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#a new character in our little mini story? >.>

akirakirxaa · 11 months

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Day 6: Mount

Amelie made the poor decision to try to learn how to ride a chocobo once she got to Sharlayan. If she'd thought ahead, she could've had her parents teach her at their home where no one could see, on Dog, her mother's aged and well trained chocobo that had known her since she was a baby. But no, she was trying on a bird she didn't know, in a city she didn't know, and turned out she wasn't very good at it.

Ugh, how embarrassing.

Hopefully no one was watching.

#junelezen 2023 #ffxiv #elezen au ra #ele'ra #uhm i may have forgotten to turn her scales on #oh well she's wearing long sleeves just pretend #wolchefant child #amelie #ship: red like roses #ohhhh what's this?#a new character in our little mini story? >.>#who could she be??#haurch lives au

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evertomorrowart · 4 months

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Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

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atypicalamortentia · 8 months

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They Find Out You're Pregnant

Synopsis - The Hogwarts Legacy characters find out you're pregnant!

Warnings - Slightly NSFW.

Notes - All characters are 18+!

Word Count - 0.8k.

[Caffeinate Me]

SEBASTIAN SALLOW isn’t surprised at all. The two of you had been having raw sex for months after you both agreed sex felt better without protection. It was only a matter of time before you fell pregnant. You waited until your first scan to tell him. You made a little baby box with the scan photo, your positive pregnancy test and a little babygrow with your expected date on it. Sebastian’s eyes lit up when he opened the box. Although you hadn’t been trying for a baby, he was excited. He pulled you into a hug so bone shattering that you were genuinely concerned he’d crack one of your ribs. You both talked into the night, coming up with baby names and talking about how the two of you had never thought you’d ever end up having children. Sebastian seems more excited than you, but after all, he isn’t the one that has to push a human out of him.

OMINIS GAUNT is over the moon. He’s the type of man to use protection until you’re both ready to have a baby, and when you finally are, the condom comes off. Ominis already has a variety of names picked out along with schools and various other things. Ominis finds out with you. After all, you had been trying to make a baby for a few months now that when you missed your first period, he ran to the shop to pick up a test for you. He was just as nervous as you were whilst you were awaiting the results. When the test came back positive, he’d begin to cry. Tears of joy, of course. He was determined to give your baby the life he never had growing up. He is prepared for every possible situation. Probably the best person to have a baby with.

GARRETH WEASLEY is shocked. You only had unprotected sex one time when you were drunk??? He can’t seem to get it into his mind that it only takes once. He can’t shake the fear he feels when you show up to his home with the positive pregnancy test in hand. At first he’s in denial. It’s not that he doesn’t want a baby with you, this just isn’t how he thought it would happen. He wanted a memorable baby making story, but he can’t remember anything from that night other than the two of you woke up naked next to each other the next morning. You're both filled with fear, but after talking it through with each other you realise that you’re both ready to take this step together. It doesn’t take Garreth long to become excited at all. A mini-him! He hoped that your baby had your eyes and his red hair. Oh they would be the cutest baby ever. Will throw out obscure names that you obviously have to veto.

LEANDER PREWETT is full of love and excitement. You’re actually having a baby with HIM. Of all people, you chose to start a family with HIM. He almost can’t believe his luck. You’re just as excited as he is when you first find out, running to your shared bedroom and throwing the pregnancy test at him. His eyes widen with surprise, but he stands from his laying position on the bed and pulls you into a passionate kiss. “I can’t wait to meet our baby,” he says softly into your lips. Even though you only find out at roughly 13 weeks, he cradles your stomach claiming that he can see your small bump forming. As soon as he finds out you're pregnant, Leander is talking to your stomach, explaining who he is and how lucky he is to have met you. Leander is so sweet to you and does everything for you as soon as he finds out you're expecting. Don’t even try to do something yourself, he’ll do it for you, don’t worry.

AMIT THAKKAR is just as shocked as Garreth. He’s also slightly afraid of bringing a new person into the world. It’s a lot of responsibility. You explain to him that the two of you can do it as long as you’re together, and that seems enough to convince Amit. Once the fear subsides, he’s just as excited as the others. He goes baby clothes shopping before you even know the sex of the baby, buying the cutest gender neutral clothes he can find and surprising you with them when he comes home. He can’t wait to meet the baby and has a counter that counts down the days until your due date. Like Leander, he won’t let you raise a finger around the house once he finds out you're pregnant. All the house chores are for him to do, the cooking, the cleaning, everything. You just stay put, comfy and growing his child. That will make him the happiest man alive.

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welcome-to-green-hills · 1 month

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The Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog!

Recently, Paste hosted an interview with Knuckles producer Toby Ascher about the mini series premiering in April and Sonic 3. Down below are some of the highlights from the interview with the online magazine:

The Knuckles series will focus on our favorite echidna warrior finding a new purpose in the world. He embarks on a personal self-growth journey with “hot mess” Wade Whipple to teach him some discipline/Echidna warrior training.

The mini-series is treated more as a character study. It focuses more on the growth of the characters and who they are.

Toby Ascher explains that there are some “bigger things” that the crew wants to do with SCU.

The “fish-out-of-water comedy” that came from Knuckles at the end of Sonic 2 is what inspired the series.

The series is meant to follow the same tone and direction of the movies in order to tie in with events for Sonic 3.

Character models have been refined and tweaked along the way in order to match the pace of storytelling. As time passes through the films (whether it’s months or years), we see the models of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and more “grow up.”

Extensive character references have been made of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in determining how each one emotes depending on situations. Character study is key here.

There are roughly 1,600 model shots compared to Sonic 1, which had a little over 300.

Toby Ascher explains that if the Knuckles series is successful, then there is potential for more stories/mini-series with other characters. He also explains that the story will be carefully crafted with a purpose to serve the character(s) rather than to make something for the sake of making something.

If the series and the third film are successful in general, then expansion will continue in SCU.

To quote Toby Ascher, “We knew that, with Shadow coming into Sonic 3 and some of the bigger things that we want to do, the Sonic franchise on the movie side is going to be these Avengers-level events. They’re going to be these big, exciting stories that have a lot of different characters. And so what television did for us is it gave us time to go into some of the more supporting characters in depth and really build them out in cool ways.”

#sonic movie #sonic movie 2 #sonic movie 3 #knuckles series #sonic cinematic universe

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creatingblackcharacters · 2 months

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Hair for thought: a little mini lesson

I know this blog may seem more geared towards art than writing, and admittedly, I am pushing for visuals because I can be a very visual creator myself, so the two converge for me. So that may be an issue of communication on my end.

However, I do want people to consider that the way you "see" your character in your mind affects how you write them! So if you're here to learn to write better Black characters, the way you picture them has an effect!

For example, let's say you're writing your character. You want them to have a 4C afro. Do you know what 4C means? Do you know what that looks like? How it feels? How it changes under different environments and circumstances? How can you describe those things to give your reader an adequate picture of your character if you don't know what that looks like? How can you get creative with their looks if you don't know your options?

If you have a loving moment between your characters, and you want one to touch the hair of the other. First, do you know the importance of the vulnerability of touching your Black partner's hair? Second, how will you describe that, if you don't know the texture of the hair and what it looks like? You can't often "run your fingers" through it! You have to be able to know and describe the curl pattern and what could happen with it!

Again, I'm using hair examples because that's the next lesson, but this still works in general! Skin color, the way the light plays on the skin- if you understand lighting on brown skin visually, you can describe it! Our lips, the way they feel in a kiss! Pubic hair texture, for the nasty!

One major example I have of this is that once, a few years ago, I did a test in one of my favorite fandoms. I took about 100 stories, and I asked myself: how far can I get into this fic while assuming My Blorbo is Black? (I.e., how often do we assume that whiteness is the default and don't feel the need to properly describe our characters?)

The answer: through most of them 🤣 "Brunette with brown eyes" is the majority of Black people.

We have to be willing to address the unintentional bias in our minds that treats Whiteness, and therefore white features and the habits that come with them, as the default. It doesn't seem like it matters because it's "normal", except for I and other Black fans! It's not our norm! You have to understand how we look, and how we may interact with the world culturally (and again, we're not a monolith! But there are some consistencies!) and how that may "look" (be described) in a story.

I hope this may help clear up some confusion 😅 and again, I'm sorry if I didn't make my goals clear. I'm new at this.

#creatingblackcharacters

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jeremywhitley · 7 months

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Canonically trans pirate: Alister St. Marina

So, when we first started the Sea of Thieves comics, the game was still in alpha testing. I got the incredibly cool privilege of rolling up on the Golden Shores before other people even had access, because we were basically launching simultaneously. One of the really cool things about the set up was that we got to create our own crew from scratch and tell a story on the sea when it only had a few legends in it, so we were given free reign. I knew we had a handful of issues to tell the story and I hoped we'd get to come back to them, but nothing was certain.

Some of the characters, namely DeMarco and Lesedi Singh became regular characters in the game, which was something I had never even realized was a possibility. Then, of course, DeMarco's death as a big story in the game. It was the first big mystery. And Lesedi was part of it. We even got to hear Lesedi's voice (I was quietly VERY excited they actually cast a South Asian woman in the part).

That led to a new opportunity! Years after their initial adventures, we got to make a new mini-series called "Sea Dog's Search" which centers Lesedi on her quest to find her brother's lost soul. We wanted to change things up and show that it had been years of adventuring on the Sea of Thieves, so even though we hadn't written years of comics, we wanted to show that their lives had kept on going. Since Lesedi was our focus in the series, updating her look was important to me. In the first comic, she started out looking like this:

Then, in the game, she and her brother founded The Sea Dogs and got sharp matching outfits:

Obviously, she stay's looking fly, but it's worth noting that this was a matching outfit with her brother and much more his style than hers (DeMarco loves clothes and dressing sexy, Lesedi has always been a little more no nonsense). So now that she's out from under the shadow of both her brother and legendary father, we've done some updating to her look. First, she had to get rid of the old one and do a bit of fighting of her own:

Over the years, the variety of what you can wear in SoT has improved so we wanted to give Lesedi something that felt like it had a little bit of who she is and a little bit of her home.

But there was somebody else who hadn't really been in the game whose evolution was perhaps more important to me.

When we had done the first miniseries, I talked with the crew about the possibility of having a trans character in the books. They were excited, but one thing they really wanted in the comics was to make sure that things that characters did in the book were more or less achievable in the game and, at the time, there was no way in the build to change your character's look or gender once you started.

But now, there is! There is a potion that allows you to change the look of your character including their gender. Rare and co was very supporting of us then following through with an idea we had during the first fun that was now possible. I had originally written the character of Alessia St. Marina as a person who was not comfortable in her own skin and had used costumes and espionage as a way to cope with that. She was especially fond of going undercover pretending to be male.

At the end of the mini-series, Alessia ended up getting together with her partner in crime, but she was never able to come out as trans. But it has been a few years both in our world and in the game one, so allow be to introduce you to Alister St. Marina.

He's a smooth talkin swashbuckler who just happens to be married to one of the most dangerous cutthroat women in the world, whom our crew has to rescue from her most recent scrape.

So, thank you very much to Rare, Titan, and everybody else involved for letting us tell this wonderful story and bring the first canonical trans masc pirate character into the Sea of Thieves.

See you out there, you salty sea dogs!

#sea dogs #lgbtq #lgbtq comics #sea of thieves #seaofthieves #sea of thieves mystery #demarco singh #lesedi singh #Alister St. Marina #trans pirates #queer pirates

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tswwwit · 2 months

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(sorry, this got way long, and maybe a little sappy, but i didn't want to spam with multiple asks)

so i just finished reading the most recent chapter of the cultist reincarnation au, and i love it so so much.

my personal fave part is bills little rivalry with the mini bill plush. bill waited for so long to see his husband again, and this little plush is getting all of the affection bill wants, i love it. i hope dipper keeps it around after getting all his memories back, because it is a wonderful way to tease bill. just 'fine, i'll just go hug and kiss my new, better husband!' said as dipper walks off with mini bill just to annoy bill.

after reading that chapter i started rereading the entire familiar au (or like 95% of everything that was written for it including snippits, pov changes, and multipart stories, thanks to weirdeggi's masterpost) and its so so fun and interesting seeing bill go from a demonic jackass who barely tolerates his human, to seeing him put so much time, care, and patience into making sure the cultist reincarnation of dipper feels comfortable and relaxed around him. while seeing dipper go from timid and ignorant in the beginning to confident and knowledgeable with the ability to handle all of bills tricks easily.

it's just all so good and you write the characters so so well, i love them so much. i love seeing how much they've grown and drove each other insane/sane. the world building is so well done, especially with how the magic works and affects things. i've read these stories so many times over the years and as they come out, and each new one is always a delight. no pressure on you to rush of course, please take your time, but know that any new fic or chapter you post has at least one person eager to read and enjoy it.

(the rest of this is just going to be fun questions that popped up while rereading, no pressure on answering them, i just thought of them while reading and thought they'd be fun to ask and share)

I am curious about how bill views or thinks about his 'sickness' after the events of confessing it, and if that's different from several reincarnations later. cause i know in the bill v bill fic the other bill still calls it a sickness, and while i know our bill is happy as hell, i do wonder if he still thinks its a sickness or a curse, even if its the best thing to ever happen to him.

i'd also be interested to know if dipper ever makes friends with any demons, cause like i know in confessing it he meets pyronica and she reminds him of mabel, and he kinda got along with the spider centaur demon, but it would be neat to know if he ever makes actual friends with any demons, and if those friendships 1) make bill jealous 2) last over several reincarnations

speaking of the reincarnation, i'm curious when in their relationship that those two put that plan into action. like if it was still early into their relationship or if it was as dipper got older and his days got more numbered. i know bill thinks of it kind of early on while they're together, but that doesn't mean it's put into action right away.

it would be neat to see how all bills henchmen eventually see the whole bond too. i know in confessing it they see bill acting all weird with dipper, and how much his human affects bills mood, so im sure they know its better to have him around even if for a little while. but its fun to think that later down the line when the reincarnations pop up its viewed more as 'vacation time' when the henchmen don't have to take over reality and can relax while bills off smooching his mortal.

Thanks so much; I'm really glad you've enjoyed the fic! If it's been half as fun to read as it's been to write I'll have accomplished a ton.

Okay, onto the questions:

1: Bill likely still considers it a sort of sickness/curse, but like. Not a bad one, necessarily. While his relationship is way weird for a demon, that's actually great! He's the master of weirdness! If it weirds out other beings or confuses the hell out of them, that's proof that he's the best in the biz, baby. And he's very, very happy.

2: Dipper probably does make some demon friends/acquaintances. It's only natural after multiple lifetimes running in the same circles with eternal beings. Given a friendship in one lifetime, it's likely the demons' assumption that they'll just pick back up where they left off! Neat new body, how's it suiting you? (The familiarity weirds out Dipper incarnations until they get their memories back.)

I don't think Bill's jealous of them, though. Hanging out with buddies doesn't register as 'competition' for Dipper's affections, in the same way that Dipper's not jealous of the henchmaniacs.

3: I haven't decided exactly when they settle on the reincarnation thing, but likely it's after a near-death experience. Maybe even post-whump!

4: Speaking of those henchmen! They're eventually gonna get used to Bill being hitched. Not like they have a choice in the matter; Dipper's not going anywhere.

The new status quo is pretty weird, but they knew what they were getting into in regards to 'weird' - and frankly, Bill's in a vastly better mood whenever his husband's home. Something that puts the Boss in a cheerful Fun Times Interdimensional Crimes Party mood? When he gets pissy there's a human who deals with it, rather than Bill lashing out and picking on whoever's closest? Absolutely! They're all for it! Once those Big Upsides become apparent, they're gonna be pleased to see Dipper hanging around.

#answers #Cult Dipper with his memories back absolutely 100% will storm off when miffed to go kiss and cuddle his 'better husband' (Mini-Bill)#Bill then fumes and sulks at this horrible injustice #This was long in my response but hey! Sometimes you gotta write a lot #So glad that you're enjoying my work #I gotta write more now #Onward to the document #Unless I get sidetracked by Stardew again

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volo-omnia · 8 months

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Pokemon Legends Arceus is about Home and what it means to create a Home, change my mind (a mini essay)

Main series titles in the Pokemon series tend to follow themes and explorations of them. With mythology and tradition from Gold/Silver, our relationship to nature in Ruby/Sapphire, truth vs ideals in Black and White, and even the reoccurring themes of treasure and past vs future in Scarlet and Violet.

While PLA is a new departure from most series titles, it still explores a bunch of themes that are central to its story. While the land of ancient Hisui is partial to old traditions, divine gods, and the endless wild, several characters in the game have a recurring theme surrounding on the idea of "Home". This could be how "home" is defined, how one creates a home, and what it means to lose one.

One of the foremost examples of this is you, the player. While we know nothing of the player character outside of what is shown in the intro sequence and possible dialogue choices, the prompt of PLA is obvious. You were taken from your home by Arceus to be dropped into Hisui. Whatever life you had before, you will never come back to. And upon waking up on the beach that Laventon finds you, you have little to no memory, no money, no pokemon, and no where to go.

You have no home.

Now for the player character while it can be interpreted or headcanon a variety of possibilities, (such as the player character being the same player character from D/P/Pt) because it's a player character and meant to be a blank slate, we essentially don't know anything about the hero canonically outside of this. For all intents and purposes the hero has no home to begin with. But there is one thing we know. By the end of the game when you finally meet and defeat Arceus, he doesn't send us back home. We remain in Hisui. Once again, we cannot return to the home we came to. Hisui is our forever home now, but the choice is ours whether we accept or reject it.

This theme occurs a lot with the other characters of the game, to which we will be going through them.

One of the first characters in this game that also hits with this theme is Commander Kamado. Throughout the game it is specifically described as to how his character game to be. His home in Kanto was destroyed by wild pokemon, to which he and the other villagers had to immigrate to Hisui. Upon landing at Prelude Beach, they build Jubilife Village, a haven with large protective gates and guards always on patrol, ensuring security. It's their home, and Kamado repeatedly tells you throughout the game how he's determined to build a home for the village and himself. Even when the skies turn blood red and he banishes you into the wilds, he's determined to fight tooth and nail to protect his home.

This is one of the more obvious examples. Kamado has no home to return to. But in doing so with perseverance, he creates a new one. Even though Hisui is quite different from his old home in Kanto, he does settle with creating a new home, one that is safe, prospering, and peaceful. But when his home is threatened, he does not go back down to protect it.

A home is something you build.

Another similar example of this is the dynamic of Adaman and Irida. Their clans too migrated from other lands to Hisui, eventually settling on the land and living with the local pokemon. From their eyes, a home is something you must share and work together with. Even though they both warred over their patron gods, both the young clan leaders are determined to create a home that is peaceful and without bloodshed between them. However since this is the age of religious folks, insulting one's household deity is also akin to insulting one's home.

To some, a god is a home.

Later in the game we also encounter Lady Cogita. She like most, has no home. While Hisui is the land she has lived in for many years, her original home is long lost to time. As one of the Celestica, all of her people and culture have long disappeared, her god gone, and her old home now reduced to ruins scattered across the land. While she does reside in the Ancient Retreat, was it ever truly her home? That given her long life, does she ever miss the home she once had, and still vividly remembers? Is a home a home if you have no one to share it with? Does she ever feel homesick for her god that no longer answers her? She is a character with many mysteries to her, but you can't help but wonder what burdens could be going through her mind. The deities of time and space may have created the land, but is it the same as creating a home?

And most of all we cannot forget Volo. Your rival, nemesis, and literary foil. Unlike the others, he has no home, but has no home to return to either. Like Cogita, he too has lost all of his Celestica roots. However unlike Cogita, it's unknown whether he actually knows what their home was like before. Since we don't know canonically if Volo was alive at the same time as Cogita, we can assume he came long after the ruin of the Celestica, as he regularly questions her on the myths and traditions of a culture he isn't familiar with. He is a character that was born without a home, and tries desperately to pick up its pieces by ancient stories and writings on ruin walls. He also desperately yearns for his household god, as Arceus has long disappeared in the eyes of the world along with the Celestica.

Volo, as a character, is defined by his homesickness.

However unlike the hero, Volo refuses to accept Hisui as his home. As we all know at the end of the game when Volo reveals his true colors, he mentions that he wishes to subjugate Arceus to create a new world. In a desperate attempt to create a home he can finally accept, his wish is to create one with the powers of his god, and have pain and suffering be long-forgotten concepts. What makes Volo the villain in this scenario however, is that in order to complete this goal, it will destroy the homes of everyone else. In a grand act of selfishness, Volo is willing to destroy the homes of others in order to create his own. A home is something he is willing to destroy.

Overall throughout the game, the theme of what makes a "home" is repeated. Whether it be characters losing their home, characters trying to build a home, or characters trying to simply find a home. And as you play the game, the world around the hero changes. As humans and pokemon start to work together, their lives and homes start to become intertwined, creating a new life for everyone around them.

All lives touch other lives to create something anew and alive. That is a home.

#pokemon legends arceus #pla #pokemon dppt #volo #adaman #irida #cogita #kamado #legends arceus #text #this idea came to me in a vision (the shower)#and i had to write this all down right now or else i'll. explode

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melancholicbutterflies · 10 months

Text

a Papa Bear story

♡ PART IV ♡

Characters: Reader, Elvis Presley, Momma, Macy, Tommy, Danny, Mary

Summary: You get asked out on a double date with Macy.

Tags/Warnings: controlling!elvis, subtle themes of domestic violence

Word Count: 2,858

IT ALL HAPPENED so fast. You, Macy, Tommy, and Danny were talking one day after class, and Tommy had the bold idea to go on a double date. Him and Macy, you and Danny. Since the few weeks you'd seen each other at the Mall, you couldn't deny you were hoping something else would come out of it, but you never imagined it would happen so quickly, and the word date would be thrown around! Macy accepted on both of your behalf, and the matter was settled. Next Saturday you'd all go mini golfing and then to a diner afterwards. It would have been perfect if there weren't one not so tiny issue to deal with: you'd have to run the plan by your daddy first, who'd no doubt shut the whole thing down before you could say 'Jack Robinson'.

You waited on the ledge outside school for your momma to pick you up to go home. She was a little late getting there, but it gave you ample time to come up with some ideas to get your way. "Hey Momma," you greeted her, getting into the front seat.

"Hey, baby. What's got you so happy today?"

"Well, I got some good news."

"Good news? What's that?" She pulled away from the curb, glancing at you in curiosity.

"I got asked out. Well, not just me, but my friend Macy, too."

"A double date?" Momma whistled, "that's nice, dear. Your first one, right?"

"Yeah!"

"I'm real happy for you, baby. Not sure how your Daddy's gonna take it, though."

"Yeah..." You said quieter, fiddling with your hands on your skirt. "Actually, about that—"

"Oh no," she shook her head, interrupting you. "I'm not keeping this from him. He'll tan both our hides!"

"Well, no, not keep, per se, just if you could tell him real gently. Maybe he'd take it better from you. I... I really want this, and, and, he has a way of flying off the handle sometimes."

"Don't I know it. Listen, I'll break the news to him slow and gentle-like. I have my ways," she winked back at you. You had no idea what that meant, but you recalled the way he'd come out of their shared bedroom in a better mood than when he went in and figured it had something to do with that. Maybe your momma was magical. You wished she'd share it with you!

Later at dinner, which Elvis was able to be there for after getting a few days off from touring, your momma took over from Mary, the housekeeper, to serve him one of his favorite meals of all time, fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. She did have Mary prepare a coconut cake, however, which would be served with dessert. Elvis slapped his hands together as he sat at the head of the table, grinning down as he was scooped his dish.

"Now this is a welcome home, honey," he smacked your momma's hide, although gently, causing her to blush as she went around to serve you, and then finally herself before sitting opposite Elvis at the other end. You sat adjacent to both of them. After saying grace, you all dug in; you were kicking your legs as you took in your first few bites. Your momma had surely outdone herself!

"Damn, oughta leave for longer next time," your step daddy groaned, eyes closing momentarily as he savored each bite. You pulled your fork away from your mouth which had some chicken pierced on it. "Don't say that, Daddy. I love having you home. We both do."

He turned to look at you fondly, holding your other hand under the table. "Oh, honey bee, I miss y'all too. I hate being on the road so long. It's real lonesome. And a helluva a lot worse on my stomach, too!"

You giggled, but out of the corner of your eye you saw your momma pinch her nose some. She always did that when she disagreed with something. Whatever it was, she decided to keep it to herself, and you figured it had to do with wanting to keep Elvis content when she broke the news.

"You slave away all day on this?" He asked. "No, not all day, but it passed the time. Was nice getting back into cooking again," your momma replied. Since you both came to Graceland to live with Elvis, he'd had his staff stay on and continue their jobs. Mary was in charge of cooking and other household affairs, and she took it very seriously. There was hardly a day your momma was allowed to cook, and while at first she loved the change of pace, she now missed the more mundane tasks.

"Well, if I didn't know any better I'd think you used my own Momma's recipe. She used to make this for me all the time back in the day." You of course had never known Gladys, but you heard so many good things about the woman. The way your daddy spoke of her she was practically a saint in his eyes.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it so much, dear."

"Mhm. Say, how was your day, darlin'?" He spoke to you first, eying you up as he kept shoveling food into his mouth. Your daddy sure could eat; as such he got the biggest plate, and he always finished what was put in front of him.

"It was good..." You said, glancing at your lap. "Yeah?" He hummed. "What was good about it?" You glanced at your mother in a way you thought was surreptitious, but only got your daddy's hackles up. "What was good about it, doll?" He pressed, now too glancing at momma.

"I'll tell you later, dear." Momma said as you too spoke: "I'm a bit tired," and that was a mistake, because Elvis stopped eating. Which was never a good sign.

"What happened?" He repeated. "Someone gon' tell me?"

There was an awkward pause, so quiet you could hear someone out mowing the many lawns of Graceland mansion. "Well?" Daddy's voice started to get testier. You figured it was better to be out with it; he was impatient and stubborn as a mule. He'd all too happily wait you out and be worser for it.

Momma spoke first: "Well, dear, Y/N here got asked out on a date. A double date," she emphasized, "so don't go blowin' anything out of proportion."

"Who said anythin' about blowin' anything out of proportion?" He said, strangely calm.

Momma opened her mouth, then closed it, choosing her words carefully as she too sat down her fork. "Well, you know, honey, I love you, but sometimes you can overreact—"

"Overreact? I'm perfectly able to hold my damn temper," he bit out the words, fist clenching around his napkin. It was utterly ironic, and you couldn't help the giggle that slipped from your mouth, much to momma's widened eyes.

Your daddy's head shifted to you so fast he might've gotten whiplash. "And you, lil' girl, what have you got to say for yourself? Huh? And what's so goddamn funny?!"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, don't sound like nothin'. Who is this boy, anyhow? Ain't I tell you to stay away from 'em? Didn't you promise me?"

"Elvis!" Your momma cried. "Now why would you tell her a thing like that—?"

"Shut your mouth, woman, I'm talkin'. Y/N, you're testin' my patience, speak up!"

Your good mood evaporated at his cold tone, and you saw your momma felt similarly hurt. He hadn't ever yelled at her from what you'd heard, and it wasn't something your real daddy ever did, so it frightened you some. You didn't ever think Elvis would lay a hand on you or momma, but his booming voice shook you to your core. You knew his mood could turn on a dime.

"Uh... U-um..."

"What," he said it like 'wot', his southern twang coming out more in his anger. "Out with it!"

"You're scaring the poor girl," Momma interrupted again, quickly silenced by a glare cut her way.

"H-he's just a boy from school. We're in the same grade together."

"Gimme a name."

"Danny," you whispered.

He stroked his chin, which was developing a five-o'clock shadow. "And how'd ya... hatch this lil' plan o' yours?" He sneered.

"Well, it wasn't really me—"

"Don't lie to me, hunny, you're already on thin ice!"

"I'm not," and you looked him in the eye as you said this. "It was another boy—"

"Another boy? How many boys you been talkin' too?!"

"Oh, Elvis, let the girl speak!"

"Didn't I tell you—"

"Enough!" You shouted. Both of your parents looked at you as if you'd gone crazy. Maybe you had. But you didn't like this! Your daddy had only barely come home and he was already ruining everything!

"Y/N," Momma cried in shock as Elvis went, "Oh, you're in for it now, Y/N Presley!" And you believed him, because he rarely used your name, preferring a term of endearment, and he never, ever used your full name. But all your feelings caught up to you then: you were angry he didn't understand you, and sad that he was being so mean to you and momma, and that he'd probably ruin this shot at happiness for you when you didn't even get to experience it. It was all just so unfair!

"Lil' girl, don't you dare run away from me!" Elvis warned, but you had already taken off, getting a head start that allowed you to climb the stairs faster and slip into your bedroom, shutting the door and locking it behind you. This was another one of your daddy's rules you'd broken: leave your door open, so that he can check on you. You imagined locking it was the equivalent of all hell breaking loose. At this point you didn't care, and besides, daddy was already so furious with you, so what was one more nail in the coffin?

You heard the doorknob jerking from left to right as you laid in bed with the covers over your head, sobbing. Faintly you heard your step daddy order you to 'open this door right now, or else!' You kept shouting 'no' and cried louder. Finally, Elvis seemed to give up, for it grew real quiet and the shadow under the door disappeared. You cried yourself to sleep that night, hugging your big bear to you that Elvis had won at a county fair one summer. It was your favorite bear, and even if you were angry at its owner, it made you calm down enough to fall asleep.

The next morning you slept in, wanting to delay the inevitable as long as you possibly could. Finally, the smell of pancakes and bacon roused you from your bedroom; your stomach was gurgling loudly from not having gone to bed early without finishing dinner. And you knew Mary made the best breakfast in town.

As you crept downstairs, rubbing your eyes, you heard your parents talking in hushed tones, heads bent towards each other. They lifted as they caught you coming around the corner. "Look who's up," your momma said, smiling tiredly. "How'd you sleep?"

Your eyes flit to Elvis, who looked not at all like himself. For one thing, he usually slept in later then you, so even half past eleven was early for him. But more than that, he looked defeated and continued to distance himself from you. You'd hoped he'd calmed down since last night, maybe even come around some. At least he wasn't yelling at you or momma anymore.

"Y/N?" Momma tried again to get your attention.

"Oh, quit you're worryin'. The girl looks fine ta me," Elvis muttered. "Certainly took her time comin' down here. Ain't realize we were such horrible company to keep. "

Momma frowned at him, sighing. "Oh, dear, don't be that way." She'd never say so, but she was starting to feel like there were two children she had to take care of in this household.

"And what way am I bein'?" He groused. She didn't bother answering, knowing it wasn't a fight he'd ever let her win. "I'm goin' back upstairs. Didn't sleep a wink last night."

"But you've barely eaten!"

"I lost my appetite," he bit out, striding past you, monogramed bathrobe whipping past him, stirring some air around you in his hasty departure.

You felt real awful, felt some tears accumulating at the corner of your eyes; you hated to see your daddy so upset with you, and it didn't look like it was anything you could do about it. He'd just have to cooldown. You worried you might have lost your close relationship with him in the process, though. Momma quickly came to comfort you, "Oh, don't cry, baby. Your daddy's just... havin' a hard time comin' around to the fact that you're growing up is all."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. He just needs some time alone right now." She looked at you. "For some reason he's got it set in his mind that you shouldn't be around boys. Said it wasn't proper, and was insisting on maintaing your purity."

"Purity?" You questioned.

"It's got to do with his religious habits, I 'spose. Anyway, I said that's not right to shelter a growing girl like that, she'd only resent him for it and be even more curious to seek out that attention from boys in ways that are even worse. Hell, it's what I did. Your grammy didn't even want me going to school with other kids and decided to homeschool me."

"Really? I didn't know that momma." She nodded. "Over time it caused a rift between us, and it wasn't until I was on my own for several years that we repaired it and I saw where she was comin' from, although I still didn't entirely agree with the way she went about it."

"Still," she went on. "Maybe I shouldn't a' said that, because he got himself all wrapped around the axel again at the idea of you following after me in that way and he went and spoiled his breakfast." She shook her head, laughing a bit. "Live and learn, I guess."

This was a lot of information for you to take in. "What should I do?" You asked pleadingly. "I hate to have daddy so upset with me. We never fight like this..."

"Just give him time," she reminded you. "And for God's sake, don't let this delicious breakfast go to waste!"

Later that day, Daddy was sitting out on the lawn tanning, reading a book. It had an angel on the front and you figured it had to be another one of his religious ones. He was always reading them. "Hey Daddy, can I talk to you?"

He didn't immediately do or say anything, and you thought he was now giving you the silent treatment, but finally he laid his book flat on his chest, peering over at you with a raised brow. "I'm listenin'," he said.

You shuffled back and forth on your feet as you tried to think of what to say to move past this rift between you two. You didn't want to give up your burgeoning freedom, but it was worse having him stay mad at you like this; you just couldn't bear it any longer.

"'M sorry for hurting you like I did last night. It was all so new and... and, I didn't even know what I was really saying yes to. I just wanted to fit in but none of that matters if I don't have my daddy anymore."

Some of what you said might've been the right thing, for he opened his arms wide to fold you into his embrace. "You have me, honey bee, you have me. But thank you for sayin' that, baby. I hate fightin' too, and I missed ya somethin' real awful. You know we ain't ever gone to bed mad? And I don't wanna start now." He began peppering you with kisses to your cheek and forehead, no longer held back. It made your heart sing to be close again with your daddy; when he was sweet like this to you there was no one that made you happier on earth.

"But ya gotta understand why I was so angry with you, pumpkin. Ya know that, right?"

You picked at his shirt where the buttons lay open on his big hairy chest. "Yeah, daddy, I know."

"I need to hear you say it, darlin'." He picked up your chin to look him in the eye with his forefinger.

"It's 'cause I disobeyed you."

"And how did you disobey me, hunny?"

"I agreed to go on a date with a boy."

"That's right, baby." He kissed you some more, real sweet-like. "Why's that wrong?"

"Because...because they're trouble and I'm a special girl, and you don't want nothin' bad to happen to me."

He hummed, looking like a weight was lifted off him. "That's right, satnin. My special, innocent little girl." He patted my hair with a smile so wide it made my heart hurt.

taglist:@everythingelvispresley@dkayfixates@animalloverthingsss@suspiciousmindsxo@iloveelvis@18lkpeters@doll-elvis@ccab@elvisalltheway1@satninroses@darkmoviesquotespizza@jaqueline19997@louisejoy86@myradiaz@velvetelvis@sillybookmarks@alllriseabove@livelaughelvis @blog777e @kissforvoid @lillyrob @whatstruthgottodowithit @ashtag6887

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sofasoap · 1 year

Text

CALL OF DUTY

This is where my fic which i dubbed “ The Mini MacTavish Universe” goes. Inspired by @saltofmercury fic which she graciously let me borrow and write bit more expanded universe.

There are different “ route ” you take. Choosing König or Simon, or Gaz, it's up to you. For Price and Soap, they are mainly based in "Simon" route. All female reader unless specified. Sorry I don't write for m!readers, I will try write GN!reader more in the future ( Although I try to include GN/NB side characters in the story as much as I can ) Thanks to lovely @kaplerrr for her art work, this is my image of "Mini"MacTavish!

1. “The Favorite MacTavish” - BY @saltofmercury (König x f!Reader )

To understand any of the background of my Ghost and König story in this universe, better to read her wonderful story first. And while you are there, please check out other other fics too. She is a brilliant writer.

141 Members x F!reader

Life of captains - Taskforce 141 x Readers. Drunken boys - Task force 141 + F!Reader I Love You - Task force 141 x Readers

Memory in a Fragrance Master list - Various Taskforce 141 members x F!Reader

König

2a. “You are very huggable” Continuation of “ The favorite MacTavish ” from König’s perspective if you like König. Poor König totally out of his element in this new social situation.

3a . “ First step” An unexpected coffee date. Right after “ You are very huggable.”

4. Interlude: Here comes the insertion specialist König and alcohol doesn’t mix well.

5a. Fate, brought us together again. Reunite with König, again, under very undesirable circumstances.

6a.Thank you for everything. Time for Mini to introduce her new boyfriend to the family. Breaking Ghost’s heart a little bit. and new found family for him.

7a. Interlude two : Everyone deserves happiness. Bit of family moment. Family love all round.

8a. Forget me not. The bad news you never want to hear, and more.

9a. Remember me? He couldn’t remember you. Your heart is broken into pieces. Is there a chance?

Epilogue A. Come what may. Family life afterwards. And the boys learn very fast about never piss off your wives. Epilogue Valentines Drabble - Warmth Valentines piece for our lovely König. Domestic moments. Because our big teddy bear deserves it.

Drabble - Feral Meeting Horangi officially for the first time, him dobbing König’s recklessness on the battlefield. Drabble - Quiet Moment - König Family moment with König and his son. Drabble - Losing you Nothing shakes him, even facing enemies on the battlefield. Until he gets the call.

Simon “ Ghost ” Riley

2b. “Up for a challenge” - Same with above, Continuation of “ The favorite MacTavish ” but Ghost is the main interest here..

3b.“Love, do not pass me by”- This story sets quite a while after “ Up for a challenge”. Life turns upside down for the better, and the worse, and rock bottom.

4b. “Am I full of sorrow, or filled with love” - Sequel to “Love, do not pass me by”. Self reflecting moments by Ghost. And shocking news.

4b. “Happy ever after, please stay for a while” Mini and Emma moving into the new place. Johnny is the best big brother you can have.

5b. “Why the strife and flow of tears”. Sequel to ““Happy ever after, please stay for a while” .Babies, and finally opening up to each other.

Epilogue B :Eternal happiness among us Ending to the Simon’s Series. Confession time

Epilogue B1 : “Death, Comes easily” Set after the epilogue. Threat never cease.

Epilogue Drabble : And life goes on. life and snippets or mainly how Ghost is overprotective of his daughter. Family moments.

Drabble : Injury - Ghost x f!reader Simon Comes home with multiple injuries.

Monologue + Pre-4B “ You are my light. ” how Simon found his light. Can be read as a standalone or can be part of the Mini MacTavish universe. Little insert of what happened the night leading to “Love, do not pass me by”

Epilogue Valentines Drabble - “Home.” Happy Valentines people!! bit of soft domestic fluff. Because our dear Simon deserves it.

Epilogue drabble - Still healing Coming home after long deployment, old wound opens up again.

Drabble -Quiet moment – Simon Short drabble about Simon and children. Drabble - Second chance Your fear that history will repeat itself. How would Simon react to the news. Drabble - Love you always Little quiet moment, between you and Simon. Drabble - Just like you Simon is always scared to interact with his son. Drabble - Climb him like a tree. You have this urge clutching onto Simon like a Koala. and more. Drabble - In your arms Comforting Simon after his nightmare.

Alternative ending: “Thistle and Thorn” -( Ghost x f!Reader + Johnny “ Soap” MacTavish) Kind of in same universe as Mini MacTavish, where every active soldiers and service people’s families worse nightmare comes true….PURE ANGST YOU BEEN WARNED.

Captain John Price

Little secret series:

Little secret. When Soap and Gaz found out something their captain been keeping a secret for a long time. and Ghost is a shit stirrer . This is part of the “Mini” MacTavish universe, but the reader isn’t “ Mini”.

Learning to let go Price doesn’t want you to go on a mission, you two had a disagreement, and result? make or break.

A quiet moment – John Price Life, marriage and baby. Thinking of you After a hard mission, Price has some time alone. Thinking about you, and his son. Trinkets Price loves you, but really doubt your taste in collecting things sometimes. post - a quiet moment fic. Presents 141 boys getting their early presents. Including a very surprised one for Price himself. Presents - part II Price find he really bad at hand-crafts. Surprising results from 141 men when they had a dab on soap-making. Presents - Part III Chameleon and Ghost bonding time.... over hand made soap.

Five times series: Five Times Price x F!Reader (aka Mini MacTavish). Five times you met, four times you left. Four misses Four times you missed each other, one time you gave up. Three apologies Three times the apologies, triple the pain. Two regrets Twice the regret, twice the heartache. One Chance One chance, last chance. Zero Distance He is never going to let you go. Little swallow Falling out of helicopter is never fun.

Come back to me Sharing a pre-mission ritual and farewell with your husband before heading off into danger

Holding you Savouring the time together with your husband.

You are in trouble

Price should know he can’t hide anything from you. or be ready to endure your wrath.

John “ Soap ” MacTavish

Hello There.

How you met Soap. had a crush on him. Does he like you as well? This is following the Ghost timeline of the Mini Verse. Pictures of you The hallway of MacTavish house is dotted with family photos. But there is one that is your favourite.

A quiet moment – John “Soap” MacTavish. Little short drabble about our Soap boy and domestic fluff. This is following the Ghost timeline of the Mini Verse.

Surprise Little short drabble about our Soap boy and domestic fluff. Continuation of A quiet moment – John “Soap” MacTavish.

Soap’s Sleepy time story Very short drabble Crack fic stemming from Neil Elice’s Soap’s sleepy storytime. I absolutely love that guy. Touch Soap desperate for your touch after coming home from mission.

Squirrel series:

Squirrel You are not the usual type Soap goes for. But he is interested in you. Or How Soap put his own foot in his mouth. (NOT part of Mini MacTavish verse. )

Little Bear series :

Little Bear How you got your adorable pet name from Soap. Little Hobby Your secret hobby and past time discovered by your boyfriend. Little Comfort Long stressful day at work. You had enough.

Kyle “ Gaz ” Garrick

1c. Miss Sunshine How Mr Sunshine meets Miss Sunshine. 2c.Miss Sunflower Gaz and you started long distance… friendship? 3c.Miss Starlight First date....? 4c.Miss Stardust What becomes of this broken friendship. 4.5c. Miss Moonlight Dodging Soap, proposal,wedding bell.

5c. Mr and Mrs Sunshine Your one big chaotic family.

A quiet moment - Kyle “Gaz” Garrick Photos, families, memories.

Nikolai

Lastochka - little Swallow Nikolai taking an interest in a little swallow in Taskforce 141. To the dismay of the boys. Lastochka - Part II This is the chance,for Nikolai, Captain of Chimera, to show his quality. Lastochka - interlude Realising your feeling for the flirtatious Russian man. Lastochka - Part III Keeping it under the radar has its benefit. until it isn't. Lastochka - Night Two can play the game. Lastochka - Part IV Will they be too late? Lastochka - Part V Denial and healling. Lastochka - Epilogue Family. A quiet moment - Lastochka Little Anya getting all the love from the family Lastochka -Espionage

A mission you can not refuse

Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Love at first sight Has spring finally came for Rudy? Love at first sight - 2 Alejandro the wingman. Love at first sight 3 The realisation, the denial, realisation and heartache. Love at first sight 4 Unintentional exposures. leading to embarrassments.

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boxofbonesfic · 1 year

Photo

𝒪𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒰𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝒜 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒…

I’m Bones, and I’m celebrating a huge milestone—10k followers! I am so honored that so many people enjoy my work, and I am so grateful for the friends and relationships I have cultivated here, and what better way to celebrate those things than with a challenge? I think we all know that the sanitized, kid-friendly version of most fairytales are nowhere near their grim, grisly original tellings. For this challenge, I would like to return to those bleak, terrifying roots, and come up with something darkly fantastical!

For this challenge, I would like to both pay homage to my own roots, and the theme of my blog. Participants will pick one of the following 10 fairytales (or, to be fancy, you can use the spinner I made!) and then turn out the lights. This is a dark challenge, and, more than their originals, your entries should have a dark twist. Use your imaginations! Maybe Cinderella doesn’t get what she hoped for in her Prince Charming, or perhaps the story of Rapunzel that we know is not how things truly happened—it’s up to you! But your story must be dark—whether that is explicit, or revealed slowly through the events of your story, is, again, completely up to you! You can use the Roster of Accepted Characters to choose your fighter (lol)! Now, onto the rules!

𝑅𝓊𝓁𝑒𝓈:

18+ ONLY. This is a dark challenge, and while smut is not a requirement, I think the general subject matter, as well as the themes, will be inappropriate for minors. Smut is not necessary, but it is encouraged. 😏

Challenge opens 4/01/23, and will continue until the end of summer! September 1st! end on my birthday! 06/09/23! (The first of April to the ninth of June for my folks who do D/M/Y instead of M/D/Y lol)

YOUR WORK MUST MEET THE CHALLENGE BRIEF. If your work does not meet the challenge brief (A DARK retelling of a classic fairytale) I will not be reblogging it, and it will not be included in the challenge masterlist. I will not be making exceptions ❤️

You must place your work under a cut at 350 words.

There is a 10k word limit. Go crazy!

You ARE allowed to use fairytales not included on this list, please just let me know in my inbox!

Tag and warn appropriately. It is exceedingly important that we tag and warn our works to best of our ability, so that readers know what they are getting into. (Obviously don’t tag to the point where you spoil your plot, but, you know. Use your best judgement.)

Please, no: DD/LG, RPF, Toilet-play, Bestiality (but monsterfucking is a-okay), and no minors in sexual situations.

This must be new and original work. You may not submit previously written work, or work written for other challenges. It’s fine if this is part of a pre-existing series, but this specific piece must be a stand-alone, able to be read and understood without reading any previous work.

Three entries per person. You can submit three separate entries, or a mini-series with three chapters, but each piece must be beneath the 10k word limit.

Please use the roster to select an MMC. It’s okay if you want to use a character who isn’t listed, but please just check in to make sure it’s a fandom I’m actually into 😅

We are all working underneath the same constraints. It is not plagiarism for another author to use the same fairytale, or similar tropes as you. I will not tolerate false accusations, and will block anyone who makes them.

Have fun! This rule is non-negotiable. If this challenge is not sparking joy, it’s okay to sit it out, there will be more!

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓈

✨Rapunzel ✨Little Red Riding Hood ✨Beauty and the Beast ✨The Little Mermaid ✨Peter Pan ✨Sleeping Beauty ✨Cinderella ✨Rumplestiltskin ✨Goldilocks ✨Snow White

𝑅𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇: (Or spin the wheel here)

Steve Rogers

Joel Miller

Ari Levinson

Eddie Munson

Bucky Barnes

Peter Parker

Eddie Brock

Namor

Thor Odinson

Loki Laufeyson

T’Challa

M’Baku

Kang

Dennis Baker

Ransom Drysdale

Lloyd Hansen

Andy Barber

Steve Kemp

Nick Fowler

Lee Bodecker

Arvin Russel

Clark Kent

Geralt of Rivia

Have fun everyone!

#challenge #writing prompts #prompts #prompt challenge #writing prompt #fanfiction #fanfiction challenge #fanfic #fic challenge #Once Upon A Time challenge #boxofbonesfic #bones challenge #fandom challenge #writing challenge

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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 5 months

Text

Okay okay with all the script hate for ATSV I'd like to at least take a moment to praise How they did Hobie right

And why they got Miguel wrong.

Mini-Ramble: The Concept of 'Can-dom'

a.k.a the writers really love Hobie and just fucking hate Miguel and it's borderline funny.

-------------

So, you know we are called fans, and we have a fandom. The fandom writes 'fanon'.

But what do you call the group of people who write canon?

And can the people who write canon also be a fandom in and of itself?

As someone who has worked on TV and film sets in NYC - across a couple of different departments - I can assure you:

YES.

And they act JUST LIKE US.

And I call it Can-dom.

And there's no better example of this, than the ATSV script.

Look at how they talk about Hobie:

To the writer who described Hobie as 'strong, long, and skinny-hot' and his guitar as 'throbbing' idk what you were on that day but keep it up.

Look at them rubbing their little writer hands together going 'hehehe they're gonna love this mfer to death he's so hot'

Miles calling Hobie cool and Hobie agreeing is literally just the writers complimenting themselves on how insanely rad and attractive they made their own character. I love it.

They could've done so much worse or described him as rowdy or cocky or rough but they're just like 'he's hot. really fucking hot.'

And everybody was in on it.

The designers read the script and was like 'really really attractive? the coolest fucking guy you've ever seen? ok boss'

and then drew a black cop killer with natural hair and beautiful sharp black features

Then the animation team looked at Hobie and was like YEAH HE'S SUPER FUCKING COOL

Then made a supercool technology just for the insanely rad punk character

AND THEY WENT TO DANIEL KALUUYA and had him do the super cool ironic funny lines for the super cool rad fan-favorite-to-be character

And then the whole production team looked at Hobie and they all looked back at their work and his arc and lines and design and animation style and they were like

Because after months and months and months of collective effort and going 'this guy has to be so likeable that disliking him is almost a moral failing'

And then just like us they finally saw the finished product and we're like

'THAT'S A WRAP. CUT. SEND THIS SHIT TO THE PRINTERS. He can't get any cooler we did it.'

Cause as someone who has worked in TV & Film and had been in the offices I can tell you:

Screenwriters are not some big wigs that come to work in suits and sit around on chunky laptops in complete silence sending emails

They are normal ass people in a cramped ass office and cubicles who joke with their co-workers, come in in jeans and a 'casual tshirt', and sit there chilling revising the same script a dozen times because they came up with a new idea that HAS to be in it. And sometimes they be having dogs in the offices.

They're dorks just like us. That's how they got there. By obsessing over the tiniest minute shit in stories and getting way too into characters and writing out our little stories.

To think they were squealing about Hobie Brown this whole time for years while making him.

And then giving him to the fandom and we're like FUCKING THANK YOU HE'S OURS AND WE LOVE HIM.

I know a lot of the time it may come off as a shady corporation manipulating the punk aesthetic for revenue - while it is that - its also an office full of writers and animators and designers literally making a mini fandom between them and snickering at their own jokes and ideas as they write this story I love it

It makes me think that - while the language towards Miguel is like.. undoubtedly questionable and something of necessary discussion -

I also just think that the office fandom just.. didn't fucking like him.

Like in the writers room over time they didn't like him and wanted to bully him 'ayo this dude is a clown and he's wildin out like a BEAST'

And putting in lines of Gwen clowning him just because the writers wanted to make fun of Miguel 😭😭😭

like.. just the thought of that.

- and the thought of the ATSV writers team just ganging up on him only for the animation team to turn around and be like 'give him the thiccest ass imaginable. make it clap when he walk'

HILARIOUS.

And then for the production team to have to look at this script of Miguel and look at his dummy think design and just sigh and be like 'fine okay the lines are fine but you HAVE TO TONE THE ASS DOWN'.

We bully our OCs all the time

And yeah they took that shit wayyyy too far cause like... The Spot murdered people why are y'all not looking at him and also Gwens dad is an asshole

But a part of me feels like the writers and production were fandom before fandom was fandoming.

Just like us they hyperfixated on two characters, the same characters the fandom would later.

And like the fandom originally did, they really really liked Hobie and just REALLY REALLY REALLY didn't like Miguel.

We're all like 'haha let's bully the shit outta Miguel as a little treat' and then they start taking it too far 😭😭

I'm just going to lay myself to (semi-)peace with this thought. I know it's pure speculation - I repeat, speculation - but like, writers are genuinely just like us. I wouldn't put it past them.

With the way the script is narrated I wouldn't be surprised if the first draft they put

**MIGUEL collapses to the ground with GABRIELLA in his hands as she DEPIXELATES. A look is devastation crosses his face. Ha, get owned, you fucking idiot.**

-------------------

Also they absolutely know about fanfiction. I haven't heard them talk about it and I don't know how much they know. But they know.

They may not be in the shows fandom, but they've usually been into older fandoms like Star Trek and thus know about the fanfic and shipping stuff.

If you read this far!! Hey hi how ya doing thank you for listening to my rambling. I wouldn't call this a full essay cause it's just my thoughts and opinions and like.... thoughts???

Anyway here's Hobie to make up for the fact I just said a whole lotta nothing

(actual picture of me arsoning the Sony headquarters if they fuck up Hobies characterization and make me regret this post lol)

Bye.

#am I too optimistic?#NO PROOFREAD HAHA #spiderman #spider man #atsv #marvel #across the spiderverse #hobie brown #spider punk #spiderpunk #miguel o'hara #miguel o hara #miguel ohara

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ilikethisacompletelynormalamount · 11 days

Text

Since Andrew is taking some well deserved time away from the public at the moment, let's revisit (or visit for the first time, if you're new here) this stunning photoshoot from Mr. Porter, October 2019, when he was doing press for Modern Love and his Ripley casting had just been announced (yes, it's taken that long for it to come out).

Mr Andrew Scott’s big brown eyes are open wide in amused disbelief. “That was not an Irish accent,” he says in his musical Irish brogue. “That was a West Country accent.” How embarrassing for an interviewer who thought to connect with her subject by lightly mocking Mr Ed Sheeran’s – again – not-Irish accent in his cameo in Mr Scott’s episode of Amazon’s upcoming anthology series, Modern Love. Panic sets in. “It’s all right,” he says, soothingly. “It’s all right. Accents are such funny things.”

You know what else is a funny thing? Sitting with Fleabag’s “hot priest” – 2019’s most unexpected sex symbol – in a wine bar in Bermondsey, southeast London, talking about vulnerability, romcoms and love stories. Or, to take another angle: sitting across the table from the deranged Jim Moriarty and letting him pick out a rosé. That tickles, too. Having Hamlet express the need for a mini-break in, he doesn’t know, Copenhagen? Amsterdam, maybe? Surreal.

But actually, Mr Scott, who is wearing what can only be described as a modified sweatsuit (shorts and a zip-up sweatshirt, no shirt beneath) after our photoshoot isn’t funny funny. No, Mr Scott is serious: reserved and contemplative, but with the energy of a theatre nerd who, every once in a while, rests his head in his hands, cupping his fingers around his eyes to form blinkers while he thinks about a question you’ve just asked. In this quiet wine bar. He’s not an evil murderer, an agent of a shadowy organisation, or an overly excited (wink) cleric. He’s just a nice guy who sympathises about the difficulty of parsing the subtleties of the many accents in the British Commonwealth (and beyond).

Mr Scott is still hot off his run in Fleabag, even though the show ran from March to April of this year. A few weeks ago, he received a GQ Men of the Year Award, and just a few weeks after that, was in Los Angeles at the Emmy Awards where Fleabag cleaned up, winning three awards.

Of course, this is not Mr Scott’s big break. He’s been in the business since moving from Dublin to London 20 years ago to pursue acting. His dad worked in employment, helping young people find the right careers and his mother was an art teacher. “They were definitely into following your passion and doing that for the rest of your life,” he says. “Rather than, ‘You should be a lawyer,’ or whatever the fuck.”

And this has been a year for Mr Scott’s passions. Aside from Fleabag, and an episode of Black Mirror that landed on Netflix this June, he’s making a poignant appearance in the aforementioned _Modern Love,_ which will drop all at once on 18 October. A series of discreet episodes, each one features its own starry cast (Mr Dev Patel, Mr John Slattery, Ms Tina Fey, Ms Anne Hathaway and, of course, Mr Ed Sheeran, among others), based on the much-loved New York Times column from which it takes its name. Mr Scott’s episode, which co-stars Ms Olivia Cooke and Mr Brandon Kyle Goodman, is loosely based on an early column written by the sex-and-relationships writer Mr Dan Savage about the unusual experience he and his partner had with adoption. “It’s just a really sweet little story. It’s not about a romantic relationship,” he says, (many Modern Love entries are not). “It’s simply about the relationships between people.”

He’s also currently filming in Cardiff for the BBC TV series of His Dark Materials. And maybe there’s a Marvel movie in his future? “Oh, fuck. Completely false,” he says. “Someone said, ‘Are you going to be in a thing?’ I said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘There have been discussions.’ And it’s like ‘Andrew Scott has been in discussions.’”

That’s what happens when suddenly everyone wants you – to use Twitter parlance – to run them over with your car. The Priest, unlike his other characters, was a sex symbol, one that wears the hell (forgive me, Father) out of a cassock. But who could be surprised that Mr Scott turned a priest into the “Hot Priest” simply by saying “kneel”? (If you don’t know what that means, stop reading now, watch the show, come back.) In fact, he has been making words positively drip with meaning for nearly a decade.

Consider Moriarty, the insane criminal puppet master Mr Scott played for six years across four seasons of the BBC’s Sherlock, opposite Mr Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role. This particular Moriarty – Holmes’ famous nemesis, who has also been played by Messrs Orson Welles, John Huston and Sir Laurence Olivier – is indelible and utterly idiosyncratic. “If you’re going to do it, I don’t see there’s any point in doing it without putting your own stamp on it. I never look at any previous incarnations,” says Mr Scott. The result of this thinking – in Sherlock, at least – was a Moriarty who is all sing-song eeriness, molten physicality, and questionable cutaway collars. “He was quite theatrical; he was grotesque, sort of the archetypal villain,” he says. Archetypal, indeed: the role propelled him into the world of maniacal superfandom. He might not have received a dedicated stan nomenclature like his co-star (ahem, “Cumberbitches”), but the role made Mr Scott a household name.

Of course, establishing yourself as adept at playing evil incarnate probably leads to people wanting to cast you in more Moriarty-like roles. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yep, yeah,” he says, six times. “Yeah, exactly right,” (one more). “I turned down a lot. The shadow of that character took over for a little while.” The craze got to be so tiresome that he asked the interviewer for a recent profile in The Guardian not to ask him about Moriarty at all (two years after he last appeared in the series). But now he sees a bigger picture, understands how being the object of abject obsession can be a good thing. “I think to answer your questions,” he says, tapping his fingers on the table, “it’s been really good fun.”

Mr Scott demurs when asked what it’s like to be the quencher of many thirsts on the internet. “People don’t say that to me. People don’t say, ‘Oh my God...” He shakes his head and trails off, perhaps in horror of what fans could be saying to him. It’s a little hard to believe that he wouldn’t be mobbed as he walks down the street. After all, one major British publication declared that Fleabag and the Priest were the only couple worth talking or tweeting about this year. (We guess Meghan and Harry, and Kim and Kanye can relax.)

“If I’m honest, it’s only really just starting to dawn on me, the global effect the show has had. People like a bit of transgression, they just do.” Any follower of his career, though, understands that it’s more than just good writing that makes him so very watchable (though good writing, is, politely, what he puts it down to). His chemistry is electric with Ms Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as it was electric with Mr Cumberbatch, and palpable even if you weren’t lucky enough to catch his rendition of Hamlet and – like this interviewer – had to watch a clip on YouTube.

Mr Scott’s character, Tobin, in Modern Love is the most subdued we might ever see him. There’s very little shouting, and none of the wide-eyed glaring that has defined his roles to date. Instead, he plays sweetly, quietly off a tiny baby, and tells goodnight stories to an adorable little girl. Perhaps this is a harbinger of softer roles to come. “I’d love to be in a romcom,” he says. “I love watching people fall in love, and how mad it is.” And yet: it was just announced that he will be playing Tom Ripley in a new adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley. So much for avoiding the nutters.

“What always amazes me is how innocent we are as human beings,” he says, sidestepping yet another probing question about being so irresistible right now. “We are very easily manipulated by stories. If someone puts scary music behind someone and they’re told this person’s eyes are absolutely terrifying, you go: ‘Oh my God, that person is scary, and his eyes totally freak me out.’”

“But then,” he continues, “[you’re told] ‘the priest is hot, wait till you see him’. And then you look at his eyes in a very different way and it’s the manipulation of the storytelling. It literally changes your character.” Hmmm.

“The success is the writing,” he tries, again, to argue. But it’s hard to be convinced that an actor who’s hopped from one iconic character to another is simply lucky with writing. He sees he’s not getting anywhere and changes tack. “Acting is just a way of experimenting with different parts of myself. Vulnerability is something I’m really, really interested in. I think vulnerability is at the centre of every character I’ve ever played even if they don’t appear or present as vulnerable.”

Throughout this conversation, his eyes have flicked around the bar, and he pauses from time to time to comment on the other patrons. At one point, a woman is coughing so vehemently, he stops mid-sentence to remark, humorously, on whether she might be dying. Now, he spots something on the bar. “Oh my God, she’s reading Brené Brown.” We both turn to stare at the book.

“She writes a lot about vulnerability,” he explains, excited. “[Being vulnerable] is how you get ahead. I really, really strongly believe that. [Vulnerability is] strong, it’s really strong.”

Perhaps this is the secret we’ve been trying to distil about his appeal: Mr Scott uses vulnerability to bring us all into a space of fear or sadness or lust or anger with him so that every character he plays – whether it’s the hottest priest in London, a gay man in Brooklyn trying to become a father, or a murderous villain – thrums with the heartbreak that comes with being human.

“The more I work,” he continues, “the more I just think every story is in some way concerned with love – or the lack of it.” He smiles an earnest little smile and we both know this is the place to stop. “That’s the way life is,” he says. “It’s so fast and furious.”

https://www.mrporter.com/en-hk/journal/fashion/the-softer-side-of-mr-andrew-scott-1052122

#andrew scott #fleabag #modern love #ripley #netflix ripley #mr porter #blast from the past

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journalsouppe · 15 days

Text

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call!! I actually discovered ordering the game from the UK with shipping was actually cheaper than ordering the American version of the game, there were no major differences that I could tell as they still had the original English voice actors.

I enjoyed this game!! Not my top favorite installment but I still had a great time and loved the new characters. The puzzles were well designed and had nice scaled difficulty and the mini games were really neat too. The Eternal Diva references were so blatant lmfao but I’m excited for Miracle Mask! I was also super exhausted when writing the summary so sorry there’s so many errors and I use the word fun a million times ToT

The Descole and Tea sticker are from JordyDrawsMerch! All other stickers are from Daiso. Writing typed below!

Rating: 8.3

Played: Sp 2024

Port: DS on 3DS

Favorite? Y

Replayable? Y

Recommend? Y

Series: Professor Layton

Comments

Emmy and BABY LUKE!!

OH THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTOPHER ROBIN MILLER

Ngl im so excited to watch the anime, I love the animation sm

Oh Layton is not taking Claire’s death well at all

I love how animated the background now is!!

Beautiful music as always

Does Clark have the same VA as Dmitri lol

THE WORLD WILL END? Damn Luke

The specter looks like one of those little kingdom hearts guys

Luke’s been a LaytonMobile hater since day one lmao

Luke is especially funny in this game

Layton taking Luke to the black market is so wild

THE PUPPET PLAY IS ADORABLE

I’m going to fight aunt taffy

Ooo we get to play as Emmy

Holy shit Emmy

GIRL FROG

Emmy asking if Layton always pokes lamps he sees is making me think he physically touches everything the player taps

The convo with the meowing man???

CHELMEY AND BARTON

Based anti-cop npc

THE DYNAMITE WORKS LMAO

Is Hershel gonna get a cask of amantillado’d T^T

The canals are so pretty i like the design of misthallery

Oh i do not like the police chief

I LOVE YOU EMMYYY

Grosky is very funny

Omg the cliff death police cover up reminds me of killer frequency which i just watched a playthrough of

FUCK JAKES

Where’s phoenix when you need him

JAIL BREAK JAIL BREAK!!!

I love descole’s voice

YAAA LADDER VS STEP LADDER

NESSIE???

The story book stories and animations are so CUTE!!

I wonder if Naiya was added to the game to hit at the Eternal Diva

This kinda reminds me of a pokemon movie but I don’t remember which one it was

^^ it was pokemon heroes when latias and latios were caught ^^;

AN OCARINA!!!

Creepy fucking factory music ToT

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner

Descole always serving massive cunt

Woah the golden garden is beautiful

Ohh so that’s why Luke was fork life certified in plvspw

ZAMN T^T

THE WAY THE SPRITES WALK KILLS ME LOL

I really like these little episodes from others POVS! ^_^

Summary

This was such a fun origin story for Luke and Layton. Very much a classic Layton game with world ending machinery and gorgeous environment design. I really liked both Emmy and Descole, there’s a more serious undertone than with Don Paolo as the main villain (even though I do love Don Paolo). Emmy is amazing!! I was afraid she would be sidelined like Flora was but I’m glad to she stands her ground and does what she wants to do. I alos like how we got to go on our own adventure as her to London, she’s a character that doesn’t need to rely on Hershel to solve everything. Meeting Luke was great, loved his blank stare. It was fun seeing his origins and how Clark and Hershel knew each other. I’m curious how the prequels will play into the New World of Steam, especially now that Luke’s family have stories and sprites (unlike in the original trilogy). Loved the ACAB story, v nice to play while I’m still so mad at what’s happening to university students currently. Descole was so fun, I am obsessed with his outfit and personality. Unfortunately I was spoiled on who he is but I’m very excited to learn more. I think similar to Ace Attorney, the fourth installment is that last game in the classic 2D style, which is sad but PLvsPW makes me very hopeful about 3D Layton. The overall story was fun, I really liked the sub plot about the Ravens - that was really fun (i was so tired writing this omfg). I wish we got a little more backstory on the rich guy who died, I feel like there’s more to the story. OO I loved the little episodes, especially the one about Chelmey. They added a lot of fun context and gave more life to the NPCs. Such a fun and classic Layton game, I can’t wait to play Miracle Mask! (And read the light novels). This wasn’t my favorite Layton game but I still really loved it and had a great time and loved the puzzles — that’s all I want from PL!

#journal #journalsouppe #bullet journal #video game journal #professor layton #spectres call #last specter #professor layton and the spectres call #professor layton and the last specter

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afewproblems · 1 year

Text

Part Two of my Mean!Eddie Misunderstandings WIP

You can read Part One Here

CW: The F-slur is used in this once, and it will show up in part three once. It's use is treated with a lot of negative weight with the context of how it is used and who used it (an atagonist that does not physically appear in this story) I do apologize if this language is upsetting to read - it was certainly upsetting to write.

***

"What the fuck Eddie," Mike snarls, he stands up so abruptly his chair nearly topples over.

Dustin is also on his feet the second Harrington disappears into the kitchen, he looks at Eddie once, his expression stormy, before following through the doorway.

Silence has spread over the room, slowly oozing around to fill each nook and cranny, it makes his skin itch as Eddie shifts, he goes to cross his arms over his chest but stops with a roll of his shoulders, he’s cool, a regular fucking cucumber right?

Except Will won't look him in the eyes and Lucas won't stop, he glares at Eddie with open disappointment.

Jeff clears his throat, he meets Eddie's gaze and tilts his head towards the door, as though trying to beam the thought directly into Eddie’s mind, ‘let’s get the fuck out of here before our welcome wears out’.

Eddie nods and both men turn to Gareth, considering he’s their ride it all kind of hinges on him.

Gareth stares straight ahead, pointedly ignoring everyone at the table, he wipes his face roughly with the hand not holding onto his character mini and drops it roughly onto the table.

"Oh what?" Eddie bites out, his chest suddenly fills with hot shame that smothers his heart, "I didn't say anything that wasn't true".

Eddie wants to snatch the words out of the air as soon as they escape, banish them from existence, but they seem to hang in the dining room between him and the kids.

Gareth shakes his head and stands up from his seat, he starts to silently clean up the table, collecting the miniatures and his own papers, Will moves to help while Mike seethes in the corner or the room, his head swivels back and forth from glaring at Eddie and back to the door that Dustin disappeared behind.

"You've been weird all night man," Lucas says harshly, he stands up and makes his way towards the kitchen door which bursts open to reveal a furious Dustin who stomps back into the room and begins collecting his things, haphazardly throwing sheets of notepaper and dice into his backpack --not even bothering to put his dice in the little drawstring cloth bag his mom made him.

"Woah woah woah," Eddie says sharply, he stands, knocking back his chair which scapes loudly against the hardwood floor "what the fuck are you doing Henderson?"

Dustin ignores him and continues packing, he reaches for the miniature that Gareth moved onto the table and stops as Eddie snatches it away from his hand.

Dustin meets Eddie’s gaze, wearing a matching mutinous glare.

“Give it back,” Will interjects with a soft but firm voice, his gaze is unwavering as he stands up and moves towards Dustin’s side of the table. He also has his backpack slung over his shoulder --when the hell did that happen?

“But you--”

“EDDIE,” Gareth shouts, his eyes are wide, face pinched into a grimace.

Gareth takes a second to breathe after the outburst and swallows harshly, ignoring the eyes on him, "I think it's safe to say we aren’t playing tonight man".

The whole night is unraveling around him, everything he planned for the evening, the meticulous character beats he mapped out based on the backstories everyone crafted, the NPC’s he researched at the library -dodging Mrs. Depencier between the stacks before she could try to kick him out.

The homebrew monster, the final boss he had mashed together out of three different beasts in his well worn copy of the monster manual.

He had prepped all of it for tonight, he'd been excited, ready to show off his skills in a new environment, maybe show off a little bit for--

Oh.

Oh fucking hell.

Eddie wants to kick himself. Hard. Repeatedly.

Eddie wanted to see what Steve would think, this was going to be the performance of a lifetime and he had catapulted himself directly into the sun without hesitation.

Tonight had been ruined, mostly by himself --not Steve.

An oily thought creeps in and whispers in his ear, 'so what? It isn't as though King-Steve hadn't ruined plenty of things for you before, your first two senior years were dog shit before people started to forget about the whole--'

Eddie shakes his head harshly and scrubs both hands over his face, the rings catch lightly in his hair and tug as he bring them down.

"I'll call my mom to come get us, I'm sure she'll be happy it's so early," Lucas mumbles before he gets up from his seat and slowly makes his way towards the kitchen door to use the landline. The door swings softly shut with a quiet snick.

The silence in the room is heavy, only punctuated by Mike muttering under his breath to Will and Dustin as he snatches several things from the table and the floor. Lucas eventually reenters the dining room and Mike shoves an armful of note papers and Lucas's Human Cleric character sheet -which has become creased and wrinkled in Mike's frenzy, towards Lucas and Dustin.

"Figure out whose is whose later, let's just go if we're done, I'd rather walk," Mike snarls as he looks over his shoulder at Eddie, Gareth, and Jeff.

"Jesus Mike," Lucas mutters, "gonna have to rewrite this whole thing out now," he pauses as he looks Eddie up and down with narrow eyes, "maybe".

Lucas shakes his head, "anyway, mom is on her way, she's happy to come get us early so she'll drop you guys off, she's taking the van".

Mike nods, the perpetual sneer on his face deepens as he walks towards the hall leading to the front entryway, "I'm waiting outside, are you guys coming or not?"

The kids file out through the hallway, one by one without looking back, leaving Eddie, Jeff,and Gareth standing around the empty dining room table.

They freeze at the sight of a long, deep, scratch in the center of the wood.

Had that been there before?

A pit begins to form in Eddie's stomach, cavernous and deep, he sweats at the sight of it.

"Shit," he whispers, mostly to himself, but Jeff catches it.

"That was there before man," Jeff murmurs, though the conviction isn't quite there, he stares at the table before raising his eyes to look at Gareth, "right?"

"I don't fucking know man," Gareth hisses, he also has his messenger bag now slung across his shoulder.

"I'm not sticking around to get blamed for trashing Harringtons table," Jeff says lowly, he's already backing up towards the hallway leading to the front entrance, "I’m not afraid to take your car Gar, hurry it up," he says before turning on his heel and walking down the hall, Eddie flinches at the sound of the door slamming shut behind them.

Gareth curses under his breath and steps away from the table, “Well,” he huffs, “are you happy?”

Eddie's jaw drops as the words hit him square in the chest, "What? Gar--"

"No," Gareth says sharply, the volume steadily rising as he steps closer to Eddie and jabs a rigid finger into his chest, "are you happy with how this went? Does this finally make you feel better?"

"Cuz, we don't care if you're friends with him or if you hate the guy," Gareth shakes his head once and steps back, away from Eddie's space, "Maybe Jeff does a little bit, but he's just being protective I think".

Gareth waves his arms as though to clear the tangent away, "it doesn't matter, the point is, you're acting like it's still highschool and this," Gareth gestures towards the table, "is fucking mean man".

A car horn beeps from outside startling both of them; Gareth sighs and shrugs the strap on his bag higher up his shoulder as he turns towards the hallway, "so if you want to hate the guy, stop stringing him along, it's bullshit".

Stop stringing him along.

Stringing him along?

The words echo again and again in his head, Eddie feels his chest tighten and grow cold as the words sink in, what the hell was Gareth talking about?

"If you don't want to be his friend just tell the guy, I don't understand what you're doing Ed?" Gareth says with a sigh.

The horn beeps again outside, Gareths eyebrow twitches once and his expression slowly twists from an irritated scowl to something close to murderous.

"Whatever," he huffs angrilly, "are you coming or not? It sounds like Jeff's about two seconds away from grand theft auto, and if he beeps the horn one more time I can't be held responsible for my actions".

Eddie swallows harshly and nods, he steps back from the table, his legs sluggish in their response as he slowly trudges after Gareth.

As Eddie moves through the hall, passing large framed art pieces and not a single family picture, he catches a whiff of something from the kitchen, warm pastry? Something savory he imagines.

Eddie ignores the queasy lurch in his gut at the thought that whatever Steve had made that night didn't even make it past the kitchen.

***

If you had asked Eddie back in highschool to give you his opinion on the social hierarchy of Hawkins High he would give you a fairly general answer.

You had your standard Asshole Jocks, your Narcissist Beauty Queen Cheerleaders, your Nerds with the smaller subsections of Band Geeks and Weirdos - everyone’s seen The Breakfast Club, it’s a no brainer really.

Eddie was quite content to sneer and jeer with the best of them, focusing his ire on the very top, the Asshole Jocks that made it their mission to ruin the lives of anyone they deemed lower than themselves. Billy Hargrove and Tommy Hagan were the original worst of these with Jason Carver following close behind, but Harrington? King-Steve? He was a bit harder to pin down.

For Steve-the-Hair-Harrington, it would be a firm comparison to the grime in between Eddie’s toes after ten laps around the gym in socks he’d worn for three days.

Eddie could admit, if only to himself, that Harrington was certainly aesthetically attractive, with his tanned golden skin dotted with a constellation of moles that Eddie desperately wanted to play Connect the Dots with. The athletics uniform was criminally short, accentuating his long legs and strong thighs. More than once did Eddie ditch gym just to avoid making direct eye-contact with the outline of Harrington’s dick in that green scrap of fabric.

Sue him, man was hot, but he was also a huge asshole.

Harrington was mean, whispering cruel things under his breath to Hagan and Perkins, snickering to himself when he made a particularly cruel observation about Joey MacDonald and his resemblance to a certain fast food clown - it wasn’t even clever given that it was only the kid’s last name, but the nickname followed that boy till he graduated along with the smell of old french fries that people would stuff in his locker between classes. And well, there was one other rumor he started, not that Eddie let it remotely bother him.

Fuck, Highschool kids were the worst.

But, then all of a sudden, here comes Harrington in his junior year with his usually handsome face beaten in and a haunted slump in his shoulders. And whoever had done it pulled no punches. Word around school was that Byers was the one that cleaned Harrington’s clock, over Nancy Wheeler of all people. And not only that, but King-Steve had been dumped by his two best friends, thrown away like an old piece of trash.

Now again, Eddie never really gave much credence to rumors, especially the ones about himself, and given the way Hawkins High seemed to churn out a new rumor every other day this was more than likely an exaggeration. But with Hagan and Perkins giving Harrington a wide berth, and trading off glaring while hiding their kicked puppy expressions in their school books; the whole school watched as they were slowly replaced by Wheeler and Byers who encircled King-Steve, Ex-King now, with equally haunted expressions. It was even harder to argue with the evidence starring Eddie in the face.

They made absolutely no sense together, especially Byers; the three of them sitting at lunch in their own little world, with Harrington slowly slipping down the rungs and onto the bottom of the social ladder.

What on earth did Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers even have in common with someone like Steve Harrington?

Eddie hardly ever saw Harrington around school after that, if he did he was mostly alone or followed around by a gaggle of children from the Junior High down the street that followed him around like puppies. To think of Harrington and kids in the same sentence, that the former King had lowered himself to the likes of babysitting a bunch of brats - it was…weird to say the least.

Especially given how Eddie knew who Steve was. Harrington wasn’t soft, he wasn’t kind, he was a bully and a thug with a glass jaw, the worst kind of pathetic that ever graced their shitty highschool halls and Fuck Him for doing the one thing that Eddie couldn’t even do.

Eddie would be repeating his senior year while the Ex-King asshole left it all behind him.

God dammit.

It wasn’t really until Chrissy Cunninham died in his uncle’s trailer that cool March evening all of four months ago that he even had an excuse to be in the same room as the ousted monarch - if you could count pressing a jagged bottle to Steve’s pretty throat and pressing his lithe frame into the corrugated aluminum wall of Rick’s boathouse.

And Steve? Rumor spreading, ex-King, Asshole Jock, Steve Harrington, was not all that bad as it turned out? Eddie couldn’t really keep the thread of his arguments about Harrinton as Eddie was carried out through the last remaining portal out of the Upside Down, nestled safely in Steve’s arms.

The son of a bitch.

Suddenly, Steve is everywhere, chauffeuring the kids to the arcade, visiting Eddie in the hospital, bringing Wayne food to the trailer --because of course he likes to cook apparently? And Wayne just loves him, won’t shut up about, ‘that Harrington boy and his thoughtful casserole’, and ‘when’s the next time you’re going to bring that Harrington kid by?’

Then it’s movie nights with the kids, and Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, and Argyle, smoke sessions in the Byers backyard, pool days when the weather finally warms enough for the kids to jump in. God help him, Harrington is showing off even more skin than Eddie would like during these pool days, his little moles spread over the planes of his back and legs. Steve has more scars than Eddie remembers from the highschool Varsity swim meets but he’s not complaining.

Stupid handsome jock.

Eddie feels like he’s gone crazy, like he’s the only one that feels this way, as if he’d been dropped into an alternate universe where everything was the same except for Steve Harrington.

And given the fact that alternate dimensions actually exist, well, this theory is not actually that outlandish.

Especially because Steve was…nice okay? He was nice. Eddie had it right the first time when they were walking around that creepy Upside Down forrest, even if he hadn't fully believed it at the time, the words were apparently true.

Well they were true now anyway.

Steve was sweet, he was funny, he cared so so much, the kids loved him, and Eddie couldn't quite get the sound of Steve's musical laugh out of his head, or the way his hazel eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled--

Fuck.

Steve was also best friends with Robin --someone Eddie knows that Steve would never have given the time of day back in highschool and the two are practically soulmates now.

Eddie was fairly certain they weren’t dating because he’s also fairly certain he clocked Robin the same way she had clocked him after their second shared joint a few months back.

She hasn't said anything but there was no mistaking the way her eyes trailed to the bandana in his back pocket and the way his own eyes landed on the little homemade pink triangle patch on her messenger bag.

And the way she had smiled at him after, it was small but the understanding and the feeling of being seen left him warm in a way he hadn't felt around a lot of people other than Wayne, Gareth, and Jeff.

And then, of course, Steve had to go and ruin everything, offering up his own home for the next Hellfire club meeting.

If it hadn’t meant Steve actually spending more than five minutes in passing with Jeff and Gareth it probably wouldn’t have been so stressful.

And like the proverbial cherry on top, it had all blown up in his face.

The kids were actively avoiding him now, dodging his calls and making excuses about why they were busy, ranging from Will needing to help Jane with some kind of project she'd been working on, or Lucas citing babysitting duty for Erica --after having met Lady Applejack this was not as believable but Eddie let it go.

Mike would grumble, clearly going off a script of some sort to keep his friends appeased, but with the lazy excuse of just being 'busy'. And, Mike being Mike, he'd follow it up with an ever so kind, 'get your head out of your asshole man, Will was our DM before and he'd have no problem picking up where we left off'.

And didn't that sting just a bit?

Dustin just refused to engage with Eddie, repeating the phrase, 'if you have a problem with Steve then you have one with me,' or the more eloquent, 'get bent'.

Gareth wasn't much better. The last time Eddie was able to get him on the phone he’d told him to call when ‘his personal shit stopped interfering with Hellfire,’ and to, ‘get his head out of his ass sometime’.

He and Mike needed to hang out more apparently.

It sucked, especially with how icy the kids have been towards him. Even Max, who must had heard about it all from Lucas, had taken it upon herself to avenge their babysitter, smearing mud on the front window of his van and writing, DICK, in bright red lipstick letters on every single side window. Eddie would be impressed if he wasn’t the one that had to clean it up.

Jeff has been fairly tight lipped about it all, not really siding with Gareth or the kids, he and Eddie would still jam together but it wasn’t the same without their drummer.

Without Hellfire or his band to practice with, Eddie is bored, which is never a good thing in his experience, and has time and time again led him to disaster.

Which is how Eddie finds himself outside Family Video.

Eddie sits in his van for nearly twenty minutes before he ventures inside, scanning the windows relentlessly for any sign of Harrington or Buckley. It's the middle of the day on Tuesday, Keith is usually in on weekdays so he should be fine, what are the chances that the source of his recent frustrations would be working today of all days.

Apparently pretty high.

The bell dings above Eddie as he swings the door open and the smell of stale popcorn hits him in the face as he steps over the threshold, there's no one at the counter --not a great sign since Keith usually posts up with a comic or a magazine up front so he can still look busy while watching for shoplifters.

But it's fine, there's absolutely no sign of either of the Wonder Twins, it's fine.

Eddie takes another step and sees Jonathan and Argyle just behind the New Releases shelf, they've each got a tape in hand and seem to be arguing about which one they should go with.

Argyle spies Eddie first and waves jovially from their spot behind the shelf, Jonathan's gaze follows Argyle's and he lifts his hand in a half hearted wave, and jeez, tell a guy how you really feel, Eddie thinks to himself.

"What's up brochacho, how's it hangin'?" Argyle calls out as Eddie makes his way over with a smile, he ignores the stiffness in Jonathan’s posture and tries to focus on Argyle’s friendly grin.

"Eh," Eddie hums, throwing his hands in his back pockets, "can't complain too much, when you've literally been to Hell it puts things into perspective".

Argyle nods and opens his mouth to say something when another voice joins them from behind Eddie.

"If you're here to rent something, hurry up and get out," Robin growls nearly in his ear.

Eddie flinches and turns around to face her, he almost stumbles backwards at the furious expression on her freckled face. Robin's blue eyes flash and pierce his own, her mouth stretches into a blunt line across her face. Robin's arms cross over her chest, covering her name tag and the 'Ask me for Help' button, she seems to stand taller than her actual height and Eddie feels as though he's somehow managed to shrink down to two inches tall.

"Hey hey miss Birdy, got any recommendations for a Friday night smoke sesh?" Argyle says warmly, if he's aware of the tension in the room he doesn't show it.

"Monty Python, two rows over on the left," Robin mutters, her eyes never once leaving Eddie's face.

"Choice pick, we got our movie man," Argyle crows to Jonathan as he puts back the Ferris Bueller tape and makes his way down the stacks.

Jonathan's eyes flick between Eddie and Robin, he hesitates for just a moment before following after Argyle and leaving Eddie to his fate.

"Okay listen--"

"No you listen," Robin snarls, stepping into his space and shoving a rigid pointer finger into his chest, "I don't know what you're problem is but if you're going to be an asshole, you can show yourself out before I do it for you".

Eddie bristles slightly and lifts his hand to push hers away, "you talk to all of your customers like this Buckley?"

Robin scoffs and steps back, as though reminded that they are in fact in public, "rent something then or get out," she bites out, turning on her heel and walking away to meet Argyle and Jonathan at the checkout.

Eddie feels his face twist into a fierce frown, he can't even rent movies in peace now without this thing hanging over his head, he hadn't even said anything that bad, this was getting ridiculous.

The bell dings as Argyle and Jonathan leave, Argyle waves again, which Eddie returns unenthusiastically before stalking into the horror section in three strides. He snatches Children of the Corn off the shelf and stomps up to the desk. Robin's scowl matches his own as he reaches back to grab his wallet from the back pocket and --its not there.

Eddies stomach plummets into the bottom of his shoes, he can see if in his minds eye on the desk in his bedroom, it's not even in the van where he could easily run and grab it, Shit.

"What?" Robin grumbles as Eddie opens and closes his mouth silently, cursing his own stupidity and the rapid flush creeping up his own neck.

"Robin, I organized the back room, I still don't think that was really on the list but --oh!" Steve says as he walks towards them from the back of the store, a half door swings back and forth in his wake below a tiny hand written Employee's Only sign above the doorway.

Steve looks between the two of them, his face jumping through several expressions before settling on something carefully neutral, blank in a way Eddie hates.

"Hey Eddie," Steve says in that phoney cheerful customer service voice he made fun of just a few short weeks ago, Eddie remembers leaning over the counter and teasing Steve about it just to watch his ears turn pink.

But now they're here, and Steve is actually giving him the customer voice, like that's all he is now.

Fuck.

"I uh," Eddie mumbles, hating the way he can feel his own face heat up, he wants the floor to swallow him up, banish him to the Underdark, "I was going to grab this, but I forgot my wallet, forget it".

Robin smiles, almost triumphantly, and moves to lean against the front of the counter. Her left leg kicks out to cross in front of her right leg at the ankle, looking like the proverbial cat that caught the canary, Eddie hates her for just a moment.

"Its fine man," Steve hums, he takes the tape gently from Eddie's hands and walks around the counter to get to the computer, he starts typing and scans the movie before sliding it across the counter towards Eddie. Robin frowns and nearly stumbles in her attempt to move around to where Steve is standing.

"Steve," Robin hisses at him when she sees the computer screen, worry lines etch deep across her forehead and her mouth does this weird little wobble before creasing into a frown.

"Uh, seriously dude," Eddie mumbles, "I don't have my wallet and I don't have any change on me--"

"Don't worry about it," Steve says smoothly without missing a beat, "Rob and I get free rentals once a month, just take mine".

Eddies eyebrows rise slowly into the wispy bangs covering his forehead as Robin tisks loudly from beside Steve,

"What, just like that?" he says slowly, the words stick to his tongue which all of a sudden feels as though it's three times too big for his own mouth. Why the fuck was Harrington being so nice to him, like the other night didn't matter at all.

"Yup," Steve says simply, he doesn't pop the 'p' like he used to, and his face is so neutral and smooth. It's not back to their normal after all, but what was he expecting, nothing was.

"Anything else we can do? I gotta get back to rewinding the tapes," Steve says as he jerks his thumb towards the back room again.

Steve hesitates for a second, he's still facing Eddie and looks as though he's on the verge of saying something, his large hazel eyes dart back and forth between Eddies own for a moment, before he lifts his right hand to roughly pinch at the bridge of his nose once before the hand sweeps into his hair, pushing it away from his face.

Robin, who had been watching them like a far more predatory bird than her namesake, steps closer and knocks into Steve's shoulder gently.

"Remember, they are organized and outnumber us like 200 to one," she barks, saluting him with her left hand, "don't rewind till you see the whites of their tape cases".

Steve's blank expression cracks with a small smile, he reaches up to switch out her left hand with her right and then draws himself up to his full height.

Steve squares his shoulders, "if the tapes claim me, don't be a hero Buckley, remember me fondly".

She snorts and shakes her head as he brushes past her, Steve looks over his shoulder once at Eddie before disappearing into the back once more.

Eddie watches him leave, the Children of the Corn clutched in his hands so tightly he's almost worried the plastic will warp, he misses Robin silently siddle up next to him and nearly jumps a foot in the air as she speaks.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Robin growls softly before she sweeps over to the push cart filled with returns and walks it over to the closest shelf, pointedly ignoring him.

Eddie huffs out an irritated sigh but feels his shoulders slowly deflate on their own as he trudges back towards the entrance, the bell rings once again as he steps outside into the mid afternoon sun.

Gravel crunches underneath Eddie's ratty chucks as he heads towards the van, stopping in his tracks when he spots Jonathan leaning against the driver's side door.

"Uh, hey Byers?"

Jonathan waves again before crossing his arms, he's glaring at the ground as though it personally offended him. Eddie looks around, letting his eyes trail over the other cars in the lot.

"Where's your partner in crime?" Eddie asks carefully, he knows Argyle wouldn't have just left without Jonathan.

Jonathan waves his hand towards the convenience store at the end of the parking lot, "he's grabbing snacks, he should be back soon," Jonathan shugs and settles back against the van.

It's awkward, Eddie can count the number of times he and Jonathan have hung out on one hand, he's seen Argyle way more, sharing trade secrets and sampling some grade A California Kush while he's at it.

But Eddie and Jonathan, he's got nothing.

"Sooo," Eddie hums, dragging out the syllable as he steps towards Jonathan and leans against the van beside him, "you here to yell at me too?"

Jonathan scoffs and shakes his head, but his arms do tighten a fraction around his midsection, hah, gotcha.

"No, but honestly dude, if Nancy and I have to hear the kids bitch and moan one more time about whatever the hell is going on between you and Harrington," he shakes his head and snorts.

Eddie bristles slightly but nods, "Yeah Mike's got a mouth on him huh?"

"So," Jonathan starts and immediately shuts his mouth with a snap and a grimace. He seems to steady himself before meeting Eddie's gaze, it's unnerving.

"Fuck it, look," Jonathan snaps, he turns to face Eddie, "I'm not the biggest fan of Harrington myself, but we’re not going out of our way to see each other and if you're going to do this kind of thing I'd prefer if Will wasn't in the same room," Jonathan scrubs a tired hand over his face, "he was pretty upset the other night, said you were a prick to Dustin too".

And that Eddie can't even defend, he bites the inside if his cheek and nods again, letting his arms wrap around himself tightly, it's such little comfort that it leaves him feeling cold despite the midafternoon heat and glaring sunshine.

"What's going on man?" Jonathan says softly this time, he's still facing Eddie but has leaned back slightly.

"You remember how shitty Hawkins high was right?" Eddie says after a beat, the words barely escape between his teeth, but someone else needs to know.

Jonathan doesn't say anything but he nods once, a dark look crosses over his face momentarily before disappearing.

"And I'm sure you heard some of the rumours that were going around about me," Eddie rubs his hand across his nose, "that whole place was a fucking gossip factory, I know most -if not all of it was bullshit, but".

Fuck.

He doesn't even know how to say it.

"Harrington told everyone I was a," he swallows roughly, the word catches in his throat as though covered in barbs, "a…fag, and that my parents kicked me out after my dad tried to kill me, that was the reason I was living with Wayne".

Eddie stares, unseeing, at the ground, he hears a sharp intake of breath but keeps going.

"And now," he breathes out, hating the way it catches slightly in his throat, "I don't know how to feel about him, I'm so fucking angry about it, but he's so God Damn nice now, it's like whiplash".

"The worst part is," Eddie continues, breathing deeply through his nose, his eyes start to burn, fuck, he doesn't want to do this here, "I don't even know if he remembers, that's what makes me so angry".

Eddie barks out a wet laugh, "that it made me a target, and for him it was nothing".

Jonathan is quiet for a moment, staring past Eddie with a pensive expression, "when did this happen?" he says softly.

"I don't know man," Eddie sighs, he brings a hand up to press into his eyes until stars explode across his vision, they come away wet.

"It was one of my senior years, the first go around, why?"

"Because," Jonathan urges, his voice uncharacteristically harsh, "I heard Billy Hargrove say that, like word for word, at Tina's Halloween party, and that was like two years ago".

Eddie remembers Billy Hargrove. Though Billy and Tommy were both assholes, Billy was the actual scary one of the pair.

Eddie remembers that party too. He had made some decent money that night, posting up in the backyard, letting his drunk classmates come to him. Eddie had even wandered inside a few times to grab a beer or two before leaving, no one had really bothered him that night, granted it seemed hard to shake that Mullet wearing psychos flinty gaze, but if he thinks hard about it enough, everything changed after that night.

Eddie stops breathing, it takes almost a full minute for him to really catch up to what Jonathan is saying, "but, but I thought for sure…" he stammers, voice tight.

"Eddie," Jonathan says, the gentle tone back as looks him in the eye, "Steve spent that whole night babysitting Nancy. It was a whole thing, he left early too because they had a big fight".

Jonathan takes a deep breath, and blows it slowly through his nose, it releases the rigid line of tension in Byers shoulders. His dark eyes scan Eddie's face before he sighs again and stuffs his hands into his pockets.

"I'm not trying to defend the guy, he was a prick in high school, but if you've been blaming him for spreading that shit around, I think you have the wrong guy".

Eddie's is racing, he feels as though he's underwater and sinking deeper, his vision narrowing to a single point of light just above him. His lungs shudder as he tries to catch his breath.

"Hey, slow down and breathe man," Jonathan murmurs, a worried grimace pulls at his mouth as his head swivels to and fro, scanning the parking lot. Jonathan reaches to put a warm hand on Eddie's shoulder, "you're going to make yourself pass out".

"I'm good man, I'm fine," Eddie bites out. He shifts and straightens his back, stepping away from Jonathan and the van, he nearly stumbles in his efforts to move.

Jonathan leans back with both hands raised in front of him in, ready to steady the metal-head if needed, his eyes dart across Eddie's face with wary concern.

"Relax Byers," Eddie breathes out as he takes another step away. He looks back towards the Family Video, in case they've drawn an audience by now.

He can see Steve and Robin through the window, they're both at the counter, their backs are turned--thankfully.

Robin has one hand on Steve's back as she gestures emphatically away from herself with the other, he's nodding but his whole posture has drooped, wilted like an old flower.

Eddie feels his heart clench again at the sight. Fuck.

"Hey man, mind getting off my van? I have to make a call".

***

Eddie races home, the old breaks squeal and the engine shudders as he turns abruptly into the gravel drive just ahead of their new government issued trailer.

Though it didn't have the same feel as their old trailer, the notches on the bathroom doorway to track his height over the years replaced by pristine white paint, the spaghetti stain on the ceiling from Eddies first ambitious attempts to make Wayne dinner replaced by the same stark whiteness. Wayne was able to save some of their photos and Eddie's favorite Dio poster, it helped a little bit remind them of their former home, but it wasn’t quite the same.

For all it lacked, at least the ceilings were whole, with no sign of the horrific death Eddie had witnessed just a few short months ago.

Eddie turns off the engine and unbuckles himself as he opens the door and steps out of the van. The feel of gravel and grass under his feet is grounding, but he still feels as though he might fly apart at any moment.

His uncle's pickup is still out front; Eddie winces at his own park job and considers getting back in the van to try again --his uncle will have to swing wide just to get around him for work at this point, but there's an itch in Eddie's brain. He has to talk to Gareth, make sense of this.

Eddie makes his way inside, Wayne isn't in the living room or kitchen based on his quick scan, he barely manages to close the front door behind him in his haste to get to the phone.

Eddie hears the main bathroom fan and Wayne humming tunelessly to himself, he figures he probably has at least half an hour to use the phone undisturbed.

Eddie snatches the phone off the base hung on the wall beside their Kit-Cat Klock, he immediately wraps his fingers in the cord and dials Gareths number. It rings again and again, fuck.

"Hello?"

"Gareth, don't hang up!" Eddie struggles to keep the shout out of his voice, he wraps and unwraps his hands in the phone cord, tangling his fingers nervously as a long sigh crackles over the line.

"What man?" Gareth huffs, impatience saturates the words and Eddie can't keep his own bottled up for even a moment longer.

"I fucked up," Eddie whispers, "I fucked up Gar," he untagles his one hand long enough to sweep it up into his hair, pulling it away from his face.

He can hear the rustle of cloth and movement over the handset as Gareth breathes out a soft and confused, 'what,' on the other side but once the words start Eddie can't seem to contain them any longer.

"I don't know what to do," he says, his voice pitched in a low whine, "I spent so long absolutely convinced that Harrington was the one who put that target on my back in highschool, that he was the one who spread all those rumors".

Eddie begins to pace, two steps forward, and two steps back, he's too caught up in the phone cord to move much further around the kitchen but he feels the need to channel his frenetic energy somewhere.

"But he didn't, I just," Eddie swallows and removes his hand from his hair to press roughly into his eyes once more, "I just assumed".

Gareth says nothing, the only reason Eddie knows he's still there is the fact that the call hasn't cut out to a dial tone.

"I think, I think ruined it Gar, I don't know how to fix this, i think we could have been friends…"

A scoff bursts over the line and Eddie flinches at the sudden sound.

"Sorry, but Eddie, this is exactly what I was talking about".

Gareth sighs loudly and shifts again, "don't think it was just Jeff that was confused and maybe even a little angry that you started hanging out with the guy, but we thought, 'well, if Eddie forgave him, and wants to be his friend then we can deal,'" Gareth hesitates for a beat before speaking slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"If he did or didn't do it wasn't the issue Ed, you can't have it both ways. You can't try and be with the guy, lead him on like that, and hang on to this grudge, you'd just be hurting yourself and Steve more".

Eddie feels himself pale as he freezes in the middle of his pacing, he swallows hard but manages to keep his grip on the phone steady.

"I dont--you keep saying that--" he stutters, ignoring the cold feeling that settles in his gut.

"Eddie, come on, we have eyes in our heads, we didn't care that you liked guys, we don't care that you have a thing for Harrington -well I mean, Jeff might but he'd get over it if you asked him to".

Eddie feels his heart climb into his throat and nods once before remembering Gareth isn't actually there in person, he cradles the phone to his cheek and whispers, "I know".

"So fix it," Gareth says softly, "I don't know why you're talking to me, it sounds like you already know what you have to do".

"For what it's worth," Gareth says with a sigh and Eddie can hear the small smile in his voice this time, "I do think he's changed since highschool, and I am glad that he wasn't the one who said those things about you, it'll make my shovel talk a little easier anyway".

Eddie barks out a laugh that comes out a little wet, "thanks man," he mumbles into the receiver.

"Anytime, now get off the line, I gotta break the news to Jeff, he'll need time to digest".

Eddie laughs and hangs up the phone after a soft, 'goodbye you dick,' and turns to see Wayne leaning against the entrance to the kitchen watching him with a raised eyebrow and a stern expression.

"So, you finally gonna fix what's had you moping around here for the last couple o' days?" Wayne asks, his voice is casual but there's a glint in his brown eyes, so like Eddie's own, that puts him on edge.

Eddie winces and runs his hand through his curls towards the back to cradle his head, he hesitates as Wayne tilts his head slightly, waiting for his normally talkative nephew to speak.

After another beat Wayne sighs and pushes himself off the doorway, he steps into the kitchen and makes his way to the cupboard to pull out his favorite Indiana Pacers mug. Wayne busies himself with the kettle, while Eddie sweats by the phone.

"Uh, how much did you hear of that?" Eddie says eventually, he picks at the skin on his fingers and shifts his weight from foot to foot.

Wayne tilts his head to the side to look over his shoulder at Eddie as he adds two scoops of instant coffee into the empty mug while the water starts to boil.

"Well, it sounds like you and Harrington had something of a misunderstanding, that why he hasn't been 'round here with that famous lasagna of his?"

Eddie huffs out a laugh and rolls his eyes, "I guess you could say that," he chews on his lip roughly for a moment before releasing it, "I just don't know how to even start Wayne".

His uncle hums at that, flicking the stove burner off just as the kettle begins to hiss and whine, he pulls it off the metal coils and pours a helping of water into his awaiting mug before putting the kettle on the farthest burner to cool back down. He picks up the spoon he had used to scoop the instant coffee and stirs thoughtfully, allowing the metal to clink and clang against the chipped ceramic.

"Have you thought to just talk to him? Harrington seems like a good kid, I doubt he's holding a grudge--"

"I was mean Wayne, I was a dick in front of the kids," Eddies breathing picks up as he continues to speak, "they all hate me right now, they won't talk to me, and I kind of hate me a little bit right now and--"

Eddie stops talking as Wayne crosses the kitchen and pulls him into a fierce hug. He lets himself sink into it.

Wayne had always been somewhat easy going with affection, doling out hugs and pats on the back, but ever since Eddie had been discharged from the hospital Wayne seemed hyper aware of the need for comfort without being asked.

"If you're sorry then tell him, and if he doesn't want to hear it then you let him be, either he'll forgive you or he won't," Wayne's voice rumbles through his chest, he feels the hug begin to loosen as Wayne leans away to catch his eye once more, "sounds like the kids might be owed their own apology but you can do that after Harrington, what do we do when make mistakes?"

"We fix em," Eddie whispers, he feels lighter, lighter than he has since Gareth drove him and Jeff home in stony silence that fateful night.

"Damn right, now go on, if I have to miss another one of those damn casseroles you're gonna owe me an apology".

***

The drive isn't long but waiting for the approximate time that he figured Steve would be home was absolute torture, he even let Wayne fix him his own cup of instant coffee -how his uncle could drink that stuff was beyond Eddie but the warmth of the cup was grounding as time ticked by.

Eddie waited until six, figuring that would be the safest bet after a day shift, worst case scenario he'd go home and try again tomorrow if the house was empty.

A small anxious part of him hoped it would be.

The lights are on when he pulls up to the house, and Steve's beemer is in the driveway.

Okay, he could do this, all he had to do was go up to the door.

Eddie shuts the engine off, tapping out a nervous rhythm on the steering wheel as he grabs his keys and pops open his van door.

Eddie breathes in deeply through his nose and releases it slowly through mouth as he steps onto the walkway to the front door. The porch light is on despite the sun sitting high in the sky.

Eddie hesitates as he reaches the dark red double doors, all he has to do is raise his hand to ring the bell or knock, but he's frozen suddenly, his heart beats a wild staccato in his chest and that feeling of slowly sinking under water from earlier is back.

Eddie shakes his head, he faced down feral demon bats, and trudged through a poisonous forest to help hunt down Vecna, he could do this!

The door in front of him suddenly opens of its own accord revealing Steve’s frantic and confused face.

Shit.

***

Thank you everyone! There will be a part three that will finally have some comfort for all this whump and angst!! (I PROMISE!)

Taglist: @zerokrox-blog @samcoxramblings @thosemessyvibes @liketheocean @vampireinthesun @themostunoriginalpersonever @merricatty

(I hope these tags work and if I missed you I'm so sorry!!)

Continue with Part Three Here

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ladiesofhpfest · 3 months

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Upcoming Monthly Mini: GEN HERMIONE GRANGER DAY on 1 March 2024

Have you ever heard Hermione Granger called the fandom broom or bicycle? Well, now you have! Hermione is the most-paired female character in the Harry Potter fandom. For our special mini day in honor of Hermione Granger, we're giving the fandom broom a rest! She's not riding anyone! That's right, it's GEN HERMIONE DAY. This means NO romantic pairings of any kind, canon or otherwise. All platonic and familial relationships are welcome!* Here are some ideas to get you started:

Hermione's career, starting from post-war to her role as Minister of Magic

Hermione pre-Hogwarts, the little witch who didn't know she was a witch

Hermione and her parents pre/post Obliviation

Hermione character study

Hermione and Crookshanks

Hermione and her friends (or lack thereof!)

Hermione coming to terms with her magic, her identity as a Muggleborn, as an outcast

*If a familial relationship, any romantic pairing can be implied/referenced. However, the romantic pairing cannot play a major role in the fic. Ex: if you're writing a story about Hermione and Rose, Ron can be mentioned but his relationship with Hermione should be background only.

We're celebrating Hermione Granger, gen style, so get your quills out and get ready to see her standing on her own!

Monthly mini guidelines below the cut:

Monthly mini guidelines: To participate in our monthly minis, simply post your fic/art to Tumblr and tag @ladiesofhpfest and/or post it to the monthly mini channel on Discord. Details on monthly minis:

Minimum word count: 100.

Betas are strongly recommended, but not required for monthly minis. However, as all works reflect the fest as a whole, we request that all submitted works should be proofread and spell-checked before they are posted. Our ladies deserve nothing but the best!

Only original written fics and created artwork will be accepted.

You don't have to be part of the server to participate! You can always post to Tumblr and/or AO3. If you post to AO3, you are encouraged to post to the monthly mini collection at: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ladies_of_hp_fest_monthly_minis/profile.

Unless otherwise stated, monthly minis will take place on the 1st and 15th of each month.

Monthly minis begin 1 November and will end 15 April. They'll begin again with new characters after next year's fest!

Come join us on Discord for more!

#hermione granger #gen Hermione day #giving the fandom broom a rest #ladies of hp fest #ladies of hp #ladies of hp monthly minis #ladies of hp fest monthly minis

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