#and all my discord friends thought it was so funny like you could have TOLD ME!! BEFORE I WENT AND BETRAYED ALL MY PRINCIPLES

[hairstevington]

call me when you get this

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Eddie and Steve are best friends, but even the best of friends have secrets.

WC: 3K

Warnings: Story told through voicemails, mild angst, coming out to each other, secret feelings, friends to lovers, kissing, swearing, light angst very brief, references to Robin and Gareth, drunk shenangians, idiots in love, set in 1991 but it doesn't matter too much, no mention of the Upside Down stuff

A/N: I have like three other WIP's happening and zero time but this idea was given to me by the beloved @tinytalkingtina in the discord and then I couldn't get it out of my head. Ao3 link here for those interested!

Tuesday, September 24th, 1991, 12:52am

GARETH hi yes I know it’s late but HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE ALBUM YET? I need all of your thoughts immediately. Like, all of them. Every thought. Dude, my head is spinning. Ohhh, man. Kurt is a fuckin’ legend. Woooow. Okay, I could talk about this shit for like three hours but I don’t want to run out your tape so just call me back when you get this and then talk to me about it for three hours. Can I come over a little early tomorrow? Yeah, I’m gonna come over a little early tomorrow. Maybe a lot early. Alright, catch ya then. 

Tuesday, September 24th, 1991, 3:40pm

Uhh, ha. Hey Steve. Thiiiis is Eddie, obviously. I, uh, I just realized I called you in the middle of the night last night on accident, and - uhh, sorry about that. It was just - ah, screw it. You know what I am. Byeeeeee-

Tuesday, September 24th, 1991, 7:30pm

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

Eds, how many times do I have to tell you to change your answering machine message? What if, like, the president calls? Okay, maybe not the president. But an employer or something. Or, like, what if you give the girl of your dreams your number and she calls you and hears THAT? Food for thought. Uhh, anyway, it’s fine. I wasn’t even home when you called me. Robin was, though, and so you’ll probably hear her wrath next time you come over for movie night. Good luck with that. Oh, wait. You’re at a show tonight, right? Damn. I swear I’ll make the next one. Okay, bye, dickhead. 

Wednesday, September 25th, 1991, 1:12pm

“You have reached Steve Harrington. Figured I should say that in case whoever is calling me thinks they’re calling someone else. Anyway, I’m busy right now so I’ll call you back. Bye!”

Ha, ha. You are so funny, Harrington. You ever think about being a stand-up comedian? Jesus, and you say I’M the dramatic one. Uhh, the show last night went well, by the way. Not that you were THERE. Seriously, what kind of friend even are you? I’m hurt, Steve. I’m hurt. Anyway, see you tomorrow for movie night. I get to pick. It’s only fair, right?

Thursday, September 27th, 1991, 4pm

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

You’re not picking the goddamn movie. No way. Last time you did that we got scarred for life. Also, um. I can’t tell if you’re joking or not about me and your shows. I didn’t realize you - uhh, you’re probably joking. Forget I said anything, and see you tonight. I’m at work right now, so I’m gonna rent some backup options just in case.

Sunday, September 30th, 1991, 2pm

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

Dustin says you were being a total dick last night. Good. That shrimp deserves to be humbled every once in a while. Your answering machine message still sucks, by the way, and yeah I’m gonna tell you every time. 

Monday, October 1st, 1991, 3:21pm

“Hey, this is Steve.”

“And Robin!”

“And you’ve somehow managed to call us when neither of us are here.”

“We are probably together.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Or we just don’t want to talk to you.”

“Oh, that too.”

“Either way, leave a message and we’ll get back to you later!”

“Probably.”

“Probably!”

Steve. My guy. I can’t believe you make fun of me for my bullshit message all the time and now you’ve created and advertised THAT abomination?? I’m - wow. I forgot why I even called.

Monday, October 1st, 1991, 3:23pm

“Hey, this is Steve.”

“And Robin!”

“And you’ve somehow managed to call us when neither of us are here.”

“We are probably together.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Or we just don’t want to talk to you.”

“Oh, that too.”

“Either way, leave a message and we’ll get back to you later!”

“Probably.”

“Probably!”

Okay, I remember now. I know you said you have that date tomorrow with Heidi or Melissa or Samantha or whoever is currently obsessed with you, but I really do want you at the show if you can make it. You can bring her, if you want. Actually, it might be a good test. If she hates metal, she fails. I only want the best suitors for you, Steve Harrington. Be there or I’ll be REALLY annoying about it forever. 

Tuesday, October 2nd, 1991, 11:45pm

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

Hey, it’s Steve. So, uh - I saw your show tonight. You’re probably not home yet, but I don’t know where you are. Cuz like, I tried to find you after your set but you disappeared. I hope everything’s okay. You sounded great, by the way. I mean, you all did. Remember me when you’re playing at the Garden? Oh also, I heard like three women talk about how badly they wanted you, so…I dunno, just figured you’d like to hear that. Hey, maybe you got with one of them and that’s why you’re not answering. In that case, hope you’re having fun? Okay, now it’s weird. Bye, Eds.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 12:54am

“Hey, this is Steve.”

“And Robin!”

“And you’ve somehow managed to call us when neither of us are here.”

“We are probably together.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Or we just don’t want to talk to you.”

“Oh, that too.”

“Either way, leave a message and we’ll get back to you later!”

“Probably.”

“Probably!”

Steeeeeeeeeeeve. You absolute buffoon. You beautiful, oblivious man. Why’dya think I wanted you there’so badly t’night, Steve? T’wasn’t for the girls. Ha, girls. Yeah, okay. I may have had several alcoholic beverages, Steve-o, but you’re still the dumbass. Cuz you’d have to be an absolute idiot t’think I have any interest in those women. ‘Specially yours. Your women, I mean. Sandyyyyy. Ugh, she was perfect for you, Harrington. Juuuust perfect. So perfect I didn’t wanna stick around to see any more of it. I hope you two have beautiful children. Name one after me, will you? Uhhhh I think I might puke. So, I’m gonna go, but - but do you get what I’m saying? Do you - do you get it? Tell me you get it. Steve, I - Oh, hey Gareth. Do you wanna talk to Steve? Wait why are you - Dude, I’m FINE. I’m handling it! Stop! Gareth, don’t hang up the phone, I haven’t -!

Wednesday, October 3nd, 1991, 9:05am

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

Dude, did you fucking break into our apartment last night? Robin and I came home this morning and found a broken lock and some shitty note we could barely read next to the answering machine, and - what the fuck, man? You wiped the damn thing clean. Just - call me back, okay? Jesus. 

Wednesday, October 3nd, 1991, 11:36am

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

Eddie, come on. We really need to talk. I’m not - I’m not mad, honest to God. Call me back, as soon as you get this. Got it?

Thursday, October 4th, 1991, 3:47pm

“Hey, it’s Eddie. I proooobably won’t listen to whatever you’re about to say, but shoot your shot anyway.”

It’s movie night, but I’m assuming you won’t be here considering you’ve pulled your magic disappearing act. Thanks for that, by the way. You know you really piss me off sometimes? All the time, actually. I’m getting real tired of you constantly poking fun at me, and then you pull this breaking and entering shit and just take off? Just like that? We’ve been friends for years, Eds. You and me. But you never want to just be serious, not once in your goddamn life, and I’m over it. So, uh, thanks for that, I guess. I dunno what I did. 

Sunday, October 7th, 1991, 1:12pm

Hi! You have reached Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley’s home. Leave a message at the beep!

Huh. You know what? I kind of miss the old message you had. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m impossible to please, yada yada yada, and now I’m doing the avoiding with humor thing again. Shit. Uhh, hi. Listen, I’m sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth for a while. Really, really fucking sorry, if you can believe it. I was just, like, mad embarrassed, and I didn’t wanna - uh, can we meet up soon? Alone? Like, without Robin even? I know that’s - like, unheard of these days, but I figure maybe you’d make an exception for me. Or maybe you won’t. Just let me know, yeah? 

Sunday, October 7th, 1991, 1:30pm

Hi! You have reached Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley’s home. Leave a message at the beep!

See, I would just hop on over to your place to talk but the thing is, I’m a total chickenshit and it’s not like I did super well the last time I showed up to your place unannounced, so…Uhh, while we’re on the subject, I’m sorry about your lock. If you haven’t replaced it yet, I will. I’ll at least pay you back. In my defense, that thing was like two seconds from falling off anyway. But still. Anyway, I know you always spend Sundays at home, soooo…hellooooo? Come on. At least pick up the phone and tell me to fuck off. I know you’re listening. At least - I hope you are, anyway. Just pick up, man. I - I really gotta talk to you. 

Sunday, October 7th, 1991, 1:37pm

Hi! You have reached Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley’s home. Leave a message at the beep!

So, quick update, I called Henderson. He confirmed you are at home, which means you are DEFINITELY listening, and either you’re trying to punish me or a part of you still finds my piece of shit ass charming somehow. Look, I know I fucked up, but - but I can explain. Shit. I mean, I’m not good with words or anything and I’m a total asshole but I - just, please. Pick up. Pick uuuuup. Come on. Now you’re just being a dick. Ha. Figures, I’m apologizing and calling you a dick in the same message. Dude. Seriously. Your tape is gonna run out of space and then what? You stop hearing from me? I’ll find other ways to annoy you, promise. This is a threat. Steve. Steeeeve. Pick up pick up pick up pick upppp -

“Will you just shut the hell up already?”

Eddie dropped the phone and heard it clack against the floor. He would have recognized that voice anywhere. 

He turned around and there he was. 

“Steve, what are you -?”

“You would just be yapping on that damn answering machine my whole drive here,” Steve said with his hands on his hips. “I don’t know why I expected any less. And, thanks to you, we had all the space in the world for you to take up, so -”

“H-how did you get in here?” Eddie stuttered. 

Steve rolled his eyes. “What? You think you’re the only one who’s not afraid of breaking and entering?”

They hadn’t seen each other in five days. Hadn’t even talked, aside from a few voicemails. And those never told the whole story. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie began. 

“Yeah, you should be,” Steve replied, taking a step closer to Eddie in the kitchen. 

Eddie winced, his heart racing a million miles a minute. He just had to get all of the words out, while he still could. While Steve was listening. 

“I left you this really stupid voicemail,” Eddie explained. “That night, after the show. I was drunk off my ass, and - and Gareth told me I’d said shit I shouldn’t have said, and then I panicked, and the two of us went to your apartment and I - well, you know the rest.” He slumped down into the chair at the dining room table, putting his head in his hands. “Which is all just so dumb. And I didn’t wanna deal with the aftermath, so…”

“So you stopped talking to me?” Steve said, taking another step closer. “Because you thought that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back in our friendship?”

Eddie shook his head. “I dunno, I -”

“You’ve done some real weird shit over the years, Munson,” Steve continued. “Sneaking into my apartment doesn’t even make the top three.”

Eddie buried his face in his hair. No amount of boyish charm would get him out of this one. Jesus H. Christ. 

He sighed. “Okay, so I overreacted, what else is new?” 

“I heard the voicemail, dickhead.”

Eddie’s heart went from breakneck speeds to stopping entirely. 

“What?”

Steve sat down in the other seat at the table. “I heard the voicemail. It was 1am, again, so yeah I was at home.”

“I thought you would have been with Sandy,” Eddie muttered.

Steve shook his head. “Nah, Sandy was - she’s great and all, but she isn’t - she’s not -”

“So you heard the voicemail, but you weren’t home when I showed up,” Eddie noted.

“Right,” Steve said. “Because I was headed to your place.”

“What?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I just - I didn’t understand why you never told me you were queer. Like, you know I don’t care about that. You know about Robin…”

As Steve talked, Eddie realized that Steve only heard half of what that voicemail was trying to express. So, it was time for Eddie Munson to face the music. 

“I didn’t tell you I’m gay because I knew that once I did, you’d figure out the rest of it,” Eddie blurted out.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows. “The rest of it?”

Eddie groaned. “Oh, God. See, drunk me had the right idea saying this kind of shit over an answering machine. Christ, I’m so bad at this, but I’m just gonna say it, because if I don’t I think I’ll lose my shot with you and I - I can’t deal with that. So, here we go.” He squeezed his eyes shut and powered through. “Steve, I - ha, shit. I love you, dude. I’m - I’m IN love with you. I have been since, like, forever.” He opened his eyes, but kept them fixed on their feet against the linoleum kitchen floor. “Which is, uhh, a lot, I know. But it’s the truth. So if there’s any chance -”

“Oh, my God,” Steve interrupted. His voice wasn’t angry, or scared, or anything like that. It was soft and understanding. 

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. “Wait, what are you thinking?” He looked up to see Steve staring off into the distance before meeting his gaze. 

“I’m thinking,” Steve replied. “That I owe Robin twenty bucks.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side and felt his heart skip back into rhythm. “You do?”

Steve nodded with a slight smile. At some point, his hand had ended up on Eddie’s knee. “Yeah, I didn’t believe her. Told her no way, not possible.”

Eddie didn’t know how to feel about this reaction. It wasn’t the worst possible response, but it certainly wasn’t Oh, Eddie! How I’ve longed for you all this time! Take me now! 

A middleground, if you will. 

“Oookay,” Eddie said. “Well, I don’t really know what to say now.”

“I’m queer too, ya know,” Steve continued.

"Wait, really?" Eddie balked. "Steve Harrington, ladies man?"

Steve chuckled. "Uh, yeah. Turns out, not so much," he said. "I feel like I’m pretty open about it. Guys, girls, whatever -”

“Yeah, but we all do that,” Eddie reasoned. “Me, you, and Robin all talking about how hot everyone is on our movie nights. It doesn’t prove anything.”

“Except that it totally does,” Steve countered. “Because, like, what do we all have in common?"

Eddie thought about it, and he didn’t have any other defenses.

“O-okay, so you’re queer too,” Eddie said. “And the other thing I said?”

Steve took a deep breath and looked Eddie directly in his frightened eyes.

“Eds, obviously I love you too,” Steve admitted at last. “Come on, seriously? After all I’ve put up with? I’ve been waiting around for like five days for you to call, like some lovesick puppy, and the moment I heard your voice I drove here instead of picking up the phone like a normal person. I’ve got it so bad for you that Robin is sick of it, and honestly, I’m sick of it too, because I hate having feelings. It blows, dude. I swear to God, if you try to bolt again when things get tough -”

Eddie lunged forward and cut Steve’s words off with a kiss. Their first kiss, even if it didn’t feel that way. Eddie had cupped Steve’s cheek in the past while he teased him. Steve had curled his fingers in Eddie’s hair in the past the night Robin taught him how to braid. Eddie and Steve had all kinds of physical contact in various ways over the years, and it was as if all of that was just practice for this. 

Eddie broke away from Steve’s lips purely out of necessity, because he needed to catch his breath. “Okay, woah,” he said.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Woah.”

Everything changed after that. But also, nothing changed at all.

-

Tuesday, October 16th, 1991, 4:12pm

“Hey, this is Eddie Munson’s phone. Leave a message and I’ll call ya back.”

Hi, Eds. Okay, I was wrong. This new message you have is, like, super boring. Anyway, I’ll see you at the show tonight, Rockstar. Love you. 

xx

I did have a taglist way back when but the tagging system is super annoying on tumblr, so please reblog this if you liked it and follow me or my Ao3 for other works! Masterlist is the pinned post on my page for those interested. Thanks for reading!

[sammis-svsss-brainrot]

Theoretically if I were to host an event in which the Scum Villain Fandom tried to write PIDW would people be interested?

I discussed this with my good friend @spaced-out-scribbles a while back but here few details that I have in my head, please stop me if someone has already done something like this before

As we all know PIDW, written by Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, was the source material that Shen Yuan transmigrates into

So wouldn't it be funny to have a "canon" source material for people to reference?

Step 1 would be to compile every reference to PIDW in SVSSS to figure out how long Binghe's white lotus arc lasted and how long actual plot occured before it devolved into shitty smut

Step 2 would be to compile a list of fic writers and maybe artists perhaps that would be interested in recreating PIDW based off of the information occuring in Step 1

A discord server is put together with everyone interested in this project

There could maybe be a list of people assigned to each referenced arc that would maybe hold applications the way that a zine would perhaps? With people applying to write specific portions of PIDW if they wanted to write the marriage of a specific wife or a portion of a specific arc

And anyone else that wanted to participate is assigned a random wife number and told to go wild with the longest, shittiest description of how Luo Bingge was a total stallion lead, and married his new wife of the week

All of these fics and/or accompanying art are submitted to a GIANT ao3 collection (bonus points if everyone involved creates a pseud that's named as Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky for this project) and with everyone's contributions all put together you get a semblance of what PIDW would have looked like

Bonus points if no one else has any idea what happened in a previous wife plot, so the story is not at all coherent towards the later chapters, because I fully believe Airplane had no idea what the fuck he's written before as he got to the end of PIDW

Someone is assigned to write the final shitty ending that made Shen Yuan so mad he died and transmigrated

If anyone wants to contribute to PIDW after the project, the collection could remain open but moderated to make sure chapter numbers/wife numbers stay consistent and that's about it

Obviously this would be a huge project to wrangle and would need a lot of people involved to actually make it work and take a lot of time, so if this is something people are actually interested in, it would more than likely not be able to come to fruition until the start of 2025 at the absolute earliest with all the prep work it would take to get a project like this accomplished but I thought I'd throw it out there to see if people would be interested, so reblog to spread the word if this is something you'd like to see!

Once again, if someone has already done something like this please let me know, I've only been in this fandom for like a year and a half so I'm aware that a lot of fandom events have occured before my time in the fandom

[sw33t-d1vine]

YOU’RE SO CREEPY

SPRINGTRAP x GN!READER

ー cw : fluff , halloween !!!! , just u dressing up as springtrap :3

ー word count , 2671

ー a/n : hii !! october has been so busy.. BUT , in honour of the fnaf movie and halloween , i have this fic !!! im also changing my theme again…. this fic was inspired by my own halloween costume :3 i dressed up as him for halloween…. AND one of the costumes mentioned at the end is a costume my bff went as ! i hope u all like this silly fic :3 i’ll get back to reqs soon !!!

・Enjoy what you read ? come join my discord server to see sneak peaks and chat with me and other friends ! Link in my pinned post :)

ー Halloween was something most people adored, including yourself. This year, you had picked to go as Springtrap for your costume. You had made the ears, customized and DIY’ed the whole costume, and prop. Maybe no one would know who you were going as, but who cared. Maybe you just wanted to dress up as a killer zombie bunny.

Springtrap had yet to even see your costume, let alone even know what you are. You only told him it was a surprise, and he’d have to wait and see. Which he thought was stupid.

That was a few weeks ago. He waited days just to see what you were gonna dress up as, and when you came downstairs all dressed up in your costume, his dead heart almost stopped.

His eyes trailed over your body, looking at every detail on the costume. The fake bones sticking out, the fake wires all hanging out, and the big ears on your head that matched his. You had also done your own makeup, making it look like you had scares everywhere.

You really pulled this costume off, he loved it. Even if he didn’t like his own form, he loved how you dressed up as him. It was.. cute.

You held the fake knife prop you made in your hand, giving him a shy smile. “Thoughts?”

Springtrap let out a hum, “I love it.” He tilted his head, watching you do a spin to show off the rest of it. “Very detailed.. and you made all of it?”

Nodding your head, your smile grew. “I did. Since you don’t come to my room a lot, it was pretty easy to hide it from you.” You explained, fiddling with the fake knife.

“How long did it take?” He asked, cocking his head to the side, his ears slightly flopping.

You thought for a moment, thinking. It really didn’t take too long to make.. You thrifted most of the costume and just heavily styled it and added fake wires and such. “I’d say maybe.. 2 or 3 days. Not too long.” You chuckled.

“It’s still very well done..” Springtrap hummed, glancing at the front door. You had left a bowl of candy so you could give them out to trick or treaters. He wished he could do it with you, but he knows he’d probably scare any kids that came. Which would be funny to him, but you’d probably scold him later about it.

When the doorbell rang, you turned your head to the door as well. “Looks like we have our first trick or treater.” You hummed, walking over to the door.

Springtrap watched you hand out the candies to the kids, one who was dressed up as Coraline, and another was a ghost. How cute.

The night went on for a while, kids coming to the door and you handing candies out. A few kids questioned your costume, and you only said you were dressed up as a zombie rabbit. They wouldn’t exactly understand who you were dressed up as.. but he did. and he adored it.

He adored you.

[yuri-is-online]

I love the Fyuuture kid au. Could I ask for Ace!yutu, the idea of Yutu getting second hand embarrassment at Ace's flirting attempts makes me laugh so much, just yutu standing there watching ace self sabotage himself when it comes to Yuu wondering how Yuu and Ace managed to get together in the future. (Yutu has definitely judged his father a few times in silence)

Another thing that lives rent free in my head when thinking of Ace and Yutu is when Ace finds out that Yuu is basically dead in the future. That has to be a crushing discovering for him considering that he's (and Deuce) very protective of Yuu

(also the idea of Deuce's future co workers deciding that Yuu is a danger and basically cursed Yuu to die has to make him feel uneasy about weather he'd want to work for a company that basically sentenced Yuu to die once everything is resolved but that's a conversation for another day)

notes: they/them used for Yuu, for context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here.

Slight bit of clarification, the Magical Marshall's appear to be a government organization, or perhaps a type of law enforcement that each government has?  The way Deuce spoke about it made me think they sound similar to a counter terrorism unit, but either way your point still stands.  While Deuce never gets the complete picture of what happened to Yuu, he still knows in his heart it was his office that hurt them, and it's extremely difficult for him to live with.  The office stands by it's decision to the bitter end, no matter what he says or how many monster attacks are reported.  And if he gets too annoying, well they already made you disappear.

And with that lovely thought let's talk about Ace!

Ace! Yutu is a fairly normal kid.  He doesn't really have friends, maybe a discord buddy or two who he plays games with, but no one he really trusts to talk with about his family situation.  And he does see it as a situation, Yuu might be doing their best to make things normal for the two of them but the entire situation just stinks.  Yutu knows there's something wrong with it but he can't put his finger on what…

Very smart.  He taught himself how to count cards and got in trouble at school more than once for running blackjack games where he took a bunch of money from his classmates.  Not his fault they suck at cards!  And sure he could just cheat like normal (he's just as good at cutting the deck as dear old dad) but it's much more fun to do something technically legal.  It makes people that much more mad, which he finds really funny.

He tries to not talk about his dad that much, though he might make a joke or two about fatherless behavior. Much like Cater! Yutu, he assumes that his dad is probably dead and while he's very curious, he's reluctant to poke at Yuu's memories for fear of causing them more pain.  When he does think about his dad he tends to romanticize things, Yuu's description of him makes their relationship sound really sweet.  Marrying his best friend sounds great to Yutu, his dad must have felt really lucky to have managed to obtain that.

Getting isekaid doesn't phase this Yutu at all.  He was already so convinced something was off back in your world, learning he was a mage and all about Yuu's adventures just confirms all of his assumptions. Getting placed into Heartslabyul and being told that was Ace's dorm thrills him, doubly so when he gives Crewel his first migraine and gets told he's just like him. That's not to say Yutu is completely happy about his situation; his father is dead (Yutu refuses to acknowledge the monster wearing his face as a person) and Yuu effectively died ages ago, the curse placed on them just drew it out for a cruel amount of time. Yutu's angry, and what's worse is that he doesn't really have one person he can fix the blame on. He wishes Yuu or Ace were alive so he could ask who they blame, who he needs to seek out to get them justice. When the others propose traveling back in time he leaps at it without a second thought.

Crewel does try to tell Yutu about his dad, but his descriptions sort of go over Yutu's head until he actually meets him. To be fair to Yutu, he's not completely off in his assumptions about how Ace felt about Yuu, it's obvious that Ace was smitten with his parent from the start but he doesn't fully understand the denial Crewel is talking about. The blot monster Ace became is very cocky, and excels at misdirection so why would he be shy about flirting with Yuu?

Well maybe shy isn't the right word for whatever he's looking at now. Ace is reluctant to leave Yuu's side, but he has so many excuses as to why that it hurts his soul, wouldn't it just be easier to say "because I'm worried about you?" Instead of insulting Yuu's ability to take care of themselves and joking about you needing him but only joking! It's not like he really wants you to! And don't get him STARTED on all the little excuses Ace finds to touch you. It makes him seriously reconsider his whole opinion on wanting to marry his best friend thing because god if this is level of pathetic what it takes he doesn't think he could cope.

He assumes (maybe correctly) that Yuu is the one who made a move on Ace and that's how they got together in his timeline, something that high-key offends Ace when he finds out and he encourages you to be honest with Ace if you ever open up about your frustrations with him. That doesn't mean he ever gives Ace a break though, Ace is already suspicious of Yutu's intentions towards Yuu but his constant dunking on him has earned him Deuce's respect, so now he's lost both of his friends! What the hell guys you're supposed to be on his side!

Ace's distrust of Yutu doesn't bother Trappola Jr at all. On the contrary he thinks it's a good thing, the more he interacts with the first year group the more he appreciates how solid of a head Ace has on his shoulders. It doesn't make up for him being cringe, but it does make Yutu think he could maybe trust his dad with the truth.

I don't think any of the boys take the reveal of what Yutu's future is like well, but Ace's is especially bad. He thinks about all of the close calls he has seen you have, how afraid he was when he got those messages from you over Winter break, the S.T.Y.X. attack, every overblot he has ever seen, and now his own child is telling him that you made it through all that and his bad attempts at flirting but didn't get a happy ending. He has the same set of emotions that Yutu does, anger and grief that he has no one to really blame for. Yutu is sad he doesn't have an answer but grateful he isn't alone anymore.

The reveal makes Ace's teasing actually insufferable, he's so fucking cocky now that he knows you liiiiiike him back. See that boy over there? Actually living proof that you're into him, kinda cringe actually! He bets you used to have a crush on him too (just turn it around on him if you're in public he will melt.)

They like to try and out play each other in cards, Ace can't card count but he is better at reading people and better at cutting the deck so they have a pretty even win loss ratio. Yutu isn't above whining to Yuu about how his dad is being mean if he's on a losing streak, something that makes Ace fold quicker than he'd like. Neither of them will ever admit it out loud but they have a silent competition for your affection, Ace thinks you should be cheering for him since he's your future husband and Yutu thinks that you should cheer for him because he is capable of being honest about his emotions. When Grim starts whining for attention they call a truce and fight him instead.

Speaking of Grim, he has a relatively good opinion of Yutu in general based off seeing him as Henchuman 2 but when he finds out Ace is his dad? Respect ended he always knew that Yutu kid was a loser... all those times he refused to get him tuna make so much more sense now!

Learning about the future makes Ace even more protective of Yuu, and he doesn't make it much of a secret either. There's something about learning that your partner is supposed to die that makes you care a lot less about what your classmates think. That protectiveness extends to Yutu, but Ace is a bit more subtle with that. He understands that he isn't the version of himself that the kid needs to hear from, that he might not be able to give Yutu the support he needs but he loves the kid so much it sort of scares him. He's really looking forward to getting to be with Yuu and Yutu in the future, and if that means he has to put a little extra work in then so be it.

[narrans]

My Borrowed Son | 38 | Epilogue

Chapter Thirty-Eight | Epilogue  

Time is one of those funny things in life. One second, you’re learning to walk as your consciousness comes online. You’re exploring the world around you and learning new things. Decisions come your way and, like the butterfly effect, branches into an entirely different life. In the very next moment, you’re sprinting toward your dreams and building a life for yourself full of adventure and excitement.

Both Amanda and Parker were right there in the middle of it all. Though both of them might have made different decisions in the moment, neither would change where they were now.

After meeting Rey and Hero and hearing about their story, Parker felt his optimism growing once more. The two Borrowers met his mom, Amanda, with enthusiasm and listened to the story of Amanda’s “borrowed” son, a title both of them thought was amusing. Rey and Hero also told Amanda about their sister-in-law, Ashlynn, and how their niece’s situation was very similar to that of Parker. The girl, Mayzie, was just about Parker’s age and had grown up as a child of both worlds and she couldn’t be happier, though navigating the world was sometimes confusing and challenging.

They talked about how, like Parker, Mayzie as well as Dorian and others in their Borrower community had online presences. They even showed Amanda and Parker Dorian’s music videos. At first glance and without knowing he was a Borrower, neither Amanda nor Parker would have known, which Rey explained was the point.

“The world isn’t ready for us to all be together and know about one another, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have glimpses like these videos or our writings. Even some of our inventions from my business with my friend, Theo,” said Rey. “And I’m pretty sure we’re not the only ones. Take a look at Tay Models online and tell me it’s not a Borrower-human team. That and my business partner Theo are great examples of what we could do together if Borrowers and humans could live together in harmony.”

“Yeah, as much as I want us to all live together in peace and harmony knowing about one another, not everyone will treat us the same even though we are so similar,” Hero explained.

They spent hours talking on the first day, and they continued for the next week while Rey and Hero rested before their next trek back into the wilderness. Before they left, the two Borrowers invited Amanda and Parker both to come and see the community they’d built, saying their doors would always be open if either of them ever wanted to come by. They needed time to return but left their contact information and said they’d be in touch next time they were in the neighborhood.

Sure enough, a month later Parker’s discord chat and social media pages were flooded with follows, likes, and comments from what Parker could only guess was the Borrower community Rey and Hero talked about. It was confirmed when Rey reached out directly just to say hi and that if Parker needed anything, this is where Parker could reach out.

During that month, Parker poured himself into his studies and his training. His physical skills were enhancing by the day just like his mind. With everything he learned, Parker tried to find a way to teach others and make life for Borrowers better. From engineering and medicine to the basics of math, English, and science, Parker began developing lessons and blueprints for others to understand.

His lessons began with the others in the house. It took time to convince everyone that what he had to offer was useful, but eventually most of them yielded. Parker’s reasoning was that he was learning from them, so it was only fair that they learn from him in return. Reading was the first thing Parker started teaching since that would be the most useful, and everything else fell into place from there.

Reed and Dove were the most receptive to Parker’s lessons and Mira tried to help and follow along while the others mostly humored the Borrower teen. It was progress though, so Parker took it. It would take months to really get the ball rolling, but everything Parker had learned was slowly being integrated into the others.

A real moment of pride came when Parker happened to come into the room to hear Dove actually trying to read to her older brother, Finnick, with one of the miniature books Parker had printed out and cobbled together.

Before he knew it, Parker was graduating alongside his girlfriend, Lyn, and making plans to attend a college. The scholarships he accepted gave him his pick of the litter, but Parker found a program that would give him the best of all the subjects he was interested in. Science. Technology. English. Art. What made it better was that it was all virtual. He could attend all of his classes and submit his assignments under complete anonymity.

The other Borrowers in the house were uneasy that Parker had decided to continue delving into his “human side” rather than fully committing to being a Borrower, but the only one who actively commented on it was Kit, who Parker found out from Finnick later that she was being so mean to him because she actually had a massive crush on him.

For a sixteen year old boy, it was a strange phenomenon for girls to be mean when they actually were interested in you, but Parker left it alone. He was happy with Lyn; at least, for a time.

College was a trying time for their relationship and, to Parker’s dismay, Lyn’s affections had ended up shifting. The distance between their two different colleges and the things she wanted had changed, leaving both of them heartbroken. Nothing was necessarily wrong, but it just wasn’t completely right.

It was heart crushing, and it did leave Parker adrift for a time, but never did he start letting his studies and interests suffer. During that time, Parker had just turned eighteen and, with some intense discussions with his mom, decided he wanted to take a kind of sabbatical and go with Rey and Hero to the community they talked about many times during their visits.

Amanda wasn’t certain about it and set some firm rules about contacting her as soon as they had arrived, to which he agreed. Their discussion lasted several weeks and, finally, Amanda consented. The journey was going to be a difficult one and the last thing Amanda wanted was to see her son hurt. He still had faint scars from his last encounter with the outside world.

But Hero and Rey assured her that they’d keep her son safe and that she was always welcome to drive over to Ashlynn and Soren’s place and wait for them and visit.

This did make Amanda happy, but it was still surreal.

This was her son. This was her pride and joy. Remembering the first time she’d seen him and now seeing him all grown up was an emotional rollercoaster. Tear stains dripped onto Parker’s pack as he turned and told his mom that he would see her again very soon.

Sure enough, it was true.

Amanda gave them a week before reaching out and contacting Ashlynn, who had already been told the entirety of her and Parker’s story. The two were fast friends, sharing many of the same concerns with their kids and how they were progressing through life, and soon Amanda and Ashlynn were having coffee together as they waited for their modern adventurers.

Parker, with the help of Rey and Hero, had an entirely different experience from the last time he was truly roughing it while camping. They showed him where he needed to be and what he needed to look for to keep himself and others safe. They taught him practical skills where Parker found ways to integrate what he’d learned from school to the wilds around him.

While the adventure was a needed one, Parker was grateful to see the yard that belonged to Ashlynn and to see his mom’s car in the driveway. One tearful reunion later and Parker was being shown the entire community that lived in the walls of the home. Parker witnessed their recording studios, manufacturing tables, and modern construction while also getting glimpses of the old ways and the “traditionalists.”  

He was seeing new faces and being introduced to so many new Borrowers all at once; and one of those faces made him blush and smile from ear to ear.

All the while, Parker was making mental notes on how he could make the world around him better, and he knew exactly what he could do to make it happen.

It was a rough decision, but Parker decided to go home but promised that he would return as frequently as possible. He had some applications to fill out.

Now that the need was obvious, Parker made his decision. While also writing and continuing making his lessons to teach other Borrowers and tutor humans with his online lessons, Parker decided that he needed to learn more about medicine. Too many Borrowers suffered from sickness and ailments that Parker believed could be fixed. Amputations were far too frequent on limbs that could easily be saved and infections from rusty pipes and other random odds and ends were a common occurrence.

Having someone who knew what they were doing when dishing out medication was an immediate need not only for the community Parker met, but other Borrowers who lived out in the wilds; and Parker intended to meet those needs while pursuing his passions.

It made Parker realize that he would be spending more time away from his mom, which made him feel sad. This was the one person he never wanted to leave or disappoint, and now he needed to do one of them to help make his dreams come true and make the world a bit better. He came to his mom with a heavy heart after his first semester in a virtual medical program he found and told her his plans.

He’d almost expected some pushback, but it was almost the opposite. Amanda couldn’t be more proud of her son for delving into his passions, regardless of what they were. She knew she’d never lose contact with him and reassured him that he was always welcome home. Amanda told him that it was part of being a parent to give your kids the skills to go out into the world and live the life they wanted. Of course, she always wanted him to be around and stay with her, but she didn’t raise him to be timid and to stay locked away forever.

Amanda assured him that she would be okay and both of them promised that they would have a weekly check-in when the time came to make sure that everything was alright. In the meantime, Amanda would take up more things to occupy her time. She’d even considered becoming a foster parent now that Parker was all grown up, which made both of them tear up.

True to her word, Amanda registered as a foster mom and welcomed kids in need into her home. She’d had a lot of practice helping Parker recuperate, so human kids almost felt easy. Amanda also took up a few hobbies including watercolor and writing since Parker was becoming more independent by the day. She even started illustrating her own children’s book series about a little lost boy who had found himself in a world of giants.

Parker also decided to write the story for himself, using the “correct terms” and making his book seem like a work of fiction inspired by writings from Mary Norton. It took a long time for Parker to compile everything together and summarize all of the events. After all, how do you boil down an entire lifetime of stories into a single set of pages? But he did, and the title that Rey and Hero had dubbed as Parker’s story was too good to pass up. With the help of his mom, their story was finally complete. Perhaps it would be seen as fiction. Perhaps others – humans and Borrowers alike – would see this story and believe.

And so this is it.

This is the story of “My Borrowed Son.”

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

Previous

Beginning

[kamiversee]

SPILL ON UR LOVELIFE OMG WHAT 👀👀 I want fanfic moments too hsjjssj

Are you ready for a yap sesh…

Okay so do y’all rmb that 6ft tall guy I was talking to & said I MIGHT be in love w? Yeah so erm… He was wayyy to lusty for me, so much so that when we talked and he’d say how much he liked me— it just felt weird because it was like “wtf do you like about me aside from the fact that I’m nice & know how to dirty talk??”

And I thought it was ironic that he was too lusty for me even tho I write literal smut in my free time but y’all I’m not even exaggerating when I say nearly every convo w tht man was about sex. And if it wasn’t about sex then it was just about something pertaining to him in general.

Anything he knew about me was info I had to just throw out there to him yk? It was like he never really asked me anything about myself unless it was something sexual. Which irked my nerves so badly because, again, wth did he like about me? The guy didn’t even know my favorite color like ??

But in the beginning I was pretty blindsided by how good the conversations were and I was just happy to receive attention in all honesty.

Anywho tho, I told my bsf about the guy & he was telling me to stop talking to him because it’s going no where, or at least tell him that I want him to start asking things about me but uh…

I’m not that kinda person y’all. I dont want to have to tell someone to be curious about me if they claim to be interested in me. It was so apparent that he was only interested in the way I gave him a listening ear on his struggles & the way I engaged in sexual convos.

So, although I felt like shit for a while because I didn’t wanna be like his other exes tht just up & left him for no reason, I eventually told him I just couldn’t talk to him romantically anymore. NOW, this was damn there the icing on the cake.

While he was really mature about it ending & basically said he understood and wasn’t going to push me about staying or anything, y’all… he didn’t even ask why I wanted things to end. I wasn’t exactly looking for him to ask why but dude, if u claimed to like me as much as you did & were oh so infatuated with me, shouldn’t you wanna know why I suddenly wanna break things off w you??? 😐

Anyway, that ended & we decided to just stay friends. Our convos got shorter and shorter & nowadays he & I both moved on.

ONTO MY CURRENT LOVE INTEREST 😁

Guys hes so.

We started talking from me giving him advice abt his ex and stuff & I met him literally right after that first guy so he even gave me advice abt him and when I told him I felt so shitty about leaving guy numb 1, he reassured me even tho he didn’t know me tht well at the time ^-^

Then from there we just became friends and would talk a lot bc he noticed my lil sugu obsession and told me he looked like him (He does lowk) which led to him sayin I should be obsessed w him instead of Sugu since he’s actually real… he lowk gagged me there guys

Aaaand we’d just talk every day more and more, all on discord btw bc it’s so silly over there (server coming when??) And like, I dont rmb when exactly he caught feelings for me but at some point I could just kinda tell.

The only thing was that it just felt too soon so when he actually confessed to me or wtv, I told him I still wanted to know more about him as a person and whatnot. AND GUYSGUYSGUYS.

So rmb guy1 right? & how he didn’t even know my fav color? I told guy2 about that and he immediately asked abt it. I KNOW that’s smth so small but pls, it was so sweet…. is the bar in hell? Idk, I swear I have standards 🙏

We even had a whole convo abt colors & it was just super cute! >< Another time, I vented and told him how guy1 didn’t rlly put in any effort to get to know me but claimed to like me and guy2 went out of his way to say how he wants to know everything about me

When I tell y’all his confession was like smth out of a damn fanfic. YALLLLLL. And it’s funny bc MLN is actually based on events tht’s happened in my life soo…

Anywho, guy2 is amazing and ilhsm. He’s so sweet and silly, I wanna eat him yall ☹️

We talk everyday & I’ve ruined my sleep schedule juust a bit for him (it was ruiened beforehand tbh)!

That’s pretty much how things r goin for me rn. Guy1 & guy2 did interact w each other at one point and it was sooo messy yall, I was not feelin it but thats a story for another time frfr

I hope you guys enjoyed my podcast :3

[isa-loves-you]

How you meet and realizing you like them | The group chat.

I love the GC and I like reading Fics about them, so I want to contribute. This is my first-time doing publishing on Tumblr, so it probably won't be the most organized. I am open to criticism or requests. I desperately need guidance.

This is going to be broken up into different parts because this was originally almost 5,000 words but tumbler will only let me post so much at a time.

-Isaac-

you had met isaac back in 2020 when you and some friends decided to go into discord servers and expose pedos. your friend had told you to hop on a server thinking it was with creeps but ended up being a couple of people doing the same thing as you. you all had a laugh and traded information on which servers had what type of weirdos were in. After that night you and isaac had messaged each other here and there about being in his discord videos which you had no problem with due to want to collab with other youtubers, and some years later asked you to be apart of a group with him and your guys mutual friends called the group chat.

Sometime had passed and you, isaac, tanner, larry, nick, yumi, and grunk all made a podcast and even moved into one big house all together. You had decided to stream watching random videos on the internet and just generally talk with chat. " I know that we've been watching meme comps chat but we need to add some spice to our night or I feel empty handed when I end the stream.... well besides leaving with your hard earned money that you donated i'll be empty handed". After saying that everyone started to type anything and everything that came to their minds, but something caught your eye "Have you or isaac read the fic about yall??" you said reading the chatter's comment. You immediately start googling for what this insane person was talking about, and after muttering to yourself about why isaac and you of all people out of the group you find it. "I'm sorry to chat but i need to know and besides one of you recommend it" you start reading it out loud. The story read of you and Isaac slowly falling for each other. "Chat who made this, I want you to reveal yourself so you can be shunned from the village" you bursted out with laughter at some of the parts in the fic but you had to admit, this author knew too much. yeah it's true that you started to like isaac but you knew nothing could ever happen because you work together but you have to admit he had a nice physic and was extremely funny, but still nothing could ever happen. After 30 more minutes of stream you decided to end the stream because you were getting too red from laughter and embarrassment from the fic; you said goodnight to your viewers and thought that no harm would come from a fan's artwork about you and your friend. turns out you were wrong. The next day you were bombarded with fan accounts and edits of you and isaac from past videos. you're scrolling through some of the comments of the edits and something catches your eye.

Isaacwhy?: Damn you guys are trying to manifest something fr ;))

you couldnt believe what you just read; Did he really like you too?, how long has he liked you?, what would the others think?, could you two be together?. Your mind was left with a lot of questions but you had come to terms with it. You like Isaac.

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

-Nick [soft willey]-

you had been making music since you were five when your parents got you a fisher price piano. you've just fell in love with your hobby and wanted to make a career out of it, that's when you decided to put your name out there as a singer/rapper. You didn't have a voice like sza but it was good enough to make a living off of it, and it was better when you would pair it with your genius lyrics. It was a nice Sunday afternoon when your music producer Kenny called you to come into the studio and that there as some people, he wanted you to meet and collab with. you had seen that your producer was in the booth with three dudes and a camera? Your producer has seen you looking through the booth glass and gestured for you to come in and met the people he was talking to. There was a tall guy with a hat, sunglasses, and a black mask, there was a shorter guy with shoulder length hair that was pointing everywhere. The two guys were pretty good looking but the third piqued your interest; he was around 5 '10 with a nice build, it was very obvious that he spent his time at the gym. “This is y/n they are in the same business as you three” your producer presented with a big smile on his face. “It's really nice to meet you, Kenny convinced us that you would sound the best on our new single” you shook the gym guy's hand noticing the tattoo of a long spiky line wrapping around his arm. You got so distracted looking at the guy's arm and everything else he had that you didn't hear your producer calling your name “y/n you can't let go of nicks hand now i think he knows you now” you dropped nicks hand realizing how long you just held his hand without him saying anything. “All right let's get to work people, isaac would you be a doll and do your verse first so y/n can get the flow of the song and see what they need to do”. 

It took the whole day for you guys to actually record the song. With larry making funny faces while the nick and isaac where in the middle of their verses and make them laugh so you would have to start back from the beginning then you would issue were either you or the others would have a hard time saying a word right or you went faster or slower than the beat then it was start back at square one. A miracle had happened; you all got through the song with no hiccups and were able to send it out to an editor for some final touches. You had grabbed your stuff and walked out to your car so you could finally go home and let your dog out. You almost got to your car when your arm was grabbed, you wiped your head around so fast to see who you were going to have to beat the shit out of. “I'm so sorry i shouldn't have grabbed like i was going to kidnap you or something but i was shouting your name but you just kept on walking” Thank God it was just nick and not some creep. “oh no no you're okay i was just surprised is all, so whats up?” “I was wondering if i could get your number or maybe your insta so you could be a feature on some of our future stuff, you were awesome like kenny said and i want to keep you around”. It was nothing but two seconds of silence before Nick took back his words “i didn't mean it like that i just mean like your killer and it would be great if you got to do more with me…..not with just me just in general with music. Fuck you get what im trying to say right” “yeah i get what you mean” you said breaking a smile to make him feel less embarrassed “here just put your number and insta in, so we can do more stuff”. He took your phone for a minute to put all is information and handed it back to you with a puppy dog like smile. Dog? “OH, SHIT RALPH” you had forgotten about your poor baby at home “I'm sorry Nick but I have to go!” nick had tried to say something, but you were already in the car and backing out of your parking spot. ‘Whose ralph?’ nicked thought as he watched you leave the building “NICK GET YO UGLY ASS IN THE CAR I WANT TO GO HOME” Larry shouted hanging out the back of the car window. Nick spent the whole night trying to find a ralph in your following list on Instagram, but he had no luck and decided that he didn't care who your mystery man was he was better than this ‘ralph’ character and that he was going to win you over.

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

[undeaddollz]

HENRY BOWERS ANALYSIS!!

btw this is long as shit as it was a ramble to my friend on discord. this is how i interpreted henry, not including the obvious parts of his personality like the racism and much more. thats obvious and everyone knows that, heres something i picked up as i love psychology! i also have a patrick one if you guys would like!

and you can always ask for me to do another IT character as well and i'll try.

so henry is such an interesting character!

it's so obvious he replies on being perceived as masculine and strong because even though he hates his dad he still wants butch's approval and to finally be good enough.

it's part of why he's such a fucked up person and bullies others because it makes him feel stronger and powerful which is something he craves since he is beat at home which makes him feel weak.

bowers gang is a very interesting group of boys, henry is friends with them cause they're kind of like him. we dont get a ton of insight on victor and belch but we know they just think its all in good fun, they dont get as much of a kick out of bullying as patrick and henry. but more or less they're all pretty similar, which henry thrives on. it's obvious he doesnt rely on them or gets emotional with them, belch and victor seem to want henry to but he screams at them every time so they're used to just ignoring the abuse henry goes through.

How henry has a problem with anyone who isnt like himself is an extremely deep rooted problem and the one to blame for this is butch, he beats henry over anything he can, even just little reasons. butch definitely puts some gender roles into henry's head and told him to "stop having a smart mouth" (a reason he hates richie.)

The reason pennywise chose to possess henry is pretty apparent, while it could've gone with patrick i feel like there isnt a lot in patricks mind to break to make him become a mind slave, which is why he just killed patrick instead, using his corpse to manipulate henry. while patrick can be strong he's so mentally fucked up with so many disorders he would've probably just thought his family dying was funny. which makes him a not so great target since he wont be broken like henry could. Henry was having problems at school, home and in his head, there were still parts of him that could be broken as he was not past the point of no return. deep down henry had a lot of fears, one of those fears even being patrick, patricks killing of animals and his own little brother scared henry. while henry could only wish his dad dead, patrick was able to make things like that happen and get away with it and have no guilt, even brag about it.

Henry was still a fairly normal kid until the rock war, thats when i believe he started to go crazy and when pennywise started to get a hold on henry as patrick died shortly after. While henry is scared of patrick that doesnt mean they werent friends, patrick was part of henrys routine, i think having a bit of a routine kept henry sane but the clown started to disrupt that and put henry on edge.

It continues to add shit onto henry's plate to break him. A friend goes missing, he's continually beat at home and it's getting worse. He gets embarrassed in front of his friends, just more and more is added on.

He's then forced to kill his father and then his two closest friends, then made to go back home with evidence planted in his room that he killed all the missing kids. usually he would end up in jail but pennywise knows it will need henry again so it has henry sent to a mental hospital where he endures more abuse and never recovers from having his mind broken as 1, the staff are awful 2, pennywise visits him every night in the form of his dead friends. He mostly takes the form of victor as victor was henry's best friend. the movie isnt fully accurate and uses patricks corpse only when it was actually victor who meant the most to henry, patrick is used as a scare factor.

Although patrick is the one who stuck around to the end and got the same kick out of making people suffer like henry did. he always supported crazy ideas unlike belch and victor. grief is one of henry's huge motivators and pennywise took advantage of that as grief is one of its specialties

[sidsinning]

I just saw the movie, I have to agree with you in regards to the pacing. They tried to cram 5 seasons into a 100 minutes movie. A lot got cut out from the plot, and did find it disappointing the lack of Lucky charm. I feel that the Miraculous itself felt more magical in the movie; I give that to the production team, the lighting and textures of the movie were great. But great effects do not make up for a medium plot. One thing that I did like is how the villains were literal criminals with no qualms for destroying the city and doing whatever they felt like it. The motivation behind Gabriel as to why he was causing chaos in the city with the akumas was nicely done in the movie. That when only when there is chaos the Miraculous of the Ladybug and Chat Noir will appear. I had a conversation with a friend as we watched the movie over Discord, and I suggested that one could watch up to halfway into the movie, then watch the season 4 finale and the rest of season 5, if that person wanted a "quick introduction" to the series. I mostly suggest that due to the "monster of the week episodic cycle" the show has at the start of it. Not sure what others felt about the songs, but it kind of threw off the tone of the show for me, I know that MLB has some song episodes, but those are staged around a concert or are themed to be like that. The whole Gabriel song gave me "Friends from the Other Side" vibes from the visual, but it was not catching at all.

Yeah, the movie was pretty and had great visuals, but plot-wise, the Series is better, even if has some shortcomings and repetitive episodes at times.

Germs wants a sequel too so like- wHY did he want to cram in all this shit into 1 movie??? I know you're here to milk money can you please plan it better at least

The villains lmao I was so confused like he just walked into this dungeon with people coming out of their own cages dressed as mimes and magicians without explanation???? Was kinda funny sdgfhsdfdde

The songs,,,,,they were either eh, meh, or BLEGH (Tikki,,,no one told you to rap,,,Lin Manuel Miranda is not in France,,,,,) I cringe so hard whenever MLB becomes a musical out of nowhere- but I will say this time there is definitely a level of professionalism and finish that is not present in the show.

Yeah- I'm not saying the show is perfect, or even meeting the standards of what I would label a series "good", but it is much much much better than this movie

I was just expecting some good high definition fanfiction you know 😭 a lil treat to enjoy on the side- but they butchered the fundamentals of what made the show so addicting to watch despite its faults,,,

You cannot tell me Origins Parts 1 and 2 are not 1000000x better than anything this movie brought to the table and that was less than half its run time

aNYWAYS,,,,my thoughts on the movie are my own but everyone who enjoyed it don't let me stop you ofc

[cyberphuck]

The Human Voices Project

So I have a very very dear friend who has been blind since birth. They're actually pretty good at being blind-- they have a Masters in Eyeball Science, live independently, and make amazing art (by pressing their face so hard against the drawing surface to see it that they used to get sores on their cheeks!). They have also gone through a lot of shit-- some of it, but not all, due to being a disabled trans person-- and though they have been trying their hardest to keep a smile on their face, they live in a place where they have few in-person friends, accessible social spaces are hard to get to (or don't exist, or cost too much), and sometimes they don't have the energy to go out at all. They use a screen reader to hang out on tumblr and on discord etc, but one time, after a DnD session over voice chat, they told me that it was always so quiet in their apartment after the session was over, and that it was nice to hear real people talking. That stuck with me. Last week I started asking friends and family to record themselves talking-- about anything. My older brother and his wife told funny stories about crazy things they'd done. My friend who loves the circus arts described a particular act that they loved. Dad told a story of his own, and Seb and I recorded ourselves trading banter while he played Mario Kart. People read stories, read poems, described what they saw while on a jog through their neighborhood. A whole bunch of people, just talking, so that my blind friend could listen to a real human voice whenever they wanted-- not a polished podcast, not a sponsored youtube video, but a regular person.

I uploaded this first batch of audio files to a google drive folder and sent it over to my buddy. They loved it! They downloaded all the files to their phone so they could listen whenever they wanted. And I thought, there must be more people who want to tell stories about their lives, or talk about their favorite subject, or read poems that mean something to them.

If you have a way to record a digital audio file (most smartphones and tablets have a native recording app) and would like to participate in the Human Voices Project, you can send an audio file to thehumanvoicesproject (at) gmail [dot] com.

Guidelines: mp3 is the *preferred* format because it'll play on most devices without having to have a special app. If you send me something other than an mp3 I can convert it, but I would appreciate it if you converted it on your own.

most subjects are okay; the only thing that's absolutely a no is talking about or describing guts, innards, or viscera. Try to *avoid* explicitly describing abuse (of anyone, including animals), and if you're reading a story or poem, let me know if it's in the public domain or not so I can make sure to put those in a different folder.

you can introduce yourself if you want but you don't have to.

the recordings I've gotten are usually between 3 and 5 minutes long, but I also recorded myself reading a short story at 20 mins, and a friend talked about not knowing how to swim for 90 seconds, so any length is fine.

Right now the google drive folder containing the audio files is private. I might make it a public thing someday, but as for right now it's still a thing for my friend, to fill up the silence and brighten their day. Thank you so much to the people who've already contributed, and thanks also to all those who'll contribute in the future!

[forabeatofadrum]

Just Some Guy (1/9)

Summary: Matt Christopher Davis lives a simple life, since he doesn't do much. He wants to study magic at Watford, find a girlfriend, and hang out with his best friend John Johnson at the Watford Chess Club. After all, unlike his famous classmate Simon Snow, he's just some guy.

Notes: Hello, hello and welcome to Just Some Guy, the story of all years of Snowbaz at Watford told from an outsider perspective of someone who doesn't really care about them. I came up with this idea back in 2022 and I am glad I can finally share it. I was inspired by Niamh Brody not keeping track of the Chosen One bullshit and by Patrick Ness's book The Rest Of Us Just Lives Here. I hope you guys like Matt as much as I do.

The name Matt Christopher Davis is courtesy of @mostlymaudlin​, @raenestee​ and @aristocratic-otter​, with the idea to use MCD as initials from @facewithoutheart. I asked the Carry On Discord for suggestions for a basic bitch name, and they delivered. Matt is sometimes referred to as Matty Chris D., a nickname from @cutestkilla.

Lastly, it's time for a good ole fanfiction disclaimer, but not because of Rainbow Rowell, but because of Ngozi Ukazu. John Johnson belongs entirely to her. He's originally a character from her webcomic Check, Please!, which y'all should totally check out. The reason Johnson is in this fic is because, well, I thought it'd be funny, especially since Johnson is as usual aware of his fictionality. "John Johnson" is the most basic bitch name possible, and I almost picked it for MCD till I realised there's already a John Johnson.

And with all that, enjoy.

AO3

--

Year 1

MATT

To be honest, I can’t quite believe I am finally at Watford. My parents give me a final hug before it’s time for them to leave.

“You’re going to have an amazing time,” my mum says as she pets my hair.

I shrug. It’s not as if there’s going to be anything interesting happening in my life. You could state that I am the most generic person ever, and that is fine by me. Not everyone needs to have a grand adventure, and that is definitely what I realise when I see Simon Snow walk around the Great Lawn.

Of course I know about the Chosen One. Of course I know that the Chosen One starts Watford in the same years as me, but I don’t really care about him. I’m here to learn magic, make friends, and maybe meet my future spouse, which is a must for the World of Mages.

After all, I am just some guy.

--

I leap into this new magickal life. The Crucible casts me together with John Johnson, who claims he’s in the wrong universe, which is off-putting, but we still become fast friends.

“Like, I should be playing hockey,” John grumbles during breakfast somewhere in the year. I nod absently. John talks a lot about hockey.

“Sure,” I say. There are plenty of other sports to join, but I don’t really know. I have eight more years to figure out what to do, so I am not in a rush.

“Whatever man, you’re about to go on your own narrative journey. It’s going to be amazing for the both of us!” John says excitedly, “Look at me, I’m British now! I am eleven!”

I shove some toast down my throat and I look around the dining hall. There are so many students. My eyes fall on the Chosen One who’s talking to a girl, who nods along to every word. I don’t really keep track of what the Chosen One is doing with his life, but I’m glad he’s made a friend. The first few weeks of classes were unbearable because of his sheer magic exuding into the classrooms. We’ve all gotten used to it now, but it did isolate him a bit.

I don’t know the girl’s name, but she doesn’t seem to mind the magic.

I take a look at the Chosen One. He has only been part of the World of Mages for a few months, but he’s already gotten himself in a lot of trouble because of this whole Insidious Humdrum stuff. He’s constantly missing classes and Miss Possibelf says he’s on missions for the Mage and the Coven.

I hear him coming home quite late. Yes, John and I live across the corridor. It’s honestly quite annoying to live on top of a tower. There are so many staircases to climb. I occasionally hear the Chosen One bicker with his roommate.

What a life he must be living.

But honestly, I don’t care. I mean, I care about the Humdrum, because that thing eats magic, but our Chosen One can be the hero who saves the day. The rest of us just lives here, you know?

--

“Mate!” John slams the door open. The window in our small shared room almost seems to shatter. Did John do that?

I nod towards the window, but John shakes his head.

“No, it’s a dragon!” John screams.

I jump out of my seat. That’s when I hear the roar. Our window shatters for real this time and I duck to avoid the glass.

“The Humdrum sent a dragon to Watford!” John grabs my hand, “We have to run!”

“Where to?” I yell as he leads me through the corridors of Mummer’s Hall. We descent the many staircases, not knowing where to go. Right now, we just want to get outside before the building collapses. Merlin’s pants, what will happen to us now? The Humdrum was always this entity sucking the magic out of the atmosphere, but if John’s to be believed, it (he?) can now also attack? That’s never happened before!

More students are making their way outside. There are screams and panicked cries. John doesn’t seem too bothered by it. Instead, he is determined to get me out of here as fast as possible, and he succeeds. He manoeuvres us between the many, many students and the teachers who are trying to keep everyone calm.

We finally make it outside and more students are evacuating to Crowley knows where.

To my shock, it seems like John is leading me towards the Great Lawn.

I try to stop him. I’m pretty sure that the dragon is right there.

“Are you mad?” I yell, “We can’t go there!”

But John is stronger than I am and he drags me towards the Great Lawn. I was right. The dragon is there, with its wings spread wide. The Chosen One is in the air. He must’ve jumped from somewhere. His skin is shimmering and his eyes are glowing. He has the Sword of Mages raised over his head.

Then he plummets it into the dragon’s neck.

The dragon’s eyes widen and it lets out a horrendously loud roar.

Then I watch the dragon fall to its side.

A hush falls over the Great Lawn. Students and teachers alike are stunned into silence. Even the Chosen One’s chatty best friend looks shocked.

“Wicked,” John mutters next to me.

I blink a couple of times. Is this the life of the Chosen One? Of the elusive Mage’s Heir?

Speaking of, the Mage runs towards the Chosen One to help him clean up the dragon. Where was that man? He’s our headmaster, for Crowley’s sake!

“Well, that’s enough adventure for today,” John says. He’s broken out of his shock and he isn’t the only one. The Chosen One and the Mage leave the Great Lawn. The Chosen’s One’s friend (sidekick?) (isn’t that how it works with chosen ones and heroes and what not?) rushes after them. Slowly, everyone’s coming back to their senses and it’s clear that people talk about what just unfolded, but life goes on, even though the Chosen One just saved the school.

I need a bloody nap.

--

My parents pick me up at the Gates. It’s summer vacation and I am glad. I like Watford, but I love my family as well. We talk plenty over the phone, but it’s good to see them.

We drive home in silence. There is a weird tension between my parents, but I brush that thought aside. I just haven’t seen them in a while.

Eventually, my dad breaks the silence.

“And how would you describe your first year at school, Matty?” my dad asks.

I think about classes, and John, and my daily life here.

“Uneventful,” I answer. I didn’t do much.

[peanutbutterex]

🔪 gimme all your Roach thoughts

🐈‍⬛️ Frenchie too.

My two favorite characters aside from Ed!!!

Ok to start off with Roach. In an ofmd discord server i am it but has sadly died, I once got told I was protective of Roach. And I mean, this man is a world class chef in my mind and I see him as needing food to be perfect, so I will defend him on that. And with season two, he invented peanut paste, or peanut butter, which is what my url is named after!

Also his crazed love of torture is so lovable to me. I love a crazed character, and even rooted for him to be able to torture the hostages because he wouldn’t go all the way. And how excited he was to cut off Lucius’s finger was priceless.

He also has some pf the best one-liners. “Come back, this is all a dream, come back!”, “knives are knives, meat’s meat” “mm we’re tender as hell” “we eat, but how often do we taste” and those are just the ones that come to mind now. He is so funny and chaotic I absolutely adore him and Samba being such a gem definitely adds to it.

Oh Frenchie, where do I begin with Frenchie. The fact that the first piece of art that wasn’t a sketch from memory I did for OMFD was of Frenchie says a lot in of itself (should I post it here? I don’t think I did). I will say I am so sad as a witch with 3 cats that he would be afraid of me because he is someone I would love to be friends with!!!

To start off, I love his songs. I have the words to “To Death We Go” (the full version) memorized and have sang it a lot. Also the fact that he was willing to play his lute for Ed’s song is iconic!!!

This man is also so smart??? Like the ability to think on the fly and even more think of scams on the fly is soo impressive he needs so much more credit. Also he is the kind of guy who is always aware of what is going on. He is the one who asked Ed if the crew was going to live or die, he is the one who found the invitation to the fancy party, and unlike Stede’s first reaction was completely supportive of Ed after he got mocked at said party. Where Stede said “How could you?” Frenchie said “they’re such dicks about spoons!”. Not to mention he almost definitely helped Stede get the information necessary in order for Stede to get the aristocrats to turn on each other. This guy has such street and emotional smarts that he is such an amazing addition to the cast and why I wanted him to fill Lucius’s role for Ed in season 2.

In season 2 I was a bit disappointed that we did not get to see this supportive, aware, and emotionally intelligent part of his character as much, but I understand why. Ed was in such a state that Frenchie did not know the reasons behind and did not want to get killed, so he did not try to support Ed as much, which makes sense for his character. I feel awful that he felt he needed to lock away his trauma in a box in his mind because of how unhealthy that is, but I also am aware that the atmosphere of Ed’s ship at the start of season two was not the kind of place to talk it through as a crew, so I understand why he did that too. Still, he had enough of a heart to try and help Izzy instead of killing him when Ed shot him despite how awful Izzy had been to all of them in the past, which is commendable. And these traits that Frenchie has makes so much sense why Ed chose him to be the new first mate, along with how Frenchie has been supportive of Ed in the past.

I also find Frenchie’s superstitions to be kinda funny and cute. His explanation of women having crystals in their bodies is iconic, as is his fear of cats. It is also so endearing how he channeled his fear of cats, making the most iconic flag of the revenge in season 1, it being the one bloodied with Nigel’s blood and used by the British as a symbol of the revenge, using a witch costume for his costume in the fuckery in s1e6 with Wee John along as his cat, and then having a feral cat on his jacket and the new flag of the revenge in season 2. As a cat enthusiast myself, I love the cat motif with Frenchie and what it means to him. God I love Frenchie’s character so much, and although I do think Olu deserved to be captain after he was basically elected as one in season 1, my love of Frenchie makes me so happy that he is the new captain of the revenge at the end of season 2.

Now with both of these characters together, I personally see them as besties, along with Wee John. Their interactions with each other are so sweet and fun I only wish we got to see them play off of each other more in the show. While I personally ship Frenchie more with Wee John and Roach more with Buttons (i am sitting on a whole manifesto for this ship i just need to find the right time to post it), I do get very happy when I see ship art of these two.

I am sorry this is probably much more than you expected but I love these characters so much and I don’t get to talk about them enough so I had to get all of my thoughts out there!!

[kawaiisimp]

I'm super bored in class rn so here are the contact names of the twst boys from my MC's (Baby's) phone. Some of them will have more than one.

Riddle- Wittle Tyrant

Trey- Little Debbie; Daddy (was set on a dare and forgot about until he saw it, preceded to freak out and switch it back)

Cater- Cay-Cay 😝😝😝😝 (He put that in himself and keeps changing back everytime it gets changed)

Ace- ❤Actual dumb ass❤

Deuce- 💙Actual dumb ass💙

Leona- Kitty; RAWR XD 😸 (cycles through these to annoy him)

Ruggie- THEIF; Kitty's lacky; Cutie! 🍊

Jack- WOOF! WOOF!; Tuff Puppy

Azul- Octobitch; Octoloser; Octodork (cried over all of these names, but refused to pick a new for himself. Finally allowed Baby to put a heart next to the last one to show she wasn't being mean...she was for the first one); Octodork 💙

Jade- Eek!; SHROOMY 🍄

Floyd- Eek! Part two the electric Boogaloo; Teef and Squeeze! ❤️‍🩹

Jamil- Busy! 🐝; Get ✨therapy✨; curry friend! (They had some trouble after his over blot, but then he made her curry!)

Kalim- PRECIOUS BOIII <3; 💛Sunshine💛

Vil- Drama queen; ✨️PRETTIEST BOI✨️

Rook- stalker; Chess piece🖕🥰🖕

Epel- Pretty!; COUNTRY BOI I LOVE YOUUUUUU 😝😝😝😝

Idia- Blue! 🔥; Discord mod 🤢🤮; WEEB 🥰

Ortho- LITTLE GUY!

Malleus- Hornton; Horny 😈 (never learned about this name); Dragon RAWR!!! (He did not like this name and thought Baby was now scared of him so he sulked about it until Lilia told her about why he was sad and avoiding her.); Lizard boi! 💚💚💚🥰 (was much more pleased with this one!)

Lilia- wittle fae; DILF (Lilia nearly cried laughing when he read this, Baby nearly fainted); 🦇Draculara🦇

Silver- Sleepy 😴; Sleepy knight! 😴 🥰

Sebek- WHY ARE YOU YELLING?; Malleus simp; human w/ green hair (absolutely hated this name and threw a fit for Baby to change it; when she refused he took her phone. Lilia managed to take it back from him and changed it to something worse. More yelling insued.); Knight! Green addition💚

Crewel- Mr. Crewel; Prof. Puppy!; Dad! 😁 (Jokingly assigned a family member to each of the teachers, did it front of them and everyone thought it was kinda funny until Baby made Crowley whine, was switched back to Prof. Puppy!)

Trien- Mr. Trien; Cat Dad!; Peepaw (was surprisingly happy about this, it was changed back to cat dad after Crowley's out burst.)

Vargus- Coach Vargus; Manly™; Giga-Chad Uncle (dropped the uncle part, still is Giga-Chad)

Sam- Mr. S; Voo-Doo Dude; Cool uncle (fuck you Crowley, if you weren't a baby he could still be cool uncle, he's Voo-Doo Dude now)

Crowley- IM A BIRD CAW CAW; ✨useless✨; Drunk bbq Uncle (this is what he threw a bitch fit over, it then came out what his name was before and he got even more pouty, the others were trying not to laugh, it got changed to bird man, baby later replaced the man with brain, it's still like that)

[novelcain]

Novel I have the funniest story

So I have Discord, right? And recently, my mobile Discord notifications haven't been sending. I don't know why, I have all the permissions turned on, but it won't work—whatever, right? As long as I check my phone regularly, right?

And it's been a really good day! I got the highest grade on my essay, I totally nailed a presentation, I made my favorite soup for dinner—a great day. It's around 6:50 PM and I'm cradling my soup in one hand on the couch, just relaxing from the day. It's my first break from homework for a while, and I'm enjoying it. I decide to share the positivity in one of my group chats on Discord with my close friends. So I send "@everyone love you" and I close Discord, thinking nothing else. I finish my soup, I do the dishes, and I go upstairs to play some video games on my computer.

All the while, I haven't checked my phone. I don't have Discord open on my PC, and I've been trying to cut my hours on my phone to focus on the real world (aka touching grass). I play a game, and while I'm waiting for another player to take their turn, I check my phone because I'm bored.

Strangely, I have one notification. I don't recognize what app it's from, but it looks like a text or call. I unlock my phone to check and find out it's my friend Catherine calling me on Whatsapp. Strange, right? We only use Whatsapp for sending videos that are too big for other applications and for when my internet kills Discord. (For context, Catherine is my best friend and basically the Novel to my Ritz. Also, my wifi is awful—probably why I've been struggling to receive notifications)

I think the call is weird, especially since there were no Whatsapp texts accompanying it. I try to call Catherine back, but she doesn't pick up. I reason as to why she did it—most likely I didn't respond to Discord fast enough so she tried to get my attention elsewhere. That makes sense, we do it all the time to each other. So I go and check Discord.

It opens to the channel I left it on, where I pinged my friends and told them love you. I notice I had 6 DMS, but I noticed my friends had replied and I was curious to see how they were. had already forgotten I did that, to be honest, so I go and read the responses. Let me just:

(Cami)

@everyone love you

(Raven)

LOVE YOU TOO

(Jasper)

love you too

(Slyvie)

You're the best! :)

(Raven)

Why the random love you tho?

(Sylvie)

Yeah, that confused me a bit too

(Raven)

Cam whats goin on?? Why the random love you?

And suddenly, it hits me why Catherine called.

And my first thought is: oh my god, they do not think I killed myself.

I open my DMs to Catherine, and sure enough I see: "are things mostly okay Cami? You haven't marked off anything from your accountability list, and there was the message you sent in the groupchat. I'm a little worried."

And I just go: OH MY FUCKING GOD THEY THINK I KILLED MYSELF.

Which is literally the worst way you could ever respond to "love you" with, by the way

Anyway, I explained what happened and now it's going to be an inside joke with the group. I literally despise my friends, theyre the best😭😭😭

LMAO GIRL NO! You be out here givin people heart attacks professionally istg 😭

But honestly as someone who's done this on accident too this is so funny 😂😂😂

Also my discord mobile notifs have been fuckin up too! What's up with dat? 🤔

Also!

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SCORE!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎊🥳🥳🥳🥳🥂🥂🥂🥂 SO PROUD OF YOUUUUUU!!!!!

[the-journey-was-the-point]

(Crackfic) A Solo Conversation

Actually the first fic I wrote for my OC's and what kickstarted the rest of my writing! I got inspired by talking about Callonduin and Elladan's relationship in a discord server and got this funny idea about Taran, a shapeshifting prince of Mordor, having to stand-in for his friend.

Summary: Disguised as Callonduin, the prince of Mordor finds out there may be more to his free-spirited friend's lovelife than he initially thought. Relationships: Implied Elladan/Callonduin (onesided)

---

Much like his predecessor, Taran was able to change his physical form, and was quite skilled at it too. He could take any form to suit his needs, be it a bird, a warg, a Man, or even a dwarf if need be. However, his dark master and creator, Sauron, imposed on him one stipulation: that Taran, under no circumstances, was to ever take the form of an elf. In fact, he wasn’t even supposed to go near any elves.

His lord had told him it was too risky. Elves lived long lives and there was always a chance that whatever elf Taran encountered would have likely been around since the First or Second Age, and might be able to immediately sense Taran’s true nature. And as the Ashvaen, like his name in Black Speech implied, there was only one of him and he could not be replicated. 

Then he and his friends arrived in Rivendell, the hidden valley full of Elves. That was bad for him. They smuggled him in through Linnea’s bag (he had taken the form of a black lizard). Not so bad. 

Then Callonduin, who had some sneaky errands they needed him to do, asked him to take his form for a while. Very, very, bad. 

“I couldn’t pretend to be you, Callonduin. I don’t know any Elvish customs, they’ll immediately catch on.” “I’ll only be gone for a while. You just need to wear my form, and stay out of the way. Stay in the guest rooms. Don’t talk to anyone.” 

“That’ll be even more suspicious, it’s impossible to shut you up!” 

But Callonduin wheedled and pressed, and Taran eventually gave in. They really did have important things to do after all, and so long as Taran stayed indoors, nothing was sure to go wrong.

Or so he thought until a dark-haired ellon appeared in the doorway.

“Callonduin,” the elf breathed. He then made a gesture with his hand that was unfamiliar to Taran, and an awkward, expectant, air filled the room. 

Taran figured it was likely an Elvish greeting of sorts, but not knowing how to respond, he only froze like a deer. His breath seemed to leave him as he remembered all the terrible things his lord said the elves would do to him if ever he was caught.  

After a moment, the elf cleared his throat and shifted a bit. He spoke again, this time lower, “I heard from the guards of your return. I would have liked to be the one to receive you,” he said, “but I was scouting the western border.” 

Again, Taran didn’t respond. What could he even say? He didn’t know this elf, or what his relationship with Callonduin was. Anything he said would just make things worse. 

Besides, even if Taran did have something to say, his throat was too tight right now to speak. 

The elf swallowed, fidgeting once more. He turned away for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, before speaking again. “You left so suddenly. Which you often do, so no one was alarmed at first, but then months passed and– you should have told someone.”

Then, to Taran’s utter surprise (horror), the elf suddenly strode forward, took the seat across him, leaned in, and fixed him with an intense, piercing, look. 

“You should have at least told me.” 

Eyes wide, both eyebrows raised, Taran could not help the look of shock on his face if he tried. Were Callonduin and this elf… together? Callonduin never mentioned him. That made this even more complicated, except now Taran was part interested about them, and part horrified for himself.

“Yes,” the elf continued, insistent and sincere and concerned and strangely nervous all at once. “Me. Are you so surprised? I know how you are. I worried for you. I scoured the Trollshaws with Elrohir, and if you were going to cross the Misty Mountains and stay away for so long, you should have said something beforehand.”

Under the pressure of the ellon’s gaze, Taran had to look away. The air in the room was quickly turning tense and emotional in a way Taran was wholly unprepared for. He had no idea what to do or say. He wondered where his friends were and if they were done with their task yet. He weighed the cost of attempting to act as Calloduin against staying silent, and which one was most likely to make this elf go away and least likely to end with him bound in elven chains. He wanted to look back at the elf but kept his gaze glued to the side. 

After another moment of silence, the elf spoke, this time much more testily. “Do you have nothing to say, Callonduin? You, who normally has a hard time keeping silent, won’t even say a word?” 

Taran’s head shot back up at that. By now, his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it. He shook his head slightly, unsure of what he was even trying to convey for it was more out of reflex than anything. He tried to speak, tried to give out the simplest, most generic response he could muster, but found it all caught in his throat. 

Later, he would wonder what expression he must have worn on Callonduin’s face for this elf’s stern features to suddenly soften.

“I see…” he murmured, worry and pity in his voice. His eyes seemed to look pained as he regarded who he thought was Callonduin. “You must have endured perils so terrible, they’ve affected your speech. I did not know. I’m sorry.” 

Not knowing how else to respond, Taran shrugged. Whatever, so long as the elf left him alone. 

“We should go to my father.” The elf decided after a moment. “He’s the greatest healer in all the land, I’m certain he’ll be able to help.” 

The elf took Taran’s hand and led him to the healing halls. Taran, stunned and not having much of a choice, followed silently. 

Later, his blood would freeze when he learned that the elf’s father was none other than Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, who was exactly the kind of elf he should have been avoiding.

[thelador-s-mclargehuge]

Episode 1 Behind The Scenes!

Welcome to Amateur Hour! I mean this whole series is amateur hour, but stating out was REALLY amateur hour. So most of the way our videos worked is we would do a weekly video (Either podcast or Over The Shoulder game review). And I’d release a Funny Joke Video every two weeks. I was given Carte Blanch over my videos and basically just kinda did them on my own. So everything I did was suuuper rudimentary My scripts weren’t formated very well, there were tons of spelling errors, stuff I’d cut out I’d leave in the document and just remember I cut it out. But all this worked just fine because I was the only one looking at them.

And the way I’d send people their lines was I would *send* people their lines over discord and have them send me back an audio file that they’d recorded. I didn’t even really do any audio directing aside from a couple of notes. I might have directed Dalsson and TheDragonLover (heretofore referred to as Dergo), but that was it.

For anyone who might want to make a narrative series, uh… don’t do this with your main cast. If you have a guest star who knows what their doing and might not be comfortable being directed in a discord call with a stranger, that’s fine. But for everyone else you’ll just end up playing phone tag for a a couple of VA lines that won’t be nearly as good if you just set the people down in a call and told them what kinda performance you want them to give. A thing that, And I cannot stress this enough, they will be fine with you doing and in fact would much prefer this to the alternative.

And if you sit multiple people down in the call and do their voice lines in one day, that’s just way better! Your actors will be more comfortable with more friends around, and after the session is over, you have multiple scenes worth of voice lines to work with! It’s one of those “We do this thing like this for a reason.” kinda deals.

But ultimately a lot of the What Worked for those videos I’d put out every two weeks, and the video essays, did not really work here. But anyway lets look at the actual video.

The like first scene you can see how the cutting around is really off. That’s because the footage of me just standing there lasted, like, 3 seconds and I had a minute of dialogue, so I HAD to keep cutting if I wanted to use that footage. I should have just started a new save and rerecorded it but… again amateur hour.

But. The first joke here I think is really good. I have a lot of thoughts about it, so I’m going to make it a separate thread. There’s quite a bit going on there and I’m really proud of it.

But the beginning of the video, and the beginning of the series as a whole, is just kinda me moving from bit to bit like I did in the previous Joke Videos. These started out as those with a tiny bit more structure.

The Conversation with Elderbug here is what got Lordfrezon to get a better mic. Like this video convinced the man to get a better microphone. But you’ll notice Elderbugs mouth keeps moving when he’s not taking. I didn’t start putting a still picture over the talking characters yet

The quirrel scene is probably the best put together in the entire video. The editing is sharp. and I realized I could like, just reverse the video of him looking at the Black Egg to make it a little more dynamic.

But most of the dynamic-ness of these scenes comes down to me zooming in and out of characters faces for emphasis. The footage I’m working with is a character with a one second animation loop and another character staring up at them. So I gotta do a lot of cuts and zooms to make it look like a conversation with multiple emotions in it is happening. And I already had a pretty good grasp of that thanks to the joke videos! Say what you will about youtube video editing, but it sure teaches you how powerful quick cutting for emphasis is!

This was also before I started putting Reverb on every scene that takes place in a tunnel… which most of them do, and if there’s one thing I love, love, love playing with, it’s reverb. Sound design is my passion tbh. It is also the only thing I have any formal training in! I was taught it by a bunch of 80s rockers who showed me how to use an old analog soundboard for live mixing! And I’ve always held to the idea that 75% of video editing is sound editing, and 95% of that sound editing is shit no one would notice unless it wasn’t there.

There a little after the Quirrel scene I got *extremely lucky* and found a sign mender. Which is a really rare event. Just immediately out of the gate I see that man. I’d never seen him before I was getting footage for the video and he blessed me with his presence like an angel. Thank you Sign Mender! You gave me a great bit about property destruction!

The Cornifer scene is firstly, a great look into how a voice role evolves over time, and secondly, a great exemplification of what I started this with. Just Direct Your VA’s. You’ll notice how Saine’s performance on his first line here are worse than any of the other ones he’s given. He didn’t know what I wanted. And if I would have simply directed him, that wouldn’t be a problem!

He did, however get to delever the funniest lines of the video. And he did a great job with those! And, another thing to Saine’s credit is he does a fantastic job as Iselda! Man eats up that whole scene! Just great shit there!

Sly’s change is less in that the voice evolved as time went on and more I changed the character. I focused more on the Shopkeeper aspect rather than the teacher aspect as his Central Thing, and ultimately I think that was the best choice. Surly Shopkeeper who can “Show You Da Ropes” Is always a great character and he’s a lot of fun to write. Also all the thing’s Sly says about ‘God’ put me in a bit of a bind because “Okay, so why the hell does this guy know about The Radiance… a thing that a lot of people were lied to about for decades?” So I had to come up with some stuff for that. But that’s the kind of problem I love solving. Because it goes from “Weird plot hole” to “Ooh new character aspect! let’s give this man some depth!

Dergo’s performance as Myla is the best one in the video. And it’s great that’s the case too, because of how much *that* kicks off a lot of the story. But, yeah 10/10 no notes. Dergo is incredibly good at this shit.

The end bit with the snail man is probably my biggest regret of the video. It very much does not fit in with the tone of everything else. It’s kinda something that just happens in the first episode and I hope everyone forgets about. The implication he just murdered the snail guy is funny but it doesn’t fit in the wider whole. Whole scene just is not very good tbh. I also probably should have had someone else voice the Snail man as well.

And I wholeass forgot I used a different font for the credits! But I think that’s that for the first episode. IT’s kind of just a collection of thoughts, but the episode is just kind of a collection of scenes so, there we go!