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#burrow's end episode 6
lil-gremlin-gal · 6 months
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okay so imagine you're a 7 year old lonely only child with asthma and inhalers don't exist
it's the middle of the cold war and your mom works handling super secret lab stuff so she drops you off at daycare every day, and you just do your thing
then one day two 10 year olds rock up like "hi. our old house was destroyed with biological warfare and everyone we know died. then we took apart a tank with our bare hands." the girl can read at a college level and the boy does a kick flip and sticks a perfect landing even though his sister punched him in the dick at full power halfway through
they say "hey, you're cool. come cut class with us?"
the daycare teacher has no idea what to do with them and just lets them take you away from class
you get a little wheezy and they say "oh man, have you tried an inhaler?" and your asthma is magically fixed (for 15 minutes)
anyway Lukas from Burrow's End did nothing wrong. given the circumstances I also would pledge alliagance to Jaysohn and Lila and tell them about my mom's cool job she said to never talk about
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verosvault · 6 months
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🚨🚨 SPOILER WARNINGS FOR BURROW'S END EPISODE 6!!! 🚨🚨
🚨🚨 YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED!!! 🚨🚨
Idk about Y'all!! BUT I FR THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA LOSE JAYSOHN!!! WHEN I SAW THE FLASHBACKS IN THE CENTER OF THE POOL!!! I WAS LIKE "...WELP...🥲🥲🥲"
THEE ABSOLUTE SIGH OF RELIEF THAT CAME OUT OF ME WHEN EVERYONE IN THE ROOM YELLED "...14!!!!!!...."
I- I JUST ABOUT LOST IT!!! 😭😭😭✋✋✋
THESE EVIL EDITORS ARE KILLING US!!! DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT FRRRR!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭✋✋✋✋✋
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love-wing · 6 months
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The Last Bast stoats walking bipedal and the First Ones having human teeth is some animal farm shit
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saingirl101 · 6 months
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SPOILERS - FUCKING AABRIA HOW DAR YOU WITH THAT ALMOST CLIFFHANGER
MY HEART WAS IN MY FUCKING MOUTH WITH THAT FAKE OUT
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mcskullmun · 6 months
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These stoats can and WILL break me.
Tula is lying (by omission)
Kieran is lying (directly) (Also who else thinks their interactions with the humans aren’t entirely negative?) (Just sayin’, calling it now)
Jason. Just- Jason. Oh my fucking god the editor/s were EVIL with that one.
Ava knew about human skulls. VERY ENTHUSIASTICALLY might I add. But maybe I missed a lore point there.
Thorn is the cult leader why is he the one we know the most about?!
Also y’all are being exposed to ungodly amounts of radiation please tell me there’s gonna be a moment when we realise just how badly that’s fucked everyone up. Saw someone else mention how that could affect Viola’s kids and that terrifies me.
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to-be-a-dreamer · 7 months
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Chandler knows this but I am going to fistfight Samuel Dalton Reich in a Denny's Parking lot if we don't get some kind of Fantasy High: Junior Year promo content soon I am losing my mind please Sam just let me see my favorite losers again I will take a singular screencap to hold me over
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marzeydoze · 6 months
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Imma have a giant mug of mint tea for tonight's Burrow's End 🐾🍃🔵🫖
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doodleswithangie · 4 months
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"Huh, wild." "'Huh, wild.'"
[Image description: Fanart comic of a scene from episode 6 of Dimension 20's "Burrow's End," featuring the stoat family and Dr. Tara Steel. Alt text is provided and copied below the cut. End ID.]
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Page One: The stoat family is gathered around the walkie, planning with Tara. Tula says, "If we're worried about Tara running this gambit by herself-"
Page Two: Tula speaks to Thorn Vale and continues saying, "You could imitate Tara over the walkie talkie to Wenabocker, and just have her be waiting at the paddock." Elsewhere, Tara asks into the walkie, "Can you do an impression of me?"
Page three: Thorn Vale mimics her, parroting, "'Can you do an impression of me?'" Tara curses (the word censored by a frozen strawberry), catches herself, then says, "Sorry, pants?"
End Copied Alt Text
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chungledown-bimothy · 7 months
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Facts Redux- Burrow's End
(I deleted the first one because I wasn't sure how I wanted to add on the nature facts. This will be updated after every episode/adventuring party if applicable)
Weird British Shit:
The Red Warren:
Baby teeth are called milk teeth for stoats and humans.
Stotal Recall: (Adventuring Party 1)
In the 50s, in an attempt at rabbit population control, the British government engineered a disease called myxomatosis, to which the rabbits are beginning to evolve an immunity.
Myxomatosis is also a song by famous English rock band Radiohead. (And in my opinion, it fucks severely)
Bearing the Consequences:
Unknown amount of math
A Second Sun:
They pronounce ermine, and mainly other words, differently.
Protect the Light:
57% is still considered a passing grade in the UK
The Burrito Was Achieved: (Adventuring Party 6)
British gasps are a very calm "oh, no".
Weird Nature Shit:
Bearing the Consequences:
Bears can make butt plugs out of moss. (Brennan)
A baculum is a dick bone. (Aabria)
Foxes have a baculum, dogs don't. (Siobhan)
Otters are also mustelids. (Aabria)
A Second Sun:
Ermine (noun): A stoat, especially when in its white winter coat.
The First Stoats:
Stoats are #59 on the Global Invasive Species Database list of 100 worst invasive species
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dimension20official · 6 months
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TONIGHT! Episode 6 of Dimension 20: Burrow's End launches on Dropout at 7pm ET / 4pm PT. Featuring Aabria Iyengar, Jasper William Cartwright, Erika Ishii, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Isabella Roland, Rashawn Nadine Scott, and Siobhan Thompson...and a Box of Doom roll you will never forget.
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dropoutdottv · 6 months
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This week on Dropout: on Monday, a new Make Some Noise featuring Kimia Behpoornia, Jacob Wysocki, and Lou Wilson; on Tuesday, a new Dirty Laundry featuring Fiona Nova, Kassem G, Vanessa Guerrero, and Gina Darling; on Wednesday, the 6th episode of Dimension 20: Burrow's End; and on Thursday, the Burrow's End ep 6 Adventuring Party talkback!
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stellocchia · 5 months
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Thinking of Secret Life SMP hybrid headcanons right now...
Grian would be a parrotlet. They're the smallest group of parrots and I feel like with how pathetic he's been this season he deserves to be just a little guy. He's still a pesky bird who, as season 6 proved, can definitely cause some mischief despite his reduced size, but he's a little guy anyway.
Jimmy is not a canary. Because, yes, he may have the canary curse, but that's just a fancy name for the curse, not necessarily his hybrid type. No, my man is a dog. He's a goddamn chihuahua. He's all bark and annoying but you take a single threatening step toward him and he shivers in fear.
On the topic of dogs, Martyn is a pomeranian. I'm specifically making him a small dog too because, despite wanting to act cool at the end of session 6, he is still very much the one who was first on yellow and red. My man is not big dog-coded.
Now, unpopular opinion, but Scar is a raccoon hybrid. He's a mischievous chaotic menace of a man. A little criminal ready to scam, commit arson, kill, and steal. He's a raccoon. He hasn't burrowed under anyone's house yet (that I remember at least) but that wouldn't be out of character either. Honestly, I'm appalled by the fact that this isn't a far more popular headcanon for him.
And, before I move on from dogs, Etho is also dog-coded. Specifically an Akbash (big white golden retriever-looking fuckers used for the protection of livestock). I just feel like the protectiveness and overall vibe fit him very well.
Finally, moving on from dogs. Cleo is obviously a zombie hybrid. There are no two ways around it. Though this does allow for my little headcanon that, having to learn on their own skin how to sew they became really good and really quick and they're the ones making all the new outfits for everyone else.
Gem meanwhile is specifically a sculk hybrid. Though I like to think that that came about when she opened the portal. She was a deer hybrid before (mostly because I like the subversion of expectations with a "prey" hybrid so to speak being arguably the most bloodthirsty person on the server) and then it spread like an infection. I figure by now her infected half straight-up looks something like Belos monster for from TOH:
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Scott is something like a Reakirt’s Blue Butterfly. Both because the colors match him, and because he is kinda The Social Butterfly. My man is always out and about mingling with others. He's so friendly that he literally didn't struggle to pull off the "love you" challenge when everyone admitted that no one else would have been able to. It would be a waste not to make him some kind of butterfly at least.
Now, for Impulse I have something less reasoned, I just think the idea of him being an imp called Impulse is way too funny to resist. And he is way more of a mischievous one than I usually see people talk about. I've seen the phasmophobia stream where he killed everyone with the cursed items several times in a row just because he wanted to try them out. I know what he's capable of.
Meawhile his bestie Skizz is so capibara coded it's unreal. Like, don't get me wrong, he's plenty chaotic. But also you will never find anyone more lawful good in the Life Series than him. I've been thinking this since Love Island was founded. My man is the king of chilling with everyone. (Aside from Jimmy, rip Jimmy).
At the risk of being boring, I also like seeing Tango as a salamander hybrid. Exclusively because of the mythological connection between salamanders and fire. Also, the idea that every time he's flying (though it's funnier if it's also when he's simply jumping) he's nothing but a ball of fire with a lizard tail is very funny to me.
BigB is a hard one because I've only watched a couple of episodes from his POV so I'm not quite as familiar with the lore surrounding him as I am with the others. So I'm not sure. I want to say enderman because of his cryptid vibes this season, but he's not one of the characters with the biggest connection to the end. Those are mostly BDubs, Gem, and Lizzie, so I don't know. I'm open to suggestions.
Talking about BDubs, why are there no ender dragon hybrid headcanons for him around? I think it would be incredibly ironic if the dragon slayer was a dragon himself. Also, his house is under the Earth just like the End portals. Trust me, it makes so much sense. He's small but so full of righteous anger.
Pearl is no hybrid, she's literally just a witch. I've seen the WITCH animatic and that fundamentally changed my view of her forever. Before I would have said a moth hybrid of some kind because I do like moth Pearl, but I love that specific interpretation so much it's unreal. She is a witch with an army of hellhounds at her back and call.
Mumbo is a vampire because I've seen some art of vampire Mumbo at some point in time and it hasn't left my head since. Also, he's one of the players with the highest bloodlust every time he turns red. We're 2 for 2 on that with his appearances in the Life series. And it's usually also what leads to his demise. So I feel like that would be fitting for a vampire.
Meanwhile, my dearly beloved blorbo Joel is a honey-badger. This is a headcanon that is incredibly dear to me and I've never seen around but it's literally SO FITTING. The absolute crackhead energy, the lack of self-preservation, and the surprising sturdiness as time and time again he gets himself in impossible situations and still manages to survive until pretty much the end are all that exact honey-badger vibe. Like, just thinking of him summoning a hoard of zombies to fight off several infected and surviving for quite a while in those conditions just, really proves my point. Enough said.
Lizzie meanwhile is a very sad sopping wet cat. Just absolutely miserable. One of those cats who look like they're constantly grumpy. The frown has deepened ever since no one came to her party and she's still frowning in the void of death.
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thisisnotthenerd · 5 months
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i love where this season is taking us. finding out about the first stoats. that the stoats of last bast speak human. tula locking down bennett at the thought of walmer showing up again. lukas as either a 3rd level bard or 10th level expert sidekick. the entire concept of dr. tara steel.
in other news, we have the final class updates for burrow's end! i'm expecting level 10 to be their endpoint, as they've all landed there this episode. everybody multiclassed, with 3 cleric multiclasses this season.
tula: stoat mom as a feat is all i'm going to say. towards the end, she's really leaning into the healing aspect with the cleric levels.
initial level: redemption paladin 4
final level: redemption paladin 7 | life cleric 3
jaysohn: adhd karate boy, or all stoats in a nutshell. a true killer like his grandma.
initial level: astral self monk 4
final level: astral self monk 5 | swashbuckler rogue 5
viola: the embryonic diapause storyline is going to kill me, i can feel it. it is indeed. instead of going more magic like tula she went more martial.
initial level: devotion paladin 4
final level: devotion paladin 7 | champion fighter 3
thorn vale: anxious wife guy cult leader is something i didn't know i needed until now, but i'm so glad that that's where jasper went with him. and now he's really leaning into the cult and the power of the blue.
initial level: fey wanderer ranger 4
final level: fey wanderer ranger 5 | tempest cleric 5
ava: if generational trauma was a stoat. the commitment to the werther's? phenomenal. she died and came back with magic.
initial level: ancestral guardians barbarian 3 | fighter
final level: ancestral guardians barbarian 5 | battlemaster fighter 3 | grave cleric 2
lila: i'm living for izzy as a stoat that can sneak attack people and read??? and now lila has fireball. what could be better.
initial level: inquisitive rogue 4
final level: arcane trickster rogue 4 | bladesinger wizard 6
all of this info is available in the spreadsheet under level progressions, and also in the ao3 compilation in chapter 11.
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puhpandas · 6 months
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Rabbit Burrow
(5180 words) part 2 (1 found here)
Tony Becker, one year after surviving the attack from GGY, tracks down Gregory post-SB. But he has to get through Vanessa and Freddy before he can get to Gregory.
Its only after Tony has run through the interaction with Vanessa ten times over that he realizes she never told him how she knows Gregory.
He'd been nothing but restless since she left. His eyes have been darting to and from the digital clock on the end table on the other side of arm of the couch, and his brain has been so scattered, all he can focus on is the awaiting reunion.
The baking show has long since switched to a new episode since he last checked the TV. Tony's worried that at this point, his fingers will start bleeding if he keeps picking at them like this.
The only saving grace in a long chunk of nothing-but-anticipation is when Tony's phone buzzes at 6:01pm, right when he had started to gather his thoughts and began plan out the reunion in his head like remembering a speech.
Ellis: dude where r u????
Ellis: yr mom said u arent home and she keeps asking me if ur with me and where u r
All Tony does is sigh. He cant even find it in him to feel bad that his Mom and Grandma are probably worried. All he can think about is how his arms are shaking and his stomach feels floaty.
He types back with thumbs that have peeling skin on the edge of the fingernails.
Tony: Remember how I covered for you that one time?
Tony: I need you to cover for me. If you need to tell her that I'm with you and I'm staying over do that. I just need any excuse.
Ellis: yea i remember but why?
Ellis: if a guy covers for u u can at least tell him what the deal is
Tony: I'm doing something really important. I can't tell you all the details yet.
Tony: I just need you to trust me. Please. It'll help me out a lot, Ellis.
Tony: I promise I'll make it up to you next time you need something.
Ellis: dude didnt know it was that important
Ellis: dont worry then. u know i can tell a mean lie when i need to
Tony: Dude thanks. That's a big relief. It wont be in vain.
Ellis: my services will not be for free tho
Ellis: i will need something in return
Tony: What do you want?
Ellis: for u to buy me a cookie next time i see u at lunch
Tony finds it in him to roll his eyes at that. He smiles a bit, and right as he goes to send back I'll buy you two, Freddy Fazbear makes some sort of clunking sound.
Its enough to make his already fluttery heart clench and himself almost fly off of the couch. He jerks and yelps and can only stare Freddy Fazbears black eyelids phwip open, and his pupils glow..
They're blank, though, like they're on but Freddy himself isnt. His body whirs and shifts slowly, as if running a diagnostic, and after his ears wiggle, theres a clear difference.
Tony just sits rigid as a board with eyes wide as saucers as Freddy doesnt notice him right away. He just takes the jump cables off of his ears and sets them on the carpet, and moves his torso to face the window.
Which Tony is blocking. Since hes on the couch sitting directly next to the animatronic.
Theres a staring contest with a distinct lack of breathing for all but a few moments, before the small black plastic pieces that are Freddys eyebrows tilt downwards.
"Wait wait wait!" Tony holds out his hands, but Freddy doesnt get off the couch and attack him like his fears. Freddys eyes dont leave his once, and it reminds him too much of those few times Freddy would stare him down and be hot on his heels in the Pizzaplex during the GGY debacle.
Freddy pauses, not even so much as twitching as he burns an LED hole into him. Tony tries to get over the unease and stutters out, "Um, Vanessa trusts me. I talked to her. She told me to stay here."
For a fleeting moment, Tony believes he somehow said the wrong thing and that Freddy is now going to grab him and beat him into a pulp like he feared back at the Pizzaplex all that time ago. But during the rigid silence, the glow in Freddys eyes flickers for half a second, and some sort of beeping sound emits from a hidden speaker.
"I have just contacted her." Freddy finally breaks the tension, and Tony sighs at how his voice does not sound aggressive. In fact, Freddy hadn't spoken at all when Tony had been afraid of him last year. "You are telling the truth... my apologies."
"Theres no issue." Tony manages when Freddy looks so undoubtedly apologetic theres no doubt that he's not genuine. He scratches the back of his neck. "...I guess I wouldnt be too keen on a stranger being in my house when I wake up either."
"Yes," Freddy nods, and his ears bob at the motion. Theres a split second of silence where the baking show Tony hasn't caught a single second of is the only noise in the room. "so that begs the question; why are you here?"
Tony jerks. "What?"
"You are a stranger in my house, like you said." Freddy points out, not unkindly. "I would appreciate knowing why. Even if you already went over it with Vanessa."
"Oh. Well. I dont know what all Vanessa told you, but... I'm here for Gregory."
Freddy doesnt immediately turn distrustful or wary like Vanessa had. Probably because he already knows Tony is a friend. "She said you were an old friend of his." Freddy confirms. His "So, you are the boy Gregory talks to much about."
Tony doesnt really know how to respond to that. He grabs a fold of fabric from the arm of his jacket in-between his fingers. "Uh...yeah."
"I'm sure you've already talked to Vanessa. So I wont beat around the bush." Freddy says. "But Gregory has tried so hard to remember you."
Tony brows furrow. "...She said he has dreams sometimes. And that's how he knows I-- we exist."
"Yes." Freddy nods."But she probably did not tell you that he tries to figure out what reminded him of you, so he can continue to keep dreaming."
Tony's eyes widen, and he picks at his fingers. No. Vanessa did not mention that. She said nothing about Gregory actively searching for Tony around his life to see him in his dreams.
Freddys LED eyes dim, and his ears and eyelids droop in a clear sign of upset. "It breaks my heart. To see Gregory try to gather the broken pieces of his memories." His eyes stare at the couch cushion below them, before they dart up to look him in the eye. "You were obviously very important to him, if he searches like this."
"He is to me too." Is all Tony can manage. He's suddenly getting a sense adjacent to deja vu.
"Its clear that he is." Freddy is still looking him in the eye, but somehow, Tony feels like he's smiling at him. "If you came all this way to see him."
And he really did come a long way, didnt he? He took a bus to a different county. He spent hours and hours scouring the internet for any mention of Greg after he suddenly up and went missing as soon by the time Tony had recovered enough to look for him.
Greg has searched too, apparently. Tony cant help but be aware of. Even after losing his memories.
"What is your name?" Freddy suddenly asks him.
"Tony Becker." Tony answers easily. "I guess he doesnt remember my name, huh?"
"No. But he has tried. Believe me when I say that." Freddy says. "He wants to know more about his life before what happened more than anything."
"...You think he'll be happy to see me?"
"There is no doubt, Tony Becker."
The last time he had seen Greg, it was in a dusty back room with a knife in his back.
But despite that, it isnt what Tony thinks when he thinks Greg. When he thinks of Greg, he thinks of the sleepovers and the days Greg would show up at school one day with his hair different lengths. He thinks about how He, Greg, and Ellis would Vs. eachother on the air hockey machine. He thinks about the stories they'd come up with in creative writing.
When he thinks of that afternoon at the Pizzaplex, he doesnt think Greg. He thinks GGY. Maybe its that first inkling of separation that got him here.
Theres been a stretch of silence while Tony soaked it in. The rain outside has slowed, and the sun peeking through the gray clouds shines through the window, white lines on the coffee table like the blinds are a stencil.
"But the truth is... I do not think Vanessa feels the same." Freddy suddenly says. "She wants to protect him from the awful memories. I do not have to deal with them like she does, but I assume they... that they haunt her."
His ears droop. "I believe that she does not want Gregory to have to as well."
"So shes trying to keep them from him?" Tony asks, a brow raised. "But that's his choice, isn't it?"
"That is how I feel." Freddy agrees, looking at him again. It's starting to become less uncomfortable. "Listen, Tony Becker. I may not know for sure, but I feel that Vanessa is afraid to let you near Gregory. Seeing you will make him remember so much."
His mind immediately jumps to a thousand implications at that."If shes scared, what does that mean?" He asks. "She'll make me leave? She'll change her mind?"
"I do not think so." Freddy assures. "But my point is that she has been trying for so long to keep Gregorys memories under wraps. It is not with malice, but this is why I ask you this."
"Gregory has long since chosen to remember, even if Vanessa does not want him to." Freddy says havent left his once, and Tony doesnt look away, either. Freddys pupils suddenly appear brighter in a way when he speaks again, "To keep them from him after he has already made his choice would be cruel. Which is why I would like you to help him, Tony Becker."
Tony hasnt forgotten how Greg fought for him that day at the Pizzaplex. He hasnt forgotten how all that mattered was Tony escaping. Not if Greg would get in trouble. Not if something would happen to him.
Gregory has, though. Greg has forgotten a lot of things.
But if seeing Tony in danger that fateful afternoon made him remember himself enough to fight, and win against mind control?
Tony can fight for Greg's memories, too. Even if it takes another year.
"He deserves to remember his old life." Freddy says. "Vanessa has told me that his parents are dead. Any life he had before is nothing but a faint memory." He hums, melancholy. "But it's one I want him to remember."
Me too Tony almost says. Because all Tony has wanted throughout this last year is his friend back.
"Greg was one of my best friends." Tony says quietly, eyes downcast. He counts the threads in the couch cushion. "I want him to remember me and Ellis and... everything. It's why I'm here."
"I have not been able to help him, no matter how much I've wanted to." Freddy responds, sounding sad. "But I am glad you are here. Now Gregory truly has a chance of obtaining what hes been chasing for so long."
"Me too." Tony replies, not knowing which exactly hes responding too.
"So," Freddy pauses. "what do you say?"
"I'll do it." Tony responds immediately. "But... I just have to ask. Why do you trust me so much? Vanessa wouldnt even tell me anything until I answered her riddles."
Freddy hums. "It is exactly as you said." Freddy answers. "You earned Vanessa's trust. So in turn you have earned my trust. I trust Vanessa to trust you."
Tony doesnt respond, for a moment, just taking that in.
The amount of faith you have in someone to trust them that much. To know you can rely on them. To have no doubt...
Tony glances at the hallway he can see just over the back of the couch and down the hall into the room with the slightly open door, with the pens and pencils and bed and desk, and wonders how tightly wound the people in this house are with eachother.
"...Then I'll return the favor." Tony smiles. "You're friends of Greg's, and, well... I was friends with him, once upon an time. And he still seems to think so." He holds out a hand. "Any friend of Greg's is a friend of mine."
Freddys ears wiggle, and his eyelids come up in a way that make him look overjoyed. "Any friend of Gregory's is a friend of mine." Freddy repeats, shaking Tony's hand. "We are in this together, now. We will have to be there for Gregory if he remembers not so great things."
"And for the great things." Tony smiles, going over the few months worth of memories of their three amigos friendship he has in his head. "Its worth it, I think."
After all, if Tony's found a way to seperate killer Greg with his Greg, then he thinks Gregory probably can as well.
"I'm glad we have that settled." Freddys ears wiggle, and his eyes do that dimming thing again for half a second. "Because Vanessa has just contacted me and let me know that she is almost back with Gregory."
He makes some sort of choking noise. Theres a thousand things on the tip of Tony's tongue in seconds. His eyes blow wide as saucers, and he twists his back to look at the clock that reads 6:34.
He immediately feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on his head. He stutters, trying to gather his thoughts, and eventually gets out "How long?!"
"Soon." Freddy smiles. "It wont be long, now. It seems all the work you've done has paid off."
Tony cant find it in him to move his mouth after that. Just too rigid. It feels like theres electricity buzzing up his skin and a wildfire in his chest. It feels like he cold start floating like a balloon at any moment.
He doesnt respond to Freddy, after that. He just twists his body to face the front door (his back twinges. maybe he shouldn't slouch over his laptop and desk so much) and waits.
A few minutes is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Not really when its put up against the year he's taken to track Greg down. But its somehow more agonizing waiting now when he knows Greg is in arms reach, instead of it being uncertain if he'd ever see him again.
It's not uncertain, now. Is the thing. Greg is on his way, and Tony, for once, doesn't even know what to think. All he can do is sit there and be clammy and impatient.
Freddy chuckles. Tony ignores it. He burns a hole into the front door just across the living room, only hearing his own jumbled thoughts and roaring in his ears over the baking show on the TV.
Its Winter right now. So by 6:45, all the light outside has darkened into pitch blackness. The residential street lights outside the apartments make the raindrops on the window glow. The TV is still going in the background.
Freddy is as still as he is, joining him in watching the door as restless as a bored puppy. Listening to the ventilation inside of Freddys inner workings is the only thing that reminds Tony to breathe.
After multiple agonizing minutes, Tony jerks when the slam of a car door is heard distantly outside the window.
"Are you ready, Tony Becker?" Freddy breaks the silence. Looking back at Freddy is the first time Tony looks away from the door. "We do not know how much he will remember at first. It may be messy. It may not."
Messy is definitely a word he would use to describe a lot of the things that have happened, here. So he just nods, a tilt of his head. "I'm ready."
"He is ready, too." replies Freddy.
And that's all that's said until the doorknob begins to rattle.
All that Tony manages is a strangled gasp before he's bolting off the couch, almost tripping over Freddys legs. His converse slide on the laminate wood, and he stands there. In perfect view of the door.
His legs feel cold and his chest airy as he watches. He waits for movement, and cant help the tremble in his hands when the deadbolt unlocks. He can hear voices. Only because hes straining his ears, but he can hear a high pitched voice muffled and faint behind the door.
The doorknob rattles, and Tony watches as the deadbolt unlocks from the inside. His heart stutters in his chest when he hears voices outside, and he can pinpoint one of the pitches as Greg's.
"Come on, Vanessa. Were home. Now tell me what the suprise is!"
"I think you'll want to see it for yourself, Greg."
"Its inside? Well what could it possibly be if you wont even give me a hint--"
The knob twists, and the door creaks open. Its steady and agonizingalmost as if it's in slow motion.
And there he is.
Theres the pale skin and short stature and blue clothes. Tony isnt breathing when he just looks, and sees the boy he'd been searching for so long right in front of him.
He has raindrops in his chocolate brown hair. Greg doesnt look away from Vanessa while he walks in, at first, but Vanessa looks away from Gregory. She meets his eyes, and Tony doesnt have it in him to dissect what the look could mean.
All he cares about is how Greg follows her gaze.
He stops in his tracks, his mud stained Pizzaplex brand sneakers planting him firmly in place.
It's like everything else falls away when Greg meets his eyes. Huge, amber eyes that grow as wide as saucers when they see him. Theres a dark jagged scar wrapped around his cheek that makes it to his nose that wasnt there before.
The silence is deafening, as they just stand there and stare at eachother. Tony thinks he isnt breathing. Theres electricity shooting up his spine. His fingers twitch and tremble. Greg just stares, mouth agape.
Tony's own twitches, and he smacks his lips together, testing if he can still speak at all. His legs are rooted to the ground as he says, just above a whisper, "Greg."
Greg's face shifts ever so slightly, and it's only now Tony realizes his eyes are a bit faraway. Like he's...
Remembering something.
In an instant, they dart and blink, and Greg is looking at him again.
Tony dares to break through the water by taking a step. He never tears his eyes away from Gregory's own.
At some point, Vanessa moved away from the door and somewhere else in the house.
Which means the coast is clear when Tony takes a step, and then another, and Greg is meeting him in the middle.
Hes almost sprinting when they crash into eachother like waves. Immediately, Tony wraps his arms around Greg tight, and Greg clutches back just as desperately.
"Tony." Gregory says breathlessly. Tony can feel Greg's hair brush against his cheek and his hands ball up his jacket. "Its you. That's your name. You're the..."
"The one you've been dreaming about?" Tony chuckles, and to his suprise, it's a little wet. His legs ache from pushing himself into the hug so much, but he ignores it. "Yeah. Me and Ellis. Your friends."
"Tony and Ellis." Greg repeats, and Tony could cry at how it's the same voice in all of his memories. A few things are different; Gregory's face has changed a bit, and so has his hair and clothes. But all of the things that made him Greg back then are still here.
"I--" Greg stutters. "I tried so hard to remember anything about you. I was gonna track you down, I hope you know. Cause you're the only things I remember about..."
"I know, Greg." Tony replies. Greg pulls away from the hug, and Tony still has a grip on his shoulders. "They told me everything."
He jerks his head towards Freddy and Vanessa, and when Greg looks over at him, Freddys ears wiggle and Vanessa does a small little wave.
"Some suprise." Gregory chuckles, wiping at his dry eyes. "Jeez, its just-- I just remembered so much. Just by seeing you, and--"
Greg's eyes turn a little misty as he looks in Tony's own. "We were friends." He says. "And I forgot you for so long."
"It wasnt your fault." Tony smiles slightly. Greg still has to look up at him a bit, like he did last time Tony saw him. "Freddy and Vanessa told me you tried your best to remember us."
Gregory nods, glancing over at them. "I did." He says. "I wanted to know what triggered the first dream so bad. But... I never figured it out."
"I guess it doesn't matter now." Tony says. "I'm right here in front of you, and you remember now. Ellis'll be really glad to see you, too."
Gregory chuckles. "I missed him." He says. "I missed you, too."
"Me too." Tony replies, and it doesn't feel like those two words can encapsulate how much Tony has felt the past year. "Ellis really missed you as well. He still is. You don't know what happened to him when you went missing."
Gregory ducks his head, eyes downcast. "I wish I did."
Tony eyes Freddy from the corner of his eye, and he nods. Tony looks back towards Greg. "I can tell you some stuff, if you want. Vanessa said something reminded you of me one day." He smiles. "I can try to help remind you of stuff enough to remember more."
Gregory's head shoots up, and to Tony's suprise, tears gather in his eyes. As quick as they come, he ducks his head, using the sleeve of his navy jacket to wipe them away. "Yeah." He sniffs. "That'd be great."
"I'm glad you guys reunited." Vanessa pipes up to their left. "But, Gregory, I think you should go take a breather. I wanna talk to Tony anyway."
Greg doesnt answer for a second, but eventually he nods, smiling at Tony as he peels himself away. Tony takes note of how the tooth Gregory had been missing last year is still gone.
Tony watches him go, and his eyes dont leave his back until the door to his room shuts.
"Kid," Vanessa grabs his attention. She gestures to sit down on the couch, and he moves over, sitting in-between Freddy and her. "that went well. Really well."
Tony just nods, not able to shake the trembling in his fingers and the floaty feeling in his chest.
"It doesnt seem like he remembered anything bad." Vanessa points out. "He couldnt have. He wouldn't be so calm if he did, trust me."
Tony remembers Freddys words about how Vanessa grapples with the things shes done, so he does. He nods again, and Vanessa smiles. "So that's good. Listen, kid. If you can somehow have Gregory remember his old life without any of the mind control murder stuff, that would be the best case scenario."
Freddy whirs and straightens out a but, opening his mouth to speak, but he stops at the last second. "It wouldnt be unfair to Gregory if he wasnt remembering anything good, Fred." Vanessa points out.
"That is true." Freddy agrees. "There is no point in Gregory remembering anything harmful to him if avoidable. Vanessa knows that better than anyone."
Tony opens his mouth to speak, but pauses.
Not remember anything bad? As in he wouldnt be able to remember that day at the Pizzaplex?
How Greg had put himself on the line and fought for Tony's life? How he'd succeeded? How Tony always desperately wanted to see Greg again just to talk about it?
Words get caught in his throat, but he pushes them down and shoves his feelings aside. He just nods. "I'll do my best."
"Thanks." Vanessa says, and she sounds more relieved than Tony's ever heard anyone. She puts a hand on his shoulder, offering him a smile. "Really. Thank you, kid. I'd do anything for Gregory to never have to remember the same things I do."
Tony just nods again, finding that for the first time in his life, he has no words to say. "Yeah."
"I am sure you're dying to catch up with Gregory." Freddy smiles. "Go on, Tony Becker. We will give you both space."
Tony smiles, shooting up and shimmying past Freddys legs in-between the coffee table towards the hall. "Okay. Sure." He only lingers for another moment to say "Thanks!"
Its jet black outside when Tony passes a window, and by the time he makes it to Greg's room, the only light available is a small table lamp on the desk with paper strewn about. Greg sits on his bed, deep in thought, before snapping out of it when Tony walks in.
"Hey." Gregory smiles, and Tony grins back when he shuts the door behind him. He cant help how his eyes wander about the room, taking in every detail as he moves further into the room. His backpack is tossed on the floor beside his bed, and theres comic pages and drawings thumbtacked up across every wall. Theres a corkboard with blocky letters written on paper sheets scattered around, and his bedsheets have constellations on them.
Tony's eyes linger on the desk, where there are multiple comics covering every inch, some half-finished and some fully colored.
"You would draw comics when we were friends, too." Tony says, making his way over and peering at all of the different drawings. "I'd call them graphic novels. I'd write the story and you'd draw."
"I think I had a dream about that." Greg says. "We'd go in your room and brainstorm, right?"
"Yeah." Tony smiles. He looks at the dates scribbles in the corners of them all, and notices that most of them are recent.
"Its one of the only dreams I had." Gregory says. "It... it would make me so mad because it never went any different. And it had been the only indication you even existed for so long." He chuckles without humor. "The other dreams weren't much different, but, well, I was never really able to figure out how to trigger a new dream."
As he keeps looking, some of the older comics, like the ones on the walls and the underneath the piles of recent ones have dates from a few months ago.
It's like a tiny lightbulb goes off above his head. He turns to Gregory, asking "Do you remember when you had the first dream?"
Gregory pauses for a moment. "Yeah." He says. "It was a few months ago. The first dream I had was about us drawing comics in your room."
Tony smiles, finding the earliest date to be near October last year. Its February now. "Did you ever think the thing that triggered that memory was drawing a comic?"
Tony watches as the gears turn in Greg's head. Hes silent for a moment, before muttering, "No. I didnt."
Tony looks at the window on the wall by Greg's bed and watches as raindrops drip down the screen on the other side. Crickets are chirping faintly, and he can hear Freddy and Vanessa's voices muffled behind the door.
The days events catch up to him, and right as the first inkling of tiredness creep up on him, he says "So how about we try to make a comic together like the dream? Maybe it'll bring back some new memories."
Gregory is silent for a moment, and Tony watches as his eyes widen, and a grin gradually stretches across his face. "Okay." He says. "Yeah. Let's do it."
So it's in Greg's room, instead of Tony's, where they hunker down for the night and squish next to eachother on the same chair at the same desk and brainstorm a comic. Tony makes a point of calling it a graphic novel like he used to, because Greg would always say something about it, and unsurprisingly, this time is no different.
The only light is from Gregory's small table lamp shoved to the very corner to make room for more papers, and it's only when they have everything ready does Greg finally ask about the story.
"You said you'd write the story and I'd draw." Gregory says. His shoulder is pressed up against Tony's on the chair and his voice is loud in his ear. "So what's the story?"
Tony hums for a second, jumbled thoughts and ideas running course in his mind, then he gets an idea.
He grins slowly as it dawns on him. He glances over at Greg.
"You always liked nonfiction better, right?" Gregory says, voice up an octave like a question. "Real life stuff."
"Yeah." Tony confirms. "This is a real story."
"So tell me." Greg smiles, leaning back to get a good view of Tony. Tony himself does the same, and Greg is doing one of those lopsided smiles that shows off his missing tooth. "And I'll start drawing the panels."
Its only after theyve hunkered down does Tony really let himself revel in the fact that he found Greg, and he's here and okay. It may not be perfect, since Tony never really will be able to speak to that Gregory that saved him that day and thank him, but its content. Tony has his friend back, and he can't ask for any more.
He's long since decided on a story when he finally tells Gregory. He smiles softly, before saying,
"This story is about a kid named Gregory, who once hacked the school PA speakers and started beatboxing."
🔎🐰
Ellis: um so how long will i have to keep this up???
Ellis: would be nice to know
Tony: I dont know how long I'll be gone.
Tony: I'll buy you as many cookies as you want for this.
Ellis: we will negotiate when you come back
Ellis: for now ill uphold my end of the deal mr. becker
Tony: I'll uphold mine early.
Tony sent an image
Image ID: A boy with short dark brown hair and a green jacket angling the camera so by his head is a boy with pale skin and chocolate brown hair. The boy with dark hair is smiling and the boy with brown hair is looking suprised at the camera.
Ellis is typing...
ao3 link
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scattergoriesofevil · 6 months
Text
Burrow’s End party names
Episode 1: Stupendous Stoats
Episode 2: Mystical Mustelids
Episode 3: Excellent Ermines
Episode 4: Wondrous Weasels
Episode 5: Vicious Varmits
Episode 6: Preternatural Predators
Episode 7: Invasive Investigators
Episode 8: UnCommon Carnivores
Episode 9: Little Guys
Episode 10: Stupendous Stoats
Aabria you did such a good job!
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marzeydoze · 6 months
Text
The panic of jayhson almost jumping into the fuel rods followed by the realization that they're all dead anyway from radiation exposure
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