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leonsbbg · 1 year

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leon kennedy x reader

you're left abandoned by your "friends" at a bar when you also notice a strange man has been following you. luckily, you find solace in a group of men willing to help you. a certain blonde boy catches your eye

notes and warnings: use of yn, cw for "slut" being used in a degrading way, luis and chris' characters are no where near accurate they're more of filler characters. (this is my first time writing with leon so even if it's not too accurate i hope it's okay🙏🏼) (also i barely proofread this)

you were thoroughly panicking.

you just left a bar where your friends were supposed to meet you, but they never showed. it honestly wouldn't surprise you if they did it on purpose, considering your history with them.

you really needed better friends.

which brings you back to right now, where friends would be really amazing. or maybe a phone that wasn't dead.

'damn i need to get my shit together.'

you had seen the same guy for three blocks now. every time you would nonchalantly glance behind you, that same man in a red hoodie would be a behind you. he was pretty far away, but he was always there. you didn't want to assume he wanted to kidnap and assault you, but in today's world no one would blame you for being a little paranoid. you had no idea what to do until you saw a group of guys hanging around a street lamp in front of a shop. it was late so the shop wasn't open, but they didn't seem to care. they looked to be taking pictures and laughing.

'they seem nice enough.'

you immediately increase your pace until you're right beside one of them; a tall, black-haired man, sporting an earring and a very fashionable outfit. there were three guys in total and they all seemed to be around your age, (and very attractive.)

they immediately looked at you in confusion.

they didn't seem too weirded out though, so you took that as your chance.

"i'm so so sorry to interrupt, but i think there's a guy following me and i've been walking for a little bit because my friends were supposed to meet me but they stood me up and my phone died and i was wondering if i could stand with you because i don't know what-"

"woah woah, slow down," one of the other guys, who had (beautiful) long blonde hair and baby blue eyes, put his hands up, "you think someone's following you?" his eyebrows knit in concern and you feel your heart flutter.

"yeah, i think. he's wearing a red hoodie and black pants. i don't really know that he's following me per say, but he's been walking behind me for a while and i get kind of paranoid about this stuff." you frown because you suddenly realize you might be blowing this out of proportion.

"no, i understand. it's better to be cautious." the same boy replies with a smile that almost knocks you off your feet. you give him a shy smile in return.

"you can stay with us for a little bit if you want. at least until you feel safe enough to leave." the third boy tells you and you could've kissed him with how grateful you felt.

"thank you so much, i know this is weird, but i really appreciate it." you say honestly.

"don't thank us, you're just scared for your safety so we'd be happy to help you." the blonde boy that caught your eye says this and your heart melts.

what do they say about love at first sight?

"so i guess we should introduce ourselves," the black haired boy next to you speaks up, "my name is chris, and this is luis," he gestures to the brown haired boy in front of you who gives you a smile and wave, "and this is leon." the very nice-looking blonde boy gives a smile.

"i'm yn, it's really nice to meet you guys." you give your own smile and hope it conveys how grateful you are.

"yn," leon says almost absent-mindedly, "that's a nice name, i like it." he meets your eyes and you have to look away to try (fail) to hide your blush at the unexpected compliment.

"wait-" luis starts, "didn't you say the guy had a red hoodie and black pants?" he asks you.

"yeah, do you see him?" you don't look back, partly because you're a little scared.

"yeah, he's just standing against that wall. he’s not moving, but he keeps looking over here." luis frowns.

"oh my god-" you start to tear up. you don't mean to seem like a cry baby, but you've never been in a situation like this before and you'd be lying if you said you weren't thinking about all of the news stories you’d heard about women getting kidnapped and found dead, or worse.

you almost feel yourself spiral into a panic attack until you feel a pair of hands grab your arms.

"yn? hey, it's alright. we won't let anything happen to you, okay?" leon trains his ocean eyes on you and you can tell in that moment you couldn't be safer.

leon lets go of you and you take deep breaths to calm yourself down.

"okay, yeah— yeah, i'm sorry, it's just been a long night." you rub a hand over your forehead.

you all stand and talk for a little bit before chris notices and points out that the unknown man is starting to move towards the four of you.

"he's what? oh shit shit shit—" before you can completely go crazy, leon comes to the rescue, again.

"hey, remember what i said? we won't let anything happen to you, and i mean that. just stay back okay? let us handle him." leon moves you behind him to use his body as a shield.

you see the man stop in front of the three guys and you can tell they're all sizing him up.

"is there a problem?" leon is the one who speaks up first, his arms crossed and by his posture you can tell he's tense.

you try not to pay attention to the way his shoulder muscles strain against his jacket.

"no problem. just trying to get to that little lady right there." his words slur and he makes eye contact with you to give you a crooked smile that makes your stomach twist.

"that's too bad actually, because she doesn't want anything to do with you. so i think it's time you left and stopped bothering her." chris speaks this time, a warning in his tone.

"come on man, i just want to have some fun. she obviously wants it, look at what she's wearing. slut." you flinch at the harsh word and cave in on yourself.

leon is seething and steps towards the man aggressively, but is held back by luis.

"just get the fuck away dude, she doesn't know you and you're being a creep. leave before we call the cops." luis says in a calm, but serious tone.

the man stays silent for a second as if asking himself if it's worth the trouble. evidently it's not, because he starts to walk away.

"whatever. she's ugly anyways." he flips his middle finger up as he walks down a nearby alley way, out of sight.

"what a fucking asshole." leon says angrily, arms still crossed and posture tense.

"yeah he was a jerk, but at least he left." chris says in relief.

you don't say anything as you process what happened.

he called you a slut and then proceeded to call you ugly in the very next sentence. what was wrong with people?

you start to feel self-conscious, so you put your arms around your middle and back away from the guys a little, wanting to hide and cry forever.

leon turns around and his anger seems to melt away and is instead replaced with a look of concern.

"yn, are you okay? don't listen to anything that dick said, he was stupid." he looks you in the eyes and you can feel gentleness and care radiating off of him.

you don't say anything, opting to look sideways at the ground.

"are you cold? do you want my jacket?" leon starts to shrug off his jacket and before you can even protest, he places it around your shoulders. it dwarfs you, but you’re grateful for his kind gesture.

"thank you. i'm sorry i got you guys into that, but i'm really glad you helped me, im really lucky." you say sincerely, hoping they can hear it in your voice.

they all smile at you and you realize it's probably time for you to go home. for some reason this thought makes you sad.

"um—" you start quietly, "could someone call me an uber? my phone's dead and i don't really feel up for walking."

"actually, is it okay if i give you a ride instead? after what happened, i'd feel better if i drove you myself." leon says while scratching his head, not making eye contact.

he looks, nervous?

"oh, yeah, i'd appreciate that, thank you." you give him a smile and he gives you one back.

after parting with the other two guys and giving them plenty thanks for helping you, you follow leon to his car which happened to be parked right across the street.

"wow, this is your car?" you ask in disbelief. “it's so—"

"awesome?" leon interjects playfully.

"expensive." you finish.

leon lets out an airy laugh and you swear you've never heard a sweeter sound.

he opens the passenger side for you, before getting into the driver's seat.

the ride to your apartment is silent except for the radio playing softly throughout the car.

"here we are." leon puts the car in park but neither of you move.

"thank you again for tonight. i don't know what would've happened if you and your friends weren't there." you say playing with your hands, a nervous tic.

"again, don't thank me. i'm just glad we were able to help you." you look at him and see him already staring at you with a smile on his face.

you can't help but notice how beautiful he is. the way his hair is almost falling in his eyes makes you want to brush it away.

you blush and look away.

"well i guess i should leave now." you sit still.

"yeah i guess you should." he sits still.

it takes you all of 30 seconds to finally get out of the car, giving leon a goodbye and another ‘thank you’, receiving another ‘don't thank me’ in return.

you're walking away from his car to your apartment complex when you hear leon shout your name.

you turn around to see leon getting out of his car and jogging towards you.

oh shit, his jacket.

you start to take it off and utter apologizes before he stops you.

"no no, that's not what i came for." he holds out a piece of paper with what you're assuming is his phone number.

you take it in shock and look up to see him smiling down at you.

"have a good night yn." leon turns around and walks back to his car.

just before he gets in, he turns back to you.

"and keep the jacket, it looks cuter on you anyway." he leaves.

and you're stuck to the sidewalk wondering what the hell just happened.

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy #resident evil 4 #resident evil

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9800sblog · 11 months

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Pick A Card tarot reading - which Britney Spears musical era are you? 🤔

from ...Baby One More Time to Hold Me Closer, which one of the icon's released albums fit best with you at the moment? let's ask tarot and find out, what is the soundtrack of your life?

this was @saturnsbabe69 request! ;)

pick one tarot card from my very low budget montage (britney pictures simply fillers).

from left to right, north to south:

Pile 1 strength, Pile 2 hanged man, Pile 3 hermit, Pile 4 king of pentacles, Pile 5 6 of cups, Pile 6 7 of pentacles, Pile 7 judgement, Pile 8 the world, Pile 9 3 of pentacles, Pile 10 6 of wands.

-> pile 1

...Baby One More Time (1999)

you're all about soft power! the most important thing in your life is probably your friends, you'd do anything for those you choose to keep in your life and you love going out with them during summer, but you also love getting away from the center of attention to restore your peace, you're quite introspective. right now, you might be living the consequences from your actions, you've accepted it but you're still in suffering - you might have neglected a situation/person in your life or smother it/them out of desperation and now it's gone. you know the pain is temporary and you turn that pain into some beautiful thoughts, your perspective on life might be tinted but it's still somehow bright and beautiful. you might be going through a coming of age experience. you have the spirit of a leader and an ace, you know how to bring everyone together, yet you feel alone, you're looking for someone to be that person for you too, you might have many friends, but you want that special love ^^ your personality is big and people naturally gravitate towards you, you feel loved and loving, you feel you have so much and you just wanna give back to others, you're a really caring, sensitive individual, who uses rational thinking to protect yourself. main character energy.

your theme song:

-> pile 2

Femme Fatale (2011), S&M (Remix) (2011), B In The Mix, The Remixes Vol 2 (2011)

you're comfortable in discomfort, you dance while the world ends, you're both the parent friend and the party friend. you're unafraid and experienced and you have no time to waste on things that don't matter, the world is such an oppressive mess and you think there's no reason why you should let that take part in your chill time. you're someone that doesn't care about romance and you wanna have fun as much as you can, for as long as you can, the only time is now, you live in the present. you're the life of the party but when it's time for business, you take it seriously. you might have some anarchist ideologies, you seem to believe the socioeconomic systems of your modern world steals you of your personal power and ability to be a human, you call for a social awakening and you think there's no pretty way to do it - that might just mean "work is hard so I'm gonna party even harder" - you think being selfish (not self-centered) and not thinking about the future is part of self care. this era was the time when the popular belief was the world would end in 2012, people wanted to enjoy their lives as much as possible.

your theme song:

-> pile 3

Blackout (2007), Britney & Kevin: Chaotic DVD Bonus Audio (2005)

you're super introspective and private, you don't necessarily hide anything, but youre complicated, one would have to pay close attention and take their time to connect the dots and understand your entire vibe. some may think you put yourself in an unnecessarily unfortunate situation, like you have everything to go anywhere you want, but you just stay stuck; others think you are stuck, but you don't realize it, that you think you're powerful, but you're actually childish and delusional; the truth, however, is that you're in a moment of analysis to come up with the best plan before making bigger decisions, you like to wait for the most favorable time to take action. you might not have many friends, but those few close relationships fulfill you more than anything else ever could, they take over your entire heart. your heart is your biggest treasure and is the basis for all your decisions, you've been hurt and lied to in ways that has changed your entire worldview, so you're extra careful now and you may act in ways that others don't understand, you might feel like you're lying to yourself and others too. but you stay true to yourself no matter what, you might have very strong spiritual beliefs that keep you grounded and looking forward to the future, you know that limbo and pain are temporary and you're sure of your capacity to survive them, no matter that anyone says.

your theme song:

-> pile 4

Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), My Only Wish (This Year) (2000)

it's your world and we're just living in it, you feel like your life is a spectacle for people to watch and you have to be on your best behavior at all times. you prefer actions over words, you think people should act on their thoughts and feelings, instead of hiding them, so you worry and ponder a lot about yours. you are great at public speaking because you know how to manipulate reality into your ideals, almost like you have double personality; you've got many people to support you and put you back on the line if you stray from it. you like the feeling of nostalgia, you might think there's no reason to say absolute goodbye to your childhood, that might translate in the way you talk or dress, you're not childish tho, but you like that playful innocence sometimes, it can feel refreshing since you feel like people expect too much from you that you don't even understand. you think other people talk too much about things they don't know and you think it sucks that you still need to find a way to please them somehow, you wish the world was just you and your people.

your theme song:

-> pile 5

Britney (2001)

you're a walking contradiction! you're probably such a hipster!! >:) you love music that is older than you, you care so much what others think of you but you pretend it doesn't bother you at all, and you're very spiritual, but you have your yin/yang energies out of balance. you approach life as if you're stuck, but you know it's a temporary and natural situation, you need to go through that to become stronger, but you still mourn the fact that you can't do anything at this time, it's like having to exercise on a beautiful, sunny day. you're a creative soul but you don't use that creativity to deal with emotions, you wanna get things done, you're more comfortable and productive on a yang energy/way of approaching the world, you wanna be seen as a king, but not a queen (roles and responsibilities). you want everything and then some, you might like to use your material abilities to allow yourself to have many options. you probably have a superiority complex, fucking hipsters 🙄...... you remind me of lorelai gilmore! ;)

your theme song:

-> pile 6

Glory (2020)

you're the goat. you've worked really hard to reap the fruits of your labor, now you deserve to settle down. you dream of a knight in shiny armor - romantically or not, you want someone to take the time to see you in your most human form, you want to bare your soul, to show your dark and lonely side. you might relate to the saying that "it's lonely at the top", you might have everything you wanted, except for this one thing that is out of reach and that might be community, you seem to lack that sense of intimate and close relationships. you're really satisfied with life, you're happy and fulfilled, you have more than you need, there's just this one thing you think "damn, wish I could tap that".

your theme song:

-> pile 7

Britney Jean (2013), Ooh La La (2013), Bangerz (2013), Pretty Girls (2015), The Essential Britney Spears (2013)

you go with the flow and it takes you far. you might have recently ended a very important connection in your life because of sneaky actions and lies. you need no patience anymore, you've done your job, you feel comfortable in yourself, knowing you're not the problem. you think you'd be better if somebody more experienced would show you the way through life, specially if they're a spiritual guide (might be tarot). you wanna be that guide too, you like to share the things you learned with those around you. you think you can't control anything or anyone, except for yourself and you don't try, whatever happens, happens. you might believe in destiny, afterlife, God's plan, free will or karma.

your theme song:

-> pile 8

Circus (2008), The Singles Collection (2009)

you're a god of yourself and your own world, you're on a league of your own, there's no one quite like you, a trendsetter, others may try to copy but they could never get to be as iconic as you. you've been through some really difficult, overwhelming, surreal times, the way you deal with your demons is even more surreal, you're a boss, I lack words to describe how amazing you are. you understand the importance of family and friendships, you put those above any material matters, you're very nurturing, dedicated and you expect the same in return. you are protective of yourself and those close to you and you're ready to fight anyone that disrupts your peace. your grandness transpires into the little things you do, your confidence and amazing, outstanding personality traits shows in your everyday life, even when it's not your best work, it's still better than average. you might lack imagination (or creative control in your work), you like to keep low expectations, you're not used to things going well for you. you are an angel tho.

your theme song:

-> pile 9

In The Zone (2003) + DVD Bonus (2004), Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004), B In The Mix, The Remixes (2005)

you're all about big businesses. you think a lot about the circle of life, you're open to the guidance of those at the top of the hierarchy and you help those who are lower than you, you think people should help people. you don't wanna change anyone, you just wanna do your thing while other people do their thing. you are incredibly magnetic and you might use human instincts to get things done, pretty privilege being an example. there's a feeling of you coming out of the dead, you might have waited a long time for something that you have finally accomplished and you feel like royalty. this is the biggest time of your life (so far), you have that x factor, you're at the top, you wanna enjoy all of life's big and little pleasures and you have the freedom to do so.

your theme song:

-> pile 10

Hold Me Closer (2021), Toxic Pony (2022), ELVIS (2023)

you're a community person, it's people that build you up, you're likely an extrovert that loves to dance, party and travel with friends, you see nobody above nobody - if it was up to you, social hierarchies would be gone completely. this might not be the best time of your life, but you're incredibly hopeful because this moment in the present feels so otherworldly amazing. you feel as one with your environment, connected with everything and everyone. you feel safe to follow your heart because you have people to help you build your stability, you feel like there isn't one ruler above all - you might have recently broken up a deal with quite an important figure in your life, but it only broadened your horizons, like they were a lunar eclipse and you, the sun. your heart is strong and beating faster than ever! oh you're a big deal! super humble but hey you can totally brag!

your theme song:

i love britney spears

#tarot #celebrity tarot reading #celebrity readings #tarot game #free tarot #britney spears #pick a card #pick a deck #pick a picture #pick a pile #pac #pac tarot #Spotify

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imminent-danger-came · 10 months

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Anon chilling on the precipice of madness again, and I’m so glad you liked that last ask! Truly, there is much joy to be found in discussing how much we enjoy (*cough* are dealt immense emotional damage on a daily basis by *cough*) the monkey show. Also, since I apparently can’t stop bugging you, for clarity’s sake I’m going to call myself Unhinged Anon if I submit any future asks lol.

As always you make excellent points, and I am very normal about you bringing up the ‘MK smiling at his reflection’ thing because the motif of reflections in this show (see also: S2E5, S3E4, some others I’m probably missing, and especially S4E1) doesn’t make me even the tiniest bit insane. Nope! Not at all. But this time, it’s actually something you said in the tags that launched my marbles into the stratosphere for me to never find, because now I can’t stop thinking about how badly I want, like… a Sandy spinoff series or something.

And I don’t mean a lore-heavy, epic adventure rich in heavy themes and conflicts like we have in the main series, just with Sandy at the center instead of MK. I want Sandy's series to be almost exclusively season one-style laid back episodes. But the good kind of laid back episodes, you know? Stuff like S1E6&7, that a lot of people dismiss, especially on a first watch, as nothing more than filler but actually serve as a subtle expansion/exploration of characters (“I also summoned monster trees with my stress, so. Should I see a doctor? We’ll worry about that later” still haunts me) and dynamics hidden under the guise of a silly little adventure with funny jokes, great animation, and fairly low stakes.

I want to see what an appointment with Sandy’s therapist looks like, or even just the shenanigans he gets up to during those episodes where he’s mysteriously absent and only Tang seems to notice.

I want to see Sandy teach Tang how to make tea, and maybe nerd out about those theories Sandy mentioned having about the gang's whole deal with the OG Companions.

I want to see Sandy’s endless teddy bear energy clash with Red-wants to seem intimidating but will also grab his new friends warm milk if they ask-Son.

I want to see Wukong forced to have an extended conversation with Sandy, or really anyone from the team that isn’t MK or actively yelling at him, and getting to really see how they work off of each other.

I want to see the secret ‘how do we help our clearly not okay friend?’ talks Mei and Sandy have behind MK’s back whenever he starts acting weird, and all the gossip that goes on during the yoga sessions they start doing together after Mei gets the Samadhi fire.

I want to see Sandy talking with the little girl that LBD possessed, especially since something kind of similar happened to him during season 4, and accidentally becoming her new (and favorite) giant blue uncle.

I want an episode of MK and Sandy hanging out. Just chilling on the boat, playing with Mo, going for a little walk around town until BOOM! Sandy brings MK to his unsuspecting therapist, who’s about to get the most interesting case of their career. And maybe, if we’re allowed a little angst, a discussion about how scary it is to be born with a lot of power that not only can, but will, hurt a lot of people if it isn't carefully controlled. About how they’ve tried, and failed, to avoid causing pain. About wanting to never cause pain, and how the futility of that sentiment almost outweighs the importance of trying anyways.

And above all, I DEMAND a Pigsy-Sandy origin story!

Anyways, this is basically just me edging ever closer to the brink of madness after you accidently inflicted No Thoughts, Only Sandy syndrome upon me with your last response. But, it's also an invitation to gush about Sandy some more, if you want, and also share anything you would want to see in a hypothetical Sandy show!

Unhinged Anon I got you, here's a motif post where I have every MK reflection in the whole show.

AND “I also summoned monster trees with my stress, so. Should I see a doctor? We’ll worry about that later” HAUNTS ME TOO. There's something about the way those shots are set up, cracking from blue to gold:

MK also becoming a "master of focus" in this ep, with focus becoming important later in episodes like 1x09 and 3x11/12 with Mei.

BUT ANON.

Imma use this ask as a spring board for one of my fav personal theories, which is this: OG Sandy, from the original jttw pilgrimage, is also our current day Sandy!

I'll probably throw this into an official theory post later, but for now I'll go into this theory underneath the cut:

First, let's start with 2x08 To Catch a Leaf, during which Sandy has several PTSD flashbacks:

So, the first one is some sort of battlefield, and the second one...

Is of Zhu Bajie?

Now, we know Pigsy has never worn an outfit like this based off of this comment in 4x05:

Pigsy: "Blue ain't really my color, but it beats looking like that monster, Zhu Ganglie."

The Pig Demon in that flashback from 2x08 HAS to be Zhu Bajie of the original jttw pilgrimage. But why would Sandy have a memory like that?

Next is the fact that while everyone else in 4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids is compared to their past life, Sandy notably isn't.

Tang knows friendship, but unlike Tang Sanzang isn't studious.

Mei is bold and brave, but lacks Ao Lie's caution.

Pigsy like Zhu Bajie is stubborn, but he has the heart his predecessor originally lacked.

Yet this is all Subodhi has to say to Sandy:

Subdohi: "You have nothing more to learn my hilariously blue student! Another star for you!" Sandy: "Dooww thank you wise master!" Subodhi: "But! You're far too nice for your own good." Sandy: "Uh huh, you noticed!"

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

It's exceedingly strange that in an episode where Subodhi breaks down everyone's character arcs, Sandy is told he's all good. He has nothing more to learn, and no more character development to go through.

Unless of course...Subodhi quite simply couldn't compare Sandy to his past life because there was no past life to compare him to.

Another detail in s4 that's always intrigued me is how Sandy is brought back to himself from Sha Wujing in 4x06.

Pigsy's heartfelt speech on the legacy of their past lives not defining their current one, or how they're not monsters, doesn't work. It's instead Mo offering Sandy wholehearted love that brings Sandy back:

Which, of course Sandy has a close bond with Mo, but Pigsy's speech wasn't anything to scoff at either:

Pigsy: "No. No! Just cause we look a certain way, cause our monster ancestors were, well, monsters, none of that matters! I won't let his legacy define mine, and neither should you! Your the strongest, the biggest, the bluest guy I know! But all you've ever used those muscles for is to help people in need—your friends. That don't sound like a monster to me." (4x06 Show Me the Monster)

As far as we know, that should have been the exact thing Sandy needed to be freed from his past life, and yet it wasn't.

That would be because, at least under the confines of this theory, the guy Pigsy is saying Sandy wasn't like was indeed who Sandy used to be. Yes, Sandy has far outgrown the person who fought to establish his own place in the world, learning that "hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength". But here's the thing, who you used to be matters. Unlike Pigsy's relationship with Zhu Bajie, Sandy's relationship with who he was in the past can't as easily be written off. It's still a part of him.

There are also certain other details. like the fact that Sandy knows his way to Flower Fruit Mountain in "A Hero is Born", or how he's so knowledgeable on ancient powerful remedies like the crimson jimson weed. Of course these details could be chalked up to plot convenience—which is by no means a flaw or complaint—but I've always wondered if there was anything more to it.

But, Sandy's more laid back reaction to most things has always intrigued me, and it would re-contextualize certain scenes like this one from 2x10 in a fun way:

Pigsy: "No! What could have been so important that you'd leave MK alone to face that- that thing! You're supposed to be his mentor-"

Sandy: "ENOUGH!" "I think we should give Mr. Monkey King, a chance to explain."

(2x10 This is the End!)

Of course with this theory comes a few questions, like why Sandy didn't meet the same fate as the other pilgrims, or why he wouldn't let Sun Wukong know he was alive, or why he would bother to pretend he wasn't the OG Sha Wujing at all. And honestly? I don't have an answer to these questions!

But what I do know is that Sandy's friends are greatly important to him-

Sandy: "Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength—took me a really long time to realize that. As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me. Cause at the end of the day, helping my friends is more important than anything else in the world!" (2x08 To Catch a Leaf)

-and losing them would affect him greatly.

Whatever happened to the og jttw crew, that could very easily be the reason Sandy was "the most dangerous, deadly, rage filled warrior [Pigsy] ever [knew]". Based off of that 2x08 Zhu Bajie flashback, Sandy could very well have watched his friend die.

But, now that Sandy has his friends back in his life? Of course he's going to do whatever he can for them!

Which would include anything from making tea to breaking his vow to never fight again.

And please for the love of god give us a Pigsy - Sandy origin story. I'm begging. WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY MAN. WHY DID PIGSY KNOW HOW TO COMMIT A JAILBREAK.

#that slice of life sandy show sounds so comfy #I would love to learn about the sanctity of quiet moments and daily life with my favorite blue thing!#Also MK get's therapy pog #anyways *plays Sandy's ''anything for pigsy'' in my mind over and over again*#So if the stars aligned and BOTH og Sandy is current Sandy and eamk were true #Which is unlikely. BUT PRETENDING FOR A MOMENT IT COULD HAPPEN #The dream would be for Sandy to share what he learned with MK.#Like. How he got from ''I am a monster! That's what the world wants me to be—so that's what I'm gonna give 'em!'' to #''Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength'' and just wanting to have some tea with his friends #Either way clearly Sandy has some expertise on the subject of being a chaotic destructive force. HE CAN HELP MK OKAY #HE HAS GUIDANCE AND WISDOM TO SHARE #SANDY MK TRAINING ARC WHEN #I need Sandy to meditate with MK at least once alright #Which may never happen and that's okay. But I can dream!#asks #lmk theory #lmk #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk sandy #Still chasing the high of 2x03 where Sandy and MK made tea together #unhinged anon

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demonslayedher · 1 year

Text

Things that went through my mind while watching this episode:

--I think this was the episode that converted a lot of people who were on the fence about Uzui, that scene with Hinatsuru is just so tender that people cannot help but feel for him. The way they animate his fingers moving as Hinatsuru talks because their resting on her chin is such a nice detail. And then we get him pumped back up by the good news that he's found one of his wives alive, and we get that skid and change in direction the roof. So good!! So cool!!

--On that note, I'm just going to jump to the end of the episode because this episode was a very flashy Uzui sandwich. I think that given that we see Makio & Suma more often interacting with each other and Hinatsuru steals the spotlight for drama gives people the impression that she's the favorite or something like that, which makes me a bit sad because I read him as loving and cherishing all of them in different but egalitarian ways. All three are his most important treasures, and unfortunately we see Makio & Suma's immature sides come out most around him, and he seems to baby them in a way different from how he treats Hinatsuru like more of an equal (even though we see in this opening scene that she still speaks like someone subservient to him--that ninja training runs deep). Makio, though, I like that we get her flashback, as it brings out a very different, contemplative, sometimes anxious side of her character which keeps her from just being the hot-blooded one or something like tat. It's not a side she can show to just anyone, but someone as mature as Hinatsuru can draw it out. Suma, though? Let her be a simple bimbo. I love her. She's my favorite. She's adorable and I never get tired of seeing her crying as she tears a kunai through the obi.

--Right! That end of the episode! Uzui's grand entrance and twirling the swords around just to show off (he and Shinobu may relate to each other more than they think), and the perfect placement of a catchphrase. Fine!! Yes!!! I like the catchphrase now!!! I hated it more than anything at the Pillar Meeting, but yes, YES, GIVE ME UZUI TENGEN-SAMA!!!!

--Back to Tanjiro!! I forgot how long this one-on-one fight with Daki took and accidentally queued up my Nezuko reblogs too early. Nezuko is still just hanging out in her box as Tanjiro turns off the Water Breath and turns on the Hinokami Kagura and flashbacks enough to the last four months to show us that he's been working at using it better--and that he's realized his limits to Water Breath. In general, I find these flashbacks to totally unbeforeseen content in the mist of battle distracted and generally not good writing advice for how it cuts into the flow of a scene, but I have also totally come to accept this as a signature piece of KnY's storytelling style. And we aren't even done yet with Tanjiro's flashbacks for this solo battle against Daki! With all these reflections, though, it's really nice to get that foreshadowing for more Haganezuka content, especially Daki's accusation that Haganezuka isn't much of a swordsmith (and he faces criticism too), and Tanjiro's insistence that it's him abusing the sword. He has always fully believed that everything that happened to his swords is his own fault for using them roughly. (And gosh, that context and comparison against someone who uses Water Breath damn near perfectly makes it all the more startleing how Akaza will later very easily break Giyuu's sword in two.) Speaking of swords, BOYS WITH SWORDS!!! BOYS PLAYING WITH SWORDS!!! Zenitsu handling his sword in a context other than the brief moments he's using Thunderclap and Flash, placing it on the ground the way you're supposed to, so unlike Inosuke who doesn't care for proper sword use whatsoever. Thank you, Ufotable!! Thank you for this filler!!

--Speaking of foreshadowing, if Tanjiro's already been maintaining fever over days at a time this whole time, this gives us lots of juicy stuff to analyze about his mark. Perhaps can interpret the damage done to the human body (and the reason all those Sengoku demon hunters died by the age of 25) as being due to the sudden increase in temperature and heart rate, but with Hinokami Kagura techniques, Tanjiro's been able to find a more sustainable way of doing it so his body is more prepared to draw on that power. I wonder, then, did he subconsciously start to do this during the Final Selection, and that's why the scar changed? Also, I believe that Tanjuro's general weakness is do to long-term sustained damage of performing Hinokami Kagura imperfectly, in a way that put stress on his body before he mastered the proper Breathing technique. Which is all to say, it makes me ponder that Tanjiro may have more years than he's assumed to, but he probably will decline in a similar way as his father.

--BUT HEY ALSO, there's imperfect knowledge and hearsay passed down from the Sengoku era about how, like, "swordsmen with black swords can't advance (because they got kicked out)" so maybe that "dead by 25" thing was a matter of looking at patterns and also counting all the guys who happened to get killed in battle? And sure, maybe enough of them dropped dead to lead to conclusions??? I'm looking for whatever hope we can for Giyuu and Sanemi, let me dig with a tiny spoon as I like.

--Anyway! We also get this beautiful, "moyase… moyase… kokoro o moyase!!!" line from Tanjiro. Yes, please.

--And all this reflection from Tanjiro about how he won't allow anyone else to go through the pain that he and other members of the Demon Slayer Corps have with losing people to the violence of demons. That's great, Tanjiro, but you're about to witness a huge failure to do so.

--Ok… so… Inosuke's scene going Homer Simpson through that tunnel is… not one of my favorites. I appreciate that he and the obi found each other mutually gross. Go ahead, keep calling her the Worm Woman, Inosuke. You're the worm, though.

--THAT MOMENT INOSUKE KICKS HIS SWORDS TO HAVE THEM BOOMERANG BACK INTO HIS HANDS, IT'S SO FLASHY, I CANNOT

--This scene down in the food cellar reminds me of the Chinese idiom, "The Eight Immortals Cross The Sea," meaning everyone shows up their individual talents and strengths. Here we've got Inosuke doing it, Makio & Suma doing it, Zenitsu doing it, and then The God of Festivities himself. So much flamboyant fun! That Zenitsu's upside-down twirl, my gosh, he's totally writing that into the Legend of Zenitsu.

--I love it when Inosuke realizes he's in over his head in battle, though. Recognizing he's in a tight spot because he can't fight the obi while also protecting the humans, and that if this isn't the actual body, then there will be no end to fighting there. It makes it so gratifying when Makio & Suma step in to help.

--Okay, but also to sandwich this post… Uzui is totally back in his proper flamboyant mode after being so happy to see Makio & Suma are alive and kicking--especially kicking butt. Relief seems to be a big part of it, but his wives truly are a source of strength and joy for him. Having reunited with all three of them, everything is once again right in his world and it's time to do the butt-kicking in his own flashy way!!

#kny rewatch #my art #uzui tengen #uzui hinatsuru #uzui makio #uzui suma

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recurring-polynya · 1 year

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If you could pick just six Bleach characters for the story to focus on, who would they be?

Not sure how anyone could ask me this and think the answer was not going to be the Six Hearts crew, but the answer is, in fact, the Six Hearts crew.

For the most part, I really like Bleach the way it is. I am not a beefer with canon. At least for the first half to two-thirds of it, I find that Bleach has just about an optimal mix of main character focus to interesting side character ratio. I like that it sprawls. I like that a lot of side characters have really rich and interesting back stories that the main narrative gives you little bites of, but leaves the rest to the imagination and/or filler materials. I like stories that give you a lot of space to write fanfiction.

Now, the back half of the Winter War and nearly all of the TYBW did, in my opinion, sprawl too much. The Fake Karakura Town arc used up all my patience with the pillar fights and I spent the rest of it going "get back to Hueco Mundo, already." I definitely would have liked the TYBW to focus more on the core group of characters.

On the whole, though, I like that core the way it is. To be honest, it wouldn't be Bleach in any other way.

Ichigo is the heart of Bleach. His struggles are the themes of the narrative. He is not an everyman character. He is someone who cares so much about the world that he wants to save everyone, but at the same time, he understands and fears the weight of that obligation. His ability to empathize with his enemies-- his inability not to-- is what sets him apart from every other shounen protagonist.

Sometimes I see fanfic where someone else gets stabbed and given shinigami powers other than Ichigo and it's always worse. The only character I accept being swapped in for him is Orihime, and, frankly, that only works in a fanfiction, meta-narrative context, primarily because you need a much better depth of character to be a really good love interest, and I don't think Ichigo has what it takes. Orihime does, though! All of the forces in Bleach pull Ichigo toward the path of battle, but Orihime's stalwart pacifism and unwavering belief in him are the strings that tie him to the world, that keep him human.

I suppose you could swap out one of Ichigo's other school friends for some other member of the Six Hearts crew and probably have it still be okay, but I wouldn't, because their existing dynamic is perfect to me. Uryuu is Ichigo's Classic Shounen foil, but he legitimately challenges him constantly and forces him to think critically about what he's doing. Chad is so full of love and heart and birds land on him like a Disney princess. He is there to balance everyone else's manic energy, except that he's only marginally more thoughtful than the rest of them, so he does not interfere with the general air of stupidity. A lot of people wish Tatsuki had gotten powers. While I don't love the way she is sort of left hanging, I am not sure that she would improve the dynamic. Perhaps it's because she isn't given powers, but she always seems to represent fear to me, the sort of bad-side of attachments that prevents the sorts of leaps of faith the other characters are so inclined towards. The Six Hearts crew being made up of objectively smart people who make absolutely idiotic decisions based on their hearts is the crux of Bleach, and I think Tatsuki brings sort of a rational energy that really dampens the mood.

Rukia is Rukia. Rukia is The Character of All Time. Rukia is the catalyst that sets all else in motion. The other reason that I don't really like Bleach main character swaps is because the decision to illegally give all her powers to some kid she just met, using a maneuver that she probably read in the appendix of a textbook somewhere and involves stabbing him is not a thing most people would do. It is a thing Rukia would do. The way Rukia trains Ichigo and the things she expects from him and the things she expects from herself and from Soul Society are fundamental to the narrative. Rukia stays.

There are many people that would argue for swapping Renji out of the core cast, but I think, for the sake of Rukia's character, it is absolutely essential that there's another shinigami character along for the ride. Rukia is friends with the Karakura kids, but she is not one of them. She is not a teen. She is an undead adult who has deep ties to Soul Society and the Gotei. The culmination of her character arc all ties to Soul Society: becoming vice-captain and then captain, making bankai, earning her brother's acceptance, reconciling with her childhood friend/love interest. Several of the anime filler arcs have her living in Ichigo's closet again and hanging out with the kids, and I think her character suffers for that.

Anyway, thinking over other shinigami characters, there's no one I would pick over Renji. He fits right into the rest of the crew, both powers and personality-wise. He's cool and strong and good-looking, but he's also a simp for Rukia, and Rukia deserves that. Also, he's a high-ranking Gotei officer, which is often convenient for plot purposes. Most importantly, he is my chief blorbo and I love him, the end.

#six hearts beat as one

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myjustice · 4 months

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[ lie ] sender catches receiver in a lie (from neuvi)

oh! why, why, why. why, why, why-!

why the hell did she say the opera epiclese for?! she could have told him any other location than the one location she knew he made common visits to if only to do a check up of the place. she could have said she had a surprise interview she said yes to the steambird or that she was going to do a meet & greet with her fans or that she decided to take a round around the court of fontaine, but no! no, she had to say that she was rehearsing for some play that had yet to be properly accepted as a performance in the opera house because guess who's in the know of that entire process? neuvillette!

okay, she acknowledged that she panicked, she was merely not expecting him to ask or have noticed her absence worthy enough to question her about it. she had to do something quick, she had to think something fast. if he wasn't in this room with her she would be biting her nails at this time as she pondered & weighed out her options here, but furina was always quick on her feet. she counted her lucky stars that her back was facing him as she recomposed herself & slipped back into character. she couldn't tell neuvillette the truth, it wasn't something she could afford, & it was a truth that weighed heavy on her shoulders every day that was the truth, but she made a promise & the lives of so many were hanging in the balance & if she got caught then they would ... then they would ...

' you truly never disappoint, my dear iudex! ' she suddenly blurted out like a woman who swelled with pride. she turned to face him properly, chin held high, with a smile so proud & satisfied like she was expecting him to question her in the first place. ' i was merely testing you, of course! ' she held her arms out like the experienced leading lady that she was, putting on her show. ' i just wanted to make sure & verify, verifying is very important ' she insisted lightly ' that you did go check up on the opera epiclese tis all. n-not that i had any doubt in it of course, you are a fine gentleman, but every now & then you know i just need to do my due diligence as well. ' she flipped one of her strands of long hair with a haughty huff. the truth of the matter was, furina was away longer than expected because she had met up with a couple of her agents, those she sends in secret to navigate & study the rising waters around fontaine & with them she brainstormed just what it was that they could possibly do to combat them & if they were plausible & sound ones furina would bring it up to neuvillette in her ... peculiar manner of bringing things up as the hydro archon.

all of this ... all of this ridiculousness fodder & filler were things she could shave off if she could simply be honest with him. perhaps then the strides towards saving fontaine wouldn't be so ... mediocre to furina. ' very good, my dear iudex, very good. you pass! ' she forced a cheer & smile.

meme. / @guhamun

#guhamun #&. chapter. ( focalors! your archon! )#oh lord lkfg #thank you so much for this!

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the-judicial-assistants-notebook · 4 months

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So in the ask Tumblr ate I said

So I too have problems with the Apollo trilogy. So I will list them. But I don't wanna be too negative so I will list positives of the other games.

Apollo Justice sees Phoenix get character assassinated and how come NO ONE DECIDED TO HELP HIM GET HIS BADGE BACK!? Also the magic panties jokes just make me uncomfortable, especially since Trucy is a minor

Dual Destinies had one case that is discount Big Top (I hate game Big Top as much as the next guy, but I was introduced to Ace Attorney via the Anime where it was amazing) and Turnabout Academy, where we find out that parents of a student have been bribing the teachers to give the student good grades without the student knowing. Um...THAT ALREADY HAPPENED!? WHY IS THAT NOT ACKNOWLEDGED!?

Spirit of Justice has amazing concepts executed poorly. That's also why it's my favorite of the Apollo Trilogy. I love media with missed potential. I like rewriting

Now for postives

The first Ace Attorney everything felt grounded and nessasary. No case felt like filler.

JFA has Farewell my Turnabout. Excellent case and I love fictional kidnapping plots. It was so emotional

TandT. Mia's first case, adorable Phoenix, the first non-murder case (though it turns to murder), my favorite defendant (Ronnie!), Iris x Phoenix, more Fey clan drama, Godot, Miego, AN EXCORISM IN THE COURT!???? I LOVE THAT GAME!!!!

Investigations! Flashback case! Mini ziska protecting Miles from her father by diverting his ire. Miles getting attacked by Kay. Franziska wanting a Swiss roll but not admitting it! SIBLING INTERACTIONS!

Investigations 2! The only appearance of my favorite Ace Attorney character, Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, known as Sebastian Debeste in the fan translation. Great character development for most characters, long cases, playable Gregory Edgeworth! Also I like to believe after the events of the game Hakari Mikagami remains Yumihiko's mother figure and Edgey becomes his father figure. But this game you constantly felt in danger, and you faced dangerous people. And there was a kidnapping plot! Logic chess is amazing and KAY AND EDGEWORTH ARE PRECIOUS! If not father and daughter than brother and sister

Bonus!

In Project X Zone 2, Phoenix just wants to go home. He can't because a Bounty Hunter will kill him. He is one of like, three sane characters, the other being Reiji Arisu (original to the X series) and Chrom (Fire Emblem)

Maya is HERE for the action! She says M. Bison has a butt chin TO HIS FACE! She is having waaaay to much fun!

Apparently during the trial, Phoenix had to tell Majima not to punch the judge

Lastly, I leave you with this offical art by Fire Emblem: Awakening's lead artist

2/2 Oh I forgot to add. I played the fan translation of The Great Ace Attorney and loved it. Best depiction of Sherlock Holmes

Responding under the cut so this doesn't get insanely long!!

My issues with AJ tend to be more from the standpoint that I find the cases to be slightly poorly constructed and uninteresting personally and less that I dislike the characters/characterisation of preexisting characters. I get where the character assassination viewpoint comes from, but I don't really agree/mind it very much. Phoenix has shown many instances where he will close himself off from his friends and simply refuse to talk because it hurts him too much to do so (not telling Maya what's up in JfA springs to mind immediately, but there's also the whole Dahlia/Iris debacle that happened which he just never brings up), so I think AJ Phoenix is just that pushed to the extreme. He's also got that tendency to mimic people he's around a lot, and we know he was hanging out with Kristoph very often during that time, so I think he picked up much of his slippery, oblique nature from him as well. Plus, he's been shown to go through extreme personality shifts; it's not that strange to me to think he'd have one when his life was falling apart around him. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not huge into AJ Phoenix, but while I may not like him very much, I do understand where it comes from. He wasn't even meant to be in the game at first so like. Eh. I'm mostly just glad he's still around.

As for the no one helping him get his badge back thing, I think they were trying to help. But the whole Dark Age of the Law thing doesn't happen in isolation; a failing legal system affects an entire society, so while I think his friends were trying to assist him as best they could, and as much as they would let him (because Phoenix isn't the type to readily accept help either. It has to do with that whole being closed off thing he does, and you can't really help someone who won't let you/doesn't want to be helped. At the end of the day, Phoenix is an adult and allowed to live his life as best as he sees fit), they probably had their own issues to figure out. As the future Chief Prosecutor, Edgeworth definitely would have been caught up in the entire mess that was the Dark Age and likely would have had too many more pressing cases to handle to really dedicate his time to Phoenix's plight. Phoenix probably decided it'd be faster and better for everyone if he took care of it in his own way. It's heavily implied that Edgeworth did help with the whole Mason system that comes in at the end of AJ, so I think they were probably working on it together in the background of the games anyway. I don't have much to say about the magic panties gag, that shit is weird, you're right HAHAH I don't think anyone who's played the game has found it funny so like ??? Don't know why it's there, don't like it, next.

I actually don't mind Big Top tbh; I think it has many interesting themes about secrecy, grief and responsibility. It's just a little long and has some WEIRD decisions made character-wise. The only thing I remember about DD's version is Trucy weeping, and Phoenix failing to fly back to be with her though she's been arrested (this is the bigger character assassination imo. Wtf, Phoenix. Even if you'd be late for the trial, you could still fly home). Shockingly enough, I liked Academy (in comparison to the rest of DD anyway). It's the single case which I actually found a semblance of enjoyment from in DD; it was funny and largely inoffensive, if not much else. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they were fine reusing Sebastian's backstory because it didn't play /that/ huge of a role in AAI2 and because AAI2 was never officially localised and therefore would be less popular/well known. I'm not particularly surprised; they've done worse than reuse a plotline.

SoJ is a complete mess in my opinion, but I'm glad you liked it <3

Mmhm, yeah, full agree on the original trilogy. It's great. Same with Investigations 1; I adored every single character introduced in that game. I thought it was super fun. I largely dislike the adjustment made in Kay and Edgeworth's relationship in AAI2, but I've spoken about that at length, so I won't go into it here. I found AAI2 slightly draggy and chaotic at times, but I get why people love it, and I really liked Sebastian and Justine. It was a lot more high stakes than usual, and I love that we got to see more of the prison system and the like, that was cool. It's a good one. I like it.

... Phoenix is being hunted by a bounty hunter?? Poor man can't catch a break. CHROM??? FEA CHROM????? Omg, it's him. Omg. I love you, Chrom. AND LUCINA!!!!! LUCINA, MY DAUGHTER!!!!!! That's soooo cute haha. This game seems like loads of fun. I like it so much.

#asks for the notebook #thank you for taking the time to resend it <3

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rocksandmirrors · 1 year

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I SCREAMED SO MUCH AND GOT TOLD TO STFU AND SLEEP

So much small foreshadowing and references

The “boring fillers” from season one actually foreshadowing-

Body swap: Titan Luz

Carnival ep: “I loaf you”

The puppet episode: Hexsquad puppets

The rat thing kicking Tinela Nosa out of small crack in all being a reference(??) to when she kicked the rat thing out of that same place to escape boiling rain

-🔮

i hope you don't mind if i group all your asks into one post, you sent a lot of them and i don't wanna spam agshads (which isn't a bad thing tho!! when i said you could spam me about WAD i meant it, i'm just doing this out of convenience <3)

but yeah right!!! every single episode was important imo, even if there's a couple of them i don't enjoy as much they're still here not only for foreshadowing, but also for worldbuilding, character development, relationship development, etc and i HATE when ppl go "uuuh this is filler actually therefore it's useless" you don't know what you're talking about but go off </3

(i don't remember a puppet episode specifically tho, which one are you referring to??)

Raine is so op it's INSANE, like they can take on Belos despite being 1 exhausted from the draining spell 2 MIND CONTROLLED TWICE. i love them so much but damn i would never try to get on their bad side AND YEAH THE RAEDA. OUUUGHOGUHOU WE GOT FED

no but their friendship means so much to me. they're so goofy and cute i want a series about them just hanging out together

and unfortunately i don't think so </3 i expected like at least seeing them interact in the time-ship- like, without dialogues yk?? OR HAVE THEM IN THE SAME SHOT AT THE VERY LEAST AHJSAS GIVE ME MY FAVORITE BROS but yeah he's looking kinda cool ngl!! i think his mustache is real, he would have conjured up a full-on beard if he used illusion magic :')) the one he has rn is a little too ridiculous. i like his new outfit too

and yeah tbh?? that's what she deserves. the fact that she could use magic too to levitate whatever she needed to carry is just. my girl is a mess HASAJHD

oh yeah totally!! didn't catch that at first, i thought this was just a throwback to what King had said, but when i watched the episode a second time i just froze like WAIT A SECOND NOW. anyway bigender!Papa Titan for the win

VEE IS WORKING IT. the piercings, the long hair, the outfit like HELLO??? i'm sooo happy she's comfortable enough to visit the BI again too!!!

yeah i was so excited to see Darius and Eberwolf back to normal!!! it cracked me up how Darius asked about Hunter's shirt but not about his scars, but i think he knew what had happened and didn't want to bring it up just yet

and yeah i noticed that too!! i'm so relieved they found a way to remove the sigils, i thought they were gonna be stuck with them

YES. IM SO HAPPY THEY MANAGED TO FIT THAT IN. i'm not latino so idk how important it is, but i've seen a few fans hoping to see Luz's quinceañera and i'm so glad it actually happened <3

REAL. they're canon to me, in fact they were already dating during the time-skip

jokes aside, just like their reunion in FTF we all really thought they'd at least blush at each other or something GHASDADS us gustholosers never learn from our mistakes huh

FUCK YEAH. I NEED TO DRAW OR WRITE ABOUT STEP PARENT RAINE WHO HANGS OUT WITH LUZ AND KING AND THE REST OF THE KIDS <3 i love them so much

#whoo that's a lot lol #not tagging shit tho i'm tired #i'm gonna lie down and write a little i think #thanks for sending me your thoughts!!!!#oracle anon

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fracktastic · 1 year

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For the Writer's Ask Game:

2 and 11, please? :)

11 first since it's easier. I really don't write many true OCs, and when I do, they're really just filler - they have a job to do, do it, and go away. I've written expanded versions of some very minor characters, and that's probably the closest I can think of. Either Maya or Marcie, as I've witten them, would be fun to hang out with. Marcie never actually appears on screen and Maya's got like... 2 lines, so not really enough to base a character on. The versions of them that I write are based on people I know in real life and have taken road trips with, so they'd be pretty safe choices.

2 is below the break

Awareness creeps back slowly. She is aware of musty, damp air that is cool on her face. She is cocooned in blankets and, she senses, near the floor - perhaps on a makeshift pallet. Laying on her side, she reaches out slightly, finds the edge of the thin mattress and reaches down mere inches to touch what feels like dirt. How strange…

She cracks her eyes open only slightly. Through the blurring shroud of her eyelashes, her eyes reveal an earthen room, windowless, and lit by a flickering lantern. She does not know where she is, but she can guess that it is an improvement.

She opens her eyes wider. Her vision is still blurred, she realizes. Even without her glasses, she expects greater clarity. She senses this should bother her, but a deep grogginess envelops her. She does not care, and lets her head sink back into the meager pillow.

When she rouses again, her vision is clearer. She glances around the room, wide-eyed, looking for clues. She sees a rifle propped against the muddy wall, barrel pointed upward and, puzzlingly, an IV bag hanging from an apparatus at the muzzle. Something to do with the flash, she suspects, and wonders if Lee would be proud of her deduction.

Irrationally overcome with the tableau, she lets out a nervous, spaced out giggle as she traces the line of the IV bag with her eyes until it disappears under her blankets.

At the edge of her vision, she notices movement and quickly looks over, suddenly aware of the seated figure leaned up against the far wall of the room.

“Laura?” the voice asks, “you awake?”

She struggles to place the voice. It seems so familiar. She should know it, must know it. The sound of that voice sets loose a swirling of emotions in her gut. Safety. Suspicion Mistrust. Respect.

The figure stirs from its recumbent position against the far wall, moves into a crouch and comes nearer to her. Zarek, she recognizes after a moment.

“Frak,” she mumbles, bringing a hand to her head. It feels like someone’s drive a nail through her temple. She closes her eyes again and gives a slight nod, though the motion seems to send her brain seems to be sloshing around in her skull. She bites her lip, stifling a groan.

“Do you know where you are?” he asks.

She frowns. “Underground?” she asks after a moment. With no windows and earthen floors, it seems like a fair bet. It looks like a mineshaft, or perhaps a lightly developed section of cave.

He nods, “We’re somewhere under the city. I didn’t get a good look on the way in.”

“How long?” she asks.

“About a day, I think. They brought you down an hour or two after I got here.”

“They?”

“The resistance. Sam, I think, was the one that found you and Kara.”

“And you?”

“Some of the grunts busted me out when they went through the prison. They had you two somewhere else.”

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thestobingirlie · 1 year

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I agree with you on the way you assigned the kids to the teens, but Max was really admiring Nancy in s3/4 to the point where she went to get help first at her house. But then why didn't Nancy get a letter from her. It's so unfortunate we only get to see the characters hang out for a week full of stress. Bring back longer seasons with fillers because that's what we deserve. But yeah Nancy doesn't even really hang out with her own brother, I don't see her spending much time with them outside Upside Down business. Steve on the other way gives off the vibes that the kids go to him when they want something, like a ride, free ice cream, free movies, etc and he begrudgingly goes along with it. It's crumbs in canon, wish the show would elaborate further but taking away his relationship with them especially Lumax, Dustin and Erica is just wrong. Like it or not but he's their assigned babysitter.

i can’t think of anything with nancy and max in s3, tho it’s been a while, and yeah, we get a scene when max watched nancy saw the shotgun, but like you said! these are times of crisis. whereas max leaves steve a letter, she and the other kids manipulate him into giving them free shit when the world isn’t ending. it is very explicitly clear who they’re closer to.

and obviously i’m not saying you can’t want nancy to have a closer dynamic with the kids, nor am i stopping you from writing it! but the way people try and say that there is anything in canon that says nancy is closer to them than steve is, is insane to me. like, have we been watching the same show?

and literally, the junkyard four are so important to me, to drag lumax and erica away from steve? ew.

(and yes!! bring back filler episodes. how was s4 so long and we still got fuck all?)

#steve harrington #max mayfield #nancy wheeler #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #stranger things #asks #anon

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join-the-club-weve-got-jackets · 2 years

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Some Thoughts on Cobra Kai and Writing

Just something I've been thinking about since watching the new season yesterday. This would probably be more coherent if I wasn't writing on my phone, but here we go.

Even though my own stories stay in my head rather than put on paper, I really love writing and the art of (good) storytelling. I will take a character-driven story over some flashy, hollow, plot-driven story any day of the week. You obviously need a plot and setting to tell the story, and a good one certainly can elevate a story to a new level, but characters are what people connect to. So many shows today have gotten so plot-driven and have so many characters, that it's just one thing after another happening with no down time to give the characters any chance to meaningfully react to these events. Or there are just too many characters to balance in the first place, so some of them get the shaft. And so many people will complain about filler episodes where they say nothing happens. But honestly I would love it for so many of my shows to just have that down time and those quiet moments where the characters get to react, to talk, to spend time together, and just to be.

Cobra Kai seems to be going down that same route as so many of the other shows I've loved. It's all about amping everything up

and bringing in new people and having the plot drive the characters rather than the characters driving the plot. They leave out so many important character/transitional/reactionary moments in the story. There'll either be some throwaway line about something important or it's just never mentioned because we're just supposed to assume some details. And like I get that not everything needs to be shown, or can be shown due to the constrictions of the medium. But it just makes things feel so much more shallow and unearned and takes some of my interest out of the story.

This season, for example, had a lot of ups and downs. I'm still processing everything so I'm not here to give my full analysis or judgment on the season. But one thing I really liked was the moments where we got to see the kids just hanging out and talking again outside of any training or karate wars. They just got to do teen stuff again. It took me back to the better, simpler days of seasons 1 and 2 where karate was an integral aspect of the show, but it wasn't the whole show. It was a story about the two guys from TKK as adults and how they connect to a new generation of kids, with karate being the thing that brought them together. The show back then cared so much more about the story they were telling and the characters they were bringing/returning to life. And you could see that in the simple moments of the characters just hanging out and talking and having time and space to react to things.

Most of my examples here are gonna be about Robby since he's my favorite. So many details of his story are just left out or treated as unimportant in these last few seasons. We're just supposed to assume and be told things rather than actually see them. Back in season 4, they show nothing about his living situation beyond showing he was still sleeping at the dojo in ep 1. Then in ep 8 we get Shannon coming out of nowhere talking about Robby living with her now. Like we saw nothing about Shannon getting out of rehab, her going to get Robby, her reaction to his living situation, or even Robby moving back in with her. They didn't even get a scene together. Seasons 1 and 2 did a good job showing us how shitty Robby's home life was, because they actually cared about those details back then. But now we get next to nothing. That goes for his schooling too.

Now in season 5, we still didn't get any sort of interaction between Robby and Shannon, or a scene between them and Johnny, which has never happened on the show. We didn't get to see anything about how Johnny asked Robby and Shannon about the Mexico trip. On a side note, we also get some lame cop-out reason for why Carmen didn't go find Miguel herself. Or why she should trust her dumbass bf who doesn't even speak the language to go get her son. But her characterization is a whole other problem I don't have time to go into. We got like a very brief, superficial moment of Johnny apologizing to Robby. But that's it. They don't have any deep, meaningful conversations about mending their relationship beyond that...at least not on screen. We're just supposed to assume everything's okay now and Robby's all good and just gonna accept everything now. As if he was the problem in their relationship. It's just erasing the whole story they've told and giving Johnny a free pass on all the BS he's put Robby through.

After Mexico, we never get to see the obviously tense and awkward ride home with Johnny, Robby, and now Miguel. We're just told it was a quiet ride home. We don't get to see Robby's reaction to staying with Johnny for the summer rather than going to his (previously unmentioned) grandparents' cabin with Shannon. There's nothing showing us how Robby reacted when he came into Johnny's apartment and saw how much he'd cleaned it up and wondering why. And even though I'm pretending this storyline isn't happening, we get such an OOC reaction from Robby (and everyone but Johnny) about the baby. You're telling me this kid who felt thrown away by his dad his whole life, who has wanted nothing more than his dad's love and attention, and who is just finally at the start of mending their relationship, isn't going to have some conflicting feelings about this? He's just automatically happy? And just the way Johnny went about telling the boys too. If they were gonna go that route, the right thing for Johnny to do as a parent would be to sit Robby down and have a real conversation between the two of them about how he's feeling. But that would involve Johnny caring about Robby as a person and for Robby to be allowed to have actual, realistic feelings that aren't just rage or easy acceptance, which the writers aren't doing anymore.

Then just one of the last things that bothered me writing/character-wise was toward the last scene with everyone outside of the CK dojo. Now I am not a parent, and don't ever intend to be one, but like my first reaction to that scene would be rushing to find my kid. You know they were just in this huge, dangerous fight. There are cops and ambulances on site. My first priority would be finding my kid to check on them and see if they're okay. I get that some of the adults also needed urgent medical attention. But besides that, I don't think we see a single interaction between any of the parents and their kids. It's all just adult interactions and then kid interactions. When what I wanna see is an obviously beat-up Johnny, pushing away the other adults trying to get him to an ambulance, because he needs to see Robby first and make sure he's okay.

I know that may be nitpicky, but it's realistic and it's the small kind of details that I like to see in the characters and relationships I care about. There are actors who will give us these little moments on their own even when the script doesn't, and I appreciate that to no end. But when we don't get these realistic reactions or interactions in the actual writing, it just takes me right out of the story. I want to see those looks between/toward other characters, the signs of affection (physical or otherwise) that people in those relationships would have. It just goes so much more towards creating characters we love and can root for. So like stop trying to up the ante and just go back to making the story about the characters please.

#personal #cobra kai #ck spoilers #wow this turned into an essay #i was not intending this #but i guess i had more feelings than i initially thought #ck meta #*mine

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lewyn-martell · 1 year

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hi!!! wanted to comment, I love your goals about Daemon and Viserys. Truth be told, if you had been totally explicit about the romance love Daemon feels for Viserys it would have made their relationship on the show even more interesting and Daemon as a character instead of just being a misogynist, which he is! but it gives his character more depth. I get the feeling Daemon wants to go back to the days of the conquest but with Viserys by his side. We already know he likes chaos, he likes to conquer but not rule I wish it was canon in the books!

Hope you have a nice day, I look forward to reading more of your analysis 🥰

Hello! Thank you for your lovely message!

Oh, I wish they had been just a little bit more explicit and brave about it, but honestly, this is me being selfish. Because what I actually want is that there was just enough punch to actually reach people.

I know I complained about it, back in the tags of my first reblogged HOTD post, that they should have leaned into it even more, but I have actually grown fond of things as they are. Besides, I was only a few episodes into the show and with a huge Daemyra cloud hanging over my head (at that point, the ship was everywhere and being sold as this mad desire love story soulmate There's Only the Two of Us thing).

So every mild reference to it, I just thought: "oh, ok so this is meant simply to be about Daemyra" without much further contemplation because I was only watching HOTD as a time filler. But if you care to look, there isn't much space to run regarding Daemon's wants. By genuinely taking in his character arc in the entire season, without crying "OOC!", it all points to and engage with the same core desire that the writers made him say out loud in the first episode. It was strong enough to make me pay attention to it, someone who was only watching the show casually and who doesn't even care too much for m/m dynamics in fiction and cared even less for Daemon as a character.

Ultimately, I don't mind (in fact, I prefer) that you have to work a little bit to see it all and ascribe a romantic aspect or even sexuality to it. That's part of the fun of engaging with media. Not everything needs to be obvious and some ambiguity can enrich a text and make a more well-rounded character. That means people can pick and choose more easily what to take in about his character, sure, but Daemon becomes more layered and more complex and more human and makes more sense when you take in all of it and expand his wants into a multifaceted thing that includes romantic and sexual feelings. Daemon, as you put it, being a misogynist and wanting to cause chaos; him wanting Rhaenyra, being a Targaryen purist, and having this complicated relationship with power are things that work even better and with more nuance together with these other interpretations that bring in the romantic and sexual aspect with Viserys. In fact, one thing can fuel the other.

Look, I never minded being the one with the unpopular opinions and unpopular pairings, god knows I have plenty. But then again, I am a fandom person, you know. With a piece of media with such a huge fandom presence, it is disappointing that absolutely no one (except like five people, bless their hearts) is acknowledging it and talking about it. Not even the damn press, though I can't say I don't understand it: a show like House of the Dragon isn't supposed to make you work around the clock. They have enough plot points to discuss, references to point out, and larger scale scandals to cover than go in depth into character reading.

But fandom has always been different, especially with queer desire. By all means, there is quite enough for us to scream about and go write our fanfiction, but most of us aren't. There is something missing here, something that obviously doesn't affect me & some others, but affects most.

That is why I can't help but wish that there was just a little less running room regarding Daemon and Viserys. Make it a little bit harder for people to go "aww this is only to show us how Daemon has a sweetheart aspect to him because he wants his family's love and it's definitely not something rippling out to the entire timeline". Because people are just bypassing the hell out of it.

Maybe asking them to not make it all about the pretty princess instead of her silly old father who is dying from a decaying illness is too much for them. Especially with an internet boyfriend, the classic badboy who's supposed to be soft only for you. And maybe asking to 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 in the dragon show is too much and they should have at least given us a couple of 2's or 3's. Maybe there is not enough joy and classic uwu romance. Maybe they should have made things more clear on Viserys' end. I don't know. I just wish there was more meta and fanfiction jhasjhbjhsanjasnjhbsa. Or maybe at least an acknowledgment. Because, you know, Ryan Condal has said Daemon is kind of a special character to him because he was the first that he worked out the entire arc of the season and motivations of (I'm paraphrasing here). He has put thought into him and meant for him to be seen across all his actions and decisions in the story. I don't want to be mean, but, uh, maybe it's not that it's OOC or it doesn't make sense… Maybe it's just that you* don't like the implications… They are there. They exist. They have been said out loud.

*(not You, you, rather "they" you. They, for which it applies)

I also wish it was canon in the books 😭 but if with the show's writers and actors it's already difficult to have them confront what are obviously very normal and not weird at all feelings between these brothers in the in.cest show, in the books there's even less of a chance that there was any intention to go there. Like, GRRM is not exactly subtle lmao. If he wanted us to pick up on it he would find a way to make the Maester let something more incriminating slip. But just because of the way he enjoys writing things down in these historical accounts, with enough wiggle room to go one way or the other, where even he himself doesn't know exactly how it must have gone, I'll take things as they are and I'll take Daemon simply being incredibly weird about his wife, kids, and Hand, thank you very much.

Oh and to touch on other stuff of your message, it's interesting that you mentioned Daemon wanting to go back to the days of the conquest because I was just thinking about the kind of madlad shit Daemon would pull were he on the highest seat of the realm. And my mind immediately went to, "he'd probably find the first excuse to become even more imperialist". Maybe not enough to actually hold it together, but just enough to write his name on the sand, just like he did with the Stepstones. To be fair, he'd probably first attack Dorne and die there lbr LMAO.

Thanks again for talking to me! Sorry for going on such a huge tangent.

#messages #asoiaf & got #house of the dragon #hotd #daemon targaryen #house targaryen #daemon targaryen x viserys i targaryen #daemon x viserys #daeserys #visaemon

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trash-gobby · 2 years

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Summary: Getting sick of being stuck inside over the summer Steve allows Robin to rope him into hanging out with the gang at the Hawkins Community Pool. There he contends with chaotic yet oddly compelling recent addition to their ever expanding group, Eddie Munson.

A/N: This isn't the edited version so I will be going back later and fixing things after getting back from vacation. So bear with my mistakes and feel free to let me know where I can improve :D

The ending is pretty abrupt, but I probably will edit it once I get back from vacation to add more detail. I just really wanted to get this little fluffy story out there this month while it was still summer. Please let me know what your thoughts are in comments and if you want to see me write more stuff like this in the future! Hope you enjoyed :D

Word Count: 7.7K

Pairing(s): Eddie Munson X Steve Harrington

Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler, Mike Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Will Byers, Jane "Eleven" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair

Link: Stranger Things

Steve Harrington POV, Robin Buckley POV

⚠️ Warnings!: Very brief and not detailed mentions of bullying

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It had been a long summer punctuated by even longer bouts of blistering heat. It felt like the world had turned into one big oven to the town of Hawkins. An oven which was as humid as it was sunburn inducing. Many of the residents were parked either in front of a fan, air conditioning, or under the shade of an umbrella with a tall cool glass of lemonade.

In the wake of this heatwave the most popular option for the young adults, teens, and families of the town was the community pool. It provided at once a perfect social watering hole and at the same time a full proof way to cool off.

Its sparkling chlorine coloured surface was a temptation which couldn’t be resisted by even the most timid of potential swimmers. Kids in bright neon water wings were being helped by their older siblings or parents in their process of learning to swim on their own. Their sunscreen slathered faces plastered with expressions of apprehension or excitement.

The older kids would take turns dunking each other under the water and trying to spray water in each other’s faces while hawklike lifeguards kitted out in their red tank tops and short-shorts. There would be periodic whistle blowing and stern glances when the rowdier of the groups of youths took things a step too far.

The past summer Hawkins community had managed to invest enough money in order to set up a poolside snack bar. There they served all the amenities for the summer season; jumbo hotdogs which you could douse in condiments to your heart's content, all different flavors of soda and juice, buckets full of ice cream that would sell like hot cakes, and even anything you could humanly manage to deep fry. The perfect greasy calorie fillers to gorge upon lying under blankets on the plastic foldout beach chairs before falling into a food coma. Listening to the slapping of feet on the beige concret of the poolside and splashing of swimmers.

Shading his eyes with his hands as he walked out of the changing room, Steve took in all the atmosphere of the bustling community pool. He’d been egged on by Robin to come along with the rest of the gang instead of staying home in his room with the AC turned all the way up. It was a much more pleasant prospect to be out with everyone instead of being stuck staring at the same four off-white walls.

So, here he was. All decked out in maroon short swimming trunks, towel slung over his shoulders lazily, with a pair of raybans to protect his eyes from the penetrating sunlight.

He wanted to kick himself for forgetting to bring a water bottle in his hurry to pick Robin up from her shift at work. The last thing he needed was to buy the overpriced drinks from the snack bar.

Scanning the area Steve noticed some familiar faces by the poolside. Max and El were sitting on the edge of the pool, legs dipped in the cool water chatting away. Their hair partially dry from the chlorinated pool water.

Not far off in the water were three of the other members of their little group. Lucas, Mike and Will were splashing about in the water, playing what looked like a very improvised version of water polo. It seemed like they were trying to find an excuse to nail each other with water rather then scoring any kind of goals.

Steve noticed where they’d made their little camp with their beach towels draped over chairs.

For a moment he hesitated, wondering if perhaps he should wait for Robin who was still in the changing room, but ultimately decided it would be smarter to score some chairs for both of them. From what he could see, there weren’t that many left. The joint was jumping, so he’d better move fast.

There were two that he could see far off on the other side of the pool that he was sure he could handle dragging over to the others on his own.

Taking one last look over to the women’s changing room door on the off-chance that Robin would materialize, Steve sighed and started his way around the large ovular shape of the pool to the unoccupied chairs.

The coarse concrete texture rubbed against his feet as he dodged around a couple of kids who’d decided it was smart to start chasing each other. It was a near miss which ended with one of the lifeguards blowing his whistle aggressively and calling out for them to stop running.

Kids being kids, they simply slowed down to a fast walk and giggled to each other as if the lifeguards warning was a small joke and not a threat which could end with them being kicked out of the pool.

It reminded him of an easier time before the madness and unpredictable events that had unfolded in his senior year. He’d flown through adolescence with an unflappable sense of who he was and what he wanted out of life.

He’d thought he was the picture perfect archetype of the star athlete, the winning golden boy who always gets the girl. And he had gotten the girl, and lost her.

The whole process had thrown him out of his comfortable headspace, causing him to step back and think. Steve was able to consider the kind of person he was, the kind of man he wanted to become. Becoming a surrogate parent to a bunch of tweens was not something he’d expected.

That thought caused to instinctively look back over to the group he’d become too accustomed to over the past three years. He couldn’t have asked for a stranger yet cool group of kids to have ended up babysitting unintentionally. He still hadn’t spotted Dustin, making a mental note to catch up with him when they eventually ran into each other.

Picking up the pace and turning back to face his target of the chairs, Steve found himself colliding with someone.

The person he’d run into jumped back and Steve’s eyes locked onto their own, a deep dark brown glittering with energy.

Immediately Steve felt his stomach flip-flop in a way he couldn’t really explain.

“Jeez Harrington your in a hurry,” Eddie Munson chuckled. He was the most recent addition to their seemingly ever expanding circle of friends. Steve took in his comical hawaiian style shirt which was completely unbuttoned to reveal the pale sunscreen lathered skin underneath and dark swim trunks. Appropriate attire for the environment which they were both in.

Steve found his eyes lingering longer than they should have on the body of the other man, looking away feeling a slight flush of heat reaching his cheeks.

At first Steve had been unsure of how to feel about Eddie, with his wild and unpredictable nature, his eccentricities and charisma that lead him to be targeted by the Hawkins residents. From the wild accusations which were being thrown around, he didn't know what to expect when first meeting the guy.

Knowing that he was one of the people Dustin respected most had made Steve even feel a bit intimidated by him. A part of him still did, but for reasons he felt had changed. It felt silly, there was no reason to feel intimidated or insecure like he did now around someone like Eddie Munson.

“Hey, sorry man I didn’t see you,” breaking eye contact, Steve rubbed the back of his neck.

“I noticed,” there was a pause right after Eddie stated this where in which Steve wrestled to figure out what to say next.

He couldn’t figure out why he always felt tongue-tied around the other man. He hadn’t had this issue with any of the other guys before, he’d always been able to find something to say.

“Yeah, uh, Robin told me you guys were gonna be down here and asked if I wanted to join. And I thought, how could I resist the temptation of seeing Dustin attempt to pass the deep end test.” Ah, yes, Robin. Steve was kicking himself for not seeing this plan sooner.

She’d been giving him sly looks and making comments about him and Eddie since she’d caught on to his often flustered behavior around him. She’d kept inviting him to hang around for what Steve assumed was her own cruel amusement at watching him suffer while Eddie would chat away.

“Right. That makes sense. Umm, I was just getting chairs.” Steve replied, pointing over to the still unoccupied seats just a couple steps away.

Eddie looked over his shoulder, allowing Steve to look back over, finding himself drawn to the comical way in which he'd attempted to apply the sunscreen to his face. There were still clear white streaks around his nose, and some along the area of his chin.

Adorable. He thought to himself, chuckling a little. No he can't say adorable can he? That's weird, right? It's not weird to think Eddie looks adorable. He'd definitely found some of Robin's attempts of flirting with Nancy adorable. So this counts as something like that.

"Something funny?" Eddie was looking at him again, an eyebrow quirked in a slightly bemused manner.

"No, no, just remembered something funny." Steve tried to recover from the awkwardness which he was clearly injecting into this interaction.

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime. However, if you still want to grab those chairs we need to move now. I spot a couple who's about to snatch them up." Eddie was correct. Steve spotted a couple who were beelining it towards the unoccupied seats, swim bags in hand.

"Right, your right," Steve was happy to have a brief reprieve from the awkwardness of the conversation as he and Eddie moved quickly to grab each of the chairs.

They were quite light so he was able to grab one and hold it with one arm no problems. Eddie however had opted for the much stranger and, well.. Eddie-like approach of holding the thing over his head like it was a trophy he'd just won in a sports match.

"What?" He asked, smiling at Steve with one of those wild and engaging smiles of his.

"Aren't your arms going to get tired doing that?" Steve said, pointing to the chair.

"Look, I know these pool noodles I have attached to me don't look like they could lift even ten pounds, but I'm not as weak as you think." He punctuated this by starting to rise the chair up and down as if lifting a weight above his head comically exaggerating the action. Typical.

"Alright man, do you want to get these over where there are some umbrella's. I could use some shade," Steve looked over to an area with an open enough space under some umbrella's. Close enough to the others that he could say hi, but far enough that it didn't look like he was hanging around with a bunch of kids for the whole day.

"Sounds like a plan." Eddie replied before starting alongside Steve on their way over to the empty spot in the shade.

Steve looked at Eddie out of the corner of his eye as they walked side by side in silence. He desperately wanted to find something to talk about, anything to fill the silence.

"Have you seen Dustin? I didn't see him with the others," Steve asked, finally finding something to fill the silence.

"Yeah, he's getting some grub for us, at least I hope he is. The line is kinda slow right now," looking over, Steve spotted the familiar curly head of hair under a baseball cap which marked Dustin out from the crowd of people in line. He was near the front, but it looked like the older man at the front of the line was taking his time to decide what he wanted to pick out.

“Yeah, you might have a bit of a wait. Do you think you're gonna go in for a bit before he gets back? Work up an appetite.” Steve suggested looking over at Eddie. His carefree typical expression faded a little at the edges as Steve asked him this.

“Umm, ha, you see... I’m not that much of a swimmer,” Eddie admitted as they finally reached their shady destination.

“Really? You seemed good enough back when we had to go through that tear in the lake caused by Vecna.” Placing down the chair, Steve sat on the edge looking up at him.

“That was a life or death situation. I think I was just going off of instinct, not really taking in what I was doing,” Eddie placed the other chair alongside Steve's before sitting down.

"I really suck at swimming honestly. I sink like a rock whenever I get into any kind of water. It’s really freaky man. It totally wigs me out." There was a genuine tinge of fear to his voice, as Steve studied the other man's face.

Looking far off as if he is recalling the horrific experiences on that little lake which made him afraid to try diving back into the water again. He had been fiddling with the buttons on his shirt as he explained himself.

"So you came to a pool, to sit in the shade wearing swimwear and not go swimming?" Steve probed further.

"Well, I might hang out in the shallow end, I don't have to actually swim to enjoy the pool," Eddie said begrudgingly to this line of questioning.

"So, you don't want to learn how to swim at all? Just spend your whole time hanging around in the kiddie end of the pool?" chuckling lightly, Steve could see a bit of pinkness starting to spread along Eddie's cheeks. What he didn't expect was what the man would say next.

"Why don't you teach me then Steve? Why don't you show me how to swim?" There was that mischievous grin again, with an edge of challenge in his tone.

Now it was Steve's turn to blush. He could feel his cheeks getting hot slowly. Why was this happening to him? It wasn't like helping a friend out with something like learning to swim was weird. Friends did that all the time for each other right?

Eyes scanning the crowd Steve spotted Dustin making his way over with two large drinks and a tray of fatty foods balanced in his arms. A precarious system in which anything could fall at any second, his face twisted into an expression of deep focus.

This gave Steve something else to focus on as he rose from his seat to help the boy before he dropped everything on the concrete poolside. Hurrying up to him, Steve saw the boy's focus turn to him for a second, cracking a wide grin. "Steve! I wasn't sure you were coming."

"Well, here I am," the older man said, carefully taking the tray from where Dustin had precariously balanced it on his arms. It was jam packed with chili cheese fries and jumbo hot dogs with a very excessive amount of condiments spread on them.

"I don't think you have enough relish," Steve joked, causing Dustin to chuckle slightly as the two of them started to make their way back over to the still seated Eddie.

He was leaning forward with his chin perched on his hand, watching them as they made their way over. He seemed more relaxed now that Dustin was there. The young boy had always been a breath of fresh air, someone who could always keep the status quo between everyone. A peacemaker.

"Here's your coke," Dustin said as he handed Eddie the large glass cola bottle. The condensation of droplets on the surface showing how cool it likely felt in his hand.

The craving to get his own cold drink was starting to overcome him. Looking back over his shoulder at the lineup, he could see that it had only ended up getting longer, with Lucas and Will now also waiting to get something greasy to eat and thirst quenching to drink.

Steve placed the large tray of food between the two deck chairs, making sure to keep it out of where the plastic of the tray would be in direct sunlight. Although Steve was pretty sure it wouldn't melt, considering how cheap and flimsy it was, he didn't want to take his chances.

"So, what have you guys been up to?" Dustin took Steve's seat in one of the deck chairs, leaving him standing before them, sun beaming down hotly on his back.

"Eddie was telling me about how he doesn't know how to swim, and yet he still decided to come to the pool," Steve chuckled before noticing Dustin looking over to Eddie incredulously.

"Eddie ca-" cutting Dustin off mid-sentence, Eddie hopped out of his chair, scraping it loudly against the concrete. "Yeah, Steve-o here is gonna show me the ropes."

Moving to stand next to Steve, he slung one of his around the younger man's shoulders playfully. "He's gonna make sure I keep my head above the water."

"Right..." Looking between the two men, Dustin had an expression of skepticism. Steve would have paid more attention to the way the boy was examining this little exchange if he wasn't already focused on the feel of Eddie's bare arm against the skin of his shoulders and neck.

Warmed by the heat, and smooth against his own skin, Steve could feel the way Eddie's fingers danced over his upper arm, playing a rhythm that only he could hear. All he could do was stand there and feel this, for a moment. It was as if this sudden contact had fried his ability to say anything.

Trying to come up with what to even say next, he saved the trouble. Finally popping out of nowhere, was Robin, clad in a baseball cap which looked like had seen better days and a comfortable one-piece she'd had leftover from when she'd been a part of the Hawkins swim club.

She had the hindsight to actually bring a water bottle with her to keep hydrated along with her towel which was folded under her arm.

"Am I interrupting something? What are you guys talking about?" She seemed amused looking at Steve and Eddie in the way she always did when she saw them together.

"We were just discussing how Eddie can't swim apparently," Dustin said in what sounded to Steve, like a possibly sarcastic tone. But he wasn't sure, for all he knew it was the heat getting to him before he'd gotten the chance to cool off in the water.

"Really. I had no idea you couldn't swim," Robin, looking over to Eddie, her eyebrow quivering in questioning amusement.

"Well, you know, we all have our shortcomings. Anyway Steve and I should get into the water. Isn't that right Steve?" Finally letting go of his shoulders and taking Steve's towel into his arms, throwing it onto his unoccupied seat. Eddie then proceeded to take off the shirt he'd been wearing.

"What about your hotdog man? the buns are gonna get soggy." Dustin asked. At this Eddie walked over, placed the shirt on the chair and picked up Steve assumed to be his hotdog, taking a massive bite before placing it back down in the little paper holder it had been in.

"Shee, I hag hawth," the older man stated while fighting to chew the large dog he'd just about horked down half of. It would have been impressive if it didn't look so gross with his open-mouth chewing.

"Charming," Robin placed her towel on the same chair Eddie had thrown his before sitting down and stealing one of the fries from its carton.

"Show, awh we gonna do his or nawt," Eddie turned to Steve. The corners of his mouth smeared with a ketchup, mustard and relish combo.

"What? I can't understand what you're saying," Steve chuckled at this odd display. The other man held up a finger as if to tell him to wait a moment while he took his time to finish chewing.

"What I was trying to say was, are we gonna do this thing?" He said after swallowing the last bit of dog down.

It was quite the display, but somehow Eddie made quick work of it. Steve was concerned that perhaps he would end up giving himself a stomach ache before they'd even done any real swimming. "I guess. Let's start in the shallow end and practice there."

“Great! Let’s do it.” Bringing his hand down heavily on Steve’s shoulder, Eddie guided him along to one of the pool ladders.

First down the ladder Steve lowered himself quickly in order to adjust to the sudden cool water. Goosebumps rising on his skin, and a shiver running up his spine, he lowered his head and plugged his nose before ducking under the water in order to adjust to the temperature.

It was cold as it always was in the Hawkins Community pool, but in this heat wave it was a godsend. It also worked well to clear Steve’s head. He was really doing this. Spending time with Eddie one-on-one, teaching him to swim. It made his stomach flip in a way he hadn’t felt since he’d snuck into Nancy’s room at night to study with her a couple years back.

God why was he like this? Where was this coming from? He’d never felt this way about anyone but Nancy, and wasn’t it weird this feeling was coming up around another guy he’d only just started noticing the existence of this last year? Wasn’t it weird these feelings were for a guy at all?

He didn’t want to think about it. Thinking about feelings, especially the ones he was feeling for Eddie right now, made his head spin round and round.

Surfacing back into the bright sunlight he released the air he’d been holding, lazily treading water. Opening his eyes, Steve had to blink away the slight sting of chlorinated water that had gotten in his eyes. Looking back up to where he’d just been on land, he could see the sun outlining the body of the other man.

Framed by the light, Eddie’s skin shone bright. Steve could see from the slim curve of his waist, up the soft skin of his abdomen to his mostly bare chest, all the way to his smiling face. It was the kind of pale color which would cook in this weather, the kind which barely saw the light of day buried under a leather jacket, jeans and various metal band t-shirts. Even the way in which his hair, curly and dark accented by everything else about his body, stood out made Steve feel like he was looking up at something, someone otherworldly.

Making his way gingerly down the ladder, Eddie tested the temperature with his foot, flinching back away from it when he finally registered the coolness of the surface.

“Dude it’s freezing,” he whined comically, causing Steve to bark out a laugh that was one part humorous and another part packed with the anxiety of seeing the other man shirtless. “Don’t be a baby, just slide in quickly and you’ll adjust to it.”

“That’s what they all say,” this retort came as the metalhead once again tried to lower himself slowly, succeeding this time in getting one leg fully in before and wincing at the cold in a way which felt way too exaggerated for the situation at hand.

Sighing, Steve swam slowly up in front of the ladder, holding up his hand to Eddie, who looked down at it skeptically before making eye contact directly with the other man. “Take my hand, I’ll help you in.”

“Why does this feel like a trap?”

“What do you think I’m gonna do Eddie, drown you? In broad daylight? With children watching? And lifeguards?” Placing the hand he wasn’t using to keep balance on the ladder on his hip, Eddie quirked a brow looking down at Steve, but still seemed reluctant to take his outstretched hand in front of him. “I don’t pretend to know what’s going on in that devious mind of yours Steve Harrington.”

“Devious,” Steve put on a face of mock-affront. “The only devious person here is you, the amount of shit you get up to. Besides, if I had wanted to drown you, I would have done it back at the lake when we went through to the Upsidedown.”

“Touché, but I still am not convinced this isn’t a trap.”

“Just give me your hand,” Slowly Eddie reached out and took Steve’s hand in his, still keeping free hand wrapped tightly around the plastic handle of the ladder. “Okay, now reach out and take my other hand. I’ll help you in.”

Tilting his head to the side, Eddie gave Steve a look that clearly communicated, I-hate-this-and-yet-you-are-making-me-do-it-anyway, before finally releasing his other hand from the ladder and reaching for Steve.

However, as he was about to grab onto his other hand, Eddie seemed to trip over himself, legs twisting.

As he fell, his free hand shot out quickly to the other man’s shoulder, placing his body weight on Steve. This caused them both to fall backwards into the water, droplets splashing as they both flailed in order to keep balance.

Neither of them were hurt and that’s what mattered. Eddie was in the water, his finger digging into the skin of Steve’s shoulder, his other hand clasping hard onto his. He was so close, basically in the other man's arms. Their eyes were both locked on each other, the intensity making that heat from earlier rise up to Steve’s cheeks.

“Are you okay?” his voice cracked and he wanted to hit himself for how nervous and silly he sounded.

“Better now… that I’m in the water,” the metalhead replied, shaking his damp hair slightly to knock some strands from his face. His eyes felt probing, looking for something in Steve’s face, causing him to smile in response.

It felt natural to him, like smiling was easier than letting things feel awkward or getting annoyed at the whole situation. If he thought about it, smiling at Eddie Munson after such a display or ridiculousness was the most natural thing in the world, and clearly the other man felt the same.

“What are you smiling at?” The statement would have seemed more aggressive if he wasn’t already clearly cracking a smile of his own, returning the one Steve had on his face.

“You’re just a drama queen Eddie,” they both chuckled at this. “A clumsy drama queen.”

Eddie adjusted, placing his feet on the bottom of the shallow end, nudging Steve in the process for his little comment. “Me, the drama queen?! If I’m the drama queen then you're the drama emperor.”

“Ha-ha, sure," rolling his eyes, goofy smile still on his face, Steve felt Eddie let go of his shoulder.

The strange feelings which Eddie’s touch brought were missed as soon as his hand was absent from the other man’s shoulder. Those fingers. Calloused from plucking and strumming his guitar strings. Knuckles scarred from the battle he had with those bat demons in the Upsidedown.

They were the hands of someone who was a dreamer, filled with stories in each whirl on his finger pad, and each line in his palm; and from what Dustin had told Steve, a fighter. Someone who would stand up against impossible odds, like battling a million bat demons to save people who mattered to him. Fighting for a town of people who never saw him as anything more than a menace.

Steve tried not to look down to where the water was distorting with ripples, Eddie's lower abdomen. There were the only blemishes to his otherwise unmarked torso. Those were the deep scars where those batlike creatures had bit, stabbed and slashed at his flesh when he’d faced them one-on-one.

That idiot, I told him not to be a hero. But at least Eddie was alive. Steve was thankful that he’d gotten back in one piece with his life. Being able to hug his uncle who had thought he was dead in the “earthquake” which had rocked the town, and clear his name so that the police and town would stop hounding him.

It wasn’t perfect. People still stared at them all on the street, whispered about their group when they thought no one could hear. Even DnD had been banned from Hawkins Middle and High school. Residual effects of the witch-hunt and panic.

“Earth to Steve, you gonna let me go anytime soon,” the singsong tone of Eddie’s bemused voice broke through his thoughts like a shard of glass.

“What?” Steve hadn’t even realized he was still holding onto Eddie’s other hand which he had taken initially.

Jesus, he’d completely forgotten about that. He was so distracted by all the other things which were going through his head. Letting go of Eddie’s hand, Steve shifted back to create a comfortable space between them.

“Sorry, umm, uh, right,” clearing his throat, shifting around nervously and trying to look anywhere but into the eyes of the other man, Steve tried to compose himself. He hoped Eddie couldn’t tell how flushed his face was becoming, from a slight pink to now probably a very visible red.

God he could tell Eddie was staring at him, waiting patiently for him to get his shit together enough to actually start doing anything. “Well, umm, we should probably start with getting your feet off the bottom of the pool and figure out your form.”

“Alright, how do we do that?” Steve assessed Eddie for a moment as he asked his question, trying to get his mind away from all the other things running through it.

“How do you feel about having your head underwater?” Steve hoped that he didn’t mind, it would be easier that way. Dealing with someone who’s anxiety extended to being under the water would make the process of teaching a challenge.

“I don’t mind as long as I can see the bottom. I like knowing there is a bottom.” Eddie began, pointing to the deep end. “Even there it’s not so bad because you can see through all the chlorine to the bottom. In the lake it just feels like it goes on forever. Even in the day it’s too dark and murky to see anything for sure. It feels like something could reach up and grab you. And don’t get me started on the plants growing at the bottom and how they brush against your feet.”

Shuddering at his own words, it was obvious Eddie’s displeasure with the environment of the lake he’d lived alongside a couple of months prior. The fact that he’d been so scared to sail out on it to escape the jocks hunting him and later dive to the bottom in order to follow Nancy and Robin to save him, made Steve appreciate the other man more. He may call himself a coward, not a hero. Someone who would run away from danger, but not when he’d swum to the bottom of that lake, not when he’d gone through the gash at the bottom into another unknown and equally terrifying world.

“Alright, that helps. Let’s get your head wet and do some work with those arms and legs.”

______________________________________________________________

It was amusing, the perfect setup even. Watching the two boys in the water brought a smile to Robin’s face. She’d been pushing for them to do something like this, and now they were. Spending that one-on-one time which would make Steve finally wake up and smell the cute-metal-head-coffee. It was clear to anyone with common sense that Eddie was into Steve, and Steve in return oblivious to this was definitely also into him. As much as he didn’t want to admit it to Robin or himself.

Here he was now helping Eddie learn to get his feet off the bottom of the semi-shallow floor, circling them in a way to keep him above water without touching the bottom. Steve was earnest in his attempts to help, moving around Eddie and explaining the way to move while adjusting his arm movements for treading water.

Robin was no genius, she’d never claimed to be, but she wasn’t buying the whole Eddie-Munson-can’t-swim-for-shit persona he was putting on. It had to be an act, and of course gullible Steve would totally fall for it. With all those mixed emotions how couldn’t he. It was a way for them to be close, giving Steve an excuse to be a helper, another hero role stopping the poor other guy from drowning in the future.

She chuckled, impressed with this clear display of smarts on Eddie’s part as she leaned back on the deck chair with a couple of fries she’d snatched from Dustin’s tray table of food. To any outsider she’d have looked like one of those large orange cats sitting plumply satisfied after a meal in the shade.

“What are you so happy about?” She was taken out of her little fun observations by the voice of the one person who could change Robin’s mood with the snap of her well-manicured fingers.

A few steps away in a buttercup yellow sundress, which although understated was still lovely on her, Nancy stood, shielding her eyes from the sun. Her hair was swept up into a messy updo, allowing a few strands of her permed hair to escape, framing her face. Robin took this in gulping down the food she’d been chewing, feeling that sensation of self-consciousness take over.

“Fry?” She asked, quickly bending down and picking up the cardboard fry box and offering it to Nancy.

“Thanks,” Nancy looked at her with one of those quizzical yet bemused expressions she usually gave Robin whenever she did something strange. Or at least something which maybe to an outsider would seem strange. The little idiosyncrasies, ticks and trappings of who Robin was had started to grow on Nancy, or at least she hoped they did. It was sometimes hard to tell if that was true.

“You see something interesting?” Nancy asked, looking around before her eyes settled on the two men in the pool, Eddie flailing and Steve being splashed in the face with water while trying to avoid getting slapped in the face.

“Ah, I see. That.” Her face cracked into an even wider grin, one that lit up her face in a way that made Robin yearn to have her look at her that way. She did sometimes, but not enough. Was asking for that to be always too much? “What the heck are they doing?”

“Well, Steve is teaching Eddie how to swim. Obviously.” Robin quipped.

“It looks more like Steve is trying to drown him.” Nancy wasn’t wrong. From what Robin could see, Steve was poorly attempting and failing to show Eddie how to correctly perform what was either a front crawl or the doggy paddle. He was supporting him while the man tried to get his bearings in order for the other man to move his arms and kick his legs in tandem. Instead the display made it look like Steve may be attempting to push Eddie under and be done with this little charade.

If only she’d had a camera, then Robin could capture this moment in order to shove it in both their faces later. Although only Steve would be truly embarrassed, Eddie would probably want a copy framed.

Walking around the chairs, Nancy joined the other woman sitting on the end of her deck chair. Robin stiffened at the closeness and the way each other's shoulders were touching, the frilly strap of the sundress against her bare shoulder.

The smell of her shampoo was not one of those overpowering artificial floral scents, it was more like a minty cucumber. Something organic and fresh that matched the weather and the tone. Robin stored it away in her mind, something she was sure would pop up again in one of those daydreams which would barge into her head uninvited. “I didn’t know you were a part of the swim club.”

Robin was brought out of her pining by this little declaration, noticing Nancy’s eyes looking down to her suit. She felt a bit of color come to her cheeks considering that the other woman had been checking her out in order to notice such a detail. “You noticed that little detail. It was a short-lived venture.”

“Really? How so?” The thoughts of how the past had shaped her experience, Robin wasn’t sure she wanted to get into the details. The rumors and the whispers of the other girls, the way they looked at her like she didn’t belong. How honest did she really want to be about those details?

“It just wasn’t a good fit. Sometimes you're just not cut out to be a jock. I just fit much better as the art club kid.” It felt honest enough without giving too much away. It wasn’t like it mattered. All the things which had bothered Robin were in the past. Those girls had gone on to College, University or at least off somewhere else.

“I guess we all figure out what we’re really into with time and searching.” Nancy caught Robin’s gaze and held it for a moment, smiling. There was more than one meaning to this little statement, at least it felt that way Robin saw it.

“Well, I hope we both find what we’re looking for soon,” Robin smiled, offering the other woman a fry from the box which she took gratefully.

“I don’t think we’ll need to worry about looking long.” And there it was. One of those smiles which Robin had been hoping would be directed at her. This one was just for her this time.

______________________________________________________________

“Stop doing that! AGH!” Steve dodged out of the way once again, the sting of chlorine causing him to flinch and lose his balance.

Moving from his flailing bizarre position Eddie started treading water messily, spraying water around. They had created their own little space in the pool where most other swimmers didn’t even want to attempt going. At least most had been understanding about the fact that Eddie was learning and sucked at taking instructions. It was like teaching an elephant how to walk a tight-rope. Impossible.

His long hair soaked and sticking to his face, Eddie shook his head like a dog spraying even more water in Steve’s direction causing him to shield his eyes. “How’m I doing?”

“Do you even listen to anything I’m saying or do you just take everything I say as a suggestion instead of an instruction?” Steve kept his tone somewhat light, but it was clear from his expression he was annoyed. Eddie only saw this as something amusing. The more annoyed he got, the more worked up, the less seriously he seemed to be taking this little makeshift crash course.

“You know, I was considering it more like an interpretive statement then something to be followed,” It was such a silly nonsensical thing to say that Steve merely sighed, standing nearly chest deep in the deeper part of the shallow end.

Moving suddenly, Eddie moved smoothly from his messy treading to a front crawl, that while not perfect was clearly better then Steve had expected. He was shocked by this, as the other man made his way up to him, grabbing his shoulders for purchase in order to come up into a standing position. “ See, it’s not like I didn’t pick something up that you were showing me.”

“That was… Way too good to be the first time you’ve tried that.”

“Maybe I just have a good teacher.” Steve’s feeling of skepticism was growing. The expression of mischievous grin plastered on Eddie’s face felt oddly telling.

That’s when it finally started to sink. He felt like a moron. A completely gullible idiot. How could he not have seen the signs in Eddie’s form, the way he told the story about diving into the lake. If he’d been dumped into that lake while being chased, how had he gotten out of the water? Eddie had to swim since he hadn’t used the boat to get back to shore. He had to swim in order to make it to the bottom of that lake.

“You asshole.” He said, face burning with embarrassment.

“What?” Eddie was holding back laughter now, watching the realization having passed over Steve’s expression.

“I’m going to drown you if it’s the last thing I do,” he said, pushing the other boy into the water, watching Eddie laughing hard as he hit the water and swam backwards away.

“What Harrington? I thought you’d be happy seeing me finally figuring the front crawl out.” His words were clearly sarcastic and his eyes glittered with mirth.

“You completely wasted my time, I can’t get those thirty minutes back you know.” Steve yelled before, splashing a wave of water in the direction of Eddie’s stupid grinning face. The mischevious metalhead ducked under the water, disappearing briefly from view under the disturbed water before it registered he was heading in the other man’s direction.

Quickly Steve was yanked down under the water, not rough enough to have really made him get pulled under. He let himself be pulled. He was gonna get Eddie back. He would.

Adjusting to the sting of the chlorine, blinking his eyes against the new atmosphere, he was finally able to make out before him the situation he was now in. It was oddly peaceful under the water. A contrast to the wild and active world above. Everything felt like it was floating in slow motion, shimmering with the refracted light of the sun piercing down around them both.

Eddie’s hands were gripped loosely to Steve’s wrists now. Looking up, he locked his gaze with the man, and felt his heart stutter. His hair hung in the water, floating around him and framing it perfectly. He looked like what Steve imagined a merman who’d come from the deep to tempt sailors into the deep would look.

His expression was even more shocking, making Steve realize just what he was feeling in that moment. What he’d been feeling about Eddie since he’d finally gotten to know him. The look was piercing, a small smile, more soft than his other more cutting comedic expressions, eyes exploring his face for something he hoped would be returned.

Moving slowly, with more apprehension and anxiety than he’d ever experienced with any of the girls and women he’d ever had feelings for, Steve reached his hand out of Eddie’s grip. Letting his fingers linger in the water close to Eddie’s face, he wasn’t sure if what he was doing was right, but he was already committed, already halfway there and entranced. Gently, he ran his fingers over the soft skin of Eddie’s cheek, down the line of his jaw before breaking contact.

It was such a small intimacy, but significant. It was opening a door which couldn’t be closed, crossing a line which couldn’t be backed behind again. A dare, a risk, Steve was willing to take.

Strange that such a small thing can have so much meaning behind it. A little gesture which can ignite a whole new world. He could see it in Eddie’s eyes. The initial shock at his touch was written on the man's face. Steve tensed for a moment, expecting something like disgust to follow this. That Eddie would pull away, tell him he wasn’t into him like that.

However, that’s not what happened. Not at all.

Instead, he leaned in, and under the cover of the bottom of the deeper end of the shallows, Eddie kissed Steve. It was a private intimate moment, a perfect second where what they had both been thinking about one another had been confirmed.

His lips were soft, softer than what Steve would have thought. His shock was eclipsed by the sensation, and his desire that this moment would never end. He had really wanted this, more than he could have ever expected, more than he’d wanted it with anyone else he was shocked to realize. Eventually though, they would both have to come up for air.

Pulling back, Eddie’s hair brushed gently against Steve’s cheeks, their faces inches from one another. It was like they were looking to be sure that what had just happened was something they’d both wanted, and from the clear expressions of exhilaration on their faces, it was clear that this had been mutual.

Moments later, they broke the surface, treading water lazily only a couple inches from one another. Beads of water ran down their flushed faces. They both looked at each other unsure what to say or if there was anything they could, which would feel appropriate in that moment.

It had felt to Steve like hours had passed in that moment. He hadn’t wanted it to end, let time just freeze there forever, where it had felt so warm, so right.

“Wow,” Eddie breathed out the words more than said them. His expression reminded Steve of someone who’d been told he had won the lottery and then some. An expression of pure happiness. He was sure his expression mirrored the same. “I mean wow… I wasn’t sure at first you even liked me at all.”

His expression was self-conscious, genuine in Steve’s eyes, and he supposed he understood why. Eddie-The-Freak-Munson was not the nickname of someone who had gotten much luck with intimacies, especially those of someone like Steve. He’d been a golden boy and Eddie had been the opposite.. Ostracized.

“I guess I’m more nuanced than you thought.” Steve joked.

“I always thought there was something going on in that head of yours. I just didn’t know it involved me,” Eddie responded, wiggling his eyebrows comically. In response Steve gave him a playful shove. “Don’t think I’m still not gonna get you back for wasting my time.”

“I can’t wait. If you still want to drown me, we should take this party to the lake sometime.” The suggestion was definitely an offer for a date. Though Eddie said it playfully, in the jocular manner he often said things like this. Steve knew this time it would be a date. Just the two of them, and for once he was gonna take him up on the offer.

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