I've started learning how to play a drum set at my school and honestly. To be completely honest with you all. It's making me very tempted to make a TVD band au a la Daisy Jones

You know, you've written a lot of your thoughts/hcs/etc on how various characters would behave as yanderes and so on, but I've never seen you talk about yandere readers before and I feel like that's an interesting subject to consider? Especially for 3H - you have a treasure trove of damaged boys to attract obsessiveness from girls who are convinced they are the ONLY one for them and it's their duty to drive away competition/threats/anyone they want.

Okay it's time to be toxic. I’m not going to go for all the guys, just the ones who immediately came to mind.

Dimitri: I joke quite often that I would be yandere for Dimitri. It all started when I brought up killing the girl he danced with at the White Heron Ball and quite frankly it's only spiraled from there because doesn't the Savior King Dimitri deserve to be adored and worshipped? Doesn't he deserve someone who wants the best for him and only him? Doesn’t it only make sense for him to be with someone who understands his mental issues and is willing to offer him unconditional support and patience? Doesn't he need someone with unwavering loyalty who will do anything no matter what the cost for his sake? It'd be so easy too because he's super dependent, desperate for affection, and clueless so if you just nourish those traits and constantly downplay his discomfort/suspicion of you driving away anybody who you feel is a threat by saying that this is how relationships just are, that it's just because you love him so much, that you're just looking out for him, what's he gonna do? It's not like he'd have any solid basis for knowing how relationships are supposed to be. Besides if he gets too upset you can threaten to leave him just like his mother did, I'm sure that would work to get him back in your arms (where he belongs). Yeah, that’s a little fucked up but it would be so much worse for both of you in the long run if you were apart. Being too aggressive or overt about your obsession would definitely make Dimitri wise up so it'd be better to go with love bombing. This would be good because it really lets you prove your devotion to Dimitri and makes it easier for him to just laugh off and excuse your disturbingly possessive behavior. His friends would be potentially problematic, but they're not always around and Dimitri's private enough that he probably wouldn't volunteer information about you to them. If you told him that it made you very upset and uncomfortable when he was friendly with the girls from his class, he’d most likely stop for your sake. Bonus round, have his babies. What is he going to do, abandon the mother of his children? Dimitri?!? No way. Of course he wouldn’t do anything to risk breaking his family, but neither would you! After all, this is all because you know Dimitri better than anyone which means that only you can love him.

Sylvain: Sylvain being manipulative and cheating on you after you try and prove your love to him through conventional means causing you to snap and kill hurt the girls, throw his lies back in his face, and prove that you're the only girl for him by preying on his emotional trauma with women is really something to consider. Why try to resolve toxic situations with love, compassion, and open communication when you can use blood and abuse to keep him with you? Play the part, be snarky, witty, flirty, be super hot and cold to keep him intrigued, give him the best fuck he's ever had, really show him that you don't care about his Crest, you just want to love possess him. Maybe even do the whole "I don't care who you're with, we both know you belong to me" to really engage him in those super fun mind games. Make everyone else acknowledge that you're the perfect girl for him, get them all to vilify him for continuing to be such a womanizer and breaking your heart. But, like, why stop there? Encourage him to retaliate, to be mad at you. Tease him for being so disgusted and angry at you when all you want, all you've ever wanted, was for your hearts to beat as one and then later act confused because of course you wouldn’t make light of his feelings like that, that’s horrible. All you want, all you’ve ever wanted, was for him to acknowledge that your adoration for him is true. Really break him until he gives you the whole “I’ll let you chain me up so I never even look at another girl” schtick. This might seem awful, but so is he! Reform can be difficult and if he’s going to be happy, he has to be made to understand why his behavior was so bad and the consequences of it. Because it’s not like you’d act like this if you had any other choice, it’s not like you’d continue once the two of you were truly together, of course you wouldn’t treat him so cruelly once he vowed himself to you and only you. And, really, I think it’d be a lot easier once he understood that and you got to prove your love to him through raw, unadulterated affection. Spend every day adding onto the list of why you love your Sylvain. 

Claude: Claude being more than aware of the ole' saying "don't stick your dick in crazy" and then doing it anyway because he has a proclivity for the fiery, forbidden, and oh-so temping call of danger would be the perfect set up for a very bad predicament. You’d have to play some mind games to really convince him that he’s the one seeking you out, he’s the one who’s got it bad, he’s the one who wants to have you. In other words, you’d have to give him a challenge. But, you know, if it’s a game, you’d have to play back because you’re doing this for him, because you love him, because you want him to realize that he loves you, too (Uno reverse Claude’s yandere behaviors, basically) so obviously you’d have to eliminate any obstacles and taking out anybody who could be a potential threat. Get him to open up about his dreams, his past, his feelings. As it goes with basically all of these affection-starved men, make him feel loved for who he is. You know, if you were really good, you could probably even get him to give up on everything else for your sake. I mean, I loathe the ending but he does that for Lysithea. Pull a Tangled on Claude and make him believe that you’re his new dream as he mostly certainly is yours.

Felix: Sweet Felix. So oblivious but so difficult. A man who would provide the ultimate and most dangerous yan rival of them all: the thrill of the fight. In a lot of ways, I think he’d be like Dimitri. Mostly just because he’s so dense when it comes to love of any kind. But he’s also not as emotionally desperate or dependent so you wouldn’t really be able to use that against him. The similarities come from Felix’s equal amount of inexperience with romance which opens up a lot of possibilities for you convincing him that certain behaviors are normal. You can even bring up how his cold emotional state (something I believe he’s insecure about) is what forces you to be so overbearing, how badly it hurts you.  You don’t necessarily mean to be so cloying but you’re so afraid of losing someone else you love so much (another insecurity of his). After all, there is nobody in the entire world who is like him, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, (three for three with his insecurities) and how irreplaceable and precious he is to you. These examples are kind of “soft” when it comes to using his insecurities against him, but you could go further with them assuming you were sure that it wouldn’t drive him away. Not knowing and having to work on assumption would always be a pretty big reason to control yourself in how you went about manipulating him because Felix is stubborn and prideful and pushing him too far would only hurt the both of you. It’s actually kind of funny because as opposed to the traditional yan mindset, it would be in your best interest to get Felix to form relationship bonds with others (but definitely not any of the girls he’s so popular with) because that would be a bargaining chip when convincing him to stay with you.

Ferdinand von Aegir: Ferdinand is, honestly, so easy for this. Like, I feel as if I don’t even need to talk about the details. You show him some affection and he’s yours. Bury him in love and praise. Tell him that it makes you unhappy when he talks to other girls or prioritizes his work over you and then reward him with boundless warmth and devotion because of course he would bend over backwards to make you happy. He just wants to be needed and treasured, to love and be loved. He’s already got the poetry and the ring and of course he wouldn’t mind getting married right away it’s true love, why would you wait?

Yuri: Yuribird is the forbidden darling. You’d need to be running on 100% love because he’d sniff out and ditch you at even the smallest whiff of deliberate obsession. But you know what he wants? More-so than the other guys, in some ways. He wants to be known and loved for who he is. In the face of genuine affection, he doesn’t stand a chance. Still, you’d have to be measured about this stuff. If you were jealous and got rid of your rivals yourself, Yuri would be disgusted and leave you. And you can’t hide that sort of thing from him, either. You’d have to go all in on the manipulation but only in the most honest way possible, that’s the only way past his defenses. Get him to prioritize your feelings first so he feels guilty talking to people or acting in ways that upset you. Reward him for putting you above everyone else. Constantly remind him that you’re the only one who knows and understands him, who loves him for who he is. Get him so emotionally fucked that even if his big brain logic is telling him that you’re toxic and horrible, he can’t stand the thought of being without you. He’d give up crime, it’s not like he even particularly likes it. Set up the perfect life for him, something domestic and sweet and warm, something he’s never had worries he doesn’t deserve, something that keeps him away from others. The goddess only knows how much he deserves a happy dream for once, and you’re the only one who can understand and provide that for him.

Interesting details about the 3 houses cast (From dialogue in ‘Heroes’)

The first name Ferdinand’s father is ‘Ludwig’ and he is apparently an insufferable braggart who also said his own name alot

Before moving into her uncle’s castle, Anette spent her early childhood in a small, humble house in the Capital. Gilbert & his wife couldn’t afford domestic servants so she did the chores herself.

Mercedes’ father died in a “conflict in the empire”. Before he died, he taught her mom the secret recipe that Mercedes mentions in the Constance and Dedue supports. A bit of her fatalistic passive attitude early on comes from feeling that she couldn’t change much about her life while she and her mom were being mistreated at the Bartels’ home

Claude has a lot of fun with the mushroom poison.

Despite their student’s glowing opinions, Byleth isn’t actually all that confident about their professor-ing, which is probably not unexpected given how the job was suddenly dumped in their lap.

They’re somewhat uncertain about whether they have real connections with people beyond just the professional level. I guess that’s another parallel to Edelgard.

Someone observed that they look “more like a mercenary and less like a teacher” while they’re fighting.

Apparently their students described them as “a bit eccentric at times”

They seem to like/appreciate it when other ppl can pick up what they’re really feeling/thinking. (I really hope Jeralt knew that) 

 It’s considered rare for Claude and Dimitri to agree on anything

The sad thing is that the trio is noted to be quite effective when they cooperated. I guess we also saw this in Cindered Shadows

There is a hilarious sequence where Byleth is like, “This may call for drastic measures” and everyone starts looking at Claude and correctly assuming that he’s probably already cooking up some sort of crazy plan

 Ferdinand apparently likes the “refined way” that Edelgard swings her axe

Petra considers hunting one of the most important skills you can have, both because you acquire many crucial materials (like leather etc) and because it also hones a lot of skills. Bridgid is very green & plentiful, so most people do some degree of hunting and even the rulers are expected to know it. Someone remarks that it’s probably a culture that places emphasis on self-sufficiency. That’s an interesting way to think about it, especially if you think about Petra’s attitudes, how she approaches even this cobjectively crappy political hostage situation as an opportunity and has a very problem-solvy approach to things. I’d noted that, but I’d never connected it with the hunting thing; I thought it was just Petra being awesome, which it basically still is, but it adds a cool layer to consider how she got this way and how this may be her way to stay close to her homeland’s values even in exile.

“In Brigid, there is a phrase we say. A gray sky will be pierced by the sun. A raging tide will be leading to land. Beyond failure, success is waiting.” 

Hubert seemed to know that he ten elites fought against the godess even pre timeskip. 

He also sees Edelgard as one of the few ppl who really paid attention to him when he was younger -  I guess this goes with this understated complex he has about his looks & personality.

Edelgard likes to just lie around and relax, but only when she’s all alone. At least pre timeskip or pre holy-tomb scene she didn’t think like she could really be herself in the company of others. She does seem to put some deliberate thought into what image to project/embody

Dimitri seems to think that having a crest (and high status) makes it his duty to protect & take care of the people – I guess that’s another way in which he’s completely ruled by obligation. He gets characteristically intense about this. “My life was never mine to begin with, I guess I haven’t the right to throw it away”

the glorious “nice weather” exchange has already been posted. Edelgard (and Lysithea) are the first to clarify that they shouldn’t bring their grudges into this situation since they’re not in Fodlan atm.

Edelgard and Claude are beyond shook when AzureMoon!Dimitri actually agrees. Chill Dimitri is apparently not something they ever imagined. He is obviously the most changed in “his” route, with the other two its no less profound but a lot more subtle. 

Lysithea has an interest in botany (now I really want her to talk plants with Bernie )

Hilda: “I haven’t heard about there being a future me here. She’s probably busy relaxing on a beach or something…”

Mercie and Anette immediately reassured each other that their future selves are probably cute af. Aww

 This is probably unsurprising, but future!Dimitri is still very tormented by his less than stellar actions during and right after the timeskip

Small Dimitri is heartbreakingly surprised to hear that there’s any version of him that’s alive and on the throne, though he hides it because his friends (or at least Annie and Mercie) did not have such doubt

Edelgard decides from the get-go not to concern herself with the future version of her. I get the sense that she really wants to avoid the scenario where she allows her resolve about what she feels absolutely must be done to falter after meeting a regretful future version of herself; I really like this, I know some haters will probably spin this into something about her not caring about the consequences of her actions but it really circles back to how she’s philosophically all about self-determination & can’t let something like a future possibility determine what she does… nor can she back off a sacrifice meant for the greater good just because it might turn out poorly for her (which it does, just not in the CF timeline that this particular future version is from)

 Cut to the future versions who have contrasting ideas about what to do about their tiny selves. Claude thinks they should not risk causing any time paradoxa. Dimitri ponders the thought of warning his younger self (and past!Byleth). Edelgard doesn’t think it would make any difference at all, especially since they would each be showing their tiny self the timeline where they win.

Though I guess one think to consider here is probably that Dimitri would be the most surprised by a sucessful older version of himself

Claude eventuallly agrees, since they were each doing what they thought was best (Claude, too, is sort of uniquely situated to grasp this as the one who can part on good terms with each of the other two in their respective timelines) – though he’s hoping that the time crash will maybe send their younger selves in a different direction (in which you see that this is distinctly VW!Claude & thus a bit more hopeful)

 the others actually agree & it ends with a fun semi-friendly sparring match

 Edelgard wants to show past!Byleth how awesome she’s going to be in the future

it is very in line with my interpretation of her character that she would describe her own disproportional strenght as “hideous”

Claude’s lines are solid gold in this. Like he’s just being aggressive irrevent to bridge the obvious awkwardness “Go on, we’re old dining hall palls!”

This gets Lysithea wondering what might’ve happened if they’d actually graduated as planned. I mean I kind of respect that they DIDNT put in a golden ending but I guess if you want one you can imagine that they got one after returning from Askr I guess.

let’s just hope that “the timeline none of them experienced” doesn’t just turn out to be silver snow lol

Sweeter than berries

{Because I couldn't fit this into the main plot with it being too much of a filler.}

Jim sighed as he flew into the spot he agreed to meet Dimitri with, before dawn.

"That sounds telling," Dimitri mused as he sees his boyfriend enter the tall grass patch he was waiting in. "had a fight with the winds along the way?"

The Fast flyer rolled his eyes, taking a spot next to Dimitri. "Very funny," he said, before swiftly snatching a berry the Dust keeper had been eating and taking a bite himself. "It's just Hiccup."

"Oh no," Dimitri said tonelessly, almost in compliance rather than in actual exasperation. "what's he up to now?"

Jim frowned, settling the berry at his lap. "Nothing, for now. After his trip to the library, he seemed to have given up on the idea of exploring the idea of the 'Sparkling wings' imagination. On one hand, I think he's dejected that it was really nothing. But... Well, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. He didn't even come out for dinner last night."

"So, that's good right? I mean, except for the bad part of what you said." Dimitri pointed out whilst scooching up closer, having Jim narrow his eyes at him. "At least he's not up to anything this time, and we can enjoy a break from the crazy things he gets us into. Like... remember the time he frustrated some Skunks after falling into a pond and we had to run away from it, since our wings got wet?"

The Fast flyer rolled eyes, nudging the other a bit. " Of course I do," he groused, "I was the one who frustrated the skunks, because Hiccup made us fall into the pond in the first place and I tried throwing a peanut at him and ended up missing. Anyway, that's not even the point."

"And what is?"

"Just... It's not really like him to give up so easily, I mean, if there's nothing in the library, he would go about asking around... I mean, he'd even go so far as to pester the Rulers about it, especially Queen Anna since she's the friendliest." Jim rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm starting to think there's nothing that could stop him. That said,  I can't keep help that nagging feeling that, maybe, he is still up to something. So it's kinda good you had us meet somewhere near Tinker village; that way if his hut explodes.... again.... we can see it."

Dimitri shrugged, before throwing an arm around the Fast flyer's shoulders. "Can't say I blame you for being paranoid; this is Hiccup we're talking about. But─" He paused to nuzzle Jim's cheek, "I was hoping to do something more relaxing with you..."

"Sure," Jim mumbled, making a show of rolling his eyes even while his cheeks started going red and his heart skipped several beats. "whatever you want; you know I'm just doing this for the extra dust."

Dimitri snorted, before pushing Jim down firmly yet being mindful about his head. "You know there's no one around now, you can be honest." He pointed out.

"No, that's not exactly true; you're around." Jim pointed out, even as he placed his hands on either side of Dimitri's shoulders. "And you're the one that matters most."

Dimitri turned red himself, but he was also grinning ear to ear. "That's more like it." he closed the distance between them, and molded their lips together, their kiss sweeter than berries.

At one point, they rolled out from the grass as they got into the kiss, daylight brightening gradually.

MCU Spider-Man 3 Pitch

I have not been the biggest fan of the MCU’s take on Spider-Man, but I do think there’s a way that they could close out his trilogy and make up for a lot of what didn’t work while also staying true to what’s been done in the first few movies.

So picture this, it’s been a few months, maybe even a year, since Spider-Man was framed for Mysterio’s death. Stark Industries lawyers have been able to convince a judge that the footage was doctored to put Peter’s face in in it, but that’s only improved the situation a little bit. Half of New York still thinks Peter is Spider-Man and the other half at least think Spider-Man murdered Mysterio and framed this kid. Happy and Stark Industries have had to distance themselves from Spider-Man publicly because even though Peter Parker is technically legally innocent, Spider-Man is still wanted for murder.

Ned and MJ stand by him, but the fact of the matter is that the world is just against Peter Parker on all fronts....

That’s when Norman Osborne shows up. Norman is a tech genius and his company Oscorp has always been a sort of quiet competitor to Stark Industries. Since the Snap (or the Blip if you prefer) they’ve raised their public profile and are doing a lot of work cleaning up the world. Norman approaches Peter much like Tony did. He knows Peter is Spider-Man and he’s offering him a job with Oscorp, a way to save his reputation and earn some money (Stark Industries covered the legal fees, but the constant attention has put a strain on the already sparse Parker family budget). Norman is putting together a new team, to fill the void left by the fracturing of the Avengers...the Thunderbolts.

Now Peter isn’t an idiot. This all feels sort of suspect. After all, Mysterio came to him as a fellow hero too. So he does his due diligence. He checks with Dr. Strange and looks as far back as he can into Osborne’s past, but he can’t find a blemish, what he does find is that Osborne knew his father, worked with him when they were in Grad school, and it leads to a very tender father/son moment between them. 

So he agrees to become a Thunderbolt on a trial basis. May doesn’t like it, but Peter is 18 and she can’t stop him. MJ thinks he’s nuts. “You got lucky trusting one billionaire, you’re crazy to trust a second one.” Even Ned, trying to be supportive, can’t help but feel that something is off.

Peter meets the other Thunderbolts. Max Dillion, who can control electricity, Sergei Kravinoff, who has enhanced strength and agility, and Dimitri Smerdyakov, their own personal Black Widow and master intelligence operative. They have an early run in with Mac Gargan, now in possession of a suit of power armor and calling himself The Scorpion, but the real clincher for Peter comes when, responding to an attack by some kind of sand monster, they capture a very alive and well Mysterio.

With the path to fully clearing his name now open, Peter comes to fully trust Osborne who tells him how he wants to do what the Avengers couldn’t. He wants to build a suit of armor around the world.

Meanwhile, MJ and Ned are still suspicious and they break into Oscorp where they find Osborne’s scientists running tests on Dillon, Kravinoff, and Smerdyakov. But worse than that, they find Beck and Gargan free, and getting equipment upgrades from Oscorp scientists. They’re captured and interrogated by Osborne. MJ tells him that she’s got him all figured out, that he’s just running the same scam that Beck was, creating fake disasters to swoop and stop. But Osborne tells her that it’s much more than that. Peter represents the possibility of a new generation of heroes, young and impressionable that he can mold and shape, effectively putting the next generation of super people entirely under his thumb. Luckily for Osborne, Beck’s stunt with the doctored footage helped alienate Peter enough for Osborne to get his hooks in.

Later, Peter is worried that he can’t get in touch with MJ and Ned, but Osborne tells him not to worry, tells him that his destiny as a hero is beyond all that and that he’ll make new friends, friends on his level. Osborne shows Peter files he’s been keeping on other young people with powers (and here we can take an opportunity to show off some upcoming characters, I think Angelica Jones, Bobby Drake, and Sam Alexander would be fun Easter Eggs) that he wants Peter to start training to be the next generation of Thunderbolts.

This starts to rub Peter the wrong way and he wonders if maybe MJ and Ned were right. He hacks Osborne’s computers and steals some files on the Thunderbolt Project and takes them home to sort through them. On his way home he gets a call from MJ telling him to meet her in Central Park. 

By the time he gets there it’s dark and he sees not MJ, but Aunt May meeting with someone who looks just like Peter. Before he can call out to her he’s blindsided by a masked man (Kraven, but Peter can’t tell) who pins him down and makes him watch as the False Peter (Smerdyakov) locks eyes with Peter and makes it clear that if he makes a sound he’ll kill May. Kraven asks for the data Peter stole from Oscorpe back. Just as Peter is about to hand it over he sees May wallop Smerdyakov.

We cut to May kicking Smerdyakov’s fallen gun away from him and asking him where Peter is. Smerdyakov’s shapeshifting falters and we see a new form, a blank, smooth white face.

“How?” He asks.

May sneers at him. “You think I don’t know my own son?”

A webline hits Smerdyakov square in the chest and Peter rockets into frame, knocking him onto his ass. Kraven rushes him and Peter yells for May to get clear.

Suddenly an explosion rips through the park. Osborne, in something almost like a cross between an Iron Man suit and and Vulture’s wing harness, swoops down, picks Peter up, and plucks the data stick from the pocket of his suit, then throws him into a nearby building where Peter blacks out.

Peter wakes up in a hazy and brightly lit version of his bedroom. He sits up on his bed and makes eye contact with someone across from him.

“I let you down didn’t I? I tried to...I tried to be better. I tried to...”

“Pete,” an unfamiliar voice says, as we pan to the other end of the room and see, for the first time in the MCU, Benjamin Franklin Parker (I’m imagining Nick Offerman, but Toby Maguire would be fun too). “You could never let me down.”

Peter tells his uncle that he thinks he made a mistake, that he doesn’t know who to trust anymore, and that this whole Spider-Man thing was supposed to be to make Ben proud, to make up for...well, Ben knows...but it never seems to turn out right. It just feels like he keeps getting drawn into other people’s messes and making a mess of his own life and he’s tried to be his own person but it feels like the more he’s Spider-Man the less he knows who he’s supposed to be. Is he Tony? Is he Osborne? Is he an Avenger or a Thunderbolt? Ever since he got drawn into this people have been talking about his potential and he’s afraid that he’s not going to measure up to what people expect of him. And Ben very gently tells him that it’s not about measuring up. It’s not about being the next Tony Stark but better or becoming an Avenger. It’s not about measuring up to anyone’s ideal. It’s about knowing that he’s making a difference because he feels it’s the right thing to do no matter whether the rest of the world sees him as an Iron Man or a menace or an Avenger. And he tells him that he knows he knows he’ll do the right thing, because he can’t not, it’s who he is, it’s in his actions every day.

Peter wakes up to May frantically doing chest compressions on him in the middle of a collapsed public restroom in the park. He almost tells her what he hallucinated while he was out, but he can’t bring himself to. Instead he says they need to get to a computer.

Peter reveals that he made a backup of the data and stored it in the suit’s computer. He opens up the files and they find out that Osborne is planning to release the personal information of his teenage Thunderbolts candidates to every budding super-criminal and news outlet in the world. He’s gonna back them all into a corner the way Peter was, destroy their lives so he can pick up the pieces and turn them into his loyal army.

Following an SOS from MJ Peter find Osborne and confronts him in the Oscorp Tower while Aunt May sneaks in and rescues MJ and Ned. What follows is a climactic fight where Peter takes on Osborne’s Sinister Six while May, Ned, and MJ make their way past Oscorp’s security to stop the data leak. 

The fight spills out into the city and Peter shows off his experience as Spider-Man, staying one step ahead of his multiple foes and pulling civilians out of harm’s way.

May, MJ, and Ned manage to stop the data leak from Oscorp Tower but Osborne reveals he can just as easily release it all from his suit. He points out to Peter that as far as the world is concerned, he and the Thunderbolts are new superheroes while Spider-Man’s reputation is still in doubt. 

“Keep fighting me and they’ll hate you forever” Osborne says.

“It doesn’t matter if they hate me” Peter says, tearing the computer systems out of Osborne’s suit. “It matters that they’re safe.”

The day saved and the villains defeated and incapacitated, Peter limps to the top of Oscorp tower where he meets May, MJ, and Ned, as they watch as the sun rises over the city.

Cut to a few weeks later and the media is still divided whether Spider-Man is a hero or a menace. Norman Osborne has been taken to The Raft after a data leak from Oscorp Tower revealed business dealings with remnants of Hydra, AIM, and the Fisk Crime syndicate. MJ, filling out applications for a journalism major at ESU, looks knowingly proud and justifiably smug as this is reported. 

The film ends as Peter, in his Spider-Man suit, approaches a young girl sitting on the edge of a rooftop, flames dancing on her fingertips. Ned and MJ monitor him from a jury-rigged computer display and talk to him through his suit.

“Hi,” Peter says to the girl, “Angelica Jones?...Can I talk to you for second? I think I can help you.”

Post Credits Scene 1: Peter is visiting Dr. Strange again who tells him that he honestly can’t say if the vision Peter had was anything more than a near death hallucination, but that he should take comfort in knowing that the people we’ve lost can still help us once they’re gone, even if it’s just their memories. Peter presses the issue and Dr. Strange shrugs and says anything is possible. There are infinite worlds after all, different planes of existence, different dimensions.

Peter Scoffs, “That’s just something Mysterio made up to con us”

“Well even a broken clock is right twice a day” Strange replies.

Post Credits Scene 2: Osborne is locked up in The Raft. Footsteps approach. General Ross comes up to his cell and shakes his head.

“Beat down by a kid Osborne. Well, even so, you still put together a damn impressive team. I had some ideas about continuing your little project. I do really like the name.”

The New Professor (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Konosuba / School-Live! AU

CONTAINS School-Live! (Gakkou Gurashi) anime spoilers!

A new visitor arrives to Garreg Mach, causing a commotion among the population.

Byleth, Kazuma, and Aqua are sent to investigate who the new visitor is.

----

(Byleth) sigh

(Aqua) “Come on, tell me I’m right!”

(Kazuma) “Okay, you’re goddamn stupid.”

(Aqua) “Shut up, NEET!”

(Kazuma) “Stop calling me a NEET you bitch!”

(Sothis) “Ugh, what are they complaining about now?”

(Byleth) “Apparently something about the amiibo gazebo being part of a greater power than you or anything here...”

(Sothis) “And that’s why they’re throwing profanity around?”

(Aqua) “Listen, this is a serious discussion!”

(Kazuma) “One that you’re completely wrong about!”

Byleth shook his head. He was starting to regret asking them to lunch. 

Before he could continue eating, Alois ran up to his table.

(Alois) “Ah, there you are Byleth!”

(Byleth) “Alois, what’s wrong?”

(Alois) “We just found a woman unconscious near the classrooms!”

(Byleth) “What?!”

(Kazuma) “Wait, why are you telling him this, isn’t this stuff left to the knights?”

(Alois) “Well the thing is, we don’t know where she came from, or who she is. I daresay she’s not even from Fodlan!”

(Aqua) “Wait, like as in completely foreign country or?”

(Alois) “As in, completely otherwordly! Actually, her clothing reminds me a bit of yours, Kazuma!”

Kazuma’s eyes widened and turned to Aqua.

(Kazuma) “Hold up a sec, you think she could be...?”

(Aqua) “Only one way to find out! Byleth, we’re coming with you!”

Byleth nodded and the three of them followed Alois to the classrooms. 

...

...

----

SLAM!

Megumi shut the door behind her as hard as she could, making sure it couldn’t be open from the other side.

(???) “Let me go!”

(??? 2) Yuki-chan, stop it!”

(???) “Megu-nee’s still outside! We have to hurry!”

(??? 3) “It’s too late!”

(??? 2) “WAIT!”

(???) “Megu-nee! MEGU-NEEEEE!”

...

...

(??? 1) “Shit, she looks beat up bad!”

(??? 2) “There’s blood everywhere, what happened to her?!”

(??? 3) “You guys didn’t try to get a healer first?”

(??? 4) “We tried! There’s something in her arm that’s spreading and we can’t stop it!”

(??? 1) “Aqua!”

(??? 2) “On it! Oh no...From what I’m seeing in her injuries, it’s like some zombie infection!”

(??? 3) “Wait, what’s a zombie?”

(??? 1) “God damn, what the hell?! Tch, nevermind, questions later! We gotta use Turn Undead!”

(??? 2) “Wait, that’s going to hurt her!”

(??? 1) “Aqua, it doesn’t look like she’s fully infected yet, so maybe it can stop it before it spreads! We gotta do SOMETHING!”

(??? 1) “Damn, TURN UNDEAD!”

Megumi could only hear the voices faintly, but it started to grow louder as she felt a sharp pain in her arm that quickly went away.

(??? 2) “Alright, she’s stabilizing.”

Megumi opened her eyes slowly, the light blinding her from the windows.

(Megumi) “H-Huh...?”

(Kazuma) “H-Hey, she’s waking up!”

She looked up and saw three people she’s never seen before, wearing what seemed to be medieval European clothing.

(Byleth) “I see you’re awake now.”

(Aqua) “Hey there!”

(Kazuma) “Better places to pass out than on the ground, ya know!”

(Megumi) “Where...am I?”

...

(Byleth) “Yes, we know Sothis. We’ll try to explain it in basic terms.”

(Megumi) ?

(Kazuma) “Well...put simply, you’re in a school.”

The word school echoed through her mind. Megumi’s heartbeat suddenly spiked as she almost jumped to her feet, looking behind her frantically.

(Megumi) “YUKI-CHAN!”

When she spun around, she only saw Alois and a few of the Monastery’s classrooms.

(Alois) “T-Take it easy ma’am! We know you’re confused but!”

Megumi’s breathing was out of control, her head jerking back and forth trying to find anything familiar. 

But to no avail.

(Megumi) “YUKI! KURUMI! RII-SAN! ANYONE?!”

(Byleth) “Miss, please, calm down!”

Kazuma grabbed the shoulders of the woman and kept her still.

(Kazuma) “Take a deep breath, alright?!”

Megumi eventually stopped shaking as she took in more of her surroundings. It was clear she wasn’t at the school anymore but...

With a deep exhale, she finally calmed down.

(Megumi) “I-I’m sorry...I-I don’t know where I am.”

(Byleth) “What’s your name?”

(Megumi) “My name...My name is Megumi Sakura. I’m a teacher at Megurigaoka Private High School.”

(Aqua) “That sounds a lot like...”

(Kazuma) “Japanese.”

(Aqua) “This is a weird question to ask but...Are you from Japan?”

(Megumi) “Yes, I am?”

Kazuma took a little comfort in that. He now wasn’t the only person thrown to this world from Earth.

(Kazuma) “Well...how do I put this? You’re not in Japan anymore, you’re pretty much in the same boat I am. We’re in a country called Fodlan.”

(Megumi) “Where is that?”

(Kazuma) “It doesn’t exist back on our world, Miss Sakura. We’re basically in a Fantasy Europe with straight up magic, dragons, all that crazy bullshit.”

(Megumi) “But...what happened to our world? My students?”

(Kazuma) “Um...I’m not sure. I didn’t come from YOUR world, per se. My world was in peace while yours seemed to be...uh...”

(Megumi) “I see...”

Megumi’s heart sank. She just happened to be unlucky enough to be in a world where crisis struck them instead of having a normal life like Kazuma.

(Aqua) “I’m sure you must have a million questions, but you need some rest! Here, follow me and I’ll try to answer anything you might ask on the way.”

(Megumi) “B-But...”

Sighing, Megumi followed Aqua to her room.

(Alois) “From another world? First you and your friends Kazuma, now her! What a crazy time to live in! Poor thing must be so confused if she’s shouting for her students like that...”

Kazuma couldn’t help but shiver at that. He couldn’t imagine coming to a brand new world completely alone. He was lucky to have others with him here. At the very least, he had some semblance of a fantasy world, Megumi must be feeling as if she were on another planet.

Which in some sense, she was.

(Kazuma) “Hey uh...she said she was a teacher, right?”

(Byleth) “Yeah, of some private school.”

(Kazuma) “Do...Do you think she could teach alongside you, professor?”

(Byleth) “What?”

(Kazuma) “Well, if the church throws her ass to the curb, she’s going to be completely lost! She doesn’t understand a world like yours in the slightest.”

Byleth looked at Megumi and nodded.

(Byleth) “I’ll talk to Rhea about it.”

...

After a few days of getting settled in and recovering, Megumi began to explore the Monastery with Kazuma and his gang.

(Aqua) “The Monastery is more of a military academy than a normal school.”

(Kazuma) “Yeah, Garreg Mach Monastery, or The Officer’s Academy, is the full name of this place.”

(Darkness) “Many people are aspiring to be a knight here. That is my goal. Well, being stuck here anyway.”

(Megumin) “My goal is to make a name for the Crimson Demon, and no matter the world we’re thrown into, that shall always be my top priority!”

(Megumi) “I had no idea other people could be thrown into worlds so casually...A-And what about God and?”

(Aqua) “Well you see I’m-”

Kazuma elbowed Aqua, shaking his head.

(Kazuma) “The poor woman’s going to be more confused, alright?! Just keep that to yourself for now!”

(Aqua) “Jerk!”

(Megumi) “Oh by the way, where is that blue haired man?”

(Kazuma) “Oh, professor Byleth? I’m not sure, honestly. I asked him to talk to the head honcho here of letting you teach here.”

(Megumi) “Huh?! B-But, I don’t know how to fight!”

(Aqua) “That’s fine! There’s still stuff like math here!”

(Darkness) “It’s just something to help you fit in. We don’t want you getting thrown out while you have no idea what’s happening.”

(Megumin) “Besides, I’m sure you’ll love the students here!”

(Claude’s Voice) “Well, probably just me.”

Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard walked up to the group and noticed Megumi.

(Dimitri) “Ah, so you’re that new teacher that has been causing quite a stir! I am Dimitri, House leader of the Blue Lions.”

(Edelgard) “My name is Edelgard, and I am the House Leader of the Black Eagles.”

(Claude) “Claude, Golden Deer. Nice to meet ya!”

(Megumi) “T-Thank you! My name is Megumi Sakura...I-I’m sorry, did you say new teacher?”

(Edelgard) “Why yes. We’ve been informed that Byleth has an assistant who will be helping teach the three houses.”

(Megumi) “HUH?! W-WHY DID NO ONE ASK ME FIRST?!”

(Dimitri) “Hah, are you getting cold feet Professor Sakura?”

(Megumi) “...Professor Sakura...”

She smiled a little, blushing at the name.

(Megumi) “Well, at least someone’s finally referring to me as my proper teacher name.”

(Edelgard) “What did people usually refer to you as?”

(Megumi) “Megu-nee.”

(Aqua) “Aw, that’s actually kinda cute!”

(Megumi) “It’s not befitting of a teacher!”

(Claude) “Megu-nee..Hah, I like that sound of that a bit better honestly!”

(Edelgard) “Megun-nee. It does have a nice ring to it.”

(Dimitri) “Well, Megu-nee, we’ll be seeing you soon! We just wanted to say hello.”

(Claude) “Be seein’ ya around!”

(Megumi) “D-DON’T CALL ME MEGU-NEE! IT’S...ah...”

Everyone else laughed at her embarassment, but Kazuma put a hand on her shoulder.

(Kazuma) “You’ll fit right in, Megu-nee! Those three will put in a good word for ya! Byleth will be too, no doubt!”

Everyone gave her an encouraging smile.

(Darkness) “Please, if you need us for anything do not hesitate to ask for help.”

(Megumi) “...”

A part of her was going to miss her students so dearly. Yuki, Kurumi, and Yuuri would be alone without her, missing her and thinking that she was dead. She wanted to tell them that she was alive and well thanks to the help of everyone here so far but...

Megumi knew that was going to be a long time before that happened.

With the help of everyone here, she knew the road was going to be a lot less lonely than she thought. 

(Megumi) “I never could’ve anticipated that this was where my life was going to go once I thought I was dead but...I won’t waste this second chance you’ve given me, so for that I will do my best to repay it and continue teaching!”

(Byleth) “We’re happy to hear it.”

Byleth smiled at her as he walked over, extending his hand.

(Byleth) “Welcome to the family, Megumi.”

She hesitated before giving her hand, but she took Byleth’s hand and shook it firmly.

(Byleth) “Come on, the rest of the staff wants to meet you.”

(Megumi) “R-Right!”

(Kazuma) “Good luck, Megu-nee!”

She spun around quickly and pouted.

“Kazuma, don’t call me Megu-nee! It’s Professor Sakura!”

Unfortunately for her, no one would heed her wishes to be called that.

Everyone greeted their new professor, Megu-nee.

---

[Indirect Sequel: Megumi Sakura as a Professor AU]

omg i could never,, i’d turn off the game and have to restart if i ever had to fight anyone from the blue lions they’re all such babies

of course sweetie!! i havent really written for Claude up until now, so i hope i manage to capture his personality correctly!! love ya ❤️ ( @spoilt-rice )

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

➼As a student here at the Officer’s Academy, you’ve seen your fair share of romance between your fellow classmates. Many of the girls and boys at the Monastery either have crushes or are in a relationship with another, and who can blame them? You’re all still kids in a way!

➼Dimitri and Claude were often considered the most popular boys in school when it came to girls. The female students often find themselves head over heels for a kind, polite gentleman that is Dimitri or a dashing, charming tease that is Claude. Unfortunately, you were no exception.

➼While you were close friends with both of them, you often found yourself daydreaming about the two royals. Some days your head was filled with fantasies about Dimitri sharing a kiss with you, and other days you found your thoughts preoccupied with the idea of stargazing with Claude. But that would never happen, right?

➼You always thought of yourself as someone who didn’t really stick out to others. Sure, Sylvain would pull his occasional antics with you, but otherwise you had never known anyone to fall for you. You have your fair share of crushes, but keep them at the back of your mind to focus on school. (Well, you try to at least...)

➼Well, have I got some news for you.

➼The Prince of Faerghus and soon to be Heir to the Leceister Alliance have taken a liking to you. Really taken a liking to you. In fact, both of them can barely look at you without feeling their heart beat faster. Maybe on Dimitri’s part even turn bright red!

➼Both of their feelings for you haven’t gone unnoticed by each other. Claude catches the blonde gazing at you with such love in his eyes that it almost makes him sick, but how can he feel that way if he would do the same? Try as he might to hide his feelings under his easy going attitude, he’s sure Dimitri’s caught him trying to woo you with sweet words and a wink or two.

➼And yes, the blue lions leader has noticed that archer making advances on you. While deep down he can feel jealousy rearing it’s ugly head, he’s not prepared to simply give you up. He will fight tooth and nail to win you over first!

➼And so let the rivalry begin!

➼Their fight for your affection will start off relatively harmless at first. Maybe Claude will steal you away for the whole day and treat you to a meal, or Dimitri will volunteer to help with schoolwork just so he can spend some time with you. They do their best to keep you away from the other while also avoiding confrontation or a fight.

➼It’s only after Claude sees you being walked to class by his enemy that he has a change of heart. You’re both beaming, and he thinks he spies a bit of red on your cheeks. For a split second, as you both walk past, he catches Dimitri’s eye. The confident, almost smug aura he gives off makes Claude grit his teeth out of frustration. So that’s how the prince wants to play, eh?

➼He hatches up a scheme right away. Claude has already made it clear in the past that he’ll do anything to win, and that’s exactly what he’ll do now.

➼The day Dimitri is on cooking duty, he’ll distract you and slip tons of salt into your food. Once you take a bite, he watches as you slowly realize what you put in your mouth and promptly spit it out immediately. “Who knew Dimitir was such a bad cook huh? How about you and me ditch and go have some candy?”

➼Claude’s scheme to ruin Dimitri in your eyes go mostly unnoticed until he catches him in the act. He finds the boy tampering with the tea he had set out for the both of you mere minutes ago, and loses it. He’ll shove the archer out and quickly throw away everything, afraid he touched anything else. He’s so angry he can barely contain himself, but picking fights at the officers academy would do him no good.

➼Although, the incident gets him thinking. Hadn’t you been a bit more distant than usual? And he had noticed you seem to skip out on dinner everytime it was his turn on kitchen duty... Not to mention Claude was always glued to your side...!

➼Dimitri puts two and two together quite quickly. He runs to his room, unable to stop himself from angrily slamming his fist into the wall. That scheming bastard! He was fighting this war unfairly!

➼It doesn’t take long for him to have an idea of his own. He manages to find you two in the entrance hall, both of you leaned against a pillar while Claude explains something involving the recent homework. He smiles sinisterly, marching up and placing him in between you two. “Ah, S/O! Are you having trouble with your homework? Allow me to help, Claude here isn’t exactly the brightest student when it comes to tactics.”

➼The archer starts to protest, but you interject quickly. “Oh! How sweet of you Dimtri! And I haven’t spent much time with you recently, so I’d love for you to help!” And then suddenly you’re gone with a wave and the poor leader of the Golden Deer is alone.

➼The antics between these two go on frequently. They’re constantly trying to one up each other in terms of tricks. Dimitri will mostly bad mouth Claude, such as saying he’s inadequate to train with or doesn’t know the first thing about brewing tea before demonstrating his own skills in the subject. Claude will stick to sabotaging Dimitri’s plans, switching out gifts with trash or putting hot spices all over pastries that be planned on serving to you.

➼You stay mostly oblivious to their fued, but don’t fail to notice the hatred in their eyes when they see each other. You simply dismiss it as a house leader thing, but can’t help but worry. Do your two best friends (and crushes) dislike each other? They both seem to be spending so much time with you recently, but the other is never present, so...

➼One morning you finally get to see their fighting on full display. As you’re getting dressed, Dimitri knocks on your door and asks if you’d like to walk to class together. You’re about to agree to join him, but Claude’s voice quickly interrupts, dismissing the princes offer and saying theat he’ll walk with you to class.

➼You don’t get a chance to reply to either of them before they start shouting! You rush to get dressed and peek out to see what the commotion is about. They both look as if they’re about to get into a full on brawl, Dimitri’s face twisted into that of such a glare that you can’t help but cower in fear. Claude is no better, his smile looking dark and sinister instead of welcoming, making you want to run and hide.

➼They’re spitting insults at each other, occasionally throwing in why they’re ‘better for you’. You aren’t exactly sure what they mean, but your face flushed anyway.

➼All you can do is watch. You try to split them up verbally but they can’t seem to hear you, and you really don’t want to get in between them if they start to throw punches. All you can do is wait in your room and cover your face as it starts to burn. Hopefully nobody sees this...

➼Thankfully, your savior comes in the form of Edelgard. She storms up to the two of them and grabs them by the ears, obviously fed up with their silly arguing. “You two need to leave poor S/O alone. She obviously doesn’t appreciate you standing here and yelling like two girl crazy idiots! Now come on, we’re all going to be late to class because of the both of you!”

➼Did she just say ‘girl crazy idiots?!’ They were fighting over you?!

➼You peek out of your room with a red face and watch as she drags away the two boys you’ve been crushing on for a good while. You can’t help but smile, waving shyly when they turn their attention back to you.

➼They both wave back with red tinted cheeks and dreamy smiles before glaring at each other briefly and then going straight back to waving. You giggle quietly, but sigh and then slam your forehead into your door. How in all of Fodlan would you be able to pick just one of them?!

Beauty and the... [Pt. 4]

Beauty and the…

Pairing: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd x Reader, Sylvain Jose Gautier x Reader, Felix Hugo Fraldarius x Reader

Part: (4/?) [First] [Previous] [Next]

Genre: Romance, Drama

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

P.o.V.: 2nd

Word Count: 1,037 Words

Warnings: None

Further Notes: Sorry for the long wait, lovelies, I’ll be getting back to requests as soon as I post this! I hope you enjoy~

—

“Argh, my shoulders are killing me,” you complain. “I’ll have to ask Mercedes to help me out for a bit…”

“I can imagine,” Ingrid frowns. “Claude’s a hard teacher?”

“It’s not that he’s a hard teacher, it’s really on me. My stance was wrong this whole time,” you throw your hands up, “who knew, huh? No wonder I was a horrible shot. I’m too used to using a sword, I guess.”

When Claude first approached you, offering to help train you to use a bow, you were actually skeptical at first, mainly because he didn’t have anything to gain out of helping you. But he was actually an earnest teacher. Yes, you mainly focused on stance, but its the fundamentals that help you get better, a mastery of those leads to a mastery of other more advanced skills, still it was rather embarrassing that you had so many mistakes. Maybe you were best suited for a sword, you’d have to talk to the Professor later.

“Speaking of,” Felix chimes in. “I want another round.”

“Felix, as much as I’d love to say yes, my shoulders can barely hold the weight of my head right now. Claude made me hold my bow up with a perfect stance for so long that…” your words drift off while you shudder slightly.

“Oh, how could I forget!” Sylvain slaps the table lightly.

“What?”

“How was Dimitri?” Sylvain laughs. Dimitri sinks in his chair. “You broke the bow.”

“I broke the bow.”

“We can go again tomorrow,” you console. “Don’t look so down, Dima, it’s just a bow. Maybe I can convince the prof to let you handle a silver one so you have less of a chance of breaking it.”

“Let’s hope,” Dimitri nods.

“You honestly surprised us back in class, your highness,” Ingrid chimes. “We never really thought that you would show interest in using bows.”

“Neither did I really, then I thought about it more and realized at least a basic proficiency would be helpful,” Dimitri reasons.

“Huh? Where is it?” Sylvain suddenly speaks up. He looks around the table and under before patting himself down.

“What now?” Felix groans.

“It’s gotta be in the classroom,” Sylvain snaps his fingers. He grabs your hand. “Sugar, you’re coming with me.”

“What? But I haven’t even started eating yet!” You whine.

“I’ll buy you something later!” He shouts.

“But… I’m so hungry…”

“You’re like a magnet for lost things,” Sylvain dismisses. He pulls you up and drags you out of the dining hall. “Come on, sugar, this is really important for me.”

“Ingrid! Help!”

“Just let them be,” Felix pinches his temples.

“What did Sylvain lose that has him dragging (Name) into it,” Ingrid ponders.

“Sugar…?” Dimitri wonders. “When did he start calling (Name) that again?”

“It’s a long story, your highness,” Ingrid says.

“One that’s been told too often already,” Felix huffs, staring at the door.

~

“Aha! Here it is!” Sylvain holds a crumpled letter high. You sigh and look at it.

“A love letter.”

“Yup, written by one of the most beautiful ladies I’ve ever seen,” Sylvain says dreamily. He bumps his head on the desk on his way up. “Ow…”

“What a klutz,” you laugh. “Okay, can you let go of my hand now?”

“What? You’re the one holding onto mine,” Sylvain looks down at you with confusion.

“No, no, Syl, I’ve been trying to let go for the past ten minutes.”

“Lying isn’t a good look on you, sugar,” Sylvain continues. You try to yank his hand out of your grasp.

“Sylvain, I’m not kidding, let go!”

“I’m trying!” He shouts. After a few seconds of the two of you trying to pull away, a horrible thought dawns on you.

“Syl, this really isn’t funny,” you panic.

“I’m not laughing,” he shakes his head. You look at your conjoined hands.

“Oh gods, are our hands stuck together?!” You try to pry your fingers off of his hand, but to no avail. “We need to go see Manuela.”

“Yeah, yeah, we do,” Sylvain nods. You stick your head out of the classroom first to see if anyone was walking by.

“Okay, we have to be really careful about this,” you instruct.

“What? Why?”

“Because, Syl, I’m really not in the mood for being attacked by one of your many admirers,” you hiss. “Okay now!” The two of you made a mad dash for the infirmary, just narrowly avoiding the glance of two certain tea fanatics.

~

“And that’s what happened,” you conclude. Manuela hums and looks at your conjoined hands.

‘Claude you genius!!! Oh I am sure to win the bet now!’ She cheers in her mind. “Oh that’s just terrible. Who would play such a prank?” She tries her best to sound concerned.

“I’m guessing it was one of the girls crazy for Sylvain,” you shoot him a side glance. “One of them probably tried to use a charm or something that would make their hands stick together, and now here we are.”

“Of course it’s my fault, it’s always my fault!” Sylvain throws his hands in the air, taking yours with it.

“Of course it’s always your fault! You’re the oldest so you should have the most responsibility!” You argue. “And I didn’t go and get some curse on my hand!”

“Aw man, this is getting nowhere,” Sylvain grumbles. “Well, what’s the prognosis, Professor Manuela?”

“I’ve heard of these binding charms before, usually they wear off by the next day, if I am correct,” Manuela says.

“We have to wait a full day until we’re separated again?” You jaw drops. Sylvain runs a hand along his face.

“That’s no good, I had a date tonight,” he says.

“This is a nightmare,” You bury your head in your free hand. “There really isn’t anything we can do, professor?”

“I’m afraid not,” Manuela frowns. “Now if that’s all, you can go now.”

“Thanks anyways,” you say sadly. You and Sylvain drag yourselves out of the infirmary. “Sorry for ruining your date, Syl.”

“Don’t worry about it, sorry for getting you caught up in whatever mess this is.” He holds your stuck hands up. “Okay, one day, one day shouldn’t be bad.”

“Goddess give me patience,” you plead.

Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - That Dark Sinking Feeling

The Set-Up:

Sonic, narrating: “Huh… the last time I was in a swamp, that was when we fought Metal Sonic…”

Sly, narrating: “Hoo-boy. Mz. Ruby… a dangerous crocodile made even more threatening with her powers of dark magic and voodoo. She grew up being feared from others because she was a crocodile and she’s threatening now because of her mystical powers. She’s no stranger to using them to steal money, and even more worrisome when she raises the dead. We were able to lock her away in our world by taking advantage of her magic, but I wonder if we could do it again.”

Sonic, narrating: “It seems she has found herself a home in Lost Jungle and put her magic touch on it. I hope we can stop her before the swamp overcomes us…”

-----

Zone Layout: Mz. Ruby has transformed Lost Jungle into her own personal home. Other than just a heavy presence of ghosts and other haunted things, AND the crocodile, which has been voodoo-ized to an even scarier beast, she’s also placed voodoo dolls around that if encountered, will bring bad luck to you (AKA activate more traps on a path.). Don’t wait around in the swamp water too long, or you’ll be sucked in. Oh, yeah, and watch for the black and green frogs to grow and rot the vegetation as well.

Enemies:

Robotic Demon Turtles: Robotic rebuilds of the original Demonic Turtles. Now the detachable fire head boomerangs around more, and a bit faster, and doesn’t cower when you get close. (Yet they are still pretty weak.) Carries 21-23 coins and has a 10% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Swamp Monster Robots: Robot copies of Mz. Ruby’s swamp creatures. They can come in a few number of heads and/or fists, but like the originals, just keep whacking at them until they split, and then break away. Carries/drops 25-27 coins and has a 25% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Mojo Ratbots: Eggman’s robotic recreations of Mz. Ruby’s water rats. Their light now extends a little farther, and they can also throw balls of energy to zap you with along with their regular voodoo attack. Carries/drops 25-30 coins and has a 50% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Voodoo Practitioner Pawn: A dangerous pawn in dark purple robes that carry around voodoo dolls. They can send out a ball of energy that if touched, will turn you into the animal you are for 10 seconds, which can let other badniks attack you. Otherwise, they’ll just throw pins at you as a last, close combat resort. Drops 25 rings when smashed.

Crazy Egg Hammers: These Egg Hammers just keep spinning around their hammers and spin around like a top, going faster and slower off and on. Perhaps they angered Mz. Ruby, so now they must stay like this? In any case, they have a bit more defense, so it’s going to take a bit longer to take them down, while still avoiding the hammer. Drops 27 rings when smashed.

De-bot: Scary looking demon badniks that are as strong as they look. They use their muscular arms to deflect attack. Only strong character can break through them, and even then, it’s going to be tough. Drops 29 rings when smashed.

Treasures:

From Guards:

Small Ball of Magic: Worth 120 coins and 60 rings.

Medium Ball of Magic: Worth 140 coins and 70 rings.

Large Ball of Magic: Worth 160 coins and 80 rings.

From Pedestals:

Golden Fiddle: Placed on one of the islands in Act 1, and guards will have to be fought if you grab it. Worth 2450 coins and 1225 rings.

Diamond Crystal Ball: Hiding in the brush in Act 2. Worth 2550 coins and 1275 rings.

Mz. Ruby Voodoo Doll: Found among one of the ledges in Act 3. Worth 2650 coins and 1325 rings.

The coins have a voodoo doll of Sly design on them.

-----

Haunted Jungle Zone Act 1: Murray and Vector take to the swampy floor, braving the water and large islands floating to find Mz. Ruby. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of guards and badniks in your way, so you’ll have to fight through them first.The act ends when they find a way to the upper levels, which look quite familiar…

*At the start*

Bentley, over the binocucom: “I hate swamps… so dirty!”

Murray: “Eh, I don’t mind it.”

Vector: “It’s probably our nature to be in swamps like this.”

Sly, over the binocucom: “Just watch out, guys. I’m sure Mz. Ruby has sent out forces of the undead to come after us.”

Vector: “Yeah, we’ll keep an eye out.”

Murray: “These monsters are no match for the strength of ‘The Murray!’ Hell cannot even hope to contain me!”

---

Haunted Jungle Zone Act 2: Tails and Dimitri make their way through the second section, which looks quite a lot like Lost Jungle from Sonic Heroes. It is, so just make your way through the familiar sections as best as you can to make it that much closer to the elusive Mz. Ruby. (At least Dimitri can swim in the water if you happen to fall in it, so you just need to find a spring to get back up.) The act ends before reaching a familiar annoying section…

*At the start.*

Tails: “Hmm… the jungle sure has overgrown itself once Eggman left it so many years ago.”

Dimitri: “Looks like nature has taken over it, bro! Mother nature has kicked butt of technology!”

Tails: “I hope we can still make it through to find Mz. Ruby…”

---

Haunted Jungle Zone Act 3: Sly and Amy find themselves entering the crocodile’s lair, which has changed with having overgrowth to climb on everywhere. Unfortunately, Mz. Ruby knows you are here and is siccing the croc-beast on you. All you can do is keep moving and dodging the beast. The act ends when they end up in a large skull mouth which closes behind them.

*At the start.*

Sly: “Sheesh, it’s getting real tight and overgrown here.”

Amy: “At least our trip will be a bit easier than just jumping across vines.”

*A bit later.*

Amy: “That large skull wasn’t there the last time.”

Sly: “It must be where Mz. Ruby is.”

Mz. Ruby’s voice: “You’d be right there, Sly Cooper! But I’m not going to let you just walk all willy-nilly in here. Croc-beast! Lunch time!”

*The beast attacks and misses them.*

Sly: “Whoa!”

Amy: “The croc! It looks even scarier now!”

Sly: “Thanks to Mz. Ruby’s magic. If it’s as dangerous as her past beast, we better move!”

*Later, after another near miss.*

Sly: “Ah! Jeez, this croc is just as persistent as her ‘Beast’ pet back in Haiti.”

Amy: “It sounds quite scary from what your friends tell me.”

Sly: “Looking like a giant voodoo eel… thing? Yeah. Barely got away from it to get a key to Mz. Ruby’s lair. Least that one didn’t seem to take sides since Mz. Ruby feared that one.”

*Taunts of Mz. Ruby*

Mz. Ruby: “Run, run, as fast as you can, Cooper! Unless you really want to become lunch!”

Mz. Ruby: “You shouldn’t anger a voodoo priestess, Sly and Amy! Don’t you know that’s bad luck?!”

Mz. Ruby: “Maybe I’ll turn you into zombies to do all my bidding… nah, then you’re still around… Hmmm… I know! I’ll just burn you to ashes!”

---

Haunted Jungle Zone Act 4 (BOSS): Mz. Ruby greets Sly and Amy, and taunts them as usual. After a small chase, she forces us to play her deadly game of ‘Dodge Voodoo’.

Mz. Ruby: “You’re stuck with me now, you fools! You guys are doomed!”

Sly: “More like you’re stuck with us.”

Amy: “Yeah! I’m also a magic user, and you pissed off the wrong lady.”

Mz. Ruby: “Like I’m so scared… see if you can even keep up with me first.”

Boss: Mz. Ruby

Similar to when she was fought in Sly 1, the player must dodge her voodoo magic to the beat of her music. Then, once close to her, attack her as she tries to bite back with her mouth. This repeats until she is defeated.

*At the start.*

Mz. Ruby: “Well, I see both are you are still as agile as ever.”

Amy: “Stop running and fight like you should.”

Mz. Ruby: “Sorry… I just like to play with my food!”

Sly: “Perhaps we shall dance again?”

Mz. Ruby: “Yes… another voodoo dance sounds perfect, Sly Cooper. But this time, I ain't letting you win!”

*The Dance begins*

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “Cause you’re in my world now, not yours… cause I got friends on the other side.” ♫

Voodoo Head 1: ♪ “She’s got friends on the other side.” ♫

Mz. Ruby, jokingly: “Hey! Who told you heads to speak! This is my song! You’re gonna ‘throw’ them out of rhythm, heh he…”

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “ *Ahem* See if you can dodge my voodoo, be careful putting your minds at ease. Cause if you relax it will allow me to enable you to anything I please. I can read your future, and even change it round some, too. I’ll look deep into your heart and soul- ♫ You do have a soul don’t you Sly? HAH! ♪ -Make your wildest dreams come true. I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I aint even tried! And I got friends on the other side.” ♫

Multiple Voodoo Heads: “She’s got friends on the other side.”

*Break to attack Mz. Ruby, then the next part. (You can choose how difficult the path to her will be, with whatever card path you choose.)*

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “The cards, the cards, the cards will tell... the past the present and the future as well. The cards, the cards, just take three… take a little trip into your future with me.”

Mz. Ruby: “Now you, Sly, are from across the sea… you’ve come from lines of thieving royalty.- ♫ Of course, I got my voodoo from my mother’s side myself. ♪ -Now I won’t lie, you’re present is doing swell… but beware Sly, not everything’s well.- ♫ You think I’m lying, but heed me Sly. Eggman is planning something behind the scenes, and even my spirits have prevented from looking. Our world is doomed, Sly, along with many more. Even I don’t know how far Eggman will go. ♪ -Despair, despair! Despair is all I can see! The future’s looking bleak… I think there’s a hero we need…” ♫

*Another attack on Mz. Ruby, then the last phase of dodging.*

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “On you, Ms. Amy, I’ll give you what you already know. You chase Sonic, even though he’s given you many ‘no’s. You’re at least a feisty, fiery little lady, who won’t give on your goal; you want to get married to him, but you’re worried he’ll say ‘no way’... But in the future, the you I see, is exactly how you want to be.- ♫

I can’t spoil it all now, can I? Heh he. Now that I told you the future... ♪ -Are you ready?!”

Voodoo Heads: “Are you ready?!”

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “Are you ready?! … Can you dig that Voodoo?!” ♫

Voodoo Heads: “Can you dig that Voodoo?!”

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “Can you dig that Hoodoo?!” ♫

Voodoo Heads: “Can you dig that Hoodoo?!”

Mz. Ruby: ♪ “Can you dig that Voodoo Hoodoo that I do?! Can you feel it?! The end, the end, the end is coming! I hope you’re satisfied defeating me, but things are only going to go downhill later, and not because of me! So say the spirits from the other side!”

Voodoo Heads: “You got your future told! But how much will you be owed?!”

*Once defeated.*

Mz. Ruby: “NO! Don’t send me back to INTERPOL! I’m going to die!!! NOOOO!!!”

-----

The Getaway:

Sonic, narrating: “We had to work hard to subdue her enough to send Mz. Ruby back to INTERPOL, thankfully, Carmelita’s shock pistol helped with that. But something worried us.”

Sly: “Mz. Ruby… she didn’t really want to go back to our world there, did she?”

Amy: “Being a fellow tarot card user… I’m not willing to throw away what she was saying. I can’t confirm what she was saying, I’m not strong enough, but my gut says we should take her warning seriously.”

Sly: “But how do we stop the ‘end of the world’ as she says?”

Amy: “I don’t know… we’ll just have to extremely careful about watching what happens in the future.”

Sly: “Yeah…”

Next Time: Ugh… an asshole to finish off the group. At least we get the familiar landscape of Dragon Road, Chun-nan.

@the-lunar-warrior​ this is your secret santa present!! i really hope you like it :3 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137072

@paranaturalsecretsanta

the fic is also under the read more in case anyone wants to read it on tumblr, sorry tumblr mobile users 

The snow fell the night before New Years’ Eve, blanketing the bushes and trees with thick, unbreachable oceans of snow. Max stood at his window to watch it fall. His father tilted his head forward to rest it on Max's head and said, “Guess you and the club aren’t going out tomorrow, huh, kiddo?”

“Guess not,” Max said, and after his father left, he watched the snow drape Mayview in layers and layers of soft, glittering quiet. At the bottom of the valley, someone was having a party, and the lights started to blink away as the moon leapt higher in the sky.

He crept into Zoey’s room before midnight. Yawning, she sat up in bed as he perched next to her, and they watched the clock tick toward 12:00. “Last day of the year,” he whispered when it did, and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. Laughing under her breath, she squirmed, but when Max stood to leave, she smiled up at him, eyes hazy and happy.

His father was fast asleep when he peeked into the master bedroom, tucked in on the left side of the bed, clutching his pillow tightly. Max slipped in beside him and stared up at the ceiling as his father snored and settled a little. The snow dampened everything outside. Even in Baxborough, where cars would run and dogs would bark for all hours of the night, the snow silenced the world, just a tad.

Here in Mayview, where it was usually quiet, Max felt like he was trapped in a pale imitation of a real world.

He tiptoed back into his own room at closer to one in the morning. PJ and Lefty were on the ground, reading, and just watched when Max climbed back between his own blankets. “Goodnight,” PJ said when Max was nearly asleep, and Max grunted a reply.

---

The next morning, bright and early, the Puckett household was surprised with a gang of preteens on their front stoop. Max, barefooted and still rubbing sleep from his eyes, threw open his window and was bombarded with shouts.

“Where were you?” =broke through Max’s fuzzy thoughts, and he tried to groan a response before just giving up, throwing on a couple more layers, and tumbling out his window onto a shocked Isaac O’Connor. Breath freezing in the air, Ed whooped, and Isabel threw back her head to laugh.

“What the hell?” Isaac asked, probably a little bruised, and Max unlocked his door to grab shoes and a coat.

“Dad, Zoey, I’m going out!” he shouted up the stairs, and someone yelled something back at him, and Max slammed the door shut, and pulled his boots on, and then they headed to the high school’s field.

“This started, like, ten years ago,” Isabel told him, “when two kids got into a huge fight and everyone in the school took sides and some of them met here to have a snowball fight. Nobody actually knows who started now, or why, but now you do it through middle school and end it when you get to high school.”

“Some kids tried to start one with the high school vs the Mayview Academy kids, but it didn’t really work out,” Ed chimed in, and Isaac grimaced.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think the principal banned all projectiles made of precipitation, so like, it’s technically illegal for it to hail there?”

“Anyway,” Isabel said, catching Isaac on the shoulder and shoving him a little, “you can form teams and alliances and stuff, and usually you stick with your grade or club.”

Ed’s brow darkened, and he muttered, “The football team is always ruthless.”

They reached the top of the hill a few minutes later. While Max was expecting to see maybe thirty other kids there, the entirety of Mayview Middle School was on the school’s front field, along with a few kids that might not even go there. Clustered in one corner of the track field were the sixth graders, quiet and probably a little afraid, and the eighth graders had control of most of the baseball diamonds, so the clubs and the seventh graders had gotten the parking lot and the open grassy area, both of which were now ankle deep in snow.

Max could honestly say he didn’t expect to see Suzy yelling at the president of the film club at the top of her lungs, but he could believe it.

“You can’t just say you want to join a team the day of!” Suzy yelled, probably scaring some birds off of nearby trees. “WE HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR MONTHS!”

“Hey, Suzy,” Max called across the parking lot, just to see the response. “Can the Activity Club join your team?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Suzy called back without looking, and then screamed, “THEY AT LEAST WILL HAVE PEOPLE TO HELP US!”

Unimpressed, Isaac stared at Max for a hard second, and sighed. “Well,” he said, tipping his head back to look at the great deity in the sky that he sometimes talked to. “I guess we’re teamed up with the Newspaper for the annual snowball fight.”

Ed grabbed his arm and pulled him to the rest of the team -- Lisa, Violet, Cody and Jeff, a few rebellious eighth graders, and, surprisingly, Johnny Jhonny and his friends. Isabel and Max were left to watch the proceedings, as the untidy mess of kids arranged themselves into something resembling an army. Lisa, unsurprisingly, rose to the top, despite Suzy and Johnny’s attempts to usurp her, and Cody Jones made an excellent second in command.

Max sighed. “Guess we’d better head over there,” he said.

“Yeah,” Isabel replied. “It’ll be starting at ten.”

Neither made any move towards the disaster, not until Ed and Jeff bodily dragged them to their hideout. Someone, Max had no clue who, had brought a little pop up tent, and there was a table with full on war maps taped to it.

“Wow,” Max said, stunned, and Isabel nodded sagely.

The world outside the tent was cold and damp, but inside, there were fold up chairs and thermoses of hot chocolate. When others were sent outside to make ammunition, Max was kept inside for a little to focus on strategy, and it was there that he got to really appreciate the crazy that was Mayview. For maybe a half hour, they fattened him up with hot chocolate and war plans and those little figures to move around the map, and then, like the cold, conniving leaders they were, Lisa and Cody shoved him out the tent flaps with smiles and a promise that, if they won, he’d have his share of the glory.

Outside, the wind whistled in his ear, and the snow seeped past the tops of his boots, but he had RJ whispering jokes in his other ear, and Suzy lending his a pair of leg warmers, so he supposed it wasn’t all that bad.

They fought valiantly, holding up their barricades and launching attacks at the other armies, but in the end, their defenses were not enough. A bold group of sixth graders attacked their flanks as the football team launched their forces to the front, and one by one the soldiers fell. First it was Dimitri, snow melting across his shoulders as he fell asleep, and then it was one of the eighth graders. Max hadn’t met them before, but as they threw one last snowball at a football player, a single tear froze to his eyelash. Isaac was bawling.

The band kids won, although Isabel complained playing bad music to wear down the other teams was bad form and shouldn’t be allowed in the future. The student council collectively stroked their chins and murmured to each other, and Isaac offered Max a hand up.

“So how was it?” Max asked as they walked home. “That was your last one, right?”

“Yeah,” Isaac said, looking up to the pale gray sky. “It was good, but I don’t think any year would measure up to your first one.”

“Really,” Max said, not as a question.

“Yup.”

Isaac deposited Max at his door, the both of them cold and damp and red with chill, and smiled at him in the fading light. “Y’know,” he said, conversationally, “Spender once said he and Mina Zarei were in the first snowball fight here.”

“Really?” Max asks. This time it is definitely, for sure a question, and, again, Isaac smiled at him.

“Yeah.” He leaned himself against the doorway for a few seconds, watching Max unlock his door, then picked himself up and started to turn away. “Actually,” he said, “Spender told me that he and Mina Zarei were the ones who started it.”

This time, Max smiled, at Isaac’s damp, fading back in the afternoon sun, and headed to his kitchen, where Zoey wass perched on a stool and his father was taking a tray out of the oven. His father heard him coming and straightened, smiling. “Hey, kiddo,” he said. “I made jalapeno poppers!”

Max smiled, and nudged Zoey away from his stool, and stole a popper before his father even put them on a plate. The clock struck 2:00 in the afternoon, and it was the last day of the year. The snow was melting.

"Your training begins tomorrow," Lila does not look away from the road as she addresses me. I do not look away from the rising sun. It is warm against my face, but it does not take away the frost within me. Over the past two days, it has found it's way into every single blood vessel, every single cell, and it has settled itself in to stay. I am nothing but icy rage. They trapped me, and they kept me. This car is nothing but a fucking cage. "Fuck your training." "You have to train, Georgia," Lila sighs, flicking the indicator on as she changes lanes. I do not know why she bothers; the highway is empty. "I don't have to do anything, Lila," I spit, my eyes glaring at the sky. I am sick to death of her sighing at me. I do not know her, and I do not care to. I do not want to know anyone on this damned 'team'. They're all cruel. For two days, they ignored my voice. I don't know how they managed to block it out, but they did. My cries went unanswered. My curses and screams and sobs and hissed threats were met with silence. They did not answer the door when I threw chairs against it, when I tried to blow it up, when I shattered the glass windows. After they left, it took me only two minutes to realise that the chains around my limbs were not just metal. It took me two minutes to realise that they had been dipped in something else; something that didn't let me use my gift to manipulate them. I used my mind to destroy everything in that room for two days straight, and no one came in. I had not slept for those 48 hours. I had not stopped screaming and sobbing and thrashing. They kept my tied up like an animal, and somehow, I became one. For those days, my blood was full of panic and terror and shock. They had gifts, and they were dangerous. They had gifts, and they expected me to use my own alongside them. They had gifts, and they somehow knew that I did, too.   We all knew I was trapped. We all knew there was no way I could escape my fate. I was going to be forced onto their team. The army. I couldn't live with that. I lied before; they came in once. I had spotted the cameras even before they left me alone, and I knew that on the other side of those cameras, at least one of them was watching. So I shattered the windows with a scream, not even flinching as the glass whipped across my face and sliced my cheeks. I felt the small crystals dancing through my hair, settling into my braid. I felt nothing within me. I was empty. I was afraid. But not of death. The glass shard was a shining one, and I stared at it as I floated it through the air to my core. I spun it so that the sharp end rested upon the skin over my heart. It drew blood. I took one moment to take a breath before I ended my life, and in that moment, a boy with piercing green eyes and messy brown hair hair zapped into the room, appearing out of thin air. I could only stare in shock as he moved; faster than I have ever seen anyone move. His hand wrapped around the glass shard and threw it at the wall, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces. The glass had cut his skin, and blood ran down his hand as it came to rest at his side. His chest heaved as he glared at me, his eyes raging. Mixed in with the rage, though, was fear. Pure, burning, fear. "Are you fucking crazy?" Liam snarled in my face, his voice trembling, "Do not do that, do you hear me? Do not ever think about that shit!" His breath fluttered the loose strands of hair on my cheeks as he stared, "That's a cowards way out. Killing you does not save you!" "Fuck you!" I spat, "I will not join this fucking team!" "You will!" He spat back, "You will join this team because you are not a coward. I know you aren't." "No," my voice trembled with barely restrained rage, "You don't. You don't know me, Liam. You have no fucking idea who I am, and I have no fucking idea who you are." He flinched. I still don't know why he flinched. Why did he flinch? "Well then," he smiled, "I look forward to getting to know you, Georgia." He disappeared before I could throw him against the wall. Why did he flinch? "If Liam says you train, you train." I finally glance away from the window to look at Paige, but she does not turn my way. She stares out her window, ignoring me. I study the beanie resting upon her head and the sunglasses on her eyes. There is barely any sunlight, and it is Spring. Why is she hiding her face from me? Why is she so familiar? Liam does not say a word from the passenger seat in front of me, but I stare at the back of his head, anyway. He has not said a word since I tried to end it all. For some strange reason, after he said those words, I didn't try again. "You're training," Lila confirms. I wish I had tried to end it again. Eventually I would have succeeded before he interrupted. --------------------------------------------------- "I'm not training." Lila sips quietly from her bottle, resting her head against the cool stone beneath her. The stream sings nearby as it runs across the rocks. Paige sits at it's edge, her back to me. Somehow, I have forgotten what she looks like. Dimitri sits beside Lila, nibbling at biscuits. I glance between the three teenagers; they do not look like soldiers. "That's because we're not," Dimitri answers my thoughts, and I scowl. "Get out of my head, asshole." He shrugs, shaking as he nibbles, "I can't help it. You basically project every single one of your thoughts into my mind. Your mind is so open and unprotected I can't help but hear your thoughts." Lila's water bottle is swiped from her hands and the water somehow falls out to slap Dimitri in the face. He yelps as the cool water hits him, jumping up. Lila glares at me. She knows I manipulated that. "Well," I snarl at Dimitri, "Maybe try harder to ignore them." He blinks at me, water dripping. Liam appears at the treeline of the clearing, and as he takes in the scene before him, I see his eyes darken even from this distance. He strides towards us with purpose, determination. This damned prick strides everywhere. "What did you do?" He demands; his first words to me in two days. "What do you think she did?" Lila sighs, snatching her water bottle back from the stone. Liam's eyes are storms as they frown at me. I fight the urge to swipe his legs out from under him. I am about to do so when he spins away, kneeling to gather some food from the picnic basket. "Bloody Telekinesis," he mutters, pulling out a sandwich. "You don't want it? Feel free to let it go. I'll be sad to split, but I understand." Dimitri watches me for a few moments, and I catch something close to affection in his eyes. Amusement? He smiles softly, his blue eyes twinkling. I do not smile back, but I do not snarl. Something about Dimitri makes it impossible to hate him. Liam, on the other hand- "I'm training you," he stands, facing me with his ever present glare, "Let's go." ' "I said I'm not training," I glare back, crossing my arms, "You can't make me train." He disappears from his spot and appears behind me in less then a second, his grip strong as it snatches my wrist and clips something on. I yelp as I am tugged backwards, and it takes me a moment to pull my hand from his fingers. I only get it back because he let it go. I stare at the white stone manacle clasped around my wrist. What the hell? Liam stares at me, his face blank. He always tries his best to keep his face awfully blank around me, hiding something. What the hell is he hiding? "Try and swipe Liam off his feet now," Dimitri encourages, "I know you wanted to." Liam frowns deeper, "You wanted to swipe me off my feet?" "Still do." "A bit childish, don't you think?" My mind pulls the string in the air, and he- He doesn't move. I try again to manipulate the energy and force him to the ground, but he only adjusts his stance as he stares at me, unphased. "What did you do to my power?" I demand, panic rising within me. He flicks his eyes to my manacle, nodding down to it, "We don't need your power right now. I'm training you with weapons, not with your own mind." "So you had to rip it away from me?" "I didn't rip it away. I just removed it for now. Besides, we can't trust you not to knock us out and run." "Screw you." His stoic face does not even react. He simply blinks before spinning on his heel and walking off. I know, somehow, that he wants me to follow. Dimitri's breath warms my neck, "We should probably follow him quickly. He doesn't like to be left waiting." I watch Liam disappear into the trees before moving, "He seems like he doesn't like anything," I huff, following only because I know Dimitri will force himself into my brain and manipulate me into walking if I do not do it myself. "Has he always been such a dick?" "No," Dimitri breathes out a soft laugh as he follows me into the trees, "He used to be good cop in situations." "Who was bad cop? Lila?" Dimitri laughs again, surprised as he shakes his head, "No, bad cop was-" His words freeze as he catches himself. He gulps, clenching his jaw before shaking his head. He was not supposed to say so much. "It doesn't matter now," he sighs, "Let's just go catch up to him," his eyes flick to meet my own, "Because he's bad cop now." I frown once before obeying the order. Who was bad cop? The girl in the hallway? Who is she? Where did she go?

unrequited 

Jason V and Summer Camp

*Word Count: 2,167   *Warning: Adult content, blood and gore, Serial Killer is your crush

**I realized there weren’t many stories about my favorite serial killer, so I decided to write one of my own. Hope you guys like it. I’ve been hand-writing this story actually, so typing it up has been an adventure. I know it’s really different from what I usually write...so I hope it’s okay.**

You knew in your heart that coming to Camp Crystal Lake was a bad idea, but of course here you were. The legends and stories were racing through your mind, they should have scared you well enough away, but the small work bus was happily speeding towards your destination. You were on your way to your new summer job, thanks to your friend Alice who signed you up just for the “hot guys” that would be working with you two.

“You want a smoke before we get there babe?” A tall bronze skinned man burst your thought bubble, you thought his name was Dimitri, but you couldn’t be sure. He was one of the real reasons Alice signed the two of you up for this “adventure”.

“Uh thanks but no thanks. Trying to live a decent lifestyle for my age,” you were pretty sure that he called you a prude but you could care less what he thought of you. Sure you smoked the occasional green grass, but you always knew when to behave. He was probably only bothering you because you were obviously different from the other girls on the small bus, in more ways than one. Your hair was about to the middle of your back, pulled into a messy bun, a few of the strands flowing with the breeze through the windows of the bus. A black loose tank top was clinging to your body, with a red plaid long sleeved shirt that had the sleeves pulled up to your elbows. To top it all off a pair of nice fitting blue jeans, wide at the bottom of your black chucks poking out at the bottom of them. All the other girls were wearing as little clothes as possible, and all the makeup they could find in the drugstores. They did realize this trip was all work and no play right? Rolling up to the camp was exactly how you expected it to be, dusty and eerie. Climbing out of the bus with the other volunteers, whose names you hardly remember you see the old couple who hired you. They decided to reopen the camp, but couldn’t spruce things up on their own due to their age. That’s where you and your team come in handy.

The first week went by smoothly, but it was time for the first weekend. From what you read about Jason Voorhees and the history of this camp, it seemed like a party and other adult orientated things caused the mass killings. You decided at the beginning to have your own cabin away from the rest of the group, they all protested of course and wanted you to room with them, but after much convincing they finally let you be.

“Y/N! Pull your head from the clouds and help me decide what to wear! Dimitri asked me to be his company for the party tonight!” Alice was all too eager to please her new beau of course. Regardless she was your friend, and you cared about her the best that you could muster. She finally settled on a skin tight black shorts and a lacy blue tank top, all while she begged you to join the party, but you politely declined. Settling into your chair, you looked up at the full moon. Slipping your ear buds in, you pulled the soft red flannel around you, before pulling out your journal to work on your story. The soft glow of the light behind you from the fire, and the soft tunes playing your ear, your eyelids fluttering closed.

Something warm ran down your cheek, startling you awake. Opening your eyes immediately shot a chill down your spin, a tall hocked masked figure standing above you, his piercing eyes boring into yours. Your hand moving before your brain could process anything else; you touched the warm drop on your cheek. Bringing it up to your eyes, the crimson color sending a new wave of chills through. You silently prayed for your death to be quick, steeling your nerves while gathering the strength to speak.

Slowly standing up from your chair before him, you pull the buds from your ears swallowing thickly before turning to face your death.

“I’m not going to run or beg for my life, I know all about you and what you do. If you’re going to kill me like you did the others, please do it now.” He stood still before you while completely silent, his eyes darting down the music coming from your ear buds. Turning the music down, you see his hand gripping the bloody machete relax just a bit.

“My name is Y/N, and I know you’re Jason. I know what happened to you all those years ago, and I’m sorry. No one deserves to have that happen to them, and I’m sorry people continue to invade your space.” Your voice surprisingly steady as he bowed his head to you. In a swift motion your body was flung over his shoulder, the sharp blade resting against your jean clad thigh. Mind racing you decide it’s best to stay silent and let him do whatever he was going to do. Being carried by various bodies you saw the most revolting things that would make anyone’s stomach churn. One boy whose name you thought was James, had his head sliced in half, brains sliding out of the opening. A tear slipped down your cheek when you saw Alice, pierced against her cabin door. Her soft pink intestines were slowing working their way out of her small body, blood still gushing from the fresh wound. As he carried you past the dock you saw who you thought was Dimitri, it looked like his long shaggy hair hanging over the boat anyway. Panic flooded through you as you noticed that the tree line was growing closer, and the forest scared you during the daytime so it only terrified you at night. Decided to risk more one sided conversation you opened your mouth again,

“Jason where are you taking me? The forest scares me more than you do if I’m completely honest.” Once again your mouth worked before your brain did, as you felt his firm grip get even tighter on your leg. This is it, the moment you’ve been waiting for. He must have carried you out here so no one would ever find your body. Closing your eyes as your mind began to ready itself for death, not even noticing the sound of a lock opening you were abruptly put on your feet. Opening your eyes, looking up at the massive figure you feel warmth behind you, your head slowly swiveling around and allowing your eyes to adjust and scan the area around you. It was a small shabby cabin, with a very worn down bed and a roaring fireplace beside it. A small bloodstained table held a number of different weapons that made you shudder. His massive weight made the bed groan and squeak under him, all while you simply stood there. You should’ve ran, but your legs wouldn’t let you move. He sat there looking up at you, a slight longing in his eyes you simply couldn’t place until it finally hit you. Your jeans were ripped from various branches and the blood left stains up and down them. Your flannel was covered in dirt and leaves while your tank top underneath simply had dirt on it. Finally the flame flickered perfectly and allowed you to see the front of his dirty strained jeans. It finally hit you, he wanted physical affection, and you guess he’s never actually experienced it before.

“Jason I want to help you, but I need you to trust me okay?” He continued to just sit there as he slowly nodded. You should have been running, not getting turned on by a crazy serial killer. Slowly kneeling before him you had to steel your nerves against and try your best to ignore the still warm blood from your “friends” on his clothes. Raising your hand up, you gently black it on his leg feeling his body tense up underneath your touch.

“Don’t worry Jason. This will make you feel a lot better.” Maybe this is why he killed all those horny drugged up teens, because he couldn’t get any satisfaction himself. Sliding your hand up to his hip you let him relax before moving to the crotch of his jeans. A loud sigh escaped him as your fingers gently squeeze, heat steadily growing between your legs. Your other hand slowly sliding down between your own legs as you began to rub both you and him. His grunts only encourage you further, as you stare up at him, before sliding both of your hands to the front of his pants. Slowly slipping the button free, fingers playing with the zipper you wait for his reassurance before your next move. A simple grunt almost answered your question but you had to ask,

“Jason would you allow me the privilege to do this for you? I promise to go slow.” He looked down at you and nodded as you unzipped his pants and his length busting through the fabric. Your fingers slowly wrapping around it you were amazed at the length and weight of it, for a serial killer he really was hung. Your arousal began to pool between your legs, amazed that you were jacking off a serial killer and getting insanely turned on at the same time. Using both of your hands, you swiped off a bit of the precum at the tip, bringing it to your mouth to taste. He was musty but oddly sweet, and you knew you had to have more of it. Your hands slipped away from him just to undo your pants to get a better reach at yourself, what happened next still stuns you to this day. A pair of large strong hands gripped your waist lifting you up in the air as he stood, throwing you down onto the raggedy mattress. His large machete back in his hand he pressed the sharp edge against your jeans, driving you even crazier as it sliced through the fabric. He then dragged the edge over your breast, and down in between them to slice your tank top open before he threw it to the other side of the cabin. His large hands ripping open from the cuts he made along your clothes, your bra breaking under his strong pull, and your panties ripping against your hip as he shredded your jeans. There goes your clothes, but at this moment you could care less all you wanted was him. Finally sitting on you, his length reached above your belly button, never had you had anyone that big but you were extremely ready. Sliding your hand down you guided him to your sweet spot, he grunted feeling your wetness against his cock as he immediately began to push into you. Moaning loudly as you squirmed under him, feeling your body stretch open for him, soaking every inch of his cock. His large hands on your breasts, pinning you down as he began to thrust roughly and quickly into you grunting in unison to your moans, the blood on his clothes dripping onto your flesh the warmth sending the sensations further. You attempted to move, trying to get into another position but he simply wouldn’t allow you,

“Jason if you let me turn over you can do me even better! Please please!” Here you were begging, but not for your life just for more of his cock in you different ways. He quickly stopped and removed his hands, as you managed to roll over your head to the side. His hand gripped your neck squeezing it firmly, the other on your back holding you down as he began to slam and drill into you, bruising your hips with each thrust. A warm sensation flooding through you as you came around him, your walls gripping him even tighter as your sweet cream flowed out around you. He grunted behind you as he came with you, squeezing even tighter as you blacked out from the lack of air and insane amount of pleasure pulsing through your body.

Next thing you woke up to was him sitting beside the small table messing with his weapons, a large shirt draped over you as you looked up at him biting your lip to hide a smile.

“Jason does this mean you’ll keep me around for even just a short while now? Because I could go for round two.” He looks up at you and nods, before looking back to his weapons. Simply falling back onto the mattress you figured this would be a great summer, and a lazy one at that. Everything about him drove you wild, and you supposed it meant you were insane just like him, but at least you would be with someone that made you feel good and not like an outsider.

These kids have history! Drama! This is all very intense. Also, did Violet not see what Jeff was acting like? I cannot remember at what point she went back in the room, was it only after the battle? I think her not having that context is why she's so confused by everyone else's position on Jeff's behaviour. What're your thoughts on all this

Below the read more I go over Violet’s perspective of the Hitball game. What the reasons could be behind Cody not wanting to face Jeff at the current time. And how all of that came together in today’s update. It’s probably a mess. I apologize in advance.

[pg.27]

[pg. 29]

First things first, she really didn’t care at all about the hitball game from the beginning. To her it was (probably) just a dumb thing that she was being forced to do for a grade. Out of all the named characters, she was the least into the competitiveness of it all. Other than maybe Suzy (Suzy didn’t really care about playing so much as she cared about getting juicy gossip for her newspaper).

[pg. 34]

So, it’s “important” to note that between the game starting and this panel here she was just kind of hanging out in the back watching everyone throw balls at each other. Then she decides that she’s bored of standing around, and wants to sit. Where she ends up sitting is also kind of “important” to note as well and you’ll see why.

Between this panel and the next I’ll show you is the whole Ed embarrassing himself by taking a ball for Isabel debacle. Suzy interrogating Max. And then Max getting hit by the Switch Ball. So all of this Violet is either watching happen from the bleachers, or she’s zoning out. Who actually knows how much she was watching during this other than Zack, lol. But for sure, she watched the Ed and Max stuff go down.

[pg 42]

Actually, she had a pretty nice view of it all from where she was sitting. So chances are she probably could have noticed all of it. Now, it’s the page after this that things start to take a surprising turn with Jeff.

[pg 43]

Check out who’s literally about a foot away from where that ball smashed into the bleachers. One can only imagine if she’d decided to sit just a little further down how bad that could have ended for her (and her poor dangling legs!). 

[pg. 44]

She is the only person to take action that isn’t literally just “keep playing hitball to defeat evil Jeff”. The only one who decides that maybe someone should get an adult. No one else even appears to volunteer to go with her. 

After she leaves, a lot happens. I mean. A LOT! Happens. Isabel wants to end the game as fast as she can. Dimitri forming a plan, and involving Johnny. Cody making it his duty to protect Jeff from the other team. The Student Council trying to get Max and Co. to help them take down Jeff. Isabel trying to prevent Jeff from throwing more balls. VP taking action and holding Jeff down. Hijeff calling upon Cody to help him escape her clutches. Dimitri deciding that the Student Council’s plan wasn’t going to work, and coming up with his own plan. Isabel preventing Cody from helping Jeff. The S.C. being overly dramatic for like, no reason. Jeff escaping VP’s clutches just in time for the SC’s ball to smack her in the nose happens at the same time this is going down.

[pg. 54]

After this, a lot MORE goes down. HiJeff throws another fastball, Dimitri sacrifices himself to take the hit. SC gets out. Johnny+Crew, and Max work together to take out Cody, while Isabel has a talk with HiJeff. Cody gets switchball’d to the face. HiJeff kicks a ball into the ceiling and then catches it. Just as Cody is about to switch teams, HiJeff uses that ball he caught to boop it on Cody’s head and get him out immediately.

[pg.65]

It’s an important thing to note, that there’s a high chance that Violet didn’t see this particular exchange go down. And I also think it’s important to quick talk about why this exchange is really important. 

Cody has spent the better part of the game doing what he could to protect his friend from getting out. He purposely made Max, Johnny+Crew, and Dimitri focus their attentions on him. He went out of his way multiple times to try to keep Jeff in the game. Did he really need to? Couldn’t he tell that Jeff was kind of acting dangerously? Well, here’s how I see it.

[pg. 47]

Cody was really into the game. Like. How dramatic and competitive everyone was being? He was really into playing along with it all. And that’s what he was doing. He was just playing, and having fun. I bet like ten whole dollars that he thought it was just everyone getting way too serious about Hitball. And he was all. about. that. Everyone was going after Jeff? Well. It was his sworn duty as his friend to make sure Jeff stayed safe.

[pg. 52]

[pg. 53]

Cody isn’t stupid. Or oblivious. Obviously, he knows that something is up. But he wants to believe that it’s all still everyone just playing around and being dramatic. Everyone still taking Hitball too seriously. Maybe there’s a little bit of doubt forming in his mind, but he knows Jeff and he’s still willing to protect him if he can. This is all just fun gym class dramatics anyway, right?

[pg. 57]

[pg. 64]

Look. Even right before Jeff betrays him, he’s still having fun and playing around like it’s all a game. Because, I think, to him that’s what all of this is. Everyone to him is just taking gym class too seriously, and he’s decided to play along as the protector of the weak and most sought after: Jeff. That’s why when Jeff hits him out, without even giving him a chance to cross over and go back to playing. When Jeff gives that speech about how he hates people like Johnny+Crew. It all falls into place for Cody.

It’s at that moment when he realizes that Jeff is not himself. That no one has been playing or taking gym class too seriously. That he’s been acting kind of foolish.

[pg.69]

Jeff wouldn’t have hit Cody out. And even though Cody knows this much, the betrayl of his friend (who had been protecting the whole game) and the fact that he didn’t realize it wasn’t all just fun and games.. well… It hurt his feelings, and he’s feeling a little salty about it all. I think it’s important to note that, I don’t think Cody is 100% mad at Jeff if he’s mad at Jeff at all. I think it’s more of an anger at himself (For not being able to protect Jeff from whatever has mad him all angry and mad at the world). Anyway…

Back to Violet.

After Cody gets hit out, HiJeff throws a ball that breaks Max’s arm. The kids all throw balls at HiJeff, which pushes Hijack out of him for a short period of time. Isabel almost catches Hijack, but then:

[pg. 82] 

Violet comes back with Coach Oop. Check her out in the second panel there. She’s just as surprised as Coach Oop to see the state of what has become of this game. But look at this.

[pg. 82]

When everyone is pointing their fingers at Jeff, she is the only one blaming Coach for all of this happening. In her mind, if he had been actually paying attention to the game all of this could have been stopped and prevented. And, honestly, she has a point. If he had just woken up sooner, he could have probably ended it before the game went too far. 

Now. It’s safe to say that judging from her reaction upon entering the gym with the Coach that she wasn’t aware of anything that went down between HiJeff throwing that first crazy ball, and coming back to finding Max laying on the ground with a broken arm. If she doesn’t know all the dramatics that went down, then from her POV it would probably seem like this is what happened.

1. Everyone was playing Hitball and having Fun.2. She decided she wanted to sit down.3. Ed, you’re being embarrassing.4. Suzy, what are you doing?5. Oh, nice hit Johnny.6. Oh snap. That was a little crazy. Someone should get Coach. This needs to be stopped, like yesterday.7. -muffled children yelling in the background-8. WHY WON’T HE WAKE UP!!!!9. -more muffled yelling in the background-10. Finally, he’s awake. Look we gotta go stop that!11. Jeff threw another ball really hard, and actually hit Max this time.12. Why is everyone pointing at Jeff? Coach is the one to blame!13. Oh gosh, Jeff looks really upset. There’s no way he was in control of himself. Something must be going on.14. I will be your lawyer!!??? PLEASE DON’T CRY!! I WISH I COULD HAVE DONE MORE SOONER!!15. :( i hope Jeff is okay.16. Why isn’t Cody doing more to help his BFF?

okay, before I like… keep going with that. uhh.. chances are that’s how it all went from her perspective. But, Rosie, you say to me. Rosie. Couldn’t she have seen everything from Coach’s window?

[pg. 30]

Hey, you’re right. She could have, to be honest. But how much she actually saw isn’t known. How much she could have understood just from seeing? Probably isn’t a lot. Even if she saw it all go down, which isn’t entirely likely since she was really focused on getting Coach to step in, there’s no way she would have understood it from Cody or other’s POV. Because to her, all she saw was a kid who got picked on a lot, a kid even she admitted to picking on occasionally, take out his anger by throwing balls really hard. 

[pg. 169]

Because she didn’t witness “Jeff” betray Cody. Because she didn’t witness Cody mess up by not taking it more seriously. Because she didn’t see all of this, she can’t understand why Cody is upset. She can’t understand that Cody isn’t even really mad at Jeff. That he’s embarrassed and upset at himself for not being there to protect his friend when he needed to be. So when she says this to Cody,

[pg. 169]

She isn’t saying it to make him feel guilty. Violet just honestly doesn’t understand why Cody doesn’t seem to want to be there for his friend. She doesn’t know that Cody is probably secretly afraid that he let Jeff down.

[pg. 168]

[pg. 168]

And that’s all I’m good for. 

Cody thinks all he’s good for is keeping Jeff from being bullied too much, in this scenario. Give him an assailant, and he’ll defeat it to keep his friend safe. As he was attempting to do throughout hitball. But, Cody failed in keeping Jeff safe from Johnny+Crew. So now, Cody is mad at himself for not even being able to do “all he’s good for”. Cody also probably thinks Jeff is mad at him for not being there when he needed him to be, so now he’s not being there when Jeff needs him to be. Because he’s embarrassed, angry at himself, and ashamed. 

TLDR; Violet doesn’t know that she’s making Cody feel guilty for not going to see if Jeff is okay, because she did not witness 90% of the Hitball drama. Even if she could see any of it out of the window, she did not and could not understand what was actually happening. Violet may be under the impression that Jeff was using Hitball as an outlet for his anger towards his aggressors. Cody may be under the impression that Jeff was using Hitball as an outlet for his anger towards his aggressors, and Cody himself for not being there to protect him that morning. Either way, they’re both aware to some degree that Jeff was not himself during the game. Cody wants to be able to do something about it. Violet just wants to know that Jeff is okay, and doesn’t understand why Cody doesn’t seem to want to do that too.

Anyway, I probably stopped making sense about 20 minutes ago. This is all mostly just me guessing using context clues. I hope this made some sense, and I have no idea if I even answered your question. But I think about these kids a lot…This is all very important to me.

I reread Shadow Kissed and Blood Promise as part of my reread (the last post on Frostbite is here)...

VA and FB are great, but SK and BP are the highlights of the series for me (not looking so much forward to SP and LS).

Before I get into that... I did reconsider something on Frostbite: I really rather hope that they have Rose manage to convey some information on their location to Adrian when he visits her dream (or even she has a second dream). And, I would like for she or Mason to suggest to Christian and Mia that they drink from their human captors- I can see Christian being totally reluctant, and them reassuring like “we won’t let you kill them and turn, but you need to be able to move”- even if Christian still refuses, I would like for Mia to at least consider it. These are things that are maybe a bit controversial (taking blood from the unwilling is not a Moroi trait), but I feel like the escape could have used just a bit more dark pragmatism. Eddie’s out of it on endorphins and blood loss, meanwhile Mia and Christian have to basically carry him despite being really feeble themselves (especially Christian after his magic use) while Rose and Mason are trying to clear everyone out. They’ve just realized after like four days, hey wow, we should have used magic sooner, I would think they would question some of their other ingrained lessons.

OK, now Shadow Kiss.

I said before a combined season for VA and Frostbite, and I still actually stand by that. But for SK (and BP) I want a full season (honestly 13 would be preferred to 10 but I’ll take what I can get).

I think one realization I had this time that maybe I hadn’t had before was that in chapter 8, when Rose and Christian go to the Feeders, it’s busier than usual- including Brandon Lazar (a member of the Mana)- I remembered well enough that Mason always showed up after a Mana “initiation” but I don’t recall putting together that  it was why Brandon, and Jesse and Ralf, were all there at the time. I also realized: the rumors that everyone was hearing about Rose and Adrian? I don’t think those arose naturally- I feel certain Jesse and Ralf (as participants in Mia’s VA campaign) were compelling people to believe Rose/Adrian were a thing, and Ralf may have passed that tidbit on to Priscilla Voda. Jesse was the first to bring up Rodrian in Christian’s culinary class, Mason (who threatened them into coming clean about the earlier rumors) has just died... it seems to me like a petty vengeance thing. And if I’m right, that’s the type of plotline that they should make more apparent in an adaptation. 

Adrian... is more pushy and discomforting than I remembered. Like, rich, white guy trying to pull this shit will rightly get criticized by show fans if they keep him as written. I’m not saying rush all of his character growth, and I have to admit I love the “Rose is in red but never in blue” scene but they’re going to have to do better with him. One solution is to focus on his and Lissa’s relationship as much as they can, because I honestly really like that friendship/fraternal relationship too and it brings out the more justified reasons for Adrian being there. Also, I’m just going to reiterate (here and elsewhere in the post) genderbend Adrian please... but if not, at least make him less “creepy young adult lurks on campus of school he didn’t even go to to hit on Rose.” Genderbending would create issues for “Tatiana wants to engage Adrian to Lissa,” unless they instead frame something like “Tatiana wants Adrian to be Lissa’s new best friend, replacing Rose and maybe helping Adrian clean up his act”, and I do buy that it could work- it doesn’t work quite as neatly at making Christian irrationally jealous when Ralf informs him of Tatiana’s wedding scheming (and the subsequent Adrian & Christian fight during the Mana initiation) but... idk, get Aaron back or something, since he comes back in BP anyway (and maybe Jesse compelled them to fight each other when he was breaking the rumors to Christian).

Moving on, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Bromance, of sorts, between Rose and Christian. This is the best of the books for that and I love it so much. Whoever plays Christian would get so much more mileage out of these scenes. The same goes for Eddie, who probably gets to shine more in SK than in any other VA book (and even in Bloodlines, where the focus on Sydrian deprives him of the page-time he deserves). Those guys are going to have some great stuff to work with, including the little bit of hurt Christian feels at Rose’s reluctance to have him as her probationary protectee. I hope she apologizes to him for that one, honestly, while I also hope she gets to throw in a one-liner about how he and Lissa aren’t allowed to ever have a nooner again (because that was a part in why she was so upset that morning and honestly... she deserved to be pissed).

Let’s see... I’m curious how they’ll portray Rose “absorbing” Lissa’s spirit darkness. Like, I wonder if they might start showing us scenes of Lissa practicing auras and then we do get Lissa healing Rose from Adrian’s perspective as he’s studying the healing. The ghosts are also going to be... intense- especially the scene on the plane. And then when Lissa breaks from the torture, Rose calms her and absorbs it, and then she goes crazy. The actresses are going to have some real challenges that I’m excited for. Including later when Rose is grieving. This book honestly has the biggest action pieces and I’m excited for it all: the visit to Court (Ambrose and Rhonda! Mia! the trial!), the Guardians’ practice attacks, the “initiaton” (uggh) and Jesse’s compulsion and then the Cabin, the Invasion (ooof- they’re going to have to trigger warning for that one), and then finally the Cave. I think the Initiation Night, The Invasion, and The Cave will each have to have their own episodes, and I think I would end the Invasion episode right before they go into the Caves honestly (though I would advise releasing those episodes together even if they do a weekly release schedule).

So my pet projects, as pertains to this one:

alive Andre? ok, I’ve given up on this one Scratch that, though I really was ready to; have him at Court (maybe Tatiana’s plotting on marrying him off to Adrian) and build up what that might mean for Lissa’s future... also if he overhears Rose mentioning this “water user from the lower school named Jill Mastrano” let us get our hints about her paternity

I really need full focus on Rose’s mental state in this and how much “they come first” is destroying her at this point; especially in contrast to that brief Mia appearance (which does have to happen) where Rose observes that the best in Mia has come out; also how special that manicure is to Rose

the aging up: I realize it makes Lissa and Lehigh work less well and it also means that instead of Rose leaving on her 18th birthday, her departure date would seem more arbitrary (even if it’s her 21st), but it’s still feasible and still what’s best from a responsible storytelling aspect

ah... this is dark... but a potential departure from the books: Rose decides to visit Jesse before she leaves (yes I realize she wasn’t even going to say good-bye to Lissa but) and makes sure she lets him know that the wards failing were his fault... that he and Ralf looked down on Christian for being the son of two Strigoi, but that when Christian had been deprived for a week of blood he still never considered betraying the dhamphir with him in Spokane. Jesse was so willing to try to compel others to lay their lives down for him... he’s a monster, not Christian. And now the man she loved, a better man than him, and about 20 people overall, are dead because of him and his actions. And she’s going to hunt monsters- he better never cross her again, or she will stake him like any other monster. But... she doesn’t realize: she accidentally killed Jesse during the Initiation rage, and Lisa (not even realizing it) resurrected him... he is now also shadow-kissed... he steps out of the gate at some point to sob, and while the wards are down... he sees spirits of those whose lives he cost

And now Blood Promise

um, I am hornier than Rose for Strigoi Dimitri and I realize this is wrong of me, I just feel the need to put that out there before I continue; also note that Dhamphir Dimitri is not at all responsible for the Strigoi’s actions and if we get that far and people start hating on Dimitri overall and pretending that he himself is an abuser I will be defending Dimka

THIS BOOK! Look, SK destroys me, but this is on another level...

for one, HI SYDNEY (my daughter) KATHERINE SAGE, you’re here and beautiful and oof I am sad about you and food but I am so happy you have Red Hurricane and your handwriting is proper and you are light and life

Ok, now: the biggest problem with this book is something I forgot about: Richelle messes up the time alignment on Lissa’s segment. Like, Rose leaves Baia on Easter Sunday when Lissa has already been at Court for a little while (even though it’s only supposed to be a weekend trip)... and then Rose has been in Novosibirsk for at least a week but Lissa and them are only just leaving Court (and it’s not multiple trips because Jill’s there the whole time). Like, they’ll have to do better with distributing plot and timelines. And granted, I get that Rose stopped looking in for a little while there (because of pain and then her addiction) but it’s a major ??? that Lissa’s weekend lasts so long (if they wanted to portray it as Spring Break, that could work). Also, please give Eddie and Christian something to do at St. Vlad’s, I miss them- if they went with the Jesse thing that could even be an element to the story (and if Jesse wakes up after kissing Aaron... lmao). I am curious how they’ll handle the differences in location in this book.

The Baia segments, and Rose with Dimitri’s family, are so fantastic, but I need Sonya to have more of a role, because I wait the way Rose kind of looks down on her <3 Also, I get that Mark and Oksana weren’t exactly eager to leave home, but I’m pissed that I don’t remember ever seeing them again in the books (also Rose could have asked Sydney to let Denis, Tamara, and them know she was alive). Actually, you know what I want? A standalone episode from, say, when Dimitri was a senior novice, maybe visiting home for a short summer break, and we see Robert Doru hanging out with Mark and Oksana, and we get some Abe and Janine interaction (and some Tatiana- why is this 60 something year old holding it against a woman 20 years her junior having a relationship with Abe?! I guess her dumbass relative who is Dimitri’s father can show up, though hopefully to get beat down), and also maybe this is around when Galina got turned in Prague... I want a flashback episode for this setting, maybe in an episode while Rose is lackadaisical in Galina’s estate, and seeding in the idea that maybe spirit can save Dimitri... but Rose doesn’t know that when an episode or so later she stakes Dimitri... (lol... sob)

Speaking of flashbacks, I would prefer if they could move Rose tending to Dimitri’s wounds during the novice-guardian practicum into the actual Shadow Kiss adaptation (because I do love the scene and we deserve that softness sooner), and instead they can do a scene of him talking about the gilded books in his mom’s house back in Baia. But I really want the snow angel scene. I can imagine the gifsets comparing it to them in the garden at Galina’s estate already. I’m curious how they’ll do the the final showdown against Avery since so much of that is... mental-ish? Hints of auras in mindscapes? Also, I kind of feel like they’ll have to give Rose a manifestation of herself that’s trying to get through to her when she’s high on the Strigoi bites. The Dimitri and Rose actors are both probably going to have some really challenging material (his will be more the physicality and coldness of Strigtri). I am looking forward to the various fights and Rose being a badass taking Strigoi down left and right, I can’t lie (I also really look forward to Nathan’s death- I will enjoy that a bit sadistically... I still want to know his last name).

As for the Lissa arc, let Andre be alive like I’ve said (even if it hasn’t really paid off until this point), and then she shows up with Jill and Andre has the very sad news for her... Dad was a cheater. Hits her spiral harder (which is a challenge considering how bad she was spiraling). Also, there’s more weight to her being annoyed with Jill rather than the irrational assumption that Christian has a thing for the poor babe, but Jill’s still blameless and ugh I feel for her in this book. I hope training with Mia was worth the trip to Hellsylvania with creepy Reed.

Oh, also I really liked Adrian in the second half of this one- I think it was because his savior complex was out in the second half for Rose and he was less “let me hit on her relentlessly.” Anyway, Janine content was also excellent (her offering to take over as Lissa’s guardian, the visit to St. Vlad’s, though why would she come from Nepal for like 4 hrs maybe of hanging out? idk), and the “I’m Zmey Jr, Zmeyette?” from Rose is one of the best lines Richelle ever wrote in this series. I want to see it delivered.

Idk, I love BP but I have fewer thoughts on its adaptation except that I want it.

A Professor’s Daily Life (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Edit: PART 2 HERE!

Edit 2: SEQUEL HERE!

When we vomit about 40 flowers onto a student, fish for an unholy amount of time, and sprint faster than the speed of light across the Monastery, that’s normal to us because game shenanigans. 

But, what does that look like to the students of the Blue Lions?

The bell rung, and the long day had finally ended. 

The students of the Blue Lions were finished with a grueling week of lectures that neither they or the professor were excited to learn about, but had to regardless.

Now that it was over, everyone decided to group up and talk about what they were feeling.

“Jeez, I thought that would never end! I know this important to learn but...” Annette griped.

“I know, I was almost ready to pass out!” Ashe responded while tidying up his papers.

While everyone chimed in their two cents, Sylvain had a troubled look on him, which made Ingrid tap him on the shoulder.

“Sylvain, is something the matter?” she asked.

Everyone turned to him, and began tapping his chin.

“Ya know,” Sylvain said. “I’ve been thinking lately-”

“What, about girls?” Felix sarcastically asked, already rolling his eyes.

“No, actually. It’s about the professor. Something’s been bugging me about him.”

Dimitri shrugged and replied.

“Whatever it is, he was just as thrilled as us to discuss the topic, so I say give him a-”

“No, not that. That I get,” Sylvain interjected. “It’s about what he does.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Dedue asked.

“...Wait, you guys seriously don’t know what I’m talking about? I’m talking about how different he seems during lectures and his days off!”

“Um, I assumed that’s natural. He can’t be professional a hundred percent of the time. After all, even people like him need breaks!” Mercedes said.

“Well yeah, but...Does that mean none of you have ever seen him on a day off?”

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

They said the only times they really saw him during days off was when he personally went to talk to them, invite them to tea and lunch, or when they had a problem.

“What’s your problem with the professor?” Ingrid asked.

“You’re not making a lot of sense either, Sylvain,” Ashe added.

“I mean just like...how-gah forget it! Tomorrow’s a day off, right? I need you all to come with me!”

“Tch, to hell with that.” Felix said. “I need to be training, so-”

“Please! I know I sound crazy, but I can’t be the only one imagining this! You need to understand why it’s been plaguing me, I’M BEGGING YOU ALL!”

Sylvain was grabbing Felix’s collar shouting in desperation which made Felix shove him off.

“Ugh, fine! If it means you’ll shut up!”

The Next Morning...

The class had gathered around a small barricade of boxes, watching his personal quarters.

(Felix) “...This is so dumb.”

(Sylvain) “Quiet you, he should be getting up by now!”

(Ingrid) “...Um, just how much have you watched this routine?”

(Ashe) “Listen Sylvain, maybe we should just get you a cup of-

SLAM!

Everyone suddenly turned to his room, which he bolted out of, dashing at a full tilt sprint, faster than they’ve seen anyone in their life run.

They noticed the door had opened up on it’s own, and closed itself as well making everyone do a double take on what they had just witnessed.

(Dedue) “W-What was that...?!”

(Annette) “I think that was the professor!”

(Dimitri) “If it was, then that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen him run! I don’t think he goes that fast on the battlefield!”

(Felix) “Where the hell did he go?!”

(Mercedes) “I-I see his outline! It’s bolting towards the greenhouse!”

(Sylvain) “AFTER HIM!”

Everyone hopped over their barricade and began chasing after the professor, going to the side of the building, watching him with the greenhouse keeper.

(Keeper) “Hello, Profe-”

Byleth said nothing in response as he dumped flower seeds in front of her, alongside a pouch of about 3,000 gold.

Everyone’s eyes widened, seeing him nonchalantly throw money like that, much less at flowers.

It looked like she was about to say something else, but Byleth stepped back and pulled out a map of the academy.

(Ingrid) “...What is he-”

Fast Travel to this location?     [YES]     NO

Right before their eyes, he vanished into thin air.

(Ingrid) “-BY THE GODDESS!”

They all rushed in, looking for any sign of their professor.

(Mercedes) “U-Um...! Our professor isn’t a mage, right?”

(Dimitri) “N-Not at all! He’s a swordmaster!”

(Annette) “Then how did he just teleport?!”

(Sylvain) “SEE?! SEE?! THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!”

(Felix) “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?!”

(Sylvain) “CAUSE YOU WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED ME!”

(Dedue) “Ma’am, do you know about this?”

“...”

The keeper was dead silent, not even moving an inch.

(Ashe) “T-That doesn’t matter! Where did he go?!”

They all went outside, looking for any sign of their now mystical professor.

(Sylvain) “I-I think I saw a blur just dash near the marketplace!”

They all sprinted towards the market, and saw him at the Batallion’s guild. He pulled out what seemed to be a measly 100 coins, and a wave of troopers appeared before him, and disappeared suddenly.

(Guildmaster) “Need any more refilled?”

(Everyone) “...”

(Dimitri) “Wait a second, THIS is how we get our battalions?!”

(Ingrid) “T-That can’t be right! From what I understand, our platoons must cost hundreds of thousands of gold to replace the manpower each time our forces replenish! How does he pay more for flowers than he does for our troopers?!”

“Greetings, Professor’s students!”

Everyone turned around to see the Gatekeeper waving at them with a smile.

(Gatekeeper) “What brings you all here?”

(Ashe) “Um, it’s about the professor! He-”

(Gatekeeper) “He’s just making his daily rounds is all. I heard you guys talking, well more like shouting really. You all seem so concerned of how much he spends on flowers and stuff.”

(Mercedes) “Y-Yes! It makes no sense how he pays that much versus how much he pays for mercenaries!”

(Gatekeeper) “Bah, that’s nothing! You should see him buy tea bags! He buys so much it amounts to 10,000 gold!”

Everyone’s jaw hit the floor.

(Everyone) “WHAT?!”

(Ashe) “...Oh my...T-Then all those times he’s bought me my favorite tea!”

They all realized that the Professor had only been buying them their favorite teas. Somehow catered each and every one of them despite them never bringing it up at any time.

(Sylvain) “Uh, b-before that! Do you know where he runs...er uh, as crazy as it sounds-”

(Gatekeeper) “Teleports to? Should be around...Ah right, Black Eagles class now.”

(Dimitri) “Wait a second, how do you know-”

(Felix) “He did it again!”

They all turned around, and he was nowhere to be seen.

(Dedue) “WITH ALL DUE HASTE!”

They all nodded and ran for the classrooms.

Once they finally reached it, they were running out of breath at that point.

Panting heavily, they desperately tried to find the Professor with him nowhere in sight.

(Sylvain) “D-Did he already-”

Without warning, Byleth materialized in front of them, making everyone scream.

Somehow not noticing them, he immediately dashed towards Dorothea who was standing out in the courtyard.

(Dorothea) “Oh, hello Professor! What can I-”

Before she finished that sentence, Byleth pulled out a massive bag, and dumped it over Dorothea, dozens and dozens of flowers and miscellaneous gifts showered her, feathers and coins and the such.

Everyone stood in awe, as Dorothea didn’t even flinch at it, keeping her smile up the entire time, saying “Thanks!” rapidly with each item hitting her hat.

(Byleth) “Hey, want to join my class?”

(Dorothea) “Sure thing, Professor! I look forward to it!”

(Everyone) “HUH?!”

Byleth turned around and finally noticed them, making everyone ready to jump out of pure terror with his blank stare.

He had his sights set on Dimitri and walked slowly towards him.

(Dimitri) “P-PROFESSOR! A-AHEM! Professor, what can I-”

Putting the massive bag on the ground, Byleth pulled out an item.

(Byleth) “Is this yours, Dimitri?”

Dimitri looked at the item, then at the bag, suddenly realizing it had swords, paintings, food, flowers, and literally any item you could name, it was in there.

(Dimitri) “N-No...! Professor why do you have-”

Not even bothering to respond, he ran away again at the speed of sound leaving them all in the dust.

(Mercedes) “Ah darn, here we go again...”

(Ingrid) “DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!”

They all attempted to run after him again, but they were so out of breath that a few of them collapsed onto their knees, everyone stopping to make sure they didn’t puncture a lung.

(Felix) “How in... the hell... does he run so fast?!... And why doesn’t he do that during battles?!”

Mercedes gently patted Annette in the back while trying to not topple over herself.

(Mercedes) “T-There there, Annette...!”

(Annette) “So...tired!”

(Ashe) “A-Alright Sylvain, we believe you! I don’t think we can take much more of this!”

(Sylvain) “Right let’s...call it...a day!”

Everyone was about to leave until they noticed something.

(Dedue) “...Where is his highness and Ingrid?!”

They looked around, suddenly realizing the two were nowhere to be found.

(Mercedes) “Huh?! T-They were right behind us!”

Dining Hall...

(Dimitri) “Ugh...WHAT IN THE-”

(Ingrid) “How in the?! Where did every-”

They stopped talking when they realized Byleth was in front of them, holding a plate of food they enjoyed. They looked down and realized they had their plates as well, and noticed they were in the dining hall.

Deciding against freaking out, they both smiled.

(Dimitri) “A-Ah, thank you for the food.”

(Ingrid) “N-Nothing b-beats my favorite food!”

Once they smiled, they were suddenly transported back to the group, landing on top of each other.

(Ashe) “OH MY GOSH!”

(Felix) “What in the damned hell is going on?! Where did you two come fro-No! Where did you two even go?!”

(Sylvain) “Oh to hell with this! EVERYONE, WE’RE TAKING SHELTER IN THE CLASSROOM!”

Dedue picked up Dimitri while Mercedes and Annette helped Ingrid to the classroom, shutting their doors. Everyone took a deep breath, making sure everyone was accounted for.

(Sylvain) “I-I’ve never seen it affect people directly like that! Let’s j-just camp out here until night! He’s usually not active that time!”

(Mercedes) “...Goddess, please help us!”

The next day on the beginning of new lectures, Byleth noted that when he introduced Dorothea as their new classmate, they didn’t seem exactly surprised. In fact, they seemed fearful of him, somehow. 

He didn’t really recall doing anything to freak them out.

Definition of Soulmates

Part Three

 “Brosie!” The hiss of my name jolts me into reality. Ana is waving me to the back while everyone is heading out the front door, done for the day. “You uh forgot something.” She says and shoots me a wink. Maybe she needs to gab about something.

“Right, I left my phone out.” I murmur and head back. As I turn towards the desk I hear the screech of the door closing, no matter how many times we put WD-40 on it, it still does it. I then hear Ana coming back. I put my bag to the side and cross my arms as she appears. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is awesome.” She says. “First tell me how much you love me.”

“A lot, now what did you do?” I say feeling somewhat concerned with what is going on.

“I looked at the security tapes for that guy. The mister darling in your dreams.” She says all excited. I completely forgot about that. Once my younger brother got home he wanted to see the cut and sting, he watched me like a hawk until Mom got home to find us watching a transformers movie in the living room.

“And?” I ask feeling my heart flutter.

“Remember how I said I thought I recognized the people he was with? It was when I saw him that it clicked in my head. Come take a look.” She’s sat down at the desk and is zooming around the mouse for the security monitor to bring up footage from yesterday. I look, I can only see part of his face because of the hood.  Ana is then doing something else, going into the actual computer and pulling something up for me to see. My heart then freezes, she’s pulled up the cast of the latest spider-man. She and I even went to see it in the theatre. She’s doing something funny, phasing the image from the security screen for me to see it next to the cast.

“Are you saying Dimitri freaking Hemlock caught me and is somehow in my dream?” I say and lean over to take in the sight of him.

“Looks like it is Gwen Stacy.” She teases.

“No, that’s, that’s crazy!” I exclaim and stare harder.

“You are the one who stared at him for a solid minute before I came and got you from him.” Ana says. “Can you fully confirm with that look too?” My gut is seizing, brain whirling to fast. Could someone like him really fall for a girl like me? Someone who likes cosmology and psychology and the metaphysics.  I press my hands to my face trying to hide a mix of emotions.

“Brosie is it really that much to take in?” Ana ask.

“I just always thought it would be different, like I would hear his voice in a coffee shop and spin to see someone….. Someone good looking but that, he’s he’s freaking spider-man!”

“So you were expecting some normal dude was the one attached to you? Maybe he got famous so he could find you?” Ana says.

“That’s insane.” I say and rub at my temples. “I-I’m not that special.” My voice has broken to a whisper and I lean back into the wall away from the computer. Ana goes into her phone then holds it up to me. It’s a meme. The header ‘when ur friends say the aint pretty’ There’s then a picture of a guy hitting another with captions of love on his fists I snort and she sets her phone to the side.

“Maybe they’ll come in again.” Ana says. “You could talk to him the way you did with douche pants.” Her mockery of Ben makes me smile, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s an ass.

“Maybe.” I croak and grab my bag again.

“You’re not allowed to leave until I get a yes.” She says.

“Fine I’ll try and talk to him.”  I say and roll my eyes. “Since when are you the boss of me?”

“Since you got here technically.” She says full of herself.

“Right that’s because you’ve been here so damn long.” I bite back, knowing it drives her somewhat nuts that she’s been here so long.

“Bye Mary-Jane! Lock up for me!” I pull my key out from my bag and head to the front to leave. Once I lock the door I feel the bite of the fall air. I adjust my scarf and zip up my coat before tucking my key away and walking away. I pull out my headphones for the walk home. With the Goo Goo Dolls playing I let myself relax. They’re a musical frequency that always calms me down. I cross the street then follow down the big hill to the corner and cross to the side with the mechanics and turn right to follow along the road. As I come to the end of the building where the pub is. A car pulls in front of me to slide into the back lot for the pub. I stop letting them on and continue until something cutting through my music makes my blood turn to ice.

“Darling!” It’s the voice from my dream, the same presence of the young man who saved me and held me yesterday.

I swallow a lump in my throat and slowly turn to see him coming jumping out of the car and coming towards me. I notice how he smooths out his godly mess of reddish-brown curls as he approaches me. Me, still as a mountain and very unsure if I can respond to him. Dimitri Hemlock. Someone I answered to Ben who my celebrity crush is, someone I flat out swooned over when I admitted it.

“Hi darling.” He says quietly as he lands in front of me. I bite down on my lip and look down at my feet unsure of what to say. “Um I don’t know if you recognize my voice, but I swear on my life that I’ve seen you somewhere before, it might sound crazy, but I have these dreams….”

“I do too.” I squeak cutting off his rambling, he seems to let out a deep breath and takes a step closer to me. “It was you who caught me yesterday right?” I croak.

“Yeah.” He says as his hand drifts up to fiddle with a bit of my long blonde hair.

“Um thank you, I had been having a really bad day.” I say.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” He asks.

“UH-um that would involve telling you a really long story that I don’t like.” I say and his hand moves from my hair to my cheek. My eyes flutter to it and I feel my knees shake slightly with his touch. God please tell me this isn’t some giant universal prank?

“Alright, I think I can piece it together considering the other thing I saved you from.” He murmurs. My cheeks heat up as his thumb presses into my bottom lip for a second before wrapping around my chin. My eyes wander to his lips, ones that I now really want to kiss. I bite onto my lip again and he comes closer to me, hand going to my lower back and now angling his head down to take me in. My heart stop as he starting to bring his face down to mine.

 _______

 “Oh come on!” Kallia declares as she sees the three lazy sacs we are spread out and watching TV for the first time in weeks. I’m need of a serious Netflix binge to kick off some serious relaxing. “Move over or get up!” Henry swings his legs down and she plops down with a bit of a breakfast shake.

“Any left over?” I ask eyeing it. She just points over at the blender half full. I get up and go fill a glass. We’re still getting the bearings of the room and sound from the TV, Jack assumes I can’t hear them as he asks

“So are we helping him with the girl stuff?” he’s being quiet but Henry not so much;

“We actually know her name.”

“Really? What is it?” Jack asks. Kallia looks at him intrigued

“Lady in the drug store said Brosie, guessing it’s short for something. She also said she’s been through something lately, something hard. No one really can tell what.” Henry says.

“Gunna throw it out there but you two did save her from some guy, might have something to do with that.” Kallia says all matter of fact.

“Probably.” Jack murmurs.  They look over at the screen again. Kallia however looks back at me chewing on my cheek as I look over at them. I break into a smile and say;

“So are you wankers gunna help me?” She starts laughing, Henry rolls his eyes and Jack sits up.

“Anything to get you laid man.” He says.

“Don’t think that will happen that quickly.’ I say and go back over to them with the smoothie. “But I think going slow is definitely a good idea.”

“Definitely.” Kallia agrees. “And your technique in getting her attention will be?”

“Darling.” I say and her eyebrows scrunch together. I have a gulp of smoothie then explain; “It’s what I’ve said every time I’ve seen her in the trance, it’s something more than what I say with everyone else.”

“You already have a pet name? Lame.” Henry says. I shrug it off.

“If you’re going to be an ass you get to act out how he should approach her then.” She says kicking him off the loveseat they’re on.

“I’ll need a partner for that.” He bites getting up and puts and arm out her dramatically.

“Oooo I’ll do it.” Jack says getting up as Kallia gives Henry an unimpressed look. “I’ll be the girl so come flirt handsome.” He says throwing a couch pillow at him. Henry catches it and put it next Kallia who grabs it to hug. Henry and Jack now stand in front of me in the middle of the room.  Jack juts out his hip and plays with his phone. Henry then steps closer and says;

“Um hi darling.” Jack dramatically squeals and throws himself at him, taking both of them down while exclaiming;

“My soulmate!”

“Yeah no, probably not happening like that.” Kalia says laughing. “Please take this seriously Jack.”

“I’ll try.” He says laughing. He and Henry get up to reset themselves.  Jack strikes the same pose as before. And Henry taps his shoulder to say;

“Hello darling.” Jack turns all wide eyed.

“Your voice, I think I’ve heard it before!” He says too excited. I roll my eyes, I don’t think it will be like that, that she would act like that. How would she react? The train of thought begins knowing at my skull as I picture her and me standing in the living room. Instead of Jack taking him and Henry down as he attempts to jump in his arms, I see me holding her like I did before, her eyes stayed on mine. Jack is them attempting to burst into song like in Disney movies, he’s now aiming for entertaining us. I imagine her singing, sounding amazing, at least amazing to me. I swallow a lump in my throat as Henry manages to get through it without being taken down. I draw up the image of her being close to me, not being as dramatic as these guys, being clever, honest and well, I can’t fill in the rest.

“Alright you two can give it a rest.”  I say and finish off my smoothie. My brain kicks into one good thought, I decide to voice it; “I wonder how she would react to you lot. As crazy as we can be.” I flick a bit of lint of my pants as Henry goes back to Kallia, Jack lies out again.

“It would be nice to have another girl here.” Kallia says.

“Yeah yeah you need female friends.” Henry says thinking. “Maybe she’s uber calming or something, would be good for us.”

“Yeah Dimitri is totally going for a yoga hottie who eats kale and all that shit.” Jack says sarcastically.

“I do yoga.” Kallia says and shoots him a look.

“There you can have a yoga buddy.”  Henry jabs.

“I think I need some alone time.” She states and gets up with a straight back and holding onto her smoothie cup. I hold mine up to her and she takes it with her.

“Thank you.” I say and look at her, giving her more thanks than I said with my eyes, she knows I need some distracting but I need all this swirling around in a coherent manner. Images and acting, something I know and can do very easily. I wonder how she will figure all this about me. A lot of talking like most relationships go or it going to intuitional, something filling us in like the black room connecting us?

“Hey man want to go get some of those donuts that we got yesterday?” Henry asks zapping me out.

“Sure.” I say and get up to walk into the streets of Deep Cove with them.

 _______

 I’m the one who’s calm. Just as Henry depicted. But she isn’t how Jack portrayed her at all. She is wide blue eyes and stone still as I move closer and closer to her. First by my feet then, bringing my nose down to hers to gently brush. She lets out a shaky breath as I take the side of her face, fingers lacing around her jaw.

“Telling me what your thinking.” I whisper gently.

“I’m trying to convince myself that I’m dreaming.” She whispers back.  I brush my nose against hers again and her body tenses up more.

“You’re not dreaming darling.” I say and dive in for the kiss, holding her so tightly as her hands snake around my neck as she eagerly kisses me back. We pull back, but we can’t let go, it’s too sweet, she buries her nose in the crook of my neck and I just hold her, rubbing her back. When a sob escapes her I shush her gently, then pull apart to see her dab at her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m not usually like this.” She squeaks. “This is just so….”

“Perfect.” I fill in and her eyes look at me with a huge amount of hope.