#so what is it with eddie... why does she feel so strongly about him in such a negative way...

[fallenandinlovewithhumanity]

Watched 9-1-1 for the first time (and caught up) Here are some unsolicited and unfiltered opinions about our fave gay firefighter show.

Bobby Nash: Must be protected at all costs. Traumatized dad doing his gosh darn best. So happy he is loved by the 118 and that he seems to be accepting that more now.

Athena Grant: There's a post out here somewhere about how people named after gods/goddess embody that deity. And Athena? Yeah she does exactly that. That woman deserves so much respect for the badass she is.

Howie "Chimney" Han: Silly goofy man who needs a hug and appreciation. His storyline with Kevin and every parallel to Albert made my heart hurt.

Evan "Buck" Buckley: Sweet baby boy, the firefighter Dean Winchester of another universe. I LOVE THIS MAN. Seeing him smile on screen is so infectiously amazing and I want to send a strongly worded letter to all the writers who are clearly trying to make sure I stay in the "fix-it" tag of Ao3. He is by far my comfort character in the show and someone needs to tell that man that he is loved.

Eddie Diaz: If I had to describe my type in two words it would be "Eddie Diaz." Holy fucking shit. (<- written by Buck.) But seriously, I've seen some stuff about how he's not the "best" latino representation because he does not have any specific cultural storylines ( I would love to see celebrations or other cultural things too, maybe for 8B and onward) but I for one feel represented plenty by his complicated relationship with expectations coming from his parents, partners (former or otherwise,) and himself.

Hen Wilson: GIVE THIS WOMAN A BREAK. I love her and it seems like she is always hurting when it comes to her family. Please give my queen a goddamn break. Some domestic bliss would do her kindly.

Maddie Buckley Han: When I say that I would die for her to be safe and happy, I mean it. The Buckley siblings have dealt with so much but Maddie, her storylines not only hit something compelling and dramatic but they are also too fucking real.

Christopher Diaz: I love him. Amazing. A fucking king. No Notes. Please come back to your dad(s).

Carla Price: LOVE THIS LOVELY HUMAN.

The Grant-Nash Fam: Harry and May are interesting characters and I really do love seeing them on screen, I understand why we see less of them though. Michael and David were lovely as well.

The Wilsons: Imma repeat what I said earlier, give them an episode where the biggest thing to happen is juice boxes getting left behind. They need a break. And give Karen more damn screen time that isn't just crying and fighting with Hen.

Josh Russo: the pre-Glee/ post Glee explanation was gold.

Captain Vincent Gerrard: Grumpy old man that needed a cozy job. Loved his "taking you under my wing" moment with Buck.

The Bigger Love Interests (Eddie):

Ana: I really liked her character, but saw how much anxiety was embedded into that relationship. She was never sure of her place and he was never sure he was ready.

Marisol: This felt weirdly rushed and like it happened mostly off screen. The nun thing was... catholic guilt intro I guess??

Shannon: Oof. The drama, the need for closure. I enjoyed having her on screen and I cried when she passed.

The Bigger Love Interests (Buck):

Abby: He was much more invested in the relationship and I think part of it was the circumstances but the way she left him was so damaging to his psyche. Not a fan.

Ali and Natalia: They did not leave a lasting impression on me. Though Natalia being interested in Buck because he died did raise some red flags.

Taylor: Listen... I love her fierce independence so much. But she did Buck so dirty. Trust issues and abandonment issues for Buck coming right back up.

Tommy: Narratively speaking, I tried to understand why he happened but I don't. His confusion at the beginning of the relationship just made me think that he just went along with what Buck thought he wanted. As a character, that man felt a bit one dimensional, and when he showed an ounce of personality it was always an interaction with Buck that made him feel lesser than. I feel blessed that man is off my screen.

The Writing/ The Plot:

At this point I am watching for the two idiots sharing a brain cell. But.. the disasters and plots are out of left field and really interesting. It takes a lot for a procedural type show to not fall into formulaic/ average 911 calls and I feel like at least one writer has a subreddit or something pinned to get ideas. I am far too invested in the 118 to leave now.

What do I ship at this point?

Buck and Eddie.

Athena and Bobby.

Maddie and Chim.

Hen and Karen.

Would I recommend this show?

Abso-fucking-lutely... if you enjoy some pain, I swear all these characters go through so much and the tissue boxes are not enough.

Thanks 9-1-1 for bringing me back to Tumblr.

And if anyone has headcanons, I would love to hear them!

[animalpetcel]

Okay after a few hours to sit on it

Okay I read Gretchen Felker-Martin's Beast World story and it was like...fine lol. Honestly probably the only way to interpret Jason's character in a way that still gives it bite without running into the problem that DC will never let him permanently kill anyone who matters. Idk why some feel so strongly about disliking it?

It, and the fact that Felker-Martin cut her teeth in regular book does make me more optimistic tho. Not like..a whole lot optimistic bc there's a lot of writers who I think are amazing who's Jason stories...are not their finest work...but like having an ongoing heavily featuring Jason that isn't from Lobdell will be so nice for once, so I'm holding out hope for at least that.

I also know that some said that Jason/Helena might be solicit bait but I really feel like given how kinda desperate DC is about Jason being the only "Forever Single" batboy, and that they're probably reluctant to have another robin be LGBT+, that they could be trying to cook something quick. They probably don't want to do previous relationships (so Artemis and Rose are out), viewing them as "failed", but I also feel bad for the Helena fans (esp if this goes poorly), and I dislike that like the worst Nightwing fans are (like with Kory, Roy, Rose, Kyle, Donna, Eddie, Danny....all of them are better associated with a different batboy so it's best to keep it that way) obviously going to use it as a continued permanent mark against him (when really I feel like it would be better to just try to isolate yourself from something like this. Like when I tried to read Nightwing's pre-New52/Rebirth comics and didn't like how he treated his friends, I just stopped reading them and choose to live in blissful ignorance). I know some would go "Oh what about Rena/Isabel" and like....Rena is a deep cut that you would basically have to remake her from scratch (in a climate where civilians support systems and non-previously established civilian love interest are getting phased out/harder to implement in a way that doesn't see them erased) esp given that she wouldn't have seen Jason from since they were kids, and Isabel is tainted by Lobdell. I would prefer Strike/Dana Harlowe but now we're asking comic fans & writers to find a black woman to be both a suitable love interest and character long enough that it becomes cemented and that would be an uphill battle... There could also be a new new women but that still runs into the Rena's problems.

So basically we need good-longterm writing before we fix any of the stuff I just said about the possibility of Jason and love. Which I've been saying for years but alas no one thinks about the logistics of anything they ask for anymore....

I feel like some of the negative, knee-jerk reaction a lot of Batfam stans is that things have gotten so...bad when it comes to Jason...in the terms of a lack of direction (making people more split on what should happen to him) that his current stories just make everyone argue at the slightest hint of failure . And that's before the stories that are just flat out bad (Why does Hush 2 exist? A lesser seen character could have gotten a mini instead of creating a terrible sequel for a terrible storyline about a terrible villain)

Anyways I'm done rambling for now. I have realized that it might take longer then September for us to get a feel on whether his new ongoing might bring new life and a clear, not immediately ignored direction that he's been needing since UTRH, as well as tell us if our worried about Helena are unfounded or not....and September is already so far away.

Fun.

[saveahorserideaneddie]

Unpopular opinions(?):

I don't like the dialogue in the kitchen scene. I love to watch the scene but on mute. The same with gifs. Especially the insinuation that Buck deserved to be hit, no matter how in jest it might have been said. Every time I see/hear it, I want to kick Eddie in the shins and whack him over the head with a newspaper.

I still don't think that Buck's primary emotion in 2x01 was attraction and that was what made him act like he did. Sure, he probably clocked Eddie as hot. But the fear of being replaced and losing his family was to me the main driving force.

I also didn't particularly liked Eddie for about the first 30 minutes of the episode. I was annoyed by his introduction. I think it was a clever writing choice, to introduce him as this perfection personified, to then slowly peel off the layers to the repressed mess he really was/is. But I was still not impressed.

I'm really not fond of cop!Athena and the way she acts as though she is in a remake of Dirty Harry. And we as the audience are somehow expected to root for her? I love her being a detective. But I can't recall a single cop related storyline that I enjoyed.

That's enough for now, I think.

(i love the lists that i’m getting!!!!)

1) i agree, that specific part of the interaction was a little bit too strong on the whole ‘buck thinks he deserves to be punished for what he did’ because, even though i know eddie was just joking back, in that moment i think buck actually believed he deserved to be physically harmed for what he did and eddie could have turned it into a bit more of a meaningful moment than just joking about it but i do think in terms of where their relationship was at that point, it would’ve felt a little less natural to have this bug dramatic special moment so i can understand why they made it joke-y, but i agree i still don’t like the implication that buck believes he deserves to be punched for standing up for himself (albeit in probably the worst possible way)

2) i don’t think it was his primary emotion either, but i do think there was subtext there that possibly confused buck because he had never felt that strongly about someone before (whether good or bad) and it messed with his little closeted bisexual brain and that just kinda drove him further into the whole fear of abandonment thing because he didn’t know what to do with those Weird Feelings™️ he was feeling for the first time

3) i fear i’ve loved eddie diaz from the moment he appeared on my screen and just kept falling in love with him more and more as the show went on, but i respect your opinion- i can see how he comes off as a little arrogant at first, but i do think that genuinely was only bc he could tell buck’s feathers were ruffled and he’s a playful guy anyway so he was just pushing some buttons that he didn’t fully realize the reasons why the buttons were there in the first place (if that makes sense)

i mentioned this in a another response to an ask, but when s2 was premiering live, i genuinely thought eddie was gay from the moment they introduced him and that he was actually genuinely just being flirty either buck because he could tell he made buck flustered, but then shannon showed up later in the season and…… well 💀

4) AGREED

i already talked about my feelings on cop athena in another response, where like- i understand why she acts the way she does sometimes because she’s a cop, but i also just hate cops so it’s very difficult to be an athena fan out here sometimes lmao… i genuinely wish that tim would make the decision to shift her into an actual detective position (since at this point she basically is one like damn) because that element would be so much more interesting to watch than the same copaganda storyline she gets every few episodes 😭

[oneforthemunny]

okay SO. i know i don't even go here, i'm a janitor!eddie girlie BUT i feel very strongly about hockey!eddie because he's insane but also so dumb and i love dumbasses. anyways. i was reading what you said about him being grossed out by his teammates when they cheat and i had this idea so i wanna share it with you

imagine, if you will, that reader becomes really good friends with another hockey wife. young couple, maybe they recently had a baby and reader is obsessed, eddie is obsessed because omg my girl with a baby why is this awakening something in me, it's all very cute. double dates type of shit, maybe this is the first time reader has felt included in the wives and girlfriends club! and then eddie's teammate cheats on his wife and reader finds out. she's DEVASTATED because that's her friend!!!! that's her adopted nephew/niece!!! why would that asshole do that??? so ofc she goes and tells eddie and eddie is LIVID. next day at the locker room eddie breaks his nose or something lmao

god this is so sick and so good because i feel it. like i can see it so vividly.

she finally gets into the group, feels apart of it, and is enjoying herself. plus, she's with this other wife, who seemingly has made it work ya know? husband still plays and she's with him, but also has a balance to her life and schedule, and a baby??? it's like everything reader has wanted, and she's seeing someone have it, and it gives her hope. like all these fears, they're silly bc this can work!

eddie's close with the teammate, but not the most close, bc they're on opposite sides (defense and offense) so they don't really practice and play as much. but still, he likes him, thinks he's a cool guy.

they all get super close, especially during off season, and hang out all the time. guys got a wife, a career, a baby? he's older, been traded before and kinda takes eddie under his wing. truly, they're very very fast friends.

then they go out one night. maybe they had a press thing to do, or a team meeting, decide to go for a beer after it.

eddie's thinking nothing of it, they're sitting at some bar or club or whatever, and next thing he knows, there's two girls?? the guy had called them?? he kisses the one girl in greeting and eddie is immediately sick to his stomach. floored, shocked, disgusted, hurt- all of the above.

he leaves, right there. no warning, nothing, just leaves. is visibly shaken when he tells you later, rambling, eyes wide, just perplexed.

i feel like he wouldn't jump right into beating him. you both talk and are like "no way, there's no way, right?" maybe they're in an open relationship? maybe they swing? maybe they're freaky like that?

so eddie tries to talk to him the next day about it. "i know you'd never do that, man. i'm sorry. i just, i kinda freaked."

but his teammate doesn't reassure him. doesn't tell him that his wife knows. he kinda gets quiet. "i mean, no, she doesn't know, but she really doesn't need to. now does she?" he kinda shrugs. "i mean, we just had a baby, and ya know, she's so tired all the time. it'd be shitty of me to ask her."

eddie is, once again, sick. jaw dropped, he can't even speak, he's so fucking sick. "plus the road gets lonely. you know what i mean." the teammate continues. "look, i love my wife. i don't think there's anything wrong with getting a little something every now and then. it's purely physical. i wear a rubber, get what i need, and come home and keep them happy. i mean, what's the point of causing issues in my own marriage, when i could do this? take care of it."

"you don't think fucking around on your wife is causing issues in your own marriage?" eddie sneers.

"no." he scoffs. "not unless she finds out. what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?" he shakes his head, shrugs it off nonchalantly. "look, kid, i get it. you're in love right now with your girl. it's all about her and nothings better, and that's great. for now. then you'll want a little more, and, hey, there's nothing wrong with that. it's biologically encoded in our dna as mammals to need more than one mate. monogamy, it's barbaric. and you'll understand. one day... you know, shit won't look the same, feel the same, and you'll-"

that's when eddie breaks his teeth. knocks him clear out, his coaches and team mates running to break it up, confused why there's a fight on the sidelines? no regrets from eddie. he got fined, had to run suicides until he threw up, but it was worth it. knocking that piece of shit out, totally worth it.

[sevensoulmates]

@buddiesystempod Just discovered your podcast the other day and finished listening to your Buddie astrology episode a minute ago and loved it! You definitely convinced me of each of their placements. I originally had a couple different placements, but the only definitive thought I had was that Buck had to have Cancer somewhere in his big 3 and Eddie needed to have Scorpio somewhere in his big 3.

I wanted to add something about specifically Eddie's Moon in Scorpio because after listening to y'all talk I think you hit the nail on the head!

Something that hit me as y'all were talking about Eddie's Scorpio Moon, that you didn't touch on, is that the Moon represents the Mother, right? Your moon placement can often reflect your relationship with your mom, and in this case, I think it's also reflecting on Eddie's relationship to "mothers" in general, and my mind just went haywire!

Because Scorpio also represents sexuality, right? And Scorpio being ruled by Pluto, which represents shadow sides, & Mars, which can symbolize struggle, means that Eddie's Scorpio placements likely strongly correlate to his issues with sexuality as well as WITH MOTHERS. Specifically, The Mother is the main tool that Eddie uses to repress his true sexuality/desires.

I'm gonna start with Helena. She's his literal mother and, I would argue, more than Ramon, has harmed Eddie the most emotionally growing up. She was the present parent; she was the one who made him feel like he wasn't enough, and nothing he could ever do would ever be enough. She continued to shame him as he grew into an adult, specifically about how he PARENTED, and she canonically made Shannon feel like a horrible mother as well. Eddie's Scorpio Moon likely correlates to strong conflict with the mother, specifically in regards to repressing his true self, likely in relation to sexuality, and the heterosexual biological consequence of sex, procreation aka Chris. Her extreme shaming of him over getting Shannon pregnant (which probably caused massive shame in him around Sex in general) and then again trying to remove Eddie from the role of parent to place herself there is a recurring issue since Chris was born.

Now I want to move on to Shannon, and how she has always represented the Ultimate Mother Figure to Eddie. She's a martyr in his mind, and when Shannon comes back, he has a hard time figuring out if he wants Shannon back due to the fact that he wants her to be Chris's mother, or because he wants her as a woman and wife. It's only once Shannon is about to become a mother again does Eddie decide he will stamp down on his feelings and go back to her. Then after she dies, Eddie struggles with dating again. He doesn't actually want to date, never has, and only got back into it because he was convinced that Christopher needed a mother. So he looked for a mother to Chris in Ana, and when that didn't work, he looked for a mother in Marisol, and when that still didn't work, his last ditch effort was to find the literal doppelganger of his Ultimate Mother Figure Shannon in Kim. And when finally it all blew back up in his face, what happens? Helena swoops in at Eddie's most vulnerable and removes Eddie from the role of parent, this time successfully.

Now I want to talk about Ana. He was always subconsciously looking for a mother figure for Chris in her. That's why when she was perceived as Eddie's Wife in public, which is something his true self was not actually okay with, he had his panic attacks and ultimately could not continue that relationship.

And with Marisol, we see her as a former Nun, once again connecting her to the LITERAL HOLY MOTHER. Eddie then suffers literal sexual dysfunction after that. He can't look at Marisol without thinking of Mothers and to Eddie, Mothers = Shame/Sexual Shame. Shame from Helena, Shame from the way he "dragged" Shannon down by getting her pregnant and then "abandoning" her for the military, Shame for the way he wasn't able to love Shannon the way she deserved to be loved, Shame for using Ana, Shame for not being able to want any of these women the way he's been told he's supposed to want them!

Eddie also uses sex with women as a distancing tactic. He has sex with Shannon in s2 to avoid the real problem of bringing her back into Chris's life, he was dating Marisol for months, having a lot of sex with her, but never actually got to know anything about her in all of that time. And when he sees Kim again he's reminded of sex with Shannon because he deludes himself into thinking the reason he's having sexual issues with women is because they're not Shannon.

Scorpio also represents death and rebirth, right? And pluto, the shadow side, the shadow of Eddie's sexuality that he's been repressing this whole time. This new cycle of rebirth is forcing him to unveil why he's had such strong issues in relation to Mothers, and his struggles with his sexual feelings towards women.

I strongly believe his next arc HAS to involve a confrontation with Helena, specifically, in some way, as well as him finally putting to rest his rose-colored idolization of Shannon. It's only once he's able to recognize that his role as Father does not have to be separate from his role as Mother too. Eddie can be both Father & Mother to Chris, because obviously Chris does not want a replacement for his mom, understandably.

And of course, Scoprio also has a strong correlation to the "taboo" in sexuality as well. In Eddie's mind, he may find homosexuality to still be personally "taboo" (in an internalized homophobia sense like "everyone else is fine to be as queer as they want, but *I* cannot be). This also connects back to the Church as well as his community which may have instilled that in him.

Oh, I also forgot that if he was born in 1991, then his Pluto is likely also in Scorpio, which also points to issues with sexuality as well!

All in all, this is just a super long way of saying that Eddie needs to un-repress his gay-ness, build his true home with Buck and Chris, and stand strong in his confidence that he is a good parent on his own and that he can be even better by letting Buck support him as well!

[timetobeaghost]

Stranger Things Endgame ships

Jopper 110%

No happy ending without Jopper, not even a bittersweet one. Mom and dad.. Solid as a rock. Forevvva!!

Byler 100%

Might be under Jopper, but still a solid 100%. Iconic, legendary, best thing about the show. Will improve the rewatchability of the show by also 100%! Literally people will gasp when watching S1 after finishing S5. GASP!

Duzie 95%

They gave Dustin the perfect girlfriend. There is no reason to take her away.

Rockie 90%

Obviously happening, as promised in S4. I guess one of them could die, but not likely. Or they could kiss but somehow separate in the end? Very unlikely.

Lumax 85%

I wish they were higher, but I'm not fully convinced she is going to be okay? I really hope they are endgame and I believe so.

Jancy 48%

Could be endgame. I just don't know. It doesn't feel like the resolution of their arc? Jonathan wants to go to that one specific college and be free of his responsibilities, just live for himself for a while and thrive. Nancy feels like another responsibility to him to go to some other college and whatnot... Nancy wants to go to her specific college and pursue a career. What does Jonathan add to her dreams? Both were relieved not to see the other at Spring break even though they love each other, you know? Yeah, sry, I hope they are not endgame. (Better than Jonathan dying tho!!!)

Stancy 10%

I don't think so, as you can tell from the percentage, but I guess they could go crazy to be surprising or something. Please not! Steve deserves real love too and not "I guess you are not as dumb as back in the day and your chest is not bad at all"

Steddie 5%

I'm surprising myself, but I guess the possibility is above 0. No real reason why not. Sure Steve is straight and Eddie is dead, but would you bet a limb on either of those facts? It would be kinda unserious, so I strongly doubt.

Mileven 0%

But I secretly love them and they are canon, so they get a pic. Hope there will be lots of sad Mileven edits for my viewing pleasure post S5! They so cute! Lookatmypookies! Cuuute. And doomed.

[coraniaid]

Do we see anybody that we knew as a human turned into a vampire after The Harsh Light of Day? Do we see how the others react to that?

(I know we see Sandy from Doppelgangland as a vampire later, but that's not what I have in mind: I'm talking about characters that Buffy or the rest of the Scooby Gang actually knew as people.)

I've complained about this before at least a couple of times (although Tumblr's search feature wants me to believe otherwise), but the way the gang react to finding out that Harmony is a vampire in that episode just feels iike such an abrupt tonal shift. And I'm wondering whether it marks a genuine change in how the show deals with newly sired vampires completely, or if it's just the last time the issue ever comes up.

Yes, Buffy's vampire lore isn't particularly well-developed, but prior to this point the show had been pretty consistent. You don't 'become' a vampire, there is no true continuity of self. You die, and a vampire with your memories takes over your corpse. Yes, that vampire's personality is often based on yours -- even if the show isn't explicit about it until Season 3, that's obvious from the first time we see Jesse become a vampire in The Harvest and continue his obsession with Cordelia, and it's the only reason that can explain why Giles keeps telling people that various vampires were hardened killers even "before" becoming vampires, which he does as early as Season 1's Never Kill A Boy On The First Date -- but the show maintains a clear distinction between the vampire's victim and the newly risen vampire. You do not become a vampire. You are not them, however similar they are to you in appearance and behaviour and desires. You are dead.

So we have Giles talking to Xander about Jesse in Season 1's The Harvest:

"Listen to me. Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."

And Buffy talking to Ford in Season 2's Lie To Me about his plan to "become immortal":

"That's not how it works. You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old house, and it walks, and it talks, and it remembers your life, but it's not you."

Even in Season 3's Doppelgangland [which has the gang treating Willow's vampire alter ago very oddly at the end] everyone's reaction to seeing Willow as a vampire is still to be shocked and saddened and speak about Willow in the past tense.

Here's Angel breaking the bad news:

"Something's happened ... Willow's dead."

And earlier, Buffy blaming herself for her friend's death:

"I-it's [my fault]. She must have gone out and gotten attacked [...] And now my best friend is..."

Or Willow when she walks in on them mourning:

"Jeez, who died?"

As late as the Season 4 opener The Freshman we have Buffy's reaction to finding out what happened to her new friend Eddie:

"I was worried that something had happened to you ... and of course it has, 'cause you're a vampire.  I'm sorry."

Not explicitly saying that Eddie's dead, sure, but certainly acknowledging that something bad happened to him (and completely consistent with the take on vampires that goes all the way back to the beginning of Season 1).

Then we get to The Harsh Light Of Day, just a couple of episodes later, and the collective reaction to finding out that Harmony is a vampire -- Harmony, who Buffy's known for years and the others have known for longer, who it's at least strongly implied was killed during the battle against the Mayor in Graduation Day, meaning that unlike Eddie or Theresa or Jesse or whoever else Harmony's death actually is Buffy's fault, at least a little bit -- and how does Buffy react?

She laughs.

"Harmony's a vampire? She must be dying without a reflection."

And I know none of the gang like Harmony -- I know Harmony was very hard to like -- but isn't this just remarkably callous? Harmony isn't "dying" -- she died months ago, helping them all fight against the Mayor's Ascension. She didn't decide to "become" a vampire on some fickle whim. She died saving the world. The Gang could at least pretend to be sad about that for five seconds.

[elkieselkiewrites]

Blorbo Blursday 23/01

I'm just gonna have a ramble about Tupper WIP's Hob today. I have a lot of feelings about them so I'm gonna go ahead and spill the beans!

If you have any questions about Hob (or any of the other characters here) please do ask them, I am more than happy to spraff.

~*~

Hob is the character I think is most a reflection of me as a person. That doesn't make them easy to write, or even the character I connect with the most, but they are the character that I put most of myself into.

Tupper WIP is a Bildungsroman of sorts, so Hob starts out as a tween, the 7th child out of 12 (all daughters), and they are not particularly happy with their station in life. Hob is smart but undereducated, curious and willing to learn, but stubborn. They are getting to the age where they have become a drain on their family's resources, so they choose to try and get a job while staying with their eldest sister, Judd. However, Judd married above her station, and her husband is resentful of the reminder that his beautiful wife was once a goat farmer's daughter, so Hob is forced to try and make their own way.

This goes about as well as you'd imagine, and Hob ends up homeless for a while, until they are happened upon by Brother Meregrund, a Navildran monk who mistakes them for a boy, and invites them to join him at the monastery in Ryneminster. There, Hob becomes his assistant in the scriptorium. They learn to read and write, as well as how to repair manuscripts, prepare the parchment, mix the inks, etc. quickly becoming an invaluable member of the monastery.

From there Hob meets their (soon to be) best friend Eadwig, Eddy's sister and Hob's (soon to be) first love Merewyn, the grumbling sacrist Brother Hawley, Hawley's ward Kentigern, and a whole host of other characters.

I use they/them pronouns for Hob when talking about them outwith the text, but in the story itself I use "she" to start with, and from then on use "he" because that is who Hob is at those times in their life. However, they have a more complex relationship with gender.

There is a scene in the latter part of the novel where Kentigern has just confessed his feelings for Hob, and Hob has, in return, confessed that "he" is not a man, but when Kent expresses his surprise that "she" is a woman, they have a wee rant about exactly how and why that isn't true, and it's one that I tore straight out of my own experiences of gender identity:

"I'm not! A woman, that is. Though, sometimes I am, I suppose. I am happy to be a man, I feel content to be treated as such, and often feel an ache to truly fit in, to be in body what I know to be in my heart. Then again, there are glimmers of time when I feel strongly that I am a woman. In these moments I want nothing more than to dress and act and feel as a woman is expected to. But then, what does it mean to be a woman, and what does it mean to be a man? I know many a woman who exists in the garb of a man but still feels like a woman, and many men who dress and act as women are expected, and yet still feel strongly that they are men. In the Eastern Provinces what is expected of men and women is vastly different to here, and different again from the expectations of Western Reaches. Who is right, in that instance? For a man to be perfumed is nigh on sinful here, but for a Provincial man not to be perfumed is a veritable offence. Women in the Western Reaches are expected to fight and farm and forge, to contribute to society in every way that a man does otherwise they are not seen as pulling their weight. Women here must seem like vapid trinkets to them." Hob sighed. "Most of the time, Kent, I just want to be seen as me. Just Hob, without the trappings that come with being either woman or man. I do not wish to play the part of either one, only be criticised for embodying the other, when sometimes I feel as though I am both at once, and other times that I am neither."

Hob is the only one of my character explicitly genderqueer in a way that is not simply because they are a fantasy or sci-fi race that expresses biological sex and societal gender entirely differently to humans. I starting writing Tupper WIP back in 2018 when I was first exploring my own gender identity, and Hob as a character still contains so much of that exploration in their story even 7 years on.

[apartmentsmoke]

eddie or chimney for the character asks

Why not both?

Eddie

How I feel about this character: I like Eddie and I'm looking forward to his storyline this season to see what he'll do while Chris is in Texas.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Shannon, Josh, Lucy, Linda, Vanessa, Dr. Salazar. I don't feel that strongly about any Eddie ship, though.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Buck.

My unpopular opinion about this character: More like Ramon than fandom thinks. I feel any opinion about the mustache is unpopular because it's so divisive but I hate it.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I'd like him to have more scenes with characters who aren't Buck or Bobby. Hen's perspective on the Kim situation would have been fascinating - it's not a 1:1 map onto the Eva situation, but it's close to something she's experienced and would be able to give advice about.

Chimney

How I feel about this character: Watching season one, he was my least favorite; now I love him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Maddie! <3 And Bobby, and I think Chimney/Kevin has possibility, as does Chim/Tommy.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Hen, of course.

My unpopular opinion about this character: His Begins episode is the best. (Is that unpopular?) Should chill on the gum chewing because sometimes I feel like I'm watching bad ASMR. Actually has the worst dad, which is a high bar to clear.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I want to see a daddy-daughter day out; Madney wedding reception; I want more scenes between him and Bobby.

[kitkatt0430]

Iris West-Allen for the character ask game?

1: sexuality headcanon

Bi or pan

2: otp

Westhawne or Westhallen - while westallen did grow on me, I can't say I ever got over the feeling that Iris got together with Barry because she had everyone and their doppleganger telling her that she was destined for Barry and... not because she actually chose him for herself. Whereas Eddie? Saying screw destiny? She wanted that, enthusiastically so.

And, well, close the triangle!! Westhallen!!

3: brotp

When not shipping her with Barry, definitely brotp with Barry. But also Linda and Wally and Kamilla. She deserved more time with those three.

4: notp

Kamilla. I was so desperate for Iris to have a friend again that when she got one I shipped them platonically so hard that I just don't see Iris/Kamilla in a romantic way.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Iris is a roller coaster fiend. She loves them so much, going so fast and all the ups and downs and upside downs and spins... so of course she loves it when Barry runs with her because it's such a similar experience.

6: favorite line from this character

I have a few different favorite lines, but... summing up why keeping her locked out of the loop was a terrible idea

Did you ever stop to think that looping me in would keep me safe? That if I knew what was out there that I could prepare for it? Maybe I could have helped you and Barry put the bad guys away instead of being in the way!

She deserved to call them out on that and I'm glad she got to.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

I've had people try to tell me that I'm obviously attracted to someone that I was not before and since I hadn't figured out I was aro yet I really wondered if they were right in telling me that. It was definitely a very confusing and upsetting experience. So everyone shoving Iris at Barry in S1 and her being confused and upset over it is something I very strongly related with.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

not so much stuff that she does but the way people often treat her. There's very much a tendency towards other characters to treat her like they've got the right to make her decisions for her and it's super painful to watch when it happens

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll ^_^

[bleedingoptimism]

I wanna ruin our friendship (we should be lovers instead)

After losing a bet with Will about the lyrics of a Prince song, Steve has to take the kids to a new arcade a town over.

They end up having a great time and because they somehow manage not to leave him broke he takes them to dinner after, so by the time they return home, it’s pretty late at night.

Between yawns, he drops them one by one, the last being Max, who, after the trailer park was destroyed, is living in an apartment with her mom not far away from the small duplex Steve is sharing with Robin.

They are sitting in comfortable silence, music playing low on the radio when Max says, 

“I need advice” 

Steve raises his eyebrows, surprised she’s asking him for advice, but keeps quiet and waits for her to continue.

“Love advice” she elaborates. 

At this, Steve can’t help but snort, “You know I'd love to help you Fiery but I’m probably the worst person to ask love advice.” 

“Don’t be stupid Steve, you are the best person to ask. I don’t know anyone who loves as strongly as you do.”

It’s a good thing they just got to a stop because Steve could’ve swerved the car at that if they had been moving. He looks at Max but she’s looking out the window, though he can see her ears are as red as her hair right now.

He barely resists the urge to hug her and softly says, “Okay, ask me then.”

“I’m in love with Lucas” 

There’s a silence and Max turns to him frowning when he doesn’t reply, he laughs softly, “I knew that. And Lucas loves you Fiery, so what’s the problem?”

She stays silent, looking out the window and hugging herself so Steve takes a guess, “You are scared of losing him?”

“I just-! What if he wants to get back together because he’s clinging to the past? What if we do and then he realizes I’ve changed and he doesn't want me anymore?!” 

“Max…” 

“I’m not the same person I was when we met, we were just kids! I-”

“You are still just kids” Steve interrupts her and she rolls her eyes at him,

“We were younger- whatever, the thing is……I’m scared” she finishes with a small voice.

Steve sighs, making a turn on the street to Max's apartment, as he thinks about what to say.

“Look, Lucas is a smart kid, he’s not clinging to anything, he knows you’ve changed, he’s been there the whole time and he still wants you. And I get how you feel, but it’s worth isn't it?”

They get to the apartment building and Steve just gets out of the car with her and follows her up the stairs as he keeps talking,

“Being with the person you love it’s worth taking the risk, and I know you are scared and it’s not always going to be easy. You... are not easy,” he tells her and bumps their shoulders lightly making her snort. 

They are standing in the hallway outside Max’s door now, but they just stop and keep talking,

“But you are worth the trouble Max, and so is Lucas. So you’ll make it work. I know you will.”

He smiles at her and she rolls her eyes but smiles for a second after and slaps him lightly on the chest.

“Okay,” She says simply and moves to open her door but then turns and looks at him, “Why don’t you take your own advice, Steve?”

“What do you mean?” He asks confused.

And Max raises her eyebrows and looks pointedly behind her, at the door of the apartment across from hers…

Eddie’s apartment.

Fuck.

He skips the denials and the questions about how she knows out of respect for her and goes straight to the reason,

“It’s not the same,” he says and then lowers his voice as if Eddie is just behind his door listening to them, “Eddie doesn’t like me back.”

Max rolls her eyes again and Steve is starting to get worried her eyes are going to get stuck like that as he likes to tell Mike all the time.

“Of course he does. But that’s beside the point. The point was love was worth taking a chance and you’ll never know if you don’t take it, right?” she says knowingly raising her brows at him and making him feel like he’s the younger one of the two.

He huffs and then blinks, “Wait, what do you mean of course he likes me?”

“Steve how come you didn’t ask me how I knew you liked Eddie?” she asks instead of answering.

“I assumed you figured it out 'cause you are smart, observant, and mature” he answers naturally and blushes a little at Max's huge answering smile.

“That’s your answer,” she says smugly, “Ok I’m done with the heart to heart” and she turns to open her door, “Don’t be a hypocrite follow your own advice.”

“Wait! Two-second hug!” Steve warns her before he hugs her,

Max laughs and counts, “one, two, ok! Times up!” and Steve lets her go, both of them chuckling. 

“Gnight Steve” she says getting inside.

“Gnight Fiery”  

.

And then he’s left standing there in the hallway. He turns and looks at Eddie’s door as he feels it looming behind him.

Now that the hallway is quiet he can hear the faint sound of Eddie’s acoustic, and Steve melts imagining the sight of Eddie sitting there plucking at his guitar.

‘Fuck it’ he thinks, takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door.

‘fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuc-’

“Hey, Steve” 

“Fuck- I mean! Hi, Eddie.”

Eddie is standing in his doorway, with his hair up in a messy bun, crop top, and sweatpants, and the light from the kitchen illuminating him from behind and making him look ethereal. 

It takes Steve’s breath away.

Eddie smiles at him amused, “Sure! Fuck. What’s up, man? Everything ok?”

“Yeah! I just wanted to tell you something, can we talk?” He smiles back.

“Sure dude, please trespass,” Eddie tells him moving away from the door and making an exaggerated bow.

Steve smiles amused and wipes his sweaty palms on the back of his jeans and stands awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“Table, couch, or counter?” Eddie asks and Steve blinks and shakes his head because there’s potential for a joke involving Eddie’s bed there but he needs to keep his head in the game.

Instead of answering Steve moves to the couch and sits leaving plenty of space for Eddie to sit too.

If Eddie thinks he’s being weird, he pays it no mind, he just shrugs and sits on the arm of the couch, knees bend and feet on the pillow, facing Steve.

Steve keeps facing forward, unable to look at Eddie as he starts talking, “Just left Max at her place, and we were talking on the way here… about- about things that were worth taking a risk for.”

He chances a glance at Eddie, who is looking at him intently with his hands placed on his knees and his chin on top of them.

It makes the back of his neck feel like fire and he scratches at it absently taking his eyes off Eddie, “Things like relationships with the person you lo-like” he says and cringes at his slip-up.

He waits for a beat, then two, and looks at Eddie when the silence extends for too long, Eddie is staring at him with a small crease on his eyebrows, “So… you knocked at my door at midnight to talk to me about… a relationship?” he asks unsure.

And Steve turns on the couch to face Eddie and nods, once.

Eddie opens his mouth and closes it, and blinks at him. “Why?” 

“Because you- because I need to know if there’s even the tiniest chance you could possibly like me back, because- because you are worth taking that risk for,” Steve answers.

And Eddie sits up straight, gapes at him, eyes huge, and blinks a couple of times.

“YES!!” He suddenly screams falling forward on the couch and kneeling closer to Steve. He gasps and covers his mouth for a second before placing both of them on Steve’s hand.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to yell,” he says sheepishly and Steve smiles at him, “Steve, of course, I lolike you back,” he tells him smiling knowingly at him.

And Steve snorts, because of course Eddie wouldn't let that slip past him, “So, Eddie,” he starts, and leans closer to him, putting his free hand on top of Eddie’s, “Would you be my boyfriend?” he asks shily but Eddie sighs and says,

“I don’t know Steve, depends on how good of a kisser you are ca-” Steve cuts him off with a kiss.

He goes all out, pulls all his best tricks, determined on leaving Eddie breathless. And Eddie responds enthusiastically, the corners of his mouth pulling slightly up like he can't stop himself from smiling.

Steve places his hands on Eddie's face, and tilts it to the side, deepening the kiss and making Eddie moan when he sucks on his lower lip and pulls at it with his teeth.

Eddie moves on the couch and straddles Steve not once stopping the kiss as Steve moves his hands to Eddie’s hair, and pulls at it slightly which makes Eddie rolls his hips onto Steve, and he breaks the kiss with a gasp.

Eddie chuckles breathlessly, ”Hell yes, I knew you’d be amazing at this,” he tells him, kissing his forehead and then his nose.

And Steve scrunches it in return, “Asshole” he tells him.

“Your asshole” Eddie whispers and Steve smiles wickedly at him, 

“Yeah?” he murmurs, moving his hands on Eddie’s waist lower and grabbing his ass, letting his fingers move dangerously close to the aforementioned asshole.

Eddie sucks air through his teeth and grinds on Steve again, “Oh, hell yes” he breathes before claiming his mouth again.

.

Max is standing in her kitchen, phone in hand, and trying to gather the courage to dial Lucas's number to ask him on a date when she hears Eddie scream a very enthusiastic ‘yes’. She snorts, ‘Guess Steve got his answer’ she thinks with a smirk before she sighs and starts dialing, there’s no way she’s gonna let Steve one up her like that.

fin

☕🥐💕 cafecito?

[giurochedadomani]

You know what? I'm not done with this. A Billy + Eddie friendship would have been so good. Billy in S4 would have been so good. So bittersweet. Billy being very angry and at the same time very protective of Max and in general not being able to explain why he's feeling the Messiest Most Complicated Feelings cause she's a fucking a child, but at the same time he's so sick and tired of taking care of her, but at the same time being possesed by an otherworldly creature is terrifying, but at the same time no one did root for him when he was possessed by the Mindflayer, now, did they? So what? Is he really going to do like his asshole of a father and behave like a jackass to the weaker person next to him because he feels sad and shit? It would have been an amazing redemption arc. But also the image of Billy and Lucas instantly going to grab the Kate Bush tape when Vecna attacks Max consumes me.

Billy pretending to be buddies with Jason long enough to throw him off Eddie's chase. Perhaps he even kickstarts the violence when the jocks confront the rest of Corroded Coffin-- and how that would culminate in Billy using all his brashness to goad Jason into a fight at the Creel house (and away from Max and Lucas). Just. Imagine who would have been the most unhinged between Jason and Billy.

The party finding Eddie through Billy. Cause even if Billy has the best poker face when it comes to lying to authority figures, Max senses something is off when cops come to talk to them at the trailer park and Max has seen them together!  Eddie lives almost next to them, she knows they hang out! And Billy's being so weirdly calm about all this. That's his bestie being acused of a horrible murder and doesn't he want to defend him!? (and perhaps she's projecting a bit and sounding a bit guilty). And perhaps she pesters enough to make him confess where Eddie's hiding, or perhaps he was already waiting for any excuse to ask for a little help without openly asking for a little help, you know?

(Talking about sounding guilty on both of their accounts. Does Max still write a good bye letter to Billy? Do they talk about her nightmares?! My god, imagine Billy's thoughts when he finds out that he haunts Max' dreams. There could have been such a strong theme of Billy activily reforming himself cause he doesn't want to end like Neil!!!!)

And Billy doesn't feel confortable at all with the whole getting the party involved. Cause now he's loudly arguing with Steve in Eddie's favor because of course they're loudly arguing and he doesn't want to explain to fucking Harrington of all people why he knows that Eddie's innocent. He knows, ok? He just knows. (Billy strikes me as someone strongly private with an equally strong tendency to get on the defensive cause. Well. Trauma) But it's kind of hard to give weight to his argument that Eddie's a little unhinged ball of sunshine dressed up as a metalhead when at the most Billy is vaguely okay with admitting to Steve that they hang out sometimes??? He buys him weed. They have listened to albums together, once or twice. God, stop snooping Harrington.

(Max thinks that he doesn't want to admit that he hangs out with nerds. Max, needless to say, is wrong)

And anyway this gets absolutely ruined when Eddie, true to form, goes to threaten Steve with a fucking broken bottle at the house. Billy wants to kill them both and then himself.

I don't know if I like more the platonic vibe or the romantic vibe between Billy and Eddie, but either Dustin sees all of this, pieces everything together, looks utterly flabbergasted, and (internally) goes: eddie wasn't doing a bit, you're friends!!!!!!

Or,

Oh no you're the mysterious crush he won't shut up about.

Just. Billy in S4. 

[faequeentitania]

Suddenly gripped with the idea of Hellcheer as a reverse Little Mermaid AU that very rapidly got out of hand and took on a life of its own:

Eddie the Merman saves Chrissy the Princess from a shipwreck; immediately falls in love.

Goes to Vecna the Dark Wizard to negotiate for legs, gets them on the condition of losing his voice.

Once among the humans, Eddie is devastated to learn that the human that spotted Chrissy and Eddie on the beach after Eddie rescued her and brought her to shore is Prince Jason. Even more unfortunately, when Jason rushed towards them, forcing Eddie to flee back into the water, Chrissy, in her exhausted and dehydrated state, ended up thinking that it was Jason who had rescued her, and the glimpse of the long-haired man with the gentle voice had just been a dream.

As a result, when Jason asks her to marry him, she says yes; he rescued her, after all, and it would be so beneficial to their kingdoms.

Still, at least Eddie can be near her, getting a job in the palace with the royal apothecary; even without a voice, he proves that he is knowledgeable about health remedies born from the flora and fauna of the sea, and anything else he is more than willing to learn.

So learn he does, and soon is put in charge of making and delivering Princess Chrissy's sleeping draught, for the poor princess has been gripped with such horrible nightmares as of late.

Jason knows what Eddie is, or at least strongly suspects; it's just too much of a coincidence that the new apothecary apprentice looks eerily similar to the wicked sea creature that was surely trying to drag Princess Chrissy back into the depths to drown! He is extremely frustrated by the fact that he can't actually prove it without coming off as crazy, but he's surely going to be keeping a close watch on this freak.

Chrissy almost immediately take a shine to Eddie, though she can't quite place why; something familiar about him, she supposes.

Then she stumbles upon him playing music; Master Apothecary Murray had a lute in his study, almost exactly like the one Eddie foraged from a shipwreck when he was a merchild (the very thing that had sparked his fascination with humans.) It took a little bit to adjust to playing the instrument above water, but he learned fairly rapidly, and the Master Apothecary actually liked having him play.

She starts to seek him out outside of requesting sleeping draught; she requests for him to play for her, and more than that, she starts to talk to him. It pains him so deeply that he can't talk back, but he can pluck the strings of the lute to convey a sense of what he feels in answer to what she says, and that always seems to make her smile.

And when Eddie finds out that the horrible dreams Chrissy's been having are because of Vecna, that the dark wizard used Eddie's desire to be with Chrissy as a opening to infiltrate the human world, and is targeting the princess, working his magic in order to puppet her into being his magic vessel among the humans?

Well, Eddie's been learning some magic of his own, and performs a spell to pull Chrissy out of Vecna's grip.

Not only does Jason accidently witness this, but he then sees the Freak Mute Apothecary suddenly collapse in pain, as a furious Vecna immediately takes back the spell that gave Eddie human legs; leaving him stranded in the human world with an absolutely enraged Prince Jason who is now certain that Eddie was the creature trying to pull Chrissy into the sea to drown. A creature so determined, in fact, that he used dark magic to come ashore and bewitch the Princess with poison potions and musical enchantments!

Eddie is captured, tortured, Prince Jason determined to make this Evil Creature tell him why he wanted the princess; are there more freaks like him in the sea, just waiting to bring humanity to doom? Are they acting on behalf of some greater evil, trying to destroy all life on land?!

Eddie, of course, cannot answer; Vecna may have restored his tail, but he kept Eddie's voice.

Then Princess Chrissy sneaks in to see him; he's in bad shape. He's been away from the sea too long like this, his captors dousing him with water barely once a day to keep him from death, but it wasn't good enough to keep Eddie alive indefinitely. Not to mention the torture, withholding meals... Eddie truly thinks that seeing the princess, alive and no longer in Vecna's grip, is all he needs to finally allow himself the peace to die.

But she talks to him; she asks him about the beach, about her ship sinking, about That Day that she found herself miraculously alive on the beach, with a long-haired man talking so gently to her, telling her that everything was going to be okay. The man she thought was a dream, but it wasn't, was it? It was him, and he had saved her. He'd saved her that day, and he'd saved her from the terrible evil that was haunting her every night.

Eddie can only nod, heart absolutely aching, so glad that she finally knows the truth, and wishing they had more time.

Very rapidly, what Eddie thought would be a final goodbye turns into a rescue mission; Princess Chrissy letting Apothecary Master Murray into the room with a wheelbarrow, along with her lady-in-waiting, Maxine. Turns out they all felt sure that Eddie was innocent of trying to hurt her, and they're determined to get him out of this.

They do, with a great deal of stealth and a small amount of fisticuffs from the surprisingly tough lady-in-waiting.

They also bump into some stable boys that Eddie had befriended; young Michael, Dustin, Lucas, and William, who not only also believed that Eddie was innocent, but they also now think the fact that Eddie is a merman is so freaking amazing! so of course they help the princess sneak him out of the city.

They make it; all of them helping to carry Eddie down the beach when the wheelbarrow is no longer useful on the uneven terrain, and finally getting him into the water.

He is still weak from the torturing he endured, but being returned to the sea immediately helps, and for the first time in days Eddie feels like he can properly breathe.

He lingers at the shoreline, resurfacing to say some kind of goodbye to Chrissy; he's still mute, but he's determined to find some way to thank her for helping him escape, or convey even a fraction of how he feels about her.

She seems to get it, and laments that he can't stay, or that she can't go with him.

Then Master Apothecary Murray interjects; he might be able to help with that. True, it would not be safe for Eddie to stay, but Chrissy could go with him. Turns out the Master Apothecary is secretly a wizard as well, and knows the transforming spell that would allow Chrissy to follow him into the depths, if she so wished.

She does so wish, much to Eddie's shock, overwhelmed with emotion that she wants to give up her life on land for him.

But she does; it was nothing but a gilded cage, with Eddie as its only bright spot.

The spell is performed, and they go together into the sea; Eddie determined to get his voice back from Vecna so he can tell the woman he loves how he truly feels about her, and Chrissy finally free and happy with one of the only people who had ever treated her like she was more than just a princess, she was a person.

[cobra-creampuff]

Ship Ask Game: 4 & 11 any ship?

I'll do both a fandom pairing and an OG pairing, since idk what side of the aisle you're coming from so to speak.

Who initiates affection? Why does the other not initiate affection as much?

Eddie/Jessica (CTM): Jessica. Eddie is SHY. And also inexperienced in terms of romance and affection. Fred is affectionate but mildly touch-averse, Angel and Dido have been out of the picture for long enough that Eddie can't really remember how showing affection between them went, and she's never had an actual girlfriend before (only hook ups). Also. Lmao. Jessica is intimidating. It's not so much that Eddie always lets her lead because she's insecure or scared of her or whatever, but like. She'll just never not have "butterflies" type nerves, and blush and stutter and all that. And Jessica can't resist kissing her or petting her when she stumbles over being a gentleman. Ed/Izzy (OFMD): Ed, provided we're only counting "words of affirmation" and "physical touch" styles of affection here. Izzy just is not a very touchy guy generally and he doesn't really need as much physical intimacy to be happy and secure as Ed does (though he has no particular problem with it when Ed initiates, even PDA). He also has a thing (autism) about not really knowing where boundaries are and what's appropriate when so he basically just treats every environment like a work environment (the environment that he's most familiar with the Rules of) in terms of intimacy/vulnerability that involves other people. He's also just plain not good with words, except a good ol' theatrical complain/insult (he also has Jewish). Additionally, he really doesn't think how he feels about someone in any specificity is anybody else's fucking business - so while I don't think he'd be too repressed or embarrassed to say "I love you" he'd be a bit consternated for other people to be all up in his business about it. His feelings are perpetually an A-B conversation. HOWEVER. He will do "acts of service" style affection at literally any moment any time in front of anyone at any provocation. And if he doesn't get enough "quality time" style affection he will literally shrivel up and die like a salted slug.

How do they feel about nicknames/pet names? If they like them, what pet names do they use? If they hate them, why do they feel that way?

Eddie/Jessica: Eddie is pretty neutral on pet names (in the affectionate way, she likes to use them as emasculating insults lmfaoooooo). Jessica likes them, though! She has a very large pet name vocabulary too. Eddie really only reacts strongly when Jessica uses them in particular ways (i.e. not casually, but Purposefully), in which case they make her feel very Baby. Ed/Izzy: Ed likes them a lot! They're novel for him, because in the past he's had all kinds of affectionate (or not) nicknames with his partners (i.e. "Blackie" and of course we've seen that his actual given name is Something Special too), but never anything sweet. It's a bubbly little thrill every time he's "allowed" to use one. Izzy doesn't use them very much, just because they don't ever occur to him lmfao. He does use Ed's given name a lot though, in that Special way. (And Stede does use pet names a lot, so Ed gets that regardless.) Also when Ed uses one for him, that makes Izzy melt into a brainless sack of goo. The only way he can continue to function is if he has some Specific Task that he can cling to and power through. Ed likes to test him, follow him around while he's assigning chores or whatever, calling him "love" and watch Izzy start to actually physically sweat with the effort to stay focused and not go 🥴 (which he would be embarrassed by).

Ship Basics Ask Game Thanks for asking, anon!

[truessences]

You asked for Mileven fic ideas:

1. Mileven navigating questions about future plans. El is still hiding from the authorities at the end of mike's junior year in his, and she starts to worry about the future once she hears the party starting to worry about college. When will she be free, at least to the extent she was in Lenora? Will she be free B4 he leaves for college? Even if she is, what does that mean for them? It's not like she would get into the same colleges as him. Jopper doesn't have that kind of money, and she has been studying for the past year (unofficial home schooling) but she isn't sure she is ready for senior year academically speaking even if she got the government of her tail right now, and got some fake id showing she had finished all the other grades. And would she fit into his post- high school life? She didn't really fit in back in Cali. I know this sound like jancy S4, but Mileven are different ppl, and have different circumstances.

2. Mike getting caught sneaking out at night by jopper, prompting an awkward conversation ( and perhaps Joyce decides will should get involved too, since they have to discuss these things with him anyways, so why wait until he is in a relationship, instead of getting it over with now).

3. El comforting mike over Eddie's death. 4. El telling mike about the other lab children and mourning their death.

5. El and mike watching their friends get drunk and either messing with them, or trying to stop them from doing something stupid ( this is admittedly more of a party fic, but if the focus is on them, and how they deal with their friends drunken antics, it counts as Mileven, right?).

6. Mileven discussing the morality of murder, as el questions her past actions, and her disagreement with Kali

7. Mike doing el's make up for some event, bc Joyce and Nancy are available.

8. Terry Ives died, and mike helps her through it

9. El and will have a fight about will saying something negative about hopper, bc hopper is dealing with the trauma from his time in russia by drinking a lot, and bc Will has some issues thanks to lonnie, so he worries a lot about hopper hurting Joyce somehow. El wents to mike, and mike tries to mediate, and help el understand why will is so sceptical of hopper, despite being grateful for everything he has done for him and his family.

These are some great ideas! I think there are a couple that stood out to me immediately!

Definitely 3 since I feel very strongly about that not being included.

6 is very interesting and I think I could explore that.

Thanks so much for your ideas! If anyone else has any Mileven fic ideas, send me asks!

[icanlove2things]

Rewatching all of Stranger Things and having some Thoughts so here they are:

The secretary lady at the police station tells Nancy that Jonathan would only beat the shit out of Steve like he did because of true love which feels a lot like when Eddie told Steve that Nancy must be in love with him since she dove into the water so fast. But in both of those cases, they’re not really right. Jonathan doesn’t really snap on Steve until he says a BUNCH of stuff about Will and his mom. So yeah it was love but not for Nancy. And we all know Nancy would have jumped into that lake for basically anyone. She crawled into the upside down through a disgusting hole in a tree (with no idea of what was on the other side except for a monster) for Barb. She faced down Billy racing towards her in a car to protect Lucas and Will. She went to interview a man who supposedly killed his whole family to try and save Max. I don’t have any Big Thoughts about this except I guess I just hate how everyone acts like the only kind of love that drives people is romantic love.

If they don’t bring Kali back for the last season, what is even the point?? She deserves a much better family, we need someone else with powers, I bet she’s taught herself telekinesis by now, and I would just love to see her interact with everyone else.

I hope Mr. Clark finally finds out what’s been going on and how much he’s helped his students save the world.

I want Murray to read everyone the way he instantly read Nancy/Jonathan and Joyce/Hopper. Well what I really want is for him to be a real person and yell at the Duffer bros for fucking up their own characters.

I still think there’s some kind of benevolent force stuck in the upside down. Why does it feel nice to manipulate the lights? Why did Victor Creel feel like there was an angel saving him? Seriously how did Will survive there for so long?? I’m sure this is a complete pipe dream but how freaking cool would it be if it IS there and it saved Eddie and we find him in a little pocket of safety, slowly healing and learning and hiding next season???

Watching the older seasons, I love seeing how strongly affectionate all the kids are with each other, which makes it even weirder to see Mike’s awkward non-hug with Will in S4.

In season 2 we see El mimicking the lines from an old movie and I think it was a huge lost opportunity that she never tried to say some of them irl.

Joyce tells Lonnie in S1 that Jonathan has wanted to go to NYU since he was 6 years old. I don’t have a grand point to make with this except that it’s sad, and also that I wonder if Nancy doesn’t know that because he decided all the way back in S1 that he couldn’t leave his family.

How was the ‘Indiana Flyer’ song in the secret Russian transmission if they were broadcasting it from so far underground? Did they have an extra horse down there in the communications room??

I wanna see Mrs. Wheeler go absolutely feral on some monsters to defend her kids.

I also think it’s weird that Mike never mentions the painting to El. Does he ever thank her for ‘commissioning’ it? And if he does, what does she say/think?? I don’t think she would have a very good understanding of gay people, so then does she just think Will is being a really sweet brother or what??

I can’t believe we don’t get to see El, Eddie, and Hopper hiding out together in the cabin. Just a weird little family with lots of secret visitors bringing them waffles and kisses and beer.