#I never planned to write meetup scenes but here we are

[a-little-bit-of-ravioli]

Day 13 - Can't Make an Omelette Without Breaking a Few Legs

Character Focus: Warriors & Legend

Warnings: Graphic Injury

Ao3 Link

Another swathe of flames rushed past his face and licked at his cheeks.

Link - Warriors, he reminded himself, Warriors now - had never really collected many experiences in the art of dungeon crawling before.

So far, he wasn't impressed.

The wall he was currently pressed against was cold, uneven, and some of the spiked rocks protruding from it bore into his back. He’d already almost been impaled by multiple traps and monsters behind corners, lacking instincts to safely maneuver these sorts of cramped spaces. And instead of getting closer to the exit, he'd been stumbling deeper into this mess with every step.

He’d been separated from the rest of the group of heroes he’d only just recently joined forces with, after passing through a portal that had suspiciously looked like one of Cia’s. An older, scarred hero who had for now taken leadership of their gathering, the polar opposite in the body of a young and excitable teenager, and apparently the hero who’d forged the Master Sword, and carried it with him too.

And now he was here. Next to a door he’d casually swung open to inspect the room behind it, and immediately dove to the side of when a blast of fire had almost burned him to a crisp.

"Whatever you are, that was your last warning! I'm pissed, I have a fire rod, and I'm gonna fucking use it!"

Warriors blinked.

That was new. Monsters didn’t usually snark at him quite as elaborately.

“Hylian, the last I checked!” he yelled back. “And not really eager to get another burn scar, so could you stop?!”

He’d almost expected another burst of flames for good measure. His words seemed to have been taken better, though, and instead he stood there with his breath held, silence from both sides.

The voice was much less aggressive when it answered him again.

“Watch your step. Spike traps.”

Warriors couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief. The last thing he’d have needed was another conflict.

Careful to keep the warning in mind, he stemmed himself from the wall and turned. One look at the both charred and slightly glowing iron door told him better than to try and stem it open with his hand, so he gave one of its lower edges a small kick with his heel to get it fully open.

He spotted his assailant immediately. On the other end of a fairly cramped room, almost lounging on the ground with his back at the wall for support, sat a boy a few years his own junior, were he to guess. Red tunic, fancy boots with embroidery and flaring up into wings and one hand closed around a rod with a red crystal mounted on top Warriors immediately knew to be the culprit of the flames from earlier. A sheathed sword and polished shield were propped up against the wall next to him.

His trained eye immediately recognised the awkward position of one of the boy’s legs.

He took his first step over the threshold of the frame, and jumped back almost as fast. True to the warning, he’d barely had time to rescind his foot before a contraption covered in vicious steel spikes came racing towards him with a loud grinding noise, pathing that side of the room. He let it pass by one more time, counting the time it needed to return to its original place in his head, before makeshift timing his entry.

The large half-jump half-step with a slight tumble at the landing was awkward at best. A slight snicker from the other side told him it must have looked as ridiculous as he’d felt.

“Don’t seem like you’re used to this kinda stuff,” came the commentary he could’ve really done without.

His pride didn’t let him take that sort of accusation without a huff. “Rather move awkwardly than not at all. What happened to your leg?”

“Ran into that thing when I came in.” He nodded towards the entrance, and Warriors knew he meant the traps he’d just avoided himself. “Granted, probably looked even more like a moron than you. Hit me straight in the calf. Pretty sure it’s broken.” 

He took the information in as he walked up, furtive glances to his side to look out for more traps he may not have been warned about, but arrived at the boy’s side without much trouble. His eyes immediately got drawn to the injured leg and he crouched, wanting to assess the damage of someone his conscience already told him he couldn’t just leave behind.

On closer inspection, the boy didn't look nearly as alright as he very clearly wanted to pose as being.

The only light source fell on them from a couple of lanterns mounted on the walls, but even through the warm illumination the boy’s face was ashen at best. The wound itself, from what little time he’d inspected it for, was nasty and bloody, its edges jagged and uneven. Coupled with a clearly broken bone sitting just underneath, visible by a glance at the leg's position, like he'd been told.

Warriors clenched his back teeth, avoiding the grimace he'd otherwise have worn. This was bad enough he wasn't even certain a single red potion would do the trick. If he'd not passed through this place by chance…

"Well?" For someone who’d likely sat there with a wound this bad for quite a bit, Warriors could almost admire the calmness of the question. "How bad, you reckon?"

"Bad,” he stated straight away, having long trained the urge to play down injuries out of his system. "We need to get you out of here."

The boy snorted at him. "No shit."

Without much of a comment, Warriors reached into his pouch to rummage for his medical supplies. He only carried the necessities with him, but judging by the puddle of blood underneath the boy, making sure the rest of his blood stayed in his system was most likely a smart move.

"I'm curious," he said while he set down the bandages and fiddled with the flask of alcohol he’d also taken out, and only asked permission with a short look that was answered with a nod. "What was your plan? Would you have tried to crawl your way out had I not come along?"

A hiss of pain preceded the answer as he dabbed the surrounding skin with a damp cloth.

"Wasn't gonna be fun, but I've got some rations. Could've stuck it out a couple days."

One of Warriors eyebrows raised without permission, and he paused the act of dressing the wound to look up. "You really think someone would've come for you all the way down here?"

There was more confidence in the casual shrug that followed than he’d expected.

“You showed up, didn’t you?” the boy said, and waved off his own words before Warriors could dignify them with any response. "Let's just say I have it on good authority the Princess wouldn't like me kicking it. Since she sent me here, and all."

Warriors’ brain paused in the middle of another loop.

They were currently in a dungeon full of traps and monsters no regular person would ever wander into this deep, especially not a teenager. But a teenager with magical weapons, what he guessed was an adventuring pouch to hold said weapons, and a hat in a shape Warriors had only ever really seen on himself back during the war? That apparently knew the princess of this era, probably personally? That he, after meeting three other heroes only a few days ago, just happened to come across?

Oh, Farore, that made way too much sense.

"Name’s Link, by the way."

Warriors felt the corners of his mouth draw up, just a little bit. 

"Yeah, I had a feeling."

#whumptober2022 #linked universe #lu warriors #lu legend #rav writes #I never planned to write meetup scenes but here we are #the idea was too good to pass up on #the urge to make legend use every nickname #was so strong #lu fic

[joe-mazzello-archive]

baby we're a dying breed - part one

eddie munson x fem!reader (no y/n)

w/c: 13.6k

warnings: slooooow burn, s4 spoilers, parental death, reader has a phobia of swimming/being in or on water, drugs, alcohol, violence/gore, supernatural elements (it’s stranger things y’all), panic attack symptoms

a/n: hi hello. so this hasn’t left my brain since i watched that dumb finale. we all know eddie’s death was completely avoidable and dumb and blah blah blah sooooo let’s fix that. and help him find love while we’re at it! this fic is basically the plot of s4 with the reader inserted in. reader is the same age as eddie, was in his class the year he was supposed to graduate originally. i tried to keep as many of the events the same, but there are some deviations, especially in part two. i also don’t go into too much detail about the lore/main show plot since y’all have seen the show and know that shit. i’m mostly just adding to it. i also tried to avoid just typing out entire dialogue pieces word for word from the show too because tbh i hate when fix it fics do that.

this was a blast to write and i hope you enjoy. there will be one more part and then i also have some ideas for bonus scenes if folks are interested. also heads up that part two will be 18+.

--

Your relationship with Hawkins is complicated.

It’s your hometown, the place you were raised. It’s where your old friends are, it’s familiar, and it brings a sense of comfort as the sights pass by your car windows. It’s full of memories, both happy and not so happy. But it’s also dull, pitiful, and fills you with a bit of dread as the realization that you’re spending an entire week here hits you.

Maybe because it’s the first time you’ve been back since your mom died.

You were told it was a fire. A fire in the Starcourt Mall that took the lives of thirty Hawkins residents. It has never made any sense to you. Your mom used to endlessly complain about the “neon eyesore” that was the newly opened shopping center, claiming it was “everything wrong with America.” She shouldn’t have been there. And you’ll never know why she was. Or why anyone else was there. It had been the Fourth of July, after all. All of Hawkins was supposed to be at the fair. It just didn’t add up.

You didn’t come home last summer, electing to stay in the city with your college friends. You’d been in the middle of rolling the third joint of the night when the call came. Sometimes you wonder if things would have been different if you had been there. And even if you couldn’t change the result, if you were there, at least you would have more answers.

Your dad was long gone – had been since you were a baby. It was always just you and your mom. But now it’s just you.

As you pull into the driveway of your childhood home, now officially under your ownership after lots of paperwork, you let out a sigh. Going through your mother’s things isn’t the most exciting spring break you could have, but the job needs to be done. You plan on selling the house eventually, so the sooner you can clear out the junk, the better.

You’ll just need a little something to get you through it. Besides, who said you had to spend the week sober?

–

“So you decided to grace us with your presence?” Carolyn teases as she brings you in for a hug. You let out a chuckle. Despite all of your weird feelings around being home, there isn’t a doubt that you missed your friends. The Hawkins High Marching Band runs deep, and you treasure the relationships you built with your fellow band geeks.

“Yeah, I figured it was time to show my face around these parts again,” you counter with a smirk, releasing your old friend in order to climb into her passenger’s seat. She joins you in the car before putting it in drive and peeling out.

The two of you drive through Hawkins, casually catching up as Carolyn and you head to your meetup. It’s almost trippy, passing your old stomping grounds – everything looks exactly the same, like you never left.

Eventually Carolyn pulls over, parking just off the road, and the two of you begin your trek through the woods to the designated meeting spot. Memories of previous pickups and nights out with your fellow bandies come flooding back, bringing a soft smile to your face. Once the large rock comes into view, you shake your head lovingly – it’s like you’re seventeen all over again.

“So, who are we even meeting?” you ask Carolyn as the two of you settle on the oddly shaped stone, the rough surface oddly comforting beneath your hands. “I heard Reefer Rick is back in jail.”

“Yeah he is,” she confirms, playing with a frayed piece of her jeans. She pauses for a moment before continuing. “And you’re not gonna like the answer to that question.” You narrow your eyes at her as she blatantly avoids your gaze.

“Why?”

“Do my eyes deceive me?”

You know that voice.

“As I live and breathe, is that…Major?”

Eddie Munson.

You shouldn’t be surprised. You’d bought from him a few times back in the day, and he was always close with Rick. But you are not excited to be reunited with the shaggy-haired dealer. He has always annoyed the hell out of you, with his intense energy and his innate ability to simultaneously insult you and flirt with you in the same sentence. He used to drive you nuts when you were in high school. Your mom once told you that boys who picked on you just had a little crush. But you’re pretty sure Eddie picked on you because he found pleasure in your torment.

You turn to find the metalhead casually strolling towards you, a shit-eating grin on his face, swinging a small tin box. He looks about the same as he used to, just a little more stubble. Maybe a new tattoo. Even longer hair. It’s funny - your oldest memory of Eddie is from middle school, playing guitar in the talent show. He hadn’t yet gained the confidence he flaunted in high school. You wonder if people even realize he’s the same kid - he’s come a long way from his gangly frame and buzzcut days.

And of course he still calls you by that dumb nickname. When you got drum major your senior year, Eddie adopted the moniker for you, always mock saluting you like you were a military officer. It earned an eye roll from you every time, and Eddie always beamed, satisfied with your reaction.

“Munson,” you greet, failing to hide your chagrin in your tone. “Graduate yet?” His grin never falters as he stares you down, his big brown eyes almost sparkling with mirth.

“You wound me, Major,” he replies, his hand dramatically landing on his heart. “We haven’t seen each other in years and you’re already ribbing me. And here I thought what we had was special.” He drops the metal box onto the rock with a smirk, and you can’t fight the eyeroll. It seems to be your default response to him.

“Alright you two, let’s play nice,” Carolyn cuts in. “What do you got for us?”

Eddie rubs his hands together before opening his metal box.

“I can dooooo…a half ounce for twenty,” he responds, fiddling with the plastic bag inside the tin before looking back up at you. “Now that’s a good deal, I normally charge thirty. But we all go way back,” he adds with a wink. You roll your eyes for the second time since you arrived.

“I bet you say that to all of your customers,” you counter, fishing a twenty dollar bill out of your wallet. His shit-eating grin returns as he holds the bag out for you.

“Only the pretty ones.” You glare at him, unamused as you reach for the bag. He quickly snatches it out of your reach and you scowl, bored with his antics. He chuckles and hands it back to you, the metal of his rings briefly grazing your palm. You don’t remember him wearing nearly that much jewelry back in high school.

You hand him the bill and he grabs it gleefully.

“Pleasure doing business, ladies,” Eddie announces, shoving the twenty into his back pocket. “Now I’d love to stay and catch up, but I’ve got another client waiting on me and a D&D session to run.”

“You better watch yourself, Munson,” Carolyn interjects, a playfulness in her tone. “I heard that game is the devil’s game. Worshiping Satan and all that.” Eddie grins as he begins to saunter back into the woods.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he says, before stopping himself and leaning against a tree. “And Major, if you need another pick-me-up while you’re in town, you know where to find me.” He tucks his bottom lip under his teeth and turns back towards the forest, disappearing into the trees.

You immediately glare at Carolyn, waiting for an explanation.

“Our options for dealers were limited!” she explains. “Everyone’s out of town for break. Besides, he’s not that bad…if you look past his dramatics.” You let out a chuckle, getting to your feet and dropping the bag of weed into your purse.

“If you look past the dramatics, there’s nothing else.”

–

Carolyn ends up inviting you to join some folks for drinks at her place.

You debate turning her down. Part of you is already overwhelmed from the Munson reunion and wants to retreat to your house to get high alone. You would get to avoid the awkward “so what have you been up to?” conversations and just have some peace for the night before starting your week-long project. But Carolyn talks you into it, listing off names of friends you’re actually interested in seeing, and promising a relaxing night.

So that’s how you find yourself sharing a joint with Scott and Dawn on Carolyn’s front porch, her parents off enjoying a Caribbean cruise, leaving the house free for former bandies to take over. You take a long hit, holding it in while you pass the stick to Dawn. You let it out slowly, relishing in the slight burn in your lungs. You try to tune out Scott rambling about his shitty car salesman job and just take in the sounds of the evening. The cool spring breeze is nice on your skin, and your body feels like it’s humming as your high sets in.

“This is good shit,” Dawn says, coughing a little and passing the joint to Scott. “Where’d you get it?”

You let out a snort, annoyed that Munson is suddenly back on your mind. Dawn is right, it is a good strain. You hate that you’re getting such a good high from something you bought from Eddie of all people. That fucker isn’t gonna get any compliments if you have anything to say about it.

“My hook-up at school,” you lie, a satisfied grin on your face. Take that Munson.

“Maybe I need to visit Chicago more often,” Dawn teases. Before you can respond, the screech of rubber on cement rings through the otherwise quiet neighborhood. The three of you turn towards the source of the sound to see a van speeding down the street. It flies by the house, careening down the road, before it’s out of sight as fast as it appeared.

“The fuck was that?” Scott asks, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three of you and handing you what was left of the joint.

“Clearly someone has someplace to be,” Dawn comments, crossing her arms. “I’m getting chilly, I’m heading in.”

Your friend disappears back into the house with Scott on her tail, leaving you alone on the porch. You can’t help but stare off into the night where you last saw the mysterious van. The van looked familiar – you’re pretty sure you have seen it before. But you can’t place where. You chalk it up to your high and decide to let it go. It doesn’t matter anyway.

You take one last hit before dropping the roach into the grass and stubbing it out, opting to join the rest of the group inside.

–

The spare bedroom is your starting place.

You know the most amount of junk will be kept in there, so you decide to get it out of the way first. Your mom hadn’t been a hoarder per se…but you know there’s gonna be a lot of useless documents or old keepsakes shoved into those closets that can be easily thrown away without much thought.

You throw Rumours on your mom’s old record player, light up a bowl, and get to work.

By the time the sun begins to set, you estimate you’re only halfway through the room. You decide to call it for the day, realizing you should probably eat something.

You’re in the middle of scarfing down a tv dinner, when you hear the doorbell. You pause, confused, almost unsure if you really heard the ring. The only people who know you’re in town are the folks you were with yesterday, and you don’t remember inviting anyone over to hangout today. Curious, you get to your feet and head to the door, opening it without even checking through the peephole at who your visitor could be.

It is revealed to be visitors, plural.

Before you stands Robin Buckley, your former marching bandmate, Steve fucking Harrington of all people, and two children you’ve never seen before: a boy with a goofy grin and a girl with strikingly red hair and an intense stare.

You realize you’ve been just looking at them in silence for far too long and shift your stance.

“Um…hi?”

“Hey,” Robin greets with an uncomfortable smile. “Sorry, um…do you mind if we come in?”

Still completely flabbergasted at the collection of people before you, you give an awkward shrug and step to the side while the mismatched group of teens piles into your living room. You shut the door behind them and bring a hand to your forehead as you turn to face your visitors.

“Okay, Buckley,” you begin. “You’re gonna have to walk me through why you’re at my house with Steve Harrington and two random children.”

They all share looks with each other, almost as if they are silently debating who should explain.

“We need your help,” the boy chimes in. “We need to find Eddie Munson.”

You blink several times, unsure if you heard the kid correctly.

You’ve been in Hawkins a little over twenty four hours, yet somehow Eddie Munson has come up not once, not twice, but three times.

“Why?” you ask incredulously, not knowing what else you could possibly say to that.

The group exchanges glances once again. You’re clearly missing something, but they seem almost…afraid to explain.

“Did you…hear about what happened?” Robin questions nervously. You let out an annoyed sigh, wishing these kids would just get to the point.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific than that,” you argue, crossing your arms. Robin looks to Steve, who seems equally annoyed at how long this is taking. He rolls his eyes and sets his hands on his hips.

“They found a body in Eddie’s trailer this morning. A cheerleader. Now Eddie is missing.”

A body?!

Your brain starts firing off thoughts while you process the information. Someone in Hawkins has mysteriously died. Again. And somehow Eddie is involved. Eddie. The same Eddie you were with just yesterday. The same Eddie who spends his free time fantasizing about fighting dragons. He may be a pain in the ass, but never in a million years would you think he would hurt anyone.

You shake your head, trying to form a response.

“There’s no way…Munson could never–”

“We know,” the boy says, interrupting your stammering. “We know he’s innocent. That’s why we have to find him. We think we know what happened.”

You’re still a little lost, trying to piece together everything you’ve been told. You realize you still don’t know what these people are doing in your living room of all places.

“Wait, so what does this have to do with me?” you ask, directing your question mostly at Robin, hoping she has the answer since she’s the only one of the quartet you’ve actually interacted with before.

“I know you used to hang with Eddie back when you were in school,” Robin explains. “A lot of the bandies used to. We heard you were back in town and figured it was worth a shot.”

“Okay, first of all, we did not hang out,” you quickly clarify, crossing your arms defensively. “I used to buy weed from him and then he…wouldn’t know when to leave. Second of all, why are you coming to me instead of Munson’s actual friends?”

“Look we’ve tried everyone we could think of,” the redhead girl suddenly speaks up, an edge to her voice. “No one knows where he is. We’re desperate here. Is there any place you think he would go?”

You let out a frustrated sigh, confused on how you could possibly know where Eddie would be hiding.

And then you remember the van.

The van you saw the night before, zooming down Carolyn’s street like it was being chased by something. You had thought it looked familiar - you now realize it was Eddie’s van.

“Wait, I think I saw him last night,” you reveal, earning the immediate attention of the teens gathered next to your couch. “He was speeding, heading out of town.”

You wrack your brain for where he could be headed. He would look for some place he knew, but some place out of the way. And wherever he was heading would have to be in the direction he was speeding last night. 

And that’s when it hits you.

“Reefer Rick,” you announce. “His place is out by Lover’s Lake. Eddie might hide out there.”

“Do you know where it is?” the young boy excitedly asks.

“Yeah, I think,” you reply, but you’re still confused. You need more answers. “But wait, what do you mean by ‘you think you know what happened’?”

The group once again exchanges silent glances.

“Things in Hawkins…” the redhead starts, “...aren’t always what they seem.” Your brow furrows at the ominous nature of her tone.

“What she means is…” Steve cuts in. “Everything that’s gone on the past few years…the disappearances, the mysterious deaths…it’s connected.”

“And we have a lot of…experience with this stuff,” the boy adds.

You let their words sink in for a second. A small part of you always figured something weird was going on in Hawkins. But you really didn’t have any reason to say so. Not until last summer.

So you finally decide to say something.

“Starcourt Mall,” you suddenly spit out, your curiosity piqued. “Do you guys know what really happened?”

You watch their faces with intent as they all slowly nod.

“Was it a fire?”

They all solemnly shake their heads.

And for some reason…you believe them.

You let out a small chuckle, almost relieved that your suspicions were correct. And it’s bizarre how after all of these months, after all of your wondering, the people that seem to have all of the answers are a random selection of teenagers who happen to be standing in your house.

“Okay, here’s what's going to happen,” you announce, crossing your arms. “I will lead you guys to Reefer Rick’s. And on the way, you are going to tell me everything – and I mean everything – you know.”

For the final time, the group all exchange looks, clearly pleased with your statement.

“Deal.”

–

You don’t have any idea how to handle this.

Despite the trip to Rick’s only being about twenty minutes, they manage to tell you everything. How Will Byers suddenly seemed to come back to life. Why crops were randomly rotting two years ago. What really happened at Starcourt Mall on the Fourth of July.

You don’t know exactly what you wanted to hear, but learning your mom’s body had helped form a giant mutant flesh monster, and that it was defeated by a young girl with psionic powers was not what you expected.

At least you have your answers.

The group explains their working theory: that something from this mysterious other realm – the Upside Down, as they referred to it – has something to do with the girl who was found in Eddie’s trailer. And they’re on a mission to defeat whatever it is and clear Eddie’s name.

It’s a lot to take in. You don’t know what you’re more confused by: how all of this has been happening in Hawkins without everyone else knowing or how casual the group seems to be when explaining it. 

By the time you all arrive at Rick’s, you’re mentally exhausted. 

You trail behind everyone else, still trying to process how much your world has turned upside down – for lack of a better term – in less than an hour. As you follow the teens in front of you, you think about your mom, and how even though you’ve processed your grief, your heart hurts at how she met her end. You then realize that you being in Chicago instead of coming home last summer also likely saved your life. You might have been another victim of the flayer…thing…the kids described.

You’re brought back to reality at the sharp movement of Eddie launching himself from his hiding place and backing Steve against the wall, holding a broken bottle to his throat.

The teens all shout at him, pleading for him to back off. Your eyes fall to Eddie’s face, where you can see the terror and desperation written in his features. He’s scared. Really fucking scared.

You find yourself making your way closer to him, the tension in the room thick as all hell.

“Munson,” you utter, trying to keep your voice calm. You lay a gentle hand on the wrist that holds the bottle to Steve’s throat. The touch seems to break Eddie’s trance, as his eyes find yours. His eyebrows furrow and you can practically hear his brain working through all of his conflicting emotions. His big brown eyes stare deep into your soul, searching for answers you don’t have.

“We’re here to help,” you slowly explain. After a few moments, your words seem to get through to him, as he spares Steve one more glance before nodding and releasing him. You let go as well, and you watch as the tension seems to release from Eddie’s shoulders.

He slumps against the wall before sliding to the floor. You can see he’s visibly shivering, and his grip on the bottle doesn’t loosen. Whatever he witnessed last night, he is truly shaken up. And if it’s anything like the things the others described to you in the car, you don’t blame him.

You watch him closely as Dustin begins to try and coax him into revealing what happened. You’ve never seen him like this and it’s jarring. Gone is his usual snarky, goofy demeanor. You find yourself itching to move closer to him, to do something to comfort him. But you keep your distance, not wanting to spook him any more than he already is.

“You won’t believe me,” he croaks, his voice shaking. He frustratedly wipes at his face.

“Try us,” Max replies.

Eddie sniffles, before his sad eyes find yours. Almost as if he’s checking with you to see if he really should confess to whatever he’s holding on to. You give him a soft smile and a reassuring nod.

He takes a deep breath before he begins his story.

Somehow it’s even more horrifying than the flesh monster story.

You wrap your arms around your middle as Eddie recounts what he saw last night. You feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as he divulges the details. And as the others reassure him that the group believes him and begins to reveal the existence of the Upside Down, you find yourself staying silent, completely overwhelmed by everything that’s happening.

It isn’t fair. That girl Barb. Your mom and all those other people. Now Chrissy. Innocent people dying at the hands of…mysterious creatures…who are out for blood. For whatever reason, these monsters have chosen Hawkins as their hunting ground, and it’s bullshit.

You don’t even realize how long you were zoned out until the others start moving.

“We’ll be back in the morning,” Dustin announces, and you turn to look at Eddie, who’s still slumped against the wall, looking utterly defeated. It seems almost cruel to leave him here like this.

“I’m gonna stay with Munson.” The words leave your lips before you can stop them. You feel all eyes on you, with Steve giving you the weirdest look of the bunch.

“I don’t – I don’t have the experience with this stuff that you guys have,” you explain, trying to keep your voice from shaking. “I only found out about all of this today. I can’t really…I don’t have anything to offer to help figure this out. So I’ll just stay here. Make sure he doesn’t…fall into the lake or something.”

There’s a moment of silence as the group does that weird telepathic check-in thing they do with each other. At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised if they revealed they all have powers too.

“Okay,” Dustin replies with a shrug. “See you two in the morning.” The group files out and closes the door behind them, leaving you and Eddie alone in the boathouse.

The silence is deafening.

You spin on your heels to face Eddie, and you find him watching you, an unreadable look on his face. You awkwardly saunter over to him, and take a seat on the floor to his left, pulling your knees to your chest. You don’t know what to say to him, or even why you’re sticking around. But you just feel compelled to stay with him.

“Hey,” you finally mutter, the silence becoming unbearable. You meet Eddie’s gaze, and you swear you see the smallest flash of a smile.

“Hey,” he says back, leaning his head against the wall. “So how’d you get wrapped up in this?”

It’s honestly a great question, one you find yourself wondering the answer to.

“I helped them find this place,” you respond. “Although, I’m still not sure how I managed to be the only one so far to figure out you’d be out here.”

Eddie lets out a breath, you think it might be a soft chuckle.

“Yeah, well let’s hope it stays that way for my sake,” he counters, sounding more like himself for the first time since you arrived at the boathouse.

Silence settles between the two of you once again as you play with the hem of your jeans.

“It’s hard to wrap my head around all of this,” Eddie suddenly speaks up. “Do you believe them? Do you believe me?”

You take a bit of comfort in the fact that he’s just as overwhelmed as you are. At least you aren’t alone.

“Yeah, I do,” you confirm, as you finally start to take in your surroundings. Your eyes roam the walls of the boathouse, studying the random assortment of stored items as you continue. “I mean, you’ve only heard the half of it. On the way here they told me everything. And as batshit crazy as it all is…it makes sense. Every weird thing that’s happened in Hawkins the past few years is because of this…other place. All the tragedy and death. It’s insane to think all those stories about monsters are real.” You let out a deep breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

“The mall fire,” Eddie utters after a moment. You nod, understanding his unasked question.

“Your mom.” You turn sharply, your eyes meeting his. “I had heard she was…I’m sorry about your mom.”

You feel your eyes well up, and you will the tears away. No matter how touched you are by his words, you refuse to let yourself cry in front of Eddie Munson.

“Thank you,” you finally say after a few seconds, trying to hide the shakiness in your voice. “I’m sorry about Chrissy.”

He gives you a soft nod, before tipping his head back against the wall once again. The two of you sit in the silence, but this time you don’t feel the awkwardness from before.

After a few minutes, you find your eyes drooping.

“We should probably try to get some sleep,” you suggest, rising to your feet. You stretch out your muscles, realizing you were sitting in that awkward position for longer than you should have.

“Inspired idea, Major,” Eddie says, also finally standing up. He gestures to his hiding spot from before. “You can take the boat, it’s surprisingly comfy in there.”

“No, you take that; I’ll figure something else out–”

“No, it’s fine. Just sleep in the boat–”

“Munson!” you snap, annoyed with how he’s arguing with you. “You being hidden is way more important than me being comfortable. Boat. Tarp. Now.” You angrily point at the boat in question and glare at him.

He cracks the first full smirk you’ve seen all night. The sight is almost comforting – that’s the Eddie that you know – until you remember you’re supposed to be irritated by him.

“Fine,” he concedes, his tone playful. “I almost forgot how bossy you can be, Major.” You roll your eyes and begin to glance around your immediate vicinity to see where you can set up shop for the night. “At least let me…”

You watch as Eddie maneuvers around you and produces several bright orange life vests from behind a crate. He then gently lays them out on the floor beside the suspended boat, creating a makeshift bed from the flotation devices.

“There,” he says, pleased with himself, before shooting you a signature Eddie grin. You sigh, annoyed that you aren’t annoyed at him anymore.

“Thanks,” you concede, moving to settle atop your make-do mattress for the evening. Eddie makes himself comfortable in the boat next to you.

“Night, Major,” Eddie says, still grinning. You shake your head, almost amazed at how quickly Eddie reverted back to his normal self.

“Night, Munson,” you reply, laying back on your lumpy bed. Pleased with your response, his grin brightens before he lays back himself, pulling the tarp over him.

You stare at the ceiling, still trying to wrap your head around the events of the evening. You somehow went from organizing old tax documents to being recruited by teenagers to help an accused murderer evade police after a girl was killed in his trailer by a supernatural monster from another realm. Part of you wants to just go back home, back to the quiet and safe task of cleaning out your house. But for some reason, you just know you need to see this through. Eddie may be…Eddie…but he’s also innocent. You know Hawkins, the second they turn on him, it could be dangerous. And the worst part is, the people of Hawkins don’t have any idea what the real danger is.

The creaks of the boathouse don’t do anything to help calm your nerves. You have no idea how you’re supposed to get any sleep tonight.

And then you hear a soft snore to your right.

You’re suddenly reminded that while the situation is not ideal, you’re not alone. You find Eddie’s snores oddly comforting, bringing a soft smile to your face. You’ll be sure to hold the fact that he snores against him tomorrow.

Eventually, your eyes droop closed once again, and you drift off to sleep.

–

You wake to the sound of a car door slamming. Eddie and you both jolt upright, meeting each others’ eyes before jumping to your feet and heading towards the window.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Eddie mutters under his breath as he peers through the glass, gripping the sharp bottle from before.

“Do you see anyone?” you ask, hoping he can spot the potential threat. The angle you have of the path leading up to the house is completely free from anyone.

“No, but–”

The front door to the boathouse bursts open, causing you and Eddie to practically jump out of your skins, with Eddie’s arm shooting across you in an attempt to block your body with his. 

Robin, Steve, Dustin, and Max appear in the doorway, all holding bags. You press a hand to your chest in an attempt to calm your pounding heart.

“Delivery service!” Dustin proudly announces, and you and Eddie exchange an annoyed look.

Eddie and you take turns passing the box of Honey Comb back and forth while the group recounts what little they have figured out. The news that Eddie’s name hasn’t been released publicly is somewhat reassuring, but it’s only a matter of time before folks figure out what happened on their own. Hawkins residents aren’t the brightest folks around – they haven’t caught on to all of the supernatural events happening under their noses – but they aren’t completely stupid.

Before you can ask what the next steps are, the sound of sirens blaring pierces through the boat house.

Your eyes widen in fear as you turn to Eddie.

“Hide!”

He leaps to his feet and practically dives back into the boat, and you adjust the tarp to cover him. Dustin, Robin, and Eddie dart over to the window, and you quickly look around for another exit, trying to game plan how you’re gonna help Eddie escape.

“They’re not coming here,” Dustin announces after a moment, the group backing away from the window as the sound of the sirens begins to fade. “But we should probably go check it out.” The others nod in agreement, as Eddie sits up from his hiding spot.

“You still good here?” Steve asks, clapping a hand on your shoulder. You glance at Eddie, who has another unreadable expression on his face. You give Steve a nod.

“Yeah, I’m staying,” you reply, crossing your arms. It seems pointless to leave Eddie now, especially since the group doesn’t have any leads on how they’re going to defeat this thing – “Vecna” as they called it.

“Here,” Dustin speaks up, handing you a large walkie-talkie. “It’s already set to the right channel. We’ll communicate through these.” You give Dustin a nod, tucking the radio under your arm.

The teens all awkwardly wave goodbye, and disappear through the front door, leaving you and Eddie alone once again.

You wander back over to your pile of life jackets and plop down on top of them. You find yourself even more lost than yesterday. How in the hell are you supposed to kill some monster from another realm? Especially when the people most likely to come up with the answer have nothing so far?

“I just thought of something,” Eddie says, interrupting your thoughts.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” you counter, shooting him a satisfied smirk. He beams, clearly unbothered by your insult.

“Something you said last night,” he explains, ignoring your comment. “About keeping me from falling into the lake.” Your brow furrows; you barely even remember making that comment.

“Well to be fair, you’re not the most coordinated guy around, Munson,” you explain, reaching for the box of Honey Comb.

“But if I were to fall into the lake, what would you even be able to do about it? You can’t swim.”

You freeze. How the fuck does he know that? you wonder to yourself.

“What?” is your reply, words escaping you.

“Yeah,” Eddie continues, “unless you grew out of it, I remember you being terrified of the water.”

You’re flabbergasted. You have no clue how Eddie Munson could know such a personal detail that you definitely don’t advertise to people.

“How…?” is all you manage to get out before Eddie speaks up again.

“The first summer after my dad got carted off to prison again, my uncle didn’t know what to do with me,” he explains, a soft smile on his face as he describes the memory. “He would drop me off at the pool during the day so he could get some sleep. I remember you would never get all the way into the water, just sit with your feet in. Every time your mom would try to get you into the pool, you would scream and cry.”

You remember those days well. Your mom could never crack why you were so scared to get into the water. You used to grip the side of the pool, your small fingers digging as far into the concrete as you could. Your mom would practically beg you to join her in the cool water, promising you that nothing would hurt you, but you never budged. Eddie isn’t wrong, most of the time the day would end in a meltdown, followed by an apologetic trip to get ice cream. To this day, you don’t understand where your fear comes from. There’s just something about swimming and being in or on water that terrifies you.

Once again, you find yourself surprised by Eddie Munson. While the memory is somewhat embarrassing, it’s almost touching that he remembers that little nugget about you.

“I can’t believe you remember that,” you finally say, shaking your head. Eddie simply smirks, shrugging his shoulders.

“I mean who could forget? You were a total freak.”

You scoff in mock offense and playfully bat him on the shoulder at his comment, earning what sounds like a giggle from the metalhead next to you. You can’t help but let out a small chuckle yourself. You appreciate him trying to lighten the mood, even if it is at your expense.

Silence settles over the two of you once again, and you can feel Eddie’s stare this time. You turn to find that unreadable look from before. It’s a bit unnerving.

“What?” you ask, hoping he’ll either break the stare or at least speak up.

“What are you doing here?” he responds, almost incredulously. “I mean, you can cut and run…you don’t have to be here.” He pauses for a moment, but continues before you have a chance to answer. “If what Henderson and all of them are saying is true, you could be implicated if you’re seen with me.”

He’s right. There really isn’t a solid reason for staying. You don’t know enough about the Upside Down or Vecna to contribute to clearing Eddie’s name. You don’t have any skills that could help Eddie evade authorities. You honestly might just get in the way.

But something about leaving doesn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right last night and it didn’t feel right when the group left today. Something is pulling you to stay with Eddie. But you don’t know what. And you don’t know how to explain that to him. At least not without sounding nuts.

So you deflect.

“Do you want me to go?”

He eyes you for a moment while he considers your question. His brow furrows briefly and slightly purses his lips. You’re uncomfortable under his stare once again – there’s just something in his eyes that almost scares you. He looks at you with such intensity. You can’t remember anyone looking at you like this before.

And then suddenly the spell is broken – Eddie takes in a breath as he lays back in the boat, crossing his arms behind his head and resting on them.

“Nah, I could use the company,” he replies nonchalantly. “Besides, it’ll be just like old times.”

Still recovering from the slight whiplash of his mood swing, you almost miss the comment.

“Old times?” you repeat, wondering what the hell he could be referring to.

“Yeah,” he confirms, as if it’s obvious. “Remember when we used to hang out? We’d smoke a little…talk about life.”

You throw your head back and let out a full laugh at his skewed recollection of events.

“See, I seem to remember you selling us drugs and then just never leaving – even if we ignored you entirely,” you correct him, your tone teasing. Eddie waves his hand in the air.

“Same difference,” he says. “Though I would kill for something to take the edge off right now. Being a wanted man is fucking stressful.”

You let out a chuckle as you reach for your purse, mentally thanking your past self for throwing your smoking stuff into the bag during your hasty exit. You toss the bag of weed, pack of rolling papers, and lighter onto Eddie’s chest, causing him to suddenly sit up. His eyes light up as he grabs at the collection of items before him.

“Major, I could kiss you,” Eddie announces as he hurriedly pushes the tarp off of the boat, spreading out the items onto the boat's flat surface and beginning the task of rolling a joint. You scoff at his words – as if you’d let him anywhere near your lips.

You and Eddie pretty much spend the rest of the day like that – keeping up a pleasant high by sharing a joint every few hours and just casually chatting. He rants about his band, regaling you with stories about how unlively the Corroded Coffin shows are. You tell him about school in Chicago and how different it is living in a big city compared to a small town like Hawkins. The two of you argue over who would win in a fight: Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees. The conversation topics vary wildly, but with nothing but time to kill while you wait for something to happen – whether that’s word from Robin and crew or the police swarming the property – you don’t know how else to keep yourselves entertained. You even take turns tossing pebbles into a can Eddie found, going so far as creating a point system and keeping track of each other’s scores.

You’re surprised. For the first time ever, you’re actually enjoying spending time with Eddie Munson. While the circumstances are very strange, you almost don’t mind. You hate to admit it, but the guy is somewhat funny and almost…charming…in a uniquely Eddie way. Even back in high school, you never understood why people were so afraid of him – you've always known that he’s just an awkward goofball – just with interests that are a little extreme for a small town in Indiana.

He seems to enjoy your company as well, laughing at your attempts at jokes and listening to your stories. You occasionally shoot him some playful insults, trying to give him a taste of his own medicine, but he appears to take delight in your razzing, earning you a genuine smile with every jab. And you soon find yourself going out of your way to earn that reaction as much as you can. 

If senior year you could see you now, she’d be shellshocked.

The sun eventually sets, and with no word from the other teens, you attempt to get some sleep once again. Eddie throws himself onto your pile of life jackets, refusing to move.

“Guess you’re gonna have to take the boat,” he claims, as if his hands are tied. You roll your eyes, before throwing the tarp at him and begrudgingly climbing into the boat and making yourself comfortable.

Your mind immediately begins to wander, the reality of the situation suddenly hitting you full force once again. All you want is for everyone to be safe. Your friends, the band of teens leading the charge, Eddie…you just want everyone to be okay. And you have no idea how you can make that happen.

You realize a tense silence has settled over the boathouse. You know Eddie's still awake, you can by the lack of snoring. Something pushes you to speak up, so you do.

“Hey,” you start, hoping you were right about him still being awake.

“Yeah?” 

You pause for a moment, feeling awkward.

“We’re gonna figure this out,” you declare. You don’t know if you even believe your own words. But something about saying it out loud makes it seem like it can happen. “I promise.”

Eddie doesn’t answer right away. In fact he takes so long to reply that you almost sit up to check to see if he did fall asleep.

“Yeah,” he says, his voice shaky. “I hope so.”

Your heart pangs, the fear in his voice evident. You wish there’s something more you can do. 

So you try your best to get comfortable in your makeshift bed, and for the second night in a row, you drift to sleep to the creaks and scrapes of the boathouse.

–

Luckily, you’re not rudely awoken by a potential threat on your second morning. Your eyes flutter open and you’re appreciative of the fact that any imminent danger was nice enough to be quiet this time.

You slowly sit up, stretching out your muscles and cracking your stiff joints. A gentle snore sounds next to you, and you immediately grin at the fact that Eddie is still asleep. You realize you forgot to tease him about his snoring yesterday, but you’ll be sure to mention it to him today.

Your eyes wander to his sleeping form. His mussed curls are haphazardly strewn about and the tarp is carelessly tossed across his torso. He looks so peaceful that it’s almost bizarre – you’re so used to his wild high-energy antics that it’s weird to see him so…quiet.

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you miss that at some point Eddie stopped snoring.

“Watching me sleep?” he suddenly says before his eyes pop open and that signature Eddie smirk appears. You feel the heat in your ears, embarrassed at being caught. “Didn’t take you for such a creeper, Major.”

You roll your eyes and attempt to deflect the situation.

“You snore,” is all you can manage as a retort, staring down at your lap to avoid his pleased expression. When he doesn’t say anything after a few moments, you look back at him to find him sporting a huge grin, clearly unbothered once again by your comment. His smile gets you to break, and you let out an embarrassed chuckle at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Shut up,” you say, knowing full well he didn’t say anything more. It earns a chuckle from Eddie, who decides to stand, taking his turn to stretch. You can’t help but notice the small patch of pale skin that’s exposed below the hem of his dirtied white shirt while he stretches his arms above his head.

“So since we’ve pretty much killed the wonderful spread that Henderson and crew brought us yesterday, and since there’s no sign of them this morning, what do you say to popping up to Rick’s house to see what food we can scrounge up?” Eddie inquires, running a hand through his hair to get some stray strands out of his face.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

You do feel a little bit bad rifling through Rick’s kitchen, but since you can’t get a hold of anyone, it’s your best option.

The fridge is pretty much empty other than a bottle of mustard and a take-out container that neither of you dare to touch. You split up and start searching cabinets and drawers, hoping to find something edible before the two of you start withering away to nothing.

“I don’t mean to brag,” Eddie suddenly announces, and you turn to find him holding a can. “But I’ve been told I make a mean bowl of Spaghettios.”

You can’t help but let out a chuckle.

“I guess I’ll have the Spaghettios then,” you reply, opting to play along. Eddie, pleased with your response, lights up, tossing the can into the air and catching it.

“One order of Spaghettios, coming right up, ma’am.”

While Eddie heats up your meal, you make an attempt to get a hold of the Vecna-hunting crew.

“Anyone there?” you plead into the radio. “Dustin? Robin? Steve? Anyone?”

The radio crackles for a moment before a voice sounds on the other side.

“Hey, it’s Nancy.” Your eyes immediately meet Eddie’s as you both share a look of relief at the sound of someone answering your call.

“Hey, um, we’re running low on food,” you reveal. “Could we get a delivery sometime soon?”

“Uh yeah, we can do that…just give us some time and we’ll be out there soon.”

“Thanks, Nancy–”

“Ask for a six pack!” Eddie suddenly shouts, and you turn to glare at him.

“I am not asking them to get you beer!” you argue.

“Come on!” Eddie counters. “We’re almost out of bud and I really could use a drink.”

You groan before hitting the button on the radio.

“Eddie is requesting a six pack of beer as well,” you begrudgingly say.

“Hold on, I’m gonna have to call you back–”

“Wait, Nancy? Nancy?” you call out, but no one replies. You let out a sigh – you can only hope that the group will be on their way soon.

“Order up!” Eddie announces, getting your attention. You watch as he awkwardly clears away a bunch of playing cards, empty beer cans, and a bong from the table before placing the pot of canned noodles and two seemingly clean bowls down. You take a seat at the table as Eddie spoons out a helping for each of you.

“Now I’ve spent years trying to get the recipe just right, so please be honest with your feedback,” Eddie teases, handing you a spoon. You giggle at his theatrics.

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” you reply, amazed at how he can still keep the mood light, despite the current situation. The thought makes you stop and watch him as he starts to practically inhale his Spaghettios.

He must realize you’re watching him, because he stops to look up at you.

“What?”

“I’m just…I don’t know…surprised,” you explain, struggling to find the words. “Despite…everything…you still manage to crack jokes. It’s just impressive, I guess.”

You see his smile slowly fade and you immediately regret saying anything.

“I’ll be honest with you, Major,” Eddie responds, his hand absentmindedly running through his hair. “I am…barely holding it together.” He gets a far-off look in his eye, and you essentially freeze in your seat, completely speechless at his confession. He stares off for a few moments before his gaze meets yours once again. “But you…being here. It’s really helping. So…thank you…for sticking around.”

You offer a small smile and nod, his words warming your heart. After feeling so helpless, unsure of how you could do anything to fix the situation, hearing that simply staying with him has helped at all is comforting.

“I’d like to think…that if the roles were reversed…you’d do the same for me,” you say, awkwardly mixing your meal with your spoon to give you something to focus on other than Eddie’s deep brown eyes staring at you.

“I don’t know,” he suddenly says after a few moments. “I wouldn’t put it past you to have committed a murder.”

Your jaw drops and your eyes shoot up to glare at him, only to find that knowing smirk is back. You let out a chuckle as you realize he’s teasing you and you shake your head. He giggles himself, pleased with your reaction as always, before his smile fades.

“I’d be there in a heartbeat,” he claims, his tone earnest. His sobering stare makes you uncomfortable again, and you busy yourself with the bowl in front of you, finally taking a bite of your meal.

The two of you eat your Spaghettios in comfortable silence, and you can’t help but repeat his words back in your head.

You being here, it’s really helping.

I’d be there in a heartbeat.

There’s nothing like a life and death situation to bring two people together. You couldn’t have imagined forming such a friendship with Eddie before. But before, you never looked past his “freak” reputation and his hijinks to see what was there. And you have to admit it, what’s there is…a really cool and great person.

At this point you’re not sure what’s more insane: the fact that there’s a demon from another realm attacking people in Hawkins or the fact that you think Eddie Munson is cool.

–

After finishing your meal, which after an entire day of nothing but junk food tasted like the most amazing thing you’ve ever eaten, the two of you make your way back to the boathouse, hoping to be receiving a visit from the Upside Down team soon.

You’re halfway through your fifth game of “pebble basketball” when you hear a car door slam. You both jump to your feet, rushing to the window, expecting to see a familiar group of teens with bags of supplies.

Instead you’re met with the sight of three teenagers in black suits, armed with large objects, exiting their vehicle.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Eddie groans, his body tensing. “It’s the fucking basketball team.”

You both duck below the window, your own panic beginning to set in.

“The blonde one,” he continues. “That’s Chrissy’s boyfriend.”

“Shit,” you repeat back, your mind racing. In all of the hours spent hiding out here, the two of you never came up with an escape plan. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie reveals, his voice strained. “I think we both assumed Henderson and his band of heroes would have come up with a plan by now.”

“I’ll keep watch,” you offer, before handing him the radio. “You try to get a hold of Dustin or Nancy or whoever.” Eddie nods, grabbing the device and moving away from the window.

You watch as the three teens make their way into the main house, clearly looking for a fight. You begin to wrack your brain, trying to come up with anything you can do to either get the boys to leave or to escape yourselves. You can hear Eddie angrily grumbling into the receiver, trying to get someone to respond. You both know that the longer you stay in the boathouse, the more likely you’ll be caught.

You don’t know if you can convince the guys to leave Eddie alone. You doubt explaining that Chrissy was actually killed by a monster from another dimension will go over well. You don’t know these kids well enough to be able to reason with them. And there is no universe where you and Eddie can take on all three of them. Your only option is to escape.

But how? And where can you even go?

“Fuck!” Eddie shouts, breaking you out of your thoughts. “No one is answering.” He plants his hands on his hips, and you can practically hear the gears churning in his head. His eyes widen and shoot up to meet yours. “I have an idea, grab your stuff.”

You don’t hesitate, instantly reaching for your bag and throwing everything you’d pulled out back inside. You turn and stand, waiting for more instructions, before realizing Eddie is untying the boat.

“Help me get this in the water,” he instructs. You freeze in place as you realize what his plan is.

Panic immediately sets in. You can’t. You just can’t. Eddie is just going to have to leave you behind. There is no way you’re getting in that boat with him and going out onto the lake.

You can stay behind, distract the guys to give Eddie more time to escape. You don’t like the idea of separating, but you find it much more appealing than getting into that fucking boat.

Eddie finally realizes you haven’t moved from your spot and looks up, clocking the panic that must be plastered all over your face.

“Oh shit, right,” he says, quickly assessing and understanding the situation. “Okay, um…”

You watch him with big eyes as he moves over to you. He hesitates for a moment before placing his hands on your upper arms.

“Sweetheart, I’m gonna need you to trust me on this one,” he pleads with you, his voice tight. “Those guys are going to kill me if we don’t get on this boat right now. I promise you, you won’t need to get in the water at all. And I will be there the whole time. Just please, please, get in the boat.”

Your heart is pounding, your hands are sweaty, and you can feel your breathing getting shaky. 

And then he says your name.

Not “Major,” but your first name. You can’t remember the last time he called you by your actual name. It sounds almost foreign coming from his lips.

“Please.”

Part of you wants to fight, explain to him your plan to stay behind to help him get away. But the way he’s looking at you is so intense, that you can’t help but listen to him.

You do trust him. 

You slowly nod, and Eddie lets out a breath in obvious relief at your answer.

“Okay,” he says before letting you go to finish preparing your escape vessel. You grab the radio, stuffing it into your bag. You hear a soft splash, and turn to see Eddie climbing into the boat. He holds a hand out for you. You tentatively take it, his rings against your skin feeling oddly comforting. You gently take your first step, trying to ignore the shakiness of the boat under your foot. “Easy. That’s it.” You take the next step, gripping Eddie’s hand like a vice, and he slowly helps you sit on the metal bench.

“Okay, you’re okay,” he says, his own voice shaky from the tension. He then turns to grab the oar, but your hand refuses to let go of his.

“Sweetheart, I’m gonna need both hands to row,” he pleads with you as he takes his own seat. You stare at him, eyes wide, silently begging him not to let go. You’re afraid of what will happen if he does.

“Shit, okay,” he says, glancing around for a solution. “Let’s do this, just grab on to me.” He grabs your other hand and moves both to rest on either side of his waist. He gently lets your hands go and you grip his sides. “Okay, here we go.”

As he begins to paddle out of the boathouse, you focus on your breathing and the solid feeling of Eddie’s body under your fingertips. You keep reminding yourself: he’s here, he won’t let anything happen to you. You try to tune out the sloshing of the water, and instead focus on the small grunts that escape Eddie’s lips as he rows. You center your stare on his back, eyes tracing the Dio graphic on his vest. 

Just when your panic begins to somewhat subside, you hear a voice.

“Hey freak! Where do you think you’re going?”

“Goddamn it,” Eddie groans. You turn to look behind you, and you see two of the guys from before stripping on the shore, preparing to swim after you.

“Munson,” you finally squeak out, your voice tiny. Eddie starts to paddle faster.

“I know, sweetheart,” he replies, his desperation evident. You find yourself looking back to the shore just in time to see the two guys diving into the water. You grip Eddie even tighter, nails digging into the denim of his vest. You’re trying to keep it together, but you have no idea what the guys are capable of, and the two of you are way too far from a shoreline for your liking.

Eddie paddles and paddles, but the guys get closer and closer. Suddenly the blonde one calls your name.

“We’re gonna get you away from that freak, don’t worry!” Your brow furrows. They must think Eddie is holding you against your will.

“Fuck off!” you attempt to shout back, but your voice barely escapes you. You immediately realize the blonde is no longer focused on you. His friend suddenly stops swimming and begins to look around.

“Patrick! Come on, we almost have them!” the blonde shouts, but it’s like the boy doesn’t even hear him. “Patrick!”

You then watch as suddenly Patrick is pulled beneath the water. Everything is silent for a moment – even Eddie stops rowing and turns to watch the scene unfold. And then as if he was shot from a cannon, Patrick flies out of the water and then stops several feet above the surface.

You don’t even realize you’re screaming until you feel yourself being yanked backward, Eddie’s arms wrapping around you and pulling you to his chest. You watch in horror as the boy’s limbs begin to crack one by one. Eddie’s hand slides up behind your head and turns you towards him, hiding your face in his neck. You can hear more snapping noises, and you realize you’re crying when the fabric of Eddie’s t-shirt begins to dampen under you. Finally, you hear a large splash.

And then everything is quiet.

Eddie’s arms fall away and you immediately miss the heat. You burrow yourself into his body, gripping his t-shirt and refusing to move. You can feel him start to paddle once again, but you don’t hear anything from the guys who were chasing you. You’re afraid to ask any questions – you simply focus on the sound of Eddie’s quick heartbeat and the rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath your cheek.

You have no idea how long the two of you travel across the water. But after a while the motion of the boat slows down, eventually coming to a stop as you hit land. Eddie’s arm curves around you again before he finally speaks up.

“Come on, sweetheart.”

You peel yourself off of him, eyes immediately catching the wet spot your tears left along the collar of his shirt. His hands find yours as he pulls you to stand before helping you out of the boat and back onto land. The solid ground beneath your feet calms your nerves slightly, but your heart is still pounding in your chest.

You turn back to look at the water, and suddenly the memory of Patrick comes flooding back. The sight of his body floating in the air, the violent snapping of his bones – you don’t think you’ll ever be able to get the sound out of your head.

You spin back to Eddie, your panic returning. His hands are still in yours, and you grip them even tighter. But you quickly realize, he’s doing no better than you. His chest is heaving, and you recognize the same fear in his eyes as when you first discovered him in the boathouse.

“He...he–” you whimper.

“I know–”

“His…his bones–”

“I know, sweetheart–”

“Is that what…?”

“Yeah.”

He immediately understands your unspoken question. What happened to Patrick is what he saw happen to Chrissy. 

“What…what do we do?” you desperately ask. Eddie doesn’t respond right away – you guess it’s because he doesn’t have any ideas.

“What we’re going to do first is breathe, okay?” he instructs. “Just in and out, slowly. In…and out.”

You close your eyes and try to breathe with him, timing your inhales and exhales with his. You continue to grip his hands as you take your breaths, in and out, in and out.

After a few minutes, you start to feel like yourself again. Your heart slows to a normal pace and the tension in your shoulders releases. Your grip on Eddie’s hands loosens and you finally open your eyes. You’re met with the sight of Eddie’s big brown eyes staring at you once again.

Eddie’s safe. You’re safe. You made it across the lake. He talked you through it and let you hang onto him the entire time. And then even after everything, despite all of his own fear, he helped you calm down.

You launch yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his body in a tight hug. You know he’s not expecting it, because he freezes, stiffening under your embrace. But after a few moments, his arms find their way around you and pull you in tight. You have no idea how long the two of you stay like that, just holding each other close.

Eventually you make the first move to pull away, wiping at a stray tear that managed to escape. An awkward silence settles over the two of you while you each recover from the long embrace. You decide to speak up first.

“I think we should…um…try to find somewhere to lay low,” you say, voice a little hoarse from your screaming earlier. Eddie nods in agreement.

“Yeah, yeah…let’s do that,” he replies, glancing around at your surroundings. “Okay, I think I know someplace, follow me.”

–

You never used to think the forests around Hawkins were that scary. But after witnessing what you had earlier and with the knowledge that a demon was killing people at random around Hawkins, you find yourself on edge as you wander through the trees. You trail Eddie closely, eyes locked to his back so you don’t lose him in the darkness. You’re almost on autopilot, your legs moving instinctively. You can feel the waves of fatigue coming on, but you’re afraid that if you stop moving for a second, you’ll either get separated from Eddie or collapse from exhaustion. Between the late night hour, the lack of food in your system, the long distance you’ve walked, and the emotional weariness from your panic attack earlier, you’re surprised you’re still functioning.

“It should be right up here,” Eddie calls back to you, and you sigh in relief, wanting nothing more than to just crumple to the ground and fall asleep. The trees break and you find yourself coming to a clearing, with a large boulder towering above you. “Welcome to our home for the time being, Skull Rock.”

Once the words leave his lips, you’re shocked you didn’t recognize it immediately. You used to come out here to play when you were a kid, and you had several smoking sessions out here with friends as a teen.

You plop onto the ground below the large rock, the muscles in your legs practically screaming at you.

“It’s perfect,” you state, sliding yourself to lean your back against the rockface. Eddie drops next to you with a sigh.

“We’ll hang out here for the night, and in the morning we’ll try to get a hold of someone,” Eddie suggests. “And then…I guess we’ll figure something out from there.” You nod in agreement, your eyes already drooping closed.

“Okay,” you mumble, losing the fight against your body’s need for sleep. You don’t know if Eddie says anything else, as sleep overtakes you.

The sudden shake of your body wakes you up.

Your eyes pop open and you realize at some point your head had fallen onto Eddie’s shoulder. You then realize the sudden movement was from Eddie, who’s stirring in his sleep.

You sit up abruptly and you watch as Eddie thrashes, mumbling unintelligible words. A fear takes over you instantly – what if this is the work of Vecna? Are you about to watch Eddie’s body float and snap like a twig above you?

You grab his shoulders, gently shaking him.

“Munson,” you call, your voice low at first. “Hey, wake up.” His body continues to thrash and flail, and you try to hold him still.

“No, not her,” Eddie mumbles. You take the fact that he can speak as a sign that he’s simply having a nightmare, instead of being controlled by an invisible monster.

“Munson!” you shout, shaking him harder. “Wake up!”

His eyes snap open and he gasps for breath, as if he was drowning. He grips your hands where they are planted on his shoulders and he heaves as he comes to.

“You’re okay, it was just a nightmare,” you say, attempting to comfort him. You let him focus on his breathing as you gently caress his shoulders with your thumbs. He nods, and after a few moments you release him.

“Where’s the radio?” he asks after a few seconds. You’re a little stunned by the rapid change in subject, but you grab it from your bag and wordlessly hand it to him.

“Dustin, can you hear me?” he grunts into the receiver. “Wheeler? Someone?” There’s a moment of static, and then a voice comes through.

“Eddie, holy shit, are you guys okay?”

You and Eddie’s eyes meet and share a sigh of relief at the teen’s voice.

“Uh, actually no, we’re not fucking okay,” he replies, a bite to his tone. “Shit’s really bad.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re hiding at Skull Rock. Do you know it?”

“Yeah that’s near…yeah, yeah, we know it. Hold tight, we’re coming!”

Eddie doesn’t respond, he simply rests his forehead on the radio and pinches his eyes closed. You can see his chest rising and falling rapidly – the facade he was able to keep with you yesterday is all but gone, and his panic is front and center.

You reach over and gently take the radio from his hand, placing it back into your bag for now. You then take his hand, almost tenderly, and hold it in yours. You meet his eyes and silently communicate to him what he was able to promise you yesterday. You’re here and you won’t let anything happen to him.

He seems to understand, as he offers a small smile and squeezes your hand in his.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence, the only sounds being the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds. The feeling of his hand in yours is comforting, and you can only hope he feels the same.

At least twenty minutes goes by before Eddie speaks again.

“I just left her,” he says, his voice tight. “I left her there and I ran.”

You know immediately he’s talking about Chrissy. You can tell that the guilt is eating him alive.

“Munson,” you start. “What else could you have done? We don’t know how to kill this thing. I mean it’s fucking invisible. I know you feel guilty for what happened, but none of it was your fault. And who knows, you might have been his next victim if you hadn’t gotten the fuck out of there.”

He doesn’t respond, staring dejectedly at the ground.

“You’re just a person, Munson,” you continue. “No one is expecting you to be more than that. You’re not some…sorcerer or cleric who can just cast a spell to fix this. It’s okay to do what you need to in order to protect yourself. And if that means running away, then so be it.”

After a few moments of silence, you assume he’s not going to respond and decide to drop the subject. You glance over to find him eyeing you warily.

“How do you know what a cleric is?” he asks guardedly. You bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling. You were hoping that line would get his attention.

“I might have dabbled in some D&D in college,” you reveal with a shrug, playing it off as if it’s no big deal.

He lets go of your hand and you immediately miss the feeling, but he does so in order to move into a squat right in front of you.

“So you’re saying…that you have played D&D…and I’m only finding out right now?” he asks as if you’ve personally slighted him. You chuckle at his dramatics.

“To be fair, I’ve only played like two sessions,” you explain. “Our DM kept canceling.”

He scoffs before standing and kicking at a rock on the ground.

“Sounds like a shitty DM,” he mumbles.

“You’re saying you’re a better DM?”

“Sweetheart, I’m the best DM.”

Your stomach flutters at the nickname, now that you’re in less of a panicked state to appreciate it.

But before you can respond, you hear voices coming through the trees. You and Eddie exchange a look before grabbing your stuff and moving to climb on top of one of the boulders, giving you the high ground.

You quickly recognize the voices of Steve and Dustin arguing. You and Eddie sit on the rock and watch as the pair wander into the clearing, passing you by.

“...You can’t admit you’re wrong, you little butthead.”

“I concur,” Eddie states, announcing your presence to your new visitors. They sharply turn towards you, clearly startled by Eddie. “You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead.”

Eddie hops down first, before holding out a hand to help you jump off.

“We thought you guys were goners,” Dustin declares before pulling Eddie in for a hug.

“Yeah, so did we,” Eddie confirms, hugging the teenager back. You’re surprised as Dustin then pulls you in for a hug as well. Robin, Nancy, Max, and another boy then appear through the bushes. Your eyes light up at the sight of grocery bags, and as if on cue, your stomach immediately growls.

The group settles in while you and Eddie practically inhale the snacks they brought. They tell you about Eddie’s name being released to the public and you tell them what you witnessed on the lake. They update you on their findings about Victor Creel and how Vecna has some sort of connection to the Creel house. You all put together that Vecna’s attack on Patrick happened while they were in the Creel attic.

The teens begin to rant about how they wish their friend had their superpowers again when Eddie speaks up.

“What’s going on with Henderson over there? He’s not…cursed…is he?”

You glance over and see Dustin frantically pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself and holding his compass.

“Cursed? Nah,” Steve assures the two of you. “Mental? Definitely.”

“The compass!” Dustin suddenly exclaims, causing everyone’s attention to focus on him. He goes on to explain that his compass isn’t working properly due to some sort of magnetic field. You can barely keep up as the teens all fill in the blanks. You think Dustin is suggesting that you all follow his compass to find a way into the Upside Down, but you’re not sure.

“Wait, we can’t just go for a hike in the woods,” Steve argues. “Eddie’s still a wanted man.”

“What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks, and the group turns to Eddie for his response. But Eddie looks to you.

Hiking through the woods doesn’t seem like the best plan, especially now that you know Eddie’s name has been released to the public. You’re also not exactly excited about the concept of walking for hours once again. But you know it has to be Eddie’s call – and you’ll stay with him no matter what he wants to do.

“Whatever you decide, I’m in,” you tell him. He nods before turning to Dustin.

“You’re asking me to follow you into Mordor,” Eddie begins. “Which, honestly, sounds like a terrible plan.” He looks at you once more, and then his eyes scan his surroundings. “But The Shire is burning…so Mordor it is.”

He stands before holding his hand out to you and pulling you to your feet. You clock Steve’s bewildered expression as the group begins to follow Dustin back through the clearing and down the path. You walk alongside Eddie, and for a brief moment, you itch to grab his hand again, your own hand flexing at your side.

“You are such a nerd,” you say to Eddie, voice low so only he can hear you.

“Did you get my reference?” he counters.

“Yeah.”

“Then so are you,” he says, a smug grin on his face. You playfully bump his shoulder with yours in response, and he bumps you right back, leaving you both in giggles as you walk.

You lose track of how long you and the group wander through the woods. The sun eventually begins to set, and you can’t help but feel a little bit of deja vu as the trees pass you by.

Dustin suddenly picks up the pace, power-walking through the trees while Eddie tries to catch up, calling after him.

And then the pair comes to a sudden stop.

You realize you’re back at Lover’s Lake.

You hold back the groan that threatens to escape your lips. You aren’t exactly thrilled to be back at the place where you witnessed a violent death and had a borderline panic attack.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asks.

“When the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening…”

“And Patrick was killed over the lake,” you finish, finally catching on to what was happening.

“Only one way to test the theory,” Steve says, and you cringe, quickly realizing what he means.

Eddie and you lead the group over to where you left the boat the night before. Steve helps Eddie move it back into the water, and Robin climbs in first. You stand and watch, arms wrapped tight around your middle. Eddie steps off and moves to you, leaning in so the others don’t hear him.

“You don’t have to, okay?” he says, already knowing that you were beginning to panic. “I’ll go out with them, find the gate and come right back.”

You’re conflicted. The idea of going out on the water again definitely freaks you out – but you also don’t like the idea of being separated from Eddie. Something tells you that it’s better to stick with him than to stay behind…and you know there’s no convincing him to stay with you.

“No,” you say, voice shaky. “I’m with you.”

“I appreciate that, Maj, I really do,” Eddie counters. “But I don’t want you working yourself up just because of me.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” you argue. “I’ll be fine. Just…can I…?” you don’t finish the question, almost embarrassed to ask. Instead you show him what you’re asking for by grabbing his hand. He understands immediately, nodding and squeezing your hand in his.

You both step into the boat, and you realize your panic isn’t as strong as the night before. You come to expect the uneasiness of the boat under your feet, and the warmth from Eddie’s hand grounds you.

Steve and Nancy take the last two spots, grabbing the compass from Dustin before Steve pushes off from the shore. You focus on the feeling of Eddie’s hand in yours as the distance between you and the teens left on the bank grows. You realize after a few moments that his thumb is gently caressing the skin of your hand, and you let out a shaky breath you didn’t even notice you were holding.

The five of you are silent as Robin and Steve row the boat farther and farther out to the middle of the lake, Nancy’s eyes glued to the compass.

“Wait, wait, slow down!” Nancy suddenly shouts, and you all turn to see the compass spinning wildly. You look across the lake and see the boathouse – you’re about right where you saw Patrick die.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin’s voice crackles through the walkie in your bag. You pull it out and click the button.

“The compass is going nuts,” you answer, before you notice Steve moving in front of you. You realize he’s taking off his shoes.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asks, speaking for all of you.

“Someone’s gotta go down there to check this out,” he explains, as he pulls off his socks. “And as the former Hawkins High swim captain, makes sense that it’s me.”

“Knock yourself out, Harrington,” Eddie says, pulling one of the plastic shopping bags from earlier out of his vest pocket. He looks at you for a moment, and you quickly understand that he needs both hands to do whatever he’s planning. You nod, hesitant at first, but let go of his hand, moving to gently grip his vest instead, just to have something to anchor you. You watch as he wraps the flashlight Robin had been using in the bag before tying it and handing it to Steve. Steve ditches his sweatshirt and you almost miss Eddie’s eyeroll next to you.

“Steve, be careful,” Nancy says, and with a nod in response, Steve dives into the water.

Eddie grabs your hand again, and you shoot himl a grateful look. The four of you sit and wait, eyes tracing along the water’s surface for signs of Steve. Nancy’s eyes are locked on her watch, timing his descent.

After a minute, you all begin to get antsy. You can feel your panic start to kick in once more. Flashes of the events of last night pop into your head, and you shake your head to try and get rid of them. Your hand squeezes Eddie’s harder, the anxiety of Steve’s absence beginning to overwhelm you.

Then suddenly Steve splashes to the surface, making all four of you jump.

“I found it,” he says as he swims closer to the boat, grabbing onto the sides.

“You found a gate?” Nancy clarifies.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a smaller, snack-sized gate,” he confirms. “But a gate nonetheless.”

Robin grabs the radio from you.

“Dustin, you were right, we found a gate!”

No one responds.

“Dustin?”

Your eyes find the shoreline where you had last left the teens, and you see several flashlights – too many to just be the kids – shine through the trees. But before you can say anything, Steve is suddenly pulled underwater.

All four of you shout Steve’s name as you helplessly watch him sink beneath the surface. Nancy quickly jumps to her feet, rocking the boat and causing your stomach to clench.

“What are you doing?” Robin practically shouts.

“Just…wait here!” Nancy responds, before diving in after him.

“No, Nancy!”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Eddie curses next to you, his own panic rivaling yours. Your hands start to shake, the fear from last night returning in full force. Your heart is practically slamming out of your rib cage. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening. 

Robin turns to the two of you, an unreadable look on her face, and without a word, she dives in next.

“Robin, no!” you call out. You turn to look at Eddie and you’re met with a sorry look.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” you bark at him, sensing what he’s thinking about doing.

“Listen, I know it’s really fucking stupid –”

“Yes, it is!”

“But –”

“Munson, I swear to god if you leave me in this boat –”

“I’m sorry, I just have to –”

The next few seconds feel like they happen in slow motion. Eddie lets go of your hand, stands, and shoots you one last look of apology before diving into the dark water.

And just like that, you’re alone.

Your eyes find the shoreline once again. The three teens have vanished, and you see more and more flashlights appearing, as well as the faint red and blue lights of a police car.

You have no idea what to do.

So you lay down in the boat, and you wait.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #joemazzmatazz

[petorahs]

pq2 thoughts after finishing it!:

i think. it is a g. game. it is a persona game i will admit!

no but srs i think its good if youve never played a persona game which i assume is why its on 3ds only. it really does feel like discount persona with all of the last three cast thrown in? and some of the gameplay improvements (this game's gameplay aged better than fes and p2's LMAOO) i guess its a compromise to reach fans who've never actually played the main games cause they dont own a playstation console or something.

at the same time it makes no sense for "new fans" to play because you need at least some background knowledge of the prev characters and plot to care.

in my case i knew everything abt p3 and p5, only osmosis knowledge of the plot of p4 so i ended up using the p4 cast the least in my playthrough :( so theres that. not worth playing if u dont care abt the other casts imo

...so we agree the characters are the selling point here, its advertised as a mega crossover and whatever but. people complaining that theyre "watered down" to base traits or even traits they didnt have in the first place are Right LOL except for a scant few characters who get a lot of expansion. but for the most part none of them are themselves (like yusuke... 😔.... akihiko.... aki not as bad as yusuke but they have the same writing problem)

no one expects the characters to rly individually shine when theres so many ofc, the game even pokes fun at the "limited screen time" joke but like. what else is there to this? 🤔 well

character interactions! those were good. everyone expected detective princes meetup to be really great but i loved the other pairs like haru and mitsuru (heirs with distant dads...), and the PQ OC girl with futaba :] (introvert friends!!)(theyre like sucrose and collei in this year's windblume if you go there)

speaking of akechi though. yea he's part of the list of characters that surprisingly did not get butchered and in fact expanded upon in this game. aside from akechi it's P3 FeMC.

others i liked were P5 MC (his dialogue choices are SO out there), shinjiro aragaki, ken amada, yukiko amagi maybe yosuke hanamura and P4MC but their personalities just stayed the same instead of getting possible new insight?

i liked velvet room guys too theyre goated frfr! yes including marie. even i was surprised (probably cause akechi gets to poke fun at her and the twins hdjdhdhd)(cute)

i cant put P3 male MC anywhere cause i will always be biased towards him 😔🫰 (he was great btw)

but the crow character expansion in particular intrigued me and leads me to accept this game as canon like some ATLUS USA reps intended. akechi: stripped away of his obligations is a cunning, introspective and overall respectable young man and the game showcased all of his core traits well. he purposefully isolates himself from the main group and gets called out on it, consistently is the one that makes the most sense in discussions, gets various little moe moments... he honestly seems like he doesnt know what to make of all this forced bonding with strangers but he cant help to indulge anyway. 😭 he's vocal in discussions about their plans but a passive :) face in the background during fun moments until he's addressed or curious. the way he furthers the narrative along like they wouldnt get as far as they did without him i feel. but between all of that he was the main character to me.

the end scene where he seems regretful that he has to leave and go back to his revenge plot.... hurts. because for all intents and purposes we just saw akechi if he didnt have all that baggage and was just allowed to exist as himself. a smart guy with a whole life ahead of him. but he didnt choose that.

😔

oh god that emoji is huge but anyway. FeMC!! ^_^ the problems of toxic positivity being addressed in her arc was great. they really tried to give her as much love as possible without being too happy (persona games tend to make their characters suffer anyway to even things out) and it was great! her writing reminds me of kasumire's mental illness but with less romance tease pandering.

ah yes and the obligatory Persona side game OC... hikari and nagi. honestly wished they didnt exist as much as i liked hikari's thing 😔 it got old and outright cringe man im sorry like surely the devs could come up with something better than this?? way to not explain enlil and mess with the in-universe power scaling too LMAO. 2/10 is being generous!

anyway its a fairly short game in persona standards so i cant really say it's time wasted when i got so many character interaction crumbs..... i guess i lucked out by liking the characters that i do instead of ones that kinda got shafted in this. (except for aki but 😔 i just kinda accepted his blown out of proportions awkwardness outside of P3)

it's..... a 6/10 from me overall! music and velvet room attendants + nanako cameo DLC carried

#pq2 #aishi.docx #long post #had to get these thoughts out there before i started another persona game LMAO #akechi main character frrr 😭 i love him i care him

[dooptown]

S2 Finale

for once i’m actually going to watch the episode again and get my thoughts down as i do cuz holy hell was this well done, i think

“Comet” playing first instead of the OP was brilliant. Also, as a note, the full music video of that came out, along with some killer animation inspired by the manga.

A detail i love about this music video is Ibuki spotting Free’s motorcycle light in the side mirror before he stops the car and, well, yeah

They actually show Louis reaching for his gun pretty early on into Ibuki’s monologue. I don’t think the manga showed that, but I could be wrong. He definitely has it pointed to him when it’s pitch black same at the anime, but the fact he reaches for it so early means he obviously knows what’s going on, even if he couldn’t pull the trigger.

predictably, the anime does the “darkness” as it always has, with the dark-blue background and bright lines for the characters. The Comet music video does this part of the scene better imo, but it’s not too much of an issue. Free’s whole bit is obviously rushed, and I think the anime suffers for that, but i understand that they couldn’t fit it in. We do miss him escorting Louis out of the BAM though, and also saying he’ll eat Louis if he comes back. That said, I don’t know how Louis gets back...I guess Free drives him back still but we just don’t see it

The Riz and Legosi fight has Riz getting the idea of eating Legosi in his head now that was seemingly missing before. In the manga he was thinking about how he’d become friends with Legosi by eating him, and that never came up in the anime until kinda now. Like I said before it’s an interesting part of Riz’s character so i’m glad it’s touched on a bit at least.

The moth scene is just as confusing here as it was in the manga...and without explanation or confirmation that it’s imaginary chimera (a part of the manga plot that was completely dropped), it just seems like...something. We don’t have Moth-san talking to Riz here or him questioning what he’s seeing so...it could be seen as purely metaphorical but it still remains a mystery (and just like in the manga it accomplishes nothing here cuz Riz just gets up and wails on Legosi) It looks fucking cool though! Word of Power: Respect for Life! It’s all one shot here, so we see every wound inflicted on Legosi, which is only a few slams. In the manga it’s implied he endured way more. That just follows the pattern of the anime, though, where violence is toned way the hell down. I’m not complaining, though. I don’t want to see Legosi hurt...

I knew what i was seeing when it was in motion, but damn does it look fucking good! Orange really is showing how to do CG right by properly stretching models for intense movements and actions! They’ve done this subtly before but here it’s very clear, but not distractedly so (unless you pause frame by frame) However, I still do think the models look a bit stiff when just...like...walking normally sometimes. Like we have this great fight animation but then Riz picks Legosi up and drags him a bit and he looks...off. Ah well

The whole bit about Legosi exposing his stomach doesn’t have the subtleties explained here...and really the anime leaves out a lot of character thinking but i think if they left it in it’d be a bit too hammy and crowded, so it’s fine that they cut it out. But still...tell me more pose isn’t as funny here :(

Legosi’s voice acting shines again here. He sounds really fucking hurt...

The moon cut and then them laying together is nice. Also i do like how there hasn’t been music up until this point at all. Riz talking about everything is nice too...I don’t remember him saying he feels like he could cry in the manga, due to him not remembering anything about Tem but his taste.

Legosi says: “I almost went through the same thing Riz did. If someone hadn’t snapped me out of it, my love for Haru might have made me eat her.” I recall he says something similar in the manga too...but like the only time he ever got close to eating her is when he didn’t know who she was. It really doesn’t seem like the same thing at all...it ties back into Legosi really seeming to have a really firm grasp on everything, all things considered, and he’s just selling himself short. I guess he could also be talking generally but really, he never had a moment where he wanted to eat her again after that first night. And the “someone” who snapped him out of it...Zoe???? Like, I’m just a bit puzzled on this part. I think what it really is is a reference to what he says to Louis later, how he’s the one that guided him and ensured that he is the way he is. Ensured that he did so well to begin with. Like, writing it out like that makes sense, but I guess I’m taking the words too literally.

Anyway, was typing my thoughts out there. I don’t think it’s entirely clear that Louis’s influence is what caused Legosi not to eat Haru after they started spending time together, but if Legosi says that’s what it was, that’s what it was. I felt that Louis’s guidance for Legosi was more about him accepting himself as a carnivore and using his abilities for what he believes in instead of thinking he can only do harm with them...not about controlling his meat eating instincts. I guess it kinda goes hand in hand. Anyway

The hand touch is, well, touching like it was in the manga, however Riz firmly regrasping Legosi’s hand to hoist him up and continue fighting and Legosi sounding surprised isn’t what i pictured. In the manga i saw it more as Riz slowly doing it and Legosi just being too weak to do anything about it. Riz has the advantage, so he can afford to make the action slow and deliberate

Ok here’s where things get interesting. Louis’s appearance is entirely different in the anime, whereas in the manga he appears behind Riz while Legosi is talking to him, with Legosi spotting him and using a distraction to escape with him. HERE!!! Louis actively stops Riz from attacking Legosi again, clearly out of breath as he ran all the way there, but he still has the mind to appear cool and collected and make a lil quip that pisses Riz off. And then when Riz charges him Louis is just walking calmly toward him like!

Like yeah, he does stop and react a bit, but he sees Legosi coming up to stop him so I suppose that’s why he stands his ground (honestly though was he gonna pull his gun? Did he have a plan? I feel like he just got there without one, which makes sense. He just had to stop what was happening no matter what)

And Legosi ragdolls Riz aside to protect Louis. Love wins

Pina scene is the same here. Although previously we didn’t get his thoughts about how he never wanted to get involved with carnivores ever again cuz of these two, but that ties into the whole “anime doesn’t say every single thought that’s in a character’s head like in the manga” thing. I think it’s interesting that they even bother showing him retrieving his phone from the trash bin, since he could have easily just got it from his pocket but it shows that Riz was smart enough to take it away from him (but not smart enough to destroy it or chuck it somewhere or hide it where Pina couldn’t see)

The next scene with Legosi and Louis up on the outcropping..Legosi mentions how this is his last New Year’s. He’s more convinced he’s gonna die than it seems in the manga (although depends on the subs i guess) The part where Riz is looking up while Legosi is talking about their fight to Louis...i never knew if he was supposed to be hearing that or not, here or in the manga. I guess it’s up to interpretation.

Legosi delivering this line in the manga: determined, stoic

Legosi delivering this line in the anime: clearly in love

we finally get one of these scenes for Louis! Season 1 had a few of these for Legosi and Haru when they had moments where they were deep in thought about the other. I thought that Louis’s would have been in his initial meetup with Legosi in the manga, but that scene got cut. It’s cool that they put his here, though! Also correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is the only shot like this in season 2

When Louis’s theme starts here when he’s acting strong, trying not to cry, I thought it’d slowly start to break down as he did and transition into a new track but it just kinda...keeps going. It sounds like a more somber, shaky version at the very least but I think the music at this part is a bit lacking...thankfully the animation and Louis’s voice acting more than make up for it

Boy, does Louis really cry. I’m glad they let him let loose like that but the bad thing about seeing it animated is...they don’t hug! I always wanted a hug here...one that Louis fully embraces unlike the earlier one on the balcony. It makes sense the Legosi doesn’t try to do anything and is taken aback, of course, but damn...and considering how Louis is treated later and at the end of the series...it stings a lot

Idk what to say about this scene...it’s done so well. Louis having his internal monologue, talking to Legosi...Legosi looking so damn guilty that he wants to go back and fight...the transition to the foot reveal...it’s all so good

A change here in the anime...Louis is a lot more steadfast. He offers his foot and is like, completely at peace with it. In the manga he’s still shaking and his expressions are like, more unsure, but here he seems a lot more convinced that it’s what he has to do

jeez

Legosi’s thoughts about how eating his leg feels almost ritualistic and it actually makes him desire and hunger for it is gone...which like, idk why it is. We just hear Legosi say that he wants to but we don’t feel it (we do see his lips pull back and reveal his teeth tho)

Enter: Buffgosi. This happens in the manga but since Legosi’s model is so much smaller in the anime it seems like a much more drastic difference.

intimate...

Legosi doesn’t apologize for not being able to stop growling, but it seems like they did a lot to remove any humor Paru put into these scenes. I guess it doesn’t work that well in one continuous scene vs. chapters broken up by weeks

Louis’s funny deadpool moment is changed with him just...telling Legosi to be a hero again. Guess he really likes that line. The way it’s delivered really feels like a video game, like Legosi is recovering from a hit and Louis pops in to heal him with some words

Seriously, Louis just keeps making this face...after an entire season of being super serious and stone faced he’s looking softer

the Riz and Tem story isn’t changed at all, and can still be read as either romantic or platonic. Seeing it in motion makes it hit harder though, for sure

Legosi still wishes Riz a happy new year here. He seems a lot happier here than in the manga. Also Louis doesn’t berate him for it, instead opting to speak up and talk to Riz here after hearing about his heartbreak. He does it without the pressure of the cops being there, and it truly shows that he really does like carnivores and sympathizes with their struggles now.

Yeah, so the cop scene is gone, which kinda condenses and cuts out a lot (including Pina’s small appearance) but I kinda like it better. It allows all the characters to breathe. Legosi thanks Louis naturally for the meal, and Louis telling Legosi to wipe his face is done in a friendly, joking manner...it just all feels a lot softer and friendlier without the cops being there making it all fucked. Just like in real life

THERE IT IS THERE IT FUCKING IS THEY EVEN GAVE LOUIS HIS LIL SMIRK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

god i keep tearing up around these parts IT’S BEEN ALMOST 2 HOURS SINCE I STARTED MAKING THIS POST GOOD FUCKING LORD

I kinda thought they might put the aftermath in a sort of credits scene, and i think it works, even if it does pave over some important stuff

god it’s just so validating to see Legosi care for Louis and Haru equally. Like we all know it’s the case but they’re both dear to him

Now this is a far departure from his thoughts in the manga. I suppose it only fits with the ending of the season to make it more optimistic, but we skip the while “you can’t marry an herbivore cuz of your record” thing...but here he still cherishes it in a way. Very interesting. Wonder if they’ll backpedal on it in season 3

Legosi actually tells Haru he’s dropping out here too! He still does in the manga but it seems more abrupt there, like he already did drop out and then goes to tell her instead of telling her before he does. He’s also not suffering through his meat withdrawal here like he was in the manga at this scene (or at least the manga’s counterpart at Haru’s house)

The ending convo mirrors what Haru says to him in that scene too. It’s a funny way to leave off on the season without a stinger or anything. It just kinda makes the audience question their relationship (and now that Lougosi is pumping through everyone’s veins...hehehhehehe)

uh, well, anyway, i kinda wasted all of my time off after work writing this so...i hope you enjoyed it? Not gonna get one of these for a while...i know at least some of you like them

Also...what the hell was the extra “broadcast only” scene??????

Well, anyway, I hope you all have a good day, night, whatever, wherever you are. And remember: Legosi and Louis are in love

#ok this is long #this is kind of my love letter to the series too almost #this is the definite high point of the story and it delivered #lougosi always and forever

[katymacsupernatural]

Wishing I Could Tell You

Dean Winchester x Reader

1200 Words

Written For: @spngenrebingo​

Square Filled: Break Up

Summary: It’s always hard to find the words when things are tough. Especially when you know it’s going to break Dean’s heart.

Warnings: Angst

The bottle of whiskey sat there, mocking you. It was empty and had been for quite some time now. Your head ached, and your stomach rumbled in protest of the whiskey now nestled in your stomach. But it wasn’t enough to put your mind at ease. But you knew nothing would. 

Both Sam and Dean were gone, and you were utterly grateful for the reprieve. It gave you a moment to think, to plan. Even though that was the last thing you wanted to do. Because then you would have to make a decision. A decision that would cause so much pain.

“Damn it,” You muttered, hastily wiping away a tear. “I’m such a freaking idiot.”

Pushing away from the table, you began pacing the library, your heart racing as you imagined what was going to happen when they returned. If you would finally be brave enough to…

“Honey, we’re home!” Dean called out, bounding down the stairs, grocery bags in his hands. His green eyes twinkled as he tossed you a candy bar. “Miss me?”

“Of course,” you whispered, not the happy tone he was expecting. His step stuttered before he continued on, Sam right behind him. Sam raised an eyebrow your way before following his brother to the kitchen. You slowly followed behind, your heart thumping so loudly you thought they could hear it. 

Both brothers were arguing as they put the groceries away. It wasn’t a heated argument, but one of fun. A brotherly jest. Normally you would have stood back and listened, enjoying the way the two brothers enjoyed each other’s company. But not today. You couldn’t handle it today.

Peering around the corner, you saw Dean placing the beer in the fridge, the red, white and grey flannel stretching taut across his shoulders. Sam was carefully arranging the dry ingredients in the pantry. It was a homey scene, normal, which was unusual in this household. And it made everything that much harder. 

“Dean, can I talk to you,” you asked, your voice barely a whisper. But with the bickering going on between Sam and Dean it went unheard. 

Your courage gone, you raced back to your bedroom, slamming the door behind you, tears wracking your body. You couldn’t go through with it. Not face to face anyways. Hastily wiping away tears, you went to your nightstand, pulling out the notebook you always kept there, along with a pen.

“Dear Dean,” you started but stopped immediately. You had no idea what to write. What words would match your thoughts? 

“Going somewhere?” Dean asked, his voice blank of emotion as he leaned in the door frame. You knew how things looked. Your suitcase full on the bed, you sitting here writing a letter. 

The second you turned to face him, everything became clear to him. He took a deep breath, his jaw clenched tight as he steeled himself to a fact you hated to admit. You were leaving him, much like he thought everyone in his life would. And it was killing you inside. 

“Dean, I’m so sorry,” you whispered. “But I have to go.”

He refused to move from beside the door, the shadows offering his emotions security of darkness. “Why? You were just going to leave with only a note?”

You crumped up the paper, tossing it into the trash, wishing you didn’t have to do this. “I tried talking to you. But you were with Sam, and this is so hard. I just..,”

He finally stepped forward, his hands tight in fists as he struggled to control his emotions. “You’re going to blame this on me?”

You shook your head quickly. “Of course not. It’s all on me. Dean, you’ve been amazing, and I love..I’ll always love you. But I need to go,” you tried explaining, knowing you couldn’t say much more than that.

He rolled his jaw around, the muscles twitching. “You love me, but yet you’re leaving me. Something doesn’t sound right.”

You let out a choked sob, your composure cracking with each moment you stayed here. “Dean, please. If you love me, you’ll let me go.”

He stepped to the side, leaving the path to the door clear. “Fine. Go. But if you walk through those doors, don’t expect to ever come back. Understand? You’re burning your only bridge here.”

Sniffling, you pulled your suitcase off the bed. You peered up at Dean, but he refused to look at you. “Dean,” you tried once more. “Being with you. It was the best part of my life. And I hope, in time that you’ll forgive me.”

He laughed, but it was cold and distant. “Y/N, you’re leaving, and you’re taking my heart with you. How the hell am I supposed to forgive that?”

“Maybe, in time, you’ll see,” you answered softly. Stopping at the door, you glanced back at him one more time, before heading to the garage. Your little hatchback was parked off to the side, and you shoved your suitcase in, your vision blurred by tears as you climbed in the front seat. It took three attempts to stick the key in the ignition, and you hastily wiped away the tears.

You half hoped that Dean would come running into the garage, stopping you before you left. But it stayed empty, and you guided your car out of the garage, and down the country road. 

Your phone rang, and you answered it, your heart racing. “Are you done?” The female voice with the distinctive British accent asked.

“Yes,” you sniffled.

“Good. Right on time too. Head to the meetup location,” she ordered before hanging up the phone.

The meetup location was only ten minutes away, on the other side of town. Right beside the small airport. You could see the small jet, the steps already down, ready to fly you away from this life you had enjoyed so much. Back to a life that made Hell seem nice.

The slim blonde woman smiled as you approached. “Well done. It seems you infiltrated the Winchesters nicely.”

“That bridge is burned now,” you answered, trying to keep your emotions under control. This group didn’t do emotions.

“Oh I doubt it,” she chuckled. “Dean Winchester is infatuated with you. But we have all we need for now. So back you go.”

“I thought,” you spoke quickly, the thoughts of what you were going back to enough that you wanted to run. Run back to Dean and hope he could protect you. “After this, I could…,”

“What? Be redeemed? Y/N, darling, you will never be redeemed. You and your family will always be outcasts. Just because you seduced Dean Winchester doesn’t change that. Now, you’ll head back, and be that quiet little pipsqueak once again. Understood?”

You nodded, entering the jet, tears streaming slightly down your face. As the jet taxied down the runway, you searched for a black Impala, hoping that Dean would once again save the day.

Dean/Jensen Tags: @acortez82​​ @acreativelydifferentlove​​ @adoptdontshoppets​​ @a-girl-who-loves-disney​​ @akshi8278​​   @bi-danvers0​​  @cap-just-said-language​​ @colette2537​​   @deansgirl215​​  @flamencodiva​​ @hamiltrash1411​​ @its-not-a-tulpa​​ @jerkbitchidjitassbutt​​ @justanotherwinchester​​ @just-another-winchester​​ @karouwinchester​​ @keikoraventeller​​  @krys198478​​ @librarygeekery​​ @magssteenkamp​​ @misspygmypie​​ @mlovesstories​​ @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk​​  @mrspeacem1nusone​​ @nothinbuttrouble2​​ @ria132love​​ @ruprecht0420​​  @screechingartisancashbailiff​   @sortaathief​​ @superseejay721517​​ @squirrelnotsam​​ @team-free-will-you-idjiot​​ @thing-you-do-with-that-thing​​ @torn-and-frayed​​ @tricksterdean​​ @wonderfulworldofwinchester​​ @woodworthti666​​

Forever Tags: @aditimukul​​ @alexwinchester23​​ @algud​​ @amanda-teaches​​ @andreaaalove​​   @artisticpoet​​ @atc74​​ @be-amaziing​​ @camelotandastronauts​​ @caswinchester2000​​ @cpag7​​ @chelsea072498​​  @closetspngirl​​ @deanwanddamons​​ @docharleythegeekqueen​​ @emoryhemsworth​​ @ericaprice2008​​  @esoltis280​​   @foxyjwls007​​ @gh0stgurl​​ @goldenolaf25​​ @growningupgeek​​  @heartislubbingdubbing​​ @heyitscam99​​ @hobby27​​ @horsegirly99​​ @imsuperawkward​​ @internationalmusicteacher​​ @iwriteaboutdean​​  @jayankles​​ @jensen-gal​​ @justsomedreaming​​ @just-another-busyfangirl @karlee-fay-my-wayward-son​​ @linki-locks11​​ @littleblue5mcdork​​  @lowlyapprentice​​   @mersuperwholocked-lowlife​​ @mogaruke​​ @monkeymcpoopoo​​ @musiclovinchic93​​  @nanie5​​   @percussiongirl2017​​ @plaid-lover-bay25​​   @roonyxx​​ @ronja-uebrick​​ @roxyspearing​​  @samanddeanmyheroes​​ @sandlee44​​ @shamelesslydean​​ @simonsbluee​ @sillesworldofwriting​​ @sgarrett49​​ @spnbaby-67​​ @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester​​ @spnwoman​​   @superbadassnatural​​ @thatcrazybookwormgeek​​   @thewinchesterchronicles​​ @vvinch3st3r​​  @whimsicalrobots​​ @winchester-writes​​ @zombiewerewolfqueen​​

#spngenrebingo #dean winchester x reader #supernatural x reader #supernatural reader insert #katy writes #spn fanfic #dean fanfic #dean x y/n #reader insert #y/n

[runningwitches]

An Unlikely Pair (Kiba Inuzuka x Reader) pt.1

Summary: Kiba secretly likes the reader, which isn’t great because they can’t stand him and definitely do not like him back. No seriously guys there’s definitely no way the reader likes him back that’s absurd.

A/N: okay so i got this idea because of that tiktok dog that REALLY wants to be friends with the cat (idk if yall have seen it but PLEASE i think its @/ariesandlyra on tiktok). this is my first time writing anything nonfiction in YEARS and my first time writing for naruto in ever AND i haven’t finished my naruto rewatch yet so please be nice. this will be a three part series and it should all be uploaded by the end of i hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 1.3k

You wake up early in the morning to prepare for your training that day. your jōunin, along with your two teammates, were supposed to meet you at dawn at your normal training grounds. You ended up doing what you tend to do before early training sessions: waking up late. Of course that wasn't your intention but it happened anyways, and at this point nobody expected anything less. You ate breakfast as quick as you could, got dressed, brushed your teeth and ran out the door of your apartment, your pet cat Akemi following closely behind. And in your haste you don't notice the two figures that appear in front of you until you collide with them. You pick yourself up and brush yourself off as you start to apologize.

“Oh my goodness I'm so sorry I must have-” you cut yourself off when you notice who is standing in front of you. “You?” you asked incredulously. “Come on! You need to start paying more attention to what you're doing, dog boy.” You laugh and he glares down at you while his dog growls. You pick up your own pet as you continue with your verbal beratement. “Who do you think you are? You really need to watch where you're going! I can't believe how rude it is and you haven’t even apologized!” 

He continues to glare at you until a pause in your words and then he speaks up on his own. "You've got to be kidding me right? You're the one who ran into me! If anyone here needs to be paying more attention to where they're going it's you.” 

Your eyes narrow into an even more extreme glare. "Don't you blame this on me! You're the one that showed up out of nowhere in the way of my route to the training grounds. If you could just watch where you were going none of this would have happened!” you scoff. "And I'm already running late. You really are annoying!" you remark as you rush away from the scene, Akemi in arm. 

"You know we saw that right?" one of your teammates, Haruki, stated. 

“Saw what?”

“You and your little boyfriend,” his twin sister, and your other teammate, Hanae, teased.

“Ugh! We're not dating.”

“Well that sure looked like flirting to me.” You glare at your teammates as they laugh at your expense.

“I wasn't flirting. I can hardly stand that kid as it is, I wouldn't even flirt with him if he was the last person on Earth!” They look at you knowingly as you continue your rant. “He's always in the way, he never shuts up, and that dog of his loves to chase Akemi in their free time! It's the most annoying thing, like why can't they just leave us alone?” You sigh once again as your jōunin, Tanji, walks up.

“Hey kids, are you ready for training today?”

You smile at the excuse to stop thinking about Kiba and listen excitedly as your sensei explains today's plans. You throw yourself into training for the rest of the day, effectively forgetting about the encounter you had. By the end of training you're exhausted so you head straight home and go to bed with plans of meeting up for training again the next day.

Today the meeting was a bit later in the day, so you wake up feeling refreshed and take your time getting ready, strolling leisurely to the meetup spot when the time comes. However, as soon as the area is in sight you regret getting out of bed at all. Standing there you find your team, which is to be expected. But chatting with them is Team 8, the two jōunin standing to the side discussing something. 

You squint your eyes as you walk up, hoping to possibly catch some of your sensei’s conversation with Kurenai, though you aren’t able to make out a single word. Huffing you make your way to the twins’ side, saying a brief hello to Hinata and Shino, but ignoring Kiba and Akamaru completely, Akemi hopping onto your shoulder to avoid being prodded at by the dog. Hanae shoots you a look, her eyes pleading for you to play nice, while Haruki just smirks at your behavior, before returning to his conversation with Shino. You see, the rest of your team got along perfectly fine with Team 8. And you would too if it weren’t for the boy and his dog always getting on your nerves. You sigh and lean into Hanae’s side a bit, a physical comfort you could always indulge in after months of being by her side, and start up a chat with the two girls. Hinata, shy as always and sensing the tension between you and Kiba, nervously plays with her fingers while you laugh at a dumb joke Hanae makes in an attempt to relieve the tension. The boy left out of the conversations goes unnoticed as he stares at your turned back. His dog may be yipping at the cat on your shoulder, but the longer he stares at you a faint blush slowly grows on his cheeks, only to disappear as the six of you (or eight, if you count the pets) turn your heads to the approaching jōunins. 

“Alright kiddos,” your sensei begins. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s not just one team today.” His gaze settles on you, eyes pleading in a similar way to how Hanae’s were just moments before. Unbeknownst to you, Kurenai’s eyes settle on Kiba’s in a similar manner. “Kurenai and I have decided that you kids need to learn how to work with people outside of your team. When you start getting more missions there’s no guarantee that you’ll be working with your usual teammates, and though it’s not always preferable,” the gaze returns, firmer and more demanding this time, “you have to be able to work with your fellow shinobi. No matter the situation.” 

The cross of your arms, the clenching of your jaw, and the narrowing of your eyes does not go unnoticed by the two jōunin in front of you. You were on to them, and you didn’t like where this was going one bit. “Alright, alright, get on with it,” you mutter. Akemi, sensing your frustration puffs up a bit, but nuzzles against your face in an attempt to comfort the both of you. 

Kurenai now speaks up, her eyes softening as she makes eye contact with you. “So for today we’ll split you up into teams of two, one from each team, and you must stick with your partner the entirety of the training exercise, no matter what happens.” You close your eyes, muttering to Akemi under your breath. You already know who your partner is going to be, and you’re going to have to think of some way to avoid being stuck with him for the rest of the day. 

After she lists off the pairs you look at Kurenai with wide eyes, play with your fingers, and even turn your toes inwards a bit in an attempt to look innocent. Tanji wouldn’t fall for it, but it wouldn’t hurt to try on someone who doesn’t know you quite as well. “Kurenai-Sensei, I mean no disrespect, but both Kiba and I have teammates already. I don’t think it would be fair for the two of us to work together. It’s basically a four person team.” 

She sighs, “Unfortunately, we drew the teams at random and agreed that we wouldn’t change them. Besides, I’m sure it would be great training for Akemi and Akamaru to learn to work together as well.” 

“Random my ass,” you mutter, the innocent look drops from your face immediately, wide eyes instantly narrowing into a glare. You huff as Akemi lets out a short hiss at the dog now at your feet. Kiba and Akamaru don’t look disappointed at all, however, the boy simply looks towards the ground hiding a shy smile, while his dog yips happily at the cat on your shoulder.

#midnight writes #kiba x reader #kiba inuzuka x reader #kiba #kiba inuzuka #akamaru #akamaru inuzuka #gender neutral reader #naruto reader insert #naruto

[sestra-inestro]

Just A Really Big Mistake (6/?)

Jane the Virgin!AU - Heavily based on ‘Jane the Virgin’, I do not own Jane the Virgin or the characters I write with. All rights go to the original creators. 

Warnings: Mentions of sex, almost sex, slight angst, invasion of privacy.

Idea from @whatcouldgowrong-ohthat​ 

A/N: Did I procrastinate writing this because I decided to re watch the show? Yes. Did I also write a Natasha Smut in that time? Yes. This took ages because of planning and figuring out characters but I have a clearer head and here you are, chapter six. I will be stopping this fic after Season One because goddamn I will not be able to cope with that, even though I do want to see Natasha and June co-parenting because that would be the cutest thing ever, maybe I’ll write a oneshot or something. 

The doorbell rang through the house and May goes to answer the door. “Delivery.” The man said before dumping the gift basket on her arms and walking away again. 

May kicked the door closed and carried the basket to the table. 

“What the hell is that?” Pepper asks as she gets up from the couch. 

“I think it’s a gift from Tony.” May says as she picks a headshot of Tony from the wrapping. 

Pepper comes over and observes the basket it’s full of different assortments and gifts. May turns over the headshot to see the words ‘I’m sorry.’ written on the back. “He’s apologising again.” 

She shows Pepper and she nods. “At least he’s going to stay away from June now.” 

-

“Hi, I’d like your biggest, most grandest room, please.” Tony says with a confident smile as he checks into the Howling Winters Hotel, the hotel that Bucky owned and where you were currently working. 

-

You walked up to the bar inside the lounge and placed down a tray of empty cocktail glasses for the bartender to replace when someone called. 

“Miss?” A voice said from down the bar. 

You turned and froze in your spot, seeing the Tony Stark sitting down the bar and smiling at you. A man you’ve only ever seen on the TV shows. 

“Oh my god.” You uttered out in your frozen state. 

“Yes. It is me.” Tony flashed you his signature grin, and you swear his whitened teeth gleamed at you. 

You feel your breath hitch in your throat. 

“Please,” Tony puts his hands up and gets off his stool. “No please, just, breathe.” Tony starts breathing deeply to demonstrate and you follow him. 

“It happens all the time.” Tony explains as you keep breathing and you gleaming up at him, still not quite believing he’s on front of you. “It is sometimes very hard for normal people, like...you, to believe it when they see me in person.” He says like he’s trying not to offend you but you don’t care. 

You nod as you understand. “You know what, this is going to be really embarrassing and I’ll probably get in trouble for it later but...” You say and Tony nods along. “Can I get a photo?” You ask sheepishly. 

Tony can practically feel his heart burst. “Oh yes, I would love that very much.” 

He knew that he was going to be in deep shit with May and Pepper, but he couldn’t resist taking a picture with you, you were his daughter. 

You pulled out your phone and turned around for a selfie. As you turned on the camera, you could see him looking at over your shoulder, gazing at your face. You turn to look at him and as you make eye contact, he snaps out of it and turns to the phone. You smile at your phone as you snap a photo with him. 

You squeal as you look at the photo. “I love it! Thank you!” 

“Would you mind sending that to me on twitter?” Tony asks hopefully. 

“Not at all! I’ll do it right now.” You reassure him and tape away at your phone. He looks down and checks his phone, smiling at the photo again and immediately sets it to be his background. 

“Thank you, so much.” He says as his emotions get too much for him and he almost starts to cry. 

You notice the crack in his voice but shake your head. “No, thank you.” You smile up at him and he nods, still looking at the photo. 

“I hope you don’t mind but I really should get back to work.” You say and point towards the bar which now held your tray with fresh cocktails. 

“Oh, of course.” Tony smiles and puts his phone away. 

“It was nice meeting you, though.” You say as you grab the tray and start to walk away. 

“Pleasure was all mine, June.” He says to himself as he watches you walk away with a little skip in your step. 

If only it was because you knew he was your father. 

-

May gasps as she receives the selfie that you took with Tony. Peter turns to look at her with confusion and she shows him the picture. 

Peter raises his eyebrow at her and sighs to himself. “You guys need to tell her soon. Because if you don’t, it looks like he will.” 

May glared at Peter but she knew he was right. Even though he was a little cling-on that wasn’t going to leave the nest anytime soon, he was incredibly smart and very loyal. He helped May and Pepper this morning with Tony and fooling you, they’ve got to tell you. 

-

You were getting ready for your get together with Natasha when a staff member asked you to take a dry cleaned dress up to their suite.

With haste, you carried it up and knocked before opening the door. 

“Hello?” You called through the suite. No one answered. “Natasha?” You tried again. 

When you got no response, you went to place the dress on the bar right next to the door when you had an idea. 

You saw Natasha take a pill the morning, and with no one in the suite right now, it would be the perfect opportunity to check if she were taking any drugs you would be worried about. 

You shake your head at yourself for even thinking about it and mentally yelled. But this was just too perfect of an advantage. Would she lie to you if you asked her? You don’t know. You fought with yourself for a few seconds before your feet carried you into the room. Seeing the massive master bedroom, you saw that the wardrobe doors were open and vanity with makeup sat against a wall. 

Walking over, you saw an orange pill bottle sitting on the vanity and you picked it up to look at it. As you observed it, you see something move from the corner of your eye and you look into the mirror, seeing Natasha standing near the wardrobe doors with her hands on her hips. 

You yelp and drop the bottle, whipping around to face her. 

“Oh my god. I am so sorry, Natasha.” You start, trying to calm your poor heart from the fright. Yep, this is what you get for snooping. 

“I knew we had a meetup today, just didn’t think it was going to be in my bedroom.” She says with a tone as she walks towards you with an arched eyebrow. 

“I, uh-“ You raked your brain looking for a reason and an excuse to come up with. You could easily lie and blame it on the hormones or the pregnancy jitters that made gave you a headache. 

But you sighed. “I’m sorry Nat. I just saw you outside the crime scene earlier and I saw you take a pill.” You explained. “Snooping was not the best option, but I just had to know that you were...” you trail off your sentence, trying your beat not to offend her. 

“Using?” She suggested, her brow still arched to her hairline. 

You bite your lip as you cringe. You felt so ashamed of yourself right now. 

“Well, I’m not. Just to clarify.” She bent down and picked up the bottle. She showed you the label. “They’re Xanax pills.” 

You left out the light bit of air you were holding in about the pills. 

“I was prescribed them two years ago when my husband was diagnosed with cancer. I’ve only taken three of them. One when I got them, one when he went into an eight-hour surgery and another one today after his best friend died.” Nat looks at the pills solemnly as she spoke. 

You shifted in your spot uncomfortably. “I’m really sorry, Nat. I can’t begin to even think of-“

Natasha raised her hand and stopped you from talking. 

She looked up at you and you swallowed, nervous at what she was going to do after you invaded both hers and her husband’s privacy. 

“I understand.” She says simply. 

You frown at her. “You do?” 

She nods. “Mhm. You’re carrying our baby through pure accident and I can understand wanting to make sure you’re giving it to the perfect people.” She gives you an understanding smile. 

You smile back at her, thankful that she wasn’t going to get you fired. 

“I actually want to show you something.” She says before grasping your wrist gently and leading you out of the master bedroom and down the hall, into another room.

You stop at the door as you see the layout of a nursery. 

“I was going to put the crib near the window but Then I thought that can be harmful in case of a storm or an intruder picking the wrong window.” Natasha explained as she went around the room, touching all the baby furniture and smiling down at it. 

Looking at the beautifully set room, you started to tear up. 

Natasha turns and sees you starting to cry. “Is it all too much?” She asks you, concerned. 

“No. It’s perfect.” You nod and sniff. “I’m officially hormonal.” 

You say and give a laugh as wipe at your face. 

“I hope this gives you to reassurance you need.” Natasha says, walking back to you in her beautiful red bathrobe that matches her hair, and you wonder how she is so effortlessly beautiful. “And please, instead of stressing yourself when you have a doubt, just ask me.” She said in a soft voice and placed her hands on your shoulders. “I won’t bite.” 

You nod and smile at her. “I’m sorry if I ruined our coffee date.” 

Nat huffed and shook her head. “It’s okay. I guess you’ve seen the best thing that I could offer as far as helping through the pregnancy. You never have to worry about what colour to paint to baby walls.” She says as you look up at the walls. 

“You’re right.” You say. Slightly sad on the inside. A part of you wanted to help pick out the colour of the walls and the type of crib, but you have to remember that this baby has an amazing family to come to. 

You shake and sigh, wiping at your face one last time. “Well, I’m gonna go end my shift and then come back up and have coffee?” 

“Of course, I’ll start brewing.” Natasha says with a smile.  

You leave the suite and pull out your phone to text Steve. 

You were right. I am hormonal. 

He texts back almost immediately. 

No, I’m sorry I was out of line.

You really weren’t. I just cried at the sight of a nursery. 

You bite your lip before texting more. 

I might’ve also snooped in their room and found Natasha’s pills. 

You did what?!

Yep. I was worried and thought I was alone. But it’s okay, she’s okay. I’m about to have coffee with her, are we still on for tonight? 

I wouldn’t miss it for the world, I’ll meet you at the room ;)

You put your phone down and did a little skip, excited that everything was falling into place. 

-

After your coffee date with Natasha, you dress yourself up and head to the 11th-floor suite you had booked for both you and Steve. 

You round the corner and see Steve standing and waiting at the door for you. 

You give him a smile as his eyes trail over your body. You put on a nice dress for tonight and you wanted to impress him. 

“You look beautiful.” His voice is low as he drinks you in. 

“Thank you.” You say quickly before stepping up to him and wrapping your arm around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. 

Steve grasps your hips and pulls you against him. 

The kiss is so passionate that you almost feel your knees melt. His tongue softly massages against yours and you moan into his mouth. 

“Maybe we should get inside.” Steve mumbles against your lips. 

“Yeah, I think we should.” You agree and let go of him. 

He also lets you go and steps back as you open the door with the key card. 

Opening up, you see the nicest room you’ve seen besides the penthouse suite. 

The room expanded further than you could see and the bed was tall and large. 

“Holy crap.” You breathed out as you observe the room. 

Two arms circle your waist and lips caress your neck. “This is perfect.” Steve murmurs against your skin. 

Goosebumps grow across your neck and down your arms at his touch, his breath fans across the back of your neck and you feeling your chest swell and your lower belly grows hot. 

You turn to him and look him in his piercing blue eyes, pulling him down to you again and reattaching your lips. 

His big hands grab your waist and pull you against him again, travelling down your back and around your backside, giving you a firm squeeze. 

His grip made you squeal and giggle, letting his tongue enter your mouth and hoist you up and wrap your legs around his waist. 

With you in his stronghold, he carries you over to the bed and drops you onto the covers. You yelp as you hit the covers and Steve falls to land on top of you, hovering just above you. 

“I love you.” Steve whispers to you, just looking into your eyes.

Your hands caress over his cheeks and across his jawline, feeling his stubble scratch under your fingertips and the heat of his skin in your hands. “I love you too.” You whisper back to him. 

Steve’s brows crease in what you can only say was love and he leans down to capture your lips again. 

You pull his body down against yours and your legs part to let him closer to you. Your knees cage him to you and your dress rides up to your hips. You moan against his mouth and your fingers move down to lift his shirt over his head. He flings it to the side before going to pull down the straps of your dress. 

“You sure this is what you want?” Steve sits up to ask you. 

You open your mouth to answer when suddenly the fire alarm blares through the entire hotel. You sat up fast and your forehead collided with Steve’s in a clash. 

Steve groans, and sits up clutching his head. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” You groan, clutching your own forehead. 

“No, it’s okay.” Steve says with his eyes squeezed shut, rubbing his head. “Is it a false alarm?” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard anything about it.” You crawl over to the side where you saw his shirt fly. “We should probably leave.” 

You find his shirt and throw it back at him, and even though you wanted him to lay back down, he caught the shirt and covers his toned torso back up. 

“C’mon.” He says and grasps your hand, leading you out of the room again. 

You feel very solemn, looking back at the room, your moment with Steve had just been whisked away and you are now being dragged down the fire exit stairs with Steve. 

You guys make it out of the hotel and onto the lawn grass where all the residents were standing. 

“I should probably check it out.” Steve said with a frown as he spotted some police cars. You nod and let him go over. 

“Hey.” Bucky’s voice said behind you. 

You turn and see him, looking frustrated. “Hey. What happened?” 

He shrugs. “Someone pulled the alarm but I don’t think that there actually is a fire.” He sighs, clearly annoyed but he fact everyone had to evacuate for nothing. 

“You had a memorial party for Sam tonight didn’t you?” You ask him, trying to get his mind off it. 

“Yeah,” He sighs again and stuffs his hands in his pockets. Bucky thinks for a moment but smiles. “It was awesome. Very Sam.” 

“What about your father wanting to distance himself from bad publicity?” You asked, glad they threw a party. 

“I guess it would’ve been worse if word got out that my father ignored the fact that he was my old college roommate.” Bucky smiles down at you proudly. 

You smiled back up at him. 

“I’m glad that you did that.” You say. 

“Thank you, and thank you again. Your judgeyness was what helped.” Bucky places a hand on your shoulder and once again, you could feel your heart racing at his touch. 

“Hey,” Steve said from behind you, causing you to whip around and knock Bucky’s hand off your shoulder. “The guys say it was a false alarm.” Steve says with a firm tone, keeping his eyes hard on Bucky. 

“Yeah, I suspected that. I’m gonna go file these guests back into their room.” Bucky says and waves you goodbye. 

You and Steve hover for a moment before moving over to a bench that was away from the crowd that was slowly dissipating. 

“We really almost did it back there.” Steve said as he caresses the back of your hand with his thumb. 

“Yeah, we really did.” You laugh slightly, thinking about it. 

“If the fire alarm didn’t go off, do you think you would’ve gone through with it?” Steve asked and you thought about it. 

You felt safe, warm and calm with him. In the moment he was on top of you on that bed, you couldn’t have thought of anyone better to do it with. 

“Yeah,” You look at him. “I would’ve. Because I trust you and I will be glad when I can finally have sex with you.” Your words make you both laugh. 

“That’s why I have an idea.” Steve says. You look at Steve in curiosity. “Why wait to get married? We know what we want and we know that even though you don’t want to wait anymore, you didn’t say that you were going to wait until marriage.” Steve takes a pause and you stay silent but encourage him to keep going. “Let’s get married now.” 

“Like right now?” You ask, your voice high. 

“No, not right now.” Steve chuckles. “But now like, next week.” 

“Oh my god.” You say to him. “I think yes!” You say happily.

Steve’s face lifts happily. 

“Let’s do it!”

#bucky barnes x reader #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #jane the virgin!au #jane the virgin #bucky barnes angst #steve rogers angst #bucky barnes fic #steve rogers fic #bucky barnes smut #steve rogers smut #bucky barnes fluff #steve rogers fluff #black widow x reader #winter soldier x reader #captain america x reader

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 7

• More YEEHAW with a dash of bachelorette action, a sprinkle of rollin'-in-the-hay (literally) and one big dollop of "oh we're poor" to set up for next week's chapter.

• Screenshot credits:

Hana: @pixieferry

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and BizzysChoices YouTube channel (@thefirstcourtesan also sent screenshots for Penelope's dancing scene from her Liam MC playthrough).

Maxwell: @thethots-plicken

• These are the tags you can block if you don’t want to see these posts: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• This is the only chapter that could potentially have no men in it, and you deliberately force the focus away from Hana? Now if that doesn't sound like the TRR writing team then I don't know what does.

• Why is Madeleine here? Go climb a pine tree in Fydelia or something.

• If you're going to give Drake a whole extended family, PB, at least get the family straight? Who is Leona, is she Bianca's sister? Jackson's sister? WHOSE SISTER IS SHE.

• Title: A Night Out In the Town

Alternative Title: The Mandatory Annual Courtly Maidens Meetup

Alternative to the Alternative Title: Hana Lee and the Audacity of this Bitch

(you know which one)

• This chapter works mostly for the nostalgia factor. There's plenty of it in these scenes.

• Bachelor parties and bachelorettes have pretty much been a long-standing tradition in TRR - there's always going to be that one chapter where someone gets a sendoff via a wild party (exactly how wild really depends on whoever is throwing it). The MC meets most of the original gang (except Hana) at Liam's bachelor party, and there have been at least 5 bachelor/bachelorette parties in the series so far (counting this one). I won't be surprised if they gave Penelope a dude in TRR Book 3 just for the express purpose of having another excuse to have another bachelorette party next book.

• The one really good thing about this chapter? It's that Hana will not stand for any nonsense from Madeleine:

She's not going to pretend Madeleine deserves to hold any space among her circle of friends, or even of acquaintances. She's not going to allow Madeleine to get away with not following the rules of an event she's planned, not when Madeleine failed to show the same courtesy to women in her court. If Madeleine insists on badgering the MC about her 'pregnancy', Hana is here to defend you. The message is loud and clear. This is Hana Lee's show, she is running it, and if you can't listen to what she says you can fall on a cactus.

• I only wish we were able to give her the kind of loyalty and protection from Madeleine, that Hana deserved. She did not deserve for us to allow the bullying done to her, to be brushed aside as a hazing ritual. Hell, even while knowing what Madeleine did to her, we didn't even get to check up on her.

Hana did not deserve for us to pretend that never happened to her, and she definitely did not deserve to have her own pain be treated over and over in the narrative like it didn't matter. Even now, her no-nonsense behaviour is rooted firmly in her concern for other people, like the MC and Savannah. Why can't the team ever allow Hana to do this for herself? Why can't the other characters ever step in to defend her the same way? Why am I allowed to (optionally) coddle Penelope twice in today's chapter in a way I never can for Hana?? Why should Hana always be the one protecting but hardly ever the one protected??

• So the ladies of the court have arrived, leaving a puzzled Bianca and a perpetually pissed-off Leona in their wake. Hana explains the situation: she invited Kiara, Olivia and Penelope along. Madeleine invited herself for the sole purpose of being nosy.

• ...in what universe is Madeleine a "public relations angel". Have you SEEN how badly you did your own job the last book??

• Olivia and Madeleine can't last two minutes without sniping at each other and this makes Savannah sad (not that they care, they're enjoying the back-and-forth banter) The MC elicits a promise from the two that Olivia will not stab Madeleine, and Madeleine will not "mentally and emotionally break Olivia". What's with Madeleine and constantly wanting to break people?

• Also you really think you can emotionally break Olivia??? She's from Lythikos, you pineapple!

• Hana mentions shopping to Bianca and Leona, and we have yet another hint that all is not well at the ranch.

• The ladies change at a store nearby, to outfits that suit the rustic theme for the event. Which means Savannah gets the opportunity to dress a little more glam on this day, and the ladies of the court get to dress down a bit. Well...except for Olivia, who prefers to change into her red Coronation gown. Here are the girls in order of preference:

Okay first off - I have to say this - FULL BODY SPRITES FOR THE LADIES FINALLY OMG!!! It's the first time I'm actually seeing them all like this: the last time we managed to see a change of outfits was when we had to choose their outfits for the wedding, and even then only the half-body sprites were used. The fact that we never get to see Olivia in a different outfit kind of makes me feel like they might be saving her sprite for a bigger diamond scene? Idk.

• Also how did no one either notice nor point out that Olivia was still wearing a gown?

• Hana stays in the outfit she wore the previous day, and you get to choose whether she keeps the hat or not. The denim short skirt and brown shrug is a lovely outfit on Kiara, and I like the necklace Penelope has on. I think my favourite is Savannah's? I love the rhinestones, the embellished belt, the flower design, and it's a beautiful silver colour that compliments Savannah's skin tone.

• Savannah may annoy the hell out of me but one thing you can't deny about her is she's HELLA fashionable (remember the Drake engagement scene where he says the lavender coloured dress was her choice? That dress was super pretty).

• The MC wearing gold for bachelorettes is kind of a theme with her now lol. Started with the gold theme for Madeleine's bachelorette, then a theme where she wore gold and everyone else was supposed to wear black for her own, and now every going country - but she and Savannah get to bring on the bling.

(Fun Fact: Both Madeleine's and Savannah's bachelorettes take place in Chapter 7 of their respective books, with very different outcomes)

• Our first stop after the country makeover is the bar! Which is Hana's choice, because she is the kind of lovely, wholesome human being who will fully commit to research for her friend's sister's bachelorette party.

Why are you lying Hana.

• So the MC helps Hana out first my selecting drinks. You have 5 options to choose from: beer, cocktails, champagne, one of those fire drinks, and sparkling water. Savannah is doubtful and then excited to try the fire drinks, loves fruity cocktails and enjoys the bubbly. Olivia is impressed when Savannah chugs her fire drink. Kiara is amazed at the sight of beer coming in bottles. Penelope is disappointed if we decide to order a very tame sparkling water. Madeleine raises her eyebrows if you try to take anything even remotely alcoholic because she has already decreed you pregnant.

• Next stop: dancing! You get to choose which lady you'd like to dance with, and if you're romancing Hana this opens up to a romantic scene!

Hana: is happy and enthusiastic if you're friends, whoops and giggles as you spin her. More slow dancing happening if you're married to her...definitely more romantic.

Kiara: is nervous at first because she doesn't know "the social mores of this establishment", but when the MC reassures her that no one cares, she lets go of her inhibitions and shakes her hips, enjoying herself.

Olivia: very competitive, is confident she can dance circles around the MC, starts doing martial arts instead. Savannah reminds her it's not a duel and Olivia's like "EVERYTHING'S A DUEL". I should take her to Kerala and have her learn kalaripayattu 😁 (also I'd be interested in seeing a three-way dance battle between Hana, Maxwell and Olivia plsthnx).

Savannah: Also enthusiastic and excited, v much the 'happy bride'. Both Savannah and the MC are comfortable in this setting.

Penelope: This comes with a reference to her social anxiety, because her initial nervousness has to do with the crowds. The MC makes space for her through dancing, and she winds up having fun while still feeling comfortable. Madeleine tries to make a smart-alec comment but pretty much no one gives a shit about her so it's okay.

Madeleine: does not exist.

• After this, Savannah shows the girls how to do a Texas Two-Step, which is baffling to them. Hana gets it down in like two minutes, and the MC depending on options can either do it perfectly, go off-beat then claim she created her own trend lol, or trip over herself and hurt her feet, following which Hana assumes she is doing the robot, and does it alongside her. Apparently she learned it during a summer class she took while her embroidery instructor was sick.

• I don't get it, what's with all these random embroidery references they keep throwing at Hana these days.

• Olivia and Kiki are still baffled by the two-step dance, so Savannah recommends more drinking! Madeleine and Olivia are competitive with each other and loving it, and Penelope and Kiara are confused about how they're supposed to drink tequila. The MC gets to show them how it's done. She can either do it right (pour the salt, drink the shot, suck the lime), or get it wrong (pour the shot, suck the salt, drink the lime). The highlight of this is definitely the last one (pour the salt, drink the salt, suck the salt!). Like, the MC actually tips the contents of an entire salt shaker into her mouth! Failplay MC is the very definition of chaotic energy.

• Kiki, like the awesome friend she is, asks Savannah if she'd like to flirt or do anything hot-guy-related, which Savannah laughs and refuses. The topic then comes around to her relationship with Bertrand and his insecurities regarding Chuck. She says she barely had a thing with him but she's afraid Bertrand might do something stupid (he might, actually). The MC can choose to reassure her.

• I don't get it like...okay? Why am I the one you're telling this to rather than your own fiancé? If he's the one having the insecurities, and you know they're there, what are you doing to alleviate that? I mean as far as I can see your aunt is pretty much dragging him the whole time for not magically acquiring ranch skills and I hardly see you even talking about that. I don't see you actually trying to talk to him. So why tell me all these things - go tell him and sort it out yourself.

• Because Savannah speaks about wanting a happy family in the wake of this conversation, the topic then returns to that of the MC's ongoing attempts to get pregnant.

• Madeleine is a nosy, entitled piece of shit. She just is. Raises her eyebrows at me when I'm drinking, makes terrible apple puns for a fetus that probably isn't even there yet, comes for a trip she's not even been fucking invited to so she can poke her entitled nose into my business. Even her show of 'sympathy' revolves around her and her problems. All this while she acts like a martyr for following a dress code (remember how she dragged Penelope for not getting a metallic dress on time and 'ruining' her dress code, but came to our bachelorette making excuses for not following our dress code?). I'm glad Hana was having none of it at least now.

The only differences between this scene in a Hana playthrough vs in the others is that Hana tries to get Madeleine to stop before the MC gets to give her answer ("Madeleine, please..."), and that she reacts sadly to the MC if she chooses to be openly sad about it.

• ...so the scene in the hotel in Chapter 5 (where the MC and Hana could talk about what Dr Ramirez said, if Hana was your LI) always had a "there, we spoke about it, now shut up" feel to me. Because now they've given the MC a voice regarding how she feels about this pregnancy (we can either deem it invasive, speak normally about it or be very, very sad and spill out how disappointed we are. The last option's dialogues is the one I put up).

It's surreal...to see an MC who can say this openly while Hana's condition and how it's affecting her is barely even addressed. It's even more surreal that even now we're still coddling Penelope to the high heavens, and how a lot of aggressive importance is still given to Olivia, while still ignoring what could be happening to Hana if she's married...or making even a chapter that has potentially no men in it about literally anyone but her.

• The nice thing is Savannah is quite supportive in all three options. Olivia diffuses the tension/seriousness by suggesting we have more drinks.

• Aha! Queen Amalas.

• So she claims she came down not to pressurize us into anything but to see the MC in an environment outside of the palace/estate and court, including how she behaves with other people. She has no friends but treats her servants well (and apparently tipped her waiter a thousand). But the little bits she adds in about our origins can be a little unnerving. While offering a Sarzac she mentions our home state New York and asks if we'd prefer a Manhattan, and suggests we would know about how important a good tip is since we worked as a waitress. The MC's reactions can range between friendly, curious or accusatory. Overall the general impression is that she's mysterious and alluring, but there's something about her that spells danger.

This is me rn:

• Anyway...so we leave with our drinks, and join the girls. Penelope is drunk and talking to a mechanical bull, Kiara is drunk and trying really hard to talk country to the same bull. Savannah deeply (I'm kidding) regrets not returning Kiara's kindness in teaching her French by teaching her American English, coz it would have saved her this moment of cringing in a bar rn.

• They raise a toast to either Savannah, or friendship, or "putting the past behind us". I don't want to raise a toast to any of these options.

• Savannah is emotional and speaks of how hard it was to fit in and how much she missed Cordonia and the people she knew in court when she was away bringing up Bartie, and how the MC "changed all that" (how??? Again, a lot of what she does is optional, not default! Plus a bulk of the work of finding her went to her own brother, and later a fumbling Bertrand - not the MC unless she really chose to help. My MC Esther gets these dialogues despite not bothering to help Savannah in any way) and how she is now friends with all of them.

• Diamond scene! The ladies of the court have never had sleepovers (for various reasons), so MC-who-had-a-way-more-normal-life to the rescue!

• We start off with a drink. Three are on offer and we get to choose one: Hana's special Hot Chocolate recipe ("like drinking a minty chocolaty hug"), Olivia's Lythikos Nog ("like drinking a buttery, spiced cloud") or the traditional Walker Hot Toddies from Savannah (basically hot water and whiskey made with lemon, honey and spices).

• Once that's out of the way, we start off with, as the MC calls it, "gossiping about our love lives". Penelope is asked first, and she gets to tell us about her ongoing relationship with Kiara's brother Ezekiel. Olivia is next, and depending on your choices she can openly speak about the fact that Liam didn't choose her, twice, and how she needs to move on. She can also choose not to talk about it if the MC tells the other ladies of the court to back off (which is funny, because the whole thing was her idea to begin with). There's not a lot of change to this dialogue in all the playthroughs, except for mentions of whether Liam was engaged to the MC or not.

• After this, the MC can choose to ask either Madeleine or Kiara the same question:

- Madeleine is defensive and reminds the MC that she "interfered" with her relationship status (wasn't even much of a relationship to begin with), but eventually makes it known that she doesn't believe in "sappy romance" and would rather marry to benefit her house or country instead (nice save there, PB).

- Kiara is surprised and fumbles with her answers, speaking at first about how busy her life currently is. But eventually she does tell you she has a type. The dialogue differs depending on whether the MC is married to Drake or not:

(Screenshots on the left are from my playthrough, and the ones on the right are from @thefirstcourtesan's Drake playthrough).

...I look at Madeleine's dialogue in this scene and need to remind myself that even broken clocks can be right twice a day.

• Repeat after me, Kiki: I deserve way better than a dude who might throw me under the bus just so he can kiss a Duchess' ass.

• Also most guys in Cordonia must have rippling abs, right. Considering that 90% of the male LIs in PB have six-pack abs.

• Interestingly, Olivia is allowed her feelings - and the confusion and mess that comes along with loving someone and not having that love returned - across playthroughs, but Kiara's has to be adjusted and shrouded in vagueness according to which MC she is speaking to. There are two factors at play there:

1. More often than not the narrative has taken Olivia's feelings more seriously than it has ever taken Kiara's. Of course part of it could be the childhood memories and the amount of time she spent with Liam, but we need to remember that the general attitude in the narrative towards Kiara's feelings constantly bordered on dismissiveness - and that wasn't even the worst of the treatment meted out to her.

2. Have you seen the amount of hate Kiara got from some Drake stans for as little as looking in the man's direction?? They'd tear her apart if she dared to even mention her crush in a Drake MC's playthrough!

• The ladies of the court now want to play literally anything else, so the MC pulls out the tried-and-tested Truth and Dare game out of her fancy cowboy hat. Here's the way it goes:

- The MC nominates Savannah, since she's the bride-to-be. Savannah goes for dare, and has to go by a nickname for the rest of the night (default: Bridechilla. I was really craving something so I went for Fried Chicken 🤣), or pose for a sexy photo which she can text to Bertrand. No response, but you can hear him faint upstairs. When asked to nominate someone, she nominates Penelope to ask a question.

- Penelope chooses Kiara, who picks 'truth'. She makes the MC choose for her instead. The MC does what the Choices universe calls a Wed, Bed or Dead which is really a way of saying FMK without having to write the F. You can give her an option between three women (Olivia, Penelope and Madeleine) or three men. Based on your playthrough, Kiara's list of men will vary (Liam, Maxwell and Bastien in a Drake playthrough, and Bradshaw, Bastien and Drake in other playthroughs). Her 'bed's are Olivia, Maxwell and Bastien, her 'wed's are Penelope (obviously), Liam (to be Queen) and Drake (also obviously), and her 'dead's are Madeleine (but obviously), Bastien and Bradshaw (coz CORDONIA RULEZ!). It's interesting to note that Kiara seems surprised/shocked by the idea when you ask her to choose between the girls, and Hana eases her into it by stating that they're all friends here. Which I found really sweet. Kiara then nominates Madeleine to choose someone.

(note: why is Savannah acting so shocked about Kiara choosing her brother for 'marry' when she spoke about liking him barely ten minutes ago???)

- Madeleine chooses Olivia, hoping to wriggle out any information about the mysterious mission Olivia seems to be on. Olivia cleverly tricks her, by reminding Madeleine that she didn't say truth or dare, and picking dare. With no option she asks Olivia to prank call someone. Olivia has three options:

1. Give Maxwell a phone call pretending to have tickets for a Celine Dion concert. He has to choose the best noble house. Sweet Maxwell cannot choose between his own house and ours, but loses out because the correct answer (obviously) is House Nevrakis lol. Savannah's best line comes from here: "Don't worry, his heart will go on" 🤣

2. Give Bertrand a call claiming to be a representative from the Cordonia Philharmonic Orchestra, and Olivia asks the same question to him. His answer is House Beaumont, without question, and Olivia gives him the same answer. The nice thing about this option is that it's coded such that if you chose Savannah's 'sexy photo' option, the narrative mentions that his voice is 'woozy' and he sounds like he recently came back to consciousness. Whereas if you chose the nickname option, these lines would not be included.

3. Give Drake a call claiming to be from a "secret whiskey enthusiast society". Drake somehow figures out that the caller is Olivia, thus leaving her very, very annoyed.

Once this is done, Madeleine nominates the MC, who chooses truth or dare instead of a person like the others did. Hana makes the suggestions this time.

If you choose dare to a single Hana, she asks you to pretend to lasso Savannah.

If you choose dare to a married Hana, she will ask you to kiss her.

If you choose truth, she asks you what law you'd pass if you had a chance, and you have to choose between a serious one like "restrictions on paparazzi", or jokey ones like naming a day after the MC or getting fancy hats from her subjects. The last one yields this adorable exchange:

- Before we can go any further, the girls notice Savannah feeling drowsy and decide to call it a night. The only people who have basically not been asked anything are Penelope (but she already did get to speak about her beau) and Hana (because no one bothers to ask her anything, she isn't even nominated).

• We return to the kitchen, where our LI is waiting for us. The MC tells them about the visit from Amalas, which the LI also views as suspicious, and the MC has a choice again in how she wants to react to this (the visit was invasive, she is impressed with Amalas' guts, she doesn't know what to make of her). They assure the MC that they'll alert the Walkers.

• LI Diamond scene! A cute scene at the hayloft where the MC and LI can have some private time away from the ranch. Those walls must be paper-thin. The first half deals with the couple talking about loving this glimpse of simplicity, and the second half has the MC choosing how she would have them seduce her. The closing bit mostly has the couple talking about how they feel at home with each other no matter where they are.

Liam: Gets a bit of a hero moment at the start of the scene, where a stray beam almost falls on the MC and he catches it. They joke about a couple of things, such as how 'adventurous' the barn is, and whether or not a rendezvous in a barn would qualify as being in the 'outdoors' 😂 In the second half of the scene, the MC can choose between a 'rough-and-tumble', or have Liam sleep with her in his usual tender way. He clearly has a preference for the second, but is more than game if the MC wants to try the first.

The music for Liam's scene, for some reason, is different (his background score for the first half is the romantic one from High School Story, and Drake's and Hana's is the romantic one from Big Sky Country. I'm not sure what Maxwell's is like because I have only seen screenshots of the scene) and he is the only LI who gets the option to keep his hat.

Ending Caption: Hay-pilly Ever After

Hana: The MC notices that Hana seems happy and at home at the ranch, and Hana points out how different the environment of the countryside ("cows outside, open air, no display cupboards") is so different from her home, where "there's gilt on the walls and silver in the display cupboards", and how she loves this space. The couple imagine together how it might have been if they met in a more humble setting (with the MC as a cowgirl and Hana as a salon owner), and how they would fall in love. In the second half, Hana expresses her desire to go a little wild, and the MC can choose between having her hands bound, or being blindfolded.

This scene tells us that Hana does an amazing impression of a Southern accent and I personally would love it if she could coach Kiara on doing one xD

Ending Caption: Country Courting

Maxwell: As he leads her to the loft, the MC has the option to point out that they have a bed, to which he quips that she's obviously not had as much camping experience as he does. They do a little dance in the barn, and they admit that they missed each other while she was gone. In the second half of the scene, the MC has the opportunity to tease Maxwell, beckoning him to chase her around the barn and catch her. I think he also tells her to "use your words" at one point.

I think this scene has the cutest ending, because they both have an impromptu yodelling duet after that.

Ending Caption: Oh, Darlin'

Drake: This scene is more nostalgic in nature because Drake is reliving his childhood, and admits that he didn't know how this trip back would turn out, or feel. He had no idea how different everything would be, nor what his emotions returning to the ranch would be like - and which Valtoria will always be home to him in some ways, the ranch's simple charm means something special to him. The couple can imagine this place to be either perfect for romance, or for bringing back their future children. In the second half of the scene, he confesses to fantasizing about the MC in the palace stables, and the couple indulge in a bit of role play. This also includes an option to take her against a wall.

The end of the scene has Drake tell the MC that being with her itself feels like a fantasy, one that sometimes still feels too good to be true....and therefore he never wants to take it for granted.

Ending Caption: Making Hay.

• We then see the couple going downstairs the next morning, where the MC manages to overhear a conversation between Leona and Bianca that indicates the ranch has no helpers before an auction that is supposed to bring in money for the wedding, and is in deep, deep trouble.

• So our next chapter will probably involve the people of the court working together to help save the ranch, perhaps some flashbacks? Idk. And perhaps because of their contributions, Leona may thaw a little. Who knows.

General Thoughts:

• Plenty of callbacks this chapter!!

- The bachelorette party itself has plenty parallels and could almost be seen as an inverse of Madeleine's bachelorette. Back then, the ladies of the court each began to express frustration and hurt at her controlling, bullying behaviour, Hana's confidence was left in tatters, Olivia was an outsider to the court not bound by their rules.

Here, Madeleine is a largely unwanted presence and pretty much everyone makes it clear that what she thinks no longer matters. Hana is at the peak of her confidence here. She makes it clear that if Madeleine wants to stay she has to follow their rules. Olivia still manifests as a mysterious outside figure, but more out of choice than out of necessity.

- The other indicator of this parallel is what Amalas tells the MC about wanting to know who she is dealing with. She mentions that she wants to see how the MC interacts with her "friends and servants", and it kind of gets me wondering just how much trouble Madeleine would have been in if a figure like Amalas managed to see her behaviour in Italy with courtiers like Penelope and Hana.

- The fire drink which the MC can optionally suggest for both Drake and Savannah to drink. Drake drinks it in a competitive spirit in his birthday party scene in Book 1, Savannah looks doubtful at first but sees it through, to which the MC will remark that "your brother would be proud".

- Savannah mentioning Bertrand giving someone at Cordonia Philharmonic Orchestra a "severe tongue lashing" 🤣 Which kinda was a term Bertrand used for himself in Book 2.

- Lady 'I didn't know I could dance until I actually did it' Kiara. In Book 2 Hana can compliment Kiara on her dancing skills, to which Kiara laughs and mentions that she had no idea she could dance either. She was super drunk back then, now she knows it while she's sober too! 😅

- Some bits in this chapter remind me of our time with the Beaumonts in Book 1? Like the scene where Penelope speaks to the mechanical bull while drunk, while kiiiinda resembles her drunken behaviour at the Beaumont Bash. Also the whole situation of helpers/staff dropping off at the last minute seems a little parallel to what happened twice to the Beaumonts? Once with the MC's boat and then with the Beaumont Bash to host the court. I kinda find that interesting because Bertrand has been in a similar situation and hopefully could feel...somewhat...useful? If he can manage to string more words together, that is.

- Hana daring her wife to kiss her during Truth and Dare, which is (if you bought that scene and actually picked that option) exactly how their first kiss happened 😁😁😁

• I kinda like it when we have chapters like these where the women of the court have a chapter to themselves, because the dynamics are fun and the women are all different in ways that tend to complement each other.

• Honestly, Savannah asking my MC to become her maid of honour was pretty jarring considering my MC doesn't care a single bit about her and has honestly done very very little (if at all) to help her. I mean I can kiiiiinda understand if the MC is her sister-in-law/future SIL via Drake or Maxwell maybe...but otherwise why couldn't Kiara be an option? How is it that Savannah mentions her struggles to fit in, yet Kiara genuinely helping her never even features? Not even once?

I honestly think that Kiara could have been as good a choice to be MoH - we could have either coded it based on our diamond choices with Savannah, or split it between MC for Drake and Maxwell stans, and Kiki for Hana and Liam stans. Or at least more of an acknowledgement of how they were friends before she left? Beyond an offhand "oh yeah you taught me French, not like that helped me in that completely foreign place where I was bringing up my baby, maybe I should have taught you to speak country". Because having Savannah give me a grand speech about how amazing I've been to her was nothing short of weird and it would have felt a lot more natural to see her at least remembering the friendship(s) she did make in court.

• In at least two points in the chapter, Penelope requires someone to handhold her into certain things. You have to create the space for her while dancing. You have to decide on what questions to ask Kiara coz Penelope doesn't want to decide those herself. I'd actually be glad about their commitment to writing her that way, if I didn't understand how much they've let Penelope get away with, and how much other characters in similar positions have to suffer because the same amount of thought is never given to them.

The failplay I did of all three books brought up a couple interesting (but also disheartening) points about how they dealt with Penelope's condition, and how they dealt with difficult situations other characters had to go through (esp Kiara and Hana). At this point Penelope just sounds extremely entitled to good treatment, without wanting to really give back much in return.

• Kiara...well...I love her in this. She was fun, tried new things out, got out of her comfort zone, and she had some marvellous lines in this chapter. I just think it's funny how huge the differences between the way Olivia's feelings are acknowledged regardless vs the way Kiara's can only be acknowledged if it doesn't affect the MC...and it kind of says something about how those feelings are viewed by those writers. Because as a reader who has been following this story thread closesly, I know the writers have either conveniently forgotten - or take very lightly - how shitty Drake has been to her.

• I mean...had it been just about him not being interested, I probably wouldn't have cared much. I would have either turned to fanfic to change that around a bit, that's something you can always do for a pair you want to see but know you can't in canon. But realizing that the man could openly suspect a woman he knew was stabbed at the same event he was shot, optionally pander to the MC's whims and dismiss what she was going through in the process, and to not feel any fucking remorse for it...I mean, Kiara doesn't deserve better just because Drake doesn't isn't interested in her - because no one should have to be obligated to show interest for another person...Kiara deserves better because this man has done very little for her in their few exchanges (esp Book 3) besides ridicule, mock, act rudely and unfairly to her, and finally getting away with the worst possible behaviour without any consequence (some of it is optional, but the suspicion was definitely default). And I know the writing will never admit that because Drake is their golden boy.

• Madeleine causes minimal damage this time and Hana totally owned her a couple times today...so I'm kinda happy with that. At least they made sure never to bring back any hints of that story they were planning with her for Hana...if there is one thing I'm only too happy they are retconning, it's that!

• Speaking of Hana - there are maybe a couple of things I'm happy about and a lot that I'm not. I like that that she can throw shade (though I wish to God they would have let her do it much earlier) at Madeleine, and my favourite bits involve Hana not allowing that woman to get away with shit that she never allowed other people to get away with when she was in power.

But there's also the fact that she's pretty much treated like the least important person in that room? Like I would have personally loved to see her be asked a cute fun question. I mean, by now both Liam and Drake have gotten individual character scenes, and I only get to see Hana in the context of a group scene with the ladies where she is mostly helping the others? I loved that we got the barn scene afterwards...but let's be honest the barn scene was mostly about the sex.

I honestly just found it weird that the one chapter with (optionally) no men in it still couldn't have some focus on her, or much effort put into her. Is asking for more than scraps for her, too much to ask for? (I feel like the answer to that would be yes).

• Olivia is upto something, and the livestream apparently hinted at her being important to the story. I mean what's new about that? Olivia is a favourite of the writers and they will continue to favour her while Hana is still relegated to the sidelines (and so will a huge chunk of this fandom). No lie, I really like Olivia, but why the heck aren't you giving the lone female LI that much attention?

• I also wonder how much of her mysterious work has to do with the reading up she was telling us about in the last book's epilogue.

• Queen Amalas...I still don't know what to make of her - she's a pretty interesting mix of intrigue and invasiveness I think. She's flirty and teasing, but the way she slipped in those tidbits about our past definitely raised my hackles a little bit. Could be a red herring...could be more. Who knows.

• The Olivia and Madeleine dynamics were great...Kiara is still an awesome, encouraging friend to Penelope, but for me the highlight was Hana and Kiara's bonding (that exchange about hats definitely was a winner).

(Is part of my joy because I ship them? Yes. Yes it is. You can pry that ship outta my cold dead hands PB!)

• The barn scene was lovely: it was nice that the couples got to explore their more adventurous/homely sides in the first half of the scene, and were able to go completely wild for the second half of it. I think it's nice we got to see what they'd mostly like to experiment with in bed from time to time.

• I guess that's all for this chapter. Texas might possibly take a week or two more? Idk. Let's see. Rescuing the ranch may take a chapter, and so will the wedding...there may be one in between probably to figure out BertVannah's relationship but I'm not going to spend diamonds to make them talk to each other, no.

• I kinda like the subtle shift to childhood experiences to certain scenes in this book, because it gives the MC who doesn't know what the place is like for a child an idea of what the others had to grow up with...and therefore how she may need to approach her parenting. A number of the group scenes in this half of the book have had to do with childhood experiences the royals and nobles may have missed out on (pets, sleepovers) and the return-to-childhood narrative is a smart way to deal with that, I think.

• That's it for this chapter, guys! See you on Friday (hopefully) with a Book 1 QT, and next week with the next chapter!

#long post #the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #hana lee #olivia nevrakis #trr kiara #trr penelope #trr madeleine #savannah walker #king liam #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #bertrand beaumont

[shrewful]

A Writer’s Plea For Bicolline

Before we get into tonight’s PSA for the writers of tumblr, we’ve all got to get on the same page. So, what is Bicolline? 

https://www.bicolline.org/public/accueil/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItWgkXAl7ik&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2CuIEEbWqs&t=1176s

That’ll be enough to give you a pretty good idea of what Bico is, but I really do encourage y’all to do your research.

So, now that that’s out of the way; welcome to why I think writers, specifically medieval and fantasy writers, should go.

1. The “Write What You Know” Conundrum 

Nearly every writer has run into this piece of advice -- for better or for worse. Though coming from a genuine place, it can be frustrating for us writers who set our scenes in places we’ve never been, with events we’ve never experienced. No amount of Wikipedia pages and trips to the library will teach you exactly what facing down an army on the battlefield feels like, or the atmosphere of a tavern stuffed with sword-bearing strangers. What does the weight of armor feel like on your shoulders? How would someone react to seeing magic after seeing it for the first time? Not just people in general, either -- your character specifically.

Bicolline gives you the chance to get the closest approximation of what all this and more is actually like -- well, without all the dysentery and death. While you can get a close approximation otherwise, and that’s perfectly fine, Bicolline provides a chance to go above and beyond. After a trip to Bicolline, you could weave in sensations and experiences you would otherwise never be able to truly capture in your story. 

2. The Secret of Bicolline

So why not any other live-action roleplay or renaissance fair? Well, for a few reasons:

9/10 times, you get one or the other; Bico offers a unique middle ground that allows you to roleplay when you’re comfortable, and just enjoy yourself and see the sights when you’re not.

Bicolline is just big enough and just niche enough to assure you that there is an extremely low chance of you seeing anyone you know (that you did not specifically invite to be there), especially if you live outside of Canada. If descending into the ninth ring of nerd hell, LARP, sounds interesting to you -- but you’re still on the fence -- it may ease your mind to know that your position as an arch-nerd can be closeted. 

But besides this, Bicolline has achieved the writer’s holy grail. Bico, and its world Mundis, have conjured a story so beloved and so gripping that literal thousands of people cross oceans and borders just to be apart of it -- even with the knowledge that they might not make that big of a mark. Can you imagine having a fanbase with even a sliver of that passion? I, for one, want to find out what parts of Bicolline -- specifically, its story -- conjures this incredible effect on people. 

3. Bicolline needs YOU

One of the most baffling things about Bicolline slowly occurred to me while I was researching it. For how incredible the event is, it’s largely unheard of to most people; this is in large due to the language barrier and more so how niche of a hobby you have to be in to get so excited for it. This is a week-long recreation of the medieval ages with a 3000 person battle and lore so deep you could take a class studying it -- no matter what reason, it seems almost impossible that this place has largely gone under the world’s radar.

Researching it, you’ll almost absolutely run into the same hurdles I did, if you don’t speak French; you can get your hands on just enough info to go, but god forbid you want a shred of lore before going. The story of Mundis is concealed in an array of documents inscribed solely in French, and the website-game that has all of the information organized so neatly is not only also in french but requires you to email Bicolline staff to get a login.  It’s largely accepted that if you’re new, you learn about Bicolline’s world by going to Bicolline. Everything from joining guilds to learning what king you’re fighting for is spread through word of mouth, as far as I've seen. While some can argue this adds to the experience, it feels almost criminal to hide away this legendary pantheon of stories behind so many boundaries. This, I think, is where we can come in. We’re writers! Scribes! Stories run through our blood! Who better to show the world the vibrant tapestry of happenings that go on in this place but us? With our combined efforts, we could make this beautiful thing accessible to so many more people. Not only that, but if just going around, listening to stories and recording them doesn’t sound fun to you, keep in mind you can play your own character in the process -- you can write the story of your character traversing, learning about, and making their dent in this vast world. 

4. Have I Convinced You? Then One More Thing.

The story of Bicolline is not written by individuals, however; it’s written by groups, largely guilds. It’s part of Bicolline’s magic; the sense of community is incredibly vibrant. From my last point, however, you may be thinking -- “You just told me I could make my mark, but now you’re saying I can’t? What do you mean?” I'm saying it’s generally difficult to do it alone. If you want to carve your name into Bicolline, you’re going to need friends at your back. Though you’re more than welcome -- no, encouraged -- to find a guild and hop on their wagon, I’d like to propose something. It’s a big If; something that could only truly come into fruition depending on how many people we can get this idea out to.

A writer’s guild; a special place for those heading to Bicolline with a passion for storytelling. What’s our purpose? Where did we come from? What're our colors -- our call to arms? Well, we’re writers, aren’t be? We can make the guild itself a communally-written story -- a sort of passion project for the Bico-enthusiasts of the writing world. 

If this guild were to happen, I can only really see it be something that takes form over time. Like I said, Bicolline lore travels largely by word of mouth, so to even begin thinking about the story or goal we’d have, we’d need to go there first. We can plan our characters together, meetup at Bicolline, and develop them and our plans for this possible guild once we’ve gathered enough information. 

Depending on how many people are interested in such a plan, we could possibly work together to help people who want to come but don’t have the funds -- maybe put together a GoFundMe for donations in exchange for novels/short stories of our Bico experiences. (Take a look at this; it goes to show how interesting Bicolline stories can be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16lF1lwgi68&list=PLKerqeWosPh4fIb7tohK56NsJJJuQp7iV&index=14) It’s a wild thought, but it’s an idea to chew on; sporadic ideas are the spice of life. 

If you have any questions, let me know! 

I put together a discord for anyone looking to get involved: Join Here!

Thank you for reading!! Reblogs appreciated! 

#writers #writeblr #Fantasy Writing #fantasy writeblr #medieval #medieval writing #medieval writeblr #writing

[cinema-tv-etc]

‘Game Of Thrones’ Built Up Its Female Characters Just To Watch Them Fall

The women we championed for nearly a decade suffered confusing character shifts in the final season.

By Leigh Blickley   05/14/2019

Bells continuously chime as Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), sitting atop her fire-breathing dragon Drogon, stares out at King’s Landing. She’s enraged, having recently watched Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) order the execution of her best friend, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), shortly after her dragon-child Rhaegal was speared to death.

Before facing those losses, Dany fought the army of the dead, held her adviser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) as he took his last breath and discovered that her new love, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), was actually her nephew, the true heir to the Iron Throne. At this particular moment, she’s unhinged. And bells are ringing.  And ringing, and ringing.

With the Red Keep in sight, Dany snarls as she decides to forgo everything she’s become in favor of an old Targaryen tactic: “Burn them all.” She goes full villain in the penultimate episode of “Game of Thrones,” scorching enemies and innocents alike as she surrenders to madness.

Yet many viewers saw little forewarning that a character twist of this magnitude was coming, and her erratic change of heart was a punch to the gut. Instead of the satisfying conclusion of a long descent to depravity, Dany suddenly shifts modes, from a woman who graciously earned loyalty over seven seasons to a power-hungry monster who murders thousands of men, women and children.

Sure, she wasn’t always perfect, but the Daenerys Targaryen we knew was the fearless Mother of Dragons. She was Khaleesi, who united the Dothraki after the death of Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), later rallying them to fight for her claim to the Seven Kingdoms. She was Mhysa, who freed the Unsullied and was lifted up by the slaves of Mereen. Dany rose from the ashes to break chains and then risked everything to protect Jon and the North from the Night King’s army.

To see a woman so fully represented over 70 hours of television, especially in a fantasy epic, was groundbreaking. But, with a final season of just six episodes, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss decided that a couple of scenes were enough to turn the unburnt beauty bad ― and essentially muddied her yearslong journey.

The “Game of Thrones” audience had devoted so much time to Dany, and other characters, only to now watch Benioff and Weiss hurry along the ending (and move on to their “Star Wars” trilogy). Why couldn’t they, after spending nearly two years crafting the final season, show us Dany’s slow decline into madness? Why do we have to watch “Inside the Episode” to figure it all out?

Surely George R.R. Martin, who wrote the unfinished “Song of Ice and Fire” book series on which the HBO show is based, told Benioff and Weiss where he wanted the storyline to go: “Mad Queen” Dany destroys King’s Landing, demonstrating that humanity, not necessarily the dead, is the true enemy. The thing is, the showrunners decided to shorten the final two seasons of “Game of Thrones,” to seven and six episodes respectively, and rush through key plot points to reach Martin’s goal. And it’s turned into a bit of a nonsensical mess.

Sure, make Dany evil ― women can be monsters, too. We’ve certainly seen glimpses of her “madness” in the past, whether it be callously watching as her brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd) is killed by Khal Drogo in Season 1 or perhaps prematurely burning alive the father and brother of Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) in Season 7.

But whereas, lately, the show tells us what to think, the books present Dany’s inner monologue. Readers can see how she fights to shake her violent family history as not only her actions but her wide-ranging relationships with siblings, friends and lovers are described.

From “A Storm of Swords”:

“I was alone for a long time, Jorah. All alone but for my brother. I was such a small scared thing. Viserys should have protected me, but instead he hurt me and scared me worse. He shouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my king. Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?”

“Some kings make themselves. Robert did.”

“He was no true king,” Dany said scornfully. “He did no justice. Justice ... that’s what kings are for.”

Ser Jorah had no answer. He only smiled, and touched her hair, so lightly. It was enough.

Although “Game of Thrones” used to give us more context around characters and their decision-making, once it passed the books’ timeline in Season 6, the series faltered a bit in terms of depth. It didn’t show us the intricacies of Dany’s small council, her romance with Jon or her friendship with Missandei, who is only a young girl in Martin’s novels. Perhaps if we saw the show’s version of Dany and Missandei have a meaningful conversation about fear or loneliness ― versus men and sex ― we would have understood Dany’s underlying fragility and why Missandei’s murder triggered a rage within her. Instead, we saw the one woman of color become a plot device to turn Dany, as well as her own lover Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), to the dark side.

That’s all to say that the recent rushed storylines have prevented us from getting that nuance we previously used to connect the dots.

The same flaw also hurts other women on “Game of Thrones,” including Cersei, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).

Brienne is one of the strongest warriors in Westeros. She killed Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) and took down the 6-foot-6 Hound (Rory McCann) ― with a few solid punches, might we add. Yet she turned into a puddle of mush when Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) left her for Cersei ― something she would’ve never done three seasons ago. In one sense, it’s wonderful to see a vulnerable woman on screen. But Brienne ― who is rarely shown out of armor ― sobbing in a nightgown came out of left field. (Love makes us do crazy things?)

And Cersei was so shocked and afraid to meet her rubbly end during Episode 5, Season 8, that it’s easy to forget she once told Ned Stark (Sean Bean): “In the game of thrones, you win or you die.” The ruthless Cersei we’ve studied over eight seasons, the most cunning of the cunning, would’ve known to flee the city when she saw dragon fire (especially if she wanted to protect her unborn child). Or she would’ve at least had another plan in case those scorpion artillery weapons didn’t work out.

We’re not watching the most adventurous show in the world for uninventive writing. Yet here we are.

During the most recent episode, The Hound easily convinces Arya to go home and forget about killing Cersei. She hugs him goodbye, gives up on Cersei and tries to make it safely out of King’s Landing.

Eh, what? We’ve watched Arya train for years to become an assassin. She just destroyed the Night King with a stab of a dagger! She doesn’t fear death! She just traveled weeks to get to the capital for one sole purpose: to murder the woman who betrayed her family.

Too-fast, terribly thought-out writing has reduced “Game of Thrones” to a soap opera. We miss the scenes where Dany argues the advice of Ser Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney). Or when Arya secretly soaks up intel from Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance). Or how about when Sansa Stark feeds her abusive husband Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) to his own hounds?

Now we see a half-baked “Mad Queen” and a woman like Sansa crediting sexual violence, not her own strength, for making her a power player in Westeros.

THE HOUND: None of it would’ve happened if you left King’s Landing with me. No Littlefinger. No Ramsay. None of it.

SANSA: Without Littlefinger and Ramsay, and the rest, I would’ve stayed a little bird all my life.

It’s that bad.

Riddle me this: Why does a show featuring four leading ladies have barely any female writers? (Bonus: Michelle MacLaren was the only female director brought on to helm episodes, the last of which aired in 2014.) Although Gursimran Sandhu is credited as a staff writer for Season 8 on IMDb, only two other women, Jane Espenson and Vanessa Taylor, wrote for the series, with both of their runs ending by 2013. That, my little birds, is the root of a very big, now unfixable problem.

Espenson helped craft scenes like the aforementioned death of Viserys, and Taylor had a say in that memorable lunch between Sansa, Margaery (Natalie Dormer) and Olenna (Diana Rigg) as well as Arya and The Hound’s Brotherhood Without Banners meetup. Those back-and-forths soar in comparison to Season 8’s Sansa-Dany stares or Cersei’s unexplained cowardice.

Clearly, Sandhu couldn’t have singlehandedly saved the final season, but other women’s voices in the writers’ room might have provided more perspective into these characters’ closing motivations.

Still, Martin created these women, and Benioff and Weiss have shown they can write strong dialogue for them on this show. It just feels like the latter two’s desire to be in a galaxy far, far away perhaps trumped their desire to give these ladies what they deserve: earned arcs.

RELATED COVERAGE

‘Game Of Thrones’ Fans Had A Lot Of Feelings About Daenerys’ Fiery Choice

The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere Was Good. But Why Wasn’t It Great?

Why That Daenerys Twist On ‘Game Of Thrones’ Burns So Badly

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/game-of-thrones-women-daenerys-cersei-arya-sansa_n_5cd98811e4b0796a95dfd968

#Game Of Thrones #final season

[luckystarchild]

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Do you have experience? And if so, any advice on what to do and not to do? I just found out I could join and did, but then I realized I will be pretty busy... Oh well. (And if you don't feel like answering, just have a nice day!)

I am planning on it this year, yes! I’ve done NaNo and the CampNaNo sessions for… a long time now, gosh, how many have I even done at this point???

Anyway. NaNo is super fun and I will recommend it to anyone who’ll listen. It can be very, very overwhelming your first time, but here are my tips for keeping up with that blooming wordcount.

1. Don’t skip writing days. Like. It’s tempting to think “I’ll just skip today and write more tomorrow to keep up with my daily word goal,” but do not do this. To reach 50k in 30 days, you need to write 1,667 each day. Skip one day and that turns into 3333-ish, skip another and you’re 5,000 words behind schedule, skip another and you’re that dreaded 6,666 words behind… YIKES. Unless you’re the type who knows they can sit down and pound out 15,000 in a day on a weekend to play catch-up, it’s better to just stick to your daily goal.

2. If the scene ain’t fun, skip it. If you hit a scene and you get stuck and aren’t having fun, jump ahead to whatever comes next and write it later. Write down what NEEDS to happen and outline it as best you can to preserve your flow, but don’t get so hung up on a single scene and waste three days forcing out an 800 word baby-chunk. There’s a risk to skipping scenes (maybe something will happen in that scene that will surprise you and change the direction of your plot) but NaNo isn’t about writing a PERFECT novel. Which brings me to…

3. First drafts are not meant to be perfect; they are meant to exist. As with all first drafts, NaNo is about writing a first draft, and first drafts by definition WILL NEED TLC once you hit the end. First drafts limp and drag and scuttle toward their endings. It’s final drafts that are lovely and wonderful. If you feel like your draft isn’t perfect, if you dislike your language, if you think it has problem… that’s 1000% normal, friendo! Do not go back and edit. Do not go back and rewrite. Just note what needs to be fixed and forge ahead knowing you’ll make it pretty and perfect later. Getting hung up on your words instead of writing new ones can spell NaNo disaster.

Those are my Big Three NaNo Tips.™ I hope they help, and deffo keep in touch during November if you need motivation or to do some word sprints. :D

Bonus Tip: Find your tribe. The NaNo site can connect you to local groups of NaNoers who labor in the trenches beside you. Go to local meetups for support and help and sweet, sweet motivation. I am never more productive than when I’m at a coffee shop with other writers, all of us typing away in silent solidarity with one another as we sweat and bleed and cry into our keyboards (there is less hyperbole in that statement than one might assume). ♥

#nanowrimo #nanowriting

[clairekatswritingcorner]

Unexpected Guests

Word Count: 2,010

Summary: A few years after the Great Race of Oban, Spirit reconnects with Eva and Aikka to hear the big proposition Eva has planned for them.

*Author’s Note*: This doesn’t have much of a plot, but it’s a scene I wanted to write for my idea of what an Eva/Aikka/Spirit reunion might look like in the new Oban series! I know we know absolutely nothing about the plot or why any of the characters that have reconnected have done so, but that’s part of why fanfiction exists, right? I also just wanted to take the opportunity to write more Spirit stuff for @aepaex because she deserves it. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

(also available to read on my Ao3, which can be found in my blog links)

Spirit observed the vehicles, both flying and grounded, that crowded the busy city center. Most of the buildings were tall and glossy, surrounded by intricately woven roadways indicative of the futuristic feel Eva had informed him most of humanity, at least those building a majority of Earth's big cities, preferred to use. There wasn’t much to do to pass the time as he waited to meet her and some other unnamed parties she’d yet to reveal the identity of.

He wandered from the monument in the city square to a bridge overlooking a clear waterway, leaning over the railing to see if the water was too far away for him to see his own reflection. He eavesdropped on the people that periodically passed him on foot, some discussing indistinct topics that he knew little about while others whispered about him. Earth had received an uptick in interplanetary traffic in the years following the Great Race, but it was clear humans hadn’t become entirely accustomed to seeing less than human forms on their city streets, especially in regards to more traditionally monster looking species like the Phils.

Spirit didn’t mind the passing comments, though, especially since he was used to them. After his years of experience with other species first reactions to and interpretations of him, Spirit had come to recognize that some things didn’t really change until you got to know an alien, and he had much more important things to be considering anyway. Unfortunately, the water was too distant for his image to even appear as distorted colors in its sloshing waves, and he turned back towards the street just in time to hear a familiar voice calling out to him. Her voice traveled from above him, and Spirit looked up to see Eva flying over the square, a little stunned to see exactly what she was riding and who she was riding with.

“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting!” Eva greeted, waving enthusiastically as she slipped off the giant beetle’s back. Spirit had recognized G’dar in an instant, and as if to reinforce this recognition Aikka leaned forward a bit from the great bug’s back, giving Spirit a small wave.

Spirit returned Eva’s greeting with a nod, and before he knew it she had her arms wrapped around his waist in a friendly embrace. He was still a little caught off guard that the unnamed friend Eva said she was bringing along turned out to be the now proud Nourasian king, Aikka. The last Spirit heard, Aikka had had his hands full with diplomatic affairs and the protocol of transferring power from the previous king to himself, not to mention sorting out the Nourasian’s old and forced alliance with the Crogs. The fact that he had come all the way to Earth, and moreso had apparently been roped in to whatever scheme Eva had concocted that even Spirit knew nothing about yet, was peculiar but not altogether unexpected. After all, Eva and Aikka’s relationship had only strengthened following the Great Race, something they had both meticulously maintained even with the distance between their planets.

Spirit observed the myriad of differences Eva and Aikka displayed since the last time he had spoken with them face to face. There were certain things that remained staples of their physical presentations, such as Eva’s dyed hair, the bright pink music player that never left her hip, and the distinct racing goggles that she never went anywhere without. It appeared that she’d updated her arsenal of technology with a new high tech visor, and her clothing looked fitting for everything from space travel to mechanical maintenance.

Aikka’s clothes reflected a similar purpose, which was surprising considering his newly esteemed royal position. Spirit wondered just how much trouble the new king would be in if his attendants knew the details of his trip across the galaxy in civilian clothing to take part in some sort of assembly orchestrated by a simple Earth girl. His hair was much longer than it had been during the Great Race, fashioned into a high ponytail to keep it out of the way.  Spirit considered that both of them looked like intergalactic bandits or bounty hunters, ready at any moment to board a space faring craft and plunge into the cosmos looking for the next big adventure. Knowing Eva, that might be what she had planned anyway.

Spirit patted Eva on the back, making sure she was aware that he was going to connect with her telepathically before asking her through this channel of communication exactly what was going on. He wasn’t necessarily the type who had to be privy to all things at all times, but with the esteemed company she had roped into whatever excursion she was planning on pursuing, Spirit had an inkling that something larger was at play. Eva smiled and released him from her grasp, both of them moving out of the way a bit as Aikka slid off G’dar’s back to join them.

“We had a little bit of navigation trouble once we got into the city,” Aikka explained, filling in the blanks from Eva’s apology for their lateness. “G’dar isn’t exactly skittish when it comes to crowded places like this, but it seems like most of the locals aren’t used to anything more than shiny flying vehicles soaring through the sky. We were lucky we didn’t get arrested for flying a foreign object.”

“Yeah yeah, but what’s important now is that we’re all here together!” Eva replied, patting Aikka on the back. “Your flying has gotten a little rusty though, your Highness. Seems like it was more urgent to get you out of that palace than I thought.”

Aikka opened his mouth to protest, but Eva swiftly switched topics. “So, now that we’re all together, I can elaborate on my proposal.”

Something she had to tell us in person…Spirit thought, noticing the exuberant shine in her eyes. Or perhaps she just really wanted to see our reactions.

“I think we oughta get some more old friends back together,” she began, stretching her arms out behind her and leaning against the bridge’s railing. “I mean, we already have the three of us, and I’ve been able to contact a few others, like Rush. A lot has happened since the Great Race, a lot that’s only shared between those of us that actually experienced it…while I definitely don’t want to return to that, I think it would be fun to hang out together again. A lot of us, all at once, and maybe we can even have some racing meets to see who’s still got their racing fire lit.”

Spirit rested his hand on Eva’s wrist. Doesn’t this seem a little spontaneous? Although both Aikka and I had the time and the means to make this meeting happen, I’m not sure what gathering us all together again really accomplishes.

“You don’t have to worry about that, I don’t really have a sure fire plan anyway,” Eva less than reassuringly replied. “I just…it’s been lonely, and so much has changed. We’ve all grown, undoubtedly become different people than we were during the Great Race. But that experience still lingers within us. None of us will ever truly be able to get rid of those memories, good or bad. I figured it was time to make some sort of impromptu reunion, even if it’s only for a day. You guys are both here already, right? Can’t you humor me with this?”

Spirit had to admit that he knew where Eva was coming from. There were certainly things he had seen, and even more he had heard about after the fact from racers like her, that shook him to his core. Although he sometimes felt tempted to share his feelings or thoughts on the matter with his family or friends, he knew that not only was it a dangerous idea to involve them in such a dreadful affair, but they would never be able to truly understand. The only people who could offer support for and relate to the pilots who participated in the Great Race of Oban were fellow pilots and various other individuals who had shared the experience with them. Spirit mimicked Eva’s relaxed posture, extending a hand to Aikka to ask him what he thought about all this.

“Well, I’m not here because I don’t want to be,” he began, an unmistakable blush coloring his cheeks. “I think there’s merit to what Eva says. Apart from needing a break from my duties, I think there are bigger things that need to be discussed. Some things…that although they may never be completely dealt with, they can at least be worked through. All of us have suffered at the hands of the Great Race in one way or another, some deeper than others. I have questions, many of which I’m sure have no hope of being answered, but maybe the more of us that join together, the closer we can get to uncovering the truth.”

So a mixture of a research expedition and a friendly support meetup. That sounded like about as Eva an idea as any of the ones Spirit had already heard or been apart of throughout the years. After the Great Race, while many racers had gone their separate ways, Eva and the group of those who had been with her through her roughest patches and knew about the deepest pains of her past had remained in consistent and close contact with her and each other.

Eva had come out of the Great Race with an altered perception of fate, a new set of friends, and an infinitely widened view of both life and the universe. Spirit still didn’t know every detail of what transpired on Oban with her, her faithful racing team, and King Aikka. Although part of him would always be achingly curious to have her divulge the full story, another part knew that it would be detrimental both to him and the parties involved to plunge them too deeply into territory they weren’t properly armed to tackle.

Spirit simply nodded in agreement then, knowing that no matter what came next, it would surely be an adventure he didn’t want to miss. He wanted to uncover more about the Great Race for himself, as well as catch up in person with racers who understood him for more than the enigmatic Phils champion that many assumed him to be. Even just being around Eva and Aikka again brought him a peace that he hadn’t known since he had last had the pleasure of sharing their company. There was a deep, unspoken camaraderie between many of the racers who participated in the Great Race. Whether it was fate, or trauma, or the simple desire to reconnect with those Spirit once saw as nothing more but fellow competitors, he had a yearning to join Eva’s expedition. He ruffled her hair, cut shorter than she had worn it when she was younger, and in the gesture passed along his thanks for her kindness in reaching out to him.

Eva laughed, grabbing his hand with one of her own as she smoothed her hair with the other. You don’t need to thank me, it was a no brainer. It wouldn’t be the same without one of my best friends.

Spirit felt the wellspring in his chest expand, doing his best to keep his composure while also sharing the elated feeling with her. She considered him a friend, a sentiment that made him feel more than he felt he would ever be able to share or communicate, even with telepathy. Aikka smiled gently at them both, and Eva yanked him over to them, pulling them all into a group hug that made Spirit feel like he was truly at home. This was the beginning of a grand adventure, one that had no perceivable direction. But spontaneity was what Eva did best, and with her at the helm, Spirit was sure they would make it out of even the darkest recesses of space they might dare to traverse.

#oban star racers #oban star-racers #eva wei #prince aikka #spirit (oban star racers) #molly wei #spirit #implied mokka #implied eva/aikka #implied molly/aikka #oban series 2 #post series fic #kind of i guess #one shot #gift fic #my writing #claire writes

[metaldragoon]

Day four. Putting expectations on yourself is the best way to kill creativity.  I have nothing to provide further with my thoughts and yet here I am, feeling forced to say something.  I’m not, of course, but I said I would write daily and I was doing well so I want to maintain that level so I can be liked and popular but of course what inspired me to start writing is I had something to say, but how is a man supposed to have so much opinion that he can write every day about it???  I didn’t accomplish much today.  I set-up Smash in my room today, which I never wanted to do because it is fairly far away from my modem but I think it will be a lot better.  It’s obviously more comfortable, so it’s much easier to just log in hours and make everything become second nature with my game play.  I haven’t really gotten better in the two years I’ve been playing competitively.  There was a lot of improvement in my earlier months since it was with a friend who played it over his summer break every day for hours on end with me.  It was a great time in my life but he’s a man with a life plan and I have none.  While he got busy taking six different courses in university and working two part time jobs I just sat around doing nothing and not enjoying playing the game any more.  I keep playing because, like I said yesterday, I wish to re-live good memories.   I keep dropping by once a month to our weekly meetups to do average and head on home making no real connection with anyone.  I feel like if I was very successful at the game, I’d still be upset with people because then they’d like me and I’d be like y’all FAKE.  Then I’d just be the weird guy who was mean to people.  I guess it’s not worth worrying about for the time being, though. Anyone who follows my other blog, winterdragoon, you may have noticed I reblog not all that much anymore.  I’ve just been saving things as drafts and I feel like I’m getting the same experience with none of the let-down.  I don’t know if I can explain it.  I feel like everyone who uses this site has to feel it in some way.  I’ve always been selective with who I follow, I follow exactly 40 people in four and a half years.  I try to only follow people who I feel some sort of specific bond with.  I guess there’s no real rhyme to it, but I consider everyone I follow a friend in some sense.  And then, the knife.  What is this, in my back? Why did they reblog that from my other mutual? How did they swap numbers? What’s going on here?  I thought I was your middleman.  You know, it’s just how it goes and that’s the business of things.  I don’t really resent anyone for it, but there’s just something about it.  Was I not good enough? Did you have to go looking for more stimulation because my lack thereof? Now I’ve surpassed all this.  By becoming completely irrelevant on Tumblr, I now reblog from my friends, and since I’ve made it impossible for them to reblog from me, I no longer feel hurt by it :) That might sound fake but honestly it really does work.  I mean, “it really works” makes it sound like I was truly suffering when this happened to me but I still get the exact same enjoyment out of Tumblr with none of the minor drawbacks of this some-how passive-aggressive competitive world of reblogging I’ve gotten my self in to.  I think there’s probably a draft-limit, so I’ve been going through my drafts and deleting things that I didn’t particularly love any more, or posting the things that really resonate with me.  “Resonate with me” he says as his blog is just a collection of loli girls. I’m going back to Smash for a second.  Even though with writing you can always just go right back and make it a seamless connection of thoughts.  There’s something Smash has really made me realise in life.  Like, you might laugh thinking about this but there’s really a lot of mental strength involved in the game.  You have to apply yourself to everything your opponent does and try to figure out his bad habits and formulate a way to get them to commit to their mistakes so you can punish it.  Sometimes, I’m just not in the right mindset.  Sometimes, I just don’t care.  I’ll go and do something foolish, pick a bad character or something, and then I usually will lose for it.  I’ve never once felt okay with my self for doing this after the match.  I only feel accomplished with my self when I give it my all.  Success feels great but failing feels better than not trying and failing too.  I’m not sure.  It’s like if I tried and failed, I learned.  If I went a crappy character and picked bad options I just wasted my time and a great opportunity to improve my self.  Always do your best in things that matter to you, even if you feel it will hurt to lose.  It’ll be worse losing and not trying. My birthday is in a couple weeks (May 12th).  I have my second week of holidays that week.  I don’t particularly care about birthdays anymore, but I’d like to visit my dad.  Unfortunately, my old friend who I haven’t seen in seven years will be up and can only see me on my birthday.  My dad lives about 10 hours away and I also haven’t seen him in about two or three years.  I told my friend I definitely want to see her again, she’s one of the most important people in my life and helped me a lot in my life from when I was 13-18 years old just with general depression/having no friends/always being alone.  We stopped being friends for a few years, though.  I grew very strongly in love with her and I was always depressed about it and felt I wasn’t able to commit my life to anything with her around because she was all I felt I wanted.  I don’t really remember what I said, I told her I didn’t want to talk to her ever again, or something along those lines.  A cold cut in our friendship sandwich. I just wanted to remove her from my life.  The good and the bad, because it was too much for me.  I’ve never seen her since then, because I moved away, but we have reconciled after a few years when I knew I was over her and I apologised for what I did, but at the same time, the friendship’s always felt a little dead since then.  We talk about things, but neither of us fully commit to just listening to each other.  We have different people in our lives now, I guess.  We don’t need each other anymore.  But still, she happens to be in town for something that same week.  I will still probably go see my father, but then I’d have to leave the day before my birthday and that’s kind of I don’t know.  Like I said I don’t care, but it does feel special spending the day with my family, of who I am so detached to, but will I ever get to see my old friend again?  I am surprised how long this went.  I have lots more to say but there’s a limit to how long I can keep a reader interested, so I’ll leave extra thoughts for another day.  A quick summation of my day: played Smash for like six hours, made some weird dinner with perogies/hotdogs/mustard/poppyseed salad dressing, and drank chocolate milk.  Played ME: Andromeda, cut my hair (came out v. good), and watched episode 2 of Rurouni Kenshin.  I watch shows muted with no sub-titles so I can strictly focus on the aesthetic of the scene in it’s visual representation, since that’s all my viewers are going to feel when I GIF something, and I listened to this sweet mix that goes so well with Rurouni Kenshin on mute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjPTQLgGpq8&spfreload=10 I guess that’s all.  Thanks for reading everyone, seeing all those likes makes me feel pretty about my writing.

#pointless blog 4

[ronaldmrashid]

My Money Coaching Experience With Capital One

I believe everybody needs a money coach in some form or another. Your money coach can be your spouse, parent, best friend, sibling, or mentor. He or she just needs to be a little bit more experienced and financially savvier than you. If not, he/she needs to at least be a good listener so they can reflect back on your blind spots.

Despite giving plenty of 1X1 financial consulting sessions myself, I’ve never had my own money coaching session. I view the entire Financial Samurai community as a great platform discuss various issues. Some things I’ve learned from all of you are:

All talk, no action doesn’t inspire change. Telling people to do something doesn’t work as well as showing people through my own actions, e.g. posting 3X a week for eight years in a row, responding to comments at 5:30am, deploying capital based on my investment thesis, working towards my passive income goals, trying and failing all the time, etc.

Producing quality content without self-promotion actually works. I’ve often wondered whether it’s possible to build a brand without being a pubic figure. Is valuing my privacy holding me back from maximizing my potential? Probably, but this site has grown every year since its founding in 2009, so I’m pleased with the progress.

Being a minority does not impede me from getting ahead in America. I came to America as a freshman in high school after spending the previous 13 years living in Asia plus one year in Zambia. Going from being a majority to a minority was sometimes a difficult transition. I highly recommend giving it a try one day. You’ll build a lot of grit.

When Capital One reached out to me about their free money coaching sessions at one of their cafés in San Francisco, I jumped at the opportunity. I’m always interested in trying new things and getting feedback about myself in order to improve as a person. As someone who is struggling with money addiction, the timing of this coaching session couldn’t be more perfect.

My one hour money coaching session didn’t wind up being at their downtown Union Square Café, but at Pier 39 where they were hosting their Banking Reimagined Tour this past weekend. I was there to check out their huge state-of-the-art trailer when my contact at Capital One mentioned their San Francisco / Walnut Creek money coach, Megan CFP, was also there if I wanted to do my session.

It was a glorious day after a week of non-stop rain, so of course I told them “yes!”

Having my money coaching session with Megan on a 60-degree and sunny day by the SF Bay.

Megan was great. She spent 10 years at Morgan Stanley as a financial planner, became a certified life coach, and decided to smartly blend her two skills together to help other people. Life + financial coaching seems like a rewarding for anyone thinking about doing something new.

I’ve always talked about money as being a means to achieve greater happiness. I thought my end goal was always just about having absolute freedom, but through my first coaching session, I identified more goals.

The first step for self-improvement was to make my “travel plan.” Essentially, I had to figure out where (and how) I am today, what I have to do to get to point B, and what I think I’ll have once I get there. Here’s my travel plan snapshot. Pardon my chicken scratch as I hastily jotted things down.

I described my current state of being with the words: satisfied, happy, blessed, wonderment. Having a life partner, tennis network, online network, family, and home really bring me a lot of happiness and satisfaction. I plan to continue waking up early, working hard, and planning for the future so that I may have more happiness, contentment, satisfaction, and vitality!

The next step in the money coaching session was to either go through my Values or a Money Plan. Given I’ve got my money plan mapped out, I went with understanding my values.  There was a list of ~50 different values to choose from and I was asked to write out eight that spoke to me the most.

My eight most important values are: Meaning & Purpose, Inner Peace, Belonging, Health, Independence, Equality, Freedom, and Helping Others.

Next to each value is a numerical score between 1-10, indicating where I feel I am with each value.

1) Helping (10): Every day I feel like I’m helping someone with Financial Samurai, even if it’s just a little bit. Even those who stop by and leave an angry or insulting comment probably come away feeling better.

2) Meaning & Purpose (10): As a result of helping others, I feel like I’ve got a good sense of meaning & purpose. Writing about personal finance just feels like a great fit due to my background. Mentoring kids also provides extra purpose.

3) Independence (10): Having my health gives me the independence to move freely. I don’t ever want to feel like a burden to anybody. I know that day will come, but I’m trying to remain independent for as long as possible.

4) Freedom (10): Freedom to choose based on my values is all I ever want. Due to aggressive saving and investing, my passive income stream provides such freedom.

5) Health (8): So far, all my body parts are working. I feel no chronic pain either. My health score would be higher if I lost 10-15 lbs. Despite practicing portion control and exercising regularly, I’m still losing the battle of the bulge.

6) Equality (8): I strongly believe in equality for all. As a result, I’m constantly writing about issues that don’t seem fair to get people to think more broadly. For example, why is there a marriage penalty tax? Why do Asian people have to do better in school to have the same chance of getting into university as other races? Why do people have the ability to vote on legislation that raises taxes on other people without having to pay more taxes themselves? Why is there any poverty within 30 miles of a billionaire? Why do we gorge ourselves when there are over 200 million malnourished people in the world? Why do CEOs make millions killing people by selling sugary drinks and unhealthy food?

7) Inner Peace (8): The older I get, the more often I ask myself whether I’d be OK if I died today. The more I’m OK with passing, the more inner peace I have. I got close to being OK dying young after achieving my life goal of doing something entrepreneurial. Having life insurance a clear will also helped. But now that I’m thinking about having a kid, I want to at least live long enough before he becomes an adult.

8) Belonging (6): Here’s where I feel I’m most lacking. It’s interesting I feel this way due to the relatively large Financial Samurai community. Perhaps due to the fact there’s such a large online community, it makes my offline community feel very small? I truly enjoy interacting with the millions of Financial Samurais around the world who take ownership of their lives.

I’m a pretty social person who loves to hang out with cool people. I miss the days when I could just meet up with a friend after school and skateboard for hours on end without a care. In a way, retiring early has robbed me of camaraderie because I no longer have a group of colleagues to hang out with during and after work. There are no more power lunches with friendly clients either. Oh how I miss using the company corporate card. Almost everybody I know has to go to work, and it does get lonely at times.

Relationships take effort. Therefore, I plan to do two things:

1) Plan a couples retreat for my 40th birthday. I really enjoyed going with two other couples to Indian Wells last spring for a tennis tournament. We rented a sweet house with a pool and hot tub (pic below), went out to eat every night, and watched world class tennis during the day. So fun! But since then, I’ve only had three dinner outings with couples. So sad.

Our couples retreat rental house in Palm Springs. Such an awesome time!

2) Identify two things I love and attend weekly meetups. There are endless meetups here in San Francisco across a variety of interests. I’m pretty tapped out on the fintech / startup scene, and I’ve got the tennis community covered. I’m thinking about joining a co-ed softball team where we play some random opponent on some random field and go for brewskies at a dive bar after. I’m also considering joining a car club after I buy my mid-life crisis vehicle. It’s fun to drive in a cavalcade up to wine country with some car fanatics. We can create a mid-life crisis support group!

Finding Direction

It’s interesting to learn my money coaching session wasn’t so much about my finances, but more about how to achieve life goals. I plan to meet Megan for one or two more free sessions next time I go downtown for some business meetings. It feels great speaking to someone who is 100% focused on helping you move forward.

If you’re looking for some free life or money guidance, set up a money coaching session at one of Capital One’s Cafés. Everybody has some blind spot that needs illuminating.

Readers, anybody ever have a life coach or financial coach? How was that experience for you? What are some things you got out of your coaching session that you didn’t anticipate. What are some immediate life goals you have? Thanks Capital One for sponsoring this post and getting me to experience new things.

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/my-money-life-coaching-experience-with-capital-one/

#Financial Samurai