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greenishghostey · 2 years ago

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Dungeon Master meet Prop Master | part 3

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Drama Club!reader

Summary: The blossoming relationship between you and Eddie was still new but you were both already in too deep. Turns out that your friends love a little romance gossip too.

Warnings: I've decided that this series will be 18+ eventually, so please DO NOT engage or interact if you are underage. More fluff, friendship banter, swearing, a very vague understanding of the US education system.

Word Count: 5,236

Authors Note: So this chapter is a bit more dialogue-heavy and goes into friend group reactions to Eddie and specs' budding relationship and where it will potentially go. This was going to be the first half of one chapter but I felt it was better as a stand-alone piece.

Part 2 /// Part 4 (Coming Soon)

Friday at school was surprisingly busy, with most of your classes hitting the first assignment stage. You loved a long-winded, formulaic piece of homework as much as the next person, but your mind had been busy. Eddie kept your mind so fucking busy. Even your favourite classes were a little bit tuned out by the sound of a boyish snort, metal rings tapping a steering wheel and “specs”. You were in a near-constant state of fluster, removing your glasses to rub your eyes or pinch the bridge of your nose. Your mom had asked if you were sick while eating breakfast. She asked if it was a boy. God, she made it sound so juvenile. You were legally an adult. However, she was right on the money - not like you were going to tell her that.

You had a giggly, schoolgirl crush on a boy who was nice to you.

But “nice to you” wasn’t doing him enough justice. He was exceptional to you. The closest thing to Eddie’s comfortable presence you could think of was Penny - the person who had been your rock since elementary school. Eddie Munson had achieved that astronomical status within, what, like, 4 hours?

Fuck, if he actually did have a weird cult thingy going, you might just have to look into joining. Maybe he gave out welcome packages along with the Hellfire shirts. An introductory pamphlet and a complimentary goat skull or something. You could bring snacks to the ritual sacrifices.

You had a study period before lunch and took the opportunity to be a hermit in the library, trying to power through as much homework as you could in an hour and ten minutes.

English gave you an essay on The Crucible, which was convenient since you were already knee-deep in annotating the play for prop and set ideas. Colonial melancholy mixed with fire and brimstone was your current plan. Now you just had to add in a few notes about John Proctor’s inner demons and how Arthur Miller was, unfortunately, a “national treasure”. The usual English class spiel that Miss Samson would slap a lovely A or B on. If you found yourself feeling adventurous, you could even pepper in some gender commentary discussion points.

Woodshop was the only assignment you couldn’t make some progress on from your little library alcove, which was a shame because you were strangely excited about it. The project was simple enough for early in the year, making a small storage box with divided sections inside and a hinged lid. But you had a potential plan for your box if everything went well.

Eddie had a zip-lock bag to keep spare game dice in. He had shown you the polyhedral cluster fuck of colours while you helped with Hellfire redecorating. It was cute that Eddie had collected so many spare sets just in case someone forgot to bring theirs on a Friday. He explained that he tried to get a wide enough range of designs so that they would work for every class and race - whatever that meant. Such an extensive collection deserved a proper form of storage and display, so you planned to give Eddie, and his club, another donation in the form of a dice box. Originally, you were going to give the box to your mom to keep her funkiest, fanciest jewellery, but your dad beat you to the punch on her birthday.

Mr Kennedy, your shop teacher, might even let you carve a pattern on the lid too - flames or a skull, something befitting the Hellfire vibe. Mr Ken always liked you because you were interested in his subject rather than seeing it as an easy grade for senior year credits.

Giving Eddie a gift, regardless of how practical it would be, was maybe a little much. He had already lightly teased you for “donating” aged paper to Hellfire so they could have more immersive maps and in-game documents. But that was friendly and with good intentions - he did really want that brown paper. If he seemed apprehensive, you could easily pass the dice box off as a peace offering from the drama club. From one group of oddballs to another.

You polished off the introductory paragraph of an essay on the Reconstruction Era. The name Ulysses had stopped looking like a real word after reading it so many times in your History textbook. The bell rang, and you heard shoes squeaking and doors slamming outside the library's silence. You and Penny always met at your locker before heading to the cafeteria, so you made your way through the halls, weaving between hoards of backpacks, denim and school spirit.

In your opinion, the lockers in Hawkins High were pretty shitty real estate. Too narrow, stupid stiff locks, and they always smelled weird. It was unlikely that they were cleaned out properly when the owners graduated. Some crumbs and a sticky stain had welcomed you in freshman year. You were playing Tetris with your textbooks when you heard your name being yelled down the emptying hallway, followed by an icy bellow of, “We need to talk, young lady!” Penny was always really good at projecting to the back of the room. It was one of the main reasons Miss Butler loved her so much. A ginger, permed head came bounding over to you at a rate of knots, skidding to an abrupt stop in her grass-stained tennis shoes.

“I didn’t do anything. You can prove nothing - Shit, are you okay?” You sniggered, watching Penny pant and lean against your open locker door. She must have bolted to you from across campus; her bangs were sticking to her pale powdered forehead.

“Quit laughing,” she was clutching her side like she was in agony, “I ran from the fucking track field to get here as soon as possible. We need to talk. Now.” Penny straightened up, crossed her arms and fixed you with a stern look. This particular look was reserved for when you forgot to fill her in on gossip or when you stole chips from her during lunch. You hoped she had some of those little pretzel chip pieces in her bag.

“Since when did you know where the track field is?” You joked with a similarly pinched look on your face. It was a mystery as to why she seemed so miffed at you. Ben hadn’t struck out with the costume designer, Lily, again. No one in shop class had narrowly missed losing a finger. The Hawkins gossip pool was rather dry. What a shame.

Penny flapped her hands in your face, “Shush!” She snipped. It was like you’d told her she wouldn’t ever get that Oscar she always dreamed of. Like you had pissed in her cornflakes that very morning. “Munson does business out past the track field.”

Ah. Crap. You should have called her last night after dinner and told her about that. About Eddie and you. Whatever you and Eddie were. Friends? Acquaintances?

You felt your eyes widen, “Oh, forgot you were doing that today. How’d it go?” You asked innocently. As much as you wanted to play dumb, you couldn’t make it convincing. The warmth painted across your face, and your sudden interest in your locker shelf was a dead giveaway.

“Well, a freaky little birdie asked me if I was “the friend of specs” and called me ‘Pennies’ the entire deal.” The nickname was sort of sweet. It was better than if Eddie had called her Penelope like her parents did. She would have slapped him with the weed baggie if he’d done that.

“To be fair, a lot of people you know have glasses. Plus, he’s in our grade, even if he’s been around a while. Isn’t he in Home Ec with you?” You knew he was in that class with Penny. She talked about how out of place he looked in an apron with his hair tied back and without his heavy silver rings. Apparently, he was pretty good at cooking and could fix a jammed sewing machine in under a minute. She’d called him a “domestic demon”, in a nice way, of course. Honestly, you had started to wish you had given in to Penny trying to bribe you to take Home Ec with her. A fucking apron.

“Yeah, and he’s Mrs Collins’ favourite. Now, stop interrupting me. How much do you think he charged me?” Penny pressed. The situation was beginning to feel like a bad cop style interrogation very quickly. You could sense where Penny was going - to be honest, you could read her like a children’s book.

“You said it was gonna be like 30 bucks, right? Seems reasonable for illegal stuff.” For the ‘weed parties’, $30 was possibly even a bit too generous. Eddie could use a better business plan.

“Yep, that’s what Connor told me. But that’s not what happened.”

Connor! That was his name. You had been so sure it was Keith for some reason. He looked like a Keith with his product-saturated hair and gym shorts that were too tight to be comfortable. It wasn’t even like he had anything to show off in the shorts. Now, Eddie, you could tell there was something stunning in his dark jeans. If only you’d had gym with him.

“Where are you going with this exactly, Pen? I’m hungry. All the good juice boxes are gonna be gone by now. You’ve stuck me with crappy orange.” You whined. The orange juice they had in the cafeteria was rancid. It was sickly sweet to the point of tasting like children’s medicine. Apple juice was the superior choice, but everyone in the school agreed on that too.

“He charged me 15 bucks! He smiled and was like, “ah, friend of a friend discount, don’t worry about it”.” Penny said in a mimicking voice, her eyebrows were almost in her hairline, and she was a few seconds away from shaking you down for information.

“Oh.”

Fuck. Well, now you would have to spill the beans about your wonderful little evening in the drama room. Part of you was itching to talk about it, and you knew that Penny wouldn’t be too judgemental of Eddie. However, you also wanted to keep it to yourself for a little longer. Hold the warmth of your meeting close to your chest and only have Eddie to share it with.

“Yeah. Oh. Firstly, when did you become chummy with Munson? Secondly, what did you do to get a 50% discount!?”

“You wanna go scream it on the roof? Shut up. He came by the drama room yesterday, and we hit it off, I guess? He’s really sweet and gave me a ride home since it was dark out.” You said, leaning in close and tempted to slap a hand over Penny’s mouth because she was going to start shrieking eventually with this level of gossip.

“…Do we need to clean the room?” Penny grimaced, pulling away from you.

“Ugh! Jesus, Pen!” You swatted at her with your backpack. As if you would soil your beloved drama room. Eddie would have to, at least, take you on a date before you entertained that idea. Like a pay for your dinner and brush hair behind your ear before kissing you sort of date. The fact that that scenario had started to morph into a fantasy was mildly concerning, but it maintained a solid PG-13 rating.

“What? Excuse me for making assumptions based on fifty fucking percent!” Penny exclaimed. Thankfully the hallway was empty, but her voice still echoed off the rows of lockers.

“We hung out, and that’s all. I swear on your hair.” You huffed. By swearing on Penny’s crazy, fiery mane of hair, she would know you were telling her the truth. You just really loved the hair. “What did you think I’d done anyway?”

“I dunno. Some girls say the other drug dealers around Hawkins asked them to flash their tits for a discount. Thought you might be going through a rebellious phase?” Penny wiggled her eyebrows. God, she really was gunning for you to let loose one day. “He is cute in, like, a funky way. His eyes are the size of my mom’s fancy dinner plates, though; it’s weird.”

You rolled your eyes at her, continuing to sort your locker, “Eddie’s not that kind of guy,” You stated firmly, “besides, you’d get too jealous if someone else got that much of my attention.” Easing the slight tension of the conversation with a little friendly jab. The “cute” comment wasn’t even going to be discussed or acknowledged. Penny huffed and slammed your locker closed once you gathered your lunch.

The two of you continued the Eddie conversation. Penny needed to know every syllable that you and Eddie had said to each other. She needed to be able to visualise the interior of his van. Any speck of information was not a request but a necessity. As you had hoped, she wasn’t being judgemental in her pestering. Just being a concerned best friend. You had never expressed any real interest in a guy to her in the years you had been best friends - well, any guy that you knew in real life anyway. Robert Downey Jr in ‘Tuff Turf’ awakened something in you when you saw it during winter break. The movie wasn’t all that great, but you had learned that big brown eyes and endearing charm were “your thing”. An educational experience, if nothing else.

The “Eddie territory”, as Penny dubbed it, was new for everyone involved. No threats had been detected so far, but as you stressed to your friend, it had less than 24 hours. The one piece of information that you withheld was the promise of future Thursdays in the drama room. You were the unofficial Hellfire interior decorator now.

The cafeteria was as you had expected, buzzing with life and smelled like really sad mac and cheese. Your eyes glanced towards the lunch counter and took note of the lack of juice. God damn it. You linked arms with Penny and started navigating your way towards the usual table - a mix of drama club juniors and seniors, their plus ones, and a few other “artsy fartsy” types who needed people to sit with.

You slid into your usual seat quickly and swung Penny into hers with just a little more force than was necessary. That was for the implied flashing comment earlier. Subtle and immediate karma was a beautiful thing in your friendship. You dug into your sandwich, the chatter of the table fading to background noise in your mind.

Your head was still unbelievably busy. Not even a turkey sandwich and tomato soup could put you fully back to normal. Penny nudged you with her elbow and pushed a zip-lock bag of pretzel pieces towards you. Like a little peace offering for her dramatics. But then she had to ruin it, “You only get five; I will count. My mom and sister eat them, too, so I can’t bring as many. Meaning you are on rations.” You were in the midst of your first real battle with emotions and hormones, and she was getting stingy with the goods.

“Can I get the extra salty ones you don’t like?” You asked, blinking at her with your best puppy dog eyes. They were shit, but at least it guaranteed she would give in quickly just to make you stop. “Pleeeease, Penelope. Sweetest Penny-lope.”

Penny shuddered at the use of her full name and the silly nickname you used when you wanted something. It was like she was born as an 80-year-old woman and her parents just went with it. At least “Penny” was a cute nickname, very her. She turned her nose up at you and sighed, “Ugh! Fine, but if you take the kinda burnt ones, you’re not getting that Siouxie cassette back.”

“Well then, you can kiss that Bon Jovi t-shirt you left in my room goodbye,” You threatened. Your fingers wiggled into the zip-lock bag to gather your pretzel rations as you and Penny dissolved into giggles and snorts.

Lunch continued much the same after that. You and Penny tended to stay joined at the hip at the lunch table since drama kids were just strange. But it had always been like that. It was you and your beloved Penelope against the world. On the road to Broadway, or at least off-broadway, if you were being realistic. Lily, the club costume guru with the most impressive black springy coils you had ever seen, kept glancing over your shoulder, eventually meeting your gaze.

You raised your eyebrows in question, mouth full of salty snacks, “Mmmm?”

“Eddie Munson is, like, trying to stare through the back of your head,” Lily whispered, her blouse almost dipping into the cup of your thermos.

You didn’t dare turn around. Not because you were embarrassed about people knowing the two of you were kind of friends, but because you would melt into the gross tiled floor if he waved. If the corner of his mouth so much as twitched into a smile, you’d flatline for a few seconds. Due to Lily’s observation, your heart picked up until it pulsed heat through your veins. God, this was the fucking pits.

Lily leaned in a little closer, her voice just above a whisper again, “Is he bothering you? Need me to go say something?” Lily Warren was quite possibly the sweetest girl in your entire grade. But, this was the one time you wouldn’t need her help when it was offered. Part of you wanted to go chat with Eddie, maybe make yourself known to his friends, like he was with yours. Minus the drug dealing, obviously. The distinct bark of his voice rang through the cafeteria, and several people at your table either grimaced, rolled their eyes or scowled in his general direction. It broke your heart to have the evidence that Eddie was like sunshine personified while most people around you loathed his existence. “If he messed with you, I swear to god.”

“No messing, I promise, but thanks, Lils. He came by the drama room yesterday for club stuff. Probably just let his eyes wander and remembered he knew me.” Your reply wasn’t entirely untrue. You didn’t think he had been staring a hole into the back of your skull like Lily had said; his gaze just tended to appear that way. “It’s just Eddie being Eddie.” You hummed, suppressing a smile. However, your heartfelt introspection was short-lived as Penny snorted into her can of Tab.

“Eddie?” Jeff asked, nudging his friend in the rib, trying to pull his attention away from the other side of the cafeteria, “You good, man?”

“Fabulous,” Eddie mumbled.

Eddie was off in a world of his own. He did that sometimes. It was similar to a robot powering down - his eyes glazed over, he sat straight as a rod and barely moved an inch. But this time, it was different; Eddie was deep in thought, putting all of his attention into a specific spot a few feet away from his seat. The drama club table. Jeff and Eddie had walked to the cafeteria together and were, surprisingly, the first at the table. The freshmen, Dustin and Mike, were probably still trying to get their bearings about the school or were still in that kiss-ass phase with teachers.

Jeff moved in his chair, positioning himself to try and catch a glimpse at what Eddie was honing in on. If it was a person, they could probably feel his stare like a ghost hanging on them. “Whatcha looking at the drama girls for?” There was a smugness in Jeff’s voice - Eddie didn’t appreciate the attitude, even if he was bringing it on himself.

“Glasses girl has a cool sweater. Orange and black are complimentary colours, ya know,” what a bullshit answer. He was losing his edge, and it was all your fault. You had him making up colour theory facts. Black and orange only worked together when it was Halloween - and on you, but that was beside the point.

Before Jeff could start an entire interrogation, the rest of the Hellfire club members arrived. Gareth and Simon were in the middle of a discussion about which spells Simon’s Cleric, Rothgär would learn once he levelled up - the favourite option so far was Holy Aura, so he could blind enemies with Godly light. Dustin and Mike were trailing behind the older boys, having two conversations at once. One was about the upcoming campaign that evening, and the other was about how much of bitch their chemistry teacher was - Ms Wheaton was quite the battleaxe, Eddie could remember all too well. He and Loise went way back.

Gareth was the first to notice the uncharacteristic silence from the head of the table. No all-mighty knowledge coming to weigh in on the spell discussion, no greeting, absolutely nothing. Just Eddie looking almost a touch flustered and focusing so hard on his lunch that he was going to burst a blood vessel in his eye. Soon, each of the Hellfire boys noticed Eddie being… not Eddie, expressions morphing into concern and curiosity.

“You guys want a picture or something? An autograph, maybe?” Eddie snapped, taking an aggressive bite of his slightly bruised apple, his face twisting at the sour taste - Granny Smiths, man, he needed to start buying the other green ones.

“Dude, are you sick?” Gareth asked, “You’re being quiet, and it’s fucking weird.”

“Yeah, usually we can’t get a word in when we sit down,” Dustin pointed out, “you were kinda weird this morning, too, when you picked me up.”

Eddie had been super weird that morning. In a good way. In a way that he hadn’t felt in a long time. His mind was still going a mile a minute because of that clumsy little wave you’d given him. Eddie was a fan of dramatics; anyone within a twenty-mile radius of the guy could see that, plain and simple. But, he never thought he would be in a position where he almost swooned, like some damsel NPC in his campaigns. You being friendly and talking to him like he was a person was pretty damn good, then you had to go and call him a “sweetheart”. His hands hadn’t been that clammy since the middle school talent show before he and the guys went out on stage.

“You been looking at funky sweater gal all day, huh?” Jeff loved every second of that lunch period.

“You’re on thin ice, Fulton,” Eddie mumbled, shooting a glare at his friend, who was still basking in his smug glory. That was when the absolute avalanche of questions started.

“Shit, why didn’t you say, dude! Who is she? She hot?” Gareth immediately honed in on the mention of a girl. A potentially hot girl. Christ, he needed to get laid or just go on a date - something would be better than nothing. A handhold would probably do him a world of good.

“Since when were you actually into girls around here?” That prodding comment came from Dustin. He was craning his neck in all directions, trying to scope out the women in the room. Like he knew Eddie’s type. Eddie didn’t have a type. “Nice to him” was all the type he needed. “Is there some goth or metal girl that’s new or something?” Dustin whispered to Mike, who shrugged his lanky shoulders. Eddie had slid down in his chair; teenagers were hard work. No wonder parents complained about them all the time.

Simon, the stand-up guy that he was, had decided to busy himself with eating and reading through his campaign notes, sniggering to himself when he re-read a good joke he had made last week - “every warlock requires his war key”.

“Si?” Eddie poked at Simon’s book, “you get first rolls tonight. Your initiative is 20 from now until 10:30.” He and Simon shared a knowing smile and nodded. Always good to conduct business with him.

“BULLSHIT!” Mike yelled. He tried to speak with a low bite to his voice, resulting in a wavering crack. Eddie used to do the same thing, thinking it made him cool, so he couldn’t judge the kid too harshly.

“How is that fair?!” Gareth whined, eyebrows furrowing harshly. He was still trying to scope out the object of Eddie’s interest, though. That information was a teeny tiny bit more critical than Eddie’s piece of shit, made-up rules.

“Cause I said so and because he isn’t about to go and bug every chick in here to see if I’ve breathed near her!” Eddie barked.

He could sort of understand Gareth foaming at the mouth. Massive virgin that he was. Jeff just lived for gossip, which explained his enjoyment of the situation. But Dustin and Mike said they had girlfriends - they had no excuses. Were they both raised in a fucking barn? “Besides, there’s no fucking point in keeping it to myself now anyway.”

Eddie was embarrassed. Eddie never got embarrassed. Especially not in front of his brethren and the underlings. It was just like in his van again, when you were being all cute and cool without even trying.

“Knew I could wear you down. So, what’s her name? Where’d you meeeeet?” Jeff sang, resting his chin on his palms. If he started batting his long eyelashes at Eddie, he was getting kicked off his chair.

With your identity about to be revealed, each of the boys turned to face Eddie, eyes wide with curiosity. Their depressing cafeteria macaroni cheese was going to get so soggy.

“In the orange polka dot sweater. Big glasses. She’s the prop girl for the drama club. I went to do Hellfire set up yesterday, and she was still doing drama-y stuff,” Eddie explained, gathering his friends closer so he didn’t announce anything to others in earshot. “To make a long dick short-”

“Dude, ew.” Jeff cringed.

“To make a long dick short! We hit it off. Like really well. She made that sick prop sword I use as The Sun Strike-“

“Made it?!” Dustin, Mike and Simon gasped. The three of them were the characters putting in the most work to find the sword. Simon’s character was a cleric for the Sun goddess who blessed it, so everything worked out very nicely.

“Quit interrupting! But yeah, that’s what I said too. She handmade all of the weapon props in that one big box. How fucking cool is that?”

“Is she cool with us using it?” Gareth muttered, a grimace worming its way onto his face. “I asked Janie in my math class for a pen, and she looked like she wanted to slap me.”

“Nah, specs is cool. Actually, she was super psyched that we named it and made it into the legendary slayer of midnight.” Eddie’s Dungeon Master voice began to creep up his vocal cords, “The bearer of brilliant fire. The almighty-“

There was a giggle. A little shit type of giggle. “So she’s got a nickname already?” Dustin sniggered, cutting Eddie’s dramatics short. He was having the time of his life seeing Eddie practically swooning over you.

“Wears glasses, aka specs. Therefore, she’s “specs”. What’s the issue?”

“Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything,” Dustin mumbled, a goofy little grin plastered across his face as he dug into his lunch. Eddie was used to all eyes being on him at the table - he thrived on the admiration and comradery that came from Hellfire. However, he was not a fan of the teasing. Sure, he would definitely be joining in if it were Jeff, who was into a girl, but this time it was him, so it made him feel flustered. It was uncomfortable being the centre of attention for a fluffy, fuzzy reason.

“Found her!” Mike whisper-yelled, shaking Gareth’s arm so he could laser focus in on you and your dotty sweater. The boys also noticed Penny, who was leaning on your shoulder with a big grin on her face. Gareth could swear he heard angels singing songs about her.

“Damn! She talked to you?” Gareth pressed. He tried to cover up a laugh since he knew Eddie would either kick him under the table or make his character’s life miserable in their session that evening.

“You’re on thin ice too now.” Eddie cursed, crossing his arms, “For your information, I also gave her a ride home. Might want to brush up on your game, Campbell.”

“She willingly got in your shit box!?” Gareth wasn’t trying to push Eddie’s buttons, but it was almost too much fun. “Aw, she must like you.” Eddie was going to strangle the junior. However, he also wished that Gareth was right - sarcasm be damned.

“Probably gave the poor girl a heart attack,” Jeff mumbled to Simon, trying to speak quietly under the cafeteria noise so Eddie wouldn’t blow a gasket.

“Great to finally know what you guys think of me. Really! I’m touched.” Eddie scowled. Only a peppering of malice was in his expression; he knew everyone meant well. Plus, they were right about the van. It was well and truly a shit box. “I bare my soul to you people, and it gets thrown right in my face….” Eddie turned his attention back to his apple, which was now beginning to brown.

Dustin patted Eddie’s shoulder encouragingly. It was a sweet gesture. The teasing chatter had come to an end, but each of the guys still had a small smirk on their faces. It wasn’t every day that they were the ones able to get Eddie all riled up in that playful way that friends do. That brothers in arms do.

“Eddie,” Dustin said with a genuine smile on his face now, “I saw a girl in that exact sweater putting a note in your locker when I went to the bathroom during History.” The sound of a chair strapping and clattering to the floor rang through the cafeteria - some cheerleaders passing by the table almost jumped out of their scrunchies.

Eddie had a general tendency to move rather sporadically and quickly. He bounced around a lot, mostly to burn off excess energy that usually struck him at around eleven every day. That being said, Eddie felt as though he was nearly breaking the sound barrier while running from the cafeteria to his locker after Dustin finished his sentence.

The little scrap of lined paper read, “I hope the set goes down well with your guys today. Let me know everyone’s thoughts on Thursday, please! Meet you at 3:30!” it was signed off with a small doodle of a pair of glasses.

Eddie quickly glanced around him to make sure that the coast was clear. When it was confirmed, he started drumming his hands rapidly on his locker door. Soon, his entire body joined in on the celebration, and he was cheering through clenched teeth. No one needed to see him looking this type of ridiculous - it would ruin his long-established reputation.

“Fuck yes, I’ve still got it!” He grinned, thrusting his fists into the air. Eddie was almost dancing his way up and down the hallway. Power sliding on his knees was actually sounding like a fantastic idea. He’d willingly take the friction burn to his kneecaps because you were meeting him on Thursday at 3:30 sharp.

Tag list: @fan-girl-97 @lunatictardis @eddiesprincess86 @kimmi-kat @strangerthings1983fan @moviefreak1205 @becca-alexa

#my writing #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x you #fluff #fic #eddie #stranger things fic

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stormtide-leviathan · 4 years ago

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Kaldheim Booster Challenge

I posted this on reddit, if you’d rather check it out there, but I wanted to share it here too b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶'̶m̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶i̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.

In the third great designer search, there was a challenge to pick a set and make a booster pack full of custom cards that fit in that set. I’ve started doing this for sets since Zendikar rising, and wanted to continue that tradition here. Why am I doing this so late after the release of Kaldheim? Cause shuttup, that’s why >:(

Here’s the link to the full imgur album. There are also individual imgur links even though there are images, cause reddit doesn’t allow images directly and I’m copy/pasting from there.

Anyway, let’s get started! (Long post ahead)

Common #1:

Divine Goat 3W

Creature- Goat

W, Sacrifice ~: You gain 3 life.

Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.

Here’s a top down design, based on Thor’s goats that pulled his chariot and were sacrificed for food every night and reborn in the morning. Originally the recursion triggered based on Vehicles, but with two other vehicle cards in the booster including the other white common, one had to go and this was the best option, but I still liked the flavor so I went with another of white’s themes.

Common #2:

Dwarven Elder 2W

Creature- Dwarf Warrior

Whenever ~ crews a Vehicle, draw a card.

2/2

The fabled white card draw. Yes, I am your savior. Your messiah. Bow before my wisdom. I could technically see this design in either white or blue, but I liked white better and white cares more about vehicles anyway. I based the costing off Stealer of Secrets. This doesn’t put itself in danger, but relies much more on deck building to activate.

Common #3:

Ambusher Giant 5U

Creature- Giant Warrior

Flash

Foretell 3U (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

4/4

Foretell works really well with instant speed, so I thought a big instant speed creature would be a good fit. Since blue has a giant tribal theme, and is one of the main colors for foretell, it was an obvious fit.

Common #4:

Heated Rebuttal 1U

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2. They can’t spend S to pay this cost. (S is mana from a snow source.)

Here’s another snow hate card. What I really wanted to do with this was discourage running snow basics where you don’t have to, and though we have the god in the set that does this I think this is an issue that’s solved with both quality and quantity. I wasn’t sure on the power level of this for standard purposes, but I’d rather this more pushed version than be too weak and have it not do anything against snow.

Common #5:

Shapeshifter’s Trickery 1U

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant Creature

Enchanted creature gets +1/+0, is every creature type, and can’t be blocked.

Not too much to say here really. This is good for the tribal synergies in the set, and is just an innocuous little aura for limited. Not everything is gonna be pushing boundaries.

Common #6:

Draugr Fleshchewer 1B

Snow Creature- Zombie Berserker

Whenever Draugr Fleshchewer attacks, mill two cards. If a snow card was milled this way, Draugr Fleshchewer gains menace until end of turn.

2/2

This originally worked with the “exile a creature card from your graveyard” subtheme, but I had to change this to snow and I couldn’t get a good snowy design that used that mechanic. So instead, it fuels it. I also wanted to have another card that cares about the existence of snow instants/sorceries because they were introduced this set and the number of cards that only work with snow permanent cards when they don’t have to is strange.

Common #7:

Arrogant Stand 3R

Sorcery

Creatures without a boast ability can’t block this turn.

Here’s a simple little card that plays around with the flavorful space of boast. You have to be very full of yourself to stand up to the oncoming attack.

Common #8:

Winterdark Ritual 2R

Snow Instant

Add three mana of any one color.

Foretell R (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

Is the name completely on the nose? Absolutely. And I find that hilarious. This is taking advantage of the fact that foretell is payed in multiple payments to turn that into mana storage. And it’s snow, because snow rituals are new to the set, play well, and I don’t think it makes it too powerful, though this has a lot of little factors to it that might push it over the edge. Any number of them could easily be tweaked though.

Common #9:

Blessing of Koma G

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature has “T: Add one mana of any color.”

2, Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.

This card is secretly also a snow card. The intention is, you can enchant snow creatures with it to get extra snow mana. However, it’s not snow itself because a) I thought that made for a cool moment of discovery and b) If it was snow, a lot of players would mistakenly think the mana is snow whether or not the creature it enchants is.

Common #10:

Boulderskin Troll 3G

Creature- Troll Warrior

When ~ dies, search your library for a Forest or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.

3/2

I really wanted this card to be red. See, the legend goes that when a troll goes out in the sun it turns into rock and I thought tutoring for a Mountain when it died would be a good way to do that. However, I just couldn’t find a good way to do that which felt red, so I had to make this green. Luckily red/green are the troll colors so it could still find a mountain. I specifically chose nonbasic so that it could synergize with the snow duals at common.

Uncommon #1:

Immerstrum Berserker 3BB

Creature- Demon Berserker

Boast- 2B: ~ gains lifelink until end of turn. (Activate this ability only once each turn and only if this creature attacked this turn.)

Boast- 1B: Each opponent discards a card. (You may activate both boasts in a single turn.)

5/3

It has two boasts. Ya know how most creatures only have one boast, if any? Well not this, it has two. That’s it. That’s the design.

Uncommon #2:

Master Shipcrafter 1R

Creature- Dwarf Artificer

1R: ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Whenever a creature you control crews a Vehicle for the first time each turn, that Vehicle gains that creature’s activated abilities until end of turn.

0/2

There’s this weird tension in the set where R/W both encourages you to play a lot of vehicles, and has a lot of boast creatures, which do not work well at all together. This card is an attempt to fix that. Originally it just worked with boast, #notallactivatedabilities, but that was an extremely narrow card so I widened the scope. There’s certainly some weird combos you can do with this, but nothing too bad in limited though.

Uncommon #3:

Ring of Kinship 2

Artifact- Equipment

Equipped creature gets +1/+1

Creature spells you cast that share a creature type with equipped creature cost 1 less to cast.

Equip 1

I’m a big fan of equipment and auras that have a universal effect that cares about a quality of the equipped creature. I dunno why, but it tickles me. Creature type is a good thing to care about on designs like this though, and I wanted both an equipment and a tribal reward in the booster, so it was a good fit.

Rare:

Kvasha, God of Magic 3UU

Legendary Creature- God

Flying

When ~ enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying for each enchantment you control and each enchantment card in your graveyard.

Sacrifice a Spirit: You may cast spells as though they have flash this turn.

Kvasha’s Birth 2GW

Enchantment- Saga

I, II: Until your next turn, whenever ~ or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.

III: Mill six cards. Exile ~ then return it to the battlefield face-up.

I’m genuinely really sad they didn’t do a god with a saga as its backside, it could have been really cool. So I made one myself!! I wanted it to at least be feasible as a commander for a Saga deck, and since Kaldheim has a lot of enchantments running around I figured it could use an enchantress like this. The tricky part was, I had to make a blue card that could also feasibly be a selesnya card, since the saga turns into it. It also works well with the tribal themes and the spirit subtype in the set, though that’s more of a bonus than anything else. If you’re wondering why this card looks different, that’s for two reasons. One, I can’t make Sagas on MSE. And two, this overlapped nicely with the Inventor’s Fair contest of the week on tumblr, which I use mtg.design for since it’s easier to get links that way. (Check them out! @inventors-fair That contest is what finally pushed me to finish this booster).

Basic:

Snow-Covered Swamp

Snow Land- Swamp

T: Add B.

Look, it's a snow-covered swamp. I needed a snasic in here. I dunno what else you want from me.

So there we go!! Finally!! The booster challenge that took weeks longer than it should have. What do you think of the designs? Do you think they would fit well within Kaldheim? If not, how could I fix them? Also I probably made a formatting mistake somewhere in here so if you notice like, a wrong link or something let me know. Also, if you want me to tackle an old set feel free to request it, though since this took me weeks for some reason I can’t make any promises lol.

Here’s boosters I’ve done before:

- Zendikar Rising: Reddit

- Commander Legends: Reddit // Tumblr

#mtg #magic #magic the gathering #custommagic #custommtg #kaldheim #booster challenge #long post #original post

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dreamsofdeath2 · 6 years ago

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its almost 5am im not giving you a title | Reiichi | Trial 1-2 | Re: Wakaru, Yukina, i dunno man im tired

So Reiichi didn't have much of anything to contribute. That kinda sucked. But he could rest easy knowing that he still wasn't the worst person in the trial. Like, really. 'I'll just vote for the next person to speak'? Accusing people with literally no evidence simply because... what, they were friends with the victim? What were they even trying to accomplish?

But there were more important things to discuss - such as the murder and goats - so he simply resolved to come up with a way to get back at Seijin later (most likely involving glitter) and focused on the actual case. For example: Wakaru's idea that the victim might've been a willing sacrifice.

"So what you guys're trying to say is like... the culprit and Chinatsu agreed to try and do some kinda ritual for whatever reason - probably to do with the motive, right? Chinatsu brought the stuff from the storage room for it, and was okay with being sacrificed? But then why'd she fall down the stairs? There must've been a struggle, right? There's no way she just tripped on her shoelaces, that'd just be silly. And if there was a struggle, that means she wasn't willing to get killed."

Which, of course, would be fair enough. Reiichi wouldn't want to be murdered either. He wouldn't want to go do 'magic' rituals either, but still.

"But then, if she wasn't willing to die for the ritual, but still brought the stuff, maybe she didn't know that she was gonna be killed. Maybe the killer lied to her. Maybe they weren't even interested in a ritual at all, and it was just a cover to get Chinatsu alone." He paused, briefly. "Or she changed her mind, I guess. Or she could have brought the knife so she could attack the killer, and then the killer got it off of her and killed her instead. That's an option, right?"

Or maybe Reiichi had no idea what he was talking about. He wasn't sure. He was only half paying attention anyway, to be honest.

"Anyway, the torn up note was obviously the killer trying to hide evidence. Dunno why they didn't just throw it in the sea, but whatever. Maybe they thought the goats would eat it." Well, they were kind of right. The goats tried. "And I haven't seen anything suspicious recently, and I don't have any evidence for you guys. But I did learn that goats are really nice 'n soft, so there's that."

#dod2 #chapter 1 #trial #reiichi #submission

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years ago

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You can still buy $1 homes all over Italy

https://newsource-embed-prd.ns.cnn.com/videos/newsource-video-embed.js

While most good things get more expensive, one dream got ridiculously cheap in 2019 thanks to the rise of the €1 home in Italy.

CNN Travel broke the news 12 months ago that the village of Sambuca in southern Italy was selling off abandoned, dilapidated homes for just over a dollar as it tried to reverse a trend of rural depopulation.

The story quickly went viral, drawing global interest, particularly as other towns and villages from the northern Alps to sunny Sicily were attempting the same thing.

Soon, some of these towns found themselves besieged by buyers. Mayors fielded thousands of requests, websites crashed, sleepy villages were invaded and locals freaked out.

The silence of narrow alleys was broken by foreign voices and loud reporters. Dusty cobwebbed doors were unlocked for the first time in decades as people lined up early in the morning to secure an Italian casa dolce casa (home sweet home).

As CNN reported in November, some of the first buyers have already moved in and, for once, an offer that seemed too good to be true actually appears to have been worth it.

A year later, has it all died down? Have all the bargain homes been snapped up?

Not quite. It’s still possible to get in on the action.

Below, we’ve rounded up the destinations still offering deals for anyone willing to commit to refurbishing a crumbling Italian home.

And if you’re wondering how you get a slice of the action, here are a few pointers:

For starters, unless you know someone who’s already on board and can advise, it’s worth checking out the towns’ official websites for listings of available properties and application form downloads.

Visiting the area to see what you’re actually signing up for before closing the deal is a good move, though many buyers have grabbed their houses sight unseen.

If your application and documents are approved, the town will contact you regarding the next steps.

But remember the catch: buyers must pay a security deposit varying between €2,000 and €5,000 and commit to refurbishing the property within three years. Once it’s complete and the purchase deed is made, the deposit is refunded.

Here’s a round-up of destinations to help choose the right place.

Gangi

Located in Sicily, near Palermo, this snail-shaped town was one of the first to sell €1 houses back in 2011 and has so far been the most successful.

“We’re really proud,” says Mayor Giuseppe Ferrarello. “Over 160 crumbling dwellings got a makeover thanks to new owners and this has triggered a revival also of the private real estate market. The old center shines again.”

And it’s not yet all sold out — some 15 free homes are still on the market.

The old houses, known as “Pagliarole,” have two floors and were built in the 1800s to accommodate animals on the lower floor and peasant families above.

The homes all have two entrances: one facing the hilltop, the other downhill. These are typical of such “beehive-style hamlets” that sit on hillsides.

Gangi is part of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages club, an annual honor bestowed on bucolic locations.

The village has Greek origins and a mystical vibe — it’s one of two places in Europe where the Holy Spirit is said to have appeared.

Another divine sight is the view that stretches to the Etna volcano.

Ollolai

Located in the wild mountain region of Barbagia on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, it rises on a pristine patch of land where ancient farming traditions live on.

The houses are made with gray granite rock, while town walls are covered in bright graffiti.

The fresh air, zero smog and great views have a healing power, according to newcomers. In fall, an event known as Cortes Apertas (open courtyards) sees stables and ancient turf taverns open to the public, offering crazily good wine, ham, cheese and a few other delicacies.

In fact, this is a cheese kingdom, famous for its exquisite Casu Fiore Sardo.

Cultural highlights here include a masked carnival with goat costumes and archaic rituals.

Mayor Efisio Arbau says the town has so far sold 10 houses. One’s been turned into a luxury B&B by a Dutch couple.

“The €1houses project has triggered a tourism boom and lured regional investments,” he says. “A modern renaissance is underway.”

Bivona

Bivona is the latest Sicilian town to join the gang, also offering tax bonuses and reduced red tape to anyone wanted to take up residence.

Set inside a rocky amphitheater in the heart of the Sicani Hills park, Bivona lives up to the Latin origins of its name “Bis-bona,” meaning twice good or twice beautiful — a reference to the fertility of its soil and unspoilt nature.

Orange groves, peach trees, Arab-style courtyards, an exotic cuisine of sweet-and-sour concoctions and gourmet religious festivals are among the lures for new residents.

“We get hundreds of emails each day so we’re setting up a multilingual agency to help buyers,” says town councilor Angela Cannizzaro. “Locals are now full of hope, this beautiful town deserves a second life.”

Houses will be assigned once all applications are weighed. Ten are currently available but more are expected to be made available.

Cammarata

Cammarata has possibly the best deal available, with homes offered totally free of charge plus the added incentive of a €1,000 baby bonus for newborns.

Located in wild Sicily, it’s known as “the town with 1,000 balconies to the East,” as each window basks in spectacular sunrises.

Locals pride themselves in being exceptionally welcoming. The town’s cuisine boasts dishes that include tripe, lamb, sweet and sour caponata veggies with pine nuts and almonds, and sanguinaccio salami made with pig’s blood (believed to be an aphrodisiac).

The town is known for its citizens’ longevity, something credited to its mild climate and the fresh air of the Monte Cammarata natural reserve.

At the moment, a dozen empty houses are still on the market, with just two so far purchased.

“I’ve made it my crusade,” says mayor Vincenzo Giambrone. “If old owners do not show up to claim their falling properties I will expropriate all empty buildings and offload them to newcomers.”

Zungoli

Zungoli boasts a stellar location, near Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

Set atop a sandstone hill, it’s a maze of caves and zig-zag, circular alleys connected by huge, uneven grass-covered cobblestone steps that wind up to a stunning castle.

Medieval bridges lead to a cluster of blue, pink, green and yellow pastel-colored farm dwellings and dome-shaped aristocratic mansions that, in total, are home to about 1,000 people.

Inside multi-layered Byzantine caves once used as storage rooms during the Crusades, teardrop-shaped Caciocavallo cheeses are now hung to season.

The countryside offers detox trekking tours along old shepherd trails.

Zungoli has just gotten a makeover with shiny new pavements, public LED lights and great Wi-Fi.

Thirty houses have so far been sold but a third lot will be launched in January. “A wind of change is blowing, it’s revitalizing the local rural economy and creating jobs,” says Mayor Paolo Caruso.

Borgomezzavalle

Borgomezzavalle is the perfect Alpine alternative to sultry Sicily.

Located in Piedmont at the Swiss border, it’s a triple deal: abandoned €1 houses, €1,000 for each newborn and another €2,000 to anyone willing to kickstart a business.

Despite being stuck inside a canyon, Borgomezzavalle enjoys sunlight all day, even in winter, thanks to a huge mirror placed on the opposite hillside that reflects the rays.

It’s a tiny jewel of 320 residents.

Brightly colored houses with thatched roofs, carved from the mountainside, are clustered around neat cobbled piazzas with wooden benches and flower pots.

There are frescoed arcaded porches and lavish loggias. The €1 buildings on sale include crumbling wood and stone cottages, barns, stables and former farm and artisan dwellings.

So far however five houses have been sold, mainly to Italians and a group of monks.

“New families are moving in,” says Deputy Mayor Stefano Bellotti. “A baby girl was born just the other day, it’s something worth celebrating. Her parents got the bonus.”

Sambuca

The supreme winner of Italy’s €1 homes rally is Sambuca in Sicily. After making global headlines in January, there was a property stampede.

Due to the sky-high demand, local authorities decided to auction all 16 homes on offer to the highest bidder for up to €25,000.

Only one house was given away for €1.

Unlike other towns that have been brokering deals between buyers and sellers, the local authorities here own all buildings abandoned after a 1968 earthquake, so they can easily dispose of the empty properties.

“We’re living a peaceful revolution,” says deputy mayor Giuseppe Cacioppo. The real estate market has revamped with over 80 private sales and people keep flocking, asking to buy even pieces of land, olive groves and vineyards.

Sambuca’s main lure is the picturesque maze of Saracen districts, the Belvedere where an emir’s palace once stood, and the rugged surrounding hilltops producing high quality wine.

Local delicacies include snails and nipple-shaped cakes known as minne.

Nulvi

This Sardinian shepherd town of Nulvi has the luxury of being close to the baby-powder beaches of Stintino and Asinara island.

Primitive nuraghe stone altars dot the landscape while the town features bright wall paintings known as murales that depict rural and mystical scenes.

There are weird highlights: a crumbled church has become the town’s main street, its stone nave still standing above the heads of passers-by, and there’s a sacred stone well where ancient tribes made sacrifices to the pagan gods of water.

“We have nine properties for €1 and they’ll soon be all sold out, but we’ll be placing more on the market as old buyers get rid of theirs,” says local councilor Luigi Cuccureddu. “When the project was launched locals thought it was a joke and a miracle if just one home was sold. We’ve proved them wrong.”

Cantiano

Straddling the border between Umbria and the Marche in central Italy, Cantiano was founded by fiery Italic tribes that were forced to bend the knee to Rome.

Thanks to its strategic position along the scenic Via Flaminia, one of Italy’s oldest routes, it was turned into a military settlement by ancient Romans.

Two dilapidated €1 former farmsteads located in the rural surroundings have already been sold but a couple of historical buildings in the old village center are available.

One of these is a stunning, crumbling palazzo in need of a €120,000 restyle.

Cantiano has a quirky equine vibe. Local woodcutters later turned into breeders of a prime horse bred on the Catria hills, giving rise to strange horse fairs and a horse meat-based cuisine featuring meatballs and breaded foal, apparently a delicacy alongside visciolata, a sour cherry liqueur.

“We’re close to Gubbio and Urbino, people are fascinated by our medieval piazza and the easy lifestyle,” says councilor Filippo Gentilotti.

Fabbriche di Vergemoli

Now how about a free home in Tuscany near Lucca, Pistoia and the chic Versilia coast?

It’s not a joke. This town is a cluster of hamlets scattered in the UNESCO-listed protected forest of the Apuan Alps dotted with isolated, ghostly ruins of abandoned miners’ dwellings covered in lush vegetation.

It’s a jungle, with jutting-out stone walls and collapsed roofs. Many areas can be reached only by foot.

The difficult location has slowed efforts to offload its properties.

“We started off in 2006,” says mayor Michele Giannini. “It’s taken years and so far just eight farmsteads have been sold. But potentially there are a hundred, and people as far as China, Russia and Brazil are interested.

“Trouble is the old owners’ heirs, mainly living in the States, are hard to track down.”

Being an under-developed area, investors can claim back up to 60% of their refurbishment costs from the European Union.

Those who take up the offer can enjoy pristine streams, ancient quaint bridges and a peculiar Grotta del Vento — or Wind Cave — where wind gusts make spooky echoes.

Mussomeli

The Sicilian town of Mussomeli has sold 125 homes priced at €1. Another 50 are still available and there are many other “superior” buildings in better shape (but slightly more expensive).

“We’re pushing old owners to dispose of their properties so we can hand these over to newcomers in an upcoming lot,” says councilor Toti Nigrelli.

Mussomeli, surrounded by honeysuckle and eucalyptus trees, takes its name stemming from the Latin Mons Melis, aka the “Hill of Honey.”

Local delicacies include honey-coated guastedde buns and cuddureddi fried milk-soaked doughnuts.

It boasts one of Italy’s most breathtaking fortresses, dubbed the Enchanted Castle, which clings like a spider on a pointed rock.

The fertile green farmland is dotted with old sulfur mines, sanctuaries, Roman necropolises and traces of primitive settlements.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/25/you-can-still-buy-1-homes-all-over-italy/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/25/you-can-still-buy-1-homes-all-over-italy/

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