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princesssarisa · 1 year

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In the past I've shared other people's musings about the different interpretations of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Namely, why Orpheus looks back at Eurydice, even though he knows it means he'll lose her forever. So many people seem to think they've found the one true explanation of the myth. But to me, the beauty of myths is that they have many possible meanings.

So I thought I would share a list of every interpretation I know, from every serious adaptation of the story and every analysis I've ever heard or read, of why Orpheus looks back.

One interpretation – advocated by Monteverdi's opera, for example – is that the backward glance represents excessive passion and a fatal lack of self-control. Orpheus loves Eurydice to such excess that he tries to defy the laws of nature by bringing her back from the dead, yet that very same passion dooms his quest fo fail, because he can't resist the temptation to look back at her.

He can also be seen as succumbing to that classic "tragic flaw" of hubris, excessive pride. Because his music and his love conquer the Underworld, it might be that he makes the mistake of thinking he's entirely above divine law, and fatally allows himself to break the one rule that Hades and Persephone set for him.

Then there are the versions where his flaw is his lack of faith, because he looks back out of doubt that Eurydice is really there. I think there are three possible interpretations of this scenario, which can each work alone or else co-exist with each other. From what I've read about Hadestown, it sounds as if it combines all three.

In one interpretation, he doubts Hades and Persephone's promise. Will they really give Eurydice back to him, or is it all a cruel trick? In this case, the message seems to be a warning to trust in the gods; if you doubt their blessings, you might lose them.

Another perspective is that he doubts Eurydice. Does she love him enough to follow him? In this case, the warning is that romantic love can't survive unless the lovers trust each other. I'm thinking of Moulin Rouge!, which is ostensibly based on the Orpheus myth, and which uses Christian's jealousy as its equivalent of Orpheus's fatal doubt and explicitly states "Where there is no trust, there is no love."

The third variation is that he doubts himself. Could his music really have the power to sway the Underworld? The message in this version would be that self-doubt can sabotage all our best efforts.

But all of the above interpretations revolve around the concept that Orpheus looks back because of a tragic flaw, which wasn't necessarily the view of Virgil, the earliest known recorder of the myth. Virgil wrote that Orpheus's backward glance was "A pardonable offense, if the spirits knew how to pardon."

In some versions, when the upper world comes into Orpheus's view, he thinks his journey is over. In this moment, he's so ecstatic and so eager to finally see Eurydice that he unthinkingly turns around an instant too soon, either just before he reaches the threshold or when he's already crossed it but Eurydice is still a few steps behind him. In this scenario, it isn't a personal flaw that makes him look back, but just a moment of passion-fueled carelessness, and the fact that it costs him Eurydice shows the pitilessness of the Underworld.

In other versions, concern for Eurydice makes him look back. Sometimes he looks back because the upward path is steep and rocky, and Eurydice is still limping from her snakebite, so he knows she must be struggling, in some versions he even hears her stumble, and he finally can't resist turning around to help her. Or more cruelly, in other versions – for example, in Gluck's opera – Eurydice doesn't know that Orpheus is forbidden to look back at her, and Orpheus is also forbidden to tell her. So she's distraught that her husband seems to be coldly ignoring her and begs him to look at her until he can't bear her anguish anymore.

These versions highlight the harshness of the Underworld's law, and Orpheus's failure to comply with it seems natural and even inevitable. The message here seems to be that death is pitiless and irreversible: a demigod hero might come close to conquering it, but through little or no fault of his own, he's bound to fail in the end.

Another interpretation I've read is that Orpheus's backward glance represents the nature of grief. We can't help but look back on our memories of our dead loved ones, even though it means feeling the pain of loss all over again.

Then there's the interpretation that Orpheus chooses his memory of Eurydice, represented by the backward glance, rather than a future with a living Eurydice. "The poet's choice," as Portrait of a Lady on Fire puts it. In this reading, Orpheus looks back because he realizes he would rather preserve his memory of their youthful, blissful love, just as it was when she died, than face a future of growing older, the difficulties of married life, and the possibility that their love will fade. That's the slightly more sympathetic version. In the version that makes Orpheus more egotistical, he prefers the idealized memory to the real woman because the memory is entirely his possession, in a way that a living wife with her own will could never be, and will never distract him from his music, but can only inspire it.

Then there are the modern feminist interpretations, also alluded to in Portrait of a Lady on Fire but seen in several female-authored adaptations of the myth too, where Eurydice provokes Orpheus into looking back because she wants to stay in the Underworld. The viewpoint kinder to Orpheus is that Eurydice also wants to preserve their love just as it was, youthful, passionate, and blissful, rather than subject it to the ravages of time and the hardships of life. The variation less sympathetic to Orpheus is that Euyridice was at peace in death, in some versions she drank from the river Lethe and doesn't even remember Orpheus, his attempt to take her back is selfish, and she prefers to be her own free woman than be bound to him forever and literally only live for his sake.

With that interpretation in mind, I'm surprised I've never read yet another variation. I can imagine a version where, as Orpheus walks up the path toward the living world, he realizes he's being selfish: Eurydice was happy and at peace in the Elysian Fields, she doesn't even remember him because she drank from Lethe, and she's only following him now because Hades and Persephone have forced her to do so. So he finally looks back out of selfless love, to let her go. Maybe I should write this retelling myself.

Are any of these interpretations – or any others – the "true" or "definitive" reason why Orpheus looks back? I don't think so at all. The fact that they all exist and can all ring true says something valuable about the nature of mythology.

#mythology #greek mythology #orpheus #eurydice #orpheus and eurydice #analysis #interpretations #adaptations #long

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chronurgy · 11 months

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"Well if you don't like that this story is doing thing x and not thing y then go read something else! There are loads of stories doing thing y so you'll have plenty of choices!"

Where. Where are these stories. Please tell me I beg of you

#Like buddy I do not think you would be able to provide me a list if I asked #Like I would be asking 100% genuinely because I love thing y and want to engage with stories that feature it #But I'm pretty sure you would not be able to give me a list of all those stories that do thing y because they do not actually exist #And this isn't even getting into the fact that stories aren't interchangeable!#Like oh if you wish this tv show would do thing y then maybe just read this long abandoned unfinished webcomic that does thing y instead?#Like bro those are not equivalent #You can't just swap one thing for another here people like individual stories for a reason (characters/setting/tone/etc)#That are individually or in combination unique to a particular story!#Also (augh) you can be irritated with the direction a story is going without being so irritated you're going to stop engaging with it #Although that point does come for me once I hit the point where I feel like I'm in that spongebob meme #The drivers license one #Once I get there with a piece of media then I'm done because then I'm not having fun anymore #Rant

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evilminji · 7 months

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Actually? You know what would be darkly hilarious?

If, when the GIW can't get ghosts declared both malicious AND non-sapient/sentient? They push for "dumb animals" instead.

Which is accepted. Ghosts are animals. Checks out, says scientists everywhere.

HOW "dumb"?

What? Says the GIW, mid-victory high fives. They did not expect a follow up question. They SHOULD have, as this is the SCIENTIFIC community and that is literally their job, but here we are.

How. "Dumb"? The scientists repeate slower. What methodology did you use? What is your sample size? Are their different sub-species? Is this dimension like ours? Is Ghost the equivalent to Mammal? It says here their are humanoid ones.

What IQ are we talking about here and HOW DID YOU TEST??

A goldfish, parrot, and dolphin are all animals. WILDLY different levels of intelligence. You can't treat them the same. Technically speaking, WE are animals.

The GIW does not like where this conversation is going. Tries to shut it down.

.......well NOW the scientists are both offended AND invested. How DARE you try to push faulty science and hide the Truth from them! They're gonna do their OWN studies! *picks up the phone and dials that one embarrassing spiritualist friend they had in college* Hey! You still think you can summon ghosts? I'll pay you to try it for Science!

And like? As a Ghost? It's degrading as hell. But ALSO these fuckos just Whoopsie'd you into having both protections under the law, since animal abuse IS illegal, AND just put the ENTIRE planets scientific community on their asses.... by accident.

So you take a deeeeeeep breath you don't even need. Remember you're doing this for the little ghost babies and fluffy ghost animals. And show up at a research facility like "yes, hello, I am Ghost. Here for you to poke and prod at. Please ask me to name the object on the flash card or whatever IQ tests do these days."

Should you HAVE to prove your own fucking sentience? No. But? You do it. You're even polite about it. Ask for a copy of the study they plan to publish so you can BEAT some mother fuckers with it. The scientists nod in understanding and use the BIG font for your copy so it'll hurt more.

They've been there.

And just? Shitty people getting what they wanted only to have it blow up in their faces?? I see all these angst "but what if they were declared ANIMALS" prompts and I just?? Are we talking PARROT or goldfish!? One has the average intelligence of about a human 4yr old and the other is a FISH! People get RIGHTFULLY furious when you treat INTELLIGENT animals badly.

And would, in fact, adapt pretty easy to discovering one of said animal has become HUMAN lvl intelligent. It's easy to grasp the idea of human intelligence lvl dolphin or monkeys. Maybe there was some mutated strain, maybe in uetro tampering. Who knows. But if I tried to sell you a human intelligent housefly? Gold fish? Lizard?

You wouldn't believe me. There is some kind of trick at play.

So if GHOSTS are seen as animals? Everyone nods and then later? Someone comes in TV and very excitedly informs you "we found INTELLIGENT LIFE amongst the ghosts!" You'd believe it. Probably be really excited by your conversation starter for the day. Get a taco and move on with your life.

But? Having to willing sit for a barrage of testing? Is going to suuuuuuck so bad. Poor Danny. SATs all over again. For HOURS. At multiple facilities, just to be CERTAIN it's not a one off. All because he not certain he can insure good behavior from other ghosts and This Is IMPORTANT. He ALSO can't be certain it's even SAFE.

Might be a trap.

But if he has to do it again and again and again? Mexico to Bavaria to China to the Maldives? If this is what it takes for the scientific community to bitchslap the GIW into ORBIT before the UN? Hand him that pencil.

He has no where more important to be.

@hdgnj @nerdpoe @mutable-manifestation @ailithnight @the-witchhunter

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dcxdp #dc x dp prompt #you wanna call me an animal?#well check mate!#SO ARE YOU #now they're asking what KIND of animal i am!#and THIS ghost is sayin SAPIEN!#i am in your scientific community #disproving your theories!#your studies were bad and you should feel bad!#danny phantom

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fallenneziah · 6 months

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Alpha!Ghost who has never had an omega on his team, most of them comprised of other alphas and betas.

Alpha!Ghost who gets you on his team and can immediately tell something is different and whatever it is, he can't tell if he likes it.

Alpha!Ghost who starts to find his instincts to fight and protect turn to growling at you, backing you into a corner and feeling his pride swell when you submit with the equivalent of a pup in trouble.

Alpha!Ghost who likes to push you around, show you his strength. Grabbing your arms and telling you where to go, getting an extra thrill from being in command of you.

Alpha!Ghost who stays up late at night, remembering those times he saw you bow under his tone and nearly whimper when he told you to do something. Fisting his cock to the memories of you submitting and willing yourself to his command.

Alpha!Ghost who smell your heat before anyone else. He knows it's there, he's never done anything sexual with you, but he knows about it.

Omega!Reader who tries to block their scent and hide, curling into their nest and humping their pillow desperately while whimpering.

Omega!Reader whose heat only gets worse, scent getting thicker with need and arousal. Getting the attention of other alphas along the base.

Alpha!Ghost who is locked in his office, smelling you through the vents and ruthlessly fisting his cock. Thinking about sticking his knot inside you and making you his.

Alpha!Ghost who can barely contain himself and the thought of someone else getting to you first drives him.

Rushing to your room and pushing anyone else away. He heads inside, closing and locking the door.

Omega!Reader who can smell Ghosts scent immediately but is too snuggled in their den, too high on arousal that they can't care to do anything except mewl and arch in the presence of his scent.

Alpha!Ghost who feels his cock getting 7xs as hard with being so close. Seeing your cute little den and the idea of taking you and filling you up in your safe space.

Alpha!Ghost who has both instincts to be dominant and also caring, crawling over you and pressing his chest to your back, cupping hour skin. Kissing along your neck and nipping your ear, asking if you want it.

Omega!Reader begging Ghost incoherently to stuff them and fill them, to make them his. And Ghost who listening.

Wasting no time in getting his cock out, shoving his fingers inside your dripping, aching hole and stretching you out while listening to your lewd, unfiltered filthy noises.

Growling to silence you, grabbing your throat to keep you in your pillows.

Alpha!Ghost who tears off his sweater and shirt, putting them in your den and forcing your face into them so you can smell his sweat and cologne. So you can get off smelling your alpha.

Alpha!Ghost who gets his cock inside you, unable to control himself any more as he relishes in your tight hole. Shoving his swelling cock inside your desperately, eager entrance and pounding you deep into your safe place.

Alpha!Ghost who can smell the other alphas outside and is licking his lips because he gets you. He gets this pretty, soaked hole, he gets the little omega who he's been fisting his cock to for months.

Knowing he's won. And he gets to fill you, he gets to drive his seed inside you and knot you with his pups.

Alpha!Ghost who growls at you purely so you'll whine more for him and arch your pretty little ass. Clawing at your hips and burrowing you so deep into your pillows by force.

Omega!Reader who cums multiple times in 20 minutes just from smelling Ghost's clothes. Then having his cock stretching them and making them feel from another universe.

Spluttering and whimpering to be filled.

Alpha!Ghost who slams his knot deep inside you, grunting as he fills you up with his cum, your stomach pushing out a little, his knot keeping him tied to you.

Omega!Reader who whimpers and shivers as Ghost rubs their tummy, gently guiding them down to the bed, cooing in their ear and kissing their lobe.

"Oh I got you sweetheart... Easy, love." He'll whisper, laying down behind you, holding you gently.

Pressing soft, slow kisses to you, making sure you're comfortable. Letting his cock remain in you, even well past his knot swelling down he stays inside you. Relishing it.

"There it is... Took me so well, so good, love." He'll praise, rubbing your tummy gently to try and soothe you. So so proud of you, taking his cock like that...

Part 2, 3, 4

#cod smut #simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon ghost riley x female reader #simon riley x reader #cod mw2 #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader smut #alpha simon riley #omega reader #alpha!ghost #omega!reader

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milfbro · 1 year

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oh no he stans zaha hadid 😬

#I swear I can't finish watching this conversation I'm feeling second hand embarrassed for both of them #i think this is the architect equivalent of saying your favorite movie is frozen #smiley liveblog #maybe they are compatible after all #i had to pause this show like seven times cause I'm cringing. in a good way

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maehemthemisfit · 10 months

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THINKING ABOUT HOW...

Whenever you lay on TIGHNARI'S lap, his tail always seems to end up resting over your neck. It smells good from all the oils he lathers on it, and it keeps you warm. He likes when you card your fingers through his fur, it's calming, and whenever you stop he immediately knows the battle to keep your eyes open was lost to slumber. More often then not, you'll wake up to his tail tickling your chin or just straight up smacking you in the face. Sometimes it's intentional, but it's more like a pillow being thrown in your face.

KAZUHA would always be prepared if you ever experienced sea sickness in his travels, teyvat's equivalent of ginger ale and crackers quite literally on deck. He'll hold your hair back if you ever throw up and brew you herbal teas to drive the nausea away. He'll also rub comforting circles on your stomach if you give him permission, kissing away the pain and reassuring that you'll reach land soon.

If you're insistent enough, CYNO would let you play in his hair. His job is quite stressful, so feeling your fingers glide through his hair would literally put him to sleep most times. He might leave a braid or two you made in his hair and play with it whenever he thinks about you. He'll also show it off to Tighnari.

XIAO can't help but hide his face whenever you trace the markings on his arm or stomach (it's canon idc). He questions why you find the act so amusing and when you pull away he instinctively pulls your hand back, then becomes all bashful when he realized what he did. Is quick to urge you to continue and say "W-Why you'd stop? I never said I was against it..." Or something along those lines.

The Aranaras are always dancing around WANDERER no matter the occasion. They're always on his heel and you often spot him running away from a group of them, "Quit following me!" Leaving his lips. It's hilarious. He'll invite you for some tea and one of them would be perched on his head with that dopey smile :] He's exhausted, but he's secretly fond of them, especially the one you said looked similar to him (the blue one with the pretty hat), though he'll never admit it.

𓋜 ˗ˏˋ ꒰ 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝. ꒱ 𖥔 ° . *

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saltpepperbeard · 4 months

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Be a Lighthouse - Fight For OFMD Season 3

Hi everyone. The news of our cancellation is both incredibly devastating, and quite shocking considering the trajectory of the show and its fanbase. Everything looked like it was lining up in a positive fashion...only for the rug to get yanked out from under us.

I cried. I went numb. I stared at the wall for a while.

But then, something sparked. Like Ed who was resolved to his fate in S1Ep4 only to rocket back upwards, I was struck with a realization: we need to be a lighthouse!

Fanbases have campaigned before, and have gotten results. Sense8 was able to get a two hour finale to properly wrap everything up. Lucifer was able to get picked up by Netflix after being cancelled by Fox. Brooklyn 99 was able to get picked up by NBC after being cancelled by Fox. And many more examples.

Be it a proper renewal, a finale wrap that entails Ed and Stede's wedding, or the attention from another network, I say we fight that good fight. So, here are some ways we can be heard; if you think of any additional points, please feel free to add them!

If you don't cancel your Max Subscription, continue watching the show and leaving feedback on Max's online feedback form. I had a kneejerk reaction when cancellation was announced and pulled the plug...only to sit back and reconsider. I want them to still get my metrics. I want them to still see the show means something to me. And whether that's through words or statistics, I feel like that's something.

2. Follow @renewasacrew and keep up with their resources/campaigns. They're very active and passionate, and have already come up with different ways to fight for our show.

3. Sign the petition to give us just that little bit more of a chance to have our voices heard.

4. Stay active on social media, and stay positive. Continue sharing how much this show means to us. Continue creating. Continue loving. Use hashtags like-

#RenewAsACrew

#SaveOFMD

#RenewOFMD

#BeALighthouse

#OFMDSeason3

or anything equivalent on any and all OFMD-related posts. Keep the buzz about it going on social media. Comment on posts, keep spreading the word, and get the light burning.

5. Renewasacrew has given us another outlet; an official HBO email address. Write an email detailing your personal experience with this show, and how significant a third season would be.

6. Tweet/email other platforms to pique their interest. Be it Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, or whoever else, let's see if we can't catch someone else's attention. A romcom with iconic LGBT representation seems pretty enticing if you ask me!

This show means the world to me. Y'all mean the world to me. So let's show them why. Let's show them why, and get the proper ending we, the cast and crew, and the characters all deserve.

#OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #OFMD Season 3 #OFMD S3 #Renew as a Crew #Renew OFMD #Be A Lighthouse #ofmdaily #ofmdsource #ofmdedit #ofmdblog #I'm trying #I'M ATTEMPTING

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steddiealltheway · 7 months

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The Danger in Romanticizing (Ao3 Link)

"Steve, I'm serious, you might absolutely hate Eddie."

Steve sighs and relaxes against their couch. This is the third time today that Robin has given him this warning. "I'm not going to terrorize him to the point that Chrissy breaks up with you."

Robin raises her eyebrows at him as if he would seriously do it. "You don't know Eddie though. He's... he's someone you would've hated in high school. He's loud, nerdy, dramatic, and he was in a band."

"Robin, he sounds just like you."

Robin's jaw drops. "Take it back."

Steve laughs, "Come on, he sounds great. I don't know why you and Chrissy think we'll hate each other."

"He was bullied in high school by jocks just like you, but he threw it right back at them," Robin says while pacing. "And Eddie to Chrissy is the equivalent of you to me - her platonic soulmate. If you two don't like each other, then I don't know what we'll do."

Steve stands up and grabs Robin by the shoulders, stopping her pacing. "It's going to be fine. If anything, we'll just make polite small talk any time we see each other. As far as I'm concerned, you like him and he's kind to you, so he's good on my list."

Robin nods but she doesn't look convinced.

"I just can't believe that you two waited a month to introduce us."

Robin sighs and walks away from him, brushing off imaginary dust on their couch and chair. "It'll be easier to explain when you meet him."

"When are they supposed to get here again?"

Robin glances at the clock and goes pale. The doorbell rings and Steve feels a sudden rush of nerves. He doesn't know why he's so nervous to meet this man. He really likes Chrissy, and he can't imagine her being best friends with someone he wouldn't like.

Robin takes a deep breath and looks Steve over for a second sighing as if disappointed in something.

"What?"

"Nothing," Robin says quickly and rushes to the front door. She pauses and looks over her shoulder. "Just please be nice."

Steve gives her a thumbs-up and shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans, waiting for this mystery man to appear.

The door opens and Steve spots Chrissy first, sporting a very nervous smile, and then the door opens all the way to reveal Eddie.

And holy shit. With all the warnings, it never crossed Steve's mind that the man could be so damn hot. He's wearing a black t-shirt with some band on it that Steve doesn't know but the short sleeves show off a few tattoos that make him curious about how many he may be hiding under the rest of his clothes. He tries not to let his eyes wander for too long, so he doesn't dare stare for any longer, glancing back up at Eddie's face in hopes that he hasn’t been caught.

He feels his heart speed up a little bit as he finds Eddie looking him up and down quickly before shooting him a small smile. And god, he has dimples.

Steve smiles back at him and walks to the front door. He bends down to pull Chrissy into a hug first before pulling away to hold a hand out to Eddie. He takes it, and Steve's eyes catch on his rings quickly. He wonders if the whole tough exterior was built to protect him while simultaneously drawing attention. "Hey, I'm Steve."

"Eddie," he says back. And his damn voice goes straight through him.

"Oh shoot, I forgot to grab something from the store before we got here," Chrissy says. "Robin, will you come with me to get it?"

"I can-" Eddie starts to say, but Robin's already grabbing Chrissy's hand and pulling her out the front door.

It closes loudly and Steve winces at the noise.

Eddie turns to him and awkwardly smiles. "So..."

"So," Steve says, noticing the hesitation coming from Eddie. He wonders... "Can I just come out and ask if you've been getting the same warning that we might hate each other?"

"Yes!" Eddie says and lets out a deep breath. "And did they seriously just leave us alone thinking that?"

"They're lucky if we don't kill each other."

"If? Don't you mean 'when?'" Eddie asks with a teasing smile.

Steve laughs loudly and asks, "Do you want a beer or something?"

"God, I would love a beer."

Steve smiles and walks off to the fridge, grabbing two and gesturing Eddie over to the living room. They both sit on the couch a comfortable distance away from each other, and Steve ignores the itch to move closer. "So, I heard that you were in a band."

"And I heard you were a former jock."

Steve snorts and waggles his fingers at him. "Your worst nightmare."

Eddie dramatically leans away from him with a hand over his heart. "Good heavens, you're absolutely repulsive."

Steve finds himself laughing again. He has no idea why Robin thought he would ever hate this guy.

"So," Eddie says with a small smile, "What are you doing now, former jock? Chrissy hasn’t mentioned you being in any of her classes or hanging around the college, so I’m assuming you don’t go there."

Steve runs a hand through his hair and leans back against the couch. "No, college isn’t for me. I'm working in sales at my dad's company. Specifically, as a car salesman." Eddie immediately cringes and Steve sighs, "Trust me. I know. But I'm absolutely horrible at my job. I can never bullshit someone. If they tell me what they're looking for, I'm giving them exactly that and not some overpriced bullshit."

Eddie raises his eyebrows. "But you're still selling cars, so it sounds like you're doing your job."

"Not the way my dad wants me to," Steve complains.

"So, why don't you do something else?" Eddie asks point blank.

Steve's a little taken aback by the bluntness, but he appreciates it. He shrugs. "I got horrible grades in high school to the point that I couldn't get into even the easiest colleges. Working with my dad just seemed like the only option."

"For a while I was thinking about working at the plant with my uncle because high school was terrible for me. I managed to fail my senior year twice before graduating."

"So, what are you doing now?" Steve asks, curious about what other options there are.

Eddie leans back against the couch and takes a long swig of his beer. Steve tries not to focus on the tendons in his neck as he swallows. "I had this moment after I graduated where I suddenly realized that my creative outlets suddenly vanished. My band had to take a break because everyone but Gareth graduated and Jeff and Grant were going to college, and I could no longer run Hellfire Club which got rid of my Dungeons and Dragons outlet. And for some reason, I was struck with this great idea to write a novel."

He shifts, crossing his legs under himself and looking off in the distance with a sad smile. "I just sat down and wrote and wrote. It's like the words were pouring out of me, and I couldn't stop them. God, I barely slept." He pauses as if he's reliving the moment. "Then, I had this extremely rough draft of this book, and I started calling publishers and I went to the first one who would take me. But they read it and told me it would be better as a children's story."

Steve can't help but interject, "That's just one person's opinion though."

Eddie nods and drinks more of his beer. "Yes, but they offered to actually look at it and publish it once I simplified it."

"Did you do it?"

Eddie nods. "Yeah, and I mean, it brought in a decent amount of money that I've been cruising on, but I don't know. There were so many things I wanted to expand on. I was aiming for a whole book series."

Steve turns to him and sits crisscrossed. "So, what's the children's book about?"

Eddie sighs, "You're going to find it so dumb."

"Try me."

Eddie puts his beer down on the coffee table and leans in to Steve. "So, it takes inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons. And it's about this boy who has never felt like he's fit in. For some reason, he's always been disliked by people or shunned for being different. Then, he comes across this monster, one that he's heard terrifying stories about from all these different adventurers. But instead of attacking it, he tries a different approach and finds that he can befriend the monster, and he ends up naming him Dart and they travel together. And for once he doesn't feel alone."

Steve's jaw drops as Eddie continues to describe the story, feeling frozen in place.

"Then, they come across more creatures, and they find they're all evil because they're always under attack. And yes, some are just pure evil, but it doesn't define the whole species. Then, the story gets really cheesy..." Eddie trails off with a groan. "God, this is embarrassing."

Steve finally finds his voice and continues for him, "Then, he's practically hunted by the town who assumes he's evil because he's with all these monsters which they think he must have some sort of dark control over. But then when an even bigger monster comes and threatens to destroy the whole town, they turn to him for help. The boy becomes a hero, but he goes back with the rest of the monsters who always accepted him for who he was."

Eddie's eyes become considerably wider by the end of Steve's narration. "How do you...?"

Steve grabs his hand and pulls him to his room, opens the door, and goes through the small stack of books on the bottom shelf of his nightstand. He pulls out Eddie's book and holds it up. "You're Eddie Munson?"

Eddie nods, totally bewildered.

"Holy shit," Steve says with a big smile, "Dustin loves this book!"

"Dustin?"

"One of the kids I used to babysit, he's in high school now, but he went on about this book for weeks. He loves Dungeons and Dragons, and as soon as I saw it, I bought it for him. He thought it was some kind of joke because it's a children's book, but he read it and developed so many theories about it. He made all his friends buy it because he thinks it could change the whole universe of Dungeons and Dragons. Shit, you’re like a legend to him."

Eddie's mouth just opens and closes. "I- I don't know what to say."

"Could you possibly meet him sometime? No pressure at all, but he'd love you."

"Yeah! Definitely," Eddie says and excitedly bounces a bit. "God, I've never met a fan before."

"I have to warn you that he may be a bit much, and I don't think he would ever leave you alone after this. But it would make his entire year, maybe even his whole life."

Eddie just smiles widely and nods. "Yeah! Yeah, I mean, I can also be a lot, so I'm ready. Just let me know when."

Steve smiles and shakes his head. "This is so cool. And thank you, really, this means the world to me."

"Same here," Eddie says.

The two let the excitement bubble down a bit, but the smiles don't leave their faces. Eddie glances around though and asks, "No offense, but why is your room so..."

"Empty?" Steve fills in for him. Eddie nods. "Well, my parents didn't really let me decorate my room, and I've just never really known what I wanted to do with my own place. So, I've kind of put it on the back burner. Plus, I spend most of my time in Robin's room or in the living room."

Eddie looks around and shakes his head. "My room is covered in shit. It's like I never have enough wall space or floor space for everything I want."

"I can see why Robin and Chrissy thought we wouldn't like each other," Steve says, sitting on his bed covered in a plain blue comforter and patting the empty space next to him.

Eddie follows the cue and sits down. "That all feels like surface-level bullshit."

"I think they're so blinded by their love for each other that they couldn't think beyond it. I know Robin's scared shitless of messing things up."

"God, so is Chrissy. I swore that even if you were the biggest asshole I was going to pretend to like you. Luckily, you're making it easy."

Steve feels the tips of his ears turning red. "Same here."

Eddie smiles at him, and Steve feels so enamored by him that he can't help but ask, "So, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you seeing anyone?" Steve asks, hoping he doesn’t come off as too forward.

Eddie shrugs and looks down at his hands. "Sort of," he says and looks back at Steve. "I'm bisexual, so it's a little harder for me sometimes."

Bisexual. The label that Steve has personally struggled with for years.

"Shit, don't tell me your biphobic."

Steve snaps out of his mini panic and asks, "What?"

"You practically grimaced when I said bisexual. Or are you someone who is only okay with girls being in relationships but not guys?"

"No! No," Steve insists. He takes a deep breath. He's not sure what it is about Eddie that makes him feel so at ease, but he confesses, "It's just that... I think that I'm also bisexual. I don't know though. I know I've had feelings for guys and felt attraction, but I can't picture myself dating a guy. But I feel so horrible admitting that. Maybe I'm just a coward."

Eddie's expression shifts from guarded to sympathetic quickly. "Who can blame you though? The world sometimes just... sucks. But here's something that kind of blew my mind when learning about bisexuality - you can still have preferences. Like, for me, I have a preference towards men, but I can't deny that some girls I've had feelings for. Even Chrissy once upon a time, but I quickly realized how much better things were platonically. You can always have a preference for women; it doesn't have to be half and half."

It's like something finally clicks in Steve's head. He breathes a sigh of relief. "Where have you been all my life?" he asks somewhat dramatically.

Eddie laughs, "Being kept away by Robin and Chrissy."

Steve smiles and traces their conversation back a bit. He lands on a question and asks, "So, how are you sort of dating someone?"

Eddie groans and runs his hands over his face. "There's this guy I've been somewhat hooking up with at this bar. And he's just perfect, you know?"

"Oh no," Steve says, feeling the familiar phrase wash over him.

"What?"

Steve really looks at Eddie, accessing him fully before declaring, "You're a romanticizer."

Eddie scoffs. "How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"'He's just perfect,'" Steve mimics him. "It's the dead giveaway. Plus, I am too. It gets me in trouble a lot. But I hate seeing it in other people. Like there's this asshole I work with that my dad loves but I absolutely despise. His name is Collin, and he's constantly bragging about all these women he has practically begging at his feet for his attention and shit. Then, at these work parties, Collin's wife will always just go on about how perfect her husband is. God, it kills me because she's so blind to it all. I would tell her, but my dad would kill me if I did anything that potentially would affect Collin working for him."

Steve sighs and clutches Eddie's book closer to his chest, not noticing until now how he's been unconsciously using it as a source of comfort. "Anyways, I just hate seeing people love blindly."

"I've done the same thing," Eddie admits, "But this time it feels different."

"Ten bucks he sucks."

This startles a laugh out of Eddie, but he sticks his hand out. "You're on." They shake on it quickly. "So, what about you? Are you currently romanticizing anyone?"

Steve smiles sadly. "Not at the moment, but feel free to call me out on it when I do."

"Looking forward to it," Eddie says with a smile. "Now tell me, do you have to wear those awful polos to do sales?"

"I do, but I'll have you know that I actually like those awful polos."

Eddie stands up and gasps, "I'm appalled. Please don't tell me you have more than five in your closet."

"I have way more than five. I actually almost wore one today, but I went with my comfort sweater instead."

Eddie walks slowly toward his closet door. "Is this where the source of disaster is?"

Steve raises his eyebrows and nods.

"May I?" Eddie asks with his hand on the knob.

"Prepare yourself."

Eddie takes a dramatic deep breath to gather himself before swinging the door open dramatically and yelling, "It's worse than I thought!"

"You haven't even looked through it!"

"I saw more than two collared shirts," Eddie says in horror. "Steve, I've decided that Robin and Chrissy are absolutely correct, and there's no way I could ever like you."

Steve laughs, but is interrupted by Chrissy and Robin suddenly barging into the room yelling, "What happened?"

Eddie and Steve look at them and laugh.

"We didn't hear you come in," Eddie says.

"We wanted to check the atmosphere as it was, but we heard you say the thing about not liking Steve and we thought..." Chrissy trails off.

Steve finds Robin staring at him while looking worried. "Steve, are you okay?"

Steve frowns. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You're holding your comfort book."

Steve flushes red and puts his head in his hands.

"His what?" Chrissy and Eddie ask.

"His comfort book. He reads it or makes me read it whenever he's sick, has a bad day, or misses Dustin."

"Robin," Steve groans, embarrassed by his secret being revealed.

The mattress shifts beside him and Steve glances toward the source, finding Eddie amusedly smiling down at him. "So, you're also a fan."

"Wait, what am I missing?" Robin asks.

"Eddie wrote that book," Chrissy answers and crosses her arms, "But he also tells no one about it."

Robin's jaw drops, but Steve ignores it to smile at Eddie. "Aw, so tell me, why me?"

A small blush appears on Eddie's cheeks. "And why me about your..." he trails off, looking nervously toward Chrissy.

Steve glances at Robin who looks at him, gesturing to explain. "I told him I was bisexual."

Robin's jaw drops again. She and Chrissy exchange a look of bewilderment.

Steve throws an arm around Eddie's shoulders and says, "Looks like you two were very wrong."

"And we're very upset that you kept us away from this beautiful friendship for so long."

"Very upset," Steve agrees.

"Oh god, I think we've created a monster," Robin says.

Chrissy just giggles.

“I don’t know, I kind of like the monsters Eddie creates,” Steve comments.

Eddie laughs and Steve looks at him fondly. He doesn’t think that Robin has ever been so wrong about something because there’s no way Steve could ever dislike Eddie.

Part Two :)

Welcome to my new series! :))) I have so many shenanigans planned. And I’m doing a tag list! Just ask me and you’ll be tagged <3

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #steddie fanfic #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham #the danger in romanticizing fic

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qqueenofhades · 1 year

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I understand how important it is to be able to criticize the President, and am not at all of the belief he should be beyond critique, but the critiquing of Biden makes me so nervous. (That's not to say I agree with every decision he's made - I absolutely do not). But I feel like people see things he's done wrong and decide they won't vote for him because of it. I'm not sure if enough people have the ability to see that he's done things wrong but also is our only hope of staving off literal fascism.

So many people talk about how sick they are of it constantly being a lesser of two evils situation, constantly having to vote for a candidate they hate because the other side is worse (I heard it in 2020, 2022, etc), and I guess I just- I don't really get it? We're here because they didn't do that in 2016. All of this could've been avoided had the result been different then. I just feel like people don't comprehend how different of a place we'd be in if Hillary won and engage in all this cognitive dissonance to make themselves feel better about being part of the reason she didn't.

Like.... this has been a long-running topic of discussion on my blog, not least because it is so inexplicable and maddening. It also shows how terribly shallow most people's understanding of the American political process is, and how toxic the "I can only vote for a candidate if every single personal belief/position of theirs matches mine" belief is, as well as how much damage it has done to American democracy even (and indeed, especially) by people who technically don't identify as right-wing. Yell at Republicans all you like (God knows I do, because they're the worst people on earth) but they vote. Every time. Every election. Every candidate. Whereas the Democratic electorate still holds out for Mister Perfect, and it very definitely is Mister Perfect. The amount of "evil HRC!!!" Republican-poisoned Kool-Aid that so-called progressives drank in 2016, and then afterward when they insisted they could have voted for someone like Elizabeth Warren and then didn't do that in 2020, is... baffing.

Frankly, I don't care if Hillary Clinton's personal positions on XYZ issue were the most Neoliberal Corporate Centrist Shill to Ever Shill (and Online Leftists' intellectual skills being what they are, I seriously doubt that they were using any of those words correctly and/or accurately). American policy is not made by "personal dictate of the ruler," or at least it shouldn't be, because we are not an absolute monarchy. We rely on the operation of a system with input from many people. As such, if Hillary had been elected, we would have 2-3 new liberal justices on SCOTUS and have secured civil and environmental rights for the next generation. Roe would be intact, and all the other terrible rulings that SCOTUS has recently handed down wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have had January 6th, the attempt to stage a coup, all the tawdry scandals, our national security being at risk because of Trump stealing classified documents and probably selling them to Russia and/or Saudi Arabia, etc etc. If you think that's in any way an equivalent amount of evil to what would have happened if Hillary was elected, or if she was "still evil!!!," then I honestly don't know what to tell you. She could fucking murder puppies in her spare time if she had preserved SCOTUS for us, WHICH SHE WOULD HAVE, BECAUSE SHE WARNED US EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

(Hoo. Sorry. Still steamed. 2016 war flashbacks, again.)

In short, Hillary would have been a solid continuity Democrat and she would have signed whatever legislation a Democratic House and Senate passed, not to mention been hugely inspiring as the first female president. But because it's so important to the Online Leftists' moral sense of themselves that BOTH PARTIES ARE THE SAME!!!, they can't possibly acknowledge that ever being a factor, and/or admit that they have any culpability in not voting for her in 2016. It's like when you read the British press about any of the UK's equally numerous problems, and they BEND OVER BACKWARD to avoid mentioning that Brexit might be a factor. They just can't mention it, because then that means they might have made the wrong choice in pulling for it as hard as they did, and blah blah Sovereignty.

Basically, if HRC had been elected president, everything would be so much less terrible and terrifying all the time, we would be talking about her successor in 2024 as someone else who could be the "first," we could explore handing the reins over to Kamala as a Black/Asian woman, we could promote Buttigieg as the first gay president, etc etc. But because 2016 was so catastrophically fucked up, we are in damage control mode for the immediate future and every election is just as pivotal. And yet, because people think that the only thing that matters is a presidential candidate's personal views, we're stuck having the same old arguments and desperately begging people over and over to please vote against fascism, since that somehow isn't self-evident enough on its own. Yikes on Bikes.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #hillary clinton was right about everything: the redux redux redux

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