#they’re both so attracted to each other’s dark side I can’t | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cupidjyu · 1 year

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one point off

sunwoo x reader (request by my #1 fan @valentxi!)

genre: academic rivals, not necessarily enemies to lovers, mutual pining, you both are horrible at feelings tbh, banter, flirting, shyness, getting together, kissing, fluff fluff!!!! sunwoo is so smug and flirty LMAO, his nickname is sun notes: i said i would take long to write this but tbh, after finishing all my work, i literally wrote like 90% of this in one day, just because it was so fun to write >.<. I've always wanted to write academic rivals before 🫶🫶 word count: ~ 3k

in the back of a noisy classroom, where multiple students sat for hours on end, there were two friends, eric and haknyeon, seated next to each other. they’re the observers who stay in the shadows, watching the people in front of them. they always knew everything, from the people who cheat on tests regularly, or the people... in love.

they watched as the teacher walked around the room, passing out past test papers, with a red marker indicating their grade. and then, they watched the two classmates sitting in the front of the classroom (they voluntarily chose to sit in the front for some odd reason.)

“there they go again,” eric said, looking slightly bored.

the other friend, haknyeon, turned to him, “who?”

“they’re fighting again, those two,” he replied, pointing at those two classmates. one was a guy with dark hair, on the taller side, and a brilliant student. the other was a shorter person, determined, and also a brilliant student. “the top students of the school,” eric explained. he groaned, watching their antics. “honestly, just kiss already.”

the whoosh of a test paper, floating right on your desk woke you up. you peered at the score on it and nodded, satisfied enough. but then, sunwoo, the guy who sat in front of you and your sole enemy, turned around in his seat, an eager smile on his face.

you stared at him, unimpressed already. you knew what he was going to ask, as he clutched his own test paper excitedly.

“what’d you get?” he asked, a smug expression on his face.

you looked right into his eyes.

“98.”

“99!” he almost immediately replied.

“agh-” you glared, taking your paper and crumpling it up. he only laughed at your reaction, clearly enjoying it as he continued to stare at you with a smile. you had thought it was more of a mocking one, but eric knew it was actually a fond one.

you shot daggers at him, “you probably searched up the last question, be honest, sun.”

“did not,” he confidently shook his head. “i actually studied.”

your cheeks flamed red, leaning closer with annoyance, “i’m literally only one point off!”

he giggled even more, grinning at your response once again. how aggravating. his stupid, horribly charming smile.

“sure, but you’ll never beat me anyways,” he stated. “you’ll always be one. point. off.” he smirked, waving his paper mockingly while he turned back around.

you hated how attractive he looked at that exact moment, one corner of his lip turned up as his eyes brightened. you gripped the pencil, staring down at the crumpled paper.

oh how you hated him.

“y/n definitely likes him.”

haknyeon turned to eric, wiggling his eyebrows. eric laughed at his observation, slapping his shoulder.

“right? i figured that out a long, long time ago. it goes the other way around too.”

“what do you mean?”

“he likes y/n too, hak. i can clearly see. yet they can’t.”

you counted the books in your bag, making sure you didn’t forget any notebooks. after you deemed that you were all ready to go home and study more (though you dreaded it), you grabbed the locker door and closed it.

you jumped, almost dropping the bag out of your hands. it was him. sunwoo, the boy you hated the most in the entire school, appeared right before you. he was leaning on the nearby locker, his arms crossed with a small smile on his lips.

“it’s you again,” you muttered.

“yep,” he simply replied, staring at you with relaxed eyes.

it was silent. you shifted on your feet, putting your bag on to get ready to leave him behind in the empty school. but yet again, he was still staring at you. you gave up, groaning.

“what do you want?”

he brightened, “can i use your library card to borrow a book for my research project? i lost mine.”

…

you stared at him, mouth slightly agape with multiple questions running through your head.

“and you’re asking me… why?” you eyed him with confusion.

“just because,” he shrugged. though deep down, he just liked interacting with you. when you weren’t at school he would sulk around, incredibly bored for the rest of the day. but he wouldn’t tell you that.

you sighed, rolling your eyes, “fine, but i’m going with you. i don’t trust you with my card.”

“so it’s a date?” he asked, his eyes wide and innocent.

you sputtered, your words getting caught in your throat. you could even feel your ears turn hot too.

“wh- what? no-” you shook your head rapidly.

but he only leaned closer. you gulped, backing away. but you couldn’t help but glance down at his lips briefly.

much to your horror, he noticed. he only leaned closer, whispering, “you want to kiss me so bad.”

you groaned, “shut up. you’re not funny.” you shoved him away, incredibly embarrassed. he only laughed, sauntering down the hallway. you huffed, before running to catch up with him.

“sunwoo and y/n.”

you sat up straight in your seat, pointing to yourself in disbelief. the teacher only nodded, a completely serious expression on her face. you then sank back down, putting your head in your arms, praying that this was all a bad dream.

the teacher really is against me.

you could even hear the familiar sounds of laughter in the back of the classroom. eric and haknyeon, of course.

you lifted your head just in time for sunwoo to turn around to face you. he was smiling, as usual.

“so, me and you for the project?”

you narrowed your eyes, “that’s what the teacher said, yes.”

he snickered, grabbing your pencil. you watched, annoyed as he twirled it around his fingers skillfully. he looked back up at you.

“you’re gonna be a lot of trouble to work with, huh?” he remarked.

you scoffed, “says you.”

he ignored your words, turning around with a straight face. but as soon as his back was facing you, he immediately broke out into a genuine, shy smile. his cheeks blooming with pink and his heart beating rapidly. he was just so, so incredibly happy with his assigned partner.

you sighed, fidgeting with your hands, staring out the window. sunwoo had proposed to start the project at your house since his house was apparently “very messy”. so there you were, sitting on the couch, slightly nervous as you watched the door, anticipating.

and then the doorbell rang. you practically sprang up and opened the door when-

oh.

sunwoo, your supposed enemy, looked incredibly good at that exact moment. the sun was setting in the background, casting a beautiful glow. but the only thing you could truly focus on was him. he had on an outfit that wasn’t his typical one. usually, he wears black hoodies and sweats at school, choosing comfort over style. but instead, he was now wearing a black collared sweater with a white shirt over it. he looked very…

“take a picture already, won’t you?”

you snapped out of it, blinking rapidly. then, you glared at him, having enough of his flirtatious comments.

“i just didn’t expect you to dress up for this sort of occasion,” you shot back.

“why not?” he looked down at you, smirking slightly. “when the occasion's with you, i will of course.”

you could already feel yourself blushing, hating how that simple joke reached straight for your heart. you stepped aside so he could enter.

“please, be serious sun,” you muttered.

“i am.”

you led him to where your room was, not letting him stop and look at the rest of the house. when you opened the door, he looked around almost immediately, his eyes wandering to the various decorations in your room, multiple plushies on your bed, and posters on the wall.

“didn’t think you’d have such a bright room,” he said, sitting down on the bed and pulling the laptop out of his bag.

“and why’s that?” you asked him, sitting next to him but not too close.

“cause you have a dark soul.”

you froze. then you groaned again, taking a pillow and throwing it straight at him. “seriously, sun?” sunwoo only smiled more at your reaction, not even flinching once. he was more focused on how much he adored the nickname.

after a few minutes of bickering, the two of you finally decided to get to work on the project. surprisingly, the two of you worked really well. sunwoo would always listen to your suggestions, even if they didn’t fully make sense.

at some point, you were starting to become incredibly focused on your work, determined to get as much done as possible to lessen the time spent with him. sunwoo paused his typing and gazed at you. he noticed that when you’re focused, your eyebrows would tense and your lips would pout slightly. he sighed dreamily, forgetting about all of the work he was supposed to do. instead, he was staring straight at your lips.

i really want to… kiss-

you look up abruptly, staring at him weirdly, “why are you staring at me?”

he froze, unable to come up with a response. his eyes shook with nervousness before finally, he came up with the best save of his whole lifetime (in his opinion).

“i’m tired of working and i like to look at pretty things when i’m tired.”

you practically choked on air. a laugh started to bubble through your throat until you couldn't hold it in anymore. you took another pillow and threw it at him, tears forming in your eyes at his horribly cheesy joke. he blinked, surprised at your lighthearted reaction.

"that was an awful joke, sun. never do it again," you replied, turning back to your work, unable to hide your smile.

he didn't say anything. instead, he only stared at you with soft eyes, a small smile present on his lips. he liked your laugh.

much to your absolute horror, your infatuation with sunwoo may or may not have grown more over time. the project was a long one, meaning multiple times to meet up and work on it. and each time you got home, you would jump on the bed and kick around in the blankets because no matter how embarrassing it is, he makes you feel some sort of way.

sometimes, after a long period of work, sunwoo would quietly invite you for boba after. you had expected it to be a whole bunch of bickering, but in reality, the energy between the two of you was actually quite peaceful. and for some reason, the two of you have quite a lot in common. favorite shows, movies, books, almost everything.

then, there were those few times when you wanted to show him something. and instead of turning the computer in his direction, he would lean closer, pressing his chest square to your shoulder. you could even feel the puff of breath on your neck, making you shiver. at that point, you couldn't even focus on anything but his warm body against yours.

and you know that your humor can be a bit dry. but for some odd reason, sunwoo would always smile genuinely at your bad jokes, making your heart beat impossibly fast.

maybe sunwoo wasn’t as bad as you had thought.

“whoa, look what i found,” you heard his deep voice pierce the quiet atmosphere of the cafe where you had decided to meet up at. he turned the computer to you, his eyes wide.

you leaned closer to read the words out loud.

“two enemies, with completely different yet similar goals can easily fall in love,” you paused for a second, racking over the words. you tilted your head. “that’s… interesting?” you looked at him with confused eyes.

he looked at you almost knowingly, “reminds me of someone i know.”

you stared at him blankly, not understanding what he meant.

he furrowed his eyebrows, clearly frustrated, and then grumbled, looking away, “nevermind.”

but then again, you knew what he meant.

the thing is, you don’t want to do anything about it. no matter how tempting sunwoo can be in his comfy hoodies or with his large, cute eyes, your sole goal was to focus on academics and not relationships.

and soon enough, you were completely lost in thought, your head in the palm of your hand. but then, you felt a poke on your cheek.

you looked up and saw sunwoo’s finger draw away. he tilted his head, raising his eyebrow.

“penny for your thoughts?”

you shook your head, “nothing at all.”

“figured, you seem to have a small brain after all.”

and you hated how his laugh only made your heart flutter.

“and that was our presentation,” you paused, running out of words. “thank you for watching?”

and because of the dreadful awkward atmosphere in the classroom. you hurriedly grabbed sunwoo’s hand without a thought and bowed with him. he choked on his own spit, staring bewildered at the two of your hands, intertwined. he could feel himself blushing at the size difference.

“are they dating yet?” haknyeon asked eric, eyeing them suspiciously. “i mean, look at how they’re acting right now compared to last time… they’re literally holding hands!”

eric nodded, agreeing.

“right like-” his eyes widened, his hand flying up to his open mouth in shock. “wait- hak, where’s he taking them?”

“huh-” haknyeon gasped loudly, making everyone turn their heads. but that didn't matter. because at that moment sunwoo’s hand went to grab your wrist, pulling you out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang, signaling that class ended.

“sun- wait-” but he didn’t stop pulling you along the hallway, your heart was racing with adrenaline. when you peered at his face, you could see that he looked incredibly frustrated. you frowned, wondering what was up.

and in just a flash, he brought you to the school library. at this time of the day, there’s usually no one. still, he brought you to an empty corner, pressing you to the wall. he stood in front of you, out of breath, hair messy from the running.

“sunwoo?” you peered up at him, still trying to catch your breath. you looked at him, perplexed as you fixed the collar of your top. “what’s wrong? and why did you just make me run a whole marathon?”

he hesitated, staring down at you with multiple thoughts running through his head. he tried to speak but only stuttered, only getting out one word.

"you-"

“did something happen, sun?” you were starting to get worried, your eyes softening. you gently held his hand again, trying to calm him.

he stared down at the conjoined hands again, his breath speeding up.

and finally, he spoke, his voice awfully strained like he was trying to stop himself from speaking.

“make it clear that you don’t like me so i can move on.”

surprised, you gulped, at a loss for words. your heart sped up, feeling like it would explode out of your chest. the grip on his hand tightened as you gazed up at him with wide eyes. he stared back with dazed eyes, and his mouth pouted in anxiousness.

at that moment, the smug, confident sunwoo you knew was gone. instead, he looked... nervous and scared.

he noticed your prolonged silence. so, he sighed, defeated.

“i figured,” he whispered, beginning to turn around, letting go of your hand. but you quickly grabbed hold of his wrist this time, pulling him back.

but it seems that you might have overestimated your strength because he practically stumbled over his own feet from sheer force. in order to catch himself, he placed his hands on either side of your head on the wall, pinning you against it.

you gulped again, your eyes fluttering, almost making you forget what you were going to say. his face was so, so close to yours.

“i do like you, sunwoo,” you frowned. “i like you a lot. you’re a charming, attractive, cute person. and it’s taken me so long to realize that you are my ideal type.” you looked down, “but you know how much getting into a good college means for me. that’s why i’m a bit afrai-”

your words were cut off. sunwoo bent down, bringing your lips to his. you immediately closed your eyes, gasping into the kiss. your body froze at first but slowly melted into it, your heart turning into putty as you wrapped your arms around his neck. all your worries disappeared for a brief moment because the boy you had fallen in love with, was literally kissing you. he smiled against your lips, moving his hands down to your waist, bringing you closer to his body.

after a few more kisses, he pulled away.

you glared at him, playfully this time, “did you hear what i said?”

“nah,” he shrugged, pulling you against his chest into a tight hug. “you lost me after the ‘i do like you, sunwoo’ part.”

“but-”

he shushed you, pressing his finger to your lips. “no buts, we can work it out, my love. for now though, let me kiss you.”

you couldn’t help but comply, leaning into his touch as he kissed you again.

“i’ll always follow you,” he whispered, soothing your worries. “i’ll even go to the same college as you if that’s what it means to stay with you.”

you laughed, “are you confident that you’ll even get in?”

he nodded, his cocky personality coming back. he tilted his head attractively. “you will always be one point off, don’t forget that.”

“mhm,” you hummed, sarcastically. “we’ll see about that.” you grabbed his collar and yanked him down against your lips. you kissed him deeply, rendering him speechless and making his cheeks turn bright red.

it was his turn to pull away. he coughed embarrassed, slowly backing away. but you took hold of his hand once again, pulling him close.

"sun..." you giggled. "are you shy?"

"no! n-nothing like that."

"if you say so..."

#sunwoo x reader #sunwoo fluff #the boyz reactions #the boyz fluff #the boyz imagines #tbz fluff #tbz imagines #requests 💞#fics 💞

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ghostinthelibrarywrites · 1 year

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for the domestic/relationship situation prompts: geraskier + 19? 🥺

19. Bingeing an entire season of trashy reality show in one sitting

“I don’t understand.” Geralt squints at the TV, where the first episode of the new season of Surviving Love is playing.

“What’s there not to understand?” Jaskier asks. “It’s sixteen beautiful people trapped together, trying to survive while also banging each other’s brains out in the hopes of finding their one true love. The whole idea is that they pair off as soon as possible and the couples all compete to see who can survive the longest on a desert island.”

“Island can’t be that deserted if there’s a camera crew following them around.” Geralt arches his eyebrow as a pretty redhead on the TV has a breakdown about needing to eat bugs for protein.

“You just need to suspend your disbelief for eight episodes or so.” Jaskier winces sympathetically. If he had to choose between starving and eating bugs, he’s honestly not sure which one he would choose.

For several moments, Geralt refrains from commentary, though his left eyebrow keeps twitching, like it often does when Jaskier is doing something that perplexes him so much that he finds himself beyond words. It’s one of Jaskier’s favorite expressions, not that he’s ever going to tell his boyfriend that. They both had a rough week—Geralt got stiffed on a big contract and Jaskier had to have not one, but two conversations with Valdo Marx—so they’re both in need of some TLC.

“Oh, good for her,” Jaskier says as the redhead from the bug breakdown begins making out with an attractive blond man. “She bagged the park ranger. He can probably catch something better than bugs for dinner.”

“Hm.” Geralt looks unimpressed.

Jaskier snuggles closer against his boyfriend’s side. “You know, I auditioned for this show years ago.”

That earns him an incredulous look. “You?”

“Don’t give me that look! It was before Pris and I made our first album. I needed a way to get our name out there.”

“You wouldn’t have survived a week.”

Jaskier drew back, gaping in outrage. “Excuse me?”

“Eight weeks without a shower and a toothbrush? Remember how much you whined when you followed me on that three day forktail hunt?”

“I was the picture of stoicism!”

Geralt is wearing that infuriating little half-smirk he wears whenever he thinks he’s being witty and clever, the fucker. “You were very stoic when you told me to leave you there to die when you stepped in forktail shit.”

“I was traumatized.” Jaskier whacks him lightly on the chest. On the screen, the redhead is tussling with another woman, screaming about betrayal. “And now we’ve missed something important! Go back!”

Geralt groans, but picks up the remote control.

***

Eight episodes later, the living room is dark and strewn with empty takeout containers as the theme music for Surviving Love plays from the screen.

“That was bullshit,” Geralt says.

Jaskier is actually a little surprised. He never really expected Geralt to like the show, but his boyfriend did sit through eight hours of it without much complaint after the first episode.

“Simon and Gretta should have won.” Moodily, Geralt takes a sip of his beer.

Jaskier blinks at him. “What?”

“The whole point is working together, right? Heidi and Jan didn’t really work together; she did all the work while he went off and played grab ass with Elin.

“Yeah.” Jaskier shakes his head, disappointed. “I don’t see them making it past the finale.”

“None of these couples are making it past the finale.”

“I don’t know.” Jaskier snuggles closer, propping his chin on Geralt’s shoulder. “If you can survive eight weeks together without showers or toothbrushes, you can survive anything.”

“Hm.” Geralt presses a kiss to his temple. “We could try it. Put our relationship to the test.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ve cleaned harpy bites on your ass and picked kikimore intestines out of your hair and that was before we started dating. Our love has been proven thoroughly.”

“And I’ve been to your concerts.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Geralt turns off the TV. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I can see why it’s your favorite show.”

They sit in the darkness of their living room for a moment.

“You know, that was season sixteen,” Jaskier finally says. “There are fifteen other seasons we could go back and watch.”

Geralt turns the TV back on without hesitation. “Hm. If you want to.”

Jaskier grins as he pulls the blanket more securely around him. “You know, we could pretend not to know each other and audition for season seventeen. We would kill.”

“No.”

“Think of all the kitty treats we could buy Roach.”

Geralt pauses, considering. “What makes you think I’d pair up with you?”

Jaskier gasps. “Geralt! You knave!”

“What?” His boyfriend shrugs, looking very pleased with himself. “Roach only deserves the best treats. Gotta pair with someone who has a chance of winning.”

Jaskier splutters, outraged beyond words.

“Going to go get more ice cream,” Geralt rises to his feet.

Jaskier stares after him. “Fine! But we are having this conversation when you get back, mister!” He sulks for about thirty seconds before calling, “Can you bring me some ice cream?”

“Already got out the mint chocolate chip.”

“You’re the best. I love you so much that I’ll share the prize money when me and my partner on Surviving Love beat you and your harlot by a mile.”

In the decade they’ve known each other, Jaskier has never heard Geralt laugh so hard. He would be more offended, if he weren’t too busy laughing too.

***

Tag list: @kueble @mollymawkwrites @feral-jaskier @geraltrogerericduhautebellegarde @dawnofbards @thisislisa @tsukiwolf42 @mosaicscale @rockysstupidity @fontegagrilledcheese @kuripon @help-i-need-a-cool-username @julek @flowercrown-bard @eveljerome

#the witcher #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geralt of rivia #jaskier #prompt fills #ghost's writing

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turboacek-blog · 2 months

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Zutara and Kataang: my thoughts

Basically Zutara is the enemy to lovers ship

Kataang is the friendship to lover ship

Combine with other things like opposites attract, and love at first site and so on

With the Netflix adaptation stirring things up for this old ship rivalry just wanted to share some general thoughts

General thoughts as you can go anywhere for Zutara hints or why KatAang was actually good and don't need to analyze every moment

Enemies to Lovers

Disclaimer: I dislike the enemies to lover trope. It’s one of those things I genuinely don’t understand why they would like each other in most cases, as the cases I do like it it’s more like they’re the two friends that don’t gel as well like Sam and Freddie in iCarly not actual enemies on opposing sides of war, but I don’t feel this about Zutara due to Zuko

I brought up the ship tropes before as I think this shows more of the discourse amongst the fans

There’s a ton of people that love the enemies to lovers trope whether it be actual enemies or just the two friends that don’t get along that well and can argue/fight often

As people think things like opposite attracts or that when characters fight and argue and etc it shows their chemistry and potentially (sexual) tension of the two

And this isn’t every enemies to lovers ship but some people are genuinely more into the bad boy or bad girl or bad person, more than then opposite of good boy/girl/person

From appearance wise, some see dark and edgy > simple and clean, personality wise with crazy > generic heroic, to the story aspect as the dark story of the enemy can be more interesting then the normal story of the hero a lot of the time due to complexity and writing quality

Friends to lovers

On the flip side

Friendship to lovers is the ship that covers the exact opposite of enemies to lovers

As some believe you’re supposed to be with someone similar to you in morals, ethics, spiritually, emotionally, etc

And a way some people find that is through their friends / people in mutual interest group (sports, church, clubs, and so on)

It’s why there are tropes of the person finally realizing their best friend was the one or childhood friend were their perfect match

Let alone some people just like it more when people seem to enjoy being around each other in peace vs the opposite of fighting and arguing a lot

Aang-Katara-Zuko shipping stuff

So even after all that I do think some understand that and that isn't the cause of the divide for some

and their disagreements become more of a personal thing or how times have changed since the showed aired back in the early 2000s whether socially or just the fan themselves growing up

Like for example as I've seen this a lot, if you’re a girl it can be hard to put yourself in the place of Katara a 14 year old girl (which would be that 9th grader in high school range) being attracted to a 12 years old (essentially a 7th grader middle schooler (Aang) ) especially when that same girl was attracted to seemingly 16 year olds (11th graders before (Haru and Jet))

But I do think it’s not as cut and dry as a teen being attracted to a person two years younger as unbelievable as some also say that's a pretty shallow reason and people write those people off

Some think Aang is cringe for all his especially early attempts at flirting with Katara. Which not nonly ties into the age thing but the whole sometimes being persistent is bad and harassment which is more and more true as the years goes on as a lot of shows back then had that element of boy tries repeatedly and gets rejected repeatedly then eventually “wore her down”

And on the flipside Zuko harmed that group for a long time and even if unjustified Katara saw him as the representation of her hatred for a period which can have its own downsides when compared to things like abuse and not racism exactly but hating that whole nation almost (there’s a word but I can’t think of it)

They both have things against them

Some aspects just don't appear the same to different people

Like a popular example is the fortune teller episode

Where Katara only thinks of Aang as potential person for her when a fortune teller foresees it

The intention is this cosmic supernatural aspect saying these two are meant for each other

Destiny

Like on one hand Destiny can be super romantic like this person was destined for me, like this is my perfect match, they were made for me

On the other it can feel like you have no agency, like this is the only person for me? Am I just destined to be with this one person I might have never looked at in that way, am I allowed not to choose them?

Some people like that Katara realized Aang was a potential match via this supernatural aspect

Some hate it as it feels like Katara didn't come to become attracted to Aang naturally

On screen vs potential possibilities

Like it was kinda obvious Aang and Katara would end up together despite the distractions from guys like Jet. So the series being written that they naturally have more moments which leads to them being the ship makes sense

So whenever Katara kisses Aang cheek is just evidence that this clearly the ship

Even more than Aang and Zuko at times, Katara and Zuko are parallels so they're interactions even if on opposite sides can also be seen as evidence

But I think this on-screen and potential aspect is mostly on the Zutara side because of how the show went, which gives them more what-ifs

Like Zutara has a lot of what ifs like what if Zuko joined them in Ba sing se? Some genuinely think that would of kicked of Zutara for real

Let alone other aspects that I think people mostly like for story potential like if Katara marries Zuko she becomes the Queen of the fire nation which has a lot of story potential

It doesn't even have to be Zutara alone, can say if they did go Zutara for the writing back in Book 2 they could of easily wrote Taang (Toph and Aang) to be Aangs ship

As just minor example but Toph just being attracted to Aang and not Sokka from a writing viewpoint would make people like them as people like Tokka (Toph x Sokka) for similar reasons

Basically the show was building up to Aang x Katara and if they diverted from that there would be a decent amount of disappointed if literally all that changed was that at the end Katara kissed Zuko

But I think when people see the potential chemistry and interactions of different pairs not just Zutara but people like Sokka with Toph or maybe Katara should of just got with Haru they would have liked it if they wrote around those ships vs the KatAang one

Zutara thoughts

My quick thoughts on zutara is that for me…

I think this is more of a I like Zuko and Katara as characters but not necessarily together

Like I think if the show would of had Zuko with Ty Lee and not Mai people would feel different since Ty Lee is so loved while Mai seems more of an acquired taste and people might not like Zuko with Mai

Like I like Mai but her and Zuko together weren’t handled the best to me, even in the comics they broke up for a period where with Ty Lee at least she would be generally more well liked due to personality differences

Plus people really don’t like how they handled some of the more cringey moments of KatAang which is basically all on Aang which I’ll save for later

So when their main ships are not perfect I see the logic of putting them together along with all the other stuff I mentioned before

I however think what Zuko did while eventually forgiven by Katara doesn’t make him the best option for her but for Zuko Katara is lowkey the best option if we can’t put him with a Ty Lee or somebody like that

As Katara even if not with Aang I could put with someone like Haru or a hypothetically alive Jet whereas if Zuko isn’t with Mai he has the one off characters like the ba sing se girl (I forget her name, the one he went on an actual date with) but no one that comes back making Katara his next option it seems

KatAang thoughts

I don’t mind all the cringey stuff Aang has done lol

I think people really don’t like the kiss during the play as it’s one of those he kissed her without permission moments that gets people riled up as there are definitely examples and instances where it’s not ok irl and in media

But not even including the time the show came out in which definitely is a different time culturally than now

He kissed her before and didn’t have the same reaction and he’s 12/13 they’re allowed to make these mistakes

Plus even though she was confused and doesn’t outwardly say it all the time like Aang does, Katara did like Aang at this point at least that’s how I read it.

So it’s not like he kissed a girl that didn’t like him. Aang to me was basically asking her to be his girlfriend and she’s like maybe after the WAR, whereas he took it as doubt and tried to reassure her. To me it’s two people that like each other but are prioritizing different things as Aang just wants Katara and Katara wants this war over with

And could go on but all their cringey moments aren’t bad worse thing is how realistic some of it can be lol

I think the whole love at first sight and destiny and all that is take it or leave it though

As I know some people don’t believe in love at first sight or just don’t like that trope and that’s admittedly the basis of this ship

I think while they eventually worked up to it well I can see to some their beginning are just as shaky narratively as Zutara

Also Aang doesn’t really have another ship tbh, like someone pointed out that the only person Aang called pretty was Katara and the Painted Lady who was Katara lol

Like if they would have actually played into Ming from that fortune teller village, Toph the only other character his age or even someone like Ty Lee I can see an argument to not make Katara his main ship

Conclusion

I think the KatAang ship is harmless especially given their ages, the show release time period and just general point of the ship narratively therefore I think it’s a good ship

But I won’t lie and say especially earlier on that Zutara, Taang, and other possibilities wouldn’t have made some good if not even better stories depending how it was written just off potential

#avatar aang #avatar netflix #avatar the last airbender #kataang #zutara #aang #katara #zuko #aang x katara #zuko x katara #enemies to lovers #friends to lovers #avatar the last air bender thoughts

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roxxeatzgravel · 3 months

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I don't know why I made this

Why Romeo + Juliet 1996 lowkey implied that gay people (Tybalt) exist

A unorganized essay by Roxx

I firmly believe there is no way Tybalt, Capulet's nephew and Juliet’s cousin, was heterosexual in any way, shape, or form. He is, at least to me, extremely queer coded, whether it was intentional or not. The way Tybalt interacts with the cast screams Internalized Homophobia, from his aggressive and somewhat jealous nature towards Romeo to the banter he and Mercutio shared during their fight, he is just a very queer character and the gays love a enemies to lovers story (I’m the gays)

We don’t see Tybalt interact with Juliet, but I personally would guess they are close, at least as close as cousins are, given they most likely lived a majority of their lives together. If you really look into Romeo’s attempt to calm Tybalt in the play (and most versions) it can read in a homoerotic nature

Tybalt: “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford, No better term: Thou art a Villain”

Romeo: Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee Doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting. Villain am I none. Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not.” Quote; Act 3 scene 1, they basically just broke up

and the 1996 version of the film doesn’t help this notion of Tybalt having a raging homo crush on Romeo (haha mean girls reference) either, given how close they are standing next to each other and Romeo’s expression, in that film he looks absolutely heartbroken that Tybalt would resort to such violent action and refuses to strike him. that angers Tybalt and he beats Romeo up, talk about romance am I right? (That was sarcasm, don’t beat your partners it’s fucked up), and before this, Tybalt looked at Romeo in a way that made him look almost obsessed with him.

Mercutio and Tybalt are obviously interconnected, they’re not opposites though instead they’re two sides of the same coin, They could even be read as a metaphor for how the hyper-masculinization of Queer men of colour, especially black and dark skinned Queer men, can be harmful and imply the stereotype that men of colour are violent and “uncivilized.”

So Tybalt’s aggressive nature could be read a reflection of his own internalized homophobia and self hatred that has been pushed onto him by society and probably even his own family, While Mercutio’s aggression could be read as a form of self perseverance to keep himself out of harm's way. They both know that if they are openly queer, they are inherently in danger just by existing.

Tybalt, within this context, hates Romeo because he’s in love with him and he can’t fathom the idea of being in love with a man and a Montague no less.

Also he literally calls Romeo “My man”, I know in various contexts that could mean a platonic bond but c’mon, that's pretty damn gay.

So you might be asking, “Why do you think Romeo and Juliet would be better if Romeo and Tybalt were in love instead? And why not Mercutio and Tybalt?” Firstly, no one would’ve died; The entire reason R & J is R & J is because Tybalt was there, what truly sets off the chain reaction of some of the most memorable parts of R & J is Tybalt. If he wasn’t in the room when Romeo and Juliet were talking, R & J wouldn’t exist, and if he was Romeo’s romantic interest instead no one would be dead, Secondly, JULIET IS TOO YOUNG, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL, and Third, Romeo and Tybalt would have a more interesting dynamic; the idea of Tybalt having to learn how to be vulnerable with a romantic partner is pretty interesting, I don’t think Tybalt could really ever learn to be vulnerable with Mercutio given both of their short tempers (and Mercutio is lowkey a dick but he’s still cool either way) and lack of respect for the others house. Romeo, obviously, is a bleeding heart romantic who is very very dramatic, while Tybalt is a ruthless, blood-thirsty, and closed off jackass who has some form of daddy and/or mommy issues, and that sort of opposites attract dynamic is the most interesting part of the entire idea of Romeo & Tybalt being an item.

it's giving "She likes a boy, She likes a boy, She likes a boy, She likes a boy, and I'm not a boy, I'm not a boy, I'm not a boy, I'm not a boy"

#ramble :3 #romeo + juliet 1996 #romeo x tybalt #its not done but yknow

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theemptyspacehelmet · 1 year

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In the defense of Tyler Galpin (spoilers)

Now hear me out. I’m as much of a Wenclair shipper as anyone else, but I have to admit I understand where the writers were coming from by setting Tyler up as a love interest. Definitely the love triangle was way out of left field (especially considering Xavier just seems to fall for Wednesday for no reason at all and both guys are pretty basic compared to her character) but Tyler as an individual character is actually pretty interesting.

At the beginning, it’s hard to see how Tyler had any significance to the plot at all, except maybe to have a Normie’s perspective and to act as Wednesday’s love interest, but the last two episodes tell us otherwise. In retrospect, him turning out to be the Hyde was a bit of a cliche move but the plot twist was done well enough that you still feel taken aback when you see his true character. In fact, this reveal gives him much-needed depth that saves him from that typical basic white-boyness trope. His hidden dark side gave him a nuance that allows him to go up even against Wednesday.

I know that a lot of people complain that their biggest problem with the love triangle is that you can’t even tell Xavier and Tyler apart that well because of how basic they are, and I can’t even argue against that. Except during my rewatch, keeping in mind of Tyler’s real intentions does elevate his scenes a lot more. His so-called boring character is a red herring from the beginning, he’s trying to appear as approachable and harmless. He needs to get closer to Wednesday in order to fulfill his master’s wishes, so it’s no wonder that he tries to act as though he falls for her almost immediately. “I thought we had feelings for each other” makes no sense given their prior encounters does nothing to prove that but he’s trying to manipulate the situation for his own favor. Another way the plot twist was built up nicely. The truth is, he’s probably as ruthless and coldblooded as Wednesday, which creates a nice contrast between them as someone who is able to hide their bloodthirst and someone who uses theirs to scare others off.

But as well as his innocent act was, I almost can’t help but feel as though Wednesday still could see through him. Not in the sense she knew that he was bad news, but could almost sense his hidden hostility, which could also explains why she was intrigued by him from the very beginning. Addams are always attracted to the unusual after all, which sorta explains their dynamic. When it comes down to it they’re both pretty toxic people specifically to each other but that’s always been the appeal in the Addams family. I think if they continued to keep this up in season 2, it’d might make a decent rivals-to-lovers almost, now that they both can face each other with their true selfs. It’s better than Xavier and Wednesday at least, but not as good as Enid. Still, I want to hang onto hope that the writers were thinking as in depth as this was at least.

#wednesday netflix #tyler galpin #hunter doohan #jenny ortega #tim burton #the addams family #wednesday addams

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melodiousmonsters · 1 year

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Woo and here's another monstiary page. Firstly I slightly re-formatted the pages and how I'll be presenting the information. Secondly I'm going to start making them "in order" with the exception of the single elementals (besides potbelly). I made a system to give each monster species a number, potbellies' #1, mammott's #2, etc. For the single elementals I'll be doing their pages during their months which is why I kinda rushed these pages out in two days as I had to finish them before the month ended : ). Thirdly I'm giving all the monster scientific names and breaking them up into extremely simple morphologically based taxonomic ranks so I don't need to re-state traits shared by multiple monsters (I'll elaborate on those once I make a diagram of the monster taxonomic tree thing) . Anyway, potbelly facts.

Potbelly have one to three heads, but most commonly have two. Their heads work quite weirdly. They are kind of each their own individual but they have a near identical thought process to each other. And the amount of heads is dependent on the individual and their age. As a potbelly ages they may grow an extra head or two, but at max they can have three. Edit: Forgot to add an image here, I forgot I even drew an example of the head variations honestly idk how I did that

While potbellies don’t have proper eyes they can still see somewhat. Those dark spots on their bodies are extra sensitive to light being bounced to them and can project a simple, blurry grayscale image to the brain(s) that allows them to see. Because of how unreliable this poor vision is alone, potbellies rely on all their senses to get around.

To smell potbellies have scent receptors on the roofs of their mouths and their tongues which makes them have to repeatedly open their mouths to sniff the air and comprehend what’s going on around them. They hear by sensing vibrations in the ground through the leaves surrounding their roots.

Potbellies have those distinctive filled out “stomachs” that their name comes from. A majority of that stomach isn’t an actual stomach. As they are carnivores of course they have a fully functional stomach that’s made to actually get nutrients from solid food which is quite rare in plant monsters. But a majority of it is used for food and water storage to make up for a lack of large roots.

Instead of being used for nutrient absorption or storage, those aforementioned roots are used for both subterranean and terrestrial locomotion. Those teeny roots are incredibly strong and can easily carry the weight of the rest of the potbelly’s body. In a similar fashion to an octopus they can crawl around on their roots to move. They can even swim! With these all-terrain limbs potbelly can go anywhere they please.

Potbellies like warm, wet, environments but can live anywhere if needed. They are carnivores that eat small critters to supplement their diets as they prefer to live unrooted or in small pots so they can’t get many nutrients from the soil. To eat they simply have evolved a sweet smelling breath that attracts bugs and the sorts to their mouths and then they snap them up. Because they are large plants they don’t have any predators.

Before I get to the next paragraph I need to mention I'm giving the critters names and the plant island critters are called toukeenies (pronounced like a combination of toucan and teeny) and I made a drawing of them. Also side note all the bird critters have four wings.

To keep their teeth clean they have developed a mutualistic relationship with plant island’s toukeenies. Whenever they smell them they open their mouths and allow the toukeenies to pick out anything they find between their teeth. They’re very good at recognizing them as they smell with their mouths so they can instantly tell when the thing in their mouth is or isn’t a toukeenie.

NEW SECTION! Variants! In this universe the variants aren't called rares or epics simply to make it so I don't have to include the ones I don't like at the cost of having to come up with more names.

Red Potbelly are like the common versions except they are red, generally are more active, prefer drier climates, and they have a different leaf shape, not much to ‘em. They do have higher metabolism and dependence on food as they are worse at photosynthesizing due to their red color. And because of the low amount of sugar in their diets they tend to be leaner.

A small isolated group of potbellies in the earth lands evolved to be active predators rather than waiting for their prey to come to them, they lost their sweet breath and evolved horns and scales to protect themselves in their more active lifestyle. They also have feet and wings too for ground locomotion and climbing. Their wings are too small to fly but the little claws on them aid in grabbing onto ledges. More developed forked tongues allow for a more acute sense of smell that makes it easier to track moving things. And their longer fangs make it easier to pierce through prey and they then wait for them to bleed out like a komodo dragon.

Just to end off this post here's some sketches I made to explore ideas and also practice a more cartoony art style

#my singing monsters #art #beezleart #potbelly #melodious monster chronicles

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mikkomacko · 10 months

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For the three fans I have that supported this idea, here are my thoughts on Hunger Games Nico!

Enjoy and please discuss with me

Thanks!

Nico’s background:

-He’s from District 2

- Technically, he’s considered a career tribute although he was never officially trained for the games nor did he volunteer

-His father’s side of the family has always held the position of mayor. When his father married his mother, he moved from the wealthy part of the district to the poor area where she was from.

-But when Nico was 12 his father was appointed mayor and they moved into the house by the justice building

-Being the son of the mayor, he was pretty well fed and taken care of, making him one of the more built boys of 2

-Nico won his games at 16

-He’s known the reader his whole life. Their mothers were best friends that constructed their houses next to each other when they married.

-Nico is the youngest of his siblings with a large age gap between him and the second youngest, so when he was just two and the reader was born he was completely enthralled with her

-He spent every moment he could at her house even when she was a baby. He loved holding her or sitting by her crib to keep her company. Nico figured out that when she wouldn’t stop crying she could be soothed by rubbing her left earlobe

-By the time he was ten Nico was calling her his girlfriend and constantly holding her hand. Her first word growing up was his name though her baby babble slurred it into Neek which turned into the nickname Neeks

-While he does love his family, all of his heart and devotion go to the reader. His mother claims that he’s been independent and hasn’t needed her since the moment reader was born because all they’ve ever needed is each other

-Once they’re both old enough to walk and feed themselves, their families kind of left them to their own devices. They’re not very close with their blood families, especially Nico with his father who always tried to keep him away from reader when he was a kid.

-The sentence “you two are more each others than you were ever ours” is tossed around between their families a lot

-His relationship with his family gave him a rep around the district as very dark and self absorbed because he didn’t care for his own family let alone anyone else’s problems. To him they were all suffering in someway and he can’t help everyone but he can help his girl

-The reader only knew him as the sweet Nico she grew up with. She’d always tell her friends about how he makes lunches for her and carries her books to school and during cold winters he spends every night with her to make sure she doesn’t freeze. Whenever she tells someone about how caring and generous he is they double take

-They talk a lot about how Nico as a kid liked to try and plan their future, especially their wedding. He used to say he was going take up the mantle of mayor after his father so that he could afford to take care of her and have a family with her

Nico’s Games:

-His whole ‘tactic’ was that he would do anything to get back to his girl in 2, which he stated many times before, during, and after the games.

-The capitol loved him because he was so mature for his age and found his rough, brutish aura attractive.

-He was extremely skilled and efficient in the arena, contributing to the idea that he was a career

-The arena he was placed in was a dry, rocky canyon with a large plains area and little water. He was really good at navigating at navigating the canyon and free climbing the rocks

-He immediately started the games by joining the rest of the career pack and helping them wipe out everyone else. Being from the military district he was pretty knowledgeable on all the weapons but he mainly used knives. He’s also really strong so any hand to hand combats he easily won.

-The careers kind of used him to do the bloody work of the games because he wasn’t hesitant or scared to do anything to win.

-They planned to take him down together when everyone else died but Nico is very smart and observant so he easily noticed and planned ahead

-When just the careers and 1 other remained, he snuck away and took out the last tribute. From then he hid until they’d fought each other and were wounded and weakened at which point he swooped in and killed them

-No one is surprised when he’s ruthless and focused on winning in the arena. There’s a rumor amongst the town that he’s only capable of feeling for the reader so killing for her comes easy to him.

-When Nico makes it to final 8 of his games the crew that visits 2 is pointed to the reader before his family. The interview she does about him is so sweet and far off from the boy in the arena that the Capitol falls in love with their relationship

-Their reunion in 2 after he wins is televised and it becomes a joke amongst the Capitol and other victors that they didn’t know he had dimples since that was the only time anyone had seen him smile.

-After the games, Nico moves into the victors village and while his parents should technically live with him they live at the justice building. Because of this he pretty much just lives with the reader.

-During the winter they stay in the victors village due to its heating but during the summer he stays with her at her house or they play house in his old home just the two of them

-Nico’s time on the victors tour and mentoring creates a great friendship between him and Finnick Odair from four. He even says Finnick could’ve been his best friend if it weren’t for how much more he likes his girl

-Four years after his victory, during her last year in the reaping the reader is chosen to go the games. Like Nico’s year, this is one of rare occasions in two in which a career doesn’t volunteer.

Reader’s Background:

-She’s known for being effortlessly beautiful and welcoming

-The district people joke with her that Nico is a bear and she’s the honey

-She was an accident baby that her mother was reluctant to have and didn’t really want. While she does love her parents, she sees Nico as her real family because he’s the one person that has always wanted her

-Her family has always been really poor, even with both her parents working but Nico has always used his status as mayor’s son to keep her fairly healthy

-She’s in a lower year at school than Nico so they’re kept pretty separate but he goes out of his way (and gets in trouble for it) to see her

-Her school friends all think Nico is really attractive and giggle and blush when he comes around. Except for the guy friends who think he’s scary or tell her it’s weird that they’ve been together for so long

-She’s really good at brushing off or defending Nico calmly and sweetly

-As a teenager she gets a job at a tiny jewelry shop in town thanks to her connection with Nico. He thinks she’s making money for her family but she’s saving up so the two of them can have a pretty secure future together

-She’s devastated when Nico is reaped and is by his side in the justice building for every goodbye

-During the games she has to be pried away from the town square or the mayors tv to sleep and eat because she thinks Nico might get hurt if she looks away

-Even so, she’s certain he will win and even says so during her interview with the Capitol

-“He’s stubborn, strong, and in love” she says “who else could keep up?”

-When he comes home she’s even more attached to his side. Even when she has school he’s sneaking in to be around her or lingering outside

-Nico swears he’s going to marry her the second she’s done with school

-He definitely wants to spoil her with his winnings

Reader’s Games:

-Though the reader is prepared to die in the arena for him, Nico is really hard on her during training and mentoring so that she can win. This is the first time she sees why everyone was so scared of him.

-Knowing who she is, she becomes a Capitol favorite for being the sunshine to Nico’s rain cloud.

-Nico, as her mentor, sells the idea that it’s impossible for people not to fall in love with her and he was the lucky fool that got her

-The romance between them definitely has a role in her sponsorship and odds of winning. She also befriends her district partner in the games and ends up in the career pack like Nico because of it. Her friendship and loyalty to her district also brings in sponsors

-Fortunately, her arena is a winter frosted forest in the mountains. Her familiarity with the terrain helps her and her district partner keep themselves and the other careers alive.

-She’s also very familiar with ice and frozen water from hours spent on the frozen ponds of 2 where Nico played pond hockey with other district boys from the time he was 6. He enlisted the help of his father to make her a pair of skates and taught her everything he knows, though he never lets her play in the games because it got too violent

-While she’s unable to survive the games without killing, she is for the most part protected by the rest of the careers and spoiled by parachutes from Nico

-Her ultimate victory comes due to her ability to survive an avalanche that hits when just 5 tributes remain.

-The other two careers and tributes are killed by the disaster and her partner is injured. He’s unable to really fight but after hours of waiting and freezing, he attempts to attack her and take home the crown.

-They’re weaponless but the hand to hand combat drags on and leaves them both brutally injured. As night sets the temperatures drop and they get so cold it turns into them just waiting out until he eventually freezes to death. The reader is saved just as extreme hypothermia is setting in.

-Nico gets in trouble for fighting Capitol attendants when they won’t let him on the hovercraft to get her from the arena. He is however the first person to greet her once she’s conscious, and obnoxiously hovers over her for the crowning and exit interview

After their games:

-Nico becomes a legend for bringing two victories to district 2, and afterwards becomes a co-mentor with the reader.

-The reader admired around the Capitol for her strength, beauty, and commitment to Nico. She becomes the face for her stylist and promotes her clothing lines and other luxuries

-Instead of being given her own home in the victors village, the Capitol renovates Nico’s current house into a bigger one for them

-They’re love story is eaten up in the Capitol to the point that they to do interviews and a little show every year before the games

-Though a marriage was promised after games, her and Nico just remain engaged as they don’t want to rush anything when they can just enjoy still getting to be with each other

-They remain mentors together until the 75th hunger games in which they’re both reaped into the games alongside Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, as well as close friends Finnick and Johanna.

The Revolution:

-Nico joins the rebel plan immediately after he is guaranteed safety for the reader and their families, though he doesn’t tell her about it

-He knew he’d be going back to the arena to aid in keeping Katniss and Peeta alive but he has no idea how or why the reader ended up going back too. He assumes the reaping was rigged

-Katniss dislikes both of them at first but Peeta’s kindness turns into an alliance with both and it’s his ultimate trust in the reader that makes them all friends

-During the games the reader blindly follows everything Nico tells her in regards to keeping Katniss and peeta alive. Nico doesn’t realize it but she only does so because she’s caught onto the rebel plan

-When the arena is blown up, she is with Katniss and Johanna, but separates from them to go find Nico. He abandons his part in the plan to go find her as well, and instead finds Katniss. The reader finds Peeta who is determined to keep her safe and she tries to help him find Katniss

-Ultimately, Nico is rescued alongside Katniss and Finnick, and the reader is captured in the Capitol.

#nico hischier #nico hischier blurb #nico hischier x reader #Nico hischier au #Hunger Games Nico

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firstsprinces · 10 days

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Thank you @anincompletelist for tagging me in this game! I loved devouring each of your snippets from the works you’re proud of!

Rules: Post your favorite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

I haven’t even started and I’m about to break the only rule 😂 because I still only have fics posted from holiday challenges, which I am not blown away by. I thoight I'd have other fics posted by now but it’s been a year so far, to say the least. So, I’m also going to share from Outlaw Alex because he’s coming very soon and I’m honestly the most proud of the way the words are fitting together for that one!

Leaving this tag as open and will be catching up with my following list soon! I can't wait to read what you're proud of and show you some extra and well deserved love!

Here we go...

From "Take This House and Make it a Home"

They admire their choice together from the couch later on that evening with David curled up underneath the blanket. Alex rests his head on Henry’s shoulder and thinks about how he can’t wait to decorate the tree the next day and debate if the tree will have colored lights or white lights – he’s guessing the white ones won’t be a choice once there are children also making the decisions. He can’t wait for the time where both he and Henry each have a child on their shoulders wanting to put ornaments on the tree higher than the other while having Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer on the television in the background. Then, once the children are put to bed for the night, it’ll be the two of them again having their private moment admiring everything they’ve created together, just like this with David snoring and the fireplace crackling, with Henry’s legs tangled with his as the peace settles over them; that the house they’ve settled down in is finally a home. Whether it’s tonight, two or three Christmases from now, or when they’re in their eighties, Alex will always look over at Henry and know the magic that they have together is forever.

From "Here We Stand Worlds Apart" (ongoing)

The side of his hand skims the material of the bodysuit as he searches for the chin strap, popping off the buckle. Then he takes both of his hands and carefully begins the removal of the helmet. As more of the face starts to be revealed, a strong chin and jawline, perfectly chiseled cheekbones, dark and soft curls styled with a short cut, Henry finds out it’s a man who’s crashed into the woods. He can’t help but stare at the face of the attractive man. Attractive isn’t even the correct word in his vocabulary to describe him. His eyes are closed, which makes Henry wonder what color they are. He hopes they aren’t green like Ralph’s because he doesn’t want to be reminded of a pair of eyes that will never look at him in the adoringly hungry way they do when he looks at Alice Rodgers. Long dark lashes fan out and almost look as if they’re touching the top curve of his cheekbones. He looks angelic even in a setting that looks like he’s met his death. His appreciative gaze travels to his hair next. Curls draping over one another in an unlikely symphony of wildness and precise placing, even after being smashed flat against his head from wearing the helmet. Henry can’t help but want to feel what the curls would feel like moving through the spaces between his fingers, even though it’s a bizarre thing to do to someone who’s just been in a crash, someone who’s a stranger to him.

From "The Wind Whispered Something That the Devil's to Blame" (coming soon)

Months after his father’s funeral, his mother had told him the opposite. It had actually been Henry who’d given his father the enlightenment to embrace all new discoveries and to always keep chasing them because they’re remarkably never-ending. Always live as though the world keeps creating things to stumble upon on purpose. Accidents may happen along the way, but those are also little surprises that will lead to something far grander. As a child Henry had been more animated and curious than his two siblings, but he’d also been overly cautious and kept to himself when necessary. It had been his father who would tell Henry that he shouldn’t be afraid of unknown things, so why would his mother tell him otherwise? What would Henry have given someone with more life experiences than he had? Their relationship had always been different than his ones with Phillip and Beatrice. Though Arthur always made sure to give each of his children their own moments just between the two of them, Catherine had let the secret out to Henry that his favorite discovery had been witnessing Henry experience the world around him. After the confession, Henry made the promise to his father after his passing that he’d take his father on every new adventure with him to make sure he’d never miss out, and in those adventures, he’d find out who he truly is and embrace himself as the wonderment his father believes he is. He places the last and only photograph he has of him and his father, back down on his desk, his pointer finger skimming his greyed blurry face that doesn’t resemble the fact his father’s memory will never become dull or unclear.

#fic pride friday #my fics #kia's writing #firstprince #rwrb #firstprince fic #wip #red white and royal blue #firstprince fanfic #firstprince au #current wip #tag games

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krikeymate · 6 months

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Fictober 2023: Day 27: “I don’t know if they will accept this.” - Betrayal. Sad and Sexy. Featuring Chad POV. Fandom: Scream Rating: T Warnings: Suggestive content.

➖

“I don’t know if they will accept this.”

The phrase escapes Chad’s mouth in a breathy tone. Despite his words, he makes no move to distance himself, lips hovering over hers.

Sam smirks up at him, arms wrapping around his shoulders to pull him in.

“Who cares what they think? Haven’t we suffered enough?”

He finds himself captivated by Sam’s mouth as it moulds to a pout. Her fingers creep up to pull at his hair, a shiver running down his spine at the delightful sensation.

“Don’t we deserve to be happy?” she whispers, placing a kiss on his cheek, so close and yet so far from where he needs her to be.

Chad wets his lips, body thrumming.

“I guess you can’t choose who you fall in love with,” he sighs as Sam’s fingers scratch along his neck. “They’ll understand… eventually.”

He tilts his head to finally take her breath away, as she does his.

This has been a long time coming, he thinks. Two years of shared glances over Tara’s head, a silent secret language the two of them share.

He loves Tara, he does. They both do. But… Sam…

They’re like magnets, drawn to one another. The attraction is undeniable, a strong pull that can’t be resisted.

This will hurt Tara, no doubt. But she’ll get over the betrayal, she’ll forgive them. She’d forgive Sam anything, and Chad, well… when she sees how happy he makes her sister, she’ll have no choice.

It’s not like they were soulmates. They were just two people who were hurting, who were there for each other at the right time.

She still whispers Amber’s name in the night, longing for another.

Just like him.

He cups the back of Sam’s head and deepens the kiss, euphoric at the heavenly moan that escapes her.

It’s not close enough, he needs to be closer. He feels it burning him from the inside out, this desire, this need. Like a craving he can’t fulfil.

He slips an arm around her to cup her ass and pull her body into his, but to his confusion, it only makes her pull away.

“Do you want something?” she purrs, smirk upon her face and hands on his shoulders.

Chad nods mutely, stunned.

He thinks he’d let her kill him right now if she wanted to. If the last thing he saw was her above him, it would be the perfect end.

She shoves him back.

He falls backwards onto the bed with a grunt, air pushed from his lungs.

It becomes impossible to regain his breath as Sam begins to crawl on top of him. He’s never seen anything more divine.

She draws a finger down his chest, lower and lower.

Biting his lip, he has to look away, it’s all too much, too overwhelming.

He feels like a volcano about to blow.

His heart stutters for a moment as he notices the sheets below him.

A constellation.

This is… Tara’s bed?

He frowns, that doesn’t-

A gloved hand grips his chin, turning his head forward again.

His eyes widen in fear as it meets a familiar mask above him, robes flowing around him.

“Where do you want me, stud?” Ghostface asks, laughter in their modulated voice.

A knife slices down.

He raises his arms, eyes slamming shut.

The world goes dark, and the laughter disappears with it.

When he opens his eyes again, the weight on his body is gone, and he’s panting up at the glow in the dark stars scattered across the ceiling.

Chad snaps his head to the side at the sound of shuffling beside him.

Tara. It’s just Tara, fast asleep, a toy rabbit in her arms.

His body relaxes in an instant, as it always does when his girlfriend’s around.

He only has a brief moment of relaxation before the remnants of his dream trickle back into his memory, shoulders hunching in disgust at the thought of- of-

He can’t.

His body twitches, spiking anxiety through him.

With horror in his heart, his gaze slips down the sheets.

Oh god.

Maybe he should be going back to therapy.

#/mp #fictober23 #Scream #Sam Carpenter #Chad Meeks-Martin #my writing tag #so. forwarning. this is the worst thing you've ever read. in a funny way.#i'm so sorry i don't know why i did this #anyway. just trust me. i hated writing this as much as you hated reading it. i laughed the entire time.#anyway this is the first time i've written something like this and i think it came out alright actually. despite the... participants.

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mylordshesacactus · 1 year

Text

The Treaty Puzzle

I’m INSANELY proud of the puzzle I constructed for this final chamber.

See, it’s intended as a continuity-of-civilization chamber--it’s a massive latticework of illusion spells triggered by a central mechanism that, when activated, does what I flippantly described as “Congrats, you unlocked the cutscene”. It’s a historical record.

As such it’s designed to be found (though not without testing its finders--if you can make it through the challenges, if you care enough to try, then you’ve earned the right to be burdened with this knowledge if you want it. Otherwise....what’s the point? What’s the point in causing a panic, if the finders can’t do anything to fight back?). But more than that, it’s intended to...teach.

I’m copying it over here both because I want to savor this moment, and because other people might want to borrow some ideas for their campaigns!

The chamber they enter is a circular tower, white stone carved with vines, with light cantrips in the walls and ceiling. In contrast to the dark and oppressive mini-dungeon leading up to it, this chamber gives off the illusion of a warm, sunlit room. It’s comfortable and safe, and that’s not a trick.

Inside the room are four statues, loosely scattered around the area, and a large gilded clockwork contraption made of six concentric rings. These interlocking rings are covered in etchings, runes, leylines and other symbols, none of which line up or mean anything--they have to be rotated into place, but can’t be moved yet. Each ring also has a line of writing on it in various languages, with the Common print of the outermost ring simply reading ‘TRAITOR’. Translated, the inscriptions are as follows:

[id:1: Common print: TRAITOR 2: Infernal: “If you can’t stay alert, either be quick or be dead.” 3: Halfling shorthand: “Oh, you’ll figure it out.” 4: Draconic runes: “You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.” 5: Orcish script: “You’d be surprised what gentleness can do.” 6: Elven: “A gift given freely.”]

Each ring has a large keyhole; the only exception is the outermost ring, which is fixed in place. The rings are made of iron, but gilded.

The statues around the room are made of dull stone, placed on white marble plinths with gold nameplates. Somewhere on each of the statues is an iron rod, eight inches long and about an inch in diameter, that serves as a key. The party, by now, recognizes the names.

These are the lost heroes who died in the Rending--the rest of the party. The more nasty-minded of the party immediately suspect the truth. These are not statues--and this goes far beyond typical petrification. This is a curse laid out of spite by the queen of the Fae. Nothing short of a Wish can reverse it.

They’re level nine. They move on.

They meet the party through these frozen snapshots, one by one:

Ylla Taleryn | A half-elven woman with a severe acid or burn injury that takes up the entire left side of her face and continues down her neck and shoulder under the robes of a cleric. The regrowth of hair, and the way the acid damage doesn’t map to damage to her clothes, suggest this was an old injury at the time she was petrified--probably at least a decade, something she’s lived with. She’s crumpled on one knee; her hair is pulled back in a battle-damaged ponytail, and her left arm is pressed tight to her side as if in pain. However, she looks up with a warm, tired smile and reaches out, as if silently requesting help getting to her feet.

Tusk Ushnar & Russet | A slim half-orc in ranger leathers, with a squirrel perched on his shoulder. He wears an easy grin, glancing up and off to the side, and is frozen in the middle of unstringing an absolutely massive longbow.

Adiron Stormflower | A male dragonborn with jagged, ridged horns. He wears panpipes on his belt and a bardic lute slung across his back. His cloak is thrown rakishly around his shoulders, so badly damaged it’s nearly shredded, but he’s wearing a wide smile as he presses his forehead together with the halfling in his arms, eyes closed.

Errol Shorthand | A halfling rogue in close-fitting leathers and a hooded cowl, held in the arms of a dragonborn bard. Daggers litter his person—three on his belt, one in a quick-release wrist trigger, one in a boot sheath. A rapier, snapped in two, hangs from his belt. Both of his hands rest on either side of the dragonborn’s face. They wear matching wedding rings.

And finally, the woman our archivist wizard Audie would know was the leader of this doomed party fifty years ago:

Rochelle Willowfeather | A tiefling, wearing no armor but rather simple monk’s robes. She stands with her weight on one leg, leaning against a quarterstaff, ankles idly crossed. One arm is in a sling. There is a small cluster of Aarakocra feathers tied to one end of the staff, and she wears a small locket carved with the image of two entwined hippogriffs. Her body language is relaxed, but she’s frozen in the act of turning her head, eyes sharp and wary as if scanning for something.

Our Aarakocra paladin recognizes the locket immediately--it’s a marriage token her people often exchange between queer interracial couples. Gryphons will preferentially attack horses if given the chance, and an old folk belief once held (much like people who think chipmunks are baby squirrels) that a hippogriff was the offspring of a gryphon and a horse--therefore, a hippogriff is a very, very traditional symbol of love that transcends society’s old hatreds. Two hippogriffs entwined is unconditional love twice over.

Each key is acquired differently, as well. Ylla’s key--a gift given freely--is just that. There’s no test, no challenge to overcome. It rests in her outstretched palm and you don’t have to earn it. To get Tusk’s key, you have to FAIL a DC 12 STR check. Trying to touch Adiron’s key triggers a magic hand that is immune to all forms of damage and will interpose itself to prevent you from taking the key--but will dissipate if you give it a handshake. Rochelle’s key requires a DC 17 DEX check in order to whip it out of its mechanism before the internal lock has time to catch. Errol’s is a gag gift--his nameplate pulls out to reveal a puzzle box with a DC 20 INT or Thieves’ Tools barrier to solve......but no penalty if you just smash it. There’s a note enclosed within that you’ll only see if you break the box--a handwritten scrap of paper that reads “Errol would have thought that was funny.”

Naturally, each key maps to the ring written in the individual’s native tongue, and allows the ring to be rotated into place. Once that happens, the writing glows, reverts to Common script, and fades into nothing but the party member’s first initial.

When they’ve all locked into place, the arcane matrix in the room activates, flaring several dozen Greater Illusion spells and other assorted low-level illusory magic at once--the illusory black box, hidden under the city and made entirely of iron, inaccessible to the fae, protected by a dungeon to ensure no one stumbled across it by accident--a trap to ensure they were adventurers looking for trouble and motivated enough to keep going. An aboleth--an extraplanar abomination like the ones he fought himself. An antimagic field--so they understood what it really meant, to have to fight for your life without magic, to suddenly feel that helpless.

And if you get through that, and then learn who his family was and solve their puzzles, you’ve earned the right to try to do what they did. You’ve earned the right to know exactly what happened on the final day of the City of Song.

The treaty chamber is intended to confess, to explain, to record, but more than anything...it’s a desperate attempt to make whoever finds it understand.

Not just “this is what I did”, but “this is why”. This is what I faced, what I went through. This is what I lost. This is how desperate I was.

These are the people I was willing to risk the world to save.

This is how everything went wrong.

#d&d

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har-rison-s · 2 years

Text

i'd fight hell to hold you

eddie munson x reader with she/her pronouns

a/n: hi. another eddie piece. the obsession has begun. my god... idk if i’m ready for friday. it’s going to be absolutely insane. my irl st bestie will come over & we’ll watch together while eating pizza... i am so not ready. my head is empty rn because i’ve speculated on who’s gonna die and what’s gonna happen so much but i just can’t bring myself to do that anymore. i need to stop thinking about it, and i want to just watch what happens yk. idk... anyways. here we are. this one-shot is inspired by kiss’ song “i’d fight hell to hold you” which is 1) in my eddie playlist 2) a listening recommendation for reading this fic :) i think this one’s gonna be longer than my previous eddie one-shots, but ofc i shall see. i just have a premise that i need to write, something in the script i have to modify for this certain scenario and yeah. all in all, i hope you guys will like it :) oh also! i’m graduating my art high school on saturday :))))) i can’t believe i’ve come this far. insane. anyways. happy reading babies!

masterlist

stranger things masterlist

word count: 6.8k

song rec: i'd fight hell to hold you by kiss

tags: mentions of nausea, throwing up, the upside down

(a/n: my babies :( if anything happens to either or both of them in vol2, you will pay, duffers, and greatly ) gif credit goes to owner!

“nancy, no!” robin had managed to scream out a mere second before nancy, deemed the leader of the group, delved into the deep, dark water. clearly not following out on robin’s unspoken advice to not go where steve was just forcefully pulled into. eddie doesn’t know what to say, because his warning to nancy didn’t work, so why would words work? he looks to y/n slowly, wondering what’s on her mind as their next move. before he and robin can take the next shaky breath, though, y/n delves head-first into the dark water, right after nancy and steve. “y/n!”

“y/n! noo!” eddie can only muster in complete shock and hopelessness at what’s just happened. he can’t believe his eyes. he can’t believe his ears. he knows y/n well enough to know she would do anything for her friends, but this is putting her life in danger. and more than that, if there’s such a thing. eddie knows there’s only one thing he can do. to save her, to protect her, to guard her, to make sure she’ll be okay. his fighting abilities are pretty decent, but he doesn’t know what he’ll be facing. to hell with that. he’ll protect her no matter what they’re up against. so eddie looks at robin, gripping the boat’s side, takes a deep breath and jumps in after y/n, not caring what awaits him down in the depths of lover’s lake.

what awaits him is a glowing red portal that isn’t very inviting. but he sees just y/n’s converse-clad feet pulling through the portal to the other side, and he has no choice but to follow. it’s not like he would have sat in that boat with robin and waited until steve, nancy and y/n returned. it’s not like he wouldn’t go into another dimension, to the ends of the world, right into a monster’s arms, to save her. just to make sure she makes it out alive. screw everyone else, screw eddie himself, he won’t let anything happen to her.

the crawl through the gate isn’t pleasant—eddie could use many experiences of his own to describe how squeezing through that really felt—and what’s on the other side isn’t pleasant, either. a dark world. no sun, no moon, no wind. disgusting vines that resemble poisonous snakes crawling everywhere. and eddie’s best friend and new friends in peril. nancy and y/n taking on—flying bats?—together, with each their own skills and found weapons. it seems steve has a handful of them to fight himself, now that the girls have got a portion of the bats off him. he looks badly wounded.

and y/n looks as attractive as ever. yes, they’re in another dimension, yes, she’s wet and slimy and killing bats—but perhaps that’s the exact reason. she’s fighting for her friends, fighting for herself, fighting for who eddie is pretty sure is the unrequited love of her life. and she’s doing great. eddie even makes a mesmerized smile at the sight of her in his stupor, his eyes forming into hearts in the midst of this battle, suddenly amnesia-like to his own situation, his current reality. it’s a bat that swings onto his shoulders that breaks him out of that trance.

eddie’s quick and agile, and grabs one of the oars laying around, and begins attacking the bat. so it’s not only keen on steve, but on the girls and eddie himself, too. it might be stupid, but what really motivates him and gets him through this terribly gross fight with the bats is the thought that he might look at y/n maybe just one more time after it. he might talk to her, might embrace her, might have her at all after this. she’s the reason he keeps a clear head and has a clear target in this fight.

when no more bats seem to be coming, yet there’s still sounds of a struggle, the group turn to watch steve taking down a bat one on one without any sign of mercy. even though eddie’s fascinated himself, he can’t help but think that y/n might find this the hottest thing in the world. a guy taking some demon bat down with his bare hands? pulling its head off with nothing but his hands and feet? it’s the most metal thing eddie’s ever seen, and quite the epic ozzy move, as well. it’s what eddie wants to be.

yet he’s no hero. he’s not like steve, who isn’t afraid to check out danger, who isn’t afraid to jump into dangerous waters first, who doesn’t hesitate to take down demon bats in an alternate dimension. eddie got scared. he saw proper traumatizing shit and ran. he wishes he was different, and that he’d have more guts. he wishes he was more like steve, who y/n undeniably likes. eddie sometimes wishes he had everything that steve has. and that’s why, regrettably, his eyes turn sour towards steve.

but after the last bat has been taken down and everyone’s coming to it slowly, eddie doesn’t hesitate to run straight towards y/n. he’s pleasantly surprised to find her also moving towards him, and he practically cradles her like fragile china in his arms. though he already let his tantrums get the best of him beforehand, he keeps chanting jesus h christ(though his religion is, quite frankly, the opposite of that) as he embraces y/n, his best friend, with shaking hands. “jesus christ,” eddie mutters and then pulls away, his hands on y/n’s cheeks now. he knows they’re off limits to each other in this sense, but he can mask his loving ways to her with care, can’t he? eddie inspects her face, searching for bruises or cuts or whatever else that might need quick attending-to, “did they hurt you? have you been bitten?” he asks in a super quick voice.

y/n shakes her head firmly. “no, no, i’m not hurt,” she tells him surely and rests her hands on eddie’s wrists. he realizes that might be a sign to draw back, to pull his hands away, to get out of that zone, so he begins lowering them, “are youhurt?” she asks in return, her eyes looking over eddie’s form. he shakes his head, too. though he’s sure that out of the shock and fear he’s feeling, he could very well not have felt if a bat has bit him.

“no, no, i’m not hurt... terrified out of my mind, though? traumatized? oh yeah,” eddie says, and y/n weakly smiles at his attempts to address the situation with humor, “you scared me, y/n, you really did. back there...” eddie shakes his head, his hands now on his hips as he looks down, very obviously hiding tears that he’s always trying to hold in, “i thought you... i mean—i—you went so—"

y/n puts her hands on eddie’s chest, one of them sneaking up to his neck, knowing that it’s always the place she needs to touch to get eddie to listen to her. “i’m sorry,” she tells him, “wasn’t thinking it through. acted like a dumb horror movie character there,” she admits, and eddie can manage to make a smile at that half-joke, “couldn’t let them go down here alone, could i? we’ve gotta figure all of this out. can’t leave my friends to certain death.”

eddie’s quiet, but he nods. friends. she definitely looks at steve as more than a friend, he’s sure, but he’ll let her words stay that way. eddie nods again. “i know, i know,” he tells her, and then they both hear more bat screeching from the forest. if you can call that a forest... eddie’s head shoots straight up, fast, rabid-like. he reminds y/n of a bunny—they’re perpetually anxious animals and jump at every and any noise around them. eddie seems to have taken a role of one for now.

y/n moves her hand up to eddie’s cheek, trying to make him look at her. she knows she often has the power to ground him. not often, but always. and slowly, with his head going into this and that direction first, he does turn to her. complete submission, as well as fear and anxiety, in his eyes as they connect with hers. y/n can only imagine what it’s like to be eddie. what he’s seen in the last forty-eight hours alone... and now to be jumping into a completely alien, dangerous world to find the monster that’s responsible for deaths in his hometown... fighting demon bats along the way... it’s no surprise eddie’s eyes are filled with tears now, at the sound of those bats, at the thought of y/n in danger. he’s a step away from sobbing, and y/n can see he’s slowly taking that step. but they don’t have much time for crying or letting it all out right now. eddie’s a straight-forward person with his emotions and has to deal with them right away, you know that. but there’s no time.

“the woods.” nancy huffs as the group of five all see a cloud of bats approaching. “come on,” nancy leads the way into the woods, which is totally not where y/n or eddie would go if they could choose, but they can’t choose at the moment. they both trust the people who have dealt with these monsters, with this whole world under hawkins. from what nancy has said, she’s the one most familiar with this dark, scary world.

and when she tells the group she has guns in her house—yes, plural, as eddie so pointedly emphasized—y/n and eddie can’t help but trust her even more. sure, nancy’s image deceives her true nature, and y/n is even glad to learn that it does, but the girl knows what she’s doing, and she knows what she’s dealing. the earthquake that comes to shake this world while the group are making plans around skull rock surprises even nancy—what could be causing something like this?

y/n immediately clings to eddie, who can’t help but be clung to by two girls—y/n and robin—at once, as she loses her balance. they crash to the ground in a mess of limbs, yelping in surprise and then grunting in pain almost immediately after. eddie’s holding both girls to him, one to each side, one for each arm. a strong arm, y/n must admit, eddie’s always been seemingly harmless from afar, but his arms hold the most strength in his body.

the shaking of the ground beneath her and everything else around her makes her nauseous, so she just closes her eyes and prays that the earthquake ends as quickly as it started. she didn’t know an earthquake could make her nauseous—they happen close to never in the state of indiana—and she hopes she doesn’t throw up now from that nausea feeling. ugh, and her mints are in steve’s car, she forgot to take them with. they might have helped against this nausea, but she could never have predicted she’d need them. this really sucks.

eventually, the terror of this earthquake ends, and y/n can breathe a deep sigh of relief. she still clings to eddie’s forearm, even when it’s past a few seconds since the earthquake ended. “so guns seem like a really good idea right now,” eddie says, fully backing away from his disbelief of nancy having guns in her bedroom, sure that the girl is telling the truth, and it might be the only solution to this situation right now.

y/n snaps her eyes open, though stays where she is for the next couple of seconds. in some way, she waits for another earthquake to start. it can’t be over yet, can it? “yeah, me too,” robin agrees with eddie and is the first to rise from the ground. eddie absentmindedly wraps that free arm of his around y/n’s frame now, too, and bends his head down next to her, their faces side by side. she feels tense against him.

“you alright, sweetheart?” he gently whispers into her ear. she gives him a shaky nod.

“for the most part,” she squeezes out, “i just feel very nauseous.” y/n informs him and takes deep breaths in and out again, hoping it will help that horrible feeling. eddie nods.

“sorry, i think i lost my gum somewhere in this... hellhole.” he tells her, checking all the pockets he can with one of his hands. y/n’s lips curl into a small smile at that response. eddie, ever so kind and considerate.

“it’s fine,” she says in a huffed breath and gets ready to stand up on her two feet, “as long as i don’t throw up, or another earthquake doesn’t happen, i’ll be fine.”

eddie nods again. “you just let me know, okay? i’ll do whatever i can.” he offers and is the first to stand up, pulling his legs away from under y/n. he offers her both of his hands, out-stretched and firm, before he thinks to do anything else, “come on,” eddie quietly urges her on before y/n takes his hands and is being pulled up by eddie. she feels faint, and ends up standing closer to him than she anticipated.

eddie notices right away how her eyes travel to steve—he doesn’t notice that they stick onto robin and nancy, as well, he’s blind as a bat to that—and how before they did that, as well. when nancy was tying that piece of fabric around his stomach. when they were all crouching around skull rock. eddie notices all of that, but he doesn’t see, now that y/n’s turned her back to him, that she’s not looking at steve at all anymore, but instead at this world they’re in behind him, around him, surrounding them all.

eddie shrugs off his denim vest and throws it at steve without a warning or word uttered. everyone looks at him, y/n included, and she sees a weird expression on eddie’s face, a strange look in his eyes she can’t quite recognize. “for your modesty, dude,” eddie explains to steve in a voice of mock-disgust. steve nods thankfully, but is too out of breath to say anything more. firstly, eddie wants steve to cover up a bit so y/n would stop literally gawking at him. secondly, steve’s much more vulnerable in this unpredictable place with a bare torso than with a covered one.

“come on,” nancy urges the group, breaking out to be the leader among them again as she heads deeper into the woods, “no time to waste. let’s go!” she commands her group of friends, and they follow her without another thought or protest.

y/n feels just nauseous enough to not be able to talk without feeling like she’ll barf, so she doesn’t walk side by side with anyone. she’d love to be walking with eddie, but the tension between him and steve, for some reason, could be cut through with a knife, and she doesn’t want to be in the middle of that.

she couldn’t handle it on a regular day, much less on a day she feels like vomiting any next second. she doesn’t wanna give the boys the delight of having vomit on their shoes, so she simply walks after nancy and robin, and in front of steve and eddie. she tries not to think of what the vines could be, tries not to think of where or what they could lead to, she simply keeps her head up and hopes this nausea will fade away soon. preferably, sooner than she has calculated.

eddie doesn’t protest, doesn’t request her beside him. nausea can be a tough time, and he understands if she doesn’t wanna talk to him at the moment. he walks solemnly with steve, some good few feet behind y/n. he tries not to look at her as much as he usually does, since he’s in front of steve now, but his eyes do wander to her, he can’t help it.

“eddie,” steve addresses his walking partner. he’s glad for it to be someone closer to his own age, a change of pace from his usual buddy, dustin. he does miss the kid, though, even if he’s been away from him only some fifteen to twenty minutes now. the long-haired brunette turns his head to steve with curious, oblivious eyes, “hey, uh... i just wanted to say thanks for, uh, saving my ass back there.” steve tells eddie, and gives him a respectful nod, lips pursed and eyes looking into eddie’s. much similar to his own—big, doe and brown.

eddie nearly snorts. “shit, you saved your own ass, man,” he tells steve, shaking his head slightly. steve’s lips make into a subtle grin, “i mean... that was a real ozzy move you pulled back there.” it’s everything i’ve wanted to be. especially for her. steve quirks an eyebrow.

“ozzy?” he echoes. like the wizard of oz?

“when you took a bite out of that bat,” eddie elaborates, but steve still gives him a clueless look, “ozzy osbourne? black sabbath?” he offers to steve, but he’s already shaking his head and turning away. awh, y/n would have gotten the reference. “he bit a bat’s head off, on stage, once.”

steve shakes his head again. “i don’t... i don’t know,” he tells eddie.

he shrugs. “doesn’t matter,” he dismisses, and guesses that the right person gets this reference, “it’s very metal, what you did. that’s all i’m saying.”

steve chuckles dryly. eddie doesn’t blame him. here he is, steve harrington, nearly bitten to death by bats he took apart with his bare hands mere moments later, and the weirdo of the school is trying to feed him a metaphor for it. plus, he’s bleeding while walking around some big monster’s lair. “thanks.” steve tells him.

eddie nods along. the man seems pretty unsure of himself as of now. “henderson told me you were a badass.” he continues. “insisted on the matter, in fact. y/l/n over there told me that, too.”

“they said that?” steve asks in disbelief, and eddie gives another nod in response. both guys now look after y/n, climbing over suspicious vines ahead of them, clearly oblivious to their conversation.

“oh, yeah, shit, henderson... worships you, dude,” eddie elaborates. he knows someone else who worships steve besides dustin, “like, you have no idea.” steve chuckles, a bit more lively this time. “it’s kinda annoying, to be honest. i.... don’t even know why i care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh... i guess...” it gets difficult for eddie to say what he wants to say next, “i guess i got a little jealous, steve.” he doesn’t guess that, actually, he knows it. eddie just doesn’t want to fully admit it, but he is jealous of steve. for many reasons. y/n. dustin. “guess i couldn’t accept the fact that... steve harrington,” he makes a little dramatic pause, “was actually... a good dude.”

eddie sees steve’s head hanging lower. out of embarrassment? out of the good words? but there’s a smile on steve’s lips, as well. eddie can’t help his jealousy, his envy. of steve’s looks, of his character, his personality, his reputation, his brotherhood with dustin, with lucas and max, his close relationships with three (and maybe even more) smoking hot ladies. steve’s hero character and mind-set, on which he acts. he protects the kids and his friends any way he can, always being the first to test out dangerous waters—quite literally in the most recent situation. he’s not turning his back to a dangerous situation, he’s standing up and doing something about it.

“rich parents, popular, chicks love him,” eddie lists off, a certain chick he knows well popping up in his mind as he says the quality, “not a douche? no way, man, nooo way.” steve’s smile grows wider. “that, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe, and... my own personal munson doctrine.” steve chuckles now. eddie leans closer to him. “still super jealous as hell, by the way.” of everything you are, everything and everyone you attract, everything that you can so easily have. unlike me.

steve pulls back a little, laughing now, “okay.” he tells eddie, and the boy grins.

“it’s actually why i, uh... would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass,” eddie admits, “sorry to say. no offense, of course, dude, but uh... not under any normal circumstances.”

steve shakes his head. “i get it, man, i get it,” he tells eddie, “nothing about this is normal in any way. it's insane how we can even think what to do next, after everything...”

eddie feels that shame he’s bound to talk about creep up his spine like a spider with sharp claws, “yeah, well... outside of d&d, i am nooo... hero.” his eyes fall onto y/n again. “well, okay, there is one exception.” eddie says, and a short sigh full of longing escapes his lips as he looks on the girl. steve follows his eyes, and makes a smile at the connection. something that is so clear to see. “one person i’d follow anywhere. other than that,” eddie shrugs, “i see danger and i just turn heel and run.”

steve pats him on the back, still that knowing smile playing on his lips as he does so, “give yourself a break, man,” he tells eddie, “witnessing and being a part of anything like this is very, uh... it’s not anything normal. and you’ve seen enough. cut yourself some slack.”

eddie shakes his head as a nervous chuckle passes through his lips, “yeah, well, see,” he starts to say, slowing him and steve both down in their path, “the only reason i came in here was ‘cause that little strong lady jumped in straight after you.” eddie gestures in y/n’s direction with his hand. “well, okay, not after you, but after nancy—they practically jumped in at the same time.” eddie explains. “now, i would have been too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. but as soon as she disappeared underwear, that all changed. i couldn’t stay behind.” he starts his and steve’s walk forwards up again. “surprised myself, even, doing that, but...” eddie shakes his head and inwardly punches himself at what he’s about to say, “i would literally pass through the gates of hell for her.” steve smiles again. “not sure she’d do the same for me, cause... she literally just proved that she’d do that for someone else. but i don’t know... maybe if i wasn’t such a chicken, things would have been different.”

“why do you think she wouldn’t do the same for you?” steve asks. clearly, he doesn’t know eddie as well as he knows y/n, and not nearly as long, either. but he knows they’ve been best friends forever, probably since they wore diapers, and he knows y/n’s dedication to her friends. to eddie.

eddie glances at steve momentarily, slight fear in his eyes. “well, ‘cause it’s clear there’s someone else she would dive after—literally,” eddie says, “this popular dude who babysits random kids when he’s not working shifts at family video.” eddie finally says—it took a lot in him to say that out loud, much less without getting all emotional about it—and huffs quietly, turning his gaze away from steve. he doesn’t wanna see his boasty, self-centered reaction to the clear fact eddie’s just stated.

but steve shakes his head with a scoff that he only wants to sound like complete disagreement to what eddie’s just said. “you think she’s after me?” steve asks eddie in a quieter voice, since there’s a possibility y/n could hear them both. as steve looks at eddie, the metalhead nods.

“it’s clear as day!” eddie argues. “you’re all she talks about, who her eyes are glued on all the time, and no doubt who she thinks about all the time, too.” he crosses his arms over his chest like a little kid. steve chuckles again.

“your radar is way off, dude,” steve says, but receives no reply from eddie, meaning he’s not convinced, but he’s on the way there, “it’s not me she thinks and talks about all the time, i guarantee you that. a hundred percent,” he assures.

“who is it, then?” eddie inquires, clueless as any next person. steve shakes his head.

“it’s you, dumbass,” steve breaks him the news and looks at eddie while he does so to make his point more sure, more firm. at first eddie just stares off in the distance, his arms still crossed over his chest as he ponders on this, “trust me, i know when a girl is, as they say, smitten. and she’s not smitten with me.” steve gulps. “you are all she talks about, she gushes about you, dude. rambles, if i may say that. you are her every waking thought, no doubt, everything that we do, everything we see reminds her in the weirdest of ways of you.”

now eddie just thinks steve’s playing a prank. making all that he said up, pulling it out of thin air. “how can you be so sure? how can you know that?” eddie inquires further. now steve laughs and shakes his head at how clueless eddie really is with girls. sure, he can treat a girl right, and he can love her to the ends of this earth, but he can’t catch her drift for the life of him. he can’t read women at all.

steve gives eddie one last shake of his head and leans in closer to the boy. “just... tell her how you feel, prove your feelings to her in some way, any way, or at least try to,” he advises eddie, “and you’ll see. i guarantee you, there will be promising results.” steve says, and his last words make both boys giggle.

“thanks, harrington, really,” eddie tells him genuinely, and steve nods. eddie thinks on this advice steve has given him. if what he’s said is true about y/n, and if his advice will prove that, why should eddie waste any time? no time like the present, right? who the fuck knows what’s next in this dark dimension. vecna might come after any one of them any second. so why not tell y/n how he feels right now, while he’s still here, alive and breathing, while they both are? “i’ll see about those promising results and get back to ya.” eddie says to steve as he begins to skip ahead, so he’d be in one step with y/n. steve gives eddie an encouraging nod, and even a true smile. he hopes it works out for those two. and he hopes eddie won’t chicken out.

y/n notices him next to her with the corner of her eye as she still tries to stifle her nausea, her nose as high in the air as it can be. “hi, eddie,” she says quietly in an exhale. eddie gives her a kind smile, his hands fidgeting with his jacket in his crossed-arms position.

“hi, sweetheart,” he tells her, “how you feeling?” he genuinely inquires. y/n sighs.

“still nauseous,” she responds, “though it’s going away slowly. the stink of this place doesn’t help at all.”

eddie chuckles at that revelation. “i bet it doesn’t, yeah,” he agrees, “listen, uh... wanted to, uh, tell you something. just hear me out, nothing else, no obligation to answer or... anything.”

y/n furrows her eyebrows, but then realizes what this could be about. eddie’s great at argumentative monologues, you know that. he always has backing reasons for whatever he wants or needs. “you can use my garage for band practice, eddie, i don’t mind,” she tells him in a slightly annoyed voice, “dad’s at work on saturdays, anyway.” she makes a hard sniff with her nose. though it’s probably not the best idea right now, since there’s... particles flying around in the air. who knows what they contain?

“it’s... not about that, actually, but... i’ll definitely keep it in mind,” eddie says and makes a nervous chuckle. y/n furrows her eyebrows even more. what else could this be about? “listen, uh... i’ll try my best to say this straight-forward. god! i’m so nervous,” eddie shakes his head. y/n finally drops her head to a normal level and turns it to look at eddie properly. what on earth could he be nervous about? he keeps his eyes ahead of him, “i’m gonna sound like a pussy saying this, but there was really no other reason that made me jump in that damn lover’s lake, except you.” eddie finally begins, and y/n is in a slight state of shock, so much so that she listens without any interjection. if it had been any other setting, any other situation, she would be arguing already, or asking a million questions. “you, who i’ve known since we were building sand castles in the playing ground’s sandbox. you’ve, uh, been my best friend ever since you threw that box of acorns down on my head.” they both chuckle at that memory. y/n can tell this is something serious, something really important to eddie that he’s talking about. “you’re the most amazing, badass girl i know. my mother would have loved to see you grow up.” eddie shakes his head softly. “and, fuck, i feel so... not me with this, but i also feel like the best version of myself ever since i...” y/n furrows her eyebrows again. “i’m not makin’ any sense... it’s just, you know i hate clichés, right?” eddie leans closer to y/n, looking into her eyes. she, as clueless as a by-passer about everything that he’s saying and the point he’s trying to make, nods at eddie. “yeah.” he nods. “i never expected my cliché of choice to be falling for my best friend, so... that’s two surprises in one. well, it’s not like i chose to—which i would have done, anyway, but...”

y/n is in utter shock. she just looks at eddie with wide eyes, watching his lips twist and turn as he tries to say something. something more, something different—whatever. it’s all out of stress, he can’t stand her not answering or responding in any way, so he immediately feels like he has to make up the silence with something, anything. but what can y/n say? she has been bamboozled totally and utterly.

neither of them can get a word in to save their lives, because the ground starts shaking again, starting up another earthquake. y/n falls to the ground helplessly, and eddie falls right after her, reaching for her hand. he might have dropped a complete bombshell on her just, and is still waiting for a response, and she might not want him near her now or later or ever, but he has to make sure she’s at least on a support system throughout this earthquake. “here we go again!” eddie whines as he pulls y/n into his arms, her back against his chest. she holds onto his hands, but faintly. then she nearly pulls away completely.

“i’m gonna be sick,” she exclaims awkwardly, holding her stomach, as she gets up on her shaking legs, on the shaky ground, and makes away from eddie, heading towards a near-by tree. eddie worries, shoots an anxious look towards steve, who’s a few feet behind them, also on the vine-covered ground, holding onto his flashlight for dear life, clear signs of struggle on his face. he nods at eddie, as he knows what he’s thinking. eddie just shakes his head, closing his eyes.

he tries his best to get up while he still wobbles and everything around him is rattling and shaking, and he follows y/n. after he takes a few steps, the earth settles and the earthquake slowly ends, and he makes an exhale of relief. his ears aren’t filled with the horridly loud noise of the earthquake anymore, but he does hear the sound of retching. that must be poor y/n, puking out her insides and whatever it was she ate last. eddie frowns, waits for it to end, and approaches her around the vine-wrapped tree.

he hears her spitting, and then she’s steadying herself against the tree, her back somewhat straight. she notices eddie two feet away from her, and he sees her face is exhausted, pale, nearly green. poor thing. “well,” she starts to say in a breathy voice, “i guess my nausea got worse.” y/n admits, and tries to make a smile. it barely works, and it makes eddie laugh. full-on laugh, with his hand on his stomach. y/n wipes the corner of her mouth and her chin with the sleeve of her jacket, wrapped and tied around her waist. ugh, the thought of there being sick on her skin, on her clothes—which there definitely is—nearly makes her sick to her stomach again.

“you alright to walk?” he asks and glances around at their team-mates. they’re just getting ready to get up themselves now. eddie looks back at y/n.

“i’m good,” she answers with a nod of her head, “looks like i really needed to empty my stomach to function normally, but uh... can we stay here? for just a moment longer?” y/n requests. eddie raises his eyebrows and gives her a nod.

“sure,” he says, and now that the conversation of her nausea and the earthquake has dissipated, he feels the awkward silence of their conversation before enter the atmosphere again. he awkwardly looks around as y/n still heaves with heavy breaths.

“that’s quite a bombshell to drop in another dimension, in the midst of the world ending,” y/n tells him, referencing his previous confession, “i, uh, actually thought you liked someone else all this time. didn’t know who, but... i had a feeling.” she breathes out deeply. “how long have you known?” y/n asks him, their eyes finally connecting again.

eddie purses his lips and then huffs. “well, since, uh... sophomore year, i guess?”

“so since we both hit puberty,” y/n clarifies, and eddie nods, though he is slightly ashamed to, “me first, though.”

he scoffs. “obviously,” he says, “i was seventeen, and you were, well... you were just a dream. i told you that every chance i got, thinking it’s gonna go somewhere, but clearly, it never did.” eddie admits.

now y/n makes an amused scoff. “i wanted it to go somewhere, too, but,” she shrugs, “i always thought it was just you, you know, complimenting me because you’d done that countless times before. you did all the time, actually,” she tells him, “never thought there was something more behind it. i never would have thought you, eddie munson, my drop-dead-gorgeous metal-head, nerd best friend would have the same feelings i had—have for you.” she admits and shakes her head subtly. that catches eddie off-guard completely. scratch the fact that he just admitted him being in love with her, this... this is something else.

promising results.

“didn’t wanna appear as delusional or, uh—or greedy for something i clearly couldn’t get,” y/n continues, “i mean, you’re just way out of my league. always have been.”

eddie steps closer to her, his breath stuck in his throat—he’s not sure he’s breathing right now, but it’s not exactly what he’s focusing on right now, either—and he looks dead into her eyes. “no, you’re out of my league.” he argues to her, and now y/n straightens her back and stretches her muscles with an easy laugh.

“no, you are,” she argues back, “two can play at this game, munson, and we both know i’ll—”

“can i kiss you right now?” eddie interrupts her characteristic snap-back at him, catching her off-guard now. he’s sure she’s never been more beautiful, more herself to him than she is now. she’s the hottest girl in school, has the best personality—also deemed one of a pirate—, is eddie’s best friend in the entire world, challenges him on the daily and has the same feelings for him as he does for her? out of this world (that’s where they are right now, though). unbelievable. unreal.

he’s been waiting for the chance to ask her that, he’s been waiting to kiss her since forever, and there isn’t a more perfect moment than now. y/n has wanted the same thing for years, as well—they’re both in quite the same boat—she’s wanted eddie to just take her face in his hands and kiss her until they both suffocate since she can remember. but she’ll disagree with him about that best moment aspect of this whole thing. “eddie, i literally just threw up,” she says in a coarse voice, “my breath stinks and i’m covered in sick.” y/n tells him, looking him back dead in the eyes. “i don’t think you’re gonna want to kiss me right now.” she says with a shake of her head, and a gentle smirk playing at her lips. eddie narrows his eyes at her.

“you don’t know what i think,” he says with a slight shake of his head, keeping his eyes narrowed at her, “can i level with you?” he asks her, and y/n gives him a nod. their faces are close as ever, sure, they’ve been that close before, but never in this context, “we’re in an alternate dimension, where monsters powerful enough to break into people’s psyche rule with their miles-long vines crawling all around. we’re about to go to nancy wheeler’s house to get guns she’s hiding in her bedroom,” eddie says, getting ever so closer to y/n with nearly each word he speaks, “to kill that very monster. there’s earthquakes left and right, and probably monsters, too—who knows? we might get attacked any next second,” eddie’s voice gets lower and huskier as he talks, and y/n can’t help but admit that it’s making her lower belly tickle. not with nausea this time, though, thankfully. with something much more pleasant, “now i’ve just told you i’ve been in love with you since i was seventeen, and you’ve told me you have those exact same feelings. but now you’re telling me i won’t want to kiss you? just because you’ve thrown up?” y/n has to admit he’s made a point. “come on, sweetheart. not the worst thing i’ve seen you do in all our years of friendship.”

y/n can name a few memories he’s referencing with that already, and she blushes while a giggle escapes her lips. “stop,” she simply says, looking away from his strong, captivating eyes.

“point is, don’t tell me what i want or don’t want to do,” eddie continues and moves even closer to her, “another point is, this might be our last conversation ever,” he says and looks down at her as he stretches his back again, y/n looking up at him with a grin slowly stretching her lips, “so just stand on those tippy-toes of yours and let me kiss you, ‘kay?” eddie’s already moving a hand into her hair, about to cradle the back of her head as he requests this one sacred thing from her. he might die, she might die—they both might die any next moment. and he doesn’t want to go without having kissed her, ever. his whole life would be wasted then. “please,” eddie breathes a whisper. his big, doe eyes hold that plea in them, as well. she’s never been able to resist them. well, with great discipline, but only sometimes.

and to his much pleasant surprise, y/n nods without a word uttered, and does as he’s so sweetly requested of her. she stands on her tippy-toes, grips eddie’s shoulder for support and stability—both of them uttering breathy giggles at that little intermission—and leans her face even higher up, closer to his, their lips now just an inch apart—

“hey, lovebirds! we got a monster to kill, wrap it up!” a very annoying call from the hair king himself disrupts y/n and eddie’s enviable moment of intimacy. they both shut their eyes and huff out deeply. then they laugh, because they did both of those things in complete unison, and it just shows how close they are. y/n’s head rests momentarily on eddie’s chest, and she still holds onto his shoulders as the both of them look at steve past their closest tree. he’s gesturing for them to come quick, and the pair shake their heads.

“always with the great fucking timing,” eddie mumbles under his breath, and rolls his eyes at steve. and though they might not have yet had their first kiss, eddie makes sure to hold y/n’s hand in his, or to have an arm around her shoulders as some level of visual affection between them. if there’s really no time, then there really is no time. nevertheless, even if the both of them are in hell, eddie will fight every monster it takes to hold y/n to him again and forever. he’ll always fight hell to get to kiss her. he’ll fight hell to hold her.

permanent tag-list: @gabiatthedisco @v0idbella @works-of-fanfiction @ur-gunna-h8-ths @betweenloveandfire @but-legendsneverdie @deardeacy @thewinchesterchronicles @mavieesttriste16 @intrrverted @the-freak-cassie-131 @gasbomb69 @xoxobabydolls @corallyink @rottenstyx @d4td7ewmachine (if anyone wants to be added, let me know! i'm also thinking of making an eddie taglist, so :) hmu)

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fic #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things 4 #stranger things one-shot #har-rison-s writes

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