#he was a jock. source: just TRUST me on this

[800db-cloud]

i think he used to be a jock.

[purerae]

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YANDERE!JOCK X GN!reader // PT1

warnings ;; none (i think??) YANDERE!JOCK does not show much yandere tendencies in this part!!

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˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who’s obnoxiously loud with his friends. Their table is surrounded with the soccer team. Their voices are 1/2 of the noise in the hall.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who overheard someone speaking about his team. “God, I hate them all. They’re so self centered! I wonder if they know that not everyone cares about soccer like they do.”

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who immediately frowns after he hears that. Someone hates him? No way he tries to be nice to everyone! He's so self centered?? He didn’t know that :(( (You were generalising but okay..)

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who attempts to find the source of who said those words and his eyes land on you. You were on a table with two of your other friends chatting and side eyeing his team. He’s determined to make you realise he’s a decent person!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who walks over to your table with a sad grin and puppy dog eyes but he quickly replaces it with a wide grin. “Hey I'm Alex!!”

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who recognises you. You’re in his history class! You lent him a pen and he gave it back. He thought you guys had some solidarity going on but it turns out you don’t?

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who always thought you were attractive, You were cute and quiet in class, He never knew you disliked him.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who notices you freeze when he comes up to you. Are you scared of him? Just because he’s 3x stronger than you and towers over you doesn’t mean he’s going to hurt you!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who wants to be your friend! He needs to have a good reputation with everyone in the school. With a pout he explains, “I can’t help but overhear you saying you hate me…did i do something wrong”

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who makes you feel a little bad for saying all of that. The way he’s staring at you makes it feel like he’s a high school girl who just got rejected by the love of her life.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who ignores the stares the other jocks give him, because he’s interacting with someone who’s talking shit about them. He doesn’t care! He needs to have a good reputation with everyone especially with his classmates.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who sulks when you ignore him and he slowly walks back to his table. He’s not as excited as he was before. The teammates notice that and now they heavily dislike you. How dare you make the sunshine of the group sad!?! :(

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who never gave up. After english, you rushed out the class only to be stopped by Alex. He gives you a proposition. If you come to his next practice and hang out with him after, he’ll help you revise for history!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who frowns when you point out you have a higher grade than him. Come on! Just find him nice already!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!JOCK who will not stop bothering talking to you, until you become friends! Your friends don’t like him so why doesn’t he bother them? Many people care for him but…why does he care that you don't?

“Trust me, Im not as bad as you think!!”

purerae<3

[sevs-corner]

U got me giggling and kicking my feet with the jock simon and goth dom reader. But that last bullet point.. oohhhh makes me wonder the outside POV of their budding relationship. Like what are the guys opinion? Who’d clock on to Simon’s down bad behavior towards reader?

IM SO HAPPI YOU CAUGHT ONTO THAT (that was going to be my bridge for a one shot after that ask but lets cover it here !!)

Also thank yew for readin and takin interest <33

you can find the prev ask here !

Tw: 18+ content beyond this point | MDNI

The guys don’t catch onto it initially, thinking that’s its another usual hook-up or a fwb situation

But the fact that its reoccurring too often and there are talks about it

Who’s to say that they wouldn’t catch wind of it?

In my OG idea, Gaz is the president and basically the information guy, he knows all the gossip and he now know its his buddy being talked about recently

The Tf 141 guys aren’t afraid to confront each other, they are the tip of the social hierarchy but its more of a… “mutually agreed” shared position

So, when Gaz hears about this, confirming with a trusted source beforehand of course, he comes storming into their designated ‘man cave’ in the school

The man, literally stand before this behemoth and looks him straight to his eyes and asks,

“What the fuck is up with you?”

Gaz is seething, jealous and so green with envy that he didn’t get to you first- that he doesn’t have you wrapped around his pinky

And Simon clocks this, outwardly smirking, posture imposing as he already knows that he has the upper hand

Price and Soap watches, but this is only when Price finally connects the dots that he stands before Ghost as well (interest piqued but not quite jealous)

Soap already knew, being the closest out of the three to Ghost

And this man was worse than Gaz

After discovering it accidentally when he drunkenly made his way to Ghost’s room one night

He got put down like a dog by him (but you were taken care first for the night with depraved kisses of promising to continue after he puts him down)

And lets just say that, Soap had a strange mark around his throat the next couple days, legs not fully functioning, and had a habit of standing more than sitting really

Besides Soap, Gaz would be Ghost’s go to but now that he found a new “fuck toy”

Oh he is ready to ruin you and everything you hold dear— especially that precious relationship with his Simon

(but eventually gets broken by you too tho we’ll cover that another time hehe)

But Price, actually tries to convince him to let him give a shot- just like a one night stand

From the way his mates reacted, ooh this big bear wants a taste

Now Ghost gets a lil’ sweaty

He’s first and foremost loyal to Price but goddamn- did he want something for himself for once

So he stalls, and eventually—

Price and Gaz gangs up and makes you miserable enough for Simon not to want you or vice-versa

So he had no choice but to share you and the experience

And man, he curses himself in the afterglow of everything

He wishes he had done it sooner

[lewis-winters]

Hiii you’re like the person I trust the most to give me band of brothers analysis lol so I wanted to ask about the tension between dick and lew in crossroads. I’m not sure if I’m misinterpreting it or if I missed out on an important detail but the whole interaction where moose and lew go bug dick while he’s writing up his reports confuses me. I get Dick doesn’t want to be behind a desk and wants to be leading easy company again but once moose leaves it looks to me as though dicks’ question about the intelligence being any good ticks him off, prompting him to make the comment about the bacon sandwiches. Do you mind sharing what you think is going on between them here? Both canonically and your interpretation

Sure!

Canonically: Lew is ticked off because he's S2. Intelligence is literally his whole job, and Dick is questioning how well he's done it.

My interpretation (which is largely informed by canonical interpretation): some of the tension of this scene is definitely because Moose is handling the company now, and Dick is stuck behind a desk. You're correct on that one. I think it's a little exacerbated by Lew coming in and making jokes about it-- which is quite an anomaly, since we've seen Dick laugh at Lew's jokes before, even if they're at his expense. But even when you bear that in mind, he's not REALLY that annoyed at Nix yet. He snarks at him a bit, but other than that, he's really just sulky. He'd been bared from the details of almost everything but logistics, and on top of that is having to write a report he really doesn't want to write. Furthermore, he's annoyed at the learning curve of being behind the desk-- you could see it with his discomfort with the aide assigned to him, and with how Zielinski has to hover over him and teach him where to sign or where to write etc (though that's later in the episode). Our poor Richard is a jock, through and through. I'm willing to bet he'd rather be outside using his body instead of waiting behind a desk. But, bless him, he's taking it in stride and really just pouting.

Then, he changes his tune when he finds out Moose is leading the company out on Operation Pegasus. He becomes MORE anxious. He forgets what he's sulking about and immediately starts talking strategy. Those are his boys! He wants to look out for his boys!

And Nix can tell. You can see his face falls when Dick starts asking after times and places. So, he goes over there and tries to calm him while also rescuing Moose from Dick being too overbearing.

AND THEN Dick asks after the integrity of the intelligence Nix has.

Remember how, in the battle prior, on the titular Crossroads, they ran into a whole-ass company of SS? That could, arguably, be Lew's fault. It's his job, as Intelligence Officer (that's what S2 is-- though irl it's kinda conflicting because some sources say he was S3 around this time, not S2, but in the show he is, so we'll talk about that) to KNOW what's there, right? So he could warn the platoon walking into a battle that what they're facing isn't just another platoon, but a whole company.

But here's the thing: I only said arguably. In reality, sometimes intelligence is just wrong.

Other times, intelligence expires. Maybe Lew knew that it was just a platoon the day before, right before Alley and co. were attacked (evidence: Tab knew what was beyond the crest of the hill when Dick asked him, meaning that there was a briefing amongst the NCOs that happened about the lay of the land before they settled in that place-- Nix would've lead that, as S2), but come morning of the next day, he didn't know that said platoon had called for backup, and are now a company. Other other times, maybe there's no intelligence at all, and they all have to make do with expired intelligence. That's just one way things could've gone wrong.

Dick knows that. Lew knows that. There is a margin of error in intelligence that should be accounted for.

But I'm willing to bet Lew feels guilty about it, anyway, so he gets a little defensive; "I think it's pretty good." And then when Dick presses, he goes right for the kill, and hits a sore spot; "Why don't you ask Moose when he comes back?" and even when Dick STILL presses, though little more gently, with; "tell me if anything goes wrong," Lew bites back still; "yeah tell me if you see any bacon sandiwches [that I asked your orderly for]."

Which is him effectively telling Dick to mind his own business-- which is. Behind a desk and with Zielinski.

That being said, I don't think asking after the integrity of Lew's intelligence is bad or malicious because the lack of it DID lead to the previous blindsiding of Dick's platoon. He really is just worried about Easy. And I don't think Lew getting defensive about the intelligence is bad, either-- intelligence is SO fickle, you have no idea. Especially in an active warzone. You will get things wrong sometimes, and people will blame you. No use rubbing it in.

But also? Dick chose to charge into said company with NO new intelligence at all. Like. Richard. Dick. You came up with that attack on the fly. Were you even in communication with Nix while you were doing it? George is literally right there with the radio, Richard, did you ASK him????) I know the show paints that attack as necessary and also a success, but if you read Parachute Infantry, David Webster thought that attack was risky and uninformed. It makes you think, ya know? Biases, biases.

^^ THAT is most definitely for a whole separate post lmaoooo

Anyway. TL;DR: I think Lew was a little ashamed and guilty about not having had the intelligence Dick needed on hand (to know that he isn't running headfirst into a company of SS) before and got a little defensive when Dick brought it up. So he drops the jokey façade for a minute and does his own lashing out (to the extent that he allows himself to lash out at Dick, anyway-- which, btw? we need to talk about bc the way Dick lashes out at Nix is VERY different to how Nix lashes out at Dick and it's so INTERESTING).

They both apologize, though. Non-verbally, at least, when Nix comes back up for the VAT69 and Dick allows him. Mm. Love Winnix. Love when they say so much shit but never anything they actually mean. Kings of passive aggression and double entendre. Love that for them.

shameless plug: if you like meta posts check out my #bob meta tag for all your meta needs!

[eddiemunson-reader-shame]

A Freak and a Basket Case: Chapter Two: Made in Heaven

From the Delulu Writer: You’re going to realize that I don’t write short fics. This was straight from Google Docs mobile. I don’t know how long this is, so fuck it we ball. I’m hoping the generous Eddie POV helps break this aversion to longer fics.

Warnings: Flight of Icarus spoilers, references to drug use, minor suicide mention.

[Masterlist] - Chapter One - Chapter Two (You are Here) - [Latest]

***

The ’85-’86 academic year had to be his year.

It had to be.

It was his last shot. The last hoorah. He had just barely made the cutoff age for the academic year, and it was a miracle in itself that Principal Higgins had a modicum of decency to give him a break and let him even try to attend school again. He would be cutting it too close for comfort, and during the summer Eddie Munson had promised his uncle that he would get his head out of his ass this time around. No more screw ups. No more bullshit scams.

That promise was made in summer, when he was still able to sleep in, hotbox the feelings of shame and guilt away in his van, and gorge on junk food during unholy hours of the early morning before passing out until noon.

Now that he was being jolted awake by both the shrill sound of the radio alarm, and his uncle was kicking his mattress to wake him up at four thirty in the morning before he’d even gotten a good chance at sleep, Eddie was ready to throw in the fucking towel. Bitter thoughts swarmed in his mind.

Fuck it. Kick me out of school. See if I give two shits.

He was at the point where he was forgetting what was important. Last year was a year of losses. Almost losing the Hellfire Club to bullshit blackmail orchestrated by a sadistic son of a bitch of a principal that he did not fully trust. Ronnie had at least reached out via letter after a time, and she sent a few clipped sentences written with an electric typewriter all the way from New York whenever she had enough money left over from dorm expenses to buy postage stamps. But Dougie had gone nuclear. Never quite forgiving his friend for what he had almost undone.

And then there was Paige…

Eddie had been thinking of that mess nonstop the first day back for some reason, running late stuck behind a green Dodge with wood paneling while also battling the commuters during the clusterfuck that constituted rush hour in Hawkins, Indiana. He didn’t know why he was in such a hurry when that morning he’d been ready to give up all over again. Emotions were running high and low, he felt like he was trapped on a broken-down roller coaster falling apart on a shoddy side of the road carnival. Wanting to jump off, throw up, scream, and cry all at once as the reality of everything set in.

Eddie Munson had fucked everything up. Once in a lifetime opportunities lost to the ages in the year of 1984.

’86 had to be his year. Otherwise, he had nothing else left.

He was on his way to his locker when a string bean of a freshman wearing khakis and a button down polo from the GAP slammed into him from behind. Eddie immediately turned around to catch him before he hit the ground, asking the dazed boy if he was okay, confirming it was so, then looking towards the source. He assumed it was a jock, it always was, but he saw no suspicious hunter green letterman jackets lurking in the throng of students looking to get to their classes.

And then there was the gaggle of girls laughing and pointing, but he couldn’t see the object of their teasing because once he came within five feet of their gaggle they saw Eddie the Freak and bolted. So far the first day back was shaping up to be one of those weird days, whispers abound of some bitch of a basket case wandering around dressed for a cold front in August.

For obvious reasons, Eddie was intrigued. A bitch of a basket case was new. Especially ones wearing winter coats in summer when the humidity drowned you before the heat got to you. He doubted there was any merit to the rumors truth be told, but he had to see it for himself. He searched high and low, ditching his first period class to see if he could catch a glimpse. And then like an answer to his prayers he heard a siren call:

Metallica on cassette. Kill ‘Em All Album. Side 1. Approximately thirty nine minutes and six seconds into the album. Track number nine. Seek and Destroy.

Blasting so goddamned loud that from his distance it sounded faint, but he knew that whoever was listening to it directly would be deaf before their twenty-first birthday.

He saw you beelining for the front door, and instantly Eddie was fascinated by you. Sure enough you were all bundled up in your quilted Carhartt jacket like a blue collar worker braving a blizzard, gray skirt swishing as you power walked down the hall. The music beckoned to him, and the Black Sabbath patch on your blue backpack encouraged him to follow. Despite the stormy look on your face and the fuck off aura radiating from you, Eddie couldn’t help but allow the admiration to take over. He wasn’t intimidated, he wasn’t repulsed by your demeanor or appearance. Quite the contrary, Eddie could see something in the way your body communicated to the world:

You were a lost, pathetic little lamb trying to butt heads with everyone and everything, unaware that the world was fanged and scary and could spit you out in a malformed bolus should it desire.

And yet you still kept trying to fight back.

It was as if his body was moving of his own accord. His heart knew before his brain could logically process what was happening. A compulsion, his inner wild child, sent signals to his feet to quicken his pace as he raced after you, adrenaline coursing through him as he heard nothing but the steady pace of your gait matching the pulse of Seek and Destroy. Eddie didn’t stop until he was so close he was breathing in your scent, and in a sudden burst of confidence, both hands flashed out and snatched you by the backpack straps, pulling you in until you were flush against him. He yanked off your headphones, getting in close until his lips were grazing the shell of your ear.

“You’ve got bitchin’ taste in music there, princess. Metallica, right?”

Your scream cut off the last bit, and he held onto you like he was holding a wild stallion steady as you jumped nearly ten feet in the air. You were still pressed with your backpack to his chest, your own little chest heaving with fear.

“FUCK ME FREDDY!” You hollered. “You scared the shit out of me!”

Eddie laughed hard as he spun you around to face him, hands steadying your shoulders as he looked you in the eye with a large smile on his face.

“Sorry, sorry… Relax. Didn’t mean to scare you there. But hey, at least that got your attention, right?”

You hit the pause button on your Walkman and killed the music, looking up with a stormy and defiant expression. Eddie realized something when you looked at him: you had been hiding behind fear. Your eyes, minimized by the thick coke bottle lenses within the frames of your glasses, began to soften when you looked at him. He could see the tightly wound tension leave your body as you relaxed. Your facade was slipping. Before him was an individual army crawling through hell to survive.

“You uh… you heard my music huh?” you said quietly.

Eddie grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

“Oh yeah. From all the way down the hall. You like Metallica?” he asked.

“Uh huh…”

Eddie grinned at the shy answer. God… You were adorable.

“Hell yeah, good taste. Metallica is one of my favorites too.”

He noticed you weren’t much for eye contact. As much as he tried to meet your gaze you wouldn’t look right at him. It seemed as if you were closing yourself off from everyone, a purposeful and calculated act. Understandable if he was being honest. Your eyes were red rimmed and your nose was still dripping a little bit. The morning must not have been kind. For a moment he saw your vulnerability, and it endeared him to you.

“I’m Eddie, by the way.” he said gently, holding out his hand.

“Eddie?” You cocked your head to the side, sweet little face looking up at him as if expecting a trick.

“Yup.” he popped the consonant at the end, and he tried to give you a sweet disarming smile to show his sincerity, “That’s me, Eddie Munson.”

Gently, slowly, he felt your warm hand envelop his. He shook it just enough; not too firm of a handshake that he scared you off, but not so weak that it seemed he didn’t want to touch you. Because if the way his heart was racing at the feel of your warm palm against his was any indication, he very much did want to touch you, and he wanted to make sure you knew it.

A few seconds ticked by, and you finally told him your name after letting go of his hand. He noticed at first that you seemed to try saying something else, but you quickly corrected yourself. Eddie repeated your name slowly. It suited you. Very lovely. Silence for a beat, and then you gulped and spoke up to end the silence.

“My favorite person in the whole wide world is an Eddie…” you mumbled softly.

“Yeah? Who’s this other Eddie?” He raised an eyebrow, dimples showing with the big cheeser he had on his face as he noticed you still weren’t letting go of his hand.

“Eddie V-… Eddie Van Halen…” you stammered.

Eddie’s heart nearly stopped.

“No way, are you shitting me right now?” he demanded.

You shook your head.

“No… I’ve seen him live… he’s… he’s really cool.”

Inhale through the nose, hold for five seconds, exhale through the mouth so he didn’t start having a heart attack.

“How the hell did you end up going to one of those concerts?” He managed

“… my dad. Last year... He took me for an early birthday present…”

So you’ve got good taste in music, and you have a dad that takes you to concerts like Van Halen as an early birthday present…

“They were pit side. I got one of the shirts at my house.”

God dammit… No. There’s no way. There’s no way in the hell that you’re real…

“Which concert was it?” He croaks tentatively.

“The 1984 Tour… I saw them and Autograph play… in Albuquerque.”

He had to stop you right there.

“Okay wait hold on, your dad seriously took you out of Indiana all the way into the middle of nowhere in New Mexico just to see Van Halen for your birthday?! Where in hell do you even live where that seems like a feasible option?! That’s a twelve hour drive at least!”

“I used to live in New Mexico.” You said softly. “I’m not from here…”

Yeah, yeah of course you weren’t from Hawkins. There was no way in shit someone as cool as you, someone who had been pit side to Van fucking Halen, could be from Indiana. It almost gave him flashbacks to shades of his ex, and he nearly wanted to pull away from the conversation. Yet you were so sweet, so different, and he knew if he let you just become a random anecdote in the annals of time, Eddie would have thrown up for weeks and then jumped into traffic if he saw you being poached by someone else.

He pressed on. Heart racing and trying to maintain so that he didn’t spook you.

“Could have fooled me, you don’t have the accent for it.” Eddie said, leaning up against one of the tan lockers.

You hesitated and bit your lower lip, nodding and rocking side to side on your feet as you began to pluck at the loose threads of your jacket.

“… people here don’t like to hear it. So I cover it up…” you said.

“Good idea. Because honestly, it’s not worth the trouble… You’re in Hicksville now. Hawkins isn’t the first narrow minded white bread town, and it’s not going to be the last. Especially if you don’t fit in with their good ol’ boys club mold. Hell, I don’t even fit in it. I’m the biggest target for these bigoted assholes with my reputation. I don’t doubt you’ll get the same amount of bullshit I do.”

“You…?” You blinked, confusion written on your face, “Why would anyone make fun of you?”

Harsh laughter erupted from his throat, and he was so consumed by the absurdity of your question that he didn’t notice you flinch back. As if he was being crucified, Eddie held out his arms dramatically wide, his battle vest opening up to show off his Led Zeppelin baseball tee with a couple of holes in the fabric where the rivets on his jeans had been rubbing against them.

“Take a good look at The Freak of Hawkins High sugarplum. I’m a long haired satan worshiping metalhead cult leader. I play shitty Pantera and Slayer covers in a dive bar every week. I deal drugs to the preppy kids that have more money than sense. I lure innocents in to play my little satanic Dungeons and Dragons games, and then I hotbox it in my van afterwards with them. I’m a Munson, furthest thing from a good little schoolboy. No, no, we Munsons drop out of high school and go to jail young, and probably die young too.”

He went on and on, the word vomit not stopping. If he was going to be honest with himself, he knew this potential thing you two had was dead on arrival from the moment you opened your mouth and started talking about Van Halen. You were way out of his league, even by metalhead standards. From what he gathered, you had deep pockets, or at least your dad did if he was able to take you to shit like Van Halen concerts, something Eddie could only dream of. Everything about this was scary. It was scary and horrifying and the only thing he could think of doing was self sabotaging before he got too attached to you.

And then you frowned, still looking at the floor, until you spoke up, looking him directly in his eyes.

“That doesn’t make no sense… Sounds like a bunch of horseshit to me.” You said simply.

He watched it all happen so suddenly and he couldn’t look away. His large brown eyes widening and his heart turning cartwheels in his chest when he saw the little twinkles of light, the little pinpricks of stars beginning to glimmer in your eyes as you held direct eye contact with him. It wasn’t just that you were cute, because Jesus H. Christ you were the cutest thing he’d ever seen in his life. There were other things he’d never seen on anyone he’d dated: honest to god romance novel pining on your face, your soft lips parting slightly as if you wanted to speak but had lost the words. Your body moved in closer to him, and his own reciprocated purely on instinct, inviting you into his space.

Magnetism.

“None of it makes any sense does it?” He said, voice so low you had to lean further in to hear him, “But this is Hawkins. Judgemental jackanapes abound and people like you and me are lambasted for the crime of being different. Double for you I’m guessing, since you’re the new Hispanic kid in town.”

You nodded, looking hopefully at him.

“Let me guess, you had an easier time fitting in when you were in New Mexico, right?” He asked.

There was a brief hesitation as you gathered your thoughts.

“… Kind of. Maybe not towards the end, but there’s a lot of guys into heavy metal and leather and stuff. A lot of my tios- my uncles- are rockers. My brother likes it too.”

“Older or younger brother?” He asked.

“Older…”

“He get you into metal?” He grinned.

“Yeah.” You said, nodding, “He started me on Black Sabbath and Ozzy, my favorites other than Van Halen. My dad was the one who showed me Van Halen… oh, and Dio…”

“Rad… your dad and your brother got you set up with the best of the best. You have some of the most badass taste in music in all of Hawkins right now.” Eddie praised, and he’d wished he had complimented you sooner, because now that he saw you smile and giggle at his compliments he couldn’t get enough, “… and that’s a hell of a smile you’ve got there sweetheart. And a pretty laugh to match.”

“Quit it…” you giggled.

“Hell no, you can’t just tell me to quit it the second I give you a compliment. Gotta take the compliments where you get them.”

There was that smile, that goddamned cute giggle. The reaction he wanted. You covered up your mouth as you began to uncontrollably laugh, as if you’d taken a fat hit of reefer and had the permanent giggles. He loved people like you, who acted high and giggly without any external help. But he didn’t like how you were trying to hide those teeth from him. He wanted to see it. Wanted to see your smile and bask in the good feeling it gave him.

“Ah ah, none of that!” He scolded, holding up a finger, “You quit hiding that pretty face from me. What? You don’t want me to see it?”

“Nuh uh!” You giggled.

A devilish grin came over Eddie’s face.

“You gonna make me get forceful, sweetheart?”

“Noooooo…!” You whined, laughing harder as you shook your head quickly.

“Cut it out then. Put that damn hand down, lemme see that pretty face.”

Eddie began to wrestle your hand away from your face as you squealed in delight, shrinking in on yourself as he let out a mad giggle. He was enjoying this, enjoying the feeling of touching you and not having his face slapped or being punched in the stomach. You welcomed his touch, almost craved it, flying into a fit of hysterical laughter when he played dirty and grabbed your sides, tickling your soft plump abdomen so that you were forced to move your hands away from your face to shield your belly.

At the end of it, Eddie was breathless with laughter, holding your sides and swaying with you. Coming down from your fun, he saw your smile for the first time. No pearly whites. He could see the flaws and imperfect teeth as you smiled ear to ear.

Real recognizes real…

You are very much real. Very much so. You’re warm and soft and real underneath his fingertips.

“Princess,” he breaths.

You cock your head, swaying side to side and your grin never leaves your face.

“There we go.” He says softly, stroking your sides, “There’s that beautiful smile. See? Much better when you’re not hiding it behind your hands.”

Your eyes sparkled, starry eyes…

He’d only ever seen hungry eyes before. Only ever been desired like one desired a succulent steak or a rich slice of cake. Last year felt like he was giving up so many vital aspects of himself that he almost felt like an imposter when he kept trying to have a better year, a shot at a better life. Everyone had taken from him last year, gnawing at the bones of his corpse until there was nothing left.

Paige looked at me like she wanted to eat me…

But you…

You look at Eddie Munson as if you are awestruck by him, and as shocking as the feeling is, it makes him feel beautiful for a split second. He feels important. He feels valued, like he’s been the epitome of good alignment his whole life and the chaotic parts don’t matter. You look at him like you’re seeing a mythical hero. As if your village was burning to the ground all around you and he’d just come in the nick of time, clad in mithril armor, immune to the flames and devastation and ready to swoop you up to your feet.

But that defiance when you first faced him, the fire in you, it’s a strength, it’s a power he is drawn to. Realistically he knows if he were to swoop in it wouldn’t be to save you, it would be to help you pick up your own sword and fight alongside him.

He wanted that. He wanted someone to fight life’s battles alongside him.

He wanted that someone to be you.

[evidence-of-the-unknown]

[ID: An illustration of a conspiracy theorist's cork board, with three articles pinned up and connected with red string. Notes attached to the articles read, "recent local events" "Won't take my calls- bought out" and "Never trust a lab coat!" end ID] Full transcripts are available under the read more.

We've made it to our first intermission! Special thanks to my dad, a former journalist, for writing the newspaper articles for me. I gave him a basic outline and he did incredible work.

[Article 1 Transcript: Portland radio jock to call Meteor Flats Home Radio personality will be taking your calls on local station KWTF-AM Cecily Palmer Meteor Flats Gazette (Jan. 6, 2019) Big-city radio jock Barney Hopkins will be bringing his unique brand of news, commentary, and community reporting to Meteor Flats with the premiere of his call-in show, Voices on the Air, on our local public radio station, KWTF-AM. “I want to bring my brand of storytelling to a whole new group of people,” Hopkins said. “Kicking around the Pacific Northwest for a few years I’ve seen a lot of stuff — and I mean a lot — and one thing I’ve learned is that every little town has a big story to tell. And it’s usually a pretty weird one.” Meteor Flats’ airwaves are about to get more than a little weirder, if you judge by Hopkins record in famously weird Portland, OR. While a student at Portland State University he reportedly devoted a week-long series on campus radio to investigating claims of a Sasquatch living in the nearby Forest Park. Sources say he was kicked off the student radio station after a late-night interview that he claimed was conducted with a “moth-man,” although no tapes of the alleged incident exist and students who supposedly heard it said it consisted only of Hopkins asking questions interspersed with a “freaky buzzing sound, man.” “You’d have to be blind to think we’re alone on this big, strange, spinning ball of mud,” Hopkins told this reporter. “I’ve been calculating the vectors and time-tables, and I’m telling you — Meteor Flats is special, and I’m here to give a voice to the side of this community that the suit-and-tie types don’t want you to hear from!” Sources at Meteor Falls Community College & Technical School say Hopkins has been in contact with “certain fringe individuals” in the departments of Conceptual Physics and Speculative Biology, but Dean Alister Frumke has refused to comment on any association with the controversial Hopkins. Voices on the Air premieres at 9:30 p.m. on January 12 on KWTF, 999.9 AM. End transcript.]

[Article 2 transcript: Government project expected to draw traffic to the area, but critics are concerned Hiram McDougal Meteor Flats Gazette (April. 12, 2016) A new government project 15 miles outside our neighboring community of Carrion, NM, promises to bring jobs and business to our quiet corner of the state, but some area residents are worried about the secretive facility. Details are scarce, but the facility will reportedly be known as the Carrion National Lab for Unquantizable Physics Research. Signs visible Tuesday at the construction site credited the Grimke- Yao-Kandinsky Foundation as the funding entity, but the signs had been replaced by Wednesday with generic signage proclaiming “Good Things Coming, Just You Wait!” with a mascot character of a happy dancing atom. Some residents have expressed concern that the exact nature of the research to be conducted ta the facility is unknown. The college was unable to shine any light on the subject. “We have no official connection to the project,” proclaimed Meteor Flats Community College Dean Alister Frumke, “and nothing more to add at this time.” However, sources on the faculty reported that several members of the Department of Conceptual Physics had recently been granted multi-year sabbaticals, and the college itself had apparently obtained additional funding from unknown sources. Local contractors have confirmed that they have been hired to build a new covered parking and faculty pool facility for the school administration. Nonetheless, local business leaders were optimistic about the impacts of the new project. “It’s about time we got our own Area 51,” said Madge Plover, owner of the All Right All Night Diner on the south edge of town. “Get some tourists in here looking for flying whatnots. And all those research guys — researchers — whatever, they’ve got to go some place for a good meal — Lord knows Carrion isn’t exactly burstin’ with five-star eateries.” “I reckon I’ll offer them up a dis- count,” she added. “Ten percent off to anyone in a lab coat!” Access to the site has been limited by a new fence installed sometime between midnight Thursday and dawn Friday of last week. End transcript.]

[Article 3 transcript: Carrion residents claim lights, missing animals linked meteor flats experts skeptical about claims of “mystery lights” Hiram McDougal Editor, Meteor Flats Gazette Scientific authorities at Meteor Flats Community College and the prestigious yet mysterious Carrion National Laboratories are skeptical about claims of “mystery lights” and other phenomena in the skies over the tiny neighboring community of Carrion, NM. “I think if anything was going on in our airspace, we would have noticed,” said Dr. Helena Von Weber, formerly of the Meteor Flats college and currently listed as “director of unspecified research” at Carrion National Labs. Carrion residents have pestered sheriff’s deputies with reports of clusters of lights “flying in formation” over the small desert town for the past several weeks. Adding to the confusion, local rancher Daphne Frick has blamed the loss of a prize mare on the unknown aerial lights. “There was a light out back, bright as day, then it just shut off, like a door slamming shut, and the next morning she was just gone,” Frick said. She described the light as “cold and white, like a magnesium flare, but also kind of warm and purple, you know?” Area veterinarian Dr. Dani Ortega said no “unknown aerial phenomena” are needed to explain the disappearance. “Coyotes are a lot more likely than UFOs,” she said. “Dang things are clever. Hungry too.” “It’s just coyotes,” she repeated, convincingly. — Nov. 17, 2022 Unverified photo of “lights” submitted by a Carrion resident. End transcript.]

[ghosttownwherenoonegoes]

Eri!!! 🖤 https://www.tumblr.com/ghosttownwherenoonegoes/718476780121505792/in-honour-of-the-1st-year-anniversirywith-our-baby?source=share

I'll get my new sideline uniform for cheer next week because the season starts and...maybe Eddie reacting to that? Or accompanying me to cheer for me while I'm cheering? That's the dream 🖤

The cheerleader's cheerleader

Kiki!!🥰✨Okay, so I thought long and hard about this request, what to write and how to write it, and I think I finally got something worthy of the person who not only introduced me to Eddie Munson, but also coaxed me into watching Stranger Things and therefore introduced me to a comfort character and a comfort show in one hit!!💗I hope that you enjoy this. I did a lot of research on cheer; watched some videos, studied your DMs and tried to incorporate everything that I could, and I did my bestest!!! Thank you for everything, Kiki, you made this fandom my home and I'm so grateful for everything.🫂

Word count: 1, 150.

(It had to be this GIF, it had to be.🤣🥺My heart is aching, I miss him so much.💔)

SOME physical description given; reader is a flyer so they are explicitly described as being small. Kiki was absolutely in mind 100% when I wrote this so it’s very tailored to her. I hope others can enjoy it, though.

You had been quietly and impatiently waiting for your sideline uniform to be sent to you through the post; the cheerleading season started soon and that was all you were waiting on for your position as a flyer to become official. Somehow, the experience of getting to go back into cheerleading and your corresponding emotions became more real once you had the uniform in your hands, adorable hair ribbons included.

It was supposed to arrive this week and you couldn't have been more pleased, excited and nervous if you had tried. Eddie, if it was possible, was even more of everything than you were. The sweet boy was like a sponge, soaking up the atmosphere around you as you seemed almost to vibrate whenever you sat or stood still for an extended period of time. You reminded Eddie - and Uncle Wayne, when the plant let him have a rare night off - of himself, when he was in the throes of planning a new campaign. He would giggle to himself as he made contingency plans of contingency plans, come up with creative ways for his sheep's characters to get themselves out of the stick situations he threw them into, a shepherd tending to his flock even as he tortured them just a little, just enough to get them squirming in their seats and whispering wishes into hands cupped around many sided dice. He was a sadistic Dungeon Master and yet he experienced genuine happiness and excitement when he was bested, proud of his sheep and of his Hellfire boys.

And you, oh, you were a live wire. Cheer was the only sports you had ever enjoyed. It was one of your true callings in life, you could feel it deep in your bones. You had been given the position of a flyer due to your physical stature; you were small which meant that you could do backflips in the air, reach the top of the pyramid, be thrown around and receive the attention and admiration of an entire crowd of people. It was incredibly difficult, and it was a sport which Eddie had a lot of respect for. He never included cheerleaders in his anti-conformity canteen-table rants for a reason and that was because it was genuinely hard to be a cheerleader. It required so much practice, determination, passion and trust in the other cheerleaders. But shit like bastketball? Toss a ball into a basket and that was the extent of it... Eddie had no respect for that. None at all. Jocks weren't worth it, but cheerleaders? Eddie admired them.

You loved the thrill of being up in the air, of feeling the wind in your hair and seeing the gymnasium from an angle very few got to. It gave you an adrenaline high like nothing else, and Eddie loved the spark it put in your eyes.

"Hey, sweetheart?" Eddie came bounding around the corner of his bedroom, his dark curls brushing against the tops of his shoulders and his chocolate eyes soft with love for you. He was holding a package in his hands and you knew just from the smirk of your face what he was bringing you. "Look what I've got ~ " the gleeful sing song of his voice made you grin, the expression infectious as Eddie couldn't keep his own off his face. Oh, but you two were always feeding off each other's emotions and making any moment even more special between the two of you. You were so very similar, in many ways.

You loved cheer, you loved it, and you needed no prompting at all from Eddie to grab the package as you tore it open and your eyes consumed the first sight of your uniform, as your hands felt the material for the first time; tougher than usual thanks to the factory starch which was always put onto new clothes. Eddie's smile was still almost as wide as his face, threatening to split his cheeks in two as he watched you. You were so happy, squealing and expressing your excitement so viscerally that you weren't even fully aware of yourself, and the sweet man was simply enjoying your happiness and deriving his own from it. If you were the sunshine, then Eddie was the tallest sunflower, following you wherever you went for the pleasure of your warmth across his face.

"Go try it on, babe, go on," The upward lilt of Eddie's voice sounded a lot like when he was goading his sheep to make a decision during a tense moment in a campaign, and you were gone like a bullet from a gun, leaving Eddie staring after you with an ache in his chest.

When had the Dungeon Master become the cheerleader's cheerleader?

Thankfully, your unform fit with no problems and days passed, until finally, finally, it was the first day of the season. If Eddie had thought that you were excited before, when you received your uniform in the post, then it had nothing on what you were feeling right now. You had your feet firmly on the ground and yet it felt like you were already on the top of the pyramid, your lungs burning in your chest, your body working hard to keep you steady atop the others, your adrenaline high even higher than you. You were on cloud nine and Eddie was right there beside you, his hand tightly in yours, fingers interlocked.

"So, sweetheart," Eddie tooks his keys out of the ignition and turned to smirk at you, his hands reaching out in opposite directions; one sliding up from your knee where it had rested to wrap around your wrist, and the other grasping for the door handle. You should have known that what it looked like Eddie was doing, wasn't what he had planned. "You ready to do that, y'know," he mimed a very weak, silly imitation of cheerleading to make you giggle, "thing you do?"

Your voice was saturated with sunshine and laughter as you said, "you coming with me? That'd be a dream, Eddie." You cracked the passenger side door open but remained in your seat, wanting every second right beside Eddie. Oh, but you loved him so much that it put a solid ache in your chest.

Eddie leaned over the console between your seats to give you a lingering, tender kiss to your forehead as he murmured, "I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else. I promise." Something shifted in his chest as he said that. Something clicked into place for him, just as it had for you the day that you had signed up for cheer once again. Eddie remembered a few days ago when he had asked himself to recall when the Dungeon Master had also become the cheerleader's cheerleader?

But now he knew the answer. He could feel it in his bones...

... It was the day he had fallen in love with you.

[its-your-mind]

hello all and welcome back to everyone's favorite game show:

can! that! comic! artist! be! trusted! with! womennnn!!!* *airhorn noises*

*in like, a drawing way. can they be trusted to draw women. I know literally nothing else about these artists. whether or not real life women choose to trust them is entirely up to the women.

up first! We have *drumroll* Kasia Niemczyk! *airhorn noises*

exhibit a:

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2025) #12 Kasia Niemczyk Variant

why do gwen's boobs need their own air pocket/ventilation. why does it seem like it's just there to make her boobs bigger. is the air stored in the boobs? oh wait, it can't be, because the bottom is just. open.

exhibit b:

Psylocke (2025) #3 Kasia Niemczyk Variant

you know what, it commits the sin of slightly overemphasized boobs, but I will FORGIVE IT EVERYTHING bc LOOK! AT! THOSE! THIGHS! they are fucknig real! they squish like real muscled thighs do! (source: I too have very muscly thighs accompanied by no ass bc the muscle is the same fuckign muscle) even her calves are squishing properly! (source: see above. one time I flexed my calf in front of a lesbian to show off the tattoos I have there and their brain shorted out for a second. it is still one of the highlights of my life.) ANYWAY holy fuck I am so delighted by this. it almost makes me forgive and forget gwen's open-to-the-vacuum-of-space air boobs. almost.

exhibit c:

Wasp (2023) #1 1:25 Kasia Niemczyk Variant

I... hmm.

I'm starting to think this artist can be trusted with thighs and not boobs. thighs are pretty okay. why does it feel like her suit has like. four sets of nipples somehow? even though it's all just body armor??? also, where are all of her torso organs, bc they are certainly not in her torso.

Verdict on Kasia Niemczyk: to be trusted with thighs. boobs require much improvement. can continue to draw women, but is on thin fucking ice.

our next contestant: *drumroll* Jeff Dèkal!!! *airhorn noises*

exhibit a:

Fire & Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #1 Cover C

I... what the fuck. hey, hey Jeff??? what the fuck. did you. did you censor out Ice's junk? like this is the sfw cover of fuckign vampirella?!? and what the fuck is that fucking jock-strap (her only item of clothing) that's pretending to try to be a bra?!? and like, Fire is better, but only because it would be literally impossible to be worse without needing to fucking bag the comics in opaque bags like one does the porn. like the aforementioned vampirella, specifically when it is nsfw and full tits-out. (brief sidebar: I don't have anything against porn comics necessarily, though I do hate having to share a store with straight men when they start talking about them. also, I don't want my DC comics to accidentally become porn without like. letting me know about it.) (also, here are fire and ice's normal outfits, just as a point of reference:)

Fire & Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #1 - Cover art by Terry Dodson

like, still sexy for SURE, but very clearly their own kinds of sexy that don't involve walking around fucking pooh bear style.

I don't even wanna get another one. but in the interests of journalistic integrity.

exhibit b:

Power Girl (2024) #15 Cover B

oh my fucking shit. holy good gosh. how did he oversexualize POWER GIRL. my beautiful angel alien icon what has he DONE TO YOU. what the ufck is with the MAKEUP?! the brows, the thick eye-liner, the dark lip??? and. the boobs. he took the BOOB WINDOW for which power girl is KNOWN which has at this point been ESTABLISHED as POWER OVER HER OWN SEXUALITY and she's. looking down at it. drawing your attention to it. and made it lower??? so that you (at least me) think "holy fuck she is one wrong move from flashing a nipple that can't be good for superheroing"

and again. for FUCKING reference:

Power Girl #16 Cover B by Miguel Mercado

look at her fuckin cheeky little wink while she fully flexes and shows off! fuck I love her sm (also. LEGS. s h o u l d e r s. abs. hngngnng.)

okay I don't wanna keep looking. jeff, you've failed. no more comic book women for you. get off my superhero lawn.

[alwayscryingoverdannyb]

choose violence, queen: 1, 8, 13 please and thanks 💙

1) the character everyone gets wrong this is less of a condemnation of people's comprehension of the source material and more of a testament to the inconsistency of the writing but I’m gonna say cullen from dragon age. I feel like his characterization was jerked around so much based on what was needed of him… and the result is that by the time I got to playing the games, my experience didn’t align with anything I read about him (and I’ve read a lot from both ends of the popularity spectrum). so from my pov, everyone gets him wrong. but at the same time I believe it’s possible that majority of people feel the same way as I do, with their own versions. basically his character requires a lot of your own invention to make him make sense, so inevitably, many people will end up with a unique version of him. ppl get him wrong bc he’s impossible to get right.

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about that varric is a cool, nice guy. *** all varric fans look away now and skip this :D this is not for your eyes ***

(are y’all really gone)

so anyways, he’s a well-connected, scheming person by nature. and I could respect that, but what gets under my skin is his bff behavior to you right from the get go. there was no room to establish anything resembling trust (which to me he doesn’t inspire in the first place) and he’s shoe-horned into your story as your bff. like, no thank you I choose my own friends. and if you don’t want to divulge your personal information for his stories, he gets mad at you, the entitled git. he also likes to play nice with everyone to the point that it’s fake and he changes his tune real fast when convenient. and the games also treat him like the “heart” of the story in a sense which only makes it worse for me personally (like torchwood did with gwen)

13) worst blorboficiation oh my god cullen from dragon age..... they twisted him into this weird disney prince in DA:I that goes from shy and awkward to a confident jock REAL quick. like if you spinned a wheel of popular romance tropes and smooshed them together without a thought to whether the don’t happen to be contradictory. so many of his diehard fans are like uwu cully wully hunky templar and I’m just… bruh. he’s a ptsd-ridden soldier who was brainwashed and carries his prejudices with him still. his trauma doesn’t yet let him see some important points of view; he’s not as dumb as the game likes to occasionally make him but his prejudices and narrow views are his limitations. and I love him Like That. no need to disregard his flaws completely. to me he’s someone still on his way to become the best version of himself he can be.

thank you 🙏🏻 this felt good

[spurious]

how about BTS for O I Think We Should Be Brethren

(Fic-Specific asks)

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

trap card ACTIVATED although i don't even know where to start tbh

O I Think We Should Be Brethren aka Live Oak #4 aka John Sheppard's Sad Gay Life Fic aka the longest thing i have ever completed and posted aka my sort of mcshep thesis

I did a little commentary post on the whole first chapter of this fic, soooooooooo I'll go with something from chapter 2. The thing about chapter two of this fic is that it’s kind of just a collection of episode tags, but I didn’t want it to be just a collection of episode tags, because that would be boring, but I also wanted to hew very closely to canon events but just shown through the lens of John’s developing feelings. What that got me was basically all the very clearly episode-related sections, along with sections where nothing much happens but we get some glimpses into John’s feelings, into their more mundane interactions. I was torn between choosing this or the very early section where John obliquely comes out to Rodney, because that was something I wrote really early on and informs a lot of Rodney’s actions through the story, but I feel like I might have more to say, in the aggregate, about this bit, which is set shortly after the events of The Shrine:

After what Rodney takes to calling his "brush with stupidity," he becomes obsessed with creating documentation for all of the small, essential (according to him) tasks he does around Atlantis.

I think it makes a certain level of sense that, despite having near-on five years of his life being in grave danger multiple times, the possible loss of his mind is what would spur Rodney into the realization that he probably needs to document some shit.

"I can't trust anyone else to know to do this," he explains, manic, when John finds him in a rarely-used lab at three in the morning. He's bent over a Frankenstein abomination of Earth and Ancient tech (and no small measure of duct tape), something he's obviously jury-rigged himself, and he's in such a state that, thankfully, he doesn't even think to ask why or how John found him there at this hour. "What the hell is it, Rodney?" John tilts his head, stepping in closer—it probably won't explode in his face, he figures.

Why John found him there: because he knows Rodney's driving himself nuts trying to document a million tiny things and hasn't been sleeping. How John found him there: life signs detector and several years' practice studying the Wandering Habits of the Wild McKay

"You know that old joke that the entirety of modern digital infrastructure is all leaning on some free, open-source project being thanklessly maintained by a random guy in a basement somewhere, and the whole of the internet and probably the world's banking systems will break when he either gives it up or dies?" Rodney says, hitting somewhere close to a personal best on words-per-minute and not even stopping for John's answer. "No, wait, of course you don't, you're not a geek."

I stole that joke from XKCD but it just came into my mind and I would imagine Rodney spitting the whole thing out in one uninterrupted breath. (anyway i did link it in the endnotes so)

John scowls. "Hey!" "Fine," Rodney acquiesces, "you're not that kind of geek." And that, John can agree to. He'll match Rodney on comics and sci-fi trivia and mental math, but he's never gotten too into computers that aren't on board something that can go very fast.

John being offended that after all these years Rodney still thinks he's a jock is just, cute to me alright. He's a geek, he likes geek stuff, he's just also hot and has generic man interests as well!! I like the bit about computers that aren't on board something that can go very fast, though, that feels...correct to me.

"So this is Atlantis's free, open-source project and you're the basement-dweller who thanklessly maintains it?" "Exactly," Rodney answers, apparently too wrapped up in the work to notice John's lovingly-crafted insult.

All of John's insults are lovingly crafted.

"And you're writing documentation for it?" John pulls out a chair, sprawling lazily so he can get a look at what's on Rodney's screen. He's got a laptop open with a dense-looking brick of text he's typing additions to, and a tablet with what looks like a hand-drawn schematic pulled up on it. "Oh, well-spotted, Colonel Obvious," Rodney says drily, rolling his eyes. "I doubt anyone will really understand what it does, but Zelenka's a competent enough engineer to at least be able to follow a manual." "Right," John says, and then he sits, watching Rodney type, poke at the device, curse, and type some more. About five minutes go by before he speaks again. "You could also consider just staying alive so you can keep fixing it?"

John, five years in, having watched as Rodney slowly lost everything that makes him him, is a bit weak. That's really the only explanation for why he just says the quiet part out loud, here, even though he's trying to make it sound like a joke. I like this scene because it feels right to have them have this kind of conversation, this kind of bare, quiet intimacy, while the rest of the city is asleep, cocooned together in a lab with Rodney's tech all around them.

"Well, yes, obviously that's what I would prefer as well," Rodney says peevishly, the clacking of the keyboard turning a shade violent as the pitch of his voice rises. "But apparently this galaxy has other plans for me, and it was honestly foolish of me to have gone this long without coming to terms with the fact that I could die at any moment without anyone able to continue my work, so—" John doesn't think, his hand shooting out to grab Rodney's as it flails through the air in a helpless, fatalistic gesture. Rodney stops, mouth half-open, and just stares at John's hand, wrapped around his wrist, fingers curled against Rodney's palm. They're frozen like that, both staring at their hands, until Rodney says, voice quiet, "John?"

I love this part, this image right here. John not knowing what to do and just wanting to make Rodney stop and breathe for a second. Rodney absolutely stymied by the sudden physical contact, the nearness to hand-holding, enough that he uses John's given name. Rodney's actually going through a lot, emotionally, during this fic, that all becomes eventually clear in chapter 3, and this is definitely one of the sections I wrote with all of that very much at the forefront of my mind.

John squeezes Rodney's hand, just once, and looks at his face. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Rodney." And it's a promise John knows he can't keep, but it's also the only thing he can think to say, because he desperately wants it to be true, to be something he can say with certainty. Rodney, of course, is a man of science, and he understands reality, understands probability. "You can't promise—" John squeezes again, feels out the broad thickness of Rodney's palm. "I've done it up till now, haven't I?"

This scene has echoes of their beer on the pier, where Rodney tries to say goodbye and John just won't, legitimately refuses to, like, engage with reality? Because on some level I think John actually does believe that he can protect Rodney, can keep him safe from harm; he knows he'll give his life for that to be the truth, and he hopes, deep down, even though he's tried very very hard to extinguish that very hope, that his love, his devotion, will be enough.

Rodney's eyebrows knit together, his gaze darting around, and then he nods, quick and final. "Yes, I suppose you have."

Rodney may not know the true depth of John's feelings, but he believes this, too. Believes in John, in a way I don't think he believes in many things.

Love and honor, protect and cherish. Till death. It may not be vows, but it feels like them, to John.

Here's the wedding vows motif making an appearance again. John, fatalistic, eyes wide open, pledging and devoting his life to Rodney even though he doesn't think it'll ever be reciprocated, because he can't do anything else. Can't do anything less. He tries, several times, throughout this story, to pull away and put some distance between himself and Rodney, and every single time it ends up failing, for one reason or another. He's drawn back into Rodney's orbit, inexorably, but he's also so wrapped up in his own inwardly-directed misery that he doesn't realize Rodney's drawn to him right back.

He swallows around the lump in his throat, standing up and using their joined hands to pull Rodney up with him. Their hands slide apart, and John steps back, puts some distance between them. "Now come on, that big brain of yours needs some sleep."

Literally right here he's putting physical distance, after saying what, to John, amount to wedding vows. It's too much, too open, and he needs to get them back to an equilibrium because it feels dangerous to let that moment sit between them for too long.

"Yeah, alright," Rodney says, gathering up the laptop and tablet before he follows John out the door.

god. okay. i gave myself a lot of feelings writing all this out!!!!!!!!!!! i love this story so much, i think it's probably the best thing i've ever written, and.....idk i'm happy to talk about it forever and ever so thank you for asking???????????????????????? seriously.

[lifesver]

meta about the tcm game friend group????? yeah!

maria: it is my opinion that leland was really close w maria. i think she was probably the first of the group he met, along w julie and danny? it was his first year in college and he was probably doing way too much initially to try to fit in among the frat boys and w/e, but maria was someone genuine and i think that drew him to her. he loved maria a lot, they had a lot of personal values in common. and i think she impacted his overall view of the world, in that she saw beauty in everything and was just a very open and kind soul. being friends with her probably taught him how to slow down a little bit and appreciate the things that captured her love and interest in photography, like sunsets and flower fields and candids of their friends. and i think about how explosive his reaction was to finding her body at the slaughter house. like, for him it was sort of like... if someone like that could be taken away so cruelly and without reason then like what kind of god would allow that to happen? it drove such an emotional spike in him for a long time, he was just angry and sad and didn't know what to do with that. but, thinking about her very nature and how she saw things probably also helped him heal from the grief of losing her and what happened to them all at that house.

sonny: i think them being besties is so charming to me because it's just so jock nerd archetype it is a wonder that sonny puts up w leland's affectionate one braincell self. and yet... anyway i feel like they either roomed together first year or they met through maria but you already know that sonny is The reason leland isn't failing his courses and leland knows it. i think what leland loves about sonny is that he's so earnest in his interests and how observant he is, noticing things that the average person simply wouldn't. leland just thinks he's neat. and like, he's kind and reliable. even if sonny was scared or had his doubts about going out to find maria, he didn't say no. leland has brawn and courage but he always looks to sonny when there's a choice to be made because he just sincerely trusts his judgement. and though leland will tease him like zzzz nerd shit be so serious bro could listen to sonny talk at him about nerd shit forever because he loves him. anyway if anyone ever steps to sonny while leland's around it's so over for them. that's my emotional support nerd? if anything ever happened to sonny i'd kill everyone in this room etc?

connie: i think danny and julie maybe introduced these two at a party or smth but connie and him got off on the wrong foot for the first little while because he wasn't beating the dumb jock allegations. honestly she was so mean pretty girl from out of state that leland liked her immediately but it was simply not mutual. him, affectionate: ice princess. but anyway she shot him down and humbled him pretty immediately and he was like yeah fair enough! have a great day! anyway somehow he grew on her like some kind of moss and they became pretty inseparable once she figured out he's just dumb (affectionate, unthreatening). he knows she can handle herself but also he steps to any dudes that bother her too much or make dumbass comments. they r each others rocks they both do the 'hiding our emotions to be a source of stability for others' but she's definitely seen his most raw emotional side. he also often looks to her for like... a realistic and honest take on a given situation, because he knows she won't sugarcoat things that he needs to hear. idk he loves her a lot, like he'd listen to her talk about w/e just like very fondly. and appreciates that girl who does not show affection will be affectionate w him u know???

julie: so i think julie and him got along pretty quickly, and she was maybe one of the first of the friend group he met? they're sharing a jock braincell and their vibes are simply on similar wavelengths and honestly i feel like he looks up to her a lot? she's just so cool california girl like she might as well be a hollywood star already. he probably goes to her for advice, and also when he's being vaguely whiny and pathetic. but anyway i can see them being chaotic to deal with in any party game scenario, the dual jock energy is too powerful in any scenario tbh. and while i think julie thinks a little more than he does before jumping, they're kind of the first people to jump in feet first. esp if they were both close to maria. leland's like well if julie's going i'm going. leland really resonates with and appreciates her loyalty and bravery for the people around her, she's someone that probably holds the group together as one of their pillars? that's how he sees her anyway! her presence is an immediate morale boost for him, even and especially in the situation they find themselves in later. trusts her loves her would be there for her no matter what, knows she has his back!

danny: danny is probably someone leland was introduced to through julie and maria, and probably wasn't the type of person leland ever hung out with in like, highschool. obviously danny had a tough upbringing and was kind of other side of the tracks from him, but he also seemed like a very down to earth easy going person so i feel like leland would have at least on his end gotten along with danny quickly. he's just your local chill stoner van vibes type dude how can you not like him. i think they probably share a braincell sometimes like i think they're funny and encourage each other's nonsense. they are giving me vibes of bros who u find passed out cuddling or half sprawled on each other after the party just bro things. but like w/ julie leland appreciates danny's ride or die loyalty like i feel like he was probably also easy to convince to go find maria, since his summary mentions how close he was with her. supposedly also a tough kid so u know, leland and danny handshake emoji protect our friends boys???

ana: idk if any of the friends would have known ana but leland definitely heard about her from maria, and knew how much maria cared about her little sister. i think that immediately upon meeting her, he quickly likes her because of course, she reminds him of one of his closest friends. he's kind of like... in awe and humbled a bit by her determination to find her sister, taking it into her own hands to form a search party. so, whatever his reservations are about anything, there's no shot he could have told her no. i think as they go on the roadtrip, he feels for her being like, an outsider to their group, and kind of does his best to make her feel welcome with them. bring her spirits up a little bit etc. i think he also feels very responsible in particular for keeping her safe, for maria's sake, and then ofc a responsibility to ana to find maria, because he knows their family has been through a lot already. idk, she's brave and resilient and he respects her a lot!

[avens-cave]

han can be all types of gender envy,,

in this post i shall explain (i have no clue how long this will be so bare with me) (my source? just trust me bro)

first we got the jock gender envy:

how tf does he do it ? i dont like it when men look like this but han begs to differ and oh my god is he winning,, gender envy is there

then we got the (history/english) teacher gender envy:

(its the glasses) something abt him wearing glasses is so gender envy just look at him !!!!!! also the outfit in the second one is so.... just.... yea you get it

then we got the babygirl gender envy:

i need to know how he does it. like can you see this man,, he can do it all

then we got the (loosely) emo gender envy:

he is the moment,, he does it and he excels at it. i just love how he can flawlessly pill anything off

honorable mention:

i just love these too much not to add them,, can you tell i rlly like his glasses like omgggggg sndhdjdbidnwjxocsndjoffm

tl;dr: han jisung gives me major gender envy and i go into detail abt it (with pictures !)

most of the pictures are taken from @250318 🫶 (all but two i think)

thank you that is all :)

[fictionkinfessions]

(Warning: this post contains mentions of homophobia/transphobia, outing, fake/toxic friends, bullying, deadnaming, and other uncomfortable subjects)

Fuuuck it's like 2:30 in the morning when I'm typing this and I'm so so tired but I feel like I need to say this right now or else I'll forget

So, noncanon characters in my canon? I've already gone into the whole Ray thing (basically, my source is separated into Cases, and each Case has a different character representing the Storyteller. Evelynn is the original Case 2 Storyteller, but in my canon, it was Ray instead, who was originally the Case 1 Storyteller. Does that make sense?), so I'll avoid talking about that for now. You know, after that whole context-dump.

I'd like to talk about this asshole named Andrew.

Basically, I was in 7th grade. Even back then, I was bullied pretty badly, mainly for being transmasc and how I still presenting femininely despite insisting I was a boy. I had no friends, and I hadn't met Stephanie yet, so really, I had never had a friend up to that point.

Well, then Andrew came along. He came up to me and started talking to me, and I gotta admit, I was pretty shocked. Andrew was one of the popular jock kids, if I remember correctly, so I was a little suspicious of him being so nice to me so early on. However, I was really desperate for a friend, so I ended up latching on to him.

...It was a little rough, to say the least. He'd always just talk about himself and never let me say anything, he'd "forget" to use the right name and pronouns for me, and he just had the weirdest vibe... it made me super uncomfortable, but again, I needed a friend, so I let it all slide.

Then, somehow, after a couple weeks, I fell in love with him.

I don't know how it happened. I was so scared and confused, because I'd never had a crush on anyone until then, not even a small one. I never even thought I could love anyone like that. The fact that we were both boys just made it even scarier. What would everyone else say? I was already a "fake boy", but now I was a "fake boy" who liked other boys. I had no idea what to do.

I ended up telling Andrew about it, because I had no idea what else to do. I remember it clearly. I was apologizing so much to him, begging him not to tell anyone else, crying because I was so terrified that he'd hate me.

How did it go? Well, you know that thing some bullies do where they pretend to be your friend purely so they can get into your head and not-so-subtly mock you while you're too oblivious to notice?

Yeah.

He told me it was fine, but then he never talked to me again after that. He ended up telling all of his friends about me being gay, and from then on, everything got so much worse.

I'll never forget how I found out about it. I was walking down the hall alone on the way to my locker, and I saw Andrew and his friends. Right when I was about to say hi, one of his friends yelled "[cr-word] Kelly wants to be a [f-slur]" (it doesn't have the same effect when it's censored like that, but I think it's obvious what I mean). They all laughed at me. Andrew pushed me onto the floor. I felt someone kick me. I was devastated.

...so yeah, that's the story of how I was outed by my crush. Trust me, it fucked me up. I was too scared to talk to anyone at school for, like, two years after that. I think I first started cutting shortly after that whole incident. It was awful.

Sorry for the essay. I just really wanted to share this, and this ask game just gave me an excuse, I guess. I need to go to bed so bad lmao.

-Kennith Simmons