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infiniteanalemma · 6 months

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Nobility in Baldur's Gate

Edited to add: I never expected my silly, niche post to get as much attention as it has! I'm giving you all forehead smooches! 😚💋 I've gone through to clean up some things up as I've found new information. I also added a list of nobility that I've found in game and other sources to the end of the post. Thanks, y'all! I'm glad I'm not the only one to wonder about this stuff. Good stuff in the reblogs, too!

Baldur's Gate has dug itself deep in my brain, so I apologize to my poor mutuals who didn't follow me for BG3 content getting this onslaught of posts. Please bear with me until my hyperfixation wears off. 🙏

Now, I'll admit up front that I'm no expert in DnD lore*, so if I get things wrong, please feel free to correct me or just add in stuff I may have missed. I'm going off of what I've found in-game and my Google Fu skills.

That said, I do know enough about DnD to remember that Baldur's Gate nobility are called patriars, and that there are only a relative handful of actual patriar families. I was thinking about my "canon" Tav, Velassa, and her background in BG3. She's a modified OC that I plunked in-game during Early Access, so I made her a noble. It was just part of her existing character that I didn't think too deeply about. It was only after I starting playing that it occurred to me to wonder what exactly "a noble" is to a native Baldurian.

That got me digging a little more into the current state of the Baldurian nobility as of BG3. I don't know who--if anyone--needs or wants this, but I put this together for myself and decided to share it for anyone else who might be interested. I realize that this is probably pretty niche and it's rambly and long af, so I'll put it under a cut.

So, for starters, here's a list of all the patriar families, including "fallen" houses that are barely hanging on: Belt, Bormul, Caldwell, Dlusker, Durinbold, Eltan, Eomane, Exeltis, Gist, Guthmere, Hhune, Hlath, Hullhollyn, Irlentree, Jannath, Jhasso, Linnacker, Miyar, Nurthammas, Oathoon, Oberon, Portyr, Provoss, Ravenshade, Rillyn, Sashenstar, Shattershield, Silvershield, Tillerturn, Vammas, Vannath, Vanthampur, and Whitburn

From what I've gathered, Exeltis, Provoss and Ravenshade are all more-or-less destitute. Also, the Szarr family (Cazador's family) were patriars, but were believed to be entirely wiped out. No living descendants makes them a dead house, rather literally. 😏 (No, I'm not sorry.)

Now, we learn that Wyll's father is Ulder Ravengard, the Grand Duke. This brings us to the first point: There are four Dukes, known as the Council of Four, and the Grand Duke's job is to be the tie-breaker.

Traditionally, one of the Dukes is also the highest ranked officer of the Flaming Fist--that's Ravengard, who was a Fist promoted up through the ranks. Wyll tells us that his father was born lower class, and quite a few of the patriars seem to scorn him for that. The other Dukes are Belynne Stelmane, Dillard Portyr (more on him later) and Thalamra Vanthampur (more on her later, too). Of the four, two are patriars: Portyr and Vanthampur. We don't know much about Stelmane's past, except that she was a brilliant businesswoman, politician and--as we find out later--member of the Knights of the Shield. Apparently, you can't buy your way into the patriars, but maybe you can buy your way into being a Duke.

Skipping ahead a bit, when the player shows up to Gortash's coronation, there are a group of mostly patriars sitting in the boxes leading up to the front of the room. I'm listing them by seating arrangement, with box 1 and 2 being the left and right closest to Gortash, and 3 and 4 being farthest. (I don't know what, if anything, the seating arrangements imply. The second box has eight people, compared to four for all the rest.)

Lady Ailis Belt, Baron Callem Bormul, Lord Rugger Shattershield**, and Lady Alia Durinbold**

Lady Ruth Linnacker, Lord Sarken Eomane, Lady Freida Oberon, Lord Raylen Jannath, Lord Myer Ravenshade**, Lady Madeline Whitburn, Lady Beatrice Provoss, and Duke Dillard Portyr

Lady Winstra Hullhollyn, Admiral Peil Hullhollyn, Lord Randolph Vammas, and Lady Eshvelt Guthmere

Lord Milon Tillerturn, Lady Silifrey Sashenstar, Lord Petric Amber**, and Lady Haeril Birch**

Here's some pictures of the nobles sitting together. (Sorry for the terrible quality! I slapped it together for my own reference. 🙈)

The characters marked by ** aren't human, which is interesting because the information I found said all the patriar familes are human except the Shattershields. Myer Ravenshade is listed as human if you examine him, but he has a dwarf model. That might be a mistake, but I'm including him anyway. Alia Durinbold, from a presumably human patriar family, is a wood elf. Again, this could be a mistake, but unless Larian winds up changing it, it could mean that interracial marriages that once may have been looked down on are now becoming more acceptable. Petric Amber is also a wood elf, and Haeril Birch is a high elf.

Those last two are interesting because they are the only ones in the boxes who aren't patriars. If not for them, I'd have assumed the coronation was simply a demonstration for the patriars alone. Their inclusion means this is something else.

Digging around, my conclusion is that all the listed people are members of the Parliament of Peers--a 50 person advisory party to the Council of Four. However, what I found says that it's pretty rare for all 50 to attend meetings, and the usual group is between 20-30. There are exactly 20 named individuals listed, plus a group of unnamed "patriars" standing at the front.

Here they are, for what it's worth:

One thing I noticed here is that most of those listed here are Lord/Lady, but there are three other titles: Duke, Baron and Admiral. I've already talked about the Dukes. Looking into the patriars, the Hullhollyn family are notable for having a fleet of ships, so it makes sense that one of them would be an Admiral. That leaves the Baron.

I couldn't find anything about what it means to be a baron in Baldur's Gate. Going on real-world peerages, a baron/ess is generally the lowest "rank" of nobility. Basically, it's someone who was an official landowner (usually of an "important" bit of land) under the feudal system. Well and good, I suppose, but presumably all the Lords and Ladies of the patriars own land within the city. This particular Baron is also a patriar, but given that one doesn't need to be a patriar to become a Duke (normally a higher peer than a baron), that may not mean anything.

(Apparently, the term "Duke" was originally meant somewhat jokingly. That said, it still carries the weight of a title even if not the conventional one.) We don't see any other titles between Duke and Baron, so what does that mean?

This isn't canon, but my assumption is that it means the Baron owns important land outside of the city. This would make sense for Baron Bormul, given that the Bormul family apparently have investments in silver mines and vineyards. Assuming they own the mines/vineyards, that may make those lands "important" enough to the city for their owner to earn a title. Alternately, the Bormul family also has counterparts in Amn, so maybe baron is an Amnian title that got passed along. That's getting a bit far afield for me, though. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, among the group at the coronation, pretty much everyone supports Gortash becoming Archduke, with the exception of Lady Sashenstar (an old woman who really isn't too impressed with this commoner) and Duke Portyr, who expresses some hesitation at the whole thing.

Duke Portyr is interesting here. Except for Ravengard (who is thralled and conducting the ceremony), Portyr is the only Duke present. Now, Stelmane is already dead, so that explains her absence. Vanthampur is also missing, which is interesting. Portyr first, though: he was Grand Duke before Ravengard. He's the one who re-instituted (Edited: and originally created!) the Parliament of Peers to make the day-to-day decisions of running the city, and ceded the title of Grand Duke to Ravengard. He's described as being conflict-averse, so it makes sense that he'd go along with Gortash's coronation, even though he's clearly unhappy about it. Also, the current leader of the Fists is also a Portyr, likely still Liara Portyr, the Duke's niece and Ravengard's second-in-command.

Thalamra Vanthampur is an interesting character, too. She's the head of the Vanthampur family, and part of the Descent into Avernus story. Apparently, she's the one who got Ravengard to go to Elturel before it sank to the Hells, intending to take his place as Grand Duke. From what I read, she also conspired with the Dead Three's cults to murder people in a bid to discredit the Flaming Fist. (The murdery bits were undoubtedly left to Bhaal's cult.) We never do find out anything about Thalamra Vanthampur in this game (I assume that's probably cut content). (Edited: She is mentioned in one of the in-game texts as having been killed, which was one of the possible outcomes of Descent into Avernus. Larian chose that as their canon, just like the fate of Elturel and Zariel.)

The only Vanthampur we do meet is Carnelia Vanthampur, who is in the Guildhall and describes herself as "a peer of the Parliament". She's willing to work with either the Guild or the Zhentarim. Nervously of course. Also interesting is that, on the Bloodstained Parchment hit list, is a Varri Vanthampur, whose gravestone you can find in Candulhallow's Tombstones shop, reading: "Varri Vanthampur. Unwanted in life, welcomed in death."

Interesting, hm?

Also on that hit list is Fridrik Hhune. The Hhunes apparently have links to the Knights of the Shield, from what I looked up--the same group the Emperor led with Stelmane. The only Hhunes we meet in-game are Blaise and Gheris Hhune, two of the werewolves in Cazador's ballroom who are brothers according to the dev notes. With them is another werewolf of a different patriar family, Duver Rillyn. This suggests Cazador has been going after members of patriar families, which sort of fits with what we know about his plans. We really don't find anything else out about them except that they consider Cazador to be their master and Astarion says they're new.

We also can talk to a Flaming Fist who mentions that Hurlbut Hhune is the father of Henrietta Hhune, who used to be secretly engaged to the Fist in question, only for her father to decide to arrange her to marry fellow patriar Derque Rillyn, who the Fist describes as "a major arsehole."

That conversation is interesting for a few reasons. For one, it tells you that arranged marriages within the patriar are a thing. Also, this Fist is a Manip (essentially a Sergeant) who can't ask the other Fists for help because "the Fists don't mess with wealthy patriars, they've got the Watch to back them up." That's aligned with what Devella can also tell you: "There are patriars on the murder target list. I'm oathbound to secure them first, so I'll be heading to the Upper City next." If you say that the Fist should protect everyone: "Not from around here, are you? We're in Baldur's Gate - this is just how things work."

This brings me back to my original issue: what is a Baldurian noble? The patriars are canonically nobles, of course, and they're undoubtedly seen as the "most important" of the nobility. From there, it's not much of a stretch to say that anyone who has earned the title of Duke is now a noble, even if they aren't patriars. I'd go so far as to say anyone on the Parliament of Peers (and their family by association) is a noble^, given that non-patriars Petric Amber and Haeril Birch are considered Lord and Lady. The information I found about that is that there are approximately twelve non-patriar members. If Amber and Birch are two of them, that leaves another unnamed 10.

^Edited: Looking at the dates, I realized that the Parliament of Peers is a very recent change to Baldurian governance. Duke Portyr originally created it after the three other Dukes on the Council of Four were assassinated. It was clearly meant as a temporary measure, but my guess is that the patriars liked having more official say. Not to mention the non-patriars who managed to get a seat. This has all happened within even the youngest of Tav/Urges' lifetimes.

Personally, I'd also assume that branch families of the patriars probably also count as nobility. By branch family, I mean those that marry out of the main line but whose ancestry stems from a patriar family. From what I've seen by naming conventions, Baldur's Gate seems to use patronmyic lineage--ancestry is generally passed to the sons, and wives take their husband's surname. So, if a daughter marries out of the family, she'd no longer be a part of her father's family lineage, but still would be considered nobility. These branch families likely still maintain powerful influence and connections from marrying into wealth, which would make them a good political/financial choice of marriage alliance, despite no longer having the main branch patriar family name. These families are also probably the ones most likely to find a place on the Parliament, too, but likely have to jockey for position if their "representative" dies (or otherwise leaves) and a new opening in the Parliament is created.

If you've read this far, as a treat you can have some crappy close-up portraits of the nobles at Gortash's coronation, grouped together in their respective boxes. 😚

* For what it's worth, I'd count myself as a casual DnD player. I have some knowledge of DnD--I've played BG1 and 2, Planescape: Torment, along with some general cultural osmosis. I've had friends who played the tabletop version, but for one reason or another, I've never played it myself.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 meta #fandom stuff #patriars #baldur's gate nobility #bg3 noble background #do I know what I'm talking about? no ❤#but I tried

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welldonekhushi · 6 months

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Okay guys, I'm back and.. I needed a short break after what happened in the MWIII campaign. Words can't express how shocked I was when I reached the end of the campaign and.. it left me in confusion, denial, depression and anger.

I'm putting a "read more" below because, if there are people who still haven't played MWIII, I'll keep ya guys safe.

Our theories before were constantly revolving that who's gonna die and what worse is going to happen.. it first pointed towards the fate of Price or Gaz. But, turns out we were jinxed. JINXED.

The campaign was.. okay but at the same time I felt it was small. Quite rushed. I did have a light of concern over their release date when MWII was currently trending. I was reading others reviews of how they felt about the game and yes, I agree with the same. But I wanna talk about Soap's fate this time..

Soap, who JUST started his journey, like, the one who only appeared in MWII and hoped we would see him more develop in the further games to be just.. killed off? When were they moments away from achieving victory?

So only because it's called MW3 ✌🏻 and you wanted to give us all a nostalgic experience you'll.. give them the original plot treatment? Both Soaps in the Modern Warfare universes.. died under the hands of Vladimir Makarov but in different circumstances.

This is where I got a bit angry at Price because, why didn't you kill Makarov instead of taking him in custody in Verdansk?! That guy is a walking grim reaper, and if Price took that action before, not just Soap but MANY more lives would have been saved. Soap was a man who was ready to take immediate action but always got backed off because of being bound to orders.

The end scene when they took out his ashes.. it broke me. Like, how unexpected this can be? Well, though I know Makarov already gave a warning that he was going to kill him off in the heli scene, but.. it's just not it? Like, honestly, I was hopeful Soap would survive.. it's disappointing for me, as someone who loves him so much, like anything.

So ScarSoap's now an angsty ship? Because let it be for both universes — OG and Reboot, Scarlet's going to be left behind? Welp, I'm more sad now, lol.

Otherwise, the expectations I had for the campaign were somehow, not met to the fullest but let's talk about the good things.

Price killing off Shepherd. YES, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. I freaking knew that he was going to die and my prediction called itself right. But, now that Price killed a 4-star General, he's gonna go rogue. You mean, batshit, crazy and unhinged Price on the move?!

Julian Kostov. The man. Bro, like, when he was featured in the reveal trailer, I was just hoping that he'd play the role of Makarov well and guess what? He did! I absolutely loved how he portrayed the man and he looked intimidating and twisted like a true psychopath. Truly, he could compete with the OG!Makarov and it's proven! Hats off to the actor, really <3

Price DOESN'T die. Neither in my beliefs, Farah and Alex. A relief. A pure relief, for real. The trailers showed him passing out but glad he's good in one piece. But, did that happen for the cost of killing Soap? :')

Graves and Shepherd betray each other in the conference, LMFAO! Who knew they were going to turn their backs on each other. Graves really had nothing to do with this, he was just a man following orders.. the problem lies with Shepherd, and always has.

Now, these guys said we're gonna release the "full campaign" on November 10. You mean.. the early access didn't show much of the story? So there's hope? OR NOT? Sigh, I don't want to think about it.. I just don't. I've been delulu, haha

Anyways, these are my thoughts for Modern Warfare III! What do you feel about it, let me know in the comments!

#mw3 spoilers #cod #call of duty #cod mw #call of duty modern warfare #cod mw23 #call of duty modern warfare 2023 #call of duty modern warfare iii #call of duty modern warfare 3

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aryxchse · 18 days

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I just read your Percy Jackson x daughter of Persephone fic and I really would like to read one for daughter of Hekate.

I mean you still have me questioning my Cabin but for the sake of all those years that I was daughter of Hekate, I would love to read Percy Jackson x daughter of Hekate from you.

casted a spell on me / percy jackson x daughter of hecate! reader.

a / n : my wife y'all 👆🏻

warnings : cursing

- percy wanted to gift hazel a special crystal for her birthday

- but he never really understood the girl, nor the crystal things

- so which cabin everyone visits when stuff like this happens?

- the hecate cabin.

- you were the only one left in cabin when percy barged in

- while you were cleansing (?) your room

- "hello?"

- "i am so sorry- should i leave? am i intrupting something?"

- you shrugged him off with a laugh, saying that it's not important enough for him to leave

- and he happily stayed

- "you.. know hazel right?"

- "duh, she's my ride or die."

- and everything began like this

- there was 2 weeks until hazel's birthday and percy decided to use that time wisely

- and he was kinda glad that he started working early

- because, he get to spend time with you

- man he's already whipped, look at you doing magical stuff and casting a spell on the boy

- the last part was percy's own delusion but yeah, you could turn him into a pig and he would be thankful

- "you could gift her tarot cards as a bonus, she's interested in those."

- "...show me."

- this boy knows NOTHING

- and when you read his cards he was gasping like a little girl

- hes so amazed by you omg

- you could make up something for the uno cards and he would scream 'this girl fucking rocks!!'

- did i said hes whipped? do i have to??

- anyways back on hazel's birthday gift mission

- since you ran out from hazel's favorite crystals, somehow, you both got the chance to shop outside in the mortal world!!!!

- it was a perfect first date in percy's head

- he's asking you personal questions like which crystal is best for your aura or smth

- sneaky bastard

- you guys shopped together until night and lost your dessert for the week

- but who cares? it was the best date

- people saw percy leave with a different crystal each time after visiting your cabin

- you got this boy wear crystals for lucky charm

- he joked that he only needed you for luck but anyways-

- the mission was complete eventually

- but percy didn't left your side even after hazel's birthday

- you guys are ment to be together now okay?? it says that on your birth chart

- your zodiacs are matching too

- shut up you made him a manifest queen

- he lets you draw symbols on his arms for some reasons you came up with

- hes scared you're really making him obsessed with you, because of the amount of times you're in his head, is embarresing

- and he needed to make you his

- like immediatly

- or else he'll go crazy from his love

- maybe you did cast a spell-

- "i think i learned how to read your cards."

- when he said that in one of his regular visits, you couldn't help but get curious

- did he actually learned that fast?

- so you gave him your cards and picked a few, he started looking at them like he knew something

- it said that something will happen good this week

- but instead, percy said

- "you're in love with a raven haired boy aren't you?"

- you tried so hard not to laugh

- and it was true, so you let him play his game

- "oh my gods! how did you know?"

- he literally smirked

- "i'm a natural pretty."

- he started to look more, and told you to pick two more cards

- you could already see what it meant, but you were curious what he will say

- "hmm, this guy has gorgeous sea green eyes, man you have taste!"

- a snort left your lips but you quickly gathered yourself

- "can you see any initials??"

- "oh totally! the lovers card is upside down so it means p and j."

- you were turning red from holding your laugh at this point, and he started to get a feeling that you figured what he was doing

- no shit sherlock

- "how weird, doesn't that ring any bells to you too? or is it just me?"

- "maybe it's that hot dude called percy jackson?"

- "OHHHH yes!! i knew i remembered that initials from somewhere!!"

- you both burst into laughters

- "my dear student, i see you payed attention to my classes!"

- he laughed at your tease until he finally managed to answer

- "being in love with you helped."

- smooth, jackson. smooth.

#I HOPE U LIKE ITTTTT #because i somehow did?? idk #perseus jackson x you #percy x you #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus #percy jackson series #pjo hoo toa #percy jackson imagine #percy jackson headcanon #pjo show

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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 11 months

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i'm outta my head over you Pt. 4

prologue (Pt. 1) | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | AO3 | playlist

icymi, i retcon-ed the last little bit of chap 3 (what steve's entry to Be My Baby said from Eddie to Teddy!)

@steddie-week prompt for today: first kiss/Kiss on My List - Hall & Oates (though the part before that got a away from me a little 😅)

-------

Staying away for a bit seemed to be the best thing to do, so Steve goes back to the hospital a couple days later, coming back in the early morning this time to try avoiding stepping on Wayne Munson’s toes.

He looks in on Max first. She’s still asleep, so he quietly sneaks around the room, straightening things up, and picking up discarded popsicle sticks and cotton balls from whatever game the party’s made up as an excuse to throw them around.

He straightens her blankets, pulling them up a bit higher to make sure she stays comfortable, and sneaks back out the open door.

Steve really wants to check in on Eddie too, but doesn’t want to incur the wrath of the older Munson if he catches wind of him being there.

“I’ll just look in, make sure he’s okay, and leave.” Steve rationalizes, mumbling to himself as he walks the familiar path from Max’s room to Eddie’s.

He hears music playing softly as he approaches, the tail end of one song and the beginning of another that is definitely not something he would’ve associated with the bold and brash metalhead currently laid up there.

Steve peeks around the doorframe and finds Wayne there already, sitting beside the tapedeck Steve had brought for them to play music for Eddie.

He’s got a pair of glasses sitting low on his nose, scowling down at a small worn book in his lap. Steve recognizes the cover immediately. It’s the copy of The Hobbit Dustin had left there.

“Damn it Ed, you couldn’t’ve had an easier favorite to read?” Wayne grumbles aloud.

Steve laughs without thinking, and Wayne’s sharp gaze snaps up to him in an instant.

“Oh shit, sorry, Mr. Munson.” he steps into the doorway a little more, pointing a thumb over his shoulder, “I’ll just…yeah.”

He’s turned to leave when Wayne’s voice stops him. “Harrington.”

Oh boy.

“Yes sir?”

“Lemme talk t’ya a second.”

Steve enters the room; the itch to immediately go to Eddie’s side is strong, but he stops himself short a few steps away from the foot of Eddie’s bed.

Glancing down at his friend, he’s shocked and delighted to find Eddie’s breathing tube is gone.

“His tu—” Steve starts, but stops himself. He’s there to hear what Wayne wants to say.

“Came out last night, actually.”

He nods gratefully at the offered information, but when Wayne doesn’t say anything, Steve starts, “Mr. Munson–”

“Wayne.” Wayne cuts him off. “I need to apologize.”

Steve blinks at him in shock.

“That loud curly-haired kid of yours really gave me a what-for this morning.”

“Dustin?” Steve whispers.

“That’s the one.” Wayne nods.

“Mr. Mun–Wayne, I’m so sorry, Dustin can be a bit much, whatever he said to you I promise was just said because he cares about Eddie so much..”

“I know that,” Wayne nods, “Really cares about you too, y’know. Nearly tore my head off for darin’ t’say somethin’ bad about your family.”

“To be fair to Dustin, my family deserves it.” Steve jokes, but immediately kicks himself for interrupting.

Wayne nods, “That they do. I’m glad you know this already.”

There’s a weighty pause while Wayne stands, Steve stays frozen waiting for Wayne to continue.

“Your kiddo told me you were the one to get Eddie out of there. Back here to the hospital.” He continues after Steve nods, “Now I realize that was you there in the next bed over when they first called me, but t’be fair, I wasn’t worried ‘bout much else but Eddie.”

“I understand.” Steve nods.

Wayne takes one long step forward to place his hand on Steve’s shoulder and Steve looks up to meet his eyes.

“M’sorry I snapped at you, son.” Steve’s stomach clenches. “Thank you fer bringin’ my boy back to me.”

“You’re we–OOF.” The rest of his response is cut off when his face is suddenly pressed into Wayne’s shoulder. The elder Munson smells like asphalt and cigarettes, the sharp smell of grease stings the back of Steve’s nose

He chooses to blame that for the tears that spill over onto the man’s jacket, and if Wayne notices the wet spot, or the tears that stain Steve’s face after releasing him, he doesn’t say anything.

They sit and talk a bit, Wayne explaining his modified visiting hours due to his work schedule was likely why they hadn’t really crossed paths until Steve accidentally stayed late (“Shouldn’t you be sleeping right now?” Steve asks him, “Probably, but this is more important.”), he tells Wayne what he’d taken to doing for Eddie while he was there in return (“I thought chapstick would be a bit too far for me,” he says as he hands Wayne the new tube of chapstick that’s been haunting the front pocket of his jeans, “but I couldn’t stand watching his wrist get rubbed raw by that damn cuff.”), then move on to Wayne’s personal mixtape he’d been playing whenever he’d visit.

“Even you know it’s not Ed’s particular brand of tunes, but this is our…default tape. Always got it playin’ when we clean the trailer, or while he’s paintin’ somethin’ in the living room while I read the paper.” Wayne shrugs, “Thought it’d bring him some comfort.”

They both fall quiet after that. It’s still relatively early in the morning, and they’ll have a few more hours before the party (sans Dustin, who was off to a previously scheduled, school-sponsored trip as of this morning, hence why he was in so early to say goodbye to Eddie and and to berate his uncle) descends, so they sit in the comforting lull of the day to the Munson Background Music. Wayne moving onto his paper, Steve picking up and attempting (once again) to get into The Hobbit.

He’s gotten through a whole five pages (Five! A new personal best!) when Wayne clears his throat, trying to grab Steve’s attention.

“Now don’t take this the wrong way son, but I gotta ask; it seems t’me you’ve got some…extra feelings for my Eddie.”

Steve freezes.

“No, no, none of that, Steve. I’m asking you both as a concerned uncle, and as a protective one.”

Steve gulps audibly. “How do you mean?”

“C’mon son, you see anyone else here for ‘im as much? Believe you me, your curly-haired number one fan really handed it to me today. You’ve been here with Eddie more than I have.”

Steve feels his face burn in embarrassment, both for Dustin’s antics on his behalf, and for the current path this conversation is taking.

“Not to be cliché, but I gotta ask, What’re your intentions with my nephew?” Wayne’s eyes crinkle heavily in tandem with his warm smile.

Because the universe hates him, the chorus of the song currently playing cuts through the brief silence between his question and Steve’s not-yet-formulated response.

“ So won’t you, please (Be my, be my baby)? My one and only baby? ” Ronnie and her Ronettes croon, much to Steve’s dismay.

Steve chuckles, half humorously, “Ronnie said it best, Mr. Munson.”

After Wayne’s good-natured laughing fit is over, he says “Best of luck t’ya, Harrington. Just know I’ve got a shotgun in my closet back home.”

“Don’t worry, if I ever hurt your nephew, Dustin will sick Nancy on me. And she’s got a few.”

They fall into conversation again after that, and Steve finds out a bit more about the man, the myth, the legend that lays unconscious in the bed between him and Wayne. Eddie’s favorite color is either black or navy blue, he loves cinnamon-sugar on toast, about half the mugs in the Munson trailer are ones he’s collected, and (possibly the most important piece of information Steve’s ever known) Eddie’s full name is Theodore Wayne Munson.

“No way, Theodore??” Steve can’t contain his grin.

“Theodore.” Wayne nods with a smirk. “His dad hated it, started calling him Eddie basically from when he was born. Rationalized it bein’ short for Theodore, like a Ted to Teddy to Eddie type thing.

“Was his mom that named ‘im that, after her dad. She died when Ed was real young, so he’s been ‘Eddie’ all his life.” Wayne shrugs.

Steve goes to say something else, but is interrupted.

“Oh good, you’re both here.” Hopper grunts, stepping into Eddie’s room.

“Hop? What are you doing here?” Steve asks.

“You here to take that damn cuff off, Chief?”

Hopper comes up to the foot of Eddie’s bed and leans onto the plastic footboard, speaking low to only the two of them. “We’ve got a plan. We’re going to officially clear him today to the public, so yes, the cuff will be off later today but…” he pauses, looking between the two of them.

“Owens figures Eddie’ll be waking up sooner than later and when he does, he’ll need a place to lay low. You both know exactly how this’ll play out with the public, so Steve, we were hoping you’d be willing to take Eddie in in the meantime. If Wayne’s alright with that.”

“You don’t want him to be easy to track down.”

“Most folks wouldn’t expect him to be staying with Steve...” Wayne says in understanding.

“Exactly.” Hopper nods, “But what about your parents?” he directs back to Steve.

“Honestly? No worries there. They haven’t been around much at all in the last year; I think they are about to cut their losses and just sign the house over to me.” he shrugs.

He ignores both Wayne and Hopper's concerned looks and continues. “What will I need to do to help him? Is he going to do physical therapy? Do his bandages need to be wrapped any different than mine?”

Dr. Owens comes in then, “We’ll know more after he wakes up, Steve, but yes, physical therapy appointments are likely in order to build back up his abdominal strength.”

“Honestly don’t think there was much there t’begin with, doc.” Wayne says, poking fun at his nephew as easy as breathing.

-----

A few more days pass, and Steve goes back to work. Having taken time to heal himself, and make sure his people were safe and sound after taking care of Vecna.

This is about when he gets the idea in his head about making a mixtape for Eddie himself. Music is such an important thing in Eddie’s life, and Steve wants to be sappy, okay? Mixtapes are a romance cliché he hasn’t delved into before and what better person to create one for?

Steve gets the call Eddie’s awake on a Wednesday. Family Video’s least busy day.

“Family Video, this is Steve, How can I help you?” He drones.

“G’morning son, y’able to get to the hospital?” Wayne sounds like he’s smiling, but his stomach turns to lead anyway.

“Wayne?”

“Eddie’s awake. He’s ask–”

Steve doesn’t let him finish. “I’m on my way!”

He slams the phone down on the receiver, yells “Gotta go, Ryan!” to his coworker in the back office and books it out the door without waiting for a response.

Breaking multiple speed limits on his way, Steve arrives at the hospital in record time. Deciding the elevator was a waste of time, he sprints up the two flights of stairs to Eddie’s room.

Wayne’s outside the door talking to Hopper when he finally skids to a stop.

“He’s awake? Did someone tell Dustin? Gotta ask Will to help, he should be able to operate their crazy radio–Cerebro!” He snaps his fingers when the name comes to him. “Or maybe El can reach out an–”

“Steve, calm down.” Hopper shushes him, “Yes, Eddie’s awake but still kinda loopy from the drugs. He’s been in and out for the last couple hours. And yes, I’ve called Claudia, she’s contacting Dustin’s camp to give him the news.”

He smiles, sagging in relief. “Can I see him?”

“Sure, go on in,” Wayne chuckles, stepping back from the door for Steve to pass.

Rushing forward to Eddie’s side, Steve sees the other man shifting; stirring as if waking up from a nap, not a coma.

“Hey Eds,” he chuckles after a particularly funny-looking stretch. “You good, man?”

“Stevie! Steviesteviestevie’s here! Wayne, Steve’s here!”

“I see that, now stop wriggling around. You’ll pull yer stitches.” Wayne calls, then goes back to his conversation with Hopper.

“Ohyeah, I’m Frankenstein now.” Eddie tells him with all the confidence in the world.

“You are, are you?”

“Yeah I got all new skin and stitches.”

“...Are you talking about your skin grafts?”

“Uh, ya. Pay ‘tention Steve-o.” Eddie attempts to poke the end of Steve’s nose, but misses completely, poking a cold finger into his eye instead.

“Ow??”

“Steve? You okay?” Eddie looks like he’s about to cry, none the wiser to the bruised eyelid he just caused.

“Yeah, yeah, hon, I’m fine. You just poked me is all. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Eddie breathes, sagging into the pillows under his shoulders with a sigh and a smile. “You called me ‘hon’.”

“That I did,” Steve says with a chuckle, “That okay?”

Eddie’s still smiling, closes his eyes and says, “No.” then promptly falls asleep.

“...What?”

-------

“You told Steve my full name?” Eddie accuses Wayne as soon as he steps through the door later that night (early that morning? Whatever..).

“Why’re you up?”

“Answer the question, old man!”

“Yeah, I did. Seemed pleased as punch t’have learned that lil’ bit of information.”

“I can’t believe this. He called me Teddy!” Eddie waves the scanned page in his uncle’s face.

“That’s cute.” Wayne toes off his boots and wanders into the kitchen for coffee. His bedtime staple.

“Cute?! You’re giving away my secrets!”

“You just now finding out about the Teddy thing? That was weeks ago, Eds, did he not call you that the whole time you were stayin’ there?”

“No??”

Wayne just shrugs in response.

“Wait…” Eddie scans through the one memory he tries to keep wrapped up tight, lest he agonize over it 24/7, “He did once; he was running late for work one day…”

-------

Eddie is packed up and ferried off to Steve’s a couple days later; he’s still sore, still recovering, but at least now he can be out of the hospital and he’s past the biggest threat of infection.

He’s got a schedule of PT appointments he’ll have to make; a schedule of which Steve made sure to get into Keith’s hands before Eddie came home and ensuring he’d get Steve’s work schedule swapped around to accommodate (He did, after a thorough berating by Robin).

“This’ll be fun, huh Stevie?” Eddie asks, gesturing to the re-dressing instructions for his various wounds in his hand.

“Oh yeah, loads.” he responds sarcastically at first, but gives him a smile immediately after. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, Eds.”

He reaches over and pats the top of Eddie’s leg, then turns back to the road, pulling away from the curb none the wiser to Eddie’s burning red face.

They ride along in comfortable silence, the radio playing the local rock station at a low volume.

“You ready for the chaos when Henderson gets back?”

Eddie scoffs, “I’m surprised he didn't manage to convince Claudia to pick him up, honestly.”

“Maybe he’s planning his escape to the bus station as we speak.” Steve laughs.

Eddie’s quiet long enough for Steve to look away from the road over at him. The sun through Eddie’s open window makes his dark brown, almost black curls glow gold at the edges; Steve finds himself wanting to kiss him more than anything.

But his face is contorted in worry, and he’s chewing on his already stubby fingernails.

“Eds? You alright?”

“Huh? Yeahyeah I’m just…panicking.”

Steve glances back to the road briefly, “About what?”

“He’s going to hate me.” Eddie blurts as soon as the ‘t’ leaves Steve’s mouth.

“No he’s not, Ed–”

“Why shouldn’t he? With what I put him through down there?”

“Hey, no, none of that.”

Eddie doesn’t respond. His fingers are going to start to bleed if he doesn’t stop.

“Eddie, look at me.” Steve grabs his hand away from his mouth, ignoring the feeling of wet fingertips as he laces their fingers together.

“Gross, man–”

“Eddie, that boy loves you so goddamn much. He may be a little passive aggressive about it for a while, but I know he’s glad you made it out of there. That you’re here with us.”

He lets himself smile at Steve’s words. “I’m only here ‘cause of you.” he says in a small voice.

“I just didn’t want Dustin to be sad.” Steve states, matter-of-factly and turns all his attention back to the road.

Eddie snorts in laughter at that, and Steve’s face pulls up into a smirk.

He’s still holding Eddie’s hand.

-----

The plan is for Eddie to lay low for a couple weeks at minimum.

Luckily for them, Hopper coming back lent credence to the claim that he was trying to help track down the Creel Murder copycat killer, being as the original killer was from Hawkins and all.

The government pulled their strings, declaring Eddie a free man and a hero for saving a young Mr. Henderson when, while being held hostage at the Creel House, he’d taken a majority of the killer’s wrath and kept Dustin safe from the crumbling rubble when the earthquake hit.

It was flimsy at best if you looked at it too hard, but luckily for them, it seemed like the people of Hawkins would much rather ignore their shortcomings when it came to the witch hunt than face them.

It only ended up taking about those two weeks for Eddie to get much stronger, and for things to blow over enough for him to go home.

But damn does Steve wish it was longer.

Not the…hiding from a mob thing, or healing from horrible wounds thing.. But the ‘having Eddie that close’ thing, the ‘comforting presence after a particularly bad nightmare’ thing.

Steve was falling harder and harder every day. Doing his damndest to make Eddie blush just a bit pinker every time his hand lingered on Eddie’s just a bit too long, every pretend need to brush his hair away from his face, and the particularly great ‘Oh, don’t worry if you can’t reach up enough to wash your hair, Eddie, I’ll help. I won’t look anywhere else, promise…unless you want me to’ he’d said (in much more eloquent terms) with a flirty wink

It was sickeningly domestic, and he wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

Even in the times they’d get frustrated with one another; Eddie sick of having to be helped with every little thing and having to deal with the constant pain, or Steve also dealing with his own wounds and having to deal with a couple of Eddie’s fits of anger at having to be helped.

Kudos to Eddie though, he really pushed through his PT, did everything right, listened to what Steve and his doctors told him, he was healing fast.

On the second to last day of Eddie staying with him (though he didn’t know it at the time), Eddie was up before him. He’d snuck easily past the open door to the living room from the hall under the stairs, and into the kitchen.

Steve woke up to the smell of eggs and toast and wandered groggily into the kitchen himself.

Eddie had stretched the toaster from its usual spot in the corner of the counter to right next to the stove and had perched himself on a stool from the island so he could cook.

“Eddie?”

“Stevie, hey!” Eddie says, turning a bit to smile at him as he enters. “I hope you don’t mind scrambled, I don’t quite have the muscle movements to flip anything yet.

Steve blinks twice. Fuck. He’s in love.

“I’ll take anything you give me, Eds.” Eddie’s face turns fully scarlet at that. “Need any help? I’ll make some cinnamon toast if you’d like?” He asks, already pulling the toaster away from the stove with one hand and reaching for the cinnamon sugar with the other.

“Y-yeah, that’d be great Sweeth–Stevie.”

Steve feels his own face go scarlet at the slip, but doesn’t call attention to it. “Cool.” he says, like an idiot.

Eddie hums as they work, some song Steve doesn’t quite recognize, and soon they have two plates of breakfast.

“Thanks Eddie, this looks great.”

“You’re welcome Steve-o, I put some cheese in there too.” His smile is perfect.

“What’ve you got planned today?”

Eddie launches into the campaign he’s been planning for the party, what he’s still got to figure out, whether or not he’s going to delay starting in order to make them all a figure of their characters, but then if he did that he’d need them all to give him their character sheets well beforehand and Mike is horrible about not making a character till the very last second..

Steve’s so entranced listening to him, he doesn’t realize what time it is until Eddie stops himself.

“Hey, don’t you have the opener today? It’s already 9:30.”

“Aw shit..”

Steve races up the stairs to his room to the tune of Eddie’s cackle, starting the shower first, then grabbing up whatever clothes he can find that’re clean.

He jumps under the warm spray and showers as fast as he possibly can, jumps back out, focuses on drying his hair as much as possible while trying to yank the denim of his jeans over the still-wet skin of his legs, pulls on a polo, shrugs on his vest, grabs up the stupid styling mousse he doesn't like to use all that often (it makes his hair sticky and he hates it, okay?) and whips his hair into shape.

Good enough.

He bolts back down the stairs, pulls on his socks, then shoes, fuck! Where are his keys??

“In here, Stevie!”

He peeks into the kitchen and Eddie’s got both arms outstretched in front of him where he’s still perched on the stool.

In one hand: his keys, in the other: a brown paper bag.

Eddie made him a lunch.

Can you fall more in love with someone that quick after doing it the first time?

“You’re a fuckin’ lifesaver,’ Steve reaches out with both his own hands, enveloping them over Eddie’s.

He pushes them wide, steps between Eddie’s legs, kisses him quickly, then, just as quickly, is gripping onto the bag and his keys, and stepping backwards toward the door.

“Take it easy today, okay Teddy? You already did a lot, so just relax. See you later!” Steve admonishes the other man teasingly and spins out the front door.

It takes hours.

Hours for Steve to realize what he did.

“Oh no…Oh fuck! ” he yells, dropping the tape in his hand and abandoning the returns cart where it stands.

He books it to the front counter and launches himself over it, knocking a whole stack of already organized tapes off it in his wake a la Dustin Henderson.

Old Ms. Wilson turns her nose up at his antics and leaves without any preamble, and he’s mercifully alone in the store.

“C’mon, c’mon, Eddie please pick up…”

“Harrington residence!”

“Eddie! Eddie, I am so so sorry! I swear, I didn't even realize what I did until just about..hm.. 20 seconds ago? It doe–” Well, better now than never. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, we can just forget it ever happened if yo–”

“Yeah, yeah, no worries Harrington,”

“Harrington?”

Eddie continues on like he didn’t hear him “I know it was just a mistake; I should be out of here soon anyway so..”

There’s something off about his voice. “Ed–”

“So just forget it ever happened, ‘kay? Ooh, bring back Star Wars when you’re off, yeah? Thanks, Steve, you’re the best.”

The dial tone sounds in his ear.

Wow.. okay, that’s…fine. He’ll just stick to being hopelessly in love on his own, then.

-------

“You mean to tell me,” Wayne’s got his eyes closed and his thumb and forefinger pinched over the bridge of his nose. “That that boy kissed you full on yer mouth. And you thought he was 100% not in love with you?”

“Well I know now that’s not true.” Eddie crosses his arms over his chest like a petulant child being scolded. “He didn’t exactly sound all that excited about it when he called me.”

“I can’t believe I’m the one t’hafta tell ya this, but from what you said, in your own retelling , was Steve called hours later, ‘cause he didn’t realize he kissed ya, said ‘I’m sorry, it doesn’t have to mean anything.’...and you pushed him away.”

“That’s what I just said Wayne! I know now ‘cause of this tape but–”

“You’re hopeless. Bless that Buckley girl, oth’wise you’d still be…what’s she call ya? A Doofus about him.”

"...shut up.."

-------

Part 5 here!

tagging: @hellomynameismoo and @messrs-weasley 'cause they both asked so nicely!

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undertalethingems · 6 months

Note

Hello! I've recently been getting back into your works(but like even more the I was, because I got your Ao3) and this popped into my brain.

What do you thing about the "Papyrus never moves" theory(if you don't know what I'm talking about, https://youtu.be/S_Fas0QkWic?si=FQuGOKCnXRDNk5Uq)? It kinda seems like something you'd, at the very least like, even if you don't belive.

Anyways, just thought I'd ask!

Hey, glad you've been enjoying my stuff, thank you ^^

As for the theory, I saw it when it first started going around tumblr ^^ I don't know if I 100% buy it--it seems most likely to me that Toby made Papyrus (and Toriel, another character that doesn't really move in her fight) early on, and didn't want to go back and change it to make them move more. I don't know that whether monsters moved in their fight or not was something meant to have deeper meaning ascribed to it, haha. (Maybe it's an anti-distraction feature? Having enemies move a lot, especially earlier in the game, might make navigating the bullet hell system harder than intended. But that's just a guess)

But, it can still be a fun idea to play with, and I reference it in my "Dog and Bone(afide Friends)" one-shot, in which Doggo and Papyrus become friends, and Doggo can't see him during a sparring match. You don't have to fully accept a headcanon or theory to explore how it might affect things if it were true, and since it made for an interesting interaction between the two characters I went ahead and used it ^^

So, that's my thoughts!

#undertalethingem chats

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crinkled-emotions · 4 months

Text

Day 22: Drawing a dick on someone's back in sunscreen (only for them to find out later)

This... damn, I had to take a breath.

Happy 2024 team! How crazy is it that we're in 2024?? It feels like yesterday my family hauled ass from one side of Australia to the other (it was actually 2013 but who's counting?).

We have some Daggers being Daggers! Lately I've been in a bit of a funk but I think I'm slowly coming out of it now :)

This one is shorter but I don't have a problem with that, I feel like it lowkey suits better.

“Tasha.”

Phoenix glanced at Bob over her sunglasses.

“What?”

“Don’t look now.”

“Look at what?”

She followed his gaze, spotting Rooster asleep on his lounger... on his stomach. Fanboy winked as he passed by, waving the sunscreen bottle in his hand. Phoenix cocked an eyebrow when Hangman and Coyote also started watching. To her surprise Maverick was also asleep; dogfight football had been off the table that morning but real football wasn’t. Turns out Hangman was of course the stereotypical high school quarterback but to everyone’s surprise Payback had been a linebacker... Rooster and Bob had both dropped out of football at their first opportunity (Bob was a consistent winner in debate club and Rooster played baseball all the way through his schooling years). Fanboy was a strong defender and Coyote was enjoying tackling Hangman when he had the opportunity. Phoenix was a soccer player throughout high school and she didn’t have the slightest interest in football despite having three brothers so when the others mentioned setting up a game she’d laid out with her book to watch them fall over each other. Bob had been snoozing on and off beside her for the last ten minutes, but apparently the others were done with their football to move on to another game.

It had been a long week on base; hops, simulations and lectures kept them all busy and often drained. Maverick did his best to keep morale up but he had things he had to complete and things he needed to ensure the Daggers were competent in to pass on to their classes. Their classes alone had been overwhelming with over-confident kids measuring their dicks at all times – no, seriously Bob was never walking into the locker rooms without knocking ever again.

In order to give the team a moment to recover, Maverick had suggested meeting at the beach by the Hard Deck in the afternoon for burgers. Of course it had quickly turned into sports and now everyone, fed and satisfied, had found various locations to get comfortable for a nap. It wasn’t just Rooster asleep; Payback and Maverick both were asleep and despite the smirk on his face, Hangman looked like he was considering his nap potential too. Bob and Phoenix exchanged looks, Phoenix passing over her book so Bob could subtly film what Fanboy was up to. Fanboy grinned, wiggling his fingers.

“Oh he’s totally gonna wake up,” Bob muttered. Phoenix elbowed him.

“No he’s not; Rooster sleeps like he’s dead, he’s not going anywhere.”

They watched as Fanboy drew a phallic symbol in sunblock on Rooster’s back, winking at the others as he then made a run for it. Plucking her book from Bob’s hand, Phoenix flopped back against her seat.

“Well, now we wait.”

Missed call from Rooster (7:14am)

Missed call from Rooster (7:15am)

Rooster: Tasha CALL ME

Phoenix woke to the notifications and immediately called Rooster, holding her phone to her ear as she got out of bed. Whilst she fumbled into clothes just in case it was that kind of emergency, he finally answered.

“Oh, so now you’re out of bed?”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Phoenix demanded, shoving her (clean, relax) sock into her mouth so that she could do up the button on her jeans.

“I’m glad you’re so well rested, I got up early for PT and I just had them tell me the funniest thing ever.”

Phoenix paused. Spat out her sock.

“Bradley Bradshaw,” she started carefully, “please tell me you didn’t send me an SOS – on a Sunday of all days – to tell me about the PT you flirted with?”

“What- no! She was cute though... no, she asked me if I had a new tattoo and when I said I had no idea what she was talking about she handed me a mirror so I could see my back.”

Phoenix’s eyebrows raised as it all came rushing back.

“Oh my god, I totally forgot about that!”

She burst out laughing, doubling over as she howled. She could almost feel the irritation through the phone but it only made her laugh harder.

“Thanks, Phoenix. I can’t believe someone drew a dick on my back – wait. Who was it anyway? Just out of curiosity. It was Hangman wasn’t it?”

Phoenix took a moment to gather herself, flopping back into bed.

“No way am I throwing anyone under the bus. Figure it out yourself, Bradshaw – and holy shit, I hate you so much right now, it’s 7:30am on a Sunday morning and I’m awake. Ugh, this is cursed.”

Now it was Rooster’s turn to laugh, and he did until Phoenix hung up on him.

“Can we see it?”

Rooster glanced over his shoulder at Coyote, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you propositioning me? Take me out to dinner first, man, damn-“

“-no, the dick- shit.”

Coyote sighed while Rooster chuckled, finishing getting into his flight suit.

“C’mon- please?”

“Ooh, sorry man, too late. Better luck next time.”

“Damn.”

Coyote went back to his own locker while Rooster struggled to get his flight suit to not rest against his sunburned back and shoulders.

“Bradley.”

Rooster groaned, glancing up when Maverick approached.

“Yeah, Mav?”

“I’ve been... hearing rumours today.”

“This is about the lilly white dick on my back isn’t it. You have your team to thank for that.”

Maverick’s mouth twitched. Rooster sighed.

“Go ahead; laugh it up. You’re not the first. I’m gonna kill Hangman when I get my hands on him.”

“It doesn’t sound like it was him, Roo.”

Maverick ruffled his hair and then continued his walk up to the podium.

“Good morning, aviators- hey, has anyone seen the penis on Rooster’s back? Gives a whole new meaning to his callsign, really.”

The rest of the Daggers laughed, Maverick flipping open his file.

“Okay, let’s get to it. Uh, today we’re going to be not doing the intense hops we’re used to; we’re going back to basics because I’m starting to notice gaps in your training...”

“C’mon, guys, fess up will you? Who drew the dick on my back in sunscreen and then let me burn?”

“To be fair, you slept for hours and we woke you when we were worried about you getting dehydrated,” Bob commented as he moved around the ready room. The others exchanged nervous glances; if anyone would dob another team member in it would probably be Bob.

Damn stealth pilots.

“The joke’s over, guys, I’ve got a burn along the lines of my callsign and I don’t think Maverick has stopped laughing yet.”

“He’s not the only one,” Hangman grinned. Rooster cocked an eyebrow as he turned to the blonde; no one said he was above bribery-

“Tell me who it was and I’ll blow you-“

“-it was Fanboy.”

The others groaned, Bob facepalming.

“Yet again, Hangman, you live up to your callsign,” Coyote said to his best friend. Hangman shrugged.

“I’ll never say no to a-“

“-did you seriously just give Fanboy up? Dude, not cool.”

Phoenix walked into the ready room at the perfect time, smacking Hangman upside the head. He winced but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

“Guys; I’ll send you photos I promise.”

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suitsusboth · 4 months

Note

I'm rereading the original Lovelights, loving every minute of it!

Do you think you would be able to write a one-shot about The Game!? I would love to know how that went down, especially since it was Anthony's first time back in who knows how long, and Kate's first time playing it. Has she practiced her skating enough to be Aubrey ready? Do they end up on the same team? Or are they on opposite teams and dominate? How do you see it going down? ♥️

I think the first year Kate witnesses the game, Daphne's surprise announcement very much overshadows everything. The family is shocked. Even more so when, somewhere in-between being asked a hundred questions a minute, Daphne lets it be known the father will not be involved. Anthony doesn't say much after that. Daphne thinks he's deeply disappointed in her, and to herself decides she doesn't need his approval. It's her life. It's her baby.

(Spoiler alert, he isn't disappointed. He's worried about his sister. She might not have said it, but someone has hurt her. Daphne believes in romance and true love. He knows, whoever this guy is, has let her down. And this baby.)

But it does cause a bit of a rift for a while (until Anthony uses his words.)

But, let's have a peek at that first year, hm?

The next morning, bright and early new years day, Kate and Anthony are drinking coffee in bed, with Eggnog laying at their feet. Anthony's phone buzzes.

"Who is it?" Kate asks, taking another sip. Anthony's frowning at his phone.

"Colin. They're all heading to the game."

Silence spread between them. They hadn't talked about it yet. Daphne. It had been a shock, Kate knew that. And as expected, when surprised, Anthony got quiet. He needed to process. This is also new— them. She wasn't completely sure what she should be doing, especially when it came to his family. They had left not long after midnight and Daphne's announcement. When they got back they had gone to bed soon after.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she eventually asks. It seems like a good place to start. It at least let him decide.

He shrugs. "What's there to talk about?"

Kate purses her lips, but refrains from saying anything. Anthony's phone buzzes again, and he sighs.

"We don't have to go," she tells him softly, resting her chin on his shoulder. He's quiet for a moment until he lets out a small smile, and plants a kiss on her forehead.

He shakes his head, and looks at her with a brightness in his eyes again. "No. Let's go."

And they're glad they go. Anthony digs out his old high school hockey jersey for Kate to wear (she's thrilled even though no one will see it under her coat

And they're glad they go. Anthony digs out his old high school hockey jersey for Kate to wear (she's thrilled even though no one will see it under her coat— furthermore, she takes it back to Manhattan and becomes one of her favourite things to wear around her apartment. Anthony likes it too. Particularly when she doesn't wear pants with it.) Everyone is there except Eloise and Daphne. Eloise, fighting a hangover. Daphne, did not want to come. No further explanation was given by Mrs. Bridgerton and no one pressed. Colin, Gregory, Hyacinth and Anthony were playing. Benedict was also fighting a hangover, but he was doing so in sunglasses in a camper chair, sipping an Irish coffee did not join in.

The Game took place on a frozen pond a few miles from town. A lot of people showed up, mostly to spectate though. It seemed only the real talented skaters, who could take a hit, played. There was the blue team, which Bridgertons were on, and the blue team. There was also, seemingly from what Kate overheard, a lot of betting on the side from the townsfolk (Mrs. Agatha seemingly being the ringleader and/or bookie of this event— who in turn gave Kate a wink when she saw her arrive, fingers intertwined with Anthony's.)

Anthony had not been exaggerating when it came to the chaos and brutality of The Game. It was basically a WWE match on ice. Henry tried to referee, but no one seemed to listen. The puck couldn't be seen half the time. But Hyacinth did manage to take out at least three men in their mid to late forties.

It was a mad, and fun, and Kate doesn't think she's laughed that much, ever.

Years later, when Kate was better at ice skating and the Bridgerton family had grown exponentially, they started their own version of The Game on New Years Day on the Farm. They had a rink after all. Some years they were rivals (Kate having the most number of wins, mostly because she 'played dirty'). Some years they were on the same team (Undefeated, suck it Hastings). Most years ended in bruises and big smiles. Only once or twice in tears (usually one of the kids). But they did it every year, and every year they were grateful to have this big, mad, wonderful family and the farm.

#lovelights au #asks #:))))))))))#one day i will write daph and simons story #and one day i'll continue kate and anthony's in this universe #but they just have a happy little family on the farm :)

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yennasun · 7 months

Note

I started reading your writings regarding on MT. And Oh my god, I’m addicted to it now, its now my daily dose.

Just the way you made MT, your writing and overall is just a huge wow. Honestly MT gives me the Spartan Kratos vibes. Especially the explaining his moves (yes I scrolled wAAYY down) This question is more on a personally, you can answer this or avoid it if you want to. Only a few. Forgive me when i bombard you.

How did he meet his wife. Was she a nurse of his, a fan who watches he previous fights, a passerby who bumped into him, a cute shop owner Mt found and kept visiting regardless, a blind date. Possibilities.

2. Was Gold aware of his dad’s old career. Did he accidentally find stuff that belonged to MT, or did MT never brought it up.

3. Can you imagine MT pulling a Spartan Rage Ape Shit like God of War just minus the healing part.

4. If ever or a thought, how would Amp MT react to seeing Redemp Squad MT. An opposite of who he is and what he looks like. You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to. Just a thought.

Im so sorry for asking this much.

Hi Jelly, I'm glad you like the writing! I know it's been a while since I made any new additions, but I do have plans for it. Just hit a bit of a creative slump recently.

Now for the questions!

1: I was actually planning on using @nzn43 OC Lime, she was gonna be a fighter as well. They were supposed to fight and have a very even and competitive fight that would go limes way by razor-thin split decision.

MT would eventually be allowed out into the city where he crosses paths with lime once again, and it'll carry on as MT consistently crosses paths with lime.

Eventually, after MT escaped and adopted an infant gold, the commission would find him. They'd send a hit squad after him because he saw and experienced firsthand how the commission REALLY worked and they wanted to tie up loose ends.

He'd escape but only after taking a few bullets, he collapses in an alleyway with a wailing, but unharmed gold in his arms.

He wakes up in Lime's place and thats about as far as I've thought about it lol.

2: for the most part, no. MT never really saw it as super important for the relationship he has with his kid, so he never really brought it up. Pair that with the USFC's official TV channel being incredibly tentative to play re runs of MTs fights in fear of people maybe finding out something they shouldn't, MT mostly goes down as a "forgotten warrior" type of figure in the usfc despite how entertaining his fights were.

Gold DID start looking a bit into it in the months leading up to the "incident" but didn't find much given the time they had left.

3: So actually, funny story about this, when episode 30 came out, I began to redevelop MT as a personality. When I'd first started this au I think it was around the time ep 28 came out, I was sorta on the bandwagon of MT being in his early to mid 20s.

So when I began this au I gave him a starkiller/galen Marek personality.

After Episode 30 came out, I designed his personality with kratos in mind (from the new god of war games) as a stoic but dangerous warrior who will fight for the people he loves.

So for the earlier chapters, before ep 30, he's more like a young kratos. Bold, wrathful, headstrong and prone to destructive outbursts. Post ep 30 chapters are where his personality will start to shift to the newer kratos.

As for the spartan rage thing, I do have something to say about that but i think I'm gonna keep it to myself, I will say that if you like that stuff then you'll LOVE what I got in mind.

4: depends on which type of MT you ask.

Pre escape MTA would keep his head down and speak only if spoken to, cuz that's how he was taught. And plus, redemption squad MT isn't an Amp, and Rooney taught him that nonamps can get him in serious trouble if he's not wary.

Pre redemption king would hate his guts off jealousy alone

he hasn't been through half of what i have, why does he get to heal and I don't?! He thinks

Post redemption MT would look at him with that rough, hard squint he's become known for, crack knowing smile, give him a pat on the shoulder and a nod of understanding. They both made it out, the journey was long and painful but they both made it.

Also don't ever apologize for bombarding me, I absolutely LOVE answering asks like this!

#alan becker #animation vs minecraft #avm #animator vs animation #avm king orange #au #ava #usfc #avm mango #avm mt

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lovelynim · 6 months

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Profile Tag Game!

Hello - Oh, hello! You can call me Fabi. I was tagged by @otomiyaa and saw no other option but to participate in this little game. Now... I wonder, what brought you here, hm?

Chat: Tickling - Why do I like it so much, you ask? I'm not sure... I can't really tell when it caught my attention, but I guess I just dove deeper and deeper and here I am now. If I'm ticklish? Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Trust me, I tried to find out.

Chat: Writing - I'm not sure why, but when I'm not really inspired or don't have a prompt in mind, I feel that my writing gets better if I'm angry or sad. I wonder... would this mean something?

When It Rains - It's been reaaaaally hot here lately, so it's good to finally see some rain ~ of course, that if I can get home before the rain leaves me soaking wet.

When It Snows - Snow, you say? That might come out as a shock, but I never saw snow before... what is it like?

When the Sun Is Out - Agh, sunlight... Who gave the stupid idea of going outside when it's this hot?

Good morning - If you are waking up early, make sure to not make much noise. I'm having a day off and I don't want to be up by the sunrise...

Good night - There it goes another day... I always feel like I could've done more at times like this, but it's no use feeling this way, right? Good night!

About me: Games - I hope this doesn't sound too cringe-y or something, but I'm quite a gamer myself. I'm somewhat proud for being able to manage to play four games even after becoming an adult, eheh ~

Something to Share: Fandoms - I think the thing that disappoints me the most about my blog is that I'm head over heels for so many niché fandoms and I barely have people to hear me ranting about them... Sigh, I wish I could make more people play the same games as I do ~

My Hobbies: ??? - Ahm... Is writing or gaming considered a hobby? Eh, no? Hmm... then I guess I don't have any to share...

My Troubles - Dealing with people is more troublesome than I first expected when I started working at my current job... I need to find a way to look less angry and more friendly - even when they make stupid questions...

Favorite Food: Oh, that's an easy one: pasta! ~

Least Favorte Food: I'm quite the picky eater myself, so there are quite some to list here, but I simply refuse to eat pork, no matter how you prepared it or whatever.

About @wertzunge - Max was probably the first person I got to know when I started my blog. I reached out to him without much in mind, but seeing how our friendship developed over the past years... I don't regret a single bit what I did and would do it all over again!

About @shy-lee-chu - I've to admit that kid got some nerve, heh. She is fun to hang around with and I'm glad I could get to know her more - she has a lot of interesting stuff to share, but... Well, that doesn't mean I won't put her back into her place if she doesn't respect her elders, ehe ~

For this game I'll be tagging @fluffy-ami @chibimochii @ticklystuff @keru0 and, as always, whoever feels like joining us ~

#tag game #genshin impact #profile tag game

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bearterritory · 5 months

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Griz the Bear Leads Cal to Big Game Win

Golden Bears Continue to Own Stanford

PALO ALTO - It may not have been quite as dramatic as Chase Garbers' game-winning touchdown run in 2019, but Trond Grizzell - a walk-on who had played a grand total of one career snap heading into this season - added "Big Game Hero" to his growing resume on Saturday.

The Cal wide receiver caught two touchdown passes - part of a career-defining performance - and the California football team won its third Big Game in a row with a 27-15 triumph over Leland Stanford Junior University at Stanford Stadium. The game was even more lopsided than the score indicated, as a successful 2 point conversion by the Bears was erroneously negated by the referees and a last minute sure touchdown was sacrificed by Jaydn Ott (who decided to take a knee instead at the five-yard line to burn clock instead of score) which would have made the score at least 36-15.

Grizzell caught scoring passes of 9 and 54 yards and finished with career-highs of seven catches and 136 receiving yards, as the Golden Bears won the Big Game for the fourth time in five years, the longest win streak by California since the Jeff Tedford era. Cal has also not lost at Stanford since 2017. But perhaps more importantly for the Bears than their mastery over their rivals down on The Farm is the fact that they remained bowl-eligible with the win.

"It was a big day - dare you say, 'Big Game Hero'," Travers Family Head Coach Justin Wilcox said. "He's going to be in the conversation. From a year ago, Trond has made as big a jump as anybody. He cares deeply about football and the team. It matters to him, and it's great to see a guy like that who puts in the work."

Grizzell's touchdown grabs helped the Bears (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) establish a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter. He also caught a 21-yard pass from quarterback Fernando Mendoza on a 4th-and-7 play in the fourth quarter that helped sustain a game-clinching scoring drive.

"Trond is a special player," said Mendoza, who won his first Big Game as Cal's starting quarterback. "He's a vertical threat, so we had a couple of plays drawn up for him. I regard Trond as one of my best friends. We built amazing chemistry together. So when he's out there, I trust that I know what he's going to do."

Mendoza also set career-highs with 294 passing yards and three touchdowns, while running back Jaydn Ott was a workhorse with 166 rushing yards on a career-high 36 carries. Ott also went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career (2,079).

"There are a lot of people who are part of this game. I've seen grown men on the field crying real tears," Ott said. "It means a lot. I got to see it last year, so I knew coming into this game how much it meant to people. I'm glad we came out on top."

Ott scored on a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to help Cal build a 21-6 lead, but the Cardinal answered back with a Hail Mary pass (and its only touchdown of the game) to cut it to 21-12. They then managed to hit a second very long field goal (of 53 yards - they had earlier scored on a 50 yarder) near the end of the third quarter, but would get no closer as the Bears proceeded to grind yards and pull away.

California put together the pivotal drive of the game, marching 75 yards on 13 plays and scoring the game-clinching touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Mendoza to Jeremiah Hunter early in the fourth quarter. After Stanford failed to answer and turned the ball over on downs, the Golden Bears managed to burn nearly 7 minutes of clock on their last drive - including Ott's unselfish play of breaking away for a sure touchdown run but stopping at the 5 yard line and taking a knee with a little over a minute left in the game. "I didn't need to score again," Ott said. "I would rather not give them back the ball then just make another touchdown."

"It's a huge win - obviously for the team's goals but also the Cal community, the players, the student body," Wilcox said. "I don't know there's a better 30 minutes to an hour in the year than when you win the Big Game and retain the Axe. It's a great feeling and I want the guys to enjoy it."

Wilcox improved his coaching record in the Big Game to four wins with only two losses - one of which happened in a 24-23 heartbreaker in 2020 where the Bears had more than half their starters out due to strict Covid protocols from the University during the pandemic, while Stanford kept out no players for the contest. It was later revealed that more than a dozen of the Cardinal starters had tested positive either immediately before or shortly after the game.

The Golden Bears close out the regular season on Saturday at UCLA at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Cal will be going for their third win in a row and will become bowl-eligible with a victory.

#Go Bears!#This is Bear Territory #UC Berkeley #Roll on you Bears #Cal football #Go Bears

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fountainpenguin · 5 months

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"I learned quickly that perseverance stood between a cat and her new best friend- (Me!)" (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 14 - “Kindle (Pearl, Impulse)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

---

Pearl's barely begun playing Session 2 when Scott calls her back to the portal hub. See, she's on the buddy program list, and there's a new refugee in New Star Station who's a little... Well. Different. His name is Rhetoric, and in the eyes of the game, he doesn't exist.

While Pearl sorts that out, Impulse mines the ore to craft a clock...

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

PearlescentMoon - Bat

Quarry: Etho

Hunter: Unknown

Allegiance: Lush Cave Alliance

💚 💛 ❤️

Pearl is on-server for what feels like eight minutes and eleven seconds before Scott logs onto Dog's Life, pleads for her, Ren, and Martyn to log out, and jumps off again. Pearl relays this information to Tango, who turns his head. He, uh… He doesn't push away from the thin ring of basalt that stands between them and a drop to certain splashy lava death. He's leaning over it pretty far. And that's fine! To each their own, y'know?

Still kinda stresses me out, though. Since ghasts can die from their own fireballs, I'm not sure they're fireproof… so I'm glad I'm not the one carrying those hybrid traits right now.

A ripple passes down Tango's white-tipped tail, though his expression is curious, not annoyed. Several ghast tendrils lie long and coiled around him. A few of them ripple too, and Pearl is grateful for the new mod she put (with Grian's blessing) that spells the word Ghast above his head. Finally, Tango does flip around, though he braces his elbows on the wall. "Well, I mean… He must need you for something pretty serious if he's pulling you away this early. C'mon, though… It's only been a couple seconds for him since you came on, right?"

That is weird… Pearl glances over the rim of the basalt drop. One relatively small ghast bobs below. It's one of the little ones translucent enough to show its massive beating heart. "I guess so? I've not actually taken the time to experiment with the way it works. It's so confusing living in Simmers' Quarter-"

"Oh, yeah… Yeah, they play around with time a lot over there, don't they? That'll really mess you up. Some of your neighbors pop back the next day zoned out of their minds like they've been gone for years, right?"

Pearl chuckles. Sort of. It's mostly drowned in the distant, warbled mews of ghasts and the crackle of the lava. The Nether air is thick with smoke. The oxygen is thick here. She really needs a drink. At least this should be a quick visit… She doesn't plan to stay here with Tango half as long as she did with Martyn back in Double Life. But if they get carried away… Cleo and Jimmy will understand. Probably. At least they have each other.

Actually, given Cleo's track record, maybe I do want to be careful.

She checks the comm again. You know, there's something pathetic and cruel about all this. The irony is omnipresent and its laughs tickle at her ears. Scott certainly wanted nothing to do with her in Double Life, even though they got along well the season before. They thrived, actually, back in Last Life. He won the season and Pearl made it to the final four. They faced each other in the finals of Double Life with snow up to their ankles, Scott clutching Cleo's limp body in his arms and Pearl holding a panting wolf by the collar, fingers wedged beneath the leather strap.

How fitting, y'know… all the snow. Wind whistled, swishing snowflakes through the air. Few words were exchanged. Mostly staring eyes and heaving chests. Puffing breaths, visible in the air. Wolves growled, Scott bent his head over Cleo's unmoving form, and splintered sparks curled down both their cheeks. It always ends like this, in Grian's games. They always start of fun and full of life, then tear her to her core.

She loves the rush. She really does.

Double Life ended in a burst of TNT, set off at Scott's own hand. And maybe they didn't get along, and maybe it had its miserable and lonely moments (especially where roleplay and Between interactions blurred into bitter avoidance, like he didn't want to see her at all).

Two seasons later, here he is… come crawling back to coax her from the dark. What's she to do with that information? Scott probably wouldn't taste his own medicine even if she poured it in a sugar spoon and shoved it straight down his throat. He'd cough it up and squirm and spit it right back in her face.

Well, maybe I could do a little better at inviting him out in Between… Without regular Empires interaction, she sort of fell off the map where Scott's concerned. Maybe she likes it that way.

And maybe I don't.

It's… difficult (hanging out with Scott) because it's easy (for Tango and Jimmy to get along; for Martyn and Cleo to have clear lines of disinterest in the sand; for Etho and Joel to tumble twinkle-eyed into mischief even after all this time). This feeling swishing inside her soul isn't even jealousy. Seriously, that is not the issue. Muddlement might be the better word. Confusion and muddlement.

And it's not hard because of Double Life, exactly, because roleplay isn't supposed to cut this deep. It's difficult for reasons undefinable. It's difficult because it doesn't have to be. Scott never meant to, but he made the rejection hurt a lot more, y'know? To do this so soon after he came out to her about the whole 'allay' thing and pressed forward, practically pleading for an extension of their queerplatonic relationship to cross from Last Life into Between. He was coming off a break-up with Jimmy. He probably wasn't in his best frame of mind, and the emotions of Last Life were still tangled and raw for both of them.

She did turn him down, though. You know, that's what really stinks. Why does she feel so much guilt about it, even after all this time? She really handled that information overload as best as she possibly could. She didn't do it over comm. She didn't drag it out. It was all in private, too, though maybe she could've waited for him to put his jacket on again. And she looked him in the eyes (most the time), and saw two little hearts break inside his pupils like shattered snow globes dumping liquid to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Scott… I'm not really interested…"

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

#PearlescentMoon #EthosLab #Scott Smajor #galaxy duo #TangoTek #impulseSV #clock duo #Jimmy Solidarity #Dog's Life #Pixels Imperfect #ridwriting #fic announcement #apparently art #Dog's Life art

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hinatastinygiant · 6 months

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7 | Taurus

Pairing: Kita x Fem!Reader

What's Meant to Be Masterlist

That Sunday, the air feels heavy with anticipation as you make your way to the club. Usually you feel comfortable walking to work alone, but this evening., the streets seem a little bit scarier than usual.

Your nerves are on edge, and it's all you can do to keep moving forward. After Friday night with that client, you've become more cautious.

As you're about to cross the street, you hear a voice calling your name. Your eyes dart in its direction, and you spot Sayuri waving her hand.

"Hey," she smiles, walking over to you. "What are you doing here? You're usually not this early."

"Takao said he wanted to talk to me," you explain, not bothering to mention that you also got a new job at the cafe.

"Oh, okay," she nods.

"Why are you here so early?" you then ask.

"Look at me, Y/N, I basically just rolled out of bed. I need to do my hair, makeup, and put on my outfit before my shift starts. So I came early," she shrugs.

"Right," you say, nodding your head. "I guess I should probably do the same. See you inside."

"Yeah, see you."

When you step through the doors, the music is blaring and there's already a good amount of customers inside. You walk over to the manager's suite and knock on the door.

"Come in," a voice calls out.

"Hey," you greet him as you step into the room.

"Ah, Y/N, just the girl I was looking for," he says with a small smile. "I wanted to talk to you about the other night," he begins, his tone serious as he gestures for you to take a seat.

"I'm sorry, sir, I-"

"You have nothing to apologize for," he shakes his head. "In fact, I should be the one apologizing. I was the one who booked you, and I was the one who was supposed to watch over the clients. So, I am sorry, Y/N."

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me."

"I shouldn't have had you go off with that guy. It wasn't my intention to put you in that spot," he admits, his voice soft.

"It's okay, sir," you nod. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get ready for my shift."

"Of course, I'll leave you to it. If anything else happens, please, come to me first," he says.

"Yes, sir," you nod. "I will."

Just as you reach the doorknob, he calls out to you once more. "Oh, I almost forgot. I banned the client. He won't be allowed back."

"Thank you," you smile, before leaving the room.

As you make your way to the dressing rooms, Sayuri comes up to you again.

"Hey, how'd it go with Takao?" she asks you.

"It was good. He just wanted to check in."

"He did? That's good," she replies. "God, I swear you're like his favoritest person ever. He never talks to me about anything."

"Sorry," you shrug, trying to play it cool.

"No, it's okay. Honestly, as long as I'm not in trouble with him, I don't really care."

"I get that," you nod. "Well, I'm going to go change and get ready for tonight."

"Alright, see ya," she smiles.

As you walk away, you can't help but feel a sense of relief. You're glad Takao isn't upset with you, and even more grateful that the guy won't be coming back.

KITA'S P.O.V.

Sunday night I find myself at Atsumu's house, surrounded by the familiar laughter of my friends. Some of the guys are engrossed in a competitive game, their shouts and cheers echoing through the small space. Suna and I take charge of ordering pizza, making sure that everyone's preferences are taken into account because if not, we both know that there's going to be hell to pay.

After receiving the pizzas from the delivery man, we return to the room. Atsumu hands each of us a cold beer, the condensation beading on the bottles as he grins in satisfaction.

"This is the life," he chuckles. "No one else in the world can beat me."

Apparently, he had won the last round of whatever game they were just playing.

"Yeah, right," Osamu rolls his eyes, "you just got lucky. Don't get cocky."

As we settle back into the comfort of the couch, the topic of conversation drifts to the upcoming wedding. "So, anyone bringing a date to the wedding?" Atsumu asks, his gaze sweeping across the group.

"I am," Aran speaks up.

"Same here," Omimi adds.

"Are you?" Suna then asks Atsumu, raising an eyebrow.

"I might," he grins, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Really?" Suna scoffs. "Like who?"

"Like, you know," Atsumu says, lowering his voice. "Someone I met the other day."

"That's specific," Aran snorts.

"Hey, if I tell ya, it ruins the fun, ya know?"

"Jesus, Tsumu, didn't I tell you not to mess around with her?" Osamu sighs, shaking his head.

"Wait, is he talking about Y/N?" Aran asks.

"You can't invite her to the wedding, Tsumu," Omimi cuts in.

"Yeah, why not?" he asks, causing the whole group to look over at me.

"Uh, because..." Omimi trails off, not sure what to say.

"Because Kita likes her, idiot," Suna sighs.

"I do not," I roll my eyes.

"Do too," Osamu mutters under his breath.

"Why not ask her, Kita?" Aran then asks, looking over at me.

"Well, because..."

"It's not like he's her type, anyway," Atsumu smirks.

"How the hell would you know?" I glare at him.

"I'm just saying," he shrugs. "You never dated back when you were close."

"Look, I know it's up to you," Aran chimes in, "but if you like her, you should ask her."

"That's pretty serious, though, don't you think?" Suna chimes in.

"So what if it is?" Aran questions. "We're all adults, aren't we? Besides, it's not like they just met."

"True, and," Osamu pauses, shooting his brother a look, "if you bring her then Atsumu can't."

"Aw, come on, Samu," Atsumu whines.

"I agree," Omimi nods. "I think Kita should ask her."

"Alright, fine, I'll ask her," I finally give in.

"Nice!" Aran cheers.

"Thanks, Kita," Osamu chuckles.

"Whatever," I mutter, shaking my head. I still don't think I'll have the nerve to actually ask her, but the guys are relentless. We'll see how it goes.

What's Meant to Be Masterlist

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claristhegirl · 7 months

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And there we have it! After 7 1/2 years, I've finally completed Birthright Lunatic difficulty!

Some backstory: When I originally played Revelation in early 2016, I had already completed Birthright and Conquest on Hard, and decided my first [and only] Revelation playthrough would be on Lunatic as I was already familiar enough with the game. After finishing Revelation, I started Lunatic playthroughs of both Birthright and Conquest, but as Birthright is the relatively easy game I added some extra restrictions:

No grinding.

No My Castle use. This meant I was limited only to items obtained during chapters as I couldn't buy anything from shops.

No statbooster use (…I think, I'm not entirely sure I didn't use any back in 2016 but I had a ton in my inventory, so).

No paralogues, though that's mainly because of how offputting I find the entire kids setup in Fates to be.

Conquest didn't get very far, only reaching Chapter 10 (I'll just start over completely eventually). Birthright made it to Chapter 16; I don't remember why exactly I stopped playing, though the opening of Ch16 is a bit overwhelming.

And so the playthrough lay dormant for nearly 7 1/2 years. But a bit over a week ago, thanks to a friend I was wanting to play some 3DS FE again, and so I picked up this playthrough again and got through the rest relatively easily with the help of over 7 years of additional FE experience.

Finishing this playthrough has really rubbed in how much it feels like Birthright doesn't stand on its own at all. Where are enemy skills? Why are the changes in difficulty level basically just "more enemies"? Why is the hyped up near endgame battle against Corrin's brother so incredibly simple with him "holding back"? Why is the final boss's position so close to the start making it an incredibly easy 1 turn with a bit of setup? The answer to all of these is "because Conquest is the opposite". The game wouldn't be designed like this if Conquest didn't exist. Birthright was basically advertised as the game for fans of Awakening, but a standalone Awakening followup likely wouldn't be like that. It makes the game not feel whole, I guess.

But regardless, it's still Fire Emblem, and Fates does have some really fun gameplay systems (albeit overly complicated at times, which is ironic in how they're all shared with the "simple" game Birthright). I'm glad I finally came back to this playthrough and had a good time with it.

Character and chapter info:

Corrin (238 Battles / 132 Victories) Girl

Oboro (206 Battles / 127 Victories) She was my best physically defensive unit, making her incredibly valuable. I'm surprised her battle count managed to barely surpass Ryoma's. Also, Girl.

Ryoma (202 Battles / 188 Victories) lol. Just… lol. What an absolutely utterly absurd unit. He did a fantastic job of being the emergency delete button for large groups of enemies.

Hinoka (156 Battles / 70 Victories) I'm surprised she's that high, but I suppose her ability to solo Magic enemies across several rounds of combat helped with that. She ended up fairly weak but good for support with her personal and Rally Speed.

Kaze (154 Battles / 99 Victories) Kaze's damage output always disappointed me, but his shuriken debuffs and massive Res ensured he got a bunch of use regardless.

Setsuna (108 Battles / 88 Victories) I had high hopes for Setsuna, as she was decently above average on Strength at promotion… but then proceeded to get only a single point of Str in the next 13 levels after that. She'll always hold a special place in my heart though, for this absurdly unlikely moment back from my 2016 portion of the playthrough:

1 / 250. She just happened to be standing adjacent while Kaze was weakening Camilla, and she got the 1 / 250 chance of finishing off Camilla instantly. This particular moment made this specific playthrough mean a lot to me, which is a big part of why I resumed it from Ch16 instead of starting over. (This picture was taken on April 5th 2016)

Orochi (105 Battles / 74 Victories) My only primary Magic user, her terrible speed meant I didn't use her as much as I would've liked to. I'm very glad I decided to promote her with my somewhat limited Master Seals before Chapter 19 though lol, I did not remember the gimmick of that map beforehand at all.

Takumi (100 Battles / 74 Victories) Fujin Yumi sure is good. He was slower than I'd like, given I almost always had to augment his speed whenever I needed him to do something.

Jakob (100 Battles / 55 Victories) Jakob was reclassed into a Paladin sometime before Chapter 16, before I resumed this playthrough. I don't know if I knew back then that, with my restrictions, it was the only Heart Seal I was gonna get lol. I didn't use him for combat much after resuming the playthrough, but he was a nice support unit thanks to Gentilhomme and Shelter.

Silas (80 Battles / 59 Victories) His main role was Pair Up and Shelter support for most of the later game. It was really funny the few times where I had him do a chip attack and he activated Luna, which I always forgot about.

Kagero (80 Battles / 57 Victories) Much stronger than Kaze, but her even worse defense and significantly worse Res meant she was too fragile a lot of the time. Her main legacy is unfortunately costing me two Chapter 25 attempts (one at the very end) due to very stupid mistakes on my part.

Scarlet (64 Battles / 47 Victories) My only axe unit, her Hammer was incredibly useful late game. She mostly was a very useful support unit thanks to Rally Defense.

Saizo (30 Battles / 17 Victories) I brought him in on Chapters 22 and 26/27 when the game gave me an extra deployment slot and I needed a filler unit for it.

Shura (17 Battles / 9 Victories) A prepromote gotten right after the game gives you another deployment slot, he had a nice role as an extra healer and a 3 range attacker with the Spy's Yumi only he could use.

Sakura (3 Battles / 0 Victories) Very useful support unit between her healing, personal skill and Rally Luck. Due to being unable to buy Staves with my restrictions, I couldn't grind experience by mindlessly healing; combined with my bad habit of never wanting to promote early, she didn't actually promote until Endgame (at Level 18) where it didn't matter anymore. She would have to be an Onmyoji to actually attack, though, as I had no E rank bows she could use as a Priestess.

Azura (2 Battles / 0 Victories) My Azura was absurdly strength blessed, capping Str and Spd pretty early. Super annoying that she was strictly a support unit who only saw combat from occasional Dual Strikes, lol. But as a support unit she sure was fantastic. Her personal was very useful for healing without using staves.

Turn counts and MVPs: Prologue: 2 (None) Chapter 1: 5 (None) Chapter 2: 6 (Corrin & Jakob) Chapter 3: 13 (Corrin & Jakob) Chapter 4: 26 (Corrin & Kaze) Chapter 5: 110 (Corrin & Azura) …I assume I did a ton of Azura grinding here. Chapter 6: 2 (Corrin & Kaze) Chapter 7: 12 (Corrin & Jakob) Chapter 8: 9 (Rinkah & Silas) Chapter 9: 10 (Jakob & Silas) Chapter 10: 17 (Corrin & Kaze) Chapter 11: 15 (Corrin & Kaze) Chapter 12: 7 (Jakob & Kagero) Chapter 13: 9 (Silas & Kagero) Chapter 14: 14 (Silas & Orochi) Chapter 15: 15 (Corrin & Jakob)

Chapter 16: 16 (Hinoka & Ryoma) The first chapter after I returned to this playthrough. The first two turns were a bit overwhelming, but the rest wasn't bad once I decided to let Ryoma do Ryoma things. It was weird having a time limit here before the thieves reach the treasure, only for this kind of objective to never come up again for the rest of the game; kinda set some false expectations as my first chapter back.

Chapter 17: 28 (Takumi & Kagero) Pretty easy, the villages were a bit scary as I didn't know where the enemies would come from but not actually bad when I completely surrounded them with my own units first.

Chapter 18: 3 (Jakob & Orochi) Easy 1 turn but I spent a couple more turns to get the items from Odin and Niles.

Chapter 19: 14 (Corrin & Orochi) I totally forgot about this chapter's weird stat gimmick beforehand; sure made for an easy chapter though I would've had much more trouble without a promoted Orochi.

Chapter 20: 7 (Orochi & Ryoma) Another very easy map.

Chapter 21: 42 (Azura & Silas) Just about the end of the super easy maps as it's the last map where enemies don't charge at you before you're in their range.

Chapter 22: 18 (Corrin & Jakob) Had to get used to enemies coming for me unprovoked now; from this point on I started leaning on Ryoma hard.

Chapter 23: 47 (Corrin & Ryoma) Okay what the hell this chapter?? Such an absurd difficulty spike. I deployed only 8 units, then put them all in 4 pairs in the 4 tile wide hallway to the left so they all avoided Camilla's corridor attack.

Ryoma/Corrin were on the left and took out most enemies.

Kaze/Hinoka were the middle left, Hinoka there as a healer, switching to Kaze when there were bow units around; they were left unequipped to bait a magical ranged attacker that could do no damage and would block the only 1 range tile that could reach Ryoma, letting him slowly pick off every 1 range enemy that surrounded the area.

Shura/Jakob were the middle right. Shura was very nice as a healer with better defenses than my other healers so he could take a ranged attack. Jakob was there in case I needed his support skills.

Oboro/Silas were on the right, tanking anything that came that way as best as I could. Despite much fewer enemies, she had much more trouble than Ryoma did.

Once all the moving enemies and reinforcements were gone, Corrin and Ryoma cleared up the rest of the map, while a few units stayed in the right column to keep Camilla's attention there.

Chapter 24: 26 (Hinoka & Setsuna) So many enemies. So many enemies…. So many enemies………. Not that hard, just long and tedious since I was going for a full rout.

Chapter 25: 55 (Corrin & Scarlet) This chapter was super annoying as I failed two attempts due to very stupid mistakes. The first, I was near the end of the reinforcements, I carefully set up my units to bait two of the four incoming enemies at the edge of their range… And I totally forgot to move Ryoma. So he was left in range of 4 enemies, all having Weapon Triangle Advantage against him, without a pair up or any rallying. And he barely survived!! I thought that would be the end, but Ryoma is too good and Vantage came through. …..And then the VERY NEXT TURN I made the exact same mistake of forgetting to move a unit, except this time it was Kagero who got OHKO'd by a 100% hit attack. The second, I reached the very end. I set up all my units so that each of the 6 enemies in the row at the top would attack one unit each… And I didn't bother to do all of the combat math because I assumed everything would be fine, and Kagero got exactly OHKO'd. Super frustrating mistakes on my part. The beginning was pretty funny, with waves of 6 enemies attacking from the left and right each turn for the first 6 or so turns. Most of my units worked together to take out all the units on the right; Ryoma (with a pair up partner and some rallies) took out every enemy on the left. There being enemies with Entrap was scary, until I realized they couldn't actually warp me anywhere that Ryoma couldn't handle easily.

Chapter 26: 19 (Jakob & Oboro) Went for a full rout instead of the comically easy 1 turn. You don't even get anything for it aside from a Sun Festal pretty close to the start.

Chapter 27: 34 (Silas & Oboro) A large part of the map was [Enemy group moves on the left] Okay Ryoma, go to the left. [Enemy group moves on the right] Okay Ryoma, go to the right. [Enemy group moves on the left] Okay Ryoma, go to the left. I had the game crash once mid-chapter; I entered a battle animation, but the character models failed to load and several seconds later the game gave up. That was a super annoying way to fail an attempt. .-.

Endgame: 1 (Corrin & Kaze) Spent way more time than I needed to setting things up due to not wanting to redo Chapter 27 if I failed. My setup was:

Sakura tries using a Hexing Rod because lol

Corrin moves up

Azura dances Corrin

Kaze is paired with Jakob (+1 move), moves above Corrin, transfers Jakob to Corrin, then attacks the boss with the Spy's Shuriken + a Corrin Dual Strike

Oboro and Ryoma are Rescued closer to the boss

Oboro attacks to activate Seal Defense

Corrin attacks

Ryoma attack with a Corrin Dual Strike

The result was that Sakura missed with her Hexing Rod, but Ryoma wasn't even needed as Corrin finished off the boss herself.

#fire emblem #fates #birthright #corrin #finished playthrough #this playthrough is so old it started before I knew I'm a girl

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greyeyedmonster-18 · 2 years

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Prompt: Harry being sick and feeling like a failure for having to miss out on things and not being able to help and Sirius helping him understand he’s worth taking care of himself

ask and you shall receive, kind-friend <3. thank you for the prompt.

(takes place in some post-POA raising harry, voldemort isn't...lurking universe, whatever, yall are just here for dad-content, make up your own reasons why this is feasible.)

Sirius had gotten to Hogwarts early that day, despite having been up late the night before, knowing he had a legal exam on Monday and knowing full-well he would be spending Saturday supporting Harry at a Quidditch game. He hadn't missed a single one since Harry's fourth year, since having gotten custody and wasn't going to start now just because Sirius now had more on his plate than he ever anticipated when his name was first cleared almost three years ago. Dressed in a Gryffindor sweater, hair tied up with a golden scarf, Sirius waited with Remus by the Quidditch Pitch player entrance to wish Harry luck before the game, Remus's hand lazily intertwined in his.

"Hello, Professor Lupin, great day for a match isn't it!" greeted a student cheerfully as they walked into the tents with a wave.

"Someones popular..." Sirius whispered.

"It's polite."

"I dunno, they didn't say 'hi' to me," Sirius shrugged with a grin, "How many Best Teacher mugs did you get during the holidays again?" Remus shook his head, kissing Sirius on the temple as means of answer. It hadn't taken Sirius long to put together how beloved Remus was at Hogwarts and how many students--whether they knew it or not-- had tiny crushes on their Defense professor. Who was kind and cared and was more competent than any of the others they had had before (not that the bar was particularly high, but Sirius knew Remus was far beyond competent). Sirius checked the watch on his wrist, "Where is Harry? The match starts soon, and I'm not going to give him a lecture on being a proper Team Captain, but this isn't very professional of him."

"Kids are late, it happens..." though Remus's eyebrows were knitted together with mild concern. Usually, Harry was one of the first into the tents.

"He was at breakfast, wasn't he?"

"I thought so, but I wasn't there long though and maybe just assumed he--"

"You made it," came Harry's voice, though it was quieter and much less enthusiastic than it usually was on game day. Almost hoarse, words scratching against his vocal cords. As Harry got closer to the tents, Sirius could make out the light sheen of sweat on his forehead and the circles under his eyes. Rumpled robes, shoulders hunched over as if his body had given up trying to keep them up straight.

"Yeah...I did," Sirius said slowly, continuing to examine his godson, "You okay, babe?"

"'M great, just a bit tired," Harry nodded, swallowing after he spoke, "I'm glad you could come, I know you're," Harry cleared his throat, "busy."

Sirius instinctively took one of his hands and pressed the back of it to Harry's forehead, though it was mostly for show. Sirius could already feel the heat radiating from his godson's body before making contact with skin. He took his other hand and put it on the side of Harry's neck, "Nevermind being busy," Sirius ducked his head down to catch Harry's eyes, "Are you feeling okay?"

One more time.

"M..okay, just tired and my back hurts a little, but I was at practice yesterday and probably just bent the wrong--"

"Harry James..."

"Okay, my throat kind of hurts, but it's not a big deal, I just need to drink more water--you're always telling me to do that--and I'll go straight to bed after the game, I promise," Harry said in a feeble attempt at a whine, seemingly not having enough energy to work up a proper protest but trying anyway.

Sirius dropped his hand and shook his head, "Love, you're sick. You're not playing. I can feel a fever on you without even running a spell, you--"

"No! I have to play, Sirius!"

"Not like this, I'm going to go talk to Madame Hooch, and you--"

"They're counting on me, please, just let me play, I'm going to let everyone down and we'll lose the match, and it'll be my fault," he pleased, grabbing a hold of Sirius's wrist before he could turn to leave to find Madame Hooch. "I've played sick before! And I played during a dementor attack and, and I could've played with a broken arm, just don't say anything, I'm fine, it's just a cold!"

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, pushing aside all the malicious thoughts running through his mind he so desperately wanted to rush off and say to Dumbledore, and every other adult in Harry's life that had failed him. Promises to keep him safe made in vain, cast aside the second Harry had something he just needed to do. Sirius nodded, reaching up once more to cup the side of Harry's face tenderly.

"Please, I can do it. I...don't want anyone to be mad at me."

"I know," Sirius told him.

"It's just a cold," he responded weakly.

"It's just a cold."

Sirius felt the weight of Harry's cheek sink into his palm, breathing slowing down and eyelids drooping. For once, forgetting what it was like to have to be awake and alert and ready. At this moment, Harry wasn't Quidditch Captain. Wasn't The Boy Who Lived. Was barely a student as far as Sirius was concerned. He was just a sixteen-year-old boy, with a cold who desperately needed someone to tell him the world would not fall apart if he stayed in bed.

"I'll let Madame Hooch know," Remus mumbled softy.

Harry woke up several hours later in his bedroom at Grimmauld Place with only vague recollections of how he got there. The past 24hours since he had started feeling run-down and ill had been a blur, passing in a restless sleep and trying to choke down enough breakfast to make it through a Quidditch game. He didn't remember leaving the pitch or flooing to Number 12. Or being put into bed, or changing (did he change? was he changed) into sweats. But he did remember Sirius's hand on his face.

He remembered Sirius, who knew immediately when Harry had forced on a smile and spoken less than a complete sentence to him that something was wrong. It was still new, this having a Godfather thing. This clumsy accountability thing and the voice in the back of Harry's mind thing when he was staying up too late or not eating vegetables with his dinner or even that morning when he had to fight to swallow, that sounded a lot like Sirius.

I know it's exciting to be at school with your friends, but you need a good nights sleep, Harry.

Throw some carrots on there, would you? Your eyes need all the help they can get, or you'll need three pairs of lenses.

It's just a cold.

He moved under the mound of blankets, attempting to sit up.

"Easy, babe," Sirius said from beside him in bed, Harry putting together that the weight wasn't from the blankets at all. The warmth wasn't entirely from the soft knit of his sweatshirt and the nice sheets Sirius had put on his bed, but also from a body.

"What'sgoingon," Harry mumbled.

"We're at Number 12...you've been asleep for quite sometime," Sirius informed him slowly, and Harry felt his hand run through his hair. Until Sirius, Harry didn't know a simple gesture could be so comforting, convinced Sirius had magic in his finger tips that made everything okay. Like the muggle tale where the King turned everything into gold--Sirius could do the same but quiet fears and anxieties and turn them into faint whispers. Fade them into nothingness.

Harry shifted so he could look at Sirius a little better, noticing his Godfather had also changed out of his Quidditch Fan attire and into something resembling pajamas, "What time is it?"

"Half three. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Harry admitted, "...Better."

"I gave you some Pepper-up Potion, Pain Potion too, just in case," Sirius smiled softly. That Harry could see. Harry didn't know someone could smile with care until he had met Sirius. Until the first time, Sirius had shown him a bedroom that was entirely his and let him change the color of the duvet. "Still want to play a game of Quidditch?"

"Not a chance." The entire concept at this moment felt entirely stupid. Harry could barely walk this morning and had every intention of getting on a broom, but now it was the furthest thing he wanted. It was comfortable here. Safe.

"Your Dad was the same way. He broke his collarbone once and refused to go to the Hospital Wing... I forced him there too. Very experienced with getting Potter's to take care of themselves."

Harry shuffled down against the pillows, hesitating before leaning to rest his head on Sirius's arm.

"You...just sat here?"

"Where else would you have me be, my love?" Sirius pressed a kiss on top of Harry's head quickly.

"Dunno..."

Harry closed his eyes again and exhaled deeply, thoughts of his Dad and Sirius at Hogwarts. Thinking there was probably some point Sirius had told his Dad to stay in bed as well. Thinking that perhaps it was Potter genetics, that they needed a Sirius to take care of them. Nothing more, nothing less.

#sirus and harry saturday #asks #greg answers #sirius black #harry potter #ft remus lupin

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