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epicbuddieficrecs · 4 months

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Weekly Recap | January 8th-14th 2024

TWO MONTHS UNTIL SEASON 7!!!

I'm sorry it's late and I'm sorry if I missed anyone but my ao3 history was sortof a mess 😩 I think maybe some userscript I downloaded is fucking up my history. oh well. (or else someone has hacked my ao3 account and has been reading House M.D. fanfic?!?!? (how the fuck did I even get in my history, I don't even remember searching for anything that had House fics in the results wtf))

Complete

Followed By Ghosts by itsanapothecary (Canon Divergent, S1-S2 | 21K | Teen): Instead of hiding the truth about Daniel from their children, Margaret and Philip memorialize their lost son in every one of their remaining children's accomplishments. Growing up, neither Maddie nor Buck felt like they could escape the shadow of their brother. When Buck finds the 118, he gets a chance to be his own person, although the looming attention from his parents and weight of expectations threatens to jeopardize what he's built in Los Angeles.

no harm, no foul by callmenewbie/ @callmenewbie (Getting Together | 5K | Mature): Eddie knows how Buck feels. Buck knows how Eddie feels. So why is Eddie giving him the cold shoulder instead of talking about it?

what to do when evan buckley breaks into your house at 3:17 in the morning by oklahoma/ @malewifediaz (Love Confessions | 3K | Teen): After a night out drinking with Maddie, Buck (kind of) breaks in to Eddie’s house.

Wait For It by oliviacirce (PWP, Post-S6E6: Cursed | 8K | Explicit): Buck kind of liked not jerking off.

in a fix by rainbow_nerds/ @rainbow-nerdss (Getting Together, PWP | 4K | Explicit): Buck gets himself into a bit of a sticky situation, and Eddie helps him out.

we were lucky once (could be lucky again) by hattalove/ @hattalove (Post-Break Up | 1K | Teen): which they're not together anymore, but they can't sleep apart.

Mark Me Like a Bloodstain (Burning Red) by sirencalls/ @usersiren (Vampire Eddie, Post-S4, PWP | 3K | Explicit): “Eddie, you’re freezing,” Buck says, worry creeping into his tone. “Eddie, we need to get you to the hospital—” “No.” His voice is echoey and strange, definitively not human, and he picks up on the way Buck’s pulse quickens. Fuck, he’s scaring Buck. The human part of him is ashamed, guilty for making Buck ever be afraid of him. The vampire part of him is delighted, is even more wanting because of it, and that’s why he calls himself a monster.

Kinktober 2021 series by sirencalls/ @usersiren (PWP | 31 works | 68K | Explicit)

all that is you makes up all that is me by soyxunxperdedor/ @messyhairdiaz (Post-S6E11 | 1K | General): “I was just checking if you’re ready…” Eddie says faintly, trailing off as his eyes track the path of the lightning seared across Buck’s skin. -or- In the aftermath of a lightning strike, Buck and Eddie have a conversation.

Long Overdue by mansikka (PWP | 3K | Mature): Eddie realizes his feelings for Buck are more than platonic; what's he supposed to do now?

kiss me, kiss me (i don't know if i can let you go) by ipretendtobesane/ @useramor (Getting Together, Accidental Kissing | 10K | General): If anyone ever asks- they were both drunk. Eddie knows they weren’t, he and Buck don’t like to drink during the week, regardless of whether or not they work the next day. If they are working, they don’t want to be out of it on the job, and if they’re not they don’t want to be out of it when Christopher wakes up the next morning at 7:00am with more energy than either of them can handle. But there’s not really a good explanation otherwise. No other way to explain why, as Buck was walking out the door, Eddie leaned in and gave him a soft kiss goodnight.

til there was you by woodchoc_magnum/ @woodchoc-magnum (Hurt Buck, Married Buddie | 16K | Mature): In which Buck's appendix tries to kill him in the middle of a busy shift, and Eddie has to stage a dramatic rescue.

spread a little christmas cheer by soyxunxperdedor/ @messyhairdiaz (Post-S3E10: Christmas Spirit, PWP | 1K | Explicit): Eddie has a realization at the Christmas party and goes the wrong way with it.

do you love me? all you gotta do is say yes by fleetinghearts/ @shitouttabuck (Friends to Fiances, Crack | 3K | Teen): “It’s always pretty fun to see a former fuckboy from your grad school era bootycall list all domestic and settled down.” or, two boy best friends and an ex lover walk into a grocery store. everyone is on their normalest behaviour.

🔥 Echoes of Your Name by sirencalls/ @usersiren (Canon Divergence, PWP, Sex Worker Buck | 9K | Explicit): Of course he’s immediately wary of it. Porn videos have never worked for Eddie, so why would the audio version of them be any different? It’s the same strangers faking the same moans and whines as the other actors, just without a pretty face to go with it. Eddie thinks it’ll almost be less effective—seeing every tiny reaction that someone has to what you’re doing to them is part of the fun—so he doesn’t have high expectations. He doesn’t expect it to work.

marry me, eddie diaz by elisela/ @elisela (Marriage Proposal | 1K | General): There’s a long silence, and then, “you do that a lot,” Eddie says, looking over at him strangely. “I do what a lot?” “Ask me to marry you,” Eddie says. “I know it’s just a joke, but I feel like—” he stops and shakes his head, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

sit present in the darkness by elisela (Post-Shooting, Established Buddie | 4K | General): In the midst of stories about their jobs, catching up on what the kids have said, and making endless fun of each other, Eddie’s sitting at his seat with his phone face down on the table in front of him. Occasionally it will buzz and he’ll look around the table, pick it up when he thinks no one is watching. He types something quickly, looks over his shoulder at the kid’s table—where Buck has been since the food was brought to them—and puts it down again. Face down. Karen knows this game. She’s played it before, almost lost.

WIP

🔥 Precious & Fragile Things by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Small Miracles AU, Angel Buck | 13/? | 31K | Teen): Buck is the Fallen Angel of Petty Temptation, who has been tasked with tempting human Eddie Diaz to sin and enjoy life, but just a little. He thinks the job will be easy - get in, get out, go back to Peru to continue messing around with eternity. But when Buck arrives in Los Angeles, he finds Eddie is harder to tempt than expected, and more compelling than Buck had hoped.

🔥 and if i bleed (you'll be the last to know) by diazchristopher/ @captain-hen (Canon Divergent Season 6, Friends with Benefits | 2/18 | 9K | Explicit): or, an alternate look at season 6 where buck and eddie have been casually sleeping together since before the beginning of the season. somehow, this changes both everything and nothing at all.

🔥 Things We're All Too Young to Know by @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon, S1 through S6 | 106/? | 290K | Mature): This is a love story. Even if it doesn’t always look like it. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it. A look back on Eddie and Buck's lives up to now, and what led them to each other, interpreted from the current 9-1-1 canon.

Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know by JJK/ @trenchcoatsandtimetravel (Demon Buck, Canon Divergent | 9/? | 15K | Teen): Buck is a demon with the power to help with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant health. When the Buckleys make a deal asking for someone to help 'save their baby', Buck leaps at the chance as it will give him what he's always wanted: a life on earth. But demon deals are tricky and neither of them gets quite what they're after. This is Buck's journey as he navigates growing up on earth and remembering how to help those in need.

🔥 for all the haunts and homes of men by euadnes/ @kananjarus (Canon Divergent, Post-Apocalyptic, Station Eleven Crossover | WIP | 12/? | 105K | Mature | Warning: Violence): The year by the old calendar is 2025. Home is gone. Home is a failed rescue mission and an echo of a memory. Home is a lost boy living in a wooden house by the sea. But first, there was a promise. Christopher, when it's safe, I'll take you back to your father. Buck had all but given up on keeping it after the world had died and everyone in it. But just as some oaths refuse to be forgotten, so the same can be said about the endurance of love.

🔥 Right Where You Left Me by hyacinthusbloom/ @thebloomingheather (Canon Divergent, Post-S4, Angst | 21/? | 106K | Explicit | ❗️Warning: Rape/Non-con): "Therapy?" Eddie suggests. Buck almost laughs, but instead says, "I'll go if you go." Because he had fully expected him to be chicken shit, to disagree, and instead Eddie, the bastard, replies, "Deal." Or Buck never tells anyone that he slept with his therapist and deals with the butterfly effect years later.

🔥 a foundation of trust and love we cannot see by lemonzestywrites/ @lemonzestywrites (FWB, BDSM, Sub Eddie, Dom Buck | 2/17 | 24K | Explicit): “It’s like I want to explore it and dive into it, but it’s not exactly like I’m seeing someone to try this all out with,” he explains, doing his best to keep down the annoyed huff that threatens to escape him at every other word. Buck nods to himself before steadily going silent. For a minute, Eddie thinks that this is the end of their conversation. “I can show you if you’d like.” Eddie nearly chokes on his beer.

Love Ends. by rowan_wood (Exes to Lovers | 5/17 | 7K | Explicit): But what if it doesn't?

Re-read

🔥 Relationship Advice from Complete Strangers Online by HMSLusitania/ @hmslusitania (Getting Together | 4K | Teen): When he gets home for the night, Buck turns to the one source of information that’s never let him down: the internet. But where does one go for relationship advice from complete strangers online? Which is how, ten minutes later, he finds himself on Reddit with a shiny new account and username. It takes him a while after that to craft his question for r/Relationships, but he thinks he’s got it pretty accurately conveyed before he hits post.

🔥 You Could Be The One I Keep by browney3dgirl6/ @hoodie-buck (Didn't Know They Were Dating | 6K | Teen): Eddie finally get's up the nerve to ask Buck out, his best friend accepting much easier than Eddie ever dreamed. Things are better than ever between them, the two of them becoming even closer, going out on several dates—only problem? Buck has no idea they're dating, like not even the slightest clue.

#buddie #buddie fic rec #buddie fanfiction #buddie fanfic #buddie fic #epic buddie fic rec #911 fanfic #911 fanfiction #911 fic

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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quitealotofsodapop · 3 months

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[Once Mac learned that Wukong got possessed trying to take down LBD, the shadow monkey almost 99% decided that he wasn't going to lose his King to that bony biotch. And depeneding on how messy the Samadhi Fire ritual goes, the last thing Wukong says to Macaque is along the lines of "You ruined everything!", and Macaque doesn't want those to be the last words he hears his King say…] + [And soon Macaque started to remember how much him and Wukong discussed Having a family once the war on heaven was over, and how much they both wanted to be parents…]

he spent this whole time trying to put the... whole thing with Wukong on hold until he was free from LBD's control. keyword being trying, ofc. things don't really work like that when you're tasked with hunting the other monkey in question and his friends down, so he accidently made things worse and know he's trying to reign everything back in long enough to have even a chance to fix it.

[Its also around the time Macaque really has it sink in that; "Oh sh-t. I attacked the Monk and fought Wukong when he was pregnant. No wonder he killed me." He isn't sure how to build himself up to discussing this fact with Wukong yet, but he'll get there.]

it's probably something he decides to bring up shortly after the whole s4 debacle. Between the fight from right before ep 1 to the world almost ending again, he doesn't want to risk his death potentially being another surprise argument that gets out of hand or risk another world ending event getting in the way of any substantial healing again. he knows disagreements are normal and even healthy in any kind of relationship, lest the relationship be codependent, but he'd rather not fight about that.

[Red's hair is ruined with baby monkey drool by the time someone gets Yuebei off of him.] + [Nezha, angry flames flaring up: "You mean to tell me that you were "with Stone Egg" during the ritual to separate the Samadhi Fire!? She could have suffered the same fate as Ao Lie!" Wukong, guilt-ridden: "Yeah. Don't remind me. She kicked me non-stop for days afterwards."] + [Yuebei: *tries grabbing Nezha's skates to test the "spicyness"*]

Wukong is laughing at Red the whole time.

Ne Zha def feels a bit guilty about his first reaction being to bring up Ao Lie's death, probably knowing how Wukong feels about it.

and aww no, no I'm picturing Wukong so in pain from Yuebei's distress that he's basically bedridden. I imagine he'd spend this time resting with Ao Lie until they both recovered (atleast on the surface) while the other pilgrims fuss over both of them.

Ne zha can only squawk indignantly when Yuebei manages to get her mouth around one of his rings, immediately trying to pry it from her little jaws. with him and Wukong combined it takes 10 minutes and the promise of a lot of fruit to get her off. luckily the rings aren't perpetually on fire.

[And the dragon's last words to assure his friend that he never blamed him for the accident, nor his baby. Ao Lie was just sad that he'd never be able to meet the cub in this lifetime. He just wants Wukong to stop being so hard on himself for it. If only the dragon he tell him that in person.]

Scroll of memory! Ao Lie already broke the mold by interacting with Mei, he breaks it again when MK + Macaque are scroll diving for Wukong by telling him to pass on the message to the king that his stance on the matter hasn't changed.

[He def makes an awkward apology once they run into eachother at the start of S3. He refuses to let Wukong get into danger or exert himself tho - Nezha's a momma's boy at heart after all.]

Wukong insists it's fine, and that Ne Zha couldn't have known that he kept it from basically everyone, but Ne Zha still feels bad about everything regarding the ritual. he intends to make up for it by doing whatever he can to protect Wukong and his little one now (even if Wukong insists its not nessecary)

[Spider Queen hears the sounds of a thousand knuckles cracking and realises that she's looking at the person who might as well be the Monkey King's Mama. SQ ain't even mad by the end of it.] + [And although SQ kinda trusts the demon a little more, she's far more hesistant to step on the Monkey King's toes than before if his Mama's gonna respond. SQ is a lot more scheming for the rest of S2.]

I love the mental image of Guan Yin using their hundred hands to aid in their righteous beat down

Spoder Queen knows she kinda deserved this, she did put a heavily pregnant person who is practically made of magic in a magic draining web. she was basically asking for this.

she will take this loss with the dignity and grace of the queen (believes she) is and not bother Wukong again (yet) she promises- please don't punch her again.

[LBD almost in the same fashion it tried absorbing the Samadhi Fire so many years ago - guess his baby found the ancient demoness "less spicy".] + [BTW I love the art you did for this scene!! Stone Egg had enough of LBD's nonsense and was Hangry, and Bama had spoken some sense into Baba, and now Nom NOM NOMNOM.]

she is very icy!

and I'm glad you like the art!

[Oh gosh Macaque realising that the baby looking like him brings Wukong joy too would make him cry even harder. He almost cost his mate everything by risking the world over his own debt to the Bone demon. Mac would gladly have died all over again if it kept the baby safe.]

Macaque is an inconsolable sobbing mess of emotions for a while after first meeting Yuebei, for a lot of reasons. and imagine how hard he cries when Wukong first names her out loud officially calling her "Sun Yuebei Xing" for the first time, Yuebei being a moon inspired/adjacent name. he's practically wailing at one point.

[She plants a big kiss on Yuebei's forehead, forgetting that her lipstick stains. Her husband chuckles, still teary-eyed, at his wife's embarassment at planting a big kiss mark on the baby's head.] + [MK is having unknown instinctual urge to curl up with Yuebei (his honorary sister) next to the other monkeys. Pigsy laughs that MK did the same with his fave plushie for years.]

Wukong laughs at the befuddled chirp Yuebei makes when PIF kisses her.

he would also very much welcome MK into his nest with his sleepy little family.

[Also, Mac is def the kinda guy to use exaggerated versions of the Brotherhood's voices when narrating villain characters in Yuebei's books. The little raspberry noises (or "Boos" as Mac likens them to) she makes at the voices encourages him even further.]

I love this. He so would. Wukong would be laughing his tail off the first time he hears Macaque voicing a villain with an over exaggerated Peng voice, Wukong actively encourages him to do this as well.

[And considering Yellowtusk is the only one with the sense to feed and bathe the hostage infant, he's not surprised when she turns on Azure and Peng specifically.]

I'm now thinking of a scene where yellowtusk manages to get Yuebei away from the others long enough to give her bath, and she's fussy about it but baths with her Baba and Bama in the mountains hot springs were usually fun and calm and she felt better afterwards so she didn't put up much of a fight when Yellowtusk tried to get her into the water. anything that reminded her of her parents is comforting right now. but she's crying the whole time and chirping for her parents as she's very far from home and with no one she recognizes, but this elephant is giving her fruit and cleaning her as best he can, so maybe he's okay? she ends up clinging to his trunk like how'd she would cling around her parents neck, and thats how he got his sore trunk during Yuebei's "tantrum". it wasn't her getting mad at him the same way she got mad at Azure and Peng, she was just scared and clung to the first person she felt was safe with, her uncontrolled baby strength leaving it's mark despite him being the only one she didn't really feel threatened by.

kinda sad note on Yuebe missing her parents, but I feel like she'd have seperation anxiety after the s4 debacle. she needs at least one of her parents in the room with her at all times when she's awake or she's wailing at the top of her lungs.

[Some of Peng's feathers are stolen too (Yuebei had a mouthful of them) and Macaque and Sandy turned the feathers into a cat toy. Mo and Yuebei both adore it.]

this is amazing Macaque would so let Yuebei keep a "trophy" of her victory over Peng in the form of a baby appropriate toy. he also is def never letting Peng live down that they lost to a baby if they ever meet face to face again. hell, they day he got Yuebei back he was ragging on Peng for their loss before the bird could even be peeled off the ground

Sequel to this Slow Boiled au post.

[he spent this whole time trying to put the... whole thing with Wukong on hold until he was free from LBD's control. keyword being trying, ofc.]

Yeah, Macaque is having a not-so-fun time trying to get used to being alive again, being still in love with his former mate (who killed him), having his soul indebted to a omnicidal Bone Demon, his former mate having a baby etc...

After finding out about MK and the Stone Egg; Mac was sorta half-hoping that he could duck LBD enough to slowly absorb the whole Wukong situation, maybe meet up with some old allies, get some answers, that sort of thing. The Mayor kidnapping him really threw those plans out the window.

[it's probably something he decides to bring up shortly after the whole s4 debacle. Between the fight from right before ep 1 to the world almost ending again, he doesn't want to risk his death potentially being another surprise argument that gets out of hand or risk another world ending event getting in the way of any substantial healing again.]

It's def a super awkward thing to approach, especially with Yuebi literally just being born and stuff.

Wukong now knows that Mac knows, and is super guilty for not having told him back then. At the same time, Wukong is confused why Max seems so... ok with it suddenly??? Like;

Wukong: "Dude, I killed you." Mac: "Yeah, and I attacked you while you were carrying a baby. Lets call it even." Wukong: "You didn't *know* at the time!" Mac: "Don't matter. Lets just drop it ok?"

Mac does have his own super complex issues regarding the whole "being killed by your former mate"-thing, but in his mind - he really could have killed Wukong and Yuebei if he hadn't been careful. He also knows that in his heart-of-hearts, he wouldn't have even considered fighting Wukong had he known about the Stone Egg ahead of time. He ultimately doesnt want to open up any old wounds Wukong has from the incident since he's been living with the outcome of that fight far longer than Mac has.

Bumping around Wukong's memories in S4 really dredges Mac's buried resentment and confusion about the last fight to the surface. Questions like; Why was Wukong protecting the monk that hurt him? Why was Wukong going on this Journey and not returning to his throne? Why did he hide the Stone Egg from the world?

MK is politely trying his best to let Mac vent to him about what happened between him and Wukong, but ofc they quickly stumble into MK's shared history with the Monkey King.

Lots of hugs, peaches, and family counselling is required afterwards, not doubts about that.

[and aww no, no I'm picturing Wukong so in pain from Yuebei's distress that he's basically bedridden. I imagine he'd spend this time resting with Ao Lie until they both recovered (atleast on the surface) while the other pilgrims fuss over both of them.]

Ao Lie and Wukong are quickly panicking over eachother while their other bros are forcing them to rest after the Samadhi Fire Ritual. Wukong was in so much pain that he was convinced that he was going into labor, or that he even lost Yuebei as a result of joining in the Ritual. Eventually though, the Stone Egg calmed down. Ao Lie's pain did not.

[Ne zha can only squawk indignantly when Yuebei manages to get her mouth around one of his rings, immediately trying to pry it from her little jaws. with him and Wukong combined it takes 10 minutes and the promise of a lot of fruit to get her off. luckily the rings aren't perpetually on fire.]

Yuebei mistook the rings as chew toys and liked the shiny gold colour. It takes Nezha a solid minute of apologizing to Wukong for his past behavior to notice that the little monkey cub has clamped her mouth over one of his skates. Wukong is laughing hysterically, especially as Nezha tries his best to gently remove the ring from Yuebei's mouth without activating it. Luckily all it takes to distract the baby is for Experienced Dad™ Pigsy to pull the oldest trick in the book.

Pigsy: "Got your nose, mooncake!" Yuebei, drops ring: :O! Nezha, quickly picks it up: "How did you know to do that?" Pigsy, still holding Yuebei's "nose" as the baby grabs at him: "You'd swear MK was half-garbage disposal from how much stuff he tried to eat as a toddler. Stealing his nose always worked." Wukong, a little wistful: "Tell me more, please?" Pigsy: "Sure thing. Guess little monkeys aren't much different from little MKs." *gives Yuebei her nose back*

Nezha makes note of hiding anything flammable whenever he visits the monkeys.

[Scroll of memory! Ao Lie already broke the mold by interacting with Mei, he breaks it again when MK + Macaque are scroll diving for Wukong by telling him to pass on the message to the king that his stance on the matter hasn't changed.]

Oh gosh... Imagine this though... Wukong trapped in the Scroll, busting on through his memories. Suddenly he hears a familar voice...

Ao Lie: "Wow! She really did make us all wait, huh?" Wukong, frozen in his tracks: "What?" Wukong: (*slowly turns to see the memory of Ao Lie, far older/frailer than what Mei had seen, standing by and watching the memory of Yuebei's first day of life.*) Memory!Ao Lie, smiling: "She's a perfect little pup... Mei was right on the money when she called her a ball of cuteness! She really looks like you! The blue eyes are a little unexpected, but considering that your mate dragged himself out of Diyu to be there - I guess anything could have happened!" Wukong, lip quivering: "No... you're just that memory curse. Ao Lie never got to see her! You're not real!" Memory!Ao Lie, frowning: "Why are you so stubborn to admit that it wasn't your fault? I really truly never blamed you, or her." Wukong, crying: "Why were you so ok with it? Because of me, the Samadhi Fire it... hurt you." Memory!Ao Lie: "I would rather die protecting my family than live and let them be hurt in my stead." (*quietly moves to hug Wukong*) "That includes you and your pup, Wukong. Always has." Wukong: (*now sobbing, hugging Memory!Ao Lie tight*)

Eventually the Memory!Ao Lie has to remind Wukong that he has friends to reunite with in the present. Wukong hesistates to leave Ao Lie alone again - the memory reassures him that he'll be fine as long as his pilgrim brother lives his life without the weight of the Ritual upon his shoulders. And to make sure to spoil Yuebei in his stead.

[Wukong insists it's fine, and that Ne Zha couldn't have known that he kept it from basically everyone, but Ne Zha still feels bad about everything regarding the ritual. he intends to make up for it by doing whatever he can to protect Wukong and his little one now (even if Wukong insists its not nessecary)]

Ofc Nezha feels like garbage for treating Wukong's actions during the Ritual as a failing.

Wukong thinks he has it bad with DBK, PIF, and Pigsy forcing him to rest? Imagine how stubborn Nezha is when he's worried over the Monkey King.

[I love the mental image of Guan Yin using their hundred hands to aid in their righteous beat down] + [she will take this loss with the dignity and grace of the queen (believes she) is and not bother Wukong again (yet) she promises- please don't punch her again.]

Spider Queen isn't sure who she's afraid of more; the spooky ancient bone demon pretending to be a little girl, or the 1000 Armed Bodhisattva that just whooped her hard (but mercifully let her live) for hooking the Monkey King to the power-draining Spider Mech. Spider Queen makes sure not to directly target or interact with the Monkey King or his protege if she can for the rest of S2.

The Spider Gang has nightmares of Guanyin coming to beat the rest of them up like she's a Jojo stand.

[she is very icy! and I'm glad you like the art!]

It's really great art!!

Also LBD's soul probably tasted like shaved ice with a hint of chalk. Lots of it, but pretty bland. It filled up Yuebei at least!

[Macaque is an inconsolable sobbing mess of emotions for a while after first meeting Yuebei, for a lot of reasons. and imagine how hard he cries when Wukong first names her out loud officially calling her "Sun Yuebei Xing" for the first time, Yuebei being a moon inspired/adjacent name. he's practically wailing at one point.]

Aww ohoho! Macaque makes so many joyous squeaking/hooting sounds during Yuebei's arrival. To hear that Wukong has named her his little "Moon Comet Star" just makes him cry harder, especially with how casually Wukong names her. Like he'd had it it long before this moment, before he even knew that Macaque was back in his life.

I think in older Chinese traditions, the parents typically wait for the Man Yue (30 Days) celebration to publically announce the baby's name. But I bet Wukong is just so happy that he tells everyone Yuebei's name long before that time.

Nezha insisted on being at Yuebei's Man Yue to bless her, as that's his whole Patron God of Children thing.

[Wukong laughs at the befuddled chirp Yuebei makes when PIF kisses her. he would also very much welcome MK into his nest with his sleepy little family.]

There's def a bunch of photos of the incident with Yuebei looking at PIF with the most confused doe-eyed look ever, a huge red kiss mark on her head. The Princess looking embarassed and adoring all at once. It's PIF anf DBK's fave baby photo of Yuebei - besides the one where she tried eating Red Son's hair.

MK is very tired after the battle, so the gang has no problem just letting the kid rest in the nest with the monkeys. t

[I love this. He so would. Wukong would be laughing his tail off the first time he hears Macaque voicing a villain with an over exaggerated Peng voice, Wukong actively encourages him to do this as well.]

Heehee, Macaque finally agrees to read Yuebei a kids-friendly version of JTTW at MK's insistence, and when he gets to Camel Ridge, he pauses before looking towards Wukong for confirmation. At Wukong's excited nod, Macaque grins evily.

Macaque, narrating: "In the kingdom of Lion Camel Ridge, there lived three Great Demon Kings." Macaque, exaggerating the real voices: "Azure Lion! Yellow Tusked Elephant! And the Golden-Winged Peng!" Yuebei: *blows raspberry at the villains!* >:P! Macaque, normal voice: "Yeah, boo! These guys sucked!" Wukong: *laughing hysterically!* MK, sitting cross-legged on the floor: "Did they really sound like that?" Wukong, trying hard not to cry from laughter: "It's closer than you think!"

Macaque also deliberately exaggerates the voices of their allies like PIF and DBK so Yuebei doesn't accidentally associate their voices with the muddy past shown in the book.

[I'm now thinking of a scene where yellowtusk manages to get Yuebei away from the others long enough to give her bath, and she's fussy about it but baths with her Baba and Bama in the mountains hot springs were usually fun and calm and she felt better afterwards so she didn't put up much of a fight when Yellowtusk tried to get her into the water. anything that reminded her of her parents is comforting right now. but she's crying the whole time and chirping for her parents as she's very far from home and with no one she recognizes, but this elephant is giving her fruit and cleaning her as best he can, so maybe he's okay? she ends up clinging to his trunk like how'd she would cling around her parents neck, and thats how he got his sore trunk during Yuebei's "tantrum".]

Awwww..... :(

Yellow Tusk brings up the matter shortly after their takeover. Their former ally's cub is very fussy (especially since Azure has had her for about half a day now) and is starting to smell... ripe. Peng takes one sniff and recoils in disgust. Azure is clueless and isn't sure if monkey cubs work like lion cubs or not. Yellow Tusk has the sense to ask the remaining servants for help with tending to the infant - a group of seven brave orchard maidens stepped forward to run the baby a bath and prepare her a meal. Yellow Tusk is sure that he recognises them.

Baby monkeys instinctively cling to whatever is nearby - especially in situations where they feel scared or unsafe. So when the elephant gently put Yuebei in the warm bathwater and offered her mashed fruit, she instinctively clasped around his trunk like it was the arm of her parents, making sad hooing sounds as she sucked on her fingers. Yellow Tusk felt his heart break at the sight. He simply cannot fathom harming her in any sense of the word.

Azure must be mad to think that Sun Wukong won't kill them all to ensure this child's safety.

[kinda sad note on Yuebe missing her parents, but I feel like she'd have seperation anxiety after the s4 debacle. she needs at least one of her parents in the room with her at all times when she's awake or she's wailing at the top of her lungs.]

Absolutely.

Baby monkeys are already super clingy - the trauma of Yuebei's kidnapping during S4 only intensified this. She fears that if either of her parents leave the room, that they might not come back. Considering it was her parents arguing and "something" (aka the Scroll) taking her Baba away preceeded her kidnapping...

The first few times it happens, Wukong and Mac + the extended fam are terrified and aren't sure *why* Yuebei is so distressed. Eventually they figure out it's her anxiety, and are able to at least keep a clone posted to ease the worst of her worries when the others babysit. MK thankfully is one of the figures that Yuebei is calm around, and while she loves her uncles and aunts; Yuebei still starts wailing after a few minutes of realizing that she can't find her Baba or Bama.

It takes a long time for the baby monkey to be comfortable to not have her parents in sight. And considering how worried and overprotective that Wukong and Mac can be of her, they aren't in any rush to force her independance.

[this is amazing Macaque would so let Yuebei keep a "trophy" of her victory over Peng in the form of a baby appropriate toy. he also is def never letting Peng live down that they lost to a baby if they ever meet face to face again. hell, they day he got Yuebei back he was ragging on Peng for their loss before the bird could even be peeled off the ground]

Imagine the smug look on Macaque's face as he sees Peng reduced to a chicken burger on the ground by a *baby* with not even a tooth in her head. Mac would make a show of picking up his baby girl and kissing her all over while commenting in baby-talk; "Did you have fun with the birdy and kitty, moonlight? Yeah? Do you want Bama to take something to remember your little play date?"

And before Peng could make a snarking comment, they squawk! at the feeling of feathers being removed. They look up and see Yuebei playing with a handful of golden feathers. The Shadow Monkey grinning like a cat who's caught a mouse. The celestial bird faints from embarassment.

Macaque has one of the feathers preserved as a bookmark. It brings him great joy.

Again tysm for being so invested in this au!

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spookyscarydemonbabe · 17 days

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Drive

A/N- During the normal April rain, i got the urge to watch some more of S4. Have i officially finished it yet? No. Does it still give me little ideas every now and then? Absolutely. And sorry to come back with such a (somewhat) depressing fic 😂 please know i’ve been working on a few things back and forth for the last two months so expect a few scattered fics here and there when i get around to finishing them. I still miss you all very much 😘 (P.S. i got this story while listening to Drive by The Cars, hence the title :p)

Summary- Late one night you get a call from Eddie that sends chills down your spine

Genre- Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

Warnings- S4 spoilers, mentions of death/dying

Tag List- @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles @munsonology @esme-viridian @gvf23 @wheels-of-despair

(tag list is always open, let me know if you’d like to be added 🖤)

Word Count- 4.5k

Tonight was finally the night.

The last dreadful day of school before spring break, thank god. For another seven days you would be able to stay up late, sleep in, hang out with the guys, smoke, put a dent into the list of movies Jeff and Gareth had been making for you to watch before you die, and maybe finally dive into that stack of books next to your nightstand that you’ve been putting off reading. All the while you’d have full accessibility to the house while your parents were on vacation for a little spring break of their own.

It would be bliss. Save for the few shifts at work during the week, but it was a sacrifice you’d be willing to make for all that extra free time.

You had finally sat down after a shower, your hair still damp at your shoulders as you sat on the couch with a bag of chips at your side and a can of pop waiting to be opened at the living room table, you reached for the remote and as soon as you clicked the power button you could hear the incessant ringing of the telephone. As much as you wanted to ignore it and let it ring, something just didn’t feel right.

There was something that washed over you as you glanced down the hall at the phone on the wall, and just couldn’t help but carefully wander down to pick it up. Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach before you could even say anything.

Eddie was at the other end. Crying, hyperventilating, and you could just hear his panicked pacing through his quick speech. It took a moment for you to even realize what was happening before finally speaking up,

“Eddie! Eddie, calm down, i can’t understand you. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I don’t know!” He shouted into the phone between sobs, “I was in my bedroom and then walked out and she was acting so strange and then she started floating and-“ He couldn’t finish. Whatever it was that had happened, you knew it wasn’t something that could be fixed with him calming down.

“Ok, it’s ok, you don’t have to tell me. I know you’re really scared right now, i’m here for you ok.”

“(y/n), i don’t know what to do…” He cried out, and it was heartbreaking hearing just how badly he was hurting without even knowing what was going on. The mystery of it all was panic inducing enough for you, you couldn’t imagine how Eddie was feeling on the other end.

“Eddie, i need you to listen very carefully to me, ok? I want you take a deep breath, i want you to get your keys, and i want you to drive over here. Don’t bother with going home, don’t bother grabbing anything or stopping anywhere, get over here now. I don’t know what the situation is but i can tell that whatever it is, it isn’t safe.”

He said not another word, and you heard the click of the phone on the other end, the disconnect tone playing in your ear wasn’t helping the situation.

Within minutes you could hear the screeching tires of Eddie’s van pull into your driveway. You watched from the front window as he struggled to pull the keys from the ignition, rushing to get out as fast as he could. When he saw you carefully open the door for him he couldn’t help but run to you, wrapping his arms around you in a tight embrace, his head buried in your chest and you could hear the slow sobs start once more.

“Ok, it’s ok. Shh, it’s ok…” You still had no idea what was happening.

All you knew was that Eddie was here, crying, panicked, scared, and he needed you.

You quickly shut the front door, clicking the lock and moving your arms around him once more, one hand moving to cradle the back of his head as you felt his tears start to soak through your shirt.

He was trembling, cold to the touch, and you were terrified not knowing what on this earth had made him feel this way. He was in a state that you had never seen him in before, and as painful as it was to not bombard him with every question you had floating around in your brain about what could possibly be making him like this, you let him be. He needed time, and what he needed now was someone to make him feel right again.

The moment you heard the sobs start to quiet and his breathing became slower, you carefully pulled yourself away, hand still on the back of his head to comfort him as his arms never left your sides,

“Shh, it’s alright. Take a few deep breaths ok?”

Eddie looked up to you and nodded, his bloodshot eyes slowly closing as he took a few shaky deep breaths. Your hands moved to his cheeks, wiping away the few stray tears that slipped through.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened right now,” Eddie opened his eyes as you held his cheeks, “but i need to know if you’re hurt, or if someone else is hurt…” You looked down to his Hellfire Club shirt, spotting a few stray droplets of blood, but Eddie seemed to be physically fine.

“Someone else…” The thought of whatever had happened made him muster up another quick sob.

“I’m glad you’re ok. We’ll worry about that in a little bit ok, right now let’s stand you up.” He nodded once more and your arms moved to hold onto his, trying to give him a reassuring smile as he did his best to slow his breathing back to normal, “Let’s go get you cleaned up, come with me.”

You still held onto his arm as you led him upstairs. This wasn’t the first time he had come over, he knew the layout of your home well, but you wouldn’t dare leave his side while he was in this state.

You slowly walked him down the hall and into the bathroom, letting him carefully sit on the toilet as you leaned over and fidgeted with the knobs for the faucet. Eddie leaned over, his elbows at his knees, palms at his forehead. His breathing had slowed finally, but he was quiet. You reached your hand beneath the faucet and once the water felt warm enough you pulled the curtain and started the shower for him, kneeling on the floor before him.

“Eddie?” He slowly moved his hands and looked to you, eyes still bloodshot with swollen cheeks from all the tears he had shed, “I know that whatever it is you’re going through isn’t easy, but all i want to do is help you. You know that right?”

He was still silent, but nodded.

“Take a shower, clean yourself up. I promise i’ll be nearby the whole time, and i’m going to come back in a few minutes with a towel and pajamas for you, ok?”

He nodded again, and you gave him another smile as you stood. You pushed the hair aside on his forehead and placed a gentle kiss to the space, and it seemed that this finally got a reaction out of him. His lips twitched at the corners, and you could see he wanted to smile back to you but he was just so exhausted.

You left the bathroom and shut the door behind you, standing there for just a moment to listen for anything. As soon as you heard a bit of shuffling and his clothes hitting the floor you smiled to yourself and wandered to the hall closet, grabbing a towel and then heading into your parents room to steal a pair of your dads pajama pants and an extra shirt for Eddie to change into. They’d be oversized and probably a little uncomfortable but they were better than nothing.

You walked back to the bathroom door, towel and clothes in hand, and waited. After a deep breath, and a quick shake just to get your nerves in place, your gently rapped your knuckles at the door,

“Eddie?” You opened the door just a crack, “I’m coming in, ok?”

You only heard a groan from him, but it was enough for you to enter once again. You saw his clothes piled up on the floor and placed the towel on top of the toilet, the extra pajamas on the counter. You could hear a few sounds from him through the curtain, a few groans and it sounded like he was doing his best to keep his composure. You left him to his business, grabbing his clothes off of the floor and quickly folding them into a pile and carrying them out with you, save for his underwear that you left with the extra pajamas for him.

“I’ll be in my room ok? Take all the time you need and i’ll be there when you’re done.” You said before stepping back out into the hall and softly closing the door behind you.

With one more deep breath you walked to your bedroom door, flicking the light switch on and leaving the door open for Eddie whenever he was finished and ready to come in. His clothes were placed on top of your dresser and you quickly wandered around to grab a few things for him. Extra pillow and blanket, a hair brush and some detangling solution, and you grabbed a few small snacks from your munchies stash under your bed for him to snack on. You didn’t know what he would’ve needed, but it was a good idea to be prepared for anything.

As you sat on your bed waiting for him you reached for the remote and switched on your TV, you heard the floorboards creaking at your door. Eddie was standing there in your doorway, towel in hand with his wet hair soaking the shoulders of the oversized shirt.

“Hey, come on in, close the door behind you.” You smiled to him, standing up and approaching him slowly, “Here, you take this, and i’ll take that,” You had handed him the TV remote and took the towel from his hands, leading him to the end of your bed, “you sit and find something to watch. Let me deal with your hair, i know you like how gentle i am with it.”

Eddie finally gave you a smile. A small one, but it was something. He sat at the end of your bed and you sat behind him on the mattress, reaching over and grabbing their hairbrush and detangler before lifting his wet hair and draping the towel over his shoulders.

He finally seemed calm as you sprayed the fruity scented detangler into his hair, gently brushing at the end in small sections as he finally found a channel to settle on. It was one of the local public access channels that showed old music videos while the host talked about all his favorite parts from the video afterwards. Music was always his happy place.

Eddie breathed deeply, quietly, sitting there before you with his eyes on the tv while you gently brushed his hair. He was always so grateful to have you to turn to when he wasn’t ok. Though it was odd to see him like this.

You had seen him cry when he was panicked over having to repeat another school year, you had seen him scared after Wayne found out he had swiped a few cans of beer from the fridge, but this was something new. This was a different kind of fear. He wasn’t trying to brave this one out and take it on the chest like he had before. It was like he had reverted to a scared little boy with no clue what to do or who to turn to. This was something he couldn’t face alone and he knew you knew that now.

You kept quiet as you finished with his hair, setting the brush down next to you and using the towel to scrunch his curls, gently pulling it off of his shoulders and bringing it to your hamper. He didn’t move as you went to sit next to him, only turning to you as you nudged his shoulder to grab his attention.

His face was still slightly puffy from the tears he had shed, his eyes were slightly pink, but his breathing was normal and that you were grateful for.

“Are you ok?”

His eyes wandered away from yours and he shook his head gently, still not speaking.

“Eddie, i know you might not think i’ll understand whatever it is you’re going through, but i want to understand. Please…” You moved yourself to sit in front of him, his view of the TV blocked by your form, “I just want to know what happened.”

Eddie clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, and as he opened his eyes they began to water once more,

“You won’t believe me…” He choked out.

You stood for a moment and quickly ran over to your nightstand, grabbing the box of tissues for him to use whenever he needed them.

“Yes i will.” You reassured him. “Eddie, i know you wouldn’t lie to me, but i don’t know what’s going to happen if you don’t tell me. You said someone else was hurt and i saw the blood on your clothes… If you did something-“

“I didn’t do anything!” He shouted, cutting you off mid-sentence.

You sat back on your legs and reached over to turn down the volume on the TV, sitting and waiting patiently for Eddie to be ready to finally tell you what the cause of all his panic was. You could sense that he was ready, it was just hard to find the words.

With one last deep breath he looked down at his hands in his lap,

“I was at the trailer with Chrissy, i met her after school and she said she was going through some stuff. Asked for something strong. I left her in the living room while i went to look for it and when i came back she was acting… different.”

You tried to move closer to him but he backed himself away.

“Different how?” You asked.

His lip started to quiver and his eyes were shut tight again.

“She was just standing there… silent. Her eyes were rolled back and then her feet just lifted off of the ground, but not like she was floating, like someone had picked her up but there was nothing… no one…”

You gave him time. He needed patience, and you could see that whatever happened next was what caused him to act the way he was. He was terrified of something, someone, but he didn’t know what or who.

“I tried to wake her up and see if maybe she was just freaking out or something but…” His lip quivered as he tried to collect himself, but it was clear that this was an event he was having to relive every time he closed his eyes, “She floated up to the ceiling and it was like…” He started to hyperventilate again, and you inched closer, reaching out and gently grasping his arm, though this time he didn’t move away, “it was like something was inside her, breaking every bone in her body…” He couldn’t stop the flow of tears, and you couldn’t bear to have this go on any longer. Though it sounded crazy, Eddies reactions weren’t making it seem crazy.

“Ok, ok, you don’t have to tell me anymore, it’s alright.”

Eddie quickly wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in close as he sobbed into your shoulder. You held him gently, slowly moving your fingers through his hair to try and comfort him. It always worked before.

“You don’t have to tell me any more…”

You said to him quietly, the music on the TV softly playing in the background was helping slightly to dull the horrific reaction Eddie was having to this memory.

A few moments had gone by, and though he was no where near better, his breathing was slowing and the tears were slowly stopping. Or maybe he just didn’t have any left in him.

“You think i’m crazy, don’t you?” He said through slow breaths.

“No.” You said plainly, “I don’t think you’re crazy Eddie. It sounds unreal but… with how you’ve been reacting i don’t see anything else making sense…”

It was an insane scene to think about. It sounded like something straight out of a horror movie, and those things were fine, they weren’t real. But this was. And Eddie was horrified.

“Did you call anyone else about this? Did you tell the guys or the police?”

“No…” He whimpered, hiding his head back into your shoulder, “I ran… I didn’t know what else to do or who else to go to…”

“Eddie,” You carefully lifted his face away from your shoulder, grabbing a tissue and wiping away the tears that trailed down his cheeks, “I know it’s scary, but you have to go to the police.”

“I can’t…”

“Yes you can.”

“I can’t, they’ll know i did it!” He shouted.

“You didn’t do anything!” You shouted back, quieting him once more, “I’ll go with you, i’ll vouch for you, i’ll say that you saw her earlier in the day and then you came over afterwards, i know you couldn’t have done something like this Eddie.”

“No.” He said it with no emotion between every word you were saying, “No, no, no. You are NOT lying to the police for me (y/n).”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Eddie was silent for a moment, sniffling as he recollected himself. He brought his knees up to his chest and looked down into his lap,

“I don’t know… They’re going to think it was me anyways…”

“Don’t say that!”

He could hear in your voice that talking about this was making you more and more worried for him. That’s the last thing he wanted.

“I’ll figure something out.”

You were quiet.

Neither of you were sure how to go about something like this.

You moved yourself to sit back next to him, your legs crossed in front of you as you fidgeted with your fingers in your lap. The quiet music on the TV was fading in and out and as the song played, somehow it managed to calm both your nerves, at least a little bit. You slowly leaned over and put your head onto his shoulder as you sat together, bringing your hand up to wipe away a single tear that had fallen from your eye. But of course once the first one started, it was difficult to stop. Eddie only noticed your tears after he heard a few muffled sniffles from next to him.

He looked over to you and saw the wetness at your cheeks and reached one arm around your shoulder to pull you in closer,

“Why are you crying?”

“Because,” Another sniffle as you reached up to wipe your eyes, “I’m worried about you…”

The corners of Eddie’s lips curled up into a small smile as he rested his head on top of yours,

“It’ll be alright… I promise.”

You silently nodded, looking up at him with a pursed smile through your wet eyes. You didn’t know if he would be alright, but Eddie wasn’t the type to lie. Especially not to you.

With a deep breath, you slowly shut your eyes and let out a yawn, Eddie catching it and doing it himself a moment later.

“Why don’t we get to bed?” You offered, “We’ll get everything figured out in the morning.”

Eddie nodded, slowly getting up and stretching his arms over his head as you stood up next to him.

You wandered over to your bed, grabbing a few pillows and holding them in your arms as you started to pull one of the blankets away for Eddie to use before he stopped you,

“Wait! Um…” He was hesitant for a moment, but you let him take his time, “Could i uh… If you’re ok with it-“

“Do you want to sleep in bed with me?” You cut him off, seeing that he was a bit uncomfortable at the thought of having to ask. He nodded and you smiled to him as you placed the pillows back into their spots, “Of course you can.”

You pulled the covers back to make room for him as he wandered to the other side of your bed. He’d stayed the night plenty of times before, but never like this. Just the two of you sharing a bed. The thought of it made his heart flutter, and maybe under different circumstances he might even consider it a romantic thing between you with the music helping the mood. But he was just happy that you cared so much for him.

He didn’t know if you liked him or not, but he knew that you loved each other.

“Go ahead and make yourself comfortable.” You fluffed up his pillows as he sat at the edge of your bed, grabbing the remote as you walked over to Eddie’s side, “Here. Put on anything you want, i’m going to go downstairs really quick and make sure everything is locked up ok?”

Eddie nodded as he took the remote from you, closing his eyes gently as you pushed his hair back from his forehead and placed a gentle kiss onto the skin,

“I’ll be right back, but just in case, you call me if you need me ok?”

He nodded once more, the corners of his lips curling into a smile as he watched you leave the room. The quiet music and the sound of your fading footsteps somehow made him forget about the incident. Or at least forget as much of it as he could.

He kept his attention on the TV, listening to the music play to get his mind off of everything else that had happened that night. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew that he couldn’t have you getting hurt because of him too.

He looked at the remote in his hands and fidgeted with the buttons for a moment, looking back up at the door as he heard you enter the upstairs hallway and close your bedroom door behind you.

“All locked up.” You said with a smile.

Eddie smiled back and took a deep breath as he set the remote onto the nightstand next to your bed.

“Want to keep the TV on?” You asked as another song started to play.

Drive by The Cars.

Eddie nodded and pulled the covers up over himself, settling into bed, yet keeping his eyes on you. He needed to make sure he had you in his sight, just in case. You reached out and turned off the light switch, the glow from the TV softly illuminating your room.

It was strange.

You’d dreamt of a moment like this before.

Eddie in bed with you, safe and comforted, though you never had imagined it would happen like this.

You slowly walked over to your side of the bed, lifting the covers and laying yourself next to Eddie as he sat with his back against the pillows resting on the headboard. He had been staring at nothing and yet he seemed like he had been seeing everything at once. Glazed over with both fear and exhaustion. All you wanted to do was help, Eddie knew that, but a situation like this was so hard to read.

“Hey,” You said softly up to him, his head turning to look down to you, “lay down. I want to talk to you for a second, ok?”

Eddie slowly moved his body downward, lifting the covers up as he adjusted himself next to you, trying so desperately to keep himself at a respectful distance. His face was close to yours, noses so close to touching, and you could feel the warmth of his body as it lay close. Even in times like this he still kept so warm.

“I’m scared too… I don’t know what it is that you saw, but i promise you that i’ll do everything i can to make sure you’re safe.”

“(y/n), you don’t have to do that-“

“I do.” You cut him off sternly, “Eddie, i love you. I care about you. The only other time you’ve ever come to my house freaked out was when Wayne caught you swapping out his vodka because you didn’t know alcohol froze.” Eddie smiled to himself as he remembered that night, knowing he fully deserved his punishment for doing something that stupid, “Whatever happened, i know you didn’t do it. I know you. Do you have anywhere else you can stay? Some place safer?”

Eddie thought to himself for a moment. He didn’t know. He had a million things racing through his head, before finally looking to you and nodding his head. You were unsure of his answer, but you didn’t want to keep prying.

“I don’t want to tell you what to do Eddie, but you really need to tell someone what happened.” You reached your hand up and gently held his cheek, and you could see that though he didn’t know what he needed, he needed you to be there with him, “I just want you to be ok…”

He could hear the cracking of your voice, knowing how hard you were trying to hold back your emotions, but it was terrifying. For him, for you, and for god knows who else this may have happened to.

Eddie reached up and grasped your hand in his, holding it tightly as he looked to your eyes,

“I promise i’ll be ok.”

You couldn’t tell if he meant it, but you nodded as you looked to him. He wanted to be ok, and you knew he could take care of himself, but when Eddie needed help you knew it was serious. You just hoped he’d be able to come out of this unharmed.

Eddie took a deep breath and moved his hand to the back of your head, raising his lips and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. His arms slowly wrapped around your body, pulling you in close, and as he moved himself closer to you it was clear he was starting to cry again. Softly. Quietly.

Your arms moved around him and held him tightly, one hand slowly moving through his hair as the other gently scratched over his shoulders to comfort him,

“Shh, it’s ok…” His quiet sobs and whimpers only made you hug him closer, “I’m right here with you, you’re safe, i promise…”

It would take a while before either of you would get any sleep, you figured as much when Eddie ran through your door and into your arms. He needed someone there and you were so happy to be the person he came to, wether you knew how to help him or not.

As you lay in each others arms, the slow song playing softly from the TV soon was able to lull you both to sleep.

Every now and then throughout the night, Eddie would wake up in a cold sweat, seeing the scene that had unfolded before his eyes earlier. He’d look around the room, see you sleeping so soundly in his arms, and he’d calm down.

He was safe where he was.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x yn #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson hurt/comfort #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic

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thestrangestthing89 · 11 months

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I think there are several problems with the theory that Mike and Will won't get together until the very end, but one of them is this idea that because it's the 80's they need to repress their feelings all season.

People acted on their feelings during this time. Not everyone was repressing being gay. There were plenty of gay people who were in relationships, they were just in secret. Or they were "roommates". Just because they are in a small, conservative town doesn't mean this didn't happen.

Not everyone represses their feelings. A lot of people snuck around and had hook ups even if they were married in heterosexual relationships. This idea that no one was acting on their feelings because they were scared during this time is a big generalization. Yes, people were scared. And yes, some people didn't act on it. But a lot of people did. They just did it in secret.

Besides this, from a storytelling point of view, we have already seen Mike and Will repress their feelings in S3. More Mike than Will. That was the whole point of that season. That Mike wasn't acting like himself. He was distancing himself from Will because he was scared. But by S4 we see him apologize for that, initiate most of their flirty moments, and openly check Will out (not to mention the way he's chosen to decorate). That boy isn't repressing shit anymore.

Will has never really repressed anything he's just tried to get over his feelings because he doesn't think he has a chance. But the second he realizes he does have a chance his attitude is going to change. Because he was all ready to be in a relationship with Mike in S3.

So I find it hard to believe that two people who are aware of their own feelings aren't going to act on them at some point, especially considering dragging that out would be frustrating from an audience standpoint. Not to mention how forward Mike has been about addressing his problems with Will this season. And I don't think that they are going to spend any time apart after they both acknowledged that they didn't like how distant they've become. For the record, I'm not suggesting it will only be the two of them all season. They will obviously interact with other people too and the show isn't just about this couple. But I don't think there will be distance between them. Because the one season where there was distance was the season Mike wasn't acting like himself and this issue was already addressed by Mike earlier in S4. He's not going to suddenly go back on this when he's had all this growth. The show isn't required to follow the formula that the main couple gets together at the very end. I know a lot of shows do this, but there is no indication they are following this particular trope and they have inverted a lot of other tropes. All of the endgame couples are pretty much together. Jopper had a lot of build up all series and is together now. Lumax is basically together. Jancy is the only couple I can see breaking up and then getting back together at the very end but this doesn't feel unsatisfying because we actually saw them as a couple.

So if the only couple that gets no screen time is the gay couple, there is a reason for this that has nothing to do with telling a realistic story for the time period. It's because they were afraid to show a gay couple. There is absolutely no reason not to show this relationship and from the story we have gotten so far, they will be.

#byler #anti mileven

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blacksailskmeme · 2 months

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Black Sails Kink Meme 2024 Round Up: March

Hello piratefam!

We've had an exceptionally prolific kickoff month for the event: over 100 prompts and twelve delicious fills already for March!! Wow!! :D :D Thank you all so very much for diving into the splash zone of raunchy smut with such enthusiasm!

I've decided to do a round up post for each month the kink meme is live, showcasing those fills submitted to the collection monthly. So here ya go, all the fics submitted in March gathered in one place for your convenience and enjoyment! 😌✨

In The Space Between, SilverFlintHam, 2470 words

(For Prompt #13. "Thomas and Flint spitroast Silver. Modern AU. Bonus points for Silver begging like a cheap whore and Thomas being the practical one after, while Flint just wants to cuddle in his papa-bear, protective mode.")

And I could close the curtain but this is too much fun, MadiSilverFlint, 1260 words

(For prompt #37 - Flint/Madi, Silver - voyeurism, jealousy. Silver catches them fucking)

shifting sands, Maxanor, 1812 words

(For Prompt 29: s3/4 or therebouts, Eleanor goes on her knees for Max and eats her out in That Fucking Chair)

Of Poets and Writers, SilverFlint, 8758 words

(For prompt #31. SilverFlint mod AU. Silver is a poet, shopping at a bookstore and overhears a book reading/author signing. He’s drawn in by THE VOICE and heads over to the event only to be instantly in lust with Flint, reading from his debut novel. He listens, then grabs a copy of Flint’s book and one of his own poetry collections off the shelf and purchases them, borrowing a pen from the bookseller. He hops in line for the signing and while he waits, he writes something extremely filthy on the dedication page of his collection, complete with his phone number. He exchanges books with Flint, who looks bemused, but doesn’t read the inscription immediately. He HAD, however, noticed the gorgeous man in the back of the small crowd with the pre-Raphaelite curls and Caribbean blue eyes. He signs Silver’s copy and thanks him for coming. Silver watches him for a few more minutes and then grabs a coffee before heading for the door. Before he reaches it, he gets a text from Flint, who’s finally opened the volume of poetry. They head to Flint’s hotel and he proceeds to just absolutely take Silver apart and then surprising Silver by bottoming. Rimming, topping from the bottom, dirty talk, just very vocal enjoyment from two men incredibly good with words.)

When I said I'll return to you, I meant more like a relapse, Maxanor, 3023 words

(For prompt #22: Maxanor, post break up, nasty hatefuck with your ex over That Fucking Chair. Bonus if s3 or s4, extra bonus if there's a strap and Max makes Eleanor beg for it bent over the desk, extra extra bonus if Eleanor cries)

Indulgence, SilverFlint, 2306 words

(Prompt #20: Silver, canon era, being completely HOT about Flint's belly (circa season 4) when they're alone. Hotness ensues (kissing, licking, sucking, slobbering, coming all over it, completely unhinged LUST). Bonus points if Filnt's a bit shy about it)

Pressure, SilverFlint, 4504 words

(prompt # 57: Silverflint, piss kink/omorashi - Flint REALLY needs to piss during a long ass meeting, Silver notices, stays behind after everyone else finally leaves and drags it out as long as he can by asking nonsensical questions. Eventually Flint is pushed to breaking point and Silver takes over 😈 bonus points for imagery of Flint standing white knuckled gripping the back of his chair, (unsuccessfully) trying to hide his discomfort from Silver 😌)

Relief, SilverFlint, 4708 words

Breaking The Girl (heart of stone, mind of gold, your tongue is made of sword), Flint/Eleanor, 10,723 words

(For PROMPT #61: Pre canon, a younger Eleanor has a crush on the New Captain on the Block (Flint) who appears as if by magic to fill the power vacuum left by Captain Teach after she and Vane oust him. Eleanor's relationship with Vane is on the rocks not too long after as she continues to nurse her secret illicit infatuation for Captain Flint, who she champions on the island to help him consolidate power. She flirts drunkenly with Flint, until one night she just throws herself at him. He's trying to be so gracious, the crush is very one-sided, but he tries to help her through it sweetly, but she's not having it. She wants it rough and dirty.

I wanna see Weird Dynamics, part mentor-mentee part father-daughter part daddy kink part huge crush on a professor vibes. I want Flint to keep trying to slow her down and be sweet and Eleanor fighting him the whole way. Toxic weirdness and big age difference, thank you very much!!)

New Horizons In The Dark, Flint/Maroon Queen, 4405 words

(For prompt #58: S3 or S4, Flint trying to jerk off in his appointed quarters on Maroon Island and the Queen walks in on him unannounced to summon him to a meeting, he is MORTIFIED, but then she stands there and orders him to continue as she watches

And she says he better do a good job so that he can actually pay attention to their strategy meeting

So basically the Queen orders him to come hard

And she'll scold him for being distracted and that he needs to take care of himself more often, and that if he has trouble or waits too long her door is always open 👀👀👀

Bonus if somewhere in here, maybe after, they talk about/bond over having both lost spouses and that it's a lonely life and there's no sense in being so lonely)

To Be Underestimated is an Incredible Gift, Miranda/Rackham, 4655 words

(For the prompt #78: Miranda Barlow/Jack Rackham, yep, that's the main pairing. pre-canon era, Miranda lives AU, who knows? your choice! you can bring Anne in, and/or Flint, if you want. bonus points for kinkiness.)

As a Boy, Admiral Hennessey/James McGraw, 5126 words

(For prompt #24: Pre-canon, midshipman James McGraw is caned/flogged as a disciplinary measure by his superiors and enjoys it. Bonus if he's A Lot Younger. Could be Admiral Hennessy, could be unnamed rando)

Thanks again to all our March contributors, y'all have truly knocked it out of the park!! Here's to more unapologetically smutty, kinky fills for April 🥳🥳

#2024bskmemefills #2024bskmeme #black sails #black sails event #announcements #long post #2024bskmemeroundups

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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underoossss · 2 years

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a necklace, a movie, and a summer picnic – s.h

pairing: steve harrington x f!reader

warnings: i don’t think there’s any tbh, just fluff and kissing. for all intends and purposes of this fic, everything that happens in s4 happens after this fic lmao so this is set before s4, so no spoilers, except kate bush and max having headaches.

an: ok here’s another fic i wipped out from my very feel-y heart. because we all need a cute carefree weekend with boyfriend steve, the best most loving boyfriend. i firmly believe that this boy falls hard, so have some summer softness.

masterlist

---

Family Video is quiet except for the two hushed voices speaking on the main counter. The two figures are close together, one of them dons the establishment’s uniform vest, the other does not. You sit on the counter with a box on your lap while you go through the various VHS tapes it contains. Steve on the other hand, stands next to you, his elbows resting on the counter as he fiddles with a necklace in his hands. You had arrived minutes ago and found Steve alone in the desolate store –except for Robin in the back and Keith “working” from his office. Being only the two of you, you had fallen into your usual closeness and easy conversation.

“So the guy just opens his backpack and takes out a bucket full of popcorn.” Steve says by your side, retelling what happened at Family Video one hour before you had popped by to visit. “He sits on the floor and starts watching the movie like it’s nothing.”

You chuckle, amused by the crazy things your boyfriend witnesses almost daily in his job. “I swear the funniest things happen in your job, Steve. At least you’re never bored.”

You lift your head from the returned movies you were perusing and glance to your left to look at your boyfriend. His brows are furrowed in concentration as he tries to untangle the gold chain in his hands.

You had left for work in a rush that morning after spilling coffee on yourself while eating a quick breakfast. You were left with no other choice than to run back upstairs to change. In the rush, you barely had any time to put your usual jewelry on –stud earrings and a thin gold chain with a moon pendant in the middle– and shoved everything in your pocket to put on at work. Only you realized it had been a huge mistake when you took the chain out, and found it all tangled up, a knot of chain in the middle. How did it get like that just from being in your pocket? Who knows. Only, you ran out of patience while trying to untangle it at work and put it in your pocket again. By the time your lunch break arrived, you skateboarded to visit Steve like you always did and decided to ask him to help you.

“I don’t know how it happened; it wasn’t in my pocket for that long.” You had said to him, resting your arms on the checkout counter. “See if you can untangle it, please? I couldn’t.”

“Sure, babe.” Steve shrugged. He still sported a big smile on his face, the same he always has when you visit him at work. He looked unfairly handsome like always, the dark blue polo under his Family Video vest doing wonders for his complexion. “I can take a crack at it. There are some returned movies in that box, I know you like to check ‘em out.”

“Thank you, baby.” You had smiled brightly, pecked his cheek, and hopped on the counter to check the movies out. Which brings you back to your current conversation.

“It only seems to happen during my shifts though.” Steve shakes his head with a chuckle, still focused on the chain. “And I’m always bored if you’re not here, babe.”

He glances over at you and winks which makes you shake your head at him –you still feel your face burn though, its natural reaction whenever Steve flirts with you.

“It’s okay if you can’t get it untangled.” You nod towards your necklace in his hands and continue looking through the returned VHS tapes.

“I think I’m making progress.” He holds up the chain for you to see; it’s about 10 percent less of a mess than it was before. “Have a little faith.”

You smile, “Alright.”

You speak up again, returning to your previous conversation. “Nothing fun ever happens in my job, I always get the boring shifts.”

“I like your boring shifts.” Steve says. He bumps his shoulder against your elbow as you continue to sit on the counter. “I can talk to you without annoying anyone behind me.”

“And you wonder why my boss doesn’t like you.” You shake your head in amusement, though you like it when he comes over to talk to you while you work. Even if you become fifty percent less productive because of it.

“I don’t understand why he does! I only held up the checkout line once.”

A carefree laugh bursts out of you, which makes Steve smile brightly. “I think you mean three times. The third one being last week.”

Steve joins you in your laughter until it turns into giggles. “That lady was ready to murder me.”

“She might have. I was the only available cashier when 7 people decided to checkout at the same time.” You brush some hair off his forehead, watching it fall back into place with fondness, then turn to the box. “You’re lucky you’re charming.”

“Honestly, it’s their fault for hiring such a beautiful cashier.” Steve’s voice holds a smile. “I’m just an innocent customer that fell in love.”

You’re about to say something back to him when you stumble across a particular VHS tape –one with a white background cover and Molly Ringwald wearing a pink dress in the middle. You gasp and hop off the counter. “Someone finally returned Sixteen Candles!”

Steve looks up from your necklace with a grin that grows into a smile as you clutch the movie to your chest. “I can finally watch it again!” You sigh happily, walking back to him and pausing when you see his knowing smile. “You already knew it was back.”

Your boyfriend shrugs, though his smile doesn’t disappear. “Hey, I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides you always like to browse through that box.”

“Well, it worked! Consider me surprised.” You laugh softly, then perk up once more. “I saw Nightmare on Elm Street in there, I’ll rent that one too.”

Steve shakes his head at the two opposing movies you’ve chosen –that he knows he’ll end up watching with you. He deserves all of Robin’s teasing if he’s being honest, he’s got it bad. “I’m obsessed with you.” Steve chuckles, shaking his head in wonder at you.

“That’s good.” You smile, deciding to flirt right back at him, all to see the way his face gets flustered no matter how hard he tries to hide it. “Because I love you. Now, can you help me checkout, handsome.” You place your forearms on the counter, leaning close to where he’s standing on the other side.

A triumphant smile takes over your face when you see Steve’s cheek flush, his eyes glance down to your lips before they drift away from you all together. Jackpot. Then Steve clears his throat and gains his composure back, much to your dismay. He takes Sixteen Candles from you a second later.

“How about… I rent both and bring them to you when I pick you up later.” He leans his elbows and suddenly his face is much closer to yours. Steve shakes his head when you start to protest. “And the chain.”

You stare into his cedar brown eyes, and they hold so much unrestrained adoration in them that you feel your insides melt. Your heart skips several beats. “You don’t have to get it untangled if you can’t, Stevie.”

“I almost got it, baby. I’ll bring it, and the movies, to you at five.” He seems to lean closer as he speaks, his lips a tantalizing temptation in front of you. He knows what he’s doing.

You nod your head, moving closer for a quick press of lips. “Alright.” You whisper to him, your mind almost forgetting what you are talking about.

Steve glances at the clock and sighs, breaking the spell. “I wish you could stay, beautiful, but I don’t want to give your boss yet another reason to hate me.” He holds your face gently in one of his hands before letting go and leaning back from the counter.

“Shoot! You’re right.” You jump when you look at the time. You have less than 5 minutes to get back to work. “Gotta go! Love you, bye!”

“Love you more!”

You turn on your heels as quick as you can and walk towards your skateboard, which you left by the door earlier.

“Bye Robin!” You yell, hoping she can hear you in the back, at the same time Steve calls out for you “Skateboard safety!”

“I always do.” You tell him, as the door closes behind you and you skateboard away.

–––––––

Steve pulls into the supermarket’s parking lot at 5:03, the two movies and the now untangled necklace are on the passenger seat next to him. The sun is almost ready to set, but still blazes orange light into town for just in time for the golden hour. Steve shuts down the engine and takes off his sunglasses before stepping out of the car. He walks towards the passenger’s side and leans against the door to wait for you.

One quick scan through the window and Steve sees you. You’re talking to a coworker, Casey who’s taking over your shift, and when you feel Steve’s eyes on you, you look out the window. You smile once you spot him, and Steve can’t help but smile back. You look so pretty today (everyday) in your jeans and a baby blue top that has flowers printed on it. You also put your hair up with a scrunchie today, to beat the heat, and Steve can’t stop himself from staring –can’t help wondering how he got so lucky. You hold your hand up and mouth 5 minutes. Steve nods, knowing you still have to close your till and count its money to give to your boss before leaving. So, Steve leans back and patiently waits for you, shoving his hands in his jacket’s pockets as the summer breeze picks up.

A few minutes later, he hears the store’s door open and your black high-tops scratching the pavement as you make your way towards him. It’s in moments like this that Steve feels like it’s impossible to feel more happiness than what he feels at present, but then you make him happier by the minute. His heart hammers in his chest, his stomach twists with giddiness, and his next breath stutters for one second. You’re smiling at him with so much love, like he hung the moon and painted the stars for you –which for the record, he would do if he could figure out how– and he feels it right to his bones. His own matching smile appears instantly.

Steve takes your skateboard with one hand and sets it carefully next to him as your arms go around his neck. He circles your waist with his arms as both your smiles come closer together, until his lips meet yours in a kiss. He smiles at the way you sigh against his lips, tightening his hold on you and stepping closer until there’s little space between you. Steve pulls away, brushes his nose against yours and kisses you again, gentle, and sweet.

“I missed you.” You tell him once you pull back from the kiss, hands playing with his hair. “Like I said before, I always get the boring shifts. Today was no exception.”

“I missed you more.” Steve says, meaning every word. He hadn’t been teasing earlier, he genuinely misses you when you’re away. He is so used to your presence near him that being away during both your jobs felt like withdrawal. It’s like the moment you leave, he wants to run after you and get you to stay a bit longer. Does that make him a lovesick mess? Most likely, but he couldn’t care less, not when your eyes soften at his words. “And… I got you this, beautiful.”

He lets go of you and leans into the passenger window. A second later he takes out a small bag with the two movies you had chosen earlier and your necklace. The smile that takes over your face makes him so happy he feels his skin buzzing.

“Steve, you did it.” You say as your eyes full of gratefulness move from the necklace to his own. “Thank you, baby.”

“You know I’d do anything for you.” He leans close to you again, kissing your cheek. “It was a piece of pie.”

Your arms circle his waist and you hug him for a few quiet moments, you heart beating like crazy with both love and gratefulness,

“Wanna come over?” You ask, stepping back and taking the bag with the VHS tapes. “I’ll make us dinner and we can watch one of these movies.”

And how can Steve say no to that? Especially when he’s been desperate to be with you all day; your lunch break visit feels like so long ago. “I’d love to, baby.” He brushes the back of his fingers on your cheek, kissing it when you close your eyes. “You sure your mom won’t mind? I know she doesn’t like spontaneous guests.”

You shake your head. “She’s out with dad in a who-knows-what meeting, it’s alright. I know we are spending tomorrow together with the kids, but–” You smile at him once more, and Steve knows you’re going to say the same thing he thought of moments ago. “I just really missed you.”

Steve’s heart jumps in his chest and he smiles back. “Me too.” He whispers. “Let’s go then.”

You smile brightly, then remember your necklace and look at him sheepishly. “Can you help me with that?”

“‘Course babe.” Steve opens the small clasp as you turn around and brings his hands over your head so the gold chain can circle your neck. Once it’s secure on you, he places a kiss on your shoulder –not helping himself– and pulls back.

He opens the passenger door for you to get inside and you do, placing the Family Video bag on the backseat. You make yourself comfortable in your seat as Steve puts your skateboard in the trunk and slides into the driver’s seat seconds later. The radio plays softly in the background when Steve starts the car, the tune of Everybody Wants to Rule the World reaching your ears and making you nod your head along to it. Steve glances at you and smiles; seconds later, he is backing out of his parking space and heading to your place.

“Steve,” You say over the sound of the wind that comes through the windows.

“Hmm?” His eyes drif to you for a second and then move back to the road.

“You didn’t finish your story, about the guy with the popcorn.”

Steve chuckles and places one of his hands on top of yours in the center console. “Well, the movie he started to watch was already halfway over, so when it ended he demanded for us to play another.”

You laugh. “Oh no.”

“And of course he wanted to watch a movie we didn’t have in-store.” Steve shakes his head, smiling at the way you’re giggling in your seat. “He ended up saying ‘the cinema is better anyways’ and left, offended by our lack of stock.”

“The cinema is better anyways.” You repeat laughing. “He should have gone there in the first place.”

“Robin told him that!” Steve says. “It’s good we didn’t have his movie, I don’t think he would have left.”

“Oh he would have, baby.” You tell him, looking at his profile, laughter still bubbling inside you. “He would run out of popcorn and go get some more.”

“Make us get him some more.” Steve laughs as he turns on his blinker and makes a turn into your street. “We just need to play bad movies from now on, that way no one stays for a marathon.”

“You’re doomed to bad movie land, then.” You say gravely, but still smiling at him.

“Then I guess I’ll have to visit you at the store more often, to brighten my day.”

Like you said, both your parents’ cars aren’t in the driveway when Steve parks in front of your house. He turns off the engine and crosses over to your side to open the door for you. “Go on ahead, babe, I’ll grab your skateboard.”

“Alright.” You smile, taking the movies from the backseat before sliding out of the car.

Steve is quick to retrieve the board from the trunk, lock his car and make his way to your front door. He leans your skateboard against the wall once he steps inside and locks the door behind him.

“I’m in the kitchen!” You call when you hear him come in.

He walks by the peach-colored walls of your living room, stopping to smile at your cute baby pictures hanging here and there. It’s not like he hasn’t seen them before –he has– but he loves to see your personality shine through each one of them. He wonders if you know how it has shined into him, helping him grow as he learns to see the world through your eyes. Tearing himself from the pictures, Steve wanders into the kitchen where you have turned on the radio. The Police is playing faintly as you move around, taking vegetables and a baking tray from the fridge.

“Remember the lasagna I brought you for lunch yesterday?” You ask him.

“I do, it was great.” Steve gravitates towards you, unable to stop himself. His arms go around your waist as you go on.

“I still have leftovers. ‘That okay for dinner?” You set your hands on his chest, looking up at him in question.

“Of course, baby.” Steve smiles, he’d be fine with breakfast cereal if that’s all that you’d offer to him. “I can help you.”

“I’m only heating up the lasagna and making a salad, Stevie.” You smile sweetly, closing your eyes when he leans down to steal a peck to your lips.

“I’ll help with that, then.” He murmurs against the corner of your mouth, grinning in triumph when you giggle and agree.

“If you insist.” You place a hand towel on his shoulder. “Just wash your hands first, I’ll turn on the oven.”

The two of you work together to make the salad while the lasagna reheats for a few minutes. Steve washes some lettuce and you chop it, the same process happening with the seasonal tomatoes and the cucumbers you pass to him. Steve is left in charge of seasoning the salad while you serve the lasagna and is pleasantly surprised when he does an okay job. It’s pure domestic contentment, the way you eat with casual conversation and wash the dishes afterward –all this with soft music playing in the background. It’s always like that with you; you love different genres, different melodies and make them a part of your daily life. Steve loves it, finding an enjoyment in music he didn’t have before he met you. Maybe he should make you a mixtape?

With everything tidy and clean, you drift to the living room –where you are now settled close to Steve’s as you watch Sixteen Candles. Your head rests gently on Steve’s shoulder while you enjoy the movie like it’s your first time watching it. Steve’s eyes drift to your face every now and then and his hand rubs your jean-clad calf. You’d thrown both legs over his thighs halfway through the movie, snuggling closer.

Each time he looks over at you, your eyes are glued to the screen in wonder, all the way to the ending scene.

Jake is sitting in front of Sam, a birthday cake with sixteen candles in front of them. “Happy birthday, Samantha.” He’s saying, “Make a wish.”

“It already came true.” You and the girl on the tv say at the same time. Steve smiles at you.

You sigh happily as the couple kisses on screen and the credits start to roll down. “Thanks for watching the movie with me, baby.” You angle your body sideways to face Steve.

“Babe.” Steve shakes his head, pausing the end titles. “You don’t have to thank me; I like watching these movies with you.” And watching you watch them. Though he doesn’t say it.

He brings a hand to your cheek, holding it gently before he leans down to kiss you. You grin against his lips, settling your hands on his neck as you kiss him back. It’s a slow caress of lips, yet full of the yearning the two of you had felt all day. This is what Steve waited for all day. You, close to him like you are now, head resting against the cushions as he leans down to kiss you again. Your hands are in his hair and Steve hums, kissing your top and bottom lip, letting his teeth catch one before soothing it with another kiss. Everything he doesn’t say with words he says it with a kiss. Every kiss he couldn’t give you today, he gives it to you now.

You’re breathless when you speak again, Steve’s lips having moved to your cheek and your jaw. “Stevie.” You say and Steve moves so that he can look into your eyes.

He smiles when you do, swooning in his mind at how beautiful you look –the corners of your eyes crinkling as you smile, your lips thoroughly kissed.

“Not that I want you to leave, but I really don’t want you to drive too late in the night.” Your hand goes to rest on his cheek, tracing his undereye with your thumb.

Steve looks down at his watch and runs his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I should probably get going.” He also doesn’t want to get you in trouble with your parents for having him here without telling them first. Besides, with all the crazy things happening in this town so often, he doesn’t blame you for being fearful for him. He’s like that with you too.

He ties his shoelaces and puts his jacket on while you turn the tv off, then walks over to the door with you. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eleven thirty, okay?”

“Okay.” You nod your head and wrap your arms around his waist. “I love you, Steve.”

He swears nothing will ever be better than hearing you say those four words. Steve leans down to kiss you again, lips lingering because he doesn’t want to step away just yet. “I love you too, babygirl.”

You kiss him once more. It makes Steve grin against your lips because he knows you love it when he calls you that. He has to use it sparingly, lest it lose its effect. “Drive safe, okay?” You tell him, taking a step back to let him leave.

“I always do.” He winks, before he makes his way to his car.

You stand by the door, leaning on the doorway and watching him leave until his car turns right to the main road. Suddenly tomorrow feels like an eternity away.

–––––

You’re up early the next morning, choosing to shower and get ready before preparing everything for the picnic at lunch time. Last week the kids had claimed they found a hidden spot in Hawkins, away from the main town, where they can spend the summer. It’s supposed to be a paradise, so much so that it has a small creek running through it. You’d proposed a picnic day to check it out and everyone had agreed –even Max said she’d go when you called to invite her. Everyone was supposed to bring something, and you had decided to bring sandwiches and snacks.

You get dressed in a pair of pink linen shorts and a white button-up tied at your waist, a sky blue bathing suit underneath your clothes. With your converse on your feet and hair up in a claw clip, you grab your backpack and head downstairs. Only half you parents are home, that half being your father in the living room reading the newspaper of the day. You greet him good morning before moving to the kitchen, your body buzzing with energy for the day ahead.

As always, the radio is on –you made sure to put new batteries in last night so it can play all day during the picnic. You know Robin and Max will bring their own cassettes to play and nothing would be worse than running out of batteries while a good song is playing. You go around the kitchen to make simple toast, eggs, and coffee for breakfast before you sit on the counter to eat. I Ran is playing while you do, and you tap your foot against one of the cabinets, eating in content. The radio stays on after the song is over, though the next couple of songs aren’t that good but it fills up the silence in the house as you set to make the sandwiches.

They will be ham and cheese sandwiches, as well as ham and cheese with lettuce an tomato ones in case someone doesn’t feel like eating veggies today. You mix mustard and mayo with some lime juice to spread on the bread and then start to assemble sandwiches. Once that’s done, you pack them up in Tupperware and decide to chop some fruit to bring along. Seasonal berries, watermelon, and navel oranges, all perfectly sweet and refreshing for the sunny day outside. By the time you’re done and go back upstairs to grab the sunglasses you had forgotten, it’s already half till noon and Steve is ringing your doorbell.

You run back downstairs and pull the door open to find your boyfriend standing there in all his handsome glory. He sports a white t-shirt tucked into light washed jeans, a brown belt and his sneakers. A simple look but it makes him look like a movie star –you can’t look away. He has his sunglasses perched on his head, hair perfect as he gives you a beaming smile.

“‘Morning, gorgeous. Nice necklace.” Steve says, his eyes giving you a once over before he steps closer. You skin tingles at the proximity. “I brought the picnic basket you wanted.”

“Hey, baby.” You smile, then throw your arms around his neck to meet him halfway for a kiss. You’re both smiling when you pull back. “Thank you, I just need to pack the food and we’re ready to go.”

“Alright.” Steve says, letting you go and picking up the basket. “Let me help.”

You nod and he follows you inside, greeting your father as he goes, all charm and smiles. Once you’re in the kitchen Steve starts to fill up the basket with the fruit and sandwich Tupperware as well as some bags of potato chips. Double checking that you both have everything, you grab your backpack and radio then turn to Steve. He’s giving you a knowing smile as he glances from the radio to you. You shrug.

“Ready, babe?” He asks, taking the basket with one hand and offering you the other.

“Ready.”

You leave the house hand in hand after saying your goodbyes and being reminded of your curfew. Steve puts the basket in the trunk of the car where he’s also placed a cooler full of water bottles and sodas. Everyone will be waiting at Dustin’s place, so you make yourself comfortable as Steve pulls out of the driveway and sets into that direction.

The next half hour is full of yelling (Dustin and Steve), putting another cooler in the trunk (contents: unknown), telling everyone to use the bathroom before you leave, and cramming 5 people into the backseat of Steve’s car. But before long, Steve parks besides a dirt road and everyone is following Dustin and Lucas into a small forest. You’re only starting to wonder if they’re gonna kill you all out in the woods, when you step through some bushes and come face to face with a beautiful small meadow. There is a shallow creek running through it, colourful spring flowers sprouting from tall green grass, and there’s enough shade from the nearby trees to avoid being in the sun all day.

“You guys weren’t joking.” You say amazed. “This place is beautiful.”

There are murmurs of agreement all around before everyone walks into the flower-covered field and towards a big patch of shade from a tree. Max and Lucas lay out the blankets while you open the Tupperwares full of sandwiches and fruit, and the bags of chips to snack on. Steve hands over sodas and water bottles to everyone while Robin sets up the music. She won rock, paper, scissors in the car, so she gets to choose the first cassette you’ll play. Soon enough, Bowie’s smooth voice starts playing from the radio and everyone digs into the food.

Sometime later, with most of the food gone, Lucas takes out a card game that Max somewhat reluctantly accepts to play. Robin is intrigued but doesn’t join the game, choosing to watch instead as Lucas shows Max how the game works. Meanwhile, Steve leans against a tree and you sit between his legs, leaning back on him. His hands are joined over your stomach as he holds you to him, placing kisses on your shoulder every now and then. Steve looks out for everyone with a watchful eye, filling your eye with immense fondness for him. There’s laughter every time some petty argument starts from the group playing cards, or whenever Steve yells language! at Dustin who spits out more curse words any teenager should be allowed to.

Eventually Dustin picks up a frisbee he’d stashed in his backpack, and reminds Steve that he’d promised to play with them. You move so Steve can stand up, feigning reluctance but you know it’s all an act. He’s fond of all the gang, especially Dustin. All the boys walk to the open field, putting distance between them as Steve shows them how to play. They struggle to catch the frisbee for a while but eventually start to improve.

With the loud part of the group far away, Robin is quick to lie down on a blanket to take a nap. You go to sit by Max, who’s putting a new cassette into your radio.

Robin calls your name a few seconds later though. “Throw your boyfriend out there a bone, would ya? He’s been looking at you like a lost puppy since he left your side.”

You laugh with her as you look at Steve, finding him already staring at you. You decide to send a wink his way; it’s enough to get him flustered as he runs a hand through his hair.

“Told you, a lost puppy.” Robin whispers and you laugh again. She probably knows you’re just as gone for him.

“What are we listening to next?” You turn to Max, letting Robin nap.

“Kate Bush.” Max says, pressing the play button. The first melody of a song starts to play and Max nods her head along to Kate’s voice.

“I like Kate Bush.” You smile, then lean closer and whisper conspiratorially. “So does Steve, but don’t tell him I told you that.”

The redhead chuckles, looking at you briefly then down at the grass. “Ok, I won’t.”

Fresh summer breeze rustles the tree leaves above you, soothing the day’s heat. You lean your head back, taking it all in. The rustling leaves, Kate Bush singing, and the boys’ voices that the wind carries back to you. Max’s gaze moves over to the boys who are playing nearby.

“I haven’t seen you hang out with the gang lately.” You tell her, keeping your voice soft hoping she won’t shut you out. “Did something happen?”

“No.” Shes quick to reassure you, shaking her head, though you hear the uncertainty in her voice when she speaks again. She looks off to the treeline on the other side of the creek. “I just haven’t been feeling well lately.”

You hum in acknowledgment. “Is it your headaches?”

“Yeah.” Her voice sounds far off, like her mind is someplace else. “But…”

She hesitates but you don’t press her. Instead, you tune into the music playing from the radio speakers, your fingers tap your knees to the same beat. The boys keep playing in the distance, all of them sweaty and with grass sticking out of their hair. They’ve gotten better at catching the frisbee now but it’s been abandoned in favour of wrestling.

“After what happened to Billy and watching El lose her dad…” Max eventually continues, voice so low you almost don’t catch it. “I figured it would be best if I kept my distance, from everyone.”

“Max.” Her name leaves your lips lowly. Fear grips your heart for the teenager next to you, and the loneliness that will take a hold of her if she cuts herself off from the group. “Can I ask, why?”

“It’s for the best. That way it won’t hurt if I lose somebody else, you know?” Max swallows hard, her hands leave the grass and start to fidget in her lap.

A sigh escapes you. What she says it’s true from a certain point of view, but it’s not the healthiest way to deal with loss. Sometimes, you must feel the pain and learn to move past it instead of avoiding it all together.

“If I knew there was a possibility, I would lose someone I love,” You start, eyes finding Steve for a moment. “I don’t think I’d distance myself from them. I’d cherish every moment I have with them, that way if something happens, at least I’ll know I loved them as best I could.” Steve feels you looking at him, and you smile softly when he waves.

“I guess you have a point.” Max nods, blue eyes finally looking up to yours. “Thank you.” She says, and from the look in her eyes you can tell she needed to talk to someone. Even if one conversation doesn’t fix everything.

“You can talk to me anytime.” You tell her and nod to the radio, deciding to change the topic. “What’s the name of that song? I love it.”

“Oh, it’s Hounds of–”

She doesn’t get to finish the sentence because you’re both attacked with water balloons. Max’s shock lasts a second before she finds her attacker, stands up with revenge in her eyes, and starts to chase Lucas.

You turn to Dustin, who holds two balloons in his hands. “Where did you even–”

“They were in the other cooler.” He says smugly but is immediately soaked by a balloon Mike throws his way.

They even wake up Robin with all the racket –she soon decides to start a war on the kids. She gathers as many balloons as possible in her arms and throws them around, slightly off aim. Another balloon hits you straight on the back and you turn around to find your boyfriend standing in the distance, a daring expression on his face.

“Oh, it’s on, Harrington.” You stand up, taking three balloons from the cooler with you and chasing him across the field. Laughter erupts from within you, and it follows Steve’s own as you manage to land 2 balloons on him, one of them in his hair. Your boyfriend stops running and turns around to chase you, which makes you scream and laugh while trying to get away from him.

“Come on baby, let me give you a hug!” He laughs, sounding closer by the second until he catches you. A moment later you feel water soaking your hair as Steve pops both balloons on top of your hair.

You laugh with him until you’re breathless in his arms, staring into brown eyes that shine brightly with happiness. Your mind goes back to your conversation with Max, and you become surer that you could never give this up to avoid the pain of losing it; should that happen. The sheer amount of joy you feel just by being with Steve, and receiving all the love he has to give, will always be worth it. “God, I love you, Steve.” You say, smiling so big it hurts your face.

“Not as much as I do.” Steve tells you with a smile just as big, his eyes gazing into yours until he finds something there. “‘You okay, baby?”

His hands hold you tighter even though you nod to reassure him. Leave it to him to read you in a second. “I’m just treasuring all of this, you, us –in case something happens, and it all goes to hell.”

“Babe-” Steve starts to say but you shake your head, still smiling.

“Don’t tell me nothing will happen.” You chuckle. “We live in Hawkins, Stevie, a black hole could appear tomorrow.”

Steve chuckles, moving his hands to cradle your face. You close your eyes at the kiss he places on your nose. “I wasn’t going to say that.” He murmurs. “I was going to say, that if things indeed go to hell, you’ve got me. I always tell you I’d do anything for you, and I mean it. I’ll always protect you; you know that right? We’ll be alright.”

You nod, feeling some tears gather in the corners of your eyes –tears of happiness, relief, some fear, hope. Tears, overall, of love. “I’ll protect you too, you know.” You tell him with a soft smile.

The smile he gives you in return could rival the sun shining above you. “Then we’ll be more than alright.” He leans downs and brushes his lips against yours, “I love you, babygirl.”

You close the distance between you and bring your lips together for a loving kiss, butterflies fluttering in your stomach. It feels like a reassurance and a promise, the way you pull each other closer for one amorous kiss after another. That is, until you’re surrounded by the whole gang, who ambush you with a storm of water balloons.

“Get them!” Dustin yells, and you can’t even be mad, neither can Steve.

You only laugh as you try to run away from them, Steve’s hand in yours, everyone’s laughter mixing together under the summer sun. Maybe Steve’s right. Maybe you’ll be alright.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic

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katyawriteswhump · 2 months

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the power of love, part 13 (steddie, stobin, steve whump fic)

Alternate ending S4: Steve has a habit of surviving near death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 14

(also on AO3 here and as part of my steve whump fic series)

Steve POV

When Steve’s finished slumping forward and retching, he’s so through with everything.

“You did good with the lightning, kid.” Hopper scrapes Steve’s hair from his face. He’s still got an arm about him, pretty much all that’s stopping Steve collapsing onto the dirt. “Let’s hope we don’t need it again, huh?”

Steve sniffs, takes the kleenex Hopper offers and dabs his lips. As his super-fast breaths finally slow, his brain kicks off:

I got superpowers! Henderson’s gonna flip! Shame about the glitches, what with the blacking out and puking my guts out. The sound of a rushing river distracts him. He’s been hearing it, on and off, for hours.

He kneels a little more upright. Hopper gives him some space, passes him some water. “How far exactly have you travelled from Hawkins since the accident at Lover’s Lake?”

The accident? Oh yeah. I died. Twice.

Steve hasn’t told anyone about his second joyride into the afterlife in the Soviet base. Somehow, being an idiot as a kid is way easier to share. A damp breeze rattles through the trees, slapping him back to the present.

“Steve?” prompts Hopper.

“I… uh, I played basketball all over the state.” Even after drinking, his voice is a croaky mess. “Swim meets, too. Been a few times to Indianapolis. I was okay.”

Hopper scratches his stubbly jaw, looking almost as bushed as Steve feels. “How okay?”

“To be honest, I was kicked off the starting squad after a couple of the more distant games. Crappy performances, and I got humiliatingly sick on the bus.” It all makes sense now. “I survived.”

“Fine. You’re a tough guy. You’re gonna have to tough your way through this journey. I can’t leave you behind.”

“Eleven survived in the woods for—”

“At that stage, she didn’t have half the US army on her back.” He pats Steve, powerful enough to rock him. “She’d gotten experience with her powers, too.”

Steve can’t fathom if he’s feeling slightly patronised or dead relieved. All he really wants is to lie somewhere quiet and sleep for a year. Instead, he must drag himself to his feet—or, in the event, he lets Hopper do the dragging. He can’t help asking, though:

“Chief, can you hear running water? Like, loud.”

And getting louder. Niagara loud, in fact.

“No. Why? Can you?”

“Oh… um, maybe not.”

Okay. It’s totally in my head. Why aren’t I panicking harder?

When they reach the Humvee, Robin and Eddie are no longer at each other’s throats. On the contrary, they’re huddled in some deep and meaningful chat. As one, they slam Steve with stricken bunny-rabbit stares, which make him want to laugh so goddamn loud.

During the torturous drive, he sleeps, and his mind drifts back to the Soviet base. He’s caught in that furious red tide, which roars through his aching head. It’s echoed by a caressing whisper: You’ll know when it’s time to go home.

“Yeah, I got it. Shut the fuck up.”

“Rude! Wasn’t saying anything.”

“Huh?” He lifts his cheek from Robin’s shoulder. Her worried, tear-stained eyes overshadow the amusement ruffling her lips. Jesus, I’m breaking my friends! “Dreaming. Sorry.”

He gingerly rolls his shoulders. The side in the sling twinges miserably, and yet… Now he knows he’s gotta ditch the whole bunch of them, the fug of sickness is clearing. He feels better. Much better, in fact.

He keeps the news tight.

If he plays poorly, they won’t expect him to sneak away, right? Though, the plan pitches him another problem—when he does escape, how can he stop Robin and Eddie coming after him? Eddie, particularly, would be in beyond deep shit if he got taken.

Inevitably, the Humvee gets stuck again. When Hopper asks Steve to take the wheel, Steve grabs up a green army notebook he’d spotted in the footwell, a stubby pencil also. He scribbles fast, between revving the engine.

“Eddie, I love you. Please don’t follow me. Steve x”

I love you.

Wtf?

When he’d blundered down that path with Nance, he’d been licking the scars two-and-a-half years’ later. With Robin, of course, things turned out different.

Then Eddie Munson happened.

To be fair, knowing Eddie as he did now, he doesn’t actually believe Eddie would vomit on the note. Maybe only cackle a while. Either way, Steve would no way in hell obey a love letter, telling him not to follow, from anybody he cared about.

Given recent form, he doesn’t think Eddie would either.

He scrunches the note into his pocket then scribbles furiously at ‘take two’:

“Eddie, DON’T FOLLOW ME. You make me sick. Steve.”

Jesus, that’s hopeless. You make me sick? He doesn’t mean that, apart from… It’s sorta true. Steve detests it, however, longs to try again. He’s out of time.

He stuffs the second note into Eddie’s pack, as Hopper opens the door. “We’re gonna have to walk from here. Think you can make it?”

“Dunno,” says Steve. For purely tactical reasons. Likewise, he doesn’t volunteer to carry many supplies.

As they trudge their way through the trees, his chances to run aren’t happening. Everybody’s way quieter than usual—edgy, like during that drive in the RV before they faced down Vecna. When he tries subtly falling behind, they all jump to help him. Even worse, they reach the liaison spot way sooner than he expects. Thankfully, for Steve, the car isn’t there.

“Where the hell are they?” Hopper gets out a compass to check they’re in the right spot.

“Because compasses are so accurate near Hawkins,” gripes Steve, his pulse thudding madly. It really is now or never, and why the hell hasn’t he got a better plan?

“We’re far enough out that the gates shouldn’t make a difference, right?” Eddie says.

How do we know? How do we know that Vecna hasn’t swallowed Hawkins whole, while we’re running away pissing ourselves yellow?

Steve bites this back. It’s not like he wants them coming with him. He sits down on the verge, presses his face to his bent knees. Soon as he dares, he gets up again.

“Where you going?” asks Robin, clambering up also.

“I need to pee,” says Steve. Eddie’s on his feet too. Steve can’t look him in the eye, and the words nearly choke him. “I don’t need a babysitter. Shoo!”

He walks back into the forest, upping his pace as soon as the trees obscure him. It’s gonna be a long trek, he’s hardly got any supplies, and he’s got a weird sense that, no, he isn’t gonna get through this time. He follows the sound of the water, because it seems obvious that he should.

And he feels more torn apart than ever.

The tug back to Hawkins is overwhelming, but the tug back toward Robin and Eddie? It’s like somebody has wound a thread around his heart, attached it to the pair of them. As he strides farther away, the thread snares tight, like that rope around his wrist did.

He’s annoyed—if not exactly surprised—to hear somebody thrashing through the forest behind him. Robin yells, “Steve! Steeeeeve!”

He finally locates a small stream, which seems to be the source of the supernaturally loud torrent. He skids down the bank, landing in about three inches of water, and crouches low.

Go by, Robin. Dammit, turn back.

She tumbles into the stream a yard off, landing on her ass with a loud splash and a louder squeak.

“Uuuuugh!” She takes the hand he offers, and they scramble to their feet together. “Steve, what the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

She flicks pond scum from her legs and grimaces spectacularly. “Stopping you being an IDIOT! And since when were you not sick? God, I was so worried! Were you faking?”

“You know I wasn’t. I got… fixed.”

“Fixed? Like, HOW?”

He urgently presses a finger to his lips. “Sssssh! Keep your voice down! Look, I don’t know exactly, and I can’t go back. Hopper will make me get in that car.”

“He can’t force you.” Her glare is louder than her voice was.

“Whatever. He and El need to go. You and Eddie need to go.”

“You heard what Hopper said. They’ll torture you for information—they could kill you.”

“Been there, done that, Robin.”

“This isn't funny.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Steve sighs hard, belatedly noticing the stream has breached his sneakers. “All I do know is that I feel more myself already, turning around.” Following the water. “Also, Hop’s right—El can’t defeat Vecna with the military gunning for her. I don’t know exactly what I can do yet, but I have to try, whatever it is. So, please, Robin. Go back. Tell the others you couldn’t find me.”

“Eddie won’t leave without—”

“Which is why I gotta move! Take care, all right?”

He wants to hug her so bad. Instead, he sloshes away.

“Ugh, slow down!”

“Seriously?” He turns about suddenly. She nearly smashes into him and takes the opportunity to get right in his face.

“I am so mad with you! You made me run after you, my butt is drenched, and now you’re making me walk along a horrible ditch, all the way back to Hawkins?”

“It’s the quickest route.” He doesn’t know how he knows, only that he does. He turns around, wades onwards. The damp never bothered me anyway…

“Then why don’t we follow the bank, Steve?”

She has a point. “Oh. Okay.” They clamber up the sides, start following the stream from above. It’s as slippery as the riverbed and overgrown with treacherously tangly weeds.

“Eeeeeew! When this is over,” says Robin, “I am never, ever venturing into the totally-not-great outdoors again.”

“You don’t have to do any of this, Robin.”

Her latest scowl is more jokey—and fond—than he figures he deserves. “Shut up, Dingus. You know I do.”

Part 14

tags: @estrellami-1 @kal-ology @finntheehumaneater (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far :)

(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 14

#steddie fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington #steddie fic #steve x eddie #steve harrington whump #steddie #steddie fanfic #stranger things fanfic #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson #stobin fanfic #platonic stobin #stobin

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jaynovz · 1 year

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Silverflint BDSM and Kink Fic Rec List

Guess who is finally compiling this? Eyooo!

If you’ve been around for longer than thirty seconds you know that character study through hardcore smut is my favorite thing on planet earth.

Powerplay and kink exploration aren’t only to titillate us, for me they are fundamentally about vulnerability and trust. Tools I can use to peel away the facades of the characters, to put them in intense situations in order to reveal their tender juicy insides, pushing them through arcs they may not otherwise have been able to experience.

Uh, but yeah also they’re about factory reset via prostate orgasm.

I’ve devoured every single example I could get my hands on and written a fair amount of it myself. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are my must-read Silverflint stories exploring BDSM or kink.

Enjoy~ 👀👀

Let me see you in your darkness by ember_firedrake:

Summary: "I have an exceptionally low tolerance for pain. I'd say anything to make it stop."

An alternate take on 1x03 where Flint decides to punish Silver for stealing the schedule, and both of them are unprepared for their reactions.

Notes: A s1-s2 series where SilverFlint fall into some BDSM and then catch feelings. This is one of my fave BDSM series of all time, I def took inspiration from it for a lot of my stuff. Includes: impact play, knifeplay, blindfolds, restraints, wax play. They get very intensely emotional which Jay laps up with a GIANT SPOON. Note that the ending of the series is bittersweet. Best entry is my heart is under arrest again if you’re pressed for time.

Any Port in a Storm by Farasha:

Summary: Fairlead: A ring or hook that keeps a line running true, preventing it from rubbing or fouling."

I don't want to be a pirate, I'm not interested in the life, I'm not interested in the fighting, I'm not interested in the ships. Don't care much for the sea while we are on the subject." - John Silver

Notes: This series is my second favorite with BDSM. It has less in it than let me see you in your darkness but it starts right off with rough sex and powerplay so the dynamic is similar. It follows through s2, the boys fall into a sexual relationship that contains BDSM elements and they, well, catch feelings lol. Plentyyyyy of vulnerable stuff. This one has a happy ending. The best entry is Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter if you are pressed for time.

A Ship is a Republic by robotboy:

Summary: Flint and Silver train every day on the cliffs, and Silver starts to realise he likes being told what to do.

Notes: I think of this as both the quintessential cliffs era as well as the quintessential Silverflint spanking fic. This author’s treatment of the pirate boys’ dynamic was a MAJOR INSPIRATON when I started writing my own fic, thank you for your service.

What It Feels Like Not to Hurt by robotboy:

Summary: So. This is a 9k slow burn watersports fic. That's a thing that now exists in this fandom. But it's mostly about Silver recovering in the warship cabin and working out how much of his humanity is tied to humiliation. To echo my esteemed colleague purplecelery: 'I'm gonna gently suggest that anyone who's not usually into this take a gander anyway because you might be surprised.'

Notes: This is Thee Gold Standard (heh lol) for watersports, absolute mastercraft character study through kink. Set during the s2-s3 break, warship recovering times directly after Silver’s amputation.

find you and hold you down by vowelinthug:

Summary: Sorry, Silver, Flint doesn't have time for any of your bullshit. He's all tied up right now.

Notes: Flint gets captured in a nebulous early s3 during the raids and Silver finds him chained up. Bondage and breathplay oh my~~

I’m Honest With Nobody Else by samedifference61:

Summary: “Give me your hands,” Flint says, voice soft but commanding, a captain’s call to action. And Silver is visibly thrown at that. The look of surprise colors something crackling and bright in the blue of his eyes.

Notes: Set in the s3-s4 break on Maroon Island, jealous Dom!Flint, bondage, semi-public sex, comeplay. Om nom nom.

I’ll Carry You Home Tonight by x_etoile_x:

Summary: “What are you doing?” Flint asked in a sharp undertone as soon as they were alone.

In lieu of an answer, Silver slid his hand further up Flint’s thigh, watching carefully to gauge his reaction; he recognized the subtle signs of the effect he was having. This was dangerous, but he wasn’t wrong: Flint’s breath quickened, the rise and fall of his chest becoming visible; he was perfectly still but brimming with tension, muscles quivering, like a highly strung horse about to bolt.

“What does it look like?”

Notes: Pirate date night, set in nebulous s3-s4 break. The boys go have a nice night out in Port Royal and get up to some absolutely kinky shenanigans. Impact play, orgasm denial, and D/s dynamics but also soft shit and Feelings.

Also there’s a podfic. That’s how much I liked it, I recorded it lmao.

Another Way by x_etoile_x:

Summary: Silver doesn’t get the chance to turn back and attack the Spanish soldiers when he and Flint are captured on the warship, so he needs to come up with a different plan. Things get out of control. A retelling of their time on the warship at the beginning of S2, in the aftermath of this.

Notes: Nicknamed Dubcon, Silver does some sexual performativity to save both their lives aka facefucks Flint in front of the Spanish soldier. Then role reversal at the end with Dom!Flint tying and gagging the boy and riding him into the sunset. Delicious powerplay, delicious character study and shifting dynamics.

Hey look, another podfic! Yeah I like this one a normal amount too.

The Soft Animal of Your Body by x_etoile_x:

Summary: Silver has a problem. Flint has an interest, as it turns out, and tells a story.

Notes: Part two of what I consider the Silverflint watersports trilogy. It’s also desperately sweet.

A Vulgar, Holy Thing by Lupismaris:

Summary: A quiet night in harbor leaves Silver brooding and pensive. So much had changed since he found himself with the damned page, he’d hardly be recognizable to the boy he was then. He’d relearned his body, relearned his place in the world, after Charleston, but now, despite his best efforts, Flint was causing him to relearn it all over again.

Notes: A non explicit entry on this list! The powerplay here is done in a sort of indescribably tender way that makes me ache, it’s gorgeous, the pacing is perfect. One of my all time favorites, and uh, “pup” as a nickname for Silver is GOOD, my stance on this is well-documented.

As Good As Gone by spinninginfinityboy:

Summary: “If I have learned anything these past few days, it is the importance of understanding one another.”

There’s a heaviness to the words which speaks of some deeper meaning, but if there is one, Flint cannot parse it. It has been a long time since he cared to try. If there is a world in which he does not have to spend his every waking moment second guessing John Silver, that is the world upon which he has set his sights. The alternative seems only exhausting.

One way or another, Flint and Silver learn how to communicate.

Notes: Set in nebulous late s2, during the journey to Charles Town. The best hatefuck I’ve ever had the privilege of reading, Flint gagging Silver with a gold coin, lives in my brain rent free wtf.

while the world burns by princesskay:

Summary: Flint kisses Silver in the longboat after the shark hunt. When they reach the Maroon island's shores, Silver tries to navigate whether it was a moment of reckless passion or genuine desire and is surprised by the truth.

Notes: Contains the softest most loving spitting in someone’s mouth I’ve ever read in my life. Also there is a sequel with watersports and omorashi which is the softest most loving pissing fic I’ve ever read in my life.

after the winnowing by princesskay:

Summary: After Charles Town, Silver convalesces at the governor's mansion in Nassau while Flint chooses what happens to the gold - and their futures. Flint tries to take care of him, but are the kind gestures what they seem?

Notes: Featuring silk pajamas, overstimulation, comeplay, intense D/s with somewhat newly amputated Silver, in the break between s2 and s3.

the sack saga by princesskay:

Summary: sub!Flint is plundered, pillaged, and destroyed; Silver reaps the spoils.

alternatively, a treatise on cock & ball torture

OR the most insane character study via bdsm I have ever had the privilege of inflicting on the world

Notes: A seven part series. An exploration of kink, especially cock and ball torture, within the bounds of canon, beginning in 3.1 and following the show events all the way through til the very end.

In my humble opinion, this is the crown jewel of all Silverflint BDSM fic, there is simply nothing else like it. An EXTREMELY thorough and nuanced character exploration through kink that will tear your heart out in the best way possible. For my part, it rivals the actual ending of the show for devastation and having me sob in a puddle. Uh, also, it is the most sun-scorching intense smut I’ve ever read in my life. NOBODY does sub!Flint like Kay. I simply cannot recommend this highly enough.

I have so many feelings about it that the only way I've been able to fully express them is to do audio adaptations lmao.

Cornered by Thiebes:

Summary: It was only a dream.

Notes: Starts with accidental somnophilia which is a favorite trope that I don’t see very often! Also, honorable mention that this author has also written some pirate hazing chair sex with Silverflint side pairing that ahem you should check out.

Join your hands to your hearts by jauneclair:

Summary: Madi's approach to diplomacy in negotiating relationships is not what Flint expected.

Notes: MadiSilverFlint during the s3-s4 break. Domme!Madi does impact play with both boys to everyone’s benefit. This is my FAVORITE dynamic for this triad, expertly handled.

don’t let me in with no intention to keep me by brinnanza, jaynovz

Summary: Silver sees red and the words are out of his mouth before he can stop them: “I’m not your fucking dog, and I don’t come when you call.”

There is a beat of silence. Flint’s moustache twitches. The air all evaporates out of the room, consumed by the flash of fire in Flint’s eyes, and Silver can’t breathe, suddenly lightheaded.

Notes: Woof woof, bitch. Here it is, the puppy Silver fic that started an Awakening. Set in early s2, this story explores petplay with sub!Silver and soft Dom!Flint. Including muzzling, cockstepping, drooling, praise kink, face licking, and indulgent inspection of the prize poodle. We continue to blame Luke Arnold and the Fetch Phillips Archives for this (affectionate).

Also exists as a Jay podfic!

for that devious dance between you and me by jaynovz:

Summary: What madness is this that has possessed him, to be taken by such thoughts after so long? He’d thought himself past such consuming desires, and how can it be this lying, scheming thief who brings them to the surface again? But Flint, still deep in shadow, has moved closer to the couch where Silver is laid out before him like an offering, a divine temptation to which it would be so easy to succumb. Surely this is another of Silver’s manipulations: he makes a display of himself, and he must know the reactions he draws, what he looks like, it's frankly obscene.

The whirlpool of depravity has caused Flint’s breathing to grow heavier in the quiet, his mouth gone dry and fingers twitching with the urge to do something. Suddenly, he realizes Silver is watching him in return.

Notes: Set in s1 after Flint returns from the Andromache chase. Featuring Silver shackled and at Flint’s mercy, or is he? Highlights are the hairpulling, choking, little bit of blood and comeplay, and the push and pull of complex D/s dynamics.

did the twin flame bruise paint you blue by jaynovz:

Summary: A few people milling about in the center dance floor migrate towards the bar, and suddenly through the crowd Silver spots him. The person he’s both hoped and feared to see the entire evening.

James Flint stands not fifty feet away from Silver, chatting with Eleanor, his mouth quirked in a half smile as she says something amusing. There’s no fanfare or drama or some grand entrance like Silver has been conjuring in his mind over and over again… No, Flint is suddenly just here, winked back into existence, careening into Silver’s life. Silver has not seen him in a year, (barring the weak moments obsessively checking Flint’s rarely updated social media), and now Flint is right across the room.

Notes: My novel of a modern au, nicknamed Break Up AU, more an exploration of the most fucked up toxic ways to do kink and powerplay lmao. Bad BDSM Etiquette serves as a plot point, as does cuckholding kink and exhibitionism. There is a veritable buffet of different types of sexual encounters, definitely the most powerplay and varied kink exploration I have done by density, and also the most sophisticated/complicated. It features my favorite Flavor of desperate sub!Silver and possessive Dom!Flint heavily, though some role reversal surprises await you as well.

Saps by yeaka:

Summary: There’re no fluids aboard save what John produces.

Notes: Trans!Silver providing for the crew via sex fluids during the doldrums while Flint supervises. The voyeurism and somewhat by proxy of it all, the edging, the cannibal vibes...? This ficlet rewrote my brain chemistry.

The Oak & the Reeds by Little_White_Lie:

Summary: They didn't do it, but they could've done it. If only someone had seen that beneath the impenetrable armor of Captain Flint, there was a man named James McGraw who ached to be touched. If only something had made him bow.

Fuck you Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine, they could've made it if Madi had given Flint a hug and Silver had blown his back out.

Notes: Set in early s4, a rewrite of canon from the perspective of the boys entering into a powerplay relationship after Silver returns from the sea. Absolutely choice Dom!Silver and sub!Flint content with fealty dynamics. As well as the pre OT3 content Jay craves.

As always, I love to get feedback on entries that I may have missed. Mwah.

#black sails #silverflint #jay's esoteric rec lists #fic recs #silverflint fic recs #black sails fic recs #phew okay I think it's DONE I had to reread and reskim a lot of my bookmarks #ENJOY!!#john silver #james flint

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kaypeace21 · 2 years

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It's funny people are losing it over the byler fight possibly being based off a romantic fight, in the highschool musical sequel. Because , byler (long before s4) has been paralleled to romantic pairings - that are from shows/films that are confirmed ST inspo. It's not new. The writers also said the original highschool musical was inspo for s4 ... so the idea the sequel is also inspo, is fairly possible. I even said a few years ago , and got teased by the way ,for mentioning how gabriel/Troy parallel byler because : Byler knew eachother since kindergarten. And in the og film- troy/gabriel say it's "feels" like they've know eachother since they were in kindergarten. They say it a bunch in the first film .And now people are noticing the byler fight (via dialogue and framing) also parallels troy/Gabriella's fight.

But did yall also forget the byler s3 fight (which parallels the s4 fight) was also based off a different romantic scene from a diff series? I noticed/mentioned this parallel - years ago. Duffers said they were huge fans of Dawson's creek.

In the D.C scene the 2 childhood friends try to deny their romantic feelings and fight about it ...one character does so with one very interesting line :

The character who says the same line as mike: is actually in love with their childhood friend. Yet uses this exact line to change the subject/deny their feelings to their friend (when confronted by them).

Also d.c had an endgame gay couple (what's funny is - one had a sister, the other had a brother. Their straight siblings dated before them- but eventually they broke up. And the gay siblings ,started dating later,and were endgame).

Also look at the framing of the gay realization: both occur at the end of an episode where we see them hugging a girl ,and only see the back of the girls' heads - as they zoom in on the guys' faces filled with turmoil.

Even after the gay realization/scene in d.c ,he (jack) pretends to be straight and still dates the main girl for a bit longer. Both are rich guys who initially date the main girl character (because they are in deep denial about being lgbt). And both have a smart overachiever sister who initially dates a guy who is poor,and has a shitty dad.And by the end jack dates the brother of his sister's ex. And this (straight ) brother always assumed his brother was gay and was also an ally to jack,before the jack and his brother dated- reminds me a bit of jonathan.

Some also thought the s3 byler fight reminded them of the fight between a gay pairing in " eyewitness". It has no confirmation of being inspo by the Duffers (unlike hsm or d.c). But the framing is very similar... coincidence or not. The boy on the same side as mike (has a gf, and was in serious denial/repression about his romantic feelings for the other guy, during said fight.) That boy had so much internalized homophobia- especially because he was from/lived in a small town. Their fight in a garage, the car in the background, the lighting . Coincidence or not the parallel is definitely something else... lol

Eyewitness even has another similar scene, which i really disliked in both shows: dude in woods with camera records love interest... cough with someone else doing , y'know. Yall remember that mess in s1 of stranger things. Ick.But, I digress.

Also byler in s2 is based off Ghostbusters. And name dropped in the show. Mike said he was Venkman. Venkman's love interest was Dana (Will): who gets possessed, and then can control demon dogs during said possession, one demondog was in her fridge too, they have to close the gate to break her possession. Does any of this sound very familiar. Cause it should...

And in s1 mike writes a d&d story where king Tristan (Will) gives mike and his friends medals at the end of s1. Like the end of the original star wars film where princess leia gave medals to han (her future love interest) and han's friends . Mike, a star wars nerd: replaced princess leia for a king (Will)- who gave medals (to their future love interest) . The medal ceremony was romantic foreshadowing since Han winks at leia after she gives him the medal.

There's more examples.little woman was s4 inspo. Dude dates girl, but he ends up with his ex's artist sibling -instead. Before that-the artist 3rd wheeled her sister and future love interest while the 2 were skating /holding hands. Aka just like Will watching mike and el skate. Or heck "it" series is confirmed inspo too-ben/bev/bill parallels Will/mike/El. Bev (mike) gets romantic poem (painting). Bev (mike) assumes the poem (painting ) is from Bill (El) when it's actually from Ben (Will). Bev was into Bill, but later she realized the poem is from Ben. When she realized the words were from ben- they became endgame. So if Mike ever finds out the truth of the painting (what will happen?).

But literally every season byler is paralleled to a romantic pairing from a show/film the duffers or writers like. The fact byler scenes are often based off romantic pairings/scenes is strange if platonic or one sided. That's all i'm saying XD

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things

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ripplestitchskein · 22 days

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Where do you see Stolitz being at the end of the season? I don’t know how much heartbreak I can take.

Oooh Nonnie I’d prepare for some ANGST but there’s nothing in the text to indicate it’s the bad kind imo. I feel confident that it’s gonna be that good productive angst that gets us places we wanna go, that we’ll flail about and be heartbroken about but not that Game of Thrones style pointless nihilist angst that is just for shock value or because the creators wanted a cliffhanger or a twist.

One of the things I find comforting about this show is the people making it are very much a part of fandom rather than corporate studios using general audience analytics or creators who are just there for a paycheck. The creative team of this show genuinely seems to care about these characters. I have a lot of anxiety about my hyperfixation ships so I feel you on the worry but it would be a huge waste of time and incredibly unsatisfying for the audience to change directions midstream. And the beauty of a cartoon is that even if the actors leave or people change out from the creative team as long as there is money and a drive to make it they aren’t beholden to the same logistics issues as a live action.

From a storytelling perspective it doesn’t make sense to reverse course and break them up forever. I’m not writing the show so I can’t tell you with 100% certainty but there are too many threads intricately knotted together and if they cut this relationship out the whole fucking show unravels. I’ve always said Stolas and Blitzo’s relationship was central in the first two episodes of the show, Stolas is how IMP does business, the 2nd episode was literally all about Stolas’s family drama and the show is about Blitz so it would take a lot of work to stop this train and still leave your audience satisfied at the end. Work that it doesn’t make sense to do. This is not a fanservice thing, like Stolitz is too popular or something like that, but a storytelling thing. It’s such a huge part of the show they can’t drop it in a way that wouldn’t drive the audience away, even casual viewers. And being an indie production they have to be very deliberate and careful with their choices, they don’t have the capital to be doing like two sample hypothesis testing with the story or trying out different threads. It’s just not feasible.

If the trailer did anything it was reinforce every assumption or speculation I’ve made, like I got so much dopamine from that fucking trailer. And all the speculation lines up perfectly with my episode deep dives and how I, as a writer and creative, understand the structure and narrative choices being shown. And I am SO PUMPED ABOUT WHERE THIS TRAIN IS HEADING. It’s gonna hurt but in the best way I think.

To answer your question, as far as the end of this season I am of two minds. Either Stolas and Blitz make the decision to start a relationship in S2 and S3 is them working through it during whatever trials and tribulations they are undergoing.

Or they are not together but we get a lot of delicious pining through S3 where they finally get together together and S4 is the working through the relationship season.

How I think it’s going to play out after a few days of rearranging things in my head:

Blitzø and Stolas are both excited and anxious about their upcoming rendezvous. Blitzø is doing sexy date prep and seeking advice from his bestie on sex toys. Stolas is drowning in anxiety.

Blitzø fucks up. Either he says something hurtful or embarrasses Stolas in some way, either about his royal duties or Octavia. I theorize that the issue with the Full Moon is Stolas’s fault and Vassago is the character who will bring that to his attention. Might possibly comfort him. Andrelphus and Stella are going to take advantage of the situation.

Blitzø tries to take it back, that’s why he’s reaching out but he’s denied.

In Apology Tour Blitzø tries to get back to their casual “If I ignore it it’s fine” status quo but Stolas is not having it. That’s the garden conversation where he’s serving so much cunt.

Stolas either defends Blitzø with his song at Verosika’s tour or it’s so heartbreaking Blitzø has no way to hide from it anymore. I also think Versoika herself will point out that Blitzø is treating Stolas quite a bit differently than he did her which also keeps him from shoving his feelings down.

I think at the end of this episode Stolas calls things off but Blitzo is now aware of how Stolas feels and how he feels. He is not ready to act on it yet.

Ghostfuckers I think will be primarily Millie and Blitzø. Blitzø will probably have to confront how he was when they first met, and other things like his mother and Barbie.

Mastermind is probably the CHERUB/DHORKS episode. I still think it’s probably a gag tbh. Like the actual episode is not about them at all because in my mind they are the Sir Pentious of HB. Like they believe they are this big bad but they just kind of fail and disappear and keep coming back as a running annoyance. I kind of think the real threat is maybe Satan or Andrelphus/Stella.

In one of three episodes, or at the end of Apology Tour something happens to Stolas. He is taken out of commission in some way. He loses his job, he is absent. I don’t think it will be his fault.

I think this will come into play in Sinsmas, which maybe very much like Seeing Stars where maybe Stolas promised Octavia something for the holiday or they had a tradition and he misses it because of being out of commission. She finds him with Blitzø who is rescuing him from Andrelphus. I kind of think Vassago will help him or tip him off that Stolas is in trouble. Octavia is mad and lashes out. That conflict I see going into S3.

Blitzø needs proof that he doesn’t fuck up people’s lives and right now the person who’s life is in the biggest shambles because of Blitzø (not like because of him but their involvement, you know what I’m saying) is Stolas. He’s divorcing, he might lose his job, his daughter is going to be pissed at him. Stolas will have literally nothing because of their dalliance. So either way I see no way that the breakup is permanent.

If they breakup for good that reinforces Blitzo’s fear he fucks up people’s lives. There’s no resolution to that conflict. Moxxie and Millie don’t have a lot of life problems related to Blitzø tbh, he’s creepy about their relationship but it doesn’t cause them strife only annoyance. Loona is fine too right now. Fizz and he have started reconciliation and Fizz out right told him he was doing well. Verosika is pissed and still a drunk last we see her but her career is taking off.

By having Stolas break up forever only reinforces the idea that you don’t get a second chance at love for Stolas (or a first chance), and says “Yeah, Stolas IS better off without him” and I doubt that’s the story they want to tell lol. On Stolas’s side it would be all kinds of fucked up to imply that parents can’t have romantic relationships because their kids are mad about it imo. That his only option as a loveless arranged marriage and continuing to lie to himself and the world. Like a child should be priority but parents are also fully formed humans with lives outside of their children and it’s not great to have a child throw a fit and the parent be like “Oh okay, guess I’ll just be alone cause my teenage daughter is sulky”.

Like the issues they’ve set up can only be resolved satisfactorily one way at this point, at least in my opinion. Whether that happens in S2 or later in S3 I still very firmly believe it will be a focus and we’ll get lots of little moments.

#stolitz #helluva fanart #anonymous #helluva boss spoilers

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aphverse-confessions · 6 months

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The way that ZaneChan/Zana was handled in canon is so disappointing looking back on it. Zane and KC literally only have maybe 4 significant scenes together before their kiss in the haunted house which leaves the ship feeling so rushed. Sure there's some build up during Aphmau's Year which was nice but again, it was maybe only 1 or 2 scenes. I also very much get the impression that after they kissed and got together, Jess really didn't know what else to do with them aside from having them make out constantly (which is very ooc for Zane imo) or not communicate with one another which is so frustrating to watch. And I feel they would've benefited from more scenes together before their kiss as well as after. Set up the mutual crush they could both have with small outings and them just spending time together. And once tensions begin rising in the relationship, let them actually talk it out! When push comes to shove Zane hits a breaking point and talks stuff out! And since s4 he seems way more willing to set boundaries and establish communication even with those he cares about. So why didn't he do this with KC? We don't need KC accidentally kissing Garroth to make any of that happen! (God I could write a thesis on how absolutely idiotic that writing choice was). Like it's actually so frustrating because a good relationship is right there but no we need to have more Aarmau moments bc Aarmau is our Lord and Savior apparently 😮‍💨 (and I'm mostly indifferent to Aarmau but man the fact it's literally everywhere gets on my nerves sometimes). It's just disheartening because I think aside from DanChan and some other relationships here and there, ZaneChan had the opportunity to become one of the best relationships from Jess' series. Also we never got that subplot with Ghost really resolved in a meaningful way? It was definitely in character for KC to be jealous of her flirting with Zane but why didn't we ever have a moment where she confronts Ghost and tells her to buzz off? Also,, I think it's so so icky that they made Emmalyn so obsessed with Zane enough to the point she kissed him without his consent :/ I have yet to understand why the characters continue to let Ghost hang around them when Zane has been clearly very uncomfortable around her in multiple scenes. Sorry for the essay I can get carried away lol.

#aphmau #aphblr #aphverse #aphmau confessions #aphmau mystreet #mystreet #I agree #don't apologize for the essay it was v well written #also this was sent during the character hate rush but it's been queued because it doesn't concern a particular character #in case u were wondering what took so long

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derww · 5 days

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not-so-liveblog liveblog thought post about a new part of the unstable universe. spoilers to it and to the previous videos.

1. judging by the flashback, parrot remembers the wormhole. so, in theory, everyone else should also remember ls. but they don't seem to. many points, of course, can be explained by the fact that they simply do not want to discuss what happened before, but mapicc and jepexx, despite their long friendship, behave as if they had not known each other before. very strange

2. who did spoke hire this time... did squiddo agree to work for him again after he burned down her house?... and it's not like he has money now.

3. for some reason, for the second time in a row, in parrot's pov spoke is this mystical man, who knows too much and calls parrot after himself, when in his own povs he has no idea what he is doing and suffers from bullying...

4. the only world where zam's empire really exists and looks like an empire

5. is zyye on the list of online players? damn, i haven't seen this guy in months.

6. "i killed parrot so many times" (c) zam on one of the last streams

7. oh, the lighthouse is flashing! obviously morse code. interesting.

8. of course, zam has voidhole. it was the only thing to expect from him. made up of all the seasons at once, leading the empire, approving exploits, of course, this zam has a voidhole. i'm even surprised that it's so small. it doesn't match his ego. /rp

9. constantly watching spoke is something from s4, from the moments when he flew after people in the spectator and frustrated them by always knowing exactly where they are. but wet cat spoke from the last episode couldn't possibly get a spectator, right? :clueless:

10. i wonder if zam&co sealed the hole, or is spoke ready to let parrot die/too confident in his success no matter what?

11. overall, this is a very interesting segment where they are locked in a void. a cool way to catch up with suspense.

12. "jumper who's void base" was the sentence that sent me laughing. of course, jumper who has a void base, after all, she never finished one on the lifesteal.

13. "this is a code to zam's vault" and how do you know it bro...

14. why is merffin pretending to be an armorstand and how did he not notice them XDD

15. hello, spoke! it's interesting how parrot, chasing after spoke for two videos already, does not recognize him, because he has never actually seen him in all this time.

16. an interesting pattern: this is the second video on this server in a row, where the main character (spoke, parrot) is looking for something secret and important and involves an innocent person (mapicc, wifies) in all this, whom he endangers and who becomes his partner.

17. hello again, the god of another world and a corpse. it's always nice to see you together, you're a good duo.

18. i killed parrot so many times (c) x2

19. why hasn't wifies taken off his second layer yet 😭

20. oh, he took it off!

21. mobs really won't spawn. it reminds me of the surreal wemmbu's state of the lifesteal during abyss arc, with a crazy tickspeed and the absence of any hostile mobs. has spoke already backdoored this server too? or did someone build a mobswitch?

22. the underwater part is the strangest so far, because it is technically unrealizable with the redstone and is explained only by the fact that spoke was watching them all this time and opened the way as soon as all the objects were in place.

23. "just break the shrieker – oh, how timely, mining futigue." I did not know the fact that natural and delivered shriekers differ visually too, it is interesting.

24. spoke continues to put the lives of parrot and wifies in mortal danger. how fun!

25. escape room is cool. I never doubt wato's skills :)

26. is this the world border?

27. oh, its not.

28. this quickly turned into a kenadian video about all the crowl glitches. i like it!

29. welcome to the conduit town! /ref

30.

wifies: why did he- you guys are on bad terms, right, you're like- are you-parrot: no, i don't- i mean- i don't, i-i-i mean, i don't, i don't like to think badly of spoke at all, but- lowkey, i would bot be surprised if he is a bit distasteful of some stuff i've done. wifies: right.

parrot: yea. but-

wifies: it's well, like- yeah, its just weird....wifies: sometimes it feels like he- like, he's really aching us on to find it. like, he really- he's really leading- he's really showing us the way, which strikes me as kind of odd.parrot: what does that mean.wifies: i don't know, like, in my mind, if you wanted to hide something from someone, you wouldn't really... create a quest of riddles for it. but it kinda seems like- i don't know- like, he wants to give you something.parrot: yeah.

wifies: he wants to give you whatever gift... or he wants to show you something. which is weird. i- i- like, again, that's- it's such a- it contradicts itself cuz if he wanted to give you something, why make you- why make you go through all of this- like, it seems pointless. if you want to protect something, never design riddles that can be solved, and if you want to show someone something, why make it harder and make these riddles?

parrot: yeah.

wifies: just seems counter-intuitive.

seems like havoc duo here also has its ls complixity with spoke constantly contradicting himself and doing everything much more complex than it has to be. hmmm.

31. hihihihihi spokeishere :)

32. so he created a quest originally designed for two people to complete in order to then say that one should be banned for becoming too close? spoke led parrot to find a new friend, and now he's going to kill him!

33. parrot is running after spoke's shadow. spoke is running after jamatop's shadow. wemmbu is technically running after spoke, but actually he watches these two and thinks "what am i even doing here just give me my power and let me out".

34. wifies is wearing his turtle helmet. it's touching in its own way.

35. the very fact that spoke keeps saying "banned" instead of "dead". this is a hardcore server, unlike lifesteal, you can't "die" and not "get banned". iirc in naked&aftaid people usually do not say "banned", but they say "dead" and this is natural, because clarification is not required. is it just ls slang?

36. goodbye, wifies. you had a good run. o7

37. in his pov, spoke is desperately trying not to fall even lower, to preserve his principles and humanity, he breaks things – but when it's not just a place, but someone's house, then he doesn't feel good after that. in the parrot's pov, he brings parrot's new friend to the ban and then tells him that he did it in vain and laughs in the parrot's face. bro...

38. "and he's never gonna know" so we're going to roleplay that it's just a world where they live, or do we have a discord in case of something.

39. in a sense, the last spoke's video and this parrot's video end up similar. they're both broken. they are lost. they were chasing a ghost. spoke's monologue here partially reflects ro's monologue. but in the end spoke finds an actual vault, and parrot finds nothing, because now he has to break free spoke to break free wifies. how funny.

40. spoke: because- parrot, honestly, what you did to me, i needed to take something from you as well.

what did he even do to you? the only thing parrot did to spoke in the videos was blow up an orbital cannon – and it's definitely not that terrible, and spoke didn't even find out in the video that it was parrot. wtf

41. wow, spoke is in the chunkban! he will definitely stay there until the end of the server, because after wemmbu it will definitely not be his turn to upload video! /s

42. three hours is an insane time for minecraft video, of course. it's not entirely clear to me why parrot decided to make the video so long, but it's his decision, and the video is great. the unstable universe, as always, leaves a lot more questions than it answers. i'm really looking forward to the wemmbu pov!

p.s: oh no i hoped to have some devotion duo today. but oh, well, spoke decided to not bring mape with him today. or something had happened.

#shotout cit #i opened tumblr #saw “of course zam has a voidhole”#closed tumblr and opened youtube XD #unstable universe #not lifesteal #parrotx2 #spokeishere #weekly yap session about unstablesmp

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esta-elavaris · 3 days

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I won't list all of my stuff here - just the things that I think are worth shouting about. Organising it all via fandom, with some little sub-categories within those because some of them *cough*James/Theodora*cough* have decided to become ungovernable.

Where to find me: AO3 -- IG -- Goodreads

Catch the Wind-verse:

Catch the Wind - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: Complete. [400k+ words] AO3 The behemoth that started the absolute sickness in me, and probably where you should start if you want any of the rest of my Norrington stuff to make total sense to you.

When it was completed, I also did a read-through on here talking about some behind-the-scenes type stuff. The tag is here, but it's obviously reverse-chronological order so spoilers abound! I plan on doing this for other fics when they're complete!

Sainted by the Storm - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress, updated sporadically. AO3 The home for any random snippets of this pairing that I write - there are a few AU chapters here and there, mostly it's flufftober fills, or pieces not long enough to warrant their own story. Wicked Game - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress. AO3 Semi-sequel to CTW, just a very small smutty series set after the events of the main story. Red Thread of Fate - Theodore Groves/Pirate!OC Status: In progress. AO3 Vague companion piece to CTW, taking place in the background of that story, and then branching into the timespan that follows it - with appearances made by Norrington and the OC I write for him.

Catch the Wind AUs

Fallen Through Time - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress, on a break. AO3 -- Tumblr An AU of Catch the Wind, exploring what might've happened had Elizabeth Swann been the one to find Theodora when she fell into the world of POTC.

As It Was - Modern!James Norrington/Historical!OC Status: Planning - a teaser can be found on tumblr for now. Teaser Another AU of Catch the Wind, where James Norrington is the modern character, and Theodora Byrne is the "canon" character from POTC who is fated to die.

Here, Where Fire Grows - Boromir/Modern!Amnesiac!OC Status: In progress AO3 Writing Catch the Wind didn't get the "modern girl falls for fictional dead man" trope out of my brain, so I had to inflict another on Boromir - but this time with an amnesiac twist, just for some added fun. Other mini-stories for these two written during flufftober can be found here.

Flufftober '23 The non-Theorrington flufftober fills can be found in this series on AO3, but all of the fills also be found on Tumblr where they have pretty banners to go along with the chapters.

Free - Cullen Rutherford/F!Inquisitor Status: Updated sporadically. AO3 Modern!Royalty!AU which will eventually follow the events of the game.

20th Century Boy - Eddie Munson/OC Status: Debating on whether to continue it. AO3 A struggling artist moves to Hawkins for a year of studying abroad, and finds a kindred spirit in Eddie Munson. Will eventually follow the events of S4.

Obscure, Plain, and Little - Aemond Targaryen/OC Prologue A Jane Eyre-inspired fic -- probably won't follow the events of the show/book.

Dracula [Van Helsing 2004]/OC Coming soon! Set in the modern day, lots of cliché favourites with (hopefully) some added twists to spice things up a bit!

List of ideas for tentative future pairings and fandoms I want to go into can be found here. I'm also always open to suggestions, so don't feel too shy if you want to send me an ask or a message 💜

#fic writer #fanfic writer #fanfic authors #pirates of the caribbean fanfiction #lord of the rings fanfiction #fanfiction masterlist

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kisilinramblings · 2 years

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Do you think Marinette has trauma in s4/has trauma from Chat Blanc? I've seen people say that she doesn't because she doesn't have multiple breakdowns or wake up from nightmares in multiple eps or constantly think about Chat Blanc. Or that the show needs to show it more explicitly and frequently for it to count

First, thank you for your patience, Anon!

Second, I’m no psychologist nor therapist, but as far as I know, nightmares and flashbacks are only a few of the many symptoms and manifestations of Post-Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (and according��to the US Department of Veteran Affairs and common reactions after trauma, they are even regrouped has one and single item).

Meaning that if you only focus on those because this is all that you know how PTSD is visually represented in fiction, then you are missing on other key symptoms that hint someone may have PTSD. I say “may” because you need to check a certain number of symptoms to have a diagnostic.

Anyway, I recommend @gentil-minou 's ml psychology analysis on Marinette during S4 (although, it was written right after Kuro Neko and is missing a few episodes, but nonetheless a very good starting point).

Some will agree Marinette has indeed PTSD, but disagree that Chat Blanc is the cause. For this, I will refer to what Jonathan Decker - licensed therapist and co-creator and co-host of the YT channel Cinema Therapy - says when he summarizes PTSD and the trauma that cause it :

“PTSD occurs when you think your world is safe and then realized that it isn’t”.

Marinette as Ladybug, as a superhero, deals with danger everytime she is facing an Akumatized. But she always finds a solution at the end. She always figures out her Lucky Charm, always find a way to grab the akumatized object, break it and free the victim from Hawkmoth. Plus, her supepower allows her to restore any damage done by the Akumatized and the consecutive battle. So, it always work out and if she ever fails, she can raises again and try something else (though she may or may not need a little pep talk). And the reason why she accepts to be a superhero in the first place is in order to help her friends and loved ones (Alya in Origins).

But despite being a superhero, Marinette also realizes she herself is not immune to akumatization. She has negative emotions too therefore it is a possibility and there were close calls too. The first instance is during Zombizou. Marinette knows her negative emotions originally attracted an Akuma. During Heroes Day, she saw an illusion showing an akumatized Ladybug fighting Chat Noir. In Chameleon, she almost got akumatized but manages to avoid it. And during the episode Ladybug, she got a really close call of being akumatized as well to the point she did not resist and could have given her Miraculous to Scarlet Moth.

But the thing is she knows and accepts her own vulnerability. She is human like everyone else around her and can fall victim of her negative emotions. During S2-S3, she has a network. She has Chat Noir. Master Fu could also help then since he can distribute the Miraculous like he did during Party Crasher when she is incapacitated. There are rules like maintaining the secret identity between Chat Noir and her, so if one is ever akumatized, the other still has a chance.

But while she knows her own vulnerability and can deal with it with rules (control) and back-up plans, there is one person she never thought would actually be akumatized. And that is Chat Noir.

Brainwashed or incapacited by akumatized villain power? Sure, happened plenty of time.

Arriving late for whatever reason? Harder, but it’s manageable.

But an akumatized Chat Noir? What it the world happened to him?!

All she hears is that their love lead to this post-apocalypse. Chat Blanc was clear that they were both in love and dated each other and that their secret was discovered by Hawkmoth and he used it against them. Chat Blanc even call her by her real name revealing her the secret identity rule fell apart and was breached.

Marinette is not only confronted to a future where her partner is indeed akumatized, she also witnesses her future self died unable to save her partner and everyone else.

Usually, when Marinette fails, she can try again and something else. But here, that failure was fatal. Game Over. The shock is even greater when she never thought Chat could be able to do such a thing. Akumatized normally spares their loved one. But in this scenario, no one was spared. Everything and everyone was destroyed.

Of course, Ladybug was greatly upset and questionned Chat Blanc about it. All he says was that it was an accident. Not only that, she even see that Chat Blanc has the potential to put an end to the world.

That is the main difference with everything else. I bolded the elements that play into triggers to Marinette during S4.

Truth, Lies, Gang of Secrets, Crocoduel, Mega Leech, Sentibubbler, Glaciator 2, Ephemeral, Kuro Neko, and of course Strike Back all have parts of the answer.

Truth : Marinette is witholding her secret identity from Luka who she is dating. And it caused him to be akumatized who is out to find her secret which would get known by now Shadow Moth. Not only Marinette breaks with Luka at the end because her secret identity is an obstacle into establishing a mutual relationship with him and it will only hurt him, she also decides she cannot allow herself to date anyone.

Lies : LB’s reaction as Chat Noir tell his plan to sacrifice himself in order to drive Lies’ attention is more panicked than usual. Like, compare it to Gamer 2.0. She doubts herself about being able to save him and protect him.

Gang of Secrets : She distances herself of not just Chat Noir, but her friends as well. The latters get akumatized because of that rejection. At the end, Marinette breaks because she cannot support all that pression all alone anymore and tells her secret to Alya.

From that point on, Marinette relies more and more on Alya over Chat who is her partner. That is a survival mechanism. And also, subconscious.

Crocoduel : I’m putting it here because it feels like Marinette has projected a lot of her Chat Blanc trauma into Luka after breaking-up with him (or at least, it is starting to be build that way). Thus why she is avoiding Luka altogether at this point because she doesn’t want to have the Talk™ even though she need to talk to him one day. To be fair, she always has that tendency to avoid hard discussion. But her thinking Luka would be akumatized because of her again feels that there is more to it than what happened during Truth. Marinette has a wild imagination, but even Alya is thinking that Marinette is exaggerating and fails to understand Marinette’s perspective there.

Mega Leech : There is a little scene in which Chat Noir is brainwashed by Malediktator without her knowing and grab her -- which she obviously didn’t find it funny -- but this episode is the start of Ladybug building a bigger team to assist her out as part of her solution to her problem. The writers even make a foreshadowing through Chat Noir when he says “Hey! Wait for me, guys! Group pose!”. Which later plays out for both Ephemeral and Kuro Neko.

Sentibubbler : The obvious one because of the Chat Blanc cameo during Marinette’s nightmare. I let you read @geekgirles ‘s excellent analysis about Marinette’s subconscious.

Glaciator 2 : I stand by this, but the gossip news about Ladybug and Chat Noir dating triggered Ladybug. Thus why she becomes so upset. And since she never told Chat Noir about the Chat Blanc timeline (that he was akumatized because they were dating in said timeline), he is not understanding what she is currently living and worst, he was putting oil in the fire with his jokes there even if his intentions were just to relax the situation.

Ephemeral : I think this one goes without any further explaination, no? Whole episode is about the secret identity. Sass having to use his Second Chance power without a Holder to this very moment is a huge indicator that she was about to make an horrible mistake that would have disastrous consequences. And it reinforces Ladybug’s belief it is better off to not have any identity reveal in the first place.

Kuro Neko : Similar beginning as Ephemeral. Except this time, Chat Noir is demotivated (read depressed) due to Ladybug keeping him in the dark and putting him at a distance throughout the season. And Ladybug is not noticing how much her actions and solutions to avoid her trauma are affecting him. Ladybug also doesn’t think clearly once she sees a huge Black Cat with a bell. Not only is she convinced that is an Akumatized Chat Noir, she wrongly believes the bell is the akumatized object. Her trauma is leading her to those assumptions even when evidences are pointing out elsewhere.

Strike Back : The dialog between LB and CN who are both affected by Risk. How Ladybug has taken all those risks in order to protect him (when she took that decision by herself, without consulting with Chat first). And of course, because she never told him about the Chat Blanc timeline, he cannot understand her pov.

To me, when you pay attention (and watching the episodes in order helps too) there is a build up. Of course, this post is a quick sum up of an entire season. If you want a more profound analysis of Marinette’s actions through season 4, I invite to watch Youtuber Toon Ruins video essay on S4 Marinette.

And please note that, as season 5 is about to start, the Chat Blanc trauma is still lingering. And you cannot properly fix something unless the core gets adressed. Adrien and Marinette fixed a lot of what they thought were the problems, when they haven’t adressed the cause of said problems. So, yeah, Chat Blanc trauma arc isn’t over yet.

#miraculous ladybug #ml season 4 #marinette dupain-cheng

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scoopertrouper · 1 year

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could you write about steve and nancy's first major fight (and reconciliation) after they got back together post s4?

anon, i hope you're happy. this prompt ate my brain, chewed it up, and then decided it didn't like how it tasted and spit it out. i was at the ZOO with an adorable little toddler, watching him watch the turtles in wonderment while also thinking "yeah, but WHY are steve and nancy fighting??"

ultimately i think the characters here still need some fine tuning/fleshing out and the premise really only works if you don't think about it too hard. i will probably revisit this in the future with a much stronger editorial eye. 😬

that said, i hope you still very much enjoy this impulsive, self-indulgent 5k words of breaking up (not really lol) and making up schmoop (+ warning for tasteful-ish spice at the end - sorry if that's not your thing).

***

can’t let you slide through my hands

“I don’t like this.”

Nancy hates her voice right now. It’s a quivering, slip of a sound, and she can barely hear it over the slamming echo of her heart inside her ears.

But Steve hears it. He always hears her, even when it’s something he doesn’t want to hear.

And if he’s trying to ignore her – trying to pretend the slow, careful grind of whetstone over the edge of his ax has drowned out her words – well, the brief glance he can’t help but flick in her direction gives him away entirely.

“Steve.”

“Nancy.”

Each syllable is even, practically toneless, and she hates it.

“Why are you doing this?” Normally she’d work a lot harder to quash the weak, plaintive note that suffuses the word why, but he’s not listening to her and she doesn’t know what else to do. How else to get his attention.

“You heard Hopper,” he says with that awful, carelessly empty inflection. “They need all the help they can get.”

Nancy’s fingernails bite into her palms. The sting of it somehow grounds and incenses her, all at the same time.

“He only said that after you asked him if you could go.”

And hadn’t that been a kick in the pants – Nancy, resigned to staying behind playing bodyguard at Hopper’s request, while Steve only too eagerly offered to tromp off into the woods with Team Distraction like some kind of kamikaze lamb for slaughter.

(That’s not fair. She knows that of the two of them, she has what could be considered the more important job. Stay at the cabin. Protect El. Make sure nothing happens to her if this frankly suicidal diversionary tactic doesn’t work and they’re attacked during yet another round of psychic Marco Polo with the biggest, baddest ugly they’ve faced yet.

And she knows Hopper wasn’t lying – they probably could use Steve’s help out there, his seemingly infinite supply of athleticism. Just like she knows that it’s actually a huge compliment that Hopper's trusting her to help keep his daughter safe. So no, she’s not being fair. But also – it’s not fair.)

Steve finally looks up, and he’s wearing that face she’d gotten all too familiar with during the last couple months of their relationship, round one – the one that says he’s trying to see where she’s coming from, but he’s getting annoyed in spite of himself. She hasn’t seen it in quite some time, but she supposes it would’ve been silly to assume it had been retired for good. Neither of them has changed that much.

“Nance. Come on. You know I’m gonna be way more useful out there than I would be here. I’m a garbage shot, anyway.”

Nancy scoffs.

“So you’d rather be cannon fodder instead?”

He props the ax next to the door to the front door of the cabin and crosses his arms, looking a little wounded.

“Jesus, give me some credit. I’ve made it this far, haven’t I?”

“Sure, as long as someone’s there to follow your ass through a gate, and beat off the demon bats, and bandage you when you’re bleeding out all over the place!”

She knows she’s probably starting to sound unhinged. She knows it. But she can’t help it. She does not want him to do this. This is not a good plan.

His face twists, and he looks like he wants to grab her – hold her like he would’ve if this were still September of senior year – but he pulls back at the last second. He does that a lot, now, like he’s still not totally sure what he has permission to do.

She wishes he hadn’t. Touching him would be infinitely preferable to shouting at him. If she was touching him, she could grab on tight. Refuse to let go. Keep him anchored here by sheer force of will.

“Nancy, I don’t get it,” he says, tossing his arms up helplessly instead of putting them around her. “This was exactly what your plan was the first time. Cause a ruckus. Create a diversion. Fly in under the radar. It worked once. Ish. We can make it work again, at least long enough for El to try and flush the creep out of hiding.”

Nancy’s jaw drops.

“Worked? Define worked, Steve!” Her eyes are burning. “Eddie is dead! Max is in a coma, maybe…maybe…” as good as dead “…forever. There is a gate to hell splitting the whole town open down the middle, and Vecna is still alive. Only now we have no idea where he is or what he’s doing! In what way would you say any of what we did worked?”

“Because we hurt him,” he responds immediately, low and hard. “We hurt him, and now – now we know he bleeds. We can hurt him again, Nancy, I gotta believe that.” His mouth thins. “Eddie dying, losing Max –” his voice cracks on the “a”, but he soldiers through it “– it all sucks. I hate it. But it wasn’t your fault. They knew what they were getting themselves into.” He pauses, and squares his shoulders. “They weren’t like Barb.”

Nancy’s mouth tastes like ash, and for once she can’t blame it on the air toxicity.

“Barb? Who said anything about Barb?” She’s trying to keep her breathing under control, but her voice sounds far away. “This has nothing to do with her.”

“Bullshit.”

He looks at her dead on as he says it, like he knows she knows exactly what he means, and she sees red. She’s not sure what’s about to come out of her mouth, but she knows that whatever it is, she’s probably not going to be proud of it – and this time, she won’t be able to use spiked punch as an excuse, nor will she be granted the dubious mercy of drunken amnesia.

“This has nothing to do with Barb,” she says slowly, “And everything to do with the fact that sometimes, I wish you weren’t so fucking stupid.”

He flinches back like she’s slapped him and honestly, she might as well have. She feels sick.

It’s the worst fight they’ve had – actually the only fight they’ve had – since they decided to try again, and what does it say about them that they didn’t last more than ten minutes before they started ripping out the stitches on old, barely healed wounds?

“Well you asked for this,” Steve finally replies, voice quivering minutely. “You’re the one who came to me and wanted to give this another shot. So you tell me which one of us is stupid.”

It hurts. It was supposed to. Nancy immediately feels herself deflate, like he’s sucked away all that was keeping her upright and angry.

For once, she doesn’t have an immediate response and Steve doesn’t wait for one anyway, whirling on his heel and storming back into the house.

He’s forgotten his ax. The blade gleams at her, mocking, from where it sits against the door frame.

She’s a bit shaky, and she needs a minute to collect herself before she goes back inside. Everyone in the cabin is gonna know they’ve been fighting – the walls are not soundproof – and it’s humiliating.

More humiliating is the fact that this is coming when they’ve hardly been back together two months (and when she’s barely been officially broken up with Jonathan for five). She knows what it looks like, what she looks like – bouncing back and forth between two men on a whim because she can’t manage to choose once and for all who she wants.

But it’s not like that. Her relationship with Jonathan had been dead long before she’d been able or willing to admit it, and this thing with Steve is so new and old at the same time that it’s just – it’s hard to find her footing, sometimes.

They’ve both changed so much, but now she’s realizing that there are ways they’ve stayed the same, too. And with the good always comes the bad.

Okay. Okay. She takes a deep breath, then two. She can’t stay out here forever. She has to go back inside, and hopefully they can awkwardly circle each other until they’ve cooled down enough to talk it over like the adults they almost are.

Because she’s not giving up after one (shitty) fight. Rather than make her second guess her choice, Steve’s parting shot had the reverse effect – it had clarified exactly how stupid a decision it wasn’t. She had wanted this. She still wants it.

It’s only been two months, sure, but she’s been happy, really happy (a miracle considering the world is literally ending around them).

She hopes he’s felt the same, last ten minutes notwithstanding.

Damn it. She shouldn’t have said those things to him. That one thing. Guilt is settling over her like a blanket, thicker and more noxious than even the poisonous air of the Upside Down.

Nancy’s not sorry about getting mad. If he wants her to be his girlfriend again – and she hopes he still wants her to be his girlfriend again – then he has to understand that she’s going to have an opinion on when and how he hurls his body into the line of fire.

But being mean on purpose? That one, she’s pretty sorry for. Calling him stupid hadn’t been intended to do anything but inflict damage, and she knows she owes him an apology (once the thought of talking to him again doesn’t make the confused snarl of anger and regret and affection that’s all tangled up in her chest tighten to the point of pain).

First things first, though.

Chin up, go back inside.

*****

At first, she’s grateful for how simple it is to avoid him all afternoon. The cabin is tiny, even taking into account the hastily constructed add-on that had come once the Byers realized that returning to California wasn’t an option, their house was no longer theirs and Hopper’s cabin in its original state had nowhere near enough space to house them all.

But as the unofficial headquarters for their little hodgepodge Upside Down insurgency, it’s also in a near-constant state of low-grade chaos, which is pretty easy to disappear into – or, in this case, use as a convenient excuse to avoid someone.

(That said, tension is tension, and in this case it’s so apparent that even Hopper – whose unspoken approach to any relationship that isn’t his own generally veers toward the less he knows, the better – shoots them both some pretty unimpressed looks when Steve volunteers himself and Robin, unprompted, for the second of the day’s supply runs.)

Her relief edges into anxiety, though, as they get closer and closer to nightfall and Nancy still hasn’t had a chance to get him alone or even do more than accidentally catch his eye over the sad cans of stew they scrounge up for pre-op dinner. It sits like sludge on her tongue (and based on the look on El’s face as she dutifully shovels down spoonfuls, that’s probably not just Nancy’s guilt talking).

In fact, it’s only as they’re packing up to leave that she realizes she’s probably going to have to go out of her way to corner him, because while Hopper’s come inside to say his goodbyes, Steve's nowhere to be found.

And part of her really, really wants to be petty and leave it at that. Wants to keep stewing in her resentment and let him go off alone because he was too much of a coward to spare her a fifteen-second goodbye.

But the larger, louder half of her brain won’t shut up about how she’d feel if something happened and the last thing she said to him was…that, so she sucks it up and stomps toward the door, flinging it open and –

– startling Steve so badly that he jerks back a step, eyes widening with alarm.

“Jesus, Nancy, you scared the shit outta me!” She can’t muster up more than a couple blinks in response, and he scuffs one of the dirty planks of the porch with his boot. “Look, I know I’m not, like, your favorite person right now, but I still wanted to come say, uh, see you later. You know…just because.”

Oh, he is such an asshole.

She doesn’t know how to tell him this in a way that would help him understand what she’s actually trying to communicate, so instead, she yanks him down and kisses him hard, something she hasn’t done in public much this go-around. It’s a frankly awful smash of lips and teeth, and may in fact be the worst kiss Nancy has ever given or received.

Regardless, she thinks it gets the point across.

She pulls back, mouth throbbing, and stares at him again, fingers clenched in the collar of his jacket as he stands there, stunned and swaying.

“See you later, Steve,” she says pointedly, instead of “please, come back”, or, better yet, “don’t fucking go.” He softens immediately, and inches forward.

“Nancy –”

“Later,” she interrupts firmly. “When you get back. Okay?”

Steve eyes her for several long seconds, then relents.

“Okay,” he says, then he kisses her for real this time (gently, because ow), a brief little soft–as–silk press that leaves her wanting more than she can possibly hope to have at this specific moment.

When she goes back inside (she refuses to watch them roll off into the distance like she’s some kind of war bride, she carries a gun for Christ’s sake), she pauses for a moment, debating checking for the third time since midday that her rifle is loaded and ready.

Jonathan is there, sitting tense at the two-person kitchen table, staring out into the woods as the rest of the gang helps prep El (or "helps" in some cases).

Most of the time, they’re pretty civil with each other. The breakup had basically been mutual, and she only gets a little livid mad now when she thinks about how he lied to her about Emerson. And kept lying to her. Until the only goddamn reason she found out was because – anyway.

Most of the time, if she ignores inconsequential context like that, they’re pretty civil.

“Trouble in paradise?” he says, almost inaudibly.

She takes her rifle to the living room.

****

In the end, the night and the operation are both total duds, and doesn’t that just add insult to injury?

El searches for what feels like hours, pushing herself farther and farther until her nose is bleeding thickly enough that Joyce sternly calls time on the whole exercise.

No go, is what El says afterward, wiping blood off her face. Some of it ends up smeared under one of her darkly ringed eyes, and she lets Mike fuss over her until it’s gone.

Whatever psychic plane she usually ducks into is dead silent, and in the corporeal world, there isn’t a single peep out of anything Upside Down-adjacent, as Hopper reports via walkie-talkie. No stray demodogs, not even an errant vine around what’s usually one of the most active sections of the gate.

And nothing from Max, who Lucas has taken to watching like a hawk – “just in case” – whenever they can spare him. Nancy’s not sure what’s meant to follow “just in case”, and she’s always been a tiny bit afraid of what Lucas might come back with if she asks – so she doesn’t. For once, she doesn’t need answers.

It’s eerie, and anticlimactic, and it leaves Nancy with an uneasy pit in her stomach. Under the circumstances, no news doesn’t always feel like good news.

With how the night has fizzled, she doesn’t expect much when Hopper’s group rumbles down the drive – so the jagged, ugly cut she can see arcing down the left side of Steve’s forehead from even as far off as the front window comes as a nasty shock. (Though honestly, should it?)

“What the hell happened?” she demands, running to meet them before they can even climb out of the truck. “I thought you said it was quiet.”

“It was,” Hopper confirms, killing the ignition. “Not a crawler in sight. Wanna fill the lady in on what went down, Harrington?”

The laughter is plain in his voice, and Nancy instantly relaxes. Whatever it was, it hadn’t been serious.

Steve looks downright mutinous as he crawls out of the back cab alongside Wayne. Good. See if he wants to abandon Nancy to go play Rambo after that.

“Got into it with a tree branch,” he mutters, mortified. “Tree – one, Steve – zero.” He gestures up at his forehead. “Obviously.”

The fact that Nancy manages to mostly keep a straight face should probably automatically shortlist her for inclusion into some kind of Greatest Girlfriend Ever hall of fame. As it is, Dustin, (who’s been uncharacteristically quiet all night), does the dirty work for her.

“Jesus, Steve, is there anything you can beat in a fight?”

“Excuse the shit outta me, Henderson, but did I or did I not save your ass from goddamn Russian soldiers?”

“One Russian soldier, Steve. One. And I don’t even know if it counts when you mrrflmgh –” Dustin gurgles helplessly for a few seconds behind the iron hand Nancy clamps over his mouth before eventually giving up and going silent.

“I think what Dustin is trying to say is that he’s glad everyone’s okay,” she says with as much brightness as she can muster. “Right?” she asks pointedly, releasing him. There’s a long pause, and then he sighs.

“Sure,” he says with all the enthusiasm of a dental patient undergoing a root canal. “Glad to have you all back.”

He shuffles back into the cabin, and Nancy knows that one of these days, someone’s gonna have to have a talk with him about his wild mood swings. But she doesn’t really want that someone to be her, so she’s refrained from bringing it up thus far.

“Someone’s gotta check that kid,” Steve utters almost inaudibly, agreeing with Nancy’s silent train of thought (and sounding more concerned than irritated). He’s sneaking glances in Dustin’s wake like he thinks he might be able to get away with following him.

Nancy clears her throat, ready to disabuse him of that notion.

“Some other time, Rocky,” she says, and she means it to be teasing, but it comes out too fond to be entirely successful. “Why don’t we get that cut taken care of, first?”

She holds out her hand, and he only hesitates a second before he takes it firmly in his, palm to palm.

***

They stay linked like that as she leads him all the way to the tiny half-bath at the back of the new addition, and he only lets go when she shuts them in and urges him down onto the closed toilet so she can comfortably reach his forehead.

For a few moments, he allows her to work in silence, wincing when she has to pour hydrogen peroxide over the cut (she still doesn’t know if you can actually get Upside Down rabies, but better safe than sorry with all weird dust particles floating around).

Without the dried blood crusting it, it actually looks very superficial. Nancy breathes a sigh of relief, though she’ll still layer it with some antibiotic cream to be safe.

“I guess I just…don’t get it.” Apropos of nothing, Steve chooses this moment to speak quietly, picking up the loose thread of a conversation they haven’t even started yet. “The last time we were together, you were pissed because I didn’t want to get involved. Now I’m all in, and it doesn’t seem like you like that, either.”

Nancy’s fingers freeze on the cap of Neosporin.

“Steve.” She sets the tube aside and makes an executive decision – she needs to be touching him if he’s gonna insist on talking about this here. “Before we do this, can you do me a favor, first?”

Nancy picks up his hands and haphazardly plants them on her hips before slipping her own up to cage his face. His brow furrows, but he doesn’t move an inch from where she’s arranged them. “Can you just…stop stopping yourself from touching me? I know we’re in kind of a weird place right now, but I promise you – if you want to, then there’s a pretty damn good chance I want to, too.”

The confused lines in his forehead don’t ease, but his fingers adjust and tighten around her sides until he’s holding her with surety. Surrounded by the warmth of him, the invisible string that’s been holding her shoulders taut all day loosens.

“I didn’t think you’d notice,” he says slowly, eyes skimming her face like she’s this entirely new person who just happens to still look and dress like Nancy. “I – of course I’ll stop. It’s not like holding you is some kind of hardship, Nance.” He looks down. “That still doesn’t answer my question, though.”

Nancy refrains from noting that he hadn’t asked a question, he’d merely made an observation. That level of pedantry probably won’t help much in her “get Steve to touch her more” crusade.

“I know,” she says instead. “But Steve, it’s not – I don’t get mad because you get involved. I love that. I think it’s…” She can feel a dull flush start to creep up her neck. “This can never leave this room, okay, but it can – it can be very hot when you go all action hero.” The flush has extended all the way up through her cheeks. Mercifully, he doesn’t comment on it, though a faint little glimmer that she hasn’t seen all day is creeping back into his gaze.

“Right back ‘atcha, Wheeler,” he returns with a trace smile, and oh! That’s flirting. That’s a good sign. “But then…why did you…?”

“React the way I did?” He tilts his head in the slightest nod. “Because I wanted you to stay with me,” she finally admits, feeling more naked in front of him now than on the night she’d given him her virginity. “The hero thing – it’s nice and all, don’t get me wrong. And sometimes it’s necessary, but I – I don’t need that. I don’t need a hero. I just…want a partner. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Nancy…” In a blink, the amused glint is gone. In its place, he looks raw, like she’s torn him down to the studs.

There’s a lick of hair curling over his ear that she’s taken to mindlessly stroking, and it’s easier to keep staring at that than look into his eyes while she gets this off her chest.

“When we got back together,” she continues on, “you made me a promise. Remember?”

“Yeah,” he replies, and his voice is achingly soft. “I promised you we’d come out of this okay.” He turns his face into her hand, lips brushing against her palm with every tingling syllable. “I meant it.”

“Yeah, but.” Nancy chews her lip. “If I can’t convince you that you matter more than how hard you swing or how many hits you can take, if you won’t stay with me so we can work together and watch each other’s backs, I don’t see how that’s possible.”

Abruptly, Steve’s standing, nudging his way deeper into her space, and the way he can tower over her a bit, dark and solid – well, Nancy fancies herself a feminist, but not so much that she’ll pretend it doesn’t make her shiver in a good way.

“Goddammit, Nancy,” he croaks, and then he’s folding her in his arms, curling tight around her body. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t – I didn’t even realize,” he mumbles into the nook of her neck and shoulder. “Shit, I am stupid.”

“You’re not,” Nancy chokes, tightening her arms around his neck like she’d wanted to earlier. He’s still wearing his jacket, and the zipper is digging painfully into the V of her collarbone, but it barely registers. She thinks it would take a literal earthquake to dislodge her right now. “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry. You weren’t even wrong, it’s just that – sometimes it’s still really hard to talk about her.”

She doesn’t need to specify who the “her” in question is. There are definitely a few tears leaking into the leather of his collar, but no one can see them, so it’s neither here nor there.

“I get it,” he says, “but I wanna talk to you about this stuff. If – if you want to. With me. I know I wasn’t there for you before but I swear I can be that guy now.”

“I know,” she gasps, because he’s holding her so tightly that it’s hard to breathe, but if the tradeoff is losing this hot–all–over feeling of his hands on her, then it’s fine, air is overrated anyway. “You are. You are that guy. I want you, I want us. I want you to believe that.”

Their bodies are so constrained in this tiny space, but there’s something wild crackling in the air, something that raises goosebumps on her arms and makes it so that one minute she’s mouthing reassurances into his jaw, and the next, he’s tilting his chin and kissing her quiet, stealing her words with one wet, electric sweep of his tongue.

Yes. She fists his hair between her fingers, soft and a little overlong, swallowing down his helpless whine as she angles his head so she can open wider under him.

This – this is why, so far, she’s barely been able to kiss him outside of the privacy of one of their rooms.

Because every time, almost as soon as it starts, they’re set ablaze, twin infernos trying to consume each other alive. It was never like this before, so she has no roadmap for how to cope, how to process the overpowering need that has her spreading her legs to draw him closer and shoving her hands under layers of leather and cotton to get at sweaty skin.

“Steve,” she whimpers into his lips, rocking her hips up in a pale facsimile of what she truly wants (but it still feels so good). “I need…”

“I know,” he groans, sucking gently at her sensitive pulse point until she’s keening quietly and grinding harder into the rigid seam of his jeans. Everything is tight, and hot, and she thinks she might vibrate right out of her own body if she can’t get what she’s craving.

The night they got back together, they’d had every good intention of taking it slow, of getting to know each other again before jumping back into the physical.

But that had lasted about as long as it took for him to get a hand under the band of her bra, and eventually he’d ended up fucking her nice and slow behind the locked door of her childhood bedroom, trailing scorching kisses from her swollen lips to the tips of her breasts until she was shaking apart into the mattress, vision white and head empty of anything that wasn’t him – his scent, his body over hers, the quivering place where he nestled inside her.

They don’t have time for that now – they hardly ever have time for that, which probably doesn’t help quell the desperate desire – so they make do, as always, with what they can.

They make do with his hips, pushing into hers again and again in easy, dirty twists, sensation blunted between two layers of jeans but still enough to have her choking back moans, nipples pebbled hard into two pinpricks of pleasure against the stiff padding of her bra. They make do with deep, messy kisses, which also muffle the needy noises they can’t contain as their bodies strain higher and higher toward a mutual peak.

They make do with hands, scratching up his back and through his chest hair. Squeezing at her ass and guiding her movements until all Nancy has to do is hang on for dear life and enjoy the ride.

When she finally crashes over the edge, it hits out of nowhere, in flashing, pulsing waves that come hard and fast until she’s digging fists into his shoulder blades and sucking on his tongue in a frantic attempt to stay silent. He’s not far behind, and when he tears himself away from her lips to bury his head in her shoulder, she can feel more than hear the deep shudder of his groan as he trembles in her arms.

Finally, they both still, slumping back against the wall in a frazzled tangle, and reality comes seeping in one mortifying realization at a time.

“We‘re…still in Hopper’s bathroom, aren’t we?” Nancy asks faintly.

“Yup.” He pops the “p” against her skin, but doesn’t look up.

“And…we’ve been in here a really long time.” Way longer than it would take to treat that cut on his head, anyway.

“Probably.”

“My brother is out there. With his girlfriend. And his friends. Our friends.”

“He sure is.”

He sounds way more cheerful than anyone about to face down a firing squad of nosy teenagers ought to be – but then again, she’s remarkably relaxed, too.

Huh. Could it be that in the end, all they really needed was to get off?

(Probably not.)

Steve finally shoves away from the wall and adjusts his pants, grimacing.

“Okay, being honest, this might not’ve been our brightest idea,” he admits.

Nancy catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror just over his shoulder. Her face is flushed, and her eyes are bright. She looks pleased. Happy.

“Probably not, but can’t argue with results,” she teases, stepping back into his space and slipping an arm around his waist, under his jacket.

He grins down at her, and he looks like such a man – handsome, and kind, and hers – that her heart skips.

They’re not kids anymore, playacting at some great love that, in the end, was mostly smoke and mirrors. If they make it out of this, like he’s promised they will, they’ll be – they’ll be basically grown ups.

This time, it’s real. Maybe even for keeps.

That should freak her out, but it doesn’t.

He presses his smile to her forehead, chaste and sweet, and slings an arm around her neck.

“Who am I to argue with the beautiful Nancy Wheeler?” he says with more than a bit of irony, and she laughs, because she wants to and he wants her to. “Ready to face the music?”

“Together?” Nancy doesn’t shield the hope in her voice. He dips his forehead to rest against hers, nudges their noses together.

“Wild demodogs couldn’t drag me away,” he says softly, sincerely, and the warm, secret feeling in Nancy’s chest – the one she’s been carrying around for months, waiting until she’s absolutely sure she has a name for it – balloons outward.

Soon, it’ll be too big for her body alone to bear. One day, it will demand to be shared, and she’ll give it freely and joyfully.

Not yet, but soon.

“Come on, then,” she says.

She tugs him forward, and he follows.

***

(normalize panicking and giving an established character an extensive home reno complete with plumbing work smack dab in the middle of an apocalypse simply because you realized that the house's canon layout was not conducive to the main pairing getting it on as you had originally written.)

#stancy #stancy fic #anon reply #prompt fill #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #my stuff #plot? never heard of her #world building? we hate it #finally writing steve and nancy Together again? chef's kiss

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