#matthias is like remember when we got left after school for 3 hours and had to walk home and hanne is like haha yeah | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vitchimage · 2 years

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Platonic!fem!reader x crows Hi I wanted to ask if you could do a fic where kaz finds a teen girl’s body in the harbour and he tells jesper her to the crow club so Nina can help her. When she wakes up she’s really scared of everything (because her brother threw her in the harbour) but after some time she gets used to the crows and becomes their little sister. Like they take her to school she's smart and Kaz, Matthias and Jesper protect her from the bad men of ketterdam. Change anything you like!

Heyya! Sorry for the long wait, and this idea was adorable like 🥺

Anyways, I hope you like it!<3

!TW: Mention of abandonment, trauma (not very detailed though), slight blood

Note: I didn't mention much that she is smart, as I was more focused on the relationship between her and the crows, especially Kaz, but she is smart, really smart.

𝑻𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈

Kaz sighs. ‘How did it turn out like this?’ he thought.

The crow memebers were showering her with so much affection than he had seen as they were swarming around her.

Y/N turned to look at Kaz, her eyes sparkling happily at the sight of him, smiling so brightly.

‘She’s smiling even though I’m covered in those bastards blood,’ Although stoic as he seemed, it warmed his heart at the sight of her like this.

Memories of a year prior flashed his mind.

–

Kaz walked through the harbour after finishing some business. The night was strangely peaceful and silent, except for Jesper’s jabbering.

He looks at the precious jewel he had stolen, some hours before.

‘What a succsess.’ He thought happily to himself, just a little more time and he could crush the Dime Lions with his feet.

Just a little more time, brick by brick.

“Kaz.” Jesper calls out to him, making Kaz snap out of his thoughts.

“There is someone laying there,” He motions before them.

‘What?’ Looking at Jesper’s direction, he noticed an uncouncious body lying there.

Both men decided to walk up to the person, revealing a young girl around her teens.

“What on earrth is a child doing here?” Jesper asks out loud, taken aback.

Kaz was silent.

The child was pale, thin as a stick, dirty and filthy.

It reminded him of how Jordie looked when they ventured around the Ketterdam after being tricked, and when they got sick.

Kaz’s heart tightens, his lips forming into a thin line at the memory.

“We can’t just leave her here..” Jesper mumbles.

“Let’s take her with us,”

“Huh?” Jesper looked at Kaz astonished. It wasn’t like Kaz to bring a random person into their home.

Looking closely it seemed like Kaz was in another world.

–

Y/N wakes up, her vision unclear. Noises around her was muffled.

Taking in, she noticed a woman with light brown hair, and another woman with raven hair. Beside them was four other men.

‘Who..’ A realization set in, when her mind got clearer. And she immedialty sat up.

“Hey,hey! Take it easy, you need to rest,” The woman with light brown hair, reached out to Y/N but she immediatly back away from the touch, trembling.

Everyone’s expression was unreadable, their brows were slightly furrowed. Like they were worried, but how could that be? If her own blood didn’t give a damn about her, then how can a pair of strangers care?

“What’s your name?” A man with dark coat speaks up.

“I-it’s..” Y/N couldn’t form an answer and at that the man signals something to the woman before her.

She moved her fingers, forming them. At that Y/N seemed to be at ease and calmed down.

‘What..?’ Y/N seemed confused at that, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“What’s your name,dear?” The woman before her asked.

“It’s Y/N..Y/N L/N,”

“What were you doing at the harbour?” The man with the dark coat asks again, his hands holding the cane tightly.

“I…I don’t know..” Y/N fidgets with her hands, “I just remember my brother, he dragged and left me there..”

“Do..” The ravened hair woman seemed to hesitate, “..Do you know why?”

There was a silence for a moment, and it was the moment Kaz noticed. Even though she smiled weakly her eyes were dull. Holding no life as she answered,

“Because they hate me.”

–

After that night, they agreed for her to temporarily stay, but things changed and so did the plan.

As time went by, they grew closer. Showering her with gifts, food, and utmost care, her smile that shone so bright wamred their heart. And she slowly grew onto them. It was like having a little sister.

At first, it was like she was stepping around on thin ice, moving and talking carefully at them, but she later opened up more and the dull eyes were replaced with sparkling ones. Especially when it was her first day at school. Y/N was strong in many subjects, exceeded them with ease. A quick learner, she became quite talented.

But more importantly she seemed more alive, yet something was holding her back to express all her pent up emotions.

And later learning that she found it diffucult to express her emotions due to trauma, and the teaching for restraining emotions as they were deemed unvalid.

Kaz had called her upon the office.

“I may not know what they taught you, but no matter what, if you cry, scream out profanity, act out, shut down, we will always be here for you, ” He was kneeling before her. And he never felt his heart shattering at the question,

“Am I really allowed to do that?”

“You don’t need approval for that, they are all valid and nobody, not even me can say otherwise.”

Tears watering her cheeks, as she finally let out everything from within her heart.

After that night, she seemed more expressive. Finally daring to ask when she needed or wanted something.

“Wylan can we draw together?”

“I would like some waffles,”

“I want to feed the crows too!”

“Teach me that gun trick again,”

“Matthias can you read me a bedtime story again?”

“Do that magic trick again!”

“I’m sorry, I feel a abit down..”

“I HATE THIS! I HATE EVERYTHING! IT’S SO FUSTRATING”

“I’m scared..”

“I had a nightmare..”

“People who boast about being a genius will always end up as a fool.”

And like he promised, they were always there for her, no matter what she said, no matter what she did.

Just like today, as she waited by the school gate for Kaz and Inej to pick her up, some men approached her.

“A little girl? all alone as well,” Their tone was sinister, sensing malice made Y/N freeze.

“Hey, little girl, what’s your name?”

She quickly composed herself, knowing the others would arrive soon.

“None of your business, and you should leave.” Her eyes sparkled coldly.

The men laughs at the warning, mocking her.

“Did you guys hear that? This little girl thinks she can just threaten us!” The man before her was about to grab her.

An icy tone rang, making the man stop in his track,

"Back off."

In an instant, Inej and Kaz stood before her. Inej had her knife pointing at the man’s neck, just as Y/N deduced.

Kaz’s cane was firmly planted on the ground, indicating his place,

“How dare you try to inflict harm upon her.” It same icy tone she heard before, and despite the venom taste in the words, Y/N strangely felt safe and reassured.

“I should teach you a lesson.” Kaz glared dangerously at the men, making them back away at the venomous threat.

–

A smile tugged at his lips, there was never a day he regretted that he took her in.

Seeing her now, smiling so brightly, so lively, he promised inside of himself, that no matter what, even at his death bed, he would always protect her – to protect her smile.

He huffs and walks up to Y/N, lifting her up after patting her head. The others giggled, teasing at how soft Kaz has become.

‘Please keep smiling and be happy like that’ He thought, holding her tighter.

‘With my power, I’ll do anything for you, anything to keep your eyes sparkling.’ It was a silent oath he made to himself for her.

m.list

#kaz brekker x reader #x reader #fluff #crooked kingdom #kaz brekker #six of crows #soc #inej ghafa #inej ghafa x reader #the grishaverse #wylan van eck x reader #jesper fahey #jesper fahey x reader #wylan van eck #nina zenik #nina zenik x reader #matthias helvar x reader #matthias helvar #platonic

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w-ngs · 3 years

Text

jan21

hello 2021! you did not get off on a good start. let’s try and be a little better, okay?

i didn’t read much this month (and probably won’t be for a long while because of school), but it was a wild month. well, you’ll see.

***

crooked kingdom, leigh bardugo — oh my god???? i completely forgot that i read this before i left for school and almost didn’t include it in my monthly wrap-up????? how dare i forget this masterpiece.

it was great. i loved it. i think overall, i preferred 6oc because heist stories are my guilty pleasure. but romance-wise... let’s just say kaz and inej have made it to my top 10 ships. but also i read through this so fast because i had to finish it before i left that half the story is kinda just not in my brain lololol

the most intriguing part of the entire story was the anti-wraith. her character kind of came out of nowhere, and i’m not really sure she had much of a purpose than being someone who could physically match inej. i guess she was also anti in the sense that she had no respect, just ruthlessness, which is the opposite of inej and what she stands for. but i don’t know if the anti-wraith was significant enough of a character to really be considered a foil.

i don’t really give spoiler warnings because hardly anyone reads these other than myself lolol but big spoiler ahead. skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know. cuz i accidentally spoiled it for myself before reading and i kinda ruined it for myself lmfao.

poor matthias. he was there, and then he was gone. i feel terrible for nina. they were finally on the same page, and then he had to act all saint-like and trigger some idiot into killing him. and matthias finally came to terms with what he’d been taught and what he was trying to teach himself (#charactergrowth), so he wrapped things up neatly for himself before the bye-bye. but nina, she finally got her guy on her side and they were supposed to change the world together. sigh.

and of course, we got kaz. he’s my favorite. how could he not be, with his trauma and desire to overcome it but not letting it define him and still maintaining that evil genius act he’s so good at. it definitely hit harder in this story, the extent of his trauma. it made him more real, too. both sides of him coexist, and one could not exist without the other. he’s crazy, in nearly all senses of the word. also crazy in love, the mfing idiot. ugh, i love vulnerable kaz. i love what inej brings out in him, how she knows just how hard to push without driving him over the edge. also i saw a tiktok (this app is gonna come up a lot more in the next few reviews fsjdsdfkjdf) with a photo of them kissing with a towel between their mouths because he can’t touch her but he desperately wants to and what a perfect solution is that their... bathroom scene had me holding my breath. or at least taking very shallow breaths. it was intense. so intimate, i felt like i shouldn’t even have been there. ugh, the cute little babies. uwuwuwuwuwu

one last note. leigh bardugo is a very good writer, plot and characters and all. everything flowed much more smoothly in this book, and once again i was impressed by the detail provided. you go girl. i can’t wait to see the tv series development.

a 10/10.

***

the shadows between us, tricia levenseller — literally what did i read lmaooo. this is my first tiktok book recommendation. and it. was. boring. boring characters that didn’t make much sense. boring plot. i skimmed it after the first 50 pages cause it was so boring. that’s it bye.

a 3/10.

***

manacled, senlinyu — um. wow. i literally......... even hours after finishing it my brain is still ridiculously scrambled. edit: it’s about a month later and sometimes random scenes and images still pop in my head for no reason and then i feel all twisted inside again. i love it.

so, this is not a published book but a dramione fanfiction on ao3. i don’t read fanfics that often anymore, mainly because i’d rather read other things, not because i don’t like them. but i found this one because a tiktok that showed the illustrations in the story and i was so blown away by the fact someone would illustrate an entire fanfic that i just had to read it. and i have no regrets. it’s kinda long and a biiit wordy for me at times but holy shit that hit like a mother trucker. and i haven’t read dramione in ages, not since... years. so this really hit different.

the illustrations are beautiful. they’re what dragged me into the story in the first place, so, of course they are. but i’d literally spend minutes looking at every detail in amazement at how perfectly the emotions were captured and the lighting casting the perfect shadows and just… everything. i know nothing about drawing but my eyes were truly blessed.

i think integrating the handmaid’s tale with the hp world was ingenious. i would never have expected that. and wow. the relationship between the two, it’s…….. i can barely put it in words in my mind, and it’s even harder to articulate on paper. complex, but at the same time not, simply the desire for the other to stay alive. timeless. destructive. their only defense from the harsh reality of their situation. desperation at its most desperate, their one and only survival method. depressing. it’s so depressing. i was so sad, the angst almost too much at times.

the flashbacks were insanely intense. and i thought the handmaid section was bad. it was awful to read. i could hardly bear it, it was so dark at times i didn’t know how either of them got through it all. i mean, they barely did. the near-death scares, the constant need to create a blank slate within yourself in order to not overwhelm yourself with crushing emotions… wartime sometimes has a tendency to sound romantic, but theirs wasn’t anything near romantic, and i appreciate that the author chose to be very real about it.

at the beginning, and in the middle when we went through the flashbacks, i was afraid the love would be toxic. and, well, it kind of was at some points. but in a time like that and a situation like theirs, it would be hard to not have a toxic relationship. i was glad that in the end theirs was a good love, the kind that sustained and kept them alive and got them through until the very end, because it was what they needed from each other. and, of course, my favorite part of it all was draco’s ceaseless possessiveness that only seemed to grow, never fade. i love simpy men.

they deserve each other. i was afraid at the end they wouldn’t, that one of them would die—that draco would die because hermione basically did once already for him, so he would have to “return the favor”—also she was pregnant so there was no way she’d be the one to die—idk many theories. but at the end i’m so glad they both ended up alive. after everything, they deserved it.

i did nothing for two days straight but read this book. except eat. and barely sleep. and i have no regrets.

a 9/10.

***

bloodlines, richelle mead — dang. i used to be obsessed with vampire academy when i was in middle school. i even watched the terrible movie that released because of it. and now i can’t believe i really thought that was peak literature lmfaooooo

i remember adrian being such a funny and interesting character that i picked up bloodlines to see if it was gonna be as good as i remembered it was. i was disappointed. it was just... well let’s just say there wasn’t enough to get me invested in the characters as i used to be. i think what it was is that adrian’s characterization was so weak. he wasn’t as ~quirky~ as i remembered him to be haha. the plot was also way too slow-paced, and a little too easy to guess. maybe if i was 12 again i’d be going crazy over it like i used to. but i’m not a pre-teen anymore and my brain craves stuff along the lines of manacled—destruction, death, angst that wants me to pull my own heart out to stop it from hurting.

a 5/10.

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thosedeviantfeels · 4 years

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The Beginning of His Life, Chapter 7

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 8

Summary: (Y/N) Manfred is about as mixed up with androids as she could possibly be.

Pairings: Connor x Reader (romantic), Markus x Reader (platonic), Carl (father) x Reader (daughter)

Warnings: mentions of death

Word count: 2,314

Author’s Note: Hi, everyone! I’m back! Finally! Graduate school has dominated my life and it was difficult to find time and inspiration to write. I had to completely re do this chapter because it didn’t feel right. Anyway, it’s here now and there’s only one more chapter after this. Hope you all like it!

***

November 11, 2038 So much had changed since you saw Markus at the cemetery. Androids were being sent to camps. You were doing better after seeing Markus. Knowing he was alive was enough to bring you out of your dismal state. You didn’t ask Markus about Connor. You’d had so little time with him and wanted to spend the few moments you had comforting him. You also weren’t sure if you wanted to know what had become of Connor. You were afraid of the answer. Now, Markus was going to march on one of the camps. You knew he may die unless he could convince the world that androids are alive. You wanted to help but didn’t know how. Staying in the city was difficult as law enforcement encouraged people to evacuate. You knew you were finding a way to see what was happening with Markus. You had watched the news for some time in your hotel room. Once you saw where Markus was going you left the hotel. It was evening and there was no one on the streets as far as you could tell. Luckily the police were more involved elsewhere. You were worried about the curfew but knew you had to do this. You oriented yourself and took off sprinting. You had to get there. You had to see him. You rounded a corner and ran into someone. You fell backwards and scrambled to stand up. “I’m so sorry-” You looked up at the man you ran into. He had dark skin and an LED. He was with three other people, two women, both with beautiful, smooth dark skin, and another man, with pale skin and hair. They looked at you with fear in their eyes. They knew you were human and that you could turn them in. They turned and began running, one of the women was limping. “Hey! Wait!” You sprinted after them. “I can help you! Please!” Reluctantly the man you ran into stopped. He eyed you suspiciously. You stopped a few feet away. “Please, I have a car. I can get you out of the city.” “Travis!” One of the women hissed, she was holding the injured android up. “We’ve got to go. She’ll get us caught.” He looked back at her. “We won’t make it out of the city, Nina. She might be able to help us.” He turned back to you. “How would you get us passed the checkpoints? They won’t let you out of the city without checking your ID and passengers.” You thought for a moment. You reached into your coat pocket and pulled out your badge. “I think I can wave this at them. It should do the trick.” Travis smiled at you. “We will come with you.”

***

The four androids you were now helping had hid in an alleyway near where you had met while you went back to the hotel to get your car. You hopped in and pulled out of your spot in the parking garage. It took only a minute or two to get back to the androids. They all hopped in with Travis in the passenger seat and Nina and the other two, whose names you learned were Eleanor and Matthias, sat in the backseat. Once everyone was inside, you rummaged around in the center console and pulled out a ballpoint pen and your first aid kit. You handed the pen to Travis. “Here, you all need to take your LEDs out.” He took the pen from you and began prying his LED out. You handed the first aid kit to Nina. “Here, you can at least stop the bleeding. There’s a blanket under the seat, you should hide the bandages under it. I don’t want to have to explain that to the guards.” Nina nodded and set to work. You pulled away from the curb and headed for the nearest highway out of the city.

*** You had made good time, until you actually could see the edge of the city. Cars upon cars were backed up, waiting to get out of Detroit. This was going to take a while. You sighed. “We’re going to be here a while.” You reach up to turn on the news station when you realized who was in the car with you. “Oh, do you mind if I listen to the news? I know it’s probably not something you want to hear right now, it’s just that someone I care about is involved.” Travis shook his head. “Go ahead.” You turned on the local news station. “…deviant leader, Markus, is marching down the streets with an army of androids behind him. Law enforcement believes he is heading for one of the android camps.” You clenched the steering wheel and bit your lip as you eased up in line. An army of androids, even after his efforts to remain peaceful, they’re still afraid. “This person you care about,” Travis began, “they are an android?” You looked at him in surprise. You hadn’t expected anyone to want to talk to you about anything, but maybe he wanted to know who was helping him. “Yeah, there are two of them actually.” He thought for a moment. “I didn’t think humans cared about androids.” You smiled. “Some of us do.” He looked out the window at the snow. Nina spoke up in the back. “How do you know them?” “She may not wish to say, Nina.” Travis scolded without looking away from the window. “No, it’s alright.” You smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “One of them worked for my father, who treated him as a son, and we became close friends over the years. I’m closer to him than almost anyone else in my life.” You smiled as you thought of the early years of your relationship with Markus, before everything was so complicated. “And the other one I met at work. He works for the DPD. We were working on the deviant cases and I was getting to watch him slowly become deviant.” Your smile widened as you thought of the emotion you saw in Connor’s eyes when you would arrive at the station in the mornings. Your eyes darkened and your smile fell as you remembered last night. “He might be dead, though, and I’ll never get to tell him. And my friend may die tonight.” You wiped a tear away. “Some of us humans are losing people we love too.” Travis stared at you, along with the others. Matthias spoke. “I hope there are more humans like you.”

***

An hour later, you were pulling up to the checkpoint. You saw Travis’s fingers twitch nervously as the armed guard motioned you forward. “Alright, everyone, stay quiet while I talk to him,” you instructed as you eased to a stop and rolled down your window. “I need to see identification for everyone in the car,” the guard stated gruffly. You pulled out your badge. “They don’t have any identification. They were forced out of their home so quickly by the evacuation order they couldn’t bring anything.” You handed him your badge. “Deputy Manfred. I was offering to take people out of the city. It’s not safe for humans to be here.” “First name?” “(Y/N).” The guard looked at your badge and waved another guard over. He handed him the badge. “Check the records for a Deputy (Y/N) Manfred at the DPD.” The other man left, and you sat still in your seat, trying to stay calm. You heard some shuffling in the backseat and looked at them in your rearview mirror. They all looked frightened. After a few minutes, the other guard returned with your badge. “She’s clear.” The original guard handed it back to you. “Get these people out of here, Officer Manfred.” “Will do,” you took your badge and rolled up the window. You drove through the now open gate in the barricade and waited until you passed all the guards to sigh in relief. “I can’t believe that worked,” Eleanor whispered. “Me either,” you replied. “Where am I taking you?” “There’s someone at Anchor Bay with boats taking androids across into Canada,” Travis answered. Anchor Bay, that would take about thirty-five minutes. “You know exactly where they are?” Travis hesitated. “Well, no. There’s a rendezvous point a little way out. I know where that is.” “Alright, tell me.” You settled in for the tense drive.

***

You reached the rendezvous point and stopped the car. You saw a woman herding androids into her car. You and the other four got out and approached her. She was smiling at everyone. “We’ve come for safe passage.” Travis looked her in the eye, pleading. She smiled at him. “Of course. My car is full right now. Let me take them to the boats and I’ll come back for you.” She got in her car and left. You checked the time anxiously, trying to decide if you could leave them now. “Go,” Matthias said suddenly. You looked at him and then the other three. “Will you all be alright?” “We will now,” Nina replied. “Thanks to you,” Eleanor added. You smiled at them all. “I hope you all reach Canada safely.” “And we wish you and your friends safety,” Travis said quietly. “You have shown us a kindness we have learned not to expect from humans. We won’t forget you or what you did for us.” “Maybe one day we’ll find you again.” Nina was smiling at you. “I’d like that,” you answered. You checked the time again. “I’ve got to go. Be safe.” You hopped back in your car and took off back to Detroit. You planned on using your same trick to get back into the city. You offered a similar story to the guard on the other side of the gate, claiming you had escorted someone out of the city and were returning to help more humans. They ran your name and badge again and let you through. You hated abusing your power by waving your badge around, but this felt like a just cause. You turned on the news again and listened for where Markus was. He had made it to the camp hours ago and the armed officers had fired on them. You were stressed to say the least. It took a while to navigate the streets as they were littered with cars and debris. You finally had to park in an alley and abandon your car. You locked it and took off sprinting toward the camp. When you arrived, you were on the side of the barricade with the press. You decided to use your badge again to get closer. You showed it to the guard and approached the hoard of people. You shoved your way to the front and saw Markus. It had been hours since anything had happened. The androids built the barricade and that was it. The press was getting antsy. They wanted something to happen so they could go home. You saw some movement among the soldiers and leaned forward nervously. After a while, something finally happened. Agent Perkins stepped forward and called Markus out to talk. You watched as Markus’s advisors told him not to go. You were hoping he wouldn’t but knew he would. He walked out of the barricade with his head held high and confronted Agent Perkins. The time it took for him to walk across the empty space between was probably less than a minute but the intensity of it all made it feel much longer. You couldn’t hear anything but watched as they talked. After a minute or so of talking with Perkins, Markus spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “I won’t betray my people.” You knew things were about to go south. Markus made the walk back to his people and re-entered the barricade. You could see the soldiers moving. Something was about to happen. Before you could react, a projectile flew into the barricade and an explosion deafened you. You were pushed down as journalists made a run for it. You scrambled to your feet and made to scale the barrier. You had to get to Markus. Someone grabbed you around your middle and began pulling you away. You kicked and fought against them, watching as the soldiers advanced on the androids. You turned and saw Hank. “No! Let go of me, Hank!” “Stop fighting!” He was gritting his teeth and attempting to keep your arms pinned. “We have to go!” You continued to struggle against his hold and heard a police officer yelling at you to leave. You elbowed him in the side and wiggled free. You rushed the boundary and Hank grabbed your wrist. “(Y/N)! Stop!” You tried to pull free of his grasp. “Please, Hank! I have to help him!” Suddenly everything seemed quiet except for a soft sound. You heard someone singing. It was Markus. You whipped your head around and watched. You had heard him sing before. Your father had loved for Markus to sing for him. He had a lovely, haunting voice, which struck a cord deep within you as you heard the other androids sing with him. You felt tears in your eyes as you watched as the soldiers lowered their guns and stared at him. He had done it. Markus had saved the androids. He had shown humans they are alive. You and Hank shared a look and knew the world had changed forever. “Look!” A journalist next to you was pointing past Markus and the soldiers. You squinted and saw thousands of forms coming closer, all of them in white. You could see the blue glow of their LEDs and armbands. As they got closer you could see Connor at the front. Your knees gave out as you saw him. Hank caught you. “He’s deviant now,” he said quietly.

***

@maajikcrossing

#detroit become human #dbh #connor x reader #markus x reader #dbh connor x reader #dbh markus x reader #rk800 x reader #rk200 x reader

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jimdsmith34 · 6 years

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A Young American Dies in Paraguay: Mushroom Tea, Murder, Rape, and a Cover-Up

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay—Luis Villamayor’s sleepless night began like so many do for parents worrying about a child.

Hours earlier, he had spoken to his son by phone. Sixteen-year-old Alex Villamayor was spending the weekend at the family ranch of one of his best friends, 400 miles away in Obligado, when things got rowdy. Alex, René Hofstetter, 18, and Alain Jacks Díaz de Bedoya, 16, were drinking mushroom tea alone in the house. René's mother and father had promised to be at the ranch, but they were six hours away.

Luis offered to pick him up but Alex assured his father everything was fine. Then, the line got cut off. Luis called him back.

No answer.

He added minutes to Alex’s phone and called him again.

No answer.

He called René’s mother, who assured him everything was fine. Their ranch hand, Matthias Wilbs, was sent to check on the boys in the main house.

Then, the call came at 7:55 the next morning. René was crying.

“Tio, Alex shot himself,” he said.

“Wait, what? What do you mean?” said Luis.

Luis dropped the phone and ran barefoot down the street to the house of his ex-wife, Alex’s mother. He made it only as far as the gate before he collapsed and a neighbor came to help.

Puning Luk, Alex’s mother, was not there. She was teaching English that Saturday morning when she heard about her son’s death. She was so distraught, her student had to drive her home. When she arrived, Alex’s younger brother Daniel, 11, was sprawled on the stairs crying. He clung to his mother. Another child, 21-year-old Milagros, was in tears as well. She couldn’t shake the image of her father, who made his reputation as a tough criminal lawyer and former Paraguayan congressman, weak at the knees outside their gate.

“That was a horrible moment,” Luis told The Daily Beast.

By the time Puning and Luis got to their son, he was already in a body bag.

“I so badly wanted to hold him, I couldn’t believe it was my son lying on the table,” she said. Then, she asked the nurse to turn on the air-conditioning “to keep the flies away from my son.”

“Puning is the best mother I have met,” said Luis, her ex-husband. “She always had energy, enthusiasm, and patience for all of them. And yet they took her boy away in such a horrible way. May the Lord forgive them.”

It’s been over two and a half years since Puning and Luis lost their son and still there has been no trial, but the story has captivated the nation of Paraguay. Just this past Thursday, the trial date was postponed to February 19, 2018, a third time. The last time it was postponed was in June 2017.

Much has transpired since Alex’s death in a land known for its social inequality and judicial corruption and impunity. The suspected suicide was changed to a murder probe; the first district attorney on the case was removed and charged with obstruction of justice; René was arrested and jailed after fleeing to Germany; Alain was indicted and quickly acquitted; Paraguay has twice declined to have the FBI involved in the investigation—and new evidence has revealed for the first time the brutality of Alex’s murder.

Friends and family said Alex was kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and social. His favorite U.S. president was Abraham Lincoln and he loved to cook, learn languages, play video games, dress well, and make people feel comfortable.

“Alex was the kind of person you call to fix a problem or just to talk,” said Humberto del Valle, 20, a high school friend from Pan American International School (PAIS) in Paraguay. “He was a guy you could talk to for hours.”

Carlos Pedroza, 20, met Alex at PAIS where they became fast friends. “Alex wasn’t hated by anyone. He was so fun to talk with, always ending every conversation making us laugh,” he said.

“He had a thirst for history, trivial information, and jokes,” said Puning. “He possessed a high level of emotional intelligence.”

When René needed a mechanic, Alex was the first to find him one. When Alain needed help studying, Alex was ready to share his knowledge.

Schoolmate Renato Rolon, 20, remembers that Alex had a funny obsession with the number 23. They began to notice the number everywhere they looked and exchanged photos of it. Alex had a file devoted to it called “23.”

“It was like the magic number of our group,” he said, referring the clique of boys from school that included René and Alain.

On his way home from Alex’s memorial, Rolon said he noticed the number 23 in his father’s car. The clock read 10:23 p.m., the thermometer read 23 Celsius, and the odometer’s last two numbers read 23. “In that second, the moment I saw all that, I started crying because for me, it was like a message from him saying, ‘I’m in heaven, I’m okay.’”

Alex’s favorite song was “How To Save a Life” by The Fray, a band he went to see with his aunt, Kim Luk.

Kim, who lives in Maryland and is spearheading efforts to bring justice to Alex, said he was a gentle soul who was the light of everyone’s life.

“Alex and I were so close. He was such an amazing kid, I can’t even tell you,” said Kim. “We miss him every single day.”

But Luis Villamayor recalls there were times that Alex was the butt of some cruel jokes by some friends of his, including René and Alain. One time, Alex went to a house party and left with a shaved head. He had passed out after drinking beer for the first time, said Luis, and they shaved off all his hair. “That really hurt Alex,” he said. Another time, some friends put Alex on top of a Volkswagen bug and recorded it. Luis found it abusive.

Two weeks before Alex was murdered, Kim put his tie over the shirt they bought together and shined his shoes for his high school commencement. He graduated with honors. That night she waltzed with him. A couple of days later, she said to Alex, “I’ll see you back in the U.S.”

Alex was going to live with her while he attended Montgomery College to study business management. His brother Antonio also studied there and his parents were graduates. His brother was so excited about his arrival to in the U.S., he had posted a long message about it online.

That was the last time Kim saw Alex.

While Alex’s graduating class made plans to go to Cancun that summer in 2015, a trip he and his mother decided against because it was costly, Alex went to René’s ranch instead.

On Thursday, June 25, 2015, Alex took a bus with Alain from the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, to Obligado.

“I thought it would be good for him to go to the ranch and have some fun,” said Puning Luk. “I never imagined in a million years he was going to be beaten, raped and killed by his friends.”

The family was skeptical from the onset about Alex’s alleged suicide on Saturday, June 27. Alex was an emotionally mature young man without any signs of psychological issues. He loved his family and was equally loved, they say. There were no signs he was contemplating taking his own life.

His friends shared the sentiment.

Rolon’s initial reaction to the news was that it couldn’t be possible. “Imagine a happy person you know with a good, happy life. You can’t process the idea of a suicide or a homicide,” he said.

“I couldn’t understand it at first,” said Pedroza. When he gathered with classmates at a house where they heard Alex had committed suicide, he immediately became suspicious. “I think there are friends who aren’t talking.”

Then, the cracks in the case began to appear.

That Saturday night, the DA, Olga Araujo, told the Villamayor family that she concluded it was a suicide, without conducting any standard investigative procedures. That same night at the morgue, Andy Fernandez, the Villamayor’s family friend and lawyer who identified Alex’s body, was told by a forensic photographer that the wound patterns weren’t consistent with suicide.

Then came some of the most compelling evidence. Photos from the crime scene showed a gunshot wound to the right of Alex’s head while the gun was in his left hand.

“That’s physically impossible to shoot yourself in the right side of your head with your left hand,” says Fernandez, who is now on the Villamayor’s legal team.

The first thing Puning noticed in the photos were Alex’s clothes. “Those aren’t his clothes,” she said. “Why is he wearing someone else’s clothes?” In the photos, Alex had a black pair of sweatpants on that were too big on him.

The tallest boy there that night was Alain, Fernandez said.

“This case was so botched up from the very beginning,” said Kim.

When law enforcement tested the clothes and skin of Alex, René, Alain, and Matthias it revealed there was no gunshot residue.

“That’s proof he didn’t kill himself,” said Fernandez. “If he killed himself, it would be everywhere. In his hair, on his skin.” But the discovery raises other questions.

Alex’s friend Pedroza says the weekend Alex was at the ranch, he shared videos with him of Alex, René, and Alain shooting at eggs and other things. Fernandez said that it was impossible for there to be no traces of gunshot residue on Alain and René if they were shooting guns the day before.

“Someone taught them how to create a suicide scene,” he said, and before authorities got there. “They washed up.”

In fact, phone records belonging to René and his ranch hand Wilbs reveal that René called his father over 50 times starting at 3:00 a.m., even though in their testimony, René and Alain said they both woke up at 6:00 a.m. to find that Alex had taken his life outside on the deck near the pool.

The records also reveal that just before 6:00 a.m., a call was made to a former police officer who, Fernandez believed, helped them create the scene and clean up.

A ballistic test showed that the gun in Alex’s hand had not been fired in a long time.

Armed with the puzzling new evidence, authorities approached the ranch hand Wilbs who eventually confessed to tampering with the crime scene. He told authorities he moved Alex’s body and put another gun in his hand.

But he also added something else: he said he did all this to protect René. When authorities revisited the phone records, they saw that Wilbs had also spoken to René’s father that night. René’s father, in hiding, is currently indicted on charges related to the alleged coverup and illegal gun possession.

When a second autopsy report was conducted, it revealed additional evidence that hadn’t been reported earlier. Alex had been brutally physically abused. The medical examiner found deep bruising all over his body, including his genital area. Marks on his body made by an object like a stick revealed the possibility of torture. The autopsy report also revealed that semen was found in his anus.

DNA results often take weeks, but this time they took seven months, Fernandez says, and the result was surprising–the semen was Alex’s own.

“There’s no record in this world that shows someone had semen in his own body,” Fernandez said.

In February, the prosecution will argue that that sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., Alex was murdered. Prior to that, he was raped and tortured.

“I’m not sure when or why they tortured him. That’s the part of the story I can’t understand,” said Fernandez.

Although Alain was indicted for murder over two years ago, he was acquitted less than a month later before the investigation had been completed. René and Wilbs are currently in prison awaiting trial for premeditated murder.

“I am shell-shocked,” says Luis about what happened. “I never thought that such a thing would happen in René and Alain’s company. Alex was like a kid-brother to them. They were supposed to take care of him, not hurt him.”

Alex has not been properly buried. Kim said they were hoping the FBI could still assist them in the investigation.

“I have two objectives. One is to bring justice to our family,” said Kim. Four months after she came home following Alex’s death, Kim began working with Maryland Congressman (now Senator) Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Ben Cardin to see what can be done.

Her other objective is to change the laws in the United States so that no American citizen can be murdered without the FBI getting involved. “More people have to understand what happens to you when you travel overseas,” Kim told The Daily Beast.“We’re in an administration right now that is seeking Americans first. This is a perfect time for us to change laws.”

Kim says she and the family can forgive in order to move on, but she needs to know what happened… but, then, she thinks she may never know.

“I have to put away the thought that we’re going to know what truly happened. It’s the truth and the lies and you meet somewhere in the middle,” said Kim.

source http://allofbeer.com/a-young-american-dies-in-paraguay-mushroom-tea-murder-rape-and-a-cover-up/ from All of Beer http://allofbeer.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-young-american-dies-in-paraguay.html

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allofbeercom · 6 years