#... but you know what all this'll still do? cause people to look up and go 'hey this is so cool-- i want to know the inspiration'.

[iniziare]

Consider Yelan's facial expression to be my own in reaction to opinions shared on both X and Tumblr, and I guess I'm in the minority of the 'loud ones', but I'm pretty excited for Natlan since that trailer, actually. The previous teasers left me a little 'eh', but this definitely got my hopes back up, and I'm back in the right spirits for it (and ready to catch some Pokémon.)

Now I wouldn't be me if I didn't touch on the salt that I've seen scattered across the dash, so here I go. Listen, I read people's objections and I see what you're all aiming at, but in that light want to note that it's often incredibly easy to point fingers (arguably too much so) at others while being, quite honestly, hopefully rather aware that many of our own countries, cultures, and its populations across the board (and no, I'm not excluding anyone here) would likely be just as easily guilty as MHY is with these things. And no, I'm not blindly defending them, but I also won't point fingers at only one without pointing them everywhere else as well, including those you might think would 'never do such things', because I'm absolutely certain that they would. /continues on in the tags.

[vulpixisananimal]

Carrion!Sif AU, Chapter 2

ACT 2, The Smell

(You wake up.)

(. . . What.)

(You, you were checking for traps in the hallway and couldn't see, smell, feel anything until the very last second and then-)

"Siffrin!"

(It was Mirabelle. She walked up you you just like last time and just like then just started, taking to you!)

"Good morning! Or, w-" >>> "-but not too long!"

(You stared at Mirabelle as she walked off. The scent of that soap she used even stronger than last time. She, she said the same thing, same exact thing?!? But, but wait you- How- how did-)

(Did you-)

(DID YOU JUST DIE?!?!?!)

(You did!! You must have!! You just walked into that hall and said everything was fine and you died!!! You didn't see anything!! Smell anything!! AND YOU STILL DIED?!?!)

(You're USELESS!!! It's your JOB to find traps and you DIED!!! You didn't even get a glimpse of the King and you just got squished flat!!! STUPID, STUPID STUPID!!!)

(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Okay you're over it now.)

(You sit up, dizzy. And now absolutly starving. Your stomach growls. Stars, why are you so hungry again??? Ugh, and now you're gonna have to wait untill tonight, again! You grip the grass beneath you, taking a breath, once, twice, and three times. You're ok, Sifrin. You're ok. You're back here, and now you can do better this time.)

[You got the "Memory of Looping!" You'll always remember this.]

(. . . What was that voice?)

(You stand up, looking around. You could smell the birds, the people, everything around you. Come on, Siffrin. You'll be okay.)

[. . . You should come to the Favor Tree when you have a second, Stardust~]

(You shudder, Stardust?)

>>>

". . ."

(A. . . A star?)

(You had gone straight to the favor tree to see just, what just happened. And, there was a star sitting there, a star person.)

". . . My! Struck speachless at the sight of me, aren't you~?" (The star put a hand to their mouth like they were laughing at you.) "You're so cute, Stardust~"

(Stardust?!?) "U-uhm--"

"Aww, Siffrin. Look at you, all lost and confused~"

(?!?!?!?) "How, how do you know my-"

"Why wouldn't I know, you're Sif! Siffrin! No middle name, no last name~" (The star leaned back against the favor tree.) "Now I know you must be quite overwhelmed, with this being your first loop and all~"

"My. . . ." (You shake your head, this was all a lot to take in, and. . .)

"Oh where are my manners! Take a seat, Stardust, there's plent of room~"

(You look between the star and the root of the tree. Who, who was this?!? You couldn't tell, they smelled of, sugar. Strongly of sugar, and nothing, and a bit of something that smelled a bit familiar.)

(. . . . . . You decide to sit down.)

". . . . . ."

". . . . . . . . . So! You're stuck in a time loop!"

>>>

"Phew, Bonbon! That was DE-LI-CIOUS!!"

(Deja Vu.)

(So, you're in a time loop. Loop was, here, and helping you out. But, that was okay! Great, actually! That means that you could be useful! And that makes it okay, doesn't it? You could get used to this, used to dying. Something about it, it felt familiar, and that felt, comforting? Why should it feel comforting?)

(. . .What were you thinking about again?)

(Anyway! You ate up your food even faster than last time. You felt famished! Even more so than before! But you had to pace yourself at least a little. Right? Don't cause a scene.)

(This'll be fine!)

>>>

(It was right there.)

(It was right BLINDING THERE!!!)

(Right in front of your stupid! Blinding face!! A little hidden switch in the side of a pillar! How!! How could you miss it!!! Stupid, stupid stupid stupid!!!!!)

(You breathe in, and out. Fine, you flip the switch.)

(CRACK!)

(THUD!!!)

(. . . . . There's a pause, a large rock fell a few feet back.)

". . . . Let's go, everyone."

"W-wow! Not even phased! Huh!" (Isa says, falling in step as you lead everyone along. They were scared, worried, you could smell it, it's fine, though, nothing bad can happen now.)

>>>

"Why the need for an armory and weapons in the first place?" (Asks Odile)

(It was a small room, a few spears on a rock, a sword on the wall. The others were talking as you looked around. The smell of sugar only got stronger.)

(You weren't paying too much attention to the conversation, once they were done, you moved on. What else was around the room? There was a big steel thing with a stone on it, and a big brick, thing- O-OH, you take a big step back.)

"You're alright, Sif!" (Isabeau says, reassuringly.) "I don't think anyone will be using this forge aaaaany time soon."

"It's not even hot!! Dummy!!" (Bonnie walks over to the forge and kicks it.) ". . . Ow."

"Be nice, Bonnie." (Odile adds, giving you a look of sympathy.) "You can't exactly controll these things."

"Too true! Let's get going, then!" (Isa finishes, you nod, leaving the room. Fast.)

>>>

"Do you guys, smell that?"

(You had to ask. You had to because it was getting unbearably strong! The SUGAR! The sweetness!! It honestly was driving you a little mad and stepping through the halls only made it worse!! You knew, it was LEADING somewhere!)

"Smell. . . What?"

"I don't smell anything."

"Hmmmm, maybe?"

"Is it the sugar?"

(You turn to Bonnie.) "Sugar?"

"Yeah, sugar!" (They sniff the air.) "It's been around since we got in here. Super sugary."

(Huh.) "Guess I'm not crazy then."

"Hehe, I wouldn't say that!"

(You all laugh, and move on. Right, sugar, that was fine. Just a bit of sweetness. You all walk on, through the hall, to the door at the end. The smell got stronger, why here? Was it a food storage room? Well, you were about to find out anyway. You open the door and walk inside.)

(You gag and stumble to a knee, the smell was WAY. WAY TOO STRONG. Your eye was watering, it was unbearable. You felt Isa kneel down to your side.)

"S-sif! Are you alright?!?" (He asks, worried.)

"S-so strong-" (You choke out.)

"C-careful! There's-" (Mira starts, you look up, there was a weird sadness in the room you didn't even see! You could barely see anything, anyway. It noticed you all, and charged.)

"Gems, Siffrin, get up!" (Odile takes a combatitve stance.)

"R-right-" (You stumble to your feet, gripping your dagger, battle time, just, don't, don't think about the smell, don't, get, distracted--)

-----

(Obligaroey @traumaboyexo <3)

[hurricanes-club-of-angels]

Grian and Skizz both being angels.

I saw posts about Angel Skizz and I was reminded about stuff I thought of before. So watchers right gang? What a weird thing. Did you know there's a group of actual angels in Scripture called that?

So the Books of Enoch, there were a class of Angels called "The Watchers" and they made sure humans behaved, but then they all fell from heaven for various things sleeping with Human women and making giants, teaching humans things they shouldn't know, etc. This was apart of the Jewish faith and Christian faith a while ago, and is still considered "canon" in some branches of the faiths. This is just background. There's a lot more to this, as there often is with religious texts but for the purpose of hermitcraft headcanons, you just need to know that there is religious text talking about a group of angels known as The Watchers.

Let's play with this idea.

That makes Grian, an angel. Which is something I don't think anyone has ever described Grian as before given the problems he likes to cause, but it would make sense. Grian being an angel, in this class of Angels who fell from Heaven for giving information to Humans they weren't supposed to have. It even works with the "He was never meant to be there, he was only ever meant to watch". Watchers weren't meant to interact with humans, just watch over them.

Grian would fit so perfectly into this disgraced Angel, who didn't do all that much wrong, just wanted to share information with others. Technically fallen and disgraced, but never acting as such. Assured in himself and in his friends and family he has found and forged.

Then Skizzleman comes along. Grian sets up 3rd life to have a change of pace from Hermitcraft, and lets his friends invite people. Grian invites old friends of his. and Impulse invites Skizzleman. Grian at first can't figure out what it is about Skizz that feels so damn familiar. Maybe it's the similar humor to Impulse, but that's not quite right. Grian doesn't manage to figure it out fully, but Skizz could tell Grian had questions.

All of Last Life the two keep looking at each other, wondering what it is the other knows, if the other is hiding something. Neither got an answer. So Skizz doesn't do double life. He knew they needed pairs and he would've been an odd number anyways, plus maybe this'll help him figure out what Grian's confused about if he has time to think. Then Limited Life starts and Skizz is being his wholesome self, and giving affirmations to everyone.

and it finally clicks for Grian. Skizz is an angel. Grian had no clue an Angel could just be out and about like that, he was a disgraced Angel, a fallen angel in some ways, but Skizz didn't seem to be a fallen angel. A pure angel. Grian is even more confused with Skizz being friends with Impulse, a demon. After Limited Life, Grian finally confronts Skizz about it, and the two talk in depth.

Finally, someone there who gets it the two talk for hours about Angels. About Grian's class as Watchers, and about how maybe the disgraced group of angels are rising to power as near gods, Skizz talks about how he's able to be an Angel just out and about, and how he met Impulse. They go through Secret Life, knowing about the other and feeling content in that.

Then Impulse brings up adding Skizz to Hermitcraft, and Grian agrees so quickly, because having another Angel on the server would be so much fun.

I just love the idea of Grian and Skizz having had this deep connection of angelicness to them, leading to them being such close and amazing friends it's just. UGH. I love Angels.

[zippidi-dooda]

"We can have breakfast at eight and bed at eight. Normally I tale my showers right before breakfast, so we can push it to nine that way you can wash up too ...."

Rollo drawled on about the schedule he had down in his notepad, jotting down adjustments he thought would be best to accommodate for you.

You sat on the couch, pillow on your lap, watching him with a taught smile on your lips.

He wore a cream colored tunic and pressed trousers, a red and purple sash wrapped around his waist. He had long ago gotten ready for the day, hair fluffy and downy soft. The first round of chores for the house had already been completed before you had a chance to wake up and food was being prepared as you spoke.

You always knew he was an oriented person, but till now, you had never seen to what extent. Already you could tell this "arrangement" was going to be a tad overwhelming.

"Rollo, we really don't need to worry about small details like that."

He looked up at you.

"Well I understand the meal schedule will have to be flexible since you'll be getting cravings at random times. But the rest I think should be easy to stick to."

"It's not that." You put the pillow to the side, going over to lean against the counter. "It's just I don't think a tight schedule will work for me."

"Oh, nonsense. It won't happen the first few days, but you'll get into the flow of it in due time. This'll be good for you, trust me."

"Rollo."

He hummed, turning to tend to the stove.

"We really don't need a schedule."

"'Don't need a ...?'" He faced you, brow furrowed as if you had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Y/N, a schedule is necessary so as to not fall into temptation again. We can avoid more trouble this way."

Slowly, you frowned, placing a hand over your stomach. "Are you saying I caused you trouble?"

"That's not-"

"You know, it wasn't just me who went out to the pier every night. You had a hand in this too."

"Y/N, I-I'm not ... I know how we got here. I just think ... that planning it would have been more ideal."

Your brow curled.

"This came unexpectedly and we can't fix it. But we can, and should, make adjustments so we aren't burned by the fortuitous again. That's the only point I'm trying to make."

You glared at his turned back, chest feeling tight.

"Do you regret doing all of that with me?"

"That is not what I said."

"Well it sure as hell sounds like it." You murmured leaving him in the kitchen, stowing over his words.

"Y/N ...," he called, exasperated.

He looked between you and the meal on the stove, sucking in a breath before deciding to finish the food first.

His eyes were a stormy gray, lingering on the circular tan on his finger that had been left behind after years of having a ring shielding it from the sun's rays.

The same ring had been placed upon your hand not even a week ago and he could still feel the ghost of it on his finger.

He hadn't had quite enough to buy you an actual engagement ring yet, so you wore the ruby jewel even now.

It's absence on him meant the definity of the situation.

You and him had shared those passionate moments under the cover of night. He hadn't wasted those days agonizing over having given in to his desires. You were going to be here now. The two of you were now going to do this the traditional way. He was going to be a father. He was going to be your husband. You were going to be his.

His wife.

Eyes closed, he let out a sigh, and tucked his handkerchief to his lips.

Usually he always led things, arranged, planned, ordered them. And people were expected to, and would, follow his decisions no questions asked.

From the start, you weren't the type to mindlessly go along with him. But it had never caused any major problems for you two.

It was only now he could foresee this being an issue.

And he wasn't entirely sure how he'd be able to handle it.

But in hopes to attain that picturesque life, he conceded that perhaps he could stand to leave some slack between his reins.

Finished cooking, he turned off the stove, grabbed a tray, plated the food nicely, poured some café au lait, and headed towards the room you were staying in.

You were curled up on the bed, back facing the door, ire thick in the air.

His foot tapped the doorframe in a knock, announcing his entry.

He sat at the corner of the bed, mattress dipping under you, and placed the tray on the bedside table.

"You know, breakfast is an essential meal for your day."

"..."

"I hope you don't mind what I prepared. It's what I eat everyday." He took a sip from his cup.

"..."

"Y/N, I ... don't regret how we got here. And I apologize if that's how you heard it. We can discuss routine another time if you'd like."

You looked at him from over your shoulder.

"The officiant says he'll be there at midnight. If you are still agreeable to my proposal by then, I'd be most relieved. But if not, tell me so I can save him the trouble of waiting in the dark."

You fully turned over, head resting between your arms.

"Of course I want to go through with this. It's just you're very ... detailed. You thrive with repetition. I want to align our schedules, really, but I'll go mad if I do the same thing at the same time every single day. And the way you're saying things makes it seem like you wished things were different. It's upsetting."

He stared into his cup for a moment, carefully trying to pick his next words.

"I am greatful for this ... opportunity. You and I pair wonderfully." He looked at you with a smile, "I'm only trying to protect you is all."

You took one of his hands in yours, him angling his face away from you.

"I appreciate it. But I really will be fine Rollo." He hid a frown. "I haven't experienced any big changes yet anyway, we don't need to fuss too soon."

You sat up, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek.

"So, tell me what exactly it is you made here."

***

That night ended up being the best in your entire life.

The marriage had been swift, no room for invites or even tears.

Both of you had dressed up in your nicest clothes, Rollo in a suit freshly steamed and pressed, you in a simple white dressed.

You met up with the officiant down by the same river your journey first began, moon sparkling beautifully against the water's surface.

Very little was spoken beyond the usual vows and pronouncement, but you were in a daze.

Your heart fluttered blithely as Rollo held your hands. His eyes locked onto yours as he stated his vows, voice calm and steady as if he had nary a worry in the world. But his hands were clammy, holding yours tightly, and he was unable to hide the deep rouge coating his face behind the delicate violet fabric he so loved.

And your breath stilled as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours, sealing in your shared promise, bonding you together till the day the other was was no more.

You returned home that day, glowing smile impossible to wipe of your face, pulling him in for kiss after kiss, christening the house under your unity of love, and truly believing that two of you could get through any issue that may be thrown your way for the first time

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[muse-matrix]

So... It's been a while since I last logged in here. Longer still since I properly did... much of anything here, outside of a few scattered posts. Part of me had been kinda dreading coming back here but looking at when my activity really dramatically dropped off, I think I understand what happened.

So, way back in february of last year, I was bouncing between a lot of things. I was running around doing a bunch of stuff to try and secure a new job, and I did manage that- A big component of my not being here was just me adjusting to having to work again, after being unemployed for almost an entire year. It was tough to get the right structure going, but I managed it. And despite starting college just a couple weeks ago, I've mostly managed that too so far, I think.

But that isn't... the main reason why. Probably. I think.

You see, what else happened in february, was that I got booted from a community I'd been a part of for years. It encompassed my involvement in a card game I loved, as well as the FF14 free company I'd been part of at the time. Someone who was, at one time, a good friend of mine misinterpreted something, and was so incensed by it, they took some things I said out of context and absolutely slandered me to the mod team of that community. (Yes, it actually is as bad as it sounds. I checked.) As a result, I was privately labeled some pretty nasty things, and shunted from their discord server without so much as a word. None of them would speak to me, none of them would even give me a chance to tell my side of things.

Obviously, that stung. A lot.

It had me pretty dejected about a lot of stuff, for a really long time. Probably why I mostly got off of here- I retreated to a different blog where there was less pressure (self-imposed) and more freedom for me to just, kinda, do whatever I wanted without fear or worry. I needed space and freedom to move myself around how I wanted for a while. And then that led to me feeling bad about not coming back here, which made me put off coming back here even longer... You see where this goes.

But at this point, it's been a year and a half. I'm pretty much over that fiasco, I haven't spoken to any of those people since, and they've evidently been content to leave it alone too, given I haven't had any mobs of angry pitchfork-wielding card game players coming after me.

And recently, Kako came back! She's RPing again and that's fun to see. I know a lot of you I've still been in contact with regardless, her included, so most of you probably are already aware of a lot of this stuff, but writing all this out is part of my process, so bear with it. The important thing is, after a lot of time and thinking about things, and seeing friends return to RPing and watching things happen from afar... God, do I want to get back into it with you all.

I very likely still won't be super active, but I'm going to at least try to be consistent. This is supposed to be my main, after all. I'll probably take the next week or so to clean up the muse list, cut a bunch of stuff, get a bit more focused and the like. Not that I'll actually stop playing any given muse- I'm wont to flip-flop between characters I enjoy, and I'm loathe to let fun interactions pass me by just because a character 'isn't on my muse list', but I ought to give myself a bit of structure, at least.

So... I'll try to be here every day, at least. Even if it's just to check in. This'll be a fresh start for me, I'd say, not that any of my old lore or whatever is getting abandoned. It's just... It's been a long time. It'll take some easing back into things for me, so I'm not even going to worry about whatever asks have been left to rot in my inbox, stuff like that.

Given it's been such a long time, some of you may... have blogs that I'm not currently following, cause I've missed them or what have you. So uh, if that's the case, please shoot me a message so I can correct that.

[wheels-of-despair]

The First Lazy Thanksgiving Pairing: Eddie Munson x You Summary: Eddie comes to stay with Evil Woman during Thanksgiving Break '85 for a lazy and turkey-filled few days... but do holiday plans ever actually turn out the way they're supposed to? Contains: Lazy plans gone awry, unscheduled visits from unwanted family, food prep, stolen moments, fast-forwarding through stressful things because it's my story and I can, cunty relatives, smokin' the reefer, a proposal, leftovers, lots of time spent with Team Evil Woman. (If you're not into the family fics, I won't hold it against you.) Words: 7.8k

Note: This one goes out to everyone who'd rather be spending today with Eddie.

"What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?"

Eddie looks over at you without missing a note in the song he's practicing in his chair. You're lying on your side on his bed, one hand propping up your head and the other still on the book you've abandoned in favor of watching him play Other Sweetheart.

He shrugs and looks back down at his flying fingers. "All tastes the same to me."

"What." It doesn't come out as a question, because it is an outrage. You know that Wayne works so much overtime during the holidays, he doesn't even bother coming home, and that the Munsons aren't big on family meals… but has no one ever invited him over for Thanksgiving dinner? Even for a round of leftovers? Or sent him a plate?!

"We usually grab a few Thanksgiving-y TV dinners for when he gets off work." Eddie holds his guitar upright and plays a more complicated tune to downplay his explanation.

You feel guilty for leaving him alone last year. You'd only been with him for a few months, but you'd gone back to the place you'd just escaped from to spend another stuffy Thanksgiving with your family. That's what he did while you were away? Ate a tasteless TV dinner?

"No, wait," he says quickly, "Jeff's mom made him bring me a plate last year. Stuffing was the best."

You try to mask the pity on your face, but he notices. His eyes turn to steel.

"I'm not a charity case. The Munsons don't need to celebrate meaningless shit whenever The Man tells them to." This sounds a little rehearsed. He holds your gaze, but his face soon softens. "Don't go gettin' all mushy on me, woman."

"How dare you. This cold black heart does not get mushy," you insist. He raises an eyebrow. He knows better. "Unless there are pictures of really cute baby animals," you continue. "But you tell anybody that, and this'll be your last Thanksgiving, Munson." You point a finger at him in warning.

He snorts and looks back to his guitar, starting a new song.

"I was merely doing as my mother instructed," you explain, rolling onto your back and looking up at his ceiling. "Because you're coming to Lazy Thanksgiving, and she wanted to make sure we had plenty of your favorite." You pause, waiting for his curiosity to get the better of him. He stops playing. You've got him.

"…what's Lazy Thanksgiving?"

You smirk. "It's is our first Thanksgiving without all of my annoying-ass relatives, so we're doing it OUR way, all week long. Which means food we actually like, people we actually like, and pajamas all damn day. Just like we've always dreamed of. So pack your best sweats, Munson, 'cause you're staying with us 'til Wayne's off doubles."

You glance over to check for a response.

"Is that an invitation or an order?" He's fighting a smile. He's coming.

"That's up to you, babe." You bat your eyelashes at him.

He rolls his eyes, sets his guitar aside, and crosses the room to crawl on top of you. His chin rests in the valley between your breasts, and you reach up to brush his hair out of his face.

"You really want me?"

"Like right now, or over Thanksgiving break?" you tease. Before his lips can even form a pout, you continue, "'Cause the answer to both is a definite yes."

There was only half a day of school on Tuesday, but it felt like longer than usual. You wanted to be OUT of there.

The groceries were bought, the turkey was thawing, your family was hours away, and Eddie was coming to stay for several days. It really was the Thanksgiving you'd always dreamed of. There would be no awkward catch-ups, no uncomfortable clothes, no arguments or hostility, and no weird dishes with undesirable or un-pronounceable ingredients. You couldn't wait.

You and Eddie were out of your seats and on the way to your shared locker before the final bell of the day finished ringing. You shoved all the crap you wouldn't need into the metal prison - rescuing Eddie's discarded history notebook with the intention of making him study, which earned you a whine - and slammed the door shut.

He hooked his arm around your neck and marched you through the hall and out the doors, where you took your first breath of free air.

No school for a week. Just what the doctor ordered.

You climbed into the van's passenger seat and waited for the rest of the boys to show up. On today's menu was band practice - in lieu of their usual Hideout gig, which had been called on account of the owner not wanting to scare off the home-for-the-holidays crowd with teenage metal - then breaking for family stuff 'til a special Hellfire session on Saturday. Other than that, everybody was on their own.

The boys chattered about their plans for the week until the van jerked to a stop in your driveway, and everyone piled out and headed into the garage. You went into the kitchen, to see what kind of snacks you could dig out. Nevermind that they'd just eaten lunch half an hour ago; you cannot practice metal without fuel. It's against the law. (According to Gareth, anyway, who would make a terrible lawyer.)

The look on your mother's face stopped you in your tracks.

She was holding the phone in a white-knuckle grip. Eyes narrowed. You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

What have you done? You quickly scan a week's worth of Hawkins High shenanigans, but can't think of any mischief that would warrant a call home for you. Your brother, either. What the fuck?

She gestures for you to close the door, and you do… definitely not thinking about stepping on the other side of it before you do so.

"Alright. See you soon," she says through gritted teeth. She stands to hang up the phone on the kitchen wall, then knocks her head against it. You're still frozen to the spot.

Finally, she removes her head from the wall and turns to you. "Get your brother in here."

You reach for the door handle, point to Gareth, and crook your finger in a 'come here' motion. He comes in, stands next to you, and waits.

"Your grandparents have decided to grace us with their presence."

You both groan.

"They'll be here by dinnertime."

"Tonight?!" you both shriek.

"It's only for a day. They want to be back home in time for the real family Thanksgiving."

"So we're upending everything we've planned to accommodate them?" You can feel the rage swirling inside you.

She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I've gotta make a new grocery list, if there's even anything left at the store, find the recipe for that stupid pie, make something for dinner tonight, get that turkey thawed a day early, clean, drive my car into the quarry…"

"We can handle dinner and cleaning," you say at the same time Gareth asks, "Why do you need a new grocery list?"

"Can you imagine your grandmother's face if she found out I served her a dinner roll I didn't make from scratch?"

"She'll live." You roll your eyes.

"And she doesn't, that's one less thing we have to wor…" Gareth clears his throat, and you try not to smirk.

"Go practice, it's the last fun you'll have 'til they're gone."

He turns on his heel at her suggestion and disappears into the garage.

"Where do you want me, Coach?"

"Help me with this damn grocery list."

You made a list of all the foods you thought you were leaving behind, flipped through recipe cards until you found the things your grandparents expected, and checked the cabinets to see what you already had. So long, Lazy Thanksgiving. You were a nice thought.

When the page-long list was complete, your mother set off to the grocery store. Again.

You hid all the food your grandparents would disapprove of, then dug through the freezer and found pizza rolls for the boys and a forgotten lasagna for dinner. You popped the pizza rolls in the oven and tidied the kitchen to the sounds of Corroded Coffin. Possibly the last decent music you'd hear for the next 24 hours. Your grandparents would probably call for an exorcist if they saw your tape collection.

Your head was buried in a bottom cabinet when the oven timer dinged, catching you by surprise and making you bump your head. You back out on your hands and knees and grumble, rubbing your sore spot, when you feel a burst of hot air.

"Watch it, hot stuff." Eddie grins, pulling the pan of pizza rolls from the oven with a potholder shaped like a turkey.

You stand and lean against the counter, exhausted already.

"Told the jackals they couldn't eat 'til they cleaned the garage," he grins proudly.

"Thank you." You hadn't even thought about having to clean the garage.

"You want me to stick around, or just get lost 'til the coast is clear?"

"What?" You look up in confusion.

"I mean…" he gestures to his clothes and flips the end of his hair. He's a little sweaty and his hair's a little tangled, but you don't know what he's getting at… oh.

"You think we're uninviting you?"

"I'm not exactly grandparent material." He forces out an awkward chuckle that makes your heart sink. You step forward and wrap your arms around his middle, pulling him close.

"You're not going anywhere unless you take me with you." You nuzzle your face into his chest, and he gives you a squeeze. "And I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to go anywhere unless I take Mom with me. Wait." You pull back, wide-eyed, and ask, "Can we all just hide out at your place until the old people give up and go away?"

"I wish," your mother grumbles, back from her grocery run. She drops a load of bags on the table, and the boys follow with more.

"Okay," she says, scanning the room. "Kitchen looks good. Garage looks good. Did you find something for dinner?"

"A frozen lasagna from your meal prep era."

"Okay. We have three hours to clean. Then I need you in a dress."

You groan, and Gareth snickers.

"And YOU," she turns to him, "in khakis." That wipes the grin off his face.

"Eddie?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"You are absolutely still invited. But if you want to run and hide, we will not think less of you." He smiles. "Do you own a pair of pants without holes in them?" He nods. "Okay." And then she starts putting groceries away, and that was that.

You catch Eddie's eye, then nod to the pan of now-edible pizza rolls. He picks it up and leads the boys back outside, where they descend on it like locusts, while you tackle the mountain of groceries.

When Eddie returns with the empty pan, he addresses your mother.

"I'm gonna go drop Jeff and Grant off. Are you sure you…" he trails off nervously, hovering near the door.

"Honey." Your mom places her hands on the table, leans forward, and stares into his soul. "I want you here more than I want them here."

He chuckles. " I'll go home and grab some clothes. Do you need me to pick up anything else?"

"Nope, I think we've got everything," she answers. "But I appreciate the offer."

He nods, gives you wink, and leaves to take the nerds home.

Your family whirls through the house like cyclones, dusting and scrubbing and straightening everything in view. Eddie joins in when he returns, which makes things move even faster.

The house is deemed acceptable with an hour to spare. You pop the lasagna into the oven, take rushed showers, and change into clothing acceptable to grandparents.

"Woah," Eddie says when he steps back into your room with dripping hair and a towel around his waist, seeing you in your modest (hideous) dress.

"Shut up."

"You never wear pretty things like that for me," he teases.

"Keep it up, Munson, and you're gonna be feasting on one of these stupid fucking shoulder pads."

He cackles and throws his towel at you. You catch it, and get a delightful idea when he turns around to get dressed.

You wind up the damp towel, and when he bends over to pull his boxers on… SNAP.

He yelps, jumps a foot in the air, and grabs his ass with both hands.

"YOU'RE THE DEVIL!"

You howl with laughter. Was it mean? Yes. Was it funny? Yes. Did he deserve it? Also yes.

"Look what you did to me!" he shrieks, rubbing at a red welt rising on his pale ass.

Your jaw drops.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you THAT bad." All traces of amusement are gone as you go to him and trace the mark.

"Guess you could always kiss it and make it better," he pouts, sticking his lip out and activating the dreaded Puppy Eyes.

You fall to your knees and plant a trail of light kisses around the raised mark on Eddie Munson's ass. When you look up, he's staring at you with wide eyes, like he hadn't really expected you to do it.

"What? Never had a girl kiss your ass before?"

You both dissolve into a fit of giggles until a knock interrupts.

"Are you decent?"

"Never," you answer together, grinning at each other.

You can hear your mother sigh through the door. You stand, and Eddie hastily continues getting dressed.

"Eddie, I need you to sleep in Gareth's room tonight. He's setting up his sleeping bag for you."

"Okay," he agrees.

"Best behavior."

"Yes, ma'am," Eddie says.

"I wasn't talking to you."

Eddie snorts.

"Yes, Mother," you call, giving him a shove. He loses his balance and falls onto your bed with a grin.

"Alright." She raps her knuckles against the door once more and walks away.

Eddie's lying back on your bed, feet on the floor and hands laced behind his head. He's in a plain white t-shirt and dark, unbuttoned jeans that reveal his plaid boxers… and just a liiittle bit of his happy trail. He smirks when he sees you looking.

"Quit dripping on my bed." You pick up his discarded towel and throw it at him, letting it hit him in the face. He sits up, unbothered, to rub his wet hair with it. At least he didn't shake it out like a dog. (Although you have seen him do that before.)

You give your room a once-over, straightening a few books and smoothing out the blankets on your bed. Eddie stuffs his things into a duffel bag and drops it on the floor of your brother's room, where he'll be sleeping tonight.

The plan had actually been for the three of you to camp out in the living room and watch movies all night, but that would have to wait. Your grandmother would probably pitch a fit about Eddie being allowed to sleep under the same roof as you. You'd love to see her face if she found out you'd slept in the same bed before.

You hear the oven timer ding again; dinner is ready. They'll be here soon. You get up to go set the table, but decide you want just one more minute alone with Eddie before the invasion. You go in for a hug and stand still in the middle of your bedroom, just enjoying the quiet.

"Should I button this?" he mumbles when you pull away, looking down at his flannel shirt and then back at you.

"Up to you. You'll look nice either way."

He bites his lip and pulls his shirt together, fingers fumbling. He gets three buttons done before realizing it's crooked. His face starts to turn red from frustration.

You put your hands on his, then move them to his sides. You calmly unbutton, and then re-button his shirt, straightening out his collar when you finish for good measure.

"Should I tuck it in?"

"Edward." You take his face in your hands. "You look perfect. Stop worrying. It's gonna be fine." You kiss the tip of his nose.

"What if they hate me?" he asks, his big brown eyes boring into your soul.

"Babe…" you begin gently, brushing his hair out of his face. "They will. But that's okay. Because I think they kinda hate me too. Smile, nod, don't mention anything fun or cool, and you'll survive. And next time I get you to myself, I will make this worth your while."

"Really?" he grins.

"Really." You lean in for a kiss… which is interrupted by the sound of a car horn honking twice. You groan. Gareth walks by your door, in his khakis and button-down, and announces: "They're heeere."

You peel yourselves apart. You straighten your stupid dress in the mirror, and Eddie rakes his fingers through his hair.

"Promise you won't stop loving me after you endure this torture?" you ask, reaching for his hand.

"Could it be any worse than the time you made me watch Grease?"

"Are you still pretending you didn't love that movie?"

"I absolutely did not," he lies.

"C'mon, stud, let's get this over with."

The reunion with your grandparents went about as expected. Thankfully, your mother took the brunt of their displeasure.

"Is this a store-bought lasagna?" "No, Mother, I made it from scratch."

"Are you seeing anyone?" "No, Dad." "That's the price of being a working girl, I suppose. Women these days think they can have it all!"

"When's the last time you had this carpet professionally cleaned?" "Last month, Mother."

And then, when your mom was properly worn down, they turned their focus to you.

"What grade are you in now, dear?" "12th." "Oh, you'll graduate this year! Where are you going to college?" "I don't know." "You really should be focusing on that. Can't have any… distractions."

And Gareth.

"I heard you're playing the drums now!" "…yeah." "Are you in a band?" "…yeah." "Well, what kind? Jazz? Symphony?" "…marching?" "That's exciting! And good exercise!"

And Eddie.

"What do your parents do, Edward?" "They're… gone." "What do you mean gone?" "Eddie lives with his uncle," your mother supplied. "He works at the power plant. He's the reason we're not eating in the dark." Your grandmother pursed her lips, but your grandfather nodded his head in approval.

Finally, after the longest dinner in the history of the world, your grandparents decided to turn in.

They retreated to the basement, where the pull-out couch had been made for them - and was probably re-made before they got into it - and you had the upstairs to yourselves again.

Which is when the real work began for everyone else.

Leftovers were put away, dishes were washed, potatoes and carrots were peeled, ingredients were measured, and everything that could be prepped for Wednesday's pre-Thanksgiving meal was prepped. You finished around midnight. Your mother would get up in a few hours to put the turkey in the oven, but the rest of you were off the hook until breakfast.

You kissed Eddie goodnight and went to bed alone.

At nearly five in the morning, the door creaked open and someone entered your bedroom. You cracked an eye open, hoping it was Eddie coming to crawl under the covers with you and steal a snuggle before everyone else woke up. But it was your grandmother, checking to make sure you were alone in your bed. Bitch.

She crept back out, and you glared at the door for half an hour before finally going back to sleep.

The next time you woke, it was because two bodies dropped on either side of you. You kept your eyes closed.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." That one's Eddie.

"Please. Have you ever tried waking her up? She's more like the dragon." Shut up, Gareth.

"Right. Good thing we've got pinned under the covers. She'd probably claw us to shreds."

"Dragon breath is probably the bigger concern right now." You can hear the smirk in Gareth's voice.

"Fuck you both," you grumble. They laugh. "What time is it?"

Eddie looks at his watch. "Almost eight."

"How long you think we can stall before they come get us and drag us into the kitchen for another thrilling conversation over breakfast?"

The three of you sigh, just before your mother peeks her head in.

"Why are you in here? Whatever, I don't care. Get dressed and come eat before she starts in on the 'young people sleeping all day' crap again." She closes the door without waiting for a response.

"Alright, you heard the lady, be gone." You try to stretch, but you don't have much room to move, being pinned beneath your own blankets and all. You lay there, defenseless, until Eddie kisses your cheek and rolls off the bed. Gareth follows.

You grumble your way into another dress you hate, fix your face, and wait in the hallway for them. No way you're going in there alone.

The three of you appear in the kitchen doorway together.

"There they are! I thought they were going to sleep all day!" It's 7:58 on a day when there's no school, you old bat.

"When I was your age, I was awake at 4:30 every morning!" Good for you, gramps.

"Why don't you grab plates and eat in the living room?" Finally, someone speaking sense. Thanks, Mom.

The three of you grab plates and start filling them with sausage, eggs, and silver dollar pancakes.

You look down at the silverware drawer while you retrieve a trio of forks, and when you look up again, your grandmother is staring at you. And then at your plate.

"Remember, dearie: A moment on the lips, forever on the hips!"

Your face flushes. Your blood boils.

"Perhaps you'd like a piece of fruit instead?"

As soon as you're able to move again, you're going to stab her.

"Mother, does this say teaspoon or tablespoon?" your mom asks, holding out a hand-written recipe on an index card. "Go," she mouths when your grandmother turns her attention to the card.

You hurry into the living room and sit on the couch with the boys, staring down at the plate in front of you, still shaking with rage.

Eddie takes the forks and rests his chin on your shoulder. Did he hear it? Oh god, you're going to burst into flames right here.

"Hate to tell you this, but uh…" his voice drops to a whisper. "Your grandma's a real bitch."

You snort. He kisses your cheek and straightens.

"I'll drink to that," Gareth raises his orange juice and takes a swig. He puts his glass down and digs into his breakfast, but you hesitate.

"Stop."

You glance at Eddie. He stabs a piece of his scrambled egg and lifts his fork to your mouth. "You're fucking perfect. And you need fuel to survive today. C'mon. Eat up. Can't have you snapping any little old ladies in half 'cause you're hungry."

You laugh and lean forward to take his offering, then dig into your own plate. Just a few more hours. You can do this.

You let your empty plates sit on the coffee table as you stall, not wanting to go back into the kitchen and remind your grandparents that you're here. You rest your head on Eddie's shoulder, wishing your Lazy Thanksgiving hadn't been derailed.

"What are you just sitting around for when there's work to be done?" Your head snaps up off of Eddie's shoulder when your grandfather enters the room. Busted. The three of you begrudgingly pick up your plates while he settles into an armchair.

"Boys! Tell me about the local team!" he booms.

Oh. Cool. It's just you who needs to be working. You collect the plates without a word and leave the room with mouthed "I'm sorry" to Eddie. He and Gareth look at each other in panic; like they know anything about ANY local team.

"There you are! Did you think this cranberry sauce was going to make itself?"

You think the only person invited to this dinner who actually likes cranberry sauce bought a can of it that's been pushed to the back of the cabinet, but you don't say a word as you drop your breakfast dishes in the sink and fetch the bag of cranberries.

"How long have you been seeing that boy?"

The way she says "that boy" makes you bristle.

"It was a year in September."

"Oh, he didn't waste any time, did he?" You rip open the bag with a little more force than necessary, sending a few berries flying. She tuts from her place at the table, mixing something you wouldn't be eating, as you pick them up.

You take the bag of cranberries to the sink and dump them into a bowl.

"You should be using a strainer for that," she says, after you've already stuck the bowl beneath the faucet. You clench your jaw and start digging for the fucking strainer.

"Do you really think he's the kind of boy you want to be spending so much time with? I'd be ashamed to be seen with him in public. You know, dear," she turns her attention to your mother. "Gareth's getting a little shaggy too. Aren't there any barbers in town?"

This is it. Your last Thanksgiving. You're going to spend the next one in jail. You turn slowly, but before you can face her…

"Don't you have to be at church soon?" You whip your head toward your mother in confusion. Church? You? Has her own mother officially driven her insane?

Her eyes widen and say "get with the program, dummy."

"Oh! Right!" You say cluelessly.

"The kids volunteered to help with the church's Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless," your mother explains to both your grandmother and you. "The youth group is supposed to be at church in a little bit to start cleaning and setting up tables for tomorrow."

"I can't believe I almost forgot," you say, putting the cranberries aside and drying your hands on a towel. "I better go get the boys."

"Yes, you better," your mother nods knowingly. Whatever you were planning to get her for Christmas is no longer enough.

You dart past your grandmother's narrowed eyes and enter the living room. Your grandfather is droning on about defense, and the boys' eyes have glazed over.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," no you're not, "but we better get going soon, if we're going to get to church on time."

Both boys raise an eyebrow, and you mimic your mother's "get with the program" look.

"Church? Today? While your grandparents are in town?"

He doesn't bother to turn, so you're able to smirk at the back of his head as you remind him, "Well, Grandpa, we didn't know you were coming until the last minute, or else we would've made time for you."

He grunts, not daring to argue further about commitments to a church, and you all disappear to "get ready." AKA reconvene in your bedroom to explain how your heroic mother is allowing you to escape, grab your jackets, and flee.

Two minutes later, Eddie's van leaves your driveway, and you all heave a sigh of relief.

"Where to?" Eddie asks.

"Literally anywhere but here," you answer.

"Think anything's open?"

You run through a list of options in your head before your brother chimes in, "I'm not going out in public dressed like this."

Right. Grandparent Clothes.

"My place?"

Eddie's place.

It's chilly when you walk in. "Sorry," Eddie mumbles, turning the heat on. "Set the heat back before I left."

"It's fine," you smile, pulling him close. "Body heat is better anyway."

"Why's it so cold if I'm in Hell?" Gareth grumbles.

"Would you like to go back home and talk sports with gramps?" Silence. "That's what I thought."

Eddie grabs a stack of blankets, and you all pile onto the couch and cover up. The next several hours are spent watching re-runs of game shows and shouting at contestants on the tiny TV.

This is the kind of Thanksgiving break you'd planned on.

When it begins to approach the two o'clock dinner-time your mom had shouted at your backs as you fled, you turn off the TV and fold the blankets and Eddie turns the heat back down.

Your spirits begin to dampen again as you pull back into your driveway.

"Two hours, tops," you remind them. "They'll be outta here before we know it. Then we can get back to Lazy Thanksgiving."

"Just like the pilgrims intended," Eddie jokes. You grin.

You drag yourselves back into the house. Your grandfather looks like he's spent most of the morning napping, your grandmother looks smug, and your mother looks like she's about to snap.

Your very early Thanksgiving dinner went by without major incident. Forced conversation, food you didn't really like, and your grandma complaining that she could've made it better. Things to be expected.

The food was the same kind of food you'd always had on Thanksgiving, and exactly what you were hoping to avoid this year. The dressing with mysterious chunks in it. Greasy gravy. The controversial casserole that once caused a screaming match between your parents. The pie that two competing aunts once brought on the same year, which made them stop speaking to each other until Easter. The made-from-scratch rolls that your cousins used to mash into little balls and throw at you when the grown-ups weren't looking. The fancy dishes that only came out on special occasions; God help the fool who scraped a metal utensil across it. Police interrogations were less brutal than the year your aunt noticed a crack in her best gravy boat.

And then, the happiest part of the day: their departure. You gave them awkward hugs, wished them a safe trip, and watched them pull out of the driveway. All four people standing in the garage held their breaths until the car was out of sight, and let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank GOD!" your mother exclaims. You and Gareth scrub the greasy lipstick marks off your cheeks. Eddie reaches into his pocket and pulls out his pack of cigarettes.

"Gimme one," your mom insists. You haven't seen her smoke since the divorce. But seconds later, she's blowing a puff of smoke and looking more relaxed than she has in the last 24 hours.

You stand in the garage in silence, enjoying being back to a foursome, and thinking about all the leftovers you didn't want.

"Eddie?" your mother asks, slowly blowing out her smoke and gazing into the distance.

"Yeah?" he answers, stubbing out the cigarette he'd burned through at twice her speed.

"If I were to leave a crisp $20 bill on the kitchen table and go take a nap, is there any chance it could turn into something greener by the time I wake up?"

He looks at you. You look at him. All of your eyes eventually land on her.

She glances toward you and scoffs. "Children, please. I went to college in the '60s. Can you make it happen or not?"

"Uh…" he chuckles awkwardly, "Yeah?"

"Good."

"You uh… you want anything specific?"

"I would like to be calm and happy for the rest of the week."

"Okay."

Your eyes dart between them during the strangest conversation you've ever witnessed.

"Okay," she repeats, flicking her cigarette like an expert and walking into the house.

After a moment of silence, you have to ask: "What the fuck just happened?"

"Our mother just bought weed from your boyfriend."

The three of you laugh in disbelief. This is officially the weirdest Thanksgiving ever.

"I gotta cruise by Rick's real quick, wanna ride?"

"Sure… you think he'd want a plate?"

Eddie gives you a strange look.

"We've got plenty of leftovers. And we're making the good shit tomorrow, so there'll be even more. Wayne's getting a heap too."

"Kay."

You're piling food onto a styrofoam plate - well, two, for reinforcement - when the phone rings. Gareth answers, rolls his eyes, and mouths "Dad."

You cover Rick's plate with aluminum foil and hand it to Eddie. "Go on, tell Rick I said hi and Happy Thanksgiving. When you get back, all of the annoying relative shit should be over."

You send him away with a peck and pick up the phone in the hallway to join the conversation with yet another relative you didn't want to talk to. How thoughtful of him, to call the day before Thanksgiving so he could spend the real holiday with his new family.

You were sitting at the kitchen table, looking through Black Friday ads from the newspaper when Eddie returned. He quietly closes the door and plops into the seat across from you.

"Rick's in love with you now."

"Oh yeah?" you grin.

In a pretty decent imitation of his reefer-loving friend, Eddie drawls, "Thanksgiving food on a Wednesday? It's like Christmas came early, man… except it's Thanksgiving. Are those real mashed potatoes? And pie too?! You tell your girl and her mama that I really appreciate this."

You try to muffle your laughter as he plops the requested bag of green on the table, exactly where the $20 had been an hour before.

"Think I should roll those for her?"

You shrug. "I just found out she smokes like an hour ago, don't ask me about her drug preferences."

He contemplates for a second, then pulls the bag toward him and reaches into his pocket for rolling papers.

"You wanna hit the mall Friday morning?" you ask, flipping the brightly colored pages. "Ought to be some decent sales."

"Mhm," he hums, tongue poking out of his mouth, trying not to break his concentration.

"Are you trying to impress my mother with your joint-rolling abilities?"

"Maybe," he grins, finishing another.

Gareth wanders in the kitchen and sits at the table hesitantly, watching Eddie work. He's smoked with you a few times - better to keep an eye on him that let him go off with people you don't trust, you figure - but he's never rolled on his own before.

"You wanna try one?" Eddie asks. Gareth looks to you nervously. He's still not entirely convinced the DEA isn't going to bust down the door every time he touches the stuff. You crook half a smile, and he gets up to sit next to Eddie.

He's more patient here than he is at school. No jocks to unsettle. No reputation to maintain. No need to rule with an iron fist. He wasn't Eddie the Freak or Eddie the DM or Eddie the third-time senior here. His guard was down, and he was just Eddie. You love all the Eddies, but this one's your favorite.

You watch him teach proper rolling techniques out of the corner of your eye while you pretend to browse ads. They'd finished almost half the bag when you hear your mother coming. Eddie slides the rolled joints into the bag and puts it back where he was supposed to.

Gareth grabs the ad on top of the stack of papers and opens it to a random page, blushing crimson when he's greeted by Sears lingerie models. Flip, flip, flip. He becomes very interested in power tools, and you and Eddie try not to make eye contact, because you know you'll laugh.

Your mother enters the kitchen with a yawn and a stretch and spots her loot.

"Well, what do you know, looks like the Cannabis Fairy paid me a visit."

You snort. Eddie tries to hide a smile.

She looks down at the bag, and then at him.

"What, you think an old lady can't roll her own joints?"

"Just trying to save you some time." He smiles and bats his eyelashes. Moron.

"Riiiight," she says, pulling on her coat and picking up the bag. She steps into the garage… and leaves the door open. You look from it to Eddie, until she pokes her head back in. "Are you coming, or are you still pretending to be good kids?"

The three of you exchange glances, rooted in place until finally you shrug and get up. The boys follow. You grab jackets and step down into the garage.

She's sitting in a lawn chair, arms crossed like she's waiting to bust you for breaking curfew… with a lit joint in her hand.

"Et tu, Gareth?" she sighs when he steps down and closes the door.

"Uh… peer pressure?"

Everyone laughs.

You and Eddie drag the battered loveseat that the previous owners abandoned closer, and drop into it. Gareth unfolds another lawn chair and sits uneasily.

And that was how you found yourself passing around illegal substances in your garage, on the eve of Thanksgiving, with your boyfriend, little brother… and your mother.

You melt into Eddie once you begin to feel the effects. You lean your head on his shoulder and wish you'd thought to bring blankets out. His hand rests on your leg, radiating warmth into your skin, and you wish you were small enough so that you could fit your whole body in his hand. He could just carry you around and keep you in his pocket and let you attack people who irritated him. They'd never know what bit them. (You. You'd be what bit them.)

"Alright, what'd we miss?" Gareth asks.

"Let's see…" your mother ponders. "I'm a terrible mother who's raising disrespectful delinquents. My marriage failed because I emasculated my perfect bread-winning husband by insisting on working outside the home. He is blameless. The new church I selected must not be much of a church, to let in such shaggy youths. My son will become a devil-worshipping drug addict. My daughter will become impregnated before she graduates because I let that boy sleep in my house. Good news though: If you get knocked up, they probably won't come down for graduation, because they'll die of shame. Oh, and my turkey was dry."

You take a moment to process all this. Where do you even start?

"Dude…" Gareth begins. "Grandma's a cunt."

After a moment of stunned silence, your mother starts to laugh. And then you all join in. Minutes later, tears are streaming down your face, and you still can't stop laughing. You're clinging to Eddie, shaking together, finally feeling warm and happy and comfortable after a day of hell.

"Oh, man," your mom finally gets out, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What do you say we go finish up their leftovers so we can start over tomorrow?"

"That is the best idea in the history of Earth," Gareth says with genuine awe. Which sets you and Eddie off again. Your mom and Gareth go inside, and you and Eddie eventually pull yourselves together and off the loveseat.

Your mom has decided not to bother with individual plates; she's thrown all the grandparent-specific leftovers onto a glass pan and stuck it in the oven to reheat. You gather around the table and wait. When it comes out, you each grab a fork and go to town.

That's one way to get rid of leftovers you don't want.

"I'm going to bed," your mother finally says, getting up with a stretch. "I cooked all day today. Tomorrow's your problem. Wake me up when dinner's ready."

"Kay," you mumble through the last mouthful of the casserole you weren't generally fond of, but tonight found pretty good.

You left the dish in the sink and retreated to the living room to finish off the night with a movie.

"Ugh," Eddie groans, leaning back into the couch and sticking out his belly. "Why did you make me eat so much?"

"Yeah, that was definitely my doing," you laugh, pulling a blanket across your lap. Gareth puts in a tape and settles into his favorite spot on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket cocoon.

"I can't even breathe," Eddie whines.

You roll your eyes, reach over, and pop the button on his jeans. He falls silent as the previews begin, but you can feel him staring at you.

"What?" you finally ask, turning your head when you can't stand it anymore.

"Will you marry me?"

"What?"

"That was like the hottest thing anyone's ever done to me."

A laugh escapes you. "You are such a dweeb."

"But you love me," he grins.

"…yeah, I guess," you sigh, pretending to be defeated.

His jaw drops in mock offense.

"You two are gonna make me puke up all that old person food if you keep on," Gareth chimes in from across the room.

You laugh and snuggle into Eddie's side, pulling the blanket over both of you.

"Love you," you whisper.

"Lots?"

"Lots and lots," you confirm, nuzzling your cheek into his shoulder.

You woke when the screen turned to static, shook the boys awake, and dragged your corpses to bed.

"Best Thanksgiving ever," Eddie mumbled when you crawled under the covers beside him.

"Babe?"

"Hm?"

"That was Grandparent Thanksgiving. Tomorrow is Lazy Thanksgiving. It ain't over 'til the last piece of turkey's gone."

He chuckles. "So what exactly are we doing tomorrow?"

"We'll make the food, since Mom did everything yesterday. Turkey's done, so we just need sides. It'll be easy, pretty much everything has instructions on the box. There's rolls and a pie hiding in a cooler in the garage. So we'll make food, eat food, lay in front of the TV and watch old Thanksgiving specials I recorded and whine about how much food we ate… until it's time to eat more food."

"I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday."

"Mine too, now." You smile a sleepy smile, not wanting to say goodnight and go to sleep just yet. "Still wanna hit Starcourt Friday morning? Lots of stuff on sale. If we strike out, we can always go back to your place… if you don't mind being alone with me for a little while… I'm sure we could find something to do…"

"You know, Black Friday's sounding pretty good too."

You chuckle and lean in for a kiss.

"I'm so happy you're here with me," you breathe.

"I'm happy you wanted me here," he says, giving you another kiss.

"Sorry about the grandparents," you wince.

"It's alright… we'll have it at our place next year." Your heart soars at the thought of getting to be like this with him every night. "And we won't tell them where we live."

You laugh and snuggle closer. "Sounds good to me, Eds."

He sighs happily and kisses your forehead, and you both drift to sleep in a comfortable silence.

You woke up so warm and comfortable, you almost didn't want to get out of bed, even though it's nearly eleven.

But today is Lazy Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving you've always dreamed of. No unwanted guests. No hard labor. No stuffy clothes. You turn over to look at the clock, and Eddie pounces.

"Where you think you're goin'?" he mumbles into the back of your neck, holding you in place with an arm around your waist.

"Food," you yawn.

"This is all I wanna eat." He nibbles at the back of your neck, and you shrink away from him with a laugh.

"Not on the menu today, I'm afraid."

"Hmph." He lets you go and flops onto his back. You turn to look at him. Arms crossed. Pouty. Hair a mess. Perfect.

You slide closer and sling a leg over his. You put your arm across his middle and rest your head in the crook of his neck. He doesn't budge.

"Tomorrow, however…" you whisper with a soft kiss to his neck. He finally uncrosses his arms to run a hand up your thigh.

"Tell me more."

"Hmmm…" you hum, nuzzling into him. You can feel him melt. "Nope." You nip at his neck and haul yourself out of bed. He growls, but you're already out of the room before he makes a move.

Your mom is drinking coffee and watching the parade in the living room. "You sure you've got this?" she asks.

"We got this," you confirm. "We'll wake you up when it's ready."

"Like anyone could sleep through this thrilling display!" she says with mock-offense, gesturing to a high school marching band. You smile and return to the kitchen, hoping she enjoys her first uninterrupted parade in years.

Both boys wander into the kitchen a few minutes later, while you're pulling things from the cabinets and moving them to the table.

"Eddie, you're on stuffing. Gareth, you've got mashed potatoes."

"And what about you, Your Highness?" Gareth grumbles.

"Everything else, Prince Ass."

Eddie snorts and picks up one of the four boxes of Stove Top to read the instructions. He looks at you apprehensively.

"I have faith in you." He smirks and reads the box again.

"How many potatoes?" Gareth asks, skimming the instructions. Potato flakes from a flimsy cardboard box. If that didn't finish your grandmother off, the packets of gravy mix would.

"A buttload."

"That's not on the box."

"Then whatever the biggest batch is."

"Kay," he shrugs, reaching for the measuring cup you've left in the middle of the table.

The three of you work together in a shockingly harmonious manner. Pots on the stove, dishes in the oven, bowls in and out of the microwave, and nearly an hour later, the table is as set as it's gonna be. No serving dishes saved for special occasions; everything remains on the stove and counter, in whatever vessel it was cooked in. You were all fully capable of getting up and fixing your own plates.

And that's exactly what you did.

"Are we gonna hold hands and say what we're thankful for?" your mom teases.

"I'm thankful that Grandma and Grandpa are gone," Gareth says quickly, causing a laugh to spread around the table.

Screw it. "I'm thankful that all my favorite people are here."

"Awww," Gareth mocks, causing you and Eddie to both kick him under the table. You smirk at each other when he hisses.

"I'm thankful for the invite," Eddie smiles, making your heart soften.

"And I'm thankful for brown-and-serve rolls," your mom says, ripping hers open and slathering it with butter. "Okay, you little dorks, raise a roll."

You each pick up your roll and raise it, as instructed.

"To Lazy Thanksgiving!"

"To Lazy Thanksgiving!" you all echo, then take a bite out of your perfectly adequate rolls that took 8 minutes to prepare. (A great improvement from the traditional 4-hour ordeal.)

Lazy Thanksgiving really was the holiday you'd always dreamed of.

[presleyheart]

https://open.spotify.com/track/19IEpm6mKchqoetomtig3e?si=1d405a3e2f294f95 -- song correlation "Daddy's here.." !! Pairing 70s!Austin!Elvis and Gender Neutral!Reader !! SUMMARY ---- The reader joins Elvis during one of his rehearsals at the International Hotel. The loud noise hurts the reader's ears, and they involuntarily go nonverbal. Elvis, having no clue they were little, stops the rehearsal early once he realizes reader has gone backstage to avoid the noise. Realizing almost too late, he has to rush to comfort the now regressed reader. TW ---- Light swearing, mentions of anxiety, panic attack??

Genre: Agere Fluff ☁

You had been having that fuzzy feeling in your mind the entirety of the day. Each minute felt suffocating to you. You needed to be big for Elvis. You were worried being little would ruin everything about his plans.

You had been doing so much travelling.

Too much travelling.

Everything was whirring around your head at such a fast pace. This is how it's felt since the 68 comeback. It's been 2 years since and Elvis was still at lightning pace.

He's been extra busy recently and you have been miserable without having a chance to be little. He hasn't really picked up on it due to him being stressed, and you'd hate to stress him out more. ----

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

---- You walked onto the stage as you watched Elvis holding his microphone. The light was bouncing off of his tan skin beautifully. He looked perfect from head to toe.

You watched in awe, he smiled as soon as he saw you.

"There's my baby.. c'mere" He said, the smile and gleam in his eyes from seeing you never leaving.

"You only saw me minutes ago?" You said, giggling towards his affection. Maybe this'll distract your inner true motives? Or so you thought.

He pulled you into his strong arms. He hugged you close, as he pressed a kiss against your head "I would be with you all the time if I could." He muttered.

You felt so small with him in this moment, but you couldn't slip. You reluctantly pulled away from his warm hold. Even though you desired to be comforted in the time being, you couldn't risk slipping.

"I know, go have fun, okay?" You said, flashing a small forced smile and squeezing his hand.

"Anything for you.." He responded once more. He went on his merry way with his friends.

If only he knew what was brewing inside of your head.

----

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

----

You sat down on stage off to the side, not minding everything as you rested your head against the cool wall.

"I uh, I wanna try something new... a'ight Glen?" Elvis muttered into the mic. He wandered around til' he met with his friend on the piano, in which he gracefully moved his hand around to imitate the rhythm he wanted. "You're gonna take the intro here"

As soon as Elvis began moving his hand and made a bunch of 'bum' and 'duh' sounds, the piano riff started. He immediately got into it.

You found yourself biting your bottom lip softly. Getting antsy as the song started. Already, the piano was loud.

Each instrument one after the other, which almost caused a sensory overload from the sound. You felt a pang in your heart. This was too much.

First the piano, then the drums, then the bass-

"Bring that bass up, Jerry... keep playin'." Elvis stated at one of his many band members. This knocked you away from trying to space out and avoid the noise. You were squirming in your spot. The room suddenly felt tighter.

Everyone was laughing and playing, everyone was enjoying this but you. Elvis seemed so happy. You couldn't ruin that.

All the people were having so much fun. Whooping, clapping, laughing. Elvis made his way around the room, now at the backup singers.

He finally began singing.

"That's all right," "That's all right!" "That's all right," "That's all right!"

It all just got louder and louder. You felt your heart rate speed up and tears were coming to your eyes. You held your head a moment.

"Boys?" "That's all right!" "With me?" "Anyway you do!"

Luckily it was during the instrumental. You crawled behind the curtains and got up. You were rushing backstage.

Your heart was pounding, your breath was fast, you found your way into a dressing room and sat down. Praying for your anxiety to fade away.

Normally you loved Elvis in concert. Right now, you couldn't bear to see him. You were too stressed out. Everything felt so overwhelming and your emotions were out of play.

'Elvis doesn't need this right now.' You convinced yourself. You could still hear the music, you were rocking in place. Every word anyone said felt like a dagger to your mind.

"Flames man.. flames are comin' offa that guitar..."

Right as Elvis was going into the brass section, he turned to give you a smile, but you weren't there. He looked nervous, immediately.

"Now boys, hang on." Elvis said. You heard the music stop. You sighed in relief. You couldn't speak. He called out your name, over and over.

Whoops of "Y/N".. Elvis was lightning speed as he made his way backstage. "Little one?" He called out, in distress. You held your knees to your chest as you heard his footsteps approaching the door to the dressing room you were in.

Elvis came in, practically breaking the door down.

"Aw, shit, babe- what's..." His heart drops. He immediately goes into daddy mode.

"Oh my.. my poor little one." He could see the tears and hyperventilating from you. Elvis went around the couch in seconds and held you in a tight embrace. All you could do was cuddle into him. "I am so sorry, little.. Daddy's here now."

The only word you can mutter out is..

"Scared.."

If Elvis' heart didn't break any moments before, it surely did now. He felt so guilty for not noticing.

"My sunshine shouldn't have to feel scared.. this ain't ever gonna happen again.. Daddy promises." He held you closely and sighed.

"You're too little to have to feel such big worries.. oh my baby.." His voice broke. He felt his heart shatter even worse as you clung to him and sobbed. He cradled you in the back of the head. He sighed.

Eventually your breathing calmed down and you practically fell asleep hugging Elvis. You were finally getting Daddy's attention.

----

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

----

"What the hell is takin' so long, E-?" Elvis' friend spat out, in the doorway 15 minutes later after this.

"Shh. I suggest you shut your pie-hole. I got company. Now get." Elvis responded, with a look that could kill. He felt bad for not being there, he was only now happy you were content. He would strangle his friend if they ruined it.

Elvis turned his gaze back to you and planted kisses on your head.

You were his baby. All he truly needed.

Daddy's here now... and that's all that matters.

[jack-kellys]

okay my second attempt was 'retail au' and 'hitman/assassin au' which isnt much better than my first attempt but. i want to see a newsie kill an exploitative manager - @pigeonwit

im doing this one cause the other one is cool but This Is Big-Brained.

"While the terms "hitman" and "assassin" are often used interchangeably, the difference lies in the motivation behind the killing. Hitmen are motivated by money, while assassins are motivated by politics or ideology."

David's accepted what he does, by now. Mostly he's accepted that it does indeed pay, but the other benefits are far greater- he only takes the jobs he wants to now, his family stays safe, and he's travelled all over the world. He's never had to stick around if he doesn't want to, and he's never seen a reason to.

This hit's a lower rate, sure, but it's for a good cause. David's good at taking down bosses of any kind, criminal or not, and he figures... an abusive retail boss is something close to criminal. He worked retail as a young teen, and all he remembers is the genuine hell of it all.

Ten minutes before closing, David slips inside the store unseen, pulling out his phone to glance over the reference image one final time. Stalking quietly through the rows of hangers and millennial fashions, he spies his target. He lays low.

The sweep through the store before lock-up is mediocre at best, and David quite easily evades employees' gazes as they do a final look through the store. He's ducked down between a few racks, his own gaze raising every once and while to keep eyes on the target-

-of, whom, has disappeared.

David frowns to himself, watching the few other employees head out so their boss can lock up... but as the minutes pass by, it's clear to David that he'll hopefully get to do the hit without hassle in a back room. Eyes sweeping, he stands and creeps out of hiding, hand gripped tight on his gun. It's clear he's alone in the main area, though, so he makes his way toward the back.

David comes upon an 'employees only' door, and gently rests his hand on the doorknob. His eyebrows shoot up- he's able to push it down. It's unlocked. David's lips press together as he enters with wary care, knees bent.

A strangled noise pricks his ears, and his head swivels as he tries to see the source.

He doesn't need to for long- the flash of a phone camera illuminates the room, and in the brief flash of light David can see his target lying on the floor, throat slit, blood laced like decoration along someone's hands. David pulls his gun.

"Don't-! Do that," a voice says, likely the murder-photographer. The person sighs. "You ain't look like a cop, man, put the gun away and this'll be easier. I got no issue with you."

"Name, or I shoot," David says cooly.

"Shoot how? You ain't even know where the light switch is."

"I have enough bullets in here to spray the wall you're right by. You're bound to take a few."

The voice huffs a laugh. "It's ah, Jack. Happy?"

Not David's client's name. He narrows his eyes, still firmly positioned to shoot if need be.

"Not happy, I guess," 'Jack' mutters. "You should be, I mean. Pretty sure I did your job for ya."

"How would you know about that?" David snaps. "I could easily be here for you."

"Not with that silencer," Jack snorts. "Nah, you're... If I had to guess. This's a hit, ain't it. You're getting paid."

David's eyes widen, though not at Jack's accurate guess. If there was no pay, and David could be secure and keep his family safe any other way, no way in hell would he be killing people for a living.

"You're not?" he can't help and blurt.

The lights go on, blinding David for a moment. He steps back, gun still trained on where Jack is. In the split second his gaze clears, there's another fucking person in the room, and Jack is wearing a red bandana on the lower half of his face and a tan cowboy hat on his head. David stares. Recognizing him from late-night news reports.

"You're the New York assassin," he whispers, half to himself. Jack looks up, eyes and skin dark as the room had been moments ago. His eyes roll.

"Vigilante," the man uselessly corrects. "And no, I ain't get paid off. Crutchie here didn't pay a cent."

The man who'd turned the lights on, who'd (correctly) stiffened and stayed quiet, gives a small wave, grip tight around the crutch under his arm.

"My boss was gonna fire me for needing to go to a doctor's appointment I'd scheduled weeks ago," Crutchie says, shrugging. "He's called me some pretty bad shit behind my back, too."

Fair enough- oddly fair enough. How is this guy not David's client?

"Crutchie- you shouldn't be- be...here."

"Man," Jack says, and David can tell he's grinning by the way his eyes crinkle, "this is a fuckin' party, ain't it."

A goddamn fourth person speeds into the room, eyes huge.

"Racetrack, I presume," David says. His client. The new man nods slowly, but turns to Crutchie.

"You should not be here," Race says again. "You need to get out-"

"Did you hire this guy? For me?" Crutchie says.

Race glances over to David, before looking back to Crutchie. "Well, yeah, I mean, Wiesel's been treating you like fucking shit. I couldn't just- not do anything, anymore."

"I couldn't either, obviously," Crutchie says, glancing at Jack, "but, um.. that's... kind of sweet of you."

David's neutral expression drops for a brief second as he resists the urge to turn the gun on himself. What the fuck is going on right now.

He instead raises his gun toward the pair of employees.

"Get out. Throw out the shoes you're wearing," David demands calmly. "And pay me within twelve hours. I have your address."

Race's eyes widen again, and he flashes a panicked smile as he nods, forcing Crutchie out of the room as well. Jack remains, arms crossed and head tilted.

"That was real sweet, actually," Jack hums. "If only you beat me to it, then your client woulda actually got to say he killed someone for his boyfriend." And he narrows his eyes at David in away that makes him flush with anger. He raises his gun again.

"You're right, I didn't kill him. You did," David says. "And I can have you in police custody in minutes."

"Oh, but that's no fun," Jack replies, raising an eyebrow. "Look, I did a good thing here. Just as you were about to. All I happened to do was beat a trained hitter as his own damn game, damn."

Jack laughs, shaking his head. "God I'm gettin' good."

Good at what, David wants to scoff. Killing? Killing is easy. It's simple- primal. All this 'Jack' is doing is giving in.

"I'd like to see you try that against five armed security guards, but yes, sure. Getting good," David mutters, turning around. He has to get out of here to save his own skin, anyway, which is a priority over determining Jack's fate.

"You'd like to see me try?" Jack says behind him. Closer now. David reaches behind him, grip closing around Jack's forearm and tugging the assassin close enough for his gun to rest under his jaw.

"If I let you live, yeah," David nods.

"You're one to talk," Jack drawls, and David glances down to see Jack has a blade right by David's thigh. His gaze finds the other's again. Jack's is bright, hungry. David can see his pulse, rapid on his neck. "And if you'd like to 'see me' try, you could at least unmask me."

David frowns, but can't resist the temptation- especially with the barrel of his gun still poking into the other man. Carefully, he lowers Jack's bandana to reveal a wide nose, a dark birthmark, and soft lips.

He's smiling. Of course.

"You're telling me you'd shoot this pretty face off?" Jack murmurs.

"Maybe," is David's strong reply. Jack nods, eyes flicking across David's face. Observing him, perhaps.

"I'll put my faith in a maybe," Jack says, and before David can even think to squeeze the trigger, the vigilante's lips are on his own.

David can barely comprehend what's happening, besides Jack's warm touch, the glint in the man's eye, and the anchor to reality that brushes against his thigh every other second. David's gun hasn't left Jack's throat, either. An odd kind of mutually assured destruction, somehow at the back of David's mind.

Jack's kiss is.. forbidden, in a way he hasn't experienced in far too long. David's life is a river run by rules, codes, consequences, and so far he's safely steered himself through, going with the flow. But this is a sudden waterfall, and unforeseen drop, and David can't control this part of the river. Not really, not besides how he falls down it.

But Jack goes in for another kiss, and David falls the hell down it, returning it, quick breaths mingling and brain turning off as he lets himself take the easy road. Gives in, letting this primal desire take hold of him for the moment. Jack seems to want it more, at least, so if they are free falling down the roaring water, David'll let Jack hit the hard waves first.

Slowly, David pulls back, looking down at the other, doing his best not to smirk to himself. The blade is missing from by his thigh, and after a moment, David removes his gun.

"You have a safe house nearby?" David inquires. Jack's gaze his awestruck- he must be surprised to still be alive, let alone kissed back. He nods, putting his bandana up before taking David's hand, sprinting out of the store.

[cyrusclouds]

dsaf headcanons!!,!

i know literally nobody asked and no one cares, but i'm going to be putting my dayshift at freddy's headcanons here for the soul. this'll definitely get edited fairly frequently sooo!! anywayz here we go :3 (angst warning for some of these??)

jack has frequent sleep paralysis!! the kicker to this is that he THINKS he has a sleep paralysis demon, but really, dave just breaks into his house through his bedroom window every night and stares at him while he's asleep. he refuses to break character whenever he wakes up because "maybe he won't see me" (he definitely sees you, dave)

while henry was alive, dave picked up the habit of shutting up and shutting down whenever henry got too annoyed. problem with that is that jack playfully presents as annoyed all the time to mess around, and dave takes it very seriously, so they get into a bad cycle of jack acting annoyed and dave shutting down for no reason *constantly* (dysfunctional doomed yaoi core!!!)

henry is a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker. he specifically drinks black tea without any add-ins (basically the same as drinking straight black coffee for my coffee drinkers out there) (also dave eats the fucking tea leaves when henry is done with the bags)

harry still gets war flashbacks fairly frequently and is set off decently easily. when this does happen, rebecca is literally always there to comfort him and stays with him until he's calm again (straight couple goals)

whenever henry was seeping into jack's mind (legacy jack core), dave could very distinctly tell. one of the worst instances of this would have been a time where jack slipped up and called dave 'william', which would have caused a very quick panic that confused the *shit* out of jack (homeboy does not know what he did)

!!!NOT MY HEADCANON!!!! belongs to orcatstra :]!!! but dave and jack totally got drunk as shit in vegas one time and got married. no if's and's or but's, it happened, canon, i was the fly on directdogman's wall when he made dsaf.

jack reminds dave a lot of henry (unfortunately), which has caused dave to be very easily set off by things that henry used to do or say to him if jack does or says something similar. jack has no idea why every single time it happens, but he always comforts him until he calms down anyways :)

henry has a habit of spinning things like pens and pencils in his fingers while he writes, but sometimes this expands to wrenches and actual tools while he's working on his creations. yes i think henry is strong as a bitch, how else is he carrying those literal hunks of metal

I THINK HENRY PROBABLY HAS OTHER LOST TAPES OUT THERE RAAHHHH they're just probably less lore important LMFAO

henry would be the type to hate basically every animal, but he would (begrudgingly) feed stray cats from time to time if nobody was around (god forbid he ever look weak in front of people)

henry had a god awful sleep schedule. he would stay up until around 2-3am every morning at the least working on his creations, sometimes taking it as far as full days if he was focused enough. it was very concerning to dave (who does not sleep), and he would loom outside of his office a lot listening in case he fell asleep. it wasn't terribly common, but sometimes he would, in which case dave would break in and move him to the little chair he had in there

henry was definitely the kind of guy to straight up call people an idiot or dumbass, and then go on a long ramble about exactly what they were wrong about and how wrong they were. expanding on this headcanon, i think henry would have been a major rambler about things he was passionate about, especially towards dave (since that's like the only person he was around in his later life)

henry was never the kind to take breaks. no matter what, he always kept working. but, he did allow himself one once because his physical health was severely deteriorating, and he spent most of the day reading anyways LMFAO, just in a more comfortable environment. he would have loved reading, dead convinced.

[happilykrispypirate]

Ok so i dont know if your taking requests but if you are i have one

So like basically just one about how mattheo likes the reader but they are dating draco

Thia is also mu first time writing a request so sorry its not in better detail

Untouchable

Pairings: Mattheo Riddle x Gn!Reader

Warnings: Some angst, swearing and my shitty writing.

A/n: Thank you for requesting! I've been waiting for one for so long. It kinda sad. Anyways, this'll be my very first Gender Neutral post so if I mess something up or leave something out, let me know, cuz I don't edit my stuff.

Also, I made two endings to this, only because it is so short. So first one is where Mattheo moves on and second one is when they get together. Just read the one that fits your mood :P

-

Mattheo watched as someone he swore was the love of his life, hold Draco Malfoy's hand.

Why does it have to be that blonde daddy's boy?

He was there first. He was the one who held their hand when they walked down the corridors.

Oh for fuck sakes, Mattheo! You fucked it up!

Mattheo was the one that never confessed to Y/n L/n before they got together with Draco. They confessed! To him! And what did he do?

Stare at them like a fucking idiot.

"Oh yeah, like you totally didn't just almost trip and fall as you were walking into the common room," Y/n laughed looking over at Pansy.

"Shut the fuck up," Pansy grumbled causing them to laugh even more.

Mattheo glared as Y/n sat in between Draco's legs on the floor (get your mind outta the gutter, please get mine too!).

His hands were placed on their shoulders and he was gently massaging them.

That should be me.

Mattheo's death stares didn't go unnoticed, because it wasn't long before Enzo and Theo pulled him out of the common room and into the hallway.

"You have got to stop," Enzo said, "They are happy with Draco, okay? You stared at them like a fucking idiot, when they confessed to you and now they've moved on, but you have to as well."

"I know, alright! I just can't help it. I love them. I fucked up. I wanted to tell them I loved them too, but I froze," Mattheo said.

"You froze a bit too long. They're untouchable now," Theo said.

- Sad Ending -

Mattheo had to make peace with Y/n not liking him. It was hard, but he had to.

It took him a while to become unbothered by their constant pda.

It took him a while not to stare at them during class.

However, he did it. He had to...

Y/n started noticing Mattheo acting differently. He started keeping distance between them.

Not in a literal way, he just didn't do certain things anymore.

He didn't make sure they were alright every two seconds.

He didn't even look at them anymore. Almost no eye contact.

Then they saw it...

Mattheo holding someone's hand as they walked down the hallway passed them and Draco.

Fuck, I messed up.

"Oh fuck," Draco said as he saw Mattheo.

"Yeah," Y/n sighed.

"The plan didn't work..."

(Oohh twistyyy)

- Happy Ending -

"You froze a bit too long. They're untouchable now," Theo said.

Mattheo sighed, he knew they were, but he is a Riddle, and he won't give up that fucking easily

"Fuck it," Mattheo said as he stormed back into the common room, over to Y/n and Draco and pulled them up their arms and out of the common room.

"Mattheo, what the hell?" Y/n asked.

"No, don't what the hell me. The last few weeks you have put me through hell. First you tell me you love me, then you go and date fucking Draco Malfoy of all people. Really? Him? My fucking cousin? That motherfucker? You really got some nerve- Why the fuck are you laughing?" Mattheo stopped as soon as he saw them laughing.

"Oh, this is priceless," They said still laughing.

"What's so funny? This is not funny."

"No it's not funny, it's fucking hilarious," They said, "Draco and I are not dating. Well not for real anyway. We made a deal. We use each other to make someone jealous. He makes Astoria jealous with me, and I make you jealous with him. It obviously worked."

Mattheo stared at them in shock, "So," He said after a few moments, "You still love me? And you just wanted to make me jealous?"

"Yes dummy!" They said, "That's what I just was wasn- hmphf."

Mattheo smashed his lips on theirs, stopping them mid sentence. Y/n leaned into the kiss, a warm feeling spreading across both their bodies.

"I'm going to fucking kill you one day," Mattheo said causing them to giggle.

"You love me," They said.

"Yes, I do love you," He said before pulling them back in for another kiss.

[dmercer91]

ebug's sister, dm91

should i continue with this au during the off season?? summer content / hc's? lmk in my imbox or send me some hc requests!

taglist, @whenmypartysover

part one / part two /part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine

blakefriarr_

liked by _quinnhughes, jamie.drysdale and 7,238 others

blakefriarr_: facetime woes cause regular season is almost over and i'm being very brave about it (i told three of them to find a summer sport and get real good at it real fast)

roll call!

trevor just picked up the phone like that. no more questions will be answered at this time.

i called luke and he was like this'll cheer you up and then every sophomore on that hockey team made a series of unfortunate faces. he looks like he bites.

i called quinn and he was very good at advice but he also happens to have this weird sixth sense where he knows when i'm about to take a ft photo and he moves out of frame :( however, petey came in clutch and got me that lovely photo

i knew jack and nico would be together cause why wouldn't they be at this point and jack got me a very nice photo of nico being very smiley. they both proceeded to tell me that they can't just join the mlb so i can watch them play sports. was not a fan.

adam just knows me so well. he saw that i was sad and he was like look at this 👹 and then proceeded to show me his older brother knocked right out fully aware that this would be posted publicly. everyone get you a rookie (u can't take mine)

dawson also cheered me up but this is not the platform for that kind of media

view 659 comments..

jj.friar31: this is not the platform for that kind of media??????? there was media made???????? why do you continue to say these things where i unfortunately have to subject my eyeballs to reading them

→ nicohischier: i agree with jj what does that even mean y/n

→ blakefriarr_: let's just say the playoff beard will take some getting used to

→ nicohischier: oh good god okay

luca.fantilli: i thought we were friends

→ blakefriarr_: we are! this is what comes with that <3 learn to deal

_quinnhughes: not sure how i feel about petey having stole your number from my phone

→ blakefriarr_: really? i’m feeling great about it

→ blakefriarr_: also you’re very uncharacteristically early to my comments what’s going on

→ _quinnhughes: i can’t have just been on the app when you posted?

→ blakefriarr_: obviously not or i wouldn’t have asked

markestapa: i do not bite

→ blakefriarr_: you can’t prove that

→ markestapa: what if i just didn’t bite you

→ blakefriarr_: just so you could bite other people when i’m not around???? i don’t think so

nicohischier: you’re still mad i won’t try and get signed to the mlb!?

→ blakefriarr_: i thought you loved me, neeks.

→ nicohischier: sorry honey i have a family to spend time with and baseball is not really my strongest suit

→blakefriarr_: all i’m hearing is excuses

dawson1417: always a lovely surprise waiting for me when i click read more on your caption

→ blakefriarr_: you brought this upon yourself this is literally how we met

→ dawson1417: i figured it would calm down after i asked you out

→ blakefriarr_: you figured wrong

dawson1417: do you per say trust jj alone in the apartment during the off season

→ blakefriarr_: dawson.

→ dawson1417: i'm just making conversation

→ blakefriarr_: ... dawson

→ dawson1417: blake?

→ jj.friar31: don't pretend like you haven't had your two weeks notice written up since he asked you to come up to canada for a few days

→ blakefriarr_: now is not the time to be snitching james

→ dawson1417: thank you for the encouragement jj i will now bother her endlessly until she agrees

→ jj.friar31: you're doing me a favour man have you met her

→ blakefriarr_: i'm sorry i couldn't hear you over my car, my boyfriend and my id badge to get into the family lounge at the rock

trevorzegras: would you rather me have not picked up

→ blakefriarr_: if you ever send me to voicemail i'm taking jamie hostage

→ trevorzegras: that's what i thought (take his guitar with him)

→ blakefriarr_: (no)

ryangraves27: my picture didn't make it in /th

→ blakefriarr_: /th???!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!? / THREAT?!?!?!?!? WHY ARE YOU THREATENING ME GRAVY

→ ryangraves27: you said i should use tone indicators /nm

→ blakefriarr_: why would you even be mad at me to BEGIN with

→ ryangraves27: idk /a

→ blakefriarr_: awh

_eliaspettersson: i'm stealing you from quinn

→ _quinnhughes: no you are not

→ blakefriarr_: @/_eliaspettersson hide in his suitcase when he comes down to jersey you can have jj's room

→ jj.friar31: no he cannot

→ blakefriarr_: 🍃

→ jj.friar31: he's welcome any time

→ _eliaspettersson: did you just threaten him

→ blakefriarr_: yeah :)

load more comments..

[coconox]

certified delulu post about nocti

a.n. this'll be a compilation of thoughts from my initial reactions to sands of wrath to his voicelines to literally everything about him. THIS WILL HEAVILY BE A NOCTI X SKK!READER KIND OF THING because i'm all in for a lil self insert to feed my delulu visions. also as a heads up i did read the story using google translate so if i quote anything it's basically what google translate told me but i edited it to make some grammatical sense. and yes there will be spoilers

a lot of context will be left out so if you don't wanna be confused by names check out this lore doc that gives a summary of er-5 or pgr lore in general, this post just talks about er-5 lol

EXHIBIT A: TRIGUN AU

have you seen trigun (ESPECIALLY trimax) cause if you have this makes so much more sense

noctis is vash and nigel is knives

both are brothers and have almost opposite ideologies

i did think of wolfwood and livio as another option but nigel does fit a bit closer to resembling knives

VASHWOOD (where nocti is vash and skk is ww (or the other way round, honestly either still works)

nocti: but you must promise me that you won’t die before i come back! no…. you’re not allowed to die even after i come back! i will definitely find a way to save you!

skk: of course, partner…..

this had me in TEARS I WAS NOT READY

nocti fist bumping you just made me think of this scene with vash and meryl

HE ALSO CALLS YOU PARTNER AS HE FIST BUMPS YOU the way i had this realization so late into writing all this

sands of wrath setting literally looks like a place you’d find in no man’s land

nocti’s voiceline telling you to smile more, similar to ww telling vash to smile more (and i mean their genuine smile, not the fake one they use in front of people)

EXHIBIT B: NOCTI AND SKK ARE MARRIED

they are married and own a bar together hear me out—

you two enter a town in which neither of you are welcome because you’re both from babylonia, the mayor decides to put you two in a hotel room till the harvest festival is over

you two are in separate beds, but neither of you can sleep, so you two do what any pair of roommates would do—

—have a 6 hr "light conversation" :D

first actual convo with nocti, you both take turns to ask questions about why they’re here, what’s going on, etc

nocti asks why you trust him so easily, you respond with “it’s intuition” which is a response nocti seemed to like

you also state how you hope he returns to cerberus and fall asleep. nocti in a way states he also wishes to go back to cerberus and sleeps as well

at some point nocti leaves the hotel room to find demont, who is the reason you two ended up working together in the first place, but there was an attack by hetero creatures and nocti swiftly got rid of them

after talking to the mayor, max, about wanting to be just a resident in town, he takes you to a bar, in which that’s where you find nocti

ya know he could’ve talked about ANYTHING and his drunk ass decided to talk about HOW HE PROTECTED YOU??? COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT

you find nocti and he offers his hand out to you to dance with him, you reluctantly agreed and you two end up break dancing together

this was him proposing to you i’m just sayin—

the night passes and you two begin living your lives as residents of new oakley

when he first calls you partner, it was originally solely because temporarily they’re no longer considered members of babylonia, and so to fit in with the whole wild west type style, nocti refers to you as “partner” and you agree to do the same to him

first time it’s used outside your interaction with him was when nocti has small talk with vann

vann: you’ll only obey orders from that commandant, right? these are the rules of the sky garden

nocti: i don’t listen to anyone’s orders, but if it’s a request from my partner, that’s a different matter

NOCTI WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIKE WE’RE ROMANTICALLY PARTNERS?????

this isn’t the first time he does something like that he’s very consistent about it

truly a devoted man

also “MY partner” ????? he also pretty much refers to you as his partner throughout the whole story i got whiplashed when we were back to being called skk in his affection story

after you and nocti find demont there’s a small good cop bad cop scene (which i found hilarious), but at the end demont couldn’t reveal much vital information due to dying from poison

nocti realizes this poison is something only nigel can control, and stormed out into the center of town in a fit of rage trying to find nigel

calming him down and telling him to retreat to not make a big scene was practically impossible, that is till you shout “trust me— partner!!” and nocti finally calms down and retreats

HELLO??? CALLING HIS NAME HE DIDN'T BAT AN EYE BUT BEING CALLED PARTNER MADE HIM ACTUALLY LISTEN??

i'm absolutely speechless

you two cook up a plan to find out what’s really going on +bonus hand holding at the end

your part was to just do your job as a bartender while nocti handles the investigating, and eventually nigel shows up

nigel asks what’s the difference between a human and a construct, you respond in a way a bartender would explain it, but nigel wants an answer from you as a commandant rather than a bartender

he ends up poisoning you and leaves, nocti arrives a little while later after discovering what the plan is for this town in the next few days

i remembered that before we split up i told him not to be reckless, but in the end i was the one that was careless and ended up in this miserable condition. i no longer had the strength to stand, so i could only slide down to the edge of the bar. at the beginning, i said big words that would make nocti return to cerberus in an honored manner… i didn’t expect to be the one to make him sad for his companions

skk: i'm sorry…. nocti….

nocti: HEY! don’t say such depressing things to me so quickly

nocti then enters a panicked state of not knowing what to do cause skk is poisoned and there's no known cure for it

nocti gritted his teeth. he didn't even know how to give first aid. he regretted not learning more about first aid from vera before

GOT ME SOBBING, EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED, SHATTERED INTO PIECES

you tell nocti to go help the mayor cause if the mayor dies the town will fall

nocti is in pure disbelief that at a time like this you're more worried about someone else and he refused to leave you here

after some reassuring nocti goes ahead and takes care of what's going on in town and immediately after checks if you’re still ok

he hears a painful scream in his communication device and he SPRINTS back to where you are and finds both vera and 21 there attempting to take care of you

21 comments on how nocti is a lot more powerful ITS BECAUSE HIS LOVER IS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM BUT DOESN'T KNOW HOW

there’s an encounter with the purifying force, wanting nocti dead since they believe he’s the cause of their aircraft crashing

you tell them that it isn’t his fault and after essentially a stare down between the purifying force and cerberus, the purifying force leaves you all alone since they trust you (thank the overlords for you working with them before and gaining a good work relationship)

you, cerberus, max, and vann think of a plan on what to do next now that you all know where nigel might be located

nocti will go and fight nigel alone since it’s the reason he even came here in the first place while the rest defend the town

you establish a m.i.n.d. connection with nocti, which in turn gives him the poison as well since you’re basically almost a walking corpse at this point

the fact that nocti, with NO hesitation, established a connection with you makes it LOUD AND CLEAR that he will stick with you no matter what even if it leads to his death

cue another hand holding scene, and nocti leaves

vera and 21 get very VERY concerned over your health, yet you’re still adamant about keeping the connection with nocti

21: they want to keep a deep m.i.n.d connection w nocti

vera: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! if you're deeply connected, your consciousness will be completely bound to him…. if he dies, you also die

skk: he… needs….. me…..

this is LITERALLY a moment where one cares more about their partner THAN THEIR OWN WELL-BEING ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

transitioning over to nocti’s side, he finally confronts nigel

nigel mentions that in order to cure the commandant he needs to be killed, but just HEARING that name come out of his mouth made nocti more full of rage than he’s ever had

this part alone SCREAMED nocti being like "you do NOT have the right to say my partner's name after what you did to them, i am no longer doing this for myself, i'm doing this FOR THEM"

so anyways nocti gets his ass beat 💀💀, nigel lecturing him that he’s still confused and is only driven by anger

the cutscene if you wanna watch it

"commandant… you must be disappointed with me…. damn it… are you mad at me? haha.. me too…. leave everything to me from now on. let’s make that bastard taste our true wrath, partner..."

“i can’t die here yet…. my partner is still waiting for me to come back.”

similar to 21's comment earlier, nigel notices how nocti's steps aren't noisy and chaotic anymore, but steady, firm, and powerful now BECAUSE HIS PARTNER IS ROOTING FOR HIM TO WIN AND HE NEEDED THAT BOOST OF ENCOURAGEMENT... THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO ADAMANT WITH KEEPING A M.I.N.D. CONNECTION WITH NOCTI

this whole fight scene had me SCREAMING

“my partner and i will use all our strength… to beat you to pieces”

if you still haven’t gotten it DO YOU SEE IT NOW??? HIS MAN IS FULLY DRIVEN TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO.. NO... NEEDS TO COME BACK TO YOU

nocti wins and nigel essentially retreats but with a new found respect for his brother

but before he retreats he asks nocti the same question he asked you: what’s the difference between humans and constructs

he gives his own answer and guesses yours (since he was rather confident enough with knowing a lot on how you think) and it boils down to them having the same answer but different font

the place nocti and nigel were fighting in collapses, forcing nocti to leave and never see nigel again

you and nocti are back in the hotel room recovering, and a few locals come in to beg nocti to stay and not go back to babylonia

“but i made a promise with my partner, i want to return to cerberus in a dignified manner…”

after more silly banter everyone leaves you and nocti alone to rest, but neither of you can sleep

nocti brings up the question nigel asked him, and you gave him your actual answer, which is pretty close to what he guessed

nocti: haha… just as i thought, i know you better

skk: but maybe i know you better. for example, what you look like when you’re drunk

nocti: WHAT?! DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD WHEN I WAS DRUNK???

skk: forget it, stop talking, i’m sleepy

nocti: HEY!! TELL ME NOW!!!!

he’s a literal blushing mess after you told him you saw him drunk

your honor this is literally a newly wed couple

gotta of course mention his affection story so read here for a summary of that as well

the way he ONLY uses the best quality and probably most expensive ingredients to make your food

nocti giving a damn about this whole pancake thing only because YOU care

LIKE HE'S PUTTING HIS PREFERENCES ASIDE TO MAKE YOU HAPPY

MORE HAND HOLDINGGG this time in the form of you helping him mold the pancake shape +bonus nocti blushing

both literally wanting to do the whole working at a bar thing together again in the future that is like PEAK ENDGAME for their marriage

+bonus boss being supportive and naming the new drink and dish that was made after you and nocti

the whole affection story just very clearly and vividly plays out nocti and skk working together flawlessly at the bar like their chemistry was SO GOOD !!!!

very sorry for any grammar errors i'm very hyperfixated on him rn and i needed to scream about it somewhere

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i will now think of nocti in a wedding dress /hj

[wendynerdwrites]

Pretty cringe on Bioware's part

Okay, so I do not work for Bioware, don't have connections, and what I'm writing is based only on some background and experience in social media and online marketing. I HAVE NO INSIDER KNOWLEDGE AND CLAIM NONE.

But... It VERY MUCH LOOKS TO ME that this new name change is a plot to try and circumvent SEO on the new Dragon Age release being about how delayed the game is and all the layoffs and the severance lawsuits and shit.

And yeah, maybe this'll seem obvious to some of you, but I kind of just want to word vomit: (and this is a further musing on a TWITTER thread I made earlier. Sorry I just have to get this manic-episode cynicism out)

Why else at the supposed 11th hour would you change the game title to one that is just, so bad for so many reasons?

(It should be obvious that I'm editorializing here, but I like to cover my ass more these days)

So yeah, reasons why I think this name change is so bad and nonsensical it could only be made for desperate reasons:

Okay, so because I like to overthink stupid shit like video game name changes and have become quite Dragon Age fixated over the years, I was going over this bullshit too much.

Like, I tried to explain things to myself because sometimes I want a break from feeling cynical even with shit like this.

So I read this and mulled it over:

"BioWare general manager Gary McKay explains that while Solas is “still very much a part of the story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” the team wanted a title that reflected a “really deep and compelling group of companions.” --- Kat Bailey for Gameinfomer.com

Okay, fine, well, the last game is called "Dragon Age: Inquisition" and not "Dragon Age: Corypheus" or "Dragon Age: Elder One." And you know, stuff like "Leliana's Song" focuses on, you know, Leliana."

But you what, me? That doesn't hold up.

For one thing, Leliana's Song is a DLC. No one is going to mistake a main series Dragon Age release as being not about an ensemble cast of characters and just being about Solas because of a naming convention in the DLC. Especially given how common that can be in RPG's anyway.

First thing you often learn about Dragon Age as a series is that it's story focused RPG with strong cast of supporting characters and a lot of lore. Granted, that may not be the case for EVERYONE depending on when they or how they got acquainted for the series; but that's how it's commonly characterized.

In one game, Solas was given far more significance plot and character wise than Corypheus had in two.

Corypheus has good points. He's got a backstory that is couched comfortably by the lore and significant to the story. He's got motivation - he's pissed about there not being Gods and Tevinter falling, so he's trying to become a God now to restore the world he wants. He's got one of the most FUCKING BALLER VILLAIN REVEALS:

He also works very well thematically. He's a good symbol of corruption and the results of hubris and tyranny when Thedas is being torn apart by it's various authorities and their abuses of power. Civil War in Orlais. Templars have broken from the Chantry, the mages from the Templars, and they're all at war. From the first game we know that this is what is left of the peace and safety won by your Warden and their people. And we know a few reasons why. In Dragon Age II, we know how that happened and SO MANY MORE reasons why. THERE'S CORRUPTION IN THE WARDENS AND WTF IS EVEN HAPPENING IN WEISSHAUPT??? OR THE DEEP ROADS??? We add in an Orlesian Civil War and also, boom! Whoops! THE GUY WHO CAUSED ALL THOSE BLIGHTS WE'VE DIED IN IS BACK AND HE WANTS TO RIP THE SKY APART! OOH LOOK HE JUST DID!

He's the anthropomorphic personification of all of that.

But, uh, even with fabulous voice acting, Corypheus is not much of a character in his own right. He is more of a device for both plot and theme than, like, a person. As far as more humanizing antagonists, we get that from Samson, Calpernia, and Alexius than Corypheus.

Corypheus wants to restore Tevinter to the Empire he wishes to be God of. He's pissed at there being no Gods. So now he wants to rule over everything (while also destroying it.) "THIS CORRUPT WORLD NEEDS TO BE MADE ANEW BLAH BLAH BLAH I'M AN RPG BIG BAD"

And that's fine with me. Never had a problem with Corypheus turning into Darkspawn Skeletor.

Corypheus is a dick who wants to be God. But he works as a device to save the world from and lead to lore revelations and shit.

I don't know if Corypheus ever had anyone he cared about. I don't know what he like(d?) to eat. He has no goals that don't serve glorifying himself and being a tyrant. I don't know if he hates Thedas as anything other than standing in the way of the Tevinter he can be god-emperor of. I don't know what he really thinks of anything in the world of Thedas other than "inferior, kill it." He doesn't have complex motivations or thoughts on the world we're playing in. We don't know if any of his thoughts or perceptions have changed over the course of the thousands of years he's lived. If there's anything he enjoys. We don't know what kind of personalities he's drawn to. What he actually enjoyed about the world he came from.

We get all of that shit and more from Solas. Even if you don't like him, don't play with him much, he has a distinct personality. And his significance to the lore of the world actually reveals a lot more than Corypheus's. Solas CREATED THE FUCKING VEIL. ALSO THE ELVEN LEGENDS ARE ALL FUCKED UP. FLEMETH IS ACTUALLY HIS ANCIENT DIVINE PLATONIC DOMMY MOMMY FROM BACK IN THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE BOTH LITERAL GODS! DID WE MENTION HE CREATED THE VEIL?! BECAUSE THE DALISH ARE FUCKING WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING! AND TEVINTER DIDN'T DESTROY ARLATHAN! AND WE'RE ALSO GOING TO LEARN SOME SHIT ABOUT THE FORGOTTEN ONES! ALSO DID WE MENTION HOW THE VEIL CAME TO BE????

All this through this Elven God of Bad Decisions:

Also, yes, Solas has got major thematic importance but I feel like that's a whole other rant and this is getting too long.

Point is: Solas is, flat out, more significant to the world all of these characters inhabit than Corypy-tits. The literal fabric of their plain of existence is woven by him. The entire way magic has worked and been handled, (something that is extremely significant character-wise for at least a third of this game's cast) is because of him and his history. There was a century between the fourth and fifth Blights. And, you know, the veil he created played a part in their origins.

Even putting aside that legacy characters like Varric, Cullen, and Leliana all have personal history. Solas is why Circles exist/ed. Those Magisters who started the Blight did so by fucking with his creation. He is why elves age and live as a diaspora.

And that's just what we know him to be responsible for. What about those hints about the Forgotten Ones? Exactly how did his rebellion work? What is his plan for the other Evanuris and will it work? [(No.)] What will that reveal about what the others are/were capable of? And what exactly happened between them and the Titans?

Look, I'd go on, but I don't want to go on too much longer like the Solas girlie I totally am. Point is: Solas's backstory alone has had significant ramifications for everyone in Thedas. And the ways he's affected their lives varies between races, generations, magical ability, etc. And that's through creation of the Veil alone.

And we know a shit ton about who Solas is as a person.

You don't need to be a Solas pro, Solas-anti, neutral, or Solas-mancer for this to be true.

So yeah, I would say he's "very much a part of the story." But also, in a way that informs and contributes to the characterization of the ensemble cast.

Inquisition's antagonist was no Fen'Harel. And you're not going to subtract from your ensemble, but rather enhance them (if you care at all about writing them well) by having a focus on him.

Now, I totally think the idea that the final big antagonist will be the Evanuris or someone else lurking behind the veil has merit. But Solas will ultimately be that catalyst.

"Okay, but maybe Bioware doesn't see it that way. Maybe they saw some social media complaints about too much Solas focus and did a hasty rebrand."

Well, for one, that complaint has been around for years now. And it's valid. The problem isn't a lot of Solas, it's that we got so little else. The promotion is bad, not the character or their role in the story. But if that's really it, why now? Why are they only changing the name now?

Now, okay, but Inquisition was still called Inquisition.... This game is about the Veil Guard. It's called Veil Guard.

Cool, but once again, then why hold onto Dreadwolf for so long? Why focus so much on Solas? Why haven't we gotten any glimpses of companions?

And, um, if this is really what you want, shouldn't the title be... better?

Inquisition is a good, solid, and communicative title. While the Inquisition of Thedas is not exactly the Spanish One, there is enough association there to give a general idea. Origins had a group of dumbass misfit fugitives drawn together to save the world. II was similar except they were mercs who get drawn into shit against their will and unwittingly. Inquisition: okay, so this time they'll probably be more of an official, religious-quasi military organization. It'll probably be controversial.

You can be a complete noob to Dragon Age and figure that out.

Veil Guard sounds like something last minute they got from Game of Thrones at the last minute. Okay, the Kingsguard are cool. They guard the king. We're stopping the veil from being torn down, so Veil Guard.

Here's the thing: none of the main ASOIAF series is called The Kingsguard, and you don't need to know anything about A Song of Ice and Fire to get it. Everyone knows what the fuck a king is and why he should be guarded. So even if there is a book called "The King's Guard" we'll get it. It's a book about fuckers guarding a king.

This game is about fuckers guarding... a veil....? The veil?

If you're up on your Dragon Age lore and are really into it, yes, you know what that means. If you're a noob or a casual who hasn't given much thought to Dragon Age in, say, a decade, uhh...:

Noobs: "The game is about fuckers guarding... a veil...? The veil???? Is it some sort of artifact, like it has Jesus's face on it? Or if they mean veil between worlds like some Lovecraft shit, is the new Dragon Age a horror game? Are people trying to travel to different worlds and we're trying to stop them? "

Casuals: "Or wait, is this about that dream world thing? That demon place that spits out demons? Didn't we just get done fixing that in the last game??? Wow, real original. Bioware Magic! "

It also just sounds uncool. Inquisition is an imposing title. Dreadwolf is an imposing title. The Veil Guard sounds like a sartorial maintenance product.

You want people to focus on your ensemble cast? SHOW IT! Because as long as all the promo keeps giving us new Solas anyways, it's just weak sauce.

Nah, this has panic move all over it.

Now, I'm trying to spin this optimistically in that I think this means we may actually get the game within this decade. Because I refuse to believe a) "Veil Guard" is the best they got out of a proper round of workshopping and b) That if this was truly about trying to avoid focussing on Solas too much, they'd announce this without a bunch of promo for the rest of the cast to accompanying it.

Bioware: "We wanted people to know the story is just all about solas, but more about our ensemble cast! We wanted this enough to change the name this late in the game!"

Everyone: "ALRIGHT! SHOW US THIS ENSEMBLE!!!"

Bioware:

Nah bitch, that's not what this is about. Bioware needs this to be a hit, and they need a hit soon. But they don't want their long-awaited blockbuster release to be mired in bad press. They don't want the general audience googling their new massive title only to find articles and reddit threads about layoffs, labor disputes, Mary Kirby's departure, the massive delays, the contract non-renewals happening in the midst of severance lawsuits.

BioWare wants to get their title out finally and they want to bury all the bad shit that's been plaguing this project. All the stories about the labor disputes, layoffs, firings, and lawsuits have mentioned the "Dreadwolf" team.

And quite frankly, it's just shitty. It looks bad. It's desperate.

[rupeenotruby]

Of Courses I Have Horses -Reflection

Ok this is mostly for me but if you have any feedback for the comic I'll leave my anons on for a few days and you can pop it over there!

Anyways proceed with caution, this'll probably be long. Also I'm probably going to be pretty critical of myself here but please don't worry or feel the need to defend me from myself. I actually love critique and if I really do hate what I've made I won't even be able to look at it.

Stats:

Expected Time: Three Weeks (Don't clown on me I have ambitions)

Actual Time Spent: Ten Weeks

Expected Length: 9 Parts (73 Panels)

Actual Length: 9 Parts (72 Panels + one big panel) and one bonus drawing.

Pros/the good:

FINISHED IT!!!!! :D I did it. I did it. I'm the best you know how it is!!! I've always been scared of bigger projects like these because of how intimidating they can get but I did it! I got to the end! And about 83.56% of the panels had an environmental background (not all unique but hey whaddyagonnado).

People liked it!! (unless everybody is lying to me *-* jk jk too many people for that to be true). Sure you shouldn't measure your success on other's opinions but it is nice to know that I'm not alone in my enjoyment of my work.

Updated it pretty regularly! Good to know if I ever want to make a real webtoon.

Horses Researched ✅ I probably have some blind spots having not actually interacted with horses all that much but eh. It is fanfic in the end.

Cons/the bad:

I don't like posting while writing/drawing. Too much pressure even if the pressure was kinda good to motivate me and it was technically imagined anyways.

Colors are ugly. I'm not sure why I chose that color of sky but hmmm.

Backgrounds are present but uninspired and bland. The colors contribute to this but also the fact that I didn't draw the backgrounds before I drew the people most of the time. I also was just referencing images from botw (if you couldn't guess) and this lead them to be flat and like they were not existing where the characters were existing sometimes.

Too wordy in some places. Despite the fact that I chose to do four panel chunks to practice brevity I ended up being too verbose in some situations. One of these was Legend's episode. I felt like people wouldn't get the joke so I over explained it in the dialogue but even then I still don't think people got it got it. This is usually fine but when you over correct and still end up failing it is bad because you end up failing both ends (so to speak). Also the words were not always that good or polished.

Characters were off model frequently. The horses were the worst part as their head shapes would change frequently. This is most likely a result of my lack of experience drawing horses (why I decided to go with a series where I would have to draw a bunch of horses no one will know).

Characters were also ooc (probably) Wild was a little too happy/silly, Four was a little too irrational, Legend was mean mean instead of more accidently mean, and I think the others were fine. They just didn't really get to showcase their personalities all that much.

Lessons for next time:

MAKE A REF SHEET!!! I had to go back and forth between old pages to get the colors and it was such a hassle. Made me not want to color which is bad because I already don't like coloring all that much.

Crank up the threshold on the bucket tool when coloring. Leads to more being colored in and less white bits to fill in later

Write it all out before!! Especially if short like this. Makes it easier.

Put the words before sketching dummy!!! Saves many headaches.

Speaking of which, maybe set the background to be grey so you get less headaches (maybe, unconfirmed if this was the cause of headaches).

Draw (sketch) the background before drawing the characters.

Add clouds to the sky.

Do wrist exercises! Real ones!

Conclusion:

Good experience all around. Many things learned about myself and my creative process. Still not a horse girl but maybe one day.

Anyways this is probably the last you will see of "Of Courses I Have Horses." On to bigger and brighter things!

[coolcattime]

Now I'm starting to see actual teaser trailers for it (and it comes out in like a week), I've started to look at all the trailers for the Until Dawn remaster. And general ramble for a long ass time about my thoughts.

Spoilers below the cut for the game because well, it's a remaster and I'm comparing to the original.

It looks like there is at least one new scene with Beth (Features Trailer shows her outside putting trash out and interacting with a deer), maybe this'll be a new introduction to the Don't Move minigame? But it's definitely new.

Characters now jog rather than walk slightly faster when holding the go faster button (comparsion trailer), this is good though I will miss the unintended comedy of the characters only slightly hustling towards their screaming friends.

Josh and Chris have moved in the Prologue (Comparsion Trailer), as they're no longer passed out by the bar. I think they might be on the sofas in the background now - though I that's just a guess from how that's area is lit up now rather than being dark and I believe inaccessible in the original. Maybe Chris is awake and in on the prank on Hannah now as in the original script of the game? Or maybe the ktichen scene being compared is earlier and linked with the new Beth deer scene?

Again, another new scene with Beth (Comparsion Trailer) with her at a shack being pressumably torched by Flamethrower Man. I don't remember anything like this in the original Prologue, and the shack itself isn't something I recognise either. So possibly the chase after Hannah in the Prologue will have more options.

Gameplay trailer confirms that drunk Josh is on the sofas in the background, carried there by Hannah and Beth (that's what I get for watching these backwards). Given that Beth is wearing her coat and Hannah is wearing a jumper rather than her blouse I'd say this is after the new deer scene before the original's game prologue begins. No sign of Chris though, so maybe he has been put into the prank scene. Obviously they might just move him second but there doesn't seem to be room for another person in the area.

Edit: I've been told in the comment that Chris can be seen on a second sofa in a different trailer so he's definitely still passed out drunk.

I can't tell what this is in the gameplay trailer. It's intercut with Mike shooting a sanatorium door open and I think it's still Mike but I can't tell who the guy is. Maybe a screwcrow jumpstare set up by Josh in the abandoned hotel? Or possibly a model replacement since they do seem to be trying to keep the twist secret in all these trailers.

An article on the Play Station blog confirms that all the totem locations have moved and that there is a new set called "Hunger". And also that there will be an option for either the original "Don't Move" challenge or a "Stay Calm" challenge (pressumably as people playing on PC might not have a controller with a gyro like a play station controller).

The new totems interest me, as well as the placement changes because, and I'm just saying this as someone who is hyperfixated over the Supermassive games, the future predicting collectables are never very good. Like of the thirty totems in the original Until Dawn, I would argue that only six of them really give aid (these are Guidance 2, 3, 4, & 6 and Fortune 2, & 4). While most show only the outcome rather than what leads to it and frankly Guidance 5 can hinder because giving the flare gun to Matt only helps if it doesn't fire. I know it's so you can avoid his possible death, but he fires it if he agreed with Emily about the fire tower, meaning the people most likely to help Emily and need the gun as him later won't have it in the first place.

The trend of the future predicting images showing the result rather than the cause kinda continues throughout all Supermassive games so I'm not sure how excited I am for a new branch though it does at least feel promising that new scenes will be added.

I am curious to see where all the totems are moved to, since pressumably the Death totems will still need to be collected by the same characters.

I doubt it, but I have half a hope that they have replaced some of the death/loss totems with different ones. At the very least I'd like one of the three different lodge fire totems replaced, especially as two of them are Mike's.

I am still hopefully for new scenes that we haven't seen yet. Most of the footage is such related to the first half of the game or just anything that hides the supernatural element of the story and, given how I'm sure it's easier to add scenes to the end rather than the beginning, I wouldn't be suprised in a majority of the new scenes are towards the latter half of the game.

The article that I got the info about above said that they have intentionally restructed the Prologue to both explore the Washingtons as a family and to add context to the prank. I think this is honestly so good because, well, Beth was always barely a character and I never really liked Hannah - I felt bad for her don't get me wrong, but the prank hinged on her wanting to sleep with someone else's boyfriend. It always made me see her as kind of a crappy friend and while she didn't deserve to die, I didn't feel as bad as I was probably meant to for her. Adding additional content to make her and Beth like people I am definitely looking forward to.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

RoR Parallel: Disha vs Kyoshi's convos (spoilers)

Ok....this has been bothering me.... since like....the leaks and previews were happening. Cause I feel like this is a parallel.

Disha's Convo:

Kyoshi's Convo:

I found it interesting that both question him, playing Devil's Advocate to him in a sense.

It feels less like Kyoshi is like "I found killing to be more humane than imprisoning people" and more that she's just.......testing his logic.

Of course they don't go as into detail as Disha's conversation. (Kyo why you so tight lipped? ;w;)

This might be because Kyoshi's conversation feels more like..... She's trying to comfort Roku. Try to set his mind at ease about how he killed someone. As well as assure him that he is a good fit as the Avatar (the whole "look within comment later" because mfer keeps doubting himself).

Both conversations revolve around his duties as the Avatar. Disha's trying to get him to shed the one nation mindset. Kyoshi about his self doubt. (Ironically in Kyoshi's convo, he is in a conflicting mindset of two nations, wanting to reject the Fire Nation side of "yeah you had to kill" vs the Air Nomad way of "no you should find a different alternative. Which reminds me a lot of her, how she was trapped between two mindsets. Something she doesn't want to do vs what she wants to do. Her Earth Kingdom and Air Nomad heritages conflicting within her. Her morals from Rangi and Lao Ge conflicting within her).

I dunno I found it REALLY INTERSTING but.... I'm also not sure how deep I should read into it. (All in all I found Roku's change over the novels a bit too sudden and rocky and just not handled well. This combined with Disha trying to be like "Kyoshi I guess looked within and that's why she chose to die" BS......esp considering we had two novels of Kyoshi yapping non stop when it came to analyzing herself and her actions. So while I think the novel wants to be like "she's imparting words of a mistake she failed to make"....I just don't buy the mistake cause it's not well written, so instead I see it more as "Kyoshi sees what Roku needs to hear" because it makes more sense and lines up more with her comforting him in that scene).

Sorry for the side rant, it's just hard reconciling the canon of this book with both Kyoshi novels and what we know of her char in ATLA/LoK.

Side, still related, take: (gonna be honest, looping back to Kyoshi's convo and the prison thing. I'm surprise they didn't bring up "rehabilitation," I feel like that's something Kyoshi would've tried to do esp since she's aware of the concept in a way when she comments on how "She could see Jinpa trying to convince Kirima/Wong into leaving the daofei lifestyle, they probs would steal his bison." I dunno, maybe this'll be something that we see in the next novel. I def think Kyoshi would've tried rehabilitation, esp since she saw how Te changed. If she didn't, it'd feel weird ngl.

And I feel like she was questioning Roku here so that he could make the connection himself. But he....just gives up with a "I dunno" TT0TT)