#when that's the opposite of what you should be doing but policing people's clothes or something

[halalgirlmeg]

Also I feel like some Muslims heard 'don't mix religion and culture' but like somehow turned that into 'we all should act exactly the same and erase any instance of cultural differences in the name of Islam'

[miryum]

"Halloween"

Summary: Detective!Jason Todd x detective!Reader based on Jake and Amy's relationship

Series Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of violence (but nothing descriptive), guns and other police stuff

Series Masterlist

“I- I don’t like Halloween.” Tim manoeuvred around a packed, crazed precinct. “Especially in Gotham. So many people in weird costumes doing weird shit that we have to fix.”

“The holding cell’s completely full,” Jason called from where he was pushing a Raggedy Ann into the folds of costume. Raggedy Ann blew him a kiss and Jason stalked over to his desk opposite Y/n’s. “So many people have slipped me their phone numbers or thought I was a stripper.”

“Seems like you should follow your true calling then, Jaybird,” Y/n said. “You’d make an excellent stripper.” She winked dramatically at him and said, “I’d be first in line to see you.” 

Before Jason could cuss Y/n out, Steph said, “Seriously, we need to do something about the prisoners. We’ve already had to separate Kim Jong-Un and Hillary Clinton.”

Y/n was walking past the holding cell when she noticed a Hillary Cilton practically in the lap of a Kim Jong-Un, sucking his face off. “Hey! Hey!” She barged through the door and attempted to pull Hillary off. “Come on, now! What would Bill think? I mean,” she paused and muttered, “he kind of deserves it, but you could do so much better than Kim Jong-Un.”

“And… who are you supposed to be?” Jason squinted at Cass. 

“Dude, it’s kinda obvious.” Y/n said, “The entire precinct’s got a theme going on. It was decided in the group chat.”

Cass was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, a pillow shoved in for her stomach. She wore large, comical glasses that looked like she’d bought them for three dollars at a convenience store. Y/n, on the other hand, was in a yellow shirt with thick denim overalls, as were Tim, Steph, and Damian. Tim seemed disgruntled about it, while Damian sat reclined in his chair, taking it with pride. 

“Minions!” Dick called out loudly, silencing the precinct. He was in black jeans and a sweater. Around his neck, he wore an iconic scarf and a bald cap was thrown haphazardly over his hair. “Tonight, we steal… ze moon!” He threw his arms up and Y/n jumped up, cheering. 

“Ze moon! Ze moon!” Steph clapped along and Damian pumped his fist lazily. Tim just sighed and covered his face with his hands. “I was blackmailed into this,” he whispered.

“Oh my gosh, I work with idiots.” Jason sat back in his chair. 

“Attention,” Wayne strode into the bullpen. “I need two detectives to go undercover at a Halloween party where we suspect there will be a transition of drugs and illegal behaviour.”

“It’s like he was born on a thesaurus,” Y/n whispered. 

“Brown and Drake, you’re already in costume. I’m assigning you two to the case.” Tim groaned at his Captain's words, but nodded anyway. He couldn’t disobey his superior. 

“Drake,” Steph looped her arm through his, dragging him to the elevator. “I know you hate Halloween, even though it’s one of the greatest holidays, but I’ll make it the best.” 

“Can you make everyone kind, sober, and fully clothed? Tim asked desperately. 

“Kind, sober, and fully clothed!” Y/n shouted out. “Title of Jason’s sex tape!” 

Jason gawaffed. “I wasn’t even in this conversation!” 

Y/n exhaled and said, “Yeah, but I already tease Timmy-boy enough. He needs a break. However, I haven’t filled my quota for bugging you today.”

“I feel like your quota for teasing me is much higher than anyone else’s.” 

“Yes,” Y/n nodded. “Yes, it is.” 

“Listen up, dorks!” Y/n paraded into the bullpen, wearing a GCPD jacket over her costume. “I just arrested my first Halloween idiot! He was trying to rob a bank but had a… heh. Little bit of trouble getting away.” 

A man dressed in a large banana suit was stuck in the doorframe of the bank. Y/n couldn’t hold back her laughter as she tried to arrest him. “Trying to ‘split,’ huh? But I’m sure you’ll get out on ‘a peel.’ You have the ‘ripe’ to remain silent.” She snickered before saying, “I’m so glad you’re stuck! I’ve got a million of these! Wait, no, no! Don’t touch the money!”

“I swear, some of these perps are so stupid. I’d make a better criminal than any of them. And the best part is, none of you would be able to catch me!” 

Jason scoffed as Captain Wayne said, “That’s unrealistic. I’m one hundred percent sure you’d get caught.”

“Oh, ho, ho! Chall-enge accep-ted.” She sounded the words out slowly, placing her hands on her hips accusingly.

“I didn’t issue a challenge. There was no challenge. Where did you hear a challenge?” Wayne shrugged, his arms crossed.

Y/n hummed, thinking. “What’s the most valuable thing in your office?”

“My medal of valour,” Wayne replied instantly.

“Oh my god, you’re such a nerd. Fine. Okay. I bet that by midnight tonight, I can steal it from your office.”

“And why would I possibly agree to that?”

Y/n sang out, “because if I lose, I'll work the next five weekends, no overtime. And I won't tell anyone about the time I saw you wearing shorts outside of work. But if I win…” She rocked back on her heels, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“You won't,” Wayne cut her off.

“You have to do all my paperwork tonight, the busiest and spoooookiest night of the year. Oh! And you must publicly state that I am an amazing detective-slash-genius.”

Wayne raised a brow, intrigued. ”And this won't interfere with you doing your job?”

“You mean my job as an amazing detective-slash-genius? No, it will not.”

Wayne hummed and his eyebrows lifted by half a centimetre. “I'm considering it... I'm interested. I agree to participate.” He held out a hand and Y/n giddily shook it.

“Hey, Damian? Dami? We don’t talk much anymore. How are you? Did you get a haircut? How’s Titus? What’s the Captain's schedule? I love you, bestie!”

Damian glanced up at her, unaffected. “I’m not going to assist you with your scheme. I am Captain Wayne’s assistant; a job I take incredibly seriously.”

“You’re literally making paper knives out of police reports.”

“How else am I to stab someone?”

“More like give them a harsh paper cut.” Y/n whined, “come on, Dami! Please, help me out here!”

His gaze was piercing. Quietly, he finally muttered, “he has a meeting downstairs in ten minutes.”

“I love you! I love you! Thank you so much!”

A while later, Captain Wayne was in his office and suddenly spoke to the air, “Are you in my ceiling, L/n?

There was a pregnant pause before a voice filtered through the vents. “No?”

Wayne seemed unimpressed. “So what's the plan? You wait for me to leave my office, lower yourself down, take my medal, and win the bet?”

“Die Hard meets Mission Impossible,” Y/n snickered before remembering her place and tutting, “who are you talking to? There's no one up here!”

“L/n, just so you know, right now, I am taking my medal off the wall and placing it in a locked safe whose combination is known only to me. The safe, in turn, is locked in the cabinet. The only key to that cabinet is on my person.” True to his words, Wayne did as he was saying. ”I'm off to my meeting. Good luck with your plan.”

Y/n cried out, “you think that scares me, fool? I laugh in the face of adversity!” She waited a moment before asking timidly, ”Are you still there? Captain, are you still there? I can't hear... Ack!” Suddenly, the ceiling fell from beneath her and in a crumble of dust and plaster, she collapsed on the floor. “Ow.”

“Oh, geez, what happened to you guys?” Jason asked Steph and Tim, the latter who was covered in runny eggs. Steph seemed to be unharmed. Dick stood up in surprise.

“We got egged,” Tim said flatly. “Some pieces of shell got in my contacts and my underwear.”

“Ooh, very hot,” Y/n snickered, swaying where she stood. Jason held a hand out to steady her. 

“I wish I was dead,” Tim grumbled.

“I’m doing great!” Steph squealed. “I’ve made four new friends. How’s the unwinnable bet going?”

“So little faith, Stephanie,” Y/n sighed. “On one hand, I fell through a ceiling. On the other hand, I think I bruised my brain.” She cupped her face in her hands, muttering nonsense about how brains look like loofahs.

“Look, Y/n,” Dick said carefully. “I love you like one of my daughters.”

“Aww, you do?” Y/n cooed.

“Yes, and I need to look out for you like them. You’re all irresponsible and need constant supervision. But this bet isn’t about you. It’s about Captain Wayne. That man is a genius. He’s had your number at every turn.”

“Well, not this day... Turn... time,” she stuttered. ”Sorry, I'm pretty sure I had a concussion back there! Jason, please catch me.” Jason leapt forward and cradled Y/n to his chest when she started falling backward. “Ooh, strong one,” she mumbled incoherently as he gently set her down in her chair.

“Damian.” Wayne walked up to his assistant and asked, “could you please decipher L/n’s handwriting? I believe the concussion is affecting her. She and Cain arrested a group of Royal Babies, but I’m unsure of what for.”

Damian took the paper and inspected it. “The Royal Babies were attempting to rob a small bakery. Being able to read Y/n’s handwriting is a gift. A useless gift, but still one nonetheless.”

“Pardon me, Damian.” Captain Wayne turned to a nearby janitor who was emptying Jason’s trash. “Nice costume, L/n.” 

The janitor cleared their throat and said in a deep, faux voice, “no L/n here. Just a random janitor pushing trash around.”

“L/n.”

Y/n spun around, a sheepish smile on her face. Jason hid a snicker as Y/n awkwardly said, “hey, Captain! What’s up?”

“You thought this was going to work?” Bruce hummed. 

“It did work!” Y/n scoffed. “This… was supposed to fail. It’s like chess. Sometimes, in order to win, you have to sacrifice your king.”

Jason’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “That’s how you lose chess. Have you ever played?”

“Uh, yeah!” she put a hand on her hip. “My Uncle Dave taught me!”

“Come on, lass! Even girls need to know how to shoot!”

“You’re slightly misogynistic, Uncle Davey, but I love you anyway!” A much younger Y/n propped up a handgun and carefully shot a number of chess pieces lined up on a faraway bench.

“Atta girl!”

“I expected better of you, L/n.” Captain Wayne shook his head. “You could’ve created a diversion to distract me from your terrible costume.”

“I had a diversion!” Y/n stomped her foot. “There was just a slight timing issue…” Just then, a nearby trash can lit up in a brilliant fire. “Whoops?” Y/n shrugged.

“Come on, Tim!” Steph threw her hands up in the midst of a party. “You look like such a cop! Have some fun, you know? It'll help you blend in!”

Tim stood stoically on the dance floor, not moving a muscle. “Stop trying to get me to love Halloween. It'll never work. Hey, heads up!” He noticed a man swap drugs for money with someone else. “I'll cut 'em off at the exit!”

Steph whirled around, instantly forgetting about the party. “Move! Move, move!”

The pair raced after the culprits and Tim cursed when he found the pack of drugs abandoned on the floor. “He ditched the drugs. I'm on it.” Tim shifted through partygoers and spilled drinks. “Ew… it’s sticking to me. Ugh! What is that? How is it hot and cold? Stephanie, help!”

“Hey, Cap-i-tan?” Y/n called from the bullpen. “Can you come out here for just one teeny weeny second?”

Bruce sighed and rubbed his temples, but did as his detective requested. “Do you need something, L/n?”

“Why yes, yes I do. Hit it, Royal Babies!” Y/n shouted out and at her command, all the Royal Babies marched into the bullpen. They began walking around randomly, swarming Captain Wayne, and throwing key chains around. Wayne just rolled his eyes and returned to his office. He found Y/n hunched over the cabinet drawer, attempting to copy Wayne’s keys. “Wha…. no!” Y/n groaned in frustration, slamming her fist down on the desk. “Ow…” She shook her hand out.

“Give me my keys, please.”

“Can you just stop catching me?” Y/n whined, “do you know how much I spent on key chains?”

“Probably around twenty-three dollars,” Captain Wayne said instantly. 

“That is unbelievably close and scary,” Y/n admitted. “Twenty-two dollars and seventy six cents.”

“Keys,” Wayne demanded.

“Okay, okay, look.” Y/n stood up, an embarrassed smile plastered on her face. “Tonight has been a tiny bit humiliating. Things aren’t going well, so what do you say we call off this silly little bet and pretend this whole thing never happened?”

“Oh, no no no,” Wayne let out an unusual chuckle. “I’m not letting you off the hook.” 

“What? Pffft. No… I’m giving you an out so you can save face.”

Wayne shook his head. “This is getting sad.” 

Y/n scoffed and tossed him his keys, sauntering out the door. “Uh, yeah. For you.”

“Captain,” Tim knocked on Wayne’s opened door. “Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, some officers just arrested L/n.

Bruce blinked. “What?”

“They caught her scaling the side of the building with a blowtorch.” Tim shook his head, still not understanding how Y/n managed to find a blowtorch and climb the building in the first place. Wayne just sighed in response. 

In the interrogation room, Wayne found Y/n handcuffed to the table. Knowing her, she had probably asked for the handcuffs.

“Welcome to the endgame.” Y/n tried to spread her hands ominously, but the handcuffs harshly pulled her back. “Ohh, that hurt. Forgot I was wearing those.”

“What the hell were you thinking, L/n?” Wayne shook his head, sitting down opposite Y/n.

Y/n inhaled through her teeth, trying to look ashamed. “I was thinking I had better core strength. I got winded, like, ten feet up.”

“I have to admit,” Wayne said. “I expected better of you. You have five minutes until your deadline, and yet, here you are, handcuffed to a table, in a locked room.”

“Which is precisely where I planned on being.” Y/n smiled sinisterly. “You remember when I pretended to be Herman, the janitor?”

“Yes, it was mere hours ago. And I caught you as Herman.”

Y/n wagged her finger. “But you didn't catch Cass! As it turns out, she’s great at picking locks!”

Cass crouched by Captain Wayne’s desk, carefully and quickly picking the lock as Y/n distracted him.

“Of course, I needed a way to get her out of your office without you noticing. Y/n explained, “so I created a diversion. Not a mistimed one… a perfectly timed one so Cass could escape.”

A fire burned in the trash can that caught Captain Wayne’s attention. Cass somersaulted out of his office.

“But you needed a way into the safe,” Wayne reminded her.

“And I got it. You were so concerned with getting your keys back, you didn't even notice the sergeant stealing your phone. That's right, even Dick is on my side! Then, Jason dusted your screen cover for prints. The greasiest smudges revealed the four numbers you use the most…” Y/n leaned back in her chair. “Based on your advanced age, I assumed that you use the same passcode for everything.”

Wayne conceded, “that would be a fair assumption.”

“It was at that point that I made fun of Jason for reading some sappy romance book.”

Wayne raised a brow. “And how is that a part of your masterplan?”

Y/n shrugged. “It wasn't. It just ruled. And that brings us to five minutes ago, when Tim barged into your office and told you I’d been arrested. I knew he’s the only one you’d believe because, frankly, he’s too lame to partake in these things.” Y/n grinned sharply and continued, “And as you walked over here, Stephanie crawled into the ceiling, using the hole I so cleverly left behind to enter your office. We had the four numbers for your code, which meant there were twenty-four possible combinations for Steph to try. That would take up to four minutes, which is why I really dragged out this explanation.” Wayne shook his head in disbelief and sat back in his chair. Y/n chuckled and kept rambling, “I mean, really stretched it. I don't know if you noticed, but there were times where I was like, what am I even talking about? I could make a career out of this! Professional monologuer.” The beeping of a timer interrupted her. “Oh! But now, four minutes is up. Which means Stephanie is either on the other side of that door holding your medal, or I've lost.” She pointed towards the interrogation door and simply smiled.

Captain Wayne stared at her a moment longer with a look somewhere in between wonder and frustration. Slowly, he stood up and opened the door. Stephanie proudly grinned from the opposite side, holding up his medal of valour. “Just one question,” Wayne started, not bothering to sit back down. “How’d you convince them to help you?”

Y/n chortled. “You think so little of me. Of course, I appealed to their sense of teamwork and camaraderie with a rousing speech that would have Shakespeare begging for my talent.”

Y/n stood atop a chair in the middle of the bullpen and announced in a terrible Scottish accent, “For too long, we thee have been ridiculed, pushed around, and put down. But I say no more! For today, thee shall defeat the mad king and win our thine country back!”

“How did you actually do it?” Bruce gave Y/n a knowing glare.

“Unfortunately, my speech did not work.” Y/n sighed and continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard the Captain. “The sixty-sixth precinct has no sense of honour and solidarity. Maybe we should start doing team-building activities… Anyway, I bribed them. Told them I would do their paperwork.” She gave her superior a shit-eating grin. “And cause you’re doing my paperwork,” she sang, letting him come to the same conclusion.

Wayne huffed a laugh. “Well played L/n. Well played.” 

He slowly exited the room, leaving Y/n to cry out, “Captain? Hey, Captain? Are you gonna unlock me?” She rattled the handcuffs. “Captain?!” Eventually, Jason came in to help her (not before taking many pictures).

Later that night, Wayne gathered everyone in the briefing room and swallowed his pride. “Y/n L/n is an amazing detective-slash-genius.” Y/n mouthed along to the words. “And if you’ll excuse me, I have some paperwork to do.”

Captain Wayne sat in his office, surrounded by paperwork. However, instead of beginning, he opened a pad of paper and wrote: Halloween 2

[arealphrooblem]

A Good Roommate Is Hard To Find

Synopsis: Civilian has harbored a secret crush on his roommate for a long time, only to find out that said roommate is the newest villain on the scene during a robbery at his job.

CW: death threats, knives

There was only one thing worse than having a crush on your straight roommate: having a crush on your straight villain roommate. 

Actually worse than that were rent prices, which kept Civilian from running as far in the opposite direction as he could get after he gave his statement to the police. 

A statement that contained a big, gaping hole. 

Because it couldn’t be true, right? It had to be a coincidence. Lots of people had weird, star shaped birthmarks on their ribs. It was a huge leap of logic to assume that the villain who had just tried to rob the bank that morning had the exact same birthmark as Civilian’s roommate for the past two years. 

Or maybe he just imagined it. It had been a very traumatic day. Civilian went home after the police released him and had a massive panic attack in the shower for about forty five minutes and then pressed two weighted blankets on him in bed like a panini grill. 

Having a group of villains stride into your workplace, guns blazing, would do that to you. As would getting stuck in the crossfire between said villains and the Hero from behind a desk, praying a stray bullet or laser beam wouldn’t hit and kill you. 

It was only a coincidence that Civilian had seen the birthmark. Near the end of the fight, one of the villains had been thrown over the very desk Civilian cowered behind, hitting the wall hard enough that even Civilian winced in sympathy. 

He laid there for a moment, dazed, half his torso exposed from a rip in his clothes, that stupid, undeniable birthmark on full display. Civilian could only stare at it, head dizzy as if he also took blunt force trauma to it. The villain groaned and sat up. 

For one agonizingly long second their eyes met. Civilian felt like a kitten spotted by a hawk. This was it. His time was up. He’d be just another statistic on the news -- 

But the villain just put a finger on his lips -- a silent command for silence -- that Civilian could only nod helplessly at. Then the villain slipped away in the chaos and disappeared. 

And besides, it couldn’t be his roommate because his roommate was in Colorado, visiting some online friend of his and going mountain biking or whatever. 

Two days after the attack, Roommate burst through the front door, dumping his duffel bag onto the floor and stepping towards Civilian with a scary single minded determination. 

It took every ounce of control not to flinch when Roommate cupped his face, gaze roving over his features as if looking for injuries. 

Roommate himself looked untouched from the fight. It almost made Civilian second guess himself. But he hadn’t spent the last two days analyzing every detail his love-sick brain had filed away for the last two years to doubt himself now. 

That villain and his roommate were the same person. 

“I saw the news,” Roommate said. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt? I tried to change my flight but this was the soonest I could get in.”

The lie hurt. Obviously Roommate hadn’t been mountain biking in Colorado for the past few days so it begged the question: what else did he lie about? Was this concern just an elaborate play at innocence? But if his roommate was taking the time to craft this act of concern, then he must not think Civilian knew. 

And if Civilian valued his life, he’d have to keep it that way and force normalcy. 

“I’m fine,” he said, trying for a smile and coming up with a grimace. “I mean, I’m not fine. It was fucking scary, but I didn’t get hurt. So there’s that. Work’s given me a week off and then. . .”

Roommate scowled. “And then what? They can’t possibly think you’d be okay working there again after only a few days off? You should quit.”

“Quit?” Civilian’s eyebrows raised. “And we both get thrown out on our asses? We’re lucky enough to have this apartment as it is.”

“I have enough savings to get us through for a few weeks while you find another job,” Roommate insisted. 

“I thought you blew it all on Colorado,” Civilian joked weakly. 

And where the fuck did those savings come from? he wanted to ask. But he didn’t dare. 

“Not all of it. Seriously. You should think about it.”

Something gleamed in the roommate’s eyes, like a warning. Civilian swallowed thickly and nodded. 

“Okay. I’ll think about it. I just . . .I think I’m going to go lay down for a bit. It’s good to have you back. You’ll have to tell me all about it when I wake up again.”

Roommate’s face lit up with a smile and Civilian’s heart twisted in his chest. “I have so many good photos. It’s beautiful out there.You should come with me next time.”

“Yeah sure,” said Civilian thoughtlessly, thinking only of the dark safety of his room. 

“Get some rest.” Roommate nudged Civilian towards the hallway. “I’ll order us pizza.”

Civilian nodded and forced his steps to slow as he made his way to the bedroom. Once the door shut and the fan turned on, he buried his head under his pillows and tried to get his breathing under control. 

Faking normalcy was going to be harder than he thought. 

"Oh you're starting dinner already?"

Civilian jumped at the sound of his roommate's voice, the knife slipping and nearly cutting  into his fingertip. A quick glance over his shoulder showed his roommate leaning against the opposite counter, arms folded loosely over his chest. 

Just a casual chat. And yet it felt like a fist suddenly gripped Civilian's heart. Even after three days, it still felt like walking the knife’s edge every time they were in the same room together. 

"I, um, got bored," he said, thankful to be facing away so his terror wouldn't show as he fought it back down. "I didn't know you'd be home so soon."

"I took a half day at lunch. Did some shopping. I got you more of that tea. It seemed to help you sleep."

A hint of guilt colored his roommate's nonchalance. Or maybe Civilian just imagined it. 

"Thanks," Civilian said.

Focus. Focus on the potato. Cube the potato. Be the potato. 

Heart thudding in his ears, his concentration on chopping vegetables, Civilian didn't hear the movement until his roommate's head appeared over his shoulder. 

"What are you making?" he asked. 

Civilian swallowed down a lick of sudden hysteria. 

Get a fucking hold of yourself he thought. There is no reason why he'd be suspicious unless you're acting like a lunatic!

"Soup," he managed to croak. "The, uh, kind at the Italian restaurant you like."

A bribe. A hope. A way to remind himself that he knew his roommate, right? They've lived together for two years. 

And true to form, his roommate's eyes brightened. "Oh excellent! We haven't had that in ages."

"That's because chopping all these vegetables is a pain in the ass."

A thick tension rose and tightened between them. Civilian concentrated on chopping, trying to ignore the heat at his back as his roommate didn't step away, didn't leave. Just watched him. 

"You're using the wrong knife, you know," the roommate said softly. 

" . . .what?"

The roommate reached over Civilian's shoulder to the knife block on the counter and pulled one out. It was small and two fingers wide, short and wickedly sharp. Fear clenched Civilian's throat with icy hands. 

"You're using a butcher knife," his roommate murmured against Civilian's ear. A shiver fluttered down his neck. "That's for cutting meat. You need a paring knife for vegetables."

" . . .Oh." Was it just him or did the kitchen suddenly feel low on air? "I'll . . . remember that . . .for next time. . ."

"Why don't I take over? At least for the chopping."

Civilian tightened his grip on the knife, an instinctive gesture he had no control over. But even though Roommate had offered help in the kitchen many times, that same instinct screamed not to let him. Something felt different this time. 

"I got it," he said, forcing lightness in his tone. "You know you're hopeless in the kitchen."

"I'm good with knives, though." Civilian swallowed down another spike of cold terror. "It's the least I can do if you're making me my favorite."

The paring knife rested just inside Civilian's peripheral, deceptively harmless. 

"Why don't you put the gnocchi on to boil," he said. "I'm almost done here."

His roommate sighed, a rush of air against Civilian’s cheek. "You're always so stubborn," he said with sad fondness. 

The paring knife moved like a flash and suddenly it's cold steel pressed light as a kiss just under Civilian's jaw. 

His breath froze in his lungs. 

"Drop the knife, Civilian."

" . . .Roommate?" It wasn't difficult to pitch his voice high in uncertain fear. To pretend shock. "What are you doing?"

"I know that you know."

"Know what?" Civilian breathed and then cringed at how unbelievable it sounded even to his own ears. 

He only had room in his head for one secret,  it was hard to sound convincingly ignorant when every cell screamed at him to run away. 

"You've tried so valiantly to hide it, but I know you too well." Roommate's murmured against his ear.  "You're afraid."

Civilian dragged a shaky breath into his lungs. "You have a knife to my throat."

"And you are nowhere near as shocked about that as you should be." Roommate twisted the knife until the flat of the blade lay against Civilian's skin -- and then he dragged it, achingly slow, over Civilian's jawline to rest against raw bitten lips. 

A wave of dizziness gripped him, driven by fear mixed with the heady, dangerous edge of want, the desire Civilian struggled with for so many months wrapping its claws around his chest. 

"Be a good boy and drop the knife."

Breath came fast and heavy as he willed himself to relax his fingers, to release the knife. Not that he would have even thought of it as a weapon and not a kitchen tool until his roommate demonstrated it. But with one having danced so close to his pulse, letting go of his own felt like a death sentence. 

The second he dropped the knife, his roommate twisted a hand into the fabric of his shirt and hauled him across the kitchen to pin him against the fridge. The smiling tomato magnet they grabbed as a joke at a yard sale clattered to the floor and broke into pieces. The roommate  doesn't so much as flinch, their gaze like stone, the knife never wavering from Civilian's neck.

He swallows thickly against the panic, never more afraid in his life than in this moment. He never thought death would look like his favorite person in the world ready to slit his throat with a paring knife. 

And yet the desire still thrummed beneath it all, a twisted hunger being fed from such close contact, like his body forgot to stop yearning in light of what his mind knew. But the stone-cold glint in his roommate’s eyes twisted his face from comfortingly familiar into dangerously unrecognizable. 

Seeing it shattered something in Civilian just like that stupid magnet. His eyes prickled and stung; the roommate's face turned blurry. Humiliated, he darted his gaze to the window, focusing on the speck of green of the neighbor’s tree swaying in the breeze. 

And waited for death. 

Time stretched long and excruciating between each heartbeat. Then the coolness of the knife disappeared, replaced by warm fingers that nudged his gaze back to his roommate’s.

“Hey,” the roommate said softly. 

That granite hardness of his gaze had melted into soft concern. The exact kind of look he gave Civilian each time a migraine flared up. The reminder of that felt as dangerous as the knife. It couldn’t be real. 

“Hey, it’s okay.”

The words hit him like a slap to the face. 

“Don’t say that!” Civilian hissed. “I didn’t do anything and you’re going to kill me.”

He flinched from the hand that raised up, knocking his head painfully against the fridge. But Roommate only brushed a stray tear away with his calloused thumb. 

“You’re right,” he said pensively. “You didn’t do anything. And I’m not going to kill you.”

He turned and tossed the knife into the sink. Civilian did not feel any safer, however. He felt like a bug under the shadow of a boot,  even as Roommate smoothed his hands over Civilian’s chest in a display of casual affection he would have died for a week earlier. 

“Here is what I am going to do,” he continued. “I’m going to finish dinner. You’re going to compose yourself in a long hot shower and when you get out we are going to eat and have a discussion about the way things are going to be from now on. Is that alright?”

Civilian nodded, not trusting his voice. What other answer could he possibly give?

Part two here

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 27: nightmares

Masterlist flufftober 🎀

Someone mentioned that they would like to see a little more of roommate!Spencer, so I hope you like it!!

You should have known that if you slept, the nightmares that plagued you every October would also return. It was just that after so many weeks of depriving yourself of sleep at night and limiting yourself to sleeping in short bursts every once in a while at university it wasn't working anymore.

Even your roommate, so accustomed to seeing bodies in such deplorable states, had observed as kindly as possible that the bags under your eyes were becoming deeper and deeper every day. The two of you were having a small celebration dinner for his birthday when he murmured it to you, right around the time of eating the cake.

“It's nothing,” you had said, but to a profiler that response was just a clumsy lie. Still, he didn't want to pry into your affairs and just let it go, after all it was your privacy.

That night you were watching a movie on your old television, not a horror one, clearly, until suddenly your eyelids felt too heavy to keep them open. Not even the coffee was having an effect anymore, and you remember hearing Spencer tell you once that there were times when drinking caffeine during the night triggered a response opposite to what you expected and resulted in even more sleepiness.

At some point the embrace of sleep caught you and you began to fall into the deep abyss. Is there a scientific reason why your mind is filled with violent images every October? Since you were little, you hated everything that had to do with Halloween just because it turned out to be more material for your mind to manipulate and attack you during the night, so you had always attributed your nightmares to the spooky atmosphere of the time, as if ghosts and monsters really were able to cross the barrier into your world.

But this time it was different, because none of the familiar images was the one that began to torment you.

You were at a crime scene, you knew it from the yellow tape that surrounded a box in front of you and from the multiple police officers. No one seemed to really notice you, but you knew there was a lot of panic going on from the way everyone was whispering to each other and the tears that were falling from some people's cheeks. Had it been an ugly murder? Something disgusting? Your intention wasn’t to find out, however, your feet began to move on their own toward the area where there was a body.

“Y/N?” a voice stopped you. She was a person unknown to you, but who you remembered seeing in a photograph that Spencer had framed on the mantle. She looked worried and with clear signs of crying.

You wanted to stop, but you couldn't, so very soon you were in front of the lifeless body. And when you saw the body's feet you felt your heart stop: they were a pair of worn Converse with uneven socks.

You fell to your knees in front of him only to realize that the scene was more horrible than you could imagine. When you put your hands on his chest you felt the hot liquid that was stained and that was now all over your palms, turning you into a bundle of nerves in a second.

And then you screamed heartbreakingly. You called his name over and over again desperately, trying to pick him up from where he was in a poor attempt to wake him up. The blood was staining all your clothes and that only made you cry more and more, until, suddenly, the man's body opened its eyes and held you tightly by the arm.

“Y/N!” he yelled at you, spitting blood in spurts as he watched you. You were hyperventilating and crying inconsolably at the sight of the apparently dead man in your arms.

Suddenly his grip felt stronger and more desperate; more real.

Y/N, wake up… 

This time his voice sounded distant and worried, until you felt a second hand holding your arm and with it everything around you began to evaporate. A second later, you were awake and the first thing you found was a man holding you firmly, but this time he was alive, whole, and safe.

You were awake, it had all been a dream.

“Spencer,” you uttered with a sob, and then rushed towards him to hug him.

The man received you without any complaint and firmly wrapped his arms around your trembling body, also feeling your erratic breathing hitting his shoulder.

"Are you okay? Why were you screaming?” he whispered, feeling how you clung to his body in fear “What is happening?”

"I saw you. You were… you were… I… oh, Spencer it was the most horrible dream I've ever had” you said between tears.

Suddenly everything fell into place in your partner's mind, knowing perfectly well the bad time that a nightmare could put anyone through and that now you were suffering. Then he felt compassion for you.

“Hey, hey, none of that was real,” he whispered to you, adjusting himself better to sit on the bed, but without stopping holding you at any time “It was just a dream.”

Despite the man's attempts he heard your breathing becoming more unsteady so he separated himself from you just a little. You were frantic from the nightmare, which made him think there was something more going on than just a bad dream.

He had never seen you sobbing like this, but in a second he knew that he fervently hated doing it. You were his friend, he didn't want to hear you suffer.

It was clear that on more than one occasion he had experienced crises like the one he was seeing in you and he searched his brain for all the useful information to help you, both personal and written in books.

“Hey, look at me. I need you to breathe first, okay?” He murmured softly, while searching your eyes with his and separated just enough to give you space “I'll do it with you, just breathe. Inhale… exhale…” his words were calm and kind, as he carried out what he was saying.

You were still thinking about the vision of his lifeless body and although you tried to calm down, the truth is that it was complicated. It took you a couple of minutes to achieve it, but as you went he murmured sweet phrases of encouragement that rewarded your effort.

As the atmosphere lightened your grip did too, but he kept his hands on you just as firmly as at the beginning as if he wanted to give you some kind of comfort with it.

“You're doing well, that's it,” he smiled at you, as he noticed your sobs became more sporadic. It wasn't until they finally stopped that he spoke: “Are you better now?”

You offered a nod in response and closed your eyes for a moment, as if to become aware of the situation. He was there, with you, and he was safe. Spencer was right, it had just been a nightmare.

"Do you want a hug?" he offered, feeling it was more appropriate now that you had regained your composure. You didn't refuse and just leaned towards him, while the man held you close to his body and began to caress your back with one of his hands. “What was it you dreamed about, huh?”

You could only think that the reason for your outburst might sound silly to him, or that you might even scare him with your crazy stories. You were friends, but... what if you said that you were so affected by imagining that you lost him? No, you couldn't.

"I don’t want to talk about that right now"

“Okay, then we won’t talk.”

That said, he kept holding you in the dark and his body heat made you feel good. Although you rarely had this kind of contact, it didn't feel uncomfortable at all and the hug was giving you a strange feeling of security that you didn't think you could get from your roommate. You stayed like that for a long time, in silence, only sheltered by his care.

“Forgive me for waking you up.”

“Don't worry,” he said gently. “You scared me a lot though, if I'm honest. Of the way you were screaming, I think even the neighbors thought someone was murdering you.”

"Are you serious?" You asked worriedly, raising your head enough to look at him. “Oh, I’m so sorry…”

“Is that why you haven't been sleeping lately? Do you have nightmares?”

Spencer wasn't stupid, you knew that, so lying to him would be useless.

“It's happened to me since I was little. On… on these dates I always have them and I don't even know why”

“And why hadn't you told me?”

“I didn't think you'd care,” you whispered, shrugging as he looked into your eyes “Besides, I… I'm embarrassed.”

“Tomorrow I will buy you a pack of relaxing tea for you to drink before bed. Maybe that will help you, what do you think?” he encouraged you, giving your entire body a friendly squeeze.

Suddenly the bad feelings were replaced with joy, warmth, and admiration for your friend. You hadn't looked at his pajamas until that moment and then you remembered your own outfit, too revealing to be appropriate, but which he didn't even seem to pay attention to. Spencer had been so respectful and kind to you since you arrived at the apartment and right now you loved having him as a roommate.

"Thanks for coming. I feel better now” you exclaimed, separating yourself from him and wiping away the traces of tears that were still there. “You should go back to rest.”

“Are you sure you're going to be okay?”

“Yes,” you murmured, but from Spencer’s expression you knew he must have noticed the hesitation in your response. “Don’t worry. I'll try to watch a movie or something like that."

"You should sleep"

“What if I have nightmares again?”

“Scream like you did and I assure you that I will be back,” he joked, making you let out a barely audible laugh. It felt good to laugh and have company during your sleepless nights.

“Sorry again for waking you up.”

“It's okay, we all have bad dreams sometimes,” he reassured you, reaching out to hug you tightly once more. “If you need anything else, you can call me, okay? You know we're just a hallway away."

"I know. Thank you, Spencer.”

The man smiled at you one last time and stretched out his hand to gently squeeze your arm, then got out of bed.

“If things continue like this tomorrow, we can have a sleepover in the living room. If that makes you feel better” he suggested and although you laughed at the idea you told him that you would consider it.

The next night it was only thanks to a delicious, warm tea and the company of Dr. Reid that you managed to sleep peacefully after years. And now that you knew the remedy for nightmares, you would not hesitate to resort to it as many times as necessary.

taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger @missabsey

[maitaiwiththecorpses]

Things That People With Kiddos Should Know As Someone With Kiddos

This is by no means an extensive list of things parents/guardians/caretakers should know and take into account when raising and taking care of kids, nor is this telling you how to run a household or parent, however, from my experience, these things can make your life SO MUCH EASIER and make the relationship with your kiddos and you much smoother. I'm mostly going to be focusing on more adolescent-specific topics, but a lot of this advice can be applied to kids of all ages. Some of these things that I mention might work perfectly for you and your kiddos, and some of them might not. Some of them you might have to practice working on or modify them to fit your situation. Not everything on here is golden for everyone, and not everything on here is trash either. What works for one situation might not work for another.

With that being said, let's get to it.

Take your kids clothes shopping in person as much as possible. Make them try everything that they pick on. Kid's measurements are weird and are going to be changing drastically throughout their lives. Find the clothes they like and fit into in person and buy them online for cheaper (or in person. Whatever floats your boat)

Do not waste money on surprises unless you know FOR A FACT that they're going to like it! What does for a fact mean? Well, they've either explicitly stated that they want the item, or dropped some obvious as hell hints! Do not go guessing and buying based on what you think they'll like, or what you like. That's setting you, and your kid up for failure.

Be interested in things they're interested in. Your kid likes Taylor Swift? Cool! Your reaction should be "awesome, you wanna listen to the Era's Tour setlist in the car?" or, "what's your favorite album, let's listen to it together!"

Similarly, if your kiddo creates (art, music, poetry, stories, crafts, woodwork, videos, coding, etc,.) BE INTERESTED IN THAT. Consume their work! Show interest in it! Ask to read their writing, ask to see their art, ask to listen to their compositions. They might not say yes, but make it clear that you want to, and that's something that excites you. This will bring your kiddo joy.

DO NOT. AND I REPEAT. DO NOT. BELITTLE THEIR INTERESTS. Remember: You were once a kid with wacky interests, too. Kids are always searching for validation, whether they exhibit it or not. And even if they aren't? It's just a dick move to make fun of them for something they like.

buy pencils, pens, and notebooks in bulk. You'll need them.

Oh, and sticky notes.

If your kiddo comes to you for help of any kind, academic or otherwise, you damn well help them. "I need help studying for my math test tomorrow," ok, whaddya struggling with? How can I help? Do you just need a body double here, or should I do some problems with you?

give them notes. In their lunches, on their desks, in presents, on the fridge- hell, stick it on their doors! It doesn't have to be anything long- just a simple "morning!" or, "have a great day!" works, too.

Tell them you love them and that you're proud of them. Regularly. I know there are some people who think that makes their kids soft but I assure you, you're doing the exact opposite. By building your kids up, and regularly telling them that you love them and are proud of them, they know that they are valued and worthy and loved. This will set them up for success later in life and make them emotionally intelligent and flexible. Also, kids don't hear it enough these days.

They're going to see some scary shit. You can't avoid it. This past year I had to report three attempted suicides and many more cases of self-harm that came from other peers and people I was very close to. I initially was not processing the fact that someone so close to me was hurting themselves or trying to kill themselves, and the reporting process (sometimes even involving police) was extremely traumatizing. When I finally did cry, it came days later, and even today someone might say the name of one of these people and I will immediately shut down and change my whole demeanor. And I know our kiddos are experiencing these things, so please, be there for your kids and always tell them that telling adults when someone they know is hurting themselves or trying to end their life is important and could save their friends and loved ones.

Be prepared for your kids to have some kind of mental illness or learning disability. Do not try and gaslight them by saying that it's "all in their heads" (no shit?) or that they're "making things up." take everything seriously. "Mom, I think I have adhd," alright, let's see a doctor and do some research. "Tia, I'm so tired all the time and I just want to disappear," darling, that's not healthy, that's a sign of depression- you're important and loved, how about we set up a session with a therapist so you can talk to someone about these feelings who can help you better than I can?

Always be prepared to help your kiddos and reach out to licensed professionals who can help them.

carry snacks with you everywhere. And not that healthy shit, either. Within your kid's eating restrictions, get something like a chocolate chip granola bar or a Reese's cup and stick it in your going-out bag. It will save your life when hungry time comes around.

Don't be surprised if your kids are queer in some shape or form. Support them, love them unconditionally, make sexuality puns as needed ("if you're not dating anyone rn, does that mean you're on stand-bi?") and do your own research in regard to sexuality and gender.

help them get ready for school dances and stuff. Makeup, hair, clothes, pickup lines, the whole ordeal. I promise you they're going to love you for it.

Make the puberty/sex talk a casual yet thorough thing. You want to cover all the information, but you don't want to make it so uptight that they never want to talk about it again or ask any questions. Pull up diagrams, do the whole shebang, but make it clear that they don't have to memorize everything in that very moment. Questions are ok, even after the fact.

Take them to the library.

For all your menstruating kiddos out there, stock up on pads and tampons and anything else they use every month/every other month depending on how much they use. Don't make it seem like a hassle, don't make difficult, just do it without question. If they tell you they like a certain brand or type/size/etc, adhere to that and respect it. Menstruating is uncomfortable as is, don't make it worse by not listening to your kid's needs.

Give them this thing I like to call Cuddle Days (or sensory overload days, or Overstimulated, Get Me Outta Here days). These are the kinda days that can show up on weekends after a long week and basically it's a ton of movies, pillow forts, blankets, and comfort food. And lots of cuddles, of course.

Don't guilt trip them for existing having needs. Your kids are going to need a lot and do a lot and they are grateful, but it just feels weird to express that feeling of gratitude as a teenager.

And, most importantly, let them be kids. Let them have pillow fights, and roll on the grass. Hang fairy lights up and tell them stories. Giggle about their crushes with them, and paint your nails together. Play Mario Cart and eat takeout together. Kids are so complex and amazing and it would be a shame if we took away the part about being kids in the process of them growing up, because one day they're not gonna be our babies anymore.

[artsandstoriesandstuff]

OC asks. Hope this isn't too many. Let me know if it is.

Enid:

💝 - How much effort do they put into appearances? Do they have a favorite article of clothing?

���️ - If this oc came with a warning sign, what would it be?

Lou:

💙 - Describe their bedroom! Is it personalized, unchanged? Messy, neat?

🧠 - What is their stress response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn?

Veronica:

❗- What are the highest priorities to this oc (at a point in their life of your choosing)?

⚡ - Does this oc have any unusual or “irrational” fears?

Rodney:

💭 - How is their mental health? Do they struggle with guilt or shame?

👁️ - How do other people perceive this oc? How close do their first assumptions come to the truth?

Take your time. I look forward to seeing the answers. :]

You’re alright! I actually look forward to answering some of these. :)

Enid

💝 - How much effort do they put into appearances? Do they have a favorite article of clothing?

I’d say she puts a fair amount of effort into her appearance. She does her whole make up routine and carefully picks her clothes out daily.

Speaking of clothes, while she doesn’t have a favorite article of clothing per se, she does enjoy wearing anything with pant legs, and berets.

⚠️ - If this oc came with a warning sign, what would it be?

Notice: Easily excitable. Do not give caffeine. Do not give alcohol. May bite. (Or something along the lines of that)

Lou

💙 - Describe their bedroom! Is it personalized, unchanged? Messy, neat?

It’s actually quite nice looking! He has nice furniture (especially his desk and his lamp) and, of course, he keeps it organized.

🧠 - What is their stress response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn?

After some thinking and a bit of research, his stress response is most likely flight, with fight probably his second response. I decided it’d be flight, though, because of how he responded to trauma in his past…

(yes. This is lore.)

Veronica

❗- What are the highest priorities to this oc (at a point in their life of your choosing)?

An important priority in Veronica’s life, back before the dispute with her husband, was a mix of making sure her loved ones were okay, while staying sane in the process.

Nowadays she is not sane but she still cares about her loved ones!

⚡ - Does this oc have any unusual or “irrational” fears?

I don’t really know, but I’d like to think its detectives, journalists, police, or just anyone who works with crime scenes.

Rodney

💭 - How is their mental health? Do they struggle with guilt or shame?

Bad. He’s been messed up since his failed relationship with Enid a pretty long time ago. Although Enid was the one who ultimately left, he still feels like he was the one who caused their demise.

(more lore. Also I feel I should clarify this is when he and Enid weren’t robots yet. A LONG time ago.)

👁️ - How do other people perceive this oc? How close do their first assumptions come to the truth?

Based on how he acts (and his general role in the first, maybe, five episodes of the series), people saw him as a powerful and possibly dangerous guy, considering his position as a boss. But no, that assumption is not true at all. He tries to live up to the assumption, whether that he through wanting the fame or just plain arrogance/stubbornness, but is ultimately just an anxious wannabe.

Now Gunner, on the other hand, is the OPPOSITE of this, but that’s a story for another day.

I don’t know how the last section got to be so long but thank you for this ask! I had to put in more thought to some of the questions than i originally thought, so I think you picked some pretty good questions for each character. :)

[imaginaenespanol]

"Tall and Free: The Encounter with V" -V for Vendetta x Tall!Reader (ENG)

Anonymous Asked: Hello! I'm new to this and well I wanted to ask if you could do v (the one from V for Vendetta) in which v meets a very tall reader (you know those super tall people, well that) by the way if you don't want to do this, it's well, I understand!

Answer: Hi! Of course I can do it! Sorry for the wait, it's my first time doing this character and I'm quite excited to write it. I hope you liked it!

Number of words: 1918

Warnings: Violence, Self-image problems, strong words, indirect mention of dictatorship.

Versión en español: Aquí

In this world, it is already difficult to be able to live minimally autonomous, after the fearsome dictator Sutler. According to my parents, before everything was better, that at least we could breathe calmly, well, although it sounds naive, I believe that one day we can reach the freedom that my parents have related to me so much, but there is something that torments me every day more than total control, it is my height, I measure 192 cm (6 ft) hey! It's also not as terrible as certain silly movies would have you believe, it benefits me a lot when I have to intimidate someone for my own safety, of course as long as they don't carry a firearm, but... little things that I can't enjoy as I should make me feel like a Phenomenon, like buying a sweater and getting too small in the arms, or always hitting the doors of subway stations when entering or leaving, seriously, who designed those things? A hobbit? I already have a Bump on my head as a badge...

Although sometimes my own thoughts can betray many times in my work and people can be scared, there was a certain occasion that I met the epitome of revolution and certainly an anarchist Knight.

I was Walking at night, I had to stay in the Office for overtime and I lost track of time filling out forms in Excel, the curfew is already starting and I didn't want something bad to happen to me “Geez, the subway has already closed, I hope not I ran into someone, I don't want to get into trouble" I said to myself trying to warn myself and activate my senses through the dark streets of London. After walking safely in my 3 block, in the distance I saw a figure, she looked somewhat nervous from the movement she made with her feet, but could it be them? My stomach knotted with nerves.

Stealthily, I walked slowly while taking advantage of the fact that that figure looked distracted, with each step more and more of that person was revealed in the dark, but my heartbeat and breathing accelerated. Biting my lips and sending a slight pain to my brain, it prevented me from getting out of my mind, I was almost there...False alarm, she was a prostitute, did she look young? What is she doing there?, so I decided to approach her. "Girl, what are you doing here? It's not dangerous? What's your name?" Try to be as nice as possible, my height can be intimidating at night. The girl looked at me with a start and instinctively backed away, I gestured for her to calm down, I won't hurt her "I-I'm Every and this is... M-My first night, I thought..." "It's dangerous, you can run into the Fingermans'' I interrupted "I know everyone doesn't have the economic opportunities, but, you don't have to do this to yourself girl, don't ruin your life, look, I-" I couldn't continue with the conversation because a group of men He approached in the distance making noise, a lot of noise, uh oh, he knew those guys were the secret police, the 'Fingermen'. 4 months ago they took the Head of Marketing to 'Prison' to put it mildly, for having prohibited reading in his drawer and subliminal messages against the Sutler Government in the next advertising campaign for clothing, low blow.

I quickly gestured for Every to run away in the opposite direction when I told him to, and I did!, just as one of that group tripped and the others made fun of him. Taking advantage of my height I turned her back covering her, so they wouldn't see her running from her perspective and away from her, she hesitated for a moment "W-what's your name?" He asked me whispering "My name is (Y/N) (Y/L), get out of here!" I don't know what facial gesture I showed her, because I saw her running while I paid attention to those subjects again, they were a few meters from me and certainly they already saw me, the darkness did not save me from this unfortunately...

"Hey Big Girl, what are you doing at this time of night?" Said one with a mocking smile, I didn't answer him and backed away "Don't you know that the curfew has already started? It's illegal for you to be here doll" Said another while the rest laughed. I put my hardest face into my fear and told them "Look, , I'm not doing anything wrong, I just left work late and I want to get home in peace, okay?" Other taunts towards me "And who said you would go home?" One held my hand, he must have gotten closer when he was talking to the other two, Shit….

I struggled for a few moments while the 4th man pulled out a gun and his grip tightened making my wrist hurt quite a bit, but that was nothing with the feeling of the cold metal on my temple…I pointed the gun at my head “Listen, you giant bitch, We are the secret police, here we are the law and if you don't listen to us, well, you're going to a very bad place.” At that time I wasn't thinking correctly, trying to run away and take advantage of my height certainly didn't help but I did anyway. try, what did I get in return? blows to the stomach.

They were about to use the gun on me when suddenly one of the men fainted. A blow had left him fuit was combat, but I couldn't make out where it came from. Before he could process what was happening, the other three men began pointing in the direction the attack had come from.

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me. "Do you need help?" the voice said. I turned around quickly and saw a tall man, dressed in a cape and hat, a white mask with a haunting smile covering his face. Is it possible that he is…? I have heard rumors in my office that there was a dangerous masked terrorist wreaking havoc at night.

Despite his reputation, I couldn't help but feel relieved to see him, he was better than the Fingermans so I nodded. The masked man helped me up, and with a swift movement, he disposed of the remaining three men with amazing martial skills.

"Come with me, I'll take you to a safe place," he told me in a confident voice, and without hesitation, I followed him through the dark streets of the city, trying to process what had just happened.

“Uhh, ehh, thanks…” I shyly said, trying to break the tension. That man simply nodded and continued walking in silence. I felt awkward for a moment, but after a few seconds, I decided to ask him something. "By the way, my name is (Y/N) (Y/L) Who are you?" I asked curiously.

The Mystery Man stopped for a moment and turned to me. "I'm V," he said in a deep, melodic voice and with a certain extravagant gesture. "The Masked Avenger, the one who rises up against oppression and tyranny."

My heart pounded in my chest as I processed what he had just told me, the office rumors were true! I can say that he is more friendly and intimidating than he was described to me, but I never thought I would meet him in person. "Why did you help me?" I asked cautiously.

V stepped closer to me, his white mask haunting in the moonlight. "Because no one deserves to be wrongfully beaten and detained," he said. "I am fighting for the freedom and justice of this Country, and I cannot allow the tyranny of Sutler and his minions to continue harming innocent people."

I stared at him, trying to process what he was saying. There was something in his voice and in his eyes that made me feel safe and protected, despite how strange and dangerous it all was. "Thank you," I said again, but now, feeling a surge of gratitude and admiration for this mysterious man.

"Uh, I should go to..." I tried to tell him but V quickly stopped me "I wouldn't recommend that, miss" I looked at him confused "Why not? It's all over" I commented, thinking that there would be nothing wrong but he denied "If she goes home, it's a matter of time before they stop her, they won't stop until they find her" V said harshly, but without an iota of lies in his voice, it is true, they will not rest until they find me and make me pay for the shame that I cause them, I had no choice but to go with him

After going further than that place, V and I continued on our way to who knows where, according to him, towards his home. Along the way, I told V a few stories about how my height had caused me some inconvenience in my daily life, like not being able to find clothes that fit me or constantly having to bend down in places with low ceilings or sticking out in the cubicle. my office, all with a tone of certain bitterness on my part, which did not go unnoticed by the Man.

While we were talking, V looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and admiration, we were almost the same height and it's something I've gotten used to but I didn't see it favorably, but that man felt that he saw something exotic and attractive, which he didn't see. in myself.

"Your height is impressive, (Y/N). It's one of the things that makes you unique and special," V said with a kind tone, feeling her smile behind the mask "You shouldn't see her as a handicap, but as an advantage. You have a unique perspective on the world, and that's something few people have." I sigh, I get teased about it from school “Yeah, but…they make fun of that too Unique perspective? of course, since I'm tall…” I said with a listless voice and he stopped short, took me by the shoulders and gave me an understanding look "I understand that you feel that way. But the truth is that people will always find something to make fun of or criticize. That doesn't mean you should let their opinions get to you. You own your life and your decisions, and that includes how you feel about yourself. If you accept and love yourself just the way you are, nothing you say or do to others can hurt you. I was speechless, then he gave me a comforting hand "Don't worry, (Y/N). I'll be here to support you and help you in everything you need. You will always be special and unique, no matter what others say" .

I felt a little more encouraged by his words and we continued walking, after a while, I decided to ask him why he thought that. "Well, think of it like this," V said, stopping for a moment.

nto to look me in the eye. "When you walk down the street, don't you see things that others don't? Can't you reach things that others can't? That gives you an advantage, an ability that others don't have."

I was surprised by her perspective, and began to see my height in a different way. "I've never thought of it that way," I said with a smile. "Thank you V."

"You don't have to thank me," V replied with a smile. "I'm just telling the truth. You're beautiful and strong, and your height is just one of the many things that make you special. Don't let anyone make you feel less for it."

I felt grateful for his words, and together we continued on our way to his home. Despite the darkness and danger that surrounded us, I felt safe by his side. And in that moment, I knew that I had found someone I could trust and who would always be there to protect me.

[ilovewhiteroses]

Keeping Secrets - Part 3.

Pairing: The Corinthian x Cop Reader Genre: Thriller, drama Warnings: Swearing, horror, smut Rating: 18+ Series Summary: After it turns out you’re both working on the same case, you and The Corinthian team up to track down one of the country’s most dangerous criminals. Although you are getting to know each other better, he still has some dark secrets…

YOU "What the fuck are you doing?" you yelled to Cori, who almost had a heart attack when he saw you. You walked up to him and started punching his chest.

"How could you do this? You fucking sadistic murderer!” you hit him as hard as you could, he could barely hold you down.

“Y/N, wait, let me explain!” he said in despair.

"There is nothing to explain about this, I'm calling Kirkland! I hope you will rot in jail for the rest of your life!” you yelled and pulled out your phone, which Cori took out of your hand in an instant. You tried to take the phone back, but Cori wouldn't give it, so you kicked him in the leg, which he didn't even feel. After a few minutes of fighting, Cori held you tightly by the arms so you couldn't attack.

"Fuck, you shouldn't have seen this! Please don't call the lieutenant, just try to calm down. We'll go home and I'll explain everything. I know what I did was horrible, but believe me, I had a good reason for it!” he said, trying to calm you down. You were really upset, the last time you cried like this was when Robert died. You felt as if your heart had been broken. Cori hugged you and you stood there like that for a while. When you managed to calm down a bit, Cori took you in his arms and put you in his car, then drove you home, because you couldn't drive in this condition. He took you into the guest room and laid you on the bed. He put your phone on the nightstand opposite you and asked for your car keys so he could go back to get your car.

CORINTHIAN When he got home, he sat down on the sofa, put his sunglasses on the coffee table and buried his face in his hands.

He fucked it up. He got busted in front of you. How will you be able to work together after this?

It was a good thing that weekend came, otherwise none of you would have been able to go to work under such circumstances. He wondered what to do. Obviously, he should tell you what he can, but after that… He tried to look at the possible options. The only solution would be to kill you…

No. Just the thought made his stomach turn. On the one hand, Kirkland and the others would immediately notice your sudden disappearance, and on the other, because he was unable to. You were too important to him for that…

Either way, he has to convince you that what he did was right. Corinthian laid down on the couch and tried to calm himself by saying that maybe he hasn't lost you yet and you'll give him another chance...

 YOU You woke up late the next morning. You looked at the nightstand and saw that your phone and car keys were there. You were still half asleep, but you got yourself some clean clothes and went to shower. When you were done, you went to the kitchen, running into Cori.

"Hello! How are you? Were you able to sleep?” he asked kindly and tried to force a smile on his face. As you looked at him, his smile quickly disappeared as immeasurable sadness and hatred shone from your eyes.

"As soon as I've had my coffee, we'll sit down and you'll tell me everything." you said in a slightly sleepy, but angry voice. Cori had to gulp.

 CORINTHIAN Half an hour later, you were sitting opposite each other on the two sofas in the living room. You sat leaning back with your arms folded, Corinthian ruffling his hair nervously.

The moment of truth has come.

"Well, about what you saw last night. I know it was terrible, but believe me, the bastard deserved it. He stole, cheated, lied and abused people.” You gave him a cynical look.

"Really? And how do you know these things?”

"I looked in the police database among wanted criminals and based on my methods I managed to track him down. And he wasn't the only one, there were others besides him."

"What? You killed more than one?” you asked shocked.

"Yes, but only bad people. There were those who were released because there was not enough evidence against them, but I knew that they were awful and I went after them. I figured out where they were, and then…” he didn't continue, because you could have guessed the end.

"So you kill bad people."

"Yes." Corinthian said through gritted teeth, knowing he was only telling half the truth. In fact, his victims included innocents, such as the recent ones, the smoking woman and the guy from the bar.

He was nervously waiting for what you were going to say. He could see that you were really thinking about something.

"So, if I understand correctly, instead of telling your police colleagues where and what kind of criminals are on the loose, you kill them as a kind of second job."

"That's right." he said. It seemed he managed to get you to believe his half-truths.

"No matter who you kill, you are still a murderer." you said.

Yes. A murderous nightmare with teeth-eyes.

 You looked in front of you silently for a while, while Corinthian was extremely nervous deep inside. A lot depended in those few minutes.

"Look, we live in such a fucked up, crazy world and I've seen and heard so much weird shit during my job that I shouldn't be surprised. Even if bad people end up in prison, sooner or later they would be killed there anyway. You go ahead of this and, even if in a brutal way, you bring justice to the world and to the victims." you have summarized your thoughts. Corinthian 's mouth dropped open for a moment, even he, himself could not have articulated his actions so well.

"Do you understand now?" he asked and held out his hand to you. You lowered your arms and took his hand.

"Yes. I'm glad you told and that you were so honest with me." as soon as you said that, he flashed a forced smile and felt a sting in his heart.

If you only knew the real truth…

 YOU It's been a few weeks since the talk. You still had to digest the fact that Cori was a murderer, even if he killed awful people. You couldn't do anything, you accepted the situation.

The joint work also progressed well, you felt that you were getting closer to the Shark and soon, at the right moment, you could catch him.

It was Saturday night and you were going home from a date. You didn't like dating apps, but now you tried one and met a man who owns a car dealership. This time, Cori didn't go out to have fun, he stayed at home. He was in the kitchen baking frozen pizza in the oven because he didn't have the patience to wait for it from the pizzeria.

"Hey! How was the date?" he asked curiously.

"It was terrible! Based on his picture, the guy seemed nice and intelligent, but it turned out that he is a huge jerk, and is also married. As soon as I found that out, I left!"

"Oh shit! I thought he would be the one for you and I would be your best man at the wedding!" Cori said, pretending to cry, then laughed. You rolled your eyes, but you also had to laugh.

"How about the two of us eat this pizza and have something to drink?" he asked as he took out the freshly baked meal.

"Oh, that sounds good! I'll have a quick shower and put on something comfortable."

 The pizza was gone and you were through a few rounds of wine, and when that ran out, Cori took out a bottle of vodka. You were pretty tipsy and, of course, adult topics were discussed. Cori just told you about his wildest sex adventures.

"Wait, wait! How can it be... I mean, how can someone have sex with two women and a man at the same time?

"Oh, believe me, it is possible! I was able to pay attention to everyone and in the end, no one complained." he said mischievously.

"I swear I should learn from you! I'm a fan of classic sex. Me, a partner and the bed, maybe the sofa, or table... you know, possible surfaces suitable for it. Mine seems pretty boring compared to your sex life”

"Don’t say that! Just do what you want in the bedroom, isn't that what it's all about? About having fun!” he said and you nodded vigorously. As a result of the drink, you managed to release your inhibitions and the chemistry between you two got intense…

Even with the sunglasses covering half of his face, Cori was a really hot guy, and his deep voice… hmm, so sexy!

Driven by a sudden idea, you put your hand on his thigh and caressed it, while you looked at him, hoping he wouldn't mind. He didn't mind at all, in fact, he started stroking your back. Your hand slowly slid up to his chest and you caressed him there as well, he grunted in satisfaction and smiled. You looked deeply into each other's eyes and slowly leaned towards each other, kissing tenderly. The touch of Cori's soft lips made you completely swoon. The initial, careful kiss soon became more and more passionate, Cori tilted his head slightly to the side to deepen it, while you reached into his pants and felt his already hard cock through his underwear. You stopped the kiss and quickly took off your clothes, then you fell back on the couch and continued kissing there. Cori slowly kissed your body, then knelt down on the ground and started caressing your most intimate part, then kissed you there too. The feeling made you moan softly and grip the edge of the couch when you felt his tongue on you. He licked it slowly, then alternated between sucking and licking until you came.

"I'll put on a condom, you'll be on all fours by then, raising your ass up." he said, biting his lip in excitement. You turned and positioned yourself as he said.

You knew he was back when you felt the couch sag slightly as he positioned himself behind you.

 CORINTHIAN "Hmm, what a sight!" he said with satisfaction and stroked your butt, which was just as perfect as in his shower fantasy. He slapped his cock against your entrance and then inserted himself into you. You had to moan out loud at the feeling as he filled you. He started to move inside you, and not long after, you were moving in rhythm at the same time. When you felt yourself close, Corinthian pulled out of you and stood up.

"Come on, let's do it at the wall!" You also stood up, then he took you in his arms, you wrapped your legs around him and hugged him around the neck. He was holding your waist with one hand, put his cock inside you with the other and you leaned against the wall. He moved his cock in and out of you, while your back kept rubbing against the cold wall, but you didn't care. You closed your eyes and buried your face in his neck, letting the desire take you even more.

 YOU You were so preoccupied with the Shark case that you forgot about your own desires and needed a hearty romp. You thought it was good you moved out of the hotel, because you were moaning so loudly and lustfully that you would have been banned for disturbing others. When Cori felt that he was getting closer to orgasm and his knees were slowly giving out, he slid to the floor with you and you continued fucking there…

The next morning you woke up with a headache and realized that you were not lying in your own bed. You looked behind you and Cori was asleep with the sunglasses on. You wanted to take it off, but remembered what he told you, so you didn't do it. You very carefully got out of bed because your whole body ached from last night’s sexercise.

At first you felt guilty for sleeping with a co-worker, but since you were just a guest both at Cori's and the police station, you quickly let go of that feeling.

There was something sinfully sexy about being and working at the station during the day and enjoying each other's company and bodies at night. You especially enjoyed the fact that you became bolder in bed, you also tried things that you had never done before, for example, having sex in front of a mirror or masturbating in front of each other.

Meanwhile, the Shark case continued. You managed to catch a few more of his men, but you noticed that you've been finding more and more of Johnny's people dead lately. Kirkland and the others suspected that it was probably the Shark himself that killed them, but you knew they were all Cori's victims because he told you. Your old self would have told Kirkland about this right away, but now you had to keep secrets from him and the team, which made you feel quite uncomfortable.

If that wasn't enough, after the interrogation of one of Batts' men, you found out that your former partner, Robert was indeed in Johnny's gang, even before you got the case. You were devastated when you found that out, because you never thought that your late, good friend was actually a two-faced asshole. When you and Cori got home, you punched the wall so hard it was a wonder you didn't break any bones. He could only stand there and watch you walking up and down in anger.

"I can’t believe it! That fucking bastard! How could he do that?” you held your head.

"Well, money can change even the most sane person." Cori said diplomatically, unable to think of something better. You looked at him, went up to and kissed him.

"I want you, right now!" your anger turned into excitement and you wanted to relieve the tension built up in you with mindblowing sex. The nightmare didn't need more, he took you in his arms and carried you to the bedroom.

A few minutes later, your clothes were scattered on the bedroom floor and you were riding him hard, with such intensity that the bed was creaking beneath you. Later, you were both lying on the bed, on your sides, and Cori entered you from behind. You gripped the sheets and screamed in pleasure as you wanted him to fuck you so hard you could barely walk. The more angry you were, the wilder you wanted the sex.

A few days later, when you calmed down a bit and your legs recovered, you were about to go to the police station. Cori had to go in earlier because he got a phone call. You closed the front door and went to your car. You put your backpack on the back seat and were about to get in when you saw a suspicious black van in the distance...

 Tags: @thecorilove86​​​, @e-dubbc11​​​, @harlekin6​​​ @jessamydreams​​​, @destiny-rahl​​​, @merryandrewsworld​​​ @i-like-the-eyes​​​, @drowningnikki​​​, @mirandkimy​​,  @translat0r​​​  @delicateteenagerunaway​​​, @imjustmessy​​​, @zealoussaladsublime​​​, @lilithsdreams​​​, @cloudsofcondensation​​​, @blondehotbrook​​​, @enkelimoonstone​​​, @bakerstreethound​​​, @amidalasruby​​​, @kittycat-kai​​​, @hopeless-07​​​,  @miss-wednesday98​​​, @littlewierdalien​​​, @littlefoxgirl-13​​​, @dahlinq​​​ @dayleis​​​, @idealai​​​@icytrickster17​​​, @belladiaz​​​, @smileymissbee​​​@foodlover123456789​​​, @lazy-queen26​​​, @yellowwithalisp​​​, @onehundredyearsofyearning​​​, @constantron​​​, @violentviolet88​​​, @strudelbug07​​​​,  @underwater-garden​​, @morpheusbaby3​

[siriannatan]

Empires Arknights AU - Scott fWhip

Is it an excuse to ramble about one of my favourite games? Maybeeeee… {: <3<3<3

Slightly lore-dumpy explanation of stuff (can probably be skipped):

Arknights - tower defence gatcha

Lungmen - mobile, modern Chinese/Japanesee style city

Liberi - bird people {reference}

Lung - asian style dragon {reference} people as oposed to draco {reference}

Ægir - fish people {reference}

Leithanien - Arknights Germany

Victoria - Arknights UK

Wei - leader of Lungmen

Lin's - old Lin, or Rat King is kinda the godfather of Lungmen underworld, his {granddaughter} is to take over after him

Penguin Logistics - a logistics company with an actual penguin for a boss

Siracusa - Arknights Italy, full of wolf-people, minus Vatican, that's Laterano, totally separate place with Sankta - angels with guns

L.G.D. - Lungmen Guard Departmen, kind of Lungmen police

Hoshiguma - member of the Special Service of Lungmen Guard Department {reference}

Ch'en - Special Inspection Unit Chief, L.G.D. {reference}

Scott was having a great day. Yes, he spent most of it in his high-rise office. Taking in appointments, and making phone calls. But at least today no one pulled out a gun on him. Just the thought of the few rude 'customers' was enough to have the Liberi's feathers ruffled. With a sigh, he calmed down and glanced at the clock. Nicely made, imported from Leithanien. He had some fond memories of a brief stay there in his youth. Not that it was that long ago.

He was starting to wonder how long he should stay, waiting for his last guest when his door swung open. An angry Lung, dressed in rather traditional Lungmen garb. Ginger hair tied in a long braid. Scott kind of hated it. Blue eyes narrowed in a glare that the Liberi met with a polite smile.

"Punctual as always, Mr fWhip," he greeted with his best 'Victorian', as fWhip called it, smile.

"Don't give me that, why did you send assassins after me this time?" he asked, taking most of the couch opposite of Scot's desk.

"I simply didn't want you to ignore my invitation, unlike the last time I sent one," Scott's smile faltered slightly. fWhip could be damn annoying. Unfortunately, he was Lungmen's best when it came to explosives and Scott's... business often needed them. "Would you like some tea? I recently received a shipment of Victoria's finest," he offered, the legal part of his business was all about trade. Less legal... also imports but of things Mr Wei would approve. Lin's certainly did like him.

"Sure, why not," the Lung huffed. He did keep his eye on Scott as he made the two cups. "You still insist on dressing like a Victorian," he huffed. For some reason, he was really against Scott's suits.

"Well, that's where I'm from after all," Scott shrugged. And Victorian clothes were comfier for him. He did not mention that.

"What did you get me to come here for? And be glad I didn't report you to Madam Ch'en. She's not let you go no matter how much Lin's like you," he huffed. Ever loyal to Wei. How boring.

"Right to the business," Scott shook his head. "Maybe I just wanted to share a cup of tea with a friend?"

fWhip laughed at that. "Yeah right. What do you want?"

Scott sighed. How Lung of fWhip. "I need help locating a certain box for an acquaintance. Miss Ling brought him here so it's kind of important. But relics are not quite my cup of tea, but then I remembered a friend who has a nice collection," he said, giving up on playing with fWhip.

"Acquaintance? Lin Yühsia? Now that's interesting," fWhip mused. 

"Mhm. I have no idea where she found an Ægir here," not that it was all that interesting to him.

"Why didn't she just go to Penguin Logistics? I'm sure they could find it easily."

"Maybe she needed some more... finesse?" Scott offered with a giggle. "They are certainly fun but I think the Ægir she dragged here would drop dead after just seeing them," he giggled setting a teacup in front of fWhip. Victorian make, of course, just to annoy him further.

"Maybe, but really... Did it have to be damn Siracusans you send? They're a pain to deal with," fWhip huffed, taking a sip. He said nothing so it had to be good.

"You're still here so not that bad," Scott did not regret sending assassins after fWhip. It always got him to his office. "So how about we leave the box for tomorrow, and spend the rest of today on..." he said as he settled next to fWhip, "...me apologising to you?" he finished, one hand resting on fWhip's thigh.

"Fine, but you have a lot to apologise for, I had to talk to L.G.D.'s  Madam Hoshiguma, I don't want to repeat that anytime soon..." fWhip sighed as he finished his tea. It was always fun to hear him indirectly complain about his height.

[missmaniac25]

SKZ and what we think they'd be the god of (plus drabbles)

Thank you to my dear friend @mybodyfails for her imput and help in deciding what they'd be the gods of. (Please remember that this is just my opinion and is completely ficticious) Total words: 2444 (It's about 200-300 per member)

---

Chan – god of the ocean and of the underworld

Deep, dark, full of mystery and danger. Chan can be as calm as a puddle in a garden or as scary as the ocean at night. When he’s on earth, you’ll find him on the beach, looking in the rock pools and untangling fishlines from the seaweed. He looks like any other person but when he goes swimming, he’s gone for hours. Chan swims further and deeper than any mortal man is able. He can dive far into the open water, talking to the sea creatures that will swim right up to him even though they avoid all other divers or vessels. Sometimes he pushes the currents a certain way either for himself to just float along or if there’s the chance, to tip over a ship that’s causing havoc to the ocean.

Of course, Chan’s favourite entrance to the underworld is through an underwater cave. He claims that the transition from above ground to below ground is easier that way, but the truth is simply because he enjoys it. In the underworld, Chan is clothed in black. Those that work for him move out of his way quickly. He has business to attend to – dead souls don’t know what to do with themselves. They need instruction. They need reassurance. And Chan is there to give it to them; his voice is calming.

‘You don’t need to be afraid.’

‘Your family is alright.’

‘You’re safe.’

It gives Chan peace of mind to know that one day, when the people that he cares for on the surface move on, it’ll be him who gets to welcome them into the next phase of their existence.

Minho – god of nature and of creatures

Most people notice how cats flock to Minho like he’s a magnet. It’s no accident that they do. All animals know that they’re in good hands if he’s around, that they’ll come to no harm. Minho just likes cats because they’re almost everywhere he goes and they’re good at relying messages. That’s not to say that he doesn’t like other animals, quite the opposite. It takes a lot of self-restraint to not stop and ask birds pecking crumbs off the pavement if they’re finding enough places to build their nests. To stop and talk to the small critters that scurry down backstreets if there have been more traps laid out so that he can remove him. Minho wants to ask the fish in the fish tanks if they’re content with their lives. But alas, there is only so much time in the day and only so many times he can be reported to mortal police for acting strange in public.

If you need to find him, you’d be wise to start somewhere far from the city. Away from concrete and plastic. The clean air of the country gives Minho strength. The clear streams give him tranquillity. The earth under his feet keeps him focused.

Minho’s been known to take on the attributes of animals when the need arises. In the darkness his eyes change shape into those of an owl’s. He can hold onto walls only by his fingertips like lizards do. He can hear people coming long before they’re within eyeline. Sometimes he uses this trick to have fun with people, telling them about things they said long before they ever arrived.

But he also uses these skills to protect nature, to protect the creatures that cannot protect themselves. Should you find yourself facing down Minho, you should know that you wouldn’t walk away in one piece.

Changbin – god of battle strategy and of war

Don’t judge a book by its cover. When Changbin is around friends and other gods, there’s a smile on his face. He like to have fun and laugh. He’s the happiest person you would ever meet. Changbin is a carefree and happy person but below the surface he is a god of principles. He calculates and thinks things through thoroughly; there is never a moment when his mind is completely quiet. He can be laughing, having a grand time and suddenly he will go silent and those with him know that his mind is racing as he thinks through the situation that is plaguing him. If the cause is just, he will entertain the fight.

Changbin is a master of weapons. He can pick up a spear and throw it directly into his target without so much as a glance in its direction. Arrows always land in the bullseye regardless of which way the wind is blowing. He can use a shield in any way he feels he needs to, either to protect or to attack. Even everyday objects can become weapons in his hands. A belt can be made into a whip, or a walking stick into a sword. Changbin has no limitations on what he can use in order to win.

But along with his incredible skills, comes the need to keep those he loves safe. He knows the dangers that are out there. He knows what violence people can be capable of. Changbin will do whatever he has to do in order to shelter them from the harm of the rest of the world. Even if it means putting himself in harm’s way, which he has done before and wouldn’t hesitate to do again.

Hyunjin – god of creativity and of love

Can anything be created without love? Can love exist without creativity? Not to Hyunjin. To him the two concepts go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. He loves walking around art galleries, one eye on the paintings hanging on the wall and the other on the people wandering passed. He’ll stop next to someone who is observing an artwork, talk to them for a while, and when Hyunjin walks away that person feels inspired to create, to love, to live. Hyunjin sits in the auditoriums of theatres and listens to the conversations of people around him; he sees as someone’s eyes light up when they mention their favourite part of the play they’re about to watch, and he can’t help but smile at them. Hyunjin loves to walk through the park where the violinist stands just off the pathway that leads to the pond, listening to the melody that calls lovers to stop and watch for a while. And more often than not they start to sway together slowly to the music. All the while, Hyunjin stands off to the side, experiencing the world in its most beautiful state.

Most of the time, Hyunjin doesn’t like to meddle in the affairs of love between mortals but sometimes he can’t help himself. When he can see that two people are meant to be together but cannot seem to take the next step, he will intervene. His favourite way to do it is subtly. Bumping into them and making them hold each other. Making them look at each other after calling their names. And when he knows the time is right, Hyunjin will stand with his camera to his eye, his targets within frame and click the shutter closed and open again. Hyunjin will then watch as the lovers finally accept their fates and begin their journey of love and creativity together.

Han – god of weather (storms)

You can tell what kind of day it’s going to be based solely on Han’s mood when he wakes up. It’s not that Han consciously decides what the weather will be when he wakes up but it’s rather that the world around him responds to how he’s feeling.

Some signs are oblivious. On a warm day, Han is contempt. He’s going about his daily life as he always would. Occasionally clouds may drift across the sun because Han is dealing with something that requires most of his attention. But soon enough the sun will be back in view and he will have resolved whatever matter had been pressing him. A light breeze will swirl around his feet and legs when he’s flustered or shy, and a stronger wind will blow when he’s upset.

The one that seems the strangest is his calmest state – the raging storm. When Han is truly feeling peaceful, you can find him standing outside as rain slashes against him, gusts of wind fiercely tugging at his clothes, thunder echoing and lightning striking every time he smiles. He knows that the elements can’t harm him. He’s in control.

The doesn’t mean that he doesn’t sometimes temper with the weather. Han will use his powers to make his friends happy. When the rainy season has been just a little too long and Felix is looking a bit too sad for his liking, Han will push the clouds away for a day and watch as his friend basks in the warmth. When he notices Chan working too hard, he makes it snow so that they can’t go anywhere; instead, they sit and enjoy a meal together, laughing and watching the snowflakes flutter down to the earth.

There are some other perks. If he doesn’t want to, he can walk in the rain without getting wet. Drying his hair takes no time at all. Plus, he can levitate. Calling it flying would be generous but being able to lift yourself off of the floor just enough to reach the top self is very helpful.

Felix – god of healing and of the home(family)

No scrape is too small for Felix to notice. If he’s out walking, and a child fall’s and bruises their knee, Felix calmly walks over to them, helps them up with a smile and the child is immediately running again, their ailments having disappeared simply because they were near Felix. It makes a warmth radiate from his chest throughout his whole body when he’s able to help someone and he’s fairly certain that as much as he’s healing the mortals, they’re healing him too. On occasion, Felix will be hands on with treatment. Every movement is made with care; every stitch is the perfect sized and evenly spaced. But most of all, Felix likes listening to people’s ailments. Sometimes a person just needs an ear to listen and Felix knows that that can be the most helpful healing he can do when there is nothing physical to fix.

Although it’s not obvious at first, part of healing is having people around you who care about you and so Felix is also the god of hospitality, of family, of the home. He is well aware that family is not just the people who share your blood and bones, and that home is not always a building that you go to. He creates bonds between people in the hopes that they will find healing in each other. That same warmth radiates from his chest when he sees two people become more than just strangers, more than just friends. Felix feels the same way when he’s with his own friends and they feel it too. They feel welcome when they’re with him, like they were never meant to be anywhere else.

Seungmin – god of mischief

Life is too short to not have fun. At least that’s how Seungmin’s likes to think, even if he’s immortal. He can’t help it if the fun he has is at the expense of other people now, can he? With that cheeky smile he can get away with a lot of the tricks that he pulls. By simply smiling at people and they tend to forget what they were angry about. Only once Seungmin’s far away enough do they remember what happened and their anger comes back, but by then it’s someone else’s problem to deal with, not his. He’s not malicious by any means. That’s just how life is sometimes.

In terms of abilities, Seungmin doesn’t have the grandest or most flashy of skills but what he does have he uses to his strengths. He can move objects a short distance without laying a finger on them. He can make it seem like his voice is coming from somewhere he isn’t. He can even create feint illusions, which have gotten him out of a few tricky situations.

Despite his nature, Seungmin knows who to and who not to try his tricks on. Felix, IN and Han are easy targets who don’t get too frustrated with him. Chan and Hyunjin sometimes snap at him but then he leaves them alone for a while and all is well. Changbin and Minho are a no-go, not unless he wants to experience pain. But if given the chance, Seungmin will use his skills to make his friends laugh, to see them happy. He knows that he could have no one close to him with the stunts that he pulls, so to keep some people close he keeps them amused in the only way he knows how, at the expense of other people.

IN – god of the mind and of wisdom

People feel smarter when they’re with IN. They don’t necessarily become smarter but things are just a lot clearer when IN is with them. Problems that had been bothering them for ages suddenly have solutions; knowledge that they had forgotten comes back to them. It’s quite fun for IN to be with someone for a short amount of time, wait to hear the inevitable “Oh!” and then for him to leave, satisfied that they’d figured out whatever needed to be figured out. Sometimes though, people need to be told in order for them to realise. IN will sit patiently listening to what problems people are dealing with before he tells them what he believes they should do about their situation. Whether they do what he tells him or not, IN will never know. He can only hope for the best outcome.

What keeps IN coming back to the mortal realm is the way mortals think. Their minds work so differently to the gods, and differently from each other. IN enjoys not intervening, opting to watch someone solve a crossword or sudoku puzzle. He loves to watch builders and pilots and bakers and tailors. All sorts of people whose minds he can peer into and see how they work.

But IN also knows that minds can get tired, that they need rest. He often tells people to take time to relax and to let their minds have a break. Sometimes he will even ask Felix for help; together they work with people in order to make sure that their minds heal from whatever may be afflicting them. There is nothing more important to IN than a mind that is well and content.

[luminalunii97]

Can I be happy for 5 minutes without the regime's lobbyists fuckin it up?!!! apparently not! I watched the Time video yesterday and then went to Instagram to see a lot of posts like this. I realized I haven't read the article which unlike the video was filled with misinformation. Halfway through it takes a wild turn into lying. I knew I shouldn't have trusted Time. Seriously, you almost did it but then you didn't.

This is the nth time a misleading or misinformative article is published in western Media. This is how the regime manipulated west for so long. I remember years ago, when Iranian feminists tried to talk about all the sexist misogynistic ways of the islamic republic, people like Azadeh Moaveni were there to shut them up with sophistry and fallacy. Claiming wild lies like "it's our culture". Misogyny is no one's culture. It's a cancer. And when women try to fight it you should stand with them not against them.

This is Hoda Katebi, a NIAC member. She has posed as such a good poor Muslim woman of color in west for so long. No one dared to criticize her because they'd get an islamophobe label fast if they challenged her. Look how unashamedly she lies here. How she defends the mandatory hijab and undermine the violence Iranian women deal with everyday in Iran. She's wearing clothes that are NOT considered a proper hijab in Iran. Back then the hijab rule was if not more, as strict as today. You've seen Mahsa Amini clothes when she was arrested. Her style was more modest that what Hoda is wearing here and is claiming "not tempting for lashing". But even if she wasn't unabashedly lying, that's not the fucking point. If only a certain group of women are safe in Iran, aka hijabi women, it's discrimination and IT'S NOT OK.

People like Hoda and Azadeh have tried to show a mellow image of the regime for years in west. Showing pictures of women with loose hijab to west to say "see this is how women dress in Iran and no one bothers them". While in reality even if some women dressed like that, they were doing something illegal, and were in danger of getting arrested and punished. I hope you've seen the morality police brutality videos that ended up getting so out of hand it caused a young woman's death. In reality I had to check "Gershad" app on my phone everytime I wanted to leave my house even though my clothes have always been a lot more modest that what Hoda has shown in her pictures of Iran. (Gershad is an app that was developed by people for people. It's a map where you can report anywhere you see a morality police car so that others can avoid them. It wasn't always 100% accurate, but it helped!)

In another blood boiling bullshiting by her, she suggested the way to help iran is to disband sanctions and "don't worry because NIAC is on it"! Because that makes sense! How can we stop a regime that's murdering women and children and violates every human rights ever?! By giving them financial and political power!!!!! So that they can violate human rights better and with less worry!

Farnaz Fassihi is another NIAC member who tried to convince USA to lift the sanctions by writing that notoriously misleading "out of reach dreams" article in new york times. And I just realized her co-writer, Vivian Yee was the journalist who wrote the other misleading article about morality police getting abolished.

In case you don't know what NIAC is, it stands for National Iranian American Council. It's a council that unofficially aids the islamic republic regime to push their propaganda in USA and west. Their number one priority is to fight anything that could lead to a regime change. Therefore they try their best to convince west that Iranians are only protesting for reform. Meanwhile we're screaming revolution here.

NIAC influence needs to be restricted in US so that Iranian people and activists can raise their voices. But we've seen the opposite of that happening. They get invited to various interviews and conferences and they have journalists in famous publications like new york times. Please share the word to help stop their reign.

Ps, most iranians are pro sanctions at the moment at least because we're trying to break the regime financially, therefore the calls for national strikes. Anyone with a little common sense would understand that sanctions help the cause now. Other than that, sanctions sound sinister because they've made people poor. But almost all of them directly targets IRGC, the terrorist organization that kills people in iran and in middle east, while using their share of profits in almost every industry in Iran. They're killing people with rubble bullets! Do you think with lifting sanctions they'd use money, power and nuclear energy for humanitarian causes?!

[manie-sans-delire-x]

Any tips for jail? I'm probably needing some advice soon...

Damn what did you (allegedly) do? 😂 (dont answer that)

Yes absolutely.

-Dont talk to the cops, get a lawyer asap if you havent already. You should consider hiring a private lawyer if this is a serious crime, but if not, public/court appointed would be fine. Either way, do not say anything to police outside of identifying yourself until you consult with your lawyer. Tell your lawyer the full truth, but no one else. Follow your lawyers advice.

-Memorize at least one phone number. You get one free phone call until they pick up, but they might not let you look up numbers in your phones contact list.

-Youre going to need money to buy commissary- remember that word, ask another inmate how to use it- hygiene items, warmer clothes, pencils/paper, snacks, and other necessities in jail. You need someone on the outside willing to put money in your account for you. They can also buy you books, which you're gunna want, especially if you get put in solitary.

-Whatever you have on you when you get taken into custody will be all you have when you get out. The jail could be in the middle of nowhere, and you might not have a ride. Im just saying, its a good idea to be wearing decent walking shoes, a jacket, keep some cash.

Jail etiquette:

-Dont walk up close behind the guards, or anyone really. Dont make sudden moves. Its a tense environment, and almost everyone there has mental illness and trauma.

-Dont get caught talking to the opposite sex, you will get yelled at

-Ask the guards for things in advance, they will take forever. You'll have to ask multiple times. (some ppl put signs in their windows but most dont read them anyways)

-If someone gives you something, its always better to assume they want something in return, so just be sure to have something to give them before accepting (or theyre just being friendly but you dont know)

-During meals if you dont have enough time, eat things you cant put in your clothes first, hide the rest in your clothes to eat later

-Follow the guards orders and be polite, but dont be friendly with them.

-Certain things like books and coffee are treated like gold, so dont fuck with peoples books and coffee. Lmao but seriously. People have nothing in jail so they will fight over what seems valueless on the outside.

-If people ask to see your papers when you first come in/ask what your charge is, just tell them. As long as its not child abuse or rape, most people dont care. If it is, well I hope they fuck you up too

-In general mind your own business and dont be a dick, but dont be a pushover either. Dont get involved in drama. Dont steal. Dont take forever on the phone. Dont leave your hygiene items in the shower unless you want it stolen. Most people will be chill if youre chill.

Yeah I think thats about it! Good luck.

[umbrellafree]

When a dog bit me in the thigh I insisted I was already late to work, I couldn’t go to the ER. Then it was, okay so you’re telling me I must go, its ok I’ll drive myself (but let me text my coworker). Then, in the passenger seat of my friend’s sedan, oh, it hurts, a lot!

He said I’m slow to be honest with myself when something bad happens to me. It was the first time it was told to me so clearly, and I truly understood it, but that doesn’t mean I remember it when I need to.

Five years before, I was ready when the police came, clothes folded neatly and hugged to my chest, shoes dangling from my finger, I even greeted them in the hallway from the top of the stairs. It wasn’t time to go yet, they wanted to have a look around my apartment. “That proves something happened to you,” said the woman I’d grown accustomed to calling ‘My Best Friend’ since 6th grade. There we were on opposite sofas, much like I remembered being on opposite ends of her old twin sized bed, she had happily married and their rental home was adorable; “You don’t ask for help like that.” In some way I already knew and in some way this felt new. I became shocked at my own eagerness back at my apartment and then I grieved.

Last night I paralyzed myself with the knowledge that someone who had done something so painful to me had also been of great help to me, had also cooked food with me, shared laughs with me; of course I didn’t see it coming; of course I anger at my naïveté, question my softness - I wanted to preserve something sweet in myself but perhaps I have instead stagnated in vulnerability! I wonder if there is something I fundamentally misunderstood about human connection, and if so how do I correct it?

It’s slow, how it sinks in, how it rose up, how I sink still, how it leaks out. Are these different methods of honesty with myself? Slow to be honest with myself when something bad happens. Something bad.

On November 13, 2023, I was assaulted, again. Again. I told people, but not as many this time, not as quick this time, last time taught me better, their blame still stamped in my brain. But again, the defense stand. The interrogations. Same thoughts, different word choices:

Emily: He didn’t make you drink. He didn’t make you go out lol/Skyler: He didn’t twist your arm.

It’s not worth quoting and recording every severely injurious response and how they are burningly comparable. And the differences, they sting too! There is no Colton. There was no demand for proof the first time, no accusations of unfaithfulness.

Oh, is this what Connor meant when he connected my guilt to recent events? I didn’t understand how they were related. I have renewed appreciation for how Colton supported me, and with it renewed guilt for how I was difficult for him.

It hurts. It hurts.

I’m trying to do better, be better, so I don’t have to carry comparable regrets into my next future. I don’t want to be hard. I don’t want to fight. But I’m also no longer sure I can protect my softness, or if I should. I feel I’m in danger by the nature of my desire to accept others. I feel at the inevitable mercy of either others’ opportunism or skepticism, or my own loss of principle. I feel lost in so many ways.

[horrorslu7]

hi!!! i have a request!!! i have yet to see a fic about corey and the reader getting into a small argument. i’m curious to how he would react to the reader getting mad at him for getting blood on their favorite sweater? or corey getting upset at the reader for forgetting a date? or a scenario along those lines ya know :) i would love to see your take on it!!!

Hii, thank you very much for requesting! I love your request and I really hope I made it justice even tho it turned a bit dark 💕

The great war.

Summary: You and Corey have known each other for years and you never really had a lot of fights but there are some issues that can't be ignored for long.

Pairing: Corey Cunningham x fem!reader.

Trigger warnings: Blood, mentions of murder, manipulation.

You and Corey have been best friends since high-school. And you two have always had each other's back, no matter what.

You were by his side when his parents fought, you were by his side when his mom made him feel bad and isolated him from other's, you were by his side when the accident happened, you were by his side when the whole town turned their backs at him, and never complained.

And he was a very supportive and loyal friend as well, since always, he had been by your side when your "friends" laughed at you behind your back, he had been by your side when your boyfriend cheated on you, and when people turned their backs at you for being his friend.

He used to tell you that he understood if you wanted to stop being friends, and that he didn't want you to be his friend (and later on girlfriend) out of pity, but that was never the case.

You truly loved him and never wanted to leave him, you couldn't even think about it or at least that what it was like before Corey changed.

At the beginning you thought he just got fed up with people and decided to change his appearance and let himself be a bit more confrontational, but you couldn't ignore it forever.

You don't get your clothes soaked on blood and walk home like it's nothing without even a limp, you played dumb for some time but couldn't keep the act up, eventually your lovely and caring boyfriend ended up telling you the truth.

He killed people, but he told you who he had killed so far and how he did it because they were bad people that have hurt him and you and they didn't deserve to live after being such bad people.

It shocked you to your core, and anyone else would've call the police and leave him as soon as they could, as they've should've.

But you didn't, because you really wanted to think that it would stop, that it was a few times, and your Corey was still there somewhere.

His behavior with you didn't change after he told you the truth. He was still sweet, and nice, and caring. He never hurted you or treated you badly, quite the opposite.

When he told told you why he killed people, you kind of unintentionally made a list of people he could possibly want to kill for hurting him or you.

It was quite large sadly but you started to count everytime he killed and the list was done.

Or so you thought, until you were doing the laundry and found one of Corey's shirt soaked in blood.

You took the shirt and walked to the kitchen where Corey was standing in the fridge deciding on what to eat, when he heard you coming he closed the fridge and looked at the door with a smile only for it to drop the second he saw the shirt.

"Hi baby, everything's okay? Do you need help with the laundry?" He asked trying to play off his nervousness.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid, who's blood is it? Who was it this time?" You said, anger starting to blurry your vision. "It's been over ten times and I know you don't kill one person at the time, I know you Corey!" You said trying not to scream or breakdown crying.

"Yeah you do know me and you know why I do this, it doesn't matter who they were, what matters is that they got what they deserved!" He said starting to get angry, I mean he did all of this for you, you should be thankful, or are you going to turn your back at him after everything he's done for you?

"It does matter!" You screamed at him. "This is blood from an actual person not just someone who was mean to you, it's blood from someone's friend, someone's partner, someone's child!" You continued making an emphasis moving near his face the shirt soaked in blood, anger completely blurred your vision and when you realized what you finished your rant with you instantly regretted it. Not because you were wrong, but because Corey's eyes got 10 shades darker.

"No, that blood is from someone who hurt you, not me, you." You could tell he was mad because he stoped screaming and instead talked very seriously and making intense eye contact. "But you're too busy saying that I killed a child to even think that maybe I killed them because of you."

Tears started to pool at your eyes and threatening to spill. "You know that's not what I meant. And have you ever stoped to think that maybe I don't want you to do that?" You asked him and he tried to touch your arm and pull you into a hug but before he had the chance to you moved away from him. "Who's blood is it?"

"It doesn't matter, they're gone for good, can we just-" He started but you cut him off.

"No." Your eyes were dark and your breathing was starting to become agitated. "Corey who's blood is it?"

He went quite for a few seconds before saying your best friend from high school name. She had cut you off and stoped talking to you when the accident happened and you still talked to Corey. It completely destroyed you but you always understood her and never wanted something like this to happen to her.

"What!?" You screamed at him before breaking down crying, the shirt fell from your arms as you felt yourself lose all your strength.

You fell to the ground crying and Corey kneeled next to you and hugged you, you tried to get away from him but didn't have the strength to. "Let me go!" You screamed at him.

"No, you know why I did it, she left you and I was the one who was there to comfort you!" He said caressing your hair.

It was true but that didn't mean she deserved that. As of now Corey was the only person who you had but was it worthy to live like this?

[atlasthegreatest]

𝘞𝘈𝘙 𝘖𝘍 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘚 / Asami Sato

𝘐

The sun was already high in Republic City. Birds flying over people. The population is ready for another new day. Stores to be opened. The noise of cars passing through the city streets. The Republic City Police Department Zeppelins were flying over different areas of the city making their daily rounds through the city streets.

In Republic City Park, it was possible to see merchants organizing their stands on one side, and on the other side, in the center of the park, there stood a protester, next to a large sign with the image of a masked person stamped on the right side. And above it was written 'The Equalist' in big letters. At his side, he had a partner handing out flyers.

Switching on the megaphone, the man cleared his throat and started to speak.

''Citizens of Republic City! We live in an unfair society! Where those who can bend any of the four elements, oppress those who haven't been privileged with any kind of skill! Is this what we want for our society?''

The small crowd that was there grew bigger and bigger because of the citizens who walked and stopped to give attention to what the man had to tell. And each time the man spoke, the crowd agreed with what was being told. To the point where everyone was screaming.

''We want equality!'' yelled a short, bald man. ''We want justice!'' yelled a woman of medium height.

Grinning, the man looked at the entire crowd and spoke again through his megaphone.

''It's because of this bad government! The cause of our injustice is the bad government this city has! Amon would not let that happen! He is the one who should be our leader!''

Taking a deep breath, the man looked at the many faces that were there. Clearing his throat again, he finally said. ''Join him and only then will we accomplish our freedom! Our justice! Our equality!''

With a final shout, the man, panting, heard the eruption of applauses from the crowd.

''AMON!! AMON!! AMON!!'' This was what could only be heard from the crowd.

............

A little further away, it was possible to hear the relaxing sound of the river water flowing. If you paid close attention, you could see the fish jumping out of the water, and then going back into the river.

Republic City Park is famous for hosting a lot of homeless people. So, it wasn't a surprise when they were found by the river, in bushes, or even in garbage dumps to find something. Be it clothes, food, or blankets to cover themselves on the coldest nights.

Most of them lived under the big bridge that was there. During the day, a small part of the group would go to the edge of the river, to fish with their fishing rods made of sticks and line. Others were enjoying a nice rest under the shade of the trees that were there. And in the evening they light some fires, which they put in containers to warm their cold bodies. And with the few cans of beans they could find that day, they managed to survive another day.

However, on the other side of the bridge, near

a large tree, two silhouettes, one big and one smaller, seemed to be chatting, sitting on the grass, appreciating the wind that passed between the leaves of the tree.

The father-daughter duo, Hikari and Sora, were sitting opposite each other. Hikari, rubbing Sora's head, said to her.

  '' To be able to bend the earth, you need to have a good balance of strength and a good defense to be able to protect yourself against whoever hurts you.''

Running her hand through her ashy-white hair to straighten it, Sora asked her father. ''How do I do that?'' Leaning her head to the side and with curious eyes, Sora asked her father while crossing her arms. Asking her father again.

''How can I protect myself if I'm so short, Dad?''

With a big laugh, Hikari looked into his daughter's curious eyes and said. "You will not stay short forever." With a small smile, he added. "If you are strong and resilient, you will be able to protect yourself."

Remaining silent for a few minutes, Hikari spoke again. ''But first of all, you have to believe

in yourself,'' Hikari said, running his thumb along his daughter's cheek to clean the dirt that was there.

Still looking confused, Sora asked her father again. ''How do you know all this about earthbending, Dad?'' Trying to prove her point, she raised her arm, pointing to the river, and said to her father. ''You are a water bender! Not an earth bender!''

Hikari, looking at his daughter, with bright eyes and a big smile, said. "It was a few years ago. When I worked at the Pro-Bending Arena as a janitor. Whenever I walked through the corridors, I could see what the other benders were doing. That's how I managed to improve my bending."

He remembers it like it was yesterday.......

(flashback)

- 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘗𝘳𝘰-𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘛𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯.

𝘏𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘱, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰-𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘏𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘏𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. -

(end of flashback)

Getting up, Hikari extended his hand to Sora. " Come on, let's take a little walk." He said, indicating with his head to the other side of the bridge. Where the benches were.

Taking the hand that was extended to her, Sora was lifted with the help of her father. Shaking off the dry leaves that stuck on their bodies, Sora and Hikari headed toward the benches.

' While she's having fun, I'll see if I can get some leftover food so we can eat today.' Hikari thought, as he looked at the food stands.

Looking at an excited Sora, who was looking at the other kids playing with a ball, he thought. ' At least enough to feed my daughter.'

---------

While Hikari was walking from bench to bench for food, Sora went to the group of children asking if she could play with them. While playing with the old ball, one of the children kicked the ball with great force, causing it to land far away from where they were.

Looking at where the ball went, Sora looked at the other kids and said. "Don't worry guys! I'll bring the ball in a moment!" With that, she ran to where the ball was kicked.

Stopping running, Sora looked around for the ball. Not finding it where it was supposed to be, Sora walked away to another street in hopes of finding the lost ball.

Distracted, Sora hadn't seen where she was going, which led to her bumping into someone else.

With a low growl, Sora, startled by the impact, looked down to where she found another child.

It was a girl in a red dress and beside her, a rag doll inside a small bag.

Coming out of her surprised state, Sora said.

" Sorry for bumping into you." " I didn't see where I was going."

'She looks a little younger than me.' Thought Sora as she looked at the girl that was still on the floor.

" I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked with a small smile.

Seeing that the girl was still on the floor, she immediately extended her hand.

" Let me help you." She said.

With their hands together, Sora lifted the girl with a tug. Just like that, she managed to get a good look at the other girl. But something caught her attention. And it wasn't her red dress embroidered with tiny roses or how pretty her hair was. No, that wasn't what caught her attention. What caught her attention were the girl's eyes. They were a mix of gold and green. It was like the golden rays of the sun passing through the green of the trees.

The two girls were silent, not knowing what to do. Silence, which was soon broken by Sora's voice.

" What's your name?" she asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

Surprised by the question, the other girl replied. " My name is Asami. And you? What's your name?"

With a big smile, Sora said. " My name is Sora!" and with a little wave, she continued. " It's nice to meet you, Asami!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Sora." Said Asami, with a little smile.

Looking at the floor, Sora saw the little bag with the doll on the floor and bent down to pick it up, handing it to Asami.

"Here's your doll." She said.

" Oh! Thank you so much." Asami said, taking the little bag from Sora's hands.

Once more in awkward silence, they stayed there looking at each other. Not knowing what to do next, Asami turned around and continued where she was going, leaving a surprised Sora behind.

Coming out of her surprised state, Sora ran to catch up with Asami, who was already a good distance away from her.

Looking to the side, Asami noticed Sora following her and said. " What do you think that you're doing?"

" I'm just accompanying you to where you're going." Replied Sora, with a big smile.

With a sigh and an eye roll, Asami said. " I know very well where I'm going. I don't need your company."

This made Sora's smile grow even wider. Looking at Asami out of the corners of her eyes, she said. " It's normal that I want to accompany my new friend."

"Friend? Am I your new friend?" Asked Asami, raising her left eyebrow.

Arriving on the other side of the street, where a large automobile was parked, the driver who was inside the car, got out and opened the door for Asami.

Still surprised by that big luxurious automobile and by the fancy driver, Sora turned to Asami, noticing that she was still staring at her. It was then that Sora realized that she still hadn't answered Asami's question.

Blinking her eyes quickly, Sora said. " We're friends." and with a nervous laugh and waving her hands in front of her body, feeling shy, she quickly added. " That is if you accept me as your friend."

With a big smile, Asami said. "You're my new friend, Sora."

"SORA!!!!" Hearing her name being called, Sora looked behind her and saw her father calling her for them to go back to the bridge.

Looking at Asami, Sora said. " See you tomorrow?" She asked as she walked back.

With a nod, Asami replied, while entering the car. " In the same place?"

"Yup!" Waving, Sora said. " See you tomorrow, Asami!"

                  ----------

When they returned to the bridge, Hikari, who had the bags full of food ( given by an old lady), looked at his daughter who had a big smile on her face.

"So... Why are you so happy?"

" I just made a new friend, Dad!" Sora said happily.

Seeing his daughter all happy, Hikari smiled too. " I'm happy for you, little warrior."

"I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO LOOK FOR THE BALL!!" Sora yelled out of a sudden, scaring her father, who almost fell down.

[vincent-sinclair-deserved-better]

I Can't Decide

Whether You Should Live Or Die

Characters: Cylas, and still @rottent33ths baby boy Clay <3

Words: 2268

Content warnings: talk about death, planned murder, past kidnapping and murder, torture

divider by delishlydelightfuldividers

“Can I show you something?”  

Her voice pulled him from his conflicted thoughts and he nodded. She motioned for him to step back into the hall and left the room, closing but not locking the door. Instead, she turned to their right, the lone door at the end of the hall.  

“I’m not sure if you noticed earlier, during my... ‘speech’. I slipped up, said ‘us’ instead of ‘me’,” she said, trying to sound casual but her voice was shaky and cracked towards the end, “I mean, I also mentioned before that he had ‘practice’ in this whole method of killing, that he’d done it before – six times – and... well. Police did end up digging out the remains, so the family could give the other girls proper burials and stuff. But they never found this place didn’t bother to really look either though.”  

She opened the door, and Clay’s gaze fell onto a narrow table, pushed up against the wall just opposite of the entrance. The room itself was fairly small, probably a storage room, but it was almost completely empty except for the table and some shelves. Shelves that had nothing on them except candles and flowers.

The table was covered by a pure, white cloth, and on the wall above it hung, in a neat row, six picture frames. From each of them, a girl smiled at him, varying ages but none past their teens. There were more candles along the edges of the table, though mostly tealights, and seemingly random knickknacks placed under each of the photographs. A stuffed bunny, braided bracelets, a keyring with all kinds of charms.   

And then his eyes fell onto the small metal plaques on the lower edge of the frames. Each one had a name and two dates. It looked like some kind of shrine or place of remembrance. “This... you made this?” 

Cylas nodded, “When I first came back here and looked around this place, I found that asshole’s office. He kept all kinds of stuff, things that had belonged to the others, in a random drawer. Plus, folders with information on each one us, and pictures. Photos he must have taken secretly when stalking us, stuff from social media, several from the time here... I burned most of them.” 

“Why didn’t you give them to the police? Or the families?” he asked. 

“There was no real need, he’d already gotten his sentence, and with the families I just didn’t want to poke around in open wounds, it had been a couple months since everything had come out,” she shrugged, “The police didn’t seem to have cared enough to properly look for this place, they didn’t even look for the van used for the kidnappings. And... I don’t know how to explain, but there is some kind of emotional connection I have with... this. I can’t – or don’t want to – let go. Maybe it’s got to do with just having proof that my experiences are real. I don’t like the thought of having strangers poke around down here.” 

“Anyway, you still up to spending some time with your new friend? Or have I successfully scared you off?” 

“You're not- I don’t think you’re crazy, okay? And you won’t be getting rid of me this easily,” he said, letting out something between a scoff and a snort, “I guess... this is a little more than I expected. Again. But that doesn’t change my opinion or make me see you in a bad light. Sure, it’s quite different from my methods and I don’t quite understand why anyone would go through all this effort, but, then again, this isn’t your average course of action either, right?” 

“Nah, only special people get this kinda effort,” she said, visibly relaxing, “And it’s not for their gain. I think it’s just really got to do with me having been in that position where all I wanted was for the pain to end, even if it meant death. I know what it feels like when death is not scary but all you want. And I guess it’s just something you can’t really relate to unless you’ve been there.” 

“So, now that we’ve got all of that cleared up – you gonna introduce me to ‘my new friend’?” 

She smiled, genuinely, not the exaggerated or cruel kind, “Of course, I’m sure he’s excited as well. Kind of mean for me to tease y’all like this, no? Letting you get a look at each other, only to drag you off.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure he loves to see a new face for a change,” Clay added, humouring her... ‘playful’ style.  

She motioned towards the flower-patterned door, “Go on, it’s unlocked, and I’m sure you can figure out how to use a door handle.” 

He rolled his eyes but did as she said, only to be met with the same view as before. The man didn’t seem to have moved even an inch, and all Clay could think was how pathetic he looked. “Well, I guess he won’t be digging any graves.” 

Cylas squeezed past him, ducking under his arm, and strode confidently towards the miserable figure crouched on the floor.  

“Come on now, sweetie, this is no way to treat guests, hm?” she said with a sickeningly sweet voice, and Clay could see the man flinch away from Cylas’s outstretched hand, “You know how this works by now, don’t you? Either you move your ass or I’ll make you.” 

The man looked up at her with legitimate fear, before grabbing her hand and very shakily getting up. He was taller than Cylas, and if he had been in a better state, he might even have towered over her, but as things were, he might as well have been a mere insect under a microscope. Clay hadn’t been aware that it was possible to basically look down on someone who was physically larger, but it was the only way he could describe Cylas’ expression. 

“See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” she said, and the man shook his head. She gave him a condescending smile and patted his hand, “So, the gentleman by the door is my friend Clay. I’d ask you to say ‘Hello Clay’, but... we know how difficult the whole speaking thing has become since the loss of your tongue.” 

Clay raised a brow at that, “How did he- I assume that you were somehow involved in whatever lead to this specific loss?” 

“Well, his backtalk and disrespect started to get annoying. Some people just don’t know when to shut up,” she replied, shrugging, “Anyway, Clay, meet... his name doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Any immediate thoughts? An instinctive vision of what you’d like his future to look like?” 

He snorted, “I guess in this regard I am not quite as creative as you are. I wanted to bash his head in, but... he looks hardly worthy of that, to be honest. I’d be fine just throwing him in a hole and being done with it.” 

“Whatever you say, you’re the boss,” she said. Clay looked at her in surprise. “Wait, you mean it?” 

“M-hm,” came her response, “I think it’s time to move on, at least a little. Plus, keeping him alive does take a metric fuckton of effort and resources. I might actually learn something from you.” 

He chuckled, “Then let’s go, get his sorry ass out of here. You know any good places for body disposal?” 

“Probably just about anywhere,” she said, letting go of the man, the lack of support causing him to fall to the floor. Cylas went to remove the shackles, seemingly unbothered by the proximity to her prisoner. Then again, he did genuinely seem barely able to move on his own. 

“Still would like to get at least a bit of distance to this place. And not to the west, I don’t want him anywhere near the place where he... where the others rested, even if they have been moved since.” 

“Gotcha,” Clay said, “So, wanna get him into the car and look for a spot?” 

“Sounds like a plan. Though I think we might have to carry or drag him after all, don’t think he can make the walk.” 

“How are we gonna get him up the ladder though? And how did all the stuff get down here?” Clay asked, realising only now how complicated or close to impossible it seemed. At least for objects like a fridge or sofa that couldn’t really been taken apart. 

Cylas looked at him with a smirk, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “There might be another way in and out of here. Come on, I’ll show you.” 

She stepped over the man and was just about step outside, before she stopped and turned to look down at him. Clay watched as she stood, apparently thinking about something, before pulling the man up by his hair, his back to her, and reaching around to choke him out. Despite her small stature, she made it look easy, effortless, and Clay was once again reminded that she wasn’t a person that should be judged on looks alone.  

“You mind taking him? Or do you wanna save your energy for the whole grave-digging thing?” she asked seriously, “I mean, he weighs pretty much nothing, but still. Can’t make you do all the work.” 

Clay laughed, “It’s fine, I think I’ll manage. After overcoming the challenge of operating a door handle, this should be easy.” 

“Alrighty then, let’s do this,” she said, almost skipping out of the room and down the hall. He chuckled at her now cheerful and upbeat behaviour, still struggling a little to keep up with the way her mood could just change so suddenly. 

With the unconscious man slung over his shoulder, he followed Cylas to where she was waiting, in front of the door right next to the entrance they had come through.  

“This,” she said, pushing it open, “Is his former office. I don’t really come in here, but it has one advantage-” 

Right across the room was another door, but made from steel and looking like it had previously been hidden or covered. 

“A stereotypical secret doorway, hidden behind a bookshelf. I took the freedom to remove it because... it was just annoying to constantly have to use the stupid mechanism. Now it’s just a heavy ass door,” Cylas explained while unlocking the door and pulling some bars into place, before finally pushing it open. 

Despite having described it as heavy, she didn’t seem to struggle with it, and easily held it open for Clay. He, to his credit, seemed completely unbothered by the body dangling over his shoulder. The door shut with a slam that echoed down the tunnel, this one actually made from concrete and stone, with electric lights and ceilings Clay didn’t have to fear hitting his head against. 

“Um, so, if this here is a thing... why did you drag me down that other hole?” he asked, but already knowing the answer when he saw the grin on Cylas’ face. 

“Cause I thought it’d be funny,” she said unsurprisingly, “Payback for you always putting shit on the top shelves or holding stuff over my head.” 

“Alright, you vindictive little gnome,” he said, “Lead the way.” 

“Shut up or I’ll take your kneecaps,” she retorted, turning away and starting to walk down the tunnel. 

He chuckled and patted her head. 

“Pff, you can act all high and mighty all you want, you still blush like a teenage girl when complimented,” Cylas said teasingly, “Isn’t that right, pretty boy?” 

When she looked back at him, she could, in fact, see a light rosy shade spread over his cheeks, despite him turning his head away. 

“I’ll get you back for that, just you wait,” Clay said, sounding slightly flustered but not upset. 

Cylas smiled, “I’d expect no less.” 

It wasn’t long before they arrived at some stairs that lead towards another set of metal doors. Once the pair stepped through them, they found themselves back in the forest and not far from where they had left the car. 

Cylas watched Clay as he looked around in disbelief, before turning his attention towards her. “You made me walk all the way through bushes and brambles and all that stuff, to some tiny trapdoor that led to a dwarf-sized tunnel, even though this is right here?” 

She shrugged, “Being an annoying little shit is how I show love and affection. Sometimes.” 

Clay rolled his eyes and looked back at the door they had left through, only to find it amazingly well camouflaged against the hill, blending in with the rest of nature around it. Not impossible to notice if one was to really look around, but easy to miss when just glancing at it. 

“Come oooon, the car is basically in reach,” Cylas said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along, “We should try and make as much use of the leftover daylight as possible.” 

He followed without further comment or protest, and just dumped the body in the back of the car, although they did tie the man up, just as a precaution. Cylas plopped down in the passenger seat while Clay got in on the driver side. 

“So, should we just follow the road for a bit?” 

She nodded, “Yeah, trees and bushes and stuff will get a little denser a little way down, or look like it at least, but there’s a side road we can go down. I’ll point it out to you when we get there.” 

“Alright then,” he said and started the car. 

@bluecoolr