#genuinely upset he's from California though

[asydicsydney]

I'M THINKING SO HARD RIGHT NOW

The intense music, the mostly guest va'd episode even though they aren't in the description, Dylan Marron, a fucking last name?, a middle name?, marine biology major?, HE'S FROM CALIFORNIA?

For real though, I love this episode. I had no expectations and grand whims and they knocked it out of the fucking park. The build up, explaining everything away, becoming this sterilized, normal, shell of a town. It felt like a real dramatic story podcast. And then she's killed with a falling cow. It's perfect, it's return to form, it's Night Vale.

[snapghoul]

Seresin Twins mini fic

I couldn’t come up with a title I liked nor am I good at writing stories, please forgive me if this is ooc.

Warnings: swearing

Tyler twisted the brim of his white hat for the fifth time, his leg bouncing so restlessly that it jostled the row of seats where he and Kate sat. Kate shot him a concerned look, noting how out of character this anxiety was for him.

Tyler was usually the picture of confidence, tackling challenges with a wild grin and loud hollering. Today, though, he seemed on the verge of throwing up.

“He’s gonna be pissed. What if he doesn’t want to see me?” Tyler muttered, his green eyes darting around the room, searching for any sign of familiarity amid the sea of excited families.

Kate furrowed her brow, scanning their surroundings. Despite standing out from the South California crowd, especially in Miramar, they didn’t seem entirely out of place.

“Tyler, he’s your brother. Why wouldn’t he want to see you? We drove all the way here; he’ll be thrilled!” Kate said, offering a reassuring smile as she leaned back in the stiff seat, patting his bouncing thigh.

Moments later, a naval officer led them through the hanger, but Tyler was too anxious to pay much attention. The vastness of the hanger was overwhelming, especially with the imposing F-18s on display. Tyler had only ever seen them streaking through the sky, leaving a thunderous roar in their wake.

The noise of families greeting each other echoed through the metal structure, creating a lively buzz. Tyler scanned the crowd, his heart pounding as he spotted an F-18 near the entrance, its name painted just below the canopy: Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin.

His heart felt like it was in his throat.

Tyler rubbed his hands against his jeans, trying to steady his nerves. Why was he so worked up? He was about to see his brother—surprise him, in fact. It had been two years since they’d been face-to-face, and Kate had managed to find out when Family Day was at Fightertown. He cursed her persuasive skills, despite his gratitude.

“Rooster! Bradshaw!” A voice cut through the noise, causing Tyler to search for its source. He spotted Jake, clad in his flight suit, his helmet clipped to his hip and aviators perched on his nose.

Jake stood with his arms outstretched, appearing exasperated as he faced a tall man with curly hair and a red helmet. Tyler assumed this was Rooster. The two exchanged quiet words, Jake’s smirk unmistakably familiar.

“Shit, I knew you guys were twins, but you two are like mirror images,” Kate said, whistling as she put her hands on her hips, noting the striking resemblance and subtle differences between the two.

As if on cue, Jake’s gaze shifted and locked onto Tyler. His eyes widened in surprise before breaking into a wide grin, “The tornado wrangler, as I live and breathe!”

Before he could fully process what was happening, Jake was in front of him and had enveloped him in a tight hug. Tyler’s arms instinctively wrapped around him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would’ve met you at the gate!” Jake’s voice was full of surprise and joy, not anger. Tyler mentally kicked himself for thinking his twin might be upset.

“Just wanted to surprise you, make sure you’re still kickin’,” Tyler grinned, squeezing his brother and giving him a playful shake.

Jake reluctantly let go, still grinning from ear to ear. “Well, you sure did surprise me. I thought you were still chasing out in Oklahoma?”

Before Tyler could respond, Kate interjected with enthusiasm, clearly eager to meet Tyler’s twin. “Well, the season’s winding down, and a change of scenery for a few days sounds like a great idea.”

Jake removed his aviators and tucked them into the collar of his flight suit. Leaning casually on one foot, he studied Kate with a discerning eye before nodding in approval. She clearly seemed to be a good fit for Tyler, in more ways than one.

“Kate Carter,” she said, extending her hand.

Jake shook it firmly, his smile reflecting genuine warmth rather than his usual cocky smirk. “Nice to meet you, Kate.”

Kate’s smile mirrored his sincerity. “Nice to meet you too, Jake.”

Jake’s expression turned playful as he leaned in slightly towards Tyler. “So, are you going to explain why you were shooting fireworks into a tornado?”

Tyler burst into laughter, clearly amused by the question. He shot his brother a sheepish look. “Please, don’t tell Ma.”

Bonus:

Rooster threw his hands up in frustration, left high and dry once again by the famous Hangman. Both had volunteered for the flight demonstration today, given neither had confirmed family in attendance.

“Okay… Great, now there’s two of them…” he muttered in exasperation as he trudged toward his jet. Now he’d have to fly solo. Maybe he could convince Phoenix to join him, if he could pull her away from her family. A solo demo was bound to be a drag.

Bradley swore he’d get back at Jake for this, after he grilled him about not telling everyone he had a twin.

[space-invading-pigeon]

It had been almost a year since Steve had disappeared. The Party had not taken it well.

Dustin and Robin were the most affected, obviously: Dustin lost his older brother, the first person aside from his mother that had ever loved him unconditionally, his confidant. Robin lost the other half of her very soul; she feels like a shell of herself, a hollow corpse drifting through space.

Eddie threw himself into the search with Eleven: they barely stopped for basic needs like rest or food, too busy chasing every lead (El's connection to the Upside Down seemed unable to locate Steve, but Eddie swore that he could feel his "warmth"). Max, through her recovery, writes down every achievement, every setback, because she wants to share them with Steve. Lucas quits basketball; being on the court sends him back to every evening practice with Steve, and the loss makes him so sick that he genuinely cannot play. Will draws scene after scene of the party rescuing Steve, although each picture grows more ethereal- Steve's image starts to change, his features lost to a golden shine, his clothes shifting from his cozy sweaters and jeans to shining armor and a white cloak. His eyes, though, maintain that same warmth, the same kindness, obvious even in a painting. Nancy pretends to be fine, but she's always felt responsible for Steve: it's her fault he was ever involved, and she'd been so cruel to his in '84. It's her fault he's missing. Jonathan is distraught: he and Steve were on great terms before California, but there's always the guilt carried from giving Steve his first concussion. Argyle doesn't know who Steve is, but if everyone is this upset, he's down for getting the dude back.

Hop is on the warpath.

****

Pelor fights with Vecna proudly for the cause. The vile creatures destroying their homeland are insatiable, and it is through Vecna's grace that Pelor was saved.

But things are starting to make no sense. It has been a year since Pelor was saved, but Vecna's story is starting to make no sense. These enemies, as he watches, and barely more than children. Watching them for too long makes Pelor's head hurt, especially when the curly-headed one sings that soul-searing song in the middle of the night.

"Don't be fooled by them, lord," Vecna advises. Pelor hums.

*****

Fighting the child soldiers feels.... wrong. They're crafty and innovative, making weapons and clever plans, but at the end they're just children. The redheaded one is easily incapacitated, for example, her body already weak from battle. Pelor can't bring himself to truly harm them, though.

And then the curly one starts to scream. "Steve! Holy shit, you're alive!" He cries, running at St- Pelor. His cries make the others freeze.

"That's not Steve," the small, angry woman snarls.

"Dust, get away from him!" The ugly one shrieks. Pelor steps away, glancing from each child warrior and trying to stave off the splitting headache.

"Eddie!" The curly one cries. "Eddie, sing his song! The song!"

The pretty one, who was near the back of the squadron, scrambled forward like a newborn foal. "You can sing it too, Henderson!" The man wails. The curly one and the pretty one bicker for a few minutes, before they both decide to start singing (only after the dark one and the red one start screaming that stupid fucking song that Dustin wouldn't stop complaining about-). The song splits Pelor's head in two.

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

@amoris-no-smut-allowed imagine if you will, Eddie = Kas the Bloodyhanded and Steve = Pelor, god of the sun, summer, and agriculture

Pt. 2

[steveshairychest]

Happy birthday, Liam @withacapitalp !! We've only been friends for a short while, but you're so fun to talk to and I hope you had the best birthday ever! Mwah! I hope you like your gift <3

---

Jonathan loves the spring.

The new signs of life blossoming all around him always brings a smile to his face. He has a photo album filled with photos of every spring since he got his camera. There's pictures of the tree in their backyard finally growing new leaves, a doe with a fawn trotting awkwardly behind her near castle Byers, green grass peaking out through the melting snow.

And Will, so many photos of Will. His birthday is in spring.

Every year, Jonathan takes a picture of Will sitting in the same spot on the couch with his birthday present in hand. He tells Will it's for the memories; so when he flicks through the photo album, he can see his little brother slowly growing up. Will's smiling in some, laughing in others. In one picture, he's just sitting there trying to smile, but he looks like he's in pain, like he's going to cry; that was his first birthday since he came home from the upside down. Jonathan always skips past that one when he's flicking through the album.

This year is different, though. They'd missed Will's birthday due to everything with Vecna, Jonathan's camera is packed away in moving boxes that are on a truck going from California to Hawkins, he broke up with Nancy, and now he's stuck sleeping on the couch in Hopper's dusty cabin.

He's having the worst spring ever.

There's a quiet psst from the mattress on the floor and a hand poking his side. Jonathan pretends to still be asleep.

"I know you're awake, man." Argyle whispers and jabs him again.

Jonathan rolls over and stares down at his friend, who is lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. Jonathan honestly expected Argyle to leave the minute he dropped Jonathan and the boys off in Hawkins. He'd expected to see the pizza van driving off as fast as it could go but instead, the van is parked outside and Argyle is lying on the floor beside him, wearing mismatched pyjamas they'd found at a charity shop that wasn't wrecked in the 'earthquake'.

He's kind of relieved Argyle is here with him. He's never felt so... relaxed, so happy, in someone's presence before.

"What do you want? I'm sleeping."

Argyle snorts. "No, you're not. You're thinking so loud it's keeping me awake as well." Argyle scoots over to the edge of his mattress and pats the new space next to him. "Come down here. Let's have a sleepover."

"I don't – "

"Just get down here. I won't bite." Argyle lifts the blanket up and holds it open until Jonathan begrudgingly rolls from the couch to the mattress. "See? Wasn't that hard, was it." Argyle drops the blanket on top of Jonathan and makes a show of tucking him in. "Now, tell me what's on your mind."

He hasn't shared a bed with anyone for a long time. He feels stiff, awkward, a little flustered as well because Argyle is lying on his side facing Jonathan, his intense gaze makes him feel like he's overheating.

"I don't know. It’s nothing, really." He turns his head and looks at Argyle; the look on his face tells Jonathan that his friend isn't buying it. He sighs and stares up at the ceiling before whispering, "We missed Will's birthday."

"Shit, really? When was it?" Argyle sounds genuinely upset by the news.

"March 22nd. Normally, we'd wake him up with pancakes and he'd eat so many he'd make himself sick. Then mum would start singing happy birthday really off-key while bringing out the little bag of presents we both know she hides under her bed." Jonathan smiles sadly and picks at a loose string in the blanket. "I always take a picture of Will on his birthday. He hates it, always complains when I tell him to hold up his presents and smile. But when I get the pictures developed, he takes them off me excitedly to see how they turned out."

Argyle hums and rolls onto his back as well. "Is Will upset we missed his birthday?"

Jonathan wishes Will was upset. He wishes his brother didn't just shrug his shoulders and say, "It's just a birthday." He wishes he could make Will see how important his birthday is.

It's a celebration of his life.

It's a reminder that he's still here, that they got him back.

"He said that there's more important things to worry about than his birthday." Jonathan whispers softly. He knows that there is some truth in those words, but he craves to have one normal thing happen this spring.

"Hm. He sure is a selfless little guy." Argyle yawns, which in turn causes Jonathan to yawn. Man, he really is exhausted. He rolls onto his side and closes his eyes, feeling a little better after talking to Argyle; it feels like the knot in his chest has been loosened, finally allowing him to breathe. "Night, Jonathan." Argyle whispers, his breath fanning Jonathan’s face.

"Night, Argyle." He says softly, thankful that the dark hides the flush in his cheeks.

--------

Jonathan wakes to the smell of pancakes and the sound of quiet chatter. He can hear the scrape of a spatula against a pan as someone flips a pancake.

"Will, slow down. You'll make yourself sick!" His mother's voice rings out around the small cabin. Will says something through a mouthful of pancakes that Jonathan can't quite understand from his spot in bed.

"Is Jon awake yet? I've made him a plate." That's Argyle.

Jonathan groans and stretches before slowly getting up and making his way to the small kitchen. Will and El sit at the table, a giant stack of maple syrup covered pancakes in front of both of them. "Morning." He says and drops a kiss to the top of both their heads.

Will laughs and scrunches up his face. "Your breath stinks."

Joyce passes him a cup of coffee and plants a kiss to his cheek. "Eat up before it gets even colder. Argyle's been swatting flies away from your plate all morning."

Jonathan can't stop the smile that pulls at his lips. He can't believe Argyle woke up early to make pancakes for them. Argyle beams at him from his spot in front of the stove and hands him a plate of pancakes. "Thought these might cheer you up a bit. Oh, and Will's agreed to let us throw him a party later."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did." El quips back, a teasing smile on her face as she leans forward and says, "You agreed the second mum said Mike can come over for dinner."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Will blushes bright red and stuffs another mouthful of pancake into his mouth.

Jonathan doesn't know why, but he feels like crying. He doesn't know if it's because Argyle actually listened to him and put in the effort to do something to make him and everyone else feel better, or if it's because El just called Joyce mum or because Will is smiling and eating pancakes on his late birthday morning.

Either way, he's just glad to have some sort of normalcy back into his life.

Argyle stands beside him, his hand resting on the small of Jonathan's back as he leans close to him and reaches for the maple syrup. "Don't tell Joyce, but I put a little something extra in our pancakes. If you get what I mean."

Jonathan meets Argyle's gaze, a little flustered by how close he is, and raises a brow. "It's 9 o'clock in the morning, dude."

"Suit yourself. Give me yours then." He goes to take Jonathan’s plate, but Jonathan holds it away and out of his reach.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to eat them."

Argyle smiles and dumps a generous amount of maple syrup on both of their plates. "Thank you for this." Jonathan says softly to Argyle.

He watches Joyce disappear into Hopper's room before coming back out with a little bag that's says 'happy birthday' in rainbow letters. Will groans and tries to hide his smile as their mum sings him happy birthday and places the present in front of him. "I called Mike a few months ago while we were still in California to ask for his help with your present. He said you'd like it." Joyce bites her lip nervously as Will pulls out a book.

"What is it?" Argyle asks loudly.

Will smiles so bright and full of joy, Jonathan wishes he had his camera so that he could have a picture of it forever. "It's the new dnd handbook! I've wanted this for ages! I love it, thank you!" He wraps Joyce up in a tight hug before letting go and bringing his chair around next to El so that they can look through the book together.

The room is full of happy chatter and full bellies and Jonathan is content to stay in this little bubble forever. He knows that this is only temporary, that there's still an evil waiting to be stopped, but for now he's happy to bump shoulders with Argyle and watch his little brother enjoy his late birthday.

Maybe this spring won't be so bad after all.

[stevie-petey]

Here's some come home head cannons for come home birthday!! Weird coincidence come home has the same birthday as my grandmother!

Steve has very realistic baby dreams and genuinely gets upset when he wakes up and it's not real

When the party was younger (like s2/3) they'd call Steve to the arcade to help them with a tough level no one could beat. Steve acted like it was an inconvenience but loved hearing them cheer for him when he won.

They also used to do the same with Jonathan in season one. :( Jonathan ran into Steve helping them and got a little hurt that they called him. ( It was Dustin who called)

It was bugs grandmother who taught her to bake, while Claudia preferred to cook. Everytime bug tried cooking it either came out burnt, undercooked, or just tasted off.

After the divorce Claudia struggled, even after coming back to Hawkins. If Dustin and bug ever made her upset they'd clean the whole house while she was out as an apology. It made her cry every time.

Mews was actually a stray kitten bug and Dustin found. A dirty, fussy, kitten in the woods that Dustin and bug brought home with a smile begging to keep him.

Jonathan made Nancy a mixtape but they have different music tastes. She still appreciates it and plays it when she misses him.

Jonathan gave out candy one year instead of trick or treating and decided to scare the kids that came to the house. He made a kid cry then gave them the whole bowl of candy and turned the lights off. Felt bad the rest of the night. Never told a soul, Joyce just thought he ate the candy.

Eleven looks up to Joyce and started to copy everything she did when they moved to California. The way she talked and dressed, how she did her hair. (Hence the bangs)

Max wishes she was more like bug, she wishes she was kind and not so sarcastic. Little does she know bugs kindness is a defense just like Max's sarcasm.

Joyce made els first Halloween costume and went out trick or treating with her even if she was " too old"

Will paints his memories when he feels lonely. There's a painting of him and bug when they got the flu and had a sleepover ( from the mind flayer in season two? When they were trying to talk to will)

It's Jonathan's favorite painting wills done. Will offered to give it to him but he declined. He still looks at it often when he's homesick ( so does Joyce)

Nancy feels sorry for her mother, shes proud to have her mother's spirit, she's just sad she never got to love her dreams. She wants to do better and make her mom proud.

Nancy(s1) used to do a lot of slightly cringe things. Like she fist pumps the air when she does something right, and dances around her room to music. She sings in the shower but Mike will bang on the door and tell her to be quite. She'll do embarrassing stuff to make holly laugh, just like she did for Mike when he was little. ( Rarely worked he's always had that unimpressed look)

Hopper wants El to be like bug when she grows up, he's happy she has someone like bug to look up to. He sees bugs strength and wants El to have her integrity, and wisdom when it comes to life. He'd never say anything about it though.

Bug has a box of letters under her bed from the Byers. And she pins the pictures will sends her on her wall ( it's slowly being overrun by drawings.)

RAAAAAAAAH I LOVE THESE I LOVE GETTING HEADCANONS <33

steve does get baby dreams and he genuinely wakes up sad sometimes (they always happen when he sleeps in bugs bed - hes had to ask to sleep in his bed from now on) and he DEF played at the arcade with the party and bug finds him there one day and absolutely melts (the jon part ,,,,, pls u hurt me).

bug def cant cook shes cursed and can only bake and u read my mind it WAS her grandma who taught her <333

the jon and halloween candy made me GIGGE he would so do that and bug makes fun of him for it every single year LMAO.

maxd and bug :(( god u got it spot on.

and the PAINTING :((( he paints the fort they built and the warmth of the light that reflects bugs face in the painting is so vivid and real that it hurts jonathans chest to look at (joyces too).

i could write essays about nancy and her mom good god . on a lighter note: she IS a nerd and still in my mind does these cute dorky things secretly (jon never teases her for it, he joins).

hopper and el and bug oh my god </3 in my mind, hopper sees sarah in bug. thats why he hated her so much at firsy. bugs wide eyes, childish wonder, and endless kindness reminded hopper of the daughter he lost.

and finally: bug keeps everything. she has it all. her room is just pieces of everyone shes ever loved just as much as her clothes are and her jewelry.

[adultingproperly]

"Sexually Repressed Blond" Challengers x TBOSAS

Footsteps clamber down the staircase, and Coriolanus guiltily turns the phone over and places it a fair distance from him. Sejanus emerges with a smile, holding a burgundy pair of sweatpants, and Coriolanus smiles back, though he can't help but repeat the text in his mind. Sejanus reaches for his phone and turns it over to check; his eyes widen before he shoves it into his pocket, and Coriolanus seizes the opportunity.

“Who texted you?” Coriolanus asks, feigning ignorance as they slip their shoes on, and Sejanus opens the door for them.

“Oh, um, Lucy Gray,” Sejanus replies, looking away from Coriolanus as they walk to the car.

“Oh? What did she say?”

“Just wished me a happy birthday,” Sejanus lies, unlocking the car door and throwing his sweatpants in the backseat before leaning in to turn the ignition on. Coriolanus lays his hand on his arm, stopping Sejanus from entering the car, though the car door remains open; music faintly plays as they stand facing one another.

My neck, the feeling of your soft lips…

“I must have read it wrong then because I thought she asked if you had kissed the sexually repressed blond,” Coriolanus says deadpan, and Sejanus freezes, eyes wide, looking caught out.

“I…” Sejanus trails off, unable to defend himself after getting caught in his lie; Coriolanus can’t help but torture him a little longer as punishment.

All we do is think about the feelings that we hide…

“What did you tell Lucy Gray?”

All we do is sit in silence waiting for a sign…

Sejanus swallows hard, and even in the dim lighting, Coriolanus can tell he’s flushed; Sejanus opens and closes his mouth, unsure of how much to say, worried that Coriolanus is genuinely upset and that he’s fucked everything up. Coriolanus moves closer, his body brushing against Sejanus, who licks his lips before biting his bottom lip, trying to control his urges; his fingernails dig into his hands as the scent of Coriolanus' cologne envelopes him. Coriolanus' eyes flick down as he notices and he briefly wonders what it would feel like if Sejanus bit his lip instead.

Emboldened by Sejanus’ reaction, Coriolanus leans in, and Sejanus’ lips instinctively part; he looks mesmerized as Coriolanus traces his bottom lip with his thumb.

Coriolanus lets his hand drop before asking carelessly, “Come on, Sejanus: don’t you want to kiss the sexually repressed blond?”

And California never felt like home to me

Until I had you on the open road…

Sejanus can't take it anymore.

And then Sejanus’ lips were against his before Coriolanus could think, forcing a sigh and creating an opportunity for Sejanus’ tongue to slip in. Coriolanus moans as his hands clutch at Sejanus' arms, and Sejanus yanks Coriolanus’ left leg up and wraps it around his hip as he pushes him up against the car, his breath coming hard and fast as his body aches - no, burns for this.

Coriolanus’ head is spinning; he’s never been kissed like this before, his breath is coming out in gasps, and Sejanus’ warm, strong body against his makes him overheat despite the cold ocean air.

Fueled purely by primal urges, Coriolanus feverishly forces Sejanus’ shirt up from where it was tucked in, and he shudders at the feeling of the muscle underneath, his desire overtaking any rational thoughts as he explores Sejanus' body. Sejanus’ other hand is in his hair, tugging on it slightly, forcing a sound Coriolanus didn’t even know he could make from his throat. Sejanus exhales sharply as he pulls Coriolanus’ hair again, this time a little harder, tilting his head up, and without Sejanus’ lips silencing him, the sound he makes is embarrassingly loud; Sejanus’ frantic kissing of his neck as his other hand pulls his thigh even more tightly was almost too much to bear, and Coriolanus arches up against him, needing to be closer, wishing the clothes weren't so in the way, and-

Someone clears their throat.

[walker-extended-universe]

4x10 Review

Walker never fails to disappoint when it comes to the drama but they brought the action in End This Way, along with a few twists I didn't see coming.

This week's episode a doozy so I'll be covering the events in order of light to heavy. So, let's get into it.

Let's start with the lightest plotline: Cassie and Luna kicking things off.

We start of with Luna and Cassie getting ready to meet up with his closest friend. It's last minute but it's the only chance Luna has to introduce them and Cassie is excited to meet him.

Side note: Ashley and Justin have such good chemistry. I love all their scenes.

They arrive at the Side Step and meet with Luna's friend, Ed. Unfortunately, things take a sharp turn almost immediately when Ed insults Cassie's drink choice, and then the Side Step for even offering it. He starts on a rant about how Austin has changed to accommodate the "California invaders", a rant Cassie is saved from by a call from James about the situation with Stella. While she's busy with that, Luna scolds his friend for being so rude to Cassie. Ed doesn't see the big deal- this a temporary thing, is it not? He'll be back in Corpus Christie in no time.

But it isn't. Luna is serious about Cassie; he wants to move to Austin because he loves her, an admission none of them were ready for.

Conveniently, Cassie able to step away from it with the whole Stella situation and Luna immediately offers to come with her despite her protests. He's tired of Ed and he can tell Cassie is upset.

They set out to meet with Cordell at Lady Bird Lake to see if they can find Stella there. While they look, Luna becomes concerned that Cassie's worry is more about what happened at the Side Step than it is about Stella and pauses their search to confront her on it. He tries to make excuses for his friend and apologize for his "I love you" coming out in such a tense situation. Cassie is not super receptive to this happening right now because she is genuinely concerned for Stella but she's happy to know the "I love her" was real and not just said in the moment. However, she doesn't say it back, determined to get back to the search.

This was a cute little story, though him saying he loves her without her returning it just makes me more concerned for his survival in the coming episodes.

Next, let's cover what happened at the ranch.

We pick up right where the last episode left off, with Liam demanding answers from August after Stella runs away. August does his best to explain to him and Geri what happened and why they didn't come to any adults, but he struggles. Both because they don't give him much time to talk and because every excuse Stella made for him not to get help (no matter how many times he asked her to) doesn't hold up. It's not long before Abby and Bonham are brought into it by all the arguing. While Liam and the grandparents discuss strategy, Geri elects to call Cordell. Liam warns her to be vague since he hasn't been in the best headspace lately and she does her best to balance the amount of detail she gives with the amount of urgency Cordell should need to understand.

Cordell, though busy with hunting the Jackal, takes a breath to consider where Stella might disappear to if she's upset. He promises to check out Lady Bird Lake and tells Geri to loop in James for extra help.

Later, James and Trey arrive at the ranch. Everyone is caught up on the situation and they need to work together to figure out where Stella might have gone. All they know is that Joanna is upping her threat and that they're looking for the stolen necklace.

While James and Trey use their law enforcement status to track Stella's car and get intel on where she went, the rest of the family deals with the fallout. Abby looks back less-than-fondly of what she knows of Joanna, the woman who abandoned the boy Abby came to love so much. She shocks Bonham when she says that she'll kill Joanna if anything happens to Stella.

Side note: Personally, I enjoy this feral attitude of hers. Especially after everything that's happened to the family in the past few years.

While they wait for news, Liam is still stewing over Stella ignoring him and keeping secrets. What bugs him most of all is that he knew there was a problem, but everyone else (primarily Stella and Cordell) made him feel crazy for being worried. Geri steps in to protect Abby's flatware from his rage and plainly informs him that his family is just Like That and that he needs to get all this aggression out of his system before they find Stella; the last thing she'll need is to be yelled at after everything.

Side note: I love how Geri's just not taking any Walker BS this season. Good for her.

Later, Trey gets a hit on Stella's car and they found out it was headed toward Patina. August, remembering some clues from Hoyt's letter, tells them it's pretty likely the necklace is too, reinforcing that they might find Joanna there. But the joy of figuring out the clues is short lived as Abby storms out of the house with her shotgun to rescue her granddaughter.

Side note: I love how we just gloss over how August knows they make "banger" orange wine there. Go forth little rebel.

On that note, let's discuss the main event: Stella attempting to negotiate for Sadie's life.

This episode picks up right where we left off, with Stella driving down an old dirt road to meet with Joanna. She arrives at vague meeting spot and faces Joanna head on. She may be out of time but she is not out of options.

Joanna makes things interesting by showing us she has a hostage: Sadie. Stella didn't expect this but she hides it well and attempts to make a deal: Sadie for the letter Hoyt left with clues to the necklace. When Joanna doesn't take the deal, Stella burns it, forcing Joanna to keep both of them alive if she wants that necklace. Before things move any further, Stella makes it even more interesting by letting Sadie know that the woman that's been tormenting them for months is Hoyt's mother, her grandmother.

On their way to Hoyt's old house, Sadie goes off on Joanna for the way she's been treating her own family. Joanna seems mostly unfazed by this but she does have to keep her accomplice in check. Then, they arrive.

Once they walk in, Joanna asks where the necklace is and Stella claims she doesn't know. The letter just led them here; no further details. So, all four of them get to searching.

Sadie finds Hoyt's old room and looks through some of his things, stumbling on a picture of him as a young boy. While she's in there, Joanna finds her. She tells Sadie that she's the reason any of this is even happening; that when Sadie put her DNA out there to look for her biological father, Joanna was contacted and thought Hoyt might have left the necklace with her. Joanna only wants it for the money but she must know that Hoyt was more sentimental. Sadie is cold with her still, an opinion that doesn't improve when Joanna admits to abandoning Hoyt as a young child. Sadie goes off on her again, telling Joanna that the Walkers were his real family and she never really knew him. Joanna snipes back that she didn't know him either and leaves the room.

Later, Stella and Sadie are able to find a moment alone. Stella apologizes for all the trouble and promises to get her out of this. Sadie points out that they wouldn't even be in this mess if they'd gone to the cops when she suggested, to which Stella points out lying to the cops was Sadie's idea in the first place. Either way, they have no necklace and they need an escape plan. Stella seems to have an idea and tells Sadie to wait for a "signal" before they're interrupted by Joanna's henchman.

Side note: I love Sadie's sass. They should kidnap the children more often.

Much later, the entire house has been searched but no necklace was found. Stella tries to convince Joanna that Hoyt must have come back and moved the necklace somewhere else in the last five years but she won't hear it. After more pushing, Stella reveals a hidden pocket in the fireplace and produces a jewelry bag from it. An empty jewelry bag. The necklace was there, but isn't anymore. All of this was for nothing.

Joanna starts to have a breakdown. This was supposed to be her chance to get life-changing money but it was all for nothing. Her henchman doesn't like the idea of not getting paid and points his gun at Joanna for a change. This is the moment Stella decide to give the "signal" and a fight breaks out.

In the heat of the battle, Joanna makes a run for the door, only for Abby to be waiting on the other side with her shotgun.

And just like that, it's over.

Joanna and her accomplice are arrested and Sadie and Stella are saved. Abby gets her closure with Joanna, finally admitting that she pities her more than anything. Stella starts apologizing to Liam, only for him to forgive her. He's just glad she's safe.

Then Sadie, Stella, and Geri get their own moment of closure about all of this and about Hoyt. Sadie is more-or-less officially welcomed into the Walker-Broussard family, which was more Hoyt's family than the Rawlins ever were. Stella apologizes for burning the letter Hoyt wrote to Geri but make sup for it by revealing that she did find the necklace after all; she just hid it in her shoe to prevent Joanna from getting it. She also found a note hidden with the necklace which she passes to Geri, who then passes it to Sadie.

Sadie reads the note aloud with tears in her eyes. I nthe letter, Hoyt reveals that though he never got to pass this necklace down to his own kids, he considers it a part of his legacy, an old heirloom worth more than money. The necklace now hers, Sadie decides it would be best to return it to the museum he stole it from. Righting one last wrong in Hoyt's life.

Side note: I kind of wish they'd decided to keep the necklace. I'm sure Liam could've figured out a way to make it legal.

Finally, Cassie and Luna roll up to help clear the scene. They're surprised to see that Cordell isn't there. Which surprises everyone else, as they thought Cordell was with them. But he never showed up to the Lake.

We cut away to Cordell laying on a bed. He wakes up to the sounds of things happening in the kitchen and wanders out of his room to find Stella and August arguing in the ranch house kitchen. Confused, the sound of the blender seems to pull him into the real world, where he's tied of and being spoon fed mashed fruit. An injection sends him back into this dream, just in time for Emily to come into view. (At least, for him. We are not so lucky.)

And with that, another intense episode comes to a close.

Like any good episode of Walker, I'm left with more questions than answers. Why did Sadie not find Joanna sooner? Why is Joanna focusing on this one necklace when there are countless other things to steal for a quick cash grab? How did no one hear Abby grabbing a shot gun and leaving the house? When did Stella have time to find and replace the necklace? When did Sadie make time to talk with Abby about Hoyt? Why do all the interesting things happen off screen? And did Cordell set himself up as bait or did he get caught by being in the Jackal's way?

Hopefully we'll get some answers next week. See y'all then!

[equallyshaw]

all in a days work, feat. willy nylander.

Warnings: none.

Word Count: 1.6k +

Just a cute blurb!

────────────

Fanny had never ever, watched a single hockey game in her life; due to the fact that she was from California where hockey was still not very popular. Even more so, her family never watched it so she had never been interested in watching it. That was why her boss at Saturday Night (Defunct Canadian Magazine), decided she would be the perfect fit. She’d hopefully be able to get a bigger scope outside of hockey, and it might make the interviewee more comfortable. Fanny had only been at the magazine for three months as a guest editor, after leaving The New Yorker and LeFlair Magazine in California. Nevertheless, here she was now sitting inside a boutique-esque, very Toronto townhouse.

She smiled at the two pups that were bringing her toys, and vying for her attention. Which she adored. “Pablo!” William called over, before whistling. The two pups both ran over to where he was calling, and the two ran back out with two chew sticks, each going into opposite ends of the room. “Little one, still doesn’t understand that his name is not Pablo but here we are.” He mused, bringing out a cup of two shots of expresso with half and half, and some brown sugar. “Thank you, so much! My golden did not understand that her name wasn’t my lab’s name. It takes a while, unfortunately.” She said taking the one cup, and instantly blowing on it to cool it down a bit. William laughed at the sentiment she just shared and nodded. “So, where do you want to begin?” He asked sitting down on the couch across from her. “Where to begin, where to begin.” She joked, crossing one leg over the other. She looked down at her notes, before looking back at William. “How would you describe yourself to somebody that has never watched hockey, does not know you have two cute pups, are from Sweden, and are blonde? What would you say?” He laughed at the question, running a hand through his very blonde hair. He smiled, “I would say I am a dog dad, lover of books which many people would never imagine that I do, I love watching some good tv shows, a movie here and there, uh..im a huge baker. Brownies? I gotchu covered. Muffins? Oh yeah. (Editors Note: very Canadian pronunciation) Chocolate chip cookies? Eh. I’m still working on those.” He paused as they both laughed. “Okay good, I know what not to ask for.” She mused, pointing her iPad pencil toward him. “I’m a huge family person, I don’t go a day without talking to my family in our group chat. Another thing is that I love some good expresso, fantastic little-known coffee shops, and early Sunday morning walks in the park.” He added and she nodded, giving him a small smile. “Go to coffee order?” She quirked, “Right answers only.” She added quickly, making him smile. A genuine smile, that was reserved for those closest to him.

“Ouu, maybe an iced americano or cold brew. Sometimes ill get a latte with oat milk- it depends.” He answered, “Though on game days it would be a small cold brew for sure. Plain, so no upset tummies.” He quickly added, she grinned. She nodded, “I’m glad you said that, I was about to ask about that. Are you a more coffee-at-home guy on game days or a go-out type of guy? I would assume how you feel that day if you don’t have a ‘superstition’.” She responded. “Oh yeah, I don’t have that with coffee. As you said, it depends on the day and how I’m feeling, when the game is, etc.” She quickly wrote that down on her iPad. “Superstition? Eh, I guess you’ve heard a bit about hockey then?” He quirked, thinking about the information that he got in an email from the magazine. She softly smiled, “My brother is a soccer player, so I imagine superstitions are universal if I’m correct?” She asked for clarity, to which William nodded. “You’d be right about that.” he responded. “Fanny, what would you say about a walk with the pups?” He questioned. She was taken by surprise and went to respond but she closed her mouth quickly. She then smiled and nodded. “That’d be lovely.”

The two walked through High Park, taking in all the sights and sounds. He was relatively left alone, only receiving a smile or nod here and there. William commented on that, being thankful for nobody fussing over him. "Have you ever been here?" He asked, and she shook her head no. "Nah, I've only been here two months but most of that has been spent in the office or at home doing more work." She sighed, sipping some of her water. He nodded, "Well over there you've got Hillside Gardens, which as you can see is the big Canadian leaf." He pointed as the two got closer, and she smiled. "Its gigantic!" She exclaimed, pulling out her phone to take a picture. William smiled as he watched her giddy as she took a photo. "Next we should head to the dog off-leash area." and so they did, watching the two pups run around with some other dogs for about 20 minutes. The two laughed with one another, watching the pups, interacting with other dogs and owners, etc. Next, the two went onto the Spring Creek, nature trail. The trail walk took about 2 hours later and the two were ready to get something to eat. So Wiliam took Fanny and the two pups to a local cafe a few blocks form the park, called Gasper Cafe which had some outdoor seating for them.

They spent the next hour continuing to cheat, before heading back to his place. He even took a photo of her while she took one of him, though he said he needed it for his 'be real', while she wanted a behind the scenes picture. Once they were back at his townhouse, she grabbed her things, and he walked her out. She had enjoyed interviewing him and was brewing with ideas about the story, she was going to be writing as soon as she left. “Thank you, William, for allowing me to interview you.” She said as they walked down the front steps to her car parked in front, “I am very excited to get this to my editor as soon as I can, and then your agent will get a copy for y’all to review.” She said stopping to properly look at him. “Oh great! Looking forward to hearing from you.” He smiled, and she nodded. “Have a great one!” She said before walking around to her driver’s side and hopping in. He stood there until she drove off, and as she turned the corner, he knew that he wanted to see her again; outside of the interview.

It was two months later, in early March when they were at the launch party at Soho Toronto. She walked into the private but grand room and looked for her editor. She found him and William together. They posed for pictures as she strolled up, and then once William noticed her, he could not stop looking at her. She turned real quick to greet a coworker and then went to say hi to her editor. She then turn towards William looking dash as ever, and they greeted one another, placing a kiss on each cheek. (like europeans do lol) “You excited?” She asked, taking a fluke of champagne from a tray nearby. He nodded, “Are you? Your editor explained to me that this is your first official piece of being a full-time writer and editor?” He asked moving closer to her, so it was only her that heard it. She nodded, looking back up at him. “Yes! I hope the readers enjoy it. I put a lotta labor of love into it.” She beamed, sipping some of the drink. “I already know I’ll love it.” He grinned, placing a hand on the middle of her back. She nodded, smiling widely. The two spoke for what seemed like hours, but 20 minutes later, she and William were being called for photo ops in front of the magazine cover. William was entranced by her confidence, which was only blossoming. She looked towards William for a brief second, and then back to the cameras.

About an hour later, Fanny stood up on stage, with a microphone in hand, and thanked the people that came for coming and introducing William himself to do a small interview on stage. She smiled, watching him come up, he took ahold of the extra microphone she handed him. Their fingers brushed on another's, but she quickly dismissed it throwing a joke at the blonde. The crowd and he laughed, feeling at ease. And no one could deny the look in William's eyes the whole interview, one's filled with wonder and excitement for the brunette.

It was around midnight when the two decided to walk the streets of Toronto back to her apartment, 2 miles away. The two walked hand in hand, a bit tipsy on both ends and high on life right now. The two honestly, could not get enough of each other. They laughed, they cringed, they cheered, and learned more and more about one another. The two finally made it back to her place, and he smiled down at her, preparing to say goodnight and walk back to his place. Yet, fate had other plans. “Um..you totally don’t have to, but would you like to come upstairs?” She questioned, hoping the bellman was not listening in on the conversation. William nodded, smiling and took Fanny’s hand in his, and followed her lead. As soon as they got into the elevator, the two were on their phones texting their whereabouts, etc, to a few at the party. “Wanna take an Insta story?” She questioned, and he nodded grinning. She took one for her’s without his face, and one for his without hers. The elevator door dinged, and the two got off and walked toward the opposite end. “Oh, forgot to say but I have a cat.” She said whipping around, “And their name is?” He questioned and she smiled. “Her name is Cleo, and I know she’ll love you.” She beamed, flashing her keycard and the door opened. Cleo appeared almost instantly, greeting her human and vying for her attention. Then she saw William and instantly rubbed up against him. She smiled as he kneeled down to pet her, and after a few seconds, Fanny took off her shoes and set her purse down next to her. “Would you like anything to drink? Water?” She asked going to grab some for herself. He nodded and thanked her. She handed it to him, “Do you mind if I change into something more comfortable?” She asked and William waved her off. She came out ten minutes later, to find William on the couch, with Cleo on his chest while he watched TikTok. She smiled, snapping a quick pic. She sat down next to him, and she heard Cleo’s purring. Fanny and William smiled at the same time, as she started. “I think it’s safe to say, she likes you.” Fanny grinned, “Well it’s a good thing I like her mom.” William responded.

_

@fannyy: all in a days work :)

Location: sohoToronto.

99.9k likes, 12.3k comments.

||

@fannyseditor: congrats mon amour, so grateful to have you on my team 🫶🏻

↳ @fannyy: merci beaucoup!!! 🤍

@alexnylqnder: sick expose !

↳ @fannyy: Thankyou stranger 🫡

↳ @hockeyfan1: OMG THATS HIS BROTHER

@hockeyfan2: such a good story!! Go leafs !

@justinbieber: Willy style 🤝🏻

↳ @fannyy: 😇😇

@williamnylander: had a fantastic time! Thankyou (:

↳ @fannyy: ofc!

@saturdaynigjt: big congrats in order for our girl, so happy you’re in the 6 with us!

↳ @fannyy: no place I’d rather be !

@torontomapleleafs: glad you got his good side 😉😉

↳ @williamnylander: EVERY side is a good side 😌

↳ @fannyy: lolol

@fannyysisters: cutie pie so proud of you

↳ @fannyy: love you!! miss u

@ fanny'sbrother: this is sick

↳ @williamnylander: hey bro, heard im your fave hockey player

↳ @fannyy: the only hockey player he knows...

↳ @williamnylander: im gonna disregard that comment

↳ @fannyysbrother: lololol

||

@williamnylander: its out, tell all your friends!

tags: fannyy & saturdaynightmagazine

123k likes, 21.7k comments.

—

2 months later.

@williamnylander: recents w willy styles.

tag: fannyy

Location: san diego

124.7k likes, 22.8k comments.

||

@alexnylander: that damn sushi

@austonmatthews: woah. not the sushi bro

↳ @hockeyfan3: OMG we are not having a repeat of food poisoning

↳ @williamnylander @austonmatthews: its ok! it is a new place

↳ @fannyy: more reason to be nervous lolol

↳ @Williamnylander: oh shush

@fannyy: meiomi. we love a good California wine :)

↳ @hockeyfan4: WAIT -- DID YOU GET HIM IT??

↳ @hockeyfan5: DID U?!?!?!

↳ @Williamnylander: @fannyy it was delicious, though you know that

↳ @hockey6: ITS CONFIRMED !!!!

↳ @hockey6: THAT WAS HIM IN HER INSTA

@hockeyfan7: doing my daily loop and omg that's fannyy from the magazine who interviewed him!!!!

↳ @hockey6: it def it

@fannyy'ssister: awe

↳ @fannyy: oh hi

↳ @fannyy: bahaha hi

↳ @williamnylander: sup

@mitchmarner: willy with the sushiii

@kappy: oh baby that dinner looks delish

@fannysbrother: no shirt? put on a shirt lmao

↳ @williamnylander: lol 🫡

||

@fannyy: so grateful for a few weeks at home.

location: san diego

tag: williamnylander

235k likes, 23.9k comments.

||

@fannysbrother: Aztecs forever

↳ @fannyy: ROLL TIDE🤝🏻

@fannysmom: so glad to have you two home for some sunshine!

↳ @williamnylander: thankyou for having me, I couldn't have asked for a better time !

↳ @fannyy: aweee mama, im calling u rn

↳ @fannysmom: @williamnylander ofc hun! see you soon!

@fannyssister: disney princess has returned

↳ @fannyy: oh u know it

@alexnylander: still not over u two not inviting me

↳ @williamnylander: cry me a river

↳ @fannyy: bahaha next time alex!

@austonmatthews: heaven on earth

↳ @fannyy: so glad u could make it for a weekend!

@mitchmarner: 😎😎

@sdsuaztecs: so glad we could be apart of your visit back to the college of Journalism! we were very happy to welcome you home, #Aztecsforever

↳ @fannyy: love you all forever! thankyou for allowing me to talk to some wonderful students !

@williamsmom: so cute! glad you both had fun

↳ @fannyy: we did! you raised a gem :)

↳ @williamsmom: I expect nothing less 🤍

@fannysbestfriend: so glad you guys came out, William is one of us now 🥺

↳ @fannysotherbestfriend: oh hell yeah

↳ @fannysguybestfriend: forever bros 🌊

↳ @williamnylander: @fannysguybestfriend: bros 🌊🤝🏻

||

[magpigment]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GENLOSS EPISODE: THE MASTERMIND OF THE WAREHOUSE

my thoughts and some theories as i was watching the second part of generation loss! not really analysis just my reactions to it as i watched lmao. enjoy!

is ranboo chained to a chair

why is ranboo chained to a chair

why is the volume so high on my computer

that’s a conveniently placed key

okay ominous tv man

oh wait it’s jerma lmao

my friend who’s obsessed w jerma told me about this episode lately

‘the amount of chains on there would hold every single bicycle. for a million years’ i’ve been sold on this jerma guy

NO NOT THE BUCKET ( <—- obligatory homestuck reference) 

ranboo just cannot get a break wow

..it does not seem as though ranboo COULD HANDLE a ‘little bit of juice’ 

‘ranboo you alright??’ no i don’t think they are actually now that you mention it

i like how everybody in the poll is immediately going for the middle one 😂 

win! the person who has you trapped in a sick series of death obstacles for their own sick amusement wants to make sure you’re doing ok after accidentally knocking you out via high volts of electricity administered directly to your brain! 

bit confused about the bundle of wires dangling from their neck ngl 

‘ there’s a one in ten thousand chance of that happening and it did?!’ what can i say, homeslice has the power of PLOT ARMOR on his side! 

why is squiggles upset at ranboo actually picking the right key???? 

‘i love rats! 🥰’ based, squiggles. based

wow i didn’t know the back rooms were part of this place /j

oop hello random person on the gurney

i stg if that’s charlie- ITS FUCKING CHARLIE

his feet are for sure fake are they gonna have to remove his foot or something

oh most of his body is fake i see. ranboo is gonna do surgery on charlie

that’s fun 😅 

ranboo is a licensed medical professional im sure this will be fine /j

i like how the totally real feet that are totally a part of charlie’s actual human body has toenails that are painted red. yassss bitch slayyyy- oh wait, *checks notes* oh, GET slayedddsdddd yasssss 😂 

‘what is this, invisalign??? whatre u doin down there????’ never change, charlie. never change

also this california surfer dude is about to get absolutely fucking eviscerated perchance. i feel like that’s where this is going. 

‘so that’s why they call him slimecicle! ^^’ shut ur WHORE MOUTH SQUIGGLES /j

fr tho why are his insides literally goop tho

oh that was harrowing. ok so when the static interference happens whatever mind control is happening to make everything seem like. fine ish is removed and it’s like even more horrific?? 

also i see why they made his insides are green slime, so when they do the color reversal it looks red so it looks like human bits and then they crank the saturation up on that a bit so that it’s a brighter red or something??? ooooh that’s so cool i’m loving this 

‘ermmm. what just happened?’ you and me both squiggles. 

ok genuinely what the hell is charlie even saying right now. like what the actual fuck 😂 

are these camera people dressed up as rats cuz if so that’s both very funny and also that would suck to have to film in, they’re doing a great job 

‘how many hot wheels did you swallow???’ 

‘vrooom :D’ 

‘..ok dude’ 

‘they call me lightning mcEAT ^u^’ 

I KNEW THE BIT WAS GOING TO BE THAT HE DIDNT EVEN NEED TO CUT CHARLIE OPEN I COULD SMELL IT IN THE AIR THAT IS SO FUNNY

‘what a gushy gooshy guy’ facts and truth from squiggles in the corner 

why does charlie have a toilet tattoo 😂 

wowwww NOW you get cold feet ranboo XD. ‘but it’s so gross 😖’ homeslice you just fully eviscerated a man. you were elbows deep into a guys ABDOMEN. a toilet is leaps and bounds better than a full on HUMAN(?) BEING 

even squiggles commented on the toenails 

why is eef here 

and also the love or host guy

and also like the other people. 

why is sneeg and also frank back????

lmao jermas tv is broken L

oop squiggles is not happy about the broken tv

what is he doing XD

short king jerma 

why is jermas cane so bendy 

‘i hope slimecicle is ok’ me too, squiggles. me too

wow ethan is really giving this his all. turner my beloved

why is charlie offering to be ethan’s fish

i really like the little idle animations for squiggles ngl. they’re very expressive 

austin shows, ‘I LOVE WOMEN.’ ‘lying is not going to save you’ way to haul his ass out of the closet /j (also yes i’m aware austin isn’t straight) 

slimecicle, laying there completely fucking disemboweled, ‘i’m feeling something funny, kinda rumbly, some sort of discomfort?? if i could just get someone to check that out..’ 

austin in the background talking about his very real very heterosexual relationship 

why did charlie have a whole ass baseball hat in his stomach

OH THAT WAS SNEEGSNAGS HAT

WHY WAS THAT IN THERE AND WHY IS SQUIGGLES SO UPSET ABOUT IT ??????

i stg if everyone votes to save frank 😂 

was that sneegs hat actually?? i’m p sure it was 

sneeg is just having a crisis over this fucking hat dude 

there is definitely something happening and that was definitely sneegs hat before 

i’m only 30 minutes into this how has so much happened so far

i like how sneegs first thing he does upon regaining awareness of the full extant of the situation he’s in is immediately lie about having to take a dump that would produce gases banned by the geneva convention in order to get away for a second. he’s for sure going rogue dude can’t wait to see what you’re able to do before it all goes to hell again 

squiggle is absolutely flabbergasted 

OH NIHACHU!! hell yeah

nvm sneeg like immediately got caught 

oop

that’s not ominous or foreboding at all. don’t mind him he’s just getting reprogrammed real quick lmao

THEY TURNED HIS HAT AROUND 😂 

i’m relatively confused 

did they put nihachus mic under her hat or something 

her audio is a little wonky 

ok so only one person for sure survives 

i can almost guarantee either sneeg or frank is gonna be the one picked to survive ngl

i love charlie’s little background contributions 

ok nvm two of them survive 

also yeah i agree how is charlie even still alive in canon. most of his organs are just not in his body

oh niki won??? nice 

is niki like ok lmao

she is a very good actress because she seems both genuinely incredibly afraid and incredibly suspicious 

niki and sneeg hell yeah 

why’d he bitch slap frank 😂 

squiggles is not happy with that and neither is charlie

JERMA IS CALLED THE PUZZLER??? LMAO 😂 

why is charlie making a callback to the goddamn fussy bit from that one tommyinnit morph mod video

what the hell is charlie doing 

why is he strewing his entrails everywhere 😭 

i am so incredibly suspicious of niki and idk why

the VIBES? are OFF. 

ok i’m going to sleep and finishing this tomorrow and i am fully expecting my dreams to be super fucked up because of this but that’s fine. i’m at the 55:42 minute mark ^^ if my dreams are interesting/relevant i might leave a little note detailing it but probably not lmao (editors note: my dreams were weird but not really relevant, so. yeah)

why does squiggles want them all to lick the walls so bad

i’ve never even heard of the board game mouse trap in my life 

is this like an actual board game??? why is it so convoluted???? 

i like how sneeg just started eating the candy around

squiggles is speaking in some sort of code or something so like. that’s cool???

i like how everyone just started bullying the puzzler XD

oh so that’s why squiggle is speaking in code ig, cuz that’s what the instructions are written in. that’s really funny actually 

squiggles is straight up speaking in the same code or whatever the instructions are written in. is that able to be translated??? has anyone translated that yet??? 

i kinda wanna see if i’d be able to translate it but idk the first thing about ciphers and idek what that arrangement of symbols would be called. is it just straight up wing dings?? who knows! not me! 

imma go see if it’s wing dings actually gimme a sec 

IT IS WINGDINGS

bet if i translate this it’s gonna be just inane bullshit lmao

i have given up trying to translate this, if anyone’s interesting this is at about 1:03-5:04 of something, i’m too tired for this 😂 

on the plus side squiggles is now talking in not wing dings so that’s cool

IS THE MISSING PIECE GONNA BE IN CHARLIE LMAO

OH DUDE THATS SICK THATS SO FUNNY

ok so it USED to be in charlie but it is no longer! it was one of the first bits that ranboo kindly extracted very carefully from charlie’s gaping torso ^^

the rock candy is made from actual rocks??? ok squiggles

why is sneeg just eating random shit around the room 😂 

not the candy :((

also i’m eating cantaloupe btw. if you even care 😒 /j

DID HE JUST SHOOT NIKI????

😂 bruhhhh

welp. at least he put her out of her misery???

what is this emphasis on ranboo kicking the bucket in reference to the game. i feel like this is foreshadowing 

they probably did it! why is he celebrating the fact they beat his trap lol

oh where the hell are they

why are there deadly lasers

WHY WAS SNEEG GOING TO TOUCH THE LASER 😂 

the way his wrist got smacked away from the lasers so promptly 

please don’t throw this man

wow

oop

well his face is smooshed lmao

i like the comical way that guy just got fucking murdered via anvil to the face

‘i guess those ones didn’t count 🤷‍♂️’ lmao

SLIMECICLE?! 

‘oh my gosh it’s slimetowel!!’ based squiggles. based

welp. bye slimetowel, you lived as you died. shortly 

the lasers are gone! 

sneeg is fully just brushing off the like two dead bodies rn

welp. they got out of there 😂 

jerma can fly that’s crazy

i like how everyone instead of getting blown up is getting the chance to participate and then comically getting killed in other, miscellaneous ways. 

hey uhhh squiggles, buddy ol pal, you doin ok over there?? 

‘ranboo..’ ‘yes😊?’ 

oh wow everyone is in the closet that’s crazy /j

the rats are poggers also BTW 

i miss charlie already 😔

‘sometimes you need a change in perspective’ do they need to use the mirror to solve the puzzle. i doubt that’s what they have to do but if it is i’m so poggers and awesome and that is REAL and TRUE

jerma just go thru the door sideways bestie 

jerma was indeed talking about his ass for a weird amount of time lmao

‘is this a hookah??’ just hearing eef say this in the background sent me

why is sneeg messing w alphabet magnets 

‘slayyyyy king!’ i like how squiggles is just stanning ethan putting on a purple wig. based

the wig ethan’s wearing and the color of dress he chose coupled w his entirely purple outfit is clashing horribly oh god

also squiggles is right the audio keeps getting funky cuz of all the fabric on the microphones 😂 

i like sneegs bright yellow boa scarf 

the heels actually look p cool austin 

how many layers is ranboo wearing???

where did ranboos jacket go?? 

oh i think it’s on the red chair 

i don’t think those heels are the right size for austin i’ll be honest 

sneegs outfit is really something 

for the record i have absolutely no clue what’s happening rn

why is everyone voting for ethan in terms of most stylish 

i do not think they did it, guys

i actually really like austin’s orange pants but i think that’s just because i like cargo pants and also orange so like. maybe i’m biased 😂 

why is ethan walking like that

oh ranboo literally just put two different jackets over his showfall jacket and then just took one off, they’re still wearing the showfall jacket underneath XD

‘it says that we should go there, but i feel like that’s a trap :D ‘ 

also there was a button that sets off a black light which is what reveals the clues, not the mirror

oooo nice fit change 😂

‘NOT HIS CHILDREN AND WIVE’ why is squiggles actually kinda funny ngl. like i don’t trust them as far as i can throw them but sometimes they’re based 

ok bits aside the fact that ranboo and sneeg are so far mostly unaffected by the copious amounts of dead people and dying people and horrific threats of violence and whatnot is almost certainly some sort of mindcontrol or something by showfall. like. that’s not even really a question in my mind that’s irrefutable fact at this point. especially with the whole thing earlier with sneeg?? and the occasional interference from the hacker or whatever or the instances where something happens that’s not meant to and the illusion breaks?? like mannn this is so cool. 

LMAO THE COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY DEATH OF EEF AND THEN IMMEDIATELY LEAVING TO THE NEXT PART OF THE PUZZLE

BRUH

that’s so funny 

also the meta of finding this funny because it’s all silly and goofy and framed as a joke falling into line w the entire thing being set up like that to keep people from thinking about the horrific things that are actually happening in order for this entertainment and then how that parallels real life in the entertainment industry? yikes 

anyway onto the silly goofies tee hee 

is jerma just smoking a cigar 

did jerma just drop the bomb button. is austin about to fucking die 

what even happened hello ??

jerma really likes his cardboard what can i say

ranboo just solving the rubik’s cube without looking at it lmao

i’m honestly surprised there hasn’t been more gore in this so far, i was honestly expecting this to be a lot more graphic than this but that’s kinda dumb of me i think, i didn’t realize this was streamed on twitch at some point lol

i’m fully expecting austin to die ngl

push the button push the button push the button

nvm squiggles said to push it i don’t think they should push it

‘we shouldn’t push the button it’s got dynamite sitting in front of it’ ‘…*moved the dynamite to a shelf right next to it* looks safe to me :D ‘

yeah austin is dying lmao

‘only one person would fit in this silhouette’ *ranboo, standing there like a foot taller than it* 

well those people are dead oop

why’s that chair all fucked up lmao

it sure is just. focusing on that chair for a while, huh

oh hey ranboo in the background lmao

ranboo is on the set this is not a drill 

this sure is a funky little room huh

wow look at that four minutes set up XD

is that torn up showfall merch on the ground around the chair?? 

why did the puzzler leave a message TO RANBOO in the case he died??? hello?? 

why are there so many boxes inside boxes lmao

‘the truth will set you free’ genuinely what side is the puzzler even on here 

squiggles is not happy about hacker guy being here again 

i’m noticing whenever the hacker guy shows up or interferes or whatever is when ranboo seems actually distraught and confused and scared, most likely because whatever tie showfall has on him is weakened?? idk but it’s super cool

also squiggles commentary is. intriguing 

ohhhh ranboo can actually see the fourth wall now?? or at least the people filming who represent the fourth wall/ the audience?? 

woahhhhhhhh this is so cool

the backing track there fits the atmosphere so well!! 

that’s such a neat place to end it on holy shit lmao

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 191 Trivia

I (still) can't believe this is my first trivia chapter but here we go I guess!

We start with a nice reminder from the power team that you've got to be pretty close to activate a medusa, not just within earshot of it. It really raises the stakes since they can't all just yell in unison (an interesting thing to test when they get the chance...)

This distance is about 10,000km. As a note, Japan seems to be only 8,500km away which means anyone there would probably have gotten petrified anyways... 

Joel calls them as requested, only to be told "activate the medusa or we're all dead." The last message the Kingdom of Science had received was to fix the medusa and keep radio silence, and now they find out their friends are either dead or dying.

Yuzuriha probably realizes that Taiju is already dead here.

In case this chapter wasn't painful enough already, we also have a callback to chapter 83 when Senku needed to kill Tsukasa to save him.

I have a strong feeling Yo is yelling "UEII" here which is pretty funny given he just got shot.

Nikki's motivational speeches persist even in the dire times; the mark of a good leader perhaps? She also points out that dying could mean the end, not that it definitely will be. Have hope! (Note: I later checked out the UEI, and unfortunately he is not yelling his last name :( it is just “ouch”.)

Moz disappears for 24 chapters only to reappear for combat. I guess he's not much of a fan of doing science, much less hanging out with the others!

Notice how he's still using his spear kudayari-style, though the pipe part might be missing? (and why didn't they confiscate his weapon? Or any of their weapons?)

Homura and Moz finally team up! Both of Hyoga's friends seem to work together well (that, or Homura is used to spear-users.)

And check out those keys, are those tassels made of the same stuff as Stan's fluffy outfit? They're also big & flat, maybe Brody is bad with fiddly devices?

Kinro and Kirisame, together! This chapter really fed us with the fun pairs of Corn City.

Kinro seems to be blocking the Americans from getting to the keys using his body, but look! Kirisame's also got her thrown weapons! She must've thrown that pretty hard for it to move his hand.

Once again, the power of Magma is needed for the KoS. I'm impressed he remembered how to use the keys when before this there was no need for keys or locks. I'm also curious about how he opened it since he was on top of it... And what do you suppose is kept in those boxes in the safe, ammo perhaps?

Brody was deemed most likely pacifist of the group, but that apparently didn't mean he wouldn't kill. Note the others were shot in the torso, but he'd shot Homura in the arm instead. He seems genuinely upset that he'd had to do this.

Doesn't make what happened any nicer though.

Reaching for the medusa in this exact pose and getting petrified seems to be a running theme, along with losing an arm trying to do it... 

There’s no gap in the safe's opening, Joel's arm is probably completely severed, and stuck between the lock bolts on top of it.

Also it’s confirmed that Joel was drinking bourbon! I was correct about the whiskey guess from a few days ago! (As was mentioned in the tags, juice would have been a lot funnier though lol)

Speaking of lock bolts, I can't tell if they're meant to be centered or not...

I guess the world is getting petrified again. I cant tell if Joel's watch radio had an on-off button or if they just perfectly timed one of Whyman's calls. I thought the signals only came once a day or so but maybe they're more frequent?

Extra Comments

This isn't a fact as must as a theory, but I can see one of two things happening with the beam:

- Either it doesn't reach the whole world, and runs out of battery beforehand (unsure how this would be checked given the distance between California and Japan is smaller than the distance from California to Araxá)...

- Or it does cover the whole world, and Whyman had actually activated all of those extra medusas found in chapter 180 right after one another to make sure that everyone was petrified, sending a beam out per medusa in the pile. Talk about overkill.

[songofdefiance]

okay I'm like... a stranger things fan in that i enjoy the show but don't really engage with it very deeply (because it is VERY straight and somewhat predictable and hey, kudos to all the people who subvert it with fanfiction, which i also enjoy, but it's not something i want to write for)

BUT

i am also a huge fear street trilogy fan, fucking adore those movies, and lately my brain won't stop thinking about a stranger things au with the fear street characters

not everything fits neatly one-to-one, but here are a few ideas:

the main thing i got stuck on was the idea of cindy and alice kind of serving as a steddie parallel (so no alice until s4, sadly, but w/e), except i'd keep their backstory from 1978 - in that they used to be best friends, until cindy decided to try to live up to her rich, absentee parents' expectations, alienating herself from both alice and ziggy; cue ultimate Drama for their s4 reunion, when alice has been accused of murder and cindy is trying to keep all the kids safe

deena and sam being mike and el? look, i do think byler is adorable, but i also love the idea of the 90s baby lesbians being the mike/el parallel. deena is (i think) strong-willed enough to be the 'mike' in this situation, while sam is the one who's escaped the lab

kate is dustin. full stop. she's a straight-a student but she's also a massive nerd, and is assertive enough to kidnap cindy and get her to help in s2

i haven't really figured out who would be Nancy in this scenario bc even though Cindy is Steve (down to the polo shirt), she's also a lot like Nancy. so i guess she's like. a fusion of them

at some point Cindy and Alice have a heart to heart, where Alice admits that she wishes she could do what Cindy did so that it would get her out of shadyside, but that she's convinced that the town is cursed (by vecna rather than Satan, but yeah) and so gave up on that. Cindy admits that she's had crippling self doubt all the while and isn't convinced she'll ever be able to leave either

meanwhile, in California, deena has to be physically held back from going after sam's bullies; when Sam slams a roller blade into Main Bully's face, deena walks out holding sam's hand, and she might as well be holding a sign that says "i love my girlfriend and am proud of her"

"violence is bad, deena." "shut the fuck up - you did great, Sam"

ziggy and max are A LOT alike (beyond just being played by sadie sink), so ziggy is vecna's target, and Cindy is going feral trying to find ways to keep both her and Alice safe

(cue a lot of guilt from Cindy because how did she not notice, how did she not realize just how bad it had gotten for her sister)

i don't think i would put nick goode into the story, exactly, but i would probably say "hey when you're picturing one, picture the guy who played adult Nick/Solomon goode". man does a good job being a creep

hard to say who the other adults would be in this story, bc fear street was (purposefully) bereft of actual adults. sorry jopper. it kinda plays into the theme of adults not really being reliable in actual tough situations, so I'm not too upset about it, though

ngl I'm leaning towards Ruby Lane being 8? maybe nurse lane can be the only adult, trying to figure out what happened to her daughter

uhhhh... hmm. Tommy was Cindy's bf for a while, and he's genuinely a good dude, unwittingly gets involved in s2, does his best to help out. unfortunately, i think he also ends up being the mind flayer's avatar in s3 (I'm putting poor Cindy through the ringer I'm so sorry)

this would require A LOT of character development that i would have to build myself but I'm kinda leaning towards arnie being Cindy's Robin? they both end up working at scoops, and bc Cindy knows he's dating Alice (Alice and Arnie do genuinely like each other and like dating, but it's more of a bi4bi arrangement), but Arnie is generally pretty chill around her and Cindy eventually relaxes. they bond during the Russians stuff and arnie comes out as bi, and Cindy is like "cool"

we've got Josh and Simon to round out the Party

okay I'll admit it, i have no fucking clue who any of the byers are in this scenario. genuinely zero idea. aaaand with that, that's all i got

(this is 90% because Cindy/Alice makes me sad and i want them to be happy; no Alice does NOT die, she gets badly hurt but she lives)

[castillo-aargon]

though his time in new york only equaled to about a quarter of his life, it would always be cas' first home. sure, he was born in santa clara but all of his childhood memories lived in the adirondacks. "see, I'm an upstate-r, but I feel as if that spirit bleeds into that whole state. got to have some sort of moxie to survive out there." taking a small sip of his coffee, cas offered a soft nod of agreement. "it's because they want you to think california is perfect. that's the dream, right? shiny happy people and all that?" another low chuckle came from his outrage. "listen, don't give them any ideas. they'll label it as an holistic immunity booster."

"nice to meet you as well, aaron." cas replied, soon slipping off his inky black sunglasses. "careful now, I have been aurora bay's official curmudgeonly old man for some time now. don't need any competition." his tone making it obvious it was all in good fun. "I can see why you would be so upset though. I would be too if I willingly subjected myself to teaching teenagers about books they could not care less about."

he offered a genuine, heartfelt smile to the other. it had to be hard to start over somewhere. but there was a pang of jealousy at the prospect of starting with a clean slate. no memories etched into buildings. "like I said, my family mainly stayed upstate but I have a good amount of extended family who still live in the city. alternate holidays so I'm down there a few times of the year." he shifted slightly, wondering if it'd be inappropriate to take the chair opposite him. damn leg acting up. it's been over a fucking year. "what brings you to aurora bay?"

Aaron felt a small smile tug at the edges of his lips. He almost tried to fight it, but for a fellow New Yorker, he'd ever-so-slightly give in. "Look, at least New York doesn't begged to be loved. There are rats and there are way too many people and there are horrors that are unimaginable but, man... there's grit. Everything here stresses me out. I miss the edge." He groaned. "Lukewarm!? Why don't they just spit on it because it would have the same effect."

He listened, with an air of reverence. And when the hand was outstretched before him, he shook it, carefully. "Nice to meet you, Castillo. Aaron Baker. High School English Teacher, newly instated curmudgeon and East Coaster." He paused, the smile creeping back in. "God, it's nice to see someone who reminds me, even a little bit, of home."

[hazardworld]

Dustin's a Damn Good Ally (Original) Pt. 4

Chapter 4— Dungeons and Dragons and Dick mentors (oh my)

Ao3 Link

Originally Posted 1.1.23/Edited 9.2.23

Summary: Eddie chose this life. Now he's gotta live with the repercussions.

(Queer author saying queer is used both positive and negative here)

———

Eddie Munson was fucking awesome.

That was something all four boys could easily decide on the moment they found out what Hellfire Club was and joined their first session zero.

First of all, Will definitely had a crush, that was obvious, and they’d gossip later.

The rest of them all had gender envy, because holy shit, Eddie Munson was a badass with no qualms about himself, no shits to give when people were assholes, and by god, was he a killer DM.

So what if he had to go through senior year a few times? Being smart didn’t just mean getting good grades and doing assignments, Dustin knew Steve could tell you that one.

Eddie Munson was a fucking enigma, and Dustin Henderson wanted to know more.

It wasn’t until Dustin accidentally caught Eddie between classes, and watched him get shoved into his locker, getting called words Dustin only knew from his father, that he hesitated.

…was Eddie queer?

Of course, Dustin didn’t give two shits if he was, but…was he?

The punk and metal scenes (from what Dustin knew) were usually utilized by gays and straights alike, so while that could be a good point of reasoning, still, Eddie could just as easily be straight and be called those words for being in the scene.

He did love to flirt with Steve before and after Hellfire sessions, but Dustin couldn’t tell if it was platonic asshole friend flirting, or if Eddie had genuine interest (though Steve always seemed to get flustered, but that was a topic for later).

Right before Halloween, the Byers and El moved to California, which hurt like a bitch.

Not only did Dustin and Will lose their fun semi-weekly gossip sessions, but that meant an entire shift in the dynamic of the Super Six (Dustin had been calling them all that and it started to catch on).

First of all, Max hadn’t owned up to her bisexual polyamory dream yet. She broke up with Lucas, since even though he didn’t know, she felt like it was unfair to be able to date one and not the other.

Furthermore, Mike hated not being able to see his girlfriend every day anymore.

And lastly, they had lost their best fucking wizard ever.

Suspiciously, Eddie also looked pretty forlorn from the news, so one day a week or so later, Dustin, as he did these days, popped into the trailer to a begrudging Eddie, with an itch to ask questions.

"Eddie, why’re you upset over Will leaving?" Dustin plopped down on his couch unprompted, "You seemed so forlorn at our last session." Eddie’s brow furrowed as he closed the front door of the trailer.

"What? Henderson, you’re gonna have to be more specific."

"At our last session, you seemed a little sadder than normal with Will being gone. I don’t think anyone else noticed it, but I did." Eddie paused, and sighed, plopping down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Yeah, well…number one, I had no clue you were that good with body language Henderson, what the fuck, and two…" Eddie paused, obviously trying to think about something, "I’d become kinda…a mentor to him, so to speak." Dustin raised an eyebrow.

What could Eddie possibly be a mentor to Will about?

Obviously, of course, a DM mentor, but then why was Eddie being so secretive and specific about it?

What did Will do that was secretive and specific?

Oh!

So the assholes in the hall were, technically, right.

"You’re gay." Dustin really had to stop blurting that out at people, because Eddie’s face immediately went to shock, eyes blown wide, and a blush of embarrassment coated his cheeks.

"Henderson, how in the fuck did you know that?" Dustin shrugged.

"You could be a mentor for Will for a few things. I don’t think he’d outright go to you for painting or art advice, which meant either you helped him be a better DM, or you helped him with being gay, and you would’ve just said you were mentoring him in DM-ing, if you were." Dustin paused briefly, and Eddie only blinked, so he continued.

"Also, I heard people in the hall call you a…nasty things, and I got suspicious from there, so…" he shrugged again, indicating the end of his monologue. Eddie blinked again and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Jesus, Henderson, now I get why Harrington calls you the little shit genius kid." Eddie looked back up at him, a frown with his eyebrows raised, "Since Will trusted you I’m assuming we can keep this under wraps?" Dustin nodded, grinning.

"Absolutely. Your secret is safe with me, Eddie." Eddie gave him a soft smile, something Dustin hadn’t entirely seen during his usual school hours.

"Thanks, kid. Means a lot." Dustin returned the soft smile.

"I know."

Eddie was still equally intimidating to Dustin, to be fair, but for him, it was nice to know Eddie was as accepting as he was, even if Dustin himself was straight.

———

Dick mentors' just means Eddie was helping out Will with liking dick. I couldn't think of anything else that funny. Please don't take it out of context.

(Though, if Mike started dressing more like Eddie, Will wouldn't complain)

Also, 3 months after July is October, and assuming they start school in mid-ish August (according to current Indiana schools), that means Will and El were at Hawkins high for at least a month or two! Eddie met them! He might not remember, but he did meet them!

Chapter 3/6———Chapter 5/6

[nnay-naee]

Let me tell you how El's glow-up's through the seasons are closely connected to Milkdude. I'll probably write this as simple as possible since its 2 a.m. and there are a few simple concepts floating in my head. But before it all, I gotta thank @love-byers and his amazing post for inspiring me. It's also from where I also stole most of the pictures (sorry <3).

So, let's start.. In every season, Eleven basically gets a glow-up. In season 1 she starts with short hair and a hospital gown, while during the finale she wears the iconic Nancy's pink dress and a long, blond wig, given to her by Mike. It makes her feel pretty, Mike also underlines it. It's the first time she looks at her and genuinely thinks of herself as pretty, just like it's the first someone manages to make her feel loved, and that someone is Mike. They're happy, she's happy.

Later, if we forget about the stolen outfit from that old man in the woods, we see her starting season 2 with oversized, hand-me-down clothes from Hopper's old stuff, while later, we see her with the badass look Kali gave her. In both occasions she doesn't really feel like that style is hers, but her Kali's outfit represents what she needed to get to Mike: strength. We see, in fact, that El travels to her 'lost sister' to find herself, but doesn't actually do. She finds a way to become stronger, though, and with that power, she defeats the demo-dogs that are bothering Mike and Co. in Hawkins. She gets back together with him, both of them waited anxiously to meet again. Everybody's happy.

Then there's season 3. Here we get to see again a Hopper's choise of clothes, she couldn't find herself in England, so she's back at what felt more close to it among what she's ever tried in life, even if it's definitely far from what she is. She finds what 'feels like her' when she meets Max, she brings El to the mall and makes her try everything until she gets what she wants. Also thanks to Max 'awakening' true El's self, she dumps Mike. She doesn't need him, he lies to her, she feels totally fine by herself too. Why does this happen? Because Max wanted to mock Mike? No. Maybe partly. BUT. Eleven leaves Mike because she finally understood who she is and what she wants. They later get together again cause. Y'know. Plot.

Anyway, by the same line, we see El getting back to what she was before the self-discovering arc with Max when in season 4 she moves to California. Yes, it is partly explained by being part of the Byers family, since they all wear that style of clothes and they all share a big wardrobe basically. But she also 'glows down' from her s3 style because of her distance from Mike. She feels lost without him, she's in a brand-new city, everything's different, she lost herself once again. She moves closer to the old good feminine clothes Max taught her about, when Mike flies to her in Cali, we see her in a white and colored dress, even if, still, she's wearing her Byers checkered shirt, because something's just not right: she's liying to him. Plus, after the From, Mike scene, she doesn't know if she can fully trust him. Something's changed, she doesn't know if it's her or Mike or their relationship itself, and she feels confused and upset.

She gets back in white when she gets kind of kidnapped by Brenner. Once again, she's in her hospital gown, she lost her hair. Once again, she's unknown to herself, she lost the sight of the truth and the reason. But in the finale of s4, when she leaves the lab, we have a different El: she's not the wearing the style she liked back in s3, it's less colored, less showy, more simple, probably more confortable, too. Especially during Mike's 'love' monologue, Eleven, once again, needs strength in order to get back to her beloved ones, defeating Vecna. Mike tells her what he thinks she wants to hear, and tells her she's able to do what she wants thanks to her power, but El doesn't gain much strength from his words. She does seeing Max in danger, she doesn't want her to get hurt, so she does her best to keep her safe. And even if she later kind of died, El brings back her to life because losing her would be too much hurtful, and would probably mean losing herself again, too.

So, the El we see in the finale of s4 isn't the El we had in the second part of s3, and neither the same El we had in the beginning of s4. As I said, it's a brand-new Eleven, than now knows what and who she needs, an Eleven that knows that being independent is fine, and not just because your friend told you, but because you felt it inside and you got the proofs.

Clothing is extremely cured by the Duffers, not only for the color theory, but for many details like this one. I also read a theory about Mike wearing all that yellow in s3, for example, I wanted to link it but couldn't find the post. If someone finds it, please do share it!

[hargrove-mayfields]

Onto day two of @harringroveweek!

The prompt I chose for the 25th was: Sugar Cream Pie!

Warnings on this one include mentions of homophobia and implied/referenced child abuse.

“I already told you, Steve. I ain’t Nancy Wheeler. You can’t just drag me along on some romantic little trist in the middle of the fucking town.”

They’re in Steve’s car after dark with the passenger side window wide open to account for the entire pack of smokes Billy has gone through since they met up. Steve has done this enough times now to know Billy only wastes this many cigarettes, half of them burning out between his fingers and never even touching his lips, when he’s got something on his mind.

Steve tries to offer an outlet to whatever is bothering him, or at least some consolation, “And I told you, the diner is different. People go there as friends all the time. It’s not like it’s Lovers Lake or something. It’s perfectly safe.”

But Billy won’t hear it, “It’s only like ten minutes outta downtown. That’s not enough distance for it to be any different than spray painting my name on the fucking marquee.”

“But nobody who’s there will even suspect a thing.”

“Sure, I ain’t been here long, but I know that nobody eats diner food on a Saturday night ‘cept old people who want to mind your business and sappy high school losers on dates. Exactly the kind of people I don’t want to see us together. The kind of people that will know.” Billy’s voice cracks in the last sentence and Steve feels responsible.

He’s been letting his needs get in the way of Billy’s again. Stupid self-conscious bullshit. And yet-

“Not at Benny’s. If we went to some commercial place on the other side of town, maybe. But Benny’s is local. It’s different. Nobody will even notice us.”

Billy narrows his eyes at him, doubt masking the glimpse of paranoia he’d let into his words, “Do elaborate, Steve. What’s so special about this greasy old joint?”

All Steve can do is shrug and try to make his case, “Well for starters, it’s exactly that, just a greasy old joint. It’s a total dead spot. That and the place is always full of mean looking biker dudes who scare off the wrong crowds anyways. Nothing’s going to happen there of all places.”

“You ever took a guy there before?” There’s another cigarette burning out in Billy’s hand, so in his own head that he’d even forgotten to put this one out the window and there’s ashes crumbling into the center console. Steve plucks it from his hand and puts it out against the side of his car, drops it out the window.

Billy looks restless without it, but he stays quiet, listens for a response. Steve’ll take the fact that he didn’t get upset about the cig as a sign that he’s getting through to him, “No, but I know people who have, and they’ve always been just fine. Besides, it’s not like we’ll be sucking face across the table. Nobody has to know it’s a date.”

Unexpectedly, Steve being prepared to argue for at least twice as long, that’s already enough assurance, and Billy agrees, “Fine. But only because I’ve been wanting to try Indiana food anyways.”

It’s hard to hide the big tacky smile on his face, feeling both a sense of achievement for convincing Billy, and genuine happiness to be going out with him, “Don’t think you’ll be impressed. I’m sure California can do much better than chili cinnamon rolls and sugar cream pie.”

“You’re joking. That shit sounds disgusting.”

“I’m not. And I grew up on all that, so watch your mouth.”

And Billy actually smiles back, comfortable again in this playful back and forth, “Well, now I’ve got to see this. Let’s go, H.”

Like most things with Billy though, the confidence and haste in the car was an act. Once they’re actually in the diner, even seated at a booth away from the windows but closest to the exit, he’s a nervous wreck.

They’ve ordered already but he hasn’t touched the pitch black coffee in front of him. Only spills a few drops by bouncing his knee so much the table shakes. It’s starting to make Steve dizzy.

He checks in, “How you holdin’?”

“Not so hot, Harrington. Could use that slice of pie right about now..”

“Too scared to try the cinnamon rolls, huh?” It’s a lame attempt at a joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Billy at least plays along though, even if he can’t look directly at Steve as he speaks, too occupied with searching for an imaginary threat around them, “Maybe if it were real chili. They’ve never even heard of salt here in Indy though. Think I’ll pass on that mushy slop.”

“Probably for the best.” There's too much tension between them to keep going like that. He can feel that Billy’s about to snap. Steve offers some more assurance, “Hey, nobody’s going to show up here. I promise.”

The little bell above the door that tells when someone comes in rings again and Billy’s head turns to look so fast Steve winces.

“I can’t do it.” All too fast, Billy stands from their table, bumping the underside with his knees, spilling more coffee and knocking over a napkin holder. The noise is enough to turn heads. Steve knows there's no hope now.

Standing to be on his level, Steve tries to reason with him again, figuring his earlier success might be able to be tapped into here, “Hey, come on-“

Must’ve just been luck though. Billy backs a few steps away from him, like he’s repulsed by Steve even being near him. It’s fair enough. It’s the best way to pretend you don’t want anything to do with the guy who’s just made a move on you.

But Steve doesn’t know if this is a genuine reaction, or a performance for an audience that isn’t actually there.

“No. I can't. I can’t. Lemme go.” It doesn’t matter, because either way, Billy leaves.

And before Steve can even go out after him and offer him a ride back at least, he’s stormed off into the night. It’s an uneasy feeling, watching him just disappear like that.

Steve’s not giving up.

A takeout box, an apology to a waitress, and a too-fast midnight drive later, and he’s standing in a bush knocking on Billy’s bedroom window.

Some shuffling inside, a light clicks on, and Billy answers. By that, he just opened the window and stepped back, allowing Steve the room to climb in, but never getting close enough to see him. If it weren’t for nosy neighbors he’d save himself all the trouble, since Billy’s parents won’t be home with Max for an hour or two at least, but it’s better to not go waltzing through the front door anyways.

Albeit clumsily, Steve lifts himself inside, only leaving a little bit of scuff on the siding, once both feet touch the carpeted floor, extending the small styrofoam box of to-go as a peace offering, “I brought you this.”

Billy’s arms are crossed, and he looks generally unimpressed, “Wow. You remembered.”

“I just thought.. you know.”

“Yeah.”

Not knowing what else to do with himself since Billy won’t take it, Steve just sets the box of food down on whatever space there is available on the nightstand, which is to say, none at all, and it ends up balanced precariously on a stack of tapes.

For his own sanity, after the awkward silence that follows, he clarifies, “Are we.. good?”

“Sure, we’re good.” Billy accepts, opening his demeanor, and his arms in the literal sense, “C’mere.”

Steve takes the leap and embraces him, only really realizing once he has him in his arms how close he might’ve been to having nothing to hold onto after Billy stormed out of that restaurant. He feels guilty and sad and just all around awful about pressuring him like that in the first place, “I’m sorry, B.”

Billy shrugs, as much as he can with both arms linked around Steve, muttering some excuse, “S’alright. Not like I was being fair. Never even told you why I’m so squeamish about that shit.”

Hesitantly, Steve pulls back so he can look at Billy while they talk. He’s tired of hiding from these things, even if it’s in a warm embrace, a familiar shoulder to rest his head on. With a small shake of his head, he insists, “You were right though. It was risky and I was being kinda stupid about it.”

“Nah. People go out as friends all the time. I was being paranoid and weird.”

“But sometimes we have to be.”

Billy looks like he’s thinking hard on what to say, and in the meantime he cops a seat on the old couch he’d dragged into his room, and naturally Steve follows, crossing his legs close to his body, almost forcing himself to be small so Billy could take up space and say what’s on his mind for once, “I mean, yeah, but this isn’t just normal caution. I was scared because the last time I went out with a guy my dad walked in and kicked my ass.”

“Like, right there in the restaurant?” It’s a stupid thing to ask and Steve regrets sounding so blunt about something obviously so delicate, but Billy entertains him.

Goes into a long explanation, staring at the ceiling instead of being able to look at Steve, even though they’re sitting close enough to touch, “No. He wouldn’t risk his reputation. He waited ‘til after to rock my shit. It was only when the cops got called afterward ‘cause of the noise and the fact I went missing from school for two weeks straight that we skipped town. 2,000 miles away from the no good queers that had corrupted me in the first place. Or whatever the hell he even believed.”

Steve doesn’t know what to say. There’s always been a good reason to hide from Billy’s dad, but with the minor, passive-aggressive type of homophobia he’d been raised around as the limit to his perspective, he didn’t understand how bad it was. Now he does. “You never told me that.”

“Didn’t want to. But now it’s important. ‘Cause one thing Neil swore was that he’d never do that again.”

He thought he understood at least. But now it sounds like Billy is contradicting himself, with the reasons to be afraid and to not starting to overlap. Doing his best to act like that statement didn’t confuse him, Steve speaks slowly, watching for a reaction from Billy in real time, “That’s.. good? I guess?”

And one comes. A tired sort of bitter expression that tells Steve he’s guessed the intent wrong. “Would be, but it’s not for the right reason. Next time he says he’ll take it out on the other guy instead of me.”

“Oh. That’s-”

“Yeah. It’s not good.” Billy finally looks at him again to declare, with implications very clear this time, be that through experience with Billy’s vagueness or the hurt clear in his eyes, “Don’t want you getting hurt over this, H.”

“I won’t. We just don’t have to go on dates anymore. There’s other things we can do.” He assures, but still Billy is cynical, and counters with, “Sure you wanna risk it? There’s an easier way.”

“Uh, yes, I am. I’m not breaking up with you just because we had one bad date. Believe me when I say that someone walking out is like, the least catastrophic ending to a date I’ve been on.”

“Guess you wanna give it another shot then?”

“How’s tomorrow night at the drive-in sound? Nobody will know it’s us in the dark if we go after it opens.”

“If I'm driving, you got yourself a deal.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Bills.” He leans over to invade Billy’s personal space for a moment, but he thinks better of it. Kisses lead to touches lead to things that take much longer than they have time to kill right now. He glances at the wall clock and confirms that he needs to get out of here quick. A sheepish kiss on the cheek will do for now, “I probably should head out before he gets home.”

Billy sort of refutes him, turning his head to steal a real kiss. But he knows it too. They don’t have much time to work with here. He lets Steve walk towards the window, as slow and hesitant as his stride is, not wanting to leave Billy by himself.

“Hey, Stevie?” Billy interrupts that charged silence, his tone apprehensive to say whatever is on his mind, and Steve instantly turns on his heel to respond, “Yeah?”

Billy picks at the seams in the couch and in his jeans, at his nails, obviously doing anything to avoid looking at Steve, “Thanks for understandin’ me. Nobody’s ever really.. taken the time to listen to me before, I guess.”

The vulnerability there makes Steve never want to leave his side again. If it were up to him, Billy would be far away from this place, where these moments didn’t have to happen between arguments and curfews. Where they could feel happy and safe wherever they went.

For now, he promises, “Hey, I’m always gonna be here for you, Billy. Just don’t forget that you can talk to me whenever.”

There’s a flash of surprise in Billy’s eyes, like he expected to be rejected for opening up. Then he gives a little nod of acknowledgement. The understanding that there’s probably way more to discuss, but no time to do it. For now, they’ve done enough work that a promise, sealed with another short press of his lips to the corner of Billy’s mouth, will do.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It seems like they’re on the upswing then, the sick feeling he had in his chest watching Billy walk away earlier appeased. The next step would probably be for Steve himself, to actually have the courage to take things to the next step. To tell him those three words that have been choking him up lately, making everything sound deceptively sweet. Pressuring him to do stupid things to prove his feelings because he can’t say them.

Here’s to next time, and to things only getting even better from here.

Seems like they’re going to need all the luck they can get.

[charminggirl512]

corrupt me // jax teller x oc

Jax Teller x F!OC (Dolly Dawson)

Warnings: language

Word Count: 1,445

   I try to control the shake in my hands as I open the front door. In a movie-like moment, Jax turns around at the sound of the knob turning, an unlit cigarette between his teeth as he looks me up and down. I smooth my hands over my simple black dress and steady myself in similarly simple black heels. I haven't been able to really unpack most of my stuff so I just went with a classic date outfit. 

"Well, hello Miss Dolly. You look beautiful, darlin'." I blush at his flirty words and I'm grateful that I'm allowing myself to relax and enjoy this rather than try and dissect every little word and action. 

"Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself," I reply and he sends me a smirk, the unlit cigarette still resting between his lips. He's wearing a simple blue and white button-down underneath his kutte, some blue jeans, and a pair of white sneakers, which I'm beginning to suspect is his everyday uniform. After we met the other day, I'd done a little research into motorcycle clubs and what the names of things are so that I don't seem like a total ditz to him. 

"You ready for me to wine and dine ya?" 

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let me just grab my bag and we can go." He nods and turns around to finally smoke that cigarette and I grab my clutch off of the dining room table. I close and lock the front door behind me and he leads us to his bike. He once again buckles my helmet on me, careful to crush my artfully curled blonde hair. He slides on first, looking completely at ease on his bike and I'm in awe of it.

"Well, I guess I didn't really think my outfit through," I say to myself more than him but he still laughs before helping me climb on behind him. 

   I'm more comfortable wrapping my arms around his this time and I can feel the flex of his abs under my fingertips as he places his hands on the bars. He reaches down quickly to squeeze my knee before taking us to the restaurant that he's picked out. He helps me off and leads us in, his hand on the small of my back. Once we're seated at a table in the corner of the restaurant, granting us plenty of privacy, my nerves finally kick in. It's been years since I've been on a first date and it's been years since I've been on a date with a guy who was actually close to my age. 

"What can I get you two started with to drink?" 

"I'll have a glass of whatever pinot grigio you have," I answer and give the pretty waitress a smile. 

"I'll just have a beer. Not too picky on what kind," Jax replies, never taking his eyes off me, which boosts my confidence. My ex would always flirt with the waitress whenever we went out to eat and it always made me feel worthless. 

"So, why California? That's a long way from Georgia," He asks after the waitress leaves, obviously a little annoyed that he didn't pay her any attention.

"I just needed a change of pace. I've lived in the same town my whole life and my dad is the mayor, so I needed to escape from the constantly watching eyes." While true, it was not the total truth. 

"I can understand that, though in the opposite way. Lived in Charming my whole life, and everyone there has been watching and waiting for me to mess up since the day I could walk and talk." 

"Because of the club?" 

"Yep. My dad started it with a couple of his buddies from the army and the president until he died. It's the only life I've ever really known and I wouldn't change it for the world." 

"All I ever wanted was to escape my life in Georgia. I had no control over my life; my parents picked where I went to college, who I dated, what I wore. If anyone could possibly perceive it as problematic, I was banned from it to protect my father's image." The waitress brings our drinks then and we start to look through our menus as we continue talking.

"That's fucked up," He replies, and he seems genuinely upset by it. "Where did they send you to school?"

"The University of Georgia for undergrad and for law school. I tried to look at going to Vanderbilt or UCLA for law school and I literally almost gave my father a heart attack. Once I passed the bar exam, he even chose which law firm I worked at. I really don't know why I let him have so much control over me, but I've escaped that now." 

   I've completely dominated the conversation and a part of me wants to feel bad about it, but he seems genuinely interested in learning more about me. He nods along as I talk and keeps asking questions to keep me talking. I'm once again reminded of how my ex would completely stifle my personality and how I would get screamed at for talking about myself for longer than two sentences. I guess that's what happens when your parents pick out your fiance for political gain rather than an actual emotional connection. 

"It's impressive that you did all of that school. I just got my GED and was done with it all," he says before taking a sip of his beer. 

"Well, now I've got to take the California bar exam in order to practice law here, and it's one of the hardest ones in the country. I'll probably end up as a secretary at some firm rather than a practicing attorney." 

"Hey, don't get down on yourself. You can do it, sweetheart." A blush creeps up my cheeks and I don't move to cover it up.

   We spend the rest of dinner chatting about Charming, his life in the club, my life in Georgia, what law school was like, and just about everything else under the sun. We never pause, both of us rudely talking with food in our mouths because we don't want to stop talking to the other. He's incredibly alluring and I can't take my eyes off of him. After he pays the check and we stand up to leave, he wraps his arm around my waist, the tips of his fingers resting on my hip bone. He stands in front of his bike and pulls a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and lights it, and my heart skips a beat at the sight. No man should look that good smoking. He watches as I sit sideways on his bike and cross my ankles out in front of me. 

"God, you're fucking beautiful," He says shamelessly. 

"Shut up," I reply, hiding behind my curtain of hair. 

"You sitting there on my bike in that tight little dress with all that blonde hair, you look straight out of a dream. You're polite but I can see that thirst for danger behind your eyes. I'm gonna have you corrupted in no time." I can't help my laugh and he smiles at it. 

"I guess we'll just have to see about that, Mr. Teller. Maybe I'm already corrupted and I just hide it well," I tease. 

   He hums as he walks over to me and places his cigarette between my lips. I maintain eye contact with him as I hollow my cheeks, the thick smoke filling my lungs before I breathe it out. He licks his lips before taking a puff himself and stomping it out on the ground. I barely have a second to react before he's cradling my face between his hands and sliding his lips over mine. I moan into it, grabbing his wrists as he glides his tongue between the seam of my lips and plunders into my soul. He continues to kiss the breath out of me until I pull back and place our foreheads against one another. 

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna do that," I whisper and his laugh falls upon my own lips as he dips in to connect our lips once, twice, three times. 

"Been wantin' to do it since you opened your front door, but figured I would pretend to be a gentleman," He replies, kissing me again and again. 

"So you're not a gentleman?" He lets out a little laugh in between kisses, his thumb rubbing up and down my cheekbone. 

"No ma'am and I definitely don't want to do gentlemanly things to you."

"Well then corrupt me, Jax Teller."