#set vaguely in s2

[goodthingscomeinthrees]

picture me in the weeds (before i learned civility)

the gilded age | bertha x george | t, 4.8k, complete

“Bee! I wasn’t told you’d be here tonight! My goodness, what a surprise.” Bertha tries not to wince at the silly old name, the one she hasn’t heard since childhood, the one she’s tried her hardest to bury down deep and forget.

[lunamond]

I really hope that the lotr fandom will soon move on from discussions about Rop's legitimacy as a Tolkien adaptation.

The current climate of people either fully dismissing the whole show or declaring it a full-on masterpiece needs to stop. I (for the most part) enjoy watching the show and therefore find myself more often than not on the side of the latter. But, I really wish we could have more productive discussions about the actual content of the show other than just how well it lines up with the lore, including calling out some major issues that I haven’t seen discussed at all.

In all the discussions about orc families, short vs. long-haired elves, ring mechanics, etc, It's definitely noticeable that nobody (neither fans nor antis) seem to have called out the super racist orientalist elements in the Rhun storyline.

[sonnetforbonnet]

Thinking about the "Stede crossed Ed's boundaries" discourse from Calypso's Birthday, and how it's mostly not true? I won't deny that Stede was attempting to initiate sex at a high stress and, by most parameters, inappropriate time. It probably didn't fall under the definition of "taking things slow," but that's also not a clear boundary. No one defined what taking things slow actually means; however, they *do* establish how that boundary should be respected.

Stede kisses Ed, Ed wants to take things slow. Stede holds Ed's hand, asks if it's okay. Ed confirms that it's okay. So the guidelines for taking things slow is this: things are okay if Ed says they're okay.

What does Stede do at the end of the episode? He pulls Ed into the room and pushes him against the wall. He silently waits for permission from Ed. Ed nods and confirms that it's okay.

No, it wasn't really a good time for all this, but I think Stede can be cut some slack after what had literally just happened. He still respected Ed's boundaries based on what happened when Ed first asked for the boundary to be instituted in the first place.

[mcchi-ken]

Sleebing part 1 (for real connaisseurs, Le Nanne)

[flowers are Jasmine for unconditional and eternal love, Blackthorn for protection, China Aster for fidelty, Queen Anne’s lace for haven and sanctuary, Purple Lilac for first love, Nemophila to say you’re my one and only]                      i fecken love flower language

one day i’ll be done posting pirate fanart i did in the past months and then s2 will air and the cycle will start again...woe is me (nobody is making me do this)

[technicalthinker]

Ok so Loki s2 have been very fun and relaxed with the Lokius dynamic, not trying to downplay it or no-homo it but instead have embraced it and made it feel genuine, funny, heartwarming etc. Like whether canon or not, they haven't tried to aggressively deny any possibility.

So with all that said,

[pyrriax]

hey guys im really normal.

[inkdrinkerworld]

ok ok I‘m obsessed with spencer x bau!reader in a secret relationship!!

like imagine s2!spencer and reader and how reader always keeps their eyes on him during cases after tobias, trying to help him with his mood swings (caused by the withdrawals) in subtle ways

or s6!spencer dealing with his migraines and reader trying to be there for him, subtly helping him relax on the plane by playing with his hair or whatever and all that while trying to hide their relationship (the others probably already noticed but just keep their mouth shut and smile to themselves whenever they have a sweet little moment)

gets my mind running!!

Cw: withdrawal symptoms, vague mentioning that spencer is taking drugs, fluff

You’re worried about him. You can’t stop chewing your nails as you look at him.

You know the team knows, and you know Spencer knows you all know but you can’t say anything.

If you say anything, tell him to get help, he’ll need to report it and if he reports it he’ll lose his job.

So you do what you can.

There’s Gatorade in the fridge, all stocked with the purple grape flavored stuff you’d learnt through trial and error that Spencer preferred.

He drinks a few a day, suffering through it because he knows it will help. He also knows you’re doing this because you care about him.

He hopes you still love him after all of this.

You do.

“I got you a soup, Spence.” Your words are quiet and saved for when you reach his desk, setting the hot styrofoam container on his desk with a smaller box next to it.

He looks up at you, pupils blown wide and sweat beading on his eyebrows.

You don’t even hesitate to use your shirt sleeve to dab away the sweat. Spencer fights the urge to push your hands away.

He hates to disappoint you. “This has to be disappointing. I have to be disappointing.” His words are sudden you nearly jerk back.

“What?”

“This. I’m pitiful.”

You shake your head, stooping down so you’re eye level with him. “What happened was not your fault. I hate seeing you like this because you didn’t deserve it; not because you’re pitiful.”

Your words are so forceful and sincere that it stuns him for a little bit. In his shock, you walk away from him and Spencer panics when you go to the stairs to Hotch’s office.

His heart is pounding so hard he’s shocked he hasn’t blacked out yet.

Maybe he has because a couple seconds later you’re helping him stand and holding the container of soup and your bag.

“Let’s go.”

Spencer’s eyebrows tug together, his lips unconsciously falling into a pout.

“But we have reports to finish.”

You shake your head, for his protestations, Spencer follows you with his own satchel all the way to your car.

“I told Hotch you were feeling faint and you had a fever so he’s let us go home.”

Spencer is speechless. He’s even more so when you turn on the heater on his seat and keep the ac high.

“You don’t have to do all this.” He stammers out, holding the containers as you reverse.

“I want to take care of you and help you get better Spence. It’s as simple as that,” he nods, unable to help it.

You’re like his personal angel. He hopes you know how he feels about you. Hopes you know that he’s grateful and he’ll always be. Hopes that the flush in his cheek can be blamed on what his body is going through right now and not your next words.

“We’re going to my place, I’ve got a better bed and I can mess with the heating. You don’t have to do it alone, Spence.”

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Izzy arc this, garlic soup arc that, we don't talk enough about my man Buttons, who in just four episodes of S2 completed his journey from insane guy on a leash to magical transmogrification into his dream form. In both seasons he perfectly straddles the line between genuinely competent and helpful first mate and vaguely haunting enigma. Here is a first mate who can do it all: spot enemy ships at a huge distance with his naked eye, and chew through the enemy lines with his fake teeth set. He can hex the guy who double crossed you, he knows about the gravy basket, he gives genuinely helpful advice to both Stede and Ed, and he does it all as a sort of side job, because he is actually pretty busy with his quest to achieve his final form. To love means to change, and he's got the perfect bowl for it. Truly the most character. Nobody does it like him.

[tryingonametaphor]

i think it’s very interesting that we got basically no insight into will’s life in lenora. sidelining him from the supernatural plot is one thing but they deliberately gave us nothing about his life after he moved. we see a girl hit on him in s4ep1 but it’s unclear if he’s liked by his classmates or not.

we see that el is being bullied but we don’t see the bullying carry over to will who is always hanging out with her. we see that el has difficulties with certain subjects but she’s working on it. we get some insight into jonathan’s time in lenora with the show introducing us to argyle and establishing jonathan as a stoner. we see that he’s having trouble with college applications because of his selfless nature.

but we get next to nothing about will in episode 1 (march 21st) and then the next episode is set on his birthday which they conveniently claimed that they forgot. he has a pretty strong emotional arc in regards to his love for mike in s4 but that’s it. all we know about will is that in his time away from hawkins, he’s accepted that he’s in love with mike.

80% of the scenes he’s in seem to be from his POV and yet we barely know anything. he doesn’t talk about it either. except for when he says “these past few months i’ve been so lost without you.” but that’s too vague to come to any conclusions.

even in season 3, the only insight we get is “will is sad that the party is falling apart.” we don’t see him suffer the aftermath of the possession the way we did in s2 (his ptsd), we don’t find out why joyce is suddenly so lenient regarding curfews and will biking back home. it feels like we see will but it’s just enough of him to acknowledge that he’s there but not enough of him to matter.

i can only describe his presence since season 3 as “almost invisible” like he slips under the radar and people kind of forget that he exists. the audience sometimes forget that he exists too. i wonder what that means considering that they’re making him the center of s5.

[detroit-become-hurt]

Baby I'm Down Bad For You

Hi. Okay. Sevika fic because I have brain rot I tell you, brain rot! Also I haven't watched S2 of Arcane yet, I don't have my netflix sub anymore. But I've seen stuff on tiktok so I have a vague idea what happens. Modern AU Sevika x Reader

Sevika sighed as she peered around the bar, glass of whiskey in hand as she thoughtfully wondered if it was too late to back out now and go home. She had begrudgingly agreed to a stupid blind date, why? she wasn’t quite sure herself. Maybe she was tired of being lonely, tired of being disappointed by shallow and self centered women who wanted to get close to her for the sake of money. So when a colleague at work offered to set her up on a blind date, she thought to hell with it.

But now, as she sat in the bar overlooking the inhabitants, she wondered if this was a good idea. She didn’t want to admit that she really wanted this to turn into something good. She was tired of seeing couples around her, lovey dovey and shit. Though she never showed or voiced it, Sevika ached for companionship. Someone to come home to at the end of the day, and curl up on the couch with.

Downing the rest of the alcohol she pulls out a cigarette, lighting it and taking a deep drag. She much preferred cigars, but in places and times like these, cigarettes would work. How much longer would she have to wait? She had no clue what you looked liked, so how was she supposed to know when you were here?

Almost as if hearing her thoughts, you make your way into the crowded bar. The music is loud, too loud really. And there’s too many people for your liking. Why couldn’t your friend suggest someplace more chill for a blind date? Your eyes scan the crowd, searching for the figure that matched the description your friend had given you.

“I’ll try not to give too much away. But she’s quite tall, broad shoulders, and muscular.” She adds, waggling her eyebrows in your direction. “Also, you can’t miss her with that shiny ass prosthetic she has.” This had caught your attention, and when asking about it your friend simply stated it wasn’t her place to say. “You can ask her about it, but I wouldn’t open the conversation with that.” She advised you. You can’t help but roll your eyes, like you would be rude and insensitive enough to ask that.

The dress you wore clung to your body, and it was hard not to feel self conscious even though no one had even spared you a second glance. You rarely dressed like this, opting for looser fitting clothes as you weren’t exactly skinny. You prayed that your date wouldn’t be so self centered to care about your physique. 

As you made your way farther into the bar, you finally caught a glimpse of someone who matched your friend's description. The light reflecting off her prosthetic gave her away, and it felt like the air had been sucked out of you. She was beautiful, definitely muscular and broad shouldered. Her nose curved downwards, face framed by dark locks pulled into a half assed bun. The most stunning thing about her though was her eyes, a steely gray that seemed to reflect light. God you were down bad for someone you haven’t even met yet.

‘Just stay calm.’ Is all you can think as you slowly make your way over to the bar. “Um…Sevika?” You asked and she turned to face you, looking down after a moment of realizing how short you were compared to her. She hasn't said anything yet, so you decided to continue talking. “I’m y/n. And I’m uh, your blind date hehe.” you can’t help but let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of your neck as your chest up to your face flushes red from embarrassment. You don’t know that Sevika thinks it’s cute.

You also don’t know that for once, Sevika feels excitement upon seeing you. She feels hopeful, already getting the vibe that you weren’t like the other women she’s talked to in the past. To her, you’re absolutely stunning, and she can’t help but rake her eyes over the curves of your hips to the swell of your tummy as the dress clings to it. It makes her absolutely feral.

Adorning a cocky smirk she straightens up to her full height, and you have to crane your neck back a bit to keep eye contact. “Pleasure to meet you,” her gravelly voice sends a wave of warmth to your core and it takes everything in you to not turn around and run out of this damn place. “Can I buy you a drink?” She asks, pulling a stool out for you.

Hopping onto the seat you shyly admit you don’t drink very often, asking her what’s good. Sevika lets out a boisterous laugh, asking if you prefer something sweet to something stronger. “Definitely sweet.” you confirm, nose wrinkling at the thought of straight liquor, and Sev can’t help but think how cute that is. 

Drinks ordered you both sit in a comfortable silence for a moment til Sevika spoke up, “I’m going to be honest,” Oh no. here it comes. The “you seem pretty great and all but you’re not really my type” speech. Sevika takes a sip of her second glass of whiskey, hoping it will give her the courage to remain confident, and honest. “I’m not very good at these kinds of things. Dating has never been my…forte. So I apologize if I make you uncomfortable in any way.”

Oh. That’s not what you expected at all. 

“Dating has never been my strong suit either…” you admit sipping on your own drink. You miss the look of shock on Sevika’s face. To her, she can’t believe that you’re even single. 

“Perhaps then this is a chance for both of us…”She states sincerely. You look at her and give her a warm smile that causes her stomach to summersault. Throughout the rest of the evening the two of you chatted about anything and everything, divulging secrets here and there. You felt comfortable with Sevika, like you had known her a long time despite it being your first time meeting her now. Eventually the two of you were kicked out as the bar had to close down.

Sevika walked you to your car, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to keep you out so late doll.” her voice is low and gravelly, and god you could scream at how fine this woman was. 

“S’kay. I don’t mind. I had a great time tonight. Could I get your number?” You felt emboldened by the several drinks you had, normally you wouldn’t ask such a thing. Swapping contact info the two of you are then left in a comfortable silence, just admiring one another. “Well, I suppose we should part ways.” You finally break the silence. With your heart pounding in your chest you take a step closer to Sevika, and she watches your every move, wondering what you’re going to do next. Standing on your tiptoes you lean in and give a gentle kiss to Sevika’s cheek, both of your faces burning. 

“Goodnight doll. I’ll see you around.” Sevika smirks despite her face flushed red as you get into your car. You can’t help but spare her one last glance before pulling away, at which she gives you a small wave. 

If Sevika was sure of anything, she had it bad for you.

[dalliancekay]

I'm just gonna write out what I think cos if someone sends me this again for the 113th time, I'm gonna snap. Look. Interviews (months!) before a premiere of something are tricky. You gotta be careful and VAGUE with what you say and what you want people to expect. Mostly creators focus on the themes in the first, maybe second episodes or so too trying not to give away much. Just the bare bones, what is already expected anyway. After all, they want you to watch it and go: "Ahhhh...." It was the same in S2 as well. (David describing in interviews how unmoored Crowley was in S2, how kind of disappointed etc and Michael how Az is also a bit disconcerted by not having a job, something big to belong to). But that's a description of - how we find the Ineffables in ep1, rather than describing the whole of Season 2. And there was a book first before the series and you must admit Aziraphale and Crowley are a bit different in the series than they are in the book. So caution was needed. PLUS their story has evolved again. It doesn't now end in the Ritz (I know it never really did for Neil and Terry who clearly wanted them to deal with the whole system somehow). The husbands have more trouble ahead. More details were added. We got more of their story, their journeys. Crowley doesn't change and is just waiting for Aziraphale to catch up with him is not much of a story, don't you think? Aziraphale is a naïve goody two shoes angel who has to realise Heaven is bad - is just so simple I'd be angry if I was Neil and read that. Well, okay, I AM angry.

And I'm sorry but Aziraphale has not lived a guarded life. He has lived a life of fear and anxiety with bosses who underestimate, belittle and laugh at him and think he's soft and rather pointless. Does anyone know what the question was Neil answers?

Yeah, Aziraphale changes a lot in S1 (esp first 2 eps, he's kind of forced to think about the stuff that was always kinda there but swept under a rug a bit in is mind). Crowley throws out - we should do something. This whole Armageddon thing, I don't like it. He is so much a questioner of everything, isn't he. Why does it have to be tis way. Makes no sense, what if... And generally, he doesn't have much to lose. If Hell wins, well, he knows what it's like. If Heaven wins, well, it'd be marginally better? Just about? If he survives to see it? Still sucks balls tho. So yes, David is right that Crowley NEEDS Aziraphale to see things his way and quickly. Cos EARTH.

Aziraphale knows the Earth came with a manual and an expiry date. He even told this to Angel!Crowley aeons ago.

So Aziraphale's journey (is not stopping believing Heaven is good and truth and light) is believing that he has choices. That the Plan might be Ineffable but it doesn't have to follow what he was told it must follow.

Crowley says, look, let's try, what do we have to lose. You like Earth as much as I do. And he gets Aziraphale to agree, they hatch a plan.

We watch Crowley come to love and trust Aziraphale through the ages after all he has been through. We watch Aziraphale to guard their little existence and carefully push at boundaries of what he thinks he can get away with. He wonders at what things are really like. What do they mean.

Their journey, is towards each other.

I don't know how they will smash the System before they fall into a tight embrace and never let go, but I know they will. Even if they have no idea yet that that is even possible. How could they.

And if I see one more post about how Aziraphale was backsliding and choosing his ‘faith’ over Crowley in the Final 15, I will set the internet on fire.

I can never decide if Heaven and Hell are more like mafia or like a dictatorship. Maybe a mix of both. Just cos they couldn't be killed, they were left alone for a bit. Didn't last long though, did it. They needed to be separated so they don't stop another go at destroying the little Universe project God started. I guess the Archangels are quite fed up with it.

Remember. Aziraphale and Crowley have nowhere to go. They never had. The best they could do was keep their little places on Earth. For themselves. For each other. Until they couldn't.

If you thought Aziraphale won't take the chance to have a tiny glimmer of an opportunity to destroy the fucking system in whatever way he can come up with (instead of what, being downmoted, having his memory erased too?), than you don't get him at all. Did he want to stay? You heard him say it. Was he allowed to? (No, really Metatron, nice chat but do fuck off for real now, I have a date with my demon). If you think Metatron wouldn't be back with a punishment for helping Gabriel than I don't know what to tell you.

Remember this?

And then they threatened the demon he loves.

ALSO Why do people keep bringing this back to justify their vague (or not so vague) dislike of Az (but but Neil said "I think Aziraphale needs to learn") cos they think Az betrayed Crowley by leaving or something. The angel is just so stubborn. And he just won't listen to Crowley... right? /s And they ignore all the other wonderful things Neil says about Aziraphale. Especially pointing out again and again and again how smart Aziraphale is. And you can see this. In canon. On screen. In the words and scenes of what Neil wrote. You can see Aziraphale's struggles - he is a part of something he disagrees with and has no way out (Hell is not a way out btw) and tries to live in his existence in the little bubble with Crowley while being extremely careful not to have it burst. Until it inevitably does. Just as he always knew it would. But okay, if you want to have Good Omens be about a demon who figured everything out and is now waiting for his fluffy little angel to catch up and apologise to him (a million times) for being stupid so they can finally ride into the sunset, have at it. TL;DR - Heaven is good and Heaven should/could be good are two different things - Aziraphale is not an idiot; whether he still believes God is good/neutral/whatever and just the management bad or not is up in the air, we can't know unless we ask him, but it's definitely not so simple as he needs to see it's bad, like Crowley did, end of story - The Ineffables HAVE NOWHERE TO GO. There isn't a secret third option where they can leave for and be happy if only Aziraphale opened his eyes - it's what the story is about - Crowley left Heaven for an even worse place. It would make zero sense for Aziraphale to follow his journey. Crowley is not free and doesn't have all the answers - I bet it has never occurred to either of them the whole System can be ever changed (we don't even know if it can be. The System is bigger than the UNIVERSE) - But I think that's what they'll do in S3

[communistkenobi]

Hi! I really enjoyed your Andor takes when it was airing, and w/the release announcement, wanted to ask what you want most out of S2 other than a secret good third season of the Mandalorian (/joking)

honestly I just want it to be good 😭 I know that’s so vague but I think the ultimate strength of Andor is that it uses Star Wars as a setting to tell a story, it’s not just regurgitating Star Wars at you. And because of that we get really good worldbuilding - we see the centralisation and ballooning of imperial bureaucracy as the Empire more solidly takes hold of the Republic’s infrastructure, we see how rebel cells are formed and the operations they carry out and the conditions of their success, we see the actual political & manpower problems the Empire has that will eventually lead to its collapse, etc. I hope we just get more of that, I hope there’s no horseshit cameos or tie-ins that have been ruining all the other Star Wars shows. I just want this shit to be good 😭 just give us this one show PLEASEEEEE 🙏🙏🙏

[lullabyes22-blog]

my supreme, what is your opinion on the first three episodes of arcane season 2?

hhfdgffd

<3

The only supreme is Fortiche - and a huge round of applause to them for the animation in S2. Every frame is like lickable visual cake icing and my eyeballs scream for more.

Also in keeping with food metaphors -

First 3 eps are good soup. Tasty soup. Well-presented soup.

However.

There are clumps in this soup that were absent in S1. The flow is not as seamless. Transitions feel jarring and the dialogue overall feels distinctly more flavorless. First time I watched S1, there were entire lines of dialogue I ended up memorizing, and that dialogue continues to pack a well-deserved punch 3 years later.

This time around, the scripts feel distinctly more... Marvel-esque?

High on quip calorie, low on substantive content.

I highly suspect there was a great deal of executive meddling behind the scenes, given corporate were not expecting Arcane to crunch the numbers it did + the scripts being incomplete. That, and the storyline kept getting passed between different writing departments, with different chefs trying to spice the broth. All of this might account for the relative lack of cohesion and its weird sense of hypercompression

I don't know if it'll improve or get worse. We're only at 3 eps, and the rest of the story's still waiting to be told, so I reserve any real criticism until then.

But overall, yeah.

It's still gourmet soup, but I feel as if the soup's been zapped in a microwave, ykwim?

Beyond that, the series is still a treat. Truly sumptuous soundtrack, and inspiring cinematography. The fight scenes legit made me catch my breath. You can feel the love poured into every frame.

Fuhrer Caitlyn gassing Zaun was not on my Bingo card, tho.

Nor was Jesus Viktor.

I am A-OK with the Arcane eating Heimerdinger. But gimme back Jayce and Ekko, pls. They got character arcs (and ship breakups) to suffer through </3

I also do not think the writers of the show were expecting world affairs to pivot quite the way they have - /gestures vaguely at RL - because leaving aside character motivations in a self-contained fictional setting, the critical literary lens and interpretive optics between Zaun and Piltover overall are gonna lead to some, hehehe, interesting fandom discourse.

On my part, I can't wait to see every single one of these beloved characters spiral to the depths, hit rock bottom, and hopefully climb back out as wiser human beings.

I also expect some of 'em to die.

:')

Overall: 8/10. Very yummy indeed.

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 3rd: School | Bad Reputation - Joan Jett and The Blackhearts | Combative

cw: pre-steddie (vaguely set s2), weed, migraines, un-betaed because I'm challenging myself to write these in under an hour read on ao3 | link to series on ao3

It’s 1985 and the boys bathroom smells like weed.

Interestingly, the boys bathroom smells like weed before Eddie ditches his last period to smoke in the little cement block room, window cracked and far less obvious than whoever’s in there ahead of him.

Probably a Freshman who doesn’t know any better, or some first-timer who hasn’t learned the ropes yet, he thinks to himself. 

What he doesn’t expect to find when he pushes the heavy wooden door open is recently dethroned King Steve, sitting on the disgusting tile floor smoking a poorly rolled joint in the corner of the bathroom. Wedged between the sink and the wall, he looks… small, sad, lost, even. If Eddie didn’t know any better, he’d recruit him for Hellfire. He certainly looks the part of lost sheep. 

Steve startles when the door opens and, in what may be the only time in Eddie’s many years at Hawkins High, relaxes when he sees Eddie. Steve’s eyes widen and then look away, back down at his hands. His shoulders clench and drop. His entire body seems to move to defend itself before retreating back into whatever stupor he’s smoking himself into. 

Eddie has no idea what the fuck is happening that Steve Harrington doesn’t take him as a threat after his years of proving himself to be just that. Nor can he imagine what the fuck Steve’s experienced that’s caused it. Seconds pass and Eddie just stands there, door closed behind him, unsure of what to do. Hotboxing the bathroom with Steve hadn’t been his plan, but he’s been desperate for just a few drags off the joint sitting heavy in his pocket all day. 

“You uh, you know that window opens, right?” Eddie asks, gesturing toward the window with his chin. 

Steve doesn’t look up. “Sure do.” 

“Got it. Cool. Okay, uh—” Eddie sputters. He’s had very few interactions with Steve, each one civil enough to leave no bad blood besides the company Steve keeps. Or, well, kept. But none have been long enough for Eddie to get a handle on Steve, not in the way he usually can.

Steve sighs and begins to stand. “I’ll get outta your way, man.” 

Something in the way he moves, the way he grips the sink edge tight and rocks once to gain momentum before Eddie stops him, reminds Eddie of Wayne. Veteran Wayne, who works a harsh manual job and is no less than 25 years their senior. That can’t be normal, he thinks. 

“Hey no, I’m uh, actually here for the same reason. Mind if I just,” Eddie trails off as he locks the door and wiggles his joint around, holding it between his pointer and middle finger. “I’ll crack the window so we don’t get busted.” 

“Yeah, I don’t care, but leave the window closed. It’s too fucking loud.” Steve shrugs and Eddie stops mid-stride. 

Eddie looks back down at the spot Steve has settled back into, his head carefully resting against the painted cinder block wall with closed eyes. It’s easier to watch him like this, long eyelashes spidering across his cheeks and brows furrowing. A tiny line appears between them, vertical, and Eddie holds himself back from smoothing it out. 

“Alright, just know we’re probably gonna get caught.” Eddie compromises as he sits on a toilet, the stall door open, and lights up. 

The flick of his lighter brings him a moment’s comfort, followed by the familiar warmth curling into his lungs. His throat burns and he coughs once, then twice, before exhaling. Little puffs of smoke leave his lips in one long, continuous breath. Immediately, the frustration of his meeting with the guidance counselor, the anger at his English teacher for failing him when he was fucking trying, the shame and disappointment of having to go home and tell Wayne he’s being left back– again– vanish. He knows it’s temporary, that it’ll all come rushing back to him in an hour or two, but for now, his brain is quiet. 

For now, the bathroom is silent. Long moments pass in surprisingly comforting stillness, just Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington in the strangest show of camaraderie imaginable. 

Eventually though, Eddie’s lips loosen.  

“Why are you in here anyways? Shouldn’t you be like… I don’t know,” Eddie starts, miming the act of dribbling a basketball. “Doing some sport thing?”

“I do more than play sports, Munson.” Steve’s eyes roll and he shakes his head, grimacing at the movement. Eddie can’t quite put it together, what that reaction means. 

“Huh. Coulda fooled me. And probably like, the rest of the school’s population. The rest of your Kingdom,” Eddie teases, gesturing widely with both arms. 

“There’s no Kingdon, you ass. Much as you pretend to stay outta the gossip, I know you know what happened. And I’m glad it did, so drop it, okay?”

Steve has a bite to him, an attitude that Eddie admires and can’t help push a bit further. 

“So you fall from grace and now you sit on grungy bathroom floors to smoke? Alone? That’s sorta my thing, just say–”

Eddie’s words get drowned out when Steve interrupts. “I’m down here smoking, alone, because I have a fucking migraine. If I have to see one more fluorescent light or hear one more high-pitched screech in the hallway, my brain is going to leak out of my goddamn ears.” 

Even stoned, Eddie puts it together all at once. The closed window. The cool tiles. The struggle to get up. He doesn’t know the full story, but he remembers Steve walking around with his face beaten in and the rumors that it’d been Billy’s doing during a fight, and the time before that, when Jonathan had gotten a few good shots in. Damn his bleeding heart, but Steve suddenly feels more like a lost sheep than he could’ve imagined.

Someone Eddie feels the urge to protect. 

Eddie stands carefully, all too aware of the sound of his own footsteps as he finds the hidden switch to turn the lights off. There’s still a tiny bit of light filtering in from beneath the door and through the window, but it’s darker. Safer. 

“I can be quiet.” 

Steve looks up at him, brows drawn tight in confusion, and Eddie’s chest aches. How infrequently does someone care for Steve?

“I’ve been in classes with you. I’m not so sure you can,” Steve retorts, a little less sarcastic now. Eddie makes a show of sitting back down on the toilet and mimicking zipping his lips and throwing away a key. It gets an actual laugh from Steve, and goddamn him, Eddie loves the sound of that. 

Eddie watches as Steve’s eyes close again, this time with a relaxed forehead, and stares at him while they  finish their joints. Alone, together. Maybe they could actually be friends, Eddie and Steve. Steve and Eddie. There’s a ring to it that Eddie hates because of how good it sounds. 

He’s drawn out of his thoughts by a rattling at the door and subsequent pounding. Steve’s eyes open and dart between Eddie and the door. “Fuck,” he whispers. 

Fuck is right, Eddie thinks. If he wasn’t already getting held back again, he would be now for what he’s about to do.

He crouches over next to Steve and takes what’s left of his joint from his fingers. “Do you have anything else on you?” 

Steve shakes his head No and opens his mouth, only for Eddie to press a finger against his lips. “Get in the stall and flush the toilet when I open the door.” 

“What–”

“Get in the stall,” Eddie whispers harshly, helping Steve to stand and all but shoving him in the stall he’d been in previously. 

“Dude, they’re gonna know I’m here, it’s fine,” Steve resigns. 

“Not if you have nothing on you, just say you had to take a piss and I was already in here. I’ve got a reputation, you don’t. Who are they gonna believe? Besides, I’m not graduating and you are. Consider it a graduation gift.” 

Before he can open the bathroom door, before he takes the fall as planned because of course, the principal believes the story they’d concocted, Eddie feels Steve place a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Thanks.“

As he’s dragged to the Principal's office and suspended, an all too familiar setting, he hopes it’s not the last time he gets to smoke with Steve Harrington.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

thoughts on mammon and levi as a duo

Absolutely fucking love them!!

I feel like they're the closest in age (other than the twins obviously) like if they were humans the age gap would be just one year.

Love that Levi's one of the brothers who truly sees Mammon and understands him even though they're always fighting - he's the one who says Mammon is a "jerk with a heart of gold", he's the one who agrees when MC says Mammon has always been kind, he's the one who says that Mammon is social/good with people/makes friends with people easily and cares about those people

Love that no matter how much in debt Mammon gets with Levi, Levi still gives him money

Love that Mammon goes and stays in line and gets things for Levi when Levi's too anxious to go

Love that Mammon actually has a vague idea about all the things Levi is interested in and knows what new things he's looking out for

Love that we've seen Levi go to Mammon multiple times when he needs reassurance

Love that Mammon's the one to remind Levi to buy two of an item so that he can open one box and keep the other closed

Love that Mammon wanted to buy a similar figurine for Levi because he thought Levi lost the raffle draw

Love that they have a similar stupid sense of humour and made a stupid comedy duo

Love how Mammon gathers everyone to set up a gaming night after he finds out that Levi was upset because he needed irl friends to play a new game

Love that in Nightbringer the thing that makes Mammon start trusting MC and bringing them into his schemes is that he saw them being nice to Levi

Love when they're fighting and Levi tries to straight up drown Mammon but later when MC tells him that they shouldn't fight he's like "?????we weren't fighting?????" that shit was the most sibling thing ever, I've had that exact same conversation with my mother after she had to stop my brother and I from killing each other

Love that in s2 and nightbringer out of everyone's relationships with MC, we see that Levi's most jealous of Mammon & MC's

Mammon cares about Levi so much, that's his little brother and he would do anything for him but each time he sees him he's also immediately overtaken by the Cain Instinct

Levi looks up to Mammon so much (though he'd rather die than admit it) and he trusts Mammon to support him with anything he needs but he also prays for Mammon's disappearance under mysterious circumstances everyday

I also have this headcanon that Lucifer met Levi through Mammon. That one day Mammon dragged home this painfully shy angel he found skipping practice/lessons while he was skipping practice/lessons. And at first the angel absolutely refused to even acknowledge Mammon, curling up into a tighter ball as if not seeing him would make Mammon disappear but then somehow Mammon managed to annoy him enough that he started snapping back and actually turns out he's hilarious and fiery and mean when he's not stuck in his own head. And Mammon is delighted. He's never had this much fun with anyone so close to his age before. And after finding out that unlike the other angels their age this one hasn't been issued a guardian/mentor yet he (literally) drags him back to Lucifer and is like "can we keep him!!?" And Levi is mortified because holy shit that's Lucifer, who never leaves the palace, who never hangs about with angels this far down the hierarchy, who might as well be the heir to the entire Celestial Realm. And Mammon's hopping up and down on his toes and is hanging on to Lucifer's sleeve and is like "please please please can we keep him". And Levi's shaking and on the verge of crying and this is terrifying and horrible and even worse than that time where he was the only angel in his batch that none of the other older angels picked to mentor and oh he's going to die on the spot. And Lucifer's mother bear instincts just immediately flare up because yes this is his child now

[stephanythedramaqueen]

Hi! I love your Osha and Qimir posts sm! I am obsessed with them and really hope the show gets a S2. 😭

Sorry if this dumb a question, but why is Qimir so desperate for a pupil? I’m rewatching the season and the way he says that line to Sol just sounds so angry and frustrated.

Is it just because he’s lonely or because he’s following darth plagueis orders?

Hi! I’m obsessed with oshamir too, dw. The brainrot set in deep!

Okay so the simple answer here is that Qimir wants the Power of Two. And he was angry in that scene not bc he was super frustrated about not having one, but more likely bc he invested all that time and energy training Mae, which might have been years for all we know, and she ended up betraying him and thus ending her apprenticeship under him. That’s years and time and energy wasted. I would be angry too.

Going into depth about this, in Sith theology the Rule of Two is one who holds the power and one who craves it. A master and a pupil. A teacher and student. A paragon and acolyte. It’s a very power grabbing impersonal dysfunctional power dynamic.

However, I find it very important that the wording here in the show should be taken into account. Qimir doesn’t want the Rule of Two, which is what the Sith crave. What Qimir wants is the Power of Two. And the way the Power of Two is described in this show in particular sounds more like a Force Dyad, before this term was invented. The Rule of Two has always been about power imbalance. The master who holds all the power and the pupil who wants it. But the way the season ended between Osha and Qimir is that they’re equals. As per Leslye Headland’s own account:

Mind you, the Rule of Two never affords any equality whatsoever.

The witch coven describes the Power of One, the Power of Two, the Power of Many, a connection between each other through the Thread (aka The Force) which makes them stronger too. Now it’s interesting that the Jedi would call their power of the dark side. The same way Qimir is. But not all Darksiders are Sith, the way he never technically identifies as a Sith. The way its described, this unique bond through the Force/Thread is more aligned with a Force Dyad. And if we’ve seen anything what Rey and Ben over there has shown in the movies, it’s a strength and bond capable of great feats. And that is what Qimir wants. The strength, the power, the capability of greatness with another through the Force, so he could have the freedom to exercise his Force the way he wants without restriction from the Jedi or the Sith. And in order to get that, he would’ve needed someone who knows his craft and has the strength in the Force the way he does; someone who needs to learn this.

Now is Qimir lonely and suffering? Yes. Does he recognize this pain and despair in Osha? Yes. Is he eager in his connection for someone to understand him the way he understands her, like no one else ever would? Also yes. Did Darth Plaguis sent him to do it? Unclear. Unlike what the internet has been spreading as per yesterday, it is not confirmed that Plaguis is Qimir’s master. Leslye Headland, the showrunner, has been vague about Plaguis role in this. In one interview she seems to imply Qimir doesn’t know Plaguis is there at all and Plaguis is just spying on them. In another, there’s a hint that there’s more going on between Plaguis and Qimir.

Either way, that’s an answer that can only be answered in season 2. Leslye isn’t so foolish as to spoil that.