You motherfucker...you made me cry...not anyone can do that...be proud you wrote something so...touching...in this chapter after all that had happened...that i cried. I'm going to look you up in a few years, and you HAD BETTER BE A FAMOUS WRITER with the tale of friendship and hate you have weaved for us.
My deepest Respect has been earned. :(

I’m a very selective person when it comes to what I read/watch. Even if I hear a movie is so good and sounds like it would appeal to me it takes forever for me to get to it. Once I get into something however it gets easier for me to enjoy it as it goes on. I say this because at first I was hesitant about this story, with its style and almost bleak subject matter at times, but in the end it was these qualities that made me love this fanfiction.
I remember reading Spikender’s story “Forfeit” on this site and thinking that while it was a solid story in one aspect with masterfully crafted dark parts of the story, it tried doing a lot of things at once leaving it a bit less focused on what I liked about it, and at some points not making sense. I still recommend it to people as many people adore it, with good reasons mind you, but honestly…I like this story more than “Forfeit”.
As blasphemous as that might sound, there are numerous reasons. For one the style is unique. At first I felt as if these tiny vignettes connected to each other seemed very disjointed and small, but with each chapter I realized the intent: to buildup intrigue and suspense. Every different form of social media that the characters interact in show the same story told from different perspectives at different points in time. Because of this, every character can give hints as to the big reveal on what it is that broke up the Eds. Dynamics constantly change from Eddy being seen as a jerk to a victim after the revelation. And each chapter representing a month helps in setting up how each month differs from the last, and how overall the more stuff that occurs, the more changes from each month up to the big reveal, and epilogue of the story.
The second reason I like this story: the reveal. At first I was tempted to groan this off as another edgy EEnE fic that depicted Double Dee as a gay teen, but the more I pondered on it, it made sense. The entire time Double Dee has been constantly pressured into doing better in school, trying to reach the high expectations his parents have for him on the pedestal they put him on. I can relate in some ways to this, because while my parents didn’t necessarily do this to me, in High School I was constantly beating myself up over anything that I couldn’t do better at. It’s my headcanon that Double Dee was meeting expectations he set for himself in his mind because of this, as if Eddy’s dad knew that the things Double Dee was going through wasn’t true, but rather his own set expectations, as seriously, if that was the case I’m surprised Child Services wasn’t involved in pressuring this kid so much.
As for the whole gay thing, I look at this as a reinterpretation rather than it saying that this is in itself what the Peach Creekians will become in the future. It would make most sense for Double D to be gay, as overall he was the one who had it all together in comparison to the other Eds. Sure he yelled a lot but only to reprimand Eddy for instances regarding morals and stuff, he seemed like he had a straight compass. But on the inside with all the pressure of his parents and him being closeted afraid of being labeled as something worse than “the brains”, someone the Eds depend on, or even worse than a friend, someone they can trust. Double Dee’s actions are not excused by his struggles, but IMO if he had the confidence to just accept that he’s only human, and trust that his friends would still care about him despite the fact that he had unrequited feelings for Eddy, he wouldn’t have done what he did. What he did was in a moment of intense emotional inner conflict, and a rule that “How I Met Your Mother” really cemented well: nothing good happens at 2:00 AM. That is, some of the biggest mistakes we make are late at night when talking to people where we’re less awake to resist are emotional compulsions. And even then with the gay thing, in High Stakes it’s revealed that he’s bi, which makes far more sense considering his interactions with Nazz in the past, so it makes more sense than him just suddenly being gay.
Finally, it was the message. Every thing in this story deals with continuity in a good way. Sure there was the occasional hiccup where Ed said he met Double D last summer with Eddy, when an episode of the show disproved that, however Jonny being an outcast after the events of TBPS works so well, May’s feelings for Ed being more innocent than her sisters’ for the other Eds also felt genuine as in the past. It’s also great seeing the kids for the most part getting along, aside from Jimmy and Sarah who with one complaint, I never saw the root or origin of WHY they started taking up The Eds past roles of “Cul-De-Sac Antagonists”. But in the end their actions do cause a lot of things to occur. Despite all of the turmoil everyone is put through friendships stay strong, and even Eddy wishes to befriend Double Dee again. While “Forfeit” was a story about entering adulthood in my honest opinion, this is a story about growing up, the trials that things are no longer as simple as childhood, and how the path to adulthood can create so many uncomfortable situations because of hormones and the fear of failure. I feel that this story gives the message that growing up is hard, but it’s never 100% miserable, at least, for most people. Friends are the things that help us out in these hard times, heck even Jonny recognizes Jimmy’s crap and betrays him to help Eddy out in what I can only call the path to his redemption. Even after all that happened to him, he realizes it’s more important to help and ignore the past, rather then let Jimmy rule the kids’ future.
Overall, I give this story a 7/10, which is highly above average to me, a great simple short fanfic that sets out what it needs to do, one that I highly recommend to anyone else. And mind you, the only reason I don’t give this an 8 is because I’ve been reading bits of the sequel, and overall, the introduction of other forms of social media like YouTube brings out this style you created Dusk to it’s fullest with more meat in each chapter. I loved the story for what it is, but I know that you’ve grown more as a writer to do even better and blow me away (no pun intended). IDK how much Sam had to do with this story but honestly man I can guarantee after reading this you are a great writer and I’d love to read more of your stuff in the future. Tech out. B)

Huh, it felt like nostalgia reading this chapter. As though I was back at the end of middle school/beginning of High School in terms of fanfiction I read/wrote (except Eddy wasn't dead nor did he try to kill himself.) Of course I personally always wrote Eddy unconfidently mopy in all my serious work since I knew he would never act like that in the show.

Thanks for always writing him true to his character, Steve.

This preview for the sequel is really hyping me up, and I was glad that I could help work on the new usernames, new forms of social media to communicate on, and other events. I don't even think I'll be able to maintain a good poker face reading the next story, it will so awesome!

Just a heads that you need to be careful about putting author's notes that cover a full chapter because doing breaks the following part of the Content Guidelines:
"The chapter system is not to be used as placeholder for non-story content such as author notes. You can add short author notes to the beginning or at the end of stories but never as individual chapters."

Try putting that author's note within a chapter of your most recently updated story or put it on your profile. Other than that, I look forward to your stories.

Oh my. Well, that was certainly unexpected. (And a little painful since I ship the two vehemently. :P)
Still, I really enjoyed this ending a lot! I think it's totally believable that Eddy would at least try to forgive Edd and I really love how bittersweet the letter is. Great job and great story!

(My only wish is that there were some Lee and Marie scenes (like a chat between Lee and Eddy maybe), but I'm just being selfish. :P)

Also, GO JONNY!

Oh my gosh, no... D:

Oh no Eddy! What are you about to doooooo?! D:
Can I just say I really love the format of this story! Usually some formats (like play/script formats) throw me off of the story. But, this works surprisingly well and we understand what's going on perfectly without narration!
I don't see such technology existing in the EDverse, but who cares?! This is still awesome and the characters are still themselves which is great! I'm hooked and can't wait to see how this ends!

It is really sad, but a story that shows how deep friendship runs, even on the hard, awkward and unsure times. A story for self-control and telling people truths.

Very good.

Sad about Double D, but yet, still.

But yeah frick yeah go Johnny.

That little fricker - if Johnny can't get to him, I'd break the cretin's nose in. He never was the same after that fateful day Eddy's prank got to him.

So my suspicion was correct, then. Should Eddy reveal this to the group, not only do I wonder how they would respond, but I wonder what this conniving menace of a jerk (formerly known as Jimmy) will do.

Well, I have had my suspicions for a while, but I think the issue that occurred between Double D and Eddy is clear now. There are only so many things that inspire that much guilt in someone and lead them to do the things Jimmy listed. I could be wrong, but I will just wait and see what unfolds. Either way, poor Double D.

I like how you are expressing the intriguing and mysterious plot in this unusual manner. It adds a depth and intrigue to the story that adds sufficiently to the high school environment the characters are in. I appreciate your unique way of expressing the plot, and will continue to enjoy it.

Wow, I am surprised and joyful that you kept my epilogue for Against All Eds. Thanks man, you have no idea how much that means to me. But alas, this great story of yours has come to an end, and a great one it was. It deconstructed Edd/Eddy on what would really happen if one of the two didn't feel the same way about the other. Not only that, but Jimmy & Sarah are implied to get what's coming to them for the crap they've been pulling this whole story, which is a nice plus. Jonny & Plank are liked in the eyes of the kids again and the Kankers (mostly May though) seem to be getting tolerated/accepted by the other kids, which is also a plus. I can see how many of the reviewers would find this to be a bittersweet ending, and I'm glad it's that way. Bittersweet endings are my favorite kind of ending anyway. So yeah, good luck on your next stories you write in the future Mr. Dusk, you've been improving a lot as a writer ever since we first met on The3Eds.