#personal disclosures

[howdoesone]

How does one casually bring up their dad's donor number at a sleepover?

Sleepovers are a rite of passage for many children and teens. They offer a unique opportunity to bond with friends, share stories, and create lasting memories. However, for children conceived through sperm donation, the question of how to discuss their unique origins can be a bit tricky, especially in a casual setting like a sleepover. One particularly delicate topic is how to bring up their…

[starrsarchive]

i love writing glinda dealing with the horrors of an aristocratic society whilst simultaneously having a good luck babe moment because that's how i cope

[maedhrus]

it strikes me once again in episode 10 when crozier says that he "knows little's nature" and that he would be there with men and guns at day's end, he's absolutely right. he does know edward's nature. it's almost exactly what little said to rally the men, "we have hickey's camp outnumbered and outgunned." edward is ready to march all the men he can gather to rescue crozier, just as francis thought he would. what crozier doesn't know is le vesconte's nature. he doesn't know the nature of the men. he isn't aware that edward himself is being mutinied against because he's once again unable to see the similarities between himself and his second. because, just like in terror camp, he's placed expectations on edward without realising that the context in which edward is operating has very drastically changed. he's thinking of edward's loyalty but not edward's own duty to the men (a duty crozier shares!) and that edward's orders don't exist in a vacuum. it's just the debate about arming the men played out again but with debatably worse consequences

[remxedmoon]

“the merciless cobra. its caustic venom can traverse any distance… as long as it stays out of danger.

…please, pay no mind to those ghastly stains. it must’ve been splashed with paint while my back was turned.”

reptile

1 power - 1 health - 3 blood

2 power - 3 health - 2 blood

sniper - you may choose which opposing space a card bearing this sigil strikes.

touch of death - when a card bearing this sigil damages another creature, that creature perishes.

hidden trait - gemmified

when a sigil is transferred to this card, it becomes gemmified. gemmified cards gain +1 power, +2 health, and -1 cost.

COBRADILE!! this was probably the most fun card to make out of all of them. also probably the prettiest card imo!!! writeup below!!

sniper and touch of death! pretty deadly combo. literally. you can just kill any card you please from any spot on the board. i was DEAD SET on giving her the sniper sigil. it just felt right.

GEMMIFICATION YIPEEE! this is a mechanic from act 3! but mox cards appear in act 2 as well. in base game inscryption, you need to have specific gem vessels on the field in order to activate the buffs (ruby for power, emerald for health, and sapphire for cost) but! mox cards and gem vessels aren’t really. in kaycee’s mod. and it would be super clunky to add them for a single card! so all you have to do is sacrifice a card’s sigils onto her. is this a little broken? maybe. but this is inscryption, literally everything is broken lol

^expanding on this, it still kinda fits lorewise? ka buans do compress their ashes into diamonds after all. let’s say that they compressed the creature into a diamond or something and that’s what’s powering her, idk

ok i’ll stop talking about the mox thing after this. both sif and odile were given mechanics from the other scrybes! siffrin requires bone tokens (grimmora) and odile has mox (magnificus). no sorry there’s nothing for p03. they don’t have computers in the isat world i think. i’m pretty sure.

initially i wanted to make her a stork or an ibis, but. all avian cards have the airborne sigil. which makes their attacks hit the opponent directly instead of their creatures. and that defeats the entire purpose of sniper. so she gets to be a spitting cobra! i think it’s more fun this way anyways. more fun shapes.

also this kinda spoils bonnie’s card a little but!! i put thought into the tribes too!!! the vaugardians (mirabelle, isabeau, and bonnie) are all from the hooved tribe! odile is a reptile and sif is tribeless because they’re outsiders. teehee.

ok patch time. she gets double strike, which makes her attack twice (as the name implies). i chose this in reference to memory of first strike (it just reminds me of it? idk) and also because it synergizes with sniper! you get to oneshot TWO cards in one turn! good god! odile really is merciless

that’s everything important about this card! i know this is long as hell but! that’s what happens when you introduce an entire new mechanic. i guess. anyways alt card art!!!

[duckshuffled]

Could you draw Buck and Graham? I wonder how they'd interact.

i hope nothing good happens. deeply unserious suits

[goated33]

crawls out of my cave spitting blood. do you see the vision. do you understand

[bitethedevil]

Rome is going great. I’m normal.

[violent138]

To your "Dick Grayson accepted headcanons" You said Jason will smoke with him, Damian throws his cigarettes OUT, and Bruce keeps trying to quote statistics-

How do you think the rest of Batfam, The team, and Co react to Dick smoking?

-@batfambrainrotbeloved <33

Hello friend, thanks for the ask! Gonna stick to Batfam because this is long already but let me know if you still want Titans/outsiders too!

I'll preface with I think everyone makes fun of Bruce because he smokes as Matches, but not Bruce or Batdad (will take cigarettes out of people's hands).

Next up, Alfred smoked heavily when he was younger (particularly during his acting days), he just forbids it in the Manor and mildly disapproves.

Steph smokes socially with some of the Birds of Prey and sometimes Jason , so she thinks Dick’s smoking is kind of funny (because he makes it a Thing he has chronic guilt about).

Cass is anti smoking (she inherited from both dads) and gets annoyed by the smell, mocks Dick when he gets winded and can always see his withdrawal symptoms so she tries to help out.

Babs hated how much her dad smoked and deeply dislikes Dick transferring the scent on her furniture.

Tim thinks it's the least of the stupid things Dick does, has personally dabbled in smoking cigarettes and weed, and will steal smokes off Dick.

Duke grew up around too many smokers to really notice it, but he feels tempted when he's juggling forty tasks and school.

[seeker-ophelia]

Ophelia Rants: Veilguard is Weird

I had another post (Review, Pt 4) composed about how much I love dragons, but the AMA kinda knocked me on my ass.

* * *  

[INTRO]

* * *  

I’m going to share the image I made collected from the results of my survey:

And while everyone only contributed one word for this, it IS possible for Veilguard to be ALL OF THESE THINGS AT ONCE.

Now. We need to take this with a grain of salt and remember that most of these responses came from tumblr, and often ones Social Media Frens are an echo chamber of ones own thoughts.

The words that repeat over and over are all similar; sanitized, shallow, underwhelming, trimmed, incomplete… Fun But Not Dragon Age.

And I could not agree with this more.

Caitie (YT: Ghil Dirthalen BS: Ghil Dirthalen), (Mythal’enaste her and her data-mining efforts) has released so much information from Datamining Veilguard. So much dialogue not used, paths ignored or forgotten, Keep choices abandoned, Lore identified.

Flipping through the Art Book shows how much time and effort and ideas have been put into DA4; all of its iterations. All the creativity, the different worlds, the different possible paths. YEARS of work, abandoned.

Which feels soooo… opposite. I’m not a writer. What’s the word for a complete opposite dichotomy in all things? Contradictory? Inconsistent? Irreconsilable? Antithesis?

How can Dragon Age be Sanitized and Shallow… but so much work be put into it?

* * *

[OPINION]

* * *

After I removed my emotional connection from Dragon Age, IMO, it really does feel like something is missing from this game. Even if one tries to lay down their preconceptions of what the game might have been in their dream world, this game, to me, could not decide what it wanted to be. Narratively, it’s a sequel to Inquisition. Solas’s story matters from Inquisition, the Inquisitor matters from Inquisition… and yet it spends so much time onboarding new players. The story feels simple, the world is straightforward, like its dumbed down for players new to the series.

Inquisition, even though in a gameplay sense it is different from Origins and 2, still feels like its building off of a complex world that the player might not understand. And when I played Inquisition, I hardly understood any of it. That’s part of the joy of Dragon Age. People who read LotR or Malazan or WoT or ASOIAF, don’t expect the author to hold their hand. They’re dumped, unceremoniously, into a world, and they have to figure it out themselves (figure it out through strategically placed tidbits from the author). Dragon Age (O through I), was a masterclass in this, I think. Somehow, no matter how deep you want to dive into the game, whether just playing superficially one-and-done, or playing it over and over to capture as much lore and depth as you can, Origins through Inquisition does that. It gives you just enough crumbs to keep you going, keep you questioning, and to point you enough in the right direction, that when you DID get a lore reveal right, you felt GOOD. Yes, plot-twists and subverting expectations are important, but so is letting your audience figure things out, giving them concrete answers. Veilguard drops you, sure, literally in Minratheous into a Gods Magic Ritual. But then it takes your hand, and skips with you through beautiful landscapes, phenomenal level design, and whirlwind combat, to place you right in front of the information you need. And then gives you a cutscene explaining, just in case you didn’t get it 😉).

We, as fans, need to realize that while the Personality of Veilguard is Toothless, the Lore, The Skeleton, is not.

Yeah, Epler said some things that hurt my feels during the AMA. (I’m ignoring the Solas stuff, because I really do believe Epler is speaking from a personal bias and not from a cannon-perspective. [edit: he just talked bout this on BlueSky]) But do you know why? Because they broke my personal headcannons. They proved MY theory crafting wrong. The real problem with Veilguard is that it came out too late. 10 years is too long to have people care so much about a game and theorize and craft worlds for themselves.

* * *

[LORE]

* * *

Superficially, VG dropped a lot of lore. But Deeply? To the DA Lore-Core? I don’t think they dropped ENOUGH.

[Image Credit: Helena Hansen on ArtStation]

HOW did Soals cleanse the dagger? HOW can Elgy & Ghill control the blight? HOW do they control their archdemons? HOW does the veil work? (How can it be weak with Elgy & Ghilly holding it up but 100%-strong-no-holes-perfectly-good with only Solas providing power for it?) HOW do spirits work? HOW do souls work? WHATS the difference? HOW does a Dragon-thrall-bond work? WHY isn’t Lusacan a Great Dragon? HOW does the rite of tranquility work? WHAT happens to Solavellan in the Fade? Is it different from what happens to a tricked Solas in the fade? WHAT happens now to Hawke/Stroud in the fade? WHAT is an orb? WHAT is a cube? WHATS the difference? WHERE is The Black City? WHAT is the ‘real blight’? (Because according to VG Solas, it’s still in the prison and its still super dangerous and way more dangerous than the blight that’s out in Thedas.) HOW did Solas burn his Vallaslin off? WHAT is the Calling? WHAT is the NEW song in the calling? WHY did ‘Mythal speak the calling’? WHY does lyrium sing? How is lyrium mined? WHY can tranquil work lyrium safely? HOW did Dirth & Falon split? WHY did Dirth & Falon split? WHERE are the rest of the Evanuris? WHERE is the Abyss? WHAT is the Abyss? WHAT do you MEAN there was more than 8 Evanuris?? HOW did you make your lyrium bodies? HOW can Elgar’nan destroy a FEELING?

WHERES MY ELVHEN DICTIONARY.

Obviously not ALL. But SOME of these NEEDED to be answered, or at least strongly alluded to, IN GAME. NOT in an AMA.

“We're leaving that ambiguous on purpose…”

“We haven't been SUPER specific about this…”

“I'm so glad these stories have their hooks in you! We have to leave some threads to tug on for future stories.”

What DID get answered in game?

Some of the Evanuris hats. Archdemons/Old Gods = Evanuris. Solas (w/ Mythal?) tranquil’d the Titans. Solas (accidentally) created the Blight. Solas used a Blood Magic Ritual to create the veil. Solas regrets a lot of things & has mommy issues. Worm-Solas (which, do not get me wrong, a million thank you’s and blessings for werm-Solas… But…) That’s it. That’s IT?

Oh, and there’s a shadow organization that’s been pulling all the strings from behind the scenes but I am NOT getting into how much I hate that idea in this post we don’t have time. Do we? No, we don’t. You know what, fuck it. This is my blog. Once you introduce that idea there is no way anyone NOT the author can know how much sway the puppeteer has over the marionette. ‘Oh it’s just a nUdGe, just a *whisper,* ‘they still have their free will’. Bitch get fucked what does that MEAN. That doesn’t MEAN anything its just a lazy retcon-y way to tie in a new villain to old material. Completely erasing the autonomy of they characters your fanbase has come to love (and love to hate). Do not corporate-speak at me with synergy and circle-back and deliverables. WHAT is a WHISPER? WHAT is a NUDGE? Because unless you lay it all out in an ELI5, NO ONE CAN KNOW- EXCEPT FOR YOU.

Ok obviously I have feelings about that we need to move on.

You can argue Veilguard was about the Evanuris, you can argue that Veilguard was about Solas. You can argue that Veilguard was about Regret and Pride and letting it all go. You can argue that Veilguard was about the ~*Power of Friendship*~ But for me, who has been obsessed with whatever the ever-loving-fuck has been going on in Thedas since 9.30 Dragon, Veilguard is about the Blight.

Corrine from the AMA: What really captures my imagination now that we've resolved some of the mysteries pertaining to the blight and the Elven gods, is exploring the aftermath of this crisis in a deeply destabilized Thedas.

Sorry… What did you answer? We actually know nothing about the Blight except that Solas created it, and with Antonie and Evka claiming the song has changed… what does that mean? Is a Titan consciously controlling the blight now? Is it soothed because Harding Soothed it? Is all the blight from the Kal-Sharok Titan? Are all their orbs/cubes in the Black City? Do the Executors control the blight? What is a calling, then? Will the Wardens never be called to the deep roads again? The Blight is different in a Warden than it is in a darkspawn, or an Archdemon? How? WHY? The wardens are just going to fade from existence because… all the darkspawn are just going to disappear now? Where in game is this stated as truth? Actually, in fact, ZERO questions were answered.

But Wait…

I feel like the news of the AMA COMPLETELY overshadowed the two IGN articles that came out; 1 & 2. Because… holy shit you guys. There was A LOT of lore dropped here.

Unfortunately for Epler & Corrine, and this is a hill I will die on, ALL OF THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANSWERED IN GAME. The fact that it was NOT? Is inexcusable. You cannot drop giant lore reveals like this outside of the game and hope it smooths everything over. The lore dropped in these interviews could have been a DLC, a side quest in game, or at the very least a novel or WoT Vol 3.

* * *

[What IS Dragon Age?]  

* * *

I've used this photo before and I'll use it again I fucking love it so much

I wish Veilguard came out a year later, I would have waited longer, paid more for it, if it was a more a whole, inclusive game.

The problem with dumbing down a pre-existing franchise is that you’re alienating the fans that are carrying you on their shoulders. They carried you through a game-less 10 years, and through Andromeda. And you can bet your ass when they drop you, the new fans you roped in with VG are not going to be picking you up.

Dragon Age feels like it cannot find its identity. That Veilguard, inexplicably, does not feel like Dragon Age.

“But how can you explain what Dragon Age feels like when every Dragon Age that came before it was so different?”

New Protagonists, new companions, new locations, everything is different. On top of more meta things; new gameplay, new combat, new art styles, its all different.

So what makes Dragon Age, Dragon Age?

Well, when I was nervous about the game back in September, I asked Kala, when she got pre-access to the game, if she FELT anything.

“I’d love for you to touch on how the game made you FEEL… Did anything you played in Veilguard make you Feel™?”

She sent me a private message with 1 word: Yes.

We can go into the design decision to have the companions react with each other instead of Rook and how that can be alienating to the PC. We can talk about how shafted the romances were. We can go into how gentrified Minrathous and the Crows were. We can go into how child-locked the lore was. We can discuss the toothless-ness of Veilguard.

But Veilguard still made me Feel.

And, even if that emotion is anger, if Veilguard made you Feel, it did it’s job.

[partangel]

me 🤝 symbolically adopting the foster teens who participate in my study by coming just to chat with them outside foster home

[ecle-c-tic]

Middle Earth Asks

🥔 po-tay-toes: one of the hobbits invited you for a meal; who are dining with? Which of the seven meals are you enjoying?

🍞 lembas bread: what's the best road trip snack?

🌾farmer maggot's field: what is your favourite plant? Do you enjoying gardening?

🌼 simbelmynë: You've got the opportunity to bring one character back to life, who is it?

🍃 leaves of lórien: what gift would you most like to receive?

📽 action!: rank all six of the films (or three if you're a hater)

🚲 bicycle basket: what is your favourite middle earth meme?

🌟starlight: you're allowed to live in one of the Elf Kingdoms of Middle Earth, which one are you picking?

💀 Hey, did you know-: What is your favourite piece of behind the scenes trivia?

🌙 moon runes: which of Tolkien's languages would you most like to speak?

🧂 best salt in all the shire: which small joys do you most look forward to? (particular tea, using a perfume, rereading a book, etc.)

✂ cutting room floor: of all of the things that didn't quite make it into the movies, what would you have most liked to see?

☕ may I tempt you with a cup of chamomile?: What is your favourite hot beverage?

🐎 bill the pony: who is the best mount in all of middle earth?

🌳 fangorn forest: Which of Tolkien's creechurs is your favourite?

🔮 palantír: you've found a palantir! Who are you hitting up in middle earth? What are you telling them?

⏳ time and age: which poorly aged scene from LOTR is your favourite?

✨ evenstar: Who is your favourite middle earth couple?

🎆 fireworks: you're invited to Bilbo's 111th, what present do you think you'd receive?

🕷 creepy crawlies: which of tolkien's creatures do you think is the most frightening?

💍 my precious: what role do you think you'd play in the fate of the ring?

📜the company of Throin II Oakenshield: who is your favourite dwarf from the company?

🕶 i care not: what common complaint about the movies or novels doesn't bother you?

📢 motivational speech: which film speech do you find most invigorating?

🔥 barbecue: who is the worst antagonist?

🍿 popcorn: list your top 5 supporting characters

🎇 firefly: which (known) deleted scene would you most like to see?

⛏ expedition to Moria: which side character's adventures would you watch a spin-off movie about?

🎞 extra film: is there an extended scene that should have absolutely made it into the theatrical cut? which one and why?

🎵 can you sing, master hobbit?: Which song (from books or movies) is your favourite?

🖋 quill and ink: which of tolkien's themes resonates most strongly with you?

🗝 lost heirloom: which heirloom/object in the films or novels would you like to learn more about?

💿 leitmotifs and orchestras: which of the films songs (Howard Shore or singer) is your favourite?

🍲eowyn's home cooking: which other way could the ring be destroyed? (funny answers only)

🧙‍♂️precisely when he means to: what is your favourite gandalf moment?

⚔ you have my sword: what is your favourite aragorn moment?

🏹 and my bow: what is your favourite legolas moment?

🪓and my axe: what is your favourite gimli moment?

🍄 MUSHROOMS!: what is your favourite moment from the hobbits?

💎 the arkenstone: favourite Thorin and/or company moment?

🧵 spool: list your top five favourite costumes from any of the films.

📕 the red book of westmarch : what is your favourite quote(s)?

💛 family: what is your favourite family moment throughout the novels/films?

👀 the eye of sauron: who are you looking at disrespectfully?

🗺 arda: if you could travel anywhere in middle earth, where would you go?

👑the silver crown: the war is won, the world is saved, the king has been crowned. Who are you partying with at the coronation?

✏ rewrites: here's a pencil, which ONE thing in the novels/films are you changing?

🐺 GROND GROND GROND: which of the battles is your favourite to watch? is there a combat scene in particular that you enjoy?

⚠ fucking buckleberry ferry: from the clip of Dom and Billy discussing the one swear word they could theoretically get by censors, which line would you change?

📚 boxset: how were you first introduced to Middle Earth?

🏔 the misty mountains: the pass is treacherous, which two characters are you taking with you to make it over the mountains?

🌄 the rolling hills of the shire: what is your favourite outdoor activity?

🌋 mount doom: what middle earth take are you throwing into the fire?

⚙ technology: everything is exactly the same but you can give one character a modern invention. Who is it and what are you giving them?

⛵valinor: we're approaching the end of this game, is there a take/opinion you absolutely want to share?

🦅 the eagles: What thing or thought saves the day when it's not going so well?

🦗 weta: you're allowed to take one prop (or the canon useful version) home with you from the set, what are you taking?

☀ when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer: either share a piece of good news or something you're looking forward to.

📖 final chapter: what unanswered questions do you have middle earth?

[uncanny-tranny]

Every now and then I remember I am significantly older than the legalization of gay marriage in my country and I take psychic damage every time. I am not that old, like my life has just begun.

Just... Remember our rights didn't just descend from the heavens hundred of years ago. It is still a fresh memory, a blip compared to the timeline of the world.

[yesterdayiwrote]

Alex and George (and Aleix and probably Patrick) road tripping to Austin in 2019

[mari-lair]

Hello and good day! I'm sorry if this has already been asked before and you can totally just ignore this if you want, but I'm curious: can you imagine a world where somehow, Aoi likes someone else and not Akane? Cause I think that while the canon version of her is cute, I have recently read a what-if fanfic in her pov where she absolutely hates Akane the same way she does her other admirers and now I am hyperfixating on that. What habits would have been different compared to canon Aoi? Would Akane have grown more deperate since he (presumably) would know that Aoi genuinely does not like him in this scenario? What if he began noticing Aoi starting to like her dream boy in class? The possibilities are killing meeeeee!

Oh man, I'm the wrong person to ask this cause I genuinely can't imagine this scenario being possible without obliterating Akane's characterization.

Do you remember why Akane fell in love with Aoi? Because Aoi loved him so much that she broke her "cold and indifferent, hate dealing with people" mask for him. She TRIED so hard to hate him but still ended up crying cause she cared so much.

If the mask was real and she truly didn't care about him, I don't think Akane would fall for her.

If he did fall for her later on anyways, I can't see him trying to pursue her after being rejected/met with her discomfort/annoyance. Even in the timeline where she does like him and comes up with the silliest of excuses to keep him around without straight up accepting his confessions, he had admitted that he would keep keeping her safe while keeping a distance in case she doesn't want him.

He only pursues her so much cause she actively flirts and encourages him to.

The idea Aoi would encourage him if she didn't like him does make Akane pestering her believable but at the cost of Aoi's own character being obliterated. I don't think I'm being harsh when I say Aoi would be a bitch if she went "hehe try harder <3 Impress me Akane-kun!" consistently enough for him to buy it that she could date him while thinking "Tch, hate this guy, he keeps harassing me".

That would means she doesn't even consider him a friend, she doesn't care AT ALL about his feelings, which is nothing like the Aoi who tries to pretend the people she dislikes don't bother her/don't exist and loves her friends dearly, putting them above her.

The most I can picture is Aoi falling for someone else and Akane either not getting a crush on her and supporting her fully, or slowly putting some barrier between them cause he can see Aoi doesn't like him and being in pain, the classic 'i want her to be happy' and 'she won't be with me' conflict where he has a crisis but eventually learn to let her go, reach the point he can be comfortable by her side even when she is with someone else.

Or Aoi realizing Akane likes her romantically and being anxious that she has to reject a friend, whom she deeply values, but her growing unease and lack of encouragement wouldn't be able to fool Akane for long. Their whole thing is that they know each other well after all and Akane consistently asks 'are you okay?' when he senses anything may be wrong with Aoi.

Maybe it would take some months for Akane to understand without Aoi giving him a straight-up rejection, especially if they are small when he gets the crush, but Akane pays so much attention to her, he would pick up the signs she is uncomfortable, especially if it reaches a point of Aoi staring to resent him for it more than being scared of losing him. He either drop it silently or straight up confront her about it, probably.

[alliepretends]

Briefly returning to this blog because I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't find a place to say this where it might be heard.

I feel uncomfortable and disappointed by the way the D20 fandom, and even the players, have responded to the Riz and Skolanda conversation.

It feels like everyone immediately went on the defensive. Endless "she just doesn't get that his friends love him," "look at all this stuff his friends have done for him," "the relationships between the Bad Kids are perfect and they could never take advantage of him." Plus, Ally, Emily, and even to a certain extent Zac immediately shifting how their characters interact with Riz in response to Skolanda's criticism (that their characters wouldn't know about). I generally feel like Brennan tends to get a free pass while players (especially non-male players) get criticized for things that are partly or mostly his fault. But this is the one time that's not the case. It seems to me like he was trying to set up an interesting story. What does it mean for someone like Riz ("very social but weirdly doesn't have any friends," aromantic and desperate to hang on to his first friendships for life, a workaholic) to not really be able to set boundaries with his friends? How does that lead to situations where even loving and well-intentioned friends are taking advantage of him (getting him to write their essays for him, making him adapt to a nickname that was originally used to bully him, sacrificing sleep and mental health in the name of maintaining his relationship to them/helping with what he understands to be their goals)? It's not a pretty story. It's a story where everyone (including Riz) has to admit to some wrongdoing. And everyone has to change their behavior. But it has the potential to be a great story! In a way that "everyone is great, Riz's mom just doesn't get it" doesn't. It would be one thing if Brennan was having this come out of nowhere. But he's not. There has always been an expectation among the Bad Kids that Riz and Adaine will do the bulk of the labor. That Riz will put up with it when his friends make fun of him or seem to use him as a means to an end ("are you just the little thing that finds the clues").

It's a good story. Or at least, a good idea for a story. I get that it could end up in a place may feel too much like pvp for some players. And if they decide to dodge it for that reason then that's fair. But if the reaction to it is just "How dare someone accuse my (teenage) favorite character of not being emotionally aware enough to realize when they are taking advantage of a vulnerable friend?" I don't know how we can expect these stories to be particularly emotionally nuanced or complex. Or really having anything valuable to say at all. It's not a bad thing if the Bad Kids have unhealthy relationships. It's not a bad thing if the Bad Kids are imperfect perfect people. It's probably better storytelling if those relationships are being prompted to actually grow and change for the better. And I'm sad that the situation seems to be that we'd rather shield these characters from any criticism than be excited about maybe seeing them grow

[unclewaynemunson]

What if the bats got Eddie so bad that part of his guts were damaged beyond repair and he needed to get a stoma?

TW for body issues and medical content (I guess? Please let me know if I should use another TW for that)

EDIT: I posted an extended version of this post on ao3. Thank you @spectrum-spectre for helping me get there <333

They were in Eddie's bathroom, Eddie on the stool that had been placed there for him before he got home, and Steve standing right in front of him. Eddie was still recovering, but he had finally gotten the green light to leave the hospital. He had spent the day with Wayne, who was now at his night shift, so Steve had arrived to the trailer to keep Eddie company instead. Nobody really liked the thought of Eddie being alone in the trailer, even though Eddie himself pretended like it was all fine – the guy was a terrible liar, and Steve wouldn't mind spending some time with him anyway.

At least, he had thought he wouldn't mind, before he actually got there. He had pictured them spending a couple of hours hanging out together, then helping Eddie get ready for bed, and falling asleep in Eddie's bed together at a reasonable hour because Eddie still needed his rest. What he had certainly not pictured, was Eddie practically begging him to leave him to his own devices behind a locked door in the bathroom.

'I'm not letting you do it alone,' Steve said, getting tired of Eddie's stubbornness. 'Wayne would kill me if he found out, and I only just won his trust – not worth it, man!' He hoped that throwing Wayne in his arguments would be more successful than his concerns about Eddie's health and safety, which did not seem to hit home at all.

'I can take care of myself, alright?'

'Barely,' Steve couldn't help but scoff.

'Wayne can help me with this shit in the morning!'

'I know, but he isn't always here. What if you need help when he is at work?'

'I can teach Nancy how to do it, or Robin.'

Steve wanted to say something along the lines of 'So it’s just me who you don't trust with this?' but he knew it'd be a real dick move to make this about himself, so he decided to go for logic instead.

'Both of them will be off to college after the summer,' he pointed out. 'And I'll be right here. So why don't you teach me how to do it and let me help you?'

Eddie opened his mouth, no doubt to protest some more, but Steve was losing his patience by now.

'Look, you need a backup close to you, man,' he said. 'You want Dustin to do it?'

Eddie chuckled darkly. 'God, no,' he mumbled.

He squeezed his eyes shut – but not before Steve caught a glimpse of the tears Eddie was apparently trying so hard to hold back – and suddenly he understood that this wasn’t just Eddie being an annoying little shit. Eddie was scared. He was vulnerable. And trusting people when you were scared and vulnerable... Well, that was a goddamn scary thing, even Steve knew that.

'Hey,' Steve said, in a much softer voice than before. 'I got you, alright?' He gave a gentle squeeze to Eddie's knee, feeling the soft skin through the rips in his jeans against his fingers. 'It's okay, I really don't mind. I'm happy to help you out. And I’ll be careful, you can trust me.'

'It's not that I don’t trust you, it's...' Eddie took a deep, shaky breath and Steve could sense that something important was coming.

'It's kinda gross, you know. The whole stoma thing. And, like, extremely unsexy.'

And there was something about the combination of Eddie calling it unsexy and him preferring the help of Robin or Nancy over Steve's... Something that Steve very much could not begin to unpack right now, even though it was doing something weird to his stomach.

'It's not gross,' he protested, focusing on the other – the easier – part of Eddie's confession. 'It's just your body, man, it's part of being alive. I like that you're alive.'

'I can barely even look at it,' Eddie whispered, so softly that Steve could barely make out the words. It sounded so small, so un-Eddie-like, so fragile...

'So let me take care of it,' Steve tried. 'I'd be happy to do it for you. And I promise I won't find it gross. I mean, yeah, maybe it's not sexy, but not everything needs to be sexy at all times. Things can be neutral, right?'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah.' He made sure to not lose eye contact with Eddie as he nodded earnestly.

'Okay. I think I can settle for neutral.'

'Can I take off your shirt?'

And somehow, that got him another chuckle.

'Sure, big boy, you can take off my shirt,' Eddie answered.

Steve felt like there was a joke in there that went over his head, but he helped Eddie pull the black fabric over his face and his curls.

There was so much more to look at than the tiny piece of intestine peeking out of Eddie's belly and the pouch filled with turbid liquid attached to it. There was also a whole maze of wounds and bruises scattered across his torso, some all-too-familiar looking bite marks that would no doubt leave scars in Eddie's sides. But none of it was gross or unsexy. Yes, maybe some of it was neutral – Steve wouldn't wish the bite marks both of them carried onto anyone – but underneath all that, there was something else: it was the fact that this was Eddie's skin, that the half-torn-apart tattoos he saw had once been selected by Eddie, that Eddie's heart was beating in that chest...

Steve quickly let his gaze travel upwards, back to the safety of Eddie’s eyes.

‘Alright, tell me what to do,’ he said.

Eddie finally gave up his protesting and guided Steve through the process of taking off the pouch, cleaning the skin underneath it, and applying a new one.

'Sorry,' Steve mumbled when he was struggling to attach it properly.

'Don’t worry. Takes a while to get the hang of it,' Eddie answered. And Steve tried not to think about how there seemed to be a promise in those words, a promise that Eddie would trust him to take care of him, now. That he'd get to do this often enough to get the hang of it. That he'd get to know all about Eddie's body.

'Thank you,' Eddie said in a soft voice when they were all done.

'You don't need to thank me for that,' Steve protested.

'No, I mean, thank you for... Not, like, flinching or, I dunno, looking disgusted or something, when you...' He stumbled his way through the words, uncharacteristically awkward, as if he felt ashamed of what he was trying to say to Steve.

'No need to thank me for that either,' Steve answered earnestly.

But Eddie still looked at him with those scared wide eyes, so he gently placed both his hands on Eddie's bare shoulders.

'You look...' He swallowed, chickened out right on the verge of saying whatever it was he was going to say. 'It's not disgusting. Not at all. It's... It's just you.'

And there was this shy smile around Eddie's lips, as if he knew exactly what Steve had almost blurted out.

'I think it's kinda metal,’ Steve added in attempt to steer things back to safer territories - and for the first time since they were in that bathroom, Eddie let out a real, actual laugh.

He playfully bumped a fist against Steve's shoulder.

'You really don't know enough about metal to decide that, big boy.'

Steve chuckled. ‘Well, I’m pretty sure Izzy would agree with me on this one.’

‘Ozzy,’ Eddie corrected him, rolling his eyes but still smiling.

Steve's hands were still resting on Eddie's shoulders, and Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve's back, tugging him closer until he could rest his head in the crook of Steve's neck. Steve was sure Eddie would be able to hear how violently his heart was beating right now, but he didn’t pull back, didn’t move; he simply kept holding him, gently tracing his hand over the bare skin of Eddie’s spine.

Eddie wasn't the only one who had been damaged beyond repair, but in this moment, in the trailer's tiny bathroom, they could simply hold each other and pretend like they were both still whole.