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povbeth · 5 months

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six roses | percabeth (0)

series masterlist

chapter summary: it's been two years since percy left town (read: annabeth), and neither of them can stop thinking about each other.

wc: 2.8K

warnings: it's just a lot of emotional constipation and regret and sadness and- [car crashes into me]

a/n: hellooooo :p honestly don't know what i'm doing bc nobody posts percabeth fanfic on tumblr but guess what? i do! i've been wanting to do a series like this for a while so i'm glad i'm finally getting started on it. lmk what you think here!

also posted on ao3

prologue: thinking about you.

Grover has been watching Annabeth lose herself for the last few hours.

Had she known, Annabeth would argue that Grover does this every morning. But today doesn’t follow their normal routine. The two canceled their shift at work for the next morning and took an early leave to prepare. Instead of locking her bedroom door and rotting in bed, Annabeth hobbled over to her best friend's house for a night with no sleep and a bag full of candy, ready to binge watch Disney classics till the sun peeks through the windows.

It’s an annual event, one that follows a 10 year tradition; One the same day every year, Annabeth and Grover have a sleepover, in which they total approximately two hours of sleep and six hours of movies.

It’s supposed to be fun, and Annabeth does find it fun. But for the last two years, it’s been different. Tainted. Scarred. And Grover knows this, but will never say it out loud.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

He’ll make her say instead.

She’s not surprised at the question. Really, it was inevitable. Grover knows what joy looks like, and he knows what a lack of it looks like on Annabeth. She could feel his eyes observing her as she stared at Lilo and Stitch without a single tear rolling down her cheek. He can always count on her to sing along with Gaston, but not a peep left her lips. He knows how emotional the Little Mermaid gets you, but he couldn’t hear a sniffle from her.

She doesn’t bother turning her head to face him. She won’t let him see the silent tear trails on her face. “You already know.”

Does he ever wonder?

Does he ever wonder like I do?

About the memories he’s left behind on a whim, in the hopes for a dream that was miles away. Away from the town he’s been in since he could babble a few incoherent words, towards a city filled with unfamiliar faces Away from the town he can only remember by your name.

About the memories that haunt her at night, but they swear they’re here to keep her at ease. They should be comforting, but they’re holding her tight enough to be suffocating.

Maybe they’ll let her sleep tonight if she cries a bit. Just a teeny bit.

Before she knows it, her eyes are teary. Grover feels her shift on the makeshift bed the two made on the ground. “You good?”

Nights spent on the phone talking about forever, an eternity that would only last a little over a year. Had the word stayed true to its meaning, she wouldn’t have hated it. Spending forever with him. She’d sigh and tell him this in hushed whispers as she’d lay in bed with her phone beside her pillow, and he’d giggle a bit. If she wasn’t too caught up with the idea of eternity with him, she would’ve realized that he’d never reply with confirmation. That he thinks about it too, that her idea of forever exists in the realm of possibility.

Did he ever toy with forever like I had?

She doesn’t respond to the silent boy next to her, who waits for some kind of response. There’s a pile of memories clogged in her blue veins, and they choose tonight to flow properly.

And so she does what she knows best.

Lie.

“I’m good.”

Her memories unravel themselves quickly. They’re only a few years old, but they’ve learned fast. Really, they’re not evil in nature – sneaking out at one in the morning to see him at a park near her house, writing exclamations of love into his skin during class, holding his hand as he walks her home – but they’re sharp. Short strands, but they have an edge to them. They know where to poke her, where to prod, where to stab. Like shards of glass, meeting her chest with good aim.

(But it doesn’t seem like an issue. She’d relive them in her head regardless of the pain.)

It doesn’t take Grover long to realize that she won’t say anything more than that. Instead of pushing for an answer, he lazily turns his body to face her. “I miss him too, y’know.”

And that’s what makes Annabeth break.

Because it’s not just her – it’s Grover, her cousin, and more importantly, his best friend. The boy he’d known way before you, since the two were in pre-school, squalling nonsense that only made sense to them. Brothers who knew each other better than themselves (though Grover would argue that he never really knew him).

Grover’s hurt too, and it makes everything hurt more.

She’s sobbing before she knows it, staining her cheeks and pillow in the process. It’s an unmapped cry that escapes her, one that doesn’t sound like her. She tries to pin it on something – regret, distaste, sorrow – yet it doesn’t land quite right. Must be something ugly, something that can only exist in a person who’s come across Percy Jackson.

“It’s been two years,” she manages through the tears. “And I’m still feeling like this.”

“I know.” Grover comforts her. She’ll never know it, but the tears he holds back are only for her.

“He doesn't even think about us. And I know he did it for himself, for his career, for his family, but it’s just… I don't know–”

“You feel greedy,” Grover tries to grasp. “for wanting him to stay–”

“No, that’s not it!” she barely recognizes the noise that’s coming out her throat. Is this what her memories have done? Turned her into a foreigner of her own voice? “That's not even what I wanted! I just – I just wanted him to tell me… and to tell you…”

…that he was leaving. Not that he didn’t – he did, just on the day of.

That’s one memory that she can’t unravel. She doesn’t remember how her day started, or how the conversation came about. All she recalls is the moment he said, “I have to leave.”

The rest is a blur. She remembers looking at him incredulously, as if he was joking. She remembers arguing with him, angry at him for choosing to tell her now, when his ride to the big apple was an hour away. She remembers watching him leave, his shoulders slouched as he walked away from the ruins of their relationship.

She wonders what remains of her now. In his mind, perhaps he only remembers a lousy town with a girl with perpetual mascara running down her face. Maybe he remembers her name, not her face. Maybe she’s a distant memory that he can’t bother to recall, not when he’s at the peak of his career.

Years pass, and so do her emotions. Hatred has dissolved in her heart, but she’s sure she can build it back up if she wants to. She’s more understanding, that maybe it was for the best. Sure, she wishes he executed things better. But she gets it – Percy was a boy with dreams. And she, better than most people, should know what it means to reach for them.

It means to sacrifice the things you love the most – and maybe, it was proof that he did love her, at least back then. If that were the case, she wishes that she wasn’t on the top of the list.

Maybe nothing of her remains, and that’s what scares her the most. Especially when his everything is engraved in her.

It’s been exactly two years since the day he left, yet the realization only settles in her bones now – she’s afraid that she’s worth nothing more than dust to the boy who once loved her from the sun and back.

The truth is, Percy wonders too much.

His ‘friends,’ if that’s what he could call them, told him the night was still young. To be clear, it was an hour past midnight, and Percy just wanted to crash at his hotel room.

To be even clearer, he didn’t know these guys well. He's seen a few of them in that new movie with vampires, and the others are fellow singers whose songs he’s heard far too many times. They smile on the red carpet, baring their fancy looks for the cameras, and wipe the smiles off their faces as soon as they take a step off it. He thinks it’s fair – he’s done the same today – but it doesn’t excuse them from being absolute assholes to everyone who isn’t an A-list celebrity.

Of course, Percy doesn’t fit in the category of nobodies for them. He’s topping the charts with every new release and bagging every award he’s been nominated for. To the famous clique, he’s one of them, just haven’t been acquainted yet.

So when Percy happened to have a table near theirs, they invited themselves over with a bottle of alcohol that he swears was not on the menu.

Percy knew nobody besides Jason, his first friend in the industry, and his only friend at this event. He'd really been hoping that he and Jason could leave without anyone noticing. Like the incredible actor he was, his friend called Percy’s manager and convinced her that the two of them were actually feeling sick.

“Never going to a gala again,” Jason groans as they enter the hotel lobby. “That was terrible.”

“Yeah,” Percy mumbles. “I just wanna crash right now.”

Percy has never been a man of many words, Jasons noticed. He’s still the shy boy from the small town, even when he has to smile at the paparazzi that followed him practically everywhere. But today in particular, Percy hasn’t been talking much.

Despite the obvious lack of words from the raven haired boy, Jason says nothing. Even as they head up the elevator, the two stand in silence. It’s comfortable, but it’s different from their usual fall of words. Percy’s eyes are closed, not in concentration, but in an exhaustion that Jason can’t seem to pinpoint.

Jason doesn’t know anything about the town Percy left behind two years ago. He doesn’t know that today marks two years since he’s left it behind, and wouldn’t understand the weight that it holds, even if Percy were to tell him.

He’s been wanting to ask if something is wrong for the past few hours, and so he finally does. He's not expecting much, but Percy looks at him as if he’s finally hit his tipping point.

And that’s how Jason finds himself in Percy’s hotel room, having been dragged into the room by his older friend. He’s concerned, surprised by the sudden emotional act Percy’s put on.

“It’s just…” he heaves as he sits down on his bed. “It's been a long day.”

An understatement at its finest. He knew what awaited him – beyond the gala, there was his family. Sure, they’ve been on good terms, great even, but the weight of his ticket back home seems to weigh the room down. There’s his friends from back home, whose texts pile up on his phone (which Percy ignores).

And then there’s Annabeth. Clouding his thoughts before he woke up, appearing in his dreams and haunting him before he could take his first breath of the day.

It’s a given, he thinks, knowing that he’s made peace with everything else back in town. His parents were always supportive, his friends came to understand. But there’s a distance of time and heart between Annabeth and him, and the fact that it’s tainted his perception of who she is now has him begging God to shrink him into nothing.

So his day was rough. He can’t recall a moment where he didn’t feel an ache in his chest.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Percy fiddles with the bottom of his tie, rolling the material between his fingers. “well…”

He does, but the last thing he wants to do is say her name out loud.

“It's been two years since I left my hometown,” he mumbles. It’s easier to say than I broke up with my girlfriend two years ago and haven’t gotten over it since.

“I see.” Jason says, though he doesn’t really get it. He grew up in the city, and even though the two boys are practically the same, there’s a difference in experience between them. Where Percy grew up was vastly different from this place, so Jason tries to understand. “You miss it?”

“Mhm. I miss my parents, and…”

And Annabeth.

“There's something bugging you,” Jason notes with a frown on his face. “You can tell me, y’know. I won't judge.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you… it’s just complicated, I guess.”

“Well,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I'm all ears.”

Percy doesn’t know what to say. But since his friend’s standing there, leaning against his dresser and waiting for him to speak, he supposes he has to spit it out at some point.

“Just… thinking about someone.”

“A girl?”

He goes silent for a second too long and Jason panics. “Oh, is it a guy–”

“No, no. It’s my girlfr– well, ex-girlfriend.”

He nods in sympathy. He’s never been in a relationship, but he can imagine how hard breakups can be. “Yhings were rough, I’m guessing?”

Nothing was rough, actually. Things were as perfect as they could possibly be.

The two were enemies as kids. He remembers bits and pieces – young Annabeth kicking sand in his face, swearing that she’d never go close enough to catch cooties from him. 7-year-old Percy splashing water in her face (read: soaking her with a water bottle) and running away before she could tell his mom. Swore that they’d never be friends unless it rained cows.

Except things didn’t go as planned; she ended up dating him through highschool, and he ended up leaving her at the end of it.

“I guess you could say that. We broke up the day I left town.”

Percy doesn’t tell him that it was because of him, or that it happened right before he was leaving for the train station. He doesn’t mention how he was feeling blue for his first year here, and that even though it’s past one year, he feels sick at any memory of you. He doesn’t even say her name, because the weight of his guilt lays heavy on the vowels and it’s too much to bear.

Instead, Percy does exactly what Jason wanted – unpack how he feels. He lets his feelings escape the lid, listens to them pour out without caring about how selfish he sounds, how terribly hoarse his voice is.

Annabeth always seems to do this to him. A single memory of her has him feeling like he’s eighteen again. Every memory of that time leads to a dead end, and though a small part of him wishes he could forget her, his mind tends to run back to that time.

It's incredibly stupid of him to miss her when he was the one who left. He knows this, but can’t help but indulge in the longing he feels.

And by the time he’s done talking, there’s a box of tissues in his lap and Jason beside him, patting his back as if it could erase every bad emotion he’s feeling.

Jason’s at a loss for words. He didn’t know, but he feels like he should’ve. He should’ve connected the dots when he caught Percy reading old text messages a few days. He should’ve gotten the hint when he saw Percy standing next to another girl as if he was a stiff tree. He should’ve caught on to how his friend never liked to talk about relationships, excusing it as something he wasn’t interested in, despite his unrivaled passion for romcoms.

Percy loves torturing himself by thinking about Annabeth, but talking about her is the opposite – any mention of her seems to bring the mood down for not just him, but everyone around him. The weight of her name is so heavy, it’s a burden on anyone who knows your situation with him.

It's especially terrible when your Annabeth is inscribed in his heart, his veins adorned with engravings of her. The vessels are shrinking under her load, pressing his chest and squeezing his throat.

With every mention to Jason, her name escaping his lips makes the weight increase.

It's been exactly two years since the day he left, yet his heart feels heavier than before.

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mymainwastoocluttered · 8 months

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Hi! Hope you are having a good day! Since you have been more than vocal about the whole Yuu being irrelevant to the plot thing, I have a fun(?) question for you.

On a scale of 0 (Not happening) to 10 (Very likely) how hopeful are you that Yuu will actually do something in whatever comes after Book 7? Assuming that the monster from the tutorial is an overblotted Grim, it would be pretty weird to leave Yuu out of the chapter that centers around Grim. Since y’know Yuu and Grim are one student and Yuu is kind of Grim’s only family.

Personally I’m sitting at “my expectations are below the ocean floor.”

I'm sitting next to you below the ocean floor 😅

I mean, I'm hoping Yuu becomes the protagonist they're supposed to be, but honestly? I think the ones actually doing shit will be Ace and Deuce, since they're the closest to Grim after Yuu.

Besides, there is a very easy way to get Yuu away from the story: Grim overblots because Yuu went back to their world, basically "abandoning" him. Very convenient, eh? Specially since Yuu has been thinking about returning home a lot lately (which is funny because we have no evidence that it's even possible, really, Crowley has done nothing but play around with government money, but Yuu suddenly started thinking about it lately, so I'm counting as foreshadowing)

#twisted wonderland #answering answering #devaneios de bellee

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eternalglitch · 1 year

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i am sorry for all the things that happened to you, please take care of yourself mentally and physically <3 do you know when you’ll be posting the next chapter? i am not asking this from an impatient state or to put pressure on you, i am a firm believer in placing yourself before your work. i also wanted to ask how you think your personal experiences will further effect lfls? i love your story, your playlist, everything, and know that just because you haven’t updated in a while does not mean everyone has left. be sure to treat yourself ♥️

WELL. I deleted the first few paragraphs of next chapter and went on a small tangent on how itchy healing from neck wounds are lmao. NEVER WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED THIS ASPECT OF THE HEALING PROCESS.

I also learned so fast how hard it is to have scarves sit high enough on your neck without killing you from heat in the summer. 0/10 not very worth it. But also it's annoying to be asked pointedly how I'm doing and see people's eyes flick downwards ever so slightly.

Lots of little details like that. Guess who has firsthand experience spending hours looking in a mirror to study a neck scar now. You've heard of character studies for the sake of acting, well watch out world.

I do have like 7 pages of the next chapter written and my server knows I've started writing again ever so slowly since I show snippets as I go. Currently my words all feel rusty and flat, I'm trying to just pour my sand into the sandbox before I can get to the actual sand castles. Not sure of the exact time frame of this venture.

But also thank you, it was a very sweet way to inquire about the story <3

#glitch answers #lfls

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hidden-poet · 2 months

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0/10 Edmund should have come back to life, rescued us from the capitol, killed snow and taken us back to district 12 🙄.

Jk jk that was so good 😭 it makes me so sad though because she was never going to have a good ending, even right from the start snow was never going to give up. And yet my heart still broke as I read this.

Just little things like how she lies on the grass even when they bring her a picnic blanket is just 😭😭 she just misses home so much IM CRYING NOW WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

this was so well written and I was so angry like I just wanted a happy ending for our girl 😭 Yk I’ve never read a snow fic where snow doesn’t win.

I’ll have to read again when I have the emotional capacity and I’m sure I’ll notice more. But when you get the supply closet scene and it’s just a reminder that he will NEVER change and her words have never and will never mean anything to him :(( and she just has to accept it.

when she’s talking about how he hasn’t hit her in years but she’s sure it’s just because she’s always either pregnant or with one of the babies 😭😭😭😭 you broke my heart. Our poor girl. She’s forever scared of him. when she steps back from him bc she thinks he’s going to hurt her for asking to see her family even right after birth. CRYING.

He was so much worse in this part than any other imo. The manipulation. and here we (me) were thinking he would calm the fuck down once he had her in the capitol 😭.

omfg when he says he “had” to name the baby without her 🙄 boy you’re the president you know full well you could have waited for her.

The BJ scene made me laugh though. He is just a man 😂.

This man makes me SICK 😭 I know what I get into with fics with PRESIDENT SNOW like I said they never end with reader having any semblance of independence.

thank you for this masterpiece. I will be out of action crying for the next week. As an Edmund stan I’m still hurt 🥲. They *should* have been his babies.

long time anon with my long messages but thought I’d not this time since if I could leave a comment this long on the actual post I would have <3

snow lands on top, unfortunately

Thank you! thank you! thank you!

I like to think that the end is a nice compromise for the reader and Coriolanus.

Coriolanus got to 're-write history' like he wanted. He is finally living the life he thought was owed to him before the war. I really did try and paint him as someone who wasn't a bad person inherently, but has learnt to only feel safe if he has total control over everything.

The base line for his character was the line "He wasn’t a violent man, only a man capable of violence". he wants nice things, and power, and to feel unconditionally loved. He's not above using violence to get them.

And the reader got a life where she never had to worry about her children. The reader was very maternal, but if you remembered back to chapter 3 (i think) she talks about being worried about raising them in the district, and what that would mean for them.

I like to think she was generally happy in later life with her kids. She got to experience the luxury of the Capitol, and got to give her children the best life out of everyone in Panem.

While it is sad she never got to see her family again, as someone who has children very dear to her in her life, i would trade anything for their comfort and protection.

Coriolanus was a good father, and a tyrant husband. I think she could appreciate him in relation to fatherhood. Maybe, even warm to him as the father of her children. But in her heart, he will always be commander Snow to her, and that's put a road block on development of their relationship.

Thank you so much for coming along the journey with me.

I hope to create something else that you can invest in just as much.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

#coriolanus snow #coriolanus x reader #dark!coriolanus snow #commander snow

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lylylylyy · 2 years

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As a Touya stan I'm frustrated with the new chapter because Enji still mainly saw Touya as some kind of responsibility, not his kid wanting his attention from the very beginning.

When Enji faces Touya, the first thing we know about him is that he notices phosphor, which leads to the question of asking about Shouto's well-being.

Enji's question is rather reasonable since Touya made it clear that killing Shouto is his goal, and it's natural for Enji to be concerned about Shouto, the kid he showed to care the most in the series who could be dead. However, what annoys me is that he showed no concern about Touya's health-I mean, looking at Touya. The whole fandom and the characters in the manga are all wondering how he could be alive. He is basically on his last legs yet Enji here showed zero concern about this fact.

Contrary to Enji's concern for Touya in the previous chapter, he chose to ask the rather triggering question related to Touya's whole trauma of being thrown away by his parents for his younger brother, which is not beneficial for Touya's overall health state at all. Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel that some people in the fandom are way too optimistic about Enji's parenting skills. He is trying, yet his attempt is far from a good try, so I don't think the worries and frustrations are unsupported in the text.

Also, I noticed the final words, "父に課されたのは…" after the last panel. It's not Enji pov but still represents the author's attitude towards Enji's emotions.

父 means father, and 課された is not a very good word here. It means be imposed on, usually used to describe a burden or loan. Thus it gives me the feeling that the next chapter will not be the heart-to-heart conversation about Enji's love for Touya when he was young, just a talk about the responsibilities Enji had to take. No potential affection or caring parents vibes, only some obliged resignation.

I understand that Enji's reactions would absolutely make sense, since Enji was never a kind person in the past and he's not used to the thought of caring for Touya as a parent for 10 years. But as a person whose supposed redemption arc of becoming a decent father is receiving so many praises, Enji in this chapter feels pretty lame and upsets me because he failed to reach that bar again.

Horikoshi's been pretty busy, and I hope he could get the rest that he deserves. I understand that this chapter is short due to his alarming health condition and we will get the next chapter where meaningful things would probably happen between Touya and Enji. However, judging from the text, their upcoming interactions seem rather dim and uncertain to me.

We know that Enji thinks his mission(my translation of 使命, the word he used in the chapter) is to keep eyes on Touya, but keeping eyes on Touya now won't just magically remove the pain of being rejected for over a decade. I pessimistically think it would be just another battle shounen fighting scene, where Enji takes damages from Touya and fails to say anything that would be impactful enough to stop Touya from his self-destructive mental state. It might make a difference as Shouto and his Phosphor did, but it won't be strong enough to totally chill Touya. I just hope the next chapter will prove that I was wrong.

Considering the cultural background, the typical harsh East-Asian father Enji would not suddenly become a person that has no shame in acknowledging his affection and worries towards his son. Like the scene with Natsuo getting kidnapped, I strongly doubt that he would give the interactions western society considered the right things to do.

As for the Todoroki endgame, I can't help but think about Shouto, who genuinely desired to know his brother despite the sad fact they probably shared 0 good memories in the past. Touya 100% knows that his crimes would be a burden for his father, but as a person with very low self-worth, he won’t anticipate his family to want him back as a beloved member. I feel it pretty unrealistic if Enji turns out to be a loving A+ parent and solves Touya's issues all by himself, so I believe the narratives won't just go that far.

Therefore, I assume the father-son fighting scene would end with Shouto interfering. However, another scene of stopping Touya with ice again would be pretty unnecessary. My guess is AFO would do something stupid and Toga would be convinced by Ochako to stop the parade and help her friends, and Shouto might come to help Touya take AFO.

PS: I am not a native English speaker so I might end up writing weird or offensive sentences while not knowing about them. Please tell me if I was wrong or being rude _(:з」∠)_

#mha 376 #bnha 376 #mha spoilers #endeavor #todoroki enji #dabi #todoroki touya #ly thoughts #mha manga spoilers #mha manga leaks #shoto todoroki #touya todoroki #enji todoroki

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sakuracoloring · 3 months

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Cami's Commentary! #7 - I finished Tex!

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「ようこそ！」　。。。

Good morning/afternoon/night to whoever may be reading this! It's like midnight rn and I just finished reading Tex (yippeeee) :D so I wanna talk (write, but same difference) about it!!

Starting it off a tiny bit unrelated: Does anyone else have this problem with imagining characters off of their descriptions? Like, once I read the description, I can see it in my mind, but as I continue reading the story, that description just fades away and I don't really see anything inside my head. Idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ To kinda help solve this, I usually search up fanart or pictures of the actors (if there's a movie adaptation to the story), but unfortunately that has led me to finding out spoilers (both for The Outsiders and Rumble Fish) so I'm trying avoid doing that as much as possible. For some reason as I was reading Tex, Lem Peters was simply Owen Wilson (??no idea why) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and Mason was Kevin from Ben 10 (his UAF version tho, not from classic). No idea why, but it didn't really shift my focus from the story so whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways, (sorry for the ramble) ^_^ I loved it :D It was very yummy to read: Interesting cast, flawless writing (S.E. Hinton eats and leaves no fucking crumbs), lots of details (very important), and every last page of a chapter left me wanting more (which is even more important!)

I'm not sure if I love it more than The Outsiders, but I definitely prefer it over Rumble Fish (book, though, not the movie). No hate to Rumble Fish, it's an amazing book, but I honestly thought the movie was better. Like, it gave the story a glow-up, yk? Not just the more mature elements they added, but also the overall cinematography and it being in black and white (while the fishes are in color) really gave the story the extra boost it needed (well, in my opinion at least, lol). Funnily enough, my opinion on The Outsiders is the contrary: The book was definitely better than the movie. Now don't get me wrong, the movie is awesome and one of my favourites of all time, but it felt a bit (understandably) lacking in details and I feel like the book has more to offer when it comes to that. Idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that's just how I feel. If I end up watching the Tex movie tomorrow (technically later today), I'll probably make a post talking about it :)

Also, I love the occasional use of language here :D It really fits into the story and makes it more realistic yk (I wish Rumble Fish had used a bit more, considering who the characters are and how they act)

Just an extra little thing before I go to sleep (sleep schedule? non existent 😍): “Thanks," I said. I was getting turned on just looking at her. I wondered if she could tell, but no, the blanket kept me covered up pretty good. (Page 203), & ''Boy, if he knew what I’d been thinking about Jamie!'' (Page 205) 🤨🤨🤨Sir, this is a McDonalds...

Thank you for making it this far :D it really means a lot to me <3

oh no :( she's trapped

See you next time! ☆

-Cami

#80s #blog #new to tumblr #vent #the outsiders #hiperfixation #rumble fish #tex #tex mccormick #mason mccormick #matt dillon #se hinton #book #reading

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uwukillmenowowo · 4 months

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𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥 [Tokyo Debunker X F!Reader]

[ 10 | A Ring?]『💍』

Key's for the story: Insert - Narrative - And then she stared at her reflection in the mirror [Insert] - Author speaking - [Eyyy there- wazzup readers] "Insert" - Talking - "Hey there!" [But can also be air quotes] 'Insert' - Thinking - 'Dame he's cute...' "Insert" - Whispering - "I- I messed up..." [But can also be an emphasis on a word/phrase, or flashback] (Insert) - Inner mind..? - (Deadass doesn't know how to explain it here) *Insert* - Action - *Sighs with their head down* [INSERT] - Magic - [OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!] or [IGGNAIM!]

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫: [ 9 | Hera's Snakes] 『🐍』

━━━✦❘༻🔮༺❘✦━━━

[Book 0] The Academy of Ghouls

[Chapter 10] A Veil? A Ring? Congrats On Your Marriage~!

━━━✦❘༻🔮༺❘✦━━━

{Your POV}

~~~~~

The three of us then made it to a staircase. "*Huff* *Huff* *Phew*... That guy's pretty slow, so we should be safe from him here..." Kaito explained. "*Huff* *Huff*... I'm really sorry.. This is all my fault." I admitted and looked down. "You didn't know the veil was an anomaly. That part of this situation was out of your control. Also, it doesn't seem intending to harm us for now. Let's take a moment to catch our breath and reevaluate."

"Eeek! I was so pissed at Luca I forgot, but that thing's an anomaly, isn't it..? Oh my god..." Kaito complained, taking a step back. "If we don't figure out how to remove it though, it could become violent again." Luca explained and looked down at the veil I was wearing. "Is it even safe now?! You sure it's not gonna randomly go snake mode again?!" I shook my head. "I'm not sure... It does seem calm at the moment..."

Thankfully the only person it attacked was Romeo... "What's the matter? are you hurt?" Luca asked me. "No... I'm okay. I was just thinking... the moment before the veil started attacking, Romeo grabbed my arm harshly... May it was just reacting to that?" Kaito then joined in, "H-Hold on. If that's true, then why didn't it attack us? I kind of... clung to you back there... Sorry about that..." Then Luca also added, "And i was quite rough with you when I was questioning your intentions, though I didn't mean to be..."

I hummed. "But I never thought at any point that either of you were trying to hurt me." Kaito smiled. "O-Of course not! I'm not like Romeo! My gram always told me to treat women with more care than you would a hangnail!" I giggled. "I think this veil might have understood that. I don't think it's attacking people. I think it might be trying to protect me from people with malicious intentions."

"E-Even if you're right, you can't take it off, right?" I groaned and nodded. "I think we should ask the academy for help..." I sighed. "You're ri-" "Just a moment." I looked over to Luca in confusion. "When I first met you two, I touched the veil." I blinked twice. "When we first met..?" I made an "Oh!" sound as I remembered Luca lifting up the veil. "Both Kaito and I moved the veil when we touch it, didn't we?"

"You're right! Because I tried to see your- U-Umm... nevermind..." Kaito stopped himself so Luca spoke next, "But you've been saying you can't take it off. Why is that?" I shrugged. "Maybe it's the type you can't remove yourself?" Kaito asked. "The type you can't remove yourself..? What do you mean?" I asked what he meant. "I swear I've head about it in class before... Hmmmmm..." "As a rule, anomalies that provide great power instantly come with a great cost."

"Yeah! Something like that!" Kaito snapped his fingers and nodded. "Nice work, Kaito. So you do pay attention in class." "I listen! I just can't remember it all!" I laughed because Kaito really did remind me of Ace. then Luca approached me and lifted up the veil.

[HHHHHAAAAAAAAAA OMG BAE LIKE- DAMN I JUST WANNA- *MWAH*]

I felt my face getting even warmer as Luca and I made eye contact. I didn't even hear what Kaito was saying. Until he walked over to me. "Is that you..?" Kaito then pointed at a board and pinned in the center was my own face. "Wanted..? What?" "They said this anomaly escaped" Luca then furrowed his brows and glared at me. "Did you steal it?"

I waved my hands and shook my head. "I can explain! I just meant to borrow it, I didn't know it was an anomaly! I was hiding in the closet and I found it in there..." Kaito blinked and asked, "The closet? Where we first met?" I nodded but then Luca interrupted. "Then why are you wanted by the academy? Who are you?" There was hurt in their eyes as they both stared at me, awaiting my answer. I hung my head. "I...I'm not actually a student at Darkwick. I'm not a transfer student either..." I admitted, playing with the hem of my NRC uniform skirt.

"Then what are you doing here?" Luca asked, his glare a bit softer. "I don't really know all the detail, but the chancellor said I've been cursed..." Kaito then went from scared to panic. "Cursed?! Seriously?!" I nodded. "I was just trying to get home... I just got on a train... But I was attacked by an anomaly then brought here without a clue." Luca sighed. "I see... To break the curse, I assume." "Apparently" I said with a shrug.

"But... Then why are you trying to escape? If you stay here, they can help you, right?!" Kaito asked worriedly. "They said they don't know how to break it yet..." I admitted and looked off to the side. They both gasped so I continued, "And they told me I couldn't leave until it was broken..." "What...? But they just dragged you here out of the blue, didn't they?" Kaito asked, crossing his arms. "They can't just dump all that on you and expect you to do what they want..."

"That's how I felt... That's why I thought I'd just do home first, then decide what to do. I never thought all this would happen... I'm really sorry for not being honest with you." I apologized and looked down at my feet. "S-Stop, don't apologize! You didn't do anything wrong!" Kaito told me. "I understand the situation now. Please don't hang your head." Luca encouraged.

I slowly looked up, happy that they weren't mad at me. 'These two practically are the opposite of Ace and Deuce.' "Thank you... Both of you..." Having finally admitted the truth, I felt the clouds that had been gathering in my heart instantly dissipate. "You said you're not a student here, correct?" I hummed. "No, I'm not."

"Then please give me your contact details." I felt embarrassed at how sudden that was and said nothing. Kaito on the other hand, "What?! Who asks that at a time like this?! Read the room, dude!!" Luca just ignored Kaito and pulled out his phone. "Even if you're able to leave, you'll still be cursed. I'll serch for a way to break your curse. Please go back to your regular life, and wait for me to call." I bit my lip. 'He's so nice!' I thought and covered my mouth to not squeal.

"H-Hey... Are you sure that's okay? The sign says to report her..." I flinched at Kaito's words but Luca explained his reasonings, "She's a civilian, not a Darkwick student. We have a duty to protect her. We can make the report after we send her home." "Luca..." I awed. "R-Right! Yeah, let's do that! Just leave everything to us, [Y/n]." Kaito added, giving me a closed eye smile. "S-So, could you give me your number t-"

Before Kaito finished his sentenced the veil started glowing, which shocked and confused the three of us. The veil floated off my head. 'This glow. It's warm.' I thought as the veil shrunk and floated to my finger, making me gasp at how hot it was. But when the glow vanished I looked at my finger to see... A ring..?

"It... turned into a ring?" Luca asked. "What? Why? What is happening?" Kaito questioned. I just shrugged and then a gunshot rung out through the halls. "He- *Cough* HEY! Quit it with the smoke, you one trick pony!" When the smoke cleared a bit, I saw Romeo heading our way. "I only brought one type of bullet today! It's your fault for running away all the time! Just shut up and hand over Hera's-..... Huh? Hey! What did you do with Hera's Snakes!?" Romeo yelled, pointing at me.

"The anomaly you're looking for turned into a ring. It's on her finger." Luca told him. "What the fuck?! Quit blubbering half assed lies and tell me where you put it!" Romeo glared at us. "We really aren't lying this time." Kaito said firmly. "What..?" Romeo stated in confusion so I spoke up, "Sorry, but it's true" I held up my right hand to show him the ring, but that only seemed to make him angrier. "All right, fine! I'll have it with your finger still attached!"

Romeo pointed his rifle and me and I went to get my wand. "I'll handle him." Luca whispered to me and took my hand in his. "[Iggnaim]" Luca said.... But unlike last time where the bullet disappeared... A tentacle appeared and slapped the bullet away. 'Something's off' I thought and slowly turned around to see a big monster. My jaw dropped and the monster let out a scream.

"What..."

I turned to Luca, who now had a look of horror on his face.

"What did you just do..?"

𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫: [ 11 | Ghouls]『👺』

#𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥 #original story #tokyo debunker x reader #twisted wonderland reader

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rimeiii · 11 months

Text

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it despite my fear of getring backlash:

I am not a fan with how WHB handles the usage of Solomon's Tears.

(Rant post, feel free to skip over, rest under the cut. I just needed to get this out of my chest.)

Thank god they've made a statement about the availability of Tears, but in my opinion, their way of handling this is the equivalent of slapping a bandaid on a gaping wound - it fails to address the root of the issue that's making Tears such a necessary material in the first place, it being several aspects of the game design.

There have been several design choices that confuse me when it comes to WHB, which I would chalk up to WHB being PB's very first game that purely isn't otome. But these design choices often involve game balancing issues, which for me personally directly impacts my enjoyment of the game. And it is these design choices that immediately impact the need for Tears, and why the initial update changing the availability of these Tears sparked so much controversy.

But before that, I have some menial complaints that can be chalked up to me being spoiled by other games. First of all, the large amounts of filler stages, while normal for a gacha, still doesn't make it a fun experience to play through - especially when there are barely any changes to the stage layouts. The only reason why Plants vs Zombies were able to do this is because of the way their stages are set up:

Stages 1, 3, 6, and 8 introduce a new mechanic/zombie

Stages 2, 4, 7, and 9 are harder stages that test what you knew from the previous stage

Stage 5 is a minigame stage

Stage 10 is a conveyor belt boss stage

Every stage gives you a new plant, oftentimes one that is relevant to the new mechanic/zombie at play/about to be introduced (for example, Puff Shrooms upon ending 1-10, a 0 Sun plant with shorter range that helps in earlygame because the next world is nighttime, which means no Sun from the sky)

As for the other TD games in the market? Arknights has different maps for each story stage. So does Path to Nowhere, from what I recall. If there are filler stages, they're very few and far in between. It's why Granblue Fantasy changed their story chapters to no longer have a solo battle at each segment - it hinders the storytelling.

One of the most baffling things in my opinion is the fact that the game has the same upgrade requirements for all units regardless of rarity. This is such a weird design choice for me because in most games, lower rarities are cheaper when it comes to upgrade costs.

For comparison's sake, some screenshots I took for promoting S and A+ ranks.

Belial, an S-rank Marksman, requires 22k Gold, 22k Books, 10 Tears, and 22 Fire Jellybeans.

It's the same for the A+ Healer Morax, save for the elemental jelly beans which is changed to his element, Light. And this is the same amount needed for upgrading L characters as well.

This design choice isn't particularly good, in my opinion. It bottlenecks players and puts them in a mindset position of "upgrading anything apart from Ls and some choice S/A+ ranks is a resource sink". It makes people think that building anything except the strongest of units isn't worth it, which in turn renders the existence of lower rarity/weaker units moot, especially considering the scarcity of the Tears in the first place. Because why would you raise them if you're going to gain more of an advantage from building these high-rarity units? You're going to get a more immediate and significant power boost by upgrading Ls in the first place.

This is even more pronounced in WHB specifically because in most gachas, lower rarity units tend to require less to upgrade. Take a look at the E2 requirements of three Tactician Vanguards in Arknights, in which Elite upgrades are the closest approximation to promotion in WHB.

Beanstalk is the lowest rarity of the archetype at 4*, and her E2 material requirements consist of two types of tier 3 materials (Coagulating Gel and Manganese Ore, both with blue borders), Vanguard Chip Packs, and LMD.

Then you have the 5* Blacknight, whose material requirements now include a tier 4 material (Incandescent Alloy Block, with a pink border) in addition to a tier 3 material (Loxic Kohl), Vanguard Dualchips (crafted from Vanguard Chip Packs and Chip Catalysts, both of which are farmable regardless), and more LMD.

And finally, the 6* Vigil, whose material requirements are now a tier 5 material (Crystalline Electronic Unit, with a yellow border) and a tier 4 material (Optimized Device), more Vanguard Dualchips (4 to Blacknight's 3), and even more LMD.

Yet in other games, I don't mind raising lower rarity units - for several reasons, depending on the game. In Granblue Fantasy (despite my complaints about how quickly the meta evolves and how lim-centric it is), SR units serve as the stopgap for party comps until you can fill out your roster with SSR characters, and some of these SR characters still see use like Lyria. In other games like Fire Emblem Heroes, Memento Mori, and Princess Connect: ReDive, all units gain the potential to hit the highest rarity - I have a Yukari (originally a 1* unit) ready to hit 6* in PriConne, while I have a +9 merged 5* Fallen Takumi (farmable unit at 3*/4* base) in FEH. Arknights' case is more nuanced, where it's partly the same case as GBF, but also the fact that lower rarity units can fit into niches that high rarity units don't fill.

With these other games, I never feel like raising a lower rarity unit is a waste of resources. The costs of uncapping characters in general is negligible in GBF, except for the Eternals and the Evokers - those of which are reasonably time-gated because of their sheer meta impact and how strong they are compared to all other characters. Except for particularly egregious cases like Tsukinogi, every single Arknights Operator has their uses, and they often see use in Integrated Strategies.

And let's not get into the debacle that are skill levels, because of course you need more materials for that. I don't mind having high costs for optimizing skills - Masteries in Arknights works like that, after all. Pictured below is the cost of M3-ing Bagpipe's third skill.

That's right - a tier 5 (Bipolar Nanoflake) and tier 4 (Oriron Block) material. And luckily, you can farm for all of these skill upgrade materials outside of events, crafting the higher tiers as necessary. There is less opportunity cost for me to E2 my 4* and 5* units because I can just farm the materials again anyways - and even then I some Masteries on these units are amazing. S1M3 Myrtle (4*) is probably the best DP generator in the game, while S2M3 Lappland (5*) also helps with her skill uptime.

Then you go back to WHB's skill upgrades, which mind you is also the same cost between rarities, and guess what else you need?

Yep. Tears. A ludicrous amount of it, considering its availability. And let's not even get into the Tears required for the Unholy Board, if that matters to you (and it does, because it also gives buffs for your L units).

This skews the game balance towards the L units even more. Ideally you'd be raising skill levels once your units reach high levels, because everything is percentage based and the lower your base stats, the lower effect these skill levels have on your skills. But that just means you'll still need Tears because, well, you still need to promote. And remember the opportunity cost again, because all rarities have the same skill upgrade cost, further incentivizing you building Ls and ignoring everything else.

It's ridiculous.

And the added nail in the coffin: the reduced rewards that basically halved the amount of Tears you get.

I seriously, genuinely hope they take the availability of Solomon's Tears as well as game balancing into consideration when performing the next balance patch. Because otherwise, I can't see this game being an enjoyable experience for me moving forward.

Unless, this was the intended way the game was designed, in which I just...I have no more words to say.

#what in hell is bad #rimei rambles #rant post #cw rant #i'm just tired man #other games catching my eye #and i'm heavily considering dropping this game #i've been playing lovebrush and enjoying it #and reverse 1999 is coming in a few days #chapter 12 in ak too #i'll hold out until i see what they cook up on the 25th #but otherwise i'm afraid this might be goodbye

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braveclementine · 5 months

Text

Chapter 10

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

💙💙💙💙

𝕸𝖞 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖈𝖍 𝖜𝖆𝖘 twisting and turning at dinner. Snape had been. . . well I didn't really know what emotion had played out on his face. He'd kind've frozen, and then of course, I'd said there was nothing we could do about it if it was already hoodwinked and he turned kind've purple. Perhaps it was a medical condition. Shock could do that to people. Or maybe he just cared about me. . . no, I'm sure that wasn't the reason. Shock, definitely shock.

The other students were excited, talking about the possible house champions. I mean, if Cedric did get it and I was the second, well it was a double Hufflepuff win which would be nice. I wondered who the others were and why I had seen only my name coming out of the goblet. It was a bit funny, I'd never really seen a vision where I was involved. I only assumed that was because I saw the visions from my point of view.

The Halloween feast was just as good as yesterdays, but not as many people seemed to have enjoyed it. Maybe because two feasts in a row is not as good as one feast every couple of months. The Bulgarians seemed to enjoy themselves though. A few boys were sitting with Krum and I today. I didn't speak much, mostly listening to everything they had to say. Some of the stuff they talked about was fascinating enough that I momentarily forgot about the Cup.

Ron had asked me to get a signed autograph from Krum but I figured he could get it himself if he really, really wanted it.

When Dumbledore stood up, the Great Hall got silent very quickly. I looked up at the teachers table. Madam Maxime and Karkaroff were both tense. Karkaroff's eyes met mine- or maybe they were looking at the students behind me, I wasn't sure. Ludo looked extremely excited and was winking at various students in the crowd though I noticed he particularly avoided the Gryffindor table. Mr. Crouch had a stoic face on an looked utterly bored. I met Snape's eyes. I held them for a second before looking away. He looked how I felt- sick.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision. I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called," and here Dumbledore's eyes briefly flickered over to mine. So Snape had told him- good, "I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber where they will be receiving their first instructions." Dumbledore motioned to a door behind the staff table.

He took out his wand and waved it. All the candles that floated in the air were extinguished and so were the flames in the lanterns on the walls. Only the candles in the pumpkins stayed lit. The Goblet of Fire was almost painful to look at- the blue white flames were extremely bright. My stomach grew even more nervous and I thought that I might just throw up.

I counted down the seconds in my head and when I reached 0, the flames inside the goblet turned red. Sparks began to fly from it and a tongue of flame shot into the air, a piece of parchment fluttered out of it. The whole room gasped but my mouth wouldn't open. I think it was glued shut. Despite being fairly certain my name would come out last- my stomach turned.

"The Champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore read. The Bulgarians cheered and I turned and looked at him and said, "Congratulations." with as big of a smile as I could manage. He smiled back and got up and slouched to the door that Dumbledore had indicated. Everyone could hear Karkaroff shouting, "Bravo Viktor! Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down and everyone's focus was on the Goblet once again. It turned red and shot up another flame and a second piece of parchment- a frilly thing, all folded up like a circular fan- came down and Dumbledore reached up and grabbed it.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore announced. She didn't get as much applause from her own group. In fact, many of the girls burst into tears except those from Ombrelune who stared stoically ahead. Fleur Delacour was a girl who looked like a Veela. Her long silvery hair was nearly as long as mine, all the way down to her butt, which she shook as she walked up the aisle between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

When she went through the door, everyone stopped cheering immediately. The excitement could be tasted in the air and I wished that I could enjoy it. A third parchment slip shot up into the air and Dumbledore shot his hand up to grab it. A pause and then, "The Hogwarts Champion, is Cedric Diggory."

I managed to forget about the fourth slip as I joined in cheering for Cedric with everyone else. I jumped to my feet with the others, screaming. The only slight difference between my screams and the others screams were they were happy, I sounded a bit panicked. Cedric grinned at me as he passed by and headed off toward the chamber behind the teacher's table.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore shouted, trying to keep things normal though his eyes flickered to me once again. I had already sat back down, staring at the table, trying not to be sick. Could I be wrong? I'd been wrong about other things before. . . the polecat, for instance. . . and Hermione's badges. . . but wrong about something this big? I put a hand over my mouth, leaning on my elbow. I was going to be sick. . . I was going to be horribly sick.

"Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute-" And then he stopped talking as the goblet's fire turned red again, sending up another piece of parchment. The whole room gasped.

Dumbledore reached up and grabbed it, looking at me again. I found it difficult to swallow. He opened his mouth to read- what I supposed was my name- and then closed it, frowning. I felt hope come. Was there no name on it? That was the best case scenario. I found I was half-risen from my seat and then he said, "Harry Potter."

I sat back down heavily, stunned. I had been wrong again? My hands trembled and I placed them on the table, trying to take deep breaths to calm myself. What was happening? Were my visions slipping? Why was I seeing things only halfway? What was wrong with me!?

Professor McGonagall had gotten to her feet to speak to Professor Dumbledore. I glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw Harry was saying something to Hermione and Ron. But his words didn't seem to register with them.

"Harry Potter! Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Hermione pushed Harry. Harry got to his feet, walking slowly up between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. He reached Dumbledore who, unsmiling, said, "Through the door, Harry." He looked at me again.

Harry went through the door and then I got up, and sprinted to the top of the stairs. Professor McGonagall made to move as though to stop me but Dumbledore touched her arm and I went past them. People started to murmur and I sprinted down the corridor.

Harry was standing to the side while Cedric, Krum, and Fleur all stood in front of the fireplace, looking at him.

"What is it? Do zey want us back in ze Hall?" Fleur was asking.

"No." I said as Harry just shook his head. Harry looked at me. "Elizabeth, what's happening?" He asked me in a strange voice.

"I don't know." I said, panicking. "I didn't foresee it."

Cedric had turned at the sound of my voice but didn't ask anything as Ludo Bagman came into the room.

"Extraordinary! Absolutely Extraordinary! Gentlemen. . . lady, may I introduce- incredibly though it may seem- the fourth Triwizard champion?" Bagman said, having taken Harry's arm, and led him to the fireplace. Viktor Krum straightened up at these words, his face darkening. Cedric looked from Bagman, to Harry, to me, trying to find something out. Fleur however, tossed her hair and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke? No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!" Ludo said and he sounded positively joyful about it. I thought I might be sick again and Harry looked the same way.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake, 'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."

"Well. . . it is amazing. But as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the goblet. . . I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage. . . It's down in the rules, you're obliged. . . Harry will just have to do the best he-"

The door opened again and Harry and I turned to look to see who was coming. It was Dumbledore followed by Mr. Crouch, Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, McGonagall and Snape.

"Madam Maxime!" Fleur said at once. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Through my fear, confusion, and shame I snorted in annoyance. Little boy? Would I have been little girl? My stomach did another turn and I sat down and put my head on my knees before I passed out. I really shouldn't have been taking this so hard, but contestants had died in the past. Part of me wondered if I was glad it wasn't me, or if I wished it was me so that it wouldn't be Harry. Strange though- I was so excited for Cedric.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr." She said impatiently.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore." I heard Karkaroff saying. He sounded close by to me. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions- or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" He gave a short laugh.

"But Harry's not competing under Hogwarts." I managed to say, looking up. "It's impossible for the Goblet to pick two from any one place. Whoever put Harry's name in the Goblet put him down under a different school."

Everyone was silent for a moment and then Karkaroff said, "That as it may be, we were under the impression that the Age Line was to keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore. Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"It's not one's fault but Potters, Karkaroff. Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here-" Snape said softly, his black eyes alight with mischief. I glared at him.

"Thank you Severus." Dumbledore said firmly and it was hard not to grin. Professor Dumbledore looked from me, to Harry and asked very calmly, "Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked.

'No." Harry said.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of fire for you?"

"No." Harry said again.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" Madam Maxime announced.

"No he isn't." I snapped.

"I don't know how you would know that." Karkaroff asked, looking at me sharply. "Unless you've been with him every moment of the day?"

I blushed. I certainly wasn't going to tell the foreigners about my vi-

"Oh, but of course!" Bagman said excitedly. He was so excited I was surprised when he didn't clap his hands together with joy. "You would've seen it through your visions if Harry had put his name in the cup."

I closed my eyes. Lovely- now they knew. "Right." I said bitterly. "And I didn't."

Madam Maxime didn't seem to care about my visions, but Karkaroff was giving me a calculated look now. Lovely. I looked over at the other Professors and saw that both Snape and Dumbledore were giving Karkaroff a guarded look now.

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line." Madam Maxime was saying.

"It is possible, of course." Dumbledore said mildly, looking away from Karkaroff who was still looking at me.

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake! Really, what nonsense! Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, throwing a nasty look at Professor Snape.

"Well he didn't put it in." I muttered, but quietly because no one seemed to be listening to my opinions anyways. I was peering into the future again, trying to see what I'd missed the first time. It was strange. . . the names were coming so easily now. . . there was Harry's name on the slip of paper. . .why had I seen something different before?

"Mr. Crouch. . . Mr. Bagman." Karkaroff said slowly. "You are our-er- objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman was wiping his face with a handkerchief, looking the most excited out of anyone in this room. I licked my lips and stood up. I had a mind to leave but Dumbledore said softly, "Miss Kane. . ." I stood next to Harry instead, glaring at the floor.

Mr. Crouch spoke curtly. "We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

He looked over at me and we kept eye contact while a majority of the rest of the conversation took place.

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front." Bagman said as though that was the end of the discussion.

Had Voldemort already visited his house? Had the visit not happened? I didn't really know any of the details- they were hazy. What was he thinking about, looking at me. Still, neither of us looked away from each other.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students." His stupid smile was gone. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes but didn't say anything.

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that. The Goblet of Fire's just gone out- it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament-"

"-In which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing! After all our meeting and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?" Uncle Moody said, having just entered the room.

Staring into Barty Crouch's eyes was like having a silent conversation. It felt like he was trying to tell me something and I wasn't grasping it. But now, at Moody's entrance, we held eyes for another second and then he looked away, stepping back into the shadows again. I looked at where Uncle Moody had just walked in.

"Convenient? I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody." Karkaroff said in fake disdain.

"Don't you? It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."

"Evidently, someone 'oo whished to give 'Ogwarts two bites of ze apple!" Madam Maxime cried out.

"I quite agree, Madam Maxime." Karkaroff said, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards-"

"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter. But. . . funny thing. . . I don't hear him saying a word. . ." Moody growled at Karkaroff.

"Why should 'e complain? 'E 'as ze chance to compete 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money- zis is a chance many would die for!"

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it." Moody said with a growl.

There was silence, a tense one, and then I gasped. Everyone's eyes shot to me and Professor McGonagall said, "Miss Kane, perhaps you should sit down before you pass out."

I did feel horrible, realizing what I'd just realized. "I think I'm going to be sick." I muttered and I ran from the room. I sprinted to the bathroom, the farthest from the Great Hall as I could get, and went inside, locking myself in a stall.

Of course! Hadn't Voldemort said that Bertha Jorkins had given him good information? Being in the ministry meant that she would've known about the Tournament. But how had he gotten here? I supposed it was possible that Pettigrew could have come in rat form. . . but Voldemort didn't trust him enough to leave by himself. . . nor was Voldemort in the position to be alone. Voldemort also had said he needed another servant. Who was it? Karkaroff? He was the only possible explanation. . . maybe Madam Maxime? I highly doubted it.

Thinking of how Voldemort had killed Bertha Jorkins and now Harry might die made me lurch over the toilet and throw up. I'd lost my parents. I couldn't lose Harry too. And with my visions being unreliable, how was I to keep him from dying?

"Miss Kane?" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out through the bathroom some minutes later. "Are you in here?"

"Yeah." I croaked. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you." She said, sounding sympathetic.

"Sure." I muttered. I waited a few more seconds to make sure I wasn't going to throw up and then got up, flushed, and left the bathroom with her.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

I nearly nodded yes and then shook my head. "Harry's in danger. I hope Dumbledore doesn't let him compete."

She didn't answer and I knew she didn't want to be the one to tell me that he had to compete. I knew it already, but still. . .

Dumbledore was waiting in his office with Uncle Moody standing on the right side of the room, leaning on his cane. Snape was on the left side of the room, standing erect, with crossed arms. Professor McGonagall stayed near me, though she left me a little room.

"Are you feeling better Miss Kane?" Dumbledore asked kindly. He was standing behind his desk, looking preoccupied.

"Not really." I said weakly. "But I know I owe an explanation."

"Perhaps you could explain what upset you so greatly?" Dumbledore said, peering over his half-moon glasses.

I nodded and told him about the dream I had over the summer. I included every detail possible from how the room looked, to who was in the room, and every word that was said. I had thought about it so much, I had memorized every detail. About their mentioning the Quidditch World Cup, Wormtail offering to use a different wizard or witch, Voldemort's instance on using Harry, Bertha Jorkins, Voldemort's need for another helper. . . but I paused about them mentioning me.

Dumbledore seemed to notice my hesitancy. "Go on. Every detail is important."

So I reluctantly told him what was said about me. Snape's hands balled up into fists when I got to the part of Voldemort wanting to use me for my visions. McGonagall had her mouth over her hand. Uncle Moody leaned forward on his walking stick, something foreign behind his eyes. And then I finished up with the Muggle man coming into the room and Voldemort killing him.

"Why haven't you told the Ministry about Bertha Jorkins?" Snape asked quickly.

I rubbed my head in frustration. "Because this was a dream." I emphasized. "This wasn't a vision. Besides, Fudge wouldn't believe me last year about Sirius Black, so why would he believe me about Voldemort rising again using Peter Pettigrew- who Fudge believes to be dead? And besides," I added on hotly. "My visions haven't been entirely reliable this year, have they? Who can say if the dream even took place?"

"What was the Muggle man's name?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

I racked my brain for that information. "I don't think it was ever said."

Dumbledore rummaged in his desk for a moment and tossed me a newspaper and said, "Was that him?"

I read the headline: Frank Bryce found Murdered in the Old Riddle House

Riddle house. I snorted. That was hilarious. There was a picture of the man and I recognized him immediately. I tossed the newspaper back to him, "That's him, yes."

Dumbledore nodded, "I thought so."

"You have a lot more faith in my visions than I do." I snapped. Then I sucked in air because I shouldn't be mad at Dumbledore. It wasn't his fault that my visions were wacked.

Dumbledore looked at me in mild surprise, "You've always been right before."

"Exactly!" I said, exasperated. "And I've never slipped up more in my entire life! I'm foreseeing things and they aren't happening! There's something wrong with me and I don't think you should be relying on me until I figure out why I'm all messed up!"

"Your visions don't define you." Professor McGonagall said sharply.

"Maybe not." I vented. "but they're just about the only reason I ever end up here anyways so when I don't have anything to share, I'm pretty useless."

Snape's face was a strange shade of red. I wasn't sure what he was mad about, but I didn't really want to find out.

"I've known you for a long time, before I knew about your visions." Uncle Moody said, leaning on his walking stick. "Even as a kid, your insight's always been good. I trust that."

I blushed slightly, a bit pleased, but kept my face stoic. "Can I go?" I muttered.

"Of course. I'm sure Mr. Diggory is looking for you to celebrate." Dumbledore said, a bit bemused. "Oh, one last thing."

"Yes?" I asked, trying not to sound exasperated.

"Is there something about Barty Crouch that you wish to tell me about?" Dumbledore asked.

I was so glad I didn't blush and I said, "Nothing at all."

Dumbledore nodded once and then said, "You may go."

I left without looking at anyone and hurried from the room. But I couldn't bring myself to go to the Hufflepuff common room. Instead, I hurried to the entrance hall and slipped out through the doors. I walked down to the lake, and walked away from the Durmstrang ship. I didn't like Karkaroff.

I took my shoes off, putting my feet in the water and then sitting down on the gravel and rocks. I stared out at the lake. A bunch of flashes of visions burst into my mind suddenly.

"Get out of my head!" I shouted, pressing my hands to the side of my head. Then, putting my head on my knees, I started to cry.

I couldn't help it- really. I had tried to hold things in for too long. I hadn't want to cry in front of dad so I'd bottled everything up. I hadn't cried for a long time and it was a bit of relief to let go of all my feelings.

I sobbed into my knees, trying to keep quiet. Then I felt arms slip around my shoulders, pulling me into a sort of awkward hug. I wasn't sure who it was until I felt the long hair against my neck. Snape.

I put a hand on his arm, pulling it closer. I was being so stupid, I knew, but I needed this sort of closeness.

"You're not useless you know." Snape said, his chin resting on my head.

I hiccupped. I didn't want to cry in front of him either. I quickly bottled the tears, wiping them off my face with my sleeve. "Sorry." I said.

"I don't want you to apologize." He muttered, "and you don't have to stop crying either."

"I hate when people watch me cry." I muttered.

"Technically, I can't see you anyways." Snape said lightly and I laughed. It was a hoarse laugh, but it was a laugh.

"Thanks." I said, feeling better. "You didn't have to follow me, you know. I'm not running away or anything."

At first, I thought he wasn't going to answer and then he said, "You should stay away from the Durmstrang ship. Karkaroff..."

"He wants to use my for my visions too?" I asked bitterly. "I figured as much."

"Something like that." Snape muttered.

I noticed that with his chin on my head and his arms around my shoulders, he was hugging me a bit like how dad might've held me as a little girl.

I turned around, burying my head into his shoulder. He rearranged his arms and I felt much better. This was a different type of hold.

I wasn't sure how long it was before I said, "I should go to the common room. Maybe they've stopped celebrating."

"You hate celebrations?" Snape asked, sounding amused.

"No, not usually. Only because I want to go to bed but its' Cedric, you know? And since we're close I have to stay up."

"You could. . ." He started and then stopped and quickly said, "never mind."

"What?" I asked, interested and sat up, looking into his eyes. I was aware that we were very close, though it was dark.

"It's nothing." He said huskily, moving to get up.

"Well now you have to tell me." I said, teasingly, getting up as well.

"I was going to offer my office, the way I did in first year when Quirrell. . ." he drifted off again. "But you're right, I reckon they've stopped celebrating."

My cheeks were burning and I was glad it was so dark out. "I'll take up your offer anyways."

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𝖂𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 up, I tried to figure out where I was, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Of course, Professor Snape's office. I quickly rolled out of bed, pulling on my robes and shoes. I made the bed quickly and noticed that he was still sleeping on the floor, snoring.

My heart thudded in my chest and I froze. His silky black hair was swept across his face. He looked peaceful. He never looked like that when he was awake. I crept over to where he was and moved the hair out of his face. His hair was so soft. I touched his lips with one finger lightly. His snoring stopped and started up again, giving me a heart attack.

I reckoned he was awake. So, I bent down, brushed my lips against his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank you."

Then I stood and walked calmly out of the room. But once I closed the door behind me, I felt giddy and I left the classroom in great spirits.

I met Hermione coming out of the Great Hall. She had a stack of toast in a napkin, butter running through each piece onto the next.

"I'm going to get Harry, want to come?" She asked.

I nodded. I followed her up to the Gryffindor common room. The portrait opened before we even reached it and Harry came out and looked at us for a moment. "Hello, I brought you this... Want to go for a walk?" Hermione asked.

"Good idea." Harry said gratefully and then looked at me as we started walking and said, "Are you feeling better?"

I nodded. "I didn't want to compete in the Triwizard Tournament and when I had a vision my name was going to come out, I just didn't feel good. The pressure in there was just a little too much. Dumbledore's letting you compete?"

Harry nodded. As we were outside now, walking around the lake, eating, Harry told Hermione what had happened and caught me up with the other parts after I left.

"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself. The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry. . . I don't think any student could have done it. . . they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's-"

"Have you seen Ron?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Erm. . . yes. . . he was at breakfast." Hermione said after some hesitation.

"Does he still think I entered myself?" Harry asked.

"Well. . . no, I don't think so. . . not really." Hermione said a bit awkwardly.

"He's jealous." I piped up.

"Jealous? Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Look." Hermione said patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault, I know you don't ask for it. . . but- well- you know, Ron's got all these brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous- he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many. . ."

"Great, Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it. . . People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go. . ."

"I'm not telling him anything." Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up! Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or-" Harry said loudly.

"That's not funny." I snapped at him.

"That's not funny at all." Hermione agreed anxiously. "Harry, I've been thinking- you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back tot he castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the ass?"

"Write to Sirius. You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. . . It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me-" Hermione looked at me and I nodded.

"I know what the letter says." I said. Or at least, I hoped that it did.

"Come off it." Harry said, looking at us like we were crazy. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament-"

"He'll find out anyways." I said. "It'll be in the Daily Prophet by tomorrow." (I hoped). "He'd rather hear from you anyways."

I summoned my letters to Sirius and Dad from the castle as we walked up to the Owlery. They came shooting out the door and into my hand. "We'll send Sadie. She can mail my letter to Sirius and yours since you can't use Hedwig. I'll use Hedwig to send a letter to Dad."

Dear Sirius, You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes- I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff. Elizabeth's pleased. Elizabeth and Hermione say hello. Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak -Harry

"Finished," He said and I took his letter and gave him the one I had written to dad. "Give that to Hedwig." I repeated as Hedwig flew down from the rafters.

"This is for Professor Lupin." he told Hedwig as he tied the letter to her leg. I worked on Sirius' letters with Sadie.

I petted her wings and let her out. "I ought to go find Cedric and congratulate him." I told the others. I hugged Harry tightly. "You're going to be fine, you know." I said reassuringly. "The other students aren't going to be happy and I'm sorry you'll have to put up with it, but Hermione and I'll be here." I promised.

"Thanks Elizabeth." Harry said with a tight smile.

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𝕴 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝕮𝖊𝖉𝖗𝖎𝖈 with some of his buddies in the library. I decided I wouldn't say anything because I didn't particularly like his friends. Cedric spotted me and jumped up and came over quickly. "There you are, I've been looking for you everywhere." he said.

"Congratulations." I said. "I'm really happy you got it."

"Walk with me." Cedric said, jerking his head out the library door. I followed behind him silently, a bit confused. "Are you okay?" He asked in concern as we were by ourselves. "You seemed really distressed about everything."

I sighed, running my hair through my knotted hair. "Yeah, I know. It's just. . ." I hesitated and then said, "When I had my visions, I-er- saw my name coming out of the Cup. And since I hadn't put my name in and I didn't want to compete in the first place, I was feeling horrible. But Harry's name came out and he didn't put his name in and when Professor Moody said maybe someone was trying to kill him well. . . I just got really upset."

"He really didn't put his name in the Goblet?" Cedric asked incredulously.

I nodded, "No one knows how his name was put into the Goblet. It's scary, really."

Cedric nodded, "Who put his name in it then?"

I shook my head, "I don't know. And that worries me. If I didn't seem something important, what else am I missing then?"

Cedric put an arm around my shoulder, "You shouldn't worry so much about those visions you know. They don't define you."

"McGonagall said something like that." I said. "But I still feel useless when I'm blind."

Cedric shook his head. "Get something to eat, alright? I know you didn't come back last night and you probably didn't eat breakfast."

I grinned reluctantly. "Sorry about not coming to the celebration."

Cedric waved his hand, "I don't care, Elizabeth. I just want you to be okay, alright?"

I nodded, "I'll go get something to eat.

Cedric hesitated, and then leaned in and kissed my cheek, "you do that." Then he walked back to the library. With burning cheeks, I headed to the Great Hall.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖋𝖊𝖜 days were hard on Harry. Only the Gryffindors were being kind to him. Everywhere he went, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins all hating on him. I got very frustrated with the Hufflepuffs who kept persuading me to stop being friends with Harry.

I'd been minding my business too, which made it even more frustrating. Cedric had been in the corner, talking to a huge group of people. Cedric was extremely popular and was usually always seen in a group of girls and boys. I'd been in the opposing corner, working on my homework. I still had a lot to do and I was rushing to get it done on time.

I didn't even realize that the girl was talking to me at first. She'd called "Hey!" And I didn't look up because I was trying to figure out what the Rune translation was. Then she called "Hey future-see-er." And I looked up.

"What?" I asked curtly. I hated being yanked out of homework reveries. When you have the flow, you have the flow. When you're interrupted, your thoughts stop and the essay is just harder to write when you eventually get back to it.

"Don't you like Cedric?" She asked and Cedric looked at her, frowning.

"Of course, I do." I said, trying to figure out why she might be asking about it. Half the girls were jealous about our close relationship.

"Then why are you still friends with Harry?" She asked defiantly.

I narrowed my eyes, "Why should I drop my friendship with him?" I asked harshly.

"Cause he's an attention-seeking git." Someone else said, laughing.

I slammed my books that I was holding down on the table so that I could shove them into my shoulder bag and said, "I can be friends with whoever the hell I want. I can support Cedric and Harry at the same time and if you all weren't such dunderheads, you'd be able to do that too."

Then I swept angrily out of the common room to go study in the Forbidden forest.

And then of course, there were the stupid Slytherins. I was passing through the hallway in the dungeon and saw the Gryffindors and Slytherins were lined up outside the Potions classroom. The Slytherins were howling with laughter and flashed their new badges to POTTER STINKS.

"Oh very funny. Really witty." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Want one, Granger. I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up." Draco said.

Harry and I had our wands out before anyone else could've blinked. I was feeling very angry right now and Draco was the perfect target.

"Harry!" Hermione said, not noticing me. No one seemed to notice I was there, their eyes were all on Draco and Harry. Good, I had a clear shot now.

"Go on, then, Potter. Moody's not here to look after you now- do it, if you've got the guts!" Draco said, his eyes glinting.

"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.

"Densaugeo!" Malfoy screamed.

"Ebulblio!" I shouted.

Harry's spell hit Goyle in the face, Malfoy's hit Hermione, and mine hit Malfoy. Goyle bellowed as boils sprang up on his face. Hermione's teeth started to grow, and Malfoy was trapped in a transparent bubble. Crabbe lunged at me, knocking me to the ground. I guess he didn't like using his wand.

"And what is all this noise about?" A soft, deadly voice, said down the corridor as Crabbe punched me in the face. I kneed him in the groin, getting him hard, satisfyingly.

Snape grabbed the back of Crabbe's collar, hauling him to his feet. I got up to my feet on my own, blood dripping from my nose.

"Hospital wing." He said, pointing to Goyle, "Hospital wing." He said, pointing to Hermione. They both went off in the same direction. He took out his wand and undid the spell I'd done on Malfoy. "Get to class Kane." Snape said, then bent down and said, "Come back after class."

I headed off to charms wondering what he could possibly want now.

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𝕴 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖓 the office door of the Potions classroom because he wasn't in the classroom. "Come in." He said in an ice cold voice.

I entered hesitantly. Why was he angry with me? Sure, I'd trapped Draco in a bubble and made sure Crabbe wasn't having children anytime soon but still. . . it's not like I'd been in the wrong.

He had his back to me, working at his private desk and said, "Sit." The only thing to sit down on was the bed.

"What do you want?" I muttered, staring at my feet. My nose was still hurting and I closed my eyes and pressed on it. It burned and hurt even more. Maybe it was broken.

His fingers touched my chin and he pulled my head up so he could see my face. "Episkey."

My nose snapped and I yelped in pain and shouted, "What was that for!"

But the pain in my nose was fading. Snape actually smiled and then said, "You could just thank me."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you."

I was briefly aware that his fingers were still on my chin and I reached up and touched his hand. We were still for a moment and then I drew away and said, "Really, thank you." I was blushing bright red, looking down, trying not to smile.

"I-I should- should go." I stumbled over my words and turned and nearly ran into the door and then ran from the room.

I was sure that if I had another meeting like that, I might actually kiss him.

And I wasn't sure how he'd react about that!

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𝕴 𝖜𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖊 𝖔𝖚𝖙 a letter to dad that night.

Dear Dad, The Daily Prophet's probably made a piece about it already, I reckon it'll be horrible too. It's going to paint Harry as such a lonely little boy which he isn't. I reckon he didn't say anything that the paper printed he said. Rubbish really, I don't know why you waste money on it. I'm feeling a bit off, I think that's simply because I don't understand why my visions are all wrong. I didn't tell you this yet but I had seen my name coming out of the Cup. Of course, then it was Harry's name but I don't know how I could've made such a mistake! Anyways, I reckon the first task ought to be dragons. You know, perfectly safe. I have to say I'm really glad my name wasn't shot out of the cup. I don't think I could handle it, considering I don't know how reliable my visions are. Of course then, I do suppose that I'd have a better reckoning than the others since I have an idea. Sorry, I'm complaining a lot. Magic school isn't as fun as I wish it was. I feel that every year, Harry's got some sort of hate coming towards him and I feel that I get some of the hate too, simply for being his friend. Especially this year, good lord. I wished the hat just put me in danger in Gryffindor. It's like I have to decide between Cedric and Harry and I can't because I love them both, you know? Anyways, I'll try to be more positive next time. I'm not really down. I've heard from Sirius a couple times and I know where he's staying so maybe I'll pay a visit. But Snape's always following me around. He thinks I'm in danger from the Durmstrangs. I don't know, maybe he's right. I don't understand his attitude towards me at all! He likes me a lot, I feel, and that in itself is confusing because he really ought to hate me. He hates Gryffindors and he fully well knows that's where I was supposed to end up. And he even likes me more than the Slytherins! Oh well, I hope you're doing alright. I miss you a lot, wish you were teaching this year. I've got Snape teaching me how to make Wolfsbane potion during our private lessons so maybe I'll be able to get my hands on some at some point. Not sure how I'll get it to you yet but I'll figure it out. I love you so much dad. -Elizabeth

I waited for it to dry, making sure no one was reading over my shoulder, and then I rolled it up and went up to the Owlery. Neither Hedwig or Sadie were back yet and with Ron's permission, I used Pig to send the letter to Dad.

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Post-Fall Falls False Starts- Chapter 16: Sunny Daze

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A storm had been raging in Rob's mind for as long as he could once remember. In the early days it was driven by simple rejection, but persistent doubts that his friends were not his friends; later, it swelled when he swore revenge, when he learned the truth of his universe's nonexistence, when he tried and tried and failed and failed over and over again to achieve something, anything. Moments of calm were rare. When he had to, he played parts, building personas with little pieces of himself plus personality traits made out of whole cloth, and brought them into control until it was time for the storm to supersede them again. Time after time these personas faltered and so he locked them away.

His anger and bitterness hadn't started with his banishment. It had always been there. He liked to blame his discontent on others, and yet for a long time he had been battling with a tiny part of himself that told him he, or his nature, was to blame. Maybe it was more complicated. Regardless, he never had time to sit and think, and every time he did have a quiet moment, his mind would inevitably wander to his next revenge plan or his next mark (when it came to stealing money). A defense mechanism.

When he opened his eye to see starlight peeking through the forest canopy above him, he noticed- but did not dwell on- the fact that his inner space was quiet, desolate, and bright like a peaceful sunny day. It wasn't his pragmatic side that drove those thoughts away but Sarah's face poking abruptly into his field of view.

"You're awaaake! Are you feeling okay?"

He considered the question.

"Yeah!" he said, smiling with an uncharacteristic warmness. "I'm- I'm better than ever."

She cocked her head.

"...Bill?" she asked.

"No! No. It's me! Why would you assume it's Bill?"

"I just expected you to be all, 'Auuugh! I'm in pain!' or at least, all, 'Auuugh! I'm in emotional pain!'"

Now that she mentioned it, he was hurting all over, but physical pain would pass, and it hardly held a candle to the brilliant peace that echoed through his headspace. He was alive, and there were no intruders in his mind anymore, and there was something else that was different, too... but he quickly realized that trying to figure out what that was might compromise the happiness, and so he decided to put the subject aside. Sarah seemed on edge. Rob wasn't sure why.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of the stuff I said when you were asleep did you hear?" she asked.

"You were talking while I was asleep?"

"I guess that's a 0."

"Hey, maybe my subconscious assimilated some of it."

"Long story short, you're wanted by the police, the red van guy is wanted by the time police, and we have to earn money to pay him back for some stuff I stole."

Wanted by the police? Huh? Oh, yeah, Bill had stolen some clothes... clothes he was still wearing! He tore off the hoodie and tossed it aside, where it triggered one of the pit traps. He then remembered he had also stolen some stuff as himself. Not good.

"What did you steal? And why?" he asked.

"Just a DVD... and- can this be our little secret?- also some rope, and a few other things."

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"You're one to talk!"

"What do you mean, I'm one to talk?"

Sarah seemed even more on edge now.

"I said, what do you mean I'm one to-"

"Don't worry about it! It's fiiine, it's fine."

"Name a time when I've ever stolen anything."

She wondered if he had hit his head, but didn't say that, scrambling to change the subject instead. "I don't really know the specifics! Look, if you want to turn over a new leaf that's fine with me! I can be the bad girl in our relationship. I mean friendship, by that, of course!"

He chuckled.

"Turn over a new leaf? I'm not that bad."

"S-sure you are! You're, like, the villain type!"

"I resent that remark."

"No, but you're the one who gave yourself that title... you know what? Never mind. You're clearly a little out of it-" she swirled her pointer finger next to her head- "-so I'll let you relax. You slept for like a whole day!"

"I appreciate your concern, but I don't need to relax. I feel like getting up and going for a walk, enjoying the scenery, hoping I don't run into danger, you know?"

"You aren't sounding like you."

"Oh, really? And what's that supposed to mean, huh? I didn't realize you were the world's foremost expert on me!"

"Calm down-"

"You're right." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I got a bit angry just then. I hope I wasn't too abrasive."

Sarah found herself unable to keep up that bright smile of hers and stared blankly at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing! So, Rick, what's your first order of business?"

"I'm gonna drink from the waterfall, probably. I'm thirsty! Oh, and, it's no big deal, but it's Rob. Was that a slip of the tongue, or...?"

"...Yeah, something like that. I'll, uh, keep watch!"

"Great!"

With that, he was off, and Sarah's stomach sank so hard that it felt like a bottomless pit. It was either very good timing or very bad timing when a familiar red van burst through a portal just shy of the sleeping rock and swerved to an Akira-style stop parallel to the campsite

"Do you have my money, kid?" spoke the shopkeeper, glaring out of the window.

"About that..."

"No? That's what I thought. Look, I've done some thinking, and I realized this whole "telling a teenage ice cream cone to earn legitimate money with only a few hours' notice" thing was sort of short-sighted of me. I also realized that if you don't pay me back there isn't much I can do to retaliate, since leaving you here was my plan in the first place. Then I thought about releasing the acid spider-crab onto your campsite, and in the interest of honesty I feel like I should tell you I did consider it but ultimately decided against it because I wouldn't like the criminal charges that kind of thing might bring. By the way, do you know if gnomes have enough legal personhood that running over one is a crime?"

"You ran over a gnome? Wait, the acid what now?"

"Nothing. My point is this: If you want to return- you mentioned a desire to on the ride here, if I remember correctly- I will- oh, Rob, I was wondering where you were."

Sure enough, Rob had reappeared at the campsite with that uncanny easygoing demeanor from earlier, and if his face (or rather, his eyes) were any indication, the shopkeeper had noticed. Sarah was glad she wasn't just delusional, but scared at the prospect her friend (or at the very least her acquaintance) being, potentially, an amnesiac. At least he still remembered both his name and her name.

"Listen up," spoke the shopkeeper. "In order to aid your moneymaking efforts, I've decided I'm going to let you use the humanizers."

"The humanizers?" asked Rob, an odd question considering he had been their original buyer.

"You'll essentially be given access to human suits as generated by the machines. I've recalibrated them for this universe's version of humanity, and provided you remove the suits at regular intervals you should face no adverse effects from wearing them."

"Will you also give us fake IDs?" asked Sarah.

"Never satisfied, are you?"

"Fair enough."

"Sarah stole more than just the DVD from you!" Rob suddenly cut in, and Sarah's jaw dropped onto the floor. "I couldn't let it stand, sir, I have a moral compass."

He raised a brow and looked to her with rage seething behind his eyes.

"Is this true-"

"Just a rope. And a top hat. And a bow tie."

"A rope? You don't mean you took the Lasso of Forthcoming?"

"The- you mean that rope was magical? Woah! So Bill was definitely telling the truth!"

"No, no, it's the lasso of forthcoming, not truth. I keep my truth lassoes under lock and key on the third floor. it just makes it hard to stop talking once you've started!"

"Oh..."

"You know what? I've decided I'm not going to help you out!"

"Wait, wait, wait," said Rob. "Why not help me out? It's not like I did anything to you, and I'm planning on staying here and building a new life for myself. Could you lend me a human suit?"

The shopkeeper could have responded with, 'what do you mean you didn't do anything' or 'you got your human suit destroyed last time you had one', but instead, he saw an opportunity to deliver a moral lesson and/or be petty. He was not a petty person most of the time, but this opportunity simply seemed far too good to pass up! And so...

"Absolutely, young man," replied the shopkeeper. "The humanizers are in the back. You know the ins and outs of using them already."

Rob opened his mouth- perhaps to respond that he didn't know how to use them- but shut it and went around to open the side doors, vanishing into the van and leaving Sarah and the shopkeeper in a staring contest.

"Do you- this is awkward- do you, like, have a name? Because I've just been calling you 'the van guy' in my head."

"I have a name, yes."

"Cooool! What is it?"

"I never said I would tell you."

"That's fair. So, van guy it is, then?"

"...Van guy it is."

The van shook and sputtered as something jiggled around in the back to the sound of mechanical clanking and clunking. Silence followed... and then footsteps. When the van doors slid open once again, a cloud of gray smoke swirled out and dissolved into the late-night air, temporarily obscuring Rob's figure as he made his exit- it was only smoke from the machine, presumably, and yet it had made everything seem almost like a magic trick. A transformation magic trick. Standing in the thinning haze was a figure that bore only a slight resemblance to Rob, mainly in the clothing department; he wore a yellow T-shirt and red shorts with racing stripes. Everything other than that resembled a townie. A human.

He turned to her and blinked one eye and then the other. She gave him an awkward thumbs up. He gave her an awkward smile.

"I'm gonna go get some water," he said, and he was off.

"...If I do somehow make 30 bucks, will you come back to get me?"

"I'm never coming back to this dimension."

"That's- I mean- take me with you! Take me back home! You're going there, right?"

"Don't think about hanging onto the back. I've electrified the doors."

"I wasn't planning on that. Wait, are the top hat and bow tie magical like the rope?"

"No, those are mine. I haven't worn them in a long while, though, mostly because the hat is too tall to fit when I'm sitting in the driver's seat."

"Oh."

"I should get going."

"Yeah. I'll find another way home, I guess."

"Good luck with that," he replied derisively. "Ah, and tell Rob that if he forgets who he is the suit will become permanent."

"Huh-WHAT?" Sarah said, choking on her own spit. "Uh, uh, just a hypothetical- what if he's already forgotten who he is?"

"If he's already forgotten? Are you saying-"

"I'm just saying he's been acting really weird today! And he wasn't reacting to anything like normal! And that was not a hypothetical!"

"...That's very bad."

"Do you have anything for it?"

He paused and rubbed his chin for a long, tense moment, then let out a sigh as his generosity creeped back into his voice.

"One thing. Come inside."

The humanizer machine was still smoking a little when she obliged. Maybe, she thought, she could use it and also make a life for herself here, but then again it was a bad idea to get on the bad side of the van guy now.

"Are you familiar with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice?" asked the van guy's voice from somewhere past a curtain.

"Uh, Orpheus? Like the Matrix?"

"...No. How about Lot's wife?"

"I..."

"Forget it, I was trying to make this next thing poetic. Basically, I'm going to give you a series of VHS tapes that will restore his memories. You are to give him the tapes to watch, but under no circumstances are you allowed to look back on them yourself- you must leave the campsite and not return until he is finished. The tapes will take approximately two days to watch back-to-back. I recommend giving him five days to get through them. "

"I won't look at them. But what'll happen if, say, I do?"

"You mustn't."

"I get it, but what if I-"

"You mustn't. That is the point of me giving you these."

She gulped.

"Got it."

With that, he handed her what looked like a magical, gem-encrusted chest, only rather than mystic chalices and golden coins it held about twelve VHS tapes labeled in numerical order. Their labels had long been scrubbed off. On closer inspection, the chest was much lighter than one would expect for something of its quality, almost like it was a stage prop rather than the genuine article. She hugged it close to herself and stepped out into the night.

"No looking back," he warned. She nodded. Then, with very little showmanship involved, a cloud of smoke surrounded her as the van pulled off and vanished into the forest.

#gravity falls #the amazing world of gumball #tawog #rob tawog #tawog rob #sarah g lato #the awesome store #crossover #postfallfallsfalsestarts #postfALLOFIT

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