#as for the supportive folk

[thecupidwitch]

Herb's Properties

Basil:  money, luck, prosperity, happiness

Bay Leaf: energy, cleansing, can be charged with almost any intention

Camomile: Caring, kindness, luck, growth, self-love growth, confidence, avoiding negativity, happiness

Cinnamon: passion, quick success, fire magick

Chia seeds: Growth, health, kindness, Property

Chilli flakes:  Pride, confidence, power, strength, Passion

Cumin: Courage, bravery, protection, loyalty

Dandelion: wishes, charisma, success, good luck

Dill: sexual love, luck, protection

Eucalyptus: cleansing, healing, purifying, relaxing, comfort

Fennel:  hate, anger

Flax seeds: Prosperity, growth, new beginnings

Ginger: fiery passion, success, and personal power

Jasmine: love, dreams, sensuality, luxury and kindness

Lavender: love and attraction, purification, relaxation, restful sleep

Nutmeg: luck, Health, Fidelity, Love, Prosperity, comfort, loyalty

Oregano:  comfort, love, warmth

Paprika:  Pride, confidence, power, strength

Parsley: Cleansing. purification

Peppermint: healing, purification, love and energy, cleansing, prosperity

Poppy seeds: protection, intuition, self-assurance, hexing and cursing

Rose: love, beauty, harmony, romance, attraction

Rosemary: cleansing, purification, wisdom, protection

Sesame seeds: Prosperity, growth, health, nurturing

Spearmint: love, cleansing, renewal, blessing

Sunflower seeds: happiness, growth, joy

Thyme: beauty, strength, courage

Turmeric: confidence, creativity, energy

Vanilla: love and sexuality

tip jar

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[choccy-milky]

💖🎊the end, & thank you for reading!!🎊💖

im so thankful for all the support i got on this story, and i wouldn't have finished it if not for all of you, and for the love i got for seb and clora. so thank you again for giving me the motivation to write this 600k+ monster, and to see it through to the very end. LOVE YALL💖🫶 (ao3/wattpad)

[hymnsofheresy]

what are your thoughts on your religion stealing every single one of its holidays from pagans? xo

That in order to relieve themselves of guilt and discomfort, white people create and believe narratives that deprive their European ancestors of any autonomy whatsoever. Casting their ancestors as victims of the church rather than active participants.

[seaside-tropical-sun]

POV: lqg didn’t die in the caves and it fixed many things but sj pretends he did bc he can’t handle positive attention

[starry-bi-sky]

my martha knight au in a nutshell:

Danny/Martha: see up here?

Danny/Martha: *taps skull*

Danny/Martha: intense psychological damage

-----------

Danny/Martha: *upon finding out she's pregnant*

Danny/Martha: oh my god i cant be a mom, I'm fifteen and homeless--

Danny/Martha: im going to be a terrible mother--

Danny/Martha: i live in a cAR--

Danny/Martha: what if the baby inherits my powers? Oh no--

-------------

Danny/Martha post giving birth: i've only had Bruce for a minute and a half but if anything were to happen to him i won't even need to fuse with Vlad, I'm razing this goddamn planet to the ground myself

Danny, to Baby Bruce: you are the last remaining thread of my sanity. I'm going to give you the world :)

---------------

Danny/Martha prior to getting pregnant: Fuck it, if everything in my life has led to this moment, i'm allowed to make one stupid decision. I'm getting drunk and getting laid

---------------

Danny/Martha while Bruce was a toddler: i swear to fucking god i am going to kill the next person who talks to me--

Bruce: hi mommy!! i brought you something!!!

Danny/Martha, immediately flipping on a dime: hi baby!! what do you have?

Bruce, a weird child like his mother: a spider :)

---------------

Danny/Martha, talking to Falcone after he made an unsavory comment at her and Bruce: If you ever come near me or my son again, I will dig up your shithead father's corpse and make you eat his skin.

Danny/Martha: do you understand me

Falcone:... crystal, ma'am

---------------

Danny/Martha new in Gotham: *getting mugged*

Danny/Martha: *grabs man's arm*

Danny/Martha: I AM GOING TO BREAK YOU IN HALF LIKE A TWIG, FUCK BOY, DO YOU HEAR THE WORDS COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH--

(she then proceeds to terrorize Gotham's night life for the next extended period of time, mostly unintentionally)

---------------

Danny/Martha: Danny Fenton?? No. you must be mistaken, my name is Martha Knight.

Danny/Martha: this here is my littlest knight, Bruce.

Danny/Martha: I made him all by myself :]

[ineffablemossy]

Good Omens Fandom assemble! It's that time again...

Another Amazon Prime poll that we need to turn around. You know what to do:

https://www.youtube.com/@PrimeVideo/community

Currently at 25% in 3rd place, but I know we can change that quickly. NOTE: if you're on mobile open the link in your browser and choose 'desktop mode' to view the community tab (shoutout to everyone who put this tip in the comments of my last poll post!)

[ttarksystem]

Checkmate atheists (non-polyhornets shippers)

[dwynartist]

Embrace Transformation 🤍 Resist Destruction

[thecupidwitch]

Crystal Correspondences🌙

🔮Abundance

Agate, calcite, citrine, diamond, dolomite, garnet, jade, moonstone, peridot, rose quartz, smoky quartz, tourmaline, zircon

🔮Activate Energy

Amethyst, calcite, emerald, fluorite, labradorite, opal, pearl, peridot, quartz, tourmaline, zircon, kyanite

🔮Anxiety

Angelite, celestine, cuprite, hematite, jasper, serpentine, tigers-eye

🔮Astral Travel

Opal, sapphire, staurolite, quartz, hematite, barite, carnelian, fluorite

🔮Awareness

amethyst, ametrine, cats-eye, moldavite, obsidian, opal, quartz, smoky quartz, sodalite, topaz

🔮Animals (to work with)

Agate, cats-eye, diopside, hawks-Eye, jasper, labradorite, serpentine, tigers-eye

🔮Balancing

Agate, ametrine, apophyllite, aragonite, desert rose, tourmaline, opal, pearl, quartz, garnet, obsidian

🔮Banishing

Aquamarine, beryl, bloodstone, malachite, quartz, salt

🔮Binding

Diamond, jasper, jet, lodestone, obsidian, onyx, salt, sard

🔮Business and Employment

Bloodstone, emerald, malachite, tigers-eye

🔮To Calm and Soothe

Amber, amethyst, ametrine, aventurine, beryl, blue lace agate, garnet, hematite, moonstone, opal, rhodonite rose quartz, selenite, sodalite, topaz

🔮Challenges / Difficulties

Azurite, carnelian, diamond, lodestone, malachite, pearl, rhodonite, sard, onyx, smoky quartz

🔮Changes / Transitions

Amber, andalusite, amethyst, aventurine, blue lace agate, citrine, garnet, jasper, kyanite, white quartz

🔮Clarity

Amber, aventurine, aquamarine, beryl, diamond, hawks-eye, hematite, obsidian, onyx, sodalite, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise

🔮Communication

Amazonite, amethyst, angelite, aquamarine, azurite, calcite, carnelian, fluorite, garnet, malachite, quartz, topaz

🔮Compassion

Aventurine, celestine, cuprite, dolomite, howlite, jasper, rose quartz

🔮Confidence

Agate, Aragonite, bloodstone, blue lace agate, calcite, carnelian, diamond, garnet, labradorite, lodestone, onyx, tigers-eye, tourmaline

🔮Courage

Agate, aventurine, beryl, calcite, carnelian, diamond, garnet, jade, jasper, labradorite, lapis lazuli, ruby, sard, onyx, tourmaline

🔮Creativity

Agate, amber, amethyst, aquamarine, aventurine, calcite, garnet, howlite, smoky quartz, staurolite, tigers-eye, tourmaline, white quartz

🔮To Avoid Danger

Agate, malachite, obsidian, sard, tigers-eye, topaz

🔮Death / Ancestors / Afterlife

Amber, amazonite, carnelian, hematite, jade, jet, lapis lazuli, malachite, obsidian, petrified wood

🔮Divination

Amethyst, bloodstone, fluorite, hematite, jasper, jet, moonstone, obsidian, pyrite, quartz, tigers-eye

🔮Dreamwork

Amethyst, rose quartz, desert rose, diamond, onyx, sapphire, selenite

🔮Fear (to subdue)

Blue lace agate, calcite, dolomite, onyx, ruby, sapphire, sodalite

🔮Fertility

Carnelian, diamond, garnet, jade, jasper, moonstone, pearl, rhodonite, sapphire, topaz

🔮Fidelity

Diamond, garnet, lapis lazuli, rhodochrosite, sapphire, topaz

🔮Focus / Concentration

Amazonite, amethyst, ametrine, andalusite, beryl, fluorite, garnet, jasper, kyanite, lepidolite, obsidian

🔮Forgiveness

Angelite, chrysoberyl, diopside, lodestone, obsidian

🔮Friendship

Aventurine, blue lace agate, garnet, lapis lazuli, lodestone, moonstone, rose quartz

🔮Grief / Sorrow (to deal with)

Amber, apatite, aquamarine, carnelian, dolomite, hiddenite, jet, lapis lazuli, malachite, rose quartz, smoky quartz

🔮Ground and Center Energy

Agate, amazonite, amethyst, blue lace agate, calcite, garnet, hematite, lodestone, obsidian, petrified wood, quartz, tourmaline

🔮Growth

Agate, ametrine, amethyst, azurite, beryl, calcite, cats-eye, celestine, charoite, citrine, jade, jasper, onyx, opal, peridot, ruby, serpentine, tourmaline

🔮Guidance

Amethyst, ametrine, aquamarine, aragonite, beryl, calcite, jade, kyanite, lodestone, malachite, moonstone, pearl, sodalite, onyx, tourmaline

🔮Healing

Agate, amber, amethyst, ametrine, aquamarine apatite, blue lace agate, beryl, bloodstone, calcite, celestine, danburite, diamond, fluorite, garnet, hawks-eye, hematite, jasper, jet, lapis lazuli, moonstone, peridot, rose quartz, ruby, sapphire, sugilite, sunstone, tourmaline, white quartz, zircon

🔮Heartbreak (to recover from)

Aventurine, beryl, calcite, lapis lazuli, rhodonite, rose quartz

🔮Hexes (to avoid/break)

Emerald, jasper, jet, onyx, quartz, ruby, salt

🔮Home/Family

Agate, amazonite, apatite, blue lace agate, celestine, citrine, garnet, lodestone, malachite, quartz, salt, smoky quartz, staurolite, topaz, turquoise, zircon

🔮Insight

Agate, amber, cats-eye, jasper, moldavite, opal, sodalite, spinel, topaz, tourmaline

🔮Inspiration

Amethyst, aquamarine, calcite, carnelian, quartz, jade, labradorite, quartz, ruby, selenite, serpentine, tigers-eye, topaz, tourmaline, white quartz, zircon

🔮Intuition

Agate, amazonite, amethyst, aragonite, azurite, calcite, tigers-eye, labradorite, fluorite, moonstone, pyrite, ruby, sapphire, sard, sodalite, turquoise

🔮Justice/Legal Matters

Amethyst, aventurine, bloodstone, diamond, hematite, jade, jet, lapis lazuli, sapphire, selenite, tourmaline

🔮Knowledge/Learning

Apatite, apophyllite, beryl, cats-eye, charoite, epidote, garnet, sodalite, tigers-eye, tourmaline

Loss (to deal with) Ametrine, aquamarine, garnet, hiddenite, malachite, moldavite, rose quartz, smoky quartz, topaz

🔮Love/Romance

Agate, alexandrite, amethyst, beryl, apatite, aquamarine, calcite, chrysocolla, calcite, desert rose, diamond, emerald, epidote, garnet, jade, jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, opal, pearl, rose quartz, ruby, sapphire, sard, onyx, selenite, tourmaline, zircon

🔮Luck

Agate, alexandrite, amazonite, aventurine, bloodstone, cats-eye, citrine, diamond, jade, jasper, jet, lodestone, malachite, obsidian, opal, pearl, sard, onyx, smoky quartz, staurolite, sunstone, tigers-eye

🔮Manifestation

Amber, amethyst, andalusite, blue lace agate, calcite, citrine, garnet, hematite, lepidolite, onyx, pyrite, tourmaline, sard

🔮Marriage

Aquamarine, beryl, lodestone, onyx, rose quartz, sard, onyx

🔮Money

Agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, jasper, lodestone, malachite, opal, pearl, pyrite, staurolite, tigers-eye, tourmaline, topaz

🔮Motivation

Amber, calcite, celestine, fluorite, labradorite, serpentine, zircon

🔮Negativity (to dispel/avert/protection from)

Amazonite, ametrine, azurite, carnelian, charoite, dolomite, epidote, garnet, hawks-eye, hematite, hiddenite, jade, jasper, kunzite, lepidolite, malachite, obsidian, onyx, peridot, quartz, rose quartz, ruby, salt, selenite, smoky quartz, tourmaline, turquoise

🔮Nightmares (to ward off/subdue)

Chrysoprase, garnet, jet, lepidolite, onyx, sapphire, topaz

🔮Obstacles (to overcome)

Agate, azurite, barite, bloodstone, diamond, epidote, fluorite, malachite, moonstone, obsidian, opal. petrified wood, quartz, smoky quartz, tourmaline

🔮Optimism

Agate, beryl, cats-eye, chrysoberyl, citrine, dolomite, jasper, sunstone

🔮Past Life Work

Andalusite, cuprite, desert rose, howlite, petrified wood, white quartz

🔮Peace/Tranquility

Amethyst, aquamarine, blue lace agate, celestine, desert rose, jade, jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, larimar, malachite, obsidian, pearl, peridot, sard, selenite, sodalite, sugilite, topaz, tourmaline

🔮Prosperity/Abundance

Agate, alexandrite, aventurine, cats-eye, calcite, diamond, dioptase, emerald, jade, jasper, malachite, opal, peridot, ruby, spinel, tigers-eye, tourmaline

🔮Protection/Defence

Agate, amber, amethyst, andalusite, angelite, aquamarine, aventurine, calcite, carnelian, cats-eye, citrine, diamond, emerald, epidote, jade, garnet, jasper, jet, onyx, obsidian, quartz ruby, sapphire, sard, serpentine, smoky quartz, sunstone, tigers-eye, tourmaline, turquoise, zircon

🔮Psychic Abilities (to enhance)

Alexandrite, amethyst apatite, aquamarine, aragonite, beryl, calcite, charoite, citrine, desert rose, diamond, emerald, hawks-eye, jasper, jet, labradorite, lapis lazuli, malachite, moldavite, moonstone, obsidian, opal, peridot, pyrite, quartz, ruby, sapphire, smoky quartz, sodalite, tourmaline

🔮Purification/Cleansing

Amber, amethyst, ametrine, aquamarine, aragonite, calcite, charoite, lepidolite, moldavite, pearl, peridot, quartz, smoky quartz, topaz, zircon

🔮Reconciliation

Apatite, beryl, diamond, lodestone, quartz

🔮Relationships

Amazonite, amber, aquamarine, barite, beryl, chrysocolla, garnet lodestone, lapis lazuli, obsidian, onyx, peridot, rose quartz, ruby, sapphire, sodalite, tourmaline

🔮Remove/Release

Agate, aventurine, carnelian, dolomite, fluorite, moonstone, obsidian, peridot, quartz, topaz

🔮Renewal/Rebirth/New beginnings

Ametrine, aquamarine, bloodstone, calcite, carnelian, citrine, garnet, hawks-eye, hematite, peridot, petrified wood, quartz, selenite, serpentine, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise, white quartz

🔮Sex/Sexuality

Agate, Ruby, cuprite, garnet, jasper, rose quartz, ruby, sapphire, serpentine, smoky quartz, spinel, tigers-eye, topaz, zircon

🔮Spirit Guides

Amethyst, ametrine, azurite, barite, bloodstone, emerald, howlite, jade, labradorite, moonstone, quartz, salt, sapphire, sugilite, tourmaline

🔮Spirituality

Alexandrite, amethyst, ametrine, apatite, barite, beryl, bloodstone, blue lace agate, calcite, celestine, charoite, citrine, desert rose, diamond, dolomite, fluorite, garnet, lapis lazuli, lodestone, malachite, moldavite, pearl, quartz, rose quartz, staurolite, tourmaline, turquoise

🔮Stability

Amazonite, amber, amethyst, ametrine, azurite, calcite, celestine, cuprite, dolomite, garnet, jasper, kyanite, lodestone, quartz, rhodochrosite, sphene

🔮Strength

Agate, amazonite, amethyst, ametrine, aventurine, bloodstone, charoite, diamond, garnet, hematite, kyanite, lodestone, moonstone, opal, petrified wood, quartz, rose quartz, ruby, sard, onyx, tigers-eye, tourmaline

🔮Stress

Agate, angelite, aragonite, beryl, blue lace agate, celestine, diamond, dolomite, howlite, kyanite, labradorite, larimar, lepidolite, petrified wood, rose quartz, selenite, sodalite,

🔮Success

Agate, alexandrite, amazonite, amber, amethyst, andalusite, aventurine, bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, epidote, fluorite, garnet, jasper, labradorite, malachite, sodalite, spinel, staurolite, sunstone, tigers-eye, turquoise, zircon

🔮Transformation

Amethyst, angelite, azurite, blue lace agate, cats-eye, cerussite, chrysocolla, labradorite, moldavite, obsidian, salt, staurolite, sugilite, white quartz

🔮Travel

Aquamarine, beryl, emerald, jade, garnet, lapis lazuli, lodestone, malachite, staurolite, turquoise

🔮Trust

Amazonite, apophyllite, blue lace agate, charoite, diamond

🔮Truth

Aragonite, danburite, emerald, pyrite, spinel, tigers-eye, turquoise

🔮Unity

Amazonite, charoite, diamond, smoky quartz, zircon

🔮Well-being

Agate, aventurine, beryl, calcite, dioptase, garnet, jade, jasper, kyanite, sugilite, sunstone, zircon

🔮Wisdom

Amber, amethyst, aquamarine, beryl, blue lace agate, carnelian, chrysocolla, desert rose, garnet, diamond, dioptase, jasper, labradorite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, opal, petrified wood, quartz, rose quartz, ruby, sapphire, sard, onyx, smoky quartz, spinel, sugilite, tigers-eye, topaz, turquoise, agate

Tip jar

[canisalbus]

gothic lolita machete came to me in a dream

.

[anopuff]

Hi everyone, my INPRNT shop has had a long-overdue update, and most of the FE and Persona art (and some other fandoms!) I made in the past 2-3 years are available. Please check it out if you're interested!

✨ https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/anocurry

You can use the code LLGGVQ until 12 Nov to get a 15% discount if your order is $30 or more. The code stacks with any promotion INPRNT is holding! Thank you for looking :D

[lovertm]

trans pins by wordforwordfactory

[navree]

Incorrect, the fact that Biden has dropped out and a candidate with history of supporting medicare for all and being more receptive to a ceasefire in the I/P conflict has made me go from "I cannot morally support the Democratic nominee" to "I am voting for the Democratic nominee despite the fact she isn't perfect in every respect." I'm really happy this played out. The Dems for the most part abandoned the old Obama platform and it feels like its possible an actual progressive agenda could come to pass in my lifetime.

Kamala 2024!

If you weren't going to vote Democratic in this election before Biden dropped out you're a dorkass loser who does not care about any of the issues you're yammering about here and also a fundamentally bad person, and I hope you get run over by a bus.

But you got one thing right in all of this gibberish, Kamala 2024.

[azaracyy]

alhaimeow and catveh ...and their enthusiastic supporter, shibathos

[steddiehyperfixation]

don't you forget about me (part eight; final)

(part one)(part two)(part three)(part four)(part five)(part six)(part seven) (ao3 link)

It was an “if” if Eddie would actually be discharged today, but now, after some more poking and prodding, he's finally on his way home with prescriptions for pain meds and physical therapy. 

Wayne helps him up the three creaky, beautifully familiar stairs into the trailer, and Eddie collapses onto the old, beautifully familiar couch the second he gets inside. The weary groan he lets out is only slightly over-dramatized. “I feel like an 80 year old man,” he complains, entire body sore and aching to the bone already. “Now I know how you feel.”

“Oi, I ain't that old,” Wayne protests. When Eddie snorts derisively, Wayne rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Alright, fine, so we both got creaky knees now. You, at least, will be young and spry again in no time, though,” his uncle tells him. “Just get some rest, old man.” 

Eddie heaves a great big sigh, takes another breath to steel himself, and then does just the opposite of that. 

“What did I just say?” Wayne mutters as Eddie moves to stand again. 

“I said I’d call Steve,” Eddie says. Steve had to go to work, but he'd told Eddie that morning to call him if he ended up making it home today. “I’ll dip out of work and come hang out, help you settle in, if you want,” Steve had said. 

Wayne offers, “I can call him for you.” 

“No, no, I got it,” Eddie insists, words broken by a grunt as he hauls himself back to his feet. “I can make it to the phone, Wayne, I'm not a complete invalid.”

“Alright.” Wayne raises his hands in defeat and backs off. He’s never been one to hover. “You just shout if you need me.” 

Eddie limps - slowly, painfully, with difficulty - to the phone on the wall by the tiny dining table they never use, the surface littered instead with unopened mail and haphazard papers scribbled with notes and reminders and important phone numbers. He leans heavily against the table as he paws through the piles trying to find a note of Steve's number. Eddie finds it buried deep, probably long since memorized by now before his memory got erased, but there it is: a notepad paper with Steve's name scrawled on it and two phone numbers written underneath, home and work. 

“Bingo.” Eddie grabs the paper, takes the phone off the hook, and dials the work number. 

The phone rings a couple times, and then: “Family Video. How can I help you?” 

“Hey, Stevie.” Eddie smiles at the sound of his voice, as if he hadn't literally just heard it only a few hours ago. 

“Eddie!” Steve's bored customer service voice brightens. “Are you home? How are you feeling?” 

“Yeah, I’m home. I’m alright. I mean, I’m bone-fucking-tired and feel about a million years old, but it's really really good to be back,” Eddie says honestly. He adds, “I’m under strict orders to rest, though - gonna be bored out of my mind, so I could use the company if you were serious about ditching work for me.” 

“Of course I was serious,” replies Steve. “It's a slow day today anyways.” 

Eddie grins. “Get your sweet ass over here then.” 

A smile is evident in Steve's voice too. “I'll be there in ten.” 

Eddie hangs up, tries his best to wipe this stupid lovesick grin off his face. He stumbles his way down the hall to his room next, flicking on some music from the cassette player on his dresser and looking around. His room is just as beautifully familiar as the rest of the trailer, not much changed from the way he last remembers it. The same music and D&D shit clutter his surfaces, the same posters clutter his walls. His bed is unmade, clothes litter the floor, same as always.

The only differences: his beloved electric guitar no longer hangs on the wall by the mirror (he was told, devastatingly, that she hadn't survived her trip to the Upside Down), and there are photographs he doesn't recognize taped up around the corners of that mirror. Eddie staggers over to get a closer look, only to first be momentarily jumpscared by his own reflection. His face is pale, eyes sunken, and his hair frizzes out in a greasy, tangled mess around his head, unwashed and unbrushed for who knows how long. Gross, but whatever. He manages to ignore his sickly appearance and inspects the pictures he had apparently deemed important enough to stick to the edges of his mirror. 

There are photos of Eddie smiling with Hellfire and his band and the kids, in large groups and small groups, with old friends he remembers and newer ones he doesn't quite. But what catches his attention the most is a photobooth strip of him and Steve. The first picture shows the two of them grinning, arms slung around each other’s shoulders; the second, a silly face photo, Eddie sticking out his tongue and Steve crossing his eyes; the third, Eddie giving Steve devil horns while Steve laughs; and the fourth- 

Eddie plucks the strip off the mirror, stumbles, so taken aback he trips over his own lame feet until he plops down heavily onto his bed, and he stares. He stares at the last image in the row, which depicts - clear as day and undeniably real, immortalized in ink on photo paper - Steve kissing Eddie, tender hand on his cheek, both of them smiling against each other’s lips.

He stares and he stares and he stares. And the longer he stares the more he can almost feel it, taste it, see the events of that photo strip playing out in his mind’s eye like a waking dream. Like a memory. 

~ 

Steve pulls up to the trailer, the one with the metal music blaring from somewhere inside that announces to the whole park that Eddie Munson is back home. He smiles at the sound, gets out of his car and bounds toward it. 

It's Wayne who lets him in when Steve knocks on the door. “He's in his room,” the older man tells him as he steps aside to let Steve in. “Make sure he's stayin’ off his feet, will you? ‘Cause lord knows he won't listen to me.” 

“Yeah, I got it,” Steve says, and his tone and his smile say I got him. Wayne nods. 

Steve makes his way down the hall to Eddie’s room. He raps his knuckles against the door first, but he doubts that can even be heard over the music so he pushes it open without waiting for a response. “Hey, Ed-” Steve starts, only to falter when he sees Eddie sitting statue-still on the edge of his bed, eyes boring holes into a photo strip of the two of them together. “Oh.” 

Eddie blinks, expression unreadable as he looks up and over at Steve. “Why didn't you tell me?” 

“I-” Steve doesn't know what to say, what he should say. His veins buzz with a nauseating mix of hope and anxiety and it's making him feel a bit sick. He takes a deep breath, turns down the music so he can think. “I wanted to. I just- I thought it would freak you out. You didn't know me. I didn't want to force anything on you.” 

“So…we were together,” Eddie says slowly. “For how long?” 

“Since July.” Steve’s desperately searching Eddie’s face for something, anything, to clue him in to what Eddie’s thinking or feeling right now. “Are- are you freaked out? Because you look a little freaked out.” 

“I’m not freaked out,” Eddie says, and it's almost convincing. “I'm just…processing.” 

“Oh-kay…” Steve breathes out, leaning cautiously against the doorframe, still hovering by the exit just in case Eddie decides he doesn't want him there anymore once he's finished processing.

“I’ve, uh-” Eddie looks back down at the photo strip he holds in his hands and takes a breath. “I’ve been remembering some things, you know, little things - in dreams - about us. But I- I thought I just had a crush or something, because I thought if all of that was real, if we had really been that happy - that…in love - then you would've said something. You would've told me.” 

When Eddie's eyes meet his again, Steve realizes he'd misread his expression before. Eddie's not freaked, he's upset, hurt, not because of what he's learned but because it was kept from him. Of all the worst-case scenarios Steve's spiraling mind had come up with over the past couple weeks, he had not considered this one. So preoccupied with his own angst over being forgotten and fear of being unwanted, Steve hadn't thought to consider that him hiding the true nature of their past might make Eddie feel unwanted too. That's the last thing Steve wants; the ache of that trumps any other ache he feels. 

“Eddie, I’m sorry. I just- you didn't know me, and I panicked; I didn't think, or-or I thought too much, but I should've just told you.” Steve pushes off from the doorway and goes to sit beside Eddie, because he can't stand Eddie looking at him with those big doe eyes and not being close to him. He leaves a bit of space, barely holds himself back from taking hold of Eddie's hand. “Because it was real, all the things you've been remembering. It was real- it is real, and I’m so sorry I didn't tell you.” 

Eddie is uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. His gaze flicks him up and down and across his face, and then Eddie grabs him, hands dropping the photo strip to instead clutch at Steve's cheek and jaw as he pulls him in and kisses him. As their lips slide together, familiar, the both of them sigh into the kiss. Steve feels a bursting in his heart, so similar to the way it felt the very first time they’d done this: the giddiness of reciprocation, the intuition that this is right. 

When Eddie pulls back after a few long moments, something is changed, something returned. Steve watches Eddie’s eyes flutter open; and when they do, for the first time since he'd woken up in that hospital bed, Eddie sees him, knows him, loves him. 

“How could I ever have forgotten that?” Eddie says, almost whispered, running his thumb across Steve's cheekbone. “How could I ever have forgotten you?” 

Steve could cry. Tears made of relief and joy blur his vision, because Eddie is looking at him with all the tenderness he'd been missing these past weeks, the painful emptiness of before now filled. It's all back. His Eddie is back. Steve pitches forward and hugs him bodily. Eddie returns the embrace; Steve sinks into his arms and it feels like coming home. 

He closes his misty eyes, buries his face in the crook of Eddie's neck and the tangles of his hair, and he breathes him in, clinging onto him like Eddie might just disappear if Steve ever let go. Eddie holds him just as close, one arm wrapped firm around Steve's waist while his other hand cradles the back of Steve's head and strokes his hair. Steve soaks in every touch, feels every place where they are pressed against each other, so warm and safe and loving after so long without it. He is whole again in the arms of the man he loves.  

“I missed you,” Steve mutters, lips brushing against the skin of Eddie's neck as he speaks, muffled. 

“I know, Stevie,” Eddie murmurs, “my Stevie, I’m so sorry.” 

“S’okay. It wasn't your fault,” Steve mumbles, and he thinks maybe they both need to stop apologizing for this. 

Eddie must think the same, because he says, “And it wasn't yours either,” like he knows every twisted, guilty thought that's been haunting Steve lately and he absolves him of them. He tugs gently at Steve’s hair to get him to lift his head and look him in the eyes. “You know that, right?” 

“Yeah, I know,” Steve says quietly. Eddie reaches up to brush from his cheek a tear Steve didn't even know had fallen, and as he wipes it away he wipes away everything - all blame, all fear, all pain. Eddie had forgotten him, and it sucked, but now he remembers again, and none of that matters anymore. Steve hangs onto Eddie's wrist. “Just-” His voice rasps with emotion, making it rougher. “Don't you ever forget about me again.” 

It's not a promise that can be made with any certainty - anything can happen at any time, just as unexpectedly as it had this time - but Steve doesn't need certainty, he just needs to hear the words, and Eddie gives that to him. “I won't, darling,” he vows, with gentle reassurance. “Never again.”

“Good,” Steve sighs, turning his head into Eddie's hand to press a kiss to the palm. 

The last of his heavier emotions drain out of him then and now he can feel the joy of Eddie's return in its whole entirety. As he rolls his face out of Eddie's hand and settles his eyes on the beautiful boy in front of him, a grin begins to spread across Steve's face; Eddie's smile grows in tandem with his, like he's smiling just because Steve is. Steve says, giddy in full now, “You're back.” 

“Yeah,” Eddie says, lovely and bright, ducking to bump his forehead against Steve's. “I'm back.” 

Steve lets go of Eddie's wrist to tangle a hand in his hair, and he tilts his head up to kiss him again, just because he can, because he's making up for lost time. They draw each other in close once more, lips and bodies moving against each other, easy and natural. Steve could stay right here like this forever, never wants to stop holding him or stop kissing him. 

But a thought - a question - tickles at the base of Steve's skull, and when he does pull back he asks, hopeless romantic that he is, “Just in case - I mean, just so I know - what was it that brought your memory back? Was it like a…true love’s kiss breaking the spell sort of thing?” 

Eddie laughs, gives Steve another quick peck like he always does when Steve says something endearing. “Not quite, Prince Charming,” he responds with a grin so fond Steve thinks his heart might burst. “It was more like…the things I had remembered were just dreams to me, shallow and unreal, but kissing you was like an anchor, a reminder that allowed those dreams to sink in as proper memories and become real.” 

“So…basically it was true love’s kiss,” Steve says cheekily, just to hear Eddie’s laugh again, just to receive another affectionate press of Eddie's lips against his. 

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie concedes, smilingly, never one not to indulge whimsy, “we can call it that.” But then he amends, with a little less levity, “It wasn't exactly a magic cure-all, though. It didn't bring everything back, there are still gaps in my memory.” He looks at Steve with eyes like pools of melted chocolate, soft and endless. “But I remember that I love you; I remember that much.” 

And Steve tells him, “That's enough," and he pulls him in for another true love's kiss.

THE END. taglist: @romanticdestruction @daydreamsandcrashingwaves @paintsplatteredandimperfect @hallucinatedjosten @mugloversonly @estrellami-1 @alongcomesaspider @thatonebadideapanda @tell-me-a-secret-a-nice-one @dragonmama76 @wxrmland @nuggies4life @sirsnacksalot @myguiltyartpleasure @lolawonsstuff @marklee-blackmore @vinteraltus @sebastiansstanswhore @0happyeverafter0 @scarlet-malfoy @hotluncheddie @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @emsgoodthinkin @alyelf @warlordess @stevesbipanic @lil-gremlin-things @rockandrolodex @badcaseofcasey @bat-outta-hel @fandomcartographer @manda-panda-monium @littlewildflowerkitten @giopandaonice @mightbeasleep @queenie-ofthe-void @krazyperson @worldofshea @marvel-ous-m @tartarusknight @a-little-unsteddie @xenon-demon @goodolefashionedloverboi @xxsky-shockxx @mc-i-r @bookbinderbitch @aspenshade88 @slowandsteddie @thedragonsaunt @daydreaming-mood @space-invading-pigeon @irregular-child @a-lovely-craziness (continued in replies)