#you asked for lore dump you get lore dump

[utilitycaster]

Hi! I just wanted to add to what you said about Laudna that her motivation from the beginning of the campaign did not change at all, in that she was ok and totally moved on from her trauma, and was just helping Imogen find out about her powers. I don't recall that Delilah was much of a problem outside of talking in her head sometimes, so getting Delilah out wasn't a character motivation.

There were times were it looked like her character was going somewhere when Marisha talked about Laudna being mentally stunted and Delilah's influence being akin to an addiction, and thought maybe they can address some of that in the campaign, but we had a lot of "woe is me Delilah is making me do things" which is BAD if you address the addiction allegory (still taking into account that Marisha may have misspoken during 4sD about it)

They didn't even deal with Delilah properly, she is still there and can talk with Laudna, and I don't think by the end of the campaign Laudna is in any way more capable of ignoring her as she did the first time they defeated Delilah and she was just a faint wisp, she wasn't in any way actively influencing Laudna back then until Laudna tried to bargain with her for power (i may be paraphrasing or misremembering though it's been a bit)

Saying that Laudna's character feels very fic-y is surprisingly accurate, she feels like someone who would have been sold to One Direction

Sorry for the long ask

OK first off YELLING at the being sold to One Direction but yeah, that's the thing, she feels like this passive self insert who people give things to and like without her like, doing anything other than putting her messy brown hair in a bun on the top of her head.

I think with a lot of my frustrations with various characters, there is frustration on both sides, with Matt and the cast, and Matt bears a LOT of responsibility to be clear because I think in his focus on the core plot above all it shut down player attempts to the point that even stronger players with stronger concepts kind of gave up in the end. But for Laudna, here is the throughline.

Early on she floated the idea of getting rid of Delilah when Imogen was trying to get into the Starpoint Conservatory. This was good! It was introduced as a potential longterm goal of Laudna's! It's just...that never happened. The research was always very moon focused, and when it became clear this wasn't really an academically-inclined group the research took the form of Grim Verity lore dumps, which naturally didn't allow for side research. The gnarlrock fight famously went nowhere because she and Imogen apologized right away, but then, notably, Laudna didn't do anything to get back at Delilah nor did Delilah keep doing anything. Imogen's attempts to work with Delilah failed (this feels like part of the 'No Consequences' rule; Imogen binding herself to Delilah as well or having Delilah take on more of Laudna, something Laura as Imogen actually made steps to pursue, could have been something! I mean I'm team Jiana would have been more interesting, but this could have worked!) and so then the whole probably was kind of put on ice by the Vox Machina-helmed resurrection, and Delilah faded to a nonentity that Laudna didn't have to care about. So she didn't! Until she came back, and then she sort of cared for a bit but Delilah didn't make her do anything and then she came back to Jrusar and instead of leaning into her anger she kissed Imogen and forgot all about it until they went to Whitestone 12 episodes later (still no real consequences of Delilah coming back), she reiterated a connection to Delilah back there and had some scenes with her due to the shard but again, she wasn't really inconvenienced or changed, and then there was one last flare up with the sword and then Essek fixed everything.

Like, this would have been very easy to make compelling by having Delilah actually be a threat. Part of why I don't feel much about Laudna living out her life is that like, Delilah is just sealed away again (and fwiw we gotta at some point talk about how there was a whole setpiece about how Leaving Things Sealed Just Perpetuates A Cycle and then there's at least two sealed evils and one fully unsealed if mortal evil guy hanging out, like, thematic coherence whomst?) and throughout the story Delilah mostly just serves as an intrusive thought who broke something once and hit a couple of dudes. Chetney getting caught by the red moon and attacking people felt more real and he took more responsibility for it. If Delilah had constantly been trying to take over? that would have been interesting. If she hadn't but Laudna was furious that the woman who killed her was using her body and at all times was fighting against it? that would have been interesting. But it was just this vague blurry meh. Delilah is her warlock patron and the reason she's alive, but she can be diminished to basically nothing without any drawbacks, and Laudna sometimes hates her and sometimes wishes to wield her, but that all fizzles out every time. Again: if you wished one of these things were true and mourn the character Laudna could have been - either someone using Delilah's power at the cost of her own will, or someone fighting desperately to reclaim her own body and mind - then I'm right there with you. But as she was in the story? I wish One Direction had taken her away and we'd gotten someone better.

[agent-toast]

@irregularityregularity, my friend, you have made a terrible mistake.

alt text: ok so theres this guy who is you and ur a secret agent and you have a handler in your earpiece who guides you and you solve puzzles in vr like an escape room and there are danger things like bombs and trapped shelves that will kill you if you activate them and you die but you can respawn and there is a big danger weapon in space called the death engine pointing at earth which is going to kill all the agents of ur agency which is bad and the person behind it is commander solaris and you defeat her and stop the death engine from engineing and in the process you accidentally fake ur death and then it turns out the person behind solaris is the head of the bad company thing called dr zor (ur agency company is called the enhanced operatives division/EOD btw) so then in the second game you find out that this annoying howlian actor called john juniper who calls himself the greatest actor ever, is actually working for zoraxis and your handler is like 'but but i liked that guy' so anyway zoraxis thinks you're dead right so john juniper thinks you're some other agent, he tries to kill you to stop you from finding out his top secret evil plan but you survive (well i assume you survive) and he realises 'oh shit this is the agent who supposedly died on the death engine' and he calls you agent phoenix because you 'came back from the dead' so he even more tries to kill you but eventually you find out that john juniper, along with an inventor of traps and stuff called the fabricator, is impersonating heads of state with a 'mimic mask' that lets you look and sound like the person you want to impersonate. they use the mask to steal the nuclear launch codes that all the heads of state have, so that they can launch some nukes and make the whole world know that zoraxis is in control of everyone now. they also kidnapped the real heads of state and, john impersonated the heads and made statements saying that they were friendly to zoraxis and wanted to work with them. (before, the real heads did not like zoraxis.) you manage to take the suitcase that holds the nuclear launch codes but john juniper sleeping gases you and takes it back, and kidnaps you and impersonates your handler :D you manage to escape, and because you put a tracking device on the suitcase, you find out where john juniper is conducting the final part of the plan, zOraXiS dEfEnsE (name of level i think). john is pretending to hold a peace summit with all the heads of state to show that zoraxis is in league with the heads, but in actuality he's being a drama queen and wants to show the whole world (its being broadcast) the moment he launches the nukes and takes over the world. you ride an elevator with nice music to the 'peace summit' and almost get killed by gunshots (this is part of the plot), the elevator stops working, then you use external power from some danger blades from zoraxis that were going to slice the ropes of your elevator to make it start again. you reach john juniper who's standing on a very thin platform in the middle of a hole (im assuming that's the place where the nukes are but idk). john juniper's like ahah you can't stop me but you turn on a lever that splits the platform in two, causing john to almost fall into the hole, but he just barely hangs on. dr zor's voice appears! and they say 'ahahah mr juniper u were never running the show' and electrocute him using the mimic mask that he's wearing. he falls off the platform and probably dies? idk? then dr zor launches the countdown for the nukes and you have five minutes to figure out how to stop the nukes using the modified briefcase. it kinda looks like a bunch of random puzzles. you solve it, but when you press the stop button, there's low power, so it doesn't work. so you use the external power you got from the elevator and plug it into the suitcase, ignoring what your handler says about the elevator being about to fall without power. you press the button woo and fall to your death.

maybe.

the third game is even harder to sum up than the first and second so i'll shorten it

dr prism is agency inventor and missing

she actually works for zoraxis because the agency rejected her idea to use robots as agents instead of humans

oh yeah i forgot you have telekinesis and she's the one who made ur telekinetic implant, using an ore called kinesium.

she made the robots using the kinesium and other stuff and now they're gonna kill you because prism wants to show the agency that robot agents are better than human agents and she knows you're very skilled, so killing the great agent phoenix will show the agency that the robot agents are better.

long story short you chase prism, die a lot, the robots get knocked out by zor and die, prism is angry at zor because zor used her, you guys find out zor wants to mine a million kinesium because heated and blown up kinesium messes with the telekinetic implants in agents' heads. if there's a loooot of kinesium, that means the agents will all die, and the radius of the explosion will be big enough to kill all the agents. you and prism go and stop zor in a volcano where all the kinesium is stored. you use your telekinesis to contain the blast, which really messes hard with your head and you black out. your handler and prism get worried about you and while you're out, prism carries you to a nearby beach then leaves because she says she can't face the agency rn. your handler reveals his distrust of chickens. one robot agent is actually alive and he's a good robot. the end. my god that was long

[kwillow]

Does Theo even have a game plan to stave off poverty? Or is he just going to eventually end up dead and destitute in a gutter somewhere? 😩

Sure, he has a plan. It is, um… elegant in its simplicity, shall we say.

Listen, Theo is an intelligent guy if we measure by fact recall and ability to learn new skills, but he’s not much of a planner, more of a single-minded, self-destructive, do-or-die-er.

Thankfully for him, he’s not so poor he’s about to starve. Before his mother died, they were getting by. They were poor for the circles they traveled in - political players and dignitaries, where poverty is defined by the inability to maintain a large household staff instead of not knowing where your next meal is going to come from.

Theo has enough money stashed away to maintain his current hermit’s lifestyle, wherein his only real splurge is eating something other than canned food once every few months. So you don’t need to worry about him (for a while, anyway).

In theory, he could shore up his finances by doing what he is supposed to as Northcrest’s resident mage instead of going crazy alone in his house. Collecting fees or tax proceeds in exchange for using magic to help the public is how his family historically earned their keep, but he hasn’t exactly been holding up his end of the bargain. Many townspeople think he died at some point, so they’ve stopped bothering to set aside funds for work he’s not doing for reasons of apparent laziness, madness or decomposition. That's a little bit of money he could get his hands on, but he's too busy chasing his pipe-dream/nightmare instead.

Even if he did end up running out of money completely, he wouldn’t end up a corpse in a gutter anyway. He’d sooner die than let anyone take his manor from him. So he’s end up a corpse in a decaying old mansion instead! Much more dignified.

[brionysea]

allison and five are actually fascinating to write together. allison is the sibling for checking on people and asking in plain english if they're okay but five would literally rather bleed out than show a shred of vulnerability

[cacaocheri]

You should in fact infodump about poptropica, also have you considered doing a DCA Poptropica crossover to unite the interests together?

1) I love you so much dude I hope you're doing well 2) poptropica infodump would take AGES this thing has lore so I will spare you a ramble for now 3) I . HAVE NOT. BUT COULD YOU IMAGINE SUN AND MOON WITH THE BIG BOBBLE HEADS

no? because I can

oh my god they look so much more cursed than I expected I'm laughing my ass off

[cotl-eyesofdeath]

What went wrong the first time around with the kids? What was narilamb's fatal flaw as parents?

Short answer:

Lambie’s manipulative with a need for control even when it comes to their loved ones, and while Narinder tries his best he’s still kind of a mediocre dad that let Lambie do whatever they wanted to their kids as long as it wasn’t physically traumatizing

Long answer:

After like a thousand years of being a cult leader Lambie starts thinking that they want a break from all their responsibilities, and so they decide to try having a child with Narinder to see if they can keep the cult leading in the family. On account of their… eldritch-ness, Lambie’s unable to have children the regular way, so they needed to use a ritual that would actually make it possible. Use your imagination for that part.

They didn’t expect it to work since they kinda just bullshitted it, but somehow it did work and so Narinder ends up carrying their firstborn, which they name Yarna. From her birth Lambie has groomed Yarna into becoming the perfect cult leader, just like Narinder did with them, but there were still a few doubts in their mind. They decide to have another child, Chanto(Narinder carried a him too), and raise him as a sort of back-up plan. They also decide to raise backups to the backup but with children of their followers instead of having another of their own, starting a sort of cult leader/disciple school. This along with Lambie’s selective shows of affection breed jealousy and rivalry between the two siblings- Yarna believing that being the next cult leader is her rightful place as the firstborn and afraid of losing her position, and Chanto just wanting to prove himself to Lambie and get the same treatment that Yarna gets.

Narinder notices the growing tension between the siblings and does his best to teach them to cooperate with eachother and keep a healthy relationship, but his idea of a “healthy sibling relationship” isn’t the best to begin with… still, he warns his kids of what happened with his own family with stories of the past, but that’s pretty much all he does. Aside from keeping them apart so they don’t fight, he doesn’t do anything else, and the kids have heard his stories so many times that they start to tune them out and forget- retreating into their own world of spite and jealousy. This is all made worse by Lambie deliberately stirring up trouble between them, seeing them as in competition with eachother and their schoolmates and making no effort to hide it, believing that if they’re in competition with eachother then they’ll strive to be better and pick off the weaker ones.

Jealousy runs amok between them. Yarna has always had an advantage with being the firstborn and first student, giving her more time than all the other kids to learn and hone her skills as a cult leader. This obviously makes her the biggest source of jealousy for everyone else since they’re basically playing catch-up and hoping that she’ll get behind somehow to actually give them a chance. Though this also means that there’s extremely high expectations put on her to be the most model student of the entire cult, causing her punishments to be even more extreme when she does make a mistake, and Lambie’s punishments for her are the worst of all. Since she’s the most promising student, she’s the one that Lambie pays the most attention to and that’s an extremely sharp double-edged sword- not just for her but for everyone else too. Lambie pays the most attention to Yarna, so she gets most of their affections, leaving everyone else basically in the dust. Nobody else gets as much of their attention and praise as Yarna, but this also means they’re allowed much more freedom and their punishments for mistakes aren’t as severe.

Chanto as the second born is at a disadvantage with their studies that they try their hardest to overcome, and though the hard work does pay up and they inch ever closer to Yarna, in the end they feel like they could never reach her- not only in their studies but also personally. Both of them want affection from Lambie, their parent and beloved god, but Chanto also wants Yarna’s affections too, at least at first. They believed that if they caught up to Yarna then they could both have fun as siblings while also getting Lambie’s attention. Yarna, of course, only sees him as a rival. What he gets praised for is something she’s expected to do without it, and when he does something bad he’s punished with a lot less severity than a small mistake that she would make. Not only that, but he has a freedom that she craves. Yarna is constantly on edge and acting perfect all the time, studying 24/7 and doing it all with a forced smile she’s perfected to look natural all while her own brother is allowed to play around outside in the trees and with the other kids. She believes this is an injustice, and so every chance she gets she “disciplines” Chanto herself, using his naivety and craving for affection against him, becoming his biggest bully. She would berate him, steal his food, destroy his things, and spread rumors about him all around the cult in hopes of getting his reputation so low that Lambie will finally discipline him the same way they discipline her.

Years of bitterness, jealousy, anger, hate, and routine neglect pass by and Yarna is still the first in line for cult leader status. Lambie’s attention has turned solely to Yarna after a while, practically ignoring all the other students in favor of constant monitoring of her to make sure she doesn’t mess anything up. They’ve gone from grooming her into the perfect cult leader to instead turning her into a mini version of them, feeling that they could only leave the cult in her hands if she did everything as they would. This has led to them ignoring even Chanto, their other child, who has started defecting against their leadership due to this neglect without them even noticing. Their plans of pitting their kids against each other in order to make them better leaders has failed, turning one into a constantly stressed internal mess and the other into a secret dissenter that slowly blooms a rebellion in the dark of night, growing it steadily for years. Chanto has realized that Lambie has been abusing him, his classmates, and most of all: Yarna. He tries to help her out of the situation several times but she never lets him- she’s too deeply brainwashed and still resents him for what she couldn’t have. She’s going to follow the path that’s been laid out for her like the obedient half-sheep she is or die trying- and, well… Chanto will free them both from their lifelong misery, by any means necessary.

A few more years pass and Yarna has finally taken her place as the new cult leader while Chanto and half of the original cult have dissented and split off to live somewhere else. This, in theory, should make everyone happy, but… neither Yarna nor Chanto are at ease with the other group’s existence, and so there’s still friction between the two, but a war wouldn’t benefit anybody as of now and so they’re just keeping their distances for now. At least, that is until the dissenting group settles into a place with an abundance of a specific resource, causing them to thrive more than the original cult.

I’m gonna speed this up because I’ve been writing this over the course of several weeks and I’m tired but basically:

Trade negotiations are started but eventually fail so bad that it snowballs into a war, Yarna and Chanto leading their own respective armies

Lambie leaves the two groups to fight amongst themselves believing that it’s just another one of their kids’ sibling fights while Narinder is freaking out knowing that this will kill both of his kids. He attempts to convince Lambie to join the fight only to protect the kids and make sure that they don’t fucking die even if it means killing everyone else because he doesn’t have any power in this situation. It works but way too late

Lambie goes to the war site and finds their kids. Dead. They stabbed each other in the heart and died at the same time, the consequences of Lambie’s actions being this. They kill every single cult member- old, new, dissenting and loyal, deciding that starting from complete scratch with only Narinder is the best course of action.

This isn’t the first time they’ve had to start over with only Narinder, but while the first time was accidental this one was on purpose, and it hurts a lot more. Lambie truly is devastated at the loss of their kids but it’s Narinder who took this the hardest. He will always love the lamb and how ruthless they can be, but this… this made him realize how much more evil they could be. However, what hurts the most is just how complicit he realizes he had been.

The whole situation changes them both but mostly Narinder, leaving him in a state of shock for so long before he finally starts to grieve.

5 stages of grief and all that, shit gets really weird between the two of them for a long time before they finally start to mend their relationship again because they’re bound to each other no matter what so they might as well keep their relationship amicable at least. After like a thousand years of self reflection and improvement(mainly Narinder but he has the lamb change a bit too) they decide to have another kid, but just one this time, and they name her Mary(the little lamb). Narinder is more present and active and the lamb isn’t trying to mold and manipulate her into the perfect cult leader so she grows up into a pretty decent and happy person, even though she can see the dead and is haunted by her parents’ past mistakes in the form of her dead siblings trying to steal her life. She has a bee boyfriend and likes poetry.

[mars-ipan]

Mars i fear i may be dying of the plague. I have coughed blood into my sink twice now and my throat feels like I gave really aggressive oral to a scrubdaddy spongue.

Do you have any priest au thoughts/scenarios/rambles to sooth a troublde lad such as mysrlf🙏🙏

hemo. as a guy who has also coughed up blood somewhat recently. it may be time to go to an urgent care and make sure it’s nothing serious. there’s a pretty nasty pneumonia going around rn and if that IS what it is the sooner you get those antibiotics the faster you’ll recover.

as for priest au stuffs: the election kinda killed my creative flow (we’re ballin but we’re stressed) BUT i’ve been trying to flesh out hajime’s backstory a bit for the the past few days so here’s some bullet point brainstorming on that :D

check under the cut for the goods, as per usual ^_^ tw for mentions of child abuse, and also a general warning for priest au-typical horny talk and homophobia

i’ve been thinking abt hajime’s childhood/past a lot, partially bc i don’t feel fully confident writing him until i have the details of his backstory fleshed out. i think his dad was more of the aggressive “no son of mine” type of homophobic, where his mom was more of the “hate the sin love the sinner” type of homophobic. it’s cliché maybe but like. traditional catholic family values yanno. his family does differ from traditional catholicism in one way though: hajime is an only child.

i don’t think hajime was ever The Manliest Man growing up. yeah he was strong from helping on the farm, but he never felt the need to flaunt his masculine attributes. he never wanted to impress girls, he never initiated an arm-wrestling contest, and once he hit teenagerhood he quit wrestling with his friends altogether. when his friends asked him why he never roughhouses with them anymore, he tensed up and mumbled something about it being “weird” and “immature.”

he showed a lot of delicacy towards nature as well, a trait he carries into adulthood! rescuing turtles from roads, gently rehoming bugs, taking care not to step on wildflowers, that sort of thing. he was teased for this growing up :( he’d be compared to a disney princess and the like or just be called a pussy for Caring About The World Around Him. while he still loves nature and knows there’s nothing wrong with that, he does get embarrassed if his gentleness is pointed out— he’s anticipating some sort of reprimand.

been trying to think about hajime’s gay awakening. i imagine once he hit puberty he started having vague… thoughts. they weren’t attached to anyone but he kept it secret anyways since Lust Is A Sin and Masturbation Is A Sin Too and he’s not interested in growing hair on his palms or going blind (he later finds out that those are myths, but for now he heeds the tales), nor is he interested in the scolding he would get from his parents if they found out. from there we have two main options as i see it.

option A: in a parallel of the magazine he finds in Jabberwock, teen!hajime comes across some sort of gay porn. it’s completely accidental— he finds a mag or some other paraphernalia in a log or something, opens it, Realizes what is is, looks around for witnesses, and quickly stuffs it into his jacket. he’s not even sure why, but he knows he’s curious. as soon as he gets home he hides it between his mattress and his bedframe, and that night, when he’s sure his parents are asleep, he grabs a flashlight and starts to look through it. he doesn’t understand why he’s so fascinated until he realizes: he’s breathing heavily, hot in the face, absentmindedly rubbing his thighs together, and, most incriminatingly of all, he’s the hardest he’s ever been in his life. mortified, he shoves the magazine back under his mattress and tries his best to forget about what he saw, tossing and turning as he tries to calm down and go to sleep.

option B: hajime is really close with one of his peers. they’re childhood friends, and they’ve gotten along great forever. at some point, though, hajime starts feeling weird around him. not BAD weird, but… he’s nervous, and his skin seems to buzz whenever they touch, and his heart flutters when he makes his friend laugh, and… he can’t make sense of it all. not until he wakes up one night from a particularly vivid dream, chest heaving, skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and his sheets soiled with the evidence of his subconscious sin. he realizes what’s going on, and his heart sinks into his stomach. he does his best to ignore it, but it haunts him.

we could also combine these options and say both of these things happen, but idk yet. i like the loneliness of the porn but i also like the guilt of having to talk to your close friend and pretend you aren’t feeling confusing and frightening things for them.

hajime lives at home until his early adulthood, when he is Caught. if we went with option A for his awakening, then he comes home one day to find The Porn sitting on the kitchen table, its pages now crinkled from years of viewing, and his heart sinks into his stomach. he’s not sure how they found it— maybe his mom was cleaning his room and lifted his mattress? but it doesn’t matter— they Know now, and he has no way to explain himself.

if we go with option B, hajime is caught with that “good friend” of his. he had snuck in via hajime’s bedroom window, at a time they both were sure hajime’s parents would be asleep. unfortunately, hajime’s dad comes up to his room (hajime never learns the original intent of this visit) and opens the door to find his son, hair and clothes a mess, with the neighbor boy straddling his thighs, hands clearly paused in the middle of lifting up his son’s shirt. it’s silent for a bit, and the tension in the air is so heavy hajime feels like he can barely breathe. still, he breaks out of the stupor first, muttering a quiet “you need to go” to his friend without breaking eye contact with his father. the friend gets the message and bolts, leaving via the same window he came from. hajime is now alone with his father, so guilty and scared that he feels nauseous.

regardless of which of these events occurs, the outcome is the same. hajime’s father responds first, yelling and berating. hajime is terrified— he’s seen his dad mad, but never like this. never shouting obscenities and vile words at him. when told to explain himself hajime stumbles over his words, eventually landing on some variant of “i don’t know.” eventually, his father decides words aren’t punishment enough, and hajime gets the shit beat out of him for the first time in his life. he tries to defend himself, but he’s never been much of a fighter, and he doesn’t want to hit his dad, self defense or not. when his father finally storms off, his mother comes near, her eyes brimming with tears. she holds her arms out to hajime, tells her baby to come here. hajime, aching and bruised and perhaps with a freshly broken nose, collapses into his mother’s arms, silently crying into her shoulder as she pets his hair. she holds him close, rocking them from side to side, before she speaks. “oh, hajime, darling,” she starts, voice thick with tears and love, “i’m sorry. we’ve failed you, haven’t we? that’s why you’re doing this to us.” hajime’s stomach curdles at those words, and he quickly excuses himself, washing the blood off his face in the bathroom sink before he locks himself in his room.

regardless of the guilt he carries— he knew he was sinning, after all— hajime knows he is no longer safe at home. his father had never beat him like that before, and he doesn’t know that he would be able to walk away if it happened again. he doesn’t want to leave his mother, but he could tell that she was disgusted by him, too, her words still echoing in his mind. so, hajime packs as many of his things as he can fit into his suitcase, and the next day he leaves town, never letting himself look back. he job hops for a bit before he manages to get his house in Jabberwock— he got really, really lucky with the price of the property.

hajime hasn’t talked to anyone from his hometown since he left, and while he still has his parents’ landline number memorized, he doesn’t dare call. his dad’s probably disowned him, anyhow. sometimes he wonders how the people he grew up with are doing, but he can’t bring himself to go back. it’s not home anymore.

[ask-spooky-manor]

do you have any clockwork and Jeff the killer hcs?

I’m gonna assume you mean their friendship and not separate headcanons.

- Natalie was the first friend Jeff made when he and his family moved to Colorado. He saw that she had a little gengar keychain on her backpack, and he couldn’t help but bring up how much he loves Pokemon.

- Similarly, Jeff was the first person Natalie befriended when they reunited at the manor. They can not be separated ever. They are a package deal.

- Their dynamic summed up is: the chill woman who never plans anything ever, and her neurotic bestie who needs to have his whole day broken down by the hour or he will lose it.

- This is something that tends to cause tension. The fact that Natalie goes with the flow has Jeff worried she won’t accomplish her tasks when they need to be done. All while Jeff’s meticulous planning and general anxieties stresses Natalie out. It’s like:

Natalie: oh my god, get off my ass!

Jeff: I wouldn’t be on your ass if you actually did your job when you were supposed to!

- Despite Natalie’s relaxed nature, she and Jeff do get very competitive and do a lot of little challenges together. Like, who eats dinner the fastest? Who can kill the most monsters? Who can go a day without getting into trouble? (Neither can accomplish that one).

- They always know exactly what to say/do to get the other out of a funk. Jeff is there to give a hug and reassure Nat that things will always get better. Natalie knows how to pull Jeff out of an anxiety induced spiral with clear solutions to his problems.

- They’re big on physical affection (along with Toby but this isn’t about him). They cuddle a lot, they can casually share a bed with no problem, Natalie can straight up sit on Jeff’s lap if she wanted to. They don’t see it as a big deal to share these moments with close friends cause they’re so comfortable with the dynamic and frankly crave that kind of contact.

- They just adore each other, idk how else to say it. It may not be as obvious as it is when Toby is thrown into the mix cause Toby is very forward and in your face with his own form of affection, but Jeff and Natalie hold this deep connection with each other. They understand one another so well it’s almost scary. Something something, they finish each other’s sentences and all that.

[bugsinshoes]

"won't you kiss me once, baby?"

yesterday was the one year anniversary of my first ever laurelyn drawing! it's crazy how much these two have changed, so, I had to redraw them. i love these two so bad guys (original under the cut)

[fidgetspringer-art]

hi hello. can you catch me up on the oc lore

Since I've gained like a LOT of followers since the last time I did a lore summary, I'll happily do another!

First off though, here is Martin's character profile and Noah's character profile. Those have got the basics about the two of them, and I have a summary for how they met and how their relationship develops right here.

But since i've also brought up Gabriel a lot lately, and plan on mentioning him more, i'll give a little info dump on his relationship with Noah under the cut:

I plan on making Gabe his own character profile in a bit, so i'll go more into detail about him then, but basically he's Noah's oldest and best friend.

Their mothers were also best friends and they were born only a few months apart, so they've been together since before they knew how to walk pretty much.

Noah was a preacher's daughter so they went to church together. They also went to school together and drove their teachers mad if they were sat too close in class.

I touch on the subject of Noah falling in with a bad crowd as a teenager in his profile, but i'm not sure i've gone into much detail on that, it's important to his and Gabe's relationship though.

The short version is that Noah gets tempted into hanging with a guy who's a couple years older than them, called Marcus. Gabriel, always the one trying to keep Noah out of trouble, ends up getting dragged into this group with him.

Marcus makes Noah think he's the leader of their little crew, but basically all he is is Marcus' scapegoat. Marcus would get them all into trouble, and because Noah was the preacher's kid he'd pin the blame on him because he figured he'd get off easier than the rest of them.

In the end though, Gabriel manages to make Noah see how fucked up their situation is (after they both get a pretty bad scare), and the two of them try to distance themselves from the group, eventually getting out of that life.

Noah goes off on his own, and Gabriel becomes a decently successful tattoo artist who owns the flat above his studio.

Their current day relationship is that Gabriel tries to live the life he's worked hard to build for himself, while having the constant reminder of his old life (Noah) stumble in through his door every few months, drunk, beat to hell or straight up just sick.

Noah always jokingly says that in another world it would have been the two of them together. They're pretty much soulmates in every way that matters. With the way things turned out though, all Noah ever tolerates are quick visits and quick fucks to scratch the itch before he's off again.

The two of them keep up their little friends with benefits things way after Martin and Noah start their years long routine of dancing around each other. Even after Noah stops sleeping around with strangers, he comes back to Gabriel when he feels the need to.

Basically he's one more person Noah has wrapped around his little finger.

[somerandomcryptid]

Some concept sketches of our lovely developer :D along with a few snippets from an article about his upcoming game Adventures in Esempi

Adventures in Esempi is an ai-powered open-world rpg. One that promises to be truly limitless "I wanted to create a dnd-like experience. Where the story can be truly limitless if the DM has ideas, just for people who don't have anyone to be their DM." The developer "XD" says in an interview. "AI was my way of doing that. And I know people will come at me for using AI. But it does take effort to create. I have worked for years on this project to train my characters. And it's not even ready yet. I'm currently doing my 3rd wave of play testing and I'm sure one of my lovely play testers will come across a bug that is game breaking and I'll have to reset the AI's parameters all over again." Another quote from the developer reads.

"Every character I make is a tribute to someone I've lost or someone who impacted me greatly. With a few cameos for some of my play testers who without which this game would not exist. Though there is one character that's a little easter egg, should you go looking for it." XD says when asked about his character creation process

A little bit more about the development: Adventures in Esempi is a passion project of it's currently sole developer a person known as XD (note that while XD identifies as trans-masc and uses both he/him and they/them pronouns for the purposes of this article XD will be refered to with he/him pronouns or simply "XD"). The game has had many other developers over the years, the longest working on the project being Sam Isenberg, or Awesamdude as was his online name, and the mysterious Callahan. Sam -who was also XD's husband at the time- worked on the first ideas and attempts at the project in the late 90s and the 2000s before being found dead in 2010 shortly after leaving the project and filing for divorce. We know much less about Callahan. Only that he worked on the project from the year 2006 to 2014 when he went missing. But even with these loses, and even more person ones in the time of the games development XD has kept on the project. Honoring past developers that left the project with a character ingame.

I think that's all I'll give you for now ;) but that is a pretty big lore drop

Anyway take some sketches of some of the things XD doesn't want the public to know about them

And also:

i took his gender. Fight me about it.

Anyway now is a great time to mention that I stole(I asked) the X scar design from @calamari-minecraft-corner's digital friend au XD

[icy-vulpine]

SS&S ch. 10 is sitting at 3254 words now, and yes, Kel is going through experiences.

Some people were surprised by how "friendly" Kel seems with some things, like the mannequins. When I first played the game, I already knew a couple of things thanks to watching this video from Vinesauce Joel, but I was still too scared to hurt them.

So I just put them all in the reception desk room and locked the door. I think at one point there was eight or more just locked in there.

So instead of doing that in the story, I kind of decided to make them harmless little pranksters, wanting nothing more than to give Kel a good spook from time to time. I thought it would be more entertaining than just "Alright, to prison with you."

[shroomerr]

Dude! Please I gotta hear more about your little lady 🤲

☆ Is there someone your OC didn’t like at first, but then got along with later?

☆ Who would your OC say is their best friend?

Dude !!! Always happy to see you in my inbox 🫶 ahh thank you sm for the enthusiasm!!

oh man these are some hard questions!! im still trying to figure out the characterization for some of them, so the dynamics might be subject to change. Regardless, oh boy you might have to brace yourself for this one, I fear it's going to be long......... (i havent written it yet but im going to preemptively cut just in case)

☆ Is there someone your OC didn’t like at first, but then got along with later?

that someone is Craig!! He wouldn't like Hanh at first because she's often involved with the M4's shenanigans, and assumed she was either a. a wimpy pushover because of her shy nature or b. just as bad as them lmao. On the other end, Hanh thought that Craig was nothing but a troublemaker with how often he got sent to the Principal's office and assumed he was a meanie with how often he'd clash with her friends. She'd misinterpret his direct and pragmatic comments as being malicious, and while she does agree with a lot of his points, she thinks that his words could use more tact.

However, over time they'd both realize that they had misconceptions about each other: Hanh would come to realize that Craig's reasons for being sent to the principal's office is usually never on purpose or for malicious reasons, and that he never actively looked for trouble. That, and that most of the time, his criticisms towards her friends were completely justified LMAOO. Meanwhile, Craig would find out that Hanh's not as much of a pushover as he thought she was, and that she reprimands the M4 just as much as he does.

which, segues nicely into:

☆ Who would your OC say is their best friend?

also Craig!!!

After they get over that little hurdle, they come to learn a lot from each other! I imagine that Hanh would often give Craig advice on how to talk to Tweek, esp when it comes to the more emotional situations where Craig's more prone to problem solve, and over time he'd learn how to be gentler and kinder in general! On the flipside, Craig would teach Hanh how to be more confident in herself by getting her to be more direct. Craig's honesty is also something Hanh will always appreciate, because it's something she can always rely on without second guessing herself or look for any double meanings. She can always reliably trust that his monotone and deadpan ass will always tell her the truth.

I imagine Craig would ask Hanh what she sees in Stan's gang, only for her to reply with "they make me laugh."

I kind of headcanon that Craig to be this super tall, stoic, kind of intimidating (mostly thanks to his height) kinda guy that people are kinda scared of and avoid. In reality, he's just as much of a loser as any other guy. And with Hanh being short af (standing at a whopping 153cm/5 foot), I think it's a pretty funny visual contrast lol, especially with their very differing personalities (imagine that one picture of the guy going "someone will die" and the other person going "of fun!" thats them)

I also love the headcanon of Craig having braces, so I wanted both of them to share the pain of wearing braces together!! I imagine Hanh being self conscious of having to come to school with braces. She'd probably get a bit of teasing, but then lo and behold: Craig Tucker with braces, to which no one has the balls to say anything about it because he can and would fuck you up (i mean he boxed tweek after all!!). So, by proxy, no one made fun of Hanh for her braces either! Anyways they bond over shared pain and the wires tightening their teeth <3

oh and he also taught her how to flip people off and swear at people lol. the guys made a bet to see who could get Hanh to swear (bonus points if she flipped someone off) and he was the one who ended up winning 30$ that day.

Now, this is where I predict it's going to be long because Craig's not her only best friend: there's also Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy!!

For Kyle,

They both respect each other a lot! Him and Hanh both have very strong moral compasses, and often times they'll find themselves on the same side and agreeing with each other on a lot of things, seeing as they're both very compassionate and caring people.

Although she's usually non-confrontational, whenever it involves Hanh's friends getting hurt unjustifiably, it's like there's a switch that gets flipped. She'll turn a complete 180 and make sure whatever needs to be done gets done (even if it means getting into a fight), which is something Kyle really appreciates about her. Especially if it's moments where she'll defend Kyle from Cartman's comments that go too far. If there was to be anyone he'd have a lot of respect for and find to be on equal footing with (other than maybe Stan and Wendy), it would be Hanh.

Similarly to Craig, I imagine that Kyle would try his best to help build Hanh's assertiveness and support her in her studies, and Hanh would in turn help keep Kyle's cool and give him advice on how to manage his emotions. They've both got each others' backs, essentially.

Whenever Hanh falls asleep in class due to staying up late, Kyle will often take notes for her

I think she'd also help Kyle be a little less uptight at times. Granted, she's guilty of this too and is often very prone to overthinking/freaking out, where just one thing going wrong in her schedule could derail her whole day. Despite this, she also has a very silly, goofy and happy-go-lucky side to her, so whenever that comes out it helps him loosen up a bit haha

They're also both the most studious out of Stan's gang, so they often do study sessions together. There's definitely a very small rivalry between them (which is completely one-sided on Kyle's side, btw. I imagine that he's at least the littlest bit competitive over grades, but Hanh does not give a fuck lmao). Sheila loves it when she comes over. Most of the moms, actually. They think Hanh's the right influence the boys need to balance out their stupidity lol

Speaking of stupidity, they're the most likely to take the responsibility of making sure their group doesn't get hurt/into trouble. Sometimes, it's just Kyle (though those moments are rare). And smetimes, it's just Hanh who takes on the role of the girl who's surrounded by a bunch of idiotic, immature guys, lol. Even Kyle can sometimes be susceptible to "boys will be boys," guys.

She also adores Ike! Hanh loves reading bedtime stories to him and playing Minecraft with both brothers! So that's bonus points in Kyle's book. Hilariously, I think it would be the funniest thing if Kyle was just terrible at Minecraft, so both Hanh and Ike would just dunk on him for being bad at the game HAHAHA

theyre both level 106 in hay day

I think Hanh would also really trust Kyle's judgement. He's not the smartest kid in class for nothing, after all. I'm imagining moments where if she's ever skeptical on joining on one of the M4's escapades, usually all she needs is Kyle's approval before begrudgingly sighing and tagging along HAHA

He's also much bossier than she is, so she's ok with just passively and silently following orders from him (from the others too, but Kyle's especially because of what I said above). Though, the same goes for Kyle as well: He trusts Hanh just as much as she trusts him, even if he doesn't actively show it.

They're both incredible yappers, Kyle moreso than her. Though, she doesn't mind taking on the listener role that much.

Both of them would also relate to kind of being the "outcasts" in the sense that they're always missing out on the thing that's mainstream (see: Kyle always being late to the Chinpokomon trend and him going against the metrosexual trend, etc.). I think it'd be the funniest thing too if both of them didn't know how to dap people LMAOOOO so they just spend a whole evening practicing how to dap each other up, only to realize that they can't even get a good dap up because both of their hands have hand sizes that are too different from one another.

I also think it would be super cute if they bonded over their "weird" lunchbox foods (on days where they don't buy from the cafeteria). Totally not me projecting my second generation immigrant experiences.

oh and he's the type to hug her right after a basketball practice: sweat and all. very gross, as intended.

As for Stan,

they'd bond over hating their dads, lol

Because both Stan and Hanh are very emotional people, they have a very close bond, often feeling like they're the only ones who can understand each other. They'd both be able to vent to each other about school, their issues, their depression, etc.

They also both get to see each other in their cringiest phases: for Stan, it was his goth phase, and for Hanh it was her weeb phase LMAOOO (they both tease each other about it constantly since they've both seen each other at their lowests and they know they're both losers anyway)

Speaking of goth phase, Hanh helps him paint his nails black!! he reluctantly asked for her advice because she has a lot of experience painting nails (thanks to her mom working at a nail salon), and she decided she needed to take it upon herself to teach him how to apply it the nail polish cleanly LMAO

They're both also very creative!! Hanh will often go over to Stan's house where they just hang out in each other's presence, where Stan's working on a new song and Hanh's just doodling something. Sometimes she'll use Stan as pose reference.

Stan would teach Hanh how to play some of his favorite board games (albeit with a lot of struggle), and she'd give him tips on how to better paint his Warhammer figurines.

both of them are also hoarders, lol

I also headcanon Stan as being pretty chronically online, so doomscrolling, on discord, the whole package. On late nights when Hanh's writing an essay that's due the next day, she'll often text/call him on discord because she knows he'd be awake super late.

THE BIGGEST CRIMSON DAWN FAN!!! absolutely gives her 100% when it comes to supporting his artistic endeavours, and also thinks his music and the concept of being in a band is just the coolest thing in the world.

Always sending each other new songs that they like, even if they both have vastly different tastes haha

Her and Kyle often have studying sessions along with Stan (and sometimes Kenny if he decides to tag along) where they both struggle to teach these two lol

Stan's more of a listener than a yapper, but they both have long back and forths. He prefers to be the listener more often though.

And then Kenny, oh sweet Kenny.

Hanh always tries to include Kenny in the conversation, because she notices how often he gets left out and she knows what it's like to feel left out!! it sucks!! It's something he always appreciates a lot about her

And despite being a huge yapper, Hanh always makes sure to get Kenny's input and encourages him to talk more! Especially when it comes to his own issues, because she notices that he often keeps his problems to himself and internalizes all of it, and she wants him to know that she can someone he can lean on.

He also makes her laugh the hardest. And she hates that she laughs at everything he says because sometimes it's the stupidest shit ever LOLL especially if it's stupid perverted jokes

Loves loves loves Karen. Absolutely adores her presence and often encourages Kenny to let her tag along so they can hang out!

Hanh's also a huge gift-giver, and she'll often bake stuff for her friends, but she always gives Kenny more to take home!

Always her treat when they go out to eat! Especially when it's Kenny, it's not something she wants to make a big deal out of. It's never out of pity, and it's always just because she loves sharing food with her friends! Sometimes she'll even pack extra in her lunch to share with him.

Calls Kenny "Princess" even outside of the Stick Of Truth larping game they play, because it's cute!!

Both Kenny and Hanh are very selfless and kind people, and it's something they appreciate about the other.

And then finally there's my girl, Wendy!!

Something something, girls with black hair who can fuck up cartman gotta stick together.

I don't think Wendy and Hanh would be as close as the other boys, but there's definitely a strong bond between the two, for a lot of the same reasons as Kyle.

Wendy's a girls' girl!! So of course it's only natural. Lots of bonding over feminism and the likes. Y'know, just girl things <3

Wendy would be the one to teach Hanh how to do stuff like makeup along with Bebe.

Ahhh I need to think more about their dynamic, especially she's my favorite girl in the show!! Even if they don't always have the same interests, one thing's for sure: they've always got each others' backs!!

This is also just a general thing that Hanh does, but she loves being physically affectionate with her friends!! So expect a lot of handholding and hugs for everyone! (which ends up leading to a lot of funny mutual pining shenanigans lmao)

[psychotic-nonsense]

<< || < ||

"I was told."

'By who?'

'Eddie.'

"What are you?"

The thing just... sits there. Unblinking and still. Face still just barely compacted, like that's all it can do, the only amount of emotion it can show. Steve stares back, the burning in his eye returning for reasons he can't pinpoint. Desperation, fear, strain.

"You are still not well," the thing finally answers, slow and quiet. Restrained. Like it's forcing itself to say it.

Steve huffs out a breath, feeling stretched thin. "I just- please?" he begs. "I have to know."

It shakes its head. "You are not well," it repeats.

"Yeah, and I won't be for a while longer, especially if you don't tell me what's going on," Steve spits out, lacking in passion and volume but still standing his ground. "I'm not angry anymore, I'll listen to whatever you say, no questions, just- please."

That last sentence is what gets the thing to relax. Or, at least, for its face to go blank again. It looks off to the side, the pale shapes that are probably the equivalent to its actual eye tracing the wood of the boat. Seems to be thinking on it. Steve waits, not a little impatient.

Finally, the thing sighs, and turns back to Steve. It sets the rag down on whatever it's sitting on, and rests its hands on the edge of the boat. "Your friend," it finally says, "she had a vision of some kind, correct?"

Steve at first thinks about Robin, even glancing at her in confusion. Then the vision part clicks, and he turns back. "Nancy, our other friend, did, yes," he answers carefully.

"She told you it's contents?"

"Mmhm..." Steve's a little worried about what this might be heading towards, but he's finally getting something, so who is he to complain.

"Then you know the history of the world you call the 'Upside Down.'" Its eyes drift off from Steve's before he can nod, still so blank (Steve wonders if he should stop being so focused on that, but compared to the brief memories he has of Eddie, seeing his body, his voice, so unfeeling and monotone in comparison is just... wrong). "How the Human entered the world and took control."

Suddenly, something about the topic feels personal. Steve knows it's talking about Vecna, and nothing about its appearance or tone has changed. But Steve just has a hunch about it-

"I am the original ruler of that world. Or rather, it's spirit."

And wow holy shit he was right but that was not at all what he was expecting.

No time for a crisis or questions, though, because Steve is finally getting what he asked for. An explanation.

"I was something you humans would call a God. I controlled the world, kept the balance. I was the center of a collective mind, so my kind would never be alone, and I could keep them safe. When the Human took over, I was cast aside. Unable to die, I was forced to watch as he turned my world into his twisted vision. Turned the form I used as a body into a monster, took control of my collective and made my kind into enslaved, starving beasts. The Human drained my world of any light, turning it into the dark, stormy place you know. I took refuge in the clouds, becoming the red lightning, trying to light my world back into what it was before. I am too weak to fight the Human alone, now that he has my kind bent to his power."

Okay, this God/spirit thing may not have Eddie's nature, but it sure does have his words. And Steve may not understand most of how anything it's describing works, but this isn't the first time and it sure as hell won't be the last.

"More humans began to enter my world, and the Human would always kill them. I could not understand his anger at his own kind, or the want from other humans to keep coming back. But it gave me an opportunity. I still held some of my power. If I could find a new place to house my collective, I could regain my kind, body, and world."

Steve's starting to see where this is going, and it's turning the sight of the God/spirit thing beside him sour.

"But I am weak, only able to reach the humans when their body was weakened and their minds drifting away. I refused to enslave the same way the Human did, and wanted the original spirit present to help house my collective. But I was a stranger to them. I would always propose to help them get back home, so long as they helped me as well. Most I talked to either refused, didn't believe me, or whose minds and bodies were already gone when I could reach them."

A little less sour. A lot more hopeful.

"This was the first possible chance I had. His body was intact, kept safely within the strange structures created by the Human. His mind lingered, refusing to leave his place."

Steve sees that day again. The hardest choice he's ever had to make. Unknowingly the smartest one he ever will.

"I made my proposal, and he was the first to agree. I was unsure this would work, but he trusted me, so it did. I was barely functioning when I found you two in the woods. He recognized you, and helped me find this place."

Its voice tapers out, letting the moments prior speak for it. They stare at each other again, Steve unable to keep his face from falling into the pitiful desperation he's felt since waking up.

"So... that means you're, like- the original hive mind?"

"Yes."

"And... Eddie, is he-"

It nods. "Alive, yes."

Pain be damned, Steve can't help it. His control crumbles to pieces, uninjured hand coming up to cover his mouth. His face compresses, eyes shut tight to keep the tears contained. Guilt and confusion and fear and worry and relief falling from his eyes.

Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive...

"And... c-can he..." Steve's voice shudders, struggling to take in a solid breath. "Can he hear me?"

The vaguely guilty expression comes back as it shakes its head. "No. He would need to be in control for that. My presence keeps the injuries away, and if he were to have control, they would affect the body again." Well, that explains the glowing scars. "He cannot hear or see, but I can talk to him for you."

Steve has dreamed and feared for a chance like this. Every single hour of every day within every week that has passed since Eddie last spoke to him, since he found Dustin cradling Eddie's body, since he covered the body in blankets in Eddie's trailer in the Upside Down. Yet faced with the option, Steve is hit with so many possibilities, so many things to say and messages from their friends to relay, that he stumbles.

"Well- I- maybe..." Steve pauses, lets his brain fumble for the words. "Could you just- tell him I miss him? We all do? And-and that I'm... sorry. God, I'm so fucking sorry..."

He says that last one in a barely there whisper, partially to himself as the weight of everything crashes over him again. Not only did they lose against Vecna - lost Eddie and half of Hawkins and basically Max too - but they hardly did anything, everything just getting so much worse. And the fact that even the original ruler of the world that's been tormenting them hasn't even done any of this, has suffered just as much as them, losing its people and world and body, that its only saving grace was Eddie, that Eddie's mind lingered after his death for reasons Steve can only assume was him waiting for help...

He chokes a little on his breath.

The God/spirit thing doesn't say anything, and when Steve looks up from where his eyes had drifted away, it's just staring at the edge of the boat. The strange part is how its eyes have changed, the pale part in the center glowing brighter. Sort of reminds Steve of that look you get when you're zoned out, in your own head. Which actually makes a lot of sense in this case.

It's silent for a moment before it starts speaking again. "Eddie says, quote, 'I'm glad to hear you're okay, Steve. Thanks for the save.'" Though its voice is still monotone, knowing it's at least Eddie's words being said to him makes the relief spike again, makes him jittery. Steve lets out a stuttering, involuntary laugh.

"'I miss you guys too. Like, a lot. And you have nothing to be sorry for, I'm the one who should be apologizing.'" It goes to take in a breath, and it shudders on the way. Its eyebrows furrow again, not in guilt, but in confusion. It keeps going, but it looks like breathing is becoming hard for it.

"'I broke off from the plan, I wanted to s-stop running.'" Now it's stuttering. The words and visibly growing confusion make Steve more alert, and he sits up a little straighter.

"'I just had t-to keep D-Dus-Dustin safe, and-'" It's starting to look borderline scared now, eyes still just as faraway but moving to look at its hands, which have begun shaking. "'I n-needed to keep the... the bats away from y-you, and-and...'"

It goes to blink, and Steve sees the reflection of the glowing scars shine on the tears suddenly falling from its eyes. It cautiously brings up a hand, gently touching the wetness on its cheek and staring at the streaks it leaves behind. It goes to talk again, but all that comes out are tiny whimpers, which just scares it more.

Then it clicks. The spirit of the Upside Down may be in control of Eddie's body, but nothing could take control of his heart. This is Eddie leaking through the cracks, his true feelings breaking through the barrier of monotone and unfeeling, too strong to be contained. And the spirit - probably unaware of human emotion, based on its reaction - is left in its wake.

Cautiously, Steve reaches out to take the hand it's still staring at. Its eyes immediately snap up to meet his, fear to concern. Its eyes are still a bit brighter, and for some reason it feels like Steve's looking straight through them to Eddie.

"Is it okay if... I hug you?" he asks carefully. "I think you could use one." Who he's referring to there is beyond him, but either way, it's true.

It just looks a little more confused, trying to respond yet held back by the whimpers. So it just shakily nods instead.

Still careful with how he moves, Steve reaches up with his free hand to rest on its shoulder. Then, letting go of the hand he didn't realize was holding his so tightly, he pulls the body into his, wrapping his arms around its neck.

The spirit stiffens up at first, its breath hitching in a tiny squeak and hands staying firmly away from contact. Steve just squeezes tighter, the soreness in his eye and jaw fighting the involuntary movement of Steve's face twisting in grief.

"It's okay, Eds..." Steve whispers. He shuts his eyes, holds the body closer. "Let it happen. It's okay."

It shudders out a few more tentative breaths. Steve feels its shaking arms slowly lose steam, inching down to meet Steve's back. Feels its tensed spine loosen, chin gently resting on Steve's shoulder. Its arms finally wrap around Steve's middle, run across his spine, and that's what gets it to break. Eddie's heart overpowers the mind, and he begins to cry.

The moment the first sob comes out, Eddie's arms squeeze hard, clutching onto Steve to keep himself from falling over. Steve feels him sag into his chest, hiding his cries in Steve's torn clothes. Tears come to Steve's eyes as well, weak to Eddie's sharp hitches of breath and the muffled cries that he can feel punch out of Eddie's chest. Steve squeezes back, fights the aches that persist in his face, and holds Eddie through it.

It takes a few minutes - maybe longer, Steve kind of lost track - but eventually, Eddie's cries die down, and his breathing evens out. His tense arms gently loosen their hold, and his body sags just a tiny bit further in relief. Steve doesn't try to let go yet, though, not until Eddie's hands slowly slide up to his shoulders and squeeze once. He takes it as a sign and pulls away carefully, keeping a hand on Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie's rubbing his eyes when Steve lets go, and as he blinks the tears away, Steve watches the glowing white center dull back down, watches Eddie fade away from the helm. The spirit, back in control, wipes at the remaining face mess with its sleeve, taking deep breaths to get itself right again.

Steve doesn't expect it's crackled, "End quote." to actually make him laugh in such a time, but laugh he does. Hard enough to push a few more tears out and hide the pain in his face beneath the elation. He carefully wipes his face dry, turning back to the, once again, blank-faced spirit, whispering a soft, "Thank you."

The spirit nods, and Steve thinks he sees the tiniest hint of a smile as it does. "Thank you, too. I wasn't expecting something like... that to happen."

Steve huffs out another laugh. "Neither did I," he admits, looking away as a wave of shame suddenly passes through him. "Sorry, about all that. It was the only thing I could think of to calm you down."

He sees the spirit shake its head in his peripheral, urging him to face it again. "Do not apologize. It worked as you intended." It's eyes briefly divert from Steve's, before it cautiously reaches out a hand to rest over Steve's on the edge of the boat. "If it soothes you, I sense that Eddie could feel it as well."

Steve's heart flounders, relief surging so strongly that he can't help the smile no matter how his jaw aches. Looks right into the spirit's eyes and takes the faint glow at the center as a little bit of Eddie always shining through. "Good to know."

[starrspice]

A bit of a self indulgent question for you but, if you could actually be the Y/N in any of your aus, which would you want to be?

Oooooo hands down it'd have to be the Muse AU

Fun fact: Iwas originally going to make y/n a bass guitar player but decided to make them a drummer because I played drums in highschool!

But the tattoos and piercings? Rebellious attitude and love of rock music?? That's me all the way

[sunzy-creates]

HES SO CUTE IM GONNA HAVE AN ANEURYSM AND DIE I LOVE HIM AND RIVER SO MUCH AJANKAGANANAN