#man us silent hill fans keep losing don't we

[superyoshisisland64]

So how's everyone feeling after that state of play...

[demonboyhalo]

The Technoblade Conspiracy

Even before Dream claimed there was a traitor in Pogtopia, there's been a lot of...suspicious activities happening in Techno’s streams. Others on the SMP are already distrustful of him, and the fans are as well, but I believe that we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. This thread isn’t quite a traitor theory, but rather a dive into what Techno has been hiding at large. I can say with utter confidence that the extent of what Technoblade has accomplished on the Dream SMP is being greatly underestimated.

I recommend looking at the sus Techno moments thread by @piggytechnobarb on Twitter for some of the stream clips I'll be discussing.

This is going to be fairly in depth, so the rest is under the cut!

1. There is another room under what Techno calls his "secret base"

I won't talk too much on how strange his choice of "secret base" is for now, but please do keep in mind how out of character it is for man-who-tracked-down-Squid's-college to settle for a home base so unprotected and close to Pogtopia's very well known location.

So, for some reason, there is Polished Blackstone Brick under the floor of Techno’s wall. He accidentally reveals this when a donation asks him to mine the exposed redstone in his wall, acts a bit strange for a good 15 seconds, and then never mentions it again. Sight of the brick prompts him to silently zoom in, fill the hole with stone (not cobble), and say "Don't ask questions".

This is only so strange because there's no real reason for him to have stone at the ready, or any blackstone brick at all. Techno is NOT a builder, and if a creeper blew up down there, he'd fill it with cobble and not give a shit about aesthetics. He doesn't use smooth stone in his base, and has never built with blackstone on stream. Not only are they unusual items for him to have, it's unusual for him to make a point to not have the viewers question it. Yes, it could just be Techno being dramatic, but why did he go silent for a straight 5 seconds at the sight of the blackstone?

Considering who he is as a player, it is completely in character for Techno to build a second base. The lake he lives under is incredibly near Wilbur and Tommy, and he's well aware that all an enemy has to do is watch his stream to infiltrate his base. Techno goes to the extremes when they aren't even required (Ex. His insane skill in party games, beating Skeppy in as niche of a game as Grinch Simulator, etc.) So I don't think it's a stretch for him to go the extra mile, and hide a bunker/resources/extra armour and what have you from even his own viewers.

2. The overpowered illegal villager farm

For those of you who don't watch Ponk, he recently stumbled across an area that is supposedly banned on the Dream SMP - a villager farm. In the clip, his voice is astonished and his confusion is palpable, and he goes so far as to say "It's a full scale arms race" because of how many good trades there are. The location is laced with traps, though he doesn't mention what exactly he had to get past to find the farm. Ponk's reaction is far too genuine for the farm to be his, but then that begs the question, whose farm is it?

...Who is willing to risk Dream's wrath by breaking his rules? Or, alternatively, who is capable of making a secret pact with the server owner to allow such a farm? The answer could only be Technoblade.

Ponk says it himself in the video, he does not have the time to build this. Whoever made this had to have carved out a hidden cavern, lead at least 14 villagers down there, breed them until only the ones with the best trades were left - all off stream, and without another player catching them. Whoever made this had to spend hours of work with no content to show for it, and who do we know has been grinding for DAYS on the server? Technoblade. Not to mention, all the villagers are numbered, and all but one are fletchers.

The signs above each stall are so important, because going so far back as SMP Earth, Techno has a history of dispassionately breeding mobs to his benefit, and then killing any mob not performing well enough. For example, his horse farm: where the horses stay in numbered rooms rather than all being named. The villagers in the screenshot above are numbered rather than named.

Wanna hear a fun fact about Fletchers? They're well known for accepting sticks for emeralds, but will also take string for that trade as well! And guess who has been seen waiting at the spider spawner collecting string by Sapnap, Awesamdude, Quackity, and multiple other players? Technoblade.

Technoblade also has every reason to be breeding villagers for special arrows and crossbows, because he's said on stream that he wants to try spamming multi-shot crossbows in combat to take out huge groups of enemies. He said at a later point that he had run into trouble with getting multiple crossbows with the enchantment multi-shot, and implied it wasn't going to happen. But has he ever been the kind of person to be stopped by something being challenging? Absolutely not.

Think of literally anything Techno has done - his Bedwars win streak, beating MC with a steering wheel, the Potato Wars - what I believe is really happening, is that Techno is lying about how equipped he is so that no matter what side he ends up fighting for, his enemies will have no true way of knowing how powerful he is.

3. Dream might be his secret ally (AKA The Glowstone Incident)

This brings us to a...confusing moment in Techno's stream that sparked a lot of questions. It pointed me towards 2 different, but not necessarily exclusive, theories.

The Glowstone Incident precedes as follows: Techno needs glowstone but can't find any in his chests, so he puts on his BRB screen. He says that he is "hacking" and asking Dream to use game mode to give him the glowstone. Typing can be heard, and then multiple chests are opened. Techno takes off the BRB screen and he now has three stacks of glowstone dust. This was absolutely bewildering to watch live, and was one of the most blatantly suspicious things he has done in front of his viewers. (You can find the exact clip on the thread I mentioned, it is...so weird)

Theory A: Though unlikely, Techno could be Dream's secret ally, and Dream really did use creative to give him the stacks. Or, he potentially gave Techno OP permissions so that he could get the glow stone (and any other materials he’d want) himself.

We all remember their meet up on that ocean hill, where Dream gives Techno golden apples, diamonds, and other such materials for the battle against Schlatt. It seemed to be a one-off gift that was more for Wilbur's benefit than Techno's, but there's potentially the chance that Dream saw an alliance to Techno to be more beneficial than working only with Wilbur, and contacted him off screen to make deals.

Going back to the Village Farm - for a player to get the exact enchantment they want for a reasonable price, breeding them is the most logical option. It's the route Techno would take regardless of Dream's rules on the SMP too, as he tends to show little regard for what the creators want (Ex. Taking over SMP Earth, exploiting Hypixel Skyblock, etc.) However, it could also be possible that Dream gave Techno permission to do this, and so the reason Techno is keeping the farm secret is so that the viewers don't know of their alliance.

Theory B: Techno has hidden resources in his base that he doesn't want anyone to have even the chance to see. Whether it is to hide from enemies watching (or to hide from Dream in particular because Techno knows he's breaking the server's rules) there are secret chests that Techno has with extra resources that can be heard loud and clear in the video.

They could be simple ones hidden in the walls...or in the blackstone brick base hidden under his floors. Saying he’s “hacking” rather than the reality of him just checking all his chests again is on par for Techno’s usual dramatics - yet we can clearly see that there’s no glowstone in any of his chests. This is why I believe he got the glowstone from some unseen resource. With the BRB screen on, Techno prevents his viewers from actually seeing how he got the 3 stacks of powder, and it keeps the location of his hidden materials safe.

Personally, I feel theory B is more likely, but there have been moments where Dream has acted Sus so...be on the lookout y'all.

4. Techno not participating in MCC

For those of you who watched Techno during the Potato War, many will remember that MCC 6 had a stressful undertone. Because of how much effort and time Techno had been putting into farming on Skyblock, taking a break to compete in another event was distracting. It ultimately led to him losing time that, from his perspective, would have been better off spent farming.

Techno might not be as blatantly grinding on the Dream SMP as he did with the Potato War, but it's undeniable that other streamers have seen him online for stretches of 10 hours and more. When asked about why he wasn't participating in the next MCC, Techno didn't say he was taking a break - something that'd be entirely reasonable and honestly well earned - he said "I don't want to."

It could be awkward phrasing by virtue of Techno's personality, but what I think is more likely is that Techno has learned from his past mistakes. Rather than "waste" time competing in MCC, Techno might be planning to use the time everyone on the SMP is gone to his advantage. He could sneak into enemy territory, set traps in certain areas, or maybe even perform some illegal acts that Dream would never allow. Either way, I suspect Techno has something planned for the 14th.

Honorable Mentions:

Dream poking fun, or blatantly covering for Techno?

This clip of Techno's secret Something??? next to the spider spawner, undeniably suspicious

Techno had around 5 stacks of wool in his inventory at one point - he absolutely could be bed mining the nether not only so that he has multiple sets of OP netherite, but possibly because he's preparing the gear for another person (cough cough Philza) or people

Techno's collection of ghast tears. He's studied Crystal PvP and made plenty of 2b2t references in the past (Look up FitMC for more info on those things) So it could be possible that Techno is hiding stacks of end crystals so that he can decimate multiple players in an instant

All in all, I'm 100% convinced that Techno has some serious plans hidden behind the scenes that he's not going to share until it's time for him to unleash utter chaos. We know he's keeping secrets, we know he's had the time, and we know he's capable.

I hope you all enjoyed my research and feel terrified of what Techno could possibly have done off camera :D

If anyone else has different theories, corrections to what I wrote, or other moments where Pink was Sus, feel free to comment!

[rattyoakenbitch]

Hello, I love your writing so much that I'm calling the police because of the unlawful amount of talent you have :))

I hope that youre doing well ❤️

I was wondering if I could please get will graham x reader?

✨Prompt✨ ~ one shot please

☄️Details☄️ ~ reader has a bad panic attack and shuts down and holds their breath until they end up losing consciousness.

🌨️Pronouns🌨️ ~ female reader please

🪐 alternate ask just in case you don't feel comfy with writing anxiety/panic attacks🪐 ~ will with sleepy reader who tries to make sure that everyone is happy and works hard for that?

🌌 message🌌 ~ thank you so much and I hope you have a great day ! don't forget that you are amazing and appreciated !

DUDE I LOVE YOU OMG (ok but like i literally squealed out loud 😭😭💔)

thank u so much for this!! u dont know how much i love doing requests. i hope u enjoy this as much as i did!

pairings: will graham x fem reader

warnings: panic attacks, angst, themes of depression, self doubt, passing out, very very very brief mention of suicide, brief mentions of cheating (sorry that's a lot omg). not warnings but theres eventual fluff and aftercare!!!

You sat down on the front porch cross-legged, watching as the sun came up over the hills, emitting an orange glow across the dark blue sky. Usually you'd still be in bed at this hour, but you haven't been able to catch any sleep lately. It's either you sleep all day or not at all.

Of course, not that you really minded. You loved watching the sunrise, the beginning of another day. It seemed so promising and motivating, yet it was bittersweet for you. Because it was another day of what felt like failure.

Another day where you'd rather not be alive.

Not that you were suicidal. Oh, not at all. You could never bring yourself to take a life, especially your own. But you couldn't help but fantasize about how happy everyone would be if you never existed. If you didn't take up so much damn space and waste people's time.

Your heartbeat began to speed up as several thoughts of self doubt and loathing began to fill up your head all at once.

You groaned and buried your face into your knees, covering your ears as if it would make the thoughts go away.

You spent a bit of more time on the porch, lost in your thoughts, barely keeping track of time, when a cold breeze snapped you back to reality.

You weren't wearing much, only a pair of lounge shorts, a sports bra, and one of Will's many flannels.

You grabbed the buttons of your flannel, wrapping it tightly around your figure in an attempt to keep warm. Ultimately you head inside anyways.

Coincidentally, you just caught Will about to leave.

"You're leaving already?"

You raised your brows, watching Will with suspicion.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Jack called, he wants me in right now."

"He say why?"

"Look, I don't know. I gotta go," Will said, more hurridley this time.

You pursed your lips. "Right. Sorry.."

Before you could say your goodbyes, Will was already out the door. You stood in the center of the room awkwardly, not knowing where to start from here.

You ended up taking the dogs out to walk, who seemed to enjoy it more than you did. Your mind was elsewhere.

As you carried on with your mundane every day tasks, your last interaction with Will stayed in your mind as you overanalyzed every aspect of the conversation.

He didn't even say a proper goodbye.. Or an "I love you".

What if he was getting tired of you? What if he found another woman? Was that why he left so early? Did he have a girl on the side?

All these thoughts ran through your head, and soon enough, you started to analyze your whole relationship with Will.

What did you do? Was he mad? Where did it go wrong? Did it even go wrong? Are you just being crazy? Maybe this is why he wanted to leave. He's already got enough to deal with, why would he want to put up with your problems, now?

This is all your fault.

All your fault.

All.

Your.

Fault.

You felt your breathing started to pick up, as well as your heartbeat. You fell onto your knees on the hardwood floor, digging your fingers into your own hair as you gripped tightly, like you'd lose yourself if you let go.

Your whole body trembled with fear and anxiety, the thoughts never once stopping, only seeming to intensify as your heartbeat got louder in your ears.

So loud, you almost didn't hear the front door open, or your name being called.

"Y/N!"

Your eyes shot up from the floor to Will who rushed by your side, obviously freaked out.

"Y/N, what happened? Are you hurt? Talk to me, baby, please."

Your words seemed to get caught in your throat, the only sound leaving your mouth being faint whimpers and strained cries.

After Will quickly searched for any injuries, he concluded you were having a panic attack.

"Y/N," he put his hand on your chest, "I need you to breathe for me, okay? Breathe."

You shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut. "I can't. Oh, gods. I feel like I'm going to die. Please, I don't want to die."

Will took your hand in his, squeezing it tightly. "I'm right here, Y/N. You're not going to die. You hear me? You'll be okay."

As he continued on assuring you, his voice seemed to become fainter and fainter, as if he was far away.

Your vision became dizzy, your surroundings all a blur. You tried to focus on Will as he spoke to you, desperately trying to calm you down. But his words were completely drowned out by the sound of your panting and beating heart, before it all went black.

Slowly, your eyelids fluttered open. They felt incredibly heavy, but you managed to stay awake.

You were no longer on the floor. Instead, you were wrapped in soft, plush sheets that hugged your exhausted body.

You remembered now. You passed out in Will's arms while you had a panic attack. It only made sense, you thought, considering you hadn't had sleep in days.

Still laying down, you inspected your surroundings, your eyes falling on the curly haired man below you who also laid down, his arms securely wrapped around your lower half.

He must have felt you stirring as he began to wake up as well.

You smiled to yourself as you reached down to tangle your fingers in his curls, massaging his head while doing so.

"Y/N?"

"Hey.." you rasped, your throat raw from hyperventilating.

"How are you feeling?" He didn't give you a chance to reply as he continued. "I thought you may have actually died at first, but when you seemed alright, I took you back to rest here."

"Thank you, Will." You cleared your throat, "Can I get some water, please?"

"Of course. I'll be right back, okay?"

Will leaned in to kiss you on the forehead before heading to the kitchen to get a glass. You sat up when he came back, also noticing he brought a hairbrush as well. He sat behind you while you drank, hugging you, caressing your body gently as if you were made out of glass.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Usually you would decline, but you hesitantly nodded your head.

Will pulled away and ran the hairbrush through your tangled strands of hair as you spoke, gently undoing the knots and being careful not to hurt your scalp.

"I've been overthinking a lot.. About every day life. Who I am. Us.." He let you continue. "I thought you were mad at me this morning and I couldn't let it go.. Then I began to think you were getting tired of me and.." You sighed. "You're such a good man, Will Graham. And you have a lot on your plate. I hated to think I was making your life even more difficult..." You trailed off, awaiting his response.

But he remained silent, he even stopped brushing your hair.

The air felt tense. And you needed to apologize quickly.

"I- I'm sorry you had to deal with that," you whispered. "With me."

"Why are you sorry, my love?" he spoke softly, his voice holding no tone of resent or hate. He embraced you from behind, his chin resting on your shoulder as he whispered into your ears, now and then placing warm kisses on your neck & shoulder. "You've done nothing wrong. You're just as perfect as you were the day I laid eyes on you. You still make me feel the way I did when we first kissed, or when you first told me you loved me." You felt your heart ache at Will's loving words.

"Will.."

"It hurts to see you hurting like this, because I love you, Y/N. Even on days when you don't love yourself."

Will placed a finger under your chin, tilting your face towards him. He watched your face with adoration, his eyes never once leaving your glossy doll-like ones. You felt blush creep up on your cheeks as Will spoke, his hot breath fanning your face. "I always did think you were the most beautiful girl in the world." With that, he leaned in to lock his lips with yours, as if to prove his love for you. And you believed it.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

I really don't get the complaint about Ironwood. His descent into a villain honestly made perfect sense.

Okay, look. Before I begin, let’s just get one thing straight. The way I view Ironwood is mainly my opinion, and it is not an objective fact. Love or hate him, I hope we can all have an intelligent and rational discussion on the way General Ironwood was portrayed, okay? Okay.

My problem isn’t necessarily how Ironwood became a villain in Volume 7, but rather, how he acted as villain in Volume 8, and what the story was trying to say about him and his actions. Buckle up first, there’s some infodumping to be done before we get there.

Now, for those who haven’t seen RWBY (and be warned, spoilers are obviously ahead), General James Ironwood was a supporting character introduced during the show’s second “Volume”. He was in charge of all the military forces of Atlas, the most militaristic of the four main kingdoms in the world of the show.

He had a bit of a bad reputation in universe for bringing a lot of his troops to Beacon Academy (where the first three Volumes took place) for a fighting torunament to serve as security. Long story short, thanks to an act of sabotage from the villains, an army of monsters called Grimm and a faction of former equal rights movement turned terrorist organization known as the White Fang attacked Beacon, killing a lot of people and forcing the survivors to retreat.

Ironwood had a handful of scenes in the next Volume, showing his support for one of the main characters, Weiss, and donating a robotic arm to another main character who had lost hers in the Fall of Beacon, Yang. After, that, he was mostly silent until Volume 7, where our heroes made their way to Atlas to deliver one of the four MacGuffins the main villain Salem needs to Ironwood.

We see that since the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood has been stretched thin in protecting Atlas over the run down town directly below it, Mantle. It’s clear that Ironwood can’t really keep up with handling both towns, to the point where not only is Mantle protected by a single robotic supersoldier named Penny, but Ironwood is also diverting supplies meant to fix a wall to keep Grimm out of Mantle in favor of working on converting the same stadium used for the tournament in Volume 3 into a satellite to restore global communication, which had been down since the Fall of Beacon.

The heroes are naturally conflicted about their loyalties to Ironwood, as while he has given them his trust, they don’t really trust him to tell him some of the secrets they learned. Blake and Yang, two of the heroes who have always been more opposed to authority, leak classified information regarding the satellite to the leader of a group of freedom fighters, Robyn Hill (who is actually voiced by Christina Vee), who at this point, was someone Ironwood viewed as a threat. 

Now you could make the argument that these college drop-outs are severely unqualified to handle a tense situation that even a seasoned veteran like Ironwood is struggling with, but the point is when Ironwood finds out, he’s pissed. It’s really not hard to agree with him when you consider everything he’s done for Team RWBY and their friends only to be betrayed like this. So Ironwood declares all of the heroes fugitives and place a warrant for their arrest

At this point in the story, you can understand both sides of the argument regarding how to handle the situation. Ironwood’s anger is very understandable, and while he acts as an antagonist to out heroes, he’s not really a villain.

And that’s when he shoots a fourteen year old child. Granted, he currently had the soul of an old friend of Ironwood in him, but Ironwood literally just tried to murder someone, and almost succeeded.

Volume 7 was very polarizing among RWBY fans for the portrayal of Ironwood. It doesn’t help that when Salem, the main villain of the series, launched an invasion of Atlas, Ironwood’s plan was to launch Atlas and keep Salem from getting the MacGuffin, essentially distancing it from the rest of the world... when Volume 7′s final episode aired in February 2020.

Now, you would think, after being forced to stay in their homes to minimize Covid deaths, the writers would understand what they were antagonizing Ironwood for was basically what every government in the world did a month after they finished work for the Volume, and maybe realize that maybe they shouldn’t portray someone like Ironwood as a complete monster.

Volume 8 opens with him killing a councilman who disagrees with him. And it all goes downhill from there.

This Volume goes out of its way to portray Ironwood as a genuine psychopath, mainly to stop the people who agreed with him over Team RWBY from supporting him. He does things like working with one of the villains to achieve his goal, gives his soldiers permission to torture people for information, and after Salem is neutralized temporarily, rather than continue to evacuate Mantle like he had originally planned before the villains and Team RWBY screwed up his plans, he decides threatening to bomb Mantle to use as leverage is a better idea.

And then there’s the whole idea the the writers want to treat Ironwood losing his arm in a fight and replacing it with a robotic one like Yang as a symbol of him “losing his humanity”. It’s... kind of insulting when you realize that Ironwood is a man suffering from PTSD, and the show is basically demonizing anyone who uses prosthetics in their daily lives, or is traumatized from war.

I’m not saying Ironwood is just like Chloe, but the way both narratives choose to demonize both characters to spite their fans is why I draw the similarities in the first place.

There’s also the fact that the writers claim Ironwood is acting this way because of his Semblance (they’re basically Quirks from My Hero Academia) giving him an iron will that won’t make him change his mind on his decisions... when it’s never addressed in the show, is only mentioned at a fan panel, and not even Ironwood’s voice actor knew about this until a fan told him. It’s a stupid way to handwave away the criticisms that Ironwood is acting out of character, and is universally considered by fans to be the dumbest Semblance in the show.

But overall, the point I am trying to make is that instead of portraying him as this morally grey villain who merely opposes the heroes because he has a different way of solving problems, the writers decide that isn’t a good thing, so they demonize him just to make Team RWBY and the heroes (who many have claimed do a lot of bad things this Volume) look better by comparison.

I’m sorry if you disagree with me, but I just want to understand that I am not trying to attack anyone who hates Ironwood. Like Adrien, I don’t hate the character entirely, I just don’t like the way he is handled, and simply prefer his fanon self over what we got in canon.

[alj4890]

Chapter 27 The Stroke of 12

The Royal Romance Fan Fiction (Liam x MC*Riley) (Maxwell x OC*Amanda) (Drake x Olivia) (Hana x Rashad)

These characters are from the amazing writers of Pixelberry's Choices stories: The Royal Romance and Red Carpet Diaries. The only character of my own is Duchess Amanda Bridgerton of House St Orella. 

Masterlist of The Other Friend TRR

Chapter 27 summary: Time is up.

Chapter 27

Her lungs were about to burst in a fiery inferno. She could hear the clock tower. Its ominous chimes killing her hope with each strike. 1, 2, 3, 4, She was through the palace gates! She forced her legs to keep running. Her muscles screamed in agony. 5, 6, 7, She had been running across the city and now across the palace grounds to the hedge maze. 8, 9, 10, 11, NO!

30 minutes earlier

Liam asked Riley to waltz with him. He finally had a moment to spare. He had been bombarded with so many people wanting a moment of his time. He only wanted to be with her. As they began to move together, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You look incredible tonight, my love."

Riley smiled at him. "You look rather dashing yourself. Tonight is a big night for both of us. I wanted to make sure the man who stole my heart was left breathless."

"You have gone above and beyond. You have left me breathless many times. Tonight, I am floored by how lovely you are and even more that you are mine."

She glanced at the large clock hanging over the raised platform. "Only a few more minutes. Did Amanda make it yet?"

A flash of worry showed in Liam's eyes. "I haven't seen her. I'm hoping she is already in the hedge maze."

"Liam, what happens if she is late?"

He hesitated. "Then we are left with her uncle's choice."

"And it could be any of you? Or, do you know who it is?"

"Lord Nicholas never indicated which one of us he would choose for her. It could be any of us."

Riley bit her bottom lip. There was a chance she would lose him. She could not stand the thought. He had captured her heart so effortlessly. His compassion and sense of duty had impressed her from the beginning. Knowing he loved her as much as she did him was the final piece of her belonging to him. She could not lose him. Not now.

As the dance came to an end. Liam pulled her close and whispered, "See you soon, my love. Make sure no one follows you." He turned and blended back into the crowd. She turned the other way to find Hana.

Liam slipped out a side door. It was a beautiful night. There was a chill in the air that he always relished. As he entered the maze, his heart began to race. Tonight he would be married. Excitement over how right it felt hummed in his veins.

Drake, Olivia, and Sir Francis were watching Maxwell in the hedge maze. He was overcome with worry. "Where is she? I've tried calling. I've tried texting. This isn't like her. I think something has happened. She should have been here a long time ago."

Olivia had been shocked by Lord Bridgerton's plan. Drake had explained everything to her earlier. She turned to Sir Francis. "Is there a fail safe in place in case she doesn't make it before midnight?"

Sir Francis sadly shook his head no. "If she is not here by the final stroke of 12 then she must marry the man Lord Nicholas picked. If the chosen one refuses, then King Constantine picks. Olivia grimaced. She might need to have Amanda's DNA analyzed. It sounded like a plan a Nevarkis would make.  

She let her gaze fall on the man next to her. He had dressed up tonight. She could not recall when she had last seen Drake in a suit. He looked quite handsome. He also looked nervous. She slipped her hand in his and gave a gentle squeeze. There was a chance he might be married this evening to Amanda. That surprisingly made her sad.

Drake gripped her hand, thankful for the comfort. He was shocked that he would associate comfort with Olivia. What a night! He looked at his watch. 11:40 PM. He saw Liam enter and pause.

"Where's Amanda?"

"We don't know. We have not been able to get a hold of her all night."

Liam's face paled. Riley along with Rashad and Hana entered at that moment. When they saw everyone's faces, their excited smiles fell. Riley went to Liam and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Where is she?" Liam sadly shook his head. "We don't know."

One hour earlier

The SUV was off the road, stuck in a deep ditch. A deer had run out in front of them and Thomas had swerved to miss it. It was amazing that they had not flipped from the speed and quickness of the turn. There were no cars along the road. Just the two of them. Amanda's heart felt like it was stuck in her throat. This night was either about to be the best or worst of her life. The way things kept going, she was leaning towards worst.

After 10 minutes of attempting to get the SUV out of the ditch, she jumped out the back of it and began to run down the road. She told Thomas what she was going to do and to tell anyone that called that she was on her way, if their phones ever got a signal again. She hoped she would find a good Samaritan along the way to drive her.

Thomas continued to work outside on trying to free the vehicle. He never heard her phone ring.

Amanda had set a steady jogging pace. She held her skirt above her knees, with her high heels in one hand. She had slipped on her sneakers as she hopped out. She could see the palace up on the hill. Now she just had to get through the empty city streets and dash up hill.

She had to make it. She was so scared of what was going to happen if she failed. How could she face her friends if she did not make it in time? Which one did Uncle Nicky think would be her perfect husband?

His letter made it seem that he thought any of the three would be right for her. He did not seem to have a preference. She tried to picture what her life would look like if she married Liam or Drake. It was hard to imagine. 

Her legs and lungs were starting to burn. Her dress felt like it weighed close to a metric ton. The hands on the clock tower had just moved to 11:45 PM. Amanda began to sprint. She had never been a fast runner, but this night she flew through the deserted streets. She soon was on the long road that led up to the palace. She paused to bend over and try to get oxygen into her lungs. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably. She sucked in some more air and took off again.

11:55 PM. Maxwell stared at his watch, wondering why this was happening. This had to be a nightmare. He would wake up at any moment and everything would be as it should. Maybe he would be lucky and he would wake up in a timeline where there was no contract and Amanda was his. He quit pacing and sat by the well. He leaned against the smooth, cool stone.

He hoped she was okay. What if she had been in a wreck? What if she was lying dead somewhere? Wouldn't that be worse than seeing her married to Liam or Drake? He could not stand the thought of never seeing her again, hearing her laugh, touching her. Maybe he should stick around if she married someone else. He needed her. She was his heart.

11:57 PM Liam stood with Riley in his arms. He was so worried. What were they going to do now? He couldn’t lose Riley. She was everything to him. He loved Amanda and had at one time thought she would be the one he would one day marry. Yet, that was all before he met Riley. It was before he realized that Maxwell was in love with Amanda. When he realized that what he personally felt was not a romantic love. There was no spark. Now they might be forced to break all four of their hearts. Where was she?

11:59 PM. Drake ran a nervous hand through his hair. Where the hell is she? Why didn't she call? What was going to happen now? It's probably that damned actor's fault. What were they going to do?

12:00 AM. The group in the hedge maze was silent as the clock began to toll the hour. Midnight had come. They heard a, "NO!" coming from the entrance of the hedge maze. Maxwell jumped up and ran to meet her. When she saw him, her legs collapsed. She was breathing hard. "Car...went...off road...stuck...ran all way...through city. Oh...Maxwell."

He helped her up and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him, returning the kiss with her whole heart. He pulled back and led her to the wishing well. Sir Francis was waiting with another letter from Lord Nicholas. "Your grace, this is for you to read. You may share it with the others, but only after you have read it silently first."

Amanda took the letter and used Drake's phone as a light to read it. Maxwell explained to the others what had happened. She carefully opened the short letter and gasped in disbelief as she read her uncle's words.

12:15 AM

Liam was quickly walking back to the ballroom. Everyone was waiting for the closing speech and his selection of queen. The others were following at a slower pace. He was nervous thinking of how his father was going to react at them being late and seeing Amanda.

Liam made his way toward the raised platform. Constantine and Regina were waiting on him. Each were smiling with anticipation. His father whispered to him. "Did Lady Amanda and Lord Maxwell complete their date?" Liam whispered back, "Everything is over and taken care of." Constantine nodded his approval.

Riley, Hana, and Rashad joined Bertrand towards the front of the crowd. Riley was whispering in Bertrand's ear. Shock was the best way to describe his face. Drake and Olivia stood with Amanda and Maxwell. All were watching the ceremony of the passing of the signet ring. Constantine gave a heartfelt speech of how proud he was of his two sons. He spoke of the great things he knew Liam and his chosen queen would do. Then he asked Liam to name the lady he was going to marry.

Liam looked out at the crowd. His eyes met each of his friends’ and his wife's. "I'm afraid that I will not be getting engaged this evening."

Mutterings and gasps flooded the room. Everyone was confused. Liam continued.

"I was married to my lady a few moments ago. The late Lord Nicholas Bridgerton had created a contract for myself, Lord Maxwell, and Sir Drake. We were the three suitors of his niece, Lady Amanda. After a required number of dates, we were to decide which of us she should marry. Tonight was the night we would have to marry her. I'm pleased to say that we have met the requirements."

While he was talking, champagne was being given to everyone. He raised his glass. "Lords and Ladies. I would like to propse a toast. To your new Queen and the lady who holds my heart forever more, Queen Riley!"

The crowd cheered. Liam smiled at her as she made her way to his side. Liam glanced at his father. His eyes were the only part of his face showing his anger. Liam raised his hand again for silence. "Now, I want to propose a toast to the other couple who were married tonight. To the Duke and Duchess of St Orella, Lord Maxwell and Lady Amanda!"

Cheers and congratulations were shouted. Liam smiled at Amanda and Maxwell. Once the crowd calmed. Liam turned to the musicians and requested a waltz. He bowed to Riley. "My queen, may I have this dance?" The joy on her face made his heart beat faster. "My king, nothing would make me happier."

Drake turned to Amanda. "Okay, how about telling us what that letter said. I know we had to hurry and get all of you married, but your reaction to the letter was startling."

Amanda pulled the letter out and began to read.

Dearest Amanda,

If you are reading this, then something happened. Either your timing did not go as planned or something else disastrous. I don't for a minute believe it is anyone's fault at being unable to decide. So now it is up to me to choose your husband.

As you well know, I have loved those three men since they were little boys. They treated you the way I always wanted you to be treated. They are true and honorable. I could never choose between them. My hope is that those dates with them helped you see who your perfect match is. The man I choose for you is the one you want with all your heart. Marry him right now! Don't wait like I did. Take care my darling. Remember all the good times we had. Know the joy you gave my life. Carry my love with you in all you do.

Yours forever and a day,

Uncle Nicky

P.S. If I was a betting man, I would bet that you picked Maxwell. You light up like a Christmas tree whenever he comes into the room. What do you think? Would I win that bet?

Drake and Maxwell stood there in silence when she finished. Olivia smiled and pulled on Drake's arm. "Come on. You are dancing with me. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

Amanda folded the letter and placed it back in her pocket. She met Maxwell's eyes nervously. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. They glided along with the rest of the couples. Maxwell was staring intently at Amanda's face. She began to blush under his scrunity. She looked into his eyes.

"Maxwell? Say something!"

"You picked me."

"What?"

"You picked me to marry over Liam and Drake."

"I love you, Maxwell. I would pick you over anyone."

He shook his head in wonder. There had always been a little bit of doubt that she actually felt as he did. I actually won her, he thought. She really wanted to be with me. I don't have to hide my feelings or anything anymore. Not that I ever did a good job doing so. She picked me. I really made her fall in love with me.

He looked at her dress. It was the first time he really paid attention to it. Everything else had been so rushed and emotionally charged. Now he saw what she had chosen to be married to him in. A tender smile appeared.

"Amanda. Your dress...it looks like the night sky."

She smiled at him as he twirled her. "That's what I thought too. Knowing you fell in love with me while looking at the stars and then both of us expressing our love while outside looking at the stars...this seemed appropriate."

He pulled her close to him during a turn and kissed her. "I think this might very well be my favorite thing you will ever wear." He kissed her again. “I love you so much, Amanda.”

Drake could not believe he was dancing. Even more so, he was dancing with Olivia. This was what he got for teaching Hana how to play poker last week. She was too good at it and began betting activities instead of money. He lost big time to her and was forced to let her teach him how to dance.

He would never admit it out loud, but he was having a good time dancing. He looked down at Olivia. She seemed to enjoy dancing with him. What was he to do about her? They had been strangely kind to one another the last week or so. She was a duchess. He didn't possess a drop of noble blood. They were worlds apart. If his father had not been a member of the king's guard, he wouldn't know her, Liam, Maxwell, Amanda, any of them. Olivia was not treating him like he was less worthy to be here. She was treating him like Liam, Maxwell, and Amanda did. As an equal.

Olivia was enjoying the dance. She once thought that her heart would break if Liam chose someone else. All she felt was relief and a sort of freedom in knowing she was not his choice. Perhaps she never really loved him in that fashion. She still thought he was one of the best men she had ever known. Maybe her heart had already settled on someone else. Someone who shared her reactions and opinions of certain situations and people. Someone who could make her heart race with a verbal sparring match or a kiss. She would need to think what all this meant.

Hana was thrilled for her best friend marrying the love of her life. She was happy for her other friends for being able to marry the ones they wanted. She was devastated by the message from her parents. They wanted her to get on the first plane tomorrow morning and return to Shanghai. Cordonia felt more like a home than any other she had known. Her parents believed she was a failure and a disappointment. She did not think she could fight against that mindset without her friends as a backup.

Rashad noticed that Hana seemed lost in thought. Thoughts that were unpleasant. He wanted to help her. He was coming to love the feeling he got when he was able to make her smile. She had such a lovely smile. He gently squeezed her hand as they waltzed.

"Hana? Is...is there something wrong?"

"Oh Rashad. I don't want to bother you with it. But, I will be leaving to return to Shanghai tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! But, Liam and Riley will need the whole court to travel for their tour as the new King and Queen. You are part of this court. You're Riley's best friend. The Queen's best friend. Your parents should let you stay."

Hana shook her head, fighting tears. "I've disappointed them. I did not win the Prince or any suitor for that matter. That is what they are looking for. I've failed them once again."

"If...if you had a suitor they would let you stay?"

Hana nodded. "I believe so. That is their one goal."

"What if I were named as your suitor? Would they approve of me? I have a dukedom and I'm a partner in a successful business."

Hana looked at him in shock. "Rashad, that is so sweet. I could never ask that of you. My family would expect a lot of you. Time spent with me, time with them, marriage contracts, and such."

"Hana, what if I'm willing to do that? Would you be happy to have me as a suitor? We can take things as slow as you need them to be. I don't want to lose the chance to see if we could be happy together. If you would like that."

Hana was glad he was leading her in the waltz, because she felt as if the floor had shifted. "I believe I would like that."

Constantine was sitting with Regina, watching the happy couples dance. He was using his training in keeping a pleasant expression on his face. He could not believe they had blatantly disobeyed him. Looks like they were willing to face the consequences after all. He would make sure of it.

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HIs jaw clenched. Hs eyes remain locked on Jace. How did he tell him, of all people, that he hadn't quite let Clare in on the secret yet? How did he explain that he was fearful she would reject him and run for the hills as soon as he mentioned the L word? And even if he could, Jace would never understand.

Oscar's relationship with Clare, although seemingly solid to most outsiders, still had very fragile pieces. Jumping into the sea of her heart was one of them. Knowing what he did about her past he didn't want to fuck it up by dropping the bomb too soon. Telling her had to be right and, as Jace mentioned, her aversion to their affection was one of the reasons he worried she wasn't ready for him to do that.

However, Jace was her best friend. Her only family. Maybe, if he had any smidge of want to end their war, he could help him tell her. He eyes Jace a moment before answering.

"That's because I haven't found the right moment to tell her," he risked admitting. "Hard as it may be for you to believe, I do put her feelings into consideration and dropping a bomb like love on her wouldn't exactly be fair. You said it yourself, she strays away from it anytime its near. How can I risk losing her by jumping the gun?" he asked rhetorically.

The contentious topic of his job being mentioned sent a wave a ire through him and he had to bite back his tongue. He let his gaze drop once more, slightly wringing his hands to gather himself.  He and Clare had argued over this very sentiment. Time after time. She was right when she argued that his job did not give him nearly the same amount of dedication that he gave it. But it wasn't the job or the bureau he was dedicated to, he had to make up for the sins of his previous life. A fact that although Clare said she understood, clearly did not agree with.

Her reservartions were nothing new to him, however. It had been one of the main reasons why he had never committed to anyone before. His job always ended up getitng in the way.  He wasn't ignorant to the fact that it kept him largely unavailable, both physically and emotionally, but he was dedicated to righting his wrongs. No matter the sacrifice.

"You don't know the first thing about my work," he said lowly, bringing his eyes back to Jace. "Or why I do the things I do. I know the sacrifice I'm making and my reasons are my own - and before you tell me Clare deserves to know why, she does - so keep your unfair judgements to yourself." he allowed his unspoken warning to back off the topic hang in the air long enough to be converyed before continuing.

Oscar didn't need to keep arguing back and forth about who loved their woman more to know this was going nowhere. "Listen, I'm not trying to make this a competition over who has a better relationship, Clare and I aren't you and Em. And we never will be. Not everyone can be that open about these things. But I do love her. For better or worse, I love her. I just..." he sighed and relaxed back in his chair momentarily before rising.

"I don't know how to tell her without scaring her off. You don't owe me shit, and I really don't think the two of us are ever going to see eye to eye, but," he took a deep and centering breath, shutting his eyes. "if there's any advice you would be willing to give me on how to I would apprecaite it," he got out, opening his eyes and finding Jace again. "If not, then do it for Clare's sake. I already told you I'm not going anywhere, so wouldn't it be better if the shit didn't hit the fan more than it already has with her heart?" he asked with light pleading, the request a hard one to make from the man.

He paced, hands on his hips, silently and quickly debating with himself over if he should even ask Jace for his help with this. 

writingxthexsilence​:

Oscar relaxed back into his seat and shook his head slightly. Ironically, he’d never worried about the danger from within his club. He worried about their enemies using Emily’s status as a bargaining chip should the need arise.  However. He also never believed for a seconnd that Jace wouldn’t give his life to prevent that.

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” he told him, honestly.

His ears perked up when Jace began to talk about setting Emily up should he ever be ripped from her life. Regardless of the circumstances, or what he left behind, his sister woud be devastaed. Her entire life would crash around her and he couldn’t stand to even think about it. It was this very reason he did his best to protect the club from within - whether Jace knew it or not.

Even approval didn’t sound like it was changing his view of his future brother-in-law. Jace wasn’t painfully burdened with pride like Clare, but he couldn’t escape the sense of humiliation that settled around him like a thick fog. Something in that man’s posture always radiated disapproval and every comment to Jace sounded like “you can do much better dear sister”. It bothered him that he had humbled himself so much and revealed his plans to a man he barely looked at…especially after he scoffed at his offer.

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