#(kids are important since they Get It better than most adults because they still believe in the supernatural horrors)

[melchinafan]

That conversation between Devinder and Jacob about Dev being inspired by Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumb trail for his Translocate device (plus his planned heart-freezing gadget) has really pinged something in my brain in the best way. It's so simple to take it as a sorta silly thing, with a dismissive "oh ha ha it's just a kid's story" and the like.

But for me, it feels like a way to show that he really Gets It.

Stories have power. It's typically more metaphorical, in that they help us internally process and understand ourselves and the world around us. They can be a way to pass on so many types of information via oral traditions. They can change how someone looks at the world. They can save lives. Long or short, silly or serious, they're transformative. They're a social connective tissue.

But Dev harnessed that power in a more literal manner. One way to approach how he did it is also fairly straightforward—that he simply used these stories as the inspiration for incredible invention(s). Which is fantastic, and good on him for using such a creative springboard for his gadgets! (In contrast, some of the alpha-vampires used local Redfall legends as their names, trying to leverage that power for themselves. They were able to use it against the locals for fear-based manipulation, but the powers they have were stolen from the Gateway, not from borrowing those names. The fae these fools are not.)

But then—and this is swinging around to Secret-World-Legends-flavored shenanigans—you can also approach how Dev used the power of stories in a deeper, more bizarre and magical way. Certain stories, certain tropes, might sum up certain "rules of the universe" that we haven't been able to scientifically quantify yet. (Sort of like how stuff such as "toast always lands butter-side down," or "you're always going to forget to pack something you need on a trip" can feel like they're unwritten "rules" of How Things Work.) It's taking the phrase to mean that stories sometimes literally explain the world around us—we just need to figure out how. And Dev's been able to pluck out some of those "rules" that have been stitched within longstanding stories, and figured out how to harness their implied power via gadgets.

It strikes that sweet chord in me of "art as magic"—or art as magitech/gadgets, in this case.

Stories have power, sweetlings.

Tell yours.

[normansnt]

Could I request a third part of the prince? I love it!

YES OMG YOU ARE MY FIRST REQUEST HIIII THANK YOU SM IM HAPPY YOU LIKE IT🧡🧡

Yeah I might have forgot to mention I do in fact take requests😎

Actually ya'll have been loving the prince series and I was wondering if you want me to making it into like a full blown story like following the series events and what not, or like just a little series of cute scenarios?

Let me know.

Warnings:

The prince (part 3)

(Alastor x male reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Currently you were arguing with your father. Since the moment he found out you are dating Alastor he was not happy, to say the least.

"Why the sudden urge to leave? Is it not good here anymore because I can clean up the rubber ducks-"

"No dad thats not the point I just think I'm old enough to move out and Charlie has her hotel with a lot of rooms, and I mean I guess her dream is not that impossible-"

"Yeah right, like I'm going to believe that you just want to move in with that bambi of yours" he scoffed

"Dont call him- thats not- ok fine yeah, I want to move in with Alastor why is that such a problem I am a grown ass adult I can do as I please." And with that you left the room to pack.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"I swear, he still thinks I am a kid." You were pacing in Alastor's room while he was sitting on a couch and calmly drinking tea.

"He let Charlie go?? Why not me why cant I do what I want with my life" you continued your angry ranting while unpacking you clothes.

At this point you were basically moved in with Alastor. You had all your stuff there you just needed to unpack, which he solved with a flick of his wrist. You could have done that too, but your father raised both you and your sister to not be careless with the amount of power you have, also you were busy rambling.

"*sigh*...thank you honey." You said quietly as you took a seat next to him slumping into the couch.

Alastor looked at you. Till now he was just half listening to you ramble and he thought you would feel better once you let it out and you two could cuddle but right now you looked even more sad, defeated even.

This did not sit right with him. If there was anything he hated most was seeing you sad or hurt.

He took a hold of your hand and put his other one on your cheek to guide your head to look at him.

"My dear, this issue will be resolved just as any other, you will make up with your father." He reassured you with a smile.

"I know but than it will start again, and I'm starting to feel like he will never accept you even though you are so important to me and... it's just too much right now, I'm sorry I need to be alone." And with that you left.

There it was again. That stinging feeling in his chest. Alastor had to take matters into his own hands.

--------------------------------------------------------------

You walked down the stairs and took a seat by the bar.

"Damn kid, rough day?" Asked Husk as you put your head into your hands and groaned.

"Thats one way to put it, can you please get me a whisky on the rocks" you said in your ever so kind voice.

Husk liked you. On contrary to your father and older sister you were calm, quiet and well spoken. All this while still having the heart of gold they have as well.

He never understood how a charming young man such as yourself would find himself in a relationship with a demon like Alastor.

During your numerous visits to the Hotel you have talked to Husk a lot and you two became really good friends. The same went for Angel who usually joined you guys. You three usually sat by the bar chatting for hours.

"Hi (Y/N)," you heard Angels voice approaching as you sipped on your whisky. He took a seat next to you and shared a quick kiss with Husk. You chuckled to yourself quietly, you have been rooting for the two from the very beginning and when they finally got together you were so happy you shedded a few tears.

"Hi Angel" you gave him a small smile but he saw through it.

"Aww, toots hard times?" He asked as Husk handed him his drink.

"It's a long story" you answered.

"We got time" said Husk encouragingly.

You smiled a little than started telling the story.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Alastor was on his way to find Charlie. He needed to solve the situation or he had to gauge his own eyes out so he doesn't have to see you sad.

He figured if he got your father to come to the hotel you can talk things out. As well as, he is going to try and make an effort not to be a complete ass with him but Lucifer has to try and be nice as well, for your sake.

He needed Charlie for this because if Alastor asked Lucifer to come he would not. However if Charlie asked, he'd be there in a second.

"Oh Charlie?" He wondered into the princess's room.

"Yes? OH Alastor HI how is my brother doing?" She asked with excitement. She was more than thrilled that her little brother is going to move into her hotel.

"Not so well I'm afraid I acquire your assistance to make him feel better"

"What? Whats the problem is he ok? Did you hurt him? Alastor I do not care how helpful you are around here if you hurt my little brother-" Her eyes started glowing red as her hair was swept into the air and her horns started to show.

Before this could go any further Alastor cut her off.

"My dear, rest assured I would kill hell's entire population and my self before causing any harm to your darling brother." He said calmly.

"Oh, then whats the problem?" Asked Charlie now calm.

And so Alastor explained everything to Charlie.

When Alastor and Charlie knocked on her father's door there was no answer. They looked at one another and Charlie checked if it was open. It was, so they could go in without problems.

"Hello? Dad?" Yelled Charlie as her voice echoed in the huge mansion.

"YOU, It's your fault you took them away from me" they heard as they looked to their right.

In seconds Alastor was tackled to the floor with a very angry Lucifer on top.

When Charlie registered what she was seeing she started to pull her father off of the Radio demon to almost no avail. The devil wouldn't budge.

"YOU TOOK BOTH OF MY CHILDREN AWAY FROM ME ARE YOU HAPPY NOW IS THAT ENOUGH?"

Lucifer was not happy. He was yelling in his demon form wings out and fire spewing from his mouth.

"DAD"

Everyone stopped. You were standing in the door looking at the scene before you, baffled.

You rarely raised your voice, so to hear it this loud and clear shocked most people in the room.

You cleared your throat. And said in your normal calm voice again.

"Can we talk in private."

Lucifer calmed down and followed you into the room you left to.

When he entered the room to his surprise, you hugged him.

"Listen dad, I understand that both of your kids growing up is hard for you, and I'm sorry for leaving you alone but I need my space I'm starting to live my life and its with Alastor because I love him."

You said in a very gentle tone.

Your dad looked at you for some time then hugged you again.

"You really love him, kiddo?" He looked at you with understanding eyes as he let go.

"I do, dad I really do." You answered.

Your dad sighed. He took a hold of your hands.

"All that matters to me is that you are happy. I'm sorry I have been such a jerk about it but...it's so hard to let you kids go, you will always be my babies" He sniffed lightly.

You chuckled at that and squeezed his hands.

"Can you please make an effort to not hate Alastor?" You tried.

He groaned.

"Yeah, yeah I'll see what I can do but he needs to be cooperative"

You walked out of the room.

Charlie stood up with tears in her eyes and hugged you both.

"Oh...the walls are thin here aren't they?" You asked as you looked at your dad.

"Yeaaah, forgot to mention that."

"You guys, I'm so happy you made up are we ok now?" She asked between sniffles.

"Yeah, we are ok" you smiled at your dad.

After your sister let you go from her crushing embrace Alastor walked up to you.

"I- listen no pressure about saying-" he cut you off by swapping you off your feet into a breathtaking kiss.

"I...I love you too, darling" he said quietly, without the radio statics, he said it in his real voice, as he put his forehead on yours.

"OK, see, I promised to be nice but there is no need to rub it in my face" your father said as he dragged you away.

Alastor straightened up and, with the static back in his voice and an eye twitching, he held his hand out to your father.

"I promise to make an effort to not murder you" he smiled eerily at your dad.

Lucifer had a brooding expression on his face but shook the radio demons hand none the less.

"Thank you." You said at last as you hugged both of them. They hugged you back. While glaring at each other behind your back.

Sure they are gonna make an effort. When you're looking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TADA

I really hope you like it again thank you for the request.

Also please let me know if y'all want any of what I mentioned in the beginning.

When Alastor's staff broke and he started talking w/o the statics I was ON MY KNEES.

I WANNA THANK EVERY SINGLE ON OF YOU WHO LIKE MY STORIES THEY HAVE RECEIVED A LOT OF LOVE AND IM THANKFUL BEYOND IMAGINATION THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU💗💗

OK LOVE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY/NIGHT/MORNING WHATEVER MWUAH💋

[witlesswitnesstm]

I am a firm Marvin Gardens BPD/NPD truther, so here’s all my evidence.

This is a very long post, so buckle up.

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Let’s go through the symptoms he shows, shall we?

- Has unreasonably high sense of self importance, and requires constant admiration:

Marvin, especially as a child, exhibits a large amount of grandiosity. This is most evident in How Marvin eats his breakfast and My Highschool Sweetheart.

He thinks of himself as above the maid staff and he constantly threatens/accuses them. Then he’s given the role of Columbus, and highly identifies with him to the point where he claims he *is* Columbus. That he’s this grand explorer, who’s the king of the ocean. He believes he’s powerful because of the role.

Then as an adult, Marvin has a constant need for adoration. He needs people (like Whizzer and Trina) to love and want him in songs like Thrill of first love and This had better come to a stop. That might even be a reason he got with Trina in the first place. He wanted to feel needed, without the responsibility of having to love back.

Not to mention the line “Kid. Be my son.” In Father to son. He wants Jason to fulfill the role as his son (and subsequently love him), not really acknowledging he’s his own person. But he still deeply cares about Jason, and wants him to succeed, he just does it through the only lense he understands; himself. Also, I noticed that Marvin literally moves the chess board aside and makes Jason face him during that song, even though he clearly doesn’t want to.

- Believes they deserve special privileges or treatment:

The R of Ms. Goldberg shows Marvin is obsessed with getting what he wants, for no other reason besides the fact that he wants it. It’s also implied that he didn’t even necessarily have the acting skills required to be Columbus, Ms. Goldberg just conceded because he kept pestering her. He believed he deserved it, so he got it.

- Make achievements and talents bigger than they actually are:

Again, Marvin obsessed over being a star actor. He also consistently exaggerates his intelligence with lines like “I can read her like a book” in How Marvin eats his breakfast and “I'm not so rich but hell I'm smart.” In This had better come to a stop.

In I never wanted to love you, Marvin also claims that he’s in demand, when he’s most likely not and is just trying to cover for his ego.

- Preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, brilliance

Oh wow. Ok, so we all know about the metaphor for games at this point. Marvin loves winning, he literally says it’s everything to him. He also says that he wants it all multiple times which is just, really driving home the point that he craves success and power over everything else.

Marvin is also characterized as being rich, which again emphasizes his need for success. I’m thinking he climbed the corporate ladder for the sole objective of looking like he’s successful.

Side note, I think the reason he never acknowledges how rich he is might be because he’s ashamed of being a trust fund baby. He had a whole maid staff as a kid, so it’s implied his parents had mad stacks. He might’ve sought success outside his parents’ money so that it was his own accomplishment, not his family’s.

I want to touch on My chance to survive the night, specifically the line “I played a game. She was as cute as a dime and couldn't spell. I asked her to spell my name. That's it for girls.” Marvin has a history of using games as a basis for breaking up with people because of his insecurity, even before Chess game. He gets a lot better with this in act 2, and this is evident in the racquetball matches. He seems a little unconfident, but he’s not devastated by it in the way he would be before.

I’ve mentioned this in a separate post, but The r of Ms. Goldberg can also be interpreted as a fantasy for power, since Marvin isn’t actually interested in having sex with Ms. Goldberg, and instead just wants to have control over her.

- Is critical and looks down on people they feel aren’t important:

Marvin consistently ignores his sweetheart even when she begs for his attention. When she tries to tell him she’s a person, he calls her ridiculous.

Marvin also just generally acted out as a child because he considered everyone as beneath him.

This trait is especially highlighted In Tight Knit family reprise, where he just straight up talks shit about Mendel, not being able to believe that Trina can love him. It’s also shown in Marvin hits Trina, that he dislikes her platitudes and expects substance from her, and then goes on to again beg for admiration with the line “How could you ever deny what we had?”

- Expects others to do what they ask without question:

This is best shown in This had better come to a stop and Chess game. Marvin expects Whizzer to play the housewife, while not acknowledging that he’s his own person.

This is also displayed in Tight Knit family, where he expects everyone to go along with his perfect vision of what a family should be.

- Has an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others:

This is most clear with Sweetheart and Trina. As I’ve said, Marvin blatantly ignores sweetheart’s attempts to love him, and completely disregards her. I want to note how he does this in favor of being attached to Ms. Goldberg and playing Columbus which are his power fantasies, essentially.

This trait is also shown in Breakfast over Sugar when Marvin basically tells Trina to shut up and that she’ll get over it when she’s having a a pretty expected emotional outburst to him divorcing her. He completely disregards her feelings, showing no empathy to her.

- Acts arrogantly:

This can just be interpreted as confidence but Marvin says that he loves being himself multiple times over the course of In trousers.

• Borderline Personality Disorder

- A strong fear of abandonment:

This ties into Marvin’s need for admiration, but he constantly asks others for validation, and even doesn’t want Trina to find new partners because he interprets it as abandonment of his family.

There’s also the workshop version of This had better come to a stop, which is all about how Marvin is terrified that Whizzer’s going to leave him again in act 2, but he tries to bury all those feelings down so that he doesn’t appear needy. One of the lines is “I sit here and slowly rot. Wait for Whizzer, wait for answers, and get none.” Which just really nails down this point.

There’s also Unlikely lovers, when Marvin refuses to leave Whizzer’s side in the hospital.

- A pattern of unstable, intense relationships:

I’m sure we all know where this is going.

Marvin has a lot of opinions about Trina. He says that he thinks she’s perfect in I have a family, but that at the same time, he says that he hates her in I swear I won’t ever again.

His wants are contradictory. He wanted Trina to leave him alone when he divorced her, but couldn’t accept that she married Mendel. Also, he fights with Trina consistently, even throughout Act 2.

Onto Whizzer, their relationship is driven solely by chaotic passion. Their relationship is *built* on fighting and making up with hate sex.

Whizzer has no idea how to feel about Marvin because of how unstable he is. Marvin can be gentle, but he expects everything to go his way. He’s affectionate but highly judgemental. (Then again, so is Whizzer.)

- Quick changes in how they view themself:

This is best shown in Your Lips and Me reprise. Marvin goes from hating who he was and what he did to Ms. Goldberg to having a whole ass victory song about how he loves being himself.

This might be sarcasm, but Marvin is also self deprecating in Tight knit family reprise, with the lyric “I'm too damn peeved, self-absorbed, self-deceived. Who knows?”

- Periods of stress related paranoia and loss of contact with reality

This is a stretch, but Marvin’s exes always hovering around him in In trousers might be paranoia about his past manifesting itself. This is especially clear in I can’t sleep and Your lips and Me reprise where they physically interact with him, preventing him from sleeping or reminding him of his past.

- Impulsive/risky behavior:

Bro got multiple STDs, presumably from unsafe sex. Also, it’s implied that he also got HIV after Whizzer.

Hitting Trina could also be seen as impulsive behavior.

- Wide mood swings:

This is where Marvin’s giddy seizures comes in. He has periods of extreme laughter and giddiness, sporadically.

- Inappropriate levels of anger

Marvin hits Trina. I mean, what else do I have to say? This whole song is about Marvin’s anger taking over his actions and causing physical harm because of it. He also shows inappropriate anger when he brings out Whizzer’s belongings after the Chess game.

Ok Jesus Christ that was a lot of words. Keep in mind that these are just my headcanons and you’re allowed to interpret Marvin in any way you want.

Also I don’t have these disorders myself and I’m not a professional psychologist or anything so let me know if I got some things wrong. I just care way too much about the Marvin Trilogy and I’m also interested in becoming a psychologist.

[bicheetopuff]

Hi...if you don't mind, can I ask something from BNHA? What do you think are Midoriya and Bakugou’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Since what moment that you start shipping them? What are your fav (canon) BKDK moments? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

I have waited two and a half years for someone to ask me this question. I’ll just go in order:

What do you think are Midoriya and Bakugou’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why?

I’ll start with their strengths.

I think Izuku’s greatest strength is his tenacity. He tried his hardest to achieve his dream despite everyone telling him he couldn’t and he never gave up. That seems like a childish thing to admire, but I feel like reading him doing everything with everything he has, mad me a more determined person.

His other strength that I admire a lot, is his ability to forgive so easily. He tries to see the good in everyone no matter what they’ve done and I think that’s a really admiral trait to have. Being forgiving is good for the soul, and it’s definitely a trait I do not possess.

As far as Katsuki’s strengths go, I think he’s just as tenacious as Izuku. He’s determined to be the undisputed victor in everything he does and he succeeds nearly every time. He fights really hard a for what he wants like he needs it to survive.

Also, he was able to hold himself accountable for the way he treated Izuku. It’s really hard for most adults to admit when they’re wrong and apologize sincerely for it without somehow shifting blame somewhere, and this prideful teenage boy was able to full admit that he was wrong and begin to openly do right by the guy he wronged in front of his entire class. Not only did he apologize, he went beyond what would normally be expected and legitimately wanted to lift Izuku up and push him to be a better hero. He didn’t just do it cuz he felt bad, he did it cuz he sincerely wanted the best for him.

Now, their weaknesses to me, parallel with their greatest strengths, so they can’t really exist without the other.

Izuku’s kindness paired with his unwavering determination causes him to do whatever it takes to help someone. Even if it means nearly killing himself. A kid could drop their ball in the street, and he’d throw himself in front a truck in order to get the ball back. I think his greatest weakness is how little self worth he has. He already doesn’t feel very deserving of what he has, considering it all a blessing instead of him working his ass off for it all. He feels like his life is less valuable than others, only seeing himself as nothing but a vessel for One for All instead of One for All choosing him because of the hero that he already was.

And then Katsuki’s biggest weakness is obviously his pride but also, I think it’s also Izuku… I’m not just saying this cuz I ship them though, I feel like he’s legitimately stunted when Izuku’s not around. Like Izuku is willing to do anything for other people, even if it means dying, Katsuki is the same way, but for Izuku. He literally described Izuku almost being stabbed as being “on the brink of death.” And then he started crying like his whole world was falling apart when he found out Izuku was quirkless again. Just like Izuku needed to learn to win with a smile, Katsuki needed to learn to save with a smile, and he’s not able to do that without Izuku there, which i believe is why he wasn’t doing good in the hero ranks. He can do a good job, but public opinion is still important and if he has a bad attitude cuz he’s cranky without Izuku competing with him, then it’s obvious why he wouldn’t do too well.

Katsuki is also a major weakness for Izuku, being the reason AFO targeted him in the first place. Izuku loses all reasoning when something happens to Katsuki or if he’s in danger, and his self preservation goes from none to negative, the only reason he’s being somewhat careful is to make sure Katsuki turns out okay. But then when Katsuki was revived, Izuku’s self preservation went out the window oddly enough, but I think it’s mainly because his focus went back to Shigaraki, and like I said before, he’d do anything to help somebody, not caring what happens to himself.

Anyways…

What do you love about their dynamic?

Idk why but this feels like such a loaded question…

Their dynamic is like ten tropes rolled into one so it’s hard to pinpoint what my favorite part about their dynamic is, but if I had to choose, I would say it’s the way they always put each other first even when their relationship was bad.

They could literally not talk to each other or acknowledge each other for days at a time, and they’d still be the first person on their minds. They just live in each others brains rent free and they always had each others backs when it counted. Like, Katsuki rescued Deku as early as the USJ arc, at a time he arguably felt the worst about him. Yet, he still helped him.

Or after he was kidnapped and he started to suspect Izuku and All Mights secret, he was angry and jealous and blaming himself for everything that happened to All Might, yet he still chose to confide in Izuku. Despite being pissed at him and actively fighting him.

And on the opposite end, Deku would be there for Katsuki despite the way he treated him. He literally told him to kill himself in chapter one, and Deku ended up saving his life just a few hours later. He’d continuously call him amazing even when other people pointed out his angry behavior.

The way they treated each other in moments of crisis and the way they would talk about each other just never matched up. Katsuki could talk as much shit as he wanted, but that didn’t change the fact that he never truly underestimated Izuku and that he’s always been the guy to step in when Izuku couldn’t handle something on his own. And Izuku can praise him all he wanted and be as nonchalant as possible, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’d avoid over stepping with Katsuki but he’d act like the world was ending when Katsuki would be wronged in some way. They’re weird about each other in words but then so obsessively loyal to each other in actions. I have no clue if I’m making sense, it’s hard to put into coherent words.

Since what moment did you start shipping them?

I picked up the manga basically right after season 5 finished airing cuz I had just binge watched the whole thing and something just didn’t feel right? It was the first time I was actually interested in what was going to happen next in a show, that I decided to look up the source material.

I started on chapter 257 and I had to just pause once I hit 285. Because I’ll admit, I was a hater. I was a hater who genuinely didn’t understand why Katsuki would suddenly just put himself in harms way to save Deku like that. So I stopped reading and decided to start from chapter 1 and it all just started to click in my brain. If they were in the same situation in middle school where Deku was about to potentially get a lethal injury, Katsuki would’ve done the same thing. He’s never not valued Deku as a person, he just hated that Deku was better than him at something so important to his dream.

So I guess you could say it was Katsuki’s sacrifice that made me begin to ship them, but I think it was really just a pipeline to me re reading everything and slowly starting to realize how genuinely weird they were about each other from the start. Oh and when I got back to where I stopped and then read up to Katsuki’s apology, that really solidified it for me. I was hooked and I think the fbi agent in my phone saw me crying about it, because the next day my tiktok was flooded with bkdk fanart which just hooked me even more and lead me to tumblr.

Basically, me wanting to understand why Katsuki did what he did when the whole internet was telling me to hate him and his ship with Deku, unironically improved my reading/media comprehension. They made me start reading more and start paying attention to what I was actually consuming. I haven’t just blindly watched anything since then, and now I’m an annoying, opinionated bitch when it comes to most media.

Also, to put this more into perspective, I have really bad ADHD (and probably asd tbh, it runs in my family) and I hated to read as a teenager. I physically could not force myself to read something to the end, and it would actually give me headaches when I would try to read for more than like ten minutes at a time. But mha and my curiosity about Katsuki Bakugou specifically, interested me enough to binge read 350+ chapters (at the time I started) worth of manga as well as 6 light novels. And after that, I literally couldn’t stop reading. Ew I think I just realized that bkdk lowkey changed my life ajdbdjdj that’s embarrassing… moving on…

What are your favorite BKDK moments?

Idk why but I think about that one scene from class a vs class b at least once a week. And no, not the one where BlackWhip manifested.

It’s a manga only-ish scene after Monoma was like “what? You’re gonna tell me Bakugou got character development?” And Kirishima says “yeah blah blah blah… it’s the first time we’ve seen him put it all on the line for someone else…” and the camera pans to Izuku. In the anime, that pan got cut out for whatever reason, but it just plagues my mind because that quote can mean so many things, and the fact that the focus was switched to Deku from someone else’s perspective, just puts so many thoughts in my brain.

Other than that, I think the scene after the war where Katsuki tries to find Deku in the hospital but gets stopped, is my second favorite. It’s the first time we see him shamelessly worry about him. And then, this is weird, but the panels before his sacrifice where he’s just panicking for like two straight chapters and then has a flashback where he explains how he actually feels to All Might.

Katsuki’s death lies in fourth place, while I think the scene is beautiful, it happened on my birthday and literally ruined my weekend so I will forever be salty about that. And then I think DvK 1 and 2 are tied, I love just going back to read them to see what I missed.

Oh and of course, “for the rest of our lives” altered my brain chemistry.

There’s some light novel and TUM moments too, but I know their canonicity is questionable so I won’t go into that, especially since a lot of the new people in the fandom haven’t really read those and I don’t wanna spoil anything. All I can do is recommend them :)

You don’t have to apologize for anything dnana! I love talking about them! If anyone should apologize, it should be me for this post being so long lmao

[pluckyredhead]

i really wanna know your ideal dc publishing cause seriously they could be doing so much and instead choose the absolute worst trashy choices

Lol thank you for indulging me, anon. I have thought about this EXTENSIVELY so sorry not sorry for the tusnami of opinions you have unleashed.

Before I get into the list, a few points to explain my approach:

ONGOINGS. I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing series. There's nothing wrong with a miniseries but you can't get any forward momentum or character development with them because things keep getting reset to their baseline. Get really strong teams on your ongoings and let them develop their stories for years at a time. That's where all the legendary runs come from.

To that end, I am proposing a list of 30 books, which is a little more than 7 per week, which is roughly what DC publishes now (not including things like Sandman, Looney Tunes, etc.). They can add on as many minis as they want but will need fewer since so many more characters are accounted for with ongoings.

I am a strong believer in backup features - more value for your dollar and double the amount of characters included - so you'll see a lot of those.

I tried to balance what I personally think would be the most holistic representation of the DCU with what I believe will sell, so you're still going to see a lot of Bats. It should be understood that books without Bats are not going to be treated like throwaways like they sometimes are now. They are going to get top tier creators with long, sustained runs, just like Bruce always gets.

It will not be a publishing slate of all straight white guys from the 30s-60s.

Books with an asterisk* mean they will be kid-friendly. Not exclusively for kids, but appealing and accessible to young readers, the way Young Justice and its members' books were in the 90s. They can still include ongoing plots and queer characters and serious topics! They just shouldn't be relentlessly grim.

OKAY THE BOOKS!

Super Books:

Superman*: The lead Superman title, with a backup featuring starring Jon.

Action Comics*: Focuses more on the Superfamily as a whole, though the plot can dovetail and cross over with the main Superman book. (This is basically what's happening now.) Backup feature rotates between Kon, John Henry, Natasha, Kenan, Lois, and Jimmy.

Supergirl*: Why did I give Kara her own book and not Kon or Jon? Because a) DC needs more female-led books and b) I want to. The primary audience for this book is women who watched the CW show, or girls who have outgrown TTGo! and DC Super Hero Girls, NOT ADULT MEN. (Optional: Kon or Natasha backup feature.)

Bat Books:

Batman: Like the Super books, this would be the central title and focus on Bruce. Backup feature can rotate between the nine billion Gotham characters who need a home.

Detective Comics: Focuses more on mysteries/the family. Another rotating backup feature. NOTE: These backup features CANNOT star a character with their own book (Bruce, Dick, Damian, Selina, or Harley).

Nightwing: Dick sells. ;)

Robin*: Starring Damian, Tim gets a team book further down.

Batwoman: Perhaps we could try letting a queer woman write this for once? Revolutionary, I know.

Catwoman: Because she fucking rules.

Harley Quinn: Because she fucking sells.

Birds of Prey: I prefer a classic Babs/Dinah/Helena lineup but I'm flexible.

Batgirls*: If it’s too messy to have Babs in BoP and this, take her out and add Harper.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Imagine if this book was good! In my universe, it will be.

Solo Books:

Wonder Woman

Flash: This will star Wally. Optional backup rotates between Jay, Bart, Ace, and Avery. Barry can show up sometimes I guess.

Green Lantern: Starring Hal, John, or Kyle. Whoever is the lead CANNOT also be on the Justice League.

Green Lantern Corps: Okay yes technically this is a team book. Shhh. Guy should always be on this book since he does better in an ensemble. The plot should dovetail loosely with the main GL book with an annual crossover but you don't have to read both if you don't want to. I am flexible about how to fit all the Earth GLs in (including Simon and Jessica), whether that's backup features or just including them in the GLC ensemble, but all six should always have a publishing home. Jo should get as many prestige graphic novels as N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell care to bless us with.

Aquaman: Jackson backup. Please let him go back to being Aqualad and stop making everyone grow up so fast.

Green Arrow: This book is currently perfect, no notes.

Blue Beetle*: Starring Jaime, though Ted may show up to be annoying if he would like. A Booster backup is permissible.

Vixen: If they have a Webtoon they should have a comic for $ too.

Zatanna: See above.

...I'm torn between Shazam!* or Stargirl* here. I feel like they both kind of fizzled? I guess it depends on which book gets the better pitch.

Team Books:

Justice League: I mostly don't care who is on this but if it's a bunch of white guys plus Wonder Woman and either John Stewart or Cyborg as tokens, AGAIN, DC gets shut down permanently. I don't make the rules.

Justice Society: This is also not allowed to be only old white guys. I know that's harder with the JSA. I don't care.

Titans: I'm going to be honest, I'm not convinced the OG/New Teen Titans can star in a decent book anymore, since they haven't done so in two decades. But I will give them one more try. They can call themselves the Outsiders instead if that helps.

Young Justice*: They also maybe need a new name because they are all legal adults, but this is Tim's book. I'm highly skeptical of success here as well but I think the right creative team could make something really soapy and New Adult and queer work. Please keep in mind that there are nine trillion characters in the DCU who are roughly Tim's age to draw from; the "Core Four" (ugh I hate that term so much) can all be members but they are not the only members. (Cassie cannot be the only girl and it cannot be all white.)

Teen Titans*: Damian's team! I vote for characters like Emiko, Ace, and Jackson here, but I'm flexible. THE AUDIENCE FOR THIS BOOK IS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, NOT PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON WOLFMAN/PEREZ. Jesus, DC.

Suicide Squad: I truly do not care about this book but we need to do something to appease the edgelords.

The New Gods: I'm thinking EPIC, I'm thinking KIRBY, I'm thinking SIMONSON. Everyone talks in a serif font and it should be impossible to explain out loud with human words. It's what Kirby would want.

So there it is, there's my pitch. Again, this doesn't cover minis (Elongated Man miniseries WHEN), event books, etc., but I think it gets most of the key players on the board!

(And yes, I know I left the Legion out. I'm sorry. But not very sorry. They can cameo in Kara's book.)

[catgirlforeskin]

This may border on victimblaming, but most of stories about how someone was "groomed" online that I saw (I didn't research it, mind you, just what crossed my dashboard) read to me as "I am a total dumbass who doesn't have common sense and I am going to blame everyone for this".

Like older* guy on forum who talks about how you being offline makes him want to kill himself is not a good man, and neither are any other kinds of "online groomers", but literally nothing about technology makes them more dangerous.

(*Assuming that he is in fact older, I also was "in my early 30s" online since I was 12, but that's not that important because him living who the fuck knows where makes any actual power imbalance irrelevant, and teenagers are very much capable of being cruel and manipulative).

In fact, online interactions are way safer for kids because they fucking can close the tab and forget about everything that happened. Restrictions on children's access to internet doesn't help them. I am not even going to talk about how abusive families can be - outside of home is also not that safe, and people actually may have power over you. In my high school there were rumours about certain teachers sleeping with certain students. I don't know were they true, but I myself was present when one of our teachers went on a discussion about how it's better for schoolgirls to date college students and graduates to "get better experience". People who live close to you may be very gross and bigoted, in fact there is someone close to you and bigoted. Slightly older people can tell about absolutely awful culture of teen neighborhood groups (idk if there was something like that in USA but that's when people of one urban neighborhood hang out together purely because they live close by).

Mind you, I grew up on my local equivalent of 4chan, and while I don't think that it was good for me, the grossest experiences I had were all IRL. Yes, some of those anons may be totally inhuman, but I didn't have to listen to their bullshit, while IRL I had not only to listen but to politely agree, or the middle aged man with ego of a toddler and the middle aged woman who believes in every conspiracy on Earth and the teenage boy who thinks that he is the protagonist of life will be offended, and I am a good kid so I shouldn't make them sad :(

P.S.: Anecdotally, "normie" online places felt way grosser than imageboards. Part of it may be because it was before Trump ruined online everywhere, part of it that those "normie" online places were not as normal as they liked to pretend, but I think that the correct answer is that 4chan is not some malicious entity that corrupts our world, not even really marginal group - it's just content of middle class cranium without flattering makeup of civility. Still, don't go there

P.P.S.: I focused on school because the discourse was about kids, but like, you realise that adult abuse on workplace and such can be way worse and actually endanger your life in the way online never can, right?

Yeah, definitely, it’s an extension of the “stranger danger” model of abuse instead of the reality where most abuse comes from people you know that have power over you, whether it be in a family, school, or work setting. I was constantly told not to talk to strangers online because they’re dangerous by a family member who was literally abusing me lol.

There is harm that can be done by having unfettered internet access as a kid, but until the astronomically greater harm of kids having no rights in the face of parental dominion is addressed, I don’t think parents having more rights to control their children is a good idea

[eunoiaastralwings]

This ask has been on my mind since like FOREVER 💗💗💗💗💗💗

I was wondering if you could do a feanorians x little brother ft nolofinwe where y/n was born very weak and frail but was still loved by his family dearly just that because of his frail body he's constantly bullied and hit by other elflings (and maybe some adults). Whenever he sees his brothers and father he feels so utterly useless but bottles everything up .

Make it end up in fluff please 🙏🙏

Thank you and have a wonderful day/night ❣️

characters feanorians x little brother reader ft. Fingolfin

fandom tolkien- the silmarillion

a/n am still uneasily writing about kids - so I made it into a headcanon. Idk if this is what you intended am sorry - so you can request else where because idk what else to do this - but I hope you at least like it @oggy4god

warnings angry overprotective family members xD

FEANOR:

As your dad - expect him to treat you the same as any other of your brothers. He doesn’t care whether or not you were born weak - Feanor still wants to achieve your goals and dreams, like each of his other sons did. He would help you achieve it too. 

Eru forbid if he witnesses anyone bullying you he will turn their lives to literal hell. He would protect you with his might and title - the most important to him being a father. He will allow no harm to come upon you. After your bullying incidents he keep just an extra eye and care on you - letting you know you can always talk to him. He will be extra caring on your side. 

If you ever feel useless compared to him - he will tell you otherwise and make you shine with your skills, no matter how small they may be, he is so proud of you.

NERDANEL:

I love her, OK? I could not miss your hot momma out. Just like Feanor, she wouldn’t see you any less. You receive a little more attention from her (sometimes your brothers are a little jealous of this but they understand and love you) - more care too. She will encourage you and help you every step of the way to help you achieve your dreams - she sits with you day and night.

Nerdanel is someone who doesn’t like to use the terms “weak” or people referring to you having a “condition” - she likes to think you were extra blessed by Eru, especially when you start to show your kindness and uniqueness to the world - showing your hidden talents. She is the proudest mother - and she shows it.

Your mother would be first to witness the change in your moods - you starting to get depressed. She knows you very well and finds the reasons behind it without having to even question. She likes to deal with it quietly - but if your bullies ceases to stop, she is not afraid to take it to the next level. If she uses her title among the Nolder for anyone, it will be for her children - especially you darling.

Sometimes she cries herself to sleep - thinking about all that you had to face alone and how hard it must have been for you and why you didnt come to her.

In seeing you like this - she understands depression and other mental illnesses so she advises and helps to start therapy or retreats among elves - knowing it is more common than one would think.

Oh - and if it comes to having to get getting revenge on the kindergarten moms who bullied her kid. . . oh, she will ! ! !

Nerdanel consoles her son -and then takes her revenge on those who mistreated him.

MAEDHROS:

As your oldest brother - he advises you like a 2nd father, he isn’t afraid to step in when Feanor is away to come and protect you. He lets you take it a little more easier in training. When you cannot achieve anything as fast as your brothers - he sits down next to you and comforts you with small pet talks. He tries to make you feel better about yourself by telling the number of times he failed before achieving something - letting you know how things take time and life isn’t about a race. Mae tells you to believe in yourself and that is the most important thing - he tells you to listen to yourself and the people that are family - “They say many things - but you mustn’t listen to them, but to the people you keep in here” - points to your heart.

When you finally learn to achieve a level in your training - he has the biggest proud face. He picks you up and places you on his shoulders, cheering for you. 

MAGLOR:

While your mother invites therapy for mental health - your big brother Maglor creates songs to boost up your self esteem. Ever seen music fights? - Yes, he does that to your bullies, before filling you with a heart warming and encouraging song like in those Disney movies - he becomes Baloo (The Jungle Book) or even Genie (Aladdin).

He becomes your personal cheerleader - singing from the top of his lungs as Mae carries you on his shoulders.

CELEGORM:

While he doesn’t show it well - he loves you greatly. If he ever sees anyone bullying you and making you feel bad about yourself - big bad brother Tyelko is going to threaten the very lives of your bullies, he becomes the bully of your bullies LMAOO.

He then feels better and drops in front of you - wrapping his arm around your shoulder insisting you go for a hunt that’s the only way he knows how to comfort. Otherwise he gets either Nerdanel, Mae or Maglor.

Expect Huan to be the bestest boi to protect you from big bad brother Tyelko is away to bully the bullies that tried to hurt you.

CARANTHIR:

If anyone learns of you being mistreated first, it is your overprotective big brother Cara - he sees red when he sees or hears of someone bullying you. Cara would straight up punch them in the face - he doesn’t care who/what they are: “HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK OF LAYING A HAND ON MY BABY BROTHER?!”

His words are searing with deadly anger - making them cower in fear. He will make sure they apologize to you - the one that you deserve. While Cara is caring, initially he is mad at you for hiding or bottling up everything. Afterwards he vows to let no harm come to you. Cara knows what it is like to be judged on - because of his ruddy freckles skin. 

Slowly the both of you become closer to each other like this - gradually opening up to each other and he has the proudest look on his face when he sees you defending him, small tears even gathers in his eyes.

CURUFIN:

Like Cara - he is so mad you had no one told anyone of your mistreatments, he will report straight to Feanor. He doesn’t know how to comfort - he never learnt that so he pulls you to the others to give you comfort, though he becomes the extra pair of eyes to protect you from anyone who dares to mistreat you. He can be a little hard on you at times - but when he learns he’s causing you hurt too he immediately stops - he does care deeply for you but he doesn’t know how to help you otherwise.

AMBARUSSA:

Please - if your older twin brothers ever sees someone hurting you - expect them to prank (and scare) the life out of them. They are letting no one hurt you in any way - they take on their roles of becoming your big brothers very seriously - even if at times it seems like it doesn’t.

Sometimes during training they purposefully fall behind you making you go ahead of them or failing on pretend - because they love seeing that triumphant amazed smile on your face once in a while. They will literally do anything to make you happy - once even daring to cut the hair of your school teacher that was giving you a hard time - “He doesn’t deserve it - if he cannot treat someone as amazing you right ! ! ! - Even Atar isn’t mad at us!”

FINGOLFIN:

Best Uncle Nolofinwë seeing this precious little nephew getting mistreated? - Oh, he will not allow such a thing to happen, for a split second he is about to lose his anger like your father - but he controls it and does it the right way of reporting it and making sure they achieve their punishment to even dare to think of doing such a thing to you. 

Afterwards - waiting for Feanor to come, he will take your hands in his and talk to you in a calm caring voice - telling you it is OK to feel like the way you and that everyone does feel like this once in a while - but the most important this is not let it cast you down: “You may think you only feel like this, young one - but we all do. . .Some are better at hiding than others and it is never good to hide it. We must accept that sometimes we need a little help. . .a little encouragement from the bad thoughts - and most importantly. . .you must never let these thoughts or words of others plague your heart, my dearest little nephew. . .”

Feanor is a little jealous and scowling at how his half-brother is having a moment with his son - expect your father to be in a sour mood and scowling at Fingolfin for a few moments before he turns to you and provides you the best of comfort - also severing the punishments for your bullying while your uncle shakes his head but offers your something in between a smile and a smirk.

Taglist form

tara's taglist: @wandererindreams @fizzyxcustard @ranhanabi777 @spidergirla5 @asianbutnotjapanese @floraroselaughter

[chaeul]

I was tagged by my lovely friends @lilmaemae, @jez-bez and @ella-norah to share a few things about myself

It was fun getting to know more abut you ♥ My turn now :shy:

Do you tidy your bed? Yes. I didn't always but as I've gotten older and life became more hectic, I've started to appreciate the sense of peace and calm a tidy, neat looking room can give. Also if I didn't make my bed I'd be sleeping in cat hair :D No amount of trying to get rid of it will get rid of it all. With my bed made, at least the hair stays on my blanket as opposed to underneath it

What's your favorite number? Even numbers are must. There are many that I like but the most important ones are 4 (can't explain this one and 22 (back in elementary school each kid had a number associated with them; mine was 22 and it stuck. I also enjoy that it's the same backwards and forwards

What is your job? I wfh doing administrative tasks for a physiotherapist's office and I'm one of two official caretakers for my grandparents (not technically a job but it does count towards my state pension)

If you could go back to school, would you? I mostly enjoyed school. So much so that my plan was to become a teacher, actually. Uni on the other hand wasn't for me. I wonder if it would've been different if my mental and physical health hadn't plummeted back then. Considering I'm not doing much better rn, I would not go back to uni, no.

Can you parallel park? Technically yes, but I do have performance anxiety about it and I'd rather not (and I won't on busy streets). I much prefer parking in a parking lot with cars to my left and right instead of in front and behind me.

A job you had that would surprise people? I don't think there is one

Do you think aliens are real? I'm sure there's life out there somewhere. Or that there was or will be at some point in the future. Do I believe that life to be similar to us humans? No, not really.

Can you drive a manual car? I learned and got my license on a manual car but we've ever only owned automatic ones so I that's what I've been driving ever since I got my license. A few months of manual vs 16+years of automatic... I don't trust myself to be able to still drive manual

What's your guilty pleasure? I think I've reached a point in my life where I don't really feel guilty or ashamed about anything I find pleasure in tbh. At least not that I can think of rn.

Tattoos? None

Favorite color? aqua, lavender, a deep rich red and a warm orange

Favorite type of music? there are barely any genres I actively dislike and maaaaaaaaany that I enjoy but there can be too much of a good thing, so variety is important (in the grand scheme of things! because I enjoy listening to the same song on loop for hours, sometimes even days too) and it's hard to pick a favorite. But I certainly do love musical soundtracks as well as quite a bit of everything kpop has to offer

Do you like puzzles? depends on the difficulty. if it's too hard or I can't even come up with a possible way to solve them I lose interest

Any phobias? wasps and dentists

Favorite childhood sport? I'm not sure if there's a difference in definition of the word 'sport' between German and English or if it's a diifference between the world and me but to me, a sport is any sort of activity that requires a certain amount of physical effort. I know many don't consider dancing a sport but it is to me. Many different types of dance were my favorite sport in childhood and they're still important to me now

Do you talk to yourself? I talk to my cat when I'm at home and sometimes I narrate things to her. That's pretty much the same thing isn't it? Other than that I don't talk to myself out loud but I do it in my head sometiimes

What movie(s) do you adore? there are simply too many to choose from and I'm not that into movies. I much prefer tv shows. But I've seen you all mentioning Tangled and that certainly is my favorite Disney movie among the ones that came out since I became an adult. Plus I did enjoy the mcu movies before everything went downhhill

Coffee or tea? neither iced tea

First thing you wanted to be growing up? I don't remember the very first thing exactly but I had dreams of being a teacher, a vet, a musical theatre performer... the list goes on

I you're seeing this, consider yourself tagged! ♥

[subiysu-chan]

Sanson family rewright, the Couple

Now, Anne-Marthe and her son Jean-Baptiste are more like the real power couple, and their relationship does appear vaguely incestuous with how...Close they are for a mother to her adult eldest son. Jean-Baptiste is the one who defended her since a young age, thus positioning himself in a role closer to that of "husband" than son, since he was thirteen. Their defense against abuse was more him towards her, rather than the other way around, and he was borderline forced to do the same for his younger brother, being defended by both his older brother and his mother.

They never actually did anything sexual together, but they share their authority in a way more akin to a married couple than mother and son.

Jeanne Berger is there a bit of a third wheel, and she and Jean-Baptiste are able to work well together, with her playing the role of part time nurse and breeder. She's unusually successful at baby-making. The entire reason why this couple has children is for the Sanson's family dynastic ambitions...That doesn't mean they don't love their kids...But Jean-Baptiste is a dynastically ambitious father. Jeanne Berger also has reasons to obey that, mostly as revenge for the abuse she suffered as a young girl (from what I understood, the Berger family, was in it's majority, a clan of let's say "poor", maginalized, and a lot of it is done by their own shitty behavior as well as more systematic factors) and sees this as an opportunity to get back at her birth family. She honestly, despite her dislike of her birthfamily, especially of her uncle...Also, she believes life as a poor outcast is still worth living, just not when you're hurt by your own family.

She prepares her kids for a life of hardship, but also teaches them the most important lesson of all, that family solidarity, like the one she shared with her sister Elisabeth, who she invites whenever she can and even nominated as godmother to her eldest daughter, is what makes life worth living.

Also, Jean-Baptiste played at some point mentor to his wife, so she could desguise her identity for...long enough to finish shopping, because he has better things to do that break her nose once a week.

[placentaeater999]

More Ramblings!

I forgot to tell you, my friends, that this May 10th or 11th marked 10 (ten) whole years since I first came out as a trans man!

(Im open to asks/questions/new friends, i believe education is an important part of the path to acceptance)

TL;DR: trans kids become trans adults, trans kids you absolutely fucking belong on this planet and you are loved and cherished, if not by your own family then by me bc im adopting you now as your older brother. My experience as a trans man is below the cut

I came out at the age of 11, back in early 2014, just before trans ppl and bathrooms had really started to catch the eye of the general public.

My dad was quick to support my medical transition, and while my ma took a moment, she got there. My dad ended up only really supporting me if i matched his machismo ideals, but this has gotten a lot better over the years.

I have been extremely INCREDIBLY lucky to be able to come out and successfully begin my transition at such a young age and every day im grateful for that. That being said, I lost a lot of family because of it. I lost close and important friendships because of it. I felt shame for such a long ass time because of it. I was bullied by students, parents, and teachers. I've been assaulted, Ive faced medical discrimination numerous times, I was the first trans patient at this psych ward i went to and got weird treatment. I have struggled a lot with feeling like i belong in this world. And now at the age of 21 I still do sometimes.

But

With all the bad things that've happened.

The family that stayed ive grown closer with. The new friends i FINALLY made in college are so incredibly supportive and I'm lucky that most of them are also trans or queer in some way (most of my friends are long distance but idc theyre my best friends). I wouldnt trade them for the world. I I havent had a typical teen experience but I've gotten to lead important projects for the safety of trans students at my high school, I've been a part of my university's qsa, I've gotten to serve on a panel for GLSEN Los Angeles where I worked with city officials on how to make la safer for trans/nb people. I've had my art about being trans get into galleries and I've won a couple awards for it. I get to attend other queer events near me and sell my art there and meet other queer folks in a town that's not a super safe place to be queer in.

I've gotten to see people grow and change their opinions on trans ppl bc now they know one and understand the concept better. Ive gotten the absolutely honor of people telling me that because I'm so open about myself that they began to feel comfortable exploring more about thelmselves.

I've lived more in these past 10 years than a lot of people will in 20. And as hard as its been I'm so FUCKING proud of how far I've come and I can't wait for the next 10.

It's not always glamorous, it's fucking hard as hell. For a long while I'd trade being a trans man for being a cis woman in a heartbeat, but now I wouldn't trade being trans for the world.

[findafight]

i apologize in advance for the loooooong ask lol (and no pressure about replying if u dont wanna haha) but i saw ur post in the billy hargrove tag and thought it was an interesting character analysis! im a billy fan but im inclined to agree with most of what u said, and i think it's also interesting to compare him and max to zuko and azula. one thing i wanted to comment on tho is when u said "He's also just a racist asshole that has all the means to not be one and doesn't use them or ever feel bad about it."

i just wanted to offer an argument for that point, bc we see that billy's been abused since he was a kid and watched his mom be abused before him, and we also see neil throw slurs at billy, so it's not farfetched to believe his dad spouted racist shit around him too. he also still lives with his dad, and we see in their argument before billy goes to fetch max that billy's safety at home can depend largely on agreeing with and repeating what his dad says.

seeing as how his mom left, how susan doesnt stick up for him (doesnt she even avert her eyes when neil backs him up against his wall?), and how other older women seem to objectify and sexualize him, it also seems like he doesnt have any other adult support in his life--especially not at home where he's supposed to be safe. i would say all of that points to him not having *any* means at all to not be racist, esp considering that his safety might depend on whether or not his dad hears the wrong thing about who he (and max, since his dad seems to put the onus of her actions onto billy's shoulders) might be hanging out with.

he's not in an environment to recognize that racism is bad, and in fact i think it's an environment that teaches him by implicit threat that being racist might actually be something that could help him feel safe, if only bc it means his dad wont have one more thing to come after him about. what means does he have to stop being racist, when he doesnt seem to have external adult support? why would he feel bad about being racist when that mindset might offer him some form of safety? considering all that, i think it's actually surprising he doesnt throw any slurs at lucas (im not applauding this, just observing), esp when put together with how billy himself gets called the f-slur by his father. the importance of words and what you choose to say and what not to say, etc etc.

obviously racism is bad, and im not arguing against his actions *being* racist, i just think that saying he has the means to not be racist isnt entirely accurate. it would be like saying azula has the means to be a good sister but she doesnt use them or ever feel bad about it. that would be an unfair statement when considering how both she and zuko were raised to be pitted against each other, and she had something more to lose by being seen as the more powerful/superior/better sibling by their father. furthermore, the only kind adults in her life have left her with her father for various reasons (her mother & iroh). i dont think she had the means to be a better sister/person, nor would she ever have the need to feel bad about it, because she wasnt raised to look for the means or question why she would want them, if she even knew they existed. the same can be said about billy & his racism. i dont think he could even *start* to have those means, let alone use them, until he starts properly healing in a place he feels safe.

idk, just something to think about i guess. i hope this doesnt come off rude, this is meant as genuine discussion. 😅 people tend to look at billy's scene with lucas, pronounce him racist, and call it a day without considering the context he grew up in, and the fact that racism doesnt come from nowhere--it is always, always something you learn. billy literally says this to max: "i'm older than you, and something you *learn* is that there are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from." sure he mightve just picked up racism from school or society or something, but with the context of his father at home and how aggressive billy gets with lucas in a similar way to how his dad just got aggressive with him, it makes you wonder how billy might have *really* learned that lesson.

anyways, i dont think he has the means to stop being racist all of a sudden, all by himself, and it seems unfair to blame him (from a narrative standpoint; lucas & his friends, however, have every right to go off lol) for something he cant necessarily choose to improve in his life when he's still living with his bigoted abuser. we dont know if he ever feels bad about it or not--we never see it on-screen but things between him and max certainly change enough for her to try desperately to save him in s3 where she's still (sorta-kinda) dating lucas, so i assume there was some kind of calm-down there, plus billy and max's relationship got to a point where max grieved him *so hard* she got targeted by vecna--but he definitely doesnt really have the means to choose not to be racist. i dont think he thinks he *can* choose this, nevermind discussing whether or not he could and chooses not to.

that being said, i do agree about how he didnt really have a proper redemption arc, or any chance at healing at all. sorry again for the long ask; im sending it cuz im genuinely interested in a good faith discussion. you said you didnt necessarily like billy but found his relationship with max interesting, and you said so on a post about healing & redemption. ive always found that billy's healing & redemption are intrinsically tied to his upbringing and his abuse at home, and i find that his racism is an extension of that in a way people dont acknowledge when making their broader points--instead saying that either the people who sympathize with his home life are excusing the racism, or the people who are naysaying his racism are excusing the abuse. theyre tied together, and i found that most of your post looked at billy fairly except for that one point about his racism being something he can choose--like his racism is something separate from his home life--so i thought id just. give it a genuine go. 😅 anyways, hope ur havin a good day!

Hi! So you've got some good points and in that post I didn't really touch on his racism more than the other things because that would be, to me, one of the things easiest for Billy to begin to rectify. Saying he has all the means wasn't correct though because he doesn't, and unlearning bigotry is not an easy thing, especially without support, but not an impossible thing. People can and do change their perspectives or beliefs even in environments where it is punished.

Reading your thoughts I think you are right in that it likely very much is linked to his abuse, in the way his father treats him and Susan's non-action. Him telling max that "you learn" s also interesting and I think does show that Neil encouraged racism and bigotry in general. The only positive interactions with older women he has is grown women sexualizing him, which is unfortunately never examined further in the show, and the only man we only see him interact with is Neil. So. He obviously doesn't have adult support in his life, we don't see him with any teachers but there's only so much they can do too.

However having adult support isn't fully necessary for him to realize his actions were wrong. I think I was sort of looking at how Max has also been in that house with Neil and Billy, and that Billy often does, like you said, emulate Neil or act as an extension of him possibly for his own safety, leading to his abuse of Max and his seeking of power and control in other areas while max pushes against that.

From the flashbacks in S3 showing Billy and max meeting, they look significantly younger, I'd say max was likely eight or so? And Billy about twelve. So Max has been in this situation for possibly about four to six years (considering she consistently calls him her brother, implying she is used to him as her brother not her mom's BF's son), and while we don't know how her mother treated her or allowed her to be treated, it would not be far to say that Max could have also acted and believed the same things as Billy as a form of self preservation like him. But she doesn't? And it could be that her bio dad still influenced her when they were in California, or that Susan did put more effort into protecting Max, or Max's own experiences at school enforcing that Neil was wrong. Idk.

For me, Max threatening Billy into not coming near her friends again could have been a point where he took a long hard look at himself and reevaluated what he was doing. Even without support he could go through that realization, and attempt to be better. He could have realized that max was not his enemy but in fact another frightened and abused kid. That could have been his gateway into breaking the cycle of abuse with max, and we don't see that. Very unfortunate.

And you're right! We don't know what happened between them during the interim of S2/3. For the most part, and I haven't rewatched billy s3 scenes in a while, he seems relatively the same as the start of s2 though. I don't think we ever see them interact until the sauna test and by then Billy is flayed and out of control. So we do not see if any repairs to their relationship were made, or if billy did work to change. I think if he did, the show would have tried to show us that his and Max's relationship was better, even if it was still rocky and that Billy clearly still had some issues(like those with older women). But it did not, and so we are left to assume he didn't change all that much between seasons.

Max has a lot of conflicting feelings for Billy, because she is scared of him but also sees him as her brother. She wants to have a brother she can rely on but doesn't. I don't think her desperately not wanting Billy to be a mind flayer puppet indicates their relationship was better, but that Max does care for him either way. He's her brother, whether or not they get along, and she does not want him to be involved or being manipulated.

When he dies, and max feels guilt for it, I sort of have the opposite interpretation as you. I see her immense guilt and grief from it stemming from the fact that Billy had abused Max, and at some point she likely wished he was gone, out of her life, possibly dead. Because she was a scared abused child. And when he died trying to save her all those feelings of guilt for wishing she never had to see him again compounded with a possible sense of relief that she wouldn't, because now he was gone.

I also think she wanted a positive relationship with him. She wanted to have a brother she could trust, who she didn't want to wish away. So her confusion and relief and guilt for his death are what leave her vulnerable to vecna.

To just touch on billy not saying a slur to Lucas, I am pretty sure it was in the script at some point before being pulled. Possibly because Caleb was young and I thiiiiink it was during the scene he shoves Lucas into the wall, so someone realized doing that combined with calling him a racial slur maybe traumatic especially for a child actor and they cut it.

[boypussydilf]

actually i was going to save this for when i made All Grown Up Now designs for the human kids in sgt frog but idk if/when im actually gonna do that so heres jusyt my random thoughts about what some of them r doing as adults and also maybe some au/oc stuff

transfem fuyuki is SO real to me tbh. when she moved out of the hinata house keroro came with her bc theyre all time best friends and keroro deciding being with fuyuki was more important than staying w the secret base or anything like that. fuyuki lives in like a normal apartment with a convenience store job or smth like just the most average life but she also makes youtube videos where she talks abt the occult, goes over conspiracy theories & even debunks them if smth is really stupid, makes vlogs going to places that r supposed to be haunted or have been visited by aliens or whatever other supernatural thing u can think of. also talks casually in her videos abt having lived with an alien since she was 12 but obviously everyone watching just thinks that’s a running gag. she also miiiiigjt be roommates with mois? bc i think mois would want to go wherever keroro goes but i also dont know how fuyuki would feel about that. i dont know if mois can get a job to help with rent. i think that 10 years in the future mois would still be basically 13 years old.

also fuyuki is a lesbian and has a better chance of figuring out that she likes momoka now that shes got herself figured out more but she has NOT figured out that she likes momoka yet bc fuyuki is dense

transmasc natsumi, also, is so real to me. he becomes both a model and an athlete, bc tbh? i do believe in natsumi’s rights to just kind of be Good At Everything. when he moved out he was like Man! It’s so great to not have to deal with the stupid frog all the time! and then felt like everything was weird and too quiet without keroro around obviously but he is still relieved to not have to deal with shit like. oh all the curtains in the house have been turned into pudding. or whatever. that does still happen sometimes sometimes keroro comes to visit and it can go well or it can go horribly. Dating koyuki, obviously, who is the girlboy of all time and also probably still lives in the same house w dororo and hasnt changed significantly so i dont have anything else to say about him.

I haven’t been able to decide what giroro & kururu do after the hinata kids & keroro move out? Bc it feels kind of weird for them to still just kind of be there at the house when it’s just aki and a no-longer-used secret base. and omiyo i guess. But also what else are they gonna do. If kururu wanted to live w saburo they wouldve done that from the beginning so idk. Maybe giroro does just stay in his tent and kururu stays in her lab.

Some time after anime canon the keroro platoon ends up OFFICIALLY resigning from the keron army or giving up on their mission in a way they can’t go back on or Something to that effect where they’re very up front about not planning to invade instead of lying their way around it. I like to think that keroro becomes like a Space Actor and giroro gets to be a train conductor like he wants but that might be a little while away for them still. However this also means that inevitably a while after THAT keron sends in a NEW earth invasion team because theyve been trying (and failing) to take control of this planet for millions of years they’re not gonna fucking give up NOW. & the new platoon doesn’t necessarily HAVE to take any drastic moves against the keroro platoon but they should make sure the kplatoon doesn’t do anything to interfere…..

I wuz gonna design a whole platoon to be that ^ replacement platoon but i didnt get around to most of them </3 maybe someday. Anyway obviously they all have a power of friendship arc and come around to the side of NOT invading planets. except the leader.

I dont know what momoka & saburo would be doing as adults either </3 Momoka doesnt really have to do anything. shes rich. its not like she needs to take up a career or anything. Actually she probably becomes a martial artist or something? Goes into the business of kicking ass like her mom. Saburo MIGHT keep up the radio show but I think they’d get bored of that but maybe stay in a similar vein, entertainment of some sort. Oh I guess there’s art lmao. I dont know. Saburo has a tumblr blog where they post slightly overdone musings on life and nature and shit.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update January 26, 2024

I am still very sick. I just took my second increased dose of the medicine, hoping it will help. Whatever stomach issue I was having a bit ago appears to have returned as well, or it could be more side effects from the surgery. Or something else. I don’t know. I tried fasting on Wednesday and felt physically better but also guilty, and I don’t want to keep doing it because I know it’s dangerous. I’m still a healthy weight for my height so I can probably get away with doing it like, once a week, but I don’t want to accidentally lose too much weight either because I’m already a 22 year old adult who buys clothes in the kids section I don’t need to be any smaller. I’ll figure it out, I’m trying to focus what I am eating on fruits and nuts, hoping it’ll detox me a bit.

I did a couple drawings this week. Kinda. The one I posted was actually sketched back before the surgery I just hadn’t digitized it yet. I only posted the one drawing because I want to hold on to the other for a bit because it’s part of that epithet prompt set I made. I’m fully not expecting to do every one of those prompts, but I figured hey since I missed a few I can do a batch of the missed prompts and release them at once. I sketched the one for this week and planned on finishing it on Wednesday but I got sick again. Once I’m feeling better I’ll try to focus more on drawings. I think I gotta scrap the big animation project I was working on due to circumstances beyond my control, which sucks but theoretically I can try other animation things too. I’ve been sitting on an idea for a short Detective Conan animation, maybe I’ll do that. Or maybe I’ll stay sick. Idk. I kinda want to figure out how I would animate Shaun, since he’s a ghost so I’d have to deal with both transparency and glow effects, plus certain aspects of his design that were meant to be more flowy, like his shirt-tail-thing. I could poke after effects again but it seems a lot more tedious than I had hoped.

I did review over comic stuff this week too, although I haven’t made any progress since I really started getting the surgery after effects. I like how it’s flowing for the most part, but I’m probably going to have to do second drafts of a few pages. Kinda sucks that everything feels so rushed, since I want to fit the whole introductory chapter into ~32 pages, which I’m totally able to do but I have to hold off on some little dialogue exposition conversations that I think people would like. Any story with ghosts is going to have people wanting to fully understand how the ghosts physically work, especially when it becomes relevant, but some of that can be put off until later because character moments are more important. Whatever, I can always keep going.

I feel super bad about not being able to do anything but I’m still so screwed up. I want to take another stab at music, and maybe I will, but I need to sit upright to play piano which screws with my stomach, and in order to pick out VSTs I want on a song I need to be able to have a midi that resembles what the final will sound like and I need to be in the headspace to listen to music without going into sensory overload. I’m pretty sure all of this is sleep related, I have the weekend to hopefully catch up on sleep, but I need to do some homework as well. And I need to stop waking up in the middle of the night. I’m afraid to double dose on sleep medicine because even though I know it’s safe after 6 or so hours, I don’t want to be reliant on sleep medicine because that’s how Michael Jackson died. Might have to wait for my surgery bs to subside before I can try to detox though.

I don’t know what to do with myself right now. I feel awful, I feel like my insides are rotting, but I know they’re not since I’m not in pain from it (or at least not enough pain to really believe that). Plus surgeon looked at me before I moved back to Uni and seemed really impressed with how quickly I was healing. Even though I probably disobeyed her ‘don’t lift more than 20 pounds’ rule. Like a lot. I did feel better this week than I did last, so I’m hoping I can bounce back pretty quick. I’ll give it another week or two before I ask my primary if I need another medicine. I’m hesitant right now because both she and the surgeon seemed to agree beforehand that I wouldn’t, and I want to trust them. I don’t know. Time providing I’ll try to do more drawings this week.

[lirri-eats-eyes]

okay i want to talk about this more bc it was important to me. i know skyborn's ending felt rushed to me specifically, but after rereading it, it isn't necessarily unrealistic. ellie is a serial optimist and she's known for being stubborn, so with things looking up for her, it makes sense that she would want to embrace this ideal new setting and not think too much about the past, with nox still being her foil (he's more reluctant to fit a role in society, even in this Totally New and Better Perfect one)

i recognize the fact that the new thelantis might need a force to protect corion/other royalty since tensions are still probably running high with the rapid transition of power, and maybe they need a force to help with rescuing and construction, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that there's still effectively an organized police force after there were two whole books instructing us that That's A Bad Idea, Actually. It honestly feels like they're continuing the tradition because they don't know how to rule in any other way, and again, that makes realistic sense. But there's probably more change and instability to come even after the ending which is painted ideally in Ellie's final POV.

I think this specific conflict is bound to happen because both Ellie and Mother Rosemarie are changing rapidly near the end. Ellie was already orphaned at a young age, but she was also tasked with literally Saving The World at what, age 12-13? There's that weird combination of "you weren't chosen because you were special, don't let it get to your head" and "you were right about a lot of things actually, and no one listened to you even though they should have." She's been forced into this role of a leader and a fighter against the entire world, and it takes an extremely visible toll on her mental health by the third book. She longs for any adult to just listen to her and take on her burden instead. At the same time…she can't be comfortable in a child's role anymore. She understands her own power and won't hesitate to enforce it, something most kids aren't allowed to do. She'll be stuck in this weird in between where she wants nothing more than to be cared for, but she doesn't want to be coddled.

Additionally, she's seen a lot more things than most of the adults in the sparrow village have never dreamed of, so it's hard to see where her travelled experience ends and where their lived experience begins. She's going to be frustrated at the lack of knowledge Mother Rosemarie has, but she's also not going to listen to the valid advice Rosemarie can give her.

Mother Rosemarie, on the other hand...ok this part is more speculation but I see her as someone who was an extreme realist when it came to the tangible power her people had as second-class citizens; she reasons to herself that no, she doesn't actually think sparrows are weak, but as things are, there's no way one could become a goldwing, and that's unfair, but there's nothing she can do about it. and maybe that turns into "well, maybe what they're saying about the biological difference is true" and "we just don't have the right temperment; it's not in our culture." Maybe part of her feels protective about ellie because of a possible similarity -- maybe she sees ellie as a younger her whose dreams are inevitably crushed.

By phoenix rising though, she breaks through that line of thinking and recognizes the true power of the sparrow clan, and is completely on board with ellie's plan. There is this new appreciation for her culture that she's never been allowed to tap into, and it must be so cathartic. To finally be proud to call oneself a sparrow, to believe in the dreams she repressed early on. Perhaps a bit too invested in this idea, and that's where this conflict begins

There's also a bit of old dialogue that we have to consider. Ellie feels betrayed by mother rosemarie as only a kid can. you can only hear "it's for your own good" so many times before you never trust other people to be invested in your wellbeing again. Mother Rosemarie feels like Ellie is naiive and doesn't acknowledge her status as a sparrow and consequent status in society, maybe even feels like Ellie, who wants to be a Goldwing, is ashamed of her species and the barrier it creates for her. This is never addressed by the end, and all I know is that if there's a problem as big as that, it's rarely ever going to be taken to someone's grave.

so, there's the crux of the issue. Ellie doesn't respect Mother Rosemarie's real experience and power because she's been forced into a role where children have to hold the power or else they all die, and she doesn't trust an adult to properly wield that power anymore. She takes something like "I'm concerned that so much pressure is being put on you, how about you take a step back before you burn out?" as "I'm holding my authority over your head because I feel like it." Mother Rosemarie is riding the high of her newfound empowerment as a sparrow, failing to notice that Ellie has baggage when it comes to pride in one's species*, and inaccurately reading any baggage as straight-up shame. This is compounded by the fact that neither of them are listening to eachother, Ellie because her conclusions have been validated many times and she's still learning how to properly interact with people who disagree with her, and Mother Rosemarie because she's misinterpreting Ellie's words as rhetoric that has kept her down for most of her life and has only recently been disproved. They both feel like the other is very far behind.

*this is also a headcannon. Throughout the story Ellie remains connected to certain parts of her culture like sunflower oil for her wings, or even arguably her way of problem solving or her morals, but culture isn't just substances and traits. It's also the people; and the people haven't been perfect to Ellie. No doubt she feels connected to the community that raised her, but it was also the community who kept her down for so long, and it was a crow, a falcon, and a mockingbird-crane clanner who finally uplifted her.

[ofbluesandyellows]

Twelve: Jitterbug Love - Eddie Munson/Reader

Warnings: swearing, alcohol drinking.

Word count: 7,543

a/n: this is the end my friends! Pure fluff, have fun reading it!

Previous chapter

Days felt like they were coming in slow motion, even reluctant to come at all, so slow and sticky with summer air and mugginess, but the expectation grew and it helped but what really served as the ultimate incentive was when you got the heads up from your school to get the magazine printed. Sonic Fret still looked more like a zine than anything but so far it was better than nothing and your classmates were really supportive and interested in the content of it, there were details that needed work.

Arriving at Hawkins your first stop was at the Wheeler’s. Nancy and Jonathan were waiting for you in her room, you’ve been there just once in the past and it surprised you that Nancy looked so put together that you never thought about her having a crush on anyone, but yes, there it was, a big poster of Tom Cruise occupying a large part of his wall. Interesting.

You’ve talked to Jonathan only through the phone but having both of them there was like magic happening. Things started to take form pretty quick, the magazine got a few changes and Nancy as the rich kid of the three offered to get it color printed, one of Jonathan’s photos right front and center. The inside had a little section with all the collaborators of the magazine, with a small individual photo beside each name, it looked professional but also different from all the other magazines you’ve bought in the last year, this had bright tones and lots of images that represented each piece.

Nancy and you hugged after you finished shifting and editing parts of the contents, flashes from Jonathan’s camera coming at times as you worked and at the end it was Mike holding the camera, taking the most important image of them all, you three holding Sonic Fret. Smiles couldn't be wider, it was the achievement of a year of hard work but it was finally there, not complete yet but just one print away from it.

“You guys are going to the movie night, right?” you asked both of them as Nancy drove.

Nancy nodded, throwing you a glance through the rearview mirror. “Sure, Mike has been bothering me about it since he found out, and maybe it’d be good to have photos of it, you know just for the memories.”

“Yes, correct. We have Byers’ boy here to take the most epic photos.”

“You got it! I wouldn’t miss it, mostly because there will be free food anyway so absolutely,” Jonathan smiled at you. “It’s going to be good.”

“It is already good, come on! I can’t believe we finally come to this.” the fluttery feeling of nerves and excitement increased in the base of your belly, your hard work was reflected in the almost finished magazine.

“Yes, it’s been hard… and expensive but it’s good, my mom thinks it has potential.” Jonathan exclaimed, looking out the window, “I don’t say it because it’s my mom but you know… it’s nice to have the adults opinion.”

“Tell her what Hopper said.” Nancy shot Jonathan a funny look. It made you squint at them.

“What did he say?”

“Uh. well… um he thinks it is very… cool? no, no, he said dope… your magazine is dope kid!”

“No way,” you snorted, and all three of you were laughing as Nancy reached your aunt’s home. “At least we have a strong fan base guys, it’s getting better.”

The car came to a halt when Eddie’s van came out of the curve, parking right on the same spot he had since you met him a year ago. Your whole body buzzed at the expectation of seeing him again for the first time in months.

Nancy and Jonathan traded secret glances and looked at you.

“Well, see you later,” Nancy smiled.

You saw Eddie coming out of his van and your heart somersaulted against your ribs, ready to burst.

“Say hi to Eddie for us.” Jonathan said, but you were already shutting the door close.

Eddie looked the same yet hotter and hell! his smile, you ran to his arms without thinking through.

The clash of bodies, took the breath out of his lungs as he heard you laughing, clinging to his neck, legs surrounding his hips, he had no option but to put one of his hands on your butt and the other on your waist.

“Hey, love how are you?” he was surprised by the calmness of his voice, on the inside he was shaking, legs felt like jelly just by feeling you around his arms. “Fucking hell, I missed you!” his face hid between your hair.

For the first time you felt like you were home.

Your backpack fell at your feet when Eddie put you on the ground, his eyes were shining and yours were watery for some reason you felt like crying.

“No crying, come on baby, we are having our romantic encounter.”

“But these are happy tears!” you tried to defend your emotional state but it made Eddie’s face to contort into a sad lipped smile, “don’t do that it makes me feel bad, I’m just happy to see you Eddie,”

“Then kiss me,” he quickly grabbed you by the waist and in a second you two were kissing, it started cute just chaste kiss after chaste kiss.

You had curious eyes on you, people passing by in their cars, slowing down just to see who was showing PDA on the streets of Hawkins. The news of you and Eddie being together was very new in town and of course they talked about it, your aunt was worried about what people could say or think of you but your mom eased her down, Eddie is the cutest sweetest boy in the world. She said.

Whatever happened around you was the least of your problems, you were very interested in kissing every part of each other’s faces. Your hands grasped Eddie’s soft dark hair just as his hands squeezed your sides a little as the kiss intensified slowly, tongues got in the way and restless hands tried to grab more than they could.

At some point you were dragging Eddie across the living room of your temporary home, you left the backpack on the entrance of the house. Eddie chuckled as you kept on pulling onto his arm, all was good until you got to the stairs, he froze mid-step. Your uncle watched you two from the rim of this newspaper, he was sitting on the couch, facing you.

You clearly heard Eddie gulp, and his body stiffened. Knitting your brows together, your eyes went from your boyfriend to your uncle as if you were watching a tennis match.

“Uh, good afternoon Mr. Johnson… sir.” Eddie half bowed half waved with his free hand. He wanted to run the hell away from there. The image of that gunshot still fresh in his mind.

“Good afternoon.” Your uncle grunted, folded his paper and walked out to the garden where your aunt was watering her roses, minding her own business.

Immediately after the man disappeared from Eddie’s line of vision he visibly relaxed, a sigh came out of him and you tugged at his arm calling for attention.

“What was that about?” You had a funny look set on Eddie.

He half shrugged, “nothing–I think he doesn’t like me much”

“But I do- and we are going to be here only for a few minutes, let’s go.” You had agreed to go help Steve decorate his house for the Star Wars thing, which was set for tonight.

As you guided Eddie up the stairs, he held your hand to his lips. “You’re taking me to your room? Oh babe, that’s so naughty of you.” his smug tone made you giggle.

The moment the door of your cousin’s room clicked closed you pushed Eddie against it and started kissing him again. It’s been a while. You haven’t seen each other in 3 months, you both needed it, no matter how much you had clashed your lips together earlier it was not enough.

Eddie’s hands on your hair and neck, he grabbed the chain you had around it, he saw the ring he gave you hanging there, warm to the touch, smiling he kissed you harder, biting your lower lip lightly, causing ripples of desire go down your belly. Your own hands found a place under his shirt, fingers running down his back. It made Eddie shiver and gasp mid kiss, causing you to grin. Oh the power you had over him, you were barely aware of it.

“Hey there, I have something to tell you,” he mumbled shakily over your lips, pushing your hair aside so he could have better access to your neck.

“What is it?” Eddie left tiny pecks on the side of your neck up to your cheek, eyelids and finally he kissed your nose.

His smile was one you’ve never seen on him before, wide and sweet. His eyes sparkled and he was looking down at you, with so much adoration it was making your insides squirm.

“What?” You asked again, your hands brushing the top of his hair.

He half shrugged, kissing the tip of your nose again. You felt him grip your hips slightly harder “I think I’ve never been this happy. You make me happy y/n”

Your own lips tugged upwards, “is that what you wanted to tell me?”

Eddie chuckled, “well yeah, I mean it’s not like you didn’t know already”

“But it’s nice to hear it, because you, Eddie Munson, make me extremely happy and proud.”

Eddie felt his whole face flush, he truly didn’t have much word encouragement or appreciation in his life growing up so this was nice and new and he was enjoying every second of it.

“You forgot to say that I’m the most handsome man you’ve met, with the best band in the world, that we are the future of music.” You scrunched your nose laughing, “what’s so funny huh?” He poked your stomach making you laugh even harder.

“Aah stop,” he didn’t until you fell flat on the matters, Eddie’s legs on each side of your hips, he leaned over you, as you slowly stopped laughing.

“Seriously, you make me happy and… I have news.”

Eddie had you pinned down but he was only looking at you as if you were the most precious thing in the whole universe, to him you certainly were. Grabbing your hands, interlacing his fingers with yours, he stared.

“Okay, tell me… better be good news.”

“They are,” his smirk gave it away, “we–Corroded Coffin–have a deal… like a real record deal.”

You felt your stomach clench, “are you for real?” Eddie nodded, biting his lower lip. “Shut the fuck up!”

“I fucking know! It’s insane, I mean we have to go to Chicago in two weeks to see details about the contract but… baby, it’s happening!”

Eddie squealed, jumping out of his spot in the bed, he started pacing around telling you all the details about the phone call he received only two days ago, how his friends and band members were over the moon for the news. For Eddie this was huge, and you knew, but he felt beyond happy, words were not enough to express how he felt, never in his life experienced such an amount of joy.

He truly felt like he could burst into specks of sparkles and confetti. You watched him talk with crazy hand gestures and incredible wide grins, teeth showing and rings shining. You could watch him do that forever. But most importantly he was happy and you were there to see him shine and grow.

☼

The arrangements for the Star Wars party were pretty simple but you were in awe when the mirror ball reflected the colorful lights Steve had already installed in his living room. It showered the house in rainbow rays of light, it really made you think of how the whole space jump aspect of the films looked like.

While Eddie helped put cushions on the floor and place the cookies shaped as Ewoks and R2D2’s on large plates. You went to meet Robin in the kitchen, you gave Eddie a once-over, he was smiling at the decorated cookies, proud of the way he had arranged each of them in perfect lines, you loved a childish man.

Grinning, you almost clashed with someone on your way in. Liquid swinging dangerously inside the transparent cups the person was holding on a tray.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” you said, helping the girl.

The red haired girl smiled at you, “no worries, we didn’t spill anything, we are good. Steve would’ve killed us.”

“He totally would,” you laughed, “You’re Vickie right?” the girl nodded and suddenly Robin was by her side, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

“Ah, fantastic!” Robin said gleefully. “My two favorite girls here. so I’ll make the introductions.”

“We were already–” you tried to say.

“Shh, Y/n, this is important.”

You rolled your eyes at your friend, you heard Vickie chuckle.

“Y/n, this is Vickie… my beautiful girlfriend.” The beam Robin showed to the girl beside her made you want to cry, they both looked so happy it was the most joyful you’ve seen her in your life. “Vick, this is y/n, my best friend… I’ve told you a lot about her.”

“Yes you have, but it’s lovely to finally meet you in person y/n”

“Likewise, my friend here has been utterly in love with you since forever.” you laughed, but quickly went silent when Robin threw you a sharp look. “anyway… I hope she has told you only the nice things about me.”

Vickie nudged Robin–who still had you with a death glare– with her elbow, your friend looked at her, and then at you, her face softening immediately, cheeks growing red.

“You know Robs, she told me everything about everyone really, so yeah the good and the bad,” Vickie shrugged, “you’re okay though, don’t worry, I bet she’s one drink away from telling you all my embarrassing stories as well.”

You both laughed, and Robin grunted in faux irritation, she loved that both of you were bonding even over her gossipy self.

“I wouldn’t doubt that, but hey, let me help you with that.”

Taking the tray Vickie had been holding with drinks in bright almost radioactive colors, you turned around and walked to the living room, the snacks table was already set, all thanks to your handy boyfriend.

Eddie met you there. Smiling he leaned closer to you as you placed the tray on the surface of the clothed wooden table.

“She is cool, right? I mean, Vickie. I’ve talked to her a few times and she is just like Robin, she is less clumsy but they kind of have the same… um, goodwill and are always there to help, if you know what I mean.”

“She is very nice,” you both looked at Robin and Vickie, pouring green stuff into more cups, they were laughing about something and pushing each other playfully. Vickie kissed Robin’s cheek and then Robin kissed her on the lips.

That was your cue to look away.

“I’m just happy Robin is happy, and for once she is being herself fully, that is all that matters.”

Eddie’s sneaky arm went over your shoulders, dragging you closer to his body, he smelled like mint gum, you sniffed, oh he definitely ate one of the cookies because there was some hint of cinnamon in the air.

“I’m happy everyone is happy right now, even Harrington. He deserves someone who loves him for who he truly is not because he was popular in school,” Eddie scoffed, “it’s beyond me how he pulled off dating Wheeler, but I guess the world works in mysterious ways.”

You nodded but quickly turned to face your boyfriend, “wait… why you say that? Do you know something I don't?”

Squinting at him, Eddie gulped, shit now this was his fault, he shouldn’t have said anything.

Fuck me!

Steve was going to kill him. But more than anything he knew very well he couldn’t divert your attention to other topics, you were not going to let it go until you found out what was going on,

“Shit, okay…” the palm of his hand brushed across his face, eyes tightly closed. “Promise me you won’t tell Harrington I told you, because he made me swear on my guitar that I wouldn’t tell but look at me, I’m always so stupid. Also, he wanted to tell you everything… so… can you promise?”

His shiny dark chocolate pools of irises were enough to swear on it.

“Now spill Eddie!”

Eddie sighed and whispered in your ear, you were in shock, how was that not even Robin had told you about this, it was odd and impressive at the same time. You hated when they knew stuff and you were the last to find out. Yet you understood why Steve hadn’t told you about his current crush.

The girl was not the obvious option for him, she was new in town and she was a Star Wars fan, she had read about Lord of The Rings and played all the games at the arcade. It was the opposite of Nance. So it was twice as shocking to you when that night you found Steve blushing and giggling like a little child when said girl was around, it was a s if Steve had lost his brain in one of the rooms of his big house and now he was just… being stupid.

Robin told you all about how they met, it was all the kids doing; Max invited her to one of the movie nights and that was the end for mom Steve. You’ve seen Steve being an idiot before, several times, like it was part of his personality, yet that night he reached another level of idiocy.

Green punch fell off his hand and splashed his jeans, and carpet, the girl–named Maggie–was laughing, while Eddie snorted by your side, he was not going to let that go easily. From far away you saw Nancy and Jonathan communicating as they did, with knowing looks and smiles and giggles as they watched the scene grow more dramatic as Steve knocked over another cup of punch with his feet as he made his way to the bathroom.

Keith rolled his eyes and sighed, but not only Steve but everyone who dared to make another sound during the movie, he would remain annoying for the rest of his life.

Maggie was jolly, if you and Robin were a happy combo now with Vickie and Maggie around it was all big laughs and whispering gossip, this made Eddie and Steve worry about their own sanity, but just as Eddie said earlier, it was good, things were finally good in Hawkins and that was better than it had been in years.

At the end of the night, the whole gang was dancing to radio music as some collected trash, others ate the leftovers, and the rest just pretended to do the job as the chat kept going. And things felt like they have always been like that, Steve pulled you aside, he told you all about Maggie as you pretended to be shocked, gasping and smiling. Then again it got proven how bad of an actress you were.

“You knew already! Jesus! I can’t keep something for myself in this town or what!” Steve shouted to everyone in the house, “don’t even tell me, I know it was either Robin or Munson.”

“Hey, this is your fault, you should’ve told me! It hurt me not to hear it from you first, you dumbass.” you smacked him on the arm, he gasped.

“Ok, rude… and, sorry. I was overwhelmed and Robin made me feel bad about it the whole time, as if I had committed a crime for liking Maggie or something.” both hands on his hips, waiting for your acceptance of that horrible apology.

“Steve, shut up I never said anything bad to you, stop blaming me for your lack of confidence.”

Steve showed Robin his tongue and she flipped him the finger, you grinned, there they were, your two best friends being… them.

“Whatever Steve, are you asking her out or do you want me to tell her?” you snapped, with a wry smile.

He grimaced, “I can do that myself please y/h, I’ve done that a million times now,” your eyes narrowed, making Steve wince under the strong staring, “stop that, I swear I am inviting her out, just…. I need more time.”

“Ugh, if you say so.”

Eddie scoffed, “man, just do it… she’s gonna say yes, we all saw the way she laughed –rather loudly I dare to say, when you did stupid shit… trust me you did tons of stupid shit and still she stayed for the whole trilogy.”

Eddie was right, it was an act of stupidity followed by ten more that night, including choking on his own saliva as he said the name “Wicket W. Warrick.”

“She did not laugh that much!” Steve squealed, his cheeks going red.

“She definitely did,” Lucas tried to imitate Maggie’s laugh, only making you all laugh at his attempt, “y’all jerks.”

“Do it Steve!” Dustin started chanting, and soon everyone joined him until Steve put his hands up in the air to make you all stop the nonsense.

“You little fucks are the worst, just shut up and… let me call her.”

Howls and whistles sounded, prodding Steve to finally ask her out.

By the end of the night Steve had a date for the weekend with Maggie. That Sunday, you saw him go out of Family Video wearing a navy blue polo shirt, hair extra puffy and leaving a trace of lotion behind.

“He used too much of that thing,” Eddie coughed as you waited for Robin to finish her shift, you were taking her to the mall where she was meeting Vickie.

Robin smiled at the image of Steve fixing his hair again on the rearview mirror. If someone had enjoyed seeing him suffer that was Robin.

You were all leaning on the main desk. As Eddie and Robin made fun of him, you thought how nice it was to see him finally dating someone good for him, not that Nancy wasn’t but he was looking for someone who could replace her rather than someone he liked being around with.

Robin still had twenty minutes to go for her shift to end, meanwhile you and Eddie were pacing around Family Video, reading the back of the tapes’ summed-up parts in funny voices. When that got boring, Eddie dragged you to the farthest aisles, he put you against a self and kissed you, you were giggling the whole time.

“Shhh, VHS sheriff Buckley is coming for us.” Eddie mumbled as he leaned closer to your lips, in the movement, his hand smacked a tape off the rack and there they went… the whole line started to fall like a domino line.

“Guys!” Robin shouted from her spot on the desk, her head popped to shoot you the nastiest stares. “Seriously, can't you keep it in your pants for a few more minutes Eddie? And you y/n… I’m disappointed.”

You hid your face on Eddie’s chest, you both snorted, but it only made Robin more annoyed and for you to laugh even harder.

“Sorry Buckley, I’ll put everything in place, my bad.” Eddie put a hand over his heart, apologetically, as if that was enough to make Robin feel less frustrated.

Robin’s eyes rolled, it almost looked hurtful. “Just… ugh!” She went back to do whatever she has been doing before the commotion.

As Eddie placed the tapes back on, trying to look for the right place they were before, you watched him, not even bothered to help.

If someone saw you right there you were sure you would look like a complete idiot, Eddie was just everything for you. The way he blinked, how his smirk made your stomach twist and your toes curl, his hands were always warm and gentle when he touched you, and his rings were always there making a nice contrast to the temperature of his skin. His hair was soft and even when he didn’t want people to know he took good care of his messy locks, smelling like lavender and yeah, sometimes like weed, but hey “those are natural scents” he’d say to you with an easy shrug and a grin.

Maybe the future wasn’t going to be as easy as just being there with your friends but for now it all felt perfectly okay.

For Eddie it was like a whole new level of intimacy to have someone around not only to talk or joke around but to hug and hear encouraging words. Eddie was used to being pushed away, or looked at the wrong way, you were somewhat like the light he has been waiting on to shine on his path, to make him see things were good too. So he never missed the opportunity to say the nicest things to you, to kiss you whenever he felt like it, to hold you so close it felt natural to be there. For him it felt so instinctive to do everything knowing it was for you, and it wasn’t a possessive thing it was just a way to thank you and show what he never had growing up, love.

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows when he saw you standing there, just watching him. A smile playing on his lips, he wanted to ask what were you thinking but Robin’s clock chimed, and that only indicated that she was off, finally.

Placing the last couple of tapes on what he guessed were the right spots, he sighed looking at his work, it wasn’t the best but it was better than nothing, shrugging he turned to you and took your hand.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Eddie pushed you slightly with his hips, the chain on his jeans clicking. “It makes me feel all self conscious.”

“I was just admiring your beauty, but if you want I can look at other boys.”

He scoffed, “as if they were better looking than me.” you snorted, “don’t laugh! Let’s be honest I’m both gorgeous and have a great personality.”

“Yeah,”

“You’re mean” Eddie pushed you again, making you laugh harder, he smiled and went to the desk to see what Robin was doing.

“Just five minutes, I need to change.” She said, shoving her best in the pits of her backpack.

“Fineee! We’ll be outside. Hurry up Buckley!”

“Yes mom!”

Eddie passed you, opening the door open for you. Hand extended for you to take, funny enough, no matter how many times he did that, or kissed you, every single time you felt like squirming and jumping, the butterflies hadn’t had a rest since spring break.

Taking his hand. With a light squeeze Eddie guided you to his van, both got inside to wait for your friend.

Eddie put the radio on, pop music playing, he scrunched his nose, you only shook your head, classic Eddie.

Taking the bag you left in the car, there rested a new mixtape you made during the weeks leading up your comeback to Hawkins. Throwing it at Eddie’s lap he saw a name written on it, Jitterbug love, the song he sang to you that night a year ago.

A huge grin spread on his rosy lips, his fingers traced the name letter by letter, causing you to bite the inside of your cheek.

“Should I put it on?” He asked, already pushing it in the stereo.

“Hope it’s good enough for your high standards.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The first notes of We Will be Strong played Eddie immediately turned his face to face you, lips forming an ‘O’, for the chosen song and the fact that you knew the band had him a bit more in love with you

“Fucking Thin Lizzy, have I told you before how much I fucking love you?”

Your heart skipped a beat. No, that was the first time he ever said I love you, but he had expressed it plenty. Still the impact of his words felt funny in your chest, making your face heat up.

“Nope, but I love you too.”

He leaned in his lips and smacked yours so suddenly, grabbing you by the back of the neck, surprising and all you quickly you recovered.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” he simply said, bopping your nose with his index finger.

His head banging to the rhythm as the guitar riffs filled the space in the van, you felt at ease, joyful. From your spot inside the van, you saw Robin running around Family Video trying to put everything in place before closing for the day.

You sighed, resting your head on Eddie’s shoulder as he played air guitar. You two had the whole summer ahead, things were so different from what they were a year ago, and yet similar, one thing was for sure, change was inevitable and you were ready for it, as for that moment you were pleased with how life was developing. Next year, who knows what it’d bring.

☼

A year later.

Eddie puffed smoke out of his nose, this was the third cigarette he consumed in a row. The crowd inside the venue was only growing, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel nervous, his fucking keens were wobbling as if he was little Bambi making his way out of his mother’s womb.

It was ridiculous to him to feel so jittery for a performance when he has done it a dozen times now. To make things even worse you weren’t there, that was what had him more worried than anything else. Almost an hour late, he should be by the side of the stage now, getting ready to go up there.

The butt of the smoke went flying away with the flick of his finger. The autumn air was chilly, he had no jacket on because he felt like he didn’t need it, at least he wouldn’t once he started the show, but the moment the wind hit his naked arms he regretted not grabbing at least Steve’s corduroy jacket.

This was the most important performance for Corroded Coffin, that was true, but he tried to push the thought far away, not needing the extra pressure.

Eddie started pacing around the alley, close enough to the backdoor of the venue if someone came out looking for him but far enough to have a moment of privacy. Chicago looked so huge from where he was, he felt so little and insignificant when he thought about all he had gone through the last couple of years. All from being called the leader of a satanic cult, to fighting monsters in an alternate dimension to being in love and then being heartbroken just to be in love again, then Corroded Coffin getting big, who knew he had to go through all that just to be standing there in the cold without you in his arms.

The immensity of the world reduced to your figure running across the street. Your boots echoed in the alley, and Eddie finally felt like he could breathe.

“Christ! Baby I thought you were not going to make it!” Eddie shouted, you instinctively jumped to his arms once close enough, koala like, like a tradition now.

“I am so sorry, my bus broke down on my way here. I had to take a taxi and then another bus. But I’m here now.”

Your lips kissed Eddie’s cheek, holding his face between your hands, you smiled, he looked so beautiful with glitter on, his eyes shining even more.

“Aren’t you cold?” You asked, feeling the cold from his rings coming through your jeans.

“Nah, I’m all good now.” He grinned, and kissed you fondly.

“You were smoking,” you scrunched your nose.

He chuckled, “yeah, but I have a good excuse… you weren’t here and I was anxious, I am pissing my pants but it’s okay, you are here and that is just what I needed.”

“Hmm, okay then let’s go inside.”

Eddie let you down, fingers intertwined like second nature, it had been a difficult year for you both in terms of seeing one another. Eddie had done everything in his power so the debut album of Corroded Coffin could be recorded in New York, which they granted yet this was happening in the upcoming weeks. He was yearning for that time to spend it with you as much as he could.

They had done tours, as the supporting band which was great for them, they released their first songs at the beginning of the year and now they had them playing on the radio. It always made you smile when you heard your boyfriend’s voice coming from the speakers. Proud flooding you.

But for that you two had sacrificed visits and holidays together, so both of your careers could take off. You traveled as much as you could manage to be at Eddie’s shows and it was so much fun, you were not complaining at all, on the contrary you loved it, however, being back at Hawkins in his van sounded like a dream right now.

For you it had been good as well, the magazine was launching its official first edition in a few more weeks, shiny paper and a few record shops in Queens and Brooklyn agreed to sell copies in their establishments. That was another reason why you all were there, this was Corroded Coffin’s first performance as a band with a record on the way and singles playing everywhere, and you were there to have that first show ready to be redacted and placed on your magazine, this being one of many collaborations of the two.

Inside the venue was warm and loud as shit, Eddie’s chocolate eyes met yours every now and then as he showed you around, the green room was the final destination. Relieved sighs and claps were heard when the two of you stepped inside.

You hugged the whole band, Jeff already off the walls, like a wild animal ready to be set free.

Steve hugged you so hard the air in your lungs came out in a puf.

“Jesus, y/n. What took you so long! You should’ve told me I could have waited for you in Hawkins,”

“I’m here now, don’t sweat it.” you have him a kiss on the cheek to ease his nerves. “How was the trip?”

“Long, these kids I swear they are going to make me go insane.” Steve started to complain about all the noise and mess they made in his car, “good thing is that Maggie was there with me.”

They drove all the way from New York, to Hawkins to pick up the teens and take them to Chicago for tonight. Not all heroes wear capes.

“Where is Maggie?” You looked around to try and find her.

“Out there with Vickie and the kids, they said they wanted to have the best spots, even when I told them we had them already,” Steve rolled his eyes, “you know how they get.”

You nodded, understanding completely.

“Is Nancy and Jonathan here too? I need to know if we are good for the shots.”

Your body turned to Eddie, who was drinking water. He gave you a thumbs up, but soon enough you felt him coming for you, hugging you from behind.

“They got here like two days ago. I saw Byers earlier with all these different cameras and Wheeler was gathering information from the manager, so yeah all set.” Eddie mumbled, his chin resting on your shoulder, he kissed your cheek, that being enough for you to turn on your toes and kiss him back, harsher than necessary, making everyone grunt, you smiled, proud of the reaction.

“Hey! Am I invisible or something?” Robin complained, “I’m your best friend, y/n. I want a hug too.”

You chuckled, “We saw each other two days ago, Robs”

“So?”  

“It's my time to shine Buckley, you’ll have her later.” Eddie pointed, poking his tongue out.

Now Robin and Steve were in New York with you, which was fantastic, you three shared an apartment. Good thing was that Vickie had got into a college in Brooklyn which was very convenient for Robin.

Maggie was always around, and occasionally the kids were seen in the apartment as well, you weren’t sure how but they managed to convince their parents to let them go to Manhattan. You didn’t even want to ask, they were sketchy whenever you asked about how they got permission or money. So you let them be.

“The band just finished their set. They gave you long enough so no more excuses, huh Edward.” Their manager, Martin, appeared at the door giving Eddie an accusative glance.

“Noted.” He responded still holding you, he saluted the man who smiled at you, closing the door.

“Hah, Edward.” Robin said laughing.

“Shut it, Buckley.”

Robin kept on laughing, you shook your head, dynamics always the same but it was funny to see Eddie covered in dark clothes, long hair and glittered face and then hearing someone call him Edward.

“Are you ready?” you looked at your boyfriend right in the eye.

“Am ready now that you are here,” your heart somersaulted, and the butterflies in your stomach danced wildly.

“Have the best night okay? Have fun!”

Eddie grinned, now he was finally feeling like this was the life he wanted, “can I get my good luck kiss please,” Eddie begged, his nose brushing yours.

“Of course,” your lips met his soft, pink ones, sweet and deep, his tongue met yours, teeth colliding and sighs escaped the two of you. “Good luck.” you whispered, barely able to speak.

“I love you!” Eddie held you closer, you heard his heart hammering in his chest.

“Love you more!” you replied, with a big grin, he finally let you go, reluctantly though.

Eddie felt whole for once, you were there, his friends were there, his band was not the opening act any more. They were finally playing a sold out show on their own, life couldn’t be better, after all the lows, he was finally living his dream.

“I want a good luck kiss too.” Gareth complained.

“Hey! Watch your words, man. You always have Jeff for that,” Eddie pushed his friend, clearly joking. “Let’s go boys, we have a show to give.”

The band started jumping, and patting each other on the back, making weird noises and letting the excitement wrap them.

Robin and Steve made gestures for you to follow them, but not before you could give Eddie one last look, he winked at you as you took different paths.

You followed your two best friends through a few corridors until you reached the designated place for you all. The kids hugged you and asked you about your trip and the whys you were so late, all the boys wearing their Corroded Coffin hand made shirts.

From there you saw Jonathan, he was fixing the lens of his camera, doing his best to find the best spot for the photos. Nancy and Maggie met you there the moment the light went off.

Screams made it all feel like the motor of a plane ready to take off, roars only going louder the floor shaking at your feet. Robin held your hand, Vickie by her side, Max as always ready to jump and dance with you, like your little own tradition.

Nancy had a tiny notepad by her side, she wrote a few words and went back to watch the show.

The reflectors went on stage and the band came out, the noise grew and grew making your body buzz with excitement. It started with Eddie giving a speech thanking everyone who attended the show and for requesting their song on the radio stations.

The concert went on with songs you knew by heart, shouting and dancing with your friends around, Nancy was enjoying herself a lot all the while she wrote down stuff, Jonathan nodded his head when he was not shooting flashes and changing lenses.

Their new song Fonder got everyone singing, dancing and sweating, passing water bottles to each other and laughing at the peak of happiness.

Corroded Coffin sounded better than ever, and looked even better, Eddie was shining, moving his hips, and banging his head to the sound. Solo guitars made the venue rumble as the crowd lost their shit to the sweet voice of their lead singer, and the absolute hypnotizing rhythm of the bass and drums.

“Now,” Eddie spoke on the mic, sweat pearls on his top lip. “This one means a lot to me, and I think it got secretly picked for the setlist a long time ago, and I don’t think I'd be going anywhere. Here’s a classic, Jitterbug Love by the iconic T Rex. This one's for you baby.”

A finger pointed at you, his wide grin made your breath hitch, the kids nudged you. It was the end of the song when you clocked Eddie placing his guitar aside, people screaming to get his attention but Eddie had one goal and that goal was to get to you.

The music continued thanks to the band who seemed to be very well prepared for this moment, elongating the song.

Eddie ran and dodged hands, gave high fives to a few and when he reached you, he only did what his heart felt like it. He kissed you, hands on both sides of your face, as the crowd shouted to the air, you laughed half way through the kiss.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“I just felt like kissing you right fucking now.”

Eddie’s smile could light the whole city if possible, he was sweaty, you probably were too but it was all too sweet to even think of how sticky you felt. He ran back to the stage to sing the last couple of lines.

Jitterbug Love is going all around now

Jitterbug Love is going all around now

Here it comes again…

Eddie shouted to the microphone, blew a kiss to you. Cheeks were hot and you were shaking.

The green room was a party once the show ended, flowers were received and champagne spilled. Everyone gathered in the tiny room. You sat on Eddie’s lap, as he held you against his still hot sweaty body. You had glitter plastered all over your face and hands, you were loving it.

Jonathan and Nancy were talking about the piece they were writing together. Jeff pointed, “if your are good Byers, we could hired as our personal band photographer”

Which it was obvious he would.

Eddie bit your ear to drag your attention to him. You slapped his leg, hearing the rumble of his laugh on your back, “Can’t believe this happened,” he whispered.

“To me it’s all like a dream, it was wild.” you confirmed, looking into his eyes, “you were fantastic.”

“Thank you very much, I have a great girlfriend that supports me and is my biggest inspiration.” a peck on the corner of your lips, “truly, you are the best I don’t think I could’ve done any of this without you.”

A sigh escaped you, “back at you boy, Sonic Fret will have a special thank you note for your contribution.”

“Nah, not necessary. I’m happy with this, you and I here, with our friends.”

“Me too,” you snuggled closer to him as Steve and Robin depicted to everyone in the room all the crazy stuff they’ve seen in the subway in New York.

Eddie snorted, “Can’t believe they’re your friends,”

“Excuse me? They’re yours too. We fit in with them just right, we are all a little… derange.”

“In the best way obviously.”

“Hey don’t be calling us derange, you crazy rockstar.” Robin explained, “If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have met.”

“I didn’t even say anything! And you are completely wrong! If it wasn’t for Vickie.”

“What about me? I left Y/n there, duh” Steve stepped in.

You gasped, “how dare you admit that Steve. I had to walk home alone because of you.” You pointed at him and there the chaos unleashed.

“We all made it happen, now shut the fuck up, and keep on telling us why that lady had a squire inside her pocket.”

It was a normal evening in an unusual way. It all came full circle.

Loving Eddie was easy from the beginning. You’ve done it for two years now and no matter how much your lives changed you were ready to spend it with him; weird night encounters, long distance and random PDA’s with occasional fights over who had the best music taste. You always won, though.

a/n: Merry christmas and happy holidays to everyone who read this! I wanted to give you the last two chapters as a christmas present! This was so much fun to read, thank you for being here and I hope you enjoyed this just as much as I did... was this super cheesy and cliche? totally but Eddie deserves a happy ending. Let me know what you think and thanks a lot for being here💛 see ya next time

[made-nondescript]

Lore guy anon returns! With question answers! (I love answering questions so feel free to ask any)

The whole him traveling thing is. Complicated to explain due to a big giant piece of worldbuilding I did that is, basically, long story short: oopsie! The fae realm is all over the ocean now and it's messed up almost all sea travel! (The pirates (or at least their captains) are fae, don't worry about it its a whole thing)

But it basically means that when people leave the continent, they aren't really expected to return. Doing some worldbuilding on the spot (since your questions have revealed where this backstory idea conflicts with the family idea), maybe Scott's parents croaked (since I just haven't bothered with them so might as well shove them out of the picture) and that's what prompted scott to go on his travels, cuz ya know might as well see the world. I've also given him vague sisters (sisters to contrast qith the brother he had in xornoth in s1) that also left not long after him, siting better opportunities outside of chromia and the continent as a whole.

(((Oh wait I just remembered he's mentioned his parents (as his dad was where he got the hat from, and he was a traveler as well), so maybe that's also why he decided to leave. He also prolly saw most of the continent on family trips and such, so beyond was the only place to go that would be new)

But scott eventually did return (after being literally robbed blind), and became the talk of the town because of it! With the sisters being a useful writing thing to show that aspect of the culture more directly, because like. They haven't come back. Most don't.

And again on 'questions providing useful jumping off points for building', I haven't got much for the family fueds (I'll have to make the families and their fueds first. I've been on holiday so I haven't quite managed to), I imagine scott, now an adult rather than just a child hearing gossip, prolly doesn't see much of it. He'd be like, the last member of that branch of his family, so he can kinda do what he wants. But since he became Important by happenstance, the other families might even try to get in his good graces, get him to agree with them and get trades and allies that favor their laws. Weither or not he's aware of their attempts, who knows, not me! (yet).

Also on the topic of his family, the llamas are less a chromia thing and more a smajor family thing. I say this cuz i find the llamas being more a scott thing to be halarious, but like theres still a whole park dedicated to them. Although scotts definitely particular about the llamas, in a very rich animal kid kind of way. Like, say, when the bar needed a new barkeep, scott was all like "Oh! Owen could do it!" "Good! Who's Owen?... scott that's a llama..... eh ya know what, better than our last guy!"

Also I'm liking the idea that the whole no central leadership thing in chromia is a big source of pride. They don't need someone to order them around, they can simply come together to agree on things! They ignore how the Important Families are still a similar concept (although again on pride, those families also tend towards making sure that they care for their communities. If they aren't, they aren't being proper citizens! And if they become cruel, the people can always just. Stop listening to them, due to the structure of the laws and all that. (Obviously a bit more complicated than that but yeah))

This ask is even longer than the last :D! (Haven't even mentioned the ancient capital!!) But like feel free to answer more questions. For other empires I also have some slight stuff for Sanctuary (although it's more in how it relates to the other empires), I've got some concepts for Stratos (and how it contrasts the other empires, including its nearest neighbor, in both local and culture, chromia), as well as two seperate ideas for tumble town??? One of which, the more recent one, I believe was prompted from musing on your blog! (Like tumble town being a gold rush town who's mines have run empty)

FAE PIRATES OMG... that is very unique. I really dig that and the idea that like, leaving the continent is kind of expected to be the end of you. Scott's whole eye situation very nicely compliments that attitude towards venturing off continent too, because he may have come back but like, at a cost.

The llamas being a Scott thing IS so funny I love that. They just like their llamas okay!! the real question is whether the whole family treated animals like they're capable of human tasks or if Scott is just Weird. EITHER way, Owen would have to be very well trained to stay behind the bar for a suitable amount of time! so! Scott's affections are not misplaced.

Imagining in this society that the affluent families kind of apply pressure on one another to be good maintainers of their communities as well. Like it's a status symbol or something to have a particularly well cared for community.

Which, on the subjects of communities being clustered around the more affluent families, does that mean that Scott's family (or rather, Scott and his sisters?) was kind of negligent by leaving? Regardless of responsibility - if any - to their community, did they (temporarily or permanently) redistribute their resources before doing so? Was somebody else in charge? Maybe dynamics vary a lot between communities (which would no doubt be infuriating to foreigners). Did they simply not amass very much in the way of traditional resources? Ohh maybe their affluence comes from a non-traditional source, due to their travels.

Additionally, on no centralized leadership being a point of pride: I can imagine that getting very frustrating for Scott very fast. Not that he wants to be leader or anything, but he's basically being made to do the job of one without having the power to actually make decisions. So someone from another Empire asks him a question and he just sighs and says he'll get back to them after the 5 to 25 business days it takes for everyone to chime in on the issue.

These are so awesome thank you for sharing!!! All of those ideas sound wonderful frankly!!!! Specifically staring really hard at what you said about Stratos and Tumble Town omg ??