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carolperkinsexgirlfriend · 5 months

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Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 49

Part 1 Part 48

Eddie swings his guitar off, invigorated. There’s nothing like a good band practice to set his blood blazing. He bounces on his toes in Gareth’s cold garage, letting his friend’s excited chatter wash over him as he places his sweetheart delicately back in her case. Just like old times. Unlike old times, there’s an ache in his ribs where Steve’s carved out a home for himself.

It’s weird to be so far away from Steve. Even when they’re doing their own thing, it’s usually in the same room. Or at least the same building. Thursday nights, Steve studies in the library while Eddie leads Hellfire a few hallways away. Eddie’d had Steve write down his schedule so he would always know where to find him.

Eddie just wants to be supportive. Nancy had called it “dangerously co-dependent,” and Jeff had called it, “the honeymoon phase.” But, they don’t get it. Neither of them had held Steve’s lifeless hand in their hands. Neither of them had seen his smile after Hopper had breathed life back into him.

As if sensing the subject of his thoughts, Gareth asks, “where is Steve, anyway?” When Eddie looks up, he looks sly and teasing. Eddie braces for impact. “You two have a lover’s quarrel?”

Eddie groans, dropping dramatically to the cold cement floor. His head makes a hollow thunk when it connects, but Eddie doesn’t get up. If there’s one thing Eddie is, it’s commited to the bit.

“My fair maiden is off wooing another,” Eddie says, putting his hand to his forehead in a dramatic swoon. “Which one of you big, strong boys will support me through this terrible heartbreak?” He wiggles his eyebrows, really driving the innuendo home with a shimmy of his hips.

Doug holds up his hand. He’s either volunteering to have gay sex like a true queer ally, or he wasn’t listening and is done with Eddie’s shit. Eitehr way, he feels his heart warm. In Bumfuck, Indiana, he’d somehow managed to snag a couple friends who hadn’t even hatecrimed him after he’d tried to kiss poor Jeff while high out of his mind. The aftermath hadn’t even gone past good-natured teasing for a minor crush on a best friend that Eddie pretended not to have. Eddie could just cry about it.

Jeff comes over to kick Eddie lightly in the ribs, scoffing. “So, he’s hanging out with Nancy.”

Eddie latches onto Jeff’s ankle, trying to pull him down. But he plants his feet, bends his knees and weathers the storm. Eddie hugs his calf, smooshing his face into the top of Jeff’s dirty sneaker, looking up at him with wide eyes and put-upon sadness.

“He’s with Nancy,” he confirms, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout.

Gareth collapses on the couch, still tossing his drumsticks around. Eddie watches them spin hypnotically. “You’re joking, but he’s totally going to get back with his ex.”

“Nah,” Doug says, sitting down next to Gareth and tossing him a bag of salt and vinegar chips that Gareth immediately digs into noisily. “Steve’s way too hung up on Eddie.”

Gareth sputters, choking on his mouthful of chips. Eddie can feel the heat of his blush blooming across his cheekbones. He drops Jeff’s ankle to press his heated cheek against the cool cement, hoping no one notices.

“Straight-boy Steve Harrington?” Gareth asks, chips spewing grossly out of his mouth and onto the couch. “No way in hell is he interested in that.” At the last word, he points rudely Eddie’s way, not looking away from Doug.

“Hey!” Eddie cries. No one listens to him.

Jeff walks over to them, wiping Gareth’s masticated chips off the couch and then wiping his hand off on Gareth’s jeans before sitting down. His friends are so fucking weird. “I don’t know man. He does seem sort of obsessed with Eddie.” Jeff says.

“They just like bonded during like, whatever!” Gareth waves his hand, seemingly trying to encapsulate the entirity of whatever capital T Thing had happened to make Eddie and Steve inseperable and leave Steve looking like he got mauled by a bear that somehow gave him scurvy.

“And that explains how Steve’s always touching Eddie and like looking at his lips, how?” Jeff demands.

“He is not!” Eddie says, heart lurching somewhere within him.

Gareth’s mouth flaps open, clearly trying to think of something to say but coming up empty. “Well, whatever!” he says. “That doesn’t mean he’s not going to get back together with Nancy the Priss Wheeler!”

Eddie speaks without thinking, his unfurling anger at Nancy’s everything surpassing his brain to mouth filter entirely. “He’s not getting back together with her,” he grumbles. “He forgot they were even dating.”

Everyone whips their eyes toward Eddie’s prone form, finally acknowledging his existance. They all look varying levels of shocked, except Gareth who is smiling maniacally. It’d taken the kid about thirty seconds to pick up Eddie’s venhement dislike of Wheeler and hold a grudge on his behalf, reson be damned.

“Are you serious?” Doug asks. When Eddie nods, he continues. “What a freak.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Jeff says, slumping into the couch in defeat. “Boy came back from his little impromptou vacation fucking weird.”

Eddie’s not so sure that’s true. Steve came back from the Upside-Down weird and traumatized, sure. But the more layers of skin Eddie peels back, the more he’s convinced that Steve was a freak masquerading as a jock all along.

“A diamond in the rough,” Eddie says, everyone else nodding along like that made any fucking sense at all. A bunch of sheep following the flock. Just as it should be.

Part 50

Taglist: @deany-baby @estrellami-1 @altocumulustranslucidus @evillittleguy @carlprocastinator1000 @1-8oo-wtfbro @hallucinatedjosten @goodolefashionedloverboi @newtstabber @lunabyrd @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @manda-panda-monium @disrespectedgoatman @finntheehumaneater @ive-been-bamboozled @harringrieve @grimmfitzz @is-emily-real @dontstealmycake @angeldreamsoffanfic @a-couchpotato @5ammi90 @mac-attack19 @genderless-spoon @kas-eddie-munson @louismeds @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @pansexuality-activated @ellietheasexylibrarian @nebulainajar @mightbeasleep @neonfruitbowl @beth--b @silenzioperso @best-selling-show

#steddie upsidedown au #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #my fic

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lansplaining · 11 months

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I think people have a hard time visualizing JC and WWX’s different strengths. Like WWX is great in a emergency when quick action is needed but if you need someone to set up a permanent plan for running an organization you go to JC. It’s not to say JC can’t think on his feet or WWX can’t plan ahead, but I know which one I’d like to work on a group project with.

yeah!!! but we also don't get to see Jiang Cheng do his thing, ever, so I get why! I for one am DESPERATE to know how he rallied enough cultivators to his utterly destroyed sect to be anything resembling a leading force in the Sunshot Campaign. how did he rebuild and restructure the sect when he didn't have a clan to back him-- he'd have to reimagine a completely new structure for Yunmeng Jiang, something unlike what any other major clan is doing! how did he navigate not only the practicalities, but the politics of being an extremely young sect leader with no resources, no Jin Guangyao to give him free loans and help him rebuild like the Lan had, not a member of the Venerated Triad, only the Jin as extremely contingent and fair-weather allies... and after 13/16 years, is back to being one of the largest and most important clans in the jianghu, respected and feared and known?

Lan Wangji is Hanguang-jun and Lan Xichen was seen as a beacon of hope wherever he arrived, but imagine the stories they must have told about Jiang Cheng. imagine what a miracle he must have seemed to be, rising from the ashes of Lotus Pier.

#ask answered #jiang cheng #i love him.

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asteroidtroglodyte · 9 months

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{MTG Color Theory 201:}

2-Color Characters

[if you like, you may also peruse my post on monocolor characters]

With 5 colors available, we have 10 possible combinations of 2. As it happens, this includes 5 Allied Color Pairs (ACPs) and 5 Enemy Color Pairs (ECPs). Grouping them this way will help us understand their motivations, which are either coherent & external (ACPs) or dissonant & internal (ECPs). I’ll get into what exactly I mean by that below.

{for reference}

ACPs (Allied Color Pairs)

Red/Green: The Champion

Green/White: The Martyr

White/Blue: The Authority

Blue/Black: The Manipulator

Black/Red: The Demolisher

ACPs are defined by what their 2 colors agree on. Their ideology a coherent fusion of their color philosophies. They will have 2 Fair Weather Friends, the 2 colors adjacent to them, which they can tolerate but only to a degree; and 1 Nemesis, their shared enemy color, an external motivating force that they stand firmly against.

ECPs (Enemy Color Pairs)

White/Red: The Enforcer

Red/Blue: The Visionary

Blue/Green: The Cultivator

Green/Black: The Predator

Black/White: The Master

ECPs are defined by what their 2 colors disagree on. Their Ideology is defined by a dissonant tension along a particular philosophical axis. They will be defined partially by their Blind Spot, the single color that sits between theirs, and their Rival Color Pair, the 2 colors opposite their Blind Spot that define what they reject in life.

{dig into the notes}

{see also my Quick Tour of 2-color Paladins}

#MTG #magic the gathering #Color Pie #mtg color theory #characterization #color pairs #character building #writing #troglodyte thoughts #free range sustainable shitpost

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wraitingtoyou · 1 year

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Sumeru characters as classmates

Gn!reader

Includes: Collei, Tighnari, Dehya, Alhaitham, Cyno, Candace, Nilou, Kaveh, Nahida, Dori.

Collei

• a neat friend ngl

• would say she didn't do her homework to be punished together with you wow what a homie.

• But damn does she not chew off the tip of all pens and pencils because of her anxiety. Mm woi is it spoicy.

Tighnari

• He's a material girl

• no seriously he has all the stationary and shit, a cut on your finger? Pulls out the whole first aid kit. Hungry? Pulls out the whole kitchen he cookin like w 5* michelin

•Too smart you get irritated sometimes like he NEVER forgets his work and always right too wtf

Dehya

• Does not understand anything in class literally.

•Asks for your notes everytime and feels bad for it so she runs errands for you she calls it a fair trade bahahaha

•She has the whole basketball bros on the tip of her fingers that now they look at you and go "BOYS BOW DOWN ITS THE ALLY OF MASTER DEHYA"

AlHaitham

•🤓🤓🤓

•smarty pants

•honestly just throw him out of the window already.

•Talks back to the teachers wow

• "You want ice cream?" "no, thank you according to the weather today if you eat ice cream you will gai-" BITCH STFU ILL EAT IT BY MYSELF THEN

• as much as he's annoying it sure is fun to hear him spill tea about the teachers and school.

Cyno

• Dilligent student #2

• for some reason there's rumours that he has a gang in the school like leave the bb aloneeeee.

• You didn't have well thoughts about him being your seat partner at first because he seemed the type who thinks he's all cool n shi

•you literally planned a whole argument in your head on how you'd demolish him if he ever picked one with you

• you came to realise he's just nice and silly

• makes chemistry jokes sometimes and you pretend to get it

• ass is weak at chemistry sorry

Candace

• Your grades when she's your classmate 📈📈📈

• SO COOL AND RELIABLE

• She teaches better than the teachers istg

• She brings you snacks so you bring her small gifts too like charms and all 😞

• you two have matching school bag keychains. She has a moon and you have sun one she say it's because you're bright like a sun. Oof your heart and pride.

Nilou

• Popular girl wth

• You assumed she'd be one of those try to be nice and kind for favour type but you were wrong you felt dissapointed in yourself naur

•You two go out in café dates often she insists she wants to pay but how could let a sweetie like her do that?

•She loves you so much omg she even has your wedding venue ideas planned 💀

Kaveh

• He's really fun to be around not gonna lie.

• stressed bean comes to you to rant about Haitham everyday 😭

• Sends you capybaras memes during class hours like bitch??? Study you failing physics 😾

Nahida

• WTF IS A KID DOING HERE

• Dayumn this kid too smart for her age maybe that's why

• she's cute though so you won't bully her you guess.

•you holding back the urge to pinch her cheeks every 10 seconds.

Dori

•How tf did this kid here again

•tries to sell you premium student stationary for vip only with 20% discount

• yeah you're not falling for that

•kid tops every math class wtf

•send this kid to business pls

#genshin fanfiction #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #genshin fanfic #genshin hcs #alhaitham x reader #genshin fluff #cyno x reader #tighnari x reader #dehya x reader #kaveh x reader

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occasionally-good-ideas · 1 year

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Amity Park

It’s been three years since the portal opened in amity, and since then the people have changed. ‘Liminal’ is what most people call it ‘death touched’ has also been thrown around. It made the people, the kids mostly, different, faster, stronger, higher endurance, almost silent, sensitive hearing.

to them it was normal, and besides! being able to run full speed for long distances was useful when your town was constantly under attack, and extra strength and agility is great for games!

Ever since the town got yoinked into the ghost zone amity’s had its own electricity and plumbing systems, the world outside the town doesn’t hear from the folks inside, and the people inside just don’t need to talk to outsiders, what would they even talk about anyway?? School? They don’t have ghosts, or the same standards! The weather?? ‘Hey did you feel that ecto-storm last night? I couldn’t sleep till it died down at 4!!’ Nope, definitely not the weather.

But this isolation forged a close community in the town, they were all in this together and they all knew it. Working parents, little kids and rebellious teens, when it came down to it they all had each others backs

The teens ecpetionaly bonded through CHAOS!! Pranks and sceems targeted at each other and the mayor, games of Extreme Tag (which was like a mix of tag, parkour, and the occasional gun) were the norm for the youth of amity park.

Shouting and laughter followed them as the kids ran up walls, across rooftops and through the streets and alleys of amity. For normal kids they would tire themselves out in three hours TOPS, but this is Amity, and the kids here are anything but normal. A single game could go from sunrise to sunset without even a water break, ‘if you’re thirsty get water. Just don’t get caught’ and who would back down from a challenge like that??

One summer they decided to do their own version of the hunger games, half in the woods on the outskirts of town and all through the streets, it was all fair game.

They built their own bases, going home was forfeiting, from holes in the ground to multi story lairs of wood and rubble. Food was foraged or stolen, if you got caught? Youre out, if you got tagged with paint (or otherwise incapacitated) you’re out. trust at your own risk. it goes till the last man standing.

Friendships were made and broken, old enemies became trusted allies, teens found love in the heart of battle and even more found the thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of seeing your enemy fall and emerging victorious in the face of all odds.

It went on for a straight month before the parents had to band together to bring their kids home.

The Games were over, but no one forgot them, the high of adrenaline and Victory was one they could chase, and in the case of the towns sports coaches, one they could profit from.

The Amity Park Ravens became infamous for their endurance, their strength and speed, but mostly, their bloodlust, they were ruthless. Word of them spread through schools like a legend, the unbeatable, almost inhuman nature of them.

Outside of games they were always easy going and good sports about the competition, but on the field? Where Outsiders had to face off against dozens of amity parkers dead set on victory?

They were only whispered of with one name.

The Unkindness

TLDR- amity park kids take competition WAY too seriously and they end up scaring the shit out of the whole public school sports program

They also did a diy hunger games and I WILL read anything anyone makes about that bit (please tag me)

#liminal amity park #danny phantom #feral kids finally going apeshit #writing prompt #I found out a group of ravens is called an ‘unkindness’#and I NEEDED to make that a thing #the Hunger Games thing was a historical amity event #they call it The Games and reference it regularly

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essskel · 11 months

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I keep writing posts and deleting them going round in circles over the same problem and that problem is Philippa’s mismanagement of the Lodge. Specifically when it comes to Triss Merigold. Triss is a fair-weather ally, and Philippa knows this because she comes from a background of espionage and political manipulation. Philippa knows people and she knows Triss and she STILL lets Triss’ leash get far too long and far too tangled.

You either leave Triss out or you put her in the center and tell her she’s the most important person in the room (see the Wolf Witcher’s careful treatment of her in Blood of Elves). Philippa doesn’t do this, or at least she doesn’t keep it up, which means that when Yen comes knocking, Triss is riding off to Rivia and the Lodge is six feet under. Something about that feels reckless to me, though at the same time I love it, because it goes to show that even someone as skilled at manipulation as Philippa is going to slip when it comes to Triss Merigold. Because Triss is not simply ‘selfish’ or ‘patriotic’ or ‘dedicated to the wellbeing of mages’, she’s often just hoping that everyone stops fighting and doesn’t ask her to apologize and that they forget the things she does when she’s scared or lonely.

#this is a pretty underdeveloped posts lol. sorry #death to everyone because we don’t have the scene where Triss agrees to join the lodge #WHAT RHE HELL DID TOU SAY TO HER PHIL???? AND WHY DID #YOU NEVER SAY IT AGAIN!!!?????#philippa eilhart #triss merigold #lodge of sorceresses #the witcher books #the witcher #double shot

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zoetheneko · 4 months

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Zoe

Name: Zoe

Pronouns: She/her

Gender: Female

Birthday: April 22nd

Age: 17

Height: 5" 6

Alignement: Chaotic good

Mbti: INFP

Core value: Discovery

__________________

Species: Kemonomimi (Human with mammal ears and tail)

Origins: Earthrealm

Nationality: Canadian

Current location: State of Washington, U.S.

__________________

Phobias:

N/A

Philias:

Pluviophilia - Love of rainy weather

Pyrophilia - Love of fire

Cardiophilia - Love of hearts

Autophilia - Love of solitude

Nemophilia - Love of forests

Opacarophilia - Love of sunsets

Ailurophilia - Love of cats

Favourite foods/drinks:

Pepsi

Water

Boba tea

Coffee

Cheese

French fries

Ice cream

Grilled cheese

Meats

Other favourite stuff:

Hello kitty

The colour pink

Memes

Traveling

Her friends (even if she has a hard time showing them affection)

Video games

Personnality:

Zoe is a generaly calm and reserved person. Interacting with people is not one of her strength, which make sense because she has autism. But if a chance is given and Zoe gets to be more in touch with somebody, she can be very sweet and reliable, and as long as they respect her, she'll respect them.

She does have a few things that people close to her may find understandably disturbing, like enjoying burning down things a lil too much sometimes during missions or litteraly owning a collection of hearts of everyone and everything she killed.

__________________

Mentors:

John Rambo (also her gardian and friend)

Fujin

Havik

Kung Jin

Friends/allies:

John Rambo

Cassie Cage

Jacqui Briggs

Takeda Takahashi

Kung Jin

Sonya Blade

Johnny Cage

Jax briggs

Kenshi Takahashi

Kurtis Stryker

Hanzo Hasashi

Kuai Liang

Fujin

Dia (@darialovesstuff )

Megan (@scentedcandleibex )

Iris (@scentedcandleibex )

Lady Shenra (@huepazu )

Huepazu (@huepazu )

Sienna (@loverofthewindgod )

Ombra (@theelderhazelnut )

Neutral/complicated:

Havik

Hotaru

Raiden

Ennemies:

Shao Khan

Frost

Shang Tsung

__________________

Weapons:

Survival knife (A gift from Rambo) - Her main weapon. She can also turn it into a single-side bladed one-hand sword by covering the original blade with a glowy crystal-like solid material which is used as an extention. It shatters into fading pieces when it's done being used or the offense is stopped midway by the opponent.

Claws made of her magic.

Powers/abilities:

Zoe is weilder of a magic that is proper to her. Nobody knows how or why she required it, and to be fair, Zoe doesn't know either. But it has been proven to be capable of great utility and destruction. This magic is recognizable by its pink hues.

Pyromancy

Fire breath

Crystal-like solid creation/manipulation

Blood combustion - It allows her to set blood on fire, either if it's her own or somebody elses.

Faster healing

Increasing the temperature of seperate parts of her body.

Increase her strength

Increase her speed

Important fact: Zoe's eyes, hands and heart light up when her powers are heavily used.

Appearance:

Outfits:

Main:

Stealth mode:

Extras:

(You won't see that leg scar often tho)

__________________

Her backstory

Playlist

Incorrect quotes w/ Rambo

Headcanon #1

Tagging:

@mitsuko-saito - @darialovesstuff - @scentedcandleibex - @huepazu - @theelderhazelnut - @zombieoffender - @bloody-arty-myths - @takiisieju-moved - @loverofthewindgod - @katieblossum - @onehornedbeast - @mortalkombat-lover - @jaydraw209 - @devilzukin7 - @asweetlovesong - @nameispai - @malewifefirestar - @licoricelump - @sirmidezz - @geeky-trash01

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birindale · 4 months

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Adventure of the Blue Diamond

Frosta learns about stranger danger, Catra blots out the 'daystar', and She-Ra smashes a priceless gem for no discernible reason.

Transcript/Image ID below the cut

[Image Description: A cover and 14 comic pages from the She-Ra mini-comic, “Adventure of the Blue Diamond”.

Cover: She-Ra stands in a snowy field, staring at something. Double Trouble, Frosta, and Bow stand behind her, none of them dressed for cold weather. Bow has an arrow nocked, and his embedded ‘heart’ is situated low on his torso, more where a belly button would be. All parties look vaguely concerned. The ‘Princess of Power’ logo stands in sharp contrast to the indigo sky, while the title ‘Adventure of the Blue Diamond’ is a washed out azure with insufficient lining to read well against the lighter purple background and blue of Bow’s pants.

Page 1: A yellow text box reads, “The duties of the day behind her. PRINCESS ADORA indulges in a rare moment of quiet reflection. But her sweet peace is to be short lived… For all is not well in Etheria… ”

Adora is looking into a mirror, brushing her hair despite still wearing her crown and high-collared cape. She’s smiling peacefully.

Adora notices something in her reflection, pausing in her brushing.

What appears to be a window glows gold in the reflection of the mirror, and she stares at it with a concerned frown.

Kowl bursts into the room, frantic, calling, “Oh, fair princess, woe is me! DANGER! DANGER… all I see! QUICKLY! You must follow me! HOOT! HOOT!” Adora whips around to face him.

“Good heavens, Kowl! What IS the matter?” she asks. The words ‘Adventure of the Blue Diamond’ appear on a title scroll at the bottom of the page. ‘Blue Diamond’ is rendered as though made of cut gems.

End Page 1.

Page 2: “Just look and listen!” says Kowl, leading her to the open window of the Crystal Castle. A strong and ominous wind hisses outside.

“CATRA! Up to her old tricks! I’d recognize that voice anywhere!” says Adora, looking out into a gathering storm.

“She’s gone too far I fear! Etheria’s DOOM is all too near!” says Kowl.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” says Adora, with a confident smile.

“BY THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL… I AM SHE-RA!” she yells, holding the Sword of Protection aloft. Magic swirls around her, and the word ‘BOOM!’ is printed in big red letters. Her crown inverts, but does not cover her eyes as a mask.

“I must find the source of this dark trouble at once! Kowl, summon BOW and DOUBLE TROUBLE… quickly… I’ll need their HELP!” She-Ra says to Kowl.

End Page 2.

Page 3: A yellow caption box reads, “Moments later…” and we see that it’s begun to snow. A large vehicle with lepidopteran wings, somewhere between the Butterflyer and the Flutter Plane in design but colored to match Double Trouble’s outfit, is parked in front of the Crystal Castle, where She-Ra meets with her allies.

“Brave Bow, far greater is the force of Catra’s folly this day than I have ever seen it! I know not the SOURCE of her dark powers, but we must NOT let her EVIL TREACHERY SUCCEED!” says She-Ra.

“Never have I seen Etheria look more DESOLATE and DREARY! Whatever Catra’s up to… It must be a vile TRICK indeed!” says Bow.

“She-Ra, surely you must have some sort of PLAN!” says Double Trouble.

“Indeed I do and much of it depends on you, Double Trouble., with your SPY DISGUISE you can make it into Catra’s camp UNDETECTED! GO NOW and discover for me just what wretched scheme that fiendish feline has up her sleeve!” says She-Ra.

Double Trouble stands with her hands on her hips, wind buffeting Bow behind her. “And when I have your answer?” she asks.

“Then send a SIGNAL skyward. The FLUTTER PLANE will bring Bow and me to your side in a but a moment!” says She-Ra, so apparently that is in fact the Flutter Plane, just riffing on the earlier two-seater concept art that Filmation discarded and Mattel never produced. Cool.

A yellow caption box reads, “A clever scout, Double Trouble soon finds herself on the evil Catra’s trail…” and we see Double Trouble slogging through the snow, following a very neat and precise course.

“FOOT PRINTS! Catra has been here all right!” she says, following them as it continues to snow. The ground is now completely covered.

End Page 3.

Page 4: “... and up ahead… a CAVE!” says Double Trouble, trudging through even deeper snow, approaching, you guessed it, a cave. “If I don’t miss my guess, the SINISTER FELINE seeks shelter from the storm inside!”

“Just as I suspected! BUT WAIT… What’s this? The fiendish feline holds a PRISONER!” Double Trouble thinks to herself, peering into the cave to see an exultant Catra, wearing a silver fur cloak, gloating over a woman with long blue hair tied to a stalagmite.

“AT LAST! The treasured SNOW CAPE and its powerful SECRETS are mine… ALL MINE!” says Catra.

End Page 4.

Page 5: “HELP! Somebody HELP ME!” yells the prisoner. Catra smiles dismissively and pulls out her mask and says, “FROSTA, my dear, you are a FOOL! There is no one to hear your cries, nor anyone to interfere with thissss…

“My most diabolical plot to SEIZE CONTROL of all Etheria!” she declares, putting on her mask.

The space between panels reads, “Unleashed by Catra’s evil threats, Double Trouble CHANGES into her SPY DISGUISE - a face that Catra recognizes as a FRIEND!” followed by a four-panel sequence of Double Trouble shifting into evil mode.

“CATRA! What have we here?” she asks.

“WHA…? Oh it’s you, Double Trouble!” says Catra. “This foolish girl has given me her precious SNOW CAPE, and with its secrets, Etheria will soon be MINE!”

End Page 5.

Page 6:

“HOW? What secrets? Tell me your plan!” says Double Trouble.

“I took Frosta’s powerful WAND and FROZE ETHERIA!” says Catra. “But its freezing effect is only temporary! Fear not, friend—I’ve discovered a MAP in her cape that will lead me to the BLUE ICE DIAMOND! And I will have the power to freeze Etheria FOREVER!”

“Double Trouble, guard Frosta until I return!” says Catra, running from the cave.

A yellow caption box reads, “Above Etheria’s moonlit horizon, Bow and She-Ra watch… and wait…” and we see the Flutter Plane flying over a snow-covered landscape.

“LOOK THERE! It’s Double Trouble’s SIGNAL!” says Bow, pointing at a flare of magic from the pilot’s seat.

“GOOD! Let’s take ‘er down…” says She-Ra.

End Page 6.

Page 7: “She-Ra, Etheris is in the greatest PERIL! Frosta, QUICKLY, you must tell She-Ra everything you know!” says Double Trouble, as she emerges from the cave, supporting Frosta. Bow and She-Ra run towards her.

“So LONELY have I been here, in the frozen north, for Catra’s TRICKERY I was an easy mark! A day ago, she befriended me… but it has COST me DEARLY!” says Frosta, beginning to cry. Double Trouble holds her closer in support.

“Go on, tell her about the SNOW CAPE!” she urges.

“Foolishly, I GAVE my snow cape to Catra in exchange for her company! Inside the cape, there is a map that will lead her to the Blue Ice Diamond!” says Frosta, dripping tears.

“THE BLUE ICE DIAMOND! Catra will use the gemstone’s powerful magic to turn Etheria into a frozen wasteland FOREVER! We must STOP her!” says She-Ra, evidently horrified.

A yellow caption box reads, “With Frosta in the lead, She-Ra and her stalwart cohorts race across the Dreaming Mountain! But can they reach the Blue Ice Diamond in time?”

The Flutter Plane flies overhead while Double Trouble and Frosta (who has been mistakenly colored to look like She-Ra) ride in another vessel. It’s a sailing sledge (an iceboat meant for dry land) with an unstayed mast & single lateen sail, long and narrow in the style of a stereotypical viking ship, complete with an ornate figurehead of a bird of prey. The entire ship is a similar shade of green to Double Trouble, including the sail, which is feather-patterned. There are struts visible in later panels which confirm this is a sleigh and not a magical land-ship of some kind. The whole thing is reminiscent of the Sea Harp in shape, but that hasn't been designed yet.

End Page 7.

Page 8: A yellow caption box reads, “... or does Catra ALREADY hold Etheria’s fate in her grasp?” as Catra gloats over a gem, which glows a vivid green.

“CATRA!” shouts Frosta, now colored correctly, “HALT! Or I shall FREEZE you where you stand!” She climbs from the sailing sledge and brandishes her Snowflake Wand (which is really more of a staff).

“You’re TOO LATE Frosta… TOO LATE!” Catra calls back, lifting a faceted gem to her face as she smiles in evil glee.

End Page 8.

Page 9: “LOOK! Etheria’s bright daystar DIMS even as I speak, and a CLOAK OF DARKNESS SWEEPS THE LAND!” she yells, gesturing at what I think it’s safe to assume is a sun and not the planet Venus because it’s flipping huge, “Soon I shall rule FOREVER!”

“WHISSSSHHHH,” goes the Snowflake Wand, which now more resembles a scepter, then “ZZZAAA,” in a spidery, electric sort of style. Sparkles emerge from the wand and Frosta looks pretty pissed.

“--KRAKK!” finish the onomatopoeia, as we return to Catra, who’s surrounded by sparkles as the sun darkens behind her.

We zoom in closer to reveal she’s frozen solid, still cackling.

The focus shifts to the sun, now completely dark.

End Page 9.

Page 10: Frosta falls to her knees in despair, burying her face in her hands as Double Trouble tries to comfort her. In the background, the Flutter Plane lands and She-Ra leaps from within.

“Oh She-Ra, I have FAILED! There is NOTHING we can do to save Etheria from darkness… it’s all MY FAULT!” sobs Frosta as She-Ra lays a supportive hand on her shoulder.

She-Ra doesn’t respond immediately, trudging over to Catra as Bow reaches the sledge.

“Perhaps there is MORE to this blue ice diamond than meets the eye!” She-Ra says, plucking the gem from the frozen Catra’s grasp.

“BOW! Stand fast and make ready an arrow! I have an idea!” she calls back over her shoulder. Bow moves forward obediently. Frosta is still kneeling in the snow and Double Trouble’s still in the sledge.

End Page 10.

Page 11: “The SECRET of this gemstone’s POWER may lie WITHIN…” says She-Ra, setting the blue ice diamond atop a rock.

She lifts her sword. In this panel and the next, she’s shown with her inverted crown functioning as a mask. “... so, if we CRACK it…”

She brings the Sword of Protection down with a huge “SMASH!”

“... we can set its magic FREE!” she finishes, revealing that there was a second, smaller diamond inside the first diamond, matryoshka doll style. For some reason.

“Now, let your arrow FLY!” she says to Bow, as he ties this smaller diamond to an arrow. It glows a soft yellow. She-Ra’s crown is no longer a mask.

End page 11.

Page 12: Bow aims directly at the darkened sun.

We get a close-up of his face, deep in concentration, as he releases the arrow with a loud “SPUNGG!”

The arrow sails towards the sun.

Double Trouble, Frosta, and Bow look on. Bow lowers his bow.

The arrow disappears from sight, leaving only the darkness and the blotted daystar.

Double Trouble, Frosta, Bow, and She-Ra watch in silence.

The sun remains dark

End page 12.

Page 13: “BULL’SEYE!” hollers Bow, lifting his bow to the sky in jubilation as the sun goes “BUH WHOOM!” and begins emitting light once more. He slings a celebratory arm around Frosta’s waist, like he means to hug her but is just too excited about archery to bother.

Catra begins to defrost beneath the heat of the sun.

She comes to staring at her now-empty hand, startled and soaking wet from the melted ice, the snow cape falling from her shoulders. We see that beneath the snow, this was some kind of arid plain, which contradicts its earlier description as being the “Dreaming Mountain”, as the Dreaming Mountains are the home of Castle Chill (and thus, chilly) from Filmation.

“CURSES! FOILED AGAIN!” shouts Catra, sprinting into the distance.

End Page 13.

Page 14: “YOU’VE DONE IT! The daystar glows brighter than ever!” says Frosta, clapping her hands together in delight.

“Etheria is SAFE once more and I am FREE at last of Catra’s EVIL MAGIC!” she says, holding her snow cape over one shoulder like a jock with a letterman jacket.

“Yes—Etheria is SAFE and BEAUTIFUL once more!” says She-Ra, walking over to her.

“Bow, Double Trouble, time to go! The CRYSTAL CASTLE and NEW ADVENTURES await!” says She-Ra, looking over her shoulder to her friends.

“But WAIT! How can I ever REPAY your kindness? Perhaps my coat…?” says Frosta, holding the snow cape out to She-Ra as Double Trouble and Bow climb into the Flutter Plane.

“Fair Frosta—haven’t you learned a moral after all that’s happened? REMEMBER THIS!” says She-Ra:

“FRIENDSHIP can’t be bought or sold… it must come from the HEART! And from OUR hearts to YOURS—a friendship that’s EVERLASTING!” says She-Ra, in the traditional red text they use for morals. Everybody smiles at each other.

The End.

End of Page 14.

Back Cover: The “Princess of Power” logo, with the text “Collect Princess of Power (trademarked) Dolls & Accessories! Each Sold Separately.

Cardback illustrations for She-Ra the “most powerful woman in the universe”, Bow the “special friend”, Double Trouble the “glamorous double-agent”, Frosta the “Ice Empress of Etheria”, Catra the “Jealous Beauty”, Castaspella the “Enchantress who hypnotizes”, Kowl “The Know-It-Owl”, Angella the “Angelic winged guide”, and Glimmer the “Guide who lights the way”.

Illustrations copyright Mattel Inc., 1984. Hawthorne, CA 90250 U.S.A.

0007-5220

End of ID]

#motu #minicomics #adventure of the blue diamond #she-ra #adora #kowl #bow #frosta #double trouble #catra

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oflights · 2 months

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allie i've been trying to gather the courage to reread close behind honestly ever since i first read it in march last year but i've been too. emotionally distraught to actually do so but! i've literally thought about it probably twice each week. and now i'm finally actually almost over my ex so i should just bite the bullet but im SCARED bc the last time i cried for 5 hours

like i literally remember 2 am on a weekday in literally -2 C weather and i sat on my balcony, wrapped in a blanket, chain smoking and reading at the same time, tears streaming down my face. all this to say i long for that catharsis but i'm. scared

omg. anon!! first of all it's probably weird how happy this kind of message makes me lol, like yay, i left you emotionally ravaged!!! mission accomplished!!

second of all: just remember the happy ending! read the last chapter first, and keep it in your mind as you read the rest!! think about everything that could come after it, too, like:

harry and draco's first awkward af date in hogsmeade. ron, daphne, their kids, and scorpius all follow them in various disguises courtesy of george and they are very obvious but harry and draco are too into each other to notice.

draco never wears black again. for every date with harry, he wears a different set of brightly-colored, over-the-top robes.

he steals harry's colorful fair isle sweaters all the time, too.

oh and he gets a weasley sweater like, day one of his renewed relationship with harry. molly had actually been knitting him a bunch over the years but held them back because she didn't want to make things weird or upset harry, so there's a backlog to get through. some have a little dragon stitched on them and ron is super jealous.

their first holiday at the burrow? emotional, life-changing, beautiful, cathartic. harry weeps at least five times. ginny punches him for old time's sake.

speaking of, headmaster harry who holds regular office hours for all hogwarts students in case they ever need to talk to him about something. even if they just want to talk about socks.

(headmaster harry who gets all embarrassed whenever anyone calls him "the youngest hogwarts headmaster in a century")

terrifying new DADA professor hermione granger, who is distressingly unpopular amongst the students because they're all too intimidated by her and it takes her a while to learn how to deal with kids.

until she skips out on a hogsmeade weekend to scandalously elope with a much younger former department of mysteries intern and then she's just incredibly cool to them.

and listen. scorpius locks himself in his room when he finds out about harry and draco's past. he asks draco if he'd ever loved astoria and makes draco cry. draco teaches him that the heart is a universe and he doesn't have any regrets and a wonderful future doesn't invalidate a past he was truly happy in.

and then!! there's stepdad harry. my favorite thing. scorpius asks harry how he knew he was gay. harry gives scorpius the invisibility cloak and asks him to help perfect his disillusionment charm in return. scorpius asks harry to rig the house cup for slytherin as his birthday gift. harry refuses, even though draco thinks it's only fair.

harry and draco date, get engaged, get married in their 40s. they go back and forth between hogwarts and the hogsmeade cottage (which includes ron and daphne's fam like 70% of the time too; harry loves summers spent as part of the extended weasley-greengrass-malfoy-potter family). draco eventually retires from curse-breaking and becomes a nepo hire charms professor after scorpius graduates.

they really do live happily ever after, after all that. promise. 😌

#asks #anonymous #close behind #oflights #how will you remember?#that i love you?#yes.#that's easy. i can't help it.

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ladykailitha · 2 months

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Writing Patterns

I saw this on my feed and wanted to do it to.

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

Jeana looked down at the purple water lilies in Steve's hand in distaste. - Love is Kind

Eddie and his friends were enjoying a rare night where they didn’t have to play at Cora’s Den in Indy when it happened. - Staking My Claim

“I can’t wear that!” Eddie protested. “I’m going to the Newfield! I’m pretty sure it’s black tie to even breathe in its direction!” - New Years Eve

Eddie walked into the high rise office building feeling a little out of place. All right, maybe a lot of place, if he was being honest with himself. - The Magic of Christmas

Getting out of Hawkins had always been the dream. Being able to do it with three of the best people he had ever had the pleasure of knowing with their music? That was the cherry on top of the icing. - Icacus

The weather started to warm and the Harringtons were away for longer and longer stretches of time. So to say that Steve was happy would be an understatement. -Never Hold Back Your Step...

Nobody expects Steve to be excited for the Renaissance fair. Dustin, Will and Lucas spend hours plotting bribes, schemes and out and out manipulations to get Steve to agree to take them. - The Harrington Pattern

When Steve presented as an omega at the age of sixteen his parents were thrilled. They were going to throw lavish parties of all the best alphas in the state. - Not All That Glitters is Gold

Steve ran blindly through the trees, branches and roots raising to slow his progress to safety. He stopped for breath behind a tree, his leg aching and bleeding from the bullet wound. - Well Met By Moonlight

“I just think we should wait,” Steve huffed for what felt like the millionth time. “Give our allies more time to get to Hawkins.” - Batshit Soulmates

So I may have fudged a bit to add a little context to the first line.

Who to tag? Who to tag? *taps lips*

(no pressure) Tag: @estrellami-1 @a-little-unsteddie @zerokrox-blog @vecnuthy @corrodedbisexual

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #tag game

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pinkestmenace · 5 months

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Thoughts on Dark Meta Knight

A continuation of 'Thoughts on Shadow Kirby'. This is a long one!

TL;DR: I first talk about his relation to Taranza and Sectonia, then comes the fic I 'accidentally' wrote, then I talk about his (mirror) abilities and relation to Meta Knight (or rather, his inherited memories.)

Have you ever noticed how whenever people talk about the whole Dark Meta Knight/Dimension Mirror/Taranza/Corrupted Sectonia issue, it's always "Taranza must hate DMK so much!" and never "DMK must hate Taranza so much!" or even "Why did Joronia/Sectonia keep a magical mirror that clearly oozed bad vibes?" (Note: I'm neither saying Taranza is a poor uwu boy who did nothing wrong nor that he is evil incarnate. He didn't know DMK was in there nor that the mirror had lingering corruption. I am however saying he was a fool for stealing an important magical artifact! All three were hurt here.) I mean, come on. Sectonia is an individual with agency. You're telling me she just placidly accepted this whole situation and only gets to serve as an "Evil queen needs to die!" and "Woe is Taranza, his beloved is dead!" plot device? She could have been corrupted/replaced by her own reflection! Maybe she was as interested in studying DMK/this weird danger orb in 'her' mirror as he was in corrupting her.

That is, if he did corrupt her. Who's to say he wanted that? Or had the ability to, other than by speaking? We've heard nothing about him having corrupting magic. Besides, what would he gain from it? Sectonia could've already been somewhat unhinged before she got the mirror and this was just the beginning of a domino effect. Remember, the mirror you fight him in in Triple Deluxe seems to be the one that was in the middle of the Central Circle, not the entrance of the Mirror World. That's the one Dark Mind was hiding out in and judging by how destroyed it still looks inside it's also the most likely place for any corruption to linger. (Luckily for the other inhabitants, I'd say. Not so lucky for him or poor Shadow, who in DMK's absence was likely left alone to defend the Mirror World and therefore grew more agressive like we see him in other games. He had no allies and no choice but to learn to fight.) I think that Shadow spawned when Kirby first entered the mirror, but DMK was likely around at least a little longer than that, judging by how he seems to have a pretty good grasp on his abilities already.

So. Since Triple Deluxe is clearly inspired by fairy tales, (Consider the Dreamstalk/beanstalk, a palace in the sky and a wicked beauty-obsessed queen with a literal magic mirror!) why not spin a little tale of our own?

I want you to imagine being Dark Meta Knight for a moment.

Mirror, Mirror, From the Sky — Who's the Wickedest and Why?

Once upon a time a dark force secretly infested your world. Depending on how long you've been around, you either spawned as a flawed clone, or you got to feel yourself being corrupted. You may not even know who you are, other than what the wisps of your inherited memories and skills tell you. Either way, the heydays of good fortune, friends and fair weather are nothing but a burning memory to you.

Dark Mind, the force calls itself and it takes an interest in you, since it could use a strong henchman. Now you have this flaming eyeball breathing down your neck, playing at being your master and ordering you around. Tsch. Do you dance like a pathetic little puppet? Do you plead with it using the fancy words you find on your tongue, but did not learn yourself? Do you obey to save your own skin, or resist and risk having your mind broken and hollowed out further? Do you have it in you to become a double agent? You are a scared toddler who only just learned how to walk. You are a hardened knight who has no patience for this. The armour you wear shows traces of battles you haven't fought. You cling to it in preparation for what's to come.

It sends you to go remove some obstacles. A pink child and your own doppelganger. Fueled by bitter resentment and childish petulance you dare to bend your orders just slightly. Rather than rend the child into pieces, you refract him into four. Rather than sending your doppelganger back to his maker, you lock him in with yours and break the mirror to prevent his escape. (As well as Dark Mind's escape, that is.) Your master is angry. That's fine. You're already wrong and broken and don't give a crap.

Eventually the child and his refractions fix and enter the mirror and your master gives you an ultimatum. Twice it told you to get rid of the brat and twice you have failed! Now, to prove your loyalty you must put your life on the line. Beat the brat. At any cost. Surrender is not an option! You shed the veneer and take out your frustration on the child. But he's too strong. You can feel your body give out! You remember how to beg. "Master, please, I can't take any more!" It's no use. Its fiery gaze scorches you, it widens the cracks in your mind and forces you to continue, miserable marionette that you are.

You shatter and your consciousness fractures. Where did you go so wrong? Why did this have to happen to you? What will become of that strange charcoal child you saw stalking you? You want to go home. That home isn't yours. What does your counterpart think? Like the allegory of the prisoners and the shadows on the cave wall you don't know more than what little you can infer. His flickering gaze is unreadable. There is no cave. You are the shadow. You have no idea what philosophy is.

??? days later you somehow wake up. You get your bearings. You're still in this ruined miniature dimension, but your master is gone. You're alone. Tsch. Figures the brat and your blue bastard of a counterpart would abandon you. What's wrong with them?! (What's wrong with you? Are you really that disposable? Maybe they didn't know you still had life left in you either. Did they mourn for you?) At least the mirror portal is right there. You'll go back to the Central Circle, find something to eat and then you'll plot your revenge against the world that failed to welcome you! You just have to step out...

...into a large bedroom. You look around. Fancy furnishings that would befit a palace. A breathtaking view of the rising sun, which drapes the room in purples and oranges. It hurts your eyes. You look down. A vanity? Where the Shards—

You don't get time to think before a piercing shriek rends the air. You look to your left and see a strange spider-like creature charging at you, wielding twin rapiers! You quickly leap out of the way and draw your own sword.

The woman stops in front of you, clad in a simple but refined silk nightgown, her four unoccupied hands balled into tight fists. She stares you down with her four front eyes. Is this spider as afraid of you as you are of her? She's Princess Joronia, you soon learn. She received the mirror as a gift.

She sympathises with you and offers you a cup of herbal tea to calm your nerves. You've never had tea, (not-you remembers the taste) but by the Mirror's mercy do you know you're thirsty! You accept it, if only to buy yourself time to figure out what's going on and come up with a way to escape with the mirror. The tea soothes you, although it has a strange aftertaste and Joronia's smile is gentle, if a bit too practised. Her gleaming upper eyes gaze patiently into yours. She doesn't drink. You're tired, so tired.

The next day you wake up inside the mirror and try to leave again. Joronia didn't seem so bad. Maybe you can convince her to let you return the mirror! You find it's been magically sealed.

"Oh, don't worry," says 'Joronia' through the glass, her eyes and smile just a little darker and haughtier than they were yesterday, "it's only a safety precaution until we get to know each other better." But months later she still hasn't let you leave with the mirror. Instead, she's been staring into it more and more, fussing endlessly over her make-up and increasingly ostentatious outfits. She laments to you as if you are nothing but a pet she can vent to freely. "Uhuhuhu~! Didn't I look simply unacceptable before? I just couldn't stand my dull reflection. Tell me how gorgeous I am! Then I might even feel generous enough to feed you."

You grow bitter. How trapped you are! Behind you is the ruined hellscape where you were broken and humiliated. In front of you is an increasingly deranged self-obsessed woman who you're forced to ingratiate yourself to for scraps. Tsch! You are caged and seething! The day you find the person who subjected you to this your sword will taste blood! Soon your vibe arsenic joins the maddening sulfuric stench that abhorrent eyeball left behind. Your mind and the mirror grow ever darker in a vicious cycle. It's been years. You yearn for sights you have only seen in dreams. You cannot die.

The reborn and remade Queen Sectonia doesn't care. She's too busy solidifying her power and enhancing her own grotesque beauty to pay attention to the machinations of naughty little strays. Your sharpened tongue pleases her just enough to spare you and coax out news of the outside world. You are her obedient pet. The keeper of her innermost secrets. More loyal than her advisor. You hone yourself and your blade when she's not looking.

So when Sectonia dies and the seal goes with her, you are ready. You don't care who's on the other side. You. Only. Want. REVENGE.

* * * * *

Headcanon time!

I see DMK as leaning into using his mirror abilities, not so much because he wants to prove himself superior to Meta Knight, but because that's something only HE can do. Something he 'earned', not inherited. He wants to be the best at something without needing help.

When he spawned he already knew how to speak, move and wield his sword. Or rather, the second he attempted to do any of these things he 'remembered' how to do them.

Wouldn't it be funny and tragic if so much of his life consists of discovering skills he didn't know he had, that belong to someone who isn't quite him? What surprises will his memory give him today? Amnesiac roulette.

Imagine: he's just idly fidgeting with a sheet of paper and looks down to see he's accidentally folded a perfect little origami crane. He crushes the crane. Tsch. Another skill he didn't earn! (Later he secretly learns to fold something Meta Knight hasn't folded before, just so he can say he made the skill his own. He will deny this.)

He didn't know he had the ability to mend his cape. Yet when he found needle and thread his hands traced the movements with practised ease. He refuses to mend his cape and claims it fits his rough-and-tough aesthetic. (He collects scraps and quilts a cozy blanket for his hideout. He claims to have found it in the trash.)

He comes across a book in a language he has never seen before. He can read it! The contents make little sense to him. He tries writing, but discovers his handedness is opposite to Meta Knight's. Ink smudges his left glove as he adjusts. (It shouldn't matter. He's ambidextrous! Try as he might, he still cannot draw or write with his right hand.)

Infodump about memory function incoming! (TL;DR: there are several types of memories, some about life events, some about sensations or skills.) I hope I can explain this correctly using an example.

Imagine you're going for a stroll in the park. You don't have to think consciously about every movement you make because you already know how to walk. You decide where to go and your brain handles the details automatically. (Procedural memory. This is what let him immediately move and fight.)

You spot someone walking a dog. Your brain goes: "Dog!!!" You don't have to analyse every feature of the animal to know this because the holistic concept of "Dog" in your brain immediately lights up and couples it to the language part of you to remember the correct name. (Semantic memory. This let him recognise the world and understand speech.)

You consider petting it. Your hand experiences the ghost of fur underneath. It just stopped raining, so your nose anticipates the wet dog smell as well. (Sensory memory. He gets whiffs of sensations and tastes he hasn't experienced himself.)

You approach the dog. Suddenly you realise you've seen this dog before! It was last week and when you pet it wrong it snapped at you. You remembered a specific event. (Episodic memory. He didn't get this one and therefore doesn't remember Meta Knight's life. He has to puzzle out what his 'original' is like from the other remembered scraps he got.)

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peculiarbeauty · 4 months

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happy new year from your friend , peculiarbeauty !

this was such a crazy year for me. i lost a lot , but i learned a lot too. this was the year i told myself i would never come back to tumblr roleplay , and that wouldn't be an issue. but writing has always been something i enjoyed and taking the creative element out of myself felt really difficult for me.

the biggest lesson i learned this year is if things are meant to be , then they definitely will be. sometimes fair weathered friends are only meant to be around for a time of your life , but it doesn't mean you won't meet new friends from saying goodbye to old. sometimes the best thing that can happen to you means falling flat on your face and coming to understand that some things just aren't good for you anymore. through this , i have become so happy.

i've made new friends through roleplay and through actually going out and meeting people. my husband proves to be my biggest ally in all things of my life. i am definitely a lucky one , even if things might be tough , the problems i had this year are so miniscule to what other people are going through and i shouldn't be down because of it anymore. thank you guys for being good to me here and giving me a chance to write with you. writing this wonderous book-loving princess has been such a great experience. i was so hesitant to get involved , but my goodness , everyone is always so wonderful here and SO supportive. it's insane !

my new years resolution this year involves me working on my goals ! i hope to get a job this coming year that i actually can enjoy. i've learned that sitting in an office is the most DEPRESSED i've ever been. not to say other people might not enjoy it , but it's just not for me i've learned. being happy is important for me. even if things are especially hard financially , i am blessed to have supportive individuals around me who will help me achieve good things. i want to work on myself a ton and feel so content. i'm a nurturing soul , so i do plan to begin teaching this coming year now that i've OFFICIALLY got the certification and degree to do that. it's going to be a great chapter in my life , i can feel it. <3

nonetheless , i hope that everyone who is making a new years resolution this year will end up impressing themselves , but it's also important to know that you are a human being and you shouldn't be sad if you don't meet your goals. try your best and do what feels right. that's what is most important. that is true growth in the end. <3

NOTE: I tried adding a ton of people here to this post , but i guess tumblr only allows SO MANY folks to be added. i don't want to leave anyone out , so just take this as my message to you. I LOVE ALL OF YOU , HAPPY NEW YEAR. i hope this coming year is everything you want it to be. ^^

#⊱✿⊰ ┊ ˢʰᵉ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ⁱˢ ᵃ ᶠᵘⁿⁿʸ ᵍⁱʳˡ ( ooc )#BIG HUGS

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olet-lucernam · 27 days

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A Hollow Promise [25] chapter vi, part ii

{_[on AO3]_}

main tags : loki x original character, post-avengers 2012, canon divergence - post-thor: the dark world, canon-typical violence, mentions of torture

summary: In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, the Avengers need a few days to build a transport device for the Tesseract. With the Helicarrier damaged and surveillance offline, SHIELD sends an asset to guard Loki in the interim: a young woman who sees the truth in all things, and cannot lie.

Even long presumed dead, her memories lost to her, Loki would know her anywhere.

And this changes things.

Some things last beyond infinity. And the universe is in love with chaos.

(Loki was never looking for redemption. It came as an unexpected side-effect.)

chapter summary : astrid gathers her allies, and draws the attention of her enemies. loki pays a heavy price for a victory.

recommended listening : rebel soul, katharine appleton, maja norming

tag list: @femmealec, @mischief2sarawr

[PREVIOUS] | [MASTERLIST] | [NEXT]

Astrid had told the truth, as always. Ophelia was not her only appointment.

Neither was she the first, however.

Hours earlier, wrapped in a fine, black woollen pea coat and comfortable trainers, Astrid had been walking through the fog and frigid, sea-soaked air of the Cornish coastal town of Looe.

The historical fishing village was sheltered within a deep valley, prefaced inland by thick, verdant forests and winding country roads. Ivory villas and weathered stone cottages were built into the slopes of the cliffs, bordered by a riot of meadow-flora and hardy coastal shrubs, the settlement split in half by the river that decanted into the small marina, and the open, pewter waters of the North Atlantic.

The place held a kind of quaint, antique seaside charm that was ubiquitous to Britain, in Astrid’s experience- a nostalgia that was just slightly foreign to her, evoking the same feeling as the second-hand copies of those interbellum novels by Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie that she used to read on rainy days at home.

She could feel Loki watching through her eyes, dozing gently, shamelessly indolent as he clung to sleep.

Exhaling a smile, Astrid consciously drank in as much as she could. She drew the mouldering, salt-stained tang of seaweed and ocean shallows deep into her lungs, face raised to the damp air, clear-eyed and refreshed.

It was one of the many reasons to be relieved to be out of SHIELD’s custody: wherever she went, and whatever she saw, Loki could experience it through their link. And she was one of the rare, fortunate few who could go anywhere, at any time, with little enough effort.

A flush of affection bloomed in her, like a kiss at the nape of her neck, Loki reading her intentions like braille.

Astrid giggled, the ache of want in her chest ebbing slightly, and glanced out across the harbour.

It was the off-season; the tourism trade withered into hibernation with the last days of August, and first weeks of September. Even so, the picturesque village obviously received a fair number of visitors in the summer months. Across the town, there was an abundance of cafés, bakeries, fishmongers, local crafts shops, ice cream parlours, wetsuit and board rental stores. A sprawling car park had been cut at the base of the hill, and a number of small commercial pleasure boats were moored against the harbour walls, anchored between algae-stained tangerine buoys, advertising sea safaris and recreational fishing trips on printed boards affixed to the weather-rusted harbour railing. A few places were shuttered, but other businesses remained open even into November, catering to the permanent residents of the town.

As she chased the slope upwards, approaching from the narrow, eastern flank of the harbour, towards the ageing arcade and stone bridge across the river, a thought occurred to her.

“Loki. Do you like seafood?”

She felt Loki stir. Astrid could almost imagine his head lifting from his cupped hand- or rolling across a pillow to look at her, black curls spilling, eyebrows steepled in mild askance.

I tend to eat more game, I suppose, he answered cautiously. Hunts are too popular on Asgard for it to be otherwise. But I do like shellfish. Although it is seen as peasant food on Asgard. Cheap fare, common as mud, to be eaten at the harbour by tradesfolk.

“It used to be the same here, for centuries,” Astrid replied, the corner of her mouth twisting up sardonically. “Oysters were still delicious when they were only good for the poor.”

Loki laughed softly. It is ridiculous, is it not? The arbitrary standards of high taste.

He hesitated for a long moment.

I do like oysters, he admitted, almost nervous.

A lilt kicked into Astrid’s step, her mood lifting.

“Oysters, then.” Widening her stride into a loping gait, forming rolling bounce on the balls of her feet, she lifted her face to the headwinds, letting it blow her hair back. “Maybe mussels or scallops, if I can’t find any? Oh- and cream tea.”

Cream tea?

“It’s, ah- like a dessert version of afternoon tea, I suppose? It’s sometimes called Cornish tea.” Astrid crossed the bridge at a brisk clip, shoulder bag tapping at her hip. “You’ll love it. Black tea, served with split scones, clotted cream, and jam. Strawberry is traditional, but I prefer raspberry.”

At the mention of something sweet, she felt Loki’s interest instantly perk.

Astrid’s victory dimmed as Loki swiftly crushed down on his eagerness, cooling into reflexive indifference.

Then you should have raspberry, my heart, he replied mildly, like fingers skimming her cheekbone.

“Mm.”

Astrid strummed her fingers against the cross-strap of her bag, tension furling.

She wondered if she could just scream I want to give you this, let me give you this, I want to give you everything, be selfish with me, just ask me and it’s yours, yours, yours, just say the word, put me to the test, let me prove it across the connection, or if that would be too blunt.

She opted for a subtler option. For now. “Seeing as we’re breaking tradition, we could change the tea out as well.”

Peppermint?

“I thought you might prefer rosehip. Or something floral.”

It’s your tongue, darling.

Astrid nipped her lower lip.

“I like sharing my tongue with you.”

She felt his train of thought stutter, before heating.

You’re playing a dangerous game, Astra, Loki warned, dark and edging into primal, shifting into a voice behind her left ear that seemed spoken through gritted teeth.

Astrid startled, almost tripping, as she felt the sensation of the pads of his fingers swiping at her inner thigh.

Her brain short-circuited for a moment.

Hm. Are you curious, darling?

She bit her lip, restraining the impulse to goad him further.

Following Loki revealing how he could twist his magic into her through their link, Astrid had begun asking about the possibilities. The conversation had been mostly practical- but the thought had occurred to her, even if she had quickly become distracted when it struck her exactly how ingenious the method was, how brilliant Loki was, how blithely oblivious he seemed to that fact.

But now- despite herself, folding her lip between her teeth in an effort to pin her unravelling thoughts in place- Astrid lingered over exactly how far and how intensely he could project sensation into her, how much sensory feedback he received back through their link, and whether-

No. Nope. Nope, nope, no. Work first, North. We’ll explore that another time.

Despite the curl of delighted, thoroughly distracted mischief from Loki, he let the matter drop.

Astrid exhaled quietly, grateful.

Today, she was visiting an old friend. It would be unwise to arrive disarmed of her wits.

Astrid swung off the bridge and into West Looe, swerving in a hairpin turn back down the hill, sinking into the warren of the town. There were only a few figures out in the midmorning light, walking dogs or tending to their boats, the quiet seeming to echo against the rush of the sea. The narrow streets were barely broad enough to accommodate a single car, the cobbles uneven and worn smooth underfoot, none of the structures more than two or three stories tall; most of them were at least a century or two old, patchworked with modern features, dating to the days of smugglers and portside inns and the great age of sail, their timbers ancient and their walls full of ghosts and memories.

She came to a halt outside a particular storefront.

The entire street was built into the incline of the hill, its rowhouses sitting a foot or so below the edge of the pavement, squatting low. The windows of the ground floor were almost level with Astrid’s crown, the sills above within reach if she cared to make the short jump, walls a washed white between dark Tudor beams.

Astrid tipped her head up a millimetre, the aperture of her senses opening to sweep the interior, as she read the sign affixed above the door.

Witches’ Brew, it read, white font upon a rich violet backing. On the left side of the sign was the outline of a cat, paws upon the rim of a bubbling cauldron to peer at the contents.

Bookshop, was added underneath, in smaller, blunter font. Tarot. Occult. Café.

You know, Loki commented, there is an infusion made from íviðia blossoms called witches’ brew.

Astrid tipped her head. “Really?” She asked softly.

Mother sent some blossoms to my cell recently- if you care to share my tongue later?

She winced into a grin, knowing that he wasn’t going to let that go any time soon. “Mm, in exchange for cream tea?” She teased.

Astrid felt a pair of arms slip and loop around her midriff, a mouth skimming her crown.

She felt the gentle billow of his sigh, the phantom of his chest against her back.

You drive quite a bargain.

With a faint smile, Astrid stepped down to the shop’s door, and turned the handle.

A classic shopkeeper’s bell chimed overhead, jostled into motion, before the door clicked shut behind her.

She was met with the fragrance of incense- a thicker, heavier curtain of agarwood, compared to the delicately floral smoke that lingered in the training halls where she grew up, and which her father preferred- blended with the earthiness of burned white sage, and coffee grounds.

The shop was quiet. Her steps were muffled by a dark patterned carpet, the space airy and inviting, despite the low ceilings and semi-subterranean position. At the right, the space folded into a geometric puzzle of tall bookshelves, walls paved with spines, the stacks labelled by genre with signs in blackboard and chalk, a few tables laid out with bricks of bestsellers and new arrivals. To her left was the register- unoccupied, with a bell to ring for service- and several tables and shelves, displaying various occult-themed wares. There were box-trays of tumbled, semi-precious gemstones, kitsch plastic goblets with dragons curled around their stems, dowsing crystals and decorative glass figurines, starter guides to palmistry and divining the stars.

Her eyes skipped past all of them, and up.

A large sign was placed at the bottom of a flight of narrow stairs. It advertised the café on the second floor, and tea leaf readings.

Astrid didn’t move to ring the bell on the counter, but the one at the door must have been enough.

“I’ll be right with you, dear!”

A woman’s voice called down from the upper floor. It was American-accented, almost neutral, but underscored with something in the region of Massachusetts.

Astrid smiled, folding her arms and turning away.

“That’s alright!” She replied, voice raised to carry as clear as struck crystal, twisting at the waist to speak over her shoulder. “Take your time! I’m here to see a friend.”

Movement upstairs stilled.

A beat passed, before Astrid felt the familiar crackle of magical wards being activated.

Loki reacted, his mana surging into her nerves with a precision that knocked the breath from her chest, pressing up to the surface of her skin, preparing to force his own counter-wards into her flesh.

Catching her breath, fingers fluttering at the foreign magic in her blood, Astrid sent him a gentle nudge of reassurance.

“Did you not hear the word friend, Agatha?” She yelled up, tone dry and hip cocking. “Your wards didn’t react when I walked in. Now would you please quit it?”

Before Loki tries to rip apart your spellwork and fracture your magical core in the backlash, she added internally.

Don’t tempt me, darling, Loki warned, poised like an adder to strike. Who is she?

The wards lingered, bristling like spines- before settling back.

A moment later, Astrid heard footsteps, and the creak of the ageing banister under new weight.

As I said. She’s a friend… of a sort.

Of a sort?

The subject of discussion halted, a few steps above ground floor.

Astrid remained with her back turned for several seconds, shoulder blades open and unguarded.

After deeming that her message had sufficient time to sink in- if it was going to at all- Astrid turned.

It had been about a century and a quarter, chronologically, since they had last seen each other- during the last of her father’s missions that Astrid had accompanied him on, before she had gone looking for answers.

The inciting incident that drove her to look for answers, in fact.

True to form, however, Agatha Harkness had adapted, and today was the very image of a modern, new-age witch.

Stocky, square-jawed, and casually confident, she possessed the mien and bone structure that would command the description of a handsome woman. Dressed in plimsoles, thick black leggings, and a cable-knit sweater the exact velvety depth of wolfsbane, she looked deceptively, cosily middle-class, her dark chestnut hair styled in a cloud of tight waves to her shoulders, framing her fair, round face and dark cobalt eyes.

“Well.” She draped an elbow across the rail, sleeves rolled back, sizing Astrid up with a wide, crooked smile and a gaze as hard as flint. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

Astrid was simultaneously reminded of a salacious, bored housewife with a mind like a steel trap, and a large crocodile sunbathing by the water’s edge.

“It’s good to see you, Agatha,” Astrid said sincerely, light as air. “You look well. I’m glad.”

She tried to sacrifice my soul to Mephistopheles once, Astrid admitted to Loki, deciding that it would be better to get it out of the way now.

She did what? Loki snarled, alarmed.

Long story. Daddy stepped in. She came to regret it.

She could feel Loki glaring into her. Because you made her regret it, or because she decided to regret it? Because that’s quite a distinction, darling.

Astrid almost laughed. His mind was always so quick.

Alright, fine. A little of both.

Jaw and mouth pursed tightly, Agatha’s eyes flitted sharply across and behind Astrid’s form, darting as dragonflies.

Astrid softened her stance, loosening her limbs and opening her posture.

“It’s just us,” she said reassuringly.

Conveniently, Astrid did not mention that us included the sorcerer-prince whose mind was currently linked to her nervous system.

Astra.

His tone was grim, steeled, but quietly restrained.

Astrid sensed the unspoken undercurrent underneath- that he wanted her out of that shop, now.

Astrid reached for him, slotting herself into his edges, feeling him shift to accommodate her.

Please trust me, Loki. I have this.

She felt him hesitate, her calm focus an emollient.

Besides, she added. You might find that you like her.

I highly doubt that, dove, Loki replied haughtily, even as he relented.

She kept silent. Something told her that Loki would refuse to see the similarities, even if she informed him of exactly how her long story with Agatha had ended.

Agatha’s expression had stiffened slightly, eyes narrowing to a squint.

“Just so that we’re clear,” she drawled, gesturing vaguely across her with a jabbing index finger, “you’re not here to check in on me, or- drag me away to some kind of tribunal, are you?”

Astrid tipped her head consideringly. “Have you done anything to warrant it?”

Once again, Astrid opted not mention that she already had a fair idea of the answer. She had made it her responsibility to know; confidence in her decision didn’t negate the gamble, and Astrid wouldn’t ignore her culpability if things went sour.

As far as she could tell, however, Agatha had been smart. She had spent the years since they had last seen each other travelling and researching and collecting, restraining herself to a few petty grudges, mild curses, and mostly harmless, mostly necessary fraud. All in all, nothing that Astrid had found worth getting into a snit over.

Besides. That thing with the carnivorous rabbit had been pretty funny.

Astrid could feel Loki trying to pretend that he wasn’t intrigued.

Agatha snorted. “Not in my book, but we both know that doesn’t mean much. Even my best behaviour means being a little badsometimes.”

“Mm. Well, so long as they deserved it, I’m happy to remain ignorant.”

Brows raised, corners of her mouth tugging into a shrug, Agatha looked pleasantly surprised.

“Huh. Well, in that case- it’s good to see you too, Little Miss Dante,” she said wryly, dragging out the old nickname as though she were dusting off a spellbook, descending the last few steps. “Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, how have you been for the past- oh, hundred and thirty years or so?”

“Not quite so long on my side, Madame Virgil,” Astrid admitted, satin-smooth as sugar ribbons, “but I’ve- been busy.”

The Divine Comedy? Loki noticed.

Mm, good catch.

He paused, quietly assessing- before relaxing slightly in realisation.

Aha. I see.

Astrid held down her smile, but sent its warmth in his direction.

“And what about your dish of a father?” Agatha asked.

“Not interested, Agatha.”

And still hung up on whoever gave him that watch.

“Huh. Pity.” Agatha paused, appraising Astrid with long, slow sweeps. One forearm folded against her lower ribs, the opposite hand raised, fingertips rubbing together. “Any luck, then, dear, with that little- soul-searching identity quest of yours?”

Lifting one shoulder, Astrid let herself smile abstrusely.

“Some. Thank you for asking.”

“Well, you know. I like to know who and what I’ve made a deal with,” she said, head lowered into an unblinking stare, as though wondering how Astrid’s liver might taste, “as a rule.”

“It’s a good rule.” She said mildly.

Agatha looked at her for a long moment, one corner of her mouth and eye tensing- then straightened, clapping her palms together and spinning on her heel.

“Well, since you came all this way- fancy some tea? I could read your leaves for you! I must say, I’ve gotten pretty good- or, well, as good as you can get, with fortune-telling. It’s always a bit of a crapshoot, you know. Less mess than the animal guts, though.”

Astrid adjusted the strap of her bag against her shoulder as Agatha began to head up towards the café, not even waiting for her reply.

“Why not? We do have a lot to catch up on.” She began to follow her up the stairs, drawing a shallow breath as she went in for the kill. “And I think I have a way to get Karmar-Taj off your back so that you can come out of hiding, so I’m sure you’ll want to-”

Agatha turned back to her sharply. “What?”

Her eyes were slightly wild, incredulous, and treacherously hopeful.

Reflecting briefly, Astrid supposed that she should feel a little bad.

That was, if not for the memory of choking sulphur, of her face and throat scorching with brimstone-heat, and the sound of dimensions ripping apart like adipose from muscle tissue and Agatha laughing broad and wild- just before Mephistopheles betrayed her, just before Astrid regained the strength to yank the witch away from the consequences of her own actions.

Just because she had forgiven did not mean she was inclined to be nice.

Besides. Agatha would respect her less if she was.

Loki watched her work, ruthlessly, using honesty as a weapon and the truth like she she owned it, cautious and amused and a little proud.

Astrid arched her brows, both at him and the witch standing before her.

“You didn’t think I’d come without a gift, did you?”

Some time later, a platter of a dozen shucked oysters in front of her, seated with a sea view and décor of scrubbed wood and clean white walls, Astrid made the first entry on her shopping list.

Tea leaves.

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thebestbooksaround · 11 months

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hi! i love your fic recs, and was wondering if you had any good secret relationship/fake relationship 9-1-1 fics?

Not many! But here are some I’ve read :)

Secret Relationship

nobody has to know by coupe_de_foudre (@panevanbuckley)

“You think he knows?” Eddie shrugs, only half-heartedly batting at Buck’s hand as he goes to dip his fries into Eddie’s milkshake. Buck just sticks his tongue out childishly before shoving the fries into his mouth and Eddie rolls his eyes. It does nothing to rid the adoration from his face, so Buck doesn’t take it too personally. “I dunno, I think he might suspect something.” Buck takes another fry, dangling it by his mouth for a moment. “Shame,” he says, taking a bite, “I was enjoying nobody knowing.”

* just to be with you by woodchoc_magnum (@woodchoc-magnum)

In which Eddie and Ana are dating, Buck is secretly in love with him, and Christopher isn't handling it well. This is a series and the second part really focuses on the secret relationship!

* Missing Pieces by AshwinMeird (@ashwinmeird)

Hen was not sure what to make of the new recruit, Evan "Buck" Buckley. He was reckless and that was about as much as she knew about him.

That eventually changes though and all the important parts of Buck's life reveal themselves to her over time.

* fair-weather love by maybemaybenottt (@deareddie)

"A crack of thunder. A rough shove. An empty space where Buck stood just moments ago. A pit in his stomach as he realises his boyfriend has just fallen 25 feet. A shout that claws its way out of his throat involuntarily. "BUCK!"" or, A call goes wrong. Buck falls. Eddie waits.

Fake Relationship

dreamin' with the lights on by trippingminor (@probieravi)

“Uh, that’s not all,” Eddie says, before he loses his nerve. “I was hoping you’d come as my—partner.” He winces as soon as the words leave his mouth, because genuinely, this is the stupidest goddamn idea. Shannon is probably cackling wherever she is over the fact that Eddie is acting the man he is very tragically in love with to be his—fucking fake boyfriend, or something, just to avoid the attention of some PTA parents.Buck blinks at him. “Are you—you want to pretend to be in a relationship to get Heather Paul off your back?” he asks, fingers squeezing around Eddie’s pulse point a little. or, eddie asks buck to come to christopher’s parent-teacher conference with him as his boyfriend. it’s fine. really.

* To Build a Home We Deconstruct Our Rituals by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (@letmetellyouaboutmyfeels)

After the shooting, Eddie realizes he needs to put some things in place. Like who will get his assets if he dies. Who will speak for him if he ends up in a coma. What might happen if his family contests Buck's guardianship. Luckily, he's got a simple easy-peasy solution that won't result in insanity, catastrophe, or heartbreak: Marry Buck.

The Best Lie is a Truth (My Best Mask is My Face) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

The Buckleys are celebrating their 50th Anniversary, and Maddie and Buck are both expected to come. To take the heat off Maddie, Buck impulsively blurts out that he's seeing someone new. Obviously, there's only one solution: bring Eddie as his fake boyfriend, pretend to be in love with him, and survive the weekend with minimal bloodshed. No problem, except for the, uh. "Pretend" part. Oops.

* I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Til I Saw Your Face by HMSLusitania (@hmslusitania)

After the ladder truck and the blood clot and the tsunami, Bobby makes Buck go to therapy before he does something stupid(like sue the city). Buck's not totally comfortable being alone with a therapist, but fortunately he makes a friend and ally who's willing to help him out - Eddie Diaz from the 136 who's just been caught in an illegal fight club. OR Total strangers Buck and Eddie go to couple's therapy together to get out of the therapy requirements their captains have placed on them.

* things we shouldn't do by Ingu (@ingu)

“Why is everybody taking my relationship status so personally? Can’t I be fine with being single?” Buck said. “Hey, you don’t have to say yes, be sad and alone if that’s what you want,” Josh replied. “But, I’m just saying. I’ve seen photos and this guy is volcanic levels of hot. Also, single dad, super cute kid. Saves lives for a living like you. I think you should give it a go.” (the one where Buck and Eddie accidentally get set up on a blind date with each other, and everything snowballs from there)

* Speak Now by datleggy (@datleggy)

Fake Dating AU idea from a tumblr post that got out of hand the minute I started writing. Eddie lies to Shannon about being in a serious relationship when she wants to re-enter his and Christopher's lives, and of course the person he asks to be his pretend significant other is none other than Evan Buckley, because what are bros for?

* And of course, Tethers by red_to_black (@redtooblack) [WIP]

Eddie's spent years trying to find a place to call home with Christopher, hoping that Shannon will come back and then desperately hoping she wouldn't. He thinks he's in the clear when she shows up at his doorstep, demanding they get back together. Eddie comes up with a foolproof plan: get a fake boyfriend, convince Shannon he's gay, and live happily ever after with his life mostly intact and Christopher safe and happy. Get rid of fake boyfriend when Shannon gives up, and life can resume as normal. Enter Buck, and the plan goes to hell in a handbasket.

#tb2a answers #tb2a finds fic #fics i love #buddie fic #buddiefanfiction #tv: 9 1 1

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