#at least i have a lonnng time to decide

[howliteart]

Likelihood of dracthyr having Priest as one of their new classes? 🤔 I will admit I'm very tempted by double jump and Soar. I might actually race-change my main.

But then comes the hard part....... bronze dragon or (moon-touched) netherwing.......

[dufrau]

I am a real life person asking for your thoughts on Nancy Wheeler. Any thoughts on Nancy Wheeler. Every thought about Nancy Wheeler (I really just like talking about Nancy Wheeler)

Oh MAN. I dont even know where to start. I have so many thoughts and opinions and feelings about Nancy Wheeler I don't even know how to approach a question this open. You might as well ask me about the earth!

She has become such a real person in my brain that there are very few things that I think are set in stone about her. Sometimes I ask myself, when im writing, "What would Nancy say here?" or "What would she do?" "How would she react?" and I decide on something that I believe to be true but a lot of the time there is an almost opposite answer that I think could also be true.

What is constant? (this got lonnng have a readmore)

Well first of all I am a doomsday prepper Nancy truther. Not necessarily full on prepper to the extent she is in my TLOU au but I think she carries forward a need to be/feel prepared for things to go terribly wrong. I play it for a laugh sometimes, cans of beans in her purse and the trunk of her car full of random gear etc. But I think she is a person with a go-bag always packed, who always knows her emergency exits, who is always a little bit too alert and is at least a little bit exhausted at all times. I think she has guns and as much as i joke about her being the only person i trust with all these guns tbh she is probably a little twitchy and she probably should not have guns! (but i will continue to write her with guns)

I think she carries an immense weight of guilt and self-doubt which makes her absolute balls-to-the-wall pursuit of the things she believes are right and necessary so interesting by contrast. Her choices get people killed and she never forgives herself for any of it but she keeps making choices in the absence of anybody else who will do it. And I think she enjoys it on some level, or thrives in it, almost as much as she hates it. I think she will be LOST if they ever actually win. I think she will fight with everything she has to survive but i dont think, subconsciously, she really expects to and I dont think she is prepared to be a person who is not fighting anything.

I think she is LOYAL. And I think it's wild that her haters think the opposite. Its another very interesting contrast, the way she explicitly wants to reject societal norms and expectations but also the way she doesn't want to hurt people so she lets herself get trapped into them anyway. I have no interest in the "did she cheat on steve" conversation, i think the more important thing for her character is that she gets back together with steve and stays with him way longer than she wants to. Part of that is obviously about Barb but part of it I think is that she sees goodness in him and feel guilty about not having seen it sooner. And she's doing the same with Jonathan, who it seems like has been avoiding her calls and refusing to visit and just giving her nothing but she holds onto that relationship I think out of loyalty because he is a good person even if he's being a shitty boyfriend right now and even if that relationship has run its course. (these are not anti thoughts about steve or jonathan btw these are all teenagers in teenage relationships nobody is a villain here)

I think she hates surprises. Which makes sense because every surprise in Hawkins tends to be a bad surprise. But Robin is a whole fucking surprise and isnt THAT something. A thing I see in that ship that I love so much is that Robin keeps Nancy off balance in a way she usually hates, but she doesnt hate it at all from Robin. The very existence of Robin makes Nancy ask questions where normally she would just plow ahead. I think that discomfort is healthy for her and I think, after whatever you want to put them through to get there, she knows it.

I think Nancy would go straight for the eyeballs in a fight. I think she is biting off ears and ripping off fingers and poking their fucking eyes out because she is tiny and she knows it and she is not bothering throwing punches (though if she can elbow you in the nose she is going to to that too.)

I think one million more things about Nancy Wheeler but this post is so long already lol.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING

[sunnysviolin]

Kel and Aubrey going around interacting with people to learn about the different cultures everywhere as they travel, wearing cultural outfits, participating in cultural activities, just having an overall good time...

Would they be good at any cultural dances? Since they're traveling to Spain first, I can just imagine Aubrey in a flamenco dress with Kel as they just dance together and enjoy themselves (or maybe Kel wearing the dress- or maybe both of them wearing dresses-)

...I kinda wanna draw them dancing around together now.

-from a videogame-world traveling anon

nonnie.....nonnie wait....if you drew something we created together I would be SO EMO WAIT!!! No oh my god like my brain literally just exploded like art?? ART??? I wanna be able to draw so bad...but I can’t I just gotta continue on w my lil writing bits....here take some more writing bits nonnie

*Singing to myself* This got lonnng againnnn I’m putting itttt under a readdd moreeeee

Kel’s parents are....less than pleased to find out their son isn’t directly going to college like Hero did, and they make that known. 

They don’t approve of his choice to take at least one gap year. They don’t approve of him not continuing his education. They don’t approve of him throwing away his life for that bad girl that spent so many years terrorizing him. Even two years after changing her ways, Aubrey is still regarded as a nuisance among the town old timers. Kel’s parents tell him plainly that they don’t approve of Aubrey, and they won’t be changing their mind. 

Which leads to Kel having a minor breakdown and finally admitting what he’s known his whole life- that he will never be good enough to measure up to Hero, and he’s finally tired of trying to be someone he’s not. He isn’t Hero and he never will be, but for once he wants being Kel to be good enough. 

Seeing their bright positive middle child finally crack under the weight they’ve been unintentionally laying on him is...it’s painful. Kel’s parents never meant to make it a competition between their sons, they just wanted what was best for both of them. 

Having Kel sobbing at their dining room table at 3:00 am on the night of his high school graduation teaches them that they might not know what’s best for Kel after all. 

So...yeah the talk the morning after that is filled with a lot of awkward pausing. Kel isn’t used to sharing his true feelings, and he isn’t used to exposing anything other than cheerful hope. Ultimately they come to an agreement. Kel can go with Aubrey, follow her and his heart on their crazy plan, but he has to spend the year before they leave working and earning and not just hanging around the house

That was Kel’s plan anyway, so he’s ecstatic. He calls Aubrey immediately after, and she comes over so they can plan things out together

That year before they leave is definitely not easy. They’re working multiple retail and menial labor jobs, spending 12-15 hours a day on their feet in steamy kitchens, being screamed at by rude customers, and delivering so. many. pizzas. 

At some point in that year Aubrey and her mother have the inevitable fight that has been coming her whole life, and her mother kicks her out. Aubrey shows up in the middle of the night with her things next to her. Kel’s mother welcomes her inside and gets her a cup of tea. Kel wakes up and comes downstairs the next day to see his partner curled up asleep on the couch under a blanket his mother had just finished knitting

His mother doesn’t explain anything (”It’s her story dear not mine”) but after Aubrey comes to stay with them his parents warm to her quickly. Aubrey and Kel are allowed to share the room that Hero and he once shared, but they’re adamant that the beds stay on opposite sides

((He and Aubrey fit cramped but happy into his twin bed every night, but she always wakes up early to switch beds in order to be respectful to his parents wishes)) 

Soon enough its the afternoon before their journey is beginning (They decided to redeye to Sevilla). They have hostel confirmation numbers for a dozen different European countries, a thick binder of plans and itineraries, and a joint account that has a surprising amount of money in it. 

Turns out working 15 hours a day, taking only your eight paid vacation days, and having all of your dates be creative free dates in the five hours a week you both have off together means that you are able to acquire quite the nest egg. Kel’s parents sit them down at the dining room table, and his father is shocked to see how this year has shaped Kel. 

It’s a strange thing to see your son as an adult for the first time. It didn’t feel strange when it was Hero, he always expected it from Hero. Seeing it in Kel rocked him. 

They drive the two young adults (calling them kids now feels...wrong) to the airport and make them promise to call and write daily. 

There’s an undeniable energy and excitement as they board the plane. He and Aubrey breathe an audible sigh of relief. They shouldn’t, but they sleep on the plane. After a year of running, they’ve earned it

OKAY SO THAT WASN”T AT ALL WHAT YOU ASKED FOR....HERE HAVE DANCE LESSON HEADCANONS

Aubrey planned for everything, so she planned that they would need at least two days to recover when they finally got to Spain. The first two days are spent in a combo of sleeping and eating fantastic food and finally being able to spend a full night in bed together instea of sneaking unsuccessfully around Kel’s parents. 

She splurged and got them a private room at their first hostel in Sevilla. It was more expensive, but ultimately so very very worth it. 

But day three is when they start to explore. They finally venture off of the block around their hostel and began to deep dive into the tiny back paths of the city. They meet a nice handful of locals who invite them to breakfast the next morning (Kel’s spanish speaking skills are undeniably useful to them in this moment) 

And that night...that night is the beginning of the wish fulfillment she’s waited for since she was five years old. A flamenco lesson that promises an authentic experience, real outfits, and a party for all involved at the end. Aubrey was frugal with accomodations, but she spared no expense when it came to the experiences. Especially this one. 

Flamenco is traditionally a single dance with one woman, but she asked and Kel is allowed to come if he likes. The instructor in charge recognizes Aubrey from her call, and drags Kel over to where another man sits with a guitar. He and the man begin to converse in Spanish, and Kel seems to be rapidly making plans. He’s fine with only watching for tonight, this is her dream

Aubrey is thrust into a room with a bunch of other tourists, even a few from her own state, and a gaggle of women who work at the studio. They show her a row of gorgeous traditional dresses, an overwhelming rainbow of frills and explosions of color. 

Aubrey has let her hair go back to it’s natural color by this point, and her long dark locks catch the eye of one of the instructors who pulls her over to a corner of the rack of dresses. The instructor winks at her and pulls out a dress. It’s perfect. 

Kel is also having a fantastic time. He and the guitar player who’s name is Raphael are discussing guitar playing. Raphael wants to teach Kel to play himself so “He can play for his lady when she wants to dance for him again” 

All conversation stops when Aubrey walks out. 

The others are dolled up as well, but Kel only has eyes for his girl. Her dress is black, hugging to her waist and her body. As the ruffles of the dress begin on her arms and her legs, the dress goes from black to a striking bright red. Around her wrists and on her neck is bright gold jewlery, gleaming against her skin. 

Aubrey’s dark hair is wrapped up in a bun with a series of pink to red carnations following the curve of her hair. Her lips are tinged with maroon lipstick. 

Kel is left speechless. Aubrey asks him something and Kel just has to nod and try to catch his breath. The rest of the group giggle at their antics, and Aubrey rolls her eyes at him. She presses a kiss to his cheek, maroon imprint left in its wake, and then she is over with the other girls in front of the instructor. 

Raphael begins to play at the instructors insistence

The dance lesson is fun. Even just watching Kel has fun. Aubrey normally has a hardness in her eyes, a tightness in her shoulders as if she’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Within minutes of the instructors careful praise and guidance Aubrey is loose and even giggling. Kel hasn’t heard a sound like that from her since they were children. 

At the end the group performs the dance all together to a raucuous applause form Kel, Raphael, and the instructor. Then they all go to the patio behind the studio which has been decked out in warm golden lanterns with a table of food prepared. 

Raphael begins to play again and the others mingle close to the food. Aubrey takes Kels hand and they go to a separate corner of the dance floor. They don’t dance in any particular way, just holding one another and rocking to the melody. Her hair has begun to come out of it’s tight bun, but her eyes are bright with happiness and she can’t manage to stop smiling

That night under the glow of the lanterns is the night they first say they love each other. It was a given, they already knew it, but those words are saccharine sweet against their lips as Kel holds Aubrey close to him and they spin while the music plays.