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hopepaigeturner · 2 days

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An Offer From An Avid Reader: Jail Scene

Ever since reading An Offer From a Gentleman I have wanted to rewrite a better confrontation scene--so like a good ol' writer these scenes came to my head in the middle of the night lol.

And now that the name and casting of Sophie Baek has been announced I can finally post it!

I hope you enjoy it! Shout out to @orangepeelshortbreadcookies for beta-reading this. Go check out her awesome fics and blog at that name!

✨CONTEXT: ✨

I have split the jail scene in two for I agree with @eleanorbradstreet that the rapidity of plot points tied up via exposition could be improved upon. (post here)

So, part 1 will cover the confrontation with Araminta, Bridgertons swooping in, and jail release yet will not include the blackmailing of Araminta. That is for a future post where Kate & Violet BADASS Bridgerton come to the fore.

Multiple ideas/motifs in other posts link to this one. Most importantly are my ideas for how Sophie’s trauma could be shown in the show, (here). So I recommend reading that if you want a bit more context. Yet you can still enjoy the piece.

This scene follows straight on from a scene between Anthony, Benedict and Genevieve here.

Due to the length I have posted an extended version on AO3 that is also uncensored.

Check it out here

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ✨The Scene ✨

“Ugh I give up!” Sophie yells as a rat scurries across the floor.

We find Sophie in a musty prison, water dripping down the walls, and a soiled floor. In the distance are muted sounds of wailing and shouts of injustice. She has just risen from a stool—the only furniture present apart from a dirty (but empty) chamberpot. Her dress is rumpled, her typically perfect braids in disarray, as she stares at the bars encaging her.

“Do you hear me! I give up!” She shouts but at what she does not know. Fate? God? Herself?

“It is somehow fitting that after being behind figurative bars my entire life that I should find myself behind real ones.” Sophie puts her head back against the wall, looking up with unfocused eyes. “And there’s no point complaining because you got exactly what you wanted, didn’t you Sophie? A fresh start, mind you in Australia rather than the Americas, but one cannot be picky. A position far away from the Bridgertons and everyone else, so far that you will never make anyone you love or like miserable. And you cannot really make people more miserable when they are in chains—although knowing you there would be something. Yes, this is what you wanted wasn’t it? This is what you wanted when you rejected him, to be all alone, no happy ending. As it should be, as I deserve to be.” Sophie looks down at her scarred hands.

A pause.

“Yet there’s still one final question. Why?” Sophie looks back to the ceiling. “Because that has always been the question. Why? Why did you keep me only to ignore and then discard me? Why did you give me the lessons and ribbons and fairytales but never a smile? I could have lived without all that, it would’ve been hard but I would have never known better. I would have been content as a servant in the kitchen with calluses because I would never know what it was for hands to be smooth . Fairytales would be in books not in half-realities that all too easily get snatched away. Life would be hard but far easier than the half-life you’ve rendered me to.”

“And again why? Why Papa?” She stands her voice growing in volume. “Yes, I will finally call you Papa because that was what you were. My papa. You were my papa even though you never gave me a kind word or an embrace. Why did you not love me papa? Why did you not protect me papa? Why did you let her hurt me, papa? Why did you let her treat me like a dog when I was your daughter?

“I did everything right.”

Sophie starts pacing as for the first time, the anger, the pressure, the pain has space to rise.

“I squashed myself into the boxes that you liked with the pretty ribbons and bows and locked anything that did not fit far, far away. I put on the mask and played the part to perfection. The perfect daughter, shining and sweet. The perfect step-daughter, quiet and subservient. The perfect servant, meek and mild. And yet you still did not love me!”

And it is not impossible! I did none of it—hell, I did the utter opposite and still Benedict bloody Birdgerton chased after me!” She cries, not bothering to stay silent, not now, not when she has nothing to lose. “Still he loved me even when I exposed it all, still he loved me even when I pushed him away.”

Her volume rises and ries.

“So what was your excuse, papa? What is your excuse, when I did everything right? Why? Why could you not love me even though I did nothing wrong!”

The words are wrenched out of her. They hang suspended in the air, her eyes seem to follow them as they dissipate.

“I did nothing wrong,” her voice is softer, and she slides down the wall. “I did nothing wrong…”

Sophie takes a long, deep breath, as if something has flown from her chest enabling her to breathe deeply for the first time. Sophie sits, eyes lost in the wall as the statement settles in her chest.

She did nothing wrong.

Then comes the noise of heels on stone.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.” The camera pans to Araminta, sneering through the bars. “The little b----d is finally getting her just desserts.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Benedict, Anthony, and Genevieve Delacroix enter the frame. The latter two talking and the former unnaturally withdrawn. They pass in front of Bridgerton House.

“I insist you come in for refreshments—we have kept you the entire morning,” Antony says. It seems in their little quest he seems more at ease around Genevieve.

“Oh, I do not think it would be proper.”

“Neither would be my brother marrying an illegitimate daughter,” Anthony quips back earning a smile as they ascend the stairs. It seems he is not the only one whose ice has thawed during this encounter.

“We must find her first,” Benedict mumbles. Genevieve’s face falls.

“I cannot think of another place she could have gone…perhaps you should try the docks? She would muse about saving money and boarding a ship to America…a place where class is not so rigid.”

“America?” Anthony cries.

“I have already asked around the docks, but none are sure they have seen her.” Benedict exhales wearily. “But if she is on a boat then she will be safe…safe from all who could hurt her or failed her.”

“Benedict you have never—”

“I have failed her far too many times.” His eyes are distant; the ball, Penwood Place, the lake, the studio.

The trio start climbing the stairs.

“But if she has gone to America, what would you do?” Anthony asks, looking pained at his brother’s drawn face. Benedict rolls his shoulders as if winding himself up then gives a smile—a pale imitation of his usual grin.

“Never fear, brother, I will still be useful. I shall shower your children with presents, be their greatest conspirator for pranks and corrupt them when they turn of age—you better watch out Anthony, your children shall adore me and I will undoubtedly be the best Uncle of them all."

“You could find another—”

“No.” Benedict’s voice is determined but gentle, as they stand in front of the door. “No. There is only Sophie. I knew it two years ago, I know it now and I shall know it on my deathbed.”

“Benedict…” Anthony says, hand reaching for his shoulder. Benedict steps away.

“Please, do not—”

The green door slams open.

“We found Sophie!” Hyacinth cries, barreling into them as they go into the hall. The other ladies are following—Violet at the front. “Penelope found Sophie!”

“What?”

The crowd parts and Penelope comes forward.

“I received a couple notes from my informants–” she hands Benedict a letter.

Benedict snatches the paper away—his entire frame trembles when he sees the words.

“There was quite the scene along the cobbles of Grosvenor Square two day ago, when a young woman was accosted by the Countess of Penwood on the grounds of the woman stealing from her. Considering the most recent scandal the countess has found herself in, this author cannot guarantee the validity of the countess’ claims. But the constable had no such quibbles when he carted the young woman off to jail…"

“That damn witch!” Genevieve cries then remembers her surroundings and curtsies, “ My apologies lords and ladies.”

“Not at all, I can agree that Lady Penwood is an utter b---,” Kate says without flinching. Meanwhile Anthony is reading the paper. In the background is Benedict pacing, running his hands through his hair, his face in anguish.

"We still do not know which jail she could be in?” Anthony mutters. “It does not say whether they have taken her to Fleet, or Newgate or Westminster.”

“We could send three parties, one to each prison?”

“But would we have time? It has been two days, if they had sentenced her–”

“They would not hang her?”

“I would not put it past her, that woman has despised Sophie for years.”

“Will you all stop and someone tell me what we are going to do!” Benedict cries.

They all stare at Benedict who looks ready to bolt–or hyperventilate. Anthony steps forward.

“Benedict–”

“Ant, I, I—”

Anthony grasps Benedict by the shoulder but he tries to shrug Anthony off.

“Benedict, look at me, look at me,” Anthony commands.

Benedict does, his eyes seeking support like a child. And for once he finds support in Anthony’s eyes—not the other way around. Anthony continues, words slow but full of feeling.

“We shall rescue her; we shall free her, Benedict. And you two will be married and you will live the rest of your lives in love. I swear it on my title, and on father’s name. Do you hear me?” Benedict mumbles. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes,” Benedict’s voice is hoarse. “Yes, I do.” “But how will we find her?”

“We know!”

Everyone turns to find their housemaid Nadia and Rae, Penelope’s ladies maid.

“Rae? What do you know?”

The girls rush forward.

“A tradesman down by Newgate saw a woman being taken into the prison two days ago.”

“How do you know it was Sophie?”

“She dropped this.”

Nadia hands over a messy gukwa knot, the mauve yarn fraying from age but still recognisable as if its meaning of eternity was embedded in the very strings knotted together. The viewer recognises it as the chrysanthemum knot always hung around Sophie’s waist, the one made by her mother. Similar to the one Sophie gave Benedict all those weeks ago.

Benedict’s jaw clenches.

“We need to go to Fleet.”

“Right,” Anthony straightens, years of responding to crises galvinating his mind. “Let us fetch a carriage and free Sophie. After all, if my title means that I am a hoarder of privilege, power and wealth that was built on the backs of the oppressed—then I might as well use it for some good.” he smirks at Eloise whose mouth is open at the parroting of her words. “Let us go.”

“Wait for me!” Violet Bridgerton calls, grabbing her purse from Mrs Wilson and walking towards the doors.

“Absolutely not,” Anthony states. “I will not have you exposed to—”

Violet brushes him off.

“Oh, Anthony, it is not as if I am a wilting flower. And this is not up for discussion.” Violet does not make a habit of using the divine right of mothers, but when she does it is felt with force. “Also, I can vouch for Sophie’s character.”

A staring match between Anthony and Violet…Violet raises her eyebrow. Anthony breaks the stare. Violet smiles and walks out, calling over her shoulder,

“Now, we must make haste!”

Benedict and Anthony share a look, Benedict nods slightly and follows his mother—still visibly distraught.

Anthony reaches back and pulls Kate in for a kiss.

“We shall be back anon.”

“Bring her home safe, my love.”

“Ofcourse. And make sure Madame Delacroix has something to eat—she has not broken her fast yet.”

“Lord Bridgerton I am quite capable—” but Anthony does not hear the seamstress as he runs out and bundles into the carriage. As soon as the door is shut Anthony, Violet and Benedict cry,

“Ride on!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We return to the prison where Araminta is standing tall and proud outside Sophie’s cell. Yet Sophie remains in her prior position, staring at the wall with her eyes unfocused as her most recent revelations continue to unfurl and take root in every cell of her being.

Araminta frowns then strikes the bars.

“Are you listening, wench?”

Sophie slowly turns to Araminta, finally registering her presence.

“No.” Sophie says absentmindedly before turning back to the wall.

Araminta changes tack.

“You must know I could not believe it when I heard you had the audacity to return to London. Nor do I know whether to be shocked or impressed that you had somehow wormed your way into the Bridgertons’ affections. Then again you always had a proclivity to squirming your way into places you did not belong--like mother, like daughter.”

Sophie stares resolutely at the wall.

“Unfortunately for you the magistrate does not look kindly on thieves.” Sophie continues to ignore her. “The shoe clips were bad enough but he grew ever so angry when he heard how you stole my engagement ring.”

Sophie whirls around but bites her tongue upon seeing the sly smirk on Araminta’s. Sophie glares mutinously at her, which makes her smile wider.

“As you well know it is your word against mine.”

There is the beautiful saccharine sweet smile that has haunted Sophie’s childhood. But this time Sophie does not shiver, instead she crosses her arms.

“I see you have it all worked out.”

Araminta shrugs.

“Lucky for you I have pleaded clemency on your behalf so that you do not lose a head—then again I have heard all sorts of stories about wild animals in Australia.”

“A model of Christian charity,” Sophie bites out. “The justice will be so touched.”

“Indeed.” Araminta preens, revelling in her victory. Sophie stares at Araminta for a moment before finally asking that damnable question.

“Why? Why did you hate me so? I tried so hard to impress you and abide by your rules—why?”

Araminta’s smile drops, she comes close to the bars and hisses through them

“I do not hate you, I despise you. No woman should have to live with another woman’s castoffs, yet he paraded you around in my presence, educating you, clothing you, providing for you until his death. All as a ploy to punish me.”

Sophie’s brow furrows, which spurs Araminta on.

“He kept you to remind me of my failure as a wife for not giving him a son as easily as a serving wench could give him a b----d. You were my punishment, an insult and mockery I had to bear every day. You have no idea the depths of pain and humiliation you forced me into.”

Sophie can only stare, not in horror, not in sadness but…pity. For finally she can see the truth. Araminta is a girl in a cage, yet one who took her fire out on those around her and so became so much worse than a caged phoenix—for she took her fire out on an innocent child.

“You were as trapped in a cage just as I am, yet you wallowed in your pain and took it out on an innocent child.” Sophie stands. “I was a punishment? You speak as if my father cared for anything other than his pride. And you speak of pain and humiliation yet you cannot see what pain you inflicted upon me. Do you know what I have finally realised? You are not a monster, just a very sad, powerless woman who is trapped in her pain and does not know how to let it go.”

Araminta’s perfect face falls into something far uglier. She bangs her fist on the bars and Sophie jumps back, eyes wide.

“I am not trapped. I am not the one in the cage. I have the power. You deserved everything I did to you, because you are nothing. Look at yourself.” Sophie looks down at herself. “You are unloved, alone, encaged just like the filthy b----d child of a whore you have always been and will forever be.” Sophie shivers and does not look up. Araminta continues savagely. “I am the one who is free, I am the one who triumphed, I am the victor! And who are you?”

Sophie breathes heavily, closing her eyes against the words. But then we see flashes of memories.

“Who are you?”

The image of her laughing with Ginny over wine.

A shot of her chatting with her fellow servants, Nadia and John.

A shot of Sophie comforting Eloise as she weeps on her bed.

“Who are you?” Echoes in her head.

A shot of Sophie grinning while sat at tea ensconced in conversation with the Bridgertons.

A shot of her discussion with Violet about love, wallflowers and Eloise.

And finally of Benedict’s words in his studio.

“You are a woman who is kind and compassionate even after a life of hardship that would bow or break the strongest of men. You are a woman who stands by her convictions no matter how people try and sway you, no matter how many lashes you endure or even if the other road is easier. You, Sophie Beckett, are brilliant, in mind, heart and soul...”

Sophie looks up, her piercing eyes resolute.

“I am not nothing.”

Araminta’s eyes widen at the resolve in Sophie’s tone.

“I am a compassionate friend and a trusted confidante. I am a survivor.” Sophie takes a step forward as Araminta steps back.

“I have survived destitution, loneliness and disrepute.”

Another step forward. Araminta takes another step back.

“I have survived the fiery venom that you spat at me every day of my life and the lashes you afflicted me with your actions. Yet I have emerged with a richer soul and a far stronger spirit that you will never break. For I am loved.”

An image of her being embraced by Ginny, another of her being kissed by Benedict.

“I am wanted.”

The shot of Benedict on one knee in front of her.

“I am enough.”

Sophie stands tall, her head held high, backlit by the sunlight through the jail cell window.

“I am Baek Soo-Hye, the daughter of Si-Woo Gun, Lord of Gun, and I shall never bow nor break.”

Araminta is a couple steps away from the bars in the gloom. The shot is positioned so that the shadows of the cell’s bar are cast over Araminta. She sneers like a caged animal and goes to spring forward,

“You little—”

“Sophie!”

They halt.

“What?” Araminta turns towards the sound.

“Sophie!” The voice rips through the air.

Sophie turns to the sound, hope in her eyes.

“Benedict?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Read the rest here

Hopefully this ‘rewrite’ achieves a couple things:

A satisfying confrontation that reflects the character journey and healing Sophie undergoes in S4.

Does not justify Araminta’s backstory but shows the mindset of an abuser.

Links in with imagery around ‘cages’ and ‘masks’ that I have planned for in previous and future S4 posts.

Stress that Sophie’s identity comes from herself and the relationships she has formed–not just the one with Benedict.

Retain the chaotic comedy

Have Benedict Bridgerton getting into figurative, and literal, conflict for the love of his life.

Cute Benophie feels. Supportive Anthony feels. Violet BADASS Bridgerton feels. ALL the feels.

As always I’d love to hear your ideas/corrections/opinions and always open to chat or requests!

So, check out the list here, for more of my ideas.

Or check out the general arcs of my prospective S4.

#strap on in #for the rollercoaster ride #that is the #jail scene #an offer from an avid reader #benophie #benedict bridgerton #sophie baek #s4 speculation #the jail scene #benophie fanfic #sophie beckett

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themthouse · 1 year

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The Internet Archive, Misinformation & the Problem of Digital Lending

I am in the embarrassing situation of having reblogged a post with misinformation. Specifically, the "Save the Internet Archive" post featuring the below image and its associated link to a website called "Battle for Libraries".

The post claims that the recent lawsuit the IA faced threatened all IA projects, including the Wayback Machine, which is not true. The link to a petition to "show support for the Internet Archive, libraries’ digital rights, and an open internet with uncensored access to knowledge" only has one citation, which is the internet archive's own blog.

After looking for more context, I found that even articles published from sources I trusted didn't seem to adequately cover the complexity of what is going on. Here's what I think someone who loves libraries but is hazy about copyright law and the digital lending world should know to understand what happened and why it matters. I am from the U.S., so the information below is specifically referring to laws protecting American public libraries. I am not a librarian, author or copyright lawyer. This is a guide to make it easier to follow the arguments of people more directly invested in this lawsuit, and the potential additional lawsuits to come.

Table of Contents:

First-Sale Doctrine & the Economics of E-books

Controlled Digital Lending (CDL)

The “National Emergency Library” & Hachette v. Internet Archive

Authors, Publishers & You

-- Authors: Ideology v. Practicality

-- Publishers: What Authors Are Paid

-- You: The Ethics of Piracy

First-Sale Doctrine & the Economics of E-Books

Libraries are digitizing. This is undisputed. As of 2019, 98% of public libraries provided Wi-Fi, 90% provided basic digital literacy programs, and most importantly for this conversation, 94% provided access to e-books and other digital materials. The problem is that for decades, the American public library system has operated on a bit of common law exhaustion applied to copyright known as first-sale doctrine, which states:

"An individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner."

With digital media, however, because there isn't a physical sale happening, first sale doctrine doesn't apply. This wasn't a huge problem back in the early 2010s when most libraries were starting to go digital because the price of a perpetual e-book license was only $14 -- about the price of single physical book. Starting in 2018, however, publishers started limiting how long a single e-book license would last. From Pew Charitable Trusts:

"Today, it is common for e-book licenses from major publishers to expire after two years or 26 borrows, and to cost between $60 and $80 per license, according to Michele Kimpton, the global senior director of the nonprofit library group LYRASIS... While consumers paid $12.99 for a digital version, the same book cost libraries roughly $52 for two years, and almost $520 for 20 years."

Publishers argue that because it's so easy to borrow a digital copy of a book from the library, offering libraries e-book licenses at the same price as individual consumers undermines an author's right to license and profit from the exclusive rights to their works. And they're not entirely wrong about e-book lending affecting e-book sales -- since 2014, e-book sales have decreased while digital library lending has only gone up. The problem, they say, is that e-book lending is simply too easy. Whereas before, e-book sales were competing with the less-convenient option of going to the library and checking out a physical copy, there is essentially no difference for the reader between buying or lending an e-book outside of its cost.

Which brings us to the librarians, authors and lawmakers of today, trying to find any solution they can to make digital media accessible, affordable and still profitable enough to make a livable income for the writers who create the books we read.

Further Reading:

1854. Copyright Infringement -- First Sale Doctrine

The surprising economics of digital lending

Librarians and Lawmakers Push for Greater Access to E-Books

Publishing and Library E-Lending: An Analysis of the Decade Before Covid-19

Controlled Digital Lending (CDL)

Controlled digital lending is a legal theory at the heart of the Internet Archive lawsuit that has been proposed as one solution to the economic issue with digital media lending. This quick fix is especially appealing to nonprofits like the IA that are not government, tax-funded programs. Where many other solutions, like a legally enforced max price on e-book licensure for public libraries, would not apply to the IA, CDL would essentially be manipulating copyright law itself as a way to avoid e-book licensure altogether and would apply to the IA as well as public libraries.

Essentially, proponents of CDL argue that through a combination of first-sale and fair use doctrine, it can be legal for libraries to digitize the physical copies of books they have legally paid for and loan those digital copies to one person at a time as if they were loaning the original physical copy.

It is worth noting that the first-sale doctrine protecting physical media lending at public libraries does not cover reproductions:

“The right to distribute ends, however, once the owner has sold that particular copy. See 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) & (c). Since the first sale doctrine never protects a defendant who makes unauthorized reproductions of a copyrighted work, the first sale doctrine cannot be a successful defense in cases that allege infringing reproduction.”

This is where fair use comes in, which allows some flexibility in copyright law for nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses. Because the IA and other online collections are nonprofit organizations, proponents of CDL argue that they are covered by fair use so long as their use of CDL follows very specific rules, such as:

A library must own a legal copy of the physical book, by purchase or gift.

The library must maintain an “owned to loaned” ratio, simultaneously lending no more copies than it legally owns.

The library must use technical measures to ensure that the digital file cannot be copied or redistributed.

While this model first earned its name in 2018, it has been practiced by a number of digital collections like The Internet Archive’s Open Library since as early as 2010. It is important to know that controlled digital lending has never been proven officially legal in court. It is a theoretical legal practice that has passed by mostly unchallenged until the Internet Archive lawsuit. This is partially due to the fact that before releasing their official CDL statement in 2018, the IA had been honoring Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requests of books in CDL circulation, which authors claim they are not always responding to or honoring anymore. The legality of CDL essentially depends on a judge's interpretation of current copyright law and whether they see the practice as an infringement, which would set a precedent for similar cases moving forward.

There are, however, U.S. court decisions that have rejected similar cases, like Capitol Records v. ReDigi, which argues that digital files (in this case, music files) cannot be resold without copyright holder’s permission on the grounds that digital files do not deteriorate in the same way that physical media does, implying that first sale doctrine doesn’t apply to digital media.

In 2019, the Authors Guild, a group of American authors who advocate for the rights of writers to earn a living wage and practice free speech, pointed out this court case in an article condemning CDL practices. They also argued that not only does CDL undermine e-book licensure (and therefore author profits off e-book sales), but it also would effectively shut down the e-book market for older books (the market for copyrighted books that were published before e-books became popular and are only being digitized and sold now). The National Writers Union has also released an “Appeal from the victims of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL),” that cites many of the same complaints.

Further Reading:

U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index

Position Statement on Controlled Digital Lending by Libraries

FAQ on Controlled Digital Lending [Released by NYU Law’s Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy]

Controlled Digital Lending Is Neither Controlled nor Legal

Appeal from the victims of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL)

FAQ on Controlled Digital Lending [Released by the National Writers Union]

The "National Emergency Library" & Hachette v. Internet Archive

While the Internet Archive is known as the creator and host of the Wayback Machine and many other internet and digital media preservation projects, the IA collection in question in Hachette v. Internet Archive is their Open Library. The Open Library has been digitizing books since as early as 2005, and in early 2011, began to include and distribute copyrighted books through Controlled Digital Lending (CDL). In total, the IA includes 3.6 million copyrighted books and continues to scan over 4,000 books a day.

During the early days of the pandemic, from March 24, 2020, to June 16, 2020, specifically, the Internet Archive offered their National Emergency Library, which did away with the waitlist limitations on their pre-existing Open Library. Instead of following the strict rules laid out in the Position Statement on Controlled Digital Lending, which mandates an equal “owned to loaned” ratio, the IA allowed multiple readers to access the same digitized book at once. This, they said, was a direct emergency response to the worldwide pandemic that cut off people’s access to physical libraries.

In response, on June 1, 2020, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit against the IA over copyright infringement. Out of their collective 33,000 copyrighted titles available on Open Library, the publishers’ lawsuit focused on 127 books specifically (known in the legal documentation as the “Works in Suit”). After two years of argument, on March 24, 2023, Judge John George Koeltl ruled in favor of the publishers.

The IA’s fair use defense was found to be insufficient as the scanning and distribution of books was not found to be transformative in any way, as opposed to other copyright lawsuits that ruled in favor of digitizing books for “utility-expanding” purposes, such as Authors Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust. Furthermore, it was found that even prior to the National Emergency Library, the Open Library frequently failed to maintain the “owned to loaned” ratio by not sufficiently monitoring the circulation of books it borrows from partner libraries. Finally, despite being a nonprofit organization overall, the IA was found to profit off of the distribution of the copyrighted books, specifically through a Better World Books link that shares part of every sale made through that specific link with the IA.

It worth noting that this ruling specifies that “even full enforcement of a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio, however, would not excuse IA’s reproduction of the Works in Suit.” This may set precedent for future copyright cases that attempt to claim copyright exemption through the practice of controlled digital lending. It is unclear whether this ruling is limited to the National Emergency Library specifically, or if it will affect the Open Library and other collections that practice CDL moving forward.

Edit: I recommend seeing what @carriesthewind has to say about the most recent updates in the Internet Archive cases for a lawyers perspective of how these cases will effective the future of digital lending law in the U.S.

Further Reading:

Full History of Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive [Released by the Free Law Project]

Hachette v. Internet Archive ruling

Internet Archive Loses Lawsuit Over E-Book Copyright Infringement

The Fight Continues [Released by The Internet Archive]

Authors Guild Celebrates Resounding Win in Internet Archive Infringement Lawsuit [Released by The Authors Guild]

Relevant Court Cases:

Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc.

Authors Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust

Capitol Records v. ReDigi

Authors, Publishers & You

This is where I’m going to be a little more subjective, because each person’s interpretation of events as I have seen has depended largely on their characterization and experience with the parties involved. Regardless of my own ideology regarding accessibility of information, the court ruling seems to be completely in line with current copyright law and precedent. Ironically, it seems that if the Internet Archive had not abandoned the strict rules regarding controlled digital lending for the National Emergency Library, and if they had been more diligent with upholding those rules with partner library loans prior to the NEL, they may have had a better case for controlled digital lending in the future. As is, I agree with other commentators that say any appeal the IA makes after this point is more likely to damage future digital lending practices than it is to save the IA’s current collection of copyrighted works in the Open Library. Most importantly, it seems disingenuous, and even dangerously inaccurate, to say that this ruling hurts authors, as the IA claimed in their response.

The IA argues that because of the current digital lending and sales landscape, the only way authors can make their books accessible digitally is through unfair licensing models, and that online collections like the IA’s Open Library offer authors freedom to have their books read. But this argument doesn’t acknowledge that many authors haven’t consented to having their works shared in this way, and some have even asked directly for their work to be removed, without that request being honored.

The problem is that both sides of this argument about the IA lawsuit claim to speak for authors as a group when the truth isn’t that simple.

Authors: Ideology v. Practicality

Those approaching the case from an ideological point of view, including many of the authors who signed Fight for the Future’s Open Letter Defending Libraries’ Rights in a Digital Age, tend to either have a history of sharing their works freely prior to the lawsuit (ex: Hanif Abdurraqib, who had published a free audio version of his book Go Ahead in The Rain on Spotify before Spotify began charging for audiobooks separately from their music subscriptions) or have alternative incomes related to their writing that don’t stem directly from book sales (ex: Neil Gaiman, who famously works with multiple mediums and adaptations of his writing).

In these cases, the IA lawsuit is framed as an ideological battle over the IA’s intention when releasing the National Emergency Library.

Many other authors, including a large number of smaller names and writers early in their careers, take a much more practical approach to the lawsuit, focused on defending their ability to monetarily profit off their works. This is by no means a reflection of their own ideology surrounding who has the right to information and whether libraries are worth protecting. Instead, it is a response to the fact that these authors love writing, and they simply would not be able to afford to continue writing in a world where they do not have the power to stop digital collections from distributing their copyrighted work without their consent. These include the authors, illustrators and book makes working with the Author’s Guild to submit their amicus brief in Hachette v. Internet Archive.

These authors claim that controlled digital lending practices cause significant harm to their incomes in the following ways:

CDL undermines e-book licensing and sales markets, as most consumers would choose a free e-book over paying for their own copy.

CDL devalues copyright, meaning authors have less bargaining power in future contract negotiations.

CDL undermines authors ability to republish, whether as a reprint or e-book, out of print books once their publisher has ceased production. This includes self-publishing after the rights to their work have been returned to them.

CDL removes the income from public lending rights (PLR) that authors receive from libraries outside of the U.S. which operate on different lending and copyright standards.

The amicus brief provides first-person anecdotes from authors, including Bruce Coville of The Unicorn Chronicles, about how the rights to backlisted books, or books without an immediately obvious market, make up a huge portion of their annual salary. Jacqueline Diamond cites reissues of out-of-print novels as what kept her afloat during her breast cancer treatment.

It is worth noting that according to the Author’s Guild, some authors who originally signed Fight for the Future’s open letter defending the Internet Archive have even retracted their support after learning more about the specific lawsuit, including Daniel Handler, who writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The confusion stems from the use of the term “library” by both the Internet Archive and Fight for the Future. While authors overwhelmingly support public libraries, online collections like the Internet Archive don’t always fit the same role or abide by the same regulations as tax-funded public libraries. Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, has written the following:

“To this day, I am angry that Internet Archive tells the world that it is a library and that, by bootlegging my books, it is simply doing what libraries have always done. Real libraries do not do what Internet Archive does. The libraries that raised me paid for their books, they never stole them.”

Further Reading:

Amicus Brief [Submitted by the Author’s Guild]

Fight for the Future’s Open Letter Defending Libraries’ Rights in a Digital Age

Joint Statement in Response to Fight for the Future’s Letter Falsely Claiming that the Lawsuit Against Internet Archive’s Open Library Harms Public Libraries [Published by the Author’s Guild]

Publishers: What Authors Are Paid

Some of the commentators I’ve seen are disgruntled specifically with the publishers suing the Internet Archive, and I will say that many of these complaints are valid. The four publishing companies behind the lawsuits (Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House) are not known for the stellar treatment of their authors and employees. With the HarperCollins Publishers strike ending only a month before the IA lawsuit ruling, many readers are poised to support any entity at odds with one or more of the “Big Five” publishers. In this particular case, however, the power wielded by these publishing companies was used in defense of author’s rights to their works, for which The Authors Guild and other similar creator groups have expressed gratitude.

When it comes to finding solutions to the digital lending problem in general, it is important to understand what and how authors are paid for digital copies of their work. Jane Friedman has created the graphic below displaying the industry standards for the Big Five publishers. You can read more about agency and wholesome models here.

As you can see, authors and publishers alike benefit from e-book library licensure when compared to individual e-book sales, especially when you consider the time limits on library licensures. But advocates of this licensure model argue that the high prices for e-book licensure are designed to make up for the lost sales in e-books. While library goers buy more books than book buyers who don’t visit the library, the copies they buy typically vary by format. For example, a reader may borrow an audiobook from the library, decide they like it, and purchase a physical copy for their collection. While readers may buy a physical copy of a book after reading a physical library copy, they are unlikely to buy a digital copy after readying a digital library copy, making e-book lending a replacement for e-book buying in ways that physical lending doesn’t fully replace physical book purchases.

What ISN’T accounted for in this graphic is self-publication and what is known as a right of reversion. Depending on the wording of their contract, an author can request their publication rights be returned to them if the work in question is out of print and no longer being published. The publisher can then either return the work to “in print” status or return the rights to the author, who can then self-publish the work. In these cases, the 5-15% profit they would have made off their traditionally published book becomes a 35-70% profit as a self-published book. This is why authors are particularly frustrated with the IA’s argument that it is perfectly legal and ethical to release digital copies of books that are no longer in print. Those out-of-print works are where many authors earn their most reliable, long-term income, and they provide the largest opportunity for the authors to take control of their own works again and make fairer wages through self-publication.

The most obvious answer to this is that if authors are being the ones hit hardest by library and digital lending, then it is the publishers that need to treat their authors with better contracts. The fact that some authors are only earning 5% of profits on hardcover copies of their books (whether those are being sold to libraries or individuals) is eye opening. Alas, like the “we shouldn’t have to tip waiters” argument, this is much easier said than done.

Further Reading:

What Is the Agency Model for E-books? Your Burning Questions Answered

What Do Authors Earn from Digital Lending at Libraries?

You: The Ethics of Piracy

There are number of contributing factors to Tumblr’s enthusiasm for pirating. We are heavily invested in the media we consume, and it is easy to interpret (sometimes accurately) copyright as a weapon used by publishers and distant descendants of long-dead authors to restrict creativity and representation in adaptations of beloved texts. There are also legitimate barriers that keep us from legally obtaining media, whether that is the physical or digital inaccessibility of our local libraries and library websites, financial concerns, or censorship on an institutional or familial level. In fact, studies have found that 41% of book pirates also buy books, implying that a lot of illegal piracy is an attempt at format shifting (ripping CDs onto your computer to access them as MP3 files, for example, or downloading a digital copy of a book you already own in order to use the search feature).

The interesting thing is that copyright law in the U.S. has a specific loophole to allow for legal format shifting for accessibility purposes. This is due to the Chafee Amendment (17 U.S.C. § 121), passed in 1996, which focused on making published print material more available to people with disabilities that interfere with their ability to read print books, such as blindness, severe dyslexia and any physical disability that makes holding and manipulating a print book prohibitively difficult. In practice, this means nonprofits and government agencies in the U.S. are allowed to create and distribute braille, audio and digital versions of copyrighted books to eligible people without waiting for permission from the copyright holder. While this originally only applied to “nondramatic literary works,” updates to the regulations have been made as recently as 2021 to include printed work of any genre and to expand the ways “print-disabled” readers can be certified. Programs like Bookshare, Learning Ally, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print-Disabled no longer require certification from a medical doctor to create an account. The Internet Archive also uses the Chafee Amendment to break their Controlled Digital Lending regulations for users with print disabilities. While applications of the Chafee Amendment are still heavily regulated, it is worth noting that even U.S. copyright law acknowledges the ways copyright contributes to making information inaccessible to a large amount of people.

Accessibility is not the only argument when discussing the morality of pirating. For some people, appreciation for piracy and shadow libraries comes from a background in archival work and an awareness how much of our historical archives today wouldn’t exist without pirated copies of media being made decades or even a century ago. But we have to be more careful about the way we talk about piracy. Though piracy is often talked about as a victimless crime, this is not always the case, and each one of us has a responsibility to critically think about our place in the media market and determine our own standards for when piracy is ethical. In some cases, such as the recent conversation surrounding the Harry Potter game, some people may even decide that pirating is a more ethical alternative to purchasing. Here are a few questions to consider when deciding whether or not to pirate a piece of media:

What other alternatives have you seen for legally purchasing, renting or borrowing a copy of this media?

Is the alternative to pirating this media purchasing it or not reading/referencing it at all?

Who does this particular piracy affect? Whether or not you think the creator(s) deserve to have their work pirated, you need to acknowledge there is someone who would otherwise be paid for their work.

If a significant portion of consumers pirated this work, what would the consequences be for future projects? Would you be willing to claim partial responsibility for that outcome?

I’m not making any moral statements about pirating as a whole, just noting that the way we discuss the consequences of pirating has a genuine effect on the media landscape. If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! It is genuine work to try and understand the complexity behind every day decisions, especially when the topic at hand is as complicated as the modern digital lending crisis.

Further Reading:

Panorama Project Releases Immersive Media & Books 2020 Research Report by Noorda and Berens

The Chafee Amendment: Improving Access To Information

National Center on Accessible Educational Materials

National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled

Books For People With Print Disabilites: The Internet Archive

Bookshare

Learning Ally

#Internet archive #IA lawsuit #digital lending #libraries #digital libraries #open library #controlled digital lending #national emergency library

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ryuichirou · 6 months

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Replies

A couple of replies with fandom stuff, then a couple of twst replies.

irregardlessly-tish asked:

A friend message me "YOU FOLLOW THE LEVI X GRISHA PERSON" and I had no clue what they were talking about but then they showed me the two pictures you drew of Levi and Grisha lol. It made me laugh a lot. Then I helped them found the uncensor version of one of the drawings in your pixiv since the link to twitter seem to be broken (I'm a great friend I know/j). I guess you could say they are big fans of your rarepair work!

LEVI X GRISHA PERSON AAAHH 😭 It’s always so funny to learn how people are referring to us; I was the Zevi artist, the Shroudcest artist… For some reason, being a Guriri (wow Grisha’s and Levi’s shipname is cute, I completely forgot about it) artist feels like such a high honour lol Especially because I had no idea there was someone out there invested in this ship. Your friend’s taste is excellent. A huge thank you to them for enjoying our stuff, and a huge thank you to you for helping to find the uncensored version. You really are a great friend hehe.

It’s honestly a shame that even the pixiv version is still censored (albeit not cropped like the tumblr version), because you can’t really post uncensored stuff there… So now only a few people who had saved our snk smut back when it was posted on our now-deleted twitter have it :(

(it’s a bit embarrassing looking back at those sketches and seeing all the mistakes though, yikes)

Anonymous asked:

I want to shake antis by the shoulders and scream at them all the time cause I see them being sooo unhealthy with themselves, and I've BEEN there I know what they are doing and I know it is just going to get them hurt with the same train wreck I got myself in!!

It's the whole problem with black and white thinking where you go "people treat incest shippers like satan himself, so I cannot accidentally enjoy it or I would be evil incarnate too, and adopted/step is the same thing, so I cannot accidentally like that, and found family is basically the same as adopted, so I have to avoid that, and character A called character B his bro one time, so..." that thinking pattern does not have a stopping point!!!!!! It is so unhealthy!!!!!!!!

And then people realize they can't stop themselves from enjoying unhealthy ships, and instead of separating fiction from reality, they just excuse everything abusive about the ship like it is fine and normal behavior because they cannot accept themselves enjoying something that is remotely problematic. It is so much more likely to get people hurt than just enjoying the porn of some fake brothers fucking 😭

Anon! First of all, sorry for replying late; we received your ask about a week ago but I didn’t have enough time to properly address it. Second of all, thank you for talking about it and sharing your experience.

It’s just like you said; people really don’t want to get ridiculed or hated, especially younger people, therefore, they are afraid of liking stuff that is even slightly problematic. And for some of them, if they don’t want their so-called friends to suspect them loving problematic stuff, they’ll act even more aggressive than they should to overcompensate. I feel like when it comes to antis who talk about us specifically, the most vocal and persistent ones are those whose friends called them out for following my accounts or liking my drawings. And this is honestly both sad and pathetic at the same time; I cannot imagine how bad of a headspace this might be. I don’t pity them though lol

We always talk about it, but still: this is a game you can’t win because the rules are always changing. The only thing that never changes is that there is no nuance, once the crowd decide that the ship is bad, it’s bad. Starting out with the basics, age gaps and incest are bad, right? Right. But what if the characters aren’t canonically related but could be interpreted as brothers? Then it’s still bad, right? But what if they aren’t at all brotherly, but one of them expressed that they want to do bad things to the other? Sounds bad, right? And thus, the only type of dynamic that exists is a romanticised version of a perfect gay couple: they are equal in every way, they love each other, they are SUCH DORKS together who fit perfectly to any “redraw this as your ship” meme that’s the hottest thing these days, they don’t have arguments, they don’t have misunderstanding and rough moments. Their personalities, everything that made their relationship unique or interesting completely disappears and smoothes out, and after that it’s not even a ship, it’s just a nice blend that is perfect for consumption because it doesn’t irritate your teeth, your throat, or your stomach. It’s tasteless, it’s boring, it’s nothing, and it’s not about the characters, it’s about deciding which two characters are unproblematic enough to be transformed into blorbos, and if they have some problematic elements in-canon, it’s okay, we’ll just erase those because being unproblematic doesn’t really matter. What matters is to act in a way that doesn’t go against what the rest of them are doing, because otherwise you’re making people uncomfortable, and if they are uncomfortable with you, they feel morally correct for attacking you.

It’s never about characters. It’s always about control, about cliques, about bullying and making everyone afraid to have an actual opinion. It’s about instilling in people’s mind that attacking strangers on the internet makes you a cool person because you are simultaneously a rebel for being so ballsy and brave, and a saint for having moral standards so high that you can’t stomach bad things even if they are fictional.

Sometimes people just have different ships and that’s okay. Sometimes people don’t have any ships and don’t understand the shipping culture, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is to feel entitled to this control over the way others consume media and interact with it.

Because it makes the fandom experience boring at best and unbearable at worst.

Sorry, I digress lol What I wanted to say is that you are right, it messes with people’s brains. And it is much more unhealthy than fantasising about the things that are 100% fictional (which is, by the way, a huge part of their appeal).

Anonymous asked:

just wanted to say I love your content a lot, it's a breath of fresh air from all the anti content present in the fandom

You are very welcome, Anon! And thank you so much for your support <3 It means a lot to hear that our stuff is refreshing to you.

Anonymous asked:

Is Lilia sneezing on people on purpose, or is it a sneeze button for him?

(this is related to this post)

We’ll never know, Anon, it’s one of Lilia’s many mysteries…

Maybe it started out as a joke, but then he really began to sneeze on people every time his nose gets booped lol

Anonymous asked:

Where can I see the art for the new Shaftlands event?

I don’t think all of them are fully out yet, but people are pretty active on twitter, so simply looking up characters’ names is probably going to work!

Anonymous asked:

…Quick, someone bully Idia into sending nudes.

And be quick about it because Idia could also quickly change his mind and hack the recipient’s phone to delete the pictures!!

#replies

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bunny-yuck · 1 year

Note

For some reason it won't show the uncensored versions of your drawings. I know some of them have been posted on rule34? Is there any place besides Twitter and there that I can find uncensored versions?

BTW ur art is so good

hiii!! first of all thank you so so much you are so kind!

and i do have a bluesky and a pillowfort! i will start posting on them a bit more because homies in my ask box have had similar questions! but here's the links to those!

also whoever posted my art to rule34 is based because i would have never thought of doing that KJLSDAJL

thank you for the ask <333

#bunask

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skzhocomments · 1 year

Text

Broken hearts can heal - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic - Chapter XIII - Late Honeymoon

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

Wattpad link

AO3 link

Chapter XII / Chapter XIV

---

Chapter XIII - Late Honeymoon

word count: 1.6k words

"I CAME HERE TO DROP SOME MONEY" You sang happily, and Minho joined in.

"DROPPING ALL MY MONEY"

"DROP"

"SOME MONEY!"

"DROP YOUR FUCKING MONEYYY YEA!"

"Da-Eun!!! The uncensored version?!" Minho laughed. You were more than three hours into the trip to the luxury villa Minho's parents' rented out a room for you to have your 'Late Honeymoon', as they liked to call it.

"Oh my God!" You laughed. "What, are you scared of some curse words, mister?"

"Me?! Never! Was just surprised, that's all."

"Why would you be? I cussed you out like 10 times when we fought?!"

"Argh, bringing it up again!"

"What, you think I'd ever let you forget?" You chuckled.

"I kinda like it when you cuss me out."

"Oh?"

"Makes me want to punish you." He smirked.

"Minho!" You playfully slapped his arm. "Don't annoy me, I'll bite you."

"Bet?" He glanced at you threateningly.

"Eyes on the road, please!"

"Oh, are we already there?" He asked as he glanced ahead, making you turn your eyes to the beautiful white villa as well. It looked like something you'd only see in the movies, and you wondered how expensive staying here for 10 nights was.

"Seems so. It's beautiful."

"Yea, it really is."

Minho parked the car, and a valet welcomed the two of you, taking your bags and showing you to the reception.

After checking in, you found out you were going to stay in an elegant, all-white baroque style giant room with a balcony. It was royal looking, but what stood out the most were not the intricate details on the walls, nor the beautiful golden mirror, but the big, king-size bed you were going to be sharing with Minho for almost two weeks.

You couldn't wait to finally sleep next to him.

"Let's get lunch!" He exclaimed and grabbed your hand. It felt nice to hold his hand, and you noticed the golden ring on his finger once again, which made you smile.

You had a wonderful time eating in the garden, then walked along the beach with your feet in the water. It was already July, so the water was warm, and the sun was pleasant on your skin.

You spent the rest of the day lazing around, then went to the gym with Minho for some quick cardio. You weren't really up for intense workouts, but enjoyed watching Minho's back and triceps as he did his usual work-out routine.

After taking a shower and eating dinner, you strolled around the garden, still hand in hand, when you stumbled upon a loud club.

"Shall we go in?" You pointed to it.

"Wanna finally show me your great dance moves?" He chuckled.

"That, and get blackout drunk so I won't remember the embarrassment." You laughed. "Maybe I should get you drunk too."

"Sounds like a good idea!" He laughed as well and dragged you inside.

He didn't waste a second to pull you to the dance floor where multiple people were already drunk and grinding on each other.

"So soon?!" You complained. "I didn't even drink yet!"

"You might want to forget, but I want to remember." He whispered in your ear, making you shudder.

You started dancing to the rhythm of the music, swinging your body left and right. You forgot how good it felt to have no responsibilities, to just let go and enjoy yourself like this. You don't even remember when the last time you did so was.

Hyper aware of Minho's hands on your waist, you placed your hands around his neck. He was tall, and he was gorgeous. The dim lights of the club only made his beautiful big eyes sparkle even more, and oh, how in love you were. And you didn't even drink anything.

He never let go of you, and each song seemed to bring you closer.

Initially, the beats were loud and strong, but as time passed by, the music started getting sensual. When 'Swim' by Chase Atlantic played, you turned yourself around, pressing your back to Minho's body, and started grinding on him slowly, as his hands started feeling you up.

He leaned over and pressed a small kiss to your neck, making you head roll back and glance into his eyes lustfully.

You needed him so badly.

You turned around to face him once more and without thinking it twice, you pressed your lips together and let your tongue play with his.

The kiss was intense and hot, and better than anything you could've imagined. Even better than the one last night.

"Let's get out of here." He spoke hurriedly between your heated kisses, and you exited the club and started heading back to the villa, to your room, stealing kisses every now and then as both of you were desperate to touch the other again.

As soon as you entered the room, your back found the mattress, as you kept kissing Minho, his body on top of yours as you unbuttoned his shirt and felt up his torso. All the time spent in the gym was a blessing to your eyes as you scanned his toned body, your hands feeling the way his muscles reacted to your touch.

He moved his lips to your jaw, then your neck, sucking sweet spots as you moaned and clenched your legs, desperate for some friction, dying to be touched.

He moved down and took your panties off from under your dress, kissing your inner thigh and making you moan once again.

"I've been waiting to repay the favour for so long, love." He spoke slowly as he pressed a gentle kiss on your core, driving you crazy.

He spread your legs apart as he began kissing your pussy passionately, his tongue drawing stripes between your folds. You soon felt two of his fingers at your entrance, slowly making their way inside of you. He was curving them upwards just right, and when he started to lick your sensitive nub as well, you saw stars.

Your orgasm was powerful, violent, but Minho made sure to take care of you and help you through it. Although his mouth never left your core, he was gentle, not wanting to overstimulate you, as he guided you back to Earth.

"Fuck, that was good, fuck-" You started, panting heavily as Minho made his way back to your lips.

"Can I take this off, beautiful?" He grabbed the hem of your dress, so you nodded and sat up, letting him remove your dress above your arms. Your bra was the next one to go, as Minho engulfed your whole body with soft kisses and filled your ears with praises.

When Minho came back on top of you and pressed his body on yours, you were dying with anticipation to feel him inside of you. However, as his dick lined up with your entrance, you decided to push him off you with a slight smirk and hop on top, your legs straddling him.

"Oh?" He grinned as you took his member into your hand and pressed it against your head.

Without saying anything in response, you let your body fall down, feeling a slight stretch as Minho moaned your name. You adjusted to him quickly and started slow movements on top of him, and as you got more confident in your hips and legs' strength, you started bouncing up and down, supporting yourself on his chest.

"You're so good." He praised you, getting out a soft whimper from you. "What is it, love, do you like fucking yourself on my dick so much?"

"Didn't take you for a dirty talker." You grinned, continuing your up-and-down bounce that made you feel so good, you barely focused on Minho's words.

You were almost getting close to your second orgasm when Minho grabbed your arms on his chest and forced you to fall on top of him. He wrapped his arms around your body and held onto you tight as he started thrusting into you strongly. Each thrust made you feel his whole length. You sloppily pressed a wet kiss on his mouth that he was quick to reciprocate.

The knot in your stomach almost came undone, when Minho decided he couldn't get enough of you and changed positions once again, pining you under him as he kept the same steady, quick and confident rhythm.

He took your hands and placed them above your head, holding your palms strongly as he kept thrusting and thrusting, looking deeply into your eyes.

He kissed you again, and again, and again, and when he moved his wet mouth to your neck and sucked a hickey right under your ear, you lost it.

Your palms became fists in his, your fingers intertwined, but instead of slowing his movements down to guide you through this orgasm as well, Minho started moving even quicker. You wondered how he had so much energy to keep going for so long after 2 hours of dancing in the club, but a dancer's gym addict stamina was no joke.

As his movements got sloppier, you knew Minho was approaching his own high, so you let go of his hands and moved yours on his back, your nails slightly scratching his skin while you held onto him.

You were both panting heavily as Minho slowed down and came inside of you with a loud grunt. He stayed inside for a few more moments and his palms found the sides of your face and raised your head to look directly into his eyes.

You looked at each other lovingly, your hurried breaths making your chests rise up and down.

"You are so beautiful." He spoke, almost in a whisper.

You dragged him closer to you, making him let his weight fall on your body, while you caressed his back gently.

"I love you so much, Min." You replied, hugging him. "I really do."

"I love you too, Da-Eun." He confessed, raising his head and kissing you once again.

He pulled out of you and got up from the bed, grabbing your ankles as he started dragging you off the bed.

"Nooooooooooooo~" You screamed, bursting out into laughter. "I wanna sleeep~"

"After we clean up." He chuckled and helped you stand up, both of you hopping into the hot stream of the shower.

---

Chapter XII / Chapter XIV

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creepercraftguy · 2 years

Photo

NAEGIRI WEEK Day 4 - Locked In/Out

Whether it’s good luck or bad luck is left to be decided, as Makoto ends up trapped in Hope’s Peak Academy with Kyoko, both having nothing to wear than some towels. How will they overcome this predicament?

@naegiriweek

IMPORTANT NOTE PLEASE READ: The story that you’re about to read below the cut is the CENSORED version of the original story. The original story contains descriptions of nudity, and is generally more NSFW. To make it safer for Tumblr and to allow more people to enjoy the week, THIS version is significantly less lewd. That being said, it’s not COMPLETELY safe for work. It’s still very fanservicy, compared to the other chapters. I just removed anything that could potentially put it in porn territory. However, the Uncensored version can still be read on my WattPad, which I always link with these: https://www.wattpad.com/1290176679-naegiri-week-2022-creepercraftguy-day-4-locked-in

Regardless, the story is under the cut. Please enjoy.

Despite being the Ultimate Lucky Student during his time at Hope's Peak Academy, Makoto Naegi had never considered himself to have very good luck, even now. Luck was a difficult concept to understand, but it seemed that Makoto's life up until now, what with the two Killing Games he was forced into, and the Tragedy having happened, as well as his memory's being wiped, were just a string of misfortunate events, one after the other.

Which wasn't to say that Makoto's life had been completely terrible. After the end of the Killing Game amongst the Future Foundation, society had been on the on and up since then. The Remnant's of Despair were still about, but thanks to the efforts of the Future Foundation, and their new allies, Hajime Hinata and the 77th class, things were going pretty well. Makoto had even succeeded Jin Kirigiri as the Headmaster of the newly reopened Hope's Peak Academy, and this time, things were going to be different.

But even now that everything was going smoothly, and society was going back to normal, some things never change, and Makoto Naegi's luck certainly never did. And because of his dumb luck, he was about to find himself in a very awkward situation.

It was very late in the evening and the students of the new Hope's Peak Academy had gone home for the day. Makoto had no reason to stay out so late, but after the day ended, he decided he would go shopping for groceries on the way home.

Alongside being the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, and choosing to run the academy a little differently, Makoto was also hard at work at the Future Foundation. He worked under his boss, fellow Ultimate alumni, and best friend, Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective, who spearheaded 14th Branch. However, there were talks that Kyoko was planned to succeed Kyosuke Munakata, who had been forcibly retired, as the new Chairwoman of the Future Foundation. The job came with a lot of pressure, but Makoto couldn't be happier for her. Anything was better than Munakata.

Also, on an unrelated note, she was also the girl Makoto was crushing hard for. Ever since she had come back at the end of the Final Killing Game, Makoto had started to catch feelings for the enigmatic, lavender-haired detective. Unfortunately, she was way too good for him, and she never ever broke face, even in the toughest of moments.

With this in his mind, Makoto decided to buy extra groceries for Kyoko as a gift. However, today, things weren't about to go his way. On his way back home, the heavens opened, and a wash of rain came pouring down suddenly, with thunder crackling in the background.

"Oh...dammit!" Makoto cursed, trying his best to shelter his bags so the contents didn't get soaked. Rain hadn't been predicted that day, so he hadn't thought to wear a coat. Shame on him for that one. Makoto tried to power through the rain, but quickly realized; as the shower got worse; that there was no way he'd be able to make it back home before the food he bought spoiled.

Thus, he immediately changed direction and headed back towards Hope's Peak Academy, which was closer to the supermarket. He could just sit tight in his office for a while until the rain died down. It's not like he would've run out of things to do in there.

But unbeknownst to the Lucky Headmaster, this was only the beginning of one crazy ride.

Ever since he was young, Makoto had never thought himself as special. Even being accepted as a Lucky Student at Hope's Peak was like a dream come true for him. But if there were two skills Makoto had that he had complete confidence in, it was these...

One - He was overly optimistic and always say the best in a situation and a person, and always believed the best possible outcome would come, no matter how unlucky he was.

And two - He was ever so slightly more observant of his surroundings than the average guy. Little details that fly past most rarely escaped Makoto, and it was a natural skill he had.

Hence why as soon as he ran inside the academy for shelter and climbed the stairs to his office, he noticed something immediately out of place - A magenta business jacket hanging on the sliding door to his office.

Makoto immediately recognized the jacket and, being careful not to slip on his wet shoes, hurried to the sliding door and opened it. As soon as he did, he saw an easily recognizable silhouette in the window, highlighted further as the thunder and lightning came crashing down outside.

"Ah...There you are. I was wondering where you'd got to," Kyoko Kirigiri turned to greet him as he stepped in, "seeking shelter from the rain as well?"

"Y-Yeah...It's really coming down out the-...um...uh..." he massively trailed off as he noticed that Kyoko's shirt and skirt were also completely soaked through, and he could see her underwear through it. He chose to look away as to not disrespect her, and continued speaking. "What are you doing here?"

"When the rain started coming down, I was already fairly near the academy," she spoke, her voice slightly trembling, likely from the breeze, "so when it started to get bad, I came running here, hoping to find you. If I'm going to be stuck in a storm, I'd rather it be with someone I trust."

"I appreciate that..." Makoto said, his voice also trembling but for a totally different reason. Although he thought it respectful to her image to look away from her damp clothes, he also realized that not making eye contact would be equally as disrespectful, so he found some middle ground. He glanced back and forth at Kyoko repeatedly, pretending his eyes were directed at other things in the room.

However, as he did this, he started to notice Kyoko standing weirdly. She was usually very astute and always walked with such power and cool beauty, but here she seemed...shifty.

It wasn't difficult for Makoto to figure out why though. He honestly felt like smacking himself in the face for realizing it sooner. Kyoko was one of the smartest women he knew, so obviously she would have also realized herself that her clothes were semi-see-through. Makoto would never ever have admitted this to her face, but seeing Kyoko embarrassed was a rarity, and he was kind of enjoying it.

Then again, Kyoko had never been an easy person to read, so more than likely, it was something else. Maybe she was just cold? Makoto certainly was. The heating had been turned off in the academy after he and the other staff had left, and since Kyoko wasn't that familiar with the school layout now, she wouldn't know where to turn it on.

Either way, Makoto knew what he had to do.

"Sit tight for a second," he gave her a thumbs up, "I'll go grab you some towels to dry off."

"That's very thoughtful of you." Kyoko smiled, happy that Makoto wasn't drawing attention to her immodesty

True to his word, Makoto hurried to the gym locker rooms and grabbed some towels. One for him, and one for Kyoko, making sure both of them were big enough to swiftly dry off their whole bodies. En route, he also switched the heating on for his office, so neither of them would catch a cold.

Makoto hurried back to the office and found Kyoko still there, handing her one of his towels. However, when Kyoko took it, she looked a little uncertain.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she said, "thank you for turning the heating on. And thanks for the towel as well."

"Is something bugging you?" he asked, "you can tell me if you want, I won't judge if it's embarrassing."

Makoto realized he probably shouldn't have said that, since it implied he was drawing attention to Kyoko's immodest appearance. Thankfully, either it went over her head, or she heard but ignored it.

"It's just...My clothes are completely soaked through..." she said, "dabbing it with a towel probably isn't going to dry it very much. Maybe I could use it for my hair, but..." she pulled on her shirt, "it soaked all the way through my jacket. Suffice to say, it's gonna take a lot of effort."

"Good point..." Makoto really struggled to avert his eyes from looking anywhere sinful, "but don't worry. I have a perfect plan."

Makoto then revealed his secret weapon. He stood on his desk and reached up near the window to his office, which was quite high. He reached over to a handle on the wall next to the window and pulled it. The handle came loose, with a taut string attached to it, being pulled out from the wall like a toy. Makoto took the handle and hooked it on a hook on the other side of the wall. He stepped down from the desk and waved his hands dramatically.

"Is this...a clothesline?" Kyoko asked, "you have a clothesline in your room?"

"Let's just say this isn't the first time I've been caught in a heavy storm," Makoto scratched his face awkwardly, "I had one of these at home as well, and put one in my office just in case...Unfortunately, the windows are quite high and I don't have a stool."

"That's...very clever." Kyoko was very impressed.

"Anyway, I know it's probably embarrassing, but if we leave our clothes next to the window, they'll dry quickly. And now that we have the heating on, we should be able to strip down to our underwear without catching a cold." Makoto smiled. He noticed Kyoko still looked very flustered though. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Makoto, you...didn't really listen earlier," Kyoko cradled her own body, "I told you I was completely soaked through...Including my jacket...including my underwear..."

"Oh.......OH!" both of their faces went bright red as soon as Makoto realized what that implied, "well uh...um...I won't make you do anything you don't want to, but I really don't want you to catch a cold...B-But the towel I gave you should be enough to wrap yourself in! I promise, I won't look where I'm not supposed to."

Kyoko paused for a moment, looking down at herself, and then back up at Makoto's clothesline. She sighed and smiled.

"Sorry...I trust you," she said, "and you are going out of your way to help me, so thanks..."

Not looking at one another as they did so, Makoto and Kyoko completely stripped down. Makoto's jacket, shirt, tie, trousers, vest, socks and underpants were hung on one side of the line. Kyoko's jacket, skirt, shirt, tie, socks, panties and bra were hung on the other. The only thing that DIDN'T go on the line were Kyoko's gloves, which she insisted upon wearing. Both of them had wrapped the towels around their bodies, and out of sheer embarrassment, both remained a relative distance from one another, and had their backs turned, not looking in each other's direction.

The air was warm thanks to the heater, but the mood between them was stone cold. Makoto decided to break the ice.

"So...I take it this is a new experience for you," he asked, which got her attention, "for once you seem...unsure of what to do. Sorry for pointing that out."

"No, it's ok." she chuckled quietly, "to be honest, I thought I could handle any sort of situation. In fact, I've been in situations like this where I've had to shelter myself from the rain and dry my clothes...This isn't my first rodeo either."

"Then why are you so...out of practice?" Makoto continued to pry, even though he shouldn't. Kyoko turned around.

"Because every other time, I've either been by myself, or with another girl," she admitted, "and despite how it may seem...I am still a woman you know?"

"I'm sorry if my questions are insensitive," Makoto sighed, "I'm just not used to being the one to take charge. Honestly, it's just through sheer luck that I'm this prepared...Though I guess it's also sheer luck that got us into this mess in the first place..."

"But it's also sheer luck that got us in this situation together," Kyoko turned around fully to look at Makoto, who was still facing the wall, "by the way, are you cold...Your skin looks pale."

"Huh?" Makoto turned his head, realizing she was looking at him, "uh, I guess so. The heating may be on but the draft from the window is kinda chilling me."

"I see..." her face went very red, and Makoto didn't know why until she drew closer, "in that case, please excuse me..."

Makoto started stammering incomprehensible nonsense as Kyoko suddenly reached out, wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him close. She cradled his body with hers, and Makoto could feel both his and her heartbeat accelerate.

"In prior situations, me and coworkers I got stuck in the rain with would usually wrap our bodies together in blankets and cuddle for warmth," she explained, "unfortunately, we don't have any blankets or other towels, so hopefully this will work anyway."

"A-Are you sure you're ok with doing this?" Makoto's asked. Kyoko’s warm body against him felt nice, but it also felt wrong. He wasn’t sure how to approach this situation.

"Like I said, I trust you not to indulge or anything," Kyoko smiled, "don't worry about it. I'm just sorry I'm not acting like my usual self."

They stayed like that for a while, their shared body heat working wonders for one another, until of sudden, the two noticed a glimmer of light pour in through the window. Kyoko released Makoto and the two looked outside to see the sun lowering in the horizon, and the rain had stopped. Although, the breeze was certainly beginning to pick up.

"Looks like there's a break in the storm..." Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief, as did Makoto.

"Yeah...lucky us..." he reached down to cover his privates with his hands, fearing Kyoko might see the erection he had gotten, "guess that means we'll be able to head back home now."

"Yeah, we'll just have to power through with our wet clothes until...huh?" Kyoko wasn't able to finish this sentence, as something truly horrifying happened.

The wind had picked up so much, the clothes on the line were flapping around like crazy! And before either of them realized what happened, Kyoko's shirt suddenly got sucked through the open window like a vaccum!

And it didn't stop there, each piece of clothing one by one went flying off the line and out the window!

"NO!" Kyoko screamed in alarm! The situation had gotten bad enough, but somehow, it got even worse! She rushed forward, hoping to grab her jacket at least before it got sucked out into the evening sky.

Unfortunately, she was unable to reach it. It took Makoto a second to react, but as soon as the reality sunk in, he rushed to help her.

Makoto kept a tight hold of his towel and also rushed forward. Without saying anything, knowing Kyoko would know what to do, he got down on all fours at the foot of the window. Sure enough, Kyoko noticed and stood on top of Makoto's body, using him as a stool.

But unfortunately, it was all for naught. Kyoko reached up to grab the last item of clothing on the line, being Makoto's jacket, but the strong winds swept that away too, just as she reached out for it. As it escaped her grasp, Kyoko lost her balance and toppled to the ground, knocking Makoto over as well.

Makoto managed to get on his feet first. Kyoko had fallen to the floor, her towel luckily having stayed on. Makoto reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet.

However, at this time, the gravity of the situation weighed in on them. They were stuck alone together in the office, with not a shred of clothing between them other than a pair of towels and a pair of gloves. There was no way either of them could leave the academy like this. They were stuck!

"Ironic isn't it?" Kyoko sighed, "practically locked inside Hope's Peak Academy once again, this time at the mercy of our own chastity as opposed to Despair."

Kyoko was being serious about this, but her phrasing made Makoto laugh. Upon seeing him laugh, Kyoko began laughing as well. As embarrassing as this situation was, it was somehow hilarious at the same time. The laugh was definitely needed to clear the air between them.

"What are we going to do?" Kyoko asked, "do you have any other plans?"

"Well, we could always try walking home in these towels, but the wind is so strong we might end up losing them...Then we'd be stark naked in public with nothing..."

Kyoko didn’t say anything, but her body language made it clear that she was opposed to this plan. Makoto stood still and thought for a moment, but then luckily, his brain popped an idea.

"I've got something!" he exclaimed, "sometimes students stay a few hours after school for extra gym lessons. I usually go down to the locker rooms after school and pick up a punch of PE bags and put them in lost property. In fact, I saw a few of them when I went down to grab towels!"

"I see what you're saying," Kyoko smiled, "if they left their gym bags here, then their gym clothes will be in them. They might be a bit small, but it's better than walking home without any clothes, right?"

"Let's just agree that as soon as we get home, we NEVER talk of this to anyone ever again." Makoto stated the obvious, "we'll need to walk through the school like this, but that shouldn't be a problem. The students should have all gone-"

Makoto froze. He looked out of his office window down towards the gates of the academy, trying to plan out the route. No sooner did the words escape his mouth, he suddenly saw a silhouetted figure walk through the gates, carrying a bag over his shoulder. Not only that, He couldn't tell if it was a student or staff, but one thing was for sure...

"Kyoko...someone just entered through the gates." he whispered, terrified. Kyoko's face went pale.

"What!?" she exclaimed, quickly grabbing her towel, "wh-what do we do!?"

"We...We stick with the plan," the fire in Makoto's eyes was fierce, "if we're quick and quiet about it, we can grab the clothes and go before he or she sees us. It's not far, don't worry!"

Not wasting a single second, Makoto grabbed one of Kyoko's arms, letting her keep a hold of her towel with the other. Makoto opened the sliding door to his office and he and his crush stepped out into the hallway.

They started making their way through the academy hallway slowly looking frantically up and down, faces burning up. Makoto led Kyoko down the hall, not letting go of her hand. Putting full trust in him, Kyoko let herself be led on.

To the point that Makoto came to a sudden stop and she was so distracted she bumped into him. Though he was facing away from her, Makoto's expression, at least what she could see of it, made it clear something was wrong. And it wasn't hard to figure out what. The nearby stairs that he intended to take her down started echoing with the sounds of heavy footsteps climbing up.

Whoever it was that had infiltrated the academy was climbing up the stairs.

"Run!" Makoto exclaimed, suddenly yanking Kyoko's hand and pulling her in the opposite direction, towards the flight of stairs at the other end of the hallway!

At this point, they had everything to lose, so they kept running and running and running down the hallway, hoping that the mysterious newcomer wouldn't spot them! Kyoko held tightly onto her towel with her right hand, and kept a tighter hold on Makoto’s hand with her left.

The figure had clearly heard them and was no doubt climbing the stairs all the more quickly, but neither of the two turned back. They continued to run down the hallway, their bare feet pitter-pattering on the cold floor, until they finally rushed down the stairs.

The wind was indeed very strong when they finally broke into the courtyard, but they were able to keep hold of their towels. Fortunately, other than the mysterious trespasser, no one else seemed to be on site. When they finally made it to the locker rooms, Makoto flung the door open and they both tumbled inside! Kyoko let go of Makoto's hand and slammed the door shut. Makoto hurried and locked it!

"That was...crazy...!" Kyoko panted.

"Yeah. But at least we're in the clear...for now at least..." Makoto panted. The run had been so hectic that the two needed a moment to catch their breaths.

But not too long after, both of their hearts sunk deep in their chests, when they heard a sudden noise. Though Makoto had locked the door from the inside, they could hear the sound of a key turning in the lock, and the door being inches away from opening.

There were no windows large enough to escape from, and no time. Whoever was coming in was clearly a staff member or otherwise, since they had a key, but regardless, they were going to walk into the changing rooms and catch the both of them wearing nothing but towels. Then what would they do?

Thus, Makoto did the only thing he could think of. Though he was far from suitably dressed himself, he stood in front of Kyoko, and did his best to cover her body from sight. He turned around and gave Kyoko a reassuring nod.

Though she was unsure of what to do in response, Kyoko was touched by his kindness. She knew that if she argued with his decision, it would lead to more complications. And although this situation had proved to be a challenge she’d never encountered before, Kyoko Kirigiri was forever meticulous.

No matter what happened, they were ready to face it together, but neither of them could have prepared for what came next. The doors opened...and a familiar face poked in, looking at the pair with complete and utter confusion.

"Byakuya!?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

Sure enough, the figure who poked his head into the locker room, staring in bewilderment at both his friends completely in the buff, was Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluant Progeny, and fellow Future Foundation employee. It was here that Makoto remembered Byakuya managed security for Hope's Peak, and as a result, he had lent him a spare key.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Makoto asked sheepishly.

"I should be the one asking that...!" he hissed, "what the actual hell are you doing!?"

"W-Wait! It isn't what you think! I-I know how it looks, but hear me out!" Makoto cried.

A short time passed as Makoto explained the entire story to Byakuya. The bad news was that now everyone there had mental scars as a result of what happened. Kyoko and Makoto were absolutely mortified that their mutual friend had caught them streaking across Hope's Peak Academy in the evening by themselves, then proceeding to find them clinging onto each other wearing nothing, leaving him the complete wrong impression. This kind of situation wasn't an easy one to talk you way out of.

The good news is that of everyone Kyoko and Makoto knew, running into Byakuya was quite possibly the best outcome for the both of them. Not a good outcome by any means, especially since Makoto and Kyoko still had nothing else to wear, even while Makoto told Byakuya the whole story; but compared to the potential reactions of their other friends, the alternatives were SO much worse.

Hina would have panicked and called Makoto a pervert. Probably beaten him up too.

Hiro probably wouldn't have stopped looking.

Toko would probably make dirty jokes about the situation to everyone for a month after.

Ryota would have gotten too embarrassed and would have run away with the scars before Makoto had a chance to explain anything.

And GOD, Makoto did NOT want to imagine what his sister Komaru would think.

All things considered, Byakuya was always professional and didn't let his eyes wander to either's assets. He stood there patiently in front of his towel-bearing friends and processed the story as Makoto told it.

Plus, it was better to be caught wearing nothing but towels as opposed to getting caught with nothing at all. When Makoto finished explaining the story to Byakuya, he nodded.

"I see..." he pondered, "so THAT'S what happened..."

"You believe me?" Makoto asked, "now that it's come out of my mouth, the turn of events is pretty ridiculous. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe me."

"Of course," Byakuya sighed, "believe it or not, what you've just claimed to the be the case is somehow more believable than you two purposefully committing a shameless act of voyeurism on school grounds. You especially Kyoko. You can do way better than him."

Even though Byakuya insulted him, Makoto just laughed. Kyoko didn't say anything. Her face flushed.

"Well...there's that, and also there's this..." Byakuya suddenly took the bag he had hung on his shoulder and opened it. Looking inside, Makoto and Kyoko couldn't believe it, but they saw the bag was filled with their clothes that had gone flying into the windy sky. "I ended up finding these scattered about the flower fields out front," Byakuya explained, "I commanded my men to gather them up for me so I could find the owners and return them. Didn't expect it'd be you two though."

With that, Byakuya handed them the bag. Makoto and Kyoko pulled out their clothes and frantically got dressed. They had been trapped in the school for such a long time, they had completely dried by now.

"W-Well, at least that whole mess is settled..." Kyoko chuckled, looking at Makoto, "I should um..."

But before she could finish, Kyoko covered her face with her gloved hands in embarrassment and made a run for it. Makoto thought about chasing after her, but decided it would be best to leave her be.

"Hey, um...Byakuya. I'm not saying you're going to, but please don't tell anyone about what you saw..." he pleaded.

"You mean you don't want me to tell anyone about the traumatizing sight of my closest friends running around underdressed? Why would I?" he snarked, "whether you want me to or not, I will force myself to forget what I've seen. That said, Kyoko isn't likely to forget any time soon."

"Yeah...it was my luck that put her through this. I wouldn't have wished it on her ever," Makoto sighed, "I just hope I haven't ruined things between us forever..."

"Don't be an idiot," Byakuya snarled, "tell me...You like her, right? Romantically?"

"Uh...yeah...Guess there’s no use hiding that..." Makoto flushed.

"Well, it's painfully and disgustingly obvious that she likes you back," he grumbled, "hell, you could slaughter a litter of puppies and she'd still find some way to love you!"

Makoto's eyes widened. Was Byakuya really being encouraging?

"But...you literally just said she could do better than me!" Makoto exclaimed.

"She can!" Byakuya snapped, "but she can absolutely do worse too.”

Byakuya turned his back and began to leave the locker room, continuing to talk as he did.

"You're kind-hearted, strong-willed, you look decent, and you're better than 90% of the people around you..." he said, "so...don't sell yourself short Naegi."

Makoto processed this for a moment, before smiling and saying.

"Thank you Byakuya."

"Whatever, I'm out of here," he grouched, "this NEVER happened."

As he left, Makoto looked around the locker room. The towel he had been wearing was now neatly folded up in the wash bin near him, but his eyes drifted back to it.

"I really am lucky... Makoto blushed, "and I couldn't forget it if I tried..."

#naegiri #naegiri week #naegiri week 2022 #kyoko kirigiri #makoto naegi #danganronpa #danganronpa 1 #dr1 #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #byakuya togami

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darkenamour · 7 months

Text

THIS IS A CENSORED VERSION, LINK TO UNCENSORED VERSION BELOW.

BE MINDFUL OF THE TAGS

Warnings: NonCon, Kidnapping, Rope Bondage

Summary: After a blind date gone wrong, you find yourself with an opportunity to break an eight year dry spell. Only catch is that you don't remember who they are, or if they even want to sleep with you. Too bad for them, because you want to end that day spell no matter the cost.

You were up bored and drunk one night while trying to get home. When you passed an alley you saw a girl sleeping on a pile of newspapers. You don't remember much after that. When you woke up in the morning, you had a pounding headache. It was the beginning of the weekend so you decided to sleep it off your hangover, until you heard something shuffling in your room. Sitting up on your bed, you look around your messy room, then you see her. The girl in the alley.

She was filthy, had matted hair, looked to be a teenager, and was completely tied up in thick rope. She looked at you with wide eyes and tried to scoot away, but her arms and legs were tightly bound. Her muffled screams came from her taped mouth, as tears ran down her face. You tried to remember what exactly happened last night.

Yesterday you were set up on a blind date by your friend. They told you to try to get your dick wet, since the last time you had any action was at least eight years ago. The date started off great until they heard about your job. Apparently your friend lied to them and said you were a serious office worker. She left you with a large bill and blue balls. The bar across the street looked inviting, so you stayed to drink until the bartender cut you off. After that, it was all a blur.

Muffled crying caught your attention again. Why did you bring a possibly underage girl, a homeless girl, into your house to tie up? You got up from bed to free her, until you noticed the pattern of the knots. It looked exactly like the knots in a bdsm magazine you had. Sure enough, that same magazine was laying next to the girl. It was a knot that would immobilize the person, trapping them in place. What was drunk you thinking about that made it seem like a good idea to tie up a girl?

You got closer and noticed that the girl was completely naked. She was so caked with grime that it looked like she was wearing clothes. Your cock twitched, there was a naked girl, tied up, and in your room. Now you know what drunk you were thinking about. Here was a homeless girl, someone no one would probably look for if she went missing, that you could take advantage of. Sober you really wanted to let her go, but your cock needed to sink into something soon. Your phone rang.

Answering the phone had your friend's voice greet you. “Hey, man, I got those results you asked for.” Your friend was a doctor at the local hospital, so you took advantage of his degree. This time though, you don't remember asking him for anything recently.

“What?”

Your friend laughed. “I knew you were fuck faced last night, but forgetting that you had me testing potential pussy? You must have been fucked!” You gave a weak chuckle back. “Anyways to recap, you had me test the stoned homeless chick, which like you must have been desperate.” He stresses. “So her results came back all negative. Meaning that pussy, even if the outside is dirty, is squeaky clean. Though personal I would still wear a condom, bro. Anyway, if you still have the stoner, homeless girl, have fun.” You thanked him and hung up.

So now you know that originally this was consensual, but something happened along the way. You decided to rip the tape off her mouth. She cried as it came off.

“Please, I sucked you off already. Let me go.” She begged. “I don't want the money any more, let me go.”

#smut writing #tw noncon #tw kidnapping #r4p3 fantasy

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csmeanerr · 11 months

Note

“i’m not affiliated with the species or terralien staff” “LET ME ASK COY” make up ur fucking mind dude

.https://toyhou.se/~forums/5867.service-reviews/457397.terraliens-psa-upd-03112023

specifically this comment

quick breakdown to all of their points

1) yes terraliens originated as a cham concept! however iirc chams are aware of, and alright with, the existence of terraliens.

yeah that's not the issue. the issue is terraliens were similar to chams and were given their space but when another species does the same terralien owner spat in their face and started this entire thing. what's being pointed out is the hypocrisy with the origin of terraliens being a rejected cham myo to show that terraliens came from a similar background

2) “doxxing”… yeah, there was no evidence of doxxing in those screenshots.

as the second comment says they were intentionally trying to get someone's IP by trying to get them to click links that will give it. in what fucking world does the sentence 'we need to bait them into click links' not put them in a bad fucking light

3) coy’s CENSORED nsfw stories. It’s exhausting seeing people make such a big deal of them. Nothing they posted was actually NSFW. The worst they posted was a cropped image of their oc without clothing on, with the uncropped version on their (age verified) CF stories. They do NOT post uncensored nsfw, and i don’t know why people keep bringing it up. Also you straight up put words into their mouth with your paraphrasing; they released a whole thing explaining their thought process, and said they wouldn’t do so again (which they’ve lived up to, moving all nsfw content to a different account entirely, which again requires age verification to see). even if they had posted uncensored nsfw, it would still be a non-issue since they’ve since acknowledged and rectified their actions.

contradicted yourself in the same argument and then added 'they fixed it so don't bring it up again'. nudity ≠ sexual intent but the context of the pieces does imply it so trying to say it's not nsfw because it's just nudity is misleading.

the first image is of their oc nude with little showing but also has ghost hands on them, one close to their ass. there is also blush on the character's face and ass so let me ask if you would be comfortable showing your coworker this picture. nsfw means not safe for work aka it's inappropriate to pull out in a public space it does not inherently mean porn.

the other is of a bunny thing in shibari which of course many people claim isn't sexual which is a subjective issue. shibari is often associated with the bdsm community so just because you think it's not sexual does not mean it's not inappropriate

4) stitch adopts. they’re not breaking copyright by drawing the same species as a movie 💀by that logic, nobody could sell pokesona adopts, or sonic adopts, or adopts of any other fandom. this is also a very dumb argument that keeps getting brought up for no reason.

i dont really give a shit about this one cuz it's a whole can of worms and its arguement boils down to being a massive grey area. YES is it breaking the law of designs and you shouldn't even call it stitch because then you're affiliating the design with the brand, which is what they are against. The reason pokemon and other stuff gets made and sold though is because these large brands don't go after one-time transactions cuz they don't have the manpower nor interest, they only crack down if it's of a larger scale that would harm their image.

#terraliens #screenshots

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its-queenofthesilence · 2 months

Text

I Cannot Live Without My Soul! Part 6 of ?

Notes:

Have some AndrAIa lore dump that while be relevant in this story but also not because I may or may not have planned a sequel. Or 5.... Also Megabyte being a grump, lmao.

PLEASE NOTE: Going forward, this is going to be edited in a way to remove stuff that violates the TOS. Nothing super graphic just smut basically. I know we have mature filters but I am not sure how Tumblr feels about smut so. Things removed will be replaced with blackouts or redacted, if you would like to read the uncensored version, please see the FF.net or A03 (Recommended) link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57835603/chapters/147208144

Chapter 6: You Cannot Fix What Is Not Wrong

Enzo Raphael Matrix(1) was bored. He had been scared initially when he had been throw into the holding cells, worried for his friends and family. But you could only be scared for so long before it gave way to other feelings. Anger, resentment, acceptance. Now he was just bored.

It had been a cycle, and he had nothing to do but bother the troops guarding his cell for attention, much to their annoyance. Feet against the wall, laying upside down on the bed with his head hanging off, he was whining as he repeatedly tapped his foot against the wall.

“Will you stop that!”

It was more of a request than a demand from the binome with a mustache that he can’t remember is called Chancy or Custard. He thinks it’s Custard.

“I’m Bored.” he said simply, refusing to stop tapping the wall.

‘Custard’ let out an scream, his sanity slowly whittled into nothingness every moment he was left in charge of this kid. "You're our prisoner, not our guest. You don't exactly get to be entertained."

Enzo (1) rolled his eyes, the tapping increasing in speed. "Come on Custard, can't you at least let me out for a bit? I promise I won't try to escape or anything."

Chancy let out another small scream, barely contained behind clenched teeth. Or what equated as teeth for a binome."For the last time, it's Chancy! And absolutely not, I'm not letting you out of that cell. You're a prisoner, how many times do I need to tell you?!”

Enzo (1) let out an exaggerated sigh, finally relenting on the incessant tapping. "But I’m boreeeed.” he repeated, whining.

Chancy shot Enzo (1) an exasperated look. "Well, you're just going to have to deal with it. You're lucky we're keeping you alive at all."

Enzo (1) crossed his arms, pouting petulantly. "This is so unfair. I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You're associated with the Guardian and those other troublemakers," Chancy retorted. "That's reason enough as far as Lord Megabyte is concerned."

The copy opened his mouth to argue further, but was cut off by the sound of the door to the holding cells sliding open. Both he and Chancy turned to see another Binome stride in. A bit portly around the middle with a fading hairline, the other man seemed tired.

“Captain! Please tell me you have new orders. Anything but guard duty.” ‘Custard’ begged.

“‘Fraid not, Lord Megabyte still hasn’t ordered any attacks yet.”

“Still? It’s been a cycle since he took over the Principal’s Office and still no plan for wiping the rebels out?”

“No, I heard from some others that he’s been having Herr Doktor run tests on him; something wrong with his code apparently.”

“What about Megabreath?” Chancy breathed in once, then exhaled slowly. He knew he had been given strict orders not to kill the kid but that was becoming harder by the second.

“Nothing that concerns you kid! I swear to the User, I am going to delete you.” he growled, walking right up to the energy field separating them. Enzo (1) just started tapping the wall again with his foot causing the man to scream.

“Lieutenant, what’s the issue? The Lord told us to leave them alive.” The captain said, irritated. If there was one person not cut out to be a Neo-Viral, it was Chancy. The man had no sense of keeping cool and collected. Yet Megabyte kept him around for some reason.

“He’s being annoying!” the man gritted out to his superior.

“So take a walk solider, they’re not going anywhere. Honestly, use your head!”

The pair walked off, leaving Enzo alone with his thoughts. If he was big and smart like his bigself, he would try to break out. But he was just a small sprite with nothing to help him escape. Sighing, he sat up on the bed and turned to look over at Phong.

Megabyte had either been kind enough, or didn’t care enough to put both sprites in a shared cell. It made him feel a bit better. Phong however had been quiet the last few days. Medics had been in to stabilize him and make sure he didn’t just delete program (Megabyte needed him alive, other wise he wouldn’t have bothered) but the elderly sprite seemed lost in thought almost.

"Phong?" Enzo called out hesitantly. "Are you ok?"

The sprite in question slowly lifted his head, his wise eyes meeting Enzo's. "I am as well as can be expected, my child," he replied wearily.

"Do you think the others will come for us?" Enzo asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.

Phong let out a heavy sigh. "I am certain they are doing all they can to mount a rescue. But Megabyte has the entire Principal Office locked down. I fear it may not be so simple."

“Is that why you are so quiet? ‘Cause you’re scared of what’s going to happen?”

“I will admit, I am afraid but no young sprite. I apologize, I have been thinking.”

“‘Bout what?”

Phong paused. He didn’t know how to tell it to such a young sprite, or if he should at all. There were just somethings that Enzo shouldn’t know about yet.

He’s worried for the others yes, but he’s more worried about Dot and extension AndrAIa. He thinks back to the Wedding, what would have happened if Bob had not shown up. The Wedding Night.

Despite insistence that he had standards, the old vector sprite couldn’t help but worry that in his pursuit for revenge, the virus intended to harm the pair more than just torture and deletion. He remembers the look on the Viruses face, looking at ‘that’ video file. He had not been able to see the entire video (or the other one really) from where he had laid but he had seen enough to know what the virus was looking at.

If he was capable of torture, mayhem and destruction, why not [REDACTED]?

Phong let out a heavy sigh. "I do not wish to worry you, my child. These are simply an old man's concerns. Let us have faith that our friends will find a way to rescue us."

Enzo nodded, though he could see the worry etched on Phong's face. The elderly sprite was always so calm and collected, to see him this unsettled was also unsettling for Enzo.

“Phong?” he asked timidly, pressing his back against the cell wall.

“Yes, my child?”

“What’s a ‘whore?”

To say he was angry would be an understatement. He was enraged, infuriated, rabid, incensed; he could go on. With a snarl, he over turned a gurney that had been shoved into the corner of the Medical Bay, not able to contain his anger.

A cycle of scans and tests, and still no answer to his problem. In the mean time, his plans for vengeance had been put on the back burner as he tried to deal with the increasing need for AndrAIa her that had been building within him. The virus, nor the doctor by extension, had not been able to sleep properly in a week, his body overworked and overtired.

Every thought was now related to the Game Sprite in some way, shape, or form and he couldn’t take it anymore. He felt like he was going to explode.

“I thought I told you to find the problem!”

Herr Doktor who up until now had been trying his best not to nod off from lack asleep, found himself wide awake as he became the target of Megabyte's outburst, quickly backing away from the fuming virus, still holding the .doc file that contained the results of the most recent scan.

"I apologize, mein Herr! I'm trying mein best. If you could tell me vhat I am looking for..."

“I told you! Any changes in my code!” The virus reached down to pick up the doctor by his neck and began to squeeze; not enough to harm him but to state his dissatisfaction.

"A-ah, mein König, Maybe ve should start vith your symptoms rather than lo-looking at your code. It vay be easier." choked the Binome, struggling to breath a bit.

By now, the mad scientist had gotten out of his lord that something had happened when he encountered the Game Sprite in the hallways of the Principal’s Office. Unfortunately, his lord was reluctant or unwilling to provide any more detail than that.

With a snarl, Megabyte dropped the smaller creature, allowing him to quickly scurry backwards and out of grabbing range. The virus puzzled for a moment, debating the idea. Herr Doktor was probably right, starting with symptoms would probably be easier, or at least give them somewhere to start.

"Very well, let's start there then. What would you like to know?" he asked, trying to reign in his temper.

Herr Doktor straightened his rumpled lab coat, clearing his throat nervously. "Vell, for starters, vhat exactly happened vith the Game Sprite? You mentioned something...unusvual occurred between you two."

The virus paused, his clawed fingers tapping against his chin as he considered how much to reveal. "It was...strange," he began slowly. "There was a burst of light that came from her that began flowing into me, causing me- us, to glow. I've never experienced anything like it before."

Herr Doktor's eyes widened, taking a moment to jot something down on his organizer.

“Vhat else Mein Herr?”

Megabyte's brow furrowed as he tried to put into words the strange sensations he had felt. "It was...odd. The light only lasted mere nanoseconds but when it was gone, I felt a surge of emotions that I've never experienced before - a sense of contentment, even happiness.”

He paused, a look of frustration crossing his face. "But it didn't last. As soon as the hacker intervened and she fled, the feeling faded leaving me feeling…I don’t know. Now I just feel...off. Unbalanced, in a way I can't quite describe."

Herr Doktor nodded thoughtfully, jotting down more notes. "Interesting. And have you noticed any other changes? Anything physical or in your behavior that is out of the ordinary?"

Megabyte frowned, thinking back to the previous cycle. "I've found myself...distracted, in a way I'm not accustomed to. My concentration has been poor, and I find my thoughts constantly returning to AndrAIa." He let out a frustrated growl. "It's maddening. I can't seem to focus on anything else."

A look passed over the Doctor’s face, one that Megabyte couldn’t place. It was a look that was part confusion, that he understood, but also part something else, like the doctor knew something he didn’t.

“What?” he barked, the need for answers overwhelming.

“What do you feel when you think about her?”

“What? What does that that have to do with anything? I already told you, content. What more do you want?”

Herr Doktor shifted uncomfortably under Megabyte's piercing gaze, but pressed on. "Mein Herr, humvor me. In detail.”

“Fine! Happy, warmth, like I am able to infect the entire net at once, like I am going mad because I cannot bare the thought of her not being near!”

Herr Doktor's eyes widened as Megabyte rambled off his symptoms in increasing frustration. He hesitated for a moment, pondering how to broach this delicate topic.

"Mein Herr, I believe...I believe what you are experiencing may be a form of..."

He paused, trying to find the right words. "Infatuation. Perhaps even...love."

There was silence, and then, a deep guttural laugh that sent chills down the Doktor’s spine. He knew his lord enough to know what kind of laugh this was. This was not an amused laugh like when someone said something he thought was funny (usually revolving around Dot Matrix) or one done out of politeness. This was a laugh that meant someone had done or said something so stupid, that it infuriated the lord to no ends.

Megabyte's laughter rang out, dripping with derision and contempt. "What did you say?” he hissed. The claws, while now always out do to his new form, seemed to extend further as fury overcame his face.

Herr Doktor swallowed nervously, realizing he may have made a mistake. "M-mein Herr, I’m not saying that’s w—what it is! I was just speculating!”

The virus didn’t bother to grab the doctor again, instead choosing to tower over him before leaning down and getting inches away from his face.

"You dare to suggest that I, the great Megabyte, am capable of something as pathetic and weak as love?!"

Herr Doktor cowered under Megabyte's furious glare, his metal frame shaking with fear. "N-no, my lord! Of course not! Please, forgive me for overstepping!"

Snarling, Megabyte grabbed the doktor once more and threw him into the wall, causing the smaller man to scream in pain and terror.

With a roar the virus began to destroy anything he could get his hands on. Megabyte was in a full blown rage, destroying everything in sight. Overturned medical carts, glass vials, the wiring in the walls - nothing was safe from his fury.

The doctor cowered against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible as Megabyte's rampage continued. He knew better than to try and intervene - the virus was far too volatile in this state. All he could do was wait and pray that the outburst would pass quickly, and without him being a target.

After what felt like an eternity, Megabyte finally seemed to run out of steam, coming to a stop and panting heavily. Silence filled the air, one man too afraid to speak and the other lost in thoughts.

“Herr Doktor?”

“…Yes, m-mein herr?”

“I won’t delete you today, but don’t you ever suggest something so stupid again because I can promise you I will make your deletion a painful one. Understood?” The virus never looks at him, eyes fixated on an invisible target only he can see.

'“J-Ja.”

“Good. Now have the men prepare my limousine, it’s time I had a chat with the Game Sprite.”

Breathe in,

Breath Out,

Smile brightly, nod politely.

Don’t think about him it.

Everything is okay.

I mean, who cared if she had barely slept in a week, was avoiding her friends at any chance she got and was struggling to not to spiral into a episode self-hatred and depression?

As she walked the halls of the base, she gave small waves and hellos to the people working, trying to not notice the way they stared at her.

Like they had always stared.

“..Freak…”

“..not trustworthy..”

“..dangero-”

She can hear them all speaking about her. It’s nothing new. She has always been an outsider in this place. But now since the incident in the Med-Bay and rumors getting out about what happened in the P.O. (Thanks to Mike the TV who had been ever so kind to listen in on her and her friends and then spread the information like wildfire.) it had been worse than usual.

She hadn’t felt this isolated than ever; not even when she was in actual isolation. She stops and hisses, pushing the thought away. She wasn’t going to think of that place, it was behind her.

She shakes her head and continues forward, moving throughout the halls of the base and into the main chamber where her friends were gathered around a table. She can practically taste the tension in the air. She tries to hide her tiredness (And the thoughts of teeth on her neck) but finds it hard.

Everyone was confused about why Megabyte had not attacked yet and subsequently, was on guard. He had been radio silent the last cycle and aside from the ABCs protecting the Principal’s Office, there was no indication that he was even in Mainframe. He had made no appearances, no speeches, nothing.

Someone speculated that maybe he had escaped to the Supercomputer to infect it but Bob pointed out a portal of any kind required internet access and the wifi tower was still down(confirmed by Glitch who still couldn’t get a signal out of the system.)

So that left them on edge. In the mean time, they were trying to best come up with a plan to get back into the P.O. They likely couldn’t get back in through the Core, Megabyte had likely figured out that’s how they escaped and had men guarding the entrance. Besides, Phong was old and injured last time anyone saw him and Enzo was young; they were more likely than anyone to succumb quickly to the Core.

The group is chatting tersely, trying to pinpoint a plan when she approaches the table. There is a schematic of the P.O laid out, with various notes and items circled on it. She can see the flicker of worry in Bob’s eyes as he takes stalk of her.

“Did you sleep?” he asks silently. Her pursed lips in response tell him that no, she hadn’t.

(Razor sharp claws running over her skin.)

“Where were you?” Enzo is on edge more than any of them and quick to instigate a fight in order to release the pent up anger building up inside of him. It’s tiring but she’s used to it.

“Just out for a walk.” she lies, the smile threatening to fall. Each day it’s becoming harder to pretend around him.

“That must be nice. We’ve been here actually working!”

AndrAIa's smile faltered at Matrix's sharp tone. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure. Conceal, don’t feel.

"I know you're all working hard, Sparky. I just needed some time to myself, that's all." To sleep; or at least she tried to until the thoughts became too much.

(A deep, baritone voice purring into her ear)

“Yeah well that’s all you seem to have time for. You’ve been avoiding me for the last cycle.” The renegade says accusatorily, eye flaring briefly as anger seeped out.

“Oh no, User forbid I be too busy and tired to FAQ your ass while in the middle of an active warzone!” She regrets the words as soon as she says them. Why was this happening? She’s supposed to be good at pretending and yet she keeps slipping up, it was never this hard before to lie.

Enzo recoiled briefly, taken aback by AndrAIa's uncharacteristic outburst before the shock turned into that familiar, tiring (so, so tiring), anger she was so used to at this point.

(Touching her between the [REDACTED].)

“You really think that’s what I fucking care about right now?” the Renegade leaned forward, anger spilling out of his voice. “Enzo and Phong are still FAQing at Megabyte’s mercy, and you think I give two shits about the fact that you’re not putting out?”

‘Yes’ But she does not say it. AndrAIa knows that while he is concerned for the others, he’s extra ornery because she’s been uninterested or just not in the mood to lie there and get it over with like she always does in exchanging codes the last cycle. She knows he uses it as a way to cope when stressed; his go to after alcohol and shooting things but she just can’t seemed to get in the mood because his hands were wrong and not the ones she wanted.

“Enough! I swear to the User, none of us need to hear this.” Bob interjects, a look of desperation on his face as he tried to end this very uncomfortable conversation. He doesn’t need those images in his head. AndrAIa felt her cheeks flush; momentarily forgetting about the others during the spat. She can see from the corner of her eyes Dot is looking down at the .doc she has open, trying not to look her in the eye, face red with embarrassment. Mouse just seems to be amused.

Matrix's grunted, turning away as he backed down reluctantly. A mix of frustration and hurt on his face. "Whatever," he muttered, turning his attention back to the map on the table. AndrAIa breathes deep, pushing it all back and a calm smile comes over her face.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, her voice carefully level. She knows there will be hell to pay later, behind closed doors but she cannot focus on that now . "How are we getting Enzo and Phong back?"

Bob cleared his throat, exchanging a wary glance with Dot before speaking. "Well, we've been going over the schematics, trying to find any weak points in Megabyte's defenses. Unfortunately, he's really bolstered security throughout the entire building."

He pauses, tapping his fingers on the table as he thinks. "There are still a few service tunnels and access points that may be lightly guarded, but getting in undetected is going to be a challenge. And once we're in, we'll have to deal with getting Enzo and Phong out without triggering Megabyte's full wrath."

Matrix leaned forward, his cybernetic eye whirring as he analyzed the map. "We'll need a distraction - something to draw Megabyte's forces away from the holding cells so we can get in and get them out."

“We still haven’t decided what we’re going to do about Dad, or the rest of their people on the inside.” said Dot. That was another issue they weren’t sure how to deal with. Enzo might be safe because he was a child, and he needed Phong, but what about the rest of the team that had been in the War Room? They were either infected or deleted at this point; Megabyte would not show them the same courtesy.Then again, he might not care enough about a group of Binomes and chose to allow them to leave (after all, if you kill all your future subjects, who will you have left when it comes time to take over?) And Welman had the advantage of being a null; he could not be deleted, no matter how much Megabyte tried. He could feel pain of course, but that was different.

It was a conundrum. Obviously, to them Enzo and Phong were a priority, but to the families of the Binomes inside the P.O, waiting on news of their loved ones safety, they did not feel the same.

"Well, we don’t know if anyone else is still alive Sis. We should focus on just getting in before finding survivors. We could lead a frontal assault on the P.O.," Matrix offered, cracking his knuckles. "That would definitely draw Megabyte's attention." Everyone knew that he wanted a rematch with Megabyte more than anything; partially for what had been done to Dot but also for pride reasons; to put the virus in his place once and for all.

“Sugah, I’m sure after last time we came in swinging through the front door, he ain’t gonna let us stroll back in without a blood bath.” said Mouse.

Dot shook her head, a frown on her face. "I agree, it’s going to be more difficult this time if we attempt it and it’s too risky. We can't just charge in guns blazing. We need to be strategic about this."

By this point, AndrAIa had started to zone out, exhaustion creeping in. She was too tired to think straight, the call for sleep overwhelming. She leaned against the table, allowing her eyes to close for a moment. She..she just needed to rest for a moment.

AndrAIa's eyes slid shut as she leaned against the table, the exhaustion finally catching up to her. The others continued discussing their plans, their voices fading to a dull hum in the background as she allowed herself a moment of respite. And then, she’s pulled under.

She’s huddled in the corner of the cell, a book tightly held to her chest as she tries to protect it to no avail from the hands that rip it away. It’s a good book, she’s read it over and over since she got it. It’s a bit torn from constant use but in this place, it was all she had. A hope, a dream, that when she is an adult she will find it and be free.

“Where did you get this? ” a figure says, shrouded in shadow. The voice is familiar but an unwelcome familiarity and is feminine in nature. Each word drips with malice that AndrAIa knows is because she’s done something wrong.

She doesn’t tell her about the guard who had felt sorry for her and slipped it past the bars in the middle of the night. He was the only kind person in this place.

“I…I found it?” she offers weakly knowing, that it’s a terrible lie. Though the figure is shrouded, she knows that the woman is staring at her with hatred and malcontent.

“Lies!” The 0.8 year old screams, flinching as a hand strikes her cheek, the pain already forming into a bruise. Why did she have to always make her mad? She was trying to be good, she really was.

“You don’t get to have presents. Don’t forget, they’re dead because of you. You’re an abomination who deserves to be punished….Looks like I'll have to find new guards, such a shame. Cleaning up the blood will be such a bother.”

The woman pauses, noting the title of the book and then lets out a dark laugh.

“Oh, you poor, stupid thing. Just a child; Not even remotely of age and yet you think that the Goddess will bestow such a blessing on you one day? After what you’ve done? Foolish child.”

“But-”

“No excuses. Remember your purpose for being here. You are dangerous, and even if you were to find someone in adulthood, would it truly be fair to them? Do you want to subject them to the pain and suffering of being bound to a monster like you?”

“I a-am not a mOnStER!” she wails, curling in on herself.

“Yes, you are.”

“No!”

AndrAIa's eyes snap open, her entire body going rigid as the memory resurfaces. Fear and adrenaline lick through her; why now? On top of everything else going on, why was she thinking about that? She doesn’t want to remember. But then it hits her, the truth. Why IT had happened.

“DrAIa?”

She knows someone is calling out for her (she doesn’t know who, everything sounds staticky as she panics), hands reaching to touch her but it’s too much. The memory is burning into her, sending her into spiral that she hasn’t experienced since she escaped. “I need to get out of here“ is the only thing on her mind.

She bolts, pushing past figures left and right, blood pounding in her ears. Everything in her code says to run and to not stop; so that’s what she does. She doesn’t get far before something pommels her to the ground. Someone large and strong, pressing her against the floor, their hands pining her own.

She snarls and thrashes, unwilling to be contained. Other hands reach to touch her and it’s too much. In a quick motion, she detaches one of her arm fins out of reflex, causing it to go flying and it must hit someone because she hears a scream and then hands reactively releasing her. She is blind with panic and cannot think so when yet another hand grabs her hand, she turns and racks her nails across…a face? Yes, a face but she doesn’t know whose. The hand relents and she pushes further.

This time, nothing stops her and she runs and runs, and runs, flying past sprites and binomes alike, out of the base and into the streets of Mainframe, hair whipping in the wind, lungs burning with need to breath but she can’t breath, she can’t.

She’s always known she was a monster, so it suddenly makes sense why this happened.

This was her punishment; her penance for what she had done. There was no other answer. A monster for a monster.

She runs until she cannot breath anymore, falling over from exhaustion. Is she crying? She can’t tell anymore. She hears a thud but pays it no mind. Hands grab her once more and she thrashes, but unlike last time they do not let go; instead they wrap around her and pull her close. They feel familiar and wrong but so right. She relents, pushing her face against a chest that is metal and rough, marked by degradation and she breaks down for the first time in a long time and sobs. She sobs until she cannot feel anymore.

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