#What You Like

[morning-sun-brah]

Okay so I've just GOTTA know... how the hell do you write the way you do?? I haven't been able to get sucked into any written work since high school, trauma brain and all. I used to live in books so it's been hell, but your writing got me back into reading, and makes it so I can get lost into that little world again, which I've craved but been able to have for like... so long. Writing is something I've always been into, but I let my fear of failure and need for perfection stop me. Just... do you have any advice for beginners?? It would mean the world to me, but I understand if it's an annoying ask! Thanks for reading no matter what!

Well I am just a mess reading this (in the best way possible).

First of all, thank you so much omfg. And of COURSE it isn't annoying! This is so flattering I'm about to cry my dude.

As far as tips on writing, I feel like I am not the person to ask because I'm just this little weirdo on the internet who likes turtles lol. But!! In an attempt to try and give real advice here is my response... and it got a little wordy so it's all under the break lmaoooo.

~Gin's rambling attempt to give writing advice~

Practice! Literally the only reason I can string coherent words together is because I've been doing this as a hobby for like two whole decades.

Also!! Read! Consuming other fics and books really helps. Sometimes you find a way of saying something that sticks with you. Sometimes you sit and think "I would have done it this way/said it this way." Sometimes you come out on the other end and go "Wow I am a hack that was amazing." Sometimes you finish something and go "Wow that was fucking terrible I'm amazing." Sometimes you read something and it fires off your brain, and you are left itching to write your own story. But however you feel, it's all GOOD FOR WRITING. It helps you grow! It literally helps you find your voice!

Other little things; When I write, I truly immerse myself. I am playing out in cinema format what is happening in the "scene." How is this person reacting? How do they look- down to facial expressions. How are they feeling? Is this something they would say? (would they fucking say that??? is something I think to myself every time I open a doc) And when I write it all down, I try my very best to convey that "scene" that played out in my head. I try to capture that character's voice, their mannerisms, their habits.

Does this even make sense? I sure hope so.

Also, flow. Make sure we're moving right along. Keep track of where hands, legs, and torsos are. If they were sitting when the scene started, and you need them standing to kiss or fight or do a thumb war, at some point you need to make sure you say they stood up. If a hand was on a cheek, it can't suddenly be on an ankle without telling the reader what happened.

I also just think adding little details helps with immersion. When we talk to people, we don't just stand around. We fidget. We pick our nails or scratch our arms or shuffle our feet. All those little details can add to that immersion (or I think so, I'm no expert). "He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck before saying..." - Wow, what an awkward little shit. "They scrunched their nose and gave a near-violent eye-roll" - Oh ok they are annoyed! "She shifted her feet and replied"- cool she's being a person, I shift my feet too, neato.

Anyway, nothing I wrote 20 years ago is as good as it is now. I'm highly convinced that I'll think the same thing in another 10 years, about anything I've published recently. But it is getting better, and it's because I keep at it. Having friends in the fandom and beta readers really helps. Make sure you find someone who you know will be positive but honest. And remember, YOU are always going to be your own worst critic.

God why did anyone ever let me have access to a computer. Why the FUCK is this so long? Does it even make sense? Jfc, I'm going to post it and eat a fucking cookie.

I believe in you anon. Also, I love you and thank you so much for making my whole week. I'm going to be so obnoxious about this shit, everyone expect to hear from my ass an annoying amount (kidding, but seriously I'm so fucking flattered thank you so much. This kind of shit makes me wonder what the fuck you're all reading because I swear I am just a silly gal with seasonal depression who needs a haircut).

((Also, anon, I wish you nothing but the best. Take care of yourself, be kind to yourself, and know that I am sending you like a million hugs))

[buttered-baguette-writes]

What You Like

By some miracle Eddie, Steve, Robin - the entire Party - made it out of the whole Upsidedown ordeal alive. And with things ended for good, the creepy vine bastard dead, and the interdimensional doors closed for good, there's only one thing for them to do. Live. The kids, no longer kids, are able to hang out without an over looming apocalypse. Eddie and Steve are getting closer. Steve's excited to have another friend that he doesn't babysit and Eddie's glad that the Party didn't drop him after everything was over. And Robin, our favourite supportive lesbian, realises that she is best friends with not one but two dinguses.

Also on ao3

The Harrington house looked like it did every year when the festive season finally rolled around. Cold, empty, and perfectly rich. It, like the rest of the town (the parts not in shambles), seemed tired. Like the buildings themselves had had a rough night. Yet as the chilly breeze swept through the area, everything was the same.

Almost.

The Harrington’s had finally decided to desert the hellhole town known as Hawkins, Indiana and never look back. They left the house, and with it, their only child. Though as far as anyone was concerned, Steve Harrington was only their son by DNA. Because Steve wasn’t some rich kid destined to takeover daddy’s company. No.

He was Steve Harrington, ex-king of Hawkins High, resident babysitter extraordinaire, and badass monster killer – who loved his little mismatched family more than his parents loved anyone.

Which was why he was standing outside on the front lawn. Scattered around him were boxes caked with dust and full of decorations that he hoped weren’t broken. He hadn’t opened most of them yet, having wanted to put the Christmas lights up before doing anything else. But when he found them, he sighed heavily at the mess of wires and tiny bulbs.

Meaning he had been standing with his arms crossed, frowning for the past few minutes as he watched the daylight start to hide behind dark clouds. It was going to rain.

Steve scuffed his shoe on the drive, scolding himself for trying to start decorating the whole house that late in the afternoon. He got the idea as soon as Dustin hung up the phone earlier after having successfully convinced Steve to host a Christmas party.

And with his parents gone, he could go all out for the kids.

There were only two good things that his parents had ever done for him: Make him work to pay for the car (that’s in his name) so that he met his favourite lady. And, legally giving him the house once they left.

Before he could feel bitter about his parents, music caught his attention.

Specifically loud music that was later joined by the rumbling of a car. Finally turning away from the house, Steve let a small smile pull at his lips as he watched a van pull into the drive next to his beamer.

Eddie was immediately in his personal space, an excited smile on his face. He was wearing his usual get-up – dark band tee, leather jacket, a billion and one silver accessories. And tight black jeans with rips all over them.

Steve wondered how the older boy wasn’t cold.

“Heya, big boy.”

Steve’s eyes snapped to meet Eddie’s, feeling like he was caught doing something. But he wasn’t. Definitely wasn’t. “Hey man,” was his eventual reply.

Eddie just smiled brighter at him, if that was even possible. The metalhead glanced around before his eyes settled back on the jock. Oh, if high school Eddie could see him now, friends with the Steve Harrington, the preppy jock.

“What are you doing here?” Steve asked.

Eddie’s eyes widened as he flopped himself onto Steve, all but hanging off him. “Have my castle visitations been abolished? Am I banished to only see you with the children present? You wound me Harrington.”

Steve was trying very hard to give an unimpressed look to the other boy but ultimately failed. They both grinned at each other, staying like that for a few moments. Then Steve lightly elbowed him, and Eddie yielded, putting some space between them.

Minimal, but still space.

“Well, I was going to annoy you or Robin at work, but now I’m here.”

Steve crossed his arms. “Is it your daily goal to annoy me?”

“Hmmm, something like that,” Eddie said.

Steve scoffed but there was no heat behind it. He actually liked hanging out with Eddie, given he only had five adult friends. Well, if he included Argyle, though they didn’t really speak all that much.

“Watcha doing out in the cold?”

Steve ran a hand through his hair before gesturing vaguely at the house.

Eddie was delighted to realize the younger’s hair had no product in it.

“I was going to decorate the house...”

Eddie whistled. “All by yourself?”

“Well, yeah, of course. But the lights are beyond tangled so I ended up just glaring at them.” Steve admitted. It was as if a child had played with the lights and then dumped invisible glue over everything.

“Want some help?”

“Sure, grab a box. Put everything inside.”

Eddie was moving instantly, bending down and picking up a box with ease. No matter what, Steve was always surprised by his strength. He knew the metalhead wasn’t just skin and bones, but there was just something that pinged around in his brain when he saw Eddie doing certain things.

Steve also noticed, without fail, how the long curls bounced when he walked and fell over his shoulders. Or how they would fall over his chest when he titled his head to the side.

“Coming, Stevie?” Eddie asked. It was a fair question since Steve hadn’t moved an inch. But there was something about his tone – knowing, teasing him. But once again, Steve knew he wasn’t doing anything.

Or maybe he was? He’d figure it out. Not today, and with luck (aka Robin) before the end of the year.

Steve took quick steps to get ahead of Eddie, opening the door before heading back for a box. They made quick work and made it inside just as rain started to fall.

Within minutes a heavy storm was raging on outside.

Eddie plopped himself down on the living room floor, surrounded by the dusty boxes. He idly searched through the ones closest to him. He clicked his tongue when he saw the state of the lights.

“You want to watch a movie or?” Steve asked.

“And here I thought we were going through all your Christmas goodies.”

Now, Eddie may not be the best when it came to socialising. He may miss some cues or scare people off with his tendency for the dramatics. But, give him enough time and he would be able to figure people out. He knew how to deal with the kid’s different attitudes. He had his suspicions about Robin while they were still in school. He knew how his bandmates ticked.

And after spending so much of his free time bugging Harrington, he knew the younger boy as well. He knew Steve loved the kids no matter how annoyed he acted. He knew he liked to cook and bake, trying to do better with each try. Eddie also knew that Steve didn’t ask for help often.

Which is why he wasn’t surprised when Steve tried to pass off his offer and tried to convince Eddie to just hang out.

“It’s fine, princess. Besides, it’ll take you years to undo these lights,” Eddie said, grin growing.

“Thanks,” Steve said softly. His brain got stuck on the word ��princess’, an alarm going off before he rebooted. He pointed at a finger at the metalhead with an accusatory “Hey!”

Eddie just laughed and pulled the lights out of the box.

Within half an hour, they were both sitting on the floor. The coffee table and some boxes were pushed against the wall, leaving them with heaps of working space. Steve was organising ornaments so that it’d be easier for him to find things when he eventually put them up. Eddie was next to him, getting through the lights surprisingly fast.

“How are you so good at that?” Steve asked once he was done with his pile of ornaments.

Eddie hummed, nimble fingers still working away. “It’s my secret talent. I’m the next Houdini.”

Steve tilted his head, parted his lips and…hesitated. He remembered his teachers when he didn’t know something simple. He remembered all the girls that tried to help him with his homework (though that was their cover story for wanting to sleep with him). He remembered Nancy’s face when she got frustrated with him during their little study sessions.

For a scary second, his brain tried telling him that Eddie was like them all.

“You’re the next who?”

Eddie smiled at him. He thought Steve looked adorable like that; head titled, soft hair falling in all the right places. Eddie wanted to —

“Houdini,” he repeated. “Famous magician and escape artist. Always getting out of everything.”

Steve nodded, quiet, and then,

“Is that why you have the handcuffs? For escape things?”

Eddie barked out a laugh, dropping the lights in his hands. He sobered up when he noticed Steve frowning. “Sorry,” he said softly. “No, I have those for other reasons.”

Eddie watched the lines on Steve’s face soften before a different look of confusion captured them.

“Why do you have cuffs then?”

“Souvenir from Indy.”

Steve stared at him.

Eddie started playing with his hair under the attention.

Steve crossed his arms. “That is not the only reason,” he said, sounding confident.

“I don’t think you wanna know Stevie.”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“I’m curious.” Steve admitted. He didn’t mean to pry into all the little details of Eddie’s life, but he was curious. He was curious about all his friends. Besides, him and Eddie had had many late-night talks about some heavy, personal things after the shitshow they went through. He just wanted to know more.

It was just like with all his other friends.

“I don’t want the gremlins parents coming for me for corrupting their nice babysitter.”

Steve gaped at him before huffing. “I’m 20, I know about sex,” he said, guessing that was what it was about. What else could he possibly be talking about? “I am not innocent, you know.”

“Oh, but you are, big boy,” Eddie replied, leaning closer with a big, cheeky grin.

“Try me.”

Eddie’s eyes darted all over Steve’s face, then all over his body. He let out a breath before pushing himself off the ground. He needed chips, or pop, or a beer.

“Fine,” he conceded. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“So…” Steve said, trailing behind the older boy. He stopped at the kitchen entry, standing there awkwardly until he watched Eddie sit on the counter. He silently joined him, smiling when a can of soda was handed to him.

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in bed?” Eddie asked. There was no point beating around the bush.

Steve nearly choked on his drink. He swore as some bubbles went up his nose.

“So it is a sex thing?”

“Yep. And since you were so curious, I’ll explain it. Buuut, you can tell me to stop at any time,” Eddie said. He was fine giving Harrington some impromptu education, but he didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable.

Steve nodded.

Eddie nudged his arm.

“Oh, the question.” Steve fiddled with the tab of his can. “I don’t know, nothing?”

Eddie opened his mouth, but it snapped closed a millisecond later.

“I let a girl bite me once though. Does that count?”

“Yes it does, Stevie,” Eddie said, his usual bright smile pulling on his lips. “She probably liked it, and hoped you liked it too.”

“Liked it?”

“The feeling, the pain, or the marks it left behind,” Eddie listed off on his fingers. In a second, two of his fingers were pressed against a spot on Steve’s neck, applying the softest pressure but enough that it made Steve’s brain hold up a flag. “If she did it right here, where it’s sensitive, it’d feel real good. And, it would be a bitch to hide the mark without makeup.”

Steve felt himself swallow and before he knew it Eddie’s hand retreated.

Steve stared at nothing for a few seconds. Finally, he asked, “People like that?”

“There’s a whole world of kinky freaks out there. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.”

“Kinky…” Steve mumbled to himself. He swore he had heard that word before, but he couldn’t remember exactly what it meant. “Okay. But what do you do with the cuffs?”

“Well,” Eddie started and Steve saw something change. It wasn’t entirely noticeable, but there was a new glint to Eddie’s eyes and the slant of his smile seemed more, well, predatory.

Not that he knew the differences between all of Eddie’s facial expressions. No, Steve didn’t know that much about him.

“If the guy is willing, I put them on him. Behind his back, above his head, to the headboard of their bed. They let go of their control and give it to me.”

Before Steve could respond, the phone rang, making the younger boy abruptly slide off the counter.

Eddie watched from his seat as Steve talked with Dustin’s mom over the phone. He figured it was about the Christmas arrangements that Dustin said he was planning on getting together. And by all the talk about coordinating food and making sure all the kids would have a ride to Steve’s house, he figured the little bugger had gotten exactly what he wanted.

But hey, Eddie didn’t mind being part of a weird little family. He had his Uncle Wayne. He did have his band members, but they were all off to college although none of them were certain it was going to stick. But now he would always have his little family of trauma-bonded teenagers and a sprinkle of reasonable adults.

As soon as Steve put the phone down, Robin’s voice suddenly came from the depths of his pockets.

Eddie smiled, amused as Robin trashed their boss’s existence before telling Steve that they were now working the closing shift. No ifs, ands, or buts.

“Come pick me up. And don’t spend half an hour styling your hair! Literally none of our customers care about your hair.” She said then promptly disconnected their walkie-talkies.

Steve sighed, looking back at Eddie. He was pouting.

The Steve Harrington was pouting because he didn’t want to go to work, and his best friend told him to leave his hair un-styled. He looked like a sad puppy.

“You heard the lady,” Eddie said as he finally hopped off the counter. “Better hurry.” Eddie laughed when the other boy pouted harder. “See ya later, Stevie.”

Steve watched him go. As he looked out the windows, he was glad to see the storm had let up.

…

“That slimy bastard! How the hell does he even work here? How the hell is he our boss?!”

“Robs.”

“He left his half-eaten sandwich in the breakroom. The backroom is now beyond a mess. And what the fuck did he do with the bucket? How are we supposed to catch the drip if we don’t have a bucket, Steve?”

“Robs.” Steve said softly. “I know he sucks but chill. I cannot listen to you rant about him all night.”

Robin threw an m&m at him. “You love my rants.”

The bell above the door rang and Robin was suddenly nowhere to be found. Steve sighed, bracing himself to deal with whatever annoying customer decided to come to Family Video that late in the pouring rain.

“Welcome to Family Video, what—”

“Hiya Harrington.” Eddie Munson was splaying himself over the counter in the time it took Steve to turn and face the door. His rings clinked against it, hair pooling around his head.

“What’re you doing here Munson?”

“I came to see you and the birdie,” Eddie said, grinning up at him.

Steve couldn’t help it, his own smile mimicking the other boy’s. “Miss me that much?”

“Always, baby.”

Steve felt his head swim, knowing his cheeks were a noticeable pink. There was no denying it. But he ignored it – it didn’t mean anything. “Weren’t you going home?”

“Aw, you thinking about me Stevie?”

“Get off it, Munson,” Steve said, lightly pushing the others face away.

Eddie rolled to the side before snapping up right. He leant his elbows on the counter then. His smile was cheeky and bright as he stared Steve directly in the eyes. There was an unnamed tension surrounding them, but it wasn’t strong enough to drown out the feeling of their usual banter. “Anything you want, princess,” Eddie said with a wink.

Steve’s face grew hotter.

He didn’t know if he was thankful or annoyed when Robin came out of the backroom and effectively took the attention off him. He didn’t know why he would be annoyed in the first place. Whatever was happening in his mind, he and Robin would decipher it later.

At that moment, he had a bucket to hunt for.

Part 2

[night-city-netrunner]

[secarg]

Inspiration Collage

@/secarg

9.11.23 - thrifted magazine pieces on paper

the colors were surprising.

[1introvertedsage]

Tell me the truth, do you love it? When I take control, you can choose I can help you, but you want to go you got a groove Let me love you, let me make you want to just move What you like?

[koobiie]

shoutout to everyone who wants to infodump but cant string together coherent thoughts to form sentences and instead just look at you like this

[inbabylontheywept]

so once me and my wife were watching a documentary where a snake ate like a million eggs. that snake just went to fucking town on eggs. and the snake made the eggs look so good that i kept thinking about it, and thinking about it, and thinking about it, and eventually it was 11pm and i ran out of willpower and decided to eat one (1) singular raw egg just to prove to myself that the snake was surely a liar.

the snake was not a liar. texture is like, super important to me and raw eggs are very Texture so i had another one, and then another one, and then another one, and eventually i ran out of eggs.

i had like, fifteen raw eggs.

i didnt really know how to explain this momentary madness to my wife, so my Plan was to put all the eggshells into a grocey bag, and then throw that grocery bag in the dumpster, and if she never noticed that would be Excellent and if she noticed immediately i could lie and say that the eggs went bad.

except i cant lie very good, and of course with murphys law being such, i got salmonella.

so i threw up a lot and my wife asked me what poisoned me so and i tried very hard to dodge the question but i was oozing shame like oil from a room temperature cheese and eventaully i gave in and told her everything and to her enormous credit she was more flabbergasted than actually upset. she did make me promise to not eat any more raw eggs, which i have stuck to, and she gives me weird looks during nature documentaries now as if desire was the only thing keeping me from eating thousands of pounds of krill anyway i made a joke earlier about being able to eat my age in eggs and my sister in law in law made a drawing to comemorate the moment and also because it was my birthday. she's excellent. thank you 10000000% @cintailed. you should all visit her page and admire her work.

[riacte]

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing [what would happen between earth and the moon if the earth stopped spinning as illustrated by xkcd randall munroe]

[sanguinifex]

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[bethfuller]

limited perception.

find me on instagram!

[ursulaklegay]

its so scary to put yourself out there but a SINGLE message saying "hi i loved what you made it touched me in some way" makes it all worth it 10000%

[just-spacetrash]

the 'what if you played it a little risky' post literally Changed my life but i cant fujkign find it in my blog because its. a tiktok screenshot

[sylvies-kablooie]

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

[trashy-greyjoy]

really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.

[eggsistential-breakdown]

Okay, but hear me out -- what if his parents weren't usually red and blue?