#I always feel bad writing Chrissy dying

[munsonsmixtapes]

hellooo could you write something that goes like teacher eddie munson hooked up with student reader and they don’t talk with eachother anymore and the reader is sad because she thinks that he doesn’t care about her anymore and sees chrissy flirting with him and so she thinks that he’s in a relationship with chrissy and she avoids him every now and then but in the end eddie and the reader gets back together (PLEASE WRITE THIS IM DESPERATE I LOVE UR WORK BTW🥰🥰)

You knew the whole thing was wrong from the very beginning, but you couldn’t help it. Him being older and your teacher made him that much more appealing. It was just once, but it lived in your head rent free every second of every day. You can still hear his moans ringing in your ear and as much as you try your best to chase the high, you just couldn’t. You wanted to get over him by getting under someone else, but it was impossible. 

Especially when you saw him every week when you sat in his class. Every time you saw him as his podium, images of him bending you over it as he fucked you from behind, telling you just how bad of a girl. You could practically still feel the sting of where he smacked your ass over and over, making it damn near impossible to focus on anything he was saying. 

You hated that you had fallen for him so easily. But he didn’t seem to feel the same as he had never called you after you had given him his number. And seeing him flirting with Chrissy Cunningham after class and the way he was staring at her, you knew that whatever you and Professor Munson had was over. 

You don’t know why, but you get it in your head that they’re together as you watch them, slowly making your way towards the door. They’re giggling about something and you can’t help but feel your blood boil, wanting to tell them to at least have the decency to do that in his office.

But you don’t. You can’t without revealing that you had a thing with him previously. So you flee the room and head down the hall, grateful that you don’t have anymore classes so you can go home and pout. You know it’s silly, and maybe a little stupid, but you got attached to him and even though he had every right to see whoever he wants, it hurts. Especially since the girl he’s seeing is another student.

So you go home and drown yourself in ice cream and tears as you watch the movie Eddie had put on that night. You just can’t get yourself to let go of him. You don’t know why since he was quick to throw you aside for someone else. And that got you thinking about how many other girls he had done that to. 

You’re about to storm down to his office when there’s a knock at your door. You slowly get up to answer it, unsure of who would show up at that hour and you start to think you’re hallucinating when you look through the peephole and see Eddie on the other side. 

You unlock the door and rip it open, feeling your heart suddenly melt as he puts on that smile that always makes your knees weak. But it quickly falters once he takes in your tear stained cheeks. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, his voice soft, and you hate how easy it is for you to forgive him. You feel so pathetic, hating how easy it is for him to play you. 

“Nothing,” you turn your head away from him, crossing your arms over your chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk,” he replies, reaching out to take your hand, but you step away out of his reach. 

“About what? You really shouldn’t be here,” you tell him. “Chrissy wouldn’t like it.” 

Eddie’s eyebrows furrow at your words. What does Chrissy have to do with any of this? He had seen you watch the two of them after class, but it had been nothing but a student talking to a teacher. He doesn’t even see her like that anyway as he only has eyes for you. 

Just when you think the whole thing can’t get any worse, Eddie laughs. He laughs. And the sound echoes in your brain, making you somehow feel even more embarrassed. 

“What are you talking about?” He asks, the laughter dying down into a light chuckle. “Chrissy and I aren’t together. I-I came over here to see you.”

“Really? And for what reason would that be for exactly?” You ask and Eddie laughs again. He hates that your mad at him and is trying his best to lighten the mood. 

“To see you,” he says as if it should be obvious and it is. “I wanted to tell you how good of a time I had the other night.” He’s been thinking about it ever since and he knows he should have said something earlier, but he had assignments to grade and time just got away from him. But he’s here now and really hopes that you’ll give him a second chance.

“The other night, as in over two weeks ago? You couldn’t have just texted me that?” 

“I got a new phone and a lot of the numbers from my old one didn’t transfer over.” He holds up the phone he had in his jacket pocket and you notice that it’s completely different from the one you had put your phone number into. 

“Eddie,” you sigh, stepping closer to him. “I’m so sorry. I feel so stupid.” And you do, so much so that you almost want to run. But you can’t as his hands grab onto your waist, pulling you closer.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I would be mad if the roles were reversed. So I don’t blame you at all. And the real reason I came over was to ask you out. Because I like you and don’t want what we have to be a one night stand.” 

“I don’t either,” you reply and he pulls you in for a kiss, the two of you smiling into it as you pull him inside, slamming the door behind you as you lead him to the bedroom where you spend the rest of the night until the early morning, whispering “I love you’s” over and over until they didn’t even sound like words anymore.

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

Baby, I Got Sick This Morning

Chapter 10 I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses (For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails)

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringroveson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Word Count: 56,393

Status: On Going

Chapter Summary: Our boys take a break, Steve gets some rest, there is talking and- not talking. Beware Teddy Bears, for they are fierce ❤

Chapter Notes: Yes, sorry for the late update. Health has been dragging me down and I've stayed busy with work on top of it. But I hope this chapter finds you all well!

Thank you to my partner for his support and to my amazing beta, Leti, who could use all the love right now ❤ go read and support her fics on @leticheecopae! Tell her Harle sent you ❤

The next update may take 2 to 4 weeks, hopefully not that long but I like to let people know what to expect as I'm writing as I go.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me ❤ your support means a lot!

Story Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

As for the magical pregnancy: it will be in the sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies ❤

Tags: Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

[phoenixwrites]

How do you keep yourself from feeling down about your haters/anti your ships?

There’s these (literally) 5 girls who think they’re the queens of my current small fandom and their hate is starting to get to me even though I try to let it roll off my back.

How do you do it, Phoenix?🥺 How do you keep the Plastics from ruining your fandoms and ships?

Oh goodness, Sass, I'm so sorry. I've been in my fair share of fandom dramas (the worst being last summer) and it's never an easy thing to deal with.

I want to gently correct you, though. The hate DOES get to me. Last summer, there were anons in my inbox telling me I deserved to be sexually assaulted as a child because I support dark fic writers. There were anons calling me a pedophile. There is a 600 note reblog going around the Stranger Things fandom claiming I was a pedophile. I was suicidal at that point, because it was triggering as hell.

But at the same time, I refused to give up MY tumblr space because of bullies. This is my blog. I've had it since 2011, it has been a space of freeverse, of gossip, of art, and of joy. I will not change that for the satisfaction of a few teenagers who think TikTok is activism.

I got through it a few ways.

Turn off anons. I am a stubborn bitch and I only turned my anon off once during that period, right after someone told me I deserved being assaulted at seven years old. I turned it off for one night then turned it right back on, because I hated limiting access to my lovely anons because of bullies--same reason I haven't privatized my AO3 account, even though AI very likely will steal my work. I hate the thought of some anon who reads my fics for comfort being denied access to them. But that's my thing. Turning off anon is the best way to shut off their power to hurt you. If you don't want to turn off anon, delete their messages. I am CHOOSY about which anons I answer. They are reaching out to me, on MY blog, it's my decision whether I deign to answer them or not. If I'm in the right mood for it, I might be trolly and snarky. If they're sweet, I love to hear from them. But I delete just as many as I answer.

Get off the internet. The internet is my space where I can zone out and do whatever I want. Sometimes that means watching a carefully curated selection of TV shows while writing fanfic. Sometimes it means doing TV show meta. Sometimes it's just goofing off. But the internet is chocolate, it's a lovely sweet treat. But if you have nothing but chocolate, you will get sick. Take walks. Go outside. Forget online drama (it's never that serious), enjoy your offline friends, snuggle your furry friends, go out for a cup of coffee and read a book.

Curate your experience. If you see someone with an absolutely RANCID take--like how Eddie wasn't flirting outrageously with Chrissy (sure jan) or Neal was a rapist, whatever. Don't engage, don't comment, don't reblog. BLOCK THOSE BITCHES. Block the people who make you feel weird. Block someone who used to be in your fandom but has moved onto reblogging something that annoys you. Block, block, block. Or use tumblr savior assiduously. When it was really bad in Hellcheer land, I watched Smallville and blogged about it until I felt ready to play in Hellcheer again.

At the end of last summer, the hate started dying off for a couple of reasons.

One, school was starting (yes, I do believe the majority of these bitchy anons are bored children, they ALWAYS have an uptick during school breaks).

Two, I got a book deal. I was too thrilled with my success and though they tried to threaten me, it didn't have much of a sting. My publisher and agent don't give a shit about the latest fandom drama. My editor LOVES horror and darklit.

Three, I fell in love. I have an incredibly wonderful partner who is a writer too (for television! I used to write fanfic for a show he worked on! :D). Autumn was an incredibly wonderful season of joy for me (minus my then-work troubles) which bled into a romantic winter, a challenging spring, and now it's becoming a lovely summer.

I had a bunch of lovely things happen to me that made me realize that the internet is actually quite small. It doesn't matter if STEDDIELOVER69 hates me or believes I'm a pedophile. What matters is that there are plenty of other folks who love reading my work, who like hearing my thoughts, who enjoy my VQ gossip, and those are the people I want to engage with.

Those folks don't know you and the joy you experience every day. Keep that joy close to your heart, as closely as they keep their own bitterness and cruelty.

You'll be all right, love. I promise it gets better.

[sunnylands-world]

Could you maybe write a Eddie munson Eddie dying fic pls and thank you❤

Still holding you

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem reader

Summary: Eddie turns back leaving you without him…

Word count: 876

Warning: angst, death

Universe: Hawkins

A/n: I feel like this is really bad and for that I'm sorry 🤍

You both were supposed to climb through, but when you looked back Eddie was directed downward. Dustin called after him and he said he'd be back but you knew Eddie, and you figured out why he went back. You saw the look before he turned to head in the opposite direction. You didn't have time to argue with him or tell him not to go and you cursed, jumping back through.

The fall to the floor shot pain through you but it didn't matter because you were chasing Eddie and his stupid ass. He had told you about how what happened with Chrissy still hurt him and you reassured him, telling him there was nothing he could do and that's when the argument started…

Flashback

"Eddie, there was nothing you could have done about her dying," you sighed, clutching his hand.

"No, I should have tried instead of freaking out and shit. Someone should have and I was there!" He lashed out, standing with tears filling his eyes. You shook your head in disagreement.

"This wasn't a moment you could have helped Eddie. Think about all the other amazing things you " you smiled but he rolled his eyes.

"I always run, I mean- shit I shouldn't be such a pushover!" he expresses, pacing the room.

"Eddie, it's okay to run. No one is judging you. We're human and we get scared. That's normal. You don't have to prove anything " you say, stretching to grab his wrist, but he jerks it away.

"But I don't want to be a runner. I want to be able to say I hung around and fought," he says, turning to leave. You only chase him to the door, jumping when it closes.

End

That was the last time you spoke before the plan was made and you knew when you saw him he wasn't planning to run. When he ran, you did too. Your voice was hoarse from shouting his name into the disaster going on around you. You searched left and right attempting to spot him, hoping he hadn't been harmed before you got there, that perhaps he'd decided to turn back but you couldn't see him anywhere. That was until you heard him screaming.

Your heart tripled in pulses and you inhaled and exhaled like you were on the bridge of a panic attack. Your crying only made your voice harder to hear now, making you feel powerless. You didn't know where to search or if he was going to make it much longer.

"Eddie" You mouthed in shock discovering his body being clawed at. you ran as fast as your feet could take you, took hold of the nearest object attempting to kill the ones on top of him. you fell to your knees once you got them away, pulling him onto yourself.

"Jesus Eddie, why did you turn back?!" you screamed. He only offered you a smile wiping the tears away.

"you shouldn't come back down here" he sighed, glancing towards the clouded red sky.

"I wasn't gonna let you come back without trying to stop you." you choked out and his own eyes let the tears fall.

"God I thought I'd graduate this year but here I am dying" he laughed and you made an effort to but it just hurt you more.

"Hey, hey don't cry, I don't want this to be how I saw you last," he declared looking into your eyes.

"no, no, no, don't say that dust-Dustin saw me coming back and he'll be here just-just hang on will bring you back and you can graduate with me" you nodded and he shook his head, his eyes fluttering.

"I'm not gonna make it but you can." He says squeezing your hand.

"no Eddie I won't go without you!" You rushed.

"I know you won't" he smiles, looking over your shoulder and you turn to see Dustin there, tears falling down his face as you look back at Eddie, eyes widening.

"no! Eddie please!" Dustin came forward, pulling you from him.

"I'm sorry, I love you," he says, fingers still grasping your hand till you're entirely out of his reach. You still try to resist even if you know it's too late. You're filled with rage because Dustin took you away and Eddie asked him to.

"we have to go [name], he's gone. We can't stay here" Dustin said, his voice breaking as you sobbed in his arms. You nod but haven't gotten up to move. Your body is shut down and drained. You struggle to get on your feet but eventually get up. It was like you lost yourself there. Eddie had been your other half, no matter how cliche it sounded. Failing him was like losing you.

You were still trying to process how you were quitting on him, how you could walk away, but you did it for Eddie because that's what he wanted. He didn't want you to die here and maybe he was at peace in the end because he got to be in your arms and you would be safe. If that was the only thing you could give him, that was enough…

peace

But you knew you wouldn't be getting any because you were going back without him.

[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

Stranger Things Demon AU, Mark of the Beast

Chrissy glanced around the woods nervously as she clutched the page she found in the cafeteria tightly. The flashlight in her hand was the only thing that illuminated her path as it approached midnight.

'This is a bad idea.' She told herself as she ventured further. 'Nothing's going to happen and I'll have come out here for nothing. And if it does work...'

Chrissy wasn't superstitious. Her family regularly attended church but she didn't really believe in the occult. But she was tired. Of everything. Her ex boyfriend who ignored her until she finally broke it off. Her mom who she could never be good enough for. Her dad who just stood back and let it happen...if the paper she picked up was right, it meant she could summon a demon and finally ask for it all to go away. It was a bad idea but she was desperate for some kind of change.

Approaching a clearing in the woods, the cheerleader sat her flashlight down and began to pull the supplies she brought out of her bag. Using a piece of chalk to draw a pentagram on the forest floor and setting a candle on each point. Striking a match she lit each one as she began to speak.

"Demon of old, I summon you tonight. I ask for your powers and promise myself, body and soul to forever serve you in the after life, come forth and reveal yourself." She called out and pulled away from the chalk symbol. Watching intently as the candles flames were blown out by a sudden harsh gust of wind. Her flashlight flickering for a moment before going completely out. "Hello?" She called out nervously. The pit of anxiety in her chest bubbled up. Something was very, very wrong here. Forgetting about her bag and flashlight, the girl turned to run when she saw it.

He looked like a man but not quite. His skin fleshy and burned. The creature's husk of a body moving towards her, Chrissy let out a scream at the sight of it. Barely jogging a few feet away before a hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. She frantically clawed at the ground to get away before being roughly pulled back by the creature. Her screams went unheard by the rest of Hawkins that night.

~~

Eddie had been awake for almost a half hour now but had yet to move from his bed. Instead he was focused on three demon who laid opposite him. Steve was still asleep. The light from the window reflecting on his skin made the metalhead's heart beat faster as he watched him. The highschooler had fucked quite a few people before. He'd made out with people while they were doing it but this felt different. In a good way for once. Rolling over look at his calendar, Eddie frowned when he saw it was Thursday. The next blood moon was tomorrow night. His only chance to break off from the demon.

A hand wrapping around his side followed by a kiss to the neck snapped Eddie back to reality. Glancing behind to see Steve now awake with a lazy grin on his face.

"Morning." The demon watched as Eddie got out of bed, grabbing a pair of jeans hanging out off his nearby dresser and hopping into them. "You're up early. Usually takes slamming the alarm clock a couple of times."

"Just....gotta get ready for a test." Technically it wasn't a lie, he did have a test in human anatomy today. But he wasn't too worried about it considering it was the only class he had an A in. Wondering if he should mention the ceremony. If Steve had known about it, he would've mentioned it, right? He didn't say anything, instead watching Steve grab his discarded polo and pulling out over his head. Even now his hair looked immaculate. It had to be some weird demon magic. Going out to the living room, Eddie was surprised to see his uncle was still there. Sat on the couch and drinking a cup of coffee. "Wayne? I thought you worked today."

"Something happened in the woods by the plant, cops closed everything down to investigate." Wayne explained as Eddie reached into the cupboards to pull out a box of Honeycomb cereal.

"What happened?"

"Wouldn't say but it looked pretty serious. You and your...friend should be careful at school today."

"I can take care of myself Wayne." Steve came out of Eddie's room, grabbing a bowl from the sink when Eddie patted him on the shoulder. "Sides, I got big boy over here for protection. Ain't that right Stevie?"

"Er,yeah." Steve saw the way Eddie's uncle looked him over in slight disbelief.

"Mmmhmm. Just stay out of trouble."

"When have I ever gotten in trouble?"

~~

"I'm sure you're all curious why you've been called here today." The principal stood in front of the the microphone as all of Hawkins Highschool was gathered into the gymnasium. The chief of police and two other officers stood behind the man as he continued. "Early this morning, we lost one of our fellow students."

This caused a stir as the students began to whisper among themselves. Dustin nervously glancing around at his friends. The last time they'd called an assembly like this was when Will had gone missing three years ago. They found him a month later just fine but this was different. Glancing back at Eddie and the demon he was stuck with who were sat in the furthest corner.

"Chrissy Cunningham...was a beloved member of the Hawkins cheer squad." The man paused to catch his breath for a moment. "The police are here to interview anyone who might have information related to the case. If you have any information, we're asking you come forward-"

"I can tell you who fucking did it!"

Everyone turned to see Jason Carver as he stood up. He was a disheveled mess as he stumbled up the bleachers and pointed at Eddie, venom dripping as he spoke.

"Mr. Carver, please-" One of the officers tried to approach the teen and and stop him but he was shoved away. The blonde pointing a finger at Eddie as he shouted.

"I know you did this to her Munson! You and your devil worshipping cult! I saw what you did you fucker!" He continued to shout as he was forcibly dragged out of the gym but his point had been made and now all eyes were on Eddie. Dustin knew Eddie wouldn't do that. He couldn't say the same thing for the demon practically glued to his side.

[beautifulblooms]

Eddie Munson General Headcanons

Male! Reader, holy shit y’all really liked that last one, although I can’t blame you I love him too so here’s some headcanons for y’all, literally rewatching season 4 as I write this, just some fluffy headcanons, might do a smuttier version when I wake up tomorrow on my nsfw account, but for now let’s get into this shall we?

CIS Women and Female Aligned people, please DNI, this story and all of my others are for non-binary, masculine aligned and male readers!

He’s just great

Eddie for sure is a weirdo

But to the people he loves? It’s like weirdo but sincere

He cares so deeply about those close to him that he would go to the ends of the earth to protect them

But his boyfriend?

Don’t even get me started

He would defend him from any asshole that decided to pick on him/beat him up

Such a delicate man

If the hellfire club was cool with it his bf would chill in Eddie’s lap during sessions

Granted none of them have much of a choice given that Eddie did what he did and no one could stop him

He doesn’t do too much PDA because it’s a small town in Indiana in the 80’s, pretty much no one is cool with the gays

But in private this man is all over his bf

Cuddles

Kisses

Hugs

Holding hands

He always wants to be touching him

Ed’s also definitely loves movie nights

Cuddles, a couple movies, popcorn, candy, ya know the works for a proper movie night

He loves every second of it

“What movie do you wanna watch?”

“It’s up to you Ed’s, you always pick good ones”

Without realizing it he definitely blushes a little at comments like those

Hearing tiny praises from the person he loves the most? He is more than signed up he’s running the organization

If he’s interested in DnD, Eddie is immediately getting him a Hellfire shirt, helping him make character sheets, get a set of dice, understand the base rules of the game, and somehow finds a way to get him into the current campaign

Like he’s so deadass about DnD that having a bf who’s also interested might break him

He’s genuinely a sweetheart

Besides the whole “hellfire is a cult”, “he’s a vessel for the devil” bullshit that the rest of the town is convinced about, Eddie’s so down to earth

Especially when he’s high

For the sake of this we’re just talking about weed

Best to smoke with 10/10

Always has snacks and drinks prepared for the inevitable munchies

His trailer is a safe space for everything too

Need to have a breakdown? Eddie’s trailer

Wanna get high and forget the day? His trailer

Just need to sleep in a comfortable place? He will make it as comfortable as his bf needs it to be

Complimenting his rings is like #1 best thing to do

Like I said he loves subtle praise, so complimenting his style is perfect for that

His hair, his clothes, rings, eyes, guitar skills, DM abilities, hell just his dramatic flair

Loves any compliments that he can tell are genuine

Such a sweet man

During his hiding phase he definitely felt bad that anyone was involved

And especially bad if his bf gets involved

It’s inevitable but he still feels a lot of guilt

Definitely the type to just shake off any pain and keep going

He would literally get socked in the face and have a broken nose and still get up just fine and keep going

Insane levels of adrenaline

Speaking of adrenaline

He’s a junky

Loves anything that gets his heart going

At least, in a safe manner

Like not Chrissy dying in front of him racing, like rollercoasters, skiing, skating, good DnD campaigns

Usually the first to ask about dates

He’s very forward with his tactics and doesn’t like to just let his feelings fester

Overall, great guy, 100000/10 I do in fact recommend

[latenightsimping]

And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God

Summary: The afterlife means many different things, for many different people. Religions, faiths and beliefs all wonder what happens when you pass on. For Eddie, it’s finally going home.

Pairing: Eddie Munson

Word count: 2,080

Warnings: V ANGSTY NEAR CRIED WHEN I WROTE THIS YOU’VE BEEN WARNED, angst to fluff, heavy themes of death, heavy themes of pain and sadness, has a bittersweet ending to it, mentions of bad fathers, themes of bullying, themes of depression, themes of bereavement. just a real bad time all ‘round but it’s good at the same time? idk read at your own risk okay

AN: Had a breakdown, started working on it, bon appetite. I’m fully on the camp of ‘Eddie’s still alive and the Duffer Brothers are being very fucking mean arseholes by making us wait for two years’ but I like to think what Eddie’s version of Heaven is. And I think it would be this. Because for me, it would be seeing my Dad again. Aight I’m gonna start crying again. Anyway, enjoy. Love y’all, make sure to give yourselves aftercare if you need it. Also, before I leave, the inspo for this bit of writing is Placebo’s ‘cover of Running Up that Hill because it makes me sob. 

Eddie always figured that dying would hurt. And he was right.

He could remember sharp teeth tearing into flesh, the sickening sounds of ripping and chewing barely audible over the sound of his screams. It was as if he had been dipped in hellfire; bathed in the flames and forced to stay conscious for it all.

He remembered the tenderness that fuelled Dustin’s careful movements as he was pulled into the young boy’s lap. Looking up and thinking Thank God. Thank God I’m not going to die alone. The small part of him that was still aflame felt guilt. Here he was, after seeing so many horrors, now having to watch someone die in his arms. Dustin was too young for all this. A child in a veteran’s uniform, battle scars where medals should have adorned him. He wanted to say so much to him. Tell him he was proud, and that he was so sorry for bowing out so soon, and there wouldn’t be an encore. But all he could manage to force from his lungs, choking on his own blood, were the most important things that he could think of through the haze.

“I didn't run away this time, right?”

I’m sorry that it had to end this way. But I would do it again, if it meant you were safe. Please, just tell me I did the right thing this time. Tell me that I didn’t die in vain. That Chrissy didn’t die in vain. Please tell me that I did the right thing for once in my life, please.

“You're gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?”

From the moment I first saw you in that Weird Al shirt, I knew I had to protect you from the worst this world had to offer. You were so scared, and I knew that feeling well. I didn’t want you bringing home bloody noses and crying yourself to sleep from the cruel words running through your mind on a loop, just like I did. But you’re going to have to do the same for others, okay? I know you can do it, Dustin. You’re so strong, and so kind. I just hope I helped you, that I did a good job protecting you.

“I think it’s my year, Henderson. I think it’s finally my year.”

For once in my life, I’m not a burnout that sells pot to make ends meet and can’t graduate. I saved people. I’m nothing like my old man, who would have turned tail the second shit went sideways. I did the right thing, for once in my fucking life. I can rest, knowing that. It’ll be okay.

“I love you, man.”

I love you. Thank you for staying with me, so I wasn’t alone in the last moments. That’s all anyone asks for, right? To not leave this world without someone watching over them? Soon, the pain’s gonna stop. After all, to die would be an awfully big adventure, wouldn’t it? I love you, man.

I love you.

The last words on his lips stained with cruor was a declaration of the warmth, care and adoration for one of his best friends. Before he was pulled into the blackness, a numbness, nothingness, seeping into his very soul that couldn’t be explained with the human language. Something that could only be experienced during the last moments of someone’s life. The smoke that rises from the candle of the soul when it’s snuffed out. The black sands of time, the last few grains meeting the bottom of the hourglass. His last words weren’t a complaint, or a curse, or a cry of anguish.

It was love.

It was love, as pure as the bright light that surrounded him, bathing him in a peaceful warmth. It was as if he had blinked, but more instant than that. It was as if he was always in this room. It took him a few seconds to recognise it.

He recognised the pale yellow walls first. He remembered his Mother singing along to Here Comes the Sun as she painted them, covering up the disgusting beige that was underneath it. Dressed in old overalls spattered with paint and a rag as a bandanna to keep her wild brown curls out of her face. Could remember being six years old, watching with curiosity from the covered up couch, and thinking she was the prettiest woman this side of the Wabash river. The way that she looked back and smiled at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling and her giggle sounding like silver bells.

She had dome everything to make this place a home, no matter how little money they had. She’d scrimped and saved for paint, and had traipsed around countless yard sales and flea markets for good furniture. Sure, the couch was a little lumpy, and the coffee table had a deep gouge running down the middle. But that didn’t matter when the home was filled with such earnest warmth and comfort. His old man had left by this time; had walked out in the middle of the night and never came home. And at so young an age, he knew he was truly relieved to see the back of him. Just him and his Mom, in this run down home that still had cracks, but was more than enough.

So what was he doing back here?

Looking down at himself, he could see he was wearing his favourite shirt, one that he had lost long ago. The faded Anthrax shirt that Wayne had bought him for Christmas, now without the tears of being flung around the Hawkins High parking lot during a brawl. Now, it was as pristine and soft as he had remembered. His most comfortable ripped jeans and sneakers, and his prized possessions of the leather jacket and battle vest fitting like a second skin. No blood, no bite wounds, no pain. He felt the best that he had ever felt. He even smelt of his favourite cologne.

The sounds of humming made his head snap towards the source; the kitchen. He knew the humming well. The melodies that had stopped the day she died, and no song had never sounded the same since. He thought he would feel fear, or confusion. But all he could feel was content. Like this was the place he was meant to be all this time, and the living world was only temporary. The confidence of that knowledge fuelled him to take the steps towards the archway, rounding the corner to be met with the figure he wanted to see so badly.

Wayne had always said that Eddie took after his Mom. And that was true. Who could deny the matching halo of curls, and the deep umber eyes? He had his father’s nose, but that was it. Everything else was purely her. And here she was. Harmonising her favourite song as she chopped up vegetables, the pale pink apron that he’d clung to so often as a child still tied around her waist. He took in her profile; the slight upturned nose and slightly parted glossy lips. His heart fluttered like a trapped bird in his ribcage, lips breaking into a grin.

“Mama?”

She turned her head to him, a slight look of confusion on her face for only a second before it became one of joy. The same little crinkle around her eyes that he remembered so vividly as she put down the knife and opened her arms, an offering for an embrace. “Hey baby,” she whispered, voice so soft and gentle that he could cry.

It was near automatic, closing the gap between them and throwing his arms around her. He was taller than her now, no longer having to wrap his arms around her thighs. Now, he practically towered over her, and he could bury his face into the crown of her head. She still smelled the same. Like lavender and roses, a scent that had long faded from his lungs now filling them. He held her so tightly that he was surprised he didn’t crush her, but he couldn’t stop. What if she was going to go again, leave him all on his own like she did ass those years ago? But if she had any complaints, she wasn’t voicing them. Tears welled in his eyes, and he squeezed them shut to stop them from falling. “Mama, I… I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too sweetheart,” she mumbled into his chest, slightly pulling away to look up at him. Her eyes flickered over all his features, a grin spreading across her face as her hands came up to cup his jaw. He leaned into it, savouring the warmth of her palms. “God, I- look at you,” she chuckled, the pad of her thumb coming up to carefully caress the skin just under his eye. “You’ve got so big, huh? Still the same handsome face, though.”

He couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled from his chest, too scared to even blink in case she was going to vanish. “It’s been twelve years, Mom. And I missed you. Every single day.”

“I missed you too baby,” she whispered. “But… You’re here so much earlier than I thought. What happened?”

He shook his head, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. She was still there. This was all real, and she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. He thought reality was the last life, but this… All his senses seemed to work so much better. He could smell the comforting scent of his Mother, could smell his favourite meal – one that he hadn’t had in thirteen years – being cooked on the stove that only she could work just right. He could feel her soft hands on his face, the sensation grounding him. Could see her beautiful features that mirrored his own, looking up at him like he hung the moon. That past life all felt like a horrible nightmare, one that he was just waking up from. One that he didn’t want to tell her about just yet.

He shook his head slowly, a shy smile flitting across his lips as he rubbed his fingers over the small of her back, enjoying the feeling of her soft cotton dress against his skin. “I’ll tell you later.” Later, he figured, could mean any time in the future. And he had the feeling that he would be here for a joyful eternity. “Is this Heaven?”

“I think so,” she nodded, her hand coming up to brush errant hairs away from his face. “And my Heaven just got better, now you’re here with me.”

His chest tightened, and he couldn’t stop the heaving sob as he hugged her again, holding her so close as if he was trying to pull her into himself. Burying his face into her neck, inhaling her perfume as if he would never smell it again for the second time around. It wasn’t sadness, though, that fuelled his cries. It was happiness. Pure, unfiltered joy, that he finally had what he always wanted. What he wished for every single night, especially when the day had been hard.

He had his Mama back.

“Ssh, none of that,” she cooed, a gentle chide as she rubbed his back soothingly. “I’m here, baby. I’m here for you, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Pinky swear?” he mumbled, causing the woman to softly laugh. To the two of them, a pinky swear had been stronger than any laws. It meant that the one promising would move mountains, just to make it happen. He hadn’t made a pinky swear for so long. Not ever since it didn’t feel the same, when her delicate little finger encircled his.

“Pinky swear,” she echoed, pressing a kiss to his temple.

If this was Heaven, this was the perfect final act. He had the only person that he truly wanted more than anything in this world, back in the home where he knew love without a price tag. No more bruises and broken bones, or cruel words with such abundance that he could drown in them. No more knowing cold, or hunger, or hardship. No more loss and anguish, no more mourning.

He knew it, deep in his gut. Now he was here, all that negativity would be washed away. It was all worth it, to finally be here.

It was finally worth it to be home.

[bettsfic]

i know in the past you've made "fix-it" scenario posts where you write out how you would've wanted a certain story to go (like the star wars sequel trilogy) and they are always so brilliant and fun and so much better than anything boring men in the writer's room came up with. in your ideal world, how could stranger things s4 plot have gone if/how chrissy survived? (i'm looking at this through my grubby lil hellcheer glasses) (pls don't feel obligated to answer! only if you have time ofc.)

very cool question!

(stranger things s4 spoilers ahead)

this got long, so i'm putting it under a cut.

so when i've written fixit things in the past, it's usually pretty easy because the writing is so sloppy and the character motivations are flat and uninteresting. so really all i do is tidy the story up and give the characters a touch more nuance.

the problem with stranger things is that it's working in the total opposite direction. it's too tidy. in fact after i got this ask i thought about it for a good half an hour and every single time i moved or changed a piece of plot, it had major repercussions for the rest of the plot. the s4 plot was woven so well that at the end i was like, there's no way i'd ever be able to write something as tightly woven as this. i lack the skill for it definitely but i also lack the interest. big plotty plots with many characters reacting to outright, unquestionable evil is just not my aesthetic wheelhouse.

which is all to say, there's nothing to really fix, exactly. i think eddie and chrissy are a huge missed opportunity, but i don't think chrissy dying is bad writing. (eddie's death was some of the weakest writing in the whole show imo [because he could have lived, like the plot did not force him to die, it just decided to, and i think there's a big difference], but the duffer brothers keep writing themselves into a corner where they make these phenomenal one-shot characters and can't keep them because there are already too many characters.)

so i think what we'd have to do is go back to season 3 and have billy live so he can stick around for the repercussions of his actions to be addressed in season 4. i really liked billy conceptually (and dear god dacre montgomery is hot) but ofc they made him a racist and so i just couldn't give a fuck about him. let's say they didn't do that and billy is still fucking awful but redeemable. (also while we're rewriting season 3, let's also say he boned mike's mom.)

billy is alive for season 4, and so max's plot would involve billy somehow so she doesn't get cursed. possibly redemption arc? we just need max out of the cursed ptsd kid fodder lineup. (by the way, that is my least favorite trope of all time. curse/monster attacks kids with ptsd only. like i watch stories like that and i'm like, yeah that'd be me. i'd be dead.)

we now have a totally unnecessary E plot in addition to plots A through D. but we're not bound by the physical constraint of production, so it's fine. i don't know what exactly would go in E plot except billy, max, and lucas feeling their feelings. which honestly i would be okay with.

that frees up max's story in plot B to go to chrissy. so she's not as far along in her vecna symptoms as the others yet but still having enough trouble to reach out to eddie for some weed. (this is where things get tough because there are so many tiny threads to consider.) but let's just say nancy's friend, vecna victim #2 becomes vecna victim #1, and his death happens near/around/in eddie's trailer somehow, so that chrissy is implicated in the murder and they both have to go on the run.

jason's plot would then turn into finding chrissy, who is missing and presumed dead because he believes eddie is a murderer on a rampage, etc. so instead of avenging her death, he's just trying to find her. all of this to say, i need chrissy and eddie trapped in a boathouse together with nothing to do but talk and fall in love. and this fits aesthetically with the "opposites attract in states of extreme danger" trope that littered 80s action movies.

so chrissy is with eddie the whole time. they escape on the water together running from jason, because by this point chrissy has sided with eddie and knows that if she gives herself up, jason will harm/kill eddie for kidnapping her or whatever.

the guy, jason's friend, is vecna victim #2 and opens the gate to the upside down. now chrissy's plot is tied firmly into plot B and everything happens basically the same except chrissy is in the upside down with the rest of the big kids and we would get some gratuitous protective eddie. which i think would also lower the pressure on steve/nancy which, i mean, i love a good love triangle and i enjoyed that tension but it feels a little hamfisted to me.

meanwhile, in our newly forged plot E, billy has started to exhibit vecna symptoms. and we know he is Doomed, because there would be a scene where he hangs out with max and has a good time and maybe even smiles. but! we don't know how far along he is in comparison to chrissy, so we aren't sure who is next.

imagine: chrissy in the upside down, her cheerleading uniform all torn up and dirty. she has no idea how to fight but she is doing her best. she's lost that cute little sweater she has. eddie gives her his jacket.

here's where i a little bit lose track of things, but roughly what would happen is that plots B and E would merge so that the big kids + dustin and lucas could try to help billy, which would fail and billy would die. (listen i hate redeemed characters dying as much as anyone else, but this is about hellcheer so sacrifices must be made.)

that leaves chrissy and eddie to take over the final scenes that max and lucas have, and eddie can still get his big damn hero moment by fighting jason, which makes more sense than lucas fighting him anyway. there is no random bat protection setup, because that's stupid. i know we sacrifice eddie's guitar solo but let's say there's a scene in episode 1 where we get to see him play at the hideout or something to make up for it.

imagine: instead of max listening to kate bush (sorry kate bush), chrissy's song that helps her get away from vecna is eddie's demo tape or something. so she's just constantly listening to eddie's music because it makes her feel safe and eddie has to pretend he's not dying about it.

imagine also: earlier in the season we have a very tender moment between chrissy and eddie, and because she is a Sad Girl that's what becomes her happy memory when she's trying to get away from vecna, forcing her to realize that even through all this nonsense that this time with eddie has made her happier than anything else ever has. she is determined to live through this so they can be together.

eddie fights jason. chrissy's in vecnaland. plots A and B merge and eleven is fighting vecna. unfortunately this part gets really wobbly because eleven and chrissy have no connection to one another. let's just ignore that because we're not even really addressing plot A here.

let's say this is either the final season or we don't know if there will be a season 5, and therefore things have to wrap up rather than escalate, which means when vecna goes to give the final blow, eleven does her thing a little earlier, preventing chrissy from having all her bones broken and dying for a minute to open the gate. let's say also that vecna is dead and not tease that he's coming back next season, so that the resolution is firmer.

chrissy falls from where she's levitating a few feet off the ground. eddie has knocked out jason or something and he goes to chrissy, holds her, there's crying, there's some cheesy line that joseph quinn somehow fucking nails about how they could have had something real.

and then! chrissy wakes up! she says something romantic and vulnerable. eddie spouts a cheesy one-liner callback to something said earlier to lighten the tension. joseph quinn also nails this because he understands the assignment. they kiss! plots A through E resolve in some way i am not going to bother thinking about.

hellcheer resolution: chrissy is in the hospital. eddie is playing an acoustic guitar. chrissy brings up the tough question: what's he doing after graduation? eddie, who still can't believe he's dating chrissy cunningham: basically nothing. maybe go on tour eventually. maybe record an album. chrissy admits she doesn't really have any plans. no decisions are made, but in the silence they both kind of realize nothing is stopping them from being together. eddie brings up jason. chrissy says her relationship with him is no longer an issue. everyone comes to visit chrissy, because they're all friends now.

tiny epilogue: chrissy and eddie (and the other big kids) at graduation. cute 80s montage set to rock music of all of them getting their diplomas. we see chrissy and eddie making out because they are now That Couple and everyone is already exhausted about it. happily ever after! the end.

bonus epilogue that provides the music for the credits, which are rolling on the right side of the screen: chrissy goes to see eddie play at the hideout.

i know this is a mess but like i said, i am no good at balancing multiple plotlines. or any plotlines, really. and i know i forgot a bunch of stuff because honestly i was playing a game on my phone while watching season 4. i'm not even going to reread this because i'll want to add to it, so. this is the best i can do.

[777marauders]

Stranger Things Vol 2:

Things about volume 2 (some volume 1) that I want to say and no friends to say it to:

I APOLOGISE IF THIS IS A MESS TO READ, IM JUST SO OVERWHELMED BY THE BAD WRITING AND PACING. If I’m missing anything, please add it by replying.

Anyway, I’m off to read fix-it-fics ✌️

Eddie:

EDDIE, EDDIE, EDDIE.

I LOVE YOU.

WHY DO I ALWAYS SIMP FOR CHARACTERS THAT DIE ON SCREEN!

Dedicating Metallica to Chrissy was EVERYTHING. Had me shipping them with five minutes of screen time.

In my opinion though, he was one of the characters who was done so dirty.

He literally died for a town that hated him and it resulted in nothing.

He died to give more time to Steve, Nancy and Robin. Okay, that’s brave of him, I’m PROUD of him. HOWEVER. He stayed behind because he didn’t want to run. Then he ran and stopped because he didn’t want to run. Very confusion. Then the demobats circled him for what felt like years and weren’t attacking. The pacing of the show was so bad that the tension goes with it. Then Steve, Nancy and Robin were pinned to the wall and were being choked out by the hive mind for however long… it should have killed them. I just don’t think they needed the time.

The news reporters continue to use Eddie as the reason for all this happening. So it really feels like Eddie died for nothing. If they actually cared, I would want them to expose the lab and the real reason so Eddie didn’t die for nothing.

Like ALL that black and red smoke?! The CONSEQUENCES of the lab?! Hawkins deserves the truth after everything.

Max:

I WAS SINGING FOR YOU GIRLY!

Her scenes were probably one of the few saving grace’s of volume 2 as well.

Sadie’s acting is incredible.

I didn’t think they’d kill off any of the kids, but as much as I hate to say it… I think Max dying would make sense.

Again, I love her. Jason is a prick, rest in pieces.

But I think Max dying would make sense purely because WHERE DID ELEVEN FIND THE POWER TO RESURRECT PEOPLE?!?

Max may be alive now, but what if she feels more like a ghost again next season. She couldn’t feel anything (luckily the doctor’s can fix broken bones) but they can’t fix her sight. And I’m worried she’ll feel ten times worse next season.

Also Duffers… where was her mother? Like her daughter is missing for days, is in hospital due to broken bones, lack of eyesight and clinically dead for a few minutes. They couldn’t put her sitting in the corner of the room?!?

She’s been through so much but the Duffer Brothers are literally dragging her through so much more shit that what she needs.

Eleven:

I’m aware that the California Crew didn’t have the means to get to Hawkins BUT they felt really useless… all but El.

I loved the plot she was given… not so thrilled about her new power to resurrect the dead though.

I’m happy she’s free from Brenner and that she’s reunited with Hopper.

Millie ATE her scenes.

One of the few things about this season, where the pacing was executed properly and didn’t feel out of place.

Will:

THE QUEERBAITING AFTER PRIDE MONTH?!?

So what if it’s the 80s? It’s a fictional town with fictional and supernatural occurrences. Robin came out easy peasy (still hate how it felt like a plot twist).

Every time Will cried, I cried. Poor boy needs a hug and so do I. I don’t know how to recover from this.

Other Characters:

It’s late and I’m exhausted from what volume 2 did to me… so let’s wrap this up.

Argyle was a much needed addition. Served more purpose to me than Jonathan, Mike and Will. I love them but no. It just wasn’t their season to shine.

Mike… thanks for saying you love El I guess.

Jonathan is the best sibling on the show by miles. Minor problem with the ending and how he and Nancy started off super weird and at the end they brushed it aside really quickly.

Will, honey, we both need hugs.

Dustin… let me just say Gaten’s acting is unbelievable. He cried, I cried with him. Again the show drew away the tension so while I was trying to be sad for Eddie it was hard because of the pacing. But Gaten’s acting really got the emotions going. And that scene with Wayne… amazing. I cried twice during this show and his talk with Wayne was one of them.

Lucas, I stand by him always. Every decision his character made, I 100% agreed with from start to finish. My Lumax heart broke when Max died and he couldn’t save her. He never left her side and that was beautiful. They are probably the best ship on the show.

Steve had me thinking he was going to die with the way he spoke about the future this season. So happy he is alive and that they referenced Mama Steve. Not so happy about the Nancy plot. He also felt underplayed from the start :/

Nancy is also one of the few characters done right this season. She came in clutch with the plans and wasted no time. Minor problem with the ending and how she and Jonathan started off super weird and at the end they brushed it aside really quickly.

Robin, Robin, Robin. The apple of my eye. At first I was skeptical that her character went from cool and breezy to socially anxious but it worked really well. Kinda hoping the klutz aspect would play in more but it’s okay.

Erica as always is amazing. Slightly concerned that they let a kid who didn’t fully need to be involved, be as involved as she was. Anyway Erica kicking ass is iconic.

MURRAY IM SO HAPPY HE IS ALIVE THATS ALL I CARE ABOUT. There’s not enough appreciation for Murray but omg he was givinggggg. I love him.

Joyce is never wrong. Ever. Never doubt that woman. Joyce and Murray’s team up was brilliant (can you tell I’m running out of new adjectives for everyone). Her reunion with Hopper was chef’s kiss. Also the matching clothes were cute.

( I won’t lie, when I rewatched volume 1, I skipped a lot of the Russia scenes because again the writing.)

Hopper being a low-key corrupt cop with the police brutality last season and then later bribing Antonov to get out of the prison had me laughing. Ofc he would. He was so smart with everything play he made though. His reunion with Joyce and El, were one of the very much needed things to save this season for me. But again THE MATCHING CLOTHES WERE SO CUTE (I know they didn’t have anything else but still.)

Antonov, I kinda thought he would be one of the five to die… only because he had his character arc and that there’s nothing really there for him in America… he’s hot though.

Brenner… man you fucked up big time.

VECNA is actually so interesting. My jaw dropped hearing the reveal that it was in fact Henry who was 1 who was Vecna. The only issue with volume 2 vecna I’d say issssss when Mike was giving his love speech to El, Vecna could literally have killed Max three times over (not that it’s vecna’s fault more like the script’s.)

The bio parents on this show always disappoint me. Not you Joyce. And why did Karen have a poster please?! The theories on the show were a lot better. I don’t even want to talk about Jason or his friends. They just made every situation worse.

Justice for everyone honestly.

[okimargarvez]

REVERSE - 1

Original title: Reverse.

Prompt: Penelope is the new girl on the BAU team and Luke tries to treat her cold.

Warning: A.U., possible OOC.

Genre: drama, romantic, family, friendship.

Characters: Luke Alvez, Penelope Garcia, BAU team, Derek Morgan, O.C. Sam Cooper’ team, Roxy.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot 62 in Garvez collection.

Legend: 💑😘👓🔦🐶❗🎲🎈👻🎬🎵.

Song mentioned: Amici per errore, Tiziano Ferro.

Reverse- Masterlist

GARVEZ STORIES

Note: I written the whole story in just two days; yeah, I’m not normal. It was funny (but also not so easy) re-writing their main scenes and dialogues imagining that the situation was reverse: she the new girl, he with the team since… the beginning.

1 # In no way I would like to be elsewhere, that’s why I’m still here

About a month had passed since Christine left to follow her husband to another city. He couldn’t really blame her without feeling selfish: in her place he would probably have done the same. Not only had Rich risked dying from one of the madmen they were chasing (as had happened to Hotch, with a less positive ending), but at that moment she was actually pregnant. It had hurt him, that she hadn’t told him, to have to find out in such a brusque way. He was her best friend after all. Perhaps for a while, before Rich, he had even hoped for something more.

Her absence was not only noticeable in his heart, but much more practically when it came to solving a case. Hotch had called Kevin Lynch, with whom they had collaborated in previous years, but who for some reason he had never really liked him. Then, about a week ago, however, the man had announced that he was needed elsewhere and so his historic ex-girlfriend had replaced him (in the Bureau the gossip went wild, there was no concept of privacy): Penelope Garcia, the star of the behavioral analysis team led by the unscrupulous Sam Cooper.

Of course, he had already heard of her, not just through rumors. She was definitely the best in her field (as much as it bothered him to admit it, because he seemed to be doing wrong to Chrissie). Probably the best in the entire FBI or perhaps even in the world, without exaggerating. Someone said that CIA has banned her from its archives. Top level hacker, like any good computer technician. Even Agent Oller idolized her in a way he never really understood, since they were almost peers. Not before he meets her in person.

But there were other voices circulating, of another kind. Epic stories, almost to compete with the Arthurian and Carolingian cycles. With a co-star: Derek Morgan. The nicknames they had given themselves (and that people had added, as the wireless phone tour continued) were wasted. Her lines were at least as famous as her speed in finding the address of a suspect found untraceable. It had happened to him sometimes to meet Agent Morgan at the shooting range. He had wondered what was in her and was about to find out, at his price.

The elevator doors open halfway. The solitude in which Luke Alvez has taken refuge is about to be broken by a blond hurricane. -Hello!- Garcia exclaims enthusiastically, getting on board and positioning herself too close for his tastes. It is as if the lone wolf that was before joining the BAU had returned after Christine’s departure. Although his eyes remain fixed on the reflective steel surface, his nostrils cannot avoid capturing her perfume. The first time he saw her he was bent over studying a file; Hotch appeared on the balcony, calling them to the meeting. And he glimpsed at her backside, beginning to understand Morgan. Then the big boss made the presentations one by one. She was dressed in such an indecent way… not so much for the clothes, even JJ occasionally allowed herself something low-cut… and also Chrissie. But for the bright colors. He remembers what he thought at the time. But it would have been proven wrong more than once. Because her perfume is not at all exaggerated, strong and annoying as expected. Indeed, it seems an almost natural and damn stimulating aroma.

He erases the last thought and forces himself to be at least polite. His mother and grandmother would otherwise scold him, even if they have no way of finding out. -Good morning.- he replies, with a cold, distant and professional tone.

Because of the silence he can hear Garcia take a breath before opening her mouth. But he knows she won’t be able to hold herself; she can’t help it. She is certainly the least formal creature of the FBI. And Chrissie would love her. -How was your week-end?- here she is. Luke remembers how difficult it was to be grumpy and unkind when he shook her hand. Surely it would have been easier to hate Lynch for no reason… but he was a man. The overlap was not working.

He feels the woman’s gaze on him. Those brown eyes so dark and penetrating, as well as so large and apparently innocent, covered by a pair of fuchsia glasses, naturally paired with the flower in her hair and the three-quarter jacket. He cursed himself for being so adept at noticing a great deal of detail in no time. He may even feel her expectation while she is patiently waiting for him to answer. -I don’t see why I should talk to you about it.- he chooses to continue with the farce of professionalism. But then, despite Garcia continuing to keep quiet and good, he feels driven by an external force to add a detail. -But if you really insist…- he turns for the first time towards her, instantly catching her eyes. -I stayed with my girlfriend, who is beautiful and loves me.- inside he laughs deeply, because she can’t know he’s talking about his dog. It doesn’t seem to have been added to his file.

-Oh, fantastic!- her reaction, sincerely enthusiastic, confirms that she has fallen for it. Naivety is another of the things she is famous for. This often made her the victim of her team’s (light) jokes. He feels a little bad in taking advantage of her weakness, but if it helps to make her understand that with him he doesn’t work, that she won’t be able to become his friend… Garcia looks at him again, without any shame. -And you stayed at home or…- apparently not, he will have to play it heavier. He sighs.

He doesn’t even shake his head. -No, we went for a walk in the park.- he smiles maliciously, reflecting on how easy it is to exchange Roxy for a woman. -She loves it.- he adds. -What about your weekend?- he asks, considering that only one floor is still missing before they reach theirs. But has this elevator always been so slow, or is it doing it on purpose? Everything conspires against him.

She speaks with much more tranquility. Of course, she hasn’t lost her best friend. -I stayed at home with my boyfriend.- Luke feels a pang of annoyance at that answer, but doesn’t want to believe it’s the thought that she can’t have an affair. Kevin is proof of that, isn’t it? It seems to him that they have been together for about five years, back and forth. Of course it was JJ and Chrissie who talked about it all the time, they love the internal gossip. He has never been a superficial type and Garcia has all the credentials; her curves certainly don’t leave men indifferent. -It helped me improve my fingering techniques…- she continues, then realizes the way he is now looking at her. Eyes wide open and narrowed in amazement. Yet he knew it would happen. She is also the undisputed queen of double meaning. It seems that this time however it was not wanted. -On my clarinet!- she then adds, almost screaming. She defends herself with too much emphasis, the skin of the face even paler. -I swear, I meant the musical instrument.- finally, she seems to succumb and he is even sorry.

But not from the outside. Luke, on the other hand, chuckles, nodding, amused by the situation, he can’t help. As he wonders if Agent Morgan has ever been able to test the skill of her fingers. -There is no need to get agitated.- he says, but it doesn’t sound reassuring at all and in fact he didn’t want to be. -Whatever you do in your spare time, this is only about you.- he is amazed at the ease with which such nonsense comes out. Then he feels the cell phone vibrate in his pants pocket, just in time, even if he hasn’t programmed it. He extracts it and looks at the familiar message. -And, sorry- how damned fake he is! -but we have an important case.- without looking at her once, he goes down the elevator first. Really not very gallant. -Have a good day.- he adds as compensation.

-Wait!- she shouts after him. He hears the sound of her heels as she tries to reach him. -I can also play the ukulele.-

—————————

TAGS: @martinab26  @thinitta  @shyladystudentfan  @pegasus-scifichick @paperwalk  @inlovewithgarvaz @the-ellen-stuff @astressedwriter  @symphonyashley  @kofforever​ @myhollyhanna23​ @tootsienoodles​  @centiaaa​  @penelopesluke​ @dumbdraws​ @onefail-at-atime​ @reidskitty13​ @adorarapril​ @princesstreaclefanfic​ @glocknade111-blog​ @magiunific​ @fallen-novak​ @dreatine​ @hopelessdayydreamer​ Tell me if you want to be removed! ^_^

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

Baby, I Got Sick This Morning

Chapter 9: You're My Medicine (Open Up and Let Me In)

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringroveson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Word Count: 50,890

Status: On Going

Chapter Summary: An explanation, an understanding, accidental art, and Steve gets a lot closer with Billy. Literally. They bone ❤

Chapter Notes: I wasn't sure I would make this scheduled update but the muse was on my side! If my health gets worse, I might update every 3 weeks, but otherwise I will keep to the 2 week schedule. Thank you all so much for being here and coming by every chapter ❤

Your comments and kudos mean everything to me, so thank you so much. I write a lot but I don't always post much, due to health and straying attention. But knowing you're all here and love this story as much as I do makes posting worth it.

Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

As for the magical pregnancy: it will be in the sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies ❤

Tags: Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

[wewillwriteyou]

Friends Will Be Friends || Chapter 24

‘39

A few elements from the main plot: A very special group of friends: early days, drama, laughter, booze, success, rock stars life, girl power, friendship, love, sex, music, misunderstandings, some more drama, family. Pairings in the tags

Summary Chapter 24: Brian can’t figure out some lyrics from his new song. John has something very important to tell Brian and Chelsea and when he sees them alone in the studio, he thinks that’s his chance...

Word count: 3.4K

Warnings: None! Some curse words and maybe some reference to sexual times, but this one’s pure fluff. So, you’re safe folks 💕

A/N: Hi there! After a long hiatus, here we are with another chapter! This is structured just like 21 and 22: if you’ve read them, you’ll know they are developed around one song from A Night At The Opera. Specifically, this one’s about Brian, so we choose probably one of our favourites songs by the curly spaceman. Let us know what you think, lovesies 💖😏 and as usual, if you like what you read, comment, like, reblog and share this with others! For everyone who follows and supports this story, thank you guys (you know who you are)! You are real stars!⭐💗

From where she was laying, Chelsea could see his curly hair bouncing then and there, his head lowered to look at his own long fingers touching the guitar to make her sing.

His lips were slightly parted, as he used to keep them every time he was very concentrated onto something. His eyebrows furrowed while he kept humming to himself.  

“Chel, what do you think about that part?” Brian asked, calling the girl’s attention. She raised her head from the book and sat down on the sofa stretching her back. She got up and approached the tall, curly boy to sit down on a stool next to him.

Brian smiled softly, before playing a beautiful melody that almost made Chelsea cry. He started to hum along with the rhythm as Chelsea was watching him incredulous, amazed by his talent.

“Don’t you hear my call though you’re many years away.

Don’t you hear me calling you?

Write your … something – he chuckled and kept playing along – for the day I take your hand in the land that … someone knew”

He giggled again and stopped playing. Chelsea had shivers inside every bone of her body.

“Bri, that’s… it’s a beautiful song” she felt like crying and Brian noticed; he flushed and caressed the back of his head, looking at the ground.

“Thank you Chel, really. And it’s not over yet, so I guess it can only get better” he sat down on the other stool across the room, just a few steps away from where she was.

He stretched his arm until he reached the mixer and took a piece of paper in his hands. Chelsea got up and walked towards him; she positioned herself behind him and Brian moved his shoulder a little bit so that she could read the lyrics of the song. Chelsea nodded along and Brian patiently waited, knowing that it was her I’m having an idea kind of face.

“Write your letters in – she snapped her fingers – in the sand! For the day I take your hand in the land that our families knew” Chelsea sang the song, trying to remember the exact rhythm Brian was singing earlier.

“The part of the letters in the sand it’s great, but…” he nibbled the pencil and looked at the unfinished refrain, squeezing his mind to find the perfect words. Chelsea nodded along, as if she could read his thoughts.

“I got it!” he almost shouted, making her jump in surprise “in the land that our grandchildren knew” Brian got up and took the guitar, then nodded at the piece of paper to invite Chelsea to sing along with him. She smiled back and dragged the stool in front of him, then gave him a head nod and, after mouthing one-two-three-four, Brian started playing.

The air of the recording studio was filled with their voices, mixed together as they sang in unison, following the amazingly beautiful guitar’s sound that was produced by Brian’s expert fingers.

“Don't you hear my call though you're many years away

Don't you hear me calling you?

Write your letters in the sand

For the day I take your hand

In the land that our grandchildren knew”

Chelsea had a proud expression written all over her face as she kept nodding to herself, looking down on the lyrics’ paper. Brian sighed relieved and got up to position the guitar at its place, before approaching the mixer and starting pulling and pushing some buttons. Chelsea noticed and walked towards him.

“Please, tell me you weren’t recording!” she said through the chuckles and he followed her, giggling along. He shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll adjust the volume and your voice will disappear. And it’s just a demo, I mean it’s only the refrain of the song” he mumbled, kneeling down to check if everything was working since he was struggling a little with the engine in front of him.

“And-” he added, getting up and putting a hand on Chel’s shoulder “–you don’t sing that bad. You should consider a singing career” Brian commented, waving his index finger in the air, giving Chelsea his back and walking towards the sofa. He fell down and bounced on the cushions, tapping his side to invite Chelsea to join him.

She rolled her eyes as she dragged her feet until she reached the couch.

“So, basically, what is this song about?” she asked when she sat down and looked up at him. Brian slightly smiled and stretched his arm behind the back of the couch.

“It’s the story of a group of scientists that leave earth to explore the universe. They stay away just one year, but time works differently in space, so when they come back home they discover that one hundred years has passed” Chelsea was listening to him talking with her mouth open and she had the same face of children listening to a fairy tale for the very first time.

“That’s some deep shit Bri, Jesus” she wiped away a tear making him flush and giggle again “I’m sure as hell the others will love it! Especially your scientist-pal, Mel” she leaned her head on the back of the sofa and looked up at him with a smiley face. Brian laughed a little.

“I hope she will… Talking about the others, did your boyfriend lock himself in some cupboard again?” he joked and Chelsea covered her face with her hands, feeling the laughter growing in her throat.

“I still can’t believe he did something like that” she replied chortling and Brian shook his head.

“Me neither, but hey, we’re talking about Roger, so…” he raised his hands and Chelsea nodded along.

“Yeah, it’s a very Rog thing” she smiled to herself and Brian noticed her lost sight “but I still love that dork with all my heart” the curly boy bowed his head and smiled as well. Chelsea noticed his strange expression.

“What?” she asked him, giggling because she already knew he was about to say something stupid about him or them as a couple.

“Nothing. I just know you so well that I can predict what you’re about to say by just looking at your face” Brian joked, meeting her gaze. Chelsea blushed and gave him a soft push with her shoulder.

“I mean, by now I think everyone knows I’m completely and miserably in love with that blond idiot, who writes songs about cars and locks himself inside cupboards”

“Yeah. But I’m perfectly sure that the blond idiot is way more miserably and deeply in love with you. It almost looks like he has something in mind, because I’ve never seen him so happy and stupid. It’s your fault” he mocked her again and got up to reach his water bottle. Chelsea giggled, but Brian’s words were echoing in her head.

“Bri?” he hummed in response, taking a long sip of fresh water “So you noticed that Roger is being different, right?”

“Maybe it’s some Taylors’ thing. Mel is strange as well in this period. Perhaps they’re like that when they’re in love” he scrolled his shoulders and Chelsea nodded along. A shiver of excitement and curiosity ran through her body, as she thought about Roger preparing something special for her.

“But don’t think about that too much, you know, we’re still talking about Roger, so it doesn’t matter what we’re thinking about, he will always have a trick up his sleeve that we would not expect” Brian added, resting his back against the mixer and looking down at Chelsea.

“You’re absolutely right” she nodded along, then rested her elbows on her knees to cup her own face in her palms “and with Chrissie? It looks like everything’s great” a little smirk appeared on Chelsea’s face and Brian giggled, absentmindedly playing with the plastic bottle in his hands.

“She’s great” he finally commented, flushing and smiling. Chelsea smiled back as the smirk got wider on her lips; Brian noticed and gave her an interrogatively gaze.

“Oh nothing” she replied carelessly, scrolling her shoulders “I was just thinking about a couple of things”

“Then tell me” Brian cut her off, dying of curiosity, but when he noticed her cocky expression he knew she wouldn’t have said a thing until he would have begged her to do so.

He rolled his eyes “Chel, you’re slowly turning yourself into a little asshole just like your boyfriend! Can you please tell me what you were thinking about?” he sassily rested his hand on his bony hip and Chelsea laughed a little.

“Fine, but just because you begged me assuming that pose” she pointed at him and he rolled his eyes “I was thinking that, first of all you should thank me, because if it wasn’t for me that had literally pushed you to talk to her after that concert, she wouldn’t be your girlfriend today” Chelsea raised her chin a bit and looked at him. Brian understood what she wanted him to do.

“Thank you Chelsea” he chanted “You’re impossible!” he then added chuckling, followed by Chelsea who chuckled as well.

“And second of all, I was assuming that everything was great because you turned out to be very noisy neighbours too, if you know what I mean…” she bit her bottom lip and raised an eyebrow. Brian looked at her with his mouth open and red cheeks:

“That’s bullshit!” he spitted out, making Chelsea laugh even more.

“That’s the truth Brian!” she replied, getting up and crossing her arms on her chest “Do you really think that Rog and I didn’t hear you last night?”

“Oh please, shut up” he was trying really hard not to laugh, but he was miserably failing as a wide smile drew on his face soon after he spoke “Do I have to talk about the sounds that we hear almost every night coming from your bedroom?”

“Now, that’s some bullshit. Roger and I are being very quiet, it’s impossible you’ve heard something” Chelsea replied cockily, scrolling her shoulders.

“Yes, if by quiet you mean that we’ve heard the headboard of the bed hitting against the wall followed by your very audible screams, then yeah, I agree with you” Chelsea’s chin fell on the ground when she heard Brian talking like that. She took a step closer just to punch his arm.

“That’s not true! And don’t even make me start, May. You will regret that”

“I know, you were the one that brought up this topic, I was just being shy about my girlfriend” Brian answered, raising his eyebrows as he threw the bottle in the trashcan. Chelsea nodded and smiled along, as he returned on the sofa and she was now the one standing with her back laid against the mixer.

“I am actually becoming a little asshole exactly like my boyfriend”.

“I told you. And I never lie” Brian said and winked at her, receiving an eye roll in response. They stayed both quite for a moment, smiling and looking at each other.

“All jokes asides, I have to thank you Chel” Brian said, caressing his curls on the back of his neck.

“For what Bri? I’m your friend, you don’t need to thank me” Chelsea smiled and approached him, sitting down next to him.

“No, I have to thank you, because you were right before: if you hadn’t been there pushing me to go to talk to her I would have probably lost the chance” he shyly turned his head to meet her eyes. Chelsea patted him on the shoulder and smiled back.

“And I have to thank you also for the song, because you helped me with the lyrics” he added, resting against the soft couch.

“It was nothing. You know I love helping you through your creative process” she answered, laying down too and abandoning herself on the cushions. Brian chuckled and they both stayed in silence again with their eyes lost on the ceiling.

“Chel?” Brian’s interrogative tone broke the stillness once again; Chelsea hummed back without looking at him.

“Do you remember that Christmas party we spent at the hotel in Peterborough?” he asked in a whisper and Chelsea got up to sit down properly, furrowing her eyebrows and finally looking at the curly boy sitting next to her.

“Yes. Why?” her tone was flat, but inside her mind a million questions were flying and running, as a sense of confusion clouded her memories. She immediately thought about Roger and Chrissie and how pissed she was when she discovered they had kissed in the past and for a moment she started to think that Brian knew something she didn’t.

“Do you remember that stupid game Fred-” Chelsea cut him off impatiently.

“Get to the point Bri” her voice harsher than she expected it to be, as the words rolled out from her mouth. When she saw Brian blushing and smiling her nerves softened.

“I don’t know why I’m asking you this, but… was it me?” he looked at her in the eyes, but Chelsea didn’t catch the reference. She raised her eyebrow interrogatively.

“Oh c’mon-” he sighed, getting up and looking down at her “don’t make me say it”

“Bri, I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” Chelsea shouted, sitting at the edge of the sofa and leaning forward as she spoke. Brian sighed once again.

“When Fred asked you if you had any… sexual fantasy about some of us and you didn’t answer… Were you thinking about me?!” he let out a breath and Chelsea felt her heart race and the skin of her cheeks burn.

“What the fuck Brian?! Why are you asking me such a question, now?!” she was embarrassed, but mostly angry at him for making her live again that moment she would have really liked to forget.

“I don’t know! I was just curious I guess… ‘m sorry” he quickly apologized and massaged his temples with his hands. Chelsea deep breathed once or twice before getting up to face him.

“It’s okay, I’m not mad at you, just confused. I wasn’t expecting such a question from you” she softly said staring at him.

“I asked you because… I don’t know why I did, I just want to clear up that I was just curious! I wasn’t insinuating anything. I mean… I…” he was stuttering, completely in panic and obviously regretting the question he had just asked her.

“Bri, it’s fine. I know you love Chrissie and you know I love Roger, so no problem” she scrolled her shoulders and smiled, even if inside she was still questioning herself on why Brian had brought up that memory.

“I’m still sorry. We were just having a close friends moment, so I felt like it was the right time to ask you that” he blushed once again and Chelsea sighed in relief, finally answering her inner questions on that whole situation.

She was about to reply, when the door of the recording studio opened and John made his entrance. Chelsea subtly took a step away from Brian, as he looked at the ground caressing his neck; they hadn’t done anything wrong but they felt like they had been caught in the middle of something. John interrogatively squared them up as he closed the door behind him.

He immediately thought that it could have been the right moment to talk to them about the doubts and the questions he had on the entire Chrissie and Roger’s situation, since they were finally alone the three of them.  

“Is everything okay, guys?” he asked, approaching Chelsea and caressing her arm. She smiled and nodded, as Brian did the same.

“Yes, I was just complimenting Bri on his new song and I was slightly moved by it. It’s really beautiful. And he was being modest as always, obviously” Chelsea said and when John turned to Brian, she winked at the curly boy. He chuckled and Chel could read in his eyes how grateful he was that she had helped him to get away from that whole awkward situation.

“Did you record it?” John asked Brian, walking closer to him and to the mixer.

“Yes, we sang a little piece of the refrain, here’s the lyrics” Brian replied, handing him the piece of paper on which they had worked earlier.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you so you can work. I’m going to check if Roger locked himself somewhere again” Chelsea interrupted them, giggling and before John could stop her she had already approached the door and Brian was talking to him behind his back. He sighed, knowing he had lost his chance to talk to them.

“Deaky?” Brian’s voice recalled his attention and he turned around to face him “I was saying, talking about Roger, did he talk with you?” John could feel the blood freezing inside his veins. Did he find the guts to admit he was having an affair with Chrissie? Did he know something about Mel?

“No. What did- What did he need to tell me?” he replied stuttering. Brian scrolled his head.

“I don’t know, he told me he needed to talk to you when we’re driving here. Actually, he wanted me to be there too, but I told him that he is adult enough to talk with you face to face without my presence” he said, pushing aside some of his curls from his forehead and putting on the earphones to listen to the song again.

John nodded and, with a cheap excuse and a simple wave of his hand, he left the room leaving behind his back a confused Brian. He needed to find Roger and talk to him as soon as possible.

He almost ran down the hallway, and outside the barn, directing himself to the main house. He entered it and, as he started to go up the stairs, he heard Roger’s voice, followed by the ones of Chrissie and Chelsea.

Damn, John thought and when he looked up he saw the three of them approaching him. They all stopped on the same step.

“John, are you okay?” Chelsea asked taking a step closer to him. John studied Roger’s expression and then squared Chrissie up, before meeting his best friend’s gaze. He nodded in a rush.

“Yeah… yes, I mean, Brian told me you had to talk to me” he said, looking over Chelsea’s shoulder to meet Roger’s eyes. The two girls looked at the blond drummer, as he was indicating himself with his index finger. He furrowed his eyebrows and scrolled his shoulders.

“Okay, so I’ll see you later girls” Roger reached for Chelsea and kissed her softly on the lips, before following her with his eyes until she reached the front door where Chrissie was waiting for her.

Once the girls were out “So, mate, what do you need?” Roger broke the silence, putting a cigarette in his mouth and walking past John.

“You should tell me what you need. Brian told me you had to talk with me” John replied, nodding at Roger when he offered him a cigarette. They both walked towards the kitchen and sat down on the wooden chairs; the little room was soon filled with grey clouds of smoke.

“I honestly don’t know what he was talking about” Roger simply said, resting his back against the back of the chair. He could swear he had seen John subtly rolling his eyes, but he decided to ignore that, as he saw him opening his mouth to speak.

“He mentioned the day you were in the car to reach the farm” John said, starting to get annoyed by his unresponsive attitude. He knew something was going on inside Roger’s head and, seeing him being that vague was just confirming the doubts he had on him and his trust.

Roger searched in his memories and finally remembered he had to talk with him about Mel’s strange behaviour. But in that moment, seeing him kind of pissed off, Roger felt like it wasn’t the right time to speak about his sister and he surely didn’t want to argue. For a second he thought he would have been the right moment to tell him about the proposal for Chelsea instead.

“Fine. I’m sorry Rog, but I’m quite busy, I have a couple of ideas in mind for a song” John interrupted his thoughts and Roger looked at him as he got up rapidly “When you remember what you have to tell me, you know where to find me” John stated and, with the cigarette still dangling from his lips, he left the kitchen.

Roger was still sat down there, incredulous and confused, trying to understand what had just happened. He took a hit off his cigarette and he felt his mind getting as cloudy as the air surrounding him.

--

Chapters: ⤎ previous | next ⤏ 

A/N: Hope you enjoyed 💗 we’re gonna tag the lovely people who read, liked and commented the previous chapters. If you want to be tagged in the next one, comment under this one or leave us a message. Our inboxes are always open for you beautiful people

Tag list: @littledarlingwellaway @its-nxt-living@bohemiandelilah@onevisionliz@misshystericalqueen @loki-lover095@deakysgurl@inthelapofthe39 @starsoflovingness-wq@minetticatinwonderland@cairdes20@friendswillbefriendsblog@o-holynight @trash-record-collection@please-stop-me-now@theappleofmybri@marvelsbunch@imgonnabeyourslave​  @babygotblueeyes@mi55chanandlerbong @deaky-with-a-c

Cheers, folks! ✌

[amandaj718]

A Very Robert Christmas

I wasn’t going to do this. I swear. I planned to watch, freak out and reblog all the gifs while crying. I plan to still do that, but I have so much to say about a lot of things. This episode felt like a palette cleanser. Almost, like, we were spun into a new direction. I’m going to go person by person. Family too (Ok, I have a lot to say about the Dingles) and then of course…my hearts…Robert Sugden. Aaron Dingle. Robron. (Also, this episode just gave me a great idea for my fanfiction since…it kind of came true today).  This is full of spelling mistakes. My hands were shaking with excitement so excuse the poor execution please.

Let’s begin with the easy stuff.

(This is long. Get a snack) 

General Overview of the Episode

Ryan is amazing. No holds bared here. Ryan Hawley is an amazing actor. The show knows this too or else he wouldn’t have given him his own episode to carry. Before anyone argues, he carries this whole episode. Everyone else (even Danny) is his supporting cast. He is amazing. So was Danny (crying…he always gets me to cry. Without fail!).  

This was well written, well paced and VAL. I loved that Val was the surprise guest. I was so sure it was Katie and so was most of the GA and Robron fans. SURPRISE. I love Val so it was nice to see her.

“You got a lot gayer after I died.” - *SNORT*

The Dingles

*DEEP BREATH* They were just…terrible this year. While I would love to sit here and bad mouth Charity and Paddy about wishing Robert dead (What the frack?!?!) but I would expect that from Charity and Paddy. They are just…mean these days. Not even funny. That might be something else the show is setting up.  Same with Chas. She knew/knows how Aarons feels but she wants her son to move on so she pushes. I get that. Doesn’t mean I like it. Also, bad karma my friends. WISHING PEOPLE DEAD. Just saying.

I want to talk about the Christmas Day celebration. The Dingles and Christmas should feel warm and welcoming. Tight like last year. Everyone was close to each other. The colors felt warm and welcoming. It felt like a family. Everything was shot tighter and with a tinge of old school Christmas cheer around the edges. Touches of green and gold. Some red too. There was a lot of love in their house that night.

This year? It was shot in wide shots. People weren’t sitting as closely. The place felt impersonal and even a bit gaudy.  When the wanted a close shot, it was still a still and front facing two shot. It felt cold. Dark even. The Dingles were all there, but their hearts were long gone or have gone dark.  They were wishing people dead, some were inviting themselves to the party (We will get to Alex later) and Aaron was in his own personal hell.  The Dingles weren’t the warmth this year. They were the cold. Hint of things to come?

The Sugdens

The Sugden Family is a dying breed. They were once the main family (legacy family) but now they feel like an endangered species. I really felt this way after they started writing Victoria this year that the family was seriously in trouble.

I don’t anymore. I’m glad that one of my favorites, Victoria, was back today. I felt her again. She was worried about her brother and her husband. She was a friend to Aaron. She had her worries, but she knew her family, who was in her reach, needed her. It was nice to see complexity come back and not just be a plot device. I loved it. Welcome back Victoria.

Diane felt the same to me. Doug surprised me. I figured he would be a bit cruel or say something stupid, but he showed up with food and he seemed to care. There was a feeling of family. It was small, but it was there. It was nice to see. I felt more warmth with them than the Dingles today.

Lawrence White

Praise John for acting his butt off today. I love how Lawrence still showed up to talk to Robert. He didn’t yell. He didn’t accuse. He was just there to listen. Give Robert his ‘in’ too.

As for dream Lawrence. I think, that Lawrence represented some of the audience as well as the other characters in the village. I noticed he said some stuff I’ve seen written by the general audience and even a few anti’s.  Which, didn’t upset me but showed that the show is aware of what others are feeling outside the fandom. Did I agree with everything he said about Robert? No but I think even Robert feels that way about himself sometimes. Also, Jack’s influence is in there with Lawrence’s appearance.

Rebecca White

Emily Head. I’m not a fan but when she gets to play black widow, she shines. Victim? She looks lost. Not so much. I don’t buy it. Especially in her scenes with Robert as he laid there.

‘Is he dead?’ COULD THAT HAVE SOUNDED MORE FLAT AND UNCARING? I don’t know if it was scripted that way but my god. It was bad. Bad line read. Also, bringing Seb over to see his father on the ground? What the frack? It was odd. Detached. Like she was fine showing Seb something that sad.  Which…woah.

In the dream, her attitude towards Robert, talking about how he approaches business (once again hearing some GA comments and even antis). She was good and seemed to care about what she was saying. She plays black widow so well. SERIOUSLY. That is her strength.

The Seb thing. I mean, Justine and I have wondered if a medical emergency could bring into play paternity. I don’t know. It might have been Robert’s own fears as a dad. It might have been his mind who was in a dark place. I still think something is up there. I just don’t know what yet.

Lachlan White

Lachlan is the more interesting White as per usual. Robert sees him as evil and up to something. He will always be doing something to him. Which, might have been foreshadowing. Killer Lachlan is rising? Maybe? Dream Lachlan and Real Lachlan didn’t have any changes. Also, he was attached to Alex shocking him back to existence. Which…well…. Lachlan might be the shot in the arm to get this story going? Maybe. Either way, he was the most direct and most obvious from dream to real life.

Chrissie White

WHERE THE FRACK WAS CHRISSIE?

Alex Mason

It’s not secret that I don’t like Alex. I find him plotty. I find him annoying. I find him needy. I find him pushy. I don’t like the guy. Today, I found him all those things at once. He shows up to the Dingles without being asked. He was a bit harsh with Robert and didn’t seem to believe him when he said to fight for Aaron. We know how this ends with Aaron tomorrow but yes. Even after all that, like my friend Kat said, he wasn’t a factor. Yes, he was in the episode and had an impact but not really. He was just…a non-factor. He was there to push along a tiny plot thread that I think will be tied up by the second week of January and not by Robert but by Aaron.

Aaron Dingle

There has been a lot of talk about Aaron and choice. His choice. Family choice. Robert’s choice. The show addressed that tonight and that made me realize that the Robron/Aaron fandom was right on point. Aaron and his choice. Aaron has a been a bit passive lately. He did things for himself but mostly let his family dictate things, let Robert make a few decisions and even let Liv move him along. I had a lot of problems with that.

Tonight, Aaron made his choices…kind of. Ok, this might feel jumbled because my mind is still very jumbled about my favorite bearded bunny.  Ok…let me see if I can get out what I am feeling about Aaron and choice.

I think Alex is being pushed on to Aaron by his family.  

Victoria kind of pushed Aaron towards Robert.

Chas pushed Aaron to leave the hospital faster.

Ok. Aaron has three choices. Go with his families choice. Go with Victoria’s. Go with his own. This is when it gets complicated. I think Aaron hit his limit this Christmas. I think listening to his family, Victoria and then Robert’s opinions set him over. I think he had decided and then Robert and what he said, changed that again. If that makes sense.

Aaron loves Robert. They are soulmates (more on that in their own section) and I think he went in there ready to pick Robert but at the same time…he still wasn’t there or sure. He fought Robert but still backed off quickly. So, Aaron makes his decision, but he makes the easy one?

I’m so confused by what they are trying to accomplish with Aaron. I feel like Aaron will get his taste of a normal relationship and grow bored or find what he doesn’t want. Then he will start making decisions (Robert is his best friend but he isn’t going to be pushing anything onto him) that will lead him to support Robert in a quiet way (healthier way?) that leads us to reunion.

I’m very confused about Aaron right now. Obviously. I love him but Aaron…baby….honey…you can design your life the way you want. I wish you would learn that you can be happy with your choices. Support is great and needed but you have to make the decisions in your life. Time for you to do that.

Robert Sugden

Robert has had quite the ride today. I think Robert’s dream was an over exaggerated version of how he feels about himself and a mix of what he thinks others think about him. There were quite a few truths and Val’s section was less about how he feels but what could be if he continues down this road he has been on all year. 2018 will be a different year for him. He won’t change completely (no soap character does) but I think a lot of his worse qualities that have been played up all year will calm down and Robert will learn more. LISTEN more. Val keep saying listen. Robert needs to listen. He has already started. He listened to Victoria. He listened to Alex. He listened to Diane and Doug. He listened to Lawrence between talking to him about Seb.

Speaking of Seb. I think Robert will focus on being a dad now. He made the choice to concentrate on being a better dad to his son which I know is a sticking point for a lot of fans. It needs to happen even if Seb doesn’t stay.  Robert does love his child. Don’t take that away from him fandom. Yes, it is a representation of a very bad year for Robert but in time…those memories fade. Believe me, they will on a soap. Again, I’m still not sure this kid is sticking around. They still haven’t cast another baby and even weirder they didn’t cast twins outright. Something is going on there and we aren’t allowed to know just yet.

Robert isn’t a bad person. He isn’t the worst soap character on that show (Charity and Cain spring to mind) but now Robert has been given an episode. He was given a chance to better himself for himself and no one else. He is being given the chance by writers to make himself an even deeper legacy character. This is good. I like this. Did I mention how much I LOVE RYAN HAWLEY?!?! Ahem…yes. He was good. GREAT. He was great.

Robron

WOW. Do those two idiots love each other. Beyond just love. They are soulmates. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I was holding my breath. Bad combo by the way. HA. Those two. Man. They just gave us a nice highway to reunion and marriage. Yes, they did. Hear me out.

Robert knows that holding onto Aaron isn’t healthy. Not in the state he is in. He needs to get better for himself. Get himself together and then be a dad to Seb.

Aaron wants to hold on, but I think even he knows holding on isn’t healthy. He needs to go off and do something else. Date Alex for instance.

Both don’t want to let go but they must. They have to do what is best for themselves while being friends (lets kid ourselves…they will never be completely out of each other’s lives…maybe in death and even then they will haunt each other).  They need to rebuild and to rebuild with a foundation of friendship…that’s good. That is strong. That will last longer than just build a new relationship with old hurt and memories still lingering in the background.

This was clean break. A clean slate. A reason for them to build again. I might even get my wish. A reverse of last time only healthier. Aaron gets to do what he needs to do. Finds his way and then stands in the background as Roberts support as he deals with final White drama.

Friends. Best friends.

It hurts like hell. It hurts so bad. That cheek kiss broke me. Aaron crying. Robert crying. It hurt. IT HURT LIKE A STICK ON A BUTTCHEEK. It was needed and we are on the way. WE ARE IN THE FINAL ACT PEOPLE. LETS DO THIS.

Incidentals

That scene with Gerry and Aaron walking down in that nice suit. I’m going to echo my dear friend Justine here. Maybe that was foreshadowing for a wedding. Aaron’s wedding suit? MAYBE?!?!

My fanfiction touches a lot on what was touched on in this episode today. Not as great as the real thing but I feel like I’m not wasting my time sticking around and being positive. I’m not too stupid. *wink*

Gerry is a great addition. I can’t wait to see him be fleshed out.

I loved Jimmy and his boxers (WHAT DID THAT ALL MEAN?!?!) I can’t get a handle on what they were trying to do with Jimmy other than the obvious. I wonder if that was a hint at things to come for Jimmy. He is getting a storyline. He kept mentioning having a good idea for the scrapyard. Which is…worrisome.

Small thing in the hospital. Robert’s name was always placed above Alex’s. Yes, its protocol but I think that was a wink that Robert will ALWAYS be above Alex. *LET ME HAVE THIS*

Whew. I know not everyone will agree. I may have overthought or not thought through enough.  That episode gave me so many feels and I still have feels writing this. I loved it. It hurt like hell but I know…its for the best. I see people think this means Robron are over but not at all. This is a new beginning. Exactly what they need for 2018.

*glasses up*

Lets hang on and follow this out. WE ARE ALMOST THERE. WE ARE CLOSE TO REUNION (my guess? February. Maxine episodes) and seeing AARON AND ROBERT GET STRONGER AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AND TOGETHER. Bring it on.

*CLINK*

[fromaliminalspace]

hi!! yeah, several coinciding fandoms is always fun! vjchdgj for me though, Eddie quickly became a full-on blorbo so reading and writing loads of meta and fic was a Need XD

hive five about metalhead!XY hc btw! also ouch, left pinky is not a finger you can easily go without when playing guitar (I mean, you could… it’s not like it’s impossible to find a song that wouldn’t require it. but still, alas it’s needed even for some of the most basic chords, let alone elaborate metal solos and stuff) so the only way I can realistically see is with him playing guitar lefthanded. which actually has been my own headcanon about him for years, that he’s naturally lefthanded who had to become ambidextrous bc of his trauma

speaking of Iron Maiden’s Eddie though — just imagine Dustin getting more into metal music after Eddie’s death and getting their “somewhere in time” album once it comes out and seeing the words “Eddie is alive” in the corner of the cover and having his heart broken all over again bc his Eddie is very much not alive. *insert the smiling with tear emoji * okay, my train of thought tends to derail very easily but anyway fwiw your own thought seems quite legit for me

and 100% yes to his death being completely unnecessary. honestly I should’ve expected the writers to add his character only to kill him off and yet. idk, his character arc culminating in him dying like that just seemed too predictable for me. even besides his death being logically unjustified (see your point with Steve’s wounds, and Eddie’s in-universe lack of knowledge that his choice to buy more time would be in vain with bats dying on their own shortly on), it felt like a slap in the face by the writers. like, here you are an ostracized queer-coded and possibly neurodivergent character who may be considered a failure by some people but who still puts effort into pursuing his goals and holds on the hope of actually achieving them. then watch how he dies in vain, redeeming himself for sth that has never been his fault in the first place, bc what else to do with him if he has no future anyway?? that just felt like the easiest and least satisfying way to handle his arc, especially when there are dozens of ways to let him have a future, no matter if in his case it might get worse before it gets better. but no, he died for the purpose of the emotional impact of the finale🙃 though, as much as I find the writing choices wrt his death abhorrent (unless he had to die so that he’d come back as Kas?? tbh this is the only way to warrant his death narratively) I kinda do get the implied Watsonian nuances that led to it. might’ve even sporadically written 1,5k words of meta about them right after vol.II aired and never posted them I get how Eddie’s survivor’s guilt bc of Chrissy made him feel like he had to prove himself and stuff. hardly softens the blow but coming up with in-universe explanations for bad writing has always been my primary way to make peace with the outcome of said writing. (re Eddie’s death barely changing anything for the plot… I’m currently reading a timeloop fic where it’s actually explored alongside its aftermath and it’s still true, it does change nothing, except there it’s handled gorgeously in the most heartbreakingly cathartic way. so I see it a bit differently than I used to cuz yeah! his survival would indeed change nothing, what of it! would still be worth it)

yeah, totally feel your disappointment with Billy even though I gotta admit admit I’ve never had any particularly strong feelings about his character. still, getting to know more of how the dynamics between him and Max had been developing would’ve been nice. after all, I’ve always had a soft spot for siblingy dynamics in fiction, whether fucked up like here or wholesome (I also love the potential of Max finding a brother figure in Steve). at least we got to see Max processing the ensuing grief in the wake of Billy’s death, that was such an emotional and intense part of s4 for me. I doubt that Eddie becoming the Kas of the ST universe would be the same as getting mind-flayed though…? even if we go with D&D lore, Kas ends up betraying Vecna there, and there’d be lots of potential for Eddie to do the same once he gets his agency back. whether the Duffers would be able to pull off the Kas theory with all the delicious possibilities it carries, is a whole another question ofc XD but yeah, Eddie being merely a meatsuit would not be the most interesting way to execute it. but even if dies at the end of s5 it’d still be a more meaningful death imho

wdym, he suffered enough, there can never be enough whump for the blorbo u.u the fruity four are one of the best team-ups, yeah! xjllkdndncj the absolute tragedy that Eddie never got to meet Will and immediately take him under his wing though!!! he can’t die till it happens, he just can’t, nope, they both deserve the joy that getting to know each other would bring them. well, it’s basically the same haircut he’s had all the previous seasons so… here’s to the hope that he’ll have a different one in s5 at least

same hat with trying to have no expectations, yeah. the key word is “trying”, there are just too many little things that may or may not be foreshadowing that I can’t help but hope and even plan a whole gifset illustrating them >.> fingers crossed that the final season will live up to at least some of our hopes I guess?? and even if not, fixit fics will always be there

xnxndkek thank you for your response and sorry if I went off with mine way too much and got more rambly than needed. but what can I say, it’s always a delight to have someone to discuss a hyperfixation with!

Hi I just wanted to tell you how much joy it brought me to open tumblr one day to a dash full of Eddie thanks to someone I followed way back bc of Yi City! Jcjejfdj idk I guess I'm just glad you're also in this rabbithole💜 was also kinda wondering whether you've heard of the Kas theory cuz you know... you mentioned that Eddie's fine post s4, just a zombie playing his guitar in the Upside Down, and yeah, you're not way off from this theory actually since it implies him being a vampire XD (and also Vecna's puppet. Just imagine all the angst potential!!) Anyway, don't wanna give you any false hope but I'm still in denial about his death so the Kas theory is my only consolation (doesn't help that the more I think about it the more sense it makes) so may as well share. Okay, sorry for rambling into your askbox, I'm just too full of blorbo feels nowadays, hopefully you have a good day!💜

omg hi fellow yi city and eddie lover!!! it’s always fun when you find ppl from the other fandoms in your new fandom xD (though I have to say I'm still much more casually in the stranger things fandom than in cql fandom, idk if it will turn into a full blown obsession? rn I'm just mostly reblogging gifs with eddie, not engaging that much in meta nor reading any fanfic)

anyway I’m happy to hear you were delighted by my eddie spam on your dash xD (and I just have to mention here that I always headcanon that modern au xue yang is into heavy metal music, especially into trash metal, I think it fits him so well! sometimes I headcanon he can play guitar as well, despite his fucked up left hand)

ok now back to that eddie returns topic... that post about zombie eddie was written in the great feelings right after watching the final episode and yeah later on I realized that he indeed should be more of a vampire because of the bats (I guess I went with zombie because iron maiden's eddie seems kinda more like a zombie so my brain went there idk hfgksjdfjs). mostly I was angry he died because hmmm I didn't feel like his death was really that necessary? like, he could survive that, severely bitten but still alive (just like steve survived! yeah I know not so many bats attacked him but steve was fucking shirtless!!!). mostly I didn't feel like his death really changed it all that much for the whole plot? what purpose did it serve? it felt like he died just because the script writers and duffers wanted him to die. like, steve, nancy and robin could have also died, strangled by those demonic vines but of course they were needed for the plot (and I'm glad they didn't die xD), but I don't understand why eddie couldn't make it out alive too then. I feel like nothing really would be taken away from his heroic "didn't run away" moment if he survived it and just passed out in dustin's arms instead of dying?

I saw some ppl talking about “the kas theory” but I always forgot to google it ooops xD but ok now I googled it and hmm idk how I feel... I have mixed feelings honestly? because on one hand I want eddie to come back in season 5 but I'm not sure if I want it like this? kinda feels like a bit of a repeat of billy and mind flayer from s3. (and I have to say I didn't like it that much and the direction they took with billy in s3... mostly because I was counting on more interaction between billy and max and their whole household because from the tiny glimpses we got it seemed like a huge mess but then the duffers never really elaborated on it? like I'm glad we at least got the little flashback into billy's childhood but it's just a crumb. I wanted to know the current dynamics of that fucked up family, what's happening now, how the relationship between him and max developed. it was implied that it got better but it all happened off-screen but then in s4 max said that actually it was still bad so????? the duffers had such an interesting plot here and they just skipped that? tossed it away? got billy mind controlled and then killed him off instead of really putting the work into writing him a real full fleshed redemption arc? and like I'm all for my poor little meow meows getting tortured but ugh I guess I just wanted more billy being billy and we lost that once he got mind flayed. I was just very frustrated with the fact that I felt that there was so many questions and interesting things to explore in billy’s (and max’s) story but once billy got under mind control there was no space for that anymore and I felt robbed.)

but ugh since we got a lot of eddie screentime in s4 that won’t be the problem here... and maybe it could give some meaning to his death? generally I’m not sure if I want him as yet another meatsuit borrowed by vecna... but I’m not saying it couldn’t work either...

but when I said I wanted eddie back it was him as a part of the gang, he had suffered enough! xD also I like him as a quartet with steve and nancy and robin. and will is back in hawkings, he should get a chance to play dnd with eddie goddamnit! (it was so unfair to banish will to california while his friends joined an awesome dnd club and will was the most into dnd of thme all. come on. it's a hate crime. also that hair-do they gave him in s4 was a hate crime too.)

but the more I think about eddie resurrection the more it makes sense he could only come back under some kind of mind control of vecna, if he was changed by the powers of upside down into a vampire or some other undead being, then it would only be logical he would be part of this world now. so I guess it all depends on how that kas theory would be executed? because it might be interesting, but also I can easily see it being disappointing and boring and eddie would probably die at the end anyway... so idk??? basically it mostly seems to me like theory that would be way more fun to explore in fannish spaces that to see it brought on screen as a part of the series? I always have limited trust for the show creators jhgfkjsdhgjkh

in general I’m trying to have no expectations for s5 because I’m kinda afraid for it? after the disappointment that was mcu and infinity war/endgame I’m kinda reluctant with my trust for the writers, especially if it’s some big finale of a few seasons long/few movies long franchise. like, I hope s5 will be good... but also won’t be surprise if everything will implode from it’s own weigh.

anyway, thank you for rambling into my ask! I was very happy to receive your little message! and I hope you’ll have a good day too!

[skylesbian]

what is your full opinion on rebecca maybe getting killed off? xx

hello!! 

well tbqh, only thinking about this gives me anxiety sdkjlgs

my opinion could be divided into two parts: objective opinion, and subjective opinion. ofc my objective opinion isn’t a 100% objective, but here i go.

killing rebecca off would be, objectively, wong. they bringing a woman into the show, making half of her scenes about her feelings for a man (who treats her like shit in 99% of those scenes), and making her pregnant only for killing her after she has the baby, with the reason probably being giving that nasty man (and his partner) a baby, is such a gross trope. like emmerdale has always being pretty misogyny and they treat their female characters like shit, but that would be. god so gross. 

not to mention (jk ofc im mentioning it) the homophobia of this storyline: aaron going to prison and facing that kind of abuse (that was the nastiest thing i have ever seen emmerdale done) just to give r*bert a reason to cheat on him so they could have a baby what fucking nasty gross shit is that im Mad.

and well, as a rebecca stan, i would be fuming. she has so much potential!!! she is lovely and nice and she has done like one (1) bad thing in her life (sleeping with her sister fiance) but like. okay i know she is not perfect, but she is such a great character and she has so many interesting dynamics (chrissie!! debbie!! liv!! aaron!! vic!! even her scenes with characters as lydia and bernice are gold!! like i can’t wait to see bex having more scenes with different characters) and i think seeing this new face of bex where she is a mum, is amazing. like she has always been a “free spirit” and i can’t wait to see how she mixes that with being a good mum!!

but yeah, basically rebecca dying to give r*bron a baby is misogyny and homophobia and bad lazy writing and i couldn’t stand it lol

[aviewfromtheclouds25]

Hi lovely, love your ssw theories, I always look forward,to reading your updates as eps happen. I keep asking myself if Bex is for real, or is she just playing everyone & being a manipulative attention seeker? Surely we cant put all he changeable moods & decisions down to bad writing. She left but then came back....why? (bc her letters were not seen)? Is she really pregnant or is she using this to gain some sort of control. Sorry I know you don't have all the answers, I just want this sl over.

Hi, anon! Bless you, that’s so sweet. Thank you so much. I’m just glad (and still somewhat amused) that people actually enjoy reading my rambling haha. :) I love all the theories too, they help make the storyline more bearable at least haha! Honestly, anon, I wish I had all the answers but if I did Robert would have told Aaron once he’d come home, we’d have found out they never actually slept together and Rebecca was never really pregnant, and Ross would have been in on the plan with her from the start. Because there would have been such good dramatic irony for us watching it, and that would have kept the audience interested and invested. (And I’ll never understand that random spoiler “Ross and Rebecca meet… But what are they up to?” Umm, having a chat about Ross being a good dad and then hooking up for the rest of the afternoon before bragging about it in earshot of Robert apparently..? Why is this so extraordinary that it is spoiler-worthy?? Unless this was the day a baby was conceived…)

I can’t put this all down to bad writing. Yeah, they have their moments like most shows and these are definitely getting more frequent than they used to be, but to be consistently this poor and inconsistent? (Consistently inconsistent, oh the irony haha.) I just can’t accept that.

Right now, anon, I’m very much back in The Theory realm. My thoughts on the details have changed a couple of times over the weeks - between her not being pregnant at all and it being Ross’s - but the one belief that I’ve held throughout is that Rebecca is playing everyone. So right now, I’m very much back to my original theory that she and Robert never slept together, she set it up for Ross to get her pregnant and is now using it as revenge on Robert.

I’m adamant there’s a twist coming because it is 100% not Robert’s baby. We’ve all discussed loads the fact that we’ve been told outright from the start, and so have the characters, but think about this… When he was in prison, Aaron’s cellmate Ethan showed him a photo of his own child and Aaron said “They all look the same to me.” Since Rebecca’s pregnancy, I assumed this was foreshadowing for a “Who’s the daddy?” plot. Except we’ve never once been made to ask who the daddy is… Because this is a “Who’s the daddy?” plot in reverse. Why would Aaron need to tell the difference if it’s actually Robert’s baby and he’s been told this from the start? He wouldn’t, unless it’s signposting a paternity twist.

And I’ve actually been discussing all of this with @itwasjustmisplaced, but let’s not forget that the whole basis of Rebecca’s character and reason for her being in the village was because of the question mark over her own paternity. And like she pointed out to Chrissie yesterday, this baby will be Lawrence’s first biological grandchild. And we know Lawrence will soon be dying… Perhaps part of the confusion is that those of us who have been convinced of a twist or The Theory, have not factored in her relationships with her family (because we hadn’t seen them have scenes together for 84 years) and instead solely focused on her wanting revenge on Robert? Maybe this is about her family, too, and the way she was treated by them. And maybe part of the reason she wants revenge on Robert is because of how he manipulated her into the situation with that paternity test and how it broke her family, not to mention the years she’d spent away from them because of the ordeal she had been through because of her dalliance with him? Maybe what she really wants is revenge on Robert and her inheritance. She specifically mentioned this to Chrissie, within the same conversation that she said something about Lawrence along the lines of “He can’t hate the baby just because of who its dad is.” And we’ve seen, she didn’t want Lawrence to know she was pregnant yet. And she certainly didn’t want him to know it’s Robert’s…or her story of it being his, at least. Because look at his reaction. She needs to hold his favour if this is all part of a plan.

Because part of the inconsistency we’re seeing is the fact that she seems to have a different persona - and a different story - for each of the characters. And I strongly believe that’s because she’s playing them all. Because look at how she’s handling the situation with Chrissie - aside from the fact that the story she gave Chrissie was somewhat altered to the one we’ve frequently heard and her general character was so different to the point that I actually felt like had she been shown that way consistently throughout I might actually have been able to vaguely understand her role in this storyline a bit better - the way she gets upset when the baby is mentioned to someone else? (Also her reaction to Vic telling Ross.) I feel like maybe there was a plan, and she needed to involve people to make it work, but now it’s become too messy and she’s losing her control of the situation. (Although this kind of makes me think back to a post I wrote after The Incident about the relationship between hope and control, and the way this has continued throughout. Because if this twist is the case, she’s losing control but Robron are gaining hope through Aaron forgiving Robert after he's been honest…)

I don’t know, anon. I could write a hundred different scenarios of how this twist could play out and everything which alludes to it, because there really are so many different ways this could go. But ultimately, I’m staying in this realm. Because with a twist, everything makes sense. Without it, nothing makes sense. And I just refuse to let that hope go yet. I want all the answers, too, anon. We’ll get them soon, I’m sure. :)

EDIT: This twist would totally fit with Rebecca's part in the SSW Theory, though, Because that's when she arrived and the whole paternity issue was brought up...