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mattscoquette · 6 months

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𝑰𝑻'𝑺 𝑨 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬/𝑯𝑨𝑻𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 - 𝑭𝑰𝑽𝑬 | 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻 𝑺𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑶𝑳𝑶

𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉..a quiet introverted girl attempts to befriend her popular neighbor

cursing, very very slight mentions of a panic attack, mentions of kissing, mentions of drinking

3.2k words

introduction 1 2 3 4 6 7

addilyn richardson,

had been absolutely grinding out this science project. she and matt had been working together a little more than a week, and were currently five days away from its due date. not only did they have to create the marble run, but they had to also complete a five page packet along with it, and present their project together in front of the class. addilyn was sitting across from matt, hunched over her worksheet as matt glued pieces of the project together.

“it’s getting kind of late, addy, why don’t we pick up tomorrow?” matt suggested to her. she looked up at him with tired eyes. since that one weird night the previous week, matt had starting acting nicer. at first it started with matt inviting addilyn out to lunch after the hockey game. then he started saying hi to her in science. the absolute cherry on top was when he offered her a ride yesterday morning.

addilyn walked outside, instantly being met with the brisk morning air. boston winters were hardcore, and the heavy wind was only making it worse. wrapping her coat around her frame tighter, addilyn braced herself for the walk up the block to wait for the bus. she walked down the driveway, stopping when she heard her name being called. she looked up as matt walked over to her. he was bundled up in a north face jacket, a pink tint across his cheeks and nose as he shivered.

“it’s too cold for you to walk addy, let me give you a ride.” that was the first time he called her addy. at first, he wouldn’t even call her by her name, only saying things like “tell her to do this” to his brothers if they were around. if they weren’t, then he’d call her addilyn, saying it always with an annoyed tone. but today he called her by her nickname, and it made her heart skip a beat. he offered her a soft smile and she returned it, nodding quickly. she climbed into the back seat next to nick, chatting with him the whole way to school.

she looked over at the clock the sat above the stove. it was 9:45, but she was determined to get more of this assignment done. she only lived next door, after all, and she needed to make sure they got a perfect score on their project. “i’m okay matt, i think i just need a quick break.”

he nodded, offering her a water, and let her excuse herself to go into nick’s room. nick was sat atop his bed, scrolling on his phone when she walked in.

“hey girl,” he smiled at her, “how’s it going out there?”

“okay, i think.” she yawned, stretching her arms and legs out. they’d been working since they got home from school, only taking a short break a few hours ago when chris came barging into the kitchen, asking matt to drive him to get food. “i’m a little tired, though.”

“yeah it’s late, you leaving soon?” nick asked.

addilyn shrugged. “we still have more we need to do. i’m okay going home a little late. the walk isn’t far.”

nick laughed. “why don’t you come sit? we can take a break and watch a quick episode of rupaul or something.”

the tired girl nodded, sitting down next to nick. he got up momentarily to switch off his overhead lights, turning on the soft fairy lights above his bed instead. he climbed back into his bed next to addilyn, turning on the t.v. at a low volume. the change in ambiance of nick’s bedroom made addilyn all-the-more tired, and she rested his head onto his shoulder.

resting my eyes for five minutes won’t hurt, right? she thought as she closed her eyes.

*₊˚ 𓂃✧

both addilyn and nick jolted awake about an hour later to the sound of matt pounding on the door. he’d gone on his phone when addilyn was in nick’s room, not noticing how much time had gone by until chris came down to say goodnight.

addilyn sat up, shaking nick to also get up, and walked over to the door to let matt in. she took in the sight in front of her. his hair was messy, as per usual, and he’d switched out his pair of blue jeans from earlier to a pair of red and black plaid pajama pants. he wore a grey hoodie with his school’s logo on the front, a number 4 on the side of his sleeve underneath his last name. he looked good. “sorry,” he apologized quickly, realizing how loud his knocking was.

“what time is it?” they both heard nick call out from the bed, sitting up to turn off the show they fell asleep watching.

“almost 11:30,” matt replied, looking at nick. he turned back to addilyn “i packed all your stuff up, i didn’t think you’d wanna get back to work.”

she smiled, thanking him for the gesture, as she felt a knot in her stomach. she’d been feeling that a lot around matt lately and she didn’t know why. maybe it was because he was acting nice. or maybe it’s because in the week she’s spent with him, she’d realized she was maybe starting to catch feelings.

it was a monday night, and addilyn was over at matt’s to work on the project. he was wearing a navy blue hoodie that made his eyes look even more blue, and he was currently laughing at an anecdote addilyn was telling him. she smiled brightly at him, laughing along with the boy.

he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, immediately breaking out into laughter again as he looked up and met her eyes.

his laugh is so cute, she thought. she looked down at her lap away from matt, trying to push her thoughts into the back of her head.

“you’re really funny, addilyn,” matt told her softly, wiping tears from his eyes. she looked over to him to find him already staring at her.

she looked at his face, trying to read it. she wasn’t the type to normally confuse niceness with having a crush on someone, but something with matt felt different. when nick or chris talked to her, she didn’t get dizzy when they would smile at her, or accidentally brush hands. but she felt it all with matt.

“what are you looking at?” he smiled, leaning forward across the table slightly as his eyes flicked between both of hers. she could’ve sworn he glanced at her lips.

addilyn was feeling bold. “you.” she replied.

he shook his head, smiling softly, and then leaning back against his chair. “we should get back to work.”

“addy,” nick said from his bed, breaking addilyn away from her thoughts. she blinked up at matt as he smiled down at her.

there’s that feeling again.

“do you wanna spend the night? i know you only live next door but i feel bad making you walk back over so late.” nick asked her, walking over to where she was.

“are you sure?” she breathed, “i feel bad.”

“don’t,” nick replied, “i have pajama bottoms and a hoodie you can wear. it’s no problem really.” he smiled kindly at her. she broke her gaze away from matt, looking to nick.

“okay,” she nodded, “i’ll let my mom know.”

addilyn turned back to look at matt. “i’ll go get you your backpack and stuff,” he told her softly, “wait here.”

“i got it, don’t worry.” she told him, brushing past him in the door way as he looked at her go. she heard footsteps trailing behind her. she turned around to find matt following her into the kitchen.

“i need to get my stuff too.” he told her. she nodded softly, trying to keep her cool and act normal.

they made their way to the table, matt collecting all of his belonging he left out on the table. addilyn’s notes and books were all packed away neatly in her bag, which matt had left on the chair for her. she offered to help matt clean, but he just smiled at her.

“i can do it, you go to bed, you worked too hard today.” he laughed, handing her bag to her. his fingers brushed against hers, lingering there for just a second. she felt her cheeks heat up as she took the bag. she looked down at her feet, knowing for sure her face was a bright crimson color. suddenly the room in the air felt thick, and she became hyper aware of matt’s presence in front of her. was he standing this close the entire time? she looked up at him, to find him already looking at her.

“goodnight matt.” she whispered, afraid if she spoke any louder it would break the atmosphere around them. he was standing so close to her, she wondered if he was able to hear her heart beating out of her chest. a smile ghosted across his face, and for half of a second addilyn thought he would lean down and kiss her.

he didn’t, though, only softly replying “goodnight addy.”

she turned on her heel, making her way back into nicks room quickly. she found a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms and a large hoodie folded neatly on nick’s bed, where he was sat. “you can go change in the bathroom, i left a spare toothbrush in there for you too.”

she thanked him, collecting the clothes and walking into the bathroom. she changed quickly, then paused to look at herself in the mirror as she began brushing her teeth. did matt even like her, or was he only acting this way because she was friends with his brothers? that had to have been the reason. there was no way he felt the same about her. but she couldn't help but think about the way he was looking at her in the kitchen, and how his hand lingered over hers. she sighed, turning off the water and going back into nick’s room. he was already under the blankets, lights off, and scrolling on his phone. he turned it off, turning to face her as addilyn got into the bed.

“our first sleepover,” nick sang, “this is so fun!”

addilyn laughed, making herself comfortable. she loved being friends with nick. they’d only been hanging out for less than two weeks, but they both connected so easily with one another. they both understood one another, and enjoyed the company of each other. nick loved having someone other than his brothers or his teammates to talk to, and addilyn just loved having someone to talk to. “i know.”

despite how tired the girl was when she entered the room, the two teenagers were suddenly wide awake, talking about anything and everything with one another.

“if you had to fight any animal with your bare hands, what would you fight?” nick asked, staring at the ceiling.

“what?” addilyn laughed, looking over at him.

the later and later it got, the more and more they opened up. it was currently 1:30 in the morning, and they were both deep in conversation about nick’s coming out.

“i can’t believe i thought i liked my friend when it was really her boyfriend i liked.” nick told her.

addilyn shook her head. “yeah, that’s kinda crazy.”

“have you ever liked one of your friends?” nick asked, sitting up slightly. she looked up at him, thinking.

she hadn’t had many friends her whole life. she had a couple close people that she’d talk to in class, but never close enough to ever hang out with or talk to outside of school. the only people she talked to outside of school were nick and chris. her mind suddenly went to matt. “i don’t think i have.”

“really?” nick asked her in disbelief. “you’ve never thought someone you hung out with was cute or anything?”

matt.

“no.”

“addy, come on, there’s no way.” nick sighed, laying back down.

“well, maybe.” she felt her voice trail off. she couldn’t tell nick. she wasn’t even sure for herself if she liked matt or if she was just confused. he and chris were the closest thing addilyn had to real friends, and she didn’t want to throw it all away by telling nick she caught feelings for his brother.

“oh my god, tell me!” nick whisper-shouted in excitement, sitting back up again. addilyn laughed and shook her head.

“okay, okay, let me guess.” nick offered, thinking about the boys in the classes they shared together. “david, from art?” addilyn shook her had no.

“liam?” he tried again. she shook her head once more. nick named just about every boy in their class, even began to name random people addilyn didn’t even know that well.

“do i know him?” nick asked.

“yeah,” she breathed quietly.

nick looked at her inquisitively. “it’s not chris, is it?”

“no, no way.” addilyn shook her head. “he’s just my friend, i promise.”

nick looked at her once more, as if he looked hard enough he'd be able to read her mind. he paused, silence falling over the both of them.

his eyes went wide. “matt?”

addilyn stayed quiet. she opened her mouth, then closed it. she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“addy,” nick said, “do you like matt?”

“i don’t know.” she whispered, turning away from him. he sat up to meet her eyes. “maybe.” he gave her a look once more. “yes.”

she braced herself for the anger. the disappointment. something. but nick just smiled at her. “that’s so exciting!”

she looked at him dumbfounded. “what?”

“i’m serious,” nick started, “you’re so fun to be around, there’s no way he doesn’t like you back. i’ve noticed he’s been acting nicer to you.”

addilyn continued looking at nick like he was crazy. “there’s no way.” she laughed, pulling the covers over herself. “i’m tired, nick, i’m going to bed.”

he laughed, wishing her a goodnight, assuring her once again he didn’t care if she liked his brother, and that he was happy for her. soon after, she heard his soft snores, singling he was asleep. addilyn, however, continued to lay awake, thinking about what she told nick. she couldn’t believe herself, normally she would keep her feelings in, but something in her was off. she wasn’t even sure why she liked matt so much. she barely even knew him, and he didn’t start acting nice to her until a week into their project. it was a small crush, it meant nothing. it wasn’t worth risking her friendship for. she suddenly felt her chest tighten and the instant feeling like she couldn’t breathe. she closed her eyes as the air around her grew thick.

you’re fine. she told herself. nick isn’t mad. you can tell him tomorrow you were kidding. everything will be normal again after the project is done.

she glanced over at nick, making sure he was asleep before she slipped out of bed. she couldn’t lay in her friend's room any longer knowing matt was only down the hall. she softly tore a piece of paper, writing nick a quick note, praying he wouldn’t wake in the middle of the night, and would only see it when he woke up in the morning.

went home to shower and change before school, see you in art!

<3 addy

*₊˚ 𓂃✧

matthew sturniolo,

slept for maybe three hours that night. he couldn’t sleep in his room knowing addilyn was only down the hall. he kept replaying the way their hands brushed as he gave her the backpack earlier.

he felt his fingers lightly graze hers as he passed her the bag. he let them linger for a moment, hoping she wouldn’t notice. she looked down at her feet quickly, taking the bag from matt. their bodies were nearly pressed up against one another. all he wanted was for her to look at him. as if she read his mind, she looked up with a shy smile across her crimson red face. he so badly wanted to close the small gap between them and smash his lips against hers. he didn’t though, only whispering a soft goodnight as he watch her go into nicks room.

he hadn’t stopped thinking of her since his dream. he was obsessed with everything she did. the way she’d twirl her pencil between her pointer and thumb, or the way her brows furrowed as she read. he kept trying to distract himself as he thought about her.

matt had known who she was for a long time, despite addilyn being an “always in the background” kind of person. but the second she stepped foot in his kitchen that day she came over for dinner with her family, he knew it was over.

matt was in the kitchen with chris and nick, arguing about something dumb when she got there. he opened his mouth to say something back to chris, when nick nudged him altering him they had company. matt looked up at addilyn as she stood shyly in the kitchen. chris walked over to introduce himself as matt just started at her. she wore a white cotton dress that hugged her in all the right places, and beat up white chuck taylor’s. matt knew exactly who she was, but he didn’t remember her always looking this pretty.

“i’m chris,” his brother said, sticking out his hand.

she replied to him so softly matt barely heard her. “addilyn.” her voice sounded like honey. matt just looked at her again, before deciding to open his mouth and say “i can’t hear her.”

as matt laid in bed, he stared out his window into her empty bedroom thinking about why he was so mean to her. maybe it was because he liked her the whole time and didn’t want to admit it. sure, she was beautiful, but she wasn’t the kind of girl matt would typically go for. that’s why he was so attracted to her. she was so unlike anyone he’d been with. any girl he’s ever met at a party had been the same. they all seemed to have had the same lives, matt would listen to them talk, then he would tell about himself. that he’s a triplet and he plays hockey and lacrosse with his brothers. that he’s lived in boston his whole life and he loved the outdoors. and that’s how it went every time.

addilyn was different. she didn’t care he was popular, or that he played sports. she was just her normal, quiet, typical self. she wasn’t throwing herself at him, and matt saw her as somewhat unattainable. matt often mistook his attraction to her for a disliking. he felt so guilty about it, but he thought if he was mean, she’d leave him alone and wouldn’t try to get with him. he mentally cursed himself for acting the way he does. if she was already out of his reach, why would he try to drive her even further away?

but that dream he had fucked him up bad. every night since then, he’s thought about it. how soft her hands felt in his, how delicate her voice spoke. how good she kissed him. he wondered if she’d ever kissed a boy before. he secretly hoped she hadn’t, he wanted to be her first. he’d be gentle with her, not rushing her into anything. he’s kissed girls before, but it was always drunk at some party. he never actually liked the girls he kissed, he just wanted them in the moment. and when the moment was over, he went back to his friends and did whatever he was doing before. but addilyn was different, he wanted to kiss her anywhere he could, not just while he was drinking at some random's party.

the light in addilyn’s room turned on, snapping matt out of his daydream. he saw her walk into her room wearing nicks pajamas, walking over to her blinds to close them. he was confused why she walked home, but let it slip his mind. although he knew she couldn’t see him that well, he pretended to sleep anyway knowing she would look into his room. had he not closed his eyes, he would’ve seen the lingering look addilyn gave into his room before she closed her blinds.

𝐚/𝐧: thank u so so much for 170 followers <333 the fact u guys r liking this series warms my heart so much bc i was SO nervous to post. this story only has two parts left after this :( that being said, my reqs are open if anyone wants to leave anything b/c i'm not planning on writing anymore stories atm so i have more time to write little oneshots or hcs or whatever, just lmk! as always if anyone wants to join my taglist pls lmk and i hope u all enjoy:)

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: @alorsxsturn @sturniolossss @cammie4298 @bussybandit1 @amorttentia @franticroads @sturnsssbow @cams5sos @strombolilovr @st7rnioioss @junnniiieee07 @mattscurlygirly @simply-a-simper @sturnrc @sturnifyed @freshlovie

#© mattscoquette #writing 𓂃 𝜗𝜚 #sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #nick sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo x reader #fanfic

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cattimeswithjellie · 3 months

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Stream Recap, Skizzleman, 6/11/24

((Skizz streams are always funny, but if you want to watch any single part of this stream, check out Skizz's digging around 2:11:00. Poor Chat. Fans of HotGuy and Cuteguy may also want to check out the shout-out around 24:00.))

05:40 Skizz opens the stream. He is dancing to the music and tells everyone he’s doing StreamBeats on Spotify. He logs into Hermitcraft, inside his base. Today’s snack is blueberries, because his energy was running a little low. He thanks subs and donos. A chatter says that Jono is mixing the Poe Poe song, Skizz thinks that is awesome. Yesterday’s stream start was one of the craziest of all times. Skizz does have a plan for today! After stream, he’s going to _chill._ Yesterday was a long day, streaming and prepping today’s new video. First on today’s agenda is recording a bit about the guide for the volcano.

9:20 Skizz talks about the podcast this week. They haven’t even filmed it yet. Impulse was sick and needed extra time, so tomorrow Skizz goes to work for some intense and specific training and a long work day, then they will record the podcast and then he has to get it turned around by Friday. It’s going to be intense. Skizz thanks a dono and massacres the username. He thanks more subs.

11:45 Skizz sets up to record, adjusting his game sounds. Chat has an argument about the pronunciation of “pthalo.” Skizz confirms he will NOT be going into Tango’s hole today. Skizz is very disappointed in whoever invented the pronunciation of “phthalo,” obviously someone who hates human lips.

14:20 Skizz begins recording his bit. He says that what just happened is cool and fun (he is not telling chat what the previous bit was) but that he’s not going to stop until he gets the Mission Possible Hat. He flies to MP HQ and gets a new MP mission. It is “Do a good deed for a Hermit without them noticing and without taking credit.” Skizz says this is right up his alley, but he needs to think about it. He jokes that because he is a Hermit, he could do a good deed for himself and get the reward, right? No, he won’t do that, he’ll do it right. He ends the recording and asks chat about who he should do a nice thing for.

16:30 Skizz lands in the eye of Gem’s base and thinks about what to do. Someone suggests restocking a shop. Skizz laughs and says maybe he should put all the glowberries back (referring to his Mission Possible deed from his last episode, where he bought out Joel’s glowberry shop). Scar signs on and says he has Skizz’s new bow. Skizz is excited and goes to find Scar. He starts at his own base, which is crawling with hostile mobs, and considers spawnproofing it for Scar’s sake. He doesn’t, instead taking off again to search. When a quick aerial search is unrevealing, he goes into his base to sleep. As he arrives back at the base, the Poe Poe song plays outside, then the “Trader Scar’s definitely not going to eat you” horn. Skizz goes outside and finds Scar.

18:20 Skizz tells Scar that Jono is remixing the Poe Poe song. Scar says he is watching Jono live on his other monitor as they speak. Scar gives Skizz an enchanted bow called “FailGuy.” Skizz tells Scar he hates him so much. Scar laughs. Skizz looks at the bow and notes that it is fully enchanted. He sighs and asks what he needs to do to earn the right to rename the bow. Scar says there can be no renaming of this bow, it will be FailGuy until it breaks. He suggests that Skizz should get out there and start shooting a lot of FailGuy arrows. Skizz agrees reluctantly. Scar reminds Skizz that all he really needs to do is believe in himself and use that space bar. Skizz insists that he used spacebar and also fired 700 rockets, it’s right there in his footage. He tells Scar to look at the bloopers from his new episode, both for proof and because they were incredibly funny.

20:00 Scar says people on Twitter are accusing him of diamond ore theft, but he is an innocent bystandard. Bystander, Skizz corrects. Scar doesn’t understand, but he is innocent. He doesn’t want any trouble with the GOAT himself, but he is having a wonderful time watching Doc rage. Skizz asks what kind of ore was taken, from where. Scar says someone is taking the ore from Doc’s fashion shop and replacing it. Doc is on Twitter, making accusations and threatening vagueposts about trains. Scar, as a train owner, is feeling very threatened. Skizz asks how much diamond ore has been taken. Scar says like two pieces. Skizz is baffled that Doc is so upset about two pieces of ore. He doesn’t know what fashion shop Scar is talking about, so Scar takes him on a field trip that may involve murder with Skizz’s new bow. They decide to get in a chat group along the way.

22:00 Scar and Skizz take a quick detour to try and kill Impulse with the new bow. They go down into Impulse’s metro system and fly around the cyberpunk city but don’t find him. Scar calls Xisuma “Dipple-dee-doppers.” They say he must be hiding. Scar says they should shoot Xisuma for hoarding the End and keeping people from harvesting XP there. ((Xisuma has been moving mobs via the End Portal and asking other Hermits to stay away.)) Skizz asks whether Scar knows about the Bop N Go. Scar says he just used it, and he likes the music.

24:00 Skizz and Scar abandon the hunt for Impulse. Scar says Impulse must be afraid of the power of the HotGuy and the FailGuy. He wishes that they could get CuteGuy onto the server so they could have the full set. Skizz protests that he is a cute guy. Scar tells him very definitively that he’s not CuteGuy, that’s Grian. Skizz points out that he used to be SpyGuy, and that was cool, and then his _buddy_ _murdered_ him and named him FailGuy. Scar leads him to the armor trim shop and points out the two missing bits of diamond ore, one on the surface and one inside the guts of the redstone. Scar noticed the second bit of missing redstone during a livestream, before Doc actually noticed it, but he did not take it. ((Scar says it was Tango’s stream, but it was Ren’s livestream.)) Scar is disgusted that Doc has a diamond boring machine and still gets so upset about two ore.

25:30 Scar is distracted from Doc’s problems by how much he still wants to kill Impulse. He insists that he sees Impulse and takes off, followed by Skizz who demands to know what kind of eyes he has. Scar insists he is HotGuy! Scar races around the shopping district, followed by Skizz, but they do not find Impulse. They do hear Joel’s honey song and are baffled by it before resuming the chase. It is unclear whether Scar actually saw Impulse at all, or if it was a mirage, or if Scar is deliberately toying with Skizz. Scar looks up Impulse’s coords but he doesn’t seem to be there. Skizz begins taking potshots at Scar, who doesn’t notice. Skizz goes home to sleep.

29:40 Skizz gives up the chase and goes to Bop ‘n Go to repair his elytra. Scar makes a difficult shot to hit Skizz while he’s bopping. Scar tells Skizz that if he does something Scar deems truly admirable, he can change the name of the FailGuy bow. Skiss promises he will do so. They shoot at each other a few more times and Scar leaves.

31:00 Skizz decides his good deed will be to replace Doc’s diamond ore. Chat doesn’t like Skizz calling Doc Doccy because that is what Doc calls his child and it is confusing everyone. Skizz does not read chat and doesn’t notice. He admits this is not really a selfless act, it’s a nice thing but it’s so he can get his token. He heads back to the armor shop. He replaces the outer block and, leery of entering the machine itself, stacks up two more ore to replace the other missing blocks. Good deed done, no credit taken! Skizz goes to collect his token.

34:10 Skizz needs two tokens to spin for the MP prize he wants (the helicopter beanie cap), so he needs another task. He turns in his task and gets one token, then collects his new task. He receives the task “create a big present at another Hermit’s base, sign it, wish them happy birthday, and put something useless inside.” He instantly recognizes this as the task Stress got and performed on him months ago now. Chat is amused. Skizz is going to think of something fantastic for this task. He unpauses his chat alerts and demands Chat tell him the most useless item in Minecraft. Chat has lots of ideas, but Skizz likes the poison potato best.

36:00 Skizz starts looking through his chest monster for useless things. He gets excited when he remembers the retextured “Diamond” stick that has been in his ender chest for a long time now. It is the perfect gift, but who to give it to? Skizz starts looking for the packaging blocks Stress used for the original present. Chat points out that it’s actually Pearl’s birthday.

38:30 Skizz reads a dono from chat and takes a contemplative sip of coffee. It is from the wrong cup and is his cold nasty coffee from the morning. He is unhappy. He tells Chat he is not going to give Pearl a fake present on her real birthday. He finds the pink concrete from Stress and gathers up some cherry leaves as well. He thinks about making a Russian nesting doll style present, unwrapped in layers. He can’t find any items frames so he steals some from his Poe Poe kit. Considering how terrible his organizational system is, Skizz knows where a surprising number of items are.

42:00 Skizz decides Grian gets the present. There’s a nice flat space right in front of his base. He builds a 9x9x9 box of cherry leaves and quizzes Chat on what memory he’s evoking here. Chat guesses the Heart Foundation. He asks Chat if they notice how slow he is moving. It is because his buddies killed him in the Void and he lost his Swift Sneak pants.

45:00 Skizz responds to a request from chat for the Skizzlefarts song, in honor of a chatter’s sister who had surgery and cannot leave the hospital before passing gas. Chat is very supportive. During the song, Skizz returns to his base and collects more cherry leaves, then starts the second inner layer. Chat begins telling him to eat.

49:00 The song ends. Chat has strong feelings about Skizz not building the inner box off the ground. Skizz does not care, but he does satisfy Chat by eating. He places the item frame and the fake diamond, then goes to sleep. In the morning, finishes the box and goes to put the sign up, only to realize he put it back in the chest when he collected the cherry leaves. He returns to base for the sign, then closes the boxes and adds the ribbon. He is just complimenting himself on his Guess-the-Build boosted skills when he runs out of concrete. Chat knows he has more concrete in his base and Skizz actually looks at chat to see it. Victorious, he finishes the ribbon, then adds a bow. The bow takes awhile.

58:30 Skizz adds the sign and calls it good. He does not sign it. Chat reminds him he must sign it to complete the mission. He says he’s not going to sign it. Chat scolds him. He reads the mission again and returns to sign his name to the present.

1:01:20 Skizz explains Mission Possible to Chat while he sleeps through the night and heads for the Shopping district. He receives his tokens and spends them on a skin. He is disappointed to receive the arrow hat. He feels better when he realizes it is a hat that makes it look like there’s an arrow through his head. He decides to head back to work, but thanks subs and donos first.

1:04:50 Skizz flies from the shopping district to the top of Magic Mountain and tells chat he wants to make a quad beacon for digging, or a “queacon.” He flies immediately back to the shopping district for more iron. As he flies, he plugs his new channel, ShorterSkizz. The channel is his daughter’s summer project because she cannot work during ACL recovery. Chat is excited and begins subbing, competing for early sub numbers.

1:07:00 Skizz arrives back at the shopping district and tries to figure out how many iron blocks he needs. Sub numbers have climbed from 15 to about 400. A chatter suggests he needs to hire Jimmy for a 700 subscribers special. Skizz likes that idea and puts a velcro bag on his head to stand in for Young Jimmy’s hair from his subscriber special. He decides he needs “ a lot” of iron, and buys three and a half stacks of iron. He decides that’s not enough and tops up to six stacks.

1:13:00 Skizz heads back for the mountain, thanking subs and donos. ShorterSkizz cracks 700 subs. Skizz stops on top of the pyramid and thanks everyone with his best teenage Jimmy impression. Chat is pleased. Skizz tells Jimmy, if he sees this, that he loves him and explains the bit. He makes sure that someone clipped that so Jimmy can see it.

1:15:40 Skizz grabs his shovel and heads for the mountain for real. Chat begins reminding him to eat. He does a shoutout to his buddy MKBean who is helping with the new channel, then scouts out a spot for the beacon, digging straight down. He sees the opening into the cave and falls in anyway, but does not die.

1:19:30 Skizz pauses to read out a dono that suggests he should buy a keyboard with a working space bar. Skizz demands affirmation from chat that they saw his episode and that he really tried to get out of the void. Chat is supportive, to a point. Skizz continues digging down and notes that he didn’t even bring a weapon on this jaunt. He arrives in the largest part of the underground caverns and realizes he went off by one while digging the beacon hole. He fixes the mistake with another hole, realizes it is nighttime and that he didn’t bring a bed. He goes home.

1:24:00 Skizz jumps back down the beacon hole and goes to fix his mistake hole, then changes his mind and decides not to. He digs down deeper instead, then goes home again to get torches and a weapon. He thanks donos and subs, and seeks more affirmation from chat about his death in the void. A chatter tells him that nice things happened last night on the channel he raided into. Skizz is happy. He talks about how funny Jimmy was in the 700 subscriber video. Skizz cannot find his sword.

1:29:00 Skizz searches his chest monster for the sword and does not find it. He says he’s tried to organize his chests onstream a million times only for Chat to tell him not to do it because it’s boring, then admits that the opposite is true and chat has basically begged him to do an organizing stream. He won’t though, because it’s bad content. It’s much better to watch him search the chest monster a million times. He realizes he might have lost it in the void. He makes a new diamond sword and heads for the Shopping district for books. He remembers suddenly that he had Looting on that sword and that somehow motivates him to turn around and search harder.

1:30:50 Skizz finds his sword outside the Pyramid and then starts searching for torches. He organizes his inventory a bit and makes torches. He collects more rockets and heads back into the mountain.

Chat reminds him he forgot his bed and the beacon, but it is too late.

1:33:00 Skizz digs a bigger hole in the mountain. He digs down to about 10 and fights a creeper, then lights a little cavern he finds. He eats and provides some birthday you-yos, then decides whether to go down further. He places more torches and argues with himself. He digs down some more and lights another cave full of mobs.

1:42:00 Skizz realizes he has lost track of the hole he dug. He finds it after a couple minutes of searching and begins placing the beacon. A chatter asks if he has forgotten the ways of the skompass. He figures out what the dimensions of the beacon need to be and starts throwing down iron. He explains how one chatter has taken responsibility to be master of dad jokes and now Skizz looks forward to them. Chat provides additional dad jokes. Skizz plays the bop song and builds.

1:51:30 Skizz is very pumped about Jono remixing the Poe Poe song. The beacon is partway built now and growing fast. He realizes that he will need to buy some beacons, and that it might have made sense to do that before jumping down this hole. He finishes the beacon base, including four extra blocks where the beacons themselves should go, and heads out to get some beacons. Chat tries to explain that he needs to remove the top four blocks.

1:56:00 Skizz flies to the shopping district and visits the beacon shop. He stares at the enormous BEACONS sign and asks chat where the beacons are. Chat mocks him. He purchases four beacons and heads back to the mountain. Skizz parks himself on top of the mountain, tells Chat not to let him die, and plays the Skizzlefarts song again while he takes a bathroom break.

2:00:20 Skizz returns, miraculously unkilled. He opens the hole wide enough for a 2x2 beacon light and breaks the netherrack pole he’d used to survey the mountain. With everything prepared, he dives back down the hole and places the beacons on the iron blocks he should have removed. The beacon does not light. He removes the beacons, removes the blocks, and places the beacons in the correct place. They light successfully. Skizz goes to find some pink glass.

2:06 Skizz heads for the shopping district and visits the glass shop. He buys a stack of pink glass and goes to get some iron. Chat reminds him he has iron. He heads for the mountain and empinkens the beacon, then activates it with Haste 2, Jump Boost, Speed, Resistance and Regen. He decides he needs to make a safe drop to let him get down without dying.

2:11:00 Skizz admires the work he has done for the mountain crew. He contemplates a top-level control room that will activate different beacons under the mountain, but that’s for another day. He tries to take advantage of the new beacon to dig some dirt on the mountain, but has little success because he is trying to dig with his axe. Frustrated, he announces that his spoon SUCKS. Chat is beside themselves. He somehow misses the hundred chatters telling him he was holding an axe to zero in on the one who assures him that grass is slower to mine than dirt. Skizz flies around a little and admires the beacon, then heads back to his base for a better shovel. He finally realizes he was using the axe. He immediately flies back to Magic Mountain to test out his actual shovel. It works very well.

2:15:20 Skizz begins reorganizing the chests on Magic Mountain to facilitate digging, setting the storage chests outside the digging perimeter. Chat suggests putting an S on the ground and calling it Skizz Mountain. He flies back home to sleep, then realizes there was a bed on top of the mountain. He thanks subs and donos again. He tries to eat a rocket. After several more birthday you-yos, it’s back to the mountain for more organizing. Skizz has great sympathy for the very confused pen of sheep on top of the mountain.

2:19:45 Skizz finds a sign that says “omg, it’s a dark oak tree!” He laughs, confused, but does not remove it. He finishes moving the chests and organizing them. Chat reminds him how nice it feels to organize and suggests maybe he could do that at his base. Skizz hopes that this will make excavation a little more enjoyable for everybody.

2:24:15 Skizz leads by example with an arrow in his head, beginning the digging himself. He digs about ten dirt blocks and declares himself exhausted. He digs some more, then realizes he just wants to use TNT again. They probably will use TNT again, but this is a good way to put a teeny little dent in the amount of work yet to be done. A group TNT day would be a very fun group recording day for Magic Mountain. TNT is unpredictable but very fast!

2:27:00 Skizz digs dirt, sleeps, and interacts with chat. A chatter tells him a joke. He gathers up a lot more dirt, then stops because he does not want to ruin the glorious TNT day. He notices a chest and bed on top of the mountain and investigates, but the chest is empty. He destroys it. All his dirt goes into the storage chests. He’s way into the TNT date idea now.

2:32:00 Skizz decides to call the stream a little early today. Yesterday he was super busy and last night he didn’t sleep well. Today was long and he needs some sun before it gets dark. Chat advises Skizz to touch grass. He returns to his base and says goodbye to chat. He raids into “Coach” Jojosolos and ends his stream.

#hermitcraft #skizzleman #goodtimeswithscar #cuteguy #stream recap

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plantwriting · 5 months

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Okay finished relistening to episode 1 (will listen to episode 2 and maybe more tomorrow but its like 10 pm and i have school tomorrow) of bitb and heres just like small collection of things that stuck to my mind!

Rolan does in fact canonically have a car i forgot about that so sorry rolan in my fic you got to live but lost your ability to drive such is life

Kian’s first act being just drinking something…. Like he wakes up and immediately gets alcohol… grizzly honestly just does such an incredibly amazing job making kian seem so like depressing but hiding it so well behind making everything seem like just some funny rockstar stuff its amazing

Also! The super tired ‘hey’ before he remembers and switches to ‘i mean whats up dude’??? Like could that have been a genuine mistake by grizz, sure, but i highly fucking doubt that. Like grizzly is so incredible at voice acting i refuse to believe that wasnt intentional

Rand. Just. How fucking mad he is at rolan. Its just painful. And how clearly done with it rolan is like you know this is an argument theyve had like hundreds of times before

So so so many details about kian that are so fucking fun to think about, specifically when he describes the look officer dudes gave him? Like (cant remember the exact quote but you get it) ‘ive seen some bad people in hollywood, people who just smile at you a certain way and you know you wouldnt want to meet them at night because they want to kill you’???? I am using that against him so hard holy shit

They just. Know nothing about how time works. They keep saying that its been a decade (it hasnt its been 15 years) and barc is supposedly old enough to have met them but no he is absolutely not and also charlie described barc as a golden retriever but then who the fuck is the black dog in rands official art just. Wow theyre so inconsistent about everything.

Theres definitely a few details about kian that i had forgotten about (like him just saying he has plenty more cars at home and whatever) but the pros of that is. I dont even need to decide to just ignore canon because i can just fucking believe that hes lying! Like its kian we cant trust his word on anything and thats great for me because i dont need to worry about messing up the canon!

Trying to just keep track of their stats and such but its. Its so hard. Because most of the time they just say ‘thats a success/hard success/failure/etc’ and not even what they actually rolled and then when they say what they rolled they still usually dont say what the number they had to beat was so just like.

Kian has 30 strength and 75 in guitar and 11 hp and that is all i can actually remember

Rand has 45 strength and 30 sanity (for like the first half hour) and ive already forgotten everything else

And rolan. Im going to be real i remember nothing already. I think he has 8 speed? But that was in the solo ep so i cant be sure. Also either him or rand had 14 hp i have already forgotten which one

Rat’s death is so hard to think about but its also very hard for me because im just thinking of kian going through the same fucking thing. Like hes aware of it and hes in pain and he just hears a buzzing and. Augh. (And kian probably died alone. God knows becky wasnt comforting him through that)

…..kian going fucking four times over the speed limit getting to galloway but then specifically not speeding with the others until theyre trying to leave after seeing rats whole thing? You cannot convince me that thats not like him being passively suicidal and just not caring about his own safety unless other peoples lives depend on it as well

Also, quick pat on the back for myself, i feel like i did very well with especially rand and rolan’s dynamic. Like just the intense care and love they have for each other but its been overshadowed by years spent apart and basically the second theyre left alone they immediately get into an argument and instantly start going right for all the things that hurt the most? Jesus they need therapy

Also kian (yes of course im focusing on him again thats my guy) just cares for them so much?? Like him immediately going after rolan and trying to help him without even knowing whats going on, also as fucking stupid as it is grizzlys plan being literally ‘im going to flirt with donna so john walks in on us and chases me with a shotgun to give a distraction for rand’ its like. So ridiculous. Yet somehow also very caring that this idiot is really willing to risk getting shot at to help rand out a bit

#jrwi show #jrwi #just roll with it #jrwi bitb #jrwi blood in the bayou #blood in the bayou #jrwi spoilers #jrwi bitb spoilers #bitb spoilers #blood in the bayou spoilers

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syntaxpod · 2 months

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Along with the global release, we’ll be having a LIVE LISTEN of the finale on the @twinstrangersp YouTube tomorrow at 5pm EST!

Link to live listen:

#syntaxpod #syntax podcast #syntax #synspoiler #syntax live listen

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wigglebox · 2 years

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NYCC The Winchesters - 1x01 screening, panel

Good morning/afternoon/evening people!

So I had to take a break from art in order to write down my first impressions on things for the prequel pilot and the subsequent panel after.

Note that I haven’t had any time to watch any interviews the folks did before the screening/panel, so this is just me writing what I experienced in ~*the room where it happened*~. The bulk will be behind a read more!

** Note, I try to avoid mega spoilers but I do go into my impressions of the pilot and my emotions with it, AND I do outline the characters. I try not to get into the nitty gritty since y’all will mostly be seeing it tomorrow anyway, but if you don’t want even a HINT of a spoiler, just don’t read it lol.

The tldr; I loved it, it has so much to expand on, and I can’t wait to start speculating with y’all again on something SPN based.

—

I won’t lie, I was nervous.

Not because I didn’t think this show wouldn’t do a good job, because it’s made it this far — which is a lot considering the last two attempts at a spin-off were dead in the water. I was more or less nervous of the audience reception.

Living in one's own head as a Supernatural fan makes you and your goldfish bowl of friends in your Twitter GC and Discord servers, have a set of parameters of what makes a good Supernatural episode or not. But not everyone else shares those parameters that you have convinced yourself are right.

And I was nervous because, given those parameters, I had to keep reminding myself that this isn’t Supernatural. It is its own thing. It’s its own form, own show, with a connection to the main show. These are new characters, even if we knew the older versions of two of them already. Everything is still basically brand new.

My nerves came from a mixture of anticipation, fearing audience reception after the year and a half wait we had to think about this show, and not knowing if I or the audience can see this show as its own individual self and not just another Supernatural episode.

Suffice to say after like, the first five minutes those nerves were gone.

The Pilot

I’m going to get this out of the way before I continue. Pilots aren’t ever perfect. Even Supernatural’s pilot, which is a pilot that I consider to be top-tier, has some clunkiness.

Pilots can drag, or pilots can speed — there’s rarely an inbetween. The Winchesters pilot seemed to be a little fast paced, trying to introduce the premise of the show a little too quick. The pacing of events and understanding and dialogue kind of felt like this should have been a two hour episode and not the 40 minute one we’re going to get.

And, some of the dialogue, just like in its predecessor, was indeed clunky exposition.

But I’m saying this as someone who yes, understands that’s what that was — but also someone who doesn’t take this into account when it comes to what makes a pilot successful. In fact, I never expect perfection in pilots.

The Winchesters pilot has a lot riding on it. Not only is it the third attempt at a spin off, but it’s having to perform two duties where the original Supernatural pilot only had to do one.

The Winchesters pilot has to both grab old fans, and intrigue new ones. The original Supernatural pilot just had to attract new fans and build up a new world.

So, given that The Winchesters has to do a little extra work, and given that it’s a network pilot, a pilot in general — for me — the fast-paced nature of the episode doesn’t really affect it negatively for me. I expected it, and I’m sure others did as well.

A successful pilot for me is 1) am I interested in this world/characters 2) did you make me ask enough questions to come back next week?

And, The Winchesters scored on both of those accounts!

The episode opens up with its standard cold open where you mostly see a character you have no idea who they are, doing something that’s going to launch you into the next 45 minutes of adventure with the main characters. But, this cold open also has to launch us into the entire season. It’s the first-ever cold open for The Winchesters and it worked very well.

I’m not going to get too much into plot, to keep this spoiler free, however I will say in my head I described it as the Scooby Doo Avengers. When I say Scooby Doo I don’t mean campy, zoinks, goofy monsters of the week — but that there is this team, that is clearly already close, willing to do what it takes to figure something out. And... they have a van lol.

In the group there is tension already from the get go, which I love. By group, I mean Lata [Latika but Lata is her nickname], Mary, and Carlos have already known each other.

Small spoiler, but at once point Lata tells, not asks, Mary “You’re still mad at me.” Carlos and Mary have tension and unresolved past things that they gotta talk about at some point probably. And John blends in with them rather effortlessly. I will say I’ll be keeping my eyes on John and Lata right now.

But all four of them had a chemistry that already worked. Not like “Oh we all love each other here, no problems at all!” kind of chemistry, but chemistry where you can tell that interactions aren’t being forced. Almost like they’ve been acting together for years by that point, even though they hadn’t.

That was another thing I enjoyed about this core four, the fact that they’re each their own characters but they’re also not standing out too much from each other. That they both don’t blend into each other, but also they’re not so over the top it feels like a caricature.

Here are my first impressions of the characters:

Lata is a book nerd, clearly the “brains” but she’s also rather timid, nervous about hunts, and finds her satisfying success when it comes to what she’s learned on the page rather than hunting down a monster. She’s softer-spoken, and I can see her being the more level-headed grounded one of the group. However, I can also see where her self doubt can get the better of her, and her fear, and given a conversation she has with Mary in the van — I have to wonder if something bad happened in the recent past that made her like this.

Mary is the kind of Mary I felt like we got with Sam Smith. Marching forward, doing what she has to do, almost “going through the motions” of being a Hunter. She already voices her desire to walk away from this, and it’s hinted in that conversation with Lata, something went wrong recently that caused a big upheaval in her life. But that’s kind of a plot point that can be saved for when you watch it Tuesday. Of all four of the characters, it felt like I knew Mary the most because we got later-seasons Mary for a hot second. However, you can see how Meg Donnelly brings her own understanding of the character to the table. I am so very interested to see where she goes throughout this series.

Carlos will be the problem child (affectionate). When the role was first cast, and you got his description, you saw JoJo getting cast, and then seeing him in the trailer, folks already pinged on him being the fandom favorite and I can see that. He’s sharp, witty, already has some one-liners, and I can easily see him causing but also solving problems for the group. One thing that gets me is that he comes across as almost stubborn, not willing to admit when he’s wrong, so I can imagine that comes back into play. That indication comes with a small conversation with Lata over something that happened in the past. It’s played off as a “ha ha,” but if you think about it deeper, you’re seeing someone who knows what he wants and likely will do what he has to do to get it. There are definitely two Alphas in this group, Carlos and Mary, and I can see them butting heads at some point.

And now we’re at John.

When this prequel was first leaked onto Deadline in June 2021, folks (save for myself and a few others that were on my timeline and Discord) immediately rocketed to their feet to voice their displeasure at John being a focal point.

Accusations of trying to twist the narrative and make excuses for John’s behavior in Supernatural-Prime (neglect, child abuse, etc.), or that the constant reminder that John and Mary’s love story was manufactured so how on earth could you have a story about it — or just the attitude in fandom that’s been in there since I’VE started, back in 2013, that John Winchester is an Asshole.

But, a few pointed out that indeed we don’t actually know anything about John aside from his father, Henry, “walking out” on him and his mother, and… that was it. The flashback episodes we had with Matt Cohen’s John were that of a story that we kinda already figured. “In the Beginning” was more about Mary and showing Dean how that deal was made, and “The Song Remains the Same” served as a lesson for Dean and Sam to understand that they “can’t escape fate” with their bloodline.

Nothing’s really known about John at all, especially before 1973.

That being said, I really have to spend this portion completely cheering Drake’s John on because holy moly.

Drake has, and will continue to have, an uphill battle trying to get the most hardened Anti-John folk on board (a struggle Matt Cohen didn’t have to have as much I think). But, given the life that he’s brought to John in this pilot alone, I don’t think it’ll be too much of a struggle.

I joked that with them casting Drake that “it’s almost like they want us to love and adore him” but I’m not even joking anymore. I adore him.

Indeed, it’s important to note that this John is not the John we wind up with in the main show. And the cast and everyone involved knows that and have stated as such in interviews. They’re not erasing or rewriting anything.

The truth, for me, is far more tragic:

The John in the pilot is likable with an almost puppy-like innocence, looking to get answers but also someone dealing with trauma himself as someone who went into the Vietnam War way too early and suffered the consequences of that. I won’t get into specifics, but there’s a touching moment when he’s describing what he saw and what happened to a dear friend and I almost cried.

You have a kid, and yes I’m calling him a kid, suffering from this trauma in a way that you see twice in the episode, while also someone keeping his head held high while following orders and the motions from his new group of Scooby Doo hunters that he stumbled into.

When asked how he found someone so fast, John remarks that’s what he does because he was in the Marines. So we get little glimpses of that.

His ending moment after the final climax of the action was so adorable I wanted to squish his cheeks and yes, I know that’s weird, but he was so proud of himself.

But, in my opinion, it also demonstrated something that I think may or may not come back — and that’s that he did what he did down there in the tomb almost a little too easily and without freaking out. And was excited to tell his new friends about it.

John in this show I think will become someone that even the most reluctant watchers may come to find they really like.

And to me, that’s making him automatically, from episode one, one of the most tragic characters.

Already in the pilot, I was mentally screaming for John to turn back, don’t investigate, don’t do any of this, because we know what’s waiting for him down this path.

I have to mentally make a line in the sand to separate Drake from Matt from JDM because there’s no way I can continue going with The Winchesters and not completely support and adore John and his efforts to understand the Men of Letters and also being with his friends.

With characters out of the way, I’ll mention we don’t get much with Ada or Millie, however I can’t wait to see more of them in the future and what they have to offer. Millie seemingly already knew about the Men of Letters and Ada — in my head when she was first announced as a character I saw her as a Bobby character, just the know it all that can be their “save us because we don’t know what else to do!” character. However it feels like she can, and likely will be, more than that.

As for the plot of the episode, this is where my “Is a pilot successful” requirement is filled for “Are there enough questions to keep me coming back.”

The answer is, holy shit yes.

Particularly two things, which I can’t wait to speculate on when the episode airs. One involves John and his letter with the Men of Letters star on it, and the other of who the big bad is for the entire season. I’m so excited to speculate with people on that.

But also, this hunters world in the 1970s is so different to me than what we were first introduced to in 2005. They don’t have cell phones, they don’t have GPS, they don’t have computers, they don’t have quick ways of communicating with each other. They will have a network, sure, but its the 70s. They also don’t have access to THEE Men of Letters bunker, at least for now, which holds a lot of information as well.

So I have questions about those too.

I didn’t want this show to just be about “hey let’s do a case study on John” and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be that. I don’t mind that, but I also wanted this show to stand on its own.

And it’s clear that they’re looking at it in a way that will provide an actual story that can get folded back into Supernatural-Prime.

The Panel

After the pilot screening, there was a 30 minute panel with Danneel, Jensen, Meg, Drake, and Robbie and holy wow.

I wish I could convey to anyone reading this, especially anyone who had any doubts over anything, just how much this group cares.

Like, it’s not even just in their words saying it, but you can feel it, and I wasn’t even in the front row. It was this like, almost electrical current in the air that could reach you and make you truly, fully, 100% understand that they’re not doing this just for kicks.

They’re not just tossing aside whatever they want, that they’re not just doing this as a cash grab or anything — but that they’re a team of creatives that really truly wholly believe in this world that the main show created and wanted to explore that more.

They do treat the existing material with respect, and that they’re not going to just throw all those 15 years of blood sweat and tears down the drain.

I remember in the months following the Deadline leak, folks online kept stamping their feet about canon this and canon that. We haven’t had much press until just recently about it therefore come comments that would be made at a Supernatural convention by Jackles from time to time would have to suffice, but still didn’t convince many.

I think at the time also, when the Deadline leak happened, a lot of opposition I saw came from younger fans, or newer fans, who started season 12 and onward (or even after the show ended) and didn’t quite understand just how monumental it was that Robbie was brought on board.

Robbie stopped writing for the show in season 11 and I wanted to take an informal survey of fandom asking them if they truly understood the word that he did. Some folks don’t pay attention to who writes what.

His episodes I find tend to be some of the most gif’ed episodes on Tumblr or most talked about episodes in general. Any one of his episodes you’d likely find up in any fan’s top 10 list. He’s given us Charlie, Eileen, and even had a hand in bringing Chuck back both in Fan Fiction and in Don’t Call Me Shurely.

For many folks who were in fandom before Andrew Dabb took over some time in season 11, Robbie was easily one of the top three writers for many people.

And there’s a good reason for that. Between writing snappy dialogue and getting characterizations down really well, he’s also seemingly a master at these unconventional episodes. He’s had more normal ones like Goodbye Stranger, 8x17, and First Born (9x11) among others, but he’s also done Baby, Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo, LARP and the Real Girl, Bitten, Fan Fiction, Meta Fiction and the like.

He’s written episodes that were great for character showcasing while also having unconventional storytelling apparatuses as well. My favorite one of his episodes was Time After Time, 7x12.

Suffice it to say, them grabbing Robbie for this project really stood out to me, which is probably why when Deadline first leaked the project, I wasn’t upset. To me, if Robbie was involved, then that’s really all I needed to feel secure in knowing that whatever, or however, they were going to tell this story, he’ll have fun figuring it out.

And I can’t even begin to describe how much it really does come across how much Jackles cares.

It’s very very easy for someone with that amount of talent to just peace out from a 15-year show that ended, a show that likely made taking other roles nearly impossible, and just go on to do bigger things.

But the fact that he stuck around and that even before the show wrapped in Sept. 2020 (due to the pandemic) he was already starting on this? That means a lot to me. Like, no matter what he does, he seems to want to keep one hand on his roots and that can only benefit us because you don’t do that unless you really believe in it and care about it.

It’s also hilarious to me that in these press interviews, he’s basically being outed as THEE biggest SPN brain rot stan and, he’s not alone there. We have jackets, dude!

So yes, up on stage, with them answering questions and describing the process, how they’re viewing this — you can tell there’s a reverence they have for the material and understand truly how much time, energy, blood, sweat, tears, smiles, sadness, chaos had gone into the main show.

The pilot was good, it was something that would keep me interested with the characters they presented and the premise of the rest of the season to come. It established that we’re not in 2005-2020 anymore, it established a kind of big bad that we’re not used to seeing*, and it had enough easter eggs that satisfied my little Supernatural heart but not over doing it.

*This is something I can’t wait to speculate about.

On a personal note, I’ve been excited since that night, and had felt almost like I was in limbo for the last year and a half waiting for this moment and it was so satisfying seeing the pilot and understanding that my excitement and enthusiasm wasn’t misplaced in the slightest.

I went into this with the question of “Will I be disappointed in all of this hype that I’ve helped build up for this, both in my head and outwardly?” And the screening and panel shot back: “Nah you’re good.”

So I can’t wait to rewatch this Tuesday night, and then I can’t wait to watch it the following Tuesday, and again, and again.

I’m excited for The Winchesters to grow its wings and fly!

#long post #spnwin #the winchesters #spn #supernatural #nycc22 #i left out a lot of spoilery things #and still can be kinda spoilery so keep that in mind!

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housetorian · 1 year

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Sit down, we need to talk about Hekimoğlu.

As some of you might know, I found the whole damn thing dubbed in spanish on some turkdrama streaming service, in glorious 1080p, so now I'm working on splicing it with the original audio and providing more coherent subtitles. This of course takes a considerable amount of time.

This source, perhaps in solidarity with my mental health, divides the show into 45-minute episodes. In opposition to the two-hour long 51 episode count your can find on IMDB, this distribution consists of a total of 157 episodes, which I plan on releasing weekly (I have a full time job and a life. wish I didn't tho). I think it'll be a fun way to build expectation, something we can all look up to, maybe it's cheesy, idc.

I'm still ultimating details but I have the first episode done and I would love for you guys to decide which day of the week we could to this in

(just in case, if you vote mondays it doesn't mean I'm going to upload it tomorrow, probably)

I'll probably make another post further along with a few more info and details, I'm considering setting up some sort of patreon or ko-fi, even making a discord server with live screenings, but I don't want to make too many promises <3

#hekimoglu

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rip-quizilla · 1 year

Text

Your Leather, My Lace ~ Part 4: My Pain, Your Thrill

*This fic was co-written by curlyfry23, whom you can find on AO3 here

Pairing: Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Rockstar!fem!Reader

Summary: The next band you show up to see calls themselves Corroded Coffin. Maybe Eddie will be there...

Word Count: 5.7k

Tags for Entire Fic (from AO3): Enemies to Lovers, Rival Bands, Tension While Singing, Leather, 80's Rock References, Song Lyrics, Slow Burn, Sexual Tension, Thinly Veiled Hex Girls Inspiration, Eddie Munson Lives, 1991, Porn with Feelings, Shameless Smut, Mutual Masturbation, Hate to Love, Oral Sex, Consensual Sex, Smut, Eddie Munson Has No Sense of Personal Space, Cunnilingus, Nipple Licking, Catholic Guilt, brat!reader, Dom/sub Undertones, light degradation, Car Sex, The Lord of the Rings References

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

You woke the next day in your hotel room, having rested better than you could remember in the recent weeks. Up until this week, every night had consisted of insomniatic episodes where you’d sleep for a few hours, wake for a few more, then catch maybe an hour or two of shuteye before the sun was up. Nerves tended to affect your sleep schedule more than you wished they would, and Battle of the Bands was the time of year that your nerves were through the roof.

Last night, however…

You had a newfound appreciation for the effect that a good sex life can have on a person’s stress levels.

Checking the time on your bedside clock- 9:45 AM- you decided to fix yourself a cup of coffee before calling Lana and Denise. You needed to coordinate a time for band practice since your first performance was tomorrow night, but you knew Lana liked to sleep as late as possible most mornings so you’d wait until 10 for that. As you measured out little granules of instant coffee into a mug you’d found in one of the kitchenette cabinets, your mind wandered back to last night, and the dark-haired devil you’d spent the evening with.

Eddie had been uncharacteristically quiet when you parted ways last night. Before your “extracurriculars” in the back of his van, his mouth was running 60 mph, never slowing, always ready with a comeback or some quip that made you feel equal parts irritation and amusement. Afterwards, however, his only communication with you had dwindled down to short, terse responses. Head nods. Gentle forehead kisses. “Are you heading home after this?” Head nod. “Thank you for tonight, I had fun.” “Me too.” Forehead kiss. “Drive safe, okay?” Head nod. “You too.” “Good night.” “Night.”

As you watched your cup of tap water rotating in the microwave, your thoughts spiraled into a funnel of endless questions that went nowhere good- had he been putting on an act the whole time? Did he pretend to be actually interested in you just to get in your pants? Was his silence just a lack of interest now that he’d gotten what he wanted from you? What if-

The sudden beeping of the microwave interrupted your stream of consciousness, jerking you back into reality. No, you told yourself, removing the steaming cup and pouring it into the mug of dollar store instant coffee. Even if all he’d wanted was a one night stand, that’s all I wanted in the first place, right? If Eddie wanted nothing more than one night of messing around in the back of his van, all the better. No strings attached. Get it together, Pinocchio.

You walked into the bathroom, staring yourself down as you took your first sip of the mediocre brew. Hair askew, oversized flannel (a stolen relic from one of your early boyfriends) reaching just high enough on your thighs to cover your panties- you came to the conclusion that any guy would be lucky to wake up next to you. You were hot as hell. Your skin looked better after a good night’s sleep than any other time of the day, and you almost never went to bed with pants on- what’s not to love?

You narrowed your eyes at your thighs, inhaling sharply when you realized that there were slight purplish bruises where Eddie had pressed his fingers into your skin hard enough to leave his mark.

He wasn’t going to let you forget about him that easily, it seemed.

You sighed heavily, ignoring the way your stomach seemed to tie itself into a knot when you thought about the way he’d gripped your thighs like he could find salvation itself between them. How his tongue had lapped at your pussy and savored your taste like fine wine. The way he’d made the most beautiful sounds when you tugged on those dark chocolate curls…

Stop! Jesus, you were pathetic. He wasn’t thinking about you this way right now. At most, you might cross his mind the next time he decides to have a wank. You’d become a figment of his sexual fantasies, fuel to help him reach his climax, that girl who reminded him of Galadriel and knew enough to quote her while she straddled him in the back of his van.

Shit. Now I’m imagining him jacking off to me. Great. Awesome. Good job forgetting about him, me.

***

That evening, you once again found yourself at a venue downtown scoping out the competition. You’d been to this bar before- you remembered playing it last year, though it’d had a different name then. Name changes weren’t uncommon for the bars around here. Some were old as dirt, owned by the same grumpy old dude who’d opened the place in the ‘70’s, others changed management every five or so years. Either way, every halfway-decent place with a stage and a liquor license always cashed in on the tourism money brought in by Indie Battle each year.

You’d arrived later in the evening, having spent the whole day practicing your set with the girls until your fingers were just about ready to fall off. You were confident that your song choices for your first performance were going to kill tomorrow night; more confident than you remembered being either of the past two years that Next Hex had competed.

This was going to be the year- you could feel it in your bones.

Since you’d arrived late, the first band playing was already halfway through their set. Predictably, the bar was full so you would have to stand while the bands were playing. You made sure to bend your ear to the way each instrument and voice sounded while you ordered your drink at the bar. Making mental notes about everything from the moments where the singing was flat to any imbalances between instruments, you found a steel column to lean against as you began sipping from your drink. You were 100% focused on the band in front of you.

Definitely NOT looking around in hopes that a familiar face might waltz up to you and strike up a conversation.

Definitely NOT hoping that familiar face be accompanied by curly brown hair and a silver ring on each finger.

Definitely NOT disappointed that said face was nowhere to be found.

Once the band onstage took their final bow, you were halfway through your drink and feeling thoroughly alone in the crowd… which was fine, since watching live music was totally not required to be a social activity. You could enjoy it on your own, just like you always had before this week. No banter or flirtations necessary.

You force yourself to take a calming breath while the band scurried offstage. Head in the game, dude, you reminded yourself, remember why you’re here. You’re not here to make friends, you’re here to win. You’re here to be a rockstar. You’re here to prove wrong every asshole who ever doubted how bad you fucking want this.

Downing the rest of your drink with newfound resolve, you discarded your empty glass on a nearby table and pulled your moleskin out of your bag. You turned to a blank page, clicked your ballpoint pen, and prepared to jot down notes on the next band taking the stage.

“Hello Indianapolis!”

Your heart leaped into your throat. That voice-

“It’s our first Battle of the Bands here, sooo… go easy on us. If we suck, at least wait until the third song to boo us off the stage.”

It can’t be.

“We’re Corroded Coffin, and we’re about to make sure you never forget that name.”

It was like time stood still, the whole bar frozen around you as you slowly looked up at the stage. You were hoping you were wrong, that the person that voice belonged to was a stranger whom you’d never seen nor spoken to, and this was all your imagination.

But you should’ve known better. Your luck had never been good enough for that to be the case.

Standing up on that stage, red Warlock guitar in hand, staring directly at you, was Eddie Munson.

Everything was dead-silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, as Eddie held your gaze with an emotion behind his eyes that you couldn’t place if you tried. He held your eye contact until his lips hit the microphone, and you heard him inhale before letting out at the top of his lungs-

“All abooooaaaaard!”

The opening notes of Crazy Train rang out into the bar, causing patrons to start nodding their heads to the familiar beat. You weren’t listening, though. You were going numb.

You were so stupid. So incredibly stupid.

You’d told him the first time you met that you were competing. He continued to pursue you regardless, even though you’d told him- you’d told him- that you were trying to avoid distractions. Every time you’d run into him had been a performance for Indie Battle- you hadn’t been observant enough to see that as anything other than a coincidence. You hadn’t ever asked him why he kept showing up at Battle gigs, hadn’t ever considered that he could’ve been there for the same reasons you were- to scope out the competition. And oh, he’d scoped it out alright. For pete’s sake, you’d even had a conversation where he admitted he played guitar, and you hadn’t thought to ask him if he was even in a band, much less competing with one!

You were fuming. He’d played you. He kept this information to himself on purpose, and now he was in your head. You’d let the competition- a potential rival- get into your head, and now here he was, belting out Ozzy lyrics while he stared you dead in the eye.

“I’ve watched all the dropouts who make their own rules,”

You were listening now. You’d be damned if you let this guy use you, lie to you, then have the audacity to actually be a competitor in this competition. So you channeled your rage into something that felt familiar.

You started a pro/con list.

***

Okay. He did have the audacity.

Corroded Coffin was new to the competition, but these guys knew their sound. Your pro/con list was very pro-heavy, which was troublesome for you.

Pros: impressive wide vocal range, original songs are full of catchy chord progressions, talented drummer, charisma onstage, logo would look good on a t-shirt, experienced stage presence.

Cons: Band doesn’t have a clear brand- outfits don’t match, look still belongs in a garage, lyrics in originals are good but basic.

The fact that they had original songs to show at all was something that already set them ahead of Next Hex- none of you wanted to be a cover band for the rest of your careers, but nothing you’d been able to write was good enough to compete with. Denise had written a few catchy songs, but her style was more poppy than what would fit the vibe that you had so carefully curated for Next Hex. Sure, you were open to covering some pop songs, but only after you’d gone in and totally re-arranged them to be undoubtedly metal. You were already one of the only all-female groups that was competing; if the three of you stood on that stage and started churning out nothing but spunky girl-group songs, they’d never see you as equals. You’d have lost the competition the moment you finalized your setlist.

So, until one of you wrote an original song that could hold its own among the Metal hits that inspired you, Next Hex was stuck doing covers. Granted, they were badass covers, but they were still borrowed material.

You were disappointed that this guy had not only managed to pull one over on you, but his band was also the most impressive one you’d seen by far since arriving. For their first year here, you could already tell they were going to be a fan favorite by the looks of this crowd.

Shit.

You’d been doing a very good job of avoiding eye contact with Eddie for the past four songs, but now that they were a ways into the finale of the five-song set allotted to them, you chanced a look in his direction. You regretted it instantly.

His eyes had obviously been waiting for you to look at him. Those smoldering, dark brown eyes looked black in the red stage lights, framed by sweat-drenched curly rockstar hair. You hated how at home he looked on the stage- he was captivating, in his element as he growled sultry lyrics into the microphone. The way his eyes bore directly into yours, you felt certain he was singing to you specifically.

“I hear you calling and it's needles and pins,

I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name-”

Your eyebrows shot up involuntarily; the lyrics were already pretty risque on their own, but coupled with the intensity with which he was staring you down… it gave you a jolt to say the least. When Eddie saw that reaction, he somehow found a way to make you even angrier than you’d already been-

He winked.

That was it. You were finding him after this show. You were going to make him explain himself, and you were going to give him a piece of your mind.

***

You’d played this bar before, so you knew exactly which door to wait outside of after Corroded Coffin had finished their set.

When the cold metal door slammed open, the first to exit was a curly haired guy hauling two guitar cases as he held the door open with one foot. When he saw you leaning leisurely against the brick wall, arms and ankles crossed and exuding nonchalance, he shot you a pained smile.

He nodded to the door that threatened to close on him and the guitars. “Help me out and grab the door, would you?”

You stared at him, deadpan with a bored expression on your face. Once it became obvious that you weren’t moving a goddamn inch, the guy averted his eyes and squeezed through the door, leaving one guitar case on the ground to keep the door propped open. “Sheesh,” he muttered, “suit yourself, bitch.”

You waited, watching as he opened the back of Eddie’s van parked on the curb and placed the one guitar case in the trunk. A moment passed before the door swung open once again, this time revealing a blur of wild dark hair that shone amber under the lamplight- it was like a knife to the gut how much you’d loved that same lamplight twenty-four hours ago.

“Gareth, my baby is not a fucking doorstop, man-”

Eddie’s tirade was cut short when he saw you waiting by the door. His eyes didn’t seem surprised to see you, but they did widen a bit when they landed on your face. Maybe it had something to do with the waves of pure, undiluted rage that were emulating off of you.

Whatever seeing you like this made him think, he got over it quickly. Instantly, his normal bravado was back, smirk painted across his face and a leather-jacketed arm rising to lean over you against the wall. He cocked his head flirtatiously, and you were one misstep away from breaking his nose.

“Hey, Galadriel.”

SLAP.

You smacked him across the face without hesitation.

You saw the other guy- Gareth, apparently- stop in his tracks, eyes widening at your sudden outburst, before making a beeline for the door. You overheard his voice say to someone, “Do NOT go out there.” before the door clicked shut.

Eddie’s hand cradled the sensitive skin of his cheek, narrowing his eyes at you incredulously. “What the fuck?!”

“‘What the fuck’ me? I should be asking you that, what the fuck are you playing at, Munson?” You practically screamed at him. “You had every opportunity to tell me that you were competing against me in the Battle and you fucking lied to me!”

Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets, donning a bored expression to mask the pain while he glanced around at everything but you. “I never lied, princess, you just never asked.”

You huffed out a laugh. He was infuriating. “So how should I have worded our first conversation then, huh? ‘Hi, I’m here for Battle of the Bands! Are you here for Battle of the Bands? Wow, you are? Golly gee, ain’t that swell!’”

“Not my fault you never asked the right questions!” Eddie was smiling now, shaking his head at you and obviously furious that you had actually hit him. He’d had a feeling you’d be angry, but never thought you’d resort to fisticuffs. “What’s it matter, anyway? It was just a fling, right? You didn’t want more after that, did you? What about your blood pact with your Hex Sisters, or whatever the fuck- ‘no distractions,’ wasn’t it?”

Fuck this guy.

“It’s Next Hex,” you growled, giving him a shove backward to give yourself room to take a step. He backed up, struggling to stand his ground when up against a force like yourself. “Remember our fucking band name, Munson, because it’s our songs you’ll be playing on a shitty old guitar twenty years from now when you’re a washed-up has-been who gives guitar lessons to little shit kids who want to be me when they grow up!”

Eddie was silent, stunned by your long- and thorough- tirade. After a moment, the corner of his mouth curled back up into its default position, and god, you wanted to smack him again.

“Did you practice that in the mirror this morning?”

“Fuck you!” You marched past him, arms crossed defensively over your chest, which was burning with a rage that you knew wasn’t going away until you saw Eddie Munson booted from the competition, dejectedly loading his shit up in his van and driving back home, ruing the day he made an enemy out of you, and thinking Maybe I’ll try again next year.

You were barely out of his eyesight before he called out, “Until tomorrow night, princess!”

You threw up a middle finger before turning the corner, officially out of his line of vision.

Oh, you’d see him tomorrow night alright. You wanted him to see you on that stage, putting all of your practice to the test and doing exactly what you came here to do.

You wanted him to see you in your prime tomorrow night, and you wanted it to scare him so shitless it sent him running for the hills.

***

The following morning, Eddie awoke feeling the opposite of well-rested, and the first thing he wanted after his night of tossing, turning, and sporadic sleeping was a cigarette.

He rolled out of the scratchy motel sheets as quietly as he could, taking care not to make too much noise so he didn’t wake Gareth, currently drooling all over his pillow. Eddie tugged on a pair of jeans, strewn on the edge of his bed last night, along with his lighter and box of cigarettes from his jacket pocket before he slipped out the door onto the sidewalk out front.

The pull-out couch had been empty, so as expected, Eddie was greeted by the sight of a pajamaed Jeff seated in a plastic patio chair, mass-market paperback in his hand. Eddie pulled out a cigarette and his lighter, settling into the other chair once he inhaled his first dose of nicotine for the day.

The two remained comfortably silent sitting there, Eddie enjoying his smoke and Jeff reading his book. He loved this about their relationship- Eddie never felt the need to fill the silence with anything, because he knew Jeff was more than happy to simply occupy his time with a book. He never expected more of Eddie than his company, and that was one of the things Eddie liked most about-

“So who was that girl last night?”

Damn. Well, so much for comfortable silence.

Eddie sighed, blowing smoke out with a little more exasperation than one might hear in a normal exhale. He looked over at Jeff, expecting to see some sort of smirk, maybe smugness- the sort of shitty grin that guys gave each other when the topic of girls came up. But instead, Jeff was still engrossed in his book, as if he hadn’t asked the question at all.

Eying the bassist warily, Eddie conceded. “I’d been running into her at a couple of shows since we got here… we messed around in the back of my van.”

A pause. Jeff kept his eyes on his paperback.

“And she slapped you in the face because…?”

Eddie hung his head in defeat. “Because she’s in one of the bands competing and I didn’t tell her I was too.”

Jeff nodded, that final piece of the puzzle clicking into place. Eddie waited for a reply- some sort of judgment, some reprimand for his mistake- but none came.

Eddie rubbed his cheek, frustrated and still feeling the ghost of the sting from her slap and guilty enough that he still needed to explain himself. “It’s not like she asked me if I was competing, it didn’t come up!”

Jeff looked up at Eddie poignantly, eyebrows raised and lips stretched into a disapproving line.

“Whatever, man.” Eddie said, taking a long drag from his cigarette and shaking his head as if his lingering guilt could be flung away if he shook hard enough.

Jeff chuckled, laying his book face-down on his thigh to keep the place. “Don’t take it out on me,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he raised his eyebrows up at Eddie. “You’re the one who decided to take a shit where he eats.”

Eddie grimaced. “That phrase is fucking gross.”

“Well, it’s what you did, what did you think would happen?” Jeff shrugged, eyes back on his paperback.

Eddie was silent. The truth was, he hadn’t been thinking. He’d been feeling. He’d been making decisions with his dick ever since he saw the vampire-queen earlier in the week, and she’d been standing there looking the way she did and flirting the way she had and god… damn, he hadn’t been thinking at all, had he?

And then to top it all off- it turned out she was witty. She had the same taste in music. She’d quoted Tolkein with her tits out. By all means, she was the kind of girl that he should have been asking out to dinner, not eating out in the back of his van.

Not that Eddie was complaining.

But he’d blown it big time, and for what reason? Eddie was a liar. And now he had no chance with her in Hell.

He stared out at the busy street beyond the motel parking lot, vacant eyes cataloging his mistakes with all the others he had filed away over the course of his life, and took a long drag from his cigarette. After a moment, he flicked the smoldering stub to the sidewalk and put it out under the sole of his sneaker.

“Enjoy your book, Jeff.” Eddie muttered, followed by the sound of the door closing as he returned to their stuffy motel room.

Jeff looked at the closed door, smiling to himself. Eddie had always been dramatic, ever since middle school. It was one of his most dependable traits, made him a charismatic frontman in the band as well as an amazing Dungeon Master (though it had been a while since they’d played). Jeff knew the drama was masking the guilt that Eddie’s heart of gold was feeling for messing with that poor girl. Eddie wasn’t a player, never had been- he wasn’t the type to manipulate a lady without feeling remorse for it.

Leaning back leisurely to resume his reading, Jeff wondered in the back of his mind what might happen the next time Eddie and the angry girl crossed paths. How would Eddie handle himself?

***

Eddie had no clue what to do with himself.

On the outside, he was sure he looked aloof, calm, suave, collected- an arm draped over the bar sticky with spilled shots and multi-purpose cleaner. But on the inside? He knew that any minute you would be walking out on that stage and the anticipation was killing him.

Walking into this venue, he’d been wondering how he would feel when he saw you up there, and a part of him had wondered if he’d be nervous. What if your band sucked? What if you were better than him?

Eddie shook his head, clearing that last thought from his brain. What was the matter with him? He hadn’t felt this way when he went to see any of the other bands.

You never slept with the other bands, dickhead. He thought to himself.

It took him a second, alongside half a glass of the cheapest beer on tap, but Eddie came to the conclusion that he was actually quite excited to see you perform.

Your interests collided in so many ways that he could see from just a handful of conversations, but it was enough that he was eager to know what sort of music you would make. What would you sound like? It hadn’t occurred to Eddie that you might sing lead in your band like he did- what if you had a horrible voice? What if it was good? Was any one woman allowed to look like you and sound like an angel? She’d be a fucking siren, that wasn’t fair. What if-

Eddie’s train of thought was cut short when the lights dimmed to red onstage. He silenced his thoughts as his raging heartbeat took over, watching three figures walk onstage. One walked over to a drum set while the other two made their way to stand at the front of the stage, each in front of their own mic stand. Eddie wasn’t close to the stage by any means, but even he could see from where he stood that the girl holding a blood-red guitar was you.

The crowd around him began to cheer, eager for the show they’d been promised. Eddie’s eyes drank in the sight of you, committing to memory every curve hugged by your wine-red dress. Bathed in crimson light, he was reminded of how ethereal you had looked that night in his van just a couple of days ago- only now, the angel had fallen. You’d gone from sorceress to temptress, lips painted red as the blood of innocents with platform boots formidable enough to seriously injure with a well-aimed kick.

You looked like the queen of the damned, and Eddie couldn’t look away.

There was a lull in the applause as the anticipation came to its climax. The mic kicked on, sensitive enough for everyone to hear a single, controlled breath escape your lips before the sound of your guitar ripped through the silence.

Eddie, along with the rest of the room, recognized the familiar opening of Heart’s Barracuda immediately. They all watched with rapt attention, seemingly waiting to catch some mistake in a song everyone knew so well. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, however, every note was spot-on. Eddie’s excitement wavered the longer he listened, and upon hearing your lead vocals- his motivations for listening changed from anticipation to competition.

Of course you were lead guitar and lead vocals, same as he was- the irony wasn’t lost on him. Sure, he had been a little bit enraptured at first- you had star quality, all of you; even he could see that. Each of you looked like some sort of rock and roll witch, and your looks were carefully curated to create those personas. Your band wasn’t just doing this for fun- it was obvious that you had put a great deal of thought into your look and sound. Now, all of the notetaking you’d been doing made sense. You were taking this competition very seriously, so when Eddie had with held the truth from you… it must have hurt you a lot more than he’d thought it would.

Eddie watched and listened intently as the first song drew to a close. The applause was thunderous, eager for more. You leaned into the mic, red lips parting around a laughing smile and waited for the cheering to recede enough for you to be heard. In a soft, low voice you asked, “Oh, you liked that one, huh?”

The crowd erupted, feeding your fire as a deep giggle bubbled up into your mic- Eddie felt his heart involuntarily backflip at the sound of your voice.

“Soooo…” you began again, this time sounding a bit more coy than before. “...we’ve been here a couple times before, so a few of you might know us, but either way, we’re Next Hex-” again, the crowd responded with claps, whoops and whistles. From the sound of it, there were certainly people here who remembered you from years past. Eddie listened on.

“Tonight you’ll hear some songs you love, some songs you haven’t heard in a while, and one that you probably never expected to hear at Indie Battle-” You giggled a bit through that last part, but you didn’t seem nervous from what Eddie could tell. If anything, it made him look forward to knowing which song you were referring to. He- and the rest of the audience- was playing right into your hands. It was obvious to him that you knew how to work a crowd this size, and that was an advantage that came with experience Eddie didn’t have.

“-so stick around…and let’s have a little fun.”

With that, you threw the drummer a little nod, to which she smiled- a little deviously- before counting you out into the second song of your set.

Eddie was a statue propped up against the bar for the next three songs. Arms crossed, face unreadable, and beer slowly disappearing from his glass, his brain moved a mile a minute while he watched and listened.

From what he could tell, you really only had one weakness- none of your songs were originals. For a band with such a specific look and sound that had been tailored to your specific brand, he was surprised that the only songs you chose to play belonged to other bands. However, that didn’t seem to detract from your individuality, at least for now. Even though you were covering other bands’ songs, you made them sound like they’d been written for your instruments, for your voice. You felt every lyric as if you’d written it yourself, and he could see that plain as day from where he stood in the audience.

Your song choices were interesting. Starting with Barracuda, followed by I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett. They seemed like easy choices since your band was a girl group, but there was an edge to your covers that Eddie couldn’t put his finger on- they felt sharper, more moody. He wished he could press rewind and listen again and again to dissect exactly what you did to change up the well-known anthems.

Then you’d surprised Eddie by pulling a KISS song out of your back pocket- adding a clever twist on Let’s Put the X in Sex by changing the “X” to “Hex”. It was sexy and fun and all-around entertaining- the crowd ate it up .

Your fourth song was unexpected- a mysterious, dramatic cover of The Rolling Stones’ Paint It, Black. The seamless transition from sexy to angsty was impressive- it showed range and creativity.

Eddie was starting to see you as a real threat in this competition.

Your voice, a little breathy at this point, practically whispered into the mic as you introduced the fifth and final song of your set.

“It’s been real fun tonight, guys,” you began, “this is our last song for tonight, so we’ve saved the best for last.”

The crowd cheered, and Eddie watched with curiosity as the bass player moved a keyboard down to her mic stand. Great, there’s another advantage they’ve got on us, Eddie thought. None of the members of Corroded Coffin played keys.

A beat of silence passed before she began to play- it was surprisingly upbeat, and Eddie struggled to place the song. It wasn't until you chimed in with your guitar that it dawned on him.

You were playing Holding Out for a Hero… Eddie only knew it from how many times he’d heard it beaten to death on the radio after Footloose had come out when he was in high school.

It didn’t take long for Eddie to catch onto how you’d arranged the cover- all of the parts that were originally sung by a choir, you’d converted into guitar parts. It actually worked- it worked really well.

When you started to sing the opening lines, Eddie let his eyes drift from your fingers on the frets of your instrument up to your arms, your chest, your lips- but his heart almost leapt out of his sternum when he saw your eyes staring dead at him.

Eddie felt a wave of deja vu; he’d done the same to you when he’d spotted you in the audience the night before, stared you down so that… well, he wasn’t sure why he’d done it. Maybe he’d liked how you looked so caught off-guard when he’d stared at you? Was he an ass for liking the way that felt?

Either way, the roles were officially reversed now. Your eyes held Eddie’s in a chokehold, and even though you were singing lyrics written to convey longing and hope, the only messages your eyes held for Eddie were rage and determination. It felt as though there wasn’t a single person in that bar besides the two of you.

Your black nails moved expertly across the strings of your guitar, and sweat trickled down your collarbone in the red stage lights. Eddie took it all in, feeling a million things at once. Jealousy of his past self, yearning to go back to two nights ago when you’d followed him out to his van. The rush of a real competition, a rival to test his strengths against. Fear of losing, the very real possibility that Corroded Coffin would be sent packing as early as next week’s round of the competition. Regret that he’d blown his chances with you before he’d realized who you actually were.

You were a goddamn siren, and Eddie wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to stay away from you.

Part 5

(click here to listen to the electric guitar cover of Holding Out for a Hero that I vaguely based Next Hex's cover off of in my head while I wrote this!)

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #rockstar eddie munson #stranger things fic #stranger things au #eddie munson lives #enemies to lovers

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