#make that known so that he can have a purpose in the group like. hello. for the love of god hello whats not clicking 😭

[galedekkarios]

is gale actually the worst guy alive or do people just have personal issues that give them a complex whenever someone else is a master of their craft and confident about it 🤔 hmmmmmmm

[steddieas-shegoes]

don't want to move on

for @steddiesmuttyseptember prompt 'make-up sex'

rated e | 18+, minors dni | 3165 words | read all tags on ao3

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If Steve knows one thing, it’s that Eddie knows how to get under his skin and in his bed.

Ever since their breakup, a disaster of epic proportions for the entire friend group, Steve’s kept his distance from every possible interaction with Eddie. He’s made sure to find reasons to miss group outings and put himself on the schedule at work on the nights when he knew Eddie would be at movie nights or dinner. He purposely scheduled pool parties for days and times he knew Eddie would be busy.

But he couldn’t get out of this one.

And now he has Eddie’s eyes on him from across the room, staring into his soul, reading his mind probably.

It makes him want to hide. Or take his pants off.

He hasn’t quite decided yet.

“Are you gonna glare at him all night or go talk to him?” Jonathan asks from behind him.

Steve turns, feels ridiculous that he’s been caught, and crosses his arms across his chest defiantly.

“I’m gonna ignore him until he leaves and then excuse myself so I can sulk in peace,” Steve admits.

Robin was his platonic soulmate, but Jonathan has become a sort of unexpected best friend. He was there the morning after the breakup, barely holding Steve together with spoonfuls of peanut butter and reassuring words that didn’t stick quite as hard as the peanut butter. They got even closer after that, and hardly a day passed where Jonathan wasn’t texting Steve or showing up at his apartment with take out and stories from whatever modeling shoot he was working on.

“And you think he’s gonna let that happen?”

“If he knows what’s good for him.”

Jonathan snorts. “Okay. On that note, I’m gonna go check on Nancy. She got into the weed earlier and she’s probably at the stage where the walls are squiggly and she can feel her lungs touching her ribs.”

Steve’s eyes widen and he nods. He knows what she’s like at that point. Jonathan needs to get her home before everyone knows what she’s like at that point.

The moment Jonathan is gone, Eddie is walking towards him.

Steve’s never felt more like prey in his life, never seen Eddie strut like this. He’s frozen. He forgets how to breathe.

“Didn’t know you’d be here,” are the first words Eddie says to him in six months.

No hello. No awkward exchange of pleasantries.

Just a mild accusation and a piercing look.

“I wouldn’t be if I’d known you’d be here,” he retorts, deciding to match his energy. If Eddie is allowed to be at this party of a mutual friend’s mutual friend, then Steve is too. “Didn’t even know Ivy had your number.”

Ivy was one of Nancy’s friends from school, and Steve had been invited to quite a few of her parties over the last few years. When they were together, Steve always brought Eddie, but he didn’t know if Ivy and Eddie had ever even met.

“I know Ivy pretty well, actually,” Eddie says in a way that makes Steve pause.

What the fuck does that mean?

“So you’re…friends?” Steve asks even though he thinks he knows where this is going and he thinks he’s gonna be sick if he’s right.

“Yeah.” Eddie smirks. “Friends.”

“Oh.”

Steve has to abort whatever mission he thought he was on. This is gonna end with him crying in front of Eddie and everyone else at this stupid party that he came to because he’d had a rough week and just wanted to have a drink with friends and-

“Are you gonna be sick?” Eddie asks, reaching out to him as if that would even help.

“No!” Steve backs away. “I just need to head out. Got an early morning.”

“On a Sunday? You don’t work Sundays.”

“And how would you know?”

Steve needs to leave. He can’t engage in anything else with Eddie. He won’t recover.

“Because you wouldn’t have come at all if you had work in the morning. And everyone you would hang out with is here.” Eddie steps closer to him. “Unless something’s changed?”

Steve shakes his head. “I’m not sure I owe you an explanation of my schedule.”

Eddie seems to realize that Steve’s right, taking a step back.

“Right. That’s true. I guess.”

And suddenly Steve can see how uncomfortable Eddie is, how much courage and energy it took him just to walk up to Steve at all. He’s always been pretty easy to read, at least for Steve, but right now it’s like he’s made of glass.

“How you been?” Steve asks, ignoring the pull he feels to the door for the pull he feels to Eddie.

“Um, good. Yeah, great. Fantastic. You?”

Steve raises a brow at the response. Eddie’s never been fantastic a day in his life.

Except maybe that one time he ate Steve out on a patio chair by the pool and then fucked him in his parent’s hot tub and claimed that he’d never been happier in his entire life.

“I’ve been fine.”

Not a lie. He has been fine most of the time. Fine isn’t anything special, or anything good.

“You look…good.” Eddie settles on, as if he was going to say something else entirely. “Still going to the gym?”

“Not as often as I should,” Steve admits. He’s about to call this quits when he sees Jonathan giving him a thumbs up from the doorway. “Uh. I should actually probably head out though.”

“Right. Yeah. Sure. Want me to let Ivy know you had to go?”

Steve shouldn’t fucking push. He knows he’s gonna end up hurt worse if he gets any form of confirmation on what he thinks is going on.

“I’ll just text her. But I guess if you see her before you go…”

“I mean, yeah, I’m kinda…living here right now?” Eddie rubs his hand along the back of his neck.

Steve thinks he might pass out.

He’s living with a woman not even six full months after he broke up with Steve because Steve wanted to take the next step and move in together?

He feels like he’s going crazy.

“With Ivy?” Steve can barely hear his own voice, doesn’t even know if Eddie hears him until he responds.

“I couldn’t renew my lease so she offered to let me stay here for a few months while I looked for something else,” he explains, as if that clears anything up. As if that helps the jealous fire in Steve’s heart calm. “That’s the only reason I’m even here tonight. I was off and she needed an extra pair of eyes to make sure no one tried to drive home after drinking.”

“Well, I haven’t even been drinking.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“You think I’ve looked anywhere other than you since you walked in the door?”

Steve feels like his entire body is lifting above the floor, and he’s reminded that Eddie’s good at this. Flirting like he means it, using words but not wanting more than that.

That he may have feelings for Steve, but god forbid those feelings lead anywhere other than a bed or a date.

“Doesn’t seem appropriate to stare at me all night with your girlfriend in the next room.”

“Girlfriend? What? I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Eddie seems genuinely confused, his brows furrowing as he looks around the room and back at Steve.

“Isn’t Ivy your girlfriend?”

“Ivy?! Ivy Jane? The woman who told me on day one of me living here that if she even so much as accidentally saw my dick she’d cut it off?” Eddie laughs, unamused. “She’s a friend at most. More of a useful annoyance.”

Steve is confused. Why did Eddie make it seem like there was more to it than that? Why couldn’t Eddie renew his lease? Why didn’t anyone tell him about any of this?

“Look, you probably shouldn’t head home on your own. I know you didn’t drink, but it’s still pretty late, and I know you walked here.” Eddie sighs. “Can I at least get you an Uber?”

“To go less than a mile?”

“Or I could walk you.”

“And then walk back alone?”

“You don’t have to argue with everything, you know,” Eddie grumbles. “I’m just trying to make sure you’re safe.”

“I didn’t know ex-boyfriends cared that much.”

It’s a low blow and Eddie’s physical withdrawal is immediate. Steve instantly feels bad.

No matter what happened between them, he knows Eddie. He knows he’s trying to be nice and all Steve’s doing is making that task more difficult.

“Sorry. I’m sorry,” Steve sighs. “I’m just surprised that you’d care this much when we haven’t even talked in months.”

“Steve, I’ll always care about you.”

It’s a knife to his chest.

Because that’s not even remotely close to what Eddie had said to him months ago when he was throwing his shit in a bag and running as fast as he could. It’s not how he made Steve feel when he told him they were done.

”I’m not gonna keep pretending this can end well for either of us.”

He’d made it pretty obvious he had no intention of loving Steve beyond the year they spent together, and Steve had no choice but to assume he’d been faking feelings for him to try to get over him.

Steve doesn’t realize he’s let tears fall until Eddie’s thumbs are brushing them away, his touch so soft it makes Steve want to sob.

Before he can say anything or push Eddie away, Eddie’s hand is on his lower back, guiding him down the hallway of the apartment.

He doesn’t fight it, even though alarm bells are ringing in his head telling him to pause and go home, maybe try to talk to Eddie when he’s calmed down from the shock of seeing him. The warmth of Eddie next to him is enough to silence any fears he has.

He’s sitting on Eddie’s bed. The room is surprisingly plain for a room that belongs to Eddie, but the sheets on the bed are scattered and one pillow looks more like a ball, so he knows it’s his. Eddie sleeps the same way he talks: constantly moving, shuffling around, trying to find comfort in touch.

“I’ll take the couch once everyone leaves. You probably shouldn’t be alone right now,” Eddie says from in front of him, keeping his hands to himself.

He probably shouldn’t, but if Eddie’s on the couch, doesn’t that leave him alone anyway?

“You can come get me if you need anything,” Eddie explains further. “And I can come check on you.”

“Right,” Steve’s voice is shaky. “But you could stay?”

Eddie’s eyes are scanning his face, always trying to see what Steve isn’t saying. He’s always been good about reading Steve.

“Is that what you want?” Eddie eventually asks.

Steve nods because he can’t think of anything to say that won’t sound like he’s desperate for more of Eddie’s touch.

He lays down and waits for Eddie to join him, but he’s not sure what he’s hoping for anymore. The best thing to do would be to tell Eddie he changed his mind and send him to the couch, the second best would probably be to go home. But what ends up happening is Eddie locks the bedroom door and slips his shoes off, strips his jeans down his legs, and slides into bed with him.

He doesn’t touch him at first, though the bed isn’t quite big enough for them to not accidentally brush arms as they find comfortable positions.

Steve lets his eyes close, even though he’s never felt more awake, even though he feels every breath Eddie takes as if it’s his own.

“I love you.”

Steve’s eyes shoot open at Eddie’s whispered confession.

They were together for a year and Eddie never said it. Steve didn’t even say it for fear of Eddie running. And when he finally did say it, when he had the nerve to ask him to move in with him, Eddie ran.

So, he couldn’t have possibly heard what he thought he just heard.

“I know it’s too late. I should’ve told you six months ago.” Eddie scoffed at his own words. “Actually, I should’ve told you when I realized it on our third date. There’s no excuse. You told me why you were hesitant to tell people how you felt and I should’ve known it would be harder for you than it would be for me.”

Steve turns on his side, eyes wide as he takes in the way Eddie’s eyes are slowly blinking up at the ceiling, fingers tapping anxiously against his own stomach.

“Why did you leave, then? If you loved me, why did you let me think you didn’t?”

Steve’s impressed with his sudden ability not to cry when he’d so easily let tears fall earlier.

Eddie turns his head. His fingers still. The room is silent, but Steve can feel the vibrations of the music playing down the hall.

“I don’t know.”

It’s anticlimactic, and not good enough, but Steve believes him. He believes that Eddie truly doesn’t know his own thought process behind walking away from what could’ve been a good future for them.

“Why say it now?”

“Because I needed you to leave here in the morning knowing that what you were asking for wasn’t unreasonable. I needed you to know that your feelings were fine, and that nothing you did pushed me away. You deserve the chance to move on properly.”

Steve can feel his heart in every nerve ending of his body, pulsing to a wild beat, a dangerous tempo that he isn’t sure he wants to control. Eddie always made him feel like this, like he was one step away from jumping off a ledge, like he was flying through the air without a parachute.

“I don’t want to move on.”

Steve crushes his lips to Eddie’s, letting out a pained groan that’s muffled by Eddie’s lips pushing against his own. It’s not soft, not even gross the way their kisses got when they’d been sweaty and pushing each other to their limits for hours.

It was forgiveness and yearning and need wrapped into a single point of contact.

But once Eddie’s hands found Steve’s hips, all he wanted was to feel Eddie everywhere.

“Missed you,” he admits breathlessly.

“Missed you, too, Stevie. So much,” Eddie gasps against his mouth.

It doesn’t take long for them to strip out of their clothes, for Eddie’s mouth to find all of Steve’s sensitive spots, for bruises to be left in places that will be hard to cover up tomorrow. They’re both panting, trying to hide moans against the pillows and sweaty skin.

Steve laughs when Eddie’s lips trail down to the head of his leaking cock.

Eddie looks up, frowning as if he’s disappointed that he was interrupted.

“What could you possibly be laughing at?”

“How easy it was to get me in your bed. Did you know I was coming tonight?” He does his best not to sound accusatory, but a small part of him worries that Eddie’s plan all night has been to get him naked. It wouldn’t be the first time those were his intentions.

“I had no idea you’d be here,” Eddie nips at his thigh. “But if I did, I would’ve planned this exact outcome, yeah.”

Steve slaps at his shoulder but moans when Eddie’s lips wrap around the head of his cock, tongue lapping up the precum that had been gathering for a while.

They get lost in it, in being able to touch each other, in finally having what they’d both missed for so long. Steve’s hands hardly ever leave Eddie’s hair and Eddie’s tongue is like a magnet to every inch of his skin.

He kisses down his length, he sucks bruises into his thighs, he sucks his cock until Steve’s trembling under him, saying his name over and over. Begging, praying, he didn’t even know anymore.

Steve doesn’t even realize he’s close until Eddie’s asking if he wants to finish like this or with Eddie inside him.

“Want you inside, but I don’t know if I can last that long,” Steve pouts. Now that he feels the coil in his belly and the flush of his chest and neck, he knows there’s no way he’ll make it through Eddie stretching him. He’s half-tempted to just have Eddie fuck him with no prep, but Eddie will never go for it. “C’mere?”

Eddie kisses his way up Steve’s body, biting a nipple and licking sweat from his collarbone before settling perfectly between his legs. He’s smiling down at Steve like he could stay there all night, like he didn’t just get interrupted in the middle of one of the best blowjobs of Steve’s life.

“Can we just…” Steve tilts his hips up so his cock rubs against Eddie’s. Both of them groan as Eddie hangs his head. “Like this?”

Eddie nods before resting his forehead against Steve’s and letting out a breath.

“I’m not gonna last long,” he whispers, like it’s a secret that he’s been getting off making Steve feel good.

“Me either. ‘S okay.”

Their cocks brush together as Eddie leans down on his elbows. Steve lifts his legs up to wrap around Eddie’s waist, pulling him down so there’s a constant friction between them.

“Fuck, I love you.”

“I love you,” Steve’s breath catches on his words.

Eddie’s hips move faster, and Steve does his best to meet every thrust. They’re in sync as if they were never apart, and Steve thinks this is all he needs for the rest of his life.

He knew that before, when they were together, and after Eddie left. But feeling it now, with Eddie above him, surrounding him, practically sharing his breaths, he knows Eddie’s it for him.

That thought is what sends him over the edge.

He cups Eddie’s cheek in his hand and pulls him into a searing kiss, one that’s more tongue and teeth than lips, more passion than finesse.

But it sends Eddie over the edge, too.

After, when they’ve stopped shaking and Eddie used his t-shirt to wipe up their mess, Steve taps his fingers against Eddie’s chest in a familiar pattern.

“Since when do you know the beat to a Metallica song?” Eddie asks, smirking down at him.

“It’s what you always used to tap on my arm when we were falling asleep. I didn’t know it was Metallica,” Steve yawns as he speaks, exhaustion seeping through every pore of his body.

“You remembered that?”

“Mhm. Remember everything.” He yawns again and lets his eyes close.

He’s pretty sure Eddie starts tapping a new pattern on his arm as he drifts to sleep. He doesn’t recognize it, but he’ll have plenty of time to learn this one, and the next one, and whatever else the future brings for them.

[twigg96]

Don’t Push It

Pairing: Daryl x GN! Reader

Era: Alexandria (Pre-Season 8)

Pronouns: You/They/Them

Warning: Crack, Eugene being a perv, Angy Daryl, Protective Daryl, insinuated spicy scene, forgiveness of Eugene

A/N:

Hello lovelies. I would like to state that I think Eugene is a very unique character and I adore him in a very special way. I have many HCs about him and might release them eventually but for now please enjoy this fic. I just wanted to state for the fact I do not hate Eugene even though I placed him in a not fantastic light here!

The warm summer air buzzed with excitement in the Alexandrian homestead. Gardens were planted in the early spring and only now were starting to begin to produce flowers and food that the community so desperately needed. The sweet smell of earth's nectarous vegetables and fruit mixed with that of fresh cut grass, a scent you had never known you would ever miss so much in the apocalypse. It was a smell so heavenly you wished you could bottle it up.

Sitting on the garden wall with one of your freshly picked winnings you perched your leg up, resting your elbow on your thigh to help stretch out your aching back.

“Hell of a harvest.” Abraham murmured wiping a thick layer of sweat from his brow.

“Might be too much to use at one time…” Sasha sighed shaking her head examining the bounty standing next to Abraham. She stared down at the bushels of veggies and fruits the community had grown counting out loud. "It would all go bad before we'd use it all..."

“Could can it. Could make good jam and preserves.” You suggested taking a bite of the veggie you held in your hand.

“Or dry ‘em out.” Daryl murmured popping out of the crops covered in soil as your boyfriend tossed another bushel of carrots onto the pile.

“Could rehydrate them in stews or jest eat them like jerky.” A hum of affirmation rolled through the group as you all eyed the feast sitting in front of you. No matter what you chose, Alexandria was going to be well fed for a long time.

Glancing over your shoulder at footsteps crunching down the gravel pathway towards the gardens toward you and your group, your first instinct was to tense and prepare yourself for the worst. This world had hardened you. Made you jumpy and pessimistic.

His eyes plastered to the rocks beneath his feet you felt your body recoil. Eugene had never been someone who made you feel comfortable to be around. He always eyed you a little too closely, analytically. And this time as you saw Eugene trudge in as if with a purpose and a mission not even bothering to acknowledge Abraham or Sasha as they greeted him, you felt more like prey in his sights in his eyes than ever before.

Your stomach sank as his intent gaze turned from the ground onto you. He eyed you as if you were a science project he was so desperately trying to get ready for a middle school science fair. Or maybe an ameba that he was studying under a microscope desperate to understand. Your breath felt heavy in your lungs when you looked at him, so you turned your gaze to your fresh breath of air. To Daryl who all but shot Eugene with his glare. The scientist pissed him off in a way way too many could. He made him feel dumb and insignificant. He asked him questions to deliberately make Daryl feel stupid and uneducated. A nerve that the Dixon was very sensitive with and thus you were very protective of.

You shifted where you sat on your perch upon the wall watching as Eugene took his place right in front of you, just a tad too close for comfort.

"Hello... I'd like to formally request a private audience with you." The doctor's thick southern accent did not accompany his attempt at "proper communication" well. Instead he just sounded like he was parodying Shakespeare to a point it was painful and inappropriate. But that was Eugene... and he was in fact inelegant in some aspects... but profoundly knowledgeable in most so you let it slide in some cases.

This one however had you cocking your head and raising your brow in a sort of amusement at him.

"Private audience? What do you think I am now Eugene?" You teased. The doctor nodded, his throat bobbing as he swallowed thickly, staring at the ground in thought for a mere second before meeting your eyes once more.

"Someone worthy of it... a monarch... a deity even." He mused. Sitting up straight in surprise you glanced behind the portly man to see Abraham pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"God damn it Eugene..." The red head hummed with a giggle from Sasha by his side. Daryl however did not seem amused by any of what was going on. His glare planted firmly in the middle of Eugene's back.

"Shut up Abraham." Eugene bit out harshly.

"I said I wanted ta talk ta them in private... so get out." He ordered pointing down the path he just came up.

Abraham rolled his eyes and sighed his mustache fluttering with the act. But he didn't move. Instead he his hand wound tight around Sasha's, his eyes meeting yours, silently reading your face. He was friends with Eugene, yes. Best friends even. But that wouldn't stop him from kicking his shit in if he ever made someone uncomfortable, especially someone he considered a friend. But you just shrugged offering Abraham a little smile. It was Eugene... what's the worst that could happen?

Abraham didn't seem to like that answer.

"Nah... We're stayin'." He growled glaring at the back of Eugene's head.

"Can't fucking tell me what to god damn do." He hissed with Sasha nodding by his side.

"Damn right. We were here working..." She hissed crossing her arms over her chest. Rolling his eyes Eugene gestured for you to follow walking a few steps down the path.

"They ain't comin'." Daryl growled defensively, making Eugene jump nearly a foot in the air as he turned to stare wide eyed at the archer then back at you who hadn't moved an inch.

"Daryl's right Eugene..." You hummed sending your archer a loving look that only somewhat softened the bristles on the man.

"I'm here to work even if I'm here on break right now. I can't just walk away... and really whatever you have to say... you should be able to say to my face with everyone else around." You said more confidently than you currently felt.

Waffling on his feet for a moment Eugene murmurs soft and low to himself. So low in fact that you couldn't hear what he was saying beyond your name and privacy. You did however hear Abraham and Sasha murmur to themselves about finding some serious 'help' for the poor guy. Maybe medication or a trip to Dr. Denise later when the gnome of a man looked back up at you, determined once more.

"Fine." He stated walking to stand back in front of you. Somehow even closer this time so he was between your crisscrossed legs.

"I'll just condense what I had to say down to it's bare essentials, since we are in a public place. Much like how you would distil ingredients for some chemical bonds." He drawled. Closing your eyes you scrubbed your face but nodded.

"Sure Eugene..."

Whatever... You think.

"What's up?"

Taking a deep breath he steps closer so that he was pressed up against the wall which you sat, clearing his throat he met your eyes staring at you as if you were the cure for cancer.

"I just think yer the bee's knees." He mused.

Awe that's actually pretty sweet... You think, your shoulders relaxing and a soft smile gracing your lips.

"I'd very much like ta lay you out like a firm steak and pound you out on the counter top until your soft and tender." He said smirking up at you with all the confidence as if he had just solved world hunger... even going as far as to lay his hands on the wall on either side of your thighs.

You gasped completely appalled staring back down at him, completely shocked and mortified you blinked and shook your head. Truly you were not entirely certain you had just heard him correctly. And by the looks on friends' and more importantly boyfriend's faces it seemed they weren't sure about what they heard either.

"I want to split you open and eat you like Sunday dinner after church."

WHAT THE FUCK?!

Your mind defrosted. You'd definitely heard him right that time.

What the fuck? WHAT. THE. FUCK?! What gave him that idea?

One glance back you nearly broke into tears. With laughter and embarrassment. Abraham stood eyes wide, mouth agape staring at Eugene like he was the missing link. Beet red you couldn't tell if it was because he was royally pissed or if he was just as embarrassed as you felt.

Sasha glared. She glared hard with intent. You had a feeling if Abraham didn't have her wrist in his hand she might have slapped the ever loving shit out of Eugene.

But then Daryl... God Daryl was unreadable. He looked somewhere torn between murderous and betrayed. It had taken you months to get Daryl back out of his shell after everything on the road... after the prison. If it weren't for you and Rick... He might not be in Alexandria at all. Your heart broke. A cold fear fell upon your shoulders. Daryl could fall back into it. Retract. Leave.

In your thoughts you'd missed what Eugene had been saying. He just kept talking... and talking... and talking. He always did. But this time was different, it was vile, filthy degrading things coming from his mouth. Things that made you angry and sickened and embarrassed.

"-tell you about how I could use my knowledge of science in the bedroom. I am smarter than you in everyway which is a huge turn on."

Enough...

"Oh and don't get me started on-"

Shut up...

"You should let me-"

Glaring daggers at Eugene you stood on the edge of the wall, now a full body height taller than him. Not that he seemed to mind one bit. Creep.

"Shut the fuck up." You hissed, feeling dirty as he nodded greedily at you. Hopping off the wall you landed on your feet beside him. Grabbing him by the collar you shoved him hard into the wall knocking his head into the the rocks. The shiver of pleasure that ran through him made your skin crawl.

"Let me get this through your thick fucking skull." You hissed getting into his face. "I do not want to have sex with you. I will never want to have sex with you." You growled shoving against him. But instead of an immediate pleasured sound he seemed to just examine you once more.

That is until you felt the presence shift behind you from emptiness to tense and protective. A dirty calloused hand gripped your forearm pulling you back a step to stand behind the archer's back to see his wings.

"They ain't gonna repeat it... but I sure as fuck will." Daryl growled stepping up nose to nose with Eugene.

"Don’t fuckin’ push yer luck. Stay the fuck away from 'em. If I ever see you houndin' round them again... I'll beat yer ass." He hiss tilting his head threateningly.

Eugene shivered and shook. His eyes wide in terror searching for yours and Abraham's for what you could only assume was assistance. But as you stood there, feeling not a drop of empathy for him, Abraham and Sasha came to stand beside you. Slamming his hand into the wall beside Eugene's head Daryl huffed.

"Hell if I even get wind of you comin' near them again and it's not for somethin' life or death. I'll beat your ass." Shoving away from the wall Daryl eyed Eugene with a shake of his head, distaste dripping from his expression.

"Ya think yer such a big man. Can do whatever the hell ya like jest cause ya can throw a few big words round... ya ain't shit. Now fuck off." He hissed walking over to you wrapping his arm around your waist. A dark angry look filled Eugene's eyes. One that sent shivers down your spine and creep to hide behind Daryl once more.

"You think just because you have strength that they are attracted to you. But you are an ignoramus a-" His rant was short lived. Daryl only had to move slightly, pretending to pull back in preparation to punch Eugene before the doctor was scurrying down the path faster than anyone had ever seen him move before.

"I'm gonna have a real stern talk with him... Excuse me" Abraham sighed scrubbing his hand down his face as he followed down the path to follow his friend. Sasha however waffled her feet her eyes flicking between Daryl and you.

"I'm going to just... go harvest... over there if you need me." She said awkwardly moving to the other side of the garden where she could very much still hear and see you both.

Slowly Daryl turned to face you his eyes glimmering with something dark and dangerous.

"Daryl..." You whispered shaking your head softly a pout playing on your lips. Slowly Daryl's fingers curled and unfurled around the nothingness that was the air. His piercing blues scanned down your body sending a shiver down your spine. You opened your mouth a breath was all you could take before his hand shot out and gripped your neck backing you into the wall he looked down at you with an intensity that brought goosebumps to your skin.

"He do this before? He hurt you?" Daryl growled protectively. His grip on your skin wasn't tight. But inviting and comforting. Reaching up to his wrist you felt him release his hold. Bringing his hand up to your lips slowly you kiss his knuckles then the palm of his hand.

"My love..." You whispered. "I would have told you in a heartbeat if anyone came near me."

Daryl watched you. Studied your actions. His hand relaxing against your lips. Fingers unfurling to take up your cheek and hold it as he pressed his forehead against yours.

“Fuckin better have.” He whispered softly. His eyes meeting yours. A deep yearning sucking you in as he met your lips, wrapping his arm around your waist possessively. Pulling you tight to his body you felt his need press into your hip. His tongue tangling with yours before trailing down your lips and jaw to the soft spot on your neck.

His breath caught in his throat. Words going unsaid Daryl pulled away glancing down the path Eugene and Abraham had just walked down. The soft glint in his eyes melting back into a hateful tone.

“Hey…” You whisper. “how about we go for a ride?” You ask interlocking your fingers in his. Cocking a brow Daryl simply blinked at you.

“Yeah. Why not?” You ask smiling up at him. “We can. Grab our gear from the house. Go to Aaron’s get some supplies. Tell Rick and make a week of it. How’s that sound. Just us outside the walls for a week?”

Lifting the side of his thumb to his mouth Daryl chewed and picked at it for several minutes, glancing over to where Sasha had wandered off to.

“Would you like that?” You whisper stepping forward slowly. Reaching up you wrapped your fingers around his wrist gently caressing your thumb across his skin, gentling his hand back to your side away from his mouth. Blue eyes met yours and you couldn’t help but swallow the thick nothing that got caught in your throat.

“Yeah…” He murmured. “Yeah let’s get the hell outta here.”

The ride to no where was soothing for the both of you. The rumble of the bike both lulled you into calm and ushered in a heat neither of you could ignore. Holding tight to Daryl’s middle your hands roaming did nothing to help the situation. The first safe place you found became the loudest once secured.

Scratch marks adorned your back. Sweat dripped down both your skin as you pressed your lips together. Murmuring of I love yous all throughout the night.

When you both returned a week later. Throughly happy, pleasured, relaxed and with treasures a plenty for Alexandria; Eugene, Abraham, and Sasha stood alongside Rick at the entrance. Daryl looked back at you. Waiting for your blessing before turning off the bike. Patting his side you nodded. You’d hear them out.

“I… would like to throughly express my apologies.” Eugene said softly, waffling his feet. “I acted irrationally and inappropriately. That was completely unacceptable. I hope we can continue to be friends.” He finished, glancing to Sasha and Abraham.

Sighing you glanced to Daryl. The murderous glint and anger was gone. Though he was waiting. Watching. He was watching you. Waiting on your reaction as much as you were watching his.

“I forgive you.” You say turning to Eugene, hugging Daryl tight around his middle. “I forgive you but I’m not happy with you.” A relief washed over Eugene though he nodded a serious look to his face.

“Understood. I have crossed a line I should never have crossed. It will not happen again.” He murmured. Hugging Daryl softly as if soothing a growling guard dog you smiled. “Good.”

[boozenboze]

Take A Sip But Don’t Spill It TF 141 x Male reader Summary:After joining the Military at 16, and becoming an irreplaceable hacker, M/n ended up leaving the Military after an incident with his old team. 4 years had passed since then and the man had acquired a job at a well known bar in a downtown area. During the 141’s mission, they were in need of a hacker due to the new mission they had been called to. After a lot of digging, Laswell was able to find the location of the once known soldier who went by Tech.

Fun fact: M/n (you) joined the Military at the same age and time as Gaz :)

Females She/Her and She/They DNI

“Hey can I get another shot over here!” A voice rang through the bar as the bartender approached. His fancy attire made his e/c eyes pop under the mood lights throughout the bar. The man poured the shot before returning to the main area where he would greet people. The man wiped of a few tables when a woman walked in, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. The h/c haired male then went to the front and stood inside the cocktail lounge.

“Hello what can I do for you today?” The man asked as he grabbed a glass.

“Yeah can I get a shot of whiskey and vodka mixed together?” The blonde asked as the h/c haired man looked at her confused

“Ma’am I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The server said looking the woman in the eye. “Mixing a dark and a clear liquor together will make you feel s-“

“Just give me the drink.” The woman cut the server off looking annoyed

The server was heavily annoyed but went ahead and made the drink. He gave the drink and the woman put her payment on a tab. She walked away and went by a group of girls who seemed to be her friends. The server sighed while preparing some more glasses to be put to use.

////

“You said that he’d be here Laswell.” Price questions, skeptical if they had come to the right place. Soap and Gaz looked at the fancy looking building with sparkles in their eyes. Laswell and the 141 had been searching for a certain someone. M/n 'Tech' L/n, ex hacker and very skilled man. He was the best in his time, being the same age as Gaz when he joined the Military. He gained his code name because of his skills, and his fast working coding. That's the purpose of the 141 and Laswell being where they are now. After a lot of digging, Laswell learnt that Tech had a job at a popular bar.

“To say this guy was in the military, it’s quite shocking that he works at a place like this.” Gaz said as Soap chuckled

“Maybe he’d give us a discount.” The Scot replies playfully as Ghost sighed at their antics.

“Listen up, we came here for one thing, we convince this guy to help us, get into those bastards system and go our separate ways. Clear?” Price said as he looked at everyone with a serious demeanor.

“Yes sir.” The men and Laswell then made their way inside. The place had a nice interior and exterior design, you wouldn’t have thought it was a bar.

“This place looks fancy…” Gaz said as he looked at all the neon lights that’s changed color every so often. The smell of liquor and beer was the most prominent scent and it gave them all an itch to have a drink.

“Ok let’s split up, I’ll go by myself, Gaz and Price you two stay together. Ghost and Soap, same to you.” Laswell said as she looked at them all.

“Yes ma’am.” Soap said sarcastically as he began walking in another direction, Ghost followed close behind him. Gaz and Price moved to where some of the seats were before sitting down. They tried to look like any regular guests, not wanting to foil their current task.

Laswell approached the bar, seeing at least 2-3 bartenders at work. She was looking for a specific man, with h/c hair and e/c eyes. She approached a stool and sat down, waiting to see who would serve her. A good 8 minutes went by before a well dressed bartender approached. His suit looked fresh and crisp, having no wrinkles whatsoever. His h/c hair was well kept, and looked neat as well.

“Welcome to ******* I will be your server for today.” The man asked as he wiped off the inside of a glass before placing it down. He didn’t look at her until he placed the glass down and looked up. A look of surprise could be seen on his face upon seeing Laswell.

“Um…what can I get for you..?” The man said, shock still on his face as he approached the bottles.

“Just a beer would do.” Laswell said as she watched the h/c haired male prepare the beer. He looked pretty calm to say the least, but shock was still clear on his face.

“How’ve ya been M/n?” Laswell questions as she took a sip of the beer. Her eyes locking with M/n's e/c eyes, as he let out a chuckle.

"Alright...for the most part, people here can be quite shitty. But hey, I digress, how have you been Kate?" M/n asked as he looked at the dirty blonde woman. Laswell smiled at him but her facial expression turned full blown serious as she looked at the ex-soldier.

"I'd be fine...if the enemy wasn't stealing information from the Military's data base." Laswell said while looking M/n dead in the eye. M/n looked at her in shock and confusion, if that was happening right now why was she at the bar. Shouldn't she be working on finding the fuckers who were stealing their intel?

"Kate...shouldn't you be working on finding the bastards, and not be drinking at the pub?" M/n asked as he took Laswell's finished glass of beer before setting it aside and crossing his arms. The veins in his arms and hands were visible and those who were close enough to see were drooling over him.

"I have located them..., but we need a guy who has had experience with coding and well, hacking." Laswell said as she looked M/n in the eye. The e/c eyed man looked nervous now, was she trying to recruit him into the mission?

"I-uh Laswell i'm not in the military anymore.." M/n said as he walked to the employees only room. Laswell followed close behind him and grabbed him by the shoulder, making him turn around.

"You can be, plus M/n there's a 50% chance that this mission won't go smoothly without you, I know you've been off the field for 4 years but that doesn't change the fact that you used to be a soldier. A great one at that." Laswell said to M/n trying to convince him, "I know that somewhere in that stubborn head of yours Tech is still there, and that your skills are something you of all people could never lose."

"Laswell I-" M/n was cut off by Laswell saying

"We need you M/n."

M/n looked at her for a few moments before going inside of the employees only room. Laswell stood there, now hearing some approaching footsteps behind her. The rest of the group were now standing behind her, wanting to know what was happening.

"So..what'd he say?" Soap asked as he looked at Laswell, his gaze occasionally shifting to the door that M/n had walked through.

"Nothing, i'm just waiting to see if he'll consider helping us.” Laswell said as she stared at the door with hope in her eyes. M/n walked out the room with a bag that contained his laptop and a few other gadgets.

“Alright, hurry up so we can get this done…” M/n’s voice dragged when he saw the 4 men behind Laswell

“I-Uh…who are they?” M/n asked as his gaze shifted between the men and Laswell. He was quite interested and also intimidated by the me.(Mainly Ghost)

“Task Force 141, but you can introduce yourselves later we have a mission to do.” Laswell said as she looked between M/n and the others. She could see the way Soap was staring at Tech’s attire, and even the others had to admit that the s/c skinned male looked good.

/////

“Eye’s on the target, get in position.” Price said as he looked through the scope on his sniper. He had his eyes on the main man that they were after, the same guy who had been stealing their intel. Gaz and Soap were inside, hiding and making their way through the building. They took down any enemies that would possibly get in their way as they kept moving. Ghost and Tech were on the rooftop, Tech doing what he did best as Ghost sat their sniping down any enemies that were getting to close to Soap and Gaz.

The sound of typing could be heard as Tech hacked into the buildings systems. He shut the lights off in the lower half of the building and short circuited the automatic doors. Tech worked fairly quickly as he began messing with the computer bases that the enemy was using. Every time Tech hacked into the enemies devices they would get flashed by a bright light that stunned them for a period of time.

“You seem pretty good at that Tech.” Gaz said over his radio as he did a takedown move on an enemy.

“I’m in the zone right now don’t disturb me.” Tech said as his fast typing remained the same. Ghost glanced over at the other man who was still nicely dressed. Tech had insisted that he’d be alright without any proper gear, considering that he wouldn’t be getting close enough for the enemy to be able to shoot and try and attack him.

Something that had immediately attracted Ghost to Tech was his hands. Tech may not have been taller than Ghost himself but the veins in Tech’s fast moving hands were something Ghost failed to not look at.

The mission was coming to an end, Soap and Gaz had cornered the main man behind all the stolen info, and they were now detaining him.

“Nice job sergeant.” Ghost said as he looked over at Tech who had shut down his computer. The man stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles, his veins popping out more as he did.

Ghost found himself staring at Tech’s hands for far to long before saying.

“You work out a lot?” Ghost asked as he and Tech made their way down the building that they had set up on.

“I do, not that much though. I usually just do it to stay toned ya know?” Tech said as he and Ghost descended the buildings stairs. Ghost hummed, realizing that he usually didn’t make small talk with people he didn’t know. Tech must have been different from most if he somehow got Ghost wanting to talk to him.

The two then stuck to silence as they went to regroup with the others.

///////

“You did good out there M/n, great job.” Laswell complimented as she walked to M/n’s side.

“Heh, thanks….Laswell.” M/n responded nervously as he sat in the back of the truck that they had arrived in. Gaz was driving, listening in on Tech and Laswell’s conversation.

“Imagine how this thing would’ve ended if we didn’t have your help mate.” Gaz said as he looked at Tech through the rear view mirror.

“What made you quit anyway?” Soap jumped in, looking at Tech with curiosity in his face and tone.

Tech was now quiet, as if he had been sworn to silence as to way he drafted from the Military. The tension in the truck was high, so…thick to the point that it could be cut with a knife. Price cleared his throat, attempting to break the silence as he glanced over at Tech who was now holding his pistol. He seemed to be relishing how he used to always use the gun before his sudden departure.

“So uhh….would you like to join again? The Task Force I mean.” Price questions, his voice holding a serious tone while he continued to look at the road before them. The sound of the ac and the tires were again the loudest thing.

“I mean…I don’t know. I’ve been off the field for 4 years now…” Tech said as he glanced outside of the window. He recalled the day of the incident in full detail. Having endured 5 gunshot wounds, and still having the spirit to finish hacking the enemies lockdown system so he and his team could escape. You could have imagined how betrayed and hurt he was when he heard his team talk and execute on the plan of leaving him behind. That was something that stuck in the back of his mind since he left, and the fact that Price was trying to offer him a spot in the Task Force scared him a bit.

“You’d be a great addition to the team, and, look I don’t know what happened back then that made you quit but guess what.” Price said as he sat up and glanced at everyone in the truck, all of them besides Tech knowing what he was about to say.

“No one fights alone.” Price concluded, earning a nod from everyone in the truck besides Tech. The words seemed to have struck something in Tech as his eyes lit up for a moment.

Even if the words were or weren’t true, they did instill some type of hope in Tech’s spirit. He now had a choice to make.

Join the Task Force 141 or Don’t

A/n-Heyy…. How y’all doin? Expect to see more of me again 😁😅. Also HAPPY PRIDE MONTH BITCHES 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚧🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗

[loveinhawkins]

Part 1 Part 2

Behind him, Eddie hears the others beginning to stir. The illusion, the foolish hope that he could just keep driving alone with Steve, that he could have all the time in the world to fix this shatters in a matter of seconds: Nancy’s light tread approaches and, as he reaches an intersection, it’s like he can already hear a clock beginning to tick.

“Why… why are we going this way?”

And, God, Eddie is so damn grateful for Nancy Wheeler: she’s tactful, keeps her voice down, as if she already suspects something. Hell, she must do; if Eddie can recall directions to Steve’s house, she’ll definitely sense where they’re heading.

Another stop light. Straight ahead after this, then…

Eddie glances to the side, just in time to see Nancy’s eyes widen as she looks at Steve.

She whispers his name.

Steve gives the subtlest shake of his head.

Eddie has to look away—it’s an intimate exchange, yes, but it’s not romantic, that’s not why he can’t bear it. It’s the fact that they’re so clearly sharing last-minute signals, silent communication only created by going through hell over and over again, and it makes him feel sick that he now knows what their expressions mean. Their doomsday looks.

When he pulls up to Steve’s driveway, he hears various murmurs of confusion—Dustin is the loudest.

Steve claps his hands and everyone falls abruptly silent.

“Okay!” he says, rising from his seat, and he sounds determined, almost up-beat; Christ, Eddie doesn’t know how he manages it. “Sinclairs, Mayfield, Henderson, you’re all with me. We’ll be in and out, got it?”

He heads out of the RV with purpose. Save for Eddie and Nancy, everyone is looking at each other with wide eyes and furrowed brows. Robin opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Steve calls from outside, “Hello? Come on, let’s go!” and it sounds so normal, like they’re just running late for school or something.

I might not have known, Eddie thinks, with a creeping horror. If I had slept instead… fuck, why are you such a good actor, Steve?

Erica leads the way out, prompting the others to follow; Eddie hears frantic whispers that he can’t decipher, Max lifting up one side of her headphones so she can hear as Dustin and Lucas crowd close to her, hopping outside and heading to the house.

Robin moves to the RV door, but Nancy stops her.

“Robin, stay here. I need to talk to you,” she says firmly, and it sounds like Code Red. She fixes Eddie with a pointed look and nods towards the house, like it’s not even a question that Eddie should go after Steve.

So, he does. Of course he does.

He finds them all in the kitchen, voices echoing, rebounding off the high ceiling.

“What are we doing?” Lucas says.

The kids have formed a little group by the counter, staring as Steve opens cupboards, his back to them.

“Want some back-up alcohol for Operation Flambé,” Steve says easily, “just in case.”

It could almost work, Eddie thinks. He can hear the clinking of glass as Steve methodically pulls bottles off the shelves—that is what he’s doing, so it’s not exactly a lie. Not yet. But he looks at the growing frowns of shrewd kids that are too used to waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Steve must sense it, too, because he stops collecting bottles, turns round to face them. He gets closer, rests his hands on the counter. The pretense drops.

“...Steve?” Erica says.

“You guys trust me, right?”

Eddie doesn't answer; he knows it's not directed towards him. He watches as the rest nod as one. Steve takes a deep breath.

“This is the deal, non-negotiable, okay? I don’t ask much from you, so, y’know. Figure you owe me one.” He’s smiling again, his tone flippant; he’s trying so hard to make it easy for them. Eddie digs his fingernails into his palms. “Here’s your jobs for tonight: you stay right here. Eat some food, put on a movie, I don't care. Just no moving.” He points at Max. “You keep that Walkman on. I've got... see that cabinet, by the T.V? Got some tapes in there, Hounds of Love is on the... third row, I think? Yeah, see the purple? If your one wears out, you've got a back-up.”

They just stare at him. Relief sweeps through Lucas’s and Max’s shoulders, even as they stand rigid with tension, like they’re at war with themselves. Like they feel ashamed at the instinct to stay safe. Christ, they’re all just too young, far too young for any of this.

And so are you, Eddie thinks fiercely, as he watches Steve sweep past them, going up the stairs two at a time. So are you.

Dustin snaps out of it first. He moves forward, voice sharp and urgent, “Steve? Steve!” He barges past Eddie like he isn't even there, then thunders up the stairs.

Eddie follows.

He hears the tail-end of Max saying, “Lucas, he's... I can't feel him anymore. Why can't I—?” Then, he reaches the top of the stairs, heads to what must be Steve’s bedroom. He hovers in the doorway.

“—not even going to look at me?” Dustin is asking.

Steve doesn't answer. He's rooting around one of his drawers, distractedly pulls out a cassette, puts it into his jeans pocket. Eddie sees the horrible moment where it clicks for Dustin—of course, it barely takes half a second, kid's as smart as a whip. All the colour drains from his face.

“Steve,” he says. “You can't just—this isn't how we do things.”

“I'm older than you,” Steve returns. “I'm pulling rank for once, Henderson.” He's pinching the bridge of his nose harshly, still not looking at Dustin.

Dustin laughs. It’s an awful sound, his voice cracking with vulnerability. “Seriously? Fuck you.”

Eddie can’t stand it, feels like he’s intruding on something deeply private.

Steve sniffs, starts to head for the door.

“If—if you leave, I’m never speaking to you again,” Dustin says.

“Okay,” Steve says gently.

Dustin reels from the word as if struck. His eyes fill with furious tears. “I hate you.”

“Dustin,” Eddie says quietly, even though he knows that Dustin doesn’t mean it; it’s obvious that he doesn't mean it. It’s a tactic Eddie is all too familiar with: to say the most hurtful thing you can think of, just to make the other person lash out—because even if they’re angry with you, at least they’ve stayed.

Make sure Dustin doesn’t see, Steve had said. The reason is clear. Because Dustin’s eyes are full of something wild and desperate, like he would follow Steve anywhere.

I can't let that happen, Eddie realises. Steve’s almost at the doorway, and from here Eddie can see him angrily swipe a tear off his cheek, out of Dustin’s view. It would break him.

Steve turns, finally looks back. “It’s okay, Dustin,” he says, soft and kind. Kind until the end. “It's okay.”

And then he leaves.

“Eddie,” Dustin whispers. “Please.”

“I'm sorry,” Eddie says. It's all he can say. “Dustin, I’m so fucking sorry.”

It's torture, seeing the flash of hurt and betrayal across Dustin’s face. He storms out, catches Eddie's chest with his elbow.

Make sure Dustin doesn’t see.

Dustin might be fast, but Eddie is faster; at the foot of the stairs, he easily darts in front. With long, quick strides, he reaches the RV, sees that Nancy, Robin and Steve are already inside, and he locks the door, runs to the driver’s seat. Dustin is a second too late, pounding on the glass. Eddie has never heard someone scream like that before.

He glances behind as he reverses. Steve sits directly on the floor, his head in his hands; Robin is rubbing his back, murmuring something to him.

Eddie speeds away. His last sight of Dustin is in the wing mirror, trying to run after them, only stopping when it’s clearly hopeless.

“Fuck,” Steve whispers, and then he dry heaves.

“I've got water,” Robin says frantically. “Here, here, slow sips.”

There's a gentle hand on Eddie's shoulder. Nancy.

“Where...” Eddie clears his throat. “Where to, Wheeler?”

“Your trailer,” she says, and it sounds like something else again, like thank you and I'm sorry all at once.

He doesn’t talk for the whole drive there. The others keep up the conversation, Eddie straining to hear every noise Steve makes, inwardly pleading that he never falls silent. The plan is hastily amended: the extra alcohol Steve has brought means that they can split their supplies, leaving some for Vecna and some for deterring the bats and vines. He nods when Robin asks if there’s a tape deck in his room, which settles it: he will stay with Steve in the trailer, and… wait.

They don’t mention the word bait, but Eddie can hear it anyway.

Once he’s parked, Robin and Nancy get out first, carrying the drinks and weapons. When he gets out of his seat, he finds that Steve is still halfway to standing, swaying slightly, as if sea-sick.

“Woah, woah, hey,” Eddie says quickly, and he carefully pulls Steve up with one hand. Steve’s palm is damp with cold sweat, his pulse jumping rapidly in his neck, feverish. “Still with me?”

Steve’s eyes dart around before settling on Eddie.

What are you seeing? Eddie thinks, his own heart beating faster at the unknown he isn’t privy to. Let me in. Let me help.

But all Steve says is, “Get ready to duck out the way, man, feel like m’gonna throw up.”

Eddie squeezes his hand. “You’re good, I was kinda thinking my shirt should be a different colour.”

Steve wrinkles his nose, chuckles weakly. “Gross.”

He drops Eddie’s hand and climbs out of the RV. Eddie stays close, ready to catch him if he so much as stumbles.

In the trailer, Robin and Nancy wait by the makeshift rope. Steve’s posture straightens as they look at him, as if to say, See? Don’t worry about me.

“Give him hell, Nance,” he says.

Nancy nods. “See you when we get back,” she says, her tone firm. She catches Eddie’s eye, and the intent is clear: Look after him.

Eddie nods back. Always.

Robin’s lips are trembling; she’s trying to fight it, but it’s there all the same.

“Come on, Rob,” Steve says, through another one of his smiles, but his voice tightens, like he might break down if he’s shown an ounce of sympathy. And when he gives her a little wave, it’s like Eddie can see the routine of it, like Steve is simply bidding Robin goodbye after dropping her off somewhere. “See you soon.”

Robin doesn’t hug him, even though she’s clearly desperate to; must have noticed, just as Eddie did, that it would make this even harder still for Steve. Instead, she gives a joking little salute, like a sailor, and there must be something in that, because Steve lets out a choked laugh, and they all pretend that it doesn’t resemble a sob.

The girls climb the rope quickly, and by the time Eddie has turned back after having watched them leave, Steve has already headed for Eddie’s room, presumably looking for the tape deck.

But when Eddie hurriedly follows him, there’s no music playing, and Steve is sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Don’t you want your music on for a bit?”

Steve shakes his head, then nods in the direction of the gate. “Wanna start the distraction as soon as possible,” he says, “give them the best shot.”

The distraction. Like he isn’t risking everything, like he’s just feigning a move on the goddamn basketball court.

“Okay,” Eddie says placatingly. He sits down opposite Steve, close enough that their knees bump. “Sorry, I should’ve vacuumed.”

Steve laughs, but it breaks off at the end. “Y-yeah, where’s the welcoming…” His voice fails and he sighs shakily. “Sorry, Eddie, I—I’m just. I’m really fucking scared.”

He sounds embarrassed. Eddie reaches for his hand, and Steve clings on in a tight grip, like he’s drowning.

“Jesus Christ, Steve, don’t be sorry. Don’t you dare.”

“That a threat, Munson?”

“You know what? Sure. Thought you could do with some more pressure.”

Steve gives a lovely, tender little smile. “Hey. Thanks. For… everything.”

Eddie shakes his head in disbelief. “Are you kidding? I haven’t fucking done anything. This is all you, Harrington.”

And Steve is laughing softly, really laughing, and he says, “Don’t bullshit—”

And his eyes roll back, the irises suddenly clouded over, and his hand becomes slack in Eddie’s grip.

Eddie has to force himself not to scream, not to jolt back; he thinks he might be sick, and the only thing stopping that outcome is the fact that Steve needs him. He barely counts to three inside his head, remembering Chrissy, how quick it all was, and he’s standing, tripping over his own feet.

“Right, I’m calling it,” he says, his chest tight, “long enough fucking distraction, they’ll already be at the—”

And he stops.

Because the tape deck doesn’t have anything inside. Because, next to it, is the plastic cassette case that was once in Steve’s pocket.

And it’s empty.

He pictures Steve back at his house, distractedly picking it up, focused on reassuring Dustin; Steve not realising his mistake until he had walked into Eddie’s bedroom and gone to put the tape in. Steve going ahead with it anyway, all while knowing…

“No,” Eddie breathes, “no, no, no.” He dives for the case, but the paper sleeve inside is worn beyond all recognition; he has no idea what the song could have been, even what album it came from. He grabs the closest tape he can find, ramming it in, and suddenly thinks Robin’s assessment of his music was more than accurate. Seriously, what is all this shit?

“Come on!” he shouts, and cranks the volume up as far as it will go.

When he turns back around, Steve is already floating.

Eddie can hardly hear over the roar of the music, but he feels the scream tear at his throat; he’s useless, he’s fucking useless, it’s Chrissy all over again—

One leg snaps. He screams again, screams Steve’s name. Then an arm begins to shake, to twist unnaturally at the elbow, and—

And Steve falls. Eddie lunges to catch him, and his heart both leaps and breaks at Steve’s cry of pain. You’re here, you’re here, you’re here.

“Steve, Steve, hey, hey, hey, try not to move,” he says, “you’re okay, you’re okay.”

Steve jerks, then vomits, the bile black with blood.

“All right, that’s fine,” Eddie babbles. “Just a little blood, you’re doing good, you’re—”

His hand brushes Steve’s side, comes away wet. The wounds on his stomach have reopened, as if something else has clawed at them.

“I can’t,” Steve gasps, “I can’t feel you.”

“I’m right here! Hey, Steve? Steve, look at me, I’m right—stop, stop, don’t move, you’re gonna be—”

“Eddie, I don’t want to go,” Steve says, and he’s sobbing, “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to—”

“You’re not dying. You’re not—Steve, Steve, just look at me, stay with me—”

But Steve just shakes in Eddie’s arms, and he throws up again, each breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps.

Fuck, he can’t breathe.

And then, it’s very quiet.

“Steve? Steve.”

Eddie looks down. Steve’s eyes are fixed, glassy. His chest is still.

The trailer splits. Jagged lines in both directions, one from the gate, one from Eddie’s room, burning red. Eddie runs out without consciously thinking about it, holding onto Steve, cradling his head.

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” The words are ripped out of his chest, his voice turned into something unrecognisable, so pained that it’s almost rendered inhuman.

He’s gone, Eddie thinks numbly.

His grip on the world fades, awareness only breaking through in fleeting impressions. Nancy and Robin’s faces. Screaming. Nancy saying, “Eddie, you have to let him go—”

He’s gone.

He comes back to himself in a crowded hospital corridor. Robin is reaching for him, and she’s crying, saying his name, but he moves away before she can touch him. He doesn’t deserve her kindness; Steve should be standing here, should be falling into her embrace—

He’s gone.

And then, he’s in a bathroom, thrusting his hands under scorching water. Red and black stains the sink. Blood. Steve’s blood.

The door bangs open. Dustin is standing before him. There are several cuts on his face, and he’s gasping and clutching his side like he ran all the way here. Maybe he did.

“Eddie,” he says, and it’s in that tone, the one Eddie heard when he was trembling in the boathouse, the one that shocked him to his core. Because it sounded like, Yeah, I’m the younger one, so what? I’m still going to protect you.

In hearing that, Eddie knows that he has already been forgiven. Because Dustin’s love is like what Steve’s had been: fierce and unconditional.

Eddie tries to take a breath—it comes out in a ragged, wet exhale. “I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t—I tried—”

And then words fail him completely. He can’t stop the tears once they’ve started; and there, chest heaving with grief, he falls apart in Dustin Henderson’s arms.

[lemotmo]

They got an ask about Buck/Eddie being written like Hen/Chimney. Because of course 🙄

A. Good evening anon, my week has been pretty decent, thank you. I hope yours was as well. Buck/Eddie are not written or played remotely similarly to Hen/Chimney. Their dynamics are purposely different. I don't know if you belong to the group of viewers whose knowledge of the show only consists of 6 episodes from season 7, but based on your ask, I'm going to assume that you are. But even if your knowledge is relegated to season 7 exclusively you should still be able to see the difference. Hen and Chimney are your textbook besties for life. They support each other. They cry with and cheer for one another. And sometimes even share one braincell. But they have always been shown to have lives separate from one another and their friendship (that's part of the show history you're deliberately avoiding). I believe Chimney has had one scene with Denny (Hen and Karen's son) throughout the entirety of the show's run. Buck and Christopher's relationship is its own unit within the show. They have episodes and arcs devoted to the two of them (that pesky show history again, sorry). Buck is not written as his sudo uncle. He's not written as his dad's best friend who occasionally babysits. He is a coparent. Eddie and Buck had one episode, Eddie's first episode, and it wasn't even the full episode, where they weren't written as immediately living in the pocket of each other. The show made a point of developing Hen and Chimney outside of their friendship. The show has deliberately chosen not to do that with Buck and Eddie. It's a season after season writing choice. It's why Kenny, Aisha, and Tim can all easily use the word friendship to describe Hen/Chimney. It's also why Oliver, Ryan and Tim cannot use the word friendship to describe Buck and Eddie. It's why in interview after interview they all struggle to describe it. The word friendship does not feel right or remotely strong enough to describe their relationship. And they all know it (again, it's that lousy show history).

It's okay to say you don't want Eddie to be canonically queer because you know what that means for Tommy. That's okay. You're allowed to hate it solely for what it means to that character. We all hate something that is canon. I hate several canon things. I won't tell you all of them, but I will share one that seems minor to a lot of people, but fills me with rage. When the show had Buck tell Eddie that he thinks Natalia 'sees' him I wanted to burn the studio to the ground. Evan Buckley looked Eddie Diaz in the face and actually said out loud that someone he just met is the person who makes him feel seen (even typing the words out made my face hot). Eddie Diaz who knows Evan Buckley better than anyone else in the world had to listen to those words be said about someone else. I hate it. I hate it so much that any time anyone mentions that scene around me all my friends groan because they know I'm about to go on a rant. I don't pretend I hate it for any other reason except it made me upset on Eddie's behalf. That's it. To me it felt wrong, wildly out of place, especially considering Buck had known her all of 5 minutes, and I thought it was stupid. That's it. I don't try to convince everyone that my feelings towards that scene are about some greater morality point. I hate it because I hate it. And that's all that matters. I don't know who told you all that you're not allowed to not want Eddie to be canonically queer because you know they'll put him with Buck. That's the reason you don't want it. Say it. You can. No one will judge you for you saying that. People are judging you because you're pretending it's all this other greater good for television bullshit. It's not. It's not because television needs a straight/queer bestie combo, those are everywhere, including 911, hello Hen and Chimney. It's not because television needs a straight man who's not afraid of his emotions. It's not because putting them in a relationship would ruin one of the best platonic relationships on television. It's none of those things. It's because he would be with Buck. Period. Just own it. It's fine.

The only problem with admitting it means you're also admitting that once his arc with Buck is complete there is no purpose for Tommy. That's why you don't want to admit it. You guys have spent the entire hiatus letting people convince you that he's becoming an integral part of the show. That he's going to have storylines and episodes devoted to him and his past. He's not. Even if they keep him around as a boyfriend for a bit he will still just exist on the fringes of the show. He will never be important as a stand alone character. The show has given zero indication that he is anything more than a plot point. They just haven't. And maybe you all are correct, and Tim has spent the downtime thinking of ways to make him more permanent. But that is very unlikely. Everything we've seen so far, including the decision to release that deleted clip, seems to indicate he has a very particular story purpose, and once they've told that particular part of the story, his services will no longer be required. You can hate it. You have absolutely every right to hate it. It doesn't matter if I, or anyone else, ever understands why you hate it. You can hate it. But it won't make it less true. It will just be part of the canon that you hate. And that's okay.

Okay, I wouldn't know what to add to this to be honest. Every single thing that has been on my mind for some time now is right there, in the answer above. The only difference is that the OP managed to summarise all of it in a few paragraphs. It would probably have taken me hours and pages of text to say what they just said in their answer.

I just want to add on thing. It's true, we all have canon parts of the show that we hate. Mine is the lawsuit arc. I can't watch it anymore. I can't even read fics that deal with the lawsuit. That is how much I hate it. I hated how they made Buck sue the Fire Department and how they made him tell that lawyer all about his friends' private lives. I absolutely detest it, because it made me dislike Buck during that time. And I've always loved Buck, even season 1 Buck. I eventually got over it and forgave Buck around the same time Eddie did. I will always hate that arc, but I also realise that it happened and that it will forever be a part of Buck's character arc.

This will be part of the canon that I hate. And that's okay. It won't make me love the show any less, but it will always be there.

What are the canon parts of the show that you hate(d)?

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[huenation]

how are you true / kth

word count: 4,062

genre: silliness (fluff), angst, college au, “enemies” (friends) to lovers

warnings: breakdowns, homesickness, mc is shorter than tae (minor detail but just a heads up), loneliness, ur prof is so mean

synopsis: you’re homesick while at uni and instead of making friends, you have beef with this guy in your class, but it can’t be all that bad, can it?

soundtrack: hug by seventeen

when you started your first year of school, moving thousands of kilometers away from home, it proved to be the scariest thing you’d done, but not once did you ever try to make it known.

for your sake as an always independent, calm, non-emotional person that you���d been dubbed as by your family, for your said family, and overall the new community of students like you.

from not sharing your bedroom to suddenly having a roommate, at least she was kind, but she was never home, so it’s like she wasn’t even there. (it made ample opportunity to release your emotions when you couldn’t hold them in anymore.) from waking up to the singing of your mom or your siblings and smell of delicious food to waking up every hour in cold sweats, constantly looking around for some recognizable feature that told you where you were just to sit there in a weird sort of grief that you weren’t home.

it was hard. you tried to make friends in each of your classes, even trying to join clubs or societies in hopes of boosting credits for your future resume, and it worked to some point, but at the end of the day, you always felt so lonely.

the first few months are the worst, but you keep paddling through with your head held high.

when you meet taehyun, things start off rocky and you struggle to float. all this is because right away, he doesn’t like you. you’re kicked out of your group for the class you share together, and instead of forcing you to stay, your professor drops you in another with taehyun.

you had met the first time on a particularly chilly morning, you both showed up for your first class to see that class was cancelled and you both were at a loss for words, seemingly as the only two people who hadn’t gotten the memo. funnily enough, taehyun didn’t say a word, just scratching his head and rubbing the back of his neck, sighing at most. you were the one who opens up their mouth to ramble about how dumb you feel. his nose and ears were still red. you never quite noticed him before despite sharing the class for a month or two now. you weren’t aware of his name at the time either. one of his hands moves down to grip at the book bag strap on his shoulder. you blinked at him, too, falling into silence.

it was there that you got to see firsthand how he possibly had the largest pupils ever. big brown eyes that hypnotized you a little more than they should have.

it was a wordless conversation you didn’t realize you stepped in, seeing as his eyebrow arches and he scoffed. easily, your expression flipped in offense.

“i’m going home.” “what’s your name?”

both sentences were spoken at the same time. instead of answering like a normal person, taehyun simply walked past you, jaunting like if he doesn’t haul ass, he’d die.

“hello?!” you shouted out, watching his back and him disappearing around a corner. that had been the first encounter. so, you rolled your eyes and just walked away, back to your dorm.

that became the first of many times: many instances in which taehyun really didn’t want to be there with you, but seeing as you had no other way out, you tried to make the most of it. he liked fighting it. after refusing to even speak to you for the first few weeks, it quickly turned into constant bickering. you needed the document for the group project? sorry, he can’t share it with you. he wanted to present the simplest part of the presentation? whoops, you already claimed it. your group mates sucked, so it was always you two meeting outside of class to work on it. you gave each other a hard time, on purpose definitely.

it certainly hadn’t helped that you befriended his own best friends, who forced the proximity even more. you didn’t even get the hype of how they, the sweetest beings, could be friends with him — until one day, you stayed too late at the library and as you were leaving, you caught him walking a very important looking gentleman out the door. taehyun listened carefully to every word the man spoke, every word revolving around theories and fissions, scientific properties you hadn’t a clue about.

taehyun conversed with him like it was nothing. easy words that sounded to you like physicist or engineering jargon, but to him, he did it all with an intrigued smile. a smile. he looked so charming. those big pupils were so captivated. you found him so enchanting.

the man had simply said that they’ll see each other soon and he walked out of your grand library lobby. all while you remained standing behind him. he was quite passionate, a side you didn’t know he’d possessed. his tone soothed you and his eyes lit up.

after that, you quietly started crushing on him. blushing while having to talk to him, though it wasn’t a chore for you. you had to fight tooth and nail to not show the invisible excitement at seeing him. except that you avoided him and avoided the normal arguing. playful arguing that made you both seem childish. it became civil suddenly.

taehyun caught onto it pretty fast, but not the crush part. he only suspected that you were hiding something. the core to every argument had been that you thought he was stuck up and he thought you were annoying. you’d reverted back to where you started.

yeonjun, his roommate, would point out that you both seemed like an old couple who squabbled all the time. taehyun never said anything but simply rolled his eyes. the only time he ever took action was when someone would say that you two fought like siblings.

who knew why that above all seemed to get to him?

taehyun was cold, irritable, always in a rush, wanting everything to be perfect, but he never did anything to hurt you, if anything sometimes he’d go out of his way to make sure you weren’t hurt, despite all his claims that you annoyed the life out of him. that certainly didn’t seem to help your feelings for him that were building and boy, were they building fast. you assumed they were nothing more than attraction to his appearance, his hidden passion, his quick wit, his understanding of boundaries even in this weird frenemies thing you both had going on, and the fact that you were spending more and more time together. practically every night, you came home seething with a very late comeback to what he said, already ready to go to sleep, no time to even realize how homesick you are.

taehyun getting forced to sit next to you and to eat next to you and to hand you everything, by the guys, slowly became something you liked. even if you felt a little guilty and selfish that you enjoyed it despite taehyun not liking it. it was like pulling the hand of fate into your favor.

one night, after taehyun had reminded you to get home safely, with a begrudging attitude, yeonjun pulled you aside to tell you that your little crush on him was pretty obvious and that you needed to do something.

the news of this being obvious hit you like a truck. and the truck turned into a train once you looked over yeonjun’s shoulder to see taehyun’s back, walking away and disappearing over the corner of the living room. he’d heard you most likely.

you didn’t tell yeonjun about this, trying to convince yourself he hadn’t heard a thing. no need to make a big deal out of nothing!

there was no room for this when the next day, taehyun tried to avoid you, just like how you started. when you finally got his attention and forced him to talk to you, after your shared class, he sighed deeply and looked you in the eyes, telling you something that made you shut up instantly.

he had a tight grip on his book bag strap, eyelids lax, but tense in his jaw and brow.

“look, y/n, you need to stop trying so hard. i don’t know how, or even why, you haven’t gotten the memo yet, but this little crush you have on me… you shouldn’t bother. maybe you liked me before we started working together or whatever. you’re so stubborn and insistent, and it’s not going to get you anywhere. i hate to break it to you, but you ought to stop trying with me. just get your nose out of me and my business, alright?”

your eye had twitched, lips had parted, and you wanted to unleash buckets of anger, all that you could do was let out a little, quiet yelp. he blinked at that before walking past you. a part of you felt like he left something out of his little monologue at you, and on purpose. his tone had seemed more of a warning and almost like he was trying to be nice, but like every time he tried talking to you, it always came off wrong.

you didn’t let him off the hook this time though, running after him and blocking his way, almost tripping but letting him catch you.

“what?” taehyun asks a little belligerent and impatient. those big eyes and focused expression could make you swoon. but, you don’t. what you do is put your palm in his face, laughing softly, with “look, buddy. if you’re uncomfortable about me thinking you’re cute, just say that. you don’t have to preach to me about whatever the hell you were saying earlier.”

you miss the way his eyes enlarge, pupils dilate, adam’s apple bobs, and ears tinge like a cherry.

“did you not listen to me? i’m saying — ”

“no, i heard you the first time, kang. no need to mansplain at me,” that makes him laugh in amusement. it’d be a lie to say that you didn’t find that attractive. “what i’m saying is that all i think is that i think you’re cute. not like i like you like that. so don’t get so cocky. besides, we’re working on a semester project, not our vows. so, let’s just continue our work so we can finish strong and not see each other after this, alright?” you’re spouting lies and phrases fused from denial, feeling your stomach twist, still so unaware of how loud taehyun’s heart is pounding in his ears.

“that’s not what yeonjun hyung said last night,” he tries to fire back, but you brush him off, stepping back ready to run off.

“i don’t want to hear it. i’m not arguing with a man with big brown eyes like you. so, i disagree or you’re wrong, or whatever you say, gorgeous, but i think we’re done. i’ll see you next class or at your dorm if the guys invite me back.”

you do your best to saunter off with your chin up high, turning the corner to fall apart, while taehyun is still reeling from what you said. it’s one thing for someone to be so sure of themselves and call him cute, but it’s another for you, who’s borderline never sure, to say that about him to his very face.

after that, taehyun stops showing up to class and you stop getting texts from the guys to come over. it was a jumble of your worst nightmare.

you do try to message, disguising your fear as curiosity, and soobin replies, telling you that you all can’t hang out at the dorm because it’s too messy but can hang out outside. the excuse felt a little off, so you don’t bother. you don’t even have taehyun’s phone number.

why should you hang out with them when they’re his friends? why should you do whatever you want and be fake when you’re just lonely and are trying to distract yourself from everything?

things go static after that.

you regret trying anything at all in the first place.

fall break comes around, the week before finals prep then actual finals. you had purchased a round trip ticket to fly back home to be back with your family, since you couldn’t find inexpensive flight tickets for the holidays. this would be your only chance to see your family until spring break, or summer break at the latest.

of course, right when you’re ready to go, your professor emails you to tell you that none of your group mates posted the work that was due right before break. it was up to them to have done it. this is the same group you and taehyun shared, so the fact that no one did anything killed you. if nothing was turned in by tomorrow night, you would be dropped with a fail as your grade. your flight left tomorrow morning but with layovers, you’d be on a second flight at the scheduled time. you hadn’t even packed and it took hours to get to the airport. not to mention it was four weeks worth of work.

it wasn’t even the final, but it still was a quarter of your entire grade. you always showed up and did every assignment, but you had failed a few tests. you were alone in the dark.

despairingly, you realized what you were up against. you didn’t stand a chance. not when you didn’t understand the material to the depth needed to complete it before this quick deadline, thoughts full of taehyun and insecurities long pushed that room away.

so, instead of taking the night to pack and get ready to go see your family, you simply leave your dorm with your book bag, trudging over to the vacant library. through blurred vision, your thumb finds the contact you’re looking for easily and your breezy, little walk that you are used to taking everyday becomes one full of regret and guilt. it’s worse because your mom doesn’t let you get a word in, all too excited, going on about what she’s done to prepare for your arrival, how your siblings are getting your room ready, how everyone is cooking your favorite foods, and how everyone is getting ready for the drive to pick you up.

when you make it to the corner of the library, the little nook you always gravitate to, not a soul in sight, you find that you can’t bear to let this go on any longer and, painstakingly, you tell her the truth. your voice sounds unfamiliar to you: hoarse, confused, uneven, broken. your mom’s silence buried daggers in your heart.

your dear mother does her best to pretend like she isn’t too saddened, but you know the truth. she apologizes deeply, asking if you’re okay and taking care of you when that shouldn’t be the case. you’re the one who disappointed their mom and entire family. it’s difficult saying goodbye to each other, but you manage. the wind is howling outside, fog setting over the field and empty parking lot from your window view. you’re utterly completely alone.

you let your hand that is gripping onto your phone dangle by your side. there’s no words or movements, even any thoughts, you manage, too overtaken with the tide of frustration, anger, guilt, and sorry you feel. after a few long minutes, a cry erupts from your throat, magma comes forth in the form of hot, thick tears, a runny nose, and the most broken wail you try but overall fail to suppress. you double over from the pain of it all, dropping your phone and hunching over the chair. you’re not sure whether it’s because it’s so quiet or you’re so loud, but the ringing in your ears run over sharp, white noise. everything is so loud.

the rapid breaths you draw in to stay breathing sound so far away, like you’ve got water in your ears. your hands are clammy, fingers numb, and looking foreign the more you look at them. it all seems like the tunnel you’ve been trying to get through is never ending. where’s the light? you can’t breathe anymore, let alone hear them.

something in the distance all of a sudden shuffles, and you feel the shift even from inside.

“y/n?”

there it is.

you lift your head, film of your eyes too thick and blurry to push through to see the one person you never thought would willingly appear before you. your ears take him in for you. taehyun.

footsteps tread closer and with them, you feel his warmth despite the slight chill to his clothes from having been outside. he stands beside you now. you must look so concerning since you’re gripping onto the chair as you fail to remain steady over it. taehyun swallows down the fear and other mess of emotions he’d been feeling. seeing you this way is much too painful. he doesn’t know what to do internally, but his body knows before him, making his way over to you, trying to grasp everything in spite of your silence. your sobs settle, but you’re still crying, face dropping back.

“ — i miss my mom so much,” you say through choked words, fingers shaking. “i wanna go home…”

taehyun gently guides you to stand. it’s a gesture you comply to without a care, accepting the way he seamlessly shifts you up to now lean your body in his embrace. his arms wrap around you, rubbing your shoulder with his rhumb and the other moving in soothing circles on your lower back.

he doesn’t know what to say, but he doesn’t think anything needs to be said. your hushed down cries seem to agree, now diminished to muffled sniffles and quiet sobs. it’s enough. it’s more than enough.

“use my sweater as a tissue, why don’t you?” he mutters, feeling your fist of his hoodie loosen, your head pulling away, before he squeezes you: his way of reassuring you despite his ill timed joke.

taehyun lies his cheek on the top of your head, closing his eyes with relief when you quiet down.

“you’re okay, i promise. i promise,” he offers in a whisper and you mirror his actions, hands fisting his clothes a little more in agreement.

minutes pass. neither of you are sure how many, but neither of you seem to care until you do.

your hands slide down now to your sides as you’re the first to slowly move away, taehyun hesitating to let go. those large, round eyes bear right into yours. he doesn’t shy away from you even if you think that it might have killed him to have had to comfort you like that.

“sorry you had to see that,” you apologize, rubbing your cheeks and corners of your eyes with the back of your hand hastily. he doesn’t say anything. “and that you had to deal with me like that, too.”

taehyun draws the line there, scoffing quietly, and you pause.

“i didn’t do it because i felt obligated. you think i, kang taehyun, spend my time with you, bickering, struggling, working together with you because i feel like i have to?” the seam of your eyes, nose, lips are either swollen or red. your eyelash framed sclerae are hued in pink from your cry, but even in this moment, they astound him.

you might have commented on his pretty eyes once or twice, but your expressed thoughts have nothing on the way he thinks about yours. they shimmer, glow, and somehow never tell a lie; taehyun thinks your eyes are one of the most beautiful things about you.

you blink at him and he sighs. doubt and maybe a little insecurity flows through his veins. for a braniac like him, the things that taehyun says to you never come out the way they’re supposed to.

“i do everything with you because i want to.”

oh.

you say that much, shy for the first time that he’s seen.

“a-anyway,” taehyun’s stutter makes your heart do the fifth backflip it’s done since he arrived. “i got the email from our professor, too. don’t think the other jackasses did, and i went hunting for them, but looks like they’re gone.”

it’s implied that he looked for you. you remember his previous statement and try to fight the blush.

“yeah, they beat me to it,” you comment, sniffling a little, sinuses still fresh. he nods.

“were you planning on doing all the work, y/n?”

you manage a nod, moving to sit down, still facing him.

“i was supposed to go home for the break, which reminds me, i’m shocked to see you’re still here.” your tone lights up when you mention him and taehyun brushes that off with a hand. “and then? you decided to stay to do it all?”

a moment of silence falls and you nod again, wordless so suddenly. he doesn’t say anything for a moment either. he stays still, arms crossed, pensive.

“we should probably — ” “go.”

“huh?” “i said to go. you should go home.”

you move to stand now, confused.

“taehyun, i’m not leaving you to do it all. i can help you at the very least — ”

“no, y/n, go. i know it’s a lot, i know what exactly we have to do, i know what i’ve been missing since i was skipping class, i know what to do, which is exactly why you have to go.” you’re too caught in the lull of his voice, the intensity of his gaze and words to realize the meaning behind them. you blink before you give a big grin.

“so, you were skipping!”

taehyun rolls his eyes at that, ready to retort but softens once he sees your teary eyes.

“are you sure? it’s so, so, so much work. i can’t let you do all of it.” he smiles a little and his dimples spring to life.

“and i can’t let you stay here to do it,” you both stare at each other for a bit before you have to look away, all too shy. “we’re going to be okay, i promise.”

even if this change in character is giving you whiplash and it’s feeding into your delusions from some time ago when your crush was bad, your heart still manages to beat something quicker, touched at his courage and will. you feel evil in going forth with something like this, something he told you to do, but it feels so meaningful, your heart is so full.

you nod again, stepping forward to give him a hug with an arm around his shoulder (or what you can reach) and the other around his waist. maybe it’s too intimate. maybe he’ll be grossed out by how forward you are with this. maybe —

“i’ll be right here when you get back.” he whispers and you shiver.

“okay,” is all you say, pulling away with a smile, thanking him to infinity, rushing through your discussion of what you wanted to accomplish before he’s nearly pushing you out of there and you have to actually run to do what is needed to to go back home. taehyun watches you leave before settling in to work on the project.

while you’re away, you finally get to relax for just a little at being with your family. taehyun manages to get your number, texting you a picture of the graded response: an a minus and a selfie in which taehyun looks exhausted. he later adds, ‘i took 6 shots after this’.

(the other groupmates received f’s in their entire grade for the class, once taehyun did as much as he could and have the explanation that was much needed.)

you thank him in every possible way, even trying to send him money, but he shoots it all down. so, when you beg the question, ‘isn’t there anything i can do to thank you?’

well… there is one thing.

taehyun takes you out on a date. it takes you five of those days to figure out that he’s liked you all along.

not bad for your first semester away from family. you find a new one in your made friends and a second in taehyun. he was right. it was all going to be alright.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖✶ ✦　　

ending note: so this is soooo bad but i had this idea or rather scene and it sorta got away from me and i think it’s pretty obvious that i wrote this backwards but 😄 anyway i hope you liked it at least :< please have a good day!

[delusinalandpassionate]

Hi hello I was looking back at the canto 3 DQ scene and had some stuff I wanted to share, rather rambly however, sorry.

For one, Sinclair getting the KotWM is rather funny in hindsight, especially with the lines he was given the 'visions of promise' and the connection to fate given the mirae-mirae river. He has Impending Day for the theme of fate/future as well as he calls the day Kromer asks for the basement key the 'promised day', not to even mention how the blue is of course Demian's main colour, and how the KotWM defeats Don in the source which I am hoping to mean he pays Donqui back for beating him back to his senses.

But onto what this ask was originally going to be about, while in canto 3 its called their 'deal' I am of the opinion the promise White Moon Sinclair mentions is that very deal. With the possibility if the flow Vergillius follows being somewhat literal given the subterranean rivers, and the fact that this was seemingly a deal with him specifically and not the company at large/part of her contract, I do wonder what exactly that promise was, not exactly sure what sort of deal Sancho would want for. But! Vergillius does mention that something significant went down at her recruitment, given the context of the scolding then perhaps she jeopardised something she held dear.

Knowledge on this point is courtesy of Wikipedia, I am somewhat out of my element on this one:

Mambrino's helm within the story is given a familiar golden glow, plus with the way Don flounders when asked of its location, leads me to believe its somehow involved with the [checks notes] 4th person to be stabbed with a bough, namely in being the bough itself or a part of it - if clockhead is anything to go by, then it could be the source of the powers its said to have in the source story, namely invulnerability. Its power is one that can be funneled into being used for a specific purpose via resonance or synchronisation: see canto 6 wherein Dante synchronises with one in order to funnel the power through their clock head and thus produce time related results, so perhaps it gave him the boost in energy needed to make La Manchaland reappear?

On the topic of the bough, it and what's effectively its new host have a bundle of what seems like roots under it, and the familiar golden glow has been tainted red, solidifying that its been a good while since the impailment. I do wonder how someone managed to do that though, unless someone has whatever Iori has going on or whatever Bari has going on I don't think it'd be easy. Unless WARP shenanigans in case it counts as a separate dimension W corp tech can help one travel to.

Small thing but the background in Sansón's little solo shot has a pattern with a star in the center, four pointed just as the one Dante follows and this is a very subtle reference to the fact his part of the Blue Group. Also the way Don Prime has his arks covered in the sprites of the past is awfully reminiscent of Hermann to me. Add to that the small star on his necklace you can see if ya squint.

Sancho also looks awfully happy in the door opening cutscene as well, I wish her and her extremely fluffy hair well.

I believe that's all I have to say, well wishes and I hope Thursday decides to hurry up a little

Hello! Okay, I reread your ask a few times and will try my best to answer but I kinda want to make known that English isn't my first language and I can misunderstand some things, so please free to correct my mistakes!

And about first, yeah! It's extremely interesting that Sinclair has the role of Blue Knight, with hints of Bari being sort of prophet. Also even more connections with Blue team?(could he be a sleeping agent) It also interesting to me that out of all characters in this stories Bari is only human(or well Bloodfiends think she human) and it also an interesting thing to me that Sinclair got this role.

I keep thinking about karma getting to her for beating Sinclair, but to be honest, right now, I don't see it's happening. Don isn't distorting. She's actually more lucid than ever, so you can't bear her to senses? It could be an opposite where they will try to beat her and put Rocinante, but I feel like it would be narratively wrong? She needs to wake up.

However, I still think that Sinclair will make an important and difficult decision. I just think that maybe it will be a canto in which they start to think that beating people while they experience psychological breakdown until they get a breakthrough isn't the best idea. But it's too much hope, I think.

For the second point with the deal, well... I do see a point, and it makes sense, but I have trouble with accepting it. Gut feeling or something else.

About Mambrino helm, actually, I kinda think Don Quixote is wearing it right now. At least this thing looks a lot like golden helm. I'm not sure what it's doing through.

About Don Quxote being stabbed with Bough, I think it helps to keep him alive and maybe even empowers, but as we know, Sanson also somehow has access to its power?

It actually could mean that he isn't Higher Kindred, but just a Bloodfiend thar got power from it. Sinners thought that his abilities to force them into plays are Bloodfiends one, but what if they aren't?

Thank you for the information about stars! I didn't even notice it tbh.

And yeah, Sancho is... not happy( but I am)

And Thursday is just five days away.

I unfortunately will have classes so will he late to a party...

[thecollectivefixation]

Deadpool and Wolverine thoughts

OH MY GOD.

This movie was so good that it brought me back from the dead. HELLO?

As always this post will contain spoilers.

plot - themes of purpose and belonging and finding their place in the universe

Let's start with how Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy tackled the whole phase 3 multiverse MCU and adding Deadpool into it. They did it so well omg. In Loki and current Marvel there's a focus on "the scared timeline" (also known as Earth-616) and how important it is. However, Deadpool is no longer in Earth-616 he's in Earth-10005. And when Deadpool is faced with his whole reality dying because the anchor (Earth-10005 Logan) has died he fights for his timeline to live. I really like this idea because it brings light towards the these timelines are just as important as the scared timeline even if their importance (the anchor) dies off. So he grabs a Wolverine who is hated by his own timeline and is assumed to not be his reality's anchor because he wasn't the hero he was meant to be. (I'm also assuming that each reality has a different anchor such as Iron Man being Earth 616's anchor because since he's died everything has gone to shit). And since it was stated by Paradox that bringing a another Wolverine won't replace the anchor i believe that Earth 10005's new anchor is the friendship and bond between Deadpool and Wolverine. How their character's developed and learned, together they are now intertwined.

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In his universe he failed his team. He convinced everyone that he was meant to be alone, that he didn't want to apart of a team. He closed himself off from friendships and trust in a team and that caused the death of the X-men team, he couldn't save them. Then he want on a killing spree thus sullying the X-man and Wolverine name. He questioned his self-worth and struggled with survivor's guilt.

When we meet him he was at his lowest low. Deadpool teams up with him and you could see the flabbagasted look on that man's face when he gets told that Deadpool's Logan is the most important being of his reality. He teams up with Deadpool on the "educated wish" of him being able to get sent back in time before his reality's events because its clear he struggled with a lot of guilt and regret and he is not proud of who he is. He ran away and his decision to run away haunts him.

Throughout the movie you can see him grow and start trusting Deadpool. Another turning point was when the outcast group and Deadpool plans to take down cassanova and get her to send them home. He think they are stupid for going onto that mission because they are going to get themselves killed. However, after a talk with X-23 he realised that in each reality Wolverine has impacted people and people put their faith in him. He realises that he has a second chance of helping and saving the people who trust him and wants to team up with him. He's determined to help Deadpool save his 9 most important people of his life.

At the end when Deadpool locks in out and Deadpool plans on scarificng himself, he doesn't run. He doesn't run because he wants to make this right. He won't waste this second chance and if he's going down he's going down trying to save Deadpool's whole world (nine people) because he trusts Wade and he couldn't save his whole world (the x-men). He actively puts all his strength into breaking down that door. After when the TVA says that they won't send him back into his past to fix his mistakes he understands that without those experiences he wouldn't have done what he did. He's proud of who he's growing to be.

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Now before this movie I never was a big fan of the fantastic four or the X-men. In fact this movie has caused me to start watching the X-men movies and ofc I' loving it. So watching the movie I was a bit confused about who all these characters are and started to research after watching the movie. It's really great how Ryan and Shawn brought these characters back that have either been forgotten or recasted. Chris Evan says that he loved playing Johnny Storm again. Bringing Gambit into the movie when his character originally got cancelled was also amazing. Because in the MCU theres this big focus on the main characters that we don't see a lot of the hidden heros of the MCU. Even references towards characters like Moon Knight with the Cup Cake truck made me very happy because I love Moon Knight.

Anyway overall I loved this movie and have many more thoughts on it.

I'll make a post talking about Deadpool character arc if you want lol

(also if i got anything wrong because I'm very new to the X-men universe and haven't really edited this post well. Please comment lol. And please also comment your thoughts because I want to know.)

-Bookworm

[goldenrods935]

ORIGINS FANFIC!! (slowburn RiDe)

(Chpt. 1)

Hello everyone! I just wanted to try something new so I chose fanfiction ^^ how fun. I am not writer but I do promise that I tried to have it make sense, at least the best I could. The prompt is a slow burn RiDe fic which does mean I am going to add alot more to this but given it is my first time writing something like this and posting it I just wanted some insight and perhaps advice and people's input :) I am definitely open to any criticism and anything people may offer. This does all take place in origins, and im sorry if this isn't 100 percent accurate, I did get into zombies like 2 months ago so I am not sure if I had time to let ot marinate enough but I guess I just wanted to try it out! Ride is my fav ship if you couldn't tell and I was hoping to be able to share this with you ^^. Once again I do plan on updating but when is something I haven't decided yet. Since this is only the first chapter I have inputted nothing about the ship just yet but of course with it being a slow burn I will slowly add elements I promise :).

I would also like to add, i removed the point system because I wasn't sure how to implement it, and i want to illiterate this may not be 100 percent accurate to the story. I will try my best but if I do wrong please tell me. From what I can gather this is all I have for now. Anyways, please enjoy and thank you!!!!

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The sound of what can only be assumed to be machinery blaired throughout the area, its alarms being loud, and its footsteps being heavy. How many were there? More than one, even more than two, three, it seems. 6 individual steps taken across the hills of dirt and building tops that belong to this place.

North France, 1914, the battle of the Great War, World War I. A period of conflict and devastation reaching its climax, especially in Europe. Not just with battle, but with strange like creatures that can only be described as the term, "decaying". Pale green discoloration and sunken in faces, glazed eyes, no thoughts to process, no words that can even be formulated. Just brain-dead animals with no purpose but to kill. The reason for the reanimates sparks something else entirely. The work is due to the creation of group 935...

935 was an organization of scientists. No one can really determine their true goals, but what can be said is that the power they hold in their place of origins, Germany. After discovering an unknown contaminate, they decided upon themselves to continue researching what this blue substance can be, only to discover that this substance holds more power than any element that can be found documented and they called it element 115...

Dr. Ludwig Maxis, a man of great knowledge who holds strength in Germany's foundation, known for being one of the founders of this specific assembly of scientists, was the individual behind alot of powerful creations that had only manifested into something sinister. Aside from Maxis, his partner of occupation, Dr. Edward Richtofen, a person of both brains and an undesirable charm, used the liquid divinium for his own twisted pleasures, which awoken a force that was much too strong to manage, hoards and hoards of the undead.

The need to capture this man was strong. he was dangerous but also talented in his own field, it being a practice of medicine and anatomical procedures. The name Edward Richtofen was feared by most. He wishes to keep it that way. He holds no remorse, no sympathy, and not a feeling of empathy can be found in his body. Down to the very last atom, he was filled with disparity, insanity, immorality, and psychopathic tendencies. This attention was grabbed by those who lay outside of this continent, gathering 3 soldiers from different parts of the world, Russia, Japan, and America.

The name of these allies were infamous from wence they came. The motherland sending their Red Army soldier, a man of strength, Nikolai Belinski. Japan sending their best Samurai warrior, one who holds true honor, part of the Japanese imperial Army, Takeo Masaki. Lastly, the American dream, a Yankee from North America, a USMC spy, "Tank" Thomas Dempsey. The 3 were sent on a mission to infiltrate and investigate further on the crimes and studies of Group 935, all having the same intentions to report back to the allied countries.

By coincidence, the three men happen to find themselves in the same exact situation, facing jeopardy and coming across hazardous trails just to infiltrate this single scientist. Having to dodge huge robotic walk cycles while running in very steep and wet dirt roads is not a simple task, especially when faced with countless numbers of the Living Dead. The soldiers took this advantage to put their skills to the test, only being one person after all, unaware of each other's existence thus far, they were on their own for the time being...that is until they reached the end of their open path, coming to a dead end which was some sort of broken down building.

Confusion was the only thing felt between the individuals within the premises. The three allies have the same idea to run into the damaged facility, trying to get at least somewhat of a break. Their energy went most towards dealing with their situation. They hadn't realized the other persons presence. Additionally, the atmosphere didn't help either. The mist and debris that filled the air because of their surroundings decreased their line of sight, though only for a moment. Once the air cleared up, and they finally had time to catch their breath, they all looked at each other almost in sync. All were startled, which caused them to quickly reach for their weapon in hand and point it towards one another. Dempsey held his revolver up and aimed it towards both men that stood relative close to him, "tch." He smacked his teeth, keeping his focus. Takeo held a pistol in hand, pulling back the hammer of the gun, ready to fire if necessary, holding his breath in the process to help his focus. Nikolai's grip on his own weapon was tight, trying to aim his shot gun both at once, grumbling under his breath. Being focused on one another, they didn't realize who stood before them towards the back center of the room. It was Dr. Edward richtofen himself, who at the moment was dealing with his own situation.

His hands were covered in blood as he stood upon a metalic table. His victim, who was now deceased, laying their cold was Maxis. He had removed the brain that once belonged to the lifeless individual, displaying his scalp and what seems to have been the top portion of his cranium that had been removed, exposing the inside of whats now a hollow skull. It seemed that at the moment, his head was in a daze. A daze that was recovered facing recollections...recollections of what? What was in this Doctors mind? He looked at his hands with confusion and then fixed his vision to see the men that stood in front of him, which by that time they all had their guns pointed right at him.

This caused a slight suprise to Edward. His eyes widened a bit in shock. Though truthfully, he was facing a bit of deja vu. He's seen this before. He knows how this plays out. before he can mutter a word, Thomas was the first to speak, "Alright, Doctor, time to give your shit up, you're coming with me." He glared, leaving no room for any sort of retraction. This caused Nikolai to furrow his brows and speak next, "We know of the the things you've done German. If you don't move now, we shoot." His accent was thick, though by the looks of it, Richtofen understood him quite well. Takeo was the last to break his silence, reading the situation and feeling himself tense up less, knowing the other two men were only there for the same purpose. He spoke, "You need to give up. Your evil behavior and acts of violence are at its end." There was not a thing said after Masaki's words left his lips, though it seemed the silence that was held onto the air around them was louder than anything that could have been said. After a moment that seemed to have gone on for far too long, the German scientist finally spoke, "well gentlemen, it seems you have...finally caught up to me, though Ich promise I-", he was trying to look for the right words to say. Something wasn't exactly right. There was a reason for his extraction that layed before him, it wasnt just for malicious purposes, but of course, that's hard to really say given the reputation this man has. "Well, doc, scapel cut your tongue?" Tank spoke with a hint of sarcasm and absolute disgust, awaiting this "reasoning" for his behavior. "Ich..." he sighs, "it isn't what you think, This was a necessity for me, and I understand that currently, we are in a very dire situation. Ich am not who you think I am." He tried to get his words out as much as he could, his mother tongue being extremely heavy. "This is not up for discussion. You have committed acts of treason. You are a bad man, Edward Richtofen", The Japanese soldier said with a bit of haste. Anticipation growing heavier by the minute.

Edward sighed and stepped away from his array of medical utensils. He put his hands up as in defeat and placed himself even closer to the three others despite him having no way of defense. "Ich promise you all, this isn't what you think is is. I am not here to cause more trouble than I have. I can not explain at the moment. This is extremely time sensitive." His eyes look back at theirs almost with plead, like he was innocent, though of course they took this as deception and a form of manipulation. "Bullshit Richtofen! We will shoot!" Belinski was getting extremely impatient. This caused the doctors head to shake slightly, "Please trust me, Ich am not here to cause anymore harm than I have. If you'd allow me to explain mein situation you'd understand that this was all necessary..." The three had daggering glares. They didn't say anything, allowing the German to continue. Richtofen sighs and mutters a few words under his breath, feeling a bit of pressure. He knows what he wants to say but can't exactly say it. Truthfully, he isn't sure how he should tell them, tell them the reality, the reality that this is only the beginning to a very painful outcome. He began to speak, saying what he possibly could that is, "Ich am not here to cause more disaster but the contrerary. Are you all aware of what 'Agartha' is?" When he said this, he looked at Tank in particular, which caused a bit of confusion, that being implied on his expression. "Agartha?" The marine spoke, lowering his weapon a bit, seeing that there's no active form of threat. "The hell is that?..." His action caused the rest to lower their guns as well, not wanting to cause more hostility than they must.

At this point, the men faced confliction. Dempsey was curious, though he had a job to do. Takeo hadn't any idea what Edward was referring to, awaiting the explanation that was yet to be provided. Nikolai crossed his arms, placing a puzzled expression on his face, "What is this, uh, place you speak of, eh?" Richtofen slowly lowered his hands, feeling confident enough to do so with the signs of possoble gun fire gone. He fixed his sleeves and cleared his throat which followed with what he was gonna say next, "well, you see, to put it simply, there is a lost little girl by the name of samantha Maxis. It's a very, very complicated scenario, but I needed the brain of my counterpart as it plays an important role in freeing her. While ich do not care too much for her, it also..." He stops to a moment, wondering if he should continue, perhaps a white lie? Maybe he can stretch the truth? He continues after a short pause, "it opens the gateway to a dimension referred to as Agartha. Agartha is very hard to describe aber it is important i do so. It would open up a pathway to many things, different universes, a plethora of timelines. Mein hope is to be able to be able to undo all that has been set into motion and explore more in the realm of science. Ich just desires a better outcome than how society greets us." Though to him, it sounded like a reasonable enough explanation,to the rest, he sounded insane. Perhaps the term Looney would make a much better description rather than just crazy.

Dempsey furrows his brows as he glares at the German. He has no intention of trusting this man or his words anytime soon. He was sure the other two felt the same given the fact that at a quick glance, the other two held their weapons with a stronger grip than they had a moment ago. Richtofen sensed that their patience was running thin. Before he could say anything else, a sound of a low groan was heard from a distance, one that seems to be getting closer by the minute. They knew those noises all too well. "Shit... Those meatsacks are hoarding up again." Dempsey said as he turned the direction of where the sounds were from and placed a few shots into the few zombies he saw were approaching. They dropped dead, though he noticed more behind the bodies that layed before him. Takeo and Nikolai stood their own ground as well, getting their own weapons to a proper position to aim and fire. Richtofen quickly took a towel that was laying to the side of the table he stood upon, wiping off whatever blood stains still lingered on his hands. Though, of course, unable to get all of it, he just threw the dirty rag on the ground and quickly pulled out the bowie knife from his side. "These creatures have not stopped forming around the vicinity. We need to get out of here!" His slight panic reached the others as they were occupied with their own, shooting a couple of rounds before having to reload. "Y-yeah? And where's that, huh Doctor?"

Before Edward can give the marine a clear answer, he is met with 4 creatures on his right, ready to lunge towards him. He quickly took his weapon and attempted to cut them down. Unsurprising, it wasn't causing much damage. Noticing the struggles the doctor was facing, Tank shot them down as soon as he got done with his own situation. "Now, can ya tell us?" Dempsey said in a huffed voice, becoming restless, noticing the numbers of zombies only growing. Richtofen nodded, "Ja, Ich needs you all to trust me. Can you do that?" His words gave the group a very uncertain feeling, the three of them all making the same expression of doubt. "If you don't want to die becoming their next meal, I suggest you follow me. Ich am aware of my reputoir, but you really have no option. We need to go now!" His growth and feeling in worry snaps the crew back to reality, realizing that Richtofen had a point. "We await your orders," Masaki said in a low voice, Nikolai agreeing with his Japanese counterpart. "Ya better not pull anything stupid, I'll blow your brains out!" The American said with aggravation, letting the Doctor take the lead despite his unwillingness to cooperate.

"Right. Come with mich." Edward walked out from behind the table that was placed in front of him, picking up a particular item, carefully wrapping it in cloth that layed near by. He looked around before walking up to one of the two metal doors. "This one." He mumbles, proceeding to kick it, causing it to open. A small look of relief appeared across his face as he walked out of the room. He began following the trail in front of him, picking up speed as he got further down. The path was all mud which made it a bit difficult to move through. He shouted to the others he assumed were following behind, "Be aware of the mud gentlemen! Not only is it incredibly slippery, but it decreases your speed therefore reducing stamina and im sure you know why that is not a good thing!" He himself was having trouble running through, feeling the soles of his shoes to become stuck with every step he took, only pulling him back as he attempted to pick up his own pace. The other three found themselves in the same situation as they were sprinting through the dirt. "Shit, couldn't have picked a better way to go could ya doc?" Tank threw to the other, not earning a response back. Richtofen heard him, he just didn't want to waste his breath.

After running for what seemed like 10 minutes, The scientist found himself in front of another metal door, kicking it open just like the other. The next room he was met with looked at bit similar to the other, though the area was more spacious. Entering, all four men were cautious, being mindful of any sudden movement. Letting their guard down at any moment will result in fatality. Edward walked upon a table that was covered in blueprints and writing. On the surface, there was an array of radios, systems, and an additional amount of items one may use for in depth research. Something else that caught his eye was an empty container. With this finding he quickly and carefully placed what he had obtained from his earlier extraction. Still being wrapped under a thin cloth, Edward placed maxis' brain inside of the opened holder and sealed it shut. "Es ist perfect..yes. this is good." He mumbled to himself and grabbed the item as soon as he wiped himself off. Tank noticed the others actions and raised a brow, "the hell is that for? You know somethin, your starting to really creep me the fuck out Richtofen." His words followed a face of disgust before walking up the bit of steps that led to an elevated floor.

Edward paid no attention to the marine as he was stuck in his own head. He continued to look around, his memory slowly coming back to him. "Ja..I've been here before.." he muttered before following Dempsey in his steps, though keeping a distance. Takeo found himself lurking amongst the different sets of radios wondering if they held any clues to help them in their current situation. He kept their locations in mind, not wanting to touch what he shouldnt incase it causes more harm than good. He stayed close to his Russian allie, noticing the other studying a shovel placed upon a nearby wall. "Maybe it holds purpose da?" He said to Masaki, unhooking it from the nail that kept it in place and gave it to him. "Perhaps this shovel will find it's use during our escapade.." Takeo said in response and placed it on his side. The two looked at eachother with understanding and followed after the American and the German.

The rest of the room was filled with gritted flooring rather than the familiar woodboards they found themselves on. The floor was connected to a machine that covered most of the area. The machinery looked like a power source, a generator. The floor had two symbols of the same, being labled "01" which could imply the possibility of being more than one around the vicinity. Once Edward noticed the rest were at attention, he spoke, "I have to turn on the generator, though Ich believe that this will cause a bit of commotion.." How he knew what happens next stems from more hidden memories he has yet to really discover. From what he can recall, the power surge causes the undead to spawn and cause disturbance. After a quick thought process, he turned on the machine, which confirmed his suspicions. He yelled out a warning, which brought the others at their feet. Tank thought it was odd that Edward knew what was bound happen, noting to question him later. For now, focusing on what's in front of him, He began shooting the zombies down with the other two doing the same. After what seems like forever, the generator was finally stabilized and had successfully powered on, which by their luck had stopped any more of the undead from spawning in. The four took a minute to catch their breath, gaining a response from the marine, "the hell..was those things. What the fuck just happened?!" After questioning their situation, Richtofen gave him a response he thought made the most sense. "The generator must be kept on in order to access whats around us. Each one is powered by element 115, and by mein guess there will be more approaching us in our path. The element is notable for its effect on the dead, hence why we found ourselves surrounded." Before Tank could respond Nikolai spoke up, "I don't know what plans you have for us German but we all have a mission to con-" "and how do you expect to continue if you don't know a way out? There are several things we must do hence why Ich must carry the brain of mein late scientist friend. From what I have read prior around the facility, we must obtain und put together a plethora of objects...und in order to do that I advise you listen to mich. I cannot tell you much of how I know this but Ich will say this, unfortunately there has been a change of plans within your party und whether dou like it or not I will have to assist you three for a while. Our mission thus far is to free samantha Maxis and open the gateway to Agartha." Dempsey sighed in frustration and gave in his own input, "Alright so we gotta not only follow the damn mad scientist but we have to trust and work together with ya? You must be more mad than I thought, I don't have any plans to work with y-" "und what choice do you have. As I mentioned to Nikolai, I don't think you have much of an option Dempsey." This caused both Belinski and Tank to back down, not just out of defeat but out of shock. Both we confused on how Edward knew who they were. Perhaps their identities were known even outside of their place of origins? They do have a strong reputation but not one too known to the common public. Nikolai played it off and went with the explanation that made the most sense which was explained prior. As for The marine. He wasn't gonna just downplay it. There was too many unanswered questions and he was gonna get an explanation from the German. Though for now to avoid conflict he left it alone.

The doctor took a minute to recover from all that had just happened, speaking up once he was ready. "Ich know this will be hard for you to all understand und I know that it's not easy to trust someone like mich, but I would like to remind you, I am not who you think I am..." He let those words linger for a while, piecing together what should be done next in his mind. They were in the middle of a battleground surrounded by countless numbers of the undead, trapped in a hell that can only be fled through one way, which at the moment was deemed impossible. For now, all they can do is move forward, and whether they want to accept it or not, Edward Richtofen was their only way out of this situation.

[x-authorship-x]

"Did he smile at them" lmao Raido clearly acting like this isn't the first time something similar happened

Honestly I have so much fun with SQ2 because they all do outrageous shit but in specific flavours and it's so fun picking who would freak out over what!!!

Like Kakashi, in his ANBU era before he gets even more publically erratic, is extremely unfazed by anyone's outrageous behavior because 1) he does not care or know where the social line in the sand is and 2) he's not intervening even when it's specifically his circus, his monkeys... And when it comes to doing outrageous shit, Kakashi's rule is that if he can, then he fucking will, and the gods themselves cannot fucking stop him 😂 for example, this man will flaunt porn in public on purpose and theft is only theft if he is the victim

With Shisui, he is painfully aware of social convention (the Elders are BREATHING down his neck, he can already feel Mikoto's eyes burning his skull) BUT it's all about context. Can he get away with it? Yes? FULL STEAM AHEAD. Are there witnesses? Yes? Will Genjutsu fix it? No? FUCK, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES (bursts into flames from the mortifying ordeal of being known and unable to lie). For example, Shisui gaslighting everyone in earshot? A normal Monday. Genma makes a dirty joke at his expense? JAIL, JAIL, WE ARE ALL GOING TO HELL AND SHISUI IS GONNA TAKE THEM THERE 🔥🤡🔥

Tenzo is arguably the funniest because my boy straight up is not in the know 😂 Tenzo will say the most bland shit and it will hit the feels.... Tenzo will also say the most fucked up thing in your entire life and it will be an attempt at humor and you've got to just keep living your life. No, being in the Squad isn't helping. Kakashi is just as bad, if intentional, and Genma is enabling him, Raidou doesn't have the energy to fight a losing battle and Shisui isn't being paid enough to therapy dog the whole group. This is just an incredible wildcard.

Genma....! When he's yelling at the others, it's not because he wants them to stop. It's because HE is supposed to be the hysterical influence and he gets jealous when they upstage him. Shisui batting his eyelashes and getting the spa treatment as a hostage is just too much to bear, Genma tried to give a target a lapdance once and all he got was ten bucks and the desire to shower ASAP 😂😭🤡 he is so so proud of the chaos (he knows EXACTLY what he's doing) but he is also absolutely plotting how to one up the others on the outrageous scale

Raidou.... Oh I saved him for last, Anon, because not only is he the one you were actually commenting on but Raidou's reaction is always my fav. You THINK, looking at the group, that Raidou is the resident normal one. You might have thought that with drinking (nope, Raidou's drunken antics are firmly about 'Me Time' and he's valid, he is NOT designated driving). Or maybe paperwork (Tenzo and Shisui do the paperwork, actually, because Raidou's tends to get ruined by Genma/Kakashi or his own pyrotechnics/ink). Or maybe just being socially conscious individuals.... No. Raidou might be the most normal one because he has a stable home life, civilian parents who are both alive and who love and support him, and he sees the 'other side' of living in Konoha... But he also was the only one to be look at the options in life and PICK being a Shinobi. Like HELLO that's a bit INTERESTING. Raidou is So Done (I'm sorry but *looks at the rest of the SQ* YOUR HOME LIFE WAS WHAT) but simultaneously So On Board (you wanna tattoo your eyelids with fuinjutsu? Say less, bestie) for the bullshit like yes this is deffo the normal Shinobi way to behave, Genma of COURSE Shisui flirted with his captors now please help me steal the bedframe it's solid wood and the slats keep popping out of my bunk at home 👏👏👏 Raidou won't condone being an asshole to service staff but he's more than willing to calmly go back to his book when someone is plotting a murder at the next table.... It's just not his business 💅

This got out of hand, sorry Anon BUT yeah Raidou would classify Shisui's puppy eyes as both a cringe-fail tactic BUT an effective means of manipulation... So long as he doesn't have to watch the car wreck 😂

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Switched Around

Okay so I know you don't usually do this type of thing but this idea is stuck in my head so may I ask for a Sanders sides fic were there roles are switched around? It could be because of a curse or it could just be like that from the start. The roles and reasons are as follows. Roles: Roman: Anxiety. Remus: Deceit. Virgil: "Good" Creativety. Janus: Logic. Patton: "Bad" Creativity. Logan: Morality. Reasons: Roman: We need more anxious and/or insecure Roman. Remus: IDK just fit. Virgil: We need more confident Virgil. Janus: IDK just fit. Patton: Just Patton accidentally yelling "NOW FUCK!" or something like that. Logan: Just Logan not being able to not show his feelings. - uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: none, light prinxiety?

Word Count: 2045

In one universe, we know the Sides as follows: Patton, ever stringent Morality, Logan, the voice of Logic and Reason, Virgil, Anxiety and sarcasm personified, Janus as doubt and Deceit, and the twins, Roman and Remus as Creativity.

In another...the anxious Side waits for a group meeting to start.

Roman curls up in the corner of the living room, hunched around a pillow in the armchair, rubbing his left hand in his lap. His eyes are fixed on the stairs, unseeing, even as he mumbles to himself that the others should be here by now, they should be downstairs, we have to meet about things, did I get the time wrong? What if it was earlier and I missed it? What if it's not even today and I already missed it? What if—

"Roman?"

Roman startles terribly, looking over to see Logan standing next to him. He reaches out—slowly, slow enough that Roman can see his intentions and decide whether or not he's okay with being touched—and settles his hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," he murmurs, rubbing slow circles with his thumbs, "you're alright. It's only me."

"…hi, Logan."

"Hello." Logan tilts his head. "What were you thinking about?"

"Just, y'know, things."

"Bullshit!"

Unlike Logan, Remus seems to relish in startling Roman, or making him second-guess himself (if only for a moment) and it seems today is no exception. Roman startles so badly that he almost knocks the lamp over, glaring at Remus as he appears in his normal spot just next to the stairs. Remus, not daunted at all by the glower, waggles his fingers in greeting.

"I smell bullshit, Roman," he sing-songs, pointing a finger at him, "fess up!"

"R-Remus!"

"Remus," Logan seconds, sounding much sterner than Roman, "there's no need to be cruel."

"Ugh, 'cruel,'" Remus groans, leaning against the railing, "it's fine. Roman's just stuck in his little spirals again, like always."

"Still, there is no need to be unkind about it."

"Yeah, Remus, you don't need to be such a jerk to me all the time."

"Of course I do."

"No, you don't! It's—"

"He's lying, Roman."

"...I knew that."

The way Remus's grin widens says he's just about to crow that that was bullshit too when someone else rises up onto the stairs, making him tumble off the railing with a squeal.

"Sorry I'm late," Virgil says, lounging against the steps and shaking his hair from his face, "got caught up in something."

"No worries, Virgil, not everyone's arrived yet."

"Yup, I can see that." Virgil tilts his head when he notices Logan's protective stance over Roman and the way Remus is bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Roman? You okay?"

"Yep," Roman says, not meeting his eyes, "I'm fine."

"Lie!"

Virgil glances back and forth between the two of them, before sighing and reaching out to put Remus in a headlock. Remus squeaks and squirms but Virgil holds on. "Are you riling Roman up on purpose?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, what're you going to—" Virgil tightens his hold— "ack! Okay, okay, I give, jeez, you're such a party pooper."

Virgil lets go and Remus splutters, adjusting his costume and sticking his tongue out at a truly indifferent Virgil, already back to lounging on the steps.

"Should've known a knight couldn't resist a damsel in distress."

"I'm not a damsel," Roman mumbles, even though the idea of being saved like one does sound kinda nice…

"On the contrary," says a voice he'd rather didn't overhear that little interaction, "I'm afraid that Roman did indeed fulfill the role of damsel quite nicely in this case."

"Janus," Logan nods, "good to see you."

"I apologize for my tardiness," Janus says, adjusting his gloves as he looks around the room, "but I had reached a crucial point in my thesis and couldn't leave before I'd written it down."

"Ah, how is that going?"

"Better than anticipated." He nods to Virgil. "You were right, once I began writing, the ideas just…flowed."

Virgil tips him a lazy two-fingered salute.

"Is that everyone?" Janus glances at the empty spot by the window. "Oh, no, where's Patton?"

"Dunno. Last I saw him he was in the Imagination trying to come up with a Disney-appropriate version of…oh, I forget which fairytale."

Roman perks up a little. "Disney?"

"Unfortunately not actual Disney," Virgil says, winking, "but something equally as sanitized and, uh, market-friendly."

"Something far more indicative of a greedy corporation looking to squeeze numbers out of the human act of creation," Janus says dryly as Virgil turns to look at him in shock, "what?"

"Never thought I'd see you rise so passionately to my defense, 's all."

"Please." Janus rolls his eyes. "I'm hardly riding to your rescue."

"And yet I appreciate it all the same."

"Sorry I'm late!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Roman thinks idly as Patton appears, glitter glinting off of his shirt and paint splashed across his hands. He fixes his glasses with a grin and claps his hands, sending a shower of glitter everywhere.

"I just got so caught up with work," Patton says, "do you have any idea how horrifying old fairytales used to be? Carving off parts of themselves to fit into glass slippers, ugh, so morbid and gross…whatever happened to all those nice stories?"

"Y'know that fairytales haven't always been, like, just for kids, right?"

"It's true," Janus adds when Patton's mouth opens incredulously, "in fact, a lot of what we consider now to be fairytales are simply collections of stories from other writers that rewrote tales as they saw fit. Many of them have been told and retold so many times that it's almost impossible to determine their original constituents."

"…yeah, I was gonna say that too."

"Bullshit."

"I'll put you in another headlock."

"Alright," Logan says, raising his voice slightly as the others start to bicker, his hand still warm on Roman's shoulder, "now that we're all here, shall we begin?"

A few grumbles and rustles as the group settles and Roman glances up. Logan adjusts his glasses and folds his hands in front of him.

"Now, tonight is dinner and movie night, as we all know. It is Janus's turn to cook—"

"Did you all fill out the survey for what you want for dinner?"

"Yes."

"Uh-huh."

"Sure did!"

"I did, yeah."

"You didn't put anything else on there, right?"

"No, Remus, I didn't."

"Shit."

Janus pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'll have a look at the results before I start."

"Thank you. And we have yet to select the movie for tonight."

"Ooh," Patton says, clapping his hands, "Disney!"

"We've watched Disney movies for the last, like, four movie nights."

"Indeed." Janus sniffs. "There's only so many musicals I can tolerate."

"Plus," Remus adds, oddly sober for once, "they're boring."

Roman winces as Patton draws himself up indignantly, instinctively turning toward the chair for a bit of protection as the yelling starts.

"'Boring?' I'm sorry, did you just say boring? What about adventure and heroism is boring? What about learning powerful lessons and the value of love and friendship is boring? What about seeing all of these characters grow and learn and come together is boring?"

"It is rather formulaic," Janus says, loathed as he looks to be agreeing with Remus, "good triumphs over bad, the princess—or her archetypal stand-in—finds the strength in herself, the villains are defeated through a combination of genre-appropriate competence and abstract morality—no offense, Logan."

"None taken." Logan looks at Patton. "I…find myself agreeing. I'd rather not watch another Disney movie tonight."

Patton splutters. "Well—Roman wants to watch Disney, right?"

Oh, no, why did this conversation turn to me? I didn't say anything!

"Right, Roman?"

"I—um—"

"Hey," Virgil says, sitting up a little bit, "leave him out of this."

"We're all supposed to be having a discussion," Patton says, "I don't see why I can't ask Roman to weigh in on it!"

"That wasn't what you did, Patton, you just volleyed Roman in front of you without asking his opinion."

"I'm asking for it now!"

"Enough," Logan says, reaching out to touch Roman's shoulder again, "Roman? Do you have an opinion on the movie?"

Oh, god. Oh, god, now everyone's looking at me. Everyone's looking at me and they're gonna expect me to have an answer and I don't have one but I need to have one—oh, god, okay, think, think of what movie I'd want to watch—what's a movie?

"Roman?"

Roman's head snaps up on instinct as Patton speaks.

"Do…do you want to watch a Disney movie?"

"Don't lie," Remus calls, "I'll know."

He bites his lip and slowly shakes his head. Patton's face falls to disappointment and he scuffs his glittery toe along the now-glittery carpet.

"Fuck."

"What would you like to watch, Roman?"

"Um…" He glances around at the other faces. "What—what about The Bad Guys?"

Janus frowns. "Is that the Dreamworks movie?"

"Mhm. It's, um, it's based on a book series and it's about a bunch of animal—well, 'bad guys' that, uh, learn about what it means to be…good?"

Janus hums. "Go on."

"They—uh, from what I've seen of it, it's about them dealing with the prejudice that comes from being the animals they are and how much of 'bad guy' is forced upon them versus what it means to try and be good guys…a-and the animation style's really cool."

The room quiets.

"S-sorry, I know it's really similar to a Disney movie, it's supposed to be for kids, we don't have to watch it, we can just—"

"No, no," Logan says, interrupting him, "I'm… intrigued."

Roman glances up. "From what I've heard…there's also a character that's perceived as 'good' but his—he's not, really. Kind of an exploration there too."

"Ah, yes, I have heard of this one," Janus says, "I think I've seen a bit of it."

"O-oh."

"Roman's right, the animation is spectacular. And the story…while a bit simplistic is at least consistent to its own worldview once you get into it."

Roman glances at Remus. "One of the main characters is a snake who lies all the time."

"Sold!" Remus claps his hands. "We're watching this!"

"Well, I suppose that was easy enough." Logan glances at Janus. "How long do we expect dinner to take?"

"About forty minutes, give or take."

"Alright—shall we meet back down here at 6:30?"

"Works for me."

"Sure."

"Fine."

"See you then!"

Roman lets out a sigh of relief as the others begin to sink out. Logan pats him once more on the shoulder before he sinks out too, leaving him alone in the living room.

"Hey, little dragon."

Almost alone. Roman looks over to see Virgil standing up, crossing to the chair and leaning on the back. "Hi."

"Good job," he says, ruffling his hair, "I'm excited to watch the movie."

"That's...that's good."

Virgil chuckles. "You okay? I know how it can feel when Remus starts messing with you like that, you doing alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm…I'm okay."

"That's good."

"U-um—" Roman sits up as Virgil backs away— "c-can I sit next to you for the movie?"

Virgil blinks, then smiles. "Sure, little dragon. I'd like that."

"I—I'd like it too."

"It's a date."

Virgil winks and sinks out, leaving Roman staring at the spot where he'd been standing.

A—a date? Like a date-date? That wasn't what I was asking, why did he think that's what I meant? Do I want it to be a date-date? Wait, what if the others find out? Can I still sit next to him? What if I can't do it? What if he—oh, god, what if he tells the others it's a date-date?

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[wolffyluna]

I think I may have made some prosleytizers happy today.

I just wanted to grab some pamphlets from the "Hello! Please join Islam" group (I Like Religious Pamphlets), but I was willing to talk and my approximate knowledge of many things extended enough to Islam that I think I kind of ?impressed? them. And I think I may have also convinced them that they had got me on the hook. I was a single failed conversational reflex save from saying the shahada.

The thing is, while my mouth was being friendly and interested, internally I was going "...that's not a revelation from God, that's something you could have known by mundane means," "that's not a revelation from God, and it's not even how mountains work," "While I can't say definitevely that that's not a revelation from God, I will point out that in any book containing a lot of imagery, the probability that that imagery can apply if you squint to something centuries later rapidly approaches 1."

And now, an hour or so later, I find myself coming up with ways to make their arguments for the truth of Islam better.

You see, the person I was talking to's argument against Christianity was that there were "too many versions of the Bible" and could you really trust your immortal soul with that? Now, he could have meant "the whole situation with the apocrypha is /weird/ when it comes to a revelation from God, what are y'all even doing." But no, from context, he meant the fact that they were multiple English translations.

Which, uh, bold words from the guy who's own sacred text has multiple English translation?

Now, points to Islam, they have way more of a tradition of reading the Quran in Arabic compared to Christians' and reading the original Hebrew/Aramaic/Koine Greek. But Christians do... do that. (I think he was also judging them for not reading Jesus' words in the "original Arabic" but. um. There are some technical difficulties with doing that.)

The thing is, if I wanted to argue that Christians had a) recieved a revelation from God, but b) had willfully misinterpreted it and stewarded it badly, I would not go for English translations. No, there's a better slam dunk* lined up here: The Nicene Creed.

It won't work against all Christians, but he's going for an Australian audience here, and Australian Christians mostly fall under the Nicene umbrella.

And the Nicene Creed is a statement of orthodox Christian belief that isn't in the Bible. Chunks of it are made up of implications from the Bible, that come with wild disagreement about. And it was (arguably) created for political purposes by a Roman Emperor! Come on! It's an easy shot, stop running down the wrong side of court going "but the NIV vs the KJV!"

*Read: more convincing to weird religious nerds like moi.

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 212

Hello everyone, Mage of Light Nick Card here. Light shines upon that which is known, but where there is light, there is also shadow. Let us experience the tapestry of all shades.

Archival Memory

Earlier this week, a group was gathered to investigate a potential problem at

The Archives,

following a distress call. Present in the party was Train Driver Skye, Bounty hunter Samus Kitten, Sylph of Life Eden, Rogue of Heart Charles and your dear newsletter writer. We rode the rails on a number of trains, far past the limits of the DTA, before arriving at our destination. There was an investigation upon arrival at the site. The cause of the distress was identified and mitigated, though caused a number of hospitalizations as a result. Most who were involved have recovered with minimal detrimental effects. For the time being, a number of particular stops have been closed for repairs. Also of note, the location has become one of the most visible and tangible things in that particular section of the furthest ring, having been doused in a ridiculous amount of Light. Trains will reportedly resume running there next week.

Clear Skye

Directly after that mission was completed, a version of skye from the future showed up to hang around for a while. Here is an interview between the two of us:

Nick: this is mage of light Nick Card, conducting an interview in my own home in unity village, on August 23rd, 2024. Skye: Fancy, you know I had a proper recorder once... Want me to find it for you at some point? Nick: eh, this one should be fine. Its portable enough. Nick: so, introduce yourself Skye: I'm yet another Skye. I'm not sure how much I can say aside from that. I'm a God tier Maid of Void, who's played the game. Nick: Nice to speak with you today. You've recently made your way into town over here, correct? Skye: Half those words mean nothing to me? Nick: uh, fair enough. I mean more like, metaphorical, I guess. As in you've recently made your presence known to the immediate group here. Skye: Close enough, sure.

Nick: so... what brings you here lately? Skye: I was bored. Nick: that's fair enough. what do you like to do to stave off that boredom? Skye: Fucking around and finding out? Nothing I do really matters, so I have fun along the way.

Nick: That makes sense. You've taken a liking to pulling pranks, from what's been observed lately, right? Skye: Yeah, I'll admit it's lazy, but it's a way to get a reaction out of people, and is unlikely to actually hurt them." Nick: Ah, for the purpose of provoking. I see. Nick: by the way, thank you for providing that instant hole to where I needed to go yesterday. It was kinda sudden, but appreciated under the circumstances. Skye: I'm learning! Skye: Oh, and maybe one day I'll stop being lazy, but I don't want to end up like that kid did. Nick: ...that kid? Skye: Oh the kid I met on the train before I entered who was all mysterious and voidy. Nick: ...Oh. Skye: He looks miserable in his job, honestly. Nick: I take it you visited him recently? Skye: Well, I've seen him. Nick: That's fair. From what I know, its usually best to stay out of his range.

Skye: Did you know that hell was originally seen as a place to punish the devil, and not a place the devil was a head of? I might be speaking bullshit, but the divine comedy comes to mind. Though that is Bible fanfiction, but... Yeah. I think a lot of imagery of heaven and hell comes from basically bible self insert fanfiction written by a guy? Nick: Huh... I think I'm picking up what you're throwing down. Its interesting that a particular popular book ended up getting incorporated in such a way that can almost be considered ascended fanon like that. Skye: Yeah! Isn't it fascinating? Nick: yeah Skye: ...and it's funny how lucfier nowadays is considered like, leader of hell but in that it was like, he's trapped at the bottom of it? Nick: something like that, yeah. Like an inverted tower, appearing to be at the top to those who visit that topsy-turvy realm. Skye: I'll be honest, the details elude me. Nick: eh, same Skye: So, yeah, what's next? Nick: its hard to tell, to be honest.

Nick: anything you'd like to say to those that will be reading our interview later on? Skye: uhhhhh... Wow, really putting the pressure on me, eh? (heehee) Skye: Do you want a serious message or a silly message? Nick: hmm... that's a tough one. Skye: no burning questions from a light player, either? Nick: eh, I only ask what I feel is safe to ask, especially considering the audience Nick: my gut instinct tells me serious, but at the same time, I think silly can be appreciated. Seems like a meat or candy question. Skye: God no you wouldn't catch me bifurcating a timeline like that, especially not in that way. I'm not a cherub, despite my awesome wings. Nick: Good. Skye: Okay, I'll have a serious answer, and make it goofy. Like a proper dinner and dessert to use your metaphor. Skye: Is that alright? Nick: yeah

Skye: I'll leave a message I know I'd want to hear. Paradox space is scary. It's genuinely massive and sod's law crops up an awful lot. I can see a lot of people being driven to hopelessness or despair from that. Skye: as much as I want to say it'll be alright, I won't lie, and my powers are still limited for now so I can't promise to help everyone. But... I want to make it clear, if something sucks, it's okay to admit that. Don't delude yourself into thinking that pain is a virtue unto itself. There are many people who will help you if they can, and the only ones who are irredeemable are the ones who choose to not let themselves get better. Skye: I could say so many things, but... I know I'll sound silly if I say it all. Just to anyone who listens... There's a reason why I'm like this now. It wasn't easy, and maybe it wasn't worth it, but I'm not going to let stuff I don't want to define me to actually define me. Skye: Uh, is that alright?

Nick: yeah. I think its a poignant message for the public to hear. Thank you. Skye: Can I be silly now? Nick: yeah. Let's get sillay! Skye: Hm... So basically my role around here is officially going to be that of a Nuisance. By here I mean this subset of paradox space. I'm so happy to be here and meet people but there's no way I can stay Normal for any length of time, so I'm gonna be Weird. Skye: I encourage more people to be Weird if they are able to. I'm gonna be myself, whatever the hell that is even if I can't define it! Ah shit I got serious again, but I promise you I'll be as silly as I can be! Nick: I'm glad to hear. it's important to have a sense of levity to avoid everything feeling like it sucks. Skye: Look, please, make things better for everyone including yourselves. Please. My one demand, I swear!

Nick: thank you for sharing that. I think we're about out of time for the interview. thank you again for showing up. Skye: It's good to be in the presence of people who tolerate me. Nick: you kinda gotta tolerate a lot when a lot happens. abrasion and changing circumstance is part of life, after all. Skye: Something like that. Nick: anyhow, that concludes our interview.

Afterwards, it turned out she had gifted me a london underground mug.

In tangentially related news, another prankster has also made herself known to the group. A shapeshifter by the name of Magma. The very same one that had assisted with the Archipelago protocol a few weeks back and had retrieved the master ball from SMZ3.

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This week’s known market stands in Desertia Town:

DTA train ticket stand

Katie’s potion stand (Not available to plitlanders due to regulations, available to all others however)

shinyjiggly pokesnacks stand

Brae's produce stall: - Potted vegetables - Jarred vegetables - Various jams - Hisuian herbs (medicinal leek, pep-up plant, king's leaf)

Magic Scrolls Shop: - Spell Scroll (Level 0) (15 gp) Spread message: distance whispered conversation (One use only). - Spell Scroll (Level 3) (500 gp) Magic circle against evil: as protection against evil, but with a radius of 10 'and 10 min / level (One use only). - Spell Scroll (Level 7) (25.000 gp) Waves of exhaust: various objectives are exhausted (One use only). - Spell Scroll (Level 8) (50.000 gp) Protection against spelling: Grants a +8 Stamina bonus (One use only). - Spell Scroll (Level 1) (25 gp) Resist planary alignment: the receiver can withstand the penalties for being in an Outer plane of alignment opposite to theirs. (One use only).

I think that covers it. Progress has slowed down on gamedev, but hopefully the message I received recently offers some direction. I get the feeling I might get more chances to flex my abilities soon. Who knows though. https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/449/charcherry-weekly-issue-212

[kingy9898]

Major Project - How people find bandmates (Research)

10 Musicians explain how they met their band

In high school, I got dumped by my ex so I made a group chat with two people I knew who could play guitar and drums. We all went to Pirate and our chemistry was sick.’ - @dorganmuffy

‘I was cleaning pots in a shitty Italian restaurant up North. I noticed another guy in the kitchen had long hair and brought his guitar into work a lot. I asked if he wanted to join my heavy metal band and he said yes.’ - @laurie.laurie.laurie

‘I met my fellow band members through playing and attending shows in the Queens/Brooklyn music scene.’ - @arverne.sound

‘Our band put up a Facebook post when we needed a new bass player and got lots of responses. Then our drummer got pregnant and we found a new one through the bass player.’ - @thedesperadosuk

‘I’ve known one of my bandmates since I was four years old.’ - @lawrnmusic

‘The rest of the band contacted me through Instagram. Online networking is so important.’ - @mmrdrums

‘We found each other through social media. The band started as two mates but the rest were found through Instagram callouts and mutual friends.’ - @steelmageofficial

‘I found my band when I started playing music at Disneyland.’ - @mrhowellmusic

‘Most of our members met working together at a music school, then our bassist answered an ad we put out.’ - @dbibby44

‘Our band all met at Leeds College of Music in 2017.’ - @supermarketpolice

5 Places to find musicians for your band

Social media. Between Facebook groups and Instagram callouts, social media is one of the most common ways musicians find one another. Some Facebook groups exist for this exact purpose, whereas by putting up an Instagram story you're more likely to attract a friend or a friend of a friend. Before trying this method, it's worth making your callout as specific as possible - this will make going through applicants much easier later on.

Ask other bands and people in the music industry. Anyone already in a band or working in music will know countless other musicians. The music industry is a small world and it only takes one introduction to unlock hundreds more.

Local practice studios. Pirate is filled with bands, but its also filled with solo drummers, guitarists and singers honing their craft 24/7. Say hello to someone in the communal area next time you visit, you never know who you might meet.

Friends and family. You're musical - did you get it from your mum? Did your sister also get it from your mum? Maybe joining a band with your family sounds like your worst nightmare but it's definitely worked for some - like the Bee Gees or Oasis. Plus, even if you don't want them in your band, your family members or friends may have valuable musical contacts they can link you up with.

School, college, university or work. These institutions often have music classes, societies or choirs, making them great environments to meet like-minded people to join your band. If your institution has one, put yourself out there and join a music society. If it doesn't, why not start one?

[soulless-bex]

Hello! This may seem very out of the blue, but I was looking up posts about aroace rep in media and saw one that you had written so wanted to ask your opinion on something if you don't mind! (There's no pressure to answer this by any means.)

I'm in the very early days of planning a thriller/detective kind of graphic novel and I've got two main characters who are fleshing out at the moment. One of whom is an aroace guy! I'm yet to decide whether I want there to be any direct address to his identity but I do know that I want it to be evident from the start, and I'm gonna have him wear an aroace flag badge because he's very comfortable and proud of it. As for his character, he's quite grumpy and sarcastic and enjoys telling people where they can stick it. (There's more to him, don't worry, but that's an overview.)

The other character I have is his best friend. More characters are going to be introduced pretty early on and will become just as central but these are the two we begin with. The rest of the crew will have various romances mixed in here and there, including one with aroace guy's best friend.

Now here comes the bombshell. I'm planning on killing aroace guy. IS THIS A BAD DESCISION? IS IT TOO MEAN TO KILL HIM OFF? The thing is, I know somebody needs to die and from the start I've known it would work well with his character for him to die after some time in an escape with the rest of the group. But I'm worried that it's a cruel blow to the aspec community to give them a canonically aroace character only for him to die. I don't want to push the idea that aro and/or ace characters can't have happy endings because they won't necessarily have a Somebody to end up with. However, I do want to explore the intense grief that the rest of the characters experience because of this person's death, especially his best friend. I think it could be important to show the amount of love in and around his life despite him being aroace. He won't just be forgotten about - in fact I intend for his death to heavily contribute to his best friend's character arc after it happens and he'll be directly referenced a lot afterwards.

Still, I'm concerned if this is still a bad choice, and one that people might be upset about if they read it. Am I pulling a Netflix writer move by doing this? You know like when they always kill off the lesbians? If you have any opinions on this it would be amazing if you could let me know from an aroace person's point of view! Tysm x

honestly, as long as it is important to the plot and the continuation of the story then it should be fine. i dont have your draft or anything so i don’t know what you’re planning on doing for sure, but as long as it doesn’t read as you getting rid of the character/killing the character for fun then you should go with it

some people might have a different opinion, but i firmly believe that if the only representation a minority gets ends up being the good guy that lives happily ever after, then it defeats the whole purpose. those characters, even if they’re apart of a minority group, are still, most of the time anyway, human. they will make mistakes, they will be mean, they will walk down a dark path, and yeah, they will die

i think it only really becomes problematic if the characters that represent said minority are continuously killed for seemingly no reason. to add representation only to say your stories are diverse and then kill them off is when it becomes an issue

but if, as you said, it makes sense for that character to die and then helps further the character development of other characters, then you shouldn’t let their identity stop you from writing what you want

and honestly, i’d rather have dead representation than no representation at all