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wavesoutbeingtossed · 2 months

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Randomly thinking about “tolerate it” (narrator voice: it was not random) and how under the cloak of fiction it is ostensibly inspired by works like “Rebecca” (which Taylor said she read during the 2020 lockdowns I believe?), with the line of “you’re so much older and wiser” indicating that the speaker is significantly younger and inexperienced compared to the person she’s speaking to and a pretty direct reference to the plot of the book.

But I saw something somewhere once that stuck with me about how it might not be referring to relative age between the characters but chronological age as in the passage of time in a relationship. And that made me think about how in a contemporary context, it might not necessarily be referencing an actual age gap between the two characters, but rather a sarcastic or cynical response to the man’s claims that he has matured (“you’re so much older and wiser [than you were before/than you were when we met/etc.]”), which then made me think about that line in relation to the woman. And that it could be taken like, “you act like you’ve matured so much in our time together and like you know everything, while I’m supposedly still stuck as the girl I was when we first met.”

Which then made me think of the “right where you left me” of it all and did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen time went on for everyone else she won’t know it and the bit in Miss Americana where she talks about how celebrities get frozen at the age at which they got famous, and how she’s had to play catch up in a lot of ways not just in her emotional growth but kind of in general. (Which also made me wonder if she’s ever been called out for immaturity/lack of curiosity/lack of education about things in her life…)

Which then made me think about the rest of the song, and @taylortruther’s posts yesterday about “seven” and “Daylight” and the way Taylor idealizes her youth yet contrasts it with an almost sinister reality in its wake, and the line, “I sit by the door like I’m just a kid,” because the discussion raised that her relationship let her recapture some of the childlike joy and wonder she’d lost. So this line is a double-edged sword: the speaker sits by the door with childlike hope that the person will come home and cherish her, but on the darker side, feels like the child dealing with the monsters she doesn’t have names for yet and the feelings of isolation she felt as she aged.

I’m not saying the song is necessarily autobiographical; like most of the songs on folkmore, it’s clearly a fictionalized story based on media she’d consumed and created, but we know a lot of the fictional songs were infused with her own feelings and experiences and… This idea swirling in my head picked up steam and now I kind of can’t stop thinking about it. Sorry but I’m a little obsessed now.

Like maybe it might start to shed light on why she identified so strongly with the novel in the first place…

#the third eye has been opened #😵‍💫#like tolerate it was always a difficult song #even when we learned it was based on Rebecca it obviously took on new meaning post-joever #and especially in light of ttpd #but the thought spiral i went on last night when i started thinking about all these connections #and the evermore of it all #I’m Charlie at the conspiracy board again #writing letters addressed to the fire #me thinking too hard about Taylor lyrics #evermore my beloved #tolerate it #i kinda gave myself the ick with all this 😵‍💫#because of the ttpd of it all coming up #and i feel like i remember interviews where Taylor said joe was so well-read especially about like world events and politics and stuff #and supported her when she wanted to start speaking up (not getting into that)#but just based on ~vibes now I wonder if that was like a sore point too at some point #which again i have no proof of but just like… experience with pretentious millennial art bros lol #oh man oh man oh man #this feels like some sort of huge revelation at 1:00 am #when i started writing this lol #eta: when I queued this in the middle of the night i didn't see all the excellent discussion about the seven/folklore posts #so all of you who have been posting about them this morning consider yourselves tagged too!

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brainrot-stitch · 2 months

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Steve saga doodles !! :3

All early steve saga, like before rainbow could talk timeline

Grhh I am so normal about them so so normal...

#said the voice of a LIAR #:3 #sillying rn #btw new headcanon post coming soon :D #i just have to remember to keep writing on it heh..#stitch art #ibispaint art #ibispaintx #doodles #art #steve saga #the steve saga #favremysabre steve saga #favremysabre #rainbow steve #ultra steve #chaos steve #blue steve #tss #drawing shadow sabre soon btw....#shadow sabre ily!!!!#tss shadow sabre deserved more time tbh #bro was SUCH a goof #light steve ily get better soon u always dying little guy #hes just like me fr #also how the FUCK do u draw any sort of mechanics much less the wild ass machines sabre made early steve saga #like... how tflip was i supposed 2 draw that.. sighh #i dare u to draw early steve saga machines (pls pls pls i have no idea how to design them we can compare notes fire emoji)#I FORGOT TO DO SABRES HOODIE RIGHT ON THE LAST ONE WHOOPS #my bad gang hes supposed to have wing holes but not anymore ig!!!!

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sp1resong · 4 months

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to destroy what you helped create / to rebuild what you helped destroy.

#not described #(a lot of the color palette from the dark forest parts was colorpicked from the clangen art!#so were all the characters but that's a given considering that this.#at least /started/ as a clangen thing [it isn't anymore really but i haven't changed the designs])#....... i listened to razia's shadow while writing this one and it shows huh #well. Not really but yknow #art #my art #lyric comic #warriors ocs #clangen #< well. It used to be at least #onelight's dawn #< working title #onelight [oc]#rosyflame [oc]#the light [oc]#primspark [oc]#i think i've finally gotten the hang of drawing fire. which is cool

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iguessigotta · 10 months

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awww, thank you @lolmiau0101 ! (is my inbox still being weird? why does that thing hate me...) i agree, the fanbase needs more writers!! come on, people! there's SO MUCH to work with - angst! smut! dark horrors beyond our comprehension, driving us all mad as some half-forgotten god slowly digests us!!!!!!! Cahara x GN reader, no warnings

i'm a firm believer in pansexual & panromantic Cahara, so I don't see gender really factoring into how he feels about a person

his love languages are definitely acts of service and physical touch - and he actually loves clingy people so please glue yourself to his side 24/7 he will revel in it

the dungeons are a difficult and dangerous place to be, so he by no means expects you to be at your best

i think Cahara would actually prefer a partner who's more often in need of some kind of help - probably someone easily frightened or more timid

someone onto whom he could focus his own fear and concern and desperate need to protect (which he also does w/ the girl - he'd die for her - and you - so fast)

every time you shy away from a sudden noise, discreetly tucking your body behind his shoulder, he feels like his heart might burst

you could just as easily hide yourself behind Ragnvaldr, in fact that might be the better of the two options, but you chose him to protect you

you trust him

that's what really does him in

he'd also love someone he could easily fluster - Cahara's a massive and shameless flirt; nothing delights him more than getting a reaction out of someone

if he can get your cheeks to go pink or cause you to bashfully hide your face...all with one well-timed smirk or wink...

it makes him wonder what would happen if he snuck up behind you, crept in close to whisper in your ear....

how would you react?

would you trip over your words, stuttering through your reply?

would you be speechless?

how much could he get away with?

a lighthearted flirtatious comment, sure

a hand at your hip or small of your back while avoiding an unfortunate encounter with one of the many creatures roaming the dungeons, obviously

but how long would his eyes or hands get to linger, how direct could he be about hist flirting before you noticed, eyes widening as your face heats up...

would you lose yourself for a moment, body unconsciously leaning into him, heavy and warm against his own...?

he's lost himself in thought over it quite a bit

often enough that you notice - and if you make a teasing comment about his glazed over eyes and flushed cheeks?

he's unable to respond as his throat dries suddenly. he's sure his heart skips a beat

you might be the death of him-

#cahara x reader #fear and hunger x reader #funger x reader #cahara headcanons #cahara fluff #fear and hunger fluff #i hope this is close enough to what you wanted!#gonna be honest I just opened tumblr and started writing #i'm really starting to understand you madmen who do that #i could lose everything for no reason!#how thrilling!#really lights a fire under my ass #unfortunately that means this was written under duress #i'm sure that makes this illegal somewhere #no beta we die like men

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tgmsunmontue · 3 months

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Come on baby light my fire… 1/2

Hangster. 3k. Explicit. Apartment fire alarm at 1am featuring Jake in his underwear and Bradley with kittens.

His eyes open immediately, the sound of alarms drilled into him that he wakes instantly, body already rolling out of bed before he’s even consciously thought to do so.

Holy shit.

Fire.

He moves on auto pilot, Hilary’s instructions playing in his head, grab the carrier, put the kittens inside. They’re likely to hide under the couch from the loud sounds. He grabs the apartment keys, pulls on the robe hanging on the back of Hilary’s door and shoves the keys into the pocket; remembering her strict instructions to not forget keys because otherwise he’d be locked out and severely fucked.

Keys. Check. Now onto the kittens.

Of course he can’t see them anywhere.

Fuck.

It’s been over a minute already, and even if it’s just a false alarm all his senses are blaring at him to get out get out get out.

She had said to put his own safety first but he has to at least try to coax the kittens out. He grabs the treat bag and rustles it, staring intently at the dark space under the sofa. Sees one little pink nose pop out and he knows if he gets one out then the other will follow. Sure enough one scampers over to him, followed immediately by the other and he scoops them both up, one in each hand, popping them into the carrier and quickly zipping it shut, but not before dropping in a treat each and pocketing the rest of the bag.

There’s immediately high-pitched meows of indignation but he ignores them, double checks the keys in the robe pocket, grabs his phone and wallet and then gaps it for the stairs. He takes the steps down quickly, seven flights easy work considering the fitness level he has to maintain as a fighter pilot and he steps outside, follows the flow of people to what he assumes is the building assembly point. Everyone looks pretty disgruntled to be awake, and he’s not the only one with a pet-carrier, and there are still people coming out of the eight-floor building.

He’s grateful it’s not fucking winter, his bare feet bad enough, but at least he’s wearing sleep pants and tank, although he probably could have done without grabbing the thin satin bathrobe off the back of Hilary’s door. It’s bright pink, a fact he hadn’t computed in his rushed and panicked state, nor the fact that it’s far too tight across his shoulders and on his arms. He is however not the worst off, there’s a guy in nothing but his underwear, although if a guy is going to stand around in his underwear Bradley’s glad that they look like that. Jesus he’s got a body on him. Pretty like in a magazine.

Of course, because his life is shit, the guy catches him looking (staring), quirks an eyebrow and Bradley flushes but doesn’t look away. Then he mentally throws his shoulders back, picks up the carrier and walks over.

“You want the tank or the robe?”

“Not going to offer me your pants?”

“I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I think other people might.”

“Shame. I’m actually okay. I run hot.”

“I bet you do.”

He can’t believe he’s standing in the street, middle of the night, two kittens in a carrier at his feet, hitting-on and being hit-on by one of the hottest guys he’s ever seen.

“Name’s Jake.”

“Bradley. Nice to meet you Jake.”

“Likewise. So, you had to find these two before making your own escape huh?”

“Well, Oreo and Cracker weren’t quite up to the job of rescuing me. They’re easily bribed though…”

“Cute…” Jake says, but he’s looking at Bradley rather than the kittens and he flushes, can’t believe this guy is being so blatantly interested in him and then he realizes he’s just a guy right now. Albeit a guy wearing a pink satin bathrobe with two kittens in a carrier but yeah, okay, that probably makes some people assume things, and they’d probably be wrong, but he’s not going to correct Jake. He’s not in uniform, people aren’t going to assume he’s straight. Jake might be assuming he’s gay, but Bradley is an out and proud bisexual, even if he has to come out repeatedly every time someone conveniently forgets.

“Lucky you don’t need cute animals to make you look attractive…” Bradley offers.

“Trust me honey, neither do you…”

Firetrucks arrive then and they shuffle off to the side, watch along with the hundred or so other people as they enter the building. There aren’t any flames, so he’s hopeful that it is indeed a false alarm and he’ll soon be reunited with the bed. Although he doesn’t mind the company he’s made, Jake’s back and ass looking pretty fucking spectacular as he crouches down to wiggle his fingers at the kittens.

“All clear! Okay everyone, you can go back in… All clear! Just a false alarm…”

There’s a general grumbling but Bradley’s too used to training for fires with the use of multiple alarms to ever begrudge having to practice something like this as a civilian in his downtime. It feels so quietly mundane for people to not simply be grateful that it is a false alarm, that they aren’t all suddenly homeless and watching the building turn to ashes. He shakes his head, pulls the keys from the robe pocket and Jake is staring at him, eyes wide like he’s seen a ghost.

“What?”

“Fuck. Fuck.”

“What?” Bradley repeats, becoming more concerned at the increasing agitation on Jake’s face.

“I don’t have a key.”

“You didn’t think about getting back in?”

“No!” Jake snaps and then winces at his own tone. “Sorry. Fire drills are drilled into me pretty hard, you drop everything and get the fuck out.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. I probably would have been the same if I hadn’t had to stop and coerce these guys out…” he says, trying to make Jake feel like less of an idiot. He scratches his jaw. “Look, you want to, uh, come back and crash at my place?”

He doesn’t want to mention it’s not actually his place. That’s more likely to make Jake refuse. And he means it as a genuine offer, it’s the middle of the night, hours away from likely finding someone to help him get into his own apartment.

“No ulterior motives?”

“No. You can just crash on the sofa.”

“And if I want there to be ulterior motives?”

Bradley catches his eye and the look is serious now, intense.

“Yeah… that could, that could be arranged. Sure.”

“Lead the way.”

… … …

He pushes open the door to the apartment and feels awkward, the easy banter from before gone in the mundane walk up the stairs, not willing to wait in the queue for the elevator. He’d felt Jake behind him the entire way, and now they’re standing there just looking at each other, the cat carrier between them a

“I can just sleep on the sofa,” Jake offers, his eyes soft and it unfreezes something in him, his head immediately shaking.

“No, it’s fine…”

“I don’t usually do this…”

“Me either. I have… nothing.”

“Shit. Okay, well, we’ll work with what we’ve got. Hands and spit and get a little messy with that I guess… I’m a prepared boy scout in my apartment though. Just for the record.”

“Not prepared enough to not be locked out…” Bradley replies, and he relaxes a little more, the light teasing making him feel that level of playful flirty-ness they’d had earlier.

“Yeah yeah. Come on, let your little prisoners out…”

Of course Orea and Cracker want to leave the carrier just as much as they wanted to go into it, so he carefully lays it on the side, leaving the zippered top open to the room. Soon enough they’re scrambling out and making beelines for the food, water and litter box, sniffing around like it’s an entirely new environment.

“You know, you’re considerably over dressed here…”

“You’re welcome to do something about that.”

“Mmm…”

Then Jake’s kissing him, lips soft as he pushes the robe off his shoulders and it falls to the ground with a thunk, his wallet and phone reminding him of their presence. He pulls back, quickly grabs them and sets them on the little table by the door and goes back to Jake who’s watching him with amusement before he steps back into Bradley’s space, a hand going to his waist, one finger slipping under the band and he lets his own hands rest on Jake, so much skin already uncovered.

“You’re right, you do run hot…”

“Uh huh… means I can keep you warm if you get cold.”

“Don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Bradley murmurs, because his body is heating up with every brush of Jake’s fingers, and he lets him pull his tank over his head. Hears the faint very nice murmured under Jake’s breath and feels a lick of arousal go through him that Jake likes what he sees. Then his pants are being pushed down, fingers wrapping around his cock and giving it a quick stroke and he pushes into it.

“You weren’t lying, you really didn’t have anything underneath…”

“Why would I lie?”

“Because you liked the view?”

“I did like the view,” Bradley says. “Still do.”

“Not bad from where I’m standin’ either… This place have a shower?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Hmm. Just thinking… Two birds, one stone. Maybe three birds. We use the shower, then cleanup is easy, and there’s usually a handy variety of body washes we could use as lube…”

“They’re not proper lube…”

“If you’re trying to tell me you’ve never jerked off in a shower using body wash to glide the way I’ll know you’re a big fat liar.”

Bradley nods, shrugs, concedes the point, starts moving them to the bathroom, because it’s an apartment, it’s not any further than the bedroom. He’s going to have to buy Hilary the biggest fucking gift basket. He reaches and turns the water on, grabs a couple more towels and then wraps his arm around Jake’s waist, runs his hand over the front of his underwear, feels the firm erection twitch against his hand. Kisses him again then hooks fingers in the elastic and carefully pulls his underwear down and goes to his knees at the same time.

“Jesus Christ you’re a sight…”

“Good one I hope…”

“Fuck yes…”

He licks up the length of Jake’s cock, nuzzles and licks at his balls, doesn’t comment on the very closely cropped hair. Then he licks his lips, gathers saliva, and wets his mouth, then in one smooth move sucks Jake down, reminding himself to breathe through his nose. It’s been a while since he’s done this, but he has always considered himself decently proficient. He knows how to not choke and gag at least.

“Fuck.”

He digs his fingers into the flesh of Jake’s thighs, he’s not going to be able to do this long, doesn’t intend to, only until the shower is warmed up, his knees are not a fan of the hard tiles. He bobs his head, sucks and moves his tongue against the head in twirling pressure before going back down. Jake’s running fingers through his hair, gentle, like he’s patting him and it’s nice and he hums in appreciation, which apparently feels good judging from the groan Jake makes.

He stands, keeps his hands on Jake’s body, grabs at warm flesh and kisses a path up his body then they’re both stepping under the spray, kissing, hands moving on each other now. Bradley likes this look on him, hair darker when wet, water running down his body, eyes dark and intent on Bradley and he grins and then lets Jake press against him, turns him to face the wall so he's tucked behind him, hand reaching around to stroke his cock where it’s hard between his legs.

“Thighs together, nice and tight… going to slide my dick between them.”

Oh yeah, he can get into that.

He sucks in a deep breath, braces an arm against the cold tile of the shower wall, glad that the shower is big enough for this. Fingers slick with something that smells like tropical flowers run between his ass cheeks and thighs and he groans, pushes back; feels the press of Jake’s body against him as his hard cock slides over Bradley’s ass. He moans, can’t remember the last time he had a shower with someone. Probably his last girlfriend, before she decided that no boyfriend was better than a boyfriend that was never there.

He’d forgotten how good it felt, to have someone’s hands on him, accompanied with warm water, the soapy slide. Yeah, it definitely helps ease the way, Jake’s fingers soaping up the skin between his thighs and as Jake presses his cock between them in one smooth push he lets out another long slow hum of appreciation.

“Fuck yes…”

“Mmm. Yeah. You feel good…”

Jake’s rolling his hips in a smooth grind, rhythmic as he runs his hands over Bradley’s back and sides, his hand coming round to brush too-soft like a tease on Bradley’s cock. It’s not fast enough or hard enough, but the pace increases in slow increments, and he can feel the tension in Jake growing like his own. Building up and closer and closer. The water is starting to feel cooler against his skin, but there’s still plenty of steam so he figures his skin is just getting hotter, his cock harder, skin tighter. Thighs trembling with the effort of keeping them tightly clenched together. Jake’s fingers are tight on his hips, he’s going to have bruises and he groans at the thought.

Jake’s body starts to move faster against him, and he imagines what it’d feel like to get fucked like this, he’d like to find out, maybe in the morning he can go and find supplies while they figure out Jake’s whole key thing… His vision goes black and he realizes he’s closed his eyes at the feel of Jake’s hand closing around his cock, grasp firm and moving with one objective and Bradley lets himself surge toward it.

“More. Come on Jake, please, need more… come on.”

“Yeah yeah…”

There’s a couple more minutes, nothing but the sound of slick wet flesh and the air in their lungs coming in pants, adding to the sticky heat of the shower. He places his hand over Jake’s, takes over so Jake can chase his own pleasure and it doesn’t take him long, the sound and feel of Jake against him, making his orgasm hit fast and he groans, leg muscles twitching and fuck he hopes Jake is close, because he’s going to go boneless any second. He apparently really fucking needed that.

“Oh shit…”

He feels Jake shaking against him, feels his come against his balls and on his thighs before it’s rinsed away by the water and he slowly lets his leg muscles relax as Jake pulls away, although his hands are all over him, as is his mouth. They both seem to come down and it’s soft and slow, hands washing gently and they’re both a little giggly as they also attempt at towel drying each other. Bradley is feeling really fucking tired, the time of night suddenly slamming into him double-time with the assist of the orgasm.

“Fuck… that was great. Sleep now though right? It’s what? Two? Three?”

“Yeah. Somewhere between there. Close enough. Sleep sounds good. Come on, you look like you’ll make an excellent cuddler.”

“No mention of taking the sofa now huh?”

“Oh no, I’m going to keep you warm all night…”

“Good, I look forward to it. You want to borrow anything, my bags just over there…”

“I’m good for now thanks. Sleep.”

“Yeah, okay. Sleep.”

PART TWO (Featuring six potential endings)

------------- THE POSSIBLE ENDINGS -----------

In all following scenarios Jake has left in the morning prior to Bradley waking wearing borrowed clothes of Bradley’s (and because he's an idiot and should have just waited for Bradley to wake up, but Jake's going to go and try catch Javy as he heads to the gym...).

Jake leaves in the morning but texts himself from Bradley’s phone so he already has a number. No angst, they’re boyfriends now.

Jake finds Bradley’s phone dead so leaves a written message. Kittens rip it up and Bradley never finds it. They both assume the worst. Bad sad pining idiots. (Or this but then followed by either C or D).

Upon not hearing from Bradley Jake returns to apartment, finds Hilary, assumes further worst, but then Hilary is like HELL NO and gives him Bradley’s number. They realize message leaving was thwarted by Oreo and Cracker, minimal angst, they’re boyfriends now.

Jake assumes it’s a one-night thing. Never hears from Bradley. Little heartbroken. Then he’s working out at the gym and wearing the old tshirt he borrowed from Bradley and then this guy is asking him where he got the tshirt… It’s Mav who is like “I recognise Goose’s old clothes that Bradley has been so attached to, why TF is this stranger wearing it?” So Mav takes Jake home and is all like “Bradley! I have something for you!”

#Hangster #Sereshaw #writing and wrangling woes #Top Gun Maverick fanfic #come on baby light my fire

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worldbuildingwanderlust · 4 months

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Burn

So you may

Shine

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sapphire-weapon · 10 months

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Resident Evil 4 Remake's story is structured like the plot of a romance novel: master post

A few months ago, I wrote up a very quick and dirty outline/explanation of how Resident Evil 4 Remake's story had been restructured from the original game to follow the story beats of a romance novel. At the time, I didn't think it was all that important to explain it super in-depth, but now that more and more people are looking at it, I figured I should probably explain what I mean with each of these beats lmao

1) Call to Adventure / The Meet Cute

All that a meet-cute actually is is the scene in which the characters that the romance is centered around meet for the first time. The intention is to show an initial spark between the characters -- they meet under bizarre/unexpected circumstances and, at some point, both characters become aware of just how significant it is, even if neither says anything about it.

Leon and Ashley's meet-cute starts with her swinging a candelabra at his head and ends with Leon holding her in his arms out in the rain for a period of time that is absolutely too long to be normal for the circumstance. They lock eyes in this moment, and it's meant to be seen as Significant.

2) Refusal of the Call / Rejection of the Relationship

This is the "I'm just imagining things" reaction to the significance of the meet-cute. Both characters treat the spark as though it never happened -- and, usually, it's because there's other external factors influencing their ability or willingness to follow the trail of that spark and see where it goes. Instead of going "Hey, you're cute, can I get your number?" both characters just jump straight to "Well, anyway --" and go back to living their own independent lives apart from each other.

After they both snap out of that weird trance they were in after Leon caught Ashley out the window of the church, he goes right back to treating her like a mission objective, and she just has absolutely no idea what to make of him at all. Ashley spends the next few sections of gameplay in shock and disbelief with lines like "Seriously, this cannot be happening." and "I just wanna go home..." Leon ignores all of her complaints, keeps her moving even when she asks for a break, and doesn't really speak much to her at all other than to bark orders at her.

3) Acceptance of the Quest / Giving the relationship a chance

Something Happens that forces both characters back into each other's lives and/or personal attention, and they both find that they do Like each other, actually -- even if that feeling of "like" isn't anything super significant. It could be something as simple as realizing that they enjoy the other's company and wanting to see/talk to the other more often.

This arguably starts when Leon and Ashley first run into the cabin and Leon puts a comforting hand on her back that he absolutely did did not have to put there -- but it's definitely in full swing after the cabin sequence is over. Personally, I would say that it's the revelation about Ashley having a plaga in her that's the Something that Happens between them. The whole mission starts to become a whole lot more personal, because now it's not just about surviving and escaping -- now it's about making sure that Ashley stays Ashley.

She starts to open up to him more, and he suddenly becomes much warmer towards her, as well. He's quick to reassure her ("I won't let that happen. I promise.") and not only responds to her when she talks, but also begins talking to her unprompted as well.

This is also the first time Leon ever tries hitting on Ashley with the "Seems this isn't your first time running from creeps" line, and it fails spectacularly.

4) Trials and Temptations / Three Dates

This one is probably the one that needed the most explaining LMAO I shouldn't have let this one go. The "three dates" don't have to/usually aren't meant to be actual, literal dates in romance novels. They're just three significant events that happen between the couple that builds and then reinforces their bond. (It also doesn't necessarily have to be three -- some stories only do two, some do five, etc. The point is that Things Are Happening that strengthen the relationship.)

That is why I said that their three "dates" are:

1) Ashley busting the window open after the Mendez boss fight, helping brush the embers off of Leon, and helping to pull him to his feet. This is the first time the two of them actually smile at each other and the first time they start to act as a team.

2) Salazar's introduction ("The girl's just fine. With me."). Leon wants so badly to be that cool guy in an 80s movie who shows up out of nowhere and puts his arm around a beautiful girl and looks at some dickhead harassing her and goes "This guy giving you a hard time, babe?" This is the closest he's ever gotten to and will ever get to being that in his life. He's not cool enough to ever actually be that guy for real.

3) The road to the Water Hall (Leon jumping across the chandeliers + this is the first time the "knight and the princess" allegory is stated) (You could also include the Garrador here, because if you take Ashley down there after the fact, there's special dialogue that happens that's... God, Leon sucks at this whole flirting thing. He just sucks, dude.)

5) Midpoint Crisis / I-need-you-but-can’t-have-you

Everything is going so well... until it isn't anymore. The three dates have given the couple a glimpse of how special and important this relationship could be, which is great -- until it becomes a problem. One of the characters gets freaked out by the intensity of the relationship and pulls back out of fear, because there's something else happening in their life that's bigger than either character and more important to be addressed.

In Leon and Ashley's case, it's Ashley's plaga. Saddler takes control of her briefly and gets a hold of Leon's knife, stabs him, and then threatens to cut her own throat. When his hold over her breaks, she's terrified. She needs Leon now more than ever because of this, but she's more afraid of hurting him than losing herself, so she runs away from him in tears.

6) The Road Back / Pulling Back Together

Basically, the plot forces the couple back together, and -- due to the raw, open vulnerability caused by the Midpoint Crisis -- their bond is stronger than ever. The feelings change from "yeah, I like them" to "I want them." Real intimacy starts to form and build here, because the interest in and attraction to each other is allowed by both characters to be acknowledged. This is usually where the sexual tension starts to really kick into high gear, and the audience is just waiting for that moment when it all breaks open.

This starts with the pep talk that Leon gives Ashley when he finds her again -- which is romantically framed and coded with its imagery and cinematography. It continues through the entire Grand Hall segment, which includes the moment in the game in which Leon is at his boldest in terms of expressing his attraction to her. This is the point in the game in which their relationship is at its most playful. They tease each other and flirt and pass compliments back and forth -- and, for a while, it feels like the two of them are unstoppable and able to take on the world together.

7) The Fall

"The fall" is the shortened version of "The moment they actually fall in love." It's the "oh god, I think I love them" moment. The two characters do not necessarily have to admit to each other that they've experienced "the fall" -- and usually, at least one of them doesn't. But they both experience that moment where it hits them.

We see Ashley "fall" at the start of her gameplay segment, where she takes Leon's earlier words to heart and draws strength from them. ("I won't run. Wait for me, Leon.") He's inspired her to strive to be more than she is, and she embraces the way that he makes her feel, in that moment.

We see Leon "fall" as soon as he catches the key that she tosses down to him. He looks up at her with stars in his eyes and offers to catch her if she jumps down. An interesting detail to note is that this is the first and one of the only times in RE4make that Nick Apostolides reverts to using the tone/voice that he used for Leon in RE2make. It's soft and sweet and gentle as he makes her an offer that has no reason to be made, just for the sake of getting to hold her in his arms again.

And, in order to drive home the point, this all happens during a scene that was framed, shot, and directed to mirror/mimic the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet.

8) Dark moment / The Break Up

Once again, Something Happens and comes between them -- and this one is way, way worse than the Midpoint Crisis. This isn't "I'm scared to be with you" -- it's "I can't be with you." Hope for the relationship is completely lost, and both characters become overwhelmed in their individual despair.

Verdugo breaks them up physically -- not once, but twice. And that second time involves Leon being forced to watch Ashley endure Salazar's weird "ritual" and be unable to stop it or do anything to help her. He just has to sit with that failure and suffer through it until he's literally thrown away and discarded while Ashley screams his name.

When Leon finally finds Ashley again, we see him confront the one moment in the game when he honestly, truly loses hope. He sits down on the floor at Ashley's bedside, and there's nothing more that he can do than wait for her to wake up. Some part of him has already become convinced that they won't make it out of there alive -- not both of them, at least. Not together. And he's ready to commit suicide as a contingency plan.

9) The Sacrifice

This is the "do or die" moment for the relationship in a romance novel. This is the moment where the decision is made to confront not just the external force keeping them apart, but also the internal flaws that are feeding into that avoidant urge. The couple decides that their desire to be together is stronger and more important than whatever fear or force is holding them back, and though it's terrifying to do it, they stand up for the relationship in the face of opposition.

In RE4make, we see this play out through the sequence in which Leon carries Ashley to Luis's lab and how the two of them, against all physical and mental odds, manage to remove each other's plagas. This is especially emotionally significant for Leon, who says the words out loud: "This time, it has to be different..." He's openly acknowledging that his trauma from Raccoon City is what made him so ready to pull the trigger on himself back in that holding cell. Here, now, he puts his foot down, confronts that trauma, and says "No. I have to beat this."

And he does, even at great physical cost to himself. But the sacrifice was worth it, because it was for her.

10) Declaration

In a very literal sense, it's the declaration of love. It's an outward, spoken confirmation of the bond they share, now that the trial from the Sacrifice has been overcome. Traditionally in romance novels, this happens with the actual words "I love you."

But RE4make isn't a traditional romance novel, and Capcom has an entire fanbase of angry nerds who take fictional relationships too seriously to navigate through. So, instead of an explicit "I love you" what we got instead was an explicit verbal confirmation of their bonded status as a team.

"Hey... We're a team, right?"

"Keep this up? I'll be out of a job."

11) The HEA

"HEA" stands for "Happily ever after."

While I could (and did) say that Leon and Ashley literally ride off into the sunrise together, that does feel disingenuous. Even though it's true and the imagery is there, they don't really have a happily ever after. Not really. This is the only part that's missing from RE4make.

And that's because RE4make isn't just a romance on its own -- it's a fairy tale set inside of a story that's self-aware and knows that fairy tales aren't real. And so both Leon and Ashley wake up from this shared dream of a romance they've been having, as reluctantly as they do, because it's time for them to come back to reality.

Fairy tales aren't real. Romance novels aren't real.

Their feelings are real. But life doesn't work that way. Not for them.

They may not have a happily ever after, but they do have this moment to be together -- and for them, it's enough.

Because it has to be.

#resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #eagleone #meta analysis #THIS TOOK ME AN EMBARRASSINGLY LONG TIME TO WRITE #i thought i'd just whip this up real fast after work #BRO SHIT TOOK ME LIKE FOUR HOURS NO FOOLIES #mostly because i had to take all my fantasy mods off and then go back and re-cap all of these scenes with the defaults on #pain in my ass #so i hope ppl fuckin appreciate this!!!!#the next time someone asks you why/how eagleone is canon #just light this son of a bitch on fire and throw it at their head

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dawnthefluffyduck · 23 days

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Dess from the Deltarune comic Looking Glasses by @ferronickel, I loved her design at first sight so here's the promised fanart; check out the original comic! It's very much worth the read :D

#ouch brain hurt I'm adding fire to the list of things I don't like to draw #i was a bit more conscious about lighting because of the fire though so that was nice #i think compared to the last time i did something on this scale #i've gotten way less shy about including shadow and light #in that ralsei drawing my shadows were almost too subtle and while it's not perfect here #i think it's a good step :D #this also only took me three days of scattered work #as opposed to two and a half weeks #so i'm starting to learn how to approach these #deltarune #december holiday #dess holiday #the first week in three months where i *don't* have to write an essay and i turn into a crab and hide in my room drawing like it's my cave #feels nice to post something other than a doodle or sketch #haha i almost forgot to add here that i completely forgot to give her teeth #literally the last thing i did before i exported this was give her two white lines for monchers #its such a small area of the picture but apparently it does wonders for not making the character look terrifying

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coffeexxcigarettes · 29 days

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Grab My Hand

Torn from the same cloth,

Suffering in silence.

Where I learned to scream,

You learned the hushed tones.

Where I learned anger,

You learned to swallow it.

Where I am numb,

You are beginning to feel.

Meeting you felt like

Spilling watercolor all over me.

Bleeding hues

I've never experienced.

Fears,

And the way I've always screamed-

But never for somebody,

Never the way I long to,

For you.

You've been strong.

A flower coiled against storms

That would've wiped the land.

Let me shed light

Upon the sins you've sat with,

Let me set the garden on fire.

I'll unearth you with care,

Carry you to safety.

Leaving the thick smoke of once burning flames

That you put out with your laughter,

Like rain.

I know how to fight,

I've fought plenty.

Let me fight for you.

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yourhighness6 · 4 months

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What two fictional characters would you kill if you ever got the chance? I'll go first

#i take no criticism #I was also going to put gabriel agreste up there but I think these two are just a whole different level of bitch #ozai #fire lord ozai #shadow weaver #atla #spop #avatar the last airbender #she ra and the princesses of power #no because look at what they did to my babies #catra and zuko did not deserve this #and azula and adora too #this is mostly about catra and zuko but them too #they are also sort of the same character a little bit I could write an essay on that but i'll have mercy on my followers and not do that #I just finished watching light spinner can u tell?

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dylanconrique · 4 months

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dreamt that s6 premiered last night and that tim proposed to lucy, and while as far-fetched as it is to get a chenford proposal of all things straight out the gate, i must admit tim bradford circling back to the spot where he first asked out lucy in front of the precinct to pop the big question is so incredibly genius of my brain to come up with during my deep slumber, therefore i have to add it to my never ending list of wips.

#*carly catalogs #the rookie #tim bradford #lucy chen #chenford #otp: you know me so well #EVERYONE IN THEIR FRIENDGROUP AND PM EVERYONE AT THE PRECINCT ALL HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN THE BIG EVENT #like the main ladies (angela/harper/celina/bailey) are in charge of stalling and keeping lucy away from the precinct/that particular area #while the guys hustle to decorate that picnic area out front and make sure things are set up to plan accordingly #everyone who works at mid-wilshire plays a small part in the proposal plans so everyone comes gathering around once lucy arrives #i imagine the main ladies take her out for a little 'girls day out' getting mani pedis and spray tan and other stuff like that #before delivering her back to tim #WHY DO I HAVE TO GO INTO WORK RIGHT AS I WANNA WRITE THIS????????? UGGGHHHH 😩😩#oh well i'll rewatch 5x08 when i get home that'll light a fire under my ass when i get back

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imminent-danger-came · 10 months

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WAIT HOLD UP

When talking about Mei being like Monkey King. There was a really strong parallel in season 3!

It was kinda mentioned already? But I don‘t just mean thematically, in the execution too! The scene Wukong was willing to kill the host child and Mei was willing to burn him, because they felt they had no other choice.

(I think she even mentioned that this is what Monkey King would do. What a hero would do.)

They both even had that small confrontation of "Are you really willing to sacrifice a child/friend?". And both make the tough call that this is something they HAVE to do. Maybe with some guilt, yes, but always without question.

GOD YOU'RE SO RIGHT ANON.

Lady Bone Demon: "Stop! Have you forgotten? Destroy me and you destroy the host. Have you become so desperate to end me that you would sacrifice this blameless, innocent, child?"

Sun Wukong: "You're giving me no choice! All the time you spent locked away and you haven't changed a bit! I'm going to finish you, like I should have done a long time ago! I told you—you should have stayed buried."

(3x11 This Imperfect World) (Always manifesting this scene for eamk)

Lady Bone Demon: "*laughs* You think whatever happens to Wukong is of concern to me? He is a vessel—nothing more. You would really destroy your own friends to save yourself?"

Red Son Voice Over: "Harmonize the wild energies and emotions burning within us and focus them!"

Mei: "Wukong knew the risks, it's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero!"

(3x12 The Corrupted King) (Omg hi hand motif! Hi!!!!)

Bonus Secret 3rd Parallel:

MK: "I'm not gonna let you win!" Lady Bone Demon: "In your thirst to destroy me you used all your powers!" MK: "Not all of them."

(2x10 This is the End!)

Some extra thoughts under the cut!

What interests me the most about this parallel is the fact that Mei would totally sacrifice Wukong and Wukong would totally sacrifice that little girl—it's a simply trolley problem for them—but if that person were MK?

I don't think either of them could do it.

Here's where I get into more speculative territory, because personally I think Wukong killed Macaque, and I'm also a believer in EAMK, so I'm going to be plastering a lot of red string!

SO. Would Wukong willingly sacrifice someone who meant so much to him?

You could argue he already did so with Macaque—I think that's what they're setting up anyways. I think Macaque's death is going to fall into place with our continuing "do you sacrifice one person for the many" conflict we have going on here, one that was definitely built upon in 4x13:

Yellowtusk: "I know full well what would happen should Azure fail but- but he is my brother. I owe him my life!" Sandy: "We get it! I'd do anything to help my friends! But at the cost of the world?" Pigsy: "I'm sorry pal, but NOTHIN' is worth that price!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

So it seems clear: You sacrifice the one person for the sake of the world.

I think looking at this conflict and using it as a lens to look at Samadhi Fire Mei brings up some interesting points. If Wukong's had pulled off his plan without Macaque or Ne Zha's interference, and then hadn't been able to safely extract the Samadhi Fire from Mei...would Wukong have sacrificed her?

Everyone in 3x10 was willing to sacrifice Mei in a way, to leave her—except MK. MK refused to abandon her, risking himself and the world if he wasn't successful and the Samadhi Fire continued to burn out of control. But in this situation...choosing one person over the world was the right choice.

((Just wanted to point out that both Wukong and Mei are very willing to sacrifice each other which fascinates me. Moving on!))

Wukong himself isn't won't make that sacrifice if he feels there's another option: "You're giving me no choice!" (which I think echoes Mei's "We don't have a choice!" from 3x02)

All of this is a long winded way for me to say that at some point MK is going on the chopping block, either next season or beyond. It's going to be either him or the world, or at least it's going to seem that way, and our protags are going to have to make a very hard choice (omg hi "They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos!").

BUT, BRINGING THIS BACK AROUND TO EAMK.

Wukong won't destroy the one life if he feels he has a choice. This is where baby MK steps in: "all the time [he] spent locked away", and he changed EXTREMELY. To the point where he's basically not the thing that was sealed away in the stone, and very much just a "blameless, innocent, child"—meaning Wukong had a choice.

SO. Basically it's my hope that Wukong already chose MK over the world once, and him and Mei are gonna do it again.

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bg-brainrot · 1 month

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I tried really hard to shake The Mood™️ this weekend to no avail, so get ready for another sad one shot, whoops.

#fic writing #soon i really do hope :'D #but if you'll permit the prose #it feels like a small dark fire burning in my chest that refuses to go out yet still refuses to give light #it cant be put out or grasped or even seen #but it burns hot and heavy all the same #having a blast out here

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moregraceful · 6 days

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☕️ about jamie drysdale and that baseball player. let's go back to that because i did not leave!!!!

i told myself to take a break from linkedin this weekend bc it was turning me into the joker but now it's sunday night and i have nothing to spiral over so we're going to spiral over jamie drysdale and bryce harper instead

there is lore about these two that m @pindergarten and I have discussed at length but much of it is buried under five million messages about a's prospects and trea turner's hot milf winter, but i will do my best to summarize. also i will try to make it easily understandable if you are not lost in the sauce (baseball):

first of all what you need to know is bryce harper is like deeply mormon guy who needs to Get Right with himself, hotheaded, prone to incredibly stupid outbursts and altercations on the field, clearly has some internal issues that need to get addressed, loves the boys, a huge superstar. and this makes many people understandably very angry. baseballblr has correctly assigned him "closeted gay who needs to get his head right with some gay sex" and m pindergarten and i assigned him "closeted gay who needs a deeply cringe hook-up with a way younger hockey player" bc bro was out here telling the entire world he reads hockey romance novels

obviously meets jamie d at some random south philadelphia sports complex. immediately down so cringe that trea turner (his teammate red thread of fate) blocks his number before the event even ends. jamie's like wow 😳 this tall guy is really cool and hot 😳 no jamie, he is neither

before the cam york couch reveal i truly believed joelbee would be hosting jamie in his basement and maybe in this sexy imagine he does bc i think it's really funny if joelbee hosts a rager and bryce rolls up, millions of dollars worth of baseball money, and is like, oh gosh, i am really about to walk into a house party unironically blasting that one david guetta/bebe rexha song at a volume that causes hearing damage. and obviously DOES and jamie is thrilled to see him and they have a really gross awesome hook-up in joelbee's baseball and then bryce gets scared and has to call trea for a ride home. jamie is like wow 🤩 he's so hot 🤩

in my head jamie is down normal bad, not catastrophic, but normal puppydog omg a hot older guy is paying attention to me and his dick is huge type of way. but like in a clueless way where he is just Living His Best Life in philly now that he's been freed from california cost of living. cam york can rap all of "super bass" if he gets drunk enough. philly is soooo sick and his tall hot baseball hook-up is sooo cool. trevor who.

and like joelbee is the only who knows about them hooking up and he's sooo chill except he keeps playing "stacy's mom" when bryce comes over but it's whatever. and BRYCE can read that, and it kills him so bad, but like...jamie comes over to his house in uhhh center city and just looks shell-shocked by how clean it is and how nice bryce's stuff is and that freaks bryce out bc it's not like jamie is poor by any standard, but the difference between $2.3m per year as a 21yo and $26m per year on $330m contract + endorsements as a 31yo is kind of a lot and that reminds bryce of how much older he is and that scares HIM very badly. so they end up at joelbee's house a lot and bryce just puts up with stacy's mom

one time joelbee mixes it up with stacy's dad and bryce loses like, years of his life. has to call trea to ask him to pick him up

they go on some deeply cringe dates around philly to like instagrammable spots that bryce thinks are so cultured but jamie is just happy to be there and hanging out. weirdly uncomplicated and gorgeous relationship for jamie. deeply destablizing for bryce but in a good way

the ending remains 2 be seen!! i personally wish jamie a long and happy career in philly bc he looks soooo much happier and more confident away from disneyland. i assume him and bryce kind of fade after a while and he breaks it off with zero hard feelings on bryce's part, but not for a couple years at least bc bryce has decades of repressed homosexuality to get out of his system before he lands with. trea long term lmao. who is to be clear also having some insane background trainwreck relationships but he thinks he's better than bryce bc at least HE knew he was gay the whole time.

#unfortunately at the end of the day i think i've landed on bryce/trea endgame but that DOES NOT MEAN jamie is not important!!#he's very important!! he's the spark that lights the fire that burns down a forest of a lifetime of repressed loathing and fear!!!#let's have another toast to the girl almighty!!! let's pray we stay young stay made of lightning!!!!!#someday i'll write it forreal but until then i stand in the shadows of phillies fans holding this entire operation (baseball rpf) together #bro i made a huge to-do list of things i need to get done for reasons and then went man this SUCKS. so now i'm not doing that #my mom taught me how to make dolma tonight and it was really good but we didn't have yogurt for tziki so she made it with sour cream #and now i'm out here like what if i just ate a bowl of rice with sour cream tziki #that shit was really good #cage replies #plaintoast #bryce/jamie #<- look. new tag

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fragilecapric0rnn · 1 year

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“it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyway” for the prompt thing!! (-patheticgirlsteve)

OKAY SO this prompt is from a prompt list I rb'd in December (wowza!) and I found the writing for this prompt half finished in my WIPs folder today and decided to finish it!

This ficlet is also a look into the in-progress When Harry Met Sally-inspired AU/canon divergence fic. I've been sitting on both that fic and this snippet for far too long and have been itching to share something. So, here's the something!

(something set in the late summer of '98, in a city that doesn't bode well during heat waves)

It’s an unusually hot night in Steve’s apartment.

It's going to be an unusually hot week in the city, actually.

Steve has gotten used to the temperate San Francisco weather in the 11 years he's been a resident. But after 11 years, he's still surprised at the random bursts of heat that creep in during these last few weeks of August. Just in time for him and his students to sit inside the toaster oven that is his classroom during the first week of school.

Thankfully, it's not a school night. The last week of his summer vacation, and he's spent most of the daylight hours dangling half of his body out of the screen-less street-facing window in his apartment, praying a breeze would whip past him. (It didn't).

After an hour of tossing and turning in bed, in nothing but a pair of boxers, the open window providing no relief, the air stale and hot and a bit sticky, he decided to move to the living room, where he will still be suffering, but at least there's a TV out there.

A movie he remembers seeing with Robin in the theater during their Oakland days is playing as soon as he flicks on the TV, reminding him of how long it's been since they've lived together, let alone in that first apartment in Oakland. Freshly 20 and 21, figuring out how to live on their own, thousands of miles from everyone and everything they knew. Figuring out how to deal with the calmness of it all.

Remembers talking about the movie again in '92, and being annoyed with all of his friends (Eddie and Nancy) who thought that Lloyd and Diane broke up in London. Wonders if they're still as cynical about love today as they were back then.

As he's counting the years back in his head, the phone rings, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Hel-lo?” He answers, remembering that it is 2am in the middle of the word, dragging it into two syllables to make it seem like he's shocked that someone is calling him.

“What the hell are you doing awake at this hour?” Eddie quips, Steve reflexively rolls his eyes, at both the tone of his voice and the question itself.

“How do you know that you didn’t just interrupt my much needed beauty sleep?” He scoffs, flicking his head like he would if Eddie were sitting right here on the couch with him. Eddie must pick up on it, chuckling over the phone, a similar sound to the one he made when he was sitting on this couch hours ago, suffering with Steve in his apartment.

Now there's something twenty-one year old Steve would be shocked to learn. That him and Eddie became friends, at all.

“I can hear the TV.” Steve hums in response, turns the volume down a notch or two. “But, here’s a courtesy ‘I’m sorry’ for the late night call.”

“It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.” Steve sighs as the slightest breeze rolls through the open window. He's a much better sleeper than twenty-one year old Steve, but due to recent life-changing events and this damn heat-wave, a late-night phone call with Eddie is almost routine at this point

“I miss Evie’s apartment. She had AC.” Eddie says, casually. Steve still doesn't get how he can talk about her so casually. How he can just bring her up like it's nothing. If he even thinks about -

“I still can’t believe you got your heartbroken by a trust fund baby.” He says, cutting off his own thought.

“I’m more heartbroken about that AC unit right now,” still casual, as if he is actually heartbroken about an AC and not a person.

“What’re you watching?” He asks.

“Say Anything.”

“Channel?”

“12.”

The scene where Lloyd is talking to Diane’s father on the prison yard. It makes him think of Eddie on the other line, sitting in his unintentional bachelor pad a few blocks away from his own. The thought must’ve made Eddie’s ears burn.

“That’s not what visitation is actually like, ya know?” His voice is soft.

“Oh yeah?” Steve says, wanting to encourage but not pry.

“Yeah. It’s indoors, at tables, cold and gray. Feels dirty and sterile at the same time.” Eddie says.

“I always thought it happened between a plane of glass, with a telephone on either side of the glass.” Steve offers, giving him an out, a chance to change the subject if he wants to bow out.

“That’s what it’s like in county jail. Prison’s different.” Steve hums again, knows there’s no need to respond with anything else. Steve doesn’t need to ask him how he knows all of this. He knows that Eddie doesn’t expect him to ask. That’s the thing, about old friends, about them, about their whole gang. There are certain things they’ll always know about each other.

His mind drifts to a little Eddie and a younger Wayne, walking into a room just like Eddie had described, going through the motions. It pulls at his chest a little.

“Do you still think they broke up in London?” Steve tests.

“I don’t think they broke up in London?” Eddie says, a tad defensive.

“Yes you do, or you did.” He remembers the conversation, he knows Eddie must remember the conversation.

“When did I say that?”

“In San Diego, we had a whole thing about it, the five of us.” The drunk and loud debate was held stuffed into a diner booth in San Diego. Before you left.

Eddie pauses.

“I did say that, didn’t I?”

“You sure did.”

“Well, to answer your question, no. I don't think so. I think that they’re two weirdos who were meant for each other.” Eddie says, Steve sinks further into the couch, holds the phone up with his shoulder.

“That's exactly what I said then.”

"Well, I think it now."

"Me too." It comes out softer than he expected. Suddenly thankful that this conversation is happening over the phone, so he can scrunch the feeling away from his face, take a deep breath and shake the feeling that just washed over his body.

“I know a thing or two about weirdos who’re meant for each other.” Eddie says playfully, that tone he uses when he's half-joking, but half-serious. Steve feels something bubble in the very depths of his stomach.

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“You and Robin.” Pop. He lets out a deep breath.

“Ha ha.” Steve says, toning up the sarcasm.

“Max and Lucas, Joyce and Jim, the entire gang who’s bonded by the terrors of the 80s and government NDA’s.” Steve’s laugh barks out of him, he can’t hide how surprised he is at these words coming out of Eddie’s mouth.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” He trails off, trying to choose his next words carefully. “Not used to you talking about the past. Hasn’t really been your thing.” His mind drifts momentarily to San Diego again. Watching him hail that cab. Running away.

“There's a lotta things that I used to do, or not do.” There’s a pause. Either of them could say something, there’s something dangling in the air between them, between their two phone lines, filling the space between their two apartments. Just as Steve opens his mouth to say something, cut the tension, snatch the feeling out of the air, Eddie beats him to it.

#whms au #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #sen writes #my fic #did this just light a fire under my ass? YES #there's a lot of missing context from this that will be given in the fic don't worry!#i just love a good telephone scene #especially a telephone scene that's loaded with things unsaid!!!#aiaof

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