#is kristen paranoid? who knows

[thecutepoison]

This is very speculative, but I'm suspecting Kipperlily is using the Ethereal Plane to spy on the Bad Kids and if I'm right I might have figured how she got found out by the rogue teacher!

First, let me explain my paranoid thoughts about the spying. Since ep 3, we are aware that Kipperlily is hearing their conversations, even if we don't know for sure the extent of it. She, just like Riz, must have a crazy stealth modifier + reliable talent, however I don't think she's relying only on that.

So, there's a scene in ep 4 when the Bad Kids roll for perception to spot Kipperlily. Kristen casts See Invisibility and Fabian rolls a nat 20. Brennan describes, only to Fabian, that although he doesn't see Kipperlily, he feels the "twinge of some kind of sense". Very creepy. That implies that she's there but cannot be seen. She could be invisible, however I don't think that's the case because an invisible person could still be perceived through hearing or touch. Also, Kristen would have been able to see her because of the spell.

With that in mind, the paranoid goblin that lives inside my brain is convinced that she's using the Ethereal Plane to spy on the Bad Kids. The Border Ethereal is perfect for infiltration and spywork, since you pass through physical objects and watch everything in the material plane without ppl there perceiving you. There are a couple of ways to access the Ethereal Plane, with spells or items, but I have no ideia abt the specific method she might be using.

Her being in the ethereal plane explains why Fabian, with his nat 20, didn't notice any physical indicatives of Kipperlily but still felt a presence, like some sixth sense. Now, Adaine did use her Third Eye so she could see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet and still saw nothing. But that doesn't mean that Kipperlily isn't there since there's a very easy way to circumvent Adaine: Non detection. This is a third level spell that hides the target from divination magic - for 8 hours they "can’t be targeted by any divination magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors". The Rat Grinders, long time haters of the Bad Kids, are for sure aware that Adaine is a divination wizard, they would be fools to spy on the party without casting Non Detection first. She's the motherfucking elven oracle!

Okay, now about the rogue teacher. In ep 3, Siobhan theorizes the rogue professor is the ghost teacher. I think she's absolutely right! We know most teachers of Aguefort and even if the ghost one was among those we havent seen, the Bad Kids would probably have heard about them if they were teaching something like ranger class. It's plausible that the reason for the party having no ideia who they are and not even passing by them in the halls is that the ghost is the rogue professor. After all, no one knows who the hell they are, it's the whole point of their teaching method. And for a ghost it would be really easy to go undetected since they can travel through the Ethereal Plane, beside the insane stealth.

Indulge my conspiracy theories for a minute. Rogue professor = Ghost Teacher and Kipperlily can wander in the Ethereal Plane, the plane of ghosts. Even with the advantage of being on the same plane as the teacher, it would still be a nightmare to find them since they are a pro rogue. In fact, Kipperlily didn't achive that: the rogue teacher found her.

But how did she manage to have the professor find her? I'm sure it wasn't an accident, she's too calculating for that. So, I started thinking about what would I do in her place and came up with the stupidest ideia. It's utterly ridiculous. But it could totally work and the strategy seems kinda Kipperlily's style.

Remember the Ghost Steak? The one Fig tried to eat when she invaded the teacher's lounge in season one? It's the ghost teacher's lunch, and Brennan reestablished its existence in ep 3 when Adaine used Ethereal Sight, explaining that the school wards are porous enough to allow ethereal travel and other stuff.

So if I was Kipperlily, my dumbass plan would go as follows: invade the teacher's lounge through the ethereal plane and hide inside the fridge. It wouldn't be a problem for me since I'm intangible and can pass through stuff, plus the other professors wouldn't see me even if they opened the fridge. Inside, I wait as long as needed, until the Rogue/Ghost Teacher gets hungry. They finally open the fridge to grab their snack, only to find me looking at them from inside the fridge like a lunatic. Mission complete: got found by the rogue teacher and aced junior year!

It's so mundane and stupid and that makes me more convinced that's exactly what happened. It's too funny to not be true.

[dullgecko]

I'm so here for the angst that inherently comes with time travel. But also, imagine the cute outfits they can wear! Also, if riz ever has to go undercover, or is in traditional goblin wear and is basically half naked, I'd imagine there's another "oh no he's hot" moments from the bad kids

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Once inside the town the bad kids head straight for the guild, trading in one of their MANY spare diamonds (Fabian has started to get a bit paranoid these days about his team members dying and them not having enough so they are all WELL stocked) for enough cash for room and board for the night.

Riz is still hidden in Fabians backpack and peering out through a tiny gap in the zipper while they're inside the guild but he cant see much since Gorgug has positioned himself in such a way that he can't see anything. He's done it on purpose because he knows Riz is already a little (a lot) on edge and he really doesn't need to see what the people two counters over are handing in for bounties. Its not likely that the goblins that group killed for those ears were part of Riz's family (Sklonda mentioned in the past that both her and Poks horde were strangely resistant to the demon kings thrall and went largely unnoticed due to the difficult-to-reach locations of their nests) but its still a pretty grisly sight that their rogue doesnt really need right now.

Two hundred gold is a lot of money and they enough for a room large enough for all of them for the night plus a substantial amount leftover for supplies. They keep getting odd comments about their outfits though so they all head to the markets to get more era-appropriate clothing once Riz is given a chance to stretch his legs in the privacy of their room before clambering back into the bag.

Fabain, Fig and Adaine all settle for some comfortable, high quality elven traveling clothes whereas Kristen and Gorgug opt for the more human styles they find in the markets. They're trying to dress to impress, especially since Agueforts biography says he's working for the council at this time and they need to get close enough to him to talk.

They manage to bluff their way into the council and manage to corner him to ask for his assistance. He's a lot more sane than their version of Aguefort since he hasn't experimented quite so much with chronomancy yet but he seems delighted to see them after they explain what has happened... and almost like he was expecting them... well actually more like it was totally his fault in the first place they're there. He's summoned them specifically.

You see, the council has a little bit of a problem at the moment. There's an item being guarded by the demon kings forces that they require for part of their plan to defeat him but no one has been able to get close to it. Mostly because once you're within a few hundred metres of it it dispells any disguises and cancels any spells currently active. Quite a problem when it's being guarded by goblins, and even if they could use true polymorph (not a good idea they'd be vulnerable to the demon kings thrawl) they'd still need a spell to convincingly speak the language since no one speaks Gukliak. Since these adventurers were the ones who were summoned surely they have a solution to the problem, right?

The entire party is side-eying each other and Riz just makes the most annoyed and resigned sound from inside Fabians backpack before unzipping it and poking his head out. Arthur is VERY surprised at the sudden appearance of a goblin but also curious because this goblin seems very polite (also look at his dapper little outfit). Riz explains that his dad was totally resistant to a demon kings thrall when he was working undercover and there's a really good chance he is too since it's genetic.

He gets Arthur to give him the details so they can get this shit done and go home already. The council already had part of what they needed ready to go and Riz is handed some 'traditional' goblin clothing so he can blend in better and he just looks so very unimpressed. He's explaining that they are very much not traditional goblin clothes they're rags. Traditional goblin clothing is actually quite nice, usually hand woven fabrics or soft leather that's decorated. The only reason why goblins are usually seen wearing rags is when you're being controlled or hunted you cant exactly do many labor-intensive tasks like making clothes so what you have is either tattered beyond belief or stolen off of bodies.

He gets changed into the rags anyway when they get close and it really isn't very much fabric at all. He doesn't look it when he's wearing his normal clothes but he's just as cut as Fabian from all the exercise they get adventuring, plus goblins are naturally lean anyway. There's only a little bit of staring from all parties involved as he puts his glasses and clothes away in his briefcase, leaves it with his party, and goes full rogue infiltration mode to go commit a little theft.

[mansionofhaunts]

So, I believe Brennan went into the Last Stand exam with full expectations that the players were going to womp him in a pure combat scenario. There were almost certainly versions of this fight that turned out worse, but it's not an accident that they womped him, either. Gorgug got an absurd number of crits, but he was constantly rolling with advantage, which makes crits the most likely rolls on the dice. They had set up time, which let them load up their engines and get their shit running at full speed (it's why Adaine didn't take a hit until like...three hours into the fight, it seems like). He's played with them before; he might be surprised by individual moves, but I doubt he's ever surprised by their skill, you know?

The fight itself? That was never the real focus, aside from letting them all feel like true badasses who knew how to fight. It's almost a reward. The real focus here was the Rat Grinders and their machinations, and...well, above the table, I wonder what the scenario looks like where Kristen doesn't eat the eye. That's the closest he comes to getting truly surprised...but given the number of characters here who can get true sight equivalents (and how paranoid they all are about the Rat Grinders), I think he had to plan for the possibility for them to see her.

Either way: really great twist on the combat, puts everything in an interesting spot, and I also think that we're probably at a stage where...maybe the Rat Grinders are a bit on the run? They're so paranoid about making sure they've got everything covered that most attempts to dig the Rat Grinders out from under their rock could feel cheap

I'm ready to know more about the Rat Grinders' deal, anyways. They've been an important part of the story so far, but they're so peripheral to it that I'm ready to just...find out what the hell their deal is.

[a-cat-in-toffee]

okay i wanna talk abt my fh sdv au a little bit just for funsies ebcause i may actually write fic abt it

adaine (the farmer) moves onto a farm that was/is owned by jawbone (who lives in the city) in order to run away from her family. antisocial teen fumbles her way through several social interactions and can be regularly seen in the mines. she absolutely hate jojo corp.

the rest of the kids already live in the valley (elmville) and know eachother/are friends. i think tracker, ragh, and a few otehr npcs whove shown up a dcent bit (eg max or torek) would also be there.

riz (private (un)licensed investigator, detective, and paranoid loser) is instantly like guys this is weird a farmer shows up on jawbone's farm and now theres a bunch of weird things happening around elmville they HAVE to be connected (to his credit, he's right) and goes full red string conspiracy theory

fabian quite frankly couldnt care less but riz wont shut up about her, kristen is mildly intruiged but mostly ebcause barely anything else happens aroudn town (she tries to go and introduce herself and both her and adaine fuck up the interaction so hard), fig is putting up continuously more and more eclectic quests and taking the opportunity to talk to adaine, and gorgug is actually friends with her. the thistlesprings have a shop that adaine frequents and gorgug talks to her while shes waiting for digby and wilma to finish whatever theyre making for her or whatever.

oh and also ayda is rasmodius

[kisuminight]

Right. So, c!Wilbur and Ghostbur.

The thing about c!Wilbur is that he's not trying to be the bad guy. He is deliberately trying to set himself up as a hero. And the way he does it makes him an asshole, and it's manipulative as hell--but I don't think that it's evil.

The thing about the Blade System AU c!Wilbur is that he grew up with Blades. He was raised by c!Philza the Aegis, with visits from c!Techno the Heartstealer. He gets the way the Blade System goes right--but also the way it can go very badly wrong. Blades are a lot more powerful than players--but the way their lives work means that Blades are always going to be the underclass.

So the first thing he does when he gets to the dsmp is to check and see if the local Blade in charge of the server will get upset with him. This check fails for several reasons--the server creator, Aegis!Dream, has been shattered, the server owner's Blade, Drista, is just in it for the chaos, and the Blade currently in charge of the server (as much as that applies) is c!Dream, who is hiding that he's a Blade.

That makes the server free real estate, yeah? So he creates L'Manberg; partially because he wants to, and partially because it'll fuck with Dream. And since there's no Blade in charge, he's fully within his rights to say that it is separate from the rest of the server. After all, if the Blades don't say it's not a factional server, then he's fully capable of making it one.

At this point, if c!Dream or c!Punz had come forward and said "I'm a Blade of this server and what you're doing is distressing, I don't want factions," then Wilbur would have listened. He's trying to build a narrative of being a good guy helping the underdogs, and the Blade System is something he is theoretically rebelling against. In fact, one of the subtle differences with this AU is that L'Manberg basically has rules about Blades built in--and those rules explicitly give them the right to be equal citizens. They say that anyone harming or killing a Blade, even if they are the Driver, would be treated the same way as permanently killing someone--a very real, serious murder charge. It even extends that justice towards the rest of the dsmp--which is one of the many overreaches that annoys Dream enough that it builds towards starting the war.

Which is all very well and good, but Dream and Punz don't trust that. In order for those rules to apply, they're have to out that they're Blades, and they really, really aren't going to do that. Purpled has also lived his entire life under this secrecy, so he's not going to tell (also it would require... talking to other people, and Purpled doesn't really do that). c!George is also not willing to tell--Dream is incredibly private about their Resonance and George understands that--also, Wilbur is annoying him.

Ironically enough, Wilbur would probably be the mostly likely to spot Dream and Punz out on being Blades--but Dream is basically stonewalling him as soon as L'Manberg starts, so Wilbur doesn't really get to see Dream's normal behaviors to get a good read. Punz is following Dream's lead in this. Wilbur also isn't looking to find them out as Blades; his suspicions about Dream are that he's some type of long-lived eldritch hybrid, and they only grow worse and more paranoid during the eventual Pogtopia breakdown.

Pogtopia goes pretty much the same. Wilbur does take the fact that c!Schlatt is able to go wild with Manberg as proof that there isn't really a Blade in charge of the server. At some point, post TNT and pre-detonation, Wilbur's mental state is unstable enough that he probably would consider killing a Blade to become their Driver (as per Dream's worst fears/nightmares) but it is only a possibility. I's say 50/50 will he-won't he, but it's never put to the test because the question never comes up--Wilbur dies never knowing about any of the Blades on the server.

~

Ghostbur is a thing, but the reason why he's a thing is different from canon. See, between Kristen being the Goddess of Death and Philza being a magic computer with a hologram body, Wilbur is not their biological son--so to extra powers from there.

The three lives system is a sign of the Egg's corruption--when Aegis!Dream and DreamXD created the server, they did so with an infinite lives system.

Ghosts are created because the Entity basically put a barricade up between life and death (this is limbo), so that it could steal the power from the souls that ended up there to help power it's Eldritch nature/abilities. Ghosts are echoes of the souls that end up in limbo. They are fragmentary and incomplete compared to the person that died because the Entity yoinked most of the soul. Unfortunately for Wilbur, the first L'Manberg War, plus the increased amount of Blades on the server woke up the Egg, and it re-instated the Entity's barricade shortly before the elections. It's eldritch nature meant it could retroactively apply the lives system to the L'Manberg War.

Theoretically, if the Egg is no longer using the soul, it can resurrect the soul in a body that is already corrupted by it. The Egg doesn't really do that in any major confrontation, because Wilbur is kind of stickly/bad at fighting, and is much more useful as a power source. It's better to keep his soul as a battery for an escape attempt rather than tossing another meat shield into the fray (when he's going to get shredded by the Blades going at it anyway).

I'm going to say that c!Vikkstar was the Blade and c!LazarBeam was the Driver, which means that technically the Egg has LazarBeam's soul too. But let's be real, if the Egg tries to revive LazarBeam to stop Techno and Phil, it's be like trying to stop a volcano with a piece of paper. So he also gets battery status.

The resurrection ritual left by Aegis!Dream and the Resurrection arte that Dream can use both cleanse the soul of the Egg's corruption.

~

Ghostbur ends of finding out who all the Blades on the server are, including Punz. Ghostbur finds out about Punz pre-Staged finale, and Punz ends of guilt-tripping Ghostbur into not telling anyone with the excuse that it'll make Punz really sad if other people know, and Punz might just go away forever. Ghostbur does not figure out that c!Purpled is Punz's Driver.

Ghostbur finds out about Dream being a Blade after the rest of the server does. Tommy tells him, after coming back from the Staged Finale. Ghostbur specifically ends up getting told because Tommy is talking at him as a way to try and verbally process the mess of feelings that happened when Tommy found out Dream was a Blade. It doesn't help.

~

Fast forward to post-Staged Finale. Ghostbur does not die, Wilbur does not get revived (yet). I'd argue that most of the reason Wilbur got revived when he did in canon was down to Dream's desperation about the situation--both the assassination attempt, and the ongoing, devolving situation in Pandora's Vault.

In this AU, Dream is not stuck in Pandora's Vault. He is with Punz, continuing their experiments on the far outskirts of the server. Ghostbur never really has a chance to find or interrupt them.

Furthermore, while Dream and Punz are going for an everbody-is-alive-and-immortal ending, that is very much Phase 2. They are still on Phase 1, fixing the Blade memory issue. The rest of the server are all quietly panicking in the Cold War where the main deterrent is that nobody knows where Dream's core crystal is/who has it. Reviving Wilbur into that kind of situation would be like tossing a bowling ball at a house of cards.

And even if Dream might be willing to risk it, Punz is also working on the Plan. And Punz doesn't like Wilbur. Doesn't like the way he upset Dream, doesn't like the way he started factionalism and governments on the server. Dream wants the server to be one big Happy Family? Sure. But Wilbur gets revived last, at the end, just before the reset. And since Punz is currently acting as Dream's Driver, that does influence Dream's behavior a bit as well.

I do think Wilbur would get revived eventually. During Dream's Syndicate Arc, he ends up spending a lot of time with c!Niki and Phil. Niki, who still wear's Wilbur's old coat and Phil who is still in mourning. Wilbur's revival would be after the rest of the plot/character arcs have been sorted out. Dream probably brings up the ability to Resurrect people as part of everyone sitting on Dream and Punz to make them explain The Plan.

[cryptidsurveys]

Saturday, September 28th, 2024.

Can you unwrap a Starburst in your mouth? I doubt it. I'd most likely end up with a nasty glob of paper and candy.

What is the last thing you ate? A sandwich and mixed veggies.

Who is your favorite person to spend time with? My dad.

Have you ever had tendinitis? I haven't.

What brand of face wash do you use? I don't use proper face wash. I just use shampoo, which is probably terrible, but…here we are.

Do you know how to grill a steak? I don't think I've ever grilled a steak before. I've cooked one up in a pan, though, and that was fine. I mean, it's not an incredibly complicated concept.

What were you wearing the last time you were kissed? I have no idea. The last time I kissed someone was around 2012-2013.

Have you ever been to a purse party? I've never heard of such a thing. I don't even know what a purse party would entail.

Would you ever use an online dating service? I can't say I'd never use one (who knows - I might change my mind in the future), but at this stage in my life, I have no interest in online dating. Or dating at all, for that matter.

When is the last time you weighed yourself? Sometime around February/March of this year.

Do you mosh when you go to concerts/shows? I kind of moshed at a little local show I went to as a teen, but otherwise, no.

Do you like Gushers? I did when I was younger.

Are you good at multitasking? No. Especially not in somewhat chaotic environments like the animal shelter. Sometimes I'll get pulled in several different directions at once and something will inevitably be forgotten or overlooked.

When’s the last time you went to a nightclub? I've never been to a nightclub before.

Where did you buy your favorite pair of jeans? I basically don't even wear jeans anymore.

Do you have a large dog? I don't have any dogs.

What is more annoying: A sore throat or a headache? Headaches for me are typically migraines, which are much harder to function with than a sore throat.

What was your GPA last semester? N/a.

Do you like walking places? Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I wouldn't feel safe walking somewhere in my city. I used to walk to the mall all the time when I was a teenager, but I wouldn't do that these days. I'm fine with walking around the riverwalk with my dad or something like that, but as far as walking to a particular destination…no thank you. The farthest I would dare go would be the gas station near my house.

Are you a fan of bands most people don’t know of? No. My tastes are pretty mainstream. Some of the music might be a bit older (classic rock/90s/etc), but it's still relatively well-known.

What time is it right now? 1:58pm.

When’s the last time you wore goggles? Probably in my high school Chemistry class.

Have you ever been to Europe? No.

Do you yell at other drivers while you drive? No. I might mutter a bit about their driving, but I rarely - if ever - get to the point of road rage. Even just recently when I had that awkward near-encounter with a merging semi-truck, I was just like, "Ummm, okay, are we seriously doing this…?!" and quickly/instinctually maneuvered out of the way. In that case, I was more shaken up than anything else.

Are you good at playing Darts? No.

Can you legally consume alcohol? If not, do you anyways? I can.

Do you like zebra print and would you wear it? It's okay for something like blankets or home decor, but I can't see myself wearing it.

Are “school friends” and friends different to you? I'm not in school anymore, but I guess I do have "work friends." I get on pretty well with River, Kristen, and Riley, but I don't consider them to be on the same level as Ollie (my best friend). Like no offense intended whatsoever (because they're cool people and I enjoy their company), but I wouldn't want to hang out with them outside of work. Well, maybe Riley, but Kristen and River are far too young.

When is the last time you laid out and tanned? I have no idea. It's just not something I tend to do. Maybe all the way back in my backpacking days?

Would you rather date a brunette or a blonde? That's not something I take into account when considering whether or not I would date someone. Even when purely related to attraction, it depends on so many things beyond hair color.

Do you have friends in other states than your own? Ollie lives in California.

Have you ever fake tanned? (Spray or bed) No.

Do lots of kids at your high school do drugs? (At my school it’s normal) Again, I'm not in school, but hearing River talk about the high school she used to attend was WILD. It was not like that back when I was there. The whole grade school experience is just so different now compared to what I went through. Like, we didn't have tablets or anything like that. No cell phones with internet access. Just computers in the library or at home. It feels like a whole different world.

What kind of computer do you have? A Dell desktop.

Would you rather use colored pencils or crayons? Colored pencils.

Can you drive well? I'm coming up on my one-year relearning anniversary, so even though I'm okay at it, there's still a lot left to learn. Lots of little details and situations I haven't encountered yet.

What bothers you the most about your town? It's not really the city itself that bothers me (it's fine even if it does rank as the 2nd or 3rd most dangerous city in the state); it's more the location and the weather. I would much rather live somewhere in the mountains, somewhere with cooler summers and longer, colder, SNOWIER winters.

Can you actually play an instrument or do you say it to be cool? I can't.

Flip flops or Birkenstock sandals? Sandals.

Do you like breaded chicken sandwiches? Yeah.

Are you a fan of plug in air fresheners? I probably would be if I didn't have migraines.

Do you like mad libs? I did when I was a kid.

How are you? All things considered, I'm feeling pretty good. Friday's meeting went surprisingly well. I'm looking forward to returning to the animal shelter on Monday after taking a few days off. And I might be going to the Mountain Park tomorrow if my dad's up to it. However, the recent/ongoing situation with my mom was uniquely devastating and I'm still trying to figure out how to process/deal with it. It was also another one of those dreaded "blue sky traumas" - one of those things that crop up suddenly in the midst of an otherwise wonderful day and threaten to bring your whole world crashing down... I'll live, though.

Besides this website, what other websites do you visit frequently? Instagram and YouTube.

What part of your body are you most insecure about? Ehhh.

What's one food you would be surprised to hear that someone doesn't like? I don't think anything would surprise me at this point.

Do you think your voice is higher or lower than average? Neither really. It's probably somewhere in the middle.

Have you ever slept for such a long period of time that you felt tired throughout the next day? Possibly. That sort of thing is more likely to happen with naps, though. Instead of feeling refreshed, I just feel sluggish and out of it.

Are you comfortable discussing bodily functions with your friends? This just reminds me of the "I shit seven times a day" story Cassie told us about one of her boyfriend's friends. Like, y'all don't shit seven times a day? No dude, we most certainly DO NOT. You need to stop discussing that with your friends and start discussing it with a DOCTOR.

[monstermaster13]

- Ken: A weregorilla with dreams of being an actor.

- Rydan: An anthro/humanoid styled werebutterfly, male..who enjoys doing feminine things.

- Margo: An anthro/humanoid style weremoth who is a goth in the same vein as Lydia Deitz.

- Steven: A version of the Alice Cooper character who is an anthro/humanoid were-spider who got his were-spider powers as a result of being obsessed with spiders when he was young, of course this lead to him eventually running into Charlotte. He's a a tragic soul at heart he feels like he's still a young were-spider despite being an adult and he wasn't exactly brought up well by his parents. Steven's father never discussed him...and his mother couldn't stand living with a wound up spider-boy, he has nightmares every single night of a place that has numerous creatures of the night including a rat-like curator who gave him all he could ever want, but he still felt like he was trapped and alone. The curator was actually the one who taught him about Charlotte and that he didn't have to be alone as a were-spider and he told him all about were-spiders and were-insects, which peaked his curiousity. After being locked up in a mental institution for being deemed as insane, he later took on the role of a serial killer thanks to a dark voice in his mind telling him that it's natural for a were-spider to trap and kill and eat. Of course he came to his senses and went to get help from Charlotte and the two of them bonded. It is also shown that he hears voices, sometimes he hears a female voice that is sometimes his mother's voice or his sister's voice, he has moments in which he feels he is sleepwalking as he has visions of himself waking up in his bedroom safe and sound only to find a trail of 'crimson spots' dripping on the floor and leading through the bedroom into the room of his sister, only to realize he killed his sister in the dream without knowing it. His sister and mother are both actually still alive, it's just nobody knows where they are. He doesn't have a girlfriend, but he has a close bond with Charlotte.

- Charlotte: A female anthro were-spider who has a close bond with Steven, she also shared her gift with him and gave him were-spider powers like hers.

- Persius: Robin's boyfriend, a crossdressing anthro werepeacock.

- Draikara: An anthro styled western weredragoness with a fascination for collecting rare items including rare merchandise.

- Kristen: An actress who since birth has been obsessed with vampires, when she got the part of the lead teenager turned vampire in the popular After Dark series of movies she couldn't have been any more excited, she became popular due to this and wanted to become one for real, luckily her father was a DNA surgeon, and he agreed to put vampire DNA in her system, only for it to go horribly wrong...turning her into an anthro style werebat instead. She doesn't mind it all that much really, apart from her newfound love of fruit and her tendency to break out into zany rap song numbers in an almost Robin Williams-like manner. That and having to wear a mask on her face due to a certain virus. Her name is Kristen Swanson, a combined nod to Kristen Stewart and Kristy Swanson, the actress who played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

- Alicia: A female anthro styled were-cheshire-cat who is a nod to Alice in Wonderland, particularly Tim Burton's version, she is viewed as crazy because she is a bit unhinged given that she can be perky and happy one moment but paranoid and worried the next and sometimes has a bit of a madness streak to her personality, often hears voices.

- Princeton: An anthro styled werefrog who has cursed by a voodoo mistress and transforms uncontrollably, but easily can get turned back via kisses.

- Julliana: An anthro styled weredog with a Homestuck influence, a Jade Harley impersonator who cursed her creepy ex-lover into being a weredog like her.

- Aaliah: An anthro styled werelizard. Aaliah is a were-lizard who unlike the supposed reptilian aliens you see in those Youtube videos (who are just people blinking and making funny faces while being filmed with a poorly aged camera trick technique), she is a real reptilian shapeshifter and is a were-lizard who doesn't need a mask to disguise herself unlike the visitors from the sci fi show V, she change her appearance to look like anyone including her friends.

- Cameron: An anthro style werechameleon. Cameron aka 'Cam' is a Werechameleon who can never decide on what color to wear so she wears all of them, she can turn into other people and change colors...however her color changing ability depends on her mood, and sometimes she has no control over who she ends up turning into (sometimes she gets turned into a male character and sometimes she gets turned into one of her friends). Both she and Aali are comedic takes on the visitors from V.

- Rai-Lei: An anthro styled weredragoness, eastern, she's like a female Mushu.

- Lucien and Colleen: An anthro styled wererat brother and sister duo who have a father who is known for being associated with the mafia.

- Stephanie: A former rival of Nathan's who looks sweet but is actually manipulative and cruel, an anthro styled were-poodle.

- Katy: Russell's ex-lover, a black and white anthro werecat modelled on Katy Perry.

- Cruella: A were-dalmation who is essentially a version of Cruella De Vil if she was in a Goosebumps/Tales From The Crypt horror anthology story, this version of Cruella is an anthro styled were-dalmatian as the result of buying a cursed coat. Originally hates it but eventually grew to love it.

- Pam: An anthro female werepig with a reverse harem of anthro pig-guys.

- Terri: An anthro styled wereturkey who is always nervous when thanksgiving comes around.

- Robin: An anthro style werebird, possibly descended from phoenixes, boyfriend of Persius the werepeacock, it's unknown what species of bird he is meant to be like but he is named in honor of Robin Williams and dressess in outfits that resemble Mork's.

- Russell: A British anthro style wererabbit, used to date a werecat named Katy only she found out he had a serial killer alter-ego and decided to leave him for her own safety. Is named after and modelled on Russell Brand.

- Chloe: Anthro styled werekoala who chose to be one because she has loved koalas since childhood.

- Owlissa: An eccentric female anthro were-owl who loves puzzles and mazes, is modelled after Sarah from Labyrinth and also seemingly takes after the character of Jareth since she likes acting as the 'goblin queen', also has a tendency to be not what she seems to be and sometimes is seen in a red room where for some reason she and a few others talk in reverse.

- Barb: An anthro styled were-bee queen who is initially portrayed as a rich bitch or villainess but proves she has a heart of gold later on, she has a back-up group of helpers who help her with her missions.

- Leon and Liara: An anthro styled were-lion and werelioness with a humanoid design for both, they are the prom king and queen.

- Matteo: Were-beastie of unknown type, possibly half bison and half-bear, has uncontrolable powers and can be overly affectionate at times.

- Michael: A black and white anthro werecat who is Janet's brother, a version of Michael Jackson who was wrongly accused of a series of crimes he didn't commit and is out to prove his innocence.

- Brent: A slightly undeadish anthro styled weresheep who is frequently teased about being what he is, often being called a 'punk sheep' because parts of his wool are green and not white and he hates it when the word sheep is used as an insult.

[askkrissyskeleton]

Oh? Madjick and Knight Knight are gonna be important characters? Cool... never really see the random encounters at all in these things usually, so this is gonna be interesting.

“Usually Sunkey is alright to work with, but today he’s acting....strange.”

~~~

Kristen is taking questions!  [Kristen Masterlist]

[pardonmysass]

I am so looking forward to finding out as well as watching the culmination of the student-body president campaign.

Like, we all know at this point that Brennan wrote Kipperlily to be Riz's foil and the idea was for him to run for student-body president. Of course, we didn't get this because Ally felt aggressively pulled by how type-A Kipperlily is. So rather than the head-to-head of two of the most stressed out characters, you have the Fantasy High analog of Tracy Flick going up against an ostensibly failed cleric who wears cowboy hats with cups of salsa and strips down to a sports bra and g-string at any opportunity.

But I think this has the makings of an even bigger climax because besides Brennan you know who was really looking forward to beating Riz in the campaign? Kipperlily. Because maybe (and this is all speculation), she sees this kid who shows up to the school with no friends and is paranoid and nerdy and sees herself in him. Except where she has her small group of friends who play itself by grinding XP in the forest, he jumps into an adventuring party of kids who have this amazing mystery to solve culminating in killing the vice principal, which cements them as the most popular kid in school.

I imagine she wonders what Riz has that she doesn't. How come she doesn't get notoriety, how come no one cares about all the work she puts in? Her grades are impeccable, her adventuring part is doing well, why does no one care???

So when she sees Riz also go up for student-body president, I know she imagined a battle to end all battles. Here she is: trained, ready, organized. She has all the backing she needs and everything is set. She'll win the race and show everyone that she. Is better. Than Riz.

But what happens instead? Kristen FUCKING Applebees, former chosen one of Helio, patron saint to a dead god, fuck-up runaway who lives with their guidance counselor in a haunted house, is barely hanging on by a thread. She not only steals the most perfect rivalry to ever exist, but she is doing it effortlessly. Every stupid, insane thing Kristen does (she tried to tour a steel mill, she campaigned to middle schoolers) is met with cheers and excitement. Kristen is WINNING and doing so (seemingly) without even TRYING while Kipperlily is pushing as hard as she can to get people's attention. The absolute WORST part? Riz is Kristen's campaign manager. And he loves doing it! He doesn't care about being president! He doesn't care about their rivalry! And if that doesn't send Kipperlily over the edge with ABSOLUTE FURY I don't think anything will.

I am so goddamn excited for this showdown. It's going to be so epic and I can't wait to see it!

What the hell did riz do freshman year to make him come up in Kipperlillys counselling file? I get that if you're fantasy goblin racist and/or a bully who hates nerds, you'd have a problem with Riz, but I don't think Kipperlilly is quite either of those things. Is it just because he solved a mystery good? I feel like she should be aware that stopping an apocalyptic threat has negatives also

[beetlethebug]

okay so you know how like? golden retrievers will hold an egg in their mouth so gently? and that tumblr post about the person who put the egg in their mouth and immediately bit down on it? kristen (or fabian. fabian might) proposes that they try it (they are probably very drunk). adaine refuses to do it, but sets up an egg next to boggy and there’s a few tears shed over the two good round bois. fig does it and intentionally breaks the egg. kristen goes full monkey brain and also breaks it. fabian refuses to do it at first but gets peer pressured. he pulls out a quail egg and suddenly it’s a competition to see how many of those he can fit in his mouth. riz struggles to fit the egg and after a valiant attempt, cracks that bad boy open and nurses it like a fine liquor. gorgug is a golden retriever. he holds it so gently in his hands and he is so paranoid that he’s going to break it that he drops the first one. the second, though. fig takes a video and titles it “golden retriever himbo” and it gets a million views. gilear somehow gets roped into doing it and gets salmonella. kristen laughs so hard she pulls a muscle. twice. before she heals him. kristen was going to ask ayda, but riz wails about cannibalism and they devolve into a squabbling mess that ends in them just straight up throwing eggs at each other. eggs are now banned in mordred manor if there isn’t an adult there to supervise them.

[dumpster-party]

I've been seeing ppl post headcanons for the dsmp lately, so I thought I'd gather up some of my notes scattered on my phone and post them here

I really like the sbi + Mumza dynamic and I decided to roll with the idea that the boys all get some sort of "gift" in exchange for being a servant of death (though they arguably don't do much serving, just a title Kristen smacks on them to justify watching over them), so there's your context for my terrible note taking

Mumza!

God of death

The queen, the overseer, the beloved

That's all :)

(Also used to have the resurrection book but lost the right to use it because apparently you aren't supposed to use it on ppl meant to be dead, but shhh)

Philza

Angel of death

Reaper, catches souls and hunts down ppl whose time is up

Immortal but not really, just lives really long and has the fucking god of death watching over him to make sure he don't get his ass beat

Wilbur

Not a reaper, more like an usher

Can still fuck with souls tho

Talks to spirits that can't move on from the living plane and deals with their unfinished business, then pretty much holds the door open for them on their way off to the afterlife

Writes about the stories the spirits share :D

Technoblade

The balance for life and death

Except he only works on the whole death thing

When the balance is tipping the voices get a louder until he does something, louder they are the worse the balance is

Basically he's a reaper who doesn't give a shit if someone's time is up or not

You know the whole "blood for the blood god" thing? Yeah that's pretty accurate

Phrase came from his chaotic phase where he went on full massacres and developed a small following of bloodthirsty fuckers

He didn't mind it cause it "helped with the job"

Now he's in his chilled out and totally not just running from a few hundred ppl who worship him as a harbinger of death phase, and maybe a few thousand warrants for his execution

Mans just does some quiet hunting now ☺️

Only servant of death who can't see spirits, if he did he'd probably get a lot of middle fingers

His job is causing deaths after all, he ain't cleaning that shit up

He also might be the subject of a fucked up reincarnation but I ain't touching that yet

Tommy

Cursed or some shit

Okay, okay, he's a walking rift between planes, there, ya happy?

The dude is phased between the living world and whatever plane you call the one gods fuck around on

Hence why he attracts gods and whatever else's attention

He's basically the embodiment of "foot in the door" or "one foot in the grave"

He can also predict deaths through his dreams or something idk

He can predict things that will cause death too (like oh idk… fucking L'manberg), but that's still stuck to only his unconscious mind

He gets nightmares about death a lot to throw him off tho, so he always plays it off as his mind messing with him or being paranoid

He can also tell where places have hosted a lot of death

*Cough* L'manberg *cough*

He can see spirits but can't interact with their souls

Dude also has terrible luck but that's probably just a him thing tbh

Loose headcanons

All of the family is technically dead, just not body wise. Their souls are classified as souls of death, a soul type unique to any servants of death. Because of the nature of their soul, they are dead- no light breathed back into 'em. It comes with perks however- they cannot take any damage to their soul (can't kill something that's already dead) and can't have it taken or anything like that. TLDR: death can't make life so we party with the undead

Death can speak to them through dreams, though it's not really dreams, they just die while they're asleep and get sent to her realm. It makes sleepovers interesting

[endeari]

Guided Evolution Chapter 67 Spoilers

Just want to say right off the bat. Hope you had a good break Moosh! And hopefully your exams went well!

On another note, ge!Dream count needs to start counting his days. Count your days creepy jaw man.

With that out of the way just wanna say how proud I am of Kristen.

Like she's going through so much, yet she's able to push through it and put on a brave face. Albeit, it isn't healthy for her to bottle her emotions inside. But she kinda has to do that doesn't she?

She's got two of her kids paranoid as all hell. An actual kid who is her son's best friend, and is putting all his efforts into saving Tommy. And she's got Foolish, who's grieving with the fact that his mother has been taken by his brother, who previously has tried to kill him on multiple occasions.

Needless to say, Kristen has to stay calm. Because honestly if she's not calm then she's failing. Besides, she does have Phil to help her when she needs a shoulder to cry on. She has Phil when nights are rough. And despite trying to be brave for her kids, she has them as well.

On another note, can't believe Charlie's been revived before. I breifely thought that he might've been revived, but I brushed it off. Because it just created a new question that didn't make sense to me. Why did it take so long for Dream to use the device on Tommy?

If the revival device has been used before, it existed before, why was Dream so adamant about taking Tommy in alive?

There's a couple ideas that I have, maybe it was a one time use device at first. But that seems too impractical to create. A device that can only ressurect people once? That device is probably so expensive to make, so at that point the device would be useless. Sure it can revive somebody from death, but only one time. The cost of that would be too great.

Another one is maybe Dream didn't know how to get the device to work on Tommy without his family interfering. Which is a higher likely-hood. Which is interesting in of itself. Dream couldn't just kill Tommy without somebody interfering when he takes the body. (Kinda distributing ngl)

I think Dream knew Tommy wasn't going to stick around with his family when he passed because of the poison he injected into him. So he knew it would be an easy nab. And if Tommy didn't leave, and stayed with his family. Dream would still have been able to get Tommy.

Because despite his family's best efforts, they wouldn't be able to catch Dream. He can just do some bullshit tech thing.

Also, I don't think Dream wanted people to know that he killed the famous Spider-Man. And took his body. Then it'd be obvious to everyone that Spider-Man is somewhere else other than his family—or what people assume of his family—killing Spider-Man where everyone can see would just put a target on Automata's back.

And also who's to say that Quackity, or Charlie, or even Sapnap, wouldn't stop Dream from taking Tommy's body? If they don't know about the device, but know he's dead and they're fighting side by side. Chances are they're probably not going to let Dream take Spider-Man like that. But that's just a chance.

There's probably some wacky answer as to why he waited so long to use the device. Maybe he underestimated Tommy, maybe he just wanted to mess with Tommy a little bit cos he's insane, honestly who knows!

But I think it's because Dream didn't want people knowing Automata had Spider-Man, and he didn't want to risk being stopped when he trying to take his body. He has a time limit yknow? Forgot how long the time limit was. (Too lazy to go and check through the chapters, but I remember Dream saying something about it). But it's not that long. So he'd have to do it quickly.

If he was ever stopped then probably means no more Tommy. But that's just a theory I've got. Honestly, really do love Guided Evolution. Glad you're back Moosh! Hope you're doing well!!

[cowchickenbeefpork]

honestly it does'nt even take that much to rewrite that arc, all the writers had to do with something like that is not side with ed. they acted like he wasnt being selfish with kristen when he was, you dont even need to make him out to be purposely malicous in this arc, all the writers had to do for this arc to not be awful is paint edward to be unreliable prespective wise.

Edward in the show has been shown to have empathy for others multiple times ( when Oswald's eye gets blown up, when he thought Riddler was going to hurt Lee, even after he realized he killed Kristen he started to cry and it's implied he cried until he passed out ) so the writing in the show feels more like they were trying to write him have a weird version of a paranoid-schizoid mindset ( something quite common in cluster b personality disorders, this is what causes splitting and it also is the mindset 6 month olds have) instead of him being a psychopath ( though the show couldn't decide between which one of these he was, which is one of the many reasons its hard to understand where they were going with him as a character) the show wanted it to be that he was both a heartless monster who knows his actions hurt others and doesnt care AND him being actually empathetic but doesnt want to be so he rewrites any wrong he has done to be justified by making the other person be the true aggressor, you can't have both

his whole thing about love being useless after he killed Kristen feels more like he just found a way to make himself not be a horrid person in this situation, he just found someone else to blame for his actions instead of accepting the fact it was his fault she died. he cant admit that he only liked the idea of her and chased atfer her becuase he wanted to feel nice and normal, instead of genuine love and care which was not selfish. ( i do think he cared a little for her but most of his care for her was selfish, the show acting like it wasnt is shocking.) the ultimate sin he did in this arc shouldve have been the fact he killed her, it shouldve been the fact he somehow found a way to justify his actions because he didn't want to feel bad about her death and reduced her down to just a object which helped him become a better man. she was only a object to him from the beggining, he wasnt trying to make her be that when they were dating but he sure continues to do that atfer her death.

if the show just treated it like that, then i think even the dreaded isabella arc could have worked, he couldve been chasing atfer isabella as both a replacement for kristen (the ideal traditional normal woman in his head) given to him by fate and both a puzzle to solve for why she even exists ( this would be the main reason, him factchecking if she was real just to be sure it wasnt a trap, if it wasnt then fate mustve blessed him with a second chance ) the writers couldve made isabella and oswald killing her be his karma for what he did to kristen, they couldve purposely made isabella be a bad and unhealthly fit for edward instead of accidentally writing that in, the writers couldve made this arc be where he gets put in the same situtation he put kristen in as karama for his actions BUT NOOOOOO ISABELLA IS JUST THE PERFECT MATCH FOR THIS PYSCHO KILLER SHES TOTALLY NOT MAKING HIM WORSE BY PURPOSELY TRIGGERING HIM

IDK if any of this makes sense, I'm not trying to defend Edward here I just think the arc would've been better if it was built to have ed have a narcissistic paranoid schizoid perspective instead of him being a misguided silly autist who doesn't know stalking is bad and is actually a good match for Kristen to an evil psychopath who yearns for the taste of fresh blood. the Kristen and Isabella arcs could've been so fucking good but the writers missed that potential

been thinking abour Kristen a lot lately! and how HORRIBLE Ed was to her! WHY DOES NO ONE IN THE GOTHAM FANDOM ACKNOWLEDGE THAT? why does no one talk about how Ed harassed, stalked, and manipulated this woman, finally got into a relationship with her, and then he murdered her in his apartment after they slept together. NO ONE TALKS ANOUT THAT AND HOW EVIL THAT IS?

for mine and my cousins rewrite we want it to be clear that he is EVIL FOR THAT BECAUSE THATS HORRIBLE!!!! his whole relationship with Kristen is awful its the worst thing. but yeah heres a drawing of him soon after killing her!

[amongmydove]

opinion on courtney love?

hi dear anon <3

this is a great question and a complicated one lol

it’s hard to make an accurate judgment about another human being without knowing them. that being said, i think courtney has had an incredibly chaotic upbringing and, because of that, an incredibly chaotic life.

it’s hard to ignore the media’s perception of her, but again, the media is heavily biased and often perpetuates false narratives.

that being said, there are various accounts of people who DO or DID know her, and it’s safe to say that she struggles with decency and her treatment of others, particularly other women. she seems to have been a deeply insecure person in the past, and appeared to have been extremely possessive and paranoid concerning her marriage to kurt.

as far as the conspiracies go, i believe justice should always be served to those who commit atrocities and if courtney is responsible for the untimely deaths of others (kurt, kristen pfaff, etc) then i sincerely hope she pays the appropriate price. she is no exception.

if NOT, i do feel deep compassion for her if she’s been blamed for the loss of her husband.

this is getting long lol but long story short: my opinion of courtney is that she’s had a deeply troubled life, and i sincerely hope anyone affected by her past actions has had proper healing, especially frances bean

[vidcund4ever]

I decided to answer these questions about my Sim related ships. NOTE: These are just my preferences for my gameplay! I don’t dislike or judge other people’s ships in their games! In fact, I think a lot of them are neat. x3

01. Vidcund x Cassandra <3

02. Vidcund or Cassandra x anyone else. I don’t know. I don’t see anyone else being a good match for either of them.

03. I’m going to keep this Q&A to The Sims franchise. My first ship was Chris x Melissa Roomies in TS1.

04. I ship Vidcund x Cassandra because they’re both shy nerds who have a lot in common, and I picture them both having a love for plants. I don’t think any other girl would see past Vidcund’s demeanor. As for the usual pairing of Cassandra x Don or Darren... Don is a himbo, and I don’t think Cassandra would be into a guy like that. (In my headcanon, she’s only with him to find more information about her mother’s disappearance.) As for Darren, I think his last name says it all: Dreamer. He’s out of touch with reality and would never actually pursue Cassandra. Even if he did and they became more than friends, I don’t think she’d ever live up to his fantasies.

05. I could never figure out who would be a good match for Vidcund until I started sharing headcanons with @nanominyo, and they shared theirs about Viddie and Cassie, and I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of it before! They’re perfect together! ^^

06. For a (very) short while, I had paired Dominic Newlow with Circe to try and make what happened between them in the PSP storyline less heartbreaking, trying to make what happened consensual, but you can’t erase what actually happened, which the sims community reminded me of. :( Poor Circe... Please keep him away from her...

07. I don’t think I ship a couple that most people don’t like (minus the mistake I mentioned above). I think, at worst, my ships are considered lukewarm. If I happen to have one you don’t like, you can comment it. I’m fine with that. XD It could be interesting!

08. Hmm. A ship most people like that I hate? Honestly, I don’t hate any ships (minus, you guessed it: the one I came up with between Dominic x Circe), but there are a few I wouldn’t do, like Pascal and Nervous. I do think it’s a cute pairing, but I also think Pascal is more of a parent figure in Nervous’ life rather than a romantic one. He has a maternal instinct, as we can tell from how he fathers Tycho. Also, I’m not entirely sure he’s over his crush on Circe?

09. Besides Vidcund x Cassandra? XD Buzz x Bella. It’s not a lasting relationship, but it’s one I think makes sense since Bella doesn’t actually like Strangetown. She thinks it’s, well, strange, and Buzz is the most “normal” person she’s met there.

10. Mortimer x Bella. I know they gave off Gomez and Morticia vibes in TS1, but Mortimer remarried very quickly after her disappearance in TS2, and Bella confirmed in the PSP game that she’d only married him for his money.

11. Are we still talking about my favorite ship, or...? I’m going to assume another pairing because I’ve already talked about my favorite one too much. XD Let’s talk about Tank x Johnny, because they’re another ship of mine. OTP, all the way!

12. JRO is popular, and I can see why. They’re all misfits one way or another, and seem very explorative like most sims their age are. It is kind of funny how majority of simmers give them this alternative style because I picture them more awkward than anything. XD I’m unsure whether or not I ship them as a poly relationship. I do see both Johnny and Ripp liking Ophelia, but not necessarily dating her at the same time. Maybe I’ll come around to it...

13. Kristen x Erin. I think they make a cute pairing, but I’ve only seen a couple other simmers ship them. Maybe they come off as straight? I mostly see them end up with male sims, but Kristen x Erin have great compatibility. (Taurus x Aries.) I also think the differences they have, like Kristen being ambitious and Erin being more carefree, maintains balance. Kristen learns to loosen up and accept her true self (like stop straightening her curly hair and start dressing more masculine), and Erin tries to take things more seriously (like pursuing an actual career).

14. I don’t know if I’m doing this right. I’m rating any couple? Because if I am, I’m rating Johnny x Ophelia a 6/10, maybe? They enjoy their teen years together, but as they get older they realize that they’re better off as friends. They have different priorities, as well as viewpoints on life. Ophelia is nervous and paranoid, and Johnny wants someone he can go on adventures with.

15. The way Tank and Johnny tease and fight one another until they admit their real feelings. Even after they do, Johnny keeps up the teasing. He loves the way he makes Tank blush. x3

16. My favorite canon moment of Annie Howell x Nervous is when she brings him back from the dead. He dies in the PSP game, but I don’t want him dead (and neither does Annie), so Annie pleas with Death who, obviously, is willing to make an exception for his son... although he resurrects Nervous as a Zombie. Even so, I think it’s sweet that she brings him back to get married and have a kid and try to live a (somewhat) normal life.

17. AU? As in Alternative Universe? I don’t have one of those. XD

18. I don’t know why, but I have to rant about Dina x Michael. Well, rant more about how they’re typically seen. It’s true that Dina cheated on Michael by kissing Don, but I don’t think the kiss was mutual. (Don isn’t afraid to “take charge” of a situation.) Looking at her memories, her love for Michael is deeper than most think — or that’s my opinion, anyway. After Michael died, Dina gave up on love and decided money would fill the hole in her heart.

19. If you go through my Tumblr, you’ll find plenty of memes that remind me of a lot of different pairings. XD

20. “Today” by Jefferson Airplane is one of the songs I can hear Vidcund play when he sits alone in the dark, thinking about Circe. I don’t pair them together, but for a long while Vidcund thought they’d make the perfect pair.

21. Everyday is a date for Circe and Loki, like conducting experiments on Nervous and eventually Gimi Branko at home, and making evil plans over dinner at a fancy restaurant.

22. I don’t think any of my non-canon pairings would ever become canon. I think the one that’d have the best chance is Johnny x Tank because GAY <3

23. No, I haven’t written fan fiction or drawn my ships. I keep my fiction in game, and I’d love to draw something, but I suck at drawing. XD

24. That’s all for now.

[grumpyhedgehogs]

tangled up in your old bedsheets

Summary:  Fabian wraps Riz in his sheet a lot, The Hangman is strangely jealous all of a sudden, and Riz figures some things out on his own.

~

It takes maybe a lot longer than it should for Fabian to understand exactly what’s happening with the whole “wrapping Riz up in his sheet all the time” thing. In his defense, there’s a lot of shit going down when it first happens. Riz has just been revivified only to be kicked off a fucking cliff by Kalina and the world is in peril and Fabian is stretching, stretching, stretching, to reach Riz before he’s lost to him forever. So when the fire elemental snags the goblin out of the air and kisses his cheek and Fabian curls his best friend into himself, swaddling him like a newborn, the half-elf doesn’t think much of it other than thank the gods you’re alright.

But then it happens again. And again. And again. And no matter what, even when Fabian doles out gifts and aggressively supports all his friends, Riz is the only one who ever seems to end up wrapped in Fabian’s sheet.

Fabian realizes this the summer after sophomore year and then aggressively stops thinking about what it could mean.

~

When the Night Yorb is defeated, Riz dies again. Thankfully Kristen is standing right next to him when he goes down so their rogue isn’t out for long but Fabian feels it deep in his bones. He sees the light go out of Riz’s eyes, watches, like he had just last spring, as his best friend falls, limp, to the ground. He sees him die and is unable to do anything about it. Again.

That evening, they have a bonfire. The final showdown had happened on the beach, where the Night Yorb had been ready to extend its power from the shores of Solace to Leviathan to Fallinel and beyond until the Bad Kids stopped it.

Now, Kristen and Fig are teaching Ayda how to shotgun a beer with mixed results. Adaine and Aelwyn are curled together, Aelwyn already trancing after using every ounce of her abjuration magic to keep her sister from being completely obliterated in the last ten minutes of the battle. Gorgug had almost immediately been mobbed with invasive, uncomfortable relationship advice from the Seven Maidens, who had come to help in the last fight after Riz had cracked the code which revealed the location of the Night Yorb’s power source with Zelda’s help. The half-orc seems fine, if a little overwhelmed by their chattering--Zelda is at least acting as something of a buffer.

Fabian and Riz had been side by side to strike the finishing blow to the Night Yorb when it went down. He’d turned and looked at Riz and had seen the bruises and the blood and the lines of pain in his face and had pulled out his sheet without hesitation. Riz hadn’t even pretended to protest.

Now, as they sit in the shadows, the fire’s light flickering over the bags under Riz’s eyes and the hollows of his cheeks, Fabian doesn’t pretend to resist the urge he has to pull the fabric tighter around Riz, tucking it between his arms and chest so it can’t pull free when the goblin shifts. He’s pressed up against Fabian’s side, half on top of him as Fabian drapes his arms around him and pulls one knee up against his back. His other leg extends out towards the fire and they’d both kicked off their shoes like everyone else had a long time ago. He digs his toes into the cold sand and lets it remind him he’s alive. They have survived.

“You know, I’m not actually that cold,” Riz mutters. His ears are drooping with exhaustion. Fabian hums and leans his chin on the crown of his head. Riz’s hair smells like seasalt. “You could take your blanket back now.”

“Battle sheet,” Fabian corrects absentmindedly. “You uncomfortable?”

“No.” His voice is so soft. He wriggles one hand out of the sheet--Fabian feels an unhappy rumble begin in his chest--and curls his clawed fingers around Fabian's hand, splayed in the sand beside Riz’s sheet-encased hip for balance. Fabian tightened his grip immediately. The rumble dies in his throat. “No, I’m not.”

“Good.” Fabian tugs the sheet just a little more, secures it, and rests.

~

It happens when they’re not in mortal danger or coming down from a battle high, too. The first time Fabian notices it--and when he notices Riz noticing it--is movie night. All the Bad Kids as well as Ragh, Tracker, Ayda and Aelwyn are gathered at Mordred Manor, sprawled over couches and armchairs and across the floor. Fabian is cuddled up to Aelwyn on the couch, Adaine on her other side, when he is chosen to be the first sacrifice in the name of snack refills. Naturally, he tells everyone goodnaturedly that he hates them, and goes.

Fabian isn’t even really thinking about it when he does it.

He comes back and sets the popcorn in Tracker’s lap and hands the sodas out and then he realizes that his spot next to Aelwyn has been filled by Fig, who is sitting with Ayda in her lap and very much not paying attention to the crystal screen. Both Abernant sisters do not look like they appreciate this development, but neither are very likely to say anything in the name of keeping the peace.

So Fabian shrugs and begrudgingly lopes over to the cushy armchair with the winged back where Riz is curled up with his knees to his chest. The Ball looks up, startled, but doesn’t make a sound when Fabian picks him right up, plops down in the armchair and then sets The Ball down beside him. Without even really looking away from the movie, the half-elf digs out his sheet and unfolds it, letting the sparks settle before he spreads it over both of them. Riz is wedged between his left thigh and the armrest, small enough that he doesn’t have to fully sit in Fabian’s lap to share the space. He does have to lean into Fabian’s side to see the screen around him though; Fabian feels more than sees The Ball glance at him out of the corner of his eye. His tail slaps once, twice against Fabian’s side, and Fabian drops his arm onto The Ball’s back in response, quelling the detective’s squirming. The Ball leans harder into his side and mutters to himself.

“What?” Fabian asks, defensive and not really understanding why.

“You know you could’ve just asked to sit down,” Riz says. What he means is, what the fuck, Fabian?

“Can we just watch the movie in peace, please?” Fabian replies. What he means is, please don’t call attention to this.

Riz shuts up. They watch the movie in peace.

Fabian catches Aelwyn looking at him that night, a strange gleam in her eye; it’s the one she gets when she’s mastered an overly complicated piece of magic that’s been elusive for a long time. Fabian shifts, but doesn’t let go of Riz, who is tucked even more tightly into his side as the night wears on, his head on Fabian’s chest and the sheet tangled up between them.

He shakes it off; there’s nothing here for Aelwyn to understand.

Nothing.

~

After that, it’s just an easy way of keeping track of Riz. The rogue has such high sleight of hand and stealth; he’s really a menace to society. Fabian is doing the authorities a favor, honestly. It also helps him get used to how to whip the sheet in a non-lethal capacity, teaches him how hard to snap the fabric around someone’s ankle to send them careening back to their spot on the couch, or how to flick it around their waist to pull them back to his side without leaving bruises. He even gets good enough to snag Riz’s tail and yank him back from the curb when he went to step into the road without looking up from his clues, which is probably the coolest thing Fabian does that week.

Riz complains and pouts and never tells him directly to stop, which he would if it were a real issue. But since he is a gentleman first Fabian asks, just to make sure.

“I don’t--really mind, actually,” Riz says haltingly. The tips of his ears are slowly turning turquoise. Fabian is extremely interested in this development. For science, of course. “It’s nice, knowing--uh, knowing you’re there to, like, catch me. If I fall. Or something. And the elemental keeps the sheet really warm, so. It’s nice. I don’t mind.”

Fabian grins, and something strange and pleasant settles in his chest.

~

The first time he really has to confront the idea that maybe it’s not just Fabian being paranoid about the amount of time he spends wrapping Riz in a sheet is when Aelwyn breaks up with him. It’s been coming for a long time, so obvious it’s like staring down an oncoming train. Aelwyn is trying to be kinder now, has been working on being gentler with people, and so of course she comes to their meeting at the ice cream shop with a delicately worded bullet point list on why they can’t be together anymore.

“And really, we did both acknowledge exactly how unhealthy for each other we are when we got into this,” she finishes, looking up at him over the rims of her new catlike glasses. She and Adaine match now. “I mean, I very explicitly stated how bad an idea this was and you agreed.”

“Yeah,” Fabian says, because he did. It still doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

“Honestly Fabian, sometimes I--I wonder why you even said yes in the first place. It’s not like you don’t have another, probably better, option hanging around all the time.”

He has no fucking idea what that’s supposed to mean. “I have no fucking idea what that’s supposed to mean.”

Aelwyn looks at him, shrewd and calculating, and then sighs. “Men. You’re all so useless.”

“Hey,” Fabian says, halfhearted. She just broke up with him; it’d be nice of her to display a little consideration.

Her mouth presses into a thin line, and even though he knows she’s not happy about this either, Fabian gets the distinct feeling she’s laughing at him. Just a little. “How come you never wrap me in your sheet?”

“Wh-what?”

“You always wrap Riz in your battle sheet. Constantly. I’ve counted three times this week, Fabian, and it’s only Thursday. How come you never wrap me in your precious battle sheet? I was your girlfriend up until this moment, wasn’t I?”

“I have no idea what The Ball has to do with you breaking up with me,” Fabian tells her honestly.

“Everything, my dear.” Aelwyn says as she stands and tosses a five dollar bill on their table in Basrar’s. “Absolutely everything. Think about it.”

~

The Ball has nothing to do with this.

“You have nothing to do with this.” Fabian tells him when Riz rushes into his room in Seacaster Manor, armed with dvds and ice cream and a grim expression Fabian recognizes from the moment before he ate Kalvaxus’s face off.

“Well if you didn’t want me here why did you call me?” Riz asks, looking affronted. He takes a step towards the door but wavers, looking back and forth between the hallway beyond and Fabian’s teary, red face. “Look, I wanna help, but if you need some time alone--”

“No! That’s not what I meant.” Fabian flaps one arm at him frantically. “I just-- it’s just stupid, never mind, just get over here, The Ball.”

Riz dumps the items in his arms and bounds over, sympathy leaking over his expression. He stops by the foot of the bed which is too far away and Fabian would roll his eyes and whip the sheet out for him if he weren’t already wrapped up in it and trying not to look like he’s been crying for the past hour and a half. He has not. He has only been crying for an hour and twenty minutes, thank you very much.

“I’m really sorry, Fabian,” Riz says, soft and kind and what Fabian needs to hear and what he wants none of at the same time. “I know you really like Aelwyn.”

Something in The Ball’s expression shifts, a little, drops down and gets even more serious and Fabian feels that instinctive, commonplace need to know more about him. Fabian fails an insight roll though, and shakes his head. He reaches out again. “Just, just come here, The Ball, gods--”

“I’m standing right next to you--” is all The Ball can get out before he lets out a high little yelp and gets lifted into the air. He’s so light Fabian can manhandle him onto the mattress and into the sheet with one arm. Fabian wonders if he’s getting enough to eat, if he’s spiraling in his office too much, if he hasn’t been sleeping lately. After the Night Yorb incident, he and The Ball had slept in the same bed on and off, on the promise to wake each other up when they had nightmares. It was a terrible few weeks.

The only thing Fabian misses, he admits to himself as he sets The Ball down on the mattress next to him and drapes half of the sheet across his shoulders, is the warmth he woke up to every morning. Riz is a familiar, reassuring weight against Fabian’s side; he didn’t realize after the nightmares went away and The Ball started sleeping over on the weekends rather than every night how much he would miss this.

Riz is, as always, game once he realizes what the plan is. He curls up under the sheet with a familiarity that makes the pressure in Fabian’s cracked chest ease just a little. He wraps his arms around Fabian’s middle and his tail flicks up to curl loosely around Fabian’s wrist where his arm is hooked around The Ball’s shoulders. The sheet is soft as cream and silvery in the low light as it folds around them both; it is on autopilot that Fabian takes the edges of the sheet and tucks them around his friend, until they are nothing more than a weirdly shaped lump of fabric.

“I’m supposed to comfort you right now, not the other way around,” The Ball points out, humor coloring his tone even as he keeps his voice low. Fabian leans harder against him and Riz grunts.

“You are,” Fabian says. “You are.”

He’s not okay, but he will be.

~

Fabian gets over Aelwyn relatively quickly, which should probably be a sign of how serious he actually was about her. But there’s still something strange in not looking forward to meeting her now, after a year of striving to get information on her, a year of striving to get her out of prison, a year of striving to come off as anything besides an awkward teenage boy when she kisses him. It leaves Fabian at a bit of a loose end.

So, naturally, he makes it The Ball’s problem. Or not-problem. It’s more like a solution. He is the solution to The Ball’s depressing self-care mystery. The Ball, it is unsurprising to note, is terrible at taking care of himself. Fabian, on the other hand, has literally trained all his life to protect and fight for others; he’s gotten very good at turning this innate urge into making sure The Ball eats enough and sleeps enough and takes a goddamn break every once in a while.

Case in point.

“Come on, The Ball,” Fabian whines. “This place is honestly so depressing, you reek, and I know for a fact you haven’t slept in three days. It is time to go home.”

“My mom asked me to help her, Fabian,” Riz says. He doesn’t turn to look at Fabian when he speaks, nimble fingers spidering across a map of Elmville he has set up on the wall. There are strings of different colors connecting seemingly random locations together, but Fabian does not doubt they make sense to The Ball. It must be a serious case, anyway; The Ball only loses his hat and tie when it’s serious business. “I can’t give up now.”

“It’s not giving up. Why do you always have to assume that stopping for a little while makes everything worse?”

“Sure feels like it.”

Okay. Time to pull out the big guns. Fabian takes a deep breath and prays Riz won’t hate him for this tomorrow. “Your mom is worried about you. Again.”

Riz’s head jerks around sharply enough that Fabian winces. There’s a sharp crack and Fabian watches as the ink from the broken pen in Riz’s clawed hand drips to the hardwood. Ah, well. That’s the least horrible thing that’s stained this floor. When the detective turns to him Fabian takes a hasty step back. The slits of his eyes dilate wildly, shrinking and growing in size rapidly.

“Did you,” Riz asks deliberately slowly, “just try to use my mom against me?”

“It’s true,” Fabian protests weakly. “She sent me here when I asked where you were. She thought you were with me anyway and she got really mad when she figured out you were still working. You gotta learn to take breaks, man.”

Just like that, Riz deflates. His shoulders relax from where they’ve been hunched around his ears since Fabian walked in and his hackles lower. He scrubs a hand through his hair, leaving trails of blue ink through the strands; Fig would probably call it a look . “I hate when I make her worry.”

“You make everyone worry,” Fabian says without thinking, before backpedaling like a champ at Riz’s scandalized look. “Wait! No! I didn’t--it’s just that you make her-- and me-- but you don’t mean to so it’s fine. Is it hot in here? I feel like it’s hot in here. We should go. Let’s go.”

“You worry about me?”

It’s the quiet way The Ball says it, quiet in the way he hasn’t heard often since the Nightmare King’s Forest, that makes Fabian square his shoulders and set his jaw in determination. He rolls initiative on a surprise round and succeeds. Nat twenty.

“Right.” Fabian declares, and reaches into his jacket. “We’re doing this.”

“What?” Riz’s eyes widen a second later, though, because his insight is crazy high and even his passive rolls are ridiculous. “Aw, no, Fabian, you don’t need to get the sheet out. I don’t need the sheet!”

“It’s too late. It’s already over.”

“Oh come on man, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“It's inescapable,” Fabian flourishes as the sheet unwinds and dances before him, obscuring The Ball’s view of him. “You’ve brought this on yourself.”

Between one blink and the next, Fabian has thrown the sheet about his best friend, movements fluid and expert from so much practice. He’s sure to leave Riz’s inky hand free, but he takes care to bundle his legs into the sheet. Fabian wraps one end of the sheet around the unoccupied arm before pulling it across his body gently and tucks the other end over his chest in the opposite direction before securing the free edge between Riz’s back and his own chest.

Riz is still so light in his arms as Fabian hoists him right off the ground and into a princess carry. Riz squawks and waves his one free hand in Fabian’s face, which makes Fabian grimace and lean back. Ink splatter across the desk.

“Spring break,” Fabian says. He meets Riz’s dark eyes, something in his gut sparking and fluttering and warming him all the way to his toes. “I believe in you.”

“Spring break, I believe in you,” Riz repeats, laughing and accepting the bardic inspiration before rolling his eyes. “It’s nearly winter, you dolt.” It makes something soft in Fabian curl up tight in his chest to hear his best friend laugh, to feel it reverberate in his own arms, in his own bones, and Fabian grins right back.

“The sentiment still stands. Just because you mess up every now and then doesn’t mean that you’re a bad son, The Ball. You’re just so passionate and conscientious and you want to make sure you do your work right the first time so no one gets hurt on your watch. That’s a noble thing to do. Your mom and me worrying about your well-being doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person; it’s just a sign of how much we love you.”

Fabian takes the stairs down to the parking lot as he speaks, focusing more on his feet than Riz’s face, because if he does focus on Riz and his wide eyes and the way his pupils are really fucking dilated right now and how his dumb hair is slicked back with ink and the way his ears are twitching and how he smells like coffee beans and old newspapers, the something in his gut will come up to his chest and constrict around his heart and then he’ll do something really stupid like lean in and--

Nope! Not dealing! Fabian gets his kisses in-- got his kisses in--enough already. No need to deal with all-- this.  

But then Fabian finishes his speech and The Ball makes a strange squeaking noise, and his hand comes to ball up under his own chin, and his eyes are still very wide and his face is so soft and he’s biting his lip, fuck.

Fabian’s hands are sweaty and he nearly fumbles his handful as he comes down hard off the last step, rolling a natural two on his athletics. He curses.

Sire! Are you alright? I will destroy the very stones which mock your footing until they are nothing but dust!

I’m fine, Hangman. Just tripped.

Shall we be escorting The Ball home, then?

“You can let me down now,” Riz says at that exact moment, just as Fabian goes to confirm with his bike. Whatever his expression meant before, the jolt seems to have knocked some sense into him before Fabian could roll insight, and the goblin shifts in his arms. Fabian tightens his grip reflexively, and Riz settles. “You don’t have to take me home.”

“Don’t have to?” Fabian repeats dumbly. Of course he has to! The Ball is his--his--The Ball is capable and brilliant, yes, but he is small and a rogue and Fabian is a martial class. He should be here, to make sure that The Ball is safe.

What do you mean we’re not taking The Ball home? The Hangman howls in the back of his mind. Fabian one hundred percent agrees with the bewildered sentiment.

“I have a bus pass now, I was going to take it home tonight anyway. You’re on the other side of town from me, so you'd just be going out of your way.”

Master! The Hangman exclaims, engines revving. The Ball must not stoop so low as to take the bus!

This is another development that Fabian didn’t really realize was happening until after the fact; The Hangman, for whatever reason, has gotten weirdly possessive of Riz. They’ve given more rides to the detective than the rest of the Bad Kids combined. The Hangvan has been the subject of more than a few arguments.

We are much more capable of protecting The Ball than this bus, Sire. With your battle sheet and my infernal soul, we will be an impenetrable defense!

Fabian isn’t sure what they’re defending Riz against, but he’s not going to disagree with The Hangman. They can protect Riz much better if he comes with them.

“The Hangman is right here, The Ball,” Fabian scoffs. “Don’t be silly. Just get on the bike.”

The Ball opens his mouth like he’s thinking of protesting but he’s also forgetting two very important facts: Fabian has eight points of Strength on him and has him wrapped in his battle sheet, effectively grappled. He hasn't got a chance unless he wants to take the fall damage from wrenching himself away from Fabian, which he would never do. Riz trusts Fabian.

A soft, golden glow starts up in Fabian’s chest at the thought. The Ball should trust Fabian. Fabian--Fabian wants to keep The Ball safe and warm and cared for, and like this, wrapped snugly in Fabian’s regard, The Ball is all of those things. It means a lot--so, so much--that The Ball trusts Fabian to provide this for him.

Okay, Fabian is getting off track again.

“You’re getting on the bike,” Fabian declares imperiously, and plops The Ball down on the seat before sliding on in front of him. He waits, The Hangman revving below them, until he feels The Ball curl up against his back. His arms worm their way around Fabian’s waist and his sharp chin digs into his shoulder; something in the half-elf loosens and expands and the warm glow gets brighter.

They’re silent on the drive home; he can feel Riz curl up tighter against the wind and the sheet flutters around the two of them. Sparks flicker across the fabric, retaining warmth against the night’s coming chill. Fabian purposefully drives slowly, lets the time tick by as Riz presses warm up against his back, safe and sound and wrapped in Fabian’s protection, with Fabian’s bardic inspiration flowing through him. He also purposefully does not consider why this is so very important to him.

It is only when they stop outside Riz’s apartment and he disembarks--The Hangman lets out a low rev of his engine, almost like a purr-- that they break the soft silence that’s descended.

“Back at my office,” Riz starts, faltering, as he hands the sheet back. “You said--you love me?”

Panic bursts like fireworks in Fabian’s chest. “Wh-uh?” He says. “Uh. Uh. You have ink in your hair.”

Then Fabian makes a tactical decision and runs the fuck away. It is not his best moment. (However, since Chungle-Down Bim isn’t there, it’s also not his worst.)

~

He is not avoiding The Ball. He is regrouping, coming up with a strategic return and possibly a retaliation for whatever weird, confusing, warm feelings Riz keeps setting fire to in his chest. This is strategy. This is war.

This, frankly, sucks. So much.

The Ball has called four times in the past week before giving up abruptly on Wednesday. It is Sunday afternoon. They usually spend Saturday night watching movies or going to Basrar’s together and then take Sunday to spar (for Fabian) and go over the latest town mystery (for Riz). They have done neither of these things; they also have not texted, spoken or passed each other on the street. Riz is supposed to come over for homework and hot chocolate on weekdays in the winter. He’s supposed to give The Ball rides home every day, to make sure he doesn’t have to walk home in the rain or snow. They’re supposed to be together--

And Fabian has no one to blame for their separation but himself. It twists his gut, seeing The Ball light up his phone so much before the calls stop and he’s left with nothing but unending silence. He can’t seem to stop trying to catch a glimpse of him in the halls at Aguefort, looking for a briefcase or a flat cap, anything, anything. But In the end, he’s the one avoiding The Ball. He’s the one not answering his phone.

He’s the one with weird feelings in his chest.

This cannot, Fabian realizes, possibly go on. He’s having trouble sleeping, and when he does he’s gone back to having nightmares about Riz falling during the Night Yorb debacle. He needs to sort this out, fast.

But Riz is a rogue and so his stealth rolls win out every damn time against Fabian’s perception, and  throughout the next week there’s no time between classes to catch him and he’s nowhere to be found at lunch.

Adaine doesn’t seem too happy with Fabian either, and hasn’t since this weekend. Riz must have said something to her about him, but she relents easily enough when she sees his frantic expression.

“He’s been skipping class to work on that case with his mom for a couple days,” she says. “He--doesn’t really want to see you that much, Fabian.”

It feels like his heart breaks at that, but Fabian smiles winningly anyway. “Who wouldn’t want to see me? I’m Fabian Aramais Seacaster.”

“Son of Bill Seacaster, yeah I know,” Adaine finishes, and at least she’s got that fond exasperation back. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you two, Fabian, but you’ve got to fix it. I can’t take Riz moping around much longer. He’s been insufferable.”

“Leave it to me,” Fabian says with more confidence than he’s feeling, and peels out of the parking lot with a roar from The Hangman.

He thinks maybe things are going to be okay, somehow; he’ll make a suitably dramatic entrance, and he’ll say all the right things to get Riz to forget that Fabian had some kind of crisis for a week and change and didn’t bother to let his best friend in on it and they’ll go back to Seacaster Manor and watch dumb B-movies and everything will be fine and Fabian won’t have to confront this weird thing growing perilously close to his heart.

And then he steps into Riz’s office and faces reality.

“What do you want?” Fabian winces at the flat tone of Riz’s voice, the way his eyes won’t meet Fabian’s, the way he’s crossed his arms over his chest and hunched in on himself.

“I--well--uh, that is--” Fabian pauses, breathes. “I just thought I’d check up on you, since last time I was here you were about to fall asleep on your feet. I heard you were working too late again.”

Riz’s mouth is a flat, thin line. “That’s what you want to talk about? My work habits?”

“Well--I--work-life balance is a very real, serious thing, The Ball. Not everyone can be as healthy and committed to self-care as I am. I thought I would help you out, like always.” This is the part where the movie hero would puff out his chest and the girl would fawn all over him and they’d live happily ever after. Fabian doesn’t really feel up to puffing out his chest when Riz’s eyes go hard and flinty like that.

“It didn’t really seem like you cared about my self-care when you were refusing to acknowledge you loved me.”

Oh. Oh.

And that’s just it, isn’t it? The last piece of the puzzle slots into place, and Fabian is absurdly glad Aelwyn isn’t here to cast Detect Thoughts and laugh at his misery as he realizes what she knew practically from the start. Because he’d said it before--toxic masculinity is over. He’s in touch with his emotions now, and he loves his friends and he’d had a hard time showing it or saying it in the beginning but these days his affirmations roll off his tongue like so much honey so why has he had such a hard time with The Ball?

Of course. Of course he loves Riz. It’s--it’s not even that much of a revelation somehow; it’s like he always knew somewhere deep in his soul that they’d end up like this, with Riz being brilliant and brave and kind and Fabian loving him and loving him and loving him. Admitting it to himself, for how hard it has been to see it clearly in the first place, is easy. It’s like saying the sky is blue or Arthur Aguefort is insane. It’s just a fact. Fabian Aramais Seacaster loves Riz Gukgak.

He’s in love with this strange little goblin man and he’s been so dumb about it.

“Okay, okay,” Fabian says, more to himself than The Ball. What happens now? What is he supposed to do? Should he just come out and say it? Or, no, Riz might think he’s joking, or trying to smooth things over. He'd hate it if Riz thought Fabian didn’t mean it the very first time Fabian says those words. Besides, they’re having an argument--a real one, which he doesn’t think they’ve ever had--and this is so not the time. No, he'll tell him after this is over, when they’ve made up and Fabian has taken care of Riz because he does really look like hell, all bags under his eyes and stiff limbs. He needs to apologize, probably, and then get The Ball somewhere safe and warm and comfortable and then he needs to do something grand and dramatic and then he can tell Riz Gukgak he’s in love with him.

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” It comes out sharper than he intends, but he’s dealing with wave after wave of astonishment and fear and love and he could use a bit of a break, to be honest. “Can we just forget it?” He has to get this over with to get to the next step of his foolproof, ten second plan to woo The Ball in which nothing can possibly go wrong.

“Forget it?” Riz repeats, incredulous. This is not at all going the way Fabian needs it to go. “You want me to forget the time you took back saying you loved me--when you haven’t even called me your best friend, yet--and drove off and then didn’t talk to me for a week? That’s something you think can just be forgotten? You left Fabian!”

“The Ball--Riz--”

“I’m not just going to let this go, Fabian. No. But if you think that I’m just something to be so easily swept to the side and then picked up again when you feel like it, then--then--great! Great. I see clearly now where I stand with you.”

“Okay,” Fabian declares, because enough really is enough, “it’s sheet time.”

“No, Fabian!”

Riz has never raised his voice outside of crazy group antics before. Not to Fabian, at least. The sheet flutters out of his fingers as Fabian stares, open-mouthed. His chest is cracking again, like it did after Aelwyn broke up with him, but this is worse now; this crack is not just a hairline or a fissure, but a damn canyon. It feels like someone reached inside his ribcage and scooped his heart out.

Riz’s mouth twists and he hugs himself tighter, looking as miserable as Fabian feels. “I don’t want your goddamn sheet, okay? I don’t--I don’t need you to act like I’m some kind of burden or--or--”

“A burden--The Ball--”

“Or calling me The Ball all the time!” Riz’s voice rises again. His fists are clenched now. “I’m--I’m sick of you wrapping me up like a little kid. I’m not a baby, okay? I can take care of myself. I'm fine on my own.”

“Riz,” Fabian tries again, weakly. This can’t happen. Not now. Not to them.

“I think it’s best if you leave now,” Riz says grimly, and turns his back. He doesn’t look around when Fabian closes the door softly behind him.

~

“I’m sorry.”

Fabian blinks.

He and The Ball only had their fight two hours ago; he’d got on The Hangman and ignored the bike's probing questions, and gone home and cried and then he’d gotten up and done what he’d thought Riz would do in his place. He made a clue board.

First on the board is the picture of himself and Riz taken the night the Night Yorb was defeated; Fig had snapped a shot without them knowing, of the two of them talking in the firelight, Fabian craning his neck to look down at a swaddled, comfortable looking Riz who was looking up at him, mouth open seemingly in mid-sentence. His hair is in his face and Fabian always looks at it and remembers how seconds afterward he’d reached up and pushed the curls out of Riz’s eyes gently. That was the end of the summer--it’s the middle of winter now. He’s been in love with his best friend at least since then, maybe before.

Next on the board is his half of the best friend necklace; he’d actually stolen it out of Riz’s briefcase on their way to fight the Nightmare King. It was after Fallinel, when he was getting back to himself, reinventing how he saw the world. He’d wanted to know--to have something, just a small thing, that reminded Fabian who really loved him. And Riz had been there.

So. Maybe he was a little in love with Riz back then, too.

The third clue was actually absent from the board, but Fabian writes it on a post-it note and sticks that there in its place; my old letter jacket. He’d gotten a new one when he’d been on the team in the beginning of sophomore year; he’d filled out too much, built up enough muscle from practice that he hadn’t been able to keep using the one his father gave him freshman year. He’d given it to The Ball because he was complaining of the cold one day and then just. Never bothered to take it back.

Riz wears it to his games sometimes. It makes Fabian--feel. Certain things. It’s fine.

The final clue is, of course, the sheet. He almost doesn’t bother pinning that one up either, since it’s pretty fucking obvious. Aelwyn could see it all just from the way he wrapped Riz up in his sheet, after all; he really doesn't need to rest of his clues to figure this out. But there’s something soothing in this, in looking at the world the way he knows Riz looks at it.

He’s just working himself up to maybe crying again when Cathilda knocks on his door and lets Riz quietly into the room.

“What?” Fabian says, because what?

Riz is biting his lip, which is entirely too distracting, when he speaks again. “I was--unfair. And a dick. And I've been--going through some stuff and I put all that on you, and I’m sorry, man. You didn’t deserve that.”

“No, I--I mean, I’m sorry too. I mean--you don’t need to be sorry, because I should be sorry. I just left you hanging and then spaced on you and I didn’t even tell you why, I just wanted to go back to normal. So I’m the one who’s sorry and you can’t take that from me. I’ll fight you if you try, just so you know. Stop being sorry.”

And just like that, the corners of Riz’s mouth turn up which is a relief because Fabian love him and just figured out that he’s maybe been in love with him for over a year, but he also knows that even before he knew he was in love he’d have done just about anything to make sure Riz never looked as sad as he does right now. He’d kill to put a smile on Riz’s face.

“I don’t think you can just have a monopoly on apologizing, Fabian,” Riz says and the way his name sounds out of The Ball’s mouth, gods, how did Fabian not realize this sooner? “I’ve just been--I’ve been dealing with a lot and you’re my best friend, man, and I just...It sucks not talking to you.”

“Yeah,” Fabian agrees. “It really fucking does.”

And then, opening his arms tentatively, “Can I?”

Riz’s face twists horribly then, and Fabian’s heart has just enough time to sink to his stomach before Riz throws himself into Fabian’s arms. Fabian holds him and holds him and doesn’t ever want to let go now, he’s got Riz and he’s pressing his face into Riz’s hair and lifting him up and holding him close to his chest and Riz is wrapping his arms around Fabian’s shoulders, claws scratching at the back of Fabian’s neck, he’s whispering into that twitching ear, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you, I’ve got you, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” and he loves and loves and loves and he doesn’t know if it’s supposed to hurt so sweetly but it does.

“I’m sorry, gods, I’m sorry,” Riz babbles into his shoulder and Fabian wants to tell him to stop but he’d have to interrupt to do that and he can’t, not when he knows Riz has such a hard time with the idea that his friends don’t listen to him. He folds at the knees instead, takes Riz with him to the ground and cradles him like something precious because that’s what The Ball is and has always been, precious and so important and, if he has his way, Fabian’s. “I’m sorry I acted like you didn’t care, I know you do, I just don’t want to ever make you feel like you have to do everything for me, like I’m weak or less than or like I don't get that you have other things, other people to take care of--”

And then Fabian does interrupt because like hell is he letting this slide. “Stop it, stop, I know you’re strong and you’re brave and you’re so smart, Riz, gods, you’re brilliant. I just-- I wanna take care of you, I know I don’t have to but I want to, I love to, I love you, I'm in love with you and I want to take care of you, please.”

It’s only when Riz rears his head back that Fabian realizes what just came tumbling out of his mouth.

“Oh, shit. Uh--I wasn’t supposed to say that yet.”

“Yet?” Riz squeaks and fuck it, Fabian decides. Fuck it all. In for a penny, in for a dime.

“Yeah, yet,” Fabian rushes. His fingers clench and release the fabric over Riz’s spine rhythmically and he can feel the goblin shivering against his chest and without thinking Fabian pulls down his sheet and wraps them both in it. Riz’s skin stands out dark and forest green against the silvery material and he hopes he likes it, hopes it is soft and warm against the thin, fragile surface of Riz’s cheek because Riz is so good and Fabian loves him and he deserves nice things. “I--I was gonna make a plan and strategize and not tell you until I’ve done at least three heroic deeds in your name, dude. I had so many ideas.”

“Ideas?” Riz’s voice is faint.

Fabian nods solemnly. “There were also schematics for a dramatic duel on the clifftops, but we’ve already done that a couple times, so I scrapped it.”

“Too much of a Nightmare King-Night Yorb repeat.”

“Yeah,” Fabian nods. “Exactly. So uh. Just. If you could pretend I haven’t said that yet, I can get on the heroic deeds and we can revisit this. Conversation. Uh, later.”

“Right,” Riz says, nodding slowly too. “Or we could, like, do it right now. Since I'm in love with you too and everything.”

Fabian’s brain stops working.

“Oh.”

“'Oh?' That’s it?”

“I, uh, didn’t plan for this.”

“You didn’t plan for me maybe liking you back? Dude, everybody knows already.”

Fabian draws further away at that, blinking wildly. (His hands stay on Riz’s hip and back because he’s got him now, he’s got him, Riz is in his home and his arms and his heart and wrapped in Fabian’s protection and he’s never leaving if Fabian has anything to say about it.) “Everyone?”

Riz scuffs the back of his neck and his ears are turning turquoise again. “Uh, yeah, man. Adaine told me if I complain about how much I like your eyes to her one more time she’s gonna get Fig to hex me. I um, I thought maybe you were doing the whole sheet thing to, like, let me down easy. Make me see you didn’t think of me as more than like, a kid or someone who needs your help or something.”

“Oh my gods. That is so dumb,” Fabian blurts, because what the fuck, The Ball, seriously. “That is so dumb The Ball. You’re so dumb.”

“Gee, thanks. I really feel like you love me right now, just so you know. Just overwhelming amounts of love pouring out right now.”

“Oh shut up.” Fabian says, laughing. “I wrap you in my sheet because I love you, The Ball. Like, more than I think I’ve ever liked anyone. It’s how Aelwyn knew we were over.”

“Huh?”

“She broke up with me and told me I never wrapped her in my sheet because I was always doing that to you.” Fabian explains, not even bothering to be embarrassed. “Because I've been in love with you for like, forever, man. She just realized it first because I always wanted to use the sheet on you and not my own girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Riz replies, sounding breathless. All things considered, Fabian’s going to take that as a good sign. He leans in now, presses his forehead to the crook of Riz’s neck, and breathes. Riz smells like newspaper and ink and old coffee and Fabian loves him so much. He tilts his head, nosing at the detective’s collar, and slides his lips over warm skin. He lets his teeth catch there, just a hint. “Oh.”

And then, before Fabian can even move, Riz’s hand is in his hair, tangled up in the strands, and he says, very fast, “By the way I’m demisexual, it’s on the asexuality spectrum and I was also being weird because I didn’t know how to deal with how attracted I am to you!”

“Okay,” Fabian says easily, drawing back. “Do you want to have a conversation about it? Because I don’t think I’m your guy for that, but we could go to the LGBT group meeting with Kristen next week and see if they have any resources. Jawbone could probably help too.”

Riz’s pupils are dilating slowly and his mouth hangs open before he snaps out of it. He looks less miserable now but still unsure and it’s not a good look on him. Fabian desperately wants to erase it. “That’s it? You’re not--you don’t think I’m weird?”

“Of course you’re weird, The Ball, but not for that. Besides, I think starting a relationship--we are starting a relationship, right--” Riz nods frantically, the beginnings of a grin forming, and Fabian pauses to lean in and press his mouth to the corner of Riz’s, “with the only problem being you don’t know what to do with all the insanely hot attraction you have for me is, like, the opposite of a hardship, dude.”

He stops then, considers, and then something terrible occurs to Fabian. He pulls even farther back and splays his fingers across Riz’s chest, feels his heart rabbiting there under his fingertips, and says quickly, “Not that I need you to have any kind of--any of that kind of attraction to me, Riz. I’d be okay, you know, with just this. Although you may have to tell me how hot I am from time to time. For, you know, moral support.”

Tension seems to drain out of Riz, has been since Fabian first started speaking, and this time it’s his turn to lean in and brush his lips across Fabian’s mouth. Fabian lets out a breath, takes in the scent of old newsprint and coffee and realizes he could die happy here. “You are, in fact, very hot, Fabian. And--thank you. For understanding. I might--I’m not super interested in sex, but. It’s a maybe. If you’d like it to be, for the future.”

“Of course I would, you’re incredibly attractive. But it’s not that big a deal,” Fabian says, and he picks them both up off the floor.

The sheet comes with them, sparks playing along the skin of his forearms but never burning him as he sets Riz down on the mattress because Riz is good and perfect and loves Fabian and deserves better than to sit on the floor. He doesn’t hesitate like he usually would now, and curls up around Riz, pulls the sheet over them both, encases them and pulls Riz close, closer, closest. “I love you. I’m probably not going to stop saying it now, just so you know. I’m going to be very annoying about it.”

Riz reaches up and brushes his claws lightly over Fabian’s brow and his smile is so soft something in Fabian melts. “It’s a good thing I love you then, or I’d never be able to put up with it.”