#but yeah. putting the guys in fancy historical suits and then giving them both a shit ton of anxiety. that's this fic.

[fridayyy-13th]

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

yes absolutely there is, oh man you have no idea. i've been pretty vague about it the few times i've mentioned it, but i've got a TMA WIP called Minutes to Midnight that's just...augh. i've been keeping most of it under wraps, but yknow i figure i can at least talk about how the idea came to me and the general premise of the thing.

so one evening back in 2022, i was playing Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX on my 3DS, specifically the song Cendrillon—my favorite vocaloid song, even before this. i was half zoning out half thinking of an English cover of the song i liked (not necessarily important, but it was this one), and i thought to myself "hey wait a second. the plot of the song ends with the Cinderella character stabbing her prince to death, even though she doesn't want to. TMA ends with Martin stabbing Jon to death, even though he doesn't want to. wait just a second—" and then i proceeded to pull an all-nighter brainstorming ideas for a fic (i would've been up anyway, i had a flight to catch a couple hours later, it's fine lmao).

so it's a TMA/Cendrillon fusion AU! and also angst with a happy ending because i am incapable of smashing two tragedies together and keeping the resulting story a tragedy!! and i'm aware this is probably the sort of AU that's only really gonna appeal to a very niche group of people (namely, me), but dammit if i don't write this thing i'm forever gonna be disappointed in myself. i'm already mildly disappointed that it's taken me this long with hardly anything to show for it, but also there's been enough edits to the story over that time that ehhh, i can't say i'm not glad i've been taking my time on it. the story flows a lot better than it did when i initially thought of it.

(ask game)

[banditthewriter]

Get Out Alive - Billy Russo

Here we have the Halloween fic that I’ve been working on all month and then FORGOT TO POST! Like a dumbass. But anyways! Here we go.

Warning: Violence, stressful situations, more violence.

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

*gif is mine*

Enjoy!

*****

The envelope was golden, your name and addressed penned in an elegant script in black. It was mixed in with your water bill and a reminder of your yearly gyno appointment. Both of those were tossed onto the coffee table before you turned the golden envelope over.

A red wax seal held it shut. The insignia was a skull. You carefully pulled on the ribbon tab to open the envelope. Inside was a glossy black index card.

As you toed off your heels, you read over the invitation. 

Y/N Y/L/N, 

You are cordially invited to a dinner at the Wellman's Manor on All Hallow's Eve.

Following the dinner there will be a mystery guest and an announcement of great magnitude. Your presence has been requested. 

The invitation held no signature, just the address to the old Wellman's Manor, a note about it being a black tie affair, and the time you should arrive. You read it twice just in case you'd missed something. 

Jesus. This was almost too good to be true. You pulled your phone out of your purse and dialed your best friend as you headed down the hall and into your bedroom. 

"Hey Janine, do you remember me telling you that someone was refurbishing the old Wellman's Manor?"

"I love when you start halfway into a conversation," Janine grumbled, then laughed immediately afterward. "Of course, you could barely contain yourself and wondered if they were going to open up for tours."

"Well apparently they are opening up for something. I got an invitation to a dinner there. There's going to be a mystery guest and some big announcement."

Janine made the appropriate oohs and aahs as you told her about it, but you knew it was for your benefit. She didn't have your interest in the history of that house.

"It's on Halloween. Do you realize how creepy that is? Isn't this the 150th anniversary of the murders?"

It was, actually. And that was part of the draw, to be completely honest. Who didn't love a house with a murderous past? And the many tales of ghostly visions over the years.

"This is just the distraction I need right now," you said with a sigh as you settled onto the edge of your bed.

Work was a disaster, your family was driving your crazy, and your love life was a train wreck. The only thing you had was your cat and Janine.

"Just be careful Y/N," Janine warned from a distance, your mind already working on an outfit for the dinner, "I don't want you to get in over your head."

"Of course, definitely not."

------

The dress was stellar. It fit you just right, the lacy black material folded over the black satin to give waves and extra length. You tugged on a dressy overcoat and buckled into your shoes. 

Everything was perfect. Your hair was styled, your make up was subdued but looked good. You had painted your nails black with some silver glitter at the top. All in all, you looked like you were going to a very fancy funeral. 

You grabbed your clutch. The clock showed that it had just turned five thirty when there was a honk outside. 

Your ride was right on time.

The driver had opened the door to the backseat by time you got out there. You smiled and thanked him, but he didn't react.

Odd.

Whoever it was that put together the dinner had spared no expense. They had sent a car that had champagne in the back. You didn't touch it, wanting to be completely aware of every moment you were in the house.

It was about twenty minutes to the Manor, so you sat back and fiddled with your phone. Janine had asked you to stay in touch with her so you sent her a picture of you in the town car. 

You decided to do a little research into the company that held the lease on the property. You'd seen their name in the paper a few times when the sale first happened. Oddly enough you hadn't seen anything about it being open to the public, but maybe that's what this was about. 

You'd entered your name into a raffle to win a piece of the original furniture of the house. Maybe that was tied into this.

The company didn't have much to go on except that they restored historical landmarks to their formal glory. As you clicked to see a list of their previous work, your phone refused to load.

You knew you had unlimited data so it shouldn't be that. Instead of worrying about it, you put your phone into your clutch. 

Right on time too. As you did, the car went around a curve and the Wellman's Manor was visible. It was massive, three stories and an unknown number of rooms. It was a Gothic Victorian mansion rather than a Manor, but the Wellman family had another larger home in the south somewhere. 

Well they used to have one. This was the home where the entire family and their party guests were killed. It was a well known piece of history in these parts.

The driver stopped in front of the long set of stairs that led to the porch. He came around and opened the door for you, his hand gesturing up the stairs. 

As you started up them, the car pulled away. You wanted to ask him where you needed to go, but you figured someone else would be there. 

You went to the porch first, your eyes wide as you took it all in. It was beautiful. There were sculptures instead of columns.

At the door, you tried to large handle, but the door didn't budge. In the middle of either door was a dragon's head with a knocker in its mouth. You used that to knock on the door.

Moments later, the door opened up. A man bowed at you before he led you in.

He was also silent as he took your jacket and placed it in a coat room off the foyer. Then he led you into a sitting room where you saw a large group of people waiting.

And you recognized some of them. 

That was Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson. And was that… yeah, Frank Castle. There was a woman with him that had her back to you, so you weren't sure who it was.

In the corner was that PI, what was her name... Jessica Jones. She's wasn't wearing a dress, because that would have been terrifying. And she was still wearing a leather jacket. She was with a blonde woman you didn't recognize, but she was dressed in a red gown that made you envious of her body.

There were a few others people you didn't recognize, but you weren't the only one that came alone.

With nothing else to do, you moved over to Matt and Foggy. Foggy touched Matt's arm to let him know someone was coming up behind them. 

"Hey Y/N, welcome to the murder house," he greeted with a grin.

"This is amazing. I still can't believe I'm here. And you boys look dapper," you complimented after you shook both of their hands.

"Foggy keeps telling me my tie doesn't match my suit," Matt said with a smirk, his eyes unmoving behind his red tinted glasses. 

You rolled your eyes at Foggy's snickers.

"It's fine, but it's a little crooked. Here, can I?"

With Matt's nod, you reached up to fix the knot. While you worked on it, the door opened and let in another guest.

Hopefully you didn't tighten the tie too much in your shock. Here you were about to enjoy a wonderful meal for the first time in a long time and in walks the man that broke your heart. 

What was Billy Russo doing here?

His eyes scanned over the room. You weren't sure they rested on you for more than a second before he moved over to where Frank was standing with… that was journalist Karen Page.

Well okay then.

"Friend of yours?"

You lowered your hands and shot Foggy a reproachful look. He grinned and cleared his throat.

"Why don't you get her a drink instead of making fun of her?"

You squeezed Matt's arm in appreciation as Foggy walked away with a quick apologetic look. You tried not to look over to where Billy was, but you couldn't help it.

He looked… amazing. His hair was pushed back, his facial hair professionally trimmed. His tux was obviously tailored to him.

"It's the ex, isn't it? The one you told us about?"

Thankfully Foggy got there just at the right time to hand you a glass of wine. You took a long sip before you answered Matt's question. 

"Yes, that's the one," you offered faux jovially before you took another drink from your glass. "You guys mind if I stick with you tonight?"

"Do we mind a very attractive woman—you can't see her but she's really attractive—hanging out with us in a Gothic murder house? Hm, let me think."

Matt nudged his friend with a laugh. 

"You're welcome to stick with us. Wouldn't have it any other way."

You were grateful that at least someone in this group was someone you were friends with. You weren't sure you could handle it if Billy was here and you were alone. 

Especially when he looked that good.

As you started to wonder who else would be joining the group, a man came into the room wearing a black suit and black gloves. He wasn't dressed like the man who had let you in, so he must have worked for the company that bought the Manor. 

"Welcome, welcome to Wellman's Manor. If you all will follow me, we will have a quick tour before dinner."

A quick tour? You were excited thinking that meant you would see the whole Manor but you soon learned it just meant the first floor. And not even all of it, if you were remembering the layout correctly.

The group was led through the library and an office, plus a room that housed paintings and plants. The kitchen was visible from the hallway, but he didn't go that direction. 

The man, who still hadn't introduced himself, detailed the restoration process of the house. He ignored any questions about the house or who he was. His focus was solely on what he was saying. 

It almost sounded scripted. 

You led Matt around with your arm linked through his. You would whisper to him to describe what was being discussed and sometimes made off the cuff comments about your tour guide. More than one of them made him laugh. 

Near the back of the group was Billy, Frank, and Karen. You'd made eye contact with him once and had immediately turned away, whispering to Matt about something or other to distract yourself. 

You almost wished this night would go faster.

"Here we have the dining room. Please find the seat with your name."

It seemed that people who had come here together were separated. Foggy was next to a blond man whose fingers kept twitching and a black man with a frown. Matt was on an end with Jessica Jones beside him. She at least seemed to know Matt so you weren't worried about him being by myself.

Not that you were very worried about him anyways. 

Then you walked around until you found your name tag. As you pulled out your chair, you froze when you saw who was sitting down beside you. 

Billy. Shit. Could this night get any worse?

On your other side was the blond man with twitchy fingers. At least you were near Foggy.

On Billy's other side was the blonde who had come with Jessica. You realized it was Trish Walker, the radio personality. She was even more beautiful than her billboards. And the two of them side by side looked like a couple from a magazine. It was a little sickening honestly.

The man rang a bell at the front of the room and the doors that must have led to the kitchen opened up. One by one servers came into the room. They placed silver trays in front of each of you, uncovering them to show a side salad and soup. 

“Enjoy,” he said before he made his way out of the door you all had come in through.

It was quiet for a while before people finally started to eat. Then there was a slow rise in the noise level as people started talking to each other. 

Your eyes cut over to Billy, wondering if he was already talking to the beautiful and successful Trish Walker. Instead he was looking at you.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said conversationally as he picked up his fork to start in on his salad.

“I could say the same,” you said as you looked back down to your own food. “I didn’t even know you knew anything about this house.”

You didn’t remind him that you talked about it all the time when the two of you’d been together. Instead you simply left it at that. Whatever Billy might have said in response was ignored in favor of the man at your other side who decided you were a better conversationalist than Foggy.

The man on your left was named Benjamin Poindexter—”Call me Dex,”—a former Army vet who had recently stepped down from the FBI. When you told him about your job, you kept it simple because you knew he’d know what it entailed.

“I work for the CSU in New York City.”

“No shit, really? We probably crossed paths at some point. Although,” he added with a grin in your direction, “I think I’d remember you.”

You felt heat rise to your cheeks as you looked away for a moment. He was attractive, funny, and interested in you. Maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad evening after all.

The rest of the courses were brought in one by one. Dessert was an array of different types of sweets, each one more decadent than the last. It was a meal fit for royalty. Or at the very least for famous people. Your hours usually meant you didn't have time to cook for yourself so it was nice to get something not out of a paper bag or a ziploc.

You continued talking to Dex for most of the meal. Both of you had similar stories and a similar sense of humor so it was an easy conversation. Not as easy was catching glimpses of Billy deep in conversation with Trish Walker. 

It shouldn't matter who he talked to. It had already been six months since the last time you'd seen him; you highly doubted he'd been a monk in that time frame. 

No, he was more than welcome to chat up the beautiful radio star. He could go home with her for all you cared.

Maybe you'd give Dex your number. Keeping in touch wouldn't be a bad idea.

Conversations around the table varied from different subjects. The most common was the news that a prisoner transfer bus with almost two dozen of the most violent offenders in the state had gone missing. 

No one believed it was an accident. You and Dex had some theories, but nothing would be able to be proven until the investigation continued. 

Once the plates had been cleared, one of the servers gestured to the large doors you all had entered through. Realizing this meant it was time to get up, you started to rise when your chair was pulled out for you. 

"Thank you," you told Dex, ignoring Billy's look as you stood up and turned towards your dinner companion. "Shall we?"

The whole group followed the server into what could only be referred to as a screening room. There was a large projector like screen on the wall as well as cabinets and shelves of movies and television shows.

You could live happily in that room.

Everyone either took seats around the room or stayed standing. You gravitated to Matt and Foggy, Dex not far behind. 

"Think this has something to do with the mystery guest and the announcement?"

You shrugged in response to Foggy's question. His guess was as good as yours. 

The lights went down in the room, causing all of you to look around for the source. But before anyone could pinpoint it, the projector screen came to life.

The man who had given a quick tour of the first floor was seen on the screen. He was dressed the same, but there was something in his eyes as he looked into the camera. It was like he could see you all. 

"I hope you enjoyed your meal. It was a perfect recreation of the last meal that was eaten in this house before the tragedy of that night, one hundred and fifty years ago." The man dusted off his coat and looked at the camera again. "You were all asked here for a reason. You showed an interest in this house or the family who owned it. Some of the interest was professional, some personal, but it all meant the same thing. That the tragedy that fell upon this house all that time ago was a mockery. A tourist trap."

And unease settled among you and the other guests. This man seemed a little unhinged.

"It has been one hundred and fifty years to the day since the tragedy and I have taken it upon myself to get the revenge that we were sorely refused. Tonight, all of you are in danger."

That got everyone's attention. The raised voices were quieted by the man's next words. 

"If you survive the night, you will be released, but survival is not guaranteed. The servers in the kitchen are prisoners from some of the worst prisons in the state. You might have heard about an ill-fated transfer."

A hush fell over the room. All of you had just been talking about that. If it was true, there were some very horrible men in the house.

"Well then let's just leave," someone said, but the man on the screen turned towards the voice. 

As if he could hear and see you all. 

"The doors are high tech, locked. Not even the most powerful of you will be able to bust through them. And the windows are made of an unbreakable glass."

That meant you were all locked in the house? With murderers? Your mind started to work overdrive as someone else posed a question. 

"So what's stopping us from calling for help? Or from just barricading ourselves into this room until you release us?"

The man smiled, but there was something detached about the movement. Like he was anything but pleased.

"None of your phones will have service. As for why you wouldn't want to just stick together, well, obviously one of you is a murderer as well."

All of you looked around at the other guests, trying to gauge reactions to that. You had no idea who might be the murderer. Although you noticed most people looking at Frank Castle. 

"No, not Mr Castle, that's too obvious."

It was Karen Page who spoke up next.

"So there's a murderer in here. If they try anything, there's more of us. They wouldn't stand a chance."

She had a point. If you all could get to one room that was easily defended from the prisoners, then you could wait it out. He said that you'd all be released if you survived the night. That meant just a few hours until–

"Oh, one more thing. Hidden around the house, very well hidden, is a vial. One for each of you. In this vial is an antidote to the poison that was in your food. And depending on the person and how much you have eaten, you might not make it until sunrise."

The room exploded, everyone yelling over each other as they demanded an explanation from the man on the screen. Now his grin stretched over his lips as he stared down at the room, please by the reaction he was receiving. 

"Survive until sunrise and you will be released and given the antidote if you haven't already found one. Otherwise you can join the Wellman family and their guests in the afterlife."

The screen went dark, pitching the room into sudden blackness. Then the lights came on. 

Frank and Billy moved first, barricading the door that the group had walked through to begin with. The rest of the group realized what they were doing and followed suit, barricading the other two doors.

It left the group of you trapped and alone. And up against the clock. 

"What's the plan here? Stay locked up until we die from being poisoned? Hope that he keeps his word and let's us out in the morning?"

"We don't even know if we were really poisoned," Trish pointed out as she smoothed down her dress.

Matt turned to face you, moving his hand so that you stepped closer. He leaned in close and took a deep breath.

"There's something there," he said as he pulled away, turning to face the room, "I can smell the difference. At the very least, Y/N is poisoned."

The people in the room that were in the know of how Matt could tell all swore under their breaths. Slowly people approached Matt to be checked. And the people who were not in the know were told that he had a heightened sense of smell because he was blind.

Technically it wasn't a lie.

All of you were poisoned, just as he had said. And poisons reacted differently with some people. Not everyone would be able to hold off until the morning, just like the man had said.

"What if we throw it up?" That came from Dex who looked around the room before he met your eyes. "We could get most of it out of our system, right?"

"The poison coming back up after being exposed to our stomach acid could cause more harm than good, especially without knowing what it is."

Shit. The room was in an uproar again. It was a verbal sparring match between going to try to find a way out, trying to find the antidotes, and staying in the room. 

"Me, Bill, and Cage can go and try to find some of the vials. Rest of you stayed here and if someone tries to come in–"

Foggy was mumbling something about splitting up in horror movies, but it didn't last long. There was a loud crack that came from a door in the back of the room. Everyone turned in time for a second crack to resound from the back. 

Someone was using an ax to break the lock on the door. There was a table in front of it, but it looked flimsy. Apparently they weren't sure if they believed that they were in danger when they blocked that table. 

"Guess now we know it was true," Jessica grumbled before she grabbed a wooden chair. She shattered the thing over her knee and started distributing the legs and sides to be used as clubs. 

Cage, as in Luke Cage, did the same with another chair before he handed out some makeshift clubs. Frank grabbed two heavy golden candlestick holders, one for Karen and one for you.

"What good is this stuff against an ax?"

Frank didn't have time to answer. The back door came flying open and a man stalked through the length of the room. It was the one who had driven you to the house. He swung his ax at Dex who had surged forward, knocking the man off balance. Next was Frank and he caught the edge of the ax against his temple.

The man with the ax turned and caught a glimpse of you. He smiled and pointed the ax at you before he started your way. Matt was coming up behind you, Luke and someone else telling you to get back. 

You reacted on instinct. With as much strength as you could muster, you threw the candlestick holder at him. It bounced off his shoulder, slowing him down for a second as he winced. He was within feet of you as you tried to stumble backwards.

A dull thud echoed in the room before his body crumbled. Behind him was Billy, the leg of a chair held aloft like a baseball bat. There was even a little blood on the edge.

"Grab the ax," he told Frank in a low voice, "and find something for us to tie him up with. Unless you think we should just kill him."

Billy stepped almost as if he was going to help you up, but Foggy got there first.

"Jesus he was heading straight for you," Foggy breathed as he pulled you back some more.

"He was the guy that picked me up. That means he…" You hesitated, your eyes meeting Billy's. "He knows where I live."

If you all survived this and they weren't caught, he could come after you again. Billy merely looked at Frank who had just picked up the ax. Whatever silent communication passed between them, Frank shrugged his shoulder before he swung the ax down onto the man's neck. 

"Jesus Christ," Trish yelled from nearby, "want to warn us before you do that shit?"

A man that you didn't recognize and you hadn't heard speak finally stepped up, his hand on the woman beside him. They both look scared shitless.

"We aren't staying here," the man explained as he dragged his wife towards the door that led out into a hallway. "This is sick. And it's not going to happen, it's not... "

The two of them disappeared out of the room despite almost all of you yelling for them to come back.

"They don't have any goddamn weapons and this guy having an ax means that the prisoners are armed. Talk about a fair fight," Dex said as he hoisted his chair leg onto his shoulder.

"Yeah, but not a lot of good being armed did you," Billy shot back as he made a show of wiping the blood off his chair leg on the back of the dead man's jacket. "I say we relocate, make sure the room isn't able to be breached, and then we follow Frank's plan. Get a few vials and wait it out."

There was a pretty even divide over who thought that was a good plan and who thought it was a bad one. You just wanted to get away from the dead body. It was part of your job, but in those cases, it wasn't a body you had watched be killed. Or someone who had almost killed you. 

"Guys," Matt said in a careful voice, his face turning towards a wall, "there's gas being fed into this room. I can smell it. We need to get out of here."

That was a good enough reason for the rest of you. The group moved forward, with Frank and Billy in front and Dex and Luke at the back. Jessica was in the middle, her body poised for a fight. And Matt looked like he wished he was wearing his other suit. 

The group of you moved from the screening room and down the hall. The kitchen was locked up. Frank tried to use the ax but it didn't even dent the door. 

"Let's get settled somewhere first," Billy urged before the group started the move again. 

The next room was a small library. The bigger one was upstairs, you knew that. The first door was blocked off with a bookshelf, hoping it was heavy enough to keep the door shut. Then once the room was cleared, they shut the door you all had just walked through.

"We shouldn't split up," Karen said as she went around checking behind books, either for a weapon or maybe even a vial of the antidote. "We're more vulnerable in groups."

"Yeah but we can't move a group of ten of us around the house looking for vials, we'll be like fish in a barrel."

You moved over to one of the shelves, ignoring the fight behind you. Once again the room was divided on what to do next. Instead of focusing on that, you focused on what else it meant. 

Twelve people originally. Twelve people came to this house to enjoy themselves and have a dinner but then this? Now you were all in a fight for survival. The man and woman who left probably didn’t stand a chance against the prisoners. 

This house was three stories tall with an unknown number of rooms. The man that built it had built in secret passages and trap doors as well as false rooms. He wanted it to be a maze.

A hand touched your shoulder and you jerked, unaware that anyone had been behind you. Matt removed his hand and gave you a small smile. 

"I think the group is splitting up."

You looked around and sure enough, Jessica, Trish, and Luke were already gone. Dex too. Matt motioned to him and Foggy.

"We're gonna stick together. I'll hear if someone's coming."

You looked over to Billy, Frank, and Karen and bit your lip. 

"The six of us should stick together," you said as you stepped away from the bookshelf. "Foggy and I can't do much defending and Matt is just one person. There's still what, twenty-three more prisoners?"

Karen and Frank were already nodding, not needing you to try to prove that it was a good idea. Billy gave you a look that you couldn't quite decipher.

"Plus she knows the layout the best. Could come in handy," Billy explained with a quick nod. "We're gonna try to find a few vials, maybe some weapons. Then we can come back down here until sunrise."

It was the best plan. You wished you had paid attention to figure out why the others left.

You were a little disappointed that Dex was gone. 

You stuck close to Foggy and Matt, with Billy behind you. Karen and Frank were in front of you.

"Let's head up one floor," Frank said, eye contact with Billy to get the point across, "do some checks up there. Heads on a swivel right now."

Frank kept the ax close. Karen and Foggy had chair legs. Billy had a chair leg and a fireplace poker. When he noticed your attention, he handed the fireplace poker to you. 

"Try not to stab anyone unless it's a prisoner," he said before he gave you a push to follow the others. 

"I think we can agree to a truce for the night," you said as you followed the others down a hallway.

"Alright tour guide, where to first?"

You looked around to orient yourself, ignoring Frank's quip. The two of you hadn't interacted much when you and Billy were dating. That probably had something to do with the fact that you weren't really dating, you were just fucking with meals in between.

God, you'd been falling in love with him and he didn't even consider the two of you a serious relationship. And you found that out when he was out with someone else.

"The stairs on this side of the house lead first to a library and an office. There's some smaller closets I think. There also should be a storage room there too."

"Good enough for me," Frank said before he turned towards the stairs. 

All of you made your way up the curved staircase. Just as your feet cleared the last stair with Matt at your side, you heard a ferocious yell in the distance followed by a loud thud. Then more thudding.

"Tell me that was Luke Cage making mincemeat out of someone," Foggy begged. Karen grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall.

Not even halfway down the hall, Matt grabbed your arm and stilled. You turned to him, worried about what was wrong. His head was cocked, obviously listening to something else. 

"Someone's in that room. Rapid heart rate, smells like sweat."

Billy reached for the handle, counting to three under his breath before he yanked the door open. Him and Matt sprang into action as another prisoner launched himself at the three of you from inside the closet.

While Matt did his usual martial arts styles, Billy seemed to just want to end the man. You knew Daredevil didn't kill, but Billy didn't have that hang up. And the two of them together worked pretty well.

"Y/N, watch out!"

You spun around just in time to see another prisoner darting your way. He came out of a room between where the others were and where you were, so they weren't close enough to stop him. 

The fireplace poker in your hand felt heavy in your hand as you swung it out, but the man blocked it with something metal by the sound of the ringing in your ears. 

Then your ass was on the ground, the man looming over you. The crowbar in the man's hands was pressed against your throat as he climbed on top of you. 

You couldn't find the poker but, as your vision started to go blurry, you fell back on old self defense methods. Your thumbs went to his eye sockets, pressing as hard as you could. You also dug your nails into the side of his face to gain more leverage.

He let out a scream of pain, leaning up just enough for you to get a breath. You aimed a punch for his throat and when that didn't deter him, you aimed a punch for his kidneys. Your dress had your legs pinned but you put your feet flat and rolled, tipping the two of you to the side.

"Don't move," Frank called as he swung out, his ax catching the man on the back. 

As he screamed at the ax cutting into his back, you crawled away from him. Frank continued to hack away and you rolled out of the strike zone.

"C'mere," a familiar voice said as you were lifted back onto your feet. "Shit, you okay?"

You nodded even as Billy tilted your face up to check your throat. It hurt to breathe a bit, but at least you could breathe.

Matt came up between the two of you, a smudge on his face. Blood. You winced as you looked between him and Billy. 

"Guess you finished your guy off too?"

Billy released you and bent down to pick up something. It was the crowbar the man had used. He also picked up the fireplace poker you had dropped.

"If they are moving, don't swing, stab. Momentum will get that end through them," he said as he gestured to the end of the poker. 

"Thanks for that," you said as you grabbed the poker from him. 

You leaned against the wall and kicked off your heels. Then you frowned at your dress. 

"You wouldn't happen to have your knife on you, would you?"

Billy raised his eyebrow before he pulled out a small knife. It wasn't his usual knife, but he usually had something on him. He held it out to you hilt first and you accepted it.

You cut through the lace first, then the satin underneath. You only cut off a few inches but it was enough to move around without tripping. Between that and your shoes off, you felt a little better. 

Karen grabbed the knife from you and did the same thing. Afterwards she handed the knife back to Billy. 

"Let's try this again," Frank said before the six of you started down the hall once more.

Foggy came to your side, letting Matt listen for more hidden prisoners. He looked around at the other four people and then leaned towards you. 

"Who do you think the murderer is?"

You snorted as you gestured for Frank that the room nearby was the library by holding your hands like a book. 

"I thought it was you," you joked as you knocked your shoulder into Foggy's. "But really I don't know. If he meant that there was someone capable of murder, there's too many to count. If he meant there was someone who had murdered and gotten away with it, there's still probably too many to count."

Foggy nodded as he hefted the chair leg he had been given. 

"No offense but my money is on your boy the FBI agent," he said with a tense smile as you both approached the library door. "Something about him just made me uncomfortable."

He was very intense but you didn't get a dangerous vibe from him. Then again you were focused so much on ignoring Billy that maybe you missed those signs. 

Speaking of Billy. He came up behind the two of you and shut the library door. There was another door on the far side that opened the room up to the other side of the house, but Frank shut that door. 

Once both doors were blocked, you all looked around and the library. There was a maze of stacks blocking view of the back of the library. 

"The vials could be hidden anywhere," Karen said as she lifted up a few knickknacks on a table. 

"The prisoners too," Frank reminded before he looked at Matt. "What about it Red, hear anything?"

Matt strained his hearing before he shook his head.

"Six heart beats, just us."

You let out a small, petty laugh as you looked at Billy. 

"Well look at that, guess you do have a heart," you quipped before you stormed off down through the stacks.

You weren't interested in his response. 

There were more and more bookshelves the further into the room you went. The books were all different genres and languages, some newer and some obviously from when the house was first inhabited. There didn't seem to be any kind of shelving process as far as you could see.

You ran your fingers along the spine of the books of one shelf. It was eye level, the books older than the rest. Once again it wasn't in any sort of order. 

Who would put a book that starts with V next to I?

You hesitated as your eyes moved to the next few books. A. L. S.

Vials. The order of the books spelled out vials!

You stepped back and started at the front of the shelf.

T. H. E. V. I. A. L. S. A. R. E. H. I. D. D. E. N. H. E. R. E.

Was it too easy? You looked around but to here wasn't anywhere to hide them. Then one by one you pulled the books down to check behind them. The back of the shelf was solid.

Was it a trick? Except…

The book that started with the H in here was heavy. Heavier than it looked. You opened the book and your eyes widened. A small vial was secreted in between the pages.

Carefully you plucked out the vial. Then you stepped over the books and headed to where you could hear voices.

"Just keep it Karen," Frank snapped as he pushed something small into her hand. Neither of them could see you yet. "I'm not fighting with you on this. I'm bigger so the poison will take longer."

There must have been a second vial in the room. You looked down at yours and then stepped into the light.

"Where did you find yours?"

They seemed surprised to see you, but not guilty. They weren't hiding that they'd found one. Karen pointed to a book that was appropriately named "Cures for Poisons".

"A little on the nose," Karen remarked as she tucked the vial into her cleavage. "And you?"

You ran your fingers over the spines of the books near you. 

"The first letter in the title of the books spelled out a clue. So they aren't just hidden, it's a scavenger hunt?"

Matt and Foggy were next to find you three. They hadn't found anything but Matt did say he could hear someone on the other side of the wall. 

"They weren't talking and didn't seem to be rushing. Couldn't get to them without going through the doors."

"We need to tear this room apart. We already found two vials, who knows how many are here?"

Seconds after he said that there was the sound of running out in the hall the six of you had just come through. The footsteps grew quieter and then you heard a louder set follow just a moment later.

"Shit," you breathed as you wrapped your arms around yourself. Then, "Where's Billy?"

"I'm right here," he said from the dark corner, a book in his hand, "just waiting for the next order."

All of you, minus Billy who seemed to just be along for the ride, decided to look through as many books as possible. You warned them to look at the titles and arrangement of the books. Clues could be anywhere. 

Everyone scattered to different corners of the room except for you and Billy. You looked at the book in his hand. There wasn't a vial in it, but it looked like sketches.

"What is that?" He wouldn't have picked it up for no reason.

Billy turned the inside towards you. 

"Richard Wellman, the architect of the house," he explained as he turned the book back towards him. "This is his journal. It talks about trap doors and hidden rooms all over the house."

You remembered that from your own research. 

"They said he was insane," you explained as you turned away from Billy to look at the shelves. "The love of his life left him the day of their wedding and he never really recovered. He built this house as a distraction. People said it resembled the inside of his head."

Billy made a noise low in his throat at that.

"You uh, you always loved this place. Could recite the names of the people who died as if they were your friends." He shut the book and let it rest at his side. "It was part of the reason I entered into that raffle."

You were stunned silent. Then, with curiosity brimming, you began to question him on that. Only you didn't get the chance.

The floor rumbled as something gave way not far from where you were. There was a loud scream and a crash.

Billy went first, keeping you at his side as the two of you made your way around the shelves. In the middle of the floor was a circular hole. It was obviously made that way. If you looked hard enough, you could briefly make out the mechanisms that made up the trap door.

And then there was something else. In the middle of the floor down on the bottom level was Foggy. He wasn't moving. 

"No," you cried as you moved forward, but Billy held you back.

"He hit a trap," Matt explained as he paced around the edge of the circle, side stepping Karen and Frank who arrived moments later. "Fell right through. I should have sensed it."

But how could he have? The trap looked to be a book that Foggy had pulled out that opened the trap door. There was no telling what could have triggered it until it happened. 

"Is he–"

"No," Matt cut off Karen, shaking his head, "I can hear his heart. I think he hit his head. I can smell blood."

With Billy's help holding you steady, you peered through the trap door as best you could. 

"It's one of the lower rooms. He can't stay down there by himself, one of the prisoners might–"

"I'll jump down," Matt said as he tugged off his glasses and then his jacket. "None of the prisoners will get past me."

Whether or not he'd give up his vow not to kill, you weren’t sure. As Matt got ready to drop down, Billy held out his crowbar.

"Might need something other than your right hook to take them on. Get somewhere safe and hole up. We'll be down there in no time."

You went over to Matt and pulled the vial out of your dress. You pressed it into his hand and kissed his cheek. 

"Good luck. Be careful."

He gave you a nod before he dropped down through the trap door. He landed a little wobbly but then he was at Foggy's side. Once you heard Foggy's confused groan, you knew he was alright.

"Let's head to the office now," Frank said as he motioned away from the trap door. "Better to keep moving. Quicker we find these vials, quicker we can get back down there."

All of you agreed that that was the best plan and started towards the front of the library once more. You felt a hand press to the small of your back to help you ease around the large trap door in the middle of the floor. The touch made your heart speed up and you were glad that Matt wasn’t there to hear it.

You didn’t need anyone else knowing just how far gone you still were over Billy Russo. It wasn’t fair.

The four of you made it to the front of the library and looked between the doors. Frank then turned to you to get your opinion.

“That way,” you said with a gesture to the door you all had entered through, “will lead to the office, a storage room, maybe a bedroom, and then some stairs. This way leads to a few bedrooms and the other stairs.”

It was a tough decision because none of you really knew what was around the corner. There were murderous prisoners, albeit a few less than before, and trap doors. Were there more traps waiting for you all?

“I say we check the office. We found two vials in the library, so maybe there’s more clues in there,” Karen said as she looked around for confirmation.

Unable to think of a better idea, all of you decided to go back the way you had come. Frank and Billy moved the things that were blocking the door. Frank went out first, followed by you and Karen. Billy brought up the rear once more.

You all made it to the office without incident, but it wasn’t that far away. The inside looked as if someone had come through and flicked through a few things before they ran out in a hurry. Maybe whoever that was that you had heard being chased had been interrupted while looking for something.

Just like in the library, the door was blocked once the four of you were in there. The office was smaller so you thankfully didn’t need Matt’s capabilities to tell you if anyone was in there. But once the room was sealed off, you all started to look in different corners of the room for another vial.

There was a smear of blood on the wall near where you were looking through some books. The blood looked fresh.

Was it someone you knew?

“Don’t think about it,” Billy said as he crossed over to look through a desk nearby.

“Think about what?” At his look, you let out a huff and turned away from him. “Oh, you’re a mind reader now?”

“No, but I know you well enough to know what’s on your mind.”

There was a pain in your chest that you associated with Billy. If he knew what was on your mind, if he really knew you, he never would have broken your heart. He would have known that you were falling for him and he wouldn’t have gone out with other women. He wouldn’t have told you that you weren’t right for him. He wouldn’t have–

You stumbled a bit, your hand coming out to prop yourself up against the wall. The pain in your chest expanded a bit and you frowned. It felt almost like indigestion, not heartbreak. Was dinner causing a problem?

That reminded you of the secret ingredient. The poison might be getting to you. 

“Y/N?”

You turned and caught Billy’s eye. He looked concerned as he took a step towards you, but you waved him off. You didn’t want to draw Frank or Karen’s attention right then. They didn’t need to worry about you being poisoned as the four of you fought for your lives.

You couldn’t let them think you were a liability.

“How long until sunrise? I just wanna know how long we have to get through this.”

Billy shrugged his shoulder as he went back to the desk.

“Seven twenty, give or take? It’s almost midnight now.”

Midnight? Where had the night gone? You had arrived at the manor at six. How was it possible that six hours had already passed? Although you were in the library for a while. And it had taken a long time for people to decide what to do once it was revealed that your sadistic host hadn’t been joking about any of it.

After about twenty minutes of looking, you all realized there weren’t any vials in the office. If there had been any to start with, they were gone now.

“Where to now?”

Once more the door was unblocked. Billy went first and you kept near to him, unable to stay away. You felt safe with him. It was something residual from your relationship, but how many times had he protected you tonight already? For whatever reason.

“Here,” you said as you pointed at a door. 

Billy opened it slowly and checked around. It was supposed to be a storage room but it was just a wide hallway that connected this side of the house to the other. The two of you walked through the doorway and started across the hallway, you only a few steps behind Billy.

In the distance you heard a clock begin to chime. On the third chime, you heard a scream from the hallway behind you. You and Billy turned to see Karen pulling a knife from her side, the sickening thud of Frank using his ax on the prisoner who had attacked them. 

“Karen!” You rushed forward back down the hallway to the door where she had stumbled out of sight. “Karen?”

You heard her say that she was okay on the eleventh chime. Then, before you got any further, the twelfth chime sounded. The moment it did, a large metal door slid down from the top of the door frame. It cut you off from Karen and Frank.

“No!” You slammed your fists against the metal, but it didn’t even rattle.

A loud sound echoed from the door, most likely Frank hitting the door with the ax. You thought you could hear his voice, a low rumble through the metal, but you couldn’t make out the words.

“It’s hopeless,” Billy said as he put his hand on your shoulder, “you’re not making it through that. Come on, maybe we can get back through one of the other rooms.”

“But Karen–” you began but Billy grabbed your wrists and turned you to face him.

“I know she was hurt, but she’s with Frankie. He’s not gonna let anything happen to her. And with those two together, I’m more worried about the prisoners. Now c’mon, let’s keep moving.”

At least you weren’t alone. You didn’t think you could do this alone.

You and Billy stayed close to each other as you came out into the other hallway. It was empty and neither of you could hear anything.

“We could go to the library, try to cross there,” Billy said as he looked down the way to the library.

“You blocked the door for this side,” you reminded him as you gestured with your fireplace poker. “And I’m confident that you and I wouldn’t be able to open the door alone.”

“Shit,” he breathed. Then he looked at you with a wry smile. “So what’s on this side again?”

The two of you started down the rest of the hallway towards what you were pretty sure was a bedroom. 

Of course the thought of being alone in a bedroom with Billy was just about as terrifying as being stuck in a house with two dozen murderous escaped prisoners. You just wouldn’t say that to him.

But that did make you think of something else.

“You said that you entered the raffle because of me. What did you mean?”

Billy froze for a second before he opened the door. The room was empty so the two of you went in. He shut the door and leaned against it.

“You should have told me.”

That came out of nowhere. You turned to face Billy, both of your hands tight on the length of the poker you still held.

“Told you what? What are you talking about?”

He shook his head and looked away from you. When he looked back at you, you found yourself nearly sucked in by those dark eyes.

“I heard you that night. You were on the phone with your mom and you told her you were falling in love with me. But you should have told me.”

The poker fell to the floor and you jumped at the sound it made when it connected. You bent down to pick it up, using the moment to take a deep breath.

“Wait, so you heard me and you think I should have told you that I was falling for you, but… you cheated on me Billy.”

It was all too much. You were trapped in a murder house with your ex and he was talking about you falling for him. If you knew your night was going to be even half as bad as this, you would have torn that invitation to pieces.

“I didn’t… you said when we started to see each other that you didn’t know if you could be with a guy long term that was in such a dangerous line of work. I thought that meant we were going to be casual.”

Casual. You still had a box of the belongings he had left at your place. And he possibly had your belongings still. Including your favorite bra which you had left at his place.

“So we’re together, having sex and going on dates for almost a year, and you never thought to ask me what we were instead of just assuming and… and breaking my heart? You realize how crazy that sounds, right?”

Billy laughed and ran his free hand over his face. His knuckles were bruised and the cuff of his jacket was stained with blood.

“You didn’t want long term with me because of Anvil and I wasn’t going to just leave the company I created. I figured… figured you’d leave anyways. You falling for me wasn’t going to work if you resented what I did for a living.” Billy leaned back against the door, shaking his head. “I’ve never had this before Y/N. I’ve never wanted it before. But then all of a sudden I have you and then when I start to fall, I figured it was time for me to leave before I do something I regret.”

You let out a laugh. Your legs felt weak so you sank down on the bed. Was the weakness from the poison or just from Billy’s declaration? That he was falling for you at the same time that you were falling for him. And now here it was, six months later and you could barely be in his presence without remembering how it felt to be in his arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, but we both fucked up,” he said as he pushed away from the door, crossing over to sit on the bed beside you. “You should have told me how you felt and I shouldn’t have assumed anything. But it’s a little late to go back in time and do it over.”

That was the truth. 

“And depending on how tonight goes, we might not get that chance anyways.”

You said it with a laugh, feeling a lead weight settle in your stomach as you finally admitted that you might not make it out of this house. Just as you started to shake your head, Billy grabbed your chin and made you face him.

“Don’t talk like that. Don’t talk like you’re not gonna get out of this house. We’re both getting out of here. And once we do, I’m going to take you to breakfast and then I’m going to take you to my place. After we sleep for forty eight hours, we’re gonna try again.”

It was the words that you had longed to hear. Well, not all of the words, but trying again? In the dark of night, you had dreamed about those words. You had wondered what it’d be like to hear them from Billy. An apology and the chance to try again? 

All you had to do was survive.

You opened your mouth to say something but instead your teeth began to chatter. Billy raised one hand to press the back against your forehead and then cursed.

“You’re burning up,” he said as he tilted your head up to check your pupils.

“Which is odd because I’m so cold,” you said as you rubbed uselessly at your arms.

Billy pulled off his suit jacket and wrapped it around you. Then he swore and stood up, pacing a short distance in front of you.

“You gave the vial to Murdock and the poison is affecting you already. Fuck.”

If you were already having this many symptoms, you weren’t sure that you could make it to sunrise. Instead of saying that to Billy, because you were sure he already knew, you reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Sit with me for a little bit? Then we can search the room for a vial.”

You weren’t giving up hope, you refused to do that. Billy nodded before he joined you back on the bed, his shoulder pressed against yours. He gently pulled you into his chest and you closed your eyes as you rested your head on his shoulder.

You’d almost forgotten how good it felt to be held by him.

After a little while of being held, you finally pulled away from Billy. The two of you looked around the room, but there weren’t many places things could be hidden. Once you were in agreement that there was nothing else in the room, Billy went back to the door. He gestured for you to wait as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Almost immediately he swung his crowbar, the thing crashing into the top part of a prisoner who launched himself at Billy. The other man had a knife, a long blade that shone under the hallway lights. Billy surged forward with the crowbar again. He did something complicated when the man swung the knife out, his hand grabbing the wrist of the prisoner and twirling the two of them around. It gave him leverage and movement to plunge the knife into the man’s throat.

You looked away from the blood, but that didn’t stop you from hearing the man gurgle, choking on blood. 

“You’re a crime scene tech,” Billy said as he stepped into your view, the bowie knife tucked under his belt, “you telling me you haven’t seen worse than that?”

You let out a helpless laugh as you twisted the fireplace poker in your hands.

“The crime is finished when I’m on scene,” you reminded him as you stepped around the feet of the man, careful not to look at the carnage, “not being committed.”

Billy kept you at his side, keeping his attention focused on the surroundings. The two of you cleared the next few rooms in much the same way but nothing was found. 

As you walked down the hall, you stepped on something and heard a faint click. You barely had a moment to register the sound before you were being tackled to the floor. On your back with Billy pressed on top of you, you heard a rush of air above you. Your eyes peered over his shoulder to see that some sort of pick ax had swung down. 

If Billy hadn’t tackled you, the ax would have gone into your chest.

“Thank you,” you breathed as you turned to catch Billy’s eyes. 

He was staring down at you with a strange look in his eyes. You opened your mouth to ask if he was okay, but you didn’t have a chance. He leaned down and captured your lips in a kiss, his mouth moving along yours desperately. Your hand went to his neck to pull him in closer, desperate and ignoring the need to breathe. The way his tongue moved over yours and the feel of his hands on your body were better than you remembered.

Except you were on the floor in a house where people wanted to kill you. You pulled away with a laugh, your hand dropping to cover your eyes. 

“What’s funny about this?”

You moved your hand to meet Billy’s eyes, seeing him grin down at you.

“Are you kidding? We’re being hunted by murderous escaped prisoners, we’re both poisoned, and we’re lying on the ground making out like teenagers. You realize if this was a horror movie, we’d both die right now?”

Billy laughed and leaned in to give you another quick kiss before he got off of you. He carefully helped you up and then handed you the poker that you had dropped.

The ax hung in the middle of the hallway. Billy grabbed the thing and pulled on the mechanism, shaking his head.

“It’s welded to the mechanism, can’t take it down.”

“Well where to next? Up to the third floor or back down to the first?”

Billy looked back down the long hall the two of you had moved through. Then he looked in the direction of the stairs.

“Let’s head up. What’s up there?”

“Bedrooms on all four sides. In the middle was a large room with paintings and statues. It was the architect’s favorite room.”

He checked the ground to see the trap you had stepped on so that he could identify if there was another one. He looked up at you and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure the architect’s favorite room has plenty of traps. We’ll avoid that if we can help it.”

The two of you went down the rest of the hall to the stairs, careful of where you stepped. You noticed more blood on the stairs but Billy once again told you not to think about it.

Up the stairs, the two of you made your way to the first room. It was more grand than the ones on the second floor. Both of you looked over the room just like the others, but there was nothing to be found. And then the next one. And the next one.

“It’ll take hours to search all these rooms,” Billy said as he looked down the hall. There were probably only three rooms left on this hall, but there were still three other halls of rooms. “We don’t have that kind of time.”

“Do you have plans or something? I’m pretty sure all we have is time,” you joked as you leaned against the wall, your hand going to your chest where you could feel your heart racing.

“You don’t have that kind of time,” Billy said, coming to your side and checking your pulse. “Where’s this room with the paintings? There has to be at least one vial in there.”

It would be a hidden door. You explained to Billy the general way it worked, that you’d press on one side and the other would open. Then both of you moved along the innermost wall to try to find the one that would be a hidden door.

There was a line on one of the walls that didn’t look natural. You followed it up and then stepped so that you were beside it. One hand on the wall, you used a little pressure. There was a click and then the wall seemed to swing open soundlessly.

Billy was at your side in an instant, knife raised as he entered the room first. Satisfied that at least there wasn’t someone lying in wait, you followed him.

The wall rushed closed behind the two of you, but it didn’t matter. You were frozen as you looked at the room. There were hundreds of portraits and statues in the room. 

But that meant hundreds of chances to find a vial, so you weren’t discouraged.

“How long until sunrise?”

Billy looked at his watch and frowned.

“It’s almost three so we still have at least four more hours.”

Four hours. And with your symptoms progressing, you probably had half that.

“Let’s get started.”

The two of you stayed close to one another as you made your way through the first portraits. Some of them were just paintings, nothing special about them. A few swung around to reveal a different painting on the backside. One or two pulled out to reveal a hidden cabinet, but there wasn’t anything in any of the cabinets that you checked.

Billy stayed close to you for protection, but you thought it might also be for comfort. Now that the two of you were on the same page, you didn’t want to be separated from him either. 

You’d spent six months hating him but you’d been wrong. While you wouldn’t be able to start where you had left off, you thought that starting over was a good possibility. And that kiss in the hallway told you what you already knew—you were still very attracted to Billy. And at least he seemed to still be attracted to you.

He had been falling for you. The thought made you giddy. He had been falling for you and while yes, what came next was stupid and could have been avoided if either of you had been able to talk about your feelings, but that wasn’t something you could change.

What’s done is done. But now you change what happens next.

Billy was inspecting a statue, his back to you as he looked it over. You watched his hands move to the base where he felt around for something.

“I think this might have a catch,” he said over his shoulder.

You opened your mouth to reply, but all you could do is gasp as a hand clapped around your mouth as you were yanked backwards. The portrait shut in front of you, separating you from the portrait room. Separating you from Billy.

You swung out wildly, the fireplace poker nearly catching the person who held you.

“Calm down, it’s just me,” a somewhat familiar voice said through a grimace, “it’s Dex.”

Dex? You settled down until he let you go. Once he did, you yanked yourself away from him and took a few steps back towards the hidden door you had just been pulled through. You could hear Billy banging on the portrait, trying to find a way in.

“What are you doing? Why–why did you take me?”

Dex scoffed as he gestured at you.

“You’re sick, the poison is getting to you. I noticed it earlier and knew I needed to get you alone. Get you away from him.”

Him? Get you away from Billy? You shook your head and turned to the portrait, your hands seeking out the mechanism to open it.

“Let me out of here Dex. Billy is probably terrified for me right now.”

You were sick and abducted; Billy would be beyond terrified and straight into furious. Something told you that he would tear this house down brick by brick to get you back, and his constant yells to bring you back supported that idea.

“He’s dangerous Y/N. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

Except you did know. You’d known from the start, way before tonight. It had been the reason you’d been so unsure at first. He was a Marine, he ran a private security firm, he was skilled and yes, dangerous. But he wasn’t a danger to you. And while you could worry that something might happen to him one day, tonight proved that no one was safe. 

And he had protected you tonight. 

“I know what he’s capable of Dex, he’s my… boyfriend. We broke up but we’re together again. Now let me… out.”

You had turned around to face him to ask him to let you out, but you noticed that he was holding a vial in the air. Your chest hurt from the adrenaline and you were starting to have trouble breathing. You needed that vial. 

“Can I…?”

You reached out for it, but Dex threw it onto the ground and let it shatter. You jumped back and your back thumped against the portrait. 

“Why did you do that? You said you knew I’m sick. That could have cured me!”

He shook his head as he pulled something out from behind his back. It was a knife. He held it loosely at his side, not pointing it at you.

“You were nice and sweet. I thought you might be someone I could count on, someone I could get to know,” he said as he paced in the small room. He pointed his knife at the portrait he had pulled you from and shook his head harder, his eyes going a little wide. “He is dangerous. You shouldn’t be with him. He’s exactly the type of person that Rawlins meant to bring here. Not you, you shouldn’t be here.”

You had seen a few people have a nervous break, but this didn’t look like one. This was more like an unhinged person not hiding that they were unhinged. This was like seeing a completely different person wearing Dex’s face. It was…

Wait.

“Rawlins? Did you… the man that brought us here?”

Dex’s eyes were wide as he looked at you.

“Yeah, he told us his name before the tour. The guy that arranged this all.”

You thought about it again, playing it over in your head. You knew for a fact that the man hadn’t given his name because you had thought it was strange.

But there was something else that you remembered now. You started to walk in the opposite direction since Dex was coming closer to you.

“The papers said that the prison transfer was supposed to be guarded by the FBI, but that there had been an issue with car that was following the bus.” You swallowed as you held the fireplace poker a little tighter. “And you recently resigned from the FBI.”

Dex rotated the knife in his hand. And a grin started to spread over his lips.

“You’re clever. You could have made it through the night.”

He raised the knife up and started towards you. He only got two steps before the portrait slid open. Dex turned in an instant and threw his knife. You watched as the blade imbedded itself in Billy’s shoulder. Then Dex rushed towards Billy. 

Billy had his own knife held up. As Dex threw himself forward at Billy, the knife was knocked out of Billy’s hand. Not like this, you told yourself as you watched the two men grapple.

And then you moved. You started to swing but you remembered Billy’s words. Instead you thrust it forward. The momentum of your movement plus Billy, who had seen you coming and had pushed Dex backwards, the tip of the poker speared through Dex’s back. He let out a scream and stumbled backwards, but Billy was on him in a fluid move. He pulled the knife from his shoulder and slid it across Dex’s throat, cutting the scream off at the source.

You looked away as the body hit the floor.

“Y/N? Y/N are you okay?” Hands were on your face as you were pulled out of the little hidden room. “Talk to me. Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”

You closed your eyes and leaned forward until your forehead could rest against Billy’s shoulder.

“I’m so dizzy and tired,” you admitted as you felt your body sag a bit. “He had a vial but he crushed it when… I guess when I picked you over him.”

Billy pulled away, but not far. He reached into his pocket and lifted something up for you to see. It was two vials of the antidote. 

“Found them in the statue right before you were taken,” he said as he pressed one into your hand. “Come on, drink it. It might take time to kick in and we need to get somewhere safe until sunrise.”

You nodded and twisted off the cap. You held it up to your lips but froze as you thought about it.

“This man is twisted, messed up in the head. What if this isn’t a cure? What if it’s more poison?”

Billy nodded and unscrewed the top of the other vial. He raised it to you and you realized what he meant. Both of you would drink from the vials. Then either you would both be cured or you’d both die.

“This is some Romeo and Juliet shit,” you mumbled with a bit of a smile before both of you drained your vials.

Once that was done, both of you left the room with the portraits. Billy kept his knife and handed you the crowbar since you weren’t getting your poker back.

“Should we just hole up in one of these bedrooms until sunrise? For safety,” you added with a roll of your eyes as Billy grinned at you.

“Let’s get back downstairs. That’s where the others would have gone if they found vials. And we can check on Murdock and Nelson.”

He guided you down the hall and down the stairs. In the hallway on the second floor, you saw someone standing there. Except… they weren’t standing. 

One of the prisoners had been pushed onto the pick ax that you had triggered. Either it had been triggered again or someone had impaled him there. Billy moved so that you were against the wall as the two of you moved past the body. 

Further down the hallway you passed by the library doors. They were opened. Another prisoner was there with blood all over his face. It looked like his head had been crushed.

“Come on, one more floor,” Billy said as he guided you away.

Once on the first floor, Billy and you found more bodies. This time it included the bodies of the man and woman who had left the viewing room when you first found out that this was a trap. They hadn’t made it far it seemed.

It was your turn to guide Billy. He said to go back to the library on the first floor so you took him the quickest route. At one of the doors, you knocked and called out in a soft voice that it was you and Billy. No one answered and you tried the knob, but the door was blocked.

“What now?”

Before either of you had a chance to make a plan, you heard something scrape across the door. Billy moved to stand in front of you just in case, but the door swung open to reveal Frank.

“Jesus,” he said as he tugged you in first, then Billy, “we were starting to worry.”

As Billy and Frank put the bookcase back in front of the door, you looked around the room.

Karen was leaning against Foggy’s shoulder, her hand on her side. Matt was nearby, pacing. Trish, Luke, and Jessica were on couches nearby, all of them looking worse for wear.

Granted you probably didn’t look too good yourself. You were pretty sure you had blood splattered on your face.

“Where’s the blond guy? Anyone see him?”

Billy put his knife on the table before he wrapped his arm around your waist.

“He was the murderer. Sounded like the guy that brought us all here must have known him or paid him, I don’t know. But he’s been taken care of,” you added as you leaned your head against Billy’s shoulder.

“We have a few extra vials,” Jessica said as she pointed to them on the table nearby. “Trish took one within the first hour after we left and she’s fine now. Murdock said we’re all cured.”

You sagged even more in Billy’s shoulders. Matt came over and did his thing, smiling when he was sure that both of you were cured as well.

“At least that was true,” you said as you slumped into the couch with Billy on one side and Karen on the other. You checked her side and then grabbed Billy’s hand. “How long until sunrise?”

“Roughly an hour,” Frank said from where he was pacing. “Now we just gotta hope he didn’t lie about letting us out at sunrise.”

You didn’t think he was lying. But that did make you think of something else.

“What’s going to happen to us? We’ll have to tell the cops what happened here. Can we… will we go to jail?”

“For killing escaped prisoners who were trying to kill us while we were locked in a creepy mansion?” Trish scoffed and leaned against Jessica’s shoulder a bit. “I’d like to see them try.”

Billy tugged you against his chest a bit.

“Try to rest. I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered into your ear as you leaned against him.

And you knew he would.

------

There was what sounded a bit like a stampede right around when Billy said sunrise was there. Frank peered out through the door and confirmed what most of you suspected.

“Front door is open. Looks like all of the prisoners just took off.”

You all stepped out of the library and went towards the door. As the group got there, someone came out of the corner room right off the foyer.

“So you are the lucky survivors,” he grumbled, obviously dissatisfied that so many of you survived. “There are eleven vials of the antidote in case some of you didn’t get yours. And of course you’re all free to leave.”

“What’s to stop us from turning you in… Rawlins?”

The man turned to you with surprise in his eyes. Then he shook his head.

“I guess that explains why Dex isn’t here. I offered him a large amount of money if he survived the night. Guess I won’t have to pay up. And I’m not worried about you turning me in. They’ll never find me once you are all off the property. I’ll never spend a night in jail.”

Having the man’s full attention on you made you feel like your skin was crawling, but you stood up straighter. You had been scared for your life all night. You had faced death and come out into the sunlight. You weren’t going to be intimidated by this small man.

“You’re right. You’ll never spend a night in jail.”

Rawlins looked confused for a split second. But before he could spew any other bullshit, Billy snuck up behind him and rammed the bowie knife under his chin and up through his head. You looked away and closed your eyes, but you didn’t feel sick this time.

You felt safe.

“Someone find a phone and call the cops. Let’s get this over with.”

Arms wrapped around you. You turned and buried your face in Billy’s shoulder.

“So you said breakfast and then not letting me out of your sight for forty eight hours, right?”

Billy laughed and brushed his lips against your cheek.

“At least forty eight hours. Probably more.”

You smiled and tightened your hold on him. The events of the night before would haunt you for a long time, but if Billy was beside you? Well then you’d know you were safe.

“That sounds good to me.”

X

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[jojotier]

lil masterpost of some of my favorite golden trio interactions that ive written vfkjv

seriously if you’re a fic writer and you haven’t tried to write these three interacting, I suggest you try. at least once. Seriously, writing them always leaves a smile on my face...

Some more that were so long that I decided to like, at least put it under the cut to save everyone the space and breathing room:

~~

“He’s a cute guy- always wondered what it’d have been like to meet him, you know, take him out somewhere fancy…” Shiraishi wiggled his eyebrows and Asirpa nigh instantaneously appeared to smack him over his bald head with a wooden spoon. “Hey-! What’d I say?!”

“Don’t be weird, Shiraishi!” Asirpa huffed, wagging the spoon in her hand. “Or else we’re going to have to crack your egg head over a pot and have you for breakfast!”

Shiraishi whined, “Mannnn why are you two always bullying me?! I’m the oldest! If anyone should be bullying anyone, it should be me bullying someone!!”

“But you won’t! Because you know what’s good for you,” Sugimoto teased, pouring himself and Shiraishi a cup of coffee.

Asirpa said from her place beside Shiraishi, “Pour me a cup too! Black, please.”

Sugimoto felt a sudden, terrified shiver run down his spine. “... Are you sure about that, Asirpa? That’s… this is a really bitter brand, so-”

“Black,” Asirpa repeated, slowly raising her spoon. She tapped it on her other hand, eyes blazing. Sugimoto felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. “What is it, Sugimoto? Do you not think I can handle it, Sugimoto? Do you think I’m too much of a child? Sugimoto? Well? Are you saying little Asirpa is too much of a baby to handle coffee in its natural state? Sugimoto, are you saying-”

“Alright, alright! I’m pouring you some now…” Sugimoto said, pouring her some of the coffee while trying to bite back a laugh.

Shiraishi’s eyes widened in vague awe. “Man… black? I thought you’ve never had coffee before,”

“That’s because I never have.” Asirpa nodded, moving back to the little kitchenette to take the cup from Sugimoto. “ Huci never bought it much, and my aca used to say that it was too weak to even bother with. Watching you two load it down with sugar and cream, and knowing Sugimoto has a weak tongue-”

“Hey-!” Sugimoto said, slightly offended.

“- I’ve decided that it can’t be bitter at all. You’re both just weak.” Asirpa declared, before taking a giant, ill-advised gulp of her coffee. Shiraishi started to say something, but it caught in his throat, leaving him to just make a weird noise like a dying whale. Asirpa stood stock still for a second, black coffee dripping a little onto the corner of her mouth, as she took a shaky swallow. She looked up at Sugimoto, tears in her slightly squinted eyes as she tried to give a smile that didn’t look like she was in immense pain. “S. See. Not. Bitter at all,”

Sugimoto bust out laughing, trying to rein it in a bit because maybe it was a bit of an asshole thing, to laugh at a kid, but even still… it was pretty hilarious. “Really! Really now! I see that face you’re making- you think its as bitter as we do!”

“Do not!”

“Do too!” Shiraishi joined in, laughing a bit himself.

“Do not- look,” Then Asirpa, face flushing, tried to drink the rest in a few fell gulps. A little bit of the hot, bitter drink dribbled down her chin and onto her shirt as she finished, looking like she was regretting pretty much all of her life choices. Asirpa made a face and squinted, sticking out her tongue. “Ugh… I think I burned my tongue….”

~~

“... So it’s an ugly thing that’s a pile of junk, is what you’re saying,” Shiraishi snickered a bit. “So antiquated that not even JAXA wants to knock this thing into the gravity and get it down out of this airspace!”

Asirpa’s cheeks puffed out slightly in disdain. “... I’m not giving that a response. This is still neat!!! You just have no taste.”

“Oh no, yeah, it’s pretty neat,” Shiraishi ceded, glancing back out at the station. He snickered under his breath some more. “Lots of historical significance, probably… looks like an old-timey soup can.”

Sugimoto snorted at that, a wide grin splitting over his face. “Come on, that’s mean. It looks like a tin bucket from one of those cowboy movies, at least- the ones that hold all the bullets.”

“Those buckets aren’t historically accurate- bullets weren’t really that big…” Asirpa corrected, tapping at her watch’s interface. Then, her head dipped down a bit, what stray hairs that remained free from her braid falling in her face as she bit her lip, looking absolutely goofy. “... Looks kind of like a big asinru, though…”

“Hey, look!!! Sugimoto look!!” Shiraishi leaned forward, hands gripping on the railing and feet braced against it as his face lit up. “She talks so big but she thinks that ship looks funny too!”

“It’s your fault!” Asirpa uselessly tossed one of the plastic maps at Shiraishi. It went like five centimeters, and then uselessly fwumped onto the ground with a weird sound, not unlike the sound one got when shaking out a laminated paper. Asirpa chose to ignore that. “You have me thinking of tin can shaped things-!!” Shiraishi started laughing, chest shaking a bit as his grip tightened on the railing.

Sugimoto snickered a bit, eyes crinkling at the corners, “Last I checked, only you can have yourself thinking things.”

Asirpa tried to toss a map at Sugimoto, throwing it like a frisbee to see if that would get any lift. No dice. It went an even closer distance and fluttered uselessly down, sliding away from Sugimoto entirely. Shiraishi guffawed, and before Asirpa could open her mouth, there was a solid thunk. Shiraishi yelped as he hit the ground, still slightly red-faced from laughing. He’d fallen off. Sugimoto gave a hearty laugh at that.

“See,” Asirpa said, looking at Shiraishi, “this is what you get. Karma.”

Shiraishi whined, rolling over onto his back with a pout. “Let’s just get this trespassing over with…” Both Sugimoto and Asirpa giggled a bit together.

~~

“Well, we figured since it was New Years, it’d be nice to drop by-” Sugimoto started to say before being slightly tilted off balance, shoved vaguely to the side. A second face appeared, slightly lower than Sugimoto’s face and flushed lightly. The smell of sake on this stranger’s breath nearly made Tsukishima recoil, knuckles turning white as his free hand clenched into a fist.

“Heyyyyy, Tsukihime-san!” The bald stranger grinned, head seeming to bob from side to side. “It’s so good t’ see you- great to meetcha, I’m Shiraishi Yoshitake-”

“Where’s the dog.” came a third voice, and soon a third face, belonging to a girl much shorter and younger than the two above her, peered into the gap.

“Asirpa, please,” Sugimoto laughed a little, trying to hide the smile behind his hand, “don’t make it look like that’s the only reason-!”

“But you said yourself that you wanted to pet the dog, Sugimoto,” Asirpa’s eyebrows rose as she tipped her head back, staring at the scarred man in the door.

“Well-!” Sugimoto’s face flushed a bit as well, giving a bit of a sheepish look. “I also wanted to say hi to the owner, of the dog.”

Tsukishima glanced over the three of them. It was unlikely that Sugimoto had ill intent, bringing both a drunk and a pre-teen along with him. He kept his pocket knife in his pocket and opened the door just a bit wider, looking to his impromptu guests and remembering Nugget in the living room, whining underneath the table. “Sorry. My dog doesn’t like being around a lot of people- he’s easily spooked.”

“The dog or you?” Shiraishi snickered a bit, seemingly trying to peer over Tsukishima’s shoulder into the apartment. Tsukishima reconsidered not thinking about the merits of “accidental” greeting stabs in the future. Except there wouldn’t be a future, because Tsukishima didn’t want to deal with visitors. “Noah Fence, dude, but you’re like- this super hermit! I don’t think anyone’seen you outside this apartment... Tha’s what I heard from other people-”

The girl, Asirpa, turned around and kicked Shiraishi in the shins. Sugimoto followed suit, smacking Shiraishi upside the head while glaring at him. Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed as he went to close the door anyway. “Good night, Sugimoto. Asirpa.”

“Wait! Wait,” Sugimoto shoved his hand in the door hastily, trying to fold in on himself so he could hold up a package wrapped in paper the same shade of blue and white that the headband that Asirpa wore was. Of course, the designs were much different, looking more like silver leaves and boars. That’s right- it was the year of the boar soon, wasn’t it?

“We made too much mochi and yokan,” Asirpa explained, peering up at Tsukishima.

~~

“Awww, but Asirpa~” Sugimoto gave a mock pitiful whine, pushing his lower lip out like a child. “How am I gonna give miso to Huci to go with the feast?”

“We don’t need any of your poop near our shit,” Asirpa said, turning up her nose. At that, Shiraishi lost it and rolled onto his side, chortling the entire while.

Sugimoto gave a delicate gasp. “Asirpa, language! Who taught you to say that? Did Shiraishi here rub off on you,”

“I taught myself to say it,” Asirpa stuck out her tongue, but she knew no one was being serious about it. Sugimoto wasn’t the type of person to become faint just because someone younger than him said something mildly uncouth, as she’d done many times before. Sugimoto chuckled himself, a wider grin breaking out over his face.

Soon, the laughter died down again, and Sugimoto rested his cheek harder against his hand. It wasn’t nearly as cold and oppressive as before- but there was still an odd undertone, to the quiet that surrounded them. Something left unsaid.

“Man.” Sugimoto sighed, looking wistfully at the fire, “I wish I still had my miso. We could’ve used it with dinner earlier.”

It was quiet for a few seconds more before Asirpa suddenly remembered- in her coat… She didn’t remember if she’d used the last of it before, in the meal they had outside this place, but she still reached into an innermost pocket and pulled out the small metal tin. Shuffling around to Sugimoto, she presented it to him and opened the lid, showing just the smallest trace of brown miso in a corner.

Sugimoto’s eyes widened, a happy smile coming onto his face. “Oh man-! You did keep it! I would’ve thought for sure you were gonna use it as anosoma box or something, for anything you find-”

“Oh come on, that’s so gross!” Asirpa felt her eyes burn at the mere thought of it. Or maybe they burned because she was squinting so hard it looked as if her eyes had receded back into her face flesh. Sugimoto snorted, trying to keep his giggles in as Asirpa silently worked through how to even respond to that. After a moment, her face loosened back into a more contemplative expression.

“... Besides. You liked it so much that you would try to make my poor old Huci try it- so we had to keep it for when you came back.”

[3wisellamas]

Because there still aren't enough Deltarune theories: Fun Facts About Cards

So, I was thinking a lot about @pirenja's older post on Jevil and Seam as The Fool and The Magician, the first (or first and last, depending on who you ask) cards of the Tarot major arcana and which usually map to the Jokers in a standard playing card deck.  

There's also the MINOR arcana, though -- the plain numbers and suits that make up the rest of a Tarot deck, and look a LOT like a typical 52-card deck.  I knew about those, but didn't know those, so I got curious and spent a couple days looking into it, just for funsies.

So, uh...holy shit.  The card-based Darkners aren't just playing cards, they're TAROT cards.  The characters we know fit almost ridiculously well to their cards, and there were a couple parallels I found particularly interesting.  Allow me to infodump, and add in a few extra fun little things that also came up in some card research, and which might have some...interesting implications on the rest of Deltarune.  A lot of this is gonna come from Wikipedia, as well as this site.

Just a heads-up, this post is gonna include a lot of theories (some of which may or may not be pure crack) and will be LONG, and much of it will look like this:

...But in a fun way, I promise.  ~^

First, let's go over some REALLY brief info about some of the cards we've seen so far in Deltarune.  The ties between these guys and Tarot are pretty damn obvious, especially when you look at the four suits:

Diamonds:  In Tarot, their equivalent is Pentacles or Coins.  These are associated with wealth, business, and physical possessions.

Sounds a lot like the Rudinns and the King of Diamonds, right?  I mean, they're so obsessed with their treasure that they sold their beds to have more of it!

Hearts:  The Tarot equivalent is the Cups.  Associated with emotions and bettering oneself.  

Hathys are pretty big on emotion -- they're the ones you keep flirting with in encounters, after all, and the proceeds for Hathy's bake sale go towards their health.

Clubs:  The Tarot equivalent is the Wands.  This one I had to work a bit to figure out, but it seems to be more associated with social things, passion, and desire/drive.

Clover is definitely a social one, seeing as how they're throwing their birthday party in the castle when you arrive.  And they're also VERY passionate about three specific topics, which actually plays into pacifying them!

Spades:  Now for some fun.  In Tarot, these are Swords, and are most associated with...take a wild guess.  Ambition, power, violence, and the military.

Yep.  Shall we look a bit closer at the actual cards in the Spades suit, then?  

First off, the King of Spades/Swords.  The card is LITERALLY called The Warlord, and is associated with force and discipline, ruthlessness, intelligence, and sometimes coldness and abuse in a negative reading.  Pretty damn accurate to the King, I gotta say.  Not a lot of room for interpretation here.

The other Spade we know of, though?  A...little less clear-cut, but still works.  Lancer is the Jack of Spades, meaning his Tarot equivalent is the Page/Knave of Swords -- same card, just an older name -- which is indeed all about youth and energy, as well as learning and observing, and keeping cool in danger.  However, the card is also called The Spy, and also has a meaning of concealing oneself and keeping secrets.

Hm.  Some of that really sounds like Lancer, some...doesn't?  Perhaps our boy has an arc and some more character development ahead of him.  Or...I'll get back to this.  Because there is some interesting theory fuel here once I bring in another point.

Now, for a Spade we DON'T know yet, but that we know very well is coming:  The Queen.  The Queen of Swords is associated with intelligence, strategy, independence, and...repressed sadness and divorce?  Hm.

HM.  If the King of Spades is meant to be a Dark World mirror of Asgore, could the Queen end up being a dark mirror of Toriel, out in self-exile?  Time will tell.  And when we do finally meet the Queen in future chapters, she will very likely be one hell of a big deal, if the Tarot theme holds, so keep the card description in mind for that!

But, we can't stop at the Queen; we're missing a big, major detail.  In Tarot decks, and in fact in historical playing card decks in general, there are FOUR face cards of each suit, not just the three we see in a typical deck.  At the top are the King and Queen, obviously.  At the bottom is the Page or the Knave, as I said up there the equivalent of the modern Jack.  And the last one, between the Page and the Queen?  The Knight.

No, really.  The Knight is a CARD.  But, I'm gonna go further than that:  We already know someone, specifically a card person, in the Dark World who fits the description of the Knight of Swords/Spades, quite well in fact:

Associated with major, drastic changes -- pretty appropriate for the person who's been jailing kings and opening up dark fountains, huh?

Impulsive, and constantly takes actions without much planning beforehand.

Fanatical and single-minded, obsessively loyal to one thing and one thing only at a time.

Confident, to the point of arrogance.  Basically, obsessed with themselves.

Articulate, good with words, and a sweet-talker, able to get what they want through speech and charm alone.  Ironically, not often associated with direct action, and can mean cowardice.

Also, a bald-faced liar -- their whole thing is trickery and deceit.  They also keep a LOT of secrets, like the Page.

Worth noting, the Knight often replaces the Queen entirely in older decks, and is considered the card right under the King of Spades, as his main servant or advisor.

Notably, according to that Tarot site up there, they are heavily associated with major career changes and promotions.

You figured it out yet?

.

.

.

Oh yeah.  Worm knight.  

Let's go through some points with both Rouxls Kaard and that card description in mind, if you don't believe me.  

Uh, hello?  Confident, impulsive, acts without thinking, fanatical, self-centered?  The card description may as well be the guy's Wikia bio.

Articulate...well, he tries.  Can't fault him for that.  (yes you can)

Honestly, aside from that "God.  Damn it." moment, can you give me one instance in which his manner of speaking WASN'T overly flowery and fancy, to the point of ridiculousness?  That's, like, his most defining trait.

He's a coward, never actually facing you himself until you reach the castle, and instead preferring to vandalize puzzle solutions and throw minions at you.

He seriously butters you up during the entire second shop conversation, and in fact almost constantly from the moment K.Round is defeated for the final time -- he says he's always on the winning side, which at the time is you, and does his best to claim he never truly opposed you at all, that everything was a test, he just wants to help you, etc.  The guy even tries to BRIBE you at the very end if you went pacifist, offering Susie a plate of worms for letting him lie about his involvement in your adventure, to boost his own ego.  

Did I forget to mention he's pretty much got a lot of the Rudinns and Clover (and a lot of fandom it seems) charmed with his looks and manner of speaking, and wrapped around his finger as well?  Because that.

Throughout the game, Rouxls really is nothing more than a big talker and a big liar.  Most obviously, the first time you talk to him in his shop he says quite a bit, but does a COMPLETE 180 on ALL OF IT after he's defeated for the final time, suddenly going from praising the King to hating his guts and claiming to be undermining him, from mocking the Fun/$!? Squad to praising them and offering assistance, and from complaining about Lancer to admitting he cares about the kid quite a bit.  

Also, consider:  His "ultimate puzzle", which he suspiciously refused to show us...

Even if it's not explicitly pointed out as such, Rouxls is King Spade's second in command, the guy serving directly under him in the castle in the absence of the Queen (or any other castle staff besides the guards, for that matter).  In very old decks before the Queen was a thing, Knights are in between the Page/Jack and the King and are considered the King's advisor/right hand guy.

Knights also have a lot of very close connections to Pages, both in card games as well as history.  A page is literally a knight's very young (age 7-14) apprentice and servant, and stick close to them and learn from them -- similar to Rouxls' lesser dad/son relationship with Lancer!  (Also, a thought:  medieval knights would often carry lances, supplied by said page!)

During battle, the King calls the Knight "My Knight".  This might confirm that the Knight is indeed a member of his own court, the Knight of Spades, and not of another suit.  However, from the tone and some of the other things he says throughout the battle, it’s clear that King Spade actually owes allegiance to the Knight, rather than the other way around.  Possibly even some fondness for him, from that particular tone.  And...I'm not gonna beat around the bush on this.  King Spade is totally Rouxls' sugar daddy.  The King just up and fires everyone in his castle, and gives this random unqualified prettyboy the next-highest position after himself out of absolutely nowhere?  Yeah.  No.  Even incompetent kings don't just do that.  There's something really weird going on there, something about their relationship that screams there’s some shady business going on behind the scenes.  Though, potentially, one could also flip the script, seeing the new job as repayment for putting King Spade in power...

One final point, getting a bit away from the card again.  In the game, The Knight is supposed to have a close connection with the Dark Fountains, able to “pull them from the Earth” and manipulate their power to bring darkness or whatever, right?  When using the Card Castle fountain to go home, Kris and Susie teleport in a massive column of white light, that looks like this:

(Sorry, screenshotting that particular moment is tough...)

Look a little familiar?

Yep, I'm gonna go there.  The same goddamn teleport animation.  Nowhere else in the game is that particular animation used, even when it kinda should -- for instance, Jevil’s scythes also teleport in vertical columns of light, but those look entirely different!

There's some other things about Rouxls that actually make me super suspicious of the guy, but one that does so even more now, that I really should bring up if I'm claiming him to be The Knight:  Remember that last battle against K.Round?  When Rouxls brings out his "Control Crowne"?  That lets him control anything “disc-shaped”, and (if we take Ralsei's word for it) looks incredibly painful?  

...What the actual living FUCK??!  Seriously, is no one else IMMENSELY ALARMED by the fact that not only is this crown a thing that exists, but for some goddamn reason it just happens to be in the puzzle guy's possession??

I'm bringing that point up for a pretty big reason, though:  Another name for the Diamonds/Pentacles suit is DISKS.  If Rouxls wasn't just bluffing (like he does on everything else, admittedly), there's a good chance he might be able to use that crown on Diamond cards as well.

And Rouxls DEFINITELY has a lot of interesting connections to Diamonds himself, beyond that.  Rudinns generally seem to be pretty enamored with the guy, and the whole suit is all about money and even represent the Merchant, or if you will, the shopkeeper class.  (And if you ask him why he’s selling things to you, he will admit he's raising money, for...some reason.)  In a four-color deck, Diamonds are usually represented by the color blue instead of red.  Also, Diamonds/Pentacles represent the Earth element, which is where one would find worms and insects.  So, he may very well have a close connection to Diamonds, as well as being the Knight of Spades...

I'll get back to that one as well, though, because there's another point I wanna bring into this whole card mess that might complicate things.  Because while researching, I found a very, very interesting little bit of trivia about the Joker card...

Second half of this post and a LOT more fun cracktheories under the cut.  Yep, you heard me, I'm still only halfway done here!

So.  The Jokers, Fool and Magician, former members of the card court, before...something went wrong.  You know how Jevil (and presumably Seam, as his only equal) can apparently do anything?  Well, while researching Tarot, I also randomly looked into the Jokers and their functions in a couple of other card games, the biggest being Spades, because why not.

In Spades, the Joker card can attach itself to any non-Spade card in the deck to make it count as the equivalent Spade, though still inferior to the real Spade card.  In other words, Jokers can turn other cards into Spades.

No, I'm serious.  Look for yourself.

This idea I’m mostly just having some fun with here, but if this little bit of trivia happens to come into play in the next few Deltarune chapters, it might have some SERIOUS implications on what we know about the Spades court.  In particular, it means we might not be able to take...really, any of the Spades characters we meet at face value (pun not intended, but appropriate).

But you know what?  I think we should take a closer look at the Spades we already know, and see if that might already be the case.  

The King fits his card description very well, and we actually see the other three kings locked up in a cage, so none of them could have been converted into the King of Spades.  So, we can pretty much confirm he's who we think.

But, then there's Lancer.  So far, he's the only Jack we've seen -- I know the card characters were originally based on a set of playing card designs by @kanotynes, and that the Jacks in that deck included not only Lancer but also the various minor enemies we see:  Rudinn, Hathy, and Clover.  But, in the game, those three don't seem to have any royal ties at all, definitely not as princes!  So, I think we can confirm that they're not actually the Jacks of other suits in Deltarune.

So, I'm gonna go back to my first Tarot loose end -- the Page of Spades/Swords, Lancer.  Remember how I pointed out some pieces of the card's description didn't fully match the kid?  The secrets, the concealing of one's true nature?

What if Lancer's not the Jack of Spades at all, but rather another Jack that was converted into a Spade by one of the Jokers for whatever reason?  Let's take a quick look at the other Pages, and see if one fits Lancer a bit more, shall we?

The Page of Hearts/Cups:  A "sweet-natured child", immature, creative, naive, a bad childhood, and self-centeredness.  Not a bad fit for Lancer, gotta admit!

The Page of Diamonds/Pentacles:  Planning for and seizing future success and opportunities, loyalty, sometimes associated with fruit trees and harvests (”Delicious little apple” / "Sweet little peach"?), and most importantly, a student, constantly learning just like the Page of Swords.  Also not a bad fit, though maybe a little less than the Page of Cups.

Now for the really fun one.  The Page of Clubs/Wands:  Inspiration, optimism, also creativity and making plans, rushing into things without thinking (appropriate for the Knight's charge...), "a bit of a cheeky charmer or lovable rogue", impatience, laziness, and a big emphasis on "losing yourself".  Also, did I mention that Wands represent the fire element?

So, really all three other Pages have elements that fit this kid in different ways, but some of the things about that Page of Clubs are...striking, to say the least.  This possibility might be worth keeping in mind when chapter 2 ever gets released!

Now, then, there's also another Spade we know, even if unconfirmed, with no known equivalents in other suits to rule out.  Could Rouxls also have been another suit, and got converted into the Knight of Spades?  

Remember all those weird connections to the Diamonds suit I pointed out?  Well, let's talk about the Knight of Diamonds -- A Red Knight, if you will!

"A young man who is dark of complexion and features."  This is an actual quote from Wikipedia. 

Defensive -- focus on protecting home and family.

Hard worker, determined, stubborn, finishing what you start.

All about questioning one's work or home life, or where they stand on an issue.

An animal lover.

The "wish card", about making your wishes and dreams come true, via perseverance and ambition.

Also, a negative interpretation is a loser or laziness, expecting results but not putting in the effort.  

Not a PERFECT fit, but still an interesting comparison, no?  Especially those things about fulfilling your wish, but failing by not putting in the effort required, kinda like how Rouxls is quite proud of becoming the high-ranking and privileged "Duke of Puzzles", but doesn’t actually put together anything other than simple block-pushing puzzles.  Another thought that comes up:  The control crown(e).  If Rouxls was originally a high-ranking Diamond/Disk suit, that fucking thing suddenly makes WAY more sense.  (Also, it would make all the Blue Diamond comparisons really funny in hindsight.  Just saying.)

Yeah, I know, claiming that Rouxls is the Knight is a big enough deal, and this extra cracktheory about him being a Knight who switched suits  is one even I'm admitting it’s crazy, and over-analyzing is just what I do.  Who knows if all or any of this will still be plausible by chapter 2.  However, worth noting:  If Rouxls was originally another suit, and got converted into the "Lesser” Knight of Spades/Swords by one of the Jokers, then there is very likely ANOTHER Knight of Spades/Swords out there, a much more powerful one.  Hm...

...Naaaah.  Too obvious. And on the same note, if my cracktheory about Lancer being the “lesser” Jack of Spades up there ends up actually being somewhat accurate, then there's also an original one out there somewhere...

...Maybe?  If you look at that description up there again, it actually seems to fit Ralsei even better than it fits Lancer -- the things about concealing one's true nature, keeping secrets, intelligence, and analysis suddenly become quite fitting.  And didn't Ralsei's original concept art include a reversed spade instead of a heart on the front of his robe?

So, if these are the case, what card is Susie?  I'm...admittedly not sure.  ^^;  I bet someone else can find a card that fits her though, so I'll leave that one open.

Okay, okay, I'm done with the wild theories now.  Lastly, I just wanna mention a couple of other interesting, weird card things I found out while researching.  Won't go as in-depth with these, but including them because why not:

A lot of people have been theorizing about the idea of Darkners bleeding like humans, and unlike monsters.  What if I told you that "bleeding" is an actual card term?  When you bleed your cards, you're accidentally exposing your hand to other players out of turn.

Remember when Rouxls called the party "mine amigose"?  Kind of an odd line, especially coming from him, but it was actually another card game reference!  Also from Spades is the term "Three amigos":  A nickname for the Ace, Queen, and King of Spades.  Interestingly, the Ace of Swords is all about cutting through lies and exposing the truth.  (Maybe that could be a card for Susie in future chapters?)

Hell, there’s just a LOT of card references thrown all over the place.  A cute one is when Jevil says “piip piip” during his fight -- like the dots on dice, the individual symbols on number cards are called pips.

Want another fun Tarot card meaning?  Take a good look at the Nine of Swords.  It's generally considered the worst card you could get, even in a mostly positive reading -- It's literally called The Nightmare, and represents fear, stress, being overwhelmed, grief, doubts, cruelty, etc.  Basically, if it's bad, it's in this card, up to and including a complete breakdown.  Now, recall another line that seems totally benign at first, courtesy of Jevil:  "From now, a nightmare will awaken in your hearts.  In the shadow of the Knight's hand..."  If I were y'all, I'd make damn sure to WATCH THIS CARD.

Also, "The Knight's hand"...of cards, perhaps?  :P  Okay, bad joke.  

There's sometimes three Jokers in a deck -- a white one in addition to black and red.  Just sayin'.  Might wanna also keep your eyes open for a third Joker in chapter 2, maybe chilling out with the Queen wherever she is? 

[cromulentbookreview]

Binge!

It makes sense why we use a term normally associated with food like “binge” to describe that day where you do nothing but watch every episode of that one TV show. You don’t really hear someone say that they’re going on a book binge, though. When referring to a media “binge,” it’s usually always TV, and, to some extent, movies (I once binged all three Extended Editions of Lord of the Rings - it took a day and a half and it was amazing). I think we need to have more book binges in our lives. In fact, there’s even a book review site way more organized and put together than mine will ever be that’s actually called Book Binge. 

Anyway, for me a book binge is when you pick out a series that already has several books out and you read them all, one after the other. I did this earlier this year with Naomi Novik’s amazing Temeraire series. I’m pretty sure it’s why I had to get new lenses for my glasses this year. I’ve been on a historical mystery kick lately - I think it has to do with the season changing from Summer to Fall where I immediately go “get me some 19th Century British Detectives!!” 

Which was how I ended up tearing through all 10 of Will Thomas’s Barker & Llewelyn books.

I’d never heard of the Barker & Llewelyn series until I was traipsing around Goodreads looking for some 19th century mystery fiction. Like my strange obsession with 19th century British dudes on boats, I loves me some 19th century British mystery stories. Initially, I didn’t start out to binge the entire series. 10 books is a lot. I had a hard time with Temeraire, which is also kind of 10 books (9 and a bunch of short stories). There were times with my Temeraire binge where my attention wavered, where I wanted to just put the books down and go read something else, but I pressed on. And I discovered one of the great joys of a true book binge: no agonizing wait for a sequel. No having your interest piqued by book one and then sitting and waiting for a year and a half for the next book. With a book binge, you can put down book two and immediately pick up book three because BOOK BINGE. 

There are a few 19th century British mystery series out there that I’m almost too afraid to start with because they consist of roughly ten thousand books and counting (looking at you, Anne Perry) and there’s no way I’d be able to focus on (or care about) a single series for that many books. So when I saw that the Barker & Llewelyn series consisted of nine books, like Temeraire, (plus a tenth book I’d gotten on Netgalley), and that all of them were under 350 pages, I was like “OK, I’ll give the first book a go, and see what happens.”

Yeah, I may have immediately gone from the first book to the second one. And then the third. And then the fourth and the fifth...I couldn’t stop.

The series is all about our audience surrogate, Thomas Llewelyn, and our substitute Sherlock Holmes, detective private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker. At the start of the series, Llewelyn is 22 and a widow who just spent eight months in Oxford Prison for theft. He’d been set to go places, having gotten a scholarship to Oxford, but the whole prison-sentence thing derailed all his plans. So he ends up in London (where else?) looking for work. After months of failed attempts to get a job (not a lot of job opportunities for ex-cons out there, even in the 1880s), Llewelyn decides to try for one last job before throwing himself into the Thames: an assistant position with a prominent private detective enquiry agent, Cyrus Barker. Barker, like all Great Detective Private Enquiry Agent types, is a Scottish eccentric with a mysterious past who knows everything about anything and anything under the sun. He’s got all sorts of weird scars and gang tattoos. He grew up in China and speaks like, eleventy-one languages. He wears sunglasses all the time. Like, all the time. Apparently he does so even when he sleeps. (Yes, they had sunglasses in the 19th century. No, they’re not called sunglasses in these books, but they’re referred to as his “dark spectacles”). Barker is, of course, filthy rich, and upon hiring the poor, unfortunate and 1000% broke Thomas Llewelyn, immediately provides him with room, board, and a whole new suit of fancy clothes. He also sets about correcting Llewelyn’s behavior and manners, a pretty tall order since Llewelyn is a super snarky Welshman. As far as Watsons go, Llewelyn is definitely one of the more amusing, which makes these books so goddamned fun to read. 

Also, Barker has a butler called Jacob Maccabee, who rivals Llewelyn in his deadpan snarkiness. I ship Llewelyn/Mac so hard - every time they’re in a scene together they just have so much chemistry. I don’t care if Word of God is they are both straight. I just want them to be together and snark at each other all day long..

Uh.

Ahem.

Anyway.

Yes, this series is very much your standard, buddy-detective private enquiry duo present in basically all movies, TV and books, but they’re fun. And you know what we all need right now? Fun. Pure, unadulterated fun where the good guys triumph over the bad guys, where the mystery is solved and you’ve got your Sherlock Holmes and your Dr. Watson. Because have you seen the news lately? Yeah, I need some stories where pure good triumphs over evil, where people freak out at the concept of rubber tires and the telephone, and where the story of the day isn’t doom and gloom and horror. Just, you know, murder. But fun, because it’s not real. And because it was the 19th century. In Britain. And not real. Well, except Jack the Ripper, those were real but...you know.

Here’s a summary of the first nine books in the sereies:

BOOK 1 - Some Danger Involved: Your average detective enquiry agent-duo origin story featuring brilliant detective and his new snarky Welsh sidekick!

BOOK 2 - To Kingdom Come: Barker & Llewelyn go undercover and build bombs for the Irish!

BOOK 3 - The Limehouse Text: Barker & Llewelyn face big trouble in London’s 19th Century Chinatown!

BOOK 4 - The Hellfire Conspiracy: Barker & Llewelyn fight human traffickers, secret societies and such!

BOOK 5 - The Black Hand: Barker & Llewelyn fight the Italian mafia!

BOOK 6 - Fatal Enquiry: Barker & Llewelyn fight Barker’s almost comically evil arch-nemesis!

BOOK 7 - Anatomy of Evil: Barker & Llewelyn fight Jack the Ripper!

BOOK 8 - Hell Bay: Barker & Llewelyn Present: Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None!

BOOK 8.5 - An Awkward Way to Die: Barker & Llewelyn solve a case in, like, 20 minutes!

BOOK 9 - Old Scores: Barker & Llewelyn Present: Japonism in Late-19th Century England!

BOOK 10 - Blood is Blood: Barker is put temporarily out of commission by an explosion! Llewelyn must solve the case himself! Who should show up to help but Barker’s long lost brother??

A little more about Blood is Blood: 

So Thomas Llewelyn is only a couple of weeks away from happily marrying his lady love, Rebecca Cowan née Moccatta. Everything is hunky-dory. And then someone tries to blow up his and Barker’s office. Barker is badly injured, leaving Thomas to investigate who tried to kill them by himself. Oh, and, same day the offices are blown up, Caleb Barker, Cyrus Barker’s long lost brother, first mentioned way back in Limehouse Text, I think, shows up. Caleb had been a major plot point in Fatal Enquiry, but then was never mentioned again until this book. He’s been living in the lawless American West, acting as a Pinkerton agent. But can he be trusted? Also, Rebecca’s family is super against her marrying a detective private enquiry agent who isn’t Jewish. Upon seeing just how dangerous the job can be, Rebecca starts having doubts. Will Thomas be unlucky in love yet again? Tune in November 13 for Blood is Blood, same bat-time, same bat channel. 

Yes, this series can, at times, be formulaic and tropey, but...fuck it, I love it. Sometimes there’s comfort to be had in a story where you know the good guys will solve the mystery, maybe picking up a few scrapes along the way. I tore through all of the books of the Barker & Llewelyn series in about two weeks, and finished Blood is Blood in about a day. I should’ve gone slower, because I need more. I need at least five more books, Will Thomas, and I needed them YESTERDAY. Aaaackgh. This is what I get for binging. How long until book 11? Will we be getting another novella soon? And when are we going to meet Thomas's family?! 10 books and we've never met his parents or any of his nine siblings! I want a whole book dedicated to Thomas reconciling with his family and he and Barker and Mac running all around Wales. I NEED IT. 

Write faster, Will Thomas. 

Predictably, after a book binge such as this, my eyes now hurt pretty badly. Time to invest in those fancy eye drops my optometrist keeps telling me to buy.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Anyone needing an escape from the awful world we live in now.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: People who think everything’s fine for some reason. You know. This guy:

OVERALL SERIES RATING: 4.5/5

TOTALLY UNBIASED VICTORIAN MYSTERY / MURDERINO FANGIRL RATING: 5/5

BLOOD IS BLOOD RATING: 4/5

RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2018

ANTICIPATION LEVEL FOR NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES: Olympus Mons

[abewoodhullturncoat]

100 Asks Answered:

The meaning behind my url:  abewoodhullturncoat... Abraham Woodhull was a turncoat so I mean, it did not take much to come up with that one.

A picture of me: will post one soon.

How many tattoos i have and what they are:  One! A large treble clef in honor of my love for music.

Last time i cried and why: I do not cry often, as I was raised to believe a guy has no right to cry and it makes him weak,  but I cried just last night... When I realized I’ve forgotten the sound of my uncles voice. He passed around 7 years ago. 

Favorite band: I have an eclectic taste in music, so I couldn’t tell you for certain.

Biggest turn offs:  Pretentiousness, number one by far.  Also people who drop hints instead of asking for something, game-playing instead of being direct, and braggarts. -I don’t want to remove this because I share much the same sentiment. But I do wish to add that another turn off is the automatic judgment that a person put on someone before truly getting to know someone.

Top 5 (insert subject): Top five Ice Cream Flavors: Superman, Mint Chocolate Chip, Cookie Dough, Vanilla, and Birthday Cake.  

Tattoos i want: Something really cool that would be really... Me. Historical, I’d reckon. As my love for history is a big part of me.

Biggest turn ons: A mind of their own and a voice to speak it. Quick wit and a voice to impart it. A taste for romance. Easy conversation. A taste for fine literature doesn’t hurt.

Age: Over 21. (My birthday is October 3rd if you actually read this.)

Ideas of a perfect date: Sitting in front of a fire, on the couch. Whoever the date may be with beside me, reading books together or maybe watching a film? I’d cook her dinner. Dessert. And maybe if she permitted, I’d take her to her home and give her a romantic kiss on the doorstep.

Life goal: Travel to all of the American Historical sights

Piercings i want: None

Relationship status: Single

Favorite movie: The Labyrinth or FBAWTFT

A fact about my life:  I’m a huge history geek.

Phobia: Of being disliked.

.Height: 5'11"

Are you a virgin?   Um... Yes. Much to awkward to get a date. Let alone a proper good shag. 

What is your shoe size?  11

What’s your sexual orientation? Straight. 

Do you smoke, drink, or take any drugs?   I have drank in the past, but I refrain lately because it would mess with my anti-depressants

Someone you miss: My Uncle.

What’s one thing you regret?  My not working harder to accomplish necessary things. 

First celebrity you think of when someone says attractive:  Heather Lind, my goddess.

Favorite ice cream?  Mint Chocolate

One insecurity: Myself as a whole. 

What my last text message says:  I actually haven’t texted anyone since I got the phone really, but it was a text to my mum. Asking how she was. She spends a lot of time in the hospital due to her diabetes.

Have you ever kissed a member of the same sex? No.

Have you ever slept naked?   Yes

Have you ever stole money from a friend?  No

Have you ever gotten in a car with people you just met?  Yes

Have you ever been in a fist fight?  Yes. Protecting my youngest brother from a group of people who loured him out of the house. I had an uneasy feeling when a friend of mine had refused to allow me to follow. Turns out that I made the right decision. They intended to beat the hell out of my brother, who has epilepsy and he’s too afraid to fight back. And the reason was because he was gay. They had no right to go after him, so I stepped in.

Have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back?  Yeah

Have you ever been arrested?  No

Have you ever made out with a stranger?  Yes

Have you ever laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by?  Yes

Have you ever been lonely?  Yes

Have you ever been to a club?  Once, and I was so very awkward. I went out on the dance floor and sort of just stood there while my friends just sat there... Grinding against me. I guess that’s part of being the only guy friend willing to hang out with the ladies.

Have you ever felt an earthquake?  Nope. But I was in a hurricane and a tornado before.

Have you ever touched a snake?  Aye.

Have you ever ran a red light?  Yes

Have you ever been in a car accident?   No

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? The night my uncle died.

Have you ever sang karaoke?  Oh yes.

Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?   Mhmm. I call it, “Living.”

Have you ever laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose?  It was at a fancy dinner. Root-beer out the nose.

Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger?   No

Have you ever dreamed that you married someone?   No

Have you ever got your tongue stuck to a flag pole?  Ah, yes. Actually. To be young and stupid and willing to do anything for money.

Have you ever ever gone to school partially naked?  Ah... No.

Have you ever brushed your teeth?   Dude... Yes.

Have you ever been too scared to watch scary movies alone?  Nope.

Have you ever been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on?  Yes 

Have you ever been told you’re hot by a complete stranger?  Nope

Have you ever broken a bone?  In my right leg, yeah.

Have you ever been easily amused? Due to my own immaturity.

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried?  Many times

Have you ever mooned/flashed someone?  No

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name?   Yes

Give us one thing about you that no one knows: I  am so overly romantic that it is slightly ridiculous.

What was your last dream?  I haven’t the faintest idea. I’ve forgotten.

Would you be up for interplanetary travel if it was a thing?  Heck yeah. 

If you could travel back in time, where would you go? I would go back and fight with Washington and his men. Win the war. Make history.

Do you dread doctor visits or do they not bother you? I don’t dread them at all.

Favorite fashion decade of the twentieth century?  Fashion is not my strong suit. I’d just as soon bring back the breeches and waistcoats, and the courtships of the 1700′s

Are you wearing nail polish and if so, what color? Now I’m confident in my sexuality but myself in nail polish is not going to happen.

Are you into working out or no? Yep.

Do you have a temper?   No

Do you have one item you treat yourself with, if so, what is it? Rolllllleeeeplay.

Do you eat meat?  Yes

If yes, how do you like it cooked?  enough

Ever had a boss or a teacher you absolutely hated?  No.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?  Hot Chocolate.

Do you wear makeup?  Nope.

If you wear perfume, what’s your scent type/favorite fragrance?  I’m a basic guy. Old Spice usually. But I do like Drakkar.

Do you have a girl crush?  Yes

Candles, wax melts, or incense?  Incense.

Favorite season of the year?  Winter.

Fanfic—do you prefer smut or fluff?   Smut

Do you like taking selfies?  Why or why not?  I mean, I take selfies. But I do not have myself convinced that I am God’s gift to women.

Do you want children? Not sure yet.

Do you prefer lots of friends or just a few good friends?  Just a few, not interested in crowds of pseudo-friends

Introvert or extrovert, or mixture of both?  Mixture

Ocean/beach or mountains?  Ocean, if it’s cold, cloudy, and the water is wild and gray.  Otherwise mountains.

Morning person or night person?  Both.

Do you initiate conversations with strangers?  Yes

Milk or dark chocolate? Milk chocolate is my secret weakness.

What do you post on your blog? Role play mostly.

Is it hard for you to apologize when you’re in the wrong?   I have no issue apologizing whether I am wrong or right.

Love at first sight?  Sometimes.

Best/funniest Halloween memory?  I was Jareth the Goblin King one year. Being recognized was great. But then the next year I was Westley from the Princess Bride and I scored myself a date at the very same halloween party.

Did your first crush work out or was it unrequited?  Unrequited of course.

Do you like old movies—and by old, I mean OLD old?  Yes

Do you tan or burn?  Both.

Do you think people deserve second chances?  Generally yes.  Hard to say no considering how many times I’ve fucked up.  But child molesters, that kind of thing–hell no. - Agreed sentiment, honestly.

What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?   Me, probably.

Do you have any weird food likes/dislikes? I hate fish and seafood in general. But I was introduced to ranch on hot dogs and I sorta dig it.

.What’s the funniest real person’s name you’ve ever heard? John Jacob Jefferson Schmidt.

I was tagged by @greenofallshades

@annastrxng @nellyforrevolution @bennjamintallmadge

and anyone else who wants to do it can. You can switch out questions if you wish, as long as there ends up being one hundred. Or about that.