#spot eric hill

[veryslowreader]

Play with Spot by Eric Hill

Red Dwarf: "Kryten"

[elijones94]

🐶🐾 Spot in the woods 🌳🦁🐯🐘🐻

[picturebookshelf]

Spot’s Halloween (2003)

Story and Art: Eric Hill

[wtfkidbooks]

Our first entry is an old one, but one that's been bugging me for a little while.

The book is "Spot Loves His Mommy" by Eric Hill. Overall a very cute story, lovely premise, very short and simple for young readers.

The dogs do human-like activities like having breakfast and using teapots.

They switch between being bipedal and walking on all fours as the page demands. Pretty standard for a kids' book.

The true conundrum is peeking out on the last page.

What is this cat?

Is it a pet? Is it sapient? Is it some sort of furry roommate? Do the dogs own other animals in this universe? Are the lines on his head the usual orange tabby stripes, or are they an indication of baldness? Is this a loveable housepet, or a bald old man cat peeping over the back of their couch during storytime?

Have a similar WTF? Submissions are open!

Coming soon (as soon as I find them), some of the lesser known Beatrix Potter stories.

[ecoleplonevez]

Contrat lecture : Inaya, Gs nous raconte : “Spot à la ferme” d’Eric Hill.

[finsterhund]

My friend sent this to me.

Can we all agree that the Cayden levels are off the charts here!?

[bless-my-demons]

Redamancy: Chapter Five

Series Summary: What happens when your soulmate is a vampire that struggles to maintain a diet of trying not to kill you? Common sense says run for the hills, nothing is worth your life - but my heart is whispering why not, what’s there to lose?

Warnings: Curse words (idk about you, but I swear like a sailer - so I apologize in advance bc it’ll be a recurring item)

Notes: The last half of this chapter was one of the first scenes I wrote when I played around with writing this series, these random snippets inspired this whole thing. I’m so glad everyone is enjoying my work!

Word Count: 1930

Series Masterlist

• March 4th, 2005 • Forks HS Cafeteria •

Reader

It’s raining outside again for the umpteenth time this week, forcing myself and my preferred Cullen sibling to sit apart at our respective tables inside as our usual table outside collects rain. I glance at the table the Cullen’s claimed and spot Jasper already watching me so I wave shyly. He returns it with a grin only to receive a shove from Emmett as he no doubt teases Jasper for the action.

“Hey - La Push baby, you and Y/n in?” Eric asks Bella as she drops her bag into the chair next to mine.

“Should I know what that means?” She questions back before I could voice the same inquiry.

“La Push Beach down at the Quileute Rez, we’re all going tomorrow.” Mike explains.

“Yeah, there’s a big swell coming in.” Jessica adds.

Eric pops up from his seat, splaying his hands out like he’s already riding a wave “And I don’t just surf the internet!”

“Eric, you stood up once and it was a foam board.” Jess teases him as Mike mirrors his goofy stance, earning a smack from Tyler at the goofy display.

“But there’s whale-watching too, come with us.” Angela prods us gently with her kind eyes.

“La Push baby, it’s La Push.” Eric tries to make the words sound cooler than they are and I can help but hide a chuckle behind my hands.

“Okay,” glancing at me before I give her a nod, “we’ll go if you stop saying that, okay?” Bella concedes before leaving our table to grab a school lunch, I catch Edward standing from his seat to follow her.

“Seriously dude, it’s creepy man.” Mike teases Eric. Their conversation fades into the background as I lean back and open my book while I munch on my carrots.

• March 5th, 2005 • La Push Beach, Quileute Reservation •

Reader

“I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.” Eric says worriedly as he, Mike, and Jessica finish pulling on their wetsuits.

“We drove all the way out here, I’m at least paddling out.” Jess tells the boys. She’s stronger than I am, because there isn’t any chance I’d subject myself to the freezing water willingly.

“So,” Angela starts, “I keep thinking that Eric’s going to ask me to the prom. And he just… doesn’t.”

“You should ask him, take control. You’re a strong, independent woman.” Bella affirms our friend.

“I am?” Angela responds, unsure.

“Yes.” Blunt and to the point, Bella nods at her.

“Absolutely Ang, he’s just a boy and he would be stupid to turn you down.” I add, confident Eric would be over the moon to go to prom with someone as smart and amazing as her.

“Hey, will you do me up?” Jessica asks me, spinning around in front of me where I lean against the open passenger door next to Angela’s perch on the seat.

“Of course.” I oblige her as she moves her hair to the side.

“Bella!” Turning towards the voice, three tall guys from the reservation walk towards our van.

“Hi, Jacob.” Bella greets the one leading the small group, “Guys, this is Jacob.” She tells us and he gives the rest of us a nod and a wave before sitting next to Bella in the open side door. “What are you, like, stalking me?” I hear Bella tease Jacob.

“You're on my rez, remember?” Jacob chuckles, “Are you surfing?”

“Definitely not.” It’s my turn to chuckle as I catch the scoff and completely serious look on her face.

“You guys should keep them company.” Jess encourages the new group of guys, “Um, Bella’s date bailed.”

“What date?!” Eric panics and pauses like a deer in headlights.

“She invited Edward.” Jessica answers, but Bella jumps to defend her crush.

“To be polite, that's it.”

“I was going to invite Jasper, but since Edward didn’t want to come…” I trail off awkwardly.

“I think it's nice they invited them, nobody ever does.” Trying to come to our rescue, Angela adds.

“Yeah, 'cause the Cullen's are freaks.” Mike’s jealousy showing clear.

“You got that right!” The slightly taller Quileute guy to my right agrees and I’m immediately annoyed.

“You guys know them?” Bella ignores their comments and tries to latch on to any spec of information she can. I also turn to the guys, curious about anything I might learn of the Cullen family.

“The Cullens don't come here.” The other one says ominously, silencing the group.

What an odd thing to say… I mean, is the family not allowed? Did something happen? I have so many questions, but I also know it’ll be incredibly awkward to press them for answers after only just meeting.

After munching on a Twizzler, Jacob stands and turns to my friend. “Wanna go walk the beach while your friends jump in the water?”

“Sure.” Bella rises and pauses in front of Angela and I, “you guys good?”

“Absolutely - yeah!” We nod and smile, both of us content to watch the surf and huddle under our blankets as everyone sets off for the shore.

Jumping in Bella’s truck once everyone’s had their fill of the freezing waves, I lean over and crank the heat dial while she starts the ancient vehicle.

Rubbing my thighs to warm my hands and legs, I ask, “So was that weird, or just me? The comments about the Cullen’s not coming to the Rez?”

“Definitely not just you, I asked Jake on our walk what they meant.” Coaxing the truck onto the road towards Forks, she continues. “He started talking about Quileute legends and old tales.”

“What does that have to do with the Cullen’s?” I press.

“He said they’re supposedly descendants from an enemy clan and they were found hunting on their land.” She glances at me before continuing, “So they made some kind of treaty I guess, to stay off their land and they wouldn’t expose them.”

“Expose them for what?”

“I don’t know, he didn’t say.” She huffs, annoyed. “Do you-do you want to come over for a little bit? I was thinking about doing some research on this stuff.”

“Oh hell yes, count me in!” I turn to look out the window with a grin, I might be closer to actually getting answers now than if I were to solve this on my own.

The rest of the evening was spent huddled around Bella’s computer. We searched Quileute legends on google and ended up coming across tales of ‘Cold Ones’ intertwined in the tribe’s history. An odd sensation came over me when it described their qualities, almost like a foreboding feeling - but I shrugged it off. After a few more clicks, we found a book that could help dive more in-depth on the legends.

“There!” I point at the screen, seeing the availability of it at a store close to our location.

“One is in stock at Thunderbird & Whale Book Store in Port Angeles.” Bella reads as she pulls up a map, scribbling the address on a sticky note. “Wanna come with me after school Tuesday?” She turns to ask as I munch on some chips, taking a seat at the end of her bed.

“There’s no point in asking anymore, we’re in this together. I’m just as invested in finding out more about Jasper as you are about Edward.”

“Fair.” She cracks a sideways grin as she flops on her bed next to me.

• March 7th, 2005 • Forks HS •

Reader

Rushing through the clouded hallway before first period to avoid Tyler Crowley and his gaggle of friends, I spot Jasper loitering with his sister Rose near the end of the corridor. I practically ran in his direction-pushing him by the chest into a secluded alcove by the stairs, an apologetic wince of a smile thrown in Rosalie’s direction that was immediately met with understanding as her eyes located the entourage hot on my heels.

“Sorry,” I whisper to his shocked form, “if they find me, you give a very distinct ‘fuck off’ vibe they can’t ignore.”

His eyes were wide as he looked down at me - I think I rendered him speechless with my forward actions, commandeering his body for personal use against other boys. Come to think about it, what was I thinking? This is Jasper Hale, why would he-

“Glad to be of service. Even though this might be a little bit of a strange request.” He whispered right back, the space small enough that he didn’t need to talk too loud over the din of the hallway and with how close we were standing - there wasn’t much space between us.

God, what the fuck am I doing?

Without even thinking, I lean my head forward to settle on the center of his chest, closing my eyes in embarrassment, arms clutching my notebooks to my chest. Before I could think about what I just initiated, one of his large hands came to settle on my back, immediately soothing the worries that began to swim that I was being too forward.

“Are you alright?” He murmured into my hair.

“That’s a loaded question.” I mumbled into his shirt, squeezing my eyes shut even tighter. How could he read me so well?

The longer we stood here, the more I began to realize his chest wasn’t moving. Is he holding his breath? Oh shit, do I-

“Oh, uhh, my bad! I-I’ll see you around Y/n.” I heard Tyler stutter, I turned my head to see him glancing between Jasper and I. Perfection, my plan a success as the gaggle of boys turned tail and hurried away.

I glance upwards to Jasper’s stoic face, “Thank you for your flawless execution.” Complimenting his quick compliance in my hasty plan before running off to my next class of the day.

“Anytime, doll.” He replied with that southern accent and signature half-smirk.

Damn him for being so attractive and for using that nickname.

Jasper

I remained standing here a few more moments, not entirely sure what just transpired between Y/n and I. Her scent lingering in this alcove she accosted me into, lavender and fresh linen invaded my senses as those all-too-familiar flames of devastating hunger take up residence in my throat again.

I know I’ll hear it about this little stunt the moment I’m home this afternoon, Rosalie no doubt currently informing Emmett and Alice of what transpired.

I exhaled a sigh and let my head thump against the wall behind me, eyes slipping closed. I swear I can still feel her forehead pressed against my chest. I forced myself to stop breathing then in the moment, the desire for unsavory things it caused to swirl in my chest needed to be suffocated. I could feel the tension emanating from her then and I had to stamp that out if I ever hoped she’d continue to be comfortable with me, my own bloodthirsty desire be damned. I could still feel the warmth from where her body touched mine.

This gorgeous human girl has me wrapped around her tiny little finger and I’m not even sure she’d give me the time of day.

Once I manage to peel myself away from the wall, Alice rushes up to me with worry saturating her emotions.

“I’ve been looking for you! We need to leave, the sun will be out by lunch.” She tells me in a rush.

What I wouldn’t give to not have a life dictated by the weather. With a sigh, I follow my sister to the student parking lot.

Next

[starshinedragon]

SSO: WINTERDALE Fan written main storyline

The Map of Winterdale:

The Life Warden Trees of Winterdale:

Story design:

-> This is the updated version of an old post, taking into account the new main story quests and describing the quests in much more detail. -> It takes place after aging Concorde up and escaping Devil's Gap, after all of the main story quests up to 2023 December. -> Part of SSO Rewritten (my writing project of the whole story of SSO until defeating Garnok). You can find the story related posts with the tag "sso rewritten" -> Phases 1-2-3 is the main story so far, here I wrote phases 4-5-6 which are the main story quests connected to Winterdale.

-> The area of Winterdale was established in the Star Stable Winter Riders game and I added elements from SSO (kallters, rangers, druids) to fill in the empty places. The focus characters of the Winterdale main storyline are going to be Katja (as the main opponent), Linda (as she is her rival), Mr Sands (redemption arc) and the kallters. The setup for them is already in the game with the extremely effective hook when the MC spots them in Dino Valley leaving. The thematic guide for the Winterdale story is the rumor of the Ice Witch, already suspected to be Katja. The final confrontation of this phase is tied to Garnok and Pandoria.  

So saddle up and get ready for the adventure!

PHASE 4 –  Entering and exploring Winterdale

PART 1: Icestorm

Unlocking Winterdale:

-> MC is called to Valedale. At the runestones before the portal spiral leading to the Secret Stone circle, we meet with Avalon, Evergray and the druids who arrived from Winterdale. The leader of the Winterdale druids is Cairn Stevenson (middle aged, but younger than Evergray, white beard, blue and brown robes) and his horse is a white Percheron wearing new brown and light blue druid tack, called Ossian. They came to ask for help, since the storm in Winterdale has gotten worse. Last night a huge blizzard hit the valley and they think it is magical and suspect the hand of the Ice Witch might be in it. They are unable to dispel it and ask for the help of the Soul Riders.  

-> We ride with them through Dino valley and they give us some exposition about Winterdale. They say Pine Hill ruled over most of the valley historically. They tell us about the cold micro climate, when the kallters migrated from Dino Valley to Winterdale, and that the current persisting winter storm started many years ago. The storm is sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger, but always present. It cut them off from the other parts of Jorvik as the Frostfire pass leading to Ashland and the Seaview pass leading to Marchenghast froze over and the blizzard halted the works on Northlink tunnel. The Lord of Pine Hill mansion, who has the strongest voice in how Winterdale runs itself does not seem to care anymore. Avalon asks them how did they leave and intend to go back to Winterdale then if there is no way open.

-> MC, the Soul Riders, Avalon, Evergray and Cairn arrive at the Icengate where Nanook and Sedna (kallters) wait for us on horseback. They perform a ritual and open the magical lock on the passage. The team is escorted through the tunnel of ice and rock, made of a similar design as Stonecutter’s vault. Halfway through it Magnus Steinar’s ghost appears as he guards this tunnel. Sedna tells him everyone here is a friend and they are to have safe passage through the Icengate whenever they please. The team exits the tunnel high in the mountains and looks over the snow covered Winterdale valley ravaged by the blizzard.

Fighting the Storm:

-> The team descends on the steep Meander trail (from the Winter Rider game) and arrives in Meander Stables, where the druids set up camp. You are greeted by Eric Lowe, the owner or Meander stables. There you are introduced to the other druid characters of Winterdale by Cairn. They tell you of the situation: the magical storm started some days ago and won’t stop. Katja’s frost powers wreaks havoc, flash freezes sweep across the valley every other minute and the winds, snow and raining icicles destroy houses, stables and threaten to freeze everyone to death. The team is asked to help the valley. MC agrees to help, while the druids try to figure out a solution to stop the storm.

-> MC is sent on four different missions in four consecutive days with the Soul Riders to introduce you to the layout of Winterdale. For each mission, you go to a location in Winterdale to help the people fight the storm by dispelling frost, gathering firewood, saving the animals, etc. To get anywhere, you have to ride through the storm. Each time a flash freeze is coming you have to take cover. Icicles rain on the way indicated by the circles appearing in front of your horse that you have to dodge. You and your Soul Rider partner get there, help out and return to Meander. First, you go with Lisa to Cape Point village, next with Anne to Icewind Station, then with Linda to Pine Hill village and finally with Alex to Anvil Woods Druid Village and back to Meander.

Dispelling the Storm:

-> In the meantime, Evergray and the druids tried everything and figured out that they can’t dispel the storm alone and need help from Fripp. MC is sent to ride back to Valedale through the Meander trail, Icengate passage and Dino valley (there is not an available trailer in Meander yet- not until you open Northlink). You ride to the spiral portal in Valedale and fail to open the way.

-> Katja appears on horseback, cornering MC, tells you that they have blocked your access to the Secret Stone Circle. MC vows to stop her terror of Winterdale, but she just laughs and tells you not if I stop you first – forever! She sends fer frigid powers after you. You race back to Meander the way you came, dodging icicles and also Ice Spectres, that are like shadow seekers, but made of mist and frost and are controlled by Katja. You get back to Meander and tell the druids that Katja blocked you from opening the portal. Evergray is unusually cheerful about this and when they ask him why is this a good thing, he tell you that he figured it out. Katja blocked you from going to the Secret Stone Circle, because the solution lies there. By uniting the power of MC, the Soul Riders, druids and kallters and Fripp, you will be able to stop the storm. Avalon, the forever optimist points out the only problem is getting there.

-> You can actually get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot, however, there is one problem besides the storm, and that is the cursed Nightmare Forest. You have avoided it so far, taking the paths next to the Meander river, but now you have to go through it. As only the Soul Horses are strong enough to go through the storm and the dark forest, Alex, Anne, Lisa and Linda are riding double with Cairn, Avalon, Sedna and Uyarak (the other magic user of the kallters beside Sedna) and MC takes Evergray. You ride through the storm, hiding from the flash freezes and ride into the dark forest. The Nightmare Woods in covered in snow and ice, shadow seekers patrol and dark blue and purple wisp-like spirits drift amidst the gloomy trees. The team takes the path through the abandoned Crescent Lake Ranger Station up to the Aurora pass and then the western road leading up to Starshine Mountain. You ride up the steep mountain path (design based on the Starshine Legacy games) and get to the broken bridge.

-> Katja appears behind you sending an army of Ice Spectres. You run through the narrow path and jump the broken bridge. She stops before the jump and her horse rears, not being able to come closer to the Secret Stone Circle. Fripp awaits you in the circle and tells you don’t worry, no servant of darkness can come into the circle again, because he woke up the guardian tree of the Circle: Astral Crown. You see the formerly leafless big tree towering over the circle now covered in azure and lilac leaves, that shine like stars. The riders dismount and form a magic circle, everyone positioning themselves in front of each runestone. They perform a ritual and dispel Katja’s Icestorm from Winterdale.

PART 2: Exploring the valley

The Roads to Winterdale: Marchenghast and Northlink

-> Now that the storm is gone, MC can properly explore the valley. The Secret Stone Circle’s portal to Valedale is open again. A cutscene takes you back to Meander so you don’t have to ride through Dino valley again. Eric, the owner of Meander stables thanks you for saving the stables and the village and promises to put in a good word for you for each place in Winterdale. The Meander Championship is unlocked, it runs through the Coldstone forest and Frostbitten fields.

-> After the full introduction to the Meander area, it is time to open Winterdale properly for people and the horse trailers. Eric sends you to Cape Point to meet a ranger friend of his (Aiobhinn, the leader of the Winterdale rangers) who will lead you through the Seaside pass up to the Marchenghast Castle. Eric apparently knows everyone in Winterdale.

-> At the Marchenghast Castle they open the gate for you. There are very few people and servants there and MC meets the lord of the castle. He was told that you stopped the storm and asks how. As you can’t say magic, can choose from different stupid options to try to explain scientifically how you stopped a whole blizzard. Whatever you choose, Lord Marchenghast laughs and says he know about magic in Jorvik, don’t worry he just thought you would be better at lying. He opens the gates and grants you safe passage through the castle and estate and sends you on your way. The rocks have been removed from the road in Goldenhills and cars can now access it, opening the trailer options in Winterdale.

-> MC rides to the Baroness and tells her that the storm is over and the work on the Northlink tunnel can continue. You are sent to tell this to the workers. While the main story calls you back to Meander, the tunnel dailies are now unlocked, requiring you to help in the work for seven days to build the tunnel.

Rangers and Pine Hill:

-> Eric tells you Aiobhinn liked you and is willing to properly show you Winterdale, now that the storm is gone. You are led though Coldstone forest with the blue crystals and trail riding pathways and arrive in Explorer’s Rest Ranger Station. You are going with Aiobhinn as she checks on all of her rangers throughout the valley. You help the rangers clear the paths covered by the snowstorm, unlock races. They show you the path leading to Frostfire pass, but it is not accessible, until it melts.

-> Next, you ride north, and he shows you Pine Hill village and tells the gossip about the lord of the mansion, Mr Sands. You meet the people of the village and stables, unlocking many side quests. The ranger shows you the Rimefang woods, but you only ride on the path next to Meander river, because the forest is infested with wolves. Frosted mammoth pine trees, fallen trunks, misty woods. If you go too close to a wolf, it will start to chase you and you need to gallop to lose it. If it catches you, you are teleported out of the woods with the message: “Your horse got you out, but be careful, next time you might not be this lucky!” She tells you there is a hidden kallter village in the middle, but you can’t reach it, unless they invite you.

-> You ride to Icewind station. You meet Henry Stevenson(the old guy from the Winter Riders game), second in command to Aiobhinn and brother of Cairn who is the leader of the rangers at Icewind station. He reports to Aiobhinn and tells you the rumors about the Nightmare Woods and that there are two abandoned stations there. They plan to man them again one day, but not until the woods are haunted. You unlock side quests and races in the Icewind Woods.

Druids and Cape Point:

-> Aiobhinn remains in Icewind and Henry offers to guide you through Anvil Woods to meet the druids and his brother. You ride to Anvil Woods and are introduced to their Life Warden Tree, Wise Leaf. They built their village around it. The tree is a gigantic oak who talks in verses, metaphors and talks like an old wizard and is generally whimsical and wholesome. In the side quests, you help the druids fight against Dark Core, as the corporation wants to cut down the forest. The Anvil Bay Championship is unlocked (joint project of the druids and rangers, organized by Henry and Cairn, running through Anvil and Icewind).

-> The druids tell you of their brothers and sisters in the other druid village of Winterdale: Jorwatch. You go there and meet them, unlock quests. They tell you that they guard the path leading to Jorcrater, since noone is allowed to enter as it is too dangerous. Finally, MC is asked to meet Fripp and Cairn in the Secret Stone Circle and you are rewarded with 100 Star Coins (just like at the end of each phase).

PHASE 5- The Kallters and Mr Sands

PART 1: The Redemption of Mr Sands

Secrets of Pine Hill Mansion:

-> Meeting at the Secret Stone Circle. The dark side have been awfully quiet lately and the Soul Riders suspect they are up to something. With Pine Hill Mansion so close, Linda proposes a plan for she and MC to sneak into Pine Hill Mansion (like she did in Starshine Legacy 2) and gather information. MC meets Linda in Pine Hill Village and they wait for nightfall.

-> The hole in the wall Lisa made back in SSL 2 is still there, hidden by a bush, but Linda knows where to find it. It is dark now and you have to find your way through the maze. You do, but there are some guards and dogs outside the house, you have to sneak past them. This time, unlike in the game, you get in through the greenhouse after finding an open glass panel. Linda tells you of the adventure they had here back in high school with Lisa, when she got stuck up in a scaffolding. Luckily, the house itself is empty so you are free to wander.

-> In the main hall, Linda shows you the pictures of the Soul Riders she saw last time here. However, there are four new pictures on the walls, paintings of the Dark Riders (Sabine, Katja and Jessica) similar in style, wearing similar ceremonial dresses. The fourth picture is still covered with a tarp, high on the wall, so you can’t see. MC and Linda get into the library and start looking for clues. Linda finds Sands’ journal. They find out about Rosalind, who was burned at the stake hundreds of years ago for being a suspected witch. She was in fact, a druid and Sands hates the druids because they didn’t save her. He himself turned to dark magics trying to bring her back, but only managed to reach Garnok, who offered him immortality and Rosalind back if he helps the forces of darkness achieve victory.

-> Mr Sands appears and captures them, trapping them in two magic circles. Linda and MC focus their powers (playing a slider-click mini game), but cannot bring his spell. Linda asks him about Rosalind and tells him she understands why he did it, but this is not the way. She manages to upset Mr Sands enough to break his concentration and MC breaks the magic circles. Linda makes a moonlight flash and they run away, escape through the main entrance. Meteor and MC’s horse wait for them there and they escape Pine Hill Mansion.  

Saving Justin (again):

-> Katja makes a plan to lure the Soul Riders into a trap. Just like she kidnapped James in Starshine Legacy 4, she now plans to kidnap Justin. Justin has discovered his druid powers since meeting the Singing Yew in South Hoof and has been training. Justin was to meet MC for training in Silverglade, but he doesn’t arrive. After waiting a bit, you get up to investigate. MC finds signs of struggle and uses moon vision to see what happened. You see Katja surprising Justin and even though he tries to fight back, Katja charms and mind controls him, like she did to James. You call the Soul Riders to tell them Justin was kidnapped, but they say Katja already called and gave them an ultimatum: she wants MC to come to Dark Core Platform and bring their Soul Horse.

-> It is an obvious trap, but you have to go. No sneaking this time: you are to meet the goons at the DC ferry in Moorland. MC and their horse are brought to the platform and led in front of the portal, where Katja, Jess, Sabine and Mr Sands wait for you. Katja is keeping Justin in a magic circle at the edge of the platform where he last fell and Mr Sands is not happy about this situation at all.

-> Katja says get on with it, sacrifice MC’s horse to bring Garnok into this world. MC uses her powers to make a shield around them. Katja says fine, then I will push Justin off the platform and time you can’t save him. MC asks Sands if he is going to let this happen? What would Rosalind think of him now? She would surely not want a kid to die so she can live again? Mr Sands hesitates, doesn’t know if he is willing to sacrifice Justin for a promise of Rosalind. MC says Garnok is a force of destruction, not life and he is lying to Sands and cannot bring back Rosa, but Justin lives and he is his family. Katja is waiting for permission from Sands and she is getting more impatient by the minute. She yells at Sands to give the order and he can’t.

-> Katja pushes Justin off the platform and MC can’t do anything from the shield. The Dark Riders laugh, but Justin levitates back up. He says he has been practicing and just like his mother, Catherine, he is also very talented. He didn’t like almost dying the last time and prepared for this case. Katja is furious, and raises her hand at him, saying, cute, but cheap tricks won’t save you from the true power of darkness. She shoots dark energy at him, but a shield appears around Justin, cast by Mr Sands and it reflects the power back to hit Katja. The explosion also dazes Sabine and Jess.

-> Sands shouts at MC to flee and take Justin while they are dazed. Justin jumps on your horse and you also want to take Sands. Before he can react, a blast of dark energy hits him from behind, cast as a joint spell of Jess and Sabine. Jessica says I have always wanted to do that. You have to flee and leave Sands there.

-> You escape the platform and leave with the little boat to Goldenhills. You ride to Jasper’s farm with Justin and meet the Soul Riders there. Jasper is scolding you for getting Justin into trouble, doesn’t like this druid business that took his Catherine from him. You tell the others what happened. Linda speaks up, says I am fine with being the one to say it, but we need to save Mr Sands now. Justin agrees.

Saving Mr Sands:

-> Meeting at the Valedale spiral, going to the Secret Stone Circle, Justin is also there. Reporting what happened to the druids. All druids from Harvestlands and Winterdale met to debate whether to save Mr Sands. The conclusion is that we need allies and intel so we are going to rescue him from Dark Core. The others say we cannot be even sure that he is alive, so Linda and MC conjure up a moon vision to look for him. It shows that he lives, but barely, kept captive in some unknown Dark Core facility. You have to find out where.

-> Spying on DC with Derek. As a government agent, he knows where and how to get the information to find Sands. MC, Justin and Derek go to every possible Dark Core location and follow a trail. Finally we end up at the station above Valedale and manage to find a photo validating that Sands have arrived to the location of his imprisonment. It is not written where as DC is very secretive about him.

-> We meet up at the Valedale spiral and show the picture to the others saying that is all we have found, ready to give up. Lisa looks at the picture and recognizes the place: it is the DC Barricade, where she freed Starshine from is SSL 1. It is located just north from Anvil Woods, but the road is closed so we need a boat again.

-> Going to Cape Point to find someone willing to ferry us there. The Soul Riders and MC all plan to go and we manage to convince Justin to stay in Cape West as it is too dangerous for him to come. With the guidance of Lisa, we sneak into the DC Barricade at night. Linda conjures a vision and now that we are closer, is able to find Sands. He is held in the main building where Starshine was also held. MC, Lisa and Linda are going on foot, trying to find Sands, while Alex and Anne take the horses to a point where we can get on to escape.

-> We go through the Barricade and see many weird Dark Core projects, shipments of drakonium, artifacts, pandorian creatures in cages and imprisoned in a runic circle there is a massive, formless shadow monster. We can only see its glowing six eyes and huge clawed hand. We manage to sneak into the main building and find Sands in the same cage where Starshine was imprisoned. He spots them, but someone is coming. MC, Lisa and Linda hide and see Katja is there to taunt Sands.

-> She laughs. Oh look, how the mighty fall. Held captive in the very cage where you imprisoned the first soul horse. Another failed quest of yours. You could not get anything done even back then. Maybe I am going to be the new general of Garnok now. Sands tells her no, she isn’t going to be as she is nothing compared to Elise. You are weak, Ice Witch. You compensate well with your smarts, but you always were and will always be weak. And you know Garnok only values raw power. You are nothing to him.

-> He knows this will make her lose her cool. Linda realizes this is an opening and attacks Katja. They duel and Katja is too angry to concentrate. MC and Lisa get the cage open and get Sands. Katja wants to shoot him with dark power again, but Sands throws it back at her, weakening her a great deal. Katja uses an illusion spell, but Linda had enough of her magic. She counterspells, makes Katja lost in her own illusion labyrinth. The team runs and gets on the horses. Alex has stolen the remote opening the gates as Lisa instructed and we escape. We get to the shore and the ferry takes us back to Cape Point. Justin meets him and Sands says sorry for everything.

-> Mr Sands reconciles with Justin and the Baroness and moves back to Pine Hill Mansion. The Pine Hill Championship is unlocked. He becomes our ally, gives the Soul Riders important information about Dark Core and the Dark Riders. He promises to help us against Garnok.

-> MC has a vision: Darko has been stuck in the realm between worlds ever since Elisabeth’s sacrifice. Now Garnok needs a new general, so he rescues Darko. MC tells this to the others and Sands warns them that Darko is unpredictable, dangerous, very power-hungry and not to be underestimated.

PART 2: Cleansing Starshade Woods

Gathering intel:

-> The Nightmare Woods are still inaccessible, infested with darkness and shadow seekers. Team meets up in Meander, Linda’s idea is to check on Mr Sands and ask him for help in cleansing the Starshade Woods. MC and the Soul Riders ride up to Pine Hill Mansion and knock. A very grumpy Mr Sands opens the door and tries to send you away. You convince him to let you in, but he continues to be extremely grumpy. He leads you to the library.

-> You ask him what he knows about the Nightmare Woods. He tells you it is was the dark side’s plan to stop you from accessing the Secret Stone Circle, Darko, Jess, Katja and Sabine all kept throwing their worst dark magics to corrupt the forest. Over the years, the Starshade woods got so dark, the druids had to leave, the rangers had to leave and now noone dares to go into the haunted forest. Sands doesn’t remember all the monsters and magic that was thrown in there, so the Soul Riders keep investigating and find lists of them.

-> Sands also tells you, that the forest has a dark secret, but even he doesn’t know what it is. You have to find out if you want to cleanse the forest. Going around Winterdale, asking to people about the Nightmare Woods. Long investigation, eventually you go to Lord Marchenghast, but he only gives you cryptic answers. You investigate the Baroness’ and Fort Maria’s library too to find out more about Lord Marchenghast.

-> You find out what happened in the Starshade Woods hundreds of years ago: that was where the witches (druids) were burned. You and Linda go to Marchenghast Castle to confront the lord about it, but you cannot find him. You go into the castle and get lost in it, realizing it is cursed. You keep wandering and see the pieces of history as it was basically a tragic misunderstanding and the then young and gullible Lord Marchenghast was pressured into ordering the burning of witches. He and the castle was then cursed by one of the dying druids to suffer misfortune until he admits the truth. You and Linda finally find him in the „throne room” of the castle. Linda realizes using her powers, that the visions were not the complete truth, the castle shows you the lies of Marchenghast. You get him to admit he is not blameless in the tragedy and it is his fault as well. When the truth comes out the curse of misfortune is lifted. Marchenghast gives you a diary of the events.

-> The main story continues as you prepare for the Battle for Starshade Woods, but the Matchenghast Castle side quests are now opened. Lord Marchenghast wants to open the castle as a museum for the public and host an equestrian championship. MC is tasked to try to convince people that the curse is gone. You get merchants and horse people to come and organize the first Marchenghast championship. As the name roughly means „dark fairy tale” new magic horse breeds will be available to buy here after you do the introductory fairy tale quest line for them.

Preparation:

-> MC and the Soul Riders make a plan for the Battle for Starshade Woods. Now you know the druid ghosts, that originally haunted the place and the dark creatures the forces of evil put there. You have to find ways to neutralize each. Linda briefs you on the plan: come back every day to decrease the darkness of the woods to a manageable level until we can finally go in to cleanse the forest. You get a progression bar and have to complete daily quests for some weeks like with the Rune Runner grind.

-> You get multiple, various dailies every day. One quest is always soul riding, where you are sent into the edge of the forest to close a portal, vanquish a dark creature, etc. The other two are coop quests with one of the Soul Riders. With Lisa, you sneak in, avoiding the hostile creatures and heal and cleanse plants and animals from the darkness. With Alex, it is basically a sniper mission, you ride to a high point and shoot Shadow Seekers with lightning. With Anne, you use your light powers to dispel the dark wisps, collect their light and use it to cleanse a patch of forest from the darkness. With Linda, you ride to certain points in the forest and dispel Katja’s illusions by playing various mini games.

-> Every time you reach a milestone in the progression bar, you get a quest about the druid ghosts that died or were burned in the forest. The druids were five in total: Nimue, Moria, Lucius, Einar and Rosalind. You have to help the ghosts find peace. First, you find them in the forest, then you solve their murder (for example one was frozen to death by Katja), you make their last wish happen (e.g. take their bones out of the forest and to the place where they want to rest eternally) or bring their descendants to meet them (convincing people to come meet a ghost in the haunted forest is tricky). Lucius was Marchenghast’s friend and now wants revenge on him. MC convinces him to just talk and maybe tell him to go to hell, but Lucius ends up forgiving him and from now on lives in the castle.

-> Rosalind is the last one, who wants to meet Sands when you tell her he is alive to make sure he is okay. You bring Mr Sands to the Nightmare Woods and Rosalind says goodbye and tells you all that now she can rest in peace. The progress bar is completed and the Battle for Starshade Woods can begin.

Battle for Starshade Woods:

-> Druids, Soul Riders and MC gathering in Meander again. As the darkness decreased in the woods, Sabine and Jessica appeared attempting to restore it. You cannot let them undo your work, so it is now or never. The plan is to sweep through the forest, dispelling the final remnants of darkness and cleanse the Starshade Woods for good. The battle takes three days.

-> On the first day, you go into the part east of Crescent Lake station and disperse the remaining Shadow Seekers and dark wisps with the soul riders. The druids march behind you, cleansing the trees and animals. You get to Crescent Lake station, but Jessica is waiting for you there, defending it. Boss fight: she stands in the middle with a magic shield around her, powered by Shadow Seekers she summoned. You have to charge your lightning powers with the „catch a runner” soul riding mechanic and shoot the shadow seekers. After that you can hit her shield and defeat her. If the timer runs out she releases a dark explosion that knocks you out and you have to start again. When you defeat her, she retreats into the dark woods. You have taken the eastern part of the woods back.

-> The next day, you meet up in Cape Point village and do the same dance. You cleanse the part of the forest west of Storm Hill with the druids coming behind you. Sabine is waiting for you at the top of Storm Hill, promising she won’t go easy on you like Jess and makes a circle of fire around her and MC. Her bossfight works similarly to the Mr Anvir fight in Pandoria, except she is the monster chasing you. You have to dodge waves of fire, falling firebolts, gather sparks of power the Soul Riders summon to charge your attack and then run into her. She flees and you have Storm Hill Station.

-> The third day, you help Lisa and Anne first in pushing the front in Crescent Lake, then you fight with Linda and Alex in Storm Hill. In the middle you find Darko who is ready to unleash a massive dark creature he borrowed from Garnok. The thing is standing behind him in a cloud of darkness and you can only see its glowing evil eyes. Darko says if the forest can’t be theirs then it will be noone’s and the creature will have it. Mr Sands appears and taunts Darko. He says maybe you got what you wanted but it is not as easy being Garnok’s general as he thinks. Mr Sands counterspells Darko and the creature attacks its master. Darko teleports them both away in a panic and we win. Linda asks Sands if Darko is dead, but Sands says probably not, he has proven quite difficult to get rid of. -> The Nightmare Woods are cleansed and it returns to its original state: the Starshade Woods. It looks similar to the Hollow Woods, but with blue wisps flying around and also has a mother runestone and quests. Now we can get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot and the Winterdale rangers send people to the Crescent lake and Storm Hill Stations. The Starshade Championship is unlocked.

PART 3: The Kallters

The Blizzard:

-> Katja appears once again and unleashes a blizzard, but only on the Rimefang Woods. MC and the druids want to help, but noone can reach the kallter village unless they are invited. MC goes into the blizzard into Rimefang Woods anyways, trying to dodge the wolves. They start chasing MC and you run, but end up cornered in a gorge. A kallter girl Erika and her wolf Idun appear and save you. She leads MC to their village.

-> You meet the kallters: the council of leaders are Takuraq, Sedna, the high priestess and Uyarak, the spiritual leader (kind of a druid) whom you already met in a previous quest. Erika is the daughter of Takuraq. You have already met Nanook, who is a horse breeder. Malina and Anniq are the twins of Sedna, girl with golden hair, boy with silver and they do a little moon and sun circle magic. Kauyar is the main wolf trainer and Nasami is his wife.

-> MC is led into the communal hall and the council of elders accept your help against the wolves and Katja, but you have to gather reputation before progressing with the main story. Erika introduces you to the kallter village. It is in the middle of the Rimefang woods, next to a small lake. You have fishing dailies here. All of the kallters have their own tame wolves that keep the wild ones away from the village.

Gaining their trust:

-> In order to be able to properly help them and move around in the forest, you need a wolf. MC is sent to speak with Kauyar, who helps you bond with a wolf. They will run next to you in the Rimefang Woods and keep the wild wolves away so now MC can go wherever in the Rimefang Woods. You name it like you name a new horse you buy.

-> MC gathers firewood in the forest, helps repair the village walls, lights fires that the storm estinguished. In the forest, you have to hide from the flash freezes and dodge icicles, like in the first storm when you entered Winterdale. You have chores in Nanook’s stables for the fjords. You are introduced to Silver Runebark, the kallters’ Life Warden tree, that keeps Katja’s storm from destroying the village. When running around in the Rimefang Woods, you can sometimes see a wolf bigger and meaner than the others watching you. The kallters tell you it is called Amarok, but are strangely secretive and refuse to tell you more.

Fall of the Ice Witch:

-> Once you gathered enough reputation, the main storyline continues. The wolf pack of Amarok attacks and MC helps Nanook protect the kallters’ fjord horses. Katja is there, helping the wolves wreak havoc and using her ice powers. She says she has finally come to have revenge. MC helps stop her from freezing the village, but Nanook is cornered by the wolves. He turns into a bear and fights Amarok. The wolves are driven back and Katja flees.

-> Sedna and Nanook tell MC, that Katja is half kallter and hates them, wants to destroy the village. Nanook and his brother were cursed by Katja into a form of a bear and a wolf. MC agrees to help break the curse. The brothers have to trust each other again to break it (Amarok thinks Nanook betrayed him). Sedna and the twins help MC.

-> You have to find clues on how to break the curse. With Erika, you sneak into the den of the wolf pack using your magic. You find the writings of Amarok that he wrote before going crazy and permanently becoming a wolf. It tells you the full story of how Katja became like this. For looking different, having strong powers and being only half kallter the villagers treated her like an outsider and blamed her for every bad thing happening. She eventually got recruited by Garnok and destroyed the kallters’ previous village in Dino valley, making them leave for Winterdale to find a Life Warden Tree, that can protect them from the monster they created.

-> You confront Sedna and Nanook with this and they admit it is the truth. Nanook also chose the village over Amarok at one point and he is bitter. Amarok in turn used his wolf form to hurt Nanook’s horses and the cycle goes on. Erika says this is stupid we cannot be like this or the village is done for. Katja appears in front of the gates. She says now you see MC, I have a good reason for doing this. Help me get justice. MC says no and Katja unleashes the strom, blasting open the gates and the wolves pour in. Nanook changes into a polar bear and fights Amarok again, wins. Katja wants him to give in to hatred and strike Amarok down. This way he would complete the curse and stay as a bear forever because of his hatred. MC shouts to him not to and Nanook realizes. He changes back into a human and holds out a hand, saying i forgive you brother and hope you can forgive me as well. Amarok has managed to change back to human as well and takes his hand. The curse is broken. Katja shrieks impossible, but she cannot do anything. MC and Sedna unite their power and dispel the storm and Katja flees. Amarok returns to the village and the wolves of the Rimefang woods are no longer hostile.

-> Unlocking the Kallter Championship. You are rewarded with 100 Star Coins as it is the end of a big main story phase. The Wintersoul grind: the second "free" horse, like the Rune Runner. Now that you have completed the kallter questlines, you can start the soul riding-like grind and reputation collection with Uyarak. The Wintersoul is a special silvery-gray kallter fjord horse with ice blue kallter markings and it wanders in the Rimefang Woods. It was created when the a remnants of katja’s evil storm was trapped in a horse that ran away from Nanook’s stable. It has part of Katja’s power, freezing parts of the forest around it, needs to be tamed and who better to take care of it than MC.

PHASE 6 – Apocalypse

PART 1: Ashland and Sabine

Frostfire:

-> The dark side is properly angry now, that you have defeated every one of them again. They gather more dark power and openly attack Winterdale, sending Sabine to wreak havoc with her fire powers. Sabine always wanted to prove herself as best- now she wants to prove herself to Garnok, drunk with power.

-> The siege lasts a week, Sabine attacks different magical parts of the valley each day, until she depletes the powers she got. Every day MC gets called to a location and has to stop her. She brags about showing you all, that she is better, stronger, than Katja, who failed, just like Sands. Once the week is over she leaves and noone like the calm before the storm. The Soul Riders decide you have to figure out where she went, but before you could get on with it the earth shakes and there is a plume of smoke rising from Ashland.

Ashland:

-> This is bad. You have to get there to stop whatever Sabine is doing before she makes the volcano erupt and destroys half of Jorvik. First, you five are taking Avalon, Evergray and a Winterdale druid and ride to Explorer’s Rest and a ranger escorts you to Frostfire pass, but it is still frozen over. The druid says there is another way into Ashland. You ride to Dino Valley, but of course the path is still frozen.

-> The druid directs us to go talk to the Life Warden Tree of Dino Valley in the summit. Glacier Heart is peacefully slumbering still and we debate how to wake her. Before the team decides on anything, the ground shakes again and she wakes. At first she gets angry at you, but you manage to explain to her, that this is not your doing and you want to go to Ashland to stop it, but the path is frozen. Glacier Heart sighs: Do I really have to talk to her? Can’t you people just melt the ice of the road? The druid tells her respectfully that we are in a hurry, trying to stop the volcano from erupting and covering half of Jorvik in ash. That does it, because Glacier absolutely does not want warmth in her valley.

-> You can hear the telepathic communication between the trees. Glacier Heart calls out to her sister, Fire Glory in Ashland. She is very chatty and very ADHD and very excited about everything. It takes some tries for Glacier to explain to her that people want to go to Ashland, but the road is frozen. Fire Glory is very excited that she will get visitors and says hold on one second. She uses her fire powers to melt the ice on the road and the path to Ashland is finally open.

-> The team rides to Ashland and arrives in Ashfall village. There is a small community living there, some families and druids. The people grow extraordinary fruits and plants in the volcanic soil and the druids are stationed there to watch the volcano. Ever since the first quake, ash is falling from the sky like snow and the ground shakes here even more often. You ask about Sabine, but they didn’t see anything as they had to hide. You leave your druids in the village and go to ask Fire Glory about her.

Firefall:

-> Meeting Fire Glory, who is on one of the surrounding peaks, overlooking a valley. She likes the warmth in here, can’t image living in a cold place like like Dino and won’t shut up about how much she finds the fires beautiful. Linda politely shuts her up saying surely she would not want the valley to burn tho. She says no and we ask her is she saw Sabine. She did see her.

-> First, Sabine went to the caldera, and tried to control the fires to empower herself, but could not. Glory then saw her running around in the valley looking for something. We ask if she knows what, and the tree tells us about the Firestones. Hundreds of years ago, then the mysterious meteor shower rained pandoric stones, many landed in Ashland. Along the years they collected the fire energy of Ashland, and their pink glow turning to orange, they have become Firestones. Sabine is probably looking for these.

-> The Soul Riders and MC run around Ashland to collect the stones before Sabine does. Two progression bars show your and Sabine’s stones collected. When you found all you can, you return to Ashfall village as the druids found some more firestone locations. You go out, get them and now you have more stones, than Sabine.

-> When you return to the village however, you find the Soul Riders locked in anti-magic nullification circles. They tell you Sabine came and she was stronger than the four of them and she kidnapped Avalon. Alex tells MC that you are the only one still strong enough to defeat her, that’s why she attacked them separately. Sabine called you all to the volcano to surrender or she throws Avalon into the volcano.

-> You five ride up to the caldera. Sabine is at the edge, holding Avalon with magic over the lava. She’d drawn five more anti-magic circles and orders you to stand in it and surrender. Your lives for Avalon’s. The Soul Riders and MC all do, their powers are useless now.

-> MC has a plan to play on Sabine’s weakness. You kneel before her and admit defeat, saying she was right, she achieved what Sands could not, succeeded where Katja failed and Dark Rider Malumi is really the strongest opponent. The Soul Riders look at you like you’ve lost your mind and their reaction sells it to Sabine, who lowers her guard. Then you push Sabine and blast her with lightning and reach out for Avalon, barely catching him. Sabine falls into the lava and as her concentration is broken so are her magic circles and the Soul Riders help you pull Avalon up. Alex says nobody tell Fire Glory, but I fripping hate this place.

-> You collect Sabine’s firestones and go back to the village. As you have no use for them, you take them all to Fire Glory. She is very happy and melts the ice blocking Frostfire pass, opening the final blocked path to Winterdale. You ride back there.

PART 2: The Fall of Pandoria

Spying:

-> With Sabine gone, Katja weakened and Darko hurt by his darkness creature the Keepers of Aideen decide it is the perfect time to strike. Council meeting in the Secret Stone Circle, making a plan for how to defeat Garnok. Fripp tells us that he found the weakest point of Garnok’s prison: the Pools of Pandemonium in Devil’s Gap. He tells us that as of right now, he is imprisoned between the dimensions, that’s how he is able to access both Earth and Pandoria and that is how he was able to get Darko out of there. We debate different plans, but no decision yet.

-> The Soul Riders gather in Fripp’s rooms below and say that Linda and MC should scout DC using visions. You sit down to meditate and a series of cutscenes take place. First you see Darko standing in front of the portal, talking to a shadowy figure in it. They talk about Garnok’s return approaching, but the plans have been set back, since Sabine fell. The dark figure says my return also nears, you just have to buy some time. Darko asks what strategy you suggest and the dark figure says: They are so trusting in each other, it is disgusting. Time for some doubt. Conquer and divide, sow discord, make them make a mistake.

-> Darko’s evil plan, what we don’t see, is to make the Soul Riders send Garnok to Pandoria, where he will gather even more energy, will be stronger than ever and will be able to finally anchor himself to Earth. Darko knows MC is spying in a vision and he stages a scene. MC and Linda see him and Jess talk about how they must stop the Soul Riders from banishing Garnok to Pandoria.

-> We tell what we have seen to Fripp, not knowing this is a trap. Fripp thinks it makes sense. We have to sacrifice one world to save the other. We tell this to the druids and they agree to the plan, believing Garnok will be powerless and unable to reach Earth anymore if we manage to banish him to Pandoria. However this decision really divides the good guys, as a lot of druids believe Pandoria is not evil, there are creatures living there and the Keepers swore to protect all life. Evergray doesn’t like it either: How would you feel if someone decided Earth has to go, just so your world can live?

-> Ydris appears: How indeed. I believe one would feel quite resentful towards said people and would swore never no help them with anything ever again. Some druids ask him how did he get in here, but he just point at the runestones. I am pandorian you imbeciles. Typical humans. You surround yourselves with the magic of my world, take what you want and let the rest rot. Don’t count on my help when Garnok comes to destroy you all. Zee rears and they vanish.

-> The druids still go ahead with the plan. MC and the Soul Riders are piecing together the ritual that they will use to imprison Garnok in Pandoria. You go to the libraries of Silverglade, Fort Maria and Pine Hill with Linda to study magic circles. You gather magical herbs with Lisa, practice portals with Anne and go to Pandoria with Alex to gather crystals.

-> Now you only need to go to Devil’s Gap and convince Sive to let you do this. Linda stresses the whole way how will you convince Sive to give up the ancestral home of the vala (even if they drew power from Garnok’s prison), but when you get there she’s nowhere to be found. The Chaos Vortex is worse, than ever, a storm is raging above the gorge and lightning strikes. MC goes well that was easy, but Linda says easy never meant anything good for the Soul Riders. You go back to Fripp to report that you are good to go. Your final quest is going with Anne to close all of the portals to Pandoria.

Devil’s Gap:

-> Arriving at Devil’s Gap: the team still debates wheater they should do this, but settle for yes, they won’t have another chance like this. Using the many narrow, winding stone pathways of the valley you draw the lines of the magic circle. At certain points you carve pandorian runes into the rock walls as makeshift runestones. You make the whole valley into a big magic circle to open the gate of the prison for a moment, then banish him to Pandoria. The success of your mission relies on the fact that he is technically still sleeping.

-> Once the magic circle is done, however, Garnok stirs. MC has to ride with each Soul Rider to four different points of the valley and help them activate a rune, before riding to the middle. While riding through the pathways Garnok’s tentacles appear (like in SSL 4 and when you escaped Pandoria after finding Anne). You activate the four runes and manage to ride to the middle to complete the ritual. Garnok roars, a portal opens and the dark presence leaves the Pools of Pandemonium and is sent to Pandoria.

-> The good guys think they have won, but trouble hits immediately. Darko appears on one of the rocks above you, laughing at how you fell right into his trap. He meddles with the spell. Linda and MC have a vision of Garnok turning Pandoria dark blue and purple, breaking the islands and laughing, deep as an earthquake rumbles through the doomed world.

-> You have to act immediately. MC and Anne open a portal to Pandoria and the Soul Riders go there to stop him from destroying all of Pandoria. Once he’s done, he will also come for Earth, your only luck is that he is too busy breaking Pandoria. Linda directs you to make a binding rune, similar to what you did in Devil’s Gap. Riding around, dodging his powers. You manage to contain Garnok in Pandoria, but the realm now answers to Garnok and tries to kill you. Escape from Pandoria, the portal is collapsing. Some sun circle druids sacrifice themselves, staying behind to stabilize the portal, while we escape.

PART 3: The Hope of Pandoria  

War effort:

-> Pandoria is off-limits now. All the portals are closed and the locations are guarded by druids to alert us if anything tries to come through. Garnok is empowered by Pandoria and even through he cannot come to Earth, his evil magic can reach it. Garnok-effect appearing everywhere in Jorvik, the sieges led by Katja, Jess, or Darko. MC has to fight it with soul riding quests.

-> Chaos in Ashland, a fiery entity terrorizes the valley. The Soul Riders are sent there to investigate. Sabine returns as a flying fire-ghost entity(the ghost model is like in the picture in SSL 3's Pandoria) and she is really pissed at you. She joins the sieges.

-> This cannot go on, we need a plan. MC suggests to use Jessica. We need information, have to find out how to defeat this kind of void power and how to seal Garnok back to sleep. Jess has a rivalry with Katja and still wants to outdo her to show Garnok she is the stronger one. We organize an ambush: Anne is the bait. When she attacks her, all of us appear and say we just want to talk. We manage to strike a deal with her- in exchange for information, she will have a victory over us that Katja did not. Some druids and Anne are against this plan, but they have to make a sacrifice to have a chance.

-> Jess tells the info we need right away. Anne is suspicious, says she must be lying, why not wait until we fulfilled our promise? Jess says because she can count on the good guys being disgustingly honorable and if she told something useful, they will surely make good on their promise. Jess reveals that Pandoria can be saved if we bring Garnok back to Earth to his prison. The prison ship also used the dimension between world to keep him imprisoned. If we manage to do this, his generals will lose a good deal of power also. Linda still uses moon power to see the truth and announces that she’s not lying.

-> Agreeing on the plan: the Soul Riders are to attack the DC Barricade, pretending that we are trying to free the creatures and get the artifacts. Now we cause all kinds of havoc in DC territory. Katja and Jess arrive to protect it. MC and the Soul Riders have set a trap for Katja and we imprison her in a circle. As Darko arrives Jessica attacks us and we pretend to fall back to put on a show for him. Jess got a good point from Darko for defending the barricade, while Katja failed again.

-> We tell the information we got from Jess to Fripp and he agrees to the plan. We need to try and save Pandoria even if it means endangering Earth, as we cannot let another world be destroyed by Garnok. We just need to convince the druids of it when we get the chance.

Shadowfrost

-> Evergray calls us to meet in Valedale. Why hasn’t Sabine come back to her human form? Evergray suggests the Dark Riders can be defeated by the combination of their own power and their opposite Soul Rider’s. For Sabine it was fire and lightning. Jess must be defeated by darkness (in Pi’s swamp) and Anne, Katja by ice (in Dino vale) and Linda. We plan to make these happen. We split up: MC helps Anne and Lisa defeat Jess first, while Alex and Linda prepare to defeat Katja. If we manage they too will turn into elemental ghosts (shadow and frost), like Sabine. They will still be able to fight us, but without human consciousness, just as primordial powers. Until they get their bodies back, this will leave Darko alone in fighting us.

-> Anne and Lisa lure Jessica into Pi’s Cauldron Swamp, playing on her pride. Anne can go all in, make it seem like she gave in to hatred, then when Jess is sure she will win, Anne reveals Jess has walked into a trap pursuing Anne. She stepped in the darkness seal made by Pi, which draws power from Jess’s magic. Lisa, Anne, and MC focus their powers on Jess, she disappears, a dark ghost flies away from the swamp. This was the easy part.

-> MC, Alex and Linda go to Dino Valley, but Katja knows already what happened to Jess, she is angrier than ever. Finding her at the Ice Witch portal, she attacks us. 1st race through Dino: to lure her to the frozen lake, where we can fight her. 1st phase: Soul-riding-like bossfight in the frozen lake, Katja has a frost shield. Dodging icicles, Linda helps see where K’s magic will hit, so MC can dodge it, Alex shoots her shield with lightning. MC has to keep them ice-free, free them if they are iceblocked. Without Linda, MC can’t see where the ice will hit and without Alex it is only her shooting the shield. After removing half of her shield here, Katja starts breaking the ice on the lake.

-> 2nd race: to the higher valley, through the pine forest. The 2nd phase of the fight takes place amidst the ice columns, same fight, lightning strike her, remove her shield. She is defeated, but with the last of her power, summons illusions of many characters, hides herself as one of them. Linda and MC is find the one and point at it for Alex to blast it with lightning. When Alex turns, the illusion wears the body of James. Katja begs Alex as James not to hurt him, but Alex collects the storm from above the valley and lightning strikes her. A frosty ghost flies away. Cutscene: Darko roars and curses before the portal of DC platform as the three elemental ghosts hover before him silently.

Saving Pandoria

-> Soulriding stuff all over Jorvik, fighting the three Dark Rider entities. The Keepers try to agree on the plan. The options: A, Fully sever G’s connection to Earth and get rid of hom for now (he still may find a way back later) and let Pandoria die, or B, Save Pandoria by bringing Garnok’s full consciousness back to his Earth prison, just like Jess said. The alliance finally decides to try to heal Pandoria, sever Garnok’s link to it and defeat the monster on Jorvik for good.

-> MC and the Soul Riders are going to the Garnok-ruled Pandoria: instead of pink, it is dark blue now. We are trying to stay hidden and set up a base camp. Anne really hates being here, we have to talk her into not breaking We have to avoid Shadow Seekers and corrupted creatures. We manage to heal a small bit of Pandoria.

-> Darko notices this and comes to confront us. He siphons power from corrupted Pandoria and gives the Dark Riders their human bodies back. They are so empowered, they are just toying with us. We take part in the three bossfights for each of them, losing in each. Our Soul Rider partner magics us to safety every time, but ultimately, it seems like we have lost. Our Aideen magics start to weaken as Garnok gets stronger. His giant silhouette appears on the horizon in the distance in an epic shot.

-> MC still wants to try and fight Darko, but he blocks all your pathetic attempts at magic. The Soul Riders are on the ground, giving up. Even Lisa says all hope is lost. Then, Ydris appears with the Hope of Pandoria to save the day. For him it transforms from a fridge into a pink and golden blazing Sun and flies up to the sky its searing rays of light burning away garnok’s darkness. The low roar or a kraken reverberates from the distance.

-> Ydris combines his power with the Soul Riders’ and MC's, but Anne is still on the ground. He shouts at Anne: Stand up Sun of Pandoria and help us send him back to his prison! Concorde walks to her and holding onto Concorde, Anne is pulled to her feet. She guides the spell, and we banish Garnok from Pandoria completely, back on his prison ship on Earth, fully anchoring him to Jorvik. Darko and the Dark Riders are also sent back to Earth.

-> Linda walks up to Ydris to thank him, but he says he is still angry at them for doing this to Pandoria. He only helped the world, but still won’t ever help us again. Pandoria is accessible again, but parts are still corrupted and in ruins. Garnok is banished from Devil’s Gap and the Chaos Vortex disappears.

-> Victory, end of main storyline in Winterdale. You get a reward of the final 100 Star Coins upon returning to the Secret Stone Circle and the druids talk about possibly soon heading north to meet their brothers and sisters in Spring Valley.

TO BE CONTINUED!

THE OTHER PARTS:

SSO Rewritten 2nd Part: Springvalley https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/716459529087401984/sso-rewritten-springvalley?source=share

SSO Rewritten 3rd Part: Summerplains https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/726343248992419840/sso-rewritten-full-story-series-summerplains?source=share

[bonniebird]

Eric Northman x Reader

Requested by @joeynihil

Halloween event

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Make a request

“Why did you call me?” Bill snapped as he walked over to Eric. Eric had found a small hill that let him overlook a building that he’d tracked Sookie to. “You know we’ve been…”

“Looking for Sookie.” Eric sounded bored and unimpressed with what Bill said. “You think I would have insisted that you come here if I hadn’t found her? She is somewhere in there.” 

Eric gestured to the building in front of them. It was a massive warehouse that on the surface looked abandoned but Eric could make out several guards and hear groups of people inside.

“How could you know that she’s in there?” Bill asked and Eric sighed. He’d had quite enough of being doubted. 

“I did my research.” Eric muttered. Bill nodded and looked around. There were guards everywhere, now that he looked closer. At a glance, you wouldn’t have noticed them.

“Alright. Then how do we get in there? We could maybe get to the doors but they’ll have more guards inside.” Bill frowned when he glanced at Eric who was looking in the opposite direction of the building. He smiled as someone started to approach. 

“Well, Bill we could use our vampiric abilities to get in the building or as I prefer we could use the quick method.” Eric sighed when Bill didn’t say anything. “You’re not going to ask?”

“What the quick method is. I know your secret weapon and I resent you using their bloodlust to get us out of the situation.” Bill said quickly. Eric rolled his eyes and spotted a guard patrolling near them. He had them in his hands by the neck in seconds.

“Well if you would rather I cut my way through and save Sookie by myself…” He trailed off and smiled to himself as Bill went quiet. "And now it’s time to send in our cute little secret weapon." He said to the terrified man in his hands. He’d squeezed hard enough on his throat that he couldn't cry out for help.

“You wanted me?” You said and Eric nodded.

“Sookie is stuck in there and we need her out.” Eric said as he jerked his head towards the building behind them.

“Hmm. Why should I help get her out? It’s not like we get on.” You muttered and rolled your eyes as Eric flashed his fangs. “Because I said so.” He said firmly and dropped the man in his hands. Tutting your tongue and tilting your head you sighed.

“Fine. But only because you’ve clearly gotten so old that you can’t do it yourself.” Before Eric could snap back a response you had vanished. Bill and Eric hurried to clear the guards away from the building while inside they heard yelling, shouting and gunfire. The windows lit up with flashes as you went room to room looking for Sookie.

By the time they’d finished outside you emerged with Sookie and she stumbled over to Bill. You smiled rather smugly and looked over at Eric who was watching you with amusement. 

“Took you longer than I thought it would,” Eric said. “It did not!” You complained and glared at him. He chuckled and smiled as you shook your head at him. “I got through there faster than you could have, old man.” 

“Easy now. You’re pushing your luck.” Eric warned.

“Oh yeah? What happens if I push too far?” You asked. Eric showed his fangs and stepped towards you though he seemed to be amused by the whole ordeal. You chuckled and backed up, vanishing into the darkness as Eric looked after you as you vanished from view.

Eric tags:

@stellasblog @deanwinchestersgirl87 @thekayarlene @linkpk88 @babypink224221 @lisainhell @spiderwebs-blog @gryffindorqueensworld @rockyrascal @twerp8999 @bluebear142077 @alexxavicry @daughterofthenight117 @justice-for-the-kaldorei @supernatural-wolfie @maxineswritingcenter @alwaysadreamingoptimist @love1deandra @archaeologydigit @im-eating-rn @bucketbunny @littlefreakingfangirl @thebookisbtr @gillybear17 @kaitieskidmore1 @prettyplant0 @boardstomymood @witch-of-letters

[omgauplease]

Howdy partner! Head on into the AU, Please! saloon to check out the amazing works our Day 2 creators have for you!

A Blessing in Disguise - Rated T - 19,143 words

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann

Summary: Eric is cute, funny, and just Jack’s type. The problem is he’s also Jack’s little sister’s best friend. Jack thinks he’s better off walking away, but the universe—and his sister Margaux—have other plans throughout the years. Even if the timing is always terrible!

.🍺🍺🍺.

siegfried, you are not my savior - Rated M - 6,121 words

Featuring: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter

Summary: Bow hunter William Poindexter hears of a beautiful stag, spotted over the hill out east. When he hesitates, he gets a bit more than he bargained for.

General fantasy AU - magic is well known, highly used and accepted, if you're one of the lucky ones born with it.

.🍺🍺🍺.

Center Ice - Rated T - 5,812 words

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann

Summary: Jack is hit badly during a game and loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he finds himself in an unfamiliar hockey rink together with another player. That player is Jack, from the future.

.🍺🍺🍺.

Those Tangled Olive Threads of Fate - Rated T - 4,356 words

Featuring: Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi

Summary: Adam’s mother always told him he was incredibly lucky. Most people had only two threads of fate: a red one for their soulmate and a green one for their soul friend. Some people had only one thread of fate, and a lucky few had three or four, but Adam was blessed with five threads — one on each finger of his left hand.

The problem was, he didn’t know which, if any, of them were red and which were green.

Adam was color blind.

.🍺🍺🍺.

shall i compare thee to a summer's day? - Rated G - 2,781 words

Featuring: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter

Summary: Contrary to popular opinion, Dex was usually not a fan of summers. There was no hockey (either to play or watch), it’s hot as balls out, and every Sunday morning he’s stuck out in that heat selling pies to the pretentious customers at the farmers market because Bitty asked and it’s impossible to say no to Bitty.

.🍺🍺🍺.

Multitask Magic - Rated G

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann

Summary: In which Bitty is a kitchen witch and his magic allows his very active brain to do many tasks at the same time, often during the same recipe.

.🍺🍺🍺.

A reminder to all creators whose works are revealed today to please update your publication date to today so that your works are shown at the top of the feed on AO3.

Please also remember to show love through kudos and comments to our creators when you enjoy their work! ❤️

[socialoutsiderwritings]

Always,Only. You. 31.1

Talia had taken Y/N in to her pack after your parents and their pack  were brutally murdered. For years she trained and learned under Talia alongside Derek, Laura and Cora. One night Talia tells you along with Derek that you two have to imprint on each other, to become each other’s mates. Your connection to Derek has always been stronger than his to you. So after the fire it killed you to be away from him, but you had to do it for your own survival. 7 years after the fact, you return home. Back to Beacon Hills. But the Derek you return to is not the same Derek you know. Will Y/N ever get Derek to accept the fact they are meant to be together?

Beacon Hills High School

Cora stayed hidden in the corner of the hall by Erica’s locker. When the bell rang and the halls began to fill with other students, she waited until she saw her friend before popping out.

“Cora.” Erica smiled at her. “I thought we were meeting after school to talk to the animal doctor?”

She ignored her friend's question. “Where’s Isaac?”

“He had history. This way.” She said and began walking. “What's going on?”

“Nothing.” She answered, but Erica could tell there was something wrong with her friend.

Erica frowned at her fiend but stayed quiet. They found Isaac with Allison at her locker. Cora rolled her eyes and waited for him to finally spot them to call him over.

“Isn’t it weird he’s dating Allison and Scott still took him into his pack.”

Cora scoffed. “Isaac is never going to be a part of his pack.” She stated rather coldly.

“Cora.” Erica softly slapped her arm.

She sighed and continued, “I mean, every beta has as much say who their alpha is, just as much as the alpha does. All alphas are superior but it doesnt mean every beta succumbs to them when they have someone else they are loyal to. When you’re part of a pack your loyalty is everything. Isaac is loyal to Scott but,” she looked to Erica now, “he wouldn’t die for him.”

“Who wouldn’t die for who?” Isaac asked as he approached the girls.

“Nothing.” Cora replies before Erica could get a chance to.

She suddenly gets this uneasy feeling they’re being watched and motions her friends to follow her.

“I went to see Deaton.” She finally shares. “Someone from Satomi's pack stopped by not that long ago, looking for Y/N. He told Deaton where they could be found, in case she ever stopped by."

"Thats good news. But why would you go without us?" Eric asked.

“What’d he say about the fly?” Isaac asks next.

Cora looks over her shoulder, not at him particularly, but to find the source of who she felt was watching them. She didn't spot anyone obvious and turned her attention back to Isaac. “What fly?”

“Cora, the fly.” Isaac tells her.

She stopped suddenly and blinked a couple times at him. "It's gone." She finally told them. "I woke up this morning and the thing turned to ash as soon as the light hit it." She explained.

Erica and Isaac glanced at each other.

"You don't believe me?" Cora asked angrily.

"No, of course we do." Erica answered, stepping in front of Isaac to prevent him from speaking. "We believe you. So what do we do?"

"We go find Satomi's pack. And we ask her what she knows about the nogitsune."

"Are we even sure she'll know anything about it?" Isaac asked.

Just then the school bell rings, causing the students to scramble the halls once again.

"We won't know unless we ask." She looks over her shoulder again, "be careful. The twins have been following us." She tells them. She uses the opportunity of the crowded halls to sneak away from her friends.

“Cora, wait.” Isaac reached out for her wrist but she slipped her hand away from his grasp. He looked down at Erica.

She gave him a knowing glare.

Isaac didn’t need to ask. He didn’t need to say anything either. He already knew what had to be done.

Erica squeezed his arm, as a gesture of encouragement and gratitude before going after Cora.

As the halls slowly emptied, Isaac turned around. Instantly, he noticed the twins at the end of the hall staring at him.

Isaac smirked to himself, and waited.

———————— 🐾 ————————

Eichen House

“I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

You woke up, startled by his voice. The room was dark, save for the single light that shined from above you. You closed your eyes, and blinked rapidly to adjust your vision to the dim brightness.

Once you had gained it back, you noticed your arms strapped down to wooden armrests with chains at the wrists. You attempted to break them free, but failed.

“What the hell?” You muttered to yourself. That’s when you noticed your legs were bound at the ankles as well.

“I knew you would get out of control.” His voice came from behind. You turned your head just as he was walking from behind you and in to view, until he was standing in front of you.

“Nobody believed me.”

“Derek.” your voice was shaky. Your heart pounded in your chest so fast you could hear thumping in your ears.

You were terrified. You now knew what was happening. You’ve been here before. In this dark, dingy, cold room. With a Hale, also.

“Derek,” you whimpered, “please.”

“See, you tried to convince everyone, that I was wrong. That following in my mom’s footsteps would be the end.” He took a few steps closer to you. “And yet here we are.”

“I didn’t mean it.” You told him. “Derek, I swear.”

Of course, you don’t remember saying any of that. But you were terrified. You wanted to get out of this nightmare. But this, this wasn't Derek either.

“I didn’t mean it.” The tears cascaded down your cheeks as you begged. “Please, Derek. I didn’t—,”

“Of course you didn’t.” He remarked sarcastically. “Just like you didn’t mean to kill Ennis. Kali. Wait, no, you wanted to kill them.” He stepped forward again.

“I was just protecting everyone—,”

Derek scoffed out a dry chuckle. “Right.” He nodded, “right.” He took another couple steps forward as he continued, “you’re not on trial here, sweetheart.” He stated. “That excuse isn’t going to work. This was no accident, it wasn't to protect anyone. You wanted to do this. That’s why everyone’s decided. Well, most of us who are left.”

“What?” You genuinely asked. “What are you talking about?!”

Derek ignored your question and began walking, painfully slow, around the chair. “Cora. Peter. Scott. Isaac.” He announced all their names, slowly leaving your peripheral. “Even Sheriff Stilinksi.”

You inhaled a shuddering breath, “Derek,” you sobbed, “I’m sorry! Please, just please! Don’t do this!”

“You killed Stiles.” Derek stated. He was now out of you but you knew he was standing right behind you. “Not another werewolf, Y/N. But a human.”

“No,” you shook your head, “no, I wouldn’t.”

“But you did.” He clarifies. “That’s why we decided to put you down.”

“Put me down?” You spat through your sobs. “Like some kind of animal?!”

“Exactly.” He lowered the band over your head. You inhaled a breath, forcing yourself to gain and keep your composure. You gripped the end of the armrests so tight, your knuckles turned three shades lighter.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

You were dreaming. Of course you were.

“It’s all just a bad dream.” You whispered to yourself as you closed your eyes.

Just then, a hand squeezed your shoulder. You opened your eyes, feeling the same ice cold feeling from when Stiles touched your shoulder the night at the hospital. You turned and he was staring right at you, smiling wickedly.

"You have no idea." he told you, just right before the shock coursed through your entire body.

Penthouse

You splashed your face with cold water a few times before rubbing at your face gently with your palms. Your brain was pulsating in your skull so hard it felt like it might explode. You kept you head lowered for a moment, and when you finally looked up, you stared at your reflection in the mirror.

The scratches had already healed themselves. You only knew that by the torn up clothing on your body and the dried blood. You had no idea what had happened.

You had woken up on the sofa to Peter tending to a wound on your thigh. Brett was tending to Lori, and when he had realized you were awake, he helped his sister to her feet and took her to another room. Away from you. Ethan and Aiden were sitting against the wall, healing themselves, but also staring at you. An unknown expression on their faces.

Your hands gripped the sides of the sink as you stared at yourself. You hated your eyes. You hated what you have become. You hated everything that has transpired since coming back to Beacon Hills. Without realizing at first, you had formed a fist and raised it, ready to punch at your own reflection, until a soft knock came from the bathroom door.

You didn't answer, but you lowered your fists.

"Come on out." The muffled voice came from the other side. "We need to talk."

The heavy footsteps retreated. You stared at you reflection a little longer before grabbing you sunglasses again and putting them on.

*****

You stepped out into the den of the penthouse. The twins were standing behind the couch that Brett and Lori were sitting on. He had his back turned to you, but when he noticed the teens' eyes avert away form him, he turned to face you.

You were a little embarrassed to ask what happened, and felt asking him why he was there would be an insult to his help. But the air in the room was different.

Something was wrong.

"What's going on?" You asked the group.

"Your pack is missing." Peter stated.

[brokehorrorfan]

Scream Factory has revealed the specs for its The Dead Zone 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, which releases on December 19. The 1983 science fiction-horror-thriller is based on Stephen King’s 1979 novel.

David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) directs from a script by Jeffrey Boam (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, and Martin Sheen star.

The Dead Zone has been newly transferred in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision (HDR-10 compatible) and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 sound.

Special features - including a new commentary with filmmaker Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) - are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Audio commentary by filmmaker Mike Flanagan and The Kingcast’s Eric Vespe & Scott Wampler (new)

Audio commentary by director of photography Mark Irwin

Audio commentary by film historian Michael Gingold

Audio commentary by film historians Dr. Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr

Audio commentary by film music historian Daniel Schweiger with isolated score selections

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by filmmaker Mike Flanagan and The Kingcast’s Eric Vespe & Scott Wampler (new)

Audio commentary by director of photography Mark Irwin

Audio commentary by film historian Michael Gingold

Audio commentary by film historians Dr. Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr

Audio commentary by film music historian Daniel Schweiger with isolated score selections

Interview with actress Brooke Adams

Interviews with production manager John M. Eckert and associate producer Jeffrey Chernov

Memories from The Dead Zone featurette

The Look of The Dead Zone featurette

Visions of The Dead Zone featurette

The Politics of The Dead Zone featurette

Trailers from Hell – Mick Garris on The Dead Zone

Theatrical trailer

TV spots

Behind the scenes still gallery

School teacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) had a beautiful fiancée, a rewarding career and a fortunate life … until one tragic accident changed everything. After slamming into an 18-wheeler, Johnny is plunged into a five-year coma. When he awakens, he finds his true collision was with destiny – he now has the remarkable gift (or curse) of seeing into the future. From horror master Stephen King and director David Cronenberg, this supernatural thriller turns an everyday guy into a reluctant hero … saving children in danger, helping the police and finding a serial killer. But Johnny's next vision may be his most terrifying yet …

Pre-order The Dead Zone.

[pika-nachua]

2023 NFL Season Predictions

Full Season Schedule,Final Standings, and Playoff Bracket available at

Adjusted 2024 First Round Draft Order (Includes trades to date)

1.Cardinals

2.Colts

3.Bears (via Panthers from Bryce Young/ DJ Moore trade)

4.Buccaneers

5.Raiders

6.Cardinals (via Texans from Will Anderson trade)

7.Rams

8.Bears

9.Giants

10.Commanders

11.Seahawks

12.Patriots

13.Falcons

14.Jaguars

15.Broncos

16.Jets

17.Steelers

18.Ravens

19.Saints

20.Titans

21.Vikings

22.Cowboys

23.Chargers

24.Chiefs

25.Dolphins

26.Packers

27.Lions

28.Bills

29.49ers

30.Texans (via Browns from Deshaun Watson trade)

31.Eagles

32.Bengals

Awards Picks (also receiving votes in parentheses)

Most Valuable Player: Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen)

Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns (Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk, Tony Pollard, Tyreek Hill, Christian Watson, Chris Olave)

Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns (T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, Gregory Rousseau)

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons (Jahmyr Gibbs, Will Levis, De'Von Achane, Bryce Young, Quentin Johnson, Zay Flowers, Sam LaPorta)

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Christian Gonzalez, CB, New England Patriots (Will Anderson, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch, Emmanuel Forbes)

Comeback Player of the Year: Damar Hamlin, S, Buffalo Bills

Most Improved Player: Christian Watson, WR, Green Bay Packers (Skyy Moore, David Njoku, Brandon Aiyuk)

Head Coach of The Year: Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins (Dan Campbell, Zac Taylor, Kevin Stefanski, Mike Vrabel)

Offensive Assistant Coach of The Year: Ben Johnson, Offensive Coordinator, Detroit Lions (Eric Bieniemy, Pete Carmichael, Tim Kelly, Ken Dorsey, Kellen Moore)

Defensive Assistant Coach of the Year: Jim Schwartz, Defensive Coordinator, Cleveland Browns (Lou Anarumo, Aaron Glenn, Patrick Graham, Brian Flores, Vic Fangio)

Additional Speculation On Season Storylines (Listed by team) List does not include all NFL teams

Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders fire Josh McDaniels after starting 2-10 and losing to the Chiefs Week 12 in Las Vegas, and promote defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to be their interim head coach.

Patrick Graham will finish the season with a record of 2-3, leaving the Raiders with a final record of 4-13.

The Raiders will fire general Manager Dave Ziegler, interim coach Patrick Graham, and a majority of the rest of McDaniels' staff after the regular season is completed.

Tennessee Titans

Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill gets injured early in the season, and the Titans allow scond-year QB Malik Willis and rookie Will Levis to struggle for the starting spot before Levis wins it outright after during Tennessee's bye week in Week 7.

Levis then manages to lead the Titans to an 8-3 record from the bye week on, putting up Rookie of the Year-worthy numbers... if he had started the full season.

The Titans still manage to fall in the Wildcard Round to a tough Browns team, but this year still cements Levis as the starting quarterback going into 2024, with Tannehill likely to be moved by the front office in the offseason.

Washington Commanders

Ron Rivera is fired after a Week 16 loss to the Jets, finishing his season in Washington with a record of 4-11. Assistant head coach and Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is promoted to be the interim head coach.

Bieniemy then coaches the Commanders to a 2-0 record in the final games, and after the season, his interim tag is dropped in order to make Eric Bieniemy the full-time head coach of the Washington Commanders in 2024.

Aside

Originally, I had afew wonkier predictions, namely the Cardinals and Colts trading their respective picks to quarterback-needy teams so those unnamed teams could select one of USC QB Caleb Williams or UNC QB Drake Maye.

My only reservation was that by the time October comes around, we're gonna have seen a much better sample size of football in 2023, so I'm certain I'll have opinions on it. I'd just like to save some for the wilder stuff for when there's a clearer picture to expand upon.

Ideally, I'd like to do one of these at the end of every month of the season, so we'll see how that goes.

End of the way, I wanted to put something out to reign in the new year, and I hope you're along for the ride.

Now who's ready for some mothafuckin football?

[einsteinsugly]

Donna Pinciotti's Tentative List of Favorite Bands/Artists...

60s, 70s, and 80s...

1. Fleetwood Mac

2. Aerosmith. Steven Tyler is freaking hot, okay?

3. Janis Joplin

4. Heart

5. Tracy Chapman

6. Led Zeppelin

7. The Rolling Stones

8. Pat Benatar

9. The Eagles

10. Bon Jovi

11. The Beatles (although Eric's obsession is extremely annoying)

12. Joni Mitchell

13. Joan Baez

14. Carole King

15. The Mamas and the Papas

16. Queen

17. The Eurythmics/Annie Lennox

18. The Pretenders

19. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians

19. Some Joan Jett/The Runaways, if she's in an angry mood.

20. A soft spot for Blondie and Carly Simon (blame Jackie).

*****

90s and beyond (omitting previous artists above)...

1. The Cranberries

2. Jewel

3. 10,000 Maniacs/Natalie Merchant

4. Alanis Morissette

5. Lauryn Hill/The Fugees

6. No Doubt

7. Sheryl Crow

8. Melissa Etheridge

9. Evanescence

10. Alicia Keys

[feverinfeveroutfic]

flowers for alexander | chapter twenty-eight

The words haunted Florence as they sailed all the way up along the spine of California: the volcanic mountains that surrounded the alpine valleys below seemed to tower around the ships as they trekked towards the gateway to Yosemite as well as Mono Lake. A shiver ran up her spine as everything seemed to grow colder beyond the ship. Though she was cuddled up next to Eric in the safety of their bunk, she kept on thinking about Alex. She kept on thinking about what she could do for him to fully open up everything to give forth the fruit of his truth.

Behind that cool, logistical demeanor was a boy with a broken heart. A distant memory and one that also seemed so close and so familiar still even in that moment. If only she could have looked past her own obsessions with the mechanical and nuclear worlds, then she could possibly give to him what he so wanted. He could probably give to her what she wanted as well.

Florence lay still as Eric ran his hand down the curvature of her hip. Though she could have her marriage intact, and she could live and let live with him as well as their new daughter on the way, she still wanted to know what lay behind Alex’s piercing blue eyes. She thought about the spice cake that she had bought for him, and she hoped that he wouldn’t eat the whole thing while they were sailing along the vast escarpment of the mountains towards the next vast array of valley and June Lake.

At some point, she dozed off with Eric’s arms wrapped around her, and she awoke all to crane her neck for a look out the window. She beheld the sight of the pastures down below as well as Twin Lakes, and she knew that they had just cleared Bridgeport and that big hill that led up to it. Eric was sound asleep, but she still had to be careful not to jar him awake lest she have to explain what was going on right there. She was going to have to tell him about Alex’s note at some point, but she had to confront him there in the safety of his bunk.

Florence slithered out from the grip of his chubby hands, to which he followed it up with a roll over onto his back towards the window. She examined his chubby body and the way that he rested his hand upon his chest, as well as long and lanky legs, and she showed him a smile. He would do anything for her, especially save her from the pain of the steam in the ground, and she knew that he would take it all to heart.

She hoped that Eric and Alex would find their closure as well, and soon enough to boot. She carefully opened the door and stepped out to the quiet, dimly lit hallway. There was a light softly filtering out from Alex’s room across the floor, and she fetched up a sigh to steady herself and calm herself down. Florence padded closer to his door, and she knocked on the panel.

“Alex?”

“It’s open,” he called out in a low voice.

She opened the door, to which she saw Alex there on his bed with a book plunked open on his lap. He had taken off his shirt and let his inky black curls sprawl over his shoulders onto his chest. He lifted his gaze to her there, and he raised his eyebrows at the sight of her there before him. Florence pressed her hands against her belly as if to hide her baby from him; they slept with each other, and thus, once she did it, it seemed particularly pointless to do it.

“Hey,” she greeted him, and his face fell at the sight of her.

“Hey…” His full voice was gentle but distant. “I’m guessing you got my note.”

“I had no idea you feel this way,” she confessed. “Like, this is heavy to even think about on my own terms.”

“You have no idea,” he told her in a near whisper.

She took her spot right next to him there on the edge of the bed.

“I wish you didn’t feel this way,” was all she could muster right then.

“I wish I wasn’t lonely, either,” he confessed to her. “I wish I could just… just be, you know?”

“Yes…” she assured him, and she rested her hand on his knee. He held still as she slid her hand up his thigh. She reached his crotch and the inside of his thighs when he grimaced and lingered back away from her. She could tell that it was difficult given the headboard behind him, but she wanted to touch him regardless of anything.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

“I have to make this right,” she told him as she lay her left hand on his other thigh.

“On Eric? No!” He rolled over onto his side as if to get away from her, but Florence climbed upon him to hold him down. She rested her hands on his chest, and she ran her fingers down his skin.

“You go and sleep with Eric after this,” she advised him.

“Florence… Florence, two wrongs don’t make a right.” He shook his head and tried to writhe out from under her grip, but she had a firm hold on him. She held onto him like a mother holding onto her baby.

“You feel the desire for him just as he feels it with me and I feel it with you,” she pointed out. “The three of us need sex with each other before mine and Eric’s baby comes. It’s the only way the three of us can achieve closure—”

“No—no! No, dammit! I can’t! I won’t!”

She held onto either side of his face to look right into his eyes.

“You already fucked me in the woods, you silly boy,” she pointed out to him.

“Yeah, but…” His voice trailed off, and then he locked eyes with her.

“But what?” she asked him in a light little voice. He swallowed, and he showed her the tip of his tongue. His eyes were big and wide; she then ran her finger down the side of his neck and onto his chest. “But what?”

“I—” he sputtered out, and he could hardly talk all the while.

Florence dropped her lips down to his for a tender kiss. He shifted his weight underneath her; she could feel him opening his legs as if he was welcoming her into him. She lifted her head for a look into his eyes and the spacey look to them. He parted his cherry lips to which he treated her to a light gasp.

Her belly holding Eric’s baby aside, she lowered herself onto his body to feel him.

He was warm and soft, and his spindly hands crawled over the middle of her back to keep her close to him. His fingertips glided over her spine towards the arch of her back as if he was about to undo her bra for her. But the joke was on him in that she only wore her camisole and her pants: he lifted the hem of her top, and she knew it was to better feel her skin. She never realized the utter passion that ran through him before then, and she wondered if her being pregnant only added to it. She knew that he couldn’t have her, and yet that made him want her more.

Alex moved his mouth away from her own and he let his tongue lap out from his lips like that of a dog. Florence let her hands slither up behind the back of his head, and her fingers found their way through the roots, right up against his scalp.

“Let me… let me…”

“No, I can’t,” he blathered. “You’re with Eric. You’re pregnant with his kid. I can’t.”

“What about this?” Florence opened her lips all the way and slithered her tongue into his mouth. She could feel a little bit of extra saliva on his bottom lip, and she had no idea if it came from her or him. She moved her head back a bit for another look into his eyes.

“Oh, man,” he groaned out, but then he shook his head again. “I can’t. Even if I still…” He pursed his lips together as if to hold back a secret from her.

“Still what?” she sweetly asked him.

“…still feel the need to—”

“To what?”

“—to taste you,” he stammered out, and he gazed off to the side at that. Florence moved a piece of hair out from his forehead, and she stroked his soft skin. She eyed the roots of the gray streak, the tiny light plume on the right side of his head about the size of a quarter.

“To taste me?” she echoed him.

“I still want to know how you taste,” he continued, and his voice was in that low, silky tone, the tone he used whenever she knew he was turned on. He never moved his head back for a direct look at her but he did look at her from the corner of his eye. “The feeling that you give me… the feeling that you have always given me… and yet…”

Florence finally let go of his head and his chest so he could sit up and breathe.

“And yet, the way that we broke up will always haunt me,” he continued. “I remember you saying that you were in love with my mind, but it felt like you didn’t really mean it, though.”

“What makes you think that?” She knitted her eyebrows at that.

“You’re the… hands-on one and I’m the brainiac,” he said with a gesture to her. “It’s apples to oranges with us, and I’ll never forget you saying that, either.”

“I don’t remember saying that,” she confessed with a shake of her head. Alex stared back at her with a wounded look on his face.

“Florence, I remember you distinctly saying, ‘Alex, I love you but I can’t do this with you.’”

She tilted her head to the side at the sound of that.

“You don’t remember?” he demanded. “It’s practically engraved on me. ‘I love you but I can’t do this.’ You said that to me as you were wielding a wrench and fixing a hydraulic valve.”

“Wow, I… don’t even remember that,” she admitted with a shake of her head.

“Of course you don’t,” he scoffed. “You split up with me and went off with Eric, wing bang boom. Wham bam thank you, ma’am.” He folded his arms over his chest and turned his head away from her; Florence could see the look of pain on his face. She then held back away from him to give him space, and he rubbed his eye with the base of his palm.

“I’m… so sorry, Alex,” she told him.

He shook his head at that and sank down in the bed. He turned his head towards the pillow, and she sighed through her nose. Florence climbed off the edge of the bed and walked on back to the door. She stepped out to the hallway, only to find Francine there before her with a book in one hand.

“Frankie,” she remarked.

“Flo! What’re you doing here?”

“I was just… going in there to talk to him about… something,” Florence said in a low voice, and she squirmed at the sound of her own words.

“I was just returning a book to Alex,” Francine answered, and all the while, she had the look on her face as if she didn’t know what to think or do right then.

“Frankie… what did you do with Alex last night?” Florence asked her in a near whisper because she knew that either Alex or Eric could be overhearing them.

“I saw him in front of your door and I walked up to him and talked to him. He just wanted someone to unload on. Someone that wasn’t you or Eric.”

Florence paused for a second.

“He talked to you about… what exactly?” she asked her.

“We just chatted,” Francine continued with a shrug of her shoulders. “He told me about reading into Miles Davis and wanting to watch a show from him during his electric era. I told him about books I was reading and wanting to read. He told me about growing up in the Bay Area, like his being the only Jewish boy for miles around and his having parents who are both teachers.”

“He told you the same things he told me when we first met, basically,” Florence said.

“But I don’t really feel the same thing that you feel with him, though,” Francine continued on. “I mean, I can admit that he is a very good-looking guy. If anything, he’s one of the better looking guys I’ve seen. If anything, I’m more inclined to say that he’s one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen.”

Florence raised her eyebrows at that.

“Really?” she asked her in a hushed voice.

“Yeah.”

“Did you actually say that to him?” Florence asked her as her heart skipped a few beats.

“No I couldn’t,” Francine admitted with a shake of her head. “There was no way that I could confess something like that to him.”

“Did you show him the ring?” Florence added.

“Kept it in my pocket,” she confessed. “That’s another thing that I could literally never show to him, especially when we know where it came from as well.” Francine ran her fingers through her hair and turned her attention to the door behind Florence: Alex was in there, alone. Florence then gazed past her to the compartment door across the hall, and she knew Eric, while still asleep, was waiting for her. She hoped that they would land soon just so she could feel the cool mountain air on her face again.

“He really is a beautiful boy,” Francine whispered the words so softly, that Florence believed that she had breathed it.

“Who, Alex?”

“Yeah. Someone as beautiful as him has gotta have a great deal of angst within him to show it on his face and body.”

“I guess you could say that with Eric, too,” Florence pointed out, to which Francine cracked her a smile.

“Always, of course,” she replied, and she flashed her a wink. “Go see him. He’s probably waiting for you.”

Florence sighed through her nose and walked on to the compartment door. Even as she climbed into the bed next to him, she still thought about Alex, and she wondered how Francine would fare with him, at least until they landed again.

[llflorence]

When you are old - Human AU, professors, there was only one office, Rated E

Aziraphale was an old soul. 

He always had been. From the time he could talk, it was said he was wise for his age. Intelligent, dignified, he enjoyed the finer things in life. A well-versed book of poetry penned by an esteemed writer, the firm press of piano keys to a time-worn tune. He loved old movies and ancient gardens and hand-me-down baking recipes and long-forgotten, grown-over graveyards. Some thought him odd, set in his ways, stuffy. But he loved what he loved, and it made him happy. Why would he ever change?

Aziraphale lived a simple life. He woke each morning with a prayer of gratitude for his historic two-bedroom home. He showered and shaved and dressed for the day. After tea and breakfast, he mounted his vintage Azor Amsterdam (a very good bicycle indeed), and set off for the campus. His leather book bag rested safely in the forward basket like Toto and Dorothy.

He was getting on in years where he sometimes had to walk and push the bike up the hill near the park. Fifty had come and gone, but he still felt seventeen. Even if his body had accumulated extra baggage, his mind was sharp and agile. And besides. Age was just a number.

Aziraphale was lucky. He had a good job as a tenured professor in the English Department, teaching three classes a semester. His colleagues were more than amiable, several of them having become fast and firm friends. He had a nice stash put away, portioned his salary into a decent 403b, with enough money left over for frivolous things like root beer floats with chocolate ice cream and summer-colored sprinkles.

All of that changed with the entrance of one Anthony J. Crowley. 

It was August. The summer was winding down, and the school year gearing up. Staff had returned, faculty soon to follow. His building had scheduled an informational meeting to welcome newcomers and catch up with the old. The department head had oodles of Big Ideas he wanted to share, even though Gabriel didn’t have the greatest track record of follow-through.

Still, the appetizers were always lovely, and the conversation was scintillating.

The glorious smells of freshly ground coffee and sweet, steamed milk welcomed Aziraphale as he entered the eating establishment. It was a venue he’d visited twice before. They offered an eclectic menu, vegan and vegetarian-friendly. If Gabriel did anything right, it was to put on a good show with an inviting atmosphere. And this place met the bill.

Aziraphale waved at Sociology-Anthology. The professors there shared a secretary with the English Department. This meant that whenever anything needed doing, the two departments would cross over, meeting in her office, fighting over territory and who needed what first.

Criminology was there, too, at least two out of the three of them. Though Aziraphale didn’t have an imagination open enough to figure out what curating future police officers had to do with literature and poetry. It was probably just the collapse of resources; more cuts to save the bottom line.

He stopped at the first table for a glass of sparkling something, pausing to sniff its contents before tasting. It proved to be something along the spectrum of apple to pear. Passable, if dry and tart.

He greeted Technical Writing with a handshake, accepting the slap on the back in congratulations for Aziraphale’s newest published work. It was nothing, really, just a spot of poetry he’d been working on for a few years. But sometimes it was nice to be recognized.

“Oi! Professor!”

The sound of that melodic voice, pure and simple and joyous, brought a surge of warmth in Aziraphale’s chest. He’d grown quite fond of the two adjuncts over the past few years. Taken them under his wing, so to speak. They’d both blossomed and flourished and branched out in the fullest way possible, and the radiant smiles on Eric and Muriel’s faces were a sight to behold.

“Hello, Dears,” he crooned, laying a gentle hand on each of their shoulders. Muriel had sprouted patches of freckles over their soft, flat nose, and Eric sported beautiful, long, sparkling lashes. They both looked well-rested and refreshed, eager to begin another year. And eager to spill with the latest gossip.

“Did you hear?” Eric hissed, beckoning Aziraphale to take a seat with them. “They’ve hired a new prof in Cosmology?”

Muriel, too excited to wait for his answer, flapped their hands and picked up where Eric left off. “He’s straight off sabbatical, working on his book. Something about gravity waves, and LIGO?”

Aziraphale sucked in his chin and tilted his head. ”Hm. Cal-Tech. Very impressive. I imagine they’ve brought him on to pick up the pace with retention rates in the scientific fields.”

Eric chortled and shared a look with Muriel. “Oh, he’ll retain ‘em, all right. I have a feeling they’ll be filling his classes like wildfire. The waiting lists will be miles long.”

“Yeah,” Muriel gushed. Their cheeks flushed rosy with excitement. They raised an unhurried hand, fanning themselves daintily. “He’s definitely going to create waves.”

Aziraphale huffed. “I suspect you young people crush on all the older professors.”

Eric looked scandalized. “No! Not on you, not at all!”

Muriel was backtracking faster than Aziraphale’s humility could keep up. “Of course not! You’re more of a father figure.”

Eric nodded enthusiastically. “Right. Father. Where this guy is more of a Daddy.”

The two youngsters giggled, leaning in towards each other, sharing a moment of unbridled glee. Aziraphale smiled, amused, mildly curious. If he read Generation Y’s signs correctly, the newest Physics instructor was handsome.

Aziraphale was decent enough looking. He took care of his skin and his teeth, practiced self-care, and rode his bike daily. If he happened to overindulge a bit on – well, on everything – who in their right conscience could equally judge him?

“How was your summer,” Aziraphale redirected, noting the delightful way Muriel leaned onto Eric’s shoulder. There was something platonic about it, something wholesome, endearing. Two of his favorite people in the world getting on so well warmed his heart.

There was a shared retelling of travels, to the Ozarks, the Upper Peninsula, the ocean. Both spoke with such animation it was like being part of the live-action. Aziraphale nodded and exclaimed and generally felt proud of the quests the two young people had accomplished.

As they spoke, Aziraphale’s mind drifted. Back to the unfinished drawing on his easel. To the rising bread dough on his windowsill. The new sheet music on the piano. He hadn’t traveled, but he still had a lovely summer himself, alone, unbothered. At home. Part of him wished he were back there right now.

But time marched on, and future generations depended on him. Who would guide them through dangling participles and that delicate tipping point between over- and under-describing?

Aziraphale folded his hands in his lap and smiled as his colleagues drew up memories and painted exciting retellings. And when Gabriel entered the building, commanding the attention of all gathered there, Aziraphale considered escaping through the back door on the way to the lavatory.

He didn’t, of course. He stayed. Aziraphale stayed and he listened to the corporate wafflings of a man so far in the bureaucratic shift, he risked falling into the abyss, never to be Humanities again.

Aziraphale humored his boss, greeted him warmly when his speech was done. It wasn’t Gabriel’s fault he was a pompous blowhard; he’d been designed that way.

“So,” Aziraphale posed, taking a step back when Gabriel leaned too far into his space. “We���re to move offices again? I’ve heard?”

Gabriel stared blankly at him for two seconds too long. “Oh! Yes! That’s right! They’re remodeling the offices in Tower to take care of the leaky roof. And that means we all get to be a little bit cozy for the first semester.”

Aziraphale didn’t like the sound of that. He’d only occupied his single office for three years now. After sharing for years before that, constantly shifting office mates, the thought of having another was unbearable.

“Oh? When will we find out where –?”

“All in good time,” the man drawled, rocking back on his heels. “There are still two weeks left until freshman orientation.”

Gabriel patted Aziraphale’s shoulder awkwardly, bouncing with misdirected importance along to Human Resources. He didn’t know. They were weeks from the beginning of the semester, and the department head didn’t know where their offices were.

“Oh, dear.”

Imagine Aziraphale’s surprise when, exactly thirteen days from then, he received an email from the chancellor. 

We appreciate your patience as we work to secure the safety of our faculty, staff and students. Office numbers are now posted on the Campus Portal.

Imagine Aziraphale’s surprise when, upon logging in, he discovered he was to be sharing an office in the science building with the new professor in Cosmology.

Aziraphale pinched the bridge of his nose just below the reading glasses and sighed.

He packed up his bike the very next day, bright and early, intent on claiming the desk with drawers that locked. He parked his bike, looped the chain through the tire, and hefted his bag over one shoulder.

The Science Building lay perpendicular to the English Department, cozying up to the two-story library and campus store next door. It was an older section, much older than Aziraphale’s short tenure. It was notorious for musty smells and loud, echoing halls, and not because of the experiments in two large labs.

The halls were empty, his footsteps falling on dull, worn tiles. He followed the numbers on doors, searching for the assigned seven-seven-seven, armed with a key and a foreboding sense of doom.

Aziraphale needn’t have worried about drawers. The two desks that occupied the space didn’t have any. There were no windows, no bookshelves, no storage space at all. Just aging dark wood paneling on the walls, the two pieces of Ikea furniture pushed together like naughty children forced to hug each other in a timeout.

The heavy plank of a door closed behind him, rattling the ancient hinges and Aziraphale’s composure.

He exhaled heavily, set his bag against the wall, and pushed one of the desks into the far corner. Then he collected his nameplate and desk calendar out of his personal things. He set them on his desk and staked claim to that portion of the room.

With no chair, there was little else he could do. He’d have to wait until Maintenance chased down something suitable and —

The door flew open, banging against the wall with the force of a sledgehammer. A clatter sounded in the hallway, and a talk, dark, gangly someone shoved a chair on rollers through the entryway.

“Oh!” Aziraphale exclaimed, quite taken aback. The chair skidded to a stop as it connected with the desk. And then another chair rocketed into the room, colliding with the other and toppling over.

“Goodness!”

If Aziraphale was shocked and startled by the unannounced entrance of flying furniture, it was nothing compared to his reaction to their pilot.

It wasn’t the dramatic upsweep of burgundy-red coils and the angular frame. It wasn’t the warm, California-brown skin, the completely unnecessary dark glasses worn indoors. And it wasn’t even the hipster black-on-black ensemble that hung off the man’s shoulders in an unfairly attractive way. At any other time, the combination of these characteristics would send Aziraphale’s heart into overdrive. 

But the way the man said his name was unforgivable.

“Hiya, ‘Ziraphale! How’s it going?”

He completely left off the first syllable, negating the importance of his identity, a proverbial thumbing of his nose at any sense of first impressions.

Aziraphale’s disgust caught in his throat. Never mind the positively aristocratic nose, the sensual hint of an underbite. The unmistakable air of confidence, the flirty tease of hair on his chest. It didn’t matter he swaggered inside like he owned the place, bending elegantly to set the chair right, smiling with moviestar quality and impeccable grace. He was a flash bastard, and Aziraphale decided he strongly disliked the man.

The new professor leaned against the desk in the center of the room, crossing one long, thin leg over the other at the ankles. He grinned unabashedly, waiting for Aziraphale’s response, capable-looking fingers spread wide over his knees.

“Oh, excuse my manners,” he exclaimed, abruptly pushing away from the desk and taking two steps in Aziraphale’s direction. “Anthony J. Crowley. Gen R.”

He offered a hand, peering over the sunglasses with wide, striking amber eyes. For a moment, Aziraphale was caught looking, drinking in the animal-like qualities within, like a wolf, or an eagle. But it would take a lot more than a stunning set of peepers to get Aziraphale to shake a man’s hand who couldn’t even get his blessed name right.

“Charmed,” he hummed, lips set firmly against the surface of his teeth, hands clenched at his sides. Mr. Crowley raised one eyebrow quizzically, a feat Aziraphale had attempted and failed many times. He straightened from his forward-inclined state, kicking out one foot and cocking his hip to the outside.

“So, we’re to be ‘mates, eh?” 

Aziraphale didn’t trust the way he drew out the ‘m,’ making it seem dirty, insinuating innuendo in the vilest manner possible. It was crass. It was uncultured. It was – well, it was infuriatingly alluring.

“Appears so.” 

Aziraphale watched as Mr. Crowley’s gaze swept from tip to toe and then back again, ending with a coy smile and the smacking of pink lips.

“Any allergies?”

“What?”

“All-er-gies.” He strung it out as if Aziraphale were stupid. “You know. Rashes, hives, uncontrollable sneezing. That kind of thing.”

Aziraphale huffed, drawing himself to his fullest height as if he were above such trivial chatter. “I heard what you said. I just needed clarification.”

Mr. Crowley’s chin dimpled as he nodded. “I’ve got a carload of plants I’ll be stashing here. Brightens the atmosphere. Cleans the air.”

Aziraphale scoffed, gesturing to the absolute water closet of an office. “There’s hardly room for two people, let alone decorations.”

“Oh, they’re not just for decoration,” the man argued, shifting from one foot to the other, still grinning. “They’re family.”

Before Aziraphale could open his mouth to protest, one such specimen appeared in the doorway, a broad-leafed, pod-bearing monstrosity held securely in the arms of one Muriel the Adjunct.

“Oh!” They startled, allowing the potted leaf-bearing object to be lifted from sturdy hands. “You’re here too! How wonderful!”

Aziraphale bit back the snarl that threatened to vocalize and forced a smile. “You’re helping. That’s – very kind of you.”

Muriel wiped their hands on their cutoff jeans. “Yes. Mr. Crowley needed a hand, seeing as his were full with the two chairs. Isn’t it great that he brought one for you as well?”

Aziraphale shifted his gaze from Muriel to Mr. Crowley, noticing the smugness with which the man slouched once more against the desk. “These are your chairs?” he asked, hoping he sounded appreciative of the gesture, even though he very much intended to procure a chair of his own, with much better lumbar support.

“Yep. One for you. One for me. Figured it was the least I could do, knowing what it can be like sharing an office with me.”

Aziraphale couldn’t determine whether the man was teasing or not. “That was – decent of you.”

“Wasn’t it now?” The strength of Mr. Crowley’s smile was as powerful as two suns. He really did think highly of himself, didn’t he?

Muriel cleared their throat, looked proud and absolutely honored to be carting the man’s things around like a servant. “Right. I’ll just run down and collect the rest of the plants.”

And they were off with the jauntiest of steps.

Aziraphale rounded on Mr. Crowley, intending to scold the man for taking advantage of Muriel’s kind and overzealous nature. But the professor had removed his sunglasses and was peering down that elegant nose, a self-assured grin on the most perfect of mouths.

It was honestly quite stunning.

“It was good to meet you,” the man crooned, voice dripping like the smoothest of honeyed concoctions. “I’m sure we’ll be great friends before the semester is through.”

Aziraphale highly doubted that. They didn’t seem to have anything at all in common.

“You as well,” he offered, never one to be impolite.

Anthony Crowley, with his suave hair and clothing, sun-kissed skin, and frankly unprofessional demeanor for one of such stature, gave a little salute and slunk past Aziraphale and out the door. There, he paused, backed up a step and leaned once more into the room.

“By the way,” he drawled, one hand on the doorframe, sunglasses dangling from long, manicured fingers. He nodded in the direction of Aziraphale’s cornflower blue cardigan. “Nice jumper. I have the same one. Wouldn’t it be wild if we both wore it on the same day?”

His smile widened to gremlin-like proportions, and then he disappeared, leaving Aziraphale wondering how things could possibly go more wrong.

He looked down at the soft cabled material, at the swell of his abdomen over the top of his substantial beltline, running a hand over the faint column of buttons from the shirt underneath. It was one of his favorites, wonderfully soft and incredibly comfortable. He looked over at the potted plant, thought of the youthful, energetic enthusiasm of Anthony J. Crowley. And suddenly, he felt very, very old.

“Well, ol’ boy,” he said to himself, reaching for his bag and pocketing his key. He’d forego moving the rest of his things for another day. He suddenly didn’t feel much like returning to work, anytime soon. “Looks like you’re in for one hell of a semester.”

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