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#she's my character in our high school campaign
theragingaviator · 1 year
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Some Annette sketches
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thenerdyindividual · 1 year
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Want stories featuring queer characters in fantasy, science fiction, or horror settings, where being queer is central to the character but not the only thing they have going on? Let me introduce you to my list of podcasts!
To start we have Welcome to Night Vale. You’ve likely heard of it thanks to the tumblr sexy man poll, or if you’re old school tumblr like I am. It’s a classic for a reason, it kicked off the fiction podcast renaissance and was queer from the jump.
Welcome to Night Vale is an episodic podcast taking the form of radio broadcasts from a strange desert town called Night Vale that appears to be in a parallel universe to ours. It follows the bizarre occurrences within the town and the oppressive government’s clumsy attempts to cover them up.
How is it queer? The show also follows the personal life of radio show host Cecil Palmer who met new-to-town scientist Carlos, and “fell in love instantly”. Not only are they now married, they’ve adopted a child together.
Alice Isn’t Dead
From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead is a horror fiction podcast that follows Keisha, a woman who became a long haul truck driver to go in search of the wife (Alice) she thought was dead, but discovered was alive. In the process she uncovers monsters lurking among us and a massive government conspiracy trying to hide the truth.
How is it queer? As stated, the inciting incident is that Keisha discovers that her wife is secretly alive.
Dimension 20: Fantasy High
A dungeons and dragons actual play show. This season is set in a 1980s John Hughes-esque fantasy high school called the Arthur Aguefort Adventuring Academy. It follows six high schoolers starting their first day of freshman year as they form their adventuring party and try to uncover the mystery of why girls at their school keep going missing.
How is it queer? Kristen Applebees is the cleric of the party, and most of her arc in the first season is based in the struggle between honoring her religious upbringing and the god that gave her her magic, and realizing she’s a lesbian. Fig Faeth (the bard of the group) does not have a romance arc in this season, however in season 2 she does end up in a romantic relationship with another woman, and much of her arc in that relationship is based around the insecurities hidden behind her rock and roll persona. Riz Gukgak (the rogue of the group) does not use the term asexual on screen, however it is clear in a conversation in season 2 where he discusses feeling awkward about not being horny when all his other friends are. He was later confirmed as asexual by dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan.
Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City
Another story with the same players as Fantasy High. This story takes place in a fantastical New York City where the waking world intersects with the world of dream and magic. The story follows six adventurers as they struggle to keep the two worlds in balance with each other, and prevent the big bad from ruining the world of dreams forever. It’s Brennan’s love letter to New York.
How is it queer? Pete Conlan (the sorcerer of the group) is a bit of a dirt bag drug dealer who is struggling to learn to take on the responsibility of being the voice for the dreams. He is also a trans man. His awakening into the magical New York occurs because his dad attempts to deadname him, and he uses his magic powers to fill his dad’s mouth with bubbles and blast him away.
Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 1
This is another dungeons and dragons actual play set in a more traditional D&D world. It follows the story of three adventurers living in the shadows of the saviors of Bahumia that came before them. Only to realize one of those saviors might not have retired, and is up to no good. They will have to save Bahumia from one of its saviors.
How is it queer? Beverly Toegold The Fifth (Paladin of the group) is the fantasy equivalent of a Boy Scout and ends up in a romantic relationship with another boy from his troop. (They’re both meant to be 16 by the end of the campaign I believe.) Moonshine Cybin (the Druid of the group) is just generally horny for everyone and anyone that impresses her, but she does also spend her last night before the final battle hooking up with Hardwon’s (the third party member) sister in law.
Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 2
This story is set in the world of Eldermourne which delves heavily into the aesthetic of gothic horror. It follows three adventurers as they go in search of a missing witch that will help them protect Eldermourne from the conflicting factions of gods and religious extremists each trying to take the world and remake it in the way that suits them.
How is it queer? A major thrust of the story is that Fia Boginya (the wizard and cleric multiclass of the group) once saved her dear friend Irina from execution, but they end up needing Irina’s magic to protect the world. The party goes in search of her, and Fia admits to having always been in love with Irina, even when they were just children.
The Adventure Zone: Balance
Another D&D actual play. This one is set in a fantasy world that draws heavily on both fantasy and other aesthetics. The three adventurers encounter an extremely powerful and destructive magical object, and manage to capture it. In doing so they are inducted into the organization called the Bureau of Balance, and are sent on missions to recover the other objects of power that have been scattered across the land. There is more to the characters than even they know.
How is it queer? Taako the Wizard (one of the adventurers) ends up in a romantic relationship with the Grim Reaper who in this world is a man. There is also a romantic relationship between two women who are also members of the Bureau of Balance that hangs out in the background of the story. A trans woman is also prevalent in the story, but explaining anything else about her reveals major spoilers for the campaign, but trust me she is narratively important.
The Adventure Zone: Amnesty
This is another actual play show, but it uses the Monster of the Week system that was created using shows like Scooby Doo, X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is set in the fictional town of Kepler, West Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest. Cryptids are real and they all hang out in Kepler. Three friends band together to stop monsters with ill intent from destroying the town, and learn more about the world that parallels theirs. It is Dungeon Master Griffin McElroy’s love letter to the West Virginia town he and his brothers grew up in.
How is it queer? Aubrey Little is the magic user of the group and identifies as bisexual. She ends up in a romantic relationship with a vampire girl in town.
Campaign Skyjacks
It is another role playing game actual play. I’m not entirely clear on what system they are using, as a lot of it is the creation of the game master. It is set in a fantasy world where crossing the oceans has become too treacherous, so pirates, privateers, and sailors alike have all taken to the sky in airships. The story follows four crew members of the ship the Uhuru as they try to make the ship profitable all while trying to hide from the rest of the crew that the captain has long since died and the doctor has been puppet-ing his corpse for weeks now.
How is it queer? I am still in the early stages of the podcast so there may be more queer characters later, but off the bat there is Gable who is the quarter master of the ship. Gable is non-binary.
These are not the only podcasts that fit the bill, but these are the ones I listen to. I’d also like to give a special mention to most other seasons of Dimension 20. There are a ton more, and you’re likely to get at least one queer character per season. However, I wanted to keep it to things you could find for free. Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City are both free on YouTube, but all other Dimension 20 seasons are on the streaming service dropout tv (which I do recommend getting because they do a lot of other good shows too.)
Feel free to add more shows in your reblogs!
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thenerdykneazle · 3 months
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Yule Ball
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images of Garreth above from @dvinaamesca here and here
Summary: Sometimes our favourite gregarious Gryffindor can be a bit thick. Professor Black reinstates the Yule Ball in your seventh year, and you realise last-minute that your boyfriend isn't planning on taking you. Leander tries to help his best mate patch things up with you. Sometimes simple misunderstandings lead to hurt feelings, but talking it out (and makeup sex) is always worth it.
Garreth Weasley x Gryffindor F!MC
A/N: Did I write an almost 9k fic because I loved a screenshot so much? Yes. Yes, I did. At any rate, this blog was far overdue for some Garreth love.
Warnings: 18+, explicit sexual content, aged-up characters, Garreth being oblivious, failure to communicate, caught indisposed, talks of hypothetically pregnant MC
Word count: 8621
Seventh year was going surprisingly well for you. The stress of exams was nothing compared to quashing a goblin rebellion, and poaching was at an all-time low in the Highlands. If you were honest, it was a bit dull. You had tried, back at the end of sixth year, to get Black to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament. You argued that it was the perfect time, exactly a century after the last one had been held. He had refused outright, arguing that it was “too dangerous.” You suspected his concern was less directed at whatever students would be competing and more due to the fact that the heads of the participating schools had been injured during the last one in 1792. Bloody coward.
You had started a whole campaign, hoping to pressure him into it, but he wouldn’t relent. Poppy managed to convince him to at least host a Yule Ball the following Christmas. The vain headmaster leapt at the chance to bring out his dress robes. It was settled.
At least you had quidditch to keep you from being bored to death. Games and practices playing chaser alongside your boyfriend were the highlight of each week. You had worried it might cause friction between the two of you when you and Garreth joined the team last year. Quite the contrary, you both worked together flawlessly. You practised so much that you had an almost telepathic connection on the pitch. You had been so close to winning the Quidditch Cup last year, and you had high hopes for this season.
Still, quidditch only provided so much of a distraction given the level of adventure to which you were accustomed, and you had looked forward to the Yule Ball all of autumn term. Poppy – and, to your surprise, Imelda – led the planning effort. You were confident it was going to be spectacular. You had already gone shopping with Natty, and Mr. Hill insisted on making custom gowns for both of you. He had always been appreciative of you two saving his shop from the troll back in fifth year.
As you were studying in the library for end-of-term exams, Poppy updated you on the planning. The ball was to be an all-night, Regency-style affair complete with dancing, a late supper, and more dancing. You couldn’t wait for Christmas to arrive.
Over lunch, Garreth expressed a similar sentiment. “I cannot wait for exams to be over. I swear my aunt is lurking around every corner to make sure I’m revising properly,” he groused. “It’s like she has no faith in me.”
“She just wants you to do well,” you assured him, rubbing a soothing hand between his shoulder blades.
“At least we have the holidays to look forward to,” he said. “Your parents are letting you stay here in the castle, right?”
“Yes!” you replied eagerly. “It’s going to be splendid, isn’t it? Have you gotten dress robes?”
Garreth’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What for?”
You gaped at him. “For the Yule Ball.”
He looked caught off guard. “I wasn’t planning on attending,” he admitted.
“What? You–You’re not going?” you asked, taken aback. “Are you serious?”
Your conversation caught Leander’s attention, and he looked nervously between you two. His eyes widened with intent as he stared at Garreth.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” Garreth explained. “What’s the point?”
Leander hid his face in his hand, clearly embarrassed at his best mate’s lack of tact.
The bench scraped harshly on the stone floor as you got to your feet. “What’s the point?” you repeated, furious.
Garreth shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like I’m telling you that you can’t go,” he said.
“Garreth Weasley, you inconsiderate – you oblivious – you – Ugh!” you spluttered. You grabbed your bag off the ground before storming off, leaving Garreth sat stunned on the bench.
“What is her problem?” he asked Leander.
“Mate…” the tall redhead said in a pitying tone. He just shook his head at the boy.
You spent the rest of exams avoiding Garreth. Fortunately, there were no quidditch practices to force you to interact with him. You studied in the Undercroft instead of the library. When you weren’t studying, you holed up in your dorm room where he couldn’t reach you. He tried to get Natty or Cressida to convince you to talk to him, but you were still too mad. You had spent months looking forward to the Yule Ball. You’d gushed to him about your excitement for the event dozens of times. It had never crossed your mind that your boyfriend wouldn’t escort you.
He managed to corner you once, on your way out of the potions exam. You suspected he had finished well before you and lingered for the express purpose of trying to talk to you. He chased you out, pulling you into an alcove in the corridor. “MC, I’m sorry,” he said, looking devestated. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
You scowled, but you were listening.
“I just…I didn’t realise you cared so much about a silly little ball,” he continued, inserting his foot directly into his mouth.
You scoffed, shoving past him and starting down the corridor.
“Wait, that came out wrong,” Garreth said, rushing after you.
“Did it, now?” you replied, unconvinced.
You stopped abruptly, spinning back to face him as you crossed your arms over your chest. Garreth almost walked straight into you, but he caught himself just in time.
You arched an accusing brow at him. “Was this supposed apology going to involve you asking me to said ‘silly little ball’?”
“I…Well…” he stammered, his nervous eyes looking anywhere but at you.
You huffed as you whipped back around. Garreth called after you as you stormed away, but you didn’t stop that time.
Your anger continued to simmer through the end of exams on the 23rd. Normally, the Hogwarts Express would’ve been packed that evening as students headed home for the Christmas holidays. However, it was nearly empty that night. It seemed everyone else was as excited for the ball as you were – everyone except your boyfriend, that is.
You spent hours practising spells in the Undercroft that evening. Ominis found you down there. The smell of smouldering crates filled his nose immediately.
“Still upset with Garreth, I take it?” Ominis asked as he strode into the room.
“Yep,” you replied curtly.
“Are you going to stop talking to him forever over a dance?” he asked seriously, folding his arms as he leaned back against a blank stretch of stone wall.
You rolled your eyes. “It’s not the dance. It’s that he knew how excited I was for it and still had no plans to attend it with me. It’s like he doesn’t care about what’s important to me.”
Ominis cocked his head to the side as he considered your words. “Have you explained that to him?”
Your jaw tensed. “I shouldn’t have to.”
Ominis pursed his lips, shaking his head slightly. “That’s a healthy way to handle it,” he said sarcastically.
“I don’t want to hear it, Mr. My Relationship is Soooo Perfect,” you groused. “You and Poppy both love dancing. It’s not fair.”
You crossed your arms in a huff.
Ominis smirked at the mention of his girlfriend. “Well, we are fortunate in that,” he said. “I’ll save a dance for you, tough, shall I?”
“That’d be lovely. It’ll be the only one I get,” you replied – admittedly, being a bit melodramatic.
Ominis snorted. “Right. Because people can only dance at a ball if they already have a partner.”
“Will you just let me sulk?” you snapped.
Ominis rolled his eyes. “You’ve been sulking all week, MC,” he pointed out. “I won’t let you ruin the ball for yourself.”
You sighed. He had a point. Just because Garreth was being an arse didn’t mean you shouldn’t try to enjoy the event you’d been looking forward to since the end of spring term.
The door to the seventh-year boys’ dormitory shut with a soft click. Leander stared at his best mate, lying face-down in bed on top of his sheets.
“I take it the grovelling didn’t go well?” he asked as he crossed the room to sit on the edge of his own bed.
Garreth mumbled incoherently into his pillow.
“Come again?” Leander said.
Garreth turned his head to the side, still lying boneless otherwise. “There was no grovelling,” he said. “She still won’t speak to me. Or listen. Or do anything but bolt the other direction when I spot her in the halls.”
Leander hummed sympathetically. “Did you try having Natty pass along your apology?”
“She refused,” Garreth said dismally. “Said I should apologise to her myself, even though that’s literally impossible seeing as MC won’t be in the same wing of the castle as me for more than five seconds. I don’t know what to do, Lee.”
Leander clicked his tongue. “That is a tough spot,” he said. “I suppose you do know one place you can definitely find her.”
“She hasn’t used the Room of Requirement all week. I checked with Deek,” Garreth argued.
“I was talking about the Yule Ball,” Leander said, rolling his eyes at his hopelessly thick friend.
Garreth pushed himself up on his arms so he could turn to look at Leander. “And how is embarrassing myself at a ball going to help anything?” he demanded.
Leander let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s really not that complicated, mate. She’s mad at you because you wouldn’t take her to the ball. So, go there and dance with her. After the grovelling. That bit’s still essential, trust me.”
“But I can’t dance,” Garreth argued.
Leander shrugged. “I’ll teach you.”
Garreth chewed his lip as he considered the option. “Okay…But what if she bolts the second she sees me? Or, worse, takes someone else to the dance?”
Leander pursed his lips. He had to admit that they were both quite plausible outcomes. “I’ll handle it.”
“How?” Garreth inquired.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You just focus on using the next 48 hours to make sure you won’t crush her toes when you finally dance with her.”
Garreth, still looking anxious, just nodded.
“Brilliant! Now, on your feet. I’m going to teach you to waltz,” Leander said.
Saturday morning, Leander caught you leaving your dorm for breakfast. “MC! Just the girl I wanted to see!” he said brightly as you descended the stairs into the Gryffindor common room.
You rolled your eyes. “Whatever Garreth wants to tell me, I don’t want to hear it,” you groused, brushing past him.
“Actually,” Leander said as he caught your hand to make you stop, “I wanted to ask a favour.”
Your brow furrowed. You crossed your arms sceptically, but you made no move to dart away. “A favour?” you asked, narrowing your eyes at him.
Leander gulped down his nerves as he nodded his head. “Well, I was…I was wondering if you’d go to the Yule Ball with me.”
You blinked rapidly as you processed his words. “Oh,” you said in surprise. “I would’ve thought you’d be going with Sebastian. You two have been dancing around each other for ages, after all.”
Leander sucked his teeth. “Yes, well, Violet beat me to asking him, evidently,” he explained with a rather sour expression. “So, I thought we might go together, since Garreth’s being a numpty. As friends, of course, but…also to make our boys a bit jealous, maybe.”
“You want to help me make Garreth jealous?” you asked in disbelief.
“Well, Garreth and Sebastian,” he replied. “Besides, I think he deserves it. He was a bit of a knob about the ball.”
You tilted your head, eyeing him for a long moment that had him starting to squirm. “Yeah, all right,” you agreed.
Leander beamed at you. “Brilliant! I’ll pick you up at 8 tomorrow night,” he said.
“See you then,” you replied.
Your Christmas morning was spent in the Gryffindor common room after Natty assured you that Garreth wasn’t down there. Almost the entire rest of your house was, though. There was a weight in your chest at not getting to celebrate with the man you loved – even if he was being a git. You also felt sorry for him that he was missing out on the festivities.
You didn’t see him the rest of the day, either. That night, you and Natty spent hours getting ready in your room. The mirror had nothing but compliments for the pair of you, and you were feeling quite good about yourself despite the recent tiff with Garreth. As such, you lingered in the common room early, hoping he’d catch a glimpse of you all dolled up. There might’ve been a part of you that wanted him to regret not spending that night with you.
He wasn’t there, though, and you began to wonder if he’d gone home for the rest of the holiday.
Your worrying was cut short when Leander emerged into the room. He smiled when he saw you. “You look beautiful, MC,” he said sweetly.
“Thank you. You look quite dashing yourself,” you replied.
He straightened the lapel of his dress robes proudly. They were black with deep green paisley accents.
“We’re quite a festive pair,” you said, looking down at your ruby red gown.
He laughed. “Yes, well, I had been planning on taking a Slytherin,” he said lightly.
“True,” you replied.
Leander held his arm out to you. “Shall we?”
You nodded and took hold of it, winding your own arm delicately around his.
The Great Hall had been totally transformed. It was almost unrecognisable. Instead of the usual floating candles, bright orbs of light hung in the air like shining stars. The edges of the room were lined with pine trees, full of twinkling lights and glittering ornaments. Each tree was decorated for one of the four houses. The dais was almost entirely taken over by a massive tree decorated in glass ornaments of all four houses’ mascots, crests, and other staples – like a glass rendition of the portrait of the fat lady and the mermaids from the fountain in the Slytherin common room.
The ceiling was enchanted to have snow falling softly, though it vanished before reaching any of you. It was truly magnificent. Your only regret was that Garreth wasn’t there to experience it with you. Before you could properly mope on the subject, Leander whisked you onto the dance floor. It was almost impossible to stay wistful when you were sweeping around the Great Hall in a two step to lively music. Leander led gracefully, his hold on you firm and his movements fluid and sure. You glided through the other couples, almost constantly spinning. It was a wonder you weren’t dizzy.
“You seem to have something on your mind,” Leander observed.
“I can’t help but wish Garreth were here,” you admitted.
“I see,” he replied.
“Sorry,” you said sincerely. “I don’t mean to insult you. You’re a wonderful dance partner.”
“Just not the one you planned on having,” he said knowingly.
You gave him an apologetic smile.
“I can hardly fault you for that,” he said.
As the song faded to its end, he released your back to spin you around once more, turning you rather quickly before suddenly releasing your hand, as well. You stumbled to get your footing until two strong hands steadied you at your hips, holding you still.
Your head spun a bit from the sudden stop, lashes fluttering as you looked up to find your boyfriend was the one who had caught you.
“Garreth,” you breathed, momentarily forgetting to be angry. You were too surprised. Too relieved. Too caught up in the sight of him with his softly styled curls and perfectly tailored dress robes. He wore a crisp black shirt under a white satin waistcoat and matching bowtie. A deep red robe topped the look. His satin lapels were embroidered with vines matching the ones on his waistcoat. The colour of the robe was exactly the same shade as your dress.
Your arms hung uselessly at your sides as you gaped at him. He gave you a meek smile as he gazed longingly into your eyes.
“You look stunning, darling,” he said. “I’m not as light-footed as Lee, but I’d be honoured to dance with you.”
You realised that, while time had seemed to stop, it had in fact pressed on, and the band was now playing a waltz. Garreth lifted one hand off your hips and held it out to you. You just looked down at it, still processing how you had gotten in this situation. You glanced around in search of Leander, but he had vanished.
“What are you doing here?” you asked dimly.
Garreth’s smile grew nervous. “Making up with my girlfriend, I hope.”
He shifted anxiously as his hand still hung empty in the air between you. You stepped back, his other hand slipping off your hip.
“You said you didn’t want to dance with me,” you said accusingly, finally remembering that you were cross with him.
“I know. I’m sorry, but you’re so good at it. And I…I have two left feet. I thought it’d be worse to have you realise how dreadful I am than for you to just go by yourself,” he said, his hands retreating into his pockets. “I…didn’t want to embarrass you.”
He chewed his lip, as he often did when anxious. Your own lips parted as you stared at him in shock.
Evidently, you took too long to reply, because he started speaking again. “I know Leander and I can be a bit ridiculous sometimes. And I’ve had more than a few mishaps with potions in class – and it’s the thing I’m best at. I just…didn’t want to give you another reason to be ashamed of me.”
His gaze dropped to his feet as his hands fidgeted in his pockets.
“I’d never be ashamed of you,” you assured him, a bit offended that he’d think you would be.
“Really?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised by the idea as he looked up at you in shock.
“Garreth, I love you. Every bit of you,” you stated. “Why on earth would I be ashamed of you?”
His cheeks flushed. “I mean, my family is,” he admitted, seeming to shrink into himself as his eyes darted away again. “And the professors seem perpetually disappointed in me. It’s twice as bad with Aunt Matilda.”
He forced out a laugh, but you could tell he was quite hurt by the situation.
You brought a hand up to his jaw, gently tilting his head up so he’d look at you. “Well, I think you’re brilliant,” you said. “And they have every reason to be as proud of you as I am, Garreth. You’ve invented half a dozen potions just since I’ve known you – and improved even more. You’re incredibly kind, even when others are mean to you. And you constantly make me laugh, especially when you and Leander are ‘being ridiculous.’”
He gave you a shy, appreciative smile before pulling you into a hug. “I love you, MC. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
You linked your arms around his back. “I’m sorry I didn’t just talk to you.”
He pressed a kiss into your pinned-up hair. “Me, too.”
You breathed out a laugh. “It was a pretty stupid fight when I think about it.”
“All our fights are stupid,” Garreth replied in an exasperated tone.
You pulled back to glare up at him. “Are you trying to start another one?” you asked in a low, warning voice.
Garreth smirked at you. “Maybe I like when you’re riled up,” he said cheekily. “You can’t wear a dress like this and expect me not to want to take it off of you, you know.”
“Garreth!” you hissed, smacking his chest as you glanced around to make sure no one had overheard him.
He pulled you back tight to him. “You really are especially gorgeous tonight,” he said in a low voice as his gaze roamed over you.
You could feel your cheeks heat under the fire in his eyes. “I…I think we should d-dance now,” you said, needing a distraction from the starved look in his eyes as they devoured you.
“Oh, um…” he said, suddenly nervous again. “I really only practised the waltz, so…maybe we could wait until they play another of those? I could get us some punch in the meantime.”
He had the most adorable hopeful smile on his face.
“Punch would be perfect,” you said sweetly.
“Done,” he said eagerly before darting off to fetch the drinks.
A blur of robes whirled over to you soon after. Leander had danced Sebastian over to where you stood. The latter’s black robes were a suspiciously similar style to the former’s – except his accents were red. Your fellow Gryffindor was looking exceptionally smug.
“Are my favourite lovebirds back in love?” Leander asked, waggling his eyebrows at you.
Your eyes narrowed into slits. “For a Gryffindor, you’re a snake, Leander Prewett.”
“I’m so proud,” Sebastian said, placing his hand on Leander’s cheek and gazing at him fondly. Then, he turned to look at you. “When he asked if he could pretend to take you to the ball, I said yes at once, of course.”
You crossed your arms over your chest. “And what if we hadn’t made up?” you asked them severely. “What would you have done, then?”
Leander’s eyes widened as his smirk fell. He clearly hadn’t considered the idea.
“You two are too hopelessly besotted with each other for that,” Sebastian said easily, waving you off.
Garreth reappeared at your side then. “Here you go, love,” he said, handing you a glass before kissing your cheek.
“Thank you,” you murmured, a fresh blush dusting your cheeks.
“My work here is clearly done,” Leander said haughtily.
“I think you’re right, darling,” Sebastian agreed.
“Care to dance the night away?” Leander asked him, holding out his hand.
Sebastian beamed at him as he took it. “That sounds lovely,” he replied before they sauntered back to the dance floor.
Garreth leaned in to whisper in your ear. “See, that’s how you’re supposed to respond when a man asks you to dance,” he said teasingly.
“Oh, shut up,” you groused, but the words lacked any real bite.
“Never,” he retorted, a mischievous glint in his eye as you turned your head to glare at him.
He laced his fingers with the hand unoccupied by your drink.
“I have something for you,” he said.
You turned to face him. He dropped your hand and pulled a long, narrow box out from his pocket. It was too broad to be a wand but about the right length, and it had a gold ribbon tied carefully around it.
“Merry Christmas, MC,” he said softly.
Garreth traded the box for your drink. He was fidgeting as you examined it in your hands, clearly excited for you to open it. You carefully slipped the ribbon off before taking off the lid. Inside was a vibrant pink feather with a metal pointed tip.
Garreth started speaking before you could even thank him. “It took me a while to get the charms right. I just finished it up this morning, actually. It’s self-inking, so you don’t have to worry about an open inkpot spilling on your assignments. It’s spell-checking, too. That was the tricky part. But I got it sorted out, eventually. Promise.”
He laughed nervously. You were speechless for a moment as you looked up at him, warmth spreading through your chest as your heart squeezed with affection. Garreth bounced on the balls of his feet, the movement threatening to spill the glasses of punch in his hands. His bottom lip was grasped between his teeth, and a few stray curls were falling into his eyes.
You looked back down at the fwooper feather quill. “Garreth, this is so sweet,” you gushed, wondering how you’d managed to be upset with such a sweet man only a few hours ago.
His eyes lit up. “You like it?” he asked hopefully.
“I love it!” you assured him. “I have a gift for you, too, I just…I don’t have it with me.”
You left off adding that it was because you hadn’t expected him to be there. You didn’t want him to think you were still cross.
“All I wanted tonight is your forgiveness, MC,” he said with such earnestness that you worried you might melt right to the floor.
You brushed his hair out of his face. “You have it,” you replied, not wanting him to doubt it for a second. “Do you…do you forgive me, too?”
He ditched his punch on a tray floating nearby. He cupped his newly free hand over your cheek as he leaned in towards you, pressing his lips to yours gently in reassurance. He pulled back far too soon for your liking, though. “Always,” he vowed.
Your heart felt swollen to bursting. “I want to go get your present,” you said more intensely than the words merited as you reverently replaced the lid on the box.
“You don’t have to leave the dance. I know how much you were looking forward to it,” he said with such sweet consideration. You almost winced as you recalled calling him “inconsiderate” the other day. “You can give it to me tomorrow.”
“It should be now, I think,” you stated.
“It’s really not–” he started.
“It’s in the Room of Requirement,” you added, cutting him off. His brows drew together. He could tell you were trying to communicate something, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Bless him, you thought. “You should come.”
A beat later his eyebrows shot up to his curls as realisation struck. You almost laughed when he just replied with a rather serious “yes” before quickly abandoning the other nearly-full punch glass on the tray.
He followed you out of the Great Hall. Once alone in the corridors, you clutched the box to your heart with one hand and laced the other with his. He lagged behind you as you tugged him along.
“Getting cold feet?” you joked, hoping to speed him up a bit.
“Just admiring the view,” he replied cheekily.
You glanced over your shoulder to find him staring down at your bum. He smirked at you when he saw that you’d caught him.
“You’ll have a much better one once you get this dress off me like you promised,” you said in a sultry tone.
In the flickering candlelight of the hallway, you could see Garreth’s eyes darken as he held your gaze. Then, he took off sprinting and called back impatiently, “Come on!”
You giggled as you chased after him. He slowed to a jog to let you catch up. You only paused briefly to take off your heels. When you reached the seventh floor of the Astronomy Tower, he was on you before the entrance had even fully materialised. He held your face in both hands as he kissed you hungrily, backing you into the forming door.
A needy ache started low in your stomach as he nipped at your bottom lip. You’d been without him for too long, stupidly holding a grudge over a simple misunderstanding about…something, surely. You couldn’t remember what now.
Garreth held you to him with a hand behind your back as his other felt blindly for the handle. His hold on you kept you upright as the door gave way behind you. Your heels slipped from your fingers and clattered to the floor as he backed you inside, and you tangled your now free hand in the base of his curls as you devoured his lips.
Your back smacked into the wall, and Garreth pressed himself against you. Your legs parted to allow him in closer, and you could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing against your centre. Your body tried to gasp and moan at the same time as he shifted his attention to your neck whilst his hips ground into yours. It was one of the most needy, pathetic sounds you’d ever made, but it seemed to spur him on even more.
“Fuck, MC,” he groaned into your neck before biting down on the skin where it met your shoulder.
Your legs almost gave out from the delicious sting of it. It hurt, but it brought a wave of pleasure, as well. You loved when Garreth was almost animalistic in his need for you.
Your head lolled to the side, opening up your neck to him further as you used your purchase in his hair to hold him close. You spotted the supply cabinet next to you, and you slipped the box containing your quill onto it before you lost yourself and dropped it.
You then slipped your hand between the two of you to palm the tent straining Garreth’s neatly pressed trousers. He shuddered at your touch and let out a breathy moan in your ear. You stroked your hand up and down the length of him until he suddenly grabbed your wrist and pinned it back against the wall.
“You’re going to ruin me early, you minx,” he growled.
You felt a jolt of excitement at the idea that just touching him over his trousers could have him so worked up. Before you could even contemplate how to get your hand free and back on him, he dropped your wrist in favour of grabbing a handful of your arse. At the same time, his lips rejoined yours in a dizzying kiss. You were pliant in his arms as he slid his tongue into your mouth.
Without breaking your kiss, Garreth rucked up your dress so his hand could slide under the fabric, skating up the outside of your bare thigh. He groaned as he hiked your leg up around him, pulling you even closer. His hips pressed forward into yours, seeking friction, and you gasped against his lips as his shaft pressed firmly at your centre. It put a delightful but maddening pressure on the bundle of nerves there.
“Garreth,” you moaned out. “Please.”
“Please what, love?” he replied breathily. His verdant eyes nearly burnt into you as he looked down at you with such love and earnest. “I’ll give you anything. Just name it.”
You groaned with need as your hips shifted against his, continuing to rub his shaft against your core in a way that sent sparks of pleasure through you. It wasn’t enough, though. “Please,” you repeated, feeling almost drunk with desire. “I need you.”
“Fuck,” Garreth muttered. The desperation in your voice was wearing away whatever self-control he had left – it was never much when it came to you anyway. “As you wish, love.”
His fingers danced over your skin and traced the edge of your knickers at the crease of your thigh. He dipped into them, stroking his long fingers between your folds and making you keen.
“Merlin,” he breathed out. “You’re drenched for me, darling.”
You moaned as the pads of his fingers came up and circled over your clit. Your head fell back against the wall with a dull thud, and you had to grip his shoulders for support as your legs began to tremble.
“You look really good in these dress robes,” you quipped, already panting from his ministrations. He knew your body well, and it never took long for him to work you into a right state.
Garreth smirked at you. “I’ll look even better in you, love.”
As he said the words, his finger slipped inside of you. He quickly found a spot that had a tension coiling low in your abdomen.
“Fuck, Garreth,” you keened. “Oh, gods! That f-feels so good!”
He took a handful of your skirts, pinning them against your stomach to leave your knickers exposed. Garreth dropped to his knees in front of you. You scrambled for new supports as you could no longer reach his shoulders. One hand scraped along the wall behind you while the other tangled into his curls.
“Evanesco,” Garreth said, his breath ghosting over your core. He watched his finger disappearing into you without the obstruction of your knickers. “So gorgeous.”
You could feel your face flushing at the praise. Garreth was quite keen on your intimate parts, and he always made sure you knew it.
He leaned forward and licked at your centre as his finger kept pumping into you. Garreth groaned even louder than you did. “Gods, you taste divine, darling,” he said before licking you again.
He kissed and sucked on your little nub, and you prayed your legs wouldn’t give out altogether. If they did, though, you were confident Garreth would catch you in time.
His tongue flicked over you eagerly, and the coil that had wound in your abdomen threatened to snap.
“Gar, I…I’m….” you tried, but then you couldn’t breathe let alone speak when your muscles tensed as you succumbed to utter euphoria.
You called out his name as waves of pleasure rocked through you, each sensation heightened as Garreth kept licking ravenously at you. You were practically convulsing from the intensity of your high. You might’ve felt embarrassed by your reaction if Garreth hadn’t looked so utterly enamoured with watching you fall apart so unreservedly.
About the same time, a loud crack rang out through the dimly lit room.
Garreth dropped your skirts and his head whipped around, his finger sliding out of you as he turned. You looked up blearily toward the noise, and your pleasure was immediately replaced with a shock of horror.
“Oh, dear!” Deek said, gaping at the two of you in such a compromising position.
Garreth blinked at the elf, whose eyes were wide and cheeks were reddening as he looked at the young wizard’s glistening face. You were too stunned and embarrassed to speak.
With a quick swish of his wand, Garreth calmed the erection that had been straining his outfit. He’d learned the spell early in your relationship, as you had a habit of riling him up at any number of inconvenient times – in class, during meals, before you left on some adventure. Essentially, any time he was around you, he was at risk, and the spell was easier than always donning oversized robes whose sleeves would dip into his cauldron when he tried to brew.
“Professor Weasley asked Deek to check on the students after they disappeared from the ball,” the elf said. He decided it was better to look at his feet than the pair of you. “She also asked Deek to remind Mr. Weasley that a child has not been born out of wedlock to your family in over a century and Mr. Weasley will not be changing that.”
Garreth, who has been furiously wiping off his mouth and chin, flushed crimson at that. “Right,” he said in a stilted tone, shifting nervously on his feet. “Is she expecting a…a report back?”
“Deek will not tell the professor what he, uh…stumbled in on,” the elf assured them. “But the students should return to the ball promptly. Deek does not want to have to come back.”
Another loud crack rang through the room as Deek left.
“Well, that was mortifying,” Garreth said as he rubbed at his temples.
“And you weren’t the one with your bits out,” you quipped as you fought the urge to bury your face in your hands. “At least Deek’s not going to tell your aunt.”
“Merlin, I half expect she’ll know anyway, to be honest,” he replied. He pulled you into a hug and pressed a kiss to your temple. “I’m sorry. I should’ve known we wouldn’t get away with slinking out of the ball like that.”
You chuckled as you wrapped your arms around him, as well. “I was the one who lured you up here,” you pointed out.
“I came quite willingly,” he argued.
You brought your hand down to palm him through his trousers again. “You didn’t come at all, unfortunately.”
Garreth moaned, dropping his forehead onto yours as you stroked him, rapidly undoing the work of his spell.
You bit your bottom lip as you locked eyes with him. “I don’t think we have time for you to make good on your promise to get me out of this dress, but…” You spun in his arms, pressing your arse back against him as you braced your hands against the wall. “I think we could still make it work.”
Garreth groaned. He grabbed your hips, pulling you tight against him. He smoothed one hand over your arse appreciatively before sliding it down to grip low on your skirts. He pulled the fabric up around your waist, so your lower half was completely bare to him. He immediately bent to place a lovebite on the curve of your cheek, while his hands kneaded into both of them. You moaned as his teeth grazed your skin.
“You ready for me, love?” he asked, his lips brushing the mark he’d just left.
“Gods, yes!” you replied eagerly, shifting your hips back a bit further in an attempt to entice him to get on with it already.
Garreth stood up straight again as he undid his trousers. He pulled himself free from the garments and wasted no time in dragging the head of his cock through your soaked slit. He anchored a hand on your hip as he slid into you.
He let out a ragged breath as he bottomed out. “You feel amazing!” he groaned. His other hand gripped your hips, as well, and he began thrusting in and out of you. “You’ve no idea how much I missed you, love!”
You wanted to argue – tell him you were sure you knew exactly how much, because you’d missed him, too – but you could only keen as he rocked you forward with each of his thrusts, filling you completely on every push inside. There was really nothing like it. He felt tailor-made for you.
You were so enraptured that you almost didn’t notice when a mirror appeared on the wall in front of you. You gasped in surprise as you looked up, catching sight of Garreth’s reflection. He winked at you.
“Fuck, I was right,” he panted, causing you to draw your brows together in confusion. “I do look even better inside you.”
You let out a laugh. He was utterly ridiculous, and it only made you love him that much more.
“Don’t worry, love,” he said with a cheeky smile, still pumping into you and also still holding your gaze through the mirror. “You look even better. I mean, gods, look at you! All done up.” He wrapped a hand gently around your throat, letting his thumb stroke up your jaw and across your painted lips. You parted them and sucked his thumb into your mouth, pressing your tongue flat against the pad of it like you would the underside of his cock. Garreth’s eyelids fluttered as he let out a low moan. “And in this dress…” He withdrew his thumb and fisted the same hand into the fabric pooled up near your ribs. “Your arse…” He gave it a squeeze, the tips of his nails just barely digging into your skin. “I fucking love your bloody gorgeous arse!”
His thrusts grew firmer, his hips slapping louder against your cheeks and thighs. You moaned as the force sent shocks of pleasure through you.
“Faster,” you begged, half because you knew it’d take a quicker pace to get him off and half (maybe more) because you wanted him to pound into you until your body held the memory of his cock inside you forever.
Garreth was keen to oblige. His grip on your hips was bruising as he slammed into you at a pace that had you barely able to keep your breath let alone even think about trying to keep up with his movements. All you could do was brace yourself on the wall as he took you.
“Ah, fuck!” Garreth groaned as you clenched hard around him. In the mirror, you could see that his head was thrown back in ecstasy. “So bloody perfect!”
His eyes snapped open, immediately locking with yours as his movements stuttered. He let out a strangled moan as he came, his cock pulsing deep inside you. You could feel the warmth dripping down as his semen started to leak out of you. Rather than pull out, Garreth leaned down over top of you to capture your lips. One arm wrapped around your stomach while the other hand tilted your chin toward him. You were both panting, unable to go without oxygen for long, but the brief kiss expressed the depth of your affections all the same.
“You’re never allowed to be cross with me again,” Garreth joked. “I can’t stand being apart from you for so long.”
You were inclined to vow he never would be as you stared into his bright green eyes, crinkling at the corners as he beamed at you.
“I can’t bear it, either,” you said.
Garreth pressed another chaste kiss to your lips. “I love you, MC. So much.”
You couldn’t help but smile. “I love you, too. Even more.”
He glared at you playfully. “Those are fighting words, witch.”
Your smile turned into a smirk. “Then I’m lucky I’m a much better duellist.”
Garreth rolled his eyes but couldn’t deny it. Finally, he moved to right himself, sliding out of you before he helped you upright, as well. You both made quick work of making yourselves presentable – smoothing out your clothes, fixing your hair, and ensuring neither of you retained the sweat or musk of your recent activities. Garreth pouted a bit when you conjured new knickers for yourself, as he rather liked the idea of having easy access should you get the opportunity to sneak off again.
Once you were both put together, Garreth started for the door.
“Wait! I haven’t given you your present!” you said, quickly moving to rummage in your cabinet.
He chuckled. “I assumed you were the present.”
You glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. “That’d be rather selfish of me, wouldn’t it?”
Garreth grinned broadly. “Actually, I considered it quite generous.”
You rolled your eyes, but you did find it rather sweet. “Consider this a stocking stuffer, then,” you said as you handed him a small box.
Garreth opened it to reveal a stack of cardstock. His mouth fell open as he picked up one of the small, rectangular cards to get a closer look.
“I saw the logo in your notes, and I thought it was really good,” you explained. “I figured you’ll need these once we graduate.”
Garreth looked from the card to you and back down again. In golden, embossed lettering were the words Exquisite Elixirs in a large, curly font curved underneath a rendering of a cauldron whose whirls of steam were spiralling upwards off the paper. On the other side, there was a little portrait of Garreth and a description of his company.
He still hadn’t spoken, so you continued, “If you tap it with a wand, it turns into an order form. I know you plan on being able to fill orders by owl.”
He looked up at you again, and his eyes were misty now. He pulled you into a tight hug. “Thank you! These are perfect!”
Ever since he started the process to register the brand, his parents had seemed doubtful. They kept lecturing him on what a “serious business” it was to run a company. His older brother had a friend of his lecture him on the myriad permits and regulations involved in the brewing industry – all things Garreth had already learnt in his research and discussions with Mr. Pippin. His aunt had tried to convince him to take a year or two to apprentice at J. Pippin’s, but Garreth knew he didn’t need it. He’d spent ages at the shop picking the potioneer’s brain. He’d also hounded Sharp with his questions during his office hours – almost no one else went to them, anyway.
The business cards, aside from showing how closely you paid attention, indicated that you actually believed in him. That meant the world to Garreth, especially because he knew you weren’t scared to let him know when you thought an idea of his was foolish. You wouldn’t just go along with things to make him feel good. You truly thought that he could run a successful shop.
He slipped one of the cards into his pocket before tucking the box safely with the rest of his brewing supplies.
The two of you took the floo down to the Great Hall to save time. You slipped back into the ball and immediately noticed Professor Weasley’s scrutinising gaze on you. You resisted the urge to smooth your hair, as it would only incriminate you. Instead, you gave her a polite wave.
She waved back, but you didn’t like the knowing look her smile had. You flushed as you quickly pulled Garreth toward the drink table. You were practically dying of thirst. You ran into Natty and Poppy as Garreth poured you both drinks. They both looked stunning in their gowns. Poppy’s was yellow with cap sleeves and full skirts. Natty’s was a brilliant white with her sleeves to her elbows and a corset nipping in her waist before the flair of her bustle.
“I was glad to hear you and Garreth finally made up,” Natty said, smiling at you as you approached.
“Did Leander already tell you?” you asked.
“Ominis did,” Poppy said.
You raised an eyebrow. “How did Ominis know?”
“I know everything that happens in this castle,” the Slytherin said as he stepped up to Poppy’s side. He handed her a drink before wrapping his arm around her waist.
“So, Leander told you and you told them?” you said, rolling your eyes.
“I didn’t need to be told anything,” Ominis said arrogantly.
Garreth returned with your drink, and you gave him an appreciative smile.
“I’m quite observant on my own,” Ominis continued. “Which is how I know you two have been up to no good. Couldn’t wait for dinner to find something to eat, Garreth?”
The redhead choked on his punch. “W-what?” he spluttered, wiping his mouth with a serviette a house-elf had promptly provided.
Poppy and Natty went wide-eyed as they caught Ominis’s meaning. Your face was burning. How could he know? Had Deek told?
“Don’t be coy now,” Ominis teased. “It’s quite obvious. I could – ahem – smell her on you when we were getting drinks. I wouldn’t hug your aunt without cleaning up if you don’t want detentions until you graduate.”
Poppy clapped a hang over her mouth to keep from giggling. Natty looked horrified. You and Garreth both gaped at Ominis. You had checked before you left the Room of Requirement. You swore you couldn’t smell anything that would suggest what the two of you had been up to in there. But, then, Ominis often heard things you couldn’t. Maybe it was the same with his sense of smell? At any rate, you were never going to live this down.
“I think they’re playing a waltz,” Garreth said, turning to you. “How about that dance?”
You downed your drink and took hold of his outstretched hand. “That sounds like a great idea,” you replied.
“Leave room for the nargles!” Ominis called after you before snickering with Poppy.
You made it onto the dance floor and were quickly lost in the crowd of swirling couples. You hid your face in Garreth’s chest, but you couldn’t help laughing. “Oh, gods, I think this is officially the most mortifying night of my life,” you said light-heartedly once you’d composed yourself.
Garreth started to spin you as you danced now that you weren’t burying your face in his robes.
“I think we’d best get our own place once we’re out of this castle full of nosy gits,” he said resolutely.
You let out another laugh. “Yeah, living together unwed wouldn’t have people talking at all,” you said sarcastically.
Garreth lifted his hand, and you turned under it before stepping back into his arms. “It would, wouldn’t it?” he said, giving you a knowing smile.
You gave him a questioning look in return.
“I’m not about to propose on – as you put it – ‘the most mortifying night of your life’ if that’s what you’re thinking,” Garreth said severely as he continued to lead you around the dance floor. “But if I were to…?”
“Were to what?” you replied, playing thick, as he dipped you.
“Were to propose, obviously,” Garreth said, exasperated, before pulling you back up. “What would you think of it?”
As you did another turn, you suppressed a smile that threatened to break onto your lips. “Are you, then?” you asked before clarifying, “Proposing?”
“Not yet,” he replied with an easy smile as he stepped forward to take you back in his arms.
“Then I’m not telling,” you stated, a hint of a sly smile tugging at the corner of your mouth.
Garreth rolled his eyes at you. “You vex me, witch,” he said drily.
“I just know you like surprises,” you replied innocently.
“Good ones,” he clarified.
 “Exactly,” you said, winking at him.
A broad grin spread on his face, and he seemed lost in thought as he stared over your shoulder as the two of you spun slowly around the room.
You snapped him out of it when you said seriously, “This isn’t about that message from your aunt, is it? You haven’t been skipping your potions?”
“No, of course not. I take them every week,” he said. “You?”
“Every month,” you assured him.
“That’s so not fair,” he groused. “Why are the contraceptives for blokes four times as often?”
“We’ll see what’s ‘not fair’ when I’m the one carrying our babies for nine months each,” you retorted.
Garreth smirked at you. He looked insufferably smug.
“What?” you bit out, not seeing the humour in all the hardships that were sure to come with your future pregnancies.
“You said ‘when,’” he pointed out.
“Huh?” you replied, befuddled.
“You said, ‘when I’m the one carrying our babies,’” he said, doing a poor – and rather screechy – imitation of your voice.
You smacked him on the chest. “I do not sound like that,” you groused.
Garreth’s grin grew even wider. He looked utterly chuffed. “But you did say it. ‘When’ and ‘our.’ You want to have my babies.”
“Shut up,” you said tetchily, trying to pull out of his arms so you could go dig a hole to crawl into.
Garreth just held you tighter, laughing at your attempts to wriggle free. “You want to marry me and have my babies, and I’m happy to oblige, love. You just tell me when.”
You froze as you gaped at him. “Did you just–?”
“Officially? No. I’m still not letting you tell our children I proposed on the most mortifying night of your life,” he said seriously.
“There is very little about this night fit to tell any children, let alone our own,” you quipped.
Garreth gave you a lopsided smile. “Yeah,” he said wistfully. “It’s been a good one.”
You shook your head at him. “You’re incorrigible,” you said disapprovingly.
He stared at you like you were as luminous as one of the twinkling lights floating above you. “You’re incredible,” he said fondly before dipping his head to kiss you.
You melted in his arms as Garreth held you tight to his chest.
“Oi! Get a room, you degenerates!” Leander said, bumping Garreth’s shoulder as he twirled by with a sniggering Sebastian.
“That’s not as effective as you might think!” Garreth called back, making you laugh.
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Text
Catch and Release
Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam
Summary: AU where Jason doesn’t die in the explosion and he and Tim end up attending the same high school months later.
Chapters: 16/?
Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Sebastian Ives, Jack Drake, Janet Drake, Donna Troy
Relationships: TBA
Additional Tag: Jason Todd Lives, Jason Todd-centric, POV Jason Todd, POV First Person, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake is Not Robin, Jason Todd is Not Robin (Anymore), Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Alfred Pennyworth Knows, Stalker Tim Drake, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd Has PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unlikely Friends, Injury Recovery, Emotional Baggage, Rage, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating
Chapter Seventeen: The Campaign: Malatra Pt. 1
Tim slept in his bed one last time while I packed our things. My phone rang, and I answered to keep from waking Tim up. “Hello?” I whispered. 
“Jason, I heard about your friend’s mother—.”
“You don’t have to say anything… Um, Barbara, can I ask you for a favor?” I interrupted. 
“I don’t know. It depends… Is it illegal?” Barbara asked. 
“No. It’s—. I need you to help me get back in fighting shape. I know Bruce won’t change his mind because I can throw a couple of solid punches, but I’ve gotta do this for myself. I need to know I didn’t let the accident beat me,” I explained. I told her as much of the truth as I could. 
“Jason… Wednesday through Friday after school. No excuses,” Barbara replied. I grinned. 
“I’ll be there. I promise,” I whispered, “Thank you. Thank you, Barbara. You’re the best.” Barbara was a tough person to move. She wasn’t emotionally driven or faint of heart. Barbara was sharp and efficient. Practical and poised. She was everything I needed in a teacher. 
“ Yeah, yeah, yeah. See how you feel about me after our first training session. Bye, Jason… And good on you for getting back up. I thought about what I said to you the last time we talked. I was wrong to tell you that you were being childish. If taking this time away from home was good for your mental health, who am I to tell you—?”
“Barbara, I am a kid. I never said I wasn’t. I was pissed off and closed in, and I reacted. I was in a dark place, and I’d be lying if I said I wanted to go home now… I know it’s what I have to do. I’m gonna be mature about it, for Tim’s sake,” I replied, “I’ve gotta finish packing… But, um—. Thank you, Barbara.” 
“Don’t thank me yet, Boy Wonder. See you Wednesday,” Barbara teased. She hung up, and I shook Tim awake. 
He pushed my face away and laughed. “ Uggghhh. Jason, what are you doing?” Tim asked. 
“She’s gonna train me. Wednesday through Friday, so we’ll condition Saturday through Monday,” I replied. Tim grinned. 
“And on Tuesday ?” Tim half-joked. 
“Warlocks and Warriors,” I replied, “And—. Oh, Ives wants to come over tonight. I gave him Bruce’s address and said he could stay the night.” 
“Ives wanted to hang out? Does he—?” 
I nodded. “Ives knows, but I asked him not to mention it… Unless…” I trailed off. Tim shook his head. “Then, he won’t…” I tied labels to Tim’s chargers and tucked them into his suitcase. 
*
We went to the manor at sunset because I knew Bruce wouldn’t be there. Alfred seemed happy to see us again. Ives showed up an hour after we got there, and Alfred served dinner. “Hey, guys… Do you wanna do another campaign here this weekend?” I asked. 
Tim’s eyes widened. “You want to?” Tim questioned. I nodded. 
“That’d be sick,” Ives replied.  
“Cool. Tell the guys Tuesday we’ll hang out here,” I replied. Ives glanced at Tim and looked at his plate when he saw me looking. Tim was oblivious to everything going on in his life because of everything. 
“Jason should DM this one,” Tim suggested. I choked. “Come on. You can do it. I see how deep you get into character. And you’re the only person willing to indulge Hudson. Besides, I think the guys are still mad at me for what happened in Ravenloft.” 
“That was messed up. I can’t believe you killed Ives first and swapped him out with a Doppelganger. That was sick. And Ives… I’m shocked you let him go through with that,” I replied. 
Tim smiled. I reached for my bed to pull myself up, but I felt a shockwave shoot down my back into my legs, and I let go of the mattress. “Jason?” Tim asked. 
“I’m okay… But like—. Are you guys sure you want me to DM?” I questioned. 
“Yeah, definitely,” Ives replied, “You’ve gotta try it at least once. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again, but you should give it a chance. You might be good.” 
*
"In the living forest lands of Malatra, all seems quiet. Suspiciously so. A warm breeze blows, rustling through the canopies overhead. Topiaries of smiling children surround a small fire. It is the only possible sign of life for several miles.  A song breaks through the near-silent forest. It starts low and guttural, like a collective groan, and then the ethereal choral collections of synchronized sobs. It is a song of mourning. A once-distant sound, now building as if it is approaching. The forest's dirt walkways slowly disappear under shrubs and bushes, and it seems like a trick to the eye at first, but no. You see it now. The bushes have feet where roots should be, and finally, a male voice breaks through the grieving chorus," I cleared my throat. "State your business," I bellowed. "He steps forward. A bamboo elf. His hair is a warm brown with the same red undertones of autumn leaves. He keeps his hair in wide and intricate waves and curls. His skin is an olivine green, and his eyes dark brown and ancient, study you. You all recognize this bamboo elf immediately, but before we get into that… you should introduce yourselves." A big, goofy grin spread across Tim's face. Silence fell over my room as I waited for someone to speak.
"You fucking killed it," Hudson mumbled in shock. I covered my smile. "Clay Everlake, earth genasi monk here. I'm stone grey, with bright green hair made of leaves, with the front pulled into a warrior's bun—."
"Man bun penalty!" everyone shouted.
"Is not! Anyway ... It's a warrior's bun, and the rest of my hair hangs leafy down my shoulders. I'm fairly young, rough and tumble, and trouble seems to follow me wherever I go," Hudson answered.
I gestured to Ives. "Eldrid Deepwood, here. I'm a firbolg druid... I uh—. I have bluish-green skin and dark eyes. My hair is whiteish-grey, luscious, and thick, almost mane-like. My ears are floppy... And uh—. And despite my advanced age, I'm a timid sort of fella," Ives stammered in an Irish accent.
I nodded and pointed to Hudman. "Fettar Keephorn. Dwarven rogue, dark beard, dark brown eyes.  My loyalties lie with Clay Everlake... Unfortunately," Hudman muttered in a dry voice. We all laughed. "I'm not much for words."
And Tim. I looked forward to Tim's character because we'd been pretty hush-hush about our plans all week, which meant we had nothing to discuss outside of training. "Posy Moonfall, gnome cleric here. I've got blond shoulder-length hair and grey eyes hidden behind foggy glasses. Well, they're usually quite—. I'm not used to being in the presence of a man of Mr. Deepwood's stature. I'm clumsy, but my intuitive nature makes up for my shortcomings... At least, I think—. Oh gosh. Am I rambling?" Tim replied in a woman's voice. He was surprisingly good at it. I almost forgot my place.
I cleared my throat before continuing. "Clay Everlake, your connection to this bamboo elf is deeply personal. Isn't it?" I asked, nodding at him. I liked Hudson. He always made me laugh and was my favorite of Tim's friends. He also tried to make me feel better about my scars by showing me the dent in his forehead. It wasn't the same, but he genuinely thought it was.
"He raised me. When my family was slaughtered on the outskirts of Malatra, he took me in and raised me. He's a father to me," Hudson answered. Hudson and I locked eyes, and I smiled down at my notes. "I didn't expect to see him under such grim circumstances."
"And Fettar?" I questioned.
"The elf and I… used to date,” Hudman replied. We all laughed.
“Fettar and Theren Everlake dated? You guys were—.” 
“A couple. Yep,” Hudman doubled down.
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was ita for ghosting/cutting off my ex girlfriend after our junior year?
i (currently 17, trans M) knew this girl (currently 17(?), F) from around 7th grade [middle school] to 11th grade [junior year of high school], so five school years/ten ish years total, give or take. we just graduated this year so this is kind of old drama, i was happier not talking to her but i always kind of regretted not giving her like. the reasons why
we dated from i wanna say. the middle of 7th grade to the middle of our freshman year. she broke up with me because her other boyfriend at the time was jealous she was dating another person [both of us are polyamorous]. we stayed in contact but i got a bit distant during lockdown because my mental health was going down the drain fast and i was just kind of isolating myself from Everyone, but got back into regular contact at the beginning of junior year because of our schools dungeons & dragons club.
she was running basically a continuation of the campaign that had been cut short because of lockdown and i didnt know any of the other campaigns DMs so i decided to join her campaign again since i had been missing my character anyways. at this point id been out for about three years i think? and made a point of introducing myself to the group with my chosen name and he/him pronouns. i dont pass very well, but i usually had a trans pride flag and pronoun pin visible on my outfit whenever we had sessions. my character was also a trans man, only using he/him pronouns as well.
whenever she addressed me or my character, she defaulted to using she/her and my deadname, despite my constant correcting her and the other party members. the only people in the party that used both the right name and pronouns for me and my character were the only other trans person (currently 18, F) in the group who she also constantly misgendered, and a guy (currently 18, M) id become pretty close friends with, since we'd accidentally started a running joke about my character being his characters dad.
i started to kind of resent her and the other party members for the constant deadnaming and misgendering and honestly was just waiting for the campaign to be over. it wrapped up at the end of the year and i just took the opportunity to stop interacting with her entirely. i had made other friends that year, and had a few from the old friendgroup we had both been part of, that respected both my name and pronouns with no issues apart from the very rare accidental deadname.
senior year passed without me talking to her a single time, only really seeing her in the halls like. once a week. now that we've graduated i doubt i'll see her all that much except the way you sometimes see a kid from school at the grocery store or the mall or wherever, so theres not really anything i can do to get back in contact or make amends or whatever, and even if i could i dont think id really want to unless she showed she could handle actually using the right name and pronouns for me.
shes shown she can use them for a mutual friend of ours (currently 18, trans M) that passes really well so it just always made me feel like she didnt give enough of a shit about me or respect me enough to actually see me as the man i am. so. idk. was ita?
What are these acronyms?
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lowkeyerror · 2 years
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Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
Quinn Fabray x Reader
Word Count: 2.1k
Warnings: Forced outting
Summary: As Rachel Berry's sister you naturally get fed up with her big ego. You finally decide to knock her down a couple pegs. ( Not my gif)
Pt2
Masterlist
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If you were a character in a movie, you'd be Ryan Evans from Kenny Ortega hit teen movie series High School Musical. There were a few things that made you akin to Ryan Evans.
The first connection was your sister, Rachel Berry. She had to be the focal point of everything she did. All she wanted to do was be in the spotlight at any possible expense. Whether you liked it or not, you'd be a part of that journey.
The second was that you were incredibly gay. Which meant that you had to be hopelessly in love with a girl that wasn't interested in you; Quinn Fabray.
" Alright, everybody, this week's lesson is a classic; duets. As always, winners get a free dinner at Breadsticks."
Rachel raises her hand," Mr. Schue, is this the time you finally let us pick our own partners? Because if not, I think I'd like to campaign to have either Finn or Y/n as my partner."
" What a big surprise?" Santana mocks her.
" Unfortunately Rachel, you won't be picking your partners, but neither will I. It's up to fate," he brought out a fedora and the whole class groaned.
Rachel was already bolting out of her seat and confidently reaching her hand in the hat. She pulled out the piece of paper and smiled widely," Finn, I guess fate is on my side."
" Who's next?"
Quinn stood in her cheerios uniform, volunteering herself. She pulled a name out of the hat and locked eyes with you," I got Berry, the better one."
You could hear Rachel huffing besides you as Finn said something to defend his girlfriend. However, you didn't really care, your mind was racing. You'd be doing a duet with Quinn, and that's the only thing you could focus on.
Everyone picked partners and kind of broke off into those pairs. You slowly made your way to Quinn, taking a seat next to her.
" So, what were you thinking for our duet?"
You shrugged," Whatever you want is fine."
Quinn chuckles dryly," Let me guess, Rachel usually chooses, and you just sing along."
She wasn't saying it as an insult, just an observation," Ya usually."
" Well, then maybe it's time for you to take advantage of not working with her. You take the lead, and I'll follow," Quinn looks at you, awaiting your response.
" I- uh okay? It would be easier to pick a song that already has two parts…"
" But that doesn't sound like what you want to do," Quinn interjects.
You laugh a little," I don't think so. I want something that fits both of our styles, and we could definitely incorporate some choreo. How do you feel about Billie Eilish?"
" Billie Bossa Nova?"
Your eyes light up," Ya, it's a cute, soft song. It matched well, and we can definitely throw in some like salsa moves or something."
Quinn starts humming the melody of the song, and you feel yourself melting," You're a genius Y/n."
" I don't know about all that, but we can practice at my place. Finn and Rachel will probably take over upstairs, but that's what the downstairs den is for. Does tomorrow work for you?"
" It's a date, Berry. See you then," Quinn winks at you before leaving the room.
You couldn't leave until Rachel was ready. On the way home, she was going on a mile a minute about her and Finn's duet.
" So what about you and Quinn?"
You blinked a few times before parking the car in front of your house," We have the song, we just need to arrange it and figure out some choreo."
Rachel makes a face," Well, I suppose as long as a Berry wins, we'll both be winning."
She got out of the car, and for once you stormed after her," What is that supposed to mean?"
" Nothing, nothing, it's just you know. Some of us are more prepared for these things than others."
You rolled your eyes," You don't think I can beat you, do you?"
Her eyes widened," Well, I- I never said that."
You laugh," You're so full of yourself, Rachel, I swear. We have the same DNA, the same training, the same routine, the same upbringing."
" You may have all of that, but I have a natural star power that we both know you don't have."
You glared at your sister," Tomorrow, me and you, diva off during glee club."
" If you want to embarrass yourself in front of everyone, be my guest," Rachel says.
" Anything You Can Do, Annie Get Your Gun."
Rachel smiles," You don't have the voice."
" We'll see," you leave her with that, headed straight for the den downstairs.
" That didn't sound too good, sweetheart," your dad's voice catches you off guard.
" It's just Rachel being herself," you plop down on the couch.
He pushes up his glasses," She doesn't mean it."
You shake your head," Oh no, but she does. She thinks she's so much better than me, and tomorrow I'll prove to her just how much of the spotlight I let her have."
Hiram looks pensive for a moment," It won't hurt her to be humbled, I suppose. She gets it from your dad."
You laugh at his words," I'll beat her in the diva off and then Quinn and I will wipe the floor with her and Finn. She'll be feeling humble for weeks to come."
The news of the diva off had spread quickly through the glee club. The next day at school, you had everyone bombarding you about it.
" So you're finally standing up to her. I know that's right Y/n, knock her down a few pegs," Mercedes strides by your side in the hallway.
" It's about time off brand Barbara learned a thing or two, especially from you," Santana popped up on your other side.
Brittany was attached to her hip," A Berry fight to the death. There can only be one winner."
You laughed at the blonde's words. It was then you saw Finn, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine across the hall. You had no nerves, you knew that you could beat Rachel.
Quinn stepped into your viewpoint, gaining your attention," Is it true about the diva off?"
You nodded," It's time the better Berry finally lived up to the nickname."
The cheerio's hand slid across your shoulder," I'm rooting for you," then she continued down the hall.
As soon as school was over, you headed straight for glee club. The students there were already taking bets on who would win. Rachel was already there, so you deliberately sat as far away from her as possible.
Mr. Schue walked in the classroom," So, I heard we had a little diva off slash duet happening today. The Berry sisters are going to show us how it's done."
" I hate to say it, but Rachel is going to destroy Y/n," Artie said, and a few murmurs of agreement were heard. Rachel plastered a big smug smile on her face at the reaction.
" Artie, when I win, I expect an apology," you stood up from your seat and approached the middle of the room.
Rachel strutted her way down the stairs and stopped in front of you.
A chorus of Oooo's rang out, but you didn't let them bother you. It was your time to shine and for once, you wouldn't be overpowered by your sister.
Rachel started the song, as she always did. You followed impeccably. The fun of the song was definitely gone for the both of you. It was heated, and the glee club seemed almost shocked by your voice.
Rachel herself even seemed to underestimate you. She hit the high note flawlessly in the first verse, but you took over the long note in the second verse.
You found yourself one upping her basic choreography. Each step she did, you did, but elevated. That was the case until you did a flip off the stairs, which she couldn't possibly follow.
She tried to outbelt you on the last note, but instead of playing her game, you flipped it on her. Finishing the song in true Berry fashion with a huge high F at the end, just because you knew it would make her angry.
By the end of the song, you and Rachel were on opposite sides of the room. It seemed like you and Rachel were getting closer as the final notes came to an end.
Once the music cut, the two of you were standing face to face, breathing heavily. Rachel's eyes wide from your last note. The classroom was silent.
Then Artie spoke up," Y/n, I am so sincerely sorry."
That's when they broke out into cheers. Even Mr. Schue was stunned at your musical prowess.
" Y/n, oh my god. Where have you been hiding that voice?"
You smugly turn to your sister," Behind her massive ego."
" My performance was better than yours, and you know it," Rachel snarled at you.
" I hate to be the one to tell you this… wait, never mind I don't. It wasn't even close," a wicked grin takes over your features.
Rachel looks around the classroom for anyone to back her up, but no one meets her eyes, not even Finn.
" I-I'm a natur-"
" Natural talent? Then why are you so insecure, Rachel? You sent Sunshine to a crack house, you act like solos are a birthright, and then act like you've done them a favor when anyone else gets one, hell I know for a fact that Kurt can hit the high F just like I did. Everyone is letting you act like this because they don't care enough to shut you up."
Tears brim her eyes for a moment, but they stop as soon as they land on you. There's a new glare in her eyes, one full of malice and hatred," Oh, are we having truth time?"
Mr. Schue tries to cut her off," Hey guys, enough."
Rachel doesn't stop," Oh no, no, no, if she wants to embarrass me, I can embarrass her back. You're a lesbian, and you're in love with Quinn. Newsflash, she'll never love you back."
Your heart dropped when your sister spoke. She just outed you to the entire glee club.
" Rachel, that was low."
You didn't know who said it. Part of you hoped to never know. You didn't give her the satisfaction of running out of the classroom. So you calmly walked out, but before you left you looked at her with the coldest stare you could muster," You are the most heartless, self-centered, bitch I've ever met in my life. You aren't my sister, you're a fucking parasite."
You walked out after that.
The body tends to act on its own when in shock or traumatized. Your feet carried you to the top of the bleachers. The sunset from the field was beautiful. It's not until you let out a scraggly breath that you realized you were crying.
It hit you harshly. Your body began to shake as choked sobs came out of your mouth. With your elbows resting on your knees, your head fell into your hands.
" I knew it would be intense, but not like that."
You raised your head to see the captain of the cheerios.
" Oh baby," she sat down next to you and draped an arm over your shoulder. She made your head lean on her shoulder.
" I'm sorry," you don't know what compelled you to say it.
" Don't ever apologize for who you are," you stay silent," I like you like this."
Her thumb delicately wipes the tears from your face.
" You don't have to say that, Quinn."
Her thumb tilts your chin up," I mean it."
Quinn doesn't let any more time pass. She places her lips firmly against yours. Nothing, but certainty, in her movements.
It was a mixture of your salty tears and her cherry lip balm. You wanted to savor every second of it, just in case this was a dream.
When she stopped, you were warm like the sunset.
" Are you sure about this? You're already in the glee club, won't this ruin your reputation?"
Quinn kisses your forehead," I'm not Rachel, I don't care about my reputation more than I care about you."
You chuckle bitterly," Dinner is going to be awkward tonight."
" Am I still invited?"
You nod," I could definitely use the support with Rachel and Finn there."
Her fingers intertwined with yours," Well then I'm here for you."
You squeeze her hand," Thank you."
She kisses the back of your hand. The sunset illuminates the two of you on the bleachers. You'd probably never forgive Rachel, but this moment with Quinn almost made you want to thank her. Almost being the key word.
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Tournament Two: Round Two - Bracket One [Dimension 20 NPC of All Time]
Jawbone O'Shaugnessey vs Ayda Aguefort
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Propaganda under the cut
Jawbone O'Shaughnessey - He/Him
Campaign: Fantasy High, Dimension 20 LIVE, The Seven
Who is he?
Jawbone O'Shaughnessey is a werewolf and former drug dealer for The Black Pit. He is now employed as a guidance counselor at Aguefort Adventuring Academy.
Why is he the NPC of All Time?
"He’s a werewolf, he’s a punk, he wears cardigans. He’s here to fuck shit up and help children. He once have head to a border patrol agent with genital warts. He’s a former drug dealer, current school guidance counselor, and your friend’s hot adopted dad. He definitely had passionate sex with Garthy O’Brien at least once. He’ll jump into a dragon’s mouth to protect a bunch of high school kids after giving you a hug and an unethical amount of anxiety meds. What more do you need to know?"
Submitted by: WON HIS SUDDEN DEATH MINI-ROUND
Ayda Aguefort - She/Her
Campaign: Dimension 20 LIVE, Pirates of Leviathan
Who is she?
Ayda Aguefort (pronounced EYE-da) is a half-phoenix divination wizard and a librarian in the Compass Points Library in Leviathan. She is the daughter of Arthur Aguefort and girlfriend of Fig Faeth.
Why is she the NPC of All Time?
"Queer Black autistic pirate wizard librarian of my heart <3"
"Shes the lesbian autism rep we NEEDED"
"Autistic, wlw, immune to fire damage. Need I say more?"
"Daughter of perhaps the most powerful and most unhinged man in the world, and a bird made of literal fire. Beyond being a black canonically-autistic lesbian wizard/phoenix who becomes girlfriend to one PC and best friend to another, she is also immortal in a way that is both beautiful and tragic. She raised Garthy, and was then raised by Garthy, and then she will most likely be raised by Adaine ad infinitum—gifting Adaine eternal company as a fellow immortal, but also the pain of loss each time she dies and the joy of rediscovery each time she is reborn. Truly the most character of our time."
"AUTISTIC SWAG YOU KNOW IT."
Submitted by: WON HER SUDDEN DEATH MINI-ROUND
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findafight · 1 year
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I apologize, you hit another one of my buttons but like I have mixed emotions on the whole basketball/DND thing in season 4. The way the show punishes Lucas choosing basketball over DND, as if other party members don't have interests outside of DND, is so frustrating. Lucas has to realize that "normal is a raging psychopath" when it's really not? He wasn't dropping his friends or interests to play basketball. He just had a conflict on one day. And if the Duffers didn't have an agenda, this is all it would be. Lucas likes two things and once they unfortunately happen to collide and he has to skip one of them. It's not a punishment, but rather something that people have to deal with sometimes. It's just so frustrating that the show punished Lucas for having interests outside DND, when Will has art, and Dustin has his radios!
But as someone who organized events when I was in high school, it is so hard to schedule things so that everyone can attend if they want to. Especially in the evenings. And at some point if you can get most people that you need at a time, you take it. So I can understand where Eddie is coming from, that it might not be worth it to cancel/reschedule the last session at the last minute when only one person can't make it. So I understand why Eddie might not want to move it. But again, they shouldn't have made it seem like it was a punishment for Lucas doing jock things.
But like Dustin and Mike! These two chose a game over supporting their friend and then they dragged that Lucas's sister into the game as well, so she wasn't there either! And Dustin and Mike did have a choice to say to Eddie, no, we want to support our friend, you can run the campaign with or without us. Because missing one person is one thing. Missing three is an entire other ball game.
And like all of this could have been resolved if they talked about it but now Eddie is dead so it's just a loose thread and a win for the Duffers in the nerd vs jock battle that only exists in their head.
Seeeeee the thing for me is, while I totally understand trying to coordinate a time to meet with everyone being difficult. It is! Group projects in uni are bonkers. But, Hellfire is directly called a club, meaning it has regularly scheduled meetings, presumably scheduled at the start of the semester (January) if not the school year. So it's not like they have to rearrange their schedule for this particular meeting, it's already ON the schedule. The make up might take work but. Postponing two weeks to do it on regular night isn't the end of the world. If the space is in use for whatever reason, people have basements and dining room tables.
I think it's mentioned that the championship game wasn't scheduled until like, a day or two before? If not it was likely at most a week and a half. With how Eddie talks about basketball, despite one of "his sheepies" being on the team, I don't really blame Lucas for being nervous to ask him directly. So like, there's a scheduling conflict, and literally any other session I wouldnt be upset. Stuff happens, sometimes you're down a player! You work through it with them doing something off screen. It's whatever.
It sucks but it can drum up whatever conflict they want from it I guess. It'd be a dick move to bring Erica (and his best friends) in when she could be supporting her brother at the championship but whatever. (Also. Introducing a new player character is kinda complicated? That's not something I would want to do in a finale?) It can be worked through. But. My experience playing dnd with people is that, y'know. The whole point isn't to beat the bad guy, it's to have fun with your friends? In S3 they sort of address this when Mike and Lucas half ass their way to finish Will's one shot faster! He's hurt partially because winning isn't what it's about! So having a player not able to make a major session for me just doesn't compute. I want my friend there! Who's been there from the beginning! I want to win with my friend.
Listen. I love Eddie! But he's clearly stuck in highschool clique mode, despite his anticonformist talking points, (something that is never brought up! Eddie's like stick it to the man! But as soon as someone steps out from the box he views as acceptable, he doesn't know what to do with them) and thus does things that are dickish. Someone in hellfire is on the basketball team, yet Eddie rails against them, doesn't even try to understand there's nuances. No wonder Lucas got Dustin (Eddie's favourite) and Mike to ask for a raincheck. Dustin and Mike could have stuck up for Lucas and said they couldn't find one, let alone three subs between them and the game. They could have gone! They should have gone! And the fact the didn't isn't brought up when it's already been an issue in S3 with Will, is a shame.
Having to cancel plans you're looking forward to sucks, but honestly it's more fun to reschedule big things (like a campaign finale) so everyone can make it than just. Replace them. Idk that's just me and my experience playing. We don't actually know how hellfire usually goes so maybe it's normal? Idk.
The show has this very bizzare view of jocks v nerds. As though every person who has ever touched a ball willingly is automatically a terrible person and only likes sports. There's sooooo many layers to it. Because people are complex. My brother was on like three teams in school, and a guy he was on football with that had a friend of a friend in common later said that he wasn't a jock! When I would have said he absolutely was. A nerdy one, absolutely, but definitely a jock.
It's annoying that the show just. Doesn't accept that people have many interests and sometimes those interests are sports. Sports are fun! Exercise is good for you! While, yes. Absolutely sports teams can cultivate a toxic environment, they can also be incredibly fulfilling.
It just feels like the Duffers want to punish anyone who dares like sports in any way tbh.
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thetasteofnectar · 2 years
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imagine joining hellfire club and developing a crush on eddie munson (pt. 1)
sure, eddie had mike and dustin put up a sign up sheet for Hellfire Club but they didn't expect anyone to actually put their name on it. to their shock, among all the fake names, profanity, and vandalism scribbled onto the paper, one unfamiliar name in a neat script is written right at the top of the paper; yours.
you had obviously heard about the infamous Hellfire Club, and despite the haunting reputation of it's leader, eddie "the freak" munson, you had been missing dnd since your recent move to Hawkins. worst case scenario you go to a meeting and everybody there is totally weird; it's not like signing up is a lifelong contract.
everybody in Hellfire referred to you as "mystery girl" until dustin asked steve about you (since steve seems to know everyone). considering the fact that you were a new student at Hawkins High School and had just moved here, you didn't really know anybody other than steve and robin who you met during their shift at the video store. still, even dustin didn't know anything about you beyond a name and an unhelpful "she's cool" from steve.
you're a little late to the first meeting on account of the heavy rain storms Hawkin's has been having as of late, and you're sopping wet when you get there and already apologizing for your tardiness the second the door opens. to your luck, the head of the club answers the door, and the infamous eddie munson turns to putty at the sight of the prettiest girl he's ever seen. he stutters out something along the lines of "it's fine, let's just start and get you out of the rain".
by the time you've silently followed him to the dimly lit meeting room, he's already recovered his intense charisma. "well well well, gentlemen, it seems our mystery girl isn't a myth after all. now which one of you forced her to show up again her will? was it you, henderson?" eddie pointed an accusatory finger at dustin, causing a laugh to escape the group. the senior members of the group were confused at the fact that your sweet smile and feminine clothes seemed to be more fitting for the cheerleading squad, but they would soon recognize you were so much more than a pretty face.
after you briefly introduced yourself and was told the names of the other club members, eddie instructed the group to finish setting up everything while he gave you a rundown of the campaign. your heart pounded as he pulled you aside, looking at you with a curious, piercing gaze. you could already feel yourself succumbing to his mischievous charm and roguish smile as he turned his head to the side, an amused smile on his face as he unknowingly made you weak in the knees. "so, mystery girl, do you have a character sheet and some knarly dnd skills to go along with that pretty face of yours?" ~ pt. 2 out soon (please leave requests/suggestions and let me know if you enjoyed this! after the love I got on my "imagine dating eddie munson" posts, i wanted to try my hand at some more writing. there will be a part 2 coming soon <3)
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hauntinq-6 · 9 days
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So... last night my very first run of BG3 finally came to an end, and... I gotta say I am pretty emotional.
Summer (my Tav) has been with me for six years. I first created her for my first ever D&D campaign back when I was still in high school and I still had the possibility to play. Hers was the only campaign I got to see from start to finish, so she is very dear to my heart.
Many things happened in these six years. I graduated from high school, I played other campaigns that never got to have an ending (don't date your DMs, kids-), I got broken up with my boyfriend, I got into uni, I lost family members, I've had some of my highest highs and lowest lows, I got my first degree in Psychology... And all throughout these years I kept creating characters, I kept addind and removing and modifying and writing and drawing and it was all so much fun!
But I kept missing Summer. I can't quite explain what attracts me so much to her character. If it's the fact I was in a happy place when I first created her and so my emotions and feelings from that time still connect me to her, or if it's specifically because I got to play a whole campaign with her or even because not only I could play with her but my best friend was also along with me for the ride and we had a blast together. Whatever it is, I could never quite be done with her, you know?
One thing was for certain though. After the first two or three years her ending didn't satisfy me anymore. She was still so young, she still had so many questions left unanswered and so much potential. We were thinking of a possible sequel campaign for her and Arwen (my best friend's character and now Tav) but that's when our DM dropped us both. We were left wondering what we could do for them, what we could write and how. We weren't entirely sure which direction to take our characters in.
Then BG3 came out. I remember my timeline being flooded with Astarion edits (that damn song lives rent free in my head at this point), being so utterly confused at what the hell was going on and then slowly becoming intrigued. I remember sitting down with my best friend to watch a mega compilation of all the characters' romance scenes, finding the visuals so damn beautiful, being convinced I would be my usual freak self and go for The Emperor but falling hard for Gale instead. We so desperately wanted to play but neither of us had a PC that was compatible with the game.
Then my long distance friend reached out and told me he wanted to play long distance with me on Discord. It was all incredibly clunky and finicky but Gods I was so happy. He'd be playing from the other side of the country and streaming it for me, and I would pick all the dialogue choices in character. That's when my bestie and I had a eureka moment and thought "what if... what if Summer and Arwen's story wasn't over yet? What if they left Aegis to find new adventures and ended up in Faerun??". I was so fucking excited it is almost unbelievable.
We spent six whole months on this one game file and I enjoyed every. single. second of it. Six whole months of pure excitement and delight. The more I played, the more I tweaked Summer's character and backstory to fit the narration, the more I got inspired to write up the new chapters of her adventure with my best friend and the more I fell in love with her. I laughed, I cried, I launched myself into deep discussions over her character and why she would do or say certain things in each situation. I saw her easily slip back into her avdenturing habits, adoring each moment she got to spend under the stars. I saw her face her demons once again and with even more purpose this time. I saw her make new friends that she would want to spend the rest of her life with, I saw her fall in love with a man that truly deserved to be by her side... My little tiefling sorceress that plays like a barbarian, my pride and joy.
And it all came to and end last night. Her and her allies won the last battle, they saved Baldur's Gate, Gale proposed to her and she moved with him to Waterdeep to spend the rest of their life together. She got her happy ending.
Six whole years with Summer and I can finally consider her story complete. Perhaps she is so important to me because out of all the characters I created, she is the only one that finally got her whole character arc. A beginning and an end. And after all the harsh challenges she faced, after all the dangers and the pain and suffering... she finally got her happy ending. She got what she deserved.
Now, does that mean I am done with Summer? Absolutely not. There is still much to do, much to write and much to draw. I'm gonna have tons of fun thinking up extra little scenarios for her and her friends and what her life in Waterdeep is gonna look like as she finally gets to build a family of her own. But as far as I am concerned... her main story's complete.
And as I listen to Endless Spring and get emotional all over again, I want to thank @wolfhunter89 and @sheeplyquillwrites for coming along with me on this wonderful journey. Summer's story just wouldn't have been the same without you. I love you guys so damn much, even if I never say it. I can't wait to see what's in store for Arwen next. To many more stories and games shared together!
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sherifftillman · 2 years
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An Unambiguous Love [1/10]: First Day Out Front
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:: 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6 :: 7 :: 8 :: 9 :: 10 ::
alternate AO3 link
Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson x f!Reader
Genre: fluff
Summary: Your favourite customers really make it easier returning to the town you never went to school in. If only your friends at work would stop trying to play matchmaker between you.
Chapter 1 word count: 2428
A/N: Ahh, here it is! The thing I keep saying has been kicking my ass lately!! I really hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I've ultimately enjoyed writing it. Also big big love to @denim-mixtapes for beta-ing/de-British-ing the things I write.
“Heads up!” You look up at the source of the command you just heard to witness a paper ball leave your colleague Jesse’s hand, swing through the air as though in slow motion, and collide directly with your forehead. You give him a stern look, and he smirks while shaking with laughter. “I mean, I did warn you.”
You flip him off, “Way to kick off my first day on the shop floor.”
“I am your mentor out here, I need to prepare you for anything. Be grateful it wasn’t a figurine, that would have hurt,” Jesse points out. “Nah, it’s easy enough out here. You’ll even be able to run shifts all by yourself in no time.”
You hold up your index finger this time, “Correction, you could in no time. You know how many dirty looks I get just from saying the word comic in front of most men?”
He pulls a face. “I’m sure most of our customers are just like me, and I’m one of those female-ists! I let you join my D&D campaign, remember? That was great!”
You think back to the group containing mostly your fellow employees, and a couple of other guys around your age from Jesse’s past, who may not have directly said anything against you, but who certainly treated his poorly-written female NPCs far worse than his mediocrely-written male ones, constantly trying to pursue them until Jesse would throw a tantrum and refuse to “flirt'' with his players. Instead of arguing, you simply opt to look down so he doesn’t see the resigned expression that so badly insists on creeping along your face.
As you’re looking down, you notice the crumpled up paper isn’t just plain, it’s a half-written Dungeons and Dragons character sheet. Curious as to why it was abandoned, you unfurl it and read the first box.
Name: Steve Harr Bashemall
You chuckle at a half-orc fighter being essentially called "bash them all". You never really made any lasting friends before you moved out of Hawkins in your elementary years, and you and your family moved back just after you graduated high school, but this town's small enough that you know who Steve Harrington, King of Hawkins High is. He works at the Family Video right opposite your store, with the clumsy girl who you once literally bumped into on one of your trash runs after you had to deal with a delivery of misprints. She had at least helped you run around the blustery parking lot collecting them all back up again, and you'd sworn you could never show your face in front of him again after seeing the silhouette of his broad shoulders and swooping hair in the store window, clearly watching you run around like a headless chicken. 
Jesse sees you reading the sheet and chuckles. "Ah, is that Harrington's garbage? Yeah, I was here when he came in with that, uh… Trailer boy. Munson."
"You say that like I'm just supposed to know them," you retort.
Jesse shrugs, "Anyway, Munson got his wires crossed, thought it was last week that we were launching D&D supplies. Brought in his own blank character sheet to, what was it he said? 'Keep Stevie busy', or something." You allow yourself a small laugh at the nickname. "But obviously that was pretty short-lived. He kept trying to name his character real boring names like Brian until -" Jesse makes some kind of unintelligible groan. "Until I said it might suit him to play an unassuming human rogue with a deadly secret, but he called that “pretentious” until he started yelling "Bash 'em! I wanna bash 'em all! That's my character!" so Munson told him to write it down. I don't think they got too much farther with it. I only found it 'cause I realised just now I hadn't thrown it away, it was just trash."
You fold it away and tuck it into a drawer in your desk. There's a very brief character description, if it gets quiet you could always use some extra drawing practice.
The morning goes by pretty smoothly, the register is easy enough to use, the clientele haven't been too harsh. Which means Jesse has “decided” to let you fly solo until someone else takes over. "I can’t stay anyway, I, uh… I’ve told Cam already that I’ve got a migraine coming on.” If he’s telling the truth, he’s weirdly unaffected for someone whose symptoms are so bad he apparently can’t work any longer. “It's not like you're on your own, Tiffany's just dealing with this week's delivery out back, you can call on her if you really need anything!" he calls over his shoulder as the door hits the bell that dangles just above it.
Sighing in resignation, you shout out, “Tiff?”
“One second, hun!” The other female player in Jesse’s D&D campaign calls out.
“Oh, it’s all good as long as you can hear me. Just thought I’d tell you Jesse’s gone for the day. Says it’s a migraine.”
You hear the clatter of something being dropped and soon after, Tiffany rushedly appears at the back room door. “What a jerk! You want me to put a word in with the big guy about him?”
You shake your head. “I’ll be fine, I’m sure. Cameron’s in the office today, and I don’t want him to think I need my hand held all the time. Just wanted to check that you were within shouting distance if I needed you for something.”
Tiffany pads over and reaches around behind your back to give you a quick squeeze of encouragement. “I’ll always have your back here! Especially over my lame-ass brother,” she pulls a face and you laugh. Fresh into high school, Tiffany has all the nerdy know-how Jesse does, and thankfully a far more palatable personality. “And don’t be scared of Cameron. He’s cool when he wants to be.” 
“Yeah, I know. I just spent… So damn long in that back room. I don’t want to cause trouble on my first day out.” You sigh. 
“I’m gonna miss having my behind-the-scenes sister with me!” Tiff pouts.
You grin, “Just makes us the dream team now, right?”
“The face and the brains!” She mirrors your expression, pointing at you and then herself, and runs off before she can see your borderline offended look.
A little while after noon hits, after a dull enough morning that you’ve been spending your time absent-mindely drawing, the doorbell tolls. You look up to see the familiar silhouette of a stocky man with perfect hair, but this time you can see his warm eyes and chiselled jaw. He at first goes straight for the comic section, thumbing through different boxes with his tongue poking his cheek out and looking confused.
“Need some help?” You offer, and he gets snapped out of his trance to look at you for the first time. His expression when he locks eyes with you is so much softer than you were expecting from the charismatic reputation that has preceded him.
“Uh, yeah, actually, sorry. Friend of mine wanted me to pick him up a… number 200 Lantern? Said I should get here nice and early in case it sells out fast. Apparently it’s a big one?” he asks, blowing air through his lips in a rasp and holding his arm out in a half-shrug.
For a moment, you understand the power trip that knowing more than someone else can have, but you’re no Jesse. Instead, you nod understandingly. “Got it, Green Lantern #200. Yeah, it’s literally a big one. Poor Tiff’s been fighting with them all day back there,” you gesture with your head to the back room door. “They came in this morning, but they don’t hit the shelves until tomorrow. Same day the D&D stuff gets out, too. Sorry.”
He groans, “Stupid Dustin, getting the date wrong… Sorry for wasting your time,” he states as he wanders up to your counter. He notices that you’re drawing something and leans over to look. “I’m Steve, by the - oh,” he stops suddenly when he recognises the crumpled up paper you’ve been using for reference. “Is that -”
You don’t usually embarrass easily, but your cheeks do tint pink. “Uh, yeah, one of my colleagues used this sheet as a missile and I figured since I haven’t had much practice drawing orcs - or half-orcs, in this case - I could give it a go.”
“So this is what Bashemall looks like, huh?” he asks, swivelling himself around to angle his point of view to look at it from your perspective. “That’s amazing.”
“Well, ultimately only you know that. I’m just going by what little is written here, and some reference of my own knowledge of orcs’ anatomy. Um, you haven’t really said anything about hair, though, so I’m not sure what would look best on him…” you study your sketchbook page, tilting your head from side to side as you try to imagine different hairstyles on him.
“Well, I mean, I put enough effort into my own hair that I’d like to think it would look good no matter what kind of face I had, so… Maybe he could have hair like mine?”
You look back up at him, eyes narrowing as you study the way his hair looks for a moment. “Sure, I could do that,” you nod. “Mind if I use you as reference, or do you gotta head back?”
“Ah, Robin can cope without me for a few minutes,” he waves off before snorting a quick chuckle out of a half-smile. “She, uh, she’s the one who helped you whip the parking lot back into shape a couple weeks back.”
You raise your eyebrows at him. “Wow, so you are the one who just stood watching in the window! How heroic,” you smile sarcastically and he laughs harder. “Alright, well, I’ve been drawing this guy at a ¾ view so if you could just move your head…” you try and gesture with your hands how you want his head positioned, but he doesn’t seem to be getting it. Instead, you opt for using the end of your pencil to push his jaw up slightly, then across slightly until it’s angled just right.
“You need me to make a face for you?” Steve asks, immediately cycling through an array of facial expressions.
You giggle, “Not for the drawing, but for my own entertainment, sure!” He continues pulling faces until you’ve sketched a full head of hair. You hold your sketchbook up and he finally breaks pose to look at it in full.
His face is filled with admiration. “This is so good! Almost makes me want to pick it up. Almost,” he points at you, eyes wide. “But not totally. It’s still very much Munson’s and the kids’ thing,” he shakes his head. “I can’t wrap my head around it all.”
“Well, then, I’m super honoured that you entertained the idea of me drawing a D&D character that’ll never see the light of day,” you smile, before having an idea. Holding a single finger up, you ask, “Please hold just a second,” before slinking back to the back room.
You open the door to find Tiff backing away, far closer than she should have been if she were at her post. “Is that the Steve Harrington out there I hear?!”
“Yeah… Yeah,” you nod, half-distractedly. Despite the fact he’s only a door away, part of you just wants him back in your field of vision as soon as possible. Looking over at the manager’s office’s closed door, trying to stay out of its earshot, you ask in a hushed tone, “Uh, hey, I don’t suppose you could slide me a copy of Green Lantern a day early? I’ll make sure it all gets paid for, I jus-”
“Say no more,” Tiffany singsongs as she presses a copy into your chest. “Just remember to ask me to be your maid of honour.”
You roll your eyes at her as you head back out to the shop floor. You toss the issue onto the counter and gesture to it. “There you go. For being such a good model. Don’t go telling anybody you got it a day early, though.”
Steve gasps deeply, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Oh, I’m definitely gonna be Henderson’s favourite for this! Thanks, I seriously owe you!”
You narrow your eyes, “I literally just said this makes up for letting me draw your hair! You don’t owe me shit now.”
“Oh no, trust me, you have no idea what this is going to do to my reputation. I still owe you so hard,” Steve picks the issue up and tucks it beneath his jacket.
“Just… Maybe come back every once in a while? It’d be nice to have a friendly face around every now and again to chat to,” you suggest.
Steve salutes, “You got it…” He leans in to read your name badge and calls you by name. Huh, guess you forgot to introduce yourself. Maybe you should be doing that more. 
He rushes out of the store, back to his own workplace, and you step back to rap your knuckles against the back room door. “You can come out now, Tiff,” you murmur just loud enough to be heard on the other side.
Sure enough, Tiffany opens the door just enough to poke her head through the gap. “Oh my  god, he is so into you.”
You shake your head in disbelief. “Please, he’s just being friendly. There was nothing flirty about anything either of us said.”
“Exactly!” Tiffany hisses. “If I know anything about Steve Harrington, from what I’ve heard, he usually flirts so hard! You clearly make him nervous, he’s obviously intimidated by you. Trust me.”
“You want me to ‘trust’ what you’ve ‘heard’ about someone who graduated last year, before you were even at that school?” you ask in disbelief, shaking your head. “He just seemed like he was being nice. I dunno. It’d be cool to have a friend outside of here, too.”
“Well, I’m still gonna have hope,” Tiffany shrugs as she sneaks back to her work.
When your shift finally ends, as you get to your car you look up at Family Video one last time to see Steve at the window. He lifts his hand to just in front of his chest to give you a small wave goodbye with a soft smile to match. You wave back, feeling a sensation of warmth emanate all through your body.
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corrodedseraphine · 1 year
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playlist | #7 she'll be right here in my arms
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pairing: eddie munson x henderson!reader
summary: Just when you thought the boy you were in love with all through high school was gone, he suddenly reappears as your little brother's friend. Fate has once again decided to join your paths, however, everything turns out to be a bit complicated. Will Eddie Munson's sudden return to your life bring with it even more changes?
TW: Mentions of fighting and accident, injuries
the story is also avaliable on ao3
masterlist | eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist
song which I used: HIM - Right Here In My Arms
No comment from me this time!
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Despite the fact that Eddie was sitting at the Hellfire table at lunch as always, his spirit was completely absent. He paid no attention at all to the conversation that the rest of the members were having. Leaning over he kept writing something and scribbling in his notebook.
"I'll never believe you're doing homework, so why don't you tell us what's more important to you than our new campaign?" Gareth finally asked.
"Nothing." Eddie muttered in response.
"Yeah, sure" The boy quickly snatched the notebook out of Eddie's hands, who immediately jumped to his feet wanting to snatch it back from him.
She's smiling like heaven is down on earth Sun is shining so bright it hurts All her wishes have finally com true Her heart is weeping. Happiness is killing her.
She'll be right here in my arms So in Love She'll be right here in these arms She can't let go
So hard she's trying But her heart won't turn to stone She keeps on crying But I won't leave her alone She'll never be alone
She'll be right here in my arms So in Love She'll be right here in these arms She can't let go
"Is this a dream? Did Edward 'I hate everything related to love' Munson just wrote a love song?"
"Give back my notebook, retard." Eddie hissed embarrassedly and tucked the notebook deep into his backpack so that no one else would be tempted to take it.
"Who's the girl who managed to pierce the ice layer on your heart?" laughed Mike.
"Dude it's obvious that y/n" everyone turned towards Dustin in shock. It was no surprise to them that it was about you, but the fact that it came out of your little brother's mouth was.
"I don't have a crush on your sister Henderson." Eddie lied in an attempt to defend himself. He felt like he was under fire.
"Your feelings for her are so obvious they can be almost touchable." The boy concluded while sipping his juice.
"So, Eddie is in love with your sister, and you are okay with it?" Jeff asked.
"I have two options. Be deathly offended at Eddie and lose my friend or..."
"Or?"
"Help him open my stupid sister's eyes and get rid of this Neanderthal Craver from her life. She's already so much happier around Eddie and they haven't even started being together yet."
"Don't call your sister stupid." Munson mumbled.
"Oh my god," Dustin groaned. "Is that really all you heard from what I just said?"
"Does it matter? I don't have a crush on your sister, and even if I did I wouldn't do anything. It's not right."
"The last time Tiffany was at the Hideout with her boyfriend you didn't mind when she dragged you to the bathroom." interjected Gareth.
"Yes, but y/n is not some random girl from the Hideout."
"So you admit you have a crush on Dustin's sister anyway?" asked Jeff with a grin.
"Fuck you!"
"Besides, since when did Eddie "fuck the rules" Munson become so sensitive?"
"Say one more fucking word and your character won't survive the first five minutes of the next campaign." At first when the topic started he was simply embarrassed by how easily they saw through it. Now the embarrassment was turning into annoyance. All the rest of them were incredibly amused, but from his perspective the situation wasn't all that fun. He couldn't cope with the constant internal battle between his desires and how he should behave toward you. On the evening of your birthday, he promised himself that as long as you were in a relationship he would not cross the line no matter how much it hurt him.
"Since we have Dustin's blessing, we can help you somehow." Gareth said, smiling sinisterly. Before Eddie had time to say he didn't want their help, his friend put his hands to his mouth.
"Hey Buckley!" he yelled drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.
"Not so loud, or someone will think I'm hanging out with freaks!" she said, walking over to the table and squeezing in between Gareth and Eddie. "Just kidding. What's up losers?" she asked with a smile.
"What are you doing Thursday night?" he asked.
"I have no plans." she shrugged her shoulders.
"Why don't you come to our concert at the Hideout? Be sure to bring y/n with you, Eddie has written a new song, I'm sure she'd love to hear it."
"You won't make me play that song asshole!" for the first time in their lives, they all had a chance to see their Dungeon Master in such mess.
"Oh, of course you'll play it." said Robin pulling out her phone. "I'm just texting y/n that we've been invited to the first listening of Corroded Coffin's new hit, you don't want to disappoint her do you?"
"I hate all of you, you can be sure that I will kill you all with a smile on my lips once we start the new campaign." He pointed his finger at each Hellfire member in turn. "And you? I don't know yet, but I'll definitely get my revenge." He pointed to Robin.
"You should be thanking us!" she laughed. "See you on Thursday Eddie. I'm sure your song will be amazing!" 
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Why were all the thoughts in his head so loud all day? Why couldn't he just turn them off? It would have been so much easier, because at that moment even the loud music from his headphones couldn't silence them. However, it effectively silenced his surroundings so when he felt someone's hand clamp down on his arm he jumped up.
"Jesus H Chist!" he shouted, placing his hand on his rumbling heart. After a moment, there was already a dog sitting on his lap, which he immediately began petting.
"Sorry," you chuckled. "I didn't mean to scare you." You said, sitting down next to him on the pier at Lover's Lake. "Am I disturbing?"
"No, of course not." he said pulling his headphones out of his ears.
"What are you doing here? Are you waiting for someone?" you asked.
"Nope, I just came to sit and look at the sky." He pointed with his head to the starry area above you. "And what are you doing here? Isn't it a little late for taking a walk?"
"I needed to air out my head a bit, too many thoughts." You laughed nervously.
"I understand." he replied. "So wanna sit together?"
"Sure."
At first silence fell between the two of you. Later, after that, the conversation began to develop on its own. Unbeknownst to you, the two of you had drifted into the subject of your years together in high school. Recalling everything, talking about people from your yearbook, laughing at teachers you both hated, you felt comfortable around him. Even too comfortable because it caused you, when Eddie recalled how one of the cheerleaders once tried to make him fall in love with her just to have access to free pot, to make a confession out of your mouth that no one expected.
"I was so damn jealous then!" you replied with a laugh, and only after a moment did you realize what you had said.
"Jealous? Jealous of what? You know that if you just asked I would give you my shit for free." he looked at you with a puzzled expression on his face.
"It wasn't about the weed, stupid." you replied, thankful that it was night and he couldn't see your face turn all red. "About you. I had a hopeless crush on you all through high school."
"You what?" he asked, unable to shake off the shock. Why are you telling him only now? At least two years too late? He felt like jumping into the lake and drowning in it, because this information did not help him one bit. On the contrary, it made his situation seem even nastier than it is.
"It's stupid, I know! God, I never thought I'd say it out loud." You hid your face in your hands, but he quickly with his pulled yours away and, without letting them go, began to speak.
"It's not stupid, I-" unfortunately your phone did not let him finish. Taking your hands from his you took it out of your pocket and answered it.
"Mom called, I have to go back." you said taking Naveen from his lap.
"Do you need a ride?" he asked, not wanting to separate from you.
"No, it's okay." you replied.
"Take care of yourself, 'kay?"
"You too Eddie, see you Thursday!" you waved him off and turned toward the way home.
All through high school I was hopelessly in love with you. He had never wanted to turn back the time so much before, keeping his knowledge from now. Maybe then he would dare to make a move.
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Corroded Coffin spent all Tuesday and Wednesday preparing a new song. When Thursday rolled around Eddie struggled to hold on at school praying for the end. Everyone saw his nervous state and added fuel to the fire by teasing him. Robin at every break did not miss an opportunity to remind him that he was only a few hours away from the performance. When he was finally able to retreat to the comfort of his room, it turned out that it would not do any good. He nervously walked from one corner to the other, unable to find a place for himself. Finally he decided that there was nothing left for him but to sit down and practice a new song. After the tenth time he did the same thing, a loud knock on the door and the ringing of the doorbell echoed throughout the apartment. Surprised, he came out of the room, but his uncle was quicker to open the door for you.
"Good afternoon Mr Munson is Dustin here?" your voice was very nervous. Eddie quickly walked to the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked seeing the worried look on your face.
"Joyce called saying Will didn't come home after school today, Dustin didn't either, both of them don't answer the phone, they don't text back, no one knows what happened." you said entering the apartment. "I thought they might be at your place, that you were discussing something related to Hellfire." You combed your hair with your hand.
"They weren't here today, everything seemed normal at school..."
"What if something happened?" you started walking in circles around the living room wondering where else you could look for them. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.
"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions." he said grabbing your shoulders mid-step.
"The last time Will didn't return normally from school he went missing, what if it all happens again?" you began to panic. You were convinced that closing the gate had finally ended all interaction with the Upside Down. But what if it didn't? What if it all came back? What if Dustin and Will were once again in danger? All the what ifs were rushing dangerously in your head overblown with worse and worse ideas.
"Y/n, look at me." he said with concern. "I'm sure nothing bad happened, I'll help you look for them okay? Come on." He grabbed your hand and led you out of the apartment.
He didn't want to show you that your stress was getting to him to some extent. Wanting or not, he cared about all his lost hellfire sheep, but not wanting to further worsen your condition he adopted a calm attitude reassuring you from time to time that they would soon be found. Driving slowly through the streets, Hawkins he noticed you nervously picking at the skin near the nails on your fingers. Blood had already begun to pour from one of them. Not thinking much, he covered one of your hands with his own, not allowing you to continue. When he had to take his hand for a moment to change gears after a while it quickly found its way to yours. You'd be lying if you said you didn't like it. If the circumstances had been different you probably would have had other feelings. But now you were mainly focused on the support he was giving you.
The last place you could check out was the forest. As you approached Skull Rock you saw two familiar bicycles, showing them to Eddie you immediately ran in that direction. Fortunately, the two boys were sitting there. The sight of them made you feel relieved, which very quickly turned into rage, but when, approaching them, you noticed that Will had a cut lip and Dustin a pretty big bruise on his face you felt nothing but worry.
"What happened?" you asked hugging both of them at once. "Why didn't you come home, why didn't you answer the phone? Do you have any idea how worried we were? Jesus Christ what happened to you?"
The boys just looked at each other in silence, then lowered their heads down.
"Who did this to you?" interjected Eddie. He had had similar injuries on his face too many times not to guess what had happened. Although the very thought that someone might have done this to them boiled inside him, his voice was calm, so as not to scare them even more.
"Talk to us please." You had to know what had happened and who was to blame.
"Jason..." began Will uncertainly.
"And his stupid friends." finished Dustin. "They laughed at Will again, we stood up to them, but there were more of them." He raised his eyes and looked at you. "Y/n please don't be angry." Your heart was breaking at how scared they were. Children who had dealt with fighting monsters from another dimension now terrified that you could be angry with them.
"I'm not mad at you. I was just very worried about you, afraid that something...dangerous was happening again." They just nodded their heads in understanding. "Let's go home, okay? Come on."
The whole way passed in silence for you. Eddie drove Will first and then you and your brother home. In gratitude, you hugged him goodbye, promising to meet him again in two hours at their concert in the Hideout. Before that, though, you had to stop by one more place. 
You took the keys to the car and as soon as Dustin disappeared into the building you drove straight to Tom's house. Clenching your hands on the steering wheel, your knuckles turned white as you let the anger you felt take over you. You were nervous but not afraid. Confronting your boyfriend's stupid brother was not something that scared you. In truth, he should be afraid of you. On the spot you knocked hard on the door calling Tom's name. When he opened the door for you without a word you squeezed past looking around the house and looking for Jason who was sitting on the living room couch.
"You fucking asshole!" you said walking up to him. "You and a bunch of your brainless friends need to stay away from my brother and his friends, do you understand?" you snatched the phone from his hand and threw it across from the couch forcing him to pay attention to you.
"What the hell y/n?" interjected Tom. "You haven't spoken to me in days and suddenly you show up here yelling at my brother? What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? Your dumbass brother beat up Dustin and Will! Is there still something wrong with ME?!" you raised your voice.
"Apparently they deserved it." Tom shrugged his shoulders. His attitude enraged you even more. He didn't really care even a little?
"I'm done." you said finally. "I've had enough of you and what you've become. I can't stand you anymore. I don't have the strength anymore to keep trying to have a relationship that you don't even care about!"
"What?"
"I'm breaking up with you Tom! This relationship doesn't make sense anymore for a long time. It's over."
"What?"
"Oh my god do you know any other words than what?!" you asked annoyed. "You heard me, it's over, I don't want to be a part of all this anymore. And you- " you turned your eyes back to Jason. "If you do anything to my brother again, I swear I will do everything to make you regret that you were born." Without waiting for a response from either of them, you walked out of the house slamming the door. 
Right on cue, the weather matched your mood. Heavy drops of rain pounded hard and the roof and windows of your car when you got into it. Your emotions found an outlet in crying. Even though you long time ago subconsciously accepted that there was nothing left to salvage between you it still hurt. After all, you spent two years together, of which half of the year was really great. 
Promising yourself that this was the last time you would cry because of him, you moved ahead. The road was empty, which made your foot press the gas pedal a little harder. Still crying, you felt the weight from your heart slowly begin to fall. The rain was getting harder, your wipers could barely keep up with pushing it off the window, and the blurred vision caused by your tears didn't help. Nor did it help when an animal ran into the street. Turning abruptly at the very last minute, the last thing you remembered before darkness took over was a very strong headache.
When you didn't respond to calls and messages from Robin, she and Steve stated that you were probably getting ready and would meet you there. When Corroded Coffin went on stage for the last time she looked at her phone still not seeing any message from you. Surprised, she asked Steve if he had heard from you so he replied that he hadn't and that you would probably be a little late. Unfortunately, when Eddie kept scanning the room with his eyes for the entire show, hoping to see your face somewhere in the crowd, he was met with a smack of reality that you weren't there. He had never had such a hard time playing before. Seeing the empty seat next to Robin, he felt like walking off the stage and returning to his apartment to accept that this meeting didn't mean as much to you as it did to him. He also thought that maybe it was better that you didn't hear the new song. If you guessed that he had written it with you in mind he would have felt like the biggest idiot in the world. He didn't feel very good about the whole thing now either.
"You guys were amazing!" said Robin as they left the stage. Seeing Eddie's lack of response she grabbed his arm. "I really don't know why she wasn't there, she was really excited about this concert..."
"It's fine." he said quietly, concentrating on packing his guitar into its case. Robin, however, was not letting go.
"I've been trying to call her but she's not answering, she's not replying to messages, maybe she lost her phone somewhere again... Steve a did you hear from her?"
"Nope." he said pulling out his phone. To his surprise he noticed that instead of a message from you there was one from Dustin in which he begged him to answer the phone. "But Dustin called me seven times, I'm going to go call him back."
"Eddie, you have to believe me that she didn't leave the concert on purpose. She must have had something really important happen to her that she wasn't here and didn't even let anyone know about it!" He admired her stubbornness, but a part of him wouldn't let him believe it.
"I agree with Buckley." Gareth said.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe that she just didn't want to be here?!" He blurted out. "Clearly she had something better to do than watch some freak on stage." his words were full of bitterness, which definitely didn't please the rest. Robin was already opening her mouth to deny what he said and once again assure you that you would never do such a thing when Steve came back to you. He was all pale and nervously combed his hand through his hair.
"And what happened to you?" asked Eddie.
"I called Dustin and..." his voice half froze in his throat.
"Steve what happened?" Robin rushed him, sensing well the terror that was emanating from her friend.
"Y/n had an accident." He choked out. "She was driving too fast and skidded and hit a tree...They don't know exactly for how long she was in the car before someone passed that way and called the police. She is now in the hospital, unconscious, no contact." he said.
Hearing this, Eddie slumped down in the chair next to him. He would never have expected how much he would have wanted you to simply ditch him. That you weren't here just because you didn't care about him and didn't want to meet him, because the real reason turned out to be a waking nightmare for him. 
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taglist: @i-me-mine
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sweetcloverheart · 1 year
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Clover Rants Miraculously: “Okay, but why?”
Warning for spoilers below for “Transmission (Pt.1)” and the script/bible leak for “Derision” and plotstuff, so read on with caution
I see a lot of talk about Chloe’s comment in “Transmission” about having forced Marinette to request to come to school and...wasn’t feeling any of the anger some of the rest of the fandom was feeling about it. Like, it’s still an awful thing to do to someone and to go through as a 14 year old, but the urge to revile Chloe for tormenting Marinette like that just didn’t bubble up.
At first I thought “Maybe it’s because I like both characters that how awful the thing she did is isn’t hitting me” - but I was able to hate Chloe in the beginning, and I do remember being genuinely angry when she locked Juleka in the bathroom in “Reflekta” so I knew it couldn’t be that. Then I considered that maybe I was finally reaching the point of being burnt out by the show, but despite my upset over various plot developments and reveals (*glares at Gabriel and the season finale*), I still have some love for the show and a handful of characters as well as the fandom, so it wasn’t that either. And then after scrolling through tumblr and letting my thoughts wander, I finally realized why it wasn’t clicking with me - because it has the same issue I had with Zoe and her backstory in that we’re told “Chloe did bad thing to Marinette” without really giving any setup or context for it.
“Chloe bullied Marinette so badly she needed her permission to go to school in the past.” sounds and is terrible on it’s own and naturally kicks off the gut reaction to be sad for Marinette for going through this and angry at Chloe for instigating it - but then I have to ask “Okay, but why?” Why did she do it? What actually happened? What led up to the incident? And most importantly - Why Marinette? What is it about her (aside from her being our plucky underdog protag) that made Chloe hone in on her and begin a years long bullying campaign from Kindergarten that apparently resulted in her forcing her out of school for how long until she had beg to come back?
And I feel like it should have been made a thing/explained since we’re speedrunning so many plot points right now and also because we’ve had five seasons and still have not been given any real explanation for the story behind Marinette and her struggle against her “Civilian Hawkmoth” Chloe Bourgeois. Since the conflict between them was already happening in the beginning, I didn’t think much of it because “average everyday kid MC has a bully they have to deal with” was staple for magical girls and the like. But then the show revealed the bullying has been happening since kindergarten (which has me asking how the mayor’s daughter and a baker’s kid managed to be the same circles enough to know each other well enough to become bully and victim? Unless this was before Andre took office, but even then I can’t imagine they had the opportunities to interact...), and I found myself intrigue at the story behind such long standing animosity and wanting to learn more about it and how exactly we got to Chloe constantly sabotaging and tormenting Marinette before getting Marinette being able to snap back with her head held up high
And I still do because I feel it would have gone a long way in properly setting her up as our heroine’s foil and future opponent more. Chloe just being an asshole to Marinette (alongside everyone and their mother) for kicks with no explanation was fine back in season 1 when she was just a minor antagonist who was just supposed to try and hinder Adrienette progress/cause the akuma of the day, but now that she’s being made Lila’s future flying monkey and the show’s trying to hype her up as “Worst than Gabriel#2″ alongside everything that’s been revealed about her, you’d think we’d finally get to the bottom of what started her one-woman crusade against Marinette (and imply maybe learning just what exactly happened between them that spited Chloe so much that she went as far as forcing Marinette to stay home until she had to literally get Chloe’s verbal permission to attend classes again). But so far, like with Adrien never learning his true origins, the show doesn’t see to want to actually give a proper story on what set the two against each other. (Also, how come we didn’t get this info sooner? Why wasn’t this relevant back when Tikki and the rest were pushing Marinette to let Chloe be a hero? Or after she took back the Bee Miraculous? How come we didn’t hear more about her previous Pre-Series bullying incidents against Marinette when they would have been useful in setting up Chloe’s betrayal in “Miracle Queen” instead of being (yet) an(other) unsubtle “See, Chloe’s terrible! Hate her!” tossaway line)
It also doesn’t help that Chloe has...basically been a huge non-entity for a majority of the season (and also prior). Like why should I care she forced Marinette to have to ask her to go to school who knows how long ago if she 1)Is not involved in the episode plot of the day, 2)Isn’t going to be a major player in the current storyline regarding Hawkmoth and the Rings, or 3)The information isn’t going to be relevant other than the show once again begging the audience to hate Chloe. I mean, it’s a messed up thing, yes - but Chloe has been doing bad/messed up stuff to everyone the entire series since episode one. This is less “Oh god Chloe’s just the worse! >:C” and more “Okay...thanks for telling me this?”. Just more of the usual. It’d be one thing if she had revealed it in a threat against Marinette (”Back off of Adrien, Baker girl - or do you need another few months off school again?”) or casually told Adrien and it helped facilitate his eventual dissolving of their friendship, but it’s basically being used to go “Oh, you thought Chloe was evil? Well this will show you that she’s not just evil - but super duper evil!” And instead of feeling the carnivorous urge to pray for Chloe to get slapped hard across the face with violent karma as I finally “accept” that she’s actually a evil horrid monster the show has been begging me to see her as, I just can’t help but go “You told me this last episode. I already know Chloe bullies Marinette and is super duper evil, you can stop selling me on it. Also Lila did this first (“Ladybug”) so this feels like a repeat. Don’t you guys have any new material? Actually, can we talk about Lila instead - you want her to be the next big bad right? I want to know what’s she’s doing to lead up to that.”
Also, as mentioned in a another post, the entire thing is...very small potatoes compared to what’s going on the plot right now, especially with Chloe’s role being so reduced since S4. I know a lot of people tend to get defensive when it comes to how people talk about Chloe’s bullying/behavior towards Marinette (especially when they themselves were bully victims in the past and the dismissiveness some people treat it with hits too close to home), but as a former bully victim myself also, I genuinely can’t really find it in me to force myself to focus on Chloe and her past cruelty to Marinette with everything else going on (yes, even with the ability to multitask and care about multiple things at once). Like, is it really that important Chloe’s bragging about forcing Marinette to stay home back in the past when our two leads just now had to give up their miraculouses and are uber depressed about that while Hawkmoth has tracked down the people they passed them on to and is planning another big plan to swipe them. Especially when, again - this information is not and will not be relevant to the plot at hand. It’d be one thing is it was meant to foreshadow/set up for “Derision” (and maybe it is) or was leading up to a flashback episode explaining what triggered Chloe into targeting Marinette in the first place, and maybe it will be relevant/explained next season or later in the future, but until then if it isn’t about something to either build off of for Chloe getting involved as a major villain by her own right, Marinette’s growth as a character, or the overarching plotline either involving Hawkmoth or the Lovesquare progress - I’m not sure what the show wants me to do with the info at this point (other than squirrel it away for future fanfic material)?
And before anyone goes “Well bad people don’t need reason to be bad”, and yes I know not every bully character gets this huge dramatic backstory for why they hate the lead or needs their evil justified - I’m not asking for that. I don’t need a reason for why Chloe is doing bad things to Marinette, I just want actual buildup/a proper background to when it started and what kicked it off so I can properly be angry/sympathetic like the show apparently wants when it drops lines like this.
TLDR: The show has basically dragged out the “Chloe bad/did evil bad thing once” thing too long and now every time they bring up one of her “crimes” I’m just bored instead of righteously angry like the show wants be to be, especially when they haven’t explained why Chloe started bullying Marinette in the first place.
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What was Miller like in high school?
oh you are throwing a meat pumpkin into my enclosure thank you
we might headcanon Miller as ONI before a Spartan IV because mission handler - intelligence - step above usual meathead - but the halo universe is sooooo yeah....
Miller can't sneeze without making sure Palmer is nearby because he has no confidence at the beginning of SpOps - he does gain some under trials by fire and the nonsense that is the Requiem campaign but to me he's a lame guy who has never existed without some kind of authority before.
He's the head jrotc cadet running drills and doing extra homework. He did 3 sports in high school to do some kind of scholarship or officers school and he wasn't special enough to make it work but not average enough to just enlist. He's middle of the road, he's my anxiety projection machine, he needs a boss, needs a team, needs structure.
High school just reinforces that before adulthood tips you on your ass because hey you're an adult -make your own decisions, be responsible.
Anyways Miller totally fucking did wrestling and some military shit because it's halo and I bet everyone joins up early. Palmer was an ODST by 19 i bet you she enlisted early with parental consent or something.
Miller totally got A's and B's, trained after school, and worked a shit job in the summer if his planet didn't get glassed. He got scoped out by recruitment shit that was like hey try our pullup bar or our test. Regular awful american high school shit.
I could go on about the pipeline of people who are preyed on by the military and then cannot live outside it because for all of their lives theyve been told what to do when, what to wear, when to piss and when to eat and when to sleep and when to die. But this is a funny ask about a halo side character no one cares about save people with gunny and I's bloodcircle.
Miller went in hopeful and looking for structure and he will get out chewed up and traumatized and unable to adapt to civilian life -if that is even an option for the IVs or he isn't killed off first! he's safe in the horseshoe of unimportance
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moogle-mafia · 15 days
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so.... i am officially done with the curse of strahd campaign... i did NOT expect all that. i think our dm chose violence on day one and he never stopped. he was merciful maybe... once? the npcs were great, i wanted to study them like bugs... but damn was that campaign difficult difficult lemon difficult.
got me emotional far too many times. the guilt for what we all messed up was always there in the back of my head. we were basically put through a wringer every week. i want to do it again.
and here's the problem i have. i don't know what to think, because i wanted her to get her own happy end. instead, she ended up:
it was kinda sad that we didn't get the Good Ending™, basically everyone in the party lost. only my character survived the endgame after being revivified, but i can safely say that she wishes she stayed dead.
1) objectified (decided to sell herself in hopes of getting out of the whole mess and fixing things)
2) a traitor (because she killed her friend who protected her this whole time she was dying and after that he stood guard over her dead body)
3) as someone even worse than she was before the whole adventure (came back to being opportunistic, but with an addition of crippling guilt and shame)
yes, in that order. didn't save anyone she ever cared for, sold the rest of her agency for scraps, ended up as an accessory to the count. sure, she did lift the curse, but the cost was... ehhh. and the consequences of that were also... ehhhh... her turning evil i think. because the epilogue i got didn't give me much hope for her keeping the rest of her humanity.
now i am unsure. paradoxically, i think that if i actually got the good ending, i would not be this involved in the story. this whole thing we did was a mess. i don't think there were any quests we did correctly. the dice were also ruthless. so i don't know, maybe it was meant to be, and our dm just cranked up the tragedy levels.
i made this character as an experiment, just to see whether i could play someone morally dubious. it was fun. more fun that i expected it to be. i don't like the fact that throughout 6 months of playing, she made approximately... one step towards the good. and in the endgame, she took at least two steps back.
but then again, isn't this what i wanted? i wanted terrible choices with terrible outcomes and i got them. maybe i just feel bad for being satisfied with a tragic ending, even though i shouldn't, because not everything has to end with rainbows and unicorns. and i agreed to the possibility of an absolute fuck-up.
i don't know where i was going with all that, i guess i needed some space to vent and figure my feelings out. the campaign was good. very fucking good. gave me brainrot. inspired me to write a diary. in character. in polish. almost 60 pages of writing. i haven't written anything in polish since high school.
slay, my fucked-up arcane trickster with a stolen name, you were the best. give my regards to dracula, since you are on earth already. and bring me some english biscuits when you're done with your conquest. aaand maybe stab the count with the sunsword, if you ever find it.
so... no more venting, i'm done. accepted the fuckery i did and its consequences.
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matchalilly · 6 months
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This gaming series has always had a special place in my heart for more reasons than one.
In middle school and high-school it was my shit played more co op than campaign in college cause I had a solid group of friends I'd hop on with.
But as a military brat I got the biggest crush on Mactavish when I was a tween, irritated the hell out of my bf at the time to the point he'd start snarky arguments about how I gush over a scottsman when his Irish ass is right there granted we'd laugh about it cause I'd point out how stupid it was that he's getting bent over a video game character, his ma would even join in saying just wait maybe an actual Scottish boy will swipe me from him.
As much as he gave me shit over Soap certain parts of the game hit him hard too.
We mutually broke up before high school, still hung out and gamed together but he decided he was going to join the army after graduating and didn't want me stuck worrying constantly, even though I expressed my interest in joining the marines like my dad.
That started up a whole new 'dig at each other' playfully of course both of us came from military families him strictly army me a mix of marine, army, and navy.
Dad was against his only baby girl joining the military and I just said alright ill just do some form of art than, ended up taking international culinary courses and cosplay ended up unironacally making military friends regardless.
You'd be surprised how many service men and women I've met in the cosplay community not to mention lawyers and doctors, even dentists it's wild honestly but it's neat, and some of them would play with me on CoD just to keep in touch. We'd joke and shit on each other and shit on the occasional teams that would be toxic in the lobby after losing the match to a team mixed with chicks and guys and would scream hacks.
Long and short of it this game is a staple in many special memories for me. It isn't just a game I play for the fun of it, I've made friends, connections and sometimes we all hop on just to chat in the lobby not even going into game. We would just sit cracking jokes and go back and forth if we wanted to hop in a match and go naaaaaaaaaah not tonight, got work or nah I have morning classes or mmm gotta be at base early or I would, ect you get the idea life stuff.
Now I'm back in it watching my friend that's never played a shooter in her life enjoying co op and the campaign and its the best thing to see.
She's a Konig girl and gets shitty that he's not in it much and me and my other pal just laugh and tell her he wasn't in the old games much either, nothing new better get used to relying on the simping fandom for her Konig material.
She even went and started a fanfiction and asks me all kinds of questions, although she had the audacity to call Ghost mean and I'm just like girl how dare 😤
Seriously don't know why people think he's mean, clearly they haven't heard his glorious dad jokes dudes just a hardened soldier.
But she adores Soap too so we chat often about him or she'll gush about Konig or send me mass GhostSoap pictures and I'm just like wow you found that side of the Fandom took you long enough 😆
Even my military hubby joins us cause he grew up playing the games too. Imagine his suprise one year when he came home from a deployment catching his wife playing CoD not knowing I even had an interest in the game.
That was a fun conversation our first year married.
Sat and watched him start the new campaign last night and I was so frustrated that he purposely would get Price killed just to rile me up (even detonated himself at one point) before restarting the mission and say 'imma do it again' only for me to tell him to leave the old man alone and actually do the damn mission.
Sorry not sorry felt like reminiscing, tis the season of recalling fond memories.
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