#confirmation that Eddie is the first person he can be honest with

[fromxxthexxashes]

Things we got this (6x14) Episode:

1. Eddie screen time

2. Tia Pepa

3. Eddie acting as fruity as ever

4. Buck telling Eddie to ghost his date

5. Chimney screen time

6. Ravi screen time

7. More character building for Ravi

8. Leader chimney

9. Eddie going on one (1) failed date

10. More on how Kevin’s death still affects Chim

11. Ravi homecoming (and Buck bear hugging him into the air)

12. Eddie saying he’s ready to open himself up (with no specificity on genders btw)

13. Maddie singing to Jee while Chim watched her

Things we didn’t get:

1. Anything to negate queer Eddie

2. Anything to negate Buddie!canon in the future

[rogueddie]

A Spot in My Life T | 953 words Prompt for @steddielovemonth: Love is keeping a spare sweater or blanket in the car because they always get cold

Steve Harrington is a bitch.

It's something that Eddie knew, all through high school, but he had thought that Steve had somehow became a new person- thanks to the Upside Down and constantly almost seeing the world end.

Steve isn't a bad guy, he can admit. He's still trying to keep an eye on everyone, make sure they're ok, even checking in with Eddie in his own way.

But he's very sly about it, hiding it being playful jabs, eye rolls and cocked hips.

It rubs him the wrong way. And it's only made worse by how much Eddie still likes him. It's as if the bitchiness only draws him in more, even as it makes his chest burn with irritation.

He tries to avoid Steve for as long as he can. He knows that finally befriending him like they both want will only end badly, but he knows he can't resist the temptation.

He enjoys the time before as much as he can, reveling in how often Steve will try to corner him so they can hang out, how much he whines and pleads and pushes. He enjoys the illusion that Steve could feel anything for him like he does for Steve.

And, when they finally do hang out, his fears are confirmed.

Steve is amazing. He's funnier than he comes across as at first too. He pays attention to what Eddie says and tries to get him anything he wants.

He's the type of friend that anyone would fight for, Eddie is sure. It explains how he ended up so popular in high school too.

If Eddie had known what Steve is truly like, he'd have been lining up for a scrap of his attention like everyone else.

"They're assholes," Steve explains, when Eddie finally asks about his old lackeys. "Tommy always took shit a step too far. I didn't need them. Probably shouldn't have befriended them in the first place."

"They were your friends," Eddie reminds him.

Steve sighs, leaning back. "Yeah, I guess. Just wish I'd realised sooner, how they were getting."

He never complains about the kids, not genuinely. In the quiet moments, when Steve is honest with an almost painful degree of vulnerability, he talks about how amazing the kids are. He talks about how honored he is to be friends with Dustin.

It only makes Eddies feelings inch ever closer to 'the L word'.

"You should talk to him," Robin suggests. "He really is amazing."

"I know, but... guys that are ok with lesbians still get weird about gay men, you know?"

"Yeah, but Steve isn't like that. Did he ever tell you the full story of how I came out to him?"

"It was after the Russian torture drugs, right?"

"We were in the bathroom, near the cinema. I thought we might have puked it all up, so we decided to test it, ask each other questions. So, I asked him if he was ever in love..."

"Oh... oh no."

"Oh yes. He liked me, told me so, and that's when I came out to him."

"Holy shit, Robin."

"But that's my point. He was a little surprised, sure, but he started making jokes, like, immediately. Didn't phase him at all. He got with it immediately. We're just friends, and that's not a problem for him."

Eddie groans, throwing his head back so it thumps into the wall behind him. "But that just makes him more hot!"

The story plagues his mind, to the point that it's the only thing he can think about when he picks Steve up for their next hang out.

In the dead of winter, Steve feels the cold worse than anyone else that Eddie knows. He runs hot, and the sudden temperature drops brings out the worse in him.

He's shivering when he climbs into Eddie's car.

"Fuck, why isn't your heating on?" He whines.

"It's broke," Eddie reminds him. "It's fine, don't worry."

"Don't worry? I'm gonna get hypothermia, Eddie! I don't want to turn into an ice sc- what is that?"

He takes the blanket that Eddie had reached back to grab, staring at it.

"It's a blanket."

"No shit, I mean... it's yellow."

"Yeah? You like yellow."

"You got this for me?"

"You see anyone else shivering in my van?"

"No, it..." Steve pauses, glancing at Eddie before slowly wrapping the blanket around himself. "Sorry, uh... thank you. This is, um, nice."

"it's nothing."

"It's not. Just- take the thanks, Ed."

"Alright, alright."

They're silent for the rest of the drive. It's so unusual for them that it has Eddie nervous, glancing at Steve every other moment.

When they finally pull to a stop, Eddie turns to Steve, who stays where he is. He stares out the front window for a moment, before turning to face Eddie.

"Are you alright?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah, I am. Enjoying the warmth."

"That all?"

"... yeah."

Eddie rolls his eyes. "You're a terrible liar."

"Wh- hey, I'm a good liar!" He tries to glare, but quickly backs down with a huff. "Alright, fine, but it's really sappy! Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Oh, no, the horror."

"Shut up. I was just thinking about how, like... there's so many little things in your life that are for me. My tapes in your room, spare clothes in your closet, this blanket... I really appreciate it, man. You've made space for me in your life. It means a lot to me."

"Oh, right. That's... yeah. Of course, Steve. You're always welcome. I love- uh... spending time with you."

"Good. I love spending time with you too."

"Good."

"Great."

Steve's smile is wide and goofy. He's sure that his own is just as cheesy.

[hippiepowrs]

one night lookin' pretty

eddie munson x fem!metalhead!reader

you and eddie hate school dances, but you decide to go to the prom this year--with someone who isn't eddie. eddie does not like that, but can't say anything.

a/n: this is my first longer fic so i hope you like it. prom season is coming up so this is kinda self indulgent (as if all my fics aren't). this one is for all my weird girls out there! title from one night in the city by dio btw. :)

warnings: hurt/comfort. angsty for a while but gets fluffy. swearing. a guy being a total asshole to reader. reader wears a dress. reader and eddie both self-described as 'freak.' eddie being a jealous and insecure idiot. both are oblivious as fuck. eddie is REALLY dorky. eddie's backstory and parents--i did not read that book so i don't care if it's canon. idiots in love in the end. pretty cliche but i don't care!

wc: 3.8k

It’s prom night, and Eddie is sitting alone on his couch. Without you. 

Usually, you guys skip every school event together in favor of watching a shitty movie and smoking half of his stock, but tonight was different. Someone asked you to the prom, and it wasn’t him. 

He’s been acting off for the past two weeks, you noticed. He’s been quiet and snappy, and has been opting to jack up the stereo instead of talk on your drives home. When you asked him what was wrong, he pushed you away. So, you left him alone about it. He made it clear he wanted his space.

He didn’t even want to show up to see you in your dress. You called him last night to see if he would come over–he told you he was sick. He wasn’t fully lying, though. The thought of you going to that stupid school dance with that stupid school boy made him nauseous. It didn’t make sense to him. How did you switch your views on the prom so fast? Months ago, the two of you laughed at the idea of going. Now, you were dressed up all pretty, just like all those popular girls you claimed to hate. He had to watch that sleazy ass car pull into to the trailer park, right up next to his. He’d never admit that he watched you step out of your trailer with that guy, and wished it was him. 

Being completely honest with yourself, your date isn’t even exactly your type. Todd isn’t some freak like you or your friends, but he isn’t a complete asshole either. He asked you in the hallway two weeks ago, and your instinct was to laugh at him. You laughed in his face, but he didn’t budge. He really wanted to take you to the prom, so you told him you’d go. It felt nice to be wanted. It was okay that he wasn’t some rock n’ roll dude like you’re into–it’s not like you’re marrying him. It’s just the prom. 

You and Todd arrive at the Hawkins High gym, hand in sweaty hand. Pushing the anxiety clawing at your throat back down, you give him a smile as you walk to get your photo taken together. The frilly, glittery background reminds you that this place isn’t for you. Again, you push that down. 

The music isn’t really your style, either, but everyone is having so much fun you feel the need to pretend. None of your friends are here, so you’re stuck. Maybe you should have pregamed, you think. Too late now. Todd pulls you onto the dance floor with a fervor you’ve never seen in him. You don’t understand how a person can have so much fun dancing to this shitty music. It’s a lot easier to get through when you pretend that Todd is Eddie, and you’re dancing to mixtapes in his room. You decide not to think about the implications of that right now. When the song ends, you offer to grab punch for the both of you. Maybe it’ll be spiked. 

As you make your way back to Todd, you see him chatting with a few of his friends, and from this distance you can just begin to hear them.

“So, when do I get my twenty bucks from each of you? She’s totally ruining my reputation right now.” He laughs, and your stomach churns.

“Okay, yeah, you proved us wrong. You got her here, you danced, you win.” His friend confirms the fear that’s been looming over you like a dark cloud since Todd first asked you out. 

“You at least better hold onto her long enough to get her home with you tonight, man!” Another friend cackles, and you think you’re going to vomit.

How were you stupid enough to think that he actually liked you?

God, you’re so gullible. 

At least there’s nothing to lose now, you think. Walking over to him, drinks in hand, you dump both of them on his head. They splash on his stupid hair and drench his stupid suit. The music keeps playing. A few people turn to look. The room doesn’t stop for you like some trashy romcom. Everyone just keeps going. 

Storming out to the parking lot, nothing can stop the burning tears from pouring down your face. You slump down against the brick wall, fabric of your dress sticking to the rough sidewalk. The warm spring air feels sticky on your cheeks. You wish you had stayed in with Eddie.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. You need to call Eddie. Todd drove you here, so it’s either Eddie or walk, and these heels already hurt enough. Your body feels like dead weight as you drag yourself to the payphone on the wall, punching in the number that’s engraved into your heart. 

“Hey.” You greet, choked up. You’re trying to keep your composure. You know it won’t last long.

“…Hey. Havin’ fun with Mr. Popular?” There’s a bitterness to his tone. Usually he would’ve picked up on the fact that you were crying in a split second, but tonight he was too angry.

“Uhm, not really. Could you, uh,” you sniffle, blowing your thin cover, “pick me up? Like, now?”

You can almost hear his demeanor shift over the phone. A beat of silence passes.

“I’ll be right there.” He’s clearly still upset, because he hangs up the phone without saying goodbye. But his one-sided irritation can’t override the facts: he cares about you so much that he immediately hops in his van and starts speeding to the school, even faster than normal.

You sit back at the edge of the sidewalk, staring into the empty night over the parking lot. God, this is so cliché. Freak gets taken to prom as a joke; left crying outside. You know how pointless it is to cry over this guy. You don’t even care about him, to be honest. But it’s not really him you’re crying over. It’s the extensive disappointment you repeatedly put yourself through after expecting different results—it’s the fact that you haven’t stopped thinking about Eddie all night. 

As you begin to probe deeper into the ethical implications of falling in love with your best friend, said best friend whips into the parking lot, tires skidding as he pulls right up to you and parks. He drives just how he lives his life—with a sense of urgency and passion you don’t see in many. His van stops diagonally in the middle of the pickup lane, and he hops out of the driver’s side door, so worried he can’t be bothered to close it before sprinting to your side. 

For the past six minutes—which is Eddie’s new personal record on getting to the school from Forest Hills—his mind has been racing with every possibility of what could have happened to you tonight. Maybe Todd had another girl, or is just boring, or maybe you got totally Carrie’d and some assholes poured pig’s blood all over you. Not likely, but hey, you never know the determination of Hawkins’ resident assholes. At least if you got Carrie’d you’d look metal as fuck. That would be a good album cover. But that’s not the point. What he’s more worried about is the possibility that that dickwad touched you in any way. Just the thought is enough for him to completely light up—he got pretty close to breaking his steering wheel from how hard he was gripping it. 

“What happened?” He tries to act nonchalant, but that’s something he’s never been good at. 

Your head is held between your knees, looking down into nothingness. He’s staring daggers into the top of your head, and you can almost feel the fact that he wants to say ‘I told you so.’ Reluctantly, your wet eyes tilt upwards, the rest of your head following. 

“Let’s just talk in the van.” He sighs. 

You don’t budge. Your legs feel far too wobbly to imagine getting up right now. He has zero patience at the moment, it seems, as evidenced by the fact that he almost immediately picks you up bridal style and carries you directly to the passenger’s side of his van. He fumbles with the door handle for a second before setting you down gently in the seat. You watch him drag a frustrated hand over his face through the windshield as he walks back to his side, and although you know you didn’t do anything wrong, you’re worried that you did. 

The engine roars into life, turning your seat into a makeshift massage chair. Eddie pulls out of the parking lot as quickly as he pulled in, but with a little more focus. He doesn’t turn his music on, which is a bad sign. 

“It was a bet,” is all you can say, voice soft and defeated, “because, of fucking course it was.” You stare out the window, head tapping against the glass as he hits a pothole straight on.

“I told you that asshole was bad news.” His voice is laced with venom. He’s never been good at controlling his anger—especially when it has to do with you. 

You stay silent. Anything you say right now will probably just piss him off more. 

“Why do you—why do you always do this to yourself? You’re always finding these guys that just want to take you out to say they were able to take you out. They treat you like a fucking trophy.” He scoffs. 

You look at him again, tears still silently falling. Even if you wanted to say something to that, you can’t seem to find your voice. 

“I just don’t get it. You’re, like, totally perfect,” he coughs, gripping the wheel harder, “and these guys you find are total douches. You can do so much better.”

“It’s not like there’s anyone better around here,” you mumble while staring out the window, like some kid talking back to their parent for the first time. 

“That’s not my point!” His yell rings out against the hum of the engine, the dull drumming being the only sound left as he hangs a sharp right turn. “I just don’t understand why you’re so eager to find some guy that you throw your morals out the door.” Eddie’s eyes dart to you for a moment before looking back at the road. 

“I haven’t thrown my morals out the door.” You argue softly. 

“Yes, you have! We always said we’d never suck up to the bullshit they want us to do, that we’d never let them turn us normal, and here you are at the fucking prom.”

“Eddie, it’s prom! It’s not like I fucking stabbed my mother!”

“We’re supposed to be the freaks! We’re Hellfire! We piss people off! That’s our whole thing! You can’t just—fuck—just throw that out!” He groans angrily, pulling into Forest Hills, slowing down as you near the Munson trailer. 

“I’m not throwing it out.” You say, much more firmly. 

“You’re throwing me out!” There it goes, the root of the entire issue. He’s always been worried that you’ll find someone cooler, someone less abrasive, someone who will make you laugh and smile more than he can. Logically, he knows that would never happen, but he can’t help his fear. He throws the van into park and slams the door as he gets out. 

Eddie was eight when he met you. He’d been living with Wayne for a little over a year by the time you moved next door, but he was still struggling. His mother left him first, then his father. He missed his mom a lot, but his dad probably caused him more pain, knowing that he had the choice whether or not to stay, but Eddie wasn’t enough. Uncle Wayne was nicer to him than his father had ever been, but that can’t fix a broken kid. 

Then one day, you showed up in your ratty hand-me-downs, a year and a half younger than him. He thought that girls had cooties, but you were different. You didn’t giggle or try to hide your gaze like the other girls did when they made fun of him to each other. Instead, you walked right up to him and said hi. 

You were new, and you didn’t have the best clothes—he could tell you were probably going through something similar to him—so the kids at school kicked you to the curb. You were just as pretty as the other girls, he thought, if not prettier, as much as a seven-year-old can be. But that didn’t really seem to matter to them. Your lunchbox was plain, theirs had characters. 

When the two of you got to be in junior high at the same time, him in the eighth grade and you in sixth, he thought for sure that you would find new, more popular friends. It was incredibly shocking to him that you’d rather hang out with some dorky boy with an ugly buzz cut who’s two grades ahead of you than the other pretty girls, but he wasn’t going to complain. 

He’s lived with that fear constantly since then, always preparing himself to see you walking into school one day in some pastel sweater instead of your band shirts and battle vest. He knows you won’t, he knows you’re better than that, and he feels so guilty for always expecting the worst, but he can’t help it. 

You hop out of the passenger’s side of the van, holding up the skirt of your dress like some elegant princess. But instead of some grand, ornate staircase, you’re simply walking up the concrete steps of the Munson trailer and following Eddie, who’s storming inside. 

“Eddie.” You sound like a scolding mother, tears having dried up a few minutes ago, and you shut the door behind you. “Why do you think so lowly of me?” Your voice cracks with the weight of the question. 

Eyes widening, Eddie never realized quite how much his thoughts could affect you until right now. “I don’t,” he says softly. “You’re the best person I know.”

“You say that, but you always think I’m gonna leave you for someone else. You’re my best fucking friend. I’m not just gonna cut you off at the drop of a hat.”

“I- I know that,” he stammers out, a little shaken. 

“Do you?”

“Look, I,” he sighs, finally turning around, “I’m just scared. I’m scared that one day you’ll wake up and realize how fucking lame I am, and you won’t want to deal with me and all my bullshit anymore.” 

“The world isn’t against you, Eddie.”

He opens his mouth to quip back something snarky, but he closes it as he thinks about your words again. 

“You hate yourself so much that it’s beginning to rub off on me, because I’m friends with you, and if I like you, you think that surely there’s something wrong with me, too.” 

He’s stunned into silence, your words stabbing him straight through the heart. 

“Can you at least tell me why you were being a dick for the past few weeks?” You switch the subject slightly with a sigh. 

Eddie takes a deep breath. “Because of Troy asking you to prom.”

“Todd.”

“Yeah, whatever. He was my problem.”

“Why were you mad at me for that, though?”

“I knew he was gonna hurt you.”

“You didn’t say anything about that, though. You just said he was an ass once and then pushed me away for two straight weeks.”

Standing in the middle of the dark trailer, Eddie is presented with two options: confess his lifelong, undying love for you, or don’t. He knows that the only good and honest explanation he can give you involves a love confession, and he hates lying to you. But one thing trumps the fact that he hates lying to you, and it’s that Eddie is a complete and utter pussy. 

Eddie is, and always has been, a pussy. In middle school, you acted as his bodyguard—self-appointed, and very passionate—which only made him get bullied worse. You didn’t care. You’d defend him until the end of time. You’d take a hundred tugs to your ponytail or face-plants in the lunchroom so that he wouldn’t have to. You weren’t very loud or talkative in school, until it came to defending Eddie. 

To Eddie, you’re this glowing beacon of light and hope in his life. Everything good comes from you. And if he confesses his feelings to you, and you don’t feel the same, that pillar comes crashing down. 

But…what if? What if you did feel the same? That’s stupid, he thinks. Clearly you don’t, because otherwise you wouldn’t have gone to prom with another guy. And he’s sure you already know about his big, fat crush, and you’re choosing to act like you don’t notice.

“I’m sorry.” You can tell he’s nervous by the way he’s fingering riffs on the side of his thigh. 

“You always get so upset when I talk to guys. It’s not like there can be only one guy in my life.” 

“I know that, it’s just–” This is going to be the worst decision he’s ever made, and he knows it, but he can’t stop himself. “--I’m jealous, okay?”

“Obviously you’re fucking jealous, dickweed.” As you call him your favorite nickname, the intent behind his words reaches you, and your cheeks begin to heat up. “…Wait.”

“Have you seriously not picked up on this yet?” Eddie is genuinely surprised at your reaction. “You—you’re perfect, you know that? You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met, and I don’t know how you do it.” His voice is softer than normal. 

“Yeah, but—like, are you serious?” You ask. 

“I wouldn’t joke about this. I’ve been, like, totally into you forever. I’m surprised Gareth or Jeff didn’t say anything to you.”

“They did a while ago, but I thought they were messing with me.” 

“Okay, I honestly can’t blame you for that.”

A moment passes in silence, and you think about how to respond. 

“You know, I didn’t really want to go with Todd.”

“What? Why did you then?”

“I hoped that you would ask me,” you admit, eyes drifting to your feet, “but it was kind of a stupid thing to expect.”

His jaw goes slack as he hears you speak. 

“I guess that I’ve just kinda had this pipe dream where we’d go to prom together, and I’d be able to dress up all pretty, and we could dance together.” You avoid his gaze, until you hear him scurrying down the hallway. 

He emerges back out with his stereo in one hand and a cassette in the other, scrambling to place it down on the kitchen table and shoving the tape inside. He immediately skips to the song he has in mind. The familiar sound of Tommy Lee’s piano starts from beside you, and before you can figure out what’s happening, he’s offering his hand to you. 

“May I have this dance?” 

A smile grows on your face. “God, you’re such a fucking dork.” Your insult doesn’t come without placing your hand in his. He’s bright red, and he’s never slow danced in his life. 

Mötley Crüe’s Home Sweet Home is interrupted occasionally by the sound of feet stepping on feet and the subsequent ow!’s that follow, as well as the flustered giggling of two idiots in love. 

Eddie pulls you a little closer, his hands firmly planted on your waist. “You look really beautiful tonight,” he murmurs, “sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” 

He feels extremely underdressed compared to you, him in his favorite torn up pair of black jeans and an Exodus muscle tee, and you in your stunningly gorgeous dress, looking prettier than any princess he could ever imagine. 

“Thank you,” you mumble back, flustered, “you don’t look too—fuck!—too bad yourself, you know.” A playful giggle comes with your words, and a huge grin grows on Eddie’s face. 

“Yeah?” He teases, looking right in your eyes. 

“Yeah.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” you giggle, staring right back. 

Leaning in, he lets out a nervous laugh before pressing his lips to yours. It’s not some magical explosion of energy that cures all your problems and fixes world hunger; but his lips are soft and warm, and he tastes like weed, gummy worms and a hint of shitty beer, and it feels right. 

You kiss him a few more times before the song ends, all quick and chaste but completely full of love. Pulling you along with him, not wanting to let go, he pauses the tape and the trailer goes quiet again. 

“Was I better at that than Troy?”

“Todd.”

“Point still stands, fuckface.”

Eddie drags you down the hall to his bedroom, the familiar ambiance warming you like a comforting blanket. Jumping onto the bed with a plop, the boy pats beside him invitingly.

“Can I change first?” You ask, ecstasy of the moment wearing off, allowing you to remember how itchy this damn dress is.

“‘Course. Your shirt is clean if you want it.” He calls it your shirt, but it was his at one point. The old Metallica tee used to be his favorite one, too, which meant it got a lot of wear and tear. But then you started wearing it at sleepovers, and it quickly became your shirt. Eddie didn’t like to wash it afterward because it smelled like you. He always felt like a creep for that.

Your hand tries its best to wrap around and pull the impossibly tiny zipper down, but it doesn’t want to budge. Eddie, watching you as intently as ever, quickly notices and jumps up to help you. His fingers move to your waist, soft and nimble, and gently undo the zipper for you. You let your dress fall to the ground, and he looks away, flustered. It’s not like he hasn’t seen you in your underwear before, but now it feels a lot more serious.

Quickly throwing on the hole-filled Metallica shirt and a clean pair of his boxers, both of you hop back into his bed. You’ve shared plenty of nights here before, but once again, now it feels different. You sense that it will become a common theme for your life in the near future. His hands snake back around your waist and pull you next to him, and you allow your head to rest against his chest.

“So… does this mean you’re, like, my girlfriend now, or what?” A goofy smirk is plastered across his face as he asks. 

You try to playfully shove him off of you, to no avail. “Are you seriously fucking asking me that?” You’re trying so hard to act angry, but your giggles give you away.

“Yes, yes it does.” You seal it with a kiss. Then one on his cheek, and the other, and his forehead, and the tip of his nose.

reblogs and notes always appreciated! | requests are open!

[userautumn]

You are always 100% right and valid btw. Because like buck and Tommy are broken up, but you also have several interviews released today where Ryan calls Buck and Eddie “brothers” and where Oliver explicitly says Eddie is straight so they will most likely continue to be just friends. So if it wasn’t for Buddie, what was the point in throwing away a relationship the audience was actually behind??

Yeah, this has always been my problem with the idea of Buck and Tommy breaking up and, now that it's happened, I can finally unload all my thoughts.

Listen, my Buddie mutuals are very assured that Buck and Eddie will get together and have this lush and beautiful arc where they settle into a relationship and feel out the kinks in their dynamic and really blend together, and I respect that. I would love to see that happen. But I don't have that same confidence. Don't get me wrong, I DO think Buck and Eddie will probably get together, I just don't think it's going to happen until the last episode of the last season in a way that's more reminiscent of Johnlock "canon" (for those who did not watch BBC Sherlock: John and Sherlock continued to live together and raise John's daughter, but this was revealed in a montage without ever actually seeing them get together, or confirm that they were in a romantic relationship) than anything.

Why? Well, because it's easier to tease your audience than it is to follow through.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Tim is teasing the fandom in a malicious way, and—if nothing else—I know he is very aware of what these boys and the implication of their relationship means to people. 9-1-1 has always handled their relationship with a particular gravitas, and I don't see that changing now. But Tim has been writing Buck and Eddie for years. He knows what gets people going, he knows what this fandom likes to see, and what they'll read into. So why would he rush into making them "endgame," especially if he knows he already wants to take them in that direction? He has no incentive to make it happen Right Now because everyone will lap up what he puts out anyway.

And I get it, because I do love Buck and Eddie's relationship. I love the way they interact with each other and, yes, I will lap up any scene between them. But that's the part I find so draining too. I'm going to be honest, I've never liked a "will-they-won't-they" couple. As a personal preference, I've always liked to have a clear vision of a story's trajectory when I go into it. That's how I write, and that's what I gravitate toward in fiction. So the idea of going through any number of love interests until Buck and Eddie are "ready for each other" (so sick of that phrase. sob.) is literally... exhausting to me, and not in a fun way. Because this is a loop that could theoretically continue on, and on, and on, until whenever the powers that be decide enough is enough.

Sure, Eddie is happy and free now. Great. But he still doesn't know he's Queer. What happens when he does realize that? Does he need to date a guy first in order to be "ready" for Buck? Similarly (because their romantic arcs always run parallel to each other), when Buck fucks and sucks his way through Los Angeles, does he stumble upon a hot girl/guy and date her/him until Eddie's "ready" for him? How many times, exactly, am I going to sit through another love interest until they're on the same page after, by my count, three false starts? You know?

I'm obviously along for the ride. Always have been, always will be, and I fought too hard over the summer to maintain my love for these boys and their relationship to let it waste away now. But I desperately, desperately need Tim to give me something substantial that CLEARLY, and EXPLICITLY indicates IMMEDIATE strides toward ROMANTIC Buddie Canon. And I mean crystal clear. Not "building a thousand words of meta off a single line/moment" clear. Not "this look probably definitely means Eddie was thinking about ripping Buck's clothes off" clear. I mean, I want it so damn clear, a sixty-five year old grandpa with cataracts can see it.

Otherwise I'm just going to get really annoyed.

[ladykailitha]

Look, considering I've only gotten involved in Stranger Things after season four and therefore haven't been around the fans during other new season filming starts, but my brothers/sisters/nb in fandom what the honest fuck is going on right now?

I have been a part of other fandoms when new seasons started filming and the worst I'd seen was BBC Sherlock. And you lot are behaving worst then they did.

And Jesus fuck, that's a fucking low ass bar.

(Again I am ship and let ship, kinktomato, and headcanon free for all)

But this is just what I've seen in my small deliberately secluded corner of the internet so forgive me if I get some things wrong.

Ronance fans have turned on Steddie fans.

Steddie fans are trying to eat each other over who tops and who bottoms between two horny, barely out of their teens, men.

Eddie is confirmed dead.

Dustin is trying to become Eddie.

People want Will dead because Noah Schnapps said some stupid shit regarding genocide.

And Argyle isn't coming back.

I'm going to give you my feelings on these so buckle up lets go:

1- Steddie and Ronance fans have turned on each other. And I know this because I doom scroll through steddie tag. That Ronance fans think Steddie fans are delusional and that they're going down after season five airs and there will be more Ronance fans because they're perfect for each other.

Where to even begin on this? First, never tell a shipper that their ship is never going to be canon because they don't care. Just ask all the Destiel, johnlock, and merarthur fans. Steddie fans are just going to ignore all but the most salient parts of season 5 if Eddie doesn't come back and write AUs for the rest of their lives. You know, like they have since the last scene on the Piggyback faded to black?

Secondly, I don't think I've seen much Ronance without Steddie. Granted I only read Steddie, but it seems that the two ships are tied pretty heavily together. The fruity four comes to mind. So maybe it's that they're getting tired of being a side ship next to a massive one like Steddie. Who knows. But apparently they're bitter.

And I say that because they keep tagging their anti-Steddie posts as Steddie to make sure we see it. Honestly, I just block them and go about my day. But seriously, I've never understood people's need to be shitty like posting hate on the tag for that thing. If you don't like it, fine. Block and move on.

Thirdly. Lastly. Maybe. I don't like Ronance. I saw the charms when I first joined the fandom and it was cute. Until the more I read and I realized that most of the time they don't bring up that Jonathan is even a person let alone Nancy's current boyfriend. That most of the time Steve is written wildly out of character about not caring that they're a couple and that he just wants them to be happy. Like, one Jonathan is severely under used in the fics I've read. Like Will doesn't have an older brother anymore. It's all Steve or Eddie. Which considering how you like your flavor of queer for Eddie or Steve (gay/pan/bisexual) Will talking to them about being gay makes sense, but Jonathan showed us in the last season that he is going to protect Will no matter what. Then blip! in fanfics, he's gone.

And then the whole Steve being okay with Robin not only dating an ex-girlfriend of his, but the ex. The one he thought he was going to marry. The one he dreamed a whole fucking future on. That was still hurt by two fucking years later. You either think very lowly of Steve or you just don't care. Because if you think Robin and Steve are the same person/share the same braincell/ride or die for life, there is no way even if Nancy threw herself at Robin would she even consider it. (I can write a whole ass post just on this by the way, don't get me started.)

2- This is the most recent bullshittery due to a current event about Sub Eddie. This is the worst discourse in any fandom and the worst offenders on either side tend say the most homophobic shit imaginable.

And it's pointless. Whether you think Steve is a top or bottom, whether you think he's dom or a sub. Same with Eddie. Everyone has their own flavor they prefer and they won't always match up with yours.

Personally I write them whatever feels natural for the story. But here's the major crux of the matter. I don't believe a little nerd in Bumfuck, Indiana has any idea what flagging is. I'm sorry. Left pocket, right pocket. Doesn't matter. The likely of him even knowing what BDSM is is pretty slim. I grew up in a small town. There will be some people that know, but that's because they know adults in the scene.

Don't like, don't read. Seriously, guys. Let people enjoy what they want to.

My personal feelings on the matter is that Steve is a bottom/sub because he deserves to be taken care of and Eddie would absolutely want to be that person for Steve, in and out of the bedroom. Again, you do you, beau.

3- The tombstone. Sigh. It was hard to see that. Not just because it confirms he's dead, but because it's been defaced. Most likely like fans have said, "BURN IN HELL" the poor bastard.

Having a tombstone doesn't necessarily preclude Eddie's return. There are several ways he can still comeback Kas! theory not withstanding. But the wank here is people jumping on Steddie shippers and Eddie fans in general pointing and screaming "see!"

Like we didn't have campaigns for Barb and Bob and (Billy). If someone's favorite character has died, don't be dicks when they want them to be resurrected a la Jim Hopper. Because that right there is the main reason people will still hold out hope until the final scene fades to black, okay?

I guess this one is just be nicer to each other, okay?

4- *sob* like holy fuck. Dustin you sweetheart. The long hair, the torn Hellfire t-shirt, the rings. The horns and sticking out his tongue. That poor boy needs several hugs STAT! And of course, people can't leave well enough alone on Facebook, I couldn't tell you how many of the comments were "steddie fans are going to make this all about them, aren't they?" Even though there wasn't a single comment by a Steddie making it about Steve/Eddie. But so many eye rolls. The other half were death threats against Noah Schnapp.

Which brings me to...

5- Noah Schnapp said some really shitty things about Zionism and the attack on Gaza. There is no escaping that. He said them. He double downed on them. And while yes it sucks he said those things, let's not forget he's still young and stupid. He's barely 18/19 years old. I remember being that age and saying stupid fucked up shit, and hoo boy does this make me grateful I was well into adulthood when the internet became a thing (24ish).

There are a lot of reasons to be upset by his comments and I get that. But death threats and calls for his dismissal/boycotts just seems excessive to me.

One, because the story began with a kidnapped little boy and a runaway little girl. If you get rid of one of them especially this close to the end it would fuck up the story. Now if there was more than one season left, sure. But this is literally the end. And for all we know, Will's character may already be doomed by the narrative. So calling for it now isn't go to do anything. Especially since they already had all the scripts written and would have finished filming if it hadn't been for the strikes.

Two, one person on the cast said something stupid and hurtful and you want to boycott the entire show for it? Like, what did David Harbor, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Millie Bobby Brown and all the others do to deserve you boycotting their show? If the last season tanks it could seriously hurt their careers, but hey Noah Schnapp said something bad, so fuck them?

I'm going to stop there, because this is another one I can go on and on about, but yeah. Don't hurt other people in your rush to vilify an 18 year old.

6- Eduardo Franco recently said that he didn't get a call so he didn't think he would be back. He was sure that ship had sailed.

Fans are upset, naturally. Argyle was a sweetheart and deserves better than to be cut from the story like that.

But thanks to the incident with David Harbor and Jim Hopper supposedly being dead, a lot of fans are saying he's only saying that because it's a "secret" he's coming back. Which would make sense for Eddie or any of the other character died. Martin Brenner, for example, but not Argyle. There would be no need for subterfuge. Plus, he would already be out in Georgia if he was coming back.

It's sad that he was done dirty this way, but if they split up the filming like they've done before there is still a chance he might get to come back, but as far as the current filming is concerned, yeah Argyle isn't coming back.

***

Just... be kind to each other. Remember that the other people on the end of the URL is an actual person with feelings. That people can like what they like so if they aren't hurting you, don't hurt them, okay?

[steddieas-shegoes]

Hi friend! 👋 I’d like to submit a request, if I may. It’s not an original prompt, I don’t know where I first saw it, but I haven’t seen an actual fic with this premise yet.

Will comes out to Nancy who goes “I know nothing about this BUT I know someone who does” and brings him to Eddie, who brings both of them (bc let’s be honest Nancy isn’t letting Will out of her sight alone with Eddie) to a gay bar in Indy. Lo and behold who do they see but Steve and Robin. And it’s obvious to those who know what to look for (Eddie) that they’re both looking to get lucky. Steddie endgame (obvs lol) but maybe some Byler as well if you want/can swing it..?

I love everything I’ve read from you so far and I’m sure I’ll love everything you come up with! ❤️ thank you!!!

My star ✨✨✨ This is a future fic, but not future enough for Will to be 21 (I'm gonna put him at 19, almost 20 here so still like a tiny baby but also an adult). The first part of this is definitely Will focused, but there is more focus on Steddie at the bar itself. - Mickala ❤️

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

“Nancy? Um, can I talk to you?”

Will had been working himself up to this for weeks, months really. He came out to Jonathan and his mom officially last weekend, though they both already knew.

He wasn’t exactly good at hiding it, and around them, he didn’t really try.

But Nancy Wheeler was smart, and she was quick to come to conclusions, and probably already had figured it out.

Plus, she was decent at giving advice, and could possibly give him some insight into how Mike felt if he felt anything at all.

That was why he was here, coming out to her, being brave.

“Of course,” Nancy replied, smiling comfortingly.

She knew. He knew she knew. But he had to say it out loud, he had to get it out there to other people.

“I just have to tell you something that’s like, a big deal, and hopefully it doesn’t bother you, but also I don’t want it to be a big deal. It doesn’t have to be, actually. I just-”

“Will,” Nancy placed her hand on his shoulder, looked up at him with a knowing smirk. “Just say it.”

“I’m gay.”

There. He said it. It’s done.

Nancy nodded once, like she was confirming that she heard him, but she already knew, which was what he expected.

“Anything else?”

“Um. I’m in love with Mike?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious. Anything else?”

“What do you mean it’s pretty obvious? I thought I hid it okay!”

Nancy laughed. She actually laughed.

“The only person who doesn’t notice that you’re in love with Mike, is Mike, and that’s had a few close calls. And before you ask, I have no idea how he feels. I know he’s in denial about his sexuality, so once he clears that up, who knows. But for now, let’s focus on you. What do you need from me?”

Nancy had a “let’s get down to business” attitude that Will respected, that everyone respected, but she sometimes forgot that not everything was business.

“Well, I guess just…support?”

Nancy raised her brows.

“That’s it? You already had that.”

“I guess maybe…advice?”

“I mean, I really don’t have any for Mike. He’s an enigma even to me,” she started.

“No. I mean, it would be helpful to have it, yes, but just. In general?” Will interrupted, a blush covering his cheeks.

“Oh! About…” she trailed off as she realized what he was asking.

“Okay, well I don’t know anything about that or really anything, but I know who does!” Nancy clapped her hands together.

—-------------

“Eddie?” Will asked as they stood on his porch, waiting for him to answer the door.

“Uh-huh.”

“Eddie’s gay?”

“Well, he’s bisexual, but he would be the one who knows the most,” she answered.

“Prettier Wheeler! What a surprise!” Eddie exclaimed when he opened the door. “And my favorite Byers! Were we supposed to be doing something tonight? Fuck, did I forget something? Wayne is convinced the bats ate the part of my brain that holds memory, even though they didn’t even bite my head.”

Eddie was a rambler, sort of like Robin, but he usually at least made some sense.

“No, no you didn’t forget anything. Will just needs some guidance on something,” Nancy said as she pushed her way into the trailer. “Is Wayne home?”

“Uh. Nope. Come on in, I guess,” he said, nodding at Will.

Once they were all settled on the couch and chair, Nancy gestured for Will to tell Eddie.

Will wasn’t prepared for it, but he knew he could trust him, especially if what Nancy said was true.

“I’m gay.”

It was getting easier to say out loud, just like it had been easier to say to himself when he first realized it and started letting himself think it every day.

“Amazing! Was that a secret?” Eddie asked, somewhat confused.

“Apparently not as much of one as I thought. But yeah, just my mom, Jonathan, Nancy, and you know. Officially, anyway.”

“So you have a boyfriend? Is that why you’re coming out?”

“No. I haven’t-”

“Oh, so Mike hasn’t gotten it together yet?” Eddie asked, playing with his rings distractedly.

“Nope. But it’s gonna take a big moment for that to happen. Will just needs some guidance on other stuff,” Nancy said.

“Oh! Like sex?”

Will was as red as he could possibly be.

“No! Not sex. Just, like, being gay I guess.”

Eddie looked between Will and Nancy a few times.

“Right. So let’s go,” he said as he stood up, making his way to his bedroom at the end of the hall.

Will and Nancy looked at each other, then back to where Eddie disappeared.

Before they could say anything, Eddie was back in the room, his new denim battle vest pulled on, and his boots laced up.

“Let’s go. Got places to be, queers to see!” Eddie yelled as he started moving out the front door.

“What the hell,” Nancy shrugged, getting up and following him out the door.

“What is happening,” Will said to himself as he followed them both.

—--------------

What was happening was that Eddie was taking him to a queer bar on the outskirts of downtown Indianapolis.

He’d heard of the place during his very little research of the local scene. He’d heard it was shut down twice in the 70s because of police raids, but now it was mostly just a quiet, safe place for queer people to be themselves.

The bar was laid back, only two bartenders even on the busiest nights, usually just pouring draft beers and the occasional martini. A jukebox in the corner never stopped playing, even when they only had a handful of customers.

A sign at the door said “THIRSTY THURSDAY: QUENCH YOUR THIRST AT THE BAR AND ON THE DANCE FLOOR!”

Will felt a little out of his element as he took in the amount of people crowding the bar, the tables, the small dancing area that really couldn’t even be considered a dancefloor.

Eddie seemed right at home, and he explained it was because he came pretty regularly, usually just to try to convince the owner to let his band play sometime, but he’d managed a few bathroom hookups along the way.

Will couldn’t hide his blush at that thought, knowing that he was in a place where that would not only be possible, but that it would be encouraged, maybe even expected had his mind fantasizing.

He welcomed it; Anything to get rid of the thoughts of Mike, who would probably never get his head out of his ass even if Will came out to him.

“Alright, one drink rule for the kiddo!” Eddie said as he walked to the bar with a hop to his step.

He was always exuberant, but he just seemed light here.

Will kept looking around, taking it all in.

Nancy suddenly grabbed his arm, and when he looked over, her eyes were huge.

He followed her line of sight, only getting distracted for a moment by a very attractive man who looked to be about his age.

His eyes settled on Steve and Robin.

In a queer bar.

In Indy.

“Is that-”

“It is.”

“But-”

“Uh-huh.”

Eddie came up behind them, drinks in hand.

“Alright, drink up! Take the edge off and then you can have some wonderful experiences- what are you two looking at?” Eddie looked over and his eyes widened. “Not possible.”

“It’s them.”

“But, they aren’t. Are they?”

Eddie squinted, looking at the way they were standing, what they were wearing, the way Steve was open to the room, not turned towards Robin.

“Oh my God,” he said.

“What?” Nancy’s head whipped towards him.

“How did I miss it? I spend so much time- but, no. He- and she- no.”

“Eddie, you aren’t making any sense! What?” Nancy whisper-yelled, as if anyone could hear them over the sound of everyone else talking and the music playing.

“They’re both queer! They’re here lookin’ for someone!”

“That’s impossible. Steve is the straightest person I know. I think even Mike knows he’s more likely to-” Nancy was cut off by Will hitting her arm. “What?”

“Robin just looked over here.”

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

They all looked at each other, panic in their eyes, as they realized it was only a matter of moments before they were completely caught here.

But, really, what was there to worry about? They were here, without knowing anyone they knew would be here, clearly looking for someone.

Will turned back to them, watching as Steve and Robin both looked at them with wide eyes.

“Might as well go talk to them,” he said before walking towards them, not waiting for Nancy or Eddie to agree.

“O…kay,” Eddie sighed before following.

Nancy followed silently, and Eddie didn’t really have time to figure out what her face was doing because Steve and Robin ended up meeting them halfway.

“Hi guys!” Robin waved, awkward as always, maybe more so because of where they were. “Kinda weird seeing you here, right? Like in Indy? Or in a bar? Since Will is underage! And also this is a pretty specific establishment, so-”

“What Robin means is,” Steve starts, lines in his forehead making him look more serious than he needs to be. “Why are you in a queer bar in Indianapolis?”

Robin smacked Steve’s arm, but he didn’t even flinch, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Like he was ready to protect Robin.

And himself.

“Well, this happens to be one of my favorite bars, and Will needed to be in this type of environment for the first time, ya know?” Eddie said in a way that would definitely give away more if Robin and Steve were actually here because they were queer.

“So you’re…” Steve relaxed slightly.

“I am. Are you?”

“Um. Yeah. Yep. I am.”

“Me too,” Robin added.

“Yeah, so am I,” Will said.

All of them looked to Nancy, who suddenly seemed to catch up to the conversation.

“Oh! Um, not me! I don’t think. I’m just here for support!” She had never looked or sounded as nervous as she was in this moment.

“So how’s the crowd today?” Eddie asked.

To be honest, Eddie hadn’t bothered trying to find a hookup here for months.

The reason?

The man standing in front of him: Steve Harrington.

He’d tried, really he had.

But every time he thought he would get beyond basic flirting with someone, he thought about the way Steve sometimes touched his arm or his shoulder for longer than he needed to when he passed by him, and the way Steve would rest his head on his shoulder during movie nights, or the way he sometimes looked at him like he wanted to devour him.

Like he was right now.

Eddie would be nervous about it, but he doesn’t think Steve actually means anything by it.

He just has a very intense stare sometimes.

“Eddie!”

“Sorry! What?” He turned to see Robin and Will giving him knowing looks. “What?”

“I’m gonna take Nancy and Will over to a table that just opened up. You coming?” Robin asked.

“Sure, in a minute. Gonna run to the bathroom first,” he said, ignoring the way Steve was still watching him.

He walked away before anyone else could say anything.

He just needed a minute or two to collect himself.

The realization that Robin and Steve were here for the same reasons he was was probably going to need more than a minute or two, but he could deal with it later.

The bathroom of this place wasn’t the best, probably hadn’t been properly cleaned since the place opened, but it also wasn’t the worst place to have a minor breakdown.

He didn’t cry, but it was damn close.

It was overwhelming to know that there were others in their little group like him, but it was also just a lot to take in that those other people included Steve.

He heard the bathroom door open behind him, but he didn’t look up, just assumed it was someone else from the bar.

He stood at the sink, looking down, gathering himself to go back out and pretend this was entirely normal when a hand gripped his waist.

His head shot up and he looked in the mirror to see Steve’s reflection looking back at him, a hesitant smile on his face.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

They stared at each other in the mirror, silent except for their breathing and the muffled sound of the music from outside the bathroom.

“I didn’t know you were…”

“Me either,” Eddie said quickly.

“You didn’t know you were queer?”

“No! No. Wait. I did know that. I knew it a long time ago. I mean I didn’t know you were,” Eddie clarified, unable to properly focus on anything except the way Steve’s hand felt on his side.

His thumb was rubbing circles against his shirt, the fabric bunching up little by little.

“It’s a new-ish discovery.”

“How new?”

Steve looked down at where his hand was resting on Eddie, then back up, his face red.

“March.”

“Oh?”

Eddie caught up quickly, realized what was happening, and definitely didn’t want it to stop even though he wasn’t sure how far he wanted it to go in the bar bathroom.

“Yeah. This annoying guy who was trying to steal Dustin from me decided to get involved in all our fucked up shit and Robin informed me that the way I was acting and talking about him wasn’t very heterosexual. Her words, not mine.” Steve smirked. “So, I kinda just admitted to myself I was into him and now I’m here.”

“Oh. Is the guy at this bar right now?”

“Yeah. He is.”

Eddie turned around and pushed Steve against the bathroom door as gently as he could.

“You’ve been driving me mad for years, Stevie. You know that?”

“Years?” Steve gulped, but kept smiling.

“Years. And now you’ve given me all that I need to do something about it.”

“Have I?”

Eddie answered him with a kiss.

It wasn’t spectacular, wasn’t even that good as far as kisses go.

Steve seemed caught off guard, like he hadn’t actually expected Eddie to take what was right in front of him, take control.

But then he caught up.

His hands gripped Eddie’s hips tight, the rest of his body relaxing against the wall as Eddie crowded against him further, their fronts touching from head to feet.

Their second kiss came right after a pause for breath, and that one was spectacular.

It was longer, wetter, hotter.

Eddie didn’t want it to end.

But someone banged on the door and they couldn’t be those people.

As they moved away to let the person in, Steve leaned his head against Eddie’s shoulder, like he did on movie night.

“So you’re into me too?” He asked.

Eddie could hear the smirk in his tone, didn’t even need to look down or at their reflection in the mirror to know he was being a little shit.

“No, I just kiss all the boys who come up behind me in bathrooms.”

Steve leaned his head back and nipped at Eddie’s neck, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Behave, big boy. Gotta go pretend we weren’t five seconds from fucking around in a public bathroom,” Eddie said as he guided Steve out of the bathroom.

When they got back into the main room, Steve tensed, started to pull away.

Eddie let him, tried not to let it bother him.

But then he was back, head back on his shoulder, arm around his waist.

“Sorry. Just. Not used to this being something I can do,” he said so only Eddie could hear.

“‘S okay. We’re safe here, though.”

No one commented on it when they got back to the table, though they both could tell everyone wanted to.

Will seemed ready to explode with excitement when someone came and asked him to dance and everyone at the table encouraged him to go.

He wasn’t much of a dancer, but he’d learn.

Nancy and Robin eventually went back to the bar to grab more drinks, and Eddie couldn’t help but watch the way Nancy was looking at one of the women who was standing alone by the jukebox.

“Hey, is it possible that Nancy’s…”

“Oh, yeah. Robin and I have had at least four conversations about how much the Wheelers desperately need to admit to themselves that sexuality is fluid.”

Eddie pulled away to look down at Steve, baffled at how educated he was on everything and kind of hating himself for being surprised.

“You’re somethin’ else, sweetheart.”

Steve kissed his cheek in response.

—-------------------

Nancy came out to them a month later, at the same bar, while staring at the same woman who was standing by the jukebox the month before.

She didn’t really use a label, but didn’t feel like she had to.

Mike took a bit longer, but eventually, Will lost his patience and kissed him.

He came out about ten seconds later.

[goodluckdiaz]

my two cents on christopher, eddie, buddie & the overall writing and pacing of s8 so far…

to be honest, i’ve been thinking this since the s8 premiere but as we are now reaching the midseason finale with very little progress in the way of christopher coming home, it really confirms for me that as a collective we do need to entirely suspend our disbelief with this arc. we already do it so much for this show, what’s one more thing?

chris being gone isn’t really about his feelings towards the eddie and the kim situation. him still being gone isn’t even about eddie’s parenting or eddie’s parents. it is simply because the writers want him gone, in order to keep eddie isolated for his continuing ‘self-discovery’ arc. if it wasn’t about that, then chris would’ve come home in 8x04 like mara and bobby, or at very least by now we’d have seen significant progress in their relationship being rebuilt.

the writers do make a lot of questionable choices, but ultimately they know what they’re doing (hoping they don’t make me eat my words, we’ll check back in after 8x18) and there will be a reason why he isn’t back yet, even if it’s unrealistic following a chronological timeline. but we have to remember that they’re in tv world and a chronological timeline doesn’t exist. need i remind everyone that as of this season, canonically chris was born in both 2010 and 2011. we know they’re not sticklers for cohesive time continuity.

regardless of how long he’s kept away be that a week, three months or a year, that impact is always going to be the same. the fallout of it all and when he returns is going to be whatever the writers decide for it to be. and it will be whatever furthers the plot and develops the characters in the direction they want them to go. in real life if something like this happened of course the longer period of time that the kid was away, the worse the effect that would have on them and the relationship with their parent. but this isn’t real life and that is only going to happen if the writers want it to. helena and ramon wanting to keep chris full time or whatever other worst case scenario catastrophe that could come out of this event, will only happen if the writers want it to. personally i expect it to not have long lasting effects once his initial return is resolved. it would not be the first time characters seemingly get over big traumas without so much as a callback even when given the perfect opportunity (like literally the ladder or well incidents that just happened).

we are seeing things unfold episode at a time, week by week. whereas they already know the full story, we don’t. (even if we can take a good guess at the way they’re going!) so of course things do not make sense to us.

this last episode seems to be confusing to a lot of people, especially in regards to “the lack of addressing eddie’s personal arc”, but i disagree with the sentiment that it wasn’t addressed. it was done subtly and it fit with the episode.

we saw the scene where eddie was teasing buck by taking his phone and a little background moment where he jumped over the back of the couch (direct parallel to 8x06’s ending btw). pre-riskybusiness eddie likely would not have done those things. these were ways of implicitly acknowledging the ending of 8x06. it is a continuation of him lightening up and allowing himself the grace to have fun in simple things. we just didn’t see any further development in his story, which in that case i believe would be more explicitly shown or stated. and i do think it is completely valid that eddie took a backseat this episode when you consider that last week was heavily focused on him and it’s an ensemble show. this was the first time that bobby and athena have had the spotlight since the premiere, and consider too that hen has spent the last two episodes in the background.

being disappointed that your favourite character has less screen time than you’d have hoped or perhaps expected, is valid. but saying that certain plots or characters are “taking away” from another character’s screen time just kinda doesn’t make sense. because who are you to decide which characters and which stories are owed certain amounts of screen time? that’s the writer’s job. and no one character is owed more screen time than the other (although, contractually peter and angela may take the cake there).

just like how we say “this is tv, everything is intentional, there’s a reason why xyz happened or why xyz was said”, the same goes for what isn’t said. i’ve seen the rhetoric that it’s “out of character that buddie haven’t had a serious conversation yet or a conversation about chris” and i don’t disagree, which is why it’s very likely that there is a reason for it. the writers know these characters, there may be minor discrepancies from episode to episode and as the seasons progress. but fundamentally they know them and if they’re being written as very noticeably out of character, there should be a reason for it.

we’ve seen interviews from ryan, oliver and tim, and the implication is that this story of eddie’s is going to take time, especially if the very end goal is gay eddie and buddie like we believe it to be. in regards to buddie we know that they’re going to play into the ‘will they, won’t they’ trope and that it’s going to be a slow burn (as if it isn’t already jfc). with this in mind i think it’s fair to assume that chris will continue to be away for some time, until at least eddie’s self-discovery arc closes out, which i don’t think will be until towards the end of the season. which again is why we need to suspend our disbelief, at this point keeping chris gone is the only way to finish and fully flesh out this self-discovery arc for eddie. i don’t think this was the only way to deal with eddie’s story, but now we are in too deep, chris needs to stay in texas until eddie has done what he needs to do. chris coming home prematurely would be a disservice to eddie, to chris, to the writing thus far and to the audience.

i too do feel frustrated with certain aspects of the pacing this season and the lack of cohesion and also jarring tone switches with the story telling. but i don’t think it is bad by any means. we still have more than half the season to see how everything else plays out. i’m choosing to trust tim. i think even if the route is different than we all hoped, that the end result will be the same.

[lover-of-mine]

to be totally honest, i think a lot of 'they should get a slowburn!' stuff is from people who are nervous that they're not gonna do buddie at all and are preemptively looking for reasons why hope will not be lost if it doesn't happen in s8.

like, i get it, i'm still not 100% convinced it'll happen (i hope it will!) but sometimes you just gotta accept the possibility of disappointment, y'know?

Look, I'm no one, I'm a girl with a hyperfixation and a blog who happens to watch too many procedurals. But Buck and Eddie have been following the procedural slowburn format since season 2. It's worse now with the added context that Buck is bi. So the impression is that buddie is building up to something. There are meta elements during 704 that make me go 👀 like the blue and green and the way they had Eddie ask Buck if he's jumping ship and Buck explicitly say he's not. I think they set a plan in motion during 704. And I think that plan has an actual timeline based on the amount of episodes they had confirmed at the time the episode aired, so the rest of season 7 and season 8. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. I'm wrong most of the time if it's not about patterns on the show. But every interview we had this season makes it seem like they have been trying to tell this story but fox wasn't letting them and abc did. It took them 4 episodes to make Buck bi. They left the opening disaster and the first thing they did was make Buck bi. They didn't have to. To keep Buck and Eddie on the impossible will they/won't they if they're not planning on getting them together is smarter. Now they're actually possible. If they're actually possible, our very annoying side of the fandom is just gonna get more annoying asking for them to just get together already. Everyone involved could've given up. They were being blocked by the network. The writers could've given up. Buddie is a story about love even if they never get romantically involved because the writers made a conscious choice of writing how much those men love each other. And they spent a significant amount of a reduced season making sure we knew that will always be the case. The amount of buddie we had this season is absolutely completely insane. Both of them were in relationships with other people. I made a post about that earlier in the week, but they could've made different choices and separated them. And it's not like all their scenes were at the firehouse and where just getting coworker time. The camera panned to Eddie. Bobby's goodbye tour had them together all the time. They were explicitly put in a co-parenting position. Eddie is the only person they made a point of showing Buck come out to because he comes out to everyone else accidentally. It's a love story no matter how you look at it and not getting them together would be such a miss of a narrative that has been set up like this. Because legit, if they accidentally set up what could be one of the greatest slowburns in television, someone in that writers room needs to take a good look at their life. They want to tell this story. Why would they gamble on not being able to deliver and honest to God go down in television history by dragging it out when the pieces are already in play? During season 6 I get it, they didn't have all the pieces, they didn't have the time. Now they have most of the pieces and a whole season. Madney was set up in 12 episodes. And they had to work through a kidnapping and a murder attempt. A MURDER ATTEMPT. Why is Eddie being messy suddenly something that's gonna take seasons and seasons to resolve? Give me both of them single and I can get them together in one episode. All they need is one conversation. Just one. It's not like it's an impossible task to create an arc that's gonna use 12 to 15 episodes next season to work out the last bits and get them together in a nice way. The only thing they necessarily need to "fix" before getting them together, is Eddie not being queer. Everything else can be worked through while they're a couple. They're so close. The idea of dragging it out just to drag it out is so........... They've been a slowburn the whole time. This would just force them to stand on the fire.

Obviously, they don't have to go there. But for me we're at a 90% chance of them going canon next season. But if they don't, that's life. It's just that those men are somehow closer than they've ever been. And they are in a great position to explore what their relationship looks like because Chris was removed from the play, and it's so close I can taste it. That storyline writes itself. And I really hope they see that and that kicking Eddie back to the ground had a purpose. Because Bathena and Madney also started once Bobby and Maddie decided to drag themselves out of their trauma and stop letting it define how they live their lives. It's RIGHT THERE.

Anyway, I got carried away. Yes, all we have is hope and it might not happen, but I will continue to make noise for it to come because if there's one thing I do is live for the hope of it all.

[mazzystar24]

same anon talking about eddie’s slut era, just wanted to add:

it would honestly wreck me too to see eddie with yet again another person keeping him from buck and i feel like if they gave him a gay slut era it would seal the buddie coffin because the fandom would all flock to whatever underdeveloped man they try to throw at him and it will be like…. you made them both queer just for them to not end up together??

like i get that it would be great rep for both of them to be queer but i’ll be pissed if they actually go for them both being queer and then don’t let them be together… bc again they are not real people, they are characters so their sexualities can be about each other to an extent, and honestly people wouldn’t have thought either of them were queer if it weren’t for each other so what would be the point??

the thought of eddie kissing or doing anything sexual with anyone other than buck at this point just turns me off the show bc they’ve built this whole reputation of him having a weird relationship with sex and casual dating (yeah ik it has to do with not wanting to complicate things with chris) but this is mr. “sex makes everything complicated” himself, like even without having to worry about chris (which lets be honest…. he’s going to still be focused on chris anyway even if he’s in texas) he wouldn’t go out and sleep around all willy nilly… like the man’s not a prude, but he’s not buck 1.0 either and giving him a slut era to me would feel like a disservice to the character (which they’ve already done anyway with his 7b plot but i don’t want them to make it worse)

Gently and lovingly disagree with the first point cos like both being queer for me would be like confirmation it’s inevitable andddd slut era at least means there is no underdeveloped guy just a bunch of randoms

No cos you’re right like your wording is gonna piss off people but I get what you mean like it’s the same debate of if one was a woman they’d be canon already, it’s like once they confirm them both queer it’s then an intentional writing choice to put attraction on the table through that confirmation

I think his relationship with sex really depends on where they go with him cos there are the Demi truthers, the gay truthers, the ace truthers, etc - like I’m team gay Eddie so for me I see his relationship with sex as more so relating to his lack of attraction to women like he views it as something he HAS to do

[niyalationz]

my HONEST take on jhea + livdom 😛😛

(Again, assuming kayfabe. I dont wanna see any 'jey is married/rhea has a husband' shit !)

Written before the most recent UMMM episodes

JHEA

okay so lets get to basis of whag jhea (gee-uh) is

Their first interaction was like maybe a year ago i believe ? They were still enemies at the time, and rhea even went as far as physically attacking him with a brief case. She DID NOTTT want him at that point of time.

However, as time went on w Rheadom, jey found an opportunity to sliiidee in and he took it!

Good on him #king

Anyways

I personally rlly like them. AND HERES WHY!

RHEA herself is definitely a very playful and silly character. Even when she was with Liv, she was very silly and just had fun. As shown with Damian 24/7, she was ALWAYS playful sort of like a little sister! However, with Dominik, she sort of (what im assuming) started to behave in a way that would appeal to dominik's 'mami' thing. She became ruder, more dominant, and possessive. Also, i should add on, the relationship there was always very sexual. A relationship led by sexual tension will NEVER be a good relationship. Even the 'mami' title was meant to be somewhat sexual at the very least. With Jey, she doesn't have to be dominant or scary or possessive or wtv; she doesn't have to be MAMI. She can be Jey's girl, or just Rhea. She also subtly confirmed that Jey calls her BABY. THATS SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE IDC! She upgraded def.

Basically, im saying that Jhea is way better bcz rhea doesn't have to be reliable and the dominant one 24/7, and she doesn't have to play into this sexual character. Instead, she can just be herself with Jey.

However, they NEED to interact more on screen. WWE made them only to never develop their relationship anymore then a few casual glances and conversations.

HOWWWWEVVVERRRR ... ik yall see the way Rhea looks at that man. She is in elll ohh vveee eeeee eee eee and affection 🥴

That also culd technically play into sm rheadom angst if ur into that! Any woman who's able to stare at a man like that and have so much love in her eyes will never b able to truly get over an ex just like 🫰🏽 that!

Anywaysssss ....

Ok also i wanted 2 add that jhea also holds a special place in my heart BECAUSE its like chyna and eddie ykwim? Eddie reminded the world that chyna is still a lady and i feel like jey would remind US that rhea his still a lady and most importantly his lady!

LIVDOM

Yall are gonna be rrreeeallllyyy mad at this oouuu... oh well!

First of all, this is NOT a good relationship. And it's not js bcz of what u think I think it is. Lemme put yall on.

Liv constantly stalked and harassed Dominik for weeks. She touched him w/o his consent even if he told her not tew, but she didn't gaf! But, guess what, he fell inlove w her. Yall know what that is?

YH I SAID IT ! SOOOO WHATTTTT . Anyways!

The relationship also feels a little forced. Like Liv bragged abt getting w him and being a home-wrecker. Dom ykdw. Dpmo boy. It sort of feels like Liv only got w dominik because it was a way to get at Rhea. And when she realized rhea dgaf abt him no more, she brought in raquel; ANOTHER person who can fw rhea's mental. I also doubt Liv will stay with dominik for tooo long because 1. Dominik is not a good wrestler. Ok i said it his bookings are ass and he always cheats even if he is a heel! 2. He can genuinely not provide anything for liv. He can't fight the women's division for her, to protect her from any girl bigger than her because like.. not only is he a pussy but he also got bodied by rhea like three times? Raquel howrver, CAN fight the women's division. She can fight any girl rlly, bcz shes big asl and strong! Raquel is 100% more helpful to liv and she rlly dont need the judgment day or that clown dominik at all if she has raquel!

With that being said, let's look at the positives!

Ok there arent any! But hmo pls

I hated the relationship because, everything abt it is then being sexual. 24/7. Like, kissing, touching, holding each other, all these forms of pda and what not.

BUT ... that changed a bit when i seen that liv felt bad abt the cage and got him a gift! Ok we're getting somewhere w this relationship period!

Hopefully they'll keep going in this positive direction for livdom , and wont js keep having them everywhere while not building or adding onto their character/bond/ and relationship at all.

OVERALL ?

OVER ALL THOUGHTS ???????

Weelllllllll

Jhea is a solid 8.5/10, i'd make it 10/10 if it didnt feel like rhea was js using jey as a rebound since her man was gone. But, thankfully, it doesn't rlly feel like that and they both make it easy to forget she even dated dominik! Yayyyy!

Livdom is a 6/10. Not anything less than a five, but definitely not above an 8. Ykwim? I seen this clip of Liv sort of pushing dominik's hand away, and maybe that's a sign of her not rlly fw him OR maybe it's js him moving his hand away and didnt see liv's hand as she went to grab it. Idk who knows! Not me thats for sure!

In general tho, i'm glad rheadom broke up; even if it hurts my heart to admit. I deadass called them mama y papa & summerslam had my heart hurting for dayysss after.

the reason im glad they split is bczzz Dominik had always been somebodies sidekick, whether it be his dad, rhea, or liv. I wanna see dominik completely alone, and managing his way without help at all. Maybe for just a few segments or wtv! WWE has done a great job making his character look pathetic alr, but it seems a lil unrealistic as Dominik himself is REY MYSTERIO'S son. Anybody w rey's blood is gonna be somewhat good at wrestling okurrr ?

Okay i forgot what elese i wanted to add on bcz i wrote this like two(?) weeks ago and forgot all abt it thne i went to finish it but tumblr deleted what i wrote so i had to just go off the first draft .

Anyways yall have a good night its 8:29 and i spent my entire day out n about for my bday week 🫠 im DRAINED

Bye yall

[eddiebabygirldiaz]

ryan's fics masterlist

This is a list of all of my published buddie fics for the 9-1-1 fandom (will be updated as needed).

death wish love | 15K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Eddie opening the door, casual and filled with a type of swagger Buck didn’t understand. Pantsless. Thighs on display. Flushed and sweaty in his thin button up.

Buck isn’t sure why the memory of that image makes his throat go tight. It didn’t faze him all that much at the time because he had other things on his mind and was sad enough that a true act of divinity probably wouldn’t have gotten a reaction out of him. But now–

Well, now Buck looks at Eddie. Bare legs and a hint of his thighs. That dark mark on the back of his right leg peeking out from the hem of his shorts. Hair mussed and a little damp, curling behind his ears.

The image of the Eddie in front of him now and the Eddie in front of him last night flicker back and forth on top of each other like some kind of montage or old movie reel.

And Buck feels…pink. Caught. Stomach all fizzy and turning.

or, after getting dumped by tommy and going to eddie's, buck wakes up the next morning only to be pummeled by his hangover and his attraction to eddie

sweet sunbursts of flesh pink magic | 5K | Mature/Explicit | Read on AO3

Buck’s magic has always been a bit volatile. Jittery. Fluctuating. A touch reckless. Messy and bright and loud.

Maddie says that a person’s magic is supposed to match the person themselves, that the form it takes isn’t happenstance or random, that it’s a reflection of your purest self, an extension of your soul that you can manipulate.

Safe to say, Buck’s never cared for that assessment.

or, buck has magic and eddie gets doused with sex pollen

still the bone remembers, still it wants | 148K | Explicit | Read on AO3

The thing is, wanting has always been easy.

The thing is, wanting has always been so hard.

or, eddie goes to therapy and learns how to want. buck helps.

i'm here with the door wide open | 24K | Teen & Up | Read on AO3

Eddie eats and showers and puts on clothes. He goes to work, does his job, acts as fine as he can around his friends, attends therapy twice a week, and goes back home.

Day after day after day.

And it’s so fucking quiet.

or, eddie copes with the absence of chris but also the presence of buck

except everything | 26K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Like most things with Eddie are, the regular sex is good. Fun. A fucking delight to be honest.

Buck may be a bit lovesick and forced to hide needy whines like he is some dog trying not to be too cumbersome so his owner lets him stay, but he’s also more relaxed than he’s ever been, no matter the tension of his heavy love that only grows and grows and grows.

It’s fine.

Eddie bends Buck over the kitchen table and fucks him until he’s screaming, and it’s fine. Buck rides Eddie until he’s a babbling mess and his fingernails cut into Buck’s hip bones leaving marks Buck will trace later with a wretched wistfulness, and it’s fine. Eddie kisses Buck sweetly, finely, softly, as if that alone is enough, and it’s fine. Buck fingers Eddie until he comes all over himself, the sensation of his heartbeat basically in the palm of Buck’s hand, and it’s fine.

It’s all so very fine. Buck is fine.

or, buck and eddie become friends with benefits, get high, and confess their love in the stupidest and most endearing way possible.

the mouth is the thing that craves | 11K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Buck’s free hand comes up to Eddie’s face, fingertips brushing over Eddie’s mouth which is hanging open. Eddie isn’t sure when it started doing that but it is and his tongue twitches involuntarily when Buck slips the tips of his first three fingers past the row of Eddie’s bottom teeth.

“Oh,” Buck murmurs, like he’s confirmed something to himself. “Yeah. Okay.”

There’s no room in Eddie for anything that’s not grateful or warm or good, his heart spreading out wide in his chest, full and fat and working overtime as Buck smiles to himself, all small and lopsided and boyishly charming, and says, “You need something in your mouth, sweetheart? Need to hold me close, don’t you?”

or, eddie loves buck and he really loves buck's cock

you fill my head with you | 22K | Mature | Read on AO3

And then everything winded down, their friends decided to turn in and head home. Him and Eddie were the last to leave, and he–

He stumbled out of the bar right beside Eddie. He–Oh god, he threw himself all over Eddie. He flirted. He–he told Eddie that–

Buck’s hand stills, the toothbrush lying on his tongue with dead weight, uncomfortable and somewhat annoying, but Buck can’t even think about that because he fucking told Eddie that he dreams about them kissing.

What the fuck?

What the actual, horrible, unholy fuck?

Buck has to leave.

He needs to find a deep, dark hole to climb inside. Bury himself so that he can never come out.

He can never see Eddie again for as long as he lives and that’s such a terrifying, heartbreaking, impossible thought, but that’s the way it has to be.

He told Eddie he dreams about them kissing.

or, a night of drinking leads to buck confessing his feelings to eddie and they are both very stupid about it

baby, it's okay if we both end up afraid | 28K | Mature | Read on AO3

Buck hadn’t forgotten how cold the ocean is.

He hadn’t forgotten the bite of it or how the crest of a wave can feel like the edge of a knife or how the water stings and cuts and carves and settles in the bottom of your lungs and the pit of your stomach like a handful of broken glass.

But he had forgotten the water’s weight.

He had forgotten how heavy it is as it clings to you and refuses to let go, something he supposes he has in common with this powerful, almost undefeatable force of nature. Letting go has never been something he is good at, in any capacity, in any situation, always clinging clinging clinging like his very life depends on how well he can hold on to all the things that want him to release them.

OR

buck and bobby battle their past traumas in the middle of a shipwreck. eddie pines in the aftermath. and somehow, for all of them, love endures and overcomes.

it walks with my legs (to fall at your feet) | 61K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Haunts usually only appear after being dead for a while. It’s not immediate. So it’s rare for him to see them like this. It’s even rarer for him to see one when Eddie is with him, like somehow the ghosts know to stay away when they are together.

Five years and this girl is only the third haunt he has witnessed when Eddie is nearby.

Five years and this girl is the first they talk about.

“She’s trying to talk,” Buck finishes for Eddie, hesitantly and oh so carefully, afraid of spooking Eddie, afraid of spooking himself, afraid of spooking the girl trying so hard to tell them something.

Eddie looks her over the way he does a patient, clinical and concerned, trying to find what will help him diagnose and care for those who are hurting.

A faint wisp of pride tumbles around in Buck’s chest.

A stronger gust of love hooks into his ribs.

“They don’t do that,” Eddie says after a moment.

“No.”

OR

a buddie summer sons au where buck and eddie get caught up in something bigger than themselves and awaken a power that haunts them for the rest of their lives; however, the unspoken truths and love between them haunts them more than any ghost ever could

blue eyes and bare walls | 45K | Explicit | Read on AO3

“We are not going to paint our bedroom eggplant, Buck.” The words are flat as they come out of his mouth, pressed together beneath the weight of his exasperation and disgust at the shade of purple Buck is excitedly holding in his hands.

Buck sighs and frowns then shakes the tiny card covered in shades of purple in Eddie’s face, as if doing so would suddenly convince him that eggplant is actually a wonderful color and Eddie definitely wants it to cover the four walls of the bedroom they share.

That horrendous eggplant color is at the very top of the card with a few lighter shades below it, all hues that Buck instantly gravitated to when they made their way to the paint section of the hardware store, eyes blazing bright with that particular interest of his that makes him look so goddamn devastatingly gorgeous and indicates that he’s about to embark on a long-winded ramble.

“Eddie,” Buck whines, his lower lip jutting out in a pout as a well-practiced sheen covers his crystal blue eyes.

OR

Buck and Eddie are newlyweds and looking to paint their new bedroom. What ensues is the butting of heads, some arguing of both the fun and not fun variety, and desperate paint-filled sex on the floor

to you I'm just a man (to me you're all i am) | 287K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Buck is fucking tired of living with his parents.

He’s nearly thirty years old for Christ’s sake, and he is sick to death of being at their beck and call, of having to bend to their every whim, of being constantly scrutinized while also being constantly ignored. For his entire life he has been buried beneath their thumbs, his weak, aching, fragile body pushed further and further into the ground until dry soil and broken twigs flood his mouth, left to rot with the mark of their fingerprints burned so deeply into him that there’s no way of removing them.

OR

Buck is the son of the president of the United States and is finally moving out of the White House. His new home comes with new neighbors, Eddie and Christopher Diaz, who quickly become the center of Buck's world.

But despite being out from under his parent's thumb, Buck's life is messy and complicated and ruled by the fact that he is the First Son which means he is always under the watchful eyes of his bodyguards. None of that stops him from pursuing a life with the Diaz boys, but there are many complications, some of which he isn't even aware of. Yet.

today i live for a drop of you | 38.9K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Eddie has such a pretty cock.

That’s the only thing Buck can think of as he kneels at Eddie's feet. It’s flushed, almost purple in color, straining, and dripping. And it’s all for Buck.

Buck licks his lips and looks up at Eddie, who is leaning against the kitchen counter, hands braced behind him, his head thrown back and his chest heaving.

Jesus, Buck hasn’t even touched him yet and he’s already panting and desperate.

OR

Five times Buck dreams about sucking Eddie's cock and the one time he actually gets to do it

red life might stream again | 158K | Explicit | Read on AO3

The continent of Edrus is split into five countries, one for each species. Kyran belongs to the fae, Midrahi belongs to the humans, Vahlan belongs to the shapeshifters, Raelia belongs to the sari, and Dwerva belongs to the daemons. For centuries the five species have lived separately and somewhat peacefully. No one is allowed into a country that is not their home country, with the exception of members of the Order and traders chosen by each ruling government.

One tragic event brings together unlikely allies Eddie, fae soldier from Kyran, and Buck, human prince and future king of Midrahi. Together, along with their friends, they must uncover a dark secret about their world that has been hidden for too long, fight to keep one another alive, and work against an evil empire that has been hiding in the shadows ready to enslave any who don't bend to its will.

In the midst of crumbling kingdoms and dark masters, Eddie and Buck find something extraordinary together, but will they survive long enough to build something that lasts or will it all come crashing down around them?

there's always been a rainbow hanging over your head | 8.7K | General | Read on AO3

Eddie is going to come out to Buck.

The words I’m gay are going to cross his lips, enter the scant space between them, and fill the air with truth and possibility and freedom.

Once he can actually manage to say them that is.

OR

Eddie comes out to Buck, receives a quirky mug, and gets together with the love of his life. In that order.

we live and breathe words | 9K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Buck blinks and reads over it again. And again. And again. And again. Hot, fizzy starlight bursts inside his chest, shining across every crack and crevice as he reads it over and over. The poem is–it’s beautiful. The words plunge into his heart, engulfing it in soft blooming vines that reach into every broken part and pull them together.

Eddie wrote this.

Eddie wrote this.

OR

Buck finds Eddie's poetry, discovers Eddie is in love with him, and decides to do something about it.

slowly getting sober from the taste of your skin | 7.5K | Explicit | Read on AO3

“I–yeah. Yes. I want everything.” He’s not exactly sure what Buck is alluding to, but Eddie will take whatever Buck is willing to give. More of Buck can only be everything good and pleasurable and right in the world.

Buck pulls away from Eddie’s neck and turns his head. “Did you hear that? Sounds like he wants both of us.”

Confusion swirls through Eddie, dampening the tiny starbursts popping through his blood. He turns to follow Buck’s gaze and his breath catches in his throat.

Leaning against the doorframe, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, is–Buck.

OR

Eddie has a threesome with regular Buck and evil!Buck

when the violence causes silence | 17.5K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Watching Buck get hit by pure crackling energy, watching him fall and dangle above the ground–motionless, lifeless–it makes everything go silent. Eddie thinks he screams, but he doesn’t hear it; he feels Buck’s name rip out of his throat, splintering across his tongue, the shards of each syllable cutting cutting cutting until all he can taste is the echo of Buck’s name alongside his own blood.

OR

Buck gets struck by lightning and Eddie mourns. When Buck wakes up, Eddie takes him home and tells him what Buck means to him.

addicted to the softness of your touch | 694 | Teen and Up | Read on AO3

For the tumblr promt "your lips are really warm"

forever tastes like you and me | 1K | Teen and Up | Read on AO3

For the tumblr prompt "would you like to go on a date?" "i could do a date."

even when i'm lost, with you i'm found | 947 | Teen and Up | Read on AO3

For the tumblr prompt "I never thought driving around could be romantic"

and i could be good, i know that i should | 4.3K | Explicit | Read on AO3

Eddie is putting a little product in his hair, knowing that Buck loves it when it’s slightly messy, when he hears his boyfriend walk through the front door. Buck had gotten ready at Maddie and Chim’s place, stating he had a very special outfit planned and needed her help with it. Eddie’s been a little anxious about it, unable to imagine what Buck has in mind but eager to find out.

OR

Buck wears a skirt and Eddie has feelings about it

[family-tree-of-ships]

So, I’ve been thinking.

Buck has some seriously bad taste in girlfriends over the course of these glorious 6 seasons, before he decides to see if the other side can bring some light in. I mean, all of the women he has seriously dated had some strong likable qualities to them and they all wanted what’s best for Buck (I’m trying at my own share of optimism here). I think, from all of them, Abby was his most successful one (before it obviously crashed and burned and shattered his big wonderful heart). It had something none of the other ones had. Acceptance and honesty. Abby accepted his job, listened when Buck was caught up into his head about the stresses of the job. Buck accepted her problems with her mother and helped her through while she was alive and for a good time after she passed. Buck was honest with her, as she was with him. They had been through their fair share of trials and tribulations. Up until she left for Europe, I honestly liked them together.

Once they’re officially over, all the other relationships he has either miss one or the other.

Ali couldn’t get over the dangers Buck was open to while on the job.

Taylor fully accepted his job, even was honest and genuine with him at some point. Buck didn’t reciprocate either. He couldn’t get over her intense ambition for every new story she could use to her benefit (to which she obtained by breaching his trust, both when they first met and when they were well into their relationship). He wasn’t open with her, again, in many circumstances. Even cheated on her with Lucy, for whom he didn’t have any sort of feelings other than attraction. When you get drunk, the truth comes out. There’s no devil, just a complete lack of self-restraint. If Buck truly loved her, which we know he didn’t, since her answer to her confession was literally “Good.”, getting drunk should’ve confirmed his affections, not completely contradict them. Buck, seems like an affectionate and happy drunk, since that’s who he is. If he loved Taylor, we should’ve gotten a sequence in which he calls her and starts spitting dramatic declarations or even comes home to her because when you love someone, they’re your home. Your instinct is to go them, not kiss the next person you see. Then, he lies, once he gets to his apartment, after this ‘mistake’. And asks her to move in. Because he got nervous. He couldn’t be honest with her. When they found out, they brushed it off quickly, never to be mentioned again. As if they wore both scared. They break it off, eventually, after a story that should’ve remained private made the headlines. It was an important breach in trust, but it shouldn’t have been enough for Buck, considering how loyal he is (just look at how much he waited for Abby). But it didn’t need to be too much, since there wasn’t anything too significant or tethering between them to begin with.

Natalia was fascinated by his death, which was an instant message that this wasn’t going to last in any way, shape or form. Buck is also dishonest with her, about Lucy and his history with her, again. We can understand this, it shines a bad light on him if he confesses he has cheated before, but didn’t he say she sees him? Shouldn’t that bring out at least some kind of easiness into ending up saying the truth? Apparently not.

We can see why the majority dislike Buck’s choices in the women he dates long-term. Ali and Natalia never get fleshed out. Abby and Taylor do and you, as a watcher, can even sympathize with them, but they both end up really hurting Buck. So, what can you do? Settle for what the show gives you? Fandoms don’t do that, especially when they aren’t satisfied.

Okay, so who reaches those two requirements and is constantly present in Buck’s life, who is properly fleshed out? You guessed it.

Drumrolls, please.

Eddie.

Do we even have to talk about acceptance? Come on.

Eddie has been here since season 2. Through a near death experience, then another one, then a lawsuit and then another one (there’s a lot, enough to fill a whole card-based game). Buck has also had to suffer through two of those near-death meetings with Death that Eddie has had. They’ve fully had each other’s backs within the first 48 hours of meeting one another. Honesty between them is natural and that is expressed in a lot of scenes. To list a few, we have Eddie having panic attacks when he thinks of committing to Ana. He goes and talks about it with Buck and Bobby and then breaks it off with her. Secondly, when Eddie finds about the fates of his army friends and destroys his bedroom through a fit of rage brought on by helplessness and fear. A very vulnerable state to be in (let’s be honest, how many damn people have seen Eddie cry his eyes out?). Buck goes in, listens to him, gives him advice and we later see them both patching up his wrecked bedroom walls. Thirdly, we have Buck going to his house to get some reprieve from the constant worry his friends have for him, knowing that he won’t be pushed here, but comfortably accompanied. He falls asleep immediately (let’s ignore couch theory before I go bonkers). That’s both of them expressing vulnerability and raw honesty. More than they’ve done with any lover, no matter how fleshed out.

There’s clearly an answer here. We’re going to wait until they find it.

[fics-and-quotes-andthelike]

It Started With a Smile

Title: It Started with a Smile

Pairing: Eddie Munson x female reader

Word Count: ~2,609

In which the reader sits in on a game of D&D, and fondly looks back on some memories that she’s made with Eddie.

A/N: My first ever fanfic! I hope you guys like it, but I’m open to criticism and advice if you have any.

Let me know if there’s any other fics that you’d like to read, just give me a character and a prompt!

If there was anything that you’d learned over the past two years, it was that D&D was a heartless, brutal thing.

You smiled lightly as you watched Eddie animatedly describe another challenge that the party had to face, while the group groaned and started talking over each other as they tried to figure out what to do next.

If you were being honest, you didn’t understand a word of what was happening. But you saw that it made Eddie happy, and that was enough for you.

You’d tried to get into D&D before, honestly, when Eddie had first caught your attention at school a few years before.

You couldn’t help but smile a bit at the memory.

It had happened when Jason was being his usual thickheaded self during your lunch period. He had been subtly poking at a young boy in the cafeteria that you now knew as Dustin Henderson. Dustin had tried to brush him off, and made some offhand remark about how the only thing Jason had going for him was basketball, and how he’d be lucky if he even got through high school.

It was a simple, stupid comment. Nothing worth getting truly upset about.

But of course, you can always count on Jason to over exaggerate and do something reckless.

Jason had shoved at Dustin’s shoulder, catching the attention of everyone within a few feet of the pair. Including you.

You’d stood- not sure what you were going to do, but certain that you weren’t going to let Jason pummel a child- when Eddie Munson appeared out of nowhere. “Good ol’ Dustin,” he’d said as he pushed the boy behind him. “Never knows when to shut his mouth.” He pointed a ringed finger at Jason as he slowly walked backwards, away from the jock. “Not that you’re any better, hot stuff.”

Eddie and Dustin continued their retreat, Eddie with a large smile on his face, leaving Jason angrier than before. Your eyes tracked them as they moved, your cheeks heating slightly when you got a good look at Eddie’s smile.

Luckily, Chrissy had suddenly appeared by Jason’s side, and had led him away before things could escalate any further.

Eddie and Dustin made it back to their lunch table unscathed, except for the slap in the back of the head that Eddie so kindly bestowed on his poor friend.

After that incident, you’d kept a closer eye on the person that Jason so fondly referred to as the school’s “resident freak”. You’d noticed two things right off the bat.

The first thing you noticed was his smile. The way that it transformed his face and made his eyes light up. It was common for Eddie to wear a smirk or to stick his tongue out at others, but the times that you’d seen him smile at his group with pure joy in his gaze confirmed that his smile was your favorite expression to see on him.

The second thing, obviously, was that Eddie was head of the school’s D&D club. As soon as you’d noticed that, you decided to learn everything you could about the game to try and impress him.

For the next week, you researched a few things here and there in between classes, gathering a few random facts and campaign ideas.

You probably should’ve double checked your sources. Or at least looked at basic rules and regulations. Like the fact that you were supposed to come up with a name.

One day, in between classes, you had seen Eddie chatting with his D&D group by his locker. You decided to mingle, hoping that at any moment, his friends would walk away and you would be able to show off your knowledge.

If your heart would stop trying to beat out of your chest, of course.

Before you could even blink, Eddie’s friends walked away, and he turned and started walking down the hallway in your direction.

Your brain short circuited, but somehow your legs carried you over a few steps, and your mouth started moving.

“Hey,” you said as you stepped directly in Eddie’s path.

Eddie had stopped in his tracks. He looked at you blankly, no malice in his eyes, but no joy or expectancy either. “Hey,” he responded warily.

You cleared your throat nervously. “I was wondering if I could join your club.”

At that, Eddie’s head tilted in confusion. He looked at you quizzically, as if he expected you to burst out laughing and run the opposite way. Or maybe he was just genuinely confused.

“Your D&D club,” you elaborated, silently thanking your brain for sending the right words to your mouth.

Eddie looked you up and down. “You don’t look the type.”

You flushed in embarrassment and stuck your chin in the air stubbornly, suddenly feeling your confidence come in waves. “That’s pretty harsh of you, don’t you think? Judging other people based on appearance.”

Eddie’s face had changed immediately, a small smile on his face and he looked back up at your eyes. He huffed out a short laugh. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

You could feel your cheeks heating up. “No, we wouldn’t.”

He paused one more second, eyes fixed on yours, before he finally shrugged. “Alright, then. I’ll see you tonight.”

To say that your brain had short circuited again was an understatement. It felt like your brain had just shut down for good.

“To-tonight?”

He smiled then. The smile that had caught your eye that day in the cafeteria.

“Yeah, we’re starting a new campaign. Let’s see what you got.”

He walked away then, and your eyes tracked his receding form until he turned a corner at the end of the hall.

You’d practically jumped for joy then, before the bell had interrupted your celebration and sent you running to class.

You would have to brush up on some terms and spells and such, but you were sure that you’d be fine. You knew various spells, how the dice worked, and now you had a group to play with. How hard could it be?

Looking back on it now, you had to laugh. It had gone worse than you had ever expected.

It had started out smoothly. Eddie had asked for your name, and you had happily provided, and introduced yourself to all the other members of the group, including Dustin, who you remembered from that day in the cafeteria.

That’s as far as you made it without embarrassing yourself.

When Eddie had switched gears and asked your character name, you panicked and said a name that you would never repeat in public out of mortal shame. The party chuckled under their breaths, with Eddie waving a hand to quiet them down. When you were asked what class and level you were, you’d completely blanked. You had no idea that you were meant to create your own character with its own backstory. (Which, looking back, made complete sense.)

The party members obviously caught onto your ruse immediately, but when they tried to grill you, Eddie had slammed a hand on the table in front of them to silence them, and allowed you to sit in on their campaign to “watch and learn”.

And you tried. You really, truly did try. But even after an evening of sitting in on a campaign, you had no idea what in the world was going on.

You told Eddie as much when they were done for the day. He had laughed at first, but quickly grew serious and asked you why in the world you would lie and pretend to be interested in a thing like D&D.

You shrugged and looked away. Honesty was the best policy, right? “I wanted to talk to you,” you muttered. “And I knew you liked D&D, so I just…” you trailed off in embarrassment.

Eddie had smiled, then. That smile that you adored. He shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “I’m sure we can find something else to talk about.”

Your head whipped around to face him. “Really?”

He laughed lightly. “Hey, if you’re willing to deal with me and these guys, you must really want to talk. And you stuck it through tonight, so you automatically won yourself a bit of my time.”

You’d laughed, relief flooding through your veins. You didn’t notice the look that Eddie sent your way. Earlier, his glances at you had been full of uncertainty or confusion. But now? He couldn’t help the curiousness or the beginnings of happiness that crept into his gaze when he looked at you.

Eddie had walked you out to your car, the two of you talking as you slowly made your way across the parking lot. You found out about his uncle, and he found out that your parents were rarely ever home. You learned about his band, and he found out that you were music obsessed.

When you’d finally made it into your car and watched Eddie walk away, you gave a quiet squeal and covered your face. The campaign might have gone horribly for you, but at least Eddie was still willing to give you a chance.

Things had only gotten better from there. You and Eddie had exchanged numbers the next day at school, and it turned out that while you weren’t very skilled at D&D, you had other things in common.

For one, you genuinely liked the music he played and you fell in love with his band. He liked the fact that you knew how to crochet, and he enjoyed watching you as he worked.

And even though there were things that you didn’t share an interest in, you loved each other enough to support each other in everything that you did.

Not that you loved Eddie. Well, you did, but you weren’t sure if he loved you back, so you’d never said it out loud before.

You almost had, once. You cringed at the memory.

You and Eddie had been friends for about a year, and he’d finally summoned the courage to ask you on a date. You’d said yes, of course, and Eddie had taken you to the Starcourt Mall to watch a movie, get some ice cream courtesy of Steve, and buy you a beautiful spring dress that you planned to wear on your next date.

As Eddie drove you home, his hand wandered over to yours and he gently intertwined your fingers with his. You couldn’t stop the blush that crept up to your cheeks as you squeezed his hand lightly.

When you reached your house, Eddie was the perfect gentleman and walked you all the way to your front door, your joint hands swinging between you.

He smiled at you as you reached the porch, bringing your hand up to brush his lips against your knuckles. “Had fun tonight?”

You smiled back, taking a step closer to him. “Yeah. Lots of fun, thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, darling, it was my pleasure.”

You giggled and looked down. “Does that mean there’s going to be a second date?”

Eddie had smiled, his arm winding around your back to pull you up against him. He let go of your hand to brush a strand of hair away from your face and cup your cheek.

“Of course there’s gonna be a second date,” he said. “And a third,” he said before he kissed the tip of your nose. “And a fourth”, he said with a kiss to your forehead. “And a fifth,” with a kiss to your cheek. “And a hundred after that,” he muttered as he tilted his head down to press his lips softly to yours.

You swear you had felt fireworks explode in your stomach, with sparks shooting behind your eyes and your heart beating out of your chest as your brain turned to mush.

Things weren’t any better on Eddie’s end. His knees had turned to jello and he felt lighter than he’d ever felt before. He couldn’t think of anything but you, and the way your hands were pulling him closer and closer still, while your lips danced gently against his.

You gripped Eddie’s shoulders and pushed a hand through his wild hair as you continued to kiss each other in the dim light of your porch.

When you finally pulled away, you saw that Eddie’s cheeks were absolutely scarlet, and that his smile was bigger than you’d ever seen it.

In that moment, you’d felt no fear. Being honest about your feelings seemed so easy. You took a deep breath. “Eddie, I lo-”

A dog barked aggressively nearby, causing both of your heads to snap around. You tensed up as Eddie’s arm tightened around you. Once a few seconds had passed, Eddie let out a small chuckle. “You alright?”

You nodded, feeling your courage slip away.

“What were you going to say?”

You looked up at him, his eyes gentle as a smile tugged at his lips. You smiled softly and leaned forward to press one more kiss to his lips. “Nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

A flicker of something had crossed his features, and a small pit of regret settled in your stomach. But he masked his features quickly, and gave you a nod and a smile. “Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the memory now, though you wished that you could gather up the courage to finally tell your boyfriend how you felt. Especially now that you’d been dating for more than a year.

Your gaze focused back on Eddie, who, to your surprise, was looking right back at you. “What’re you smiling at?” Eddie asked softly. You saw that his attention was momentarily diverted from the game in front of him, his eyes focused on you.

“Eddie, pay attention!” Dustin shouted from across the table, the other party members clamoring in agreement.

Eddie ignored them all, his gaze steady.

You smiled at him and shook your head. “I’ll tell you later. I promise.”

Eddie smiled back at you, his hand reaching out to gently intertwine your fingers as he turned back towards the party.

Everyone muttered some variation of, “finally, Eddie,” right before Eddie threw another challenge their way that led to loud frustration and anger.

You settled back and got comfortable as Eddie let go of your hand to continue to gesture and speak.

Throughout the evening though, he would turn towards you, a loving smile or quick hand brush reminding you that he appreciated your presence.

And when he looked over at you, a smile on his lips as he blew you a quick kiss, you realized that it was time to tell him how you felt. Not now, of course, you would never interrupt an active campaign. But today was definitely the day.

Meanwhile, only half of Eddie’s brain was focused on the campaign. The other half was in a mixed up jumble, worrying about what would happen later when he took you stargazing and told you that he loved you.

He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he thought about what your reaction would be.

He glanced back at you once again. He could only hope that you felt the same.

A smile pulled at your lips as Eddie looked back at you again, his tongue poking out between his lips as he made a funny face.

You laughed good-naturedly as a smile broke through his features.

He didn’t turn right back around this time though. He stood, both of you with a smile on your faces, each thinking the exact same thing.

Oh, how I love that smile.

[diazfox]

https://www.tumblr.com/diazfox/747945105989779456/lets-all-be-honest-the-fandom-doesnt-care-about

It’s interesting this anon seems to be confused how buck Tommy people are being told they are fetishizing things, because all I keep seeing is Buck Tommy endgamers posting how hot they are. How they want to see them kiss over and over and over. How they keep going and watching the one kiss they did have for the 40th time in a row. Or I see them ranting and raving how Tommy’s so nice and patient with Buck. (which that’s called being a decent human being??) but I’d like to know what they considering his behavior when he made a very pointed comment about closets in front of Eddie and Marisol? Knowing full well Buck wasn’t out to anyone? Or when he just got in an Uber and left Buck there without communicating fully? And never actually apologized to him for it? Just a I didn’t want you to feel pressured. Which again A) communicate that before leaving him in front of a restaurant, and B) How was any of his reaction meant to not make him feel pressured. And not to excuse Buck because his reaction was not good at all during that date but ✨he apologized✨

But the people on the buddie side are posting how they want buddie, the relationship they have seen for 6 years be built from the ground up, the way their foundation has been solidified, the way they are each others best friend, their person, the way they love each other, the way they co parent Chris, the way they are there for each other like no one else, the way it’s been nurtured, the people who want this and to not just settle, because that’s exactly what it would be. Oh we got bi Buck confirmed let’s just settle for the first random person he comes across. Which is insane to me that people are actually ok with. Like He’s been on 1 bad date with Tommy. He’s kissed him once. And he’s known him for, per the show, 2 weeks. 2 weeks vs 6 years of blood, sweat, tears, love, vulnerability, emotional connection, chemistry, family building, trust.

this ate anon, thank you!

the 2 weeks vs 6 years really helps to put things into perspective and i'm glad people like u can see where i'm coming from instead of just screaming at me that i'm being insecure about my ship (what? are we 10 year olds?) and/or being a bucktommy hater and not letting people enjoy things (idk how many more times i'm gonna have to repeat that i hope nothing but the best for bucktommy)

i 100% support the bi rep and everything bucktommy bc its fucking adorable and buck deserves to be pursued, to be flustered and be on the receiving end instead of giving all the time. but let's keep our eye on the ball please? let's not settle for something just bc it's canon or bc it's enough. let's take a moment to reflect deeply about why we want to give so much support to a ship we've known for a grand total of 4 episodes and want an endgame for them when we barely know tommy (and a good part of what we know is alr quite controversial to begin with.)

[outrunningthedark]

I’m a big Buddie fan, but I have to say that I don’t hate the idea of Tommy and Buck, it could be the chance for Eddie to be jealous and wonder himself why does he feel like that… in my mind, it works haha! But…who knows what TM think about it…

I think what you're envisioning is how Tim would prefer to tell the story (I honestly think he was ready to take the plunge at the end of season 4/start of season 5 with the will + "gay panic", but y'no. Not his call.), but because Repressed Eddie or Canon Buddie isn't a possibility for now, he's going to write scenes in a way that can be seen as "proof" by the fandom while the general audience thinks he's just a concerned friend. I'm going to assume the only person in the firefam who might have an inkling of Buck's attraction to men is Maddie, being his sister and all. Hen is a close second, especially with how much more time they've spent together on screen. ("I was just waiting for you to say something first.") So when Eddie finds out, or has it suggested to him? He's probably going to be taken aback. The GA will read it as him wondering if he did anything to make Buck feel like he couldn't be honest. The fandom will read it as Eddie questioning everything he thought he knew, wondering if he would have ever been an option for Buck had he said something sooner. (Did he miss his chance?) Same goes for a hypothetical Eddie and Tommy scene after the truth is out. Eddie giving Tommy a bit of a side-eye, analyzing him differently now that he's dating Eddie's best friend and not just helping on a call? The GA: "LOL. Eddie treating Tommy like he must treat one of his sister's boyfriends." Us: "Ohhh, he's jealous." And then maybe, possibly, down the line when Canon Buddie can be #confirmed, little moments like these will be reexamined and reexplained to support Eddie always having strong feelings for Buck, but never allowing himself to fully unpack what it meant because it never felt like the right time. TL;DR If you're getting a "vibe", it's by design. Tim & the writing crew just don't know what they can do with it yet.

[giuli328]

Agnosis | Eddie Munson Fanfiction

chapter one: welcome to the jungle

wc: 969

synopsis & masterlist here

next chapter

————————————————————————

Eddie finally unpacked his last box. It only took him about two months, and if he was being honest, the only reason he finally did it was to find the Paranoid cassette tape that was hidden at the bottom of the box.

He was still finding it difficult to actually believe that Paige Warner got him a record deal with WR Music along with a room in her LA apartment. Maybe it was because he hadn't actually signed the deal yet. The contract was sitting on his nightstand under a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of Coke. The thing was, once he signed it, he'd be in. And that meant he'd have deadlines to make and a very public reputation. His reputation that used to be "small town freak who worshiped the devil and followed in his criminal father's footsteps". The Munson name felt like a curse to him. Even though no one here thought of him that way, he couldn't help but feel like an imposter.

In the two months he'd been here, he'd been to the venues on the Sunset Strip so many times that they knew him there. He wouldn't admit it, but it made him feel so cool whenever they'd acknowledge him by name. He wondered if this is what his favorite rockstars felt whenever they were in the area. He daydreamed about signing autographs and performing on stage. The only playing he did while he was here was writing and practicing in his room. He missed Corroded Coffin and playing Wednesdays at The Hideout, but he'd be lying if he said he wished he was back in Hawkins. In Los Angeles, he was somebody. He felt like he belonged there, even if his own self doubt was trying to convince him that he didn't.

"Hey Eddie." the bartender at The Roxy greets him.

"Hey, who's playing tonight?" Eddie asks.

"The headliner's new tonight. A band called Agnosis. Their sound is like Fleetwood Mac but slightly heavier. They're rock, not metal though, sorry kid." the bartender chuckles.

"That's alright. I'll do that myself up there one day." he chuckles.

Eddie orders a drink and finds a spot to watch the show. As the stage hands set up and the lighting turns into purely stage lighting, the crowd begins to fill up. There's a makeshift band logo on the drums that reads the band name.

"What does Agnosis even mean?" Eddie thinks to himself.

Suddenly the band starts playing. The crowd begins to cheer as the drums come in first, then guitar, and finally out comes the lead singer with a big entrance. Eddie takes note of the crowd's reaction when she comes out. They beam at her and he can tell that she has stardom written all over her. He also happens to think she's really pretty. As her eyes scan the crowd, he almost blushes when she looks in his direction.

As the band plays through their set, Eddie could almost swear that she sings directly at him a few times, he even catches her smiling at him from time to time. Or maybe it's just the fact that it's so crowded and Eddie hasn't been able to focus on anything but her for the past twenty minutes. He'd rather it be the first option though.

After their set, Eddie can't seem to get her out of his head, it's like her voice and person is permanently etched into his brain. So much so that he practically thinks he's hallucinating when he hears the familiar voice order a drink right next to him. He turns slowly to look at her, as if she'll disappear if he looks too quickly, and his mouth falls slightly agape when his eyes confirm that it is in fact, her. Suddenly he's nervous. He doesn't know if he should even say anything to her, but he knows he'll regret it if he doesn't. He'll also regret it if he comes off sounding like a total loser, but he thinks maybe he'd regret that a bit less.

"Hey" he blurts out with a smile.

"Hi" she looks back at him with a small smile and then looks back at her drink being made.

There's a little bit of silence as Eddie plans what he wants to say. He settles on "great show". He figures the less words he uses, the less likely he'll stumble over them.

She looks at him again and smiles. "Thats surprising. Usually there's a superiority complex there that prevents metalheads from admitting to enjoying anything but metal" she jokes.

Eddie laughs. "Oh I definitely do find metal superior to all. But there wouldn't be metal without rock. So you know, thank you."

She chuckles. "I highly doubt that I personally have absolutely anything to do with the pioneering of metal, since it was around before I even started playing. But I'll take it. You're welcome."

Eddie smiles at her warmly, enjoying the playful energy going on between them, and feeling a lot more comfortable with her than he thought he'd be.

"So if not just metal, what else?" she asks.

"Actually, my mom was the one that made me a music lover in the first place. And uh...she raised me on chicago blues, country, bluegrass, and rock. I still listen to her old Muddy Waters tapes sometimes, when I miss her." Eddie says.

She realizes by the end of his answer, that his mom passed, and her face becomes more sympathetic. "I'm sorry" she says softly.

"It's alright. I was six when it happened so uh...you know, time heals all wounds or whatever" he smiles reassuringly.

The bartender finally hands her the drink she ordered and she stands up. "What's your name?" she asks.

"Eddie. What's yours?" he says.

"Y/N" she answers.