#chapter six the monster [pt. 1]

[crossbowwwdotcom]

camilo's bllk fic reccs pt 2 (as of december 24, 2024):

- are we dancing after death? by calmgeyama ... 9.5k words and 1/1 chapters. read tags! gantz tabiori au where they all die and have to fight monsters to continue living... so terrifyingly written!!

- laced drill bits to my pointe shoes by ethereally ... 4k words and 1/1 chapters. kunigiri as old men fighting for their right to be married in jp. GREAT formatting and story and i love this so much

- conception by missiletoe .., 1.8k words and 1/1 chapters. egonoa character study pre-blue lock. its cute and short and they are just so Interesting.

- never let you come apart by ethereally ... 9k words and 1/1 chapters. i cant believe i almost forgot this one omfg. its so good! bachisagi fic set post canon with aroace isagi again. i fw it so much ughhh

- the sweetest flower by lockedskies ... 20k words and 5/? chapters. allsagi bachelor au!!! all the interactions between everyone is so good. i never realized how interesting the bachelor au could be...

- what we stand to win by raindrops_0 ... 6k words and 1/1 chapters. gen fic centered around isagi when theyre starting at bastard munchen. its just great hurt/comfort with some very relatable themes. love!

- GHOST OPERATIVES by shiryurealest13 ... 41.5k words and 23/30 chapters (chapter cap fluctuates). read tags! chatfic and still currently updating. not central focus but rinsagi, shidousae, nagireo, and tabieita. its about part of the bllk cast who are assasins are given the mission to kill reos dad and have to infiltrate reos fg (the rest of bllk) to get close to him. SO funny and the plot is actually so engaging. someone pls talk to me ab this its one of my favs rn 😭

- finding passion by strawberrytiramisu3773 ... 100k and 11/? chapters. read tags! VERY interesting canon divergence rewrite! i fear im a huge angst and whump fan and reading this was soooo good for me lol

- spoiled by vett .. 5k words and 1/1 chapters. rinsagi future fic that had me GIGGLING OMG. rin being a clingy drunk and isagi being so embarrased was so funny and i was literally freaking out lol. second hand embarrassment almost killed me but its ok!

- the language of losing by raindrops_0 ... 10.4k and 2/3 chapters. socmed kaisagi fic staged in the nel where each team gets more of a social media presence. im such a sucker for socmed fics and this one is so funny lol

- three is a charm by mistresssleepless ... 6k words and 1/1 chapters. ahhhhh i love bachirinsagi and this was so good. them having sex is referenced a lot but it isnt explicitly written (still teen+ though). theyre so cute together and i love these three together

- six facts about lobsters by smallghosts ... 3.7k words and 1/1 chapters. bachisagi kinda character study fic written from second person pov. one of the most well written things ive ever read

- fixation by celestee (jenjaemrens) ... 5k words and 1/1 chapters. rinsagi fic where isagi lives in spain and is part of re al with sae. SUCH a cool concept and im so obsessed with it

- good luck rin! by cyberialyr1 ... 60k words and 12/18 chapters. rinsagi highschool au where isagi is the new kid and rins the football team captain. very cute with internalized homophobia and angsty backstory isagi! i havent caught up since like ch9 though but its really good

- like glass from sandy ground by ethereally ... 7k words and 1/1 chapters. such a GOOD bachisagi ff where isagi is aroace but loves bachira and bachira loves him anf theyre just. struggling to figure things out. wonderfully written to portray the love of someone aroace! if ure gonna read anything on this list then read this one Please

- oat milk (and other irredeemable vices) by caluette .., 26k words and 3/3 chapters. kaisagi coffee shop au where kaiser is the frustrating customer with a long and specific order and isagi is a struggling employee. banter and light hearted enemies to lovers!

- of intrusive thoughts and sickly sweet smiles by zhiruiii ... 14k words and 4/4 chapters. soft rinsagi with isagi being a social butterfly and rin being insecure about it. cute!!!

- pretrichor by flowersforaliens... 3k words and 1/1 chapters. i LOVE. karasu centric angst fic with tabiori about karasu having an injury and having to retire. so good!

- i cant stay on your morphine (cause its making me ill) by witchcoded ... 22k words and 4/6 chapters. FEM LESBIANS ryurin!!!! perhaps the best??? the emotional constipation of rin is so good and the intimacy of them is so well written (or^o). great side roles too!

- to lose yourself in the world by thecurrator .. 25k words and 21/? chapters. egonoa fic where ego is a daycare worker, noa is his roommate, and bllk are the kids. so funny and pretty fluffy!

- art of momentum by illicitly ... 4.9k words and 1/1 chapters. cute little nagireo oneshot w nagi being protective!

- kintsukoroi by laylayli ... 54k and 3/3 chapters. read tags! kaisagi fic set after nel where kaiser finds out his dad is dead. lots of interesting grieving and well-written character study! loved this and i swear by this author

- maybe it was ego swinging by sopenation ... 3k words and 1/1 chapters. kunigiri w protective bllk and kunigami over chigiri. yk i love to see it!

- invincible like ive never been by mkat1020 ... 2k and 1/1 chapters. gen and chigiri whump during the u20. i looooove this one and isagi is such a good friend in this and its just. Good

- love you like oxygen by sweetdreamers... 12k and 1/1 chapters. kaisagi breakup and makeup fic. they have a generally toxic relationship and isagi is super sad and pathetic in this but the rest of the bllk cast comforts him and they figure shit out

- l'amour est bleu by laylayli ... 40k words and 5/5 chapters. perhaps my FAVORITE kaisagi ff and one of my fav bllk fics oat. its about isagi starting to babysit for kaisers younger sister and them falling in love during it. isagi just cares so much for kaisers younger sister and kaiser slowly starts loving him so much for it and isagi cant help but fall for kaiser its just. so endearing and i love it <3.

- world class hypocrite by aashimar ... 80.5k words and 9/10 chapters (EPILOGUE PLEASE PLEASE UPLOAD). read tags! explicit sex scenes throughout but its staged post-canon. this fic made me SICK. rinsagi au where isagi was outed as gay by rin before the wc and his life was basically ruined afterwards. the LONGING and RESENTMENT in this is the absolute peak of society. both rin and isagis characters are written so amazingly like theyre so flawed and theyre very messy people but theyre like really actually in love with each other. they say a lot of fucked up shit to each other but i still swear by this fic! the plot was SO SO intriguing and the way its written is really realistic. the chemistry is absolutely INSANE in this fic. my personal fav bllk fic and one of my fav fics ever! belongs in the hof tbh

see pt 1 here!

[ginsengkitten]

☆ Beautiful Dangerous Master post ☆

Synopsis: After a sheltered Y/N becomes obsessed with rock music, the safe and calculated world she once knew begins to crumble around her. After a taste of rebellion slips her way, and an all too mysterious guitar player begins wooing her, she must navigate her new world of the LA rock scene, and her hunger for mischief.

TW: Smut, Drug/Alcohol use/brief suggestions of SA(will be marked on chapter)

*Completed*

༺☆༻

Chapter One: Tower Records

Chapter Two: A Snake & a Lighter

Chapter Three: Guns and Horses

Chapter Four: Welcome to the jungle

Chapter Five: Purple Haze

Chapter Six: DAVE

Chapter Seven: Rocket Queen

Chapter Eight: Gods & Monsters

Chapter Nine: Too Young to Fall in Love

Chapter Ten (pt 1) Shame

Chapter Ten: To The Museum

Chapter Eleven: Written in plain sight

Chapter Twelve: A New Life

Chapter Thirteen: Sparkplug

Chapter Fourteen: Lingering Strays

Chapter Fifteen: Estranged

Chapter Sixteen: Never Tear Us Apart

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 18 (Holly & Kris Get Married in San Myshuno)

Holly’s wedding was beautiful, with vows by a lake in Myshuno Meadows at sunset. The man-made park had been designed by local business magnates to repair the area after a shocking spate of natural disasters almost a century prior, when a meteor struck and the city lost connection to the outside world.

During the city’s time off-grid following the meteor and subsequent tsunami, locals swore the city was attacked by a reptilian monster who emerged from the sea! But no evidence of the attack survived other than a memorial plaque to its victims erected in the picturesque park.

Whatever the truth of San Myshuno's strange history, those who survived had rebuilt the metropolis from the ground up. Now Holly and Kris would be one of countless sims to call the fast-paced city home.

The small-town Nesbitts were generally in awe of San Myshuno’s futuristic surroundings. Yet the man-made meadow hummed with birds and butterflies, a romantic respite from the bustle of the surrounding six-lane streets.

It proved a perfect setting for Kris and Holly’s passionate spousal kiss, sealing their vows beneath a picture-perfect pink sky.

Heather performed her sim of honour duties with pride and joy for her sister’s happiness, trying not to let the distraction of Malcolm's absence ruin her mood. But every text from the end of the ceremony, through the meal and the speeches, was ignored.

She sat on a couch away from the dance floor, trying to keep her souring mood to herself. But she was soon joined by Holly and River. "If he can't even be bothered to tell you why he's not here, screw him," said her brother.

"You don't know that. He might have been in a serious accident."

"Jeezus, Daff, your generosity sounds a lot like naivete right about now. You said yourself he wasn't good enough for our sister."

"You said that? When?" Heather interrupted. "You didn't say that to me."

Holly blushed. "I didn't mean-"

Right then, the door to the reception hall opened and Malcolm walked inside. He looked around until he spotted Heather and they locked eyes with a glare. As soon as she saw that he was perfectly fine - just ridiculously late - she was mad. "Holly, will you excuse me for a while? I need to talk to Malcolm outside."

NOTE: He really did show up this late to the wedding he was politely invited to. I was so offended on Heather's behalf.

"Of course, yeah. Do you want any backup?"

"No, let her go. She deserves not to have any witnesses." River offered a sinister smirk toward Malcolm. "Go get him, sis."

She approached him calmly, the eyes of the other guests watching them carefully. "I'm sorry I'm late," he said. "I got caught up with work and lost track of time."

"Let's go outside."

They retreated to the privacy of the park’s old observatory. Donated by an eccentric old billionaire, he'd hoped to ensure locals would always have access to the stars despite light pollution that typically blocked them out. "You look great in that dress." He rubbed the small of her back. "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier."

"You've been so distant, Malcolm!"

"So have you." he disarmed her with his familiar, crooked smile. "But I'm here now. And I want to make it up to you."

He leaned in to kiss her, and the tenderness of his touch melted her anger. He slowly unzipped her dress, leaving soft kisses against her skin before they made love inside the old telescope’s observation booth.

When they’d finished, their connection re-established, Malcolm admitted he’d been afraid to come. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE 2: Quick recap, Kris is the son of Henford townie Cecilia Kang and OG creature keeper Michael Bell (who I made playable). They had four kids together (Kris is the eldest) and all of them look like Cecilia.

[2dmenenthusiast]

Last Night on Earth Pt. 8

(Ethan Winters x Gn!Reader)

bye this part took a million years to write and im sorry!!! There's also no Ethan in this chapter since this covers the Not a Hero DLC, but he will be back in the next one or the one after! I hope you all enjoy it even though I'm not super satisfied with this chapter hah

Alsoo quick note for chris's characterization, im sort of switching it up a bit? They made chris super rigid in re7 and re8, which is understandable considering all he's been through and all that, but I want him to keep a bit of his personality from re5 and vendetta. So if it switches up a lot, thats why!

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 Pt. 6 Pt. 7 Pt. 8 Pt. 9

"Just so you know, if the mine collapses on us and we get trapped, I'm not giving you permission to eat me."

Chris sighed as you put your headgear on, switching to the nightvision to make sure it worked and promptly blinding yourself.

"Hopefully it won't have to come to that. You were debriefed, correct?"

You gave him a thumbs up while turning your rifle over, closely examining it. The weapon felt heavy and familiar in your hand.

"Lost contact with the first team, Lucas, the Connections. I pay attention."

Chris didn't seem amused at all. Just raising his eyebrows before diverting his attention forward.

"Just follow my lead and keep an eye out."

"Right. And if we end up weaponless and cornered I can defend us with the stick up your ass."

He huffed, and you straightened your shoulders as the elevator came to a stop, and you stepped back into the mine. You were immediately flooded with the not so far away memories of Eveline worming her way into your brain as the caves had collapsed around you and Ethan. The long claws of the monster that had slashed through your back, and apparently killed you. Your chest felt tight, shallow breaths clouding your mask as an overwhelming anxiousness clouded over you.

That’s right.

You died down here.

Chris’s hand landed on your shoulder.

“Hey. Are you alright?”

You gulped and quickly nodded, pushing down every instinct to run and silencing all of your screaming thoughts. Your breathing calmed, and you locked eyes with the Captain.

“I’m fine. Can we get this show on the road?”

He just gave you a look and walked ahead. You took that as your que to follow. You weren’t surprised to see a couple molded monsters still brambling around. Just because Evie was dead didn’t mean the mold wasn’t still alive. From what you’ve read, you knew she didn’t necessarily control it, she was more of a conduit.

You were quick to react when one stumbled around the corner, your feet stepping into a trained and remembered stance while your arms raised. Two silenced bullets took the monster’s head off. Chris said nothing.

Both of you worked as a team to take out any creatures you saw, and you were like a well oiled machine. Chris would go left while you went right, watched your six while you went ahead. Ethan was a good fighter for a man who’d been thrown into a situation he’d never been in before. But everytime you came across one of those things, a twinge of fear would spike through you before you had to force it down and push forward.

Now? You felt strong. Confident. Chris was a well trained soldier, one you could hopefully put your full trust in. And working with him reminded you of how damn good you used to be at your job. It gave you a sense of pride.

Of course, you deflated a bit when a molded came out of nowhere, and Chris absolutely annihilated it with a single punch to its head. He had barely even made a grunt of effort when its head squashed like a moldy grape on impact, and you were glad he couldn’t see your face through the mask, otherwise he’d see your jaw currently touching the floor. When he moved ahead without another word— like it was completely normal— and realized you weren’t moving, he stopped and turned to face you.

“What?”

“Christ, you punch fuckin’ boulders for a living?”

He cleared his throat.

“Uh—”

You moved past before he could properly answer, knowing you wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was yes.

Imagine if that was part of your drills.

“Alright, maggots! Give me twenty boulder punches!”

The mental image made you snicker, and you ignored the curious tilt of Chris’s head. When you heard a cough in the distance, it made you freeze. Chris silently pointed forward, his gun raised, and you followed him up a set of metal stairs and into a familiar room. You instantly recognized the grimy tubs and the smashed computer on the floor from when you found out Lucas was working with The Connections, and the memory made you clench your teeth. You held so much anger for that slimy bastard that it made your chest hurt.

What was different about the room, though, were the two soldiers clad in the exact same gear you both wore laying on the floor. One awake and clearly injured, while the other one lay prone. You assumed he was probably killed by one of the creatures lurking down here. Chris immediately moved to help, while you stood back.

“We’re gettin’ you outta here.”

The soldier shook his head. “Leave me. It’s too late,” he strained, and his head moved back to expose the explosive wrapped around his neck.

Shit.

“Chris—”

“We’re all walking out of here, alright?”

“I got news for you.” The body you thought was dead sat up and slapped something around Chris’s wrist, and you immediately recognized the voice. “That’s not gonna happen!”

Your gun was aimed at his head before you could even think about it, and so was the Captain’s, but Lucas quickly threatened to blow him up if he even tried anything. You wanted to scream, curse him to hell and blow his fucking brains out. But, you kept your cool with a shuddered breath. He couldn’t see your face under the mask. It was possible he didn’t know it was you.

He took off his head gear, and when he cast his gaze towards you, you almost froze.

“You. Get over here. Or I uh, might get a little trigger happy with this switch, here.”

His thumb hovered over the button to the detonator, and you hesitantly made your way forward. Securing a similar bomb over your wrist, you stumbled away from him before he could do anything else. Not like he needed to be close to you to kill you now. One push of a button, and you both were both done for.

How funny. You spent what felt like an eternity tonight barely making it out of this hellhole by the skin of your teeth, only to throw yourself back in. But, it was your choice. And you’d be damned if you let Lucas get away.

“Now you can try and take that off all you want, but I’d advise against. My hand might slip and uh… boom!”

Chris shouted his name while he pressed on the detonator, and the soldier’s head exploded in a visceral mess. The force knocked Chris on his back, and everything screamed in you to react. To do something. But you were scared to even move, not knowing what Lucas would do if you did, and too afraid to find out.

“Now here’s the deal. Y’all don’t follow me, and I won’t have to bounce your heads off the ceiling. The same goes for your other little soldier friends, too. Adios, muchachos.”

Lucas laughed, and as soon as he stepped out the door, particles and gas began filling up the room. Another one of your brother’s sick tricks. You grabbed Chris’s arm and helped him to his feet, while a female voice spoke through your earpiece.

“I’m picking up airborne spores. It’s the E-type mutamycete. Your mask will switch automatically to rebreather mode. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on your oxygen tank.”

“Thank you, beautiful, disembodied voice.”

You and Chris rushed through room after room to get away from the gas, the woman warning you whenever your tank got too low. It was like a race against the clock, the longer you spent in the infected air, the closer you were to infection and maybe death. Once you were finally free of the contamination, you let out a deep breath and noticed that Chris wasn't even phased. Of course, he's got a couple decades on you. He's probably been doing this almost as long as you've been alive.

"You should head back and get that bomb on your arm deactivated," the voice said.

"Absolutely not," you interrupted. Chris just gave you a look. "There's no time, we're not letting him get away."

He sighed, but didn't protest. "They’re right. We can't let him get a head start."

"Understood. Just be careful."

When she got off coms, Chris cleared his throat. "You're calling the shots now, I take it?"

"What? Can't give up control?"

He let out a huff that bordered on a chuckle, and wordlessly continued forward. You wished you could get a read on the man. He had obviously seen and experienced things you couldn’t imagine, working for an organization that dealt with dangerous bioweapons on the daily. If this was the man he is now, you’d like to imagine who he was before he was exposed to such a harsh life.

The further you got into the mine, the more you ran into those creatures and were exposed to contaminated air. You were surprised Lucas didn’t lay more traps for you along the way, but you guessed he didn’t need to when the sweet promise of death was currently strapped to your arm.

Finally, you walked into a larger room with abandoned mining equipment scattered everywhere, along with some type of control system in the middle. There was a clown face painted on it, a big red button making up its nose, and there were three metal shutters— two on your left and one on your right. Blue, red, green.

“What color you feelin’?”

“What?”

You pointed to each door. “Green. Red. Blue. Which one?”

Chris sighed. “Red, I guess.”

You gave a thumbs up and started towards the door, when Chris placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Stay behind me, okay?”

“Aw, look who wants to protect me.”

“Yes. From yourself.”

The shutter rose, and whatever humorous air lingered around you was immediately weighed down by the seriousness that suddenly radiated off of Chris, and you knew it was time to get serious, too. You immediately realized why he was deemed Captain. He oozed authority. Every move and action was purposeful and swift. Not to mention he was an absolute brute. He could probably wrap his arm around your head and crush it like a grape with his bicep.

Soon, you came across a gated cell door, and one of Umbrella’s men was locked behind it. His arms were trapped on either side of him in one of Lucas’s machines, and his clothes were covered in blood.. You could only imagine what horrible things he had planned for him.

“Hey, you alright in there?”

The man lazily lifted his head, letting out a pained groan.

“Redfield?”

“We’re gonna find the key and get you out, okay? Don’t worry.”

You hoped Chris was right. That you could save some of these men. But knowing your brother, you had a strong feeling that you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t voice that, though.

Taking an elevator up into another large area of the mine, an eerie feeling immediately shot through you, and you wondered if Chris felt it too. You also wondered how the fuck you were supposed to find a damn key in this place!

“Chris, I don’t—”

He quickly shushed you, and you paused. He shushed you?!

You opened your mouth to say something else, but stopped your own thoughts from spewing out when he pointed to a green crate. Dismembered mannequins sat inside, and an arm was taped upright with a single key dangling from the hand.

Oh.

Well now you just felt stupid.

Your arm reached out to grab it, but before your fingers even grazed the key, the crate was raised up high in the air and out of your reach. You dropped your hand to your side with a defeated sigh.

Of course.

“Fuckin’ asshole.”

“We have to find some way to get it down.”

He wandered off, you assumed to find the controls to bring the crate back down, and you shook your head. You solved enough of Lucas’s puzzles for the rest of your lifetime. You weren’t about to participate in any more when the solution was much simpler.

“Nope. Fuck this.”

Raising your pistol, you aimed carefully and pulled the trigger, watching the bullet hit the mannequin hand at lightning speed before the key fell out of the crate and into your open palm. You turned to Chris, who stood silently, and dangled the key from your finger. For your own satisfaction, you imagined his face was currently slack-jawed in awe.

The loud thumping behind you mixed with the ground shaking under your feet cut your celebration short, and you turned to see a large, smoking figure brambling towards you.

“Oh, fuck.”

This thing was way bigger than any other creature you had dealt with, smoke emanating from its white skin as it only seemed to get bigger with every step it took towards you. You both attempted to shoot at it, but you were immediately met with a message in the top left corner of your mask.

“HIGH REGENERATION TARGET UNAFFECTED.”

“Oh, that’s just awesome!”

As the thing got closer to Chris, you grabbed his wrist in a death grip and yanked him out of its path.

“We gotta run!”

The idea of running away didn’t seem to compute with him for a moment, but he had no choice as you were dragging him away and towards the elevator. You practically leaped inside and slammed your hand down on the button, slumping against the metal wall in relief once the doors slid closed and you began descending

“Your guys can take care of that thing. Holy shit.”

He wordlessly put his hand out towards you, and it didn’t click until you suddenly remembered that you went through all that for a stupid key. You placed it in his hand, and he didn’t hesitate to move forward once the elevator doors opened. The man was still in the same place you left him, (Of course he was. Not like he could just walk out of there.) and Chris quickly unlocked the door. You carefully examined the room as you went forward, making sure there weren’t any traps waiting for you to trip on, while Chris went to console his comrade. You didn’t like this. It felt too easy.

“Everything’s alright now,” Chris said.

The man shook his head. “That’s just what he wants you to think. I’m just the bait. And you both fell for it.”

Couldn’t have told us that sooner?

As soon as he finished speaking, the room began to fill with contaminated air, and Chris muttered a curse to himself. You noticed this strain was stronger than it was previously, your oxygen going down by the millisecond.

“Take my filter. Hurry!”

“But you’ll die!” 

The soldier shook his head. “I’m dead anyway.” 

He said it like he accepted it a long time ago, and you were hit with the familiarity of it. It was only hours ago you felt that way, too.

It was almost too quick to catch, but a spinning blade zoomed forward and began descending towards the man’s head. Chris screamed Lucas's name in protest and shot at his crude invention, but it was no use. So, you stood, and watched in horror as this man met an inevitable, painful death.

The blades sliced through his neck, and his head hit the floor with a disgusting thud as blood spewed onto the ground. You’ve watched plenty of people die, but you don’t think you’ve ever seen it done so horrifically. The sight made you nauseous. You couldn’t imagine how Chris was feeling.

You realized then not only was this a trap for you and Chris, it was also a sick show of control. Even if Chris wouldn’t die from Lucas’s gadgets, he still wanted the satisfaction of putting the man through hell by making him watch his comrades die. And that sickened you the most.

Does he ever talk about this stuff? Does he confide in anyone about what he’s seen? You hoped he did. After seeing what he has, you wondered if he ever slept. You couldn’t most nights after you went on leave, even less when your whole life and family was flipped upside down. You began to think about how similar you were. He dealt with bioweapons for a living, and you lived under the constant watch of one for three years. He probably had plenty of stories. Could probably tell you things you couldn’t even imagine.

You felt sorry for him.

Bending down, he took the high grade filter off the mask— since he clearly wouldn’t need it anymore— and held it out towards you. Your eyes widened.

“Are you serious? I can’t take it. You need it!”

He shook his head. “I’m not letting a civilian die!”

“And I’m not letting you die! This is not a negotiation!”

He said your name through gritted teeth, but as you watched your oxygen get lower and lower, nearing zero, you snatched it out of his hand and attached it to his mask before he could move away, the piece fitting in with a satisfying ‘click’.

“Are you insane?!”

You don’t know why you did it. Why you constantly felt the need to put the lives of people you barely knew in front of your own, but you never regretted it. Even if it meant your own death. You watched as your oxygen finally hit zero, and you swallowed thickly, ready to choke on your weak attempts to breathe.

But nothing happened.

You blinked in surprise. Why do you feel perfectly fine?

You imagined Chris was just as surprised by your lack of struggling to breathe, and you proceeded to lift your hands towards your mask. He snatched your hand..

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Just let me try somethin’, okay?”

He continued to protest, but you didn’t listen, the seal of your mask coming undone as you lifted it off your head and took a breath.

Nothing. Not even a cough.

“What the hell…” Chris muttered.

“Come on, there’s no time to talk about it right now. We gotta get out of here before your oxygen runs out.”

He nodded and followed you until you were back in the main area of the cave, but your mind was still reeling. Why weren’t you affected by the contagion? Was Lucas tricking you? No, that didn’t seem right. The goal was to kill you, not scare you. So what did that leave?

Were you…? No. There’s no way you were immune.

You didn’t realize Chris was speaking until he tapped your shoulder, and you blinked out of your zoned out state.

“Huh?”

“Can you explain what happened back there? Why didn’t you mention you were immune to the virus?”

You stuttered for a response. “I-I… I don’t know what happened. You’re about as clueless as me.”

Your coms came to life with the sound of a familiar female voice.

“It could be due to your prolonged exposure to the E series, your body naturally created the antibodies needed to fight the virus on its own.”

You shook your head. “That’s insane. That’s…”

You thought back to when Ethan said you died, how you came back and felt better. Then back to when you got the vaccine, and how you didn’t feel any effect. You must’ve already been cured when you woke up. Still, that didn’t explain the miraculous healing of your injuries.

“We don’t have time to dwell on it now. Keep your headgear on, though. We don’t want Lucas finding out that it’s you.”

You nodded and placed your helmet back on, while Chris muttered what he’d do to your brother when he found him.

“Just remember we need him alive, Chris,” the woman said.

You grit your teeth, trying not to let your emotions spill out. You knew that’s what Umbrella wanted, to get information out of him. But like hell you were letting him walk out of here alive. And you didn’t care who you pissed off by killing him.

Doing a quick ammo check, you and Chris decided the green shutter door was next on your list, doom settling deep in your gut as the door slowly screeched open. You were met with a short set of stairs leading through a narrow pathway, and resigned yourself to standing behind Chris. There was no way you'd be able to walk next to him in here.

The layout was almost like a maze, walking down one path only to turn and walk through an identical one. You felt like you needed a map to navigate this place. Of course, more contaminated air was blowing through the vents, but with your newfound immunity, you didn't worry about it much.

In the distance, from what you could see through the thick fogginess of the air, smoke began rising from the wall as mold seemed to congeal together to form a tall, monstrous creature. The smoke reminded you of the big guy you ran into earlier, and when you tried to shoot at it, the same message in your mask popped up.

"Shit, it's regenerating too fast. Normal bullets aren't gonna cut it!”

"I'm open to suggestions," Chris said.

Your brows rose in surprise. He did have a sense of humor! A very dry one, but still there.

Your coms buzzed to life. "You'll need RAMRODS to stop it from regenerating lost tissue. You have to fall back."

You frantically looked back and forth, the monster beginning to trap you into a corner, before you grabbed Chris's arm.

"This way!"

You had no idea where you were going, but anywhere was better than near that thing. You took down the hall and turned the corner, repeating the same thing over and over until you were sufficiently far away. You took a breath, and hoped to fuck you'd get out of this soon.

"You keep doing that."

You raised your head to look up at him. "Huh?"

"Pulling me out of danger. Like you need to protect me."

Your eyes slightly widened and you stuttered for an answer. "I-I mean… I was a soldier, you know."

He didn't say anything, just hummed to himself before walking on ahead. Faces flashed in your mind, and you squeezed your eyes shut as your grip tightened around your gun. Now wasn't the time.

You began to debate if you were lost as you went further into the mine, and you prayed to fuck that Chris knew his way back. 

“Did you know that was gonna happen?”

Your steps slightly faltered. “What do you mean?”

“Back there, when Lucas killed that man. Did you know he was going to die?”

The question made you pause, and you swallowed the lump that formed in your throat.

“Yes.”

He didn’t say any more, but you felt your answer was dissatisfying without an explanation.

“I grew up with that psycho, and I had to experience every sick trick he had once he was graced with Eveline’s influence. Once I saw that man, I… I knew he was doomed. I just didn’t want to say anything because even if I did, I knew you’d wanna try and save him anyway. I knew you wouldn’t just let him die without a fight.”

He didn’t speak for a moment, and you almost spoke again to try and fill the silence when he interrupted you.

“Would you have saved him? Even knowing all that, would you still have at least tried?”

You didn’t have to think about it as you nodded. “Of course.”

“Good. That’s all I need to know, then.”

The trip through the rest of the cave proved almost fruitless, minus the box of RAMRODS you found just chilling in a random room. You didn’t bother to question why they were down here in the first place, because at least now you had something that could deal with those high regen bastards. You were able to make your way back to the shutter entrance with little difficulty, only running into more of Lucas’s puzzles, as well as tiny little bug fuckers that you could only compare to something out of an old video game you used to play.

What was it? Half… Half something…

Whatever.

As soon as you went through the last shutter, you were immediately met with darkness. Your mask automatically kicked on the nightvision, and your sight was nothing but shades of green. When you tried to step forward, Chris put his hand on your shoulder.

“Wait.” He gestured towards the ground, pointing at the pressure plates.

Of course.

“Guess we gotta be extra careful.”

It didn’t take long to run into similar traps, including automatic gun turrets and fucking lasers. There was also a point where you and Chris had to shove around mining carts, your muscles straining whilst you used your legs as leverage to push them out of your way.

“God, this is fucking stupid.”

You gripped the handles of the last cart and shoved it forward, watching as the wooden wall beyond it gave away and revealed a hallway behind it with more lasers.

“He’s been watching too many spy movies, I swear.”

Crouching and stepping over the lasers, you opened the door at the end of the hall to reveal a room that was entirely filled with them.

“Yeah. Way too fuckin’ many.”

“Just try to focus on moving through them.”

Despite Chris’s words, that piece of logic was almost thrown out the window when he saw one of the missing soldiers lying in the middle of all the chaos.

“Marquez?”

You grabbed his arm before he could move. “Hold on there, big guy. Even if we get to him through all this mess, there’s no way Lucas is just gonna let us drag him out of there. We have to turn the lasers off.” You grinned to yourself and placed a hand on your hip. “I bet you're glad you brought me along, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“Fine, you stay here, and I'll shut them off.”

Chris shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’m not letting you—”

“Are you forgetting my background? I’m not just some helpless civilian you have to look after. Besides, I don’t need your burly shoulders bumping into every goddamn trap in here and setting something off.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Burly?”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

You heard a distant cough, and were quickly reminded of where you were. Right. Injured soldier, needed saving, blah blah blah. Holstering your weapon, you were careful and precise with every move you made, being sure not to make any sudden movements. Fuck getting this far only to die by damn lasers.

You made it to the man with ease, avoiding touching him, but asking him to give you a sign that he was okay. He gave you a thumbs up, and you relayed it to Chris who stood across the room watching you like a hawk. Finally able to stand up straight, you walked over to the control switch and pulled it down, the lasers disappearing right after. You heard Chris let out a relieved sigh before walking over to the man and helping him to his feet.

“Hey, you still with us?

Marquez nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I was beginning to think we’d be left behind.”

“Please, he’s too stubborn for that,” you chimed in, earning a look.

Once he was standing on his own two feet, he began limping to the exit, and you and Chris remained close behind.

“Lucas is a fucking psycho. Not sure what’s worse— him or those things.”

“Definitely him,” you said.

Chris hummed. “Let’s just focus on getting you out of here.”

Beyond the door he took you through was a smaller room with a ladder leading upwards, telling you that this was the way out. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the bomb that you both failed to notice on his neck came to life, a red light blinking furiously.

“Fuck! Get this thing off me!”

He was tugging and scratching at the bomb, desperateness and fear clear in his voice. And once again, there was nothing you could do but watch him die. His head exploded, blood spewing from the base of his neck as his limp body fell to the floor. Chris just stood there, looking at the lifeless form of his comrade, before both of your masks projected the image of your brother.

“Now, I don’t know about you, Christopher, but—” he stopped, eyes widening a bit before a sick smile spread across his face.

Shit.

“Ohohoho! Now this I did not expect. My dear ol’ sibling is working with Redfield.” He clicked his tongue. “How fun. I would’ve prepared somethin’ a bit more grand if I knew you were gonna be coming.”

Your eyes narrowed and your jaw clenched, but Chris wouldn’t let Lucas change the topic.

“Three of my men are dead because of you, Lucas. This ends, and it ends now.”

“I don’t think so. It’s about to be four— no, five dead soldiers in a minute,” he laughed, and his image faded to static.

It was only then that a timer appeared in your interface, counting down from ten minutes as the bomb on yours and Chris’s arms began blinking with the same red light. Panic settled deep in your stomach, and you heard Chris speak into his earpiece.

“Okay, we got a situation here.”

“We’re on it, Chris,” the woman said. “Head back to the central cavern and wait for further instructions.”

“Don’t let me down.”

“Ah, yes. I love waiting while my arm is about to be blown to smithereens.”

You did as the woman said and made your way back, running into creatures along the way that only seemed to be there to waste your time. Every time you looked at the timer, it only seemed to be going down faster, and almost a whole minute had gone by since you first looked.

Nine minutes. We got nine minutes. That’s plenty of time. Plenty of time to get this stupid fucking thing off of me!

“Alright, good news.”

Oh, hallelujah.

A couple images popped up on your screen. “Our video logs from the first unit show canisters of liquid nitrogen nearby. You might be able to deactivate the bombs by freezing them.”

She let you know that the canisters were behind the red shutter, and you wasted less than no time rushing through it. You knew it probably wasn’t smart to be going through the area so hastily, and that you should remain calm, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to. But when you looked at Chris, he was as cool as a cucumber. Like this was a normal Tuesday afternoon for him. You’d be jealous if you weren’t so focused on the death trap currently strapped to you.  

When a molded creature stepped in your way, grit your teeth and put three bullets in its oversized head, pushing its body to the side whilst it fell forward. When it landed and squirmed and your feet, you stomped your boot right onto its mushy skull, goo and viscera spraying the ground.

“Get the fuck outta my way!”

Chris grabbed your arm and tugged your forward, and as this section of the cave began to look more familiar, your eyes slowly widened. This is where that big fucker was that you had to run away from earlier. He was nowhere in sight now, but you didn’t bank on him not showing up eventually. You were never that lucky.

“The liquid nitrogen is just beyond that room.”

An anxious feeling crawled through your stomach and up your throat, and you looked at the timer again. Less than seven minutes. Okay, not bad. But, as soon as you tried to go beyond the room like the woman in your ear said, a stack of blue crates fell directly in front of you, effectively blocking your path. Words were crudely spray painted on them, and you almost broke a few teeth from how hard your jaw was clenching.

“EAT SHIT AND DIE!”

You heard something grotesque forming behind you, and didn’t even want to look. Instead, Chris looked for you.

“Well. That’s lovely.”

With an infuriated growl, you grabbed the AR that was strapped to your back and let bullets spray from the creature's middle and up to its head. If Lucas was going to kill you, he certainly had to try a lot harder than this!

You tried flanking the creature, but the area proved to be too small and too crowded for it to work effectively. It was full guerilla mode, and you gave it everything you got. There wasn’t a single bullet wasted, pumping everything into its rubbery form. The more you hurt it, the more the creature seemed visibly affected. Parts of its body began to split open, pouring blood and other viscous liquids that you didn’t want to hazard a guess as to what they were.

Fucking disgusting!

You were soon at its back, its eyes set on Chris, and fear spiked through you. The more he backed up, the closer it got, and he was going to be trapped in a corner soon if you didn’t think of something fast. You looked around, picking up an oversized rock out of one of the mining carts, and aimed at its giant head.

“Hey, ugly!”

The stone hit with a disgusting “thwack,” clattering to the ground as the monster stopped moving. Its feet stomped against the ground whilst it turned towards you, and let out a visible huff.

“Oh, shit.”

Chris desperately shouted your name as it barrelled towards you, swiping its hand against your side and sending your body slamming into a pile of stones. The glass of your head gear shattered on impact, oxygen hissing through the opening, and you gasped for air when white hot pain surged through you. You found it difficult to even breathe. With a pained grunt, you propped yourself up on one hand and gave a thumbs up.

“I’m okay! Just kill the bastard!”

He didn’t need to be told twice, leading it a sufficient distance away from you as he shot RAMROD bullets into its thick head. While you were concerned about how much time was remaining, you found yourself more concerned about the man fighting in front of you. You knew you probably didn’t need to worry, but you couldn’t help the deep-seated feeling from bubbling up inside you. And despite the pain you felt, you wouldn’t just sit and let him take care of the rest of this mess either.

Struggling to your feet, you took a shaky breath and resumed your attack on the creature, but were stunned into stillness when Chris landed an uppercut to the thing and sent it flying through the air.

Is he Captain America or something?!

Its fat limbs flailed, struggling to roll onto its stomach to get up. It didn’t make it that far before its skin began bubbling under the surface, and it exploded into mushy bits.

“Target down, Chris. Now find that nitrogen!”

She sounded as desperate as you felt.

Rushing up to the Captain, you both worked to push one of the crates over, your salvation just beyond it. Chris didn’t even give you the opportunity to let him go first, grabbing your hand in his instead and plunging both of the bombs into the liquid nitrogen. You could feel how cold it was through the thick fabric of your glove,and you flexed your fingers to make sure you could still feel them.

“That did the trick.”

“Take it off before it thaws and restarts!” she urged.

You gripped the bomb and yanked it off your wrist, throwing it across the room as the light began blinking again. It exploded as soon as it hit the opposite wall, and Chris’s own bomb followed suit. An immense weight was immediately lifted off your shoulders, and you placed your hands on your knees with a deep sigh.

“Thank fuck.”

“Hey.” Chris put a hand on your shoulder, prompting you to stand up straight and look up at him. “You okay?”

You nodded, lifting your hands to take off what remained of your mask. You didn’t notice it until now, but the pain in your side had slowly faded away, and when you pressed your hand against your ribs, you felt nothing but a dull ache.

What is happening to you?

“You ready for this?”

You locked eyes with the tinted glass of his mask and smirked, huffing out a quiet chuckle.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for the past three years. I’m more than ready.”

Chris nodded, hand clapping against your shoulder.

“Alright. Let’s get this fucker.”

tagged: @taytaylvr @xdarkcreaturex

[poppitron360]

PART TWO!!!!

Okay, so I’ve already posted Pt 1 of this fanfic I’m gonna keep posting it bc fuck it I’m enjoying myself.

I’m posting this all under the tag #​PJO- THE NEXT GENERATION: OLYMPIA JACKSON-CHASE CHRONICLES so if you need to find the rest, that’s where to look. Not sure how many chapters there will be, as I’m still figuring out the story, but it will probably be for as long as I’m having fun writing it.

Tagging my mutuals who might be interested/ppl who seemed to like pt 1 (I’m trying to get better at tagging ppl):

@green-tea217 @123letsgobestie @fadas-are-important @imasimpdealwithit @coraldeermoon

Summary: Kind of an OC/FanChild fic about my hcs for Percabeth’s kids. VERY Leo/Nico heavy bc they’re my two favourite characters, particularly Leo. If you missed Pt 1, pls read it, but we’ve just ended on the line “I think I have news about your brother,” so ooooh chills cliffhanger scary.

TWs: Swearing, lack of smut (she is a teenager)

Disclaimers: I was between SoN and MoA when I wrote this chapter, and I am currently on HoH, so if I’ve missed anything that gets revealed later, that’s why. Also I listened to the audiobooks, so if I spell a name wrong, that’s also why, either that or I’ve spelt something the British way.

Chapter 2:

Olympia never talked about her brother. That was one thing the kids at camp didn’t know about her family. She had been five years old when he had been taken, on that stormy autumn night. She didn’t remember much, just yelling from the other room and a sound like an eagle screeching. She remembered her mom running in and scooping her up in her arms. More sounds. Her dad screaming. A sword being drawn. A baby crying. A window smashing. Her parents calling his name. She was sobbing. Her mom was holding her dad as he wept on the floor, glass shattered at his feet. Her baby brother, Tyler, was not in his cot.

They started going out every night, searching for a sign he was alive. Leo, Nico, Tyson, Grover, Rachel, Frank, Hazel- all of them helped. Olympia had begged them to take her with them too, but she was still too young. Six months passed. Nothing. A year. Two years. She didn’t know when exactly, but eventually they gave up looking. They assumed he was gone forever.

Her parents had seemed different after that. Her mother buried herself in her job, working day and night at the architecture firm so she wouldn’t have to come home to the gaping hole in their family. Her dad had tried carrying on as normal, but he’d become a broken man. The legendary Percy Jackson failed to save his own son from a monster, now his son was dead.

That’s what they had told Olympia. That was the story. But she refused to believe it. She always thought that with enough training and fighting, she could find him and bring him home. And then, they’d tell the story of the brave demigod who rescued her brother, maybe, just maybe, she’d no longer have to live as just “the daughter of Percy Jackson”, but could become her own legend.

Of course, that was only part of it. First and foremost, she wanted her brother back.

“Do you really think he’s dead?” She’d asked Leo one night, when she was about eight, while her Mom was at work and her Dad was off doing something at camp (he was often brought in as a Special Guest Speaker because he lived close to camp and was cheap, not for any other reason).

“No. Tyler’s not dead,” He replied.

She looked up, “Really?”

He nodded. “Remember that story I told you about Festus the Dragon?”

Leo was the only person she liked to hear stories from. He told them in such a funny way, she didn’t care if it was made up or exaggerated.

“Everyone thought he was super dangerous, but you fixed him and made him better, and he sacrificed himself to save you,” she recited.

“Yup. I didn’t give up on him, even though they told me it was hopeless. I’d waited ‘til I’d looked him in the eyes myself to realise it was hopeless, and then I still tried anyway,” he looked at Olympia, “I believe your brother isn’t dead until we’ve tried every possible way of proving me wrong, and then some. Your parents believe it too, but they can’t risk giving up everything they have, i.e, you, on what is most likely a hopeless case. Besides, Nico said his vision of his soul had been clouded by something- if he was just dead, why hide it?”

“I’m gonna find him someday,” Olympia said, determined.

“And I’m gonna help,” He replied.

She looked at him now, sitting on her bunk in Cabin 3.

“Wha- What news? What do you mean?”

“It’s not… it’s nothing concrete… just a rumour about an 11-year-old boy with dark hair fighting monsters with power over water,” he looked up at her, his eyes solemn, “Camp has a network of automatons looking out for potential demigods, we get alerts like this all the time, but this was different, Oly- I think… I think it might be him.”

She was speechless. All this time, she’d been telling herself she’d find him, but she’d never actually had a lead before.

“Well then, what’re you waiting for, little man?” She said, sliding on her shoes and shoving clothes into her backpack, “Let’s go find him!”

“Oly, not so fast,” he warned, jumping down from the bunk, “this kid- the message said he was pretty hardcore, the way he attacked. If he’s been running from monsters since he was a baby… I can’t think what that’s done to him.”

He put a hand on her shoulder.

“What if… what if he doesn’t want to come home?”

Olympia looked at Leo. Despite his jovial presence and cheery manner, he was dark and twisted just like the rest of them. He knew a thing or two about running away, he’d spent most of his childhood running from schools and foster homes. She knew with a sinking feeling that he might be right. She shook her head.

“We can’t let “What if’s” stop us now, you taught me that,” she said, and shouldered her backpack.

“I guess you’re right,” Leo flashed her his trademark playful grin, “Let’s go.”

The kid was apparently in Nashville, and had caused quite a scene when he’d fought off two wild dogs in the middle of a busy high street by pouring a bucket of water over them. At least, that’s what the mortals were saying online. When Olympia saw the video they’d posted, she noticed how the boy had no bucket, the wild dogs were actually wolves, and when he attacked them they hadn’t just ran away like the internet said, but had completely disintegrated.

She stared at her phone. Demigods weren’t supposed to have cellular devices, especially at camp- they acted as a beacon for monsters to find them- but Leo had found a way to scramble the signal. It wasn’t flawless, and it became more and more risky the longer you used it, but it gave Olympia an hour or so of doom-scrolling on Tumblr every day.

She replayed the video again.

“He doesn’t look anything like I’d expected him to,” she concluded.

“I dunno… he has dark hair, like you. And water powers, like you. And grey eyes, like your mom, and I guess like you as well,” Leo studied her mismatched eyes, “And the way he fights… That’s Jackson blood in his veins if I ever saw it.”

“But he’s… he’s older.”

“Yes. That’s what happens when time passes. Did you expect him to still look 10 months old?”

Leo grinned, the way he always did when he was being sarcastic. Olympia poked him, playfully, and then turned back to the paused image on the screen.

“And he’s so… thin.”

Leo nodded in agreement, “Though, somehow I doubt he’ll be showing up on the front page of Cosmo any time soon.”

She looked at Leo. He tried to hide it with baggy clothes, but she knew that his scrawny look and vertically-challenged appearance weren’t all traits he’d been born with, that the long months spent on the run with little-to-no food had definitely played a factor. He was probably a lot healthier now, but those hard years had scarred him in ways she couldn’t imagine- and had left him looking permanently emaciated. She couldn’t bear the thought of that happening to her brother when she had grown up healthy and strong.

“Come on,” she said, putting away the phone, “Let’s get Nico, and leave.”

“A quest must be undertaken by three,” he recited.

“Yes, but also he can shadow-travel so we won’t have to pay for transport.”

“And that.”

Leo’d managed to intercept the demigod alert from his automaton, and direct all other alerts straight to him so that they could track where the kid was, and so Chiron- or, gods forbid, Olympia’s dad- didn’t see them. He was smart like that, but it only delayed the inevitable. Leo reckoned it was only a matter of time before the Camp Satyrs caught up to the boy. They had to act quickly.

Nico Di Angelo was never the easiest person to find. Luckily for them, he had a soft spot for Olympia, and always made sure she was able to call on him when she needed to. Whenever she wanted help with homework, or a ride to a dangerous incognito solo monster-fighting death quest, all she had to do was knock.

She pressed her body against the floor of Cabin 3, and rapped hard on the wooden floorboards.

“Uncle Nico!!” She called, “I know you’re down there!! We need your help.”

“Boo!” Came a voice from behind them.

Leo yelped, “Holy Hephaestus, Death Boy, don’t do that!”

Nico gave him a skeletal grin. Leo took a deep breath and patted his own hair, which was smoking.

Olympia stood up, and pulled him into a tight hug. She was taller than him now, but he looked good for an 102-year-old.

“My gods, you’ve grown,” he remarked, breathing in her warm smell. His skin was icy cold and pale.

“You’ve been spending too much time in the underworld,” she said, “get some sun in you, man.”

“Oh I think he is getting some Sun in him, if you know what I mean,” Leo winked and turned to Nico, “Hey, Nico, how’s Will?”

Nico ignored the question, “Whatever it is you want me to do, I hope I don’t have to put up with hotshot over here the whole time.” He jabbed a thumb in Leo’s direction.

“Hey!” Leo cried, offended.

Olympia rolled her eyes.

“I need you to take us to Nashville,” she said, “Leo thinks my brother might be there.”

An anguished expression played across Nico’s face.

“T-Tyler?” He asked, “You really think-“

“Yes. We do,” Leo said, confidently. They proceeded to fill him in on everything, even showing him the video on Olympia’s phone.

Nico’s face hardened.

“Right then. I will absolutely do anything I can to help. Nashville, you say? Peace of cake.”

He cracked his knuckles and rolled his head, like he was warming up for something. He then held out both hands, expecting them to take them. Olympia obliged.

“Do I have to?” Leo moaned.

“Don’t worry, Fire Guy, this won’t get gay,” Nico assured him.

“It’s not that,” Leo replied, “Your hands are just weird and cold. And small.”

“You’re one to talk,” he retorted, “I’d much rather just take Olympia, so if you want to be left behind, I’m sure-“

“Fine,” Leo groaned, and took Nico’s hand.

And then the world caved in.

[demi-shoggoth]

2023 Reading Log pt 12

56. Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicholson. This book really, really wants to be High Literary Art. The author writes about tide pools and coastal organisms, but is much more interested in dissecting what these have represented in art, culture and a Jungian sense of shared humanity more than he is in the actual animals, algae and other things he encounters. Throughout the book, he builds three artificial tide pools, each time devising ways to carve rock and set up filters to catch water but exclude some organisms, and I couldn’t help but think, why? Why not find natural tide pools and observe them? Why must you put your stamp on a coastline? His whole thesis seems to be something about the beauty of how the shore is a liminal place, between land and water, where ecosystems and humans alike exist in an unstable equilibrium, and yet he feels the need to attempt to control it, and does not reflect much on the contradiction. I did not care for this book, as either a work of natural history or philosophy.

57. Spirit Beings in European Folklore 1 by Benjamin Adamah. A birthday gift from my girlfriend, @abominationimperatrix. This is one of a four part encyclopedia of European monsters—this volume focuses on Scandinavia and the British Islands. The decision to edit it into multiple volumes was made relatively late in the book’s development, and it shows—there are cross references to entries that do not appear in this book, but are in other volumes. The author is an occultist, and so plays somewhat coy with whether or not he believes in the literal existence of supernatural entities; near as I can tell from this volume, he’s a believer in the idea that they have material reality as thoughtforms created by human imagination. Putting aside that quirk (which is fairly easy to do), this is a pretty good compendium of monsters, especially but not limited to the sorts of things that would be called “fey” and “undead” in RPG terms. I do have the whole set, and am looking forward to reading the rest of them.

58. If It Sounds Like a Quack… by Matthew Hongolz-Hetling. This book is a look into “alternative medicine” grifts and cranks, following the stories of six quacks from their origins to the modern day. This modern day is the COVID era, where even the most reasonable-sounding of them goes off the deep end into conspiracy theories and anti-immigrant hysteria. The author does an excellent job of using alternative medicine as a lens to look at how consensus reality has been damaged in the United States, and there are a surprising amount of connections, both direct and indirect, between these frauds and perhaps the most successful con artist of the modern era, Donald Trump (who the book refers to exclusively as “the game show host”). The book has a light touch and is very funny throughout, which makes the ending, where he discusses how people are committing real murders in the belief that COVID vaccines are turning people into zombies, hit all the harder.

59. Remnants of Ancient Life by Dale E. Greenwalt. This is a book about biomolecules found in fossils, from the famous (like pigments found in dinosaur feathers) to the rather more obscure (using trace elements to pinpoint the affinities of conodonts and Tullimonstrum). The author is an entomologist by trade, and so is a little bit unclear about the appropriate taxonomy for other groups—an editing pass over the chapters about dinosaurs would have been useful. Perhaps the most interesting chapter is on the supposed discovery of dinosaur proteins, such as collagen and even intact blood vessels, which have been almost entirely done by the lab of Mary Schwietzer, and thus are the subject of a lot of debate and skepticism.

60. Strange Bedfellows by Ina Park. This is a book about sexually transmitted infections. It can be divided roughly in half—the first half is chapter long looks at particular topics, like the stigmatization of herpes and the possible health risks of vigorous pubic hair removal. The second half is a historical survey of the history of government investigation of sexual health, including both unethical human experiments such as at Tuskegee and Guatemala, as well as the history of contract tracing in public health offices. The author’s voice comes through strongly—she’s funny and opinionated and not at all ashamed at working in a sex related field. Mary Roach wrote one of the blurbs on the back of the book, and that seems like a pretty apt comparison.

[anglerfishguineapig]

Trashed Percy Jackson fanfiction- Chapter 1: A old men tries to get me to cheat on my wife pt 2

The past few days, I hardly slept. I’d eaten whatever I could scrounge- vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even an old jack in a box burger, which was a new personal low. The holiday season always meant work, work, and more work. I had hardly seen Annabeth in a few days but I knew it would be worth it if I meant I had the holidays off with her. My clothes were freshly cleaned, ironed, and ready to be splattered with monster slime.

Behind me, the lights of the yacht glowed, Dr. Palatine shouted, “Alright, I understand that you want to get on with winter holidays, but listen up!”

Then she shut the door as Grover and I came in, Dr. Palatine carried herself with such confidence at her crew that most of my coworkers' eyes were glued to their captain. I had known Dr. Palatine long enough that I recognized that look before, the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate she raised her chin. She was facing a look of pride for her courage, while holding a mixture of resignation, and hope that she couldn’t show the public. It reminded me strangely of Annabeth and Reyna. But Dr. Palatine cleared her throat- 

“My colleagues, legionaries of Camp Jupiters, and professors, I welcome you to The Marine Research Institute. I want the employees to know that you all have done amazing work.” She picked a glass of wine then chanted- “Senatus Populusque Romanus.”

“Senatus Populusque Romanus,” the others chanted.

“Senatus Populusque Romanus?” I looked at Grover.“That’s definitely the non abbreviation of SPQR, isn’t it.”

 I tried not to stare at my burned SPQR tattoo when I completed my training at Camp Jupiter with Hazel and Frank. Annabeth hated my tattoo, she always told me it meant: You belong to us. Permanently. 

Grover’s eyes narrowed in a teasing way. “You’re finally getting better at Latin.” Then he fiddled with his panpipes. “Annabeth always thought you would be suck speaking Greek for forever.”

 I couldn’t help but fiddle with my camp beads. The Greek Camp, Camp Halfblood, demigods got bead necklaces for every year they had gone to Camp; Annabeth had ten and I had six beads (Hazel made me a custom bead from my time at Camp Jupiter.) 

“Annabeth says that it translates to the Senate and the People of Rome. It started out that the Senate and people of Rome got to shape their own destiny and not some king.” Grover explained. “Then it became known for Roman’s unity and identity.”

A vague sadness weighed on my chest. Something about Dr. Palatine’s chant reminded me strangely of Mr. Brunner or more specifically Chiron when he taught me in school and at camp. For a moment, I wondered if I could see him in the crowd at the party. Would he take the chance to bust out his old Roman armor and weapons? I doubt it, he was far too civilized for that. Or Would he tell his co-workers about his stories and jokes he told in class? 

I  knew it would be a long shot because he is the activities director at Camp Half-Blood, all the way in Long Island, New York; besides Annabeth and I - we have a good life here. We are able to make new memories with her family, our Roman friends. I promised a long time ago that I would never let her go and see her again. 

Could I swim around America to see them in Camp Halfblood?

It was tempting. I could feel my powers draining despite being so close to water. Water always revived me. Salt water was the best. Right now, if I felt driven in the sea, I had a feeling it would burn me. But I had a job to do for the legion and New Rome. Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and people of Rome got to shape their own destiny and I was a Roman citizen.

I hesitated for another reason.The she-wolf Lupa had taught me to sharpen my senses—to trust the instincts that had been guiding me towards my friends in New Rome. I had Hazel, Frank, Tyson, Ella and Miss. O’leary. They needed me. Ella and Tyson were adding a new wing of their book store where they would hopefully archived every single prophecy from the other oracles. Hazel was finishing up her last year in college and Frank had established his own training center for younger demigods and legacies to be properly trained before they joined the legion. My homing radar was tingling by being near them. 

Dr. Palatine continued her speech and led front in her gallery of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, guarding through the storage galleries, past disabled Terminus statues, and glass cases full of broken celestial bronze and golden weapons.

When I first entered the world of the Greek and Roman pantheon, it blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years but now it was something completely normal. 

She gathered us around a twenty-foot-tall tapestry, of different ancient Greek heroes, hung on the wall and from Hercules' trials, Odysseus's journey around the sea, and Atalanta’s hunt. She told us about the detailed stitched Greek wordings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what she had to say, because it was one of my favorite myths, but  Dr. Caelian cheered as he leaned on me and would give me the evil eye-

“I thought I would find Graecus listening about his own kind.”

I stumbled away from the son of Bacchus, almost jumping out of my skin. 

The obviously drunk as skunk one- Dr. Marcius Caelian.

Okay, his name wasn’t really Dr. Caelian. As near as I could figure out, Mr. Caelian had been a gradulate from college with a doctorate when he got busted drinking while driving a chariot. Apparently, Mr. Caelian had resented the fact that he couldn’t be a doctor so he forced everyone under him to call him, Dr. Caelian. I know, they let anyone with enough money be in charge, these days. 

Dr. Caelian was the freckly, tuskless walrus wearing a cheap, flower-print thrift shop suit. If you looked just at his body, you might think he looked like Mr. D, Camp Half Blood's director- until you look up and realize he had about three red hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp.

From her first day, Dr. Caelian was a Roman through and through and figured all Greeks were a footnote in history. Anyway, I figured out had graduated from New Rome University with a doctorate when he had busted drinking while driving a chariot. So after I had called him, Mr. Caelian and he would point his fat finger at me and say, “DR. Caelian,” like a couldn’t speak a word of English. Then I knew I was going to get lectured by the walrus for a month.

One time, after he made me grab a specific bottle of wine out of the ship storage until midnight, I told Grover I didn’t think Dr. Caelian remembered what it was like to be a demigod in the legion. He looked at me, real serious, and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

Dr. Palatine kept talking about the tapestry.

“Oh, stop being a spoiled sport. You know it’s a party, relax Jackson. Have a glass of merlot!” Dr. Caelian snickered and chided me as he handed me a wine glass. “They’re on me, and I’d hate for our former praetor to not have any fun.”

“Oh, I loved this one!” Grover took my wine glass from me and took a sip. “Thank you for inviting us, Dr. Caelian. We have been so busy preparing for the holidays that we haven't had a chance to enjoy them.”

Then I turned around, mumbled and I tried to remain calm but my chest seemed to burn like a fire storm, “Will you be quiet.”

My voice came out louder than I meant to because further in front, Dr. Pataline stopped her story and her voice jolted me back to the present: “Mr. Perseaus Jackson, I would like some help explaining these Greek myths.”

A group of Roman demigods stared at me and my face went red. 

Great. Fantastic. There wasn’t a way to get out of this moment. I’d managed to get myself trapped between my boss and a rich asshole. Maybe you’re thinking? Percy, you’re from New York, ignoring and being rude to people is in your blood; but the thought of annoying my boss even more sent shivers down my spine that read, ‘employment.’

Dr. Caelian pointed to one of the pictures of the tapestry with a coy smile. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?” 

I could hardly think straight when the other party goers were milling around but when I looked at the tapestry. I felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it, “That’s Danae and baby Perseus floating across the sea, right?” 

Dr. Caelian nodded, obviously not satisfied and one of my co-workers, daughter of Portunus, had joined the table of the councilmen and caught my breath from cigar smoke. Then I realized that she let me have two options: show these Roman councilmans about Greek history or show these Roman councilmen the demigod god way. Both options sounded pretty good. 

The past few days, I hardly slept. I’d eaten whatever I could scrounge- vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even an old jack in a box burger, which was a new personal low. The holiday season always meant work, work, and more work. I had hardly seen Annabeth in a few days but I knew it would be worth it if I meant I had the holidays off with her. 

“Well…” I padded to the front of the crowd and behind me, lights of the yacht glowed. Usually I would rack my brain to remember but the myth was pulled to the front of my brain with ease. “It started with King Arcisus, and-”

“Dr. Palatine!” The tuskless walrus looking face of Dr. Caelian’s voice was so fast and he slammed down on his wine the table as he cleared down daggered at Dr. Palatine. “I thought I told you to make this more… about the glory of the Empire?” 

“Continue.” Dr. Palatine dead-panned.

“But, Mr. Palatine…?” Dr. Caelian’s brain seemed to be short circuited and now seemed to whining like a puppy before growling. 

“He had been wondering why had gotten any sons.” I continued and couldn’t help but beam at Dr.Caelian. “So… he went to the Oracle of Delphi to get a prophecy. So, um, the oracle of Delphi had told him that he wouldn’t have a son, dummer, right? But his daughter, Danae would give birth to a son, and he would die at the baby’s hand. And later, King Arcius had locked up his daughter in a bronze cage, until Zues had fallen love with Danae, transformed into a golden shower-” 

“Golden shower?” said a woman holding her pearls.

“A shower made of gold, a golden shower… anyway so, Danae immediately fell in love,” I stammered, “and nine months later.”

  Some people snickered in the group. Further into the crowd, Dr. Cealian turned to his fellow councilmen and bared his teeth so white that they could have blocked out the sun as tutted at me. “Of course, Dr. Pataline is allowing the Greacus to have their moment in the limeline. At least she had the sense to use a good, submissive Greacus. Jackson is at least is former praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Leader of Camp Half Blood during the Titan War, and one of the seven demigods to defeat Gaia.”    

“And why, Dr. Cealian,” Dr. Pataline said, “to paraphrase your excellent question, what does this have to do  with the Romans?” 

   “You’re screwed,” Grover muttered.

“What?” Dr. Cealian snapped.

“ Oh, I meant that Half-Blood doesn’t really have leaders,” Grover informed helpfully. “They have Camp Counselors.”

 “Of course, I often forget how peculiar the Greeks are,” Dr. Cealian hissed, his brow wrinkled and his face brighter than his three little hairs. I couldn’t help but smile at Dr. Cealian’s tuckless face before turning my attention towards Dr. Palatine. Although, I couldn’t do anything to the councilmen; Dr. Palatine was a higher rank in the council and the few who ever caught her saying anything wrong. I could recite a few Greek myths and could write a book or two about it but those questions weren't written down. 

I gave it a good thought and then shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m sorry.” 

“Alright.” Dr. Palatine looked me up and down as if I was a blueprint needing to be restudied. “Well, Mr. Jackson right. King Arcisisus did go to the oracle of Delphi, to ask why he never had any sons. However, the oracle of Delphi had given a prophecy saying that his grandson would kill him. The oracle was right, of course, King Arcisisus had died by the thrown discus by Perseaus. On that rather happier note, we have many more artifacts to see.”

The crowd drifted off, the historical inclined demigods oohing and awing at the smallest piece of ancient pottery and the other less historial inclined demigods were wondering when dinner was going to start. When I was about to return to my seat, Dr. Pataline said, “Mr. Jackson.” 

A part of me knew what was coming. Dr. Pataline was almost as bad as Mr. Brunner. 

I nodded to Grover to continue the tour without me and then I turned towards my boss. “Yes, Dr. Pataline.”

Dr. Palatine had this look- intense rectangular goat eyes that look up at the sky that watch the birth of all the stars only to watch them shrivel up and burn out far so soon. 

“Fine, Perseus,” Dr. Pataline admitted. “I may not be a demigod child like you nor a seer like one of the oracles but I want to learn the answer to Dr. Caelaian’s question- about the Greeks and about what this has to do with the greeks. And how you will move forward..”

I swallowed but managed a disappointed- “oh.”

“What you do with that information is of the utmost importance. I expect you will come back with the information by the time the holiday season is over and you find your new life.

I wanted to get angry, my boss was interrogating me when I was trying to do my job.

I mean, sure, it was nice to talk to Roman demigods and how they were learning about the Greeks in a somewhat normal light in the comfort of New Rome but they normally had no idea about or really cared about Camp Half-blood or only thought about them in a grand sense. But my boss expected me to give up my time on my deserved break from the office and I think about the Greek myths that I was trying to escape from for ten years. No- she didn’t expect it; she expected me to bring a new dawn. And I was done solving the world’s problems when I had spent my entire teens doing that.

I mumbled something about how I will definitely get on and definitely not going to forget about it as soon as I get home, while Dr.Palatine took one long, sad look at me as if I was just another star ready to burn into dust. 

I left Dr. Palatine with her broken dreams and went back to my job. 

A huge storm was brewing, with clouds in the shape of strong stallions, blacker than any wind spirit than I'd ever seen.From the new reports as well as other marine biologists in my department, the waves, currents, and wind patterns have been irregular since the start of winter. I wouldn’t be surprised if a tropical storm came through or a tsunami. The institute didn’t seem to notice the strange weather going on and the party was scheduled tonight. 

Grover and I had taken my break near the back of the yacht, away from the others. Dr. Caelain probably thought that the employees did that everybody wouldn’t know we were a part of that party- the party for only the best and brightest that the legion and New Rome had.

“Hot water?” Grover asked. Although Grover was a part of the Council of the Cloven Elders, he had elected himself to join me with the other employees of the research institute.  

“Not really, Dr. Palatine is just trying to make me into one of her pet projects,” I said. “I just wish she would just leave me alone sometimes. I mean- I just want to have a normal life.” 

I watched the churning bubbles around the yacht and I thought about Annabeth, my wife, she would probably be in our apartment in New Rome. I hadn’t seen in a few days. I wanted so badly to jump into the water and see her face. She’d hug me, be glad to see me, telling me about her day while I made us dinner; but she’d be disappointed, too. She’d send me right back to the yacht reminding me that Dr. Palatine had asked specifically for me to join her, even if this was my sixth job in two years and I was probably going to be fired again. I wouldn’t be able to stand watching Annabeth try to support us with only her job.   

Dr. Caelian had set on her weapon a celestial bronze battle guitar on top of one of counter’s. She grabbed another bottle of wine and a coke cola; she had left and handed me one red can of coke cola. 

I was about to uncap my cola coke when Dr. Caelain appeared in front of me- I guess she’d gotten tired of dealing with the councilmen- and was trying to remain a calm, composed director of the Marine Institute. 

“It is for the Institute…” She mumbled through gritted teeth and her mind was struggling to not go blank. Her freckles were shaped like star constellations, as if some god had smacked her face with the sky. “Count to ten, get control of your temper.”

The waves on the yacht crashed even higher.

Dr. Caelian materialized next to us.

Some of the other employing: “Did you see-”

“-Dr. Caelian-”

“- what a snake-”

I had an idea what they were talking about but I knew whatever Greek or Roman god or goddess was having a laugh that I had to deal with Dr. Caelian. As soon as Dr. Caelian was sure that Dr. Palatine was okay, promising to return her favorite pet, etc., etc., Dr. Caelaian turned on me. There was a triumphant, scheming fire in his eyes, as if Dr.Palatine had given a life saving medicine. “Walk with me-”

“I have a thing to do in a place for a reason,” I said and after that had left my lips, that it wasn’t the right thing to say as Dr. Caelian raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah!” Grover yelped. “It is a really good reason and we have to be soon.”

My eyes softened at Grover, in a mixture of stunned and a familiar sense of love for my friend. I had seen Grover in a while due to him being a Lord of the Wild and couldn’t believe that he still wanted to be my protector after all these years. Dr. Caelian didn’t even acknowledge him, barely passing over him as if he was a small ant that managed to talk.

“It won’t take too long, Percy Jackson,” Dr. Caelain smirked.

“It is a Lord of the Wild thing-” 

Dr. Caelain gave me a look like keep an eye on fawn.

Grover looked pale, his eyes darted between me and Dr. Caelian, like he wanted to disregard the doctor and get to safety or atleast Dr. Palatine to step in.  

“I’ll be back, man,” I glanced back at Grover then I gave Dr. Caelian him my deluxe wolf stare. I turned to face Dr. Caelain with his arms crossed but he had walked away towards the museum section storage of the yacht, in front of the Greek tapestry.  

“Percy Jackson,” He was making a weird noise in her throat, like growling, and gesturing impatiently at me to come on. “We have a lot to talk about.”

How'd he get there so fast? Was he a monster?

I like to say that I overcame ADHD but I can not say that is the truth. The thing with having a mental health disorder that they never really go away. Sure, I have gotten better with managing my ADHD but sometimes I have really bad days, where my narcoleptic brain keeping trying to sleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed bit and pieces of my day or parts of conversations, as if a forced to follow a trail of breadcrumbs to my own life. Even though it was a part of the ADHD part of my brain misinterpreting things but nonetheless it was very annoying. 

I wasn’t so sure if he was a monster and I wished that Grover could have joined just in case but it was too late to back it now. So I followed Dr. Caelian. 

Okay, I thought. I am walking in a storage section of the yacht with this weird, Greek demigod-hating councilman. So apparently this was going to happen. Except for us, the storage gallery was empty and without the noiseless body. It was weird being alone with a person I barely knew, especially Dr. Caelain. The way he was looking at the tapestry of the Greek hero, as if he wanted to burn it to the ground…

Dr. Caelian looked me up and down as if she was a blueprint needing to be studied. “Now, since you have put down your sword and are more or less retired from questing, the legion would like any information on plans on settling down. Or is this the end of your line?”

Well, this wasn’t the expected conversation I expected from a rich guy but I guess having enough money to own an entire neighborhood; the laws of being a good person doesn’t apply to you. Anyway, I could already feel my cheeks turning red and my ears began to ring inside my head. I really didn’t want to answer his question because that is only for Annabeth and I to discuss but I really didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of one of the top donors to our research. I did the safe thing. I said-

 “I don’t even know that we would be expecting any kids in the future and the legion doesn’t need to know about that... Plus, Annabeth and I can’t think of put that kind of life onto a kid.”’

“Oh, stop being so selfish!” Dr. Caelian’s red eyes glared at me as fiercely as one of the kids in the Ares Cabin. “I don’t care what right the legion can allow, Jackson. I see with your nieces and nephews of the legion. The want is there.”

The look in his eyes were as strong as one of the furies and I have met them but this wasn’t just evil, it was controlling. 

He’s just a councilman, a creepy councilman but a councilman nonetheless, I thought nervously. He couldn’t force Annabeth and I into having children.

I didn’t really get the whole “having children for the sake of the legion” concept, it gave me a headache on a good day and on a bad day made my blood boil. But he was right about one thing, Annabeth and I wanted children. I knew without a doubt that Annabeth would be the greatest mother in the entire world to them and I knew I would try to be the best father to them. Even though we would be great at it, I knew that mine and Annabeth’s happiness were the only thing to consider. From my very first fight with a fury when I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, I’d accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was my reality but I’d never wanted any child to bear this burden. Which pretty much sucked.

“How-how about we talk about this later?” I huffed. “I can’t talk about this stuff without Annabeth. You probably have some important consul men stuff to do.”

The boat rocked even more.

“It’s that wife of yours!” Mr. Aventine said with disgust. “You always bring that up, if you were proper Roman, you would have had an arranged marriage by the time of the Giant War! So we're left to have this argument- ‘Why don't you cheat on your wife?All real Romans cheat on their wives.’ Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, sea  spawn! If your wife doesn’t like it! She joined the Hunters of Artemis. But, you get to have the last laugh!”

I felt a familiar, painful feeling in my gut as he spoke.

All I could think of was that the time before I realized that I was a demigod, we'd been living with a man named Gabe Ugliano. He was a monster. Or maybe it was when I thought that Annabeth would join the Hunters of Artemis with Thalia Grace, so she could have a family. Or worse, I thought about Zoe Nightshade, a Hunter of Artemis, helping that jerk, Hercules.

“I hope you’ve got your stuff packed, ‘cause I hear The Marine Research Institute is making cuts.!” Dr. Caelian snapped. “So, don’t act surprised when your name is up first. We need real Romans here.”

"You have no idea what you are talking about"

“Do I?” Dr. Caelian said cheerfully. “Oh, our current praetors Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang are ending their praetorship in a few weeks, you know, so the senate decided to cut spending on useless endeavors especially the Marine Research Institute. That’s what’s going to happen to you!

I tried to think. I didn’t even know about Frank and Hazel’s retirement from the legion. Then again, I tried to get away from any stuff relating to the legion. Dr. Palatine didn’t seem nervous, but it would explain why she'd gone out for the party. Maybe Dr. Caelian was lying? I didn’t want to risk it—not without talking to Dr. Palatine, or some physical proof, or… Dr. Caelian was being way too confident and I was getting tired of being uncomfortable.

Hmm…

“Dr. Palatine must dump at least a few employees for the institute to survive. But not to worry. A good soldier, like you, always has monsters to defeat for the legion. We just have to reinstate you into the legion, and then you will be off. Won’t that be fun? Have a glass of wine!” Dr. Caelain threatened. “So, are you reconsidering your legacy?” 

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I took the library by adding your name to boost the legion’s numbers” Dr Caelian continued. “You will certainly bring glory and honor to the legion.”

My throat constricted. “You want my death to bring glory and honor to the legion?”

“Well, we were planning for you to be in the legion for a long time.” Dr. Caelian smiled. “Just until, we can track down a replacement…”

“Until my father had another child”

  “Or a legacy with more Neptune’s characteristic will be preferable, you know, but a legacy with more Minvera’s characteristic is more flexible but we will fix that prob—”

Absolute terror ran through my body, it had been a while since I used my sword. I gripped my pen, ready to uncap it. I grabbed a wine glass on one of the tables, spilling the merlot, and slashed Riptide in a protective arc. I don’t remember touching him, but the next thing I knew, Dr. Caelian stood back far enough that the metal blade had cut a piece of his mustache, passed clean through, and fell to the floor as like he was getting a haircut. SLICE!

He screamed, "Jackson, what are you doing?"

I half expected Dr. Caelian to be a pile of yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of rolling eggs, a dying screech, an evil chill in the air like any other monster from Tartarus. However, his red eyes glared watching me.

I wasn’t alone.

 Dr. Caelian laid on the floor; his mouth open. 

Was he screaming? 

I heard more people coming.

It had started to rain

Dr. Palatine had found us first, she was helping Dr. Caelian to his feet, ________, trying to apologize to him. Grover had run to my side, trying to get me away from Dr. Caelian. When he saw me, he said, “What happened, dude?

I wanted to believe that I imagined the whole thing. I wanted to back outside and forget everything. 

I said, “I don’t know…”

Grover’s voice was stern and even, “Percy, put down your sword.”

I blinked. I had no idea that the sword was in my hands. My hands were still trembling as I tried to get my sword to shrink down into its pen form but I gave up and threw it across the room. My heart was in my throat and ready to throw up. I asked Grover why I did that. He had just rubbed my shoulder and turned away. 

I ask if I should talk to Dr. Palatine to see if Dr. Caelian was okay.

Grover paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me. He said that Dr. Palatine and Dr. Caelain probably needed more time to process everything.

“It’s serious, man,” I told him. “I could have scared him.”

Thunder boomed overhead.

[maguro13-2]

Legacy of Shinra Reboot ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Chapter 1 Remake Pt. 3 ~

"Around 6 years ago..."

[Flooded Station Square]

Sonic : I can't believe that Station Square is gone. People have died and there were survivors. All the buildings have been destroyed, and Casinopolis is washed out!

Tails : But only thing is...All's well that ends well, right?

Sonic : Tails! Don't you realize everybody is dead and Chaos literally flooded the whole town!? They lost their lives and the whole city is flooded, more importantly, people just lost their business! I had to come up to stop that water monster from destroying the world! Knuckles, your ancestor was such a douchebag after he murdered all those Chao and this was happened here in the present. Do you realize that how'd this happened and why are the monsters are trying to destroy this world, in there literal first place of destroying a perfectly good city like this!?

Grim : Because, Sonic...The Water beasts or the so-callef God of Destruction, was filled rage, hatred, and despair. It's because the leader of his kin had been killing the innocence.

*Instant Transmission*

Sonic : Huh? Who's there?

[Dark Samus Appears - Kenji Yamamoto]

Amy : Oh my God! It's the Grim Reaper!

Sonic : Tails who is that?

Tails : Oh no! I forgot, it's the Grim Reaper of Mobius, Grim the Hedgehog!

Sonic : Grim the Hedgehog?

Knuckles : Tails, are you something clear that...there is another God that is a Grim Reaper observing Mobius?

Sonic : Tails, how can we forget about another God that Chaos isn't the only one that is one?

Tails : Well, juding by the looks of it. Grim is the Death God of our world and he was originally your ancestor. You two are not destined to meet each other.

Sonic : What?

Grim : I knew that all of those have died in the role of this incident. I never thought it could happen to Gamma, Tikal, the Chao, and the rest of the mobians that died. Tikal was just a careful girl living inside the master emerald with her heart and soul. She was the one who can really stop chaos that combines her power. In fact, I was that I was the one who ordered Tikal not to kill Chaos, but had them imprisoned together within the emerald along with their souls.

Sonic : You ordered Tikal to seal away Chaos within the Master Emerald?

Knuckles : So that's why Eggman freed them both. So you've been watching us all along, it was only you who set up everything in Mobius! But why on earth did you let Chaos kill my ancestors?

Grim : To explain this from the truth, it's revealed that he was one of the sinners who made Chaos to destroy the world in Mobius's past just to bring dominace over mobians. The leader of the clan, Pachacamac, was such a greedy fool to think that the powers of the emeralds would be his to take, but the emeralds belong to a race of being that are related to Chaos, the ancients were the ones that brought these emeralds to your world, Sonic. The Mobians of Influence has kept truth hidden from the other mobians and the public eye.

Knuckles : So this means my ancestors had been puppets on a string the entire time. The leader of my clan was stubborn and too greedy for power. Only an Echidna not too greedy power, greed is a deadly sin.

Grim : Sonic. Heed my words. As you can see, the ancients' enemy The End is about to free from it's imprisonment, but there is one solution that needs all orders in Real World to be solved. In six years, find the charlatan that the one they call him Shinigami and protect my sworn duty as God of Death itself.

Sonic : The ancients? The End? Who are the ancients and how did you know they are related to Chaos? And what are you talking about?

Grim : (Snickers) Allow me to show you the true face of a reaper and I demand that you will have respects to the Grim Reaper of Mobius, a Death God that serves the planet of Mobius.(unhoods himself)

Sonic : Huh?

Tails : Wha-!?

Knuckles : No! It can't be!

Amy: You again?

Sonic : Grim, your body is...the one that I raced with before on the miracle planet! You have my arch-rival's body. No, please...You can't be someone who you are! (The reflection Metal Sonic's face is shown on Sonic's eye) NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

*flashes forward*

"Six years later..."

"Hang Castle Zone..."

[Hang Castle (Inverted ver) - Tomoya Ohtani]

Egg Pawn A : It's gonna take more than this clean this place up, I can't believe that the idiots have been smashing places and breaking since they stopped Metal Sonic and convicted for the rebellious crimes against humanity and machines. They got him in the system, and I believe that the evil forces were a diversion.

Egg Pawn B : Well, yeah! That's what my ex-wife told me about that, evil forces means evil villains tryint to take over the world and not destroy, but I discovered when this person name Emine was about to destroy the world, he was turned into a heartles when this Shotaro Dokeshi kid discovered that an entity named Demon Vibe is behind his actions. The men of Shinra's influence had the nerves to keep it all a secret.

Egg Pawn A : You rely on that, I do not like the foul smell of the heartless, they appear from the shadows and they are the ones that wrecked havoc on the planet. Any subjects?

Egg Pawn B : Couldn't agree. Anyway, Lord Grim should be arriving soon. I heard that this Shinra Kusakabe guy is alive and he kinda looks like this. (Shows a photo of the Devil Chaos Chao) They say that he was resurrected in this form after his body destroyed by the Time Eater years ago. Better go check on this Maka Kid. She's should done doing her best studies and training.

Egg Pawn A : Agree.

Egg Pawn C : Guys! Guys! Seto has returned anfnbrought someone to the vicinity of this fortress! We need to report ourselves to Lord Grim's throne room!

(scene changes to the throne room)

Ashley : (wakes up, moaning) Man, this hangover..what in the world is this place? I'm not in the mood for Halloween.

Kimial Diehl : Is it just me or does this world kinds look actual bogus to me? I mean how great was it for us to be at inside of a giant castle.

Seto : Oh you're finally awake. Welcome's to master palace. Designed by the world's greatest scientist, for machine, visitors, and presidents, built with the latest defenses with our strong and capable technology. Plus, no mabuki that are the weapons their selves.

Ashley : So this is where your actually come from. This is where the Grim Reaper resides at? I bet it was here when rebellious Metal Sonic had a headstart and invaded the place. So the robots are really...

Seto : Yes, you are correct. They are master's servants and work for me, a human girl who called both Deathless and Needless together at the same time.

Ashley : Then what other choice did you have for something? You wield a sword? You work for your "master" and you have someone to accompany with?

Kimial Diehl : Don't mind anything something we would like to gather something to eat right now. You gotta anything something to treat.

Seto : Oh yes, we just got something good. *Snaps fingers* Bring out the hot chocolate*

*DOOR BANGING*

Chef Pawn : Here you are, girls, cups of piping hot chocolate coming right up! (Gives cups of hot chocolate to the girls) and of, I have added marshmallows with in it.

Seto : Thank you.

Kimial Diehl : Well, for a girl that works at the castle, these machines were programmed to the reaper?

Seto : Yes, and they have restored to work with master to keep all forced safe and sound. Egg Pawns that works at this facility. I don't know why would the blue robot doppelganger would invade this facility...to create of machines that wanted our servants to turn into slaves for dirty work. Look at the newspaper. Take a look for yourself.

(NEWSPAPER : REBELLIOUS RIVAL FROM SONIC CD HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!)

Kimial Diehl : "Rebellious Rival from Sonic CD Has Been. Brought to Justice"?

Ashley : Metal Sonic, the blue robotic doppelganger of the original, was found guilty on all charges of crimes related to the Newtrogic High Zone incident nine years ago.

Seto : Yes, he was the same robot that got everyone involved in his plans of becoming the ultimate overlord when starts stealing data from others such living things, lifeforms, and Black Arms data.

Ashley : Black Arms. So that is so like 50 years ago.

Kimial Diehl : That hardly ring a bell, the Black Arms told that they were coming back to Sonic's world for destruction since the Space Colony ARK incident was just...

Seto : A stage...the Space Colony ARK incident was just a stage that triggered the Black Arms for their return. The invasion of these space creatures will attack Sonic's world by the year 2005.

Kimial Diehl : That'll have to wait.

Ashley : But still...we haven't gotten interest in finding Maka Albarn... she's at this place, am I correct.

Seto : Absolutely. She's a middle school student, so her and that Soul Evans are middle school kids, they were under Shinra Kusakabe's influence directly that made her the hero of the story.

Ashley : What stories do you often to do?

Seto : Trust me. 1000 years before Maka Albarn started her life as a hero, the boy named Shinra Kusakabe and his people were one of the Ohkuboverse's first heroes. They lost the Soul Eater universe when the vicious Time Eater destroyed it in half after they were annihilated in the hands of that entity.

Ashley : They were all fallen ones and were resurrected to different universes and Real World AU. Shinra Kusakabe resurrected as the Dark-type of a Chaos Chao resembling his appearance as the devil who created Soul Eater.

Kimial Diehl : And I suggested that the hope he found was light itself, and then was scolded by the Time Eater when he established the World Heroes Force organization.

Seto : The DWMA's true predecessors, from an organization of heroes to an organization of a giant school. And let's not forget, the school itself was not protecting public order, but is also created for the monopolization of political power.

Kimial Diehl : You gotta speak up, I am a girl raised at the northeast parts of the United States, but I usually come to Japan and had the name Kimiko, Kimiko Kasugatani. It's a long story short, but I eventually shed that name for Kimial Diehl, is what I am now. But I don't if we able to meet Shinra Kusakabe

*Door bell ringing rhythmically*

Seto : And that would be Sega's finest. That's great news to hear. You should becoming a screen writers for the games.

*Door opens*

Seto : So, you finally come out of and finished your studies, did you brushed your teeth like I always asked?

Maka Albarn : You tell me. I always what you asked, ma'am.

Ashley : No way, that's Maka Albarn? She's only just a kid.

Kimial Diehl : This is her, who does she look like someone familiar. I be it's the one that looks alike that cat girl who brough lewdness into Soul World, maybe that's where she get that hairstyle from...Wait a second.

(sounds of Maka beating up someone as we flashes back to 2003, where Maka was beating up something with a bat, which appears to be a Neoshadow)

Neoshadow : (gags)

(flashes back to Kimial)

Kimial Diehl : Okay...far choice. Maybe she was that kind of hero who saved someone in her life.

Maka Albarn : You are Kimial Diehl, correct?

Kimial Diehl : That's right. I am Kimial Diehl, you were the girl that was part of your story, Soul Eater's story?

Maka Albarn : I am no hero, and I have no story. I don't know why Soul Eater's story revolves around a bunch three middle school students like Ned's Declassified.

Kimial Diehl : Yeah, thirteen year olds like Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.

Maka Albarn : Yeah, I was wondering something like that on TV. If I was the hero of the my story, you in reality, you gotta sometime have the words of no respect, like i'd give a darn, my life way far superior. Hope that the reaper brought me here, who has something to do with Chaos.

Ashley : That's the name of the God of Destruction, ain't it?

Red The Demon : I bet he's creature who killed all those mobians and of course the people of Station Square six years ago. 1998 was the year that we'll never forget.

Ashley : Okay, we'll talk to Grim Reaper fella that is going to be here any minute now.

Grim : I'm right here.

(Grim appears teleporting)

[Obel Dallgun - Hideaki Kobayashi]

Butler Pawn : Master Grim. You have arrived. How was your trip in Pumpkin Hill and Sky Rail Zone.

Seto : Oi, Master, you have returned!

Butler Pawn : Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet our master, Grim the Hedehog, Grim Reaper of Mobius.

"Grim Reaper : Death God of Mobius"

Butler Pawn : Be all good dears and listen to our master's speech.

Grim : Thank you, sir.

Butler Pawn : Your indeed welcome.

Seto : Girls, I'd like you meet the strongest Death God of all, Grim the Hedgehog. Once a hedgehog in Mobius' past, chosen by the Gods to give him the powers of Grim Reaper, and now orders a group of robots serving him and as well for me, I'm his apprentice.

Ashley : Hold up, are you saying that you are his apprentice?

Kimial Diehl : That's odd. I never say that you were his apprentice, serving under the directs of mainting public order in the Real World and Sonic's World, both of them.

Seto : True, and exactly what I told you, to do what is rightfully mine. I have Solva with me.

Solva : Glad to be with you, Seto. I'm a girl you always asked and I'm one tough super girl!

"Solva : Seto's Right-hand maiden"

Solva : No need to thank me, I always carry out missions and help out the pawns and knights to work around this facility.

Ashley : Okay...This is going to be a lot of storytell prove, no...but this is a speech.

Kimial Diehl : We're gonna take a break from this point.

Ashley : Okay. Cue to a Commercial Break!

(pans to a card that says "Commercial Break")

Solva : Wait, what are we even doing a commerical break?

Seto : You tell me...That's your idea of an excuse.

~ Scene 2 : The Typical Grim ~

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, September 7th and Friday, September 8th

XANDER: What are you talking about? Willow wouldn't do that. SPIKE: (sarcastic) Oh. Is that right. XANDER: Look. You're just covering. Don't tell me you're not happy. (Spike scoffs) XANDER: Look me in the eyes, and tell me when you saw Buffy alive, that wasn't the happiest moment of your entire existence.

~~After Life~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Weekly Drabbles #15: Solace pt. III by veronyxk84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Weekly Drabbles #16: Behind Blue Eyes by veronyxk84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

cupcake, cherry-pie by shadows_of_the_words_i_said (Angel/Lorne, G [with kissing])

The Latin Passage by Icymoonlight (Willow, Giles, G)

His Dark Family by EustasiaVye13 (Angelus/Darla, T)

Every night I save you by leetolgoblin (Buffy/Spike, T)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Power In Your Eyes - Ch. 1 by TheSovereigntyofReality (Constantine xover, Buffy, Giles, G)

Skin on Skin - Ch. 1-6 by NautiBitz (Buffy/Spike, E) [originally 2002, revised 2007]

BtVS/Sandman Crossover.... The Sequel. Chapter 3 by linzod (Buffy/Spike, Willow, unrated)

Twice Broken, Thrice Burnt - Ch. 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Hi Granny! - Ch. 1-2 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

New Normal - Ch. 1-2 by holetoledo (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Haunted - Ch. 3 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Neighbor's Point of View - Ch. 41 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG)

In Another Life, I Still Fall for You - Ch. 7-8 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

From Hell with Love - Ch. 25 by temporarytitle (Buffy/Spike, R)

Under The Rubble - Ch. 40 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Rewrite - Ch. 38 by hopelesswanderer (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

In Between Worlds - Ch. 8-9 by babylove969 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Scoobies in Neptune - Ch. 25 by Buffyworldbuilder (Veronica Mars xover, FR7)

Mlinzi Mweupe - Ch. 6 by RobertPAllison (Xander, Avengers xover, FR13)

Silhouettes and Shadows - Ch. 1 by TheSunnySlayer (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Art of Dying - Ch. 2 by disco-tea (Buffy/Spike, R)

Edge of the World - Ch. 1-2 by Dynamite (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

I remember who you are - Ch. 1 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Plenty Of Fish - Ch. 3 by all_choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Diary of Dawn - Ch. 2 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Mommy...? - Ch. 4 by Grief Counseling (Buffy/Spike, R)

the Eyes - Ch. 3 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Blood and Black Lace - Ch. 8 by SlayrGrl (Buffy/Spike, R)

A Place in the Sun - Ch. 16 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Highly Professional Colleagues by RoselynnThornwood (Giles/Jenny, NSFW)

Artwork: yes i am still obsessed with 20 yr old tv show R:317N by sparemoon (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: can u do spike btvs for one of the six characters? by knightish-knight (Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: teach me to be cruel 🖤 by serj ketraia (Buffy/Faith, worksafe)

Artwork: [Spike and Buffy] by kaoribriefs (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Digital Artwork: A little season 1 Buffy Summers inspired Lookbook by SUNNYDALE SIMS (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy and Faith - The Grudge by slayer-pride-parade (Buffy/Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Alphabet ↳ Q ✫ Quest by buffysummers (Buffy, Giles, Sineya, worksafe)

Gifset: NEW MAGIC WAND by Tyler, The Creator by andremichaux (Buffy/Angel, worksafe)

Jewelry: i commissioned a pair of earrings by Lovelyruthie on etsy (via jennycalendar) (Giles/Jenny, worksafe)

Text meme: pretended to stop caring about the earring i lost so i would find it again... by sinomin (Willow, Buffy, worksafe)

Gif collection: Like... can we acknowledge the iconic Spike & Xander moments? [collected gifs by various artists] via mariepv (Xander, Spike, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E12 (part 2) Bad Eggs by jvstheworld

"It's exactly like a Greek Tragedy. There should only be Greeks." [Restless] by girl4music

Monster Island - Chapter 14 epilogue [book discussion] by Taake

Rewatching season 7 and I was actually really enjoying it then Empty Places happened... by greetings-feline

PODCAST: BTVS 420 - The Yoko Factor by Another Buffy Podcast

PODCAST: ATS 119 - Sanctuary by Another Buffy Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

ISO: djackson404 seeks Current [physical mail] address to send SMG fan mail?

[Community Announcements]

Multifandom: Spook Me Multi-Fandom Ficathon 2023 signups are open until September 15

[Fandom Discussions]

One of my favorite parts about BTVS is that this show literally writes itself fanfiction. by fragmentedflouncy

Rupert Giles (repeatedly, for well over a year)... don't tell your mother anything about your being a Slayer. by coraniaid

The way Xander & Anya's relationship goes bothers me SO much... by suncaptor

i'm super excited about Friday October 13th and not for the reason you think. [Faith] by juanabaloo

Just re-watched Tabula Rasa and... which scenario would be the best... where Faith was there. by hersterical and girl4music

Faith embraces power with unchecked hedonism but instantly throws... by catty-words

Media Consumption 9/7/2023 [S5 BTVS] by itsnotmymind

That Girl In Question 19 years later updated by various

Season 3 Thoughts updated by burrunjor

As You Were theory updated by various

Was Buffy afraid of Spike the first time she saw him? by chemeli888

I- I just love it. [Angel and Spike and Giles in the comics] by Imaginecoolname

Did Giles make the right choice leaving town in Season 6? Why or why not? by donoho-59

Willow, Tara, OMWF by Vonda705

Willow doing something so awful to Tara? How? [discussion of assault] by nosleepforbanditos

Buffy season 1 episodes' running time broken up by days by Tuxedo_Mark

Instances of plot convenience by Tuxedo_Mark

Do you guys think that all slayers are night owls? by Waarm

I'm sure this has been asked here countless times, but rank the seasons by TSllama

Would you have genuinely been happy with season 5 as the ending? by pavlovasavage

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PODCAST: Tis Your Man from Buffy- Tom Lenk!!! by Tis Yourself

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T REWRITE -S1:E6; Chapter Six, The Monster - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

With Eleven gone, Y/n and Dustin struggle to keep the party together. Elsewhere, Hopper and Joyce uncover the truth about the lab’s many experiments.

||3rd Person POV||

Joyce and Hopper sat opposite one another at the kitchen table of the Byers' home. The house was cold and hardly lit, copies of newspaper clippings scattered all around the house. One of the only light sources was a dusty light that hung from the kitchen ceiling above the table and their heads, illuminating the several papers.

"Look, we gotta go through this again." Joyce insisted.

"I told you everything that I saw."

"Oh, gosh. Tell me again."

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Hopper asked.

"Upstairs."

"There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was... well you see like I said, I got turned around."

Hopper was currently sharing all he had encountered on his rogue mission at Hawkins National Laboratory. Joyce, all the while was hanging on his every word.

"I told you, it was like, I don't know, it wasn't supposed to exist. That whole area, it was abandoned and... forgotten, like it was all some big mistake. Once I found my way back, I saw that... kid's room. That other kid's room, I mean. Like it was actually used, but it didn't even look like a kid's room, neither of them, it looked like a prison."

Hopper sighed and rubbed the bottom of his palms into his eyes tiredly, is fingers held the lit cigarette inches away from his face as he did so. "If that even makes sense,"

"Well," Joyce began, trying to get to the bottom of this never ending mystery. "So why would you think it was a kid's room, then?"

"Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal--"

Joyce interrupted the man quickly. "Y-You didn't say there was a drawing."

"Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said 'Eleven' on it."

"Was it good?" Joyce pressed.

"It was a kid's drawing, Joyce. It was stick figures."

Joyce had a knowing look on her face as she stood up with a sigh, retrieving a piece of crinkled line paper and slammed it down on the table for Hopper to see.

She pointed to the detailed drawing as she sat back down.

"Wasn't Will." She stated confidently, shakily bringing the cigarette back up to her lips.

Hopper examined the drawing and everything seemed to click. He returned his gaze to the anxious mother. Hopper quickly put out his cigarette in the ashtray and made a beeline for the coffee table.

"Earl..." he muttered, as he made his way into the living room. Joyce, who had abandoned her cigarette, was right on his heels.

"The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny," Hopper and Joyce took a seat beside one another on the living room couch, Hopper's eyes fixed on the several news clippings splayed along the wooden coffee table. "Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe..."

The man began sifting through the papers, and Joyce spoke up.

"Wait... Maybe, it wasn't?"

Hopper pulled the article he had been looking for and pointed to the fuzzy photograph of the woman in the article.

"Look... this woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government... Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if... I mean, what if this whole time I've been... I've been looking for Will... I've been chasing after some other kid?"

||Reader's POV||

Everything is a mess.

Will is still missing, the party is falling apart, Mike and Lucas are still angsty messes that won't speak to one another, and now, El left us. She probably thinks I hate her.

'But I don't! I was just scared'

(Ok but like,,,, who else ships El and reader cause damn I've been giving myself feels lately, dang)

'We need to fix this'

I sigh and sit up from my bed and make my way to Dustin's room.

+++

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike sighed.

Dustin and I agreed we needed to talk some sense into the boys. So we got our bikes and made our way to Mike's. Dustin was standing opposite Mike while I currently occupied one of the DnD chairs I had pulled up. Mike was worriedly pacing the floor in front of us.

"She's gotta be close." Dustin offered.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down."

Mike only ignored Dustin and kept talking, more to himself than anybody it seemed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either." Dustin replied softly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Mike stopped in his tracks. He looked at my brother dumbfounded and took a few steps in his direction. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"That's ridiculous! [Y/N], tell him he's being ridiculous!"

Very calmly, I stood up with my arms crossed and stood next to my brother, and sighed, eyes fixed on Mike. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dustin is absolutely right."

Mike seemed even more furious. "Oh, give me a break!"

Dustin snapped at these words and stormed up to Mike. "No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! [Y/N] and I were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rules. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand." I press stepping forward.

He was sure to make eye contact with me over Dustin shoulder as he spoke. "No, I'm not."

So I strode toward him and gave him a slight glare.

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" I asked firmly.

Mike crossed his arms and pouted before speaking up meekly. "No."

"Good!" I chirp, my face beaming as if we hadn't just been fighting which seem to only terrify him more.

I all but skipped over to the chair grabbing my coat, Dustin following my actions.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked with a hint of frustration.

"Where do you think?" Dustin asked as he put his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We're going to get Lucas." I finished straightening my jacket then looked back to Mike.

My face softened and I tilted my head slightly. "And then we're gonna find Eleven."

+++

The three of us stood on Lucas's porch and I rang the doorbell. We stood waiting until the door swung open and Lucas stood there glaring at all three of us, but mostly Mike.

"What do you want?" He spits, resting his hands in his pockets.

There was brief silence which was then interrupted by a muffled smack of Dustin hitting Mike in the arm.

Mike sighed softly and looked to Lucas, clearly hating every second of this.

"I drew first blood, so..." he extended his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas didn't move.

Somehow I had convinced Lucas to let us all in and now, we all stood in the middle of his living room as he paced silently across the floor considering Mike's offer. He finally stopped and stared at the three of us.

"Okay, I'll shake."

Mike sighed what I barely made out to be a "finally" as he extended his arm out once more. Dustin and I perked up, that was until Lucas continued.

"On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate." He finished, arms crossed defiantly.

"Then the deal's off." Mike barked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine! Guys seriously?" Dustin yelled as I threw my head back frustrated.

Dustin forced Mike to face him as he spoke. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Lucas and Mike shared a confused glance.

Dustin seemed shocked and offended that they had no recollection and continued.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we all split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Would everybody just shut up for one second please!" I snap.

Everybody looks to me, a worried and shocked expression on their faces.

I step forward and begin ranting to the boys.

"I am sick of your attitude." I point at Lucas. "I am sick of your whining." I point to Mike. "I am sick of all three of you bickering," I gesture to all of them. "I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for taking me in and including me, know that, but GOD I am getting tired of being stuck listening to you boys argue about every little thing!"

I myself began pacing, my voice continuously rising. "I'm sick of putting up with all your petty arguing when we should be looking for Will only to come home at the end of the day, having found NOTHING and crying my eyes out because the only person who never gave a shit about who started what is missing and probably dead!"

I stopped pacing and looked to the boys who were all silent. I sighed and lowered my voice. "Lucas, you're right. You could have been killed. Which is exactly why we need her. She is more powerful than all of us combined."

"[Y/N]'s right. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Mike said, anger still in his voice. "That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas looked torn for a moment, but then he shook his head and pointed at the three of us. There was disappointment in his voice. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way!"

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Lucas continued.

"I'm going to the gate. I'm going to find Will."

Lucas shoved the boys aside and stormed off, leaving the three of us alone in more ways than one.

+++++

(apologies the tag list was not posted originally. It slipped my mind. Sorry lovelies! <3)

Tag List: @fuckwaad @aimee-lucass

DM me if you want to be added!

[rekiilysm]

ETHEREAL

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

IN WHICH ,

Steve Harrington meets a girl, a certain girl who happens to be the biggest freak in Hawkins High. This girl thought the king of the school never knew who she was, but she may or may not have been wrong.

King Steve saw her in the hallways every now and then, ever since elementary school, not knowing who this girl was. Until Carol and Tommy explained to him who she was, which he shook off and didn't ask about her again.

He forgot about her completely, not even thinking about her at all. All throughout high school, Y/n Henderson wasn't on his radar at all, only Nancy Wheeler.

But once he bumps into the outcast, he realizes why he was so interested in her. He always thought it was like she wasn't real, her presence feeling unreal to him.

She was ethereal.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

SEASON ONE:

—Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers Pt. 1

—Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Will Byers Pt. 2

—Chapter Three: The Weirdo on Maple Street

—Chapter Four: Holly, Jolly

—Chapter Five: The Body

—Chapter Six: The Flea and the Acrobat

—Chapter Seven: The Monster

—Chapter Eight: The Bathtub

—Chapter Nine: The Upside Down

SEASON TWO:

—Chapter Ten: MADMAX

—Chapter Eleven: Trick or Treat, Freak

—Chapter Twelve: The Pollywog

—Chapter Thirteen: Will the Wise

—Chapter Fourteen: Dig Dug

—Chapter Fifteen: The Spy

(i’m skipping The Lost Sister)

—Chapter Sixteen: The Mind Flayer

—Chapter Seventeen: The Gate

SEASON THREE:

—Chapter Eighteen: Suzie, Do You Copy?

—Chapter Nineteen: The Mall Rats

[bylrndgm]

eight-fifteen screencaps (S1 and S2)

Premises: I'm completely unhinged (🤡) and I have time to waste, therefore, I decided to give my contribution to the whole 8:15 gate.

No, for real: in this post I will put the screencaps of what happens at 8:15 and -8:15 of each episode (probably gonna reget it halfway through it lol).

In this first post I will go through S1 and S2.

Long post -> keep reading under the cut.

Pictures on the left: 8:15

Pictures on the right: - 8:15

Season 1

Chapter one: The vanishing of Will Byers.

Chapter two: The weirdo on Maple Street

Note: at 46:51, the lights flicker.

Chapter three: Holly, jolly

Chapter four: The body

Note: at 8:15 there are the title credits playing.

Chapter five: The flea and the acrobat

Note: at 8:15 there are the title credits playing.

Chapter six: The monster

Chapter seven: The bathtub

Note: seconds prior 8:15, Karen finds out some blonde hair (that probably came off El's wig)

Chapter eight: The upside-down

THOUGHTS: What is absolutely feral about this, is that S01E01's 8:15 matches with S01E08's -8:15 -> in both cases Will is leaving (the shed/Mike's basement).

And while the 8:15s seem a little disconnected from one another, the -8:15s kinda have a recurring theme:

El is trying to escape from the bad men

Joyce is crying after the line dropped (after she heard Will breathing)

Hop leaves the library to get to the quarry where he will find the fake body

Joyce breaks her house's wall trying to reach Will, who moments prior was "in the walls"

Lucas goes away after El used his powers against him

Dustin is assaulted by Troy, who threatens him to remove his teeth. Moments later, Mike will jump off the cliff

El finds out that Barb is dead

Will goes home

They're all about "going away/dying/leaving/escaping".

Season two

Chapter one: Madmax

Chapter two: Trick or treat, freak

Chapter three: The pollywog

Chapter four: Will the wise

Chapter five: Dig dug

Chapter six: The spy

Note: The Duffer Brothers are unhinged as hell, like, what does it mean that these two 8:15s are connected? The first lie: Jonathan and Nancy don't feel anything for eachother, they're just friends, which Murray debunks. And the lie was said because there was Steve in the middle of them (aka Nancy had still to sort out her feelings).

Chapter seven: The lost sister

Chapter eight: The mind flayer

Chapter nine: The gate

Note: the poster on the image on the left, shows a woman who's being chocked by some dark, monster-like hands -> the exact same thing that will happen to Joyce later on

THOUGHTS: What I noticed, is that the 8:15s are about learning, discovering and understanding because:

Keith is discussing about acne, teaching them it's not contagious + Will is having his first "now memory" of the UD

Hop tells El why she can't go trick or treating + teches her a new word: compromise

Dustin borrows five books from the library to understand more about Dart

Self-explainatory: "do you know what this word means?"

Jonathan had just learnt from Nancy that she waited him a month before getting back with Steve

Murray understands Jonathan and Nancy are lying to him

El is about to reunite with Kali

Billy's dad talks to him about "respect and responsibility" and he asks him if he understood

Joyce clicks on how to free Will from the Mind flayer.

That is pretty much it. Probably I will post pt. 2 tomorrow and let me know your thoughts.

I will leave the posts that inspired this madness raptus below, so that if you want to understand more, you'll be able to.

this by @aemiron-main

this by @byler-4-life

[staticl0ve]

The Boy Next Door: Watermelon Sugar Pt.1

A human AU series featuring the RK boys. Starting with Connor.

Parings: Human!Connor / Female Reader Rating: Explicit/ NSWF 18+ Chapters (AO3): [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] Word Count: 3.4k Warnings: None (part 1 is backstory fluff and SFW) Summary: He’s known you all your life. He’s the boy next door: sweet, considerate, and he’s absolutely head over heels and you are the densest best friend he’s ever had.

-

Negotiation is a fine art, one which requires finesse and charm. Neither of which you and Connor had when you first exchanged toys as young children. There was much debate on the worth of his massive stuffed brown bear complete with a little blue bow versus your remote controlled monster truck. Thinking back on it, you’d congratulate your parents for being adventurous with the toys they bought for a little girl.

“You’ll take good care of him right?” Connor insisted upon the completion of your transaction.

He had always wanted a dog but his father was ramping up his workload at the DPD and had no time as a single parent to juggle a kid and a puppy. So the compromise was a large stuffed animal which Connor named Sumo. The bear’s massive head rolled around your tiny arms, his brown sparkly eyes gazing up at the clouds. You looked up at Connor’s worried eyes. They were almost as brown and shimmery as the bear in your embrace. You gave him a big smile, your tongue peeking out from a gap where an adult tooth was growing in.

“I promise to take care of him. You can come over and visit too!”

“Really?” He asked, eyes wide and bright.

You both made a pinky promise, the simple gesture sparking the beginning of a journey as best friends. Your families were ecstatic about your friendship and arranging play dates was a breeze since he lived next door. There were countless of shared parties, camping trips, and games of hide and seek where your backs were pressed together in a closet. You were inseparable but it was only a matter of time before childish laughter in small confined spaces became longing gazes and drawn out silence.

It was dark all around you, which was no surprise because Becca’s closet was small and uncomfortably packed with her clothes. From beyond the thin crappy door, you could make out the sound of the other high schoolers giggling, the graduation party going splendidly without you two. Connor had been nervously fidgeting with a coin in his pocket and avoiding your gaze since the door shut.

“Seven minutes in heaven is such a dumb game,” you said to lighten the mood. “I swear the hormones are getting to our friends.”

He swallowed a gulp, unable to tear his eyes from your face. Truth be told, ‘the hormones’ had been the bane of your best friend’s existence since puberty came for Connor. His chubby cheeks grew out into a rather conventionally handsome face with a set of charmingly sweet chocolate eyes. His lanky, clumsy body that barely kept up with you in the playground skyrocketed into a six foot lean machine that was the star of the soccer team. There was a long line of admirers who’d beg you to hand him their love notes, ask about his favorite things, anything to try and woo the most sought after Connor Anderson.

Puberty was a problem for Connor and it wasn’t because of the sudden attention that he received. No. It was a problem because he liked you and the changes that occurred in you only made him fall so much harder. It started out as a small and innocent crush. You both liked the same things, shared a sense of humor and in late night sleepovers, you’d swap secrets — stories that made you both cry and laugh. You vented to each other and it was cathartic to have those evenings together.

Connor was sure his infatuation with you would be short lived, that he’d mature out of it. If anything, he felt more lost the moment he saw you during freshman homecoming, all glammed up in a dress he vaguely recalled being dragged across downtown to help you find. He remembered it being glittery, the light of a cheap disco ball dancing across your skin while he held you for a slow dance. It was awkward at first, you made some silly jokes before you both fell into a comfortable silence with only the gentle tunes of a love song swirling around you, pushing you two closer on the dance floor.

His hand was on your back, his palm nervously sweaty on your bare skin. He was absolutely drowning in the worst assault of teenage hormones, unable to keep his eyes from wandering over your mostly modest neckline (you were a teenager after all) and imagining how the rest of you might look without the dress. It was like he had never touched you before, realizing then and there how soft and warm you felt in his arms. You gazed up at him, eyes twinkling and your lips parted in a grin like you still couldn’t get over the silliness of the dance. He had a strong urge to plant his lips on yours, to taste your joy.

Puberty changed you and it made you damn near angelic twirling around the dance floor. The only reason you weren’t swarmed with admirers throughout high school was because most of the guys didn’t want to compete with the captain of the soccer team. They saw the heart eyes on Connor’s face even when most of the girls fawning over him insisted that you two were just friends. He’d always laugh at those assumptions, scratch the back of his head while his lips curled in a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, we’re just friends.”

You didn’t seem to mind or even notice since you were too busy trying to spend your time studying to get into your dream college. There was no time to give a damn about fleeting teenage love when there was so much you wanted accomplish. Connor admired your passion and in the interest of preserving the best friendship he ever had, he endured the trials of crushing on someone too dense to realize how much he liked them.

His admirers labeled him as an angel or a school hero due to his kind, boyish features and can do attitude. He volunteered at the local soup kitchen and blushed deeply whenever he opened his locker door to another love letter fluttering out of it. People didn’t know him the way you knew him. He was a bit of a wild card when the sun had set and he was done with soccer practice and homework. One such example was the night before your last exam of your senior year.

“Pst!”

You heard the harsh whisper outside your open window and knew who the voice belonged to before you could put your pencil down. You both had phones but Connor knew you couldn’t ignore him when he was outside your room. He waved at you, half of his body was obscured by a massive rose bush. His soccer uniform was bright between the mess of leaves and petals, making it not the most ingenious hiding spot. He called out your name in a louder whisper, finally summoning you to your window.

“It’s almost ten! We have a test tomorrow Connor!” You hissed back.

“I insist.” He continued when your eyebrow rose in suspicion. “I promise we won’t be out long.”

You should have realized by now that this would be the millionth time you’ve fallen for that line and you’d likely have to sneak back into your room in the dead of night. There was an abandoned amusement park that you both discovered as children with nothing else to do, all the time in the world, and freshly pumped bike tires. The park wasn’t in the worst condition, mostly dusty and boarded up with faded paint on the signs. Although, you were eleven at the time and not qualified to make assessments on the structural integrity of anything.

Being the more sensible one of your dynamic duo, you were the one who didn’t want to check it out. Absolutely nothing could go well when mixing children with abandoned parks. All Connor did was hold out his hand from the broken fencing and give you an eleven year old’s approximation of a daredevil grin.

“Don’t be a chicken, don’t you want to check out the merry go round?”

You sighed and squeezed your bike through the gap in a fence before shooting him a rather pointed look.

“There better be one!”

It became a regular meet up spot to hide from adults and a part of him liked the risk of being somewhere that kids weren’t allowed to be in. He also had the perk of his dad being a police lieutenant, the power going slightly to his prepubescent head (of course Hank would not be on his side if he discovered Connor’s secret hideout).

You caved and went back with him that night of your senior year with the promise of a surprise awaiting you.

“What’s this big reveal that you’ve been going on about?” You asked while stroking the head of a unicorn on the merry go round. “It better be worth failing my exam for.”

He was making a lot of clanking sounds from behind you before a generator grumbled and then roared. Bulb by bulb, the fairy lights around you lit up and the merry go round fizzled back to life. Plastic figurines bobbed and spun around to the tune of a Beethoven song. Your feet rocked as you steadied yourself over the rotating platform, hearing him boldly hop onto it.

“How did you get it to work?” You asked.

Over the years of countless nights spent reclining on the seats of the motionless spinning cups, he had an earful of you wishing that a miracle would bring the park back to life. As soon as he discovered that he could…well, he absolutely had to see your face when the lights turned on. He perched himself on a nearby lion figurine with the widest grin you’ve seen on his face.

“I did some investigating and found this generator. All it needed was a fresh propane tank and…I thought…”

Your face was caught between wonder and awe, eyes sparkling with curiosity. His cheeks dimpled, his proud grin melting into something you couldn’t distinguish. The sight of you stole his train of thought and he had to clear his throat before he continued.

“I thought you’d like a chance to finally ride it.”

It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for you and still you thought nothing more of it. The conclusion you made explained his surprise as being an olive branch, a way to clear the air since he found out you were going to a college very far from his. An elephant lingered in the space between you two since you sprung the news on him at the last possible moment. Connor was quiet, dead quiet that day and he wasn’t there to bike home with you like he normally did. The elephant grew larger and larger until it’s theoretical butt barely squeezed itself into Becca’s tiny closet, the sounds of a graduation party still just outside the door.

“Connor? You okay?” You teased. “I’ve known you for years, so if you’ve suddenly become claustrophobic — you should tell me now.”

He blinked, realizing he had probably been staring at you for a while now. He huffed out a laugh in an attempt to keep the air light in the now stuffy closet. As it would turn out, Hank would eventually cave to his son and get Connor the dog he had been begging for. He was a Saint Bernard, also named Sumo, who was man’s best friend and also man’s savior for awkward silences.

“Oh! I’m fine. It’s…I was worried about Sumo,” he blurted.

Your face went from glaring at the door to back at him, your brows pinching in concern.

“You took him out for a pee before coming to the party right?”

He nodded, grateful for the change in subject. “He’s only a few years old but I still get flashbacks to his puppy days. I don’t think my dad has forgiven me for the vacuum incident.”

The incident involved his smart vacuum running back and forth over a pile of dog excrement and proceeding to color their humble white carpeting all shades of brown. Hank had laughed it off, practically cackling like a hyena and telling his son to clean up the mess while he figured out dinner. The home smelled like cleaning chemicals for days and you complained when you were hanging out on his carpet only to spring off of it, mortified upon learning the story. The movement startled the young pup, and only made him bark with a need to play.

“Connor! You could have warned me before I rolled around your carpet!”

He stifled a laugh while running soothing pets down Sumo’s back. “I assure you, it has been cleaned more times than I can count.” There was an evil chuckle before he added one more comment.

“Although, statistically speaking, there is a chance that some remnants-“

“No! Ew! Connor!” You shouted while diving for the nearest pillow to chuck in his face.

He caught it with insanely fast reflexes, a wicked smile crinkling his freckled cheeks. There was once upon a time when you were taller than him and could crush him at any pillow fight. It only took one summer for him to tower over you and he never let you live down his new title as pillow champion. All you could do was curse the new athletic prowess of the soccer team captain.

The memory allowed you two to share a short laugh in the closet, the sound petering off rather quickly. A silence hung between you both, his eyes panning down your face. He had been in the dark long enough for his vision to adjust and see your face from the light seeping through the door hinges. You stared back at him, frozen in place as he shifted on the balls of his feet, leaning in slightly. His head titled down towards you, lips parting as if he was caught between saying something or maybe… 

“O~okay! Time’s up cuties!” Becca shouted as the door swung open.

Connor was plagued with restless thoughts after that party. He had spent too many summer nights mulling over what ifs, like what if he had just kissed you, friendship be damned. He didn’t realize how little time you both had left together before summer breezed by and college orientations would begin. There was one lazy evening left between you two in what felt to Connor like the sun setting on a lifetime friendship. He was in your bedroom, with you lying in your bed and him lying on the floor next to you, and the god damn metaphorical elephant prancing between you.

“Are you still mad at me for waiting to tell you about my college choice?” You inquired.

“I’m not mad-“

“I swear Connor. If you say ‘disappointed,’ I’m going to-“

“I’m just disappointed,” he finished with his cheek lifting into a smirk.

You haven’t learned your lesson about the newly crowned pillow campion and still feebly tossed a pillow in his direction. His hand caught it and smoothly laid his head back on the fluffy surface.

“Thank you. I did ask you for a pillow an hour ago.”

That little devil-

You propped yourself up on your elbows to see him past the edges of your bed.

“Connor,” you said sternly.

He repeated your name, the smirk not leaving his face.

���I’m going to miss you so, so much,” you confessed.

His head turned to gaze up at your face looking down at him, his smirk falling slowly into a frown.

“I’m really going to miss you, too,” he replied with a dramatic sigh.

He saw the waterworks brimming at the corners of your eyes and panicked for a second. It wasn’t right for him to be pouty, no amount of distance could come between your friendship. His feelings however, he’d have to put that aside for today.

“You can take Sumo the bear to keep you company,” he joked.

Through the mess of sniffles and tear stained cheeks, you replied, “Oh yeah, that’s definitely going to make me the most popular chick in the dorms.”

He had regrets in life, as do many people and what he regretted was not confessing his feelings before the night was over.

-

A fluffy brown bear sat perched on the edge of a desk, his head craning to one side with the weight of his cuteness or his stuffing you supposed. He was the first of the things you unpacked from your car upon returning to your childhood home, the fuzzy beast earning a spot in the passenger seat for the long drive.

Much to Connor’s disappointment, you stayed in your college town for a few more years after getting your degree. But as time went on with all of its trials and tribulations, one day you felt homesick enough to return. Unfortunately, there was a mix up in dates and your parents were in Hawaii when you drove back into town with a fully packed car. A pamphlet featuring volcanoes on your desk caught your eye and you hoped your parents were enjoying their anniversary.

Honestly, you were looking forward to a little bit of downtime. You had college roommates throughout all four years, then regular roommates after and it was nice to just be in a clean, quiet, again — clean, home. You did have the best move in volunteer to greet you upon your arrival and he was eager to see you again.

Connor had grown since your time apart, the both of you trying out all the experiences your young adult lives had to offer. The friendship strained a little when you both started casually dating other people, neither of you really wanting to talk about your romantic lives with each other. He never had much of an opinion about the guys you saw, offering uncharacteristically short replies whenever you brought up your love life. You were certain he was going to stick with a gal he met at some party, her name and face popping up more and more on his social media feed.

Before you decided to move back, he invited you to his new apartment when you did your annual visit to see your family for the holidays. It was just the two of you over a bubbling pot of sugary, buttery goodness, your cheeks warm and flushed from the spiced rum. There was a streak of it left on the corner of your lips, his thumb rubbing over your skin. Your heart stopped when he licked his thumb and shot you a look you’ve never seen on him. He invited you over because he wanted to tell you he had been single for a while and to finally confess that he’d been in love with you for decades. The moment was short lived as his roommate, Daniel, bursted through the kitchen doors saying something about a new cat video he found.

Connor tried to make his feelings known. At least, he really thought he did, but every time it felt like the moment to finally do it, he froze. If you liked him, wouldn’t you two have been an item eons ago? He couldn’t risk what was now verging upon two decades of friendship just to finally squash what he’d always wanted to know: if you liked him back.

A box dropped at your doorway with a light thump, a set of hands clapping off the dust.

“I think that is the last of the stuff from your car,” Connor said.

He strolled over to where you were currently futzing with balancing your bear so that he wasn’t slumping over. His chest shook from a chuckle and it occurred to you then how close he was when his arm brushed against yours to pet the stuffed bear.

“I thought I saw him in your car. You really did bring him with you.”

You stammered like an idiot, a blush heating your cheeks. Across the years of photo swapping and video calls, you’ve managed to keep that bear out of frame. Connor even visited you a few times and out of embarrassment, you stuffed that bear behind your clothes in a closet.

“I…uhm…having him around was like having you around,” you explained.

Oh god, that sounded much better in your head.

“Really?” He said, rather amused.

The bear and the fact that you brought it to keep you company and hid it’s presence from him like you couldn’t risk him knowing how much you missed him, were all good signs. If anything, it reminded him that he should be more like the daredevil that he was. He stepped away from you with a playful grin.

“Do you want to check out our old spot tomorrow? They’ve renovated a lot of the attractions and reopened,” he suggested.

You nodded, it would be nice to go take a trip down memory lane.

[gt-mech-suits]

Read Now! Masterpost

MAIN STORY: Includes works written by @bolshoycorvid added for ease of access to the story as a whole. Chapter One Chapter Two

Sleeping Beauty

Locked in a Tower Far, Far Away Pt. 1

Locked in a Tower Far, Far Away Pt. 2

Weapon

Chapter Three Pt. 1 Chapter Three Pt. 2 Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine

Woken by True Love’s Kiss

Dragon Unchained

Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven

Monster In Shining Armor

Chapter Twelve: No Man’s Land

[demon-blood-youths]

Van Ink Za Tatsu No Harem || Part 13: On The Hunt: Assault on The Mansion Pt. 1

Hi everyone! This is Deamon-mun! And I’m here to write part one of this drabble volume. Part 2 would be written by my lovely rp partner, @the-silver-peahen-residence so I’m setting the mood and setting up for her to go from there! 

Have a great reading! If you need to catch up, please read the previous chapters below.

-------

Part 1

Part 2 - New Challenger

Part 3 - Planning Operation Party B̶a̶c̶h̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶t̶t̶e̶

Part 4-   Party Time Descending Into Chaos

Part 5 - Party Rumble - ( Part was Written by me. :)  )

Part 6 - How to Settle This

Part 7 - Love Jeopardy

Part 8 - Love Jeopardy Second Half

Part 9 - The game wars

Part 10 - Resolution???

Part 11 - Peak of Anger

Part 12 - Head Hunt

------ Summary ----

After the attack on the party and getting the intel based on the evidence and statements from the captured mercernaries. The boys and the fraction leaders are having a plan in motion through Dazai and Eraserhead’s briefing. 

Enjoy the show!!

----- Four Months Later ----

In the criminal underworld, a hitman approaches a client who is sitting at the table inside a dive bar. He is fidgeting and nervous. This must be his first time.

“Alright. I got your call. What’s the job?”

“This one....you gotta kill this monster. I hear you’re the best at what you do..” The client passes a photo. A bounty. The hitman looks over the name and wide his eyes slightly.

The 20-something client chuckles. “Got your attention, huh? Good. Do this and you get-”

“Forget it.” The hitman cuts him off. 

“Huh?! Why?! This damn lizard and their damn team cost me my weapon-smuggling business!!!” The client yelled.

“Do you have any idea who this person is?” The hitman sighed, tapping on the photo.

“Yeah. Van Ink The Dragon. I heard she lead a bunch of punks acting like pro-heroes without licenses, taking down bad guys. They’re nothing compare to you!”

“And you already heard that she took down that anti pro-hero, Iron Titan, right? Fought Killer Night a year ago. And a few others?” The hitman wrinkles his cigarette in annoyance. “Yeah but those guys are-” The client argues but the hitman cuts him off

“Then forget it. Just take the loss and move on. Van Ink The Dragon isn’t someone you want to mess or else the Six Claws will go after you and makes sure you will regret.” The hitman tells him.

“The what-now?” The client blinks stupidly. 

“Ugh...I’m going to tell you what happened the last time when someone who tried to target Van Ink The Dragon. Wanna know what happened?”

“Fine! Can’t it be that bad...” The client huffs, crossing his arms. “Heh. You got no idea...” The hitman begins to tell the story of The Dragon and her Six Claws. “

-----

It took time but thanks to the efforts of Mouse and Fosh with the support of ADA and a few pro-heroes such as Eraserhead. They found the identity of the person who send the mercenaries: Ray Decham. Said to be businessman whose hobbies are hunting, art collecting and is known for a money-laundering business and smuggling naroctics. He looks to be in his late twenties or early thrities, has a knack for throwing huge auction parties. He had that look that similar to a lackey from a Yazuka gang. He has pericngs on his ears as he has boastful look. 

A meeting is being held in a huge office by the ADA who find proof along with Eraserhead and Dazai who are spearheading the investigation behind the incident. 

The fraction leaders are in the meeting in person while their core teammates are watching via online. The DBT are also in person as well as they want to take down the ones responsible. Ink is in the hospital, is fine but unconscious so it’s going to take time for her to wake up. 

Dazai briefed that the motive is that Ray targeted Ink not only for the bounty but he has a reputation in underworld saying that he will take down the Dragon and he has a few friends who have a grudge against her for indirectly messing with their illegal business and he works with a doctor, Adam Ripper who is seen with him on a patio in a photograph having wine. Adam Ripper, an infamous doctor who has a reputation in illegal organ trafficking and his hobby of occult. Dazai theorized that Adam wants Ink or rather her power due to Adam’s pervious crimes. 

So in short, Decham works with Ripper. Decham hired the mercs as he has money as he wants the reputation to take down the famed Van Ink The Dragon and Adam gets to keep her body if succeeded! This got everyone disgusted besides Dazai and Eraserhead who kept a serious straight face. 

But man....they did not take in account for the six who cared about Ink so deeply or the fact their plan failed miserably the moment their hired goons attacked the party the other night.

As the meeting went on, the fraction leaders sense something off. Or rather....everyone in the room knew. The DBT and other fraction leaders can sense the anger and fury, especially Kali. She can sense how angry the boys were. Atsushi gave Dazai notes but she can tell how quiet and eerily calm he is. She sees glimpses of his tiger eyes time from time when Dazai explained the motive of these two men. Rin and Yukio are here too. Yukio had to look towards his brother a few times in concern when Rin keep his mouth shut. Kali can tell he is snarling right now, holding it in. 

Denji and Ren are with the DBT on request to which the fraction allowed them so. Denji muttering something under breath. ‘Fucking bastards..’ and whatnot as he gripping his arms tightly as he is gritting his teeth. 

Ren was silent more than usual. He zeroed in the faces of Ray Decham and Adam Ripper when Dazai summarizes the motives of these two men like he is going to murder them in their sleep. 

But it’s nothing compare to the two upcoming pro-heroes of UA. Midoriya and Bakugo.

 Bakugo hasn’t said one curse throughout this meeting. Not one. There is no outburst from him that disrupts Dazai and Eraserhead’s briefing. Which is worrying DBT and the fraction leaders.  But Midoriya? Yeah, they all FEEL that he’s pissed off because he is not saying a word and he held a blank face.

He hasn’t said one word until he asked.

“So where is Ray Decham located?” Midoriya asked calmly. There is no emotion in his voice. But damn, his voice can cut the tension with a knife, which made the fraction leaders startled. Yuuka, who knew Midoriya, who is not known for anger in class 1-A. He is a happy green bean who is so cheerful and inspires everyone, so hearing him speak like this scares her a little. 

‘Damn....these guys are PISSSSED.’ Fin thought, now pitying any SOBs who tried this shit now.

Guam gulped a little while Joshua and Rex are comforting Ashely, who is now worried about the mission.

“As you can see, this is where Ray lives. In the South Bronx, like the mercenary leader has stated. However...he has a few properties; a mansion in Riverdale which is straight north from the South Bronx. Not too far, another in the Hamptons, and one in Yonkers.” Eraserhead said before listing other properties.

“So the guy is lying-?” Denji growled, now wishing to chop the bastard’s dick off. 

“No, the GPS is correct. The location acts as a checkpoint. Endeavor has arrested his associates who hand in giving the mercs weaponry and has given up Aaron’s whereabouts to us.” Eraserhead added. “We checked the properties with other fraction and it leaves Riverdale. Given the structure of the mansion, it is said to be that Decham lives on this property.

"That said, we have you two along with Atsushi, Rin and the DBT to go to Riverdale and apphrend Decham. We have yet to find Adam Ripper..."Dazai said. 

This got the fraction leaders.

“Wait...are we not participating in this?” Rex asked. 

“Oh no! I think it’s best if we leave in their hands.” Dazai smiles with a laugh. As if he knew what the six are capable of right now. 

‘In their hands???’ Yuuka thought. Knowing Midoriya and Bakguo, they’re top of their class and work under Endeavor so they’re more than capable. So they can handle them. Atsushi? He’s good and he can transforms into a weretiger. She heard Fin that he made some good progress Not sure about Ren but she heard good things about him from Oblivion. Rin? He has a demon sword and can set things on fire. Denji. After what his idea of busting the mercernaries’ balls in getting them to talk?! Yeah...these guys are going to tear the place up. And nothing will stop them.

“Now let’s get this mission on the road!” Dazai laughed.

The fraction leaders has a feeling that Dazai is going to enjoy the destruction oif Ray Decham and his estate. Just like him, Kali nods. “Okay let’s do it. I will accompany them. We have rides! Bernard and Welsey can drive them there.”

“Jaron recovered so he can drive us there as well.” Shdwkyz stated. 

“Hm...” Ren nods. And so the mission begins.

-------- Ray’s Mansion, Riverdale, Bronx -------

There were guards stationed around the manison and inside. There were maids and bulters around doing their routine of housekeeping. Further down the hall, Ray Decham is on a phone call near the pool at his backyard, talking to someone. “No. I haven’t heard anything from Condor and his team. yet” He said. “Huh?! You’re saying they failed?! How?! You said these guys are pros at what they do, Ripper! Tch. Those guys aren’t going to talk. Or else they can forget about being paid! Huh? Go with the back-up plan. Yeah, okay! That’s fine. I will do that.” Ray then blinks. 

“Huh?! You’re leaving?! But what about the dragon?!”

Then he heard a loud explosion that made him stagger, making lose his balance and sits down on a chair. 

“What the fu-” Ray heard it before he hears another explosion. A terrorist attack?! There is shouting and gunshots running out the building. 

“B-boss! We’re under attack!!” Said a guard as he bursts through the doors. There were booming sounds and yelling as the guards were trying to fight something or someone. 

“Hah!?! Under attacked?! By who?!” Ray asked. “The pro-heroes?!”

“Yeah...but uh..”

“Yeah but what?!” Ray demanded to know what’s going on.

“There’s six of them!” The guard cried. 

“SIX?!” Ray yelled in disbelief. 

----- Outside of the Ray’s Property ------

“Well shit! They go through the front?!” Kali said watching this thanks to Mouse and Fosh’s drones who is recording this on the scene. She is eating popcorn and passing this to Oblivion and Rust who are invested in this. 

“I have my money on Atsushi here!” Dazai laughed, watching unfold. He is going to supervising this. Of course....

“I go with Bakugo...” Maggie said.

“Nah...Denji!” Rust said. 

“You guys...” Fosh sighed while Yuuka sighs, “Can you guys take this seriously?!” This is serious but then again. Seeing how the guys took out professional mercernaries. Those guards are no match for them. 

“This is going to be itneresting.” Hellmare said while sipping her frappe. “How much damage are they going to inflict.”

“Till the place in rubble.” Oblivion said.

“Yeah...no doubt about that.” Shdwkyz said. “They’re going to tear the place apart in search of Decham.” 

“Shit.....” Navarro slumped his shoulders. He is thanking god that these guys are not the enemy because holy shit. They are fucking everyone up except for the housekeeping staff. They got fuck of there and went into hiding. 

Navarro can hear the yelling from here.

And so the assualt on the manison begins....

To be continue.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 6

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language, brief violence, and a line that hints at past physical abuse (depending on how you choose to interpret it) Warnings: Mild TW for implied/referenced abuse Notes: Okay so this was supposed to be somewhat therapeutic? But it ended up taking longer to get to that part than I intended, so... Don't worry though, next chapter will be fluffy and also involve more, like, actual Daniela scenes. Previous Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2 Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco

Chapter 6: Elegy

(Elegy: A piece of music in the form of a lament)

When you dream, you do not dream of being locked in a tower, awaiting a kindly knight to come save you. When you dream… you dream of your old home, infested with monsters, nearly unrecognizable. Of being forced to flee, leaving everything you loved behind. Of escaping to a remote, quaint little village, only to end up trapped once again, as friendly faces morph into gaping maws and fangs dripping red. When you dream, it is less a nightmare, more memories retouched, covered in a fresh coat of paint.

Waking up is but a brief source of comfort. One hand goes to your head, rubbing gently, as if you could wipe away all traces of your past. A quick glance around your shared room leaves you confused, but serves as a welcome distraction. Though there are six beds in the room, yours is the only occupied one, the others having all been vacated and made presentable. The only explanation that fit with what you knew was that everyone had gotten up, and gotten to work, without waking you. Panic filled you as you connected the dots, knowing that missing work was a death sentence.

Rushing, you rise to your feet, throwing your dresser open to search for fresh clothes. While the castle’s staff was almost entirely female, the Dimitrescu family didn’t enforce traditional gender presentation, allowing maidens to choose whether to wear a dress or a button-up and trousers. Remembering the wound on your neck, you pause, glancing in the dorm’s singular mirror to inspect your injury. Most of the blood had rubbed off in your sleep (and would likely be a nightmare to clean from the sheets). There were, however, a few spots where dried blood mingled with the protective scab. Considering how late you already were, you didn’t believe you would have time to clean up.

As much as you hated the thought, the best you could do was go for a button-up, hoping the collar would hide the worst of your disastrous appearance. Your hair was another matter entirely, far messier than it normally was, and you struggled to brush/comb it enough to be mildly presentable. Good thing Daniela won’t see me today, you think, remembering her insistence on skipping today’s lesson.

Then you remember the rest of your conversation with her; the yelling, being dragged to your feet, and the pain in her eyes. For a moment you feel woozy, pausing in the middle of buttoning your shirt. Your eyes focus on a spot on the now-closed dresser… and suddenly you wish you had paid more attention when you first woke up. There’s a note stuck to the furniture, clearly addressed to you.

Heard you had some trouble yesterday. We’re just glad you’re alive! A certain someone has been a lot nicer since you started playing the piano, and we’re grateful. To show that, we decided to split your morning duties among ourselves, so you can sleep in. If you’re reading this, then it’s still before 4 AM. Feel free to just relax for a while, or even get some more sleep! We’ll be by to make sure you’re up eventually.

Sincerely,

Daphne, Rosalia, Ygritte, Alexandra, Juniper, and Riley

“I… have… freetime?” You mumbled, still a little drowsy, but now also shocked. This was a complete first for you. Maybe even a first among the servants! Sure, you had been given breaks before, but having a couple hours to do whatever you wanted? No one had ever pulled strings like this for you before. It made your chest feel warm, and you just about forgot the whole mess with Daniela. “I’ll have to find a way to pay them back, even if they think they’re paying me back.” With that said you relaxed a little, no longer rushing getting dressed, though still leaving your neck the way it was. You figured you’d stop by one of the maidens’ restrooms before you officially started your shift.

In the meantime, you knew exactly what you’d be using this time for: finding those damn piano books you had been promised!

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“Let’s see… dust, more dust, a dead spider, even more dust, and- oh shit, the spider is not dead,” you said, barely holding in a yelp as the arachnid scurries away from you. If you had known the attic would be so unclean, you might not have bothered to come up here. So far your targets had alluded you without giving so much as a hint towards their location. The library had seemed a likely location, but you had heard Daniela’s voice within, and anxiety had sent you dashing away. Up here, in an area clearly used for storage above all else, was the next best guess, as far as you were concerned. Still, you hadn’t seen anything worth your time yet.

Just insects, really. Not even terribly interesting ones. Well, there had been a shiny beetle of some sort, but it had crawled into a crack in the wall mere seconds after you saw it. Other than that, though, nothing but creepy crawlies. Creepy flyers?... Both, for sure. One fly in particular kept buzzing around you, weirdly interested in what you were doing.

Somehow you didn’t understand what that meant until a firm hand had wrapped itself around your neck. The grip was tight, putting more than enough pressure to make your vision blur. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, the culprit didn’t intend to just choke you out. Instead they lift you and toss you aside- casually, at that. You hit the wall with a terrible crashing sound, certain to leave bruises, and narrowly avoid toppling into a stack of heavy crates. So much for enjoying some free time, you think. Stunned for several seconds, you find yourself left helpless as your attacker approaches.

“You’re not allowed to be up here,” a voice snarled, familiar enough to leave you terrified. Of course you had to run into the most violent of the Dimitrescu sisters. “Looking for a way out, hmm? Or are you stupid enough to think we’d leave a weapon where a wretched thing like you could find it?” Cassandra asked, pausing only to send a swift kick your way. A grunt escapes you, leaves you coughing, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as hitting the wall. Despite wanting to curl up and give in, you tried to drag yourself to your feet. Surprisingly, Cassandra makes no move to stop you, perhaps enjoying the sight of you struggling.

“Lady… Daniela… gave me permission,” you said between painful breaths. By the time you’re back on your feet, the vampire before you is watching you with narrowed, albeit curious, eyes. Normally it would take a lot of courage to face her. But you’re exhausted, in pain, and you’ve taken nearly as much hurt from someone who called themselves your lover. It’s not brave to stare down Cassandra, it’s foolhardy. It’s idiotic, really, and yet you find yourself unable to care. “I’m just looking for a couple piano books I’ve been told about, so I can use them to help teach Lady Daniela.”

“Oh? You’re her instructor?” Cassandra asked, a strange smile overtaking her expression. Something in the atmosphere has shifted, dangerously, but you can’t figure out why. Clueless to your self-betrayal, you nod in response. Instantly Cassandra’s smile turns into an open-lipped snarl, and she reaches out to grab you by the shirt, this time slamming you into the wall with her own hands. “Then you’re the reason she kept me up yesterday, crying non stop! I’m going to rip you apart, you vermin.”

The look in her eyes is, most definitely, the scariest thing you had ever seen. It’s feral, inhuman, and unstoppably determined. But when tears fall from your eyes, it’s not because you know you’re about to die. No, it’s because the last thing you think you’ll ever hear is the news that your partner had been sobbing for hours… and that you were the reason why. Your heart aches, both physically and emotionally, as you brace yourself for the bloody end.

Instead, the grip on your clothes loosens. You don’t dare open your eyes to see why.

“What the fuck do you want, sis?” Cassandra asked, sounding like she had turned her head away from you. Before you know it you’ve been let go, and you slide to the ground, too surprised to hold yourself steady. When you look up, you see an irritated Bela pulling Cassandra away from you, whispering something you can’t quite hear. They argue for a minute, under their breath, keen on keeping you out of the loop. Eventually the younger of the two storms away, but not before making a dent in the wall with her fist.

“What a child,” Bela said, rolling her eyes at the display. Then she’s walking back towards you, extending a hand in an offer of assistance (one you gladly accept). “That girl has the foresight of a magic eight ball, I swear. If she had actually killed you… ugh, I can hardly stand to imagine how inconsolable Daniela would become. Then I’d have two insufferable sisters. Regardless, do tell me why you thought it would be a good idea to come up here unaccompanied? It is normally off limits for servants, after all.”

“I-I, well… I mean, firstly thank you for saving me, I had no idea-” Bela holds a finger up in a ‘shut up’ motion, then puts it away as soon as you pause- “right, you don’t care. Look, I was just trying to find the piano books that Lady Dimitrescu mentioned, but I’ve looked all over and I can’t find them, so I should really just go,” you explain, eager to get out of the attic. To your surprise, Bela gives you an odd look before turning away. Then she takes no more than five steps, shifts to the side, and opens an old cabinet. Inside you can see a dozen books of sheet music, notably from several different decades, all worn but still in decent condition. “How did-?... I thought I checked there.”

“Well, you must have been distracted. Nonetheless, you know where they are now, and you owe me twice over. With that in mind… come with me. We have things to discuss,” Bela commanded, walking away before you could protest. All you can do is grab the sheet music, tuck it under one arm, and follow her to who-knows-where.

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“I’ll have to have you make my tea more often,” Bela mused, letting the mug keep her hands warm. The two of you were sitting in some sort of study, a room that you had never been inside before. From what you could tell it belonged solely to the eldest Dimitrescu daughter. Inside were several shelves, each filled with well bookmarked collections, a desk next to a massive window, a couple simple chairs, and a few instrument cases. All in all it was an aesthetically pleasing room, organized but not exactly neat. You could certainly imagine Bela spending entire days in this chamber. “Now, why do you think I brought you here?” Her voice brings your focus back into the present moment, as well as sends a spike of anxiety through you.

“Based on what nearly got me killed earlier… Does it have to do with Daniela crying?” You asked, doing your best to indicate just how bad you felt about the subject. No matter how cruel she could be, you did honestly care about Daniela, and even wanted a real, healthy relationship with her. Desire, or willingness, wasn’t the root of the problem by any means. Something told you that Bela understood this, maybe even respected you for it.

“Guess there’s more in that pretty head of yours than air and symphonies, hmm?” Bela replied, laughing a little as she did. It was a far nicer sound than Cassandra’s maniacal giggling, for sure. “Now, I don’t know all the details about what happened- just that there was an argument, clearly a bad one, and Daniela barely made it through dinner before locking herself in her room. Luckily for you, our mother doesn’t seem to know about your little ‘fight’. She’s not sure what upset Dani, and I doubt my sister would tell her, so your secret is safe. Assuming that I blackmailed Cassandra well enough, that is. Anyway, I can’t help you, and by extension my sister, if I don’t know the full story. In case it wasn’t clear, that’s your cue to start talking.”

You’re surprised, admittedly, by a number of things. But Bela seems impatient, so you go over the details of the previous night with her, occasionally pausing to let her ask questions. The whole time her focus is on you, unwavering. There’s also a noticeable lack of judgement in her expression, even when you voice your regret about how you handled the situation, and what is there seems directed more towards Daniela than yourself. Once you finish, Bela releases a deep sigh. One of her hands goes to rub her forehead as if warding off a migraine.

“Well, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, as much as I wish I could. Daniela’s always had her head in the clouds, and it’s left her tripping over her own feet more than once. Still, this is certainly one of her bigger messes…” Bela said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m going to have to talk to her about this, aren’t I? There’s no way she’s going to process this correctly on her own.” This time she seemed to be talking to herself, gaze locked on her tea as if it might suddenly offer to speak to Daniela in her place. When the tea stayed silent, understandably, she returned her focus to you. “You seemed upset, earlier, about this ridiculous situation. I am going to assume, from that, you are genuinely interested in my dear sister. Normally, this would be the part where I drain you of all blood, and possibly keep your skull as a memento... mori. Yours would look lovely on a window sill, I think.”

She pauses, head tilting a little to the side, clearly evaluating your artistic value.

“However, Daniela appears to care about you, far more than her usual fleeting infatuations. So, for now, I have decided not to eviscerate you, you’re welcome,” Bela cooed, teasingly, enjoying the way you shifted uncomfortably in your seat. Still, you were glad that you would apparently be surviving the day. “So I’m going to give you some advice, which you will take, and you won’t even owe me anything extra for this. Daniela is in love with the mere concept of love- and she has been for as long as I can remember. Romance novels are practically the only books she reads. It’s… embarrassing, truly. More than that, I get the impression that she couldn’t even begin to describe what love actually feels like. She’s digested so much of that written drivel that it warped her senses. Of course, the, ahem, situation we find ourselves in, here at the castle, has undoubtedly added to this effect.

“To get to the point, Daniela’s terribly, hopelessly clueless when it comes to things like what she wants from you. And so I take it upon myself, as her older sibling, to ensure that you understand. Moreso, that you are not dissuaded. If this is an actual chance for her to experience real romance, then it could make her happier than I’ve ever seen her,” Bela explained. The look in her eyes was incredibly soft, to the point where it made you realize just how much this odd little family cared for each other. “Don’t give up, don’t let her occasional infuriating antics push you away. Given enough time… I think the two of you could, I suppose, compliment each other quite nicely. But if you break her heart? I will pull yours from your chest and eat it raw. Understood?” Gulping, you nodded quickly, ignoring the feeling of heat rushing to your cheeks. It was one thing for Bela to want her sister to be happy, but another thing entirely for her to acknowledge your “suitability” for the position. “Good. Now return to whatever it is you maidens normally do. I have a sister to talk sense into.”

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Hours later, you stand alone in a display room, dusting various relics from bygone times. A trophy here, a bizarre art piece there, strange, unlabeled tools you can’t quite imagine are for wine-making. It’s a fascinating collection, really. But your mind is focused on other, far softer things. All you can think about is what Bela had told you, about how Daniela really is interested in you, and how she thought the two of you could make it work. After the chaos earlier in the day, this was exactly what you needed. Just some time to yourself, working quietly, thoughts all to yourself. Even your bruises bother you less, the pain fading out into the background. Considering where you are, though, it is not at all surprising that your peace cannot last. As soon as you finish your task you move towards the exit.

The door swings open, outwards, at your touch, only to reveal a familiar figure reaching for the doorknob. Both of you gasp, taken by surprise, before your gazes meet. Of course it’s Daniela. Who else would you bump into right now?

“I thought about what you said,” she blurts, suddenly, eyes wide and hands shaking. “We need to talk, yeah?”