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#and everyone is all 'WHY HAS ROBIN BETRAYED US?!?'

givemewallywestorgivemedeath · 1 year

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I need everyone to know that speedsters are allergic to nanobots.

No, seriously. They're allergic to nanobots.

Speedsters have absolutely insane metabolisms, which means that they have an absolutely insane immune system. They don't get sick. Ever. Their immune system works at warp speed and takes out germs the second they enter their body. Call germs 'the Rogues' because they're getting tackled by super speedy blurs before they can even think about causing issues.

Okay, so they have a great immune system and don't get sick ever. What does this have to do with nanobots?

Great question! When nanobots are injected into a speedster's body their immune system sees them as a threat. Only problem? It doesn't matter how fast or efficient their immune system is, their body can't destroy a bunch of tiny metal robots.

Because their bodies can't fight off the nanobots they start to display typical cold/flu symptoms instead. Vomiting, fever, runny nose, coughing, being tired, ect. The nanobots aren't causing this reaction. Their own immune system causes this reaction. The fever is the bodies attempt to kill off the 'germs'. The vomiting, runny nose and coughing is the body's attempt to expel the 'germs'. They feel tired because their body is putting everything into fighting off the 'infection'.

In a normal person the nanobots wouldn't even be an issue because they'd be able to avoid detection. They can't avoid detection in a speedster body because their immune systems are dialled up to 500 out of 10.

As a result you get instances like this:

(Inertia had injected Bart with nanobots and Bart had a reaction)

Just an FYI for people because this is extremely fun and versatile information. Especially because none of the speedsters are really aware of this and it doesn't kick in right away. I could totally see a situation where a mission requires nanobot injections and mid mission the speedster goes down out of nowhere. It's also great if you want to do a stereotypical sick fic or something and want to get around that pesky speedster immunity.

Anyway, it's fun information so I thought I'd share

#anyone watch that episode of TT where all the titans are injected with nanobots that'll kill them if robin doesn't work with slade?#and everyone is all 'WHY HAS ROBIN BETRAYED US?!?'#anyway im just saying that if Wally was there he would be on the ground delirious and vomiting #which #i don't know if it makes the situation better because the team would be looking into why hes sick #or if it makes it worse because wallys out of commission #but its 10/10 either way #i just want a yj mission where tims like 'hey we are going to space so here are gps nanobots'#and then like three hours later Bart is burning up delirious and vomiting #and tim (who knows that speedsters ONLY show symptoms of sickness if they have the plague or have been poisoned or something) FREAKS OUT #throws him into quarantine. stops the mission. gets an emergency surgery room ready. has doctors on the line.#Kon goes into quarantine with him cause hes 'AN ALIEN AND CAN'T GET SICK FUCK YOU TIM'#meanwhile hes like #completely fine #he just has flu symptoms #dc #dc comics #the flash #impulse #kid flash #wally west #bart allen #barry allen #speedsters

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morally-grey-girlbosses · 7 months

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Helen Richardson image courtesy of @accidentalautomaton!

Propaganda under the cut.

Nico Robin:

She is the Devil Child. She has been defying the Government since she was 8. For 20 years she has been betraying her allies at any opportunity, including Crocodile, one of the 7 warlords of the sea. She eavesdrops and manipulates. But really she’s just trying to learn her history. The navy destroyed her home when she was 8 because her community wanted to Learn. And that’s all she wants to do. Plus the girl could never trust any crew/organization she was part of until the Strawhats. So she learned to use them to get what she needed then got out. Now the woman gets to relax and learn the Forbidden Knowledge while being the adult ‘supervision’ for a bunch of teenagers/early 20somethings. She also spent a couple years on vacation with the Revolutionary Army, looking to overthrow the corrupt World Government, and yes they do use violence. Robin also was willing to sacrifice herself for her new crew family, something she had never done before. And finally: she yanked on Franky’s …private square… to get him to join their crew (and also give him an excuse for his goodbye tears since he’s a Manly Man)

Helen Richardson/The Distortion:

Yes, she tortures and kills people, but so does everyone else, so why shouldn’t she enjoy it? She’s just as evil as the Archivist, but she’s fun and a girlboss. She just wants to have a good time, gossip, and drive people insane.

#poll #tournament poll #round 2 #nico robin #one piece #helen distortion #helen richardson #the distortion #tma #the magnus archives

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farfaras · 11 months

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Steddie week. Day 5: Established relationship. 1.3k words. Ao3 link.

@steddie-week

“Oh no! There’s no seats left! What will I ever do?” Eddie exclaims, like this was an actual problem. Going so far as to put his hand over his forehead, pretending to almost faint.

Steve is sitting on one end of the couch, Robin on the other side with Nancy in the middle. Argyle and Jonathan are sharing the loveseat next to them. They’re having a movie night at Steve’s. Surprisingly, over the course of the summer this group’s becoming closer than ever.

“Oh well, I guess there’s no other option.” Eddie shrugs.

Eddie approaches the couch, Steve opens his arms expecting Eddie to fall on his lap. That’s the only course of action that Steve sees possible. Then again, Steve doesn’t actually know what goes on Eddie’s mind all the time. He can imagine, guess or predict but at the end of the day Eddie keeps surprising him.

Instead of plopping himself on his boyfriend’s lap, Eddie goes and sits atop Nancy. What? Steve knows his face is full of confusion, he hears Robin snort. Well, excuse him for thinking his boyfriend would use this opportunity to cuddle him. That was the most logical explanation!

Eddie sits sideways and puts his arms around Nancy’s neck. Nancy doesn’t even look taken aback, she rests one hand on his leg while the other surrounds his waist. Steve sends them an incredulous look.

“Hey, Wheeler.” Eddie smiles at her. “How are you?”

“Hey yourself. I’m very good. How about you?” Nancy asks, nonchalantly.

“Better now, thanks for asking.” Is Eddie trying to bat his eyelashes?

Steve feels ignored, they’re doing this on purpose. When did they agree to this? “What the fuck?” Steve asks.

“What’s wrong, Steve?” Nancy shoots him an innocent look.

“What are you doing?”

“Well there were no other seats, so this seemed like the logical thing to do.” Eddie explains while knocking his and Nancy’s heads together.

Nancy nods. Her hand starts to move up, almost reaching Eddie’s thigh. Steve follows the movement with his eyes, frowning. “I don’t care how much progress we’ve made in our friendship, Nance. You move that hand any further and it all goes out the window.” Steve warns. They all know he’s joking, but Steve has to find a way for this to stop. He wants Eddie with him, and he doesn’t care how clingy that sounds.

Nancy makes a tsk sound, she turns to Eddie. “Are you sure you want him as your boyfriend? He seems kinda possessive.”

“Wha-! I’m right here!” Steve protests. He even crosses his arms in annoyance.

Eddie sighs. What the fuck is going on. “Is one of the things I have to live with.” He even shakes his head.

Nancy pouts. “Hmm. I wouldn’t be like that.” She nudges Eddie’s jaw with her nose. Steve doesn’t know how much longer he can put up with this. He swears he’s patient. This little game they’re playing should be over soon.

“Aw, if I could pick a lady, you know it’d be you.” Eddie uses his pointer finger to boop her nose. Nancy scrunches it and giggles. For fuck’s sake, Nancy Wheeler doesn’t giggle!

“That’s it, give him back!” Steve demands.

“Dingus, let them have their moment. You’re interrupting a precious thing.” Robin betrays him. Whatever, he’s used to that.

“He’s not your property, you know, Steve.” Nancy calmly says, as if she needs to explain it to him.

“Yeah. Dude’s his own person.” Argyle adds. Damn, Steve kinda forgot he was here.

Everyone is acting as if this was a normal occurrence. Steve wonders when they had the time to decide to mess with him.

“Why is this happening?” Steve asks, almost defeated. If this is how the night’s gonna go, he might as well know why he isn’t getting affection from his boyfriend.

“Well, Steve. Have you considered the possibility that we’re in love?” Nancy almost, almost breaks character right there. Her lips twitch but she manages to keep her face from smiling.

Steve gives them a blank stare. “You’re a lesbian.”

Eddie gasps and puts his hand on his chest.

“And you’re gay.” He directs to Eddie. It’s Nancy’s turn to gasp.

“I guess this isn’t gonna work.” Eddie simply shrugs. Nancy lets him go.

He stands up and settles on Steve’s lap, immediately kissing his cheek. Steve moves his hands to Eddie’s waist subconsciously.

“Hey, babe.” Eddie rests his head on the crook of Steve’s neck.

“You guys are ridiculous.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have introduced them to each other, Stevie.” Robin tells him and gives him a disapproving head shake.

“I didn’t!”

“I knew they would be a handful together.” Robin continues, ignoring him.

“Yeah, you should’ve thought about that.” Jonathan speaks for the first time in minutes, just to pile on to Steve’s distress.

“So today is gaslighting Steve day, huh.” His friends want him to suffer.

“Just play the movie.” Eddie suggests while playing with Steve’s hair. Damn it, Eddie knows it’s hard for him to stay mad when he does that.

So they watch the movie.

After everyone goes home, it’s just Eddie and Steve cleaning up. Steve is washing the dishes when Eddie hugs him from behind. He gives him a kiss on his cheek, then he tries to go for a kiss on the lips but Steve avoids it.

“What?” Eddie questions. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Steve disregards the question.

“Then why won’t you kiss me?” Eddie pouts, he searches for his gaze to give him his best puppy dog eyes.

“I’m washing the dishes.” Steve is aware that he’s acting like he’s angry or upset with Eddie right now. He’s not, he just figured he would get back at Eddie for earlier. He can be a little petty, sue him.

“Are you mad at me?” Eddie lets him go to rest against the counter, looking to catch Steve’s gaze.

“I don’t know. Did you do something to make me mad?” Steve’s used that phrase before, maybe it elicits a Pavlovian response in Eddie because he suddenly straightens.

Eddie seems to think it over, then he sags with what looks like relief. “Is this about the Nancy thing?”

“You tell me.”

“Baby.” Eddie drags the word, almost whining. “We were just messing around.”

Steve just nods, not giving anything away. “Sure.” He starts drying the dishes.

“You weren’t actually jealous, were you.” Eddie grabs his arm, starts shaking it. Complaining like a little kid.

“Careful, I still have to dry these.”

“Ugh. Do I have to make it up to you?” Eddie lets him go, stomps with his feet.

“Do you?” Steve finally looks at him. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll just get even.”

Eddie gulps. “Huh?”

“You heard me.”

“Please forgive me, I need attention to survive, just like Tinker Bell.” Eddie pleads.

“I don’t know…” Steve plays it up.

“What do I have to do?” They’re being dramatic, Steve knows Eddie doesn’t think this is serious. But Eddie’s known to like the theatrics.

“Maybe you need to come up with that yourself.” Steve offers. He finishes drying the dishes. He leaves them there, he’ll put them away later.

Eddie humms. He crowds Steve against the counter. “I have something in mind.” He smiles, mischievous.

Steve arches an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“Follow me.” Eddie takes his hand and leads them to the bedroom.

They’re cuddled up, on the bed. Satisfied and content. Sleep is almost taking over.

Before they fall asleep, Steve asks something that has him genuinely curious.

“Would you really pick Nancy, if you weren’t gay?”

Eddie groans and rolls his eyes. “Oh my god, don’t make this a thing.”

“I’m not! It’s just a question!” Steve isn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t any pushback.

“Go to sleep, Steve.” Eddie closes his eyes, ready to fall asleep.

“I’m just curious.” Steve tries again. Really! It’s just curiosity. Pff it’s not like he was actually jealous. That’s ridiculous.

“You’re gay too, you can answer your own question.”

“That’s different. We already tried dating once, and being repressed homosexuals wasn’t the only reason we wouldn’t work.” Steve explains.

Eddie places a kiss on his forehead. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Eddie!” He whisper-yells. Doesn’t get him an answer. He narrows his eyes at his boyfriend. “I’m watching you two.”

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dauntlessdiva · 8 months

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I'd Know Those Doe Eyes Anywhere

For @steddieholidaydrabbles warm up prompt: High School/College AU

Rating: G

CWs: Implied/Referenced Transphobia

Tags: College au, Trans Steve Harrington, Coming Out, First Kiss, Bisexual Eddie Munson, Halloween Parties

~♡~

Stevie had taken a few necessary years between high school graduation to finally starting her college education.

She used that time to save up some money through her minimum wage customer service jobs that she worked alongside her best friend and platonic soulmate, Robin Buckley.

With the money she squirrelled away in a savings account combined with the trust left to her by her grandparents, she finally moved out of Hawkins and into a small apartment in Indianapolis. With Robin as her roommate, obviously.

Now out from under her parents' thumbs, away from the watchful gaze that followed her everywhere in places where everyone knew each other, Stevie felt free to finally be herself in the anonymity of the big city.

And now that she'd fully made the social transition, and with her physical transition was under way, she felt that it was finally time to return to the world of academia. For better or for worse.

What she was not expecting was to run into an all too familiar face. Stevie couldn't recall exactly when Eddie Munson finally graduated from Hawkins High, but clearly he must have, or he wouldn't be squinting at her from the back of the class every Monday morning.

It would unnerve her if she thought he recognized her, but between the 'hot girl makeover' (Robin's words) and the fact that she'd changed her last name to her grandmother's name, she was fairly confident that he didn't know who Stevie Evelyn Marie even was.

Eddie didn't know what it was about that Stevie girl in his English class, but he showed up to his classes on Monday more often than any others before 12pm through the rest of the week.

Regardless of what was nagging at the back of his mind about her, Stevie was pretty. He still tended to lean more towards men than women, but he had eyes, and Stevie was easy to look at. She was shy and soft spoken, but she seemed to know the curriculum well and answered every question asked of her thoroughly and thoughtfully, but worded it in a way that even the dumbest of jocks could understand.

The thought of jocks had Steve Harrington coming to mind, and holy shit that's what it was! She looked like the spitting image of King Steve. If The Hair was a girl, he'd be Stevie Marie. But what if? No, it couldn't be. Unless? Steve did, famously, skip town with Robin Buckley of all people, and has yet to make a reappearance. Was this why? Not that he could blame them for leaving either way, Hawkins was a hell hole that he'd been more than happy to leave in his rear view.

Stevie hadn't planned on coming to the campus halloween, but now that she was here, she didn't want to be anywhere else. With Robin as her plus one, she felt confident enough to flirt with a few of her classmates, even going so far as to wink when she'd made eye contact with Eddie from across the room.

The next moment he was standing beside her, and just like that they were laughing and chatting like old school friends catching up and talking with a familiarity hitherto unknown (yes, hitherto, Stevie knew her vocab words).

So of course with everything going so well, Stevie's brain had to betray her. She could see Eddie lean in to kiss her and before she could think about it she was pushing him away with a muttered 'sorry' and rushing off to the nearest bathroom.

"Stevie? Are you in there?" Eddie called out before cautiously stepping into the communal bathroom. "Stevie, if this is about what I think it is, then you should know that I don't care what gender you are." Oh god, Eddie knew! How did he know? He knew he should've picked a different first name, damn Robin for reassuring him that Stevie was fine. "But if this is about something else then you need to tell me, okay? I can't fix it if I don't know what I did wrong."

That finally broke through the panic spiral. "Re-really?" She spoke hesitantly, unlocking the door and poking her head out from the stall she'd run to. Eddie's worried face greeted her in the main area of the bathroom near the sinks. "D'you really mean it? About the-" she paused to take a breath- "the gender thing?"

Eddie's face softened instantly, cautiously walking forwards as he spoke, "yeah, baby. I'd know those doe eyes anywhere, on the face of the sporty boy who made me face my own bisexuality, or the kindest and most well spoken young woman in the whole damn college."

"You recognized me by my eyes?" Stevie asked, leaning in to the touch as Eddie's hands came out to hold her face.

"How else would I recognize such beauty, darling?" He asked, a kind smile gracing his face. Stevie wanted to kiss that sweet smile right off his handsome face, and before she knew what she was doing, she'd pulled him in to do just that.

"Finally!" Robin called out, startling the pair out of their kiss, both turning to look at her before they all burst out in laughter.

Yeah, Stevie was glad she decided to wait a while before entering college.

#steddieholidaydrabbles #college au #stranger things fanfic #steddie fanfic #trans steve harrington #my writing #shut up mars

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digenerate-trash · 14 days

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Yoo some Apocolypse sydney faction ideas!

• The reason sydneys faction is so important is because of the books and clothes! The schools water system is too old to rely on electricity, so it's basically an unlimited but controlled recourse. But it didn't take long for the electricity to go out, removing the schools lighting and heating/ac entirely. Thanks to windows being dangerous, places with lots of them are considered either dangerous or are covered up so that the turrets aren't alerted. That leaves everywhere really dark (how rogue kylar lives. Bitch can see in the dark and sleeps in lockers) and very cold at night. That's where sydney comes in- before the apocalypse, he already had the keys to the school and the library due to coming in and leaving late to open and close it, and he keeps them extremely close. His books and even his clothes are used as tinder for both lighting and heat, which is essential, although he is extremely stingy- he chooses what books are allowed to be burned, and his lambs are punished if they burn books friviously, and he also drives a hard bargain. His main import is water- one full bucket in exchange for 3 books, and a 3 days rations for clothes. People mostly use clothes as replacements if theirs are too damaged (they usually pay robin a ration of water to mend clothes, but sometimes they are unable to.) And as mostly bedding these days, due to how limited the resource is.

• The library itself is locked at almost all times, making it impenetrable. It's very dark, and almost fully silent. People sleep on clothing beds between the library's aisles, and sydney's quarters are behind his counter, where he has his chair covered with clothes as a bed and the under counter where he keeps his favorite books. The changing room is mostly storage, but also where he punishes his straying flock.

• Sydney is extremely strict with his sheep, and keeps his group extremely small and close. You have to prove to him you belong, and if you mess up, he punishes you in the churchly fashion- pain. Fire is the only good method for it. If you act out minorly, he puts the fire close to your skin and let's it redden and become painful, but if you steal or betray him.. you are burnt and cast out into the rest of the School with a brand. It's why it's so hard to get spies into his faction- hard to tolerate without the proper conditioning that his loyal flock receives. You get bedding and good food and water, but you have to lose your individuality- you have to follow every rule- you have to lose all contact with the outside population. While most students outside of this faction have given up on staying clean, Sydney demands it- it's why he trades for so much water. All of his children and himself are as clean as possible given the circumstances- hair brushed, washed and combed through in the bucket, and bodies washed of any blood or grime. If you try and sequestered water or stay unwashed, you are punished. Yes I like giving them a god complex </33

• When you're sent out to trade with the rest of the School, you are not allowed to speak. A piece of paper covers your face with the resource you're trading, and it's impossible to tell who you are. It's both isolating and it keeps you safe- Whitney can't target you personally when all of you look the same, when they can't even hear your voice. They also have a dress code- plain grey School Cardigan, and long black school skirt/pants. All in the name of avoiding vanity and keeping safe and anonymous for Sydney.

I imagine being sydneys favorite sheep in the herd would be rather suffocating> :3c

- Dolbog! (Will be making ocs for this au)

OMG EVERYONE FUCKING LOOK

I gotta say I love it when yall contribute to my whack ideas-

Sydney facing into his deepest religious teachings to keep himself safe crating structure for his faction as well as making a system that ensures he's safe as well.

Also sydney making sure that paper over the face to hide identities is smart.

Plus you know that if you're sydneys favourite little lamb you're kept so far away from the rest of the rifraff.

#forgotten au #sydney the faithful #i was gonna originaly have them as a cannibal cult. digging into that darkest aspect #but i also like the idea of sydney being into branding

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youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms · 4 months

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I Was Thinking You Could Be Trusted

Words: 671

Warnings: betrayal kinda?, probably poor writing and OOC characters but whatever

DC Masterlist Main Masterlist 1989 (TV) Event Masterlist Join My Taglist

Y/N was Batgirl as Jason was Robin, Y/N is now their own vigilante "Red Bird" as Jason is Red Hood

I was thinking about how to write this when I remembered that originally, what happened with Jason had his mom involved, I don't exactly remember it so I kinda used that basis of it and went from there

This is the "Bad Blood" part of my 1989 event!

Anywho, enjoy

Love Z <3

Y/N stood on the building across from him, staring in his direction. She couldn't believe it. Dick had to be wrong. There was no way that he could be Jason. No way that this...vengeful, new crime boss, could ever be the sweet kid she had been friends with 5 years ago.

Of course, she still could hear what he had told her all of those years ago. Those words that still stung from when he told her that he hated her because she was preventing him from finding him mom.

All that she had done was warn him that maybe his mother wasn't all that she appeared to be.

And she had been right.

She jumped when she heard the sound of boots hitting the ground by her. Her hand instantly fell to her taser gun, something that had been her signature when she was Batgirl and had stayed as she rebranded herself to Red Bird.

"Seems like you're still angry at me."

She turned, air catching in her throat before whispering out. "Jason."

He looked different now. His pure black hair now had a white streak in it and his blue eyes had turned green. The goofy smile on his face had turned to a small smirk.

He looked so much like the friend she had just as he looked like a completely different person.

"Batgirl, or should I say Red Bird?"

"H-how?" She stuttered, unsure of how this was even happening.

"How what? How am I alive? Or how about, how could you, just like Bruce and Dick and Barbara, allow for the Joker to live after what he did?! To Barbara?!"

As the words left his mouth, something snapped inside of her. "Are you seriously going to throw this all back to be my fault?!" She looked at him angrily, "I begged you not to go! Not to follow your mother because I didn't trust her! You didn't believe me, even after I showed you that you couldn't trust her! If it's anyone's fault that the Joker killed you, it's yours!"

She watched as his face faltered as the words fell from her mouth before hardening into an angry expression. "I thought that you would understand! You always did! You always had my back, why not now?!"

"Because you never trusted me, Jason?!" She yelled back, tears brimming her eyes, "You never trusted me when you needed to and it got you killed!"

"I thought that you would have forgiven me for that. After all, I forgave you for leaving me to rot after you ran after your stupid little boyfriend who ended up betraying you."

She stared at him with betrayal in her eyes. One of the first things they had done together. One of her biggest regrets, being unable to see who was really her enemy versus who was a friend.

"I was younger. Impressionable. I thought I could trust him." She muttered out, "But that still never gave you the right to never trust me afterwards."

He shrugged, "You're right, but at least I had a reason. Unlike you."

"Jason...Dick told me what you did, I...I've heard the rumors about what you--Red Hood--has done! You've killed--!"

"And so have you!"

"Not on purpose!" She exclaimed, "And I regretted it! Why else do you think that I'm trying to become a doctor! I want to right my wrongs, Jason! All that you want to do is spread your anger and frustration for Bruce out onto everyone else!"

"I thought you were my friend!"

"And I thought you were mine!" She put her domino masked that she had discarded back on. "But I don't think I can be friends with someone who obviously doesn't know what he wants and is so misguided on who he is anymore."

She turned and ran off of the building, falling for a moment before grappling away to the next one. She couldn't believe that for a moment she thought that the old Jason was still in there.

#jason #todd #jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #red #hood #red hood #red hood x reader #red hood imagine #dc #dc x reader #dc imagine #x reader #imagine #z's 1989 event

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havecourage-darling · 2 years

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Lucky Number Seven

blue-serendipity asked: Hello you :) To say i fell in love with the way you write Eddie is a total understatement! Idk if you have your requests open but i thought to just try my luck. Was thinking of Eddie X Reader where the reader has similar powers to Eleven and knows the whole Hawkins gang from before Season 4 ? She (or GN Reader) is also quite Eddie's age, maybe 1-2 y older. If you ever have time for this, you would make a tiny fan from far away mega happy! Anyhow, lots of love and can'T wait for more stories^^

A/N: You might have been looking for something a little more romantic lol but I already had most of this written and on the backburner while finishing the Firsts series. It's barely proof read so excuse any inconsistencies or typos. Additionally, I had a POC reader in mind when writing this, but should read easily. Hope you like it! xo

(also, if anyone has any burning requests...I'm happy to try my hand at any!)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Female Adopted!Hopper Reader

wc: ~6.8k

warnings: cursing, S4 V1 spoilers

Masterlist || AO3 link

You knew you should’ve gone to California with your sister.

Hawkins was never going to let you out of its grip. Eleven knew that, Joyce knew that, that’s why they left this haunted town. But now it was too late. You were here and you were the only thing left that could help your friends. Your family. You were a Hopper now. Hoppers didn’t run from danger.

“I’m setting up base of operations here,” Dustin said, and you glared at him.

“I spent all morning organizing those tapes,” you said. Dustin waved a hand, your usually affective glare never worked on him. From the moment you’d met him when he’d found you and Eleven in the woods, he’d never been afraid.

“I need to find Eddie’s friends phone numbers,” Dustin said to Steve.

You glanced at Robin who shrugged and sighed as she picked up the tapes he’d knocked over. Eddie? Who was Eddie?

“Your new best friend who you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?” Steve asked, his tone betraying his jealousy.

Hiding a smile, Robin bumped her elbow with yours as she handed you the tapes.

“I never said that!” Dustin argued. “Besides, Sev is the coolest out of all of you.”

Steve shot him an indignant look and you punched Steve in the shoulder. “I am cooler than all of you,” you said.

Max nodded. “That’s true, Lucky is above you all.”

“What, just because she has superpowers?” Steve hissed. “Not all of us can be that cool.”

“So, you admit, I’m cool?” You said, smiling when he shot you a look.

You don’t remember when everyone had started calling you Lucky but you think it was around the time Eleven had been shortened to El. She still called you Seven and you still called her Eleven. The ink on your wrists made sure you’d never escape it, so why bother trying?

“Saturday is our busiest day,” Robin snapped, organizing the paperwork that had gone flying.

“This cannot wait!” Dustin half shouted and you hid your grin. You would deny it, but Dustin had always been your favorite. Well, and Will – you’d already been out to visit once and the two of you had been attached at the hip. He never thought you spoke too little and he never minded when he needed to explain things you didn’t understand to you.

“Do you want to strangle him or should I?” Steve asked.

“Lucky could dangle him in the air maybe?” Robin said. “That would teach them.”

You grinned at that, imagining Dustin’s outraged expression as you lifted him into the air.

“Don’t you dare,” Dustin said, not looking away from the computer. “You shouldn’t waste energy like that.”

And like that, the smile dropped from your expression.

“Dude,” Steve hissed. “Too far.”

Max’s expression turned sympathetic and you whirled away from them. You should’ve made peace with it already – Eleven seemed to and she’d completely lost her powers. After Starcourt, and the Mind Flayer, your powers had weakened and dwindled to a fraction of what they had once been.

You’d been practicing over the winter and had gotten better. Slowly. Painfully slowly. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas had taken to holding practice in the woods by your cabin after school. Steve and Robin showed up half the time, to supervise they’d say. You knew Steve was just worried you’d be pushing yourself too far.

“Sorry,” Dustin said, finally breaking his gaze with the screen and offering up his fist. “Too far.”

Bumping his fist, you accepted his apology. “What are you two doing here anyway?”

Max and Dustin exchanged looks. Oh no. The knot in your chest tightened even further.

As you watched Dustin lead you all towards the boat house behind this stranger’s house, you felt Steve tug at your wrist.

“Are you okay?” He asked, eyes darting around the dark woods.

“I’m fine,” you said, smiling at him. Steve, Robin, and you had become a lot closer after working together at Scoops Ahoy. It was your dad that had suggested you get a job and make friends that summer. When he’d adopted you and Eleven – his ‘nieces’ – you knew the town had a harder time with you. You didn’t look like they did. You didn’t blend as easily. You didn’t fit in as well as Eleven did, which was saying something. Your friends knew it, everyone did really, and without Jim or Eleven…your friends made you feel a little less alone.

“Don’t worry, it might be nothing,” Robin said, coming up to your other side.

“Or he might be just a regular murderer!” Steve said.

Dustin whirled around and glared at you three. “He’s not a killer!”

“I don’t know him,” you clarified, and you didn’t. You had managed to take to school a lot better than Eleven and were able to graduate within two years. You hoped she was having a good time with Mike’s visit. She had been hoping that you’d visit but, you didn’t want to spend too much of the money Hopper had left you both. You wanted Eleven to go to college, to have a normal life. You could wait until she was set.

The door creaked open and you pushed Dustin and Max behind you. “Stay close,” you said to them, voice not leaving room for arguments.

“He’s not a killer,” Dustin insisted.

“I don’t care if he’s goddamn Mother Theresa, listen to her,” Steve hissed at them. Max stayed close to your side, her eyes darting across the smaller room.

You watched Steve grab an oar and begin stabbing at the boats. Dustin and Steve started squabbling and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.

“I know you think it’s funny but considering that everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times,” Steve said, hand on his hip, “personally, I think it’s just good sense. Besides, we’re trying to conserve her energy, remember?”

Crossing your arms, you nodded. Steve was right, in Hawkins, caution was always best.

Dustin opened his mouth when the tarp flew off the boat and a man with a broken bottle in his hand jumped towards Steve. Instinctively, you shoved Max and Robin behind you. A hand grabbed the back of your jacket tightly in their fists and your hand was already reaching for Dustin.

“Eddie! Eddie! Stop!” Dustin screamed, his hands up. “It’s me! It’s Dustin! This is Steve!”

When there was no recognition in his eyes, you lifted your hand. Eddie’s eyes went to you and Dustin’s panic elevated.

“Wait, wait, Luck – don’t. Give me a second!”

His words fell away at the sight of the glass pressed against Steve’s throat. His eyes were lit with fear and the need to protect the last of your family surged within you.

“Dustin,” you said, words pried from your throat.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, everyone calm the fuck down!” Dustin shouted. “This is Steve, he’s not going to hurt you, right Steve?”

“Right, right,” Steve said, voice strangled.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?”

At the loud sound of the oar dropping, Eddie pressed the bottle more firmly to Steve’s throat and you had had enough.

“No more,” you said, and Eddie’s eyes darted back to you. Reaching within, you grasped at the smaller, but still powerful, embers in your chest. They lit up, responsive, and you concentrated on removing the threat.

“Luck – wait – no, shit! Robin!”

Before anyone could touch you, you lifted Eddie into the air and tossed him to the other side of the room. He landed with a thud and you ran to Steve. Planting yourself in front of him, Steve’s hand came up to your back.

“Hey, I’m okay, I’m okay,” Steve murmured, squeezing your shoulder. “It’s okay. Dustin, go check on Eddie.”

Dustin scampered over to Eddie and you watched as the man in question bounced up to his feet. “What. The. Fuck. Was. That!”

“That was…um, that was,” Dustin scrambled, looking a little panicked, “I – she’s-”

You watched Eddie tremble and a faint bell rang in the back of your head. You’d seen him before – you recognized him. He sat at the loud table at school – Nancy had pointed him out to you a few times when he was shouting in the cafeteria. His usual smug look was gone and he looked…scared, of you. You didn’t like that.

“I’m Lucky,” you said, stepping forward slowly, hands up. “I’m Chief Hopper’s daughter.”

Eddie’s brown eyes darted to you and he took a step back, stumbling into Dustin.

“She’s cool, Eddie, I swear she’s cool,” Dustin rambled, “you just scared her. She’s a little…protective.”

“She just lifted me into the fucking air man,” Eddie’s voice shook.

Chewing on your cheek, you knew there was no way to talk yourselves out of that one.

“How about we all explain what we know…you first…” Robin said, walking slowly to them, “we just want to know what happened.”

“You won’t believe me,” Eddie said, eyes still on you. Tilting your head, you realized he looked panicked but not scared of you, not anymore. That was new. Everyone always looked a little scared of you – both of you – at first.

“Try us,” Max said.

“You’re gonna scare him,” you said to Dustin, tone unapproving.

“Why would I scare him?” Dustin asked, forging ahead with the bags in his hands. You narrowed your eyes and Robin huffed a laugh.

“Scaring people is not nice,” you said to Steve who nodded solemnly. You elbowed him and he cracked a smile.

“It’s fun,” Robin said, watching as Dustin kicked the door open and Eddie’s loud Jesus Christ made Steve laugh.

Walking in after them, you felt a little apologetic when handing Eddie the cereal you’d picked out. Instead of mistrust, you saw his eyes light up as he reached for it eagerly. Your hands brushed as he took it from you, both of you freezing at the contact. His eyes met yours and you furrowed your brows. What was that? Why did that feel like you’d been shocked?

Trying to look normal, like always, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and moved towards Steve. You watched his face fall as Dustin explained to him what you’d all figured out.

“Hunt the freak right?” Eddie said, voice angry.

“You’re not a freak,” you said, despite not really knowing much about him. You didn’t like that word. Everyone looked over at you, surprised, and you shied away into Steve’s shoulder. Eddie’s mouth curved up before turning back to Dustin.

“We are down a few members,” Steve admitted, scratching at his face, his other arm coming around you. “We usually rely on El and Luck, to be fair.”

Dustin nodded.

“Who’s El?” Eddie asked, eyes darting between you all.

“My sister,” you said, your fingers dancing across the numbers on your wrist. “She’s my sister.”

Eddie’s brows raised. “And does she have the force also?”

“I don’t get that one,” you whispered to Steve who smiled almost instantly. You turned to Dustin who sighed.

“Star Wars, remember, I showed you the movies?”

You shook your head and turned to Eddie. “I don’t know a lot of things,” you said, clarifying. Eleven always felt embarrassed by both of your lack of knowledge – she had thrown herself into magazines and Max had helped her along the way. You, however, didn’t mind so much. Usually someone was happy to explain it to you.

“What she means is, she doesn’t know pop culture,” Steve said, looking a little defensive at Eddie’s snort. “She’s not dumb. She graduated with a 3.5 GPA,” he said, looking proud and you smiled. Nancy had practically lived at your house – tutoring you.

Dustin sighed. “The point is, yes, they both have the force.”

“That’s cool,” Eddie said, eyes still on you. Usually, it made you uncomfortable when people stared – and they always did. His was okay. It felt…nice? “Where exactly did they get the force from?”

“We went over this yesterday,” Robin reminded him.

“They were experimented on, in the lab, remember?” Dustin said quietly.

You didn’t know why everyone felt so weird about it. Whether bad or good, it was still the truth. Eleven and you had come to the conclusion that it made people uncomfortable to think of what you’d both gone through. They weren’t necessarily bad memories, not all of them.

Eddie’s eyes traveled up to yours and you smiled, trying to seem less intimidating. His returning grin was wide, and made your stomach flip.

You all heard the sirens at the same time and whirled into action.

“Tarp, tarp!”

Darting to the window, you saw the patrol cars zoom past Rick’s house.

“They’re going somewhere in a hurry,” Steve said, already reaching for his keys.

“Let’s follow them,” Max said, grabbing her backpack. You walked back to the boat, slowly peeling back the tarp and nodded down at Eddie.

“They’re not coming here,” you said quietly, giving him room to sit up. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His eyes darkened, his hands clutching at the cereal box. “Thanks, Hopper.”

You smiled at the sound of your last name. It still never ceased to bring you a bittersweet feeling. If you lived long enough, you wanted to do something good with your life. So his name would still live on. Lucas once said you’d make a good lawyer.

“Luck, let’s go,” Max said, beckoning your forward. You glanced at Eddie before shaking your head.

“You guys go check it out and come back for me, okay? I’ll stay here with Eddie.” Robin and Max nodded, both of them already heading out for the car. Dustin hesitated at the door, eyes tracking you both.

Steve, however, protested. “Absolutely not, what if someone comes by?” Steve said, hands on his hips.

“That’s why I’ll be here,” you said, looking up at him. “To keep him safe.”

“I meant for you,” Steve said, hand coming up to your shoulder, “you don’t have as much juice anymore. What if someone sees you with him? You’ll be added onto their list. It’s too risky – no offense Munson.”

“None taken!”

Steve’s worry felt familiar, he always worried for you. Dustin usually did too – a little more subtly than Steve.

“I killed a demogorgon,” you reminded him, “I helped close the gate. No one is scarier than the Mind Flayer. I’ll be okay. I’ll have the radio. You can call me if you’re worried.”

“Luck-”

“Steve, she’s decided. Besides, it’ll probably be safter for both of them here. Come on,” Dustin said, shooting you a look before jogging out the door.

“I’ll be back, okay? If you need me, come find me. Seriously.”

You hugged Steve tightly and shook your head. “If you need me, let me know. I’m still the strongest one.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, squeezing you. With one last glance, Steve disappeared out the door.

“You two are sweet,” Eddie’s voice was teasing. You turned around to look at him and felt confused. Steve could be sweet but he could also be annoying.

“I guess?” You said, not sure what the right answer was.

“I didn’t know you two were dating,” Eddie said, kicking his feet up onto the edge of the boat. “Didn’t keep up with Harrington when we were in school.”

“I’m not dating Steve,” you said, disgust in your voice evident. “He’s like…he’s like…” you tried to search for the right word.

“Was on the varsity basketball team? On the swim team? Everyone’s type?”

“…my brother,” you said, grinning when you found the right word, “he’s like my brother.”

Eddie’s expression stilled before laughing. “Okay, that’s not what I was expecting,” Eddie said, shaking his head.

“It’s like Jonathan and El,” you said, nodding as the words came to you. “Jonathan Byers?”

“Yeah, I know him,” Eddie said.

“Jonathan and El are like Steve and me,” you said, proud of yourself. “You know?”

“Not really,” Eddie laughed lightly again, he had a nice laugh, you thought, “but I get the gist of it.”

Smiling, you sat onto the floor, with your back against the door. “I don’t think anyone wants to date a freak,” you said, pointing at yourself.

Eddie’s brows rose. “A freak?”

“Did you think you were the only one?” You asked. “This town doesn’t like me either.”

Something flashed across Eddie’s face, too quick for you to read.

“Then they’re idiots because I already like you and you’ve thrown me across the room with your mind. I’ve only known you for like, a day.”

Flustered, you didn’t know where to look and settled on your hands. “Thanks.”

“Why did you stay?” He asked.

“What?”

“Your sister, El, she left with the Byers, right?”

You nodded.

“Why did you stay if this town is cursed?”

Robin had asked you that the day after El had left. She’d found you crying in your cabin, alone.

“Because it is cursed. This is where I was born,” you said, “this is where my dad lived. I don’t know anywhere else. El…needed to leave. The bad memories stayed with her. I don’t want to run from them, I have spent too much time running.”

“That is…incredibly insightful and sad.”

You laughed. “I’ll leave one day. Maybe New York City?”

“I’ve heard it’s pretty cool there, great music scene,” he said, coming over to sit by you. At your look, he grinned. “I can hear you better from here.”

His shoulder pressed into yours and you suppressed the smile building at the contact.

“Alright then, Hopper, let’s play twenty questions.”

“Is that…what happened to Chrissy?” You asked quietly. Your mind replayed the sound of Patrick’s bones snapping.

Your emotions were all over the place. The adrenaline was wearing off and you felt exhausted.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Eddie muttered, trying to start the engine.

“Eddie!” You screamed.

“I’m trying!”

You watched Patrick and Jason’s bodies getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Patrick disappeared.

“Wait,” you said, “where’d he go? Where’d the other one go?”

Eddie turned to glance at the water and he stilled. “Oh no.”

The lights from the boathouse flickered and Eddie groaned.

“It’s happening again,” he mumbled, hand coming to your leg. Your eyes stayed on the water, ready to act, when his body was flung into the air. Surprised, you stumbled back, landing hard on your hip.

“What’s happening? Eddie, what is that!”

“Fuck it, come on,” he said, pulling you into the water. You swallowed a mouthful of water, not ready, and felt Eddie pull you towards the shore.

“I can help him!” You said, looking around for what was hurting him. “I don’t see anyone!”

“There isn’t anyone,” Eddie reminded you, “he’s in the upside down!”

Once you felt dirt beneath your feet you whirled around at the sound of breaking bones. “Eddie!”

“Don’t look, don’t look,” he insisted, pulling you to him.

Your heart broke as you heard his body hit the water.

“We have to go, Hopper – come on.”

“Hey,” Eddie said, “you’re shivering.”

You were. Your entire body was soaking wet and the night air had cooled off enough to make you feel like you were inside a freezer.

“Here,” he said, pulling his jacket over your shoulders. Eddie’s scent immediately filled your sense, the jacket chasing the chill away.

“Thank you,” you said quietly.

“Is that…what you’d dealt with before?”

Shaking your head, you closed your eyes, trying to forget the sight. “No…I could always fight something before. This time…it was invisible. I’ve never been helpless like that.”

“Hey, you couldn’t have helped,” Eddie said, sitting down next to you, “nothing could’ve helped him.”

You frowned, shaking your head, and feeling despair in every atom of your body. Leaning into his warmth, you couldn’t help but tuck your face into his chest. His arms came around you, one hand rubbing your back.

“You did everything you could,” he said, stern. “This is not your fault. You’re not fucking invincible. You’re not a superhero.”

Shoulders dropping a little, Eddie pulled you into the space between his legs. You glanced up at him, surprised, and he smiled. “Trust me?”

You nodded without hesitation and he huffed a laugh.

“Lean back,” he instructed. You pressed your back to his chest and he laid his head against the rock behind him. “I’ll take the first watch, try to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep,” you protested, “what if someone finds us?”

“Then I’ll wake you up,” he promised, “look, it’s almost – shit, my watch broke. Well, it’s probably one in the morning at this point. We’ll try to find the others the second the sun is up and we’re not fumbling blindly in the dark. You look ready to fall over. You said you trust me.”

You narrowed your gaze. “Friends don’t lie,” you told him.

“Friends don’t lie,” he echoed, pulling you back into his chest.

“Thank you,” you said, after a beat, “for pulling me to shore.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you there, you were freaking out,” he said, his breath fanned over your ear, making you shiver. “Still cold?”

“No,” you said, burrowing into the collar of his jacket. “I’m good.”

“Luck?” Steve shouted. You sat up, excited to hear your friends. You’d both barely slept as the sun rose. You’d both managed to steal a walkie from a nearby policeman and notify the others of where you were.

“Steve!” You shouted back.

Despite your eagerness, Eddie planted himself between you and the direction of the footsteps.

“It’s them,” you told him, placing a hand on his arm.

“I know,” he said, still suspicious. His expression caused your stomach to flip. You could break someone’s arm without much strain and he was worried about you.

Within seconds, you saw Dustin’s relieved face. “Here they are!”

“Holy shit, I was fucking worried,” Steve said, running towards you and all but swinging you in the air. “What happened?”

Eddie launched into the explanation, words frantic and fast.

“When we got to shore, we tried to call you guys but the walkie was dead man,” Eddie took the water canister from Dustin and opened it. Handing it to you gently, you felt his eyes on you as you drank from it. With shaking hands, you handed it back to him. He eyed you a bit before taking a sip.

Pulling Eddie’s leather jacket around you tightly, you shivered. You’d never seen anything like that…the way his body had snapped. Eleven mentioned it once, a long, long time ago when you were both a lot younger. You’d been taken out the lab for a test in a town over after…after Eight had escaped Papa wanted to test your powers – to see if he could control them easier.

When you’d come back, everyone was gone. Everyone except Eleven. Papa told you not to ask any questions and that it was important you stayed safe. He kept you and Eleven closer after that.

“That wasn’t normal,” you said to them, “what happened to that boy…that was…that-”

Eddie pulled you into his arms and you fought off the memories that flooded your mind. You weren’t in the lab anymore. Papa was dead. He couldn’t hurt you. El was safe. You were safe. It was okay.

“We’re good, okay?” Eddie said quietly. “We’re okay.”

Taking a deep breath, the way Hopper had taught you, you counted up to ten.

One, two, three, four…

After a few deep breaths, you stood up again. Shaking your arms out you nodded to your worried friends. “I’m okay – I’m okay now.”

You half-heartedly listened to them talk about how to kill Vecna and what your next move should be while you kept an eye on the trees around you.

“Wait, maybe…we sneak into his lair and she can end him, right?” Lucas said, motioning to you.

Wanting to feel useful, you nodded. “I can help, when do we go? How do I get to him? Maybe the house?” You wanted this threat gone. Nothing could come over to this world – not after it had threatened Max. If it got Hawkins and El found out – she’d come home. If she came home, she’d be in danger. You couldn’t risk her. Not any one of your friends.

“No!” Steve and Eddie said at the same time.

Everyone looked to the two of them with varying degrees of surprise.

“Why not?” You asked, crossing your arms. “I’m the best option.”

“Well, for one, you and El never fought separately. You usually used both your powers,” Steve said.

“And it’s too dangerous,” Eddie added.

“Your powers aren’t what they used to be,” Max said.

You frowned and motioned to where you were standing. “Look around, there’s nothing else coming to help us. We don’t have any other options. It has to be me.”

“No,” Eddie said again, standing up and crossing over to you. “You haven’t slept in days, you barely ate anything, and you swallowed like a liter of lake water when we swam out the lake. It’s too risky.”

Exasperated, you turned to Steve who shook his head. “I’m with Munson on this.”

“Dustin!” You shouted, wanting back up. He ignored your cry and raised his arm.

“Boom! Bada, bada, boom. I was right!”

“No way,” you said, stepping forward to keep Dustin from getting on. “You stay with Max and Lucas. Keep them safe.”

“What! That’s not fair, it’s my goddamn theory,” Dustin complained.

“You heard her,” Robin said, hand reaching for his compass.

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin said.

“I did,” Robin said.

You crossed your arms. “Plus, I’m the strongest,” you said again, “do I need to remind you guys how many times I’ve saved your asses?”

Eddie snorted, sitting down and grabbing an oar.

Steve pushed the boat off into the water and climbed in at the last second. “Hey!” Dustin screeched.

“Holy shit, can he get any louder?” Robin groaned as she pulled the oar.

Eddie smiled at you, brows raised and you rolled your eyes – hiding your smile as you turned around. How had you spent the last twenty-four hours with a practical stranger and now you felt connected to him in a way you’d never felt before. The way his eyes stayed on you made you wonder if he felt it too.

The boat reached the middle of the lake quickly and Robin pulled you all to a stop. Glancing at the compass, you realized you must be on top of it now. Without a word, Steve started to pull at his shoes and you straightened.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“It has to be me,” he said.

“Absolutely not,” you said, standing up, “I’ll go.”

“You barely know how to swim,” Steve said.

“You taught me!”

“Yeah, barely,” he snorted, “you almost drowned us both at the pool last summer. Remember?”

“I did not,” you huffed, “what if there’s something down there?”

“Luck, Steve’s got this,” Robin said, tugging you.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, dragging out the word, “I vote for Harrington.”

“Of course, you do,” Steve said, snorting. “At least I know you’ll try to keep her safe.”

Confused, you tried to argue when you realized Eddie was turning red. Annoyed, you crossed your arms and sat with your back to Steve until he tossed his shirt at your head.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll be right back,” Steve said, hand squeezing your bicep as you scowled. Without another word, he bent his knees and dove into the water.

Eddie’s hands came up to you as the boat wobbled precariously. “He’ll be fine,” he said, plucking a cigarette into his mouth.

“Gross,” Robin said, grabbing it from his mouth and snapping in half.

“Hey!”

“She hates it,” Robin said, nodding at you. You had. Hopper had quit a few months into you living with him. The smell always reminded you of the bad man with the electric stick. Eddie immediately dropped the pack onto the boat. Eyes on the water, you tried to ignore them both.

“Nancy,” you said, practically ready to dive in after him.

“One minute,” she said, peering over the edge with you.

“Everyone calm the hell down, he’s fine,” Eddie said, hand gripping your – his – jacket so you wouldn’t fall in.

A second later, Steve gasped and splashed water on the other side. Almost tipping the boat in your rush, you placed your hand over his. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I found it, I found the gate,” he said, gulping air down. “It’s more a snack size gate than a mama gate but still, it’s pretty damn big.”

Your chest tightened. Not again. You’d closed the gate, hadn’t you? You and El? And Hopper. After Starcourt this was all suppose to be over. That was the reward after the price you paid. This was over.

Pulled from your memory, you watched Steve get pulled under again. Your grip on his hand had him surge up. Confused, you both looked at each other before he was ripped from your grasp.

“Steve!” You screamed, panicking.

“What the hell was that?” Eddie shouted.

Robin and Nancy shifted, rocking the boat precariously. Your mind was running a million miles a minute and you knew Steve didn’t have much. Whatever pulled him under was probably pulling him through the gate.

Without thinking twice, you stood and felt a hand wrap tighter around your jacket. “No, you can’t – you can’t go in there.”

“Stay here,” you said, slipping out the jacket - and his grasp - and dove into the cold water. Kicking hard, you found yourself slipping through the gate quickly. Gravity quickly took hold of you and slammed you into a rough floor.

Blubbering, you tried to cough out the water from your chest when you heard Steve screaming. “Steve!” You shouted, trying to find him. The ground was cracking, the sky dark and ominous. Every hair on your body stood and you ignored it all until you saw Steve fall to the floor.

“I’m coming!” You screamed, running towards him. As you ran, you reached for the energy inside you, bending it to your will. Before, you would’ve been able to dispatch all three of them but you could only barely control two. Aiming for the one wrapped around his neck you pulled at the thread you could see in your mind.

Seconds later, it exploded. The blood splattered and Steve gasped for air. The ones on his side screeched, aiming for you and you panicked. Closing your eyes, you frantically aimed for the closest and it split in half. The other slammed into your chest and you went down.

Arms flailing, you felt like you were underwater, hitting whatever you could reach. Its claws sank into your skin and you screamed.

“Get the fuck off her!” A third voice joined you, slamming it into the air and it’s loud screeching abruptly cut off.

You blinked, dizzy, and saw Eddie peer down at you. “Why the fuck did you jump? You stupid brave hobbit!”

“Incoming!” Nancy screamed, oar flying in her hand.

“Get me up,” you said, “help me up!”

Eddie’s arms darted under yours and he hauled you to your feet. Swaying, you closed your eyes and tried to concentrate.

“What are you doing?” Eddie said, voice panicky and high pitched.

You ignored him and tried to remember what you were fighting for. You needed to get out of here alive, you needed to keep your friends alive, and your sister safe.

Pulling from what felt like the depths of your soul, you imagined Papa, staring at you and wanting results. With your arms up, you let out a scream as the creatures burst, all at once, carcasses dropping onto the ground with a disgusting sound.

Going limp, you felt Eddie catch you, sinking to the floor with you.

“What did you do?” Steve screamed, blood dripping from his face. His hands darted around your body, looking for wounds he could take care of but you knew he wouldn’t find any.

“Is she okay?” Robin asked anxiously, her hand gripping Nancy’s shoulder. You blinked, gaze going to the wide-eyed boy who’s lap you were in.

“Hi,” you said, voice a little slurred.

“Hey,” he answered back, his tone a little shocked. “Has anyone told you that you’re kind of amazing?”

“Yeah,” you said, honestly, liking the laugh he barked out after.

“Okay, lets go back through the gate before she passes out and can’t hold her breath. I can push her up to the surface with me if one of you helps me,” Steve said to your left.

“Look, there’s more,” Nancy whispered.

“I can get them,” you struggled to stand.

“Yeah, and lose whatever you have left? I don’t think so,” Steve said, tone leaving no room for argument. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I can do it,” you insisted.

“Hey, we got it, okay?” Eddie said softly.

You stopped struggling against his hold and slumped back down. “Okay,” you said as another wave of nausea hit you.

“We can take them,” Steve said, voice trailing off as all your heads turned up to watch a flock come your way.

“Let’s go into the woods!” Nancy said, grabbing your arm and hauling you onto your feet. She wrapped an arm around your stomach and yours around her shoulders. “Munson! Look alive!”

Eddie came to your other side and they pulled you forward into the trees.

“Steve, Robin, I’m fine,” you assured them for the tenth time in five minutes.

“You didn’t wake up for a few minutes,” Robin said.

“But I’m awake and fine now,” you said. Mostly. The nausea still rolled through you every so often. You were almost at Nancy’s house – it wasn’t too much further.

“In their defense, it did look a little worrisome for a while there,” Eddie jumped in, his hand still in yours. Nancy had fallen away once you’d woken up by Skull Rock, all of them leaning over you. Eddie had given you a relieved smile and threaded his fingers through yours. Just in case, he’d said.

Robin had shot you a look but you hadn’t minded. His hand felt…nice.

“I’m fine!” You said, the eleventh time.

“Okay, okay,” Steve said, backing up a few steps and turning to Eddie. “Make sure she stays awake and don’t let her use her powers.”

“I think I couldn’t stop her even if I wanted to dude,” Eddie said, saluting Steve as they jogged up to Nancy.

You shivered and Eddie pulled you to a stop. He pulled his jacket back over your shoulders and you glanced at him. “It looks better on you anyway,” he said, cheeks pink.

Ducking your head, you smiled and reached for his hand. “Just in case,” you echoed his earlier statement.

With a wide, beaming grin, he intertwined your fingers and pulled you closer to him. “Obviously.”

“We never finished twenty questions,” he said, after a beat of silence.

“I think we asked more than that,” you replied, stepping over a vine.

“The number is a suggestion, the game only ends when both parties agree to it,” Eddie said, matter of fact.

“Alright,” you said, smiling at him, “it was your turn then.”

“Why Lucky?”

You shrugged. “I don’t have a name and I think it made people uncomfortable,” you said, not really remembering who had suggested Lucky so long ago. You thought it was Will.

“What about Luck? Lucky?” Will asked, cheeks red.

“That sounds like a dog,” Lucas said, rolling his eyes.

“Lucky,” Eleven breathed, her shoulders wrapped in your arms. “I like it.”

At everyone’s blank looks, Will shrugged. “She’s like Lucky number Seven. We’ll always win as long as she’s here.”

“I am Seven.”

“I think you should pick a name you like,” Eddie said, “something badass like you.”

Flustered, you almost tripped over a vine. “Badass?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, keeping you steady, “you just fucking leapt into the water after Harrington without looking back. I saw you basically destroy half the bats with your fucking mind. That’s metal. Badass.”

“Badass,” you repeated, nodding. “Bitchin’?”

Eddie laughed and you realized it was the first time you’d really heard it. You liked the sound.

“Yeah, bitchin’.”

Nancy’s eyes caught yours, hers widening and pointedly looking at Eddie. Her knowing smile made you even more flustered, like you were doing something you shouldn’t be.

“I haven’t thought of another name,” you admitted. You hadn’t found your mother yet, or if you ever would. You didn’t know if you ever had a name – not the way Eleven had. Hopper had been the first person to ask you if you had wanted to switch yours. All your documents connecting you to him said Lucky. “My dad…called me sweetheart?”

Something in Eddie’s eyes changed, they became soft and like he only saw you.

“I think you should come up with a name you like,” he said, “not one assigned to you by anyone else. Sweetheart is a good one though.”

What name did you like? You liked Eddie’s name. Or maybe you just liked him?

“I like Hopper,” you said slowly, “I don’t want to change my name. It was my dad’s name.”

“That’s fair,” he said, “what do you want me to call you for now?”

You considered the question. “Seven,” you said firmly. It may make everyone shift a little, their eyes never quite meeting yours, but that’s what you were used to. For now. Until you found something badass.

“Okay, Seven Hopper,” Eddie said, bowing dramatically, “I’m Eddie Munson. Pleasure to meet you.”

You let him take your hand and press a kiss to the back of it. Warmth surged through your body and you felt the need to hide. Without thinking too much, you surged forward and kissed Eddie’s cheek. “Nice to meet you too, Eddie Munson.”

His face turned pink and you smiled at him. Despite where you were now, and what you had to accomplish, you were glad to have met him.

“Munson! Stop flirting and keep up!” Steve shouted, shooting you the same smile as Nancy had.

Eddie winked at you, not denying it, and pulled you forward with him.

The portal broke open, pieces of flesh and vines dropping onto the floor. Eddie’s hand shot out to yours and he pulled you behind him. You blinked, surprised. Why did he seem determined to shield you from everything? You smiled when he glanced back at you, relief evident when he saw your expression.

Most people you knew pushed you to the front of the line, you were after all the best defense they had. But…not Eddie. He didn’t treat you like a weapon or something to be used. The weird flutter in your stomach woke, the sensation making you feel weightless. Eddie’s shoulders blocked most of your line of vision but Robin’s knowing smirk showed she’d seen your expression.

“Okay, Seven first,” Eddie said, ushering you towards the makeshift rope.

Steve’s eyes got a familiar teasing glint in them and Nancy shot you a knowing look.

“I’ll stay last,” you said quietly, ignoring their looks, “if anything happens, I can fight the best.”

“I don’t know,” Steve started.

“No,” Eddie said, frowning.

You nodded. Everyone knew it. Even if your powers had weakened and you felt a little drained you were the best bet. You might not be able to do the same damage you once had, but you were better equipped than the others.

Robin started to climb and Eddie looked ready to argue. “Munson, I’ll stay with her – just go,” Steve said.

With a disgruntled look on his face, he climbed. You kept your eyes around the trailer, watching for anything that felt wrong. Glancing up, you were caught by Eddie’s worried gaze. His eyes didn’t move from yours, tracking your movement as Nancy climbed.

“Okay, no arguing Hopper, you go,” Steve said.

Rolling your eyes, you focused on the current inside you – weak, but ready to answer. Steve yelped as he flung through the air and landed hard on the mattress on the other side.

“I hate it when you do that,” Steve moaned, clutching his stomach. You smirked.

“Lucky!” Dustin shouted. “You shouldn’t use up your energy like that! Hurry!”

Without much thought, you climbed the rope, feeling gravity shift as you landed on your back.

“Her name is Seven,” Eddie’s voice echoed in the small trailer. His warm hand enveloped yours and he pulled you up. His warm eyes ran over you, as if assessing you, and he sighed when you reached to hug him. Eddie’s arms wrapped around you instantly and tightly pulling you into his chest.

“I’m okay,” you promised, not used to anyone besides Steve worrying this often. You didn’t know what to say, what to do.

His answering smile was blinding and his thumb came up to wipe the blood from your nose. Everyone around you started discussing what you’d seen, what they’d been through, but you couldn’t help but keep your eyes on Eddie despite the chaos. He’d glance at you every few minutes, smiling when he saw your stare. He squeezed your still clasped hands and you felt something within you shift.

Maybe staying behind in Hawkins wasn’t so bad after all.

#eddie munson x reader

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sailing-through-hawkins · 10 months

Text

Part 1 ✧ Part 2 ✧ Part 3 ✧ Part 4 (finale) of Harrington Charms Hellfire ✧ AO3

Sometimes Steve thinks the real Upside-Down is his life before any of it really happened, before the demogorgon, before Will going missing, before he ever even met Robin, because that life feels like such a distant memory it might as well be a completely different person's.

In the moments between all the chaos and yelling and laughing, when everyone's quiet and like, content? It hits him harder than any punch (obviously not any punch given all his experience with getting them, but he's allowed to exaggerate when he has Dustin, Robin, Erica and Eddie being dramatic as possible around him every single day) that this wasn't always his life.

He didn't always know the best way to bribe Dustin was by offering to take him to the diner with the most expensive fucking fries but totally worth the price.

He didn't always answer the phone to find Erica calling him up for another round of ice cream at the Sinclairs' while she goes on and on about how Chelsea has betrayed her by cozying up to Valerie after they already made a pact about it.

He didn't always have Robin gently reminding him about people's names and their plans for the week and what he had that morning because fuck, did he have breakfast? Robin, what - ("We had pancakes and that gross syrup you buy even though I keep telling you it's not sweet enough, which means I have to use like half the bottle in one go -")

It's pretty weird to think about. That all of that is some kind of after instead of an always. It's nice.

He could do without the repeated banging on his front door though. Like why do none of his people know how to knock?

"Ready to have your mind blown, Stevie?" Eddie Munson stands outside his house with a wide grin and guitar hanging over his back like a weapon. It kind of is, in some ways.

"Get in here, jackass," Steve rolls his eyes as Eddie cackles his way through the door and straight to the couch in the sunroom ("What does that even mean, sunroom? Who has a sunroom?! If it's facing the pool, shouldn't it be the poolroom? Give me answers, whoever constructed this hellish house!") without so much as a hug. He shuts the door and trails after the madman. "What, no 'hi Steve, nice to see you, thanks for letting me come over'?"

Eddie whips around with a manic grin and wild eyes. "Haven't you heard? Chivalry is dead, sweetheart."

He has such pretty eyes, Steve thinks idly as Eddie carefully takes off his guitar and jumps into the couch, the kind he really likes looking at in moments of peace and quiet. Sometimes they go big and wide and Eddie pulls a lock of hair over his mouth, but that doesn't hide the way his whole face flushes pink when Steve really leans in.

It's not something he actually knows about Eddie, but Steve does know that he - well, he likes Eddie.

"You said he was glaring at Frank after he gave you that Star Trek thing."

"I mean yeah, but that could have been for anything, maybe they fought before I came 'round or something."

"Hmm, true, but I am personally inclined to the idea that he was jealous."

"You just want to make fun of him."

"Absolutely I do."

Steve shakes his head and walks over to knock Eddie on his head, laughing when he immediately pouts up at him. "It's lunchtime, Munson, and we agreed to eat first before you pull me into one of your 'artist moments'."

Gasping, Eddie immediately launches into the same lecture he does every time Robin makes fun of how focused he is while writing out a campaign idea ("Can you believe we used to know nothing about this stuff? And now it's like, saved our lives and we play it every other week. Who even are we?"). Steve walks on to the kitchen as Eddie raves behind him and doesn't even bother pushing down the fondness in his chest, the fondness he knows is written all over his face.

Yeah, Steve and Robin are pretty sure he's like, totally in love with Eddie at this point. It probably should be a bigger deal than it is but honestly, a couple years surviving another apocalypse and being distrustful of most authority figures (including but not at all exclusive to the American fucking government) really puts that kinda shit into perspective.

"Robin, how do you ask a guy out?"

"Gee, that's a great question, I hope I never have to find out."

"...you were the wrong person to ask this."

"No shit, Stevie."

So yeah, Steve's in love with Eddie Munson and the whole world's gonna know about it.

Because he has a plan.

Step one: get the guy to come over for lunch - easily accomplished once Steve promises to make his pizza casserole, a Buckley-exclusive recipe until today (with said Buckley's approval of course, because it's the fanciest thing Steve can do without fucking up like three times in a row).

Step two: use said lunch as a way to make easy conversation and settle nerves - already in action, just need to get his oven mitts on first.

"Oh my god," Eddie moans when Steve pulls the casserole out of the oven, the melted cheese and crusted pasta looking delicious, way to go, Harrington. "Oh fuck, that smells so fucking good, oh my god."

Steve laughs, quickly setting the dish down and poking it with a fork so his face has time to cool down. "Buckley approved and Munson sanctioned, huh?"

"Jesus Christ, let me at it -" Eddie reaches for the dish, hands squeezing mid-air before Steve slaps them both, mitts and all. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Have some fucking patience, man." Steve sets the casserole onto the trivet ("Our latest word of the week!") and carries the whole thing to the dining room. He calls out behind him before Eddie can even walk, "And bring over the plates from the sink, they're clean."

"No shit!" Eddie calls back and Steve just laughs again when he walks into the dining room with the plates held up over his head, knees and arms bending awkwardly like he's some sort of gangly creature with zero limb coordination. He sets down the plates with a bow and in a weird voice croaks, "Your plates, my liege."

Steve looks at the gremlin of a man in front of and his heart beats once, twice, saying 'yes, this one, this one too, please.'

"Okay, Smeagol," he snorts and jumps when Eddie smacks his shoulder. "Dude, what the hell, I'm -"

"Since when do you read Lord of the Rings?!" Eddie smacks his shoulder again when he rolls his eyes. "That reference is way too obscure for you to just know!"

The casserole is firm enough that he can lift a piece to a nearby plate with zero casualties, but he still doesn't take his eyes off it for a second. "Dustin and Lucas talk about it all the time, even Max does the whole 'my precious' thing. It's not that obscure."

"Steve Harrington," Eddie shakes his head and Steve sighs when both plates are set, the rest of the casserole intact. "You are something else, man."

When Steve turns around, he's struck by how fond Eddie's eyes are, staring at him, smiling at him, sweet and soft. It's heady, makes him smile back, makes him forget every step of his plan, makes him lean in. Eddie doesn't flinch, eyes fixed on him, but does inhale sharply when Steve takes his hand, slowly settling his fingers between Eddie's until they're holding hands warmly, gently, lovely.

"Steve?" Eddie murmurs, eyes flitting all over Steve's face like he's tracking every spot, mole and freckle he can find.

And that right there is what gives Steve the courage to say, "Look, I -"

Brrrrrrng!

Which is exactly why the doorbell rings. Because when Steve is brave, the universe just has to keep pushing him to find the limit of his patience too. God damn it.

"Be right back," he sighs, letting go of Eddie's hand to pat him on the shoulder with a weak smile. Eddie doesn't seem to mind, staring down at his hand like it has the answers to the universe. He walks to the door when the doorbell rings yet again. "Don't start without me."

Eddie doesn't reply and Steve sighs again, opening the door with a tilted head at whoever - "Harrington!"

Steve blinks and tilts his head even more. "Frankie? What's up, man?"

"It's time to discuss." Frank stands tall in his doorway, holding up what looks like a giant roll of paper under his arm. Steve doesn't even want to know what the plastic bag in his hand has. Frank glances around, as if there's anybody else out here, and his voice drops to a whisper. "We need a plan on how you're going to woo Eddie."

Eyes widening, Steve quickly shuts the door and shoves Frank away from the entrance ("I may have the pointy elbows but you've got the strong arms, so together our jabs would be like unstoppable!") . He glances back at the house, relieved when Eddie doesn't come shooting out at the very sensitive information. "What the hell, dude?"

"Listen to me," Frank continues, leaning against Steve's car as if he's not being cornered, setting Steve's teeth on a grind. "Procrastinating this is not the solution, and if you really want to court him properly -"

"Do you have to say it like that?!" Steve runs a hand through his hair. He should have known this would happen and he still got cocky. Fuck. "Look, this is stupid, I'm -"

"Strategy is never stupid, Harrington," Frank seethes, poking his chest harshly. Fuck, what's his deal with using last names anyway? "You want to ask Eddie out, so you asked Hellfire for aid. And our aid is about coordination, patience and a step-by-step tactical journey that includes failsafes for every occasion."

"Oh joy," Steve snorts. He crosses his arms and leans on one leg ("You're the one who said it's our bitchiest move! Besides, it always works, doesn't it?"), eyebrows raised high. "Look, I appreciate the help, but considering the fact that I've literally got Eddie in my house right now, I think I'm doing just fine."

"He's what?!" Frank's smug face turns pale and he whips a glance at the house before slapping Steve's arm with a hiss. "And you're mentioning this only now?! I had to take a bus here man!"

"Ow!" Steve glares back, rubbing the spot. It's basically nothing, barely a sting, but he feels the need to make a show of it to prove a point ("Oh my god, you have been hanging out with Eddie too much, he's infected you - fight it, Stevie! Only you and I can infect each other!"). "I would have said it earlier if someone hadn't -"

"Shh!" Frank rudely smacks Steve's arm again, the prick, and gives a...nervous smile to the house?

"What -" Steve turns around to find Eddie's glare through the window before it quickly turns to surprise and disappears. Steve sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, god fucking damn it. "Okay, well, this conversation is over because now I need to do damage control before any wooing."

Frank nods with a wince. "Perhaps...I could have called first."

"Perhaps," Steve mocks before letting out a laugh and patting Frankie's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man, I'll just tell him you were trying to start another fight about the tribbles and fuzzies."

"It's a valid -"

"Frankie," Steve says sternly and watches amusedly when Frank deflates.

He still squints and pokes Steve's chest again. "Next time. You owe me the bus fare. Twice."

"Bring food over," Steve calls out as Frank starts to walk away. "I'm not cooking for you if I have to pay!"

"Eat shit, Harrington!"

And Steve laughs and laughs because he finally feels so light after all this time. With a sigh, he makes his way back to the house, startling when Eddie's face in the window makes another appearing-disappearing act.

Huh.

Well, in Eddie's defense, it's pretty suspicious that Frank came over with a roll of paper and bag of markers, right?

"Eds?" Steve walks in, a smile growing when he sees Eddie lying on the stairs in the most unnatural position possible, stretched out with one hand holding up his head and his leg crooked up on the other knee. He lets out a laugh when Eddie blinks at him. "Comfortable?"

"One hundred percent," Eddie croaks, sliding down the stairs, Jesus it's like he's made of liquid, until he's a pouting puddle on the floor. "Why'd Frank come over? I didn't tell him I was here."

"Eh," Steve shrugs, holding out a hand and, when he takes it in his own, pulling Eddie up. "Thought he could finally prove his conspiracy theory about the tribbles again."

Eddie doesn't reply, eyes flickering down to their hands, warm and connected. Steve purposefully doesn't make a remark or snatch his hand away the way the small, dark corner of his brain is insisting he should ("I think it's time we both stop listening to our dark corners, huh? I'll be your light if you'll be mine."), casually making his way back to the dining room. Something glows in his chest when Eddie's hand squeezes just enough for him to feel, before Steve squeezes back and lets it go so he can pull out a chair.

"Ready to have your tastebuds blown away?"

With a gulp and a very quick shake, Eddie grins at him before dropping into the chair. He squirms around until he settles, legs stretched out and hands behind his head, looking up at Steve with that same, wide grin. "I'm always ready for a Harrington Feast."

"Ew," Steve wrinkles his nose as he gently pushes the chair in, making his way over to the one directly opposite Eddie. "Yeah no, we're not doing that."

"But Harrington Habits -"

"I'm going to punch Gareth next time he says that," Steve grumbles. "I don't care how many movies he wants to try out."

It's honestly a little flattering how quickly Gareth warmed up to Steve after the whole 'Grease' thing, hell, the kid even asked (very angrily and with zero eye contact) if Steve knew how to style his hair to look like Danny Zuko's a couple weeks back. Steve had to take a minute before agreeing but then had to coax him out of the look when it very clearly wasn't working, and offered to help him look for a jacket like Danny's instead.

Nobody knows why or when exactly Hellfire started to mellow out against Steve ("I can't believe all it took was some music, movies and cookies, I'm gonna lose my mind! We should try getting Mrs Byers to invite us for dinner with that charm of yours."). Mike still suspects it started after he offered to host their next game night (they didn't take him up on the offer but Eddie barely took his big shiny eyes off him for the rest of the evening, so it was totally worth asking) but Dustin claims he just wore them down with his "- dad energy, Steve, I had to stop you from wearing your fanny pack to the pool."

Excuse him, Dustin, if El might need tissues in case of a nosebleed or if Robin gets another papercut on something that isn't even paper and needs a band-aid or -

Oh.

Oh god, he's the goddamn babysitter by instinct now, fuck.

"Steve," Eddie says as solemnly as he can with a giant piece of baked macaroni in his mouth. "This is fucking heaven."

Trying his best not to preen, Steve smiles and nods as he takes another bite. But apparently, Eddie isn't finished.

"No, seriously, this is like, if an angel stuffed liquid gold into my hands and told me I could chug it. I'm not even -"

"Dude," Steve laughs. "What does that even mean?"

"You think I know?!" Eddie says, his lips twitching like he's holding back his own laugh. "I'm just the messenger here!"

He doesn't know how they made it through lunch because Eddie kept pulling out stories and jokes that got Steve laughing so hard, he literally choked and needed five minutes just to breathe normally again ("Come on, Stevie, keep breathing for me, match me, come on, don't make me panic too -"). It's like he was doing his best to make Steve lose his shit.

Which.

Huh.

Interesting thought to come back to later, because step two has been completed.

On to step three: clean up lunch together as an excuse to be physically close and make some gentle, casual touches.

Casual, because outright holding his hand might be jumping ahead ("I feel like our impulse control gets better when we're together. Wha - that doesn't count, we were high off surviving the apocalypse and she was very pretty!"), and Steve definitely doesn't want to scare Eddie off.

"I am no coward!" Eddie declares, shoving his hands straight into the sink and under the running water as he turns his nose up at Steve. "If the dishes need be done, then they shall be done, good sir, so sweareth I, noble -"

"Oh my god, just start washing, y'goose," Steve lightly shoves at his shoulder and no surprise that step three is already going well, he's just that good at strategy, thanks Frankie. He picks up the already-washed cup and uses the towel he slapped onto his own shoulder to dry it off. "I don't know how you keep pulling those monologues out of nowhere like that."

"Observation, imitation and practice," Eddie says smugly, wiggling in place as he works on the plates. "It's not all pure talent, y'know, I gotta work at it."

"Ha ha," Steve rolls his eyes, barely able to keep his smile in. He nudges Eddie's shoulder once, lets him nudge back, does it again and repeat, until he just lets his shoulder rest against Eddie's. "Thanks for coming over, man."

"'S no problem," Eddie lightly shrugs his other shoulder. "I...like hanging out. With you."

Steve pauses. There's no "I know, crazy right?" or "The Hair and the Freak, who'da thunk?" or "But don't get sappy on me!" that follows.

There's just him and Eddie, side-to-side. There's gentle sunlight streaming in through the window and it makes his rings shine and there's -

"Eddie, what the fuck, you didn't take your rings off?!"

Without a second thought, Steve grabs his hands out of the water and immediately does a headcount (or is it a ringcount? Whatever, doesn't matter), drying off Eddie's hands with the not-damp side of the towel. None of them got lost ("You keep track of his rings? Stevie - no, that's different, stop turning your gay - sorry - bisexual pining on me!"), so he carefully dabs at them to let the shine through.

That's when it occurs to him that there is, in fact, a person attached to these rings.

Ah.

"I, uh -" Steve coughs. "If you're gonna help with the dishes - I mean, we wouldn't wanna lose any of these, right?"

Peeking up at Eddie, who's entire face is flushed pink, staring straight ("Haha, straight. What? Let me have this -") at him, Steve feels something roll through under his skin, making him stand taller, making his face relax, making him feel like - (You can do this, dingus. I believe in you.")

"Here," Steve says softly, pulling a ring off Eddie's pointer finger slowly, waiting for a refusal. When he peeks back up at Eddie, he's still frozen, wide eyed and blinking repeatedly. He gently pulls off the ring from his middle and ring fingers, and holds the silver collection up in the palm of his hand. "Keep them safe."

Frozen, Eddie doesn't say anything.

"Eddie?" It's impossible to hold back his smirk at this point, even harder not to let it widen when Eddie's eyes snap to his lips. "Did you want me to keep them?"

Before he can put them in his pocket, Eddie snatches them out of his hand and shoves the rings into his own pocket, the noise of clacking metal apparently breaking the spell. He squeaks out an, "All good, Stevie!" and quickly goes back to the sink to shove his hands under the water.

See, that would normally hurt, the idea that Steve's touch needed - needed to be washed off. But he saw Eddie's eyes, his expression whenever Steve touches his skin. That's not disgust.

Nah, that's not disgust at all actually.

Steve smiles as he watches Eddie curse when he almost drops a fork, hair bouncing against the sunlight so prettily. He lightly glides up behind Eddie, gathering the curls together, humming when Eddie freezes again.

"Uh -"

"Can I tie it up?"

Eddie seems to take a moment. "Sure," he says quietly.

Continuing to hum, Steve runs a hand through Eddie's hair, coaxing away any little tangles and knots. It's nice to see he's been keeping up with the new routine he and Mike have started together, even if it took Robin's horror stories of hair damage (which were definitely exaggerated just so she could see Mike's face) to get them to think about it. Once he's got all of Eddie's hair held up, he takes his time getting a hair tie out of his back pocket ("What if I need one and I forget? Or Erica? Or Max? Or -") so that he can stare at the nape of his neck, pale but littered with little pink scars.

How pretty can one guy be? Every little part of him, every expression, every -

And then the phone rings.

What the hell.

"For the record," Steve says before he finally ties up Eddie's hair into a bun that hangs low on his head. He starts slowly stepping away and out of the kitchen. "I like hanging out with you too, Eddie."

Speed walking his way to the phone, Steve lets it ring a few more times, taking in quiet and deep breaths because holy shit, did he just do that? He just did that ("I can't believe you fucking did that, oh my god. I mean - I always believed in you!"). With a grin and a glow in his chest that spreads across his veins like some kind of magic high, he answers the phone.

"Harrington Residence -"

"Steve!" Jeff's voice sounds winded and his heartbeat is already racing fast.

"What's wrong, are you okay?" His blood on fire, ready to hit back, where're the bad guys, his axe, where's his axe -

Jeff swallows a deep breath. "Yeah, no, yeah, yeah I'm fine. I wanted to warn you about Frank."

Steve blinks, moves the phone away to stare at it, before putting it back to his ear. "Why, what did he do?"

"He said he was coming over to help with that thing even though you said you'd handle it, and I know you're meeting up with you-know-who so like, be alert."

His eye is twitching. Fuck, he better not be getting a headache today, it's his day off to chill for once, he deserves better than this. "He already came by, dude. He just left like an hour ago."

Jeff swears colorfully enough that it relieves the tension of Steve's shoulders when he laughs. "That motherfucker lied to me, he said he was coming by for dinner."

"He probably knew you were gonna warn me," Steve grins as quiet sounds of plates and cupboards echo out from the kitchen. "Why are you even warning me anyways? I mean I know I backtracked but it was pretty neat of him to try helping out anyways.

"'Pretty neat' he says. God, Harrington, you're such a dad," Jeff teases and it's one of those rare times the joke makes Steve laugh without shame.

Out of everyone in Steve's life, Jeff is one of few who don't make Steve feel so bad about wanting a big family ("Platonic soulmates excluded, of course, right?"). Maybe it's because he gets it, especially after Trey had moved out so quickly. He gets how a house can be lonely without a bunch of family filling up the space.

Jeff hesitates. "Like I said, I know you wanted some alone time today." His voice softens to a murmur and Steve can't help but run a hand through his hair, fidgeting with a lock at the back of his neck. It's getting so long now. It makes him think of Eddie's nape, warm and so pale against the black of his hair but still so alive. "You said you were gonna make a move."

"I -" Steve blows out a breath, cupping his own neck and staring out the window into the greenery outside. The sunlight really does make everything look so much warmer. Alive. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Today, actually."

"That's great!" Jeff whispers excitedly and Steve just laughs again. "Shit, okay, I should let you get back to it then. I'll phone Wayne for your check-in too, good luck man!"

"Thanks, Jeff. That...means a lot." Steve smiles. "Talk to you later."

Setting the phone against the wall ("You think you're so fancy with your wall phone, Harrington?! ...Yeah, you are, it's pretty cool actually. Should we crank call Hopper or would that be like, a crime?") feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders. Alive, safe, well.

The approval of Eddie's friends isn't exactly something he'd expected to want or to get really, but they keep surprising him. Even Wayne's been really supportive of Steve in general, always trusting him to take care of their people, even if he does ask everyone to check-in with him whenever Eddie visits. Sometimes the paranoia doesn't lift up and Steve definitely isn't going to give the man grief about it when he understands.

With a nod, Steve turns back to the kitchen and stops when he sees Eddie, who quickly stumbles back on the kitchen door when he tries hiding.

"Ow." Eddie rubs his elbow with a wince. He quickly hops along the wall to get to the sun room. "Pay no attention to the man behind - uh - out of the kitchen?"

"Eddie," Steve laughs as he follows, the panic of hurt, he's hurt, find him, bring him home, keep him safe fading away. "Eddie, wait, what were you even -"

"Upupup!" Eddie plugs his fingers into his ears and starts chanting. Steve has to lunge when he almost bangs his hip against the doorframe to pull him to the side instead. With a groan, Eddie hides his face in his hands. "Can we pretend none of that happened and that I was on my way to get my guitar without eavesdropping?"

"Nope," Steve says cheerfully, dragging Eddie along by hooking an arm over his shoulder. "I'm gonna be using that for weeks."

"Well excuuuuse me," Eddie squints, dropping down to pick up his guitar and sling it over one shoulder. "If I just wanna know why Jeff would be calling right after a house call from Frankie. You planning something I don't know about?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. It's just some new tracks," Steve pats his shoulder and saunters his way to the stairs. "Now come on, you promised me a show."

It's silent, no footsteps, no quip, so Steve turns back just in case.

"Huwha?"

Yup, same flushed cheeks. Looks like his plan is working perfectly. Steve smiles, turns back around and makes his way up the staircase. It's almost time for the final step - actually fucking saying something.

He's got this. Right? ("Right.")

"So," Steve starts as they walk into his bedroom ("Keep your cool, keep it together, do not fuck this up - but also no pressure, this is a big step -"). "What exactly were you gonna show me anyways? All you said was a melody and -"

"Upupup," Eddie says, placing his hands on Steve's shoulders and walking him back towards his bed, where he ends up tripping on to. "Woah, shit! You okay?"

Shaking his head, Steve just laughs. The giddiness has finally cracked open in his chest, all his feelings floating up like - like they're in his blood, pouring out of him. "All good. You're that excited, huh?"

"Don't think you can trick me," Eddie pokes a finger at Steve's forehead, both hands coming down to rest at Steve's shoulders as he lightly shakes him. "This is very important, Harrington, no distractions or interruptions, alright?"

Steve lets his hands glide back behind him on the bed, leaning back on them and tilting his head. With a soft smile (practiced and well-worn with the amount of times he's used it for Robin, Max, Dustin, Erica, Eddie), he leans on his hands behind him, watching Eddie's cheeks turn pink in real time. "Alright. Impress me, Munson."

It takes a second, Eddie fumbling with his guitar and his jacket, his eyes flickering back to Steve before snapping away, but eventually he spins around and sits on the floor, leaning against the bed. Without the leather (a gift from Dustin, with Mike and Steve's help, that made Eddie cry that day, no matter how much he denies it), he looks smaller. His white shirt isn't thick enough, lets Steve see the skin underneath, the wounds and scars.

With a sigh, Steve brushes a hand along Eddie's shoulder, lets the warmth sink in -

"Woah!" Eddie chokes, twitching in place, shaking Steve's hand off. "I said no interruptions, my good sir!"

"Sorry," Steve says genuinely, totally went a bit far there, that's fair. He clears his throat and shuffles to lie down along the bed instead, careful not to hit Eddie with his feet ("You've gotten enough concussions for all of us, so it's my job to make sure it doesn't happen again, as your best friend and soulmate because I am not losing you.") and settles on his side. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

Eddie takes a deep breath, readjusts his guitar, tunes it, strumming and adjusting and tuning and looping over and over - "Okay, uh, could you like - uh, not like, stare at me? I mean, not - I'm just - uh, nervous I guess."

With a blink, Steve says, "'Course, man. Take your time," and reshuffles so he's staring up at the ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars he put up with Dustin are still up there. They don't glow that much but he thinks they're bright enough for him.

"Thanks," Eddie murmurs and clears his throat. With one final deep breath, he starts playing and...

It's good. It's great actually. Steve doesn't know much about music ("You're surrounded by musicians! You play music when you - you know, do the thing! I bet you know way more than you think."), but the melody is slower than he expected, less head-banging and more...just looking at his stars.

He lets his head turn so he can watch Eddie play, the little bun of hair pulled up higher than when he tied it up. It isn't anything special, but it makes the cracked-open glow in Steve's chest burn brighter, melt out of his ribcage like some kind of radioactive goop that he doesn't bother scooping back inside. Not when it feels like this.

The sunlight is dimmer now, but it shines over Steve's legs onto the back of Eddie, casting a shadow on the bedroom floor.

With that thought, the melody ends and Eddie turns a little in his spot to stare at Steve. He looks nervous, the light outside keeping him bright and Steve can't look away. "So, uh, what - what'd ya think?"

It isn't that easy, describing music. Usually Steve sticks to whatever makes him feel good, sometimes just whatever makes him feel in general. But this felt -

"That was amazing, Eddie." The words taste awkward on his tongue but it's blown away by the delight in Eddie's face.

"Yeah?! Yeah, I wanted to try something different, after everything, y'know, so I figured, well the world almost ended, maybe going easy for once wouldn't hurt and -"

He goes on. He goes on and smiles at Steve and the sunlight surrounds them and he can't take it anymore.

Sitting up and smoothly shifting back onto the bed, Steve leans over and reaches out. When his hand cups Eddie's jaw, the rambling stops. He stares down, Eddie stares up, the sunlight reaching out between them, and Steve lets out a soft chuckle.

"You're amazing," Steve says, bringing over his other hand so he's gently holding Eddie's face. He doesn't know what he looks like but he knows that in this moment, Eddie is stunning. Big wide eyes, pink flush and a shadow over his face -

Knock knock knock.

"Oh, you are fucking with me -" Steve shouts, leaping off to the other side of the bed to see - "Gareth?!"

"Open - the - window -" The scrawny asshole mouths up at him through the window, one hand wobbling on the frame. Steve has a quick, ruthless thought of pulling the blinds down but it'll never be more than a thought. With a sigh, he opens the window and reaches out, helping Gareth climb through. "Holy shit, that was so scary. How the hell did you do this every night?"

"I -" Steve sputters, shutting the window behind him. "I did not climb through people's windows every night! Just - like, on the occasion! Shut up, what are you even doing here?"

"Okay, so remember when you told me about -"

"Nope!"

Steve and Gareth jump, looking over to find a fuming Eddie, his guitar strewn on the bed and his expression manic.

"Nope, we're not doing this, actually, thanks Gary," Eddie says brightly, grabbing Gareth by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him out of the bedroom. "I'm sure whatever movie or album or debate or whatever you just couldn't wait to talk to Steve about, it actually can and will fucking wait!"

He shuts the door behind the poor kid before spinning around and stomping over to the window, where he pulls the blinds shut so they're left in shadows. Steve stares as Eddie breathes heavily, his shoulders hunched up and hair lifting up and down and -

Then Eddie spins around again, grabbing Steve by the shoulders and staring straight into his eyes.

Steve blinks.

"Listen up, Harrington," Eddie spits out, his glare vividly stuck on Steve's face. "You and I both know this little meet up wasn't just some meet up and I have no fucking clue why my band keeps interrupting us, but I'm going to fucking explode if I don't kiss you right here, right now after a whole fucking day of just - just you."

Steve blinks twice.

Eddie's breathing is still heavy but not harmful, his eyes wide and harsh on Steve's, so dark without the sun, so deep and obscure. His hair is still in the bun, messed up and frazzled as it is, a few curls coming down to brush against his cheek.

He really does light something up in Steve.

"Harrington, I swear -"

"Kiss me," Steve says and -

And he does.

And it's amazing.

Eddie mashes their faces together, knocking Steve's teeth with his own, bumping their noses, gripping Steve's shoulder too tightly.

It's everything.

Steve sighs into the kiss, running a hand up to Eddie's jaw, letting the other coax around Eddie's back and pull him in closer.

It's Eddie.

"Guys?"

With the very audible sound of skin on skin, Steve pulls away, heart fluttering when Eddie sighs and the breath touches his lips. He opens his eyes and stares at Steve, who rests his forehead against his.

Giggling, he shyly says, "Hi."

Steve grins, closing his eyes briefly to nuzzle their noses together. "Hey."

"Sooo," Eddie giggles again. "That was nice."

"Very nice," Steve hums. He strokes a thumb over Eddie's cheek, feeling the heat of the pink against it. "We should do it again."

"Yeah? Yeah, I think so too." Eddie leans in -

"Guys? What's happening?!"

"Gareth, I swear to GOD I am killing off your character," Eddie yells at the door, his arms wrapping around Steve's neck heatedly. It feels amazing. "In fact, I'm killing off all of your characters after the stunts you guys pulled today!"

"Wha - what did we do?! Wait, what did I do?"

"He's right," Steve leans closer, nuzzling Eddie's hair. "They were just trying to -"

"Oh no," Eddie half-heartedly smacks his chest, cheeks still a pretty, pretty pink. "Don't defend them, not when you're the one that used your weird charm on my friends and made them all 'Ooh, Steve this, Steve that' while I was trying not to think about your ass for the fifth time every goddamn day!"

Blinking, Steve smirks. "Think about my ass often, Munson?"

"Shut the fuck up," Eddie glares. "And get back here."

Lucky him, Steve doesn't think he'd want anything else.

if anyone else had wanted to be tagged but wasn't or if i accidentally tagged someone wrongly, my apologies tag list: @ramyayaya @alienace @5pac3g1r7 @emly03 @tell-me-a-secret-a-nice-one @maya-custodios-dionach @elliegrey2803 @bejeweledbaby @blanketlicker @messrs-weasley @estrellami-1 @stillfullofshit

#sailor✧writes #steddie #sailing✧harrington charms hellfire #writing #fanfic #au content #corroded coffin #hellfire club #HERE WE GO #THE DOOZY IS DONE

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 10 months

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Part 7.5 with Eri!Reader? As they escape from the Marines and say goodbye to Vivi and Karoo (By showing their wrists with the ‘X’ Mark on it, showing they’re still friends) everyone (Minus Robin and Zoro) especially Reader are whimpering/puppy eyes over Vivi being gone, missing her already

So shen Zoro said they should’ve taken Vivi by force, even Reader joined insulting Zoro, calling him a ‘Big Meanie’! Breaking his heart, causing Sanji to laugh at him)

And later while Usopp is interrogating Robin, the latter is using her Devil Fruit to play with Luffy, Chopper and Reader (Lightly tickling Reader, causing her to laugh) everyone is surprised how Reader is actually the second person after Luffy to accept Robin as a member of the Straw Hats, and later she’s shocked to learn Reader can’t read or write (And has been slowly teaching her how to read and write, making Reader happy as she’s not great with words)

-You rubbed the ‘x’ mark on your arm, a smile on your face as were looking out back towards Alabasta. You were still considered pirates, and you were heavily wanted by the World Government, so you had to run away with your crew.

-You cried, waving goodbye to Vivi who was crying as well, not wanting to be apart from her new friends, but that’s why you all showed your marks, a sign of friendship, as you were being held but by Zoro so Vivi could see you too.

-You were sad once you couldn’t see the island anymore, joining Luffy and Chopper who were lamenting leaving their friend, you tried your best not to cry, but you just couldn’t help it, sniffling softly.

-Robin thought you all were rather adorable, acting so sad to say goodbye to a friend, ignoring the distrusting looks in the eyes of some of the others on the ship.

-Zoro, not liking seeing the crew upset, particularly you, and thought he was helping, “Let’s just turn back and kidnap her if you guys are going to pout so much!” instantly everyone, minus you and Robin, were yelling at Zoro for being so crass, but the main reason is because tears welled in your eyes, not like that idea, “You’re being mean!” Zoro collapsed to his knees, holding his chest, feeling like scum while Sanji laughed at him.

-You liked playing with Luffy and Chopper, hiding behind the mast, looking at Robin who thought you were being rather cute while Usopp was interrogating her, thinking she was going to betray them.

-Instantly, you, Luffy, and Chopper were quick to fall, after Robin pinned Chopper down to tickle him and made antlers for Luffy to intimidate Chopper, which got Usopp dying of laughter, but a few hands popped up around you and tickled you gently, making you laugh as you fell to the ground.

-Many were stunned when you approached Robin willingly, seeing her reading, being the second person, besides Luffy, to accept Robin as a crew member.

-Robin smiled as she lifted you into her lap, showing you the book and you asked her what she was reading, Robin paused, as the book she was reading was just a guide book on plants, and tested the waters a bit, “A book on plants. It tells me where they grow and what they do.”

-You nodded, leaning into her embrace a bit as she pulled out a second book, handing it to you, “Would you like to read with me?” you instantly flinched lightly, looking a bit embarrassed, cheeks turning red, “I don’t… I don’t know how to read.”

-You were well past the age where you should be able to read and write, but she could tell that there was something more the story about you, something she didn’t know about just yet, but she smiled warmly, “Would you like me to teach you?”

-She had to hold her hand up to her eyes, shielding them from your blinding radiance as you beamed up at her, looking excited to learn!

-While Usopp and Nami were teaching you how to write letters, Luffy sat with Robin, and told her a small bit of your past, of your abuse and how you had been locked away for so long, which infuriated her, angry that adults would treat a child so cruelly, before she remembered her own past, her jaw clenching lightly.

-She was going to protect you too, no matter what.

#eri reader #one piece #luffy #robin #nami #sanji #chopper #ror zoro

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scoops-aboy86 · 12 days

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chubby Steve fic idea:

Eddie and Steve take the kids to a fair and Steve gets excited for all the treats.

Thank you thank you thank you for this, because I've been struggling to figure out what I wanted to do with the final installment of the love spell AU fic and this has finally kicked my ass into gear. I'm still working on it, but here's a teaser... Just shy of 1k words.

(If anyone wants to be added to the tag list for when I post the complete chapter, comment here to let me know. 😊)

The kids have been clamoring to go to the county fair, so when August rolls around they load everyone up in Eddie’s van and the Wheeler’s station wagon and head out of town to the Roane County Fairgrounds.

Steve meets them there, because he’s picked up some work helping with the rides set-up and has been at the fairgrounds since ass o’clock in the morning. Which conveniently means they’ll also have the BMW there at the end of the day, and Robin—who Steve has made a point of helping get her license—can drive it back with the kids.

It also means that Steve gets to see his boyfriend’s eyes go wide when Eddie sees him for the first time today, takes in the way his shirt clings to his broad chest, dark with sweat down the front from the exertion of lifting and carrying all morning and cut down into a muscle tee at the sides, scars be damned. And unlike Eddie, who looks like he’s starting to pink under the sun already, Steve has been building up a healthy tan all summer parked out by the pool whenever he has down time; plenty of skin and new freckles to show off.

The kids are at the head of the pack, so they don’t notice Robin elbowing Eddie until his mouth snaps shut and he raises hand to rub faux casually at his mouth before shooting her a betrayed look—and Steve just knows that Robin told him to stop drooling in public.

Then Dustin slams in for a hug, catching Steve in the doughy middle and just about winding him. He gives an over-exaggerated wheeze and pretends to stagger. The motion helps him get Dustin into noogie, and from there the rising sophomore doesn’t stand a chance against all the muscle he still has from his jock days, regardless of the extra padding over them now.

“Yield, I yield!” Dustin yelps.

(“Why are they doing that?” El whispers loudly down to Max in her wheelchair.

“It’s a dumb brother bonding activity,” Max informs her with a roll of her eyes. “Just observe, like animals at the zoo.”

El continues watching them with a perplexed furrow between her brows. “Will and Jonathan don’t do this.”

“That’s because they were raised by Joyce Byers. They’re slightly more evolved than your average teenage boy.”)

“Butthead,” Steve chuckles as he lets Dustin go. “Okay, I’ve got ride tickets to hand out. Once you use these up, if you want more you have to buy your own. Got it?”

There’s a chorus to the effect of yes Steve, with varying amounts of eye-roll. Robin and Eddie have caught up by now, the latter circling around closer to him while he dolls out strips of tickets. A lively debate springs up almost immediately between Dustin, Mike, and Lucas over how to best maximize their haul, with Will patiently moderating every three-way tie to more subtly inject his own opinions into the discussion. Max gleefully heckles them about every ride that she can’t go on, with her legs still in casts and arms in braces, digging in with pithy little guilt trips that, as far as Steve can tell, aren’t crossing the line into actual upset or self-pity territory. (Something to keep an eye on.)

He’s glad they’re excited about the rides, and even the games that will definitely end up cutting into their pocket money by the time the day is done. But Steve is excited for something else entirely, and is antsy to get the show on the road.

“Alright, that’s everybody. Now why don’t you all go enjoy the fair I’ve been slaving over, you little assholes. The Gravatron in particular is sick.”

That does the trick of getting rid of most of the crowd, El and Max break off in a slightly different direction, probably towards the Ferris wheel that El’s been practically vibrating to ride ever since someone explained what one was, having already settled a time and place to meet up with the rest of the group later.

Robin takes her tickets with a bright thank you thank you thank you because she’s meeting up with Vickie soon for their first official date. She’s about to run off when Eddie stops her and hands over all but four of the tickets Steve had just given him. “Go knock her socks off, Robbie,” he says, and then messes up her hair.

She flips him off, and Steve too when he snickers a, “Be safe, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” before flitting off. Telling him with her expression and a dynamic eyebrow movement that she doesn’t think it would be a high bar to clear. Which… fair, honestly.

“And then there were two,” Eddie says, sidling up to Steve a grin and a raking glance that sends a trickle of anticipatory heat down his spine. “You ready, sweetheart?”

Before Steve can answer, his stomach does it for him with an audible grumble—not the first he’s experienced while working today, but definitely the loudest. He automatically rests a hand over it, kneading in a gentle massage to calm it down the way he’s been doing for a while, though it doesn’t seem to be helping now that he knows it’s time.

“Sounds like a yes to me,” Eddie murmurs, long lashes dipping as his eyes go subtly darker, then waves dramatically ahead. “Well, what are we waiting for, my liege? Let us partake of the festivities that await!”

He marches off, leaving Steve to follow with a laugh and shake of his head, utterly charmed by his total nerd of a boyfriend who is about to take very good care of him.

Tag list: @hotluncheddie @8em-em-em8 @anaibis @connected-dots @lawrencebshoggoth @zombiethingy

#wg steddie #love spell no go au #chubby steve harrington #feedee steve harrington #feeder eddie munson #this is just the set-up really so it absolutely is a tease #but as i have not written the rest yet #and don't want this ask to languish in my inbox forever...#scoops words

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lonesome-witching · 3 months

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Dead But Not Forgotten (Part 3/3)

@rabbitofdeath-atcastleaarrggh has finally gotten the third part of their prompt. This is still part of the ronance batman au. I promise there will be more where this came from. Previous part can be found here part 1/3 an part 2/3. Other parts within the same au Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

You can read my previous prompts or send me some new ones.

Seeing Nancy sitting on her couch was still weird to Robin. She had said her goodbyes, and yet it still felt like Nancy hadn’t ever left. That she had been sitting on that couch for the small eternity that passed between her death and her resurrection.

“So?” Robin asked with a hesitant lilt to her voice. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to know.

“I’m sorry for what I put you through. I know it wasn’t fair. What I did wasn’t fair and if you end up hating me, that would be alright. It would understandable really.” Nancy wasn’t looking at her. That may have been the must infuriating part of all of this. That Nancy hadn’t looked at her since Robin crawled off her body.

“Nancy! Just tell me what happened, please.”

“Alright well, we knew my dad got out and that he was planning something. We had to draw him out somehow. And we had to make him think our defenses were weakened. Hopper thought the best idea was for me to play dead.”

“You faked your death? And Hopper knew? And no one told me? Who else knew?” Her blood wasn’t boiling anymore. Robin couldn’t seem to find the energy to be mad. Instead, she just allowed the sadness to overwhelm her as she waited for the relief to wash over her.

“My mom knew and well, Steve.” Nancy was pulling at a loose piece of skin next to her thumb.

“Everyone knew except for me?”

“We wanted to tell you—”

“But you didn’t. You didn’t, Hopper didn’t, fuck, even Steve didn’t. I just— fuck.” Robin stood up from her spot on the couch. She wasn’t sure what to do. What to feel. She was happy Nancy was back, that Nancy was alive, but she couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t want to tell you—”

“Then what was it, Nancy? Why the hell was I the only one that wasn’t allowed to know? Why did everyone allow me to suffer? I was dying without you. I felt like I was dying. I was an empty shell without you. The only reason I got out of bed was to get revenge. I just— I was in so much pain, Nancy. It hurt so much.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but we couldn’t risk it.”

“Why not? Why risk it with your mom and with Steve, but not with me?” Robin’s tears were returning. One slipping out and tracking down her cheek.

“Because I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to stay away from me. It would have put the whole plan in jeopardy. God, what happened today did but the whole plan in jeopardy. The only thing that might safe us was the fact you didn’t know. You were angry at seeing me, you weren’t expecting it. That’s good. But I shouldn’t have been there to safe you.”

“Then why were you?”

“Because I love you.”

The words floated through the room. They were enough to shut Robin up. They even made her forget about the hurt and the betrayal. They almost erased it. She sighed before grabbing Nancy’s face and kissing her. Perhaps that should have been the first thing she had done.

#prompts #ronance #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #my work #stranger things #fanfic #robin x nancy #nancy x robin #ficlet

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neptunesenceladus · 15 days

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Wanted to do a list of some of my favourite fics across fandoms so here it is! En Enceladus’s favs (as of April 2024). This was actually going to just be my most recent ones but i ended up going through all the recs in my bookmarks, so, these are sorted into fandom to make it easier for you.

DC Fics:

Tractors by @lieu42

DC firstly lieu42 is cool af, so note that down. If you in a mood for time travel and Tim Drake having a crisis then this is definitely for you. I love it so much I bound a physical copy. actually just read everything by him, you will not regret it.

New Wave by @yellowocaballero

DC What if Steph was the first Robin? You should know I love Steph and this is probably the fic that cemented that, I really love how she is portrayed and the 90s skater aesthetic. this fic and tractors are probably my top two recs so go read them now please and thank you

Frequency by @cryptocism

DC, Teen I truly don't know how to sum this up. Basically Thaddeus Thawn "disappears" so CRAYDL activates clones of him. It's so so good and only got one more chapter until it is complete! Also the song November by Sparkbird fits one of the characters (Six) so so well.

Zugzwang by Hinn_Raven

DC, Teen Steph is dead so why is the new talon that Cass is seeing around strangely familiar?

The Juniper Suite by @shhhenanigans

DC, Teen, M, and E (currently 4 parts, first is T and last is E) Genuanly can't describe this one. It's jayroy, with this twisted fairytale body horror theme. so big warnings for body horror, I really love how the author writes all of it and plays with tense and imagery.

Time (to protect you) by Blueseabird2

DC, Teen Dick Grayson and Constantine go back in time to try and save everyone. It's mostly cute batfamily fanon with angst, it was my first DC fic I read (with the exception of Dark Matter) so has a special place in my heart (also the reason I have read so much Hellblazer)

Marvel/MCU Fics:

Pigeon and Crow by @deniigi

Marvel, Teen Peter Parker and Johnny Storm become friends. Deniigi always has beautiful writing and this is no exception. Personally love the wordplay.

Peter Parker's Tapeworm by Ginevra_Benci

MCU, Teen Firstly, the tapeworm is a metaphor. This one is what if the spell at the end of nwh failed and even Peter forgot he was Spider-man. Its really good, especially how the memory loss and displacement is written.

The Lost and Forgotten by @litcraz

MCU, Teen believe it or not, this one was written before nwh, litcraz just fully predicted it. Peter has to make a very bad deal and everyone forgets he exists, but he keeps ending up back in the Avengers path.

Star Wars Fics:

hope has bloody knuckles by @independent-variables

SW, Teen Legally required to star the SW section of this with two independent-variables fic, their writing is so much to me (I literally binged all 4 pages of their star wars fics on ao3). This one is about after the Clone Wars, Davijaan moves to Pantora with Cody to heal after the war. He reunites with a civilian he met once and slowly falls in love. Examines person hood, healing, love, and siblings. (oh and the authors settings in Pantora are inspired by Alaska and are so freaking beautiful)

sing back to the red bird, soldier by @independent-variables

SW, Teen I was hard-pressed to make a choice of just one more from this author, but since I can't list all of them here is another favourite. It's about Rex discovering what it means to be free, and have a choice beyond brainwashing, and then offering freedom to all his brothers. It uses elements of Tatooine slave culture by @fialleril, which is all just so beautiful, so definitely check out them as well!

Dielectric Breakdown by @jessepinwheel

SW, Teen Quite likely the first clone wars fic I read? I love a good mystery and this fic has that with a very fulfilling ending. Obi-Wan kills the Chancellor and goes into hiding toward the end of the war. Five years later he's presumed dead but Cody doesn't believe that and wants to know why he betrayed everyone.

Message Traffic by @skitzofreak

SW, G and Teen This is a must read for anyone. It's all written as correspondence, transcripts, and droid logs, as a post rogue one fix-it. It's actually amazing how much the story makes you invested while you are very clearly behind a fourth wall. I adore it so much.

floating, sinking by shuofthewind

SW, not-rated another everyone survives rogue one fix-it. I just really love rogue one and seeing all the characters get more. Also the perspective switches are really really good.

False Dichotomy by nsmorig (@far-sector)

SW, M One that was recommended to me (by independent-variables). Its dark and has body horror so I loved it. The way Cody is written from both his own perspective and others is in such a way that you can really understand who he is. Truly one of the Cody fics. There is also a sequel that's a wip and is also amazing (I'm still thinking about it).

Bucket of Bolts by @independent-variables

SW, G haha, I lied. have another inderpendent-variables fic. This one looks at Ahsoka and Rex in-between the end of tcw and start of rebels. I love them and whatever it is they have going on.

All Their Tomorrows by @breakfastteatime

SW: Jedi Fallen Order, Teen Horror!!! The Mantis crew find an abandoned ship floating in space and its super creepy and leads them to investigating a dark faction of force sensitives.

Six extras from assorted fandoms:

Talk Me Home by @comebacknow

The Maze Runner, Mature I love tmr so much, never not thinking about it. This beautiful work covers the six months in-between the end of the scorch trials (movie) and the death cure (movie). I've read it multiple times, it expands on both the characters and world building so much.

the scar i can't reverse (the more it heals, the worse it hurts) by EverythingButTheKitchenSink (ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding)

The Maze Runner, Mature I've been following this fic since it was only a couple chapters, its really brilliant. Lots of time travel shit and trauma and seeing Thomas through everyone else's eyes. I would also recommend going through a few of this authors other works as well if you enjoy!

Once & Future by spqr

The Witcher, Mature If you haven't read anything by spqr, congrats, you're missing out. This one is a kind of sleeping beauty au, where Geralt is a statue and Jaskier accidentally wakes him up. They then have to go on a quest to save everyone Geralt holds dear.

Silver and Copper by Heronfem

The Witcher, Mature I love this cause, horror. It gets pretty dark, please mind the tags is horror is not your forte. Jaskier is cursed so a witcher is hired to save him.

Vanishing Act by nockout

Harry Potter, Mature This is probably the only time I'll recommend a harry potter fic, but it's truly worth it. This is a noir detectivy thing that starts by being spread over two different points in time that slowly meet. I have no clue how the author keeps all the plotlines together cause, wow. It also follows an original character which I really love. I'm a few chapters behind that latest update so am feeling like a reread is in order.

can we be seventeen? by acennabeth

PJO, Teen ending with some fluff. This is just percabeth getting a break from everything and being teenagers for an evening. it's so special to me

#i wrote this instead of studying btw #worth it #now i have a list of fics i need to reread #please note that i mostly read stuff that makes me feel severe emotions #so majority of these have likely made me cry at least once #this also dod take me a couple hours to make #but i feel like i might do it more often #because i've found heaps i want to reread #there are a lot of star wars fics here because that's my current obsession #and i want to save the dc fics for if i ever finish writing up my big dc fic rec list #plus i've gotten really into the dc comics at the moment so struggle with how ooc many dc fic is #fandom read the source material challenge (or at least if you are gonna discuss canon)#anyway tell me what you think of these!!#cause i love them!#dc fic recs #star wars fic recs #marvel fic recs #dc #star wars #marvel #mcu #witcher #tmr #oh and if you find any mistakes in this (such as links not working) please lmk

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cycle-hit · 1 month

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(Previous anon) nodding in agreement in general, i just still struggle to picture exactly what ‘flipping the hourglass’ involves on its own yknow? Rei exposes muu’s cycle of abandoning her friends when they stop being useful, but the way i looked at it, i always thought it wouldve been clear upfront to muu’s friends what kind of person she is? i have difficulty fully getting that aspect that her friends betrayed her out of sudden mistrust born from rei exposing muu’s toxic behavior, when most of what we’ve seen of muu’s friends, they’ve been involved in bullying rei as well- i was assuming theyve already witnessed muu’s toxicity and betrayal against her friends. it confused me how rei suddenly would have flipped the hourglass and suddenly ‘exposed’ that when i thought muu’s friends were already aware of that behaviour and fine with it. which is why i feel like another reason would’ve been a large factor, such as muu being outed for being a lesbian. But if you have an explanation for the idea of why muu’s friends would turn against her for her arrogance and bullying of others even though they seemingly already knew about it, id be glad to read — i love muu and maybe its the Autism of me not understanding the kind of social behavior depicted, but i really do struggle to understand it why they were seemingly fine with her behaviour until rei somehow confronted them about it and ‘exposed’ it? does this make sense..

it makes sense!

the thing about muu's friends is that they werent as "close" as muu thinks they were! i think muu sort of says it herself somewhere but i dont remember where- but its very likely the only reason they "clung" to her is because muu is rich, muu gave them things.

whatever emotional attachment muu had to them wasn't reciprocated. her being their "queen" was probably at least slightly just in muu's own head.

theres also an interesting theory out there that the reason they ditched muu so fast could be because muu isnt ACTUALLY rich, and that shes just pretending to be. once she lost that symbol of status and her friends realised that the things she gave to them weren't actually of value, they lost interest in her. i think that theory's rly fun! but i see too much of a spoiled rich girl in muu to see that 100%. its an interesting one tho and would definitely explain some things i state here even more so! anyways.

its entirely possible that muu's "friends" weren't even aware of the cycle/behaviours muu was committed to. people get stuck with toxic people all the time and dont "notice". i think that when rei flipped the hourglass they became aware of how easily muu could throw them aside- which means they'd no longer be benefiting from muu's wealth. theyre just "using" muu, like muu "uses" haruka and those she shattered for not being able to "feed" her. she has no actual worth to her "friends" beyond giving them material objects. turning on muu so quickly wouldve been easy to them.

i assume the three girls we see her with in INMF in the bug zone dancing over the shattered pieces are the same as the girls we see in reality right afterwards- which means if muu had ever "shattered" them, she'd realise that they're "fake" as well.

if they WERE aware of muu's cycle/toxicity, they were "fine" with muu's behaviour because they were profiting off her- or were even being willfully ignorant of her actions.

theres more stuff too related to how muu isnt as much of a "queen" as she thinks she is, but my brains a little fried. heres it with not a lot of coherency

the girls circling muu in after pain like they do in the bug zone in INMF, kotoko describing muu as being in a "sorry round-robin of who's queen" in deep cover

did they all want to be "queen"? was everyones turn of getting bullied inevitable but rei made muu's turn arrive faster? was muu really "controlling" anyone with her "gentle sting"? es even says she doesnt SAY anything, but rather its just her "presence" that makes her surroundings change to suit her. muu's role in being "queen" is probably much more exaggerated in INMF than it was in reality.

tl:dr muu's friends suck and didnt actually care about her that much and were likely just sticking around muu for her wealth. so turning on her was easy bc there wasnt any attachment to her in the first place. its possible they werent aware of how toxic her behaviour was, or were willfully ignorant of it bc muu gave them material wealth.

anyways. i hope this helps?? a bit?? if muu IS canonically gay though that definitely wouldve been another nail in the coffin for her

#gone too long without talking about girls kissing i need to talk about girls kissing again FAST #IF MY NEXT POST IS MORE PROOF FOR MUU BEING GAY FOR REI DONT WORRY ABOUT IT I CAN ONLY OPERATE ON LESBIANISM #milgram #muu kusunoki #milgram analysis #milgram theory #kusunoki muu #i repeat myself a lot here but i hope the points get across!

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septixtrash · 2 years

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Payback and Retribution Pt 2

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Supe!Reader

Warnings: language, mentions of death, mentions of gore (very little), mentions of drugs, depression

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: You finally meet The Boys.

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to publish this, my app I use to write deleted my original file so I had to rewrite it all over again. I haven't said what powers the reader has because it's a secret for the next chapter! Hope everyone enjoys this, I'm so thankful for all the support on Part 1! ❤️

Taglist: @spnwoman @veronicawritesstuff @atrxdxs @globetrotter28 @bronze-metal @deanwinchesterwifesstuff @buckybarnes-1917 @octobers-snow @faithm120601 @siospins2 @liuope @bxwitched @itsdesiree86 @epiphany-of-a-madwoman @bxrbiewrites @caffeinefueledfangirl @secretdreamlandmentality

“You must be well fucked in the head, agreeing to this…” Butcher tells you as you follow them both down to the parking garage.

He's right…

You walk right up to a beat up van, reaching for the handle. Butcher grabs your shoulder, scoffing. “Oi, just 'cause we're wanted doesn't mean we drive shitty cars…”

“That ain't mine.” He clicks a car alarm and points the opposite direction. “She is.”

“No fucking way…” You run up to an old black 87 Cadillac Brougham. It's in good condition too…

“I always wanted one! Vought wouldn't let us drive ourselves, had to have someone else drive for us. Ugh.”

Hughie grins. “I thought the same thing. He really looks like he owns a van!”

“Fuck off. Get in the car so we can fucking leave.” Butcher hops in the driver seat, Hughie sitting next to him.

You barely have time to climb in before he speeds off… dickhead.

“You didn't know the truth, did you?” Hughie turns around in his seat. “Before we came?”

You shake your head. “If I'd known sooner, they'd already be dead.”

It's still hard for you to wrap your head around the thought of it all… Ben's alive. Your own team betrayed you. Vought was behind everything and you'd been blindsided. It somehow hurts more, knowing that you’d been set up, that you’d been lied to. You think it would've been easier if you never found out the truth. Because through all the heartbreak, the tears, the endless nights high off your ass, desperately trying to savor the memories of him, it all meant nothing in the end.

As much as you'd rather be out hunting them all down, you knew you had to find Ben first. It wouldn't be right, getting revenge without him…

Hughie looks up at you, “I know how you feel… in a way at least.”

You raise an eyebrow, “and how's that?”

“A-Train killed my girlfriend Robin. Ran right through her… We were on the sidewalk, she took one foot off it, and then… then she was gone. The only pieces of her left were her arms that I held. He kept running, said he couldn't stop. He didn't bother apologizing, he lied to the media and Vought covered it up. They tried to buy my silence, but I-I couldn't take the money. It didn't feel right, being quiet about what happened. Why should I keep silent when he doesn't suffer any consequences. Butcher found me soon after…”

Poor kid. “I’m sorry… No wonder why you hate supes.”

You wonder what's Butcher's story…

“Don't be. Not all supes are like that, you know. You were always one of my favorites?”

You laugh. “Seriously, me? Why?”

“You weren't born a supe. You know what it's like being ordinary. You fought for the little guys, showed us that anyone can be a hero. I remember my Dad playing your old films, I used to want to be just like you…”

Your ears turn red. “T-thanks kid.”

You never felt you deserved to be a supe. To be called a hero. You just did what you felt right and helped others, because that's who you were, even before taking Compound V.

Maybe that's where it all went wrong, signing up for Vought's experimental program. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. You were young and needed the money, you were already struggling to make enough to get by. They offered a good hefty paycheck to those willing to try a serum they were working on. Of course you said yes, what a fucking mistake that was…

Pain, unlike anything else you'd ever felt. The serum rushing through your veins made it feel like you were dying. At first you thought you were.

They didn't tell you that most of the other subjects died. Their bodies rejected the serum. You somehow were lucky.

You got powers, but they came at a cost…

Vought made you their superhero. Dressed you up in latex and spandex and made you part of Payback, the first official supe team.

You thought you were fighting for freedom, but you were only fighting for a corporation.

You killed whoever they asked, saved whoever they wanted, all for ratings. That's all that mattered. How well the public responded to you.

You had it all, the fame, the drugs, the freedom…

You put on a face in front of the cameras, made it look like everything was fine, but in reality you were breaking inside. You'd never been so stressed before becoming a supe, but Ben, he made it look easy.

Maybe that's why you fell for him. He didn't have to put on an act, he was truly himself on and off the camera. He didn't care what anyone thought and that's what drew you to him. He taught you that you how be yourself again. But no one knew that…

Butcher turns around facing you. “Oi, we're here.”

You exit the vehicle and follow closely behind Butcher. He leads you all to a industrial looking building. Climbing the staircase, he stops in front of a door and unlocks it.

Stepping in, you have three pairs of eyes following you.

The place definitely didn't read: ‘We're wanted criminals.’ It was almost like an office, something you didn't expect from someone like Billy Butcher.

You face towards the only other woman in the room, a woman with long black hair.

“Hi!” You wave at her. “Nice to see Butcher has a woman on his team, I can already feel the testorone building in the room."

The woman uses sign language, signing hello.

Hughie laughs, Butcher just rolls his eyes. A man with a buzzcut stands up, “She doesn't talk. Her name's Kimiko. I'm Frenchie."

"Couldn't of guessed with your accent..."

The other man in the room turns away from you, grunts rolling his eyes. "Can we just hurry this up?"

“Who are you?” you ask, curious as to why the man clearly didn't like you being here.

“That's M.M.” Frenchie looks over at him. “He's got issues with Soldier Boy.”

Soldier Boy wasn't a good person. Everyone knew that. But he was only good to you.

There was so many things Ben didn't tell you; dark things he wasn't proud of.

Butcher pulls you from your thoughts. “Now that everyones here, let's go over the plan.”

You take a seat on the couch next to Kimiko.

“Your boy’s in Russia. We have a favor to our source, kill a target. Kimiko and Frenchie are already keyed in that. Once they're finished we'll be given the location.”

Kimiko pouts, signing something to Frenchie. He shakes his head at her then shrugs.

“You don't know where he is?!”

You should've known things weren't fully fledged out, but you expected a little more especially when these people were widely known supe killers.

“Oi, calm down will ya?” Butcher shouts.

Hughie looks away, rubbing his neck. There's a lot of tension in the room...

You face Butcher. “Who’s your source?” You rub your temples, sighing.

“Russian mobster, Little Nina. Frenchie here used to have a thing for her, now he owes her a favor. She told us if he does this for her, she'll tell us where the facility is.”

There has to be more than he's letting on… “What's the catch? Surely it can't be that easy, what's the favor she want?”

Frenchie speaks up, “She needs someone killed. But not by me…” he faces Kimiko who frowns. “Kimiko is the only who can do it.”

“Why her? No offense…”

“Because she's a supe like you. Little Nina knows that Kimiko doesn't want to do it, that's exactly why. She's doing it to get to me,” He sighs.

You get up from your place on the couch, rolling your shoulders, cracking your neck. “Well, when do we leave?”

#x reader #soldier boy imagine #soldier boy x reader #the boys imagine #soldier boy x supe!reader

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ro-botany · 1 month

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Offtopic opinions

Awakening is a game that was rushed, and suffered a lot of cuts, but when you pay attention to the history the game lays out, you start to see this rich world they were trying to create. And the plot! It takes a standard "the prince must slay the evil dragon" story and it flips it on its head and uses it to explore cycles of abuse and trauma.

I'm not sure I agree there about the game having a rich world.

There's very little to the world building like Chrom's famous ancestor and Ylisse's First Exalt is just a word for a word copy of Marth without any sort of name. Similarly Chrom's father has no name and the crusade is woefully underdeveloped.

There are also characters like the Hierarch, whom allegedly acted as a mentor to Emmeryn but just betrays her with this big event going uncommented on and the Hierarch having no name, his Japanese name is just the name of his class!

The Taguel are another thing having basically no history outside of things basically copy/pasted from the Laguz and the writers couldn't even get Panne's personal history right; she says in one support her birth mother raised her alongside other taguel, but in another says her mom died when she was an infant so she never knew her or any other taguel.

Compare these all to even the first game having oodles of info on Marth's ancestor and the history of the continent as well as its wars.

Or Orson's betrayal in Sacred Stones to the Hierarch, as well as the long history of the Laguz in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn compared to the Taguel's inconsistent lore that acts as a mere footnote in Awakening.

Also personally I find Awakening follows all the standard FE tropes to the letter without any sort of diverging from them.

...If you find killing vast swathes of virtual human enemies disturbing, then strategy games centered around war may not be the games for you. This is what we call a genre convention. You gotta be able to handle killing the little pixel guys to enter.

Its not that I find it disturbing but more I feel Awakening treats war like a game and isn't interested in explaining why the protagonists are killing people or the ramifications of killing people.

Its simply playing into "kill brown men because they're ugly and rescue the sexy brown women from them."

Like even Genealogy of the Holy War talked about how the cycle of vengeance affected everyone, how its still sad to kill the Loptous cultists as they are human beings and that even the head of the cult, Manfroy didn't start out evil.

Awakening, to me personally, just seemed like it only cared about making the player feel powerful by having every enemy be either forced to fight them against their will or be a piece of crap that absolutely nobody loved (Aversa's storyline goes out of its way to say nobody mourns Grimleal deaths for example), whilst every women around just threw themselves at the player.

(Second debate hour anon ask I got too busy to reply to when it came in; My Bad anon hope you're doin well.)

"whilst every women around just threw themselves at the player" Anon, I can't stress this enough:

This is the game where M/F MONOGAMY IS A STRICTLY ENFORCED GAME MECHANIC I'm. I just. Did we read the same supports? Because most of the Robin supports I remember are like, Robin failing really badly at making soup, or losing stuff, or teaching people funny slang and then regretting it.

All the supports had to be written to believably be building friendships, because you can still A rank characters with each other after they're married. Because of this, the vast majority of supports only pivot into anything even remotely romantic directly in the S support. It's usually not done well, honestly, imo. But either way that doesn't leave room for this like, harem anime AU you're inventing in your head.

"Women throwing themselves at the player" did you read the support where Robin accidentally gives Sully the shits and she threatens to kill him, anon. Did you.

Anyway. It sounds like you're reaching for reasons to object to this game on some kind of moral grounds. You don't HAVE to do that, though. You can just dislike the game for non-moral reasons. Or for no reason. It doesn't have to be that deep.

Anyway to address your other points briefly I mean, uh, with way too many words as usual lmao

I'm not about to argue that the game is perfect in any respect. It's not even CLOSE. I've said before and I'll say it again that there's a lot of unused potential in Awakening, from places where characterization is thin to the massive gaps in the worldbuilding. The way this game treats Aversa is gross as hell and it has plenty racism problems besides. Trust me, I am not unaware of or ignoring the bad and the ugly.

To be honest? It being deeply flawed is what keeps me coming back to it.

If a game is perfect, there's only so long you can gush about how good it is. If a game is GOOD, but FLAWED? You could write a fuckin thesis about it. Hell, I arguably have, the word count on the collection of Awakening-related meta posts I've authored or made big additions to just keeps on jumping.

Yes, Awakening's worldbuilding has major gaps; but what we got was legitimately interesting! Piecing together what we got is fun for me! Filling in some of those gaps by extrapolating from the facts at hand is fun! Headcanoning in the rest is fun!

Sure, some of the characters and relationships are sorely underdeveloped, and there are some inconsistencies in the supports and that sucks. But seriously analyzing what's there is fun as hell! Taking the things we know and extrapolating personality and relationships is a blast! And for the more major characters, what's there is legitimately compelling as hell - the amount of scholarship the mutuals and I have authored about mister Grima faildragon himself is proof of that. As is the fact that we have honest to goodness essays about Validar of all characters. VALIDAR.

I can't really compare it to most of the other FE games, having not played most of them. I can accept it's not the best FE by a long shot. But I'm also willing to give it leeway for how the release dates hamstrung it, I appreciate the clear love and effort that was put into it anyway, and I respect it a lot for the part it played in keeping the franchise alive today.

And to be perfectly frank, it also is a story that I stumbled across when I was in a rough patch, and it helped me deal with the Horrors, so y'know. It's a really important game to me for that reason.

If its flaws are dealbreakers for you I may not be able to change your mind. That's ok!

But hopefully this at least gives you some insight into why I, at least, am so obsessed with it. It's flawed as hell and that makes it capital C Compelling.

#robot's debate hour #no replies s'il vous plait #now featuring me being a bit of a shit in the first section #sorry not sorry that sentiment is just so funny to me i have no clue where you're getting that from anon #anyway. genuinely just skim my ''grimleal studies'' tag anon #we barely headcanon things here it's 90% persuasive essays with thorough citations by volume #i'm not kidding when i say a flawed game is a game i sink my teeth into forever #flaws give you footholds for shit to talk about #places to extrapolate #things to criticize #the ugly bits are the secret sauce that make the meal delicious

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