#and that's just a positive part of Steve's origin story

[daydreamerdrew]

The Adventures of Captain America (1991) #1

[yourmidnightlover]

the sun

pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader

summary: after the events of the snap, you find out news that's both heart wrenching and warming. what happens five years later when bucky's back?

warnings: death, mourning, pregnancy, childbirth, canon-typical violence (not much but just adding to cover all the bases), loosely based on end game and infinity war (as in ignore my mistakes lmaooo), if i failed to mention any warnings PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

wc: 2.6k

a/n: dude idk why i've had an urge to write such heart wrenching angst lately. i'm actually in a decent place rn. i tried to cut this fic down bc originally it was SOOOO long i felt like a lot of it was just filler and i feel like shorter fics of mine tend to do better... ANYWHO! this does have a happy/hopeful ending so no worries! also picturing this beefcake for this story is AGHHHHHHH!

you never thought two lines on a stick could ever break your heart the way they did.

tears clouded your vision as you gripped the counter, trying not to crumble or succumb to your grief.

6 weeks ago, the avengers lost. everything.

half of the world, gone in a moment.

in one moment, your world collapsed. seeing bucky fade to dust right in front of you...

sobs wracked through your body as you crumbled to the ground.

this was supposed to be a happy moment. there should be tears of joy, not sobs of sorrow. your heart should feel full of love, not like there's a super-soldier sized hole in it.

"y/n," nat's voice rang outside the door, giving you a moment to yourself.

"just-," you tried to level your breathing before she opened the door, knowing but not understanding the grief you were feeling.

she wrapped her arms around your body, tucking your head into her neck as she gently rubbed your back soothingly. steve leaned against the bathroom door, glancing on the counter to see what they had all expected.

a positive pregnancy test.

you were having bucky's baby.

without bucky.

you gripped his dog tags that you had been wearing since the funeral. they were the only thing that could truly ground you.

they brought back happy memories of cuddling in bed, the cool metal shocking your skin for only a moment before realizing that it was only bucky and smiling at the memory.

god, it hadn't even been two months.

how were you supposed to do this alone?

"we're here for you," steve's voice called from the doorway, as if he could hear your thoughts. "you'll never be alone. not in this... not ever." he shook his head, his brows furrowed in a serious, straight line.

eventually, your sobs subsided. you stood with nat from your seat on the ground, wiping your own eyes mustering up a pathetic smile before she left you and steve to work out your grief together.

"we didn't even know it was possible," you shrugged. "it's like he sent me them..." you placed your hand on an invisible bump before facing steve, his teary eyes reminding you that he had lost his best friend, too. "he sent us this baby."

you reached your hand out for steve to hold. he took it gratefully and pulled you into his arms, hugging you tight and letting only a few tears slip his waterline before pulling back.

"if you'll let me, i want to be there for you for everything," his chin wobbled. "buck would kick my ass if i let you go through this alone." a genuine laugh left your lips for the first time in nearly two months.

"i would be so grateful for that," you nodded as you let go of his arms. "part of me still can't believe that it's real. it's like part of me still expects him to walk into the compound from a long mission or something..." you shook your head. "i know that sounds so stupid."

"it's not," he shook his head with a smile. "it's what i wish was true, maybe it's your subconscious trying to preserve your mind?"

"maybe," you shrugged before continuing, "i should probably talk to tony and bruce, huh?"

-

you knew you were around eight weeks along.

according to the doctors' tony had enlisted, however, you were already 12 weeks along, which was impossible.

bucky had been gone on a mission at that time... but it's whatever. you got to hear the heartbeat. steve went with you, too. you both bawled together. you kept three copies of the ultrasound and he kept two.

banner had already offered to do some testing on the dna of the baby, noting that the serum would likely affect the pregnancy (as it probably already has).

you had talked to tony about retiring from the whole superhero gig for the time being. you needed to mourn and prepare for a new life simultaneously. tony had promised to provide anything you needed at the drop of a hat, and he sure as hell delivered.

within no time, your pregnancy was being measured at 20 weeks while only being pregnant for 12. banner was concerned for your body's ability to keep up with the rapid rate of growth of the baby. he had you on a strict, hefty diet with two different prenatal vitamins in attempt to help your nutrition.

in spite of your best efforts, you were always exhausted and in pain. but you wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. this was bucky's baby. you didn't care how much pain you went through when you had half of him growing inside of you.

you couldn't walk for long without feeling like passing out, which banner chalked up to low iron. steve had grown progressively more worried for you and the baby the longer the pregnancy went on.

as a result, he had moved into the spare room that was in your and bucky's house. truly, it just made it easier for him to help you finish up the nursery anyway.

he was very handy about it all, painting, building furniture from scratch, the whole deal.

"i've been thinking... and if it's a girl, i want to name her evangeline james barnes," you informed steve as you ate the steak he had been making for the past few weeks of your pregnancy, as ordered by dr. banner. that with carrots, broccoli, potatoes, and for dessert strawberries, blueberries and raspberries over ice cream. "and if it's a boy, cyrus james barnes. evangeline means good news, and cyrus means sun."

steve placed his hand over yours, "i think buck would've loved them." he smiled warmly as you downed the food in a few minutes.

you had begun showing soon after you found out you were pregnant, but now, it felt like it was impossible to hide. nat had been wonderful about helping you keep up with the changes your body was going through, getting you new maternity clothes every week.

she even made sure to get you every single craving that wasn't in accordance to banner's hefty diet. not that he didn't want you to eat more, he thought it was best you did! but he also wanted to make sure that with all that you did eat, your body got as many nutrients as possible.

just to be safe, he kept you on other vitamin supplements anyway.

you couldn't help but imagine what bucky would say or do about everything now.

he would hold your body closely, pressing firm kisses to your bump every chance he could get while whispering some sickly sweet sayings to your unborn child, words that would melt the winter soldier's cold exterior.

he would whisper words of encouragement any moment you felt worried about your abilities to be a mom. he would say how beautiful you were, in spite of being bloated in places you didn't know could bloat.

he would be wonderful, and in your mind, he was still alive and vibrant. well, as vibrant as bucky ever was, at least.

truthfully, that's the only way you were able to keep going on like this. steve was wonderful, but you couldn't help but want the love of your life by your side as you tried to navigate this new chapter.

in a couple more weeks, you were projected to be at 32 weeks. bruce and tony were talking with your doctors about the safety of inducing so early, both for you and the baby.

oh, and you wanted the gender to be a surprise.

and within the week, you were having your baby.

steve and nat were by your side during the birth, whispering encouraging words and compliments of your strength.

"i need him!" you screamed in pain as you held one of each of their hands, sobbing in agony. "i need james! i need my bucky! i can't do this alone, i can't-i can't!"

"you can," nat reminded you. "this baby needs you," she held your face to look at hers. "bucky is a part of this baby." you swore you could see tears in her eyes before turning to face steve.

"remember what you told me when you found out you were pregnant?" he didn't bother wiping the tears from his face. "bucky sent you-sent us this baby. he knows you can do it." you sniffled before nodding at your two best friends, pushing with one last scream and a second later, you had...

"cyrus james barnes," the nurse called to you. "it's a boy, congratulations mom."

-

the next few years went by quicker than you could've ever imagined.

crawling, first words, first steps...

you missed bucky. not a day passed where you didn't miss him.

but, having cy helped a lot. he looked just like his father. dark brown hair, icy blue eyes, a cute little nose... not to mention his father's stubbornness.

you made sure he knew who his father was. you took him to the museum often, showing him the statue of his father and his background in the world war, him saving the world so much. you told him how you fell in love with him.

how you fell for the quiet man before ever really talking to him. how you were partners on a long-term, undercover mission and that's where your love ignited from the sparks.

not that cy understood any of what you told him. you just felt it was important to know that his parents loved him, and each other dearly.

you never took off his dog tags, either.

steve was a huge help the whole time. he kept working for the avengers, so he was gone often, but he provided a good male role model for cyrus. after all, he was his uncle steve. he already taught him how to throw a ball, albeit a little softball, but it counts!

you made sure to document everything that went on in yours and cyrus's life.

banner had said that cyrus was growing at an exceeding rate, but nothing to be concerned about. in fact, cyrus was turning five in almost half a year, meaning the anniversary of bucky's death, or disappearance or whatever you called it, was coming up.

then, you got a call from tony and banner.

it all happened so quickly, from testing to planning to the execution. pepper watched cyrus for you while you went back with steve, scott, and tony to get the tesseract.

of course, the men being men had to come upon a few hiccups, but eventually, after going as far back as the 70s, you brought back the tesseract.

the only thing is that nat never came back...

next thing you know, bruce is snapping his fingers and clint is getting a call from his supposedly deceased wife. your eyes fill with tears, hands searching in your pockets for your phone to see if you've gotten anything yet.

is it possible he wasn't brought back? he was the first to... disintegrate. die. maybe that meant something in the eyes of the stones?

then, you felt a buzz in your hand.

although, you didn't have any time to try to grasp what that meant, because more aliens came to earth.

shocker.

after yet another war, one that you weren't even prepared for, after losing more people, again. after losing tony...

but amidst the chaos of the aftermath of the fight, with screams of joy and shock and grief surrounding you, tears streaming down your face, your eyes met the blue ones you only saw in your son.

he slowly walked towards you as the tears sped up. you didn't even realize when your feet began running towards him.

when his arms wrapped around your waist, you finally felt the home you thought you had come to terms with never feeling again. your arms wrapped around his neck, your face buried in his shoulder as you breathed in the scent of gunmetal that had overtaken him in the battle.

"oh my god," you cried into the leather of his jacket. he lifted you off the ground, your legs wrapping around his waist as you felt his smile on your cheek. "i can't believe you're really here."

"i'm here, doll," his hands cradled your head so tenderly. "i'm not ever leaving again. never."

you pulled back before your eyes widened in realization. "you've gotta meet someone, jamie."

his brows furrowed in confusion, just smiling and nodding along with whatever you said.

within the next few hours, simply being held by bucky before steve stole him away with a hug, you finally brought him home.

"so, steve moved in," you started as you pulled your car into the driveway, turning to see bucky looking at you with an incredulous look. "you'll see why." you reached to hold his hand before he brought yours to his lips, pressing a kiss there.

you told him to wait in the car as you went inside to relieve the babysitter for cyrus. after giving him some cash, he went outside, knocking on your car window to let bucky know he should make his way inside.

upon entering, he saw you sitting on the floor with a little boy with striking blue eyes that seemed so familiar to him. his nose, too. his lips though, they were all yours. he had a slight grin plastered on his lips, one that matched yours to a t.

"daddy?" suddenly, it all clicked.

his heart, his mind, his fucking soul, everything made sense now. the pain, hydra, the mind washing, the torture.

meeting you. falling in love. dying?

his son.

he started walking closer to bucky before the steady walk turned into a run. bucky knelt down, wrapping the boy in his arms, cradling his tiny frame in his arms protectively. his son.

"cyrus james barnes," you said with a teary smile on your face. bucky, without breaking the hug with his son, looked up at you with a smile that matched yours. "cyrus means 'sun', and i thought it was fitting. he brought me so much light and hope after you..." you choked up before he stood up with cy in his arms, walking towards you before wrapping you in the big, family hug.

"i love you so much, both of you."

[ellie-r2]

Musical Curtis brothers hcs

Darry:

-Felt insecure and jealous of Dally because of his closeness to Pony and it got worse after Pony leaves and Dally says that thing of seeing Pony more than Darry has.

-Like Ponyboy he blames himself for their parents' death because of it being his birthday and they were going for the frosting for his cake.

-Post musical whenever things get too much he goes to Soda and he cries but will quickly stop and hide it when he hears Ponyboy nearby (he doesn't want Pony to see him break)

-Despite that when they reunited in the hospital after the fire just like in the movie he did cry when going to hug Ponyboy.

-He does go easier on Ponyboy about his daydreams/emotions and his grades after reading the story because he saw how Ponyboy viewed him.

-Even though he is only 6yrs older than Ponyboy the role of brother is starting to fade into father ("stuck between the role of a brother and a father")

-Tucks in the boys each night but after they're already sleeping totally not based off of Melody's live.

-Whenever he misses his parents he sleeps in their room instead of his own.

-Used to care what his hair would look like now it's a miracle if he even takes time to brush it.

-On his days off instead of relaxing he still tries to keep working (washing dishes/laundry/cleaning random parts of the house) until Soda has to force him to just sit down and rest.

-Still tries to play football whenever he can but waits for someone to suggest it first (it's Soda who does it because he knows Darry wants to play).

-When Soda has a long day at work or Pony has a test coming up Darry tries to make their favorite food for dinner.

Soda:

-He has his own room but still sleeps with Pony because of the nightmares (pretty sure this is canon but I don't remember for sure).

-Tried to read Great Expectations for Ponyboy when he and Johnny were gone because he missed Pony.

-He, Ace, and Steve are the most chaotic trio when they're together. (sometimes he catches Melvin the soc staring at Ace and finds it hilarious) Inspired by Melody's tiktok of Melvin looking for Ace's digits

-He folds all the laundry when he sees Darry has had a hard day at work and even offers to cook.

-Was allowed to cook once nearly set the kitchen on fire and was never allowed to cook again.

-He really did try in school just couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried so when Steve told him there was the full time position open at the DX that was his reason/excuse to drop out.

-During the 2 weeks that Pony was disassociating Soda was terrified of losing both Pony and Darry (because of throwing in the towel) to the point that he wouldn't sleep some nights which is what also leads to him eventually snapping.

-Would sleep in Darry's room on the nights Darry would fall asleep by the telephone so he would feel at least one brother close by.

-Watched the cartoon's Darry mentioned in throwing in the towel to keep himself from worrying too much but it never worked.

Ponyboy:

-Kept both Dally and Johnny's jackets and wears them when he misses them but never actually lasts long with them on because he starts crying.

-Panics if multiple people accidentally touch him because he gets flashbacks to being grabbed and almost drowned.

-Which he now also has a fear of being in water too long.

-The first night after the church burning he asked both Darry and Soda if they can share the bed with him because he missed them.

-Sometimes dreams of the house with the garden he wanted with Johnny after his death and he wakes up screaming and sobbing because he knows now all it will ever be is a dream.

-Tries to quit smoking because he genuinely believes he caused the fire that killed Johnny and eventually Dally.

-Used to be ashamed of his name and would get bullied for it until Johnny would tell him how original it was.

-Still believes death's at his door but he tells both his brothers of it and how he's been feeling so it's getting further and he's slowly trying to get better.

Now for all 3 brothers (I only have 2 tbh):

-Their train related trauma isn't lessening especially after Dally.

-When nights get bad for them they have a sleepover in the living room and watch cartoons.

[ladykailitha]

The Hellfire Exotic Club Part 3

Just a head's up, I'll be moving this story's posting date to Fridays to give time to breathe instead of languishing under the wave of WIP Wednesday asks like it was last week

This week we get a taste of most of the other Sins and a tease at why Steve and Robin needed jobs ASAP. It's going to be sooo juicy guys. I can't wait for you guys to see that for real!

Part 1 Part 2

~

Moloch didn’t bring the numbers as much as the rest of Eddie and his friends did, but his Sloth liked it that way. He like the smaller crowds, the slow music, the hour long tantalizing reveal of one of the dancers who did strip all the way down.

But it was the gradual sensual removal of clothes as he got “lazier” in his dance. By the end, Moloch would draped dramatically over a settee, bumping and grinding first with his hand and then by the end of the last song, weakly thrusting against the air.

It was one of the hottest things Steve had ever seen. It really played up to the sloth aspect of it and he definitely had to rearrange himself more than once.

He knew that he would get over it eventually, seeing it every Monday for weeks, but that first time? Steve was pissed more people didn’t come out.

Even though Steve didn’t work the next day, Eddie suggested he come and watch Mammon, too. So he could see the different styles of strip that they had, to allay his fears a bit about how far the Sins were willing to go when it came to undressing for strangers.

So he showed up about an hour before show time to try out of some of the drinks and get a feel of the vibe.

Steve would say that of the dances he’d seen so far, Lust, Pride, and Sloth, Greed’s more fit the club’s original roots as a 1920s speakeasy. The place was decked out in old timey opulence. And gold. So much fucking gold.

Then the lights went out and he could hear the dancers scurrying to get into position. A single spot light lit up a singular dancer. He was broad shouldered and deep-chested, his curly hair slicked to his head. Which he raised when the music started. He was dressed smartly in a period accurate three-piece black suit with a red button down shirt.

Mammon’s movements were far more graceful than anything Steve had ever seen in any symphony or dance hall. He used his bulk to make his movements work with his body and not against it.

Then all through the night he didn’t get undressed so much as he pulled clothes off others. But without Steve realizing it, his clothes were coming off, but they were being...not replaced exactly, but the clothes he was taking off the other dancers were covering him a la the Dance of the Seven Veils.

Then in the last song, he throws the clothes in the air, leaving him in just his pants and suspenders. As the clothes flutter to the floor you realize that all the other dancers were naked, all around him, laying on the floor. The red pieces of silk landing on them like blood.

Fuck. Social commentary wrapped in the sexiest dance Steve had ever seen. He could see why the club was packed every Tuesday night. Mammon wasn’t a demon, he was a fucking god.

Eddie slid up next to him at the bar. “So what did you think?”

“I think that anytime someone tells me that big people can’t dance,” Steve said breathlessly, “that I will send them here on a Tuesday night.”

“Isn’t he amazing?” Eddie asked giddily. “Him, Jeff, and Gareth are all my mates from high school. We even had a band together before I started dancing for my Uncle Wayne. I brought them on when we first changed over to Hellfire.”

“I know you play guitar,” Steve said with a smile, “I didn’t realize the other guys did, too.”

Eddie licked his upper lip slowly. “Would you be surprised to know that so does Rosier?” he asked, leaning into Steve’s space like he was sharing a secret.

Steve thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. “Not really. He seems the type if I’m honest.”

“What about Moloch playing the drums?” Eddie asked, leaning even closer.

“Now that is surprising,” Steve said, “and at the same time makes sense now that you say it.”

Eddie threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, I do too, now that I say it out loud like that.” He rubbed his chin. “Any guesses on what Mammon plays. Especially now that everyone else has been named and shamed.”

Steve laughed too. “What band would be complete without a kickass bassist.” Eddie blinked at him for a moment. “Unless he’s something weird like a keyboard, or violin or some shit like that.”

“Nope!” Eddie said, popping the ‘P’, “you had it right, I was just a little surprised as all. But, yes Mammon was our kickass bassist.”

“Have you guys thought about playing again?” Steve asked, leaning in. “Like here at the club. I know every night is themed, but Chrissy is already working on fairy tale themed night. So why not have a night where you guys play. Maybe even just as the music for whoever’s dancing that night or even just night of you guys rocking out.” He stopped for breath, wide-eyed at what he just said.

“That was certainly something else,” Eddie said a little stunned. He hadn’t really thought about it. Sure, he played the guitar as part of his tease, playing up into the pride aspect of it. Proud he could play and sing, proud of this club, proud of his ability to dance. But to play with his band again? A part of his dream he put back on the shelf when he was made owner? “What would we even play?”

Steve shrugged. He hadn’t thought that far. But he saw how wistful Eddie got when he talked about them being in a band. “What did you guys play before?”

“Mostly metal,” Eddie said, returning Steve’s shrug. “Some hard rock. A little grunge thrown in there for variety.”

“So perfect for the club then,” Steve replied with a smile.

Eddie blushed and shoved his hair in front of his face. “I’ll think about it.”

Steve bumped their shoulders together. They kept talking even after the club closed and the money was counted and divvied out by Rosier. Having decided to let Eddie and Steve continue talking. It wasn’t until the cleaners came in that they even realized that the club was close.

Eddie would harass his friend later about letting have the night off, but in that moment he was grateful for the respite.

He walked Steve to his car and waited for him to pull out of the parking lot before cursing up a blue streak. The guy hadn’t even been hired for a full week yet and already he was making cow eyes at him. Fuck, he was in so much trouble.

~

Steve’s impression of Lilith’s gluttony dance was that it was messy and outrageous, but somehow Chrissy made it work.

She wasn’t so much as dressed as she was covered in whip cream, with two cherries strategically placed over her nipples. She would lick and suck on her fingers covered in the stuff. Then she was dowsed in chocolate syrup as she writhed and slithered across the stage.

It was a sticky, gooey nightmare as far as Steve was concerned, but the way she stroked and touched herself as she was fed by the backup dancers. Then just as there wasn’t any way that she could possibly be fed anymore, a large bucket of water dumped it’s entire contents on Lilith as she moaned as if she had just orgasmed.

He was grateful that other Sins didn’t have to perform with her during her hour, because he didn’t think he could stand the thought of that stuff anywhere near his hair.

She did a great job, Steve wasn’t going to deny that. He could see the appeal, but the thought of getting sticky after all that? He shrugged off a shiver of disgust that ran down his back.

Once Robin and he had picked up their tips from the night, they walked out to the car.

“I take it back,” Robin huffed, yanking open the passenger side door, “We can’t work here, Steve. I thought I was going to combust when I saw the two of dancing like angels, but this was pure torture. I wanted to lick her.”

Steve cackled, sliding into the driver’s side and closing it tightly behind him. “Better you than me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Robin said rolling her eyes as she slid into the car. When she was in and the door was close she said, “Gay!”

Steve snorted, “Lesbian.”

“Bitch.”

“Tease.”

“Slut.”

Steve put his hand over his heart and gasped. “How dare you imply I am anything but virtuous! I am the paragon of respectability! I am a tart!”

Robin cackled as Steve pulled into traffic.

“I’ve noticed you’ve looking disrespectfully, don’t think I haven’t.”

Steve shrugged but didn’t say anything.

“Oh come on there’s got to be someone revving those engines of yours,” Robin pressed. “So are we talking Lust, maybe a little Sloth...ooohhhh! I know, it’s Mammon that gets you going. You were there an awfully long time last night.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Look they’re all professionals who are very good at their jobs, and I while I might lust after all or none of them, I’m not going to fuck any of them because we need this job and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

Robin sighed. “I know. You know I was joking about not being able to work there, right?”

Steve nodded, lips pursed together.

“You’re my hero,” she said softly. “I hope you know that.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped. “Of course I do. Let’s go home. I think we both need ice cream tonight.”

“You’ve got it babe.”

~

Steve hadn’t gotten to see Wrath even though he had been hired last Thursday because they had to do all the boring employment shit first and so his first show had been Lust. So he wasn’t sure what to expect. Wrath made sense as woman. After all the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” was famous for a reason.

But for some reason, Steve had still pictured a man.

But Lamia was vengeance personified. Dressed in red silks with black painted scales to look like she was part snake. Her dark piercing eyes and long black braided hair with her dusky skin made for an exotic marvel. She was curvy but still athletic, soft but clearly defined strength. Steve had learned from Choronzon that she was a mix of Indian and Egyptian and it gave her an unearthly aura to her.

She danced with a pair of curved swords and she felt dangerous. Her swords whirled and sliced through the air as the female dancers ripped and tore at her clothes until she was completely naked. But unlike Gluttony, who kept her g-string on, nothing remained but her jewelry.

Then her swords were taken and she was bathed in red ‘blood’. She continued her dance bathed in the blood of her enemies, not stopping until the last song end and she dropped to the ground.

The lights went out and the crowd roared. That was the part Steve found unsettling. The way they seemed to cheer her ‘demise’.

He asked Eddie about it afterward.

“It’s something she started actually,” Eddie explained. “She wanted Wrath to be defeated in the end.”

“Even though none of the other Sins are?”

“Yep!” Eddie said. “I think because of all the Sins Wrath’s effects are most widely seen. War. Abuse. Murder.”

Steve nodded. Greed probably killed more people, but it was in a hidden insidious way.

He wanted to see Lust again, but since it was his day off, he had things he needed to do. Especially with Robin working. So with much regret he was forced to miss it. Not like it mattered, when Robin got home that night, it was all she could talk about.

“Holy shit,” she said flopping on the sofa. “I thought your opening night was busy, but fuck, Steve. There were more people packed into that room then all the previous nights combined.”

Steve nodded. Robin was still in training and her trainer, Joe didn’t want to throw her to the wolves after just two days on the job, so her first day was on Sunday and Joe spent the whole week apologizing to her because he thought it would be slow for her. But it turned out to be the best thing as she learned faster in the hectic fury of Steve’s first night.

“He’s good,” he said, getting food out of their fridge to reheat for her.

“Look I can’t say I see the appeal,” she agreed, “but yeah. The way he makes it all about him and still make you feel like his attention is all on you.”

“Yeah,” Steve said. He brought her a bowl of mac and cheese and a fork.

Robin dived into it with gusto. “So...with the money I made tonight will get us caught up on the rest of our bills.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s good news. I thought we’d be eating mac and cheese for the rest of our lives.”

“Well thanks to you getting a job as a lead dancer,” she said around a bite of food, “we were able to catch up in a week.”

“So when can we get our phones turned back on?” he asked, picking at the skin around his nails.

Robin swatted his hands. “Stop that! It’s bad for your nails.” He sat on his hands and stuck his tongue at her. “Anyway, it should be tomorrow. So we can swing by the shop and get them turned back on.”

“That’s good,” Steve replied. “I can finally get rid of this burner phone we got in the mean time.”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered poking at her food. “It’s all my fault.”

He dug into her bowl and tossed a bit of mac and cheese at her.

“Hey!” Robin protested, picking noodles out of her hair and tossing it back at him.

“If I can’t pick at my nails,” Steve huffed, “you can’t say that shit.”

She ducked her head and nodded. “I’m still sorry it happened.”

“That’s acceptable,” Steve said after eyeing her suspiciously for a moment. “But you didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

He kissed her cheek and turned on the TV. He put on her favorite baking show and settled in for a quiet night in.

~

Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Tag List: ONE SLOT REMAINING

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

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[trashmouth-richie]

lie to me: part two

lie to me << the first part

lovesick! eddie x fem reader

1k

tw: 18+ mentions of sex, angst, fuck girl reader caught in her feels

summary: the story of how you fell for the guy you were fucking casually, and how it tore you apart to pretend you didn’t.

Three months. You told yourself that it was just sex. But that was another lie. 

In his van, your car, your apartment, the dock on Lover’s Lake, Rick’s house when Eddie house sat for him, his trailer— even in the baseball dugouts back at Hawkins High: you were inseparable. 

Friends with benefits, only you weren’t really friends to begin with. but ohhh baby…the benefits with Eddie were good. 

You weren’t looking for love and neither was he. It was straightforward. A deal made on shook hands and sealed with a first kiss. One neither of you forgot. 

Three months was all it took for you to fall for him. For you to get butterflies when he called you sweetheart, baby, angel. For you to claim he hung the stars that you were destined to meet. 

Ninety days. 

You remember the exact moment. The way your heart skipped, palpitating out of rhythm. It felt like the wind was punched out of your guts, laid across a train track to be squished. 

It was an ordinary night, middle of the week. He called but you were huddled into a ball on your bed, cramped and sad explaining you couldn’t, the pain you were in was too damn much. 

He understood. Never pouted, never begged. Thirty minutes passed and a knock sounded at the door. It was him. 

Carrying two bags. Candies, chocolates, a bottle of vanilla lotion in the other—Steel Magnolias, Overboard, St. Elmo’s Fire. 

He wore a lopsided grin, casual, nonchalant like it was normal to show up at your door like this. Fuck he looked good in blue. 

He cried when Shelby died. Laughed when Goldie Hawn said she was “a short, fat, slut.” And told you how much he hated Emilio Estevez but that he’d watch it for you. 

He held you in his arms with you in front of him, whispering in your ear apologizing if he fell asleep, work had been busy this past week— but he could go home whenever you wanted him to leave. 

Eddie did fall asleep. His dark unruly hair cascaded across the soft cotton pattern on your pillows. His shirt rode up from his position of snuggling into your bed. 

And you knew. 

Knew you felt more for him than you originally intended. That he was too sweet, and he deserved better than you. You cried into your pillow. Silent tears carving a path down your cheeks. Tears for the boy you had to let go. 

Your calls became scarce. Finding your way beneath unfamiliar sheets, kissing lips that weren’t his. Hands held your body that you couldn’t even pretend belonged to him. 

Steve was nice, smelled like expensive department stores and fresh wads of cash. But he wasn’t Eddie. Jonathan was eager, certain to follow you around, but too— wasn’t Eddie. 

Eddie. Eddie. Eddie. 

Your heart jumped when you saw him, eyes eased into a crinkled little smile. The distance you drove between you both hurt him just as much as it was killing you. But you didn’t have a choice. 

Drive homes from Steve’s were spent wiping tears away, hating yourself for what you were doing to Eddie. He knew there was others, but he never said anything, and you silently hoped he would so you could explain, profess your love for him… but he beat you to it, and you were stunned. 

-

He woke to a strange noise: a soft whimper. Your under eyes wet, as if you had been crying, but you were sound asleep. Eddie never wanted to let you go, but he knew you did this for him, because he had begged you too. 

Before you could wake and look at him as if he were the worst person alive, he left. Whispering a goodbye at your door frame, tears clinging to his lashes.

“I’ll love you, always.” 

-

Days turned to weeks, weeks faded to months. He went on a few dates with some really nice girls, but he somehow managed to screw it up— calling them by your name by accident. Talking about you to them, and even driving past your apartment once before dropping them off. 

He was sleeping now, not drowning himself in whiskey or making drunken phone calls to Jeff blubbering about how he missed you. 

Spring brought forth beauty he wasn’t sure he’d see again after crawling out of the dark hole he was in. Pink flowers blossomed on trees, lavender dipped lilacs perfumed the parking lot behind the shop where he was taking his lunch break. 

He decides against a cigarette, opting to chew a piece of gum instead, laying on his back on the rotted picnic table, taking in the gentle breeze. 

The bell above the door jingles loud enough for it to reach the back through the quiet of the slow day. He sighs, jumping up and jogging across the gravel.  

Reaching the front counter he doesn’t look up, knowing Todd was coming in to pick up his Chevy. 

“Let me get the keys and I’ll write out your invoice.” 

The voice that answered him didn’t belong to Todd or a man at all. It was angelic, one he hadn’t heard in a while. 

“Birdie told me you were workin’ today.” 

Stomach lurching, sweet crawls on the back of his neck, cheeks warm to the touch. 

Nobody ever in the history of time had given Wayne Munson a nickname that he allowed to be called by. Expect you. 

He spins slowly. Boot squeaking on the tiled floor. And there you are. Standing by the glass door. 

The sun is at your back, catching your curves in a golden halo-esque type of glow. A smile dipped with sugar was printed on your lips. Same as every time before— like no time had passed. Looking at him like he put the stars in orbit, and named them after you. 

Time may have passed but the dormant butterflies in his belly emerged from a bear-like hibernation— fluttering wildly for you. 

When he finally speaks your name it’s with a trained calm, the locked box on his heart rattles with hope, the key held in the palm of your hand.

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[artiststarme]

Don't Call Me Stupid Part 2

Here is Part 2 of the "Don't Call Me Stupid" story. This fic wasn't originally going to have a second part, I literally wrote Part 1 in fifteen minutes. But everyone seemed really interested in one so here you go! Please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve must’ve stayed in that position all night, curled up in his bed tangled with heartbreak and hurt. He woke up with a sore throat, dry eyes, and an emotional pain deep in his chest. He thought that Eddie was different from everyone else. Steve thought Eddie understood that he was smart in a different way. Less in book smarts and collecting clues, more in strategizing and connecting with people. For him to call him stupid just like all of the other people Steve had ever been disappointed by hurt him more than he had ever anticipated it could. 

Steve needed a break from Eddie, the Party, and Hawkins. He needed time to himself to enjoy being a kid without any judgment or childish name-calling that always hit a little too close to home for him. Maybe it would be a good idea to get out of town for a while. It had been a long time since he’d visited his aunt and uncle in Illinois anyway, he was sure they would let him stay for some time as a vacation of sorts. All he knew was that he couldn’t face Eddie right now and he couldn’t talk about his feelings without sounding like a blubbering idiot. 

With his door still locked, he pulled himself off the bed and started packing a travel bag. He didn’t expect to be gone for too long but he definitely needed a few changes of clothes and his hair care products. His mind may be swimming in hurt but there was no way he was going to take it out on his precious hair. He looked around his room one more time before nodding to himself and unlocking his bedroom door. He was good to go. 

When he opened his door though, there was an obstacle he hadn’t anticipated. Laying on the hardwood floor of the hallway was Eddie Munson. He too had tear tracks glistening on his cheeks and his hair was sticking up in all directions like he’d been running his hands through it all night. Steve just shook his head at the sight. Eddie had no reason to be crying, he was the one who called him stupid not the other way around. 

He tried to step over him as quietly as possible so as not to wake him up. All was fine until Eddie shifted in his sleep. Steve’s shoe got caught on the sleeve of Eddie’s jacket and he tripped which woke Eddie up immediately. He grabbed onto Steve’s legs like a fussy octopus and held on for dear life. 

“Steve, don’t go! Please, talk to me!” He pleaded with him desperately. 

“No, let go of me. I’m really not in the mood Eddie. I’m so stupid I probably won’t understand what you have to say anyways, right?”

“Steve, please. I’m sorry I called you stupid. It was a mistake, I don’t actually think you’re stupid. You’re the smartest person I know!” He said looking up at Steve with wide, pleading eyes. 

Steve whirled around to face him, an angered glare resting on his face. “Are you serious? You’re mocking me right now when you’re trying to apologize?!”

“No! I’m not kidding, Steve! Your mind is amazing. You’re always seeing details that the rest of us miss and you’re always the first to figure out my campaigns even though you refuse to play with us. I’m always in awe of how your mind works, I really did not mean to call you stupid or to hurt you.” His words sounded genuine but they did little to chip at the festering wound Steve had been developing for years. 

“Well you did. I’m so sick of everyone calling me stupid or dumb or saying I’m an idiot. I just want people to… be nice to me. The kids always make fun of me and I thought you wouldn’t but then you called me stupid yesterday when you knew it was a sore spot. It’s like you didn’t even care that you were hurting me,” Steve ranted. 

“Steve, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying and that’s absolutely 100% my fault. You’re not stupid babe and I shouldn’t have said that you were,” Eddie apologized again. He unwrapped his arms from around Steve’s legs and stood so they were eye level with one another. 

“Thank you for your apology but I don’t forgive you. You really hurt me last night and I’m done putting up with it. We’ll fix it later but I need some time to think about it on my own.” 

Eddie stilled and his eyes filled with tears. “Are you, are you breaking up with me?”

“No, I just need some time alone because what you said really hurt and I need time to deal with that. I’m leaving town but I’ll be back later and we can talk about it then.”

Eddie nodded and pulled him in for a tight hug, a hug which Steve returned. “I am so sorry. Take as much time as you need, Big Boy. I’ll be waiting and when you come back, I’ll fix this.” 

With that, Steve pulled away and made his way downstairs without a backwards glance. He could hear Eddie stifling his sobs and if he saw the tears dripping down his face, he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave. Steve grabbed his car keys and locked up his house before he disappeared like he had never been there at all. 

As he passed the town limits, he thought about his friends. He didn’t have much in the way of family, his parents never really liked him and his aunts and uncles had other nephews and nieces that would always be placed above him. Steve liked to think that the Party was his family. That Hopper was the caring dad he never had, Joyce was the standoffish step-mom who liked him just fine but had no idea how to parent him, and the kids were all his siblings. He didn’t have many positive influences in the way of family but he was almost certain that good family members didn’t put you down unnecessarily. He understood sibling rivalries and getting on your nerves but that’s not what this was. 

They knew he didn’t like being called stupid or having his intelligence (what little of it there was) questioned. He’d told them before, he tried to communicate his feelings like Robin told him to, but it hadn’t worked. Would family members continuously put him down like they did? It might be because Steve’s emotions were so raw but right then it felt like if the Party was a family then Steve was just an outsider doing anything to be a part of it but always falling too short. 

He’d go back home eventually, in a week or maybe two. Once he could compartmentalize the hurt and heartbreak, he would go back to Hawkins and talk to the Party about why words hurt. Why the comments about being dumb and stupid and retarded chipped at his heart little by little. But for now, he was going to do something selfish for once and have a short vacation away from it all.

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[unclewaynemunson]

Jeff is one of my favorite characters and I think we should start a post of all our favorite Jeff headcanons. He and Freak get left out in almost every Eddie-centric fic I read, with his "best friend" being either Gareth or Chrissy, and I'm tired of it. Jeff is wonderful. Here's my hc's:

- Jeff and Eddie have been best friends since middle school. They started CC and Hellfire together.

- they went to the Snowball together and rigged the bubble machine to spew bubbles during the slow dance songs. The dance had to end early and Jeff and Eddie never got caught

- Jeff's parents loves Eddie. They used to have sleepovers at each other's place almost every weekend.

- Jeff was the first person Eddie came out to. Jeff tried to be surprised and "that's great, man, thanks for telling me!" But Eddie saw right through that.

- Eddie is afraid of geese and spiders. Jeff thinks this is fucking hilarious.

- post-Vecna, Jeff is the one Eddie reconnects with first. Eddie tells him everything, despite the NDAs and Steve's warnings. Jeff believes him, because he knows there's wacky shit going on in Hawkins, and he's seen Eddie's wounds.

- they have that kind of friendship that nothing can break. Even if they don't see or talk to each other for years, because Life Happens and people lose touch, they'll always have part of themselves carved out for their best friend.

Ok, that's all I got for now, and sorry for the long ask! I just love Jeff so much and he (and Freak, too, because Freak gets ignored because of fatphobia) deserves just as much love and attention as Gareth gets.

What are your Jeff and Eddie headcanons?

I am loving this Jeff love and your headcanons, thank you so much for sending this to me!!! <3

I think with Unnamed Freak things are a bit different bc, yaknow, he doesn't have a name. For me at least that makes me hesitant to write about him so I don't wanna go as far as to say it's all bc he's fat (even though I'm not gonna deny that that probably also plays a part in how popular he is in this fandom urgh). Anyway, yes this fandom certainly does Jeff dirty. I think it's this gross combination of racism and people copying a lot from already existing stories, characterizations and headcanons without much critical thinking of their own (which baffles me, if you're creative enough to write a story please use that creativity for some originality ffs). Anyway, this is gonna turn into a rant again can you tell I'm still annoyed? so let's turn to something more positive now, like my headcanons for our beloved Jeff:

He was the first person in Hawkins (after Wayne obviously) that Eddie got close to. For Jeff it was kinda the same, being a black, nerdy boy in this town had been very isolating for him and Eddie was his first real friend.

Unnamed Freak made their duo into a trio a bit later. All the others in the group (including Gareth) were Eddie's "lost little sheepies" who he sought out to protect. This means that Jeff and Unnamed Freak are the only people who don't borderline worship Eddie but see him (and love him) for who he is including all his flaws. They're also the only ones not afraid to call him out on his bullshit.

Jeff's mom is really cool. Her name is Pauline and she's not like Jeff at all (she was a cheerleader in high school). Despite their differences they love each other a lot. (Jeff's mom is actually heavily featured in one of the fics I wrote so I got her all fleshed out lmao)

He has two little twin sisters. They're friends with Erica, one of them is one of her friends we meet in the mall in s3. He has this typical hate-love relationship with his sisters: they fight a lot, but at the end of the day, he would die for them.

HE'S BISEXUAL

While he can't wait to get out of Hawkins and to a place that'll be more accepting of him, he doesn't want to move too far away from his family.

He's the most loyal friend in the world, 100% a ride-or-die kinda guy

While he does love metal a lot, his guilty pleasure is Tina Turner

Tell me all your Jeff headcanons i wanna hear more about him!

[freckled-words]

TaserTricks Misadventures

Just to get some rust off the wheels, I wrote a little intro to act as the base for where *most* of the stories will be connected to. Some will be stand-alone but still part of the whole, ya know?

If you prefer to read on AO3, here's a handy link for you CLICK ME

Let me know if you catch any spelling mistakes.

Darcy Lewis sometimes had to play “Connect The Dots” with the events in her life in order to make sense of just how she found herself in her current position.

The position of ‘Unofficial Avengers CareTaker’ that is.

Which just so happened to include Loki, God of Mischief, King of Assholes, and a condemned prisoner currently working off his crimes through community service.

Originally Darcy had come to the tower with her pre-established job parameters of keeping Jane healthy and functional, while also helping her with the data entry and machine lugging. Jane’s lab was neighbor’s with Tony and Bruce, and thanks to a connecting doorway, it was easy enough to include the Science Bros in the daily feedings and watering. (Bruce was pretty good at managing himself, but he never turned down Darcy’s cinnamon raisin cookies when she slipped them within reach.)

One trip to scary Ol’ England to fight space Elves later, and Erik came back to the Tower with them. Like Bruce he was pretty low maintenance, he just needed a gentle reminder to put his pants back on two to three times a day.

The real shift in her ‘caretaking’ parameters came when Natasha and Clint started coming by more often.

One night Darcy had been up late in the common room, the TV was on with the volume down low, an overly fuzzy blanket was wrapped around her body, and was doing her damndest to melt the nightmares out of her skull with the vibrancy of the cartoon dancing across the screen.

She swore she’d simply blinked (a super slow blink that lasted around a minute) and suddenly found Clint sitting on the couch next to her, the edge of her blanket draped across his lap and his head tipped back into the cushions with his eyes closed. As far as Darcy could tell, the infamous sniper was fast asleep.

Too tired to have much reaction (or give it much thought) Darcy shifted her blanket so it was covering both of them. She wouldn’t know if it was the presence of someone she knew to be super lethal, or just the sense of having another body around in general, but she managed to drop off into a heavy sleep pretty quick.

She got to know Clint a lot better over breakfast the next morning, and it became a friendly routine for them to crash on the couch on nights when one or the other was feeling rough. (There’d been a couple nights where Tony would stumble up from the lab and crash on whichever space was large enough, and on even rarer occasions, Steve would collapse into the recliner and do his best to sneak away before everyone else woke up the next morning.)

Natasha didn’t need caring for, so much as she opted to spend some of her free time with Darcy. 

Sometimes Darcy was suddenly dragged out of the lab for self defense training (she never made it back to the labs on those days.) But more often Natasha would pop up wherever Darcy was, and inquire into everyone’s wellbeing. It took Darcy a bit of time to put two and two together, and realize that Natasha would have these pop-up chats when she got back from her missions. (Darcy does her best not to think too deeply on this, as it puts a certain degree of weight on Darcy’s casual care-taking.)

At first Steve wasn’t really taken into consideration, as he had his own place to go home too, and when he wasn’t there or the tower, he was out looking for Bucky. (The shitshow of SHIELDRA had been a nightmare and a half that left both Darcy and Jane a little twitchy for a solid two months after.)

So of course that changed when he came home one morning, bruised, battered and bleeding, with Bucky in tow.

Darcy had been in the kitchen getting her first cup of coffee when the two soldiers stumbled in. Steve gave her a nod and a, “Morning Ms. Lewis” then promptly dropped Bucky and himself into a couple of chairs.

Still dressed in her Hulk pj pants, and Black Widow tank top, Darcy muttered a quiet “Fuckin’ Mondays.” And got to work making a mountain of pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the two to devour while their wounds healed. (There were a couple feeble attempts to help, and she’d just slapped them both away with her spatula.)

Given that Tower was a reinforced fortress in the sky, it only made sense for Bucky to hide out there, and Steve couldn’t even fathom leaving Bucky there on his own, so after some strategic room shuffling, Bucky moved into a room that was situated between Bruce and Steve.

Taking care of Steve was easy, and a lot of fun for Darcy. She helped him to work through his ever growing list of things to learn and catch up on, while also getting him to give her art lessons. (They did Bob Ross paintings every once in a while, and it was always hilarious, since Steve would try and make adjustments to outdo Bob.)

Bucky on the other hand was a bit more complicated. He had enough of his memories back to know who he was, and who Steve was, but he still had some brainwashing to work through. Like Bruce, he needed a calm, no sudden surprises environment. He’d stick to Steve most of the time, and other times he’d stay in his room. When Darcy started to notice how little he would eat, and how much weight he was losing, Darcy took matters into her own hands with a gamble.

Steve was in the living room working on a field report from their last mission, and Bucky had tagged along to sit on the couch and fiddle with his phone. It was just about time for lunch, and Darcy figured sandwiches would be fine, “Yo Barnes, mind giving me a hand with this? You slice and spread, I’ll assemble?”

For a brief second Darcy thought Bucky was going to refuse, as she’d called out to him so suddenly, his shoulders had gone back and his hands had frozen mid-fidget. Steve looked up from his papers and raised a brow at Darcy, trying to figure out what she was angling for. Bucky took in slow breath, and seemed to resettle before getting up. He had a confused, yet slightly amused expression when he joined her in the little kitchen space, “What did I do to warrant sandwich duty?”

“You looked bored, that’s what.” She chided back, and pushed a tomato into his prosthetic hand and a tiny kitchen knife into the other. 

He let out a huffed laugh, and settled into the task of prepping. 

While they worked to make a variety of sandwiches, Bucky would grab nibbles as he went. When the sandwiches were ready for distribution, Bucky took five of them for himself. 

Pleased her theory had been right, Darcy made sure Bucky helped her with at least one of the meals each day, and for the rest she had Jarvis send live video feeds to Bucky’s phone of the food being prepared. 

Natasha and Steve gave her private thanks for catching the problem and finding the solution. Bucky’s thanks came in the form of brutal game nights, where they’d square off with board games and video games. Some nights it was everyone in the tower playing (Pepper was banned from playing Monopoly), and others it was just the two of them (“I saw that Barnes! If you throw that blueshell I swear to Thor I will put ghost peppers in your soup tomorrow!”)

Three months after Bucky and Steve moved into the tower, Thor returned, and he didn’t come alone.

They’d all had a heads up that this might be a possibility, but no one had thought it would actually happen.

Loki, Destroyer of New York, God of Trickery and Chaos, was back on Earth…to finish his community service.

[lady-pug]

Babysitting Duty

Summary: You and Eddie get assigned with a very hard task: taking the kids to the water park! The day is filled with fun, but it might be up to Eddie to help Eleven face her fears.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Word count: 5,3k

Warnings: none

Notes: I had SO MUCH FUN writing this you have no idea! I wanted something sweet and fun for Eddie, because he deserves good things. As always, if you spot any mistakes, please feel free to warn me and I'll correct it right away, and feedback is always welcome and appreciated. I hope you enjoy this!!

Also, the descriptions provided for the slides come from a waterpark I visited a few times as a kid/teenager a few (many) states over from where I live. You can find visual references for all the slides mentioned in the story at the bottom of the post.

Reader is female, but no physical descriptions provided

Next part | Previous part | Masterlist | Read on AO3

An incessant, annoying ringing is what pulled you out of a hazy dream. Soft rays of sunlight were streaming through the closed blinds and past your eyelids, very lightly, which probably meant it was pretty early in the morning still. Who in hell would be calling at an hour like this?

You tried scooting closer to the edge of the bed, but a weight around your middle prevented you from doing so. Opening your eyes, you smiled, seeing as Eddie had an arm slung across your waist, holding you tightly to his chest, one of his legs slotted between yours. 

“Eddie,” you called out, sleepiness seeping in your voice “the phone.”

“Let it ring.” he mumbled, nuzzling the back of your neck.

You sighed in contentment, a sleepy little smile on your lips. Once the ringing stopped, you tapped Eddie’s forearm twice, a sign for him to loosen his grip, and turned around in his arms, nuzzling against his chest and relaxing again. You were on the edge of falling back asleep when the damned phone started ringing. Again.

Eddie whined, making you laugh.

“I’ll pick it up.”

“No!” he whined petulantly, like a small child, pulling you further into him.

“Come on, love. I promise I’ll be back before you notice.” you said, pressing a gentle kiss on his naked sternum.

He grumbled something under his breath before letting you go.

“Fine.” he peaked one eye open “But come back quickly.”

Slipping out of bed and maneuvering your way around his trailer’s living room, you finally reached the phone.

“Hello?”

A beat of silence followed, and you were about to hang up, assuming it was just a prank call, when a raspy, wheezing voice sounded from the other end.

“Munson?”

“No.” you introduced yourself. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but you couldn’t quite recognize it “I’m sorry, who is this?”

“Oh, hi. It’s-” a loud cough sounded against your ear “Steve.” he paused for a second “Harrington. Steve Harrington.”

“Oh, hello to you too Steve.” you answered excitedly “Not that I’m not happy to hear from you, but why are you calling at…” you looked outside the window, trying to estimate the time based on the sun’s position in the sky “seven in the morning?”

“Just so you know, it’s actually half past six. And I need your help.” he paused “Yours and Eddie’s.”

“What is it?”

“You know that waterpark that opened on the next town over?” he waited for your quiet sound of agreement before continuing “I promised the kids I’d take them over there today.”

One of your eyebrows curled up, even though he couldn’t see you.

“Why do I sense there is a ‘but’?”

“Because there obviously is.”

You sighed, slumping against the wall next to the phone.

“But…?”

You heard an intake of breath, as if he was about to say something, but a coughing fit cut his speech short.

“Let me guess,” you piped up once his coughing subdued “you’re sick.”

“Yeah.”

“And you want us to take your army of children to the waterpark instead?”

"Pretty much.”

You sighed again, not upset, just confused.

“Can’t you ask Robin?”

“She doesn’t drive. And she’s agreed to work a double shift to cover for me. Originally it was so I could take a day off and drive them there, but now…” he answered meekly, and you could just picture him shrugging his shoulders, looking miserable.

“What about Nancy?”

“Out of town visiting her grandmother.”

“Jonathan?”

“With Nancy.”

You stayed quiet, pondering. You already knew it in your heart that you’d end up agreeing, as you loved those kids, you’d just have to find a way to convince Eddie to go along. But Steve seemed to take your silence as reluctance, as he started breathlessly pleading.

“Please” he spoke your name so quietly, panting slightly “These kids… they need me. They’ve already been through so much, I can’t, I… I can’t disappoint them.”

Having already been convinced, the underlying desperation you could hear in his quiet voice had you agreeing in a heartbeat.

“Yeah. Yeah, Steve, of course we’ll take them.”

“Really?” you could hear the relief infiltrating his tone “Thank you so, so much. I owe you two big time.”

“I’ll come after you to cash in. Just you wait.” you heard him trying to chuckle, but it sounded awful “How did you manage to get sick during the summer anyway?”

“Don’t ask.”

After agreeing on the details and him giving you all the information you needed, you hung up.

Eddie was patiently waiting for you to return to the comfort of his arms, teetering between being awake and complete unconsciousness. He didn’t know how much time had passed, being slowly lulled back to sleep by the sound of your muffled voice traveling through his trailer. Suddenly, though, he was being yanked back to consciousness by something hitting him square in the face.

Scrambling to sit up, he moved the offending object (which he now realized was a pair of bright orange swimming shorts he had absolutely no idea where you’d found) out of the way to look at you, leaning in the doorway of his room, as if you hadn’t just thrown an article of clothing at him.

“Get up, love.” you smirked at him “We’ve just been assigned babysitting duty.”

“Alright munchkins, if we’re doing this, there are going to be a few ground rules.” Eddie exclaimed very loudly, making you very thankful that the Byers-Hoppers didn’t have any close neighbors, holding a finger up before resuming his speech “First, no throwing up in my van, I just had her vacuum cleaned and that shit ain’t cheap.”

Raising a second finger, he paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words. Looking up, he squinted his eyes as if trying to remember something very important.

“Yeah, there’s no more rules.”

You rolled your eyes, swatting him on the back of the head, prompting an ‘ouch!’ out of him.

“Second,” you stared at the eager face of El, the only one who seemed to be paying attention to you, the rest of the gang looking pretty bored “no running off on your own, you should always have someone with you. Stay at least in pairs.”

“Come on, guys!” Mike whined “We’re not babies anymore.”

You snorted. 

“From the way Steve talks about you lot one might think otherwise.”

They looked around at each other, and you almost burst out laughing at Dustin’s positively offended expression.

“And third, sunscreen is a must. You’re all going to apply it right as we get there and once again after lunch.”

El nodded excitedly while her friends all groaned.

“No exceptions-”

“But-” Max tried protesting but you cut her off.

“or we are not going at all.”

That seemed to shut them all up. Eddie opened the back door of his van and motioned for them all to get in.

“Now come on, you little demons, we’re going to be late.”

While the kids piled up on the van, bickering about who sat where, Hopper and Joyce, who had previously been standing on the doorway to their house, walked over to the two of you.

“Thank you so much for doing this.” Hopper said, softly clamping a hand over Eddie’s shoulder. He had grown quite fond of the boy after having helped create an alibi that exempted him from the blame on all the murders. That, alongside Max’s and Lucas testimony, which pinned the late Jason Carver as the ‘actual’ murderer, managed to prove his innocence.

“Are you sure you don’t need us to go with you?” Joyce asked, fretting over the two of you like a mother hen, something Eddie had told you happened a lot “We can call in sick, take a day off a-and-”

“Mrs. Byers.” you gently interrupted her “Don’t worry. We’ve got this covered, don’t we, love?”

“Absolutely.” Eddie grinned at her, conveying his best responsible-good-boy expression.

“Okay.” she exhaled, before jumping up again and rushing back into the house “Oh! I almost forgot!”

You and Eddie watched her go, confused, and Hopper caught your attention.

“Hey. If I catch wind of you speeding over the limit,” you watched as Eddie’s face turned into a slightly pained grimace, the man’s hand visibly squeezing his shoulder a little tighter “I will personally hunt down your license. Permanently.”

“Don’t worry, Chief.” Eddie huffed “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Joyce came back holding a large container, making Hopper drop his hand.

“I made some sandwiches for lunch.” she smiled, passing the container to you “I’m pretty sure anything in that place will cost an arm and a leg, so I thought it might be best if you already had food with you. Plus, you can save money and buy some ice cream, what do you say?”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Byers, this is so sweet.”

“Oh, please, Joyce is fine.” she waved a hand at you dismissively “Now go have fun.”

You helped Eddie load up the sandwiches while Joyce and Hopper got back inside. Closing the door, he turned to you, lips turned up on a smirk.

“You know,” he said, circling his arms around your waist “you look very sexy when you get all bossy like that.”

“Oh, yeah?” you smirked back at him “Want me to order you around?”

“Sure, why not?”

He leaned in, nuzzling his nose with yours. You leaned further in, intending on meeting him halfway, when a sudden knock startled you both apart.

“Hurry up, lovebirds!” Dustin had his face pressed against the glass window on the van’s back door “We are losing precious time here!”

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie exclaimed, throwing his hands up, making you laugh, before walking over to the driver's side “Can’t believe I graduated only to become a glorified babysitter.”

Once you were buckled up and ready, you turned back around and started at the gang of teens.

“Alright, kids, who’s ready for a day of fun?” 

El clapped, hopping on her seat out of excitement. The others, however, stared at you as if you were insane.

“What an ungrateful audience.” Eddie muttered, starting the van and peeling away and onto the road.

“Alright guys, now that everyone has applied sunscreen,” you pointedly stared at Max, who had protested as much as she could, claiming she wanted to ‘tan a little bit and get some color in’ “what do you want to do first?”

You looked at El in particular while asking. She had been the most excited one to go to the waterpark, never having been to anything even remotely similar before in her life. While you were arriving, she pressed her entire face against the van’s window.

“Guys!” she had said “It’s so colorful and swirly!” she had grabbed Mike’s hand and practically yanked him over next to her to take a look as well.

“How about we go on that one?” Lucas pointed at the tallest slide in the whole park, one that could be seen from very far down the road and from anywhere in the place. It consisted of a single drop, very tall and aslope “I read about it. The Insane Drop!”

Out of the corner of your eye you saw El swallow nervously, her eyes darting back and forth between the ride and her friends. Then her eyes settled on you. When she caught you staring at her, concerned, she tried to force herself to smile it off.

“Isn’t that a bit… too tall?” she asked her friends.

“Exactly!” Max answered.

“That’s the whole point!” Mike completed.

“I heard that you can reach up to an impressive 65 mph on the way down!” Dustin jumped up and down in excitement.

El stared at the slide again, her gaze intent, eyes narrowed. 

“I-I don’t know, it looks… dangerous.”

Mike, Dustin and Lucas collectively scoffed.

“Come on, El, it’s fine.” Lucas said.

“I read that it’s super safe and has passed all the required safety tests.” Dustin stated matter of factly “It was lawfully approved.”

Mike grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“El, there’s nothing to worry about. That thing is safe. And besides” he smirked at her “you faced a lot worse before and came out on top.”

El tried to brush it off but didn’t seem thoroughly convinced. Her lower lip started trembling only just slightly, you would never have noticed had you not been staring intently at her. You managed to tear your gaze away from her and to your own boyfriend, who was also staring at her like you had been earlier. Feeling your eyes on him, Eddie turned to look at you, his face scrunched up in concern, probably reflecting your own features.

Will also seemed to sense El's discomfort and jumped to her rescue.

“If that’s the best slide in here, shouldn’t we save it for later?”

The rest of the party looked at each other and then shrugged, unbothered. El looked at her brother, a grateful smile pulling her lips up.

“What do you suggest then, Will the Wise?” Eddie asked, tying his hair up in a messy ponytail, little baby hairs framing his ears (something that made him look even more attractive, too attractive for his own good in your opinion).

“How about that one?” Will pointed out a ride that had seven slides, all in different colors, four which required ring tubes and three that didn’t.

“Let’s go!”

The kids (if you could really call them that, they were teenagers, high schoolers even after all) raced ahead of you and Eddie towards the line that was forming. It was the beginning of summer, so you expected the park to be crowded, but as Steve had gotten you out of bed at the break of dawn you’d managed to arrive right as the place had just opened, so it wasn’t too packed just yet. You and Eddie got in line behind them while they bickered to see who would be paired on the double tubes. In the end Dustin and Lucas decided to ride alone on the single tubes, Mike and Will and Max and El respectively paired up. Which left you to ride with Eddie.

El got progressively more excited the closer to the slides you all got. She started hopping up and down in place, Max giggling next to her and trying to get her to calm down, holding her shoulders so she would stop jumping. 

“Wait for us at the bottom, okay?” you addressed them, to which they nodded.

Dustin got on his tube, an excited screech sounding further and further away as he went down. Lucas did the same on a different slide. When El sat on her tube with Max, a look of hesitation crossed her face, but a smile quickly took over and she smiled back at you. You gave her a quick thumbs up as the slide operator pushed their tub down the slide, a fit of giggles and happy squeals following the two girls down.

After Mike and Will also got on their tube, it was time for Eddie and you to go down.

“You ready, sweetheart?” he asked, taking your hand in his as you both sat down on the tube. 

“Yeah!” you gave his hand a small squeeze as the operator pushed the tube down the slide. 

The wind hit your face, little droplets of water splashing your thighs and torso. Eddie’s laughter reached your ears, joyful and jovial, infectious as you couldn’t keep a smile off your face, giggling to yourself. After a few turns you saw the colorful slide suddenly end and a shiver went down your spine once you realized you had reached the main drop. Your heart jumped to your throat, your stomach sinking in an awfully wonderful adrenaline fueled feeling as the tube tipped down and you descended quickly, water splashing everywhere as you hit the pool. 

Eddie was laughing, a full-belly laugh making his whole body wiggle, as he helped you out of the tube. He pushed some wet hair out of your face, tucking it behind your ear, before pecking your lips quickly, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the exit of the pool where the kids were waiting for you.

“Soooooo…” Eddie draped his arms over Dustin and Mike’s shoulders, leaning heavily on them “Where to next?”

It was closer to midday when you decided it was time for lunch. Until that point you had gone on many rides with varying levels of adrenaline. Your personal favorite was one that looked like a tornado tipped sideways, colors coating the walls of the slide and a small drop in the dark. The tubes were designed for four people, so you went with El, Max and Will, while Eddie, Dustin, Lucas and Mike piled up on the other one.

Many other rides caught your interest: a closed slide shaped like a black mamba; a slide where, instead of tubes, there were mats in which you got on belly down; one that made you feel like a slippery soap on a sink; one shaped like a bowl, in which you swirled around an opening, getting closer and closer, before slipping down a slope (Dustin wittifully compared the sensation to being flushed down the toilet).

“I didn’t know you’d already been flushed down the toilet, Dustin.” Max had jeered. 

“I haven’t but I can imagine what it feels like.” he stated, matter of factly. 

At every ride, you kept a close eye on El. She always hesitated for just a moment before getting a determined look on her face, facing the ride head on. Everytime she got back on solid ground, however, she would stare at The Insane Drop, fear seeping in her eyes, as if it was a gigantic monster looming over her. 

It seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed.

“El, would you mind helping us get the sandwiches from the van?” Eddie called for her.

The girl gave you both a confused look, but nodded nonetheless, eager to help.

“You guys go ahead and meet us near Atlantis, alright?” he addressed the rest of the party.

As you walked towards the entrance, you couldn’t help but notice the girl fidgeting with the blue hair tie around her wrist.

“So, El” Eddie started, having seen the same as you “The Insane Drop.”

Just the mention of the ride’s name was enough to make her pace falter, her eyes widening just slightly, before she resumed her walk.

“What about it?”

Eddie paused, turning towards her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You know you don’t have to go down if you don’t want to, right?”

She gulped.

“But everyone is so excited to go. They said it was fun.”

Eddie sighed, glancing at you for a moment.

“Dustin said it is completely safe.” she added.

He nodded.

“Yeah, it is.” he stared at her, a softness in his eyes you didn’t see very often “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be scared.”

Her eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her skull.

“I-I’m not scared!” her voice grew a pitch higher.

“Yeah, and I was crowned prom king.” you elbowed him softly in the ribs, silently telling him to hold back on the sarcasm “What I mean is… there is no shame in being afraid.”

El stared at him, and her body language let you know she was a little more open to his approach.

“Everyone is scared of something, El.” he explained softly, before his voice acquired a more playful tone “I, for one, am super scared of cockroaches.”

“Cockroaches?” El asked, an amused smile tugging on her lips.

“Don’t laugh at me darling, those disgusting creatures are scary as fu-” you pinned him with what you could only assume was a murderous one, for he cleared his throat  “Their little legs make my skin crawl. I know they are pretty metal but they scare the hell out of me. They are especially scary if they fly.”

She nodded, equal parts amused and amazed. You could only imagine what she was thinking, Eddie being an intimidating figure and admitting to one of his most well kept secrets, that he was scared of a bug. Eddie stared at you, widening his eyes only a bit and tilting his head towards the girl, a cue for you to step in as well.

“I’m afraid of being alone.” you spoke, a small weaver to your voice.

El’s head snapped towards you, surprised. You really didn’t want to breach this topic, but you soldiered on.

“I’m afraid that one day everyone I love will just walk away.” you swallowed harshly “That all the people I care about will just up and leave me, and I’ll be all on my own.”

El’s eyes were so wide like she couldn’t quite believe you.

“But Eddie would never let that happen. He wouldn’t leave you. None of us would.”

You smiled sadly at her.

“I know. But fear is not rational. You can’t really control what scares you and what doesn’t. Being brave does not mean having no fear, but having the strength to admit your fears and, if possible and only if you want to, to face them.”

Eddie placed a second hand on her other shoulder.

“But you don’t have to be brave all the time.”

“I mean, wow, El, it takes a lot of courage to face monsters from another dimension!” you exclaimed, making her eyes widen bigger than saucers “What? You didn’t think Eddie would have kept all of that from me, now, did you, Eleven? I might not have been here at the time, but I’ll still support him in everything he goes through.” you added, having been visiting your grandmother in Ohio during spring break.

“We come as a package deal, the two of us.” Eddie smirked at you. That seemed to quiet her surprise and concern, for she smiled at the little joke.

“So from our perspective” you continued “you have two options: face your fears, or stay down here with me where you’re comfortable.”

“You are not going up?” she asked you.

“Absolutely not! That thing is super scary!” that made her giggle.

“Just remember you don’t have to go just because your friends are going.” Eddie explained a final time “Like I said, there is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Eleven’s eyes sparkled, smile turning soft, before lunging forward into Eddie’s arms. He got startled for only a moment before wrapping his arms around her frame. 

“Thank you.” she mumbled against his chest before turning towards you and pulling you in for a hug as well.

When she let go, she was beaming.

“Now let’s go get those sandwiches, I’m starving!”

The whole day had been a lot of fun. El had gotten a lot more cheerful after her conversation with you and Eddie, not glancing over her shoulder towards The Insane Drop every five minutes. Lunch had been uneventful, except for the deliciously exquisite sandwiches Joyce had sent you.

“My heavens, Will the Wise! This shit is good!” Eddie had moaned around a mouthful of food “Do you think your mom would drop her job to become a chef for a worldly famous metal band?”

“Where will we even find one of those?” Dustin had snickered, earning him a whack on his temple from Eddie.

After that you snatched a bunch of folded bills from your pocket, all the money the kids had saved up and brought along for the day. You had picked it up from the van when you had gone to collect lunch.

“How about some ice cream, huh?”

They had practically toppled you over in an attempt to grab the money from your hands, scrambling for the ice cream cart, all the while Eddie laughed at your disheveled surprise. He extended a hand to help you get up and you two walked hand-in-hand towards the rest of the gang.

“Alright!” you huffed in fake annoyance at their antics, Dustin having requested you take the ice cream from the vendor and pass them over to them one by one ("To reminisce the good ol’ days!” he had argued, mentioning your former part time job) “Chocolate for Dustin… Strawberry for Lucas… Lemon for Max… Cookies ‘n Cream for Will… Mint ‘n Chocolate for Mike… Vanilla for Eddie…” the boys snickered, shutting up when your boyfriend shot them a dirty look “Salted Caramel for El and Mango for me!” 

The vendor looked about ready to strangle you as you walked away from them.

“Honestly, I kinda miss Scoops Ahoy.” Dustin complained “They had much better flavors.”

Once your ice creams had been thoroughly eaten, Lucas had perked up in excitement.

“Now… how about we finally face The Insane Drop?” he asked in the most menacing voice he could muster.

Your eyes instantly shot up to El, quickly exchanging a glance with Eddie. You noticed, surprisingly, that she seemed quite unbothered.

“Hell yeah, let’s go!” Dustin started to practically drag some of his friends.

“Wait up!” you held them back “Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon after lunch for you to go down… that?”

“Yeah, we don’t want you puking your guts out!” Eddie started making weird gagging noises, waving his hands down as if coming out of his mouth, making the other boys chuckle and Max and El exchanged a disgusted look. You weren’t even phased.

“Well, the line is pretty long, I think we’ll have enough time to properly digest those sandwiches.” Max leveled with you.

“Okay, then.” you shrugged, knowing you wouldn’t be able to negotiate with them “Who’s going up?”

Dustin grabbed Lucas and Mike’s hands and hopped in place, excited. Max raised her hand, a little grin of anticipation rolling on her lips. Will shook his head.

“Nah, not really my scene.” he shrugged “Too insane.”

The other kids seemed unbothered.

“What about you El?” Mike asked, looking expectantly at his girlfriend.

She turned her gaze towards you and Eddie, a small smile forming on her face.

“I’m a little scared of heights, guys.” she spoke with confidence “I think that one is a little too much for me.”

You dared spare Eddie a glance, holding back a grin as you noticed his proud smile.

“Alright then.” Mike smiled at her.

“You guys meet us back at the bucket thingy, alright?” Eddie suggested, and the kids ran off.

You whipped your head at him, surprised.

“You’re not going up?” you asked him quietly “I thought you’d enjoy this one.”

He shrugged.

“I have other priorities right now.” he tilted his head towards the girl, who was looking around a little lost, before walking in her direction “So, El, what do you want to do now while we wait for them?”

“I actually, uh, wanted to check out that colorful bucket… thingy, if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all!” he extended his hand to her, wiggling his fingers as she placed her smaller hand in his bigger one, yelling in a poor attempt at a british accent “Let us go, fair maiden!”

She giggled as he pulled her along towards said ‘bucket thingy’ with you and Will following behind. It consisted of a large structure, stairs and slides all over of varying heights, some wheels and buttons that made water shoot out from the sides onto the people who stood outside, with a very large bucket on top, complete with sunglasses and headphones, that was slowly but steadily being filled with water. 

Eddie looked up at the bucket and, after accessing the situation, carefully placed El in a very specific spot in front of the structure.

“What are we doing?”

“Stay there, El. Don’t move.” Eddie smirked, and nudged Will to join her, and you realized what he was doing.

A few moments went by as you waited, in anticipation for the big moment. A rumbling sound pulled your attention to the kids in front of you, who had only a mere second to look at each other in confusion before both of them were being splashed by gallons upon gallons of water. They both laughed in surprise, hugging each other as more water fell on their shoulders.

Eddie was smiling proudly at the pure glee he saw on Will’s and especially El’s faces. You laced your fingers with his and gave his hand a light squeeze, a small smile of your own.

“That was so metal!” El launched herself on Eddie’s arms once the water had finally stopped falling. He laughed, enveloping the girl in his arms and shaking her around.

“Come on, let’s get inside!” he grabbed her hand and your own, you taking Will’s, and pulled the four of you into the structure.

The rest of the day had passed in the same fashion. After exploring every corner of the bucket structure, Eddie and El had decided to go down the colorful slides from the beginning of the day once again, and you had never wished for a camera more. You really wanted to capture the moment they both came out of the slide, Eddie behind El on the tube, both of them laughing with their hands up (something not really recommended by the park’s staff).

The line to The Insane Drop must have been pretty long, because by the time the other’s had come back it was time to head out and back to Hawkins. They were pretty disappointed to go, and honestly you were too, but you had to leave if you wanted to get to Hawkins before dark.

Even though they wanted to stay more, most of them promptly fell asleep the moment you got to the road. Max was tapping along to the beat coming from her new walkman, a gift from Lucas, who slept soundly next to her. Dustin had his head tilted back, mouth open and snores coming out of his throat. Mike had his head on El’s shoulder, while she watched out the window as the park grew smaller and smaller behind you.

After a few miles, you heard a throat being cleared behind you. You turned around in your seat to see El already looking at you, Eddie glancing briefly at her from the rearview mirror and nodding in acknowledgement.

“Thank you.” she smiled shyly “For everything.”

You both smiled at her.

“Don’t mention it, kiddo.” Eddie said softly.

Both girls fell asleep a few miles away from Hawkins.

“You know, you handled all of that pretty well today.” you smiled at your boyfriend, taking his hand in your from where it had been resting on your thigh. 

“Well, I have been spending a lot of time with Harrington, maybe his babysitting skills have rubbed off on me.” he shrugged, although you could see he was definitely pleased at having made the day good for the kids and you.

Glancing at him in silence you pecked his cheek, thankful his hair was still tied up.

“You’d make a great dad one day.”

His breath hitched for just a beat, before he glanced at you for a moment.

“Is that something you’d want?”

You pondered for a moment.

“I’m honestly not sure.” you shrugged, a bashful smile taking over your features “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t really know. I just know that if I did want it eventually, I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have by my side for that than you.” 

He smiled shyly, chuckling under his breath.

“God, you’re so corny!”

“But you love me anyway!”

He gazed at you from the corner of his eyes, a longing sparkle in them.

“Yeah, I truly do.” he smiled “Let’s see what the future holds for us.”

(And if Eddie came back from the next Hellfire meeting, a small maquette of the buket thingy from the waterpark made out of cardboard and colored paper, topped with clear plastic to resemble water falling from it, two small wooden figurines that looked suspiciously like you and Eddie, it’s nobody's business that it now decorates your bedside table.)

If you want visual references for all the slides mentioned in the story, here are some pictures from the irl slides I used as inspiration (I don’t own any of these pictures, credit goes to the respective owners): The Insane Drop (yes, I went down this thing and it is truly insane!!) Seven colorful slides Colorful tornado tipped sideways Black mamba Slippery soap on a sink Toilet bowl Atlantis Bucket thingy

[joycieillustrations]

Hello! Although I respect the choices made by the writers and directors of HotD, I regret the lack of explanation and development of characters and situations. That said, I would like to know if the positions and choices of the show will affect your stories and if so, how they will affect the work, if there have been changes in plans, etc. With Rhaenys' death, we can only continue reading about her through fanfictions and yours are, without a doubt, among the best ever written about them. Thank you.

Hello there! Thanks for the ask ❤️

This is quite a lot to answer and I'll do the best I can. I still am sorting my head out re. a few things and in all honesty, I'm also not in a particularly good headspace personally right now, so I don't have quite as clear a view as I would like.

Yes, the show has affected my plans - somewhat. Honestly, as soon as it was confirmed that Abubakar Salim was playing Alyn, I knew they were going to make the Hull boys Corlys' bastards, simply because his resemblance to Steve is so striking. I don't particularly like it, particularly because show!Corlys is quite a different man to book!Corlys, and also because I don't think the Hull boys being Corlys' makes much difference to the story in comparison to them being, say, Vaemond's or even a distant Velaryon cousin's or even just two random fatherless boys Corlys claims as his heirs (because hey, what does it matter to Corlys, they'll have his name and Alyn's kids will have his blood through Baela). Honestly, I'd have been more invested if Corlys - who evidently doesn't care about the bloodline so much as he does the name - had simply picked Alyn out of his crew and said: hey, you're a good sailor and I see great things in you. Let me give you my legacy and all I ask in return is that you carry on my family's name.

But I digress: that's the fix it AU I'm not writing. Regardless, it's show canon that they're Corlys'.

With that in mind, I'd mentally plotted out the sequels to Ex libris knowing that Corlys fathers bastards at some point. I also started to pepper things into the later chapters of Ex libris that could be interpreted to be about the boys' mother (e.g. Corlys tells Alysanne that he's loved before in Ch. 13 and mentions having had lovers in Hull in Ch. 23). From Steve's interviews, the show isn't going to confirm anything about their origin in Season 2 (and I think Ryan Condal's lack of information and guidance in this regard - to Steve, to Eve, and to the directors - has been a very poor and inconsiderate move on his part, but that's another post), so instead I have my own timeline of how I think things have happened and I'm going to commit to that because, frankly, the series will never get written otherwise. I've sat here for six weeks waiting for answers and not got any. I want A Song of Sea and Sky to be as canon compliant as possible, but there's only so much I can do while the show is airing; and that's OK, if it ends up being an AU, fingers crossed it's a good one.

Ad amorem will touch upon Corlys' ideas about fidelity. Rest assured, we're not going to immediately see him go out and cheat on Rhaenys; but I am going to explore that this is a source of conflict. I'm not going to sweep it under the rug, because part of the joy of writing these two is the complexity of their emotions and their relationship. They're not always perfect, they do make terrible mistakes, they do hurt each other.

The way I've spoken with my friends about the two halves of Corlys and Rhaenys' journey to marriage is that Ex libris is their love and future idealised, the excitement and prospect of it all; Ad amorem is the reality settling in, the realisation that all will not be perfect, that they have their differences and foibles and ugly traits that they do not like in the other, but they can still endure it and become stronger for it and that, ultimately, their marriage will always be built on love.

I don't want to say much more than that. Overall, the plot hasn't really changed all that much. The same overall arc I had originally planned still happens, just some scenes will just be expanded to talk about this issue.

With regards to Salt and Smoke, it hasn't changed anything plot-wise, though I am considering going through and tidying the fic up a bit. I think I've grown as a writer since I first started that fic two years ago (and then got distracted by Ex libris) and I would like it to match the rest of the series a little better. I'm undecided yet as to whether I'm going to publish the last chapter first or if I'm going to edit the previous chapters before finishing the fic off.

As for my AU fic Office Hours, that hasn't changed. I have other things I want to talk about in that fic before I potentially talk about Addam and Alyn, but I had already figured out how they fit in in this universe if I do change my mind and want to explore it.

Thank you for your compliments about my work. I truly didn't expect to get the response I did and it's both wonderful and overwhelming. I feel an immense amount of pressure for Ad amorem to surpass Ex libris and I do have to admit that currently I am struggling to write Ad amorem because of this. For the time being, I'm writing Office Hours and only dipping my toes into Ad amorem when I have scenes in my head.

I hope that answers some of your questions! Do feel free to ask more, my inbox is always open.

[kryptonbabe]

DC's Mutants or How Perry White Won his 3rd Pulitzer

Superman #265 (1973) by Elliot S! Maggin & Curt Swan

A normal day in Metropolis, and as we can see in the panel above that is Perry White deciding to stalk two unassuming citizens. Their crime? Wearing gloves. But first! Did you know Perry White won a Pulitzer prize? Well, actually he won three, two of them related to Superboy (the first one due to this interview young Clark gave him revealing he was an alien and the second one when Superboy revealed to Perry he was living in Metropolis... yeah, it's that easy). I'm only mentioning it because this is a story about how Perry White won his third Pulizer, and it all begins with the intrepid journalist pursuing a glove wearing couple.

During this time Morgan Edge owned the Daily Planet - I believe that happened in issue #233 of Superman - and he was not happy with Perry and his old ways, a traditional reporter, 20 years away from his last Pulitzer. In a way Perry shares Edge's frustration, he feels behind and powerless in this new position as Morgan undermines his editor role. I feel for Perry and that's why I'm ok with him following and questioning random people in the streets.

Suddenly the guy Perry approaches shoots him with an energy bolt from his fingers. Proving Perry's suspicions were right all along, the man still got it. This is just like his times covering the Korean War all over again.

Clark sees the energy bolt and realizes that is a job for Superman, while Perry feels like it is a job for a middle-aged journalist. They follow the couple to a heliport and there Clark, already as Superman, gets knocked out by their energy bolts, Perry then hides himself in the helicopter, tagging along with the gloved people.

When he wakes up Clark heads back to the Daily Planet and there he has to deal with the real menace to society: Steve Lombard's sex drive. He deals with it in a very silver age-y way and I approve of his methods. Glurgg indeed, Steve.

Meanwhile Perry gets off the helicopter, knocks out a guy, take his clothes, hides the body, applies some makeshift make up to his face and infiltrates the Air Force base he sees himself in. The feel of it is like watching a spy thriller, Perry getting cooler and cooler by the minute, he's proving something to Morgan Edge, proving something to himself. My favorite parts of the issue are the spy Perry White.

Enter Calixto, a government employee and mad scientist, who 20 years before planted a mutagenic substance in a atomic bomb testing (yeah, while Perry was winning a Pulitzer Calixto was violating human rights, the choices you make in life).

Calixto must have been a pretty smart guy because his mutagenic substance not only made the kids to be born mutants with specific energy powers and two opposite thumbs, but they were also weak to hypnosis. The amount of testing it must have take to achieve these results. I also like Maggin's logic here, if the evolution of the human opposite thumb made so many technical advances for our species possible, imagine having two thumbs, the possibilities could be endless.

Calixto's origins are weird, but his goals and methods of conquering are mad scientist villain 101, gather an army of mutants, mentally control them, take over an army base and plan a announcement to blackmail the world into submission. And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for Superman and meddling journalist Perry White.

Superman finds their base and does an anime girl spin trick he learned from Flash to fight their energy blasts. While at it he thinks "No force in the universe is completely irresistible!", and it is a hard hitting thought, especially coming from Clark whose powers are already seen as unstoppable. Coming from him this sentence goes to show how he doesn't believe completely in his own invulnerability, since no force in the universe is irresistible, himself included. Even the biggest challenges are not impossible to overcome... Am I reading too much into this? Probably, but it's cool anyways.

Proving this point... Superman goes straight to a wall of energy and passes out (for the second time in this issue, spending too much time with Hal Jordan maybe?).

To what undercover Perry reacts to with a surprisingly nonchalant "Hmmm..." that made me chuckle a little, Perry is adorable. His mind is cooking however, never doubt.

It's Superman's pal Perry White acting all spy-like again, this time he releases Superman from Calixto's jail, gives him the clothes of a guy he knocked out and suggests Clark to wear a pair of glasses as well.

So we have Clark as Superman disguised as a third person wearing glasses, it's a Russian doll scheme of secret identities. Perry almost figures out Superman wearing glasses looks uncannily like his colleague Clark, and he would probably win five Pulitzers at once for discovering that.

"Go sit on a pomegranate Calixto!" I don't think Calixto ever recovered from that comeback.

In a nearby desert Superman builds a giant tuning fork that disrupts Calixto's power over his mutants, their trance is over and they leave, now Calixto is alone and hysterical, absorbing a ton of energy to fight Supes. Then, in a very Superman fashion, when realizing Calixto's energy intake was exceeding his body limitations, Clark got in his way trying to save the man, to no avail though. The energy ray was too potent and the whole building blew up, leaving only Clark alive, crawling from a giant crater. Dramatic!

I think is cool how the mutants decided they would simply leave Earth after Calixto's death, they must've been up to date to their X-men reading, because I can't see things going well for people with two opposite thumbs here on Earth really.

Perry's reports his investigative work, his exclusive on Calixto's rise and downfall. I know Superman is close to the Planet crew and he helped to solve the whole Calixto crisis, but how many times is he called to comment on national developments like this? I'd gladly listen to his inputs so I'm not complaining, but I do wonder.

"But these mutants are the lucky ones... they at least had the choice to make!" do I feel a tinge of bitterness here Kal-el? Are you unhappy with our services? I mean, I know we're not the best but we're no Apokolips or I don't know... Warworld - I know we're bad, but are we worse then Warworld? Tell me Clark.

Overall, Curt Swan's art really fits the story, it's not over the top, the action is clean and the character's expressions elegant. Maggin's writing is charming, infusing the characters with a sense of purpose, especially Clark and obviously Perry. Calixto is more on the generic side, his mutants were interesting though, not exactly bad people, just manipulated, why did they chose to leave Earth? How are they now? In which planet are they? I have questions. Perry White is the main attraction of the issue for sure, he feels even more heroic than Superman, which is nice to see if you already like Super family characters and thinks investigative journalism is so cool (I do). I heard there's an Action Comics also written by Maggin in which Perry gains super powers... That's probably what I'm reading next. Thank you for reading this!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 07/05/2024

Rooftop Bop

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume AI

Ripped by Mitchell

Requested by InitialDDD! (Request Form)

Man, Scatman John...what an interesting relation he has to the internet, huh? For whatever reason back in the early days of YouTube, his titular hit song Scatman became really prevalent to use in amateur comedy videos, most notably with the "Super Mario 64 Bloopers!"-genre of video. These are actually videos that I have memory of watching - people just playing around in their childhood 3D game and making up their own little stories and sketches to the tune of silly music. But Scatman, and its less-viral sibling Scatman's World, are more than just nonsense, there's an emotion to John's two legendary songs, a distillation of raw nostalgia - one that the internet suddenly rediscovered back in 2019, and one that SiIvaGunner itself celebrated in bursts throughout the whole year, with Rooftop Bop being an absolute standout example.

Like with most memes, its hard to really trace down a logistical reason for their upbringing - check any KnowYourMeme page, and its bound to just say something along the lines of "on this date, this video/image was posted, and gained tons of attention". The Scatman-posting of 2019 was a pretty interesting case on top of that - the "AWESOME - HE FINALLY" memes that initiated it all were like a big mishmash of memes old and new. Part of the joke was in using nostalgic pieces from the old internet, the music and the "black border" template, over clips from Vine or elsewhere edited to have a positive, borderline innocent outcome, as if to intentionally turn the "Loud equals funny" format that so much of Vine fell under on its head. It's like three layers deep into irony, to where it loops around into finding sincere happiness funny - but it is genuinely still just a really good bit, the perfect kind of stupid comedy that's at once unexpected yet also brings its audience together over the nostalgia it evokes - nostalgia for two different eras of the internet, even! Despite being so core to the old internet days, Scatman wasn't very prominent on the Unregistered Hypercam 2 takeover of 2018, taking a backseat to other internet anthems like Never Gonna Give You Up in Never Gonna Give Up Mahjong and Dreamscape in How 2 Do Anything. But, as if it was fated to be, just a few months later in 2019 Scatman John would once again be made relevant - and the SiIva team was right on top of things.

A lot of Scatman John's prominence on SiIva in 2019 was, of course, on the legendary Not Funny Didn't Laugh day - on the 10th of September (whats 9 plus 10?), a series of shitposts intentionally drenched in as much irony as possible were featured on the channel, the depths of which I explored back in Sex - Steve Harvey. But beyond giving us all brain damage, the event was like a huge shot in the arm for Scatman Stocks - and just two weeks later, we would receive perhaps the best Scatman rip yet. The guy had been lurking as a meme on SiIva before, notably being in some Season 1 rips here and there - and so his return on Not Funny Didn't Laugh day felt like just one more piece of internet history to be nostalgic for. Early YouTube, Vine, and the very first months of SiIvaGunner - all rolled into two songs filled with such whimsy, yet also filled with pure emotion. Now: Does that ring a bell to anyone else?

I feel like Rooftop Bop is the definition of a "more than the sum of its parts" rip, if that makes any sense. It's an excellent melody swap/mashup no doubt, the kind that almost makes you wonder how it was even done with how authentic the violin's lead melody sounds, and the chorus returning to the original Rooftop Run: Act 1 theme with Scatman John's vocals hits oh-so-hard - its an amazingly paced out rip throughout, ping-ponging between melody swap, mashup and both at once throughout - but like I said, the rip is so much more than all of that. It feels almost like a universal experience (at least, for my generation) to have an attachment to Scatman John - but more than that, we all have an attachment to the very thing his two hits represented. Because his balance of silliness and genuine heartfelt emotion is the exact thing that made SiIvaGunner so special all the way back in Season 1, the kind of balance that has made us all smile, laugh, empathize and outright cry, althewhile never losing its core of pure whimsy. Be it The Paragoomba and the Wiggler, Aphex, Planet Wisp Mashup Medley, Turnabout Fishters, or indeed Rooftop Bop - SiIvaGunner, very much like Scatman John, has gotten so many emotions out of us, and made us all too attached to an entity others may consider naught but a silly gimmick.

It's a fantastic listen - but more than that, it's an incredible experience. The latter half of Season 4 Episode 1 of SiIvaGunner was perhaps the most exciting period to ever follow the channel during, and Rooftop Bop's unprecedented ability to unite us all through a raw dosage of nostalgic memories couldn't have come at a better time.

[melles1276]

Chapters: 2/24 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Clint Barton Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Joaquín Torres, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Nick Fury, John Walker (Marvel), Lemar Hoskins, Alpine (Marvel), George Barnes (Marvel), Winifred Barnes Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes Whump, Alternate Universe - Military, Developing Friendships, War, Afghanistan, Loyalty, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Major Character Injury, Character Death, Bucky Barnes has a family, Blood and Injury, Injury, Whump, There's a lot of dialogue, Brothers at least, War in Afghanistan, Soldiers, Sad Ending, Uncle Bucky Barnes, Comrades, Someone is going to die, But I won’t tell you who, Friendship, Teacher!Steve, Teacher Steve Rogers, Art teacher Steve Rogers, Goats, Steve Rogers Whump, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression Summary:

Sergeant James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is stationed in Afghanistan in 2017 and is tasked with bringing employees of an NGO, including art and sports teacher Steve Rogers, to safety from a dangerous area. What begins as a normal mission ends in a nightmare. This is a story about friendship, loyalty and solidarity in a seemingly hopeless situation. Pairings: Bucky/OC, Steve/OC *Character death*

This story was partially inspired by animarvelita's pictures which can be found at https://www.tiktok.com/@animarvelita/photo/7294703498396978438?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7378547503304377888

Excerpt:

Chapter 2 - Uncertainties

The journey in the heavily armored military vehicles is anything but comfortable. The Humvees rumble along the unpaved country roads, past jagged rock formations, and the stuffy air builds up inside the cabin.

Bucky takes advantage of the ride to let his mind wander a bit in the passenger seat. They are still on safe ground in this part of the region, so he’s able to turn his attention briefly to continuing his plans for his return home to the States. After all his time in Afghanistan, it’s still hard for him to imagine spending Christmas with his family in snowy Brooklyn.

In just under three months he will be able to spend time with his family and hold his children and his youngest nephew in his arms. He'll be able to hold the kid the first time since he only knows of him from photos and video chats. His sister, Rebecca, had become a mother for the second time four months ago, and she has taken on the task within the Barnes family of keeping him up to date on all the developments at home via Messenger. That's how he knows that his father, George, is planning a fishing trip with him ever since he found out the date of Bucky’s return. In fact, he has already packed up all the equipment for it and is just waiting for his return.

Winifred, his mom, has already drawn up a menu for the Christmas holidays and wants to spoil him with home-cooked, delicious food and all kinds of scrumptious cakes. The idea makes his mouth water.

After two hours of driving around 100 kilometers, they take a short break. His commanding officer, Master Sergeant Daniel Miller, instructs Bucky and his partner, Travis Bell, to climb a small hill and get an overview of the situation.

While both are lying on the ground, Travis searches the area with his binoculars while Bucky, trained sniper that he is, secures the surrounding area with his weapon at the ready. Sergeant First Class Tom Jackson remains below and radios in their position.

“And?” Bucky wants to know.

Travis slowly lowers the binoculars and puts his sunglasses back on. “Nothing suspicious,” he reports thoughtfully. He doesn't have much experience as a so-called spotter and the fact that he is now being asked by the sergeant to give a situation report obviously makes him nervous.

Bucky narrows his eyes thoughtfully, and scans the horizon through the scope of his rifle. So far he's been able to confirm Travis' conclusion but with every mile they advance deeper into the interior, the risk of encountering enemy tribes and coming under fire increases drastically. They are only a few kilometers away from their destination. The quicker they get to the settlement to collect the civilians, the better.

Miller’s voice comes over the radio: “We’re leaving in 15 minutes.”

[9leaguesofmirrors]

My Favourite Steve Characters

It's September 1st, also known as Steve Pemberton's birthday! I did one of these lists for Reece's birthday, and I wanted to do one for Steve too because I feel like not enough people talk about his amazing acting

These are in no particular order

Tony Martin - The Interrogation Of Tony Martin

This film was originally on Channel 4 and can now be found on Netflix. It's a verbatim piece about the true story of Tony Martin and why he killed two young boys that intruded on his home. Steve manages to be both cold and unsettling and surprisingly sympathetic in the role, everything he does is subtle and refined to produce an incredibly realistic performance

Trevor - Love's Great Adventure

I don't think I'll ever stop singing the praise of Love's Great Adventure, people overlook it because it doesn't have a dark twist but it's honestly one of the best episodes of the entire series! Steve Pemberton delivers such a raw performance that it left me wishing there was a spin-off series! The entire episode is beautiful, and Trevor is a huge part of the reason; I could praise Steve's ability to dig up such pure, unbridled feeling in every character he plays for ages!

Dr Bessner - Death On The Nile (2004)

I'm a sucker for a good Agatha Christie, especially Poirot, so finding out that Steve Pemberton was in one of the remakes made me very excited - and, as always, he delivers. Dr Bessner is a character which may end up fading into the back of people's memories, but Steve Pemberton managed to make every scene he was in very entertaining. It goes to show that he knows how to pull focus without taking away from other cast members, a credit to both his dedication and kindness

Len - Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

I mean, he won a BAFTA for this one, that says it all! When we first meet Len, he's portrayed as a sweet, funny man with plenty of charisma. However, as the episode continues, Steve manages to show this façade break more and more until we see to the core of a man that's ruined his life and lost his way. Steve managed to perfectly portray Len as a flawed character while simultaneously making the audience sympathise with him and want him to get the help he needs

Galen - Thinking Out Loud

NOBODY can deny Steve Pemberton's range, not after watching Thinking Out Loud. He's positively frightening as Galen, using stillness and a measured delivery to create an unnerving character - at one point, he leaned forward and I actually jumped backwards!

Pauline Campbell-Jones - The League of Gentlemen

This list wouldn't be complete with the iconic Pauline Campbell-Jones! Steve's comedic timing and delivery skills makes her one to watch, but there are also moments where we see another side to her that's unexpected yet surprisingly heartwarming. Yet another example of Steve's fantastic range giving even the most comedic characters depth

Joe - The Last Weekend SPOILERS BELOW

Like Thinking Out Loud, this episode has a very controversial ending. But I want to step away from that for a moment (might make a post about it at some point, I'm not sure) to appreciate how incredible Steve was in it

At first, you sympathise with Joe; he has to deal with having a terrible illness and, on top of that, his partner doesn't exactly treat him that kindly. Steve's ability to pull at the audience's heartstrings really comes into play here... but, even before the big reveal, there are subtle moments where you get the sense that something isn't quite right

And that ending! Steve completely transforms and we're left with a Joe Madison that we've never seen before - and hope we never see in real life! It's perfectly sinister and 100% one of his best acting moments in the series

Of course, these are just a few of his roles and, like Reece, he's a real chameleon that can truly play any part (even if, sometimes, it's just Pauline). Benidorm is on my watch list so I'll be getting to that as soon as possible! I hope Steve's career continues to be full of opportunities!

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

We might finally know, ahead of D23, who is directing TOY STORY 5. Per a Japanese news article.

None other than... Andrew Stanton, but also... A second director in McKenna Harris...

So, Stanton... That's BIG...

Stanton, who did story and script on the original TOY STORY, is part of what I like to call "Team TOY STORY": Him, John Lasseter (director), current Pixar leader Pete Docter (story), and Lee Unkrich (editor). All members of the Brain Trust, too. And all of them returned for some kind of role on the sequels.

Docter and Stanton are pretty much the last of that core team that are still at Pixar, Unkrich intermittently consults on the post-TOY STORY 4 films, as he's been off doing other projects, namely editing recently-released books on THE SHINING. We all know what happened to John Lasseter. Stanton taking the helm, if he is indeed straight-up directing this movie and not just doing story/script, is a curious development... Because he's been doing a lot of live-action stuff lately, and trying to get films of his own off the ground. One of which, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, was filmed in spring 2023 and will be released by Searchlight Pictures. Eventually.

The last animated feature film he directed was FINDING DORY, released in 2016. Since then, his directing work has mainly been in TV: STRANGER THINGS, BETTER CALL SAUL, FOR ALL MANKIND, 3 BODY PROBLEM, etc. He even directed for OBI-WAN KENOBI. Now that he has at least one other non-Pixar movie coming out, maybe he's game to direct a long-time endeavor again?

Fun fact: Stanton originally intended for FINDING DORY to be directed by someone else. Stanton had tried to get a live-action/CG-filled sci-fi epic going after the 2008 release of WALL-E, a film that could potentially launch a trilogy... That unfortunate 2012 film was JOHN CARTER. It's actually supposed to be called JOHN CARTER OF MARS, but Disney execs cut the "Mars" in response to how their mo-cap movie MARS NEEDS MOMS did at the box office. (Planet Mars, for whatever reason, had been considered box office poison... But it didn't affect THE MARTIAN in 2015). Disney then proceeded to saddle it with a terrible marketing campaign, and the $250m behemoth lost so much money at the box office...

So, Stanton re-routed, and decided to assume the director position on FINDING DORY shortly thereafter. So maybe he doesn't mind returning to his characters/worlds when the opportunities aren't always there? Maybe all that TV work and that one small movie gave him his fill for now?

Again, that is, if he's actually the director.

It's an interesting trajectory, though. John Lasseter directed TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2, the latter having co-directors in Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon (the original director when it was a direct-to-video movie). Unkrich was promoted to director on TOY STORY 3, as John was too busy running 3 studios to do it (though not busy enough to take over CARS 2, apparently). John actually was aiming to direct TOY STORY 4 as well, but then handed the reins to his co-director Josh Cooley. And Cooley left Pixar, he directed this year's TRANSFORMERS ONE for Paramount.

So, if it's Stanton, that makes sense. If not, I'm gonna guess it's a co-director of a previous picture or someone involved with at least one of the films or shorts. Angus MacLane, who directed SMALL FRY, TOY STORY OF TERROR! and LIGHTYEAR, got let go recently. As did Steve Purcell, who directed TOY STORY THAT TIME FORGOT. A new perspective is always fun, but if it's a veteran, I'm curious either way.

McKenna Harris being the other director is very cool, almost like a veteran getting a first-time feature director off the ground with a classic favorite. Harris was a story artist on LUCA, and directed that film's short CIAO ALBERTO, in addition to being an associate exec producer on ELEMENTAL. She also did story work on Disney Animation films RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET and RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, and even did character design for Cartoon Network's WE BEAR BEARS... Whose creator Daniel Chong looks to be directing a picture at Pixar as well... A good get, if that article is true.

[princeescaluswords]

Unsolicited Tips for Fanfiction Writers #1: The Lecture

I want to preface this with the idea that I'm not writing this from some position of authorial scold. This is a problem with my own writing about which I have had to be very careful.

Every author experiences moments when they need to deliver exposition, elucidate a theme, or provide context for an action for their story. This is especially true in fanfiction, when a writer feels enormous pressure to relate the work before them with the original source material. Having one character explain it to another is not only an effective solution but in certain genres expected. Characters who don't know certain things often have to learn about them.

But it can get tricky, especially when it comes to fanfiction. Sometimes the reader can suddenly become aware that they're being addressed by the author telling them what to think, and that's usually not the reason why someone reads a story. While some readers are in tune with the author so much that it doesn't bother them, a lot of readers will feel that they're the ones being lectured.

In my opinion, the key to delivering a useful and non-intrusive lecture in your story is the relationships between the speaker and their audience. Is there a reason for the speaker to be delivering the information? Are they an authority on the topic? Is there a reason for the audience to listen to the speaker? Do they respect the speaker or need the information being delivered? If these things don't exist, the curtain parts and the reader experiences the author talking directly to them.

I'll give you an example. In a recent Teen Wolf fanfiction I came across, a crossover with Hawaii 5-0, Stiles went to the islands and became involved with the team, and Steve Garrett returned with him to Beacon Hills for other reasons, but Stiles wants to "give Scott a chance" to make things up to Stiles. It really should have been labeled "Bad Friend Scott McCall" but no one really labels things correctly.

Plot events occur, but the latest chapter has a scene where Steve Garret lectures Scott on how badly he's been treating Stiles, calls him a spineless coward, and threatens him with violence if Scott hurts Stiles emotionally. It's a lecture all right. But here's the problem (as I put into the constructive criticism comment I left for the author).

Why the hell would Scott not just turn around and walk out of the hospital room after his first sentence? Who the hell is Steve Garrett to Scott? We, the readers, know who that is, but Scott doesn't know this person from Adam. Scott, of course, doesn't defend himself, because in these types of "The Author Hates Canon and Will Make It Your Problem" stories, the characters they dislike never get a chance to defend themselves. But the real important point I feel is -- what in Scott's characterization implies that he would listen to a white male stranger, however dangerous and threatening, scold him on how he has to treat Stiles? It's not like that exact thing hasn't happened before.

I should have realized that this story would be full of the "Author Telling Me Why I Shouldn't Like Scott." In an earlier chapter, Peter says this gem to Stiles:

“Isn’t he? How much easier would your life have been, your father’s life had been, if Scott had accepted what he became sooner? How better would your lives be if he hadn’t tried to ignore the insane, serious change he went through and put all of your lives at stake just to pretend he was a normal boy to be able to get the girl he confused lust for love for? And that’s not even touching on who said girl and her family even were!” 

I let that go, because this is not out of character for Peter to be a manipulative douchebag. And since Stiles had come to Peter, it wasn't completely out of line for him to listen. I was surprised that Stiles didn't respond. "I did wonder how much easier my life would have been if you hadn't tried to mind-control Scott into killing me, so there's that." But this is an older Stiles, so maybe he's not as sarcastic.

But the lecture from Steve Garrett was the breaking point. I was out of the story permanently. Even if you think Scott is the stupidest werewolf that ever lived, it's still part of his characterization -- which the author never bothered to change because the purpose of this story was to express their hatred of Scott McCall -- that he doesn't let weird strange white men tell him what to do.

I mean, what's left at this point? If Scott's this bad -- a spineless coward who is completely in the wrong but wont' recognize it -- why does Stiles even care? He lives thousands of miles away in Hawaii! If Scott's this bad -- someone so selfish and oblivious that Peter Hale is a better person and a overly-tanned white cop from another state has to threaten him -- why does Scott even care? What is this story but a 30k (so far) lecture on why the author didn't like the show? I'm pretty sure I know the answer already -- either Scott will be killed/maimed/humiliated or he will throw himself at Stiles feet and apologize for not centering his life around Stiles's needs. Either way, Stiles will go back to the big island, having defeated his nemesis (Scott, in case the audience wasn't paying attention) and live happily ever after.

You can write stories like this, but if you want to reach an audience larger than the people who already agree with you, it might do well to make sure that the characters are characters, and not mouthpieces.