouth heated your body impossibly and you knew you wouldn't last long. He shoved his hips against your mouth, leaving himself buried inside your deep cavern, circling his hips so his balls rubbed on your face while he almost violently shook his fingers inside you. You tensed, legs raising in the air and upper body twisting as the heat in your stomach broke, a mass wave of pleasure twisting your body as you screamed around his cock, eyes bulging out. Jongup thrusted into your overly sensitive hole before pulling out to land slaps against your clit. Your legs jumped and you squeal. “There,there that’s a good girl.” He pulls his cock from your mouth, your chest burning as your lungs fought to take in air. Jongup watches you struggle, thinking how adorable it was that you could barely breathe because of his cock. “Aw baby, struggling a bit there?” He questioned with a cute smirk. Before you could think to retort his words with some colourful language, he was manhandling your body again, pulling your legs back toward him so he could pull your shorts and underwear off of you. Then he was lifting you easily so you hung upside down. “Hmm, your pussy smells especially delicious after I’ve made you cum baby.” Jongup doesn’t struggle at all to hold your body, despite your weight, his arms wrap around you easily and shuffle’s your split legs closer to his face so his mouth can dive for your pussy. He licks long stripes, not giving you those usual kitten licks and slurps up your juices. He mouths your folds and clit messily while your cry out, feeling the blood rush to your head way too quickly. “Sir, please.” You find yourself saying as your hips try to twist away from his mouth.

Jongup wasn't into denying, he thought it was a waste, he much rather enjoy fucking your oversensitized body until you were crying and crawling away from him, barely able to speak or move.

His fingers dug into your hips as he lifted your body so he could drag your pussy up and down against his tongue. Your toes curled and your muscles tightened as Jongup lifted you up and down against his tongue. He held you to his mouth and shook his mouth against your wet cunt with a groan.

You were groaning and you felt your wetness spread to your inner thighs, more and more seeping from your hole even when Jongup was there to slurp it up. You didn't know how Jongup didn't drop you when your body convulsed with each stroke of his tongue but somehow he managed and as he messily ate you, you felt the pleasure push the scream from your throat when you came again, just as hard as the last, thighs squeezing and your ankles crossing as Jongup wiggled his tongue into you, catching every delicious drop till you stained his tongue with your juices.

You had barely caught your breath when Jongup had quickly, yet carefully turned your body the right way up and placed you on the floor. The blood rushed to your head and your weak limbs gave out as you fell tiredly against Jongup's clothed chest.

“Not tired already, are you baby?” It wasn't a question. Behind his words was an order: you better not be tired yet.  Forcing yourself to put space between you two and stand on your own two feet, you shook your head looking at him with big eyes. “No sir, I can take what you give me sir.”

Jongup smirked. Fingers stroking your cheek and then playing with the rough strands of your hair. “You can take what I give you?” You nodded immediately, stepping a little closer to him as you eagerly told him, “Yes sir, I will always take whatever you give me.”

You can see the devious look clouding those brown eyes, much like a sandstorm in the desert and traced the permanent smirk on his face as he took in your words.  

“What can you give yourself?” Your brows drew together, frown lines forming when you became confused by his question. “I don't understand sir… What… what you mean?”

He grinned, enjoying how naive you could be even in this situation. His large hands found your hips and you felt goosebumps erupt from the soft and slow strokes of his thumb against your skin.  He tilted his head at you with a little smile and leaned forward, his warm breath tickling your skin as they brushed your ear. “How hard can you fuck yourself for me?” Your cheeks burned, his erotic words and the mere thought both turning you on and making you feel shy, because although this was for him, it was strange when you were bringing yourself to orgasm for someone else.

You stuttered. Which was unusual for you and you found your eyes fluttering downward in embarrassment. “Show me baby girl.”

“But sir-”

“Now.”

His voice was slightly sharper and his cat eyes  were predatory as they dared you to do anything but what he commanded. Swallowing harshly you turned and walked back over to your desk.

“Let's get these off first baby girl.” You shivered feeling the little kiss on your neck and his warmth behind you as his arms rounded to pull up your vest top. He unclasped your bra and you let it fall to the floor. You didn't turn to look at him as your took the few steps toward your desk and then sat on the table, meeting his eyes.

“Touch yourself for me baby.” your eyes fluttered shut when you heard the softness in voice, it was almost affectionate and affectionate Jongup made you weak. Almost in a trance, your hands drifted over your body. One hand trailed up your stomach to your breast, a thumb stroking your nipple. Your other was brought up to your lips. You sucked your digits one by one into your mouth and then lowered your hand toward your pussy.

You spread your legs wider and when a finger grazed against your clit you gasped with a jump.

You heard a little chuckle and knew Jongup loved the fact that you were over sensitised from your last two orgasms.

With light pressure you made slow circles over your clit and your hips jerked at the sensation. You bit your lip as breathy moans escaped, brows scrunching together as your mind focused on the sensation.

You gasped, eyes shooting open when you felt the light touch of fingers pulling your fingers away from your clit. Your eyes were locked with Jongup; his were dark and swallowed you whole, a whimper escaping at the look in his eyes. He used both hands to pull your index finger lower to your hole and he pressed. You redden, feeling just how wet you are and let out something close to a sob when Jongup pushes your finger inside yourself.

“You can do it baby.” And again that spell like voice has you captivated, another finger already joining as you stretch yourself out. Jongup leans forward, a hand on either side of you and tilts his head to bring you into a soft and warm kiss that has you gushing around your soaked fingers. His lips move slow and sensual, tilting his head to capture your lips with his at different angles and when his tongue comes into the mix you're whining into his mouth, fingers speeding up while he slowly strokes his tongue against yours. Your wetness is a mess over your pussy lips, thighs and your desk, but you pay no mind as you speed up just a bit more when you bite Jongup's thick lip.

“I think we can get another one in that sweet cunt.” He says, pulling back from you. The warmth he exudes has your body nearly melting and without thought you're pulling your fingers just slightly out before you're pushing back in with a third. Your eyes roll back till they close, mouth dropping open as the feel of the stretch has you quaking.

“Eyes on me baby girl.”

No matter how difficult, his wish is your command and your force your eyes open swallowing and then taking a stuttered breath as you moan out to him. “You like this sir? You like me fucking myself like this?” your movements are more erratic, your orgasm so close yet unable to reach it.

Jongup is silent, watching you grit your teeth as your other hand comes up to rub and tap your clit. “Cmon, cmon,” you whine just wanting to cum. “Sir, please I want to cum.”

Jongup's lips are by your ear and with the whisper of “cum then baby girl,” your fingers are mechanical as they thrust in and out while your hips lift from the table. You moan brokenly into the air as your third orgasm has you coating your fingers thickly.

You're still shaking and breathing heavily when your orgasm eventually dies down. And you whimper when you pull your fingers from yourself. Jongup is quick to grab your hand and you watch as he pulls them to his lips and into his mouth. He holds your gaze as he sucks with the most satisfied groan that has you quivering and when he released your fingers from his warm mouth with a pop you're hands are reaching out to pull him closer. Begs leaving your lips. “please fuck me sir, please fuck me now. Please please please I need your cock inside me please fucking ruin me.”  

You were face down again. As soon as those filthy words left your lips Jongup had dragged you off the table by your ankle and bent over your desk.

“You want me to fucking ruin you baby girl?”

“Please.” you gasp, drool spilling over your lips and cheek to gather at the table when you felt the pads of his fingers dip lightly in and out of your hole.

He growled as he leant over you, hands slamming down on either side of your head making you jump. “you beg so well don't you? You want my cock that badly?” you nodded against the desk, repeated yes leaving your lips as you sobbed.

“yes sir, please just fuck me already.” Jongup growls again, rough hands coming up to spread your arse cheeks apart and releasing them with a jiggle. He began to spank you again, slapping your arse cheeks and thighs and you felt how your wetness escaped with each delicious slap on your reddening skin. He leans over your back, hand fisting your hair to pull your head up, his voice rough by your ear when he growls out, “baby girl you're such a whore for my cock. You want it so bad, put the fucking work in.” then he shoves your head away from him, watching as you are already reaching behind for his cock, stroking it quickly before guiding it to your awaiting hole.

Just the feel of his tip brushing your cunt has your eyes squeezing shut with a broken breath leaving your mouth when you push back to take him in. Your pussy sucks him in, walls clenching in search for more and finally you shove your hips back quicker, a loud moan leaving your lips as he is finally buried in you. You still, feeling his cock awaken nerves deep inside of you, your body alight in immense pleasure.

When you're ready, you set a fast pace for yourself. Forearms on the table as you push yourself backwards and forwards as quick as you could manage. Your lower back working in circular movements, spine allowing you to round your hips when he was buried inside of you.

“Does it feel good sir?” you choke around your cries. “Does it feel good when my pussy uses your cock?” His hands are in your hair again, pulling you back so much your back arches uncomfortably. His other hand comes up just beneath your chin so he can pull your head back, using your hair as extra leverage to stare you down.

You clench around him, eyes desperate as you see the dark look in his eye. “AH!” Jongup suddenly shoves his hips into you, cock reaching as far as it could as his balls pressed against you. “I always” he pulls back only to give you another hard thrust that has your moaning loudly. “Love.” another deep thrust. “How well.” again. “your pussy” again. “takes me” he rasps, thrusting so harshly your hips hit against the table.

You can barely register anything except the feel of his cock driving into you at a speed that has you quaking. Jongup continues to stare you down, keeping your head stretched back so he can watch you lose it around his cock. His teeth clench together and an almost animalistic growl leaves his lips as his sharp eyes intensify just as his hips are bruisingly hitting against yours as he fucks into you impossibly quicker.

Your screams are stuck in your throat and the wild, begging look in your eye’s drive Jongup into a frenzy as he pushes the thick muscles of his thighs against you more. “That’s it, take this cock.” Jongup’s has to hold you up when your orgasm has you spasming wildly, body flailing of the desk and if it weren’t for him gripping your hair you would have feel. Your twitching, face shining with your drool and slightly dizzy as you remember how to intake a breath again. Your harsh pant’s fill the room as you lay spent on the desk and you nearly forget about Jongup until you feel his cock pull out of you with a squelch. “Umpphh…” Your lower body quakes, hips uncontrollably shaking and you realise just how sensitive you’ve become.

A hand drags your body up by your arms and you whine, sensitive and tired body just wanting to stay still. Jongup turns you around toward him and then his hands are gruffly lifting you by your thighs till your legs are wrapped around him.

When he sink’s you onto him you scream. Your nails clawing at him back and legs tightening around his hips and his large hands take a hold of your arse cheeks. He lifts you and down onto him, you impossibly deep on his cock and Jongup groans feeling how you clench so tightly around him.

A chorus of cries leave your lips and you’re already shaking in his arms, even at his slow pace. But when he speeds up your voice is hoarse from the screaming, your pussy constantly being dropped onto his dick harshly and then Jongup’s fingers are tightly holding your arse cheeks and he’s drilling up, knees slightly bent as he fucks into you. He starts pushing down on your arse and you’re feeling the sensations overwhelm you as your pussy meets the thrusts of his cock. In no time you’re screaming again, cumming harshly as you leave bloody scratches on Jongup’s back. You’re breathing quickly, trying to take as much air as possible as Jongup thrusts a few more times, pushing you over the edge and then he’s lifted you off his cock.

Your weak body sinks to the floor. Knees harshly connecting with concrete and you’ve no time to prepare when Jongup’s fingers slide into your hair, pulling so harshly your scalp burns. His cock pushes past your lips and you're choking as he fucks your mouth. “Good girl, good girl, good girl~” He holds his cock in your throat and your nails are scratching at his thighs, tears slipping down your cheeks as you struggle. You being to feel light headed and when Jongup pulls off, your chest burns are air rushes in making you cough repeatedly. Your head is tilted back and you feel the thick warm spurts of cum as Jongup fists his cock till he’s cumming on your face. You blink, feeling it land on your lids. “Well done.” Jongup finally say when he’s finished cumming. Your voice is hoarse and broken as you reply, “Thank you sir.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Breathes settled and a moment to yourselves to relax and not have to think of anything, but the bliss you felt. Jongup had helped you up and used your vest to clean your face. You would shower when you had the strength to walk again. Now you were resting with your legs over his lap and head against his chest.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers and you feel his fingers begin to stroke through your hair - a habit of his that he did absentmindedly when he needed to get his thoughts together. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I should have thought about you more… But, when I saw him there… I just had to see that look in his eyes and remember it…” He’s quiet again and you hear the little frustration in his voice. “But, it’s just you and me against the world now, okay?” His fingers stop their calming movements and the light kiss on your head prompts you to turn to look up at him and he can read the look in your eyes when with the faintest of smiles he leans forward and places a sweet, almost innocent kiss on your lips.

“I’ll forgive you this time you crazy bastard.”

[underhermantle]

I was explaining Deanism to a feminist friend of mine and was surprised she didn't approve of it. She said that she preferred how Christianity and some other religions are starting to use non binary or female inclusive language for God, and worries that a religion that excludes the masculine/androgynous entirely wouldn't be fair to men or NB people. :-/

Hey!

I want to write a long and nuanced post about this at one point since I have a lot of thoughts on this issue but for now I’ll just say this:

Deanism doesn’t claim to be a ‘feminist religion’. We are not a non feminist religion either. We are a religion, free from political leanings. These days many religions seem to focus more on politics than they do about actual worship and devotion to God. On one hand you have conservative Christians shouting at women outside abortion clinics and aggressively countering LGBT rights and on the other hand you have feminist spiritualities like a lot of Mother Earth and New Age type groups, which often (but not always) just ends up being basically secular humanistic and not a religion at all.

A lot of people who aren’t actually religious or don’t worship God the Mother use statements like ‘God is a woman’ as a political statement. Which is their right. But sometimes I think such statements can trivialize Divine Feminine worship and make outsiders believe there is no way people could actually worship God the Mother.

Liberal Christians, as your friend pointed out, have started using feminine language for God, but often it just feels like lip service. They’ll throw in a couple of scriptural references about how God is ‘like a mother hen’ and talk about feminism but then for all intents and purposes they go back to worshipping a masculine God. I am not saying this is the case for all liberal Christian groups but as someone who has been a part of many I have seen it happen in many different churches. “Oh, hey, God is like a mother hen! Time to go back to calling him Father and using masculine pronouns for the rest of the service, though.” Other Deanists I’ve spoke to from Christian backgrounds have said the same thing. Many liberal Christian blogs on Tumblr do this, too. Don’t get me wrong, there are some Christopagans and such on here that do take their devotion to God the Mother seriously and do frequently and consistently affirm the female/feminine aspect of Deity, but for a lot of people it just seems like something they can use as a political tool to make a feminist statement every so often.

Worship of God the Mother has become so politicized. Can Deanists be feminists? Absolutely. I am a feminist myself, despite having a few issues with mainstream feminism today. I mostly consider myself a cultural feminist which is very different in a lot of ways than liberal or radical feminism. Do Deanists have to be feminists? Nope. I guess you could make the argument that for one to believe in a feminine God and then believe in a system in which women are spiritual leaders they’d have to have some feminists leanings even if they don’t admit to them, but there is no guidebook or scripture that says ‘Dea requires all of Her devotees to align with this political view or this political view.’

As for excluding nonbinary and male people, they are absolutely allowed to be Deanists. CoMG is an all female congregation (insofar as they can be considered a congregation) because of them being Chelouranyans which is an all female group. Clan Jana accepts devotees of all genders but its clergy is all female. I myself plan to start an all female order for young women, similar in design to religious and non religious groups for young women such as the Order of the Rainbow, Girl Scouts, the Mormon Young Women’s program, etc. Feminists often believe in all female spaces, so ask your friend why a religious group cannot have all female spaces, also.

In a world literally dominated by masculine and male centric religions, one tiny religion that centres the feminine and women isn’t a bad thing. Feminists and liberals want ‘balance’ between the masculine & the feminine in religion but what they don’t realise is that this doesn’t have to mean worshipping a multi-gendered Godhead or both the divine masculine and feminine, it can also mean groups that exclusively worship the divine feminine, to counter all the masculine centric religions in the world (and yes, I’m aware that most monotheisms do not believe that God is literally Male, but for all intents and purposes they worship God as a Father, a masculine Deity, and only pay lip service to God as divine feminine, which I mentioned earlier). Besides, we are not saying our way is the only way. Even if we did exclude men entirely from the religion (which we do not), that wouldn’t make all men damned because being a Deanist is necessary for salvation. There are other religions they could be a part of. Recently I heard the term ‘soft monotheism’. I’d heard of ‘hard monotheism, hard polytheism and soft polytheism’ in the past, but never soft monotheism. The definition I read was this: “One God, though other cultures might use different names to try to understand the great Creator.” I’d say that’s us. So, we don’t hold Deanism as necessary for salvation (salvation is universal), then it stands to reason that even if Deanism was female exclusive, we weren’t proclaiming that men and nonbinary people are outside of salvation’s grasp and locked out of any kind of ‘real’ connection with God.

But we do include men and nonbinary people, they are allowed to be Deanists, but some Deanic orders remain female only, and that’s okay. There was once a brotherhood order, but I’m unsure if they’re still about. If they’re not, and we ever end up with a lot of male members, there should definitely be one, as well as an order for nonbinary people, and one for people of all genders.

To summarize: Our worship of Dea isn’t a feminist statement. It is a deep, personal religious devotion that works for very few people, whether they need a masculine God or a non-gendered one, but it works for us.

As an addendum, I’d like to suggest sending this to your friend, too :) https://maisappho.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/why-i-only-worship-god-the-mother/ 

[theally-8]

Young Forever: Youth is over. Jungkook centric. Chapter 10.

Jungkook and his hyungs had already formatted a plan for the next few weeks. They would be doing at least one thing per week with the other days of their weeks either being spent in the studio, recording the last few songs of the album, which was nearly ready to be released, or they were out with their families and the other groups. As much as they would have loved to spent everyday with the youngest member, but it was starting to kill them, he was beginning to fade much quicker than they expected and he also wanted to spend time with his family.

Although he had barley seen them over the past five years or so, his family meant the world to him. They adored all seven of them. Jungkook's brother had threatened to kidnap him if he didn't come home and see them soon, so what was the maknae and his hyungs supposed to do.

The last time they went to the doctors, they were informed that he had about a month and half at maximum, left, meaning they were having to pick up the speed on Jungkook's bucket list.

It had already connected in the hyungs brains that they weren't going to complete everything on the list, which broke their hearts, but Jungkook was just too sick to do a lot of things, they had been advised by the doctor just before the concert, to remain in country rather than flying abroad, it wasn't worth putting the stress on Jungkook's brain, trying to deal with the atmosphere of a different country and to put up with the flying time.

The seven of them sat down after they got back from the doctors and spoke about what they had been told. As much as it hurt them to not be able to complete it all with Jungkook, the maknae had made them promise to continue to bucket list once he had gone.

Just because he wasn't there, doesn't mean they couldn't complete it to him. All seven of the members broke down once again whilst they were talking. The maknae was getting weaker and weaker, tearing his hyungs apart, bit by bit. Their maknae had remained strong throughout it all, keeping going, he knew he wasn't going to survive this but he didn't let that stop his opportunities. He was making the most of what he could do and the eighteen year old had all the trust in the world in his hyungs that they would be able to finish the rest of his bucket list.

Pagebreak

The first think which they did after the concert was to go to a nightclub. They did it in reverse order, doing the ones which would require Jungkook to be fit enough to complete, they would also be going to a low-noticed nightclub, meaning there was less people likely to be there, which would be easier on the youngest as it meant he wouldn't be crowded with people, but it also meant that the hyungs would be able to keep an eye on the youngest.

Since it was a boys night out, they invited Junghyun and all of the 97 liners as well as the other members of Got7. Jungkook hadn't actually been out with his brother before, with him too busy being part of BTS, since he turned 18. Not to mention, the 97 liners couldn't wait. It wasn't the first time they had been out together, but it was a rare occasion for all of them to be free at the same time. Jungkook didn't even get to pick his clothes, Taehyung picked his jeans, Hoseok picked his top and Jimin did his makeup, it was the first time they had really been out together. There was numerous times when the older members of BTS had been out together, but because Jungkook had been underage most of the time they had been a band, they never really found time, once their popularity kicked off properly.

They had to meet the others there, besides Junghyun, who was on his way to the dorm as they spoke. The 97 liners from Seventeen; Minghao, Mingyu and Seokmin were all being dropped off by Seungcheol, who would also be the one to pick them up. The Got7 members would all be coming in the same van. Seokjin and Namjoon were sending each other wary looks at they sat down in the van, worrying about what mayhem the other members would cause throughout the night, but more importantly, they were worrying about whether something would go wrong, seeming as Jungkook had been getting more common dizzy spells as his illness got worse.

Jungkook had leapfrogged onto his hyung as soon as he turned up at the front door of the dorm, it had felt like he hadn't seen the older male in years, when in fact it had only been a matter of days. Luckily, Junghyun was expecting it and was able to brace himself before he fell backwards, not that Jungkook weighed very much, but, the maknae still had some strength in him and boy, he could use it. Junghyun laughed softly, rocking his dongsaeng from side to side, the famous bunny grin making it's way on to the maknae's face.

Half an hour later, found them pulling up at the nightclub, where the remaining members of the crew were already stood waiting for them, so they could go in. After most of the members being ID'd, they finally made their way inside and crammed themselves into a bunch of tables and ordering their first drinks. Most of them baring Namjoon and Seokjin, who were the resident drivers for the night, soon found themselves ordering a second and a third.

It soon just became a haze and the three youngest men; Yugyeom, Minghao and Jungkook himself found themselves doing a dance battle, much like they did when they had the water fight. Only this time, it was much more excitement and the adrenaline had well and truly kicked in. It seemed like nothing to them as then they were challenged to a karaoke lesson, which was then ambushed by all the different members.

It was lost at how many drinks they had, but at this point of the night, they just didn't care. This was a celebration, as much as it was part of Jungkook's bucket list. A celebration to their friendship, to brotherhood and just to life. They weren't always going to be this happy, or be together, so they were making the most of it, before it was too late. Seokjin and Namjoon soon decided enough was enough, just shortly after midnight. Most of the boys were sprawled out over the benches, Seokjin had to dive his hand in Minghao's and Jaebum's pockets, to ring Seungcheol and to ring Got7's manager to come pick the members up.

After chauffeuring most of his members into the van, Junghyun included, he began to work on the other members of the other groups, Namjoon helping him, get them presentable to be moved. Within ten minutes of the phone call, both Seungcheol and Got7's manager had turned up. Minghao, turning into the giant cuddle buddy he really was, pounced on his leader as soon as he saw him. Seungcheol bent down, allowing the youngest of Seventeen's 97 liner to climb on his back.

The twenty one year old quickly moved the skinniest seventeen member into the van, making sure to leave the window open for the eighteen year old. He was able to move both Mingyu and Seokmin at the same time, making them both slide in the van next to Minghao. Seungcheol quickly thanked Namjoon and Seokjin for keep an eye on his dongsaeng's all night, before leaving.

In the time in which Seungcheol had driven off, Got7's manager was too busy trying to fight his members to get In the van, in particular, Yugyeom didn't want to leave Jungkook, he was clinging onto BTS's maknae, who had gotten out of the van when he heard the distress in his best friends voice, with tears streaming down his face, as he began stuttering that he didn't want his best friend to die.

If this wasn't heart breaking, Namjoon and Seokjin didn't know what was. Yugyeom was loosing his best friend, the one that understood him about having protective hyungs, about having the generalised idea of being the maknae, who understood everything. It was causing the "appa" and "eomma" of BTS to tear up as they watched Yugyeom rock their maknae back and forward, before falling asleep, his body arched around his best friends, ready to fight anyone who dared disrupt them.

Seokjin took pity on the sight, which was truly breaking his heart and offered to let Yugyeom stay with them for the night, after all, it would be virtually impossible for the two of them to be broken apart. Got7's manager agreed straight away, he'd known Yugyeom for years now and he had never once seen the youngest boy act like he did. The manager thanked the two sober boys before heading off on his separate way, with a van full of sleeping idiots.

Namjoon crouched down to the two maknae's, tracing his maknae's features with his eyes softly. Namjoon was going to miss him. This was his maknae, even though he wasn't the oldest, he had known the youngest the longest, he couldn't imagine a world without him but it was soon going to happen and he wasn't ready.

The leader of the group didn't realise the tears had begun falling down his cheeks, until Seokjin wrapped his arms around him, letting the younger boy sob into his shoulder. "H-He's really g-going." The leader stuttered out, the tears falling faster. "My maknae, my Jungkookie.". Seokjin closed his eyes, as he rested his head on Namjoon's. "I know, Joonie. Trust me I know." The oldest comforted, running his hand up and down the fourth oldest's back as his own tears began trickling down his face.

It took a few minutes for both of them to stop crying, it's only then that they realised they'd left the two maknae's outside in the cold. Quickly, with strength they didn't even know they possessed, they picked the two up and made their way back to the van, making sure the two of their hands were still connected. Neither Seokjin or Namjoon can remember making it home, having to wake their members up. They just remember watching them be sick the next morning because of their pounding hangover.

Both Junghyun and Yugyeom had to leave around lunch time, Junghyun because he had to get back for work and Yugyeom because his hyungs were spamming up his phone, wondering where the maknae was. Both of them thanked the members for inviting them, before going their separate ways, well, not before giving the maknae of BTS a giant hug. They'd be seeing each other soon, they hoped.

The rest of the day was full of headaches, naps and vomiting, but it also consisted of a movie marathon, a cuddle pile and popcorn. It was almost like a dream day, as if nothing was wrong and they were just simply normal people of their age, who were just recovering from a night out, rather than from a bucket list for their maknae. Pagebreak

Four days later and the album was finally completed and was just in the middle of being processed. They were aiming to have it online to give to the fans, by the 31st of July. They weren't making the fans pay this time, just simply asking that they gave a donation to a charity with the money they would've used to buy the album instead. That way it was going to a better cause and it was something which meant a lot to the seven boys.

They found themselves out and about, until they came across what they were truly looking for. A mechanical bull. They'd been shopping all afternoon, buying random presents for their friends and their families, when they came across the mechanical bull. It was a fierce beast, with roaring horns, and people's laugher as their friends were thrown off the beast. They soon lined up with Seokjin being pushed to go first, where his dongsaengs were just stood laughing at the gobsmacked expression on their hyungs face as he realised he had been set up to go first. It was priceless.

Seokjin gulped, handing his money to the man at the stall, who quickly explained to the eldest what would happen and what the aim of the game was. He quickly flung his leg over the beast and within second off the beast went. Half of the members were watching Seokjin but the other half were keeping their eyes on the clock as the  oldest member found himself flung off.

“ FOURTEEN SECONDS” The man at the stall shouted and Seokjin stood up and went to stand at the other side of the barrier, waiting for the others. Yoongi was up next and even though, it looked like he was frail, he was actually one of the strongest in the group. Yoongi managed longer than Seokjin before finding himself face first in the mat.

“EIGHTEEN SECONDS” The same voice announced as Yoongi joined Seokjin, who pouted at the younger boy for beating his time. Hoseok was after that, with the dancer having the most strength in his legs and flexibility in his body, after all, he wasn't a dancer for nothing, so it came at no shock to the two of them that he beat their score easily before finally being flung off.

“TWENTY SEVEN SECONDS” The voice announced as Namjoon made his way to the mechanical bull, slipping on it and then within five seconds, their resident clutz found himself on his bottom on the mat.

“FOUR SECONDS.” Namjoon blushed slightly, making his way over to the bandmates who were bitting back grins. Jimin was up next, like Yoongi, he had a lot of power in his body, through his years of dancing and doing exercise to get ready for comebacks, so it wasn't surprising when he came just behind Hoseok.

“TWENTY FIVE SECONDS.” Taehyung slipped on the bull. The second youngest grinned as the bull began to toss him about, he didn't care where he came, this was all part of the fun of a bucket list. He soon found himself flung off the mechanical bull and onto the mat.

“SIXTEEN SECONDS.” The maknae was last to go, looking over at his hyungs, he grinned seeing them all, giving him thumbs up as the mechanical bull started. Even though his body was becoming weaker and weaker as the days went by, he still managed to keep up with Hoseok and Jimin, finishing a second quicker than Jimin did.

The six hyungs cheered at the side line. None of them had ever doubted that the maknae wouldn't be able to keep up with it, that was just their maknae for them, if he really put his mind to it, he was able to do it. Pagebreak

The month was slowly drawing to an end, for the maknae it felt like it was going too fast, he was beginning to grow more and more tired as he began sleeping more than he had recently and struggled to get out of bed on certain days, which worried his hyungs to no end, they ended up ringing the doctor to come check on the maknae.

They were given a new ultimate, Jungkook didn't have a month left, he had two weeks at maximum, it was beginning to affect him in more than one way, which meant the cancer was spreading around the body, affecting him more and more. The seven of them sat down once again and discussed which ones he had the ability to complete and which ones he didn't.

There was only three more which the maknae felt he was going to be able to do; A BBQ for the friends and family, releasing the new album and naming a star. They were leaving the BBQ and album for a few days, allowing the chance to mix the two together and focused on finding somewhere to buy a star.

Luckily, a lot of the websites nowadays had the easy to buy stars, but this couldn't be any star, it had to be just right, for them and for their maknae. They began looking through all the different star names before Taehyung found one, which caught the maknae's eye. It was called Carina. It was a star named after the Latin word the keel of a ship. In Chinese, it meant old man, which meant a lot to the maknae because it was almost as if it was him. He was going to be the old man, waiting on the ship for his hyungs to come home.

Both Hoseok and Jimin teared up at the maknae's explanation, both of the dancers having to blink quickly so that the tears didn't fall, but, the maknae just giggled softly, wiping his hyungs eyes. "It's okay to cry, hyungs. Trust me, I want to cry too, it's not a bad thing to cry, sometimes it's the best thing you can do. Even when I'm gone, don't ever be afraid to cry, don't bottle your emotions up, talk to each other. Talk to me even, just look for Carina and i'll be there, I promise." Jungkook had grown up so much in the past few months, it was almost unreal, with how he was speaking, it was almost as if he was the oldest in the group, the wisest.

He was their maknae. In their eyes, he would always be the one with the wisdom and knowledge of the world. He'd been the one to witness the cruelty of the world,  being forced to leave the world at such an early age, but there was the old saying, which had been used for centuries now. "God picks the most beautiful flowers for his garden." Jungkook was going to be part of that garden and then one day, one day he'd be joined by all six of his bandmates, his friends and his family.

[dehvastation]

Saving My Ass (With @MismatchedFreak)

Qhuinn — {I checked the location one more time before I stepped out and sent my molecules to an alley near the supposed destination. I kept my eyes and ears open as I started to walk and look around. I wasn’t sure who or what was involved and that made me nervous. I knew the types of beings that now lurked in the night but sometimes demons weren’t even the worst things that went bump. Our own species could be as devious, humans could be ten times as deadly, nothing was as simple as it appeared. I only knew the small bits I heard about this though. Someone was setting out to simply fuck with another for sport. That was some Lash level bullshit, Omega bullshit. But at least they did it with a purpose. As fucked up as it was. This, from what I heard was merely a game. The vampire was to be left alive, but all else was game. Psychological torture at it’s finest. A shiver ran along my spine as memories of my own moments of torture came back to me. Living life looking over your shoulder constantly was no fucking fun. There was no reason for me to be involved in this, yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself, even if I tried. And Scribe knows I tried. With all the shit going on around me that was out of my control, I needed to feel…something. Anything. I was thankful once more for the feeding, the strength and energy it provided was something I didn’t even realize I had been missing. My thoughts drifted to the male for the briefest of moments, hoping that whatever had affected him had worn off and that he too was healing from his injuries. Though, the way my luck ran, he was likely in the ICU or something. I pushed him from my mind as well as I could and focused. Even with light steps, it sounded like my boots hit the ground with the force of a hundred warriors, but I was certain it was my own hyperawareness over anything else. I’d been trained to move like the air. Silent and unseen. I slipped through the shadows, alert and on edge as my dagger found its way to my fingers. I was actually itching for a fight, I needed one to keep everything else from clogging my brain}

Dehv: ~ I had tried to make myself go to the gym again. But that just wasn’t happening after the last time I’d stepped foot in there. Thankfully the owner had shut up about things when I’d paid to have the place kitted out again. Having broken half the equipment when I’d taken a flying leap at it. I seemed to be fine when I was in the Brotherhood training center, which at least was one thing. I had one more idea for training away from the Brotherhood, but that was for another night. For now I just needed to clear my head. I avoided all the usual spots and wandered more towards the outskirts of town. I knew lessers tended to hang around near the bars and clubs in the center so that they could pick up humans and try to avoid the Brotherhood where possible. Not that they ever seemed to actually avoid, in a lot of cases recently they seemed to seek out any vampire they could find. Civilian, Brother, trainee. They were all fair game and they weren’t off limits in any way any more. Not that all vamps were good guys. There were bullies just like any species. Not that I’d been around my own kind often enough to really get to know anyone. But I had heard rumours when I was around the transient group that I saw once a month to feed. Witnessed the odd bit here and there too when a less than favourable member joined. I found myself slowly working in a circle around the city, taking back alleys mostly to keep away from any humans that might choose to be out at this time in the morning. Thankfully it was pretty quiet, and with the moon barely being a blip in the sky, the light for any humans to see by was scarce. Which made it an even more peaceful walk. Without really realising it I made my way to a small park that was covered with a low lying fog. It made the whole place seem much eerier than it should have been, but only managed to make my grin widen. I had made it about halfway across the grass when I heard the crunch of footsteps behind me. I must have been so involved in my head that I’d entirely missed whoever it was joining me. I slowed my steps and started to turn when I realised that I should really have been paying more attention. I had barely any weapons on me, and there wasn’t just the one male at my back. ~

Qhuinn: {I had walked aimlessly for hours, watching as the fog had rolled in and covered the city. It made the night even more peaceful, which was something I longed for, something I needed, especially with all the shit going on lately. I allowed myself to pretend for a moment that Was simply out for a walk and nothing more, but then I heard it. A faint noise just past my line of sight. My feet stopped and I craned my neck, breath stilled as I listened again. This was it. This is what I had been searching for. I knew it with every fiber of my being, but it was confirmed when I got closer and saw one of the male’s who’d been talking about these attacks slip from the shadows. They didn’t see me, their designs intent on the male just ahead. Something was familiar about the target and that only spurred me on. I don’t know if my feet even touched the ground as I darted across the grass through the fog. I launched myself at the male before he caught up with his buddies, my arm wrapping around his throat as I squeezed. He let out a low grunt and reached back trying to rip  me off of him. We were far enough away from the others they wouldn’t notice him missing until they all gathered closer, by then I’d be there to take out the rest. I grabbed my wrist and tightened my hold as I let out a low growl against his ear and dug my knees into his side. I asked the questions but got no answers, no who or why, no reason at all other than money was involved. Too much time was passing, the others were going to get close. The male had kept fighting and managed to back into a tree, slamming me against it in his attempt to break my hold. Fuck this. I tightened my grip, pressing my forearm against his larynx until the fight went out from him. He slumped and I released my hold, dropping to the ground as he fell. I’d have taken the time to kill him but the others were closing around the male and the attack was close. I ran straight into the group of males that were circling him, and stopped short as I came face to face with the target. My eyes went wide as I searched his face, then the vampires circling him and then back to his. Were his injuries the other night…fuck. I didn’t have time to dwell on that. The others were moving in and I heard the male I dropped screaming out, “Get rid of the bitch first, then we can play with the male” I pulled one of the guns from the holster on my thigh and aimed it at the vampire closing in on Dehv’s back, my eyes darting between his face and his attackers, lips quirking into a small grin} Please tell me that you’re as good at fighting as you are dancing…

Dehv = I watched as the male’s slowly started to move closer together, and closer to me. I had no idea what was happening, but if this was some kind of mugging, they were about to be sorely disappointed. “I have no money on me. I came out with just my phone and house keys.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip and slide both hands to where I had a couple of hidden daggers. Though they’d do me little good if they all rushed me at once. I saw some movement behind the male’s, but I didn’t manage to linger on it for long as one of the thugs started to speak, “Dehvastation, yes?” I blinked and nodded, a frown creasing my brow as I went to answer him. But the words lodged spectacularly in my throat as a female practically landed on me. I stepped back, my I felt my mouth pop open as I took in who it was. Shit. The female from the other night. Her blood was the reason I was feeling mostly confident about being confronted by a bunch of untrained thugs. But the fact she was here, had she followed me? I saw her take in the situation and then I heard the male shout about getting her out the way so they could play with me. I swallowed hard as I tried to connect how they knew my name and what the fuck they’d want to do with me once they’d taken out Qhuinn. I didn’t get much time to ponder, as despite the commotion, her voice sounded like it was on some wavelength of its own. My focus narrowed to her words and then I snorted and shook my head. “Let hope I fight better than I dance. Or at least, on par with it.” I pulled the two daggers from my belt and settled my weight as I tried to forget my uncertainty and focus on the circle of vampires that were slowly working to surround us both. As if we’d not notice that one. The male who had been shouting stumbled forward and I noted that he looked a little worse for wear. Apparently this female could kick some ass, “Where the fuck did you learn to fight?” I didn’t really expect an answer, and as the first male rushed me, I had to pull my attention from the female at my back. Though it took every ounce of control not to try and protect her at the sake of my own safety. She had put herself into the middle of this, I assumed it was because she was fully capable of looking after herself. I was sure I would soon find out. ~

Qhuinn: {I let out a soft laugh at his answer, mainly because I couldn’t help myself. This had to be some fucked up dream or something, I mean really…he’s the vampire that is the talk of the black market? As he pulled the daggers free, I fired at the vampire closing in on his backside. I aimed for the shoulder, not sure which of these assholes would be the mouthpiece needed to give answers, and the aim was true. He dropped with a howl of pain and clutched his arm. One down. A hand hit my shoulder as his other question flittered in my brain and I answered quietly, even as my elbow was flying back at the same male I’d already fought with once} Same place you did…

{With that, my attention was turned as was my body. I couldn’t risk firing another shot, not when everything went to hell as it did. Too many bodies and damned if I was going to risk shooting the male I’d come to protect, especially now that I knew who it was. I slid the gun into my pocket as I was turned to face the vampire, while my other hand went palm first up into his noise. A curse shot from his lips as he lunged and I had to duck out of the way to avoid being taken to the ground. My advantage right now was being able to stay mobile. To say my full attention was on the fight would be a damn lie though. With every hit or kick being thrown, I was acutely aware of Dehv, even though I knew he’d be able to handle himself now that the fight was a little more even than it would have been otherwise. I risked a glance and watched him wielding the daggers like a damn pro and when I turned back, a shiny blade swept just past my face with a growl as I weaved the other way, “I’m going to fucking kill you.” I’d avoided fighting dirty but now I was pissed. I grabbed at his wrist and as I got close, my knee came up with every ounce of strength I had. When he doubled over, I cracked my forehead against his, groaning at the shock of pain as his teeth dug into my skull. Sonofafuck, shouldn’t all skulls be equally as hard? I knew I’d taken harder hits than that before, but I was seeing stars as I launched at the asshole and took him to the ground. In the struggle, I’d pulled out my own shiny blade and held it to his throat when I finally pinned him to the ground. Red, a beautiful color, trickled down his throat as I pressed harder with each word, demanding he tell me what was going on. He spit in my face, swearing and glancing over at the others, “Not happening.” Before I could ask again, he grabbed my wrist and forced it to drag across his throat, severing the artery. For a moment, I sat there stupefied at what I’d just seen. What the hell would make him take his own life rather than give answers? Hopefully the others…fuck the others. Covered in blood, I jumped to my feet, eyes wild as I tried to determine the scene before me.}

Dehv: = I spun when the female fired over my shoulder, blinking fast when I realised she’d taken one down. I was barely able to twist when I heard the quiet words, stumbling as my brain tried to catch up, while still not being able to keep hold of that confusion while looking around the males that surrounded us. I ducked under the arm of one of the males and settled as I brought my daggers up in front of my body. I could see the female launch at another male and I was able to then focus on the two apes who rushed me. I kicked one in the knee, satisfied when I heard the bone snap, his scream covering any other sounds that the bone breaking through skin might make. The second got a knife slice across the chest. It wasn’t deep, but it didn’t need to be in order to get my point across. Had I been on my own, the males would have probably taken me down within a decent amount of time. But now I had backup, they were floundering under their own confusion. I moved with the one who was bleeding through his shirt and growled softly when two more came up alongside him. Brilliant. That left a good three or four still unaccounted for. I had no idea who these males were, but they weren’t highly trained. They seemed more like street thugs than trained hit men. To be fair, if they’d have been trained, I’d probably be dead before I saw them coming. I flicked my gaze between them all and was just about to make a move when I saw a flash of red out the corner of my eye. I turned to look without really being aware of why, I frowned when I saw Qhuinn was covered in blood. I was so focused on checking that the female was ok that I didn’t notice one of the goons rush me, knocking me off my feet and laughing as he took me down. The other two quickly came forward and tried to take some control of my legs as I worked my daggers against the male on my chest. He got in a lucky punch and I felt my lip split under the flashy ring he wore on his hand. But he wasn’t prepared for what I was capable of, and while I really didn’t want to kill any of them. I would if it meant that I stayed alive. I carved a pretty pattern in his skin before he fell to the side, his friends jumping forward to take his place. Though I was pushing backwards on the mist covered grass by then and flipping to my feet. “I don’t want to kill any of you. But that’s two of you down already. Just tell me what the fuck is going on” I don’t even know why I bothered, before I even got the last word out the two males were rushing me again. I sighed and spun the dagger in my palm before rolling my shoulders and waiting on their advance. ~

Qhuinn: {I used the back of my hand to wipe the blood from my face, my gaze landing on Dehv before the others rushed him. The red I saw then had nothing to do with the blood covering me, no, it had to do with fresh level of pissed off that raged through me. All of the stories and the boisterous laughter rang in my ears as I threw myself towards one of the males advancing on Dehv. I aimed low, sending my shoulder to the back of knee while I wrapped my arms around his legs to send him stumbling. That was one less fucker that could crowd around Dehv and give him a chance at the answers he deserved. At least that was my intention. Though I should know better, shit never went how I planned. The male growled and rolled, his big ass boot pulled back and then crashed into my chest. I fell to my back, gasping and struggling for a breath and watched as he crawled his way in Dehv’s direction. Oh fuck that. I didn’t match them with sheer force but I had bigger balls than all of them combined dammit. I pulled on strength I didn’t know I had and arched off the ground back to my feet. Every part of me would hurt later but for now I was running on sheer adrenaline and a little extra dose of warrior blood. I let out a low growl and in a blur was grabbing the male again, stopping him in his tracks. He spun with a fist that grazed my temple as I ducked out of the way. When I came back up, I had the tip of my dagger pressed firmly against his crotch. My eyes burned with an anger that boiled from deep within. He was a good foot and a half taller and outweighed me by easily a hundred pounds, but I didn’t care. I was tired. Tired of assholes and little pissants following the bidding of others. Tired of people being targeted. The dagger pressed firm against his dick and no matter how many steps back he took, I matched him pace for pace. I hoped to be buying Dehv some time, maybe he’d get the answers he needed and this little shit would make a lovely kebab instead. Soon the male’s back hit the tree and he swallowed hard as I took an extra step, shoving the dagger just past the material of his jeans and I chanced a glance at the fight taking place. That moment of focus cost me the advantage as his fingers closed around my throat and the bastard pulled me closer until I was pressed tight against him. Somehow with his anger and the other emotion I did NOT want to think much on, he had forgotten the dagger against his dick. As he tugged me close, the blade slide like butter through the jeans and through the hard length. He shoved me hard with both hands and in the process the blade ripped back, sliding up and out of his body. He crumbled to his knees, both hands clutching his crotch as he let out a spine-tingling howl of pain. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would definitely take him from contention. I palmed my dagger and turned my attention to the male who had it from the beginning, even if I couldn’t explain why}

Dehv: = I watched as they started to move closer, then suddenly I heard a grunt and one of them hit the ground. I would have laughed if I wasn’t still concerned for the ones left. They still moved forward, seemingly not bothered when others around them went down. I knew my focus wasn’t entirely where it should be, since I kept flicking my gaze to the female as she fought. She really knew what she was doing, and did it without thought. I could see some telltale signs of the training she’d spoken of, she hadn’t been lying about where she’d been taught to protect herself. But there was also evidence of her having taught herself a lot too. She reacted to each swing of the male’s arms and legs with creative measures…………….I hit the floor with a thud and growled as I focused back on the males that were smirking down as me. I had heard the male say not to kill me when I’d first been surrounded. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t to be given a thorough beatdown before they questioned me for whatever reason. That wasn’t happening. I grinned and pushed off the floor with one hand as my other arched with my dagger sliding through their thighs without any effort at all. It wasn’t life threatening, and certainly wouldn’t put them down. But it got their attention shifted to their own bodies and gave me the time I needed to stand. I used the momentum from my spin to throw my fist into the face of one of the male’s as he squealed about his leg. The hilt of my dagger gripped tightly enough to add some extra weight to the move. I heard bone crunch under me and the male hit the ground. His eyes rolled back and I knew he was out. I didn’t do more than that, I didn’t want to kill these males. Not until I knew what was happening and why they were here. Why Qhuinn was here. I didn’t believe in coincidence, and twice in as many nights meant that something else was going on. I spun to the last few men just as I heard the high pitched scream of the male that, last I’d seen, was against a tree. I tipped my chin just in time to see the motion as Qhuinn’s dagger slid out of his jeans, dripping with blood. I winced without thought and hissed out a breath, “Think you could maybe leave any of them capable of speech when you’re finished, sweetheart?” I snorted and turned back to the less confident looking males as they circled me. I still had both daggers in my hand and I could feel Qhuinn behind me. I had no idea why, I assumed it was to do with feeding from her the night previously. But it was like I was aware of where she was and just how high on adrenaline she was right now. It seemed to fuel me on, because I found myself chuckling at the look on the thugs faces, “Lets get this finished then. I would like to get home before the sun rises and turns us all to ash.” ~

Qhuinn: {I let out a soft laugh when I heard Dehv ask me to leave them capable of talking. Despite the situation, my humor was apparently still intact. Blood and violence surrounded us, and yet somehow, Dehv was able to calm my thoughts. That nonchalant comment had kept me from sinking into a pure murderous rage and tapping into the assassin side of me. Was that the blood? Or the dreams? I shook my head with a small smile as I chased the desire to follow that thread of thoughts further.} He’s still breathing, not my fault this one kept his brain in his pants. Besides, looks like you spilled your fair share of blood, handsome.

{My feet carried me across the dew slick grass until I was shoulder to shoulder…or as close as we could get considering he was a good foot taller than I was at the moment. I had both daggers out now, twirling the bloody blades in my fingers as I stared at the two remaining males. It was amusing actually seeing them quaking in their boots. Dehv had kicked some serious ass and well, they saw their buddies end up going down at my blade as well, certainly they had to be weighing their options. No paycheck could be worth this. I tipped my chin up and pointed my daggers at the male who looked to be pissing himself, definitely the weaker of the two} Tell us who hired you to go after him, I know none of you are the ringleaders of this show and if you have an ounce of self-preservation, you’ll start spilling your guts, before you are literally spilling them.

{His gaze fell from the dagger to the handprint scar poking out the top of my shirt and he swallowed hard. My lips curved up in one corner as I held my eyes on his face. He looked over at Dehv, at the others, then back to me. “We’re just to mess with him. Nothing really off limits except….” His voice fell silent save for the garbled breaths he tried to take despite the blade that had just run through his throat. The quiet one pulled his blade free and then came full bore running at us. Closing the few feet that separated us in seconds. I dropped low, letting him hit my shoulder and sending him tumbling onto his back, confident Dehv would keep him there}

Dehv: = I couldn’t help the huff of a laugh when the female came to stand beside me. Not that I’d been unaware of her getting closer, it was just good to have her close enough that I could see her without getting punched in the face for my lack of focus. I shook my head instead, though I kept my eyes on the two males in front of us, I really couldn’t argue that logic. Though a dagger to the cock was a little different to being punched in the face. If they were lessers, I’d have happily stabbed them in the chest and gone about my day. But I couldn’t do that with my own race. Well, hybrids aside anyway. I straightened as I noted the body language of the males, one was pretty scared, the other didn’t look much better, but was obviously the weaker of the two. When Qhuinn asked her question I found I was nodding along, like a fucking bobble head. I frowned when he started about messing with me and how nothing was off limits except. I’d started to learn forward when the male was silenced by his buddy. I side stepped and watched as the male ran at Qhuinn and was pretty quickly put down again. I grinned and used my dagger to pin his wrist to the floor and then quickly knelt on the other, “Now you physically can’t take your own life. How about you start talking? Cos I’m not about to kill you, and neither will she. But she’s already taken out quite a few of your mates, one of which won’t be doing anything with a female for a very long time.” I flicked my gaze to Qhuinn and then settled back on my heels as I shifted my weight so I could hold his hand down and check none of the others decided to attack. “Qhuinn, you seem to know more about this than I do. Or is it a coincidence that you’re suddenly here just when I’m attacked. How about you do the questions and I’ll be sure to stop him from stabbing himself in the throat until you’re done.” I arched a brow at the female and then grinned at the male, “Be nice now, you’ve seen what she can do when she’s pissed off.” ~

Qhuinn {I flashed Dehv a smile as he pinned the asshole into place, then positioned myself so the guy couldn’t use his other arm or body in anyway way. I worried my bottom lip between my teeth as I tried to figure out how best to approach the situation. Though I was positive the truth would send Dehv’s head spinning, it was all I could offer up. He deserved nothing less that that, even if I didn’t understand why it felt so strongly for me to be up front and honest. I let out a sigh and then shook my head as I looked at Dehv.} It’s not a coincidence I’m here, though to be fair, it wasn’t you I expected. I heard there was going to be another attack on a vampire, one that’s been targeted before. I came to try to stop it, to do something right after a shitload of wrongs. I had no names or anything to go off of, just the information I could pick up through various channels.

{I glanced down at the vampire we had pinned, his eyes stayed on my chest, on the print and I was positive that was the only reason the fight had gone out from him. “You might not kill me, but she will, it’s her job, her nature.” I flicked his nose} Tell us what you know and maybe I’ll just let you survive this night. Lie to me and you’ll find out exactly how deadly I can be. Why are you after this male? Who hired you?

{I’m sure the vampires remarks about my job wouldn’t go unnoticed and I would explain that too, if I had to. Though I wasn’t sure I was ready to see the sheer horror that would certainly fill Dehv’s face once he heard the truth about me. The male swallowed, “There’s a blackmarket board, I’m sure you’re familiar with, people post out jobs and lowest bidder gets hired. This one, it’s an ongoing request, with a requirement that it’s different people doing the hit each time. Whoever’s doing the hiring, they don’t want him getting suspicious.” He nodded towards Dehv and licked his lip, “I dunno who’s hiring, I just know that at the end of the job a nice chunk of cash is wired into a pool and distributed.” I sat there and stared down at him, then risked a glance at Dehv, wondering what he wanted to do with that information or if he had other ideas}

Dehv: = I listened with the look of someone who had recently been slapped in the face with a ripe fish. My jaw hung open as I stared at the dude starfished on the ground and the female that was questioning him. Firstly she seemed to know one hell of a lot, and secondly, he was suddenly Mr fucking chatty. I listened and felt like I was at a tennis match as I bounced my attention between them. Even as one or other spoke, my focus moved while taking time to check the surrounding area. The fog was getting heavier now, and it was giving the whole place a damp feeling that really went well with my mood right now. I felt my frown deepen as the male mentioned that Q’s nature was to kill him. I shook my head as I went to open my mouth and defend the female to my side. I promptly snapped it shut again as I realised that I really didn’t know this female, so what right did I have saying that she wasn’t a killer? She’s trained with the Brotherhood, but no one had ever mentioned a female having been in their ranks, certainly not as a Brother, but even as just a trainee like myself. I growled low as I realised that I really had no control here. The male was talking, and that meant that I would be unable to kill him. He might kill himself or be killed by one of his associates, but I couldn’t do it now he was being helpful. I inhaled and plopped down on my butt to allow the information to settle. Who would want to mess with me badly enough that they’d set up something so elaborate as to have this many on board without a single person seeming to know who it was. Money had a way of leaving a trail, and yet, they seemed content to just do their killing, or mind fucking in this case, and then move right along with their business. I chewed on my lip as I thought about what to do with this information. He’d told me the truth, I believed that much. And I tipped my attention back to Q before moving back to my feet and pulling the blade free of the male’s hand. At least this time the hand wasn’t mangled. I needed to quit with this particular defence technique before I got a name for myself. Without dwelling on that I turned and pointed the tip towards the female, “He can go, you can stay and explain what you know. How you know what he’s talking about and give me the idiots run down of all this………….whatever it is. Cos while you might not know about their contract, you know what board or whatever he’s talking about. He’s also been staring at that tattoo since he got a good look at you and seems to be pissing his pants over you being here. Which means you’re pretty fucking interesting to me. So, please, lets find somewhere to talk that’s not a damp park where there’s no coffee readily available.” ~

Qhuinn: {Dehv’s confusion and anger was palpable, unless that was the blood that allowed me to feel those emotions so clearly. It bothered me that no one seemed to know who was behind the hiring, though I’m sure there had to be a way to trace it. Maybe Wraith or someone with the tech skills I lacked would….my attention was drawn from my thoughts by Dehv’s words. I unwrapped myself from the vampire on the ground to let him free but not before I uttered my own warning to him.} Make it known that this target isn’t worth the risk or I will find you and what I did to your buddies would be nothing compared to what I will do to you.

{He scrambled back, not even raising to his feet until he was out of reach. I tipped my head towards Dehv and gave a slight nod. He deserved answers and after this I would expect never to see him again regardless so I would enjoy the time while I could. That small slip into the fantasy of what would never be, as it were. I used the hem of my shirt to wipe the blood from my face and my dagger before I tucked it back in the holster and pushed to my feet. Since we were both looking a little worse for the wear, I tried to think of a neutral setting and sighed because I didn’t know where to suggest that wouldn’t make him think this was all a trap or anything. I didn’t know if he trusted me, if he could feel that I was being honest with him.} As we’re both covered in blood, I’ll let you choose where you’ll feel safest. My place is on the edge of town, but it’s secure. You can even send a message to Tohr to let him know where you are. I swear that I am not here to hurt you, Dehv, and I will answer whatever questions I can. Before we go anywhere though…

{I tugged the top of my tee down slightly to display the handprint more clearly, my voice low and shaky as I tried to explain myself clearly} This isn’t a tattoo, it’s a mark of….involuntary servitude. He was right when he said I would kill him if he didn’t give me answers. I am…I am an assassin. I am contracted to kill other beings. Though I only kill those I have a contract for unless it’s a matter of my life or theirs. I heard whispers, plans, through various channels and it bothered me. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but this is my city too and I don’t like hearing of my own kind being targeted for someone’s amusement.

{I watched him carefully, my hands tucked into my back pockets as I waited for his decision. Apparently the male caused some serious verbal diarrhea to happen. His mere presence made me want to be honest, to tell him whatever I could to make him feel safe again. Would he want the answers now, knowing what I was, or would he be running as fast he could in the opposite direction? I almost didn’t mind the fog rolling in, it would help to hide me and my shame}

Dehv: ~ I kept my gaze on the female, watching with a neutral expression as she threatened the vampire. His expression told me that he took that visual seriously and it had me thinking about just how deadly she was. I’d seen what she could do to the male’s here, and while she’d not deliberately killed any, I was pretty sure that was her holding back. I found I was shaking my head at my thoughts before stepping in closer so I could get some kind of read on her, “I’ve never seen a female scare the shit out of male’s quite like that. I’m impressed.” I nodded and then inclined my head, my eyes narrowing as I weighed up the options of where to go. I could go back to my place, it’s not like she couldn’t find me if she wanted, I was listed pretty much anywhere you looked, if you searched my business name. Though, I was pretty sure she’d not know that, I was also pretty sure that she could find it out. Since the more she talked, the more and more impressed I got. I was about to open my mouth when I had to blink at the public showing of the handprint that I’d only managed to catch glimpses of up till now, “You’ve trained with the Brotherhood, know Tohr and you are an assassin. And they’re ok with that? I assume you never take out anyone who is on their radar, or is in some way above board? Since I can’t think they’d leave you breathing if you were taking down our own kind. But I am intrigued about what you’ve heard. I’ve…………...well, I can go into that when I’m not freezing my ass off.” I held the female’s mismatched gaze, and was struck again with how much I liked the variety in colour. It was unique, very much like this female. It was almost the outward expression of the female I’d met. One who talked when they were nervous, and seemed a little unsure of themselves. And then the other side, the killing machine who could stop any male in his tracks. I continued to watch her, knowing I was probably making her uncomfortable, and not really caring. I was sure she would tell me where to go if she couldn’t handle it. And she could kick my ass without breaking a sweat if she wanted to. Of that I was certain without even having seen her go full throttle. I nodded as I made up my mind and then slowly smiled, my dagger finding its home again before I cleared my throat, “Ok, you want to talk? You want me to trust you. I’m going to go home, and you can use my blood to track me. If you don’t turn up, then I’ll know that you’re hiding something, and I can speak to Vishous about tracking you. If you turn up, i’ll listen to what you’ve heard and tell you about what’s happened so far and maybe we can be of some help to each other.” I winked in silent challenge before inhaling and disappearing. I reappeared in the alley beside my home and waited a heartbeat so that Qhuinn could follow to the same spot and not get caught in public. Once I was sure she could track me should she want to, I made my way to the front door and got it open. I didn’t bother waiting before going up into the main living area, I needed a beer and I knew she’d find me if she wanted to.~ #SavingMyAss #SavingHisAss