#i love dungeons and dragons by the way i was so excited when i saw their animation

[goggomaggo]

what is bro yapping about

[steddieonbigboy]

Equate

written for @steddiemicrofic february prompt ‘edge’ wc: 509 | rated: G | cw: none other than steve being a sportsball enjoyer

🏀 🏀 🏀

"I just don't get how you can be on the edge of your seat over a sportsball game," Eddie frowned, "It's so boring, how d’you get excited over that shit?"

"Eddie, baby, I love you dearly but that is exactly how I feel about your dungeons and dipshits game."

"You know it's dragons, Stevie." He whined, not even trying to hide the pout on his face.

"Do I?"

Eddie hoped the look he gave Steve was as unimpressed as it felt.

"Okay, fine. Dungeons and Dragons. Happy?"

"Eh," Eddie see-sawed his hand as he scrunched his nose, "With the words, yeah. The tone, though? Not so much."

Steve just stuck his tongue out and turned back to the TV, which Eddie thought was kinda rude of him when his question still went unanswered.

"Anyway. Sportsball, boring. You, excited. How? Why?"

"Jesus, Eddie. It's called a hobby. I know you know what that is."

"Thank you, Steven. I certainly am aware of what a hobby is, in fact I may even partake in them from time to time, but what I don't know, is why this is yours?"

"You really need me to explain why I like watching basketball?"

"Yes!"

"Eddie, my love, my life-"

"Please don't fucking quote ABBA at me right now."

"Eddie, the bane of my existence," He raised an eyebrow at Eddie to check whether he found that more suitable and at Eddie's nod continued as if explaining to a toddler, "I like watching basketball because, and I know this might sound like a wild concept, but because I like playing basketball."

"Steeeeve. Baby, I know you like to play the basketball. I don't agree with you, but I understand that. Accept it even. But why do you want to watch someone else play it when you could just go out and you know, do it yourself?"

"Are you saying you'd rather sit in your room alone playing guitar than go to a concert and see a whole band perform?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is," Eddie crossed his arms and tried to keep from whining, "Totally different."

"No, it's not," Steve poked him as he tried to protest, “Me shooting hoops alone and you playing guitar alone equate to the same thing, right?"

"Equate? You need to stop hanging out with Dustin so much."

"Yeah, probably but not the point. The point is they're the same thing. Both of us, on our own, doing something we enjoy and are some level of skilled at, yeah?"

"Fine," Eddie sniffed haughtily, "They fuckin' equate."

"Glad we've established that," Steve smirked, "So therefore, and yes shut up Dustin is a terrible influence, but that means that basketball games and concerts also equate. We get to watch a group of people with more skill, doing something we enjoy, in a way that we will never experience. So, I like watching basketball for the same reason you like going to concerts. It’ll never be us but at least we can imagine it."

"God, I hate it when you make sense."

[reidingandwriting]

Lover (Steve Harrington’s Version)

Chapter Five: Lover

“I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, but I want ‘em all”

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Fem!Reader, mentions of pregnancy, mild language

A/N: This is the end of the Steve series, but I will be working on an Eddie series soon! Trying to decide where I want to put him but I had the most fun writing this one so I hope y’all enjoyed <3

Previous chapter

“Settle down, settle down,” Steve scolded while laughing. You and Steve had hosted Christmas at your house, your shared house. Steve couldn’t believe it. The two of you had a house together. Granted, it was a rental but still. You had a home. One that he could host holidays at, one decorated with Christmas lights and a beautiful Christmas tree that had piles of presents underneath. A Christmas record played loudly throughout the house, the house bustling with conversation and laughter.

You were so excited to have hosted the group; hot chocolate had been made for the teens (spiked for the adults) and you and Steve had made Christmas cookies the night before. Well, you made them. Steve was allowed to decorate while you baked. Steve cooked dinner as you cleaned, and you were braiding Max’s hair, talking to Nancy and Robin, while Max talked to El and Erica. You were a little off the last few days, and you were insistent that everything was perfect.

Even now, you seemed to be worried about something from the way you gnawed at your bottom lip. You finished braiding Max’s hair with a smile and then declared it was time to pass out presents. The group decided to do a Secret Santa type of exchange and as you settled into your spot beside Steve, you rested your head on his shoulder.

“Dustin, why don’t you and Lucas pass out the presents?” Steve suggested and the boys got up, quickly passing out gifts.

“Who’s first?” Robin asked and you paused for a moment.

“Erica, why don’t you go first? Then you can pick who’s next.” You smiled at the youngest member of the group and Erica nodded as she opened her present. Erica had been gifted a Dungeons & Dragons book and new dice from Dustin. Will was given a similar gift from Mike, Max received new cassettes for her Walkman, Dustin received one of Eddie’s old jackets and guitar pick necklaces (and Steve definitely didn’t get a little pouty about it).

By the end of gift giving, you were tucked into the blanket given to you by El and you turned to look at Max. You nodded at her and Max got up, rushing to your room.

“Where is she going?” Steve asked and you turned to face him.

“I have one other gift for you. And a gift for all the girls and the guys.” Steve studied you, noticing how nervous you looked.

“You okay?” Steve mouthed and you nodded, gently taking his hand in your own. Max came back a minute later, giving one box to Eddie, one to Nancy, and one to Steve.

“Make sure everyone can see,” you said as everyone gathered together. “Go ahead.” Everyone opened their gifts, Steve opening his rather quickly and freezing when he pulled away the tissue paper.

“Dingus? You okay-“ Robin paused as Nancy gasped. In Steve’s box, was a positive pregnancy test and a soft yellow onesie with a sonogram in the middle of the box. In the boys’ box, a red, black, and gray tie dyed onesie with ‘Uncles favorite dungeon master’ on the front. In the girls’ box, a pink onesie with ‘I have the best aunts ever’ on the front.

Everyone looked at Steve, waiting to see his reaction with bated breath. You felt more and more anxious the longer Steve went without talking, until you saw the tear slide down his cheek.

“We’re having a baby?” Steve whispered and you nodded. A beat of silence passed before he hugged you tight, and the room erupted with cheers and congratulations. Your shirt grew wet with tears, and you combed through his hair. You smiled when Steve’s gaze met yours, and you felt relieved when Steve smiled back at you.

“Wait, how come Max got to know first?” Robin whined and everyone laughed as Max stuck her tongue out at Robin.

“We were shopping a few weeks ago when I started feeling sick and the dots connected from there. I took, like, three tests and they were all positive. I freaked out and she helped me out.” You were properly panicking in the bathroom the day you found out you were pregnant, and Max had calmed you down.

“Steve’s, like, disgustingly in love with you. And he’s already such a dad, he’ll be so happy when he finds out you’re starting your own family.”

“Yeah,” you whispered. “Yeah, okay.”

“And you’re pretty good too. That baby would be lucky to have you as a mom,” Max’s gaze traveled to the floor and you smiled, hugging the teen close.

“And it’ll have the best aunts and uncles ever. Especially in my favorite teen,” you said and Max hugged you tighter.

“I think Harrington’s broken,” Eddie said and you turned to look at Steve, who admittedly did look like he was rebooting.

“Stevie,” you said and Steve’s eyes flickered up to meet yours. “Let’s go to the kitchen for a second.” You stood up and Steve followed. “Why don’t you pick out some movies?” You asked as you turned to the teens. “Get the living room nice and comfy for movie night? The extra blankets are in the hall closet.” Robin nodded, taking Nancy with her to gather supplies and you walked with Steve to the kitchen. “You’re kind of scaring me a little,” you said and Steve ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m a little scared,” Steve admitted. “I mean, you know how our parents were. I’m terrified I’m going to mess up. I’m terrified I’m going to screw up this kid.”

“I am too,” you said. You brought your hand to Steve’s face, gently tilting his chin so he looked at you. “Max literally had to talk me down from a meltdown. She seems to have more faith in us than we do.” You chuckled as you moved forward, burying your face in Steve’s chest. Steve wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his chin on top of your head.

“We’re going to be parents.”

“We’re going to be parents,” you echoed and looked up at Steve. His brown eyes were flooded with emotions, concern being one of them, but hope being another one. Love being the main one you saw and you leaned up. Soft lips met your own, and you wrapped your arms around his neck, fingers brushing against soft locks of hair.

“We should probably go check on the rest of them, they’re being too calm.” Steve said as he broke the kiss and you sighed dramatically.

“One of the girls would’ve snitched by now,” you said and Steve huffed out a laugh as he followed you back to the living room.

-

Steve looked around the living room, now late in the night. The teens were all asleep by this point. Eddie sprawled out in a chair, Nancy and Robin on the loveseat. You were curled into Steve’s side as you sat on the couch. The overhead lights were off, the living room only lit by the Christmas tree lights and the glow of the television that was ignored as everyone talked.

“Do you know how far along you are?” Nancy asked and you nodded.

“Eight weeks. By August, we’ll have our little one,” you said. August, holy shit. “Do not expect my heavily pregnant ass anywhere outside once June hits. Will not be getting all hot and sweaty, thank you.”

“This is so exciting. Coming up with baby names, decorating the nursery,” Robin said.

“Have any mother’s intuition on what it is?” Eddie asked. You paused for a minute, thinking but shook your head. “What about you, Harrington? Any guesses?”

“I’m feeling girl,” Steve said and you hummed in response.

“Considering right now it’s the size of a raspberry, we have a while to figure out what it’ll be.” You teased. “Whatever the little nugget is, it’s the luckiest baby ever with so many aunts and uncles.”

“So many babysitters,” Steve said and you laughed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever even held a baby,” Eddie said and you found yourself giggling.

“Me either, honestly. I’ll be a pro in the teenage years though after dealing with these hellions so long.” Robin snorted and you looked around.

You had the happiest smile on your face and Steve felt lighter than he had in ages. All of his worries just, melted away as he watched you and his friends interact. He never imagined he would have a life like this. Surrounded by friends who loved him just as hard as he loved them. A family he had made of his own, and now you, giving him a new addition to the family. He never imagined he would get the chance to have the life he always dreamed of, and he was determined to never let it go.

-

It was early the next morning, you and Steve cooking breakfast while everyone else continued to sleep. A pot of coffee brewed and you knew it wouldn’t be long before the smell roused Robin.

“It’s so pretty in there with the lights up. Feels more homey. We should leave them up for a few more days.” You said and Steve wrapped his arms around you from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder. You fed him a piece of bacon, and Steve relished in the way your nose scrunched up when he kissed your cheek.

“It’s our house. We can do whatever we want. We make the rules,” Steve said and you smiled up at him. “Just got the table set up. Saved you a seat.”

“Next to Robin?” You teased, giggling when Steve pouted at you. You both looked over when you heard the sounds of shuffling, greeted by Robin’s half awake body taking a seat at the table. “Speak of the devil.” You and Steve swapped places, him finishing up breakfast and starting to plate everything while you made Robin a cup of coffee. You slid the mug over to her, Robin humming her thanks as she took a sip.

“Wanna wake the rest of the heathens up?” Steve asked as he started to carry plates to the table, and you nodded. You ruffled Robin’s hair as you walked past her.

“You two are so domestic, it’s disgusting.” Robin said and Steve shot her an unamused look.

“Remind me how you and Nancy were sleeping last night?” Steve smirked as Robin blushed, quieting when the others walked in.

Everyone situated themselves at the large dining table and the kitchen bar, tired ‘thanks’ being given to you and Steve. You settled into your spot beside Steve, Dustin sitting on Steve’s other side while Max sat on your other side. Dustin pouted from his spot and you looked over at the curly haired teen. “What’s up, Dustin?”

“Max said I could sit by you!” Dustin whined and Max laid her head on your shoulder, and you didn’t have to look at her to imagine the smug smile on her face.

“You should’ve known, dude,” Steve said and Dustin glared at him.

“Children, children, calm down.” You tried to hide the amusement in your voice but based on the shit eating grin Eddie gave you, it wasn’t working. “Remember how we’re going to watch fireworks for New Year’s? Dustin, you and Max can sit beside me during the fireworks. And I’ll pick you up first.”

“Deal.” Dustin said triumphantly before he started to make his plate.

“When did you become his favorite?” Steve pouted and you laughed, making your own plate. You and Steve definitely had an interesting friend group, but you wouldn’t trade your family for the world.

And one warm night in late July, your family had a new addition. A daughter by the name Amelia Maxine Harrington. And it would be your little secret that it was Steve’s idea to include Max’s name as a part of your daughter’s. You may not have had the most loving home growing up, but you swore to Amelia that she’d know nothing but love and care as long as you and Steve were around. And with the help of her several aunts and uncles, you knew she’d be okay.

[moved-lambyblurbsfics]

Omg i need schlatt with a very nature-y, chaotic reader. Where like someone mentions a snake or some creature and they immediately run after it, they show up with random creatures, stuff like that. I think it’d be cute:)

You’re making me want to write a fantasy fic now, I’m such a whore for high fantasy stuff. The hobbit and Dungeons and Dragons just tickles that autistic spot in my brain.

Totally not brainstorming this story idea now…

But thank you! I think it’d be so adorable....

A Walk With Schlatt

Just a small blurb for you guys, lots of cute fluff

You're used to taking a walk in the afternoon to evening time, and decided to take your boyfriend Schlatt along with you. Knowing damn well he needed to get out of the house and touch some grass.

You decided to take your daily walk with him at a near by park that wasn't too far in walking distance. Once you two made it to the small park, and started down a trail that had nice scenery, kind of covered by trees. Just a whole relaxing trail to take a walk down.

Schlatt would complain about his knees hurting or something along those lines, making you retort with that he needs to get out more and move around more. Maybe joking he's getting old.

As the two of you are walking down the trail, pointing out different types of plants or fun things you see to Schlatt. He would smile and listen to everything to you had to say. He was actually enjoying this walk with you, listening to your knowledge on different plants or even animals out by the trail.

He would eventually get to holding your hand as the two of you walked. But you froze and got excited seeing a snake to the side of the trail up ahead. It being a very common and friendly type of snake. You let go of Schlatt's hand, and make your way to the snake.

Schlatt hadn't noticed the snake, and let you go see what you had saw.

Next thing Schlatt knew, you came back up to him, holding the snake up in your hands for him to see it. Jump scaring him for a moment as he was not expecting you to just bring over a snake.

He did the whole dramatic hand over the heart, out of breath, "You almost gave me a heart" scene. But he came down from the small jumpscare, and couldn't help but smile at you holding the snake, he adored the way you loved talking about your things. Especially when it came to things he didn't know yet. He could listen to you talk all day about anything honestly.

You went on to tell him facts about the particular snake you were holding. Setting the snake free after giving Schlatt a few fun facts.

[dracomelody]

Let me start by saying I love the Zelda franchise. I'm a casual gamer, and I haven't beaten every single game in the series (I haven't finished Zelda 2 and I haven't started Oracle of Ages, and I haven't played most of the spinoffs).

When Breath of the Wild came out, it instantly became tied with Twilight Princess as my favorite Zelda game. BotW was a breath of fresh air (pun intended) and I loved how I could play the game at my own pace, and I loved the freedom to explore wherever I wanted from the start. I thought the story was great and the gameplay was unique. The dungeons fell a bit short (they were short and easy, and the bosses kinda sucked), but they were creative, and I loved the champions enough that beating their bosses felt satisfying, if only since it avenged my old friends. Its themes of finally getting closure from the past while helping in the present was handled beautifully, and the final memory brought me to tears.

When Tears of the Kingdom was announced, I was HYPED. I was so excited to see Ganondorf's return and the consequences that would have on the world in this new story. I was wondering how they would handle reusing the same map, especially with the new abilities (Recall was what I was most excited for since it had so much potential to use in puzzles). But the more I saw of TotK regarding its map and game mechanics, the less interested I became.

I thought we would be able to keep the shrines as warp points on the surface (and the focus of the game would be on exploring the Depths and the Sky). Instead, all traces of the BotW's story were lost. No Shiekah tech, no towers, no (Shiekah) shrines. Ok, fine, it's whatever. But that meant you were required to explore the SAME overworld the SAME WAY as you did in BotW: finding dragons tears (finding memories), finding/beating Zonai shrines (finding/beating Sheikah shrines), and finding lookout towers to gain a map of the area (climbing the Shiekah towers). Why? What's the point of all of that in the same overworld, when the focus SHOULD be on making the Depths and Skies interesting instead?

The skies were too segmented and barely had anything in them. The depths were mostly empty aside from enemies and DLC armor from BotW (which makes most of the amiibo useless, btw. Also, THEY GOT RID OF WOLF LINK. I WILL NOT FORGIVE THEM. Lol), and finding the Lightroots as the priority made it tedious to explore. The caves on the surface were so small that they hardly mattered unless you wanted to hunt all the frogs.

I thought the dungeons would be more unique from each other this time around, maybe play on different types of gimmicks or themes. Instead, it's just more of the same gimmick that BotW had: find a few terminals and then beat the boss.

Since TotK is a sequel, I thought its story would be in real time, directly driving the gameplay. Instead, the story takes place forever in the past, and ultimately has no bearing on the plot outside of Zelda's location, AND the exact same story gets replayed after every dungeon you beat. I understood it the first time, thanks.

The ancestors in the past story don't really mean anything to me because they're...nobody. I don't even think they had names. They didn't do anything to make themselves stand out from their descendants, or even have a connection with their descendants aside from being their ancestors. But I digress.

In terms of reusing the world, I thought the old ruins (like the ranch ruins in BotW) would have been rebuilt, or a few new towns would have been added, but INSTEAD it's just the same old world with added monster camps and Lookout Landing and maybe another town that was so forgettable that I don't even remember it.

Ok, so it wasn't what I expected. That doesn't make it bad, right?

Well, I gave it a chance I just really didn't care for the building mechanics. The fusion mechanic is great, but I still feel like I'm cheesing my way through the game instead of actually solving puzzles the way they were intended. I feel like I'm just brute forcing my way through the game, and that doesn't make me feel clever or smart the way older games used to when I'd figure out a unique puzzle.

Oh well. Some games just aren't meant for some people. I still had fun just exploring and messing with Koroks, and I liked that I could have more horses (but they left out the ancient bridle and saddle from the BotW DLC =( )

So now that they've dropped trailers for Echoes of Wisdom, I thought: this is it, they're going to do something different. And we're playing as Zelda!! Zelda has so many cool abilities!!

But instead, the new gimmick in the game is....a rod. That anyone can use. Using Zelda's powers in a game where you play as Zelda? NOPE. Just give her a weapon Link could use, except now we don't have Link's sword/shield or arsenal of other items. We're just a powerless girl with a duplication wand.

Ok, ok, it can't be as bare-bones as that.

The world should be unique and encourage you to explore and navigate the different terrains, right? NOPE, just summon a million beds and climb over everything.

Open world games can be fun, but when you have NO LIMITS then it becomes boring. There's no thought or challenge or maze or puzzles in order to progress; you can easily use the mechanic to build your own solution to every single problem from the start. And building your own solution means relying on knowledge you already have; it doesn't require you to learn how to problem-solve, the way puzzles are meant to. Usually, in this case, I'd WANT to progress in order to see what will happen in the story. But we all know that the Zelda team doesn't gaf about the story, at least not anymore. So what's the point?

Just echo a cucco to fly over gaps, or summon a few objects as a staircase to climb up ledges. Using these echoes in dungeons has the potential to make things fun, but in the overworld? I just don't see the appeal of cheesing your way through every obstacle. And I already had my fill of going wherever I wanted in BotW and TotK. Making the overworld an actual world worth navigating would be NEW at this point.

I feel like EoW should be a short little spinoff game or something. At least then I wouldn't feel so disappointed in a main series game. I'll check it out for the story alone, but if TotK's story is anything to go on, I'm sure EoW's story will be lacking as well.

I'm not dropping out of the fandom just yet. But I feel like they're really cashing in on BotW's success by making every game a worse knockoff of it. They're using playable Zelda as a dirty tactic to win over fans like me who have wanted to play as Zelda with her established abilities.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: August 2024

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. The summer is waning. But the monthly media posts carry on. Here's how I spent the month of August.

……….FILM……….

Wendell & Wild (2022) I don't want this to be one of the last major stop-motion film to ever be made, but the filmmakers put so many stories into this that I wonder if they thought this was their last shot. Essentially a 12-course meal from a great restaurant: the accomplishment is impressive but the whole is overstuffed and some of the smaller portions were undercooked.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024) The lightly surreal elements of the movie were great, but there's a point late in the story when that surreality kills all of the momentum.

Spice World (1997) Still holds up.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) Still amazed at how well this pulls off what it seeks to do. But maybe I'm biased because I love practical effects, puppets, and action scenes that serve the narrative. We may not get another D&D movie but I'm glad we have this one.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Based on other live-action multiverses, I went in with modest expectations, and this was a pleasant surprise. Maybe it's because it continues to do what Deadpool does well. Thoroughly entertaining in the moment.

……….TELEVISION……….

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Episode 1.14 to 1.20) It's been a couple of years since I stopped watching (mid season!) but luckily one of the episodes was essentially a recap of what's happened so far. Really ramping up in the abstract and the philosophical and I'm a big fan. These kids are meeeeeeeessed up.

Made for Love (Episode 2.01 to 2.08) I only really caught the first season in pieces but I knew enough going into this season that it really clicked! It hit me the same way early Black Mirror episodes felt, only with more humour, depth, and nuance. It's a real shame there's no plans for season 3.

……….YOUTUBE……….

I think this will be a Short Video by Matthew Colville A really great reflection on making art in the social age, the algorithm, communities/audiences, and how these can clash with the natural impulses of creativity. VIDEO

I'm What the Culture Feeling (The full story of Kendrick Vs. Drake) by F.D. Signifier Almost 3.5 hours but for someone like me (who knows next to nothing of this world, these artists, or this conflict) it expertly breaks it all down to paint a complete picture. Really great watch. VIDEO

……….READING……….

Cards On the Table by Agatha Christie (Complete) Top-tier Christie. The premise is so fun, and while I know the multiple detectives appear in other stories, it's a nice introduction to these characters. This book made me want to learn how to play Bridge.

The People of the Black Circle and A Witch Shall Be Born by Robert E. Howard (Complete) I have this collection of Conan stories and after a years-long break, decided to read a few more. Both great! The latter puts Conan in an almost supporting role and it's fun to see him take on a secondary role to the story. Keeps it interesting. And the former is such a classic pulp story (cults, magic clothing, a giant snake) that I can't help but love it.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 14 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It's been a 6-year-long journey for me and while I couldn't be happier with how it ended, I'm sad that it's over. Still so impressed with how well it stuck the landing for me. Do I wish there was more of a wind-down with these characters? Sure. But I really respect an artist who knows what they want to say/do and says/does it. Very excited to see what Ryoko does next.

Hellboy Library Volume 1 by Mike Mignola with John Byrne (Complete) Without being hyperbolic, this is one of my favourite contributions to the craft. So confident and fully-formed right out of the gate. Excited to reread this series.

……….AUDIO……….

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappel Roan (2023) Technically I started listening to this at the end of July. I saw a positive review, figured I'd check it out, and it felt like that was at the same time everyone else in the world was talking about her. Love an album with such a focused perspective.

Currents by Tame Impala (2015) In recent years I've been really enjoying Tame Impala's one-off songs (Barbie and Dungeons & Dragons soundtracks, their collaboration with Gorillaz, etc.) so I figured I'd really dig into this album. Easy to listen to both casually in the background and with a magnifying glass just pouring over the lyrics. Love it.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Only got a few sessions in this month but the crew is still reassembling the skeletal pirate they trashed years (real time) ago. Now they're about to face a big electric centipede to recover his legs.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew split the party and one half casually shopped and planned while the other half discovered a secret testing facility full of captured magic-users.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) We got in a single session of Wonderland and it was a small party but a lot of fun! Also the first true character death of our playtesters. Luckily we had backup characters though character 2 ended the session losing their arm. Hey that's Wonderland.

And that's it. See you in September!

[yarrayora]

📜Hello! We've been going back and forth for days on how to message you about this, but we wanted to say we really, super love your thoughts on Falin from dungeon meshi and the pov centric art you've made of her. We didn't know if you were interested in hearing this, but we heavily related to Falin a lot, and not just because we always choose the healer/cleric in things ;^^ We're a system, and share souls with more that one being in the same body. We had already liked Falin, but when her shared soul plot with the red dragon kicked off we felt very deeply connected to her then. She really felt like someone we could heavily relate to and wanted to see her arc blossom in the story of Dungeon Meshi. But like you said in your Falin post she gets... essentially table scraps compared to every other important character? Which honestly shocked us considering so much of the narrative revolved around her. This is a bizarre statement, but it's the only way we could describe what we felt to a friend of ours:

Also, um, hello! I'm Marcille of this system. Our own Falin (yes there's also a Falin in here) had her own timeline and interpretation of events. And she basically thought on it so hard that I sort of... popped into existence?? As what "alter type" I am, I was literally labelled "Falin's Girlfriend"... ;>.> I do so hope this ask isn't annoying or aggravating in anyway, for some reason we saw your post and got very excited and wished to talk to someone else who felt similarly to our thoughts on Falin! So, we hope you're having a wonderful day, and keep being you, please! Thank you for existing! 💌- Marcille of the Panda system

thank you for writing paragraphs about this! it's really flattering! I really love Falin and I can understand the disappointment you guys feel about the lack of resolution when it comes to Falin as a person

at the same time it does fuel my creative needs for tragedy considering her role as a reward is Prime Ingredient for that

it's also the reason I started shipping Farcille in the first place

I'm still an Aro Touden Truther but I'm the type who have multiple gender/sexuality headcanons depending on the narrative I want to tell so it's not hard for me to imagine a lesbian/bi Falin too

I like the idea of Falin finally communicating the stuff she hates to her girlfriend instead of just following Marcille's whims

We already had a glimpse of that back in Laios' flashback about his first meeting with Marcille but even then she didn't think she could just tell Marcille no and ended up dragging her to the dungeon to get Marcille's permission to stay as an adventurer, despite her being a grown adult who doesn't need her friend's permission

I'm grateful for the post-canon content showing us how she rejected Shuro's proposal, and how Shuro takes it gracefully

it's an ending that shows people have finally seen Falin as a person instead of an object of affection, or at least Shuro does, and how much agency Falin has gained after losing her free will when turned into a chimera

There's something about how she has to be turned into a beast that can't speak her own mind for people to finally hear her voice

[aerysamultifandom]

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

Plot: It seems that the members of the house of the dragon have a different way to show how they love somoene...

Type: angst I guess

Characters: Aemond, Daemon, Reader.

Numbers of words: 3.2k

┊

You loved the Targaryens very much, all as much as they seemed to like you, even if you preferred not to attract the attention of the dragon. You had heard stories about how some lovers of princes, counselors and guards ended up. Indeed, it seemed that the stories only ended tragically, for the woman who was falling in love with one of these beautiful men with white hair. You were an adventurous woman, perhaps you would go and see what the stories told? You dared, and so you drew the attention of Prince Daemon, and as soon as his eyes set upon you, he knew that you were the one he would love to death, no matter what happens, he had decided, you would be his. It didn’t bother you at first, you liked kissing in dark corridors, holding hands with him at banquets…

┊

At first it was fun, you had to admit, you liked to feel the excitement in your veins for fear of being surprised in the office. It seems, however, that Daemon was not the only one who loved you because, soon after your relationship with Daemon became official, you began to notice insistent looks on you, and although most came from the women of the court, you noticed that the younger princes had also set their sights on to and their eyes did not hide their attention. Like any woman, you felt delighted to receive their looks and intentions, even if you loved Daemon, you would never say no to other men for the great displeasure of the master of Caraxes. But you didn’t care, you were carefree of the dangers that were waiting for you in the shadows, but soon you will regret it, and it happened faster than you thought.

┊

It was a morning as you had already experienced a lot, however, you felt good on that sunny morning. You had woken up in the prince’s arms when you had just spent a beautiful night with him, moreover, he had promised you that he would take you for a walk with him in the forest, unfortunately your happiness did not last long. No sooner had you set foot in the outer courtyard of the dungeon than Prince Aemond called upon you as he seemed to have just finished his training. "Lady y/n!" you turned to him, giving him a smile as you knew so well to do. "My prince, how are you?" you asked politely, you were somewhat annoyed that he spoke to you when you had an appointment with the king’s brother. "I’m fine, lady y/n, where are you going?" he asked you politely when you seemed to be impatient, you gave him a little smile before answering him in a rather calm voice, but still showing your boredom. "I have to go to your uncle now, I’m sorry, but I have to go." you said without waiting for an answer before moving quickly towards the stables. You were somewhat relieved not to hear his footsteps follow you as you reached the stables.

┊

Your anguish disappeared when you saw the chosen one of your heart waiting for you with two brides in your hands. You approached him with one of your most beautiful smiles and as soon as he saw you, his eyes lit up. "You’re beautiful" you’re timidly blushing at his words. "Don’t be stupid, you saw me this morning!" You exclaimed in an embarrassing voice, looking down at the ground. He approached you and put his hand on your chin and you raised your head towards him as he lowered his eyes to yours as he began to speak a few inches from your lips. "Where were you? You know I hate to wait" his voice was low and hoarse as if he hadn’t told you all about what he had planned. "your nephew talked to me when I was already late" you explained in a calm voice while those eyes were darkening, maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned Prince Aemond but it’s no big deal to you.

┊

"Don’t talk about him my sweet dove, he’s not important" he whispered softly as he would tighten his grip on you, oh, he was jealous, jealous of his nephew. You were his, his, and he hated sharing people and things he loved, and you were the most important thing to him. obsessed with you? he was, but you didn’t seem to notice. " Forgive me Daemon" you whispered, you told him what he wanted and he released you before offering you his hand to help you ride a horse. He quickly got on his horse before heading out of town. It soothed you to go out of town from time to time, and it was even more so when you were in good company. It was cool when you were walking around with Prince Daemon whose horse was walking beside you, oh, he looked at you like there was nothing more beautiful in all Westeros. You spent a beautiful day with the prince, who pampered you as soon as you put a foot on the ground in the forest.

┊

As the sun was setting, you walked through the doors of the dungeon, more exhausted than ever, the forest walk made you more tired than you thought. You were happy to put a foot on the ground, despite all the love you could give to the horses, you hated having a back ache after a long walk on their back. Prince Daemon insisted on taking you back to your room and you could not refuse in front of his insistent gaze. Thus, you had just entered your room accompanied by the man, you sighed before lying on the bed closing your eyes. "Is everything all right, my dove?" you heard Daemon’s calm voice as he sat next to you on the bed. "I hate horseback rides," you mumbled while sticking your head in the pillow, but you could smell the man smiling even if you didn’t look at him. You quickly felt his hands on your back as he massaged you and at every pressure point he made, you moaned, you let slip a peep when the man stopped his massage and leaned over so he could look you in the eyes and pull hair out of your face. Even if would love to keep hearing those lovely sounds coming out of your beautiful mouth, we need to get ready for dinner."

┊

you grumble but you knew you shouldn’t be late this time because there was not only the royal family but also the Velaryon house. And then it will be an opportunity to have fun, won’t it? you got up from the bed and finally went to dress up to be presentable. You arrived in the room with Daemon and hurried to your place seeing that all were already present. "Still late?" made Alicent notice while she was giving you a bad look, she didn’t love you and you knew it but you didn’t care. Thus, you met the members of the Velaryon house, they all seemed to be pleasant people and the evening went well but you pretended not to feel well in order to leave sooner, you left with a quick step. When you had just come out, you felt a hand on your wrist and you turned to face Prince Aemond. "Did you really think you could leave like that?" He spoke in a low voice while his eyes were dark.

┊

You did a surprise head before you frowned. "What do you mean?" the man let go of your wrist before he looked at you with a frosty look. Don’t be silly, you know what I mean." You shook your head before sighing "Aemond, by the seven, tell me what you mean." The prince approached you, weighing the pros and cons. Did he really have to believe you when you told him you didn’t understand? he chooses to believe you. "Why do you spend so much time with him? Why do you spend your days with this man?" he spoke calmly, as if he was trying to make a child understand that he had made a mistake. "Daemon? Why am I spending so much time with him? Because I love him." He looked down at you and frowned. " Don’t you love me? Can’t you see I’m jealous of Daemon? he spends his days with you, he doesn’t leave you alone. You’re blind to the point where you can’t see that I want you to be mine." When you understood what he was saying, you backed away.

┊

"Aemond…" you couldn’t finish your sentence when you heard someone calling you and you saw Daemon coming. " y/n! What are you doing here? You said you were tired, I thought you were going to bed and not argue with Aemond." He spoke looking at his nephew with a bad look. What did he tell you to make you look surprised? His nephew was starting to exasperate him, he was tired of seeing him near you, of seeing him talking to you, why couldn’t you just ignore him? he took your hand "I think y/n is tired and she would like to go to her room." He said quickly before he asked you about it while you were trying to figure out what was going on. It seemed like the two men were competing for you and even if it flattered you, you were worried. They were children of the dragon and you knew that it would not be long before the dragon began to spew fire and, from that moment on, everything went up in flames and you wanted at all costs to avoid that. As you arrived in your room, you asked Daemon to stay and talk to him.

┊

"What do you think of me?" you asked the blond-haired man with a firm tone. "What do I think of you? You’re a smart, sympathetic woman and…" he doesn’t finish his sentence when you cut it. "Not in that sense! How do you see me? as someone you love or as a posssession?" he frowned at you, he seemed not to understand, so you saw fit to explain your thought. "Aemond made it clear to me that he sees me as something that belongs to you and that he wants. So I ask you one last time before I get you out of this room, how do you see me?" He stood up and approached you leaning his head to the side with his famous arrogant air. "Aren’t you mine?" He said looking at you, oh, you just wanted to slap him. "I don’t belong to anyone Daemon except myself. I’m not a toy that’syou're using or anything." You finished your sentence by pointing at the door." Get out, I don’t want to see you anymore" he didn’t answer but it was clear he was upset as he left slamming the door.

┊

Daemon was furious as he left your room, how dare his nephew say that? How dare he end your relationship? Oh, he was gonna find him and make him pay. You were his and he wasn’t gonna let you go like that, not so easily. He then made his way through the corridors to reach the apartments of Aemond, if this little lizard thought that Daemon would leave him alone, he was mistaken. He entered without knocking and was not surprised to find the prince with a prostitute in his arms. "Go out" he spoke to the young woman who hurried to get dressed before going out, closing the door behind her, once alone, he turned to the man. "Who do you think you are? I know what you said to y/n, and I’ll be clear, she’s mine." He said more than angry, but Aemond raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I think I heard you arguing, she chased you out, didn’t she?" the tone of his voice was mocking. I will prove to her that she is mine and that you are worthless." Daemon spoke on leaving the room.

┊

So, their stupid competition began, you had to admit you didn’t realize it right away. For Aemond was the only one to come to see you at first, he apologized for what he had said to you the previous evening and he seemed so sincere that you could only forgive him. he offered you flowers and other gifts as a token of friendship for the sole purpose of irritating Daemon who, every time he saw him, seemed to want to kill him there. It amused him, however, you understood their competition when Daemon came to see you in turn and asked you to forgive him, being kind and compassionate, you forgave him. Thus, every day that passed, you always had one or the other at your side and they both seemed to want to appear as the best choice, you were always invited to the tournament that the king organized. At this kind of event, it was the one who received your favors first who won, which promoted to make the joust come quite bloody if prince and heir had to fight.

┊

Aemond was determined to earn your love, really, he was perfect, a gentleman as he could be. He would ask you for a walk, offer you necklaces, bracelets and many other things and make you happy, you would not lie to yourself. However, all of you were happy, you were not going to lie to yourself, you had the impression that he was forcing himself, as if his ultimate goal was to show that he had won against Daemon and this thought could not leave you. on the other hand, Daemon was present for you when Aemond was not available, he did not offer you a gift but supported you with actions and words, at least that was at the beginning. Indeed, when they noticed that you did not seem to want to choose one of the two, they began to monopolize you, to want to spend all their days with you, even if you did not want to. Little by little, the attention they had for you disappeared and only the competition remained for your greatest displeasure.

┊

It made you sad in a way because what they once did out of love for you was gone. They had come to the fact that when they had what they wanted, they were happy and that made you somewhat sad, why did they no longer pay attention to you? Were you just an object? The more days passed, the more this thought hung in your head. You stayed by their side as long as you could and it seemed that henceforth the roles were reversed, that it was you who sought to be loved, and not them who sought your love. Of course, none of this was visible in appearance, indeed, from an outward point of view all went well for them as well as for you. You had to admit, however, that in addition to feeling this sadness, you were annoyed to be investigating somewhere without being entitled to give your opinion or to say what you though. you were convinced, you were now an object of exhibition for the two Targaryens.

┊

You felt the need to talk about it with them and that’s what you did. You invited them for an afternoon to join you in your room, the only place where you felt confident enough to invite the two Targaryens. As they sat down you started talking. I invited you here because I have something I need to tell you, and it concerns both of you." The two men looked at each other, had you finally decided to choose one of them? Was the moment they’ve been waiting for for weeks finally there? Daemon looked up at you and smiled, "Tell us, I’m curious to know what you think." Aemond nodded and you were inspiring before you started talking. "I know you both seem to like me, but why do you treat me like I’m just an object, like a precious object that gives happiness to the one who has it. You don’t seem to know that I’m alive and human…do you really care about me or just do it so you’re not seen as bad people?" Your voice was sad as you looked at the two men. Daemon continued to observe you while Aemond seemed uncomfortable.

┊

You remained silent while the two men said nothing and it began to annoy you. Eventually Daemon spoke in a calm voice, as if he were carefully choosing his words. " y/n… You know we love you…" he started talking looking at his nephew and then you and you looked at him calmly, what was he going to say? "But, you know, we’re princes of the royal family…if we’re less affectionate with you, it’s because we…well, we got tired of you. It doesn’t mean we want to see you anymore, but that’s just how we love people." He spoke softly as if he had in front of him a frightened animal and he did not want to frighten him any more. His words were freezing your blood, but he kept talking. "You know, you’re not the only woman in our lives. So whether you feel hurt or sad because of my actions, I don’t pay attention." He said in a cold voice before he got up and left the room with a quick step.

┊

As Daemon went out slamming the door behind him, you turned to the prince who stood in front of you and looked at you calmly. He seemed to share the same opinion that his uncle and it hurt you. "If that’s how the Targaryens like people, I think I would have been happy never to meet you". you spoke coldly to the prince as he stood up and seemed to follow his uncle. However, he turned to you before going out. "It’s too bad you got boring, otherwise it would have been fun to see who you were going to fall in love with." He spoke in an arrogant voice before he went out again. Once alone, you would sigh, how dare they play with your feelings as if they were worthless? You didn’t know what to do so you spent the afternoon in your room thinking about what to do. Of course, it was unthinkable for you to stay in the Red Keep any longer.

┊

You make your decision in the evening, that the next day you will leave. You didn’t want to live here any more knowing that you’d just be seen as a toy, and you took the liberty of not telling anyone. So, at dawn you left the Red Keep with a quick step, before taking one of the royal horses, you choose the fastest before leaving the city, leaving behind you this story…no one knew what you had become, and your name never reappeared in the history books.

Hi, it's me again, thanks you for reading and have a good day !

[maxattack-lis]

Do you have any other artistic passions besides photography?

I’m a massive film nerd! And not just Live action. One of my favorite movies ever is Akira, the animation is absolutely fantastic! When ever I get the chance to see it I’m always blown away by the brilliance of the Use of Color in the movie. The way that red is used to symbolize power in all its forms is something that inspired a lot of my darker shots. It helped me realize color can be so much more purposeful in a shot.

I’ve recently been watching a lot of David Lynch (Rest In piece) and I’m in love with Twin peaks (Chloe was so excited to show me this one).

If I were to name a few directors I recommend I’d say

Wes Anderson

Spike Jones

Gregg Araki

And of course David Lynch

My movie recommendations for this post I would say are

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Final Fantasy The Spirits Within

Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children

Akira

Nausicaa and the valley of the wind

Totally F***ed Up

Dune Part 1 and 2

I saw the TV Glow

Do the Right thing

Classic Godzilla

Perfect Blue

John Carpenter’s The Thing

Tokyo Godfathers

Point Break

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Amoung Thieves

Howls Moving Castle

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Alien

Dr. Strangelove

Back to the future parts 1 and 2 (I’ve always thought the 3rd kind of didn’t live up to the other two)

Jacques Tati’s Playtime

The Maltese Falcon

Spiderman Across the Spider-verse

of course The Breakfast Clubs

Donnie Darko (that ending always gets to me)

And both Blade Runner movies

[clickerflight]

Whump Week: "It's hard to love broken things"

@week-of-whump

Masterlist

I'm doing this event! I'm so excited! I'm also doing sketches for each one and I'm going back to my roots and writing about The Adventurers. The first whump event I ever did was writing whump about that thought project. (Also, you ever make a post and put it on the wrong blog and have to put the whole post together again? Yeah.)

Content: demon whumpee, half dragon caretaker, cultist whumpers, whip wounds, on the run

..........................................

Running through the forest on bare feet at high speeds, being chased by cultists who held him captive was not ideal for the now reopened whip wounds dribbling down Laurance's sides. His lungs ached, he knew his eyes were glowing red with the fear that seemed fused to his very soul, and he was certain he would have fallen if it weren't for the woman supporting him, running as fast as her legs could carry them. Her wings occasionally scraped his back as she flapped them on instinct, trying to get away from the cultists. 

"Leave me," Laurance panted. He didn't have the strength to get his arm off of her by himself. It was so much effort to get one torn up foot in front of the other. 

"No," Anisha growled, eyes flashing, reminding him that despite how weirdly human she looked, she was still a fiercely protective scaleon. "I'm not gonna!"

Laurance would have laughed if he'd had the breath. She talked so strangely, and it was just as endearing now as it had been when she was behind bars in the cult's dungeon. 

She huffed, flapping her wings again causing Laurance to stumble and wince. 

"Sorry!" she yelped, hauling him up as they broke out onto a dirt path. 

Laurance glanced back and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw the familiar red and black painted armor adorning the chests of men who had also found the road. 

"CITY!" Anisha shrieked. 

Laurance nearly cried with relief as he spotted the walls ahead, which turned into horror when he noticed the closed gates. "They aren't going to let us in," he said, stars starting to form in his eyes as the pain in his back and limbs reached the next level. 

"Do I LOOK like I care!?" Anisha asked, eyes bright with determination.

She moved so quickly it jarred Laurance's broken ribs, and when his vision came back from the blinding pain she was pressed against his bloody back, arms around his chest. 

"Nisha!?" Laurance gasped. 

All he got in return was a slightly hysterical cackle of laughter, and then pain as Anisha lifted into the air behind him, scaled wings sweeping down around them as she dragged him into the air with her. 

There was no way they were going to make it to the top of the wall. There was no way. Maybe if Anisha wasn't a stunted Scaleon, but she was tiny and Laurance, despite being mistreated and starved for months, was still bigger and heavier than her. 

Anisha growled in his ear, her wings sweeping down in defiance of gravity, in defiance of death and the wall approaching. 

"This is gonna hurt," Anisha hissed, and then Laurance was flying. 

He yelled, looking for something to catch onto, and like a miracle, or perhaps a curse, his hands caught the edge of the wall, sending waves of pain through him that nearly dislodged him. Still, despite how broken his new body was, it was still the body of a demon and it didn't give up so easily. 

He looked down past his torn up shoulder to find Anisha on the ground. She'd thrown him so hard it had sent her to the ground, but her diminutive size did not take away from the fact that scaleons could take a fall. 

The cultists were catching up, though, and Anisha had to roll to avoid a weapon that plunged down towards her face. 

Laurance tried to haul himself up onto the wall, but all he could do was hang there, his muscles quaking at the very thought of pulling him up. 

He looked down again to find Anisha climbing the wall, the talons on her feet, fingers, and the hooks on her wings searching for every crevice she could use to get to him, her tail lashing quickly behind her to keep the cultists from grabbing it. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she assured him, leaping up the wall to get there faster. "Almost there! Hang on, man!"

Laurance whimpered. He could hear people running along the top of the wall and all he could imagine was a knife coming down on his fingers, sending him to the ground again. 

"We're under attack!" a deep voice called. "Ready your bows!"

"They're coming over the walls!" another called, feet pounding towards Laurance.

"IF YOU TOUCH HIM, I SWEAR, THEY WILL NEVER STOP FINDING YOUR BODY!" Anisha roared, her voice so much louder than her tiny body suggested she could produce. 

Laurance heard her wings flap loudly, the wind blowing over his damaged skin until she reached the top. She hissed at the young man who had been watching them with an open mouth and he stepped back. She hauled herself over, stumbling for a moment before turning and grabbing Laurance.

"We made it! We made it!" she cheered as she started to lift him up. He screamed as she pulled him over, though she was very gentle in setting him on the ground, nudging him to curl up on his side in the fetal position. 

The sound of men screaming and yelling swirled around Laurance, the sharp twangs of bowstrings echoing in his ears as he dry heaved on the stone. 

"W-what are you?" the young guard asked. 

Anisha's sharp voice replied, "I'm a scaleon. You know, dragon person? Thought the wings made that pretty obvious." She took a deep breath to soothe herself and said, "Sorry. I have had a very stressful day. Where are we?"

"Ah, um Kaliaway, my lady. Is... that a semni?" 

"He's with me," Anisha replied, and Laurance could hear the exhaustion creeping into her voice. "Is there a doctor, er, medic? Healer? What do you guys call the guys who do the wounds and bandages thing?"

"The, ah, huh?"

"Oi, Phillip! Why aren't you- oh."

Laurance twisted his head to see a tall guard in a full suit of armor, captain's badge clipped to his shoulder, looking at the three of them. 

"Medic? Healer?" Anisha asked, exhausted as she gestured to Laurance. "Quickly?"

"He's a semni."

Anisha bristled, mantling her wing higher despite how her tail drooped. "And he was a slave to those heathens. Can we please get him a healer!?"

“Semni aren’t allowed in the-”

Anisha hissed, ears pinned back. “If you do not find him a healer, I will rip your fingers off and feed them to you through your nose!”

The head guard took a step back, and Laurance couldn’t blame him. Anisha didn’t have much of a dragon aura most of the time, but when she was using it it was terrifying. 

“O-of course, my lady,” the captain said, and with that, he scrambled to find someone to go get the healer while the rest of the guards continued to shoot at the semni below, chasing them off. 

Anisha crouched down, putting a gentle hand on the back of Laurance’s head, using her wings to shield him from the gazes of the guards. 

“Did you see how he ran?” she whispered, her smile wrinkling up her nose. 

Laurance huffed out something that was trying to be a laugh. “Absolutely….. You didn’t have to do all that. You could have been killed.”

Anisha shrugged, like none of it mattered, like saving him was the easiest thing in the world. Or perhaps, if not the easiest, the most logical. “It'll be a fun story to tell. For both of us.”

He stared at her. “Are you insane? I suppose you’d have to be to get me out of there.”

She smiled. “If it means that being sane is to abandon a new friend because it’s easy, then yes, beloved. I’m insane.”

Part 2

[detectivereads]

2025 Anticipated books

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year, I hope everyone is well. Ok I am super excited for this year. I have so many books to look forward to this year. I am hoping to read more books from the Twisted Tale series.

Fantasy

Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd by Delilah S. Dawson- I love D&D, and this is a campaign that I really want to get play. One of my bookish goals is to get the book “I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire”. I find vampires fascinating. Now this book the description doesn’t give too much away. All we do know is that a group of adventurers are summoned by the dark lord of Barvoia.

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon- I love to watch Critical Role campaigns! I came in at campaign two and I love all the characters (I do need to finish listening to it). But a well know romance book called “Tusk Love” is prominent in the campaign. I am interested in reading it, since this was such a vocal point for comedy in the campaign.

Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree- I jumped for joy when I saw that book three of my favorite fantasy series is get another book. I am a little disappointed that the main character is not Viv, but a character from Bookshops & Bonedust but I am still happy that we are getting a new book.

Heartbroken by Serna Valentino- this is a book in the Villains series by Disney. I haven’t read any books in this series, but this has one of my favorite Disney villains front and center her royal majesty the Queen of Hearts. So, I will have to wait and see if I like the series.

Roll for Danger: The Cursed Catacombs by Nick Eliopulos- this is a choose your own adventure like book and the author of the Deephaven books are illustrating the book. Looks like it’s the standard newbie adventure of a quest to find a special flower/treasure in some caves. I am looking forward to reading this.

Fool’s Gold: Death by Karaoke by Jenna Woldenga, Felix Irnich, Christopher Hastings, Avery Howett, Princess Abella- This, this book is the book that has made my MVB (Most Important Book) for this year. I love watching Dingo Doodles’ series, besides Critical Role, I think she is one of the D&D people that got me interested in playing. But the big question that I have for the series is are we going to get answers about the ship that was in the purple crystal.

Mystery

Strange Houses by Uketsu- I have been collecting the manga, and when I found out that the states is getting a translated version of the original novel I am totally stoke for it. This is one of my first Japanese mysteries and I am glad that I took the leap when the manga came out, I can’t wait for this one to come out.

Nancy Drew Diaries: Superstitions of “The Scottish Play” by Carolyn Keene- Nancy Drew still alive and well and I am very interested in this book. Now with a little knowledge about the Scottish play this mystery I have high hopes.

My Little Pony Maretime Mysteries by Stephanie Williams- I haven’t watched the new series with the new ponies, but this is a mystery so I am looking forward to reading it.

Cozy Mysteries:

Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert- the title stuck out to me, I do get some dark academia vibes, but I’ll have to wait and see if I am right. So, the main character Jennifer Dalton, who is an author/teacher at the university. Her coworkers are a bit snooty, saying that she writes fiction. One of her students got into a fight with another teacher and the teacher turned up dead, with the student becoming suspect number 1.  So, Jennifier gets a team of amateur sleuths together to see what happens. It sounds interesting and I am always looking for a new cozy to read.

Killing Me Souffle by Ellie Alexander- the latest Bakeshop mystery book the cover art is always a treat (ha) to look at. I am still working my way through the whole series, but the Bakeshop series has always been a go too to de-stress from a chaotic day.

The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien- Yes, I love this series, I am an avid fan of the series, and I am always happy when I see a new book.

Murder By Cheesecake: a Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage- I am very curious about this book; I have watched that episode where the ladies took part in murder mystery weekend (and yes that is one of my favorite episodes). I am hoping that this will be a series, and I do hope there are plenty of clap backs that the girls are known for.

Bait and Swiss a Cheese Shop mystery by Korina Moss- I have been a fan of the series for a while now and I have been interested to know about Willa’s Ex best friend and fiancé since it was mentioned. I guess the title is very appropriate since it has got my attention.

Misc

Escape the Pizzaplex by Scott Cawthon, Lyndasy Ely- YES new year new Freddy’s book that is coming out. My opinion I love the original games very much, but I love the creativity of the Security Breach. From the looks of it we are playing the character Cassie.

Manga

Sherlock Holmes Vol 1 A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arhtur Conan Doyle- I was surprised that that they started making classic stories into manga. But when I saw that they were making Sherlock Holmes (I know they made a manga series for the BBC Sherlock) I am interested in collecting the series. I am hoping that they might make some Agatha Christie manga too.

Usotoki Rhetoric vol 10 by Ritsu Miyako- I discovered this manga last year and I have been hooked on it from the get-go. I am sad that this is the last volume in the series, but I can’t wait to read it.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle- Not much is said about this one, but I guess I’ll wait and see.

Detectives These Days are Crazy! Vol 1 by Masakuni Iharashi- I came across this series by accident but since Usotoki Rhetoric is ending I do need to find another series to fill the place for it.

I have many more books this year but these 19 books are the ones that I am most interested in and if write anymore books down, I think this would be a 4 page list but these are just the ones that are on my bookish radar for the moment that I have been looking forward too since 2024.

What are some of your anticipated books for the year?

[jacksdinonuggets]

Blakey

My OC, Blake, goes into little space at the hotel after a long and rough day. Charlie finds him in his room and comforts him.

Charlie and Blake are PLATONIC. we need more platonic caregivers.

I doubt yall will actually care about this fic but I needed to be comforted and decided to write to cope.

also, warning, Blake gets a bit harassed at the beginning.

Blake fell into his hotel room, exhausted. Charlie decided that the hotel would have a dnd campaign to bond. Usually, Blake loved Dungeons and Dragons but everyone was being so loud and getting side tracked that they barely got half-way through before Charlie shut it down, knowing that they weren’t getting anywhere. 

After that disaster, he had to go out and get the hotel’s groceries and some asshole slapped his ass on his way out. He wanted to punch him but was holding the bags of food. So he just ran away awkwardly. 

In his room, he got out his stuffed dinosaurs and stuffed bears before pulling out his paci from his pacifier case. He needed to have some little time. Contemplating on whether or not he should wear a diaper, he decided not to. He was running out and needed to save them. So he laid down in his bed, surrounded by his stuffies and snuggled up under the covers

“Blake~ It’s dinner-” Charlie burst through the door but stopped mid-sentence once she saw him.

He started to cry, embarrassed that she had saw him. It was already embarrassing enough when he showed up a month ago, begging for a place to stay because of how broke and pathetic he was.

“No, No, No, It’s okay, baby,” Charlie rushed up to him and tried to give him a hug. Being a caregiver herself, she knew the right way to hold him.

“You not mad?” He asked, looking up from where she had her arms wrapped around his head.

“Of course not, sweetie, I’m a caregiver,” She confessed to him. He looked up with hopeful and glossy eyes. He let go of his dino and hugged Charlie.

“It’s alright, Blakey, let it out,” She said as he began to sob happy tears into her stomach. He was so happy that she wasn’t upset with him or calling him weird. He was truly feeling like absolute shit that day but was so happy that Charlie was comforting him

Once he was done, Charlie wiped away his tears and booped his pacifier.

“Oh right! Dinner!” She said out loud as she realized that she got side tracked, “Do you want me to make you some mac’n’cheese?” she asked. He nodded. Charlie let him be for a couple minutes to make his dinner.

When she returned, she had a bowl of Mac’n’cheese in a kids pastel blue and pink bowl and a purple sippy cup.

“Sorry if these are too girly, they’re Vaggie’s. Don’t tell her i told you that though,” She handed him the bowl as he shakily tried to use the spoon. His motor skills weren’t the best when he felt small.

“Ooh! I can take you and Vaggie to the little store tomorrow! It’s got a bunch of little gear,” She suggested. He smiled, that sounded so exciting! 

Once he was done, he played with his stuffies for a couple of minutes before getting bored. He didn’t have many toys. Maybe when they go out tomorrow, he’ll be able to pick some out. Since he wasn’t fully comfortable regressing in front of Charlie just yet, she let him regress by himself for a bit. Overall, he was happy that Charlie was so supportive.

[edward-munson]

GLAD TO BE HERE

Summary: Both Steve and Eddie share traumas after the Upside Down events. After that day, they had been keeping each other company, and since then, the realization of their feelings grew wider. Word count: 1.6k

Ps: This is my first time writing a Steddie story so please be kind lol this is a holiday special, Merry Christmas to all my besties!!

Warning: Just a lot of fluff, mentions of trauma and PTSD

🎄🌟

Steve smelled like his cologne and aftershave, he had just finished fixing his hair in front of the mirror from his bathroom before walking down to his backyard. He was throwing a small Christmas party with his friends and the kids.

It's been a hell of a year, he thought to himself. He almost barely survived the Upside Down, the scars around his neck and his stomach were a living reminder of what it felt like hell for him.

Not only him, but also for the man standing across the beer pong table. Eddie felt like he was a second away from life that day, almost being eaten alive left him living with PTSD. Almost every day he would have nightmares about that day, the event screaming back at him, the feeling of the demo bats eating his flesh.

After all those past months, both of them gladly had their friends help. They were constantly talking to each other as well, as long as doing therapy. They would call each other almost every day and make each other company so they wouldn't think too much about the attack. And that was when they started feeling something switching between them.

Eddie was the first to bring it up and Steve, of course, freaked out. He wasn't expecting to actually feel something that different and unfamiliar. Suddenly, they realized they had a crush on each other.

The metalhead watched as his friend approached their group of friends, bringing a pack of beer, watching as they enjoyed the game, already half-drunk.

Steve looked up and met Eddie's gaze at him. He smoothly grinned at the man, his hands were stubbornly shaking just at the sight of Eddie looking at him like that. They were about to exchange Christmas gifts and he was already nervous, wondering what he was getting.

Eddie walked up to Steve, helping him place the bottles of beer on the table before they left for a few minutes.

They walked to Steve's living room side by side, not actually giving a fuck about their friends. Because they knew.

The girls knew way before the former King of Hawkins High realized what he was feeling.

“Oh, my God Eddie! You like Steve!” Nancy blurted out one time. She and Robin met with him after he asked them for advice about some “different feelings” he's been having, as he said.

“Holy shit, my friend is bi!” Robin almost lit up fireworks after that.

And then, when they met with Steve after both him and Eddie had the talk, the girls were so happy it was almost too weird. Robin even started giving her best friend advice, especially during their break at the Family Video.

Steve was the first to grab the package and handed it to the man in front of him. Eddie took the gift and stared at him, narrowing his eyes.

“I swear you'll love it. Henderson helped me pick up” He said, his lip twitched in awe as he saw Eddie's expression change after hearing Dustin's name.

“Dustin fucking helped you with this? I'm more concerned now” He joked.

Rolling his eyes, Steve nudged the box into the man's chest. “Just open it”.

And as soon as he did, his face lit up and his jaw dropped. He couldn't control the excitement after seeing a new set of Dungeons and Dragons inside the box.

“Not fucking way! Thanks, man” Eddie filled the small space between them, giving him a sided hug. His fingertips brushed against Steve's left cheek, who almost faltered at the touch.

“You gotta keep the Master of Dungeon role-play going” He said, trying to not sound too nervous around his friend. But sometimes it was just impossible.

And Eddie always noticed the nervousness, but somehow managed to be the one to actually make this new interaction less uncomfortable for both of them.

“What did you get me?” He asked as he saw Eddie's grin grow wide on his face. The chains on his jeans were jiggling as he walked toward the couch and held up a bag and lifted it up for him to grab it.

The metalhead watched as his friend opened it up and faced the denim vest he had mentioned about before.

Steve was speechless.

Before even considering liking Eddie, he said he liked the fabric when the man handed it to him that day. It was in the Upside Down. After that, he gave it back to Eddie only a few months later, after they were past the trauma and all the jnjuries.

“It was about fucking time. I almost forgot I had that vest” He laughed as Steve tossed it to him. Back then, he was recovering at his new trailer, where he was living with his uncle. Eddie was always getting visits from his friends and Steve.

“Yeah man, I really liked it and almost got it for myself” Steve joked, sitting next to the guy on the couch. “How are you recovering?”

It was really hard to talk about it then, they shared almost the same experience, so they knew exactly how it was to be almost eaten alive.

Day after day, they were hanging out and talking on the phone. They started to look forward to seeing and talking to each other, as much as sharing jokes and laughs. It didn't matter if it was about the event or something else.

“No way, man. This is your vest!” Steve couldn't even hide he was surprised by Eddie's gesture. It was more meaningful than he thought it was.

“Yeah, you said you liked it, and it honestly looks good on you” He teases, leaving the guy with flushed cheeks. Eddie smirked and watched as the other one dressed the vest over the sweater he was wearing.

“You're not wrong, though” Both of them laughed as Steve playfully spun around.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes focused on both faces. The music outside was a blur, the room suddenly became a little warmer.

The host broke the flirtation and smiled. “Can you help me out with something in the kitchen?” He asked suddenly, but Eddie just nodded.

Clueless of what it was, he looked around the kitchen island, not having any idea of what kind of help he was looking for.

“What the hell do you want, Harrington? There's nothing here” He let out a scoff, watching as Steve grinned, biting the inside of his cheeks.

He looked up, and Eddie followed his gaze, eyes on a mistletoe hanging above them.

“Oh… Are you sure you want-”

Steve cut him off, he didn't want Eddie to have second thoughts about his decision, so he nodded. “Yeah”.

Before his friend could come up with anything else, he planted a soft kiss on Eddie's lips. His ringed fingers tugged on a few strands of the nape of Steve's neck, making him shiver under the careful touch.

He actually didn't know what to do next. Clearly, Steve didn't have as much attitude as the other one has. The only thing he thought about was cupping Eddie's jaw. And man, did the curly haired guy like it.

It was sudden, different and good. So good. It was light, but warming to the touch, it felt right. It didn't have malice, obviously, but it made him feel something building up inside his body.

Steve felt a spark under his skin, he felt like a struck of lightning was running through his veins.

They spent a couple of minutes only savoring each other's lips before Robin showed up, carefully walking through the living room, watching her friends share their first kiss.

She cleared her throat feeling nervous about how their reaction would be and stared as both of them took a moment to break the kiss.

“Uh… I'm sorry, but Jonathan wants all of us to take a picture together. You're both required” She said, already spinning around ready to leave them alone.

Steve yelled her name, and she stopped by her tracks, looking at them once again.

“It's fine. You don't need to be embarrassed” He reassured and Eddie wrapped one of his arms around the man's waist.

“I'm sorry, I thought you guys wouldn't like to be seen exchanging saliva” Both of the guys snorted at her statement, and she felt lighter.

“Rob, don't worry about that. It would've happened anytime” Eddie earned a taunted slap on his ass from Steve and they all laughed.

They all gathered together for the picture Jonathan was about to take. He set up the timer and positioned himself next to Nancy and Will.

They were all busy fighting to get in the shot, not even noticing how close Eddie and Steve were. They were smelling each other's colognes as their skin were touching while their arms were rubbing against each other.

Five seconds before the shot, Steve turned his head to face the man next to him. “Merry Christmas, Ed. I'm glad you're with us today”.

“I'm glad to be here with you, especially” He said. Before they could look at the Polaroid camera, the flash went on.

A few minutes later and they were all talking about how great the picture turned out. Only then making sure to point out how Steve and Eddie weren't looking at the camera. Instead, they were staring at each other, their faces with a tender smile and a new history for them to talk about.

From that day on, they knew they were doomed. One, because their friends won't let the fact that they were madly in love with each other. And two, because it was impossible to not like each other.

[smolkiwi98]

Hi! I had sent you a request about reader (if you can make the gender not specific, id appreciate it) being Dean and Sam's cousin and taking them to play rpg because Dean would 100% love it and Sam is probably going to have fun to. And when they are getting there they ask the reader about that friend group, if they met while hunting or something and you're like "about that, there's something i was going to tell you" and Eddie (stranger things) opens the door and is all like "baby, you're here!" and pecking the reader's lips. The brothers are a little protective over their cousin who is playing as the dungeon master and Dean makes it so his character is always provoking Eddie's character or fighting him in the game at first

Okay okay...I know it's been awhile, but here's the first half!! A lot of stuff has been going on and a lot of changes! I hope you like it!!

WARNING!! NOTHING! JUST NOT PROOFREAD AND KIND OF RUSHED

masterlist

make a request here!

“Hey, Eddie?” You called out of the bathroom. After a few seconds your boyfriend was right at the door, “Yeah?” He asked. His hair was in a low messy ponytail and his forehead had a little oil on it from working on his car. You smiled and held onto your towel. “My cousins are coming over today.” Eddie gave you a confused look “They are? Did you tell me and I forgot?” His eyes widened at that small thought which made you chuckle “No, they just called me. They’re in town and wanted to stop and say hello.” You explained. Eddie nodded his “Have I met them?” Eddie has met a few of your family members, but these two were never around much. You shook your head “Nope! I haven’t seen them since I was about 13.” You smiled. Eddie could tell you were excited about the visit, “I guess I should get showered then.” He said matching your smile.

You were in the kitchen baking some pie (a request from your cousin) when there was a knock on the door. Eddie was still in the shower, he complained about having oil and dirt in his hair so he would be a minute. When you opened the door there stood the two very tall mysterious men in your family, “Sam! Dean!” You said wrapping your arms around them both. The two laughed and patted your back “How’ve you been, kid?” Dean asked, looking at you. You shrugged “I’ve been good! I finally moved out of my moms house.” You said with a small chuckle, “How is she doing?” Sam asked. Again you shrugged “I assume she’s good. I haven’t spoken to her in a while to be honest.” The two brothers nodded and gave each other a look. “Oh! Come in!” You said stepping aside for them to walk in “Dean there’s a pie on the table. I just took it ou-and he’s gone.” Sam laughed, “Yeah…nothing has changed with him.”

“Son of a bitch!” Dean yelled. Both you and Sam ran into the kitchen ‘What? What’s going on?” You asked in a panic. You look around and see Eddie sitting at the table with a slice of pie and Dean looking confused and a little upset, “I thought you said it was my pie.” Dean said. Sam shook his head, “Dude there’s plenty of pie there. Just take a slice.” He said, sounding annoyed with his brother. Dean grumbled something and took a slice before sitting down “Who is this anyway?” Dean asked. Sam sat down next to him and you sat next to Eddie, “Sam…Dean, this is my boyfriend, Eddie!” You said with a smile “Eddie these two are the cousins I told you about.” Eddie was a little shy but gave them a smile “Y/N, has told me a lot about you guys. It’s nice to meet you both.”

~ One Hour Later ~

“So you’re saying the dragon can’t die…like at all?” Sam asked, “Exactly! But, there is a way to kill it! The players just have to figure it out.” Eddie answered. The two have been going on and on about DnD once Sam saw a d20 laying on the counter. You and Dean sat there confused. “Do you get any of this?” Dean asked, you shook your head “I’ve tried playing so many times and I’ve sat in during games and still don’t understand.” You said. Dean chuckled and finished his beer, “How did you meet this guy anyway?” He asked “School actually. I was new to the school because ya know…mom homeschooled me and I had no one to sit with at lunch.” Dean looked at you “So lanky frizz hair invited you to his table?” You laughed and pushed him playfully “Yes…and his hair is not frizzy!” Dean looked at you and then back at Eddie “I don’t trust him.” You rolled your eyes, “You don’t trust anyone, Dean.” You looked at Eddie and smiled at how him and Sam were geeking out over his DM binder, “But trust me. He’s a good guy…He’s not an asshole.” Dean raised an eyebrow at you and then stood up “I’ll judge that myself.” He said while walking over to Sam and Eddie, “Alright dorks…tell me what’s going on with these dragons and elves and other crap.” He said before sitting down. You shook your head and grabbed the empty bottles and dirty plates and went to the kitchen.

Throwing away the bottles and placing the dishes in the sink you heard Sam come in, “Hey!” He said, smiling at you. You smiled and turned around to look at him “Hey! You having fun?” Sam nodded his head, “Yes actually. Eddie is a pretty cool guy.” You smiled “Yeah, I think so too.” You said with a small chuckle.

To be continued….

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 1: The Girl

Raining Hellfire (Eddie's Version) | Part One

Word Count: 3751

Warnings: swearing, mentions of bullying, eddie's a little angsty but we already know this, fluffy fluffiness

[A/N: Me? Upset about RH ending and needing something else to fulfil that empty gap in my heart?

For real though, I thought it would be really cool to release the RH chapters set in Eddie's pov to give us a little more insight into his life and thoughts as the series progresses. If you guys find this boring, of course just let me know as I have other exciting projects lined up I just really wanted to fill in the time by bringing our beloved Eddie back to us one more time.

Okay enough chatting. Eddie lovers... this is for you.]

The Girl

Paired With RH1: Chapter 1: Flickering Lights

It’s the seventh day on the eleventh month of 1983 and Eddie Munson could safely say that this year… had not been his year.

Between his regularly scheduled ‘freak’ consequences and Wayne’s pay-dock, Eddie was having a miserable time trying to survive in the hell that is Hawkins.

In fact, he had been so overwhelmed with trying to chip in on rent that he had to extort to, well, illegal measures. And thanks to the Munson name, he was pretty good at it. Not that it was something to take pride in.

He was falling behind on work, rapidly lowering his grades by simply becoming too distracted. When he wasn’t dealing, he was keeping the trailer liveable. And when he wasn’t doing that, he’d be trying to keep his DnD club afloat in the sea of jocks trying to tear it down. It didn’t seem like a lot, but Eddie always struggled focusing on the real world. It’s why he loved Dungeons and Dragons so much; he could control a universe of his own making, maybe even be a hero from time to time. Nothing he’d ever achieve in his mundane existence.

So today wasn’t any different. It was a Monday which meant he had a scheduled English Lit class to attend. But, after Tommy H.’s oh so kind portrayal of how he would be able to strangle Eddie with his own hair if he kept growing it out, he surprisingly didn’t feel up to it.

He did is best to act like he didn’t care, but he seriously needed a break from the constant harassment. And his hair wasn’t even that long anyway. It certainly suited his face much better than that damn buzz-cut.

Checking the hallway for any teachers that might catch him, Eddie was relieved in the fact that he’d be working on his next Hellfire campaign instead of listening in on some boring lesson about Romeo and Juliet representing true love or whatever poetic bullshit they were tryna sell.

At least he would get some peace and quiet-

“OW!” Eddie rang out in a slightly higher pitched voice to usual, stumbling back and bracing himself against the wall. He clutched his head, blinking against the force that sent stars into his vision.

In his absolute haze of assuming the rest of his day would go smoothly, he ended up crashing straight into a reminder that this year absolutely sucked.

“I’m so, so, so sorry.” The person said hurriedly, wincing as they grabbed their head.

Eddie removes his hand as he groans to get a better look at whoever blazed straight into him.

“Well yeah I should hope-” His breath hitched as he looked down at a girl.

Now, normally he’d just shrug it off and try to be gentlemanly like Wayne always taught him. Which, always ended up with some snide remark like ‘ew, never in your dreams’ and he’d be on his merry way, too busy to care what someone thought.

And then he caught sight of this girl.

She sported a denim vest that instantly made him curious, covering what he assumed was some kind of graphic tee but he couldn’t get a good look at it. Once she removed her hand from her face, he saw just how prettyshe was. No, not pretty. Beautiful. She looked a little sheepish, mostly dazed, but he could only assume it was from the recent head injury. Eddie thanked whatever god was working in his favour that out of all the students in the school, he was lucky enough to crash into you.

It took him a second to snap out of his daze and he cleared his throat, extending a hand.

“You alright?” He asks quickly, but you just stare up at him, eyes wide. Instead, he starts waving his hand in front of your face. “Helloooo?”

“Sorry?” You blink, eyes shifting from the rings on his hand and he smiles.

“I asked if you were alright.” He reiterates. God, you really had his heart tightening with the way you tuck your hair behind your ears, smiling.

“I, uh, yeah. Well, um, yes.” You rambled, attempting to pick up your books hurriedly and avoiding his eyes.

Eddie crouches down in attempt to help. After all, he was partly to blame for this collision.

“As long as you’re sure.” He laughed, handing you a book. When you look up at him again and tentatively take the book from his hands, he almost swoons. Those eyes of yours were easy to get lost in.

Both of you slowly stood with you attempting to shuffle your books into a more comfortable manner. Eddie simply places his hands into his pockets, observing the way you tried to busy yourself, avoiding his eyes with a soft frown.

And then it hits him like a god damn truck carrying tonnes of bricks.

No one in this school liked him, much less girls. You looked nice enough, striking out from the way other girls dressed in this hell of a school, but he’s been fooled many times before. You looked like you wanted nothing to do with him. Jesus, you were actively avoiding him right in front of his very eyes.

He was stupid to even be thinking anything different.

“Look-”

“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” He cuts you off, crossing his arms. It was sad, really, that he had to go day by day pretending to be stronger than he actually felt. It was a self-preservation tactic that always kicked in when he figured he was gonna get called a ‘freak’ again.

“What?” Your eyes are wide again, taken aback.

Eddie rolls his eyes. “I get it. Avoid the freak or you’ll be thrown from your little group.”

“I…” Your brows furrow. It was cute. No, Eddie, he thought, stop it. “...what?”

He leaned in, looking around the hallway for any potential friends you might have lurking in the background before speaking.

“I get that you and the other clearly superior beings don’t like people like me or, well, just me. And seeing as I’ve never seen you around before, I will spare you the traumatising experience of having to admit that you and I bumped heads.” Eddie’s voice was low, a sound that always felt alien to him. Hopefully that’ll show whoever is most likely hiding around the corner that he couldn’t be messed with.

“I’m not with them.” You were shaking your head now, and his eyes fell to your journal.

He could only see your first name, but his eyebrow raised, confirming his thoughts. Of course it was the one girl that ended up ‘gossip of the year’ that he bumped into.

Freshman year was filled with horrible rumours, none that he ever believed since they were almost always started by Tommy and Carol and debunked days later. The one about you, however, wasn’t proved wrong over the years. No one knew exactly where you came from, or what you did to end up here in Hawkins, and you’ve never denied anything. In fact, he could only assume they were right.

“Ah. Y/n. I’ve heard quite a few rumours about you.” Eddie clicks his tongue, still on the lookout for Carol and her minions.

“What?” You seem startled, but he’s used to actresses by now.

“Hm. Yeah, you’re the one that’s trying to fit in with all the other pricks in here because you didn’t make it at your last school. So please, don’t use me as your way to prove your shallow heart to your glorious leaders.” He took a step back, raising his hands and cocking his head, waiting.

He expected a comeback, some kind of slur against him or at least a shrill laugh followed by a chorus of your friends revealing themselves. Or maybe a slap, considering everything that just spilled out of his mouth. What he didn’t expect was your face to drop, knuckles whitening as you gripped tightly onto your books. Pursed lips replaced your soft smile, lowering your head in attempt to hide yourself. The once sweet confusion now laced with hidden anger.

“Fuck you.” You said with teary eyes, barging past him and his eyes widen. Shit.

“Wait!” He yells after you, immediate regret setting in as he watches your form disappear down the hall.

Eddie wanted nothing more than to follow you, but he knew that route led you straight to the girls’ bathroom. Instead, he stood with a dumbfounded look on his face, heart racing.

How did he assume so wrong?

The rest of the day had him conflicted.

Why should he care how you reacted? Would you have even cared if he was the one upset?

As Eddie wanders towards the benches hidden behind the school, he finds himself thinking about you yet again. Ugh. It was frustrating, knowing that there was no possible way to get you out of his head despite making the worst impression ever. He wasn’t even sure you’d give him a second chance.

And, in an incredibly freaky turn of events, he sees you sat upon the bench in the distance, placing a pair of headphones over your ears before casually laying back with your legs dangling down.

Eddie pauses. You look like you wanted to be left in peace, and his presence would surely disrupt that. But there was also this nagging part of his brain that made him realise this could be his chance to make things right.

Adjusting his leather jacket, he takes in a deep breath and heads towards you. He ignored that anxiety that built in his stomach, pushing it away just as he approaches the bench, hands locked behind his back as he swung back and forth on his feet to wait for your attention.

He can just hear the music blaring from your Walkman, your foot mindlessly tapping along to the beat. Eddie realises there’s no way you’re gonna notice him anytime soon.

“Hello?” He nervously calls out, with a little wave. Nothing.

Eddie huffs, realising that the longer he stood here unnoticed, the creepier it was.

“Yoo-hoo?” He lurches his body forward before stepping back and straightening himself, voice a little louder this time to ensure you’ll hear him. Yet again, nothing.

Maybe this was his sign to leave you be. Unluckily for him, he never really listened to that voice that told him to stop making a fool of himself.

In a moment of definitely not thought through decision-making, he strides right up to you and gently slips the headphones off of your head.

As he stands there holding them, he feels his face go red. Why the hell did he do that?

“What the hell?” You sit up straight, squinting against the sun that blared behind him.

Eddie laughed nervously. “Sorry, I did say hello but your music was too loud- wait, what even is this?”

He held it up to one ear, hearing a slow beat of a song he would never willingly listen to himself. He managed to catch a snippet of the song.

I hope that it won’t end, though

Alone-

“None of your business.” You say, snatching the headphones from his hands. Your eyes drift to the rings on his hands, a wave of acknowledgement washes across your face.

“Keeping it to yourself. That’s cool, very mysterious.” He said with a chuckle, attempting to diffuse the situation before it got any worse.

Your face warps into that of anger yet again, glaring at him.

“What do you want?” You ask defensively, pushing down on your Walkman and the faint melody comes to a sudden halt. You clutched your Walkman before stuffing it back in your bag, and Eddie realises you’re about to leave.

“Hey!” He said, waving his arms to stop what you were doing, “I just wanted to talk. About earlier.”

He crossed his arms against his torso, looking at the ground. This was his one shot to actually prove to you that he wasn’t a bad guy. Apologies weren’t his strength at all, but was going to try his best.

“I didn’t mean to be dick to you. Or insult you. I just…” He paused, walking around the space as he thought of what to say, “I get pretty guarded when I speak to someone. You spend so long as ‘The Freak’ that you get used to being treated like ass and I wasn’t in the mood for it today.”

“I-” You began, setting your bag down.

“No,” Eddie shakes his head as he continues his short pace, fingers nervously tapping against his chin, “I was an idiot and I insulted you. Which wasn’t cool of me at all, I don’t even know you and I was just as much of a judgemental asshole as the rest of them so I’m so very, very, sorry.”

As you stared up at him, he tried not to notice the way the sun made your eyes shine, Eddie held his breath in anticipation. As a rookie at this apology business, he wasn’t even sure it was worth your forgiveness. Maybe he’d just have to try harder. Or avoid you for the rest of high school. Whichever was easier.

“I like your rings.”

Your words caught him off guard. His head whips up to you as you seem to only just recoil at the statement you just blurted. And, when you started rambling, he couldn’t resist a grin spreading across his face. You looked cute when you were flustered.

“Sorry, I just didn’t know what to say and I didn’t want there to be this awkward silence because, like, the more awkward it gets the more I want to be silent but then that just makes it more awkward and I…” You notice his amused expression, “I was rambling wasn’t I?”

“No, no it’s fine, it was cute.” He blurted. The colour rushed to his cheeks and he tried to laugh it off, but it was only making things weirder. You simply lower your head to smile before meeting his eyes again.

“I’m sorry too.” You shrug, fiddling with the bottom of your vest. “That’s what I wanted to say… that I was sorry. I get it, the whole people treating you like shit thing. I get that too…”

Eddie tried his hardest to listen to your every word, but his eyes began drifting down to your lips. God, even they were pretty. Everything about you was just perfect.

Once your lips stop moving, he quickly shifts his gaze and looks at you, your expectant stare. He hadn’t listened to whatever question you must have asked.

“Huh?” He manages to say. God, he hoped you didn’t notice his earlier fascination.

“That thing you said, about the rumour. Do people really say that?” Your voice goes quiet and you anxiously nibble on your bottom lip. Eddie makes sure to revert his eyes from your mouth as he quickly shakes his head.

“No, no, no…” He comforts, shifting to sit atop the bench beside you and bringing his hands in front of him to twiddle the rings on his left hand around, “Well, not exactly.”

“What do they say?” Your question was expected, but Eddie felt a twinge in his gut to have to be the one to explain it to you. He didn’t want to be the cause again of the sadness your face could show.

You raise your eyebrow at his silence. “Seriously tell me. At least if I know I can prepare myself for when Tommy and his band of walking cliches come for me.”

Eddie sighs, shifting in his seat. You had a very good point, at least. And he was happy to know that you felt exactly the same way about the high school royalty that he did. You deserved the truth.

“I haven’t heard much,” He finally says, tilting his head towards you, “But I heard people say all sorts of crazy stuff when you first appeared. Something about you being sent away because your parents didn’t want you. And one about you only being friends with that Wheeler girl because you wanted in to the hoard of wannabes.”

“Oh.” That’s all you say, and his stomach drops.

“I don’t believe them!” He raises both his hands, and you smile at that.

“No, don’t worry it’s… fine. At least I know now.” You quickly added. As he looked at you, he knew for a fact that those rumours were far from the truth. He could see that you were someone who prided themselves on individuality rather than association.

Which is why he didn’t tell you the other rumour he heard. Maybe it was just his heart protecting him just in case it was true. But he wanted to protect you just a little longer from it.

“Anyway,” Eddie quickly changes the subject, “I never got to formally introduce myself when I made the most awful first impression in the world.”

He gets up to stand in front of you, bowing so theatrically that you began to giggle, making his chest flutter.

“Eddie Munson, at your service.” He returns from his bow, flipping his head back, and extends a hand towards you. He figured he could keep the joke running long enough to keep seeing that smile on your face. “And you are?”

“You already know my name.” You laughed, shaking your head.

“Shh, pretend I don’t, I’m trying something here.”

“Okay, I’m Y/n, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Eddie.” You take his hand, and your touch burned his skin in the best way.

“Pleasure is all mine, Y/n.” He pretended to kiss your hand, figuring that kind of contact was way too soon,before gently dropping it and sitting on the grass in front of you.

Eddie stretches his legs and uses his arms to prop himself up, cocking his head in curiosity at your response.

“No last name there Y/n?”

“Not something I use very often.” You shrug as if it were merely a passing fact about you, but Eddie could sense how uncomfortable you felt about it. “I’m thinking of dropping it completely, like Madonna or Prince.”

Rather than pester, he nods away with a warm smile. “I like it, make a statement.”

“Exactly.” You grin, and Eddie knows for sure he did it. He actually did something right for once.

“So… if you don’t mind me asking…” Eddie felt a little shy to be asking you this, but he couldn’t help but be curious. He wanted to know everything about you. “Why do Tommy and Carol hate you so much?”

You give him a little shrug, assessing words in your mind. “I guess Barbie and Ken didn’t like that I wasn’t into wearing pink.”

He chuckles at your comment, shaking his head.

“When I first moved here,” You continue, scrunching your nose at the word ‘moved’ like it was painful, “I ended up at a party some girl was advertising to me in a store. I didn’t know anyone so I wanted to make friends, try and start a new life.”

Something flashes across your face before you’re suddenly smiling, avoiding his eyes. “Basically made the wrong impression. Didn’t fit into their world. That sort of stupid stuff.”

“Thank god.” Eddie replies and you raise your eyebrows. “Imagine actually having to pretend you care about ‘daddy’s getting me a new car’.”

He mimicked an extremely girly voice that had you laughing as your face twists in disgust.

“Ew, don’t even joke about that.”

The conversation continued for a long time, exchanging opinions on certain teachers, mostly laughing at how no one really understands that high school isn’t forever. But he was lying if he said he didn’t understand them now. If he could sit here under the filtered shine of the sun blaring through the trees with you forever, he’d give up anything.

After a while, a wave of comfortable silence fell across you both, your eyes drifting to look into the distance with a peaceful expression. Eddie couldn’t stop staring at you. You were like some sort of goddess, sat in the natural glow of the sun rays.

A slight shift in your demeanour wouldn’t have been noticeable if Eddie wasn’t so mesmerised by every little thing he could possibly observe about you.

“What time is it?” You asked, looking at the watch on his wrist with a smile that shone through your attempt at tightened lips.

Eddie peels his eyes away for a moment to read his watch, nodding. “It’s about… 5.”

“Oh shit I’m late!” You suddenly gasp, grabbing your bag and hopping off the bench.

Eddie finds himself on his feet, following your movements. Here’s your chance, Eddie, he tells himself, slowly closing the space between you.

“For what?” He questioned as he looked down into your eyes. It took everything in him not to lean down and take your lips in his. Was it too soon?

“I was meant to be meeting Nancy to study like 20 minutes ago!” You exasperate before scrunching your face in the most adorable manner. “My god, I think she might actually kill me.”

“Ah well, that sounds… fun.” He smiled, leaning against the bench. You were intoxicating up close.

“Yeah, I can’t wait for her to scream at me about hydrogen atoms.” You smirk, adjusting the strap of your bag as you stepped away from him. Eddie lowered his head, silently cursing to himself. Of course she wasn’t gonna kiss you, you idiot, she probably doesn’t even like you-

You stopped yourself much to his surprise, turning back to look at him. “Thank you. For coming to apologise. I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” He smiled again, grabbing part of his hair to cover his face in hopes of hiding how red his cheeks were burning, “Now go, I would hate to find that you were brutally murdered by a science book.”

You laughed, saying a quick goodbye and sprinting toward the bike rack in front of the school.

Part of him wanted to just grab your hand and pull you back to him as he watched your form become smaller and smaller the further you were from him. It was like you gave him life when you were close to him, made him feel the best he had ever felt.

Eddie couldn’t believe that he was already this head-over-heels for someone he barely knew.

Huh, Eddie thinks to himself, smiling, maybe this year has only just begun.

Chapter 2: Resident Freak ->

[I wanted to tag everyone who was involved in RH but wasn't sure if you'd be interested in basically re-reading everything again so let me know who wants to be in this tag list or if you guys think I should scrap this completely? Even so, can we all agree how adorable Eddie is in RH1. Crying.]

[myfakecandyy]

Areo Lore 101 + Some Art

Areo, My Drow Wizard/Cleric of Eiliestraee with an insane god complex and attachment issues. Both art by me <3!

When I started getting invested in Dungeons & Dragons, I needed to familiarise myself with the Lore, worldbuilding and races in the Forgotten Realms setting. So, to experiment, I came up with the rough idea of my Wizard Areo. I did not have a clear picture of who I wanted to create. Still, I knew I wanted to play someone with a memorable and fun roleplay personality, so I gave her a holier-then-thou god complex; she was created to be someone who believed she was immortal and so took unnecessary risks with a delusional sense of safety. Before I ever got to play her in a tabletop setting, Baldurs Gate 3 came out, and I was very excited to play as I grew up playing the Baldurs Gate spin-off games Dark Alliance 1 & 2, coupled with the exciting and positive things I saw online I bought the game pretty quickly. To expand on Areo and learn more about the Lore, I made my Tav Areo, and she's grown into such a beloved OC to me.

Actual Lore under the cut! [Possible Spoilers]

Early Life: Areo was born and grew up in the Drow city Menzoberranzan; for those unfamiliar with the setting, it's a large city in the Underdark(Underground of Faerun). Her upbringing was vastly different from most of the city. This is because Menzoberranzan is built and run by devout followers of the Chaotic Evil Goddess of Drow Lolth, Queen of Spiders, while Areo's mother, Miz'ri, was a follower and Priestess of Eiliestraee, the Chaotic Good Goddess of Drow. It is important to note that Eiliestraee and Lolth oppose each other morally, ideally and narratively.

Lolth: To explain the Lore surrounding Lolth, she is essentially a tyrant. She thrives in cruelty, encouraging her followers to kill each other to prove themselves worthy of her fickle favour, enjoying manipulating them into servitude, only to then toy with them anyway. She demands questionless loyalty and devotion; it is no wonder her people are known for their backstabbing, power-hungry tenacity. It was illegal to worship any deity besides her in the city; treachery almost guaranteed death.

Eiliestraee: Eiliestraee is the daughter of Lolth and lives to stand against her mother's ways. She is the Drow Goddess of Freedom, Dance and Song for all those who wish to return to the surface world and be free of Lolth's grasp. She is a joyful mother-like goddess who strives to inspire the Drow and stand as a beacon of hope.

To continue, Miz'ri wished to spread the word and beliefs of Eiliestraee, helping shepherd many of the lower-class citizens of Menzoberranzan into better lives on the surface world, the journey of which was highly treacherous and dangerous. This was something that kept many Drow from leaving. However, Miz'ri was an extremely powerful Cleric of amazing faith and magic. Areo spent her childhood beside her, and the small group of followers she amassed became her family. This rag-tag group of Drow worked secretly for the first 11 years of her life, dodging the threats of the city surrounding them.

It was in the year she turned 12 that things changed. Her mother, who held so much love and affection for the world and people around her, was methodically corrupted and converted by Lolth, an established master at manipulation. On one long expedition to the surface world, just as they had almost broken the surface, Miz'ri turned on the clergy she created, slaughtering the innocents she once led to freedom, leaving nothing behind but a pile of gore. As is Lolth's will to all that turn their back on her. Areo lived to be the only survivor. The effects of this event then altered her perception of reality and life.

Areo didn't survive due to the mercy of her mother. If you asked her to recall how she survived, she would be unable to tell the truth, her mind betraying her. I will break the events into two paragraphs: What Areo thought happened and compare it to what actually happened?

Delusion: In her memories, Areo cannot recall much of that day beyond a haze of religious imagery and flashes of light. She saw herself outside her body receiving a divine blessing from her deity of unbreakable protection. Shortly after, the beautiful form of Eilistraee manifests in front of her to use her divine magic to end her mother's tormented destruction and free her soul.

Reality: Her mother came for her life last; perhaps she had a semblance of her old self alive, urging her to spare her baby, but she was cold and without mercy in her final moments. It was pure luck and timing that Areo managed to kill her mother before she killed her; it was a quick and straightforward burst of magic in a moment of panic that managed to catch Miz'ri off guard enough to pierce her heart fatally.

Areos's memory was heavily clouded by trauma and a childlike way of rationalising things, and so her developed survivor guilt manifested oddly. Being a weak child seeing all these people around her die, she couldn't understand why she was the lone survivor, and so while searching for an answer as to why, her brain jumped to incorrect conclusions. In this case, her thought process was, "I didn't die? Even though I should have? That must mean I'm Immortal and blessed by the gods(In her case, Eiliestraee); that's the only reason that explains how I got to live while others didn't." This, of course, drastically changed her worldview.

Growing up, these delusions only elevated and reinforced themselves deep into her brain; every near-death experience, every lucky instance in her life, and every victory in combat only made her believe this more, especially with the increasingly heavy risks she began taking. Indeed, it is all incorrect, and she has survived this far solely on luck, her cunning and wit.

Some old art from when I was first developing this storyline. There are a few inconsistencies as I have changed the Lore and her design by now, but the vibes remain similar:

Young child: Very shortly after the massacre, Areo aimlessly wandered around the shallows of the Underdark. She was starving and injured from the renowned harshness of the area. Once again, luck comes to her aid when a kind older wizard passes her way. He had been scouring the land for different plants and fungi to use in his brews and alchemy when he noticed the pure black eyes of a young girl watching him from afar. He knew she would have died had he not taken her in, so for the next part of her life, she lived in a tower taught magic by this man she became quite fond of.

Early Adulthood: In his old age, that kind of wizard died a peaceful death in Areo's 15th year. She was consumed by an intense grief, finding herself alone once again. In her mind, she cursed her "immortality", a curse to outlive all she came to care for, and so, in anger and sadness, she resigned herself to live a life of solitude in the tower forever. There was more at play. However, she was also so terrified. She had never left the building alone, and much of the surface world did see Drow kindly, but even then, the fear dug deeper in her head. Even approaching the door to left her paralysed her mentally. Her life up to this point had taken a massive toll on her mental health. It was a mental block she could never get past.

For 60 years of chronic isolation, she read the thousands of books her mentor had collected in his long life, many of which were books passed from his master and so on. The collection of multiple generations' worth of arcane knowledge and study kept her mind nourished but her body weak. Her options for food were limited by her inability to leave the building. For 60 years, her growing adolescent body feasted on inhumane amounts of food, the leaves from decorative plants, ants that crawled along the walls, moss growing on the ceiling and worse. Her extreme malnutrition had drastic effects on her body that are, at this point, irreversible.

This explains her cannon base Dnd Stats at 75 years old (BG3 Timeline). Strength 4, Dexterity 6, Constitution 2, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 14, Charisma 12

Baldurs Gate 3: In accordance with the game lore, Areo was at some point abducted from the tower by Mindflayers and infected with a Mindflayer Tadpole. It is safe to assume she would never have left that place otherwise and would be starving in that tower for many more years.

The first art I had drawn of her after starting Bg3: