#like obviously we know they were friends at this point and they’ve already worked together but it’s funny cuz they are soooooo different in

[ghostpunkrock]

I always restart bfu at 3 horrifying cases of ghosts and demons so I actually forgot shane was in the last episode before it and like

look at these assholes, they have no idea that their careers and their lives are going to be inextricably bound together for the rest of eternity do they

[thearchercore]

Lando’s comments about not being bffs with max is for sure directly related to lestappen gate. 

We’ve know since the summer that Charles is Ferrari’s priority to resign. (Remember we even thought it was going to be announced in the summer?) they’ve been working hard to make sure Charles feels positive about 2024 and comfortable in the 2024 car and feels like he can win a championship with Ferrari. And Charles was full steam ahead ready to renew.

It all changed in Singapore. Charles was shafted by Ferrari and Carlos was prioritized. Carlos prioritized Lando instead of his teammate - helping him stay in DRS even though he was a competitor. In the cool down room he said that what happened to Charles was “none of his business”.  Charles raises all fucking hell and Ferrari sees they’re about to lose their il predestinato.

Suzuka happens next week. And then there’s a break before Qatar - and Charles goes back to the factory in Maranello. He’s there for a week, while Carlos is no where to be seen and never shows up. Charles has a sit down interview in Qatar where he talked about feeling positive for the future and the developments for next year's car and genuinely seemed excited for the new car.

This was all before the mess of the last few races, when we saw the real development of lestappen gate. And the possibility of Charles going after Red Bull, not feeling like he can win with Ferrari. And the emergence of lestappen as being friends. publicly at least, cause we all know they’ve been close for ages. 

Ferrari gets desperate to keep Charles and will stop at nothing to retain him. Prioritizing his contact negotiations, giving him whatever he wants, making sure he knows he is the priority and they’ll do whatever they need. They hired Fred for him, and Fred is hiring and replacing like money is free to get a better team for Charles. And made it clear - the 2024 car will be suited to Charles and what he likes. 

Now who isn’t the priority? Carlos. His contract negotiations have basically stopped because they don’t care about him right now. There’s constant talks about how it’s likely he won’t reach a deal and Ferrari already has a shortlist of who they will pursue and why they’d be a great fit, to the point Spanish media is taking these so seriously that they’re shading Ferrari. Even the Spanish GP was talking shit about Ferrari on Twitter. 

Fred shades Carlos as the Vegas GP, saying Vegas was their best race of the season (even above their only team win). Fred shades Carlos again for his crash in practice in Abu Dhabi, saying that the Vegas pothole was bad luck but he said Carlos crashing in practice was “something else”. 

And with Singapore and everything that followed after, we see Charles and Carlos move from friends to barely interacting except for required events and videos. Carlos sees clearly that he is 2nd to Charles and will be considered that way with everything going forward, and is not happy about that. 

So that brings us back to: Max and Lando. Max respects Charles more than he does any other driver on the grid (hello he apologized to Charles in Vegas for turn 1?? When has he ever apologized for anything that happens on the track). Max is taking Charles’ side and even if he knows Charles is only using Red Bull to get a better Ferrari contract, he supports him cause he genuinely loves racing against Charles in a proper car. And besides the respect, they’re great friends. 

Lando’s allegiance is obviously to Carlos. And he’s hearing all of it from Carlos and his being pissed. And I can fully see it coming up in convo with Max (after all Max and Carlos were teammates and friends once upon a time) and Max not fucking having it and standing on Charles’ side. And suddenly there’s the divide and Lando refuses to say they’re friends, because he’s so behind Carlos. 

And it all just further enforces how powerful Lestappen is together. 

solid points! my little own theory was that lando wants to go into 2024 with an internal goal to be THE rival to max (how realistic that is, that's another discussion) and so the friendship with max no longer benefits him.

when lando was up and coming driver, the clout that he got by hanging out with max benefitted him. he was seen partying with the world champion, got more publicity thanks to that etc. it was in general a very appealing friendship to be in for lando.

fast forward, mclaren built a car in the second half of 2023 that could fight max in certain scenarios (singapore comes to mind). however, lando did not manage to maximise the potential due to little driver errors that always cost him a better starting position.

it's 2024 now, ferrari and mercedes have great drivers but they are fully dependent on the state of their car and the team strategy. mclaren seemed to work out some of that already so mclaren goes into this season maybe more confident than they should be.

lando's friendship with max no longer benefits him, he will be now seen as a rival, not a friend. he could be fighting him on track, and so he probably wants to push his own agenda and distance himself from max. in this scenario, carlos is a safe option as any other friend on the grid (i assume tensions will rise between carlos and oscar as oscar will no longer be a rookie)

on the other end, charles is doing the exact opposite, he maximised potential of ferrari's car and also stopped following ferrari's pr guidelines. in vegas or abu dhabi, he hung out more with max than his own teammate. during the winter break he had only one scheduled appearance with another f1 driver on the grid, again, max.

charles publicly connecting himself with max does no good for ferrari's image and how they're pushing the "friendship" between carlos and charles. in that sense, charles is not hanging out publicly with max because it benefits him, quite the opposite.

he's doing it to manipulate the narrative and take over some control himself.

that's how i see the situation right now. it will be definitely interesting to see how these grid dynamics develop because yes, they are co-workers but also in the season where so many contracts expire, it's also a big powerplay so there's definitely a lot of decisions behind the scenes

[ilguna]

Before I get in on the fun, I'd like to say 1. the theme of your celebration is flawless an 2. You deserve 3k and so much more, congrats!!

Now if it's not too much to ask I'd love to request a Finnick one, with a platonic reader where they're each others favorite person since their young age. Instead Annie the Capitol decides to take reader and try to get infos out of her that could be used against the 'rebels'. When the rescue mission takes place, they're capable to free her as well but she's not stable at all (not mentally though). Every detail as well as the ending is up to you. Thank you!

(I hope I didn't go against your rules with this one)

If you decide not to write this, not a problem at all, love all your works either way.<3

☼ see you again (Finnick Odair) ☼

warnings; swearing, needle, torture, blood mention.

wc; 2k

—

When Finnick finds out that you let the Capitol torture you in order to keep some information from them about the rebels, you think that he’ll kill you himself. Especially since you promised him that you wouldn’t let it get to this point, in the chance that you weren’t able to get rescued.

It wasn’t supposed to be a possibility, though. 

The day of the reaping, Finnick stopped you before the two of you were meant to be on the stage in front of the Justice Building. He took your hands, squeezed them, and said, “Mags is going to volunteer, and you are not going to do anything about it.”

It was an order, and if it weren’t for his tone and the look on his face, you would’ve thought he was joking to some degree. He watched the way your mouth opened, and then shut. What could you say to that?

“She wants to protect you and Annie.” He clarified, thumbs rubbing over the back of your hands. “This is her sacrifice. Librae has agreed to be the female mentor, too. I want you to stay here, and be safe.”

“When have I ever purposely put myself into danger?” You’d asked him. 

“That doesn’t matter anymore.” He pressed his lips together. “Once we get taken out of the arena, we’ll come for you. And on the chance we can’t, you do whatever you have to do to stay alive.”

At the time, it seemed ridiculous that he felt the need to tell you this. Obviously, you would do whatever it takes to get back to him. You can’t live without Finnick, and he can’t go more than a few hours at a time without checking in on you. He’s your best friend, and he has been your entire life.

It took a lot of convincing from Mags to get him behind the idea of keeping you in District Four, where you were going to be safe. Rather than in an arena with a bunch of victors that would stop at nothing to go home to their own families. He didn’t like the thought of separating the two of you so he could go into the Quarter Quell.

Once she got it into his head that it was going to be a temporary problem that would be fixed as soon as the arena went down, he could support the idea… a little. That didn’t mean he liked it.

Still, he promised that it wouldn’t be long, and you promised that you’d save yourself at every cost. It’s funny how you both have become liars without ever intending to. 

It would be easier to tell the Capitol what they want to know now, considering that half of the plans have already been executed. If it weren’t for the fact that you know every detail there could possibly be to know. If you let one thing slip, the doctors will be all over you, and they won’t stop until they’re sure they’ve milked you dry.

It won’t be that different from what they’re doing at the moment. They’ve been extremely persistent, up until today. You’re not sure what made them stop, but the schedule they had was specific and well thought out. They’d come by every hour of the day to do something to you. Whether it be questioning, injections or plain torture, they would not leave the room.

You’ve been thinking that they’re resetting. Maybe they’re trying to give you a false sense of security by letting you assume that you’re safe and they’re not going to come back. And then later, when you’re sleeping, they’ll come by with worse instruments than they had before.

You won’t crack.

The details you know about the rebellion could make or break it. The tactics on how District Four were going to interrupt and fight back against the Peacekeepers are delicate. In order to spread it to the other districts to make them successful, they selected a few trained individuals to send beyond the fences as a messenger. 

The combined information between you and Finnick about the Capitol Officials could tear their image and plant doubt in the citizen’s minds. If they can’t trust the important people to protect them, then who's to say they’re any better than the rebels? They can’t. It could convince them to switch sides from the inside.

You know all the spies from inside of the Capitol, giving out their names could be catastrophic. You know all the places the rebels were planning on targeting and how that would help them later on. Hell, if you tell the doctors that you know their own battle strategies and have passed it onto District Thirteen, they might just slaughter you on the spot.

So, while you could tell Finnick that you’d save yourself first, you’d never actually do it, it’s an impossible task. If you did, it’ll cost thousands of people their lives and their freedom. As opposed to just you, acting as a sacrifice, knowing full well that you’re circling the drain and it’s only a matter of time.

You can’t go yet, you have to see Finnick one more time.

The lights suddenly flicker. Your face twists, dragging your eyes from the white tile to the ceiling. It’s bright, hard to look at for more than a couple seconds. You don’t think you’ve ever seen the Capitol’s power malfunction before.

You place your head back on the pillow, and watch in stunned silence as the lights flicker, struggling to stay on, before they fail altogether. The room falls into darkness, the hum of electricity gone. You stare into the black, hands reaching for the bed railing, hearing the metal of your handcuffs clink against it.

A few feet away, the door to your room unlocks.

Your breathing picks up, bracing yourself for anyone that might come in. This is it, the trick that they’ve been winding up to play on you. Why else would the lights go out? Now you can’t see them coming.

You’re not sure how long you sit there for, waiting for them to open the door and come out of the blue. It’s got to be more than an hour, and by then, you’ve calmed down a bit. It’s not going to be any different from the last hundred times. You can hold on.

The sound of boots on tile makes you sit up, beams of light shining through your door’s window, only to be taken away. There’s hushed voices, as if they’re afraid of being too loud to attract attention. You watch as the light returns, a shadow of a figure appearing in front of the window, before your door slowly begins to open.

You swallow thickly.

You’re blinded instantly by the beams of light. You go to raise your hand to block your eyes, the cuffs digging harshly into your raw wounds. You have to turn your head away, cheek pressed against your chest.

“We’ve got one!” A man shouts.

The brightness isn’t directly pointed at you anymore, so you’re able to open your eyes to see what’s happening. The room has become crowded, with several people dressed in military gear holding guns. You stare at them wordlessly, not knowing whether or not this is a trap.

Another one comes to the doorway, the barrel pointed toward the floor. “(Y/n) (L/n)?” 

Your eyebrows twitch. “Yes?”

He nods, “Let’s get her uncuffed and ready to be transported to the hovercraft. (Y/n), do you know where the other victors are being kept?”

You shake your head slightly. “No, they could be anywhere in this building.”

He doesn’t say anything, leaving the room. The ones that are left come to try and get you free, but every time they adjust the cuffs for better leverage, you begin to bleed again. The cuts and sores that litter your skin are easy bleeders. It’s because they haven’t been allowed to heal.

They realize this quickly, trying to be gentle. You have to tell them that what they’re doing doesn’t even compare to the amount of pain you’re put in each time you have to move. This makes them stop altogether.

“Are you able to walk?”

“Barely.” You murmur, “I can’t do it for long periods of time.”

“Gale, will you stay with her while we—?”

“Yes.”

They leave the room, but they don’t go very far. With neither of you talking, you can hear every word they say out there. You look like shit, you’re covered in wet and dried blood alike. And you should be dead by now.

“Is he safe?” Your voice is scratchy. You clear your throat. “Is FInnick safe?”

“Yes, he’s in District Thirteen.” Gale tells you.

You hum, sitting back. That’s all you’ve wanted to hear since the feed showing the Quarter Quell went down. They cut the districts off right around the time Katniss shot the arrow into the forcefield. You didn’t see anyone get rescued from there, so you thought that they were here with you, in the Capitol.

“I want to see him again.” You say. “That’s all I want.”

He doesn’t get a chance to say anything back, as the others come into the room. You watch as they pull out a collapsible stretcher. You grind your teeth, imagining all the pain you’re about to be in.

—

“Just hold on, (Y/n).” The nurse tells you, prodding at your elbow. “We’ve got to find a vein.”

You throw your head back against the pillow as she presses her thumb into the skin, tears appearing at the corners of your eyes. You thought that the journey getting here was unbearable, you didn’t think you’d have a team of doctors waiting to help you in District Thirteen.

They’re already talking to you about taking skin and blood samples to run tests. They think that surgery might be a good idea for you, and the physical therapy you’re going to need to be able to walk properly again. It’s like a merry-go-round that you can’t get off of.

First it was causing damage, and now it’s trying to fix it.

“Where’s Finnick?” You groan out between your teeth. “I want Finnick.”

“He’s on his way, I need you to sit still.” She tells you. 

“It hurts.” You cry, tears running down the sides of your cheeks. “I can’t—”

“Can we get morphling, please?” The nurse calls, “We’re going to do everything we can right now to make you feel comfortable, (Y/n). Until then, we need you to relax.”

The idea of relaxing is so ridiculous that you can’t help the pained laughter that bubbles out of you. It’s not funny for long, it dissolves into sobs that aches your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. For a second, you think that it’d be easier if you were dead.

“(Y/n)!” A voice shouts.

Your eyes pop open as you fly into an upward position to see who the voice belongs to. It’s coming from the other end of the room, but you’re not able to see with the nurse being in the way. The needle is pushed through your skin, she lets out a sigh of relief and moves to the side.

On the other side of the room, you see him. You see Finnick, his bronze hair tangled at the top of his head, dressed in the same grey jumpsuit that everyone but the medical staff is wearing. 

“Finnick!” You shout.

He begins to run to you, arms out in your direction. The nurse has to jerk in front of him at the last second. “Carefully. Her condition is delicate.”

She moves out of the way, Finnick takes your hand in his, squeezing tightly. The tears begin to blur your eyes again, bottom lip trembling. 

“What did they do to you?” He whispers.

“I couldn’t tell them the truth.” You say. “I couldn’t ruin it for the rebels.”

“So you would let them kill you?” 

“No, not if it meant I would never see you again.” You look away. “But I can’t be the reason why more children go inside of an arena.”

“You wouldn’t have been.”

You look him in the eyes again. “I couldn’t take that chance.”

—

this is part of my 3k celebration!! you can join until the cure is released on October 31st, at midnight!!

+ thank you anon!!

[ladykailitha]

The Magic of Christmas 8/8

And here we are at the end. Now there will be a cute little New Year's Eve story that I'll put up on the 31st that is a sequel to this. I wanted to write the exhibit but the story was already bursting at the seams so it'll be a New Year's present for you all.

Also don't be an Argyle, it might seem cute at the time, but it's really not.

***

To say Eddie was nervous would be an understatement. Not only did he want Dustin and his friends to be happy about what Steve gave them, but he hoped that Steve would love what Eddie got him.

He got there early before Dustin and his friends arrived. They had all gone out ice skating before the party so Eddie could sneak in the wrapped canvasses.

He rang the doorbell, bouncing on his toes in excitement. Chrissy had to smack him twice before he looked calm enough.

Then all that went out the window when Steve answered the door. He wasn’t dressed in a suit or anything like that, but fuck Eddie thought he looked beautiful.

He was wearing a Star Wars Christmas sweater with the tightest of blue jeans. He had silly antlers on his head and his cheeks were rosy.

It took everything in Eddie’s will power not to just kiss him right then and there.

“You made it!” Steve greeted warmly. “Do you need help bringing in the gifts?”

Eddie nodded and they went out to get them, while Chrissy went to make herself comfortable with the hostess, Robin.

Steve grabbed the large piece and two of the smaller ones. Eddie grabbed the remaining two smaller pieces.

“You know,” Eddie said. “I don’t think I ever asked you who the purple dragon was going to be for. I assumed you, but that doesn’t seem right now that I think about it.”

Steve smiled. “You’ll get to meet her tonight,” he said with a fond smile. “She doesn’t really play D&D, but she’s inspired many a campaign and NPC. We call her El because that’s all she could remember of what her name was when the kids found her lost and alone in a forest. They’ve tried for years to find her real family but when she turned eighteen she asked them to stop. They were her real family.”

“Poor kid,” Eddie said. “I’m glad she found you guys.”

“She sweet,” he agreed. “And she will love your hair.”

Eddie ran his fingers through his long curls. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, “she’s been trying to grow hers out for years but something keeps cropping up and she has to cut again.”

“Oof!” Eddie said. “That’s horrible. Has she thought about getting extensions.”

Steve frowned. “What are extensions? I mean obviously the extend the hair, but how does that work?”

Eddie launched into the explanation about them and Steve was just so enthralled that he didn’t realize that Eddie and he had lingered under the mistletoe.

“Kiss!” Chrissy cried, pointing about their head.

Eddie and Steve looked up and then at each other. Steve held out the packages and Robin and Chrissy rushed forward to take them from both boys.

Eddie watched as Steve slowly cupped his cheek and leaned in. His breath caught in his chest as Steve’s eyelashes fluttered close. Eddie leaned the rest of the way in and pressed their lips together.

Fuck.

It was like everything that made Christmas special in a single fucking kiss. There was no going back after that.

“Wow,” Steve breathed. “That was even better than I imagined it would be.”

“You imagined it a lot?” Eddie asked, his heart beating a drum against his rib cage.

“Since August,” Steve admitted shyly.

Eddie chuckled and rubbed their noses together softly. “Since you hired me.”

Steve looked up at him in shock. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, Stevie. Holy shit.”

Steve kissed him fiercely.

Eddie broke it off. “Shit! I left your present in the van!” He dashed off.

Steve laughed out loud, clear and bright. He turned to his audience. “I am in love with that idiot.”

The women all laughed too.

Claudia came up and gave him a huge hug. “You found yourself a good one, Steve. He’ll be good for you.”

Steve blushed deeply. “I know.”

Eddie came back in with rosy cheeks and breathless. In his hand was another neatly wrapped gift. He handed to Steve. “There you go, pretty boy. Just for you.”

“I have a present for you, too,” Steve said with a smile. “But we’ll have to wait until everyone gets here.”

Just then there was clatter behind them as said kids came bursting through the open front door.

Eddie turned to see four girls with the boys he had been acquainted with. The one was clearly Lucas’s sister. She had the same broad features and knowing eyes. One was a red head with a piercing gaze and a knowing smirk. Eddie could tell he was going to like her. A lot. The third girl was pretty sort of plump, her blonde hair in beautiful ringlets. The final girl was El. There was no doubt in his mind, this was the lost girl.

She had dark curly hair that brushed her shoulders and thousand yard stare. She looked like Wayne said he did sometimes. Lost and unsure of what to do.

Introductions were made and Eddie was right in all counts. He loved Max, the red head. El was the pretty girl with the dark curls, Erica was Lucas’s sister, and the last girl was Dustin’s long time girlfriend, Suzie.

Steve did a head count. “Where Jonathan and Nancy?” he asked Will.

“Getting Argyle from the airport,” Will said. “His flight had to make a stop in Salt Lake City because of a fuel issue, so he was late getting in.”

Suzie snorted. “No it didn’t.”

Everyone turned to her.

“He just didn’t want to tell anyone that he was picking up my sister, Eden so she could join us for Christmas.”

Steve blanched at the thought of another person for Christmas.

She touched his elbow. “I told Claudia a couple weeks ago, she made sure there was enough food and space.”

He relaxed. Claudia and Steve had made a deal, he would cook for Thanksgiving, if she did Christmas. So if she knew than everything was fine.

“Come gather around!” Steve yelled over the din. “Dinner is a light thoroughfare with lots of snacks and goodies. We’ll have a big breakfast tomorrow. Help yourselves, we’ll do presents when the remaining four get here!”

A cheer went up and everyone filed out.

Soon it was just Eddie and Steve in the hallway.

“Is my Christmas present you?” Eddie asked, getting his fingers underneath the sweater.

Steve jerked back.

“Ooh!” Eddie said with a grin. “Someone is ticklish.”

“No!” Steve squealed. “Absolutely not!” He tried to squirm out of Eddie’s grasp but Eddie was too fast for him.

They were laughing and giggling when the last of the guests arrived.

Eddie wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Suzie said her sister was coming. But it wasn’t the skinny Goth chick with the black hair and teardrop tattoo by her eye.

He had ruled out the other girl on the sheer fact she looked too much like Mike to be anything other Nancy.

Steve welcome them in but gave Argyle the stink eye which prompted Eden reading him the riot act for not telling people she was coming.

Argyle kept arguing that she was supposed to be a surprise for Suzie, but since Suzie already knew the argument fell apart.

There was hot chocolate and cider, eggnog of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties.

Food spread as far as the eye could see on the table but no one sat down to eat there, mostly they wandered in and out of the living room.

Finally it was time for presents and Steve was bouncing in the corner. Eddie slipped his hand into his.

“They’ll love it, sweetheart,” he murmured.

Steve let out a slow breath and nodded. He had gotten Max a Tony Hawk signed skateboard and Erica, the whole 5th edition D&D set so she could start her own campaigns when she started college next fall. She had taken a gap year, because her last year of high school had been so hard on her.

They hugged Steve tightly as thanks. And then it was time for the remaining five to open theirs.

“El, honey,” Steve said, “you open yours first. Then Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Mike. Don’t glare at me, Mike. You’re not last because you’re my least favorite. You’ll see.”

El opened hers. It was of the purple dragon. It’s human-like form pulsing near the heart.

“Steve,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

Dustin unwrapped his wizard to stunned disbelief. “Steve...” he said, his voice wobbling with gratitude.

Will opened his punk rock rogue. “Oh wow.” He ran his fingers reverently over the surface. “Steve, it’s amazing.”

Mike noticed the pattern and looked up at Steve in shock. “No way.”

Lucas opened the ranger leaping into the air with his bow drawn. “Oh holy shit.”

Mike’s hands trembled as he stared down at the wrapped canvass. He looked up at Steve. “There’s no way it’s as awesome as everyone else’s.”

Steve came over and knelt in front of him. He took Mike’s head in his hands. “Of course it is. You are just as important to me as the rest, Mike. Okay?”

Mike’s lip quivered as he nodded. He pulled the wrapping off to reveal his paladin in shining gold armor. A beacon on harsh landscape. Tears dripped down his face as he pressed his hand over his mouth. He set the painting carefully to the side and launched himself at Steve, enveloping him with a huge hug.

“It’s perfect,” he whispered.

Steve hugged him back.

Suddenly there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Finally they broke apart, both men wiping their eyes.

Dustin looked at the signature on his. “Is this an Eddie Munson original?!”

Like the universe did a record scratch, suddenly five heads all turn to Steve and Eddie.

Eddie waved his hand at them and Steve nearly burst on how cute it was.

“It’s even better than that,” Steve said with a grin. “El, stand in the middle. Lucas, Mike on the right, with Mike on the outside. Same for you and Will, Will on the outside. Hold up the paintings.”

He pulled out his phone and took a picture. “Now set them down and come over here.”

The five of them crowded around Steve and his phone.

They all gasped when they saw the full picture.

Steve was suddenly bombarded with hugs and thanks and kisses.

“I know next year you’ll all be going your separate ways and wanted to get you all something to tie you together for life,” he explained.

“That is wicked cool,” Max said.

“Yeah,” Erica agreed.

“I have one more present to give,” Eddie said and pulled out the remaining package and handed it to Steve.

Steve unwrapped and gasped. “It’s a yellow dragon!”

“And his knight friend having tea together,” Eddie explained. “I kinda based it on that old cartoon, The Reluctant Dragon, where the knight and dragon didn’t want to fight.”

“Eds,” Steve whispered. “I love it!” Then Robin was placing something in his hand.

Steve looked down at it and then nodded. “This is my gift to you.” He handed it to Eddie.

It was an envelope about the size of Christmas card and Eddie fought hard against the disappointment that burned in his gut. He had painted a yellow dragon for Steve, it would have been nice to get something more than a gift card.

He pulled it out and frowned when he realized it was an invitation.

“Newfield Museum of Fine Arts

You are cordially invited

to an art exhibit featuring the art

of

Eddie Munson

Dec 31st 8pm-1am

Fundraiser for the charity ‘Roll for Initiative’

starting at 4pm

Silent auction from 6-7pm”

It was Eddie’s turn to cry.

“You okay there, son?” Wayne asked, concerned when Eddie just stood there, tears streaming down his face.

Eddie nodded. He held out the invitation for Wayne to take. Wayne read it over and over.

“You do this, Steve?” he asked.

Steve nodded. “It was my plan for a while to do the fundraiser for the charity on New Year’s Eve, but after really getting to know Eddie, I knew that he deserved to be showcased too. So the exhibit came afterwards.”

Eddie kissed him fiercely on the lips. “This is the best Christmas present ever, baby.”

Steve blushed to the cheers from everyone.

This year was good, but next year was going to be even greater.

***

Well that's the end for now. Thank you so much for coming along with me on this wild ride. Merry Christmas!!

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[loveyourownsmiilee]

Hello :) I’m not used to asking questions on here but I’m just curious and I coupdn’t stop myself. How do you think they can turn this whole season the way so it has nothing to do with Buddie. Because since the first episode of season 7 they’ve been writing their lines with kind of a deeper meaning, in a way that can be understood like a foreshadowing in them going canon (like the whole jealousy plot where Buck is still so obviously confused to what/who he wanted, Tommy’s „MY attention?”, the coming out scene when Buck says he’s relieved and he looks anything but). I have my clown shoes on and I don’t see how they can end this season without giving us a hint at Buddie (my guess is Buck will have some kind of feelings realisation about Eddie) but knowing what they did to couch theory and other times where they crushed shippers hopes showing only their friendship and nothing more I’m trying to brace myself for another dissapointment. Like, we are all just so sure about Buddie, but what if the writers throw another curveball at us? And what could that curveball possibly be? Anyways, hope you have a nice day! 😊

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to send me a question! I’m always happy to answer 🥰

Here’s the thing, the last two seasons were all weird bc we had another show runner who point blank made it clear she wasn’t on board with Buddie being romantic in any way. She legit called that will reveal scene platonic and said it’s normal for best friends bc her mother and her female best friend did the same thing. She was allergic to queer people. We have the return of show runner who was the original show runner. He was always pro Buddie even if he never point blank said so. This man killed off Shannon bc he knew the fans were angry with her for leaving her child. He liked a tweet that said Shannon was Eddie’s beard. He’s been proactively and consistently sharing Buddie content before the season even started. Also talking about how much he enjoys Buck and Eddie’a dynamic and is going to try to hit that in every episode. The first episode was very much a reintroduction and what did they do? They showed Buck, Eddie, and Christopher as a whole ass family unit. They made it clear to everyone tuning in that those three are a family together.

Now I think the reason Eddie is soooo heavily intertwined with Buck’s scenes is bc it’s intentional. I also am under the impression, as I’ve said many times recently, that Tim not only spoke to Oliver earlier in the season about his plans, but also Ryan. There’s a deliberate reason as to why Oliver and Ryan are actively promoting this season together. I will die on this hill that Ryan is fully aware. And we had that confirmed when Lou pretty much said it was originally supposed to be Tommy and Eddie but things didn’t work out. So what that actually tells me is that Tim has plans to make BOTH Buck and Eddie queer. And he’s going with Buck first but will eventually get to Eddie. They already planted massive seeds in 7.05 by bringing up religious guilt and all that talk about Eddie’s Catholicism. It’s happening and that is a far better way to tell Eddie’s story than him being kissed by a man randomly. So I just, idk even with this new interest in Buck and Tommy, I truly don’t think it’s something that will divert the writers and show runner from their original plans, I should hope not. They can’t dismiss 6 years of development for a new love interest especially when said love interest is a literal copy of Eddie. So I don’t think they’ll switch gears and I think we’re on the same page as to what is coming up for them. Literally the fact that they made Buck bi confirms to me that Buddie is inevitable.

[thranduel]

the big difference between these two relationships

*these are my own personal opinions based on what i’ve observed in the show!! obviously all of these characters love each other so much but i just don't think mike and el work together romantically, while mike and will do (and there are so many reasons why!)

as we all know, mike and will completely understand each other and relate to each other, they feel like equals, they're honest with each other, they have many deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can actually be themselves when they’re together. mike and el don't fully understand each other or relate to each other, they feel completely different from one another (mike admitted he feels inferior to el and el admitted she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere), they lie to each other, they don't have any deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can’t even be themselves when they’re together (they literally prove this in the show).

el believes that mike has been scared of her several times and sees her as a monster (obviously we know he doesn’t actually think she is one), but the point is that she still feels like a monster, and there are several scenes where mike unintentionally triggers traumatic memories of brenner right after he gets angry at el when she does something that scares him (like when she accidentally hurt lucas and and when she hit angela with the rollerskate). obviously mike and brenner are NOT the same at all, they are completely different people, but there are some parallels between them when it comes to how they view el as a superhero and how they put pressure on her to always save the day (“you’re MY superhero!”, “you can fly!”) and how they praise her for her powers more than who she actually is as a person. they’ve both called her “incredible” several times but it’s always about her abilities. but with will on the other hand, mike has always made him feel safe and comfortable for who he is and he doesn’t feel like a mistake at all because of mike. he has always been extremely protective, observant and caring towards will and he knows how to make him feel loved and accepted. the only time mike upsets will is when he excludes him, but the only reason he excludes him is because he forces himself to pay attention to el and then he pretends to be someone he’s not when he’s with her… see, it just shows how it’s not healthy or fair to anyone and mike can only be himself when he’s with will.

mike and el

season 4 episode 3: during their fight scene, el tells mike that she’s different from everyone else. he tries explaining that he understands what she’s going through because he’s been bullied his whole life but she says he never will. this already shows us that they don’t feel equal to each other in the relationship and they’re never on the same page, because unfortunately, they are very different and have experienced different things in their life, and no matter how long they date, they always will be different. obviously relationships can work like this in some cases, but the thing is with mike and el, they don’t have any sort of character growth or development at all. they don’t become stronger as a couple. in fact, i think they’ve only gotten worse. they can’t even communicate honestly or be themselves around each other. they’ve never had a meaningful heart-to-heart conversation or resolved their conflicts properly. they constantly lie and pretend to be people they’re not (el literally lied to mike the entire time they were sending letters and acted like her life was good when it wasn’t) and mike acts so different around el and forces himself to focus on her which results in him excluding all his friends. this isn’t healthy or fair to anyone, and continuing to force two teenagers in a relationship where they don’t understand each other and can’t even be themselves with each other is really weird. anyways, el says “you think i’m a monster too” and mike doesn’t really try hard to deny it, he just lies and makes her feel like she’s being ridiculous like he’s done to her this entire scene. we know that mike obviously doesn’t think el is a bad person at all, but there have been several times where he has been scared of her and she knows that too.

in season 1 when they find will’s body, mike slaps el’s hand away and yells at her because he feels betrayed. he realises that el is just a stranger that he’s been trusting and following around even though he barely knows her, and when he sees the body and believes it’s will, it absolutely breaks him and he thinks she’s been lying to him. a few episodes later, el freaks out and sends lucas flying across the junkyard with her powers, and it knocks him unconscious. mike is understandably terrified and angry because his friend got hurt. he yells at her again and this triggers a traumatic memory from the lab. this shows that mike’s reaction reminded her of brenner (there are actually many parallels between mike and brenner, and even in mike’s monologue to el in season 4 episode 9, he says the same things brenner said to el. they both go on about how she’s a superhero that can fly and she obviously doesn’t want to hear that all the time since she’s her own person as well, but they never seem to mention her actual personality or what she does outside of being a superhero). in season 4 episode 2, el hits angela in the face with a rollerskate. mike looks terrified and it parallels to brenner again because mike's words triggered a traumatic memory. even at the dinner table, mike is still annoyed and makes a sarcastic comment which upsets el. in episode 9 during his monologue, he lies and says he’s never been scared of her which we know isn’t true. that entire monologue was pretty much filled with lies that contradict things we’ve already seen and it just felt like an insult to el. i also didn’t like how mike said “you’re my superhero” and listed what she can do with her powers but he couldn’t even mention anything about her personality, because he doesn’t even truly know her since they can’t even be themselves with each other. they don’t even share any similar interests and hobbies. the only thing mike knows about her outside of being a superhero is that she likes eggos and that’s about it.

you can argue that he tried making her feel good about who she is in his monologue but he was lying during so much of it that it doesn’t feel genuine at all. people also need to realise that it’s unhealthy that mike has an inferiority complex. he literally admitted that he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers. he said it wasn't fate or destiny but dumb luck that superman landed on his doorstep. he saw that el was vulnerable and needed help and he just happened to be there. he also probably feels better about himself for being able to get a girl with powers because no girls have ever shown any interest in him before (and it doesn't seem like he had any interest in girls either). but the entire time he was talking in the car, he was talking about himself and how he wants to be "needed" by el because it boosts his confidence but he never mentioned what el actually needs, especially at that time in her life when he met her. she just got out of a lab and needed to grow rather than being pushed into romance before knowing what romance was. mike had a crush on her but she didn’t have a crush on him. she thought he would be like her brother and she only saw him as a friend that cared for her. obviously mike didn’t have any bad intentions when he kissed her, he was just a kid and it was supposed to be cute and wholesome, but the point is that he did what he wanted when she didn’t even understand the concept of romance and crushes. she didn’t really have a say and she didn't have any time to learn about this stuff. mike is the one that decided what their relationship was going to be without giving her a chance to discover herself first. it was also harder for el because she couldn’t communicate the same way mike could, so everything happened so quickly for her and it just doesn’t feel right that she couldn’t decide on her own. their relationship would've been so much better if it developed slowly and el had time to decide if she liked mike romantically HERSELF, without mike being the one to put things in her head. i think it's also important to mention that there was a literally an entire plot in season 3 that focused on how mike has prevented el from discovering herself and what she likes. max literally encouraged her to break up with him, and when she did, she looked the happiest she had ever been. max actually allowed her to find her own style and think for herself instead of letting the men in her life tell her what to do.

mike and will

season 4 episode 8: during the car scene, will confesses his love to mike using eleven’s name. he mentions how he feels like a mistake sometimes because he’s different but mike is the only person that doesn’t make him feel like a mistake. they were each other’s first friend, they’ve known each other for most of their lives, they have always felt like equals in the relationship, they’ve experienced the same struggles as they’ve been outcasts their whole lives and got bullied at school, they both understand each other better than anyone else and they can be themselves with each other. neither feels superior or inferior to the other (unlike mike and el, where mike literally admitted he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers and he wants to be “needed” by her… the whole thing isn’t healthy or fair to anyone at all). mike and will have only had two fights and both times it was because will felt excluded by mike because he was too busy with el. in season 3 episode 3, will felt called out when mike said “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”. he was obviously already hurt for many reasons here, but hearing this would’ve made it even harder for him. but we know that mike didn’t mean it that way and he immediately regretted it because he just said it without thinking (it also sounded like he was actually projecting because of internalised homophobia). the other time they argued was at the roller rink and it sounds like mike is projecting here too when he says “we’re friends” twice and gets defensive about it. after both of these fights, mike immediately goes to apologise to will because he can’t stand seeing him upset and he had to make sure he was okay and knew that he was genuinely sorry for hurting him. it’s important to note that mike is stubborn when it comes to apologising but he always apologises to will without question. in season 4 episode 4, he doesn't let will try to blame himself either. mike takes full responsibility for the way he treated will and admits that things have felt weird because hawkins wasn't the same without him and he was afraid of losing him. this is a parallel to the scene in season 4 episode 8 where will also admits that if he was mean to mike or seemed like he was pushing him away, it's because he was scared to lose him too.

“if [i] was mean to you or [i] seemed like [i] was pushing you away, it’s probably because [i'm] scared of losing you just like you’re scared of losing [me]”

even though he used el to disguise his feelings, i think mike will eventually realise will was talking about himself here because it's the only thing that makes sense. el never pushed mike away and they stayed in contact by sending each other letters, but mike and will lost contact and pushed each other away because they love each other and they're scared of losing each other. that's why this line during the car monologue can only be applied to mike and will. also, when mike said his monologue to el, he copied a lot of what will said and he was basically responding to will's love confession for him without even realising it.

anyways, the scene where will told mike he doesn’t feel like a mistake because of him also reminded me of the one in season 2 where will and jonathan are talking and will gets upset. he says “mom, dustin, lucas, everyone. they all treat me like i’m gonna break, like i’m a baby, like i can’t handle things on my own”. notice how he doesn’t mention mike? that’s because mike has never made him feel that way. mike stayed by will’s side throughout all of season 2 to take care of him but he never treated him like he was a baby or made him feel bad about anything. he was just there by his side and provided support when he needed it. when will was explaining what he saw on halloween night, mike listened so carefully. he didn't make him feel like there was something wrong with him and he told him that they'll both go crazy together. in season 2 episode 5 when will is talking about the mindflayer spying on them, mike tries making the situation positive by saying how it would be cool for will to be like a super-spy. will almost let out a little laugh because of it even though he was terrified in the moment. it just shows that mike always makes him feel better. and when will was anxious and shaking, mike noticed and put his hand on top of his to calm him down. mike is also the only person that will opens up to when he's struggling which shows how comfortable he feels around him. in season 2 he told him about everything going on with the mindflayer, and in season 4 he's the first person that he spoke to when they arrived back in hawkins. mike also helped will snap out of his upside down trances in season 2 and he would always make sure he was okay and stayed by his side. even after will becomes "the spy", mike never takes his anger out on will or yells at him because he knows it's not his fault, and he stays by his side even though he knows it's risky to be around him. in the shed scene, he was so calm and gentle while telling will the story of how they first met. they were both crying during this scene and it was extremely emotional. it's also probably my favourite scene in the entire show.

there’s such a big difference between both of these relationships and i think it’s really important to discuss. it's obvious that all of them love each other so much, but the difference is that mike and el don't work together romantically at all, while mike and will could be one of the most well-written and genuine relationships because they understand each other better than anyone and they fit together so well. i think mike and el could have one of the strongest and most beautiful friendships too, but they just don't work together as a couple and we've seen why so many times. anyone that pays attention to the show would see that mike and el can’t even be themselves around each other and mike's character got worse the moment he started dating el. he was just reduced to her boyfriend, had no individual character growth and development AND it's just simply not healthy because he feels inferior to her and pretends to be someone he’s not when she's around. he sees her as an awesome superhero with powers but he can’t even name anything about who she is as a person or anything about her personality. el also hasn’t had the chance to grow on her own and make her own decisions. even when she’s starting to finally have her own character development, she always ends up back with mike, and the fact that he needed to say a monologue (that was literally filled with lies!) to “give her strength” while her best friend was suffering in front of her just feels really weird and the entire thing was cheesy. it’s just not healthy or fair to either of them. mike and will on the other hand have the closest relationship in the show and understand each other better than anyone else. it's also just been fully confirmed that will has been in love with mike from the very beginning and they have the most history and build up, even if we don't see all of it on screen. mike can only be himself when he’s with will and that says SO much too. they see each other as equals, they’re always on the same page and they love each other for exactly who they are. obviously mike and el love each other too, i just don't think they belong together romantically because their relationship just simply isn't healthy. i think they rushed into it way too quickly and mike got carried away because she's a superhero, as he's said over and over again. he couldn't even tell her he loved her when she was crying in front of him without her powers, but the moment she gets her powers back and will confesses his OWN feelings for mike and convinces him that el "needs" him, he can suddenly tell her he loves her? i don't know, the whole thing is just messy lol.

[pinchinschlimbah]

My current thoughts on the whole RB situation as it pertains to Noel based on the information we have right now (obviously subject to change as things progress):

[general TW for mentions of SA and abuse]

Ok so first of all I absolutely believe the allegations against Russell, he’s utter trash and should be locked up and left to rot. End of story.

However, I’m very nervous with the amount of people I’m seeing immediately jumping to assuming, with no other evidence than because the two of them were friendly during that period, that Noel was complicit in what was taking place or worse a predator himself.

I understand where these concerns initially stem from, with the allegations discussing Russell’s behavior on the sets of tv shows and gigs and at parties with friends, and knowing that Noel was likely present to some extent given what we publicly know about their interactions, but I think it’s important to remember that we don’t actually know how much time the two of them were spending together off screen, how much Noel actually knew about what was going on, and how much of a position he was in at the time to do anything about it if so.

Guilty by association is a very slippery slope and very often does more harm than good.

A little personal story for y’all- once upon a time, I was friendly with members of a specific social group within a close knit community. The person who was at the center of this group was then accused of rape and emotional abuse by their ex (who was part of a different subcircle within the same community), and the community exploded. Immediately, anyone who was still associating with the accused at the time these third-party spectators heard the news was branded a rape/abuse apologist, unfriended, blocked, and shunned from the community, which in many cases happened before the people in question knew what was going on- since the accused didn’t interpret what happened with their ex to be rape, they hadn’t told anyone about what had happened so their close friends were finding out this information at the same time or later than the people trying to remove them from the community, and the circle spreading the allegations wasn’t talking to anyone associated with the accused but instead transmitting the news via DMs or friends-only vagueposts. What this didn’t take into account was that these people who were given no warning or support for navigating the fact that the person they were associating with was dangerous and instead demonized and shunned for being close with them before knowing the reasons why, were the people who were most at risk for further manipulation and abuse from this person. It’s been years since the initial news came out but most of the people associated with the accused, who have since realized how toxic their relationship was with that person and distanced from them, have still found it difficult to reconnect with others in the community because the vague branding of “apologist” still follows them despite them ultimately being additional victims of the accused’s manipulation and abusive behavior. The only thing this kind of extended assumptive accusatory action did is make the third-party spectators feel better about themselves and the work they’ve done to “keep the community safe” by pushing out anyone they deemed guilty by association, when in reality they led to more harm being done to people who were already in a vulnerable position with the accused and were now cut off from all other surrounding support. Since then I’ve been much more cautious about assuming who knows what’s going on and how they feel about it before pointing fingers.

That’s not to say with any confidence that Noel is a victim of Russell’s (although have you taken a good look at most of the photos of them together? I’m not here to weave new conspiracy theories so I won’t speculate further but in a lot of their images the vibes of their body language are objectively rancid as hell and show a clear physical assertion of power from Russell, examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) BUT I do think it’s incredibly dangerous to assume that just because they were in each others’ lives means that Noel is also complicit or guilty in all of this.

Also important to note that something that kept coming up over and over in the allegations was people, both victims and witnesses, expressing that they were terrified to speak up because they thought either Russell had enough power of his own to ruin their careers, or that association with him if this info was made public would ruin their careers. Assuming Noel did know what was going on (which again, we do NOT know to be the case) and knowing that Noel already had his own reputation for being a slut around town, rumored by the tabloids to be engaging in some questionable behaviors himself (while both he and Pixie have denied those rumors and there’s been no real substantial evidence or firsthand testimony to suggest that it was real, the rumors have remained pervasive and damaging), and during this period was at the height of his substance abuse that may have affected his ability to accurately perceive and confidently recall how events played out as well as his assumed credibility to others, you can maybe start to see why he might not have wanted to be the one to take that info public.

And again, we have no idea what may or may not have happened behind the scenes.

We do know that Noel seems to have distanced himself from Russell in recent years. I think it’s safe to assume that whether it’s this or the conspiracy bullshit or whatever else, there’s a good fucking reason they’re no longer close like they were back then.

I saw this interview mentioned recently elsewhere, where the bassist of the Lostprophets discusses how when their lead singer Ian was exposed to be the worst kind of sex offender, people started blaming the rest of the band for it when they had absolutely no idea it was happening and were learning what was going on and reacting to it in real time the same as everyone else. He talks about how while the rest of the band immediately cut ties with Ian upon hearing the news, they still ended up permanently losing a lot of friendships and supporters because people refused to believe that there wasn’t more the rest of the band could have done even though behind the scenes they were barely friends with Ian, let alone close confidants and were completely in the dark about that side of him. So I think it’s very dangerous to assume with the info we currently have that there’s no way Noel could have not known.

Additionally, I think it’s very important to remember that abusive and manipulative people are masters at being able to mask that side of themself when needed and can be monsters to their victims while being the most charming person in the world to people who they want to keep on their good side, so what may seem obvious in hindsight knowing how bad things actually were, may not have been as apparent in the moment to the people involved. For example, in the documentary Russell’s personal assistant and radio cohost both go on record as saying while they knew him to be highly promiscuous and overly sexual, they assumed that was the whole of it because of how many people they saw willingly clamoring to hook up with him and had no idea things were veering into nonconsensual territory. Russell’s version of the story is that all of the relations in question were consensual, so I highly doubt he’d be casually admitting to the people around him that actually he’d on multiple occasions committed terrible crimes although I do believe the theory that he’s spent the past several years surrounding himself with media-critical conspiracy theorists who would question and fight anything published about him in the mainstream, knowing this shoe would drop eventually.

None of this is to say I unwaveringly believe Noel is fully innocent and can do no wrong, just that we don’t currently have enough information to justifiably condemn him as guilty and I urge everyone to use caution and wait for more conclusive information before pulling out the pitchforks on someone who could very well be entirely uninvolved and just as horrified as we are. So for now, I’m still here.

On the other hand, it may be the case that further details emerge which more directly implicate him in these horrors or god forbid he steps up in support of Russell, in which case I’m outta here no further questions asked. We’ll just have to wait and see.

[edit: more thoughts here]

[birdiewolf]

My feelings on Sumeru now that we’ve reached Fontaine—-(long post btw)

I have a love-hate relationship with Sumeru.

On one hand, characters are memorable, the world quests have brilliant story telling, and there’s new mechanics with each region we unlocked.

And on the other hand—-seeing the blatant colourism from Hoyo in regards to the playable character designs was so disheartening (especially since it triggered a wave of racism against poc in the fandom). Some areas are locked to quests, and omg the underground exploration was absolute hell

- Hoyo has clearly learned a lot from the previous region’s exploration feedback and they’ve done so much better with the maps. Everything shown on the map is specified whether it is on land or underwater. This makes Fontaine so much fun to explore compared to Sumeru.

At one point I completely gave up on finding the dendroculus because I wasn’t able to figure whether they were above or below. And it was this ongoing issue with Sumeru’s exploration in general.

I’m not surprised that players are relieved to leave Sumeru behind. If you were playing as the versions were being updated and new regions were being added, then you would know how frustrating exploration was since navigation wasn’t detailed enough.

Constantly trying to figure your way through complex temples and passages takes the joy out of going into a new area. The scenery and graphics were so beautiful but because there was so much struggle with figuring out where to go and how to get there, many players just didn’t get that feeling of appreciation for the region.

- The world quests for Sumeru had amazing storytelling. The Aranara, Jeht, and Sorush are a cast of characters who I’m so attached to. Their personalities and character development is incredible. What is disappointing is the fact that Hoyo still doesn’t let major world quests be voiced.

Voice acting plays such a big role in bringing a character to life. The way VAs are able to depict a character’s growth by subtly changing the tone of their voice is so incredible and something like that would’ve made such a big impact on the storytelling.

- The archon quests were amazing. There were some parts that felt meh, but overall, they were a major upgrade from the previous regions. Playable characters get a chance to shine instead of npcs.

Obviously we had Dunyarzad but she didn’t take over the spotlight. Seeing the playable cast interact with each other so much really helped the story feel more organic. Not everything was being dependent on the Traveler making the initiative.

Alhaitham, Dehya, Cyno, and Candace all working together. Dehya and Candace being friends beforehand, Cyno mentioning Tighnari…the in-game world just felt more real. The characters really shined in most parts especially the third act.

- Sumeru’s music is fantastic. The forest region is beautiful. The desert is also good enough.

- The mix and matching of cultures was a major let down. Genshin has always mixed cultures for its game but with Sumeru it was a whole mess.

On one hand, I appreciate the level of effort they put into doing research but on the other hand, there was wayyyy too much happening. Had they limited the real world regions from where they would inspiration then they wouldn’t have gotten so much backlash.

There’s an npc in Sumeru City that’s called ‘Berber’—and this is a literal slur against the Amazigh from whom Hoyo took inspiration from for Dehya and Tighnari…

This was the major issue. When you mix regions that are already diverse as hell, you’re taking the risk of making major mistakes unknowingly.

Nahida for example has a lot of Persian elements to her design. But her former title, Rukhadevata, and current title, Kusanali, along with what the Aranara call her, Aranyani, all are rooted in south Asian culture an history.

Kusanali is tree spirit from Buddhism, a religion practiced throughout various regions of South Asia.

Rukkhadevata is linked to both Buddhism and Hinduism.

Aranyani is the name of a literal god from Hinduism.

Many Persians were satisfied with her design, but many South Asians were not. If you don’t know, South Asians are majority brown with different skin tones. Most of us have visible melanin.

So seeing a character that takes so much influence from us, being even whiter than the literal white characters from the game was absolutely disappointing.

Sumeru’s colourist issue could’ve been solved had they actually shown a diverse range of skin tones for the playable cast. Many racists in the fandom pretend poc want every Sumeru character to be darkskin which isn’t true. Most of us have been asking for a proper balance. Some characters could have been light skinned, others could’ve been darkskinned (and I mean proper darkskinned, not the level of dark Cyno and Candace are…), and others in between.

You can’t take so much inspiration from people who are so diverse and then expect them to be okay with a mostly white cast reflecting their regions…I honestly think if Hoyoverse wasn’t so colourist then the initial backlash could’ve been avoided.

- All in all, I’m relieved to be moving on to Fontaine. There were good parts but the bad parts were so unbearable.

Sumeru brought out the worst of the worst in Genshin’s fandom. Racist ideologies being spread left and right, fans of colour getting death threats for criticizing the colourism, light skinned Arabs being absolutely unbearable and acting as if the colourism isn’t a big deal, and of course, the sudden selective behaviour towards fan art and edits.

Never had most of the genshin fandom gotten mad at a fan making a random edit of a playable character, until people started making edits of the Sumeru casts with culturally accurate clothing and skin tones. Even now, if a poc edits a character to have a little bit of blood circulation, the KKK lot will go off on them. These racist idiots always exist but they increased with Sumeru’s release.

[andiwriteordie]

Demigods Mike, Will, and Jonathan walk into a Monster Donut shop.

Manning the counter is a seemingly human individual, but Mike isn’t fooled.

This ‘Argyle’ is obviously a monster.

Hilarity ensues.

HAHAHAHA THIS PROMPT OH MY GOD. IT'S SO FUNNY.

alright, here's a little pjo x st fusion au featuring our favorite sons of apollo, will and jonathan, our favorite son of athena, mike, and our... monster? (to be determined) friend, argyle!

—

bring on the monsters 

There are two things in the world that Will Byers knows for certain.

Number one: Will Byers loves his boyfriend, Mike Wheeler, more than anyone else in the world. The two of them have literally been through hell and back together. Mike has fought all sorts of monsters and gone on dangerous to come rescue Will, and the two of them are a team. They’ve been a team since they first met each other at five years old, and now, at twenty years old, they’re even more of a team than they’ve ever been before.

Number two: Mike Wheeler is a fucking idiot, even if he is a son of Athena. 

Yes, these two things can coexist. Will’s not really sure what that says about him, since he’s the idiot dating the (stupid, lovable, kind, and brave) idiot who is currently trying to convince Will that the poor guy—Argyle, according to his nametag—working the counter at Monster Donut shop is actually a monster.

“I don’t trust him,” Mike says as he slides into the booth next to Will. Mike immediately puts his arm around Will’s shoulder, and Will shifts closer to his boyfriend, resting his head on Mike’s shoulder. “He’s definitely a monster, Will.”

“You wanna say that a little louder, Mike?” Jonathan, who had tagged along with them on this stupid little donut run, whispers dryly. “Want to just announce to the world that monsters and demigods and gods exist?”

Will kicks his older brother under the table lightly and shoots him a glare: Knock it off. For whatever reason, both Jonathan and Mike enjoy getting one another riled up. It’s been like this ever since the three of them went on a quest together when Will was fifteen, and Will swears Jonathan and Mike already act like they’re brother-in-laws or something. 

(Seriously. If he has to put up with this for the rest of his life, Will’s going to lose his mind.)

Mike narrows his eyes back at Jonathan, but surprisingly, he chooses not to keep the argument going. Apparently, he’s more concerned with proving his point about Argyle being a monster. “Come on, tell me you two don’t think that guy’s a monster,” he says in a stage whisper. “I mean, just… look at him. Everything about him screams, ‘Hey, I’m a monster!’ And we’re in a place called Monster Donut Shop? That’s not a coincidence.”

“We’ve been to this place before,” Will reminds, cuddling up closer to his boyfriend. “Or… actually, I don’t know if you have. You were passed out on our couch when Lucas and I decided we wanted donuts.”

A little pout forms on Mike’s face. “And you didn’t wake me up to come with you?” he asks, and when he pokes Will’s side, Will just yelps. “Will. I thought you loved me!”

“I do.” Will rolls his eyes, and he pokes Mike’s side back. “Even if you act like a puppy with separation anxiety or something. Also, Lucas tried to wake you up, and I’m pretty sure you told him to fuck off.”

“Well, yeah. But I wouldn’t have told you to fuck off!”

Once again, Will rolls his eyes, and he leans forward, kissing Mike sweetly. “Well, now I’m kind of glad I didn’t bring you,” he teases. “Because this Argyle guy was working that night too, and you’re being ridiculous. Look at him. He’s harmless.”

The pout on Mike’s face grows, and he, Will, and Jonathan all turn to look at the employee behind the counter. Argyle—who is most definitely not a monster—is absently throwing a rubber bouncy ball against the wall. It hits him in the face a few times, but all he does is laugh.

“I think he’s just an idiot,” Will adds. “Not a monster.”

“He’s not an idiot,” Jonathan scolds, kicking Will’s shin lightly. “But he is high out of his fucking mind.”

“Ugh.” Mike rolls his eyes. “Of course, you’d know that. But again, I’d like to say: both of you are wrong. He’s not an idiot, and he’s not high. He’s a monster.”

“I think we’d know if he was a monster,” Will reminds. “It’s not like any of us can’t see through the Mist or anything.”

“Okay, well, that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding his monster parts!” Mike protests. “Will, babe, come on! You know I’m right!”

Once again, Will rolls his eyes. “Alright, first of all, don’t call me babe. We’ve been dating for four years, Mike, and we hate pet names.”

“You hate pet names,” Mike stays stubbornly. “I think they’re fun.”

“And I think you’re ridiculous,” Will deadpans. When Mike rolls his eyes, Will just leans forward and kisses his boyfriend. “Second of all, even if he is a monster… hiding his… monster parts, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s dangerous. If he wanted to kill us, he probably would’ve attacked by now.”

Mike narrows his eyes suspiciously, but then he sighs, just pulling Will closer. “You know, for someone who has had many monsters try to kill you, you’re very, very calm about all this.”

“That’s because if he thinks about the anxiety he won’t stop,” Jonathan says dryly, and both Mike and Will turn to look at him. There’s an amused look on his older brother’s face. “Besides, you’re anxious enough for both of you. At least that’s what Nancy and I think.”

“Assholes,” Mike grumbles, holding up his middle finger. “You’re one to talk!”

Jonathan opens his mouth to respond, but before he can, Will interrupts, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re both protective over me and get anxious, all that stuff. Seriously. You get kidnapped one time, and nobody ever lets you live it down.”

A beat passes. 

Then another. 

And another.

Then, in near perfect unison, Mike and Jonathan turn to look at Will, wearing equally incredulous looks on their faces.

“You didn’t just ‘get kidnapped,’ Will,” Jonathan reminds.

“You also got possessed by some insane monster that’s so obscure barely any of the gods remembered it existed,” Mike points out.

Jonathan adds, “And somehow, you ended up having some beef with El’s insane half-brother—”

“Okay, that wasn’t my fault, thank you—”

“And you decided the best way to end this whole mess was to go on a quest by yourself,” Mike reminds, narrowing his eyes. “A quest, by the way, that literally led you to Tartarus, Will.”

“And you fell in,” Jonathan points out, leaning his head on hand. “Causing all of us to believe that you and Mike were most definitely dead.”

Will scrunches his nose at his boyfriend and his older brother. Okay, so technically all of those things happened, but also, it’s been years now since that whole mess ended. And it’s not like any of it was his fault… other than the “trying to go on a quest by himself” thing. That was a little stupid.

“So, what are you saying?” Will asks, fighting a smile. “That I’m the cause of all your anxiety?”

“YES!” Mike and Jonathan shout in unison, and Will just bursts into laughter, smiling at the playfully annoyed looks which form on both their faces.

Before Jonathan and Mike can say anything else though, a vaguely familiar voice says, “Order’s up, my dudes!” 

A box of donuts falls onto the table in front of them, and Will blinks, looking over at Argyle curiously. There’s a bright smile on the employee’s face, and he makes the little finger gun motion. 

“I put a few extra donuts in there too for my favorite customers,” Argyle says, and he pats Jonathan’s shoulder. “My guy, we’ve got to stop meeting like this though! I’m a lot more fun outside of work, swear on the Styx.”

Thunder rumbles in the distance, and beside him, Mike flinches. Similarly, Jonathan’s eyes go a bit wide, and he looks at Argyle skeptically. “Um… okay,” he says with a bit of a nervous laugh. “Sure, we’ll… we’ll have to come back some time. Right, guys?”

“Absolutely fucking not,” Mike mutters under his breath. 

Will just kicks his foot lightly. “Sure thing,” he agrees, offering Argyle an awkward smile. “Thanks again, uh… for the extra donuts.”

Another grin forms on Argyle’s face. “Like I said, man, anything for my favorite customers!” he says cheerfully. “Man, everyone I know loves Will Byers. You’re like… famous among these crowds. Everyone’s trying to get to you and stuff, man.”

…

Warning alarms go off in Will’s head, and he exchanges another look with Jonathan. Alright, so maybe Mike had been right about Argyle being a monster, because all of this is just too big of a coincidence, and Will really, really does not want to end up somehow being the Godsforsaken child of a prophecy again. No fucking thanks.

“Okay, well, thanks for that,” Mike says abruptly, and he stands up, pulling Will with him. His eyes are narrowed suspiciously at Argyle, and he holds Will’s hand tightly, moving towards the door. “Anyways, we’ve gotta go now—”

Mike pushes open the front door, rushing out of the donut shop before Argyle can even respond, and he walks briskly towards the car, his hand still clenched tightly around Will’s. The bell above the door jingles again—presumably from Jonathan following them. 

Finally, the three of them make it back to Jonathan’s car, and Will climbs into the back, still holding onto Mike’s hand tightly. Fortunately for them, Argyle has not followed them outside, so it seems like they’re in the clear.

It’s silent in the car as Jonathan floors it out of the parking lot.

A beat passes.

Then, another.

And another.

“So, uh… that was… strange,” Will remarks, turning to face his boyfriend now. “For the love of Apollo, please tell me that wasn’t some weird omen for all the bad shit that’s about to happen to us again.”

The frown on Mike’s face grows, and he glances over his shoulder at the donut shop now disappearing from view. “Gods, I hope not,” he groans. “But I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Great,” Will deadpans. “Just what I wanted. More monsters trying to kill me.”

“Well, congrats, Mike.” Jonathan gives the two of them a look through the rearview mirror. “You jinxed us.”

“Oh, so this is my fault? Just because I was smart enough to realize there could be monsters at Monster Donut Shop?”

“Exactly,” Jonathan deadpans, though he’s fighting a smile. “You jinxed us, Wheeler.”

Mike narrows his eyes, and he holds up his middle finger again at Jonathan, before turning to Will. “You’re lucky I love you,” he says, and like Jonathan, he’s clearly fighting a smile too. “Do you see what I have to put up with for you?”

“I’m pretty sure my older brother is the least difficult thing you’ve put up with for me,” Will teases, but he leans forward and kisses his boyfriend again, soft and sweet. “But I love you too.”

A smile forms on Mike’s face, and he takes Will’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You know I’m not going anywhere, right?” he asks quietly. “If… if things are starting back up again… I’m not leaving your side. Whatever’s about to happen… I’ll be here with you, no matter what.”

The words bring a familiar comfort to Will, and he smiles again, squeezing Mike’s hand gently. “I know,” Will whispers back. “I know you will, Mike. Let’s just… let’s just hope that Argyle guy has no idea what he’s talking about.”

Mike scoffs quietly.. “What are the chances we’ll get that lucky?”

“Who knows,” Will chuckles. “Maybe we’re getting worried for nothing, and he is just high out of his mind.”

Mike rolls his eyes, but he smiles again, leaning forward and kissing Will softly. “Sure, Will,” he murmurs. “I’m sure all of this is nothing, and Argyle is just high as a fucking kite.”

“Hey,” Will says with a little grin, “stranger things have happened, right?”

[canirove]

Bluebell | Chapter 11

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Masterlist

"Can I come in?" Lindsey says after knocking on my office's door.

"Yes, of course. Did the French couple already leave?"

"Yep. They were super happy, said that they will give us five stars."

"Great. What are you hiding there?"

"Just... A bottle of champagne!" she says, putting it on the table, a big grin on her face.

"What are we celebrating?"

"That this summer has been one of the best this business has ever seen" she says, struggling to open it.

"It has been a really good summer, yes." At least when it comes to Daisy's, because on my personal life...

The days after the reopening were the worst, and if it hadn't been because of my mum, Lindsey and Mrs. Smart, I would probably still be lying on my bed, feeling sorry for myself like happened when I found out about my ex cheating on me.

Mason decided to completely avoid me, which means that I haven't seen him in almost three months. Ben and Declan obviously supported him, he is their best friend. And even though we've shared some texts to check how we were doing, I haven't seen them either.

Victoria went completely crazy, telling people horrible things about me and Rúben, but especially about me. Things that weren't true, of course. Most people didn't believe her, but I've noticed how some women give me weird looks. She also tried to sabotage Daisy's, writing bad reviews online, but people didn't seem to care. One Italian woman even said to me: "two men at the same time? Good for you."

And Rúben... When I told him I had been seeing Mason while also being with him, he didn't seem to care. Now that everyone knew about us, he wanted us to properly date, to make it official. But I didn't, I wasn't ready for it. At first he didn't mind, he understood my reasons. Then we started to see each other less and less because I was either busy or too tired, and now it's been a month since the last time we were together.

"Stop thinking about men" Lindsey says, finally opening the bottle. "They are not worth it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Let's make a toast. To being single and not wanting to mingle. To loving ourselves. Because we, come first."

"To us" I say, raising my glass.

"To us" Lindsey repeats.

"I'm going to miss you, you know?"

"It'll be just six months. Then once I've finally finished my studies, I'll come back here to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Like opening your legs for those two again."

"Lindsey!" I laugh. "But don't worry. It won't happen."

"Meow!"

"Dixie doesn't seem to agree."

"He is going to be the only man in my life for a long time. I promise" I say, petting his head and making him purr.

"Cheers to that" Lindsey says, refilling my glass.

"Are you planning on getting me drunk on your last day here?"

"Just slightly tipsy. Enough to make you sing Taylor Swift."

"That will never happen. Like ever."

"You almost quoted one of her songs, it's working!"

"Love you, Lindsey" I say, sticking out my tongue.

"Love you too, boss."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"But do I really have to go? What if a new guest comes and there is no one here to welcome them?"

"No one is coming, everyone will be at the main square singing carols" Lindsey says.

"But..."

"Don't" my mum says. "I came here to spend Christmas with my daughter and enjoy all the traditions Bluebell has, and the carols singing at the square is one of the main ones. So put on your coat, and let's go."

"Meow!" Dixie says.

"Fine, ok, I'm going. You all are clearly against me. You included" I say, pointing at Dixie. He just meows again, curling into a ball on the sofa.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"I'm gonna miss him when he leaves" Mrs. Smart says with a big sigh while looking at Rúben. He's at the stage they've set for the town's choir, getting everything ready to start the singing. And, of course, he looks like he just came from a fashion magazine, looking stupidly handsome with his beanie, his scarf, his coat...

"Is it true that he won't be running for the re-election, then?" my mum asks. That had been the latest rumour in town, that Rúben wanted a change, and his days as Mayor were over.

"In this town, rumours usually become true" Mrs. Smart says.

"And what is he going to do?"

"I guess he'll go back to being a lawyer. Maybe move to the city" she shrugs.

"Are you guys in the mood for some hot chocolate" I say. I need to think about anything that isn't Rúben leaving.

"Oh, I would love that" my mum says.

"Make it three" Mrs. Smart replies. "Lindsey?"

"I'm in" she says. "Do you want company?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"Merry Christmas, Miss Daisy."

"Bloody hell, Declan!"

"I thought you would be used to it by now" he laughs.

"I've lost practice."

"Yeah... I've missed scaring you."

"You are so thoughtful" I say with a fake smile, picking the tray with our hot chocolates.

"Dec, have you seen... Oh, hi. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mason” I say. What is it with men wearing beanies today? Why do they all look so damn good?

"I'm gonna go get our chocolates" Declan says, leaving us alone.

"How are you?"

"Good, good" Mason says. "I've heard Daisy's is doing really well."

"It is, yes."

"Great. I think I saw your mum with the Smarts?"

"Yep. We are spending Christmas with them."

"Good luck" Mason chuckles. "They love Christmas."

"Oh, I know, Lindsey warned me. What about you?"

"The whole family is back, so I don't have time to get bored."

"The babies too?" I ask. Just before I arrived in town, Mason's parent's had traveled to the United States to be with his sister, who had given birth to twins a few months before their due date. 

"Yes, they also came."

"Oh, that's amazing, Mason! I'm so glad they were able to travel."

"Yeah, I'm very happy" he says with that smile of his that shows his dimple, making me smile as well. "Anyway, I gotta go help Dec. We are getting hot chocolates for both our families."

"Yeah, sure. I should also probably take this to the girls."

"It was nice seeing you again."

"You too, Mase."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"What took you so long?" Lindsey says when I make it back.

"The queue" I shrug.

"Could I please have your attention?" Rúben says from the stage. "Thank you. Thank you all for coming to our traditional Christmas carols singing. I can see that some of you are already enjoying that hot chocolate, so don't be shy, and maybe have another cup. Remember that it is for a good cause."

"I wonder if he'll have one too" I say under my breath, Lindsey being the only one who hears me. "Keeping that body in shape and drinking chocolate..."

"I myself will be having one" he says as if hearing me, making Lindsey laugh next to me. "Hope you enjoy this year's selection of songs, the choir has been rehearsing for a long time. And remember that you can and should sing as well" he says with a charming smile. "Thank you very much for coming, and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas" everyone repeats.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"Should we get something to eat?" Mrs. Smart says.

"Oh, please. That chocolate made me hungrier than I was" my mum says.

"You go ahead, I'll take this to the bin" I say, taking all the cups from them.

"Merry Christmas."

"Fuck!" I say, the lid of the bin falling on my finger.

"I'm so sorry, are you ok?" Rúben says, quickly taking my hand on his.

"I think so, yes" I say, my finger throbbing.

"We should have someone check it."

"It's fine, it's..." I say, trying not to cry.

"C'mon, we have some paramedics at the back on the square just in case something happens."

"Like getting your finger crushed by the bin's lid because you got scared?" I laugh. Though my laugh sounded more like a whimper.

"Exactly that" he says, putting one arm around my shoulders while still holding my hand.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"I'm afraid you're gonna need an x-ray" the paramedic says.

"What? Really?"

"It is too swollen right now, but you may have broken it. What happened?"

"It was an accident, it doesn't matter" Rúben says. "Can you give her something for the pain?"

"Yes, of course. But you should go home and rest. Go to the hospital tomorrow."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"You didn't have to walk me home, you know?"

"And leave you alone while being in pain and also drugged? No way" Ruben says, his arm back to being around my shoulders.

"My mum could have done it. Or Lindsey."

"And ruin all the fun they were having?"

"They probably are wondering where I am."

"You can text them when we make it back to Daisy's, don’t worry."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy. The painkillers are starting to kick in."

"Then it's time to go to bed" Rúben says, picking me up from the sofa where we were watching tv. I had forgotten how easily he could carry me around.

“Meow!” Dixie complains.

“What?” Rúben tells him.

“I think he is pissed because you woke him up when you moved. Maybe also because I told him he would be the only man in my life, yet here we are.”

“Do you think he’ll try to attack me?” he says, still holding me in his arms.

“He might… But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“With your broken finger?”

“Meh, meh, meh.”

“C´mon, let’s get you to bed” he laughs as he starts walking, Dixie following us.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━        

"Do you need anything else?" Rúben asks once I've changed and already in bed.

"Can you stay until I fall sleep? You broke my finger, I think I deserve it" I say, pouting.

"Ok, fine" he says, trying not to smile. Pouting always worked with him.

"Here" I say, opening the bed and asking him to lay next to me.

"Spooning?"

"Yep."

"What if your mum comes in and sees us?" he says as he gets in.

"Oh well" I say as I try to shrug, his arm already around me. It had been weeks since the last time we were together like this, but it felt like it had been just a few hours. "This feels nice" I say, my eyes starting to close.

"It does" he says before kissing my neck, that feeling and those two words being the last thing I remember before I fall sleep.

[t0o-m4ny-f4nd0ms]

Okay some it’s been twenty-four hours officially since I’ve seen the power of the doctor. Here are my thoughts;

GOOD;

• GODDAMN THAT SHIT WAS GOOD - from a plot perspective, a lot of callbacks to classic era, honestly made me wanna get britbox and watch classic who like the hype I felt seeing the past doctors - if I had actually watched their eras I would’ve shat myself even more

• SACHA FUCKING DHAWAN - someone give this man a fucking Oscar HOLY SHIT. He stole the show - he really did !!

• The VISUALS WILL AHHEIEHRIEJE ISTG NO OTHER ERA WILL HAVE BETTER SFX than this era! I will DIE ON THAT HILL

• YAZ - EVERYTHING ABOUT YAZ 😍 this is why she is top tier companion material my friends. BRIDAL CARRIES THE DOCTOR, SAVES THE FUCKING DAY, TAKES NO CREDIT FOR IT, FLYS THE TARDIS WITH HER NOTES, CAN READ GALLIFREYAN (apparently), STANDS UP TO THE MASTER, BECOMES THE DOCTOR IN HER OWN RIGHT, and is SO BRAVE when saying goodbye

• the actual regeneration - her little speech, her last sunrise, “tag, youre it” FUCK ME THATS SUCH A THIRTEEN THING TO SAY 😭 she was just so at peace with her fate, she knew it was time and she just accepted it

• THE companion support group situation at the end, and how they left a seat for Sarah Jane. That was beautiful

BAD;

• Idk if it was just me but it didn’t seem like Jodies doctor was given a lot to do? Like she gets taken away, gets forced into regeneration, degenerates into herself, gets rid of the daleks and the cybermen with her team, gets shot by a laser and then actually regenerates ?

• Obviously we already know how I feel about Jodie regenerating into David and the “what, what, what” - didn’t love it at all but it is what it is, moving on

• I don’t really understand what the point of having Vinder back was ? Kinda just felt like they wanted to bring Jacob back bc they like him? Same with Graham - like nice to see him, but him and Yaz barely acknowledged each other? Same with him and the doctor?

CONFLICTED;

• Companion endings - Dan leaving? Made sense but felt out of place and sort of rushed?

• The thasmin of it all - LOOK, I could make a WHOLE other post about this. One the one hand, we got quite a lot, like seeing that they’re equals, them always having each other’s back and wanting the other safe, soft touches, actions of love, acts of service, “[the Doctor] is loved”, “my doctor”, and “I’ve loved being with you Yaz”. That was their version of I love you and it was beautiful.

Their goodbye scene was HEARTBREAKING. Genuinely I’ve never heard more beautiful words said between two people who love each other and know it’s time to let each other go. The doctor saying “you know what this means right?” Shows that they’ve already talked about this, this conversation has been had off screen and we weren’t meant to be a part of it: it was something between them. Their plan was one last trip to end on a good note and idk I just, loved it. I will forever tear up watching that scene.

There could’ve been much more done, it felt VERY RUSHED towards the end. One the one hand, I’m not feeling that optimistic hopeful approach that was setup to be felt for Yaz’s ending. She’s jusy back on earth, and will probably work for UNIT and continue to save the earth. ONE THE OTHER HAND, it’s such a full circle moment bc when she started, she had just met someone who lost the love of their life but decided that the best way to grieve was find comfort in others. That’s exactly what she’s doing. She’s just lost the doctor and now, she’s found a group of people who have gone through exactly what she has gone through, and they’re getting through it together.

The lack of a kiss again I feel conflicted. I was convinced they were going to and was kinda mad they didn’t but then I sat and thought about it and I’m almost glad that they didn’t. It would’ve hurt them both too much, “it felt cruel, to be shown something I couldn’t have anymore. It felt like I’d rather not have know” pretty much sums that up I think. ALSO they did share a cheek kiss, bc Yaz kisses the doctor on the cheek when she bridal carries her 😌

Yaz being alive means that there’s a high possibility of her coming back, and I hope they definitely bring Jodie back as well in future.

————

That’s not even all of it but that’s all my brain can do right now, what did everyone else think?

[liesmyth]

@thewinterstale​ first off, please drop your lyctoral timelines because I need them. Second, have some hazy timeline thoughts

Lyctorhood happened approximately 200 years post resurrection. By that time, all the Houses had been established long enough that Cytherea’s hereditary cancer was something actively cultivated. I think this speaks to 3+ generations on the Seventh, minimum. Augustine says that Mercy was “out hammering at the Eighth House before the paint was even dry on the Resurrection”. From all of this I’m going to go on a wild guess that most of the Houses were up and running 50 years post resurrection.

I also think in that time the Canaan House disciples went back and forth between the First and the Houses, probably for short periods because their immortality was tied to proximity to John, but I really think they were very influential in shaping the cultural fundations of the empire. John obviously was the vague blueprint, but he’s not the micromanaging type at all; I think it’s more likely he just pointed his gang at some humanity cultural staples he decided would be cool to keep, and they hammered out the finer details into something they liked that John would be cool with. I especially think a lot of the more ritualistic / religious aspects were set up by the og Lyctors. Obviously Cristabel but pre-Nona I also used to think Augustine and partly still do. He has that flair.

The cav/necro relationship I think was determined around this time. I assume it really evolved spontaneously; some of The Gang had necromancy, some didn’t, it was the right number to pair up and they still worked together doing research (see Pyrrha) and at some point they figured that the non-necros could specialize in more martial activities (again, Pyrrha founding the Cohort). We know that the “one flesh/one end” mantra was developed around the time Valancy was around, so probably at least 100 years post-resurrection, but also I think there was a less formalized “necromancer / companion” tradition already developing among the Houses, because most of them had been founded by a necromancer and their non-adept “companions”.

One thing I’m less clear on, and think about all the time, is what happened immediately post resurrection. Because when in HtN John references knowing Augustine before the resurrection, Augustine is all “thanks for confirming that!” which to me implies that this isn’t a conversation they’ve had before, at least not in depth. It can be read as Augustine not being sure up to that moment that he’d known John, or it can be interpreted as them just not talking about it, but either ways I get the vibe that in the very very early days John was relatively hands-off with his friends. Maybe it was guilt over removing their memories, maybe grief, in any case he was 100% spying on them from afar, but I have so  many questions. Did he resurrect them first, or did he experiment on someone else first to figure out what would happen? (Maybe Ulysses and Titania?) Was there any sort of support infrastructure on Earth before the Houses were established? Did he single out his friends straight away or played it cool for a while? At which point was everyone summarily kicked off Earth except the handful of chosen ones? Desperately need to know etc.

Anyway. Please drop YOUR timeline 👀 

[eversea143]

I just need to write this down and (potentially) seek out some advice/opinions on a dream I had that seriously didn’t feel like one and might actually become an AU of sorts in the future so-

We have about the whole kids cast from TOH (Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, King and (most importantly) The Collector post finale) who have ended up in some sort of alternate/parallell/other universe. They first find themselves in what looks to be a stereotypical crowded city with hints of different asian cultures blended together. When they try to leave, however, to figure out if they’ve somehow ended up in the Human Realm the group discover that they’re on an island surrounded by a seemingly endless sea

But it’s no ordinary sea. It’s overgrown by all sorts of jungle-like growth and massive (I mean redwood-massive in some cases) bamboo stalks that shape the ‘landscape’ into a vast plain made out of pure waterfalls that give the weird illusion of hills and valleys. It’s wild, even wilder than what the TOH group are used to and thoroughly shocks them cold. This isn’t the Human Realm nor the Boiling Isles

Next step (after recovering and exploring a little of what they can) is finding a way back home. The Collector discovers he can’t just snap a portal into existence and King is temporarily removed from the group when he’s confused by some local shelter as a stray ‘dog’. First they try to find King (succeed) and next they try to figure out a way back home that doesn’t require hurting their only Titan friend who might actually be too young for his blood to work (said by TC) and clearly already doesn’t like this new world they’re in

Here is when things get even more interesting as the group literally run into a tomboy teen girl (might be genderfluid) who is already trying to find a way off the island (there’s no easy way because it’s one of several and none of them don’t have money to buy a boat ticket to mainland not like this would help the TOH gang) and offers to help them as long as they let her join them, believing their talk of ‘another world’ is just a weird way of saying ‘home’. Everyone is a bit cautious but agree

At some point the gang is forced to stay at the tomboy’s place where she tries desperately to hide something and manages right up until The Collector comes down early morning (bad dream) to discover their new friend arguing with her aunt and uncle about wanting to go home and hating everything about the islands. The two adults leave, more focused on their business then listening to their niece, and in a moment of weakness the girl shares with Collie why she wants to leave (aunt and uncle, obviously, aren’t nice folks but she’s stuck with them because her parents are ‘away’) and promtly receives a hug and understanding because, yeah, the Archivists were asshole siblings and TC knows what it feels like when family doesn’t seem to care. Thus a surpisingly strong and happy friendship is forged that required no coercion on The Collectors part and he’s over the moon about this that he accidentally reveals he isn’t exactly ‘human’

Tomboy girl takes this in stride (go her!) and decides that, even if her new friends are really looking to leave to their original home world, she’ll still tag along because the Demon Realm sounds cool and she doesn’t want to lose her newfound friendship with TC. They start looking and begin uncovering old history forgotten by time that reveals how the islands’ origins are more mysterious than they first thought. Help from a group of people who know that magic once existed in their world brings the friends to eventually uncover a hidden temple where they find this kind of immortal shaman guy who’s actually a fallen god. He’s lacking one arm because it got chopped up at some point and the pieces were scattered, forming the islands whilst the leftover nerves combined with a special kind of tree that grew in what used to be dense marshes to form the now sparkling beautiful waterscape surrounding the islands. He was once worshipped as a deity but eventually cast aside when a ‘fallen star’ appeared. He hints that this other deity might possess a way for the group to leave and they begin searching

They end up finding an ancient tower structure at the edge of the seascape and discover that it’s inhabitated by a teen Collector (the species, not the person) who is clearly more knowledgeable about the world and life but also has that ‘naive’ understanding of death when they start describing how people came and ‘broke’ themselves in front of him and never let him ‘fix’ them (everyone realizes this was actually human sacrifice and our!Collector goes green as the full implication of what mortality is and just how much he’s actually witnessed it without knowing settles in) Here it gets a little blurry but at some point other!Collector shows everyone what’s hidden underneath the water and the islands, revealing a seemingly endless chasm stretching from end to end with a tectonic glowing tree structure supporting everything so nothing can fall into the dark depths. One part of the group goes to explain mortality to other!Collector whilst the rest figure out the whole history of things through murals in the tower

Some character growth, a dash of angst and drama and at some point everyone leaves but I don’t know if Tomboy girl does because I want her to have a good ending but her current home situation is abyssmal and I genuinely believe her leaving with the others would actually turn out to be a good thing. Perhaps have her travel with The Collector as he decides to go on his space fieldtrip (still mad about that!) or stay to learn magic alongside Luz. That’s... about it

For now

[melon-wing]

All is fair in War [Grian/Doc]

Warning: This is a discontinued and mostly unedited story.  If you still wanna read - just for fun - go ahead, but be aware that there most likely won’t be more. [Click here for my non-abandoned stories]

~*~

Chapter I: Of Plans and Beginnings

The mood in Team Star’s meeting room was at a low point. One of the chairs was empty and would remain that way from now on. It stood out like a thorn.

They had just ‘returned’ Mumbo to the other team and even though he had been mostly useless, his presence did have its upsides. His calm voice and friendly manner had always been helpful. He would always listen to anybody who needed comfort. You could always count on him to be a shoulder you could lean on in these stressful times.

And now he was working for the G-Team again. Now he wouldn’t be held back by any mole duties. He could and most certainly would build insanely amazing machines for them.

It sucked being a team leader in these tiring times. They all looked to Doc for some plan, for some grand ideas… But Doc’s mood was probably worse than all of theirs. He was blaming himself. He should have noticed Mumbo’s strange behaviour. He should have known something was up. In retrospect, Mumbo’s alliance had been so freaking obvious. They needed a new plan to win this war, but so far noone in their little meeting had any winning ideas.

“Couldn’t we try to send in another mole? Someone more capable and loyal, that is”, Impulse suggested into the silence of the room. He was obviously expecting his idea to be shut down, just as all the other ideas had been. At least he didn’t sound motivated at all. It almost hurt Doc to reject his idea, but he still shook his head. He had already thought about it and it seemed impossible.

“The neutral Hermits really don’t want to get involved in this mess. Not that I blame them. They won’t take sides. “

“Couldn’t we get a G-Team member to join us?” Xisuma looked around, probably thinking about the options they had, if they were to follow his idea.

Doc was also lost in thought. Who would be an easy prey? Who could the get? The G-Team was a pretty loyal bunch. And their leader’s charisma only seemed to make them closer. His eyes finally stopped at Impulse. “You and Tango are pretty close, aren’t you? Couldn’t you get him to join our side? Let your charm play a little and remind him of your years of friendship...”

Impulse huffed in annoyance. “You think I haven’t tried that already? I wanted him on our team. I pleaded for him to join us, but no, he and Grian are in this together up until the end he said. That fucking idiot. He also tried to get me to join them… I think me and Tango are at a stalemate. None of us will budge. I won’t try again.”

More silence followed, everybody lost in their thought, desperately trying to come up with a new idea. Anything.

“Couldn’t you get one of the girls, False?”

False looked up at Ren and shrugged. “I don’t think so… I could try, but Cleo wouldn’t leave Joe. Well not for me at least. And Joe and Grian… They have this weird treaty. Joe will stick with him and that means so will Cleo. I could try Stress, but I think she won’t turn on them. Once she picks a side she’s pretty loyal. So don’t get your hopes up. There is no girl power that will magically hand us a spy.”

“That leaves only Iskall, right? Is there any way he would turn?”, Doc asked, pondering, but already knowing the answer himself. He just needed someone to confirm his thoughts to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

“Not a chance. Especially now that his remaining Architech friend has joined them. And he and Stress would never oppose one another. They’ve been pretty close friends. They are a pretty tight bunch… like, dude… We’d never betray you, Doc. And they’d follow Grian to the end of the world if necessary. I mean, look at their name. It’s all about the little Gremlin.” Ren’s answer got a round of nods.

It was just an impossible task. There was no way they’d get more members to join their team – spy or not. Maybe he really should try talking to some of the neutral Hermits once more. Maybe at least one of them could be convinced to join in. But then again, it would be a huge waste of time if he failed. Time he could spend on one of their redstone contraptions.

So what if they didn’t have enough man-power? It was about quality after all. And he and Impulse had more than enough redstone knowledge. Between the both of them they could explode the whole server if they chose to. Who cared about the G-Team now having both Iskall and Mumbo. They were quite good, but not ruthless enough.

Already planning his next machine, Doc almost didn’t hear Wels quiet voice, speaking up for the first time. “So~o… What about Grian?”

Doc looked at him, feeling as confused as most of his teammates looked. “What do you mean? What’s up with him?”

“Well we ruled everybody out except for Grian. We could get him to our side. He is the most obvious candidate after all.”

Wels looked pretty serious, but Doc couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing, Ren next to him following soon. False let out a giggle and even Xisuma and Impulse seemed to be amused at the idea.

“It’s his team, Wels”, Doc finally answered, shaking his head in amusement.

“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t betray them if the circumstances were right. I’m serious, guys. It would be the best thing to happen. He keeps the team together. He motivates them. Without him they’d fall into utter chaos. His betrayal would hit them so hard, I don’t think they could recover.”

“That sounds pretty nice in theory and all that, my dude.” Ren shook his head. “but he won’t betray his own team. He recruited most of them himself. Oh, and he also has a huge grudge against me and Doc. Our prank killed him after all. There is no way...”

There was a glint in Wels’ eyes as he interrupted Ren. “What if I told you I knew a way? I can’t guarantee it 100 percent of course. Such things are hard to pull off. I’d say chances are more like 50 percent. But if we pull this off...”

“We’d win the war,” Doc finished, a thoughtful expression on his face This sounded too good to be true. A way to get Grian to their side. A way to break the G-Team apart, to shatter their alliance. He’d never thought about the possibility. And it still sounded like a crazy idea. He didn’t dare to get too hopeful. “Now, do tell. How are we supposed to manage that?”

Wels smiled. “The way to get him is through his heart. You know how he is. His emotions control his actions.” He paused to look at his teammates. At their questioning faces he finally continued. “I can’t be the only one who noticed he has a crush on a certain Team Star member, am I?”

All eyes turned to look at False who raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “I never noticed anything. We did a prank together, but… Well, he never treated me any different than the other girls.”

“Of course he didn’t. He obviously doesn’t swing that way”, Wels corrected their false assumptions.

The room erupted in shocked murmurs.

“Who is it?”

“He’s gay?!”

“If he was gay, he’d like Mumbo or Iskall, not one of us”, Doc finally stated, raising his voice, to silence the others. He was getting a little annoyed at the chaos his meeting had erupted into. He really had to ‘thank’ Wels later for derailing them so much. Said Hermit huffed at him, eyes gleefully sparkling.

“Funny you’d say that, Doc, seeing that you are his heart’s desire.”

The room was abruptly plunged into silence. Doc’s brained stopped working for a moment, his eyes opening wide in shock, mouth hanging open. It would have been funny, if their situation hadn’t been so serious.

“No way, my dude.” Ren finally broke the silence, laughing with a hint of uncertainty. “Have you seen Grian around Doc? He’s scared shitless, no offence, Doc, but you are not easy to get to know.”

Doc shrugged at the apology. He knew all too well that new people on the server tended to be scared of him until they got to see another side of him. That was possibly the curse of being a half creeper. Well… That and sometimes he was rather rude. And the way Grian looked at him last time? There was just no way. His gaze had held no love, not even a smidgen. Granted, Doc had been pointing a trident at his face, but still…

Wels seemed to think differently. “He isn’t scared so much as he is nervous. Haven’t you all noticed? He hasn’t been nervous around any of us for a while now. Only around Doc. His voice gets higher, his eyes go all wide, he starts sweating… It’s a miracle he can get out coherent sentences when he’s talking to Doc. The ways he’s looking at Doc, when he thinks no one is watching...” Wels looked at Doc intensely. Doc could feel all of their eyes on him. “He’s craving your attention. I say throw him a bone and see how far you can go.”

Doc sighed in annoyance. This idea sounded plain stupid. He would have noticed if Grian liked him. Someone so overly emotional would never be able to hide a crush. And Doc was rather observant. Sure, he didn’t interact with Grian that often, but still…

He looked around. His team was eyeing him expectantly. He had to decide now and he knew they would accept his decision, no matter what it would be.

He didn’t think Grian liked him. He didn’t think a plan like that could work even if it were the case. He didn’t think Grian could be turned away from his team, but…

“I trust you, Wels. And while I have a feeling it won’t work, I’ll still try.”

Wels whole face lit up in excitement.

“You’ll try to get him to our side?”

“I’ll flirt a little. If he doesn’t respond to it within a week, we’ll drop the plan and won’t bring it up ever again.”

Wels shrugged. “He will take the bait. I’m sure.”

“If that’s the case...” Doc paused, rubbing his forehead. He felt tired and was already developing a migraine. “If he’s applicable to my… charm, I’ll put my full attention into this plan. Just don’t get your hopes up too high. I wouldn’t say flirting is one of my strength. Building some war machines would be easier.”

His answer got a laugh out of Ren and he slung his arm over Doc’s shoulders.

“Doc, my man. The Ren diggidy dog can help you with that. I’ll teach you the art of seduction. He won’t be able to resist you. I’m gonna turn you into a true playboy.”

Doc snorted in amusement. Well, at least someone would be having fun during this mess. He sure as hell wouldn’t enjoy toying with someone’s emotions. But well… All was fair in love and war.

“Let’s get started Ren. The rest of you – keep working. I want no one slacking off, while I’m on this wild goose chase.” Everyone nodded and Ren gave him a mock-salute.

This…

This was going to be a disaster.

Chapter II:

Grian walked through the shopping district. He desperately needed more materials for their base and Iskall had given him a long shopping list for some redstone components. Now that Mumbo was with them the machines they built got crazier and crazier each time his friends discussed a new idea. And Grian just loved the chaos. He was almost glad Mumbo got caught spying. Being back together on a team with his oldest friend, it was almost perfect.

Grian rounded a corner on his way to the next shop on the list, when he saw Doc entering itrade. What was he doing there? Why didn’t they just send Impulse to get the stuff? Or anybody else? Leaders weren’t supposed to run errand runs… Well capable leaders that is. Grian wasn’t really of much use any more now that most of the building was done.

But Doc? Since the war had started, he’d rarely seen him. According to Mumbo, he had been busy building some amazing machines.

Grian crept closer, looking around the corner through the glass front of the shop. Maybe he’d get an idea what Team Star was planning if he could get a glimpse of the stuff Doc was getting. Well he probably wouldn’t get an idea. He was not the brightest when it came to redstone machinery. But if he told Iskall and Mumbo what those guys bought they’d surley figure it out. He trusted those two completely.

As Grian walked closer he could see Doc rumaging through different chests, but not getting out any items. He was grumbling something to himself, and Grian tried to get a little closer to the entrance to hear something. He leaned on the wall when somewhere in the distance a rocket exploded. Fuck.

Hurriedly he pulled back around the corner, heart beating like crazy. Doc had turned around at the noise. But had he seen Grian? He had been pretty fast to get out of sight, so maybe he hadn’t been discovered.

He waited for a few seconds watching as Cub flew over them, firing another rocket as he whizzed by. That guys timing really sucked. But if Doc hadn’t seen him, Cub flying by probably made him less paranoid and go back to his search.

Slowly Grian looked around the corner again, trying to get a glimpse of Doc in the store. There was nobody. Furrowing his brows Grian crept a little further, searching every corner of the store he could see. Where the hell had Doc disappeared too. As far as he knew Impulse’s store didn’t have a backdoor.

He bend forward a little further, to see the last corner when he felt someone tapping on his shoulders. He was startled so much he stumbled and fell face first into the dirt. There was a low chuckle behind him and Grian froze. He knew that voice. Doc!

Hurriedly Grian turned around, expecting a trident to be pointed at his face. Instead there was a hand in front of him. Hesitantly he took the hand and Doc pulled him to his feet, trying and failing to hide a grin at Grian’s misery.

“You saw anything interesting happening in there or why were you glued to the window like that? Any special offers I should know about?” Doc asked in a slightly mocking tone with a hint of amusement.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I was trying to do”, Grian grumbled and lowered his gaze a little in annoyance. That was when he realised that his hand was still being held by Doc. Neither of them had let go. He was holding hands… With Doc. Any other day before this whole war thing had started he would have been ecstatic. Now he hurriedly ripped his hand from the touch.

There was an emotion crossing Doc’s face, way to fast for Grian to pinpoint what it had been exactly. It had looked like disappointment. But that must have been Grian’s imagination or rather wishful thinking. Why would Doc be disappointed about something like that?

“Yeah, yeah alright. I caught you snooping around. It is a little strange though. I would have thought they’d protect their fearless leader a little better and not let you run around all alone. Who knows little red riding hood. There could be a big bad wolf running around here, trying to harm you.” Doc’s voice stayed calm, but as his grin revealed his sharp teeth, Grian was pretty sure there was an underlying threat somewhere.

“I can take care of myself. I’m not some damsel in distress that needs to be protected. I’m their leader for a reason.”

“Oh… I am sure of that. I am also quite sure your battle strength isn’t the reason. But no worries. I’m off duty at the moment. I have some business at my own farms to work on today. I’ve got no time to swallow up Little Red Riding Hood. But the next time we meet you might not get away this lucky. ~*~ A/N: This was one of my real early story. It was supposed to be a long story stretching over all of season 6 and onwards maybe. I still remember some plot points. Like them dating, Doc falling, Grian somehow finding out that it only started because Doc was using him. Them ‘breaking up’ and the whole Hippie Arc basically existing because Grian is mad at Doc and antagonizing him. Both of them being sad about what they lost. Both very much in love. In the end they overcome their differences and get together for real.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Got any Marcy's Parents hcs not already covered in previous posts?

Yeah I should’ve expected this, lol. Well, heres a few I have while I’ve been writing some Sashannarcy stuff (mostly jokes and comics/mini-comics)

Mr and Mrs Wu are childhood friends. They couldn’t admit their feelings for each other however. When their families were trying to get them to go to a marriage interview they went just to shut them up but they were both surprised and happy when it was revealed that they were put together for it.

Mr Wu’s job was moving him to be a supervising manager at the Gravesfield, Connecticut branch. The family enjoys the slower pace compared to LA but it took a while to get used to having winter again after living in LA for so long (Mr Wu can’t deal with the cold that well).

Mrs Wu was the star of several athletics teams in school and shes a bit disappointed that Marcy isn’t as athletic as she was but seeing that Marcy is as clumsy as her dad it makes sense why to her.

The Boonchuys were the first friends the Wus made when they moved to the States however this became a bit strained when the Trio disappeared and the move. Things patched up a bit when the girls returned but distance is still a factor.

Mr Wu decided to get to know more about Marcy when/if she came back and when she did she got him really into anime. It’s gotten to a point that he’s mentioned shows that even Marcy had to look up to see if it was real (this then gave them an Anime Saturday Night where they recommend anime to each other and watch them).

Mrs Wu became a member and even leader of several local government committees after moving to Gravesfield. She’s currently running for mayor and doing well in the polls.

While the Hexsquad was in Gravesfield, Mrs Wu swears she saw weird things happening like flying kids, monsters, shapeshifters, witches but thought it was some kids being weird or making a movie. (this may change based on Owl House S3)

Mr and Mrs Wu have never missed an anniversary since they’ve gotten married. No matter how far they are or whats going on they always make sure to spend time together in some way.

Mrs Wu is a bit suspicious about Marcy’s new friend Luz considering Anne and Sasha but figures that Luz might be able to get Marcy to forget about Anne/Sasha (except it was the opposite and Luz was encouraging Marcy to confess her feelings which took about 10 years). Luz’s “sister” Vee was a favorite of Mrs Wu.

They are supportive of Marcy being Pan.

Mr and Mrs Wu have read every single chapter of Marcy’s webcomic and they enjoy it a lot (it’s also allowed Mrs Wu to come to terms a bit about her new dislike of Anne and Sasha but not completely). They both know that the main characters are obviously based on Marcy, Anne & Sasha but only Mr Wu ships them together while Mrs Wu admits they’re cute but is resisting it.

No matter how exhausted either of them are after work they try and cook dinner together (rarely will they call for take-out).

That’s what I have atm. Similar to the Waybrights I won’t make any fan-design until after Marcy’s journal as they may appear in it or Matt may release a design for them. Hopefully we get something so that I can write some more fun comics

[joysmercer]

who wants peddie post-anubis fluff in bullet-point form :P

anubis reunion right before a new term is set to start

they’ve convinced whoever’s in charge of the school at this point to let them have the house to themselves for like. a week

(it’s a resident turnover year at anubis so all the rooms are empty)

first order of business? inducting everyone into sibuna who hadn’t been already

it’s mostly honorary now, but also just in case something happens to nina while the og members aren’t around

(thankfully, nothing does)

at some point, they’re sitting around and catching up and jerome (slightly tipsy) demands to know why eddie hasn’t “put a ring on it” yet

eddie splutters some excuses about wanting to finish uni/grad school/certifications/buying a house/getting stable jobs first while patricia nods along

(joy’s told her on more than one occasion that she could just propose herself. 

but she knows eddie really wants to, and she’s going to honor that.)

anyway. now that he’s caught up on everything, mick insists on exploring the tunnels more

mara too—she’s fascinated by the architecture of the school (“what do you mean, the library and sweetie’s office and that shack in the woods all connect here?”)

so they spend some time down there cleaning/exploring.

willow also does some cleansing rituals which, oddly enough, does put the others at ease

but they tire of it after a few days and move on to other things like seeing how many places KT’s key can open around the school 

the couples initially take the bedrooms while everyone else gets the chairs and couches in the hall

patricia and eddie immediately claim the bigger of the girls’ rooms, annoying everyone else (but hey, first come first serve)

however. all of them just end up having giant slumber parties in the living room every night

things get a little funky on friday, though. patricia suddenly wakes up early that morning to find that eddie’s no longer next to her.

she decides she must be dreaming and falls back asleep

when she brings it up the next morning, he pretends to have no idea what she’s talking about

the other girls plan a trip into town to get mani-pedis “for old time’s sake” as if that’s something any of them except amber did while they were in school.

joy insists that (read: makes) patricia get a really elegant set of acrylics she never would have chosen on her own

they come back and the boys, who were in charge of dinner, gleefully show off their tower of marshmallow sandwiches

ambers like “absolutely not” while joy mumbles something about having bad memories associated with that particular meal

nina suggests mashed potatoes and everyone else shouts her down

while they’re arguing about the nutritional value of graham crackers, eddie asks patricia if she’d like to go on a walk with him

“this week has been great but we haven’t really had much time together, just the two of us”

after that, how can she disagree?

“ok but one rule, yacker—”

“who makes rules for going on a walk?”

“just. humor me a bit.” “ok fine.”

“I lead the way, you just follow. there’s something I want to show you.”

and so they set off

they go to the field first.

“football >> soccer.” “they’re the same thing, doofus” “nO”

“here’s where we accidentally destroyed victor’s begonias. and here’s where you pushed me into a pile of manure because you had a crush and didn’t know how to tell me”

“i did NOT”

“well why else would you have—” “shut up”

they reach the crypt entrance in the woods. “oh eddie here’s where you jumped off a roof because you were so worried about me”

at to the clearing— “let’s take a moment of silence to honor our fallen friend.” “who, sophia?” “no, yacker, me. i died too, remember”

they wind back to the school and eddie pulls out a key from his pocket. “stole it from eric after grad. it should still work, i bet they haven’t changed the locks in the past century.” so they go in

their old lockers are obviously being used by other students now. “hey here’s where i kissed you.”

“ok if you start pointing all of those out, we’ll be here for days”

“your words, not mine 🤪”

at the science labs— “remember when you put moss in dad’s cookie”

at the pool— “i’m thinking about that one gym lesson where you fell in fully-clothed” “and instead of helping me you just stood there and laughed!” “excuse me, i’d just curled my hair. i wasn’t about to ruin that”

on their way back, they pass by the gatehouse. patricia shudders. “that place still gives me the creeps”

eddie draws closer to the door anyway. he stops and turns to her. “i don’t know if i ever told you this but…this is where I realized I loved you.”

she frowns. she doesn’t remember—oh.

they walk in silence for a bit after that. it’s starting to get chilly out; he wraps and arm around her waist, pulling her closer

ten minutes later—“wait, eddie, where exactly are we going?”

“I still have something to show you, remember?”

they finally stop right in front of the frobisher library. the door’s open.

eddie: “you know, this was actually a nice place to study”

“study?? the only thing you did in here was commit two murders within minutes of each other.”

“I didn’—actually yeah that’s fair”

he pushes open the bookcase hiding the tunnel entrance. “come on, let’s go back this way.”

“…why”

“reverse trust exercise. except you’re not blindfolded. cmon, you owe me this!”

she explains each of the task rooms in detail when they pass by. he knows most of it already but it’s almost cathartic for her, so he lets her talk

they get to the very end and patricia’s about to push open the door to the study when eddie stops her. “here’s where i need you to close your eyes. this is a trust exercise, remember?”

so she does and lets him guide her into the study.

“ok you can open them now.”

it takes patricia a moment to adjust to the brightness that greets her, but when she does, she can’t do anything but just gasp.

the desk and furniture are gone; instead, rose petals are strewn about the floor. every inch of space on the walls not occupied by shelves is covered in what looks like a giant picture collage of…them?

“eddie, what is this? did you—when? how?”

he shyly takes her hand and leads her around the room.

the collages form a little timeline of their time together after they left school, starting with the grad party photo booth strip right next to the tunnel entrance. there are polaroids from various dates they went on through university, pictures his mother took over their breaks. 

an entire section is dedicated to random candids of her she didn’t even know he took, let alone saved.

then they reach their adult lives. college commencement, airport selfies from when they were doing long-distance while she finished grad school. 

moving in together, that brief stint where they fostered kittens without their landlord knowing, buying their first house. 

vacations to hawaii and vancouver and back home to visit her parents.

but it isn’t the occasions themselves that are captured in the images – it’s the look of happiness on their faces, the warmth shared between them. the love.

“what’s this section for?” she asks, pointing to a small blank square right next to the door.

eddie takes a deep breath.

“this.” 

and he drops to one knee.

the world comes to a standstill.

“holy shit”

“patricia williamson—”

“yes.”

“yacker, I haven’t even asked—”

“fine, make it quick.”

“ok, ok. patricia williamson, every minute with you has been the best of my life. from arguing in the lounge to saving the world to almost burning down the kitchen more times than I can count, I can’t imagine a life without you right by my side. will you marry me?”

she says nothing but just tackles him to the floor

“hey, it’s cozy down here” “shut up and kiss me, doofus”

afterwards, as they make their slow ascent from the cellar to the house, she asks him why he chose the study of all places.

“it just felt full-circle to do it here, at anubis.”

“but the cellar???”

“the only place w any privacy. and, well, I didn’t think you’d appreciate being asked on the crocodile bridge. so.”

“did anyone else know?”

he shakes his head. “I just wanted it to be between the two of us.”

he pauses. “well, joy threatened me within an inch of my life if I didn’t get a move on within the next month, so I had to tell her something, but she thinks I’m going to pop the question when we get home.”

“lmao”

“she also said she wants a ‘pretty ring picture’ in the announcement, whatever that means”

“oh, that explains the french-tips on my nails.”

they agree to keep the engagement a secret till they get home but

they both have the subtlety of a baby elephant 

(and an hour into their 2.5-hour ‘walk’ kt got worried, checked the study, and saw eddie’s set up)

so everyone in the house knows within minutes of them emerging

which honestly works out for the best because of the amount of teasing they have to endure the rest of the weekend (at least they’re getting it all at once)

the end <3