#bff to enemies to lovers

[fixated-dark-king]

Sooo, I had the amazing experience of attending a panel C.S. Pacat was part of during the Sydney Writers’ Festival on 25th May 2024. The panel was called “Creating a Monster” (with two other YA authors).

And finally a week later (because adult-ing is hard), I had time to actually go through my notes and write up some of the fascccccinating things Pacat had to say about: monsterous heroes, and villains, and enemies-to-lovers deliciousness, and queer identity!

I didn’t want to forget some of the interesting things said in this panel and thought others might be interested in hearing about them too? Please indulge the splurge. :)

(Please note that all bold headers are just my thematic summary of each section for people to jump to, not the actual question asked.)

WHAT APPEALS ABOUT ‘THE MONSTROUS’ TO PACAT:

From a technical writing standpoint, the ‘Monstrous’ is appealing because a villain will often do an act and the hero reacts to that. It gives unconscious clues to the reader that when the villain turns up, something exciting is going to happen. In that sense, villainous characters have a special sort of ever-present attention given to them (possibly because human nature is to always keep one eye on the dangerous thing that could harm you).

On a personal level: A) When queer characters are awesome but also ‘Monstrous’, Pacat says it can feel really ‘electric’ and empowering to reclaim/allow yourself to embrace the monster role that you’ve been told you fit into by society. Like in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles where queer people are allowed to be beautiful/glittering & powerful & witty & have existential conversations about good and evil while fitting under the Monstrous label. Like heck yeh, that’s cool. And B) as an author, you can feel a ‘minority pressure’ to have characters be Good all the time and be the perfect ambassador for that minority, but sometimes you just want to be a vampire and take over the world, you know?

THE EXISTENCE OF ‘PROTAGONIST-CENTRED MORALITY’ WITHIN THE DARK RISE BOOKS:

When pondering whether it is hard as a writer to convince readers that a Monstrous protagonist is a likeable character, Pacat pointed out that the funny thing is that the question ‘How am I going to make readers like this monster?’ never really ends up being an issue because people actually really like monsters! The thing you might not expect is that the struggle is actually: ‘How am I going to make these readers who are barracking for the protagonist feel that this ‘monster’ is actually monstrous?’

Pacat explained that when a protagonist is also a monster, it brings into play something called ‘Protagonist-Centric Morality’ -- where you bond with that protagonist and want the best for them etc, so much that it can obscure when the protagonist is actually doing something bad. Pacat mentioned that he has found the Protag-Centric Morality fairly striking in the case of the Dark Rise books because people have said to him things like: ‘The Dark King Did Nothing Wrong Ever In His Whole Life’ and Pacat questioned whether the moral centre of the story was landing somewhere different than intended. He was curious whether the other authors had experienced that with their ‘monstrous’ protagonists too.

IF A HERO IS ALSO MONSTROUS, HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE THAT FROM THE VILLIAN? When pondering over the distinction between a Monstrous Hero and a Villain, Pacat shared some thoughts from his lived experience. He said the times when he has felt most threatened by the ‘Monstrous’ is when that person isn’t clearly identifiable to others around you; where there isn’t a shared understanding between everyone that ‘yes, that person is a monster’. Extending from that, the Truly Monstrous is when that person has some kind of control over you and control over the narrative as well; if the monster is the one telling the story but casting you as the monster. Essentially gaslighting via ‘narrative control’.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS TROPE:

This is Pacat’s absolute favourite romantic trope. And he elaborated that he doesn’t mean that in the sense of ‘these characters sort of don’t like each other’, but rather to the point where two characters really hate each other and for a very good reason. He likes when a path between two characters feels IMPOSSIBLE to overcome.

This trope was first explored in the Captive Prince trilogy and Pacat loved it so much he just had to use it again for the Dark Rise trilogy. The planning behind it for CaPri was brainstorming: ‘What is the worst thing I could think to use?’ (Answer: Killing a character’s brother, which lands the bereaved character into a set of hellish circumstances.) But that meant when Pacat decided to use it again for DR, he had to extend that to: ‘Now I need to think of something EVEN WORSE THAN THAT (CaPri)’ in order to separate the main characters. So Pacat had to spend ages thinking about what could be the absolute worst thing to use this time -- and he hopes that he came up with something that is ‘truly, truly way worse.’ Which essentially had everyone, including the moderator, laughing loudly in fear. XD

WILL KEMPEN: FOUND FAMILY & THE LONELINESS OF INAUTHENTICITY:

Pacat spent a lot of time trying to develop a really meaningful platonic friendship between Will and Violet. It meant a lot to see a friendship like that reflected on page for Pacat because some of the most important friendships of his life were across gender lines. The reception to Will and Violet has been so pleasantly surprising, so Pacat supposed he wasn’t the only one with a hunger for that kind of friendship within the romantasy genre.

Pacat also reflected on Will’s complex relationship with his Found Family -- that having the support of a Found Family can be so essential, but in Will’s case that lifeline is undermined by secrecy, turning that Found Family into a different kind of loneliness. Because the thing is: if something so immense happens to you that you feel you can’t talk about, or you feel some way about yourself but think you can’t share that with others, it means you can’t really be your authentic self. But if you’re not being you’re authentic self, who are your friends friends with? They can’t be friends with the true You; they can only be friends with a facade/with a performance. So as long as Will is scared to show his true self and remains hiding himself away from even his friends, he will be alone. It’s a hard step to take. (Note from me: so heavvvvy but poignant.)

NOT DR-RELATED, BUT PACAT’S FAV MONSTERS FROM POPULAR FICTION: Pacat was so excited to namedrop his favourite monsters from popular fiction, he volunteered to go first LOL. The answers: 'The Brat Prince' Lestat (Lestat has been on his mind a lot recently because the AMC TV portrayal captures Lestat so well & has completely rejuvenated Pacat’s 12 year-old love of vampires. Total mood); serial killers such as in the Ripley series; and simply: American Psycho.

Great panel, right? Now it’s Europe’s turn!

[notllorstel]

making the eldest trolls siblings interact

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

honestly i don’t see as much childhood friends to lovers with katsuki as i would like to and i feel like that’s criminal. like that is a criminal offense.

[buckrecs]

i wanted to request hockey player!bucky au or like any kinda sport but preferably hockey or baseball because i’ve only read like 3 fics about that AU but im obsessed with it

Athlete!Bucky

masterlist | req masterlist

I didn’t put any boxer bucky fics btw ! thinking about making a list just for it..

ONESHOT

My Everyday by @pellucid-constellations

Bucky Barnes was aggressive, annoying, and—worst of all—a hockey player. Not your type. At all. But, unfortunately, your roommate.

Touchdown by @buckyseternal

you decide to reward your boyfriend after he scores the winning touchdown.

A Little Superstitious by @jadedvibes

The school's football team needs a win and a certain blue-eyed player could use a kiss for good luck to help make that happen.

hail mary by @barnesafterglow

when you start sneaking around with your brother's best friend, it's only a matter of time until you get caught

Don’t End Today by @subwaysurf45

The day that you happily upgraded you from tutor to girlfriend all because of a few nice words.

Flirting and Football by @lovelybarnes

Bucky barnes and a college au where reader is the only one who isn’t interested in him basically

Anger Issues by @hailhydra920

You’re the only one who can calm Bucky down.

fair catch by @endless-summer-soldier

Y/N joins the football team to prove a point and the last thing Bucky expected out of the season was to fall for the new kicker

SERIES

For the Love of the Game by @pellucid-constellations

Bucky Barnes was a menace. NYU’s top baseball player, he was used to girls falling at his feet and could smooth talk his way out of just about anything. You hated him. He couldn’t figure out why. So when the novelty of weekend parties and quick hookups finally wore off—and his feelings for you began to grow—he made it his mission to fix it.

No Such Thing by @sanguineterrain

You’ve been assigned to write a column for your school paper on the team’s spectacular running back. You don’t care very much for your university’s football team; you just can’t understand the hype, okay? Turns out your distaste for football bigheads was exactly on point: James Barnes is insufferable.

Out Of Bounds by @foreverindreamlandd

The chaos fic that was supposed to be a one shot inspired by me binge-watching Ted Lasso and now there’s a masterlist lmao. Enjoy the ride!

ice ice baby by @endless-summer-soldier

Bucky is a college hockey player, Y/N is a figure skater without a partner. What's happens when these two opposites start sharing the ice...

Quarterback!Bucky x Assistant!Reader by @angrythingstarlight

ice ice baby by @endless-summer-soldier

Bucky is a college hockey player, Y/N is a figure skater without a partner. What's happens when these two opposites start sharing the ice...

[mal-ruben]

current synopsis of that jazzprowl fic im writing:

Civillian secretary!prowl meets Newbie private!Jazz and immediently hate eachother's guts but somehow keep on meeting, they end up sharing their dream divisions (tactical and spec ops), but they cant because of forces out of their control.

(Obvi they do end with a happy ending its just gonna be slow burn to the max)

[otoshigo]

Summary:

Alastor figures out he has a crush on Lucifer. ...Unfortunately, he also figures out at the same time that Lucifer can read minds.

aka

Alastor does everything he can to keep Lucifer from finding out about his crush. Until he changes his mind.

A/N: Everything about this made me giggle. But also it stemmed from my very deep seeded fear when I was younger that people could read my mind and everyone could hear what I was thinking. That hit me at random times. But then I got older and I got over myself and realized I was not that special, which actually is very comforting.

[thatguyatthetypewriter]

Random Prompt n°41

"I gave up listening to your whole monologue roughly half an hour ago."

"I've been talking for only two minutes-"

[anitalenia]

━━━ .°˖✧ fake relationship ⋆˙⊹

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it.

╰₊✧ ﾟOTHER LINKS . ྀི ⊹ masterlist | romance tropes |

taglist | prompt list | symbol packs | dividers page

꒰ঌ group one ໒꒱

escort au / hire a sex worker to be your fake boyfriend or girlfriend | celebrities being together for publicity / marketing strategy | a character is trying to appear straight / this can be because family or friends don’t approve of sexuality | a character is trying to become a US citizen

꒰ঌ group two ໒꒱

a character is trying not to be deported | a character is showing up to a high school reunion and doesn’t want to look like a failure | a character wants to appear taken to discourage other people from making romantic gestures | a character wants to get overbearing family off their back about their love life

꒰ঌ group three ໒꒱

a character wants to make their real love interest jealous | a guy is saving a girl from being harassed in public by posing as her boyfriend | one person doesn’t want to go to a wedding alone | your friend already said you’d be their date without asking

꒰ঌ group four ໒꒱

each of them want to make their exes jealous | they’re playing a prank on other people | only dating a person because they want attention | a girl dating a guy her father doesn’t approve of | paying them to date you because you want to be popular too

꒰ঌ group five ໒꒱

fake dating as a disguise | two spies having to be pretend married at a party | two strangers under witness protection that are together | a peasant being the royals date to a ball | getting married with no real love between each other for the benefits (insurance, money, inheritances)

꒰ঌ group six ໒꒱

going to a family reunion and nobody knows you broke with your actual partner so you bring someone to play along as them | you’re not ready to tell family or friends that you two broke up so you fake it

will update when I think of new ones. hope this helps if you’re not sure what story to tell but you want something new <3

[mrs-bucky-barnes106]

Lover

au: college (Rutgers University iykyk :)

trope: strangers to lovers, getting back w ex

pairing: basketball player!bucky x artist!reader

warnings: fluff, angst, heartbreak

a/n: ahhh this is my first series!! i'm so so excited and i hope you guys love it as much as i do

౨ৎ

❥ Chapter 1: You Need to Calm Down

[streamafterlaughter]

Fundamental Differing

masterlist | playlist | pin board | chapter X

Chapter XI: Consider This The Slip

summary: the aftermath of a rough night is surprisingly calm. things might be a mess, but you’re handling it as well as you possibly could. for now, at least, things are going to be okay.

tags: angst!!!!! hurt/comfort, flirting, forced proximity, slow burn, mutual pining, fake dating, rockstar!eddie x rockstar!gn!reader, bff!robin and bff!steve

a/n: HIIIIII i’m really proud of how this turned out, very excited to get to the midwest leg of the tour soon! Disclaimer: I do not give permission to have my work reposted on other sites. Reblogs are more than welcome, but please inform me if you find my work elsewhere unless otherwise stated. Reblog to support the author!

—

December 1985

He wakes up first, the sunlight peeking through your open blinds hitting the bed. You’re still asleep, regardless of the rays hitting your entire body, and Eddie can’t help but stare. Your back is to him, the covers thrown from your body in your sleep, leaving your entire backside exposed. He traces your silhouette first with his eyes, letting them roam freely over your neck that still has remnants of his teeth, your shoulders, down your back, to your hips, and over your ass where the comforter barely covers you. Without thinking, Eddie traces the muscles on your back with a lazy finger, committing every inch to his memory.

He lets his mind wander, mostly to how unbelievable this whole situation is. To have someone to wake up to, that trusts him enough to let him sleep in their bed, that loves him, is something he never could have counted on. In a way, it terrifies him, that it’s all too good to be true. One day, he’s sure you’ll wake up and realize what a mistake you’ve made. He shakes his head at himself, ridding the thought from his mind. You’ve given him no reason to worry, he’s doing this to himself.

Present Day

Eddie’s POV

Your new look is, well, interesting to say the least. He does a double take when you get on stage, a hand flying to cover his gaping mouth. He looks from the stage, to Steve, then back to the stage.

Steve shakes his head, mouthing I don’t fuckin’ know! And Eddie snorts. You’re definitely going through something, but that doesn’t mean the haircut itself isnt fucking hilarious.

After what feels like forever, you finish your last song and exit the stage. Eddie is quick to follow you, catching up with your angry stomping. “Nice ‘do.” He nudges you as he falls in step. “Where can I get me one of those. What’s it called? The ‘Stuck In The Blender’?”

“It’s actually called leave me the fuck alone, Eddie.” You spit back, trying to speed walk away, but he keeps your pace.

“Why’d you do that?” He makes a point to sound genuine, because despite himself, he still worries about you.

You shrug. “Felt like it.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “C’mon, what’s buggin’ you?

“Honestly?” You halt, making Eddie stop short and trip on his own feet. “You. You’re bugging me.”

It’s a jab to his ego, and he feels an ache in his chest. “Me?”

You nod, growing frantic. “You! You keep, y’know, showing up.” You wave your hands around as you speak, as if it’ll get your point across.

“I- I’m sorry, I think? I can’t really help that. We are stuck on tour together, we kinda have no choice but to show up.” His brain works quickly, trying to make sense of your words. “Is this about the song? Earlier? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, it came out wrong. I want to write the song with you, even if we don’t-“

You wave your hand to stop him, and he does. “No, no. It’s not just that. It’s me. I’m stressed out, I don’t like that my label wants us to date. I don’t like that we’re touring together. I don’t like that I-“ You cut yourself off. “Never mind.”

“What? You don’t like when you what? Whatever it is, I won’t judge, I won’t even say a word.”

You shake your head, keeping your eyes on the sticky club floor. “Nothing.”

“Y/n.” Eddie fights the urge to reach for you, to pull you in and wrap his arms around you. He forgets what it even feels like to hold you now, what your warmth feels like.

“Eddie, really. Nothing.” And that’s final. The two of you don’t say anything until you reach the dressing room, where Eddie bids you goodnight, and is meant with a grunt as you close the door in his face.

He doesn’t have long to collect his thoughts before Robin’s behind him. “What did you do?”

He pivots, groaning. “Nothing! I- I don’t know! They won’t tell me!”

She crosses her arm, waiting for him to finish yammering. “Uh huh. Now use your tiny little boy brain.” Eddie looks for clues on her face, but gets nothing from her irritated expression. He shrugs, exasperated and defeated. “I’ll give you a teeny, tiny hint. Think about it. Why did they never tell you they got signed? Why did they never ask you for help when it came to video shoots or recording, or anything like that? Why were they so fine not coming to shows with you while you were dating?”

It takes him a second, but he gets there “Oh.” You don’t want your success to be credited to him. You want to make your own name, your own art, without being associated with Eddie. You don’t want people believing you slept your way to the top.

“Yeah, oh. You’re still so blind to how they feel, Ed, it is so irritating to watch. And before you even think about it, don’t ask me for advice. I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know. Now, if you would get out of my way, I have a friend to comfort.” She nudges Eddie with her shoulder, entering the dressing room and slamming the door behind her.

—

Your POV

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would I do that? Why am I being so fucking embarrassing?

You’re aggressively splashing your warm face with cool water when Robin knocks on the bathroom door. “Occupied!” You flinch when you hear the sound of your strained voice, sounding how you feared it would: like you’d been crying.

“It’s me,” Robin’s voice is low, but you crack the door enough to peer out and see her standing there. “Can I come in?” You nod, and open the door just enough to let her squeeze inside. You turn the faucet back on to drown your voices out. You’ve finished crying, your face red and your eyes puffy. You sniffle, and Robin takes you in as you try to disappear. “Can you please, please tell me what’s actually going on? You can’t keep walking around like you’re fine and then pull a stunt like this. We worry.”

You cross your arms, taking in her words to heart as you try to breathe evenly. “This doesn’t leave the room.” She nods. “Not even to Steve.” You clarify, and she only keeps nodding. You want to believe her, so you do. “I’ve been worse, lately. Not sleeping, not feeling like myself. I wanted to do something drastic, so I chose to do this,” you gesture to your horrible haircut, “instead of something… bad.”

Robin makes a noise like she understands. She doesn’t, not really, but you don’t feel like giving her the gory details. “Okay, so how are we gonna fix it?”

You turn to face the mirror. One side is longer than the other, making you look like you’ve got a permanent kink in your neck. Your bangs are choppy, and the ends are cut bluntly, like you sawed them off. “I figure Harley’s seen the damage, or at least heard by now. Maybe she’ll forgive me and fix it. I don’t know if I wanna face her wrath, though.” You feel a burning in your throat, and you stifle an ugly sob as you take in your appearance.

“I may have an idea. You gotta trust me, though.” Robin’s eyes meet yours in the mirror. You’ve trusted her with your life, so you don’t see a reason you can’t trust her with your hair. “We have to wait for Eddie, though.”

Ah, fuck.

—

Eddie’s POV

He walks offstage, waving to the audience still screaming his name. He tosses his sweat soaked shirt over his shoulder, and follows the rest of the band to their dressing room. When he gets close enough, he notices you and Robin waiting outside, having a hushed discussion when he approaches.

“Eddie!” Robin greets, far too cheerfully for the way she’s been acting toward him lately. “We need your help.” Her tone suggests it’s not a question.

Eddie leans against the wall, fighting the urge to light a cigarette already. “With?” Robin motions to your hair, and he snorts. “You want me to… what, exactly?”

“Fix it. I want you to fix it.” You say meekly. “Please?” You add, looking up finally. Of course he’s gonna do it, even with that haircut he’d do anything you asked him to. “I have a feeling Harley’s gonna kill me if she gets to it first.”

Eddie chuckles, and he thinks he catches the beginning of your smile twitching on your face. “Okay, yeah. I’ll fix it. But I need something from you.”

“Depends what it is.” You cross your arms over your chest, defensive.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be negotiating, sweetheart.” He bites his lip as soon as he says it, the old nickname slipping out like a bad habit. “Sorry.”

You don’t respond, but you enter the room like he’s invited you, and Robin follows closely. Before Eddie can enter, though, she turns around. “Go easy. They’re not in a good place right now. They need gentle hands.”

Eddie nods. “I can be gentle.”

Robin only nods in response. “Alright, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m gonna take a nap before we get on the road. Have fun!”

“You aren’t staying?” You call out to Robin, and Eddie’s heart sinks. You still don’t want to be alone with him.

“You’ll be okay! Scream if you need me!” Robin exits the dressing room, waving on her way.

Eddie turns his radio down, lowering the blasting of R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion to a dull hum. He turns to you, standing in the middle of the dressing room while the guys gather their things to pack the bus. Eddie fills them in, apologizing for not helping them load.

“It’s fine, man. Y/n needs you more right now, I think.” Gareth says, and not with any malice. He glances at you, then back to Eddie. “How are you gonna fix that?”

Eddie shakes his head. “I have maybe one semi decent idea.” Gareth nods, and follows his band out the door.

“Okay,” Eddie turns back to you, clapping his hands together. “Let’s see what we got here. Go ahead and sit down.” Eddie motions to the vanity mirror, and you take a seat in his chair. The lights are bright on your face, and Eddie does everything he can not to stare. Your eyes are bloodshot, your cheeks red and puffy. He sees the tear stains and red nose, the giveaways that you’ve been crying. He knows you don’t usually care this much about your appearance. Something else is doing this to you, and he’s determined to figure out what it is.

He grabs a towel from his suitcase and drapes it over your front, a makeshift smock, knotting it together in the back with a stray hair tie. He’s nervous, being so close to you like this, while you put your trust in his abilities. He grabs his scissors and a comb in shaky hands, and forces himself to relax.

“You don’t have to do this, y’know.” You say quietly, almost a whisper.

“I wanna help. If you’re okay with it.” He looks at you in the mirror, meeting your eyes a second before you look away.

“Okay. Sorry, it’s really bad.”

Eddie shakes his head. “Nothing we can’t fix.” He’s not sure that’s true, but he’ll be damned if he upsets you further. He gets to work, snipping longer pieces and evening out the back. As he does, he becomes less nervous about how it will come out. It’ll be much shorter, sure, but at least it won’t look like you cut it with a weedwacker.

The silence starts to get to him. “Why’d you do it, really?” Eddie asks, not meeting your eyes.

“I wanted to feel in control.” Your answer surprises him.

“Are you feeling out of control?”

You scoff. “Yeah, very. Are you not?”

Eddie shrugs. “I’ve never felt in control. It’s never bothered me.” He likes the chaos, the unpredictability.

“I dunno. Maybe it’s tour fatigue. Sleeping on a bus, being up all the time. Can’t be too good for me.”

“How are you sleeping?” He asks, not thinking of how it must sound.

“Not well, not since tour started.”

Eddie nods. “Buses aren’t ideal, but you get used to it.” He makes a few more cuts, then stands back to admire his work. “Voila!”

You inspect your new hair in the mirror. It’s short, resting just below your jaw in choppy layers. Your bangs are still short, but they fall evenly across your forehead. You look fantastic, but Eddie already knows you can pull any hairstyle off.

“Wow. I did not know you could do that.” You turn your head to inspect the side view. “Thank you. So, so much.”

Eddie unties the towel from around your neck. “Anytime.”

“What did you want for it?” You ask, standing up to face him.

“What? Oh,” He’d forgotten he said he needed anything from you. “I uh, I want help with my makeup.”

—

Your POV

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Eddie nods, blushing. “I can’t put eyeliner on to save my life. All the rockstars do it, and I think it looks sick. But I don’t even know where to start.”

You nod, choosing not to take the opportunity to poke fun at him. He did just save your hair, after all. “Okay. Do you have any?”

“Yeah,” He grabs the toiletry back off the vanity and pulls out a black pencil with no cap. You pluck it from his fingers and motion for him to sit in the chair. He does, but his head isn’t close enough to you, so you shake your head.

“Here, sit on the counter,” you pat the top of the vanity, and he repositions himself. Sitting here, he’s about exactly your height, eyes level with yours. You take a step closer, closing the gap between you and him almost completely. You repeat a prayer in your head, not to lose your cool being so close to his face, his eyes, his lips.

You clear your throat to break the silence. “So, I have a trick,” you dig around in your pockets until you locate your lighter. “I melt the tip to make it easier to apply. Like this,” You flick the lighter, and hold the tip of the pencil to the flame for barely a few seconds. “But don’t, like, apply it right away. Don’t wanna blind yourself.” You blow on the pencil to cool it down just enough to use. “Look up, but with your eyes not your head.” Eddie tilts his head up, and immediately realizes his mistake. You giggle as he readjusts. “Good. Stay still.” Here comes the hard part. The part where you have to touch his face. You place your thumb under his eye, pulling the bottom lid open just slightly to gain access to his waterline. You take the pencil and drag it across, trying to go quickly so this torture can be over for both of you.

“How do you do this every night? This shit sucks.” Eddie talks as you focus, and you can feel his face moving under your hand.

“Beauty is pain.” You reply, switching to his other eye.

“This isn’t beauty, it’s metal.”

You can’t help but giggle. “Of course. Mean and scary.” You wipe a bit of excess eyeliner from under his eye. “Tada!”

Eddie turns around in his seat to look into the mirror. “Oh, I look sexy!” He exclaims, and you have to bite so hard on your tongue to keep from responding. The feeling in your stomach is back, like a flock of birds banging around in your intestines. Eddie turns back to look at you. “Thank you.”

You nod, still too close to his face. “Anytime.” The silence after is deafening. Your ears are ringing and you’re not sure whether it’s from the show or from the quiet between you two.

Eddie clears his throat after what feels like forever. “I gotta, uh,” He motions vaguely to the door.

You realize you’ve planted yourself between his legs, and clumsily back away from him. “Sorry! Sorry. Yeah, I should probably get going too. I’ll uh, see you later? When we leave together to please the public?”

Eddie nods, and you turn on your heel and speed walk the fuck out of there.

—

Eddie’s POV

He’s fucked. He’s fucked so bad, and he can’t do anything about it. He can still smell your perfume, mixed with the slightest amount of sweat after performing, and a little like beer that probably spilled onstage. He feels your hand caressing his face gently, and your warm breath against his skin as you concentrate. If he closes his eyes, you’re back again, leaning into him, lips closing in on his.

“You ready?” Gareth comes back in, but stops short when Eddie opens his eyes. “Shit, man, you look good! You do that?” He wiggles a finger, gesturing to Eddie’s eyes.

“Nah, uh, Y/n helped me out.”

“Oh?” His tone is teasing. “Glad you guys are still getting along. Speaking of, I just saw them. Nice job on the hair.”

Eddie grins. “Thanks, man.”

“Let’s get goin’, yeah? Washington tomorrow’s gonna be insane. You need the rest.”

Eddie nods. “I’ll catch up, I got a few things to grab first.” Gareth nods, and leaves the dressing room.

—

You’re waiting by the stage door when Eddie approaches. “You still got it on, huh?” You smile up at him, and his heart rate quickens.

“I gotta show it off while I can, there’s no way I’ll be able to do it this well.” He holds out his hand, already feeling it sweat. “Shall we?”

You grab his hand after half a beat of hesitation, entwining your fingers with his. It’s the most natural feeling in the world, your skin against his. He squeezes it gently, and feels you squeeze back, a silent exchange of reassurance.

Steve flings the door open, and Eddie’s immediately blinded by the camera flashes. Crowds of fans and paparazzi alike start shouting, crude comments and questions alike.

“Do you need a third?!” “How long have you been dating?!” “Is this a rekindled love?!” “Over here, over here!”

Eddie does his gentlemanly duty, shielding you as best as he can with his body, opening his jacket to block the view of the cameras. You’re hurried into the bus by Steve, who slams the door behind him and heaves a deep breath like he’s just run a marathon.

“Thanks, big guy.” Eddie pats Steve on the back.

“So, uh,” You let go of Eddie’s hand, and he bites back his disappointment. “How do I get back on my own bus?”

Steve checks his watch. “We’ll probably stop to get food in a bit. You can reunite on your bus in a few hours.”

Eddie whips his head to look at Steve. “A few hours?”

Steve shrugs. “It would look weird if Y/n were to just walk back out now. There’s no point in stopping until we get food, and everyone’s too hungry to wait for you guys to sort your shit. Get comfy, Y/n. Welcome to the Coffin.” Steve pushes past you both grumpily, and Eddie watches you follow.

—

Your POV

“Hey.” You tap Steve’s shoulder once you’ve caught up to him by the bunks. “What’s your deal?”

Steve grunts. “Tired. And irritated.”

“Why?”

“I'm sick of being out of the loop. I have no idea what’s going on with you two. First your hair’s all fucked up, now Eddie’s wearing makeup and you look like a rockstar again. What the hell did I miss?”

You shrug, fighting the urge to tell him everything. “Bad night, gave myself a makeunder. Eddie helped me fix it to avoid Harley’s fury. I showed him how to do his eyeliner in return. No biggie.”

Steve sighs. “Okay,” he says, clearly dissatisfied. “As long as I'm not missing anything important.”

You scoff. “Like what?”

“Like you falling back into love or something. Because I'm still betting on you two.”

“Okay, enough! I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when we’re getting food.” You go to enter an empty bunk.

Steve stops you with a grunt. “Those are taken. Eddie’s room’s back there,” he points to the sliding door behind him.

“I’d rather sleep on the roof.”

“Sorry, I can’t allow that. Eddie has room for a second person, not that he’s used it.” You try to decode Steve’s cryptism to no avail. Why would you care if he’s used the extra space? Defeated, you shuffle off to Eddie’s tiny room, curling up against the wall in the uncomfortable twin bed. It doesn’t take long before you’re unconscious.

—

Eddie’s POV

“Alright, I’m tapping out.” Eddie puts his hand on the table of the tiny booth. “Gonna rest up before we get to Seattle. G’night.” The guys wave him off, and Eddie slides the door open to his bed. Behind it, you’re sprawled on the tiny bed, laying on your stomach with an arm up on either side of your head. Your mouth hangs open as you snore softly, mumbling every few seconds something incoherent.

The last thing he wants to do is wake you up. Instead, he slides the door closed again and pivots to face Steve. “They’re in my bed.”

Steve mumbles something before flipping over to face Eddie. “So wake them up.”

“They had a rough day, I wanna let them sleep.”

“Then fuckin’ sleep somewhere else. Leave me out of it, like you do everything else.” Steve flips back over to face the wall after yanking the curtain shut. Eddie huffs in annoyance, and opens his bedroom door again.

You’ve moved, now on your side facing the wall. There’s a sliver of floor next to the bed, barely wide enough to fit a person, but it’ll have to do for now. His bones ache with fatigue, and his head is starting to hurt. As he goes to pull a pillow from the bed, he hears you. He can’t tell if you’re awake, so he waits a beat. You repeat yourself, “Just get in.”

“What?” Eddie whispers, in case you’re sleep talking again.

You roll over, your eyes wide open. “Lie down. It’s only an hour or two until we stop and I can get off. You’re tired, I’m tired. Not a big deal.”

Before he can respond, you’ve turned around again, pulling the blanket up to your chin. The bed is small, leaving no way for Eddie to lie next to you without touching you. He winces as his chest brushes against your back, but he lowers himself into the bed anyway. He lay stiffly, careful not to disturb you again, but you stir slightly, pressing into his chest. It takes all of his reserve not to throw his arm around your waist and drag you closer, but he rests his hand on his leg instead. Your warmth lulls him to sleep in minutes.

—

taglist: @children-of-the-grave @five-bi-five @wiildflower-xxx @beebeerockknot @champagne-glamour @xxgothwhorexx @therensistance @chonkzombie @brxkenartt @sidthedollface2 @bibieddiesgf @gaysludge @eddiesguitarskills @littlepotatobeansworld @ghost-proofbaby @poisonedluv | send a message to be added🫶

[masked-alien-lesbian]

I really love that a choice from way in the beginning of the book is brought up several times and actually effects the dialogue several chapters later.

[nari-nterest]

Juwon to Dongsik: I don't want you to like me.

Chansung to Manwol: I prefer you not liking me because I'm bothering you.

Guess who ends up falling deeply in love, they are willing to do ultimate sacrifice for the other 🤡

[kiingbiing]

-

[eveulum]

I have a pitch for a spin off from The Batman movie. The Falcone crime family has fallen. This leaves a power vacuum in the Gotham organized crime world. Catwoman is determined not to let the remnants of her father’s organization tear the city apart so she starts showing up at incidents of mob violence. Every time she shows up she sees a mysterious purple figure on a motorcycle. Assuming the mysterious figure is part of the problem she starts tracking them. Of course when they meet, they fight. It’s eventually discovered that the mysterious figure is Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. She is the daughter of a former Gotham mob family who were all killed by rival mobsters. She vowed to bring down organized crime but has been working in Bludhaven for many years. She has come back to help save Gotham from the mob war. The two women realize they are on the same side and team up to end the violence and maybe fall in love.

[nomniki]

also thinkin abt tokyo ghoul ! enha

[the-greatest-magic-of-all]

A Tale of Faeries and Forget-me-nots - Chapter 1 - krystalqueen9718 - Dimension 20 (Web Series) [Archive of Our Own]

AHHHHHHHH!!!!! This is fic was inspired by my fabriz/acofaf post!!! I didn't know you could win at Fandom but I think I just did!!!