#but with the tags thing i can block most of them

[beritybaker]

Itsy Bitsy

This one is for @steddiesongfics June 2025 prompt: summer songs.

Rating: T | WC: 2,105 | Tags: Public Pool, Speedo, Flirting, POV Eddie, Pre-Steddie, Gareth is a Little Shit | ao3 Song: "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," by Brian Hyland

I’m gonna kill him.

It’s not that Eddie is ashamed of his body. He’s also not that worried about getting weird looks, because he’s used to those. The problem is more the indignity of it all; he’s supposed to be dark and mysterious, but as he stares at himself in the locker room mirror, he sees anything but mystery. The swimsuit Gareth is making him wear leaves very little to the imagination.

Still, the thing is a consequence of his own actions. He’s been well and truly hoisted by his own petard. Normally, Jeff would’ve jumped in to defend him and be the voice of reason, but the fact that they’d been betting on his love life had earned them the cold shoulder for the time being. The result is Eddie being forced to confront the crowd at Hawkins Community Pool on the hottest day of the summer, wearing nothing but a goddamn banana hammock.

Gareth couldn’t have picked out something understated and black, or even red. Of course not—that would be too easy for Eddie to play off. He’d just had to pick out some neon green thing that’s bound to burn the other pool-goers’ retinas as much as his pasty skin. He also couldn’t have warned Eddie that this was his punishment, so that he would have time to tame the jungle he’s got below the belt.

I’m gonna wrap my hands around his neck and—

“Eds? You ready?” Gareth’s voice from the next shower stall sounds positively giddy. For the love of Christ, he couldn’t even be a little bit sympathetic.

“Yeah,” Eddie grumbles, and he steps into view.

As soon as he sees him, Gareth’s eyes light up with enough mischief to power all of downtown. “Oh, it’s even better than I expected.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means—and don’t take this the wrong way, man—I can see like, everything. Your whole cock and balls are just…out there.”

“And?” Eddie demands, rolling his eyes. He’s well aware of how visible his junk is in this ridiculous piece of nylon. Despite his best efforts to adjust to a less obscene position, the outline of his dick is impossible to hide.

“It’s funny?” Gareth says. His tone implies the duh. “God, you’re hot, too. If you weren’t hot, I would just feel mean making you wear that.”

“You are mean,” Eddie shoots back, refusing to acknowledge the compliment. He snatches his towel from Gareth’s grasp and mutters, “Now let’s get this over with.”

“Get it over with? I’m doing you a favor, dude.”

“A favor? That’s what this is?”

Gareth shrugs again. “Sure. I mean, there’s a lot of people out there. There’s bound to be somebody who picks up what you’re laying down.”

Eddie rolls his eyes again and leads him out of the locker room without another word. He tries to subtly position the towel in his hand to block himself from most people’s view, counting on Gareth being too chickenshit to call him out on it in front of strangers. Still, he gets a couple odd looks, and he does his best to tell himself the heat in his face is just from the sun beating down on him as he walks faster and faster.

By the time he reaches the grassy, blessedly empty corner of the pool area, he’s almost jogging. Almost, of course, because he’s not used to being so close to naked in public. If he actually did run, he worries his dick might bounce around enough to slip free of its tiny restraint, so the most he’s willing to do is power-walk over to the fence. There, he spreads out his towel and sits, thankful for a moment of peace as he curls his knees to his chest before Gareth can pointedly suggest a little sunbathing.

Sure enough, the kid raises an eyebrow as he spreads out his own towel and remarks, “You gonna sit there like a roly-poly all day? You’re never gonna get a tan like that.”

“You know I only burn,” Eddie scoffs, but he straightens out his knees a bit. His legs still hide his crotch from the view of passersby, but in this position he can lean back on his hands and shoot Gareth what has to be the most transparently false look of indifference known to man. “But I see your point. I guess I should show off, since I’m apparently so hot.”

Gareth laughs, seeing right through his attempt to tease. “Dude, there’s no point trying to make me self-conscious. I’m not the one wearing a bikini bottom.”

Eddie narrows his eyes in question.

“No, it’s not actually a bikini. I was exaggerating, asshole.”

He shrugs, adopting another aloof expression. It feels a tad more successful than the first. “Hm. That’s too bad. I still would’ve worn it.”

“Sure you would,” Gareth replies, disbelieving.

“I would!”

“Then prove it. Stretch out those legs and show off,” he dares.

“Okay, then. Fine!” Eddie slides his feet out in front of him until the backs of his thighs hit the towel. It puts him on display, in all his indecent glory. “Happy?”

“Hm. Not yet.”

“Gare, I’m sitting here with my bush out for all the world to see. What the hell else am I supposed to do?”

“Just wait,” Gareth says.

“Jesus, that’s not cryptic at all,” Eddie mumbles.

“It really is a scorcher today, huh?” Without any other warning, Gareth rocks to his feet. “I’m gonna go for a dip. You wanna come with?”

Eddie glares at his shit-eating grin. “Uh, no. I think I’ll hold off on that.”

“Suit yourself,” Gareth says, but the subtext is something more like, Eventually it’s gonna get too hot for you to stay out of the water, you know.

Eddie thinks his friend might be severely underestimating the determination of a man trying to keep from accidentally flashing everybody and their mother. He watches Gareth prance off to wait in line for the diving board, then flops backward across his towel and squeezes his eyes shut against the blazing sun. Christ. I never should’ve taken that bet.

He could just…leave. He could use this moment of Gareth’s absence to go back to the locker room, put his clothes back on, and leave the kid and his smug mug stranded without a ride. Gareth knows all that, though. More importantly, he knows Eddie would never actually do it; that’s the only reason he left him alone in the first place. Plus, if Eddie did chicken out, he would never hear the end of it.

It’s something to fantasize about, though, to take his mind off the feeling of a stale breeze ruffling leg hair it wouldn’t usually reach. The thought works well enough as a distraction. It’s almost like he’s at home in his bed, where he’s not so conscious of being nearly nude.

The thing that pops his bubble is a sudden change in temperature. It reminds him that he’s been lying in the sun, and when he opens his eyes, there’s a shadow cast across his torso, moving like a person. Because it is a person, he realizes, and he looks up to see a fucking Adonis dropping into a lounge chair that wasn’t there a minute ago.

He blinks up at him. That’s not just any Adonis.

Before he can stop himself, Eddie blurts, “You’re blocking my sun, Harrington.”

Steve Harrington glances his way and says, “You can thank me later, Casper.” Which, ouch. But then he does a double-take, and Eddie sees his eyes flit from the swimsuit, up to his face, and back again, where they linger far longer than they should.

Not that Eddie blames him. It’s not every day you see the town freak sitting around in what amounts to a pair of fluorescent, low-rise briefs.

Still, it’s probably best to draw Harrington’s attention away from his bulge. It’s not like Eddie’s suit is gonna do him any favors once his body starts to fully process King Steve sitting next to him with his tits out and his own itty-bitty swim shorts hugging the curve of his thigh. So, by way of an explanation, he says, “Lost a bet.”

Steve’s gaze snaps up to Eddie’s face, so he puts on his best sly grin to disguise his nerves. There must be some kind of eye-magnet on his crotch, though—Of course there is, it’s called a fucking speedo—because that gaze starts to drift again, sliding back to it.

In a slight panic, Eddie adds, “Plus it’s hot out, you know?”

Steve meets his eye. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “Yeah. Sure is,” he murmurs. Then he bites his lip, and this time the way his eyes rake down Eddie’s body feels a bit more deliberate.

Oh.

Does that mean what Eddie thinks it means? Is Harrington…checking him out?

One way to find out.

Eddie purses his lips, pushing them out a little to subtly emphasize their natural fullness. It’s a move he mastered as a kid, when he realized it could get him just about anything he wanted from his uncle. Once he got older, he realized it worked the same way with others, and in far less innocent situations than begging to stay up an extra half-hour. He arches his back a little, too, then he uses the most provocative tone he can muster to quip, “I can move somewhere else if you need to cool down a little.”

That gets Steve’s attention. He looks at Eddie’s face again as a flush spreads from his cheeks and all the way down his neck. He raises his eyebrows.

“Would you like me to move, big boy?” Eddie asks, fluttering his lashes.

Steve chews on his lip a little bit longer before he clears his throat and mumbles, “No. I, uh…I think I like you just where you are.”

“Mm. Good.” Eddie settles his head back on his towel, making sure his hair fans out around his head. He juts his chin toward the sky to put his neck on display. “I like the view from here.” He draws his gaze up the length of Steve’s form, knowing he’s gotten his point across when Steve clears his throat again. When that happens, Eddie pantomimes getting caught with a playful gasp.

With a hint of a smirk playing at his lips, Steve says, “You two come here often?”

Eddie furrows his brow.

In answer to his unspoken question, Steve points right at his dick.

A little disarmed by his cheek, Eddie barks a laugh. “Well, like I said, it’s hot out. But what about you, Your Majesty? Don’t you have a pool in your backyard?”

Steve scoffs. “Hardly matters when your best friend drags you to the public pool, anyway.”

“Hm. Well, I’ll have to thank him, then.”

“Her.”

Eddie arches an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’re sensitive,” he teases.

“Very.” And by god, does Steve Harrington know what he’s doing. He pairs the single, growled word with a hand smoothed across his own chest. The movement is just understated enough to look innocent from a distance, but from where Eddie is lying a couple feet away, he doesn’t miss the way Steve’s fingertips dig into his golden skin and his palm rubs one of his nipples. His voice drops into a sultriness of its own. “Love the suit, by the way.”

“You know, I could wear it over to yours sometime,” Eddie replies. “Have a private little pool party. Or…”

When he trails off, Steve gives him a vaguely puzzled look.

Eddie lets him sweat for a second. He wants every bit of anticipation to sink all the way in before he finishes his thought. It’s not until Steve starts to actually look a bit distressed that he goes on, “Or not. I could also not wear it.” He wrinkles his nose playfully. “If you catch my drift.”

Steve’s look of worry smooths over, and the corner of his mouth tugs upward in a crooked smile. “Well, my folks did put in a fence last summer.” Eddie gets a whiff of sunblock and musky cologne as he leans in and whispers, “A tall one.”

Eddie’s smile widens. “Good to know.”

Later, when Eddie notices the top of Gareth’s head peeking over the edge of the pool with gloating eyes, Eddie will flip him the bird, which will prompt Steve to chuckle and ask, “What was that about?”

And Eddie will reply, “Nothing. He’s just a dick.” A dick who’s managed to live another day.

[hjgouldmusic]

only other thing i'll say for the time being about the ship showdown and rw shipping in general is that we all need to remember to be respectful of opinions and to generally practice basic internet etiquette.

it's not about 'convincing' people or 'converting' people or anything like that. if people like a ship then that's okay. if they don't, that's okay too. we are all allowed to have our own opinions, but what we shouldn't be doing is forcing them onto others ESPECIALLY in disrespectful ways. if you can't coexist in a space with differing opinions then that's what the block button is for, and that's what the option to block tags is for. if you see people who don't like a ship or don't care for it, then don't go and try 'correct' them on it. block tags, scroll past, don't harass people who don't get it. and if you hate a ship that much, then block the tag and move on- don't harass people who like that ship!

i don't want to see any behaviour like that again from anywhere in the community. at the end of the day, none of what we're fighting over is real. we're each individually playing dollhouse with the same characters; you should not be up in arms over how other people choose to interpret them in their own mind because there is no one correct way to do it. your thoughts and opinions are completely separate from mine. so why would it bother me? and why should it bother you?

i know it's a fact of being in a community in general that things like this are bound to happen all the time, but it still disappoints me. even if rain world isn't specifically targeted at an older demographic, it's definitely not light on subject matter, so i feel we should at least be discussing it with the emotional maturity and nuance it deserves. if you can't do that, then i'm sorry but maybe rain world isn't for you.

this isn't directed at anyone in particular, more of just a broad message to the rw shipping scene (and if im being honest, the broader rw community too). i think the word 'headcanon' tends to get lost in the weeds quite a lot in this community. so just a reminder: EVERY rw ship is a headcanon. there is no confirmed relationships between any of the characters in rain world outside of familial ties. and so as a result, there is no correct ship. so don't act like your favourite one is! because it's not. nobody's favourite ship is correct. nobody's most hated ship is correct. none of them are canon! so who gives a fuck. do what you want, and respect others who do what they want. simple!

i don't like being negative on here, and i've tried my best to avoid it so far, but it just felt important to say this after recent events. if i have said anything or done anything in the past to hurt people over their ships, headcanons, or otherwise, i am sorry and i don't wish to denounce you or your ideas. i've said it before that i know there are people who enjoy their own ships as much as i enjoy cherrybomb, and with that in mind i want to treat every ship like i would cherrybomb from now on, even the ones i'm not a fan of or don't get personally. i hope everyone can do the same.

[tracksuitponytail]

These fics kept me company in June 2025. Though I've been in a bit of a reading rut, there were stories that moved me or made me laugh <3 You can find my other fic recs here. Happy 28th, it's an exciting one!

🦋 (Do Not) Press Play by nonsensedarling / @absoloutenonsense [E, 2.8k, masturbation]

Harry receives a curious text from Louis.

🦋 With a View by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou [E, 3k, masturbation]

Louis is angry, wet, and… sexy. When his new roommate Harry comes home earlier than expected and catches him trying to blow off some steam, Louis can’t quite bring himself to stop.

🦋 burn this flame by rainbowninja167 / @rainbowtitania [E, 13k, Charity Football AU]

When Harry gets invited to play in a celebrity charity match with Louis Tomlinson, Manchester United's star player, he's determined to impress him with brilliant football skills. The only flaw in Harry's otherwise foolproof plan? He has absolutely no football skills, brilliant or otherwise.

🦋 the fear in the unknown by lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes) / @lightwoodsmagic [E, 30k, Bones AU]

As the world’s most renowned forensic anthropologist, Dr Harry Styles is used to dealing with the dead, taking comfort in the silence and isolation.

Until Special Agent Louis Tomlinson of the FBI comes crashing into his life, causing chaos and confusion wherever he lands.

Despite Harry’s best efforts, working murder cases together brings Louis further and further through the walls he’s spent years carefully building.

Until a case that changes everything.

🦋 Don't Shoot 'til He Scores by larry_hiatus / @emilarry [E, 9k, phone sex, Soccer Aid]

With Louis off playing a charity football game, Harry has been tasked with a little game of his own back in his bed—he gets to touch himself, but only when Louis gets the ball.

🦋 trusting things beyond mistake by sarcasticfluentry [E, 9k, friends to lovers]

"Is that even possible?" asks Harry.

All of them stare at him for several seconds, and then Louis says, "What, coming untouched?"

"Christ," Zayn mutters, throwing his hands up. “This fucking band, I swear.”

...or, Harry wants to see if he can come without touching his cock and ends up getting more than he bargained for.

🦋 The Half-Life of Mercury by croisblue / @forwhatiam [M, 7k, omegaverse]

Harry Styles is a feral omega residing in an intermediate care facility for people like him. Louis Tomlinson is the direct support professional working with him. Things are complicated.

🦋 Slip ‘n Slide by @kingsofeverything [G, 100 words, drabble]

Ten years later at the neighborhood block party.

🦋 sunflowers & surrender by tracksuitponytail [E, 32k, omegaverse]

After a devastating relationship with an alpha, omega rights activist Louis Tomlinson has learned to suppress his own nature. He loathes his heats, ignores his needs, and refuses to date alphas ever again. Then, flower-shop-owning, dungaree-wearing alpha Harry Styles walks into his life, unearthing desires Louis believed safely buried.

I'll include one of mine here because it came out this month. Maybe you'll like it <3

* podfic available *

🦋 a gentlemen's arrangement by barchive [E, 5k, Regency AU]

🎧 podfic read by frecklebomb 

Harry has been in the countryside, Louis has been trapped in town awaiting the London season, and three months apart is far, far too long.

Be sure to check the tags if there are any topics or tropes you prefer to avoid, and if you enjoy a fic, consider leaving kudos or a comment to show the author some love 🧡

[uboat53]

I think it also depends on the platform. Tumblr is great for me because I get to choose what I interact with; I pick the tags and people I follow, I block liberally, and, most importantly, I'm anonymous so I can be free in ways I can't elsewhere.

Reddit also works great for me because it's segregated by interest, so I can, again, pick and choose what I want to engage with.

Facebook used to be great for me, I have friends all around the world and being able to interact with them online was great. I started using it less and less when I realized that, more and more, Facebook was shifting things away from interacting with people I actually knew and trying to make me stressed and angry to drive engagement. Now I mostly just keep it around as a self-updating address book.

Stanford paid 35,000 people to quit social media. This was the largest study on emotional health in history. The results were so shocking, scientists called it "comparable to therapy."

Null effect? Damn

[triangular-static]

look i understand if people just don't like the idea of billford, i think we have a different internal concept of what shipping means (they're not good for each other at all but i need to dissect their dynamic like a bug. you understand. it's fun) but it's fine to avoid things you don't like, good for you genuinely

however people saying they like. don't see it. like. i'm not saying there's no platonic way to read it, i'm aroace spec myself i'm all for reading things in different ways. but i do think saying they weren't partners in any queer sense at all is trying too hard to go against what the narrative is trying to say, or missing it. somehow

anyway media literacy time if a character makes a joke like this

and the previous context of that joke within the show is that it's about an ex wife. what connection do you think the text is trying to get you to make.

and that's just from a writing point of view. not even noting that from an in universe perspective ford likely knows the joke from the same source as stan. and is therefore. placing himself in that role of the joke are you seeing where i'm coming from

(not to mention bill's side of this text which is. extremely manipulative but also does not read very platonic. again, it can technically be read as platonic! bill literally can manipulate ford's feelings. but the specific wording used is very much meant to look like possessive ex partner wording whether the character means it that way or not. it's coding. look again i'm not saying it was good for them i'm just saying there was something there.)

and then there's also the divorce/break up/rock bottom input on the website. like. how else is that supposed to be read. and the corresponding page in the book itself.

the language being used here. like yes he's saying it in a joking way but then there's the other side that isn't joking which is him crying at the bar. it's the both sides (the very coded language on top of the very genuine emotions and dynamic beneath)

i know most of us are on the same page with this i've just seen a couple people saying they don't see it when this is some of the most clear cut coding i've ever seen. and these are just the things that explicitly reference a relationship off the top of my head i'm not even including the general vibes of Everything

tl;dr it's barely even subtext anymore it's all but straight up text. what's not clicking have we forgotten what coding is (lighthearted i just enjoy the phrase what's not clicking. what's not clicking)

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[agrebel18]

HERE'S A RANDOM GUIDE TO SOME (NOT ALL) TONE INDICATORS IF YOU'RE CONFUSED ABOUT THEM

/j is joking or joke

/hj is half joking or half joke

/srs is serious

/s and /sar is sarcasm

/gen is genuine

/lh is light-hearted

/nm is not mad

/nbh is nobody here

/pos is positive

/neg is negative

there's more but i don't remember them all lmao, feel free to add so we can help each other out!

[audliminal]

Imo the most important thing is how navigable you make things. Like, if each fic is gonna use a lot of the same tags it gets really annoying to sift through 50 bajillion similar results on a fic search and in some cases I've blocked users just to keep them from overwhelming search results. But on the other hand, fics with three million tags and dozens of chapters with completely different vibes can be annoying and prevent me from reading the bits I might be interested in.

So I guess if the stuff is also closely linked/functions like a proper collection, it makes sense to keep them as one work, with proper chapter labeling or a table of contents. But if it's wildly different stuff then maybe make them individual fics, or see if you can split them up into a few works that are linked.

Honestly I think either can be fine contextually

this is assuming that everything is tagged appropriately and the fics are not part of the same continuous story. ie, the fics are not just really short chapters but are individual drabbles.

as always please reblog for a larger sample size!

[taxlthomas]

this is basically my crazy origin story btw

[bigsharkguy]

various doodles of them because i love them

[avichor]

many thoughts about vampires and how consuming their media with a strict, humanistic moral lens defeats the purpose

[godsfavoritescientist]

I've been seeing a bunch of people adding disclaimers to their billford posts clarifying that they have critical thinking skills about abuse and abusive relationships, and I 100% understand that impulse. When I first made this blog I added disclaimers like that onto nearly everything. But, if it makes the folks adding those disclaimers feel any better: after I stopped writing essays trying to prevent people from taking my billford posts in bad faith, absolutely no one got mad at me in my inbox or on any of my posts, and I've been posting about billford for years now. In my experience the majority of people who are uncomfy with this ship nowadays will simply block and move on. Some folks will disagree no matter how many disclaimers you add, and that's ok

[sodaneko]

heartbreaking! one of your favorite artists makes fun of y/n fics!

[butchlifeguard]

swimming <3

just add water, katie ledecky / tumblr / me / "how swimming helped an ocd writer quieten their mind," oprah daily / "how does swimming help shape my body?" plunge san diego / "simone manuel has already won," the ringer / pinterest / tumblr / aristotle and dante discver the secrets of the universe, benjamin alire sáenz / instagram / the swimmer, john cheever / me

[annalyia]

I am one more person saying something like "your baby hates being put down because you hold her too much" away from becoming the joker

[marietheran]

...So! There are at least two people on tumblr who hate me with absolute loathing 🙃