#all the successful vecna kills happen at night

[wheelercore]

Those shots of holly in that official netflix "half of s5 has been filmed" vid where shes standing in the wheeler kitchen looking horrified bugged me for a while and i couldnt put my finger on it but.... its daylight out in these scenes?

I mean the curtains are shut in typical wheeler fashion (wasting electricity when natural daylight is outside we love a unsustainable household) but its clearly NOT nighttime outside yet.

I figured what holly might be seeing is UD related but UD beings dont come out til the sun goes down? Or at least they dont make full appearences until its dark out. Its pretty metaphorical ig since fire + sunlight seems to be the UDs weakness. I feel like thats something thats definitely been very consistent throughout the show.

Now that i think about it, that was also initially the strange thing about the first time holly saw the DG in s1- it was also still daylight out. Could it have actually taken her if it wanted to?

Either the UD monsters developed an immunity to daylight or what holly is seeing here cant be related to a UD monster in that moment, per se.

[oneforthemunny]

munny's one-derful year

to celebrate my one year on tumblr (january eighth, to be exact), i have decided to open up a little writing prompt. some of my favorite lores, asks, and others for anyone to participate in <3 thank you all so much for your love and following me around onto three blogs lol!!! i love you all so much!! 

rules: must tag #munnysonederful and @oneforthemunny to each entry so i can read and reblog ofc. unlimited entries, and i will be reblogging and making a masterlist on my own page so everyone can read/find the works :)  can be blurbs, full works, headcanons, honestly anything you want! 

prompts: 

rockstar!eddie and nepo baby!reader’s favorite hate fucking moment. where does it happen? why does it happen? are they just playing, or did one prompt the other? What happens ;)? get as smutty and gross as you want to babes, no one here will complain lol. 

based off the lore that older!eddie gets slutty on teqila lol. gimme tequila eddie. make it slutty. the og prompt was at the beach for a wedding of a cousin, if you’d like to follow that, but if not- where does it happen? how do you think it would go? don’t spare a single detail please!!!!

modern!eddie and his lil mean girl’s first date, like official date. i get a lot of questions on this and i honestly want to know what you guys think! what’s it like? where do they go? any awkward moments? what’s the convo like? does he try to over impress or play it like he’s too cool? have fun with it! 

ofc i would never deny anyone here a chance to write about our beloved mafia!eddie and the dogs lol. vecna, diablo, lucifer, and zeus (and beelzebub if you want to add him). i love anything with the dogs, specifically with them being spoiled, so spoil me for a moment and write about them! eddie’s bitching because they’re “guard dogs!!! they’re trained to kill!!!” and you’ve got them totally spoiled, so tell me about it. how would you spoil them? 

janitor!eddie deserves the world, so give it to him. give me something with spoiling him. why are you doing it (birthday, valentine’s day, hard week)? how are you doing it? is it planned or a surprise or impromptu? and of course, how does he react? could be angsty, fluffy, smutty if you’re feeling it. just show him some love. 

cowboy!eddie and sweet girl’s animals. i gotta know about them. there’s three parts of lore here: the cow, the chickens, and the goats. take your pick or choose all of them. make it your own, or me, personally, i want to know how they came to be? how did that conversation of convincing eddie to get them go? expectations vs reality? have fun with it, be silly with it. 

the horny hours convo we had (in april??? maybe lol) with dom!eddie was quite possibly the most successful and most interacted horny hours we’ve ever had. so with that being said, i’m opening up the prompts to be rewritten in your version. so there was three big ones: “don’t make me pull this car over” aka car troubles, “go pick a switch” aka switching it up, and the bath brush aka dripping down. rewrite it, make it your own, make new drama, if you’re not a brat make it non-bratty lol, make it slutty is all i ask. 

bouncer!eddie being a switch really shook everyone up and i loved it, so i want whatever version of him you want to write. him being subby, him being dominant, him just being him and being a little flirty and silly and slutty and the love of my life. expand on the walk in blurb if you need inspo, or what happened after a night where you or him got jealous from someone flirting at the hideout. 

funson’s freebies: 

in honor of my og blog (funsonmunson, gone but not forgotten) these are freebie plots for any of my au’s <3

give me an angsty breakup fic. why did they break up? who broke up with who? make me cry, ruin my day- or take mercy on us and give us a happy ending, up to you. 

self care nights. what do they do? is it a night in? a night out? is eddie taking care of you, or you taking care of him, or a little bit of both? what’s going on, just let me feel all gooey and lovey inside!!! 

i always get birthday requests, and technically it’s my tumblr birthday, so what do the eddies do for your birthday? where do they take you? what’s the cake situation? surprise party, planned party, no party? night in or out? presents? birthday sex? truly whatever you picture!

another highly requested, is a wedding. i love weddings and my guilty pleasure is wedding fics idk why, so give me that. you can follow the lore if they have it, or do whatever you want! proposal, ceremony, honeymoon- honestly whichever you want! where does it happen? what’s the details? who’s there? if you put vows i’m gonna sob so just fyi on that. 

finally, i have to give it up for the domestic babes. give me something soul crushingly domestic. dog!dad eddie, dad!eddie, pregnancy one, newborn, child- i don’t care. i want to feel motherly in this bitch after i read it. 

[berenwrites]

Stranger Things Fanfiction

So I thought I'd do a master post of all my steddie fanfic so far. It's listed in my pinned post too, but I am shameless 😜.

Chaptered:

Whole New Us: Trauma Bonded & Beyond - Steddie (COMPLETE) - ~57K wds (26 ch) - Teen (with mature options) - (also on AO3) Steve has been ignoring his own problems, he’s been busy. They’ve all been busy, preoccupied with fixing everything that was broken. Vecna has been defeated, but the Upside Down is still there, and the gates are not completely closed even though Hawkins has almost returned to normal. It’s been a couple of months and the aftereffects of Steve’s encounter with the demobats is about to come back to bite him. However, it also brings some unexpected hope.

Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence - Steddie (COMPLETE) - PG13 - ~108K wds (46 ch) (Also on AO3) Steve hits things with a bat or gets hit depending on who you ask. He definitely does not have anything to do with the psychic stuff. That is El’s domain. However, as Vecna is defeated, the rules change.

Dreams in the Night: But Vampires Aren't an Upside Down Thing - Steddie (COMPLETE) ~18.5K wds (9 ch) - Explicit - (also on AO3) Steve has been having nightmares, seeing through the eyes of a vampire like creature in Hawkins as it hunts. He puts the dreams down to past trauma and too many horror movies at Family video. He’s checked and no one’s been hurt, so even Robin agrees. However, his world is about to be turned upside down yet again as the nightmares become far too real.

Sight: Now I See You - Steddie (COMPLETE) ~26K wds (13 ch) - PG13 The final battle with Vecna was victorious, but not everyone came out unscathed. Steve wakes up in the hospital high as a kite with something wrong with his eyes. Robin’s right there to assure him it’s nothing permanent, but something weird is going on, and he needs answers. That there appear to be two government factions in town, one of which is hunting El even though she saved the world, does not help. Neither does the feeling there’s someone watching him. It’s all a mess and Steve can’t sit back and let the others fix it by themselves.

Wolf in the Light - Steddie (COMPLETE) ~45K wds (23 CH) explicit - only on AO3 Steve has been keeping a big secret: he’s a werewolf from a long line of werewolves. Only problem is, he’s a complete failure at it. He can’t even shift, but it does make him a bit harder to kill, so he thought he’d found his perfect niche keeping the kids and his secret safe after ‘83. With their plan to end Vecna only half successful and Eddie bleeding out, he has no choice but to reveal the truth and try and convince his friends that werewolves are real. That would be enough of a task for anyone, but to his shock, his heritage has an even bigger surprise in store, and of course, there’s Max to worry about too.

Oneshots:

Secret Lover: A Vampire Eddie Short - Steddie - ~1Kwds - Mature - (on AO3 too) Vecna is dead and gone thanks to El and the party. Not all his creations are. Eddie is one of those creations. Everyone thinks he’s dead, but Steve knows better.

In His Kiss: The Trouble With Vampire Tendencies - Steddie - ~2.5K wds - PG13 - (on AO3 too) Steve could feel Eddie’s eyes on him. It was like he could tell, even without looking that Eddie was staring at him. Every time he glanced over, Eddie looked away, but half a second too late. It was beginning to drive Steve crazy.

So Sweet: Hard to Begrudge Love - Steddie - ~400 wds - G - (on AO3 too) Tooth rotting Steddie fluff from Robin’s point of view.

Connections: Voice from the Other World - Steddie - ~2K wds - PG - (on AO3 too) Steve hears Eddie voice in his head. At first he thinks it’s guilt, but that soon changes. Now all he needs to figure out is if it’s one of Vecna’s games or something else.

So Sorry: Through No Fault of His Own - Steddie - ~1.8K wds - PG - (on AO3 too) Bad things have happened to Steve, but Eddie is there to help – only it’s not that simple.

Freaks: What the World Sees - Steddie - ~1K wds - PG - (on AO3 too) The world knows a lot about famous guitarist and singer Eddie Munson, including things about his husband, but there is so much they don’t see as well.

Summertime Love - Steddie - PG - 311wds Written for steddiemicrofic prompt: CAKE | 311 words | rated: PG | cw: none

For Love - Steddie - PG - 548wds Written for steddiemicrofic prompt: CHARM | 548 words | rated: PG | cw: none

Guardian at the Gate - Steddie - PG - 387wds (on AO3 too) SteddieMicroFic November '23 - prompt: REST | 387 words | rated: PG Wayne rushes to the hospital when he gets news of Eddie. He does not expect what he finds.

Magnificent - Steddie - G - 508wds (on AO3 too) Written for prompt: PINE | wc: 508 | G | cw: none Steve has never ever wanted to see Eddie in a coffin, but this one looks absolutely perfect...

Reborn: Facing the Unexpected - Steddie - PG - 404wds (on AO3 too) Written for steddiemicrofic January prompt: HOLE | wc: 404 The final confrontation with Vecna has come and gone, they won, but Steve can only focus on one thing...

Wake-up Call: An End or a Beginning? - Steddie - PG - 404wds (on AO3 too) Written for January 2024 prompt: HOLE | wc: 404 When you're dead, you're not supposed to wake up.

Strange Relationship: Of Sex and Revelations - Steddie - Explicit - 404wds (on AO3 too) Written for January 2024 prompt: HOLE | wc: 404 Steve is good at sex, but there are some things he hasn't been considering. Eddie is very happy to open his eyes.

Caring: Now It's Your Turn - Steddie - G - 593wds (also on AO3) Written for @steddielovemonth 2024 day 1 Steve has been looking after everyone, now it's his turn.

Still Oneshots - New list because Tumblr complained ;)

Revelation: A Heart-Stopping Reality - Steddie - G - 1396wds (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 3 Steve is just sitting by the pool watching his friends have fun when he comes to a stunning conclusion.

A Small Thing: The Truth Hurts - Steddie - T - 956wds (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 4. Eddie wants to know everything about Steve, and Steve has a confession to make.

Falling: Who Will Catch Me? - Steddie - PG - 509wds (also on AO3) Written for Feb prompt: EDGE | wc: 509 | PG | cw: PTSD, mentions of torture It's all over and Steve has nothing left to keep the horror at bay.

See Me: In the Silence - Steddie - G - 309wds (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 5 Steve always see what Eddie needs.

Quiet: But Far From Idle - Steddie - G - 627wds (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 6. Eddie loves when both he and Steve are in the zone.

Arms of Love: Whatever You Need - Steddie - G - 678wds (also on AO3) Written for @steddielovemonth day 8. It's July, Steve is having trouble sleeping, Eddie helps.

Closure: Rifts & Reactions - Steddie - G - 836wds - (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 12 The final battle is over, it's time to look forward.

Late Again?: Love Is Too Compelling! - Steddie - PG - 980wds - (also on AO3 soon) Written for steddielovemonth day 14. Eddie doesn't want Steve to go to work, so is trying to convince him to quit.

Always and Forever: Love Finds a Way - Steddie - G - 1237wds - (also on AO3) Written for steddielovemonth day 29. After their usual phone call while Eddie is on tour with Corroded Coffin, Steve is worried.

Best Present Ever - Steddie - G - 290wds Vecna was dead. Hawkins was no longer split open. It was time to celebrate.

Still Oneshots - New list because Tumblr complained again ;)

Half a Dream - Steddie - G - 510 wds (also on AO3) It took Eddie until he reached the top to realise he’d been chasing only half a dream the entire time.

The Giveaway - Steddie - G - 483 wds (also on AO3) It's not anything they would have guessed that give Steve and Eddie away to their friends and family.

With Both Hands - Steddie - PG - 838 wds (also on AO3) Eddie is having trouble figuring out how he got here and believing it's real.

A Simple Question - Steddie - PG-13 - 1155 wds (also on AO3) Eddie is a little tipsy, and he has a question for Nancy.

Through Your Eyes - Steddie - PG-13 - 943 wds (also on AO3) Steve wakes up and something is definitely not right.

Suddenly There Came a Tapping - Steddie - PG - 350wds (also on AO3) Eddie has a visitor with a message.

[resident-gay-bitch]

okay, i don’t know where this thought came from. sue me. i don’t care it’s amusing.

———

steve was very drunk. like, super drunk. he’d faced the almost-end of the world for fucks sake, you can’t get mad at him for wanting to get drunk.

vecna had happened, and they’d almost killed him, and then eddie died. but then he wasn’t dead anymore, he was brought back to life by none other than their resident bad guy and practically betrayed the party, but then he didn’t… it was so confusing, steve was just trying to not die whilst defending everyone else the whole time. dustin kept making references to this “kas” guy… eddie seemed to agree, once he was back to his normal weird self.

eddie had graduated, today actually, after summer school. the weather was hot and eddie was finally free and they wanted to have a party and celebrate success. freedom.

so, here they were. all drinking the night away and laughing and dancing and fuck, all those hits to the head really fucked with steve’s tolerance because after those three shots with robin and the two beers he’d had prior, he was blasted. he decided to stop drinking, but then eddie was nice enough to make him up this “special concauction” and he couldn’t say no. so another drink down… and a strong one at that.

so steve was drunk. very drunk. so drunk that his consciousness wasn’t really there, and his vision was blurred, but he was still having a good time. just no more alcohol. he yelled that out to everyone, made sure they all stopped him from the beers.

he was dancing with robin, their arms linked as they jigged around the room to Gimme Gimme Gimme, singing off the top of their lungs. everyone was amused, especially because robin was now out to everyone there since she started seeing vicky, and steve was a guy. a straight guy at that. right?

eddie was slumped back against the wall, beer in hand, he was pretty drunk too, but not nearly as gone as steve. he was smoking a joint, passing it to jonothan beside him. nancy gave them shit for smoking inside, but it was steve’s house, not hers, and steve didn’t care. they poked their tongues out at her.

eddie had his eyes locked on steve, as they had been ever since gym class in their shared senior year. steve just wore such tight little shorts, and when eddie was forced to go up against him in one v one basketball against his will, and he was trying to get the ball and steve shoved his ass into eddie’s crotch in defence… well, yeah. eddie hadn’t gotten an erection so fast since middle school when he had to get changed in the locker room for the first time.

he wasn’t sure if he’d had a chance with steve. sometimes it seemed like he was flirting, but then he’d start talking about this pretty girl that came into work and all hope would be lost. why must life be so confusing?

steve however, had been harbouring secretive feelings for eddie since like… his freshman year. well, he didn’t know he liked eddie back then, he was just so entranced by this weird guy with gorgeous eyes and soft pink lips and a daring grin and such confidence. he was in awe. he’d only realised he actually liked eddie, after talking with robin about his bisexuality and after dustin wouldn’t shut up about the guy.

he couldn’t blame the kid though. eddie was everything.

but god these feelings sucked ass. steve just wanted to be normal, he didn’t need to deal with being more of a disappointment. he hated himself. and he hated eddie because there was no way eddie could be into him, right? eddie was straight. he had to be. i mean, it’s not like eddie ever talked about girls, or had ever had a girlfriend, or seemed interested in the girls steve tried to set him up with, or had any nudie mags lying around his room or any thing like that… but like… he wasn’t gay. he just… no.

and so he was drunk and dancing and singing about wanting a man after midnight and seeing eddie stare at him whilst high out the corner of his eye, and his vision was blurred but it looked like eddie was smiling at him, ignoring jonothan even. god everything was so much. steve either needed to go to bed, or to hook up with some pretty girl. that’s what he’d do anytime he’d have stupid feelings about tommy back in the day.

they finished their dance and then some sappy love song started playing and vicky came over for a dance with her girlfriend and steve took that as his cue to leave. and he did. he stumbled over and threw back another shot before dustin could pull it from his hands because shit, feelings sucked man. especially the gay ones.

why weren’t there any pretty un-lesbian girls here?

oh, there was nancy… her and jonothan were broken up again… he thought… maybe? god it was too hard to keep track. but… it was worth a shot, right? she was clearly attracted to him, at least once.

he walked over to her leaning against the window she stood in front of, crowding her in and putting on his flirtiest grin, “hey there.”

“hi.” she looked at him weirdly.

“how’s it goin?”

“uh, good?” she glanced over to el and max who were just a few feet away, watching and giggling.

“so, i was thinkin…” he put on a charming little laugh.. at least, what he though was charming, “you and me-“

“nancy!” mike shouted from the kitchen, “where the fuck are the cupcakes mum made?”

nancy rolled her eyes, thanking the gods for her insufferable brother, pat steve on the bicep and walked away.

fuck.

he slumped against the window and decided he needed more alcohol.

he managed to steel some from dustin’s cup once he’d put it down to fight with lucas, both of them rolling around on the ground. he slinked away before dustin could notice.

“hey! who…”

steve giggled to himself and stumbled over to argyle, who was fiddling with the music. he made some small talk with the dude. he seemed cool enough. steve wanted to request some tears for fears.

he saw nancy staring at him and his cheeks flushed a little pink, she seemingly looked him up and down before turning to head upstairs. her hair, in all it’s curly glory, bounced as she bound up the steps and steve was intrigued. so he followed.

he struggled to climb the stairs at first, his feet finding the wrong spots and almost rolling down a few times, but eventually he got there. he noticed his bedroom door open.

yes.

distraction with a gorgeous girl, ago. thank fuck she got the message, right?

nope. no one was in there… but then the door to his ensuite swung open and nancy drunkenly stumbled out. steve grinned at her.

“hey gorgeous.” he winked, taking a few slow, very stumbly steps forward.

she clearly was very flustered, “uh, hi…”

steve shut his bedroom door, and then they were enclosed in darkness, “funny seeing you here.”

yeah, he’d kind of lost his charm over the years. blame it on the head trauma.

“ah… yeah?” her voice was deeper than steve remebered… must have been the alcohol fucking up his brain or something, making everything sound wrong.

steve took a few steps closer, until he was right in front of her. she was taller than he remebered too… maybe she was wearing platforms… maybe steve had shrunk. he was probably just super drunk.

“i’m glad.” steve grinned, leaning in a little. she hesitantly leant back, “thought we could have a little fun, whaddya say?”

her eyes widened, “fun?”

steve nodded, “yeah, you and me.” he reached a hand up, curling a finger around a lock of her hair. it felt different. he liked it more, “always loved your hair, you know.”

he felt her melt against him, “you have?”

he nodded, getting closer, “it’s gorgeous.” he whispered against her lips, his other hand slinking around her waist, “i’m gonna kiss you now. is that okay?”

she nodded, crashing her lips into his… it felt different. so different. i mean, it had been a while since they had last kissed. but like, someone’s mouth can’t change that much, right? once again, he blamed it on the alcohol. he sunk his hand into the glorious locks on the back of her head, and she relaxed into his hold, slinging her arms over steve’s shoulders and pulling him closer.

she pulled back and muttered, “fuck, been wanting to do this forever.”

steve’s cheeks turned pink… the last time he’d talked, nancy seemed barely interested in him like this. maybe she’d just been horny lately, and jonothan may not have been as good at sex as steve. that was probably it. steve pulled her backwards and pushed her down onto the bed, climbing over her and kissing down her neck, her jaw, sucking at her skin until he left a purple bruise under her ear. she moaned, a lot, the whole time. steve didn’t remember her being this responsive, but it really turned him on. he came back to her lips and kissed her fucking silly, his hands slid up from her hips, under her shirt and up- wait… he felt around a little. nothing… no bra, no tits, just a flat chest with… pierced nipples? he pulled back in a flash and leant over to turn his lamp on.

fuck.

that wasn’t nancy.

“steve?” eddie asked, seemingly very confused.

“i-“ steve stared, shaking his head as he crawled off of eddie.

fuck, he’d just kissed eddie. oh my god he’d just felt up eddie. oh shit he’s just made out with eddie. he’d fucking sucked a hicky into eddie’s neck… and he let him? he… he’d been wanting to do this forever? shit he was so drunk.

“sorry.”

eddie turned pink, “sorry?”

“i shouldn’t… i th-“ steve took a deep breath, sitting down on the edge of his desk because he was too dizzy to stand still, “i thought you were nance.”

there was silence for a while too long, “you saw me walk up stairs… followed me… looked me dead in the eye and kissed me, all whilst thinking i was nancy?”

“yes.”

well fuck, “oh.” eddie turned white.

“your gay?” steve mumbled out.

eddie was about to cry, “no.”

silence again. “what?”

“i thought you were…” eddie shook his head, racking his brain for a girl that was here that was straight that was old enough that looked enough like steve… of course there was no one, “i don’t know.”

was steve’s first kiss with eddie seriously a drunken accident?

“sorry.” eddie squeaked and ran away.

because that’s what eddie did best, right?

by the time steve made it back down stairs, eddie was gone with the night.

he hadn’t heard from eddie for two whole weeks. after two weeks of missing eddie, steve told robin what had happened. she slapped him.

“are you serious, steve?” she shook her head, “you actually had him underneath you and you ruined it with your stupid heterosexual honesty? you could have just lied, you know? told him later!”

steve groaned, slamming his head on the counter repeatedly, “i know… but he said he’s not gay-“

“he obviously lied.”

“how do you know that?”

“ah, steve…” she scoffed, “if a girl made out with me drunk, then pulled back telling me she thought i was a guy, to then randomly ask me if i was gay, i would lie about it too.”

“oh.” steve stared at the window, “oh.”

“oh!” she flung her arms out.

steve drove straight to the munsons after work that night, and knocked on their door. eddie opened it, guitar slung over his back. he’d been practicing. it made steve all hot and bothered. eddie went white when he saw him.

“steve…” he looked away awkwardly.

“can i come in?”

eddie hesitated before sighing deeply and stepping out of the way to let steve in. he shut the door behind them and took his guitar off. steve wasn’t sure if he was more disappointed or relieved about that.

“whaddya want?” eddie asked, standing awkwardly in the room as steve took a seat on the couch. he needed to sit for this.

“sorry.” steve mumbled.

“for?” he knew what for.

“for kissing you and then telling you i thought you were nance.”

“so… you didn’t think i was nance?” eddie scoffed, “jeez. came up for some experimentation with the freak and realised you didn’t like it, classy, steve. real classy.”

steve looked to the ground, “no… we’ll, i-“ he huffed, hating himself a little too much right now, “i did think you were nancy.”

“amazing.” eddie muttered beneath his breath.

“i just… i wanted sex… is all. i was horny and needed a girl-“

“great.” eddie emphasised the T, “i needa know about that, why?”

steve rolled his eyes, he hated how irritating eddie got when he was feeling emotionally venerable. tell tale sign one that steve had definitely hurt him, and that eddie was one hundred percent into dudes. at least fifty percent into steve.

“because.” steve sighed rather dramatically, “i just… i needed a distraction, okay?”

“okay?” eddie shook his head, eyes wide, “and? i’m not a fucking mind reader, steve.”

steve started to grow a little angry with eddie’s attitude, furrowing his brows and practically growling, “fuck you for looking like nancy.”

eddie rolled his eyes and laughed, “wow, sorry for not living up to your wet dreams.”

steve stood, getting a little defensive now, “asshole, the reason why i was trying to sleep with nancy is because you are my wet dreams.”

“ah huh.” eddie nodded with a disgusting grin that steve knew was there just to spite him, “sure. i’m your wet dream in the way that pigs fucking fly.”

steve folded his arms in a grump, “your a jerk, you know that?”

“your a fucking dick.” eddie snapped back, “learn how to handle your drink.”

“sorry for not realising my tolerance got lower, you know, after sacrificing my life and consciousness for you and all!”

“oh, here we go. you gonna cry hero, try and get my sympathy or some shit?”

steve clenched his fists. that’s the last thing he’d do, “as if. maybe if you’d actually done something with your life other than being a shitty drug dealer, none of that bullshit would have happened and then i never would have mistaken you for nancy!”

eddie laughed again, and it made steve’s insides clench, “wow. just… fucking wow. what ever happened to the ‘oh, it’s not your fault, ed’s. there’s nothing you could do, ed’s. don’t beat yourself up, eds’?”

“maybe, if you weren’t such a dick you would be getting that treatment.”

“you are such a bully.” eddie shook his head, “still king steve at heart, aren’t you?”

steve gritted his teeth, “don’t call me that.”

“what?” eddie leered forward with a teasing smirk, “don’t like the truth, your highness?”

steve scrunched up his nose, shoving a finger into eddie’s chest, “that’s rich coming from a peice of shit, trailer trash freak, like yourself.”

eddie pretended that didn’t hurt as much as it did, “at least i’m not fake.” ouch.

“at least i’m wanted.” fuck.

eddie took a moment to absorb that, shrugging slightly, “but nancy didn’t want you, remember? she broke up with you, for jonothan… and then rejected you the other night, when you came running for the freak instead.”

“hmm,” steve muttered, taking another step closer, thank fully he was taller than eddie so his intention to intimidate seemed to work, “but you did.” it was his turn to smirk.

eddie’s smugness faultered for a moment, only a moment, but steve noticed. of course he fucking noticed. eddie furrowed his brow, clenching his fists and practically blowing steam out of his ears. steve knew he’d got him. he’d hit a sore spot and he was winning. and then he felt a little guilty, because that’s exactly something king steve would have done. fuck.

“maybe i was just using you, jackass.” eddie fought back, “experimenting with a guy with a big enough mouth to fit my cock.” eddie smirked again.

steve’s nose scrunched up in anger, the words shooting down to his dick but he refused to acknowledge that, “motherfucker.”

wow, great come back steve. amazing.

“cunt.” eddie grinned, looking up at steve but managing to intimidate him nonetheless.

“you are such a dick.” steve huffed, his voice seemingly quieter.

“you’re an emotionless asshole.” eddie whispered back.

“am not.” great job steve. yes. fix it by talking like a seven year old.

“are too.” eddie faught back.

“am. not.” steve sneered, “i happen to have a lot of stupid emotions.”

“sure you do.” eddie nodded once, his voice condescending as fuck, “enough emotions to… use your ex girlfriend for sex… or enough emotions to fuck over the only gay guy you know out of spite?”

steve smirked, “so you are gay? awh, you do want me.” he teased, poking eddie in the nose, “how cute. you got a crush on king steve, eddie? did i make you think all your stupid little dreams could come true?”

eddie slapped his hand away from his face. fuck. he nudged forward again, “fine. you got me. but you are a terrible kisser. i feel shame to all those girls who went all the way with you, i just got lucky enough that you felt the need to stop.”

“oh, you fucker…” steve shook his head, “i’ll have you know, i’m renowned for my sexual prowess. a god in the sack, if you will.”

“someone’s feeling a little cocky.” eddie scoffed.

“says the cock sucker.” steve smirks.

“no one said i did the sucking.” eddie grinned.

steve huffed, “all i’m saying, is that you can’t lie to me. once you got a taste, you didn’t want to stop.”

“it was sub par.” eddie shrugged, “like soggy popcorn after a movie. if it’s offered to you, you’ll take it. but it doesn’t mean it’s good.”

steve chuckled, “you seemed to think it was good the other night.”

“it’s my word against yours, big boy.” eddie grinned, “prove it.”

“i will.” steve nodded.

“how?” eddie nudged his face up into steve’s, catching him by surprise.

steve thought about it for a moment, looking at eddie, feeling the warmth of his breath on his face. those gorgeous eyes, his perfect hair and those pretty pink lips. he licked his own lips, looking between eddie’s eyes and his mouth. eddie seemed to be doing the same.

“i will.” steve whispered.

“no you won’t.” eddie smirked.

“shut up.” steve scoffed, eyes locked on eddie’s lips, watching his tongue dart out to lick them. he wanted to suck on eddie’s tongue.

“make me.” eddie quirked an eyebrow.

and steve did make him. eddie was shut the fuck up with a hot, hard kiss. he pulled back quickly, blinking once, twice, three times up at steve, catching his breath. steve looked at him for a moment, understanding the confusion behind eddie’s eyes. he sighed, still with a little aggression.

“i wanted to fuck a girl because i was having stupid thoughts about fucking you again and i needed to get rid-“

and that was good enough for eddie, so he kissed him again. shoving him back until his knees hit the edge of the couch and he was falling down into it, and eddie was straddling steve’s lap and pulling at his shirt and kissing him harder.

steve ended up with a matching hickey under his ear.

neither of them apologised, but after about three weeks of dirty, roughed up sex, robin had caught them making out in steve’s room and blurred out, “thank fuck! i thought steve would never admit he was practically in love with you!”

that got her a pillow thrown to her head, and a series of questions and teasing from eddie. they’re boyfriends now. but they still hadn’t apologised.

[ohfallingdisco]

all of ur wips look so cool!! I’d love to hear more about dead fanta, dustin

ahh thank you!! i hope they are lol

here’s the opening for dfd:

Mike’s campaign was meant to honor the friends they lost in the war. 

Not that they died in Mike’s story, of course—nothing to stir up bad memories while playing through a cathartic campaign—but it was meant to symbolize, in summary, that even though they were growing up now, they were still the Party members they had been before it all started. The plot was woven around memories and details they had gotten together and shared, over smiling and tears, a few months ago at the birth of the idea. There were lots of cats, to honor Mews, a hero who lived to honor the agent who protected them in California…vulnerable things, while being solid and untouchable in the realm of fantasy. 

And not a single person was allowed to mention Vecna. 

Logically, it should be a very good game. Logistically, even. It was going to go great. So why was Will hovering at the top of his basement stairs the night before it started, looking smaller than he had been in years, almost sick with nerves? 

They had just talked to each other over walkies that morning. Nothing too serious could have happened, right? 

Nothing…bad? 

And so Mike watched Will with a lump in his throat, as Will descended the steps with Mike’s heart in his hands. 

He swore that if they were about to need to kill Henry again, then…then he didn’t want to be a part of it. That pathetic bastard had taken enough from them all as it was. 

Mike held his breath and studied Will as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked a little calmer now, which was good—but still freaked out, which was not. 

“Hi,” Mike greeted, but it came out too quiet. He cleared his throat, and his friend’s wide eyes darted up to his. 

He winced. Whoops. 

Will gave a soft smile back, only kind of strained. “Mike,” he returned, voice gentle and assured, and…well, Mike could address the way it made his stomach flutter later. 

He set down the notebook he had been using to scribble last-minute details about the campaign. “Is everything okay?” he asked, and then kicked himself. “Not that—not that you’re not always welcome here. In my house. Or—with me, or.” 

“Mike,” Will huffed happily, the corners of his lips quirking up into a tiny smile. “Everything’s fine. But, um. Thanks, I guess.” 

…Success. 

Mike thought his smile back was maybe kind of dopey, but he was fine with that. Will deserved to know that people cared about him. 

—

AND because i like this one, some from the first scene with Dustin’s pov:

Yeah, yeah. Dustin had been home alone bllions of times before. 

From when he was little and his dad died, to recent years, like Dart or the robots after camp, he was used to filling odd silence and stretchy quiets. It had become a part of his home, by now, when Mom was at work. You could even say he liked it, sometimes. It gave him space to move around. 

But despite all the years he had gotten used to staying home alone, there were some things he never got used to. Branches scraping the window. People talking outside, the cat’s random screeches, his friends showing up at weird hours to bug him. 

But…those footsteps crunching his grass right now were not from anyone in the Party. Will and El never made a sound when they walked, Lucas and Steve were more of a saunter, and Mike and Max were quick and purposeful. 

Damn it, Dustin knew his friends. And right now, he also knew he was in danger. 

He couldn’t risk looking out the window. Or going back to his room, because he had left the blinds open in the kitchen. 

And it was almost midnight. How, and why were there strangers at his house, at almost midnight, on the one night his mom happened to be in the hospital? She’d sprained her foot and been forced to stay one night. She couldn’t help it. And as far as she knew, Dustin was staying at Steve's tonight—dammit, he should’ve just gone through with it. 

It couldn’t have been that humiliating, for long.

Definitely not more than getting murdered over the one twelve-hour stretch he was supposed to be taking care of himself. 

Dustin sighed, muffling the breath with a palm.

What the actual, ever-loving—?

A quiet clatter from his room. 

Oh. 

Oh, shit. 

The cat. He forgot the cat was out, sleeping on his bed. No one left their cat out unsupervised when they were going to sleep, or at least not where they wouldn’t be able to reach them quickly and fix any problems made in the middle of the night. 

But there was a really big problem with going to his room right now: he’d have to pass through the kitchen. 

Where the window was open. And the dangerous strangers could see right in. What would they even do to a seventeen-year-old kid home alone overnight? How would they do it? Would he be taken to a lab, same as El, except without the potential of superpowers to keep him alive? Passed off as dead, like Will? Brutally psychically targeted—like Max? 

Just as he’d thought all that shit was over… 

A quiet click behind him, and a walkie-talkie stirring to life crackled through the closed window. Better quality than the Party’s, so. Someone official. 

His heart was pounding. He wasn’t ready to die. His friends were all still here and he was supposed to get married to Suzie eventually, and his mom— 

“…target,” the walkie-talkie said. 

He was trying so hard not to panic. 

—

so, hope you like it!! <33 the first chapter of this one pretty much just needs to be edited all together i think (and i owe the huuugest thanks to @wheelersboy for helping with beta-ing grammar etc. and accidentally helping me remember my original plan lol)

[motheatenscarf]

In Almenor D&D last night our Cleric succeeded on his FOURTH Divine Intervention in the campaign.

We were doing SOME BULLSHIT, I will get into the specifics beneath a read more in a second, but we hit level 20 at the end of the session, so that was the final time he's ever going to have to roll for a success on his divine intervention. At level 20, Clerics just get one free miracle a week that they automatically succeed on.

Again, this is his fourth success, so let's go through them;

The first one was when we had a battle in the artifacts room of an ancient temple, some of the artifacts were destroyed in the ensuing fight. The clerics there weren't too worried about that, they were more sad that some of their people had died, but it was a cultural blow al the same. Flint, our Cleric, prayed for the artifacts to be restored and rolled to meet a success.

The second time was after we killed an elder brain dragon, he prayed that the copper dragon who had been corrupted would be spiritually restored so it could reincarnate since that's apparently what happens to dragons here.

The third one was after we killed a lich. During our fight with her, she'd cursed the fuuuuck out of some of us and we weren't healing or getting better and were quickly decaying, and the dungeon up to her had been a slog, so we were all out of spell slots at that point. The cleric prayed to have people restored and it worked.

This final time was the BIG ONE. There is in this universe a lich god of secrets, heavily vecna-inspired but more interesting because he's not a cackling cartoon villain, he's a traumatized former slave trying to ensure he's never under the boot of a master again. He's done some terrible, reprehensible things to get where he is, but his face-heel turn came after someone murdered his son to get to him. Then he made his grief the world's problem and started snorting souls like coke. His son has been dead for like two thousand years but we've concocted some bullshit. After traveling to Elysium and then Arvandor to reunite the son's soul with his long lost wife, we acquired some artificially created organic bodies that were empty of souls and true polymorphed them into the correct shape and appearance to match them. We figured with that kind of sympathetic bond, we could then use like, planar binding to stitch the souls into the bodies, burning 9th level spell slots to make the thing stick for a year.

Our DM tends to reward investment in a miracle/Wish, the more resources you put into it, the more it costs you, the more you get out of it. If we'd just prayed to have these two NPCs restored free of charge, it probably wouldn't have worked, but through expending some major resources and reputations and fucking 9th level spell slots all around, we got more out of it.

So the cleric prayed that his goddess, the goddess of compassion, would see what we were trying to do, would see that restoring this lich god's son and ensuring there was anything at all he cared about on the material plane would maybe help to change him and keep him on our side, and she would help make this a permanent bond.

We knew at least we'd buy ourselves a year and we could try to work out a permanent solution once the campaign was over, so our cleric had nothing to lose by trying. He tried, needed a 19 or below, he had like a 1 in 5 chance of succeeding on the d100, and he rolled an 11.

Fuck yeah!

So, his goddess made it so that yeah, no, those are just... their bodies now. Souls as tied to them as if they'd been born to them. Resurrection spells would work on them now even if something else did happen to them. They were fully fucking alive again after having their lives cut short two thousand years prior.

The final goddamn miracle he had to roll for was a BIG doozey but like, the most perfect thing I can think of for a Life Cleric to accomplish, we're so proud of him.

[strangerquinns]

Chapter Five: Kas the Bloody Handed

The Ascension of Kas

Vampire/Kas!Eddie Munson x afab!Reader

summary: It's been eight months since Vecna had won, leaving the group in despair with the aftermath. But you seem to be having it the worst with the hauntings of your boyfriend keeping you awake at night. But are the visions of Eddie only a dream, or is Vecna slowly showing that he is once again ready to finish what he'd started?based off these fanmade trailers (x) & (x)

warnings: death, blood, violence, gore, murder + other Stranger Things related themes.

words: 2.87k+ // The Ascension of Kas Masterlist // stranger things masterlist

Eight Months Ago...

Two days have passed since the Upside Down tore through the dimensional barrier and began to bleed into Hawkins. There was an eerie silence through the dark and decrepit world. Lying in the middle of the crossroads at the center of the Forest Hills Trailer Park was the body of the fallen hero. The bats that had bitten into his flesh lay around him in a halo. One could say they could still hear the cries and screams of his love if they listened close enough.

Suddenly his eyes opened and stared up into the storming grey skies. A loud gasp passed through his dry and bloodied lips with his entire body feeling as if it was on fire. Eddie rolled over violently and began to expel a black, bloodline, substance from his body. His body heaved and shook with each heaving breath before it stopped almost as quickly as it started.

Eddie rose his head slowly, still feeling weak, and looked around confused. He tried to crawl away from where he'd woken up, his body screaming in pain with each movement. He'd only gotten a couple of feet before his body fell to the floor, his breath harsh and staggered. Eddie's eyes fluttered closed once again.

~.~

The next time Eddie woke up it was again with a shock but he was quickly able to see he was no longer outside. Instead, his eyes scanned around to see he was within a home. It was older, wallpaper peeling from the walls and falling to the floor beneath. Along the walls were the thick, black alien vines that seemed to pulse and move against one another.

But just as the thought of getting up and moving entered Eddie's mind, the sound of footsteps could be heard. They were heavy and slow like whomever it was, was taking their time. With each footstep, his heart seemed to jump with fear making him feel frozen in his place on the floor. As the footsteps got closer they started to sound wet, each one making a squelching sound.

Eddie's eyes slowly moved to the large archway that lead into the room he was in. The doorway was soon filled by a tall, monstrous figure that glared down at him the moment he came into view. Even if Eddie had never met the monster that had terrorized him and his friends for weeks, Eddie knew exactly who was standing in front of him.

Half of his body was disfigured and covered in blackish, soot-like coloring as it twisted within the scars covering his body. Half of his face looked melting and drooping downward so much that one of his eyes was nearly surrounded by molton skin. With each step Vecna took closer to him, Eddie became more frozen in fear. A deep, gravelly growl sounded from Vecna as he stopped right in front of him and tilted his head to the side slightly.

"W-What do you want w-with me?" Eddie voiced, his throat hurting with each word. "How am I h-here?"

"Because I need you," Vecna spoke, bellowing and echoing through the space.

Eddie stared up at him and slowly it clicked within his mind. If Vecna was standing in front of him, they had lost. You, Nancy, Steve, and Robin weren't successful in killing him. Then his stomach twisted with agony when the thought of you entered his mind. The last thing that Eddie could remember before it all faded to black was being knocked to the ground by a cluster of bats. Nothing of what happened after that was in his memory.

Not saying goodbye. Not hearing how much you begged for him to stay. It was like that was wiped away from his memory. So all Eddie could think, with Vecna standing in front of him, was that you had been killed. What had happened to Hawkins? Dustin? The Hellfire Club?

"I want you to join me," Vecna spoke, moving to kneel down in front of Eddie slowly, his larger hand rising up to hover over the metalhead's face.

Eddie soon felt his mind go dark again soon after his hand clasped over his face. It didn't take long for him to fall under Vecna's curse with his mind weakened.

Vecna was able to turn him into the shoulder he needed. The one to finish what he had started with Hawkin's, to help him grow stronger.

~.~

The next time Eddie opened his eye he was able to quickly realize that he was no longer in the Upside Down. The broken version of his trailer park surrounded him, but he could tell that he was within Hawkins. His throat burned with every breath that he took and could feel a deep hunger within his gut.

But something was different. As his dark eyes moved around taking in what had happened to his neighborhood, Eddie was able to tell that everything seemed sharper. It was like his eyes were able to see everything through a cleaner, sharper, more detailed lens. He could see the details along the alien vines and the Hive Mind that spread out from the amber cracks in the ground.

Eddie stumbled forward with his legs still feeling weak with each step. But as he moved, it was like his mind wasn't his own. He walked through the dark streets of Hawkins moving closer to town, listening as the sky crackled and rumbled above him. The sound made him jump and wince back every time it cracked through the dark cloud. His senses felt like they were on overload and made his entire body feel wired.

"Hey, are you ok?" A soft voice spoke from beside him. Eddie's head snapped up to the voice and looked around.

He didn't realize that he'd walked into another part of the East side of Hawkins. Homes were falling apart and being overtaken by the Upside Down more and more. Death seemed to be hovering over this street and slowly sucking the life from it. Movement caught Eddie's eyes again, and soon he watched as a small woman walked toward him. She smiled up at him warily as she moved closer.

"Honey? You ok?" She asked again, her voice laced with concern.

Eddie tried to speak, but it seemed the closer the woman got, the more his throat began to burn and itch. He stumbled back when the scent hit him, his body nearly bending in high at the impact as hunger gripped his stomach. Eddie groaned in pain - that only made the woman move closer to him. It smelled like the sweetest thing Eddie had ever smelled in his life, with a hint of something else that was making his mouth water. Her gentle hand pressed to his shoulder as she bent down to look into his face.

"Why don't we..." She started but stopped the moment Eddie looked at her. She gasped and stumbled back away in fear, the spike in her heart rate only making the scent surrounding him stronger. "Oh, Jesus!"

Eddie's face formed into that of a monster, he couldn't see himself, but with the fear, in her eyes, he knew something was wrong. His head tilted to the side as he watched her start to back away, his feet leading to her. The stranger in front of him began to shake with fear, her heartbeat now seemingly acting as a siren song to him.

"W-What are you? Please!" She begged, tears filling her blue eyes. She turned to run, but tripped over the ground beneath her and fell with a hard thump against the street behind her. Twisting around quickly, she stared up at Eddie and tried to crawl back away from him.

A dark shadow appeared beneath Eddie's dark eyes with the appearance of veins protruding from beneath the skin. The paleness of his face only made it seem more haunting as he looked down at her. Eddie could smell her blood more now with her knees scraped from the street. He licked his lips and felt the sharpness of the two fangs that now protruded from his gums.

The woman blinked and soon Eddie was above her, holding her shoulders down as he straddled over her small frame. She opened her mouth to scream, but she never had the chance. The last thing she saw was the white fangs gleaming in the red of the sky before a pain moved through her body. Eddie's hand clasped over her mouth to muffle her screams as his fangs sank into her. Eddie moaned the moment her blood spilled across his tongue. His other hand reached around her and brought her closer to him as he drank, and drank, and drank.

Eddie wasn't exactly clean with his first kill, his hunger taking over as he tore and ripped into her throat. It was like her blood wasn't flowing fast enough for him. He could feel her body become laxer and laxer against him as he drained the life from her. Eddie doesn't know how long he sat there drinking from the stranger, but he pulled back and looked down at her lifeless body. Her blue eyes were now dull and wide as she stared up at the sky.

Eddie could feel her blood dripping down his chin and onto the already ruined Hellfire Club shirt he wore. A gasp of horror left him as he stumbled back away from her body, the realization of what he'd done now hitting him. He rose a shaky hand up to his face and felt the sticky blood on his fingers, before pulling it back and seeing it on his hand.

"Oh, fuck...oh, fuck..." Eddie cried in panic before he turned and ran from the scene in front of him.

Leaving the dead body in the middle of the road to be found two days later as another family was leaving to evacuate Hawkins.

~.~

It was four days later that the wings appeared.

Eddie had taken shelter in one of the abandoned homes on the outskirts of Hawkins. The window was blocked out so no one would be able to see him moving about the home, even if only a hand full of people still lived on that side of town. He'd come from another hunt, losing control of himself the moment he smelled the intoxicating scent of blood. With each death, Eddie came to terms with what was happening to him, but slowly the self-hatred grew with each life he took.

The pain started meekly before soon his shoulders felt like they were burning and being ripped apart. He fell to the floor with a scream of pain as his back arched, a scream of agony leaving his bloodstained lips. His nails dug into the worn decrepit wood beneath his fingers before the sound of bones breaking muffled his screams. Stretching out from the middle point between his shoulder blades were two large wings that stretched out behind him. They resembled bat wings. Whenever the light hit them, they seemed almost red, the veins showing through slightly.

He'd passed out soon after they'd appeared.

~.~

"I don't understand what you want from me, what you're making me do," Eddie spoke as he stood within the Creel House, flying back into the Upside Down for answers. Vecna stood at the top of the stairs hidden slightly in the shadows. But Eddie could still feel his menacing glare on him. "Why are you having me murder people?! What am I?"

"You are a creature that I have created. I saw use in you, Edward, how viciously you tried to protect your friends. Protect the town that had dubbed you a monster." Vecna spoke, "That is a fearlessness that I need within a soldier."

"What?" Eddie spoke breathily. "A soldier?"

"With every life you take, and feed from, it helps me heal. You are part of me now." Vecna stepped into the light slightly, and that is how Eddie saw he wasn't as burnt as before. Parts of his body healed and returned back to their grotesque nature. "The plan that I have for Hawkins will still happen. As you continue to grow and form, more of this world will bleed into theirs. Soon that town will be nothing but a skeleton of what it's once been."

"I don't want to kill people," Eddie whimpered softly, "I don't want to be a monster."

"Don't see yourself as a monster, Edward. See yourself as superior against those that looked down at you."

"What about my friends?"

"What about them?" Vecna asked "They left you here to die. Abandoned you the moment you were too much of a liability to them. Even that girl you loved...left you..."

Eddie felt like a knife had been stabbed through his heart. He shook his head not believing a word Vecna was saying. At least trying to.

Because you wouldn't have left him.

Would you?

~.~

Four Months Later...

It had taken him months to finally find the courage within himself to look for you. Scared that what Vecna said was true. But a part of the old Eddie was still within him, even if this monster he was turned into grew stronger with each feed. He was starting to not care about the people he was killing, knowing it was his only way to sustain himself.

But flying through the woods of Hawkins, he'd caught sight of you. For the first time in months, he'd finally found you. He watched from within the trees as you walked through the woods, head bowed, tears running down your cheeks. The soft sound of your sniffles mixed in with the sound of the night around you both. He followed till he saw you come upon the graveyard right on the outside of town. He was confused as to why you'd walk that long distance all alone yourself. A part of him couldn't help but be angry with you.

But Eddie sat there and watched you, making sure to stay high in the tree top to make sure you didn't see him. He wasn't sure what he'd do if you saw the monster that he'd become now. Eddie couldn't handle the disgust in your eyes. So instead he watched from afar as you walked to a headstone before sitting down in front of it. The pain started to grow in his chest when he realized where you were.

His mother's gravestone. The one they laid her to rest when she'd died of breast cancer when he was only in the fifth grade.

But there was something different now. There was a smaller one beside it. Eddie dropped down to the forest line and hide behind a tree, tucking his wings tightly back into place, causing them to disappear.

"Hey, Eddie." You spoke, voice wavering from the tears, hand reaching out to the headstone. "Sorry, I-I haven't been around lately...just...it's been hard..."

Eddie watched confused as you talked to the headstone, tears streaming down your beautiful face. You talked about everything that happened that week. How Dustin, Steve, Robin, and everyone else were doing. How you went to meet with his Uncle Wayne for dinner a couple weeks ago, and how his Uncle told you he was moving out of Hawkins. Eddie couldn't help but feel saddened at the news.

"It's just too painful for him to be here, Ed. I know he was trying to use a job as an excuse...but Wayne never gave up. Dustin told him you'd died...but I knew a part of him always hoped you'd come back. That it was all a mistake." You reached up and wiped your cheek. "I never did have the courage to tell him I held you in my arms. I-It would be best if he knew as little detail as possible."

Eddie doesn't know how long he stood there and listened. But the sky started to turn darker and the rumblings of thunder got louder. He watched as you stood and quickly raced back down the way to try and beat the storm.

He took a deep breath and felt like everything in him was set on fire. The wind picking up, sending your scent to him. His nails dug into the bark of the tree nearly splitting the wood as he did. Eddie fought back the urge to move across the cemetery and sink his teeth into your throat, feeling your sweet blood move down his throat.

"No, no...not now. Not her..." Eddie whimpered as he fought against his urges.

He could feel Vecna at the back of his mind, urging him to give in.

To feed.

But he fought harder against it, a deep growl sounding from his chest in response to Vecna's influence.

You stopped short when you heard the sound, the first drops of rain starting to come down. Another growl was heard and it made your spine straighten, it sounding purely animalistic. Your eyes darted along the forest line for the source, a quick movement catching your eyes.

And that was the first time you saw Eddie, hiding behind a tree, watching you. Your heart froze for a second with a gasp leaving your lips. But when you blinked and looked back - he was gone.

So we got a little back story of Eddie and Vecna's plan for him. I hoped I explained that enough. Like when Eddie feeds, he's part of the hive mind, meaning him feeding his healing Vecna. There for why over the last few months the Upside Down is spilling more and more in Hawkins. If you have questions please ask. I really hope I did it justice in explaining.

Along with his wings...they can come and go as he pleases. That's why the Reader said he looked "normal" whenever she saw him. Cause he tucked his wings away. I remember watching a horror movie where a vampire was able to do that, sort of place them back into his body.

Again, ask if confused cause I suck at explaining. I would love to know your thoughts, theories, comments, etc...

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[slayernina]

My idea of what will happen on season 4

With all the plots and spoilers leaked until now. Full spoilers ahead from season 3 and what we know from season 4. Take each paragraph like a scene and let’s suppose the episode titles are correct XD

Gosh I’m so bored.

Episode 1: The Hellfire Club

We open with the Welcome to California teaser. 

Failed: we open with the misleading start of the Lab Massacre.

[Opening credits]

The Party minus Max is playing D&D at Mike’s basement. Eddie is the Dungeon Master. Fred is there too, as well as some other 2 guys. We are introduced to all the 80s Satanic Panic through their conversation. Brief appearance of Karen telling them to go home, Mike is all angry and sarcastic about it and it’s very rude to her.

Mike calls Eleven and Will. Will is the one who catches the phone, it’s a bit upset Mike wanted to talk to Eleven first.

Max wakes up, she has a scene along the lines of “Susan leaving food on the fridge for her with a note, she’s not at home, there are empty alcohol bottles in the trash”. Max goes to school hearing music.

Lucas is with the basketball team, they are going to have a big game today. Lucas doesn’t have any spare time to be with his friends or Max and rushes to the team changing room. We were introduced to Jason, the captain team, and his lackeys Patrick and Andy. Also introduction of “Molly” (or whatever she’s called now), his girlfriend.

Mike and Dustin arrive late because of Mike. Dustin complains about how Mike is very "too cool for school” now. Lucas disses them because today it’s his game. Max tags along with them to the gym. Mike crosses Chrissy the cheerleader, she has a crush on Mike and waves her hand happy and Dustin rolls eyes. Chrissy doesn’t know about Eleven, though.

Dustin is at some science advanced class.

Erica is vibing around her school. Mr Clarke appears because why not.

Scene of Jonathan smoking pot. He throws the smoke through the window and goes with Argyle to deliver some pizza and to leave Eleven and Will at their school. Joyce receives a phone call from Lonnie, they argue about money. Joyce is now a telemarketer.

Scene of Lt Sullivan asking Owens what happened in Starcourt and blaming him for the situation with the Russians.

Steve and Robin are at Family Video. Steve tries to get laid again, without success. Vickie shows from time to time at Family Video, she flirts with Robin. At some point, Moustache Extra Guy (aka maybe Steve’s dad) visits and throws a rant at them about the loose morals of the town or whatever. Levon Hawke appears and we discover it’s not Robin’s little brother in fiction XD He complains a bit more about all the Satanic Panic and how crazy adults are now.

Basketball game. Robin plays with the band and we see Vickie again. Robin has a crush on her. Jason gives a prep speech remembering the fallen at Starcourt. Max snaps at Billy’s mention and leave the gym, ignoring Dustin, that just arrived. She is called to Mrs Kelley’s office, they talk about how Max is doing (she is coping bad).

Murray calls Joyce, he has discovered something about the Upside Down or about Hopper being alive.

In Lenora High School, Will and Eleven had to make an essay about a hero. Will delivers one about Alan Turing and Eleven fails because she did about her father Hopper. Angela is an annoying little shit and taunts her. They argue, the teacher makes them to stay after class. Angela still bullies Eleven.

“Molly” has a very tense scene with her abusive mother. She runs away. At night, Eddie sells drugs to “Molly”. He and Max live now at the trailer park. Vecna takes the form of “Molly’s” mother and tricks her to his lair. Vecna kills “Molly” at the woods.

Episode 2: Vecna’s Curse 

We open with the from Russia with Love scene. 

[Opening credits]

Hopper is at prison and they are torturing him about Starcourt and the Upside Down. Hopper bonds with Yuri and Dmitri.

Molly’s murder shakes the town. Karen reads it at newspapers, and comments with Nancy and Mike during breakfast about how when she was young, there was a rampage of murders like that.

Argyle sells drugs to Jonathan, while they deliver pizza to a birthday party.

Eleven and Will are wandering around the new school. During a sports game (or something outside), Jake and Angela taunt her again.

Eleven complains to Jonathan that Will is not helping her. Will complains to Jonathan she is annoying and should learn to be on her own.

Jonathan is more and more into drugs to evade himself. He is disappointed to be the one always behind. He is also upset about Nancy not coming to Will’s birthday with Mike. Family drama.

Jason is having a prep talk to the basketball team. Jason blames Eddie because of “Molly’s” murder. Lucas reveals he was a nerd and Erica is one now. Tense moment between Jason vs Lucas, he is making Lucas “to choice” the basket team aka “regular” life.

Mike talks with Dustin about “Molly’s” murder and about what Karen said during lunch. Fred (from the HF Club) joins and tells Dustin about Victor Creel and his murders. He also mentions his father was one of Brenner’s experiments (he doesn’t know that but Dustin connects the dots), he went crazy and he is with Creel at Pennhurst. Mike talks to Chrissy as friends. 

Dustin runs into Max (the only one avalaible at the moment, Mike is grounded and should come home) and go to Family Video. 

Vickie and Nancy are there. Nancy and Robin rush to the library and investigate Victor Creel’s murders in the 50s, leaving Vickie and Steve behind with a WTF face. Hawkins people think it was an urban legend, something about a family murdered “by a curse”.

Fred is killed. Somehow, the Party is involved and chief Powell and his people go to investigate Mike and Company.

Joyce reunites with Murray and plan their travel to Russia. 

Episode 3: The monster and the superhero

We open with “Eleven are you listening” teaser. She is in the middle of the classroom and the one who talked was her teacher.

[Opening credits]

More people is killed in the forest.

Basket match. Patrick has “an accident” and wakes up with a nosebleed. Lucas help him. Lucas freaks out because everyone around is talking about “that girl with powers whose nose bleds” and Creel’s curse.

With guard Hatch, Robin and Nancy fake they are college students and visit Victor Creel at Pennhurst. They see also Fred’s father. Their connection with Hawkins Lab is revealed (the father and Creel were in the same drug experiment as Terry Ives). Peter Ballard is working as a caretaker there. Flashbacks to the 50s with Brenner and Creel’s murder, he gouged his eyes out to stop Vecna’s visions. 

Mike and Nancy plan to go to California to Will’s birthday. Nancy stays behind to investigate more. Mike has more scenes with Chrissy the cheerleader, they are doing fine. At lunch, Max intervenes saying to her that Mike has a girlfriend. Lucas intervenes telling her to stop being so rude to Chrissy because she didn’t do anything. Max yells at Lucas and they broke up.

Jonathan is more and more into drugs to evade himself. He is disappointed to be the one always behind. He is also upset about Nancy not coming. Lonnie reapears and throws a tantrum about Joyce being an awful mother.

Mike flights to California, giving Eleven flowers. Mileven has a date, meanwhile Will is left behind. Mike and Will has a tense conversation at the roller rink, meanwhile Eleven is taken by Angela to go to the rink. She thinks Angela wants to apologyse and be her friend. Eleven tries to befriend Angela, following some ill advise from Jonathan/a TV show. Angela throws a drink over Eleven, being leven goes and it’s mocked by the rest of teens. She has a Carrie moment and explodes, hurting badly people. Angela and maybe Jake are among the casualties.

Dr Owens appears and take Eleven with him, since she is the only one who can fight against Vecna (dinner scene from the trailer).

Joyce reunites with Murray and he tells her about Hopper. Joyce prepares herself to go to Russia. An helicopter from the gov and pick Joyce and Murray.

Eleven tries to befriend Angela, following some ill advise from Jonathan/a TV show. Angela invites her to the roller rink. Eleven goes and it’s mocked by the rest of teens. She has a Carrie moment and explodes, killing people. Angela and Jake maybe are among the casualties.

The Russians are using the inmates to fight the Demogorgon at a pit.

Episode 4: Dear Billy

Morgue scene. Lt Sullivan is with Owens and more scientists/military men, talking about the 30 deaths at Starcourt. Billy’s autopsy photo is displayed on screen.

[Opening credits]

Hopper is having Vietnam flashbacks. Dmitri the guard is nice to him.

Lonnie reappears again. Flashbacks of Teen!Lonnie, Teen!Joyce and Teen!Hopper. Hopper’s dad (aka the guy that commited suicide in the 60s) makes an appearance. Joyce flies to Russia with Murray in an helicopter that crashed.

Eleven is captured by Brenner’s men from Owens hands. She is sent to a facility at the desert. A lady goes out from a car. (My theory: it’s Billy’s mom. Cut to Eleven’s Pikachu face).

The Upside Down takes the trailer park. Jason or one of his lackeys sees it or is dragged by a monster. Scoops Video (Scoops Troop + Nancy, Max and Eddie) go to the woods to rescue him. That person is killed. Somehow, Karen is dragged along and they have to reveal all the truth. She provides some crucial information about Creel’s murders that will be relevant to the plot later.

Scoops Video investigates Creel’s House for the 1st time. They jump through the clock portal and go to the Upside Down. Demobats attack them. Eddie plays the guitar, following Dustin’s instructions. They escape, except Max, who is attacked by Vecna. 

Max grieves Billy at the graveyard. She reads the letter Mrs Kelley told her to do. Meanwhile, Scoops Video discovers she could have been possessed/hurt. Flashback along the lines "Billy tried to apologies or tell her something, he didn’t dare to do it, and he goes to a date to never come back” (the flashback is set between season 2 and the steelwork of 3x01). Vecna mind rapes Max and she flies, falling into a coma.

Episode 5: The Nina Project

At the desert facility, Eleven is shaved and has some non clear flashbacks about her time at Hawkins lab. We see Peter Ballard. Billy’s mom was Brenner’s right hand. Brenner reappears.

Jonathan, Will and Mike are at the Byer’s house. They are attacked by some soldiers. A gov agent sent by Sullivan or Owens save their asses. They escape thanks to Argyle, who was called before and he came to ride them to Hawkins. The agent is shot. Before dying, he gives Pizza Party Eleven’s location and tells them about number 001 aka Ashe. Mike and Will has a heart to heart conversation. Mike is upset the last thing he said to Eleven was to broke up their relationship, Will comes out officially. He claims he loves Mike but he is rejected (Mike is processing too much at the moment and can’t think properly).

Dmitri informs Hopper the railway they are building is the portal and some time travel thing.

Dustin connects with Suzie via lite brite. Pizza Party (Byers Brothers, Mike and Argyle) hide into Suzie’s house. They create Internet or something (lol) and connect with Hawkins. They discover how to go to Vecna’s Lair through Creel’s house. They discover something and go to Lover’s Lake.

Episode 6: The dive

Joyce infiltrates the Russian facility thanks to Yuri’s help. Hopper, Yuri and some other prisoners escape. Yuri and the other prisoners are killed, Hopper mourns him. He sets on fire the Russian Demogorgon. Jopper reunion and escapes through a portal created over the train rail road.

Scoops Family go to the lake, to search a car in the water. Flashback to the 50s, a child set on fire that car. It is revealed Creel wasn’t responsible for the murders. Steve’s go underwater and is attacked by Vecna. 

Max wanders through Vecna’s Lair.

Episode 7: The massacre at Hawkins Lab

More Eleven’s flashbacks of her escape from the lab back in s1. Turns out Peter Ballard was her caretaker and is nice to her. He is the one that helped her to escape on season 1.

[Opening credits]

Eleven has flashbacks about her time at the lab. Number seven makes a cameo. The massacre was Peter Ballard’s thing.

Steve is severily injured. They return to Hawkins, Eddie finds them and joins the group. He gives Steve his vest.

Max wanders through Vecna’s Lair.

Episode 8: Papa

The Upside Down is getting off rails. The NPCs that were still alive are killed by monsters.

Hopper has more flashbacks about his dad. He thought he commited suicide, in reality he was killed by a possessed Creel because he saw something he shouldn’t (the lab’s experiments and Peter Ballard).

Pizza Party calls Hawkins, Murray and Erica answer and they find the way to free Eleven (she is not in the desert anymore, she was brought to Hawkins somehow) XD

Max wanders through Vecna’s Lair. This times, she manages to send important information to her friends.

Episode 9: The piggyback

Peter Ballard is Ashe aka number 01.

Lt Sullivan declares a lockdown at Hawkins. People freaks out.

Vickie shows around to inform Robin and Steve the military is there and they are evacuating the town, or something.

All are reunited in Hopper’s cabin (also with Karen and Russia team). Kali (and maybe her gang) come too. They piece everything together.

Jonathan “leaves” drugs. But he is killed or dragged to the Upside Down during the battle. The rest of them swears to avenge/rescue him.

The high school has become some kind of portal. The army is there, a lot of people injured. Big battle. The Party escapes through the clock seen at leaks to an unknown place/time.

Peter Ballard attacks the Party with his powers. Somehow he creates a blank space ala Wandavision, separating Hawkins from the rest of the world. He turns suddenly to Brenner and calls him “dad”. Brenner has a huge scar on his face and his eyes turns black like the Mind Flayer. Cliffhanger and end credits.

My other metas here

Buy me a ko-fi!

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Episode 109

Covering for @eponymous-rose​ because she has just moved and has one chair in her apartment, and also her ceiling is apparently making it rain inside. Also, I’m still riding the high of seeing this show live, so let’s get this going! 

Tonight’s guests: Liam, Taliesin, and Marisha! Late start; Brian blames Spectrum. I blame Sam.

Regular Critical Role this week; Sam’s oneshot is next week! Tonight’s After Dark will be a rebroadcast of the panel from GenCon. 

Everyone is a little stunned at how much they packed into last weekend. Marisha is amazed that they’ve gone from 250 people to 2500 people in the audience, especially considering the number of volunteers and staff they need to run a show like this. Brian is very surprised it had so few hitches in the production. 

Marisha helped Brian piece together his outfit (it was Ashley’s shirt and pants from New York that Ashley made him get).

No one knew what Sam would be wearing until fifteen minutes before showtime. He originally used a Chessex dice box, but Liam “didn’t feel it would read in the back row” so he used a larger, hollow box. 

A fan offered Brian ten thousand dollars for that box after the show. Yikes.

The art book has been in planning for a year; the first official meeting was at the last ComicCon. Liam’s favorite piece is a group portrait that has not been seen before. Taliesin loves that there are bits of “ephemera” scattered throughout the book.

Neither Liam nor Taliesin anticipated how much work the book would be. No release date yet.

Liam had no plan to make sure the potion went to Sam. He just wanted a lighthearted moment, and hadn’t planned to use it until the Raven Queen’s trammel almost broke the episode before. 

Keyleth suspected foul play on the love potion because she knows Vax well enough by now, but wasn’t worried because she likes lighthearted trickster Vax.

Brian was hoping Scanlan would see a mirror first. Taliesin hoped for Keyleth or Grog. Marisha hoped for Vax. 

The Gif of the Week is Matt tearing up his notes. It’s still hilarious.

Liam feels like the whole night was a scene from 300, including the chant of Vax’ildan. It was overwhelming in a good way.

Liam thinks some of Sam’s song/speech schtick was prepared before the show, but Taliesin and Marisha think he was adlibbing some of it as he went. Everyone marvels at his ability to improv so quickly.

Taliesin thinks Vex would have taken a finger or two if Scanlan hadn’t backed off. 

Marisha thinks Keyleth has come to the acceptance that death is likely, even though she’s hopeful they will survive. 

Marisha was slightly concerned that Scanlan would be angry at the prank and leave again. 

Liam doesn’t intend the pranks to be as good as they are, he just trusts Sam Riegel. “I just had to hold the football for Riegel and let him kick it.”

If Scanlan had seen Vex first, Percy would have been amused at first and then quickly annoyed. Taliesin also notes that Percy doesn’t know there was a love potion involved and is vain enough to think it was genuine.

There will be a Talks Machina next week even though a lot of people will be at Burning Man; it just “won’t be a traditional Talks.” 

Brian was excited to emcee the live show even though he had to stall a few minutes at the beginning because the merch line was so long. He felt like he had a contact high from how many Critters were excited to see him and the crew, the crowd singing All-Star before the show, and everyone just being generally enthusiastic. 

The guy who owns the theater said they have had rock concerts that were less exciting; he apparently thought something had happened after the first cheer and came out to check that everything was okay.

Keyleth is okay plummeting to her death these days. 

Taliesin, Marisha, and Liam all feel they will be battling Vecna on top of the titan. They don’t think it will stop until he’s defeated. 

Liam was certain he was going unconscious when Matt said he didn’t have the dice for the damage. Vax’s HP dipped to the 30s. 

Brian sat next to Andrew from CritRoleStats during the show. Hi, Andrew! He does the math in his head for the HP tracking and Brian kept interrupting him by accident. 

Percy is very much looking forward to killing Delilah again. “She’s the gift that keeps on giving.” He also says something about keeping her in a dungeon and killing her every week. Marisha: “Geez louise, that’s dark!”

Keyleth thinks it’s better for her to be down a high-level spell slot than for Scanlan to be, since he has so many high level Hail Marys. 

Brian marvels again at how intense the crowd was. The pre-show panel helped amp them up as well. 

Favorite GenCon moments for everyone! Brian: watching the live show in the audience and going to the Logic show. Brian got to lose at MarioKart on that stage as well. He came in 7th out of 8, and six of the other competitors were bots. Liam loved Bobby pulling Hannah Banana onstage to rap. I’m missing a lot of these references, so apologies if any of this is misspelled! The guy behind Brian’s empty seat apparently cheered very hard for him, even though he lost. Brian also loved Travis’s face when they walked out onto the football field on Sunday. Taliesin loved photobombing Critters. 

During the standing ovation, Marisha felt “pure, distilled, emotional ecstasy.” Liam was very humbled by the love for something they created around Marisha’s dining room table. Taliesin can’t find words for it. Brian felt like it was a wall of love. 

Right before he came out to do the initial announcements, Brian gave Matt a hug and unexpectedly started crying, so he had to compose himself before starting the show. At the end of the show, he looked over and saw Matt had tears in his eyes as well.

Liam loves that events from the game feel like real memories, and that what they do matters so much to so many people. 

After Dark: aka That Pre-Show Panel From the Con

Everyone is nervous about the show except Travis, who’s stoked. Everyone had a strategy session beforehand, except the rules of the game kept getting in the way. Matt: “Antimagic field does not work against spells cast by deities, sorry!”

Marisha and Laura love the game because of the roleplaying elements. Marisha notes there’s still a problem with D&D being perceived as a boy’s game. Liam runs a game for five small girls who love it because it’s not treated as a game for girls; “get ‘em while they’re as young as possible.” 

Any two NPCs in a cage match: Marisha picks Kevdak and Groon. Laura picks Trish the Dish and Kima. Matt: “Now we’re just me at home playing with my action figures, and I’m okay with that.” 

Marisha notes that Critical Role builds every week, which is different than the pre-produced final product from Dread. She loves Dread’s team-building aspect for the puzzles and atmosphere. Matt: “It felt weirdly magical.”

Taliesin and Marisha are very proud of Dread; there will be more to come.

An audience member asks about favorite one-liners: “Your secret is safe with my indifference.” “Life needs things to live.” “Where’s Larkin?”

They talk about how weird it is to have their game so big. They’re constantly amazed by the fan productions of love. 

Matt works hard on the balance between grandiose successes, failures, and heroism, and the importance of grounding the adventure in realism. Liam loves that it runs the gamut from an argument over a pair of shoes to a beloved city crumbling around them. 

Matt never imagined this world he made up would end up in a campaign guide. It was originally a generic fantasy land for his friends to play in, but the more life he put into it the more life his players put into it, and it was very daunting to try to capture all that collaboration into a book for other people to play in. He talks a bit about Joey, his co-writer, who helped him with the overwhelming load of work and created some ideas of his own.

If Laura could reroll one roll from the whole campaign, she describes a moment pre-show where she was trying to slide on her knees through a troll’s legs to shoot up, except she rolled a 1 and the troll stepped on her stomach. Travis would reroll the skull spike. “I wanted that one bad.” Taliesin feels bad rolls are character-building. Matt mentions the roll in the Sunken Tomb, and apparently Laura has never realized how much hinged on that one roll before this moment. Matt thinks of the roll Raishan failed against the Feeblemind. “Thanks, Keyleth!”

Travis prevented Laura from taking a gift earlier, but totally accepts a gift beer from an audience member. The same person brings up how good D&D is for blind and low-vision players since it’s theater of the mind, and as my residency was in low-vision rehabilitation, this means a lot to me. Matt also brings up Critical Role Transcripts as another great method of accessibility. They have over 60% of the whole show completely transcribed, which is over $50,000 in transcribing time. You can sign up to volunteer for five-minute slots at CRTranscript on Twitter. 

Matt talks about the importance of writing down details for NPCs you create on the fly and fleshing them out after the campaign if you think they might recur, because the players will remember every time if you don’t. 

Senokir was made up on the spot. Serious Alpha technical issues, so I’m sorry if I miss some stuff here. 

Matt does not believe in punishing players for being clever. He would rather throw away material and reuse it later. 

Sam is proud of the Washington Football Team inspiration and the library sequence with Laura. He liked the pressure of coming up with so many songs on the spot. 

Grog would take the Deck over the Alchemy Jug without a thought.

Travis will always choose character-based leveling for Grog over meta-gaming every time, especially if it makes Grog dumber. Sam looked up good spells for bards and the mansion was not one of them, but he took it because he loved the idea and hasn’t regretted it. Laura feels the same way about keeping Trinket through the Pathfinder transition. Taliesin never took Luck for the same reason; he feels the potential of the gun backfiring is the price he should pay. “I don’t want to undo my weaknesses.”

Liam’s choice of Fated is why Matt started thinking about him being fate-touched. 

More serious technical issues, sorry. Matt talks about the fact that all DMs will make mistakes and that it’s important to find creative solutions within the bounds of the world you’ve made. 

If Vex could reincarnate as anything, she’d pick “angel babyyyy!” Marisha would like to see Keyleth as a half-orc.

Laura is very disappointed Matt didn’t haggle the last time they went to the flea market together. 

[darius-stormcrow]

First Adventure - Inn and Out

So, the situation at the Inn was a little weird.  We spent more than one day on it, and there should have been an entry from last night in here.  But it got un-written, I guess...  Allow me to explain.

We got to the Inn, things seemed mostly normal, pretty standard tavern section like you can find in anywhere- with the exception of these two creepy engraved doors and a bunch of weird tapestries hanging behind the bar.  We talked to the barkeep about 'em while Jack played dice with some guys and tried to get information from bar patrons.  Well, none of it was particularly helpful.  Nobody had anything to say, and the one guy who might have had something to say was kind of all ricasso, no blade, if you get my meaning.

The rest of the Inn was significantly stranger, a bunch of people dancing in the courtyard.  And they were really bent on dancing.  Like, you couldn't stop them from dancing if you wanted to- or hell, if they wanted to.  People being compelled to dance by some supernatural force should be a red flag for anyone, that's just common sense.

Some creepy little girl showed up with a retinue of guards.  She got really upset at us asking questions and we wound up having to fight all her guards while she ran away.  That wasn't too bad, everyone's pretty handy in a fight.  But not so handy that we could take on a Chimera.  Which brings me to my next point...  There was a Chimera.  They just had one.  In the back.  He was fighting some old Knight, and we had to get the hell out of there once it killed him.  But he was back alive the next day and fighting again- went a lot better the second time.

This is where it gets weird.  None of us really wanted to spend the night in the freaky demonic Inn, but whenever we tried to leave, it suddenly seemed like a bad idea.  So we stayed, and spent the night.  That's how we realized all the inn rooms had possessed, soul-stealing mirrors, by the way.  So I wrote everything down about what happened that day, and went to sleep. Felt fine leaving Noxus and 2P to watch for anything since neither of them need to sleep.  Damn, the amount of stuff I could get done if I didn't have to sleep.  

So when we woke up, we were standing back in the doorway of the Inn.  Like, we didn't get up and go there- we were all just back there.  Nox and 2P said we all just kind of popped into place.  Everything was like how we'd found it on the first day. Except that one crazy guy- he remembered us.  And then subsequently started ranting about how nothing we did would matter, how we were all doomed, fairly standard doomed rambling.  So we moved double-time, rushing through the day to try to figure everything out- and this time we did.  Turns out that Noxus catching that weird little girl and yelling at her was key to our success.  Also, I could hear some creepy singing in the hallways when no one else was around- we used that to find our way into this strange underground chamber where the source of our troubles could be found.

It was a siren, which explains the singing. First time I've ever seen one, but Master Jirai's training prepared me for it- old bastard kept a pretty complete bestiary, I'll give him that. Sirens do this thing where they change their appearance to whatever the viewer considers most attractive, I'm assuming to facilitate easier mind control.  Makes me curious what everyone else saw, only 2P said anything, and it was something about a “Properly formatted data file.”  I for one, am not gonna tell anyone that she looked exactly like my old fencing instructor. There was no talking our way through it, so the fight was on.  And we were doing a pretty good job of it too, right up until Jack decided he liked the Siren enough to hurl an axe at my back.  Now maybe it's my trusting nature, or maybe all that bodyguard work actually made me rusty- but that axe got me real good.  Almost died.  So that's twice I've cheated death now, though 2P being there to help get me back on my feet sure helped.

Makes me wonder though, what did the Siren look like for Jack that it was enough to charm him into trying to kill his new friend.  Judging by what little I know of him, I'm going to have to assume a busty librarian of some sort.  Or maybe just a particularly sexy book.  I don't know what he's into, and I'm not gonna judge.

Regardless, we finished the job and killed the Siren while she was trying to make a run for it.  As thanks, the town guard let us pick from an armory full of fancy equipment.  I saw this cloak that looked nice, and remembered seeing Master Fira deflect a bunch of arrows using her cloak during a training exercise.  So maybe I could learn to deflect throwing axes.  Worth a try.

On the Siren's corpse, we found a sealed note.  Talking about some cult meeting for some world-changing event.  I'm not usually a guy who goes for this kind of crap, but if I wanna reach the top, I'm not going to do it by running from potential challenges like this.

The rest of the group decided they were in, not sure what their reasons might be, but they're good to have around, so I've got no problem with it.  After some investigating, we learned that the group we're after is called the Cult of Vecna.  Don't know much about cults, but the name Vecna turned a few heads, he is or was a really powerful Lich before ascending to a state of demi-godhood and now he has some nefarious plans, I'm sure.  So we're off to find this gathering and probably foil whatever schemes this cult may be cooking up.  Wasn't planning on taking anything this heavy right away, but why the hell not.  It'll make getting jobs in the future that much easier.