#1 and 2 in a shouting match while their siblings watch and all (including 2) willfully ignore that 2 is bleeding to death

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

I saw your tags on your Percy Jackson post and I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the Umbrella Academy 👀👀👀

The tags: #i think both types of stories work#you just have to be CONSISTENT about it [side-eyes umbrella academy]

There's a lot I like about Umbrella Academy, and there's a lot that I forgive in Umbrella Academy because it's a comic book adaptation and most comics have similar problems. BUT.

In S2E9, when the Handler shoots live ammo from a real gun at a child, it's portrayed as sweet and harmless —bullets are just background noise (e.g. James Bond) and this show has slapstick stakes. In S2E10, when the Handler shoots from a real gun at six adults, they have a graphic drawn-out death scene — bullets kill people (e.g. Pulp Fiction) and this is a much darker type of show.

Klaus gets kidnapped and murdered in S1, and his siblings roll their eyes about how he's irresponsible. Klaus gets accidentally killed in S3, and his siblings react with devastation and horror. Violence is funny, when it's Five killing 20 of his coworkers. Violence is horrifying, when it's Viktor killing Pogo. So on.

You can't have it both ways. It creates mood whiplash. It makes the characters feel callous. It can feel like no events ever matter, so there's no point in caring. I can't tell how seriously to take any given scene, because the same sequence of actions is sometimes treated as comedy and sometimes as tragedy.

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Dynasty Chapter 50

Bea Arthur sniffed the air around her and hissed. She smelled something that could be enemy, could be danger, could be food—

“It’s an old homeless guy,” Deadpool told the creature he was riding. “And I don’t care what the author says—eating him could kill you.”

Wade, please.

“Or at least make you really sick. How often does she need to eat, anyway?”

She’s not really hungry Wade; just bored. Jump a few rooftops and do some acrobatics and she’ll be fine.

“Onward!” ordered Deadpool. Bea Arthur roared in acceptance and jumped onto a fire escape to climb to the top of the building. An elderly woman opened her curtains to see the monster outside them, and there was a small thud as she fainted. “Hey!” said Deadpool. “I’m pretty sure giving a senior citizen a heart attack counts as killing them!”

Calm down. She merely fainted—and her apartment is full of quilts she’s made. She’ll be fine.

“Oh yeah? And what about Aunt May?”

Aunt May has a rare adult version of brittle bone disease. She’s still healing from her broken foot, but other than that she’s fine.

“Are you sure you didn’t kill her off screen? You’re good at that.”

Wade, what is this about?

Deadpool held tight to the improvised saddle as Bea Arthur leaped between rooftops and picked up speed. “That kid. The one in the tank at the lab.”

I remember.

“He died.”

Some time ago, yes.

“Off screen.”

Well, I did write a chapter for it explaining what happened—

“And?” Deadpool’s voice is brittle and angry.

And it was depressing as Hell and didn’t match the overall tone of the story.

“You authors and your ‘tones’,” growled Deadpool. “He was a good kid! You could have saved him!”

He was being forced to live as his body decomposed around him watching the children he thought of as siblings being tortured as they were tested to destruction for an incomprehensible goal. Trust me; he’s in a much better place right now.

Bea Arthur growled and stalked forwards, her movable toe tapping on the roof in an odd clicking motion. Suddenly she lunged forwards and chomped down on a sleeping pigeon.

“I thought you said she wasn’t hungry!”

She’s not. You’re riding her like a sack of potatoes. She’s a little bored.

“We’ll see about that!” Deadpool clung to the saddle and she raced forwards. She leaped down from the roof, bouncing from clothesline to clothesline, as she made her way to the street before running, jumping over pedestrians. Soon she ran back into an ally and hopped up the fire escape until she made it back to a roof. “How’s that?” Bea Arthur’s mouth opened in a satisfied grin as she lightly panted from the exercise.

Much better. Aren’t you looking for something while you’re out here?

“Oh, like I’m really going to find anything jumping from rooftop to rooftop this time of night. No, I wanted to talk to you.”

I’m feeling suspicious Wade. What do you want to talk to me about?

“How’s Peter and Arachne?”

Fine. They had their little talk, and they’re not watching TV as they wait for you to get back from patrol.

“And why couldn't I be there?” demanded Deadpool. He didn’t like being written out of a heartwarming scene with Arachne—she was his daughter too.

Of course she is. And you couldn't be there because 1) you would have focused on critiquing her one below the belt punch and 2) the incident has traumatized you enough.

“I am not traumatized!”

You’re referring to yourself as Deadpool.

Deadpool—Wade was silent as Bea Arthur bent to sniff something on the graveled rooftop. “All right,” he said. “You’re right. I don’t like the thought of those bastards going anywhere near my little girl—”

And you shouldn't.

“—but I can handle it.”

Can Peter?

Deadpool—Wade—reeled in shock on the back of Bea Arthur who looked up and snorted a low, menacing growl. “What?” he demanded.

Can Peter handle you being traumatized by what happened? And Arachne?

“That—you—”

I realize, Wade, that you are the only one in this story that can hear me, but you are not the only one in it.

“So you were protecting them? Not me?”

This may be a foreign concept to you, but I can be protective of my protagonists. And that includes you, by the way, which is why your boxes aren’t here.

“Huh.” Bea Arthur sniffed the air again and pranced in place as Deadpool sat on her back thinking about what the author said. “That said—you did cause me mental anguish.”

You’re not about to heap demands on me are you? Because you are literally riding a movie-style velociraptor that has laser vision, the ability to create a force field, and happens to be carrying four fertile eggs.

“Four WHAT?” Wade looked down at the creature between his legs.

Chill out Wade, they’re not developed enough to be laid yet.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I haven’t decided if she’s going to get spayed yet, or if she’s going to lay them.

“And when were you going to decide that?”

I thought I’d let the comments decide for me.

Bea Arthur suddenly shifted in an odd, sliding movement as she sniffed the air, tracking an elusive, familiar scent.

“The comments. Well, I’ve been thinking about that story you’re going to write me in.”

I’m writing you in a story now.

“No, no—the new one! The one after this!”

What about it?

“I want you to put smut in it. None of this ‘start affection and then cut away at the last moment crap.’ That’s only good for kids stuff.”

Wade, I don’t write smut. I’ve never written smut; I wouldn't be good at it.

“Then you need practice! Like the priest said to the virgin, ‘It only hurts the first time!’” Wade grinned under his suit. “And you’re smiling!”

I am, actually. That was a good book. Shout out to Mercedes Lackey, one of my favorite published authors.

Bea Arthur growled and suddenly lunched forwards as Wade automatically adjusted to her new gait as she began running and jumping between the rooftops.

“And I want good clothes!”

Meaning…?

“I want a cape! Lined with fur!”

Wade, do you even know how impractical that is?

“It’s a fantasy! You can do what you want!”

To a certain extent that is true.

“And no cowboy hats.”

And just what, pray tell, is wrong with a cowboy hat? You wore one not that long ago, if you’ll recall.

“And it was stupid! Come on, there just happened to be a box of cowboy hats in that warehouse? And I just happened to grab a couple?”

Enough. I have had enough. Wade, I wanted to write something fun. Something with action. But were you satisfied with that? Oh, no. No, you’re complaining about my taste in FASHION!!

“Your taste sucks!”

I’ve had it. I’ve had it. I have had it with you.

“Oh?” Wade’s lips pulled back in a sneer. “And what are you going to do about it?”

I’ll show you what I’m going to do about it.

Suddenly Wade felt a sharp pain in his chest and looked down to see the dart piercing him. The plunger had depressed as it hit pushing the drug into his system. His body felt like lead. He was having trouble holding on to the saddle.

And Wade?

“Wha?” slurred Wade as he blinked rapidly trying to clear his blurring vision.

Betty White is the better Golden Girl!

“You BI—”

Wade’s world went black and he fell off Bea Arthur. She tried to defend him against the men who attacked—but she was hit with another dart and it knocked her out as well.

[karajaynetoday]

And now that I'm without your kisses, I'll be needing stitches | luke hemmings

Image credit: Ryan Fleming

So @spicycal​ wrote a beautiful blurb about winning Duke over with a knitted blanket, and a delicious piece about a 5sos weekend away in a winter cabin (in the same universe as these two brilliant stories 1 2 from the brilliant @talkfastromance4​), so inspired by these incredible pieces and the fact that it’s the middle of bloody winter here, I’m miles away from my friends and I’ve started knitting again (because what else do you do in quarantine?) - here’s a little something about being homesick and teaching Luke how to knit. This is the third 5sos thing I’ve written ever, so feedback is always welcome :) hope you’re having a lovely day, wherever you are in the world! 

More writing here | send feedback/thoughts/suggestions here

(This is a fem reader insert)

Warnings: none

Word count: 1.6k

Life in Los Angeles had certainly been an adjustment. Moving overseas for the first time was intimidating, and it felt like the first day of school but over and over again. You got lost more times than you could count, struggled to order a coffee every morning thanks to your accent, and tipping was still terribly confusing. But the people in your new office were friendly, and one day one of them, a girl named Sarah, invited you out for drinks, and from there things started to get a little easier.

Sarah’s birthday was coming up, and her boyfriend Andy had organised a weekend away up in the mountains to celebrate. Sarah begged you to come along, promising snow, mulled wine, and roasted marshmallows – how could you say no? Even though Sarah being the only person you knew made you nervous, you tried to convince yourself that going on trips like this was all part of the adventurous experience you were determined to have when you left home all those months ago. YOLO, or whatever, right?

The day of the trip arrived, and Andy and Sarah were in your driveway waiting for you to join them. It was a fun journey up to the cabin, with lots of singing along to the radio and delicious homemade snacks, and you arrived mid-afternoon. A couple of cars were already parked outside the cabin when you pulled in, and you took a deep breath to yourself before following Andy and Sarah inside. Shouts and cheers met you as you entered, as the guys and girls gathered in the living room rushed forward to greet the birthday girl. You awkwardly stood off to the side, not exactly knowing what to do with yourself, when a tall man with a black buzzed haircut approached you and stuck out his hand.

“I’m Calum, nice to meet ya!” He said with a grin. You reciprocated, and shook his hand gently.

“Here, let me grab that for you. Come meet everyone!” Calum, your apparent new friend, tugged your overnight bag out of your grip and dragged you over to the rest of the group, introducing Luke, Ashton, Michael, and a few others that had come along for the weekend of celebrations. You could’ve sworn that Luke held onto your hand a little too long when he shook it, but surely you were imagining things. As the day progressed, you felt your nerves begin to dissipate, and you starting enjoying everyone’s company. Andy had organised a series of games, including Sarah-based trivia, competitive snowman building, and generally boisterous revelry. You quickly learned that Ashton and Michael were fiercely competitive, so you tried to either get onto their team or stay out of their way. After a loss in trivia (“How were we supposed to know her star sign?!” “It’s her birthday tomorrow, you dickhead!”) and a win in the snowman building (“Excellent creative execution and structural integrity. It’s the key to any construction-based art-task.” Ashton explained, in that mattter-of-fact shit-talking way of his), you shared pizza for dinner and then changed into leggings and a hoodie under your overcoat before meeting everyone outside near the campfire for s’mores. You were two marshmallows in when suddenly the wave of homesickness hit you.

The smokiness of the fire, and the gooey sugary goodness of the marshmallows took you right back to your childhood summers, where your grandparents would take you and your siblings camping for a week or so. Your granddad taught you how to start a fire, and your sister taught you how to braid your hair, and your grandma taught you how to knit as you sat around the fire for hours at a time and told stories and watched the stars. You closed your eyes and breathed in the smoke of the fire, when the laughter of the group around you brought you back to reality and snapped you out of your reverie. There was a lump in your throat that you couldn’t quite get over, so you quietly excused yourself and headed inside the cabin.

It felt silly to get so upset about a memory, especially in front of people that were basically strangers to you a few hours ago, but it was moments like this where you felt every inch of distance that separated you from your loved ones. You dug around in your overnight bag before retrieiving your craft bag that held your set of knitting needles and the deep orange half-finished scarf you’d been working on, and settled on the couch in the living room in front of the fire. As your fingers moved swiftly, looping the wool around and pulling through the stitches, you felt yourself start to relax. You had no idea how much time had passed, but you’d knitted a good ten rows before a voice behind you made you jump in your seat.

“You okay in here?” Luke spoke up, shuffling into the living room and removing his coat.

“Y-yeah. All good, just got a bit… cold.” You offered, inwardly cursing at your awkward delivery. If Luke noticed how nervous you sounded, he didn’t show it, instead smiling at you and sitting down next to you on the couch.

“What are you making?” Luke asked, peering curiously at the project in your hands.

“Oh, just a scarf. They’re the easiest thing, basically just a giant rectangle. My grandma always said that craft should calm you, not stress you, so I pretty much exclusively do scarves.” You heard yourself say back, warmth creeping up your cheeks as you met Luke’s gaze.

“Calm you, not stress you… I like that. Your grandma sounds like a pretty switched on lady.” Luke smiled at you as he moved slightly closer to you on the couch.

“Yeah, she… she was.” You said softly, stopping your knitting and twisting the wool absently around your fingers as you remembered your grandma with a fond smile. It’d been years without her, but knitting always made you feel like she was still with you. You shook your head and snapped back to reality when Luke gently squeezed your hands reassuringly.

“Could you teach me?”

“Teach you… to knit?” You said slowly, not quite sure if he was being serious or not.

“Yeah, to knit! I’m always up for learning something new. And word on the street is that I’m pretty good with my hands.” He smirked at you, wiggling his eyebrows. You couldn’t help but laugh, and you realised the lump in your throat had gone away.

“Alright, let me get you started.” You said, reaching into your bag for another set of needles and some wool. “Red or blue?” You asked, holding up two balls of wool.

“Red! It’ll go nicely with your orange one. We can match!” Luke said, grabbing the wool out of your hands. Smiling to yourself, you sat closer to him on the couch and placed the needles in his hands.

“Okay, so to cast on, we start by looping your first stitch…” You began, gently wrapping the wool around the needles and moving Luke’s hands with your own. It took a little while, but he soon had the hang of it, and you returned to your own knitting, but you were pressed into Luke’s side as you both relaxed back into the couch. Conversation flowed easily between the two of you, and you felt your eyes starting to droop as the warmth of the fire and the cosiness of being snuggled up to Luke on the couch overcame you.

“Hey… let’s make a move. Sleeping on the couch will fuck up your neck, and we need you limber for the ski races Andy’s got scheduled for tomorrow.” Luke nudged you gently, taking the knitting out of your hands and tucking it under his arm as he stood and pulled you up off the couch. You trudged up the stairs, hand over your mouth as you suppressed a yawn.

Coming to a stop outside the door of your bedroom for the night, you detached yourself from Luke’s arms and took your knitting from his hands.

“Night Luke. Thanks for hanging out with me.” You said, smiling sweetly up at him. (Damn, he was tall. How were his eyes so blue? And his hair, were his curls just like that when he woke up every day? Imagine waking up next to Luke… there you go, getting lost in your thoughts again)

“Any time, angel. Thank you for teaching me how to knit. Maybe we can have another lesson tomorrow? I wanna learn how to do stripes!” He spoke excitedly, making you laugh at his enthusiasm as you quickly nodded.

“Night. Sleep tight, I’m just across the hall if you need anything.” Luke stepped forward as he spoke, and settled his hands loosely on your hips before leaning in and softly pecking your lips in a quick kiss. You felt yourself grinning like an idiot and reached up to run your fingers through his blonde curls before kissing him again. And again. Before you caught yourself and remembered you were in a house full of people and you probably shouldn’t be standing on the landing making out where anyone could see you.

“Goodnight. See you in the morningggg!” You said in a bright sing-song voice, opening your bedroom door and smiling brightly at Luke, who chuckled at you before stepping away and opening his own bedroom door. You stole one last glance before stepping into your room and closing the door behind you, pressing yourself up against it as you brushed your fingertips over your lips. It felt cliché, but your lips were tingling. Who would’ve thought Grandma and her knitting would land you here?

You smiled to yourself as you realised that Grandma would’ve thought it. She worked in mysterious ways, that woman. The homesickness was still there, but instead of anxiety it was bringing you warmth and a sense of content. That, and the boy who was metres away, trying his hardest not to drop any stitches or make any knots as he worked on his red scarf in hopes of impressing his new companion.

More writing here | send feedback/thoughts/suggestions here

[booksalwaysandforever]

Holding on to the Memories Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Summary: Lauren’s life was a perfect dream, until one day it wasn’t. Cutting can distract you from life, but it can also take life away. Can Lauren get back home, or has it all been taken away from her?

Tag list:  @kai-unknown​

Length: almost 3000 words, it’s pretty long!

I’m so sorry, it has been forever since I posted. This chapter took a long time to write and I have had a rough couple weeks. I absolutely love this chapter and I hope you do too! I will try and get the next chapter out a lot faster than this one.

The darkness was all consuming. There was no way out, and no way to tell how long I had been here. It could’ve been 5 minutes or a month. I didn’t know. 

All of a sudden, the darkness lit up with millions of colors. At first, I thought the light was back, but as I watched the scene in front of me unfold, I quickly realized that wasn’t it at all. 

“Please, take care of her,” a woman, my birth mother, said as she handed a baby to Carlisle. 

“We will take care of her and give her a life as grand as if she were a princess.” She smiled at the answer and closed her eyes as her breathing stopped. Carlisle turned to the baby in his arms. “Welcome to the family, Lauren. I promise to love you as if you were my own daughter, as I’m sure Esme and the rest of your siblings will as well.” With that, he turned and rushed away.

This was a memory. It was mine, but at the same time, it wasn’t. I was too young to remember this. It must’ve been Carlisle’s. It was the day he found and adopted me. Carlisle had been hunting nearby and could smell the blood. He came as fast as he could to see what had happened and if he could help. Sadly, my dad was killed on impact and my mother was severely hurt. Carlisle couldn’t save her, but before she died, she gave me to Carlisle, in hopes that he could give me an amazing life. 

The memory quickly faded into another one.

“Everyone, I have some news,” Carlisle said as he walked through the door. “Meet your new little sister. Her parents were in a car crash and she has no other family, so she’ll be staying with us.”

Everyone piled around, getting a good look at their sister.

“Nessie,” Edward said, “she looks a little like you. And a lot like you did when you were human, Bella.”

“Yeah, brown hair, brown eyes, so similar.” Renesmee said, rolling her eyes as she moved closer to me. “Hi there girly. I’m Nessie, your big sister.” The little baby giggled and stretched their hands out to grab at Renesmee’s hand. When she got a hold of it, she pulled the fingers into her mouth and began sucking on them.

“I think she’s going to start using us all as teething rings,” Esme laughed as she reached her hands out to Carlisle. “Come here girly, Mommy wants to meet you.”

The moment Esme got her hands on the little girl, she began swaying side to side and humming to her. The baby was asleep within a minute.

“What’s her name, Carlisle?” Rosalie asked.

“Lauren Lee Stoel. She is about 4 months old I do believe. I have yet to see her official birth certificate, but I’m sure I will soon. The adoption process starts on Monday.”

“Wait, we’re actually adopting her?” Esme asked with a huge grin on her face.

“Yes dear. In a matter of months, she will officially be ours. She will officially be a Cullen.”

The scene faded again as another one began appearing. Renesmee was showing me as many memories as she could find, memories from my life, taken from the rest of my family, trying to help me wake up.

Esme opened the door to a room and walked in. I followed her in, but it was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. As my eyes adjusted, I realized it was the nursery. A baby, little me, was lying in a crib with Jasper sitting in the rocking chair nearby, reading a book.

“Jasper, what are you doing?” Esme quietly asked.

“I’m tryin’ to get used to her scent and calm ‘er down. She was fidgeting and having a nightmare, I think. I was gonna try and calm her down.”

Ever since that day, Jasper had been my best friend. Slowly, he had gotten used to me and every time I hurt myself or couldn’t sleep, he calmed me down.

The next memories were like pictures. There wasn’t much for talking, but there were short snippets of my life as a baby, captured like a picture.

Jasper was holding me and singing me to sleep while rocking in the rocking chair.

Rosalie was feeding me some mashed peas, which I had effectively flung back into her face. Everyone, including Rosalie, laughed.

Edward sat me in his lap, and was playing the piano. After a moment, I recognized the tune as my lullaby. I was banging on the piano as hard as I could, making it impossible for him to play.

Alice had dressed me up like a princess, practically in a ballgown. Baby me did not like that. I was screaming my lungs out and trying to pull it off. 

Emmett was lying on the ground beside me, playing with me. After a few moments, I yawned and fell asleep. Emmett appeared not to notice and continued playing with my fascinating baby toys.

As I watched these pictures, I realized that Renesmee wasn’t in all of them. She must have talked to everyone, asking them to tell her about some memories they had of me, and she painted the picture in my head. It was almost like I was there with them, watching myself grow up.

“Oh Lauren! Look at you! You’re so grown up,” Rosalie cooed. Emmett was holding onto my hands, helping my almost one year old self walk across the living room floor. “Come here, come to Rosy”

I let go of Emmett’s hands and walked the small three steps into Rosalie’s arms.

“Oh! Lauren, you did it!” she gasped.

“Yeah, you can walk now!” Emmett shouted

And another memory. A birthday no less.

“Happy birfday to me!!” I cried as I shoved my entire face into the birthday cake Alice had made for my first birthday.

“See, this is why we had to strip her before we let her eat it,” Carlisle said. “Lauren, do you like cake?”

“Oooooh, cake. I like cake,”

“Esme, I don’t think a bath is going to clean her. We’re going to need a garden hose.”

“I’ll go get the power washer!”

Everyone laughed. “Emmett, no! You do not get to hose down your sister with the power washer.”

Images of my second, third, and fourth birthday all passed by, along with many different images of me playing games with my family, meeting the wolves and playing with them, and other random memories. None of them were very long, just a moment or two, but that didn’t mean they weren’t important to me.

“Emmett, Jasper, can you guys take Lauren and go shopping for food for her this afternoon? Your father has to work and the rest of us need to go hunting,” Esme asked the boys.

“Sure thing, Mom,” Jasper said as he grabbed the keys. Emmett helped me put my shoes on and buckled me into my booster seat.

“So, what do you want for supper Lauren?” Emmett asked, turning around in his seat to look at me.

“Pancakes. And Mac and Cheese. Oh! And chicken nuggets.” Jasper laughed.

“We’ll see what we can get you squirt.”

When we got to the store, Emmett and Jasper followed me around the store and let me pick out anything I wanted. The best part of being the youngest kid was that all of my older siblings didn’t have the ability to say no to me. After 30 minutes of following me around the store, we walked out with several bags, mostly consisting of sugar, and brought them to the car. 

After spending the afternoon playing games and running around the house with Emmett and Jasper, everyone came home.

“So, how was shopping, boys?” Esme asked.

“Good, we got everything Lauren wanted.”

“Oh no. No no no.” Esme put her head in her hands. “Please tell me you bought more than just donuts, ice cream, and candy bars.”

“Don’t worry, we did. We also got her some fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, juice boxes, popsicles, and chocolate milk,” said Emmett with an innocent grin on his face.

“And some Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, yogurt, fish sticks, and stuff for pancakes and waffles. Don’t worry, there is some actual food in there,” Jasper said, laughing at Esme’s horrified face. 

“So Lauren, what do you want to be for Halloween?” Jacob asked me.

“That’s a secret. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jacob always took Renesmee and I trick or treating. Renesmee was only one year older than my four year old self, so she passed for a young teenager. People still gave her candy when she was with me, so we always went together. Most of the time, it was too sunny out when we started trick or treating so none of the rest of the family could come.

A week later, it was time to go trick or treating. Alice was in my room helping me get ready. 

“Lauren, are you almost ready? We need to go before all the good candy is gone,” Jacob called from down the stairs. 

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I shouted back. As I walked down the stairs, Jacob started laughing. I was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and Renesmee and I convinced him to be a wolf. Renesmee was dressed as a grandma to follow along with the whole scheme.

“See, we match!”

From that day on, Jacob always called me Little Red. My Halloween costumes had earned me several nicknames. I dressed up as a bear for Emmett one year and he had begun to call me “brown bear”. I became known as “spider monkey” to Edward because I dressed up as a spider monkey one year for him, and the fact that I would always climb on everything when I was little. To Jasper, I was his “mini major”. I had dressed up as a cowgirl once and I often had a bit of a temper and was pretty sassy. The best Halloween costume though, was when I dressed up as a vampire. Alice and Edward helped me get red contacts, fake fangs, a cape, and everything else to help me look like a vampire in movies, even some fake blood and red juice to drink. Everyone loved it. It was by far, the best Halloween costume ever.

“Can I please know what my birthday present is?” I asked. Jasper had blind folded me and had slung me over his shoulder while he carried me somewhere. 

“No. It’s a surprise.”

“Come on, please? Pretty please? I’m seven now. I should get to know.”

“No.”

“Wow, this is one of the first times you’ve said no.” Jasper laughed.

“We’ve all had a hard time saying no to you since you’re so cute.”

“I’m not cute,” I exclaimed as I hit him as hard as I could without hurting myself. “Rosalie says I’m beautiful. Also, your shoulder hurts. It’s too hard. I’m going to break my hand one of these days from smacking you or Emmett.” Jasper laughed at me again.

“Then maybe don’t hit us.”

“But you deserve to be hit.”

“I agree with Lauren.” Rosalie said, standing somewhere beside me. Jasper set me down on the ground. I could tell we were outside due to the sound of the creek and the breeze blowing my hair.

“Okay, are you ready to see your birthday present?”

“Yes. I’ve been waiting a whole year!” Everyone laughed.

“Okay then.”

Rosalie untied the blindfold and everyone at the party began singing happy birthday. My family, the pack, Grandpa Charlie, Grandma Sue, Grandpa Billy, and even my aunts and uncles from Alaska were there. Alice had made this a huge party, with fairy lights hanging from the trees, a huge banner that said “Happy 7th birthday, Lauren” in fancy calligraphy, and a huge birthday cake. But the coolest thing I saw was a swimming pool with a diving board and slide, a trampoline, and a tree house in the climbing tree. 

“A tree house, a pool, and a trampoline?” I exclaimed, jumping up and down. 

“Yes dear,” said Carlisle. “You’ve been begging us to get at least one for a while and you’ve been doing amazing in school, so we decided to let you have all three. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I shouted as I gave him and Esme hugs. I ran over to the trampoline, and Seth, Jacob, Emmett, and Jasper followed me.

“Boys,” Esme called. “That is Lauren’s gift. Let's not break it on the first day.”

A billion more memories went through my head. Memories of riding on Jacob’s back through the forest and going on runs with all of my siblings and the rest of the pack. Memories of playing tons of board games and video games with Emmett and Jasper, learning to play piano with Edward, and learning to dance with all my brothers and Dad. Going shopping with Rosalie, Alice, and Bella, spending the night at Renesmee’s house and her spending the night with me. Having sleepovers at Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Sue’s house, sleepovers with the pack at Sam and Emily’s house, and even sleepovers in Alaska with Aunt Tanya, Aunt Kate, and Uncle Garrett. Making a flower crown for everyone in the Volturi when they came to visit, making Marcus smile for the first time in a very long time, pretending to be a vampire princess when I visited their palace. Singing and dancing for my entire family, playing tag with everyone, only for it to end with someone catching me, throwing me in the air, and tickling me. Memories of things like going tubing, or to an amusement park with Renesmee, Jacob, Seth, and sometimes the rest of the pack. Even just simple things like blasting music in the car on the way to school, or seeing everyone in the front row at one of my dance recitals. Every one of those billion memories reminded me of why I needed to fight to stay. I needed to hold on to these memories and go home. But how?

One last memory plays in my mind. This one definitely wasn’t mine, but it was everyone else's.

My entire family was there, standing in a hospital room, crowded around a bed. My bed. Renesmee was sitting next to me, on my right side near the window, holding her hand to my cheek. Jasper was sitting on my other side holding my hand, while Alice was standing behind him. Esme and Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett, Edward and Bella, and Jacob were all standing around my bed. Edward spoke first.

“As you’ve realized, Renesmee has been playing as many memories as she could find for you to try and wake you up. So far, it hasn’t helped. I hope this does. We need you to come back, Lauren.”

“Brown bear, come home,” Emmett whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. “We’ve got to play Cards Against Humanity.”

“Lauren, we found your gifts,” Rosalie said, reaching for the locket around her neck. “I love it. And I promise,” she said, opening the locket to reveal the picture inside. “I didn’t put anything embarrassing in here.” 

Esme’s crying was worse than it had ever been. Her body was shaking with sobs, which was very unusual for a vampire. She was turned into Carlisle’s body, who was holding her, but he looked like he was going to collapse himself.

“Princess, please. We need you,” was all he could choke out in a hoarse whisper. My dad was never like this. He was always cool, calm, collected. Right now, he looked like a mess. I had broken my Dad. And that broke my heart.

“Little Red, the pack needs you too.” Jacob said from behind Renesmee. “They’ve all been a mess. Especially Seth and Leah. They haven’t slept or eaten in days. We need you. Fight. Please, please fight.”

“Lauren, I need my best friend. I need help eating all the candy and ice cream at home, help beating the boys at every video game we own, help pulling all nighters and watching every movie for the six millionth time. I can’t do that without you. I can’t do it without my best friend and sister.”

Both Bella and Alice couldn’t talk, they were sobbing too hard. I left Alice speechless for the first time ever. 

“I love you too.” That was all Jasper could say. I had never seen him cry. Jasper did not cry. Not once. But now, he was. My big brother, the Major, the strongest of us all, was crying, no, sobbing. And it was all my fault. Slowly, Jasper leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

That kiss was true love. My brother loved me more than anything, and that was what fought the darkness. The feeling of his lips leaving my head were the first thing I could feel. That and his cold hand in mine felt amazing against my burning skin. Now, I could hear the sounds of everyone's sobs in my own ears. I was regaining consciousness! I had fought the darkness and now I could go home. I forced my eyes open and looked at my family, who, other than Alice and Edward, had no idea I was awake. Alice had gasped the moment Jasper had decided to kiss my head, so everyone turned to look at her.

“Jasper” I croaked. Everyone turned their heads to me as fast as they could, disbelief filling their eyes. 

“Lauren!”

[silvia7272]

11 ~ 3 In 1 ~ Piper Burst/Training Time/Added Member

Ok so I was still sad that I hadn’t included everything from the previous chapter so this may just be a shorter part 2, unless if I want to include the 3 in 1. Or both, both sounds good.

Word Count: 5381

Tags: @queenmj10, @fangirl39, @animegirlweeb, @northernbluetongue, @maribat-is-lifeblood, @raisuke06, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @luleck, @themotherofhogwarts, @more-or-less-human-i-guess, @gwennex, if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged.

This fanfic and its ideas were all made after season 3 and before season 4/movie came out, so if something doesn’t add up please don’t worry. That information wasn’t available then, and unless it fits into my story or I like it, I won’t include it in my story.

.

Just so it's not too boring there won’t be an Akuma/Amok/Trinklet in every chapter. I may like fight/action scenes but too much isn’t good, kinda wish canon did that as well. So, I’m proposing that Hawkmoth won’t be making an Akuma every single day. Sorry canon, I don’t want my story to become repetitive. Probably the only other reason why is because I can’t think of any Akuma names/powers/reasons to be upset just for 1 time. Damnit, I have better things to do.

***

“Girls you need to wake up soon.” A voice shouted from downstairs. The three girls stirred awake.

“Ok, Maman sorry.” Marinette rushed downstairs in a panic, nearly tripping over the last step only to be caught by Rosina.

“C’mon Mari, let’s hurry,” Said girl pushed herself up and soon dressed in her usual attire. Yesterday was a hectic day, she hoped today would be much simpler.

No promises.

Kissing her Parents on their cheek, Rosina and Marinette prepared to leave, but someone tiny was following them.

“Oh Piper you can’t follow them, they have to go to Collège now. But you can stay with us and wait until they come home” Sabine crouched to her level and reached out her hand to pat her head.

But once again Piper grasped onto Rosina yet again, she wasn’t scared of Sabine, but she was still extremely cautious of everyone besides the redhead.

“Hey, Piper, its alright, it won’t be for that long” Rosina tried cooeing her, but she continued to grab onto her clothes.

“I don’t think she’s gonna let go” That could be a problem, if they left, they knew Piper would cry and may end up Akumatized, but they couldn’t skip Collège.

What to do what to do? …

“I know, I’ll call the college up and ask if you can bring Piper along, even if it's just for a short amount of time. Hopefully, by then, Piper will come out of her shell.” Sabine smiled towards the girls. She certainly didn’t want to make any of the girls uncomfortable, and she could tell how Piper wasn’t at ease around anyone besides Rosina and Marinette.

“Really? That would be so nice of you Sabine” Her smile widened as Marinette pounced on her Parents, exclaiming her gratitude as well.

“Well, we’ll cya later. Bye Maman, bye Papa” They waved, Piper copying the two as they took one step out.

“Marinette, Rosina! Now you have to explain!” A hand was pointed towards them by none other then Aurore.

“Aww she looks even cuter here”

“So, you weren’t kidding?” Marc stared in shock.

Who else had stopped them at the base of her door? Her friends of course. Of course, it had to be them, of course, they couldn’t wait until they got there.

Oh well, they would’ve had to tell them eventually right?

“Ok ok, we’ll tell you on the way” Piper was still shy and decided to bury herself in Rosina. They opted to tell them the same story Marinette told her Parents, after all, it would get too confusing if more stories were made.

“Soo Rosina just made a mistake? Good, we were worried you just took the girl from the street, man you got us worried” Marinette nervously gulped, if Rosina wasn’t as good a liar as she knew she was she’d think they would be in deep trouble.

“Is she alright? She does seem really scared” Marc asked worriedly, he knew the signs all too well.

“Yeah, she’s just really shy of new people, she always has” Rosina pat Piper’s head, and started to coax her into meeting her other friends. Saying things like they are just like Marinette and Chloé, and that they would never hurt her, and they would like her immediately, in fact, they do.

The three nodded but didn’t move so they wouldn’t alarm the girl. Piper peaked out of Rosina, gave them a slight wave in their direction, before turning back and hiding herself.

It was a good start the girls proposed.

“Aww, that was adorable.” Mireille cooed out. And Marc smiled. But Aurore noticed something tied around her waist. It looked… Like a mask.

.

Wait a minute!

“How does she have Crisono’s mask!?” Aurore didn’t mean to shout it, but the shock just overcame her.

Unfortunately for them, someone overheard that question.

“Who has Crisono’s mask?” The ombre haired girl asked, she had come up to the group, surprising them with her quickness and speed, she looked around before her eyes landed on Rosina and a kid she didn’t recognise.

“You have a Sister? No way me too. Tell me, is she a brat sometimes? Mine can be such a handful y’know, you can never get away from them to have some peace and quiet” Marinette's mouth hung wide open. The hell? How could that be the first thing she says? Yeah, siblings could be annoying (she didn’t know but with her sometimes babysitting Manon she could definitely say they could be a handful) but she couldn’t just outright say it!

“I know exactly how you feel, one of my Mother’s friends always asked me to babysit their kid and they could prove to be so much of a handful y’know. They eventually listened to me after so much time together they immediately grew to love me. But if you want, I could give you some tips?” Lila had entered the fray, and they hadn’t even processed it yet.

.

“Excuse you!?” It was Chloé. And boy did she look furious!

“There's one thing to intrude upon a conversation, there's another thing to just rudely cast your opinions upon a child!” Chloé prodded her fingers into the girl's chest, jabbering at her almost as much as her words.

“As if you can talk, you don’t even have a Sister. The most you had to take care off was your attitude, and even then, look where that got you” Alya jabbed back, as if she’d let Chloé of all people walk over her.

“Hey what the hell was that for? You were in the wrong first, and there's no need to fight in front of a child” Aurore jumped in, she saw the saddened face of the two girls and wanted to help. Her and Chloé may not see eye to eye but that didn’t mean she was going to leave her like that.

“Aurore I cannot believe you girl, I thought you had more sense than that. How can you stick up for Chloé after everything she’s done?” Alya held shock on her face, she thought Aurore was smarter than that, was she under the blonde and bluenette’s spell as well-

“That’s enough!” They all heard the voice, but were shocked at whom it was from. They all turned to look at Rosina, a wave of slight anger in her eyes they hadn’t seen before, two had and even they wished they could erase it from their memory.

The girl waltzed up to Chloé and Aurore, grabbed both their hands and walked off.

“We’re going to class so you can stop being mean to my friends” They walked off and into the school. Marinette, Mireille and Marc followed after them, surprised to see Rosina like that.

Alya and Lila stood there in shock, one noting that she wasn’t as much of an airhead as she thought, the other thinking maybe she had gone a bit too far with her comment about her Sister. Whatever the case, they decided to give her some space.

***

“Err… Rosy? Are you ok?” Marc was the first one to ask. Upon arriving in their classroom, it was empty, meaning they had some time before people would come crawling in. Maybe it would be good to meet up like this, so they didn’t have to wait for that one lunchtime to meet up.

To their luck, Piper didn’t understand the conversation they just had, and they were able to distract her with crayons and pieces of paper. She was drawing carefully for such a young person her age.

While she was in her element the rest grew concerned with Rosina’s outburst. They had never seen her like that, was it normal?

“Sorry, I just don’t like arguments. Me and Aunty never had them, so I really don’t like them…  And I didn’t like that Alya called Piper a brat.” Mireille rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

“It’s ok Rosina. I hate arguments as well, it's normal. So, if anything else ever makes you uncomfortable just tell us ok?” Rosy stared before her smile stretched across her face, quickly hugging her.

“You guys are the best” Mireille was surprised as her emotions were quickly changing.

“Group hug!” Someone shouted, she wasn’t sure who, but it didn’t matter, everyone was engulfed in arms.

.

.

“You too Chloé”

“Ahh! -” She slowly accepted her fate, though her clothes may be ruffled, for once she didn’t care about it. Baby steps.

Time passed as they all talked over plans to hang out, since it was a Monday they all planned to watch Rosina’s fencing match, D’Argencourt allowed them to as long as they were quiet and wouldn’t distract any other students, and afterwards meet up with Luka and Noémie. Kagami would already be there and by her Mother’s command have exactly 2 hours of free time with her friends on weekdays. And if she had finished her noble arts and studies earlier, she would have some extra hours at weekends. It was better than before so they were glad they could bring Kagami along.

They had planned on going to an arcade, there was a small one apparently Noémie knew about, somehow, she knew all the best places, she must’ve explored a bunch of unknown sites.

Rosina felt tugging from her top and looked down to see the black-haired girl hand her some paper. It held scribbles of flowers and stars drawn all around it. Marinette had a few picture books she had used for when Manon would be quiet, and she quite enjoyed them. Piper seemed to adore them as every one of her drawings contained it.

That’s right drawings.

“Aww Piper these are adorable”

“What a real artist”

“I know exactly what to buy you for your next birthday” Piper had made a drawing for each of them, so 6 in total. And they were all great. They all felt honoured she would draw for them.

Ring… Ring

The bell had rung signalling for them to attend their own classroom. As the three from Mendeleiev’s class began to exit the room a certain redhead arrived.

.

They stared for a bit, one glared while another tried to dodge the gaze. Aurore grabbed onto Marc’s hand and marched straight out of there, if Nathaniel wanted to believe a liar more than his friend then that was on him. He made his bed now he can lie in it. Mireille walked along with them, and away they went. Marinette was still disheartened about the whole thing, she wasn’t able to convince Nathaniel to change his mind, she didn’t know what exactly Lila had told him but whatever it was, had fully convinced him Marc had to go.

Even after everything they had been through, he chose to throw it all away.

But that was how life was.

More people filled the room, some were surprised to see a child, others hadn’t noticed, some had taken double takes but the teacher luckily entered and was able to explain everything… Even if Marinette could tell she wasn’t thrilled about the situation. Marinette didn’t say anything, I mean, she was just a child, who may have not been taken care of, who was she to deny the girl some affections from her newfound Sister?

***

“Did you enjoy today Piper?” The little girl nodded, a toy was cuddled up to the girl, a toy a certain blue-haired boy was able to win, earning the trust of the girl right away. Since Luka was the only one to have a sibling, that they knew of at least, and with Juleka being his Sister, he automatically knew how to get the girl to come out of her shell.

It was incredibly cute, even Chloé couldn’t deny it. Her little arms reaching around to hug the second eldest of the group. Piper may have been shy towards the teens at the start, but she became pretty social afterwards. Accepting hugs from all of them and even being carried by them, she was then considered the little Sister to them all. And although it took a while for Kagami to earn the girls trust, she loved her none the less. Noémie begged to take a picture of the cute girl as they all posed again before leaving.

And it was at that time Marinette noticed she started to smile, she had seen the girl looking at other people laughing and hugging others, Marinette thought maybe she was just glancing at a lot of things considering her age, but now she knew it was because she was intrigued and probably just wanted to do it herself.

It was surprisingly Chloé and Aurore who were able to produce the first smile, Piper had pointed to a toy with a female in a giant pink tutu and in such an elegant stance, it appeared she was beginning her own routine. She didn’t know what it was so the group explained ballet to her, Aurore suggested someone demonstrating so Piper could properly understand and selflessly volunteered Chloé for the job. The other blonde appeared to challenge the thought and smugly waltzed onto an empty DDR machine. She danced as they all wooed her, clapping’s and a lone whistle was heard. She also had an audience partaker; Rosina copied her movements perfectly. Piper widened her eyes, astonished of how cool and fun it looked.

“Wow,” She whispered, a small astonished smile appearing on her face, making Marinette notice and pick her up to join them.

.

.

But she was only able to make everyone else unbalanced and all of them fell onto the floor in a pile. But they all laughed, her clumsiness was well known at this point, what else could they say?

When Piper waddled up to Chloé and looked up towards the blonde, she bent down towards her… And had her nose booped.

It happened, it finally happened.

Chloé hadn’t been so happy than in that moment.

Picking her up and spinning around saying she was going to teach her everything there was to ballet.

They continued playing with a bunch of other machines before the tiny girl was worn out.

Overall, the sleepy expression the tiny girl held on her face was well worn. And as the two girls headed back home to rest up, Chloé having departed already, they were going to enjoy their quiet free time.

Tap, tap, tap.

.

‘… Huh?’

Tap, tap, tap.

Marinette sat up, that wasn’t Chat Noir was it? He hadn’t visited for a while; she guessed his civilian self might have been busy but oh well.

“Chat what are you doing here?”

“How dare you mix me up for that oversized cat?”

Mrs Hernandez?

Her bedroom window opened, and the older woman had entered. One girl jumped as the other held an enjoyable expression on her face.

“Aunty!” Of course, she hugged her, and of course she had proceeded to be whacked on the head.

“What are you doing here Aunty? Is there another Trinklet? Or is there an Akuma we need to take care off? Do we need to bring Chloé with us again?” A whack was heard once more in the room.

“No amaretto, there is a much urgent matter to attend to”

“What is it?” Marinette grew worried, was this about the Miraculous, any side effects she had yet learned off?

“This… Is about your training”

‘Huh’

“Chop chop, you shall meet me in 10 minutes near the Louvre. And you best bring that Bourgeois girl as well” They couldn’t ask any more questions as a box was thrown towards them and she vanished.

What the hell was that?

And- wait 10 minutes, quick they had to leave now!

***

“Ok, we’re all here now, why did you have to have this now? I had to cancel a hair appointment for this!” Stinger huffed crossing her arms, clearly annoyed at the clash of events. Finding Mrs Hernandez at the Louvre was one thing, her pushing all three into the Trinklet without any time to speak was another.

“Well Bourgeois, if you want to take that hair appointment instead of learning how to be a mediocre hero, then you are free to leave and prove my point” They glared at each other before Chloé huffed off, saying she’ll stay here instead.

Hernandez smirked, knowing she had achieved a small victory.

Ladybug sighed, if this is how they’re going to act for all meetings she’d rather not be a part of any of it.

But the older woman coughed to get everyone's attention, they all stood in a line awaiting any other further instructions.

“Now that you’re all here you should expect that your once normal and average lives will be changed and altered forever, and because you’ve already accepted you can’t step back” Ladybug was about to speak up, they already had the Miraculous how crazy could it become?

She was silenced by the woman’s stare and promptly closed her mouth.

“Your training starts now, and I expect all of you to follow my orders without hesitation” A loud yes ma'am was heard, the other two promptly followed shortly afterwards, although with less enthusiasm.

“Now transform back” Crisono did it without hesitance.

Ladybug and Stinger froze and grew shocked!

“What? We can’t, I can’t let anyone learn about my identity” Chloé quickly shook her head, she knew everyone there knew about her identity but she couldn’t learn about Ladybug’s, not now and certainly not here in the Trinklet again Stinger had to have a moment to collect herself on being transported to two different worlds in two days.

“Oh hush, you can still keep your identity a secret if you really want to even if it would be so much easier if you didn’t” Ladybug and Chloé looked so confused, what?

“There is a spare set of sports clothes in those doors, change into them when you detransform… Secret identities are so much hassle” She muttered that last part as she walked away. Ladybug and Stinger looked at each other still unsure.

“Is this a good idea? I mean, doesn’t the Miraculous protect us from learning about our identities?” Stinger asked, she didn’t want to find out who Ladybug was, although she liked the mystery to remain she didn’t want to accidentally reveal her idols identity.

“I’m sure it’ll be alright, you’ll both be wearing masks still, plus I think your Kwami’s might be able to give you both a magic cover so I don’t think there's any reason to fear. Plus, now your Kwami’s can give pointers and help us and-” A finger was placed on her lips to silence her.

“Whoa whoa whoa, settle down there Rosina. One thing at a time. Let’s just get changed first before we get into that” Ladybug smiled, no matter the situation, Rosina would always be so hyper.

“Sooooorrrrrryyyyyyyyy, I’m just happy that we’re all going to train together, I know it's going to be hard at first, and hurt all over your body, and as days past you’ll wish to just stay in bed all day and forever… But I promise you’ll love it; we’ll all be the strongest heroes in the world”

.

.

.

What the hell did they get themselves into?

***

“Left right left right! Come on Ladybug, aren’t you faster than that!” She was dodging flying planks of wood that would swing right in front and back to her… Without her Miraculous. Man, what a nightmare, and this was meant to be basic training?

“What's the matter Stinker? Got cold feet already?” She turned her head towards the hero clad in yellow, fully knowing she wasn’t fearing well much either.

“It’s Sovereign Stinger to you” She replied but didn’t move. Below her were tiles that would set of a trap, she had to run to the other side without setting any of them off, if she did she would have to go back all the way to the beginning and start all over again.

‘I may hate this but I am so going to complete it just so I can shove it in that old woman's fac-’ Red flashed her eyes as the tile opened up and swallowed her whole, she would be placed at the start yet again.

The Kwami’s were busily indulging in food as they watched their respective holders… ‘Training’ they were of course worried but Hernandez told them not to, if they are any good at being heroes then this will be a piece of cake by the time they complete it.

They didn’t seem too convinced until they remembered to look up. A lone type rope was there, and a redheaded figure was slowly making her way across it, she was as straight as a board, and the baton she used to steady herself helped as far as they could tell. Until they were able to make out that she wasn’t holding it with her hands, oh no, she was holding it with her feet.

“Rosina is crazy” Pollen nodded her head.

“Yes indeed, I wouldn’t class this as any regular training I’ve seen, how can she see with that blindfold?” Pollen spoke, worried for her holder's friend as the colour from Tikki’s face drained.

“Wait she’s BLINDFOLDED!?”

“Of course she is, you wouldn’t think I’d give her something basic to start off with like those two?”

“THIS IS MEANT TO BE BASIC TRAINING!?” Ladybug screamed but she had lost her focus, she had gotten hit and flew across the field. Her and Stinger landed in a pile together.

“I have to say, you two did better than what I thought, but I suppose you can have a break” The girls smiled, finally some rest.

“Rosiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” The older woman screamed. As the two girls looked up, they were able to see their friend swinging around on the rope, if it was anyone else but her, they would’ve been petrified at that prospect but they weren’t concerned.

This wasn’t even the craziest thing she’s done-

Wait a minute she wasn’t swinging anymore.

“Heeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy guys” Arms were wrapped around the two girls as they screamed in shock.

“Wait for one-second Crisono, how did you get down here so quick!?” Rosina’s smile left her face immediately, and she leaned in very close towards the girls, they leaned in as well to hear her answer.

.

.

“Maaaaaaaaaagic.”

They fell over in shock.

“Now let’s get us some water I’m thirsty” She joyfully skipped over to their fridge as Ladybug and Stinger resolved to just sit down there, hoping there wouldn’t be any more surprises.

“Heads up!”

… Why does she keep jinxing herself?

A bottle landed on the bluenette, with no way for her to cover herself after being so exhausted with her previous training, she gave a glare to the redhead, who only smiled back in return.

“Sorry about that Ladybug. Heads up” Was spoken yet again, but the object was thrown in a different direction. And was caught by her Aunt.

Ladybug supposed it was natural, they must’ve done this routine over a hundred times by now, of course, they were used to it.

“You both need much more training before you can even qualify as a hero in my books, but considering it's only been a day I suppose it’s the best you can produce” Normally they would have a retort but they were too exhausted to think of anything witty, so they just waved her away.

“And I believe you require another person to join” The three girls looked up in confusion.

“When I’ll have you do the next step in your training, it's important that you can fight your opponent efficiently, but to do that you’ll need to fight each other to prove to me you listened to every instruction. And since I don’t want you slacking off, I think it’s time for you to include someone else.” The two girls glared at her with that last sentence, but she didn’t care.

“And so when you all train together you’ll know everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and since I want it to be even I believe someone else joining would prove useful to you. I want you all to know the importance of fighting without your Miraculous and not to rely on your magical power for everything.” Ladybug thought for a while, before deciding on someone.

“Great, I’ll bring Chat here and then we can get him up to speed with the Trinklets and Revenant-”

Whack.

“OWW!”

That sound was heard throughout the field, but instead of the redhead being hit, it was the bluenette.

“What was that for!?” Hernandez glared at the young heroine; she was so naïve it hurt her so.

“I will not have that mangy cat anywhere here until he proves he can act serious in a battle. Until then I want this to remain a secret from him… Do you all understand?”

“But Chat is Ladybug’s partner, they can’t keep secrets from each other” Tikki tried to reason, Chat may act goofy sometimes, but he was still a hero to Paris no matter what, he still helps whenever he can.

Mrs Hernandez however never lifted her glare.

“I won’t repeat myself again,” Tikki reluctantly flew back down to Ladybug’s side saddened she couldn’t persuade her former holder, but a gentle pat on her head calmed her down.

“Now I expect you to pick someone that will have a strive to protect and conquer any enemy in their way.”

Ladybug looked down in thought, if she couldn’t let her own partner know who else was there? It, of course, couldn’t be Alya or Nino, she hadn’t called them up since last summer, they were unofficially retired.

And it couldn’t be anyone from her class, it may be petty of her, but she also believed they wouldn’t keep it a secret, she still feared for the day Alya would tell Lila she was Rena Rouge.

What about one of her new friends?

Although, they might find it strange to suddenly called for, plus she didn’t want them to fear for the new threat.

She needed someone that would be composed and loyal, and who would take the situation seriously.

.

.

A light bulb went off in her head.

“I see you’ve made your choice… Hurry along now, make sure you don’t keep me waiting” Ladybug got up, said her goodbyes with the promise of bringing someone who would be perfect for them.

After all, they already knew each other.

***

“Amoretto, I know she’s your friend but you do have to hit her at some point, you need more help with your combat abilities as it is”

A dodge was made.

“But Aunty I can’t, she’s my friend… And she might hit me harder”

A fist was pulled back…

“Damn right I will”

But it couldn’t make contact.

“Get back here Rosina!”

“Nooooooo you’re scaring me!”

And that’s the story of how Hernandez had two children running around her in circles.

“Ahem,” Someone cleared their throat to gain the three’s attention from their… “Training”

“I thought long and hard about what you said Mrs Hernandez, and I believe I’ve chosen the perfect candidate” Ladybug stepped out of the way for the person to come out.

They waited before seeing blue hair and a maroon mask, they had already gotten changed into the Gym clothes so at least then they could get started.

“Hooray a new face. Hiya there I’m Crisono” The new blue-haired girl stood back, so this was Crisono Tassa? She had expected her to be a bit, how would you say? Formal? Serious? But here she was all smiles and giggles.

And reminding her of someone.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Crisono, I’ve heard so much about you, I would be honoured if we could have a fencing match?” Crisono’s eyes lit up in awe. Sparkling with joy.

“Of course of course of course. Aunty can we can we can we? Pleeeeease?” She fluttered her eyelashes in her Aunt’s direction.

Hernandez, however, didn’t respond as she was looking the newcomer up and down, trying to stare her down, but it appeared she wouldn’t look away from her glare. Almost challenging it weirdly.

“Heh” Hernandez smirked, she liked this kid already, she seemed to prove herself in a matter of unspoken seconds, she couldn’t wait to see what else she could prove.

“I suppose seeing your skills in action would be a way for me to test what your capable off, if you think you can handle it?” The new girl nodded.

“I will strive to do everything to prove myself” She bowed formally.

“Very well, cherub teach her what it takes to be a true hero” Crisono excitedly waved her arms up and down again, a habit the girls noticed she would do whenever she was happy.

“Ok… Does that mean we can fight?”

“Yes, of course it means you can fight… What am I going to do with you?” Hernandez sighed as Rosina giggled before taking the new girl’s hand and take her to a large field. Ladybug and Stinger making their way over as well, wanting to enjoy the show.

“Oh yeah, what's your superhero name?” The new girl looked down, she knew, in the long run, she wouldn’t be able to go by her old name, Hawkmoth already knew her identity and she couldn’t put her friends and family in danger.

So, she decided to choose someone who had inspired her for a sport she had grown to love.

“I’m YukiOta”

.

.

“I suppose you’ll need to catch me up to speed Tikki” Longg floated over to his long-time friend, forgetting the last time he had seen her he was excited to spend some time outside.

“Of course Longg, don’t worry it's not all bad… At least I don’t think so” Longg looked confused, what did she mean by that?

“Here Longg, we have plenty of snacks to eat as they all train. But don’t worry about them, they’ll be alright” Longg gave a puzzled look again before settling down near them, greedily taking a cookie while listening to Pollen and Tikki retell the recent events that had transpired.

.

.

“THAT’S BASIC TRAINING!?”

“You’ll get used to it”

***

In a classroom, voices were heard. Well, more like whispers were formed by the people in there.

And it was very clear as to why.

They all saw, it was impossible not to notice.

I mean, the three girls who sit in the back come in, all with bandages around them? What had happened? Were they involved in a fight? Was there a short Akuma attack the news team couldn’t capture because they couldn’t get there in time?

Whatever had happened they were still worried and asked what had occurred, they may not be on the same page but to leave them like that would just be heartless, a brunette couldn’t really care less but had to act as if she did.

.

“We’re starting paintball lessons”

.

.

And like that everything went back to normal, of course, that had to be the reason. Kim vouched, saying the last time he went paintballing he came back with a bruised leg, he hadn’t worn enough protection and shivered at how long it took for him to heal.

And even though it seemed plausible… It still seemed strange that someone as clumsy as Marinette, and someone as dirt free as Chloé would ever participate in such an extreme sport such as paintballing.

Rosina, they could kinda understand, she had already proved to be a pro of a fencer so this activity would just be a form of exercise.

Chloé had asked why Marinette was all banged up only for Rosina to say her Aunt wants her to personally teach her some self-defence tactics, but she kept falling over. Chloé laughed at that as Marinette huffed asking why she’s so banged up, Chloé’s smirk fell off her face as she stuttered for a reason, eventually saying she was starting karate thank god Marinette seemed to buy it.

The girls thought the next few days wouldn’t be as bad.

.

Boy were they wrong.

***

And it’s done, sorry this might have taken longer, I kinda got into a Pokémon phase as I plan to do something big with Pokémon, but I need to plan it out more, so hopefully, that will be good. Also, hope you like it, next one is either 3 in 1 or Felix I’m leaning more towards Felix, haven’t decided yet, anyone have any short requests for me to do in the 3 in 1? Any scenarios?

Well anyway, I’m going to upload YukiOta’s design afterwards so you can all see it. Hope you’ll like it.

Also, what really sucks is that my drawing tablet doesn’t work with the Paint Tool Sai and every time I install it and uninstall it, it always makes my computer reset so I really hate that. Hopefully, it's just a problem with the laptop as I’m planning on getting another one for uni soon. But that also means updates will be slower so sorry, but I want to pass uni.

Anyway, hope to see you all soon. Have a good day/night.

[kk095]

Last Ride

Here's my latest story! @defibresuslover247 gave me the idea and @eyesfixedanddilated gave me a few pointers along the way. I hope everyone enjoys!

****

Brooke was a 22 year old with a full, busty figure, dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was a southern girl, born and raised in eastern Tennessee. She was always a bit of a tomboy and enjoyed outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, and riding ATV's.

The night of the incident started off normally. Brooke’s older brother Mike had received a nice tax return that year and decided to splurge a little bit by purchasing a new ATV. Since he knew his younger sister was into riding ATV's, he invited her to try it out with him.

The two siblings went out into a vacant 20 acre lot on the outskirts of town. This particular plot of land had plenty of hills and open areas, so a lot of ATV enthusiasts in the area enjoyed riding there. When the 2 of them got there, Mike parked his blue Ford F150 along a dirt path about 50 yards or so from the road. Mike got the ATV out from the small trailer attached to the back of his truck and the riding began.

For the first hour or so, the 2 siblings were having fun in the outdoors. They were zipping up and down the hills, through the dirt paths, and had a few beers along the way. But as time went on, the drinking and lack of light once the sun set took its toll. While Brooke was riding the ATV by herself, she went was riding downhill at a high rate of speed, losing track of her speed. Her chest hits the handlebars before she goes flying off the vehicle. She lands hard on the ground, striking her head and left side of her face. While tumbling down the hill, the ATV rolls violently down the hill, stomping right over Brooke’s right femur before continuing on down. Brooke screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling her right femur snap like a twig and slightly protruding through her jeans. Brooke’s wild trip down the hill came to an abrupt stop when her left arm and ribcage smashed into the side of a tree.

“Holy shit… BROOKE?!” Mike shouted from the top of the hill after watching the event unfold in horror. “Brooke?! BROOKE?! You ok?!” Mike yells as he starts to run down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, Brooke was screaming out in agonizing pain. She could see a bone fragment penetrating through her jeans on her right thigh, and her left arm was badly broken. She felt a bit dizzy, and could the stinging from open cuts and blood on the left side of her face. Her left humerus, which broke the fall into the tree at the bottom of the hill, was swollen and had some obvious deformities. Brooke tried to get up, but she obviously couldn’t. She sat on the ground squirming and crying, begging her brother to help.

When Mike got to the bottom of the hill, he was taken aback by his sister’s injuries. He stood lorna deer in headlights for a few seconds before whipping out his cell phone to call 911. The call was transcribed as the following:

911 dispatcher: 911, what is your emergency?

Mike: I need an ambulance! My sister’s hurt real bad!

911 dispatcher: Sir, please remain calm. Can you tell me the location of your emergency?

Mike: we’re on that vacant lot off of highway 501 with all the hills and paths! You gotta hurry, I think she’s hurt bad!

911 dispatcher: alright sir, police and EMS are en route. Can you tell me what happened?

Mike: She flipped off the ATV and rolled down the hill. There’s a bone sticking out of her leg!

Due to the extent of her injuries, the 911 dispatcher instructed Mike to refrain from first aid and just stay with his sister to keep her calm. Since the vacant lot was outside of town, it was going to take the ambulance at least 10-15 minutes to arrive on scene. But with the amount of pain Brooke was experiencing, those 10-15 minutes would feel like an eternity.

When EMS arrived on scene, they found Brooke screaming and crying in agony and Mike panicking, feeling semi responsible since this was all his idea. The medics instructed Mike to step away and give them space to examine Brooke.

The medics noted a few injuries immediately: open right femur fracture, left humerus fracture, facial+head lacerations, and some bumps on her head. The medics placed a c-collar since a spinal cord injury was within the realm of possibilities. The medics then removed Brooke’s socks, shoes, and snipped off her jeans so they can reset the open femur fracture. Brooke winced in pain while the 2 medics wiggled the pants off after making a few cuts with trauma shears. Next, the medics reduced the open femur fracture, which cause Brooke to scream loudly in pain for a second. Once the bone was below the skin and somewhat in its ’s normal place, the laceration from the bone protrusion was bandaged up and the area was splinted off. The next order of business was to focus on the humerus injury. There was obvious swelling and deformity, consistent with a displaced oblique fracture within the humerus. The upper left arm was also reset and splinted, causing Brooke a great deal of pain. After the arm was treated, the medics quickly bandaged up some of the head lacerations and abrasions and began setting up 2 large bore IVs. After IV access was obtained, normal saline was hung, but the medics refrained from administering pain medications since alcohol was smelled on Brooke’s breath, and there were beer cans scattered across the ground just up the hill. Brooke’s top was then cut off, sparing her black bra and matching underwear. A 5 lead ECG with a portable heart monitor was set up to obtain readings for her vital signs. On scene, Brooke’s vitals were: BP 87/49, Pulse 121, o2 saturation 94%. Brooke was placed onto a backboard and taken over to a gurney, and taken into an ambulance.

Mike begged and pleaded with EMS to ride in the ambulance with them, but they told him he couldn’t. “THAT’S MY FUCKIN SISTER! LET ME IN!” Mike shouted belligerently. One of the cops on scene offered a compromise: since he had too much to drink, they’d drive him to the hospital.

During the first part of transport, Brooke was a little short of breath, so an o2 mask with high flow oxygen was placed. The medic in the back of the ambulance lowered their stethoscope onto the girl’s chest and listened to her heart and lungs. “heart sounds good, but we’ve got diminished breath sounds on the left. Might be a tension pneumo.” The medic announced to the driver afterwards. The medic also noted that there was swelling and bruising on the side of her chest along her left ribcage, consistent with possible rib fractures or dislocation.

Over the following 10 minutes or so, Brooke’s condition changed a bit. Her GCS dropped to 10, and became a bit disoriented. Her systolic BP dropped into the upper 70s, and her heart rate was approaching the 130s. With this in mind, the medics became concerned about a potential head injury. The medics checked her pupils: right pupil was reactive, and the left pupil (injured size) had the early stages of dynamic oval pupil. Essentially, her left pupil had a slight oval, or almond shape. This is typically associated with eye trauma, optic nerve injuries, or brain bleeds originating from the back of the head. Since there wasn’t sufficient evidence of trauma to the eyes/optic nerve, it appeared a head injury was within the realm of possibilities. “Hey, what’s our ETA? GCS dropped to 10 and we’ve got a DOP in the left eye. She needs a head CT ASAP.” The medic in the back of the ambulance called out. “ETA 4 minutes. Hang in there…” the driver replied. The ambulance continued speeding down the road, sirens on full blast while Brooke continued to struggle in the back. She was squirming around and groaning in pain. “Miss, you gotta stay still for me, ok?” the medic said calmly, attempting to reason with brooke. Brooke began crying again while fidgeting around and kicking her healthy leg out. “Miss! You gotta stay calm!” the medic said more sternly, grabbing ahold of Brooke trying to hold her in place. Brooke quickly became inconsolable and demonstrated an altered mental status. “she’s definitely got a brain bleed or something…” the medic thought to themselves. Brooke needed to stay still due to her femur fracture, and because a spinal/neck injury hasn’t been ruled out. Since there was no getting through to Brooke, the medic decided to push a round of rocuronium. This medication is a strong muscle relaxer and paralytic agent, so it’s used as a chemical restraint when patients consume alcohol since alcohol doesn’t mix well with other agents commonly used.

Within 30 to 45 seconds, Brooke was knocked out by the medication. Since she was now unconscious, the medic decided to perform rapid sequence intubation on her for airway management. With a laryngoscope in 1 hand, the medic maneuvered a 7.0 ET tube into the girl’s airway. Once it was at the correct depth and place, the tube was secured with a blue tube holder, and an ambu bag was attached. For the remainder of the ambulance ride, Brooke remained hypotensive and tachycardic, and her GCS was still bouncing between 9 and 10.

Upon arrival at the ER, the medics gave the trauma team a brief rundown of Brooke’s condition as they wheeled her into an available trauma bay. Once in the room, Brooke was transferred onto the table and examination began. She was immediately started on blood transfusions- 1 unit A+ and 1 unit O- with 250 units of rhogam, 1 unit of platelets, and 1 unit of FFP. Multiple specialists were paged for consults, including: orthopedics, neurosurgery, and trauma surgery. While waiting on the specialist to arrive for their respective consultations, initial examination began. A FAST scan was performed first. The chest portion of the exam showed trace pericardial effusion, minor to moderate abdominal bruising but nothing potentially lethal, and the pelvic section came back clean. Multiple x-rays were then ordered: the x-ray of the arm confirmed displaced oblique humerus fracture, which would likely require surgical reduction with rods and pins. The chest x-ray showed 2 broken ribs and 1 dislocated rib on the left side of the thorax, along with bruising and swelling in the intercostal area. The chest x-ray also revealed a left sided tension pneumothorax with pleural effusion, which appeared to be caused from air escaping into the chest cavity, which pinched and pressed up against the lining of the lung. The next x-ray was of the femur fracture. The fracture was quite extensive, which required surgical reduction and many months of physical therapy in order to heal properly. The x-ray of Brooke’s head showed no evidence of a c-spine fracture, but there were some contusions on the skull and there didn’t appear to be any fractures; a head CT was still necessary to get a better understanding of her head injuries.

In the meantime, the trauma team decided to do what they could for her. The first order of business was to deal with the tension pneumothorax on the left side. The treatment for this was placing a chest tube in order to evacuate any air or blood. The procedure started after the area in between her ribs was sterilized. A 1 inch incision was made in the skin, followed by an additional one to cut through any fat and underlying tissue. Once a decent opening was created, a 36fr chest tube was placed into the incision area, and navigated deep into the pleural space. There was a small amount of blood drained from the tube, but a substantial amount of air exited the tube, allowing proper lung expansion once again.

Another concern arose in the coming minutes. The lower half of Brooke’s left leg was a bit discolored and cold. Her dorsalis pedis pulse was weak, so compartment syndrome was a legitimate issue here.

When orthopedics arrived, they wanted to set up pressure monitoring in the thigh to see if compartment syndrome was indeed taking place. But the orthopedic surgeon and neurosurgeon were in a bit of a disagreement. “if we don’t monitor her leg, she could lose it!” the orthopedic surgeon said. “well if we don’t get a head CT, she could die! I’d rather her lose her leg than her life!” the neurosurgeon replied smugly. The trauma surgeon offered a compromise: a fasciotomy in the emergency department. Typically, this is a procedure reserved for the operating room, but this was an emergent situation that required a quick decision. Everyone quickly got on board and the procedure was started in a moment’s notice.

Betadine was squirted on the right thigh and the bandage was removed from the splinted compound fracture. A scalpel was used to make 2 deep, long incisions in the thigh. Once the skin was incised, the underlying fat and tissue was cut out so proper bloodflow and blood drainage could take place. Her right calf and right foot immediately became a more normal complexion, and the dorsalis pedis pulse was stronger than it was just a minute or two ago. The freshly opened area was then irrigated with saline and prophylactic antibiotics to decrease the chance of infection, and the wound was somewhat closed with the shoelace suturing technique.

After the fasciotomy, Brooke’s blood pressure began to take a rapid nosedive. Vasopressors were pushed in an attempt to increase BP to a more stable level, and more blood products were hung. While trying to maintain BP, the young woman began to have a tonic-clonic seizure on the ER table. Brooke jerked and flopped erratically, biting down on the ET tube and grunting every few seconds. Her toes clenched up, wrinkling the soles of her size 8.5 feet. To combat the seizure, the trauma team acted quickly by injecting 1 dose of lorazepam intravenously in order to stop the convulsions. It was my like the tv shows where the medicine take immediate effect. In reality, it takes about 45 seconds for the meds to kick in. In those 45 seconds or so, Brooke’s twitchy, spasmodic movements slowed down incrementally until she finally settled down and stopped seizing.

After the seizure was controlled, Brooke was covered up and transported to radiology for a head CT. The GCS drop, altered mental status, DOP, and seizure were all associated with a brain bleed. Once in the CT scanner room, Brooke was transferred into the table and hooked up to a portable ventilator since nobody could be in the room with her during the scan. Prior to the scan, she was given another dose of vasopressors to keep her blood pressure semi stable since she was hypotensive. Pupil reactivity was checked before the scan as well- left pupil was sluggish and still oval shaped, and the right pupil was constricted.

The head CT took about 8 minute to complete. The results of the scan were interpreted quickly: there was a subdural hematoma in the left temporal lobe. The size of the bleed was definitely noteworthy, so the neurosurgeon wanted to drill a burr hole to alleviate the pressure in the cranium and then monitor Brooke with an intracranial pressure monitor to see if an additional surgery would be warranted.

Once the plan was made, Brooke was once again whisked away and back to the trauma bay for a quick burr hole and ICP monitor insertion. The procedure quickly commenced upon return to the ER. A portion of Brooke’s hair was shaved off on the left side and the pasty white skin was sterilized with a small amount of betadine. The neurosurgeon took a surgical drill and drilled 2 holes. The first one was made in the left temporal area to alleviate pressure and create immediate blood drainage. Thick, gooey blood oozed out of the small, circular hole in her skull after it was drilled. The coagulated blood was suctioned out, allowing proper release of the fresh blood from the active bleed. The 2nd hole was drilled in the left parietal area. The purpose of this 2nd hole was for insertion of an ICP monitor and to allow room for additional draining in the event the bleed worsened. After hole #2 was drilled, the ICP monitor was inserted and set up by the neurosurgeon, and a few small drainage tubes were inserted to help drain additional blood in an attempt to restore normal pressure within the skull. The next step of Brooke’s treatment was to take her to the OR for surgical reduction of both her femur fracture and humerus fracture.

Up in the OR, Brooke was hooked up 5o a ventilator and prepped for surgery. The anesthesiologist had some concerns about her blood pressure before surgery, so it was advised that trauma surgery would sit in on the surgery, and have neurosurgery on standby. With her BP still low, a repeat echocardiogram showed that the trace pericardial effusion had worsened in the past little while. Before the surgery started, the trauma surgeon performed an infrasternal pericardiocentesis. The quick procedure drained a decent amount of blood and slightly improved Brooke’s vitals, buying the surgical team enough time to work on the orthopedic injuries.

The orthopedic surgeon began with the humerus fracture. The original plan was to hold the bone in place with some plates and screws, but once the doctor got in there, they noticed damage to the proximal head of the humerus. When there’s damage to that portion of the bone, they have to replace it with a titanium joint that’s held in place with screws. Essentially, it’s like a hip replacement in your arm. It’s not a common situation, but it happens every so often, and the surgical team was prepared for that curveball. Part 2 of the orthopedic surgery was the femur repair. A long, thin metal rod was inserted into the femur after the medullary cavity of the bone was essentially scooped out. With the rod in place, the fractured portions of the bone were lined up and then held in place with small plates with titanium screws. Overall, the orthopedic portion of Brooke’s treatment went well, but since she was hemodynamically unstable and required monitoring for a head injury, she was sent off to the ICU for monitoring.

Brooke’s first few hours in the ICU were uneventful, but changes started to occur overnight. Around 3am, her blood pressure began to drop once again, along with an alternating QRS complex on the EKG. The ICU nurses decided to page a rapid response since the changes were concerning. When the trauma surgeon arrived, they pushed a round of vasopressors and hung 1 unit of FFP since there may be some residual bleeding and damage. The doctor’s next order was a repeat echocardiogram to monitor the progression of the pericardial effusion. The echo showed that Brooke was experiencing cardiac tamponade, so once again, an infrasternal pericardiocentesis was the way to go. The needle aspirated a combination of both clotted blood and fresh blood, but cardiovascular function slightly improved after the procedure. Brooke’s pupils were checked afterwards; they were sluggish but reactive, and the dynamic oval pupil was slowly going away. The ICP monitor was showing normalizing pressure in the skull, so it appeared the head injury was on a slow and steady course towards healing. The main concern was the chest injury at that point.

Approximately an hour later, Brooke began to struggle once again. Her blood pressure was still low and her chest tube output decreased. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that there was a blood clot lodged inside of her chest tube. Treatment for this is disconnecting the drainage portion of the chest tube and suctioning the lumen of the tube out until normal output returns. But when the tube drainage is disconnected in trauma patients (because a larger chest tube is required), you run the risk of re-aggravating the tension pneumothorax, so this has to be done rather quickly so excess air doesn’t get into the tube or the patient’s chest cavity.

With the trauma surgeon supervising, the drainage portion of the chest tube was disconnected. A suction tube was placed into the chest tube and the chunk of clotted blood about the size of a pea was slurped out, allowing normal flow and drainage to occur once again. But even after the chest tube was reconnected, Brooke’s blood pressure was still low. A 3rd echocardiogram was ordered, showing a sizable tamponade in the lateral portion of the pericardium. With this continuing to occur, and getting worse, the trauma surgeon decided to page cardiothoracic surgery and immediately take Brooke up to the OR for an exploratory thoracotomy and pericardial window.

While wheeling Brooke out of the ICU, her blood pressure suddenly became dangerously low. “shit, she’s gonna code. We need to get her up there ASAP!” the trauma surgeon blurted out with urgency. The ICU team wheeled Brooke through the corridors at full speed and into an available elevator. No more than a second after the elevator doors shut, Brooke became pulseless. The heart monitors showed pulseless electrical activity, so ACLS protocol promptly began. One nurse began pumping away at Brooke’s bare chest. The 22 year old's chest sunk deeply from the strength of each individual compression. Her chubby body and large, natural breast jiggled around a bit while another nurse injected epinephrine and atropine into one of the IV sites.

A nurse got on top of the gurney and began straddling the young woman, delivering strong, repetitive compressions. A few moments later, the elevator doors swung open and Brooke was wheeled out and into the main hallway of the OR floor. “whoa, what happened?” one of the nurses at the main nurses station asked, surprised to see an active code out in the open.

The team continued wheeling Brooke through the hall, compressions ongoing. Once in the correct operating room, the code was paused for a moment in order to transfer the woman onto the OR table. The monitors chirped loudly while Brooke’s limp body was transferred onto the table. Once on the table, CPR was restarted by one of the surgical nurses. “oh boy… what a mess. We’re gonna have to open her up ASAP. Get me a thoracotomy tray…” the head surgeon called out as they walked into the room. Since the heart monitors still showed PEA, CPR just went on. Redness and bruising started to form on the center of her chest in between both breasts due to all the hard compressions she was receiving. There was a popping sound that occurred during each individual compression since a few of her ribs became fractured or dislocated. The nurse that delivered compressions could feel Brooke’s cold, clammy skin through her gloves while everyone else in the room was scurrying around and barking orders at each other in what seemed like a moment of organized chaos.

While the surgical techs set up a thoracotomy tray, an OR nurse pushed the next round of intravenous meds since Brooke just crossed the 4 minute mark of the code. The meds didn’t have an immediate effect, but were able to convert Brooke to v-fib after approximately 45 seconds or so. With defib pads already attached to Brooke’s bare chest, they were charged to 200j and a shock was delivered. Brooke’s limp body jolted abruptly on the table in response to the quick dose of electricity. Since no change occurred, CPR resumed for several seconds until the defibrillator pads were recharged.

Seconds later, everyone backed away from the table and a 300j shock was delivered. Brooke’s back arched, forcing her chest up in the air, making her breasts bounce around. Shock #2 failed to convert Brooke from v-fib, so the surgeon took over and made the executive decision to open her chest via a left anterolateral thoracotomy.

Betadine was splashed across the left side of Brooke’s chest in a moment’s notice. With CPR ongoing just inches away, an incision was made in the 5th intercostal space. The cut began just to the left of Brooke’s sternum and extended laterally. The incision continued under her left breast, and ultimately came to a stop a few inches away from her left armpit. The next step was to separate and cut through the underlying tissue in order to create an opening for the rib spreader. This took about 15 or 20 seconds since it was done at a hurried pace. With that out of the way, the finochietto rib spreader was placed in the gaping cut, and the actual opening of the chest began. A cracking sound was heard regularly while the knobs were turned, forcing the 22 year old’s ribs apart.

The OR team was greeted by a rush of blood from the chest cavity upon cracking the chest. Suction was applied to the area and a 2nd chest tube was inserted for additional drainage. With the excess blood out of the way, a pericardiotomy was performed. A quick cut was made into the lining of the heart, which leaked a combination of fresh blood and coagulated blood. The incision in the pericardium was extended to deliver the heart more effectively, and a few small drains were placed into the incised portion of the pericardium for continuous tamponade drainage.

After these critical first few steps, external compressions were swapped out for internal massage. One of the doctors wrapped their hands around Brooke’s heart. They pushed hard and fast in an upwards motion with both their thumbs on the left ventricle in order to force blood through the aorta and out to the body. The doctor could feel Brooke’s heart twitching in their hands as they desperately attempted to reverse the dire situation.

V-fib still persisted after a cycle of internal compressions and another dose of meds, so the internal paddles were called for. The large, spoon shaped paddles were charged to 20j and placed directly against the desperate, spasming organ. After everyone backed away, the first internal shock was delivered. A dull, wet thump was heard, followed by her torso twitching a bit. Her heart fluttered for a second from the direct jolt of electricity, but it quickly returned to its erratic spasming from before. Internal compressions were resumed while a vascular clamp was placed on the descending aorta near the diaphragm. The purpose of this is to temporarily redirect bloodflow back to the heart, brain, and lungs since those organs are most essential. After the large vessel was clamped, the internal paddles were prepped once again, and placed around each side of the young woman’s heart. Shock #2 was a but stronger at 30 joules, causing more noticeable reaction. Brooke’s torso flopped slightly and her toes curled up, wrinkling the soles of her size 7.5 feet. This shock failed to correct the deadly arrhythmia, so resuscitation efforts went on. A cycle of internal massage was performed while the internal paddles were recharged to 40j. After the paddles were good to go, the third internal shock was delivered. The same dull thump as before filled the room for a moment while Brooke’s battered body twitched on the table. The monitors began chirping again, continuing to show v-fib.

The same cycle of internal compressions, shocking and meds continued again…and again…and again, but the OR team just couldn’t get their young patient’s heart to restart. Despite a 26 minute code, Brooke passed away in the OR, with her time of death being called at 5:02am. The monitors were switched off and the ambu bag was detached. Additional equipment such as the EKG electrodes and IVs were removed in the eerily silent OR. Brooke’s naked, battered body laid on the table. Her heart sat motionless in plain sight during the basic postmortem preparations. Eventually, the chest tubes were removed, the ICP monitor was taken out, and the chest was closed up. A cover was placed over Brooke’s body, and a toe tag was placed before sending her off to the hospital morgue, bringing a sad ending to the case.

[thelawyerthatwaspromised]

We Really Need to Talk About the Forehead Kiss Scene

Consider this another iteration of the Sansa and Jon “Would that be so terrible?” scene that I covered a little while back.

For a lot of people that believe that Jonsa will happen, the scene on the battlements in “The Winds of Winter”, the finale episode of the sixth season of Game of Thrones, is the starting point of that belief.

It’s unusually sweet, as Jon and Sansa scenes tend to be. It’s almost semi-unnecessary to the plot. It’s the last we see of Jon before it’s revealed that he is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, making this decidedly un-sibling like interaction with Sansa a bit less suspicious except upon rewatch. (Sidenote, imagine if this scene took place after we learned about R+L=J...)

But a lot of Jonsa skeptics (I’ll call them that though there are obviously varying degrees of this such as “venomous”) seem unable to understand why this particular scene feels so different from just about every single other scene on the show. To me, there are multiple factors that make this particular scene unique from any other on the show.

It’s an almost perfect example of a “romance setup” from multiple angles.

1.) It didn’t really advance the “plot”

For some reason, this scene was included among the 10 most crucial scenes of the series by HBO pre-season 7 buuuuut not a lot happened at face value.

Jon had just banished Melissandre for burning someone alive (inquisitive emoji) and was watching her leave on the battlements. He’s approached by Sansa. She says she’s sorry. He credits her for winning the battle. They say they need to trust each other. They leave. So why is a “recap of events” considered a crucial scene? Why was it on the show at all? Viewers wanted to know what Jon was going to do about Sansa arriving with the KotV and if they were going to have a conflict about it. Except that part took about 5 seconds. And the opposite happened. 

Similar to the Littlefinger choke scene in season 7, this didn’t really directly affect the actions of the characters in any way. Even if a scene doesn’t advance “plot”, it’s meant to advance the “story”. What happens here between Jon and Sansa? It revealed something between the two of them that wasn’t revealed simply through the dialogue. It’s inclusion in the show at all should leave you wondering about its purpose, but the added layers of the length, framing, and use of reaction shots should make it fairly obvious that it’s a romantic scene.

2.) Both characters are pleasantly surprised by each other’s tenderness towards the other

I think to really grasp this scene, you have to get inside the heads of each character.

Normally, any surprise in Game of Thrones is a bad thing. The strange quality of the battlements scene is that it’s an inversion of the normal routine. We need to take a step back and evaluate the psychology of Jon and Sansa as they’re entering.

Jon has just banished the person who resurrected him. He’s just won a battle that he knows he should have lost. He’s clearly been quite introspective about Sansa and what she meant and her importance in winning the battle since he’s already preparing her chambers. Somehow, the tent scene is magnified in its intensity because this scene is its exact opposite and it’s where we last left off with Jon and Sansa.

Sansa pleaded with Jon to listen to her.

To be fair to Jon, it’s hard to understand what Sansa is saying but instead of trying to understand her more, he allows them to be dead locked and unable to finish their thoughts.

and it ends with Jon’s sad resignation that he desperately wants to win but he’s not sure if he can.

So this was the last time they spoke privately before the battle. Jon feels guilt for failing to listen. Sansa feels guilt for calling in Littlefinger, an option neither she nor Jon would have wanted.

Then - their relationship suddenly became stronger because of the weakness they revealed to each other. Instead of punishing each other, they forgive each other. Instead of gloating, Sansa reaches out and expresses to Jon that she never wanted it that way. Instead of holding it against Sansa, Jon reaches back and validates her importance in multiple ways.

The most rewarding part is how they each give wonderful gestures to each other in turn without being prompted.

He’s publicly affirmed her place as the Lady of Wintefell...

She objects but only because she thinks he should be seen as the head of the family...

Sansa tells him he should take it. Jon responds with a sad smile and says he’s not a Stark. And then Sansa gives Jon the most gentle but meaningful affirmation that he’s ever gotten on the show...

“You are to me.”

(I decided halfway through this to leave the text off the gifs because I want the focus on the micro expressions of the actors because...damn...)

What else could anyone say to Jon that would mean more to him at this point? His entire life has been marked by his non-Starkness. Sansa is working to undo the biggest source of his sadness without his ever asking for it.

Jon’s gift to Sansa is recognition and it comes in two parts;

1) “You’re the Lady of Winterfell.” He was right there as Lyanna Mormont referred to her as a Lannister and a Bolton. He was right there as Lord Glover looked right into her eyes and told her that House Stark is dead. No. Jon is determined that those statements are to be corrected.

2) “We’re standing here because of you.” He’s not just “gifting” her the position and the lord’s chamber. She’s earned it in his eyes. Her place is meant to be elevated above his at this point. This is before he was crowned as king. He was content for her to be in charge until he was thrust into the position of command.

So what does Sansa do? He’s just basically said “you were right” and she has a chance to respond. Does she gloat? Does she say “well yes I suppose I am the last remaining Stark (that we know of) and so I should rule our house...I also command the loyalty of the Vale”? None of that, she apologizes to him. She’s still expecting his anger and disappointment and feels she deserves it.

And it makes sense. Leave aside that it was absolutely necessary for Sansa to bring in the KotV and ask yourself “when was the last time Sansa was ever actually rewarded or treated gently by someone she thought she wronged?” She’s existed in a constant state of punishment since Littlefinger betrayed Ned in the throne room in season 1. Misery is her expectation. Her expression as Jon approaches confirms this exactly.

Part is her actual guilt, and I’m sure part of it is an expectation based on her experiences...and to her pretty obvious surprise, Jon does the exact opposite.

HA. You’ll have to wait for the kiss gifs because I want to change gears now.

The entire last section was explaining why this scene was so unexpected given the context of the setup. Both characters had reasons to treat the other harshly. Jon for his stubbornness. Sansa for not telling Jon about the Vale. All the components were there to reinforce an ongoing feud between the two. These were the factors commonly cited by those oh-so-brilliant Starkbowl predictions leading up to season 7. 

Yet despite that tension, we didn’t get a shouting match and glares and future plotting. We got a moment of clarity for once...and a whole new set of questions about these two. The beauty of their quiet moment together was in its simplicity - but also in the way that the writers indicated that there was so much more going on than we could have ever known.

Yet all of this information is packed into a scene that’s so quiet and slow. It’s in the romantic pacing.

3.) The Pacing

Jon and Sansa have had always had a distinct strangeness to their scenes in that they’re almost all completely different from any other. Their reunion was a moment of triumph for any Stark fans as they were the first two reunited since the pilot episode. Their fireside chat started incredibly sweet and ended with the heightened stakes of Sansa attempting to convince Jon to re-take Winterfell. The Pink Letter scene is the realization that their little oasis was about to meet the realities of a harsh world that still viewed both of them as threats. 

The cloak scene where Sansa gifts Jon a Stark cloak after Jon takes keen interest in Sansa’s new dress is another moment where each took the initiative to validate the other without any prompting. 

They argued twice, while at the encampment and in the tent before the battle, but each scene was unique as Sansa indirectly criticized Jon’s decisions to follow Davos considering Stannis’ ultimate failure, and Jon mostly tried to tune Sansa’s arguments out - while the tent scene is where those complaints came into a direct collision. 

Then they met on the battlements and it was equally emotional but in a total reverse of tone. 

Simply put, this scene was about “Jon & Sansa” as an entity and not about “Jon” having a talk with “Sansa”. It’s all in the pacing and it’s all in the framing.

We already know the setup. Now comes the payoff. Jon has already told Sansa they need to trust each other. That would be the “plot” purpose of the scene. As far as things happening that affect the story directly, it could have ended right there. “It’s ok Sansa. We’re a team now.” Or, alternatively, Jon could have kissed Sansa’s forehead and THEN said they need to trust each other and the tone could be viewed entirely differently. Instead, the show disposed of the “textual” purpose of the scene and continued right through with the “subtext” (which also continued into season 7) which is: what exactly is the nature of Jon and Sansa’s relationship?

It’s not just the forehead kiss. It’s not just the romantic back drop. It’s not just the setup. It’s not just the micro expression of the actors. It’s not just that the whole scene is relatively unnecessary. It’s all of that mixed together.

This is where the pacing comes into play. Let’s recap the scene to this point...

Sansa gets about 13 seconds of an entrance before Jon tells her he’s having the lord’s chamber prepared for her.

Sansa waits 3 seconds before answering “mother and father’s room?”

Jon waits about 3 seconds before he says he’s not a Stark.

Sansa answers “you are to me” almost immediately.

Jon has roughly a 5 second reaction shot. 

There’s about a 5 second pause after Jon gives Sansa credit for winning the battle before Sansa starts apologizing.

Sansa says sorry and Jon waits about 6 seconds before he even starts walking over to her.

There’s about 3 seconds between Jon saying they have enemies and him reaching up to kiss her.

Jon gets roughly 3 seconds to kiss Sansa and about 4 seconds of gazing at her (and her gazing at him). They make this moment last.

Then they transition into a micro expression that juuuuust says everything.

The second Jon closes his lips, he looks down and abruptly starts to walk away. But his mood has immediately turned almost melancholy or sort of a confusion. It’s not normal to kiss someone tenderly and then just turn around and leave. Even if it were entirely platonic. There’s something left unsaid...especially since the camera focuses on the post-kiss for almost 6 seconds altogether before Jon starts to leave. Viewers aren’t the only ones left a bit bewildered. 

Sansa’s reaction tells the same story.

She stands in the same position, almost frozen. She’s internally probably as confused as Jon. She came to Jon to apologize (remember, she approached him) - which I’m assuming she would have been dreading. She got her apology, and he delivered his form of “there’s nothing to forgive” which would normally signal that her part here is over. Yet he initiates physical affection for her when positive physical affection is something that’s a very complicated subject for her.

And it stuns her. As he begins to leave, we see her expressing that she doesn’t want the moment to end.

It’s ridiculously beautiful. Sansa finding a reason for Jon to get one last look, right after he had turned away in sort of Byronic melancholy, only to have her call him back again is extremely romantic given what we know about both of these characters.

The immediacy of Jon’s response in turning back towards her and the utter-seriousness of his look again makes the end of this scene a twist of its own. 

“Winter is here.” That phrase is of course a play off of “Winter is coming” the words of House Stark and the ominous warning of fear and looming destruction echoed throughout the entirety of the series. Those words should mean “fear”; real “fear”. (also take note of her deliberately deep breath as her eyes scan Jon again..)

And how do they react to this potentially terrifying threat? By being adorable again!?!?

Well of course they do. Because winter is here and they are home. Think about this. Being together (moments after entering a scene which they both began reluctantly) is enough to make them smile sweetly as they acknowledge the coming storm.

And the end really cements Jon’s view of Sansa as a noble lady.

And the pure joy Sansa feels as the scene concludes.

To wrap up...the scene didn’t have to happen in the first place. The setup made you wonder if there was going to be fracture. It was tender. It was warm. It’s pacing made you sit and take notice. It didn’t waste any time - it took its time.

We were meant to see not just the displays of forgiveness and validation by Jon and Sansa towards each other. We were meant to see them expecting the worst and getting something beautiful instead. We were meant to see them wrestling with the confusion of where the scene was heading. We were meant to see them completely comfortable in each other’s presence in this very moment - and we were meant to see a very subtle but also very unsubtle indication that the direction of their relationship is causing (and must cause) them inner conflict before it can truly provide them fulfillment. 

They weren’t a royal couple in this scene but I’m fully confident that after the finale season has concluded, this scene will be the one everyone can point to and say “this is where Jon and Sansa ending as king and queen truly became possible.”

[maxattack-powell]

Winter Break - Christmas

Winter Break - Christmas (1-17e)  NSFW

***This is an original fic that fits in between the Luxury Date special and Book 2/Chapter 1 in my masterlist)***

Masterlist - go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman and The Sophomore stories. It is a fictional adaptation. I do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed for my adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices The Freshman… and then I found this awesome group of people and their works - I’ve loved it all, very much so. Deciding that I wanted more interaction than the options allowed, I’ve gone through the first book, chapter by chapter (omg painfully slow) to follow the story (95-99% I’d say) and add to it as I felt would benefit. Now I am doing the same to Book 2 as well.

Basically, I wanted to include certain things that weren’t really full fic worthy, adding more substance to the story. However, I did add some full size fic moments also… some are included in cannon chapters and some are their own full chapters in between. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their freshman year… with more angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail. So, if you like that pairing then you’ll be satisfied, otherwise sorry James & Kaitlyn fans lol. I even added some parts from Chris’s POV, so that we have a chance to see what he’s thinking, knowing what she experienced.

NSFW moments in this chapter - Mature Readers Only Please

Paring: MC x Chris

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

~Chris~

Chris wakes suddenly due to a loud crashing sound. He turns his head and focuses on his door for a moment, not entirely sure if it was real or he dreamed it. After a moment he hears a pair of pounding footsteps flying by his door, followed quickly another set.

The second, slightly heavier set is also accompanied by his younger brothers angry muffled shouts. “MOM! She won't leave me alone! And she took my Captain figure, again! MOM!”

Chris shakes his head and lightly laughs as he hears his little sister’s cackle from further down the hall as both sets of footsteps fade. He stretches under the covers, suddenly realizing something. He reaches down to adjust himself, finding it futile. He rolls over onto his stomach, attempting to pin his hard length under his weight as he groans into the pillow. He knows it’s not the normal morning bodily function test that he and every other male has learned to deal with since their adolescent days.

No. This time it is from a dream. Or dreams really. Visions of MC are still flying through his mind, even now as he breathes into his pillow. Usually, dreams start to fade the moment a person wakes, but not these. The images, the feelings, the smells, they were all too real. Chris grabs his phone and opens his photos, scrolling through months worth of images, mentally selecting his favorites of her.

He contemplates taking a very cold shower and trying to put it behind him, or the alternative - taking care of it himself, which he knows would probably feel much better that the first option. He thinks about it though, and looks at the time on his phone. It was a few minutes after 10 a.m., which makes sense as to why his younger siblings were just making so much noise. He knows better than to assume he can sleep in while at home, but after last night, he still had hoped.

Deciding against both previous options, now knowing the time, he decides to send MC her morning text, still laying face down on his bed. ‘Merry Christmas Eve, beautiful’

He shifts on the bed as he waits for a reply, knowing she won't make him wait long. He groans as the friction from his movements don't relieve the pressure, but increase it.

He sighs. “Damn it.”

Chris begins to think he should have gone to the shower before he sent her a message, now unsure if he can make it through any interaction with her in his current state. He really wants to talk to MC, but at the moment he hopes she will just send a text so he can fix his grave mistake.

However, Luck decides to watch him squirm instead, as he receives a request for FaceTime. He sighs and hesitates, but only for a moment, knowing he doesn't want to miss the chance to see her eyes. He quickly adjusts again, thinking he may have made it better this time as he slides the screen to accept the call. While it connects, he leans the phone against his headboard so she has a decent view of him as he stretches down the length of his bed.

MC comes into view, her form still curled up under her covers as she waits for him to answer. He can tell she propped her phone up on her nightstand while she huddles under the warm layers. She doesn't notice the call has connected at first, so Chris takes the time to enjoy the wonderful vision in front of him. He even takes a picture of her bundled up form, her face peeking out just enough with her hair covering most of it as she looks down her bed and speaks softly to her dog Max.

She eventually realizes that the ringing has stopped, finally looking up into the screen. Chris was already smiling as he waits for her eyes to meet his, making her startle slightly from his intense yet humorous expression.

“Jesus, Chris. Even from Maine you can sneak up and scared the crap out of me.” She gasps out, her startled eyes wide.

Chris laughs and looks at her defensively. “Who called who, woman? How is this my fault?”

“You should have said something!” She accuses him, a small smile threatening to split her face as she mock glares at him from under the covers.

“What, and ruin my view? No way. I was enjoying myself.” He winks at her and she snorts in response.

“You're incorrigible.” She narrows her eyes at him playfully, peeking out a she tucks her nose under the covers.

“You like it.” He laughs.

MC doesn't respond with words, but rather lowers the covers momentarily as she hisses at him like a cat, her smirk simultaneously annihilating her attempt at a threatening response.

~MC~

She watches as he laughs through the phone with his handsome smile. His hair is disheveled in just the right way, making her want to reach through the screen and run her hands through it. She watches him shift slightly on his bed, causing his brow to crease with concentration as he looks away from the screen for a moment. Confused, she raises an eyebrow and waits.

He finally looks back at the screen and sees her expression. “What…”

“Um, what are you doing?” She scoots a little closer to see his face a little better.

She watches as he blinks a few times, looking anywhere but the phone as he attempts to answer. “I’m… uh, trying to get comfortable.” He lets out a short single laugh, almost more of a scoff directed at himself.

Her eyebrow reaches higher. “Can't you just roll over..? I’m usually not comfortable on my stomach either.”

He closes his eyes and tries not to laugh. “Yeah, that won't help.”

Still confused, MC looks at him questionably. She watches as he becomes highly embarrassed, rubbing his hand roughly across his stubble as he lets out a huff of air.

“Do you want me to show you why… why rolling over it won't help?” He looks at her in a very particular way, trying to get his point across.

After a moment something clicks inside MC, her face flushes hot immediately. “Oh…” She quickly pulls her covers over her head and begins to laugh with her own embarrassment.

Even with her blanket over her head, she can clearly hear him through the covers. “You're laughing? Really? I’ll have you know, MC. This is all your fault.”

She instantly rips the covers off her face, causing her hair to fly wildly around her as she looks at the phone astonished. “What?! How could it possibly? I’m in Connecticut!”

He shakes his head as he lets out a rough sigh, smashing his face into his pillow. She can barely hear his muffled response when he speaks.

“No, you weren't. You’ve been in my head all night. And every time I reached for you, I ended up with a cold pillow.” Chris’s frustration shows as he balls his pillow up, wrapping his bare arms under it as he lays his cheek down to look at her again, his expression one of pleasant surrender as he searches her face.

MC doesn't know how to respond right away, so she just watches him for a second. She absorbs the way his muscular arms are stretched out and under him, making his arms tight as they pull at the muscles down his side, watching as they flex with each breath. Her eyes make their way down his side and then back up his rippling back, finally seaking his eyes again.

“What did you dream about…” She says in almost a whisper, her eyes unwavering as they lock onto his.

“Uh... “ Chris lifts his head up and looks towards his headboard, a nice red flush sliding up his neck and coloring his cheeks enough to be noticable. He clears his throat and swallows hard as he focuses. “You… you really want me to tell you?”

MC feels her face flush to match his when he turns his eyes back to her. “I…” She stammers, now unsure of her question as he watches her contemplate.

Chris shakes his head and looks away again, “I don't want you to think I’m a creep, MC...” He trails off, embarrassed as he face plants back into his pillow.

“I don't.” She whispers. “I’m curious… I want to know what happened in your dreams that affected you so strongly…” She feels her mouth go dry as she acknowledges her wicked thoughts.

His gaze whips back to her steady eyes. “What?”

She gives him a little smirk. “You heard me Powell.”

He lets out a exasperated laugh as chews on his tongue as he tilts his head, a small smile trying to take hold. “You’re killing me.” He groans out.

She waits patiently for him to continue.

“It was just… It was a series of memories, and uh… “ His eyes flick to hers briefly before he shifts them down, suddenly very interested in some fuzz on his pillow. “...thoughts, I’ve had.”

“Like…” MC gently prods.

He shakes his head and looks at her again. “Like… when we first met… when we kissed that night, and every time after… when you were all at my game before I…” His face falls for a moment, but he shakes it off and grins.

“The ‘C’ you painted on your stomach… I have a lot of dreams about that. Apparently my subconscious knew to watch for you, way before the rest of me did.” He laughs at himself, almost in a scolding way.

“Those moments affect you that much..?” She gently asks, feeling her heart rate rise as butterflies fill her stomach.

He clears his throat again, looking down at the offensive fuzz. “Kinda, but… It was probably more the repetitive memories of us in L.A., on the field… and the way my mind continued the night, as if we weren’t interrupted…”

~Chris~

Chris feels his flush burning hotter and higher as it creeps up his chest to his neck, covering his cheeks. He suddenly feels very uncomfortable with her gaze on him. He's not embarrassed that he thinks of her that way, not at all. He can tell she's attracted to him, and he most assuredly knows how he’s attracted to her in return, so it makes sense to him what he's feeling physically.

He is worried though. Worried that MC will think just that - that he’s only interested in her physically, that he wants to use her. He’s thoughts are adamant; that’s not who he is. It never has been, even when he thought he might try it, because of what Nicole did to him. He shakes his head and swallows, worried that he’s possibly someone he doesn't want to be.

“Chris…” He hears her soft voice speak his name, so he takes in a breath and slowly meets her eyes.

“Yes?” He responds tenderly.

She pulls in her bottom lip and chews on it slightly, searching his face for a moment before she speaks. “That’s kinda a turn on…”

He just stares at her, unblinking, for what feels like an eternity. He finally swallows hard, her words completely registering. “Wait, what?”

She’s so still on the screen that he grabs the phone, pulling it close, thinking it's frozen. Then he sees it. The slightest curve at the end of her lips, slowly turning upwards. He lets out the breath he has been holding in a huge rush, his forehead falling onto the mattress while still holding his phone out in front of him.

MC speaks again, almost like she's been holding her breath underwater. “It’s exciting, to know you’ve been thinking about me--”

He groans into the mattress and cuts her off. He lifts his head enough to rest his lips on his left bicep, biting the taut muscle while keeping his eyes closed. “MC, I need to call you back later.”

Without looking he can hear the worry in her voice. “Chris, I’m sorry… I didn't mean--”

He shakes his head violently and opens his eyes, giving her a reassuring smile. “No ma’am. You didn't do anything wrong. I just need a shower. Right now.”

Chris stares at the screen until he sees her posture relax, letting him know that she understands everything is fine. “I really need to go though, talk to you later?”

She gives him a reserved smile, making him wink at her before he ends the call.

He tosses his phone on the bedside table and slams his fist into his pillow, his frustration reaching a new high. He groans and rolls out of bed, quickly grabbing a set of clothes and his phone before he leans out of his door, making sure the coast was clear as he jumps across the hall, hiding his erection behind a handful of clean clothes.

Chris quickly shuts and locks the door, making sure his siblings don't interrupt his time in the bathroom. He was used to them popping up just about anywhere, and this was not a good time for that to accidentally happen. Throwing his stuff on the counter, he turns on the water, but instead of cold he lets it become warm, almost hot.

As he waits for the water to heat up, he removes his boxer briefs and grabs his phone. Steam begins to fill the room as he scrolls through pictures. He looks for MC, some from their first quarter at Hartefeld, such as random times around the suite and on the roof. Others from the formal where his eyes scan up and down her curves wrapped in that perfect dress.

He scrolls again, to more recent pics. A few from their trip to L.A., where he can see her sexy football outfit and a picture he snuck when she was asleep on the plane back to Hartfeld. Her lips were slightly parted as she slept. He remembers her soft breath running across his neck when she was tucked against his chest. He groans as he thinks of those lips, wishing he could taste them now.

Chris continues to scroll, looking at pictures of her she's sent or he’s saved during their conversations on break. A few times she sent him somewhat flirty pictures, where he could see a little cleavage or her exposed hip, like that one from the first night. The memory makes him quickly scroll to that specific picture, knowing the moment he had opened it, that it would be one of his favorites. Forever.

His eyes drift along her fair form, her tousled hair covering half of her face while part of her eyes and smirk remain exposed. He shifts his gaze down her smooth arms, her halfway visible cleavage, her sloping waist into her sharp hip bone, showing just enough of her panties before the photo cuts off. He tosses the phone onto the counter and quickly checks the water, the temp hot enough to almost turn the room into a sauna.

After turning the water temp down slightly, he steps in and leans his head against the wall as the water beats his back. He turns slightly, facing away from the water stream and closes his eyes. He starts imagining being there, in that moment, on the bed, with her. He groans and reaches down, getting a bit of conditioner in his hand before grasping his hardening length. He starts stroking it as he imagines her shifting in front of him, running her hand down his neck and onto his chest. Her touch light on his skin, but heavy enough to build the anticipation as she gives each sculpted muscle its own adoration, slowly making her way down to his lower abdomen.

He fantasizes her running her hand across his hip, down his leg to his mid thigh. Once she runs her fingers down the closest leg, she slowly moves her fingers back up. This time closer to the inside, brushing exceptionally close to his manhood as she goes back up, circling around his belly button and playing with the area above at his elastic band, before trailing back down the other leg. Chris squeezes himself more firmly, slightly speeding up his rhythmic movements as his breathing frequency increases.

He can see her clearly, feel her touch as he imagines her smell, the one he's come to know so well, making him want to taste her. He knows what her lips taste like, what her neck smells like, but he wants to taste her. All of her. He wants to kiss his way down her neck, sucking on her pulse and nipping at her tender flesh until she shivers under him in pleasure. He wants to make her pant with his calculated touches.

Chris imagines moving down her chest before moving to her adorable stomach. The stomach where he always visualizes his red ‘C’, but only for a few moments before he moves even lower. He grunts as he tugs harder as his erection, the heat in his lower abdomen pooling up, making him sweat, even in the shower. He envisions her hand moving back up his other leg, this time directly crossing his extremely hard length as it strains to break free from his restrictive underwear.

Chris gasps in the shower, clenching his eyes tighter as he imagines her reaching up and pulling the edge of his uncomfortably tight boxer briefs down. He would raise his hips slightly, helping the fabric slide over his tense hips. He envisions her running her hands up around his midsection, tracing the V shape his muscles make as they head to his ridgid length.

He speeds up his actions, increasing the friction on his engorged member, now breathing hard as he imagines her hand on him, stroking him with her smaller but firm grip. He knows it would feel a thousand times better than his own calloused hand, but he makes due, and pretends it’s her instead. As he increases the frequency of his strokes, Chris’s eyes close tightly as he fantasizes her warm hands grasping him, pumping feverishly as she gives him a sultry look.

“Ah, MC...” he groans huskily.

He imagines her slowly leaning down, her breath tickling the inside of his thighs as she looks up at him. Her big hazel eyes sinking deep into his. He shakes his head though, knowing that's not what he would do with her first. He would flip her, laying her comfortably on the bed before he removes all of her clothes. As he frees her from the offensive materials, he would run his hands and lips over every square inch of her body until she was writhing under him, begging for more.

That's what he wants.

hat imagery is what does him in, as he continues to stroke himself repeatedly, panting with his eyes closed as he sees her face. Her expression filled with pure pleasure, her lips parted as she arches her back and she flexes towards him, gasping his name. Only his name. Chris suddenly bucks his hips into his hand. He reaches his climax before he actually realizes it’s near, his mind still on her soft skin and engorged lips, while her body moves in waves under him.

He grunts a few times as he pumps through his climax, sighing when he finally finishes, keeping his eyes closed as he envisions her doing the same from his reciprocal touches. After a moment he lets go, turning to face the wall. He leans there for a moment, his forehead still resting on the cool tile as he lets the hot water soothe his tense muscles. After a few minutes he feels his heart rate finally level out, his breathing becoming even and balanced once again.

Chris leans back and lets the water rush through his hair and over his face. He quickly scrubs his body and washes the mess of hair, knowing he has been in the shower too long already and doesn't want to raise any suspicion about it.

When he steps out, Chris wraps a towel around his waist and leans towards the counter to grab his toothbrush. Once Chris finishes with his normal routine, he attempts to dry his hair as much as possible. He knows it's Maine Cold outside. Meaning, the house will have a chill no matter what the temperature inside is set to so it would benefit him to limit his exposure. After he gets dressed, Chris tosses his dirty clothes in his room and pauses in the hall, pulling his phone out of his back pocket.

He thinks back to how quickly he cut MC off, feeling bad about it, and immediately sends her a text. ‘Sorry about earlier, can we FaceTime later - when it turns midnight..? I have a surprise.’

Chris puts the phone back into his pocket and heads to the living room. He finds his little sister on the piece of furniture deemed the ‘timeout chair’ ever since he let their old dog run through the house, completely covered in mud when he was eight. She had the same look on her face that he had on his back then, making it hard for him to hold his laugh in.

The small blonde snapped her gaze towards him, narrowing her eyes at the sound of his laugh.

He shakes his head. “What did you do, Jo…” He asks, more of a statement really, knowing his little sister all too well.

She crosses her arms and juts out her chin towards the kitchen. Chris turns to look in the direction she's glaring in, seeing his brother and mother. His mother looks up from loading the dishwasher, her eyes meeting his with a frown. She sighs as she glances at them both. His brother Kyle is sitting at the kitchen table, shooting daggers back at his little sister. Chris walks over to the counter, keeping an eye on them both as he approaches his mom.

“What is going on? I woke up to crashing sounds and what I assume was a high speed chase down the hallway.” He juts his thumb behind him, towards his room.

His mother reaches for something on the counter and tosses it at him. He easily catches it, his football handling skills coming in handy. He turns it over and realizes that it’s his old Captain America figure.

He turns to them both, his brows creasing with irritation. “This is what I heard earlier? You guys are fighting over this?” His eyebrow arches up as he holds it up for them to clearly see.

When they dont answer and look away from him, Chris becomes a little angry. He’s only been gone for a few months and they are acting like wild animals. He knows his mom doesn’t have the energy to deal with them if they keep it up, not with the hours she has at work.

“Seriously you guys? I leave for one quarter and you both tear the house up and give mom hell?” He sees them both shift uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

“Don't make me lock all the cool stuff in my room before I leave.” Both sets of eyes snap up and look at him wide eyed. Finally having their attention he continues, calmer now. “You guys know I’ll do it. I'll go see Kenny at the hardware store and put up ten different locks to keep you jackasses out if I have to.”

Kyle and Jo both look down, regret crossing their faces. Chris just stands there and waits, letting it sink in that this behavior has to stop. They were bad enough when he was around, he knows it has to be tough for his mom without his interference.

“Well? Do I get to spend the rest of my winter break with my sista and brotha, or am I stuck with two hellyans who won't give their motha a break?” His his accent becomes a little more pronounced as he raises his voice slightly, determined to get his point across.

They both look up to him, then to each other, silently agreeing to a truce with a nod. Chris nods as well when he sees it, putting the Captain America figure back on the counter.

“Alright. Get your freaking jackets on you jokers. We’re going out in the snow.” He claps his hands and turns towards his mom, receiving a thankful smile in return.

“Ah, I’ve missed you Christopher.” She laughs and gives him a kiss on the cheek when he comes around the counter and gives her a hug.

Kyle and Jo jump up from their spots and speed walk towards the front door, avoiding causing more trouble by tearing through the house again. Chris grabs a homemade blueberry muffin from a stack further down on the counter as he passes, ingesting it in less than three bites.

He hears his mother cluck behind him as he heads to the front door as well. “Chew your food, Christopher.”

Chris quickly swallows and nods. “I did… three whole times.” He grins at his siblings as they stifle their laughter behind their gloved hands.

He hears her sigh, following with a faint. “I swear…”

Chris gets his jacket and boots on in record time, easily catching up with his younger siblings. He playfully bumps Kyle as he's trying to steady himself as he adjust his pants over his boots. “Come on man, we’ve got some snow to enjoy.”

Kyle laughs and stands up straight, but only for a second before he uses all of his force to shove Chris back. Chris shifts his weight to adjust, but otherwise doesn't budge, making Kyle grunt and push harder against him.

Chris laughs and pats him on the back, noticing that his little brother is becoming noticeably stronger, but almost nothing can move Chris if he doesn't want to. He quickly bends over and grabs his younger brother, tucking him under his arm like a bundle of wood and walks outside as his sister opens the door with a grin splitting her face in two. She sticks her tongue out at Kyle as Chris passes. The oldest doesn't miss the behavior and quickly grabs her the same way, walking outside with them both tucked under his arms, each sporting matching glares.

He turns his head around and yells, “Hey Ma--” But instantly stops when he sees his mother already at the door, grinning at them all as she gives a small wave and shuts it behind them.

Chris walks over to a deep snow drift and drops both his younger siblings in the middle. They let out matching shrieks as they flail around, sputtering as they wipe the snow from their faces.

He keeps walking, towards a specific area of their yard that has forever been the Snowman Section. “I told you two to cut it out.” He yells over his shoulder, not turning to look as they collect themselves and run to catch up.

When they reach his sides he glances at them both, his face turning serious again. “I mean it you guys. Mom doesn’t need this. If I hear that you start acting like that again, we’re going to have a problem. I’ll drive the six hours to prove it too.” His eyes narrow slightly. "You hear me?"

He looks at them both and receives two conformation nods, this time knowing they clearly received the underlying message. He kneels and pulls them towards him, wrapping an arm around each of them. They hug him back, the three of them staying like that for a moment as Chris holds them tight.

“I miss you guys. Do me a favor and behave like I’m here all the time, okay? It’s not easy for me either.” They both nod against him and he pats their backs before he stands again.

He claps his hands and looks around for a good starting spot. “Alright, what's the plan? One huge snowman? Every man for himself?”

The three discuss their options and finally make a decision. Each will create their own snowmen or objects in the snow. His siblings head over to the shed and dig out their different snow tools and decorations. Chris remembers he had sent MC a text a while ago and pulls out his phone. He has yet to receive a response though, making him frown a little, thinking back to all of their conversations so far during the break. She usually replies fairly quickly, until today that is. He starts to wonder if his abrupt reaction ending the call earlier had upset her in some way.

He stares at the screen for a moment, trying to decide if he should say something else or let it go for now. Noticing his sister running back towards him, he decides to wait for now and stuffs the phone into his back pocket. He wasn't ready to tell them about his friend MC. He knows, even at their ages, that his siblings won't take kindly to the news, still having some memories of his behavior shift during his senior year at Cherryfield High. Its just now been over a year since he started down that ugly path.

He definitely wasn't going to bring MC up to his mother, knowing she would probably deeply frown and ask him a lot of personal questions. Questions he didn't know the answer to yet. Questions he and MC would need to cover before he felt comfortable bringing her up to any of his family. Not because he was ashamed or scared to be connected to MC, but because he knows what his behavior did to his family, his friends, his school… the entire town. He sighs and shakes his head, trying to lose the guilt that is starting to creep in.

Chris makes himself busy, helping his siblings collect snow for their projects as well as his own. Halfway through their builds, a black Ford Bronco pulls up. Chris immediately straightens, recognizing his friend Ryan’s ride. He and Ethan step out and walk towards Chris, the three of them giving their typical greeting nod.

Chris looks at Ethan, then the Bronco, and back to his redheaded friend. “Where’s the truck?” He looks at Ethan curiously, knowing how much his friend loves his truck, rarely seeing him without it.

Ethan shrugs it off. “It’s at the shop, radiator went out so Mr. Johnson is replacing it for me. I gotta pay for the part and he’s letting me clean up the shop for the labor.”

“Need any help?” Chris offers, still packing snow into his creation.

Ethan shrugs again, “Nah, I’m almost done with it actually. Thanks though.”

Chris nods and flicks some snow off his glove towards Ryan, hitting him in the face as he watches the kids squabble over whos snow was whos.

He sputters when some makes it into his mouth and brushes off his face. “What the hell man…”

Ethan turns his humorous expression to his slightly shorter friend and snort laughs. “Maybe it will teach you to shut your mouth, standing there looking like a damn Cusk.”

Chris chuckles as Ryan finishes wiping the snow from his face, so he can shoot Ethan a glare. “Don't make me pack snow in your asscrack.” He forcefully points down for emphasis.

Ethan just stands there with a smirk as he crosses his arms, daring his feisty friend to follow through. Chris watches as Ryan attempts to let it go, his chest rising and falling with controlled breaths as he contemplates his next move. He actually does better than Chris would have thought, making him wonder if Ryan has been working on his reactionary behavior during his first quarter at college.

Unfortunately, Ryan only lasts about a minute, maybe a full 90 seconds, before he lunges at Ethan. The slightly taller and wider redhead locks arms with his stocky raven haired friend. They start grappling right there, both digging their legs into the snow and leaning into each other.

Chris sighs and turns to look at his snow sculpture, suddenly worried of their proximity, knowing how quickly things could go south. He decides to move them away, quickly taking a few fast steps in their direction, wrapping his arms around them both and pushing them away, making them lose their footing and tumble over into the snow.

They could care less though, still grappling with each other, now on their sides and completely indifferent of their new perspective from on top of the snow. Chris laughs and turns back to his unique snowman. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to his idea as he has spent a lot of time on it already, and he needs to get it right.

After five exhausting minutes wrestling in the snow, his friends get up and brush themselves off. Both finally conceding to a draw, the usual outcome. They split and head over to Kyle and Jo, offering assistance to Chris’s siblings. Kyle had decided to build a giant snowman, so Ethan helps him collect and roll large snowballs over to add to the ones he had already created. Ryan asks Jo what she’s working on, causing her to put her hands on her hips as she makes a face when he can't tell.

He scrambles for an excuse, telling her that he’s not very creative and can't see what things are until someone tells him. She seems to buy it and relaxes as she shows him what she had been working on. Turns out, once she tells Ryan it was a shark, he could actually see it. Chris just laughs to himself, trying to hurry with his snowman so he can help his siblings and friends.

A few minutes later he steps back, assessing his work. Something was missing. He turns and heads to the flower beds around the house, picking out two tiny and one medium size stones, all black. He walks over and carefully places them in the right spots and steps back again, this time accepting it as done. He pulls out his phone and takes a few pictures, the last few selfies with his work. He pulls up his messages and shoots a few to MC before he heads over to his brothers and sister.

It doesn't take long to receive a response, the message almost unreadable. ‘OMGwhatdidyoumakeisthataSNOWMAX?!’

He laughs quietly, to not draw attention as he replies. ‘He forgives me. Hope you do too.’

MC’s response is a picture of her and Max, both smiling together in front of her Christmas Tree. ‘Nothing to forgive. Thank you for my Snow Max.’

Chris types a reply without thinking. ‘Anytime baby.’ The moment he hits send, he feels instantly cold, his eyes staring at the text while it mocks him from beyond.

“Shit.” He says under his breath.

Ethan is the only one to hear him as he looks at Chris questionably while arching an eyebrow. He receives a quick shake of the head from Chris, brushing it off, while he’s trying to forget what just happened.

Chris tried, but he couldn’t let it go. He wasn't sure how MC would feel about it, and that bothered him a little. Honestly, he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about it, knowing that they weren't officially together, he didn't want to appear like he was pushing himself on her. He was concerned it may come off a little too forward.

He thought about texting something to recover from his slip up, clenching and unclenching his jaw as he stares at the screen. He finally decides to let it slide, hoping she won't notice, and if she does, that she wont have an issue with it.

He sighs as he walks over to his friends and distracts himself with the artworks in front of him.

~MC~

MC is still looking at the pictures Chris sent. Zooming in and looking at all the work he put into the snowman of her beloved dog. It makes her smile. Then of course, she spends some time looking at the selfies he sent. On those she really zooms in, smiling harder as she sees his face. He looks happy, but then… there's something else there. He almost looks apologetic.

She frowns as she ponders why that might be, then she realizes as she scrolls that she missed a text from him earlier. MC immediately feels bad, realizing that he may have thought she was ignoring him after his abrupt departure during their call earlier in the morning. She knows he was already feeling awkward about that conversation, making herself frown.

She wasn't mad or upset about that, at all. Actually, it was more of the opposite. She felt… flattered. There was something about knowing that he wanted her, yet was sticking to his word and giving her control over what they did and when. It helped her feel more and more comfortable around him, knowing that he wasn't going to try anything. She used to think she could trust him, and now he was proving it, making her feel comfortable with the idea of them as exactly that… them.

MC starts typing an apology for missing the text. ‘Sorry, I didn't see your text earlier. I'll be there at midnight. Don't forget about me.’

But before she can hit send, his reply to her thank you for the Snow Max comes through.

‘Anytime baby’ Her breath catches in her throat as she reads it, and rereads it, and rereads it. “Baby…”

He said called her ‘baby’, again. It makes her wonder if he did it on purpose this time. Her body begins to tingle at the thought. After the way he was talking this morning, she hopes it is intentional, the idea becoming quite trilling to her. However, since she isn’t sure, MC decides to send her previously typed response and wait to see if he does it again.

Only a second passed before he sends his reply. ‘Impossible’

She grins and grabs Max, hugging him tightly. She loves her dog, but she can't deny that she’s wishing it was Chris she was hugging instead. Max doesn't mind.

Hours pass as she visits with family members on Christmas Eve. Her mom made a big dinner and invited her Uncle and his family over to join them. Basically the same thing they do every year. She had a great time playing with her cousins and joking with her Aunt and Uncle, but she was eager to talk to Chris. She can’t stop her curiosity from growing all evening, needing to know what he has planned.

Eventually her Uncle’s family leaves, his kids passed out and slung over his shoulders as they walk to their car. She hangs out with her parents for a while, watching different Christmas Specials that are playing such as The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Frosty The Snowman, and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. The last is her favorite. She wonders which special is Chris’s favorite, knowing that someone as excited about Christmas as Chris had to have at least one.

She sends out texts to all of her friends. Including the ones here, at home, and the new ones she's made at Hartfeld. Some respond right away, others take their time, but they all tell her something similar in return and share stories and pictures of their holiday. She smiles as she misses her Hartfeld friends.

Especially Zack, as she has grown even loser to him over the break through their many texts and calls. Sometimes he would ask her about Chris, how things were going with him, if he was behaving. She always picks up on his protective tone or comments, making her smile and feel beyond happy to have such a loyal friend watching her back.

As the time passes, the communications slow, eventually leaving her alone with her thoughts again. Another hour passes and she leans forward on her spot on the couch, checking to see if her parents are still awake. When she determines that they are in fact not, she takes the opportunity to quietly creep around them and slip into her room. Max, of course, was right on her heels, being more stealthy than she ever could.

The time is 11:50 p.m. and she glares at her alarm clock, wishing for the next ten minutes to hurry.

At 11:55 p.m. she fidgets with her phone, still scrolling through FaceBook to burn the time as she looks at pictures of her friend’s holiday experiences. She sees many posted by Kaitlyn and Abbie right away, each sharing multiple albums of images. A few from Zack, Tyler and Brandon cross the screen as well making her grin at their selections to share.

However there were none from James, not that she actually expected to see any. He barely knows how to log into Facebook, forget about uploading pictures or making posts. She laughs at the visual of him struggling with the website for hours, mentally making a note to try to get him more active on the social networking site.

A loud ringing shoots out of her phone as a FaceTime requests pops up, making her jump and clench the phone tightly. “Seriously…” She grumbles, mad at herself for letting it startle her.

She quickly checks her appearance in her dresser mirror and jumps back onto her bed, sliding her thumb across the screen to accept the incoming call. Her eyes eagerly search the screen as she waits for it to connect. When it does, she doesn't see anything except his empty bed. Chris is nowhere to be seen.

A crease forms in her brow as she frowns slightly and looks around the small screen for the person she's been thinking about all day. There's no sound, so she starts to think the call is frozen and reaches to reset the phone, until she hears it. A guitar. A very familiar guitar.

She cant stop the smile from escaping and taking over her entire face. MC does however stop herself from bouncing on her bed as she continues to wait. “Chris!” She finally shouts, unable to wait any longer.

She hears him laugh, a beautiful sound she knows she would never get tired of. He comes into view then, still strumming some cords on his guitar as he settles in front of his phone. “Can you see me alright?”

When she nods he asks another, “How about the sound? Am I clear?”

He flashes her a big smile as she nods again, her eyes glued to his. “What are you up to Powell…”

He shakes his head and winks at her as he raises a finger to his curled lips, instantly silencing her. He adjusts on the bed and clears his throat as his hands find the correct starting positions. MC watches as he starts strumming a familiar sound. She feels her chest swell and pain in her cheeks from smiling as she hears his voice. It’s slow and deep as he looks into her eyes.

“I don't want a lot for Christmas. There's just one thing I need.”

His smile grows, and MC bites her bottom lip, trying to control herself.

“I don't care about those presents, Underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own...”

Chris takes in a deep breath before he continues, his eyes looking deep into hers.

“More than you could eeeever know. Make my wish come truuuuue. You know that all I want for Christmas is yooooou...”

He draws out the last word, his cheeks now tinted a slight red. He continues strumming for a minute before he misses a string, making him laugh as he stops, “I told you I need more practice…”

Chris bites his cheek and focuses again as he picks back up where he left off, his hands moving around hesitantly on the guitar.

“I won't ask for much this Christmas, I won't even wish for snow...”

They both start laughing at that, each having at least 12-14 inches on the ground outside already. He quickly clears his throat and continues.

“No I'm just gonna keep on waiting, Underneath the mistletoe...”

He turns his head and looks behind him slightly before turning back to flash her a huge grin. That's when she sees it. Chris had pinned a piece of mistletoe to the wall behind him. She breaks into a huge gaping smile, making sure to keep quiet as she happily watches his actions.

“There's no sense in haaaaanging stockings”

His voice gets a little husky as he raises it slightly, closing his eyes as he emphasises the words with more feeling.

“There upon the fireplace… cause… Santa he won't make me happy, With a toy on Christmas day.”

He looks at her with a sad but cute pout as he shakes his head. She covers her mouth as she smiles, making herself stay quiet so she can hear.

“I just want you here tonight...”

He nods with much enthusiasm and looks around the room quickly with a ridiculous grin as if he was searching for her. MC squeaks as a single laugh pushes its way out between her hands.

“Hooooolding on to me so tight!”

He closes his eyes as he says sentence with force, his jaw clenching as he shakes his head and lifts his shoulders, pretending she was there doing just that. MC bites her thumbnail as she watches his antics.

“Girl what can I doooooo…”

He opens his eyes and stares into hers as he stretches the sentence out.

“You know that all I want…” He pauses, tilting his head down and lowering his voice slightly. “...for Christmas is…” A smirk appears on his lips, “...you”

Chris loses his place as he stares at her and starts laughing again as he lightly smacks the body of his guitar with mild frustration. “Ugh, okay I really need to practice more…”

He laughs a bit more and shakes his head before continuing, looking up to lock his gaze to hers again, his expression is back to performance happy as he flashes her big smiles.

“And all the lights are shining, So brightly everywhere. Aaaand the sooooound of children's Laughter fills the aiiiiir. And everyone is singing...”

He shrugs as he gestures to himself in a humorous way.

“I can hear those sleigh bells ring~ing...”

Chris nods and scrunches up his face as if he's at a metal concert. MC starts laughing and bobbing her head with him. His expression changes as he quickly tears his eyes away from MC’s and looks down at his hands before he sings the next lines.

“Santa won't you bring me the one I really love, Won't you please bring my baby to me~eeeeeee….”

MC feels the butterflies as they come back in full force, making her stomach do flips as her eyes move back and forth, waiting for him to look up again. She swallows, then a second later he does the same before slowly raising his eyes back to meet hers.

“I don't want a lot for Christmas, This is all I'm asking for. No I just want to seeeee my baby…”

His neutral expression turns into a tiny smirk as he sucks in a deep breath and crushes his eyes closed, his voice becoming louder and more intense as he grinds out the next line.

“Standing right outside my door!”

His eyes slowly open and lock on hers, his expression almost pleading.

“I just want you for my ooooown… More than you could ever knoooow”

Chris gives her a soft warm smile and nods faintly as his pleading eyes stay on hers.

“Make my wish come truuuuue, You know that all I want..” He takes a deep breath, not breaking eye contact, “...for Christmas, Is yooooou…”

His cheeks rise higher as his smile grows. MC feels her face flush and her lower body tingle with the look he's giving her. His voice grows softer as he slows down his guitar.

“Is yoooou….” He strums the last few cords and lets out a small nervous laugh after it becomes quiet again.

~Chris~

Chris leans back a little, stretching his back from its folded position around the guitar as he looks away for a moment. He suddenly feels very self conscious as the silence takes over. He finally gets up the courage to look back at the screen, and is pleasantly surprised.

MC is searching his face, her eyes moving all over as he shifts awkwardly on the edge of the bed. He gives her an anxious grin, and laughs through his nose, unsure of what to say.

Thankfully for Chris, she takes care of it and speaks first. “I wish I was there…”

He lets out a huff of air, making his bangs move a little with the force of it, before he runs his right hand through the tousled mess. Chris clears his throat again and rubs the back of his neck as he watches her, his voice a little shaky and unsure. “Yeah… me too.”

She presses her lips together and gives him a small demur smile. “Merry Christmas, Christopher.”

His eyes crinkle at the corners as he gives her the biggest smile. “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”

She playfully arches an eyebrow. “What, no ‘baby’?”

He blanches for a moment, sucking in a breath as his mouth falls open. He sees her grin grow and he recovers with a warm smile, his confidence in full swing. “I thought you liked beautiful…”

She laughs softly. “I like them both, actually.”

He laughs through his nose and nods. “Well, then… baby...” He pauses and places emphasis on the last word, looking up at her with his head tilted down. “...have a good night, beautiful.”

[seakittens]

Take Your Marks Review

Okay, general disclaimer first. I don’t speak Japanese nor understand it very well. I have, however, reviewed all of the existing summaries of this movie on Tumblr and am part of a collective (RH Discord Group) that includes people who speak Japanese fairly well. This has informed my knowledge of general dialogue. For the sake of fairness, most of this review will focus on visuals, rather than dialogue. I believe I can speak to what I saw to a reasonable degree.

Look I have proof I was there!  

I’m also doing this review in terms of what I enjoyed rather than a pure summary (though it will be summary-ish because that’s how my brain works) because of said Japanese language barrier.  As I said, there are at least two direct summaries available. I’m going to try to touch on things that lack elaboration from what I’ve seen.

Okay, let’s dive in!

The third stage greeting featured Samezuka on an island resort. They were all so casually dressed. It looked like they just rolled out of bed, even Rin. XD Who did his classic leg crossing sit. This was before the image of everyone as pirates. The theater rules were presented by Natsuya and Nao.

The fourth stage greeting featured Style 5 on the resort. They were all formally dressed but not in suits. They looked amazing. As did the Roadshow pic. Theater rules were presented by Ikuya and Hiyori.

Episode 1: - This episode starts with Makoto dreaming and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Makoto is humming “Clear Blue Departure” while he cooks breakfast and it’s adorable. The scene shifts to Haruka  stripping and then diving off the terrace into the endless pool that the city’s transformed into, it’s stunning. The water looks super crisp and the wind that blows back at Makoto is lovely. I loved Makoto reaching out for Haruka and then tripping off the terrace and falling into the water. Super symbolic. What an opening. - The dream ends with Haruka reaching out for Makoto, as Makoto wakes up on the train. Which is a nice switch from their usual dynamic. Makoto still calls him “Haru-chan” and Haruka still is tsun about it. - The OP sequence is a combination of OP sequences from Free and Eternal Summer, with some fun extras thrown in. You get some running Samezuka, along with running Iwatobi. You get a cute shot of the Matsuoka family cat, a black and white fatty named Steve, along with Rin’s mom. Gou is mixed in here and there with Iwatobi. You also get Nao and Natsuya, Ikuya and Hiyori (his roommate) and Kisumi and Asashi (hanging out together). There are some quick profiles of minor characters such as Sasabe, Miho, Seijuurou and Hayato. - A cute highlight is two group shots. One of these comes from the Timeless Medley endcard and features Haruka seemingly starting to put his arm around Rin. Another seems to be a new one that also involves Rin leaning toward Haruka. - The OP basically ends with the key visual for the movie. - The first episode involves a lot of Makoto and Haruka searching for Haruka’s apartment. Kisumi is working for his uncle’s real estate agency and is super cute with said uncle. I did crack up when Haruka tried to leave twice upon seeing Kisumi. Poor boy. - Haruka is so picky about his apartment. He rejects one for too small a bath and another for a stove that did not allow for proper mackerel grilling. Kisumi then shows them an apartment that Makoto really approves of and seems to meet Haruka’s standards, but Kisumi tells them someone died there and Makoto freaks out and hides behind Haruka. I lost it at this scene because Kisumi is so casual the whole time. What a troll. - I think Makoto also comments on Kisumi having a license while Kisumi is driving them around and says he doesn’t have his yet but Haruka does. - Eventually, Kisumi gives them the instructions for another apartment with a very nice pool and surrounded by sakura trees. This is where Haruka and Makoto must navigate the Tokyo subway system. Having done this, I FEEL THEIR PAIN. Eventually, they find the apartment, along with  Misaki, a little kid who’s standing by the door. Misaki is adorable and his relationship with his rival/friend makes Haruka think of Rin, causing him to flashback to his times around young Rin. Haruka’s eyes also do this sort of sparkle and the camera zooms in on them. Haruka tells Makoto to take Misaki to the pool, and it’s super sweet how Makoto invites Misaki to go with him, all coach-like. - Interspersed among the Makoto and Haruka journey are separate scenes of Rei/Gou/Nagisa and Rin. This involves visiting the Iwatobi Swim Club and getting a quick cameo of Hayato who says nothing but gives a cute wav. Precious child. Iwatobi is painstakingly sewing replicas of the outfits from the Splash  Free OP. They end up talking to Rin on the phone about Haruka’s apartment search and Rin seems antsy that Haruka hasn’t found one yet. Since Rin is still packing up his dorm, Momo shows up a lot and tries to steal the phone to talk to Gou. Cue shouting from Rin’s end. All of the Samezuka relay team shows up in Rin’s room to help him pack and there are some cute scenes of Sousuke teasing Momo about the beetle book he wants to give Gou. - Gou meets up with Rin at the train station and they walk home together, with Gou hanging off him and leaning into him. Rin again asks about Haruka’s apartment search and Gou teases him. Rin is super indulgent of Gou this whole time and they’re very adorable siblings. I loved this scene. Gou also shows Rin a special cake she bought for the occasion. - I really loved Makoto coaching Misaki too and Haruka watching proudly. Also Misaki’s super focused eyes upon seeing Haruka swim. Such a good scene. - Haruka and Makoto return to the apartment Haruka wants and have a nice talk about futures in the sunset (SYMBOLISM) before finding an abandoned phone. - Haruka drives them back to the real estate agency and is so focused. He gets a little close to another car and Makoto panics and starts backseat driving while Haruka calmly makes his turn. Makoto is gripping his chest like he just had a heartattack. He’s a goofball and this scene is absolutely hilarious. - Nao shows up at the end to get his phone and speaks briefly to Kisumi’s uncle.

Episode 2: - This has great stuff about the Matsuoka family. We see Rin trying to pet Steve and Steve pointedly walking back to sit by Gou’s feet. We also see Rin unpacking things like his pillow, while humming. Rin gives such a content smile while eating cake with his family (Steve naps under the table) and looking at the measuring marks left on the wall for him and Gou by Toraichi. I also want to point out that his mother Miyako is drop dead gorgeous. I love the way her hair falls over her neck. Rin also offers the cake to a picture of his father and prays to him. We get to see all of Toraichi’s trophies around his picture, along with a picture of Toraichi and little Rin and Gou. - We get a cute scene of Ai being captain with Samezuka. He’s really grown on me as a character. - This also has some great Sousuke/Samezuka (the less known team characters) interaction. After Momo and Ai win two onsen passes while Momo is trying to win another beetle thing, they send Sousuke and Samezuka on a crazy puzzle scavenger hunt. Samezuka is adorable as they try to work with Sousuke to figure everything out, from rearranging lettered cookies to finding the shark in front of the school. - When Sousuke calls Rin to tell him about the paired tickets (Rin is surprised it’s just them), Miyako pulls out another pair so that Ai and Momo can go too. I died. - I love Momo and Rin’s interactions in this episode. He’s so indulgent of him. He helps him find the onsen’s mascot, capybara, to take pictures with, poses in ridiculous cutouts at Momo’s insistence and follows Momo around to shop for capybara merch. In general, Samezuka is such a good team in this. They’re like a little family. After getting their own cutout picture (where Rin says “say cheese” in English), Momo and Ai cajole Sousuke and Rin into doing the same. They’re disappointed that Sousuke won’t smile since Sousuke’s fairly sad and reflecting on swimming throughout this episode. But Rin tickles Sousuke and they get a nice smile out of him for their picture. - Rin also tries to pet another cat and it  walks away, leading to Sousuke laughing at him.  Oh yeah, Rin sits in a vibrating chair, and the sounds he makes are hilarious.

- Later, Natsuya’s team also shows up at the onsen. Natsuya is the captain. One of his teammates wants Momo’s capybara plush and glares at him, but Momo doesn’t know why the guy is so annoyed. This later results in the two battling in a fierce pair tennis match for the plush. Ai and Momo win. Rin hears about the match as a fight and rushes in to save the day, only to realize his team is ridiculous. 

- Around this time, Sousuke and Ai have a really nice scene in the onsen together. The general consensus is they talk about how Sousuke helped Ai become a better swimmer. A similar discussing is had with both Sousuke and Rin before the onsen, during their special dinner. Ahhh, Samezuka. - Natsuya runs into Sousuke while Sousuke is getting a coke (Natsuya drinks black coffee) and they discuss his shoulder and Nao. Lots of implications for Sousuke’s future. I love this scene. (This may be a new ship for me, even though I do enjoy Natsuya/Nao, who are never together in this movie for some reason.) - At night, they’re all sleeping on futons and Momo is noisy. Sousuke notices Rin is awake and Rin tries to talk to Sousuke about something (probably swimming) but Momo interrupts him with some sleep-talking and Rin loses his nerve after he yells at him. He’s all contemplative when he finally goes to sleep. - The scene with Momo and Ai giving Sousuke and Rin their charms is also really sweet. - We see Sousuke and Rin finishing up their packing in the dorm. Sousuke shows Rin a mecha that transforms into a salmon. It ends with Sousuke staring at a team picture as he packs his things and looking at  his charm. The implication is he’s made his decision about his future.

Episode 3: - I’m not going to lie, I think this was the weakest episode. The focus wasn’t as strong and it kind of dragged at points. But a large part of its issue is that Iwatobi as a team pales in comparison to the camaraderie we just saw Samezuka display in the previous episode. I dislike how Makoto and Haruka do not feel as unified with the rest of Iwatobi as Sousuke and Rin do with the rest of Samezuka. It’s hard to really describe why but it’s somewhat disappointing. 8( It still had some good points though. - Also because of said reason, I kind of don’t remember this one as well. Sorry. - Rei having a dream about finding a genie and asking it to recruit more members, only to still not receive any was cute. As was Nagisa napping in Rei’s room. - They eventually come up with a plan to shoot Rei’s dream as a recruitment video. Makoto and Haruka return and Haruka gives Nagisa special Iwatobi bread. - Iwatobi recruits Rin to drive them to the sandy part of Tottori. This was seriously the best scene of the episode. His mom’s car is so very red, and Nagisa gushes over it lots. Rin takes most of Iwatobi in mom’s car, while Miho takes Gou and more supplies. Haruka rides shotgun with Rin, and Nagisa compliments Rin’s driving. Which leads to Haruka saying he can drive better and pointing out his Tokyo experience. This of course goads Rin on and his gives one of his classic toothy smiles before going faster. Miho notices this and goes faster in turn. Makoto freaks out again. - Nagisa pulls out all of the costumes once they reach their destination and starts describing roles. When Rin teases them, Nagisa shows that they also made a costume for Rin, but Rin bails for a meeting with Ai. He does give Nagisa a pat on the head and the rest of them a super cute smile before leaving though, and he and Haruka have a nice silent stare at each other. - Key points of their video shooting is Makoto trying to be a villain (though still wearing his original Splash Free outfit) while blushing and being awkward, Haruka staring blankly at a camel before sitting atop it and Rei and Nagisa doing some sort of butterfly where one supports the other on his back (so weird). Haruka appears to be very good at his part. I also want to point  out that I’m fairly sure that Makoto has Splash Free Rin’s part, seeing as how he holds the water goblet all haughtily. - Rin and Ai eat at a McDonald’s-like restaurant, where Rin gets a toy Loosey-kun from a Happy Meal. I think Asahi is also talking on the phone to Kisumi outside the restaurant here. - The rest of the episode is kind of slower, with Iwatobi figuring out the video. Makoto and Haruka aren’t around as much, though there is a scene where Nagisa finds his Iwatobi-chan carvings and he and Haruka talk about handing them out again. Gou is cleaning the team room and ends up knocking over a filing cabinet that has a recruitment manual from the old Iwatobi Swimming Team. It says the key to recruitment is PKM. So most of the episode is devoted to solving the mystery of what that means. - This involves going to visit Sasabe. Meanwhile, Makoto and Haruka talk proudly about their kouhai. - They eventually realize PKM means some perfect muscle thing and are all disillusioned. Makoto suggests they clean the pool for old time’s sake and Rei and Haruka have a super cute scene. Rei sees a butterfly and flashes back to Haruka teaching him how to swim. I love how the butterfly  flutters between them. It starts on Haruka but ends up on Rei’s forehead.Ugh, I  love Rei and Haruka. This episode needed more of this. I think Makoto and Nagisa have a talking moment or two. -  Iwatobi all watch the promotional video together and it ends with Rei delivering a message about team bonds that makes everyone smile and look up at the stars. The stars are shining various colors, including red and blue.

Episode 4: - This is Rin’s episode and I was dying the whole time from how precious Rin is. - It starts with a flashback to Makoto and Ikuya talking in middle school. Ikuya mentions he’s going to America to train. The scene ends with grown-up Ikuya. - Then we see Iwatobi trying to come up with ideas for Rin’s surprise party. Gou suggests something about the guys showing off muscles for Rin, Nagisa suggests carrying sleeping Rin to the pool (to which Gou adds the muscles thing again), Haruka suggests a bunch of mackerel dishes and eventually a more Western one. - They eventually decide on a different plan but need Momo and Ai. - I absolutely loved Rin crying about the stupid romance movie based off the Fly and being tsun about it. When Sousuke goes to the bathroom, Rin sees Gou meeting with Momo and since he’s fresh off his romance movie, immediately assumes they’re dating. I love how he has to lower his phone when Sousuke calls to tell him he’s lost. So he’s kind of freaking out in a rough whisper. - The rest of Iwatobi and Ai show up to meet with Momo and tell him about the Loosey-kun toy Rin got. I think his role in the surprise party is to challenge Rin to a swim-off for the toy. - Rin goes home and is still miserable about Gou dating. He flashes back to her as a little girl and imagines her walking off with some imaginary guy and is very distraught. He tries to talk to her about it, but Gou is evasive to avoid spoiling the surprise. It just leads to Rin looking really awkward. His mother’s advice doesn’t help either. - Momo confronts Rin to ask about the toy but doesn’t specificy and Rin thinks he’s asking about Gou. I love this scene since Rin is clearly frazzled but he tries to stay all mature and when Momo challenges him to a race for the thing he wants, Rin is super serious in accepting. Why are you so cute, Rin? - Somehow Samezuka hears about what’s going down and is all gossiping. Seijuurou just happened to be around so he hears it too and he tells Momo they’re going to race together, thinking if they win, they’ll be able to date Gou. - Rin realizes he now has to race two people for Gou and is even more distraught. He runs into Nagisa and Rei when they come to meet with Ai to discuss the party. Somehow the two get the impression that Rin won’t go to Australia if he doesn’t beat the Mikoshiba brothers. - Words gets back via telephone to Gou, Haruka and Makoto, who all panic that Rin is going to quit swimming again. Haruka is especially distraught and frustrated, while Makoto is whimpering and whining. Haruka decides to join the match on Rin’s side. - Haruka calls Rin, who seems to recognize Haruka’s number but is very confused to see  him calling. - The next scene has them sitting on a bench together. The sky is full of swirling (literally swirling) stars, like a whirlpool of them, and the colors are so vibrant. The whole scene is shot in such soft lighting. It’s so over the top  beautiful. Haruka tries to get to the bottom of Rin’s issues, but Rin is evasive because it’s a personal problem. I must add that most of this talk is super soft and concerned. Haruka  is precious. But Haruka does get more and more worked up the more evasive Rin is until he’s shouting and practically crawling over Rin. Their faces are like less than an inch apart. It’s nuts. Haruka is so intense. Rin has his leg up to block Haruka from ending up in his lap. But Rin realizes the misunderstanding explains his issue with Gou. Haruka calms down and confesses about the party. They’re both so soft and cute again. Rin has this smile that kills me when he teases Haruka about spoiling the party but then reassures him. The general consensus is Rin says something along the lines that swimming with Haruka again is enough of a surprise. Haruka gives Rin an awed sort of look. - Despite clearing everything up, Rin and Haruka are still set to swim against the Mikoshibas. Rin catches Haruka’s attention for a high five prior to the match and Haruka gives another great smile before eagerly slapping his hand. So much assertive Haruka in this movie. I love it. - The race is beautifully animated. One of Free’s epic races. Before they swim, Seiichirou teases Haruka and Haruka kind of snarks back. Very nice. But Sei still outswims Haruka. Haruka reaches the wall and gives this huge shout of RIIIIIN, identical to the way Rin shouted for him during the race in S1 Episode 12. Rin dives over Haruka and Haruka’s eyes do this super focused thing as he watches. Rin overtakes Momo  at the  flip-turn and then charges back to the starting block. He sees Haruka waiting for him and goes into his Sight-Mode, with the bright lights and the intense stare (again think, Episode 12) and rushes back with another wild grin. He wins the race for them and has a super happy reaction. - Momo wails about losing and Rin tries to reassure him, as all the lights go off and  inflatable toys of everyone’s image animals appear in the pool. Samezuka shows up with a huge banner for Rin. Rin’s about to cry and both Sousuke and Haruka encourage it in their own ways. Everyone jumps in the pool with Rin and there’s a super cute shot of Haruka snuggling his inflatable dolphin. - Afterward, Rin gives Momo the Loosey-kun toy. He gets some nice quick moments with Rei and then Iwatobi as a whole. He flashes back to him and the original relay team. Then he fist-bumps Sousuke and flashes back to when they were kids as well. The general consensus is that Haruka says something to Rin about looking foward to seeing him again. He gives another nice smile here, and Rin smiles back. - Last scenes are a montage of what everyone’s doing. Rin is going to the airport, while his mom and Gou see him off. His mother waves Steve’s paw at Rin. Makoto and Haruka are jogging. Nagisa, Rei and Gou are doing more  recruitment things. Samezuka are doing other team things. We see Rin’s plane leave and then we see Haruka and Makoto staring at the cherry blossom tree at Iwatobi ES. There is a flash to the Iwatobi bricks with “I swim Free best for the team.” Then the classic Haruka bird shows up and flies over them, dropping a feather on Haruka, as he smiles. - Truly last scene is Ikuya and Hiyori looking at some roster of Japanese swimmers, including Haruka. Both look very interested. -  "See You Next Stage" appears  at the end. The credits role with all of the main 8 characters in Elvis costumes. I like to point out that Sousuke isn’t dancing in his picture and is kneeling on one leg because he’s a lazy butt. It’s a cute song involving bits for pretty much every single Free character. -  After the credits is the picture of Haruka in his new red and white uniform with “Free continues Summer 2018.” -  Oh I should add that every episode has a commercial card with either Miho, Sasabe or Seijuurou saying “Take Your Marks.” So random. They should have included Miyako. Or Steve.

Final Thoughts:

As said overall, this is a really fun and really sweet movie. Yeah, it’s a glorified OVA, but it was cool to see how much all the characters have matured and developed, especially Haruka and Rin. Haruka was so cool throughout this, and Rin was both super mature and devastatingly pretty in every shot. Like distractingly pretty. I  also loved  all of Haruka’s beautiful smiles. So many smiles. I’m  very curious how they will follow Haruka’s story in S3 and what Rin will be up to. I’m also curious how they’re going to work in other characters. I admit I’m not crazy about following the juniors since I’m all about the pro life.

Oh yeah, this was also the special seiyuu event so I got to see Tsubasa Yonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa and Akeno Watanabe (Gou and baby Rin). They were very cute. I love how Yonaga refers to everyone as “chan.”

I will hopefully see again on Saturday before I go back home. If you have any questions about the RH scenes or any scenes really, feel free to message me or send me an ask. Remember, I can’t answer dialogue questions. Only visual ones.

[breg21]

The Ties that bind us Ch.1

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12840945/1/The-Ties-That-Bind-Us

Chapter 1! I'm so excited to get this story started! I now have a skeleton down; so I know what I basically wanna do with this story, I can't wait to write it all down! Anyway, please enjoy. Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Nickelodeon does.

HOWEVER, LILITH FENTON IS MINE HEHEHE.

Two years had passed. Spring poured into summer, summer had swirled into fall, and winter was now taking its harsh claim over Amity. As the seasons changed so did Team Phantom, which was now their official name. Now that Team Phantom was a renowned worldwide corporation, it allowed people to make ghost hunting to be their career, and people could start as young as fifteen with parental permission. It was now a more government-funded career, with classes taught by educated people that had to get a degree in the field.

It also gave students that wanted to go into ghost hunting a scholarship into college if they wanted something other than ghost fighting, depending on their rank, how invested they were, and what skills they built up over the years. It worked like a grading system; the better the grades, the more scholarships were offered. While there was a grading system in Ghost 101, it worked more on the physical aspects, like gym, and either you passed or failed.

Ghost 102 worked on more of the science of ghost hunting, and was graded like a normal academic class. They were taught how to outsmart a ghost, how to hide from a ghost, and a better understanding of how a ghost thinks for self preservation. The students had to learn how to get out of tough situations that they may get into if a ghost were to attack them.

Danielle wasn't sure how many high school and colleges offered the ghost hunting classes outside of her town, but in town there were three classes: One taught by her grandpa, one by grandma, and one by Valerie's dad, Damien Grey.

Her dad had changed the most, while he wasn't the bulkiest around he was starting to lose his lean build and was gaining muscle from ghost fighting. He kept his hair about the same, and he now towered over Dash at 6'4''. His crystal blue eyes, despite having seen so much horror and shit in his young eighteen years, had retained an understanding of happiness. He always said it was because of his family that he was so grounded in reality. He now wore a plain black t-shirt with his symbolic logo, and simple blue jeans.

She had also changed a little over the years. Her figure was now more refined at sixteen. However, not wanting too many eyes on her, she kept to her baggy hoodies, sweatpants and leggings, unless she was with Tucker, then she'd dress a little differently. Her eyes that matched those of her dad's stayed the same, and honestly so did everything else. She didn't need much of a change.

Her mom and Valerie stayed the same physically, other than filling out in the chest area a bit and gaining a couple inches in height. Valerie still was curvy, and her mom still had her straight figure, which always seemed to compliment her nicely.

Sam was also growing her hair out now; it was just past her shoulders. Her signature clothing hadn't changed much, except for a different deep purple plaid skirt with black lining instead of the green; she had also traded her purple tights for black ones that stopped just above mid-thigh.

Valerie now typically wore a crimson red sweater and black jeans. She preferred to cover up, trying to protect her skin as much as possible if a ghost were to unexpectedly attack, unlike Sam who didn't give a damn, her own words being "If I get a scratch, I get a scratch, I'm not going to worry about it," to which the huntress could only shrug in acceptance. To each their own.

Tucker had changed along with Danny, getting more bulk in his build. It was not as much as the halfa but it added to him, and - to Danielle's utter disgust - made girls chase after him constantly, to which she'd secretly fire an ecto-blast at the fawning girl's ass over her boyfriend. He stood strongly at 6'2'', which still made her have to stand on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. Switching up his own outfit, he now wore a light baby blue hoodie with the logo embedded on the front, dark blue jeans that matched nicely, and a multi-colored beret of green, red and yellow. He was in his last term as mayor.

As of right now, however, it didn't matter how many years had passed; Danielle was still sure that school was the embodiment of torture for teenagers. She had been out with Tucker last night, past curfew -which got her grounded- and she could feel her eyes start to droop. Drool started to pool in her mouth, threatening to spill over. History 2 was so boring, and Lancer hadn't changed over the years; his voice still put people to sleep.

"Ms. Fenton!" Her textbook slid from her desk, dropping to the floor, resounding with a loud thud. Bolting up, her eyes snapped open, sweeping the room, searching for danger. When she came back to reality, she saw her classmates staring back at her in laughter and amusement. Her only response was to shrink a little in her seat. What scared her most was the look of anger on her parents' face.

"Ms. Fenton, do I need to have a conference with your parents? If the cause is ghost fighting, I'd allow it, but seeing as your dad over here is quite awake, something tells me that isn't the case." The glances she received from both eighteen-year-olds told her she didn't want that.

"No, sorry sir." He turned back to his lesson.

"Now, as I was saying-"

Out of nowhere, the ceiling caved in.

Two ghosts - from what Team Phantom could tell, one being Skulker, and one unknown - were in hand-to-hand combat. Skulker, unfortunately, had the upper hand in the fight as they pushed against each other to gain control against the other. His bigger build seemed to tower over her.

The girl looked no older than sixteen. The weird thing about her though, was she had almost the same costume of Team Phantom, complete with the DP logo, sleek green, black, and white colors and all. She had a round baby face, thin lips pressed firmly together, with a narrow scrunched up nose as she fought off Skulker. Her waist length hair was snow white, much like Danny's in ghost form, and her amethyst eyes narrowed in concentration on her fight.

There was something else she noticed about this new girl. A medallion hung loosely around her neck, with the letters CW imprinted in the middle that stood for Clockwork.

Just great.

Time travel. Can't we have a normal month?

The girl's head turned to the side, piercing daggers at the team. "A little help here you guys?" She hissed through her teeth as she continued to struggle with the hunter.

The four broke into action. Valerie, Sam, and Tucker pulled bazookas from their backpacks, while Danny and Danielle changed forms, and all started striking the hunter with ectoblast after ectoblast. It was moments before he was easily contained in a Thermos.

The girl got up with the help of Danny. Rolling her shoulder, she groaned in anger and pain at discovering that her shoulder was dislocated.

"Thanks, dad." the halfa said.

Everyone but the four gasped in shock at hearing this girl call him dad.

'Wasn't Danielle his only daughter? How many clones did Masters create?' was the only thought from their fellow classmates.

Ignoring their shock, Danny continued as if it was nothing. "What's your name?" He came up to her, grabbing her shoulder, signaling that this was going to hurt, and she nodded in agreement, used to this by now.

"Lilith." she grit out between her teeth. He grabbed her forearm, placing one hand on her shoulder, and snaps it back into place.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm uncle Clockwork's apprentice. I'm from about twenty or so years into the future. Sometimes he has to send me to different times to test me so that I can learn to do things correctly. I don't exactly know why I'm here yet."

Oh, that made sense. Sorta.

"Wait," Sam cut in, placing her weapon back in her backpack and snapping the Thermos back onto her specter deflector belt. "I don't get it, why would Clockwork need an apprentice? He's the master of time. "

"Even the master of time needs a break too mom. Humans and ghosts are a pain to watch over constantly. And don't even get me started on the Observants." She shuddered at the thought of them.

"Okay." They all turned to the new nasally voice that enters the conversation; Mikey. "There's something I just don't get. Your daughter, from the future, just fell from the sky, and you act as if it's nothing. What made you so jaded that your future daughter coming here doesn't boggle your mind?"

In response, all fingers of the group, including that of her own, pointed to Danielle. "I was kinda the straw that broke the camel's back," She explained, with pride gleaming in her beautiful brilliant blue eyes.

"Shouldn't you be more careful of what you do here, haven't you heard of the butterfly effect?" That earned the nerd an eye roll.

"Why do people have the premise that time is so sensitive? The butterfly effect only happens in extreme cases."

"Do we have any more siblings in the future?" Dani asked.

Lilith turned back to look at her older sibling, "Yeah. He's a little shit too. He's thirteen." Lilith mumbled sorry when she saw the angered look of her parents at the swear word.

Well, they definitely had time to perfect it with Danielle.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Questions were thrown at her from the class, several all at once, one after another which eventually became a mess of words, shouting, and people who wanted their question answered. Poor Mr. Lancer couldn't even quiet the kids.

Danielle then offered Lilith a hand - even twenty years in the past the sisters had a special connection – and Danielle boosted her up onto Lancer's desk. Bringing her fingers to her mouth, Lilith let out a loud piercing whistle.

"Okay. Mr. Lancer has a class to teach, and I still have to figure out why I'm here. I'll answer only three questions, but then my family and I gotta get out of here. Now, one at a time and you better raise your hand. I won't answer if you don't raise your hand."

Paulina was the first to raise her hand, to which Lilith, with much disgust, picked her. "Do I marry the ghost boy?"

Lilith's eyes squinted in confusion at the eighteen-year-old, her mouth agape for a second, truly contemplating whether or not if this chick was for real. She could tell the rest of her family felt the same, and her dad was holding mom against him, trying to calm her with whispers into her ear so that she wouldn't go and attack the girl.

"Are you serious right now? I just referred to Sam as my mom. Wanna know why? 'Cause they've been married for years in my time."

The latina shrugged. "You can't tell me she amounts to much." Lilith, bless her heart, was mid-air, about to pounce on the older - older to her at least - girl when Danielle caught her by the waist, clutching her younger sister to her chest to try calming her baby sister.

"My mom is a world-renowned fashion designer that makes Danny Phantom clothing. Who do you think came up with my dad's logo? My mom." She stressed the name. "She's also a great ghost hunter along with the rest of my family. My parents are rich, I don't have to worry about any college money wise, but I sure as hell don't flaunt it like you do.

"And another thing, you marry Baxter. Have fun with that. At least one of your children doesn't turn out as horrible as you. The other one is terrible, unfortunately. "

"So we have two kids?" The jock asked sheepishly, as to not upset the girl.

While Dash didn't raise his hand like she had asked in the beginning, Lilith let it slide; she was nice like that."Yep. My brother is actually dating your younger one, Ashlen is her name. It's cute, 'cause she's nothing like her mother. From what I can tell, she likes him for him, and not just his ghost half." She smirked at the girl who was now glaring at her. Not that she minded. Paulina didn't scare her, neither did her kid.

"What's the other one's name? Please tell me it's a boy, I want to keep the Baxter name going." That angered her. He never changed. She had to bite back a growl that bubbled in her throat.

"That-"

"Why are we discussing this?" Mikey piped in once again. "She's from the future. This is only going to mess up the timeline."

That only pissed her off even more. "I have had training with the master of time himself. I think I know more than you're aware of. Have you even met Clockwork? No. So shut up and sit down. I have to cut this short anyway. I really have to find out why I'm here."

She turned to her family. "Let's go to Nana's. We'll discuss everything there." They all nodded in agreement, telling Lancer that they'd pick up their homework after school.

"Race ya." She saw the challenge in her big sister's eyes as she transformed.

"Oh, you're so on!" With that, they sped off towards nana's house, Danielle just a tad ahead.

Yee. I personally love the idea that Danielle and Lilith are close, despite the big age difference. Anyway, let me know your thoughts! Until next time. (I know I said it'd be longer until I posted this story, but I just had so much inspiration for this one that I had to write. Lol)

Shoutout to my amazing beta reader silente faery. The rest will be posted on Fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy!

[dillatont]

Soundtrack Review: Sonic Mania

Humans remember "firsts". Many new experiences will, and do, stick with you for your whole life. Video game fans remember many first moments related to games...their first system, first game, and so on.

For me, one of those firsts was the first console system I owned. I remember coming home from a relative's house on Christmas and seeing one more Christmas present...a Sega Genesis. I actually walked in to a sibling playing the signature Genesis game at the time, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Needless to say, I fell in love quickly with the lightning-fast platforming, catchy music, and colorful level design that set an old-school Sonic game apart from the rest.

Fast-forward to the present day. We're in the mood for 90s nostalgia as a society. Perhaps it's just the age of those who dominate the decision-making in the pop-culture sphere, perhaps it's a nod to the boom economic times of that decade that seem like a memory to many people now, or perhaps it's something else, but we are definitely looking back to the 90s more and more often.

So, with that landscape, along comes Sonic Mania. It's an unabashed throwback to the glory days of Sonic 1, 2, and 3, to the point that the game makes use of level design and music from all of those games, as well as Sonic CD and Sonic and Knuckles. It seems like, in theory, that it could be a game ripe to fail, perhaps from the weight of expectations, or from a lack of execution, or just from simple fatigue from retreading similar ideas. (Sonic 4, you might recall, was not received well)

I've listened to the soundtrack and watched a lot of gameplay footage. Let's be clear. It is absolutely none of those things I mentioned above. The game is a major success, successfully reviving the classic Sonic feel, and the music is an absolute homerun. It is an excellent soundtrack, meticulously crafted. It is a joy to listen to it. Let's dive in to why.

Sonic Mania released back in September, after some substantial buildup. Back in the Genesis days, the development team known as Sonic Team was responsible for Sega's many Sonic releases, as well as other successful games such as the perpetually underrated "Ristar". To make this new game, Sega went a different route, finding creators of Sonic fangames and giving them the ability to help make sure that Sonic Mania had the right feel to it. Musically, that meant that the job went to Portugese composer Tee Lopes, who began creating music and posting to Sonic forums years ago, and has now been given the job of helping to reboot the signature Sonic sounds created by Masato Nakamura in Sonic 1 and 2.

To craft the soundtrack, Lopes went in a very interesting direction. Sonic Mania contains 13 zones, 8 of which are reboots of previous zones from previous Sonic games, with the remainder being all-original. Of course, those zones already had music. So, naturally, when you play through Act 1 of those zones, the original music (or a close facsimile in some cases) plays in the background. So, then what was Lopes brought in for?

Well, see, that's where it gets fun. The old music was only done for Act 1 of each zone. For Act 2, Lopes created a re-mix of the original theme, meaning that every literal level of the game has different music. Lopes does a great job with these remixes- they have enough melodic material from the originals to feel familiar, but an individual spin on each of them is evident. For instance, Oil Ocean Zone 2 uses instrumentation that sounds more traditionally Arabic, in addition to matching more closely to the so-called "Gypsy" scale in terms of tonality. Chemical Plant Zone 2 adds lots of drum-beats, sirens, and other bits of electronica in addition to the melody to give a more "industrial" sound to the music. Really, all of the remixes take the music in interesting directions, making the 2nd Act of each zone sound similar but not the same (which is apparently also the intent of the game level design), and adding a lot of interesting to the listening experience.

To be honest, though, none of that is why I say that the the soundtrack is strong. The original tracks are even better than the re-imagined tracks are. Upon first listening, my ear was drawn immediately to "Studiopolis Zone", an original track that involves vocals, a bouncy and upbeat track, and a couple of swinging shout choruses that are ridiculously catchy. Lopes creates some fun original sounds, imbued with that sense of 90s nostalgia. In Studiopolis, there are Synth hits throughout the piece, but other pieces also include drumbeats straight out of 1995, Salt-n-Pepa style rap vocals, and a European-style dance feel that actually has some musicality (I'm looking at you, modern-day EDM). He includes many clever touches throughout both the remixes and original pieces, such as a tiny snippet of Ennio Morricone's western classic "A Fistful of Dollars" during the western-inspired Mirage Saloon Zone. All the little touches like this that pop up throughout the game make for a much, much more interesting listening experience. Nothing here feels boring, and nothing feels like it's just a ham-handed retread of 90s Sonic style. It's all clever and enjoyable an interesting in its' own right. And, the soundtrack passes the most important test a video game soundtrack can have: it retains it's musical interest throughout many, many listenings. In fact, I would argue that certain tracks here actually get better the more you hear them. I can see playing or listening to this game again and again and again and not getting bored, and that is a hard trick to turn.

One of the other great things about the soundtrack is that the Final Boss Music fits the bill well. It has weight to it. It feels dangerous. It feels like there is a finality to the journeys through a variety of zones that have preceeded it. Sonic 2 did that quite well, and Sonic Mania is just as good at turning that trick. And then follows it up by providing a frenetic ending for the "secret final boss" level that is arguably even better, even though it's less dangerous and more, well extreme. (To gratuitously use an overdone 90s term)

Do not under-estimate the difficulty level of what Lopes had to try and do here. Making something that sounds simulataneously like it would fit in the present day as well as the 90s? Remixing classic themes successfully while also integrating original material that sounded like it fit in? Working with a game franchise whose long-time fans feel like they have been burned so many times throughout the last two decades? Using enough musical styles to fit the 13 very disparate zones that a Sonic game makes use of? Creating a full-sized game soundtrack when most of his prior experience was with App store titles? Lopes creates something that weaves all of the these competing interests together in a very, very enjoyable manner. This soundtrack is a triumph. No description less than that is accurate. I had small things here and there they I wasn't a huge fan of (the boss music prior to the final boss doesn't rise to the same heights as the end-game boss music does; the original Sonic theme or "Sega" fanfare didn't find their way into the soundtrack; etc.)...but those are tiny quibbles in an otherwise fantastic experience. Again, this soundtrack is a triumph.

Best tracks Studiopolis Zone, Act 1 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGR5fTO2oio)  Swings hard. Bouncy. So much fun. Mirage Saloon Zone, Act 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW2-LDspdBY)- Doing western without making it corny/hee-hawish is not something that typically occurs in games, so Lopes gets some serious props for this one. Metallic Madness Zone, Act 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNxrS4F_HwM)- So Nineties. It so works. So, so well. Final Boss Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8mGwpwd1cI)- Manages to sound dangerous, which means it's spot on for a final boss theme. True/Extra Final Boss Theme  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhS2WV_1Bok)- I mean, come on, you hear this, right?

Worst Tracks Danger on the Dance Floor  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEPtdUa7ePY)- One of the few moments that just seems sort of boring and formulaic. There aren't many moments like this. Lava Reef Zone, Act 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-X_MY7n3c)- This one isn't even Lopes' fault....it's just not an engaging track to begin with to me

OVERALL: 9.3/10 The soundtrack is fun, bouncy, upbeat, and fits the style of the game incredibly well. It's just a joy to listen to from beginning to end. Sonic (Mania) is back. Finally. (Please, please, please, Sega, make a sequel to this)