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physalian · 4 months

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Pacing your Story (Or, How to Avoid the "Suddenly...!")

Arguably *the* most important lesson all writers need to learn, even for those who don’t give a damn about themes and motifs and a moral soap box: How your story is paced, whether it’s a comic book, a children’s chapter book, a doorstopper, a mini series, a movie, or a full-length season of TV (old school style), pacing is everything.

Pacing determines how long the story *feels* regardless of how long it actually is. It can make a 2 hour movie feel like 90 mins or double the time you’re trapped in your seat.

There’s very little I can say about pacing that hasn’t been said before, but I’m here to condense all that’s out there into a less intimidating mouthful to chew.

So: What is pacing?

Pacing is how a story flows, how quickly or slowly the creator moves through and between scenes, how long they spend on setting, narration, conversation, arguments, internal monologues, fight scenes, journey scenes. It’s also how smoothly tone transitions throughout the story. A fantasy adventure jumping around sporadically between meandering boredom, high-octane combat, humor, grief, and romance is exhausting to read, no matter how much effort you put into your characters.

Anyone who says the following is wrong:

Good pacing is always fast/bad pacing is always slow

Pacing means you are 100% consistent throughout the entire story

It doesn’t matter as much so long as you have a compelling story/characters/lore/etc

Now let me explain why in conveniently numbered points:

1. Pacing is not about consistency, it’s about giving the right amount of time to the right pieces of your story

This is not intuitive and it takes a long time to learn. So let’s look at some examples:

Lord of the Rings: The movies trimmed a *lot* from the books that just weren’t adaptable to screen, namely all the tedious details and quite a bit of the worldbuilding that wasn’t critical to the journey of the Fellowship. That said, with some exceptions, the battles are as long as they need to be, along with every monologue, every battle speech. When Helm’s Deep is raging on, we cut away to Merry and Pippin with the Ents to let ourselves breathe, then dive right back in just before it gets boring.

The Hobbit Trilogy: The exact opposite from LotR, stretching one kids book into 3 massive films, stuffing it full of filler, meandering side quests, pointless exposition, drawing out battles and conflicts to silly extremes, then rushing through the actual desolation of Smaug for… some reason.

Die Hard (cause it’s the Holidays y’all!): The actiony-est of action movies with lots of fisticuffs and guns and explosions still leaves time for our hero to breathe, lick his wounds, and build a relationship with the cop on the ground. We constantly cut between the hero and the villains, all sharing the same radio frequency, constantly antsy about what they know and when they’ll find out the rest, and when they’ll discover the hero’s kryptonite.

2. Make every scene you write do at least two things at once

This is also tricky. Making every scene pull double duty should be left to after you’ve written the first draft, otherwise you’ll never write that first draft. Pulling double duty means that if you’re giving exposition, the scene should also reveal something about the character saying it. If you absolutely must write the boring trip from A to B, give some foreshadowing, some thoughtful insight from one of your characters, a little anecdote along the way.

Develop at least two of the following:

The plot

The backstory

The romance/friendships

The lore

The exposition

The setting

The goals of the cast

Doing this extremely well means your readers won’t have any idea you’re doing it until they go back and read it again. If you have two characters sitting and talking exposition at a table, and then those same two characters doing some important task with filler dialogue to break up the narrative… try combining those two scenes and see what happens.

**This is going to be incredibly difficult if you struggle with making your stories longer. I do not. I constantly need to compress my stories. **

3. Not every scene needs to be crucial to the plot, but every scene must say something

I distinguish plot from story like a square vs a rectangle. Plot is just a piece of the tale you want to tell, and some scenes exist just to be funny, or romantic, or mysterious, plot be damned.

What if you’re writing a character study with very little plot? How do you make sure your story isn’t too slow if 60% of the narrative is introspection?

Avoid repeating information the audience already has, unless a reminder is crucial to understanding the scene

This isn’t 1860 anymore. Every detail must serve a purpose. Keep character and setting descriptions down to absolute need-to-know and spread it out like icing on a cake – enough to coat, but not give you a mouthful of whipped sugar and zero cake.

Avoid describing generic daily routines, unless the existence of said routine is out of ordinary for the character, or will be rudely interrupted by chaos. No one cares about them brushing their teeth and doing their hair.

Make sure your characters move, but not too much. E.g. two characters sitting and talking – do humans just stare at each other with their arms lifeless and bodies utterly motionless during conversation? No? Then neither should your characters. Make them gesture, wave, frown, laugh, cross their legs, their arms, shift around to get comfortable, pound the table, roll their eyes, point, shrug, touch their face, their hair, wring their hands, pick at their nails, yawn, stretch, pout, sneer, smirk, click their tongue, clear their throat, sniff/sniffle, tap their fingers/drum, bounce their feet, doodle, fiddle with buttons or jewelry, scratch an itch, touch their weapons/gadgets/phones, check the time, get up and sit back down, move from chair to table top – the list goes on. Bonus points if these are tics that serve to develop your character, like a nervous fiddler, or if one moves a lot and the other doesn’t – what does that say about the both of them? This is where “show don’t tell” really comes into play.

4. Your entire work should not be paced exactly the same

Just like a paragraph should not be filled with sentences of all the same length and syntax. Some beats deserve more or less time than others. Unfortunately, this is unique to every single story and there is no one size fits all.

General guidelines are as follows:

Action scenes should have short paragraphs and lots of movement. Cut all setting details and descriptors, internal monologues, and the like, unless they service the scene.

Journey/travel scenes must pull double or even triple duty. There’s a reason very few movies are marketed as “single take” and those that are don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter. See 1917.

Romantic scenes are entirely up to you. Make it a thousand words, make it ten thousand, but you must advance either the romantic tension, actual movement of the characters, conversation, or intimacy of the relationship.

Don’t let your conversations run wild. If they start to veer off course, stop, boil it down to its essentials, and cut the rest.

When transitioning between slow to faster pacing and back again, it’s also not one size fits all. Maybe it being jarring is the point – it’s as sudden for the characters as it is for the reader. With that said, try to keep the “suddenly”s to a minimum.

5. Pacing and tone go hand in hand

This means that, generally speaking, the tone of your scene changes with the speed of the narrative. As stated above, a jarring tonal shift usually brings with it a jarring pacing shift.

A character might get in a car crash while speeding away from an abusive relationship. A character who thinks they’re safe from a pursuer might be rudely and terrifyingly proven wrong. An exhausting chase might finally relent when sanctuary is found. A quiet dinner might quickly turn romantic with a look, or confession. Someone casually cleaning up might discover evidence of a lie, a theft, an intruder and begin to panic.

Whatever the case may be, a narrative that is all action all the time suffers from lack of meaningful character moments. A narrative that meanders through the character drama often forgets there is a plot they’re supposed to be following.

#writing advice #writing tips #pacing #writing tools

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1anxiousbeancrying · 7 months

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I honestly think Gwen Stacy has one of the coolest spider names, being ghost spider because it has so much meaning behind it in both the comics and the movie. Even though she hasn't been called ghost spider yet in the movies.

Something that is said a lot in the comics is that "death loves Gwen Stacy" because in most universes she is dead or loses everything. This also appears to be true in spider verse. The reason I love the name ghost spider is because it was her embracing that, a way of honoring the other gwens who's graves she visits, because to most other peters she is a ghost to them. Imagine her showing up to the spider society and seeing hundreds of people with your dead best friends face, only to realize that dispite him being the ghost back home it is really you who's the ghost it's you who was dead in most other universes.

Another really cool thing that also adds to the ghost spider names actually was shown in spider verse, when looking at the Canon events every one is looking at something different, Peter B looking at his wedding, Hobie looking at himself giving up on being spiderman, Jess looking at her freeing herself from the ruble, but gwens was different, the Canon event shown for Gwen was kravens last hunt.

The image shown is a picture from the kravens last hunt redrawn from the comics from Gwen instead of Peter because this hasn't happened in gwens comics. In kravens last hunt kraven shoots and burys spiderman, they were buried for 2 weeks before digging themselves out of their grave. The image is of Gwen digging herself out of her grave and since it's the same suit from the first movie it means it's already happened. I think it's kinda symbolic that she digs herself from her grave, given the theme of the spider verse movies is changing your fate. Gwen being afraid to fall in love because she knows she will die if she does, they could change it together proving Canon events wrong.

#across the spiderverse #gwen stacy #hobie brown #miles molares #jessica drew #miguel o'hara #atsv #peter b parker

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minhosimthings · 4 months

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Girl Dad!Skz headcannons

Pairings: husband!Skz × wife!fem!reader

Warnings: fluff fluff fluff, mentions of pregnancy, reader wears a dress, mentions of food, teensy swearing

A/N: GUESS WHO HAS BABY FEVER AYY ITS THIS BITCH RIGHT HERE. I am so DONE with watching my fav idols play with babies and not expect me to die. WHERE IS MY CHAN WHO'LL GIVE MR A BABY HUH? anyways enjoy my very drunken headcannons

Bang Christopher Chan

DID I JUST HEAR BEST DAD IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD

This man was born to be a dad istg

He'd be so amazing when you're pregnant, like he'd ask his mom for advice, give you belly rubs if your ask and will willingly lend his entire closet to you.

Would be so supportive through the birth process, is not disgusted or anything because he is him.

"She looks just like you."

Would be just a teensy bit overprotective, just a teensy bit.

"And you will bring her back by 7 yes? Oh and what's your address for unrelated purposes?"

*sends the address to Minho incase he needs to murder anyone*

Would be so comforting when she gets her period

"you know I used to do this to your mother.", While massaging her back.

The baby would grow up multilingual and Chan would be so smug about it

"my daughter is my second producer

Lee Minho/Lee Know

Would have such mixed emotions when you tell him you're pregnant

On the one hand A PERSON MADE UP OF BOTH OF YOU? WOAH

On the other hand OH SHIT A PERSON WHO HAS BOTH OUR GENES

Cooks all your weird ass cravings for you but not before giving you a side eye

"Alright y'all are gonna get a sibling." *Is talking to the cats*

Buys everything cat themed

"baby what if the baby is a dog person?"

Y'all have twins, a boy and a girl (manifesting my twin dad Minho fantasies)

Would dance for them when they're babies and would get elated when they try to copy him

Pouts when their first word is mama

Brags so much about them

"I mean they are MY spawn, obviously they're better at dance than your kid, Susan"

Seo Changbin

GIRL DAD GIRL DAD GIRL DAD

So elated when you tell him you're pregnant

PREGNANT CUDDLES KZKSNSNJ

Would be a 100% on board with lifting your belly to save your back

When you find out it's a girl, he straight on sobs.

"I CAN'T HANDLE ANOTHER PAIR OF ADORABLE YN EYES LOOKING AT ME"

Holds the baby extra carefully in his buff ass arms

She looks like you part 2

Tea parties with her are serious buisness for him

"jagi can't you see im currently discussing with the princess about her magical dragon I'll do the dishes later."

Would probably ask her if she wants to go to the gym with her dad and when she says yes he'd be so happy

"you're better than your mother she can't even lift her ass up and go to the gym"

Hwang Hyunjin

When I say this man would paint you a portrait when you tell him you're pregnant-

HE'LL PAINT YOU A FUCKING PORTRAIT

So sweet with you all throughout but also a nervous wreck

Much like me

Would love to paint your belly if you allow him to

Would try your weird cravings with you

And actually like them

Let's not pretend like Hyun doesn't do the pregnant woman pose everyday

Cries so hard when your baby is born

He doesn't mind the gender or anything, but when he found out it's a girl-

"GUYS ITS A MINI Y/N"

She looks like you part 3

Such a clumsy mess when it comes to taking care of her

ART CLASSES ART CLASSES ART CLASSES

"Darling, we painted this for you."

Han Jisung

Immediately freezes when you tell him

Jisung.exe has stopped working

"wait so the protection didn't.... Protect?"

Now Y/N.exe has stopped working trying to figure out whether you actually used protection or not

Talks to your belly all day

Treats the baby like a gossip partner

"girl you won't believe what Hyunjin did today."

"what did he do?"

"yn shush I'm talking to our baby girl."

Is your personal high school cheerleader during the birth

"jagi you are slaying right now you can do this."

Cries when baby is born part 3

Calls her a co-producer part 2

Spoils her shitless

She has him wrapped around her finger, much like her mother :)

Making playlists with her is his love language

Lee Felix Yongbok

Did I just hear breeding kink

Cries when you tell him

Bakes so many brownies when you tell him like one time that you're craving his brownies

Makes your weird cravings part 3

Idk what it is with me and DanceRacha making all your weird cravings

Runs you baths, with bath salts, bath bombs, scented candles and massages your aching muscles I WILL DIE RIGHT NOW

Is the best during the birth, holds your hand allowing you to squeeze it as hard as you want

Dresses baby up like the fashionista she is

Is so amazed and ecstatic when the baby gets an Aussie accent

"JAGI SHE JUST SAID BREKKIE"

Kim Seungmin

Tsundere daddy meow

Will literally melt like his face will be like 🥺

Buys all the cute stuff on day one

I'm talking cradles, blinkies, toys, bonnets for some reason

"of course she needs a ponyo outfit darling come on"

Tones down his teasing a bit

Still makes fun of your penguin walk tho

And if you cry, he will comfort you and never forgive himself for it

Is kinda disgusted by the birth process but he's a strong soldier

Cries when baby is born part 4

Like Kim Seungmin crying is a real thing chat

Singing lessons are free for her, and she has her dad's angel voice!!

Also inherits her dad's roasting style, and she's the only one who can roast him back hehe

He kinda died inside when she told him he was old (he's never been prouder)

Yang Jeongin/ I.N

Bruh this guy istg

Mixed emotions part 2

"IM TOO YOUNG TO HAVE A CHILD"

Calms down eventually (after a slap on the head)

BELLY RUBS

Spoils the shit out of you because obviously

Asks his mum for advice part 2

Sings to your belly at night when he thinks you're asleep

Secretly hopes baby will have his dimple

He loves kids, so parenting is a natural thing that comes to him

Probably more experienced at holding a baby than you are

Feeds her for the first few days when you're tired

Perfect husband honestly he should marry me

Loves braiding her hair and giving her fashion advice

Mini fashion shows!!!

Dances with her a lot

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convolutedblasphemy · 2 months

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I wasn't shitting you guys btw I actually made the one-sided radiostatic playlists

here is my lyrical masterpiece. both the vox version and the alastor one. done my best to make it as lyrically accurate as possible. @styrofauxm @onesidedradiostatic i hope you enjoy this (go check out the full lyrics for the songs on google if you can't listen to it but i recommend it because all of these are bangers) feat. my stupid commentary and vox's pathetic wet cat energy

Click to listen to the Vox one on YouTube

1. the hearse — matt maeson

thought this one fit so well lyrically. the "what was it like to feel in love" part i interpreted as vox asking himself that rather than alastor

❞ i am the man we both couldn't stand, i can't wash off the dirt from my hands, what was it like to feel in love? [...] i will never go backwards, i will never be free, i will never run faster; will you sink down to me? ❝

2. i'm just ken — ryan gosling

i'm not even adding lyrics to this one, everyone should have seen the barbie movie and this song at this point. this just HAD to be in there. can you feel the kenergy?

3. too many friends — placebo

less about alastor, more about vox's existential crisis

❞ my computer thinks I'm gay, i threw that piece of junk away on the champs-elysées as I was walking home. this is my last communique, down the superhighway. all that I have left to say in a single tome... ❝

4. creep — radiohead

i mean isn't this literally his theme song?

❞ when you were here before... couldn't look you in the eye. you're just like an angel. your skin makes me cry. you float like a feather in a beautiful world. i wish I was special. you're so fuckin' special. but I'm a creep, i'm a weirdo, what the hell am I doin' here? ❝

5. where evil grows — the poppy family

y'all seen the sonic movie? we need to see vox do that dance.

❞ i like the way you smile at me, i felt the heat that enveloped me and what i saw i liked to see. i never knew where evil grew. i should have steered away from you, my friend told me to keep clear of you but something drew me near to you ❝

6. one of us — ava max

i had to edit this one a bit in the video and cut out the part about the kissing because that for sure didn't happen

❞ one of us would die for love; one of us would give it up. one of us would risk it all; one of us won't even call. one of us could say goodbye, never even bat an eye... ❝

7. colorblind — amber riley

more pathetic wet cat energy brought to you by yours truly

❞ i don't think that i'll ever find that silver lining or reason to smile. you know i used to paint such vibrant dreams, now I'm colorblind, colorblind. when did my heart get so full of never mind, never mind? did you know that you stole the only thing I needed? ❝

8. arcade — duncan lawrence

more pathetic wet cat energy brought to you by yours truly

❞ a broken heart is all that's left. i'm still fixing all the cracks. lost a couple of pieces when i carried it, carried it, carried it home. i've spent all of the love I saved. we were always a losing game; small town boy in a big arcade, i got addicted to a losing game... all i know, all i know: loving you is a losing game. ❝

9. if i can't have you — skylar astin

i picked the version from zoey's extraordinary playlist on purpose because the context of this scene is that the dude who sings it hires a bunch of singers and dancers to confess in a public space as you, the viewer, sit there and cringe at him as he gets rejected. if that doesn't have vox energy, i don't know what does.

❞ i'm good at keepin' my distance (lie), i know that you're the feelin' I'm missing. you know that I hate to admit it but everything means nothin' if I can't have you. i can't write one song that's not about you, can't drink without thinkin' about you. is it too late to tell you that everything means nothing if I can't have you? ❝

10. do you want me (dead)? — all time low

when vox asks himself whether alastor wants him or wants him dead it's definitely the second option.

❞ i let it ride on a bet, i doubled down on a sinking ship; need a second to catch my breath: do you want me? or do you want me dead? oh, give it up for at least a second; i'm getting sick of your bullshit attitude and how you walk around like you shine brighter, it's killing me, so what do you say? do you want me? or do you want me dead? ❝

11. push — ryan gosling

i can't just put one musical number from the barbie movie in and not include the other one that fits equally as well.

❞ said, i don't know if I've ever been good enough. i'm a little bit rusty and I think my head is cavin' in. and I don't know if I've ever been really loved by a hand that's touched me, and I feel like something's got to give and I'm a little bit angry, well, this ain't over, no, not here, no; not while I still need you around. ❝

Ice-cold rejection & vicious mockery: Alastor's version

the contrast of this is the best part.

Click here to listen to the Alastor one on YouTube

1. little big boy — madds buckley

he doesn't go easy on him. this is 0 compassion and 100% roast.

❞ brimstone fire and eyes aglow, little big boy's making the whole world know his name. raised on pillars and shining lights, breathing smoke for the right to keep his place. never satisfied 'till they all see how big this little boy can be. well the water's rising; tide's comin' in. does little big boy know how to swim in a pond filled with fish bigger than him? ❝

2. i help you hate me — sunrise avenue

he's so helpful fr but it's not working unfortunately

❞ i broke many hearts throughout my days. yours was the hardest one to face. though, I've never been a saint, i still love you every day, just not the lover kind of way. i know you wanna see me falling out, falling out the window. i know you wanna see me crashing down, crashing with my plane. baby, i'm way too young to die but I'll help you get over me. ❝

3. no surprise — daughtry

this is one of my favorite bands, i'm glad i got to include this.

❞ it came out like a river once i let it out when i thought that i wouldn't know how. held onto it forever just pushing it down, felt so good to let go of it now. not wrapping this in ribbons, shouldn't have to give a reason why: it's no surprise i won't be here tomorrow, i can't believe that I stayed 'til today. there's nothing here in this heart left to borrow. there's nothing here in this soul left to save. don't be surprised when we hate us tomorrow. ❝

4. go screw yourself — avery

i can picture him 1:1 delivering a swing version of this when vox confesses to him

❞ i know i've been holding it in, the way i feel about you. something i've been dying to say but I don't know how you'll take it; oh please don't go; you should know these three words i've been holding back; trying to fight, i'mma let 'em out... these three words, gotta let you know, here I go: go screw yourself. i've had enough, yeah, now we're done. ❝

5. the audacity — emelyn

this one's such a bop honestly. had to cut it in the video because i can't picture alastor realistically crying over anything vox-related.

❞ think your opinions should be broadcast... even though no one's subscribing, listening or liking but by all means, keep whining. must be tough if life's so rough. you should buy a mic, start a podcast, even though, wait, nobody asked. [...] where do all these men find the audacity? no actually, i'm stunned by your stupidity. ❝

6. friends — halocene

this one had to be on here.

❞ have you got no shame? you're looking insane turning up at my door. it's two in the morning, the rain is pouring, haven't we been here before? [...] so don't go look at me with that look in your eye, you really ain't going away without a fight. you can't be reasoned with, i'm done being polite. i've told you one, two, three, four, five, six thousand times. haven't I made it obvious? haven't I made it clear? want me to spell it out for you? f-r-i-e-n-d-s ❝

7. can't catch me now — olivia rodrigo

he likes the attention def especially after his return

❞ bet you thought i'd never do it, thought it'd go over my head. i bet you figured i'd pass with the winter, be somethin' easy to forget. oh, you think i'm gone 'cause i left but i'm in the trees, i'm in the breeze, my footsteps on the ground. you'll see my face in every place but you can't catch me now. through wading grass, the months will pass, you'll feel it all around. i'm here, i'm there, i'm everywhere but you can't catch me now ❝

8. take a hint — victoria justice & elizabeth gillies

this is on every rejection playlist and it's gonna be on mine too. a bop even after all these years.

❞ ask me for my number, yeah, you put me on the spot. you think that we should hook up, but I think that we should not. you had me at "hello", then you opened up your mouth and that is when it started going south. [...] what about "no" don't you get? so go and tell your friends i'm not really interested. it's about time that you're leavin', i'm gonna count to three and open my eyes and you'll be gone ❝

9. no — madilyn bailey & megan nicole

more rejection for y'all. the world needs more mean aroaces and this playlist is my contribution.

❞ first you gonna say you ain't runnin' game, thinking i'm believing every word; call me beautiful, so original, telling me I'm not like other girls, i was in my zone before you came along, now i'm thinking maybe you should go ❝

10. oh no — marina and the diamonds

a classic.

❞ don′t do love, don't do friends; i′m only after success. don't need a relationship, i'll never soften my grip [...] i know exactly what i want and who i want to be. i know exactly why i walk and talk like a machine. i'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy. ❝

Reblogs are appreciated!

#hazbin hotel #hazbin #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #the radio demon #aroace alastor #hazbin hotel vox #one sided radiostatic #onesided radiostatic #staticradio #radiostatic #hazbin vox #vox

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strayflowersstarsandlove · 5 months

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🌟 Masterlist 🌟

🌚 Boyfriend!skz fake texts

Daily texts #1🌞

Daily texts #2🌞

Daily texts #3🌞

Daily texts #4🌞

Daily texts #5🌞

Daily texts #6🌞

Texting bf!skz song lyrics🎸

Sending bf!skz a spicy pic❤‍🔥

Asking bf!skz for a selfie🤳🏻

Bf!skz sending YOU a spicy pic 🌝

Bf!skz reacting to you wanting to go on/off the pill 💊

Bf!skz finding out they're not your bias🤡

Valentine's Day texts🌹

Texting bf!skz "where do you see us in 5 years?"🌱

Bf!skz comforting you when you're feeling sad/upset/insecure 💘

Accidentally flustering bf!skz💋

Bf!skz asking you about your fave straykids song💃🏻

Relationships goals with bf!skz: home screen edition🎯

Bf!skz vs getting you pads🩸

Vibe check with bf!skz⚡

Showing bf!skz your straykids themed manicure💅🏻

Fiance!skz x your engagement ring 💍

Texting bf!skz "I'm going to eat you"😋

Texting bf!skz in your native language 🌏

Bf!skz finds your baby pics/you find his😇

🌚DAD!SKZ

Babydaddy!skz vs your baby bump pics💓

Dad!skz random texts🍼

More! Dad!skz👶🏻

EVEN!MORE! Dad!skz💟

🌚Fics

🥀EYES WIDE SHUT, Au! Han Jisung fic

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

PART 8

PART 9

PART 10 - EPILOGUE

🕯️To Die For - Hyunjin x reader x Felix au fic

0 - I love the way you're screaming my name

🌚 Boyfriend!skz blurbs

Han ♥️

👻Horror nights ⚠️*content warning

🩷Flannel

🍎 I'm not leaving you

🍬Baby are you drooling?

🍯Unconditionally

🎋 13

Leeknow 💜

📷Camera roll

❤️‍🩹I don't mind

☘️Okonomyaki

🐰Childhood videos

🍲Soup

Felix 💙

🍑Peaches and cream

💭Grey areas

🍥You put me back together, actually

Chan 💗

🚗Anytime

Hyunjin 💖

🌺Preoccupied

🌊Busan

🍃Just sleep

🔥Fire fire

💦More?

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heartscrypt · 7 months

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tfw you sign your soul over to an eldritch fear deity in order to regain some semblance of control over your own life (tma au)

nobody understands how fucking crazy i am about this au. its tormenting me. also epel is here as well he's corruption he has a lot of worms in him sorry in advance

closeups + design notes + au jamil fun facts under the cut!

(tw some body horror stuff? eye stuff)

design notes

his hair jewelry has been replaced with spider silk cocoons / string. also very obviously spider themed hair gem thing

spider eyes! both in the way of he has 8 human eyes and actual spider eyes on his neck

web tattoos. they spin outwards and grow in a kind of mesmerizing hypnotic pattern when he uses his powers

his braids now form a spiderweb pattern. hes also prematurely greying a little LOLL

his belt chains form a spiderweb pattern as well

he has piercings! an erl piercing across his nose bridge and four piercings on each ear

his pants are based off the spider-tailed horned viper-- a snake whose tail has evolved to look like a spider so the birds it feeds on will mistake its tail for prey

au jamil notes

his backstory pretty much remains the same honestly

except when he's around 11, instead of getting poisoned and falling into a coma, he gets trapped in a buried-aligned artifact that he touched while cleaning one of the asim treasure rooms

nobody could find him for weeks and kalim was really tearing up the whole estate about it because he insisted that jamil would never run off or disappear without a reason

jamil escapes the buried by taking the assistance of the web (he does it in the way of "i don't know what's going on but this thing is reaching out to help me and i don't want to die so fuck it" but he's still accepting the web into his life regardless)

after two weeks they find him covered in cobwebs and dust in the treasure room and he gets scolded for making everyone worry

he doesn't even bother trying to explain to people what happened to him because he knows it's too unbelievable for them. he spins a lie and he's surprised by how natural it is to just Lie to people

jamil's powers as an avatar of the web manifest visually as him "pulling strings" out of people's eyes. like unwinding their irises like they're spools of thread. if you've seen the prev post on web!jamil you know what it looks like

if he leaves the iris-strings half unwound they become very suggestible, very easily manipulated

however if he yanks out the iris-strings fully, he can turn the other person into a complete blank slate. no thoughts head empty. basically an empty cocoon of a person. he tends not to do this because 1) it's very conspicuous and 2) it renders the victim completely useless to the web

he has to concentrate very hard to do this and he can usually pull on only one person's iris-strings at a time

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst tma au #jamil viper #epel felmier #tw trypophobia #tw eye horror #heartscribbles #i hope you guys know how crazy i am about this #also i might expand on corruption!epel in another post #i just thought itd be fun. to fill this apple. WITH WORMS!#jamils trying really hard not to think about how spiders are bugs #hes latching onto the fact that spiders eat most bugs to avoid thinking too hard about his own spider theming

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plantsjustwannahavefun · 6 months

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I used to think that the reason I wasn't satisfied with Izzy's death was because I was too attached to his perspective as a character and couldn't focus on the big picture of the season and the main Gentlebeard relationship enough. I mean, I was still convinced that his death and the way it was carried out was a shit writing decision, but everyone else outside the Izzy Canyon circles seemed fine with it, so I was starting to think that maybe they were right.

So I looked back on the rest of the season and rewatched the finale... And realised something that I'd been trying to ignore because it was too painful to admit. A huge part of why Izzy's death hit so hard (in a bad way, not that delicious masochistic pain of having a beloved character die a good, narratively satisfying death) was because throughout this season he was the only character who actually had a satisfying arc and development. Practically no one else did. I didn't actually care for Gentlebeard this season, not the way I cared in S1. From episode 1 to 8 and a half, Izzy's arc was crafted with more care, kindness, subtlety and narrative weight than the main Gentlebeard arc which, in comparison, felt like a string of choppy beads badly tied together in an approximate shape of an arc, but collapsed as soon as you looked at it too closely.

Yes, we all know this season suffered for being 2 episodes too short, but I don't think that's all there is to it. This is starting to feel like GoT season 8 all over again. Would it have been better if it wasn't so rushed? Maybe. Or maybe it would have been even worse because this season just didn't seem to know what to do with itself or the characters. The themes and symbolism are all over the place and completely inconsistent. Ed and Stede's characters are practically back at the same place they left in S1. All they did was bounce off the walls back and forth with no real growth. As soon as they took a step towards fixing their relationship or growing as people, they either tool three steps back or it just got dropped. Stede letting fame get to his head? Interesting and realistic development. And how was it resolved? It wasn't. Stede and Ed being whim prone? I'm glad they brought it up. And then they just fell for another whim and it was presented as a satisfying ending.

Ed went from the Kraken, to taking the first steps towards being Ed, then suddenly all the way to being Ed by way of a Night of Magical Healing Sex that he he didn't actually want to happen because he wasn't ready. And then all of a sudden he pivoted to abandoning Stede and piracy and becoming a fisherman... for 5 min. And then back to Blackbeard again because two fishermen were mean to him for 5 minutes. And then abandoning it again to open an inn. How was any of this even remotely coherent or satisfying? They didn't even have a single conversation about any of it. Ed had more proper closure and communication with Izzy during his dying scene than with Stede and the rest of the crew put together. Izzy's arc got sacrificed to do the heavy lifting for Ed's arc and became nothing more than a shortcut to speed run his character growth. Except it didn't even lead anywhere. "Ed, they're your family, they love you" no they don't, he didn't even have a single positive conversation with any of them except Fang. Of course this could have been the point, and Ed could have seen Izzy's death, his own discovery of found family and his dying words as a pretext to repair his relationship with the crew. But he just left them and stayed with Stede instead.

Sure, you could say this was only the second act of the story, and S3 will resolve everything. But the second act is still meant to move the story and the characters forward in some way. Yes, of course if we get S3, I imagine Stede and Ed's life as innkeepers won't exactly be idyllic. But the problem is that the conflicts they'd have will only be a rehash and repeat of the same conflicts they've already have, or were supposed to have, this season. Multiple times, even. We already know that Ed is simply unable to live with himself no matter what life he chooses. The title of S1 was literally "wherever you go, there you are". We already know Stede's love isn't enough to fix him. We already know their goals in life are completely opposite. Maybe they could have shown Stede realising, after his humiliating in S7, that piracy wasn't all it was cracked up to be or he isn't suited for it, and that's why he chose to leave it behind and open an inn, but that's not the explanation we were given. It was just another whim. They literally didn't learn anything this season. They had two baby conversations in E4 and E5 and didn't take anything from it, just kept doing the complete opposite of anything. "We're both prone to whims, let's take things slow" became "let's take things extremely fast by moving in together permanently and becoming entrepreneurs". They never talked about the actual, deepseated, longstanding trauma issues they needed to resolve before they could even begin to have a proper relationship. They literally got a heavy-handed glimpse in what their life would become if they just stuck together without addressing their own personal issues, and chose to do that very thing. It that's what S3 is going to address, then why were Anne and Mary part of this season instead of the next one?

I remember everyone saying they wanted Ed and Stede to reunite as quickly as possible in S2, and I get why. They have great chemistry together. The season is about them. But for it to work, spending more time apart is exactly what they needed. They needed to learn how to live with themselves and others, first. Romantic love alone can't fix you as a person. You have to fix yourself first. Community can help (as with Izzy's case), but you still have to put in the work. In retrospect, I'm glad that Izzy didn't get a love interest this season - because he wasn't ready yet, and had to learn how to have normal relationships and friendships with other people before attempting an intimate romantic relationship, lest he ended up falling head first unit another toxic mutually dependent relationship. That's what Stede and Ed should have tried too. Instead the show just ended up using Izzy's death as a quick surgical fix, robbing Ed of his agency and having to do the hard work repairing himself and his relationships with other people. There's a sad irony in getting exactly one character's arc just this, and then using it as a sacrificial lamb to patch over the main character's arc.

#another long rant #I should probably start tagging this accordingly #ofmd critical #I mean I still love the show and always will #I don't want to be associated with unhinged haters or anything #the reason I criticise this season so much these days is precisely because I love the show so much #it deserved better #it had so much good going for it #so much promise and potential #and in the end much of it was wasted #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers

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pascalfilms · 3 months

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Attraction of Beauty | Derek Danforth

You meet the cocky billionaire, Derek Danforth at an underground night club but the unexpected happened.

WARNING: touchy theme, cussing words, Derek being horny

words: 1.5k+

part two coming soon…

You worked at a club called Underground Night Club. The name was so original and yes, it was an actual underground club that was under a casino.

You were working on bringing the drinks to the booths. You walked over to the bar where your co-worker settled down the trade full of alcoholic drinks. You grab the serving tray and then your coworker speaks up.

“This is for booth 2 and booth 12 needs serving.” Co-worker, Dani tells you over the loud music that the DJ was playing.

You went over to booth 2 and set down the drinks on the table. Before you left the booth, you made sure that you asked the customer if they wanted anything else. All of the ladies shook their heads no then you walked away.

Derek Danforth, how would you describe him as? Some people would say he was a really dick and too cocky. Others would die to be his girlfriend, wife, and even boyfriend because he was insanely rich. He was a good-looking man. He had a blonde streak in his hair and wore only one diamond earring on his left ear.

Of course, he would be at an underground nightclub. All he would do with his money was spent on vapes, snort powder and drinks, and his favorite partying with girls.

As you were walking to booth 12, you saw who was going to serve. It was Derek Danforth, you did not who he was.

You saw there was one girl on each side of him. Derek had his arms on both of their shoulders whispering to them and girls giggling. Now, you are at the booth and grab her note to write the drinks down.

“Sir.” You yelled over the loud music caught the attention of Derek and saw you standing there with a notepad and a pen ready to write.

Within seconds the two girls that were sitting next to him were giving the nasty glare. You didn’t know why there we staring at you hard. Probably it was the fact you were wearing black shorts that went up to your but and your white top that showed your breast.

“Are you the serve?” Derek quizzed you looking you up and down.

“Yes. What can I get you?” You ask him waiting for him to serve his drink and get a move one.

“You look away too fucking hot to be a waiter here.” Derek stated to you. This unexpected answer caught you and the two girls off guard.

You got compliments all the time by older, younger, and questionable men telling you, you looked so beautiful and many more. But you chose to ignore it. What Derek said felt different than what you usually get.

“What can I get you started sir?” You repeatedly asked Derek again. Ignoring what he had replied.

You showed Derek that you weren’t bothered by the comments. It was completely dark and he couldn’t see your face heated up.

“I would like to get a whole bottle of your best bourbon.” Derek finally responded and you wrote it down on your notepad.

“Anything else?” You wanted to make sure that you not going to miss anything because of one screw-up.

Customers are always right.

“That will be all sweetheart.” Derek tells you and he takes out his wallet. You step inside the booth as he takes out his wallet to give you the credit card.

You gently grab his credit card out of his hand. You stepped out of booth 12 and walked away from Derek’s booth. As you were walking you made sure the card was safe in your hands.

What you didn’t know was that Derek Danforth was watching until you disappeared into the crowd. The two girls saw how he looked at the serve and their jealousy was showing on their faces. He was attracted to the beauty that had left. Sure, he had girls and had sex with them then dumping them not making contact with them.

His thoughts were interrupted by one of the girls from his side kissing his neck. Derek loved it when one of his girls did it to him and loved the pressure on his neck. He pushed the girl who was kissing his neck to the side not wanting to be touched.

The woman gasped at her being thrown off by the multi-millionaire playboy. The other girl left his other side and went over to her friend helping her up from the ground.

“Get out of my sight.” Derek’s tone of voice demanded the two girls. Two of them left speed walking out of the booth.

Derek couldn’t stop thinking about you that was all in his mind. He groans as he felt his cock pressing into his dress pants suit. Yes, he wanted you right to fuck you. He tilted his head up and thought for a moment. Then grabs his phone out of his suit and calls the owner.

“Mr. Danforth.” The call finally picks up after the first ring. Derek pulls apart the phone after hearing a shout his ear drum then puts it back.

“Larry, I need you to do me a favor.” Derek said through the phone, touching his dented pants.

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You headed back with an empty serving tray and a credit card. You went over to the bar service and gave the card to Dani. She grabs it out of your hand and looks at the card names. You tried to tell her many times to stop reading the card names but you just let your co-worker.

You lift the table walk into the bar and set it down. You put the tray on the bar table.

“Oh my gosh!” Dani practically jumped not caring if the customer saw.

“What?” You asked your friend why she was happy. You went over to grab one of the glass Telford shorts and set it down on the serving tray.

“You are literally serving Derek Danforth, a multi-millionaire.” Dani told you. You really didn’t care about what she was talking about.

“Who are we talking about?” Jeff popped out of nowhere.

“No one! Here, ring the card up for a whole bottle of the best bourbon we have.” You said snatching the card out of Dani’s hand and giving it to Jeff.

You went to the room that was at the back of the bar. You grabbed the finest bourbon you had in stock and walked out of the alcohol room. You see Dani and Jeff giggling at the card. You went over to the bar and set the bourbon on the tray.

“What is Mr. Danforth like?” Jeff asked you and you rolled his eyes at him.

“Guys I don’t have for this. Both of you guys get up to work.” You said and grabbed the card from your co-worker’s hand and put it inside of her pocket.

You went over to the counter lifted and walked out letting the counter slam closed. You grabbed the severing tray and went off to Booth 12. You didn’t know why Dani and Jeff were gushing about the guy you were serving. You were walking to the booth where Derek was.

He puffed out smoke from his mouth with the vape pen he had. Derek looks around if you are around with his drink. He still hadn’t seen you yet. He was waiting for Larry to text him. Derek couldn’t stop thinking about you and how your body was, he kept replaying your body in his mind.

Derek’s cock was pressed into his pants and he rubs the dent on his pants to see if he could soften a bit. It did not work that was all that he was doing. Then his eyes lit up when he saw you walking with his drink on the serving plate.

As you were walking back to Derek’s booth and saw that he was alone without the two girls by his side. You went into the booth and set the bourbon with a short glass.

“Here’s your card sir.” You handed his card to him. Derek extended his hand to grab his card.

You expected to grab the card and pull away but no he dragged by your arm almost tripping you. You caught yourself from falling onto him. Also dropped the serving tray on the floor.

“Mr. Danforth please this is highly inappropriate.” You said struggling to get out of his grip. Derek did not care about the rules in this.

“Come on baby, you really follow those rules?” Derek asked you and you tugged your arm aggressively away from his grip.

“Yes, I do!” You said angrily. You couldn’t deal with him anymore. You grabbed the serving tray from the floor and walked out of the booth.

“Fuck! Wait.” You had ignored him and walked away.

No girls had ever resisted Derek Danforth but you did. You were the first one. He watched you walk away and disappear from the crowd that was forming. Okay, maybe he had caught you off guard by gripping your hand.

Derek puts his card inside his wallet and puts his wallet in his pocket. He got up from the chair and grabbed the bottle of bourbon to take with him. He wasn’t going to waste the 500 dollars he had spent on one bottle and he didn’t want to give him one of you. He wanted you.

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reblog • like • comment • follow me for more content like this <3

#josh hutcherson #josh hutcherson x reader #derek danforth #derek danforth x reader #the beekeeper

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omartinyosef · 20 days

Text

ST5 POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!

GUYS I FOUND THIS ON REDDIT AND ACTUALLY IT'S QUITE INTERESTING

ST5 Leaks/Fleaks

Gen Plot

Season picks up briefly where we left off in 1986 before jumping into either late 1987 or early 1988. The season is contained entirely in apocalyptic Hawkins. Things with the government are shaky. Owens doesn't appear in the beginning of the season and it's unclear if he's returning, but Ellen Stinson is the new Owens. Hawkins is like a combination of the UD and Kamchatka.

Labyrinths/Mazes being important to both the supernatural plot and the interpersonal relationships. They're inherently linked.

Two songs to be featured are 'Listen to Your Heart' and 'Alone,' both of which were apparently foreshadowed in a previous conversation between Hopper and Joyce, similar to how Hopper's "I'm the puppet, you're the master" to Joyce in S3 basically foreshadowed Eddie's 'Master of Puppets' in S4.

S1 and 2 scenes being referenced are "Nancy and Mike's conversation in the bathtub" and "Hopper + Lando Calrissian"

Lots of importance in COLOR CODING and blocking from the final shot of S4, and a good chunk is told in the costuming—like passing the torch from one character to another as their arcs overlap. For example, Hopper and Will share the "am I the curse and therefore putting my loved ones at risk by being near them?" sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, whereas Eleven stands out because she's the first one coming into her own this season. The white for her represents shedding of false skins.

Character duos this season will be primarily dressed in colors of blue/green and yellow/red.

There's lots of symbolism and foreshadowing for every character in S5 from the moment Will touches his neck in the last sequence of S4.

S4 focused on themes of lies and miscommunication, and everyone is going to have to work through these lies before they can defeat Vecna.

Murray and Argyle are both back. Dimitri and Yuri don't seem to be in the beginning of the season.

One thing left unresolved with the Russian plot. Something important will happen involving the machine and the green liquid from the Starcourt bunker. Reference of Dustin vowing to die with Steve when they initially discovered it.

Hopper, Joyce, Mike, Will, and El had to be away from Hawkins, otherwise Vecna wouldn't have won.

An important death that they're nervous about given the reception to Eddie (not Joyce or Jonathan—see details below).

Eleven

We'll see her unlike we've seen her before. A badass who doesn't take shit from anyone. Not a Monster, not a Hero, Jane. Think: adult El could be headed for a Charles Xavier type role.

Erica, Lucas, and El will share scenes together.

El has significant blocking and development with many characters this season.

Max, Eleven & Max

The "kaleidoscope of colors" from a script the writers posted makes a feature in both the scene where young El remembers her mother's love in order to defeat Henry in the lab, as well as the scene where El revives Max. This is significant because it's the first time we see El using her powers on someone in a non-violent way.

El was able to revive Max because of she, herself, being revived in the bunker by Brenner and Co. It's a show, don't tell moment from the writers.

Max getting Vecna'd was foreshadowed in the beginning of 2x01.

Will, Henry/Vecna, The UD

Filming was supposed to commence mid-June, but Noah and Jamie were set to begin in May due to more complicated costuming. Will is going to require heavy prosthetics at some point.

Will's character design is blocked in three stages. The more the UD bleeds into Hawkins, the more connected to it he feels. The gates being open will physically influence him, especially when he's not as mentally strong.

He's kind of like "the card up Vecna's sleeve."

It appears they want to confuse the audience about Will.

Will wrestling with his own morality

Henry/Will mirrors. Will will sympathize with Henry because, unlike El, he knows how and what Henry thinks, and he can feel him.

Vecna and Will are very similar, but the difference is Will is made stronger by love not hate. They will play into that duality.

Vecna was nerfed in S4 compared to how we see him in S5. He'll be much stronger.

At the beginning, he'll be taking a hiatus while he plans how to divide and conquer now that everyone's back together in Hawkins.

Soteria will be the key to saving Will. If they want Will to be untraceable to Henry, they'll have to insert it into his neck and it'll be painful. Vecna not having access to Will fucks up his ability to leave the UD.

Byler/Mileven Triangle

Apparently, it's complicated and up in the air as of now.

Mike dealing with guilt this season. He feels guilty/responsibility for El. He feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.

Will and Mike to spend a good chunk of the season together based on character designs and blocking.

Will telling El that Mike won't like being lied to comes back with the painting. During a pre-time jump scene in 5x01, while everyone's together plotting how to defeat Vecna and brainstorming how to save Max, Mike brings up the painting El commissioned for a D&D analogy. Will has to pull Mike aside and confess he lied about El commissioning the painting. Mike gets angry, because he doesn't know about Will's feelings and feels embarrassed that Will thought he was that pathetic he needed to be given a pep talk. Their own version of a "fight you can't come back from." Immediately after their fight, we get the time skip.

Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps. After the time jump, he and El won't be talking as much because he's keeping the details about Will's painting from her. She's gonna ask what's wrong between him and Will, and he lies/is very vague.

Joyce, Hopper, Jopper

Joyce feels immense guilt/responsible over Bob's death since she's the one that asked him to help in S2, which is why she pushed Hopper away at first.

Hopper has a secret from S1 that was never addressed, and it comes back to haunt him.

Joyce sustains an injury in S5 that is reminiscent of the way someone was injured in S3, but it isn't critical and she'll be okay.

Jopper are the most established couple after the time jump. Lots of bickering still, but Hopper trusts Joyce more than he ever has.

Jonathan, Nancy, Jancy

So far, does not seem like a breakup is happening.

Jonathan's still lying about the college letter and distant because of it, and Nancy thinks he's not as into the relationship and that there might be someone else. She confronts him, which leads to a talk. She's touched by the lengths he would go to try and protect her and any of their future children even from himself.

A moment where we're led to believe Jonathan dies but doesn't, like Hopper in S3.

Hopper-Byers Family

These five characters slowly unraveling their arcs together and have always been closely linked. Their perfect endings are together.

We see the family combining, especially in relation to El.

Joyce gets to witness Hopper being paternal and tender towards the boys.

Scenes with Joyce, Jonathan, and Will

Hopper being back lifts a weight off Jonathan's shoulders.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, now time to shine.

''(...) sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, (...)''

Okay. How did we see Nancy in S4? Confused. Confused with the love triangle between Jonathan, her and Steve. Jonathan is her actual boyfriend. And Steve is her posible love interest again.

So, putting this in byler language: Nancy = Mike Jonathan = Eleven Will = Steve

If Mike's and Nancy's character's clothing is important at this point of the time line and that means they feel similar feelings, this could mean that byler has a chance. BUT then we read this: ''(...) He (Mike) feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.'' And

''Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps.''

THIS LITERALLY MEANS BYLER. FOR REAL. Like byler could be endgame. Also, remember Eleven's injury in S3? Do you remember the leak of a shoe covered in blood?

It's Joyce. ALSO YOU CAN READ THAT WE'LL HAVE SCENES BEFORE THE TIME JUMP. And here it comes. Look at this freaking hair:

Does this look more like this

or this?

The season 4 bowl cut right? So maybe this is right in some part? I dont know. But that could make sense why Will is wearing Mike's pants, because his clothes were in California by that moment. But i really do think that the pic that was leaked a few days ago is before the time jump.

Im so late with this info haha :) but i kinda think some things here make sense. Even if this is too well explained to be a leak.

#stranger things s5 #st5 spoilers #stranger things 5 #st5 #stranger things #st5 speculation #st5 leaks #st5 production #will byers #stranger things season 5 #will byers is gay #byler tumblr #william byers #byler is endgame #byler endgame #byler nation #byler #mike wheeler is gay

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scoobydoodean · 20 days

Note

would love to hear more about the “chuck was the one who brainwashed cas and kelly actually” theory, thank you :)

Okay so I'm going to sound like I'm not addressing your question at all at first but just bear with me.

One of the primary reasons that the baby brainwashing incident fascinates me is that Cas's actions are a betrayal of his and Dean's bond on a foundational level. I'm not talking about The Colt or the mixtape (though they're related).

Dean and Cas's relationship as handler and charge was shed and a real, genuine bond bloomed in 4.22, after this exchange:

DEAN Destiny? Don't give me that "holy" crap. Destiny, God's plan... It's all a bunch of lies, you poor, stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and keep you in line! You know what's real? People, families -- that's real. And you're gonna watch them all burn? CASTIEL What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam. DEAN You can take your peace... and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some Stepford bitch in paradise.

These are the words that convince Cas to rebel. These are the words that dissolve Cas's doubts in doubt, and convince him to follow his convictions instead of act on blind faith. Shortly after this conversation, Cas flies Dean to Chuck, who tells them what they're up to isn't supposed to happen. This becomes a theme of Dean and Cas's relationship.

Together, Dean and Cas do things that aren't supposed to happen—that aren't part of God's plan. They do something Chuck explicitly says isn't supposed to happen in 4.18. They do something that Chuck explicitly says isn't supposed to happen in 4.22. They do something that Chuck explicitly says isn't supposed to happen in 5.22.

Dean and Cas's relationship, at its very core, is built upon the rejection of two things: 1) Destiny and 2) Paradise—and by the end of "The Future", Cas explicitly (in the production draft) embraces destiny and paradise... and that screams Chuck.

This is what Cas says to Kelly right after the devil baby brainwashing at the very end of "The Future". The "Paradise" part doesn't make it to the final cut—just the "future" part... but the Paradise part is implied by the "future" part anyway.

What else happens in "The Future"? Kelly says the line.

It's not supposed to happen this way.

She says the line that Chuck said every time Dean and Cas defied the writing during the first apocalypse by doing something Chuck couldn't or didn't anticipate. Kelly says this after Sam and Dean catch up to Castiel—after Sam and Dean convince Cas to just talk through all of this with them and not jump to the nuclear option of murdering Kelly—to consider an alternative plan where Kelly and Jack's lives are both preserved because Jack is born a regular baby. The moment Cas begins to agree to talk, Kelly says "It's not supposed to happen this way."

Now let's talk about Kelly. Her behavior this entire episode is insane. She begins the episode despairing because giving birth to Jack will kill her. She then tries to kill herself, but Jack won't let her die—and this throws Kelly into a sort of religious fervor—convincing her that Jack is actually good and could revolutionize the world. Her belief in this is so powerful that when Sam and Dean arrive, she immediately rejects the plan they've come up with that will spare her and Jack's lives:

Sam: No, Kelly, if you go with Cass, you die. Your baby dies. Kelly: I go with you, you take away the thing that makes him special.

She sounds nuts. Like. Imagine saying you'd rather you and your baby DIE than have a "normal" baby. Your baby HAS to be a special baby or you'd rather be dead? Uh... ew—and to a point that screams supernatural brainwashing.

Of course—Kelly's actions aren't quite as irrational as they seem because right before Sam and Dean arrived, Kelly was shown something by "Jack". She got Cas to lay his palm on her belly, and "Jack" showed her a vision of the future. After she takes off with Cas in the impala, she says,

When you put your hand on my stomach, I heard him. He spoke to me. He told me that even if it seems scary, if I just went to the gate, if I just followed your plan, that you would make sure he was born.

So even as she's driving herself straight into Cas's plan to kill her and her baby, Kelly believes everything will be fine—because "Jack" showed her the future... and the thing is? She's... not wrong. "Jack" did show her the future. "Jack" showed her a tiny moment that actually does happen at the end of the episode—Cas standing between her and Dagon and saying "You stay away from her".

Why do I keep putting "Jack" in quotes here? Because Jack never displays the ability to see the future after his birth, and yet "Jack" did have this power from the womb... only? Yeah... I'm not so sure. I'm wondering if it was someone else—someone who showed Kelly what they had already written.

I'll also note in 13.01, that Jack doesn't seem to remember... any of this happening—at least not in the same way. In fact, he recalls very little leading up to his birth. The way he describes it, his sole knowledge of the world prior to his birth came from Kelly speaking to him while he was in the womb... but also... not? Because he says he was Kelly?

SAM: How do you speak English? JACK: My mother taught me. SAM: So you talked to her. JACK: I was her. JACK: My mother, she said Castiel, he would keep me safe. She said the world was a dangerous place. That's -- that's why I couldn't be a baby or a child. I... That's why I had to grow up fast. That's why I chose him to be my father. Where is he?

It's all pretty confusing, but something blinks at me here: Jack says Kelly told him Castiel would keep him safe and indicates that he chose Castiel as his father based on Kelly's assessment. However, Kelly told us Jack showed her the future which told her that Castiel would keep Jack safe back in 12.19. These are two contradictory stories. What if a third party sowed both?

Two other little bits:

First:

Kelly: Maybe – maybe everything that I've been through, everything that I still have to go through, is happening for a reason. Maybe it's part of some plan. Castiel: No, it isn't. I used to believe in a plan. I used to believe that I had some mission. But I have been through enough now to know that everyone is just winging it.

Castiel does a 180 on this by the end of the episode and it screams Chuck Chuck Chuck Chuck.

Second:

If you go to the 12.19 production draft (graciously provided to the fandom through @/spnscripthunt) on page 45, you'll see something that never made it to screen—Cas's vision of paradise.

Only—these visions don't seem to come to fruition unlike Kelly's vision of Cas protecting her. The bits with Dean and Castiel's wings don't feel like the future anyway—they... just feel like what Cas wants most desperately at that time—to be a protector and provider who can handle everything on his own—who needs a "win". This is another theme of the episode. Cas stole The Colt in a misguided attempt to protect his family from having to be directly involved in the ruthless murder Cas had determined would be necessary. He didn't believe there was any other choice, and he wanted to spare Sam and Dean the pain of being involved in the dirty work.

Sam: Then – Then why didn't you call us? Cas, we could've helped you. Castiel: I know. I wanted to keep you out of this. I-I was trying to keep you safe. Dean: You're not our babysitter, Cas, okay? That is not your job. And when in our whole lives have we ever been safe?

This probably stings for Cas because he knows they aren't, and he wants them to be—he wants his family to be safe... all without having to discard his conscience by killing Kelly. He wants her to be safe too! The stuff he sees gives him what he wants--Sam and Dean and Kelly happy and safe—Dean thanking him—Cas once more a fully powered angel who doesn't need anybody's help.

But all of this stuff he sees? It's a lie. It's a lie because it never happens, but it's also a lie because destiny is always a lie. Paradise is always a lie. God's plan is just a way to keep them all in line... and Cas is trying to secure paradise for someone who said they'd take the pain and the guilt over someone else's vision of their paradise.

#mail #no one can control you but you #12.19 #13.01 #jack #kelly #and cas is my best friend #spn and causality #chuck #cas and power #castiels motivations

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feelbokkie · 1 month

Text

What He Gets You For White Day (and how he gave it to you)

❤︎ March 14th: White Day ❤︎

☀️Feelbokkie M.list☀️

It’s basically the same as Valentine’s day, except now men are expected to hand over gifts of chocolate and other romantic paraphernalia to women. Traditionally, the gifts are white.

genre: fluff headcanon

pov: 2nd person

description: gifts that your either your best friend skz would give you for white day

pairing: bff!skz x gn!reader

warnings: mention of food

word count: 1,605

Love Day! Masterlist

방 찬 (Bang Chan)

Lego Flowers

this man was s t r e s s i n g about what to get you

it didn't help that he was being too picky about what to get you:

-> jewelry is too expensive and might put too much pressure on the confession

-> didn't want to give you candy or food because it wouldn't last long

-> didn't want to get you a stuffed animal because it was too simple

-> didn't want to get you flowers because they will die

decided on lego flowers because they wouldn't die

was stressed out you wouldn't like the lego flowers so he planned a simple little picnic

invited you over saying that he just wanted to hang out

when you walked into his dorm, you were surprised by the living room cleaner than it normally is. the coffee table decorated with cute little decorations and of course, your favorite foods

and the bag with the legos

he went ahead and got all of your favorite flowers and some that he thought would go nicely with them

he stood by the door nervously while you opened the gift

got excited when you asked him to make them with you

이 민 호 (Lee Know)

Your Favorite Dessert

you already knew that he was going to get you something for white day

but of course, he was going to make you work for it

played it off like he forgot what day it was

which you thought he was just teasing you

invited you out to hang out like it was a normal day

would ask you some random questions to slowly start to get on your nerves

"why are you so dressed nicely? we're just getting lunch."

"why are there so many couples out today?"

"is today a holiday or something?"

you nearly hit him

you knew he was teasing you because he couldn't hide the smirk on his face

and he was trying

eventually, he took you back to his dorm to relax saying that there were too many people out

which there were

asked if you wanted a snack and then came back with your favorite dessert with the words "happy white day" written on the plate/bowl

서 창 빈 (Changbin)

Swarovski Flower Ornaments

simplicity was never an option for him

this man is going to go above and beyond, always

he couldn't figure out what to get you at first

matching gym clothes?

a bracelet?

a necklace?

a ring?

flowers would be nice, he'd get you an expensive bouquet with a card and everything, maybe even a couple of balloons

but one problem

flowers die, balloons pop

was out one day with the maknaes and stopped so suddenly in front of the jewelry store that they all were concerned

his eyes fixated on the swarovski flowers in the window display

💡

went inside and immediately bought a crystal rose

leaving the maknaes even more confused

had a plan

he didn't want to just give it to you

figured out a way to hide it in a bouquet of white roses

he still wants to stay on the white day theme

gave it to you with a corny note that reads "i'll love you until the last rose dies"

황 현 진 (Hyunjin)

Flowers and a Stuffed Animal and a love letter

stressed out part 2

he's a romantic but he ended up overthinking what to get you too much

considered making you a painting but thought it might be...too much since you two aren't technically dating

yet

decided that simple was best

for now

he was set with the stuffed bear he got you and the flowers he picked out

until he wasn't

wrote down everything he wanted to say to you in a letter because he thought he might actually die if he had to say it to your face

and still, somehow, it wasn't enough

decided to spray the bear with the cologne he wears most often

that way when you hugged it, it would smell like him

he blushed when he thought about it and proceeded to scream into his pillow

a very concerned chan came into his room to check on him

was set with the bear, the letter, and the flowers

until he wasn't, again

our overthinking, romantic king

worried that the smell on the bear would eventually fade

quickly went out to see if he could find a bottle of the cologne on such short notice

ended up finding one and gifting it to you so you could refresh the bear when you felt like it

for good measure, he rubbed the bear all over himself before he went to meet with you

한 지 성 (Han)

A song

alexa, play 'i want to write you a song' by one direction

you tease him so much about how he hardly writes any love songs and when he does they are so tragically beautiful and written about fictional situations that this gift is mostly out of spite

he just poured every little thought he's ever had about you and all of the things you make him feel

somehow was the easiest song he's ever written

nobody could stop all the lyrics coming out of him if they tried

he actually started working on it on valentine's day after you gave him his gift

the title of his song is one of the nicknames for you that he uses most often

the difficult part of the song was working on the actual music

was working on it until right before the two of you met up

spent so much time working on the song that he didn't think about how he would present it to you

he couldn't just say "hey, i wrote a song for you"

well, he could but he would never

eventually settled with "hey, i wrote a new song. wanna hear it?"

proceed to hide in his shirt the entire time you listened to the song

you had to listen to it a second time to make sure you understood it properly

there were tears in your eyes because he wrote a song about you

"see, i can write love songs!"

이 용 복 (Felix)

Homemade Chocolate

debated for a really long time if he should play it safe and get you store-bought chocolate or make it himself

eventually decided to embrace the true spirit of the holiday and make then himself

thought would be easy because he bakes/cooks well, alone

so as long as he keeps seungmin out of the kitchen, he should be fine

unfortunately for fel-icarus, he flew too close to the sun and melted his chocolate wings and drowned in wonka's chocolate ocean

the first three batches were...well, they were attempts

made so many test chocolates that all of the other members and skzigi were sick and tired of sweets

after two weeks of nearly burning down the cuties dorm and somehow covering every surface of the kitchen in chocolate, he manages to make a perfect batch

got a cute little box, picked out the nicer-looking ones, and tied everything up with a cute little bow

watched you intently while you ate one

he was worried that you weren't going to like it

was relieved that you loved it and claimed that he was never doing it again

which he would every white day you two are together

김 승 민 (Seungmin)

A book

it was truly an underwhelming gift at first

you didn't know what to expect from him regarding a romantic gift but it certainly wasn't a book

he could tell that you weren't that excited about it but kept his mouth shut while you flipped through it

you froze when you would see random colors in the book

random highlighted line, notes in different colors, little doodle--

he annotated the book for you

pink for things he wanted to tell you

blue for things that reminded him of you

yellow for cute date ideas

orange for things he thought you would think were funny

purple for criticisms in the book

green for a hidden message for you to decode

underlines for emphasis

he would draw little stars and hearts around certain words

would write you notes and love declarations in the margin

after spending time together you went home and started reading

you kept a little paper with you so you could write down all the words for the code which later read "y/n, will you be my girlfriend/boyfriend/partner?"

he had to highlight individual letters for your name

양 정 인 (I.N)

Matching hoodies

loved the idea of having a couples' hoodie with you

he didn't know how or when to give it to you

you two spend the whole day handing out with you, doing coupley things

he was even wearing the matching sweater the entire time

he was too nervous to give it to you so he kept the bag with him

would think it was the perfect moment to give it to you and then talk himself out of it

he didn't know how you'd feel about having a matching clothing item with him

thought you would find it too cheesy

you didn't mind not getting a gift from you, you were content with just spending the day with him

eventually, towards the end of the night, he noticed that you were shivering and decided to give it to you then

you didn't realize that he was wearing the exact same hoodie at first

you just thought that he just had a gift for you the entire time and was too nervous to give it to you

which, you weren't technically wrong

it wasn't until you got home and were looking at your pictures from your night out that you realized that your hoodies had the same little design on the front

he even crudely stitched a little heart on the end of your sleeve

—

Buy me a coffee?

—

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cherrysoojins · 9 months

Text

scream.

ghostface! choi san & ghostface! jung wooyoung, oneshot/drabble (no pt. 2), horror themes, subjects of murder, underlying yandere themes, for mature audiences ( no smut ).

🔪 — : the annual frat halloween party hosted by your two best friends was not supposed to turn into a actual halloween horror movie for you.

this was not how halloween night was supposed to go.

party music loud and blaring, drowning out the screams and the slaughter as everyone finds just one more person dead.

not just another person, but another person you slept with. another person you dated. another person who looked in your general vicinity. every male with at least some correlation to you, you realize, have all become victims of a murder in that house party.

how many people have died at this rate? you’re not too sure.

having your phone in your shaky hands as you hid in the cupboards under the bathroom sink, you texted someone— anyone, hands moving frantically against the electronics keyboard. calling someone didn’t seem like a safe option, knowing you wouldn’t be able to keep your shaky voice at bay despite the blaring music.

halloween was not supposed to be like this. halloween was never supposed to actually be scary. halloween horrors were not supposed to actually come true.

how did you get here? what brought this upon the night? why were people who were involved with you dying left and right? was it a coincidence? were people still dying as you hid under the sink, encased in the darkness, relatively safe for now? why couldn’t people get out? could people get out?

should you get out?

like any normal person in a situation like this, your mind raced back and forth with possibilities, what if’s, and or’s, what should you do, do you save yourself or other people?

the latter was the easiest thought you had. albeit selfish, but it was always you. you came first.

people would keep dying and you would stay hidden.

until you couldn’t.

until the door to the bathroom creaked open, heavy thumps of boots sounding out, close to you. close to your safety.

turning the phone off, encasing yourself in the complete darkness, you stilled. other things like extra deodorants and razors, common bathroom necessities littered around your body, but you refused to be the dumb blonde in horror movies.

so you didn’t move, you held your breath.

“come on, y/n,” san’s voice rung out, tantalizing, dark— so different from the voice you hear everyday walking around campus.

deep down, you knew none of those guys’ deaths were coincidences.

you just didn’t want san to be the bad guy.

“you can’t keep hiding, times limited, baby.” his voice cooed out, banging his fist against the wall loudly, looking to freak you out and give yourself away.

you didn’t. keeping calm and breathing deep, you just had to play it cool. you just can’t be scared.

you could hear a frustrated groan following a tear of the shower curtains being roughly pulled back, a kick to the bathtub. he’s losing patience, you’re losing your mind at how close he seems to be getting.

but he was never that thorough, he was just a stupid frat boy— or so you thought until now. used to think that he wasn’t very capable of much besides throwing big frat parties and serving as a pretty face, he always used to be a little clueless in a lot of aspects.

but what if that’s a front and he checks every goddamn inch of this bathroom, proving how thorough and smart he actually can be?

footsteps walked around the bathroom some more before you finally heard them disappear. where? you don’t know, but surely far enough away.

turning on your phone once again, your fingers frantically texted anyone within reach— ‘call the cops’ ‘murderer’ ‘think i might die please hurry’, anything you could. anything to save yourself.

“gotcha.” a voice perked, yanking the doors open to the cupboard, making you scream. hands immediately shot out and grabbed your ankle that was bunched up under the sink, harshly yanking you out to where your head slammed against the tiled floor.

“oh, man. you can fool san, but not me.” wooyoung this time. shock taking over your body.

words can’t formulate the feeling. the dread. anguish. fear. betrayal.

they were working together.

they were working together?

“come on, baby. places to be, things to do.” san piqued from the doorframe, leaning on it in his all black attire that matched wooyoung’s, two ghost face masks in his hand, lifting them and jiggling them around as if he was taunting you with that dimpled smirk on his face.

“you… the people…” your voice trailed off, looking back at wooyoung.

“dead or they left. let’s go before the party gets busted.” wooyoung joked, grabbing you by the waist and slinging you over his shoulder.

you didn’t fight back. how could you against your best friend?

lifting your head up to look at the bathroom you were once safe in, eyes meeting your other best friends who still had his dimpled smile along his features.

“we’re gonna have so much fun, baby.” san said, the ghost face masks still dangling in his hand.

halloween was not supposed to end like this.

not proofread lol 😝🫵🏻

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bratzforchris · 2 months

Text

Vampire-J.G. ·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:·

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*

Summary: A night exploring a haunted mansion with your best friend turns into you meeting your paranormal lover

Pairing: Vampire!Johnnie x human (feminine)!reader

Warnings: Horror/scary themes, blood, mentions of werewolf!Jake x Tara

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: HIIII :) ya girl has been on a writing kick lately and this idea struck me late last night! Let me know if you'd like a part 2 or if you want me to expand more on werewolf!Jake<3

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*

“Do you wanna do something fun?” Tara asked you, looking up from her phone.

You two were simply lying in your dorm on a Friday night, scrolling through your separate social media. In a rare occurrence, there were no parties going on in your college town, so you two had decided to have a quiet night in. That is, until your best friend looked at you with a gleam in her eye and asked her question.

“Like what?” You rolled onto your side, propping yourself on your elbow.

“Well…” she started, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “What if we went to Harbordale Manor?”

Harbordale Manor was notorious in the town. It was an old, Gothic mansion that was situated rather deep in the woods that skirted the town’s edge. Legend had it that the family that had lived there in the early 1900s had died in a rather gruesome murder and that some of their souls still haunted the house today. You didn’t quite believe that part, mostly because vampires were not real and secondly because no one had been brave enough to actually venture all the way inside the house in the college’s history.

“You’re kidding, Tar,” You snorted. “What are we gonna do? Go out there and make it to the gates just to say we went? Like literally everyone else?”

Your best friend shook her head, thick, black locks of hair falling down her shoulders. “No. I want to see if the vampire thing is real. I haven’t gotten laid in ages. I need the Edward fantasy to come to life.”

You rolled your eyes at your best friend antics, but pulled yourself out of bed, throwing on a flannel and your Converse. “Well, are you coming or not?”

Tara scrambled down from her bed, pulling on her shoes and grabbing her backpack and a flashlight. Luckily, the residence hall was nearly empty. It seemed like most of the inhabitants and even the RA had decided to have an early, quiet night, which worked in your favor. People would definitely want to join the two of you for the shock factor if they knew where you were going.

The walk to the edge of the woods was quick and easy. The few students you two had passed on the street paid you no mind, too caught up in their own lives. The forest loomed in front of you, dark and twisted with the sound of animals and other creatures rustling underfoot.

“This is it,” Tara hummed, flicking on the flashlight. “No turning back now.”

“If we get killed or die, it’s your fault.” You joked, nudging her shoulder.

You had never been in the woods at night, and because of that, your stomach rumbled with unease. You knew everything you had heard were urban legends, myths, and stories, but that didn’t stop your heart from pounding every time a twig snapped. You and Tara had walked about 800 feet before her flashlight glinted across rusted metal. Shining it more thoroughly, you saw the wrought iron gates that stood before the stone mansion, held up by stone columns. ‘HDM’ was somehow strategically twisted into the bars, letting you know that whoever had once lived here was both regal and wealthy. Whatever path had once led to the house was long gone, and the only trace that people had been out here any time recently were the scattered beer cans.

“How the fuck are we-” Tara didn’t have time to finish her sentence before you started climbing the gates. “That’s one way to do it, I guess.”

“Don’t be a pussy!” You giggled, landing with a thud! on the other side of the gates.

Tara rolled her eyes, following your path and quickly landing beside you. “Don’t forget this was my idea. I need that vampire boy.”

“Vampires are skinny, Tara,” You laughed. “Remember when you told that guy you wouldn’t go out with him because he only went to the gym three times a week?”

“Yes, well.” she huffed but blushed.

You two walked closer to the manor, beaming the flashlight over the pure wealth. The mansion was a good three stories high, made completely of smooth, gray stones. The roof was of a black metal that sloped into sharp points that met gargoyles above the high-arched front door. Everything about the house screamed classic, Victorian-era Gothic. The huge, black front door had an enormous silver knocker that looked eerily similar to a human skull. The door handle was the same silver as the knocker and was in the shape of a bloodied dagger.

“Damn,” Tara said. “The owner’s must’ve been hardcore Goth.”

You tried the door handle, only for it to swing right open. The years of decay on the house must’ve loosened the locks. You both stepped inside, examining the home. Despite falling into disrepair, the house was beautiful and quite literally clean. It had rich, black and white wallpaper with scalloped designs and a plush, blood-red carpet. The entryway swung into a huge foyer and ballroom, with a spiral staircase and enormous, crystal chandelier.

“This is beautiful.” You murmured, twirling around the room in awe.

Tara grabbed a silver candelabra off a circular table that was shoved into the corner, examining its white, wax sticks. “Think they’ll light?” she asked, pulling matches out of her backpack.

“Worth a shot.” You nodded, going around the room and touching various things like paintings and the old books.

Surprisingly, Tara’s candles lit, which cast the room in a fiery, orange glow. The ballroom was just as pretty as the entryway, with enough room for dancing, as well as some chairs and tables for eating and drinking. Everything was decorated with fine china, silver, and crystal that all stayed with the Gothic look. What truly caught your eye, though, was the fireplace area. The large maroon and black chairs had been sculpted expertly and they sat around a black, wooden coffee table and an enormous silver fireplace. The piece that tied it all together, though, was the portrait that hung above the fireplace.

It was of a young man with long, black hair and piercing blue eyes. He had on a gorgeous black suit that appeared to be from the Victorian era as well. His skin was milky and smooth in the painting and he had a realistic somber look spread across his plump lips and strong nose. Although you had to stand on your tiptoes to read it, the tarnished plaque read ‘Johnnie Guilbert 1901’. The painting had been made shortly before the murder had happened here, which made you wonder if the man was the house’s owner.

“He’s hot.” Tara nodded, coming to stand beside you.

“And like, one hundred and forty years old and, y’know, dead.” You snorted.

You two moved on, getting ready to go up the staircase when a sharp pain zinged up your leg. You looked down to see that a shattered piece of china had fallen to the ground and cut your leg, the blood starting to trickle down your shin.

It all happened so quickly. One moment you were looking at your cut, and the next, Tara had been thrown to the side and you were wrapped in a pair of cold arms. And naturally, you struggled as your best friend looked on in horror.

“Let me go!” You wailed, wriggling in your captor’s grasp.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the masculine voice was icy, yet weirdly comforting in your ear. “Just relax.”

The man’s hands were practically subzero on your arms. Whoever he was, he had to have superhuman strength. Finally, in what you thought was a moment of weakness, but really his doing, the man dropped you and you tried to scramble away. Unfortunately, he grabbed you again by the leg.

“I’m going to help you.” he hummed, waving hand in front of your face and staring at you with blood-red eyes.

You felt like you had been put in a trance, for you relaxed into his cold touch. It didn’t faze you that whoever this was had literal red eyes or the fact that he bent down and licked your cut with long, white fangs bared, leaving your leg looking like you had never been cut at all. Once he had finished, you seemed to fall out of your haze and stared at the man.

“Who are you?”

“I’ve been a lot of things,” he whispered, cupping your face. “But I know who you are.”

The longer you stared at the man, the more familiar he became. Long, black hair, icy blue eyes, black suit. The only difference between this man and the painting was that he appeared to have modernized himself with tattoos and piercings.

“You’re the man in the painting,” You whispered. “How are you…”

“Alive? Oh baby bat, you humans can be so clueless sometimes,” Johnnie shook his head with fondness. “Was the blood licking and fangs not enough?”

“You’re not a vampire. Vampires aren’t real.”

Johnni grabbed your hand and placed it on his chest where his button up shirt had been undone. His skin was cold and pale, and you felt nothing other than his soft breathing. There was no heartbeat, and he could tell you noticed this.

“Believe me now?” he asked softly.

“How?” You glanced to the right to see Tara being helped by what looked like another man, but you were too focused on the supernatural creature in front of you.

“The legends of this house are true,” Johnnie looked rather sad for a moment, but his voice was unwavering. “My family was murdered, but I was the only one who was changed.”

Even though you were still slightly shaken up from the interaction, you felt at peace with Johnnie. He wasn’t scary like myths about vampires had told you, and he didn’t seem to want to consume your blood. You almost felt bad for him. Had he been alone in the house his family had been murdered in for over a hundred years?

“I was the first born son,” the vampire gestured to the immense painting of himself. “My family was very well-loved in town. We held the biggest balls and my father was the mayor, but he made…a very bad deal. To be fair, he didn’t know the man had been a vampire. And so, the man came for revenge. He sucked my family dry, wanting me to join him in his business, which is why I was the only one changed. My mother opened the curtains before she died and…he died. But now, I’m the only one who still walks the earth.”

You were on the verge of tears as Johnnie finished his story. You threw your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. His icy body relaxed into your touch, holding him close to you. There was almost a gravitational pull from your body to his, something that wasn’t quite human.

“Do you…feed on humans?” You asked him softly, wondering why he hadn’t sunk his fangs into you and Tara yet.

“I try not to,” he smiled kindly. “I only feed on animals. Unless of course, it’s someone who deserves it.” the man smiled, his fangs glinting in the pale moonlight.

“Next question. Did you like, put a spell on me?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” You started. “I’m weirdly comfortable around a vampire.”

Johnnie smiled softly again. “Once a mortal is changed into a vampire, they’re assigned a soulmate. That person can be a mortal or a vampire. I am unable to love until I’ve met my person, baby bat.” he paused to see if you would get the gist.

“So, I’m your person?” You asked him.

He nodded softly, kissing your forehead with gentle, cold lips. “Yes, little blood flower. You’re my person.”

You smiled, relaxing into his hold. Never in a million years would you have thought you would be hanging out with a vampire in an abandoned mansion on a Friday night, but Johnnie’s captivating pull kept you here, eager to relish in his love. Before you knew it, though, Tara had appeared next to you with another man. He was tall, much taller than Johnnie with long, brown hair and green eyes. He also had a variety of tattoos and piercings, but he wasn’t dressed nearly as proper as Johnnie was. Whereas the vampire had on a black and blood red suit, this other man was in more “punk” clothing and looked completely normal.

“I’m not tripping, right?” Tara asked you. “They’re really a vampire and a werewolf?”

“Well, I know about a vampire, but a werewolf?” You looked to Johnnie for confirmation.

“That’s Jake. He keeps me company. It gets a little lonely around here, so I need an immortal best friend.” he smiled.

You smiled, realizing that although these men were technically supernatural beings, they were nowhere near the legends people had made about them. They weren't aggressive or violent and aside from their physical attributes, they seemed fully human. They could think and feel and love. And as you and Tara spent the rest of the night getting to know your vampire and werewolf, you could tell that they would be in your life for more than just one night.

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animeyanderelover · 2 months

Note

Hiii, I don't see much of Jujutsu Kaisen so that's what I'll be requesting:

1. Happy deathday (Gojo, sukuna, nanami, Mahito, the 1st years)

2. Their reaction to s/o being able to nullify their ability (Gojo, sukuna, Mahito)

You can add other characters you'd like and think might be interesting.

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, manipulation, gaslighting, clinginess, paranoia, controlling behavior, sadism, isolation

S/o can nullify their abilities

Ryomen Sukuna

🗾I can see his s/o very well being assigned to Yuji as soon as the boy has swallowed Sukuna’s finger. The King of Curses himself doesn’t do much besides cackling over you as he sees you as nothing more but a mere babysitter. It has definitely happened that his mouth has popped up on Itadori’s face, tauntingly questioning you about what you hope to do once he actually gains control. You never appear shaken though, always fairly calm and composed as you reply to him before Yuji slaps the mouth shut and apologizes to you. Sukuna is always watching and he definitely observes your confident exterior which does elicit his curiosity. What exactly can you do? What are your abilities? He wants to test you, to see if you are only bark and no bite or if you can stand for your words. Yuji’s naïve wish to protect people is exploited for Sukuna’s own use and soon he snatches the chance to gain control of Yuji whilst he is in your presence. He is fully prepared to kill you if you don’t prove yourself.

🗾Only that the situation never escalates to a battle as all you do is touch him and seal his powers away, forcing him back inside Yuji’s mind. You don’t want to risk any unnecessary destruction. So you just brush him off as nothing? Who do you think you are? It’s a rare humiliation Sukuna has to suffer on that day as you aren’t even willing to fight him and label it as unneeded. He’s seething, his words from that day on filled with a lot more spite but you always reply with an equal amount of sass and snarl. He really has to work on that mouth on yours. As infuriated as he is though, he can’t deny that there isn’t a spark of attraction within this all though. He definitely has to put you in your place but your unique ability to cancel someone else’s technique is, even if quite plain-looking, definitely the ultimate counter against anyone. You’d definitely be useful in his later schemes to help him to regain all of his fingers and to get his original body back.

🗾The verbal banter between the two of you keeps going on as both of you essentially see who can deliver the heavier blow with their insults. A part of Sukuna is definitely yearning for a chance to get another chance to fight you physically but for now he has to be satisfied with this. He can’t deny it though, he is enjoying this by now quite a lot. He’ll tolerate this bratty and rebellious behavior of yours for as long as he is stuck inside the boy’s mind. As soon as Uraume has revealed themself, Sukuna is ordering his servant to keep a special eye on you for as long as he still hasn’t regained a body over which he has full control. You absolutely can’t die now that he has gotten so incredibly interested in you. As much as he would love to search for you right now and get his rematch, he feels his control slowly fading away. There is a sadistic grin on his face though as he takes one final glance at the havoc he has caused in Shibuya. He can’t wait to see your reaction of despair, knowing that it was your job to prevent something like this from happening.

Gojo Satoru

🩵He has always had a particular interest in you. Although you are a low-ranked sorcerer, there has always been something that has made Gojo’s day that much more delightful. Is it your frustrated facade whenever he is teasing the living daylight out of you? Is it the way you pout whenever you feel a bit neglected? Whatever it is, Gojo is absolutely obsessed about it and just can’t stop himself from always following you around. He is the worst attention-seeker possible and he either annoys you to have you focus on him or he is being more considerate and buys you expensive presents to gain your attention and maybe even some praise and a kiss out of gratitude. Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded if it would have stayed that way. But then you just had to develop this Domain Expansion of yours, didn’t you? An ability that completely eradicates all Cursed Energy within except your own, that drains the energy of all foreign living beings within and only strengthens you in return. Suddenly your popularity breaks through the roof.

🩵Suddenly Gojo’s perception of you changes as well. It is a development he doesn’t want to accept. You were supposed to only be this adorable sorcerer he knew about and paid attention to. You weren’t supposed to be the center of attention, be it good or bad. You weren’t supposed to be like him. He knows that the stronger and unique one’s powers are, the more likely they are to be targeted by those who fear such strength. Even if he has no proof for it, Gojo’s paranoia suddenly appears. What if you are really targeted by someone? What if you are killed by someone? The change in atmosphere when he is around you is palpable as he is a lot more rigid and his blue eyes are always darting around as if he fears that someone or something will come for your life at any moment. For a little while this is all he mainly thinks about as he tries to butter up to you by telling you about the experiences he has had as a child to justify his overly clingy behavior. It isn’t long until he has another realization though. Your abilities would even render his powers useless.

🩵Gojo’s identity has always tied into being the strongest, about being the one who no one can beat. Now you exist though. Now you are there and can eradicate his abilities. What does that make him then? Is he even himself if he isn’t the strongest? A part of Satoru is tempted to ask you to show him your Domain Expansion in the little hope that your powers won’t work on him. The other part of him is too frightened to do so as he doesn’t want his belief up until now to be destroyed. Who is he if he isn’t the one everyone has always thought him to be? The man is terrified, terrified as he realizes that the one person who could most likely kill him is you. That isn’t who you were supposed to be. You were supposed to be only his. Desperation and bitterness collide with each other as Gojo wishes that you would have just stayed that overlooked and weak sorcerer you used to be. You don’t need any Domain Expansion. You don’t even need to be a sorcerer. You only need him. Satoru will help you to realize this.

Mahito

🔷Mahito has always been carefree and goofy even whilst committing atrocities by toying around with humans. He has always gotten a good laugh out of Yuji’s moral lessons, about the boy’s anger whenever he transfigured and killed humans. It has always been fun and that is largely because so far Mahito has never been seriously beaten. Until he crosses paths with you. A freelancer of a sorcerer who isn’t really working for the Jujutsu society. It isn’t his first time that he has fought against a sorcerer and in hindsight his mistake was taunting you even whilst you weren’t willing to fight him. Of course he will never blame it on himself that he pushed you over your limit until you ran out of patience. Soon he is crying and screaming as he tries to scramble away from you yet without any success as he is in your Domain Expansion. Quivering pupils look at you as you calmly walk over, your fists stained in his blood as you look at him with chilling disregard. He isn’t even worth killing.

🔷Mahito is unable to live with the humiliation you give him on that day. Never before has he been on the weak side before, never before has he been on the side that suffers. That’s why he is unable to process it all. He’s deeply scarred after that encounter with you. Partially he is utterly and partially he yearns for revenge, traumatized as he can’t and won’t accept how you treated him on that day as if he was the disposable toy. Mahito initially becomes more obsessed with the thought of forcing you to cower on all four in front of him. He needs to correct his view on the world that has been shattered ever since you cursed his life. His body is still far too terrified to get close to you so the curse starts stalking you from a safe distance and he hates how his body always freezes in fear and panic if your head turns around, petrified that you might have sensed him. He hates what he has become of you, petty hatred all directed against you for this humiliation he had to endure because of you. Mahito wants to see you suffer even more than he did.

🔷Hatred soon gradually weakens with time though as Mahito starts getting interested in you. Initial plans to kill closed ones of you fail as he soon comes to realize that you are a true lone wolf. Your life is lonely and isolated from others as you like to keep to yourself. Why is that? Is there a deeper lying fear? Or does nobody like you? It is almost as if Mahito is actively trying to find something to pity you for all to boost his own sense of superiority and confidence. You really don’t seem to have anybody in your life and suddenly he is very adamant to keep it that way. Someone like you doesn’t deserve anyone and he even takes it a step further by interfering to the point where other sorcerers start distrusting you. He wants to see you lonely. He wants to find a way to break you because only then can he feel whole again. Don’t worry though. He’ll gladly keep you as soon as he has found out how to completely take away your abilities. He’s sure that you’ll be at your cutest when you’re at your weakest and most vulnerable point.

#yandere jujutsu kaisen #yandere jjk #yandere sukuna #yandere ryomen sukuna #yandere gojo #yandere gojo satoru #yandere mahito

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harmonictechnicality · 1 year

Text

Eddie's Memory Log: Day 30

part 1 here | part 2 here | part 4 here | part 5 here | part 6 here

(ao3 link here)

After one whole month of documenting Eddie Munson’s semi-fucked memory levels, Steve has come across a few crucial bullet points:

Eddie never forgets his own name.

If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.

Eddie likes the lime jello better than the chocolate pudding, except he always forgets.

Eddie’s memory is worse after the weekend, but it gets better throughout the week.

Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).

Eddie’s memory is at its best if he’s had multiple visitors the day before.

And maybe the most important bullet of them all:

Eddie always remembers three people (Wayne, Dustin, and Steve).

Memory Log: Day 31

It’s Monday, which means Steve hasn’t seen Eddie all weekend. The knuckleheads and Hellfire lemmings take the weekend shift since they don’t have school. Steve should be grateful for the time off, but he can’t help but wonder how Eddie is feeling - if he’s throwing hissy fits or being confectionery sweet to all of his guests.

The curiosity and concern has settled its way into Steve’s routine during his days off. That’s just how it is.

And that’s exactly why Mondays are becoming Steve’s (secret) favorite day, despite Eddie’s brain managing the slightest soft-reset after the weekend.

“Is he a Hyde or a Kathy today?” Steve asks the nurse at the visitor check-in counter.

He knows the majority of the staff by now, and they’ve all adopted his Eddie Behavioral Lingo. Steve is getting far too cocky about being the hospital trendsetter.

“He’s um…” the nurse's gaze drifts up to Eddie’s door.

Shit. Steve bursts into the room because he already knows exactly what that translates to.

It’s a high-pain day. Eddie affectionately calls them Grendel Days - he finally decided to play along with their lackluster literary references.

Oh yeah… Eddie remembers Beowulf

“Hey, hero.” Steve speaks in a lower volume because loud noises are brutal on days like this. “I heard that Grendel crashed the party today, huh?”

Admittedly, Steve had Dustin retell the important chunks of Beowulf to him cause there’s no way in Nerd Hell that Steve was going to read that fantasy bible of theirs.

Eddie squints one eye open to look at Steve. “That son of a bitch is trying to slice open my goddamn kidneys, I swear.”

“Should I get my nail bat?”

“You’re what?”

Damnit.

Eddie remembers zero fucking percent about their monster battles (and it’s probably best to keep it that way while he’s still recovering).

“Not important.” It is but whatever. Best to just change topics. “Can I interest you in any pain distractions?”

“What are you gonna do exactly - open your letterman jacket and offer me a lollipop?” Eddie snorts at his own joke before slumping over, holding his sides.

Steve wags his finger at him. “See, that is karma for being so mean to me all the time.”

“That?”

“All this pain you’re having.”

“Actually, I think it’s because I’m some type of Demonic Tinker Bell.” Eddie offers, fake coughing into his hand. “If not enough people are calling me freak, I start to die.”

It’s just a joke, but Steve is not so keen on his friends joking about things like Mortality anymore.

Still, he laughs. Plays along easily. “All hail the freak.”

Eddie stops his fake coughing fit.

“And just like that, my wings of darkness have returned.” Eddie flicks his wrist theatrically, giving Steve the weakest smile. “See? Much better.”

But it’s not Much Better. Eddie spends the rest of the visit seething with internal pains. Switchboard style - one area inflicting jolts of throbbing agony, then another. Eddie grabs wherever it hurts the most. Sometimes he can’t touch every pain point, it’s just too widespread.

Maybe Steve should… No. He’s not sure his hands could stop the hurt any better. He’s not a doctor and he’s not fucking magic. Steve is just the guy that wears offensively bright sweaters and watches Eddie’s torture spectacle from a front row seat.

They don’t talk much after that.

Eddie can’t talk through the pain. And apparently… neither can Steve.

Memory Log: Day 35

The pain has been monstrous all week long. They’ve had to plug Eddie’s heart monitor back in because his heart rate tends to skyrocket when waves of pain hit. It used to be easy to forget that Eddie suffered anything other than head trauma.

Not anymore. Not with his room beeping like a terminal metronome at all hours.

Steve stops asking Eddie’s novel-based behavior levels because he already knows the answer. Wishes he didn’t.

“Munson?” The lights are off, which helps with Eddie’s headaches. That’s good. Less pain in his head, behind his eyes. Small victories.

“Go home.” Eddie’s breathing sounds labored.

Steve settles into his chair anyways. “Can’t.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“Me neither.”

“Steve, I swear.”

“Like a sailor.”

Eddie chuckles. “Hurts to laugh.”

Seeing Eddie like this is god awful. He should be shredding on his guitar or mocking Dustin senseless for his clashing pattern combinations. He shouldn't be wrapping his arms around his torso, confining the pain that’s mangling him from the inside out.

“We’ve gotta find a way to get Grendel out of your system, man.” Steve bends down to Eddie’s eye level. “Cause this fucking blows.”

Eddie opens both eyes this time - they’re so sunken in. “… Grendel?”

Shit no.

If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.

Steve tries again anyway. “You know… from Beowulf?”

“Sounds cool.” Eddie eye’s close again. “Are they a band?”

Eddie doesn’t remember Beowulf.

“You think everything sounds like a band name…” Steve mumbles, ignoring the disappointment pinging in his mind.

Eddie reaches for the guitar pick on his neck - one of his bandmates brought it by a couple weeks ago. He rubs his thumb over it as if he can transfer memories through fingerprints.

“Hometown Slut.” Eddie sends a sideways smile over towards Steve. “Snatching virginities and record deals.”

Okay. Fuck. Eddie remembers inside jokes. That seems like a big fucking deal.

Steve attempts to not overreact with this revelation. Avoid another hair ruffling/thumbs-up situation. “Did you have to use the word ‘snatch’ in your weird little slogan?”

“Oh the word choice was very unavoidable, Stevie boy.”

Steve shuts the notebook, focuses on keeping Eddie distracted from his pain. “What about your band?”

“What about it?”

“Do you remem…” Steve searches for another phrase. “Do you think you can tell me the name?”

“Alright, please stop treating ‘remember’ like it’s a dirty word.” Eddie whines. “I’m not the fucking cable version of Breakfast Club. Stop censoring yourself around me.”

“Right.” Steve opens the binder back up.

Eddie doesn’t remember…

“Corroded Coffin.”

Phew. Eddie does remember his band.

“Do you remember what instrument you play?” Steve puts emphasis on the un-censored word.

“Accordion.”

“Be serious.”

“Polka is dripping in sincerity.”

Steve pinches the skin between his eyebrows. Truly, it’s impressive that Eddie can still manage to be a massive prick, even when he’s writhing in pain. It’s like he’s going for the goddamn gold medal of assholery.

“Guitar.” Eddie dangles the pick around, somewhat peeved. “Now can we chill with the third degree for today, officer?”

Steve notices Eddie’s monitor is beeping faster than it was when he first entered the room. That sobers him up from his irritation.

“Yeah, sure.” He sighs. “No more questions for today.”

Eddie cuts him a devious look. “Well I didn’t say that now, did I?”

“Huh?”

“Oh the vapid look is not nearly as cute as you think it is.” Eddie lifts himself up slightly from his stack of pillows. He flattens them out and into a pillow wall as he sits upright. “How about I ask the questions today?”

“Why? I’m not the one who’s struggling with brain stuff.” Steve walks over to give him a hand. Eddies seems to be struggling with his strength, which is to be expected after becoming a fucking bat buffet.

“That’s debatable.” Eddie mumbles.

Steve’s close enough to feel his breath as he pushes the pillows comfortably around Eddie’s new sitting position.

It’s not weird, the close contact or the breath. Steve has been helping Eddie with gross shit for a month - holding his hair when he starts puking or coughing up blood. Unraveling him from tubes and cords because Eddie is notorious for twisting himself into a medical straight jacket with this shit.

It’s not weird… it’s just weird how aware Steve is of Eddie’s breath. How warm and jagged it feels, even through his layered clothes.

Maybe Eddie is aware too, because he starts breathing through his nose the longer the silence is drawn out between them. Steve finally takes a step back, creates a non-breath-touching distance once again.

“Humor me then.” Eddie fills the tense pause.

Steve crosses his arms. “Don’t I always?”

“No. Usually, you aggravate me.” But see, why do Eddie’s eyes get all shimmery when he says snarky shit? And why does Steve suddenly use words like shimmery to describe Eddie Munson?

Why does it remind him of those sequined dresses that girls wear to homecoming dances when Eddie’s eyes do that shimmery thing? It’s like his mind is taking the insults and turning them into compliments, which is so bizarre.

“Steve?”

Shit, right. Say something instead of thinking about Eddie’s sequined eyes, goddamnit. “Yeah?”

Real original, asshole.

“Just… look.” Eddie taps his fingers against this side of his bed. “There’s sharp pains shooting through every fucking limb on my body right now. I just need a distraction today - not a pop quiz.”

Yeah, Steve offered the distraction idea at the beginning of the week. But really, that’s not what he’s here to do. He’s here for the kids. He’s here to fill his jobless life with a meaningful task. Help Eddie the way he couldn’t help him in the Upside Down.

But the kids have no idea what it’s like every day. How some days, they are friendly and comfortable with one another. How some days, there’s a verbal boxing match between them - and on those days, they’re both the losers.

How some days, Steve is the one getting flustered instead of Eddie (who’s usually being called out for staring at Steve’s hair or arms or whatever else his eyes decide to fixate on).

Nobody else knows how many climates this hospital room can hold. Nobody besides Steve and Eddie.

“Fine.” Steve decides after mulling it over for far too long. “I’ll be your distraction.”

“Careful, Steve.” Eddie breaks the non-breath-touching distance, poking Steve’s wrist. “You almost sound flattered.”

“Hardly.” Bad time to bring up the word hard - when they’re seesawing between taunts and flirtations. Thank god for the binder Steve’s holding, obscuring any part of his anatomy that could potentially betray his coolness at the moment.

“Go ahead, Munson.” Steve backs away from Eddie’s touch. “Ask your questions.”

Eddie runs the entire thing as if he were a late night talk show host. Uses his hospital side table as his interview desk. Pretends his empty jello container is his microphone. Calls Steve his ‘special guest’ the whole time. Steve scoots his chair right next to Eddie’s bed, just to keep up the talk show charade.

An hour into it, they’re both feeding off one another’s energy and attention. Steve can tell by the way Eddie’s fingers unclench from his sides and his teeth stop gritting together, that his pain is subsiding - or perhaps it’s no longer at the focal point of his mind. His heart monitor is at a tempo that seems ideal - less fast and less choppy. More like a ballad than a pop song.

Eddie’s questions range from common to outright strange. He asks Steve shit like, ‘what’s your favorite breakfast food?’ And then follows it up with, ‘okay - but if you could only eat scrambled eggs for dinner, would they still be your favorite breakfast? Or does time of day play a vital role in your food preferences?’

“Does it fucking matter?” Steve rolls his eyes. More than annoyed by Eddie’s constant need to play devil’s advocate.

“Nothing matters, Harrington.” Eddie replies. “And please stop answering my questions with more questions. This isn’t a goddamn improv game.”

Eddie remembers how to be a pain in the ass.

Steve doesn’t write it down, doesn’t really need to. “What the hell is an improv game?”

“I swear to Johnny Carson, I’ll kick you off my show.”

“Whatever.” Steve isn’t any less confused, but what’s new. “I guess time of day does matter a little bit.”

“Ha! Knew it. You’re so predictable.”

“And you’re a fucking handful.”

“That’s high praise coming from such an esteemed guest of the show.” Eddie’s hand is splayed over his chest, over his heart. The heart that’s beating like a ballad and not a pop song according to his monitor.

Okay stop.

Steve knows this is a game. A shtick. So why is his face heating up? Why are his palms sweatier than they were twenty minutes ago? Why does Steve keep wondering what Eddie’s eyelashes feel like against his cheek when he flutters them in that overly dramatic way?

The clock interrupts his questioning. Probably for the best.

They exchange goodbyes. Eddie always gets a little concerned that Steve might not show up again. Steve always tucks his bitchiness away to reassure Eddie that he’ll be back on Monday.

It’s their routine. Not just Steve’s routine. It’s theirs now.

Memory Log: Day 38

It’s Monday. Soft-reset day. Steve’s new favorite day.

“Hey, Steve.” One of the nurses stops him on his way to Eddie’s room.

Her name is Sam - Steve likes Sam the best because she lets him stay longer on days when Eddie feels his shittiest. She also gives him gum to help with his nerves.

Hospitals do that sometimes. They just activate his nerves like glow sticks. Snapping and crackling the radioactive colors that make his stomach churn.

Anyways, the gum helps.

“What’s up?” Steve asks.

“Just wondering,” Sam gives him a pleasant smile. “Do we have a code for Eddie’s good days?”

“Good days?” They don’t hear that phrase often around here. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe you should think of one.” She starts flipping through some files. “He’s been in great spirits for three days now.”

Three days? Steve rarely gets three hours of Eddie being in great spirits. The guy is a perpetual ghoul, so this is definitely something to celebrate.

Steve makes a pit stop to the vending machine. Grabs them a couple of root beers and candy bars for the occasion. Look, it’s not champagne and hors d’oeuvres, but it’ll suffice. Besides, Eddie doesn’t strike him as a ritzy kind of dude anyways. He’d probably make some joke like, ‘you mean to tell me that a whore made these d’ouevres?’

Jesus christ, Steve’s been hanging out with Eddie for too long.

“There’s my favorite lady killer.” Eddie is already grinning as Steve walks in the door.

Still remembers Steve is a Hometown Slut (of all the things that would stick to his brain… why that?)

“Seriously, you look sharp today.”

Steve’s knees lock at the compliment. “Um. Thanks. So do you.”

And the crazy part is, he means that. There’s a peachy color returning back to Eddie’s skin. The bags under his eyes are a faded gray instead of an Almost Black.

And his hair. Eddie’s hair is actually untangled. His curls are fluffed out, sort of feathery at the ends. Maybe somebody trimmed all of the dead pieces off because it looks... Well, it looks nice.

Steve kind of hates to admit that.

“Guessing your pain levels are better?”

“You guess right.” Eddie nods. “Whatever meds they gave me Friday night finally kicked Grendel’s lousy ass.”

Eddie remembers Beowulf again.

“Glad to hear it.” Steve is trying to process how great things are going. Eddie’s complexion. Eddie’s memories. It’s never this clear on Mondays. Steve tries to just be grateful to have a day like this, but he can’t help but wonder why.

Why now?

“Eggs for breakfast?” Eddie is fiddling with his necklace again.

Steve jerks his head up. “You… didn’t forget?”

“Don’t get too excited.” Eddie gestures to Steve’s pants. “Because I wish I could forget those ridiculous khakis that you always wear on Mondays.”

“Shit, really?”

“What’s the deal with that anyways?” Eddie’s nose scrunches up at the question. “Laundry day or something?”

“I…” Yes.

“Or do you think your ass just looks better in lighter colors?”

“Well…” Also yes.

Eddie winks. “Looks like your ability to complete a sentence is just as fucked as my memory, huh Stevie?”

Steve nervously runs his hands through his hair. “This is just a lot to process, sorry.”

And it is. Steve starts jotting everything down before he starts to forget:

Eddie remembers Steve’s favorite breakfast food.

Eddie remembers Steve wearing khakis on previous Mondays.

Eddie remembers Steve’s Memory Fucked inside joke.

Eddie remembers a shit ton about Steve.

Eddie remembers.

Very lightly, Steve scribbles on the corner of the page:

Eddie notices Steve’s ass…

The rest of the visit is pretty awesome, one of the best ones they’ve ever had. Eddie recalls practically everything from Friday, which is blowing Steve’s mind. They talk about his visit with Dustin on Sunday, and how excited Eddie is to see Wayne on Thursday. Steve doesn’t even bother with taking more notes because Eddie remembers it all.

They talk like real friends today. Friends that occasionally notice other friend’s asses or get lost in their sequined eyes, but still. It’s somewhere in the ballpark of friends, right? Whatever it is, it’s better than ripping each other apart with insults. That’s gotta count for something.

Eddie falls asleep an hour before visiting hours are over. He falls asleep still smiling from the last joke he told before dozing off. Steve studies his facial features because he can finally see more of them (Eddie’s bangs were trimmed too, thank god).

He’s still pretty banged up. Cuts that overlap and bruises that change gradient the further up they spread. As if the softer parts of Eddie are still freshly wounded. That’s not how it works, Steve has been beaten up enough to know that people don’t bruise like fruit. Not really.

Steve can just see more of Eddie now, which is proving to be a dangerous road to travel down. Way too many detours to let his mind wander. Think. Overthink.

He thinks Eddie is attractive. That’s the detour he’s taking tonight. And if this person didn’t already occupy so much space in his mind, that detour might be more shocking to him. But it’s barely registering on the shock-meter.

Eddie’s unharmed features are highlighted in attractiveness against the purples and grays and reds. It’s almost impossible not to notice that he’s attractive when his face has this many colors. This much character.

Steve doesn’t know what’s going on. This could all be his exhaustion kicking in. Or maybe Eddie’s great spirits has twisted Steve’s outlook on things. Or maybe it’s an illusion from the Better Day they’ve shared together.

The only clear answer that Steve has right now is that Eddie remembers him. And that fucking means something.

Steve stops by to tell Sam the good news on his way out.

“I think he’s getting better.”

Sam nods once. “He definitely feels better, I’ll give you that.”

“Sure, but…” Steve begins. “I think his memory is getting better too. He remembers the littlest details about me.”

“Steve.”

“That’s huge, right?” Steve is so awestruck. “Like… I don’t know, Sam. Maybe he’ll get to go home soon.”

She doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes just keep shifting between Steve and Eddie’s door.

“I think I need to show you something.”

That can’t be good. Her tone is very, ‘speak with me after class, young man.’

They quietly walk back into Eddie’s room. Sam motions her head for Steve to approach Eddie’s bedside. Cautiously, Steve does.

She gently pulls back Eddie’s thin blanket, and Steve feels the air vacate his fucking lungs.

Eddie’s arms. There’s tape and IVs and tattoos and scars - all of the usual stuff.

But then there’s writing. Eddie is covered in black ink, scribbled notes filling in all the gaps of his pale skin. Steve can’t make out most of the words - it’s all messy.

But there’s one word he spots over and over again.

‘Steve.’

It’s all messy, sure. But it’s all about him.

“Holy shit.” Steve whispers, quickly looking towards Sam. “Sorry, didn’t mean to swear.”

“No, that’s an appropriate response.” Of course she’d be cool about him swearing.

Without waking up Eddie, he begins to decipher the notes as best as he can:

Scrambled eggs. Extra hold hairspray. Hyde or Kathy. Yellow sweater. Khakis on Mondays.

There are notes on things they haven’t talked about as well. Things that Eddie has just observed:

Steve visits Mon-Fri.

Steve laughs at all of your jokes, even the mean ones.

Steve applies chapstick when he’s nervous.

Steve will untangle your wires without making it weird.

The name Steve no longer sounds the same after reading it fifteen times over.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” Sam places a hand on Steve’s back. “It’s not that he’s remembering everything again.”

“Oh.”

“He just doesn’t want to forget you.”

No. That can’t be right. That can’t be possible. Of course Eddie knows who Steve is. Of course he does.

Steve finds a shitty excuse to get the hell out of this place. He’s polite about it because Sam is a kindhearted person, but this is so fucking unfair. Every last bit of it, down the last ink stain on Eddie’s nondominant arm.

Max isn’t awake. Eddie still has a skim-milk memory. Nothing has gotten better?

Well that shit ends today. Because whatever detour Steve’s mind discovered tonight, it’s leading him down a fucking freeway of tenacity. He’s fueled by whatever attraction or feelings he’s developing for Eddie. Whether it’s friendship or something more, it really doesn’t matter. Not after tonight.

Steve just cares about Eddie way too much to let his mind rot away like this. He’s too close, too connected to the problem to let it go unsolved forever.

As soon as Steve gets home, he calls Robin.

“Really, dingus?” Robin answers the phone like that. Annoyed and groaning already. “It’s late and I’m neck-deep in a John Hughes marathon.”

“It’s about Eddie.” Steve gets right to it.

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh fuck.” She exhales loudly. “How can I help?”

“You’re friends with his bandmates, right?”

“Yeah, kinda. Why?”

Steve flips through the memory log. Locates one of his crucial bullet points:

Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).

“I need you to ask them to make a mixtape of Eddie’s favorite songs.” Steve requests. “And it should be in chronological order. From stuff he liked as a kid, to stuff he’s into now.”

“Okay…” Robin pauses. “And you think this will help?”

“I don’t know.” Which is true, it could be a big waste of time. “But I’ve gotta try something.”

This might be dumb. But music helped them defeat(ish) Vecna. So there’s a possibility it could massage the knots in Eddie’s mind. Relax him enough to remember his life. All of it.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Steve adds before hanging up.

“What?”

Steve hits the accelerator on his freeway of tenacity.

“I need my fucking car back.”

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie ficlet #these are getting longer than I ever thought they would be I'm sorry!#but things are gonna get way more flirty next time 😏#oh and I’ve read this too many times to know if it’s decent anymore #so if it’s mush… that is why 🙃#and please bonk me on the head if I forget to tag you please xx

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aoxizu · 26 days

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i have another 2.1 character dynamic post in the recesses of my brain but i need to get this out first

star rail's 2.1 update main plotline leans a lot more into existentialism and absurdism than i thought it would which is a really nice surprise

like i thought before 2.0 that at most it was just going to be some "oh no capitalism bad ipc bad cults also bad" thing but honestly what we got is so much more interesting. the spoilers start now

also massive disclaimer i am not a philosophist and actually i really don't like philosophy because it makes my brain hurt and i would much rather just look at logical nice things like math and plants so. if i get anything wrong please correct me

acheron's past and how she became an emanator of nihility reminds me somewhat of the absurdist theme of how people always look for meaning when there isn't any, until they finally realize that the universe is meaningless

and the entire path of nihility basically is a road towards that realization that people tread on, and the difference between the real world and star rail is that in the real world here we have people who will see that and then go write a book about a guy not crying at his mother's funeral, whereas in star rail it seems that just accepting that the universe is meaningless turns you into a pathstrider or even emanator of the nihility (not sure if i remember the details, correct me if i'm wrong)

and then aventurine's whole motivation is trying to understand why the universe is so cruel to him, and to find meaning when you have everything except freedom, both of which are absurdist themes

the leap of faith argument often attributed to søren kierkegaard claims that even though there is no rational logic for believing in god, you should do it anyway because the alternatives are madness, suicide, and ignorance. this was one solution to the problem of confronting the universe's meaninglessness: choosing to believe in a higher being regardless

later world wars i and ii both contributed heavily to the rise of absurdism as people returned from the war, having seen so many others die around them, and then just going back to a normal society with none of what they as individual soldiers had contributed seemingly doing anything. and then it happened again, but on a much greater scale with even more deaths. both wars and the destruction they brought led many people to start questioning why a supposedly moral god could allow this suffering, and this is where camus comes in and says that actually religion and nationalism both aren't good solutions, and instead we should just accept meaninglessness and keep living despite the absurdity

and i think dr ratio's scroll thing kind of relates to that

he tells aventurine to open it when he's about to die, or when he's completely out of answers for the question of how to confront absurdity

and dr ratio's answer for aventurine is to just tell him to keep living, good luck

which is. yeah

it's the argument that there are more answers to nihilism than just 1) going insane, 2) pretending like it doesn't exist, and 3) dying

it's the bold claim that despite everything, you can still choose to live

sure nothing makes sense but that does not detract from your life. it doesn't need to make sense at all

and with the understanding that things do not need to fit our human definition of meaning, we can continue on knowing our true place in the universe

and with that aventurine walks into the very big black hole like look at that thing you cannot tell me there is no symbolism there

let's go back to acheron.

in the part where you get a snippet of acheron's conversation with some guy just before this cutscene, the other party states that "[IX] leave[s] woven strands of fate for humans to walk, and together THEY weave a great shadow...And this shadow silently envelops them."

which to me sounds like a statement on how people across time and space have again and again come to the same question, what is the meaning of life?

and acheron's whole color thing seems to mean that she is one of the few who, after walking so far on the path of nihility, somehow have not died yet, be it from madness or something else

like it seems implied that many many more have seen the meaninglessness of the universe and have not reacted as well as acheron has

ok i have more to say about the elation and how it in turn relates to the nihility but that will have to come later but there is. a lot of interesting things there to explore

once again disclaimer: I Am Not A Philosophist And Do Not Know What The Correct Definitions Of These Words I'm Throwing Around Are. thank you for coming to my ted talk that was more of a longwinded ramble

#hsr #honkai star rail #2.1 spoilers #hsr aventurine #dr ratio #(briefly but i think i might have more to say about him later once my brain gets working)#acheron #hsr analysis #i should make a tag for that because this is probably not the last time i'm going on a wild tangent about star rail #but bad #bad hsr analysis #someone save me and take me back to the luofu i don't want to be doing english homework while playing a supposedly relaxing upbeat game #or whatever it was that shaoji promised in the 2.0 livestream #i just want to go back and see dan heng and jing yuan and qingque and bailu and you get the point #get me out of this dreamscape.

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