#i just want it to get fixed cause this is the last d&d group i have rn and like...

[cokoweee]

OH wow! Two updates in 24 hours! Okay I really wanted to dig into this, because there were so many things on just the writing and dialogue and I LOVE it!

These two panels were fun, because there is something soft in Kendra’s face. Nostalgia, affection…also the wet beads of water coming off her hair, since she climbed out of the bath….but I’ll continue this rant later…

This is interesting….We have seen Donnie borderline catatonic so this could be Draxum’s latent parental instincts not wanting to push Donnie just yet. (Or worried that Kendra might be a trigger?)

Though funny that this was what pushed Casey to reach out….I included a snippet from Replica…but…lol both you and Kat having Casey very particular about her male family members helping her out, is understandable

Heh…that’s rich, considering you are gonna have your own lizard children Kendra…not that you know that, I guess… Still this feels like a “tempting fate” line/foreshadowing. Mostly, because Casey insisted that the father is human. (I think?) But likely a jab at how Kendra calls her “Beast” all the time.

Ohhh…what is this trinket?! <_<

This is the face of someone who is either gonna pretend to be a toy or a child if Kendra gets pulled over XD

Okay this brings me back to my thoughts after the first image…Kendra likely had been thinking about stuff since her initial talk while fixing Yuichi’s arm the first time. However the “event” and Raph’s chat with her possibly had her start really mulling over it. We know Kendra has been struggling with her identity in the way of not belonging. She accepted she was an outcast…and possibly still considers herself an outcast. However with everything she has been doing: the training, modifying the jetpack, upgrading Yuichi’s arm…it certainly is setting this precedence. If Kendra doesn’t fit in this group’s mold by default, she is gonna make some changes so she does.

The past Kendra would never adjust to accommodate others. She is unapologetically herself. So why is she going through the trouble to make little changes…why does she want to properly ask Donnie if she can stay with him? Because when you love someone, you accommodate them. And not in the way, that you should change yourself for someone. However if there are traits that are holding you back, and it benefits you both in the long run, sometimes little changes are necessary. Kendra is changing, because she wants this. She may not know how her dynamic will change, but she wants it to get better.

And…I forget how I planned to wrap this up, but…. It is an organic way to bring happily ever after that much closer, and in a way that doesn’t compromise Kendra’s identity. Again, your writing and dialogue are amazing, and the way you pair it with your drawings makes some great storytelling.

Oof writing is such a struggle but considering I do hours of acting out dialogue both irl and in my head certainly do help. NOW TO ANSWER SOME OF THESE LIL SNIPPETS U SEPERATED but under a cut cause this is a bit long lol

Draxum is a weird dude to write for me but for me he’s another that lost almost his whole fam. He doesn’t wanna risk losing the last one that’s there even if they aren’t how they once were.

CASEY NOT WANTING DRAXUM ALL UP IN HER 🍰 IS A REAL! ITS LIKE UR GRANDPA/DAD/UNCLE SAYING THEYLL DO IT FOR YOU

That lil TrInkEt will be helpful later :D (I think. Please I haven’t fully thought this plan through)

You point out that she never would accommodate for someone else and yuh you’re right. Bitch would make others accommodate to her. This tho

“Because when you love someone, you accommodate them”

Idk how to word this, it’s pretty difficult to conjure up in my head words for this. For her it’s. She can’t see those feelings. Define them. It’s a case of extra caring without knowing why and it’s irritating. Like a fly u can’t kill. Or a butterfly. Pretty and you don’t want it to leave but also don’t want that big bitch flying all up in your face

[brainrot-goes-brrrrrr]

Savannah Squad Presentation Night Headcanons/Drabble [2/3]

it has been forever :'D (everyone say thank you to @moonbiine)

ANYWAYS, here's part 2 :}

Part 1: Taylor & Logan Part 2: Ben & Tyler Part 3: Aiden & Ashlyn [WIP]

Logan's POV

Two hours and twenty-eight minutes. It has been two hours and twenty-eight minutes and we've been stuck at 76% complete for forty minutes. Whoever made Windows deserves to burn and I stand by that, cause what do you mean that they can push an update and force restart my laptop.

"Logan when was the last time you updated this?" "Logan, why are there fifteen updates that need to be downloaded?" "Bro, when was the last time you actually shut down your laptop?" ... "I've been busy, okay--"

So it might be my fault. Partially. I will admit that much, but the laptop's never given me a problem before and it was running fine. It's just old, and has a few odd... kinks? I mean, the left half of the mousepad is jammed to the point where it can't click, and, sure, the screen does go black every now and again, but just hit it a few times it works! It's character, charm even (and I can't be bothered to fix it...)!

It was, honest to God, easier for Aiden to run back to his place and grab his laptop.

"So we agree that Logan is off electronic duty right?" Taylor had asked as Ben was setting up the other computer to the television screen with Aiden helping. It was a unanimous decision. Ben and Aiden are the new tech guys.

"Yeah, that's probably for the better," I had conceded.

Ben Clarke

Ben goes next because he saved the groups sanity by suggesting that Aiden just gets his laptop. Everyone, thank Ben for the night not failing.

To address the obvious, Ben has a text to speech app on his phone, which is connected to a speaker, that he uses to present. I will say that there is a sort of humor in this for two reasons. One, the voice can either be monotoned like a typical text-to-speech program with funny pronunciation errors, or two, it will sound like one of those videos on tiktok where an AI is reading a tumblr post about SuperBats or something and gets progressively more expressive as time goes on. Personally, I want to hear exasperated robot Ben voice explaining to Aiden why "Life is a Highway" on repeat can and will be considered a torture method.

Ben's music taste is GODLY. And he's more of a eclectic listener too so he has experience with a good amount of genres. This man does not bash other genres of music that he doesn't care for, he thinks its rude to the person he's talking to and to the artist.

Aiden is the exception to this rule^^

DESPISES having to subscribe to music platforms. What do you mean that you can't listen to a song on repeat without paying, what do you mean that you will interrupt his carefully crafted playlist with a recommended song that does not fit the vibe. This end up derailing his presentation couple times.

He has a set criteria that he judges on: length, vibes, transitions, and replayability. Good playlists should at minimum be an hour, have similar vibes/sound while still being unique, the transitions between songs shouldn't be jarring, and the playlist shouldn't be painful to listen to after a month.

Taylor and Ashlyn helped him judge everyone's playlists by acting as secondary perspectives. Taylor is more open to everyone's music tastes while Ashlyn scrutinizes them more. They pretty much just took a playlist that everyone listens to regularly, one that they made but listen to it every so often, and their liked songs.

I would also like everyone to remember that the series is set in 2016... they would have songs mostly from the 2000s-2010s with the exceptions of some 90s and 80s songs. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying that I looked up 2010s hit songs and I'm filled with nostalgia.

Overall, Ben's criticisms and recommendations are genuinely thoughtful. Especially the recommendations. For each person, after critiquing their playlists, Ben made a slide of genres and artists that each person should check out to expand their tastes.

(I'll probably make a bit about what songs were on their playlist, idk tho)

Group Reaction (how they ranked in comparison to each other)

Personally, Tyler and Logan getting the best ratings because their playlists are very consistent in their vibes and are replayable. I also think that Ben's music taste fits the most with these two for some reason, so they got the most song recs out of everyone.

Ashlyn is third in the ranking. She has one or two that she listens to occasionally, and they're pretty short. They are absolute polar opposites though. One of the playlists is rock, since she canonically likes Paramore (if you don't, get well soon), and the other is classical music for her ballet performances.

Taylor is next. Her playlist isn't bad, its just... a bit everywhere. Like it starts pretty good, but you can tell that somewhere along the lines of creating this playlist she just added songs that she remembered that she likes. It mostly fits the same genre. Ben makes her a more organized playlist after the presentation.

Aiden is dead last. It's not because his music taste is shit. Aiden actually has a pretty good music taste. No. Its because he only listens to his liked songs on repeat like a monster. It is musical whiplash. You go from a movie theme song, to crying, to listening to white girl club music, to rock, to crying again, and then for some reason the Home Depot jingle???? The only playlists that he makes are for jokes really. Do you know the John Mulaney bit where he plays "What's New Pussycat?" 27 times. Yeah, that's Aiden.

Tyler Hernandez

Tyler's next, and, I'm letting you know now that he sprayed the fuck out of Aiden for interrupting. Yeah, Ash pulled them a part.

Motherfucker is so pleased with himself, like its honestly so funny. Aiden had him by the collar and Tyler was just fucking smiling. Taylor does throw her slipper at him for being rude, but he could honestly care less.

The slideshow itself is the most soulless thing ever made, man used the Blank Google Slides template and called it a day. Like one stock image on each slide, and its so pixelated. He probably did it like an hour ago. That's why his presentation is funny because he's just jabbing at Aiden over and over with a basic slideshow that you'd see someone pull out in a Spanish 1-2 class.

You know what? He probably had another presentation about what piercing he think would suit the group best, and just did this one out of spite cause Aiden was being loud. I take back my previous statement about him doing it an hour before getting to Logan's place, he did this on his PHONE WHEN THE LAPTOP WAS UPDATING!!!! Like Logan was taking a walk, Ben was trying to fix the computer, the girls went to make sandwiches, Aiden was running errands, and Tyler made this in an hour.

His presentation is based off a tier system where it gets more effective with each method. Methods 1-3 are pretty basic where its just stuff like duct taping his mouth shut, 4 and onwards just gets funny

I'll be completely honest, each way he put is wild, and it gets progressively more deranged as the presentation goes on. These one's my favorite

"Number 9: Dying You know, I thought this would be the best way, but the bastard got crushed by a ceiling and walked it off. I want you to try and convince me that Aiden wouldn't crawl out of hell just to ruin my day. " "Number 10: Put him in a room alone with Ashlyn's mom and dad *insert a picture of Aiden sitting not so comfortably in between Ashlyn's parents* I don't even think I need to say anything else, I mean, I will, but like... look at him"

This is honestly the shortest presentation of the night but so far it's the most chaotic (he will quickly lose this title).

Tyler went through two spray bottles, mainly for Aiden, but he did spray Taylor once or twice. She threw a shoe at him. It's only fair.

Groups Reaction

Aiden is standing to the side with a towel around himself because Logan said his grandparents would kill them for ruining their couch. He's not exactly pissed but he is kind of sulking. Honestly this just makes his presentation so much better for him.

You know how Tyler asked for suggestions in the beginning, Ben and Ashlyn give him genuine ideas. Mainly Ben, just out of good humor you know. And Tyler's taking notes.

Taylor is giggling, but she does feel a bit bad for Aiden. At some point she gives him a consolation sandwich to raise his spirits.

Logan, however, doesn't and he's just quietly enjoying the scene that's unfolding around him.

The end of these two presentations are by far more chaotic than the first two, and it feels like its only going to get worse from here(/pos). Because right now Aiden is fighting with Tyler, getting him soaked too, Taylor is filming them while Logan provides commentary, and Ashlyn is standing with Ben setting up the next powerpoint.

While it was initially decided that Aiden would go last, Ashlyn suggested that she and him switch. Mainly so that he can drip dry while presenting, and sit down when he's done.

Aiden is following a presentation that was just jabbing at him, how do you think his is going to end up now?

[slutforsnow]

Reliving Hell

Chapter 6 :3

Summary: Someone's getting suspicious of "Easton's" identity and decides to see who he really is by seeing if he can scream

CW/TW: SA/groping, trauma response, violence, hungover

The next morning, Violent was stretching as she walked down the stairs. She had been too drunk to find Alias, so Courtney had brought her home, so nothing bad happened to her. She yawned as she pulled her hair up into some kind of style to make sure no one figured out she was a she.

"Ah, morning Vi," Courtney greeted as Violet threw on a coat just to be safe. She could never be to safe.

"Morning, Courtney," She greeted, looking around the kitchen for her boots.

"So, what you got plans for?" Court asked, setting a plate of breakfast on the table. She knew Vi had a tendency to skip breakfast when she was on a mission, but she at least wanted her best friend to eat something.

"Goin' to that ranchers place—Harry Hooker. He hired Billy, Alias, and I. Well, technically, he hired William H. Bonney, Alias, and Easton Vargough," She answered, correcting herself. Vi leaned against the tablet, using a fork to eat some of the egg and bacon on her plate. She grabbed her boots from the threshold leading into the living room, slipping them on and fixing her trousers to be over her boots.

"I should get goin'—should find Billy and group up with Alias," Vi added, grabbing her bandanna from her back pocket. She tied it around her face, securing it tightly.

"Alright, be safe Vi!!" Courtney told her as Violet left.

When Vi finally found Billy, he looked rough—like a kind of 'I'm so tired cause I had intense sex' rough.

"Hell happened to you?" Vi asked, laughing softly, grabbing his hat and fixing his hair somewhat.

"A girl; real pretty girl too from the saloon last night. Her name's Alice," Billy replied, grinning a bit before Violet put his hat back on his head.

"Oh."

Violet fought back the urge to scream; Alice slept with Billy!? Of all the people he could've slept with, he slept with her?! She shook it off, not wanting to keep the conversation on Alice going; the cunt was an all-too horrible memory for Vi to handle—especially with a hangover.

Violet fought back the urge to scream; Alice slept with Billy!? Of all the people he could've slept with, he slept with her?! She shook it off, not wanting to keep the conversation on Alice going; the cunt was an all-too horrible memory for Vi to handle—especially with a hangover.

"You ready to head to the ranch?" She asked, diffusing any questions Billy was starting to ask about why Violent had an angry look in her eyes.

"Yeah, and are you okay? You've got this... firey look in your eyes, and it's kinda scary," Billy questioned. Vi simply laughed it off, dismissing his question.

"I'm fine, knucklehead," She reassured, punching him in the arm. "Now let's go."

When the duo found Alias, the three of them made way for Harry Hooker's ranch.

Later, around maybe 3 hours after regrouping with Alias and making their way to the ranch, Violet was beginning to regret wearing 2 shirts. Did they conceal her female anatomy? Yes. Were they killing her and making her sweat to death? Yes. Was she going to suffer anyway to make sure no one found out "he" was actually a she? Very much so.

But to help her not focus on the sweltering heat, she was silently cursing out Alice. Alice was known for stealing boys back in her boarding school days—specifically boys Violet showed interest in. She never knew why Alice did it; if Violet had ever so much as said hi to another boy that wasn't Jesse, Alice or some other girl would yank them far from her. She hated it—all boys would eventually drop her as a friend and avoid her like the plague.

Eventually, it made her snap, and she started to act out, doing whatever she could to raise hell for everyone, and she thrived in it. She loved the attention and fear her other classmates had, seeing Vi cause destruction until she was expelled.

Shakin' her head, Violet squeezed her eyes shut and disrupted any memories of her boarding school days. Her chaos had been short-lived and not enough to undo the hell hole before she snapped. Sighing, she stretched, deciding to take a mild break from workin'. Sliding her smaller frame off of North, she made her way to grab some water.

She hummed to herself, grabbing a mug and lightly dunking it into the tub of water before beginning to down it after pulling her bandanna down enough to let her drink the heavenly liquid that trickled its way down her throat.

Meanwhile, Billy was helpin', the other cowboys bring the cattle back and lock them in their pen. He was thinkin' back to last night about Alice and how nice she felt against him. He was hopin' to see her again, wanting to introduce her to Violet. Then he heard it.

The blood-curtling horrified womanly scream that no pre-pubescent boy could ever imitate. He snapped his head towards the direction he heard it and snapped the reigns, urging his horse to the origin of Violet's scream of absolute terror.

When he came back to her, he practically jumped off his horse and kneeled down to her. She was hyperventilating with tears rolling down her cheeks and crying, holding onto Billy, feeling his calming and reassuring grip.

"Vi, it's okay, it's okay, it's just me, it's just me," He told her, pulling her into his arms and his hand on the back of her head. "Shh, shh, it's okay I've got you."

The other cowboys were talking amongst themselves about how "Easton" wasn't a he and instead was a girl. Billy took notice that one of the other cowboys had Violets hat in his hand and frowned, putting the pieces together and realizing what must've happened.

He stood up, holding Violet close in bridal style, and set her on his horse. He put his hat on her head, which ensured that no one else would touch her as Alias joined the two.

"Vi, I'm gonna go get your hat, OK? Alias is gonna stay with you," He told her, holding her free hand. Her other hand was holding the buttons of her shirt together, so they didn't expose her chest more.

She simply nodded, not meeting his gaze. Billy squeezed her hand before going off, grabbing her hat and cursing out the other cowboys for what they did to her.

After the three got to a quieter place, Violet finally took Billy's hat off and dropped it onto his head and putting hers back onto her head.

"Hey," Billy greeted, looking up at her with a reassuring smile as he led his and her horses in tow to Alias and his horse.

"Hi," She replied, her voice thick from crying.

"I took care of 'em," He told her, averting his gaze as she fixed her shirts. "Mr. Hooker's gonna fire 'em hopefully and you'll get to keep your job."

"I don't wanna," She mumbled, taking the reigns of Billy's horse weaving the leathers through her fingers. "Wanna find a different job."

"Are you sure? Alias got us this job-" Billy asked, confused but understanding. After what happened, he didn't blame her one bit, and if he was in her shoes, he'd do the exact same.

"I'm sure." Billy nodded, leaving it at that. He wasn't one to judge and wasn't going to start now.

Tags: @etfrin @hearts4court @snows-wife @delusionalbunni @kiraflowersworld @victory-scream0462 @curled-hair-red-lips @morallygrayboys @phoward89 @xoxo-eyeballs @thereeallink @graciouslyc @acidaciruela @wanda-maximoff-enthusiast @firstworldproblemthings @nowitsmissing

[brittle-doughie]

hii!! i am in love your works sm and you actually inspired me to start writing for cookie run again!! so ty for that ^_^

i saw you have your reqs open and i was wondering if you can do a little thing for cauliflower and peperoncino cookie?

maybe y/n is cauliflower's lab partner and they got into a small experiment mishap that so happened to catch a jealous cookie's attention and badmouthed them infront of y/n, cauliflower and peperoncino cookie

also poly couple too?? maybe cauliflower and peperoncino cookie are in a relationship, and are interested in having y/n in their relationship!! but that one is up to you :D

Group Findings (Cauliflower Cookie and Peperoncino Cookie)

Wowie, my work actually got ya motivated? I’m flattered to hear that, my dude! Hope my work continues to be up to your expectations!

You scooped up the soil nearby the lava to place it into a container, pairing it with another container that contained soil more inland. Alright, that should be enough to give you enough data on the activity here.

You have been assigned by the lab to head out to the Dragon’s Valley in hopes of figuring out the cause of the area cooling down as of lately. The volcanic air was definitely more tolerable currently, last time you had to wait at the outpost for hours after spending just one out in the valley.

You weren’t assigned as the lead researcher though, instead, you were the lab assistant to Cauliflower Cookie, your optimistic and hyperactive research leader.

Not just her, but also her partner, Peperoncino Cookie, as protection for the research group.

He did intimidate you with his appearance at first, but Cauliflower reassured you that he’s actually a big ol’ softie once you got to know him! You weren’t sure of that until you had a one on one with him during a field experiment, with Peperoncino guarding over you as you experimented with the volcanic soil.

You initiated small talk with him, only receiving short answers from him. You figured a small joke was in order for this cookie.

Want to know the opposite of salt water? Pepper water.

You didn’t turn to face him after saying that, but you waited a little bit for his response. After a silence, you figured perhaps he wasn’t the jokes type…until you swore you heard a small laugh from him! That was good enough in your book!

It got better from that point onward, Cauliflower was happy to see her partner and her lab colleague get along so well! Peperoncino would insist on coming along with your group, when really he’ll likely be hovering around your area the most.

Cauliflower wasn’t helping at all by talking all about you to him! About the many findings you and her had made and the time spent together out in the field.

“Y/N Cookie is a great research buddy! When I was sleeping, they went ahead and collected all of the needed lava samples! They can tell me it was for the sake of our research all they want, but I knew it was because they cared!”

“Lava…were they hurt?!”

“Just a few minor burns, but nothing a little treatment from me couldn’t fix!”

Peperoncino still felt the need to head over to you to see if you were really alright. These stories from Cauliflower were really painting a picture for the man, you sounded like a cookie with a just heart if Cauliflower was rambling multiple times about you.

It made him feel something as he turned to see you in the distance..with a visibly angered cookie talking to you?

…

You were just about done studying the flora within the valley, of what you can find anyway, as well as the soil samples you had, you made your way back to the lab when you were halted in your path by a particularly upset looking cookie.

“So you’re the wise cookie who thinks they can steal all our work and make the rest of us look bad! It was bad enough that you’re paired with that weirdo, but now you’re out here trying to upstage me?!”

The lab needed the data in a timely manner, if this fella wasn’t going to do that, leave it to the cookies who can. And you would appreciate it if this cookie didn’t refer to Cauliflower as a weirdo, she’s just as capable of handling the notes and research as any cookie here. If this cookie had a problem with you, that’s fine, but the second they insulted Cauliflower, now you were taking it personally.

“You make it sound like you’ll do something, Y/N Cookie. You’ll what, Y/N, you’ll what?! I bet you couldn’t even take a punch! We all remember that time you tried to study a magma geyser, you recoiled from even the simple smoke. Ha!”

That smoke would’ve been enough to cook your dough, they’d do the same!

“Just face it. You’re nothing but a weasel, willing to take all the credit, but crumble at the slightest punch.”

You try to warn them that they do not want this fight. While looking right behind the cookie.

Unfortunately, they didn’t not pick up on this…

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I…do?”

The cookie raised their hand into the air, ready to strike you with it as they spoke, but paused when they noticed that their hand was caught by something..or someone.

The cookie turned…to see an angered Peperoncino and Cauliflower behind them.

Seeing the glaring cookies was enough for your would-be assailant to completely lose their nerve as they took steps away from them.

“Leave…them…alone…”

“You better listen to him, because I won’t stand by and let you hurt my lab buddy either!”

The cookie was wise enough to take their advice and bolted the hell out of there, leaving you to take a sigh in relief. You were going to thank the two of them before Cauliflower launched herself towards you in a hug as Peperoncino went to your side to make sure you were okay.

“I heard what you said, Y/N Cookie! It makes me happy to know you feel that way about me! That you put up with what I do…”

Cauliflower, if it was for her, you’d be willing to go through hellfire and back. For her and for science!

“Y/N Cookie…”

You knew Peperoncino would do the same for her, you wished them luck on their relationship as you started to continue the walk back to lab, leaving Cauliflower’s hold. Then you felt a strong arm grip your shoulder, it was Peperoncino!

“Y/N Cookie…wait…”

“Me and Peperoncino Cookie are quite the pair, but I can’t help but fancy you too! Peperoncino does too!”

…What? Peperoncino, was this true?

Peperoncino averted his gaze from you, but you could tell even in the hot environment that his face was heating up.

“I guess all the stories I’ve said really got to him!”

Cauliflower wh-

“We’ll understand if you don’t want to, but, it would make the both of us happy if you gave this a shot.”

“Habanero Cookie…would be excited to see you..”

You’d be returning to the lab with both cookies to your sides, Cauliflower hugging you tightly while Peperoncino had his arm around your waist.

You couldn’t stop yourself from being a red faced mess when you walked in!

…

But even with all that, the sense of urgency kept with you as your main priority was to report to the head scientist immediately.

The data you collected only confirmed your fears

Dragon’s Valley is cooling down and it’s only going to get worse soon….

[trippygalaxy]

Hello, it's me again!

For you - Time and Sky fluff :D

Cause I saw that this week just wasn't it, so I'm here to cheer you up! :D

"Hey! How you feeling?" The skyloftian smiled as he entered the dark room, gently clicking the door closed behind him.

Time didn't speak, but he did give a small wave as the footsteps entered.

"I brought you soup, wild said he got the recipe from Malon last time we were there." The skyloftian placed the bowl gently on the side table as Time turned his head to face him.

"I need to check you over, I know Hyrule did earlier but..." He hovered, scratching his arm. Before stepping over to the bed. Eyes glancing over to the armour in the corner.

It was in his nature, they did call him the Mother hen...

"I'm alright Sky." His voice was quiet as he tried to reassure the Skyloftian. Turning his head back to look at the ceiling. The scent of the soup wafted through the room. He couldn't identify it, but if it was one of Malon's recipes. Then it would be good.

The skyloftian sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. Fiddling with his hands.

"You didn't have to jump in front of me like that. I... I never got to thank you." He didn't look at him while he spoke, his thumbs tracing along the fabric on the bed. As his eyes remained fixed on the armour.

He tilted his head down looking at the skyloftian as he remained sat. The light of the moon gently reflected off the man's sailcloth. "You dont need to thank me, any one of us would have done it." this caused Sky to shift in his position.

"But..."

"Sky. You're one of us as much as the rest of them." He grimaced as he tried to sit up. Pain shooting through his bandaged leg. "Help me up?"

"Oh." The skyloftian turned, shuffling to his knees as he offered his hands. "Here..."

Sky pulled him up into a sitting position and helped him turn to put his legs over the edge of the bed, being careful to not touch the ingury.

They sat in silence as Time pondered the Skyloftian. He radiated guilt but it hadn't been the chosen's decision for him to jump into the like of fire. It had been his.

Sky sat with his arms around him, his chin resting on his chest as he pulled his legs up to his chest. Wrapping his arms inward too the skyloftian sighed.

Time couldn't see his face from where he was. But knew this look.

"Do you need a hug?" He offered freely, placing a hand on the Skyloftians shoulder gently.

The skyloftian didn't give an answer, but he did turn his head to face him.

It was times like this when Time was reminded just how young the rest of this little hero group was.

"Come on, Come here."

The skyloftian shuffled across, minding the older hero's injuries as he wrapped his arms around Time's waist. The older hero slowly lifting his arm over the skyloftians's shoulder. Leaning his head on the Skyloftians head.

"I'm sorry you got hurt."

"I'm not." He replied quickly. Tightening his grip on the Skyloftian as he moved the chosen's sailcloth around his shoulder's more firmly. He grabbed the blanket from his bed and wrapped it around both of their shoulders. "You look tired, why dont you rest, I'll keep watch."

"You... can't keep watch, your." the skyloftian yawned. His head turned to the window, the light of the moon filtering into the room gently. "Hurt."

Time chuckled, the gentle rumbling from his chest made the Skyloftian tighten his grip ever so slightly. "When has that ever stopped me." He smiled, as the Skyloftian tucked himself under his arm even more. The warmth of the blankets surrounding them, "You know how I get."

Sky made a noise of acknowledgement as Time felt his grip loosen. The boy's weight leaned into him a little more. The older hero looked down at the man leaning into him. How long had it been since he'd slept? This was Sky they were talking about.

The gentle sounds of the quiet breaths of the skyloftian's slumber seemed to want to pull him down too. As he rested his head on the Skyloftians. Settling his arm to make it more comfortable. He could feel sleep calling to him as his body relaxed, forcing himself to remain sat up for Sky's sake he leant back into the Skyloftian. Closing his eyes he forced his body to relax.

As he drifted, he could hear the voice of the captain outside the door.

Good, it was time for shift change anyway....

Short and sweet, I hope you like it, and I hope it's made you feel a little better :)

MAJOR STOP THIS IS SO CUTE AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IM CLINGING TO MY PLUSHIE RN AND I WANNA CRYYY ITS SO CUTE AND SWEET AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE HOW SOFT TIME IS AND HOW CLINGY SKY IS AND EVERYONE DESERVES TO BE SWEET BUT AHHHHHHH!!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

[qqueenofhades]

How does one not feel hopeless during these times? I just turned 24, and news came out today that we're going to permanently fuck the climate in the early 2030s if nothing changes. And by the previous track record, nothing meaningful will change fast enough. I'm not ready to die and I don't want to think I'm part of humanity's last generation, but it's getting increasingly hard to think otherwise...

Welp. Okay. Here's a bit of food for thought.

First: I get it. I absolutely get it. I see those articles with headlines like "Why Civilization Will Collapse by 2040!!!!" and it's like, well, what am I even doing here? What is the point of my life and is it going to end in some Mad Max-style apocalypse? Why the fuck do the people who have the power to make major changes and/or stop their destruction of the planet just not care??? Why do they think there's another backup Earth out there??? THERE IS NOT!!! WE ONLY HAVE ONE PRECIOUS BEAUTIFUL PLANET AND YOU ARE RUINING IT MORE IN A HUNDRED YEARS THAN PEOPLE HAVE DONE IN ALL OF HISTORY!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!

[Stand by for incoherent rage.]

After the rage phase often comes the despair and the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, which can be paralyzing and feel like there's nothing to be done. Which isn't true, but boy, it's hard not to feel like that. If you want to feel like you're doing something personally, there are ways to change your daily habits and to volunteer with earth groups and take part in protests or whatever. Maybe it won't solve everything everywhere all at once (ba-dump-tssh), but the core theme of that movie is learning to live anyway when things feel rotten and hopeless and like there's no more chance for a future and that you yourself aren't important. So there's that.

This isn't willful delusion or Pollyannaism. Things are bad and need to be addressed urgently, and while there isn't as much progress as anyone would like, it is still happening. And -- I want to emphasize this -- a lot of climate change activism, rightly or wrongly, relies on scaring YOU personally enough to feel that unless you do A,B,C,D etc right now, the world will end within 10 years. Fear is often a good motivator especially when people don't seem to be taking it seriously, but while climate scientists are issuing serious warnings about the changes we need to make, they often and repeatedly emphasize that it is NOT hopeless, and saying/acting like it is already inevitable and irreversible only benefits the people who stand to gain the most from the current status quo (i.e. billionaires and corporations and big polluters). There are things that can be done right now and progress that is already being made, so don't let that get lost. We used to hear a lot about the ozone layer -- now we don't. Why? Because we fixed that motherfucker! It's possible and it can be done.

Next: climate change is extremely unlikely to cause the widespread end of humanity, at least in my, your, or anyone currently alive right now's lifetime. Yes, extreme weather events will get more widespread and severe; yes, biodiversity is at risk in an unprecedented way, and there are plenty of reasons to wonder what the future global climate will look like and who it will affect the most. But we've already been living with the effects of climate change for decades, and we're still here. We are still building futures and living lives and all the rest of it, and while there are always things to worry about, it's not the case that this needs to be framed as an instant, imminent, apocalyptic, and unavoidable thing. The people who do put it that way are generally not the scientists actually working on the problem, and have a lot invested in scaring you and making you feel helpless to change anything, not just environmental and climate policies. Which isn't the case, so yes. Chin up, my dear. It may not always be okay, but it's still going to BE okay. If you know what I mean.

[canislupus-exe]

Fits of Passion and Idiocy | eddie munson

CONTAINS SPOILERS

fandom | Stanger Things

character | Eddie Munson

reader | he/him (she ver.)(they ver.)

requested | anonymous

warnings | brief mention of drugs, canon character death, fandom typical blood & violence, mild angst

word count | 14,814

keys | (Y/n) = Your name, (L/n) = Last name, (f/c) = favorite color, (D/n) = Dog's name

summary | eddie fix it fic PLEASE im begging literally you an do anything you want just fix it my heart was BROKEN

editor | @feliscatus-exe

>> back to prev <<

Keep reading

“So, uh, speaking of monsters, uh, Lucas has to do his, uh… balls-in-laundry-baskets game. So…” Dustin trails off, chuckling. “He’s not gonna be able to make it to Hellfire tonight.” His attempt to lighten the mood while talking about such a thing seems to have no sway on Eddie.

“And I know there’s no way we can beat your sadistic campaign without him. So, me and mike, we were talking, shooting the shit, and we were thinking that ma-maybe we- we might-”

“Postpone.” Mike cuts his rambling short.

“Postpone!?” The rest of the Hellfire Club shouts in anger. They begin talking over each other, most of their sentences overlapping and inaudible.

“Shut up!” Eddie shouts over everyone else. Gareth sighs and swallows his frustration.

“You saying Sinclair’s been taken in by the dark side?” Eddie asks.

“Uh. Something like that.” Mike replies.

“Something like that?” Eddie hisses as he throws a pretzel at him.

“Jesus Christ.” Dustin whispers, his voice high-pitched and somewhat trembling.

“And rather than find a sub for him, you want… you want to postpone ‘The Cult of Vecna’?” He asks, another pretzel in his hand. Whether for eating or throwing, they’re unsure.

“I… I don’t want to postpone it. We don’t want to postpone it. It’s just that, you know, most of the subs will be at the championship game.” Mike begins to plead his case, but Eddie stands up from his chair halfway through his sentence.

“Oh, it’s the championship game?” He asks.

“Yeah?” He replies, his words coming out as more of a question than an answer.

“Can I level with you? Jeff graduates this year. Gareth’s got, what? A year and a half? Me, I am army-crawling my way toward a D in Ms. O’Donnell’s. If I don’t blow her final, I’m gonna walk that stage next month, I’m gonna look principal Higgins dead in the eye, I’m gonna flip him the bird, I’m gonna snatch that diploma, and I’m gonna run like hell outta here.” He’d made his way around the entire table by the end of his spiel, pumping up the theatrics as he always did, which made Dustin laugh.

“Didn’t you say that last year?” Gareth asks.

“And the year before that?” Jeff chimes in. Eddie half jogs back to the table.

“Yeah, yeah, and I was full of shit. This year’s different. This year is my year. I can feel it. ‘86 baby.” He relays with a shit-eating grin—the rest of the group chuckles.

“You know what that means?” Eddie asks. Dustin and Mike shake their heads.

“It means you boys are the future of Hellfire. I knew it the moment I saw you. You sat on that table right over there, looking like… looking like two little lost sheep.” He says, leaning down to the boys' level with his hands on either of their shoulders.

“You were wearing a Weird Al T-shirt, which I thought was brave,” Eddie says to Dustin.

“Thank you.” He replies, his voice hardly even a whisper.

“Mike, you were wearing whatever shit your mommy bought you from goddamn Gap,” Eddie says to Mike, causing them to laugh much louder than before. At the moment their guards were down, Eddie pulls them up from their chairs by their shirts, forcing them to walk alongside him. 

“And we showed you that school didn’t have to be the worst years of your lives, right?” He asks.

“No,” Mike replies.

“Okay, no, no. Well, I’m here to tell you that there are other little lost sheepies out there who need help. Who need you. And all you guys gotta do is get your Bo-Peeps on and go and find one.” He says, giving them one final shove away from the table.

>><<

Mike and Dustin groan as they sit on the brick wall surrounding the outside benches.

“I hate high school,” Mike says. Dustin grunts in response. As he looks away from Mike, he notices something in the distance.

“Hey hey look, two o’clock.” He says. Mike looks in the opposite direction of two o’clock, seeing as he’d never learned what that meant. Dustin rolled his eyes and pointed.

“Over there dipshit.” He said. They watched as a (f/c) backpack with a D20 keychain on the zipper disappeared into the library. He looked at Mike as Mike looked at him, presumably having the same thought. They both stood up and rushed toward the building, throwing the doors open fervently.

“Where did he go?” Dustin whisper-shouted.

“I-I don’t know Dustin! Maybe we should look for him in the aisles.” Mike replied. Dustin sighed as he walked further into the library, checking behind every shelf for any sign of life. Finally, he’d found you, all the way in the back where you were putting books back on the shelf. 

“You!” He shouted. You jumped, so startled by the loud outburst that you dropped the book you were holding. You bent over to pick it up and turned around to see who was bothering you. You looked down at who you could only assume was a freshman.

“Please keep it down. Library policy. Do you need help finding a book or something?” You asked. A second freshman rounded the corner and walked to stand next to the first.

“You play DnD.” The one with curly hair stated, almost matter-of-factly. You raised your eyebrows.

“Um… No. I don’t.” You replied as you turned away from him, starting to put the books back once again.

“Then why do you have a D20 keychain?” He asked. You sighed.

“Because I used to play.” You said.

“So you know how?” He asked.

“Well, yeah, but the last time I played was like four years ago. Plus, why do you care? I don’t even know you.” You replied.

“I’m Dustin Henderson and this is Mike Wheeler. We’re part of the Hellfire club and we need someone to sub in for the campaign tonight. So will you?” He asks, his voice desperate.

“No.” You reply simply.

“W-What? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Seriously. Truly. No.” You say, turning around to face him. Dustin looks at Mike, silently asking him for help but Mike only shrugs in response. Dustin sighs and turns back to you. He notices the school ID around your neck and reads your name, before deciding to take a page out of Eddie’s book.

“Can I level with you for a moment (Y/n)?” He asks. You raise your eyebrows at the use of your name.

“We need you, so I’m willing to sweeten the deal on your end.” He says. You scoff. 

“Dude, you know nothing about me. How could you possibly ‘sweeten the deal’?” You ask, putting air quotes around what he’d said.

“Well everybody loves movies! I can make it so you don’t have to pay to rent a movie for the next month.” He replies. You raise your eyebrows.

“Oh yeah? And how exactly are you gonna do that Dustin Henderson?” You say, leaning on the cart of books.

“I have a buddy who works at Family Video. He’ll waive your fee for the next month, I swear.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“I’ll pay!” He shouts. 

“Shhh!” You shout back at him.

“Sorry. Sorry.” He whispers. You roll your eyes.

“So you’ll get your buddy to waive my movie rental fee for the next month if I play DnD with you for one night?” You ask. Dustin nods. You think for a second before sighing. 

“Alright fine. But I swear to God if you try to pull a fast one on me, I’ll make your life hell. And I mean it, kid.” You say, poking your finger into his chest.

“Yes! You won’t regret this (Y/n)! Come on Mike!” He says as he bolts out the library doors with his friend in tow.

“You think Steve will let him rent for free?” Mike asked.

“Who cares? We have found a sub for tonight and that’s all that matters.”

>><<

The leader of the Hellfire Club sits on his throne. Hands folded together as he eyes you standing next to Dustin and Mike.

“Absolutely not.” He says after a pause of silence.

“You asked for a sub. We delivered.” Dustin said as he motioned toward you.

“This is Hellfire Club. Not Sports club.” He says, pointing at your Indiana Hoosiers T-shirt. You rolled your eyes.

“It was the only shirt I had clean. Plus, it’s comfortable you elitist piece of shit.”

“My, my. The sports fan knows big words.” Eddie replies, eliciting chuckles from his friends. He stands up from his throne, walking toward you.

“So, what’s your name, sports fan?”

“(Y/n) (L/n).” You reply. He laughs.

“So you’re the boy who works in the library.” You scoff and turn to Dustin.

“Wow, intuitive, isn’t he?” You say, earning a laugh from his friends. He turns and glares at them, shutting them up immediately.

“What’s your class and level? Level one half-orc?” He asks, once again earning laughter from his buddies.

“My name is Akzire the Wretched. And I’m a chaotic neutral Tiefling Fighter, level 15. And I will valiantly protect my party members by beheading any monster you throw my way with my scimitar. And I will brandish their head for all to see as a token of my victory. So, we gonna do this, or are you gonna keep pestering me like you’re a little girl in need of attention?” You ask. The five members stare at you as you face off with Eddie, shocked at how effortlessly you’ve challenged him. They wait in stunned silence, but after a moment, he breaks out into a cheeky smile and offers you his hand to shake.

“Welcome to Hellfire.” He says. You roll your eyes one last time, but with a smile, as you shake his hand.

>><<

You sit at the table, listening intently as Eddie relays his campaign onto the club.

“The hooded cultists chant, ‘Hail Lord Vecna. Hail Lord Vecna.’ They turn to you, remove their hoods. You recognize most of them from Makbar. But there is one you do not recognize, his skin shriveled, desiccated. And something else. He is not only missing his left arm, but his left eye!” He shouts, covering his own with his hand. The party erupts in protests, strings of “no”s and “come on man”s.

“Vecna’s dead!” Jeff shouts.

“He was killed by Kas!” Mike yells, to which Eddie smirks at.

“So it was thought, my friends. So it was thought. But Vecna… Lives!” He exclaims, placing the figurine on its podium with unmatched vigor. He resigns back to his throne.

“You are scared. You’re tired. You are injured. Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or stand your ground and fight?” He asks. Mike reclines in his seat as Dustin ponders the options.

“Come on.” Eddie prods. After a few seconds, he speaks up.

“I say we fight. To the death.” He states.

“To the death.” Mike agrees, nodding his head. They look toward you. You sigh.

“Fuck it. To the death.” You reply. The rest of the table breaks out into smiles.

“To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death!” Everyone chants while slamming their palms down. Eddie’s large smile is plastered on his face as he watches.

“To the death!” Dustin screams as he pumps his fists in the air. You grab the dice and roll, watching as they slide over the surface of the table. They all shout in triumph, some even clapping. It’s Mike's turn to roll, but it lands on 8, a miss. Eddie pushes over his figurine and the club begins to groan in protest. Jeff rolls. Miss. Miss after miss after miss and Eddie begins to laugh maniacally.

“Time out time out!” One of the members calls. You all step away from the table and huddle up.

“Guys, I hate to say this, but we've got to flee,” Gareth says, clear tiredness in his tone.

“I concur.” The person who called the time-out replies.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we just agree on ‘to the death’?” You asked.

“That wasn’t literal,” Gareth replies.

“Vecna just decimated us. We can’t kill him with two players.” Jeff argues. You sigh and turn to Dustin, who’s already on the defense.

“You too? He only has 15 hit points left. Don’t be pussies.” He practically growls.

“Pussies? Really? Cause we’re not delusional.”

“Delusional? How about ‘not cowards’.” You retort.

“Hey!” Eddie calls from across the room, grabbing everyone’s attention and breaking the huddle.

“If I may interject gentlemen. Whilst I respect the passion, you’d be wise to take Gareth the Great’s concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes. Not today, ‘kay?” He says, that cheeky shit-eating grin back on his face. It would make you furious if part of you didn’t find it so cute. Dustin holds up a finger.

“One sec.” He says before reforming the huddle circle.

“What do you think Mike?” He asks.

“How many hit points do you and Akzire have left?”

“Twelve.” Both you and Dustin proclaim in unison.

“It’s risky as hell… But you’re the ones on the battlefield. So it’s your call.” Mike says. You sigh and look at Dustin.

“What do you say Akzire the Wretched?” He asks. You smile.

“Do you even have to ask?” You reply. A moment of silence hangs over the Hellfire Club as Dustin contemplates.

“Screw it.” He finally mutters, pulling away from the huddle.

“Let’s kill this son of a bitch.” He states. Everyone approaches the table.

“The chances of success are 20-to-1,” Jeff says. Dustin holds up his finger.

“Never tell me the odds. Give me the D20.” He demands, holding his open palm out. Eddie picks up the die with that damn smile painted on his face and tosses it toward him. He catches it and holds his hands over his shoulder, shaking it vigorously. You watch with bated breath as he tosses it. It rolls and rolls and rolls until finally… 11.

“That's! A! Miss!” Eddie calls out, shaking his head after every word.

“Shit! Shit!” Dustin shouts, and in his anger, he knocks one of the soda cans off the table. But now, you were up. The entire game hinged on your role, and you could feel every bit of pressure as you picked up the die. You closed your eyes and shook it in your hands, feeling the intense stares on you as you did so.

“Please!” You could hear Gareth shout beside you.

“Come on!” Dustin called out. But their words fell on unlistening ears. You were too focused on the cool feeling of the die gently hitting the palms that encased it. Finally, without thinking about it, you released it. Watching with unmatched intensity as it rolled, the quiet clacking against the wooden table sounded immeasurable in magnitude. And then, it reached the end of its road. No more cascading down the table. It stopped. And it landed with the 20 side facing up.

“Crit hit!” You shouted, the rest of the club exploding in cheers alongside you.

“What? What?” Eddie shouted in disbelief, laughing and clapping his hands.

“That’s why we play!” He said, bending over and extending his arms, almost as if he was presenting your victory to someone. You smiled, much brighter than you had in a long time. Maybe this Hellfire thing wasn’t so bad after all.

>><<

You whistled as you pulled your car into the parking lot of the Family Video, double-checking the address Dustin had written down for you. It seemed like it was the right one so you put your car in park and gathered your keys and wallet. As you were doing so, you saw Dustin rush into the store, a redheaded girl following right behind him. What perfect timing. 

Nobody paid you any mind as you walked into the store, perusing their many isles of movies, searching for something that may come of interest to you. Dustin was behind the counter with the redhead you saw earlier and two people you vaguely recognized from school. 

You shuffled through the shelves closest to the front counter. It was by pure happenstance that you heard their conversations. Dustin, along with the two girls you didn't know were all on the phone, and it sounded like they were talking about Eddie, meanwhile, the older guy was cheesing up a customer with some romcom, which you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at.

“Hey, guys, I might have a lead.” The redhead called out as she hung up the phone.

“Seriously?” Dustin asked as he turned around in his chair to look at her.

“Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.” She replies. You whistled as you approach the counter, having decided which movies you wanted to take home. 

“Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a minute,” You say, setting your items down.

“(Y/n), what are you doing here?” Dustin asks. You shrug and push your tapes toward the worker.

“Cashing in on the sweet deal Dustin gave me to play DnD with him.” You reply. This statement catches the older guy's interest and he walks over.

“Wait wait wait. What’s he talking about Dustin?” He asks. 

“Shit. Now, before you get mad at me Steve, I was desperate.”

“Dustin. What. Did. You. Do.” He demands, dropping his palms on the counter. Dustin sighs and closes his eyes.

“I may or may not have told him he could get movies here without paying the rental fee.” He says, getting the words out as fast as he could.

“You did what?!” Steve asks. You smile and lean your head on your palm, which you lean on the counter.

“For a month.” You interject. Steve looks at you and then at Dustin.

“For a month?!” He shouts. Dustin rolls his eyes.

“H-Honestly Steve it’s not that big of a deal. You can just-”

“Not that big of a deal? Not that big of a deal!? You have the nerve to- to-to-”

“Pimp you out?” You suggest.

“Pimp me out! Thank you (Y/n). And then tell me it’s not a big deal. Who do you think-”

“Guys shut up!” The redhead silenced them. They did so without question and she turned to you.

“You said you hadn’t heard that name for a while. Reefer Rick?” She asks. You nod.

“I used to hang at his place and get high before he got busted.” You reply, tracing your finger along the cover of the VHS on the counter.

“You smoke?” Steve asks, obviously perplexed by this fact. You shrugged.

“There ain’t exactly much else to do in this shithole town.” You reply.

“But that means you know where he lives? That-That’s great! Get me a pen so I can write it down!” Dustin says, searching for a piece of paper. 

“Now hold on there Dustin. I’m not just going to give you the address. What kind of a person would that make me?” You reply innocently, but before he can speak, you continue.

“At least… not for free.” 

“Jesus Christ (Y/n) seriously? Now is not the time to dick around.” Dustin practically yells at you. 

“Who’s he gonna pimp out this time?” The older girl said as she nudged Steve. You chuckle as you hold your hand up.

“I don’t want anything supermassive. Free movies for a month are profit enough. I just want to tag along. Be a part of the know, you know?” You reply. Dustin looks at the redhead who shakes her head.

“(Y/n), I don’t think you want to know this know, okay. It’s in your better interest to just give us the address and forget this ever happened.” He said, placing a sticky note and pen in front of you. You raise your eyebrows and sigh.

“Alright, fine.” You say, grabbing the pen and writing on the paper. Once you were done you slid it over to him. He grabbed it with fervor but paused when he read it. Not a chance kid.

“I told you. I want all the details, or you guys will never find Reefer Rick. Well… you might but, it could be too late.” You say, gathering the VHSs you’d set down.

“But if you guys don’t want to know, I'll just be on my way.” You walk away from the service desk, hearing Dustin string out profanities.

“(Y/n)! Wait.” He calls out. You turn around, a coy smile on your face.

“We’ll tell you on the way there, 'cause it’s a long story.” He says with a sigh. You smile and grab your car keys from your pocket.

“Shall we?”

>><<

“So just to recap. Chrissy Cunningham is dead, last seen with Eddie Munson in his trailer by you, Max Mayfield, but you didn’t go straight to the cops with this information, instead, you go to Dustin Henderson's house to tell him, and even after that you still don’t go to the cops, you go to Family Video where you relay the entire situation to your friends Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley, and might I just add it’s a bit concerning how many young adults you’re friends with. What is it now, four?” You say, your hands on the steering wheel of your car.

“Wow, he’s got a great memory. When did we even tell you our last names?” Robin asks.

“I recognized you two from the yearbook.” You said with a shrug. The familiar sound of gravel on your tires was somewhat pleasant as you pulled to the side of the house. The sun had long since set, so most were carrying flashlights as they approached the door and rang the doorbell. Waiting not even a second before the first bell finishes, he rings it again. He rings it seven more times before he starts to bang on the window.

“Okay. Well, that’s settled. I guess he’s not here.” Steve says, but you knew he wouldn’t give up that easy. And true to your thoughts, he leans over and yells into the window.

“Eddie! It’s Dustin!”

“Great.”

“Look, we just wanna talk okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help.” He shouts as he pounds on the glass pane.

“Eddie!”

“Shhh!” Robin shouts at him. He begins to ring the doorbell again.

“Rick!” He calls out as he pounds in the door.

“Is he always like this?” You whisper to Steve. He sighs and nods.

“Reefer rick!” Dustin yells.

“Don’t scream that.” Steve scolds him.

“Rick!”

“He’s not there!” You turn your attention away from the loud door pounding and their incessant bickering to see Max making her way around the house.

“Reefer Rick!” Dustin’s shouting pulls your attention back to him.

“Just-”

“He might just be really high…” Dustin suggests.

“Is that a foot?” Steve asks. You roll your eyes.

“No, that’s just a shoe,” Dustin replies.

“Obviously dumbass.” You mutter.

“Hey, guys!” Max shouts. Everyone looks at her for a brief second before leaving the front porch and stationing behind her. There was an eerie-looking boat house staring back at you.

“Despite it being a terrible idea, why do I have the feeling that we’re gonna go poking around in there?” You asked. Max looked over her shoulder at you before looking back at the boathouse. She slowly approached it, shining her light in the windows. You sighed.

“Yep. How did I know?” You say as you roll your eyes and follow close behind her. Once you’d made a full circle around the building, you reached the door. Robin was the first to push it open.

“Hello?” She called out to the vast darkness.

“Is anyone home?” She said, sweeping her flashlight across the room. She stepped inside, Max following her. Then Dustin, then you, then Steve bringing up the tail end.

“What a dump.” He said, looking around.

“Yeah well, I’m sure Eddie wouldn’t be hiding out in the Hilton.” You replied. Steve rolled his eyes and clicked off his flashlight so he could put it away. Once he did, he grabbed what looked to be an oar off the wall and began to violently poke whatever the tarp covered in the center of the room.

“What are you doing?” Dustin asks. Steve responded by poking it again. Dustin repeated his question and Steve shrugged.

“He might be in here.”

“So take the tarp off!” Dustin exclaimed while Steve continued to mess with it.

“If you’re so brave, you take the tarp off.” He replied. They both continued to circle the boat, neither of them removing the tarp.

“Hey, look over here,” Max called. You and Robin walked to her side, examining whatever she was ushering to.

“Someone was here.” She said, picking up the wrappers scattered access the surface.

“Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran.” “Don’t worry. Steve will get him with his oar.” Dustin replied sarcastically.

“I know you think you’re being funny Henderson but considering almost everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slight-” Steve was cut off by the sound of glass shattering and movement so fast you could barely perceive it. Eddie had emerged from the tarp and was backing steve against a wall, holding the jagged edges of the broken glass bottle toward his throat.

“Wait wait wait wait wait!” Steve shrieked in horror. You speechlessly watched, unsure of what you could do.

“Woah, woah, woah, Eddie! Eddie! Stop! Eddie! Eddie!” Dustin called out as you all rushed toward him but still kept a reasonable distance. Eddie turned his head to stare at him. His eyes were wide with terror, and you couldn’t help but wonder what the hell you’d gotten yourself into.

“It’s me. It’s Dustin. This is Steve. He’s not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?”

“Right. Yeah.” Steve replied meekly, his voice hardly above a whisper.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” Dustin asked. There’s a quiet thud as Steve does what he’s told, but in doing so Eddie only pushes the bottle closer to steve's neck. He groans in pain and fear.

“He’s cool. He’s cool!” Dustin shouts.

“I’m cool, man. I’m cool.” Steve practically begs.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks, his voice is rough and terrified, so much different than the way he’d sounded that night at hellfire.

“We’re looking for you,” Dustin says softly.

“We’re here to help.” Robin chimes in.

“Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band.” Dustin says, ushering to the girl behind him, who mimics playing trumpet.

“And (Y/n), from Hellfire. You remember him, right?” He says. You give a weak smile from behind Dustin, waving at Eddie.

“This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play, D&D. Eddie. We’re on your side. I swear on my mother. Right guys?”

“Yes. Yes. We swear.” Max pleaded.

“On Dustin’s mother,” Robin replied.

“Yeah. Dustin’s… Dustin’s mother.” Steve chimed in. There’s a moment of silence that seems to last forever before Eddie finally pulls away from Steve, who gasps in relief.

“Jesus christ…” He mumbles to himself. You watch Eddie walk away, sinking down the wall until he’s sitting. Dustin approaches him.

“Eddie… We just want to talk.” His words are slow as he stoops to Eddie’s level. He gently reaches for the broken bottle, but Eddie flinches away.

“Okay…” He whispers, removing his hands.

“We want to know what happened,” Robin said as she knelt next to Dustin. Eddie sniffles and shakes his head, looking at her.

“You won’t believe me.” He says, making eye contact with you for a split second before looking away. 

“Try us,” Max replies. Eddie stares at her before standing up and slowly beginning to pace. He seems to be psyching himself out. Dustin adjusts his position, as do the rest of you as you wait for him. He pulled a chair in front of everyone and sat down, looking at his hands in his lap for a few more minutes before finally looking back up.

“Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh… and she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones… Uh, she…” He seems to whimper at the thought and his voice becomes shakier as he continues.

“Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It… It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I… I didn’t know what to do, so I…I ran away. I left her there.” He pauses for a second before scoffing.

“You all think I’m crazy, right?”

“No. We don’t think you’re crazy.”

“We don’t?” You whisper, not wanting him to hear. Steve nudges you in the side and gives you a look which you’re tempted to argue with but stop when Eddie begins to yell.

“Don’t bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds.” His voice cracks.

“We’re not bullshitting you,” Max says.

“We believe you,” Robin interjects. Maybe you missed the memo because it seems like everyone else was on the same page. Dustin was right, you were in way over your head.

“Look, what I’m about to tell you might be a little, difficult to take,” Dustin says.

“Okay,” Eddie replies.

“You know how people say Hawkins is… cursed? They’re not way off… There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours.” You were just as perplexed as Eddie seemed to be.

“Like ghosts and shit?” He asks. You snicker quietly, earning a glare from Max before she turns back to Eddie to continue.

“There are some things worse than ghosts.” She replies.

“These monsters from this other world… we thought they were gone. But they’ve come back before. That’s why we needed to find you.”

“If they’re back again, we need to know,” Max says, her voice firm, demanding almost.

“That night, did you see anything?” Robin asks.

“Dark particles, maybe?” Max adds on. Eddie shakes his head.

“It would almost look like dust, swirling dust.” 

“No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh… or touch… You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn’t move. It was like she… she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell,” Dustin suggests. Eddie looks at him.

“A curse.” He whispers.

“Vecna’s curse.”

“You don’t mean from…” You trail off, mostly thinking out loud rather than talking to anyone. Dustin nods, and steve looks at him confused.

“Who’s Vecna?” He asks.

“An undead creature of great power,” Dustin replies.

“A spell caster,” Eddie adds, meeting his gaze with yours.

“A dark wizard,” Dustin whispers. You remembered the horrors you’d read about him in your books. But that’s all they were. Books. Works of fiction. These people you’d known for a combined total of a few hours couldn’t possibly be trying to convince you otherwise, right?

“Sorry, did I miss a chapter or something? Cause if Eddie’s not the crazy one here then I think I might be. What the fuck is going on?” You asked. Max sighed.

“It’s a long story.”

“And very unbelievable,” Robin says with a slight chuckle. You closed your eyes and rubbed your temples.

“Condense it and consider me open-minded.” You replied, leaning against the wooden pillar behind you. 

“A few years ago our friend Will was kidnapped by a monster from the upside down, that’s what we call that other world we mentioned earlier. We found this girl, Eleven or El as we called her and she has superpowers. She fought the Demogorgon, the monster that kidnapped Will, and we thought she died after that but turns out she was just being kept hidden by Hopper, the chief of police. Will tried to return to normal life but failed since he now had some sort of connection to the upside down and could see into it, causing a new monster to possess him, The Mind Flayer. We were able to defeat him, or so we thought. He returned, this time with Russians on his side.” “Russians!?” You exclaim.

“That’s where we come in!” Robin said with a smile. Steve scoffs.

“Correction, that’s where you come in. I was there since the Demogorgon.” He replies.

“Ehhh, more like since Dart,” Dustin says.

“Who’s Dart?” You ask.

“Not integral to the story. Back to the Russians. They were running an underground operation with a mall as the front. Eleven returns, another victory, yadda yadda. They move to California to escape the craziness of Hawkins but we’re still here, thus still having to deal with it.”

“And now there’s a new monster… Vecna… who’s… framing people for murder?” You ask. Dustin looks at Eddie and shrugs.

“More or less.” He says. You sigh, trying to take in the information you were just given. 

“I tried to tell you (Y/n). You didn’t want to know this know. It’s not too late to back out now. Just go back home and pretend this never happened.” Dustin said as he stood up. You rolled your eyes.

“Yeah right. If any of this shit you’re saying is the truth, it’s gnarly as hell. Besides,” You hold up your keys. “How else would you guys get home?” You say with a smile. Dustin sighs.

“You really wanna do this?” He asks. You nod.

“In fact, I’m about to get myself into even deeper shit. Eddie can’t stay here.” You say, pointing at the subject who was still sitting in his chair and chewing on his nails. At the sound of his name, he stared up at you.

“Why not?” He asked. “You have a very tangible connection to reefer rick. If I knew that, other people are bound to know that. If some dumbass kids were able to find you, I doubt the cops are that far behind.” You reply. 

“He’s right,” Max replies. Dustin groans.

“Of course he’s right but where else could he go? This town isn’t exactly crawling with good fugitive hiding spots.”

“Why can't he just stay with me?” You ask. Dustin looks at you, along with everybody else in the room. Steve is the first to make a noise, which is a somewhat awkward laugh.

“Listen, (Y/n), as much as we love the knight in shining armor move, I doubt your parents will be too keen on you hiding-”

“Who says I live with my parents?” You cut him off. He raises his eyebrows.

“You… don’t?” He asks.

“No. I live on my own. In a pretty secluded area. My neighbors are at least ten minutes in either direction so they wouldn’t see anything. The only people who know I’ve ever interacted with you are the Hellfire club. And considering I was only there one night, there are probably plenty of other people they’d talk to first. It’s perfect.”

“How old are you?” Steve asks, still seemingly shocked that you live on your own.

“19.” You reply.

“How do you-”

“Steve. Shut up.” Robin cuts him off. He looks at her, his face almost offended that she would do such a thing.

“That could work… Eddie, what do you think?” Dustin asks as he turns to the man of the hour.

“You’re asking me what I think?” He replied. Dustin shrugs. Eddie sighs, standing up from the chair and crossing his arms.

“You’re really gonna harbor a fugitive (L/n)?” He asks. You shrug. 

“Why not? I’ve already done plenty to get me jailed tonight, might as well make that list as long as possible. Get me more cred in the yard if we get caught.” You say with an almost devious smile.

“(Y/n)’s house it is. Anything beats this shithole.” Eddie replied. 

“Let’s get a move on then.” You grabbed your keys out of your pocket but pause for a second.

“Hold on, I’ve got an idea.” You said, putting your keys back into your pocket and removing the tarp from the boat. 

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked. You began to unhook the boat from where it was being held.

“Sending this bad boy out to sea. With any luck, the police will find it and think Eddie jumped off ‘cause he couldn’t handle the guilt.” You reply. Eddie smiles.

“Smart.” He says as he crosses his arms. You return the smile.

“I try.”

>><<

You pulled into the driveway of your house, hearing your dog barking. Poor boy hasn’t seen you all day, he must’ve missed you. You quickly locked it down before stepping out. You held your keys in your hand as you turned around.

“The dog is very friendly, don’t worry. He’s a total sweetheart. He might nibble your arm but that’s about it.” You say as you unlock your front door. True to your word, your dog came barrelling toward you, greeting you by jumping on your legs. You laughed and pet him gingerly, waiting for the others to pile in.

“Everyone in? Good. I’ll lock up, you guys can make yourself at home.” You said. He weaseled around you to sniff the new people. Max smiled as she began to put him.

“He’s so cute… What's his name?” She asked.

“It’s (D/n).” You reply, walking toward your tv so you could kneel and store your new VHS rentals with the others. Once everything is neatly sorted, you stand back up and turn around to talk to others.

“Since we dropped by your place to grab your car Steve, you should get these kids home now. It’s pretty late. Eddie and I will be fine.” You say.

“Are you sure? What if the cops come?” Dustin asks. You laugh and gently push down his hat.

“You worry too much. Get out of here already.” You reply, walking back toward your door to unlock it for them. He begrudgingly makes his way over, pausing for everyone else to follow him. 

“We’ll be back tomorrow to check up on you two,” Steve says. You nod.

“Fine by me. See you all then.” You say as they slowly begin to exit. Once they’re in their car, you lock the door and turn to Eddie who stands awkwardly. You laugh.

“Relax dude.” You say.

“Relax? I’m on the run from the police and you want me to relax? I’m surprised you’re not losing your head right now considering you’re the one hiding me.”

“We’re just two friends hanging out, alright? Listen… You look like shit. Why don’t you take a shower while I cook dinner?” You suggest making your way into the kitchen to check what you could make.

“Shower? And what exactly do you propose I change into?” He asks.

“I’ll let you borrow some of mine while I toss yours in the washer. I’m sure I have something that’ll fit you. Might be a bit big though.” You say, exiting the kitchen and walking down the hall to your bedroom. You can hear him follow behind you. You push open the door and make your way to your dresser, beginning to shuffle through the top drawer.

“Oh… Wasn’t expecting your room to actually be cool.” Eddie says as he leans on the door frame. You glance at him with a cocked eyebrow.

“And why is that?” You ask.

“Well, you’re like a sports fan aren't you?” He asked. You rolled your eyes and went back to sifting through the clothes.

“Like I said. It was laundry night. I got that shirt from my dad ages ago. Couldn’t you tell from how beat up it was?” You replied, grabbing a couple of garments before standing up and tossing them toward him. He fumbled to catch them but eventually did. He unfolded the shirt to see a Mötley Crüe album cover staring back at him. He smiled.

“You’re hard to pin down (L/n).” He said. You rolled your eyes and tossed him a towel.

“That’s cause I like to be on top Munson.” You reply with a playful wink. Eddie’s face became red, holding the clothes close to his chest. He opened his mouth to reply but only sputtered. In order not to embarrass himself more, he opted to make his way to the bathroom for that shower. Maybe even a cold one.

“Make sure you toss your clothes out so I can wash them.” You shout. You see Eddie reach his arm out and drop everything in the hallway. Once you gathered his items, along with a couple of your own to make the load more substantial, you started the washer and made your way back to the living room.

You quietly whistled as you gently ran your finger along your shelf of cassettes, deciding which you wanted to listen to while you cooked. Eventually, you settled on Black Sabbath’s self-titled album and popped it into your radio.

The familiar sound of the rain from the opening song soothed you as you pulled out the pot you needed to boil water in. You hummed along once the music began to pick up. You continued cooking, enjoying the music in pair with the sound of the shower in the background.

A substantial amount of time had passed and you were close to finishing the meal you were preparing when you paused. Your favorite song on the album was starting. N.I.B. Instead of humming, you began to sing along.

“Some people say my love cannot be true / Please, believe me, my love, and I'll show you / I will give you those things you thought unreal / The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal.” You sing quietly to yourself.

“Woah, you’ve been holding out on me.” A voice spoke from behind you. You were startled, jumping slightly and flinging sauce onto your shirt. You groaned.

“Come on man.” You said, turning around and placing your hands on your hips. You planned on being annoyed but when you saw him standing in front of you with his curly hair damp and sticking to his forehead, you couldn’t help but swoon. Your shirt looked great on him, which caused a smile to creep onto your face.

“Tomato sauce?” He asked. You nodded.

“Spaghetti. I hope you like it.” You reply, turning back around to stir the sauce. Eddie leaned on the counter next to you, watching as you did so.

“I meant it though. Your voice was good. And your song choice? Impeccable.” He says. You roll your eyes and push him with your shoulder.

“Quit fucking with me Munson.”

“I mean it! Seriously.” His voice is soft and gentle, and your heartbeat starts to thump loudly in your chest. You turn the heat off your stove and look at him with a smile.

“Dinner is done.”

>><<

Eddie sighed as he reclined on the couch.

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a home-cooked meal like that?” He asked with a laugh. You smile.

“So, you liked it?” You ask.

“Are you kidding me? That shit was delicious.” He proclaimed. You stood up and collected both of your bowls, placing them into the sink before standing in front of him.

“I'm glad you liked it. Wanna get some sleep now? It’s super late.” You said. Eddie checked his watch and nodded.

“Wow, you’re right. It is late. Am I taking the couch?” He asks. You shake your head.

“Nah, you can take my bed, I’ll take the couch.” You reply. Eddie raises his eyebrows.

“Wait what? Seriously?” He asks, sitting up straight.

“Well, yeah. The couch is super uncomfortable.”

“So why are you sleeping on it?”

“Because I don’t want you sleeping on it.”

“So… neither of us should sleep on it.”

“Where am I gonna sleep then? The floor?” You asked with a laugh.

“We could both sleep on the bed.” Eddie was quick in his response, almost too quick. You were a bit surprised by this and felt that funny feeling start to well up in your stomach again.

“We could… If you’re okay with that.” You say, trying to sound nonchalant. He shrugged, averting eye contact.

“I am if you are.” He says. You smile.

“Yeah. You can go to the room and get comfortable, I have to use the restroom so I’ll be there soon.” You say, stretching before walking down the hall.

Eddie did as you said, going into your room as you went into the restroom. He laid down on your bed, sidling under the covers and finally relaxing for the first time in a long time. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until he was resting. As he held the blanket close to him, he inhaled. It smelled like your cologne. He’d only ever caught gentle hints of it when you stood close to him, but now, he could smell it as clear as day, which was so soothing.

What has been going on with him lately? He’d only known you for two days, and everything about you seemed to make him act a fool. He needed to get himself together, he had bigger things to worry about now. Not how good your cologne smelled or how comfortable your shirt fit him or how melodic your voice sounded or how you were honestly starting to look like the perfect man for him the more time he spent with you. 

You walked back into the room, hairbrush in hand as you raked it through your tangled locks. Once you finished you placed it on your nightstand. You smiled at the sight of him all cozy and comfortable in your bed. He seemed like he was already starting to drift off to sleep. God knows he needed it.

“I can’t stand the feeling of sleeping in pants, do you mind?” You asked, hands hovering over the button of your jeans. He raised his eyebrows but shrugged.

“Go ahead.” He muttered before breaking into a yawn. You chuckled.

“Sleep Eddie. You need it.” You replied, gently crawling into your bed so you didn’t disturb him. He looked at you with half-lidded eyes and gave you a sleepy smile. 

“Thanks. For everything.” He mumbled before closing his eyes. You opened your mouth to respond but seeing as it seemed he’d already gone to sleep. You opted for a fond smile as you stared at him for longer than you would’ve liked to admit. The funny feeling in your stomach and heart was back, but you didn’t fight it this time. You laid with it as he laid with you, your hand only centimeters away from his. So close, yet so far. But that was okay. He was there, and that was okay.

>><<

The horrible sound of bones crunching met his ears as he stared up at her floating body. Blood was pouring from her empty eye sockets but it still felt like she was staring right at him. Into his very soul. Despite her broken jaw, she spoke to him.

“It’s all your fault, Eddie.” She whispered. Her voice was so hoarse it didn’t even sound like her own.

“No…” Eddie pleaded.

“It’s all your fault!” She was yelling now. Eddie collapsed to the floor and began to cry, covering his ears in an attempt to block out her screaming. He rocked himself back and forth, sobbing uncontrollably.

Eddie sat up with a fervor, his hands shaking violently as he swung his head around to look at the room. His eyes trained on the ceiling, waiting to see if she’d appear there. It was so hard to breathe and he was so fucking scared. He was goddamn terrified.

All the motion had woken you up. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes and planned on asking what was wrong, but quickly sat up when you heard Eddie crying. You could feel his body tremors on the mattress due to how violent they were. What had happened to him while you were sleeping?

“Eddie? Eddie, what’s wrong?” You whispered. You kept your voice low and avoided touching him in case it would upset him further.

“She was there… She was there and she- s-she-”

“Who was there Eddie?” You asked.

“Chrissy! She said it was all my fault and-” It was hard to catch the rest of his words over his sobs. 

“Hey hey hey i-it’s okay! Chrissy isn’t here. None of that was your fault alright? Just breath. Can I touch you?” You asked gently, hovering your hands over his shoulders. He nodded something no short of desperation, and you wrapped one of your arms around his back, the other holding his arms. “It’s okay Eddie. It’s okay…” You whispered. He cried harder as he clutched fistfuls of your shirt with an iron-tight grip. His entire body was shaking in your arms. You weren’t sure what else you could do other than whisper that he’d be alright and gently rub his back. 

“You’re safe here, okay? You’re safe…”

>><<

Eddie woke up, the smell of your cologne much stronger than it was when he’d gone to sleep. He opened his eyes and yawned, taking a few seconds to blink away the tiredness before realizing he was laying on your chest. His arms were wrapped around your midsection and yours laying atop his back. 

He vaguely remembered what happened. Having that horrible nightmare, waking up in tears, and you soothing him back to sleep, but he didn’t remember this level of intimacy. Had he really fallen asleep clutching onto you like this? Furthermore, you let him?

He pulled his arms out from under you, trying his best not to disturb you, but it was fruitless. You slowly began to stir, stretching your limbs and shaking them gently in an attempt to wake yourself up further. You looked at Eddie and gave him a small smile, remembering the events of the night clearly.

“You alright?” You ask quietly. Eddie gives a half-hearted laugh before leaning against the headboard of your bed.

“Yeah. Sorry, you had to see me like that. How embarrassing.” He muttered. You chuckled and sat up as well, bumping your shoulder into his as you did so.

“You went through something traumatic Eddie. Don't be so hard on yourself.” You replied. He looked at his hands which he’d folded in his lap.

“I was acting like a baby though. Crying and shaking? I mean seriously-”

“Eddie.” You cut him off. He looked at you with those big brown eyes that made you weak in the knees.

“You’re okay. I mean it.” You say, placing your hand on his shoulder. He stared at you, his cheeks dusting that familiar shade of pink that seemed to be happening much more often now that he was around you. He looked away, a small smile on his face.

“Just don’t tell Henderson, alright? I don’t want him to think I’ve gone soft.” He says. You laugh.

“Deal.”

>><<

A few days passed and you found yourself growing much closer to Eddie. You bonded over music and books, played board games, and marathoned some of your favorite movies. The more time you spent with him, the harder you seemed to fall for him, and unbeknownst to you, it was the same for him.

Every time he looked at you from across the couch he felt his heart beat faster than it ever had in his life. He had crushes before, but none like this. None that would've given him a second glance, let alone let him stay in their house as he was suspected of murder.

You were reclined on the couch, your dog wedged between you two. Eddie had grown quite fond of him, and it was mutual. (D/n) loved having another person around to play with. It started to make you feel like you were your own little family. But a loud knock on your door disturbed that peace, causing (D/n) to start barking.

“Who is it?” You called. 

“It’s Dustin! Let us in!” He yelled through the door. You sighed and got up from your comfortable position, unlocking the door for the others to pile in. But there were two faces you didn’t quite recognize.

“Hold on there kid. Mind catching me up on these two characters?” You asked.

“Oh, right. (Y/n), this is Nancy and Lucas, Nancy and Lucas this is (Y/n). We’re all caught up now? Great, good, because shit just hit the fan.” Dustin replies. You raise your eyebrows, and Eddie adjusts his sitting from being reclined to attentive listening.

“On our way here, we drove by Rick’s place. It was swarmed with cops and reporters. Patrick was Vecna’d last night at Lover’s Lake. Jason managed to convince them that it was you and they’ve just released your name to the public.” His words come out so fast that you almost don’t register what he’s saying.

“Shit. shit… fuck man!” Eddie yells, standing up and beginning to pace the room.

“But, there’s a bright side to this,” Dustin says.

“Oh is there Henderson? Please do enlighten me.” Eddie replies sarcastically.

“Another thing I noticed on my way here was that my compass was slipping the further east we went.”

“And we’ve seen this before.” The one named Lucas chimed in.

“Mhmm. In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” Dustin says.

“Meaning…?” You ask.

“There’s another gate.” He answers.

“So what do we do now?”

“We follow the compass to the gate,” Dustin replies excitedly. 

“Eddie’s still a wanted man. What do you expect us to do? Go for a nice stroll in the woods?” You ask.

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks. Everyone fixes their eyes on Eddie, even you. You’re not sure what you’re hoping his answer is.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the shire… the shire is burning. So Mordor it is.” Dustin excitedly opens the front door, waiting for Eddie to walk out. You walk to step out after him but pause to speak before you do.

“For the record, if anything happens to him, you’re all dead meat. Got it?” You say. A couple of shocked faces dance around the room, but there are nods of agreement. Once your gone, Steve looks at Dustin.

“Since when does he care so much about Eddie?” He asks. Dustin smirks.

“Young love Steve. Young love.” He replies as he pats his arm. Steve makes a noise of shock as Dustin walks out of the house.

“A little bit of elaboration would be nice.”

>><<

“Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?” Eddie called out. You felt like sheep, blindly following this kid through the woods.

“I think we’re getting close,” Dustin yelled over his shoulder. In his distraction of telling you so, he didn’t notice that he was about to walk straight into Lover’s Lake. Eddie grabbed his backpack and placed his arm in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

“Watch your step big guy.” He said. It took everyone else a little bit to catch up, but once you did, you sighed.

“Oh, man. You gotta be shitting me.” Steve groaned.

“Yeah. I thought these woods looked familiar.” Eddie replied.

“Lover’s Lake.”

“This is confounding,” Dustin whispered.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s lake?” Max asked.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Nancy suggested.

“Yeah, only one way to find out,” Steve replied. Eddie sighed and cracked his neck, walking down the shoreline. He pulled the tarp off the boat which seemed to be an integral part of this story. Steve and Eddie began to push it onto the water.

“Easy I… I said easy, man.” Steve said.

“Sorry, dude,” Eddie mumbled. Steve holds his hand out to help Robin into the boat but she opts to use their heads instead. 

“Yeah that works too.” Steve mumbles. Eddie climbs in after, offering a hand to help you in. You snicker.

“How gentlemanly.” You reply sarcastically as you climb in. Nancy quickly follows behind you. Dustin is right on her heels, but Eddie flicks his hat downward and pushes him away.

“Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds four people tops, okay?”

“It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble.” Nancy said.

“You keep an eye out!” Dustin rebuttals. Nancy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“It’s my goddamn theory!” Dustin argues.

“You heard Nance.” 

“Who put her in charge?”

“I did,” Robin states, almost matter-of-factly. Dustin looks at her confused while Nancy holds out her hand.

“Compass.” She demands. Dustin begrudgingly forks it over as he walks back to stand next to the other younger teenagers. Steve stands up and tosses his backpack before pushing the boat into the water and hopping in.

“You said four!” Dustin protests.

“Sorry,” Steve whispers.

“Bedtime at nine kiddos! Miss you already!” Robin yells. You chuckled.

Robin and Eddie use the oars to propel the boat on the water while Nancy watches the compass. You quietly begin to whistle a tune, one that Eddie recognized. The same one you sang the first night he stayed at your house. He was sure his face was flushed, but he didn't mind since it was shrouded in the darkness of the night.

”Whoa, whoa, woah, woah, slow down. Slow down, guys.” Nancy called out. Robin and Eddie stopped rowing, turning around to look at her. You all gathered around the compass, staring at it as the needle went crazy. You heard the walkie-talkie chime with Dustin’s voice.

“Guys, what’s going on? Come on, talk to me. What’s going on?” He asked. Robin grabbed the walkie and spoke into it.

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capitol ‘aah!’” She replied. Steve began to pull off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asked. 

“Yeah, seriously man, nobody wants to see those. Or smell them.” You say, fanning his feet away from you. Steve rolls his eyes.

“Somebody's gotta go down and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then… It’s gotta be me. No complaints, alright?” He asks.

“Hey, I'm not complaining. I do not wanna go down there.” Eddie replies as he fishes a grocery bag from his battle vest pocket. Steve pulls his shirt off and you roll your eyes.

“Show off.” You mumble. Eddie looks up at you and smiles. 

“Tell me about it.” He whispers before handing Steve the flashlight wrapped in the plastic bag safeguard.

“Hey. Good luck.” Eddie says. He pulls out a cigarette while Steve thanks him but Robin quickly grabs it and throws it in the lake.

“Steve?” Nancy calls out. He looks over his shoulder at her.

“Be careful.” She says. He nods before diving in.

“Gross.” You mumble, taking off your hoodie and bunching it up. You toss it in Eddie’s lap before laying your head onto it, reclining as comfortably as the small boat would allow. Eddie’s a bit surprised by this, looking down at you as if questioning why.

“Who knows how long he’ll be down there? Might as well get comfortable while I can.” You reply with a shrug. He relaxes a little but is still somewhat on edge.

“Where we at, Wheeler?” Robin asks.

“Closing in on a minute,” Nancy replies. She exhales and nods. More time passes as both of them stare intensely at the water, wondering when he’s gonna resurface. You, on the other hand, find yourself close to drifting off. You wouldn’t have expected it considering the high-stakes situation you were in, but something about laying in Eddie's lap made you feel safe enough to doze off. You were snapped out of that peace quickly though when Steve burst through the water gasping for air.

“I found it!” He exclaimed. You sat up and pulled your hoodie back on.

“You found it?” Nancy asked.

“I found it. Yeah. I found it.” He replied as he clutched onto the side of the boat. Robin smiles and grabs the walkie-talkie.

“Dustin you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate!” She spoke into it. She waited for a response, but nothing came. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion but disregards it when Steve starts talking.

“It’s pretty wild. It’s more of a snack-sized gate than the mama gate but still, it’s pretty damn big.” He says, almost out of breath. When his sentence finished, he dips back under the water, seemingly struggling against something. He pops back up with a look of confusion on his face before being pulled fully underwater.

“Steve!” Nancy calls out.

“No no! What the hell was that, man?” Eddie yelled.

“Nancy, really, what happened?” Robin asks, her voice filled with terror. Nancy stares at the water for a moment before she stands up. She looks like she’s going in after him.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not going in there, are you?” Eddie asks, grabbing her arm to stop her.

“Just wait here.” She demands.

“No Nancy!” Robin yells, but she’s already in the water.

“Goddamnit!” Eddie yells, running his fingers through his hair. Robin begins to perch herself on the edge of the boat.

“No no no no no no. What are you doing? She said wait.” Eddie protested.

“Yeah, I heard her.” She replies.

“She’s in charge.” 

“Are you kidding me? I made that shit up.” She says before plugging her nose and beginning to lean back.

“Don’t you go. Don’t you-” His words are cut off by the splash of Robin's body meeting the water.

“Goddamn it!” He bangs his open palms on the edge of the boat. You stand up, causing him to look at you.

“(Y/n), don’t even think about it!” He says. You smirk and hold out your hand to him.

“Come on, don’t make me do this alone.” You reply.

“Son of a bitch. This is so stupid. This is so stupid. This is so stupid.” He practically chants to himself, but he grabs your hand anyways. You dive into the water together, all while he’s stringing out profanities.

>><<

You all huddle under skull rock, shaking from fear and possibly hypothermia. After saving Steve from those creatures and running through the entire forest to hide from them, it was safe to say that you were exhausted. The screeching becomes more distant, and Robin is the first to peek her head out.

“Oh… okay. That was close.” She says.

“Yeah. Too close.” Eddie replies, his voice shaking with fear. As you begin to walk farther out, you hear steve mutter something. You turn your head and see him lean against the rock.

“Steve? Jesus.” Nancy says as she notices the same thing you had.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” He protests.

“No, no, no. You’re not. You’re losing blood. Come on, sit. Alright?” She coaxes him down He groans in pain as he removes his hand from the open wound. Robin kneels next to him as well.

“Okay. So the good news here is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me or something, then you should totally let me know, okay?”

“Robin.”

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna punch you.” He replied. Robin laughs.

“Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.”

“Yeah…” He mumbles. Nancy finishes tearing off the piece of fabric that she needed to dress his wounds, so Robin steps away.

“You ready?” Nancy asks. 

“Yeah. Just do it.” Steve replies. She pushes the fabric against him and he stifles his groans. He locks his hands behind his head as she apologizes, doing her best to wrap the fabric around him properly.

“Too tight?” She asks.

“No, that’s good.” He replies. He lets out a few final grunts of pain before she finishes by tying it into a knot. You hear Eddie walk away from you, so you turn to see what he’s doing. He’s climbing up a rock, trying to get a better view of the land in front of him.

“So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” He asks. Nancy helps Steve stand, putting his weight on her shoulders.

“Pretty much.” She replies. He nods and starts to walk back down, but Nancy stops him with a warning.

“Wait, watch out for the vines. It’s all a hivemind.”

“It’s all a what?”

“All the creepy crawlies around here dude. They’re like, one, or something. You’re stepping on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” Steve says.

“Shit,” Eddie replies, now very carefully stepping around the vines.

“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people obviously?” Robin asks.

“As far as I understand it, yeah.” “So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.” “I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But guns, yeah, sure.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom.” Nancy replied. Eddie finally manages to jump down from the rock.

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?” He asks.

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” 

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” She states.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one,” Steve says.

“You almost deserved it.” She replies. Eddie rolls his eyes and slips off his battle vest, tossing it at Steve.

“For your modesty, dude.” He says. You can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy culminate in your abdomen, but before you have time to even think about why that is, a loud rumbling shakes the earth. It’s so intense that you lose your balance, falling into Eddie as the others fall into each other as well. His arm falls onto your waist and you would've been flustered by the fact had you not been preoccupied with the earthquake. There was a loud snarling in the distance that sent chills down your spine.

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, me too.” You reply, realizing how close he is by how loud his voice is in your ear.

“So what are we waiting for?”

>><<

After the highs and lows of finding the wheeler house, realizing there were no guns because the upside down was three years stuck in the past, finding a way to contact the overworld, and biking seven miles to Eddie’s trailer, you were almost relieved when you saw that fleshy interdimensional portal on the ceiling. But something about the way it squelched and breathed as if it were alive made you have second thoughts.

“This is where Chrissy died. Like, right where she died.” Eddie said, looking over his shoulders at you and the others. You could tell there was a lot of pain in those memories.

“I think there’s something in there,” Robin replied, her eyes never leaving the ceiling. There was a crackling sound as the red barrier was pulling downward as if something were pushing it in. You felt your stomach go queasy at the sight.

“What the hell is that?” Eddie asked. Seconds after the question left his mouth, the gate popped open, the fleshy parts and vines all retreating into the ceiling. The sudden movement made all of you yelp in fear and back up, eyes still fixed on the now open gate. You exchanged worried glances with Eddie.

Steve slowly began to approach it, and you followed his lead, right behind Nancy and Robin. The steps you took toward it were slow and timid, waiting for the slightest sign of danger. Finally, as you got closer, you could see into it.

“No way,” Steve muttered. On the other side of the gate stood Dustin, Lucas, Max, and a little girl you didn’t recognize. Dustin had a huge smile plastered on his face, jumping on the balls of his feet.

“Hi there.” He said as he waved, prompting Lucas to do the same.

“Hi…” Nancy, Steve, and Robin replied. You were too shocked to speak.

“Holy shit, this is trippy,” Robin said.

“Tell me about it…” You mumbled. Dustin laughed again, excitedly looking at his friends before looking back up at you.

“Bada bada boom!” He exclaimed.

“Henderson, your childlike joy is refreshing, but could we maybe, I don’t know, figure out a way to get us the hell out of here!” Eddie shouted. Dustin stopped giggling and nodded.

“Right right sorry, Eddie.�� The children began to disperse out of your view. You could hear shuffling and after a few minutes, Max and Lucas dropped a mattress below the portal. You raised your eyebrows at the state of it.

“Those stains are, uh… I dunno what those stains are.” Eddie said.

“Mmm,” Robin replied, a questioning look on her face. Dustin walked into view, a makeshift rope of tied-together sheets in hand.

“Not quite sure how these psychics are gonna work. But uh… here goes nothing.” He says as he throws it up through the portal, but once it meets your end it begins to cascade down.

“There we go. And if my theory is correct…” He says before removing his hands from the rope. It stays in its place, causing him to smile.

“Abracadabra.” He whispers.

“Holy shit,” Max says, looking up at the rope on your end.

“All right, pull on it! See if it holds!” Dustin shouts to your group. Robin looks around before grabbing onto the rope, giving it her best yank. She smiles and laughs incredulously.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’ve seen some crazy shit.” The girl you don’t recognize says as she high-fives Dustin. You laugh.

“Starting to think that’s a common experience.” You reply. Robin grabs hold of the rope once again.

“Guess I’m the guinea pig.” She says as she begins to climb up the rope. The younger teens on the other side begin to disperse to make room for her on the landing pad. She grunted as she climbed upward, but once her head was on the other side, she fell onto her back on the mattress.

“Oh thank God. That was fun.” She said with a sigh of relief. You watch her grab Dustin’s hand to help pull her up. You look at the others, Nancy looking at Eddie, then you, then Steve, the other teenage boys looking at each other until somebody volunteers.

“All right, guess I’ll go,” Eddie says with a shrug as he approaches the rope. He grunts as he begins to climb it, inching his way back to the overworld. Finally, gravity takes hold and he falls onto the mattress. He sits up abruptly.

“That… was fun. Shit.” He says with a large smile before getting up.

“Don’t mind if I do.” You say, grabbing onto the rope. Climbing it felt reminiscent of gym class, which made you feel a bit queasy, but once your head passed that gap between the worlds, all the blood went rushing to your face and you felt like you were freefalling. You laughed as you began to cascade onto the mattress and blinked a few times once your back finally hit the surface. 

“(Y/n) approved.” You said as grabbed Eddie’s hand so he could help you up.

>><< 

You sat wedged between Dustin and Eddie, on your way to what could very well be the end of your life. Thanks to Nancy being Vecna’d and that trip to the War Zone, you were as well prepared as you could’ve been, but that didn’t quiet the loud thrumming of your heart, or the sinking feeling growing in the pit of your stomach.

The car slowed in front of the dilapidated Creel house to drop off the Sinclairs and Max. And then it kept driving. You looked out the window, watching their bodies become smaller as you drove further and further away. The sun was dipping lower into the sky as the drive continued. It was nightfall by the time you reached your destination. Nancy stood up from her seat and turned to look at every one.

“Okay. I wanna run through it one more time. Phase one.”

“We meet Erica at the playground. She’ll signal Max and Lucas when we’re ready.”

“Phase two.”

“Max baits Vecna. He’ll go after her, which’ll put him in his trance.”

“Phase three?”

“Me, Eddie, and (Y/n) will draw the bats away,” Dustin replied. Eddie nudges you in the side with a smile before giving Dustin a noogie, an oddly pure moment despite the given circumstances.

“Four.”

“We head into Vecna’s hopefully newly bat-free lair and… flambe,” Robin replies, sloshing around the Molotov cocktail in her hand.

“Nobody moves on to the next phase until we’ve all copied. Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?” Nancy asks. You all chime in with ‘got it’s before dispersing and piling out of the RV. You trek through the small span of woods in front of you before making it to the trailer park and shortly after, Eddie’s trailer. Once you're inside, you’re relieved to see the makeshift rope is still intact.

“Be careful,” Dustin says.

“Thanks, buddy. Here goes nothing.” Steve replies as he begins to climb the rope. Since there’s no mattress on the other end, he’s extra careful to land on his feet, which he does somewhat majestically. Robin sarcastically makes noises of praise.

“What does he want us to do, applaud?” She asks. It takes Steve a few seconds to bring the upside-down mattress under the portal, giving those athletically challenged a safer landing strategy.

“Alright, let’s go.” He calls up to you. Nancy is the first go, Robin kneeling next to her to provide even more assistance. She nods at her before climbing and subsequently falling onto the mattress. After Nancy, Eddie drops down his gear and follows right after. Then you, then Robin, then Dustin, who takes far too long to stand up which results in him being pulled to his feet by you and Eddie. You begin to walk out of the trailer right behind Steve, with the rest of your team in tow. He turns back to you.

“Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep ‘em busy for a minute or two. We’ll take care of Vecna. Don’t try to be cute, or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just-”

“Decoys. Don’t worry. You can be the hero Steve.” Dustin cuts him off.

“Absolutely. I mean, look at us. We are not heroes.” Eddie says with a laugh as he looks between you and Dustin. You feign offense as you nudge him in the side. Steve hesitates for a moment before turning around and walking toward Robin and Nancy. Eddie takes a step toward him.

“Hey, Steve?” He calls out. Steve turns around.

“Make him pay.” He says. They nod at each other before Steve’s team begins to walk off. 

“Now that all that mushy gushy bullshit is over, it’s time for the fun part.” You say, hitting Eddie’s stomach with your arm. He laughs as you make your way into his bedroom. Once he’s in, he stops.

“Jesus christ… It’s like… She was destined for an alternate dimension…” He mumbles as he approaches his guitar.

“What do you say, guys?” He asks, picking it up from where it hung.

“Are you ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?” He asks, turning to face the two of you.

“That a rhetorical question?” Dustin asks. Eddie smiles and puts the strap over his shoulder.

“Let’s do it.” He says, swinging it over his back. As if you didn’t find him hot enough as it is.

>><<

You waited tentatively for the crackle of the walkie-talkie to sound and tell you when to move forward. Finally, after what seemed like hours, you heard Robin’s voice on the other end.

“She’s in. Move on to phase three.”

“Copy that. Initiating phase three. Let’s hope they hear this.” Dustin said as he pulled the extension cord up to plug in the amp and subsequently turned them to their full volume. He looks at Eddie, who grabs the pick from around his neck.

“Chrissy, this is for you.” He mutters, mostly to himself, before he starts to strum. You recognize the beat immediately.

Dustin is crouched beside you as you lean one hand on the amp, enjoying Eddie’s impeccable performance of one of your favorite songs. You would’ve enjoyed it more, had it not been for the predicament you were in. Dustin checks his binoculars a few times, but this time, he calls out to Eddie.

“We gotta lock down in T minus 30 seconds.” He yells over the noise. Eddie nods, focusing back on playing his guitar.

“T-minus 20!” Dustin shouts. You look over at Eddie, who’s now shredding the guitar solo, which you wish you could appreciate more, but the screeching bats inching closer in proximity make it difficult. Dustin begins to count down from 10, and Eddie finishes right as he reaches one. The bats are way too close for comfort, so you shove Dustin in the direction of the truck you used to get on the roof. He begins to climb down, you following and Eddie just behind you.

They’re shouting incoherently at each other as you rush into the gated area, which Eddie shuts just in the nick of time. You watch the bats attempt to claw at you through the fencing, but they have no luck. You give a relieved half laugh half sigh, but it’s short-lived as more begin to fly toward you.

“Hurry! Come on!” Dustin calls to the two of you. Once you’re inside, you lean against the wall, panting heavily.

“Dude. Most metal ever!” Dustin yells, causing both him and Eddie to jump with excitement. You laugh and can’t help but smile at the two fondly. They take a few minutes to bask in their excitement before finally winding down and walking to the portal. There’s a thump against the trailer wall that makes you turn your head. Then another. And another. And then they’re not stopping. The bats outside seem to be thrashing their bodies against the walls. Hard. But then, just as soon as it started, it stopped.

“Hey, dipshits! Give up that easy!” Dustin yells.

“Is that really necessary?” Eddie asks.

“Both of you shut up!” You hiss. They stop bickering long enough for you to hear the bats have moved.

“They’re on the roof,” Eddie says, looking upward. Dustin begins to string out profanities as you all follow the sound of the bats traveling. You fix your eyes on a small circular vent.

“Uh oh.” You whisper.

“They can’t get in through there, can they?” Dustin asks, but right as the words leave his mouth, the demobat breaches the flimsy metal. It screeches, and the three of you begin to stab at it furiously with your spears. After a few seconds, Eddie backs away, much to Dustin’s protests. 

“Get out of the way! Get out of the way!” He calls to the two of you. You back up just in time for Eddie to throw down a chair and wedge his nail shield into the ceiling.

“Holy shit… Holy shit.” He says in between pants.

“Nice,” Dustin says.

“Thanks.” He replies, giving him a high five.

“Are there other vents?” Dustin asks. Eddie seems to realize his answer is not the one you’d hope for as he rushes to his bedroom. You all begin to run toward it, and as soon as you enter, bats come flying through the vent on the floor. He pushes you and Dustin out, shutting the door as quickly as he can.

“That’s not gonna hold!” Dustin yells as you back away.

“No shit genius!” You yell back.

“Let’s go!” Eddie yells. Dustin begins to climb the rope. You’re quick to follow, not sparing another second. Once you're on the other side, you look at Eddie who starts to climb but stops halfway.

“Eddie, what are you doing? You have to hurry!” You yell at him. He stares at you and then at the door before dropping back onto the ground.

“Eddie! Come on man!” Your shouts seem to fall on deaf ears as he walks away to grab a spear.

“Eddie don’t you fucking dare! Eddie-” He cuts the rope, severing the way to travel between the worlds. He moves the mattress and you can feel tears begin to well in your eyes. Dustin is watching this unfold with you.

“Eddie, what are you doing?” He asks. Eddie looks at the two of you with a smile on his face.

“I’m buying more time.” He says before walking out of your view. Dustin looks at you as if he’s asking what to do and for the first time in a long time, you don’t know. You’d never felt this way before. Scared and lost and heartbroken all at the same time. You couldn’t breathe.

“No fucking way. You’re not fucking running this time Eddie.” You say as the tears fall out of your eyes, but you wipe them away ferociously. You grab the chair and set it right underneath the center of the portal. Standing on it, you’re just tall enough to reach it when you jump. So you do just that. Grunting as you pull yourself through, you hang on for dear life when the gravitational pull hits. You sigh and swing back and forth so you can roll when you let go. It’s messy, and you're gonna be left bruised, but it’s enough to have gotten you down. You pull the mattress back, giving Dustin a safer way to land than you had.

“Come on!” You yell, offering a hand to help him up. Once he’s on his feet, you rush out the door, him following close behind you. You run as fast as you can, pushing yourself farther than you ever have before. You can see the bats swarming him. God, why did you have to fall in love with an idiot? 

You see them wrap around his legs and arms, rendering him defenseless. More begin to pile onto him and you can only imagine what they’re doing. Tears blur your vision as you start to run even faster, faster than you thought was in your capability. You pull the machete you’d nabbed from the war zone off your back as you were finally in distance. You swung it at the bats in your path but saved your deadliest blows for the ones gnawing on his torso.

Dustin was close behind you, picking off those that he could as you fought with the ones latched onto Eddie. He seemed to recognize you, a bloody smile on his face. You kept swinging and crying and fighting, all at the same time. It seemed like an impossible fight that you swore you would’ve lost, but then, out of nowhere, the bats all fell from the sky.

You dropped your machete and began to cry harder. You were going to hold Eddie but found his wounds held a higher precedent. You wiped away your tears in an effort to see better as Dustin kneeled next to him as well.

“Bad, huh?” He asked.

“No. You’re gonna be fine.” Dustin replied.

“Damn fucking right you will.” You yelled, pulling off your hoodie. You sliced through the fabric with the pocket knife you had and began to tie it tightly around his torso.

“You’re not dying on me that easy Munson. Don’t even fucking think about it.” You reply. He opens his mouth to respond, but you cut him off by placing his arm around your shoulder.

“Whatever sappy shit you’ve got to say, you can save it, 'cause I already told you. You’re not fucking dying today.” You say as you stand up, carrying his body weight as well. He groans in pain.

“Help me out here Henderson.” You say, staggering to hold him up by yourself. Dustin rushes to your side and grabs Eddie’s other arm, splitting his weight between the two of you as you hobble back through the upside-down.

>><<

Eddie sat up in bed, gasping and looking around, then clutching his sides in pain. He recognized the room he was in, but he wasn’t sure why. The door to his right creaked open, and you walked in with what looked like medical supplies in your arms.

“(Y/n).” His voice was hoarse as he spoke your name. You were surprised to see that he was awake, and felt tears prick the corners of your eyes,

“Finally you’re up. I was starting to think you were holding out on me.” You said, trying to act as if you weren’t bursting at the seams with excitement. He chuckled.

“Why am I here?” He asked. You shrugged and sat next to him on your bed, pulling the covers off of his body. He hadn’t noticed he was shirtless until he felt the cold chill nip at his body.

“Would you rather be at Hawkins High with the rest of the town? I’m sure they’d all love to see their darling Edward, wanted murder suspect.” You reply. He smiles.

“Guess you’re right.” He says as you begin to unwrap his bandages.

“Someone’s getting a bit handsy.” He teases. You roll your eyes and finish unwrapping the bloodied bandages before starting to wrap him with new ones.

“That was really stupid, by the way.” You say.

“What?”

“Running into that swarm. You could’ve been killed.” You scolded. Eddie sighs.

“They needed more time and even if I had been… What difference would it have made?” He said with a shrug. You felt tears well in your eyes again.

“What difference would it have made? Just because Jason got a few hicks to be against you doesn’t mean everybody was. There are still people who care about you and love you, Eddie. I fucking love you! Do you really think I just ran back into that hell dimension because it wouldn’t have made a difference whether you lived or died?” You said angrily, pulling his bandages around him tighter.

“Wait wait wait. Do my ears deceive me? Did you just say you love me?” Eddie asked. You were so frustrated that you couldn’t take it anymore. You grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a kiss.

At first, you were angry, pressing your lips against his just to get him to shut up for once in his goddamn life but then, as his hands gently held onto you as if you were a delicate piece of fine china, you broke. Tears began to stream down your face as it all hit you at once. You needed this. You needed him.

He pulled away, far too soon for your liking, and stared at you as his chest heaved to catch his breath. He blinked his beautiful brown eyes and smiled his stupid grin. There he was, in all his glory, and you’d just kissed him in a fit of passion and anger at his pure idiocy.

“If I get a kiss like that every time I act a fool, then I’ll have to remember to risk my life more often.” He whispers. You laugh and wipe your face of your tears, shaking your head before standing up.

“Eddie Munson. You have changed my life.” You say with a laugh.

“Then I guess we’re even. Cause I think you saved mine.” He replied. You gathered the bloody bandages and began to walk to the door. Your hand was just above the knob when you paused at the sound of Eddie’s voice once again.

“If I ever beat these charges and things ever go back to the way they were… or at least as much as they can… I’d like to take you on a normal date.” “If I liked normal, I never would’ve found you.”

“Then can I take you on a not normal date? Affective immediately?” He asks. You laugh and open your bedroom door.

“Tell you what Eddie. You heal from the damage those hellbats did to your stomach, and I’ll think about it. Deal?”

“Deal.”

[vixthefantheorist]

Going Back through to Argentum Inanis (the audio of the Video)

So earlier... -looks at time- last night, I popped out a theory ramble on @smoliboops post about the badges of Anomaly Found and from there some peeps also threw their thoughts on it, @n-anon being one of them and also @scarlet-witch-angel made one on it, very good theories and thoughts all around. I also thank @intothebutterflyburrow for having it appear on my dash when he reblogged it. Thank you! :D

So yeah I saw smoliboops' post, rambled like a loon for an hour typing it on phone about my thoughts, which activated Scarlet witch's theorist brain (:D) and made her own theory, which I found very interesting. I do need to get around to reading those theories you mentioned, Scarlet, I'm curious.

Anyway, what she pointed out in the audio of Argentum Inanis of Anti sounding like he said "Oh! I found the Time!" Which intrigued me, I spoke with @septicuniverse (I have her on Discord) because she was curious of what I thought of Scarlet's theory (I loved it); but I also wondered if that's what Anti said in the video.

Which brings me to yeeting my theorist ass over to the video and listen to it... it was pretty garbled with warped vocals and sirens screeching because Anti had to talk to Marvin through Silent Hill's phoneline. (I SWTG ANTI... SPEAK MORE CLEARLY OR I WILL WRING YOUR NECK!)

But it was possible to hear what Scarlet heard, but I decided to rip the audio from the video and yeet it into Audacity! (-jazz hands- Everyone's favorite game of Clear That Audio!) Yeah, we all know I'm not the best at all with these... but I try.

But I was messing with the audio to try to clear things up. As well as practice with audio volume~

And... I got a few different lines that I could make out in the audio because you know garbled mess.

The first one I heard was "Do you want in? There's time!" which made me believe Anti was very well aware of Marvin's presence with the orb and taunted him from watching Anti's work in the safety of his magical home/lair... where the hell Magic man lives. Thus inviting him into the chaos he was making, curious to see if Marvin can and will do anything.

And given Scarlet's information of Sean and Robin implying that the black eyes on Marvin showed him being possessed by Anti... which led me to believe he took the challenge... and failed. For that timeline maybe... (I guess?) or Marvin allowed Anti to possess him to see if he could glean any information from Anti's connection to him to try to turn the tide of this chaos Anti was causing. Does he succeed? I have no idea.

But wanting to be doubly sure, I tweaked and listened to the audio again for another hour, and then realized that it wasn't 'In' but 'Him' in the audio. Which turns it to "Do you want him? There's time!" which shocked the hell out of me because that made a bit more sense, thinking to Anomaly Found, there were was a small group that broke into the IRIS facility to do something, whether to break Chase out, or break themselves out if they were captured (or let them capture to try to get closer to Chase) or something else altogether that had them fucking around in the building at the time Anti decided to turn into into his personal playground.

Anti knew Marvin was watching his movements, watched everything he did, trying to find or understand what the hell Anti was doing and why (or he knew and trying to locate his main victim to prevent shit from happening). Either way, Anti was well aware of Marvin watching him and taunted him about having Chase in his grasp and if Marvin wanted to stop Anti, he had to act. Again, Anti inviting Marvin to challenge him for Chase's freedom and fix everything... somehow. I'm just guessing here.

Again, I wanted to be doubly sure and I knew I couldn't really clean the audio as well as I wanted to... it's just too difficult for me even though I am trying really hard on these... and figured to roll all the changes back to start clean and try new things to do with it to fix it up.

Lo and behold, I fucking heard it in the audio in its original form... if only the siren wasn't there it'd be clearer. But... It's still the same "You want him? There's Time!" but... I realized, in hearing it and looking to the audio image... the first half of the saying is cut off...

"Do you want him__- There's Time!"

Which made me realize -why- the second half was garbled. It wasn't just the screeching siren Anti loves so much, but the fact the first half of the audio overlapped the second.

And I had to listen to this several more times trying to focus on the overlap and I heard it... because the second half of the first sentence not only overlaps but warped into a robotic sound.

"Do you want him -back, MARVIN-? There's Time!" (or 'First... TRY!' of Anti taunting Marvin for not doing anything but yearning to get 'him' back. So if he wants 'him' back he has to at least DO something rather than wait for someone else to do it for him)

(PLEASE for the love of Theorist Gods, be careful with the audio... It's kinda loud since I did fiddle with the amplify feature of Audacity to raise the volume some... I hope at least. I mean it's not a whisper but still be careful. I don't want anyone having ringing ears or going deaf because of me. D: )

^ That is the original audio just amplified.

^And that one is the edited one that's a little lower but still kinda loud but I edited it to try to make it as clear as possible. This one since I was trying to dampen out the background noise, the robotic "back, Marvin" is bit harder to hear but its still there (or easier, depending on whose listening to it)

I was fucking FLOORED when I heard that. (Or I have lost my mind... if its that then I apologize, my fellow theorists and fans of the Septic Egos) This just leads more of the fact that Anti and Marvin KNOW each other on some level. Which opens up a slew of other possible theories or lends some weight to already existing ones of Marvin and Anti having some kind of history.

Now comes the question of which 'Him' Anti is taunting Marvin with. Chase? Given that Chase is the protag and the main target of Anti. Makes sense.

But... remember who else was captured by Anti~

That's right! JJ!

It makes SO MUCH SENSE NOW! Especially with all those other theories I've seen of JJ and Marvin knowing each other. JJ's First Appearance! He fell through Time and ended up in the past. And him mentioning that he arrived far too early! (why was he there in the first place? What did he mean by that? That was never answered because Anti too possession of him and swept him away.)

THEN we have JJ's Jolly Jaunts! A puppet stage that has the symbols of the main cards on it and looked something part of a stage show for the younger kids. Why does it have the card symbols, something Marvin has on his own mask, on it and not just JJ's own flair? Unless, the two were partners in magic shows. Marvin took care of the older audience with his magic and JJ took care of the younger audience with his stories, songs with the puppets.

It's possible that not only Marvin was part of the Magic Circle but JJ was as well. I mean why else would Marvin just hurl him in time with actual magic if the Magic Circle was very secretive of this stuff... especially the Inner Magic Circle, unless JJ was a member too?

And in Jolly Jaunts, Anti taunts Marvin with a puppet show and clearly shows JJ's state of being and helplessness. JJ, himself, at the end of it pleads for someone to help him. Pleading to Marvin to help him.

Just HOLY SHIT... this goes deep, guys... Damn, Sean you are fucking good at this. Guys, we really need to start paying attention to the audio... it can crack some shit wide open with them.

But yeah... just my rambling thoughts... again... Thank you all for reading if you made it this far. I apologize that I rambled your ears off.

Edit :

I wrote this in the middle of the night. I really need to stop doing that lol. But do keep in mind that this is all assumptions and theory based on some garbled audio.

I don't know if Marvin and Anti (or rather Argentum Inanis) have history together in the not so friendly terms. (Likely they do since the Magic Circle has a book on Argentum and time spells.)

Nor do I know for certain if JJ and Marvin also have a history together as friends, let alone partners of a magic show. Or if JJ was a part of the Magic Circle.

Hell for all we know Anti could have taken Jackie as well and that's why he hasn't shown up. And that's the "him" Anti refers to in Argentum Inanis video. Probably not likely but still possible.

Or it could be a completely different "him" that Marvin is trying to save.

Oh... Just realized that could answer somethings with Anti's rant in KJSE... "If you want him back so badly, then why don't you save him?" Was he speaking about C!Jack? Not just then but in Argentum? Or again someone else altogether since there are more characters in this story besides the six Egos now? Hmm curious...

[munamania]

bitch post time!!!!!! many revelations ok last night's vibes were HEINOUS but it provided so much for me and lydia to talk about and now i am gonna share with you yippee storytime

k so we plan to go to this valentines day showcase thing that the college radio is putting on last night. mind you at my place of work where i pretended that i had a family emergency and had to go home cause i didnt feel like going into work yesterday morning lol idiot... i was so paranoid my boss was there in disguise or some shit it was stupid. sorry um. yeah so ok i was largely like this could be a chance for friend groups to come together and maybe ill be able to talk to sams roommate and also like i do want to see more live music and it's free! so. anyway ok wait let me tell u abt the first part of the day

so me and lydia drive over some wine bottles to sam for him to use as props in a film. and sam and the roommate are sitting on their porch and we chat a little bit acc sam said as i walked up 'you always look so suspicious' and i was like 'ok u guys were literally just staring at me' cause they WERE and roommate was actually really nicely like 'oh no you're okay' and generally was just kind of inserting into our convo which well i had fun with naturally. um anyway and then who comes running up but teko! our buddy teko. and sams like have yall met and im like Of course and teko gives me a hug and i cant lie it was actually so sweet. i am also extremely touch starved but it was a nice hug. anyway. then i had to help roommate pick shoes alongside teko's fit and then i was like um Ok Bye. when i got back in the car lydia was like so i saw a neon sweatshirt... and i was like yeah <3 that's my man <3 sorry ok vibes get worse as the night comes

me and lydia end up getting to sam's late to 'pregame' this show and ig it was supposed be like. it was encouraged to dress formally. and i was wearing a dress that was too small and my chappell red tights and docs. kind of a serve but me and lydia were serving much more valentines day than formal. anyway. roommate does swing around to be like hi! and THEN i see my girl chloe i looooove her shes so fuckin funny and weird and we made this weird little short together in class last semester and i was kinda intimidated by her so i was so happy shocked when she was like I was so excited to see u :D WEEE shes so cool guys and has the funniest fuckin laugh and well honestly the high points of the night were us and lydia fucking around and dancing and being weird and offputting wallflowers cause again this thing SUCKED. ok

we did also smoke beforehand and i accidentally took this huge hit and then thought id be fine w a little more but brother was i feeling funny. did not eat enough and didnt take water it was atrocious. so. we get there and let me tell you if I WAS WORKING i'd have been able to fix the fact that it was soooooooooo fucking loud in there like bad bad bad audio distortion etc i wanted to kick this dude off the mixer but like what ever... it hurt so bad. and the lights were mostly on until chloe and sam duped this guy into dimming some of them but even still it was giving middle school dance. without the fun cheesy music. some of my instagram gay people are there. um but sorry there was simply no way i was going near that dance floor like the bands lowkey highkey sucked (i mean it was just a bunch of white college dudes and they did not slay. shocker. sam kept being like 'they're so good' and we were like um haha... straight face emoji)

we acc disappeared for a while to another floor for the br and just chilled for like half an hour (and security came to find us lmfaooo but ended up just leaving) and i was feeling odd and out of body and too aware of how i looked and it was just not great i was like we're the only bitches serving cunt here... um. anywho. so like later theres a slow dance and roommate is dancing with this other girl i only know from instagram till this point and i suppose if i was really feeling myself i could have tried to make a move but i was not. once again. vile vibes in this place. like i dont mean to be a pussy i typically would be much more charming and fun if i wanted to flirt and kinda felt the vibe from them but i was not really enjoying myself LMAO

then some more of the friend group shows up at the end and sam's like 'drama is actively going down' and im like Wuhhhh the fuck and i feel like a few of them r looking at me and i was just like get me OUT of here but for some fuck ass reason was still like nooooo we should go over and have pizza w sam and them. forgive me for thinking they had like frozen pizza or smth and i could get some free food out of this no we had to sit there and wait for dominos or whatever

AND THE MOST ANNOOOOOOOOOOOYING AWFUL TERRIBLE GROSS MEN YOUVE EVER MET SAT THERE AND JOINED THE BRIEF SMOKE CIRCLE AND THEN WERE JUST THERE AND LIKE YOU COULD JUST FEEL THEM TAKING UP SPACE AND US 'GIRLS' WERE MADE TO FEEL SO SMALL ON THE FUCKING COUCH I WAS SOOOOOOOO TIRED. had to get a sweater cause i felt so uncomfortable. girl i really was only there in case i could have a saving grace moment with roommate im so serious. well and for chloe but otherwise me and lydia shoulda been outta there

literally chloe was so excited to show our little video to people and sam cut us off from getting there to show us the fucking fidget spinner game he has on his tv. girl get out! oh my fucking god. finally lydias like Cool anyway so - like sams misogyny jumped out in previously unprecedented ways. it was bad. these boys were truly making me want to kill myself im sorry like it was so bad i have curated my experience so as to be away from that for so long it was really jarring. and what you need to understand about sam is that he's almost died twice and kind of has a funny little gender vibe going on and so for a while now yeah we've gotten along through silly odd things we relate through but holy shit....... that was so offputting i cant even wrap my brain around it

also sam very much walked me into like yaoi-fying him and his best friend and then was like haha noooo why r u calling us gay ur so weird bitch just fuck him already im tired and also dont care.. hes so attention seeking and not used to um not being the center of attention. sorry! oopsies anyway so

so then im like ew like i kinda need to reassess um. the people im around. and again cant stress enough how gross and judged and just kinda old i felt surrounded by these ppl even tho theyre all like within a year of age? and like roommate still seems maybe cool but since we didnt actually talk and they were off w the other roommate/other ppl i cant help but associate them w the odd vibes but like. honestly idk i might just try to uh slide into their dms rlly casually. bc. well idk how the friend group is fracturing and it wouldnt surprise me if they were annoyed with sam esp living with him but obv i dont really know. but again let me stress this friend group has been friends since their freshman year like what r yall doing yeah u do need to break up....

so i figure since they're hot (and kinda tiny i cant tell if they're shorter than me or just right around my height) (but also they kind of scared me by giving Instagram face while posing for a pic last night i cant do any more people giving off dorian gray rn. but i was also under the influence so um that didnt help) i could just yeah be brave see how it goes and worst case scenario it's not a vibe yk. and best case scenario i get to hang w them and teko. teko so gives francis. anyway

OH also sam and the friends insisted on listening to this ai generated… thing like idk guys i think i was in hell fr

also had several men yell out of their cars at me and staring at me as we walked to the bus stop :/ so men really do ruin everything btw

um. so. that was the night! thx for reading if u did. i am excited to be around other fun silly cool queer people god bless fuck these people

[thettrpgtournament]

Why you should vote for each of them and full art below!

Kazimir Kiselyov by @apricot-sprites for D&D

Kazimir is a...gentle giant. Only with some violent tendencies... well only in combat. An Aasimar Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral guardian!) Who's trying to stop a hive mind from taking over the world, so his daughter can have a place to grow and live. He'd go to hell and back for that kid! Literally! She's been kidnapped and taken to a circle of hell and he is trying so hard to get her back. He's best friends with the twiggiest wizard in the world who keeps blowing people up with fireball 💀In a story that wants heros. He's really just some guy. He misses his wife.

17 Chickadee Lane (Dee) (by @sauntervaguelydownward for Monster of the Week)

Dee is a house. A haunted house, though not in the traditional sense of holding ghosts. Many years ago, someone made a deal with a demon in this house, and the infernal taint caused a cascade of violence and tragedy for all who tried to make a home there. Over time, the energy that clings to such places became a sort of sentience, and Dee awoke.

At first it lashed out spitefully at any who dared enter, killing some and driving the rest away. Its historic status as one of the oldest buildings in the city kept it standing, but its cursed status kept any but thrill seekers and ghost hunters from creeping in. One of those was Daniel. The house struck at him, and Daniel said "Sorry." He said "Please." He treated the house like a person with reason and agency rather than a mindless force or a piece of property. Dee let him go, and started looking for a way to venture outside its walls.

It learned that by siphoning energy from humans, it can create a human-like projection. Its essence remains with its foundation, but it can extend part of itself to observe and interact with people outside. The projection has no fixed appearance; it looks like an AI-generated fusion of the last several people it siphoned, and sometimes goes a little blurry around the edges. Despite its view of most humans as parasites who bring misery wherever they go, it found itself growing attached to a little group of them. They are its friends, and that is more important to it than it shows.

Dee’s emotional intelligence is… underdeveloped. Like a small child, it struggles to express or even understand its own feelings beyond “I like this, I dislike that” - but it feels strongly nonetheless. It has seen affection and tenderness in its former residents and desires those things for itself, even as it believes that they always end terribly. It lashes out aggressively at anyone it sees as dismissive or disrespectful (don’t intrude on its personal space - a house takes trespassing very seriously) but it clings to anyone who treats it 'like a person'. Its idea of what it means to be a person is nebulous, but that's what it wants more than anything.

(art by strange_orbit)

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #324: The Crossing Line Part 6: IMAGINARY BORDERS

October, 1990

NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST!

Finally, we reach the end of the Crossing Line. In which at no point is the title the Crossing Line explained. I've heard that the Crossing, that infamous Avengers storyline, also doesn't really explain itself. Maybe both stories are named for making people cross. Who can say?

Anyway, last time in Avengers: Russian terrorist group Peace Corpse hijacked a nuclear submarine to try to cause World War III to fix the world economy.

The Avengers were called in to try to get the sub back. The Russian group, the People's Protectorate also showed up because leader Red Guardian knew Peace Corpse's leader. Due to a lot of dumb fighting, the two groups aggroed a group of Atlanteans. And the action shifted to Canada, so Alpha Flight got involved.

Captain America proceeded to bungle a hostage crisis and fucked up so bad while storming the sub that Canada exploded. Alpha Flight's shaman slurped up the explosion, the city, and an entire chunk of Canada into his magical bag of holding.

Everyone had to get along and cooperate to reunite with the bag dimensions but they found that leaving the bag would instantly kill them with radiation.

Then the Peace Corpse leader and his lieutenant show up as a giant naked radioactive conjoined man, who still wants to cause World War III.

I have all the context and I still don't quite understand why this is happening.

It's all a metaphor for a post-Cold War world, probably.

Vision: "It would appear that their biological link to the Waterwind radically altered them when the submarine's nuclear payload detonated." Captain America: "No need to belabor the obvious, Vision."

The obvious?? The only reason I buy that as an explanation for what happened is because it clearly happened and there's no other explanation offered.

Anyway, the giant naked man is named Combine, because he is two guys Combine-d into one. And he wants to help everyone leave the bag of holding dimension so they can shotgun radioactive fallout all over the world.

He's not here to be helpful.

Box forms some guns and tries shooting at Combine but combine laughs off bullets and then eye lasers Box the fuck unconscious.

A big radioactive conjoined naked man fight floating in a void doesn't give all the characters a way to join the fight. So Puck, Stingray, Red Guardian, Diamond Lil, an unconscious Sersi, an unconscious Box, and Fantasma chill with the civilians.

Vostok uses his technopathy on the Box armor to turn it into a wall to keep the civilians safe from stray shots.

Meanwhile, Fantasma meditates to contact Shaman in the outside world. Just to touch base. Tell him about the giant naked man.

Shaman is not holding up too well. Containing a chunk of Canada and a bunch of people in his mystic satchel of holding is not what it was meant for. And the strain is making him bleed from his face holes, as strain sometimes does to characters whose gifts aren't in the more mental or mystical department.

The long and short and the teal deer is that the People's Avengers Flight need to wrap this up soon or Shaman might be unable to get them out at all.

They also don't really have a plan to wrap it up. Just determination from Captain America that they can't let Combine release all the radiation. If they have to be stuck in the mystic satchel to prevent him from poisoning the planet, well, that's what heroes do.

Perun: "Ho! Have at thee, pontificating buttocks-touching baboons!!"

You're a treat, Perun.

And Combine isn't one of those unstoppable cosmic powers that the Avengers et al are way over their heads with.

As Vision, Perun, Guardian, Crimson Dynamo, and Quasar hammer him, Combine complains that their stupid, ineffectual attacks are wearing down his (their?) supply of radiation.

Combine can absorb more radiation. From the various people trapped in the bag of holding or from the inanimate objects that got hoovered up. But that's not a bad thing either, since once something/someone has been cleansed, they or it can be released from the satchel.

The only problem is the balancing act of making sure Combine doesn't slurp up so much radiation that he murders all of the People's Avengers Flight members fighting him.

Also, now Team Don't Irradiate the World does have a plan.

The other Peace Corpse members who didn't turn into a giant, naked radioactive conjoined man have had a change of heart.

Some guy: "We understand your doubt, Captain, but it is through your own actions -- and those of the others -- that we have seen the error of our ways! Through your efforts, you not only saved your own lives, but those of hundreds of innocents and the very people who threatened you to begin with!"

Feels like the other Peace Corpse members should have gotten more focus to sell this change of heart. But I think we're supposed to view it the same as the Atlanteans coming together to work with everyone.

Whatever.

Anyway, the other Peace Corpse guys suggest that they be merged with Combine so they can out-vote Illyich and Strokov.

Puck: "Democratic principles in a communist villain?! Don't you just love this international thing here?"

Now, you can't just throw Peace Corpse at Combine and expect them to bloop together. Illyich and Strokov were fused because they were wired into the missile computer or whatever nonsense it was.

But Sersi can do it, with her matter transmutation power!

Except she's unconscious from all the strain of using her powers and then getting psychically whammied by Combine!

But Fantasma can just hijack Sersi's powers like she did in the previous issue!

Poor Sersi and Box. Cool stuff is happening with their powers in this issue. But they're both unconscious and someone else is using their stuff.

I guess that's the international cooperation in work.

Fantasma helps Captain America manifest as a giant head to explain the plan to the heroes who are busy fighting Combine.

Captain America: "We have a plan -- but it requires your help -- all of you must continue to pound the Combine relentlessly! Don't let up -- once their resolve is weakened... the remaining members of the Peace Corpse will enter their group mind and force the Combine to absorb our radiation from us!" Perun: "That sounds ridiculous!" Crimson Dynamo: "Of course it does, friend Perun... Which means it will probably work perfectly!"

I can almost imagine the exhaustion in Dynamo's voice. As he grapples in that moment with the insanity of living in a comic book universe where nonsense is just reality.

While Team Fight Combine fights Combine, Fantasma takes Sersi's unconscious body and starts bringing the remainder of Peace Corpse towards Combine.

Meanwhile, Combine has absorbed radiation from enough people and material for Shaman to start bringing people through.

Tyrak: "Avenger! Allow us to go first -- we are perilously close to death as it is. If someone is to be used to test the magician's theories, it may as well be us." U-Man: "After all, what difference if a few Atlanteans die?" Captain America: "All life is precious to us, Meranno, yours included. But if you're volunteering, then let's do it. We don't have much time..."

So Shaman dumps people and stuff out of his bag of holding and huzzah, the radiation is gone.

The Atlanteans are able to hydrate and save the human civilians that landed in the water.

Back in the bag space, Vision puts into motion his secret plan.

... He just does what he always does. He intangibles. In fairness, he doesn't fist. He usually fists. But Combine is just too dang big. So he flies through him instead and does him a distraction.

That lets Guardian do her thing. And her thing is apparently a "gravitational shunt."

She instant transmissions. Even including the POP!

The non-Combine members of Peace Corpse are shoved into Peace Corpse, leading to a discussion as everyone fights for consensus.

"--No! You cannot control us -- our cause is just!" "No, Illyich, my friend -- your actions, your decision to unite the world through war was wrong!" It's true, Illyich! An international enclave of heroes has shown us the way of the future!" "That was is through might! We must use force to further the needs of our country and our planet!" "No, Strokov -- it's not through force of might, or through personal gered. We've learned that now!" "It is through mutual dependency, mutual cooperation, and mutual desire!" "Do you see inside our minds now, Illyich? Strokov?" "I -- I -- see --" "Then we must atone for the error of our ways, comrades."

Outvoted. Democracy in action!

The new Combine absorbs all of the excess radiation and form a giant hand-holding circle of naked people.

And like a lot of throwaway cosmically powerful characters in fill-in stories, the Combine decides to fuck off into (bag) space to explore reality.

We'll never see them again.

But at least they learned that borders aren't real.

Shaman is just about to collapse and the dimensional vortex too so everyone still in the bag dimension books it back through to planet Earth.

Just one entire half hour later, everyone is getting ready to go their separate ways.

The Atlanteans have fucked off. Apparently, Captain America talked with them before they left, telling them that Attuma would be treated fairly in his war crimes trial.

Didn't realize that was a thing.

Anyway, they Atlanteans also expressed interest in getting some humanitarian aid. Considering Atlantis got blown up twice in one event.

The People's Protectorate fuck off, on good terms with the Avengers. And since this is Canada, the Avengers fuck off, leaving Alpha Flight to watch them go.

Guardian: "We did ourselves and our country proud, gang. Funny, to be part of an ideological struggle between the world's super powers, wasn't it?" Puck: "Sort of makes you wonder what the worth of ideology really amounts to, eh? After all, we don't owe the children of tomorrow a bit of our ideologies and foolish way.s We just owe them a world in which they can choose to create their own... for the better, one hopes..."

Is THAT what we learned from all of this?

I thought we learned... something about democracy and working together? Idunno.

Let's just transition into the back-up feature so I don't have to sort out themes.

So we finally learn who has been messing with the Avengers Support Crew and who called them all out to the park last issue.

It is Mother Night!

I haven't heard of her! But she works for the Red Skull and seems to have power over perception.

She's also, maybe, a bit of a doofus. Calling the Avengers Crew for a big dramatic reveal without thinking that construction workers might wander through.

Her powers let her get away with it but she did have to pause her dramatic speech to disguise herself.

Mother Night takes the Avengers Crew outside the grounds to a blood donation truck where Minister Blood and Machinesmith are waiting.

Minister Blood wasn't around when this evil scheme was set into motion so Night Explains It All.

She and Machinesmith have been staking out the Avengers' headquarters for two weeks. Night disguised herself as a lady walking her dog and hypnotized Jarvis as he was on his way to the mansion. Then, she planted a micro-transmitter in his inner ear. And did the same with the rest of the Crew over the next days. With that micro-transmitter, she could trigger a traumatic hallucination.

Which is what was happening in all the back-up stories.

Now, with the Avengers Crew in her power, Mother Night and Minister Blood are going to perform psychic surgery to implant post-hypnotic commands for later.

Which apparently consists of the same traumatic experiences again but this time Mother Night saves them in exchange for them doing favors for her. But the favors will be done subconsciously and the Crew won't remember any of this except as a hazy dream.

Minister Blood: "So how long has the Skull been planning this little venture?" Mother Night: "Johann doesn't know a thing about it, Minister. Using their civilian workers to bug the Avengers' new headquarters was all my idea. When the job's complete, I'm going to give Johann a bank of video monitors to correspond to every bug they plant. I think the Red Skull is going to just adore the birthday present I got him, don't you?"

Making him a birthday gift. First-name basis. This woman I've never heard of and the Red Skull must be close. Like the closest of acquaintances.

So, all those back-up stories were written by Mark Gruenwald, who is also writing the entirety of Avengers #325.

So he's setting something up. We'll see what. Because I'm covering that issue before I head into the Terminus Factor, the linked annuals story for the Avengers.

Stay tuned!

Follow @essential-avengers and don't forget to like, reblog, subscribe, hit that bell, and fell that tree.

[the-feral-one]

After finding someone to give the last cookie to, Wo started making his way outside. The snail shielded his eye from the sun as he emerged from the tower entrance and went over to where Oki and Pao were.

Nearby, Ogerpon was talking with her siblings about what they got up to during the party.

"W-we got to see the host of the event ! She w-was wearing really p-pretty sleepwear too..!"

"Wawa! Wawa-wa-wawa!" ("Yeah! I ate lots of snacks too!")

Ogerpon let them see the small bag that had been given to her a few hours before.

"I met an orange guy, and after he had a cookie, he gave me this! I dunno what's in it, but the orange guy said it was magic stuff that helps to fix you when you have accidents."

"I d-didn't get to see many o-of the other Pokemon or humans h-here, but I d-did get to see the t-truth or d-dare game..!"

"Wawa! Wa-wawa!" ("Yeah! That was fun!")

Ogerpon gave them a happy look, which they returned once they saw it.

"I wanna go to more parties like this one!"

Pink shrugged, then looked at Spot. The Malamar nodded in agreement with Ogerpon.

As the siblings kept talking among each other, Wo, Pao and Oki observed Chester talking over his Rotom Phone with Peseta.

"Peseta! Look, y' can shout at me all y' want when we get back t' Paldea, but first, y' 'ave to get us back t' Paldea!"

The Gholdengo paused as he listened to Peseta ranting at him on the other end.

"Do I 'ave t' pay ya t' get a lift, 'cause I'm not gonna pay ya, not even wiv th' biggest wad of Paldean dosh! Just get ovah 'ere wiv yer flyin contraption!"

After Chester finished the phone call, he put the Rotom Phone away and sighed as he turned towards the Pokemon behind him.

Ogerpon ran up to him, followed by her siblings. She wanted to ask, but was stopped by Pink and Spot making 'no' motions.

Soon, everyone could see a flying machine come down from the clouds above and land not too far away from them. The door to the carrier underneath it slid open, revealing Peseta inside.

The group of Pokemon ran inside, starting with Ogerpon and finishing with Chester. Peseta shot him a glare as he went past them.

The door closed after Peseta stepped inside, and the machine took off once more. As it made its way back to Paldea, conversations between the Pokemon inside ranged from what they did during the sleepover, to what they wanted to do when they returned home. Once they had ran out of conversation ideas, all of them passed out one by one and proceeded to stay that way for the rest of the journey.

--

Wo, Oki, Ogerpon, Pink, Spot, Pao and Chester have left the sleepover.

[cupcakes-and-pain]

Rat CYOA 8

Masterlist

Jai stared at you.

“Well, that’s fair. I’m not surprised you’re resorting to violence, though I’m a little disappointed. Don’t blame you or anything. Besides, drugging probably ain’t the worst you could do anyway. Just remember what I said and you’ll be fine. Probably.”

With that, they stood and stretched. “Let’s get going, kid. Don’t want to be late.”

- - -

When you get there, it isn’t quite time for the party. Jai goes in, but they instruct you to wait a bit before following, so it doesn’t seem like you arrived together.

The air is chilly, and you wish you had a coat. A few guests arrive, and you decide to go in after them.

The party looks the same as yesterday. Drinks, guards, and guests. You notice the door that Rat had been brought out of the night before, and see that there’s blood on the handle. You can’t remember if it was there last night or not.

Virginia is talking to a small group, drink in hand. She’s grinning, but when she sees you, her expression darkens slightly and she fixes you with a glare before returning to her conversation. Virginia makes no move to come and talk to you, however, so you consider yourself safe. For now.

Your night passes a lot like yesterday’s did. You made some small talk with other guests, but mostly kept to yourself until midnight.

This time, two prisoners were brought out. Rat, once again, was tied to a table. But the other was hogtied and had a ring gag in. Whereas Rat seemed as resigned as ever, the other one was terrified, sobbing and heaving somewhat. The worker slapped them, but it didn’t deter their cries. Honestly, it made them worse.

A huge hand clamped down on your shoulder, squeezing it tightly and causing you to hiss and grind your teeth. If that hand had grabbed you any tighter, you sure your collar bone would’ve shattered. You know who it was without having to turn around, but you did so anyway. Instantly, Virginia is pulling you towards Rat, muttering under her breath.

With a shove, she puts you right next to Rat. You almost topple over, but luckily you catch yourself on the bloody table. Rat whined all of a sudden, and glancing down you see that, nope, that’s was not just the table. Part of your hand was inside an open wound of his. Gross.

Virginia smirks, but she is soon back to her sour expression.

“Well, go on now, friend. Prove that you can fall in line. There’s some knives and baseball bats, if you want them, or you can keep using your hands,” she says.

This is it. There’s no escape, other than exile and/or painful death.

“Um, sorry, c-could I drug Rat instead?” You say, confident it’ll get you smacked.

Virginia rolls her eyes.

“You are so boring.” She pulls a pill bottle from her belt and presses both into your hand. “You have a lot of nerve, kid. Usually I find that fun, but if you haven’t noticed, I don’t like you! And since it matters so much, you will give him some pills. These ones, specifically. They’ll make every tiny touch burn. And then, you’ll pet him, just like last night. Make sure to get all the good spots.” She grins, her smile too wide and too wicked to look human.

You understand. She’s humiliating you and twisting the kindness you showed Rat the other day. Plus, Rat is going to be in so much pain from this.

You don’t have a choice, of course. You never did.

You take the pills wordlessly and force them into Rat’s mouth. He fights, naturally, but he’s too weak. The pills work alarmingly fast, and you can see as Rat begins to sweat. He writhes, trying to get away from the pain of touch. Every inch of skin that touches that table must be hurting. Every tug of the ropes that hold him is like a fire poker on him.

Virginia grabs your wrist and guides it over Rat.

Tag list: @whumpsday @kim-poce @scp-1296 @boonasaurusrex just ask to be added or removed! :D

[cosmignon]

Bit of a random ask, but you're one of the most optimistic people i've encountered on this site. I just want to know, how does one stay so positive? With everything that's going on, and the things i've seen on twitter, it's hard not to spiral into despair and helplessness.

I'm hoping that what I'm about to say can be helpful in some way! I think part of it is that I'm just kind of naturally inclined toward optimism! So turning those inclincations into actionable advice has had me typing away at this for about half an hour now haha. I truly hope it doesn't come off as anything like me saying "just be happy! just BE optimistic!" because it can be really damn hard sometimes!!

I think the thing about maintaining optimism in the face of learning about and continuously fighting against the injustice of the world is that it's a bit of an active thing that needs to be nurtured. Hope can't be conjured by waiting for it to come to you, much like an artist usually can't just wait for motivation to come to them - they have to pick up the pen and draw first.

You need to make space in your life to engage with and enjoy personal little things. That doesn't mean ignore the big problems, just remember to take care of yourself on an emotional/spiritual level by reminding yourself of the good things. I keep up with youtube videos I enjoy, I play D&D, play video games, listen to music, talk to friends, I draw, I analyse my favorite media, ect ect. If it's possible it's even nice to look into what the good news that's been coming out is like. That can be hard considering bad news is much easier to sensationalize, but that makes it worth it imo.

All of that stuff I collect and keep in my mind, so even when I'm feeling like shit it helps to have something else to anchor my feelings on for a bit.

The problems will still be there afterwards, and that sucks bc they still exist, but it's a double sided coin that also means I'm able to take the time to center myself before confronting said problems. The thing about the helplessness involved, for me at least, is that it comforts me to remember that the world is continuously spinning for better & for worse.

It also helps to like, narrow down all the bad bad things in the world and try to just focus your efforts on Just a few of them. RN as the major example I've been sharing & resharing news/links about Palestine when I can. I've donated where I can, messaged my representatives, ect. I also started doing this very tiny thing where I wear these cute little watermelon hairclips to work. That one, who knows if it even makes some kind of difference, maybe it never will, but it reinforces my own commitment to keeping the Palestinian people in my thoughts and wishing for their freedom.

another example; I picked a charity a few years ago that I believed in the cause for (funding for bailing LGBT protestors out of jail) and set up a repeating donation. It's small, like $10 a month, but seeing the notification pop up every month reminds me that even when I'm struggling to do anything else, something is happening because of me. If I ever need to cancel that donation I'll know I was able to help for years by this point, and that's satisfying in the face of helplessness.

I'll leave this off with this - I work with children, and we have a reading area with books that rotate every month based on holidays or culturally signifigant events. Starting last week the person in charge of that put in a pro-palestine children's book, and it makes me smile. It reminded me how there's people around you who are able to do little things too, not just you! The burden of fixing the world's problems or even just caring about it all at once is not just yours to bear. They'll help you too if you seek them out! None of us have to do it alone, none of us CAN do it alone! It's the group effort that gets things done!

[moneflower]

Manual to the Ultimate Angst

Spot the difference is getting harder to find these days. It seems like the universal response for these types of characters (mostly former overpowered leads) is to follow a formulaic pattern.

May I introduce the how-to guide to traumatize your audience?

Exhibit A: Interesting Tastes. A person falls for their best friend or rival which causes them to be inseparable. Oh, what were to ever happen if one was to leave. Lots of angst, ghosting them. Present in the past, may return for a cameo.

Exhibit B: Friendship is Magic. Forget traditional media romance, a bond lasting through several lifetimes is stronger than a little kiss. They are both mad for each other and would fight Hades to get the other back.

Exhibit C: Better than That Guy. Have someone you hate and despise in your life? What better way to get revenge than to be the person they failed to be or rise an army that's two times better.

Exhibit D: Guide Impressional Youths. Who needs to deal with trauma when you can continue the cycle, I mean fix it. Similar kids are grouped together and the person projects their life story onto them hoping it doesn't lead to the same outcome.

Exhibit E: Bother the Blondes. In short, the filler or replacement who has to listen to "that guy" ramble about the "one that got away." They are the third wheel and may never come close to the person they replaced. They just want to survive until the end, but may never get to.

Exhibit F: Play 4D Chess. While everyone is playing checkers, these are the ones thinking big, playing on an international scale as they come up with ways to win before their opponents reach them. They are the ones overly too excited, like knowing a secret you don't.

Exhibit G: Demon Arch Enemy. The person who will always be better than or compared to in terms of intelligence. Both are on opposing sides and yet have better than nothing to do than start chaos. Evil's neutral, peace was never an option.

Exhibit H: Caught in a Prediment (preferably boxes). When a character is too overpowered but you don't want to kill them off for that "what if" scenario. They are in exile thinking about how their lives reached up to this moment. Lots of spare time, presumably taking a nap which they lack. Everything around them literally falls apart.

Exhibit I: Sacrifice the Blondes. Have that moment you forgot to press save to your work? Well, forget hopes, dreams, and futures if they had one. Their departure will leave the audience as devasted or even worst than the guy who got away. Present throughout the story, but not the future.

Exhibit J: Meet the Ex. Returns for a cameo, leaves and everyone starts crying. Shows them they are better at a distance. May switch to opposing sides raising up the angst.

Exhibit K: The Villian Arc (Upcoming/In Progress) - sponsored from the Beast AU and Shibuya. The hero becomes the villain, an anti-hero if they're lucky. May die in the end and pupil honors them. They often won't reach said dream and it carries on to the next generation. Something the audience finds sadistic pleasure in.

[kalopses-sonderes]

I see that you opened up brain rots so I hope you enjoy what my ever ending brain came up with at like 10pm :D

We all know that CRK is a very popular game. Many players from worldwide (Mr worldwide) but did you know there is a chance to get sucked into the game and be the ruler of your kingdom? Well… yes! This doesn’t doesn’t count for all players but there is a chance to become a ruler of your kingdom in CRK. Here the thing tho. You must take care of your cookies in order to stay in the game and rule. That is the only rule. If not your “abandoned” kingdom with be passed to another player who also enjoys the game. All of the cookies are aware about the ruler so don’t worry!! That being said here comes the story part. There is a player ruling their kingdom in CRK, but the player was just casually playing for the first time and didn’t know about going into the game and ruling the kingdom. So when the phoneme happed to them, they were happy. Sadly enough their ruling has caused them to become corrupted. Having luxuries and your side, having the most powerful beings at your feet bowing for your appreciation, cookies wanting to be with you every time, soon becoming powerful kingdom because of how much devotion the cookies put into the kingdom. This made the baker!player slowly indulge in greed. No cookie would be ok after this. Ancients and legendarys and powerful epics would be worked or trained to death for their power. Their dough have chips in them, unable to find time to fix their dough due to the baker!ruler. Getting mediocre meals every day that doesn’t go up to the amount of food they actually need. Hollyberry and dark Cocao cookie don’t properly fit into their armor any more. They are so tired then they ever have been before, they feel themselves collapsing at any moment during arena battles, BUT GODS FORBID THEY LOSE THE BATTLE. The wrath of the baker would be that last thing that definitely kills them because their punishment would be going into the dungeon for days with out food or water. Oddly enough that punishment sounds nice due to being forced away from their baker. Epics soon realized that rares and commons are being ignored due to how “weak” they are, though they get no food are water and becoming the most skinny cookies yet, and have to scavenge for their own food in the near by forest. They use this to their advantage. Cherry blossom cookie sends cherry bomb cookie away into the direction of a neighboring kingdom so she can be safe, cherry bomb cookie doesn’t want to leave her sister in this extremely hot oven of a place. Red velvet cookie has gave a job to the cake hounds to protect the to be group of refugees to also try to get them out but they refuse to leave their master behind. Vampire cookie has been trying to get alchemist cookie to leave as well but how can she get the guts to leave her brother and her home. She can’t really. Everything is in ruins and commons and rares can’t leave their loved ones and homes. Soon someone brave comes out to the world to show their condition and attempt to save their kingdom. Gingerbrave. Thankfully the baker!player gets kicked out due to not being able to listen to the one rule they needed to follow. But that means another player needs to become the ruler of their kingdom now. Right away Baker!reader becomes the next ruler. Though they don’t see anyone. They all hid in fear of the next ruler but reader doesn’t noticed that. Reader is confused on how the kingdom is in ruins but doesn’t mind (they aren’t exactly treated the best outside of game) and goes to explore. Somehow the castle is in perfect condition, tho there is a lot of fresh food and gold in there. Soon two weeks pass and no sign of a cookie and reader just vibing not really questioning where their favorite cookies went. Maybe they weren’t worthy enough to see them. That’s fine. Soon reader hears a rustle in the bushes during their walk. Out accidentally pops out sorbet shark cookie a mess. They look terrible and very malnourished. This sends both parties into a panic. Why was is the poor cookie looking so terrible. Will the new baker hurt them too?

Sorbet shark tries to run away but cant due to their cookie form not being their natural form and being extremely malnourished they are unable to properly walk. Reader quickly picks up the little shark and brings them to the castle. Sorbet is terrified on what was going to happen next, but is confused to the their new baker brings them to the kitchen and placing them on the counter and started making food. The last baker never stepped foot into the kitchen. What was happening. Reader then brings out a plate of fresh homemade food and slowly starts feeding sorbet shark cookie. This is the largest amount of food they had in days and they never been more happy to see food. Still cautious of reader but happy. Another two weeks pass and during that time reader has been taking care of the small child. Sorbet shark is almost back to a normal healthy cookie. They don’t fully trust the reader yet but they trust them enough. For exercise they want out on a walk. Some cookies seeing sorbet shark cookie and out of desperation, reveal themselves to the reader desperately hoping the best would happen. It does, just like sorbet shark reader starts taking care of the cookies that came out. Giving them a place to stay, food, and learning how to fix their dough as the cookies are too weak to do it. Soon all of the cookies come out, but some stricter cookies ignore their new baker out of distrust, but reader doesn’t mind as gingerbrave told them the whole story of the last baker. with their power as the baker they start rebuilding the kingdom by themselves as they now see it as their job. The rebuilding was a secret to surprise the cookies. Elicar cookie is surprised that his museum back up in running again. Reader gives him the first artifact to put up there again after its destruction. Reader clears out the field by themself, surprising carrot cookie with a new field to start her farm again. Reader just wants their cookies to feel safe again as seeing them be scared with everything they do hurts.(something happens with the reader getting really hurt protecting the cookies but I haven’t figured what happens for that) soon the cookies start the realize they can trust this new baker. The reader loves them. Doesn’t care about winning. And doesn’t care for the riches that they gave. The cookies,now with better trust, give all of their devotion to their new baker. They will protect their new baker with all of their being. This is the happiest they have been ever since the old ruling of the old baker. They don’t miss the old baker one bit.

This is what I got. Feel free to expand on this or write for this, I don’t mind. I just wanted to share this with somebody for the longest time

Thank you for reading this :D

your brainrots make my brain melt, they’re so good!

I dont think I even need to expand on it :D