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wonwoosthetic · 1 year

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Amour Haine & Co. | Chapter 16 |

series masterlist

word count - 13.3k

warnings - cursing, alcohol consumption, mentions of non-consensual sex, prostitution; this might be a kinda heavy chapter for some, so please do read with caution! I will never ever write a scene where any of the mentioned trigger warnings are actively happening to the reader, but there are mentions of it in this chapter

a/n: none of the things happening in this story are things that I put into relation to the real people that exist in this story! I also want to send every single one of you an immensely huge thank you!! For your patience, for your love, and for your support! I'm getting back into writing more frequently and hope to give you weekly updates from now on ˙ᵕ˙ I also hope that you of course enjoy this chapter and do not worry, there is so much more to come for this story! We're not getting towards the end of the story in the next few chapters.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT GUYS🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

"You're not gonna be able to walk away from this conversation forever, just so you know."

"Is this even legal?"

Your leg hadn't stopped shaking ever since you had stepped foot into the modern law firm. In the elevator, the air started feeling restricted again, just like it did back in the car that you had to share with Wonwoo. Only Wonwoo. Wonwoo and you.

His head snapped towards you, looking slightly down at your frame, hidden underneath the oversized clothing you were wearing, "What?" His eyebrows were scrunched, and you could tell his head was somewhere else, his thoughts were not in the room with you.

"This," you pointed towards the envelope, holding the possibly most important papers of your career in his hand. "What we're doing here. Is this legal?"

With pure confusion written all across his face, he kept his gaze interlocked with yours. "Are you seriously asking me if talking to our lawyer is illegal?"

"No," you rolled your eyes, a soft sigh escaping from your lips, "You know exactly what I mean. These are confidential, and I'm just not sure if... you know... we're allowed to use them to get an advantage in court."

Your eyes fell to Wonwoo's chest rising and dropping again heavily as he took a deep breath, adjusting his jacket.

"We got this information legally. We didn't steal it," he explained sternly, making sure that you were listening to him, "Sehun came to you, gave you this and that's it. It's an important part that we can't leave out when explaining it to the judge, but I'm gonna leave that to Jihoon. We'll see what he says." You nodded in understanding. Fidgeting with your fingers didn't help ease the nerves, but the CEO's words seemed to do a good enough job - at least a little bit.

It didn't feel right. The whole situation felt off. First, Sehun just showing up in your office and then just dropping such heavy info onto you, giving you everything you could possibly need to take down the worst enemy you had ever had to face in your entire life: Park Chanyeol. You trusted Sehun, there was no doubt of that. Whether that was a good thing or not, you didn't know just yet. Maybe you had been too forgiving too quickly and you were sure that Wonwoo would remind you of exactly that again, once you were back at the office. As if his rant back at his apartment wasn't already enough. Oh god,... that apartment. Too much had already happened there, and more shit just keeps piling up.

“Can I help you?”

The squeaky clean voice of the beautiful woman in front of you kept echoing in your brain. Beautiful doesn't even cover it. Gorgeous. Breathtaking. That's it. Breathtaking. Because that's exactly what she did to you.

The rain that had drenched your hair suddenly added so much more weight onto your head, making even the clothes on your body feel too tight. When did taking a breath become so difficult?

The raise of her eyebrows along with a tilt of her head brought you back as you just stared into her light-brown eyes, beautiful like soft caramel. Even her skin seemed too perfect to be true. Out of which fucking magazine did that woman just jump out? With that oversized sweatshirt hanging loosely on her body, it would most likely have been more of a YA novel rather than a magazine, but such a face could decorate the covers of each Vogue magazine across the world, and no one would question it.

You shook your head hesitantly, "S...Sorry," gulping hurt, "I- ehm-" Thank God, another voice interrupted you because who knows what would've come out of your mouth if you had continued.

"Jesus, Yeri, I told you not-" Wonwoo came to a sudden halt once his gaze stopped at your figure, standing in the hallway like a lost puppy. "Y/N? Why aren't you at the office?" Taking in your heavy breathing, and the wet clothes sticking onto your body, his eyes quickly found yours, "What happened?", immediately realising what was about to happen when you started shaking your head.

"Nothing," you quietly spoke, not trusting your voice to be any louder, "I... I'll get going... See ya," turning around, ready to make your way back to the elevator, back to the office building, back to your normal work day, or as normal as you could be after what had just happened. Not even two hours ago, this man was standing in front of you, his fingers tracing over your chin, desperately wanting to pull you closer and intertwine your souls. Even his ghost of a touch was still imprinted on your skin, making you want to scream. Not even eight hours ago, he was sitting down, looking up at you with those big brown eyes, almost begging at you. Admitting to his feelings, revealing the deepest of his feelings towards you. And now, not even ten seconds ago, he let it all fall. Every word he said, every sentence he spoke just evaporated into thin air.

Before you could let the tears in your eyes dwell up, a harsh yet soft tug at your wrist made you stop and turn back around, immediately faced with the body of the man you had become so familiar with, whether you liked it or not - this position didn't feel all too foreign to you.

"What's going on?"

His low voice mixed with his touch sent an electric wave through your body, yet you avoided his eyes, knowing exactly it would hurt too much. You rather kept your head down, looking at his hand wrapped around your wrist, shaking free from his grip.

"Nothing, forget it, I'll tell you later-"

"No," he stopped you, "Come on," and nodded towards his apartment since you were still not looking at him, he repeated the action you dreaded so much as his fingers found their place on your chin again to tap it, making you look up and move away from his touch. "Let's go inside."

You gulped, hugging the envelope closer to your chest, "No, it's fine, you seem-"

"Busy?" There was something teasing, yet slightly concerned, in the raise of his eyebrows. "She's my cousin."

"Hm?" You met his eyes quickly after the last word left his lips, which have slowly but surely curled up.

"Mh," he nodded, "Yeri's my cousin." He didn't let you intervene as you opened your mouth but just kept on talking, "My mum called her over to spend some time with her. On the way here, it started raining, so I gave her something warm to wear. They were just about leave, that's why she was close to the door and opened it even though I told her not to open it to anyone that doesn't use the bell downstairs, but oh well." He turned towards the open door, raising his voice slightly, "It's not like it's her first time here."

The female voice shouted a soft, "Sorry!" back, making him shake his head with a sigh, before catching your gaze again. You held your mouth tightly shut. Oh.

Locking eyes with him seemed too intense, explaining your drifting glances around the hallway that slowly fell to the floor, looking down at your shoes.

"You didn't have to explain that to me," you raised her head again, "I-... It's none of my business... you know..."

An almost chuckle escaped Wonwoo's mouth, just almost, with that stupid smirk still plastered proudly on his face. "Sure." Sharing a quick one-second glance at each other before he took the word again. "Would you like to come in now and explain what's going on?" So soft, so gentle. As if the person in front of you had just found out about the vulnerable side of you and was trying to speak as softly as possible to you.

You nodded, rushing past him without sending him another look, just praying to forget this scene had ever happened.

Chaewon was surprised to see you back at the apartment, but she got the message after a quick explanation that you and Wonwoo had to have an important discussion - 'business stuff' as he put it without even knowing the exact reason for your sudden appearance.

After the two women had left, you took a seat at the dining table, putting the envelope down, expecting the CEO to sit down across from you when he suddenly disappeared.

"Wonwoo?" Your voice echoed through the apartment.

"Yeah? What?" He exited his bedroom and came back into the living space.

"What are you doing?" You wondered, nervously tapping your nails on the glass of the table.

He put the sweat-set he had carried from the room over to you onto the surface, nodding towards it, "Getting you something warm to wear."

You were quick to shake your head, "No, don't worry, it's fine," and pushed the envelope towards it, the sound of it scraping over the table scratching your ear, "You should see this."

"And you should put something on that's not drenched in water. Go change." You opened your mouth to protest, but he beat you to it, "I'll take a look, but you go. Now." With a sigh, you gathered the clothing into your grip as he mumbled, "I don't need you calling in sick to work tomorrow."

You rolled your eyes and were about to make your way to the bathroom when a comment tickled your tongue that you just couldn't let go. "You really enjoy giving away your clothes, huh?"

A deep sound that could be counted as a chuckle came from Wonwoo as he reached for the letters you had brought along. Once you were a few more feet away from him, he sighed, eyeing your figure disappearing in the bathroom, "To people I care about." Before you closed the door, a small smile appearing on your face.

You decided to leave your pants on as they were spared by the rain, unlike your top, but happily accepted the soft sweater Wonwoo had offered you, the name of his past university on wide display across your chest. Once you were back in the open living space, your eyes drifted to the dining table, expecting the CEO, but coming to sight with empty chairs. The pieces of paper were spread all over the glass, clearly only hastily looked at.

You were about to call out for Wonwoo, when his voice caught your attention, "Jesus Christ, Jihoon, pick up." Low and angered, just like you used to hear it all the time. Before. Before... all of this. It almost seemed unfamiliar to you, that's how long it must have been.

Turning to walk to the kitchen after hanging your wet clothing over one of the empty chairs and the sweatpants on the seat, you found said CEO leaning against the countertop. What caught your eyes though was the glass he had put up to his lips, throwing the brown liquid down his throat.

"Wonwoo, it's 9 am!" You called out, catching his attention. He threw his phone to the side with a clearly annoyed sigh and put the glass down, right next to the Whiskey Decanter.

Ignoring your exclaim, he raised his hand, gripping the pieces of paper tightly, wrinkling them harshly, "Are those real?"

The stern tone of his voice made you take a deep breath and reach forward in a hopefully somewhat calming manner, "Can I explain?" But that didn't calm him at all. Not in the slightest. He rushed past you.

"Yes, in the car. Put your shoes on."

"What?" You turned around, watching him hastily compiling all the evidence and stuffing everything into the brown envelope. He brushed past you once again, back into the kitchen to grab his phone before getting to the front door and slipping into his shoes.

"Jihoo's not picking up his fucking phone, so we're gonna go visit him. Come on," he nodded for you to come closer. You knew it wasn't the right time to ask any questions and just followed his order, right until he reached for his car keys. A slap on his hand made him flinch back.

"Are you insane? I just saw you jugging down Whiskey! You really think I'm gonna jump into a car with you now?" He was quick to shake his head, trying to get some sense back.

"Right, right... sorry," he opened the door, "You got your keys?"

You nodded, "Yeah, let's go," with a calm voice you pushed him out, praying this was gonna go at least somehow the way you expected it to go.

The elevator doors opened, bringing you back to the present as you thought back to the car ride where you had tried to explain everything that had happened in your office. Wonwoo had 'only' interrupted you about twenty times with 'what the fuck was he doing there?', 'Are you being for real right now?', 'you're fucking with me, right?', 'I'm gonna fire Jisoo, for fuck's sake'. A separate argument had started on behalf of that last statement of his as you tried to talk him out of that thought, but at that point, you had already reached Jihoon's law firm building, and everything was forgotten again as you stepped into the elevator and let silence overcome the two of you.

Just as you were about to step onto the designated floor, Wonwoo's call made you stop, "Y/N."

You turn around with a hum.

"Who did you think Yeri was?" Was that why he had been so quiet the entire elevator ride? Was he really gonna ask that now?

"What?" You scrunched your eyebrows, slightly shaking your head, "N-No one."

As the door wanted to close again, the CEO stepped forward, putting himself in between.

His eyes never left yours and you couldn't get yourself to break the intense stare you two shared.

"You still don't believe me?"

You shrugged softly, "Believe what?" There were more important things to discuss, was he really not gonna let this go?

"You thought Yeri was some girl I slept with. Be honest."

...

Yes. Yes, you did. Alright? And you hated it. Every fucking second of it.

"So what, Wonwoo," you barely whispered, "Can we go now?" Motioning towards the hallway. You didn't wait for an answer but just stepped forward, stopping at the extended arm suddenly in front of you.

"I meant what I said. Last night." Again, his eyes were still trained on you. Even with your gaze straight, you could feel his burning the side of your face, making you turn your head.

You nodded, your eyes drifting down to the floor, "I know. I did too." Your comment seemed to have calmed him as you could see his eyebrows relaxing and his eyes softening.

"But still, you..." You could tell, he himself wasn't sure where this was supposed to go, so you stopped him with your palm up.

"Can we talk about this later?"

Wonwoo nodded with a heavy breath leaving his nose. You were ready to walk forward, but his finger pointing at you made you stop once again.

"You're not gonna be able to walk away from this conversation forever, just so you know." With a roll of your eyes, you pushed his hand aside and walked past him, waiting for him in the hallway to show you the way.

Similar to your office building, you stepped through glass doors but came to a halt at what seemed to be like a reception.

"Oh, Mister Jeon," the voice of the woman behind the desk rushed through your ear, "Do you have an appointment with-"

"I'm sorry, but I need to see him now," he interrupted her quickly.

"He has a client in there, and I don't think he's free until-"

"No," he stopped her again, "I didn't ask. I want to see him. Now."

She nodded, "I understand, but I can't interrupt-"

"If you can't, I will," his tone grew more and more serious with every word falling from his lips, making you step closer to him, your soft hand finding its way to his shoulder.

"It's fine," you said out loud, everyone knowing it was more directed towards Wonwoo than to anyone else, "We can wait."

He shrugged off your touch, "No, we can't," and turned around without another sound, crossing the floor with quick steps, and running down the hallway as he definitely already knew the way to Jihoon's office.

"Wonwoo!"

"Mister Jeon!" The two of you that had stayed behind called out, before you looked at the woman with a gentle smile, "I'm sorry," but still went to rush after him.

You caught up just as he opened the door to an office.

"Jihoon!" With a quick look inside, you were met with the surprised eyes of the man you were looking for and a second pair sitting right across from him, gazing at you in shock and confusion.

"Get out," Wonwoo motioned to the stranger to get up, "Come on."

"Wonwoo, I-" the lawyer tried to stop him, but the man in front of him was already standing up, clearly intimidated by the stature of the CEO. He almost bumped shoulders with you with the rush he was in, excusing himself quickly, not even daring to cross gazes with you.

"We have to talk," he sternly told Jihoon, throwing the envelope onto his desk.

The smaller man sighed, "And that can't wait?"

"No."

Wonwoo and you had taken a seat across from Jihoon, each in their own seat as your eyes were fixed on the man in front of you. You had wanted to start picking at your nail polish, but once you realised that it truly was all gone, your fingers found new entertainment by playing with the leather of the chairs. While you could practically hear and feel your heartbeat slowly coming up to your throat, your foot twitching out of nervosity, Wonwoo next to you seemed to be doing just fine. A deep breath would leave his lips every now and then as his gaze drifted around the room, taking in the decor on Jihoon's shelves and the big windows showing you the skyline of the city. After that became too boring for him, he stood up and started pacing around the room, clearly getting impatient by how long the lawyer was taking, which you could definitely relate to. One quick look at the digital clock on his desk though let you know that it had only been four minutes. Four long fucking minutes.

"So?" Wonwoo was the first to break the silence, making his friend sigh, look up and lean back in his chair. His eyes first fell on Wonwoo, but then travelled to you, suddenly a confused look written across his face.

"You went to Seoultech?"

"Hm?" You wondered, copying his facial expression before you lowered your head to where his gaze was fixed on. The sweatshirt. You forgot. "Oh, no," you stuttered, "I-It-"

"It's mine, not important," the CEO finished the explanation quickly, not wanting to dive further into the reason why you were wearing it, making Jihoon's eyebrows jump up in surprise. His change in expression went uncommented. "So, what do you say?" Wonwoo steadied his figure by placing his hands on the backrest of the chair he had sat in only a minute ago, not looking anywhere else but at the man whose opinion mattered the most at that very second.

"I think you know what I'm gonna say," he answered calmly.

"Well, I wanna hear it," Wonwoo argued back.

The lawyer sighed, "It's great evidence. Amazing even."

"Exactly," the younger man nodded with somewhat of a proud grin on his lips.

"But," Jihoon started again, catching both of your attention suddenly.

"But?" The CEO and you questioned in chorus. That was never a good start.

He gathered the papers together in his hands, waving them gently, "It's too good. And too much."

"What the fuck do you mean, too much?" Wonwoo didn't seem as confident anymore as before, annoyed by what he had to be confronted with. "That asshole did all of this, how could it be too much?!" You didn't miss the slight raise in his voice, neither did Jihoon, but he seemed unfazed by it.

"I mean it's too much." He stated once again. "You bring this amount of evidence to a judge out of nowhere, they're gonna start questioning it. All of it."

"So? Let them question it."

The shake of his head, made Wonwoo stop in his tracks. "That would give Chanyeol just more time to come up with something to fight this. Because he WILL find out that everything's getting delayed because of a sudden appearance of evidence the court needs to look through."

"Fuck that," the CEO shook his head with a deep mumble, followed by a sigh.

"How did you even get this?" Jihoon wondered, his eyes flicking between you two, waiting for an answer.

You lifted your head to find Wonwoo's gaze already on you. The soft nod towards the lawyer along with a gentle, "That's your story to tell," made you take a deep breath.

With your fingers holding on tightly to the sleeves of the sweater, you started, "Sehun came into the office today."

"Oh Sehun? Park's guy?" To which you nodded, but Jihoon had more questions, "Why? You know him too?"

"Yeah... he..." you tried finding the right words, "He used to be one of my best friends before... Chanyeol and I became a thing. So- I don't know, he just was there, sitting in my office with that envelope and told me to use it for the lawsuit."

"Just like that?"

"He feels really guilty for what they did," as much as you didn't want to defend him, since you knew the other party was still in the wrong, you couldn't help but let your feelings play into it, "He wants to be better than that them-"

"That sounds pretty sketchy to me, not gonna lie," Jihoon sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood up. Wonwoo was back to sitting down next to you, his eyes never leaving your side profile.

"It's not," you argued, "I trust him. Kinda..."

"Kinda?"

"I know that it's hard to believe, but if you knew him like I do, you'd trust him too. Of course, I don't want to put all of my trust into him and into this," you pointed at the papers on his desk, "But I do believe he meant what he said. He wants to take down Chanyeol just as much as we do. He's done with his bullshit."

"Alright," Jihoon nodded, "I'll take your word for that," and took a few steps closer to his desk again, suddenly separating the papers into two piles, "This," he pointed to the left one, "We can use. I'll get that to the judge as quickly as possible." Then turned to the right one, "But this. We can't use it like that."

You sat up straighter, trying to get a glimpse at what pieces of evidence he was talking about when you found the statements of the women Sehun had told you about.

"What?" You called out, "What do you mean, we can't use that? Are you kidding me? You just wanna throw that away?!" Your voice got louder with each sentence, desperation and shock lacing every word. Frustration started building up in your body like a slow fire spreading.

"Listen, we-"

"These women deserve to be heard! They had the courage to talk about what happened to them, and now you don't even want to use it?! You can't be serious right now..." The rough hand gently covering yours on the armrest of your chair made you take a deep breath. You didn't need to look down to feel the intensity.

"Jihoon," Wonwoo spoke up, much calmer than you, "Their statements are just as much evidence as that other shit-"

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is-"

"Not, it's not, Wonwoo!" Jihoon was the last person to raise their voice in the room, but it had to happen at some point. Before either of you could interfere, he continued, his tone much lower but not any less strict, "We know what law enforcement is like these days. You out of all us should know it the best," he pointed at the CEO, who shifted in his seat and his grip on your hand tightened. He hit a nerve with that. "What they're gonna do once they read through these is give that Park idiot a warning and those women some money because they think it's gonna make them feel better and forget everything that happened. This is their way of handling these types of situations these days, and it's not gonna benefit us in any way or bring Park down."

The three of you sat in silence. You understood now. Wonwoo did too. And Jihoon was right. When it comes to sexual assault cases, law enforcement was the worst to deal with it and whatever the outcome would be, it never benefited the women on the lower end.

"There's a big difference between the raid videos and the statements," the lawyer started again, sitting down opposite of you, "Here with have video evidence, which is VITAL in a case like this. Yes, videos can always be edited, but these idiots forgot that you have a watermark on all of your security camera footage, like smart people would." His comment almost made you chuckle, but it certainly made Wonwoo smile. "Statements won't get us far, that's the problem. They can be faked easily. They can even say we bribed these women to say bad shit about Park." You nodded in understanding. "But."

"Can you stop with these 'buts' and get to the fucking point?" Wonwoo started becoming impatient again, never breaking the cold demeanour you had become so used to.

Jihoon took the right pile of paper into his grasp, "Did you read through them?"

"Not all of them, why?" The CEO shook his head.

The smaller man sighed, "I figured," earning himself an unamused facial expression from his friend, "Some of these women stated that the sexual harassment happened at the workplace. There's no way we're getting camera footage from their office unless Sehun helps us with that, but that again could get us into some deep trouble as well," he explained, knowing he had both of your full attention. "But not all of them talk about their workplace. Some of them mention a club."

Wonwoo stared at him in confusion as he noticed the slightly smug look on the lawyer's face, "What club?"

Not giving him a verbal answer, Jihoon pushed the papers towards the two of you, making Wonwoo's hand lift from yours, leaving a cold empty space. It was only then that you noticed for how long his warm palm was covering your entire hand. The man next to you got a hold of the papers, reading through them quickly until his eyes stopped and what he was looking for.

"The Monbebe..."

"The Monbebe," Jihoon nodded with a smirk, a pen of his now in between his fingers as he played with it.

Wonwoo shook his head in slight annoyance or disappointment, you weren't sure, "Fuck..."

Your eyes switched between the two men, hoping someone would explain what had just happened, but since neither of them continued, you decided to speak up, "What's the Monbebe?"

Wonwoo was quick to answer, "A club downtown."

"And part of our past," the lawyer continued, a subtle smirk daring to escape on his face.

"Jihoon. Don't." The CEO looked up, glaring at his friend. But he just rolled his eyes.

You didn't miss the sudden change in the atmosphere that ran across the room, the tension that had started to build up again, and you couldn't help but let your curiosity win over, "W-What do you mean?" Eyes on Jihoon first, but when he pointed towards Wonwoo, you switched to look at him, "What does he mean?"

The man next to you shook his head as he threw the papers back onto the table with a huff, "Nothing, it's not important."

"Oh, it is VERY important," Jihoon contended.

"No, it's not, you fucking know I don't want to have anything to do-"

"You can't run from your past, Wonwoo!" The two men started to argue. You stayed seated, watching the heat in both of their eyes as they took a trip down memory lane, to a memory that Wonwoo seemed to want to forget.

The CEO stood up with an angry breath leaving his lips, "That was never supposed to be my past! Or any of our pasts! You forgot about that?! Oh sorry, my bad, just because it got deleted from your record, you're just gonna pretend like it was fine what happened back then?!"

"Don't start with that," Jihoon, now also standing as a defence mechanism, pointed a finger at his friend, "I'm not the one trying to erase everything that happened. Yes, it wasn't okay, but like I said, it's in the past, Wonwoo." He shook his head with a sigh, "Jesus Christ... I'm not saying you should go back there and become their best fucking friend."

"Then what exactly are you trying to say, Sir lawyer?!" Wonwoo spat those words at his face, almost sounding like he was holding them against said lawyer.

"Will you let me finish for once?"

The CEO raised his arms in defence and motioned for the other to continue talking. You just hoped to soon get out of this misery of the unknown.

Jihoon took a deep breath, taking a look out of the window before turning his attention back to you, "I told you. The security camera footage that Sehun brought you won't be a problem. That's good evidence. But the statements are not enough-"

"You already said that," Wonwoo interrupted him, earning him a glare from both you and Jihoon, receiving an annoyed sigh in return.

"BUT, we know that the Monbebe has security cameras all over that freaking place, and those also have a watermark, meaning that the judge and everyone else would look through, but they wouldn't question the sincerity of the footage. Because those are harder, if not, impossible to fake in the period ever since it happened to now."

"And... how do we get to this security footage?" You had started picking on the fabric of the chair again, still not feeling an ounce of casualty or calmness yet.

Jihoon dared to look at his friend from across the room for a split second before answering, "That's why I mentioned our past," looking at his shoes and meeting your eyes again, "We-"

"She doesn't have to know everything," Wonwoo stopped him sternly, taking the last piece of patience you had with those final words. You shot up from your seat and turned your entire body towards him,

"I'm in this shit as much as you are! So yes, I do in fact have to know everything, are you kidding me?! While you two have been fighting over God knows what shitty past you have, I've been sitting here and just listening to this, not knowing what the fuck is going on. So you better start telling me about this right now! I've had to tell you everything about Chanyeol as well-"

"That's not the same!" With a few quick steps, Wonwoo got dangerously closer to you, "Your fuckhead of ex-boyfriend is suing our company, so I think I'm damn well entitled to know who the fuck he is and why he's doing that!"

"Yes, and now this is also part of that whole fucking trial, that I'm in as well, so stop arguing and start fucking talking," you had lowered your voice, remembering that there was still another person in the room with you and you were in fact in an official law firm, holding multiple other lawyers that worked next to yours.

Wonwoo couldn't tear his eyes off you, but the same went for you. He captivated you once again. So easily. And he didn't even try.

"The owners of the club are old friends of ours," Jihoon spoke up, making you turned towards him, but you still caught the sigh escaping the other man's lips as he shook his head,

"Friends..."

"They were." The lawyer repeated, much sterner this time and definitely directed at Wonwoo.

"Exactly, there WERE."

"But they'd still help you," Jihoon argued, "If they saw you at the Monbebe, you don't think they'd want to talk?"

The CEO nodded with a smirk, "OH, I know they'd want to talk, but I wouldn't let them finish whatever the fuck they're gonna say."

"Well then, you're gonna have to learn to in order to get those security camera videos."

You switched your weight from one leg to the other as you crossed your arms, "You think they're just gonna give us that footage?"

Jihoon motioned you a clear 'no' with his head, "No, not just like that. But if that idiot over there could get the stick out of his ass, I'm sure they'd be more willing to do it... Maybe bring Mingyu along too. They always got along with him the best."

Your gazes switched between the annoyed CEO and the calm but smug-looking lawyer, while you stood in the middle, unsure of what was to come next. Wonwoo was for sure not going to take the next word as his friend's last sentence was still running through his mind. You decided to take the initiative to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

"So...?" Eyeing the two men, "What are we gonna do?"

Jihoon took a seat behind the desk again, leaning back in the chair, looking straight at you, "You might want to go shopping."

"What?" You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion, "Why?"

A quick glance at Wonwoo made the smile on his face only go wider, "The Monbebe is... how would you put it, Wonwoo?"

"Don't." The other man growled, catching you off guard, but Jihoon chuckled.

"It's... a very special kind of club. With... a very special audience."

But that only fed into your confusion.

"You’re kidding.” You stated matter-of-factly, rather than as a question, gazing at Wonwoo with raised eyebrows. Your eyes travelled to the dress he held by the hanger. Scratch that. Piece of cloth, that’s what it was. You could not call that a dress or any type of clothing, just something that should represent a form of shorts? Undergarment? A small little cover of some sort with a top not wider than a headband.

“Underwear has more fabric than that.” Your comment made him chuckle, followed by a roll of his eyes.

“You wanted to find out what the Monbebe was all about. And I hate to break it to you, but this is exactly what women that go to that club would wear. Although this here is already very modest for that kind of club.” He put it back on the clothing line and continued walking behind you as you passed multiple other racks filled with not much different attire than he had just held in his hands.

“I don’t want to find out what that club is like, especially after what you told me, but if Jihoon thinks we could get the security footage by talking to them, or with you talking to them, then I’d say let’s give it a try,” you explained while continuing your search of something appropriate to wear.

He swallowed the ball that had formed his throat, "You know if you'd just stay at home like I proposed-"

"No," you turned around too quickly for him to react, catching him off-guard as you pressed your fingers into his chest, "Don't even start with that shit again. We're in this mess because of me." Before you could continue, Wonwoo wrapped his much bigger hand over yours, releasing your finger from touching him, but keeping you just as close as he leaned down.

"And you don't even start with THAT. We're in this because your ex is a fucking moron. This could've happened to anyone he wanted to fucked over."

You shared two more seconds of silence, just gazing into each other's eyes before a voice tear you apart again.

"Hi," she screeched into your ear, "Can I help you find something?"

"N-"

"Yeah, we're looking for something for her to wear to the Monbebe," Wonwoo answered for you, earning himself a quick glare from you that just made him nudge you towards the direction the over-motivated lady was heading.

"Oooh! Special night, I see, I see," she rushed over to a corner you didn't even dare to look at, already sensing the 'not my style' vibes from miles away. "Well," she picked out the first outfit, as skimpy as it could get, "You can never go wrong with a classic black bodysuit."

"That- That's not really what I was going for, you know?"

She shoved it back on the rack, nodding quickly, "Alright, alright, well then, what exactly were you looking for?" Her big caramel eyes were digging holes into your soul, almost making you want to give in and just go with whatever fabric would cover the most important parts of your body. What a great selling strategy...

"Something...." you started motioning around your body, trying to think of the right way to say out loud what was going on in your head, "that maybe looks a little bit more like... clothing?"

The questioning tilt of her head made you sigh in frustration, but Wonwoo was quick to come to the rescue.

"Maybe more coverage. More fabric."

You nodded, holding in a deep breath, "Yeah... that would be great," looking back at the woman, who just stared blankly at you, blinking with her big eyelashes.

"More coverage? For the Monbebe?"

"I already explained that to her, but... yeah," the CEO nodded in defeat.

The sales assistant seemed to think for a few seconds before clapping her hands, "Okay okay, I think I may have a few pieces, but I'm gonna have to check the back. How about you go take a seat in the changing rooms, and I'll get back to you once I've got something."

The two of you went off on your own, trying to find the changing rooms that were on their individual floor, where you were welcomed by two other women, who just couldn't keep their eyes off the man by your side. You'd like to say it didn't bother you, that you didn't even notice the way their eyes basically undressed him before they turned to each other only to start whispering and giggling like little school girls. Oh, what you'd do to be able to think like that. But that was not the case. You didn't like their gazes on him. You couldn't help but try to stay as close to him as possible. He must've noticed at that point. And that thought made you want to crawl into a hole and never come out again. You prayed he couldn't tell how your heart had started speeding up anytime he had more or less accidentally touched you. You begged he didn't notice the chill running down your spine, making the hair on your body spike up when he would bend down to whisper something in your ear.

But he did. He observed you like homework. He wanted to be able to read you better than anyone else. And he wasn't going to be subtle about it - why should he? He had already confessed almost on his knees to you, what else was there to lose? You already held his heart and his dignity in your soft hands, whether you knew about that yet, he wasn't sure, but he was going to find out. There was no doubt about that.

You had taken a seat in one of the dressing rooms, the curtain still open, giving you a perfect view of Wonwoo, who was sitting right in front of you, making himself comfortable on the soft cushions in the middle of the room, probably specifically made for the boyfriends to wait for their girlfriends. Or rather sugar daddies that would wait for their sugar babies to put on a show for them in the dress they would be getting just for them.

"Sooo...," you wanted to break the stillness and tension that had started building up, "What exactly is the dress code for the Monbebe?"

He leaned back slightly, the upwards shift of his hips didn't go unnoticed by you, making you take a deep breath in. "You want mine or the official one?" Wonwoo had his head turned to the side, leaving you to stare at the sharp line of his jaw.

"What?"

He looked at you. Gazed at you.

"Come as you are. Be and feel free. Don't hide. That's how they word it."

"And yours...?"

A sigh tumbled from his lips, "Skimpy. As less as possible to give us easy access."

You scrunched your eyebrows at his comment, "Us?"

He met your eyes with a guilty look, "Men." You nodded. Right... you remembered the explanation of him in the car. What the Monbebe club was. A whorehouse basically. The more known and official designation was 'Gentlemen Club' but everyone knew what it really was. You felt the sick feeling in your stomach come back when your mind brought you back to that part of your conversation.

"So, prostitution?"

"Pretty much," Wonwoo had looked out of the window the entire ride, not even sending you a quick glance.

"But," you swallowed at the hard fact that was reality, "I mean, it's definitely not legal, but the police doesn't care about it, right? They just seem to turn blind when it comes to that. Those women know what they're doing, so... why do Jihoon and you talk so bad about it?"

"Because they don't." You stopped at a red light and turned to face him, answering him with a questioning hum, hoping to get his attention. He did change his line of sight but kept his head straight ahead, still not meeting your eyes. "It's not consensual prostitution."

Oh.

"I mean," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "In a way, it is because they're the ones who come to Monsta X to start working there, but... their... clients... and visitors... they can do whatever the fuck they want with those women. And they can cry as loud as they want... it doesn't bother those pigs. If anything, it only turns them on even more."

You had heard enough.

Disguised as a club with a bar, but in the back was where the 'fun' for the visitors truly was at. Wonwoo had also mentioned something about a fighting/boxing business even further down into the basement, but he didn't want to go into further detail about that area of the entire building, hoping that he'd be able to keep the two of you as far from it as possible.

"But I'm not working there," you told the CEO as he crossed his arms, watching your legs that you crossed, "Why should I dress the same as the women that do?"

"Do you think they care? The people that go there do not give a fuck about who officially works there and who doesn't. They just try to get their hands on anyone that's available and the Monstas need to uphold their honour in the industry." He explained. You could tell he didn't enjoy talking about this which seemed to have been a part of his past at some point. It scared you. He hadn't told you how he had gotten involved with them just yet, but you were terrified to find out. Scared of what side of him would be revealed to you. It seemed like such an unlikely place for a man like him to be, for any of his friends that you had met so far, so you were curious to find out more.

"But...," the start to your question made him look up, "If they're so infamous for such things, how did you guys-"

"Alright!" The familiar voice of the saleswoman rang through your ear, making you stand up. With four steps, you were out of the dressing room, only to stop right next to Wonwoo, but with your eyes on the lady, or rather the stuff hanging on her arm. The questionable things hanging on her arm. Your eyes caught some glitter, some pearls, and... chains?! "I know, I know, some of it might not look THAT good at first, but just try it on and trust me, okay?" She beamed the brightest possible smile at you, her bleached teeth blinding you as you unsurely nodded, opening your arms to get the pieces of clothing handed over. She brushed past you and hung everything on the hangers on the wall before stepping out again,

"I'm gonna leave you two to it, but if you need anything else you can just ring that bell over there," and pointed towards what looked like a light switch. With one last, what you presumed to be, fake smile, she left you two to have the entire floor to yourself.

"Wonwoo...," you gasp-whispered as your gaze travelled across the fabric hanging on the wall.

The CEO shot up from his seat, with one big step closer to the dressing room, pretty much standing inside of it with you, "What? What's wrong?" You didn't notice the slight worry in his voice as you were still trying to calm yourself from the embarrassment you were about to experience as soon as you would put on any of these things.

"What?" He repeated.

You shook your head, "I-I don't know..."

"What do you mean?" He kept on digging for a proper answer from you, but you just stared at him with a blank expression.

"This. This dress. All of them. No." The words fell quickly from your lips before you could even think of properly forming sentences.

"Y/N...," he spoke softly, "You haven't even tried any of them on-"

"Look at them!"

"I am," he calmly answered you.

You motioned at them wildly with your hands, "Well then, you should see the problem."

"Look," the man sighed once again, "I told you, it's their fucking dress code, if I could change it, I would. Trust me."

"I knowww," you whined, a defeated breath of air leaving your lips. Wonwoo was patient with you. Too patient. But at some point, it had to be over.

"You know, I can still do this on my own-"

"On it," you were quick to interfere, pushing him out of the dressing room, making him fake gasp,

"I don't even get the full show?" You revealed your face from behind the curtain with a scolding expression.

"Watch your mouth, mister." Leaving him with a smirk on his lips to fall back onto the cushioned seats.

Two minutes later, the curtain was pulled back again as your head out, finding his eyes immediately. Before he could even open his mouth, you started,

"I look ridiculous."

He couldn't help but grin at you, "I highly doubt that." Wonwoo couldn't lie, his position was making him excited. The thought of what the clothing this particular store was selling would look like on your body made his own react in ways he wished it wouldn't.

You shook your head, the blush evidently on your cheeks, "You can't see me like this." But that only made him chuckle as he leaned forward, letting his forearms rest on his upper thighs.

"I think we've crossed that boundary a few times already, don't you?" He teased. You knew the answer. But you kept your mouth shut and just motioned him 'no' once again.

"Still."

"Come on," you tilted his head, but you stood your ground, sending him a blank facial expression, "What? You're getting shy now? It's too late for that."

With a sigh, you disappeared again, mumbling a loud enough, "I hate you," for him to hear, making him grin.

That smirk got wiped off his face as you surprised him by stepping out of the dressing room fully, standing in a skimpy little black lingerie dress in front of him. A dress that pushed your boobs up so much, they almost quelled out of the cups, and your boobs had never been THAT big.

Wonwoo whistled, "Well, hello," his eyes were clearly not on your face.

"Stoooop," you whined, hands coming up to clasp your breasts in defence, hoping to hide a little bit.

He chuckled, "What? I said hello," raising his arms in defence.

You squinted your eyes at him, "I know who you said hello to," hands still on your boobs. The chuckling continued. He couldn't help it. He couldn't hide it.

"And what were you so worried about?" Wongoo genuinely wondered as he kept eyeing you up and down, he really tried to stop but it was almost as if his eyes moved on their own.

You sighed and turned back to take a look in the mirror, your backside now facing him, not making it any better for the poor man in the chair. He decided to stand up to not have your ass on perfect eye level and was only graced with the beauty of your reflection.

Your hands caressed the dress, trying to get every single crease out of it. "I mean-," you breathed out in frustration, "just look at it! The fabric is way too thin, my boobs are on the verge of falling out and one wrong move and I'm flashing my ass to everyone."

"I'm not complaining," he grinned, hoping to get a similar reaction from you, which you gave him, but it quickly changed to a shake of your head.

"Clearly." Wonwoo didn't like the tone of your voice. He knew it all too well. It reminded him of his mother. All the times she would check her reflection in any passing mirror, trying to fix every hair that was possibly laying wrongly on her head. Any tiny smudge of her makeup had to get corrected, and every inch of her body had to either be hidden or look fit and young.

The comments of his father rang through his memory. The words he had thrown at his mother as she, slowly but surely, aged like beautiful fine wine, much to the dismay of his father, who had looked like the molerat he had always been. He hated the way his mum saw herself. Just because that asshole couldn't keep his mouth shut. Wonwoo promised himself to never make that same mistake.

"Well," he wanted to touch you, oh so badly, but he kept his hands to himself. For now. "If my opinion is of any importance to you, I think you look beautiful. But so did you in my old ass university sweater, so I don't know how much of help I really am."

You raised your head, meeting his gaze in the mirror, sending him a shy and tight smile as you grasped the seem of the dress tightly. God... why was he doing this to you. Well, you knew it. He had told you. He told you exactly what he was thinking, so, you knew. But what were you going to do with that information?

"Thank you," you softly told him, to which he just nodded. "But I still don't feel comfortable in this."

"Then let's try to find something you at least find somewhat comfortable to wear," he suggested kindly, sitting back down as you went back into the dressing room, pulling the curtain close before you released a heavy breath.

"They can't be serious about this," you commented as you stepped out in your now fifth dress. ...Dress? If you could call it that. It was much rather just a bunch of chains that were intertwined with each other, creating something you could throw over your upper body.

Wonwoo looked up from his phone, putting it back into his pocket immediately.

"Why are you wearing underwear with that?" He exclaimed, getting a wide-eyed stare from you in return.

You stuttered, "Wh- Am I- Am I supposed to just go bare?!"

"Well, with this, clearly," he stated like it was the most obvious answer possible.

You crossed your arms, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He didn't answer you verbally but just shrugged, making you roll your eyes with a chuckle.

"But this is actually something that a woman would wear to the Monbebe," he quickly added before you could disappear again.

"This?" You pointed to yourself, "Without underwear? Seriously?"

Wonwoo kept quiet for a few seconds, eyes interlocked with yours, before sighing, "I know, you don't actually want me to answer that." You nodded.

With the curtain closed, you started to get undressed again.

"You know," the CEO stated, "The more time we spent here and the more dresses you try on, the less I enjoy the idea of you coming along," he decided to just throw out the facts as they were. He didn't like it at all. He was almost terrified. Almost.

"Well, too bad," you got the dress off and put it back on the wall, "Because you're not getting rid of me now." You could hear the quiet mumble from outside but couldn't make out what he said. But you knew better than to ask him and just decided to let it pass.

Standing half naked in front of the dresses, you realised that the fifth one had been the last, and now you were left in your underwear, gazing at the clothing in desperation.

"You okay?" Wonwoo had gotten up and walked towards the curtain, his voice now closer than before.

You sighed, "That was the last one. Last dress."

"So then? Which one is it gonna be?" He wondered, only adding to your frustration.

"I don't know," you soughed, running a hand through your hair, "No fucking idea..."

"What about that third one," the CEO suddenly suggested, "You said that wasn't too bad, right? I think it was the best out of all of them."

You reached out to look for the mentioned piece of clothing, getting it out and hanging it at the front once you had found it, studying it with your arms crossed.

"But you said it had too much fabric on it," you argued.

"Mh, guess why it was my favourite," he commented back, almost getting a chuckle out of you. "Do you need help?" His question made you grin.

"No!" You shouted back, "Don't you dare come in here." Looking at the curtain as it started moving, you found fingers creeping in and grasping the seem of the hanging fabric, making you jump forward and slap it before poking your head out.

"Won-" you hisses but stopped as soon as you realised just how close you were all of a sudden. This position felt familiar with him. Too familiar. You could feel his breath on your lips, and you did not mind at all. It was too close and yet not close enough.

"Are you sure, you don't need any help?" He whispered.

The breath that left your lips was clearly shaky, yet you hoped he didn't notice. Although... maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he did notice it... right?

You smiled shyly, "Yes... thank you."

Wonwoo copied your facial expression, "Look how considered I am."

"Mh," you hummed with a nod, "May I go back and change now?"

"I'm not stopping you," he stated, smirking, knowing damn well what he was doing. Without another noise, you were about to close the curtain fully again. "Y/N," but his soft voice stopped you and made you look back at him. Why did he still have to be so close?

"This morning," he started, "What did you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the kitchen. Before we got interrupted." He didn't take his eyes off of yours, but you couldn't help but to lower your gaze, feeling intimated by his question. The gentle touch of his finger made you lift your head again, "I think there's something we need to catch up on." The almost kiss. Before Binna ruined your pretty much perfect morning. Was he so caught up on that? The memory made you grin. Oh how bad you wanted to kiss him. You still wanted to. Damn you Wonwoo...

"You really want to do this here?"

"A beautiful woman is half-naked in front of me. What more could I ask for?" His comment received a soft chuckle from you, "But I want you to do it. Because you want to, not because you feel like you have to."

"Wonwoo...," another whisper escaped your lips as you could feel yourself leaning more into him, now only millimetres away from his lips. He noticed it too.

"I just need to know that you want to," he copied your tone, his hand coming up to brush your hair on the side of your face.

You would've trusted your heart to stop right then and there. It was beating so hard, it had to be close to exploding. Your breathing had quickened, the adrenaline rushing through your body just like you had missed it.

You nodded so very gently, someone could've missed it, "I want to." Earning an even wider grin from Wonwoo.

"Well then," he just answered, not moving from his position, waiting for you to continue. You knew what you had to do. And yes God, it didn't matter how much of a mistake this maybe was, you were about to do it. Just one last time, you dared to look down at the man's lips, before meeting his gaze again. That was the last thing you saw as you closed your eyes and finally closed the small gap between the two of you. Finally. It had been way too long. Well, at least it felt like it. The soft moans coming from both of you just emphasized that. Finally, you felt his lips move against yours again. His hand held your cheek, his thumb brushing smoothly over your skin, trying to pull you in closer while you had a tight grasp on the curtain, hiding your body from the chest down. It didn't matter that you were in the middle of a clothing store. You could not give less of a fuck. What mattered was the man in front of you with his lips on yours, keeping you as close as he possibly could. The lips you had found so much comfort in.

Whatever this was... it was complicated, yes. But you were so ready to find out what exactly it was and how you could make it work. Finally ready.

You pulled back before it could get any more heated, out of breath, your eyes met again. You bit down on your lip as he opened his mouth.

"I meant what I said last night."

You looked down with a soft grin, "How often are you gonna say that?"

"Until you believe me," he stated, finding your hand that was still choking the fabric of the curtain.

Your gazes met. His once cold and dark eyes had turned so soft. The face you had once wanted to avoid at all cost had become so warm and comforting to you. You felt seen. You felt safe.

The subtle nod of his head brought you out of your trance, "Go change, we gotta get ready for later."

You turned around, careful to not let go of the curtain, taking the clothing hanger with the 'dress' into your hands, "Okay, take that for a second, we still gotta pay for that. I'll-"

"Alright done." He grasped the dress and took a few steps back to give you some space again.

"What?" Your question made him look up, "When?"

"I gave them my card and told them which dress you're gonna take," Wonwoo got a hold of his phone, just shrugging his shoulders, looking as comfortable as ever while you were still desperately hiding your body behind a curtain.

You squinted, "How did you know which dress I was gonna pick?"

He stared at you with his soft gaze, "You really think I would've let you pick any of the others?"

Already out of breath, you kept running through your apartment, trying to find the pieces of accessories you were looking for, groaning when they weren't in the bathroom, or your bedroom. You rushed into the living room, hoping you had maybe left them on the coffee table, but no luck. You had been looking for your earrings for at least ten minutes. Ten long minutes. After showering and literally shaving every single inch of your body, you had taken the time to do your makeup better than ever before, but now the problem was something else. Fucking earrings.

The shoes you should wear were already waiting for you in the hallway, along with the little black bag you had decided on. With one last groan, you chose to forget about the accessory and went back into the bedroom to finally put on the dress as you were sure Wonwoo would be here in no less than five minutes.

You took it out of its cover, revealing the beautiful stitch it had, along with the chains and pendant attached to it. It was gorgeous. Hot. Nothing you'd ever wear anywhere outside, not even a nightclub - and you had been to clubs before.

Putting in on seemed easier back at the store, you realized as you tried to close the last hook in the back. God dammit... why did expensive clothing also have to be so extra.

The ringing of your phone caught you off guard, making you have to walk into the living room again, where it had sat on the sofa. Wonwoo's name lit up the phone screen as you accepted the call, still trying to somehow get that freaking dress to close.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you can come down, we're here."

"Ehm...," you thought about it for a good second before continuing, "Could you maybe come up?"

"Why?" His voice was laced with confusion, and a little bit of worry, "Are you okay?"

You quickly assured him, "Yeah yeah yeah, I just... I need help with this dress, I ca-"

"On my way."

"Thank you," a gentle smile crept its way onto your face, "Fourth floor, ap-"

"I know." Were you ever going to be able to finish sentences with that man around? Who knew.

Not even two minutes later, there was a knock on your door, letting you know he had arrived. With your hands still behind your back, you entered the hallway, opening the door just a little to make sure that it, in fact, was who you were waiting for.

"Hi," you beamed brightly at him.

"Hey," your facial expression made him chuckle. He was about to ask you something else, but the sight of your entire figure in front of him made him stop, "Wow..."

You rolled your eyes as you felt the heat in your cheeks come up, "Don't."

"What? Am I not allowed to compliment a beautiful-looking woman." You didn't know what to say. What do you answer to a comment like that just being thrown at you? Multiple of those comments as a matter of fact.

Wonwoo's eyes fell on your hands that were holding onto the piece of clothing in the back. He took a step forward to get closer to you, making you almost breathe out at the sudden close distance when he put his hands on your shoulders to turn you around. His hands replaced yours. "You're gonna have to get used to me complimenting you."

You shrugged, "I just don't know how to react."

"Then you're gonna learn," he placed his palm on your lower back, "Done." You turned back around to meet his gaze.

"What if I don't want to?" The teasing question even surprised you, but for some reason, it felt fitting. And God did it feel good.

He grinned, his eyes running down your hair, his fingers followed, "You'll have to." Making you roll your eyes with a shy smile,

"You don't look too bad yourself, Mister Jeon." You brushed an invisible piece of lint off his suit jacket. Seeing him in suits every day at work didn't change the excitement that crept up your stomach at the sight of him in this clearly much more expensive anorak. All black.

"Shoes on." You nodded at the demand and brushed past him to bend down, forgetting how short your dress actually was. Only when you felt the sudden wash of cold over your clothed core, you shot up again, taking the shoes to the little stool you had placed in the hallway. Wonwoo waited patiently for you, watching you put on one shoe when he bent down onto one knee, taking the other shoe into his hand before moving to put it on your foot.

"Thank you," you told him, watching his fingers move so gently and skillfully over your skin, trying to make sure he tied the strings of the heels just the same way you did with the other one.

With a pat on your leg, he let you know he was finished, looking up to smile at you. If you hadn't been sitting down, you for sure would've melted to the floor at the look on his face. When had the cold-hearted bachelor turned so soft?

"Ready?"

You shifted in your seat, sitting up straighter, moving closer to him unknowingly as you put your hands underneath your thighs, trapping them between skin and cushion.

"I don't know," you let him know in full honesty, shaking your head in the process.

"As long as you stay next to me, you'll be fine. Alright?" He tried to find your eyes as you looked away, not being able to shake the unweary feeling you had about this whole situation you were about to run into. "I won't let anyone there touch you. I promise." His hand on your knee assured you even more of his statement. He promised. You knew he meant it.

With a nod, you agreed, "I know."

For a few more seconds the two of you stayed in your positions, sharing gazes as you watched his eyes go from concerned to reassuring to... something you couldn't quite put your finger on. So much had happened over the past few months for you to sit right there with the man in front on his knees. Just like he told you...

"What?" His question brought you back, making you shake your head,

"Nothing, let's go." You stood up to walk past him, but his hand on your naked leg stopped you when he stood back up, only to let it travel up slowly, knowing damn well what it did to you when he caught your eyes again, and your lips slightly parted.

"What was that look on your face?" Again, he tried to dig deeper. You shook your head. But you knew there was no escape from him. If he wanted something, he'd get it.

His fingers grasped your chin to make you look at him. You were quick to wrap your hands around his wrist, ready to pull back whenever you wanted to. If you ever wanted to.

The raise of his eyebrows let you know that he wouldn't move until you answered his question in proper words, so you took a slightly deeper breath.

"I was just trying to read you."

You saw his eyes falling to your lips before meeting your gaze again. "You don't have to try to read me. Just ask me."

A quick look down at your shoes got you the small amount of confidence that would hopefully be enough for what you were about to do.

"Can I ask you something?" You whispered.

He nodded, "Everything," lowering his voice to match yours.

You swallowed, tightening your grip on his wrist, as your heartbeat quickened, "Can you kiss me?"

He grinned right away and didn't waste a second to pull you in, only stopping when your lips brushed against each other before he whispered, "You don't have to ask for that."

You could've cried if you wanted to. The emotions had been building up for too long, and there were oh so close to spilling out of you.

The passion his lips wrote all over yours let the tingle in your stomach errupt. The butterflies were finally freed from their cage, letting an exciting chill run across your entire body. God... it felt so good. Too good. His warmth made you feel finally safe again. You felt... loved. Truly loved. Cared for. Anything you could ask for. Right there in front of you.

But all good must come to an end, and so did this kiss.

Wonwoo smiled all so gently at you again, his thumb caressing the faded touch of his lips left on yours, almost making you moan.

"Ready?"

But even in your dizzy state, you were able to hear him. You saw him. You felt him.

You answered him with a nod, followed by a soft, "Yeah."

In the car, driven by Hongseok, on the way to the club, the two of you had fallen into a comfortable small-talk-like conversation. Wonwoo let you know about the day in the office run by Mingyu as the two of you had been busy. He also informed you that the co-CEO would not be joining you that evening since he "never wants to ever put another foot into the cursed, run by the devils themselves, building", as he had worded it apparently.

The man's rough hand was on your naked thigh throughout the entire drive. It wasn't uncomfortable. Not at all. It didn't even make you nervous. It just made you feel safe. But you couldn't hide the shaky breath tumbling from your lips whenever he'd start moving that freaking thumb over your skin. Fucking tease.

Before you knew it, Hongseok notified you of your arrival, making the breath get stuck in your throat. You were about to enter a lion's den. A literal hell, just like Mingyu had put it. If it wasn't for the CEO next to you, you would've already had the worst nervous breakdown of your life, but his presence assured you. He wouldn't let anything happen to you. He promised.

The driver opened the door for you and you were greeted with a mix of blue, red, and purple light blinding your eyes once you stepped out, Wonwoo's hand right there to help and steady you before his moved to the small of your back, leading you forward. You two thanked Hongseok and wished him a good evening before he disappeared again, but not without sending you a warm smile.

You walked ahead, stopping a few feet away from the bouncer in front of the big, fancy-decorated doors. There was no line, which surprised you, but they probably wouldn't want to catch too much attention, you explained to yourself.

"Jeon," the big man suddenly exclaimed, making you jump at the tone of his voice. Not welcoming, that was for sure. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too Sidae," Wonwoo nodded at him, changing the placement of his hand as it was suddenly in front of you, making you pause in your tracks.

"Why are you here?" The man was not about to let you two off easily, you could tell. His eyes came to you, running up and down your body, sending an uncomfortable chill down your spine.

The CEO closed the button on his jacket, "I need to talk to them."

The doorman was quick to shake his head, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest. "They're gonna talk to you."

"And how would you know that?" Wonwoo argued back, earning himself a growl from the man in front of you to which your arms snaked over his, trying to keep close to him. His hand immediately found yours, hoping to give you some form of comfort.

"Do I have to remind you of what happened the last time you and your friends were here? The mess you idiots left." His comment made you scrunch your eyebrows in question. Wonwoo hadn't told you everything. He didn't want you to know the entire story of this part of his past. But slowly more and more was coming to the surface, whether he wanted to or not.

The CEO looked around, "Am I here with my friends? I don't see them anywhere," annoying the bouncer just a tad bit more, "Just me. And I just want to talk."

The big man in front of you nodded towards you, "And her?"

"You really think she's gonna start something?"

"I don't trust any bitches you bring along," he commented, earning a warning glare from Wonwoo.

"Careful with your words, man. I'd better shut my mouth if I were you." Even though the man was double Wonwoo's size, he didn't seem intimidated in the slightest. The past they shared together must add to that.

The bouncer sighed, before turning to the barricade, opening it and motioning for you two to go through. The man on your arm took a step first, making you follow. You didn't get far though as the doorman stopped you by grabbing Wonwoo harshly by the arm.

"If I hear anything about you starting God knows what shit, it's over for you, Jeon." If you hadn't gotten the message before, you sure as hell got it now. You gulped. Wonwoo just nodded relaxed, opening the door to let you go in first, but he was still hot on your step.

Immediately, loud music and darkness, only lit up by the same colour as outside surrounded you. While the entrance was empty, only men lined up next to each other, one bigger than the one next to them - must've been bouncers too - the open space, functioning as a dance floor was FILLED. You didn't think another person could fit into the mass. The bar to the side was fairly empty too, with only a few men sitting there, waiting for one of the women that walked through the room to stop by their side.

Your eyes widened when you saw the outfits. That's what Wonwoo meant... Those were rarely clothes... not even underwear... you guess they were supposed to be covers, but they hardly covered anything. There were a few women in another corner that were wearing slightly more, but still not enough for a normal nightclub in your opinion. You felt out of place. Wildly out of place.

Wonwoo was next to you again within a second, taking your hand and taking it to loop your arm with his.

"Just follow me, okay?" He shouted over the loud music, to which you nodded.

He took you to the right and right before you passed the bar, he brought you in front of him, his hands securely on your hips as he lead you straight forward, past all of the men on the side and women on the other. It was bigger than you expected. From the outside, it looked like a smaller nightclub but just could tell that that was just an illusion.

One more turn around the corner and through deep black curtains, you found yourself in front stairs but waited for Wonwoo to continue. He noticed you hesitating and stepped forward, taking the first step down. He turned around again, extending his hand for you to take and leading you down.

Black stone surrounded you, and the temperature dropped a significant amount as you were now in a basement - still lit up by blue, red, and purple lights.

Arrived on the lower floor, two signs let you know where everything was. With one look to the right and left, you also found multiple doors, leading to more rooms. You could guess what was going on behind those doors. Wonwoo had told you, and you didn't want to imagine what those men were possibly doing with the women that worked there.

You were dragged towards the 'lounge', passing all those doors. You didn't question anything, you knew this was the moment to shut your mouth. If you had any questions, you could ask those later.

The two of you came to a stop at the end of the hallway, one bright red door right in front of you. Your eyes fell to Wonwoo to your left, watching his chest rise before falling again. Maybe he wasn't as relaxed as he pretended to be. You squeezed his hand a little tighter, just to let him know that you were also still there. He wasn't about to do this alone. He copied your action, followed by a gentle shake of your hands.

He brought his other hand up to the door, knocking hard against it three times. Not even trying to open it, he knew only seconds later it would open up just like it was supposed to. His hand dropped yours the moment a beam of light came from the other room. You looked to your side, hoping to catch his attention as you didn't expect the sudden action. He sent you an assuring smile, tapping your palm with his finger before looking straight ahead again, walking in first to keep you secure behind him.

You were about to follow him when the sight in front of you made you stop in your tracks. A lounge with a big U-sofa, massive even. But more importantly, were the people on the couches. You found three men, sitting with their legs wide apart, surrounded by multiple women, one dressed skimpier than the other, all over those men. Their lips and hands running all over their bodies and all you could do was stare blankly.

The one in the middle caught your attention first as he saw you walk in. A bright smile, that you could only describe as creepy, brightened up his face.

"Jeon Wonwoo!" He shouted, pushing the women off him while gaining the attention of the other men left and right who had turned to look at the two of you. "A face I never thought I'd ever see again." With a slight tilt of his head, he also met you. A wink was sent your way making you quickly walk up right behind the CEO. The door behind you closed. Turning around you found two security men on either side of it. Those people here really care for their safety apparently. "To what do we owe the pleasure? And tell me why I shouldn't tell my men to pop your eyes out of your skull immediately."

You wrapped your arms around your torso in comfort as you started to feel the chill coming down your spine once again. He maybe didn't look as scary. But he sure as hell sounded terrifying.

Wonwoo sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, "Good to see you too, Shownu. And that would just make a terrible mess, don't you think?"

The man on the sofa looked to his left and right, sharing glances with his colleagues before gifting you his attention again.

"Well," he smirked, "Can't be worst than last time, right?"

Can’t even explain how nervous I was finally releasing this bc I haven’t written in so long, I hope I haven’t lost my spark… thank you for taking your time to continue reading this series🤍

Taglist: @nctxtrash @leicy0756 @hoe4wonwoo @jeonwonhi @nothingbutadeadesceane @smileywoo @angelarin @onewoowonderboy @goodforgyu @kavvs @sugarmilkchan @sweetheart-gs @wonforgyu @lilactangerine @meltinghershey @wonw00t @soonchanshua @jayswifeuwu @allorysayshi @shaurenlaw @drama-1998-girl @yoonren07 @malakasae @sseuyeon @venusprada @jeminiepabo @billboard-singer @safsaf1980 @monmarguerite @ji-jii-visha @renjunphile @haogyuslut @destinyg237 @taestrwbrry @renkkuri @travelleratheart101 @love-svt @sunshinein17 @morklee02 @wonuziex @pwwarkjisung @hokuuu @clvudisan @awyunh @restlesswritings @woohaosworld @everyw0nu @woo8hao

#wonwoo x reader #wonwoo series #jeon wonwoo #Wonwoo imagines #x reader #series #imagines #imagine #seventeen #svt #kpop

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former-leftist-jew · 3 months

Note

I really loved your post about religious extremism and I wanted to add that a lot of the people using the "peaceful, noble Palestinian" trope (like you said, the noble savage trope) would have no problem understanding that a Christian population is bigoted against gays because they were raised in that faith and ministered to by bigots -- for instance, Russian leadership using the language of Christianity to make "same sex propaganda" illegal (I literally know someone who went to jail for kissing another woman in front of Russian police) and then holding them to account when said government is removed from power, or even refusing to forgive them even when they've changed. These are totally understandable reactions to bigotry, even societal bigotry (my grandfather remains deeply homophobic due to his Christianity and even if he one day changes, I don't know that I'll be able to forgive him for supporting conversion therapy).

But when it's a non-Western population? Suddenly those people CAN'T be bigoted and CAN'T have been fed antisemitism and hatred for their entire lives because. I don't know, it's different with them! I know so many wonderful, affirming, progressive Muslims who have done the work to reinterpret and decolonize their faith, the same as I do Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc.. But I also know that in the Middle East, many don't DO that sort of reflection -- largely because they don't have the ability to due to decades of corrupt leadership and authoritarian rule. You can be a victim of religious extremism by virtue of being raised in it, but we NEED to hold these people to the same standards as we do Westerners coming out of religious extremism.

I'm not shocked Palestinians support Hamas -- it fucking sucks in Gaza, and has for a while. That's how terrorism gets its roots, same as the Taliban, the KKK, Al-Qaeda, etc; it preaches to a suffering population and promises it everything it wants, if only you'll hate XYZ group, if only you'll give us your children, etc. If we truly want to free Palestine -- which I do, I am a supporter of Palestinian self determination and ending anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia -- then we need to understand all this and help them decolonize and de-terrorize.

(I hope any of that made sense, I just sort of rambled)

Daww, thank you! I'm glad my pot struck a chord with you. ^_^

Yeah, believe it or not, I do have a lot of sympathy for the average Palestinian Muslim/Christian. It's just... like Atticus said of Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird, my sympathy doesn't extend so far as to condone anihilating Israel and massacring all Jews.

I do believe that everyone has a right to self-determination and self-government. Gay people have a right to marry who they love, trans people have a right to dress and live as the gender they identify as, Arab Muslims have a right to worship Allah with Muhammad as his last and final Prophet, Jews have a right to self-determine and self-govern, etc.

TBH, I think there's a cruel irony that an estimated 30-60% of Palestinian Arabs share ancient Canaanite/Hebrew ancestry with modern Jews (meaning, they're also descended from ancient Jews), but since the region was forcibly conquered and converted by Islamic Caliphs in the 600's, it's fair to assume their Jewish ancestors were colonized and/or forcibly converted. (Or at least passively pressured to convert over time, since non-Muslims in Sharia Law are made to pay a poll tax and live as second-class citizens to Muslim citizens--so who wouldn't want to switch to Islam under that literal two-tiered legal system?)

Part of me thinks, "Why would you WANT to stay with Islam when your ancestors were conquered and forcibly converted (or at least passive-aggressively pressured to convert) as sure as Vietnam is largely Catholic because of their French Catholic former colonisers? BUT AGAIN, I respect their right to self-determination and their desire for self-government. If the Palestinian Muslims with ancient Hebrew blood want to stay with Islam, live in an Islamic society, and be ruled by an Islamic government, that's their right.

With that said, part of me feels like the average Palestinian Muslims (and Christians) have been duped by their Islamofascist government to see Israeli Jews not as long-lost brothers and sisters who finally returned home after centuries in exile, but as "foreign invaders" trying to take what little scraps they have. Both in the early 20th century and early 21's century.

You know that leftist meme that goes like:

"A CEO, white kid, and black kid sit at a table. The CEO's plate is piled high with 10 cookies, white the kids' are empty. He then tosses a cookie to the white kid and says, 'That black kid wants to steal your cookie.'"?

That is LITERALLY Hamas is doing to the Palestinian Arabs and Jews!

Hamas notoriously hoards as much of Gaza's food, fuel, water, resources, and wealth as they can, throw their people just enough scraps to get by, and then tells them, "Those Jews wants to steal your land, your religion, and your liberty. Help us kill the Jew, and you'll be living in Paradise." When the state of the rest of the Middle East (which have little to no Jews left in them) shows otherwise.

And I'm so disgusted by how the Left West recognizes that manipulation tactic when it comes to rich white CEO's duping poor whites into blaming black "welfare queens" and brown "illegal immigrants" for their lack of the good life, but somehow CAN'T connect the dots when Islamofascist dictators who openly hoard all their country's resources for themselves and spread oppressive violence and misogyny to the rest of the population do the exact same thing to the average impoverished Muslim regarding "Jews" and "Western invaders."

The average Muslim? Believe it or not, I DO have some sympathy. Based on what I've seen and read from various ex-Muslims, it sounds like Arab Islamic culture doesn't really encourage critical thinking, self-examination, or widespread education as the norm. MANY ex-Muslims I've met and talked to IRL, and that I follow on social media, talk about how, when they were growing up

A lot of Palestinians are also pretty upfront about how "we don't question" what they've been taught about Islam and Jews.

youtube

But, you know what? As far as I'm concerned, it's time to START questioning. It's time to START thinking about it. It's time to START making room for non-Muslims to live beside and share equal rights and resources with Muslims.

And I'm so grossed out that the Western Left encourages the religious bigotry, intolerance, and "no dogs or Jews allowed here!" segregation because "It's their culture/religion." Well then, they need to change with the times like everyone else.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #leftist hypocrisy #am yisrael chai #jewblr #jumblr

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roo-bastmoon · 1 year

Text

Let's get into the Angel Pt 1 controversy

Summary of Roo's Point: Please follow your conscience but do not bash Jimin for other people's crimes.

More in-depth analysis of the underlying issues:

Let me start by saying I'm a musical theater geek so I have no idea who any of the other artists on the Angel Pt 1 track are, I don't know their music, I don't know their backstories, and frankly, I don't really care to. But yesterday a full kerfuffle kicked off on Twitter with many people ready to cancel Jimin (and by extension, ARMY) for working on a song with someone called Kodak Black.

Who is Kodak Black?

Well, apparently he's a rapper who brought a high schooler back to his hotel from a concert and then ripped her clothes off and bit her and raped her but he entered a plea deal and got probation for it. Not to be confused for the times he had illegal fire arms, committed armed robbery, possessed marijuana, and tried to evade police. Or the time he punched and kicked a woman at a strip club. By all accounts he sounds like a total asshole, and not someone whose pockets I want to line with my hard-earned money, even if I weren't a survivor, myself.

I think we can all agree that Kodak Black is not the kind of person ARMY would ever want to support.

So if at any point you feel like you cannot get behind the Fast X movie or soundtrack because Universal chose to employ that man? Please feel free to boycott and sleep easy at night. That's your value-based decision and I respect it. Don't let anyone call you an anti for it.

However.

There is another legitimate take on this with regard to Park Jimin, and it's a bit more nuanced than simply "don't work with bad people."

For a decade, we've gotten to know who Park Jimin is. He is kind. He is considerate. He is gentle. He has excellent manners. He gives to charity. He obeys and honors his parents and elder members. He has never been violent. He has never broken the law. He respects women deeply. He is a hard worker. He is a good human being.

I can't help but recall how Jimin had absolutely no idea that the song he made was going to be in Eternals. Like, he didn't believe it at first.

Clearly, this company has some serious issues with communication and the handling of Jimin's releases. I could say more but we don't have all day for that.

It is therefore plausible to me that Jimin was approached for this song, possibly by Jvke. Jimin has said he's seen all the movies so we know he likes the franchise. Maybe he said sure, he'd love to sing for Angel Pt 1. So he recorded his parts and moved on to the next amazing groundbreaking industry-shattering piece of work on his schedule. And then Universal brought in other artists and no one said a thing to him about it.

And you might think there's NO WAY Hollywood wouldn't tell you who all you're working with. Listen, I never worked on any big productions, but I lived in LA for years and worked in entertainment long enough to know you could make something and months later find out it's a whole other thing with people you've never heard of, and you signed off your work and likeness so it is what it is and you gotta live with it and not make waves, especially if you ever wanna work in that town again.

Then again, maybe Jimin met the rest of the artists during the filming of the music video. Maybe he knew Kodak Black was on this song. Maybe he, like me, had no idea of that man's past and never once imagined someone with a rap sheet that long would be in such a large-scale production in the first place.

Or maybe he did know, because it appears Kodak Black is billed as a "creator" of the song, but as an industry professional, he also knows nothing is ever totally clean or pure in this business. So oftentimes in entertainment, you will see people mentally separate the art from the business.

(Side note: To be honest, nothing is ever clean or pure that you pay to consume. The wage slaves sweating in the shops that make the clothes on your back or the device you're reading this post off of. The migrant workers toiling for pennies and living in communal shacks for the veggies in your salad. The animals crammed into horrific crates and slaughtered inhumanely that end up on your plate. The earth that's raped every time you write on a sheet of paper or put gas in your car. The plastics in all of our products are also in our landfills, our oceans, our blood streams. We all of us live and consume off the suffering of others. Doesn't mean we shouldn't fight for a better world--of course we should--I'm just saying, none of us consume anything that's "perfect" and cancel culture fails to acknowledge that.)

Which brings me back to the point about boycotting. If you feel like you just cannot support the business of employing someone like Kodak Black, that is a worthy choice and no one should bully you for it or label you an anti. But please do not consider Jimin "tainted by association." Because everyone is associated in one way or another with harmful people and practices. You'd never get to consume anything ever, if you could only consume things made by "good" people.

For my part, I don't believe Universal will see people refusing to stream or buy Angel Pt 1 and think "Gosh, we shouldn't have hired a man who batters and abuses women, it will hurt our bottom line on this soundtrack, we were very mistaken, let's do better." Maybe they will, but probably they won't. They have yet to even witness the buying power of ARMY anyway so they have no results to compare a boycott to. It's already a done deal and they will likely pull this shit again if it's expedient to do so.

On the other hand, this is Jimin's first OST for a major motion picture and I intend to support the hell out of it. I think it's a good song and I want Jimin to be seen by the industry as a safe bet to bring in numbers. I think the more projects he has, the more opportunities he has to promote good people and good music as alternatives. I say this AS A SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL ASSAULT who is no way making light of sexual assault. It frankly galls me that by association, Kodak Black (and numerous other unknown assholes) will benefit. But I'd rather that than, by association, Park Jimin suffer.

And I'll square with you: I think Justin Bieber, Charlie Puth, Park Jay, and others are opportunistic assholes problematic and it galls me that they will benefit by association with BTS members. But on a case by case basis, I will choose whether to support BTS members' collaborations. So far, I'm still all in. That's what feels right for me, according to MY conscience.

I cannot dictate to you what your conscience should tell you. That's between you and your soul, and it's no one else's business. Do your will and harm none. Trust yourself and honor your limits.

So if at any point you feel like you cannot support JK's Dreamers because of the horrible inhuman treatment of the World Cup stadium workers, abstain. If you cannot support Jimin with Angel Pt 1 because of Kodak Black's inexcusable violence, abstain.

But please do not lay the crimes of others at BTS' feet. They are responsible only for themselves, and we have seen they are sometimes not given complete information around their projects. I'm certain they do their best. When it's clear that a collaboration would go against their values (such as playing for their current president's inauguration), they decline. When they have the opportunity to make informed decisions, they usually decide well. But not always, because the members are human too.

I guess my point of this ramble is... human beings will be human. They are flawed. They inevitably make mistakes. Intention goes a long way. I can make a pretty clear-cut case that Kodak Black intentionally caused harm. So I'm happy to not support his art or business ventures and I hope after a lot of soul searching he becomes a better person but I'm not holding my breath. However, I cannot make a clear-cut case that Park Jimin endorses the harm Kodak Black caused just because he lent his voice to a song Kodak Black is also now a part of. Not yet, not without Park Jimin making a statement defending Kodak Black.

Until he does, I'm not going to hold Jimin responsible for anyone's choices except his own. I trust Jimin. He's earned it. So I'm going to support Jimin.

If you very strongly feel like I'm choosing to do harm here, that I'm anti-feminist, or a rape apologist, or a fan girl making light of serious crimes, please protect yourself and block me. You go ahead and do what you need to do to police your own experience. But I worry that eventually you are going to find yourself in a very lonely, very sparse and dull echo chamber, because that sad truth is... nothing and no one is pure. Certainly not in business, and rarely in art. Considering one out of four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, it's a safe bet that almost every song or movie you've heard of is somehow benefitting a man who was part of it and who has also abused a woman. I know k-pop idol culture heavily manufactures this PG13 image of artists but the truth is the world of entertainment is a cesspool and a viper pit, and we are very lucky to stan seven artists who are, by and large, truly good people. That's super rare.

My unsolicited advice is to take everything on a case-by-case basis and listen to your gut. Support Angel Pt 1. Don't support Angel Pt 1. It's a deeply personal choice what you endorse with your money.

But please miss me with trying to cancel Jimin, or any of the members, for other people's crimes.

Shunning, dogpiling, mobbing, shaming--cancelling people--those are Mean Girl tactics, designed to make people afraid to work with the "unworthy" and it doesn't work in the long run. (Extended, organized boycotts do work because money talks loud. So feel free to boycott if you want to.) But ruining people's reputations because of who their coworkers happen to be is in no way helping solve the actual problem.

If your goal is to make it so big studios don't employ rapists, keep the heat on the rapist and call out Universal and Kodak Black.

If your goal is to support Jimin, then trust and support Jimin and his songs.

Where those two goals conflict, trust your gut. That's all anyone can ask of you.

For my part, I choose Jimin.

Whatever choice you make--as long as you aren't bashing Jimin--I can respect it.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that. Feel free to disagree but keep it kind and respectful in the comments, please...

Love,

Roo

#jimin #park jimin #angel pt 1 #jikook

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themultifandomgal · 2 years

Text

John Shelby- Deals

Falling for John was never something I had planned. He was my sisters husband after all, but when she died John and I got closer and my feelings for him just blossomed. I never told him how I feel and I won't because how could I do that to my late sister?

I enter the Garrison and sit at the bar next to John

"YN I'm struggling with the kids"

"Need me to come over more?" I ask but he shakes his head

"They need a mom. I'm going to get married" my heart drops hearing this, but I know we could never be

"Who's the lucky girl?" I ask trying not to sound upset

"Lizzie Stark" I look at John like he's gone mad

"Woah wait did I just hear you say that right?"

"Yeah. Please don't say anything. Tommy, Arthur and Polly have already given me an earful"

"Well.. if your going to be happy then who am I to judge"

"Are you happy though?" John looks me in the eyes, I'm trying to not cry

"Uh huh. I've got to go. I'll see you soon" I get off my seat and turn away from John

"But you just got here" I ignore John and walk out of the pub.

A few days later I'm walking down the street

"YN" I hear Tommy shout. I turn and see him in his car

"Hi Tom" I smile

"YN get in. We need to talk" I sigh and get into the car "has John spoken to you?"

"About his plan to marry Lizzie? yeah"

"I've just offered her money, as a one last time... she excepted. I've told John, and he's a wreak. We're having trouble with the Lee's so we need to unite the families"

"So you want John to marry a Lee? why are you telling me this"

"No" Tommy sighs "I've said Johns first born daughter would marry a Lee of her choice"

"Bloody hell Tom. And where do you expect this daughter to come from? John has boys and unless one of them drops their penis I don't think your plan will work"

"That's why John does need to marry"

"So why aren't you marrying him off?"

"Because he loves you"

"Pardon" I ask shocked

"And you love him. Neither of you are very subtle"

"We can't"

"Because of Martha? Martha would want you both to be happy"

"But she's my sister? I don't think it's very ethical"

"It's not illegal. Look I'm giving you a chance for you to be together here. Take it"

Now I'm here at my wedding! I walk over to John in my wedding dress

"We are here gathered together to join this man and this woman in matrimony. If you both move forward with this marriage, the Lee's and Shelby's will be united with the promise that the first born daughter will marry a Lee. John do you take YN to be you lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do" John smiles at me

"Do you YN take John to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do"

"You may now kiss" John pulls me into him and kisses me passionately.

That evening Ada is dancing while being 8 months pregnant

"Martha won't hate us right?" I say John looks at

"Never" I watch Tommy go up the Ada

"Come and look YN. Come and look at the family you've joined. Come and look at the man who runs it. Makes deals that benefit him but hurts people in the long run. He hunts his own sister down like a rat and he tried to kill his own brother in law" Ada yells

"Ada that's enough" Arthur now tries to calm her down

"And now he won't even let me have a fucking dance. Not even at a fucking wedding"

"Ada calm down" Polly says holding her

"Sit her down" John moves towards her. Polly goes to help her down but then stops

"Holy shit. Water. Right get her in there" Polly points to one of the cars

"Bloody hell Ada you pick your times" John says annoyed

"John don't" I shake my head. We all head to the Shelby house and I help Ada to give birth to her baby boy Karl

"You'll have this to look forward to one day" Polly says cooing at the newborn

"I'm worried about what we got ourselves into. I wanted to marry John, I really did and I know he wanted to marry me, but we're basically selling our future child to the Lee's"

"Maybe she will magically fall in love with a Lee" Ada laughs

"Maybe"

"You've always been part of this family, but welcome to being a Shelby"

#john shelby #john shelby x oc #john shelby x you #john shelby x reader #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #john shelby imagine

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fanfic-the-wish-your-heart-makes · 3 months

Text

Nathaniel Barnes (& Harvey Bullock & Jim Gordon) Defending Homosexuality (Nathaniel Barnes x Male/Nonbinary/Not Cis etc. Reader, but this also has other cool stuff apart from romance like, uhm, him🤭😂)

@honestmrdual asked: So, about Barnes x reader request... How about Barnes and male reader, who insist on making their relationship known to public, at least in the precinct, and Barnes, pretty obviously, being opposed to this idea? Humour, or angst, or both, you can decide! :)

Author's note: Here are all of my thoughts, I hope you like them😊 This is soo much longer than expected

Reader: ambiguously not perceived as a woman (so a man, nonbinary, masculine/very androgynous woman, etc.)

Other featured characters: Harvey Bullock because he's gotta be against homophobia. Also a little mention of Jim & Oswald because they had something going there 😉

Warning: homophobia (not from the love-interest though 🙂), illegal homosexuality

First of all: whether homosexuality's illegal in Gotham or not, Nathaniel Barnes doesn't think of it as a sin. He may be a lawfully good character, thinking that the only line separating him from animals is the law, but he's not stupid: a healthy consensual relationship just isn't immoral, illegal or not. There's not the least bit internalized homophobia in him, and I can imagine that even if homosexuality was illegal, it would mostly go ignored by the police. Though it would be comically tragic for someone to get thrown into a cell next to an actual criminal. One's in for murder while the other just kissed their partner?? Gotham's crazy!

If it was illegal, Barnes would do anything in his power to make sure to help the wrongfully convicted. He starts out small by letting them go free on his own, going home in the evening to assure himself that you're still there in his arms, not in some cell. He knows he's already doing so much but what if it isn't enough?

He loves what you share and is very aware of how quickly things could go wrong, so when you ask him to make your relationship public, he's vehemently against it and very confused. "Did someone hit on you? Do you want to tell them that you're in a relationship? Because you have my full support to make up a partner if you want to."

When you tell him that that isn't the case, he assumes that it's something else. "Are you jealous? You know that I love you. I don't think that anyone at the GCPD wants to be with me." He leans towards you and lowers his voice, "But between us: I wouldn't want to be with any of them even if I didn't have you." He even tries to throw shade at his co-workers despite normally being very professional, "Some can be a little..." You smile at his obvious contrition, "Stupid?" you offer. He purses his lips and makes a vague hand gesture, which makes you laugh. He's really trying not to be mean.

Despite the now light-hearted atmosphere, you bring the conversation back to your request, and he gets serious again. The idea might sound naively dangerous to him but you obviously care about it, so he doesn't dismiss it right away. He wants to know whether there's a smaller problem that he can solve. Do you doubt his love for you? Are you afraid of someone taking him away from you?

If any of these is the case, he makes it one of his missions to prove you wrong. Not that he doesn't make you feel loved any other time. He's very thankful for you. But if it's not enough for you, then it's not enough. Feelings are valid...and so is your safety: he doesn't give in.

"Even just the fact that I'm a known police officer could put you in danger", he stresses, "And I can only think in horror of the hatred that would certainly be directed at us for other reasons."

Things continue as they were, until one day when he overhears some officers make fun of Jim Gordon for being called Penguin's bitch - with lots off ugly terms thrown at Jim - none other than Harvey Bullock, the man Nathaniel would have expected at least some homophobia from, defends his partner and gives them hell for the things they said.

"You got a problem with Jim banging a known criminal? That's fine with me, hell, I'd have a problem with it too if it was true! But you target my buddy because he's with a man? Seriously? Your girlfriend doesn't even know you've been looking at someone else, but you're criticising him for being in a consensual relationship, which, again, isn't even real?! Check your morals, man!"

"Okaay, Bullock, chill, I was just joking around. Besides: it's illegal, you know that, right?"

Harvey raises his eyebrows, "Well it shouldn't be." "Careful there, Bullock. Don't want to get thrown out by the captain, do we?" Harvey huffed, "I think he's got a little more common sense than you think." "You don't seem completely convinced." "Ugh, stop it. Get yourself a life. Maybe I'll ask him sometime."

Except that he doesn't. He has neither the time nor the nerves.

Nathaniel tells you the story, promising to work on it, just way slower than you wished. He waits until he heard the next hateful comment so that he could directly intervene, making his already planned speech later seem more natural.

So it comes that he spends more time outside of his office until one day when he heard Jim again, "Doesn't seem like Oswald if you ask me" followed by "Except that I didn't ask you, you fag-" "LANGUAGE", the commissioner's word gets everyone's attention, "like this is highly inappropriate here, any place really. You are police officers, show some goddamn respect!"

"But he's literally called his bitch in the streets-"

"Are we not in a police precinct?"

"Of course we are, sir, but it's also illegal to-"

"And do you not have a brain, detective?" "Sir, I wasn't trying to say that detective Gordon is seriously a f-"

"You're missing the point: hate speech of any kind isn't tolerated here."

"Got it-"

"-nor should you use it at home." He noticed the silence around him. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Wow, that felt good to get off his chest! He still needs to make that speech, which would normally be really easy but he doesn't want to make your relationship public or out himself to be honest. He wants to appear completely distanced from the topic, non-emotional, just rational.

When he asks what your ideas are, he's frustrated that something feeling so right, so wonderful, has to be justified at all. He's nervous about the speech: normally he only stands behind the law, and now he's speaking out against it? He's conflicted.

"Why don't you let someone else speak as well?" you try, knowing that he can take on too much work.

"What?" he asks, not wanting to put that burden onto someone else. You shrug, "Let Gordon say some things, he's the one you always complain about being one step away from being a criminal. And you say that he's got people who look up to him."

"No", he protests, "it has to come from someone who has never misstepped."

You give him an unconvinced look, "You have misstepped."

He takes in a sharp breath at the memory. "You killed a man and I still trust and love you, Nathaniel." He looks a little less sceptic now.

"That speech can come from any cop and it will come from someone who at least once committed a crime. I'm not saying that you should let someone else say everything, just that you might wanna talk about it with some other detectives first. Make it appear natural."

The perfect opportunity would come: the time when the crime incidents skyrocket and the precinct has to clean rooms to make way for prisoners.

"Alright everyone, listen up! We've obviously got too little room for perps, so we're gonna have to prioritize."

He takes a deep breath and thinks back to your impressed look at his practiced speech, "From now on, there are a few deeds we will no longer persecute. Not just because of the current lack of space but because they shouldn't be crimes."

He looks at the officers, most of whom don't look extremely bothered, and starts the list, "Anyone here on grounds of consensual relationships to someone of the same sex is to be set free without any entries."

By the end of the list of other "crimes", a few people are looking at him confused, some even angry but not many more than he expected. One officer raises his voice, "So what about that black-haired guy we got in for kissing another man?"

"He's in for sexual harassment!" Jim Gordon comes to his aid spontaneously. "He'll stay", Nathaniel continues, noting that a few people's sour expressions disappear.

"Finally for those of you still unconvinced, who don't have the brains to think by themseleves: before you arrest someone for any of the things mentioned before, ask yourself: would I rather harm one person or save many? A lot is on the line, we've gotten more bombings in four months than in the last year combined. So be smart."

"I'll drink to that!" Harvey shouts and the resulting laughter lightens the mood. That that day more people visit the GCPD captain's office or pass by and say their approval.

It's the beginning of a new time for the precinct and hopefully eventually for Gotham.

However, that still doesn't mean that he likes the idea of criminals knowing that you mean so much to him.

He'll tell some colleagues about you though. They deserve to know what a wonderful partner one can have as a police officer.

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chaosmultiverse · 5 months

Text

…And then there was a answer

"Intruder Alert: Rouge Hourglass"

"...Oh god I didn't go to a criminal for help, did I?" Stargazer asked himself, getting down and straightening himself up and walking to the door hesitantly, unsure if he should investigate or let them come to him.

Luckily he was spared from deciding by hearing behind him.

"You did, or well, will!" Her voice was cheerful and looking behind him he saw a short black woman, with long colorful locs, iridescent and shifting in colors, her eyes hidden behind large sunglasses with a old fashioned clock face on them both, right now they were reflecting the yellow of his eyes and of The Office.

"...I- Who are you even?"

"Oh right, I forgot you hadn't met me yet-"

"You've been using your powers in the space between universes! That's illegal!"

"...Duh, also right you haven't been on your character arc yet, you're still lawful neutral by D&D rules. Yes I am a criminal! And we will have a proper first meeting sooner rather than later & I will not like you and you will not like me but I swear we warm up to each other.

Either way! I am Entropy, and I will help you out with this… Shady but not out of your job description thing but I need you to promise me two things! Sound fair?"

She was rocking back and forth on her feet, smiling at him still. She already knew how this went, damn Hour Glasses.

"...What do you want?"

"For you to not tell past me that you already met me or anything I have told you and… You have to promise you won't call in the law when you meet me again, 'kay?" He blinked, or well it more happened in a short enough time that he couldn't see it even with his non-human biology, and she was in front of him with a hand out to make a deal.

"You'll contain the ripped universes to alternate timelines?"

"Yup, if you agree to my request."

They took her hand and shaked.

"Fine, for the sake of the Chaos Cluster."

"And your need to be the one observing it!"

There was a sound above and they both looked up to one of Odyssey's speakers.

"I am going to delete the recording of what has happened and been said over the last twenty minutes."

Stargazer looked rather embarrassed meanwhile Entropy just laughed to herself.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

"It appears that the rip in universe-427, sub universe: The Office is starting to effect some adjacent universes and make rips in them to, how are you going to proceed?" Odyssey asked, putting up around the observation room glimpses of objects from The Office reaching other universes.

"I… That universe has been rather troublesome as far as rips in reality goes, I don't know if I can actually… Repair these rips…" Stargazer muttered to himself, hand on his mouth & chin like a inquisitive statue, right now he was sitting cross legged in the air so he could see all the projections.

"We could call in someone higher in command, they could bring in the big guns and get this repaired-"

"Absolutely not, if they start to think I've bitten off more than I can chew they'll take me away from here! This is my cluster of the multiverse, I'm not giving it up to anyone, no one would love-"

"Stargazer, but you can't chew this issue, we cannot not simply do nothing, while we have a no contact rule including for multiverse travelers this goes into multiverse infection easily, if the rip gets worse it could easily destroy several universes." Odyssey coldly reminded Stargazer, it was easy for him to forget from time to time that Odyssey was first a AI made by his employers and Odyssey second.

"...I know you love it, and want what's best for it, just remember just because you love something it doesn't mean you understand what it needs." Odyssey added, trying to be warmer.

Stargazer crossed his arms and sort of laid back until he was now upside down with his head poking up like how someone laying on a bed on their stomach would to look at the issues.

"...Idea, we isolate the versions of these universes that encountered the rip, split them off into their own universes, the "main" universes continue as normal and the "ripped" universes are contained in their own section so we can observe what follows. I mean we'll have to apply for Hourglass to come and help us with this which might be… An issue, they could report back whatever they want and I won't have recourse. It'd be my word vs theirs…"

Stargazer's words hung in the air…

#Welcome home ☆tsp plot☆#Stargazer ☆ic☆#Stargazer ☆main verse☆#Entropy ☆ic☆#Entropy ☆main verse☆#Ooc ☆self para☆#Odyssey ☆ic☆#Odyssey ☆main verse☆#This is like resvoir dogs #In writing style

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limpdickharrington · 1 year

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Can you tell us any more about Jackie and Jimmy? Or Jackie's palace? Loved this part of the latest chapter!

I do actually have a whole backstory for them! But I recommend you read the freshly posted chapter before you read this as it expands on some stuff that's already gone into the fic.

They grew up in the 50s and 60s and I imagine it would've been pretty hard for them both being gay, but I want to focus on Jackie being a woman also. She wouldn't have been easily accepted amongst bikers and tradesmen during those days. I also think she maybe came from a richer family that she's estranged from, so she didn't grow up in those outsider communities either, she would've been excluded by the circles she wanted to enter.

I like to think Jackie bumped into Jimmy in a gay bar and recognised him from this biker group she was trying to get in with. Those were the times prior to the Stonewall Riots and everyone would've tried to be very secretive about it. I'm not saying Jackie blackmailed Jimmy, I'm just saying she didn't have to because Jimmy's a good guy and immediately went "Hey, if I say you're my girlfriend, you could hang out with me and the guys!"

Of course, that was just the start. Jackie wanted to ride motorcycles, but she got really good at fixing them up too. The idea of a garage came around the late 60s-early 70s, cause Jackie and Jimmy were who you went to if your stuff needed some TLC. I also think the guys would've all been giving each other shitty tattoos all the time and Jimmy just got really good at that.

I don't know how many people are aware, but prior to 1974 unmarried women were refused bank accounts and the women who had them often got half the credit limit men were given. Jimmy's good with fixing stuff and hands-on work, but he's got no head for business. He always knew it had to be Jackie, so they got married and got themselves a mortgage for this shitty little unit barely in Indy. It's Jackie's Palace because it was her ideas and her work, Jimmy just helped with being a man and bringing in clientele. The tattoo parlor was his only request. And it's not like Jackie had a problem with illegal activities, plus they definitely took in stolen cars and bikes all the damn time. That's how they got to know Ray Munson.

The Ray story didn't end well, obviously. Plus, he was horrible to work with, unpredictable and brought the police to their doorstep more than once. He became a bit of a legend to all the repair shops in Indiana, by the time he got arrested nobody wanted to deal with him. I imagine that's part of why he got desperate enough to break into a place where he knew someone could be armed and it all ended how it ended. He got stupid because he had no other choice.

Those years were pretty hard. They had to sell their house to get enough money for the place, slept on the office floor while building everything themselves and likely went to jail a couple times each. But they pulled through and life is good now, they've bought a house and they don't really need to mess with the law too much to make a living, bar Jimmy's tattooing. And by the 80s, it's an open secret with all their friends that their marriage isn't for real and Jackie's a fixture at all the gay bars anyway. Jimmy's gotten antsy with how many friends and boyfriends he's lost to the AIDS crisis and he's become a bit isolationist.

He wasn't like that yet in 1981 when he bumped into Eddie in a gay bar and he was drunk enough to tell him all about his little side business. Nor did he think to ask for ID later on when Eddie showed up at the garage, cause they met in a bar. So he tattooed a bunch of bats on Eddie and poured him a few drinks, all the way until Jackie walked in, took one look at Eddie and went "Jimmy, that's a child."

So Eddie and Jackie started off on the wrong foot. He was effectively banned from the shop and when he came back after he turned 18, he had to call Wayne to drive there with his actual birth certificate before they'd let him in. And that's how Jackie and Jimmy found out Eddie is the lice-infested kid Ray Munson used to bring in sometimes. And how Eddie got his first tattoo at 15. And how they're all friends now.

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wizardfrog69 · 1 year

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Hello there! Could I request Albert x male! reader who is part of the Moriarty group and reader pretends to be a woman who is Albert’s secret lover. Then Albert finds out about his lover’s secret? Turns out reader pretends to be one so people would be more supportive of it and because he thinks that Alby isn’t into men?

I’m so sorry if it’s confusing. Thank you

It's not confusing at all :) this will probably take a bit more time then the others but I'll write it nonetheless!

'•.¸♡ how to avoid stupid laws ♡¸.•'

Albert x male!reader

Fluff/angst

Cw!!! Homophobia, transphobia.

If this subject is triggering in anyway please do not read, your mental wellbeing is more important

A/n: so being gay was illegal at this time in England (but it wasn't illegal to be a lesbian or a woman who felt romantic/sexual feelings to wards other women and other genders)so I'll be mentioning that, that isn't the case anymore as far as I know. Also I couldn't find any good pictures with the green alber is represented in so sage green will have to do.

Everyone around you saw you as a woman, even the love of your life, Albert. You and Albert weren't publicly in a relationship, none of your close friends even know you knew who Albert was or that you were in love, the only people who knew you and Albert were together was Albert and you, no one else knew you two were together although some had their suspicions.

Despite the way you presented yourself you were not a woman, but due to the grave laws against love you had no choice but to deceive everyone into thinking you were a woman, which was also against the law but you hoped no one would say a word about your true self.

You were involved in other illegal activities to make the world of England more... bearable to say the least. Was this plan going to work? Will the death of nobles change anything? Or will the deaths only stir up some commotion which will die out with time, no one knew but they hoped to make the country which occupied their minds to change for the better.

As to your relationship, it wasn't easy for you to maintain your secret but what else could you do? Many concerns of Albert finding out consumed your thoughts, what if he found out? What if he decided to rat you? What if he didn't love you anymore? All these thoughts consumed your thoughts and you didn't know what to do, this resulted in a subconscious distancing yourself in fear of your secret was to come out.

Albert noticed that you were distancing yourself and wanted to know why, he decided to visit you at your home, it was a small place to live compared to Albert's manner but you loved your little home. Albert has visited you in that house before and got used to entering without knocking but anytime he came over you were ready for his arrival and were all dressed up in pretty dresses and wore makeup to conceal your masculine facial features.

Albert walked into your house as per usual and walked about to find where you were, he stopped when he walked past your bed room to find a stranger dressed in a suit making the bed in which you slept. Albert stood there in shock, who is that? Where were you? Are you OK? Did this person hurt you? What happened to you? Albert was about to forcefully get a confession out of a stranger until the stranger turned around and had a look of pure horror on his face. Albert's eyes widened when he realised that the man infront of him was no stranger but his lover. 'What- who- how- I...' he was speechless, no words could describe the mixed feelings of relief which seemed like a grain of sand compared to the sea of questions he had.

'I'm sorry.' Were the only words you could think to say, still paralysed from the shock. 'I'm sorry but I'm a man, I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm so sorry.' Tears started to roll down your cheeks and you couldn't do anything about it you didn't know what to do, was Albert going hate you for this? What was going to happen? 'Why did you lie?' You hated those words and the way Albert looked at you, you hated everything about that moment, you just wanted the floor and the walls to eat you alive, for you to disappear, but you were stuck there not being able to fully have a grasp on the situation. 'I... it's because I'm gay and I didn't want to be imprisoned, can you ever forgive me? I also did it because I love you but how could you ever love a man, I just wanted for you to love me, atleast for a while...'

Albert's heart ached, you couldn't be free due to this country's horrible laws. You noticed Albert's expression soft resulting in your body doing the same. 'I also love you and being a man will never change that, I love you no matter if you're a woman or a man, I will always love you the same y/n' in the same second you could feel a pair of hands around you giving you a hug, you hugged back and the tears only increased resulting in you sobbing quietly into Albert's shoulder. 'I'm sorry...' the words left your mouth with the sobs which accompanied them. 'There is nothing to apologise for, everything is OK.' A soft kiss was planted on your lips in the hope of making you feel calmer.

That evening was spent in each others company.

༺♡༻ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 ⋆ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 ༺♡༻

I sound weird for some reason. Oh well I hope you enjoyed this :)

Don't forget to take care of yourself! And have a wonderful day/night.

-with love Az the wizard frog :) <3

#mtp x you #mtp x reader #mtp albert #mtp #albert moriarty #albert james moriarty #albert moriarty x reader #albert mtp #albert mtp x reader

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mermaidsirennikita · 2 years

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What are your top problematic heroes? I just finished devil in winter for the first time (what on earth I was thinking waiting this long I'll never know) and now I have a craving for more villainous heroes

Happy Devil in Winter reading, lol. If you haven't read It Happened One Autumn yet, Westcliff is definitely consider a Problematic Hero (with good reason) and that's a great book. Often, Sebastian is considered the By Far Most Problematic Wallflowers hero, but tbh I think a lot of that comes from people reading Devil in Winter first or solo and registering Westcliff as the Noble Counterpart. When in reality, he's actually preeeeetty wonderfully problematic. I'll always say, Sebastian is always like "I never would've actually *airquotes* rape your friend" but Westcliff saw Lillian drunk off her ass and trying to fuck him and went ".... why not".

Others include:

--Dorian Blackwell, The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. Crimes include: murder, drugging and kidnapping the heroine, hiding his actual identity from her for MOST of the book lmao, maybe some light dubcon...? She was verbally into it, but whatever, and of course that time he insinuated she was sucking her boss's dick when they met.

--Carlton Morley! The boss! His actual hero book is Seducing A Stranger by Kerrigan Byrne. Crimes include: committer of various illegal beatings, is technically? Law enforcement? But I'll let it slide this one time, fucks the heroine and takes her virginity without asking if she's a virgin (his friends later: but did she seem like a virgin??? him: idk what's a virgin seem like) so it's P INTENSE EXPERIENCE, generally thinks his pregnant wife is a murderer for most of his book.

--Derek Craven, Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. Crimes include: tried to strangle a bitch, was pretty mean to her beforehand, slept with someone other than the heroine, which I don't care about because they weren't together at the time but lots of people do care. I'm sure he's killed people, but a lot of people focus on the strangling thing. Whatever, I'm good with it.

--Edward Alcott, The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath. Crimes include: pretending to be his identical twin to his twin's pregnant wife for MONTHS. MONTHS. THE BABY WAS BORN BY THE TIME SHE FOUND OUT. And he was totally gonna just keep going with it, until she said some dirty shit in his ear and he called her a dirty girl and she went *GASP* MY HUSBAND IS DEAF IN THAT EAR--YOU'RE HIS BROTHER!!!!! What a way to give up the game. I love him, I think he did nothing wrong.

--Duncan Maxwell, Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell. Crimes include: taking the heroine's virginity when her brother SPECIFICALLY asked him not to, later getting mad at the heroine for shit that honestly wasn't her bad, then being all "I'm gonna marry someone else and keep you as a mistress" lmao foul. Love it.

--Royce Westmoreland, A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. Crimes include: having coercive sex with his 17 year old heroine, then dragging her to the altar to force her to marry him because the king said he had to and being like "I don't wanna be here either girl". I'm sure he's killed, like, thousands. Yields one of my favorite quotes in romance:

“You are mad!" she snapped, her chest heaving. "And you are a devil!" "And you, my dear," Royce imperturbably replied, "are a bitch." With that, he turned to the horrified friar and unhesitatingly announced, "The lady and I wish to be wed.”

--Maximus Batten, Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt. Crimes include: it's been a while since I read Maiden Lane, but I believe he slapped his sister because she fucked around on her fiancee... It was a different time. He also fucks the heroine (a loooot) while courting the woman she's the lady's companion of, and clearly plans on just... continuing to do that after marriage. I love him with all my heart.

--Mickey O'Connor, Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt. Crimes include: is a (river) pirate. Makes the heroine look like she cheated on her husband and allows her to be publicly shamed. Abandons his baby (at an orphanage!!!). General criminal activity.

--Valentine Napier, Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt. Crimes include: kidnapping, murder, blackmail, watched the heroine while living in the walls of his own home like a rat. Made a (joking) comment about defiling his heroine's niece. Is fully certifiable.

--Clayton Madden, Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe. Crimes include: beating people, scamming patrons at his illegal casino, lying to the heroine about his goals the entire book, basically.

--Ewan, Duke of Marwick, Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean. Crimes include: sorta trying to kill the heroine? It's a little complex, they were kids. Definitely trying to kill his brothers at points. HE HAD GOOD REASONS IMO.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #honestly there are more but keeping it concise-ish #and these are some of the top ones in terms of both crimes AND my liking for them

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navree · 1 year

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https://twitter.com/sunshove/status/1611420410012401664?t=E-_OgwO--KM8nt74Jsi0NA&s=19

Thoughts?

As I've said before, I'm an Alicole "shipper" I suppose in that I quite like their dynamic and I believe there's a romanticism to it, especially as their connection grows and only gets stronger with the passage of time, though I do maintain that it has not and should never get into the realm of physical, unless we're in a heavy AU scenario. So from that perspective, I quite like this, and I've always enjoyed Emily's insight into Alicent, especially at such a vulnerable point in her life.

To me, this makes sense with the view I've had of Alicent and Criston in episode five. I believe I've mentioned it before (can't find the post but if you search 'alicole' on my blog you should find it somewhere), but a huge part of why that scene in the godswood is such a big deal is because Criston, wrecked with the guilt and despair over the track his life has taken, is prepared to kill himself (idk about Westeros but in Catholicism at least that's a big ole sin) and then the beautiful young woman, the merciful queen who had spared him despite knowing his crime, the mother of the king's children, comes to him through the mist in this holy place and saves him. Of course Criston must see an innocence in her, a purity untouched by whatever was in Rhaenyra that had her seduce him, in his head, (patriarchy be whack), and certainly by his own sin and defilement of his Kingsguard vows and white cloak. Alicent comes to him at his lowest to save and in that moment Criston sees her as The Mother reborn, it's why that moment is so pivotal to his die-hard loyalty to her. And after Criston's spent the entire episode seeing Rhaenyra not caring about the sanctity of what he wants and how he views the world, see Laenor and Joffrey flout the laws of gods and men (I know homosexuality isn't illegal in Westeros but it is frowned upon), and have Joffrey all but confirm that the life of highborns is that of debauchery and dissolution and sacrilege, having Alicent still represent what he thought was loss is deeply important to him, as important as the human fact that he's no doubt grateful someone cared enough to find him in his darkest hour.

On Alicent's part, it equally makes sense to me that Alicent saw a kinship with Criston, she alone (other than Rhaenyra, who's busy at the moment) knows what he's done and she knows better than Rhaenyra how he must be feeling, not just because of his earlier verbalizations but also because they share a religion that they both have a deep connection to, as well as Alicent also knowing intimately how it feels to want to act out violence when your emotions grow too much, except she acts out that violence on herself when she self-harms vs Criston, who appeared to have acted out that violence by bashing Joffrey's head in. And this is Alicent, Alicent who we've seen over five episodes be kindhearted and determined to give the benefit of the doubt, Alicent who decided she was gonna spare Criston despite his crime, Alicent who gave her seat a lil pat to have him sit down next to her to be more comfortable during their talk. She can recognize their kindred spirit and still see past what he's done to understand how he feels and goes to him, and Criston reacts to that goodness and does, yeah, likely see it as an innocence he'd thought was gone from the world at that time.

I think it can be read either way; I know Emily's said that she views Alicent as having been in secret love with Criston for some time, which is part of why she views the whole situation as a betrayal, beyond just Rhaenyra lying and losing her dad and being worried about what this means for her kids. I think it can be certainly read as platonic, love doesn't strictly mean romantic love and it's entirely possible that the deep abiding love we know Criston and Alicent feel for each other is as platonic as it is chaste, Criston can still be like family just by being her friend and companion and sworn protector, and so I do hope the lesbian!Alicent truthers aren't discouraged by it (plus I will go to my grave swearing Rhaenyra and Alicent were in love as kids/teenagers before life went to ship, I stand by Rhaenicent). A bond is a bond is a bond, whether it's romantic or platonic, and there is something to the idea that Alicole cannot even exist without Rhaenicent having existed in its various forms, but that's a post for another time.

TL;DR, I agree with Emily on this and it's basically been my viewpoint on how that relationship became so fireforged ever since the episode aired (wanted to write a fic about it after the ep and then got lazy), but it can definitely be read as important but platonic if that's your jam. I still ship it tho.

#personal #answered #anonymous #alicole #the power of being a multishipper is that one thing doesn't cancel out the other #i can love westerosi lancelot and guinevere but make them zealots AND i can love the sad lesbians torn apart by the machinations of men #i contain multitudes and so does alicent tbf

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sleepdeprivedqueer · 2 years

Text

Dancing In The Rain

Werewolf!Ace x GN!Reader

Chapter 13

WARNING ⚠️: Involves blood!

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help me regain a human beings memories."

"Are you fucking kidding me Shanks?" Whitey Bay growled, "A human being?"

"Yes," Shanks said, sitting in the chair as he looked at the witch, "I know it sounds strange but-"

"Strange!? It sounds illegal! Out of everything you could have asked me, you asked me to try and get a human being's memories back to them!? Are you out of your fucking mind? And for what, don't tell me that you love this person!" She said.

"No, I don't. But I know them very well. And to think that they lost their memories and forgot one of Whitebeard's son as their pet dog. It makes me very worried," he said, watching as the woman's facial expression changed.

"WHAT!? YOU'RE FUCKING TELLING ME THAT ONE OF WHITEBEARD'S BOYS ARE A FUCKING PET DOG!?" She yelled, clearly upset, "Does he know about this!?"

Shanks shook his head no.

"Oh. Oh. So not only am I doing something illegal by supernatural laws. But Whitebeard doesn't know that one of his son's is a fucking pet dog! Do you realize how pissed he is going to be when he finds out!? You know how strict he is to that sort of thing!"

"He hasn't left them, and knowing Ace, he most likely doesn't want to leave. He fought Trafalgar Law because he was talking bad about them," Shanks tried to reason, "do you know how long it's been since a werewolf and a vampire have fought each other?"

Whitey Bay stood still.

"Not for at least 20 decades. Trust me, I would usually deal with it myself, but when it comes to Roger's boy. I can't," the red haired werewolf looked at the ground, "I know Roger would want what's best for him, and coming from a werewolf who's loved a human. I know what it's like. What it's like to get the urge to protect them, you'd do anything to get any sort of affection from them."

He looked up the at the blue haired witch that stood there with wide eyes.

"So please, help me out here."

There was a couple minutes of silence.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, sighing as she turned to her table, "but if Whitebeard finds out, I'm putting the blame on you."

Shanks chuckled.

"Fine with me," he stood up from the chair and left the log cabin house. Walking down the dirt path of the woods, thinking to himself as he did so, "I hope I'm doing something right Roger."

Meanwhile, in the cabin with the witch, she looked through her books. Trying to find something to help with memory loss, especially with werewolves. Looking through each page one by one, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, word by word. Until she came by something very interesting.

'When it comes to a human's memories being taken for finding a werewolf it can be very different for the situation. If it's just a glance then they will most likely forget it for the rest of their lives. If they've known each other long enough to to be friends, it can be a little easier. When it comes down to good friends, there's a very much higher chance of their memories coming back. The last thing is that if there ever is any chance that one of them loves the other, or they both love each other, the werewolf would have to bite them in a certain area. It depends on the person, but very rare chance, it'll be where the scent glands would be if the person was a werewolf. Which would mark them as mates'

Whitey Bay groaned. This wasn't good, if Shanks was right and they were very good friends or if Ace really loved you. It was a very low chance, but it was still a chance. And it would make the both of you in more danger, more danger than before. And it would also make Whitebeard much more angry than he would originally be if he knew about it before all this mess.

"God damnit. This is going to be a trip."

Your body shivered under the blanket as you sat in front of the newly bought heater. It was still so cold, you were warming up but slowly, a hot cup of hot chocolate in your hands. You made plans to call someone to check on your heating system. Markiplier played in the background to try and fix the empty and too silent problem. Thick fluffy socks were on your feet to try and get rid of the freezing ass no reason of why feet have to be so cold that was biting at your core. Isuka had stopped by with some food for you, she stayed over for a bit, but then questioned you about whoever the hell Ace was. You have no idea why you said he was a old friend, or why you had to come up with something so quickly.

Rubbing your eyes and yawning as you looked at the time, you got to clock out early. Which you oh so happily took, enjoying being curled up. Giving you time to think or just space out, yawning every know and again. Taking sips of your hot chocolate to enjoy the warm liquid as it went down your throat and warmed your body. But sadly only for a little bit, but luckily you got a large cup so you could enjoy a lot of it. As you took a large sip, you got the feeling that someone was watching you.

Looking at your covered windows, trying to look for some kind of shadow, but there wasn't. Pulling the blanket closer and scooting closer to the heater, trying to get heated up faster so you can go get some kind of weapon. Taking larger sips, ignoring the burning on your tongue. While doing so you thought about what Shanks had said, about a dog. If you really did have a dog then there would be a water and food bowl, there wasn't any dog shampoo. There also wasn't a bed for said dog to sleep in. It didn't make any sense.

Turning the TV off and unplugging the heater and moved it into your room, plugging it up and putting it on the highest setting. Finishing your hit chocolate bad putting the cup in the dishwasher. Grabbing a couple of knives and making sure to lock every window and door. Once everything felt safer you got settled to sleep. It was still early, 6:48, but going to bed early wouldn't hurt, you were tired anyways. Locking your door and getting settled in bed, you had to get multiple blankets just to feel warm. You played some games on your phone to try and make yourself extra tired so that way you wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night. Once you were tired enough, making sure the phone was on the charger.

Curled up under the blankets, staring at the wall, very slowly closing your eyes. Slowly, you fell into a nice deep slumber, finally feeling warm since you've woken up.

A soft painful groan left you, that pain that came from the area that's been hurting since highschool. But only this time the pain was worse, but it was like you couldn't wake up. You couldn't open your eyes. It felt as if something was restraining you from moving, it was like sleep paralysis. But only you couldn't see.

You swore you heard a moan, the sort of moan when you taste something really good. It was deep and scratchy, muffled even, it felt as if something was punctured into that area that's in pain. But then it left, the pain stopped and you were relieved. A soft sigh leaving you as you tried to go back to sleep, but you didn't get the chance. Something with sharp fangs bit your shoulder, soft slurping noises and quiet muffled moans that made you question if you even heard them at all. The pain in your shoulder left again, and this time it moved to your other shoulder. Your body jolted in response to the bite, like a large mosquito was sucking at your blood. But you hoped it was a dream, just thinking about a large ass mosquito looming over you and sucking your blood.

Your body shivered just at the thought, but you came to the conclusion that it was just a dream. So you slowly fell back asleep, the pain dulling.

The next morning, you woke up to a text from your boss saying that since apparently yesterday was supposed to be my day off that today would be my day off. Huffing and looking at the clock on your phone, 5:56 in the damn morning. Groaning as you set your phone back down on the nightstand and laid in the bed for some time. Staring up at the ceiling, blinking slowly as the time ticked by, breathing slowly and calmly. When the sign of sunlight peaked through the curtains a little you got up. But groaning in pain as you did so.

Stretching your limbs and loosening all the knots and popping your bones. A sudden shiver ran up your spine, quickly getting the blankets and wrapping them around your body. Looking over to the heater you saw that it was off and unplugged.

"Damnit," your cursed. Shuffling over to it and plugging it back in before pressing the button and turning the heater on. Curling up under the blankets and in front of the heater. It was fucking spring, almost summer, why the hell was your house so fucking cold. Were you going crazy? You have no idea! But you do know that your house has never been this cold, not even as I child, not even when you were outside in the snow!

The heater did help you warm up, enough to dress into comfy winter like clothes. Ignoring the pain that slowly started to awaken, brushing it off because it was in the same area since highschool. Your plans were to grab some snacks and stay in your nice warm room. When you got the heater you also got a lot of food and for some reason, meat. A lot of it. It was weird, along with the fact that when you entered the house, you were expecting someone to greet you. But no one was there, just like it's always been. But you ignored it, just continuing on with the day and to where you were, cooking you breakfast and then grabbing snacks. You planned on watching the new Resident Evil, ready to fangirl over Leon and Chris. Of course you were a bit pissed that Leon looked more like Carlos than actual Leon, but it was okay.

Making yourself a large cup of hot chocolate as you added butter and powdered sugar to your homemade cinnamon toast. Watching as the butter melted and mixed with the powdered sugar. Grabbing the movie and food, bringing it all to your room, coming back in to clean the stove and the dishes. Humming softly as the sound of rain was muffled. It made you hum. Looking outside the window to confirm that it was indeed raining.

What a way to darken the mood, smiling brightly as you quickened your pace on cleaning the dishes. Setting them down to dry and then turning the lights off. For some reason you grabbed a large chef knife, holding it tightly as you checked all the windows and doors. Looking out your glass sliding doors, you noticed cracks, like someone slammed it shut waaay to hard. Running your fingers over it to try and see how thick it was, but while doing so a piece fell out and cut your middle finger. It felt like a paper cut.

And just like any person that got a paper cut or sliced their finger, you hissed and pulled your hand away. Checking it up close to make sure that there was no small glass shards in the cut. It wasn't too big and too thick, you would be fine. Making a note to call someone to replace it before it cracked anymore and most likely shattering.

Everything was locked, even the back door down the stairs, opening your door and meeting the amazing warmth. Turning your Xbox on and sticking the disk in, gremlin shuffling onto your bed. Getting nice and comfortable, you even grabbed extra pillows to get extra extra comfy.

You basically built yourself a little blanket and pillow fort on your bed. Despite how messy it looked, it was actually really comfortable and you felt...safe. But didn't you always feel safe in your home? Shaking the thoughts out of your head and focusing on the movie. It was horror movie time, it was raining and everything, the perfect time for a horror movie.

Damnit, the room and halls are so dark. All of his senses weren't working correctly, how the hell was he supposed to get out of here?

Stumbling down the hall in the dark, his feet are cold along with the building. He found a pair of loose pants for him to wear, damn you for getting him into that. His brothers would force shirts on him but you somehow made it a habit for him to wear something.

Squinting his eyes as he stalked down the hall, turning corners and leaning against the wall. Ace felt really helpless and weak in this situation.

Whatever that damn crazy ugly clown scientist gave to him was terrible, he could easily figure his way out if he was normal. But it seems nothing came easy. When taking a small breath through his nose, the air was very icy, opening his mouth to see if it was just his sense of smell. It wasn't, the air was colder and icier, and as he walked more the stronger it got. There was a loud laughter that came from a large door, it was the fucking laughter of that stupid damn ugly clown. Softly growling and slowly making his way to the door to try and hear if he was saying anything important.

"I can't believe it Monet! The CP-0, paid me even though I didn't kill him! I gave them fake ashes and I have the real one, alive and drugged! I can't wait to test on him, I can possibly even make cross breeds and make a whole army of supernatural creatures!"

Ace's stomach turned.

"Mixing creatures with such a powerful werewolf, I don't think they'll survive. I could feel his power from here, how dangerous," the ladies voice surprised him. And by the sound, she licked her lips.

"Yes, it will be such a great experiment! Monet! If you wouldn't mind could you possibly be the first one!? A harpy and a werewolf, I wonder what such great power it will have!"

Ace's face turned and shifted into disgust. A harpy? Marco was the only harpy he really knew, and by the sound of this woman, she doesn't really sound like the nicest. And talking in such a way made him fucking sick.

In the corner of his eye he saw someone in a yellow suit, one person, perfect. Carefully and quickly stumbling towards him, if he threatened him enough then Ace could find a way out. And even maybe kill him and take his suit to make it easier. Turning the corner and following him, when there was a closet he grabbed the man and threw him in the closet. Closing the door and licking it, his nails grew long and sharp, fangs bared as he turned to the man.

"Where am I!?" He asked, grabbed the man harshly, bit digging his nails into the suit but squeezing hard enough to cut circulation off.

"Aah! Master!" He yelled. Ace grabbed him by the neck and asked him again.

"Where. Am. I!? What is the nearest exit. If you tell me I'll let you live," Ace growled loudly, fire slowly started to erupt from his fangs.

"Fine, fine! Continue going down the hall, turn right, go pass four doors, you turn is the hallway after the the four doors on the left, then a tight right. There's a door that leads out into the woods!" He said, voice shaking. Ace took the information in before growling and taking the man's mask off.

"Thank you, but I lied about letting you live. I can't trust you and I need your suit."

The man let a short scream out before it was muffled by blood, the teaing and ripping of skin. Claw and bite marks across the torn skin, using his anger to fully tear him apart. Once he was done, blood dripped from his mouth and nails, growling like a starved wolf that found food. He put the yellow suit on, Ace made sure not to get any blood on it so that way he could fit in better and not rise any suspension.

Unlocking the door and slightly opening it to see if anyone was in sight, thankfully no one was. Quietly closing the door behind him and holding the gun just like the man, he started to walk down the hall. Following the man's directions and hoping that he didn't run into anyone. Hell, Ace didn't even know where he fucking was, and his sense of smell and all of his other senses were off. All because of that damn drug.

The suit was stuffy, he didn't like wearing a shirt for that reason, but if he needed to get out of here, and back to you. He would most likely do anything. Ace wasn't going to admit that he was addicted to your praises and soft touches, how soft your voice was when you praised him. Warm soft hands that rubbed his head and barely messed up his hair. He was worried about you, if Law knew what happened to him, then you could be in some real danger. Ace didn't care if you saw, Ace will fight a vampire, his ancestors did years ago, he doesn't have any problem starting another war. He ember liked Law anyways, Luffy always saying that he was sa good friend and was his best friend. Luffy, such a sweet and wild child, Ace loved him and wondered how he was doing.

He turned down the hall and counted the doors on the left, they were sadly spread out quiet a ways. Trying to stay calm and not rush, if anything he could probably make a good lie if he was caught running. Maybe saying that some animal got in somehow and he was chasing it and trying to find it, yeah, that sounds believable. So, the werewolf started to run down the hall, turning down the hall that the man told him too. But his luck would have it, there was a group of the men and yellow suits, they all turned ad looked at him.

"Hey! What are you doing running around!? Did Master tell you to do something and he didn't tell us?"

Damnit, he needed to pretend to be out of breath. So he started panting.

"No...there's a stray cat that's in here," he continued to fake pant, "I caught the thing eating...something and then he ran off. I don't know which way he went though."

"You didn't tell Master!?"

"Well, no, I don't want him to maybe, worry. I wanted...to take care of it first."

"Well, we'll help you look. Men! Go that way! I'll be with him!"

Fucking great.

Ace would need to take care of this man quickly before taking the suit off and charging as fast and as long as he can. It was hard for him to see with the suit and the dizziness. The men ran away and Ace and the other man continued to run down the hall. He saw the tight right turn, he needed to go that way.

"I think I saw something go that way!" Ace pointed at the turn.

The other man just nodded and they both took the turn and ran for a while. It was dark but he could see a door at the end, his eye sight was starting to get better. They slowed down and stopped in front of the door, panting as they looked around, or the other man did. He was confused on why the hell they headed this way, if a cat really did come down this way. They would be able to see it.

"Are you sure you saw it come down this way?" The man just continued to talk on, but then it came to his mind. If the cat did go this way, the rest of the men would of been able to see it.

A low growl made him freeze. Slowly turning around as he turned to the angry werewolf, teeth bared, lips curled into a snarl. A vein on his forehead as his claws were long and sharp. Dried blood was on his lips and down his chin, claws were also covered in dried blood. He didn't have time to fire, his life was over as soon as he aimed the gun. Ace didn't care about the suit being bloody, he was going to run away. Getting up from the bloody body, blood was splattered on the floor and on Ace.

Turning to the door and throwing it open, not wasting any time to charge out. Stumbling but he got out, blood was rolling his chest, but he didn't care. Ace needed to find out where he was and how to get back to you. Running itno tree and scraping his skin, groaning in pain whenever he ran into a thorn bush. Cursing, now he knew how you felt whenever he was chasing you through the woods. Now he felt even worse about it, the more he ran, the more his energy drained, it usually did, but it was draining quickly. Even his senses drained, the world was getting dark, he tripped over a fallen tree and into a creek. It wasn't shallow, thankfully, but it still hurt him a bit. Getting up and continuing to run, trying his best to stay awake.

Thankfully, he made it to a road, not a highway, but aback road, and he almost got hit if the car didn't swerve.

"Oh my god! What the hell is- oh my god, sir are you okay!?" A female voice called out to him, it sounded a bit familiar. Standing in the road, he tiredly looked at the blue haired woman, blue clothes. She looked familiar, where had he seen here, maybe, Marco? "Come on, get in!"

She grabbed him and pushed him into the passenger seat, buckling him up and then pressed on the gas. Ace groaned as his head rolled around, trying to make sense of the area.

"Where are you from?" She asked, Ace just let out a low groan, she asked again, "sir, where are you from. Are you from around here?"

"N-No," Ace thought, then it hit, "Vile...Vile Ridge."

"Vile Ridge!? That's a wooden area!? His could you live there? There's no hospitals anywhere near there! I'm going to take you to the ne-"

"No!"

His sudden outburst surprised him and the lady.

"I'm just tired, there's a house, a fancy wood two story house, it's very fancy," he said, groaning.

"O-Okay, if you say so," she said.

Ace didn't have very much time left before he passed out, or went blind for a while.

"S-Sir! I'm here at the bridge?" Her voice was distant, but he woke up to it, feeling better than the last time. Looking around he found that she was right.

"Oh, thank you, sorry for falling asleep in your car. I'll pay you back some time," he thanked, standing up and getting out.

"Hey wait!" Ace paused, holding the door, "Are you, Ace? Portgas D. Ace, Shanks came to me and said something about a human. Something like that they lost their memories about their dog I'm guessing that's yo-"

"Are they okay!?" Ace suddenly yelled.

"Well, from what Shanks said, yes."

"Did anything happen to them since then!? Are they hurt!?"

"Well, I don't know. But listen to me!" She said, grabbed his arm, "I don't know how close you are but there is a chance of them getting their memories back. But, with how close Shanks said you two were, you would need too," the lady sighed, "you need to bite them. Something about your saliva having something in it for memories or numbing something."

The werewolf paused, taking the information in before nodding. Closing the door and taking a deep whiff of the air. Getting a nose full of Law's scent, and blood, your blood. Without hesitation he sprinted where the scent was coming from, growling as he ever did so. It wasn't strong, but it still smelt a bit fresh.

He was angry, to think that him being gone for like a day, a fucking day, and Law got ahold of you. When your house came into view, Law's scent was stronger, like he marked the place. That's probably why he went after you as soon as he probably heard about him disappearing, to Mar the area, and most likely marking you. That thought made him angry. He made his way to your door, trying to open it, it was locked, the glass sliding doors, locked, any windows, locked. But your bedroom window, Law most likely always got in through your window.

Grabbing the bottom and then pushing it up very quickly, pulling the curtains away and sat the the windowsill. His dark eyes locked onto your side and surprised ones, a horror movie played in the background.

He couldn't control himself, Law's scent, it was all over you, he marked you, a vampire marked you, while he was away, he marked you. His scent will always be on you, he couldn't control it, he had to, his fangs grew on their own along with his body.

A long scream, your scream echoed through the house and out the window.

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

#portgas d. ace x reader #portgas d ace x you #portgas d. ace x y/n #ace one piece #portgas d ace #one piece #whitebeard pirates

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spaghettificationandpretzels · 2 years

Text

The Reaper and The Death Angel Snippet 4 - The Charming Gazette

Who doesn't love a bit of world-building?

Series Masterlist

Part 30

Contains: A little it of fluff

895 Words

Comment if you want to be tagged.

From meaningless scuttlebutt to breaking news The Charming Gazette has it all.

Living in a small town meant a small-town newspaper, in this case The Charming Gazette. Run by a mix of fresh out of high school kids who want to be journalists, in the know towns folk and small-time writers and photographers.

For just three dollars a week, the paper could be delivered to your door seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year. It wasn't the largest publication, there was a section for the local businesses, another for school sports and obituaries.

Sometimes, they wrote about the Club, Clay was good friends with the head of the paper so it was never bad. Sometimes they wrote about weather events or the change of seasons. There was the occasional huge story, like when the new fish monger was caught selling fake crab but most of the time, it was such small-town gossip and fluff pieces.

Although, that didn't stop everyone from reading it, and you can best bet at least one article would be the topic of every breakfast table in Charming.

"Did you see the front page today?" You took the paper from your brother.

"The guys at Teller Morrow help local business."

You nodded, "yes I did. I'm pretty sure what Clay has going on with Jerry is illegal, I thought the news was supposed to be impartial."

Sam shook his head, "it's not when the head writer's sons works for Unser and Jerry's been getting free services for years."

The article was simple, and went on to talk about how after a truck fire, the local ice cream man was out of work, so T-M built him a custom truck and offered half-price service as long as he was in business.

"To be fair, he makes the ice cream himself and it's amazing, I don't blame them if they made him pay them hin chocolate chip Sundays."

****

"Wow, they've really got it in for Hale." Clay tossed the paper to the side, everyone had stopped by Gemma's for a nice weekend breakfast and the paper this morning was being passed from person to person.

"Dirty development done dirt cheap."

"Good, does anyone in this town want what Hale does. Even his brother dislikes him."

Jax shook his head, "you should have heard Earl go on and on about Hale harassing him to buy his house, he might wanted his lawn mower fixed but I'm pretty sure he was looking to hire Happy for some other work."

Gemma laughed, "wouldn't that be a story."

****

"Fun at Francine's Fabrics."

"Are you going to the sewing class on the weekend?"

You nodded your head, "Of course, I mean, I know how to sew but she always orders the fabrics I need so I want to support her."

Sam nodded, "yeah, some of the guys are going to be there. She's a good lady."

The piece about her shop was nice, the author had won the high school textile competition that year and wanted to give credit for all help Francine had given them. You hoped it would drum up business for her. Francine was a kind woman in her mid-fifties who went out of her way to help everyone who entered her store.

"She deserved every cent of what she makes this weekend, I'm glad the paper decided to run the story."

****

Jax put the paper in front of you, "what have I told you about sharing your achievements with me?"

You shook your head, "it was under duress, the museum made Holt force me to do it."

"Charming's own Miss Frizzle."

Jax dramatically opened the paper, reading the article out loud.

"Our tour started with a warm hello and the statement that there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. Dr l/n took us through her lab where she and her colleagues help law enforcement identify missing persons."

"Dr l/n or y/n as she insisted we call her believes that science should be for everyone, and when she's not giving a voice to those who had theirs stolen, she's teaching the kids of Charming Elementary all about the world on her wildly popular tours."

"But that's not all, the quiet Charming resident is also an author and activist who spends her free time lecturing at various universities and speaking at the UN."

You shook your head, "ok Jackson enough. You are insufferable." He smiled and went to the cupboard, getting out the scissors, "what are you doing."

He picked up the paper again and started cutting, "I'm framing this."

You thumped his arm, "do you enjoy embarrassing me?"

He smirked like a cat who just caught a mouse, "no, I want to hang it in my locker."

****

Jerry answered the phone, "hello sir, I have a story I'm sure you'll love to run."

He picked up his notepad, "what is it?"

He could hear that the person was outside the paper's office, "in two days, something is going to break and you're going to want to be the first person to talk about it. Outside in the rose bush is a folder filled with photos, with plenty of proof to your story. All I ask, is that you run it under my headline."

Jerry sent someone out and sure enough, they came back with a thick yellow folder. He was shocked when he opened it. "Done, what's the headline?"

"Fascists at our door."

Part 31

Just a short one to add context for the next chapter which should be up tomorrow. I hope you liked this plot device.

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in-christalone · 2 years

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You do understand that roe v wade being over turned doesn't mean no abortions, right? It's state by state, at least legally. There is still going to be many illegal (unsafe for the pregnant person) abortions. The reason we need safe abortions is so ALIVE people don't die. Just wait until next year and google the deaths from unsafe abortions. Please for the love of God stop saying abortion is murder when the mother was doing what was best for her and the future child, all your doing is shaming people.

Roe v wade is just the start, next they come for gay marriage, freedom of religion, birth control and other rights that we need (possibly even your right to vote). We're going back to the 1800 hundreds were the only law was church.

Just because you have these values doesn't mean everyone else does. If you want to be Christian great, that's why we have freedom of religion. The over turning of r v w is just going to make alot of people's live worse.

I know your going to say "no gay marriage, great!" But imagine if that was your right to be a Christian. You would be (rightfully) upset having your rights taken away by old white men. That's the reality for alot of people now.

I know your probably not going to respond to this but please understand what your saying. We have these laws for a reason and the only result that will come of this is death and suffering of many. Most of this does not effect you because you are a (most likely) cis straight white woman and Christian, the only oppression you have faced is from being a woman. I'm honestly surprised as a woman you would be apposed to having safe abortions.

I am literally begging you to please stop spreading hate. People kys over some of the stuff you say and if I was at my lowest point when I came out I probably would have too. In your bio I saw that you were apart of the LGBTQ+ and am very sorry you were forced to be some you aren't.

"Please for the love of God stop saying abortion is murder when the mother was doing what was best for her and the future child"

There is no future for a person who is murdered, these children have no chance at life. Sin should be shamed, however, that shame should lead you to the foot of the cross where Jesus died for your sins so that you may have eternal life in Him.

The Church faced persecution ever since Jesus had died and was resurrected, even to this day Christians around the world are having their rights taken away, they are raped, beheaded, murdered, their families are sometimes even forced to watch in terror tragic things. I cannot say that I personally know what that's like, but with any look into history you will see that Christians ARE persecuted for their faith, rights taken away and stripped of power.

but we stand strong for our Savior. We love the world and desire fo you to come to Christ.

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kaleb-is-definitely-sane · 1 year

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this could be a weird question so excuse me if it is, ignore the ask in that case

i'd like to know, which is your favourite biblical story? i'm a christian as well, and although i consider myself well versed with most biblical stories, every so often i come across one that i haven't read, and then slowly pouring myself over the verses and committing them to memory over the course of a few days, as well as absorbing the underlying message in them is an activity i've treasured over the years! again, i'm simply curious~

you don't need to answer if you don't want to!

hope you have a great day/night!

Thanks for the question <3

I can't think of a single favorite story but I do have a few that I really like:

I love the story of Deborah and Jael; how all the men were so cowardly and timid and so God raised up two women to !) lead the army and 2) do the final strike against their enemies. And meanwhile, Deborah was not only a prophet and a commander but also a singer <3. Jane of All Trades

I love the fire from Heaven with Elijah cause he just stars making fun of the false god saying stuff like "Maybe he's on vacation. Or using the bathroom! Or maybe he's sleeping; and you need to wake him up!"

All of Esther! The book does a complete 180. First Mordeci and Esther are on the bottom and their lives are in danger but by the end (through the cunning of Esther and the invisible hand of God) Esther is queen, Mordeci is the right hand man and the Jewish people stop a genocide and earn the right to defend their people <3

I love when the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman before Jesus asking whether or not she should be stoned to death (which was illegal cause the law clearly states the man and the woman must be brought but i digress) and Jesus just starts writing in the dirt. Then after telling the one with no sin to cast the first stone he just tells her to go and sin no more. Some (fools) might interpret this story as just ignoring the consequences of adultery and cheating but it's just simply about forgiveness, mercy and the detrimental affects of hypocrisy. <3

And lastly: Basically everything that happens from Jesus arrest to his death. He heals the servant of one of his captors and while he's on the cross his first concern is for his mother and his second is forgiving a man dying next to him <3.

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drwilfredwaterson · 4 months

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The U.S. 2024 Presidential Election: It's All or Nothing for Democracy, the U.S. Constitution, Freedom, Peace, Prosperity, Lawfulness, Women's Rights, Human Rights, and Civil Rights in the United States of America. Part 5/10.

donald john trump (2005) "I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and f**k her. She was married. And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "I'll show you where they have some nice furniture." I took her out furniture—I moved on her like a b**ch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tts and everything. She's totally changed her look. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pu**y. You can do anything." (Access Hollywood)

On October 25, 2016, allegations were made by two men stating that donald trump had attended and partaken in sex parties filled with underage minor females as young as 15 years old who were induced with promises of career advancement. Illegal drugs were also alleged to have been provided to the minors. One man was identified as model and actor Andy Lucchesi, while the other was identified as a fashion photographer who spoke on condition of anonymity. Both men claim to have been acquaintances of donald trump during that decade, which one described as his "trump days". The anonymous witness said donald trump had sex with the girls, going from room to room, saying "[trump would] wander off with a couple girls. I saw him. He was getting laid like crazy. donald trump was at the heart of it. He loved the attention and in private, he was a total f*cking beast." He claimed the parties were attended by minors as young as 15 years of age, adding "I was there [only] to party myself. It was [other] guys with younger girls, sex, a lot of sex, a lot of cocaine, top-shelf liquor." Lucchesi, for his part, claimed that he saw donald trump engage in sexual activity with the girls but did not witness him taking illicit drugs. In regards to the age of the girls, Lucchesi said he himself never specifically asked about their ages, only remarking of the attendees "a lot of girls, [aged] 14, look 24." (Wikipedia)

Public response: 81% of Republican male AND FEMALE voters approve of multigenerational incest, molestation, pedophilia, grooming, rape, and all forms of domestic abuse against ALL American girls and women. A survey conducted by YouGov in October 2016 found that 43 percent of respondents found the allegations against Trump to be credible. Republicans were least likely to find the allegations credible, and only 19 percent of Republicans thought sexual assault would disqualify Trump from the presidency. (Wikipedia)

Nazi Breeding Farms - Lebensborn - On the Homefront 014

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Published: January 25, 2022 (25th day) Duration: 13:55 (835 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALEENKmQidc ALEENKmQidc acdeeiklmnq 1+3+4+5+5+9+10+20+30+40+70=197. 197+835=1032. 1032+25=1057.

Strong's Concordance #1057 baka: the same as Baka'; to bewail, complain, make lamentation, more, mourn, sore, with tears; the weeping tree (some gum- distilling tree, perhaps the balsam) -- mulberry tree. Original Word: בָּכָא

Women in Nazi Germany were subject to doctrines of Nazism by the Nazi Party (NSDAP), which promoted exclusion of women from the political and academic life of Germany as well as its executive body and executive committees. The Nazi regime officially encouraged and pressured women to fill the roles of mother and wife only. Women were excluded from all other positions of responsibility. The ideal woman in Nazi Germany did not have a career outside her home. Instead, she was a good wife (however her husband defined that), a careful and conscientious mother (taking special care to raise her children in accordance with Nazi philosophies and ideals), and skilled at doing all domestic chores such as cleaning and cooking. Women had a limited right to training of any kind; such training usually revolved around domestic tasks. Adolf Hitler's attaining power as Chancellor marked the end of numerous women's rights, even though Hitler had succeeded in his social rise in part thanks to the protection of influential women and female voters. Hitler's socializing within affluent circles, and with socialites such as Princess Elsa Bruckmann, wife of the editor Hugo Bruckmann, and Helene Bechstein, wife of industrialist Edwin Bechstein, early on brought the Nazi party significant new sources of financing. For example, Gertrud von Seidlitz, a widow of a noble family, donated 30,000 marks to the party in 1923; and Helene Bechstein, who had an estate on the Obersalzberg, facilitated Hitler's acquisition of the property Wachenfeld.

In regards to the role played by women voters in Hitler's rise to power, Helen Boak notes that the "NSDAP had been gaining proportionately more support from women than from men from 1928 onwards, not because of any concerted effort on its part nor because of its leader's charisma nor because of one specific element of its propaganda.

Women chose to vote NSDAP for the same reasons men voted for the party - out of self-interest, out of a belief that the party best represented their own idea of what German society should be, even if they may have disagreed with the party's stand on individual issues.

The larger increase in the share of women's votes than in that of men's votes cast for the NSDAP from 1928 owes much to the party's growing prominence and respectability, as the party's dynamism, the contrast of its young leadership with the elder statesmen of the other parties, its growing strength, the disintegration of the liberal and local, conservative parties and the general disillusionment and dissatisfaction with what the [Weimar] Republic had brought or failed to bring all contributed to the reasons why German men and women turned to the NSDAP…Because of the preponderance of women in the electorate, the NSDAP received more votes from women than from men in some areas before 1932 and throughout the Reich in 1932.

Claims that Hitler and his party held no attraction from women voters and that the NSDAP benefitted little from female suffrage cannot, therefore, be maintained. Historian Wendy Lower makes it clear that while "Women were not a majority of those who voted for Hitler…In the presidential election of March 1932…26.5% [of German women voted] for Hitler. In the 1931 September elections, 3 million women voted for NSDAP candidates, almost half of the total of 6.5 million votes cast for the NSDAP." In terms of voting patterns however, a higher proportion of male voters supported the Nazi party compared to female voters.

In 1935, during a speech to the National-Socialist Women's Congress, Hitler declared, with regard to women's rights: in reality, the granting of so-called equal rights to women, as demanded by Marxism, does not confer equal rights at all, but constitutes the deprivation of rights, since they draw women into a zone where they can only be inferior. It places women in situations where they cannot strengthen their position with regard to men and with society – but it only weakens them.

The fact that Hitler was unmarried and that he represented a masculine ideal for many Germans led to his erotisation in the public imagination. In April 1923, an article appeared in the Münchener Post stating "women adore Hitler "; he was described as adapting his speeches to "the tastes of women who, since the beginning, count among his most fervent admirers".

Women were also sometimes instrumental in bringing their husbands into the Nazi political fold, thus contributing to the recruitment of new NSDAP members.

In a society that was beginning to consider women as men's equals, Nazi policies constituted a setback, forcing women from political life. The Nazis' policies pertaining to women were one aspect of their efforts to stem what they viewed as the decadence of the Weimar Republic. In their eyes, the Weimar regime, which they perceived as having a Jewish character, in effect appeared as feminized, as well as tolerant of homosexuality – the veritable antithesis of German virility.

The Nazi woman was an important part of Adolf Hitler's vision of German society (the Volksgemeinschaft) and should mirror its ideals: racially pure and physically robust. She should not work outside of the home, and should be devoted to motherhood, following the slogan of the former emperor William II of Germany: Kinder, Küche, Kirche, meaning "Children, kitchen, church". In a document published in 1934, The Nine Commandments of the Workers' Struggle, Hermann Goering bluntly summarizes the future role of German women: "Take a pot, a dustpan and a broom and marry a man". These ideals were embodied in various Nazi institutions such as the bride schools of the Deutsches Frauenwerk, aimed primarily at prospective brides of SS and Nazi Party members, and the Faith and Beauty Society for women aged 17 to 21.

This was anti-feminism in the sense that the Nazis considered political rights granted to women (access to high-level positions for example) as incompatible with the nature of reproduction, the only role within which they could blossom and best serve the interests of the nation.

If a German girl must choose between marriage or a career, she will always be encouraged to marry, because that is what is best for a woman".

These ideals differed to the conservative and patriarchal norms that had prevailed during the Second Reich, in that rather than being sidelined in society, women were expected to participate at a foundational level in the roles of mother and spouse. Mothers were encouraged to have children, and the "Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter" (in English: Cross of Honour of the German Mother) was created for mothers having more than four children. A "German Mothers' Day" was also created, and in 1939, three million mothers were decorated on that day.

Concerning abortion, access to services was quickly prohibited, and in 1935, the medical profession became obliged to report stillbirths to the Regional Office for State Health, who would further investigate the loss of a child. In 1943 the ministers of the Interior and Justice enacted the law "Protection of Marriage, Family and Motherhood", which made provisions for the death penalty for mothers convicted of infanticide. (Wikipedia)

In 2013, 456,000 women younger than 20 became pregnant. Some 448,000 of those pregnancies were among 15–19-year-olds, and 7,400 were among those aged 14 and younger. https://www.guttmacher.org/report/us-adolescent-pregnancy-trends-2013.

An important question for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election is: "Did those age 10 to 14 pregnancy numbers increase, or decrease, during donald john trump's presidency?"

Barack Obama & Joseph Biden/Presidential & Vice Presidential term: January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 Sex offense offenders and victims statistics (Data: FBI) 2012: Male: 65,071 Forcible Sex Offenders with 61,486 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2012: Male: 5,859 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 5,859 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2012: Male: 70,930 Total Sex Offenders with 67,345 Total Female Sex Victims

2013: Male: 62,280 Forcible Sex Offenders with 58,981 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2013: Male: 5,396 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 5,511 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2013: Male: 67,676 Total Sex Offenders with 64,492 Total Female Sex Victims

2014: Male: 62,393 Forcible Sex Offenders with 59,875 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2014: Male: 4,804 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 4,888 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2014: Male: 67,197 Total Sex Offenders with 64,763 Total Female Sex Victims

2015: Male: 66,545 Forcible Sex Offenders with 64,202 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2015: Male: 4,712 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 4,836 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2015: Male: 71,257 Total Sex Offenders with 69,038 Total Female Sex Victims

donald john trump vs. Hillary Clinton (Male Chauvinist vs. Feminist) presidential Campaigns Effect: 2016: Male: 73,249 Forcible Sex Offenders with 71,180 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2016: Male: 4,588 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 4,723 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2016: Male: 77,837 Total Sex Offenders with 75,903 Total Female Sex Victims

donald john trump/presidential term (Male Chauvinist Dominates and Defeats Feminist Effect): January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021 Sex offense offenders and victims statistics (Data: FBI)

2017: Male: 79,635 Forcible Sex Offenders with 78,308 Female Forcible Sex Victims 2017: Male: 4,859 Nonforcible Sex Offenders with 4,922 Female Nonforcible Sex Victims 2017: Male: 84,494 Total Sex Offenders with 83,230 Total Female Sex Victims

2018: Male: 91,838 Total Sex Offenders with 91,219 Total Female Sex Victims

2019: Male: 105,030 Total Sex Offenders with 104,720 Total Female Sex Victims

2020: Unknown, but it's known that COVID-19 pandemic domestic violence, abuse, and sex offences were greatly increased during the pandemic when society at-large was severely distressed.

The numbers are clear: If Americans want to make America great again, where women and girls are safer with a future of personal choices and freedoms, the person to vote for in 2024 is Joseph Biden with a proven track record of a considerably greater and safer country during his entire Vice Presidency and Presidency than donald john trump. The Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey petting zoo farm animal face that denies all females access to, and usage of, the "I" pronoun doesn't, can never, and will never make America great.

Those 7400 aged 10 to 14 American mothers would've been in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade before they and their babies were enslaved and condemned to childhood motherhood, extreme poverty, and physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and medical abuse and neglect. It's not just 7400 10 to 14 year old child-mother victims, it's a minimum of 14,800 newborn to 15-year-old victims, plus anyone who'd try to help them who'd be subjected to prison and/or the death penalty all in the names of Jesus Christ, the Almighty Abrahamic G-d of the Jews/Hebrews, and the Holy Spirit of the Almighty Abrahamic God of the Jews/Hebrews. That's not honorable, sacred, or patriotic, that's godless tyranny. That's self-indulgent terrorism and it's undeniably anti-American.

To put those 14,800 American 10 to 14 year old child-mother and baby victims into perspective: Not including the hijackers, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed 2,977 people, injured thousands more and gave rise to substantial long-term health consequences while also generating at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It has been described by many as the deadliest terrorist act in human history and remains the deadliest incident for both firefighters and law enforcement personnel in the history of the United States, killing 340 and 72 from each organization. (Wikipedia)

Jesus' interactions with women are an important element in the theological debate about Christianity and women. Women are prominent in the story of Jesus. He was born of a woman, had numerous interactions with women, and was seen first by women after his resurrection. He commissioned the women to go and tell his disciples that he has risen, which is the essential message of Christianity. The gospels of the New Testament, written toward the last quarter of the first century AD, often mention Jesus speaking to women publicly and openly against the social norms of the time. From the beginning, Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and Salome had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means. (Wikipedia)

Here's a list of a few Conservative culture darlings whose lives may have turned out quite differently had their male family members and community leaders and members started molesting and grooming them from when they were bottle-feeding newborns, through their diapered years, and then put their members where they didn't belong at least 2 to 3 times per week when these women were just unsuspecting and helpless girls between 10 and 14 years old: Patsy Cline, Minnie Pearl, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, Barbara Mandrell, Dottie West, Emmylou Harris, Terri Gibbs, Janie Fricke, Reba McEntire, Kay Toinette Oslin, Kathy Mattea, Tanya Tucker, Wynonna Judd, Naomi Judd, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood, Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Lee Ann Womack, Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles, Lady Antebellum, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, and Lainey Wilson.

Compared to men, relatively few women are mentioned in the Bible by name and role. Those mentioned include the Matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah; Miriam the prophetess; Deborah the Judge; Huldah the prophetess; Abigail, who married David; Rahab; and the Persian Jewish queen Esther. Women play a pivotal role in subverting man-made power structures. The result is often a more just outcome than what would have occurred under ordinary circumstances. Today, many of them are considered foundational by feminists because of the insights they provide into Jewish women's lives during those times. However, they are notable examples of women who broke the male dominance of historical documentation of the time.

Maimonides ruled that a woman who found her husband "repugnant" could ask a court to compel a divorce by flogging the recalcitrant husband "because she is not like a captive, to be subjected to intercourse with one who is hateful to her". The rabbis also instituted and tightened prohibitions on domestic violence. Rabbi Peretz ben Elijah ruled, "The cry of the daughters of our people has been heard concerning the sons of Israel who raise their hands to strike their wives. Yet who has given a husband the authority to beat his wife?" Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg ruled that, "For it is the way of the Gentiles to behave thus, but Heaven forbid that any Jew should do so. And one who beats his wife is to be excommunicated and banned and beaten." Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg also ruled that a battered wife could petition a rabbinical court to compel a husband to grant a divorce, with a monetary fine owed to her on top of the regular ketubah money. These rulings occurred in the midst of societies where wife-beating was legally sanctioned and routine.

Maimonides tended to elevate the status of women above that which was common for the Middle Ages. For example, Maimonides permitted women to study Torah despite the fact that other contemporary and preceding legal opinions of his time did not. Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai wrote that women should study the Mishnah only if they want to. According to the Hida, the prohibition of teaching women does not apply to a motivated woman or girl. His response to detractors was that indeed, in truth, there is a prohibition against teaching Mishnah to any student—male or female—who one knows is not properly prepared and motivated. (Wikipedia)

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