#Max why are all your characters so involved with other characters | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lihhelsing · 6 months

Text

Part 5 - Catfish Steddie

You can also read it on AO3!

Eddie isn’t sure how many doubles he pulled in the past week, but he’s not too interested in counting, anyway. He just needs to keep himself busy. Just busy enough.

He’s also trying to stay out of the house as much as he can because he can’t seem to find it in him to face Gareth. Not right now.

Not when Gareth was fucking right.

He didn’t say it to be mean, Edie knows it, but in all the time they’ve known each other, nerdy, weird Eddie was never the one to get the attention of guys built like a Greek god and Gareth had been wary of it from the beginning.

Eddie couldn’t even get himself to tell him about the catfish because, in the end, he managed to get a date with Steve, and what Gareth didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, right?

But the joke’s on Eddie because he’s the one who ended up hurt.

So yeah, maybe he’s been doing that avoidance thing that annoyed Gareth ever since middle school when Eddie would pretend to not be interested in playing with Max Steel anymore just because he had broken Gareth’s favorite figure and couldn’t find a way to tell him.

Eddie can be a real piece of work sometimes and he knows that all too well. Gareth knows it too and it is beyond Eddie to understand why does he still put up with his shit after so many years, but after some nasty fights where Gareth had to yell at Eddie to believe he fucking likes him and is definitely sticking around and that Eddie needs to drop that shitty way of acting, Eddie prefers not to say anything.

He’s also aware Gareth can tell something is up and that he’s on borrowed time but that’s for future Eddie to worry about.

The good thing is that the bar keeps him busy. He's always making a drink or another, cleaning something up and when there are no clients, Eddie can just let the music take over. Let his brain swim in the blissfulness of loud, angry music.

"Can I get a vodka soda?" Eddie is nodding before he even looks at the person, his body moving with the familiarity of the bar work.

He grabs the vodka with one hand and twists it around just to show off. His other hand is already filling a glass with ice cubes. Then it's alcohol, measured to be sure, soda, and a half lime wedge at the rim of the glass.

It's as easy as breathing and it feels good to do something that doesn't involve thinking.

"Here you go," he slides the glass in front of his customer and it's the first time he looks at her. She has short, brown hair and is looking straight at Eddie, not moving to get her drink.

"Thanks, Eddie."

He frowns for a second. Doesn't remember telling her his name. Doesn't remember seeing her before, but at the same time, her face looks familiar.

"Did you need anything else?"

Maybe she asked for another drink and Eddie didn't hear. His mind isn't the most reliable lately, hence why he can't quite place where he knows her from. Maybe she's a regular at the bar and Eddie has just forgotten about it?

"When's your break?" she asks and oh. Oh, no. Can't she tell Eddie would prefer to suck face with any one of the other patrons that aren't a woman?

"Sorry. I don't, uh, mess around with paying customers," he says even though he followed a few cute boys out through the back door for sloppy hand-jobs and messy kisses.

Her frown deepens and Eddie thinks maybe he offended her. He tried letting her down easy but maybe-

"Uh, first of all, gross. Second of all, I just want to talk. Please."

Something isn't adding up. "Do I know you?"

She offers her hand as if she's in an indie movie and she's the edgy main character. Eddie doesn't take it but it doesn't seem to bother her.

"I thought you knew. I'm Robin Buckley. Steve's roommate."

Oh, fuck.

Eddie feels like he needs a cigarette even though he hasn't smoked in ages. He tends to stay with just weed for most of the time, but this situation right now is so fucked up it calls for one.

He wonders if he should tell her he's going to 7/11 to get one but he realizes he's just stalling. He doesn't particularly want to hear what she has to say but he couldn't find it in himself to say no.

Steve tried calling a few times but he gave up once it was clear Eddie wasn't picking up the phone. He wonders if Steve sent her.

"I have 15 minutes and I was really counting on a nap during my break so make this quick," his voice comes out harsher than usual and Eddie's not mad about it. Maybe if he can put on a hard front she and Steve will leave him alone.

Eddie's brain has been trying to trick him into believing Steve really didn't have anything to do with the catfish thing, but it just doesn't add up. He spent way too many nights awake thinking about Steve laughing at his expense, at how dumb he was for falling for the thing not once but twice.

He just wants to move on, forget all about Steve and about how stupid he was to fall for his game.

"You're bitchier than I remember," she shakes her head as if she can't believe it and Eddie frowns again. He really doesn't remember her. "Guess you're just not that bitchy when it comes to pretty boys, huh."

It takes a second for Eddie's brain to get the message but then…

"You."

She nods and even though she sounds playful as if all of this is nothing more than a joke her face is pinched up.

"Guilty. Sorry about that, by the way."

Now Eddie is sure Steve sent her and he really doesn't want to hear whatever excuse he has for this. He doesn't even understand what's their goal here. Do they want Eddie to forgive them just so they can feel better about themselves?

"Tell Steve I don't need any apologies. You both can just forget it and leave me alone."

He hopes he doesn't sound too pathetic because he sure feels like it. But Robin doesn't move, she just blinks at him.

"Steve doesn't know I'm here."

Eddie huffs out a breath. He's getting annoyed at this conversation really fast.

"Will you just say what it is that you want to say and leave me alone, then? I really need a nap."

"Steve doesn't know I'm here and he didn't know I was, uh, using his face to-"

"Catfish people."

"Is it considered catfishing if I had no intention of dating anyone?"

Eddie frowns. What the fuck is wrong with this girl?

"Yes."

She closes her eyes and presses her hands to her face. "Shit. I'm fucking this up even more, aren't I? I'm not good at this."

Eddie is honestly so fucking done with her. He's confused and honestly a little angry at this person he doesn't know but thought it was ok to mess with his life for apparently no good reason.

"Well, I'm gonna go."

Eddie pushes himself off the wall he was leaning on and is walking back to the bar when she calls for him.

"Wait. Please. I'm sorry… I have this tendency to joke around whenever I'm feeling bad or uncomfortable. It's just a shitty defense mechanism that I kind of can't control."

He honestly wants to tell her to fuck off but at the same time… He gets it. He is the same, after all, and Gareth would probably call him out on his bullshit if he ever complained about it. He can hear what she has to say, at least.

"Ok. Go on, but I desperately need a Slurpee and you're buying."

Slurpees beat cigarettes every day of the week, no doubt.

Robin's story was… Kind of crazy if Eddie was being honest. He was still confused about some things because how the hell did her professor support that idea?

"I knew it was a crazy thing I was doing. I thought it would be harmless but once I realized it wasn't it was a little too late to back down and he was all over my case."

Eddie clicks his tongue. "You should report him, you know."

She looks completely terrified. "I thought about it but it's probably going to spill all over me."

Eddie shrugged. "Maybe you deserve it."

Robin worried her lower lip in between her teeth. "Maybe I do."

"I'm not saying that to be an asshole, it's just the way things are. When I fuck up at work I have to deal with the consequences and it fucking sucks so maybe you just need to deal with yours. It's not going to be the end of the world."

Robin sighs loudly. She's clutching her blue Slurpee as if her life depends on it and Eddie wants to warn her that it's going to melt. They are both sitting on a bench outside the store and Eddie is probably already running late to get back to his shift but he thinks he needs to be here right now.

Robin's explanation was not what he was expecting. She swore Steve had absolutely nothing to do with that and proceeded to tell him Steve wasn't even speaking to her anymore.

He still can't wrap his head around the whys. Robin doesn't seem like a psychopath so it makes no sense that she would do something like this. It's an asshole move, especially given she and Steve weren't even friends. But Eddie had been an asshole before. He has fucked up with people he loves and he doesn't think that makes him a bad person.

He doesn't think it makes Robin a bad person. She at least looks really ashamed.

"Are you going to throw that Slurpee at me?" Robin asks when the silence gets too long. Eddie looks at her and she's joking. Or at least he thinks she is.

"Would it make you feel better if I did?"

"Honestly? Maybe. I can deal with screaming and fighting and saying dumb shit to each other. It's harder when all he gives me is silence and blank stares. It's like I'm not even there anymore."

Yeah, Eddie has been there. It fucking sucks.

"Sorry," she says. "I didn't come here to make you feel bad for me. I know I fucked up and you have no obligation in forgiving me but I thought you should know what happened. Steve…"

Eddie has no idea if he can afford thinking about Steve right now. He misses the hell out of him and if he's being honest he misses Robin, too.

"I know. He didn't know about any of that but I think maybe… Maybe he won't want to hear from me after I shut him out, you know? Maybe he'll be better off forgetting this whole thing."

Robin finally drinks her Slurpee. It's probably all water now, Eddie thinks. She looks at him and there's a glint in her eyes.

"I think I've never seen him that happy. When he was talking to you, I mean. He was always glued to his phone, a dumb smile on his face. It was kind of adorable, if you like cute puppies."

Eddie did have a soft spot for puppies.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Like I said, I don't think he will want to hear from me. I think I offended him, too."

"But would you want to? Talk to him again?"

He thinks for a second but he nods before his brain even registers the question. There's this ache in his chest that tells him he's probably going to miss Steve forever if he never talk to him again.

"Ok, good. Because I might have a plan."

Previous | Next

#steve harrington #Eddie Munson #Coffee Shop AU #AU #Alternate Universe #Stranger Things #Fanfic #Stranger Things fanfic #Steddie #Steddie Fanfic #Catfish AU #Steddie ficlet

280 notes · View notes

cheeseyberg · 1 year

Text

Part 1 Part 2

Steve is annoyed. He's trying his hardest not to be but there it is, burning low in his throat as he bites back another bitchy comment that he would really love to let fly. He keeps reminding himself that they are kids, teenagers who have been stunted by trauma and may be a little immature in areas that don't involve fighting interdimensional beings. They deserve time spent ragging on each other and if they want to include him in the teasing then that really is proof that they accept him.

But he's not an idiot, just because he's a little bit slower than the nerds who he has adopted doesn't mean he's stupid. He takes the average amount of time to make connections, it's not his fault his friend's brains all run at the speed of a supercomputer.

"Henderson, I'm not going to tell you again, watch your tone dude!" Steve allows the half bitchy comment to land in a lull of conversation so all the brats hear it, "Besides, I haven't agreed to anything yet so I don't know why you're all arguing who gets stuck with me."

The whole thing had started with the opening of a new café in town. It was across from the arcade so naturally the kids clocked it immediately and had been anxiously awaiting the grand opening. Plans were made, funds were acquired, rides were begged for and the end result was that Steve, Eddie and Nancy shared babysitting duty on the opening day. It had been a pleasant day really, Steve was happy to have adults to talk to while the kids terrorized the new shop owners. This may have been where it started to go off the rails, he realizes now. Once the lovely couple had realized they had been invaded by baby geniuses they became enamored and in a clear bid to appease and possibly distract, the next time they had visited there were signs up announcing a weekly trivia night.

The problem was the team size limits. No more than six people to a team, and Erica had made it very clear that she would not be the odd man out because of her age. In fairness, the party hadn't even suggested it, they knew Erica was a force to be reckoned with and so the splitting into two teams had commenced and now she was a hot commodity that both teams wanted. Steve was having the opposite problem.

"Nobody is questioning your numerous good qualities Steve, I'm just saying that picking you first on my team isn't like a brilliant strategic move," Dustin stumbled over the words trying to make it clear that he wasn't wanted without putting his free rides in jeopardy.

"Enough! Nobody agreed that you got to be a team captain anyway and you're being a butthead. Here's how this is going to work, adults are the team captains," Eddie's edict was met with a flurry of protests from The Party yet he continued. "Complain all you want but the more whining I hear about it, the worse it is for your characters during the next campaign!"

That shut them up, Steve wondered what he had ever done before Eddie joined their family and had real leverage to hold over them to get them to behave. Gave in, was the answer but he preferred to ignore that part.

"I'm a captain and Steve's a captain-"

"Wooooow, why aren't Robin and Nancy the captains, you misogynist?!" Max was spending too much time with Robin in Steve's opinion.

"You're spending too much time with Robin, first of all. Secondly, Robin and Nancy aren't here so they forfeit the rights to team captain. As I was saying, Steve and I are captains and we will divide you as evenly as we can. Even with Robin and Nancy we still have an odd number so we'll have to split 6 and 5 to a team. Tomorrow at movie night we'll roll to see who gets more players and then we'll divide our teams with everyone present. What say you Stevie?" Eddie ended his proclamation by turning to look at Steve, who realized he was blushing a bit at having Eddie defend him to the assembly of assholes.

"Sounds good Eds," of course he was going to agree when it was Eddie asking. He turned back to the table in time to catch a raised eyebrow between Max and El but chose to ignore it. "And, as captain and procurer of the movies, I'm vetoing any horror movies so don't even try it!"

"Freddy's Revenge is finally out though! I thought we agreed to watch it!?" Eddie's protest was the loudest.

"A creepy burned dude who kills you in your mind dreams? No thanks, we absolutely did not agree to that and I'm vetoing it forever. Watch that shit with Robin, besides, it doesn't even have Johnny Depp in it so what's the point?" Steve catches another look between the girls but this time Erica joins in, he's not sure what caused it that time. Maybe the reference to Vecna was too much. "Come on guys, seriously, pick something happy for once."

"'Mind dreams' says the team captain," he catches Mike muttering under his breath and stares him down until he gets a half shrug which is as good as he can expect as an apology from the teen.

Part 2 Part 3

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #ficlet #Mike is being a little shit #Dustin needs to watch his tone

498 notes · View notes

deliciousangelfestival · 3 months

Text

Silent Heir, Hidden Danger - 5

Character: Lawyer!Bucky x Female Character

Summary: She suddenly inherits a fortune from an unknown father, navigating dark secrets with lawyer Bucky Barnes in a suspenseful journey of deception.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3, Chapter 4 , Chapter 5

Main Masterlist || Support : Ko-fi ❤️❤️❤️

As the shadows of secrecy enveloped Y/N and Bucky in their hidden refuge, the dim light accentuated the growing bond between them. Seated across from each other, the air carried an unspoken understanding, an alliance forged in the crucible of danger.

With a thoughtful gaze, Y/N finally voiced the question that lingered in the quiet moments. "Bucky, I need to understand. Why were you so loyal to Max? What did he do for you?"

Bucky, his expression a mix of contemplation and memories, leaned back against the concealed walls. "I was a stray dog, Y/N. Max found me in the lowest point of my life, hungry and desperate. He gave me a purpose, a sense of belonging."

Y/N, intrigued, urged him to share more. "What do you mean, a stray dog?"

Bucky's eyes held a distant gaze as he recounted his past. "I was living on the streets, scraping by to survive. Max saw something in me, or maybe he just saw a reflection of his own past. He took me in, trained me, made me his guard dog."

A sense of vulnerability crossed Bucky's features as he continued, "He used to say, 'A dog shouldn't bite the person who gives him food.' Max was the one who fed me when I had nothing. Loyalty was the least I could offer in return."

Y/N, absorbing the weight of his revelation, murmured, "So, loyalty to Max became your way of life."

Bucky nodded, the echoes of the past resonating in his words. "In the world he lived in, loyalty meant survival. Max had enemies, and he needed someone he could trust completely. In return, he provided me with a purpose, a family of sorts."

Curiosity lingered in Y/N's eyes as she sought to unravel the mysteries surrounding her father's elusive presence in her life. "Bucky," she inquired, "why did Max never try to meet us, or at least reach out to my mother? It sounds like he cared, so why keep such a distance?"

Bucky, choosing his words carefully, began to unravel the complex tapestry of Max's multiple lives. "Y/N, Max had three wives, each with their own circumstances. The first wife, Mallory, is the scariest of them all. She's from a powerful mafia family herself, and she's paranoid and jealous. Her obsession with Max is both a strength and a threat."

Y/N, eyebrows furrowed, sought further clarification. "Jealous? Obsessed? What do you mean?"

Bucky leaned in, his gaze holding a weight of caution. "Mallory sees Max as her possession. She's deeply in love with him, but that love is possessive and dangerous. If she found out about you and your mother, she would see you both as a threat. Max was protecting you from her influence."

Y/N, absorbing the gravity of Mallory's influence, mused, "So, it wasn't just about Max keeping secrets. It was about protecting us from someone dangerous."

Bucky nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Now, the second wife, Madeline, is a different kind of danger. She's calculating, like a snake in the grass. Madeline knows how to navigate the intricacies of the underworld. If she knew about you, she might see it as an opportunity or a threat, depending on her calculations."

The room seemed to tighten with the invisible threads of danger as Bucky continued, "Then there's the third wife, Marianne. Her situation is similar to your mother's. She doesn't know Max is involved in the mob. She's stuck in a life she doesn't fully understand. Max kept his world compartmentalized to protect them from the harsh realities he faced."

Y/N, grappling with the revelations, murmured, "So, my mother and I were shielded from a world that could have consumed us."

Acknowledging the weight of Max's choices, Bucky responded, "Max believed he was doing what was best for you both. The danger from Mallory alone was enough to warrant such secrecy."

Bucky's gaze flickered to his watch, a tangible reminder of the ticking clock counting down to Max's funeral. "We have 32 hours before the funeral," he stated, the urgency palpable in his voice.

Y/N, her eyes reflecting a mixture of uncertainty and determination, questioned him, "Do you really want to replace Max, Bucky? It seems like a dangerous position to be in."

Bucky, his expression a blend of respect and a hint of a wry smile, replied, "I respect Max's wishes, and besides, there's something else. I love money, Y/N. Money is my anchor in a world that's often unpredictable and unforgiving. Max understood that about me."

As Y/N absorbed his candid admission, she couldn't help but wonder about the intricacies of loyalty and ambition entwined in the unfolding events. "So, you're willing to step into a role that could bring danger and power just for the sake of money?"

Bucky's eyes showed determination as he affirmed, "Max had his reasons for choosing me, and I intend to honor that trust. Plus, in our world, power and danger often come hand in hand. It's a gamble, but one I'm willing to take."

As Y/N contemplated the implications of Bucky potentially becoming the leader, she voiced her concerns, "If you become the leader, can you ensure the safety of my mother and me, Bucky?"

Bucky, with a confident yet reassuring demeanor, replied, "Sure, Y/N. I can make sure all your demons are taken care of. Max's legacy will provide a shield for both of you."

However, before the weight of their conversation could fully settle, the room was violently interrupted by a deafening explosion, the force of it reverberating through the hidden refuge. "BOOM!"

Instinctively, Y/N sought refuge behind Bucky, her eyes wide with shock and fear. The once secure vault door now lay in ruins, the remnants of the protective barrier shattered.

As the dust settled, the silhouette of a figure emerged from the chaos. Bucky, recognizing the intruder, muttered under his breath, "Mason. Should've guessed."

Mason, flanked by a menacing entourage, strode into the room with an air of calculated authority. The outnumbered Bucky, still shielding Y/N, assessed the dire situation unfolding before him.

Mason's voice cut through the tension, a cold smirk playing on his lips, "Well, well, Bucky. Seems like you're not as untouchable as you thought. I knew this hidden fortress would be your refuge."

Bucky, his gaze unwavering, retorted, "What do you want, Mason?"

Mason's eyes gleamed with a dangerous intensity as he declared, "I want what's rightfully ours. The inheritance. And, of course, the throne that comes with it."

The room hung heavy with tension as Bucky found himself forcefully restrained on the ground, guns pressed menacingly against his temple.

Y/N, too, was ensnared by Mason's henchmen, her struggles futile against their unyielding grip. Mason, wearing a sinister smirk, approached her, lifting her chin with a cruel grip.

"So, you're the one Father's been hiding? None of your face resembles him," Mason sneered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Y/N, defiant despite the dire circumstances, retorted, "You won't get away with this. My mother and I have nothing to do with your twisted games."

Mason's response was swift and brutal. With a grit of his teeth, he delivered a resounding slap across Y/N's face, the force of it sending her reeling. She crumpled to the ground, unconscious, as the room echoed with the sickening sound of impact.

Bucky, though physically overpowered, seethed with anger. "She's weaker than you, you son of a bitch," he spat, the venom in his voice cutting through the air.

Mason, seemingly unfazed, shrugged his shoulders with a sinister grin. "That's why this will be quick."

Bucky, undeterred, shot back with a defiant glare, "You think this changes anything? You won't control what Max built."

Mason, reveling in his moment of triumph, gestured to his lackeys. "Tie them up. We'll take them with us."

The air inside the confined space of the car crackled with tension as Bucky, now confined beside Mason, shot him a defiant glare. Y/N, unconscious and vulnerable, was being transported in a separate vehicle, her fate hanging in the balance. Mason, still seething with anger over Bucky's perceived betrayal, couldn't resist taunting him.

"You betrayed us, Bucky. You were family, and you turned your back," Mason hissed through gritted teeth.

Bucky, undeterred, retorted, "Maybe I got tired of being your errand boy. Fetching and carrying for the likes of you."

Mason's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't forget, you could've had it all. You could've joined this family. But you chose this path."

As the convoy of cars navigated the dimly lit streets, tension escalated. Suddenly, the driver of Mason's car furrowed his brow, eyes darting to the rearview mirror. The vehicle behind them swerved erratically, causing concern.

"What the heck?" the driver muttered, trying to maintain control.

Mason, sensing trouble, leaned forward. "What's going on back there?" he barked into the radio, but there was no response.

Bucky seized the opportunity to issue a warning. "If something happens to her, I will make you pay, Mason."

Mason, unimpressed, shot back, "Why? You got a soft spot for her."

Chaos erupted as the second car in the convoy crashed violently, prompting Mason to order a halt. The group descended from the vehicles, with Bucky remaining inside.

As they approached the wreckage to investigate, a sudden gunshot pierced the air, and one of Mason's men fell with a bullet through his forehead.

"What the fuck?" echoed through the tense night air as confusion and panic gripped the scene. The crashed car's door swung open, revealing a transformed Y/N—no longer the weak woman Mason had seen earlier.

Her demeanor had shifted; she exuded a cold, murderous aura, and Mason couldn't shake the feeling of killer intent emanating from her. Her gaze mirrored Max's, sending a chill down Mason's spine.

Mason, still processing the shocking transformation, barked orders to his men, "Shoot her!"

Before the guards could react, they were taken down by precise shots. Bucky, witnessing the chaos unfold through the rearview mirror, couldn't help but exclaim, "What the heck?"

Y/N, seemingly unaffected by the mayhem, punched Mason in the stomach, causing him to crumple to the ground. With an eerie calmness, she lifted him effortlessly and deposited him into the damaged car. Without sparing a glance at Bucky, she took the driver's seat.

"Y/N?" Bucky questioned, but she remained stoic as if inhabited by a different entity. This Y/N differed from the one who fainted from Mason's slap.

In truth, Y/N harbored multiple personalities. The normal Y/N, empathetic and fearful, coexisted with a darker alter ego.

This alternate persona was cold, formidable, and shared the same lethal intent as Max.

Dark Y/N, her demeanor still cold and unwavering, adjusted the rearview mirror with calculated precision before starting the engine.

Still grappling with the surreal situation, Bucky couldn't help but voice his confusion, "What the hell just happened, Y/N? Are you... alright?"

The dark Y/N remained silent, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. It was as if the events that transpired moments ago had no impact on her. Bucky sensed a palpable shift in her energy, a stark departure from the scared woman he had seen mere minutes ago.

Bucky couldn't shake off the chilling feeling that enveloped him. Dark Y/N's side-eye, reminiscent of Max's calculating gaze, sent shivers down his spine.

Dark Y/N finally spoke, her voice void of the warmth that characterized the usual Y/N. "Your old Y/N is asleep. Now, show me the way to the funeral."

The transformation was jarring, leaving Bucky to realize that the woman before him was more complex and enigmatic than he had ever imagined.

As they drove in silence, Bucky grappled with the realization that Y/N, the person he thought he knew, harbored a dormant alter ego capable of such ruthlessness. The atmosphere inside the car was tense, and Bucky couldn't help but wonder about the consequences of this unexpected alliance.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3, Chapter 4 , Chapter 5

Author Note :

Hey friends,

If you've been enjoying the content, I've set up a Ko-fi account. Your support through tips would mean the world and help me keep creating. Only if you feel like it!

Here's the link: Ko-fi

Thanks a bunch for being fabulous followers!

Join the taglist:

@thezombieprostitute

@ozwriterchick

@honeywiththemoney

@scott-loki-barnes

@10ava01

@abbyyourlocalmilf

@identity2212

@ordelixx

@differenttyphoonwerewolf

@ylva-syverson

@winterslove1917

@kandis-mom

@sapphirebarnes

@mostlymarvelgirl

@charmedbysarge

@unaxv

@thewiselionessss

@milllieeee

Author Note: Hey everyone! 🌟 Your input means the world to me.

If you've got any cool ideas or prompts, whether for this series or any other series, feel free to share them with me!

Just drop them in my ASK/SEND REQUEST box.

Can't wait to hear your awesome suggestions! 🚀💬

#bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky x you #bucky barnes x reader #buckybarnes #james bucky barnes #lawyer!bucky #mafia!bucky barnes x reader #mafia!bucky #mob!bucky barnes #mob!bucky

134 notes · View notes

sexhaver · 9 months

Text

ive been playing Cassette Beasts for a minute and it never stops being funny to me how flagrant they are about making this "Pokemon but with features you didn't know Pokemon has always needed". off the top of my head:

super effective/NVE hits have added benefits/debuffs beyond just doubling/halving the damage (hitting Electric types with Ground reduces their evasion and speed, hitting Steel types with Poison gives them poison-coated spikes that do contact damage, etc)

legally-distinct-Pokemon will learn new moves while in your party without having to battle, and you can then straight up steal these moves from them and put them on a not-Pokemon you actually care about using, which gives an actual incentive to hunt down and raise otherwise fringe not-mons beyond completing the not-Pokedex

we all played the Pokemon Infinite Fusion fangame right? we know how fusions work? okay so this game has them as temporary per-battle things instead of permanent ones, which is only marginally less cool while being infinitely easier to balance around

attempting to catch something shows you the percentage chance of success so you know whether you just got unlucky or if you should save your Pokeballs-i-mean-blank-cassette-tapes

leveling up is tied to your not-trainer instead of your not-pokemon, so you don't end up in the classic trap where your starter is way overleveled and everything else is underleveled and then you hit a fight your starter can't solo and have to spend an hour grinding to get the weaker not-mons up to par (funnily enough most Pokemon Nuzlocke romhacks have already figured this out and give you infinite rare candies with the only restriction being that you can't level past the next gym leader's ace pokemon, because Pokemon fans have realized that grinding is the worst part of the game way before Game Freak has)

moves, not-Pokeballs, not-PokeCenter visits, and healing items are all bought using entirely separate currencies which stops you from trivially breaking the economy in half

the soundtrack, fittingly, is pretty good! the vocals were a bit much for my taste but there's an option in the settings menu to straight up turn them off (letting the BGM play on its own), which i've never seen in any other game and really appreciate

downsides:

on a game design level, i understand why can i only carry a max of 5 not-Potions and 1 not-Revive at a time - it's to put a limit on how far away from fast travel points i can get by just running away from everything and healing off damage. on a gameplay level, however, this feels pretty bad

the pixel art style is trying to look as much like Pokemon as possible without actually being Pokemon so the overworld sprites look more like beta stuff from Pokemon that they cut for looking too weird. i have yet to find a haircut that doesn't look bad

this is super petty of me but something about the bloom and lighting of the 3d environments combined with pixelated 2d sprites that still cast shadows makes me painfully aware im playing a video game. it's like they were going for the same aesthetic as Octopath Traveler but fell just barely short. i can't think of a better way to articulate this feeling but if you know you know

it does that really obnoxious half-assed style of voice acting where plot-relevant characters will sometimes (maybe every third or fourth textbox) speak the first two or three words of dialogue before trailing off. mashing through textboxes (as one does) means constantly getting jumpscared by "hmm"s and "haha!"s "okay then!"s

i get that they wanted to make the player feel involved in the story, and it has a pretty decent hook so far, but oh my god. the amount of dialogue "choices" that just transparently do not matter. you know how people memed on Fallout 3 and 4's dialogue choices all leading to the same outcome, to the extent that you were basically choosing between "yes" and "yes (rude)"? and you know how Bethesda would at least attempt to justify how both options led to you accepting the quest anyways, even if it was really dumb? Cassette Beasts has streamlined this process even further by making the options in most of their binary decisions so identical that they don't even require different followup dailogue before rejoining into the main conversation thread. a solid 2/3rds of the dialogue options in this game so far feel like checks that you're still awake. i know this is a minor issue because people aren't playing Pokemon-likes for the engaging "choices matter" approach to storytelling, and i did ignore it at first, but it's so pervasive that you really can't ignore it

#cassette beasts

224 notes · View notes

daisies-and-domming · 2 years

Note

Hey!! Would you do a sub!billy hargrove/dom!reader smut? Thank u <3

Boy Next Door (NSFW)

S3 spoilers in my author’s note, and vague reference to how S2 ends!!

Summary: You’ve lived in the trailer park nearly your entire life, long enough to know that nothing in Hawkins was ever normal. So when the new king of the school starts dropping by your trailer at ungodly hours, you don’t even blink - why would you? Weirder shit’s happened here, and you’re certainly not complaining either, not when the king decides to get on his knees for you.

Warnings: swearing, smut, dom!reader, reader has an undefined hole, p in said undefined hole, sub!billy, oral (reader receiving), frottage(?), edging, praise, little bits of degradation (reader calls billy “slut” and talks condescendingly at some points), unsafe sex (wrap it before you tap it kids!!), a lil bit of a breeding kink, billy likes when reader pulls on his hair <3

Let me know if you think I missed anything!!

All characters are over 18 :)

Oh my god anon I didn’t know I needed sub!billy until you sent this in and now I’m scouring the website for more… I’m a whore for subby men, what can I say 🤷 He’s a little ooc but I firmly believe that billy is secretly a soft with people he trusts - sure, he’s mean to max, but I think that’s because he doesn’t want her involved in his life of alcohol and flirting - and I’ll die on that hill. This is set between S2 and S3, but in my universe billy doesn’t die during S3 anyways because I’m the author and I said so >:O Anyways, I had so much fun writing this, thank you for the request!! It takes like 1000 words to get to the smut, I’m so sorry ;-; But the smut is like 2000 some words, so hopefully that makes up for it ahaha I went batshit

– – –

You’ve lived in this dinghy trailer park in the middle of nowhere, Indiana, your entire conscious life. When your parents were really drunk (which, in all honesty, was far more often than you were willing to admit) they would talk about their “golden days”: when your parents were something other than full-time alcoholics, living in the suburbs of Cleveland in a nice neighbourhood. You were told you were born there, in that nice suburb house near the coast of one of the great lakes, but you’ve never had the nerve to ask what happened that landed them here, in Hawkins.

But Ohio was none of your concern now. There were supernatural beings practically on your doorstep and the only people that seemed to care were the children that your friend Steve seemingly adopted, which would make for a good movie. But the fact that a ragtag bunch of kids were the ones saving your very real world left a nauseating pit in your stomach. Sure, the angry buzz cut kid who they called “Eleven” put an end to the last thing that came after Hawkins, but something tells you this was just the beginning. No matter. At the moment, you had bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that there’s a soft knocking on your door, despite the little analog clock reading a blinking “2:34am”.

Peering through the peephole, a clearly drunk Billy Hargrove stood, wobbling slightly. You’d seen him around school - it’s hard not to when he drives a flashy car and insists on poking at Steve - but certainly hadn’t spoken to him before. Opening the door slightly, you make eye contact with the man in question.

“Hi,” you say, tentatively. “Can I help you?”

“l/n!!” he slurs, eyes lighting up. “What’re y’doin in my trailer?”

You frown at him. “This is where I live, dipshit. Your trailer is more than a few down.”

“Mmm, I don’t think so,” he said, nudging at you. “Lemme in, will ya?”

You stood firm, skeptical. “Why should I?”

“Because,” he drawls. “You’re pretty, I’m pretty, we should do pretty people stuff together.”

You snort, but move to the side. You didn’t know what his home life was like, but, nevertheless, sending him away in the middle of the night, piss drunk, was dumb. If he had gotten hurt on the way back to his trailer because you had sent him away you would never forgive yourself. Sure, he seemed like a pretentious douchebag, but even pretentious douchebags deserve a chance. Besides, the ‘rents were out, which meant there wouldn’t be any “did you use protection?” or “you aren’t pregnant, are you?” questions the following morning.

“l/n,” Billy whined out, making you turn in time to see him flop onto your couch. “Why aren’t we doin’ pretty people stuff yet?”

You shut and lock the door, plopping yourself down on the floor in front of the couch in an attempt to set an unspoken boundary. “Because you’re drunk. You’re welcome to come over here sober some time and try this whole song and dance then, but I believe in full consent when doin’ that tango. You’re inebriated, so no ‘pretty people stuff’ for you tonight.”

He whined dramatically. “But that’s half the fun of getting drunk!!”

“God, you’re really drunk,” you say, wrinkling your nose at the smell. “We can talk if you want, but you’re not getting any tonight, lover boy.”

“Ooooh, you wanna hear about the crazy shit that Tina did at the party today??” – – –

This became a recurring event. Billy would go out and party, then come over, drunk out of his mind and strangely soft. You had learned a lot about him - about Max (who he seemed to truly care about, despite how he acted when sober), about his dickhead father, about his mother, about why he drowned himself in people and alcohol all the time. You weren’t sure why he chose to keep dropping by, but you weren’t too perturbed. In any other situation, you might even consider him your friend. But, you remind yourself, he’s always drunk or high or some combination of the two. You don’t make friends when you’re drunk. And you certainly don’t fall for them, either.

A knock resonated at your door and you froze, staring at the clock. It was 3:24pm on a Saturday afternoon, unless Steve had decided to give you a surprise visit there should be no one at the door.

“l/n! Open the goddamn door,” a voice rang out, one that you recognized immediately. “I don’t have all goddamn day!”

You stumble to the door, opening it embarrassingly quickly. “Hi???”

“Hey,” he said, shoving his way past you.

“Wait wait wait,” you said, spinning around to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What I normally do, dickbag,” Billy said, refusing to make eye contact. “We gonna talk or what?”

You close the door gently, clicking the lock almost tentatively. “You’re sober.”

A flash of hurt crossed his face, but he quickly covered it up. “Am I not allowed to be?”

“That - that’s not what I’m saying!” you exclaimed, exasperated. “I just - I kinda figured you didn’t want to talk to me, normally. I’m not exactly your usual crowd.”

He groaned, running a hand over his face. “Look - how do I say this? I… don’t think you’re that shitty, or whatever. Sure, Tina’s a hot piece of ass, but if I tried to actually, I don’t fucking know, talk to her, she’d just laugh and tell me to ‘shut up’ or somethin’.”

“I don’t think you’re that shitty, either,” you say, slowly. “Is that all you wanted to talk about…? We could’ve done this on the porch.”

“It’s a trailer, there’s no goddamn porch,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes but still not making eye contact with you.

“You’re dodging,” you say, walking over to him and crowding him a bit. “What’s up, buttercup?”

“I don’t want to go back home,” he said bluntly, still dodging your prying eyes. “Deadbeat dad is on a rampage again. Dropped Max off at the arcade and found myself here.”

You blink up at him and back up a bit, feeling awful for prying. “Shit man - sorry I pushed you. You’re welcome here whenever you want to escape your place, sober or not. Or if you just want to come over. You can bring Max, too, she seems nice!! My ‘rents are never around, like ever, and even when they are they’re drunk and hiding in their room, and there’s a key under the doormat in the back if you need an escape and I’m not here - though I’d be careful about my parents, they get pretty drunk sometimes too, it’s not pretty. That’s not the point though! Point is, you’re always welcome, I’m sorry for prying-”

He pushed you to the couch, a small smile on his face, and were his eyes a little teary?? “Shut up, loser. I got it, I’m welcome to be here. Not shocked, though, people love me, of course you’d want me around.”

You roll your eyes at his smirk, trying to tug him down to the couch. However, you hadn’t anticipated him resisting, and your knee jerk reaction was to just yank. He stumbled and landed on top of you, knees straddling your legs. He blinks at you, owlishly, face flushed and pupils beginning to dilate.

You grin up at him, jokingly winking. “Just where I wanted you, baby.”

“Can I- can I take you up on your previous offer?” he said, voice lacking its usual bravado and confidence.

“Previous offer as in…?”

“Sex,” he said, straightforward. “You said if I was sober we could fuck.”

“What eloquence, Mr. Hargrove,” you said. “And I believe we referred to it as ‘pretty people stuff.’”

“That’s a yes, yeah?” he said, hands resting on the couch on either side of your head.

“Aw, look at you, asking for consent,” you said, grinning up at him deviously. “Mmm…maybe if you beg me.”

He looked at you, incredulous. “If you think I’ll ever beg for something, you’ve got something coming-”

You cut him off, pulling him down into a harsh kiss. He groaned into the kiss, grinding down into your clothed sex. When he pulls away, he smirks down at you, cocky.

“You’re going to be the one begging for me, babe,” he said, head tilting. “So how ‘bout we hear it, hm?”

Well that wouldn’t do. Using all your strength, you flip your positions, grinding down on him once you’ve settled above him.

“If we’re doing this, baby boy,” you said, sultry. “We’re doing this my way, got it?”

You could see the struggle in his eyes, and began to grind down on him lightly.

“Come on, sweet thing,” you murmured against his lips, rolling your hips in a way that had his eyes rolling back. “You can be good for me, can’t you?”

“Mm- yeah, yes, I can be good for you,” he groaned. “Now get on with it, will you?”

You frown at him, faux pouting. “Thought you were gonna be good. But that’s fine, we can play that game, I don’t mind.”

He opened his mouth to object but was cut off when your grinding turned harsh and fast, his words turning into a breathy moan. He slapped a hand over his mouth but you weren’t having it.

“Listen here, Hargrove,” you growled. “You’re going to let me hear those pretty little sounds or you’re not going to come. Understand?”

“No way in hell-”

You reach a hand down to his straining cock and squeeze, hard, revelling in the way his head rolls back and his hips jerk up into your hand. His mouth opens and closes uselessly, and you lean your weight onto your knees so you can shove your fingers that aren’t cradling his cock right down his throat. He gags, eyes glazed and unfocused.

“God, look at you,” you groan, voice strained. “Made for this, made for me to use, huh?”

He tries to respond but all that comes out are choked moans, drool dribbling down his chin as he gags on your fingers. You other hand kickstarts, rubbing him not-so-nicely through his pants. He looked gorgeous like this: choking on your fingers, eyes unfocused, hips bucking uncontrollably into your harsh touches. God, you just want to drown yourself in the feeling of the power you had over this man, this man who insisted on so much control in his everyday life. But here he was, on your couch, gagging on your fingers like he never wanted anything else.

His bucking gets more erratic and his breaths get shorter, signalling an incoming orgasm. You paw at his cock a little harder, removing your fingers from down his throat so you could hear him when you tear his orgasm away from him.

“You wanna cum, baby?” you coo, letting your hips take over for your hand and grinding down on his clothed erection. “Wanna cum for me?”

“Yeah - gonna cum, gonna cum, let me cum-”

“No.”

His hips jolt upwards as you lift yourself from his lap, chasing after your heat. You smirk sadistically at him, chuckling at the glare he gives you in exchange for your denial.

“What the fuck?!” he yells, hands clenching at his sides (but not moving to change his predicament, you noted). “I was so fucking close, why would you-”

You put a finger on his lips, shushing him. “You were a brat earlier, so I’m treating you like one. Maybe if you get me off I will consider letting you come.”

“Yeah?” he said, still panting from his lost orgasm. “Yeah, I can fuckin’ do that.”

“Good,” you say, getting up. “Get on your knees in front of the couch.”

He snorted at first, but his face contorted when he realised you were serious. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right? You’re not going to get me on my knees, sweetheart.”

“Then you’re not going to cum,” you said matter-of-factly. “Eat me out on your knees like the little slut you are or you don’t get to cum.”

His nose scrunched up angrily but he moved to get down in front of the couch. “There. That make your sick little heart happy?”

“Maybe if you weren’t such a mouthy brat we wouldn’t be here in the first place,” you said, discarding your pants and undergarments god knows where. “Don’t touch without permission, m’kay?”

He growled but kept his hands obediently at his side. In spite of all his back talk, Billy didn’t ever make a move to take control. He wants this, you realise, but he doesn’t want to admit it.

“How cute,” you coo, pinching his cheek as you settle yourself in front of him. “Now eat me out - no hands though, baby. Just put your pretty little mouth to better use for me, mhm?”

He begrudgingly folds his hands behind his back and buries himself in your hole. Your head rolls back, a low groan escaping your mouth. If he wasn’t drowning himself in you he might see your composure slipping, but he seemed just as out of it as you. Hips jerking up into nothing, hands clasped behind his back, face red and teary, Billy looked like so fucking good that you felt yourself clenching around his tongue, rolling your hips into his lapping.

“God… so good with that tongue, baby, shit - keep doing that, y-yeah, just like that,” you blabber out, a hand flying to grip at his hair. You give an experimental tug and grin when he moans, breathy and high.

“Y-yeah? You want me to tug on your - ngh - hair? Shove you deeper into me?” you say, chuckling lowly when he nods into you. “Your wish is my command, sweet thing.”

You could feel your orgasm drawing nearer as Billy’s talented tongue ruined your insides. His movements were precise, even without the use of his hands, and when he nicked your sweet spot you came, clamping your thighs around his head as you tugged harshly on his hair.

Panting, you try to regain enough composure to address Billy. “God, sweetheart, your so fucking good with your tongue.”

“Yeah?” he said, tone cocky despite the straining bulge in his jeans. “You gonna let me use you now? I know you want it darlin’, you can’t keep pretending to have contr - mph!”

You yanked him up in a kiss, effectively shutting him up. Your legs were a little shaky from your previous orgasm but you were stubborn: there’s no way in hell after all this you would give Billy the satisfaction of fucking into you.

“Get on the goddamn couch,” you said, panting as you pulled away. “I’m going to ride you until all you can think of is me.”

“Fuck, pretty thing,” he groans, dropping onto the couch. “You better hold true to that or I might have to take over.”

“If you think you have a say in how this goes you’re dead wrong,” you said, straddling his hips. “You don’t cum until I say, got it baby?”

“Easy peasy,” he said, ever the fucking brat. “Think you can hold it sweets? Because I can guarantee that you’ll be creaming around my cock in no time.”

“Mhm,” you murmur, unimpressed as you help him wiggle out of his jeans and underwear. “Whatever you need to help you sleep at night.”

“You scared you can’t take it - shit!” he moans, cock twitching as you sink down on him in one slide. “Fuck, you gotta give a man a warning-”

You don’t. Bouncing up and down on his cock at a harsh pace, your trailer is filled with the lewd sound of skin slapping skin. You’re sure the neighbours can tell what you two are doing - hell, the whole trailer park probably knew - but you didn’t have the heart to care. His cock stretched you wide, so goddamn girthy that every bounce had white bouncing at the edge of your vision.

Billy wasn’t much better. He had a death grip on your hips, finger-shaped bruises already forming. Tongue sticking out, eye half-lidded and staring up at you reverently, Billy was a fucked out mess already and you’d just started.

“Mmngh, feelin’ good, pretty boy? God… just look at you, takin’ - ungh - t-takin’ it so goddamn well, shit,” you said, still slamming yourself down on his cock like your life depended on it.

“Mmm, fuck, please, please please please-”

You couldn’t even tell what he was begging for anymore. “What do you - ngh - what do you need, babe - fuck, just like that pretty thing - huh? Got to be specific, darlin’ - god…”

“Cum,” he moans out, eyes shut tightly as he bucks into you. “Need t’ fuckin’ cum!”

You clench around him as he bucks, eyes rolling back a bit. “Ngh, yeah? You wanna cum? Wanna fill my pretty little hole - ahn, do that again, jesus - fill my pretty little hole with your cum?”

“Yeah, shit. Gonna let me?”

“Mhmm, I don’t know…” you said, pretending to ponder like you weren’t desperate to feel him fill you up. “Have you been - jesus fucking christ - have you been good?”

“‘ve been good!!” he wails, eyes teary as he stares up at you. “Been so good, such a good boy, please let me cum, please, jus’ wanna be you good boy, please please please!”

Your eyes roll back. Fuck, you hadn’t expected him to beg in return. Slowing down a bit, your bounces send him slow and deep, causing you to clench. His eyes cross and his grip on the couch turns his knuckles white, trying so goddamn hard to hold himself back.

“You can cum,” you groan, his cock rutting against your sweet spot just right. “You can cum, baby, cum with me, want you to cum with me-”

Your vision goes white and you clench, gripping his cock harshly. He near screams, fucking himself up into you as he came. You both melt into each other, a panting, post-orgasm mess tangled on the couch. When your brain was finally back online, you winch, gently sliding his softened cock out of you.

“Fuck, really did a number on me,” Billy murmured, ragdolled on the couch looking like he never wanted to move. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Fuck off, Hargrove,” you say, trying your best to walk (or waddle, rather) your way to the kitchen to start cleaning off.

“You love me and you know it!”

You roll your eyes, grabbing a washcloth and dampening it. God, he was such a doofus. You couldn’t believe that the rest of the school considered him the king, but maybe your friendship was something special. You sure hoped so - you were certain he wasn’t just submitting himself to anyone, after all.

“Where the fuck did you go, dickhead? The great Billy Hargrove demands cuddles!”

God, he was such a dork sometimes. You snort, but make your way back to the living room, water bottle and damp washcloth in hand.

“Have patience, great Billy,” you said, handing him the water bottle before gently cleaning him up. “Great things come for those who wait.”

“Oh shut up,” he said, melting into your touch. “I didn’t come here for you to philosophise.”

“Course, course,” you say, jokingly. “Okay, all done. Let’s pick up all our shit and go to my room, yeah? Really don’t want my parents to come home and find us naked in the living room.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re boring,” he jokes, wobbly as he stands to help you grab your discarded clothes. “Half the fun is getting caught.”

“Perv,” you shot back.

“Says the one who rode me on their parents' couch.”

“Ew!! Don’t fucking say that, I don’t want to think about my parents in the afterglow!”

“You’re the one who brought them up!” “Yeah, because I don’t want them involved in my post-orgasmic haze!!” you say, exasperated. “Cmon, this way.”

Dumping your clothes unceremoniously on the floor, you lock the door and drag Billy towards your bed. Wordlessly, the two of you melt into each other. You’d worry about sneaking him out under your parents’ radar later - right now, you had much more pressing concerns.

Word Count: 3374

#stranger things smut #stranger things x reader #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargove imagine #billy hargove smut #billy hargrove stranger things #dom!reader #dom reader #sub!billy #Sub billy #sub!billy hargrove #sub billy hargrove #holy fucking shit #i'm such a simp sometimes jesus

2K notes · View notes

secretswiftymarvelfan · 3 months

Text

I love you 3000 writing bonanza!

I’ve hit 3000 followers!!!

Now if you remember a while ago I asked how you guys would like to celebrate and this is what I’ve come up with! If you remember my 2.5k Followers Writing Challenge and Exchange its kinda similar to that but I’ve made some improvements!

What is going to happen is I am going to open up my askbox/dms for requests!

To make this manageable and allow me to complete as many as possible I will only be accepting requests in these following forms:

1) A question about a character or series

For example: How would X characters feel about Y character doing XYZ?

2) A What If…. For one of my series

For example: What If the character for X series met 10 years prior

3) A request using a maximum of 3 of the prompts below (the list is hella long so I’ve put it below the cut!)

For Example: Ari Levinson / Mob AU / You won’t get away so easy

If I receive a request that does not fall into one of these three categories then I will not fulfill it!

And because I like for everyone to be able to get involved if you yourself are a writer/want to give writing a go and you like any of the below prompts feel free to use them (the max of 3 doesn’t apply to you guys) all I ask is that you tag me, use the hashtag Niamh Loves You 3000, use appropriate warnings and let me know which ones you’re using so I can keep my eye out!

If you are writing a fic using the below prompts I ask you to follow these rules:

No sexual relations with minors, no somnophilia, necrophilia, incest, toilet stuff, snuff, or beastiality!

Dark Fics are allowed (Non-Con/Dub-Con) but they MUST BE APPROPRIATELY TAGGED!

Any creation MUST BE ORIGINAL! No stealing, stealing is bad!

The creation if part of a series must be able to be read as a stand alone!

No word limit! If it’s over 500 please use the read more function!

All the prompts are below the cut, remember its a max of three, but you can mix and match as you like so the possibilities are endless!

Characters:

Chris Evans

Steve Rogers

Andy Barber

Frank Adler

Ari Levinson

Curtis Everett

Johnny Storm

Jake Jensen

Ransom Drysdale

Any other Chris Evans character

Trope:

Fake Dating

Only One Bed

Enemies to Lovers

Friends to Lovers

Cuddling for warmth

Trapped together

Mistaken Identity

One night only

Love Triangle

Fated Mates

Childhood Sweethearts

Grumpy x Sunshine

Forbinned Love

Forced Proximity

WILDCARD! (You can pick an Trope not listed!)

AU:

A/B/O AU

Mob AU

Sports team AU

College AU

Emergency Service AU

(Medieval) Royalty AU

(Modern) Royalty AU

Pornstar AU

Fairytale / Fantasy AU

Biker AU

Soulmate AU

Band/Musician AU

WILDCARD! (You can pick an AU not listed!)

Dialogue:

"I told you not to touch that"

"I'm tired of answering that question"

"Why didn't they come?"

"I'm so sick of pretending everything's okay"

"don't just stand there! do something!"

"do you remember that night in [insert place]?"

"is there a problem here gentlemen?"

"what on earth happened here?"

"there's blood everywhere"

"Get in the van!"

"I'm not saying you're a bad cook, but even the flies in the kitchen wear gas masks."

"I may be a terrible dancer, but I've got great moves in bed."

"I'm not high maintenance; I'm just low tolerance for mediocrity."

"I love the sound of your voice and the way you say my name."

"Being with you feels like coming home."

“You're not the person I thought you were."

"I never imagined my life without you."

"I never got to say goodbye."

"I'm so glad you're here to point out my flaws. I would never have noticed them on my own."

"Oh, don't worry about being late. We'll just sit here and wait for you forever."

"I'm sorry. Did I ask for your opinion?"

"Why do you always insist on seeing the worst in people?"

"It's not my fault you can't handle the truth."

"You don't know what I'm capable of."

"I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want."

"You think you're better than me, but you're not."

"I'll use anyone I need to achieve my goals."

"You've made a huge mistake, and now you're going to pay for it."

"Don't you realize how much you've hurt everyone around you?"

"you have no idea what you do to me"

"don't you dare go slow"

"I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow"

"move and you won't be coming tonight"

"hands behind you're back"

"Beg for it"

"you can take it, you've done it before"

"I'm going to fucking ruin you"

"do you think you deserve a reward/punishment?"

"show me how much you missed me"

"Are you holding back? don't"

"shall we put your mouth to better use?"

"Slowly, I'm not going anywhere"

"I said I'd take care of you"

"Please, I can't sit still"

So there’s absolutely so many to pick from covering fluff, comedy, angst and smut 😉 don’t forget to follow the rules I’ve set out above!!

I love you all 3000 🩵🩵🩵

#NiamhCelebrates #Niamh Loves You 3000 #Writing Event #writing challenge #request info #chris evans #andy barber #ari levinson #ransom drysdale #johnny storm #jake jensen #steve rogers #colin shea

65 notes · View notes

hbyrde36 · 4 months

Text

The Crawl

Part 3 of 5

Part 1 Part 2 AO3

cw: character death, (with a happy ending) | wc:7087

-Steve-

Will’s guardian angel from the Upside Down had been a faceless ghost to the rest of the party for a long time. Once the group accepted that he was real and started actually listening to the kid about what was coming for them, they began to wonder more and more about who this Eddie person really was, why he was in that place, and how he knew so much about what they were facing.

Steve found himself especially curious since the guy’s warnings had saved him and Robin from what would have apparently been literal torture by the Russian Military. Suddenly it felt like the mysterious Eddie was all of their guardian angels.

So, imagine his surprise when on the first day of their freshman year of high school the kids called an emergency party meeting because they’d run into Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson in the cafeteria and Will had instantly recognized him as the strange older boy from the Upside Down who had helped him.

The group quickly agreed to take Eddie under their wing while also deciding not to tell him anything about his other self or the alternate dimension, since they had no idea how he would become involved in their world of monsters and mayhem. They didn’t want to freak him out prematurely. He probably wouldn’t have believed them anyway

Keeping an eye on him meant having the kids join the Hellfire Club, the four boys did at least. It was no hardship, they all still loved to play D&D and would have absolutely joined anyway. Max and El refused, which was fine. There would be plenty of eyes on Eddie regardless because Steve was also being tasked with befriending him.

The kids could watch over him at school no problem, but someone would need to keep tabs on him the rest of the time.

It made the most sense for Steve to be the one of the older group to try and get close to Eddie. He had a lot of free time. They were both guys, both around the same age, and…

That was about it.

They didn’t have much or really anything else in common, except for the kids who Eddie loved immediately– thank god, but Steve was determined to make it work.

He thought it would be easy. He and Eddie hadn’t been enemies or anything when he was in school, though they hadn’t been friends either. They’d simply run in different circles and didn’t have much reason to interact with each other for the most part. Eddie had his band and the D&D club, while Steve ran with the jock crowd and Tommy and Carol, right up until the other-dimensional-shit hit the fan in his junior year. After that he mostly kept to himself and Nancy, and then just to himself when that didn’t work out.

It wasn’t easy, as it turned out.

Eddie was suspicious, to say the least, when Steve started making appearances at Hellfire every Friday night.

The first time he came to pick the kids up, he purposely hung around outside until Eddie came out to his van. He waved and tried to say hello, but the other boy didn’t hear him, or more likely, purposely ignored him.

His second attempt a week later didn’t yield any better results. Eddie looked right at him that time, quite clearly perplexed by Steve’s presence, but he still didn’t return the greeting.

The third week was when Eddie started to crack. Steve had an idea that it was coming. Dustin had let slip a few days before that Eddie had begun to ask questions about him and why he was picking them all up every week. Like, how did Steve even come to be your babysitter? And, aren't you guys too old for babysitters anyway?

Dustin assured Steve that all of the boys, even Mike, had thoroughly talked him up. He was a little doubtful on that point, but he had no choice but to roll with it.

As the four boys battled it out for the front seat, Steve stood outside the car like he always did and gave it his all, waving as he hit Eddie with the same dazzling smile that had knocked the socks off so many girls back in his King Steve days. Eddie met his gaze, big brown eyes a little wider than usual when he, finally, awkwardly raised his hand to wave back.

Steve was buzzing with excitement as he drove the kids home that night. It was practically nothing, the progress was ridiculously slow, but it was progress nonetheless!

He pushed his luck the next Friday, purposely arriving at the school a little earlier than usual. He knew Hellfire was hosted in the drama room so he decided to peek in and maybe watch the last few minutes of the game.

Eddie’s head snapped up in surprise as Steve entered the room, but he didn’t miss a beat as he wove his tale for the assembled group listening with rapt attention.

He hovered by the door, afraid to say anything or even move until Eddie caught his eye and tilted his head to the right, a subtle invitation to take a seat on the small couch on that side of the room. Steve nodded his thanks and did just that.

He quickly found that he couldn’t take his eyes off Eddie. Though he had no idea what was going on, there was just something about the other boy. It was endearing how excited he would get when someone made a good roll, or annoyed, depending on the situation, and so entertaining to hear him try on other voices and accents for the various characters he played.

There was something else too, but Steve couldn’t put his finger on it. Eddie had a way about him. Something that drew him in. With every gesture of his hand and subtle eyebrow raise Eddie had his complete attention.

Steve was staring, he knew it and yet he couldn’t stop. After a while Eddie noticed, because how could he not, and a little smirk appeared on his face.

Steve finally managed to tear his eyes away, embarrassed, cheeks growing warm, and when he finally looked back up everyone was gathering their things, the session having come to a close while he furiously tried to figure out why Eddie Munson of all people was leaving him captivated.

He arrived earlier and earlier each time after that. Even going so far as to change his schedule with Family Video so he’d be off on Fridays for the occasion. Something Robin teased him relentlessly for, though he knew it was only because she missed working together on those nights.

Eventually he began showing up before the game had even started, and he and Eddie would talk as they set things up.

As many great friendships do, it all began with arguing about music.

Steve was mainly a Top 40’s guy, Eddie a metalhead, obviously. It made perfect sense that they would butt heads on the subject, and butt heads they did, until eventually Steve admitted that Eddie’s music wasn’t all that bad. He even liked some of the songs that were a little less loud and shouty.

Soon after, Eddie admitted too that, yes he preferred metal but really he just loved music, and he could enjoy different genres as long as there was something to appreciate, like a good beat, a nice rhythm, or a solid melody with some meaningful lyrics sprinkled in.

It wasn’t long before they were making mixtapes to swap and introducing each other to new favorites, and a few guilty pleasures. Suddenly they were bonding over music instead of fighting about it. Steve wondered what more they might have in common if he was brave enough to look deeper.

The first time Steve went over to Eddie’s place to hang out it was almost a disaster.

Technically they’d been hanging out for a few months by then but it was always at the school and mostly around the kids. This would be the first time they could just relax around eachother, have a beer, watch a movie, and maybe talk for more than 20 minutes without getting interrupted by Dustin.

Steve was nervous, more so than he’d ever been for any first date before.

Not that it was a date!

He wasn’t sure why he kept thinking of their hang out in those terms, but it had been happening ever since Eddie invited him over. Maybe it was because it was just going to be the two of them?

No, that was stupid. How many times had he and Tommy hung out alone when they were still friends? And it’d never felt like this.

It was just because of who Eddie was, Steve reasoned. The stakes were high. He needed Eddie to like him. He needed Eddie to want him around so he could keep him safe, the same way Eddie’s counterpart in the Upside Down had kept him safe.

It made sense, that had to be it.

He’d gotten so antsy sitting around at home waiting that he wound up arriving at the trailer almost 30 minutes early, which led to Eddie answering the door with dripping wet hair, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants slung low around his hips.

Steve froze in place, unable to move from the doorway. His eyes were glued to Eddie’s pale chest. First admiring his tattoos and the smattering of dark hair, then tracking the water droplets that fell from his hair as they rolled down the length of his body to disappear into the waistband of his pants.

Eddie cleared his throat loudly, breaking whatever spell Steve had been under, and he snapped back to attention.

Steve was mortified. There was no denying that he’d just been ogling his friend. He could practically feel the drool drying on his own chin, figuratively speaking. He didn't know what to panic about first. The fact that Eddie was probably going to kick him out and say he never wanted to see him again, or the fact that he was definitely attracted to Eddie, a boy, when he’d never looked twice at another guy that way in his life!

Okay, that last part wasn’t entirely true, there may have been some wandering eyes and errant thoughts over the years, but only the normal amount.

To his surprise, Eddie didn’t say a word about it, only eyed him a little curiously as he moved aside and gestured for Steve to come in. He then, mercifully, ducked into his bedroom to get dressed the rest of the way, giving Steve a moment alone on the couch to get his racing pulse under control.

Somehow he made it through the rest of that night without making too much more of a fool of himself, though he couldn't help but notice how Eddie sat a little closer to him than might be considered strictly friendly while they watched their movie, or how his gaze lingered on Steve a little longer than it usually did.

He tried very hard not to read into the fact that every time they hung out after that night Eddie would make a point to answer the door shirtless. He was pretty sure the guy was trying to kill him.

Eventually Steve got up the courage to talk to Robin about it. They’d become close after everything that happened at Starcourt and somehow he knew he could trust her with this.

She’d hated him when they started working together at Scoops Ahoy. At first it was just because of his former high school reputation, but then she found out that he’d tried to get her fired.

She was furious, but It was for her own good, even if she didn’t know it at the time. Will’s directions had been simple, Steve and Robin were to go nowhere the mall’s elevators, specifically, the Russian one. A crazy fucking sentence to hear said, but Steve accepted it just like he’d accepted all the other weird shit in his life.

It all sounded simple enough, but it wasn’t Steve’s first rodeo. If the other dimension and its monsters were coming for them again, then no amount of elevator avoidance would leave them completely unscathed.

No, the safest thing for Robin would be to get her away from the mall altogether.

Unfortunately she was stubborn and smart. She managed to keep her job no matter how hard he tried, and ultimately Steve was glad she did. They could never have cracked the code without her. He passed the information off to Hopper, letting him, Joyce, and Murray take lead on the Russian side of things, while he and Robin helped the others fight off both Max’s brother Billy, who’d been possessed by the Mind Flayer, and the Mind Flayer itself.

They won the day, though Billy had been killed saving El in one final act of decency. Everyone else made it out relatively okay, including Hopper, which they were all aware hadn’t been a sure thing. It was the first time they knew for sure that they had changed something big.

After the smoke cleared Steve gave Robin the talk, explaining all about the Upside Down, Demo-whatsits, and everything the group had been through since 1983. He told her about Will’s guardian angel who’d helped him get out of the other dimension when he was young, and the warnings about what was to come. When she realized what Steve tried to do for her, and why he’d acted like such a jackass, she gave him the tightest, longest hug he’d ever received.

They were pretty much inseparable after that.

She had been there to help him figure out how to get close to Eddie Munson when they realized he was THE Eddie, and she was there again to help him come to terms with the fact that he was was bisexual when he showed up at her house freaking out at one o’clock in the morning after another night of hanging out with the other boy alone.

They stayed up talking until sunrise, until Steve felt like he understood himself a little better. Over the course of the night Robin had come out to him too. She was a lesbian and understood all too well the feeling of being confused about who you liked versus who you were supposed to like, and the pressure society could put on those who were different.

They were both so glad to have someone in their life who got it. Steve would forever be grateful to that stupid ice cream shop for bringing him and Robin together.

Gay crisis averted, she jumped right into trying to convince him to make a move on Eddie. After only one time of the three of them hanging out together, she was convinced that the other boy felt the same way.

Steve couldn’t really argue with her. He saw it too, felt the charged energy between them anytime they were alone, but still he hesitated. He was scared, for a lot of reasons. He’d been hurt before, badly, and he wasn’t sure he could go through that again. He already knew his feelings for Eddie were much more than a passing crush. He’d also never been with a guy before, romantically, and that brought on a whole different set of nerves.

There was also the big bad thing looming on the horizon.

Vecna-slash-Henry-slash-One was coming for all of them, and Steve might not be one of the big brains of this operation, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew if there really was another version of Eddie stuck somewhere in the Upside Down, it wasn’t a good thing.

No, it could only mean something had gone very seriously wrong. His feelings for Eddie and whatever was budding between them could wait. The most important thing now was to remain vigilant and do everything in his power to keep everyone safe. They didn’t know much of what was to come, but Steve would be damned if he’d let Eddie’s fate, whatever it was, repeat itself.

He would keep this Eddie safe and when it was all over, he would tell him how he felt.

Except when the time came Steve completely and utterly failed.

They knew about Vecna and that Chrissy Cunningham was his first victim. What they didn’t know was when and how it would all begin, and in hindsight they should have kept a close eye on the cheerleader too.

Neither Steve or any of the kids had any idea that Chrissy had approached Eddie to buy weed from him during school that day.

THE day.

Steve was so pissed off at the time that it left him blind to the possibilities. Lucas had a basketball game, a big one, that happened to conflict with the final session of Hellfire for the current campaign, and Eddie, the stubborn asshole, outright refused to postpone. Even had the balls to ask Dustin to call Steve to fill in. He said no, of course, and to really drive the point home about who was in the wrong he went to Lucas’ game and sat front row center, cheering him on loudly the whole time.

As mad as he’d been at Eddie for excluding Lucas and not supporting his other interests, Steve was much angrier at himself the next morning when it all came down.

He and Eddie always hung out after Hellfire– but not that week! No, because he was pissed, and so not only did he blow off D&D, he told Eddie he couldn’t see him afterwards either.

If Steve had just gone along with their normal routine, he’d have been there. He would have seen Chrissy come home with Eddie. He would have put the pieces together! He might have been able to do something.

But he wasn’t there, and he hadn’t stopped it.

Eddie had brought Chrissy home to his trailer and she’d died a horrible death right in front of him.

Understandably, he ran.

A good thing too because It didn’t take long for the whole town to decide that he was a murderer.

Luckily Steve was pretty sure he knew where Eddie would have gone to hide out. Rick, his supplier, had been locked up a few weeks before, leaving his house on Lover’s Lake empty. Steve had ridden along with Eddie on a pick up once or twice, so he knew the way, and they quickly found him holed up in the boathouse behind it.

They finally told him everything.

Well, not everything.

The group still agreed that their Eddie should never know about the other Eddie. It was already so much to come to terms with, learning about monsters and another dimension that lived right under their feet. He didn’t need the extra burden of knowing that this had all happened before.

And Steve knew Eddie well enough by now to know he would have so many questions. Questions that none of them really had answers to.

He failed a second time when he and the others went off trying to figure things out, leaving Eddie alone and vulnerable when Jason and his goon squad had come to Rick's and found him hiding.

The panic that seized Steve when he came back to the lakehouse and saw the police and the ambulance standing by was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He felt a little sick about how relieved he was to learn that it was Patrick who'd been killed, but he couldn't help it.

He barely knew Patrick, but he loved Eddie.

It was the first time Steve had allowed himself to think the words, but it was far from a shocking revelation. He’d been falling for Eddie since the first time he waved back in the school parking lot.

Dustin’s walkie crackled to life not long after they arrived on the scene. Eddie was okay, and he was hiding out at Skull Rock.

Steve knew the spot well and didn't need a map or Dustin with his broken compass to tell him where to go. He wanted to cry when they finally reached the rock formation and Eddie came jumping out of the bushes, and he didn’t hesitate to wrap the other boy up in a fierce embrace.

They’d hugged before, it wasn't necessarily a new thing for them, but the desperation was. The way they held onto each other so tightly, as if they were afraid the other would disappear at any moment, the way Eddie pressed his face into the curve of Steve's neck, and how Steve whispered in his ear, “I’m here. I’ve got you,” over and over again. That was all new.

For the record, Steve didn’t exactly want to jump head first into the murky water of Lover’s Lake, but it needed to be done. Facts were facts and as a former lifeguard and co-captain of the swim team, there was no one better suited for the job. Even if one of the others had volunteered, he wasn’t sure he could have let any of them go in that water without him.

Meeting the other Eddie was not something Steve had ever anticipated happening, but when the living vines of the Upside Down grabbed him by the ankle, pulled him through the water, and down into their world, that was exactly what happened.

He was right there in the lake bed when Steve emerged, as if he’d been waiting for his arrival. Maybe he had.

Steve was completely unprepared for what he saw. Future Eddie, or past Eddie, or whatever he technically was, looked like he’d been through hell.

What he could see of Eddie’s skin beneath the layers of dirt, grime, and something that looked suspiciously like mold, was ghostly pale. His clothes were torn and stained with old blood, nearly black in color, and what remained of his Hellfire Club shirt was almost unrecognizable. His hair was a wild mess of tangled curls, and the deep brown eyes that Steve had grown so used to gazing at were stained with red, tainted, though the look in them was hauntingly familiar.

It was suddenly so obvious what had gone wrong, what had caused this Eddie to be stuck here.

He’d died in this place.

Steve didn't know how he was walking and talking or how he was still so completely himself after everything he’d been through, but it made it that much harder to leave him behind.

He knew he had to, there was nothing more he could do for this version of the boy he loved except to make sure things turned out differently this time, that his efforts and sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.

After their all too brief time together he managed to wrench himself away, but as he raced back to his friends he couldn't help wondering if another Steve in another time had been forced to leave this Eddie behind too.

He made it just in time to intercept one of the demobats before it could latch itself to Robin’s back. He grasped it by its tail with his bare hands, swinging it around in a wide arc before bashing it into the ground over and over until it lay stunned. He stomped down on it, pulling at the same time and managed to tear the creature in two.

It was then that he finally looked up to meet Eddie’s gaze.

His Eddie, soaking wet from the impromptu swim but not a scratch on him. Steve prayed it would stay that way. He reached out and took the other boy’s hand, lacing their fingers together and led the way into the trees where the four of them could hide before more of the bats arrived.

Eventually they got out of the Upside Down through the gate in Eddie’s trailer and regrouped with the rest of the party, but not before Nancy had the same visions that the other Eddie had spoken to him about.

He went back and forth about it in his head so many times, but in the end decided not to tell anyone else that he’d seen the Eddie who was trapped in the Upside Down. He didn’t want the rest of the party to feel what he did, a guilt that was eating him up inside. Let them guess and speculate and not be faced with confirmation of the ugly truth.

It wouldn’t make a difference anyway, except to plant seeds of doubt. Like he’d told the other Eddie, it was a solid plan and considering that they had way more players on the field this time there was no reason to assume things would turn out the same way.

They really didn’t have much of a choice. If they didn’t go after Vecna now, he would come after Max on his own, or worse, attack some other innocent kid who had no one on their side and no way to fight him off.

When the time came, Max was joined at the Right-Side-Up Creel house by Lucas, Erica, Eleven, Mike, and Joyce. El would be helping Max to bait and then ultimately to hide from Vecna, while also fighting him inside his own mind.

The rest of the party made what they hoped would be their final trek into the Upside Down.

Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Hopper would all be going on to the alternate Creel house to destroy Vecna’s body, while Eddie, Dustin, and Will created a distraction for the demobats and any other creatures who might be lurking around.

Steve could taste terror like bile on the back of his tongue when the time came to part ways with Eddie and the two younger boys and take their positions. He’d been avoiding Eddie a little up till then, unable to stop picturing him getting torn apart trying to fight off an entire swarm of demobats on his own. He almost offered to switch places, anything to ensure that his Eddie wouldn’t meet the same end as his predecessor, but somehow the idea of sending him off the fight Vecna felt even more dangerous.

As the group said their goodbyes, Steve marched right up to Eddie and zipped his leather jacket up all the way to the top, and then zipped the army vest closed on top of that. Just in case the little pep talk he was about to give didn’t work.

“You worried I'm going to catch a cold down here Mama Harrington?” Eddie teased, though there was a tightness around his eyes that belied his joking tone. He was scared, they all were.

“Do me a favor, Eds?” Steve asked, resting his hands up on Eddie’s shoulders.

“Yeah, anything, man.” Eddie breathed.

They were standing so close together, close enough to kiss, but Steve still held back. He had to get this out. He had to make sure that Eddie listened.

“Don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something, okay? Distract the bats for a little bit and then get your ass inside. Make sure you block up the air vents, and if anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, you bail. You and the boys get topside. Don’t hesitate, don’t-” Steve’s voice broke on the words and he just barely managed to mask it behind a cough. “Don’t wait for us, we’ll find another way out if we have to.”

Eddie looked deep into his eyes, studying his face like he was trying to memorize it and gave a single nod. Steve squeezed his shoulder and forced himself to step away. His throat was tight and his eyes burned and god, he hoped this wasn’t the last time he’d see Eddie alive.

They set off with Hopper in the lead, followed by Nancy and Jonathan, while Steve and Robin brought up the rear. They had only gone a few steps when there was a rustling behind them and Eddie’s voice calling out Steve’s name. It stopped him in his tracks.

“You go ahead, Robin. Just give me a second. I'll be right behind you.” Steve said.

She nodded and gave him a knowing smile.

“Go get him, Dingus.” She murmured softly before setting back off to catch up with the others.

He turned and met Eddie halfway, very aware that Dustin and Will were not far off and were probably watching their every move, but he was so far beyond caring about that right now. They were good kids, they wouldn’t judge.

“Eds, I… ”

“Stevie, I… ”

They both began in unison, and broke out into giggles as they interrupted each other.

Steve thought again about the other version of himself. Had he loved his Eddie too? Had they shared a moment like this before parting ways forever, or had his other self been too afraid, too repressed to see what was right in front of him?

This Steve was done with it all.

Done with waiting, and done being scared. He reached for the perfect way to tell Eddie that he’d fallen in love with him, but no combination of words in the English language were good enough to properly express how he felt about the boy in front of him.

So he figured, fuck words.

He stepped in and took Eddie’s face between his hands as he crashed their lips together, all in one fluid motion. Eddie’s arms circled his waist, tugging him in closer, tighter, until there was no space left between them.

Steve deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue along the seam of Eddie’s mouth until he opened for him, letting him lick in and taste. Steve wanted nothing more than to stay in that kiss forever, would climb inside Eddie and live there for a thousand years if he could.

Neither of them wanted to pull back, but the seconds were ticking by to minutes and Steve had to go. He had to see this plan through to the end, and see Vecna dead. They clung to each other for one last handful of seconds, before finally breaking apart, panting into each other’s mouths. Steve rested his forehead against Eddies and sighed, stealing one perfect moment of contentment at the end of the world in the arms of the boy he loved.

“I’m sorry I let you get mixed up in all this. I wanted to keep you safe from it.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t been so mad at you, if i’d been there I…”

“Baby, stop.” Eddie said, pressing a light kiss under each of Steve's eyes to catch his tears. He was crying, and he hadn’t even realized it. “You can’t worry about the what if’s, okay? Don’t do that to yourself. And you were right to be mad at me by the way I was being a total jackass.”

Steve captured Eddie’s lips one more time before finally letting him go. If he waited too much longer to catch up he’d never find the others before they reached the Creel house.

“You better come back to me, Steve Harrington.” Eddie said, squeezing him tight before giving him a light shove in the direction Robin had gone, somehow knowing he needed the push.

“I will, I promise.” Steve said, and hoped it wasn’t a lie.

In the end it had been almost too easy to take Vecna down. Which is not to say that he didn’t put up a fight. In fact, for a minute there Steve thought they were done for before they’d even made it to the attic.

The steps to the top floor of the house were covered in vines and though they tried to avoid stepping on them, the hive mind must still have sensed their presence.

In the blink of an eye Steve found himself pinned to the wall by his neck, arms, and legs, watching helplessly in horror as the same happened to Robin right beside him, and Nancy across the way. Only Jonathan and Hopper managed to stay free.

The older man hacked at the vines mercilessly with his axe, but no sooner would one break off than another would take its place. Jonathan tried to pry the things off Nancy with his bare hands but he wasn’t anywhere near strong enough.

Just when Steve had given up hope, his vision blurring with the beginnings of losing consciousness, the pressure eased and all the vines fell away at once. Somehow he knew they had El to thank for the rescue, and he made a mental note to never let his freezer run out of Eggos again.

When they finally made it to Vecna’s attic lair he seemed to be well and truly under Eleven’s hold, she must have given him one hell of a fight. He was weak, stuck, all but unmoving as they set his body aflame and watched it burn.

When it was clear that they had won, every fiber of Steve’s being wanted to run back to Eddie, Will, and Dustin to make sure that history hadn’t repeated itself, but they couldn’t leave until Vecna was no more than a pile of ash.

He would have gone anyway, trusting the others to see the job through, but Robin wouldn’t let him go alone. He’d been hurt in the initial struggle with the vines and judging by the amount of pain he was in, he was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated.

When the fire burned out and they did finally start to head back towards the trailer park, Steve charged ahead, turning a deaf ear to his friend’s sounds of protest. They just didn’t understand, they didn’t know what he knew.

He heard the two boys shouting for help before he could even see them, and his heart sank as he ran flat out until they came into view, huddled around a shape lying prone on the ground.

He skidded to a halt and fell to his knees when he reached them.

“Steve! You gotta do something. We can’t let this happen, not… “ Will trailed off, voice lost amid a fresh set of tears.

Again.

Not again.

That’s what Will had been about to say.

Steve gaped at the younger boy, and felt like such an idiot. Will had known. All this time- of course he had! He would have seen the same thing Steve did when he met the other Eddie. The blood, the wounds, the eyes. He was a smart kid, it was no surprise he put it together. No wonder he had insisted on being part of the distraction team.

He promised himself he’d make time to talk to the kid later once they were safely out of there.

Eddie was unconscious, lying face-up on the ground with blood running down his chin and neck, mostly stemming from a deep bite wound in his cheek, and one of his pant legs was torn open revealing more bites on his thigh and calf, but he was breathing, and his pulse was strong and steady.

Steve sagged in relief. Eddie was alive.

Through some miracle, they’d changed things just enough to make all the difference in the world.

“He’s alive!” Steve shouted.

“He’s alive and he’s going to be okay.” He repeated, as much for himself as for the two younger boys.

He continued to look Eddie over thoroughly, searching head to toe for other wounds but apart from a lump on the back of his head, what he saw initially seemed to be the extent of it. It was bad but not life threatening.

“I think he hit his head when the bats knocked him from the bike.” Dustin said when he’d finally calmed down.

Steve nodded. He’d figured as much but was trying not to think about things like concussions and head trauma.

“Is Vecna gone? Is it over?” Will asked.

Steve started to answer but realized Will was looking up over his head and a voice sounded from behind. The others had finally caught up.

“Yeah, buddy. It’s over. ” Jonathan said.

Will jumped to his feet and ran to his brother who caught him up in a joyful hug, while Dustin threw himself at Steve attempting to do the same, which was sweet but caused a new burst of pain in his shoulder. He sucked in a sharp breath and tried to hide the wince, but the kid noticed anyway.

“Shit!” Dustin cursed, rearing back. “Why didn’t you say you were hurt?” His eyes searched Steve frantically up and down like he was looking for bullet wounds.

“I’m fine, Henderson. it’s just my shoulder, no big deal.”

The ground beneath their feet began to shake suddenly and the deep cracking sounds of rock splitting apart thundered in the distance.

“That’s our cue to get the hell out of here.” Hopper said. “Let’s move, people!”

Steve tried to scoop Eddie into his arms, fully intent on carrying him home himself, but quickly realized he couldn’t bear any weight on his bad arm. Tears of frustration sprang to his eyes, and he wiped them away angrily as he stood.

Hopper stepped up and gently patted his back. “I got him, kid. Don’t you worry. We’re not leaving anyone behind.” He said, bending to pick Eddie up like it was nothing.

Steve couldn’t help scanning the tree line as they made the short journey the rest of the way back to the gate.

He wondered where the other Eddie was now. If he’d been watching them from afar or if he’d simply gone elsewhere.

His question was answered when they started piling into the trailer one by one. Steve lagged behind, wanting to make sure everyone else got through the gate before he did, so of course Robin stayed back too. They were still standing on the porch just outside the door when Steve caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye.

He stared at a spot in the distance until finally he saw a head of familiar curls peeking out from behind a tree.

Robin gasped.

Steve turned, realizing she had seen him too.

”Oh my god, is that… ?” She began, Steve slapped his hand over her mouth before she could finish.

He shook his head and gestured towards the door, hoping she would get the memo that he didn't want the others to see. Understanding dawned on her face and he lowered his hand cautiously.

“Cover for me?” He whispered, and made to take off before she could answer.

“Harrington, get back here, this place is falling apart!” She hissed.

He turned to her with pleading eyes. “I swear I'll explain later. I just… I need a minute with him, Robin. Please? I promise I'll be right behind you.”

It was eerily similar to their exchange earlier before he’d gone back and kissed his Eddie. The thought made his chest tight.

He could tell she didn't like it, but she nodded and ducked inside.

He didn’t waste time worrying about what excuse she would make for him, just rushed to where he’d seen the other Eddie hiding. He knew had to make this fast.

Eddie stepped out from his cover when Steve drew close. He smiled sadly. “You shouldn’t be here Stevie, it’s time for you to go home.”

“Where were you?”

“After I saw you at the lake, Vecna’s strength must have started to return. It was his power that reanimated me, I guess, and I could feel him starting to take more and more of my control away. I’m sorry. I wanted to be there, to help, but I was afraid if I did he would turn me against you, so I stayed away until I knew it was safe.”

“And is he… really dead?” Steve had watched the body burn up right in front of him but he still had to ask, just to be sure.

“As a doornail.” Eddie said. He grinned, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He held himself stiffly, like he was in pain.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Steve reached out to touch the other boy, same as he had before, but Eddie stepped back just out of reach and he had to let his hand fall.

“You really should go.”

“What about you?”

Eddie’s gaze dropped to the ground. “This place is dying, and I can feel myself going with it.”

Steve should have known and on some level he probably had, but that didn’t stop the surge of panic from overtaking him. “No, no, there has to be something we can do.”

Eddie shook his head, finally looking back up. “Your Eddie, is he… did he make it?”

“Yeah, he’s– he’ll be alright once we get him to a hospital, but you…”

“No buts, Steve,” Eddie said, gently cutting him off. “I was already on borrowed time. I've made my peace with it.”

“I don’t know how to let you go.” Steve whispered. He felt like his heart was breaking. In his head he knew that this Eddie and his Eddie weren’t one in the same, but standing there listening to him say he was ready to die, it was hard to convince his heart of that.

This time when Steve moved in close, Eddie held himself still and when Steve's hand hovered over his hair and caressed the side of his face, he leaned into it, just for a second.

“It’s not goodbye, not really. You have an even better version of me waiting for you just on the other side of the gate.” Eddie leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Steve’s cheek.

He smiled one last time, turned, and ran before Steve could try and stop him.

Steve walked back to the trailer and found Robin waiting at the bottom of the rope for him. She gave him a boost which he grudgingly took, knowing he would need the extra help with only one good arm.

There was a lot to be thankful for. They had won the war, and Steve was overjoyed to be going home to a place where Eddie had survived and they had a future to look forward to, together. It was somehow both one of the happiest days of his life, and one of the most devastating. As he climbed the rope that would lead him out of the Upside Down for the last time, his heart ached for the Eddie that couldn’t be saved.

Part 4

Thanks forever to @penny00dreadful for being the best friend, cheerleader, and beta in the whole fucking world 💜 (and for bring there to cry along with me about the end of this chapter 😭) truly could not do it without you.

I'm going to tag anyonei can who showed interest and interacted with parts 1 & 2 but feel free to tell me to fuck off (🤣) and let me know if you want to be removed from the list!!

@hissunflowers @sadisticaltarts @gutterflower77 @epiclazershark @yeahhhh-suga @soapyscoobert @thetrueghostqueen @guppynuggets @reh-hateshumans @katdeerly @kolorzapster @useless-nb-bisexual @sammyammi @ellietheasexylibrarian @thesecondfate @eleganttidalwavecloud @localcrustrat @letsmo6 @justaquietnerd @marvelobessed @femmeratale @carriethesaint @novelnovella @ubpd

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #time fuckery #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #fanfic #steve x eddie #steddie fic #ao3 #the crawl #undead eddie munson

58 notes · View notes

eywamygoddesswrites · 1 year

Note

HI this is low key embarrassing to ask but I like your writing so ill get over it. But could you write something involving ao'nung x human reader where ao'nung is very suspicious of them and overall doesn't trust them until he sees the reader interacting with some kind of sea life and begins liking the reader, but even with his love for the reader all he can think about is that they could never mate before ewya

— 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 — (ao'nung x gn!reader)

requested: yes

synopsis: ao'nung didn't like y/n since they were a human but as his eye stared at them, he sees that maybe y/n is not as bad as he thinks they are. but with feelings comes restriction.

pairing: ao'nung x gn!human!reader

tags: fluff, feelings getting known, fear because of realization, physical touch (sfw)

warnings: lowercase intended, slight angst but immediately becomes fluff

a/n: characters are aged up! thank you so much for liking my writing! it really warms my heart to see that people like these and just motivates me to make more. hope you enjoy! ^^

word count: 1.6k

+ gif not mine. ctto.

when y/n heard the sully’s were going to leave the omatikaya clan, they became restless and felt like their only family (besides norm and max. love the two) was going to leave them. what sucks was they were human and can’t stay outside without their oxygen mask. even if they wanted to go with the sully’s, how can they survive? how would the other na’vi clans react if they see a sky person in the flesh? the very creature that disturbed pandora’s peace.

the amount of begging y/n had to do to norm and max, along with the heads of the sully family, just for them to come with wherever they go. the kids would love to bring y/n with them because they were their best friend, their sibling of some sort, but with was up to jake and neytiri if they can come with.

after a very long talk and repercussions, the scientists and na’vi heads allowed y/n to come with. they have to make sure to always norm and max to update them on their oxygen levels, stay with at least one of the sully’s at all times in order to not get harmed and get lost, and lastly, get help from jake on how they can eat because how can they with the oxygen mask? just 10 seconds without the mask is just death but with jake’s help, they can eat without any problems.

when they set off with their ikrans, y/n road with neteyam and they catch up with so many things they both missed since neteyam was busy with his trainings and y/n busy helping around the lab.

when the sully’s arrived on the reef, gasps left the metkayina’s mouths as they take in y/n’s figure. why did these outsiders bring this curse upon their home??

ronal was going to pull y/n away from neteyam but wasn’t able when the sully’s protected their little human friend with their bodies.

jake had asked for safety, saying they didn’t want to do anything with war and just wanted their family safe.

while everything was happening, ao’nung and tsireya looked at the sully kids. although, ao’nung’s eyes drifted to the sky person’s figure. he was anything but happy. why the hell would these forest na’vi’s bring the very thing that was destroying pandora?

“tsireya and ao’nung would help you become one with the people.” he heard his dad say, pulling him out of his thoughts. he was disgusted that he had to help them learn their ways but what sucks, even more, is that he has to help the human even if they were deemed useless because of their height and features.

rotxo nudges ao’nung and snorts at what the olo’eyktan had just said. “who would’ve thought your’re going to teach a demon out of everything?” ao’nung scoffs and rolled his eyes. “as if i will actually teach that tiny thing.”

after the sully’s had settled and a new day passed, it was time for tsireya and ao’nung to teach them how to breathe longer and hunt in the ocean.

ao’nung had stayed a good distance away from y/n, who would swim with the sully’s despite not needing to practice since they have their oxygen mask. they were told by neteyam to stay close because the waves might take them away.

“yeeaah yeaah why don’t you practice your breathing over there.” y/n would counter back at the oldest sully kid before swimming around to play with the fishes.

it was so beautiful. the fauna and flora that was so different yet they brought a sense of comfort to y/n. yeah, it was different from the forest and what they had learned about earth and its inhibitors, but it’s just… feels familiar.

ao’nung was growing impatient with the sully’s. yeah, they were getting the basics well, but he just want to go away from them. while letting neteyam learn what he was taught, his eyes caught y/n’s figure.

he was surprised, to say the least. y/n was genuinely in awe of what they saw. how a school of fish would surround the human and their shoulder would move insinuating that they might’ve laughed or were talking to the sea life.

this continued on for weeks. the sully’s got better at free-diving and were currently learning how to bond with an ilu. since y/n couldn’t bond with anything, they stayed away from the group but were still swimming around. ao’nung would unknowingly keep his eyes on them, watching what they would do next.

at first, he thought that y/n would harm anyone or anything when they arrived, but as time passed, he saw that they were just genuinely curious and were respectful to everything and everyone they passed by.

even from afar, his heart beat faster than normal. he would feel his hands sweat up a storm when y/n was close. eywa, he just wanted to protect y/n at all costs. with how tiny they were compared to him, he just wanted to keep y/n in his arms forever.

but he can’t. despite the feelings that grew, he knew there were limitations. for one, they won’t be able to have kids whether they want one or not. another is they won’t be able to kiss properly. it might as well just be the kiss of death for y/n. lastly, they won’t be able to mate before eywa. he won’t be able to feel what they feel or know what their thoughts are.

their souls wouldn’t bond into one because how can it? y/n wasn’t na’vi. they were still a sky person whether he likes it or not.

while he was sharpening his weapon, he hears someone shuffle beside him. “you know, i see how you look at y/n.” tsireya’s says softly just for them to hear. ao’nung stops his actions and sets his weapon down.

“it’s complicated, tsmuke. a sky person and a na’vi? that’s absurd! and besides, it won’t last even if they do return my feelings.” he says while picking on the wood of the weapon.

tsireya gives him a side hug and pats his arm. “you know, tsumukan, eywa is very giving. who knows, maybe they do like you too, and who knows? you and y/n will grow old beside each other.” she looks up at him, who was already looking at her.

“but, before you do tell them your feelings, make things right with the sully siblings. they have known each other for a long time and y/n says that they see the sully kids as their siblings.” tsireya pinches his arm before letting him go.

ao’nung hisses at the slight pain before rubbing the part that tsireya pinched. “also,” tsireya adds. “you didn’t hear it from me but i heard that y/n loves pearls. take that as you will.” she sends him a wink before starting to make dinner.

days passed and ao’nung had been kinder to the sully’s, which they saw as weird at first but hey, baby steps matter. with this, he started chatting with y/n when he can. y/n thought that it was very kind of ao’nung to make up for his mistakes back then and saw that he was fun to be with.

then, the late-night walks started between the two. he would take her to his favorite spots where he would rewind in just take in the nature that surrounded him.

“i never really brought anyone here.” ao’nung says while scratching the back of his neck. “really now?” y/n raises their eyebrow playfully followed by a chuckle.

ao’nung hums in reply before sitting down by the shore. y/n sits beside him and watches the water glow around their feet. “i could never get over how the ocean and forest glow at night.” y/n says softly while moving their hand through the water.

ao’nung breathes in heavily before taking out a necklace that he had made beforehand. he nudges y/n’s arm before handing the gift, his gaze away as his face flushed a darker blue.

y/n looks at the gift and it was adorned with beautiful pearls, wrapped in sturdy vines that complemented the shapes of the pearls. “it’s so beautiful…” they immediately turned around and softly asked ao’nung if he could put it on them.

ao’nung reluctantly put the necklace around y/n’s neck, his fingers lingering on their skin before pulling away.

“thank you so much, ao’nung. i didn’t know you were going to give me something. i could’ve made you something too.”

ao’nung just hums in reply and shakes his head. “you didn’t have to. i, uh, wanted to make this and surprise you with it.” he played with the sand below them, his heart ready to jump out of his chest as he felt y/n move closer to him.

“still, i wish to make you something in return.” they cautiously leaned against his arm but when he moved them closer, arm around their small figure, they leaned their head against his chest.

“you coming with me during nights like this is enough.” he gently holds y/n’s hand before leaning down and giving the back of their hand a kiss.

y/n’s cheeks flushed but didn’t pull away from his hold. oh eywa, is this what it's like to have feelings so someone even if you two are different in so many ways? it’s selfish and wrong, but, it just feels so right.

with or without the queue, it felt like they feel each other's feelings, know each other's thoughts, and their souls bonding into one despite being different. y/n stood up and leaned down to ao’nung’s forehead, taking in his figure as his hands wrapped around their waist easily. eywa is good and kind, maybe she can give them a blessing.

“i see you.”

288 notes · View notes

wildymoon · 2 months

Text

urge to have character choose death (consciously or not) due to a heavy breakdown (yours or not) because I'm an angsty shit

not wanting to lose like 20-25 levels worth of progress this loop (I am So Close to max level I can practically taste it aaaaaaa)

FIGHT!

(isat spoilers, found it in act 2 but that's because I'm vigilant about things sometimes)

for context I caught bonnie eavesdropping and stared at the pineapple option afterwards for about 5 seconds before coming to my senses

If I wasn't going for the OP achievement early so I didn't have to do it later I 100% would've though

...

in other news I have a new idea as to how the loops start to mesh together somewhat for ACOH, and it very much directly involves this

I feel very bad for Bonnie though cause depending on how much of this idea I use they will feel Very Guilty for two of Siffrin's deaths and not just the tear one...

anyway, actually explaining my idea here!

So, we've seen how the deaths make everyone loop back, it's still gonna play out almost exactly the same with that. And the effort of the timeline to keep your equipment with you while also not breaking people's minds is still there, that's just the timeline fixing itself.

But what about the points like with Bonnie, where you go back a bit to prevent that?

What if it wasn't solely caused by [??????? ??????], but also something fucky with the others' memories?

After all, I don't think Bonnie-who-remembers-accidentally-pushing-Siffrin-into-a-tear would accept saying some of the things they did in this situation (source: similar breakdown at similar age, albeit over something very stupid and with a very different reaction, would not have said some of the things I did if I knew the world wasn't ending)

and then Siffrin takes the pineapple and fucking perishes. Not Sure whether it'll be it slipping their mind entirely (previously they were hyperaware that "pineapple? kills me maybe??"), brain fog mixed with guilt over the situation (and the fact that it won't just magically get that much better despite the rewind), or just straight up "I made them irrevocably upset this time, let's start this over entirely"

I am very much unintentionally traumatizing the fuck out of Bonnie here. Why is there so much opportunity to do this. Is it going to get worse. Bonnie can't look Siffrin in the eyes their next loop until they all nearly go through the hallway without dealing with the boulder first.

I was fully intending for Isabeau and Siffrin to be the first whose loops cross but this is an Opportunity if you can't tell.

Depending on how I play with this idea either Bonnie will talk with someone (likely Odile) about the loops (!!!!) or I'll keep with Isa and Sif being the first to talk together about it

#wildyspeaks #wildy deranged at ungodly hours of the night #in stars and time #isat #isat spoilers #a change of hands au #send help I'm trying to get the OP achievement in loop 8 LMAO #but yeah poor bonnie holy crabbing crab #this is why you don't let the angst demon near anything that remotely reminds her of herself #isat liveblogging

31 notes · View notes

lillie98 · 8 months

Text

I headcannon Mike Wheeler as autistic (because we share the exact same strain) and I have a theory regarding Season 5. Many autistic people, including myself, have a warped sense of inherent danger. We will throw ourselves into dangerous situations not fully understanding the risks involved. It’s a dangerous situation, sure, but not so dangerous we should avoid it. Mike also has this problem, what with him diving head-first into every fight. He wants desperately to be a hero, to prove his worth and might as a person—to be remembered. If that means doing something stupid like getting himself killed, then that’s what it takes. It’s heartbreaking, but that’s the world he lives in. Hopper, Eleven, Will, they’ve all sacrificed their lives in some capacity to save the world, now it’s his turn.

Eddie touched on this concept with his “Don’t try to be heroes, not today. There is no shame in running,” but Mike doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, those who run are cowards, afraid to face their fears and fight for what they believe in. Has Mike been a bit cowardly these past two seasons by avoiding his feelings for Will? Yes, absolutely. But that’s his arc. Mike has to understand his actions, why he’s hiding, and the serious danger everyone is in. He has to face the music. Where does this lack of inherent danger come in? Glad you asked.

We all know Mike wants to be a hero. He wants to go down in history as someone good, someone who put others before themselves and saves the world. The Brave Knight, The Paladin. Paladins swear an oath of bravery and loyalty, vowing to avenge any threat that dares harm their allegiance (Byler anyone?). Something will threaten to harm/kill Will in Season 5, and Mike will have none of it. They’re not doing this again. Thus, Mike will throw himself in front of Vecna/Demogorgon/Brenner, etc. to protect Will, not fully comprehending the danger of the situation. He’ll be a hero. Unfortunately, this risky act will most likely cost him his life (temporarily). He doesn’t have to die. He’s the heart.

Lucas says, in the Season 4 hospital, that Max’s heart stopped for over a minute, but it miraculously started again. She is alive. El’s love for her conquered death itself. If we go on the “Will Has Powers” theory, then his love for Mike will conquer death and revive him. Mike only needs to be presumed dead, to be out long enough for Will and El to feel the effects of his death and consider joining Vecna. Because without their HEART, they’d fall apart. Both of them.

Back to what Eddie said, there really is no shame in running. Will doesn’t need Mike to do some egregious, knightly act of sacrifice to prove his love for him. His love is already enough. Will loves Mike for EXACTLY WHO HE IS. He always has, and THAT is the real heart of this story. Mike is not a hero because of what he does, but because of who he is. The way he loves, the way he stands up for what he believes in, the way he treasures his friends and protects them. The way he makes Will feel safe just by being there. That’s what Will fell in love with, not some fantastical DnD character that never actually existed.

Like Mike said in Season 2, “this isn’t DnD, this is real life.” DnD characters are fun, and it’s exciting to dream about slaying dragons or exploding orcs with your Magic Missiles, but that’s not real. It’s a game and it will end. Hit Points don’t magically restore you after a Long Rest and Healing Potions don’t deal 2d4+2 Healing. Actions have consequences and danger is real, even if your brain tells you it’s not. Paladins, Clerics, Bards, Rangers, their not real people. But Mike Wheeler is (in this context) and Mike Wheeler is enough. He is so enough. It’s time he wakes up and realizes he doesn’t have to be the Hero, slay the dragon, and make everything better, because it was NEVER HIS FAULT. Bad things happen and, sometimes, we can’t fix them. All we can do is stand beside our partner, hold their hand, and fight along with them—to remind them they are never alone. That, in and of itself, is truly heroic.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler endgame #byler #byler is requited #mlm love #autism #autistic mike wheeler #stranger things analysis #stranger things headcanons #stranger things 5 #mike wheeler loves Will Byers #hero complex #dungeons and dragons #paladin #cleric #neurodivergent characters #Mike Wheeler is the Heart

64 notes · View notes

erikiara80 · 1 month

Text

March 22nd and all the birthday references in ST

Will's birthday has always been important.

A birthday mug in episode 1

Same mug in Mike's basement. We see it in scenes with El in S1 and Will in S2. Yeah, I think birthdaygate could be about her, too. Will is the only character whose birthday was used to literally save him and the whole town. And we've seen El's birth and birth certificate, but we still don't know when she was born? Strange

The I forgot your birthday card in Will's room in S1

But in S2 we only see it when Joyce looks at the Will the Wise drawing. In all the other shots the card is not there, and the drawing is on another wall. This could be a hint at different timelines (of a timeloop?) More screenshots here

Basically, I have two theories about Will's birthday: either people really forgot it in S4, or the Will who was born on March 22 is the brown-eyed Will in the Missing poster, in the timeline we see in the shed scene, and not the hazel-eyed Will we see in the rest of the show. Maybe they hid the truth in plain sight, they let people believe that his eyes were different because he was possessed. But then in S3 they show that Billy's eye color never changes (here) Can't wait to see what this means

No birthday card in these shots

Lesbianmindflayer found a video posted on the official IG account in August 2017. At the time, they had already filmed S2, they knew there was an important scene about Will's birthday, so why posting the wrong date? Is it actually a mistake, or that's really his birthday in another timeline? We'll see!

The amazing shed scene. One of my favorite! Joyce talks about Will's 8th birthday. That was in 1979, the year of the massacre. She also mentions his rainbowship, a hint at his queerness, but also a reference to the lab. And I think there's a connection to the "rainbow rocket" near Creel House, and the ship of Brenner's father, who was involved with Project Rainbow, and the first man to wind up in Dimension X. This scene is so important!

Will drawing a spaceship could also be a parallel to Olivia Dunham (Fringe), who drew what she saw in another universe. A Zeppelin

Olivia's drawing (Byler-Polivia parallel and Subject 13)

3x03. Happy Birthday and '76 on the poster. The lifeguard is talking to El and Max here. My theory about what this could mean and what might have happened in 1976 here and here

The original title of episode 3x06 was The Birthday. There is no birthday in that episode, but after the intro, the song that plays is Stand up and Meet your brother, and then El meets the Mind Flayer/Vecna (as a lab kid, Henry is kinda her brother), who is possessing a boy named William. A surfer boy.

Episode 3x08, posters of Firestarter and Sixteen Candles. Will is associated with fire, and in Sixteen Candles a girl hopeful thar her 16th birthday is the beginning of a great year, is shocked when her family forgets it because her sister is getting married the next day.

Sixteen Candles and a boy's 16th birthday are also mentioned in S4, and it is likely that S5 is set in 1987, after the time-jump, when Will is 16.

S4. There are so many mentions of birthdays in this season, it's crazy to think that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

Mentions of birthday and stolen thoughts in the opening scene.

Birthday party at Rink-o-mania. I could be wrong, but it looks like a party for two people, to me. And there's a hidden reference to the massacre. The game Asteroids was released in 1979 (here)

The scene that made many people believe that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

March 22. The Rink-o-mania scene is a parallel to the lab scenes, Asteroids was released in 1979, and the day of the massacre El remembered her birth. Maybe a hint that her birthday is also on March 22?

They call her little baby, and two of the bullies are twins.

Murray says that a one-year-old won't remember their birthday

Also, the wallpaper reminds me of these birds we see in his house, when Alexei explains how the two keys open a gate

Murray says that his "son" is almost 16

Mention of Sixteen Candles

Mike's Happy Birthday mug

At Suzie's, Will mentions Dustin's birthday

Yeah, I think something will happen to Will in 1987, when he's 16. And it won't be funny, lol. But he'll get his happy ending.

Happy birthday, Will!

#birthdaygate #will byers #march 22 #el hopper #mike wheeler #the first shadow spoilers #st analysis #st theory #timeloop theory #stranger things

20 notes · View notes

rocketturtle4 · 9 months

Text

Why Kawi Felt Inentionally Ace Coded

This is the second post I am making about this show for this week, the first was about what I think went down around time travel in this ep and I will directly reference those theories.

Also I just think the way this episode was playing with flash forwards and backs (with both Piseang’s conversation with his mum AND Max’s convo with Kawi – ALSO A FLASHBACK FYI) is VERY INTENTIONAL. (for the purpose of keeping us both in and out of the loop)

Okay so, for the record I really didn’t plan to actively engage in BMF this week, I am mid spiral on an entirely different TV show and this show did not have my full focus while I watched it this morning.

HOWEVER

This moment

[Image ID: Kawi saying "Do you think it's possible for two people dating to have no sexual activity at all]

Took my attention and kept it, I was yelling and I made 2 quick reaction posts about the fact that I was yelling (1, 2)

I will add here that @dropthedemiurge posted about Kawi being definitely ace coded LAST WEEK (I couldn't find it sorry but I remember reading it) as well as this week 2 and @heretherebedork had two different posts about this this week.

Also there is legit evidence for this being about touch starvation and intimacy issues (@shouldiusemyname) and if they do this well I wont be mad but…

It Felt VERY ACE CODED To me

And it felt a bit smack in your face ace coded in a way that to me was throwing up giant WE ARE GOING THERE flags. These flags, to me, were primarily in the LANGUAGE that was used more than Kawi’s physical body langue (which was more ambiguous between the two theories), and this is even trickier because of the layers of translation involved.

So lets talk about those flags

(Also I’m demisexual and demiromantic so my own lens is definitely colouring my view)

Max’s convo with Kawi

I actually loved this convo FOR Max’s response, not because he responded well (if Kawi is ace) but because he DIDN’T respond well. This show is doing a really good job of allowing it’s characters to be flawed and I reckon both Max and Piseang got to be flawed in this episode.

Max has been our gay Yoda

Max has been on point with all his advice

Kawi and Piseang are together in part due to Max’s advice,

But do you know what else Max is?

A 20 YEAR OLD

Max isn’t the person Kawi needs to talk to in this moment, because Kawi’s experiences are no longer aligning with his, and all of his advice thus far has been based on HIS OWN EXPERIENCE (which he literally says by the way):

[Image ID: Max speaking while the subtitles translate the start of his sentence as "Personally,"]

Kawi’s language in this convo was REAL SUS

On top of the first line pictured above, their conversation includes

Max: You’ve already crossed the line, what are you afraid of?

Kawi responds

[Image ID: Kawi saying "I'm not afraid. I just don't think it's that significant."]

Then we get Maxs scoff (SCOFF!!): "Right, The word from someone who’s never had sex"

And his positive take on how important sex is for a relationship and an Individual

And the implication that doing it with someone you love is even better

Then

Max: Are you going to sleep next to each other holding hands forever?

[Image ID: Kawi saying "That's good." with an acesexual black, grey, white and purple flag added to the image]

@sparklyeyedhimbo I like the flag one so I borrowed it.

Then Max points out that it will only work out if Piseang feels the same way.

my thoughts:

Max is very dismissive of Kawi in this convo, there is a real disconnect with Kawi’s tentative questions and Max’s certain responses. Again I THINK THIS IS INTENTIONAL as per above. (For anyone who wants to check again its part 3/4 from around the 2 minute mark)

Kawi doesn’t seem afraid, he seems genuinely confused about not wanting sex. And personally, I’ve BEEN THERE.

Back in the bedroom

Now here we get some fear as Kawi finds condoms, panics and pretends to sleep.

Something I find interesting about this is he doesn’t pretend to sleep facing away from where Piseang would lie or curled up, he is still placed fairly centrally on the bed. His body language isn’t overly defensive (in my uninformed opinion). Now this could just be that he trusts Piseang regardless but I wanted to point it out.

[Image ID: Piseang standing at the foot of the bed look at Kawi apparently asleep in bed]

Then Piseang Time Travels (Full clown, I’m committed)

(I just watched the scene again and Kawi opens his eyes and we don’t see Piseang while the music plays, this scene is legit from Kawi’s point of view and we’ve already seen that the travel isn’t visible to the person not holding the magic globe so I AM EVEN MORE CERTAIN)

Anyway back to this post

Piseang goes to bed and looks at kawi like this

[Image ID: Piseang staring at Kawi]

(I’m just putting this here and choosing to interpret it as weighted with future knowledge lol)

Which post is this again?

Ah yes Ace!Kawi

So we get bed in the morning and Kawi pretending to sleep and then Piseang goes

[Image ID: Piseang rolls to lie on top of Kawi]

And Kawi informs him that he’s heavy.

There’s no recoil

There’s no fear

Until

[Image ID: Piseang says "Would you like to get on top instead then?"]

Even then he’s startled more than scared in my humble opinion

Until Piseang tries to kiss him

[Image ID: Kawi making a very surprised/scared face]

Then Kawi pushes him off and leaves

Piseang continues to try and encourage intimacy

HOLD ON I HAVE A SECOND CLOWN THEORY ABOUT THE FUTURE

(I’m less convinced about my projections for what happens in the future, Piseang looks so content, maybe he just get’s a glimpse of domestic bliss…It needs to be next week already. FOR THE RECORD I’m sticking with clown theory 1 if I have to choose).

We get this moment

[Image ID: Two images of Kawi as Piseang wipes something off the corner of his mouth and Kawi's expression goes from anger to something softer]

And Kawi’s change of experession here is so tender, I feel like this could be coded either way intimacy issues or strong romantic feelings, it’s not lust though that’s for sure. (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be using coded for intamacy but *shrugs*)

(oooo I wonder if the language play came from his glimpse into the future)

I’m going to skip ahead to the theme park or this will go forever

The bits in between feel more ambiguous to me

THESE LINES FELT SUPER ACE CODED

[Image ID: Piseang saying "If you just wanted to eat, why did you ask me to take you to a theme park? then Kawi saying "I just wanted to get the vibes. The thing that can make me the happiest is eating"]

Food over sex is a legit part of the ace community (the same way tucked in shirts and clear phone cases are part of the bi community from what I understand)

[Image ID: Kawi still saying "The thing that can make me the happiest is eating" now holding up a corn cob]

(If Kawi had held up cake here I would be ALL IN)

Then we get the rollercoaster metaphor!

[Image ID: Kawi and Piseang both looking at the rollercoarster, Piseang looks excited Kawi looks concerned/apprehensive/is making a woah face]

I’m just going to transcribe here it’s quicker and I’m running out of time before I go out tonight:

K: This is too much. Not this ride

P: Come on, Let’s try it first

K: No, I don’t like it.

P: You haven’t tried it yet. How do you know if you like It or not. You said you’d never been to a theme park.

P: If you don’t try it, it’s the same as if you’ve never been here

e.g. Coming to a theme park isn’t the same as enjoying the ride

Then P holds out his hand

P: If you’re scared, just hold onto my hand, Okay?

[Image ID: Kawi looking at Piseang]

K looks at Piseangs hand, Looks at Piseang, Looks at the ride and says

K: No! I won’t get on it. You can go alone if you want to. I’ll just wait here

And walks off

[Image ID: Piseang looks disapointed]

This again felt to me like a rejection of the fear as the primary motivation, he directly says he’s not afraid but he still doesn’t want to

I’m not sure about this scene in the car, it mostly just felt like Kawi was fed up at this point.

[Image ID: Kawi and Piseang in the car]

Possibly this scene highlights the different places there in and how Piseang is open to new experience and Kawi’s not? This feels more intimacy coded than ace.

Restaurant Scene

[Image ID: Kawi and Piseang looking tired in the restaurant]

Both Kawi and Piseang look so worn out in this scene, they both spent the whole day not communicating their true wants and fears and it’s left them all worn down

But Piseang doesn’t give up

[Image ID: Piseang saying "Whatever I did wrong today, you can tell me." and Kawi responding "Today was great."]

Kawi responds to this sincerity and reaches out to hold Piseang’s hand.

KAWI is the one WHO REACHES OUT, again this reads as specifically felt to me as a reason against touch starved.

[Image ID: Two images of Piseang and Kawi holding hands in the restaurant]

And then we’re in the bedroom (time skip anyone).

I’m actually not going to analyse this scene at all much. If Kawi is ace then he can still choose to have sex provided he and Piseang have communicated and if it’s intimacy issues then I also think it’s okay provided they’ve communicated first. ( idon't actually currently think Kawi is demi for the record)

(even when Piseang takes his shirt off, Kawi’s eyes stay on Piseangs face)

(although Piseangs do too actually…)

[Image ID: Two images of Kawi and Piseang after they have removed their shirts staring at each other. The first image contains the subtitle of Piseang saying "are you sure?"

(god his eyes are so big here compared to their often squintiness)

He doesn’t pull back but leans into the kiss. He’s clearly sure of his decision. I’m just not sure about his reasons.

[Image ID: Piseang and Kawi kissing]

Both Piseangs hands are on Kawi, but Kawi’s hands are straight down, I think this could go with either theory but personally on the few occasions I’ve made out with someone “what do I do with my hands?” loops in my head lol so I found this relatable.

Make of this what you will!!

Thoughts on Kawi and Kissing Piseang while he’s drunk

Honestly this doesn't feel weird to me, romantic attraction can involve kissing and drunk!kawi is just giving in to his confused thoughts and feelings, Aesthetic attraction can trick you too if you're not aware of your own identity (lol I had sex with someone before I experienced sexual attraction for the first time and felt very confused about why I didn't really feel like doing it again after even though it had been a positive experience, It was WILD), Kawi kisses Piseang because he likes him and is then confused about Why TF it doesn't feel like it's "supposed" to, *shrugs* make of that what you will.

Additional Thoughts

I’m reading into past future events now but I wonder about Pear and Kawi’s relationship.

Did they have sex?

There was clearly something fundamentally wrong with it, and the show talks about Kawi prioritising work, but it’s all a bit ambiguous and we never got any impression of intimacy. The fact that Pear is pregnant and Kawi doesn’t question if he’s the father, how long have they been broken up? Why did Pear seek out Not in the first place? Did Pear assume Kawi was gay because they didn't have sex??

ALSO

The scene where Kawi stares at Piseang while he was sleeping (Ep 9) I'm not going back to find it now or this won't get posted for like another 14 hours but it also felt ace-coded but I shrugged it off.

ALSO I HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT LOL

(@lurkingshan and @clairificusrex since you helped with my thoughts)

#be my favorite #be my favorite the series #be my favorite meta #ace-coding in be my favorite #rturts is wondering #long post

71 notes · View notes