#(maybe even throw dimitri in there if you wanted to get crazy with it)

[skepticalcatfrog]

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

[eunoia-writes]

The babysitter • bodyguard!Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Victor Dimitri has had enough of his daughter and her wild streak. When she crosses a boundary even she knows she shouldn’t have, he hires her a personal bodyguard or in her words, A babysitter. When he comes into her life she’s defiant won’t listen to a word he says but Rafe is used to a challenge

Warnings: Mention of violence, Dark themes, murder, Kidnapping, drug trafficking and Abuse, Neglectful parents, sexual themes, eventual Smut- MDI

Three

Previous

—

Y/N had been ignoring Rafe for days now.

She barely left her room, only emerging for meals, and even then, she acted as though he didn’t exist. He was used to her silent treatment by now, but this time, it annoyed him more than he’d like to admit.

Still, he let her have her space. She’d come around eventually.

And apparently, tonight was the night she was going to try and smooth things over.

One evening, she appeared in the doorway of the living room, arms crossed, chin tilted up in that defiant way that drove him crazy.

“I’m going out for dinner with Sasha and the girls,” she announced.

Rafe barely glanced up from his phone, masking the way his body instantly tensed. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He hummed, nodding slightly. “Good.”

She hesitated, clearly expecting an argument. When she didn’t get one, she just shrugged, grabbed her bag, and turned toward the door.Rafe pushed himself off the couch, grabbing his keys.

She turned to him with a groan. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He held the door open for her, waiting. “Let’s go.”

She huffed but stomped past him, heading toward the car.

The drive was quiet at first, but then, Rafe let out a small chuckle, shaking his head as he tapped the steering wheel.

“What?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” he said, smirking. “I’m just really glad you decided not to go out with Isaac.”

Y/N tensed. “Oh… yeah.”

“I mean, you’d have to be insane to still want to see that guy But I knew you’d make the smart choice.”

She swallowed. “Yeah, of course.”

Rafe glanced over at her, his smirk widening. “See? Maybe you can learn to listen to me.”She rolled her eyes, staring out the window.

A few minutes later, they pulled up outside the restaurant. And that’s when Rafe’s mood immediately soured.

Because standing there, waiting by the entrance, was Isaac.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his jaw clenching so hard it ached.

Y/N immediately reached for the door handle, but Rafe locked the doors before she could get out.

Her head snapped toward him. “Rafe—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice was low, deadly.

She swallowed, gripping the strap of her purse. “I—”

“You lied to me,” he growled.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh my god, Rafe, it’s just dinner. It’s not that deep.”

He turned in his seat, his glare burning into her. “You lied to my face. Unbelievable.”

“I don’t understand why you’re being such a prick about this,” she shot back. “It’s not like I’m marrying the guy.”

“You’re not going in there.”

“Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

And before she could react, he was reaching across the console, grabbing ger phone out of her hand.

Isaac stood there, looking thoroughly confused. Rafe shot him a glare so deadly that the guy took an instinctive step back. Rafe tossed her phone into the backseat before she could do anything.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snapped.

“Shut up,” he muttered, reversing out of the parking lot.

“I hate you.”

“Cool.”

She seethed in silence the entire drive home.

When they got back, she stomped into the living room, throwing herself onto the couch with her arms crossed.

Rafe leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair before sighing. “You done pouting yet?”

Nothing.

He exhaled sharply. “I had my friend Jake look into Isaac.”She didn’t react, but he knew he had her attention. “He’s got a long history of being a piece of shit,” he continued. “Fraud, assault charges, a couple of restraining orders. You really know how to pick ‘em, huh?”

She scoffed. “Bullshit.”

Rafe pulled out his phone, scrolled through the messages Jake had sent him, and tossed it onto the table in front of her.

“Read it.”

She hesitated before picking up the phone. As her eyes scanned the texts, her face slowly fell.

She swallowed. “I—”

Rafe waited.

She set the phone down, avoiding his gaze. “I’m… sorry.”

His lips twitched slightly. “It’s my job, sweetheart.”

She rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t mean I trust you.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything more.”

A silence settled between them, but this time, it wasn’t tense. It was… comfortable.

She stood up from the couch shortly after heading towards the back door

“Where are you going?” Rafe asked watching her from the couch

“I just need air.” She mumbled as he got up and followed her out as she made her way down to the pond at the end of the garden. She sat down picking at the grass below her as Rafe hovered behind her unsure if she should sit down

“You can sit you know.” She said not looking back at him but feeling his presence. And he did just that. Rafe took a seat next to her not too close but close enough that she could feel his body heat radiating off him.

The pair sat in silence for a while neither one of them ready to start the conversation. He knew she was upset at what he’d shown her about Isaac but he didn’t know how to approach the topic without upsetting her more.

Y/N let out a sigh, shivering slightly as the cool night air nipped at her skin. The estate grounds were quiet, bathed in the soft glow of the garden lights. She pulled her arms around herself, regretting not grabbing a jacket before coming outside.

Rafe noticed.

Without a word, he shrugged off his own jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

She blinked in surprise but pulled it tighter around herself, inhaling the faint scent of his cologne. “Thank you.”

He nodded, settling onto the bench beside her.

“You don’t have to sit with me out here,” she murmured. “I’m not gonna run off.”

He let out a quiet chuckle. “You sure about that?”

She laughed softly, shaking her head.

A comfortable silence stretched between them, the usual tension that existed between them momentarily absent.

“Tell me about you,” she said after a beat.

Rafe raised a brow. “There’s not much to tell.”

“If we’re going to be stuck together every day for the foreseeable future, don’t you think we should get to know each other?”

He tilted his head, considering. “Fine. You go first.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What’s your favorite color?” He asked and she rolled her eyes with a soft smile playing on her lips

“Oh, come on, you can do better than that.”

“Answer the question.”

He sighed, but there was amusement in her voice when she responded, “Fine… red.”

he nodded, processing her answer. “Your turn.”

“Green,” He said “What’s your favorite flower?”

“Why? You gonna buy me some to win me over?” she teased.

“Y/N.”

She smirked before sighing. “Lilies.”

Rafe hummed. “Good choice.”

She leaned back laying down on the grass, looking up at the sky. “What did you want to be when you were growing up?”

“An astronaut.”

She turned to look at him, surprised. “Really?”

He nodded. “What about you?”

“A princess.”

Rafe let out a low chuckle. “Well, you’re halfway there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Funny.”

A gentle breeze blew through the garden, ruffling her hair slightly. Rafe watched as she tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

“What were you doing before you were hired by my dad?” she asked.

“I worked for a friend of his,” he admitted. “Just security stuff. His friend recommended me when your dad mentioned needing someone… said he should hire someone closer to your age. That you’d cope better.”

She frowned. “Aren’t you like, twenty-six? How is that close to my age?”

“Watch it, princess, you’re twenty-two.”

She huffed but didn’t argue.

“My turn,” he said. “Why have you been lashing out?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She exhaled through her nose, staring down at her hands.

“It’s the only way to get him to notice me,” she admitted.

Rafe frowned. “He notices you.”

“No, he doesn’t,” she whispered. “To him, I’m just another obligation. Another issue he has to fix. Not his daughter.”

Rafe was silent for a moment. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“I wish it wasn’t.”

His chest tightened at the rawness in her voice, the way her usual sharp edges seemed dulled by exhaustion.

“Tell me about your family,” she said suddenly, shifting the subject.

He hesitated but eventually answered, “My mom wasn’t in the picture growing up, but I had my dad. He was a hardass with a mean streak… and I felt like I had to protect my sisters from him.”

She lifted her gaze. “Sisters?”

“Sarah and Louisa.”

“Do you miss them?”

His jaw tensed. “Yeah… but I got into some bad shit. It was better for me to leave than drag them into that.”

She studied him carefully. “What bad shit?”

He let out a heavy sigh, running a hand down his face.

“I got into drugs. Real bad. Was basically an addict,” he admitted. “Started hurting people. I wasn’t a good guy.”Her heart clenched slightly at the admission.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

Rafe glanced at her. “Why are you sorry?”

“Must have been difficult.”

His lips twitched slightly, as if surprised by her empathy. “It was.”

She gave a small nod. “I’m glad you told me.”

He scoffed lightly. “Don’t go using it against me.”

She smirked. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Silence settled between them again, but this time, it wasn’t awkward. It was… understanding.

Rafe checked his watch. “We should head back inside. You’re gonna catch a cold.”

For once, she didn’t argue. Didn’t protest. She just nodded, letting him guide her back toward the house, his hand resting lightly against the small of her back.

As they stepped inside, she hesitated before turning to him.

“Do you want to watch TV with me?”

His brows raised slightly, surprised by the offer. But then he nodded.

“Sure.”

At some point, she drifted off, curled up on the couch. Rafe sighed, running a hand down his face. He should wake her up. Instead, he just looked at her.

She was beautiful.

Her long lashes rested against her cheeks, lips slightly parted, and her breathing was slow and steady. After a moment, he carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs.

She stirred slightly when he set her down on the bed but didn’t wake up.

He hesitated before brushing a stray curl from her face.

Then he left, heading to his own room to get some work done. Not even ten minutes later, there was a knock at his door.

“Come in,” he called. Her father stepped inside, hands clasped behind his back.

“How’s it going?” he asked. Rafe exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She’s stubborn as hell.”

A chuckle. “That she is.”

“But I think I made progress tonight.”

Her dad nodded, pleased. “Good. Very good.”

Then he smirked slightly. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, isn’t it?”

Rafe stilled. “Yeah?”

“Which means it’s your day off.” Rafe clenched his jaw but nodded. Her dad patted him on the shoulder. “Enjoy your day off, son.”

—

Y/N woke up the next morning, stretching.

Something felt off.

She got up, grabbed her robe, and made her way downstairs. “Dad?” she called. He looked up from the dining table. “Morning.”

“Where’s Rafe?” she asked looking around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed him

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s Sunday.”

She frowned. “And?”

Her dad sighed, setting down his coffee. “It’s his day off, Y/N.”

“Oh.” She tried to ignore the weird pit in her stomach. So, she did what she always did when she had an ounce of freedom.

Y/N stood in front of her full-length mirror, examining the final touches of her outfit. A sleek black dress hugged her curves perfectly, the hem stopping just above mid-thigh. Her hair cascaded in soft waves, and her makeup was flawless—just enough to make her look effortlessly stunning.

Her phone was propped up on the vanity, speaker on as her best friend, Sasha, giggled through the line.

“Okay, tell me again why you’re so determined to ditch Rafe tonight?” Sasha asked, amusement laced in her tone.

“Because, Sash, I refuse to have him trailing behind me like some overbearing babysitter,” Y/N huffed, swiping on one last coat of lip gloss. “Tonight is supposed to be fun. You know, one of our feral nights out—no rules, no drama, just chaos and shots.”

“Oh, I love when you get like this,” Sasha laughed. “So how exactly are you ditching Mr. Tall, Broody, and Controlling?”

Y/N smirked as she slipped on her heels. “My dad gave him Sundays off, remember?”

Sasha gasped. “No way. You have a Rafe-free night?”

“Exactly,” Y/N grinned. “I can finally breathe.”

“Girl, you better take full advantage of this. I want you sloppy, I want you dancing on tables, I want—”

“You want me to end up in a ditch?” Y/N snorted.

“I want you to have a night to remember.”

Y/N laughed, grabbing her bag. “Pick me up in ten.”

“Done.”

She hung up the phone, took one last glance at herself in the mirror, and smirked. Tonight was her night.

Just as she was about to step out the door she got a message. From Rafe.

Rafe: don’t do anything stupid tonight

She laughed slightly before typing back

Y/n: would I ever

—

The club was alive.

The bass of the music thrummed through her chest, neon lights flashed in hypnotic patterns, and the air was thick with alcohol, perfume, and sweat. Bodies moved together on the dance floor, drinks were poured relentlessly, and laughter mixed with the hum of conversation.

Y/N was in her element.

She and Sasha had wasted no time throwing back shots the second they arrived, the burn of tequila warming her throat as she slammed the glass back onto the bar with a grin.

Sasha whooped, wrapping an arm around her. “That’s my girl! We are getting messy tonight.”

Y/N giggled, already feeling the early buzz seep into her system. She scanned the club, taking in the familiar chaos, when one of their friends leaned in closer, a smirk playing on her lips.

“So… where’s Rafe?” Lucy asked

Y/N rolled her eyes, immediately ordering another drink. “Not here.”

Her friend snickered. “You sound way too excited about that.”

“Because I am,” Y/N declared, accepting the new shot and knocking it back without hesitation. “I swear, he’s always breathing down my neck, acting like I’m some fragile little thing that needs protecting. But guess what? I’m not.”

Sasha nodded in agreement. “Yeah, babe can handle herself.”

Her friend raised a brow. “Mm-hmm. And yet, you’re still talking about him.”

Y/N scoffed, grabbing Sasha’s drink and downing it just to prove a point.

“See? Not talking about him,” she said, voice already tinged with drunken confidence.

“Uh-huh.”

Y/N ignored the smirk her friend was giving her, choosing instead to drag Sasha toward the dance floor.

They lost themselves in the music, the beat pulsing through their veins as they swayed and laughed, hands in the air, heads thrown back in unfiltered joy.

More shots.

More drinks.

More bad decisions.

At some point, Y/N had taken off her heels, dancing barefoot on the velvet carpet. She had no idea how long they had been there, only that the room spun in the most delightful way, her limbs loose, her laughter uncontrollable.

“Another round?” Sasha shouted over the music. But y/n had already disappeared

Y/n found herself the bathroom, phone in hand. Before she could stop herself, she called him. He picked up after one ring.

“Where the fuck are you?” He asked hearing the buzz of music in the background of the call

She sniffled. “I hate you.”

“Y/N.”

“You’re ruining my life,” she sobbed.

“Where are you?” He ignored the comment

“At the bar.” She mumbled

“ON YOUR OWN?” Rafe yelled she could hear the jingle of his keys on the other end of the phone

“N-No, one of the other bodyguards is here, but I don’t—I can’t see him.”

She heard him curse under his breath.

“Stay put. I’m coming to get you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I don’t care.” He snapped

She hiccupped. “You’re always so mean to me.”

He sighed. “Listen, pretty, I know you’re upset. I’m ten minutes out, okay? Just stay where you are.”

Her heart stuttered at the nickname.

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you soon.” He whispered

“Don’t hang up…please.” She mumbled leaving the bathroom and heading to the bar. Y/N swayed slightly as she leaned against the bar, phone pressed to her ear. The club pulsed around her—music vibrating through the floor, neon lights flashing, drunken laughter echoing from all directions. But none of that mattered. The only thing keeping her grounded was the deep, steady voice on the other end of the line.

“You still with me, pretty?”

His voice was sharp, controlled, but underneath it, there was an edge—something dangerous.

She let out a small sigh. “Mhm.”

A pause. Then, quieter, “You okay?”

She ran a hand through her tangled hair, blinking against the haze of alcohol. “I think I drank too much.”

Rafe swore under his breath. “Stay where you are. I’m almost there.”

She smirked to herself. “You’re always telling me what to do.”

“Because you never fucking listen,” he snapped.

That made her giggle. “Touché.”

He sighed. “Almost there, pretty.”

She bit her lip. That word again. She liked it.

Then—his voice dropped even lower. “Y/N. Get your ass outside. Now.”

She groaned dramatically, but against her better judgment, she obeyed.

The night air was crisp as Y/N stepped outside, the chill instantly biting at her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly as the neon glow from the club cast shifting colors across the pavement.

She had expected the same sleek black car waiting for her, the same serious Rafe Cameron stepping out in his tailored suit, looking every bit the professional bodyguard her father had hired.

But that wasn’t what she got.

Instead, he was leaning against his car in nothing but a pair of grey joggers and a black hoodie, the sleeves slightly pushed up to reveal his forearms. His hair was tousled, not gelled back like usual, and there was no gun holstered at his side, no suit jacket stiffening his posture.

He looked… different.

He looked good.

No, not just good—cute. Not that she’d ever admit it.

Y/N swallowed hard, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be pissed at him. But then his sharp blue eyes locked onto hers, scanning her up and down.

And he was furious.

His jaw clenched, his shoulders stiffening as he pushed off the car. “Get in.”

She hesitated. “Rafe, I—”

“Get in the fucking car, Y/N.”

His voice was low, barely restrained, and for the first time tonight, she realized just how angry he was.

Before she could move, the doors of the club burst open behind her, and her assigned bodyguard—the bodyguard—came running out, face pale, eyes wide with panic.

“Oh, fuck—oh, fuck—where did she—” He skidded to a stop when he saw her standing there. “Jesus Christ, I thought I lost you—”

Rafe moved so fast she barely saw it happen.

One second, he was standing beside his car. The next, he had the guy by the collar, slamming him into the brick wall behind them.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Rafe growled, voice dark, menacing.

The bodyguard barely had time to process what was happening. “I—I just turned around for a second—”

“A second?” Rafe’s grip tightened. “You lost her in a fucking club?!”

“I—she said she was going to the bathroom, I thought—”

“And you believed her?” Rafe shoved him harder against the wall. “What kind of fucking moron are you?”

“I—I won’t let it happen again—”

“You’re damn right you won’t. Because if you ever take your eyes off her again, I will personally make sure you neverwork security again. Do you fucking understand me?”

The bodyguard stammered something incoherent, his face ghostly white.

Y/N’s heart pounded. She had never seen Rafe like this. Never.

She knew he had a temper, had seen him get irritated, seen him be cold and distant. But this? This was something else. This was rage. This was pure, unfiltered fury.

And it was all for her.

She should’ve been scared. Maybe a little concerned. Instead, her chest tightened in a way she didn’t quite understand.

“Rafe,” she said softly.

His grip didn’t loosen

“Rafe,” she tried again, stepping closer.

His shoulders were still rigid, but he finally turned his head, his piercing gaze meeting hers.

“Take me home,” she murmured.

For a moment, it seemed like he was going to ignore her, like he was still too pissed to let it go. But then he exhaled sharply, his grip on the guy’s collar relaxing before he shoved him away with a disgusted scoff.

The bodyguard stumbled, catching himself against the wall. Rafe didn’t even glance at him. Instead, he walked straight to the car and opened the passenger door, jerking his chin toward her.

“Get in.”

She obeyed without another word.

The silence in the car was thick, suffocating. Y/N sat stiffly in the passenger seat, arms crossed, her head resting against the window. The neon lights of the city flashed past them, but she barely noticed.

Rafe’s grip on the steering wheel was tight, his knuckles white as he stared straight ahead, his jaw still clenched. She stole a glance at him.

Even now, still simmering with anger, he looked—good. The way his hoodie stretched across his shoulders, the way his joggers hung low on his hips. It was a stark contrast to the tailored suits he usually wore, and she hated how much she liked it.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they pulled up to the house.

Rafe killed the engine and immediately stepped out, stalking around to open her door.

She blinked up at him. “You don’t have to—”

“Get inside.” His voice was softer now, but still firm. She swallowed, nodding as she climbed out.

He followed her up the stairs, and when they reached her bedroom door, he exhaled. “You need to get ready for bed.”

She groaned. “Don’t wanna.”

“Y/N.” She rolled her eyes, but as she stepped toward the bathroom, her foot caught on the rug, and she stumbled.

Rafe caught her instantly.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “Alright, that’s it. You’re done making decisions tonight.”

She blinked up at him, dazed. “You’re being… nice.”

He huffed a quiet laugh. “Don’t get used to it, princess.”

She flopped down on the edge of her bed, kicking off her heels. Rafe disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a makeup wipe.

Then—to her absolute shock—he crouched in front of her, tilting her chin up as he gently wiped the smudged mascara and foundation from her face.

His touch was gentle.

Y/N swallowed. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Clearly, I do.”

She pouted slightly. “You’re bossy.”

“And you’re a pain in my ass.”

Still, he let her lean on him as he helped her change into an oversized T-shirt, then passed her a bottle of water and two aspirin.

“Drink.”

She took small sips, watching him carefully.

After a moment, he exhaled. “I know this is hard for you. Having me follow your every move, breathing down your neck. I know you hate it.”

She bit her lip, not saying anything.

“I don’t mean to be overbearing,” he continued. “I just… I need to look out for you.”

She turned to him. “I know it’s not your fault.”

He studied her carefully. “I’m sorry for saying I hate you,” she muttered.

A small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at his lips. “Apology accepted.”

She exhaled, leaning back against the pillows.

For the first time in a long time, it felt easy. A comfortable silence settled between them. Rafe watched as her breathing slowed, her eyes fluttering shut. He should’ve gotten up, should’ve gone to his own room. But instead, he reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

She was already asleep.

[fayesdiary]

Well, the people have spoken

@felikatze @loregoddess

If I have to sum up this AU in a single phrase it would be "Claude and the gang forces all of Fòdlan to go through character development".

In typical Persona 5 fashion you'd steal the distorted desires of various antagonists and characters to change their heart, which let's be honest, in this case it'd mainly be used as the kickstarter for therapy. So ironically it'd be preventing several chapters in the original 3H from occurring, like for example stealing Lonato's heart before he sends several civilians to their doom.

And given I'm having Ashe be one if not the first to join the Phantom Thieves, while he doesn't have to watch his adoptive father die he has to hear from the man's Shadow he never truly loved he or his siblings and only adopted them to fill the void left behind by his "true" son. You know, because the poor boy always has to go through it.

Basically, it's Claude against the world, fighting the other house leaders, the Church (goddess don't even get me started on Rhea's Palace it's driving me crazy with ideas), the Agarthans, even the greed itself that caused most of the tragedies in Fòdlan while we're at it. Could even throw in Byleth as a bonus. All of this with zero killing involved but slightly questionable, which is exactly Claude's thing.

Anyway, here's my idea on who would be part of the Phantom Thieves of Fòdlan:

Claude - I mean, he fits too well as the leader. He's well-meaning, a pacifist but absolutely willing to use unconventional methods to get his way (the non-lethal poisons) and also the strategist and kind of a little shit (affectionate). Hell I think one of his Heroes versions is even referred as The Trickster!

(starting affinity: Wind)

Ashe - As I said before, he'd join during Lonato's arc. He had a past in thievery so he could be the one to craft the infiltration tools, he'd definitely be into it, and also he probably gets shit in-universe for being the adoptive son of a noble. Also his Persona would be Loog, no question.

(Affinity: Ice)

Felix - Joins during Dimitri's Palace to change his heart, of course. Given his apparent skill at tactics and absolute disdain for Faerghus society he'd be a great analyst. Who knows when he is with like-minded people he might even stop being an entire cactus in the ass

(Affinity: Thunder)

Marianne - ok I'll admit, it's mainly because of several people including herself viewing her as cursed. And if everyone's going to treat her like a beast, well... You might as well go a little wild.

(Affinity: Curse)

Dorothea - Mainly here because of the great interactions she could provide in Rhea and Edelgard's Palaces, but also with the whole thing about beauty standards and classism.

(Affinity: Fire)

Petra - Again, mainly due to her unenviable political position. Also I feel she'd be a great navigator for some reason.

I don't know who the second Golden Deer member could be, my ideas where Raphael (funny because he'd suck at stealth), Ignatz (Yusuke stand-in) of Lorenz (funny because he's Lorenz). Any case, the affinity would be Psy.

Flayn- The one Nabatean who barely hides herself, a pacifist through and through and a goldmine of great and funny interactions, especially at Rhea's Palace!

Also her Persona HAS to be Cethleann.

(Affinity: Bless)

Cyril- I'll be honest, he's mainly here so he can be in Rhea's Palace. But also given the constant racism he faces for being black Almyran, he'd definitely have a place to fit in the PTs.

(Affinity: Wind)

Kronya - ok ok, hear me out. If we do want to include a traitor even in this version of the Phantom Thieves, she's the one who has to join, mainly for the Agarthan rep. Maybe she'd forcefully join them as Monica only to then go and kill Jeralt, and then joining for real during Thales' Palace having reconsidered a few things after getting almost murdered and sacrificed for a dark ritual by her colleagues. She's pretty much a blank slate in terms of characterization, so...

(Affinity: Nuke)

Please send me more asks about this! I I really want to talk about the Palaces and their rulers 👀

Been chatting with a couple of friends and came up with the idea of a Persona 5 AU for Three Houses where Claude is the founder and leader of the Phantom Thieves, would you be interested in hearing more?

(To be clear the setting and characters would be exclusively from 3H, although it would include the Metaverse, Palaces and Persona like in P5)

[agent-cupcake]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[kendrixtermina]

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

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

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

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

Claude has a lot of fun with the mushroom poison.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[frustrated-writer-skyeknight]

Sweeter than berries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"And what is?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[halcyon-writings]

It was my birthday a few days ago so I was wondering if I could get some headcanons of how Ashe, Dimitri, and Felix from FE3H would celebrate their s/o's birthday? I love the Blue Lions boys so much <3 Thank you!!

ahh!! happy belated birthday hon!! I’m sorry I couldn’t get these to you sooner, but I hope you enjoy them!!!

requests are open!

all other links are in my pinned post for mobile users and other links on my blog if you’re on desktop!

For your birthday Ashe will probably start your day off with breakfast in bed, it’s a whole ass buffet of a meal that you know soft boy got up before sunrise to prepare for you. It’s your special day after all you deserve it. 

The entire day he does things you want to do! If you want to go to the market, then you’re going, if you wanna stay in, you two are staying in. Really he just wants to make sure your day is as easygoing and stress free as possible

Gift wise, he gets you something that you’ve probably been wanting for a while. Or something you’ve maybe admired but then decided to not get if you didn’t think it would be necessary. While he doesn’t spend a lot for himself, when it comes to his siblings or for you, Ashe won’t care about how much he spends. 

Despite how much you pointedly tell him that he does not need to get you said thing, but he will anyways bc he cares about you a whole lot!!!

If you want to have a small gathering of your friends from Garreg Mach, or just spend it between the two of you he’s down! Like with breakfast, he will make you something amazing dinner. Whatever your favorite food is, he’ll do it I need to find me an Ashe :pensive: 

Out of the three of them, Dimitri is ready to throw a ball or a feast or any sort of party to celebrate his wonderful s/o. You actually have to stop him from literally sending out hundreds of invitations. Because he would. He is that sappy, his advisors (namely Felix) are here to rein him in fortunately. 

You’re practically waited on hand and foot, as per his order. You aren’t lifting a finger unless absolutely, positively necessary. Even Dimitri is willing to do whatever errand you try to do, and you can’t help but listen to him because he will give you the sad puppy eyes and it is PainTM.

Dimitri in general is already so doting, but if it’s your birthday, he’s now even more so. He will also spoil you with many gifts. Things that were from all over Fodlan.

Even from more distant places such as Brigid or Almyra, thanks to some friends cough cough

It’s after the whole ball/feast he throws in your name, Dimitri is all for keeping you to himself. While you had already been given your gifts from friends and loved ones. Dimitri takes the time to give you his own gift. Idk go crazy make it whatever you want. The gift is something he put a lot of thought into so he hopes you like it. 

Felix has a slightly more different approach when it comes to celebrating birthdays. Not that that’s a bad thing (I hope), He’s got a whole schedule when it comes to when he trains and what he trains in during the day. But since it’s your birthday he still stays around as much as he can.

He’s not usually the most affectionate person in the world, and much less one for words. As Felix is more expressive in actions, you see this even more today. Because he may not say it a lot, you’re very special to him. Tease him about it, he’ll tell you to stop being ridiculous but he won’t deny it *wink*

Will not have the whole lavish party thing, maybe a few of your friends but that’s it. He’s just not the ball/party type, never has been; never will be.

Although if you do ask him for a dance, he won’t deny you. Just a small flush to his face when he takes your hands. He doesn’t grumble, but he will glare if someone says anything. (Which they do anyway, because he’s more preoccupied in making sure you have a nice time).

His type of gifts are definitely a lot more practical than they are materialistic. Like if you need a new coat, you have a brand new one waiting for you. Weapons getting dull? Taken care of. Whatever you need he’s got it. 

[twobitmulder]

MCU Spider-Man 3 Pitch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How?” He asks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[crackimagines]

The New Professor (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Konosuba / School-Live! AU

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

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

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

----

(Byleth) sigh

(Aqua) “Come on, tell me I’m right!”

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

(Aqua) “Shut up, NEET!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Alois) “Ah, there you are Byleth!”

(Byleth) “Alois, what’s wrong?”

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

(Byleth) “What?!”

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

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

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

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

Kazuma’s eyes widened and turned to Aqua.

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

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

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

...

...

----

SLAM!

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

(???) “Let me go!”

(??? 2) Yuki-chan, stop it!”

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

(??? 3) “It’s too late!”

(??? 2) “WAIT!”

(???) “Megu-nee! MEGU-NEEEEE!”

...

...

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

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

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

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

(??? 1) “Aqua!”

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

(??? 3) “Wait, what’s a zombie?”

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

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

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

(??? 1) “Damn, TURN UNDEAD!”

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

(??? 2) “Alright, she’s stabilizing.”

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

(Megumi) “H-Huh...?”

(Kazuma) “H-Hey, she’s waking up!”

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

(Byleth) “I see you’re awake now.”

(Aqua) “Hey there!”

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

(Megumi) “Where...am I?”

...

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

(Megumi) ?

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

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

(Megumi) “YUKI-CHAN!”

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

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

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

But to no avail.

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

(Byleth) “Miss, please, calm down!”

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

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

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

With a deep exhale, she finally calmed down.

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

(Byleth) “What’s your name?”

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

(Aqua) “That sounds a lot like...”

(Kazuma) “Japanese.”

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

(Megumi) “Yes, I am?”

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

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

(Megumi) “Where is that?”

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

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

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

(Megumi) “I see...”

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

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

(Megumi) “B-But...”

Sighing, Megumi followed Aqua to her room.

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

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

Which in some sense, she was.

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

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

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

(Byleth) “What?”

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

Byleth looked at Megumi and nodded.

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Aqua) “Well you see I’m-”

Kazuma elbowed Aqua, shaking his head.

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

(Aqua) “Jerk!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Megumi) “...Professor Sakura...”

She smiled a little, blushing at the name.

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

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

(Megumi) “Megu-nee.”

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

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

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

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

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

(Claude) “Be seein’ ya around!”

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

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

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

Everyone gave her an encouraging smile.

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

(Megumi) “...”

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

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

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

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

(Byleth) “We’re happy to hear it.”

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

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

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

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

(Megumi) “R-Right!”

(Kazuma) “Good luck, Megu-nee!”

She spun around quickly and pouted.

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

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

Everyone greeted their new professor, Megu-nee.

---

[Indirect Sequel: Megumi Sakura as a Professor AU]

[lovelyfeh]

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

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

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

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

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

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

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

➼Well, have I got some news for you.

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

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

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

➼And so let the rivalry begin!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[fandom-meanderer]

Beauty and the... [Pt. 4]

Beauty and the…

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

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

Genre: Romance, Drama

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

P.o.V.: 2nd

Word Count: 1,037 Words

Warnings: None

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What?”

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

“I broke the bow.”

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

“Let’s hope,” Dimitri nods.

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

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

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

“What now?” Felix groans.

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

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

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

“But… I’m so hungry…”

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

“Ingrid! Help!”

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

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

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

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

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

~

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

“A love letter.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Sylvain, I’m not kidding, let go!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What? Why?”

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

~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Goddess give me patience,” you plead.

[isakthedragon]

Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - That Dark Sinking Feeling

The Set-Up:

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

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

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

-----

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

Enemies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Treasures:

From Guards:

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

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

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

From Pedestals:

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

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

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

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

-----

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

*At the start*

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

Murray: “Eh, I don’t mind it.”

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

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

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

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

---

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

*At the start.*

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

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

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

---

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

*At the start.*

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

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

*A bit later.*

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

Sly: “It must be where Mz. Ruby is.”

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

*The beast attacks and misses them.*

Sly: “Whoa!”

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

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

*Later, after another near miss.*

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

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

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

*Taunts of Mz. Ruby*

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

Boss: Mz. Ruby

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

*At the start.*

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

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

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

Sly: “Perhaps we shall dance again?”

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

*The Dance begins*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Voodoo Heads: “Are you ready?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Once defeated.*

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

-----

The Getaway:

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

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

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

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

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

Sly: “Yeah…”

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

[whythowastakenwhatisthis]

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

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137072

@paranaturalsecretsanta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yup.”

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

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

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

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

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

[unrequitedmime]

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

unrequited 

[monsterousmasterpiece666]

Jason V and Summer Camp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[paranaturist]

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

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

[pg.27]

[pg. 29]

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

[pg. 34]

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

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

[pg 42]

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

[pg 43]

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

[pg. 44]

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

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

[pg. 54]

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

[pg.65]

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

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

[pg. 47]

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

[pg. 52]

[pg. 53]

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

[pg. 57]

[pg. 64]

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

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

[pg.69]

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

Back to Violet.

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

[pg. 82] 

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

[pg. 82]

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

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

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

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

[pg. 30]

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

[pg. 169]

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

[pg. 169]

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

[pg. 168]

[pg. 168]

And that’s all I’m good for. 

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

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

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