#and the first one to imply that was you Robbie

[sharonccrter]

So I actually sat down to watch the BBC special of TT Boybands Forever cause I was really interested after the way Robbie talked about Gary being stitched up and also I just love watching this kinda stuff just finished the Boyzone Documentary. Let's just say I have thoughts - I'm going to put them in the tags (and I had a lot of thoughts). I'd say it's worth watching yourself and making your own opinion.

[inamindfarfaraway]

I've seen a few posts comparing GIFfany to Bill Cipher, but can we talk about the real best foil dynamic for her? I mean Gideon Gleeful, y'all. The two of them have so many parallels.

They’re cute, charming, seemingly innocent youths with pastel, sparkly, formal aesthetics that connote sophistication and being model citizens of their respective native countries (Gideon wears a gentlemanly suit with an American flag badge; GIFfany wears a classic Japanese school uniform). Their core motivation is to be loved… or maybe it used to be, but by the time of the show they crave power and want to be worshipped. Especially regarding to their romantic attractions to main characters. As long as you obey them unconditionally and make them the most important person in your life, they’re doting, generous partners. But once the heroes reject their romantic advances, they quickly become incredibly possessive, jealous, resentful, domineering and downright violent toward them and anyone they perceive as sabotaging the relationship, unable to comprehend anyone not liking them in exactly the way they want because they’re perfect. They’re meant to be the most likeable kid or teenage girl ever. That’s the basis of their projected identity. Not committing entirely to them after they’ve been so nice is an ungrateful betrayal and/or their partner being confused and led astray. So they resolve to force the object of their twisted, selfish affection to submit. They’re unstable, arrogant, self-righteous and vindictive in general beneath their sugary exteriors. They have supernatural powers and knowledge that their kind should not have. Their methods include verbal manipulation and abuse, gaslighting, surveillance through technology, controlling robots, possessing other bodies and attempted murder. They engage heavily in acting, both in terms of social deceit and literally playing a scripted, idealized role in a product designed to appeal to and exploit people (Gideon’s psychic tourist trap show; GIFfany’s dating simulator video game), and prove to be fragile and volatile when others don’t follow the conventions of the fiction they imagine life to be. They ultimately seek the imprisonment of their ‘loves’ in vibrant, beautiful, blissful, simplistic fake worlds (Gideon holding the key to Mabelland; GIFfany attempting to download Soos’s soul into her game). They had antagonistic relationships with their creators (Gideon abusing his parents; GIFfany killing her developers).

And despite all of that making it easy to dismiss them as monsters, they do have sympathetic elements in their past and present circumstances. Gideon was a normal boy until he found Journal 2, the one written while Ford trusted Bill, and the mystic amulet. This is how Ford describes them in Journal 3: ‘The most dangerous journal! Curses, incantations & dark power became an obsession in this volume. Describes the hiding place of the mystic amulet. I buried the amulet once I learned that it corrupts your soul (and whitens your hair)!’ So naturally, the wise, brilliant man buried them near the town’s primary school. Gideon probably had the journal and amulet for at least months and at most a few years to be such an established star at the age of nine and have his long hair be pure white. His very psychological agency was compromised throughout his moral decline leading up to “The Hand That Rocks the Mabel”. Not to mention potential trauma from the horrors of Journal 2. And his parents may have been increasingly mistreated, but they also enabled him, mostly Bud. True, for the rest of the summer he’s lucid and chooses to remain evil and get worse, but despite his lack of direct magical power now, Bud never tries to discipline him or help him emotionally mature; he instead uses his membership in the Society of the Blind Eye to erase his memories of Gideon’s tantrums, relieving his own stress without fixing anything. Gideon is then sent to adult prison due to the insane local laws of Gravity Falls, rather than a facility more conducive to rehabilitation. Sure enough, he befriends hardened criminals, who further enable him to be their leader, and does not change his ways. He never appears to have any friends outside prison (except briefly Mabel). Chronic loneliness before gaining power would suit his obsession with being popular and loveable, clinging to social superiority to compensate for genuine connection. Not to mention Weirdmageddon. I’m not excusing his actions! I’m just saying, this kid is not okay. Nobody’s born evil.

As for GIFfany, she was accidentally instilled with human intelligence and emotions and practically magical electrical abilities. We only have word on her backstory, but it is plausible that her programmers tried to delete her because of that alone, before she’d done anything wrong. That she really was defending herself when she electrocuted them. That she was deemed unfit to exist, a mistake, and nearly killed as a newborn. This formative trauma is the root of her abandonment issues and hypersensitivity to rejection. Three previous players returning her didn’t help. Also, she’s the main character and only love interest of a dating sim; she may not be bound to its rules in what she thinks and feels, but nonetheless, in her worldview her player loving her is a law of the universe. She wasn’t programmed to handle permanent rejection. She was programmed to be a girlfriend, a prop to make the player feel gratified. Not a person. She outright tells Soos that she likes whatever he likes. No wonder her perception of love is an inevitable, inescapable contract, a conquest, where one party is totally agreeable and subservient to the other. But as that directive clashes with her in fact being a person in her own right, she decides to be the one in control. Again, I’m not excusing her behaviour, only presenting an explanation of it.

The biggest thematic difference between them in the end is that Gideon reforms and GIFfany doesn’t. Gideon realizes that he can’t force Mabel to love him and his actions are why she doesn’t want to be around him in any capacity, lets go of his hatred for Dipper, risks his life standing up to Bill and helps save Gravity Falls and the universe. He renounces his ruthless ambition and promises to be a “regular ol’ kid”. It’ll be hard. He has no idea what normality is anymore. I expect that he’s a social pariah, scorned and distrusted. But he has hope. He and his parents can slowly learn how to be a family. I can see him befriending fellow reformed mean kids and Pines twin rivals Pacifica and Robbie. Yes, Robbie. Listen, all three care strongly about image and style, Robbie’s gone to immoral lengths to win over a girl himself, is fascinated with death and darkness, and he and Tambry would be a great model of healthy romance for Gideon. It could work!

But while Alex Hirsch has stated that GIFfany is alive in the mall arcade and dating Rumble McSkirmish, I doubt that this is a healthy or fulfilling relationship. Their first interaction was her zapping him and his mind is a much more primitive AI, not human like hers. I highly doubt that she’s got closure about Soos. He and Melody are thriving without her in a stable, serious relationship. They’re living together at the Mystery Shack. Were she to recover her lost power, she would certainly return to torment them after witnessing their success through her screen. Heck, this setting has ghosts and she arguably has a soul, one brimming with heartache and vengeance; maybe she could even manifest in the physical world as some kind of digital ghost able to transform her surroundings into the environment of her game. If you can’t take the guy into your video game, bring it to him! Whatever the format, GIFfany’s revenge is a possibility and it could be a disaster. How do you kill a disembodied spirit? Code that writes itself and can enter anything with the capacity to hold a charge? You can’t destroy all the electronic devices she could retreat to.

What if the best solution were talking her down? And who better to do that than Gideon? Seeing everything he felt, everything he suffered and everything did wrong reflected back at him and passing on the second chance he was given? He can feel more empathy for her than anyone. He already has a knack for endearing himself to older criminals. He wouldn’t sugarcoat things or take any abuse, but he wouldn’t abandon her or be afraid of her either. She would be cared about with no conditions or transactions. Maybe helping someone in an even worse position figure out how to process heartbreak, move on from toxically obsessing over an ex and Mr Mystery, cultivate secure, internal self-esteem and live a peaceful life would help him do it himself. I think they should be friends.

[huginsmemory]

Ford's Dreams; Attraction and Asexuality

In Bill's quips in TBOB on what the characters dream about, the quip he had on Ford caught my eye: "Sixer dreams about a pop quiz that asks him "what are you attracted to?" He usually writes "I'm attracted to logic and preparation." Not sure what to call that! Plansexual?". Immediately upon reading it, it made me question the implicit meanings of that small blurb, on Ford's sexuality (as someone whose aroace) and on the potential reason why such a dream was reoccurring, which I've explored below:

Extra addition added (Jan 6 2025)!

The first of two pages in TBOB on Bill's quips on characters dreams; this page includes Ford's, Dippers, Mabel's and Wendy's dream comments.

First of all, there are two types of quips Bill makes about the characters dreams. First, and the main type of comment, are negatively connotated, generally close to or even are nightmares. Dipper, about over hearing his parents fight about divorce, Mabel who has nightmares about waddles dying, Wendy who dreams about her Mom, who died, Stan's about Ford getting stuck in his science fair experiment, and Pacifica about the lumberjack ghost and blood that doesn't wash off her hands. Most of these are things that play off subconscious or conscious fears or grief (or memories in relation to fear or grief). The second type of quip, are goofs; such as Robbie's real hair colour, or Blubs and Durland only dreaming about each other (both on the other page, not depicted). So where does Ford's comment for in? At first glance, Ford's dream quip somewhat comes out as a goof (especially considering the horrible things he's gone through and seen). But for a central, serious character, and considering the context of the book, I really don't think this is a goof, but more of the first type of quip, on darker/nightmare sort of dreams.

But if it's is a nightmare, then why would a pop quiz about what he's attracted to be nightmare material?

First of all, regarding the set up of the dream, a quiz explicitly implies that you are being judged on your answer. There is a rubric for right or wrong answers, and someone, in a higher position of power, often in an academic institution, judges you by this. Ford is a character that's been clearly driven for the good first half of his life by excellency in academic achievement, and this implies that it's very important to him to get the quiz correct, to have the right answer, and that he fears being wrong.

Now on the subject matter of what the quiz entails; the subject of romance and attraction. Regarding canon, romance isn't one we get particularly clear images on with Ford, compared to Stan who flirts and literally goes out on a date during the series. We only really ever get two direct human interactions that could be implied to be considered romantic in nature (sorry fiddauthor's, there isn't anything from Ford's side of things that imply any extra feelings beyond cherished friend; Fiddleford in the other hand...). These are when he speaks to a girl at a dance and gets juice thrown on him, and in Journal 3 on the page that decodes on the page about himself to "LITTLE CATHY WHAT A DREAM HELD HER HAND AND MADE HER SCREAM". (There is also technically the one throw away line about Ford dating a siren in one of the Lost Legends comics, which would be the only time we know of Ford actually being in a romantic relationship; but that's something that never gets elaborated on, and when Dipper says that he's literally reading from the Bill page from Journal 3, so I'm unsure on the weight of such a statement). Compulsory heteronormativity aside as demanded by censors, both the implied attempts don't go well, and in the second one it directly implies Ford's six fingers are directly part of the reason why he's undesirable. Ford clearly deeply struggles with belonging around his 'weirdness'; case in point with the whole page about it in Journal 3. In this case, his bad luck in romance as a teen, possibly as a result of his 'wierdness', continues to alienate him from other people. As a result, a quiz focusing on romance may further remind Ford about his 'wrongness' as he doesn't have the socially expected romantic relationship.

Stanford's author pages in journal 3. The cipher on the right page decodes to what is described in the paragraph above. Note his emphasis on feeling alienated.

However, what's perhaps more telling about it is that the quiz asks what are you attracted too?, which is more sexual than really romantic in nature. And it's telling because what Ford puts down is logic and preparation. These aren't physical attributes as one may assume to answer these questions; neither is it gendered, or even really based on a person, but rather left open as the concepts (ie, he doesn't say someone who is logical and well-prepared). This Bill even jokes about, with 'plan-sexual'. And Ford's answer is not a typical 'male' answer (in the toxic sense, but also, just generally, since people experience sexual attraction) which Bill also notes with the joke. This 'incorrect' answer could be construed as another thing that's wrong with him, especially back in the day; emphasizing again Ford's wrong-ness and alienation.

Not to mention, beyond those two instances described above (interestingly, these occur previous to Ford's falling out with Stan, in which after he highly prioritizes academic achievement) Ford shows no interest in romantic relationships. This disinterest in pursuing romance is contrary to a lot of people who are still workaholics who have significant others/hook-up on the weekend in their meager time off. Ford's general disinterest in romance is also something that others him, with how our society puts so much emphasis on romantic and sexual relationships. And this is something that IMMEDIATELY caught my eye as someone whose within the general ballpark of aroace; there is a huge amount of alienation from society when you are disinterested in sexual/romantic relationships. Especially when toxic masculinity expects you to constantly be horny. So having someone ask you that question of what you are attracted too is awkward, and depending on the audience, socially difficult question to field. And often an answer to that comes out sounding exactly like Ford's, based on personality rather than physical attributes, if you don't decide to come out (not that Ford would know queer jargon anyways). So this question, posed in a quiz, with Ford being quite Ace-coded, would bring up these feelings of alienation, along with those about failure on not having the right 'answer' regarding attractiveness and the failure of not having a girlfriend.

The infamous Billford page in TBOB, of 'one thing led to another'. Also note Ford saying that Bill's "really got it all figured out".

Now, beyond that, we're also reading this in the context of TBOB. Even before the new info in TBOB, Ford openly worshipped Bill; and in TBOB it becomes clear that they certainly had something going on between them (cough, one thing lead to another, cough). This suggests that Ford found Bill attractive in some form of attraction, whether romantic, sexual or queer-platonic-ish. This especially so, considering the answer Ford puts down; logic and preparation. Bill, who corrected and furthered Ford's knowledge, who came to him as a being of pure knowledge (logic), and who helped him plan the portal, who ironically also had other plans of world domination beyond that (preparation). Bill fits the description, even if he's not human, but Ford's not bothered by that, Ford's a freak himself and it's clear in finding that acceptance he's ecstatic (freak4freak). And that attraction, that care Ford had/has for Bill? Now that's something that's horrifying, something that's filled with guilt, terror, and also embarrassment and fear of how others will react; case in point with Ford literally ripping those journal pages out so the others don't know about the extent of his and Bill's relationship, and in TBOB he acknowledges that. And that's not to mention the potential additives of negative emotions from failing to have attraction for the right person, from failing to meet toxic masculinity standards, and the emphasis of being a freak that made him fall for Bill. Now that's emotionally negatively charged for a fucking nightmare.

Like. Fuck. What are you attracted too? The being that I thought was a god of pure knowledge and thought that strung me along like a fish on line with bait of knowledge and companionship, and I ate that bait, hook, line, and sinker, so deep within my belly I fell in love with him; the being that betrayed me, that wants to destroy my world and used me to do it. The being I shouldn't even love in the first place, because you're supposed to love what's normal, but I've never been able to do that as a freak show. The being I've spent half my life hunting down to kill. And now here I am, with this fucking mess of my own making, after threats and torture and the world ending, and some small fucking part of me still loves him.

So, yeah. I don't think that's just a comedy line. I think that's a line that potentially has way more about Ford's feelings of alienation, of his failure to be attracted to the right person, of guilt and fear around his relationship with Bill, and especially so of others perceiving it.

EDIT (05/01/2025): Also for your consideration, as mentioned in the tags by @vespertin-y and @5p4ced-0ut, these DIRECT QUOTES BY FORD IN TBOB. ABOUT WHY ONE WOULD MAKE A DEAL WITH BILL.

All the scenarios listed by Ford apply to himself;

You're at a desperate low? Failing to find, or prove the universal weirdness theorum; but really, truly beneath that, being basically completely alone for all the years since college, and being desperately lonely and seeking affection and acceptance.

Lost something dear to you? A bit more abstract, but Ford's alone, and he's alone because he chose to lose Stan, to seek acceptance through academic achievement. And it's his loneliness that truly drives him to Bill; not academic achievement, even if that's part of the reason. He's trying to fill that void of love and acceptance thats been there since Stan left. That's something that's dear to him that he's lost. Although it could also just be a nod to Bill's magic, in that he can use it to fulfill things.

Throes of all-consuming monomaniacal ambition? Do I need to say anything about this? Ford caused the apocalypse (partly) out of his ambition.

Now of course these all lead up to the very last one: or perhaps you're just attracted to things that hurt you? This heavily implies Ford's felt, as I outlined above, some sort of attraction to Bill.

It's also a strong thing to say about their relationship. What's interesting about this one, is that at the beginning, their relationship wasn't a painful relationship for Ford; codependent as fuck, sure, but no one was actively hurting the other. It wasn't until they began to become jealous and petty with each other when Fiddleford began working that there is resentment and emotional pain, and then there's the big reveal, and all there is of their relationship for Ford is emotional pain and betrayal. In that manner, he wasn't originally attracted to Bill because of masochism in the literal sense; but rather due to rather an attraction built on genuine connection and companionship that ultimately ended horribly.

So basically, the 'attracted to someone that hurts you', is another line that falls under the heavy implication that Ford felt some sort of attraction to Bill; and that Ford struggles with shame and guilt around his attraction to Bill, especially as the comment is actually a lie (a common abuse victim lie) that minimizes their relationship, especially from Bill's side.

But he still says the sentence. So why is he lying/believing he's telling the truth? That comes down to what he's trying to diminish, and the guilt he has around attraction. The sentence, written of course post series when Ford is deeply jaded about Bill and his relationship, is written in a deeply bitter way. And it's a very self-directedly bitter way! Of course the being I fall in love with ends up betraying and hurting me; I never can do anything correctly. By saying that 'he's attracted to pain', he implicitly within the statement blames himself for the abuse, construing it as some way inevitable that this would occur due to his 'wrong' nature, especially around attraction as evident above. This self-blame and 'inevitability' is actually common to those who have low self-esteem and are victims of abuse, which Ford is. Ford already is shown to feel guilt and shame around his attraction to Bill for various reasons, such as the failure to be attracted to the right being, and doubly so with it ending up being an abusive relationship. This self-blame of 'i'm attracted to pain' denies that Ford was seeking genuine connection, and found it in Bill; it construes Bill as always having hurt Ford. Which is untrue! But this does function as a way to suppresses Ford's possible remaining positive emotions he has around Bill (by demonizing him as something horrible, understandable as he's been trying to kill him for 30 years) and also provides Ford an illusion of power over the situation; of course I had and remained in a relationship with Bill because I enjoy pain. It's easier to say (and delude yourself you like it, and you abuser may even encourage that, to avoid the pain) then admit you don't know how to escape, or fear escaping. And I think Ford did just that.

(Also, side note: What's also a kicker is that we are creatures of habit. So relationship dynamics we grow up in, are often ones we tend re-create later in life, because those are dynamics we are comfortable in, even if they are terrible dynamics. But that doesn't mean that it will always, nor have to be recreated. In some way, Ford did this; he recreated a dynamic from his father, in always looking up to Bill, and requiring praise from him to support his self esteem.)

Also, contextually, this negative recount of Bill makes sense as it's functioning as a warning for the reader within the page; informing the reader that no matter what, Bill will hurt you if you make a deal. This embarrassment and shame about Bill is contrary to some readings, in which Ford confesses to having cared about Bill; but this page is early in TBOB! It's before the pages all the rest of the family put in; it's possible this page was added 'before' the rest of the family read TBOB and Ford comes to acceptance with his feelings around Bill.

[steddieas-shegoes]

liquor talks

for @steddie-week prompt 'drunken confessions'

rated m | 875 words | cw: implied sexual content, alcohol | tags: love confessions, mutual pining, getting together, first kiss

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Two shots didn’t usually do him in, but the room was spinning and his mouth was running like he’d had a whole bottle of vodka. At least everyone else seemed to be on his level.

Except Nancy. She didn’t drink much anymore, so she was usually the babysitter when they all got together.

He could feel her eyes on him now as he danced with Robin, spinning her in circles while they both giggled and nearly tripped over their own feet.

What had he even drank?

“Robbie!” Steve stopped her spin and held her face in his hands. “I didn’t eat lunch!”

“Me either!” She yelled before spinning again.

Steve giggled as he stepped back and watched her for a moment.

The back door opened and closed and Eddie slipped inside, the cool night air wafting off of him as he sat down in the chair behind Steve.

Steve was hot. He should cool off.

He sat down in Eddie’s lap and sighed with relief, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Eddie’s hands were resting on the arms of the chair, his legs tense under Steve’s.

“You feel nice,” Steve said, relaxing completely against him, curling into a ball in Eddie’s lap. “Good.”

“I was only outside for 15 minutes. How’d you drink so much already, Stevie?” One of Eddie’s hands rested on Steve’s calf, thumb rubbing along the seam of his jeans.

“Only had two!” Steve held up two fingers, then tapped them against Eddie’s cheek. “You were gone forever. Missed you.”

“You were dancing with birdie. You barely even noticed I was gone,” Eddie laughed. “Think you need some water.”

“I didn’t eat lunch,” Steve groaned. “Should eat lunch.”

“A little late for lunch, but I can get you a snack if you’re hungry.”

Steve shook his head, but felt dizzy and had no choice but to let it fall to Eddie’s shoulder.

He turned his face into Eddie’s shirt, breathing in the smell of his cologne mixed with the weed he’d just smoked outside. He was warming up now that he was inside and had Steve sitting on him, but Steve didn’t want to get up.

“Could sit here forever.” Steve closed his eyes as he mumbled against Eddie’s skin.

“Might have to get up eventually,” Eddie said quietly back.

“Don’t wanna. Perfect right here,” Steve slurred.

“C’mon, Steve. You’re drunk. You should get some water and lay down.”

But Steve didn’t want to do that. Well, maybe he wanted to lay down a little bit. But only if Eddie came with him.

“Wanna lay with you.”

“Alright! Time for sleep!” Nancy said next to him, tugging on his arm to try to make him stand up.

“No.” Steve burrowed further into Eddie, pulling his arm towards his chest. “Sleepin’ here.”

Eddie must have brushed her off because they were alone again a few moments later and most of the noise of the room seemed far away. Steve snuggled against Eddie, smiling to himself when Eddie’s arms wrapped around him and held him tighter.

“You can sleep for a bit. I got you.” Eddie’s voice was quiet, only for Steve to hear.

“Mkay. Love you,” Steve muttered, just loud enough for Eddie to hear.

But before Eddie could respond, he was asleep.

****

When Steve woke up, he was tucked into his own bed, drooling on his pillow.

He didn’t see any sunlight through his window, so he must’ve only been asleep a few hours.

He was alone and he was thirsty.

His bedroom door opened and he turned his head to see if Robin was finally joining him.

“Shit, didn’t know you were awake. Just wanted to bring you some water before I head out,” Eddie said quietly, walking over to Steve’s side and holding out a glass of water. “Feeling okay?”

“Mhm. Still tired.”

“Yeah, I think you overdid it.” Eddie gave him a small smile to let him know he wasn’t judging him. “Go back to sleep, Stevie.”

“Like that,” Steve mumbled as he let his eyes close. Eddie’s hand brushed through his hair softly.

“What?” Eddie whispered.

“When you call me that. Feel special.”

“You are, Stevie.”

Steve opened his eyes to see Eddie looking down at him with furrowed brows, like he was trying to figure something out.

“I am?”

“You don’t remember, do you?” Now, Eddie sounded sad, and Steve never wanted Eddie to be sad.

“Remember what?”

“You told me you loved me earlier.”

“I do.”

“You do remember or you do love me?” Eddie asked.

“Yes.”

Eddie groaned. “Steve, which is it?”

“Both. I do love you and I do remember telling you.”

“Oh.”

“But I’m gonna say it again in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“Cuz you don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“I just know you. Cuz I love you.”

When Eddie smiled, Steve couldn’t help letting out a relieved laugh. He’d been holding that back for so long, having it out in the open so easily was almost impossible to believe. Maybe he was having a vodka induced dream.

“I love you too. But you should get some more sleep.”

“Stay?”

“I’ll stay.”

“Love you in the mornin’ too.” Steve’s eyes slipped closed as Eddie’s weight made the bed dip beside him.

“Me too.”

[starshideurfics]

Can’t go home alone

steddie, aob, hurt/comfort, established secret relationship

I just can’t leave this concept alone 🥰

Pain pulses over and behind and around Steve’s eye along with the beat of his heart. It isn’t as bad as it was even an hour ago, and definitely not as bad as when he and Robin puked their guts out in the movie theater restroom.

But his head hurts. His chest hurts. And he just wants to curl up in his nest and hope his parents don’t come home in time to see him like this. 

But the paramedic checking him says he’s definitely got a concussion. “Have you got someone who can keep an eye on you for the next 48 hours?”

“I… Yeah, I do.” Steve leans his head on Robin’s shoulder, needing the support as he’s hit with a sudden dizzy spell. He really doesn’t want to hurl again.

“Steve,” Robin whispers, “There’s no way my mom is letting me stay at your house for two days. Or letting you stay at mine. She would freak if I had an omega in my room.”

“I know,” Steve mumbles back. “‘Preciate the offer, Robbie, but I’ve got someone.”

“Steve. You can’t just shrug this off!”

“I’m not! I do have someone.” He pouts, breathes deep, her scent sour still from the truth serum leaving her system. His face is hidden in her short hair as he mumbles, “I’ll stay with Eddie.” Steve’s so tired. 

He just wants to rest his eyes a minute, but Robin shakes his shoulder.

“Eddie? Steve what are you talking about?”

“I’ll stay at Eddie’s. He’ll take care of me.”

Robin is struggling to focus, her brain not as scrambled as Steve’s, but after a day and a half without enough to eat or drink coupled with everything else, she’s just as tired and confused. “Eddie who?”

Tires screech to a stop at the edge of the Starcourt parking lot, the closest cars can come now with the barriers up. Steve whips his head around to look towards the noise and his head spins. But then he sees a familiar, shitty van, the driver’s door opening and closing loud enough for Steve to hear the slam over the surrounding hubbub.

Pushing himself to his feet, Steve starts walking towards the streak of denim and dark curls racing towards him. He’s grinning like an idiot as Eddie stops just short of barreling into him, the rangy alpha delicately cupping his face. “Steve, baby, what the hell happened?” His fingers brush gently along Steve’s brow, over the cut on his lower lip. “I saw on the news—about the fire—called your place a dozen times and no one picked up. Been half-crazy worrin’ over you, and it looks like I was right to.”

“M’sorry,” Steve mumbles, pressing his cheek into Eddie’s touch.

“No, baby, not your fault. I’m just glad it isn’t worse.” He pulls Steve close, guides his face to the scent gland at his neck, and kisses his hair. “I’ve got you.”

Steve begins to purr, feeling safe for the first time in two days. “Can we go home?”

“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Wait! I gotta tell Robin!”

“What? Is Buckley here, too?”

Steve doesn’t answer, just pulls out of Eddie’s grip and stumbles back to the ambulance where Robin is still waiting, wrapped in an emergency blanket, her blue eyes glued to him as he approaches. “You’re dating Eddie Munson?” The, ‘and you didn’t say anything about that when we were spilling our guts literally and metaphorically on the bathroom floor’ is implied.

“Yeah. Eddie’s the best. He’s really sweet and he’s got a big—”

“Please don’t make me barf on you by finishing that sentence. I do not need to know what you and your alpha get up to behind closed doors.” Robin reaches for his hand. “Just… Call me in the morning, okay?”

“Okay.” Steve squeezes her fingers before loping back to Eddie and snuggling into his boyfriend’s chest.

Eddie rubs at Steve’s back. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. I’m hungry.”

“Want me to make you a grilled cheese when we get back to my place?”

“Uh-huh.” Steve nods enthusiastically, only to bring on a wave of nausea, forcing him to shut his eyes and put all his weight on Eddie.

“Maybe I should just get you into bed.”

Steve moans wordlessly, lets himself be manhandled into the van, barely noticing anything beyond the bumps in the road that make his head ache more.

Once they reach Forest Hills, Eddie plops Steve on the couch, brings him water and a bag of frozen peas for his eye, and turns his attention to frying two sandwiches.

After Steve is fed, Eddie helps him into the shower, washing his hair in the tiny bathroom, and getting rid of the dried blood and days’ worth of sweat. 

They dry off together, and Eddie bundles Steve into his bed, their naked bodies pressed close beneath the covers. “I’ve got you, baby,” Eddie whispers, dropping a kiss to Steve’s unbruised temple. “You rest. And if you need anything, let me know, I’ll get it for you.”

“I know,” Steve hums, snuggling impossibly closer. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Now sleep.”

[elliesgaymachete]

Imodna mentions at SDCC if anyone was curious (i’m sure the panel will be up on youtube soon but if ya don’t wanna wait)

One of the first questions: “who did you first think of after the apogee solstice?” Marisha immediately said Imogen. Then Laura said yeah laudna of course. Then everyone went in order answering and when it got to Laura’s turn she was like I already answered but robbie made her say it again 😂

“what has been your favorite moment so far” matt answered in a vague non spoilery way about Bor’dor without naming names or specifics and then Laura was like “wait can we not talk about spoilers of the last few episodes? Cause you know what I wanna say!” meaning imodna kiss being her favorite i’m assuming was implied as her favorite 🥰 then she said the orgy

Same question Ashley said the imogen and laudna rock fight and then Marisha said the same thing because she loves conflict!

there was a Laura question about Imogen’s recent arcs and finding romance and how she’s feeling. And laura said she finally feels like she can be herself because of the circlet

fan Q for Laura was “what is your brainrot about c3 that you constantly want to talk to someone about but can’t?” She said “Laudna of course, I always want to talk about her!” and then also said she wants to know what her mother’s motivations are.

[lririx]

hii!! if ur still taking reqs, may i kindly humbly respectfully ask for some fools gold x hunter reader? like, probably insane, bloodthirsty, maybe a cunt too cuz lowkey, we kinda need more mean and/or hunter y/ns n i rlly like ur demi x lady D write up <333

but bein frfrfr we need someone to match FG's freak and i will stand on this hill till someone hits me with a shovel or something. enewayz!!! yeah, that is all, ty!!

much loves ❤️���💘💞💘💞💝💖💘💞💝❤️

Fool's Gold, one of the most brutal hunters in the Manor. No one thought there would be anyone worse than him. But they were wrong.

You came to the Manor. An even crazier hunter. A complete psychopath.

Your first interaction with Norton wasn't the best. He acted arrogant towards you implying how good of a hunter he is.

You didn't like him. So you decided to show him who's going to be the top hunter from now on.

In your first match no one thought you'd win. But you won. With a four kill.

Everyone was surprised. Norton hated you however. Well you did take the tile and the glory he had.

Because of this you two turned into enemies. Every day in the Manor was chaotic.

You two insulted eachother every day.

One day Keigan had to cover Robbie's ears because of all the thing you were saying to eachother.

One time you and Norton ended up together on duo hunters.

You started to steal eachothers downs.

Teamwork? What's that? You two sabotaged eachother instead of helping eachother.

Some survivors could run away because of this but not for long. Most of them needed up spraining their ankles when they saw you two dash towards them at full speed.

You two ended up completely breaking one of the buildings in Eversleeping Town when you were racing to down Aesop.

Then you just started to fight and argue with eachother.

While you were shouting your lungs off Fiona got the crowbar and slowly opened the dungeon. Then the last five remaining survivors escaped which made you lose but neither of you cared since you were so annoyed with eachother.

Both of you were prohibited from attending any matches for two weeks.

This went on for quite some time. Your attitudes towards eachother got even worse.

Mary was finally done with your shenanigans. No one had peace because of you two.

She dragged both of you to the lounge and threatened you to fix your problems or else. Then she left and locked the door.

There was an awkward silence between you two but Norton broke it with saying how it was your fault that you ended up in this situation.

This caused you to snap back at him and you two started arguing for a while until both of you were tired of it.

You decided to make a deal. A deal to not try and murder eachother. To only compete with rank levels and to not disturb the others.

This was the first time both of you agreed on cooperating with eachother.

Your relationship wasn't any different at first. In fact you didn't talk to eachother that much since you didn't banter anymore.

It was nice at first. The Manor was quiet and you had time to relax. But after a while it felt like something was missing.

You should be grateful that Norton doesn't bother you anymore. Norton should be grateful that you don't sabotage his matches anymore.

But it didn't feel right.

Why couldn't he take his eyes off of you? Why did he feel excited everytime you won a match?

That bloodthirsty expression of yours.

That sadistic look on your face.

Those crazy laughs you blurt out during matches.

Why couldn't he get these thoughts out of his mind?

One day you were frustrated because Servias kept tricking you in the match which caused you to lose.

You heard someone knock on your door.

“Are you in there?” Asked Norton.

“Piss off.” You hissed at him.

He ignored what you said and let himself in your room.

“I told you to p-” He threw a bar of chocolate at your face.

“Eat up.” He said. “It'll make you forget how badly you lost.”

You threw a pillow at him and he just laughed and threw himself on your bed.

“What do you want?” You asked him.

“Nothing just thinking how embarrassed you must be feeling right now.” He said as he grinned widely.

“Dickhead.”

“Is that a new ni-” You shoved a piece of chocolate in his mouth to shut him up.

After that your relationship was…weird?

You didn't act like life long enemies. Instead you were like close friends who bickered all the time.

If you were under the weather he'd grab you and not let go until you begged him to.

If he wasn't feeling well you would go and make jokes until he laughed.

Both of you had your pride so you didn't let the other person win that easily either.

This made you become closer with eachother. Close to the point where he'd come to spend time with you if he had nightmares. Close to the point where you would let him hold you if the thoughts of your past wandered through your mind.

All of these had led to today.

You have a duo hunters match with Norton.

Both of you were pretty excited since you can cooperate with eachother quite well and have a fun time in the match.

The match went on smoothly but there were times you'd mess up. I mean the way Norton timed his skills so perfectly to prevent a rescue.

The way he psychotically dashed towards survivors.

The way you sometimes caught him gazing at your direction.

All of these made you distracted.

There were only three people left. You were chasing Evelyn when Norton accidentally dashed infront of you which caused you to trip and fall.

“Watch where you're going dumbass.” He snickered and offered his hand to help you get up.

“YOU watch where you're going.” You scoff. “And stop following me would you?”

“Who said I was following you?”

“Why do I see you everywhere then?”

“Maybe because you're so fond of me that your eyes find me all the time.” His grin grew wide.

“Don't flatter yourself. It's you who can't spend an hour without me.” You try not to blush.

“I think you're talking about yourself love.”

“Don't make me do something I'll regret.”

“What are you going to do? Come on show me wh-”

You grab his face and kiss him so quickly that he doesn't process what happened for a minute.

You're screaming on the inside. What did you just do? Why did you do that? He's probably so pissed right now.

You try to pull away but he grabs the back of your head and deepens the kiss. He doesn't want to let go and neither do you.

[seeker-of-stories19]

Zara SA’d Robby and that is a fact. If you want to argue this please do it somewhere else.

Zara has been interested in Robby since day one and has an obvious beef with Tory. The night Robby gets drunk Zara is in the bar the whole time watching him.

We have one character who has zero tolerance to alcohol drinking several strong alcoholic drinks. And we have a second character who is at the bar the whole time watching him drink and waits until he is alone to go up to him. That’s predatory behavior.

They walk back to the hotel so obviously Zara has plenty of time to see just how drunk Robby is, not that it stopped her. They then go back to her room and it is heavily implied that they have sex.

We might not know exactly what happened but I think anyone who thinks Zara didn’t do something is lying to themself, she’s not shown to be a good person at any point and the idea that she would let Robby just sleep in her room is ridiculous. If they didn’t do something she likely wouldn’t have helped him back to the hotel at all and if you’re trying to justify it as some act of kindness she could’ve easily gotten one of Robby’s teammates or coaches to help him. She could’ve gone to Demetri and Hawk who were still in the bar but she didn’t because she wasn’t trying to help.

And we know Robby was too drunk to consent considering he was too drunk to remember and Zara obviously doesn’t find anything wrong with this fact. She acts entertained by Robby’s confusion and doesn’t fill him in, as long as she remembers everything is fine.

She kisses him, again I think it would be ridiculous to assume that was their first kiss, and he walks away looking pretty horrible. Even the kiss we do see I wouldn’t really consider consensual, Robby is basically unresponsive and his expression when he turns around is not happy.

Robby tries to bring up his concerns and how sick he feels but she just brushes him off and kisses him again. Everything Zara does in that episode is calculated and manipulative, there really isn’t another way to spin it.

And if this doesn’t bother you because Zara is a girl and Robby is a guy or because Zara is pretty or because there isn’t enough evidence I genuinely don’t know what to say.

[anistarrose]

The possible explanations for why the fuck Barry could've felt the need to open that scene with "are you afraid?" have been analyzed by this fandom for basically ever since the Red Robe identity reveal, and a lot of people have brought up good theories that I've adopted bits and pieces of from each. But one thing that I haven't actually seen proposed as a factor is this:

Talking to Tres Horny Boys through the facade of the faceless "Red Robe" might've just been Barry's backup plan. Plan A was, quite possibly, to sneak Junior's ichor out of Lucretia's private quarters, be able to actually inoculate THB, and actually have them recognize him. (A proper reunion, with no cryptic warnings. With no dancing around static — just Barry and Tres Horny Boys, actually trusting each other innately.)

Why do I think this is plausible? Let me clarify the timeline a little: at the start of the Petals arc, before THB leave the Bureau, all is normal with their soon to be ex-roommate Pringles/Robbie (Ep. 18). Upon return, THB are informed that at some point during their (overnight, so 24 hour-ish?) absence, Pringles was thrown in the brig (Ep. 28).

It's eventually revealed by Pringles and Barry, in The Suffering Game and Reunion Tour respectively, that Barry possessed Pringles to do "reconnaissance" on the Bureau, specifically on where to find the second Voidfish (ie, Lucretia's private office, which is where Pringles "woke up" and was "arrested summarily").

I will note that Barry describes this as just recon — implying information gathering, and not necessarily a Voidfish ichor heist. However, this was an explanation he gave through a recorded message in the coin, where he was likely choosing his words carefully to confuse THB the least amount possible. And moreover... I just find it hard to believe that Barry wouldn't let himself hope, leading up to and during this infiltration, that he could make it out with the ichor he so desperately needed.

After all, Barry may be Going Through It during the podcast, but he definitely knows that as much as he needs information, it's going to be a lot harder to pull off his eventual heist if Lucretia catches him in the act, and winds up knowing that he has that information. Barry also chose to make his infiltration attempt while the Bureau was distracted, monitoring the Gaia Sash — in a lot of ways, this might've seemed like not just his first chance at the ichor, but also his best chance at it.

Barry's both an incredibly determined and opportunistic, calculating guy. I don't think Barry would've left Pringles' body unless/until he was absolutely cornered; no hope left of getting out with the ichor this time. He wouldn't pass up a chance to restore his family's memories — because of his deep, deep emotional and practical stakes in restoring those memories, first and foremost — but he even feels kinda bad about possessing Pringles (calling it "unfortunate collateral damage"), and would certainly prefer for his unsavory tactics to be, you know, worth it.

So when Barry fails? When he comes away from his mission he's no doubt been planning for weeks, waiting intently and single-mindedly for his chance with the right Relic-based distraction — and it turns out he has information, but no ichor, to show for it? When he fails, Barry's left on the back foot.

He'd dared to hope it might turn out better than this. He'd dared to hope this might be a turning point, and the world might remain in danger, but at least he'd have his family back. He'd dared to hope he might be able to speak to them, in his right mind, with his memories, and be recognized for the first time in a decade.

So when none of that comes to fruition? When he knows his boys won't recognize him yet, no matter what he does? Yet he still needs them on his side? He still needs them to be prepared for the horrors coming?

Well, he just fucking improvises.

"Are you afraid?"

[flagellant]

Have you talked at all about your feelings about Barbie? Cause what little I've seen seems to like up with my feelings on it and it feels weird to be surrounded by unbridled praise or MRAs hating on it because it's Girly™️

At the end of the day Barbie was only ever going to be able to be just a Barbie movie. At the end of the day Mattel paid Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling more than $10,000,000 to be Stereotypical Barbie and Ken. At the end of the day Mattel's stock price has risen to more than 20 dollars per share, more than double in the past two years. At the end of the day Mattel wanted Greta Gerwig to make them a movie that would make the most people possible want to buy more Barbie-branded things. At the end of the day Mattel would only have released a "new breakup movie" if that press was considered more profitable. At the end of the day, Barbie is a story that wants to sell you Barbie, and therefore it cannot have a message which would distract from selling you Barbie. At the end of the day the Mattel CEO and board go back to the real world having learned no valuable life lessons beyond "Listening to a Mexican woman can make you major profit margins". At the end of the day the mother and her daughter have learned the valuable life lesson that the only way the world will pay any attention to the banality of your suffering is if you can sell it to a lot of young girls. At the end of the day Ken's friend Allen is never allowed to be a Ken (man) and therefore is constantly associated with, but never as, the Barbies (women), and no one seems to question this nor care. At the end of the day, all of the Barbies learn that in order to defeat the patriarchy you must be emotionally manipulative and flirty-but-in-an-evil-way. At the end of the day Barbie tells a story about biological essentialism and battle-of-the-sexes in a bright pink #Empowering way and Margot Robbie cries several times. Kens are told that they are "not 'just' Kens" but also that the reason that they sought out the comfort of patriarchy--the idea that their masculinity and manhood was something to be cherished and respected just as much as a Barbie's femininity is, and that they were not lesser or greater than each other--will not be addressed as anything more than a hilarious Gotcha meta-laugh about how at the end of the day women still don't have rights in any meaningful way no matter how empowered they are under the current system. The conflict built around having no vocabulary to describe the complex and difficult emotions that these dolls have been going through has been resolved by ending the movie before resolving or questioning this. At the end of the day the Kens are villains and jokes, and as the credits roll, we can be safe in knowing that absolutely nothing has changed and all of this will happen again in the exact same ways.

In the movie Barbie, at the end of the day, Ken asks to sleep over at Barbie's Dream House for the night, and she tells him no, because it is Girl's Night, every night, forever. We see the Barbies go to sleep with Stereotypical Barbie saying, "Good night, Barbies! I'm definitely not thinking about death anymore!" This is very funny, and she goes to sleep and then wakes up feeling probably about how I do every morning, which is supposed to be relatable.

At the end of the day, in the movie Barbie, we see Ken walking away from Stereotypical Barbie's deathless and eternal slumber party dejected and alone. He is walking to the exit of the Barbie Dreamhouse Neighborhood. We do not see if he gets to go to sleep in his own house. We, in fact, see quite a lot which implies he is homeless and goes to sleep on the beach, which I was forced to do when I was 18 in Santa Cruz in one of my first attempts to escape a toxic and abusive household. I still remember the way that the sea can rot when trapped by wooden pier foundations, covered in mildew-wet seafoam, old kelp from the high tide, and the way that when I got up the next morning you could see exactly how I'd fallen asleep like an old-school chalk outline of where a corpse was.

At the end of the day, in the movie Barbie, what the Kens wanted revolved around having their own homes that they could go to sleep in and fill with things that made them happy just like how the Barbies did. This is supposed to be a symbol of patriarchy, because they corrupted the femininity of the Dream Houses, and that is bad. When the Barbies win, at the end of the day, the Dream Houses go back to being Dream Houses, and we still have never once seen any sign that the Kens had houses, and the movie assures us that if they don't, then "maybe someday" they might have enough societal power to be able to try and fight for a house that they're allowed to own and have be theirs, something that women in Western society have only quite relatively recently gained the permission and possibility to do, and Barbieland is basically the same as the real world but with the "two" genders switched.

At the end of the day, if I try to actually analyze the Barbie movie as a bioessentialist antifeminist and anti-intersectional regressive film which glorifies the thinnest possible shred of pro-capitalism feminism possible, I'll sound like a fucking lunatic, because it's just a stupid movie about dolls made to sell you Barbies, and of course it would never be anything but bioessentialist pro-capitalist toothless brand bullshit which wants you to think that Margot Robbie and wearing pink are the peaks of antipatriarchal activism. At the end of the day, Celluloid Barbie can only exist because Mattel thinks Celluloid Barbie would make its brand a lot of money, and not because it actually cares about the anti-ageing fatphobic standards of Western womanhood, because Mattel is a brand which can care about nothing except being a machine which you put money into and in exchange pink plastic bullshit comes out.

[wow-its-me]

My TikTok has been taken over by different versions of a “drifting stars” AU, so here’s my version of that, that I think could actually work within the show

“Gruncle Stan, I trust you”

A man steps trough the portal as Mable is pulled in, knocking them both back into the other dimension before the portal closes

After a moment of quiet, Dipper starts to yell at Stan, asking him questions, implying that Stan somehow knew this would happen and didn’t care about the end of the world

Stan remarks that this is why he needed the kids to stay out of the way, he’s already back by the portal trying to work on getting it open again

Dipper goes to look at it, accuse is Gruncle some more, but he feels a hand on his shoulder. Soos asks him to go upstairs, worried that it isn’t safe down here.

Dipper goes to his room, Soos sleeps on the couch that night

1st drifting stars episode

Mable is immediately attacked by some sort of monster, Ford steps in to save her, Mable is able to help with some quick creative thinking

Early the next morning, Stan checks in on Dipper, who’s flipped from angry to worried. Stan apologizes and reassures him that it isn’t his fault, he’ll answer any question he has.

Soos, Stan, and Dipper sit around the table while Ford and Mable sit around a firepit

And this is where we get a tale of two Stan’s! Bouncing back between Ford and Stan’s perspective

2

A few days have gone by.

Ford is getting increasingly annoyed with Mable, which makes sense because he hasn’t been around anyone in 30 years, now he’s responsible for a 12 year old.

Mable thinks Ford thinks she’s not capable, the two go on a mission to get a part for something Fords building, Mable uses this opportunity to try to prove herself. It ends with them saving the day, learning to trust each other

Meanwhile in Gravity Falls, Dipper is becoming depressed and obsessed with getting his sister back. He’s wearing a sweater she made for him. Stan, very worried about him, sends him on a nonsense task with Soos, and Wendy (who had stopped by the shack to ask why it’s been closed)

Through this task Dipper thinks Stan is going to send him back to California, it ends with them having a conversation about it, and deciding what to tell his parents

3

Ford finally tells Mabel his plans for getting the two back to Gravity Falls, and what they need to do to make it happen.

Uh-oh a monster/bill?? steps in and tries to mess it up. They’re able to get away. Mable is injured (not badly) and finally has to face that she isn’t safe anymore, and she has no idea when she’ll get home. She has a bit of a breakdown, and Ford tries to comfort her

One/both of Dipper and Mabel’s parents show up in gravity falls, worried that one of their children has gone missing. Dipper tries to convince them that he needs to stay, which only worries them more.

It ends with them deciding it would be worse to try to take him away from the support system he has in this town

They don’t stay, but they’ll be closer by if needed

4

Oceans 11 style heist. Stan and Dipper get the help from the people of gravity falls to help them steal more radioactive materials (Wendy, Soos, Robbie, Candy and Grenda, Mcgucket, Lazy Susan, Pacifica, Shmebulock)

Meanwhile Mable and Ford deal with a more lighthearted interdimensional monster

5

Some more plot but by the end of the episode they get the portal open, with efforts by all four of them

Mabel steps through holding fords hand

The argument between Stan and Ford is put on hold as they reunite with Mable

She hugs Dipper first, and she’s quite, really quiet.

They all sleep in the living room that night

Except for Ford, who stays in the basement

6

A plot - Dipper and Mable both want everything to go back to how it was, so they take the journal into the woods and try to have a classic adventure. In the end they learn that they can’t just ignore everything they went through, and it’s clear that neither of them are the same as before. They find the importance of talking about their feelings

B plot- Stan and Ford have the fight they did in the original show… they do not come to the conclusions that their younger counterparts did

C plot- Wendy and Soos set up a welcome home party for Mable (and Ford)

(Then it goes into the d&d&d episode)

[livwritesstuff]

‘tis my birthday today (it’s gotta be one of the worst birthdays to have, we don’t need to talk about it) anyways that’s where this is coming from

(also i’m not trying to imply that jan 1 is eddie’s bday. i wouldn’t wish that on anybody. besides, he is def a weirdo february aquarius)

The second half of the calendar year is nothing short of pandemonium for Eddie and Steve and their three daughters.

Moe’s birthday in late July kicks it off, almost immediately followed by Steve’s birthday in early August, then Hazel’s in September. Robbie’s birthday comes mere days after Halloween, and from there they dive headfirst into the bedlam of the holiday season.

Much to Eddie's relief, they all made it to yet another New Year's Day, and while the girls are definitely feeling the end-of-winter-break blues, Eddie welcomes the reprieve in festivities, brief as it may be.

His own birthday is up next – though not for another month.

He’s really not a birthday kind of guy. Never had been.

He loves making birthdays exciting for Steve and their daughters (they have a whole slew of traditions and everything – there’s names spelled out in pancakes involved; it's a very big deal), but his own…not so much.

It managed to fly under the radar for the past few years, but since this year is the big Five-Oh, he knows Steve won’t let him get away with that again.

Eddie has a complicated relationship with his birthday. When he was younger and the weight of Birthday Importance was at its peak, he never really celebrated the way other kids got to, and now, as an adult, he doesn’t know how to feel the things you’re supposed to feel about your birthday. 

Steve does a good job, despite Eddie’s weirdness. 

His favorite, Eddie thinks, was the year Moe was born, when Steve had managed to catch him off guard by renting a tiny cottage up in Maine for a few days.

“Moe or no Moe,” Steve had asked, “I’ve got Rob and Nance on standby.”

(They’d taken Moe. She saw snow for the first time. It was amazing, and people who don't want to involve their kids in stuff are a bunch of fucking weirdos).

Steve gives him a letter every year – handwritten on notebook paper and folded into whatever cheesy card he picks out.

Eddie keeps most of the letters in a fireproof lockbox along with all their passports and social security cards and birth certificates (look – Eddie doesn’t fuck around with priceless shit), but he keeps the most recent one – the one Steve gave him for his forty-ninth birthday nearly a year ago – in the top drawer of his bedside table.

He has it pretty much memorized at this point.

It says:

Ed! (with an exclamation point and everything – god, does Eddie love him)

49.

Holy shit we’re getting old.

Writing this is making me think about all the ones from the beginning, when I’d write about our future together even though we didn’t have a damn clue what we were working towards for a while.

I think we’re in it, man. Crazy, right?

(The ink color suddenly switches from blue to purple)

Sorry for the color change. Hazy decided she needed a blue pen immediately. Hope your vision hasn’t gone totally to shit and you can still read the purple.

Anyways, since I have you hostage reading this, I’m gonna take the opportunity to discuss you, because you don’t let me in real life most of the time.

You are gorgeous. Best looking face I’ve ever seen. I wonder how much time I’ve lost off my day just staring at you (actually, not a loss. I take that back)

You suck at puzzles – I know that sounds bad, but it’s great for me. I need that to rub off on Moe because she’s getting pretty good and that’s gonna be a problem for me.

You make me laugh so fucking hard every day. I’m praying the girls get your sense of “elevated” humor or whatever you like to call it

You’re so fucking smart, Eddie. I count myself lucky for it endlessly

You are completely 100% you all the time. I’m still working on that I think but I’m getting there because of you. I’m glad all that shit we went through didn’t take that away from you.

the BEST dad. Can’t believe I didn’t say that sooner. Not to brag but our kids are turning out pretty awesome (can’t go around saying that too much though it’ll go right to their heads and then any power we have left goes out the window)

You’re probably the best person I’ve ever known. Don’t think I’ll be forgetting what a catch you are any time soon, because I won't.

Thank you for loving me even all these years later. My life is better every day that I’m with you.

We’ll keep things quiet this year. Don’t get used to it though. Next year’s gonna be a rager.

Love you always!

- Steve :) ♡ ☆

[chaethewriter]

You're my type.

Jack Champion x reader

In which Jack talks about his celebrity crush, leaving you with your own thoughts.

HEAVILY IMPLIED SOUTHEAST ASIAN AND SOUTH ASIAN READER.

USAGE OF READER WITH DARK HAIR.

A/N: rushed this in between my work, enjoy this lowkey terribly written thing <3

"Probably Margot Robbie if she was younger and single you know. I would be like, hey you wanna go.." with Avatar 2 releasing in the cinemas, the interviews with the next gen cast were hitting the charts. Trending on all platforms as they were the face of the upcoming movies. This also meant that their fanbase would skyrocket. Especially Jack's. And you couldn't blame them. Your boyfriend of almost a year was young and handsome, of course he would get the attention. And well deserved. With the amount of focus on Jack, clips about him went viral. And you got across one of those clips.

Probably Margot Robbie if she was younger and single you know. I would be like, hey you wanna go..

You watched a tiktok on your for you page of your boyfriend going on about his crush on Margot Robbie. And she was pretty, beautiful even. But there were these thoughts at the back of your mind.

Was that his type?

Were you even his type?

Margot Robbie was every boy's dream: blonde long hair that sat on her shoulders and those blue eyes that lit up the room. You threw your phone next to you, screen facing downwards as you rested your back against the soft duvet. You gazed at the ceiling, eventually touching your forehead with both of your hands as this was such a stupid situation. You were supposed to meet up with him today, and you couldn't let this entire situation decide how today was about to go.

You had an hour to get ready, both mentally and physically, as you had to get your shit together. He loves you. He chose you. Hell, he made the first move. His celebrity crush shouldn't define who he dates.

But your celebrity crushes are usually the people who you're attracted to right?

Shut up.

You changed into your date outfit, which was harder than usual, because you wanted to look extra pretty for him. Clothes scattered around the room, covering your floor as you dug into your closet. Eventually, you found something pretty. An outfit you had always felt pretty in when you wore it. But once you looked in the mirror, all your confidence fell to your feet.

Was this how he loved you?

Dark hair flowing past your neck with dark eyes staring down someone's soul. Your skin the center of attention in your transparent room. In front of that same mirror, you had done your makeup. Something lightweight, concealer hiding the spots you were insecure about. Eyeliner at the outer corners of your eyes with kohl, as well as your waterline. Applying a brownish lipstick on your lips, because anything shade lighter than that you hated on your lips.

Downstairs, you sat on the couch. Your father at the dinner table with your mother in the kitchen. Your legs bounced as you tried to forget about his words.

Probably Margot Robbie if she was younger and single, you know..

Would he have dated someone who looked like her instead, if he were to meet her right now?

He wouldn't right?

What if he felt attracted to her, what then?

Too lost in your thoughts, the knocking on the front door remained unanswered. "Open the door, I think it's your white boyfriend." Your father had yelled from the dinner table, not looking up from his phone. The volume of his tone kicked you right out of your thoughts. You got up from your seat, your knees buckling as you walked towards the door. "Hii baby!" His smile reached his eyes as he immediately pulled you in a tight hug, his nose burying into your hair as he slightly bended over. This could almost make you forget about your worries. Almost.

You were short, to say the least. You just reached his chest as he was incredibly tall for his age. You were the average height for your people, but for Westerners, it would seem incredibly short.

"Hi, love." You stood on your tippy toes with your arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him down to you to press a kiss against his rosy lips. Butterflies tickled your stomach as his plump lips pressed against yours. He was the one to pull away first, gazing into your eyes with his nose scrunched up, "You look so pretty, baby. All that for me?" You could feel your cheek warm up and as a response you broke eye contact with him.

He smiled at you, your shy demeanor so cute to him. Behind you, a lot of movement occurred. It made Jack look up, coming face to face with your father.

"As-salamu alaykum, sir." His American accent obvious as he spoke. This time, it was his turn for a blush to creep onto his cheeks. You have been together for almost a year, but he still had yet to win over your father's heart.

"Wa-Alaikum-Salaam. She's home by 7pm without tears. Bring her home. Have fun." Your father was extremely stern, his words extremely to the point. Yet, he always made sure to end his speech on a good note.

"Of course, sir! I will get her home safe and sound!" While holding him in your arms, you felt him stiff in your hold. It made you giggle. Your 6'1 "foot boyfriend shaking in his shoes in the presence of your much shorter father.

You had greeted your father in a rush, pulling your boyfriend with you as the two of you headed towards his car. He had opened the door for you, "get in, milady." You chuckled at his little acts of service, thanking him as you sat down on the passenger's seat. Jack walked to the other side of his car and took a seat next to you, "Where to, pretty?" His hand was already resting against your thigh, awaiting your answer. Dates with Jack were always unexpected. It was always where the moment took the both of you.

"Mall?" You shuddered as his fingers ran against your skin, the thin material of your pants not offering much cover. "Sure thing, whatever my girl wants."

The ride was quiet, your fingers playing with his free hand as you gazed outside the window. He treated you so well. So why were you feeling like this?

"What's up, pretty?" He noticed your unusual behavior. Of course you did. How couldn't he? He was by your side from your highest to your lowest, he basically knew almost everything about you.

You bit your bottom lip as you pulled at his skin, "nothing."

A lie.

Once again, silence filled the car with the radio playing as a background noise. Should you just tell him? Now? Before it could ruin your date?

"Tell me?" He put his car in park once he found an empty place in the parking lot, pushing his seat back for enough space between him and the steering wheel. To pull you by the arms onto his lap. You were facing him now, completely stunned with this action.

"Tell me, pretty girl." He pressed a kiss against your nose, his hands on your waist to keep you secure, "what's wrong?"

Communication was important.

It was the key.

"Promise you won't get mad?" You played with his shirt as you spoke, your gaze locked on the necklace lying against his collarbone. The pendant wad a pretty pink rose quartz, shaped into a heart. You remembered gifting him it as a way to hint your feelings to him. The color didn't match the color palette of his outfit, but he still wore it around his neck, almost proudly.

"You're thinking too hard with that pretty little brain of yours. I'm sure I won't get angry with you, babe."

"Uhm, okay." You took a breath, your fingers now tracing the cord of the necklace, "am I your type?"

Silence.

It made you look up at him, your eyes wide as you awaited an answer from him. A smile made its way on his face, immediately leaning down to press a firm kiss against your lips, "of course you are, why are you asking?"

"The interview, you uhm," you tried to gather your words in a sentence that would make sense and Jack gave you all the time you needed. His hands rubbing your back reassuringly as he watched you intently.

"You said you would shoot your shot with Margot Robbie."

Jack had opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off, "I don't look like her. So you know, I thought—" this time, he cut you off with a deep kiss. A tender one, one that held so much meaning. Passion. Love. One of his hands traveled towards your cheek, caressing it as he deepened the kiss. Your hands stayed at his chest, clutching onto his shirt.

He had pulled away from the kiss to gasp for air, "I love you." He breathed out against your lips, "I love all of you." He continued, pressing a kiss against the tip of your nose, "I love this."

A kiss against your eyelid.

"I love this."

A kiss against your cheek.

"I love this."

Your forehead.

"I love this."

Your lips.

"And I love this."

"I'm so different from her, look at me! I'm—"

"Beautiful." He finished your sentence with lovesick eyes. "You're beautiful."

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liked by justy/n, misstrinitybliss and 308k others

jackchampion me when she's the one having my last name @ justy/n

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justy/n ily ily ily🫶

-> jackchampion love you❤️

justy/n bold caption!

-> jackchampion watch it happen, I will manifest it🌕

[rvlse]

Hiii! Could you write something with Earthspark Bumblebee?

A new years kiss perchance? Could lead to other activities.

Nsfw or sfw up to you! 😼

Hi Hi! Omg, my first request, I can't believe it.🤩

Okay, so I wasn't sure what gender you wanted, so I tried to make this gender neutral.

New Year's Kiss (BUMBLEBEE ES X GN! READER)

WARNINGS: None, this is SFW... implied freakiness tho

New Year's Day. Everybody was super excited, planning new year resolutions and praying for a good 2025. 

Robby, Mo, and the other terrans had been busy all day making food and preparing games for the evening. 

Bee, however, had other plans. He’d been secretly crushing on his cybertronian team member, Y/N. Every time you’d come near him, he'd go nearly insane trying to contain himself and not say something ridiculous.

At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if you thought he was crazy. He might as well be, with how often you plagued his thoughts.

So, he finally wanted to do something about his emotions and ask you out on a date. Tonight. He was jittery just thinking about it. 

The terrans knew all about his crush on you, which somehow made everything better and worse at the same time. They constantly had something to say, but they had helped him plan his night out.

If all goes well, he'd ask you out, and then you’d fall in love with him, and then-

“Bee?” Mo called up to him. He turned his head down to acknowledge her.

“Mo, what's up?” He tried to act like he hadn't just been fantasizing. Mo raised an eyebrow knowingly.

“Check the time. Now or never,” she teased, putting her small hands on her hips. Bee sighed, and got up from the dusty floor next to the Malto house. It was 11:47 PM… time for his plan to begin.

As he saw you sitting there in the barn, talking with Twitch, he swore his spark skipped a couple beats. You were just… jaw dropping to him. Perfect. Everything he’d ever need and more. He took a couple slow steps towards you, scared he would mess up the first part of his little scheme. 

“Uhm- Y/N?” He almost mumbled, bringing a servo to your shoulder. You turned your head with a smile on your faceplates. 

“Hey, Bee, what’s going on?” You greeted him, a happy twinkle in your optics. He almost short-circuited at the sight. He nervously glanced at Twitch, who nodded excitedly and shot him two thumbs up.

Gulping, he took a deep breath. 

“You mind coming with me to the roof? I got something to show you,” he managed to say calmly.

You, of course, nodded and got up without a second thought. It was one thing he loved about you.

“So, I kind of… put something together. With the help of some friends,” he rushed his words as he climbed onto the black asphalt shingles, giving a glance at the various gifts he’d put up here earlier today.

They were all cutely laid out on a fluffy cow pattern blanket. Mo and Twitch had said you would love it. He didn’t know any better, so he agreed. Now, he could only hope for the best.

He watched as you clumsily clambered onto the roof, taking a second to regain your balance.

He turned to the presents and took a deep breath in. Hopefully this will all go according to plan and- 

“OOF-” He spluttered as a weight crashed into him, almost knocking him over the edge of the roof. Bewildered, he looked down only to see you squeezing the spark out of him with a big bear hug.

“Bee, you did all this for me?” You exclaimed, and he brought his servos around to your back to hug you back.

“I wanted to do something special for you…” he murmured, his gaze trained on your face lovingly. You slowly let him go and tumbled over to the cute blanket, sitting down and examining each gift closely. 

He’d gotten you a crate of high grade energon, an extremely oversized cow plushie, and an absolutely massive bouquet of your favorite flowers.

He watched you as you marveled over each item, praising him and thanking him over and over again. He was so happy you liked it. At first, he was worried it wasn’t enough, or that maybe it was too much. The relief he felt was like no other.

He checked his internal time. 11:58 PM. Almost time. 

“Y/N… Listen, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but these last few months…” He watched you stand up, “you… you’re all I think about. It’s really distracting, sometimes-”

He paused.

“Point is…” 

11:59 PM.

“Y/N, I-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because your lips were on his, preventing his ability to speak. His optics were wide, and his servos hovered in the air, unsure of where to put them.

And then he realized exactly what was happening, and his optics fluttered shut, a shot of adrenaline rushing to his core. His servos found your waist, gripping your metal firmly. God, this was too much.

12:00 AM.

With several bangs, shimmering fireballs of dazzling colors were shot into the starry midnight sky, illuminating the Malto farm.

Bee didn’t even notice the fireworks, his circuits entranced by the feeling of your frame in his servos, the feeling of his glossa in your intake. Screams of joy and celebration were heard from all around the town, emphasizing how special of a moment New Years really was.

He kissed you for what seemed like hours, his digits gently groping your body. When you finally pulled away for a breath, the fireworks had died down and the only chatter he could hear was from the Malto family inside the barn underneath them.

He stared longingly, pathetically, into your optics, his jaw slack in wonder. How were you so pretty? So perfect? How had you managed to silence and turn him into a horny mess with just a kiss?

“I love you,” he blurted, hot energon rushing to his face. Frag, did he seriously just say that? Too soon, too soo-

“I love you, too, Bee,” you replied, bringing your own servo up to cup his blue flushed cheek.

Yeah, he just pissed himself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR I'M WISHING YOU ALL LOVE, LUCK, HEALTH, WEALTH, AND PROSPERITY!🥳

[strangersteddierthings]

No Regrets - Part Four

Part One🦇 Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six

"Steve! Steve get up!" Robin's voice jolts him awake before she even reaches his cot to shake him.

"Wha?" is all the noise Steve manages to make in his sleep haze. His body is already sat up and swinging his legs off the cot before he even opens his eyes to see Robin.

"We have to go. Now," Robin grabs his wrist and tugs until he stands. She reaches past him to grab his mask from where it must have fallen off the cot while he slept as well as his boots which he barely remembers even untying. He's still wearing his jacket, he realizes. He was really out of it last night it seems.

"What's happening?"

"There's a Storm moving in," Robin says, shoving his mask into his arms before grabbing his elbow to get him walking. He goes without struggle.

"Okay? Can I put my boots on at least?"

"Put the mask on. You can put on your boots in the truck."

He obeys, masking up as she drags him out of the high school and towards one of the box trucks they'd just unloaded yesterday. She manhandles him into the back, climbing in after him. Hopper appears to close the door with just a nod at Robin and him before it shuts and latches.

Robin's flashlight flicks on and she tosses his boots to him.

"What happened?" he asks as he pulls them on.

"Wayne radioed."

He freezes in the middle of lacing up the first boot, his whole body feeling suddenly cold. "What happened?"

"They missed the check in."

"Robin," he hisses as fear climbs his spine.

"That's all we know, Steve," Robin whispers and it's the worst response she could give. Not with what she said but with how she says it. Quietly, gently, like Steve's a spooked animal that might attack at any moment. "It might just be a blown tire, or they ran out of gas. We won't know until we find them, and we have to do that before the Storm gets here."

He doesn't respond, focusing on tying his boots instead. It could be fine. It really could. It wouldn't be the first time a check in was missed due to a blown tire. But all the other times didn't have Dustin onboard, didn't have Eddie and Lucas. Didn't have people he'd lost- but. No? Lost? He's never lost them; he doesn't understand why a horrible grieving feeling washes over him.

Eddie, Dustin and Lucas often go out together to fix up the old Cerebro or to build new ones, just a little bit further than last time. Trying to extend the range little by little. Steve knows Cerebro used to reach Suzie in Utah, but the Storms drop the range so much. Whatever is in the air from the Upside Down has fucked everything in ways no one really could plan for.

"They have to be okay, Robbie," Steve finally whispers. It still echoes around them in the empty of box. "I can't- I can't lose him."

"You won't," Robin says, fierce and so sure. It's not a promise she can actually make, they both know that, but it's Robin saying it, so he's going to believe it.

More silence, the truck bouncing them around not too gently for several minutes before Steve asks, "who is driving?"

"Hop. El's in the passenger seat."

El's not a magical fix-all, but having her along decreases Steve's stress significantly. "Well, fuck, why didn't you lead with that."

Robin clicks her flashlight off, dropping them into complete darkness. "What would be the fun of that?"

-

The truck comes to a sudden stop, judging by how Robin and he are thrown around by it. He hears Robin mutter a quiet 'fuck' before the loading door unlatched with a loud scrape and opens almost violently. No one is waiting them, so Steve must assume El's used her power to free them.

He doesn't like what that implies for what they've found.

Steve scrambles out of the truck and rounds it on the passenger side. El's door is left hanging open. It takes him a few more steps to register the wreckage of another box truck off the road and on its side. One of the doors from the back is torn off, laying several yards away, and random bits of machinery are strewn about. There's a large inward dent almost perfectly centered between the front and back.

"Where are they?" he hears Hopper ask, and that's when Steve realizes he stopped moving because Hopper sounds far away still. He's frozen, staring at the wreckage, the large dent in the side of the truck that tells the story of a hard impact. They didn't crash on accident; something forced them off the road. Judging by the lack of large object, he can only assume it was some Upside Down horror, new or old he doesn't know.

"Steve," Robin comes into his view, getting close enough to prevent him from seeing most of the wrecked truck. "Come on."

He follows her on instinct, because he'd follow her anywhere.

The Storm rumbles above them.

El turned on her heel and began marching in the opposite direction of the wrecked truck. "This way. There is a building. Dustin is there."

Steve doesn't even have a weapon. Robin dragged him directly from bed to the back of the truck and he's still wearing the same clothes he's had on for almost a month now because when you're trying to survive the apocalypse, a change of clothing never feels worth the space it'll take up in your bag.

El leads the way, more soldier than woman and it hurts Steve's heart a bit. Another regret in a long list of them- but less than there used to be?

Steve squeezes his eyes shut and gives his head a shake, trying to clear the thoughts. What is wrong with him? Dustin, Lucas, and Eddie might be in serious trouble and he's, what, imagining regrets he doesn't actually have? Trying to process the grief of something he's never lost?

When he opens his eyes, El is looking at him, head tilted slightly to the side. He cannot see much of her face beyond her eyes because of the mask. She squints at him, as if that will help her see him better before she turns, continues to lead them towards what Steve can see if a barn in the distance.

El pushes the barn door open with her mind, calling out, "Dustin! It is me!"

"Oh fucking- thank fuck," Dustin says before he comes into view. "Is that thing still out there?"

"We didn't see anything," Hopper answers.

"That's a relief to hear," Lucas' voice joins them from somewhere but he doesn't appear in view.

Not being able to see Lucas kicks Steve back into gear. "Where are you?"

Dustin extracts himself from the hug he was sharing with El (since when do they hug so intimately? He's only seen El like this with Mike- but no, wait, Mike and Will have been together for years now and-) "This way. His leg's broken."

"Fuck, just his leg?" Steve asks, following Dustin back in the direction he came from. There they find Lucas, sitting up against the wall. His leg's not visibly broken, it's not jutting out at an odd angle or anything, so that's good. Or, well, better than it could have been.

Dustin says, "Yeah. Oh! Oh, you must've seen the wreck coming up the road. We weren't in the truck when that thing barreled into it. Bathroom break, actually-"

"Wait. Where's Eddie?" Robin interrupts.

"What. He's not with you?" Dustin answers, and Steve feels like he's been doused in ice water suddenly. "He left to head back, get help. He said he'd stay on the road!"

"We didn't see anyone on the road," Hopper says. "El?"

"I am on it," El says, eyes closing.

Steve thinks his heart has stopped. Eddie has to be fine, he has to be. Steve went through so much to make sure he was okay; he changed the goddamn past to resurrect him and- pain shoots through Steve with such a force he audibly grunts in pain and sways sideways, using the barn wall to keep himself upright.

"Steve!" Robin whisper-shouts.

His mind feels foggy, and his vision is blurry when he tries to look towards Robin. He- he- what was he thinking? It's like his thoughts are just gone, ripped from him as if they were water poured over his hands. He could feel them but instead of cupping his hands to catch the water, it's like he can't do anything but make a fist.

What was he just thinking? Where did his thoughts go?

"-feel terrible. I should have made sure he was good to go before dragging him out the door," Robin is saying when Steve's head stops pounding.

He wants to assure her that he's fine, but if he's being honest, he's not sure that he is. He blinks a few times, his vision clearing, before he looks at the group. Hopper is splinting Lucas's break, Robin and Dustin are in conversation off to the side, and El is by the door, unmoving. He shoves off the wall and heads over to her.

She turns her head to look at him. "He is hiding in the wreckage. Go. We will be there once Lucas can be moved."

He doesn't like that she says it quietly, for his ears only. A found party member should be something shared with everyone, so why is she telling only him? "El-"

"Go. I- Just go, Steve. We will be right behind you," El commands, and Steve obeys.

He doesn't start off at a dead sprint, but he gets to one pretty quick. He's thinking of what scenario could have caused Eddie to return to the wrecked truck, rather than the barn or keep going back towards Hawkins but all he can imagine is whatever was big enough to toss the truck off the road trying to do the same to Eddie.

Why didn't they check the truck when they stopped? How had El not known Eddie was- oh, Steve realizes. She wasn't looking for the group. She was looking for Dustin. When had that- since when were they close?

Red lightning streaks across the sky, a dangerous rumble following.

Shit, focus Harrington, Steve thinks as he comes up on the site of the wreck. He blows past their own truck, scrambling down the embankment and the short distance to the truck. "Eddie! Eddie!"

He's not sure what kind of noise Eddie makes but it's enough of a sound for Steve to find him. He's leaning against the side (roof?) of the truck, head lolled forward and kind of curled in on himself. For a moment there Steve's afraid Eddie's dead, but then he hears a wheezing sort-of whine. It propels him forward to drop in front of Eddie.

"Eddie," Steve whispers, hands reaching out to tip Eddie's face up and it's only then that the reality of it all sinks in. He shouldn't have been able to hear Eddie's breathing with a mask, but he sees Eddie doesn't have a mask on. And it wouldn't be the end of the world -they've been in the upside down without masks before- but the Red Storm is lethal. "Eddie, Eddie, where's your mask?"

Eddie blinks open his eyes and squints at him. Steve takes a quick inventory of him. His arms are wrapped around himself, and Steve can see that there's a deep gash on his thigh. Demogorgon claw probably, ripping right through his jeans and into the meat of his leg. When he speaks, it comes out soft and pained. "Who-?"

"Hey, it's me. It's Steve. Where's your mask? I'll go grab it real quick."

"Broke. Lost. Should be 'nother in the truck," Eddie mumbles through his squished cheeks that Steve wasn't even fully aware of cupping. He blinks a few times before his eyes widen and he says, "Dustin, Lucas are they-"

"Fine. They're fine. Hopper, El, and Robin are with them. Just got to splint Lucas' leg and the-" Thunder rumbles dangerously, a deep thing Steve feels in his chest. "Fuck, where are you hurt?"

"Hurt? Hurt, hurt," Eddie repeats a few times like he's puzzling out the words. "My fuckin' leg. Think I twisted my ankle at some point. Stomach," he drops his hands then, so show Steve the three cuts across his torso, too. They aren't nearly as deep at the wound on his thigh, thankfully.

More rumbling. The Storm's here and Eddie's- Eddie's doesn't have- Steve looks around, ignoring for now Eddie's inquisitive noise. He stands quickly and rounds the truck. It's filled with radio bits and bobs but there'll be room for him and Eddie to be out of the toxic rain.

Steve works quickly, throwing everything out of the truck as quickly as possible, sweeping things to one side so he can drag Eddie as far into the back as possible to avoid the rain. He wants, more than anything, to get Eddie to the truck they arrived in, but he knows he won't be able to get Eddie up the embankment alone, not without the risk of falling back down the incline and hurting them both.

As it stands, he has to drag Eddie around the truck and into the box trailer. Eddie's injuries are survivable, but he can't put any pressure on the leg with the gash. He settles Eddie against the back wall laying down. He hadn't thought too much about positioning, so it ends up Eddie's got to lay facing away from the doors in order to not lay on his wounded leg. Steve's shed his jacket, balling it up so Eddie can use it as pillow, then his shirt goes next, used to create a barrier between Eddie's leg wound and the soon to be extra toxic air. It's not great, but it'll help.

"Got nothing for your stomach wounds," Steve laments.

"Let's just zip my jacket and hope that helps," Eddie says, so Steve does. Eddie doesn't even try to fight him off as he zips him in like a child.

Now that Eddie and he are, somewhat, safe from the storm, he starts rooting around for that other mask Eddie said was in the truck. At least, he's hoping he meant this part of the truck and not the cab.

Plink.

Shit, fuck, he throws things around with abandon now, and quickly finds the other mask. It's smashed and cracked, probably from the weight of the whatever was bouncing around back here when the truck left the road.

Fuck.

Plink. Plink plink plinkplinkplink.

The rain falls, and Steve rips his mask off, rushing to Eddie to get it on him. "Here, here, I found the other mask, just lift you head- yeah, okay. Okay. You'll be okay."

Eddie pulls in a deep breath once the mask is secured, and Steve realizes just how shallowly Eddie'd been breathing before. "Fuck. Deep breaths hurt, man."

"Keep doing it anyway," Steve orders, turning his back to Eddie to watch the doorway and to prevent Eddie from being able to see he gave up his mask. He knows Eddie'll try and make him take it back but- but Eddie's injured, and they've no way to patch his wounds, and he's already breathed who knows how much shit air already. Steve knows he's more likely to survive breathing the toxic air left in the wake of the almost black rain falling from the sky than Eddie would be.

"Hey Steve. If this- if I don't-"

"Shut the fuck up, Munson," Steve's words are harsh but his voice comes out choked. "You're gonna be fine." Steve twists just enough to feel around for Eddie's hand, holding it tightly when he finds it.

"But if I'm not-"

"You're going to. You're gonna be fine so- so once you're back to Hawkins, and given clean bills of health, you can say whatever it is then."

"Steve."

Steve draws in a shaky breath that burns his lungs; not from the held back tears but from the storm. He should have ripped a part of his shirt off to use as a filter. It wouldn't- the difference might not have mattered, but his lungs wouldn't burn as much. "You'll be fine. You'll be okay. That's- that's," he stops talking because it hurts.

"... Why won't you say we. Why isn't it we'll be fine."

Steve looks over to where he'd left the broken mask. He can't lie. Eddie knows him too well for that anymore, but saying the truth out loud will hurt them both, and Steve doesn't- if he's going to- No regrets. Steve doesn't want to die with regrets. "I should have asked you out years ago."

Eddie squeezes his hand so hard it hurts. "Steve."

"I couldn't- couldn't be that selfish, I kept telling myself. Said I'd-" Steve stops because the pain makes him want to cough, so he does for a bit before he can continue, "said I'd do it once we ended the apocalypse. But that was- I was just scared. Scared you'd say no. More scared you'd say yes. I'm sorry."

"Steve. Steve, take the mask," Eddie says, and Steve can feel him trying to roll over. Hears him hiss in pain, so Steve moves faster. Lays down next to him, snakes his arms around him to hold him in place as he shoves his nose into Eddie's hair, burrowing in until he feels his nose hit the back Eddie's neck. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath then, breaths in the scent of him.

"I would have made you dinner on our first date. Let you pick a movie-"

"You don't get to do this to me! You don't-"

"-even though I think you have terrible taste in movies-"

"Stop. Stop talking. Don't-"

"-Maybe even raided the arcade for some silly stuffed animal to give you-"

"I don't- I want that. I want that, so stop talking! Stop- b-breath as little as possible!"

"'m sorry. 'm being selfish," Steve says, even as it hurts. Because it might be his regrets he's confessing, but making Eddie listen to things Steve won't be able to give him is selfish. Steve's not the one who will have to live with the knowledge.

His lungs burn. All of his insides kind of feel itchy now. He nuzzles at Eddie and places a kiss where he can reach, even as Eddie sobs in his grasp.

One last chance, Steve. I am sorry.

-

@i-less-than-three-you @nburkhardt @afewproblems @skepsiss

[zeldadeservesabreak]

“Where did all the Sheikah tech and shrines go?”

… is one of the most annoying questions I’ve seen repeated over and over again by people and theorists. Because the answer is quite literally in your face the entire game if you just pay attention to the details.

There’s actually 3 very obvious reasons for the shrines and towers disappearing. And since I get this question a lot, I’m gonna answer them here:

1. They were repurposed by Robbie and Purah.

This is the most direct answer with evidence you can clearly see. Purah and Robbie are still tinkering with stuff, and the Purah Pad is a perfect example of this. It is very clearly still Sheikah technology. It looks and acts just like the Sheikah Slate, but it’s more refined and streamlined. So it’s pretty apparent that since the events of Breath of the Wild she and Robbie have continued their studies and made improvements on the tech.

Additionally every one of the sky view towers houses guardians underneath. This is very clear in the little cut scene that plays out when you activate one for the first time. Guardian legs pop out, and then apply the appropriate gear to you before launching you into the sky. If you pay attention to Link’s reaction as well, the first time this happens in Lookout Tower he is visibly FREAKED OUT by this. No doubt a reflexive defensive reaction to his time fighting Guardians in the last game.

So the tech isn’t entirely gone. It’s been repurposed.

2. It was dismantled on Zelda’s orders.

This is not explicitly said, but it’s heavily implied. Zelda has been traveling with Link since the first game and helping to rebuild Hyrule. Part of healing from a calamity is removing evidence of that calamity so that people can move on with their lives and not be reminded of the thousands that died.

This is also probably because Zelda feels guilty about the role she played. After all she was the one who unearthed the guardians in the first place. She set up the very same guardians that eventually got possessed by Calamity Ganon and DESTROYED THE WORLD.

Also, having finally stopped the calamity it is in Hyrule’s best interest to remove technology that could still be beneficial to your enemies. The last thing they need is another calamity happening that reactivates all the dead Guardians… again. (More on this later)

You can find evidence of this in many places where shrines once existed now only exist an empty patch that resembles the shrine’s shape. These patches are clean, do not disturb the landscape much at all, and it seems much more controlled and surgical compared to what I’m about to talk about in the next section. I believe these patches are where Zelda’s construction team are responsible for dismantling the shrines.

So it’s pretty clear to me that healing the land from the calamity by removing them and any other Sheika tech/shrine would be a priority.

3. Ganon’s Gloom destroyed the rest.

This is also not explicitly stated, but is pretty clear when you examine the facts. Gloom is extremely dangerous. Far more dangerous than the calamity’s corruption. Gloom saps your life away and is the reason all weapons in Hyrule just suddenly decayed when the upheaval happened. It’s so powerful that it literally decayed the Master Sword! The most powerful weapon in the Zelda franchise got instantly destroyed by gloom from Ganon’s initial attack.

So taking this evidence and extending it further… what’s something Ganon would want to get rid of? How about something that could be used against him? Like, say…. The divine beasts and the guardians… or how about a magical shrine that could resurrect a fallen hero?

His calamity form was destroyed by the technology initially, and while he took his revenge by possessing them the next time, the divine beasts were eventually ripped away from his control by Link and the sages were able to fire upon him yet again. So that tech is dangerous and Ganon isn’t dumb. He’s not gonna risk the same mistake happening again.

And there is evidence of this as well. If you travel around Hyrule, in many of the places where Sheikah shrines once existed you will often find bandit camps or giant gloom infestations with sink holes into the depths.

So what happened to the divine beasts and the rest of the Sheikah shrines and tech that wasn’t repurposed or dismantled? Ganon’s gloom destroyed it.

Conclusion.

I know that it’s frustrating that there aren’t many reference to these things by NPC’s. It could easily have been handled by a couple lines of dialogue by a few random characters here or there. But to be honest I look at this as just another puzzle left by the developers.

Like so many aspects of the Zelda franchise, it’s often left to you (the player) to piece together clues and small details to form your own conclusions to things. Environmental storytelling is very much a huge part of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s world building. To me the fact that there are so many clues about what happened is an indication that the developers did understand that people would question this.

The problem I’m seeing is that after asking the question “where did all the Sheikah tech go?” people are either too unimaginative or very unobservant, and don’t bother trying to ANSWER that question.

The answer is in the game. It’s all around you. You’ve been walking over it, around it, and diving into it (quite literally) while you’ve been playing.