#also i didnt put it in there but when i said the castle was weirdly big inside like its trying to separate some ppl ? i was talking abt

[emoreooo]

doomed valentines 🥀

aka what if kel and aubrey took over sweetheart’s castle ?

this is an au where if you interact with the keeper of sweethearts castle as anyone but omori, it unlocks a whole new optional level. you wake up in the picnic area with hero but no kel or aubrey. sweethearts castle is different and basil joins you for this level

the castle's main towers seem to have split into two, but the main building remains one, and smaller from the outside. but it turns out to be unnaturally spacious at times, as if the building was a psychological maze trying to separate... certain people apart

you find aubrey. she looks different, but happier. “it's like a princess' dream come true. it’s everything i could ever want and more.” she says, smiling at you. “now... all i need left is my lovely prince charming—”

“hey, guys !!”

enter kel.

“ugh.”

kel also looks different, if not for the fact hes wearing an obnoxious shade of pink, head to toe. he is happy to see you all. “everyone here LOVES me ! they respect me and trust me and all that kinda stuff. man, i feel so powerful ! im never leaving this place !”

that didnt seem to sit right, so hero intervened. “but.. if you stayed here, wouldn’t you miss everyone else ? omori, basil, me... mari ?”

“well, duh ! that’s why you guys will be staying with me too !”

that broke a new fight between kel and aubrey, but for the wrong reasons

it ends with aubrey dragging basil along with her, hero with kel, and you alone on the bridge connecting the two towers. you have a choice to follow one of them first. lets say, kel.

you head for kels tower and find hero talking with kel, trying to convince his brother.

“didja know ?? the sprout moles here love me so much they made me offerings, like, im a god or something ! pretty cool huh ?”

“..offerings ?”

“yeah ! oh man.. hero, youre not jealous, right ?”

“wh— no. its just.. a bit ridiculous.”

“...ridiculous ?” kels confused expression contorts into a smile, that of understanding. “i see whats going on. its okay, hero, i know its gotta be tough to be put to the side. and overlooked. bet its weird not being in the spotlight for once.”

you caught a quick flash of horror written on heros face. “kel.. are you saying this because—”

“but its ok ! as long as were here, neither of us will ever have to feel that way !”

remaining determined, hero put his foot down. “thats enough, kel. you cant stay here.”

“yea, thats a good one, bro.”

“im... serious. were leaving, kel.”

the younger boy stops laughing. ”...oh. youre— why ?”

“i dont think this place is anything like it seems. i think its a sham.”

kel barks with laughter.

“oh so when it benefits ME is it a sham. man, how selfish can you be ?”

“...what ?”

“you really cant stand it when its not all about you, huh ? but what about me ? what about kel ?”

“i-i think this place is affecting you. please, kel, listen to me.”

“no. if you wanna leave so bad, fine ! the sprout moles can send you out. but im not leaving. im happy here anyway, and you wont get it.”

with that, kel leaves you two in his tower. hero seems distracted, before suggesting you both go find basil

you head for aubreys tower, only to find a scared basil locked in a cell. upon freeing him, he stares over your shoulder.

“o-omori.” he whispers. “...behind you.”

“well, well.. well !”

enter aubrey.

“aubrey! why was basil locked in?” hero asks, perplexed.

“hm? well, he kept trying to leave! i couldnt let that happen, not when i was sharing my happiness with him.” aubrey frowns. “i thought he was my friend.”

basil looks terrified. “aubrey.. i am your friend.”

“hmhm, of course you are. friends dont leave each other behind, right omori?”

hero once again steps in. “aubrey, i think youre taking this too far. of course we want you to be happy, but kidnapping your friends isnt the way. this place is messing with your heads, so we should leave before it gets worse.”

but your path is blocked by kel in the doorway.

“that wont do.” aubrey hums behind you, brandishing her shiny pink bat. “no.. not at all. what do you think, kel ?”

“i think its rude to leave in the middle of a party. right, hero? you taught me that one!”

“kel..”

he then takes a bow as aubrey joins him. “so, friends, may we have this dance?”

“let us sweep the floor !”

boss battle mechanics !

you can not change aubrey or kels emotions even at the start of the battle. the only ones who can change their emotions are each other, so the best strategy is to adapt with your own party’s emotion play

there are 4 phases to this battle. a neutral state, tier one emotion, tier two, and lastly tier three, much like most emotion based bosses. between each phases, aubrey will make kel happier, while kel makes aubrey angrier. they are not made to have the sad emotion, however,

if you end third phase with an attack from hero, kel will start fourth phase with a depressed emotion instead of manic, giving your team good advantage on winning since he relies on speed. aubrey will still be furious, but its still one enemy disadvantaged

once you defeat them they will go snork mimi in your arms and you must carry them out of the castle and back to mari.

“aww, i guess its past their royal nap time !”

[ganondoodle]

(while i am crumbling into pieces from cramp pain)

back when they announced the totk masterworks book i said i wasnt happy about it bc it would either

prove they thought all this was good from the start and everything went as planned

show us that they had unbelievable better ideas and plans but for some unknow reason scrapped it all

as it stands now with the concepts i have seen ... they somehow did both, some things seemed to have been planned fro mthe start (the whole focus on sonau/zonai stuff for example, which i personally just dont like bc i liked them better as an unkown mystery you never get to meet) and other stuff (like ganondorfs concepts, or the infinitely cooler castle in the sky esque concepts for the sky islands, instead of some nonsensical, meaningless little stone crumbs) was much, much more interesting initially (together with the interviews that said they initially planned to have the battery be a magic meter and make the sonau more magic than tech- but then decided to build their stuff around modern electrical devices just so players would immediately know what it was an what it would do -why????? thats so boring?? and unecessary ?? and they still give you tutorials for it anyway, multiple times??!!- for some ungodly reason)

it makes me more and more sure that this game, that took 6 years to make with most assets already being there (the same time that botw took to make?????????), went through a similar development hell as that one final fantasy game did where the director decided to make it an entirely different game every few weeks bc he saw something cool in another game-

its the only thing that makes sense to me, why else would it be so weirdly ... unfinished, its full of grand ideas badly executed, or like i said in a previous post, like an alpha build (weird! did someone in charge also see cool stuff every few months and decide they wanted it in there too no matter what so everyone had to scramble to try and put it in making the whole jenga tower fall over and over??), just to test how far you can push things, with placeholders everywhere, the same cutscene pasted in where another should be and a placeholder reason to get players to go soemwhere (fake zelda) and rough ideas for puzzles etc, that was never finished, jsut highly polished (in looks, sounds and presentation) in hopes of it being 'good enough' or players not noticing (like, take the underground for example, the idea itself is fantastic and cool as fuck, but its feels like an idea that was never finished and just barely fileld with some things to try and cover up the fact that it was never done, like a statue that wasnt done being carved but ran out of time so they painted it anyway- take the base map and invert it, put some easily accessible points of jumping down into it in random spots to test if the game can handle it- no time left to actually get that idea anywhere more specific and well thought out/put together, so its left like that, put the same texture everywhere, barely modified copies of the same enemies, and some little reward spots that make no sense, modelling three types of trees and an enemy camp is way quicker to do than actually making an entire new map (they didnt have to make it the same size btw, just make it big but unique caves, put the gravity effect down there in enclosed spaces! makes it less weird to have randomly happen in the sky! etc) but its there!! its in the game and if they are lucky most players wont go down there enough to notice how meaningless and unfinished it all is)

knowing they would most likely never admit to it though, probably bc of their reputation, is just addign to the frustrations i have with it :I

(i just hate to not know the reason for things, if the devs, who are usually the ones being worked to the bone for things they know arent good, where put through that bc some executive big shot threw their tables around every so often or neglected their project bc they wanted to focus on something else first ... id like to know, i dont enjoy making up these conspiracy (?) theories .......... but i cant shake this feeling, its jsut makes no sense)

[bubblybubbubs]

Bland (1)

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Royalty AU

Summary: Draco Malfoy is the Prince of Ebery and hates being a royal so when he meets you he calls himself a different name to hide his royal status.

Warning: Cursing

AN: hope you guys like this i definitely have an idea to make this a series <3 also this was very roughly inspired by the barbie princess and the pauper movie . had to repost because it wasn’t showing up in tags the first time?

btw a governess according to google is like a royal nanny.

Draco Malfoy lead a bland life. He knew he was lucky to have the riches he had, to be born a prince of Ebery, but he truly had hated his life. He had hated waking up everyday to please everyone other than himself with the same court niceties.

It was selfish of him but he wanted to just be Draco, not ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Prince Draco’. The formalities were just a reminder of how his life had been decided for him the minute he was born.

He only had two real friends Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, the only two tolerable members of the court.

Anyone else was ancient or insufferable, such as Vincent Crabbe his cousin who he could not stand. Crabbe was almost an exact opposite of Draco, which was interesting considering they had been raised by the same governess.

Crabbe was all too eager to jump at any chance of power, there were countless times he had told his grandfather how unfit Draco was to be King. There was little Crabbe wouldn’t do for the crown, Draco was lucky it wasn’t passed down or Crabbe might have killed to get his hands on it.

In Ebery the monarch would chose any one from his lineage to rule after his/her passing, this was always announced the day after the Monarch’s death which left a lot of animosity between the possible heirs.

Draco didn’t want the crown and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t get it even if he did, Abraxos Malfoy wasn’t exactly his biggest fan. He didn’t remember a single conversation they had, they usually ended abruptly when the King decided he had enough family bonding time.

He hadn’t cared about the royal life or the crown. he had planned on leaving his dreadful life to a place where no one would know about Ebery and he would’ve done it, had it not been for y/n.

He met Y/N Y/L/N when he was disguised as a commoner with Blaise, and they both decided to go out on the town.

“Here put this hat on it’ll hide your hair.” Blaise said pushing a hat towards him. It was a big fedora that was an ugly shade of yellow, it looked about as old as him.

“It’s hideous, where did you even find this.” Draco groaned.

“It was all I could find with the short notice, we can go back to the castle if you’d like.” Before Blaise could continue Draco put on the huge hat making sure to hide his hair before they entered the pub.

“That girl is totally checking you out.” Blaise whispered when they sat down. Draco peered behind him to see a girl staring at him who had smiled when they made eye contact.

“Do you think she recognizes me.”

“I don’t know, go ask her.” Blaise said encouraging Draco to go talk to her. Draco straightened the smock he wore before going up to her.

“I was hoping you’d come talk to me.” She said grinning up from her drink.

“Really how come.” He said talking a seat next to her.

“A guy with a hat like that is bound to be intresting.” She chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I haven’t seen you around here, what’s your name.”

“Um my name is Julian and that’s my friend uh Norman.”

“I’m Y/N”

-

Draco had made a point to visit her as much as he could, he grew fond of her.

“In my bakery again Julian, one would think you like me.” The girl said as she stepped towards the counter to greet him.

“Maybe I do Y/N.” Draco said leaning against the counter . He definitely did, Blaise claimed it was obvious but if Y/N noticed she didn’t show it.

“I’m taking a break.” The girl yelled out towards the kitchen before grabbing Draco and heading to the streets quickly ditching her apron and hat.

“What’s with you and hats, every time I see you you’re wearing one. Are you bald?.” She said as they walked through the shops motioning to the flat cap he wore today.

Draco tensed. his hair would be a dead give away of who he was, almost every king in the Malfoy line had the same almost white hair . He knew it was inevitable she find out who he was but he liked the friendship they had and wanted to keep it that away as long as possible. Maybe he should go bald.

“I have a weirdly shaped head.” He stammered. He wanted to kick himself, was that really the best he could come up with. She still laughed.

“You’re strange Julian.” She said sorting through a box of junk a vendor was selling.

”Tell me something about yourself. I feel like you know everything about me but I know nothing about you.” She said walking towards a tree and plopping down.

“There’s not much to know.” He said sitting next to her.

“I doubt that.”

“Well im an only child-

“None of that boring stuff. What do you want to do with your life, what are your goals.” She said cutting him off.

Draco was quiet for a second, no one ever asked him what his goals were. Everyone just assumed he wanted to be King.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never really thought about it.” He said.

“What about you.”

“I want to travel the world and see everything and when I come back I’m going to be rich and take care of everyone who helped me when I was young.” He wasn’t surprised, from the little time they had known each other he could tell she had a fiery spirit with a big heart.

“Wait so you don’t want to be a baker?” He said feigning shock.

“A girl can only have so much bread in her life.”

“Can I come?” He asked facing you.

“huh?”

“When you travel the world, can i go with you?” His heart sped up, that was a stupid question they only had known each other for a month and there he was asking if they could travel together.

“I wouldn't have it any other way.” She said laying on his chest. He would do it, right there under that tree he promised himself he would go to the ends of the earth with her.

He imagined it, life with just the two of them traveling the world. No crown, no titles just the two of them.

“Do you have to go back to work.”

“My Dad will live if I skip one day of work.” She said grinning at him.

“Follow me then.” He said grabbing her by the hand.

“where are we going.” She asked.

“You’ll see.” Draco led Y/N through the streets swifting past the crowd of people in the streets and into the trees. The whole time she couldnt take his eyes off him, had she been less awestruck by him she would have noticed the Malfoy blonde hair his falling hood flashed.

“We’re almost there, close your eyes.” She did and let Draco lead her further she felt the floor under her get rockier.

“Careful.” He said holding her tighter by the hand.

She felt a cold breeze on her face. “We’re here, you can open your eyes.” She opened her eyes and she was standing on a small cliff that stood over a beautiful lake that shimmered almost magically.

He watched for her reaction carefully. This had been his favorite spot in all of Ebery growing up, whenever his mother hadn’t been busy she would take him here and they would swim together, then they would watch the sunset .

“Where are we.” She said furrowing her brow.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it, it’s beautiful.”

“It’s not that well known, I was thinking it could be our little place.” She smiled widely, Draco never wanted to forget what she looked like that day so happy and carefree.

“I’d like that.” She then noticed the castle that stood tall above the trees across the lake. “Is that the castle.” He nodded.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the castle it’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.” He said turning her to face him. He had known it the day he first saw her, the smile she had sent his way had knocked the wind out of him.

She blushed “I really like you Julian.” Draco was stricken by guilt and he really did want to tell her truth but how could he when things were so good. So he kissed her and just like that Draco’s life seemed a lot less bland.

——————————————-

lil extra

“Norman, why does my name have to be fucking norman.”

“I was nervous, and your dumb hat didnt make it any easier.”

[goatpaste]

opinions on. fack it. all da fo4 companions.

Ough

Its been dhsjjf a few years since I touched f4 and still haven't finished it so I straight up had to look up the list

I have over 120+ hours in that game and I still haven't met nick valentine properly

Preston Garvey: 10/10

The most perfect man!!! My 120 hours of game play have been lovingly traveling and building settlements with my husband preston Garvey.

I love him very very much and the way the Fandom and game treated him was a fucking crime. The fact that everyone reduced him to that one meme sucks because then NO ONE talked about his very nice in depth character thats really compelling and sweet. Then the game itself should known better than to make your fucking companion the minuteman quest giver! Or at least change how it worked! Or just give to a minuteman at the castle so you would have a reason to go there after the quest

Not to mention how fucking scummy the nuka cola dlc is to him with making him one of the biggest victims to what you have to do to play that dlc

Hancock: 9/10

Big fan I think he's very very funny and also my husband. Its very fun to have mods that let me travel with both him and preston. They don't psychically talk to each other but their general comments are very funny to hear next to each other.

But hancock a good man I care him and his whole like outlook and deal.

Sometimes I feel his story is a lil idk I think there's more personal shit we could do with him. But again its been a few years so I maybe im misremembering

Cait: 6/10

Iv never traveled with cait myself and she's probably one of the companions i know the least about

But from what I do know

Shes my daughter and love to fight and I love that

BuT iv heard some like mixed opinions on how caits drug addiction is written and yeah iv heard mostly its kinda not great!

But I care her shes my daughter a solid 7/10!

Codsworth: 4.5/10

truely no offence to codsworth, but i really just dont care djgh about him. like no reaL strong opinions. and this comes from me! someone who had a bIG robot interest! 

i think codsworth is my friend but more or less just kinda blends into the background for me so much i forget he’s a companion

Curie: 4/10

i also havent traveled or even met curie this is based again on what i know from reading about her

but man fallout 4 sure said were gonna have some real fun robots in the mechanist DLC but all the main story robots are gonna be just not that good

and curie, man i really really dont like her becoming a totally human looking synth. idk her whole deal with doing that but djksg i hate it become i like robot not human skin waman. 

curie seems like she could be a friend but just weird tiddy boob robot horny

Paladin Danse: 3/10

i rEALLY dont get the hype on Danse. i SEE where danse can be a lot more interesting but its not actually there as far as i know. again iv met danse but didnt travel with him because i didnt care about BOS stuff but i know with f4 you kinda have to do that

the other half of danse stans i see just think he’s hot buT LIKE he loOKS like the generic fallout 4 man model! there cuter men in fo4 Danse just looks like the base player character when you start the game. he looks like sturges and every other man 

i do not care about him

i care more about the rest of the BOS if they were written how I wanted them to be written

Deacon: 6/10

iv never met or traveled with deacon, he is probably one of the companions i know the least about in Fo4

he seems fine, i realLY dont have a feel for his character to give a solid opinion beyond im glad he seems like a goober and like a good person. aND his disguise shit is a very fun game mechanic i do love that and wish id known about it sooner i went so many places he apparently is without knowing he does that

Dogmeat: 10/10

thats a good boy! 

Maccready: 8/10

i havent traveled with maccready but im an avid Fo3 lover so i know his deal p well. i love him that is mY SON

i kill for Fo4 to have more intertwining Fo3 characters for a lot of reasons but im happy Maccready is there he is my terrible son who is grounded grounded grounded

as far as i can tell tho like his character seems so contained to Fo4 and almost feels like they dont want any Fo3 characters who were put in Fo4 to ?? like acKNowledge the Fo3 events?? its so weird to me

Piper Wright: 4/10

this is probably a huge unpopular opinion but i sdjkgh dont care for piper. she seems like a good person and everything but i think she is kinda a lot to deal with sjkgh. she just kinda isnt in my wheel house of like characters i enjoy!

also i literally have no idea what her companion quest is beyond how weirdly interested she is in the player character. i couldnt guess what her companion quest is to save my life, i havent traveled with her but i also like feel iv heard NO one talk about her goals and only that shit she mentions having done sounds p neat, wish i could be there

Strong: 6/10

not bad, i like strong he is my friend. but also i very much see the big issues that come with the bad super mutant writing

and i was spoiled with Fawkes and Lily i just love them so much and it just feels like Strong took the most obvious and boring route with a super mutant companion 

X6: 6/10

have not met or traveled with X6 and i have heard a loT of like differing opinions on him

i like him! i think he seems sweet and i like the potential he could be

but he isnt! his character story and writing is just bad because the institute writing is so bad

Ada: 10/10

I LOVE YOU MISS ADA! underrated companion. i know she is a dlc companion but i actually like the mechanist DLC and ada is a sweetheart she is my friend

Porter Gage: 1/10

listen, i havent played nuka world and really dont have full interest in it so im limited to fan interpretations of gage and what i know from the wiki and ect

but he seems like?? a shit head?? like just another raider bastard? like not even a complex multi dimensional raider with opinions, he just seems to be a raider? idk what im missing but i dont get the hype and why i see more art of him drawn than of preston garvey :///

and im not gonna do longfellow because im gonna be real cheif, no idea. i couldnt even start to know shit about him

[ilikelookingatthings]

Akatsuki no yona chapter 195: youtube comment I’m proud of: Part 2

yon-hi herself didn't really put alot of personal stock in being a decendant before. being startled by the priests. saying she i just a normal person and wanting to just live her life or see it as a good thing. its why she assumed the worst if the priests(including golbi's face and her husbands view of them and  used to secercy being the way for safty.

Yon-hi didn't really believe in her blood or that meaning herself. the family felt some peace in that people are happy they existed because of the priest. the priest was just happy they existed which is strengthened even more that he meant well because the two priests we have met from his faction are kaashi and yoon's priest. but the priests died and yon-hi dealt with her mother killing herself. yon-hi focused more on the tradgedy that the priest she had judged had been kind to her family rather than focusing on a meaning. I don't think yon-hi really thought about her blood having a meaning until yona appeared last chapter.

Kaashi showing off that her powers were legit, reminding yon-hi that kaashi had recognized her blood just by looking at her(which yon-hi didnt have much time to think about after the priest tradgedy). ��kaashi's scar a reminder if the sinof burning all those people alive. kaashi confirming she can see the future. at times. that the original head priest could as well. and that kaashi can see the guardians that match the dragons and confirmation that yona is king hirryu's reincsrnation. something that PROVES that hirruyu was the real deal.

it was only after finding out yona was a reincarnation that yon-hi suddenly felt the loss of a potential meaning to the blood. after all they protected the blood and a easy meaning would be if it mean the king would be reborn through their family.  that kaashi had the reincarnation instead... yon-hi didnt really believe in looking for meaning herself but her world view changed after realizing yona was the real deal. so yon-hi gained the want for meaning but then felt the loss if it like yona had taken it away last chapter(which was probably traumatic enough it started the disease to start in yon-hi from the stress which CAN happen in hereditary diseases).

Then yon-hi focused on being the wife and raising her son soo-won with the idea he would be the next emperor. yon-hi said thats what she decicated herself last time and we know she was genuine about it before but she gave off a sense of dissatisfaction in that last chapter now that she knew that king hirriyu and the dragons were real even as she echoed kasashi's attempt to comfort her by saying all they can do now is being the wife and mother to the loved ones.

hence why yon-hi took it hard here to find out that yu-hon might not be emperor over the priests being killing(in yon-hi's opinion for her sake). why yon-hi tried to cling that it must be because of yona and yon-hi feelings a loss of purpose again. yon-hi has projected that her purpose was to raise the crown prince ad realized again that she had projected and decided that was the meaning.

but ironically Kaashi had to remind yon-hi that yon-hi is only human and yona is also just human. yon-hi is assuming and wanting this bigger meaning and feeling the loss of it but kaashi told yon-hi that can't yon-hi believe in the people who are just happy that yon-hi is alive. asking why yon-hi can;t be satisfied with just living her good life. neither kaashi, or the priests or even the mom said the maning had to be a big meaning. the priests gave a clue with just being happy they existed. and it weirdly echos how yona in canon collected the dragons together as the prophocey stated...but she did it to keep on living. just trying to live and have a good life and help people. yona didn't have some plan to take over the castle, or get revenge, or gain followers. yona just wanted to keep living.

everyone ELSE are the ones having a hard time processing that yona isnt planning to take over the kingdom or use her influence to make things hard for soo-won. people assume she wants revenge. orthat she wants to take over the kingdom and cause problems(like kye-sooks opinion...even soo-won gets confused about it at times).

yon-hi who used to say she is a regular person was shook and I think forgot that yona is a regular person. same as yon-hi is. and they both have the ability to take fate in their hands and do what they want. yon-hi is looking for some meaning and sees yona as different and puts down her own abilities to deal with things.

your interpretation makes sense but I don't think kaashi means that yon-hi has the same benifits as yona when it comes to stuff or influence. she means yonhi has the same power to decided an live her life as yona because they are both humans and ll they can do if live life to the best of their abilities. I don't think kaashi means it in a spoled brat kind of way. both have the same ability to take life by its horns. and yon-hi says she has never taken anything means yon-hi feels she has never taken control of her life. after all she lived in hiding due to her families rules. she got swept away by yu-hon even when she resisted, then fell for him and got married. she got swept over the meet the priests. and she did try to meet the priests or tell yu-hon not to burn them and she wasnt even able to save kaashi or the little priests. yon-hi in her own view is very passive and probably feels like she's never been in control. she tends to react to things that happen rather than push it along. yon-hi is rejecting kaashi telling her that yon-hi does have control to live her life. after all yon-hi did choose to love yu-hon. she took him back to her family and asked for marriage and wanted to come to the capital for one. yon-hi feels powerless when yon-hi has as much power as yona does. that any human does., to shape her own life.

I am laughing my ass off at you strait up having no faith in Il asking if he is going to kill her. XD

[astrangerthingsblog]

Can it be angst or hurt comfort for the prompts? I kinda want mike to be saying the stuff about not being a kid to will, realizing that will didnt get to grow up like they did and then apologize

WILL

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Will studies every inch of his bedroom closely, as if he’s never going to see it again. Which isn’t true, exactly, because according to his mom, they will be living there until the end of summer. But since she broke the news to him last night, he can’t help but already miss the life he knows. His bedroom, the house, Hawkins – despite everything they’ve been through here.

Everything that makes his mom want to leave: his time missing in the Upside Down, him being possessed by the Shadowmonster, the trauma they both suffer because of it.

But also, everything that makes Will want to stay: all of his friends, D&D, Castle Byers. Even if all his suffering happened in Hawkins, all of his happiness is rooted here, too.

And now they’re moving away.

Will stands up and walks over to his desk, looking down on the drawings scattered across it. Lately, the subjects he has been drawing has been less happy things. Since he got taken into the Upside Down, most of his drawings have been pretty sinister. He picks up one of his older ones, tainted by childish skill, but brighter in a way he can’t draw now.

He feels a surge of anger for the life he has lost. He hasn’t felt like himself ever since everything started going down in ’83, and now, two years later, things are so different it’s like living a different life entirely. Before was about friends, play and adventure, now is about getting through each day one by one, and making sure his mom is there with him.

It hits him then, like a light switch being turned on; he’s only got one last summer. The past few years have been tainted by the aftermath of everything he’s been through. He has not appreciated being with his friends as much as he should have, and now it’s come to bite him in the ass.

The best way to spend this summer is to make sure he enjoys every last bit of it. He’ll put away his trauma, and temporarily put away the fact that he won’t be here anymore come fall. It can be the best last summer with his friends, if he puts his mind to it.

That night, after a long day by the lake, Will suggests something they haven’t made the time for in a long while:

“Guys, wouldn’t it be fun if we did a D&D campaign this week? For old time’s sake?”

“Hell yes!” Dustin exclaims. “It’s been so long since we last did. What do you say, Dungeon Master?”

Everyone turns towards Mike, who looks a little confused. His eyes meet Will’s, and he gives a small smile accompanied by a tiny shrug: “I mean, yeah, sure, that sounds fun,”

Which is how, four days later, they find themselves back in Mike’s basement around a table they haven’t sat around in a while, two new players among their midst.

Mike spends a long time explaining the game to El and Max, the first looking intrigued and fascinated by the premise, the latter looking as if she doesn’t really care too much but listening closely none the less.

When they finally get started, it’s fairly obvious that Mike hasn’t put a lot of work into the campaign planning. Will doesn’t really care, he was mostly just excited about playing again for the chance to hang out like old times, losing themselves in the game. Dustin, however, seems to be more unimpressed.

“Seriously? Mike, that was so predictable!” he exclaims.

“You’re just pissed cause you didn’t see it coming before I did,” Lucas taunts him.

“Am not. I’m just saying because it was almost identical to one of the campaigns we did last fall,” Dustin points out, leaning back in his chair and glowering at Mike. Mike rolls his eyes.

“I didn’t have much time to prepare it, I’m sorry it’s not living up to your high standards, Dustin,” he says sarcastically. They get back into the game for maybe 20 minutes before Max groans and puts her head on the table.

“This blows,” she proclaims. “It’s 90 degrees outside and we’re sitting in a sweaty basement doing this, rather than cooling off at the pool or lake?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of not feeling it either,” Lucas agrees with her, and Will feels an irk of annoyance. He says nothing, watching the situation.

“Seriously? Now you’re just pissed because you’re doing worse than me,”

“Actually, Dustin, I want to go swimming,” Lucas protests.

“El,” Mike says, turning towards El who’s looking a little confused at the turn of events. “You want to go swim or continue the game?”

El considers this for a moment, then apparently decides she wants to go where Max is going, and responds: “The lake sounds good,”

“Yeah, I agree. Let’s go to the lake,” Mike announces, and it just spills over for Will.

Standing up, he says loudly: “Seriously?! How many times this week have we gone swimming? Six times! And it’s only Thursday! I thought maybe, for once, we could do something else. Maybe it’s too much to ask that we do something we all used to enjoy. But all you ever have time for nowadays is going to the pool or the lake and chilling…”

Everyone looks at him and there’s a horrible moment of silence where Will has to process his outburst and replay his own words in his mind on full volume. Then, it all becomes much worse as Mike speaks up.

“We’re not kids anymore.” He states, and Will’s stomach sinks with the realisation that he wasn’t really aware of that fact until just now. “I mean, what did you think? That we’re just going to sit in my basement all day playing games for the rest of our lives?”

The air feels thick, almost too thick for Will to be able to breathe it properly. Dustin’s eyeing the wall awkwardly, Lucas is looking at his feet, Max is fading into the background and El is switching between looking at Will and Mike, seeming as if she can’t comprehend what is happening between them right now. Will can’t really comprehend it either.

Finally, he finds his voice again, swallowing with difficulty: “No,” Pause. “I guess I just hoped we all still had things in common,”

And with that, he leaves, with the others all too stunned to stop him.

MIKE

“Um,” Max says when Will has left. “Should we go after him?”

“He probably wants to be alone right now,” Lucas says. “We can try talking to him about it tomorrow, when he’s cooled off.”

“Yeah, okay,” she says, looking unsure.

Mike is unsure himself about what the hell just happened. One moment they were cool, the next Will was shouting at them, something Mike knows for a fact has never happened before. Will doesn’t really shout, it’s really not his thing.

“Mike,” El says, and Mike slowly manages to pull some of his attention to her, the rest still stuck on whatever just happened. “Why did you say that to him?”

“Huh?” Mike utters. “I… He was being ridiculous! Shouting at us like that as if we’re doing something wrong! We tried playing, and it was obvious none of us were enjoying it, neither was he.”

“Yes, but now he’s sad. You hurt him.” El says somberly.

Mike’s stomach twists hearing that. He shakes it off. “Let’s go to the lake. We’ll see him tomorrow.”

They do go to the lake but are all mostly quiet all the way there. It’s never a good thing fighting with a friend, but it’s like they all share this mutual feeling that arguing with Will is even worse. It’s not something that happens a lot, because Will is usually very easy going and always willing to let the others get their way. It tugs on Mike’s mind all afternoon.

They eventually start getting their mind off it, swimming and finding a beach volleyball. After a few hours, things seem mostly like usual, but the absence of Will is still obvious.

“Children!” a familiar voice cries, making the group all face the source. Steve Harrington strolls towards them with swimming trunks on, a thick layer of sunscreen on his chest and an oversized, pink inflatable donut under one arm and a towel in the other.

“Where’d you get that monstrosity?” Dustin asks, pointing to the swim ring. Steve ignores the question and instead joins their extremely amateur game of beach volleyball.

“Where’s Little Byers?” he asks eventually, and they all falter a little bit. “Something happen?”

“He’s behaving really weirdly. He got super mad at us for not wanting to play D&D and just ran off.” Lucas explains.

“Oh, well, he’s probably just upset cause he’s moving,” Steve shrugs, then serves the ball straight into Dustin’s face. “Jeez, Dustin! You okay? Pay attention!”

“He’s moving?!” Mike exclaims, his head spinning. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah Jonathan said – wait… he hasn’t told you? Shit. I take it back! No one’s moving. Please don’t tell him I told you….”

Mike feels cold all over, never mind the 90-degree weather and sun baking his back. He looks hopelessly to his friends, hoping they have an answer to this, but they all look equally shocked and confused.

“I gotta - ” he stutters. “I gotta go.”

“Mike,” Lucas says. “Should we come too?”

Mike shakes his head, shoving his stuff into his backpack without care. “No, I need to apologize to him. If he wants, we’ll find you guys later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Tell him we’re sorry, too, okay?” Dustin says.

Nodding absentmindedly, Mike gets on his bike and gets out of there before anyone can add anything to the conversation.

His mind is spinning. Will can’t be moving, he just can’t. They’ve been friends since the first day of kindergarten. Will is the one person Mike knows he can count on for absolutely anything. Mike had even noticed something was a little off with Will the past couple of days, but he’d written it off because Will sometimes gets into a mood which passes after a few days.

Since when had Mike stopped letting Will know he was there for him?

He knows first hand how hard these past years have been for Will. After the disappearance, things had been different. For a while they’d all tried pretending like they weren’t, but it’s impossible to come back from an alternate dimension and be the same. But at least, Mike had been there for Will. For an entire year he was always there for him, no matter how hard things got.

Then, El came back. And it hurts to admit, but Mike knows he hasn’t been there for Will as much after that.

A part of him probably thought that things were better now, because hey, El came back, and that was the root of all their problems, wasn’t it? He sees now how stupid he’s been. El might have come back but that doesn’t magically erase everything that happened, everything Will went through.

And now, Will is moving and Mike hasn’t even been a real friend to him for the past half-year.

He only realizes he’s been crying when he jumps off his bike outside Will’s house and throws it to the ground in his rush to get to the door. He knocks, almost frantically, and jumps when it’s thrown open by none other than an annoyed Chief Hopper.

“The hell, kid?” he grumbles, but his eyes soften as he takes in Mike’s undoubtedly wild appearance. He opens the door wide. “He’s in his room,”

Mike walks quickly through the house, but pauses outside Will’s door, unsure all of a sudden. He’d been too busy thinking about everything that’s happened and beating himself up about it, and forgot to think of what to say to Will. Hesitantly, he reaches up and knocks softly on the familiar door. He wouldn’t usually knock, but it feels strangely inappropriate to just come barging in after messing up so badly.

“Come in,” a muffled voice speaks from behind the door, and Mike lets himself in, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Will is lying on his stomach, hugging his pillow and facing the other way, not even looking up to see who it is.

“Uh, hey,” Mike says awkwardly, and that gets Will moving. He sits up and looks at Mike with genuine surprise, like it’s so crazy that he would come and talk to Will. Mike wants to slap himself. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” Will breathes, then makes space for Mike on the bed, shuffling up to sit against the headboard and looking at his hands as they fiddle with the pillow. Mike watches his hands, too, scared to speak. Finally, he looks up at Will’s face.

“Will, I’m sorry,” he says shakily. “I was an ass,”

Will looks up, his eyes a little shiny. “No, you weren’t,”

“Yeah, I was,” Mike insists. “What I said to you was really stupid. Just because we’re not kids doesn’t mean we can’t play D&D anymore. I should’ve tried harder planning the campaign,”

“It’s okay, Mike,” Will mumbles. “I don’t even know why I got so mad. It’s okay that we do different things now than before,”

“Yeah, but you have a right to be upset when we were being so stupid about it,”

Will looks thoughtful, then looks up and meets Mike’s eyes finally. “I think I only really got upset because it feels like I never really got to say goodbye to it, you know? Or… that doesn’t make sense,”

“Tell me what you mean,” Mike urges him, scooting a little closer.

“I mean… after I got back from the Upside Down, we still played some. And I wanted to enjoy it and lose myself in it like we used to, but it was so hard when everything was weighing on my mind. The last time I really enjoyed playing was the night I got taken,” Will explains, and Mike’s heart sinks. “I guess what I mean is that it feels like I never got closure on my childhood, stupid as it sounds,”

“It’s not stupid,” Mike whispers, his eyes stinging. “Will, I should have realized. I’ve been so stupid. And such a bad friend. Ever since El came back it’s like I just forgot, because I was so happy she was home again. But that’s not fair to you,”

Will sighs. “You shouldn’t feel like you have to take care of me,”

“I don’t,” Mike says determinedly. “Will, I’m supposed to be your best friend, but I haven’t really been that. I’ve been selfish. I’m sorry,”

Will smiles, a small quirked smile. “You already said that,” he meets Mike’s eyes again, and Mike can see Will’s eyes are glassy too. “I forgive you. If you forgive me for being an ass, too,”

“What?” Mike is confused. What could Will possibly be sorry for?

“That thing I said about us not having things in common anymore? It’s not true at all. I was just upset about… something, and I took it out on all of you. I do actually like spending time with you guys, it doesn’t matter what we do,”

Mike smiles, which in turn has Will smiling back. Then, Mike looks down and hesitates again before asking. “When were you gonna tell us you’re moving?”

Will’s face falls, and he frowns sadly, fumbling with the pillow again. “I don’t know. I think I just wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening and have one last summer of us just doing what we usually do,”

“Are you moving far?” Mike asks, voice raspy, afraid of what the answer may be.

“Somewhere in Maine, Mom said.”

“What?!” Mike erupts. “Will, that’s so far away,”

“I know,” Will says miserably.

Mike starts crying again, then, and Will looks up in surprise when he does. Mike apologizes and buries his face in his hands.

“You can’t move. I don’t know what I’ll do without you here. We need you.”

Suddenly, he feels skinny arms enveloping him, and it takes less than a second for him to return the hug with all his might. They cry together like that for a while, though Mike couldn’t tell you how long.

They make promises about staying friends, no matter what. They’ll call every day, because how could they possibly go from seeing each other every day to rarely talking? And they are gonna visit each other on as many occasions possible. And they say that, in a few years, when they’re done with high school, they’ll apply for the same college and go there together.

It won’t be the same, but God help him if Mike can’t keep Will Byers as his best friend. It’s just out of the question.

-

In the end, the Byers don’t move. While it could probably have brought some peace of mind, getting away from the places where their worst memories reside, how could they ever leave their extended family behind? Joyce couldn’t leave Hopper, and she would never take Will away from his friends or Mike.

-

This got really out of hand. I asked for prompts like 3 months ago and never got to them, I’m sorry! Hope you enjoyed though

[tiniest-pip]

I’m comparing my answers to the ones I said in 2016.

1:A song you like with a color in the title

first thing that pops in my head is obviously ‘I’m blue, dabadiedabada’ but like. lemme think.. ah, a cover ‘Grey day - Nouvelle Vague’

2:A song you like with a number in the title

This is more like a meme answer than serious but I actually confused this song with our anthem one day: ‘Wij houden van oranje - André Hazes’

3:A song that reminds you of summertime

‘Gerudo Valley on acoustic guitar’, It’s a nice tune.

4:A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

HA. so many. let’s name a bunch ‘I don’t care - Apocayptica’, ‘Praying - Kesha’, ‘Buy the stars - Marina and the diamonds’, ‘Had enough - Breaking Benjamin’, ‘Better place - Saint asonia’ and lastly ‘Godsmack - I f*cking hate you’ all containing equally powerful feelings.

5:A song that needs to be played LOUD

‘Mute city - F zero (metal cover)’ ,  ‘Bad apple - Touhou (orchestra version)’ MY JAM!!! Like, any version of ‘mute city - f-zero’ and, any version of ‘bad apple - touhou’

6:A song that makes you want to dance

‘Let ‘em talk - Kesha ft. Eagles of death metal’.

7:A song to drive to

I don’t drive so I’ll go for ‘passenger seat’, eh. ‘Kaskade - 4 AM (Adam K & Soha Mix)' coincidentally there’s cars and roads in the video so I am probably not the only one with this opinion. I mean the lyrics kind refer to it.

8:A song about drugs or alcohol

‘Lover dearest - Marianas Trench’  and I can’t listen to even the first second without feeling agony because MEMORIES

9:A song that makes you happy

same as the answer to the dance one (cause i don’t think people dance to songs that make em sad unless its modern ballet) and I get extremely happy when I hear this cockatiel sing the totoro song

10:A song that makes you sad

did you mean ‘anything written by evanescence’? like wtf evanescence why must you depress me so much. ‘Lithium - Evanescence’ i didnt wanna link ‘my immortal’ cause then I have to hear it :’(  legit most depressing song ever written on earth not a single doubt.

11:A song that you never get tired of

this is such a weird answer but I’m gonna say ‘Watcha say - Jason Derulo’ cause it’s weirdly catchy and I still like it after all these years lol.

12:A song from your preteen years

’Peach Theme – Mario Strikers charged Football’, because good game.

13:One of your favorite 80’s songs

‘John Denver - Take me home’ amazing song 11/10 (this is apparently 70s but it’s old so I think it counts)

14:A song that you would love played at your wedding

’You’ll be in my heart – Phil Collins, This song is my love for my girlfriend put into melodies. (Kiss me – Ed Sheeran, Love you More – Racoon are good runner ups)

15:A song that is a cover by another artist

let’s ignore almost all of these have been covers LOL ’Super Mario World - Castle / Boss - Super Guitar Bros‘, This is legit brilliantly done.

16:One of your favorite classical songs

’Ghost in the Shell – Inner Universe (String Quartet) , I like all string quartet covers, if there’s a string quartet cover of something I will like it.

17:A song that would sing a duet with on karaoke

’Te ver gegaan – Aida’, there is not any doubt

18:A song from the year that you were born

’Kiss from a rose - Seal’, : )

19:A song that makes you think about life

’Savages – Marina and the Diamonds’, it’s thought provoking

20:A song that has many meanings to you

’Rainbow – Kesha’, because new life

21:A favorite song with a person’s name in the title

’Jolene – Dolly Parton, Catchy and first thing I thought of

22:A song that moves you forward

Depends on the moment so I really don’t know.

23:A song that you think everybody should listen to

’Inner Universe – Yoko Kanno & Origa’, because it’s beautiful

24:A song by a band you wish were still together

‘Somewhere a clock is ticking - Snow patrol’ I mean maybe they’re technically still together but they aren’t making new music for years so.

25:A song by an artist no longer living

‘One more light - Linkin Park’  :’(

26:A song that makes you want to fall in love

’Als jij maar naar me lacht – Marco Borsato’, Have a song that reminds me of my love instead

27:A song that breaks your heart

’another you – Of mice & men, I didn’t listen to it just quickly copied the link this breaks my heart so bad

28:A song by an artist with a voice that you love

’Burn the Witch – Radiohead’, Because I’m a big radiohead fan

29:A song that you remember from your childhood

’Crash Bandicoot Theme’, cause I played this game so much at my grandparents’place. They also had spyro and this skateboard game. I liked this song from it: ’Blitzkrieg Bop – Ramones’

30:A song that reminds you of yourself

’Dragostea Din Tei – O-zone, cause it’s weird and I’m weird