#TW: Alcoholism

[dduane]

In the TIL (Thematically Peripatetically) dep't

In the classic British war movie Ice Cold in Alex, one character who blames himself for a drinking problem that may have cost someone else their life declares he's not going to take another drink until he and the people fleeing across the African desert with him can sit down and have "an ice cold lager in Alex[andria]." This promise he keeps.

The interesting part lies in how the promise plays out on film.

A background issue (from the production standpoint) of what makes this scene so interesting is that it's always hard to get any scene right in just one take. There were apparently a fair number of takes on this shot.

The producers apparently tried hard to substitute something non-alcoholic for the beer, but this proved impossible, as there was no way to fake the head. So they used real beer.

John Mills, professional that he was, drank them one after another in multiple takes. As a result, co-star Sylvia Syms describes him as having been "a little heady" when they were done with that scene.

Another less problematic problem (as such things go...) was that the novel by Christopher Landon on which the film was based has the actors drinking a US beer called Rheingold... which the producers ruled out. They they felt there was no way the characters would willingly be drinking a German (or German-sounding) beer after being pursued across North Africa by the Afrika Korps. So Carlsberg was substituted.

...And it's at this point that things start to veer. @petermorwood was telling me about this, some of which I knew... but not about the Rheingold.

"Really?" I said. "You're kidding me!"

"Why?" he said.

At which point I did what any New Yorker of a certain age might very likely do under such circumstances: I burst into song. (And frankly, because you don't need to hear me doing that, here are the Golden Girls doing it.)

Rheingold was the best-selling beer in the New York metropolitan area, and apparently in New York state as well, at least partly due to numerous aggressive advertising campaigns on radio and then on TV. That jingle was known, in many permutations—including one in 6/8 time that appears in this stop-motion-animated commercial—by lots and lots of people.

Including me. So I sang it (at least some of it: I couldn't remember the final couple of stanzas) and Peter and I looked at each other in mild bemusement. "You think your mind's full of useless garbage," I said, "try mine sometime!" And we laughed and went back to whatever we'd been doing.

Out of curiosity, I then went over to YouTube to see (as I sometimes do) whether I was anywhere near the original key of the best-known version of the jingle while singing. Turns out I was pretty close. But along the line, I stumbled across the blog of a retired librarian who clued me in on something startling:

That jingle's music was ripped off, in whole cloth, from a French composer... whose authorship is apparently routinely obscured by the name of the music's (possibly better-known?) arranger.

Here it is, and apparently misattributed as above, in full classical glory: the Estudiantina Waltz. (Warning: the main chorus is a bit of an earworm, and you may not be able to get rid of it easily. I know I won't be, for the day anyway...)

...So that's the local installment of Today I Learned. May yours (if you have one) be way more useful and interesting. :)

[arradraws]

🫶

[aftgficrec]

Anonymous said: Hi! Thank you so much for your work. I'm looking for long finished fics, it can be canon or not AND I'm also looking for fics focused on Kevin and Neil friendship

From Ravens angst to food wars there’s a lot of Kevin and Neil here for you to enjoy. Readers, find the long complete fics portion of this ask here. -A

previous recs

Kevin & Neil here

Kevin & Neil friendship here

BFFs Neil & Kevin, physically affectionate here

Neil & Kevin as bffs/brothers + Kev/Neil here 

‘To All my friends’ here

‘on thin ice’ here

‘Exit Wound’ here 

‘Necessary Losses,’ ‘Remember! Proplifting is Shoplifting!,’ and ‘CVS’ (completed) here

‘don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious’ here

‘I have a Prom-Posal’ here (updated)

‘The Manga is Way Better (Save me from the Fangirls)’ here

‘Homecoming King’ here 

‘The One Where Everyone Finds Out’ here

‘How to outrun the mafia, an essay by Neil Josten’ here

‘my friends and I, we got a lot of problems’ and ‘please, carry me, carry me, carry me home’ here

‘I can see the stars though the tears in my skin’ here

‘Odd Eye’ here

‘Carrots’ here

‘You Can't Take the Sky from Me’ here 

‘Something Crazy About It’ and ‘The one where Andriel get Cats’ here

‘Dear Advice Guy,’ ‘a little bit special,’ and ‘quicksand’ here

‘Slow Parade’ and ‘Bad Habits’ here

‘Technique is Important’ here

‘venus as a boy’ here (completed)

‘Light a Match’ and ‘stupid, normal teenagers’ here

‘"There's blood on my/your hands."’ here

‘Neil Josten Is a Lucky Man’ here

‘Two worlds collide’ and ‘Fear & Loathing’ here

‘Father’s Day, ‘08’ here

‘Point Nemo’ here

‘Extra thermador on the side’ ch 14 & 15 here

‘Gimme a Kiss and I'll Kiss You Right Back’ here

‘North Star’ and ‘it's my first and perhaps last time (aka the Exy World Cup Fic)’ here

‘my one, my dear’ here

‘I’m too young to feel numb…’ here

‘The Sickness Was Forever,’ ‘Whatever it takes,’ and ‘It's Just You and Me, Just Us, and Y(our) Friend Kevin’ here 

‘Different Roads’ and ‘I Was Ruined From The Start’ here

‘Spun Sugar Truths’ here

‘But man, I can hate you sometimes’ here

‘Remember Me, Love, When I'm Reborn…’ and ‘The Suit Universe’ series (updated) here

‘Through our memories, we live’ here (completed)

‘Die Free or Die a Failure’ here (completed)

‘A Falling Star’ series here

you may also like

andreil & Kevin here

more kevineil here

Andrew & Kevin here

to whom it may aggravate by knoxout [Rated G, 1931 Words, Complete, 2022]

to: njosten@denverbulldogs.com from: kevinday@seattlestingrays.com ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID????? Kindest regards, Kevin Day

Strike That (from the record) by Mercey [Rated M, 1393 Words, Complete, 2023]

Kevin and Neil decide to read fanfiction about themselves on their podcast. Shenanigans ensue.

Medicated rabbits don't run as fast by AllTheSpadesAndAces [Not Rated, 8690 Words, Incomplete, Updated Nov 2023]

Neil Josten has his mother to thank for an addiction to painkillers, but he won't speak (that) ill of the dead. He's stayed on the run after her death. He never hits the same AA or NA meeting more than once. Usually only going once in every city he passes though. Maybe he should have remembered not to stray too close to Raven territory. After all, he knows what that place can drive people to do. OR Neil meets Kevin at an AA meeting.

tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: drug addiction, tw: alcohol abuse/alcoholism

Your eyes can’t fool me by maia_m03 [Rate G, 3533 Words, Complete, 2022]

There’s something familiar about this kid and Kevin can’t quite place it. Until he does. (A ‘Kevin recognises Neil at Millport’ AU)

neil josten vs vegetables (aka kevin) by orangejuice9 [Rated T, 3138 Words, Complete, 2023]

Three times Kevin tries to put vegetables in Neil's food, and one time Neil gets his revenge.

this is [home], this is hell by straycrow [Rated M, 1402 Words, Complete, 2022]

The day Kevin left the Nest and Neil behind.

tw: violence, tw: abuse

What the fuck did I do in the end? (Just to not be yours) by allfortheBoyds [Rated M, 2305 Words, Incomplete, Updated April 2023]

Kevin goes back to the nest so that Neil can run

no rest for the mischievous by tropicalblend [Rated G, 1681 Words, Complete, 2023]

Kevin forgets an essential piece of Neil's food order so Neil must enact revenge, he must.

frying pans by aknosde [Rated G, 1078 Words, Complete, 2023]

When Kevin trudges down the stairs and into the kitchen Saturday morning it's to the smell of frying sausage and a headache the likes of which he hasn’t seen in years. The fact that the former makes him want to throw up considerably more than the latter lets him know what kind of day it’s going to be. (Or: Neil cooks Kevin breakfast)

tw: implied disordered eating

i want to hold your hand by gay_irl [Rated T, 3481 Words, Complete, 2023]

Neil starts to notice that Andrew occasionally exchanges casual touches with Kevin. He feels something about it but he's not sure what. He talks to Andrew and starts to realize the value of non-sexual intimacy. He decides to try it out.

tw: implied/referenced child abuse

why am I like this? by chronically_peach [Rated G, 1744 Words, Complete, 2023]

Kevin doesn’t believe in loneliness. He doesn’t believe in friendship or the need for people around. He spent his entire life never being alone but never having a friend. Loneliness didn’t affect Kevin. Or so he thought. One night Kevin breaks down during late night practice while alone at the court. When he doesn’t come home Andrew and Neil go looking for him

In the Blooms by KaijuusAndKryptids [Rated G, 1273 Words, Complete, Aftg Spring Exchange 2022, Locked]

Kevin works on sobriety, and needs something to fill the time to distract him from needing a drink. He falls into gardening incidentally, but more and more often he finds that he wants to garden for gardening's sake and not to complete another objective.

Proof of Life by mostly_maudlin [Rated T, 2132 Words, Complete, 2022]

Realistically, Kevin knows he is safe now. No one is after him anymore. No one is plotting to drag him down into the hole he's clawed out of. He has people who will fight to keep it this way.

Kevin? Aaron? Together? My life can't get any worse than this by Artificiosus [Rated T, 2129 Words, Complete, 2022]

He takes a deep breath in. "Where?" "Where what- oh," Kevin replies. "Where?" Neil repeats, his heart rate is speeding up, he feels frozen to the spot. Dread? Fear? Whatever it is, it's locked him down. Kevin gulps.  ~~~~~ Kevin tells Neil that he and Aaron slept together.

Hey Look Neil, You Made It! by alexis_needs_sleep [Not Rated, 2224 Words, Complete, 2022]

7 years after Kevin agreed to teach Neil how to play Exy, Kevin shows up on Neil's doorstep with a long overdue gift.

Sticking with our Losers by Webaqoof [Rated T, 1647 Words, Complete, 2022, Locked]

Kevin dragged his ass from the front porch steps where he was laying down, ready to enter the house. He furrowed his eyebrows to find it still closed, because he clearly heard Neil ringing the doorbell. “Why is the door not open?” Neil brought his hand to his chin in a thinking posture. Which was funny because he never really thought anything. “I think it’s because one of the people in the house doesn’t like me much.”

Could Have Been Me by thornilee013 [Rated T, 1843 Words, Complete, AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2024]

Kevin finally voices a question that's been bothering him.

i should hate you, i feel stupid. by hynjinnnniee [Rated T, 3391 Words, Complete, 2024]

kevin experiences some complicated feelings after riko dies, and the monsters help him through it.

Naked-Fruit Chiffon Cake, one box by riri_a [Rated T, 2579 Words, Complete, 2023]

Kevin Day was having a very boring morning. Some might say his life was boring in general. Everything changes when a homeless guy with blue eyes decides to rob his workplace. Kevin thinks he's incompetent.

Tell Me the Truth by birthdaycandles774 [Rated T, 1948 Words, Complete, 2023]

The Foxes were staying at the winter banquet for both days, how boring. Andrew had gone to get ice for his drunk brother and cousin when he noticed two Ravens. So far from their nest, strange. He never expected to make a deal with the unannounced member of the 'Perfect Court' who only wanted him to protect Kevin Day. He definitely didn't expect to want the mysterious Raven to stay. The one where Neil was caught by the Moriyamas and is the one to get Kevin out of the Nest.

Kevin Day is keeping Celeste series by Twolipsliterature [Rated G/T, Collection, Incomplete, Updated Feb 2023]

Part 1: What never belonged to angels, Had never belonged to men [T, 1837 Words, Complete] Neil, Andrew, and Kevin are in Columbia for the summer following Riko's death. Needless to say, Kevin is not handling it well. When a breakup leads to a breakdown, Neil and Andrew must learn what it is to be a friend and how to help peice someone back together instead of being the one to break them apart

tw: alcohol abuse/alcoholism

Part 2: If I let you perceive me, do you promise to love me? [T, 11037 Words, Incomplete, Updated Feb 2023] The last thing Kevin expected to do after a messy breakup was immediately fall for someone. Yet, here he is, smitten and cursing himself for it. With more baggage and trauma than he can hide under his bed, Kevin is hesitant to open up to someone. How can anyone get to know him when he barely knows himself? Lucky for him, Celeste is very good at piecing things together. OR: Despite his best efforts, Kevin falls in love.

Part 3: A Lesson In Loving You, A Lesson In Being Loved [G, 4966 Words, Complete]

After months of sneaking around, Neil decides its high time Kevin introduce the foxes to his not-so-secret girlfriend. When it finally happens, he can't shake the feeling that there's something more to her that Kevin is missing...

A Collection of my varying AFTG short stories… by BasiliskCrane [Rated M, Collection, Updated July 2021]

Chapter 6: "your an idiot... " (G, 438 Words)

You Gave Me A Key And Called It Home by vinesse [Collection, Rated T, Complete, 2019]

Chapter 31: Scared, Me? (466 Words)

A Series of H/C One-Shots For All For The Game by carefulren [Rated T, Collection, Updated 2018]

Chapter 1: Neil Downplays How Sick He's Feeling, and the Foxes Step In Chapter 4: sick and problematic kevin trying to keep the team away from him, but the team ignores him

Art

kevneil arguing dynamic comic by @wuzeio

quality bonding time animation by @broresteia

weekly call comic by @bleepbloops

tramp stamps instead of face tattoos art by @koihoi

AU where Kevin meets Neil on the run art by @lucky-slice

[dewdlepies]

I forgot to post Promise's background here. He's sweet in spite of everything.

[currymanganese]

The Bear season 2 episode 6 is a cleaver to the chest. Maximum psychic and emotional damage. Yikes. Natalie and Carmen are actually surprisingly well adjusted people all things considered, Natalie especially. Made me actually re-evaluate my opinions concerning them. Donna Berzatto / Uncle Lee is a typhoon of dysfunction and Michael broke against it plus his own addictions and sank, but Natalie and Carm are still fighting and eking out an existence, wow. Thank God Natalie has Pete, the Berzattos need all the help they can get.

[scottishaccentsareawesome]

Tony(to Peter):...You should've seen me when I was in recovery for for being an alcoholic. I got to step 9, "Making Amends", and was going around apologizing to everyone...it was basically my "Eras" Tour....My Beer Era, my Tequila Era....my Appletini Era....

[kassandras-one-braincell]

170 days sober today. I still think about drinking far too often but it isn't constant anymore, and as much as I wish this shit was easier, I haven't given into the intrusive thoughts. I think this is the first time I've felt proud of myself in a long fucking while. And I owe so much of this to a dear friend, whom I won't mention for their privacy, but they know who they are and I genuinely couldn't have done this without them

[maceofpentacles]

not to be too dramatic or deep on main but i feel like i’ve always been somewhat apprehensive about working with/worshipping dionysus because of his super strong associations with alcohol.

my mother and older brother have traumatized me many a time due to their issues with alcoholism. i know that i don’t have to consume alcohol to work with or honor dionysus but it’s just something that’s so ingrained into my brain ,, that’s something i’ll have to work on within myself in order to be in a position to start honoring him.

if any dionysus devotees who don’t drink for whatever reason would like to weigh in with what you do to honor him instead, that would be much appreciated!!

[kodicrome-212]

Because Ahsoka isn’t technically a Jedi it is currently a toss up between which alcoholic Jedi with a cool beard and a dumb bitch apprentice is my favorite.

[jaylienpotter]

Thinking about Remus Lupin with an alcohol addiction

He started drinking when he was a preteen, having access to alcohol at home. His father had a whiskey collection, wouldn't realise Remus drank unless a whole bottle was missing. So when Rem got bored in the summer, without permission to sleepover at his friends' houses, he took a sip.

He was taught to keep things to himself, to take up no space. He ought to be invisible to make sure no one finds out he's a werewolf. So even as a teenager, with four best friends who all knew what happened once a month, and furthermore became animagi to make the wolf company, he bottled up his problems. Acted fine. Blamed it on the moon when his neutral mask failed. To cope with the feelings he didn't dare say, he drank.

His friends did say he drank a lot at parties, but since he seemed unaffected, they just believed he was heavyweight and didn't pay it too much thought. In truth, he was just used to alcohol.

He didn't want to admit to himself that it was a problem. No one was getting hurt. He wasn't erratic nor violent. And he controlled the amount he drank. But he couldn't help feeling guilty about the bottles he had hidden.

It took a week of forced sobriety after the Marauders found the stash for him to realise he did have an addiction. They couldn't get him to stop drinking altogether, but he did slow down and started opening up instead of drowning his thoughts with booze.

In the summer of fifth year, after Sirius pranked Snape, which resulted in the Slytherin nearly being killed or turned into a werewolf by Moony, the addiction hit hard. Lupin drank every day to cope with the betrayal. He got properly fucked out and his body created a dependance. Sixth year was not a good one. Thankfully there were no exams because he barely paid attention in classes. He started skipping some. Got behind on lessons. Avoided his friends. Hid away with the map to drink hidden away and in peace.

Sirius one day grabbed him and sobbed, pleaded for Remus to scream, hex, curse him or beat him up if needed, anything but self destructing. And under the influence, Moony did just that. The guilt came afterwards, even though Sirius had taken it all without fighting back. Lupin allowed himself to forgive Sirius. He missed him. And he was clearly regretful.

Slowly, the Marauders got back together. They worked hard for Rem to recover. And recovery passed by becoming sober.

It was a bitch. It was a real bitch, abstinence. He had fevers, threw up many times despite not eating for days, highly dehydrated, and his mind was loud with shouts for the sweet release he was so acquainted with. Some days he felt were as bad or maybe even worse than a full moon. He wasn't ripping his skin apart, but instead ripping his soul. However, as always, as a good Gryffindor, he pulled through.

It took many months but after he got clean, he didn't touch booze. Not even at parties - which his friends tried making alcohol free for his sake. He got very close to Padfoot in that whole healing process, finding the most comfort in talking to him about his problems rather than with Prongs and Wormtail. They even started dating in the seventh year.

Moony's life was good, he was in control, surrounded by loved ones, with Sirius by his side no matter what. He didn't need alcohol.

Lupin relapsed on the 1st November 1981.

[pink-sparkly-witch]

Coming Soon...

Summary: Childhood sweethearts, Dean and Y/N, are very much in love with each other. When she accepts a full scholarship to an out-of-state college, she finally gets to leave behind her traumatic childhood and abusive father, but it means leaving Dean behind too.

Over a decade later, Y/N returns to Lawrence, Kansas, and finally tries to heal the only wounds she has left… the psychological and emotional scars her father gave her and the heartbreak she endured by Dean Winchester, the one that got away.

A/N: This story will contain flashbacks and mentions of the physical and verbal abuse of a child. If this is a sensitive subject for you or you might be triggered by this content, please consider whether this story is right for you.

A/N 2: I’ve tagged those who’ve previously asked to be on my tag list, but please, please let me know if you want to be removed for this one. And if you want to be added, just comment, DM, or Ask!

When she told Uncle Bobby she had no intention of returning to Lawrence until her father was gone, he and Jody booked a slot at City Hall to get married and asked her and Dean to be their witnesses. Y/N was delighted to be able to share their special day with them.

Saying goodbye to them was hard, but her goodbye with Dean last night had been so much worse. As she pulled out onto the main road that led out of town, she sighed deeply as her memory flashed back to last night.

Y/N and Dean had spent the whole night together, their true feelings escaping them in the throes of passion. It wasn’t their first time together, but it was the most special, closely followed by the time they took each other’s virginity when they were both sixteen.

Her feelings for Dean ran deep. He’d always owned her heart, and after a night of raw, emotional lovemaking, she knew he always would. Who knew? Maybe one day she’d come back to Lawrence, come back to him. But it wasn’t fair for either of them to live on a maybe.

“Ask me to stay,” Y/N whispered in the darkness of her bedroom. Both of them were naked, sweating, and basking in their afterglows.

“You know I can’t do that, princess. I want to, but I can’t,” he responded, his voice cracking with emotion before he kissed her bare shoulder. Her lip trembled, but she swallowed her tears and rolled over to straddle his waist.

“Then make love to me again, Dean.”

She wiped a tear from her cheek and grinned wildly at the road sign despite her sad emotions. 

“YOU ARE NOW LEAVING LAWRENCE”

Tag list: @deans-baby-momma @deans-spinster-witch @leigh70 @stoneyggirl2 @hobby27 @candy-coated-misery0731 @iprobablyshipit91 @twinkleinadiamondsky @mrsjenniferwinchester @spnwoman

[promptful]

Hurt no comfort 👀??

Hurt No Comfort Dialogue

yikers there's a lot of warnings. heed them. do not add. you are responsible for the media you consume.

WARNINGS: Forced imprisonment. Cheating. Amnesia. Implied murder. Death. Possible implied toxic relationship. Injuries. Breaking up. Cigarettes. Self-destructive tendencies. Alcoholism. Wowie. 

1) “I trusted you.” 

2)“I’m sorry… who are you?” 

3) “Were we friends?” 

4)“Do you even love me?”

5) “What are we now?” 

6) “Damn you.” 

7) “No feelings involved.” 

8) “I never loved you, anyway.” 

9) “You’re nothing but a deceitful bastard!” 

10) “I don’t know you.” 

11) “Erase me from your memory.” 

12) “Understand that I don’t care to know you.” 

13) “Trust you? Hilarious. Tell another joke.” 

14) “Step away from them!” 

15) “I loved you.” 

16) “You broke my heart.” 

17) “Really? You’re cheating on me?” 

18) “You liar.” 

19) “Give one damn reason to not walk out that door!” 

20) “I’m broken. And I don’t intend on being fixed.” 

21) “Naïve little thing, aren’t you?” 

22) “I thought you loved me.” 

23) “If I have to pick me or you, I’m picking you.” 

24) “Take this and run.” 

25) “Forget about me. It’s for the best.” 

26) “They want us to separate. I’m sorry.” 

27) “We’re terrible together.” 

28) “I thought that I could learn to love you.” 

29) “Did our love mean anything?”

30) “I just want what’s best for you.” 

31) “Liar. Don’t even try.” 

32) “I know I won’t make it.” 

33) “Tonight is the last one.” 

34) “Pretend for one minute that we’re in love, and then kiss me. One last time.” 

35) “I’m keeping you safe.” 

36) “You’re hurting me.” 

37) “This is killing me.” 

38) “This is safe?” 

39) “Feelings make things complicated.” 

40) “They’re dead.” 

41) “I can’t find them.” 

42) “What did you do with them?” 

43) “You’re shaking.”

44) “I can’t breathe.” 

45) “This isn’t home anymore.” 

46) “I’m running away.” 

47) “I can’t take this.” 

48) “Don’t… don’t leave me.” 

49) “I can’t lose you too.” 

50) “Everyone is hurting me. Can’t you see?” 

51) “I’d burn the world for you.” 

52) “You never cared about me.” 

53) “Promise me this.” 

54) “I can’t stand how you’re fighting this alone.” 

55) “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

56) “Were you going to keep this a secret the whole time?” 

57) “I thought we didn’t keep secrets.” 

58) “I’m feeling a lot less like your spouse, and more of a convenient thing.” 

59) “Look at me, tell me that you love me.” 

60) “There’s only so much I can take.” 

61) “You’re leaving, again.” 

62) “I’m not who you think I am.” 

63) “You can’t fix me.” 

64) “I can’t pretend that things are okay anymore.” 

65)“Leave.”

66) “Don’t come back here again.” 

67) “I’m changing my locks.” 

68) “Give me my things, and then I’m gone.” 

69) “You’ve changed.” 

70) “I don’t like who you’ve become.” 

71) “Stop believing in them.” 

72) “Do you really think that I don’t know?” 

73) “This marriage is pointless.” 

74) “I want a divorce.” 

75) “I hate you.” 

76) “You’re nothing to me.” 

77) “I’m going to sleep on the couch.” 

78) “We need a break.” 

79) “Don’t come looking for me.” 

80) “You need to get yourself together, or there’s no more us.” 

81) “It takes two to make a marriage work, you know.” 

82) “I don’t want to talk to you.” 

83) “Leave me alone.” 

84) “Papers are on the table.” 

85) “Give me your ring.” 

86) “I just want to go home.” 

87) “You’re scaring me.” 

88) “Don’t go to bed angry.” 

89) “Are you hurt?” 

90) “Is that blood?” 

91) “What happened to you?” 

92) “Who hurt you?” 

93) “You’re limping.” 

94) “Sit down. Now.” 

95) “Why aren’t you sleeping anymore?” 

96) “Where do you go during the night?” 

97) “Do you think I don’t feel you slipping out of bed?” 

98) “Show me.” 

99) “I refuse to just sit back and watch you be hurt!” 

100) “You’re killing yourself little by little.” 

101) “Put down the bottle.” 

102) “Don’t light that cigarette.” 

103) “We’re breaking up.” 

104) “You hurt them. Why?” 

105) “They did nothing to you!” 

[outlawssweetheart]

Spare the Erron Black headcanons. 🫴

THANK YOU! 🤗

Warning, this is dark from the get-go because Erron's family are scum and he is not a happy man. (TW for: Mentions of child abuse, implied CSA, alcoholism, and suicidal ideology.)

My headcanons are thought of with MK11 retconned Erron in mind; however, it isn't really relevant outside of his hometown (which didn't exist until the 1920s). So really, you can think of this with either backstory you'd like.

His birth name is not Erron Black; he changed his name when he grew up and left Wickett. He wanted to reinvent himself.

Erron's father left either when he was a baby or before he was born. (Though, really, I'm kind of stumped because he said he didn't know his father, then found and killed him, and implied that his father is/was worse than Rain's father. Like... how? For leaving him with his mother? Or maybe it was just Erron's narcissism causing him to feel like his problem is always worse than anyone else's?? Idk, and I doubt the MK11 writers do either! 🙃)

Erron has an older sister, his only good family member. She's 3-5 years older than him.

The rest of his family were awful. His mom was physically and verbally abusive, the other adults were pretty much the same, and his cousins picked on him for being the "scrawny" one.

His uncle (mom's brother) was the worst kind of abusive. "Funny ain't the word for it" with the utmost disdain in his voice, my mind naturally goes to the worst scenario. Some redneck stabbed and killed the guy in a bar fight when Erron was a teenager, and he has been bitter since then that he was robbed of getting to kill his uncle himself.

His sister feels guilt for not protecting him from their mother or uncle, even though they were both just children. She didn't even know the SA was happening until he told her when they were older. (This is more of a headcanon for her, but it's in my mind, so I must mention it.)

He left home and changed his name in his late teens.

Erron is a bit of an alcoholic. No surprise, considering his life.

Subconsciously, Erron wants to die, but he thinks he wants to live. That's why he's so reckless, other than his thrill-seeking.

Erron has a weird relationship with morality. Part of him has very loose morals, part of him is an actual sadist, and part of him has a strange sense of moral superiority. (He freed Cassie and Jacqui from the BD for reasons unknown, he says Sindel seems "a little too proud" when bragging that she murdered Jerrod.)

He hates caring about others. And if he begins to care, he pushes them away. Examples are: Cheating on Nitara with Skaret, and dumping Skarlet "because he got bored." (Only partly true, as Erron does get bored easily.)

He's a smoker, but he's not addicted to them.

Okay, that's all I got that aren't Skarron headcanons. (I think.) I hope you enjoy this, and apologize for the long wait! 🫶🏽

Send me a character

[dewdlepies]

Continuing with this meme post (HERE) 4. Who is their Bestie at camp? Who do they struggle with? Promise and Karlach would be besties, but they would definitely suffer from Single Shared Brain Cell Syndrome if around each other too long. In Act 1, Promise and Shadowheart would definitely butt heads a lot.

5. 5. Did they lose anyone / how did they react? Act 2 Spoilers.

Seeing and hearing about the losses of the tiefling refugees when they entered the Shadow-Cursed lands hit Promise especially hard.

Due to how busy the events of Act 2 were, it hit him later. Near relapse to drinking

6. Post-Game

Promise moves to Waterdeep with Gale, then continues his work as a Cleric of Oghma. (Traveling, collecting knowledge, retrieval missions)

Pre-kids, he goes from weeks to months between spring and late fall, then takes a long break in winter to enjoy domestic life.

[nobody-no-one]

Craig Ferguson, The Late Late Show, 2/20/2007 | "The Britney Spears Monologue"

TW: alcoholism, suicidal ideation

I want to talk about something tonight, it's been bothering me for a little while now. Now, you know if you've ever seen this show before--I know that's not everybody--but I know that, if you've ever seen this show before--that I make fun of people on this show. I make fun of a lot of people on this show. Now a couple of months ago, Kevin Costner got himself into some kind of bother, and I made fun of him in the monologue. And then a couple of weeks later, I meet him at this event. And I could tell he was angry at me, I could tell that. But he also, I was talking to him, and he's a very polite man, and a gentleman, and I could see him in his eyes, and he made a decision to not go after me--just to be polite and nice and stuff, and it kind of freaked me out. Because it kind of personalized it for me. Up until then--God, this guy was there with his wife and his kids and stuff when I was like, kind of ragging on him on television. I'm like, "Ugh, I don't know if I feel good about this". And it was--it was the look in his eye that bothered me. And I began to think, "At what price am I doing this stuff?" And I started to think about the effect it was having on real people, and it's been needling at me a little bit ever since. Now, I'm as guilty as any--I'm as guilty as sin about this. I mean, I made fun of the lady astronaut wearing the diapers when she was driving, which that is clearly funny--that is clearly, a funny thing, but at the same time, then the mugshot comes in and I go, "This woman's in trouble, she needs help". And then I'm thinking, "I don't know how good I feel about this". And I need to do stuff that I feel comfortable with. I want to be able to be funny, but I want to be able to get some sleep. And I don't just do this job for the money, I assure you, which is handy 'cause it isn't much anyway. Now what's been happening in the press, in the media recently, and particularly in the so-called "news outlets", the way the media is looking at the world, I kind of had similar feelings when I used to watch America's Funniest Home Videos. You know, you'd be laughing at the kid falling over, and then you go, "Wait a minute, put down the damn camera and help your kid! The hell is wrong with you!" And I think we're kind of holding the camera--and people are falling apart. People are dying, that Anna Nicole Smith woman, she died--no, it's not a joke. You know, it stops being funny, that. That she's got a six week old kid, or six month old kid. What the hell is that? You know, and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about making fun of these people. And for me, comedy should have a certain amount of joy in it. It should be about us attacking the powerful people, attacking the politicians, and the Trumps, and the blowhards--go after them. We shouldn't be attacking the vulnerable people. And I think, I'm gonna--this is totally a mea culpa--I think my aim's been off a bit recently. I want to change it a bit, so tonight, no Britney Spears jokes. And here's why, here's exactly why--Britney Spears--audience laughs--no, no, no it's true. Wait. I'm not doing a--when--listen, when she--the kind of weekend she had, she was checking in and out of rehab, she was shaving her head, getting tattoos--that's what she was doing this weekend. This Sunday, I was 15 years sober. So I looked at her weekend, and I looked at my own weekend, and I thought, "You know, I'd rather have my weekend." But what she's going through reminds me of what I was doing, and it's an anniversary, you start to think about it, and it reminds me of where I was 15 years ago, when I was living like that. Now I'm not saying Britney Spears is an alcoholic, I don't know if she's an alcoholic or not. I--but she clearly needs help.

And, now what I do here is, I speak for myself. There's speculation, there's always speculation, that you know, on television--that somebody's behind it, the corporation, the production people, there's no--it's just me, alright? It's me, me and you, right? I'm trying to be honest with you. I'm not an expert on alcoholism, or anything else, but I am an expert on my own story. I was there when it happened--well, I was present. The tape recorder wasn't running until February 18th, 1992.

And it made me think about the last Christmas that I had when I was a drinking man--hopefully the last one as a drinking man. I was in a terrible mess--I wasn't shaving my head and getting tattoos. I saved that for later for, I got that for my midlife crisis. But when I got sobered up, I was a bit older than Britney, I was 29. And Christmas morning, before I got sober, I had been on an all-night bender. And I woke up in a room above a bar. I'd been in that pub the night before, it was Christmas Eve. I was going to have a drink and then go home. I was in London, I was going to go to Scotland, but you know, the one thing led to another, I stayed in the room above the pub. And you know, I woke up on Christmas morning, and I was, you know, I was soaked in my own urine and--at least I think it was mine, I can't be certain. I couldn't say with total honesty that was my urine, I didn't have it tested, is what I'm saying. I hope to this day it was mine.

Anyway, I woke up that morning--now this is, this is the mind of an alcoholic. I woke up that morning, Christmas morning, and I thought, "You know, I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna kill myself today. I'm going to do it, today." And what I did was, I thought, I--I--I made a plan, as I'm getting myself together, I thought, "I'll go down to Tower Bridge in London--which is the one that goes makes open and closing gesture with hands, you know, that one--and I'll swan dive to my death." I don't know how to swan dive, but I, you know, I was gonna. And I thought by doing this, "I'll show them". I didn't even know who they were, but I was gonna show them. I was desperate, I was desperately confused, desperately twisted and turned upside down by whatever the hell was going on in my head.

You know, and on the, on the way out of the bar, you know, Tommy the barman, that I'd been drinking with, you know he was kind of playing around at the bar, he was getting drinks together at the bar in the morning. Now, he had slept behind the bar all night--I'm not saying he's an alcoholic, but he slept behind a bar all night. He was an Irish fella, Tommy, and he said to me, "Where are you going?" And I didn't want to cause a fuss and say, "Well uh you know, I'm gonna go to Tower Bridge and swan dive and kill myself". So I said, "I'm going home". And he said, "To Scotland?" And I said yeah, and he said, "Well, there's no transport, it's Christmas. You can't get a bus, the planes aren't running, there's no--you can't go anywhere." And I said, "Just let me go, Tommy, will you?"

And he said, "Well before you go, have a glass of sherry for Christmas morning." And I said, "Oh, alright, alright." So he poured me the type of glass of sherry that only an alcoholic would pour you, a "venti sherry" they would call it in Starbucks. And I, you know, I had my glass of sherry, and you know it--one thing led to another, and I forgot to kill myself that day. Here's the important point: the alcohol saved my life. I was self-medicating. I'm an alcoholic. I needed alcohol. I needed something, you know.

And from that point on, until February 18th the following year, it's all foggy, you know. I would wake up late, I was on a wild bender. I was doing stand-up gigs apparently. I wish we had tapes of that, I'm sure they were hilarious! Anyway, on the day I finally decided to stop, I called a friend of mine who had disappeared out of the pub world and gotten sober, you know, there was scuttlebutt about him in the bars. I called him up and I said, "I--I, uh, I need help," and he said, "Yeah, I've been expecting this call". And he got me into a rehab. And it wasn't like the way that rehab is portrayed, in the "news outlets" at the moment, where all the kind of, you know, Lindsay Lohans and fabulous people all get--my roommate in rehab was a 60 year old, 65 year old vicar--a priest from the Church of England. Who was getting--he said, "Yes well, the thing is Craig, the parishioners were complaining that all the communion wine was going missing"--it's true!--"And also an old lady said that there was a hobo sleeping in the church graveyard. I had to pretend and go and look for him, but it was me!"

And so what happened is, I stuck with it, I was there--now there is a myth that goes around popular culture, I think right now, as well. Which is, that alcoholism can be cured by a 28 stint in rehab. I'm sorry to annoy the censors, but that is horseshit. That is horseshit. That is not my experience. For me there's two types of rehab clinics: there's the good ones, that say to you, you know, "You've done your 28 days--this is the beginning, you now have a lifetime of vigilance. This is a, this is a chronic condition that you're going to have to manage, for the rest of--deal with the rest of your life." And the bad ones you know, the bad rehab centers will say, "Good good, off you go", you know. The Reverend Ted Haggard, for example, when he gets out of the rehab and is cured of his gayness, this is clearly an unscrupulous bunch of people running that rehab!

The point I'm trying to make to you is this: now, I have been sober about 15 years. There is absolutely no way I have a drinking problem. I don't have a drinking problem--I can get one fast, but I don't, I don't have a drinking problem. I have a thinking problem. I'm 15 years sober. Last week right, I find out that Guinness has 125 calories a pint. And I'm, without a word of a lie, I'm thinking, "Maybe I should go on a diet." That's clearly insane! What Guinness did to me, and I was thinking, "Well it's only 125 calories, what could possibly go wrong?"

I want to make something clear to you--I'm not advocating temperance. I'm not advocating that. I'm saying, this is for me. You know, if I could drink, I would drink. But I can't. You can't, you can't say, you know, to kids, "Drink responsibly". You can say to me, "Drink responsibly", and I'll say, "I'll try". But I can't, certain types of people can't drink. I'm one of them. I threw in the towel with alcoholism 15 years ago, and I've been trying for the last 50 years to get little bits of it back. And it looks to me a little bit, that Britney Spears has a similar problem going on with alcohol. This woman has two kids, she's 25 years old, she's a baby herself. She's a baby, you know. And the thing is, you can embarrass somebody to death. It's embarrassing to admit you're an alcoholic, it's embarrassing to wake up in your pee--or someone else's pee--it doesn't really matter, it's embarrassing. Now I'm not absolving this woman of her behavior, I'm not. You have to be responsible for your actions, sick or well, you have to be responsible for your actions, you just have to be. All of us are accountable, you have to be. If you have a, God forbid you have a kidney problem, and you do go on dialysis, it's your responsibility somehow to get yourself the dialysis. It's your responsibility to deal with the condition that you have, in whatever way you can. Now all of us in America and, and in Scotland, and anywhere I've ever been in my life, everybody knows an alcoholic. That either, they worked for one or they have one work for them, they have a parent or a sibling or a child--everybody, there's not one of us, that doesn't--a friend, God forbid some--some of you poor people are married to them, you know what it's like. Now I have found this: you can't beat it with money. If you could beat this rap with money, rich people wouldn't die. You can't. There's--for me, only for me, and I only speak for myself, so I've gotta stress this to you, I have found that the only way I could deal with it is find other people who had similar experiences and talk to them. It doesn't cost anything, it doesn't cost a thing."

[o-wyrmlight]

There's also this which is just. A hilariously bad take.

Dark Cacao is a bad king because he's stingy with food, money, and is obsessed with the wall and there is no reason to excuse this

Hollyberry is an alcoholic and alcoholics are Bad and alcoholism cannot be explained reasonably by anything

Pure Vanilla is really spineless and non-confrontational and neutral and a pacifist

Golden Cheese is a dictator who is very full of herself

White Lily's actions were technically a trauma response

Ex. Excuse me you don't get to just say that about White Lily. When literally every single one of those other parts can also be attributed as being trauma responses.

Dark Cacao being stingy with food and money stems from his roots in poverty. He understands what it's like to have nothing and he's fearful of putting himself and his kingdom back in that situation. Perhaps he overcompensates, but poverty isn't something that one just forgets. Add that to the Wall and the Licorice Beasts, and the eventual fact that his son nearly killed him and he bore witness to the apparent death of one of his closest friends and his kingdom, and surely you can understand how those situations only aggravates his trauma, right?

Hollyberry is an alcoholic because it helps her cope with her inability to defend her friends during the final fight of the Dark Flour War. She's a person who tries to avoid her issues and drinking is the coping mechanism by which she does so. She's traumatized over that perceived inability and terrified about the idea that she won't be able to protect the cookies she cares about in the future.

Pure Vanilla is a spineless, non-confrontational pacifist because he is a healer and he doesn't know how to fight. He's afraid of confrontation, and while he is a healer, he doesn't like to see people get hurt, either emotionally or physically. He would rather put himself on the line to die than let any of his friends do the same, and he almost did die because of it--and he almost died because of one of his best friends almost killing him. Tell me that isn't traumatizing. Go on. I dare you. Go on and tell me that sometimes when you find yourself in a stressful situation that likely triggers your trauma, you don't just freeze up from time to time, or that there are people who do freeze up.

We don't know enough about Golden Cheese to know about her whole thought-process, but there's a very strong likelihood that her self-importance and narcissistic tendencies are very likely a coping mechanism of her not feeling good or worthy enough. This is literally me just spitballing here from general knowledge of mental health, but it is a trauma response to attempt to boost your ego and esteem to help yourself feel better and distract yourself from the realities of what's going on around you.

White Lily became Dark Enchantress and decided to destroy all of cookiekind because she bore witness to the truth behind the creation of cookies, was forcibly rebaked, and was understandably traumatized. However, the difference between her and the other four is that her trauma doesn't largely impact herself but is rather used as a weapon against the people around her. She's angry at the truth of cookies, angry at her friends for continuing to believe peacefully the lies that they've been fed, and has decided to take it out on the world. Being traumatized isn't an excuse for hurting other people.

So. Can we please not. Just say 'White Lily's reaction is the only valid one because she was traumatized' and ignore the subtext for everyone else just because White Lily and her trauma were very thoroughly and bluntly explained through the Tower of Sweet Chaos?

And by the way, can I just ask: 'Was it a trauma reaction when she suggested killing the Headmaster to aid in her research to figure out how to make the perfect cookie and then proceeded to attempt/do so in spite of the moral wrongness of it all?'

I am banging my head up against the wall, curling up in the corner of my closet, strangling the sleeves of my jackets and burying myself twenty feet underground so I don't have to deal with this nonsense.

Like, maybe the Ancients are all traumatized, and each of them have different ways of expressing and dealing with it as some sort of narrative parallel to each other to show how similar they all are but also how different? Maybe???