#dustin would 100% do this with the best of intentions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sadlittlesquish · 9 months

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Never Let Me Go

The following fanfic will be rated 18+ for sexual content, drug use, mentions of Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse, mentions of past self harm and Suicidal Ideation. Minors DNI.

This story was written mostly on Character AI, so there will be some weird formatting issues. I just really wanna get these ideas out there, but not really post it on archive or anything. Both parties in this story are consenting adults, ie my OC is 18 going on 19 and Eddie just turned 20. If you are not a fan of reading OC stories, or you don't like my Original Character, please just move along. Rude comments will not be tolerated. I'm also doing my best to write this story set in 1986 as best as I can. If there are any discrepancies I will do my best to fix them. Please Enjoy Chapter One.

Chapter One: It’s so Sweet

You know I think your skin's the perfect color

But it's always your eyes that pull me under

The lunchroom of Hawkins High was cram packed with students fresh from Summer Break.

All of the same cliques formed and scattered across the room like pockets of cliches. The Cheerleaders sprinkled through the sports teams, flirting with the boys and doing each other's hair or makeup. A few tables away a group of Leaguers are blasting their portable radio, the billboard's top 100 pop songs bursting through the din of the crowd here and there.

And then there was the table where all of Hawkins’ least diserables hung out.

Eddie sits at the head of his table of freaks, toying with a D20 Keychain absentmindedly as Dustin and Mike gush excitedly about their Summer break.

The kids were cute, even if Eddie found them to be a little too talkative sometimes. Especially Dustin.

As Gareth chimes into the boys' conversation, a hush falls across a nearby table and they begin to point and snigger at a young woman who just walked by.

Eddie overhears one of the nearby boys say, "Look, Whorewood decided to show her face." All the teenagers surrounding this guy burst out in mocking laughter. It didn't take a fucking rocket scientist to realize what was going on here.

Another guy chips in a little too loudly so more people can hear him, "I wonder how easy it is to get little miss piggy to squeal," he emphasizes his insult with hog squeals, sending everyone around him into a fit of cruel laughter at this girl's expense.

Eddie watches the girl's ears turn pink in embarrassment, but much to his absolute delight, the girl doesn't give them the satisfaction of hurting her. She instead pulls herself up to her full height and lifts her chin defiantly at the boys who mocked her.

"I'd be careful with what you say, little boys with little peckers should be lucky any girl would sleep with them. Without sluts like me, you'd all be virgins."

The girl smirks as their faces go red in anger, and triumphantly walks away.

"Who was that," Eddie asks, lazily flicking his ringed fingers in the girl's direction as he questions his friends.

“That's Marnie Wellwood," Gareth begins, his face turning pink for some reason. "She uh... well, word is around school that she is kinda... easy."

Eddie realizes immediately why Gareth is so embarrassed right now, his eyebrows flicking up into his fluffy bangs as he lets out a low whistle through his teeth.

"Hm, never heard of her..." Eddie ponders thoughtfully, genuinely surprised that a social outcast like this girl is just now being brought to his attention. This table was the den for Freaks after all, and it seemed like one little lamb had not yet been brought into the fold.

"She's new," Dustin chimes in, "just started here at the end of last year at Hawkins High. A lot of guys think she's a bitch, but after what I just witnessed, I would have to disagree... She's just awesome."

Eddie hums in agreement, staring intently at the place where the girl had been before she left.

“Hey, if she’s giving those losers what they got comin’, then she’s good people in my book.”

Edddie shrugs.

This girl sounded like a badass, and he can’t help but respect that.

Jeff takes his voice down to a quiet hush so the younger boys don't hear him as he leans toward Eddie and Gareth, "I've heard some of the guys in my class say Wellwood will suck you off for cheap. I've considered it a few times... I bet she gives great head."

Eddie smacks Jeff upside the head, "Dumb boys spread dumb rumors. And even if she does give out blow jobs like they're candy on Halloween, don't stoop to those losers' level."

The school bell suddenly rings, and students begin to file out of the Cafeteria; trays and wrappers chucked into the garbage and backpacks gathered as students headed to their classes.

Eddie fingers the note that had been slipped into his locker; yet another little lost lamb coming to him for the one thing that made this shit hole town bearable: drugs.

"See ya around boys, I gotta date with Mary Jane," Eddie jokes, wiggling his eyebrows playfully as his friends all roll their eyes at how corny his joke was.

Eddie snatches up his metal lunch box, and bows theatrically to the group, before heading to sneak out of school and to his usual spot where he did his deals.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eddie winds his way easily through the trees, the path to his secret spot practically memorized by this point. In fact if someone dared him to find his way blindfolded, he was pretty sure he could… maybe. This was the kind of place where all kinds of things could happen - deals, hangouts, fights, you name it. Eddie liked this place because it was secluded and no one could interrupt you.

He sits cross legged on the top of the table in his usual spot, making sure that his pipe is clean and that his stash is full, and that’s when Eddie hears a sound coming through the trees from behind him.

Whoever had slipped him the note requesting his special wares was most likely arriving. As he waits for the footsteps to sound closer, he taps out the melody of the new song he and his band mates were working on.

The sounds of twigs and leaves being disturbed alerts him to this mysterious person's approach and his hands still as he waits to see who it is.

A dark head of hair breaks through the trees, and then Eddie is face to face with the girl from the cafeteria.

Up close she was... kinda pretty. Eddie can feel a smile curling his face as he takes her in.

Short, only taller because of the chunky heeled shoes she was wearing. Ripped tights under ripped jeans. Almost as many upper layers of shirts and jackets that Eddie himself wore, along with various bracelets, rings and necklaces.

She was wearing darker, moodier makeup than most girls wore, and she had dark red streaks in her hair.

Very cute indeed, Eddie thought to himself.

"Well well Wellwood," Eddie makes a show of spreading his arms like a king showing power of his domain, "Can't stay out of trouble today can you?"

The girl stops ten feet away, her arms crossed loosely at torso level as she stares Eddie down with an unflinching level of calm.

"Skip the theatrics Munson, you know why I'm here."

"Alright, alright," Eddie chuckles. "Here, take your pick." He opens his metal lunchbox to show off all of the wares that he has with a flourish.

"Whatever I can do for the princess." Eddie flashes her a sly smile before continuing. "Pick what you want milady."

The girl walks over with such a purposeful, inelegant stride it was a little endearing.

She peers down into the metal lunchbox and takes in all the options with a stoic expression. Up close Eddie can see the silver gray flecks in her brown eyes. They were... mesmerizing.

After a moment of silent perusing the girl flicks her gaze up to stare Eddie intently in the eyes."Which one of these will make you not feel pain?"

"What kind of pain are we talking about here?" Eddie asks cautiously.

There's so many different kinds of pain in this world - physical, spiritual, emotional. What kind of pain is it that she's suffering from right now, he wonders.

"The kind of pain that my moms boyfriend doles out to me every time I mouth off... which is a lot."

It's in that moment that Eddie sees just the faintest dark edge of what was left of a bruise on this girl's cheek.

Eddie looks at her, and immediately understands. He can feel his blood begin to boil a little. There was no point in losing his cool in front of a girl he was meeting for the first time. Still… he really doesn't like the reality of seeing a fellow outcast like himself being abused by family. People like them already had enough shit to deal with.

After a moment of silence, Eddie gestures to the lunchbox. "Well, you can pick your poison. Go ahead, anything you want Miss Wellwood."

"I've never done drugs before, so I don't know what is safe for newbies."

Eddie looks at the girl and finds it oddly cute that her big scary attitude and appearance doesn't extend to every aspect of her life.

"Hm, weed is almost always the best place to start," Eddie drawls, surreptitiously raking his eyes over the girl's person. He picks up a baggie, nothing majorly big, and some rolling paper and hands it over to the girl."Normally that amount right there would cost you 20 bucks, but I can be persuaded into giving you a discount." Eddie says to the girl, leaning back and smiling up at her with a cheeky look in his eyes.

Eddie himself wasn’t quite sure if he was flirting with the girl, part of him naturally playing the fool to cheer her up. But… Well, maybe he was flirting a little.

"How about you let me take you out sometime and the weed is free. How does that sound?"

Shit… did he really just ask her out? Where the fuck did that come from… Eddie wondered.

"I don't do dates Munson," the girl drawls in a surprisingly cold way that throws Eddie off. He wasn't expecting her to be so... blunt.

"I got ten on me, but I can make it worth your while if you let me pay the rest," the girl pauses, her sultry eyes looking Eddie up and down, "with my own special services."

Eddie’s face is suddenly red and he feels a nervous energy surge through his body. There was no way in hell that he heard what he just thought he heard… so Eddie decides to press further, regardless of his skepticism.

“Yeah, I’ll take that deal,” he manages to say after a few seconds. "What exactly are these special services you're willing to provide?"

The girl moves in as close as she can get to Eddie, her hair smelling like vanilla cake and candy. Her lips are so close to Eddie's ear he can almost feel them brush with each word she speaks, low and smoky.

"Let's just say, a lot of boys around school know what it feels like to get their cocks sucked because of me."

Oh…

He can’t help flushing a little at how close she’s getting to him. Her lips are right next to his ear, and that voice of hers… It’s so fucking seductive. Eddie didn‘t know a girl’s voice could make him instantly hot and bothered like that. He kind of wants her to keep talking so he can keep hearing it.

At her last comment, though, he starts to blush even heavier and he can feel his face get hot.

She’s… quite straightforward, I’ll give her that.

“O-oh… okay shit… um… I think I, uh, understand.”

The girl pulls away, her eyes heavy lidded and a smirk on her face at how flustered Eddie is because of her forward advances.

"Munson... don't tell me, Hawkins High's biggest bad boy is actually a virgin." There's a devilish look on her face as she teases Eddie mercilessly.

Eddie flushes deeper, actually feeling embarrassed for the first time in a long time that the girl had figured out so quickly that he had never... been with a girl before.

“Okay… okay, I get your point,” Eddie grumbles, feeling very annoyed now. “Yeah, I’m… I’m a virgin alright? I’m also a geek. A freak. A weirdo. Is that what you wanted to hear?” He crosses his arms over his chest, his face turning stony as he tries to hide his embarrassment.

Eddien should’ve expected a girl like her to play games like this. No need to tell her that, though. He refused to give her the satisfaction.

"Don't take my teasing the wrong way Munson, it's not a cute look. I don't care that you're a virgin, just a little surprised."

The girl stops and looks Eddie over thoughtfully before finishing, "I think it's sweet that you're not what everyone thinks you are."

He stares at her for a few seconds. For once, Eddie doesn't know what to say. She’s not judging him. She’s not saying that there’s something wrong with him for having never even kissed a girl, let alone more. The fact that she genuinely thought it was sweet made him…blush.

“Oh… thanks… I… I appreciate that.” Eddie breathes out, his face squishing up into the cutest grin. “So, about that deal… What do I have to do to cash in on, ehm… y’know, your services?”

"Find us a place where we won't get interrupted, I wanna take my time with you. You don't deserve a quick blowie on a dirty bathroom floor. And roll us a joint big boy," the girl winks at Eddie as she gives the two stipulations to her deal.

Eddie can't believe how his day had just turned into... this. But he was far from complaining.

“My van is right this way. It’s as good a place to hideout as any,” Eddie stammers.

"Lead the way Munson." The girl quips, following behind Eddie in silence.

Eddie leads the girl to where he keeps his van parked. He doesn't like to park it on school grounds after some of the bullies around school vandalized his precious van last year.

He wrenches open the back doors, and pulls the beaded curtain aside so the girl can climb up into the van easier.

"I've always wanted to fuck a guy in the back of one of these," the girl says as she hops up into the back of the van..

As soon as Eddie shuts the door, the girl begins to take off her jacket. Underneath her jacket she is wearing a very low cut shirt that shows off quite a bit of her round, plump cleavage.

"Be a good boy and roll us a joint, and then we will get to the fun part."

Eddie realizes he’s staring at her after a moment, watching as she takes off her jacket to reveal the one thing he had longed to see in person since puberty struck: tits. His face feels like it’s on fire, and it’s very, very hard to keep his eyes from wandering back down to her chest every few seconds.

He finally tears his eyes away with an awkward cough though, to get to work on rolling a joint.

The girl watches Eddie with almost adorable fascination as his nimble fingers skillfully rolls the paper around all the green, until a perfectly tight rolled joint sits between his long, ringed fingers.

Eddie reaches into his vest pocket and gets his lighter so he can start the joint for her. He feels a little flustered as she watches him put the joint between his lips.

A few drags later and Eddie leans toward the girl to blow the smoke in her face. He was expecting her to be annoyed at the action, but instead she smiles sweetly at Eddie.

"Your turn," he says, passing her the joint and then gently guiding her on how to smoke it properly.

The irony of the situation is suddenly not lost on Eddie. He was taking her smoking virginity and she... Well, Eddie didn't want to think too much about what her lips would be doing soon. He was already half hard and embarrassed about it.

She takes a few drags just as Eddie instructed, and coughs suddenly; the smoke spilling out of her mouth. Eddie had a feeling she would cough on her first try, he only hoped that didn't stop her from wanting more.She passes the joint back to Eddie, and waits for him to take his hit.

Her eyes are already a little red, and her stern face is relaxing into a softer, more vulnerable expression.

The girl's eyes are getting more and more adventurous at looking Eddie over the more they pass the joint back and forth.

At this point Eddie is pleasantly high, and a little horny. A feeling not at all foreign to him.

A little bit of sweat was forming a sensual sheen on the girl's tits, drawing Eddie's attention back there far too easily.

Of course she would notice.

"Have you ever done anything with a girl before?"

Eddie normally would have thought she was judging him, but her expression was so open and curious and... cute.

He can feel a little sweat forming on the small of his back and underarms. He’s nervous, and it makes it hard to ignore how badly he just wants to get into it. But Eddie tries to stay focused on her hazy eyes as he responds."No... not really. I'm a little, uh... a little inexperienced with this kind of thing," he admits. "Why do you ask?”

"Because," the girl answers, noticing how badly Eddie was ogling her chest. "I want you to feel safe. If you want to stop at any time do not hesitate to tell me. Boys always get it in their heads that they need to lose their virginity as fast as possible. I don't want you to look back on this moment and regret it."

"Okay, yeah… I-I appreciate that," Eddie replies, trying and failing to sound calm. "I want us both to enjoy this whole experience, you know?"

She smiles faintly at Eddie’s words before launching into her usual spiel. "My safe word is Milkshake, but you can pick your own if you want to. If at any time I do something that you don't like or you start to have second thoughts, use your safe word, okay Munson?"

Eddie nods his head slowly in response. "Yeah, don’t worry I'll do that. My safe word will be… uh, shit… no not ‘shit’, it’ll be… " He looks down at himself for inspiration, his eyes landing on the logo of his shirt, a devious smile curling his lip. “Hellfire, my safe word will be Hellfire.”

Marnie’s smile slowly melts into a smirk at Eddie’s choice before she continues,

"Now, I have a few ground rules before we begin, okay?"

Nodding his head, a little absentminded Eddie replies around a suddenly dry throat, "Go on. I'm listening."

"You are allowed to touch my chest, thighs, back and ass over my clothes. Never under. You will not try and pleasure me in return. And under any circumstances are you allowed to kiss me. Do you agree?" Marnie levels Eddie with a serious frown, the pinch of apprehension between her eyes makes Eddie wonder what she’s thinking as she waits for his response.

He looks at her for a few moments, the weight of everything beginning to settle hot and heavy in his veins, before nodding once more. "Yeah, I can do that. Sounds...uh... pretty reasonable.” Eddie looks away for a moment, his darkened cheeks making him feel self conscious . He silently doubted the other boys Marnie had dallied with acted this fucking awkward before getting their dicks sucked.

"Do you have any rules of your own that you want me to follow Munson?" Marnie tilts her head to the side, and it instantly reminds Eddie of a curious little kitten. Which of course makes him even more flustered. He always knew girls were cute, but no one had ever looked at him like that. Being on the receiving end of a girl's charms… yeah. Eddie was beginning to understand why men could be such dicks to each other when they wanted a girl.

He was already mentally strangling any invisible and imagined guy who even came near Marnie again. Which was… stupid. She wasn’t even his to claim, but Eddie knew then and there that if given the chance, he would make Marnie Wellwood his girl.

For a few more moments Eddie just takes her in, trying to think of anything he wasn’t okay with. Porn mags were always too perfect. And even though Eddie knew that that was the appeal, that the fantasy is what sold each issue; well, he had always hoped his first time with a girl would be more… real. Not a procured imagining of what sex was, but more, intimate. But life had not been kind to Eddie Munson, and here he was just about to get his first blowjob from a girl he found out existed in his same sphere only hours ago.

Eventually, Eddie does speak up. "Um... you can touch, uh..." he blushes and looks down at his fingers, idly twirling his rings from all the nervous energy. "Pretty much anything you want to, I guess. I don't really mind as long as you're comfortable with it."

A fond smile touches upon Marnie’s lips for an instant, before her expression turns serious again. "One last question before we begin then. I always want my partners to get caught completely in the fantasy... When you think of being intimate with someone do you prefer gentle and loving? Passionate and needy? Or Dominant and Dirty?"

She's making it incredibly difficult for Eddie to keep his composure, But he answers her honestly. "Uhm... I think I would like it gentle and loving," Eddie mumbles, looking away slightly to hide his embarrassment.

The girl smiles, and it is a genuine smile that crinkles the edges of her hazy eyes.

"Okay," she murmurs softly, her whole demeanor shifting. In an instant she becomes soft and demure, like a chameleon shifting to blend in. It was almost scary at how fast she could move into a new persona.

"Can I have your hand Munson?"

Eddie’s lips part, the flush of his excitement turning his full lips dark and rosy. In the dim, hazy lighting of the van, Eddie’s eyes are dark and fathomless; the pupil practically consuming his iris hungrily. His hands shake, the slick sweat on his palms making him cringe at himself as she takes his long, trembling fingers into her own hand.

She lets her gentle fingers glide over the planes of Eddie's strong, well defined hands. Each knuckle reverently caressed. She takes the calloused pads of Eddie's fingertips and brings them to her lips and just lets him feel her hot, moist breath fan against them teasingly; her eyes never once leaving his as she quietly assesses his reactions.

The expectation Eddie had was for her to start sucking on his fingers in a facsimile of what was to come... so he is completely surprised when she bestows a soft kiss on each fingertip, her eyes fluttering closed sweetly.��

After each finger has been kissed, the girl opens her eyes and whimpers pleadingly, gently guiding Eddie's hand to now cup one of her full breasts over her clothes.

"Please, touch me... tell me all the dirty thoughts you think every time you take your dick in your fist and fuck it."

Her sweet gestures mixing with her filthy words were going to be Eddie's undoing, he was sure of it.

Eddie cups the girls full, weighty breast in awe. There were very few moments in Eddie's life where he was absolutely speechless, no witty come back or snarky remark. Just pure fascination and wonder over being able to touch a girl's tits for the very first time.

His throat is getting a little dry from how quickly he was getting turned on; all of his blood pooling into his erection. The girl makes a throaty sound of encouragement, snapping Eddie back to reality.

She had asked him a question and he still hadn't answered.

"I dunno... don't really fantasize much about sex. I mostly just whack it to porn mags," Eddie finally supplies inelegantly.

"No, no, that's not what I mean," she replies quickly, shaking her head. She's back to being bold and assertive just like that. All the shyness was an act. Eddie’s blush returns as he realizes that - and not for the first time - he realizes he may have been a bit too gullible.

"Tell me the dirtiest thoughts you've ever had, in your entire life."

Eddie swallows thickly as she practically purrs the words. Wow. That's... that's a little more intense than he had even dared to imagine… Eddie wipes his hands absently on his jeans as they continue to sweat.

Eddie squeezes his eyes shut as he thinks; his thoughts falling through his mind like sand in an hourglass. He felt high, horny and hazy-- all of those things a horrible combination in regards to having to think.

His strong hands are cupping both of her breasts now, squeezing and massaging absentmindedly and enjoying every moment of it.

"Fuck..." Eddie bites out, his thoughts finally catching up to him as dirty images flicker behind his eyelids. "I wanna sit in my throne after d&d and have a girl ride me. Make me feel like a god," Eddie is mumbling, trying to keep the image from making him nut too soon.

The girl smiles ever so slightly at Eddie's reply to her question.

Her eyes flick down to his jeans, the hard line of his cock easy to see from how tight he wears his pants.

"Does your dick hurt from being so hard? Want me to make you feel so so good?" The girl croons, her gaze growing dark and sultry.

“Fuck,” Eddie breathes the word into his lungs. There had been the slightest tremble in his voice, all too easily showing Marnie how close he already was, without even being touched yet. “Yeah, wanna feel you on my dick… pretty mouth’s gonna feel incredible.” He was practically slurring as if drunk. He might as well have been… drunk off the smell of her perfume, and the sound of her voice edging him closer to the finish line before the race even began.

"You're such an honest boy," she murmurs while her fingers trace the strong tendons in Eddie's hands.

Her hands trail up his arms, and then under his shirt; her nails pressing a little harder as they rake downward to add a little pain to the pleasure. It makes Eddie shiver, and the flush on his face deepens at how much he enjoyed the slight sting.

And god damn it made him fucking moan.

Even when he was at his most desperate to cum, fucking into his slick, sticky fist like his life depended on it in the privacy of his room, he had never moaned. Sigh, sure… hell maybe even whimpered occasionally. But the guttural sound she drew from him made him flush heatedly.

"Your moans are so pretty Munson, I'm having a hard time believing no one has ever touched you like this before. The girls around here really are dumb,"Her gaze turns slightly predatory as she licks the rim of her lower lip in a show of seduction and want.

The wet shine of her lips makes Eddie gulp at the knowledge that soon her sinful little mouth would be sucking him off.

There's no doubt about it. This girl was good. Really, really good. But there was no way in hell Eddie was backing out now just because he was slightly overwhelmed by her. No way.

Eddie swallows heavily, but tries to play it cool. "Nobody's ever talked to me like this before.” His eyes flutter closed for a moment, taking this all in. "Yeah... maybe I am missing out. You're really something, you know that?"

He watches breathlessly as the girl's hands work efficiently on his belt and jeans fasteners, the shine of her black nails catching his attention.

He can hardly hear the sound of his zipper being pulled down over the thundering of his heartbeat. The muggy air in the van is still cool enough to send a shiver through him as he feels the damp patch from his leaking dick cool from the sudden air flow.

The girl looks up at him through the rim of her pretty lashes, and smiles as her fingers begin to gently rub at the wetness leaking through his boxers from the weeping head of his dick.

Her lips look so tempting to Eddie, and he has an insatiable urge to kiss her. But he remembers, a little regretfully, her no kissing policy.

Instead he bites his own lip to keep from moaning again too loudly.

Eddie feels his jaw clench from the effort, his skin burning raw and sensitive all over with the desperate desire to press Marnie down and claim her. Ruin her until she’s quivering and moaning just as badly as him. But Eddie is able to keep himself in check. His heart rate is skyrocketing and the blood is still rushing through his body at a fever pitch, but he does his best to remain calm.

"God, that felt so good. Fuckin’ perfect…," Eddie adds with a soft sigh.

The girl gives Eddie a surprisingly gentle smile considering how domineering she has been this whole time at his words.

The feeling of her hands softly squeezing and rubbing his impossibly hard cock through his boxers was absolute heaven. Nothing in his life had ever felt as good as this, and they hadn't even gotten to the fun part.

"Fuck Munson," the girl whispers in awe, "you've got a big cock. The girls are definitely missing out at getting a taste of you.”

He can't help it - Eddie shivers as she says that. His breath hitches as she speaks, face flushing bright red once more. Eddie wanted to say to hell with any other girl…

Every girl he had ever fantasized about, every awkward boner at school when a skirt swished by, thighs so tantalizing he thought he could die, paled in comparison to this. To Marnie Wellwood looming over him, tits pulled taught in her tight shirt, and a mouth made of sin.

"Mmm. You... you think so?" Eddie slurs, her words making him throb. It clicked for him then that she definitely liked what she was feeling. Her appreciative appraisal of his cock made Eddie practically preen with pride.

"Of course. I overhear so many girls in our classes whine about their boyfriends lack of... downstairs equipment." As if to punctuate her Admiration, she finally pulls the full length of Eddie's dick out of his boxers; her velvety soft fingers finally directly touching the hot, throbbing length of him.

Her gaze turns wanton at the sight of him. His cock was long, and thick in perfect balance, with a lovely head and delicate veins. Precum was weeping from the eye of his dick to run down the length of it and onto his balls.

Eddie wondered if he was only imagining the drool at the corner of her mouth the moment she fully took in the sight of him.

"Ohhh... God..."

When she mentions how big he is Eddie feels a sudden, intense surge of pride. His heartbeat starts to race again, and for a second he thinks about what they would all say if they knew what Eddie the Freak Munson was doing right now, but then he reminds himself to focus on the present. Yeah, the present was good… Marnie’s smooth fingers had just begun to rub along the thickest vein on his cock and that alone was heaven.

The girl seems to sense how well her words lifted Eddie's self esteem, the way his cheeks flushed pleasantly at the praise. She thought it was sort of... cute. But she would never admit that out loud.

Instead she takes Eddie's dick and slicks her hands over it a few times to spread his precum so she can jerk his cock a little easier.

Eddie can't control the sound she wrenches out of him from how amazing it felt to have someone other than himself jerk his erection so good like that... it was enough to almost make him drool.

She pokes out her tongue teasingly, keeping it just a hair's breadth away from Eddie's erection. Her almost touch is driving him crazy, but he tries his best to play it cool and not let her know how badly he wants her.

Without warning however, her soft warm lips begin to swallow around the head of him, and the softness of her slick tongue running along his hot, hard cock almost makes him come undone. Eddie’s eyes roll back, and he blinks blearily at the roof of the van.

Lewd, wet sounds fill the silence; punctuated by Eddie’s voice. Unable to control himself, Eddie whimpers at every soft suckle. When she takes him down to the base and the head of his cock scrapes the back of her throat, Eddie keens as if the air has been punched from his lungs.

Eddie can feel his thighs trembling, pleasure sparking along his nerves. Up his spine, and neck; his head practically fuzzy with pleasure. A few times his hips jerk involuntarily, shoving his dick deeper into Marnie’s perfect mouth.

Apologies sit at the precipice of his tied up tongue, afraid that fucking into her throat like that would make her angry. So when her eyes flick up and she whimpers pleadingly at him as if… fuck, if Eddie didn’t know any better, he might think she liked him rutting his cock into her mouth as if he really was fucking it.

He doesn’t know what to do with his hands, as they clench and unclench at his sides uselessly. He's just trembling and breathing shakily through his nose. But he knows at least that he can't stop looking at her. His eyes drink her in greedily, and if he could burn the sight of her cheeks stretched full around his cock into his mind forever, he would.

What finally undoes Eddie are her eyes. At the height of his breathless panting for air, her eyes flick up and bore heatedly into his. They hold such unfathomable thoughts behind them, and Eddie finds it both maddening and exhilarating that he cannot begin to guess what she is thinking as he spills.

Her eyes felt like they were branding him, and though he did not know it then, they would forever leave a mark upon his heart.

She licks her lips after she swallows, which just makes Eddie groan from how overstimulated and over the edge she made him feel. There was the tiniest tinge of regret that it was all over now, but Eddie tried to not let that get to him. Instead he tries to affect an air of lazy nonchalance as he says, "I can't believe we just did... that." An almost note of disbelief colors his words as he looks the girl over.

“Did you… like it?” Eddie asks breathlessly while he collects himself enough to speak again. He feels a bit silly for even asking, but he needs to know.

"The question is, Munson, did you like it? This isn't about me, my hookups with you silly boys are never about how I feel. I provide a service and I get something in return. Nothing more, nothing less."

The girl is plucking at the almost burned away remnants of the joint they were sharing and takes a drag of what little remains, releasing the smoke in Eddie's direction. She seems unaffected by her own words, but Eddie can see the small twinge of sadness at the edges of her eyes as she says it.

“Well if it wasn’t obvious, I loved it. This was… this was amazing.” Eddie replies, honestly. Never in his wildest dreams had Eddie ever dared to think he would be in a moment like this. But seeing the hint of hurt from her own admission makes Eddie want to soften the ache.

“But, it would be better if you liked it too. Why do you do this if it doesn’t make you feel good?”

She smiles, it's small and reflective as if she is thinking a thought that she knows she has to hold back. It's in that moment that Eddie sees a hint of something behind her mask. She wanted people to think she was carefree and promiscuous.

"Look Munson, I did enjoy making you feel good. You're probably the... gentlest person I've been with. As long as you are satisfied with what I did for you then that's all that matters. Girls like me... we don't get to be cherished and adored. Treated like something precious... we just... exist for others' benefit."

“That’s not fair,” Eddie says with a small bit of resentment. “You deserve as much appreciation and love as you give. It just… seems unfair that you get the short end of the stick.”

"I never said anything about love Munson. Love has nothing to do with why I hook up like this with people like you. Love is the last thing any of you boys need to have with a girl like me "

"Well, what's so wrong with love?" He asks, confused and curious about what exactly she means by that.

But... There is a small part of Eddie that understands what she's saying - even if he doesn't like hearing it.

"Love isn't for someone like me, okay?" Her words have a bitter edge, "I'm the kind of person who is meant to be someone's dirty little secret. No one would proudly take me by the hand for the world to see. I'm the mistake that happens when you get too drunk, or miss your ex. I'm the filler in a space that just so happens to be free. Boys don't love girls who are like this. They just use them, and then cut them loose when they get bored of them."

Her words leave a very bitter taste in Eddie’s mouth. He can’t help feeling slighted, even if Marnie had made it clear from the get go what this was. Her being so candid and assuming his intentions… stung.

“Well… maybe you just haven’t met someone willing to care for you like that,” Eddie adds. He knows he is going into uncharted territory, and he hopes he won’t say anything too stupid or offensive to make her mad.

She laughs a little, the sound sardonic and dry and... sad. Her fingers put out the last bits of the joint, before going to brush the mess of her hair out of her face. "Don't you worry your pretty little head over me Munson. Just revel in the fact that you now officially know what it feels like to get a blowie in the back of your van."

“Wow. You just… it never stops with you, huh?” Eddie replies sarcastically. “I guess I should count myself lucky.”

He sighs softly as he realizes that, although they had both enjoyed themselves, she seems adamant about not letting herself get emotionally connected to anyone. This was a mistake in her mind, and that’s all it’ll ever be.

Eddie figures there are worse mistakes to make at least.

"Thanks for the weed, and for being nice to me." Her raspy voice grows a little soft and fluffy at the end, and she looks away. "You're not at all like I expected you to be."

"Really?" he asks, his usual playful smile returning. "Well, thank you for that. Coming from you, that means a lot."Eddie smiles warmly, a rush of endorphins flooding him from the compliment. "What did you expect me to be like?"

"Mean and scary. I know it's dumb... we both have pretty horrible reputations around school, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do..."

Eddie sighs, smiling warmly at her again. "But sometimes... what we're told isn't always reality. You know, we're not as scary as people make us out to be." He shrugs. "If anything, I'm just a bit of a nerd who likes to headbang to metal, and you... you're actually pretty sweet on the inside."

"You tell anyone I have a soft gooey inside Munson, and I'll tell everyone around school what you're like down there, and it won't be close to the truth at all."

He blushes again, just at the reminder of what she had said earlier about his… endowment. "Fine. I can keep a secret." Eddie raises an eyebrow at her. "But would they believe you?"

She smiles a wolfish, toothy smile at Eddie's response. "Touché," with that she straightens her clothes and reaches for the handle of Eddie's back door in his van.

"If you uh... ever want to request my services again, I might be inclined to say yes. You're pretty fun to hang out with Munson."

"Maybe I will,"He replies, his face crinkling as he smiles at her. Eddie feels both a bit silly and very embarrassed. But also happy. Really, really happy.

He turns the handle for her, and lets her know the coast is clear. "I'm glad you um, hit me up for a deal. That was... unexpected, but very nice."

She hops out of the back of the van like she hadn't just been in there doing very eyebrow raising things with Hawkins High's biggest Freak. It warms Eddie's heart just a little when she winks and gives him a small smile over her shoulder before disappearing into the woods.

With her back turned and fading steadily from view, Eddie makes a dramatic stabbing motion right into his heart and smiles.

Yeah… without a doubt, he knew he had it bad.

#eddie munson #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson x original character #eddie munson x oc

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atlantablack · 1 year

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Stranger Things/Narnia Crossover

Okay, so, this was originally just me rambling in the tags on @steveshairychest’s post but uhhh i ran out of tags…..which has never happened to me before …..and then I didn’t want to hijack their post because it got wayyyyy too long and there are three parts because I have A LOT of thoughts for the lion, the witch, & the wardrobe; prince Caspian; & voyage of the dawn treader so like, this is part 1 i guess, bear with me here

Okay so, I’ve decided to go with, this is a canon compliant Stranger Things AU though Season 3 and then Season 4 still happens, but Eddie doesn’t exist in the modern world. Not 100% sure on how S4 would go in that case but hand waving that away, basic plot points happen, except they defeat Vecna, happy-ish ending, Max is FINE. Cool cool. Moving on.

In the OG post I saw @munsonsduchess mentioned in the replies Eddie as Caspian and I have ENTHUSIASTICALLY taken that to heart, not 100% sure how to work Wayne in there but that’s a problem for me an hour from now (but i have IDEAS for the steddie of it all so I will make it work)

So, The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe:

So, post canon, at some point a few years post-S4, let’s say summer break between the kids Junior and Senior years, Steve, Robin, Dustin, & Max go on a vacation together. Which makes sense because the Sinclair’s, Byers, and Wheeler’s are probably all having family vacations. But Ms. Henderson and Susan Hargrove can’t take time off work to do that and Robin just wants to spend vacation with Steve, so they all go on a vacation to Europe and stay in this bougie ass Bed & Breakfast.

The Bed and Breakfast off is course Professor Kirke’s old house. Now, so we know time in Narnia isn’t accurate to time in England, so theoretically even tho it’s 1988, the kids could go through the wardrobe and still end up at the end of the long winter. I’m thinking in this universe the Pevensie’s never got to sent to Professor Kirke’s house during the war and he passed away in 1949 so the wardrobe just kind of got left in the house when it was turned into a bed and breakfast.

So, the four of them are there, Dustin and Steve are both in the room that have the wardrobe, and Robin and Max are sharing a room. At some point in the first couple of days there, Steve, Robin and Max are outside doing something and Dustin is just exploring as much of the house as he can get away with and for whatever reason, he gets it into his head that maybe the wardrobe has a false back!!! Because you know old house, old wardrobe, why not right?

And ofc it then spits him out in Narnia which is not a false back but is infinitely cooler in his opinion. Unfortunately, Dustin “what if I raise this baby demodog what could possibly go wrong” Henderson does not immediately turn around and go back, but instead goes exploring and then is happened upon by Jadis. Now, see, here’s where it changes, because Dustin’s played D&D for years and he might not have the good sense god gave a goose to not going run around a random new universe, but he does manage to clock, almost immediately, that Jadis doesn’t have his best intentions in mind. but he’d quite like to not get murdered thanks and so he plays along and mentally rolls dice and promises to bring her his “siblings” and then fucking hightails it the fuck out there

So, Dustin is back in the room, and immediately goes to tell the others. Change Number 2: they’ve all already gone through the upside down bullshit four times, and while they’re slightly skeptical, they also believe him pretty fast. It would not be the craziest thing to happen to them.

So, instead of doing the sensible thing and simply not going back into the wardrobe, they stash a bunch of supplies in it and start going in as a group to check it like once every hour or two to see if it’ll let them back in. It takes sixteen hours, by which point Steve is thoroughly over the whole thing and Max is starting to suspiciously wonder if Dustin is playing the longest prank ever on them, but it does indeed open back up and they grab their supplies and wander back into Narnia

If Nancy was there she’d be completely appalled that they don’t have any weapons on them except for Steve’s pocket knife and the kitchen knife Robin managed to steal. Unfortunately, Nancy is back in the states with her family and unaware of this.

So, into Narnia they go, Mr. Tumnus is there, since he didn’t meet Dustin the first time around, and wasn’t implicated. And then they run into the beavers etc father christmas all that

basically, book events happen similar-ish, Steve gets his sword & shield and Robin gets a bow & arrow and her horn. Because really, like, Steve is self-explanatory, going from a nailbat to a sword is the logical conclusion and by god does that boy need a shield. I think Robin would do well with a bow & arrow honestly, especially considering she seemed to do fine throwing the molotov’s and holding a bow doesn’t involve much walking/running unless the enemy gets too close.

Now, I was thinking on the cordial & dagger, and i technically slotted max into the role of lucy because dustin was the one to originally run into Jadis, but neither of them fully fit either of those characters, and I’m not really trying to make them fit perfectly. But so I do feel like the cordial and dagger fits Dustin more, especially if we want to assume he still watched someone die in S4. Not sure who…….but let’s just say he did. I’m not writing this as a full fic so that’s a problem for me never. But that would fit his character then.

We don’t have a canonical fourth gift set since Edmund wasn’t there, but I think, since they all received a weapon of some type, Max would do well with a set of dagger short swords for two handed fighting, and then maybe a map that always shows the right path? to tie in with her being the party’s zoomer?

so they get their gifts and keep going, whatever happens in the book happens I guess (I really don’t remember the small plot points) and then since no one betrayed anyone and we’re ignoring the bible metaphor of it all Aslan’s sacrifice isn’t needed and the battle is fought and won and the kids become the kings and queens of Narnia.

Now, they talk sometimes in the first couple years about trying to find the wardrobe and go home. They’re not really aware that time moves differently in Narnia than in their universe, and they’re sure that the rest of the party must be worried sick about them. But they’ve been handed an entire kingdom and Steve, whenever it’s brought up, always says that if they want to try and find their way back they should but he’s going to stay because this asshole has a savior complex and refuses to leave the kingdom he’s been given responsibility of and well, the other three refuse to leave him, and so in the end none of them leave.

But then, just like in the books, the memories fade and then it’s fifteen years later and completely by accident, they stumble back through the wardrobe and back into 1988.

The In Between:

So, they’re mentally 15 years older (36 / 35 / 32 respectively if my math is right) and now they’re back in their younger bodies in England and it’s only been maybe an hour or two and no one even knows they were gone.

Obviously, when they get back to Hawkins, which was an ordeal in itself while they tried to reorient themselves to the modern world, they call a code red and the party has a meeting where the four of them try to explain what the fuck happened.

The rest of the party wants to not believe them so bad because honestly, it’s horrifying, all four of them gone for years and years and none of them even noticed because time just, passed differently there (which is fascinatingly reminiscent of the upside down btw). The party doesn’t want to believe it, but they do, because Steve is matter of factly talking about the intricacies of running a kingdom and planning battles and treaty negotiations and Robin is explaining how you keep track of crop yield and making sure a kingdom is fed and taken care of and how to make sure you have back up reserves in case a winter runs crueler or longer than the last. Dustin casually talks about hosting castle functions when visiting rulers had come to Cair Paravel and Max talks about hunting and the dryads that taught her how to understand a river’s voice.

They don’t want to believe them but the party doesn’t lie, not about stuff like this, and no one can really deny the way that the four came back from England and no longer seem to fit.

It’s hard on the party of course. Dustin and Max can’t just slip back into their friendships with the others that easily. It’s been fifteen years for them, they’ve forgotten so much. It’s even harder for them to go home to their mother’s and pretend to be children. Robin and Steve have an easier time of it, time had only made them closer, and they’re still together even if they are back in Hawkins. It’s hard on Nancy who had started to grow close with Robin and had been looking forward to seeing Robin after they all got back from their family vacations.

But life moves on and it takes months but eventually all four of them start to slip back into their lives in Hawkins. But they still don’t quite fit, no matter how hard they try.

Steve and Max get into a mock fight one day when they’re out by the pool. Someone had brought a bunch of fake weapons, because they were getting ready for a LARP festival, and no one had thought about it past “that sounds like a fun thing to do” and one minute they’re all laughing and the next Steve has picked up a sword and Max has picked up a pair of short swords and they’re off.

They miss training is the thing, they never say it but there is so much about Narnia that they miss that it feels like they’ve lost a limb some days. Dustin misses Narnia less with every day that passes and Robin thinks some days that she’s fine in either world as long as Steve is there. But Steve and Max feel like they’ve lost a vital part of themselves and so of course they’re not going to pass up a chance to capture even a little bit of Narnia back.

The party goes dead silent as they watch Steve and Max fight. It’s obvious they’ve done this before. Max is fast her on feet and Steve is grinning, sharp in a way he never used to be. Neither of them are pulling their punches and Max jabs Steve hard in the side at one point right as he brings the sword down hard on her arm. “Guess that’s a draw,” he says, cheery as anything and Max laughs, says, “Don’t be ridiculous, you know that one’s mine. One of us would be bleeding out and it wouldn’t be me.”

They go kind of still when they turn and find everyone watching them but Robin hoots and starts making fun of Steve for losing before the silence can carry too long. Dustin joins in making fun of Max for getting hit at all. “I swear you used to be faster than that,” he says.

“Yeah, well, I used to have properly weighted swords too.”

He grimaces and concedes the point.

The point is, it gets easier and it gets harder and they try to move on because they don’t really see what other choice they have and the party does their goddamn best to get used to the new habits and idiosyncrasies of the four that came back.

It gets easier and then of course, a year later, in 1989, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Max get called back.

to be continued.....

#stranger things #narnia #steve harrington #robin buckley #max mayfield #dustin henderson #no seriously this got so out of hand in my head #i've been thinking about it all goddamn day #the steddie part is so !!!!!!!!!!!!#going to start typing it up #st #atlanta's writing

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munsons-maiden · 2 years

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I don't know if the 2 days later were intentional or if they needed to rush the story. Anyway, I don't want Eddie to be on season 5 like Billy was on 4 or to survive just to die in the final episodes.

That's what I keep wondering as well. But it was such a weird moment for this cut as well. They could have gone full-angst by adding another few seconds of Dustin screaming as Steve rips him away from Eddie's body, screaming that they can't leave Eddie there while Steve explains that they have to because the ground is opening up and all of our Hawkins heroes in tears and that would have "solved" the issue of neither of them apart from Dustin showing a reaction to Eddie's death. Maybe they didn't do it because it was supposed to end at the same time it ended for Max, but the cut happened with the scene of Dustin holding Eddie so I don't think that's the case. It was either rushed (but again, one minute tops would have sufficed for the reaction I described and it would have fit better with the mood and the story?) or it had another purpose we don't know yet. (Or it was very bad writing but I want to believe it wasn't; and in my opinion episodes 1-8 of ST4 were the best in all seasons so I find it had to believe they forgot how to write in the last 30min of Vol2...)

Hard agree. But if they bring him back, he won't die again, I'm 100% certain of it. Even if they still didn't manage to clear his name at the end of ST5, Eddie could simply leave Hawkins, eventually even with a fake ID given to him by Owens and his agents. But until now, the rule is: if you're one of the good guys and you die and come back, you don't die again (see Hopper, El and to an extent even Will because Will was dead in ST1 in the Upside Down until Hopper brought him back with CPR). And flayed Eddie will still be one of the good guys, just like flayed Will was (you know what I mean).

I want Eddie back; but I want him back alive and as himself.

#kiki amswers #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things 5

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runninguplenorahills · 2 years

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I think its a bit weird when people compare or call mlvn familial love. I see it happen sometimes in fics and here on Tumblr and it just feels wrong. Like idk this is coming from a byler and it feels like annoying mlvns here making that weird ass joke about reffering to byler as brothers when will canonically has a crush on Mike. I'm not a huge romantic mlvn fan and I love platonic mlvn as best friends but saying their love for eachother is familial feels weird even in the context of byler since they've kissed, are together(for now), and would be canon exes if byler happens, them being best friends that have gone through a lot together and care for eachother but still having a strong platonic bond feels like enough(srry to dump this on you I've just been thinking about it for a while and happened to stumble upon your post rn)

You’re totally right! It is absolutely weird considering that Mike and El canonically dated but I personally feel like that’s the intention!

Mike is paralleled to Hopper a lot in the literal show. They both find El, give her a home, care for her, teach her things and some of the dialogue they have with El regarding all of these things is almost identical! One of the first things Lucas says about El is btw that even Holly talks more than her so he’s literally comparing El to Mike’s sister!!! The boys also made El wear Nancy’s dress in s1 while they could’ve just let her wear Mike’s clothes again to go outside. But El wore the dress and it was deliberately drawn attention to the fact that it’s Nancy’s later in the season. So we basically have El dressed as Mike’s sister. We also have the “my cousin” thing when Mr. Clarke asks who El is and we can’t forget the fact that Mike was rambling to El about how she could live with him and his family and that his mom would be like a mom to her and Nancy like a sister. And then El asks if he’d be like a brother because that was heavily implied [i know mike dismissed that idea but he literally couldn’t explain why he didn’t want her to be like a sister to him lmao] That whole scene was also just super awkward in general and the kiss was one of the weirdest things to happen ever. “You could go with your sister but it’d be weird” is what Mike says to El in regards of taking her to the Snow Ball and then in s2 at the actual Snow Ball we have the Mike/El, Dustin/Nancy parallel. So El is again paralleled to Nancy/a sister. [I know that Mike and El kissed but that kiss wasn’t originally supposed to happen so the parallel still stands!]

As you see, the show itself is the thing that started connecting Mike and El’s bond to a familial bond!!

My point is that Mike and El’s connection is purposefully hinted at to be familial to create that effect for the audience that melvin being a couple feels really incredibly weird!!!!! [especially melvins totally failed to pick up on this!] Mike and El being in a romantic relationship is supposed to feel wrong from the get go of the show and it is done by dropping all those familial parallels to hint that their bond is inherently something completely different and off limits for romance!!!!!

The audience was supposed to really pick up on the fact that the romantic connection is forced and weird!!! We were supposed to pick up that Mike is really forcing it and in retrospect we were supposed to question why he’s doing it!!! I’m 100% convinced that Mike forcing the romantic connection between him and El and his personality switch were always supposed to be this huge thing that everyone is speculating about. The Intention was for the whole fandom to question and theorize why Mike is doing all this and in the final season we’d finally get the big reveal that he’s gay! This was supposed to be one of the big mysteries in stranger things but the duffers just didn’t account for the spectacularly dense fandom that thinks that Mike is just intentionally made out of cardboard!!!

So I personally think that people expanding on those parallels and calling El and Mike’s bond familial isn’t bad at all because that’s literally what we’ve been told by the show from the get go!!!

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler is endgame

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eddiesasspbrak · 2 years

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Not What I Expected Ch 2

It’s Autumn in 1985 and Eddie is being harassed because he sold weed to the wrong girl. Steve is still trying to get over Nancy and might have found the one person that can help him achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Robin has some secret romantic intentions of her own.

Pre Season 4 and not canon compliant with season 4

Chapter warnings: violence, blood, angst

4k+ words

AO3

Eddie rolled out of bed earlier than he wanted to, but if he didn’t wake up on time, he wouldn’t have a ride to school. His van was still out of commission, the shop having not gotten back to him yet. He tried to fix it himself but couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong. He knew Jason and his cronies were behind it, but he couldn’t prove it.

So, he was currently relying on Steve Harrington of all people to drive him to school. He was surprisingly an ok guy. Back when he was at Hawkins High too, he played basketball with Jason and the others for a while. He couldn’t imagine him doing this with them. Though he did remember hearing about what happened to Jonathon Byers and his camera, so maybe Eddie was wrong about him. Or maybe he’d just grown since then.

He did seem like he’d improved when he got involved with Nancy Wheeler. She was the good girl extraordinaire, and Eddie was kind of surprised when they’d started dating. Not that he made it a habit to follow the lives of others, but Hawkins wasn’t very big, so it was common to know things about others whether you wanted to or not.

Eddie pulled on some clean clothes, tamed his curls with his fingers and brushed his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror and took in how tired he looked. He’d stayed up way too late the night before though it wasn’t fully by choice, insomnia something he dealt with from time to time. It wasn’t long before he heard a car pull up outside. One peek out the window and he could see Steve’s car, Dustin in the front seat with him.

There was no denying that Steve was attractive. Plenty of girls had crushes on him and once or twice Eddie had looked his way. But playboys like Steve were not interested in guys, especially guys like Eddie. He had briefly thought to himself the night before when he lay awake staring at the ceiling that Steve would look awfully nice in his room, on his bed, maybe a few clothes less than normal. He’d had to force that thought away before it riled him up too much. There was no point in lusting after a straight boy.

Eddie locked the door behind him, his uncle not yet home from the night shift. Eddie had wished a few times now that he’d pick him up first and it could be just them and maybe he could talk to him. Dustin wanted so badly for them to get along that it was awkward to just chat in front of him. He always watched them with this big grin like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Adorable little weirdo. Eddie had a feeling that while Dustin had all his friends from childhood by his side, he and Steve were his BEST friends. The two people he felt closest too. And Eddie had no problem getting to know him for Dustin’s sake…or his own reasons.

The car was warm when he slid into the backseat. Robin wasn’t with them today. Too bad, Eddie liked her. She cut through the awkward with endless ramblings that just got Eddie going too. Steve had threatened to kick them both out several times now. He got a vibe off her that she might be like him, but he wasn’t 100% sure how to go about asking her without her getting mad or defensive.

“Everyone ready?” Steve asked, locking eyes with Eddie in the rearview mirror for the briefest of moments before quickly looking away.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Eddie smiled, slouching down against the leather seat.

Steve put his car in drive, but Dustin stopped him, pointing out his window. “Wait, Max is still home. Can we give her a ride too?”

“Sure, why not. I’m basically a school bus at this point.”

Dustin ignored his comment and rolled down the window, sticking his head half out. “Max!!” He yelled probably louder than necessary causing her to jump before looking their way. “Want a ride to school?”

She seemed a bit annoyed as she marched across the way to the car. Eddie had seen her before given that their trailers were so close. He also knew she was friends with the boys and had dated Lucas previously. Eddie himself hadn’t had any interactions with her.

When she sat in the car, she gave him a weird look like she hadn’t been expecting him to be there and maybe she wasn’t too happy about it. He wasn’t sure why she seemed weird about him, but maybe she’d heard the rumors at school and didn’t trust him.

“It’s way too early for you to be yelling that loud.” She said, turning her attention to Dustin.

“Sorry, wanted to make sure you could hear me through your headphones.”

“I could hear you if I were on Mars.”

“Alright, quit bickering and buckle up. I actually have things to do today besides carting you all back and forth to school.” Steve griped.

For the most part the ride was quiet. Max (he’d have to remember her name) replaced her headphones over her ears and stared out the window. Dustin occasionally tried to start a conversation, but it didn’t seem Steve was in the mood, and it would quickly die again. It wasn’t a long drive to school and when they arrived Eddie was almost glad to get out of the car even if it meant school.

He thanked Steve like he did every morning and afternoon as he stretched, staring out at the school and all the people milling about. This was the last place he wanted to be most days and now that he had a gang of ball throwing neanderthals after him, he’d literally rather be anywhere else. He hadn’t even really done anything to invoke their wrath.

It was pretty common knowledge that Eddie sold weed to anyone and everyone who asked and was willing to pay. Chrissy Cunningham had come to him a few weeks ago asking if some weed before bed might help her sleep. Someone had seen them talking and reported back to Jason “I own my girlfriend” Carver.

Except things got twisted. They’d decided Eddie was trying to get her hooked on drugs and convince her to dump Jason for him. If only they knew he had no interest in Chrissy, or any other girl for that matter. It didn’t matter that Chrissy said they were just chatting about homework or that Eddie pleaded innocent time and time again. They’d decided he was a villain, and they were some sad superheroes and it was their job to get rid of him.

They didn’t do much on school property, afraid of getting in trouble. But they threw plenty of threats his way. And then there was his van.

He sat in the back of the room for his first class of the day, already tuning out. He wasn’t exactly a quiet, hide in the shadows kind of guy, but he found that if he kept a low profile, they’d be quieter. Most days he didn’t care but others, like today, he wanted nothing to do with them. He was way too tired to sling insults and pretend he wasn’t pissed as hell. One wrong word or move and he might actually clock Jason and he was trying to avoid trouble. He was determined to get the hell out of Hawkins high by the end of the year and never look back.

Chrissy was a nice girl and he’d enjoyed their chat, but if he’d known it would all come to this, he would have sent her away immediately. Typically, he didn’t discriminate, this was how he made his money, but maybe he’d need to be a bit more cautious of who he was seen talking to. Secret meetings only from here on out.

In the blink of an eye, half the day was over. Though for Eddie it felt like it had dragged on forever. His group of misfits were already at their preferred table when he walked into the lunchroom, having dragged his feet the whole way there. In the lunchroom he was exposed to whatever douche baggery they had in store. And he was pretty easy to spot, sitting at the head of their table in his rightful spot as DM.

They were already chatting when he arrived and greeted him when he joined them. He plastered on a smile, genuinely content being surrounded by the group he’d assembled. Gareth was in the middle of a story that had everyone enthralled. Eddie half listened while he scanned the lunchroom. So far he saw no sign of letterman jackets or angry glares sent his way.

“Eddie?” It was Dustin calling out to him from three seats down.

“Dustin.” Eddie greeted, turning to him.

“You ok?”

“I’m wonderful Dustin. How are you?”

Dustin smiled but it was halfhearted. “I’m doing ok, I’m just worried.”

“Worried? What do you have to be worried about? You’re safe and healthy, surrounded by your friends, enjoying halfway edible lunchroom food. What could be better?”

Dustin’s smile became a bit more genuine. “I’m just worried about you.” And then his smile was gone. “You seem…distracted.”

Jeff nodded. “He’s right. You’ve been acting different ever since the douche brigade started bothering you.”

“Nothing to worry about. There’s nothing they can do to me that we won’t give back tenfold. Right?”

They all agreed, getting a bit riled up.

“Just a few more months and I’ll be far away from here anyway. Their pathetic insults can’t hurt me, can they?” They shook their heads or chorused “no” in response. “Do you doubt me?” Again, they said no. “Alright then, no need to worry.”

Dustin didn’t seem fully convinced and as lunch ended, he pulled Eddie aside. “I know what you said but you know you can talk to me about it, right?”

Eddie wrapped an arm around Dustin’s shoulders and pulled him to start walking. “I know, man. I promise I’m fine though. Ok?”

Dustin nodded, finally giving a little smile for real. “Oh, just so you know, my mom is picking me up early for a doctor's appointment. Steve said he’d still pick you up though.”

Oh. Eddie didn’t know what to think, but then he remembered the little redheaded girl that would likely be riding with them too and he relaxed a little. Sure, he wanted to be alone with him, but he also knew it probably wasn’t the best idea. Whenever he was around attractive straight guys, he had a hard time controlling himself. It was then he remembered…

“I’ve got detention tonight, so maybe call him and let him know not to worry about it.” He was almost disappointed.

“I told him this morning. He says it’s fine.” He’d already complained to all of them about the detention and what a waste of time it was and just forgotten.

“Really?” Eddie raised his eyebrows. “Huh. Ok then.” How accommodating, he thought. He could understand if Dustin was getting a ride too, but just him? Why was he being so nice when they’d barely even spoken to each other? It couldn’t just be because he was friends with Dustin, could it?

Detention was long and boring. He’d only gotten it because Mr. Jones called him an idiot in class, and he returned the insult with an added double one finger salute. It was such a stupid reason to get detention, especially while Jason and the basket cases were roaming around free. Most of his teachers were sick of him and hoped he would either graduate or drop out. Most were betting on the latter. Fuck ‘em.

By the time he was out it was practically night. A bit of light remained making the world look grey. Steve wasn’t there yet, though detention had been let out early probably because the monitor got sick of sitting with them. Eddie dropped his bag and plopped down on the grass to wait for him. It was a bit chilly, autumn speeding toward its end and winter just around the corner. Maybe he wouldn’t show up. Maybe Dustin had misunderstood. Eddie figured he’d wait for a while and if there was no sign of Harrington, he’d suck it up and walk.

He was definitely tired now and couldn’t wait to get home and pass out. Of course, the universe had other plans for him. As always, some force seemed to be out to get him. He wasn’t really paying attention to things around him, zoning out and trying to stay awake his main priority. So, he didn’t see the three people walking towards him until they were practically on top of him.

Jason led them toward Eddie with an expression he guessed was supposed to be intimidating. Eddie sighed and rolled his head up towards the sky. He just wanted to go to bed.

“What could you possibly want from me now?” He asked, not sure he really cared about the answer.

“I keep asking Chrissy what you said to her, and she won’t tell me. She just keeps saying that you’re not as bad as everyone thinks. What did you do to her?” Jason snarled, making Eddie roll his eyes.

“I’ve told you already, but you just don’t want to hear the answer. She wanted weed, she came to me, we talked for less than five minutes.”

Jason grabbed Eddie by the collar, something he seemed to enjoy, and hauled him up to his feet. If he weren’t so disgusted by him, that show of strength might have turned him on. Eddie stumbled a bit trying to get his footing. He didn’t want to do this, but he would if he had to.

The world almost went into slow motion as Jason drew back his fist. Eddie barely had time to react before it collided with his jaw, knocking his head to the side. He stumbled back but Jason held him up by the shirt. Eddie swung back and caught Jason in the eye, his ring leaving a satisfying scratch, making him let go of his shirt. Eddie advanced on him, ready to swing again, but he was outnumbered and the other two grabbed him by the arms. They held him in place even as he jerked against their hold. There wouldn’t be many teachers left on campus and those that were wouldn’t be watching for students outside. They were the only ones around and Eddie was stuck.

Jason swung again and hit Eddie in the stomach. He let out an “oof” and doubled over the best he could while being held. Jason lifted his hand to his eye as blood began to slowly trickle, before he grabbed Eddie’s hand and forced one of the rings off his fingers. He chose the one shaped like a pig’s head, the ears hard and sharp enough to do some damage. He slipped it onto his middle finger and then swung at Eddie’s face, hitting him just above his left eye. Eddie felt the warm blood on his skin a second later. The next punch landed on his cheek, slicing along his cheekbone.

Eddie’s ears were ringing and his vision in his right eye blurred, his left shut to prevent blood from getting in and already swelling. He pulled on his arms with all the strength he had in his body, but they were stronger than him. That’s what happens when you spend all your time playing D&D and not sports. He tried swinging his legs and managed to catch Jason in the side and that earned him another hard punch to the stomach that knocked the air out of him.

He was sure they’d beat him into unconsciousness at this rate when a blinding light fell on them. Maybe they’d killed him and that was the light calling him to heaven. A second later a car horn beeped loud and long and Eddie saw the light wasn’t the pearly gates, but a cars headlights.

“Hey assholes!” He knew immediately that it was Steve. “Get the fuck away from him!”

They chorus a string of “shit, shit, let’s get out of here” and then they let him go and ran. Eddie fell to his knees, the force of it rattling through his legs. He caught himself on his hands as he pitched forward. He saw his ring on the ground in front of him and he grabbed it, his blood on it still warm.

Then Steve was beside him, his voice sounding far away as he scooped him up under the arms and lifted him to his feet. He leaned on Steve as he was half carried to the car. Steve ran back and grabbed his bag, throwing it in the backseat as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Gripping the steering wheel, Steve stared at his hands for a minute. Eddie dropped his head to his shoulder and looked at him. He looked furious and like he might be sick.

“Do I really look that bad?” Eddie asked with a bloody smile.

Steve tensed and looked at him with shocked eyes. “There is something seriously wrong with you.”

Steve should have been better at cleaning and patching wounds by now with how many fights he’d been in both with people and monsters. Still, he did his best as he cleaned the cut along Eddie’s cheek. The other winced as the antiseptic soaked gauze dabbed and brushed at the cut. He stayed as still as he could as Steve cleaned the wound and then closed it with 2 butterfly closures. His nose had long stopped bleeding but the dried blood in his nose itched. Steve had already cleaned and wrapped the cuts on his knuckles, his rings discarded on the desk.

Eddie glanced around Steve’s room as he worked. Never in his life did he think he’d be in Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington’s room. He knew he was rich, but his bedroom would barely fit in his trailer. Trophies and team photos lined the top of his dresser. How could a guy that used to play ball with the dicks that just jumped him be so nice? When they were in school together, he always thought Steve was just a typical jock douche. Maybe back then he had been. Now he was gently cupping Eddie’s face with one hand without seeming to realize while he cleaned the cut along his eyebrow.

When Steve looked down, Eddie was staring up at him through his eyelashes with doe eyes. He realized that his hand was still on his face, and he quickly turned away, picking up all of the garbage.

“That should be good.” Steve said, refusing to look at him.

“Thanks.” Eddie thought that was pretty amusing. Maybe Dustin had told Steve about him, and he felt uncomfortable being too close to him. He stood and started properly snooping through Steve’s room. Within reason of course.

Steve watched him from the corner of his eye while he packed up the first aid kit. There was something weird about seeing Eddie in his room, but it also sent a thrill through him that he still didn’t understand. He picked up one of Steve’s trophies and turned it over in his hand, a smile on his face.

“You’re not what I expected.” Eddie finally said, setting the trophy back in its spot.

“What’s that mean?”

Eddie shrugged. “I just thought you’d be…an ass?”

Steve scoffed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t think I’d be different too.”

“No. I mean…I’d heard rumors but-.”

“See? It’s ok, you thought I was crazy and now you know I’m unbelievably loveable.”

That drew a real smile out of Steve. “And me? You thought I was an ass and now…?”

“Now I see you’re basically an overprotective soccer mom.”

Steve tried to look offended, but his smile only grew. “I am not a soccer mom.”

“You have like seven kids.”

“If anything, I’m just a really kickass babysitter.”

“Babysitters get paid.”

Steve didn’t have a response to that, so he just laughed, and Eddie joined him.

“I think it’s nice though.” Eddie plopped down on the edge of Steve’s bed with his hands back behind him.

Steve swallowed his nerves and the way Eddie on his bed made him feel. “What is?”

“How you take care of them. I’m guessing it started because of Nancy Wheeler.”

Why had he brought up Nancy of all people, the girl he loved, maybe still loved, while he was having a gay crisis about the guy in front of him.

“Oh…I mean, kind of, I guess. I got to know them a little bit because of Nancy. Her house is kind of the hangout for them.” Steve perched on the edge of his desk, as far away from Eddie as he could be without being obvious. “It was Dustin that kind of cemented my relationship with them.”

“He’s pretty good and wiggling his way into your heart, huh? Like a little happy parasite.”

Steve smiled at that. “That he is. I just feel protective of them. We’ve been through so much shit together. Fought together-.”

“Wait, you fought together?” Eddie raised his eyebrows in amusement and confusion.

“Well, I mean…figuratively.” Steve said his words slowly like he was trying to pick just the right thing to say. “I’ve just had to help them with a lot of tough situations is all.”

“Like…?” Eddie wasn’t going to let this go.

“Like…Billy. Max’s older brother. He was super against Max dating Lucas or even hanging out with him. He ended up finding out they were friends and tried to hurt him, so I stepped in and saved the day.”

“Didn’t Billy beat the shit out of you?” Everyone had heard that Billy had kicked Steve’s ass about a year ago, and Dustin confirmed it.

“I totally got in a few good hits. He was bleeding when I was done with him.”

Eddie chuckled, finding Steve’s depiction of the fight cute. He was trying to appear tough and strong. It seemed like he was though. Maybe not physically, but he fought for what he thought was right and that was nice.

“Now that Billy has died, do you regret beating him to a pulp?”

“Absolutely not.” Steve didn’t even hesitate. “He was crazy and racist and hurt Max. He had it coming. Nobody hurts my-.” He cut himself off.

“Your…what?” Eddie’s grin stretched across his face. “You were going to say your ‘kids’, weren’t you?”

“What? No. I was going to say, ‘my friends’, obviously.”

“Sure, you were Steve. There’s no shame in admitting you’ve taken on all these children as your own. It’s cute.”

Steve just about choked on air at Eddie calling him cute. Didn’t he know that he was the cute one? That every time he smiled Steve just about melted inside. Steve was slowly coming to accept the fact that, yea, Eddie was an attractive guy. That didn’t mean anything though. But when the silence stretched on and Eddie’s smile dissolved into a deep frown, Steve felt a pain in his chest.

Eddie leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, his head down and his hair hiding his face. The reality of the last forty minutes came crashing down on them. Steve’s heart had just about stopped when he pulled into the parking lot and saw Eddie held between two guys, Jason beating on him like he had something to prove. He was glad just his presence was enough to scare them away, because he was seconds from ripping Jason’s throat out and feeling so guilt about it. The car ride back to Steve’s place had been quiet as he sped through the empty streets.

He could have taken him home, but his first instinct was to get him somewhere he thought he’d be safe. Steve’s house was pretty secluded and decked out with the best security system money could buy. No one would be getting to Eddie unless Steve let them in. Steve also knew that he had a decent first aid kit hidden in his room. It had come in handy one too many times and he kept it well stocked for the next time someone beat him senseless. All he cared about in the moment was getting Eddie safe and cleaning him up. Now, he realized, he should have been worrying about his mental state as well. When Eddie sniffled, Steve pushed off his desk and came a little closer.

“Hey, you good?” Steve asked.

Eddie nodded his head, or at least it looked like he did. “I’m cool.” His voice was thick with tears, and he kept his face hidden still.

“Look, they’re assholes. You didn’t deserve that, ok? I’ll get you some aspirin to help with the pain.” Eddie nodded again and Steve came closer. “I’m not going to lie; you’re going to wake up feeling like you’re hung over and got hit by a truck. Stay here, my moms had this huge jacuzzi tub put in that will help with the body aches.”

Eddie looked up to find Steve was towering over him. “Seriously? You’d let me stay here?”

Steve swallowed thickly when he saw his face. Red and dirty and streaked with tears, his eyes still wet. “Yea. It’s probably not safe for you to go back out there tonight.” His own voice sounded miles away as he couldn’t take his eyes off Eddie and felt his chest get tight.

Eddie cracked a small smile that was still so pretty, it was blinding. “Thanks, Harrington. For everything. Really.”

He stood so they were face to face and something in Steve just broke. He reached a hand up without even realizing and brushed a stray hair out of Eddie’s face. His hand stayed, trailing down Eddie’s jaw before cupping his cheek once more. Eddie sucked in a surprised breath as Steve closed the distance between them and planted a lip crushing kiss on Eddie’s mouth.

Part of Eddie was confused and part of him was so lost in that fact that Steve fucking Harrington was kissing him that he didn’t even care what this might mean. He put his hand behind Steve’s neck, holding him into the kiss and their lips parted and crashed back together. It only lasted about a minute but felt like an eternity before Steve came back down to earth and pushed Eddie back hard enough, he fell back on the bed.

At first Eddie thought that maybe Steve was trying to move things along, but when he looked up into his panicked eyes, his stomach filled with dread. This wasn’t his fault. Steve had kissed him, surely, he had to know that. Steve just stared at him, a million questions and a million emotions passing over his eyes. Finally, he seemed to find his voice and spoke.

“You can stay in here. I’ll sleep…somewhere else.” He didn’t give Eddie a chance to say anything before he practically ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.

#stranger things #Steddie #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Ro writes

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itsonlystrange · 3 years

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I’d like to point out that the “it’s all just a bunch of coincidence” argument is very poor. People say that about anything they don’t like. If we’re using this argument then I could say that everytime Mileven accidentally held hands or touched or any of that lovey dovey stuff that the Mileven fandom goes nuts over is a coincidence, but I have 0 evidence that it’s a coincidence, I’m just saying it is because that’s how I, a biased person on the side of byler, sees it. And I love the Milevens that actually respect us, it’s just the toxic ones that stomp on us or rain on our parade that irritate me.

So I ask skeptical Milevens, why do you think it’s all a coincidence? Because the Duffers have gone on record multiple times saying that nothing in their show is a coincidence, so it’s odd of you to assume that it is, when that goes against everything the duffers have said.

I see a lot of people claim that all of Bylers very romantic coded scenes are just coincidences with out any real evidence solely because they want them to be coincidences.

Reminder that the duffers had to write, revise, have Noah and Finn read at the table read, rehearse, and then film all of Bylers romantic coded scenes. And do you seriously believe that nobody stepped up and said, “Hey, I think some people will start to ship this if you make your two male characters hold hands and look at each others lips.” Like on paper, that sounds romantic. And on screen, it looks romantic too! If the duffers didn’t want byler to be shown as romantic they wouldn’t have put all of that effort into Mike and Will’s romanticly coded scenes in season two. And sure, one could say they were oblivious and didn’t realize that this relationship could be seen as anything more than romantic and that one of their 100 other writers and revisors and producers didn’t step up and say “Is this really what we want to be conveying in this show when they’re just supposed to be friends?” (Which I doubt. The duffers and everyone else on the writing crew knew exactly what they were implying. And if the duffers themselves didn’t, I HIGHLY doubt that someone didn’t step up and point out how romantic some of these scenes are, especially considering multiple of their writers are apart of the lgbtq community which makes it highly more likely that someone would have realized as I’m sure their gay senses are much stronger than those of the cishet writers on the squad. ) However, byler kind of blew up after season two, so if ST didn’t mean for Mike and Will’s relationship to be seen as more than platonic, then why did they continue doing it in season three? And the thing is, we’re not “delusional” for thinking this. Hundreds of thousands of millions of people have pointed this out across all platforms. It stops being a problem with us and “seeing what we want to see” when millions of people see the same, and it becomes the writers problem for even implying that in the first place.

Here’s an example: take Lucas and Dustin. Sure, there are definitely people out there that think or head canon as either as gay, but not nearly as big of a community as the Byler community. The reason is: Lucas and Dustin don’t have queer coding. They haven’t been painted the same way as Mike and Will’s relationship has. Or Jonathan, yeah, people may head canon as him as gay, or even think he actually is, but he doesn’t have any evidence that really points up to the fact that he is, or that he could be.

The duffers aren’t stupid. They wouldn’t have written byler this way if they didn’t want people shipping it. The official ST writer account has acknowledged byler multiple times, before st3 even started filming. They knew what they were doing. If their goal was to portray Mike and Will as a simple platonic friendship, and that all of their queer coded scenes in st2 were just a coincidence, why would they continue to do it in season 3? Queer baiting is real, yes. However like I said before, the st writing team has a lot of queer and lgbtq+ members themselves, not sure why they would want to queer bait when they’re gay/lesbian/bisexual themselves.

The truth is, byler would have never made it this far if it wasn’t meant to be shipped and portrayed like more of a romantic relationship than a platonic one. They would have shut it down awhile ago. They wouldn’t be so ominous about it. Noah and Finn wouldn’t constantly dodge questions about it unless they legally weren’t allowed to answer them. The duffers wouldn’t have been so vague in the ending of season 3 or in any interviews regarding season 3 about byler. Mike and Will wouldn’t have gotten a whole segment in the official ST book, they wouldn’t have held hands! Seriously! They held hands. Did someone seriously not point out how non platonic that was?———

And use the excuse all you want, “Will was just scared. That’s why Mike held his hand.” Okay, well Max and Lucas held hands when they were both scared in the exact same episode but I guess that doesn’t count because they’re a boy and a girl and Mike and Will are two boys. ———-And it’s funny because you KNOW that if Mike promised to go crazy together with El, that would he in every Milevens Instagram bio, it’d be on merchandise, it’d be everywhere. If Mike said meeting El was the best thing he’s ever done, people would be going bat shit crazy over how romantic that is and how they’re so in love. If Mike and El fought and he ran out in the middle of the rain looking for her when he couldn’t even apologize to his real girlfriend who dumped him just hours prior, people would say that Mike was in love with El and how much he cares about her yadda yadda. But that’s the thing. It’s two boys, so apparently it has to be platonic. Because that’s just how it works in their cishet minds. ——I’d like to see a better argument then “it was all a coincidence.” Because that’s not valid. Why? Why do you think it’s all a coincidence? It’s all just fake? Please. Elaborate. Because if these romantic scenes involved Mike and El instead of Mike and Will, then they’d see. Because they didn’t have Finn and Noah rehearse all these romantic coded scenes multiple times for nothing. They literally wrote, revised, edited, rehearsed, and filmed ALL of these scenes and still went through with it. And even in season three when people really started shipping byler, they STILL directed Finn and Noah to look at eachothers lips. They still filmed the rain fight. KNOWING byler shippers existed and KNOWING this would only heighten the amount of byler shippers there are.

The duffers aren’t stupid. This isn’t a surface level show. Everything they do is intentional, they’ve said it themselves. And yes, I agree that some byler proof COULD just be apophenia, but stuff like this? Crazy together? Looking at eachothers lips? Holding hands? I’m the only one that cares about Will? Mike keeping his eyes open in the final Mileven kiss, those aren’t small little things. You’re telling me that they couldn’t find another take for that final Mileven kiss? No. Finn kept his eyes open because he was directed to do so. The duffers are writers and directors for a reason. They went to school for this. So please, I’d like to see some actual argument against byler other than “they said they loved eachother!” “It’s all a coincidence!” I’d like to see people actually counter my arguments with actual evidence. Not just “Finn says they’re in love” not just “Millie ships it!” Because interviews are not evidence. They’re instructed to create hype for the show. If David can lie about hopper being dead, Finn and Millie can lie about Mileven being in love. I don’t want the argument of “it’s been built up for 3 seasons so they won’t destroy it now.” Stancy was built up for 2 seasons and see how that turned out. And Mileven fell more in season three than it went up.

Anyways,, if you’re a polite Mileven, this isn’t for you. I love you with my whole heart. If you’re just vibing, I love you. Ship what you want to ship! Feel free to counter my argument! However, If you’re someone who calls us “delusional”, leave. The doors right there. The cast has talked about how much they hate the ship wars in our fandom, so if you’re just gonna say how stupid we are, don’t let the door hit you on the way out:)

Sorry for long post lol. Love you all

#stranger things #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #st4 #byler is endgame

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kaypeace21 · 4 years

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something i noticed, during the s3 byler argument, Mike says “El’s not stupid, it’s not MY fault you don’t like girls.” Mike’s “it’s not my fault” doesn’t fit as a retort, the theme of his retort should be defending El. He should have said “it’s not HER fault you don’t like girls”. Knowing there were other versions of that line the writers must have consciously chosen to leave this one in, knowing how it could be interpreted. anyway, do you have any idea why mike even said that line?

Yes, I have talked about it -here (in my long ‘why Mike is gay post’). But since so many people misinterpret the meaning of Mike’s words- might as well do a shorter/more brief version .And do a post focusing on it. HE’S SAYING THIS TO HIMSELF!

First some background

Mike DOES NOT think Will is gay. Dustin foreshadows their fight in s1 saying “Dustin: “He’s just jealous.” Mike: “What?” Dustin: “Sometimes your total obliviousness just blows my mind?” Dustin: “ What matters is, he’s your best friend. And then this girl shows up… and all you ever want to do is spend time with her!” Mike: “that’s not true!”

Dustin: “Yes it is! And you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you’re both start… yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of 0. And now everything is weird”

Mike: “He’s not my best friend! … I mean he is. But so are you.”

He won’t let himself consider that Will could be gay because then it would be harder to pretend he isn’t gay himself . That it isn’t just a weird phase that he’ll grow out of. We see that throughout the show Mike is projecting his feelings for Will on to El . Who in s1 was described by 5 characters as looking like a boy (and specifically like Will, by 3 characters ). There’s just way too many examples of him projecting to list here. But s3 we see Mike is trying to mimic romantic moments between him and Will (from s2) to El (in s3). In order to transfer his romantic feelings for Will on to El. The “blank makes you crazy” vs “crazy together”, the shed scenes of “most important thing” vs “the best thing I’ve ever done”,etc.

The difference between past seasons though, is that Mike is now conscious that he’s doing this. The more feminine El gets- the harder for him it is to pretend. Especially now that they’re going through puberty- and the physical differences between boys and girls is becoming more prominent. We see this in the first ep of s3. I talked about it more here, but the Duffers use music with all the characters to convey plot points or the emotions of the characters. One example is when Mike forces Will to dance with a girl so he ‘fakes a smile’.

So yes, the fact that the very first lyrics that play when we see mileven kiss for the first time is “Just a little uncertainty can bring you down”- reflects Mike’s true feelings.And we know this is how Mike (not El) feels about their relationship because he begins to sing the song right after this lyric.The song is even from the album titled “boy in the box”. AKA: Mike is in the closet

“And nobody wants to know you now. And nobody wants to show you how.So if you’re lost and on your own. You can never surrender.” He fears that if he isn’t straight everyone he cares about will abandon him, and that he’d be lost and the only one ‘like this’ -all alone.But he can’t ‘surrender’ the false-idea of being in love with El (out of fear). This is the rural Indiana in the 80s- at the height of the aids epidemic. People on the news said gay people were being rightfully punished with the ‘gay cancer’ (aids). They equated being gay with being a perv, p*d*phile, murderer, or mentally ill. Churches said you’d ‘burn in hell’. In rural areas people would form gangs and murder people they thought were gay. Of course Mike is terrified and wants to be straight! His parents in s2 were Reagan supporters. And Reagan was notoriously homophobic. He’s probably afraid his parents will hate him, kick him out, or that someone will kill him or he’ll die from aids by simply kissing a boy.

We see Mike is doing his own f-ed up form of conversion therapy. He kisses El but he puts on the wall a drawing of Will so he can look at it while he kisses her. Probably hoping to transfer his romantic feeling for Will on to her.

Like that’s Will! He has light brown hair (not black) and Will is the only one associated with fire and has drawn himself with fire in the past. And Will even overlaps with the rainbow drawing that reads “mike” before we see the mileven kiss. It was intentional.

So when Will Says “you’re ruining everything (their relationship) .And for what?! So you can swap spit with some stupid girl.”

This infuriates Mike because he thinks swapping spit with El is the best way to save their relationship! And he’s been trying to ‘fix himself’ so Will doesn’t hate him- and it hasn’t been working, to Mike’s frustration. So he screams “El’s not stupid, it’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” because he’s projecting. And although, he loves Will… a part of him probably is a bit angry that he’s making him feel this way.

Mike never actually says to El’s face that he loves her- he even says during his fake-confession “[old people] say it”.And later Mike apologizes to El and says “sorry, I sound like a [7 year old].” Aka the number Will rolled in s1. Right after he discusses d&d with Will and talks about seeing both of them for the Hollidays. So it’s telling that after he says “El’s not stupid . it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” (to himself). He immediately regrets yelling at Will. He even closes his eyes and takes a breath before continuing. And apologizes, by giving a heteronormative answer of:

“I’m not trying to be a jerk, but [we’re not kids anymore]. What did you think, really?! that we’d never get girlfriends. That we’d just sit in my basement and play games for the rest our lives?”

Mike is yelling this at himself to keep his feelings for Will under control.El is an idea to Mike about what adulthood is- which is why he doesn’t really defend el (and his ‘love’ for her) but just talks about “girlfriends” in an abstract way. This was essentially Mike telling himself- he’s NOT allowed to just be with Will and never have a gf. He has to grow out of his ‘childish feelings’ for Will- before it’s too late, because being a gay man is dangerous. That’s why when the camera is on Mike (when he looks back a the byers house -and they only show Will and Mike). The dialogue is “But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change.”He doesn’t want things to change (and his feelings for Will to evolve into love, because that means Mike has to admit he’s gay and accept his future as a gay man-which at the time, didn’t seem very bright). They both are afraid of the future because of this. Mike tries to act like a ‘straight-adult’ and Will tries to revert back into his childhood because of this.

Mike also mentions “games’ because d&d is a symbol of byler’s romantic relationship. He’s just pretending to not enjoy the d&d game. Mike says they have to get girlfriends and they can’t play games for the rest of their lives. But that’s what Mike wants- he just wants to be with Will for the rest of his life (playing games) without either of them having girlfriends. Because, we see Mike never took any of Will’s d&d art off his walls.Even though he changed his poster (from the same wall that had will’s drawings on it) Mike couldn’t remove any of Will’s d&d art. It was an act - which is why he was upset (in the last episode) when Will was donating the game, and why during the Hopper speech, it pans to Mike as Hopper says “I miss playing board games every night.”

Mike even has a binder filled with every d&d drawing Will has ever given him.

In the pilot, they even say Will uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about his sexuality “like mike” & Mike uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about not having a gf. * And no, dustin & Lucas didn’t use d&d to “escape” anything- in the pilot script.

And right before Mike says the famous “crazy together”line it zooms in on Mike’s d&d set.

The “crazy together” scene is romantic since both Mike & Flo both equate love making you ‘crazy’. Mike saying “it makes you crazy” and Flo saying saying in s1 “ only love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”).

(x)(x)

Mike is lying about his feelings for El- and El is just confused about her feelings for Mike. The only one’s with mutual feelings for Mike is Will! Will even has a breakdown and goes ‘crazy’ after seeing a pic of them the night they promised to go crazy together - and then Will repeatedly calls himself ‘stupid’ . Because this is when he realizes and admits to himself he’s in love with Mike. And so he grabs a bat (that his dad- who called him a ‘queer’ taught him to use) and destroys castle Byers in a fit of anger and self-hate. That fight was what caused Will to realize his feelings for Mike and the jealousy he had been feeling were because he was in love with Mike. When Mike asks “what did you think, really? That we’d never get girlfriends… play games for the rest of our lives?”

Will is 100% honest a says brokenly “yeah. I guess I did” And then says angrily “I really did!” . Even if both don’t understand the gravity of their words in that moment Will was honest- he doesn’t want to ever have a girlfriend he just wants to be with Mike for the rest of his life. And Mike, who assumes Will is straight, is shocked that this conversation upset Will. Or that he would disagree with his words.

And again their last conversation (about d&d is very telling and is foreshadowing). What Will meant when he said , “I’ll just use yours when I come back- I mean… if WE still wanna play”. Is essentially foreshadowing that the ball is in Mike’s court. If he wants to be with Will for the rest of his life he has to initiate it and prove he loves Will after pretending for so long to love El, instead.

gif credit: first 2 gifs ampwn98 , 3th gif by janebycrs, 5th gif Cath-avery , 4 & 6th gifs mine

#byler #byeler #anti mileven

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beingallelite · 5 years

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All September long,IGN is highlighting the best TV coming your way in the 2019-2020 season. Today, we're checking in with Cody Rhodes and

All Elite Wrestling, a fledgling wrestling promotion with big names behind it that's about to unleash a new weekly show on TNT, premiering Wednesday, October 2. AEW on TNT will feature the likes of Rhodes, Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose of WWE), Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, newly-crowned AEW Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, and an exciting exhibition of stars on the rise.

AEW has its work cut out for it. Not that there isn't an intense hunger among fans for an alternative to WWE, which still monopolizes the industry in most regards - but all eyes will be on AEW's product to see if it's truly the fed that can give the giant a run for its mega-money.We spoke to Cody Rhodes - an AEW performer who also serves as one of its founders and Executive Vice Presidents - about the upcoming TV show, AEW's competition with NXT (which will also air on Wednesday nights as of mid-September), and how his promotion intends to stand out from the pack.

RHODES TRIP

AEW will kick things off in Washington D.C. for its October 2 show, then move on to Boston and Philadelphia for the next two tapings. So why the decision to hit the road with the show, instead of staying in one spot? Well, Rhodes could feel the fan fervor all over the country early on. "I think [AEW President] Tony Khan had the same ambition that we had when we envisioned this," Rhodes explained. "When we did All In [the franchise's recent PPV], and even before we did All In, we felt the hunger for this. And it wasn't just in Chicago. Every place we'd visit we'd find this really strong hardcore fanbase who wanted to be part of everything we did. And we wanted them to be part of everything we did. And that was nation-wide, that feeling."

Despite running for two hours each week, not everyone on the roster is going to be featured on each episode. "We're going to try and present quality over quantity," Rhodes said."Which means that some guys are going to have some time off. Which for the life and the well-being of a wrestler is a great thing to hear; that they're not gong to be, every week, putting themselves in a high-profile singles match. That, every week, they're not going to be in a barn-burner tag. It's going to be a very different show each week. We're not going to try and cram everybody on the two-hour show. There's no participation award here."

That being said, Rhodes and others behind AEW are considering an extra hour of content, which more than likely won't be televised. "It will probably live for people to stream on B/R Live," he shared. "We have a lot of resources and we want to make sure that people can plug into the wrestlers who we signed who they're fans of. We're going to try and keep everybody busy."

Check out this exclusive promo for AEW on TNT...

AEW vs. NXT

A few weeks back, WWE announced that its lauded NXT promotion would shift from streaming Wednesdays on the WWE Network to airing on USA Network in mid-September, landing in AEW's time slot before AEW debuts. "We can't pretend that we don't know that's happening," Rhodes said, "but we were always planning our show. And have been for a long while. This isn't a reactionary move on our part. This is what our intentions were. To be on Wednesday nights and to be on a major network with such a great partner like Warner Media and TNT. Our focus is still on providing the best AEW, providing the best alternative. We haven't switched over to 'Well how can we compete?' because we already felt like we had a product that people wanted to see."

He added, "We want to provide bell-to-bell sports-centric pro-wrestling. That's going to mean longer matches. That's going to mean stories being told between the ropes. That means no invisible camera backstage. That's gonna mean more of a live-sports approach to our product. That's 100% what we're doing, so I want to avoid any reactionary elements. I loved the Monday Night Wars, I did. And I'm not trying to be naive and ignore a situation where it's like 'Hey, if this happens, we'll have to play this card,' but I'm just saying I want us to be more about our young and upcoming crop of talent."

"I'll give you a great example: the very first match you're going to see on TNT is myself versus Sammy Guevara. I can't sit here and tell you that Sammy Guevara's got all the potential in the world because it makes him so angry. He's so full of piss and vinegar and genuinely thinks he's the best and that's the type of thing we want to put out there. People like Jurassic Express, which is Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy. People like Sonny Kiss. Kip Sabian. Obviously, my best friend in the whole world too, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I just want to stick to our word, that we gave fans back at the beginning."

TOO MUCH WRESTLING?

With AEW launching its show, WWE still creating hours and hours of content each week, New Japan available on AXS TV, and ROH (Ring of Honor) in syndication, this Fall features a very crowded wrestling landscape. But Rhodes doesn't see this as a problem at all. "As a wrestling fan you don't have to watch every show," he said. "You only have to watch what you like and who's keeping your attention and who's doing right by you, the wrestling consumer. I know the rising tide affects all ships, but at a certain point, you're going to watch what's better. As one of the biggest wrestling fans in the world though, there can never be too much wrestling for me. I'll give you an example: As a huge Trekkie, I think about that Golden Era of Trek when Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and Voyager were all on and all crossing streams. That was heaven for a Star Trek fan."

Rhodes himself is getting a shot at Chris Jericho's AEW Championship at the Full Gear PPV, coming November 9, but, according to Rhodes, that match might not wind up being as advertised. "This is one of the positive uses of 'card subject to change,'" he said. "I'm coming off a win over Dustin, one of the best of all time, and coming off a win over Shawn Spears, who's an absolute stud. Those were two huge wins. So me going for the title makes all the sense in the world. But it may not end up being me versus Chris Jericho. Because Chris Jericho still has a title defense before that in Philadelphia. And it may not be me if I take a loss to Sammy Guevara on the premiere episode. I think Chris Jericho is probably going to get through his first title defense, but if he doesn't we're going to stick to our word about win/loss records being a deciding factor. It's really about the data and who has the best record."

SO, ABOUT THAT CHAMPIONSHIP...

It was a whirlwind 24 hours. Just days after Chris Jericho became the first-ever AEW Champion at the All Out PPV, the belt went missing. But it's back now, so we've heard. "Yeah," Rhodes laughed, "it's all intact. There's no damage to it, which was my biggest concern because myself and Matt Jackson are the ones who ordered this title - who painstakingly tried to cover as many details as we could because we wanted it to be a really special championship belt. So I was not stoked when I found out it was gone and the mystery will remain a mystery, I suppose, of what happened. Was it grand larceny? Did someone just put it on the roof? We don't know. I'm glad it was found. Stuff happens. Jericho's, like, a 60-year vet and one of the greatest of all time, this isn't his first rodeo. And he did everything he could to get it back. Thankfully it's back in the champion's hands."

With the first AEW Champion in place, the AEW tag team champions to be determined by a tournament, and the first AEW Women's Champion to be crowned on October 2, are there any other championships on the way? "There's a title we're considering," Rhodes stated, "and it's something people can probably guess since we're going to be on TV, hint hint, but there are no plans for it at the moment. Right now we revolve around the AEW Championship and in D.C. we're going to name the first ever AEW Women's Champion, and that's such a beautiful belt. I don't know if people know, up close, that rose gold is layered into it. Brandi, Kenny Omega, and Tony did a great job getting that title. There's going to be some guidelines laid out for whoever wins that title though," he laughed. "Some guidelines about how they're supposed to take care of it."

#all elite wrestling #aew #cody rhodes #chris jericho #sammy guevara #article #posted on: 9.7.19 #ign

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umichenginabroad · 5 years

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A Darkness that must never be forgotten

By: Dustin Fletcher, Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering major, German minor

Program: Technische Universität Berlin (TUB)

My previous two posts have been very joyful and happy. However, this post will take a more somber tone. Before you begin reading this, I want you to remember a couple things; the following topics are can be very emotionally heavy, and parts of this might be difficult topics for some people to read. However, of all the posts I make during my exchange, this one is arguably the most important and I hope you read it all the way through.

Following the end of WW1, Germany was in shambles. The country as a whole needed to pay off the debt from the war, and this stemmed into riots, some demonstrations, and political vulnerability. As a result, it was very easy for people to find something, or someone, to assign the blame to. This is where Adolf Hitler comes in. As a young man and new politician, Hitler joined the DAP (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei -> German Worker’s Party), which later changed its name to the Nationalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), or Nazi for short. This party was strongly opposed to the democratic style government that Germany had adopted during the Weimar Republik. Hitler quickly gained popularity in this party, since he was a riveting speaker, in fact the best in the party. Hitler’s charismatic speeches of anti-Semitism and nationalism largely unified the people of Germany and drew large crowds towards his cause. Many people thought “This is exactly what our country needs, a strong leader who will speak his mind and get the job done!” Scary… You may be thinking, how could someone with such strong hate be elected as a leader? Excellent question, and I’m glad you’re asking it. You’d be surprised how often people say that phrase about very hateful people. Anyways, remember the thing about needing to assign blame to someone? That’s exactly what Hitler did. Rather than directly spreading anti-Semitic hate, Hitler spread it by saying that the Jews were the reason Germany lost the war, that they sabotaged the war efforts, that they’re the cause of all the political and social unrest in Germany at that time… It’s crazy what desperation can do to people’s moral compasses. In 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor and soon thereafter a bill was passed that stripped all power from the Reichstag. This effectively made Adolf Hitler the dictator of Germany, and thus das Dritte Reich (The Third Reich) was born.

I won’t go into as much detail about the war itself, since that’s the part that everyone already knows, but I wanted to talk about the preceding events, as few people actually fully understand how Hitler came to power and how WW2 began. Hopefully this isn’t sounding like a history book, but you need the background knowledge to really feel the emotions.

As a group, we visited the “Deutsche Unterwelt”, which was a tour of one of the bunkers found in Berlin. During this tour, we got to learn a lot about events leading up to the war, as well as how the German government was able to mitigate panic or spread propaganda, which they used to “brainwash” the public. Leading up to the war, Germany needed to start preparing, but the big question is, how do you get an entire country to prepare for a war that you are starting as an attempt to “purify” the world? Simple answer, you don’t. Instead, Hitler told Germany that other countries were preparing to wage war against them, and enforced mandatory “defense” preparations, such as practice air raids (callback to bunker we were in), manufacturing weapons, so on and so forth. The German government spread propaganda during the practice raids by having magazines that contained the Nazi ideology. But don’t forget the children! To make the air raids family friendly, the government so generously provided board games depicting war and Nazi ideals for the young’ns! Learning about this was extremely important for me, because it really helped me to fully understand how Hitler was able to get Germany fully onboard with his radical ideas. Most people think that the German people knew Hitler’s plan from the beginning, which makes it really easy to judge them for joining in at Hitler’s side. I know I definitely judged them, because I just couldn’t grasp how people would just so willingly torture and kill people. The reality is that it was a long, deliberate, and thought out process over a course of a decade where Hitler slowly convinced people to listen to him. Through these small things like slowly hiding Germany’s true intentions, to lying about the war, to feeding propaganda to children, it’s actually quite easy to understand how Hitler could manipulate the entire country. Some other things we were able to see were bathrooms, waiting areas, and the bunker rooms themselves. Sitting in a room with our tour group was already fairly crowded, and we were at about the maximum capacity for the bunker room. We were told that the bunkers were only designed to make the people feel safer, since the German government never thought bombs would reach Berlin, so they really couldn’t handle all of Berlin’s population. At the end of the war though, bombs started landing in Berlin, and so everyone that could fit in the bunker did. Imagine, 100 people sitting in a room. Now, imagine that the room was designed for 20 people. Now imagine that it’s unbearably hot, and people are using the bathroom right where they sit, and you have to stay there for hours. Sitting there thinking about that really made me appreciate all of the things I have, and how comfortable my life is in comparison. And finally, to drive the idea home of how terrible this all was, the people in the bunker were the lucky ones. Compared to the people in German concentration camps, the people in the bunker were living like royalty.

The thing that surprised me the most from the Unterwelt tour was the fact that the German post-war inhabitants tried to hide the past. Until around 1960, the survivors didn’t really talk about the events of WW2, and even when kids or young adults that didn’t live through the war asked about it, they would push the question aside and change the topic, and because of that, young Germans didn’t know what their country was responsible for. Eventually, people found out, and once they did, they decided that they couldn’t stand around and let the world nor Germany forget what they had done. This movement is what sparked the construction of many memorials all throughout Berlin, as well as the rest of the country.

While we’ve been here in Germany, we’ve had the privilege of visiting a couple of these memorials. So far, we’ve been able to see memorials such as the book burning memorial, Gestapo, Die Deutsche Unterwelt, the Jewish Victim memorial, the Neue Wache, and more. Each and every one of the memorials was very powerful, and all work in tandem to remind us of the past, so that we can never forget it.

The book burning memorial isn’t large, but the person who designed it did a very good job of getting its point across. In the middle of an empty courtyard surrounded by large buildings, including the Humboldt University, is a single plaque and a lone plastic window on the ground. The plaque basically says that when people burn books, it is only a prelude to them burning people as well. In the beginning of the Nazi reign, young Nazis ran into the University and grabbed any book that contained knowledge opposing their ideas and beliefs. They then brought them out to the courtyard, where they burned all of the books. Under the plastic window in the ground is a room filled with empty bookshelves that would contain the number of books that were burned. Looking at the empty bookshelves really helps to visualize just how much knowledge was lost, and it helps us to remember how the destruction of knowledge leads us down very dark paths.

The Neue Wache is a roman-revival style building in the middle of Berlin. Inside is an almost empty room with a circular hole in the ceiling. Directly below this hole is a statue of a mother with her dead son. In front of the statue is an inscription on the floor that says “Den Opfern von Krieg und Gewaltherrschaft” which means “For the Victims of War and Dictatorship”. While I was there, I didn’t really understand the feeling that overcame me. I realized later after some reflection that the sensation was that of vulnerability. The statue is trapped in its place, unable to escape the weathering from the environment. In the winter, the statue is covered in snow, in the summer is baked in the heat, or drenched in a torrential downpour. The fate of the statue, much like that of the victims, is completely in the hands of the seemingly unwavering force that ails it. I can’t even come close to imagining the vulnerability and helplessness that the victims had felt, but the experience was powerful nonetheless.

Every memorial I’ve gone to has been very emotionally evoking, but the one that had the most powerful feeling for me was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial is a grid of gray obelisks, and you can walk between them. As you come closer to the middle, the ground gradually gets lower and the obelisks get taller. I have absolutely no idea how to describe the feeling I felt while I was in the middle, but the closest I can come is an overwhelming feeling of loneliness and sadness together. It was one of the most powerful auras I’ve experienced in my life and was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. This is definitely a memorial that you need to see for yourself to find your own interpretation.

There are so many things I could talk about, but it would all be too much for a single blog post. I ~HIGHLY~ recommend taking some time to freshen up on the history of the war and post-war Germany and then take a trip to visit some of the memorials. Every single one is worth seeing, and I promise you that you’ll be glad you did it. The last “memorial” I’d like to talk about, and what I think is the most important, are the Stolpersteine. The first time that I had heard about Stolpersteine was in my 3rd year German class back in high school. Stolpersteine are golden bricks that are put into the sidewalk with the name of a Jewish holocaust victim, as well as their date of birth and date of death. When I first learned about them, I thought they were all gathered together in a single spot in Berlin. However, they aren’t all in one place, but rather spread all throughout Germany. Instead of looming monuments like most memorials, they’re just a single stone or small group of stones in the sidewalk around every corner, and you can spot one in the ground everywhere you go. What I think makes this idea so effective is the frequency at which you see them. Being able to see a Stolperstein anywhere you are really helps quantify the sheer number of people that fell victim to the Holocaust. Also, you see them almost every day, but still not quite often enough to start ignoring them, making them serve as a daily reminder to prevent us from forgetting the past. And as George Santayana said so well, “Wer sich seiner Vergangenheit nicht erinnert, ist dazu verdammt, sie zu wiederholen“ – He who does not remember his past is thereby damned to repeat it.

#UmichEnginAbroad #IPEBerlin #DustinFletcher #IPE Summer19

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rhoeysama · 6 years

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So, I was going to write an essay about Nancy Wheeler, self-acceptance and the undue hate that she receives, but it accidentally turned into so much more than that. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share it at all, but seeing as I lost myself in writing this, and it feels like such a big chunk of my soul is in this, I will. I’m rambling about Nancy and Jonathan and getting my thoughts out, and it’s perhaps a bit messy, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on these two characters. Although some of the writing on the show is lacking, in my opinion, and doesn’t do Nancy and Jonathan the justice that I think they deserve, I really like them, and their relationship, and I just want to express that.

It’s about the concept of self-acceptance and being true to oneself, and about Nancy’s journey to finding herself and how it connects to real life. It’s long and ranty, but if you want, you can read it and hopefully it wasn’t a complete waste of time. :)

* * * * * * * *

Nancy was quick to forgive Jonathan for his mistake because she’s a compassionate person.

She was willing to give Jonathan the benefit of doubt; willing to believe that his heart was in the right place, that he’s not a bad person and didn’t have malicious intent with what he did. He just made a bad decision, at a bad time, when his head wasn’t screwed on just right, after his brother had went missing. And on top of that, he’s only seventeen.

She was genuinely curious about why Jonathan took her picture in the first place.

“What was I saying [when you took my picture]?”

She wanted to understand his reasoning behind it (to learn more about him, what's going on inside that head of his, what makes him tick), so much so that she brought it up again later and pressed him for an answer. He didn’t want to answer, because he had already said his sorry and acknowledgment of having overstepped a boundary and been “weird”. And when he finally gave in to her prodding and presented his observation, she became angry. It just happened to be very awkward when it came from a boy who appeared to like her, which is why she tried to chalk it up to him just being jealous of Steve. But that wasn’t the only reason. She got angry because he was right, and she knew it. After all, he wasn't the first person to vocalize that she was trying to be someone she isn’t.

Barbara: “Nance, this isn’t you.”

Dustin (to Mike): “There’s something wrong with your sister. She’s got a stick up her butt. (...) She’s turning into a real jerk. (...) She used to be cool.”

Jonathan (to Nancy): “I saw this girl, trying to be someone else. But in that moment, you were alone, or you thought you were, and you could just be yourself.”

Nancy was changing her behavior and making bad choices to be liked by a boy. But she never wanted to - or tried to - join in on the bullying and mocking of others just to be part of his group and be perceived as “cool”. Steve even pointed this out to Tommy and Carol: “Neither of you cared about her. You never even liked her. Because she’s not miserable like you two, she actually cares about other people.”

The compassionate Nancy is the real Nancy. The Nancy who cares about others. The Nancy who's willing to listen to someone’s side of a story, and not simply dismiss them and believe the rumors about them instead. The Nancy who’d rather end the suffering of a wounded animal than leave it to die a slow, painful death. The Nancy who’d rather buy bear traps and a can of gasoline and go after and kill a monster than let it claim more victims. The Nancy who puts her own life in danger to get justice for her dead best friend and her parents. The Nancy who dances with the lonely adolescent boy who's crying because nobody wanted to be his dance partner, and cheers him up with words of encouragement.

That’s the real Nancy Wheeler.

Not the one who slams doors in other’s faces when they kindly offer her their left over pizza. Not the one who looks on when someone’s property is taken by force and destroyed as revenge. Not the one who tells her best friend - whom she dragged to a party she didn’t want to go to in the first place - to get lost while she goes upstairs to have sex. Not the one who drunkenly calls her boyfriend “bullshit”.

Being young, especially a teenager, is hard. You have limited experience and knowledge about the world, but plenty of feelings and thoughts and you’re vulnerable and exposed and people can be so cruel, so relentless. Everyone is going through their own life with their own burdens, and deals with it differently. Some bottle it up, some lash out, some bully, some drink and do drugs or party and have plenty of sex to dull the pain. Some, unfortunately, commit suicide. But everybody deals in their own way, and most people wise up, mature, and grow into the people they were always meant to be. Not all, but most.

And we all have an essence, an authentic self. Someone we were born to be, but the world tried to take it from us. And that is why the way we act when we’re alone is who we truly are. That’s when our walls come down and we drop our masks.

This is why Jonathan is an interesting character to me. He saw Nancy as something more than she appeared to be. She was a genie in a bottle, and that bottle had become increasingly small as she was growing, but she was still trying to fit, even if it wasn’t in her own best interest. (And Jonathan saw in her what she saw in Will, and what he had told him as well: to just be himself.)

There are many things we do in private when we’re alone that we would never ever do with others around. I, for instance, talk to myself. A lot. Like, have actual animated, heated debates, complete with all sorts of funny faces and voices, it’s almost like a performance, except I prefer mine not to have an audience. I also sing terrible “opera”, and laugh at myself for how bad it is, because it’s pretty bad, but that’s okay. It’s all in good fun. I also do a lot of voice acting, trying to imitate Eric Cartman, or Rick and Morty or any random Pokemon, but again, it’s awful (but I hear I make a very believable Bulbasaur!). It’s mine, and mine alone, and I’m not willing to share unless I’m 100% comfortable around someone. But it’s something I have accepted, and I’m content with it. It’s all a part of who I am. It’s valid, it’s authentic, it’s weird, it’s human.

This is everyone. Every single person. And guess what? It’s okay. Because none of us learn how to be human, it’s not like it’s taught in school. Or on TV. And all of us are in this life, trying to figure it all out, and most of us don’t have much to go on except for what we absorb from the culture we happen to find ourselves in. And all that culture has to offer is this checklist of things you’re supposed to have, you’re supposed to do, supposed to be. And that’s not all; there’s a deadline for each of those boxes on the checklist! Also, there’s a shit ton of fine print and legalese, and people who will sneak a peak at your list and ask you why you haven’t checked the boxes yet and ostracize you for it, too.

Nobody tells you that everyone does that weird or gross thing you’re doing when no one’s watching, except that others have their weird or gross thing while you have yours, and yes, everyone thinks they’re the only one doing it, and if anyone found out, oh dear lord have mercy. That’s why we don’t really talk about these things, either. So we shut up about it, think we’re alone in our weirdness, and try to emulate our surroundings, and everyone’s basically just a bunch of fakers wearing masks and creating these fictional personas of themselves to put out there in the world. It’s a defense mechanism, because people are cruel and judgmental and ruthless. They are ready to tear you down if you don’t behave a certain way, if you don’t fall in line and get with the program.

People are messy and complicated; LIFE is messy and complicated. Nothing is ever straight-forward or obvious, because even adults don’t always know what to do and don’t always have their lives figured out. Sometimes everything looks idyllic and perfect on the surface, and they have all the boxes checked on their list, but they may still be deeply dissatisfied and unhappy. All of this comes from the lies we tell ourselves: if only I have this and this and this, I will be happy.

The truth is, it’s the other way around: if you’re not happy and grateful for the things you already have, no amount of things and good happening in your life is ever going to make it any better.

So, one of the hardest things you can do in life is to accept yourself for who you are, and learn to love yourself, just the way you are. It’s hard, in the face of reality, in which most people don’t share your sentiment, most people don’t like themselves and would much rather NOT accept themselves, and that’s why they won’t accept you as you are, either. Because the way our consumer culture has evolved is by constantly making sure that people feel dissatisfied and unhappy with what they have and who they are, so that they keep on buying more, buying more, consuming, consuming, consuming. And on the other side of the same coin is the religions and politics, the meddling authoritarians on both sides of the spectrum trying to put their ideological shackles on you and keep you in a shoebox (or the “magic lamp”/bottle), when there’s a whole limitless universe out there.

When you’re a teenager, you start waking up to these facts, and it’s ridiculously hard. Coming out of childhood, suddenly realizing what this world is all about. Realizing that there’s so much suffering in the world, and you feel it too, but there’s not much you can do about it.

But there is, actually. You can start with yourself, and extend kindness to those who need it. Extend kindness to yourself first by not lying to yourself because it’s more convenient. The truth has a tendency to catch up to us, and it will sooner or later, and the longer one waits, the messier it will be. Once you learn to be kind to yourself and ask yourself “Who am I, really? What do I want?”, you will start embracing your true self, even if the journey there will be rough and ugly. You’ll lose friends along the way, and maybe family, too. People will get pissed at you and some will even try to ruin your life and your reputation.

But no one can learn and grow unless they go for what they truly want, what they hold to be true, push their boundaries, and inevitably hurt others and themselves in the process. If we never do any of these things, our lives will stagnate, nothing will ever happen we get nowhere. When we stop learning, we’re dead.

Being a teenager is hard, because life is hard. It’s especially hard when you know who you are, and you know that what you want in life, and what you like, and the very essence of your soul does not mesh well with what’s expected of you.

Jonathan knows who he is, and he’s accepted that he’s a “freak”, and that’s okay. Nancy is still figuring things out, but starting to embrace her true self more, and thankfully she has Jonathan there to help her with that.

#okay I'll shut up now #ramble #long rant #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #jancy #stranger things #Idk if this makes sense at all #I'm tired and I just wanted to get my thoughts and feelings out there

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obeydontstray · 7 years

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The Little Things chapter one

So I started the 100 ways to say I love you prompts. Hop tells Joyce he loves her in a hundred different ways. Post season 2, beware of spoilers. Each prompt is a different day. So here's 1-5! Can be found on ao3! 1. "Pull over. Let me drive for a while." The radio played on between them, her passenger's Dark Side of the Moon cassette. Joyce's mouth was set into a hard line. Mauled by a bear. Fucking lie. She was on her way to Indianapolis to tell Bob's only sibling that he was mauled by a bear. Her eyelids were heavy and she let out a weak sigh, passing the leaving Hawkins sign. She had been determined to leave tonight, to stay at a hotel, and see Sue first thing in the morning. "Pull over. Let me drive for a while." Came a gruff statement from the passenger side. After the events of the last few days he was deathly tired but as soon as he heard her intention of telling Bob's family, he wouldn't take no for an answer when she insisted on going alone. "No Hop you need rest, I'll drive." His hand reached for her's on the steering wheel. "Joycie. Let me drive. I know you're exhausted." Without much protest she pulled over and switched seats with him. He rolled the driver's side window down a bit, upped the volume of the radio just a bit. Then he passed her his fur lined police jacket. "Rest up, Byers." He smiled before she closed her eyes. 2. "It reminded me of you." They were eating dinner, the Byers and Hop and El, at the cabin when Hop leaned up on one hip, digging in his pocket for something. "Here, this is for you." Hop said, opening his palm to Joyce. In his big hand lay a tiny stone cardinal. "Hop!" He gave her a small smile. "It reminded me of you. I know your favorite Aunt loved them." "That she did." She smiled. "She always said they were magical birds." "Oddly enough I found it on the ground. I guess it was meant for me to find it." He smiled gently. "Maybe that's her sending you a hello." The kids all went back ti their food, their interests elsewhere. But under the table Joyce lightly squeezed his knee, giving him a small smile. "Thank you, Hop." 3. "No, no, it's my treat." He hoped it was a comforting thing for Joyce and the boys. Really the things just made his head hurt, but it was determined that once a month there would be a board game night in Bob's memory. Jim was squinting at a brainteaser, trying his hardest to decipher the damn thing. "Bob the brain. You know I always called him that because he was smarter than me." Jim observed. Joyce responded with a sad smile. The doorbell rang. "Pizza!" Jonathan called. "Hey Will, go grab my purse please-" Jim stood, reaching in his pocket. "Don't sweat it, I got it." "No Jim, it's my turn to buy dinner!" She protested. "No, no, it's my treat." He said, heading for the door. "Besides." He said returning to the table with a pile of pizza boxes. "One of these is just for me anyway." He said, referring to the everything pizza he'd gotten. "Your boys and their weird pineapple pizza. Blasphemy." There was a pepperoni and ham for El and Joyce. El watched him intently as he ate. "Folding?" She inquired. Jim always folded his pizza slices when he ate. "Yeah, people eat pizza all different ways." He explained. He pointed at Will, who was eating his crust first. "When my little girl was little, she would only eat pepperoni pizza, and she ate it upside down!" He laughed. "Some people eat cold pizza, sometimes for breakfast. People eat pizza all different ways." She looked around at the table, watching everyone eat pizza from paper towels as they played with the brain teasers. Jim looked over at Joyce. "I like to think he'd be happy, knowing the kids are having game nights like this and everything." He said quietly. She nodded and swallowed. "I think so, too." 4. "Come here. Let me fix it." Joyce cursed a blue streak, her finger stinging. The splinter had been sharp, a piece of wood from the work they were doing repairing his cabin. Joyce had insisted on helping, since he helped repair her house after...after she chopped a hole through her wall. After the kids fought the demogorgon in her hallway. She wanted to help. She shoved her finger in her mouth, sucking the pained skin. "The quicker you get it out, the less it hurts." He said, looking up from where he was rebuilding a bookshelf. "Uh, I hate removing splinters, makes it hurt worse." "Come here, let me fix it." He offered. "I'll fix your boo boo." Joyce pouted at his baby talk, but did it anyway. "Boo boo?" El asked, her eyes squinted in confusion. "A wound. Also called an ouchie or a boo boo if you're talking to a kid." "Joyce is not kid." She said flatly. Jim held Joyce's finger. "She's four months younger than me so sometimes I tease her." He explained and Joyce rolled her eyes. "Now Joycie, I want you to look away and sing me a song, okay?" "This is so stupid!" "Sing, woman!" He fussed as he unfolded his pocket knife. Joyce turned her head. "Moving forward using all my breath. Making love to you was never second best. I saw the world crashing all around your face..." Jim dipped his head low to see the big splinter. As she sang, he gently cut into her finger with the tip of his knife. He then squeezed the skin lightly till the wood poked out. He pulled it out gently. "I'll stop the world and melt with you. You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time..." "All set." He said, folding his knife and tucking it away. Joyce observed her finger. "Wow, that didn't even hurt, Hop. Thank you." He grabbed her hand, lifted her finger to his lips and kissed it. "Tradition." He explained. "It was always my job to kiss boo boos. And we have got to talk about your taste in music." "Not everyone's favorite song has their name in it, Jim." 5. "I'll walk you home." "I would tell you guys to watch after my girl, but I think it'll be the other way around." Jim laughed, patting Jon's shoulder. "Thank you again for doing this, El has been so excited." He said. "And I have to work so I couldn't stay." Jon nodded. There was an entire campsite set up around Castle Byers. El, Will, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Mike, Steve and Jonathan all had sleeping bags set up around the fire Jim had started for them. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky. "You're not camping too Ma?" He asked and Joyce shook her head. "Too old for camping." "Never too old for camping!" He smiled and offered her his arm. "I'll walk you home." He offered and she took it. The crisp autumn air blew through their hair as they walked through the woods. In his free hand Jim toted the oil lantern ahead to light their way as it began getting darker. She playfully reached up to run her fingertips through his beard. "Just like a real lumberjack." She teased. "Me, mountain man." He laughed. "You know, you can crash here tonight. I know the boys are with the kids but I dunno, I'd just feel better if you were close and we needed you." He raised the lantern once they got in the scope of her porch light and blew it out. "Those kids? They can handle their own and so can you if anything happens." He teased lightly. "I would, but I left my uniform and stuff at home." There was a pause between them at his driver's side door. She looked up at him, trying to contain the emotion his blue eyes made her feel. "Go get your uniform, come back. I'll even iron it for you." She smiled. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I'd better get back to the cabin, Joycie. I'll take a rain check though. Next time El wants to stay over." One corner of her lips lifted, a pouty half smile. "Alright. Be careful going home, okay?" He nodded. "Always am. Got too much to live for these days." He smiled warmly as he slid behind the wheel. "Goodnight, Joycie."

#jopper #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction

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harleyquinnzelz · 5 years

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Steve and Sally for the ship breakdown please :)

How did they meet?

In eighth grade, when Sally and Hopper moved back to Hawkins after Sara died. Sally was the new girl, even if she had lived in Hawkins when she was very young, most kids didn’t remember her. Mister Clarke had Sally sit next to Steve in class.

Who developed romantic feelings first?

Sally, though it takes her a while to own up to them, and it’s made worse by the fact that Steve is with Nancy so he’s kind of super off-limits.

Who is their biggest “shipper?”

Jonathan, mostly because he thinks it’s nice that Sally is opening up to someone besides him.

When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

Season two, in the junkyard when they’re trying to lure dart there. It’s when the pack of demodogs shows up and they’ve retreated back onto the bus and they’re all terrified and Sally just grabs the front of Steve’s shirt and pulls him in and kisses him because she doesn’t know if she’ll have the chance later.

Who confessed their feelings first?

Kind of Sally, when she kisses him haha.

What was their first official date?

A movie date to go see A Nightmare on Elm Street. They went out to get burgers and shakes afterward. It was nice.

How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

If you’re thinking Jonathan and Sally do not take advantage of the situation to go on double dates, you are 100% wrong. Things are a little awkward at first, between Steve and Nancy but they get over that pretty quick and the four of them have a pretty good time together, mostly hanging out at the local diner, or engaging in movie nights.

What do they do in their downtime?

Sally is a huge movie buff, so they watch movies a lot. I also imagine that’s she’s taken to dragging him to the arcade quite often. They swim in his pool a lot. On clear nights, Sally will drag Steve out to go stargazing with her.

What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

Awkwardly. I think Hopper always lowkey thought that Sally and Jonathan were going to get together, and then suddenly Steve and Sally are a thing. Hopper knows that Sally can take care of herself, but that doesn’t stop him from grilling Steve to figure out his intentions.

As for Sally and Steve’s parents, they’re really judgemental of Sally at first, considering she’s not the type of girl that Steve has brought home to meet them in the past. It’s Steve’s mom who kind of accepts Sally first, once she realizes that Sally has a good head on her shoulders and that she and Steve are good for each other.

What was their first fight over and how did they get past it?

Something mundane probably. Maybe a girl flirting with Steve and Sally got jealous and it caused a fight. Steve would assure Sally that he isn’t interested in that other girl and the two would make up.

Which one is more easily made jealous?

Sally, considering the very popular reputation Steve has with the ladies. She knows that she isn’t the type that Steve would usually date so I feel like it’s a bit of a sore subject.

What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

They’re huge fans of the local burger joint and go there almost religiously after they see movies so they can get a burger and shake. They share the chili cheese fries. Steve likes the vanilla milkshakes while Sally gets the chocolate milkshakes.

Who’s the cuddly one? What their favourite cuddling position?

Steve is 100% the cuddly one and likes it when Sally lays on his chest. They fall asleep in this position pretty often, actually.

Are they hand-holders?

Steve is more so than Sally. They hold hands when they’re alone but I don’t imagine she likes doing it in public.

How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

A few weeks after they start dating. Neither of them are virgins so like... the act of having sex isn’t such a big deal to either of them. I feel like Steve does go the extra mile to make it special, maybe takes her out for a nice dinner at Enzo’s before heading back to his place since his parents are gone.

Who tops?

I feel like they like to switch it up!

What’s the worst fight they’ve ever gotten into?

Oh it’s definitely before they ever get together at all, in the first season after Steve insults Jonathan and Sally threatens to knock him on his ass if he doesn’t shut his mouth. Once they get together, I can see them bickering but I don’t think they actually have big fights very often.

Who does the shopping and the cooking?

Sally is used to cooking for her and her dad, and I imagine she likely enjoys it very much, so Steve is left in charge of shopping.

Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

Neither of these two are really all that organized, but I can see Sally being the one who is more prone to attempting to have some form of order.

Who proposes?

Honestly, I can see it starting of as a joke, like Sally laughing and being like “Maybe we should get married,” and the two chuckle and then simultaneously they’re like “Oh shit, maybe we should get married” and whoops, now they’re engaged.

Do they have joined Bachelor/Bacheloette parties or separate?

So look I see our boy Dustin 100% wanting to plan Steve’s bachelor party and Robin wants to help and then somehow getting Eleven on board with merging the two parties and it’s just... a big dungeon and dragons campaign.

Who is the best man/maid of honour? Any other groomsmen or bridesmaids?

Dustin is 100% Steve’s best man, are you kidding. As for Sally, Eleven for sure. I’d say Jonathan would be a groomsmen, but with the way season 3 ended, well... he might be slated to give Sally away.

Big Ceremony or Small?

Small.

Do they have a honeymoon? If so, where?

Yes, but not somewhere typical. I can see Sally wanting to go to New Orleans to go on ghost tours to see the famous cemeteries and the french quarter while Steve is all excited about getting to see Boubon Street.

Do they have children? How many?

I def see them having two or three kids, though I haven’t figure out much regarding them just yet!

send me one of my ships and i’ll break them down!

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cynthiadshaw · 4 years

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What’s the Most Important Lesson You’ve Learned Along Your Journey?

Every twist in our story, challenge we face, and obstacle we overcome is an important part of our story. These difficulties make us stronger and wiser and prepare us for what’s ahead. As we grow and succeed we may imagine that soon the challenges will fade away, but in our conversations with business owners, artists, creatives, academics, and others we have learned that the most common experience is that challenges never go away – instead they get more complex as we grow and succeed. Our ability to to thrive therefore depends heavily on our ability to learn from our experiences and so we are asking some of the city’s best and brightest: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?

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Joey Werkmeister | UX (User Experience) Manager | Travel & Entertainment Photographer

The lesson life continues to remind me is to experience every moment life gives you. Stop, observe, value, enjoy. Travel photography has been in my blood for generations. Growing up, I remember my family sitting down in my grandparents living room at every family reunion and everyone passing around stacks of printed photos (I suppose this was the Instagram of the ‘90s) and catching up. I keep a few of my grandfathers polaroids on my refrigerator because they remind me of those special times. In my adult life I’ve been able to travel all over the world for both work and pleasure, and I’ve always kept my extended family in the loop by photographing and posting the pictures for them to see on Facebook, and now on Instagram where I’ve loved sharing those experience with friends, family and followers to world over. My father was diagnosed with ALS about 2 years ago, and since then taking photographs has taken on an new kind of meaning. He is no longer able to travel, but I’ve enjoyed documenting my adventures and bringing the photos back home so we can gather in the’ living room (just like old times) and scan through the pictures, telling stories and taking my dad along on the adventure.

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The post What’s the Most Important Lesson You’ve Learned Along Your Journey? appeared first on Voyage Dallas Magazine | Dallas City Guide.

source http://voyagedallas.com/2020/01/03/whats-important-lesson-youve-learned-along-journey-2/

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thrashermaxey · 5 years

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Ramblings: Updates on Eichel, McAvoy, Fabbri, Forsberg; Flyers PP; Theodore – January 8

Jack Eichel was on the ice for practice with Buffalo on Monday but did not take part in the typical practice line rushes. We’ll get an update Tuesday morning. That would indicate to me that it’ll be at least one more game before he returns.

Sam Reinhart did not skate at all with the flu.

Charlie McAvoy skated Monday but not with the team. Slowly but surely he’s making his way back.

Robby Fabbri was a healthy scratch for the St. Louis Blues on Monday night. Now, as I’ve iterated often, they have a lot of forward depth so that’s not totally shocking in and of itself. In the context that Tyler Bozak missed the game with an injury and the team went with 11 forwards and 7 defencemen against Philadelphia rather than dress Fabbri is a huge concern.

I’m still bullish on Fabbri’s future; we’ve seen him be very good in long stretches before. But it seems like the plug can be pulled on his 2018-19 fantasy relevance. Maybe he needs a full year to really get his legs back under him after all the injuries.

Sam Blais was recalled with Jordan Schmaltz going on waivers.

Nick Bjugstad looks ready to return later this week for the Panthers if all goes well with his next medical update. If you’re in a weekly league, he probably won’t help much but he’s someone to keep in mind for next week provided he can make his way to the top-6. If he can’t, he’s waiver fodder.

Filip Forsberg has been close to returning and on Monday he was activated off the injured reserve and played against Montreal. He started the game on the fourth line but eventually found his way back up to his usual top line spot.

Be sure to grab your copy of the Dobber Hockey Midseason Guide! It’s available for pre-order and will be out later this week. Just head to the Dobber Shop now.

This hit on Connor McDavid from Sunday night drives me crazy:

Ref looking right at it. pic.twitter.com/qEkg3tJ6RT

— Phil Landry (esksfans.com) (@esksfans) January 7, 2019

Those are the types of plays that can break someone’s neck. Those little cross-checks from behind serve a purpose: put the opposition off balance in order to retrieve the puck, which is the point of any hit. The problem is you’re putting a player off balance by driving them head-first into the boards. I wish the NHL Department of Player Safety would throw the book at garbage plays like this, especially if they have any intention of protecting star players.

Vladimir Tarasenko had never scored against the Flyers, so naturally he did on Monday night in St. Louis’s 3-0 win. Credit the shutout to Jordan Binnington in his first career NHL start. Brayden Schenn had the team’s first goal, the game winner against Philadelphia. Once again, the Schenn-Schwartz-Tarasenko line is rolling as it did for much of last year. The trio was shooting percentage under 4 percent before this game at five-on-five, it’s going to go nowhere but up. As long as those three are together, they all have fantasy value in most leagues. They are a very potent offensive line.

Nashville mostly smothered the Leafs in their 4-0 win. Toronto had a few chances and a goal called back on an offsides but Pekka Rinne stopped all 18 shots he faced. P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekholm, Kevin Fiala, and Colton Sissons all scored. That gives Ekholm 29 points on the year, five shy of tying his career best. Seems pretty certain he’ll break it. What a contract.

Mikael Granlund scored the lone goal in Minnesota’s 1-0 win in Montreal. Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 shots for the shutout. That’s about all that needs to be said about it.

Shea Weber took a stick to the face in the first period and looked injured. He finished the period but did not finish the game. Keep an eye for more of an update sometime Tuesday.

Updates on the late games in the morning.

As we sit on the night of January 7th, the Philadelphia Flyers rank 29th in goals scored per 60 mintues of five-on-four action. Last year, they ranked 18th. The year before that they were 15th, and 17th in 2015-16. So, while they hadn’t been great at 5v4 over the previous few seasons, they had never been this bad. According to our Dobber Tools, by far their most-common four-man forward unit is Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, and Wayne Simmonds. With those four on the ice this year, Philly is scoring 5.05 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-four, which is better than their team as a whole, but still not very good. Claude Giroux is on pace to lead the Flyers with 22 power play points, being the only player on pace to crack 20 PPPs; last year the team had three guys with more than 30. What’s going on?

With the four aforementioned players on the ice at 5v4, the team is shooting an even 7 percent, which is extremely low. That would be a low shooting percentage for a line at even strength. Last year with those exact same four guys on the ice, they shot 12.8 percent and scored over 9 goals per 60 minutes. The shot attempt rate of those four last year (131 per 60 minutes) was actually lower than this year (139). With Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot rate fairly constant (within about 1.6 shot attempts per 60 minutes), it’s not as if the additional shots are coming from the blue line, or a higher rate of them. The forwards just aren’t scoring.

This was their shot map in 2017-18 with those four forwards on the ice (from Hockey Viz):

And this is 2018-19:

The roles of Giroux and Simmonds are basically unchanged, but Couturier has moved closer to the net for his shots and Voracek has moved farther away. As you’d suspect, Couturier’s shooting percentage has risen (15.8 percent) from last year (13.7 percent) but Voracek’s has cratered (8.1 percent to 3.7 percent). Voracek is landing 12.6 shots per 60 minutes, which means he’s landing about 18 percent of the group’s shots on the PP. Defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere is landing about 16.5 shots per 60 minutes on the PP. With him on the ice with those four attackers, the team lands 72.2 shots per 60 minutes. So, Voracek and Gostisbehere are landing 29.1 shots per 60 minutes combined, or over 40 percent of Philly’s shots on goal are effectively coming from areas that would be considered the point.

The Flyers have the talent to ice one of the top power plays in the league. We’ve seen in recent seasons, with basically the same personnel and setup, that they can do much better than they are. But their pre-shot movement needs to improve to get to better shooting areas, particularly on Voracek’s part. The shooting percentage should rebound modestly, but if they really want to turn it on in the second half, Voracek at least needs shoot less and pass more, or get himself to better shooting areas.

Am I the only one still bewildered by Brandon Pirri’s demotion over the weekend? The guy had nine goals in nine games for the Knights in his brief career with the team dating to last season. What more does a guy have to do than score a goal per game? I get that they want to keep the “integrity” of the team but this really reminds me of the Vadim Shipachyov situation from last year, and Shea Theodore to an extent. Both players were kept in the minors so the team wouldn’t have to lose marginal NHLers to waivers. Since 2013, Pirr’s one of the top-30 scorers in the league at five-on-five on a per 60-minute basis. And it’s over 2500 minutes, which is over two seasons’ worth of data. We don’t need much more to know how good he is. It was just a weird move for a team that’s been struggling to score all year.

Thankfully, he was recalled on Monday. It’s just unfortunate it took a trip to the IR for William Carrier plus whatever is going on with Reilly Smith for Pirri to get another crack.

Speaking of Shea Theodore, I sent this tweet out over the weekend:

hadn't really looked at Shea Theodore's fancies in a little while. And, uh, he's super good? (thanks @NatStatTrick and @HockeyViz) pic.twitter.com/9dwnbC6Kjs

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) January 6, 2019

Let’s go through that picture by picture.

Picture 1

The first bit of data shows how Theodore has performed for the Knights both with and without Deryk Engelland as his partner since last season, his primary defence partner. With Engelland, the pairing is very respectable in driving the play. Without Engelland but with Theodore, Vegas’s on-ice numbers are elite but they’re bad when Engelland is on the ice without Theodore. In other words, we have about 100 games of data with Vegas showing that Theodore has been great at driving the play, even dragging a fringe bottom-pair guy to solid numbers.

Picture 2

That’s just straight points/60 minutes at 5v5. Among all defencemen in the league with 1000 minutes played since the start of 2017-18, Theodore has produced at a top-pair rate, in line with guys like Jeff Petry (mostly sans Shea Weber) and Dustin Byfuglien. That’s very impressive company to keep.

Picture 3

This shows Vegas’s unblocked shot attempt rates for compared to the league average with Theodore on the ice. Red areas are above-average compared to the league. The team generates above-average shot rates even with him off the ice, but when he’s on the ice it gets even more dramatic, particularly in the danger areas in front of the net and extending to the slot.

Picture 4

This shows Vegas’s unblocked shot attempt rates against compared to the league average with Theodore on the ice. The blue areas are below league average, meaning that’s where the team really does a good job at limiting shots against. You’ll notice he keeps the area in front of the net fairly tidy, forcing the opposition often to the outside.

This isn’t a wholly comprehensive look at Theodore, but this is a snapshot of what he’s done in over 100 games with Vegas. At this point, we have a pretty good idea of who he is, particularly when we look at his pedigree and his 50-plus games with the Ducks. Theodore, by what I can tell from his numbers and from the games I’ve watched, has the look of a true top-pair guy.

Fantasy-wise, there is tremendous upside here in points-only leagues. However, Vegas continues to be a team to split their power play time, as both he and Colin Miller are very close in PPTOI per game. It’ll be hard for Theodore to rack 20-plus power play points in this deployment, meaning we won’t see 60-point seasons anytime soon. But he should be a reliable 40-point guy with weak peripherals. For now, I consider him a high-end Jake Gardiner-type player for fantasy. There is upside beyond that comparable, however.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-updates-on-eichel-mcavoy-fabbri-forsberg-flyers-pp-theodore-january-8/

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