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mysterious-moonstruck-musings · 3 months ago

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Closed Position: Week 5 (Rumba Part 2)

Closed Position Masterlist ||| Main Masterlist Dieter Bravo x OFC (Katarina)

Series Summary: Dieter Bravo, now sober, was looking to change his bad boy image after hitting rock bottom. His team hoped that having him join the nationally televised family friendly dance competition, Dancing with the Stars, would be a good first step, if they can keep him out of trouble.

Katarina Stamos expected her last season as a professional dancer on the show to go the same as it had for the past thirteen seasons. That all changed when she was partnered with the infamous Dieter Bravo.

Dieter and Katarina are reluctantly thrown into their partnership and must learn to work together to succeed in the competition. In the process they form a deeper connection beyond the dance floor that neither anticipated.

Chapter Word Count: 12.2k

👉 Warnings: Themes dealing with intimate partner violence (not by or toward Dieter), past alcohol abuse, and past drug abuse. There will be fluff, tears, spicy language, and smut. This will be a slow burn. Read at your own risk. Dieter Bravo comes with his own warnings.

Chapter Quote: "Careful, it’s pokey. I’d wager it has some serious penetration power."

Kat’s POV Our first full day in New York together had been an interesting one. Sharing a suite with Dieter was not on my Bingo card for the week, but it really hadn’t been that bad thus far. It was definitely creating a new dynamic between us, pushing us into new situations that I hadn’t expected. A sort of domesticity that would surely make the feelings that I was having toward him even stronger. Knowing that would be the case had only managed to make me antsy and wired. I had already caught myself shamelessly flirting with him within the first five minutes of entering the suite, because of a reflective ceiling of all things.

Even though I was absolutely exhausted from the overnight traveling, I couldn’t fall asleep once we got situated in our rooms. After getting rid of the rolling bar cart in the suite, I tried for some time to doze off. I eventually gave up, deciding to get ready for the day then go on the hunt for breakfast. I managed to find a small cafe down the street and stocked up on different options since I wasn’t sure what Dieter preferred for his first meal of the day other than ridiculously strong coffee. Afterwords, I carefully made my way back to the hotel, trying my best not to spill any of the coffee along the way.

I was unpacking the food when Dieter came strolling out of his room in a black short-sleeve v-neck, dark wash jeans, and black boots. The shirt was a heavier fabric that seemed to emphasize the dips and curves of his chest and shoulders in the most distracting way. His curls were styled into his usual artful mess that my fingers were twitching to tug on. He came to stand next to me, arching a brow as he met my gaze. Busted. He definitely caught me checking him out. Oh well, no sense in hiding it. “That shirt fits you well,” I finally managed to sputter out.

Dieter pulled me into his side, making some ridiculous joke about fine art needing to be appreciated. I laughed it off before my thoughts were taken down another path, but that was nearly impossible because he smelled amazing. He was wearing cologne, which was new. The way it mixed with his own natural scent had me wanting to rip his clothes off. Something about it had flipped a switch in my brain and it was hard to ignore. When I reached to grab my coffee, I happened to notice the way the muscles in his shoulders flexed as he shrugged. It nearly sent me over the edge. I had to get away from him, so I moved to the opposite side of the dining table to sit and eat.

As it got closer to time for us to leave, I could tell he seemed slightly off. He was amped up and fidgety, appearing to be anxious. It only got worse as we slid into the back of the SUV. I finally plucked up the courage to ask him what was going on. The fact that he felt comfortable enough to share how he was feeling meant the world to me. Alec was never that open with me when something was bothering him, and I always hated that. Dieter’s confession of how nervous he was, somehow made me feel closer to him, and I wanted nothing more than to calm him. I knew SNL was a big deal and wanted him to be able to enjoy it.

I didn’t have much to offer him other than comfort, but it seemed to do the trick. As I took his hand in mine and began to gently stroke his palm, the tension seemed to melt from his posture. However, the tension returned once we were seated in the Studio 8H conference room. I picked up on the vibes when we entered. Several of the cast members did not appear to be excited that he was there. I could tell they were judging him before even giving him another chance. The longer he chatted with Liz, the director, I could feel a shift happening - from hostility to curiosity.

It was obvious when Dieter’s nerves shot into overdrive because his leg started to bounce incessantly under the table. I reacted as I did on the ride over, trying to provide him with some comfort by squeezing his knee. His hand found mine, squeezing it briefly in return before allowing me to lightly rub his palm again. It seemed to work just as well to calm him this time around.

My focus was drawn from Dieter when Liz asked me to do the monologue with him. I was nervous about it since it would be live. The Dirty Dancing skit seemed less risky, and I was more open to it. In the end, I knew both would probably be funnier if I were involved and I could tell he really wanted me to do it with him. It was near impossible to tell his pleading brown eyes, “no” as I sat considering it.

I couldn’t help taking the opportunity to tease him after I read his monologue. It was too perfect, and I really wanted to break the remaining tension in the room with the cast. Them seeing the banter between Dieter and I seemed to do the trick, showing his fun side. I had a feeling they hadn’t really got to see that side of him before.

The events that followed the script review admittedly shook me a little. Part of me was shocked at how brazen that Dave guy had been toward Dieter. There was something about him that was slightly unsettling, and it really made me wonder what Dieter’s world had been like before he was sober. I had heard stories, but I couldn’t wrap my head around that kind of party lifestyle. I tried not to dwell on it. It wasn’t like Dieter had kept that part of himself hidden. I knew about it, but experiencing a small dose of what it must have been like for him was a whole other thing. It seemed to shake him some. I could tell from the panicked look in his eyes and the way he tensed but I felt like he handled it as well as he could have.

I realized then what he was up against, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him. This wasn’t something he could easily cut out of his life due to the nature of his profession. There were also some people that would be hard to avoid. It made me have just a little bit more respect for how much effort he was putting in to improving himself and staying sober.

Being involved in the photoshoot was unexpected but ended up being kind of fun. We hadn’t got to do any shoots together since becoming more comfortable with each other or without the worry of Alec lurking around. We were relaxed and had a good time with it, not hesitating to shift into the more intimate poses that the photographer asked for. I was curious to see what the final result would look like - if our chemistry would show in the still images as much as it did on the dance floor.

As usual, Dieter looked amazing in the clothes they had dressed him in for the photoshoot. There was something about him in a white dress shirt that made me feel a little feral. As we shifted into the more hands-on poses, I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust when my hands caressed his chest. It didn’t help matters when his hand found its way to my bare thigh. It was entirely too close to my aching center and left me pondering what it would feel like if he let it wander just a little higher.

His hair looked extra touchable the way they had styled it. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to stick my fingers in and tug it a little…for the sake of the photoshoot, of course. Dieter didn’t seem to mind it either. In fact, I got the feeling that he may have even liked it. The little groan he let out went straight to my core. It took a lot of effort not to clench my thighs around his broad shoulders as he sat between them.

By the time our ride back to the hotel arrived, I was running on low. The last two days had been ridiculously long, and we still needed to rehearse when we got back. I was near dozing off during the ride when Dieter’s phone rang. I assumed it was his assistant based on their topics of discussion.

It was hard not to listen to their conversation. Dieter was 100% in “dad” mode, and it tickled me to no end to hear him grilling his assistant about his cat and plants. I loved this side of him. I wasn’t sure how many people really got to see the caring and nurturing part, but I knew it probably wasn’t many. It caused butterflies in my stomach to know that I was one of the few he shared that with.

I wasn’t sure if Dieter was aware, but I could hear every word his assistant said on the other end of the phone. It definitely got my attention when he told Dieter to, “go spend time with your hot dance partner.” I couldn’t help wondering why he would say that. Was it in response to something Dieter had said previously? In my periphery I could tell that Dieter shot a nervous glance in my direction at the comment. I would have to pack that away to think about later.

Things took a turn when we began to rehearse that evening. There was definitely flirting on my part. I’m not sure that I even tried to behave myself, letting the innuendos spill out of my mouth without a second thought. Dieter certainly didn’t help with that by throwing equally salacious comments right back at me with ease. I knew he liked to make jokes, so it was hard to tell how much of it was him trying to be funny and how much of it was indeed flirting. It was sort of maddening, but also stoked the flame that was steadily growing inside of me. This was quickly becoming unsustainable.

A brief moment of silence stretched between us after that. We just sort of stood there, taking each other in. The look in his eyes made my skin feel electric, only increasing my craving for him. I would have given anything to be able to read his mind at that moment. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt like so much was going unsaid between us. I hated it. Trying to keep my feelings hidden from him was becoming a monumental task.

As I got ready for bed that evening, I considered how he might react if I told him how I was feeling. Was I even sure? It was all so confusing, and I felt ridiculous for it. I was fresh out of a six-year unhealthy relationship, and I was already daydreaming about jumping into another one. Dieter was different though. I knew he was nothing like Alec, but there were so many reasons that getting together with him would be a bad idea. It would be better to at least wait until the show was over before approaching the topic. I wasn’t sure if that would be possible because it felt like things were shifting between us in a way that I couldn’t identify or explain. Our time together this week was only intensifying things.

As I settled into my pillow, I found myself questioning if Dieter was still awake. Part of me was tempted to go to him and see how he would react if I crawled into his bed for a cuddle. Who was I kidding, that’s not what I wanted. Then my mind shifted to wondering what he slept in. Knowing him, probably nothing or at minimum his underwear. I had certainly seen him in those enough to have an accurate visual. I sighed. Ugh, just stop, Kat. Don’t even go there. Not the time or the place. Somehow, I managed to push those thoughts aside and eventually fell asleep.

On Wednesday, I was scheduled for the morning show circuit, which meant I had to get up rather early to get ready. Dieter had his SNL duties, so I was on my own for this one. I had just made myself a cup of coffee and wandered back into my room to start working on my hair when Dieter came shuffling in with a groan and leaned against the doorframe.

I narrowed my eyes on him in the mirror as I parted my hair into sections to straighten it, “What are you groaning about?”

He shrugged, “You sure you don’t want me to do the shows with you? They don’t need me there the entire morning…I could probably swing at least a couple of them or rearrange the schedule a bit to fit them all in.”

I shook my head, “No really, it’s fine. I would much rather you prepare for SNL. It’s more important than this shit.”

He sighed, then made a pouty face at me in the mirror, “Yeah, but we have more fun when we’re together.”

I set the hair straightener down, turning to look at him, “Dieter, are you still nervous about being around the rest of the cast?”

He gave me a tight smile, “Umm, maybe a smidge...but we ARE more fun together…at least we HAVE more fun together.”

I rolled my eyes at him and went back to my hair as he fiddled with his phone. I snorted and shook my head, “I can’t believe Dieter Bravo is in my room being whiny and needy right now.”

He chuckled, “Trust me, that’s nothing new. I’m very whiny and needy most days.”

I arched a brow in his direction, “Yes, I know your whiny. That’s been obvious from day one.”

He scoffed, then plopped down on my bed and sprawled out, “I would say that’s rude, but you're probably not wrong. What time will you be done?”

I shrugged, “I dunno, I say I’ll be back here around ten, maybe? I’ll probably come back and work through our routine some more. When will you be done?”

He scrolled through his phone, “Ummm, looking like noonish. Wanna go grab a late lunch when I get back?”

I nodded, “Sure. You know I’m not one to turn food down.”

He laughed, then popped upright, “You still have some wavy parts on the back of your head. Want me to get that for you?”

My brows furrowed, “You wanna straighten my hair for me?”

He shrugged, “Sure. It’s not rocket science and you look like you’re struggling. You keep missing that spot.”

It was my turn to scoff as he walked over and took the straightener and brush out of my hands, getting to work almost immediately. I watched as he methodically divided the back of it into even smaller sections and worked out the wavy bits. The intense look of concentration on his face was nothing short of fucking hot. The feel of his fingers running through my hair had my heart nearly hammering out of my chest and my mouth turning dry.

I cleared my throat, “So is this something you do often?” I asked with humor in my voice.

“Nope.” He popped the “p” sound with his lips before glancing at me in the mirror with a smile. “First time ever. I’ve seen it done enough sitting in the hair and makeup chair though. Just don’t ask me to do anything else or you might end up bald.”

I snorted, still not believing this was happening. In all the years that I had been with Alec, I couldn’t remember a single time where he had even brushed my hair, let alone offered to help me fix it. It was a strangely intimate gesture that suddenly had me wanting more from Dieter. It took everything in me not to jump him right then and there.

I sat watching his facial expressions as he fussed with the section I always had issues with. I could tell he was getting flustered by the way his brows knitted together. After a few more swipes with the straightener, he stepped back, tilting his head slightly and pursing his lips before giving a single nod, seeming satisfied with his efforts. Once he was finished, he leaned down over my shoulder to set the straightener down on the vanity. His scent completely invaded my senses and did little to help the ache that was growing between my thighs.

Dieter ran the brush through my hair, eventually pausing to gather it all at the nape. His fingers lightly grazed the sides of my neck as he did so. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his gentle touch as it made me tingle all over.

“Mmmm, that feels good. You should probably stop before I start expecting this every morning.”

His left hand settled on my shoulder, his thumb gently rubbing small circles behind my ear as he continued brushing with his right hand. When I finally opened my eyes and met his intense stare in the mirror, I felt my entire center clench as a weird sensation shot through my body, causing me to feel somewhat euphoric. I was suddenly hot and very wet. What the fuck is wrong with me? There was a low buzzing noise in my ears, and I felt a little dizzy, almost like all the blood had rushed to my head.

Dieter’s chuckle pulled me from the weird trance I had settled into, “You good, Kit Kat?”

He stood there with that damn smirk on his lips, waiting for me to say something all the while my brain had completely turned to mush. I inhaled deeply, attempting to pull myself together. Did he know what kind of effect he was having on me right now? Is he doing that shit on purpose? Surely not.

I finally nodded, clearing my throat. “Yeah, it just feels good when someone else brushes my hair. Makes me a little…sleepy.” Turned on, actually.

He arched a brow, “Doesn’t seem to do that when you’re getting glammed up for the show.”

Fuck. He’s got me there. I shrugged, “Well, they aren’t exactly gentle about it…”

He snickered as he sat the brush down. His fingers continued to run through the back of my hair as he spoke, “Riiight…well, I need to go shower.” His hand moved to settle just under my chin, his fingertips gently grazed a path up behind my ear. “If I don’t see ya before you leave, I’ll see ya after I get back. Good luck with your talk show stuff.”

Then the fucker seriously winked at me before he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. I sat dumbfounded and completely confused by what had just transpired. Get it together Kat. It’s a bad idea. I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to focus on the task at hand. I needed to finish getting ready or I was going to be late.

The morning went by in a blur. There were three live morning shows that I had to rush between, and I also pre-recorded segments for two evening shows. Luckily the studios were close together or else it wouldn’t have been possible. Stacia and Joe were definitely putting me to work this time around. Thankfully, these appearances would take care of my obligations for the rest of the season. At least, I hoped it would. I never knew what Stacia and Joe would pull for the sake of ratings. Especially if Dieter and I continued to be the fan favorites.

Once I was finished for the day and heading back to the hotel, I pulled out my phone. It had been on silent all morning so I hadn’t heard the Instagram alerts for Dieter’s new stories. The first one was an advertisement for SNL. It was one of the shots where I had my foot pressed to his head. Of course, he added a cheeky comment to it about my “big ass foot making an appearance” on the show too. I rolled my eyes, typing out a quick reply to the story, “I should have poked you in the eye with that spiked heel.” I chuckled to myself as I hit send.

Then I tapped over to the next story. He had taken a picture of me as I was getting ready this morning and shared it. You could see him in the mirror snapping the pic. It was obvious we were in a hotel room. Of course, the picture took me back to thoughts of his fingers caressing my neck and running through my hair. I had managed to put that out of my mind throughout the morning, but now I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Fucking jerk. I replied to that story as well, calling him a creeper. I could only imagine what the Dieterina shippers were saying about that one.

(More after the pics. Click to enlarge to read text.)

As I opened my email app, a text came through from Dieter.

DIETER: You didn't seem to mind that I was creeping around earlier this morning…😏 You done for the day?

I could feel my face heating from his words. Maybe I’m reading into that too much. Surely he doesn’t mean it that way. I didn’t really know how to respond.

ME: I’m sure you're whipping the Dieterina Stans into a frenzy with that one…Joe and Stacia too. And yes, I am.

DIETER: You were perfect this morning. And you insist you can’t do live shows. Ha!

ME: You watched them? You’re supposed to be working. Also, talking about dancing and doing comedy are two different things.

DIETER: I was. I watched them on a break. I was bored. I told you, it’s more fun when we’re together…should’ve changed my schedule. And I’ll give you a win on that one. It is different.

DIETER: Gotta go. They’re calling us back in to read through the rewrites. I’ll see ya soon. 😉

I puffed air out of my cheeks. Why did this feel different? He seemed different. Not drastically, but he had a different vibe. More open maybe? Less filtered? I couldn’t really put it into words, but it definitely had my attention. Maybe he was just feeling more comfortable around me and able to be himself?

I was drawn from my thoughts when the car pulled up to the curb in front of the hotel. I needed to pull it together and focus. We still had a dance performance to prepare for and our rehearsal time was limited. I needed to get the rest of the choreography nailed down so we could focus on learning the routine during what little rehearsal time we had.

Several hours later, I was on the terrace quietly singing to myself and swaying along with my music playlist as I searched through YouTube videos to find some examples of lifts to show Dieter. I realized early on that it helped him to see the choreography before trying it, especially on the more complex moves and particularly the lifts. As the competition progressed, I found myself doing this more often as our routines increased in difficulty. It seemed to be a good method with him, so I tried to give examples as much as I could. He had been pretty good about doing his own homework and often shared things he wanted to try. He had already sent me a few videos during his downtime since I had gotten back to the hotel.

I was just finishing up the latest video selection as Dieter came strolling out onto the terrace with a smirk on his face.

I gave him a questioning look, “What are you smiling about?”

He shook his head, “I was just listening to you hum along to this song. I’d like to hear you really sing it. I bet you would sound amazing.”

I could feel my cheeks flush, “I dunno about that, but thanks.”

He walked over to stand in front of me, smiling mischievously as he pulled my phone away, not letting go of my hand as he set it down. When he turned back to me, he slid one arm around my waist, pulling me snuggly against his body and began moving to the music. I let him lead as he improvised, twirling me around before hugging me back against him. We stood in place, now swaying slowly as his chocolate eyes bore into mine before briefly dropping down to my lips as the tension reached a boiling point between us. His smirk returned as he moved to dip me backwards, slowly doing a half turn before pulling me upright against his chest and pressing his forehead to mine. Both of his hands were now on my hips, gripping firmly as he nuzzled my nose with his. My hands were resting against his chest where I could feel his heartbeat quicken under my palm. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted him and was damn near breaking when his phone rang in his back pocket. His brows pinched together as his eyes fluttered shut. He sighed and dropped his forehead back against mine.

“I’m sorry, I should probably get that,” he finally said, pulling away slowly. When he opened his eyes, they were dark and sultry as a small smile formed on his lips. He turned away, pulling his phone out and answering it.

What the fuck was that? I didn’t imagine that…right? My head was spinning as I let out the breath I had been holding. I felt confused and didn’t know what to do with this. He seemed more confident, sure of himself, lustful even. He didn’t hesitate, not that he still hesitated when it came to touching me, but this was something else entirely.

Dieter turned to face me with a concerned expression. His lips set into a tight line as his gaze met mine. I gave him a questioning look as he pulled the phone away from his ear.

“It’s Evan…my assistant. He was just over at your place…”

I cut him off, “Why was he…?”

Dieter rolled his eyes, “To water your plants, obviously.”

I chuckled. I wasn’t even surprised or mad about it, “I can’t believe you had him do that.”

Dieter shook his head, “That doesn’t matter, anyway…he said while he was taking care of the plants on the far side of the porch, a guy came to the door and was about to key in until he saw Evan standing there…”

My brow furrowed, “There shouldn’t be anyone keying in…”

Dieter’s shoulders fell, “Evan said he got pissy, wanted to know why he was there and who he was. From the description, it sounds like it was Alec.”

I shook my head, “I took the key away from him though. Is Evan sure he had a key?”

Dieter put the phone back to his ear to double check with Evan. His eyes never left mine. “Yes, he definitely stuck a key in the door,” he finally said.

I sighed and rubbed my face. Fucking asshole. Figures he would have an extra one.

Dieter watched me with a concerned look, “I can have Evan get the locks changed for you while we’re gone.”

I shook my head again, “No. I’ll do it when I get back. Thank him for me. I’m glad he was there to catch it.”

Dieter’s eyes narrowed, “Are you sure? It’s not a problem for him to do that for you.”

I considered it for a moment, “I’m sure. It’ll be fine. He was probably just trying to get his stuff.”

Dieter puffed air out of his cheeks and continued talking to Evan briefly before disconnecting the call. I could tell he wasn’t happy about my decision, but he didn’t push it. Instead, he walked over and pulled me into a tight hug. He mumbled against the top of my hair, “Will you at least let me make sure he’s not there when we get back? I don’t trust that asshole.”

I nodded against his chest, “If it makes you feel better. Yes, you can check.”

“Can I…”

I pulled away, giving him an admonishing look. I knew he was only trying to be helpful, but I was really trying my hardest not to cross that line with him. Even though I had been ready to throw everything out the window five minutes prior.

He chuckled, “Hear me out…ok? Can I at least have Evan schedule someone to be there to change them the day we get back? That way it’s taken care of, and I don’t have to worry about it.”

I sighed, “Ok. Fine. I’ll agree to that.”

He pulled me back into a tight embrace, mumbling a soft “thank you” against my hair. I had to admit, his concern was kind of hot. There was no question that he cared about my wellbeing, and I was appreciative of that. I also sort of loved his need to take care of me. I hadn’t had that in a long time, and it was definitely making me feel things.

He inhaled deeply, then pulled away, “Alright, let’s go get lunch. I’m starving.”

Whatever spell we had been under now seemed to be broken and the moment passed. I felt a weird mix of disappointment and relief.

A short time later, we set off walking down the sidewalk and found a small cafe just up the street. Neither of us brought up what happened before Evan called. That’s not to say that things didn’t feel different. Dieter seemed more smiley than usual, and his touches were definitely more frequent and lingering. I tried to dismiss it, telling myself that I was only being more hyper aware and that nothing had actually changed. I wasn’t even sure if I believed it, no matter how many times I said it to myself.

As we ate, Dieter filled me in on his morning, and I did the same. It sounded like my morning had been more exciting than his. He had mostly spent his time doing table reads and helping make edits to the scripts. He didn’t necessarily need to be there for all of that, but he felt being involved with that process had helped smooth things over with some of the staff and cast. Overall, he was feeling much better about things than he was on the first day. I briefly wondered if perhaps his elevated mood could be attributed to that.

On the way back from the cafe, Dieter spotted a boutique plant shop on the opposite side of the street. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store as he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the nearest crosswalk to go check it out. As we walked through the front entrance, he froze on the spot, his wide eyes taking in the small shop. If he had been a dog, I’m fairly certain he would have been salivating.

He leaned over toward me, speaking in a low raspy voice, “I have a two plant limit. Smack me if I pick up more than that.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. It was the most ridiculous and most adorable thing I think I had ever seen. I followed behind him as he jabbered about the different plants being misted on the shelves.

I couldn’t fight the urge to tease him, “I feel like we need a Steve Irwin voice over right now. A wild Dieter Bravo on the hunt for life sustaining herbs in his natural environment.”

He snickered, “Please act that one out for me. I need to hear it, with the accent.”

I shook my head, trying to stifle my laughter, “Not a chance, Bravo.”

(Pics for reference, just because...more below the cut.)

We made our way over to a shelf full of succulents and cacti. One little group in particular caught my attention. My brows knitted together as I took in the phallic looking plants.

I could hear Dieter snickering at my side, already assuming what I was about to say, “Is it just me, or do those look a little obscene?”

Dieter was fighting to hold back his laughter now, “It’s a penis cactus.”

I snorted, “Well, I was trying to be a little less blunt about it, but yes.”

He laughed harder pointing at the small tag on the shelf, “No, it’s literally called a penis cactus.”

I looked at the sign and finally lost it. We both stood in the aisle laughing like a couple of idiots over a plant that looked like a dick.

A lady approached us smiling, asking if we needed help finding anything. Dieter finally sobered up enough to ask, “Do you ship? I have a feeling I may want to have a few things shipped back home.”

She nodded. They chatted for a moment longer before she left us to continue browsing. Dieter was still eyeing the penis cactus.

I shook my head, “You’re not buying one of those. I refuse to let you.”

He scoffed, “If anybody is gonna have a penis cactus, it’s me… Don’t judge me.” He couldn’t keep a straight face through that sentence.

I rolled my eyes, “Why don’t you get a cute one.” I picked up a small pot and held it up to him. “Look at this one! It looks like little dolphins hanging off the stems.”

He shook his head, “I have one of those already. Blubber is very temperamental about his roots. I don’t need another moody bitch in my little plant kingdom.”

I snorted out a laugh, “Blubber? Plant kingdom? Really?” Without thinking, I reached up and ruffled his hair, causing his breath to hitch.

“You’re too damn adorable sometimes. I can’t handle it,” I added. His cheeks flushed as he reached to rub at the back of his neck. His actions only added to his adorableness.

In an attempt to avoid staring at his pouty bottom lip, I turned and set the dolphin succulent down and picked up another that looked like little bunnies on the ends of the stems and held it up. He pursed his lips, eyeing it suspiciously as he took it from me, “I don’t have one of these. It IS pretty damn cute…alright, one penis cactus and one bunny succulent.”

I had to ask, “And what are you gonna name them?”

A thoughtful look formed on his face as he considered his options. “Bob and Thumper,” he finally said matter of factly.

I arched a brow, fighting a smile, “Do I even want to know which is which?”

He chuckled, “I’ll leave that to you to figure out.”

I shook my head, watching as he began shuffling the penis cacti around on the shelf, “Gotta make sure I get a decent sized one. Can’t be having a puny dick plant.”

I heard a woman standing nearby scoff as she walked off. Dieter and I both giggled like a couple of immature teenagers over his comment and her reaction. He eventually turned and handed me a rather large penis shaped plant and started giggling again before the next sentence left his mouth, “Careful, it’s pokey. I’d wager it has some serious penetration power.”

I was shaking from laughter as I stood there cradling the pot with both hands. Dieter wasn’t fairing much better as he continued to shuffle plants around on the shelf, occasionally letting out a low chuckle over his comments.

Once he was satisfied with his choices, we finally moved on. Every time he looked over at me holding the penis plant, he snickered.

“How is it I’m the one that got stuck carrying a dick in a pot and you're carrying the cute one?”

He shrugged and gave me a cheesy grin that made his dimple pop. I huffed and continued down the aisle ahead of him, stopping to flip through a rack of plant themed T-shirts. I paused, having found the perfect one for him.

“Dieter, what size shirt do you wear?” I asked innocently.

He sidled up next to me, resting his hand at the nape of my neck briefly before running his fingers down the length of my hair, continuing his motions as he replied, “Extra-large, why?”

I could feel his intense gaze on my face as he waited for a response. I was momentarily frozen by his touch, losing any coherent thought I had as my eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the feeling of his casual affection. At that moment I realized how much I missed those small gestures. Alec only seemed to show any sort of attentiveness when he thought someone was looking, to keep up the appearance of a happy couple. As time went on, I hadn’t really wanted any sort of affection from him, but now, I craved it. I craved it from Dieter. I found the more he gave, the more I wanted, and it was driving me insane.

When I finally opened my eyes, he was still staring at me with the strangest expression. His eyes seemed darker, filled with longing and unspoken words. I peered up at him with narrowed eyes, determined not to stray across that invisible line. My attention turned back to flipping through a few more shirts, finding his size. With a smug grin, I held it up so he could see it, “I’m buying this for you and you're gonna wear it. It’s near perfect. The only thing missing is the silhouette of a dick cactus.”

He finally looked away from my face, his eyes squinting to focus on the shirt as he read it aloud, “I’m in my plant daddy era.”

He huffed out a laugh as he pulled me into his side, “I will one hundred percent wear that. I’ll wear it on SNL if I can get away with it.”

I pushed away from him, chuckling quietly. “You will not. Shut up.”

I draped the shirt over my arm, then we continued down the aisles, occasionally pointing things out to each other, but mostly silent now as we took things in. Dieter’s mood seemed to have shifted. When I glanced at him, he would give me a soft smile as his eyes roamed my face. There was something about the way that he was looking at me that made me feel like I was descending down the big drop of a roller coaster, causing my stomach to do flips. It was only made worse by his continued light touches to my lower back or the way he would lean into me as we stood looking at something. There’s no way I was imagining this. He was definitely being more affectionate toward me.

We eventually made our way to the checkout counter. It took Dieter several minutes to get his shipping sorted out, but once he did, we headed back to the hotel with a plan to get some rehearsal time in. As we approached the hotel entrance, we were accosted by paparazzi. They were pleasant at first, asking Dieter about SNL, but then their questions shifted to me. Initially, they were pretty nonchalant in asking me why I wasn’t wearing my engagement ring. When I didn’t respond, their tone shifted, becoming slightly more aggressive. I was able to ignore it until they asked a question that ignited a burning anger inside of me.

“Does Dieter have anything to do with you not wearing your ring?”

My feet abruptly stopped moving, seemingly of their own choosing. It took Dieter a second to realize I had paused before he finally turned on his heel, looking at me with a confused expression. I let out a heavy sigh, now seething over the insinuation as I turned toward the pap, “I wanna be clear, the reason that I’m no longer wearing my engagement ring has absolutely NOTHING to do with Dieter Bravo. He and I are just friends. If you wanna know the reason, maybe you should ask Alec.”

Anxiety was rolling off me in waves as I felt Dieter tug at my elbow, pulling me toward the hotel entrance. I relented and allowed him to lead me inside as he shielded me from the paps shouted questions. We were both silent until we got onto the elevator.

“What was that about?” he asked gently.

My hands ran down my face as the doors popped open to our floor. Sighing before finally answering him, “I just don’t want you to be associated with whatever shitstorm comes of this. You don’t need ‘homewrecker’ added to your resume of bad deeds. Especially when it has nothing to do with you.”

Dieter shrugged, “I’m pretty sure I’ve been called out for worse things, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

He stood beside me, scratching his patchy beard while I swiped into our suite. As we walked through the door, he asked, “Do you wanna talk about it? I can tell it’s been bothering you.”

I huffed out a laugh, “I wouldn’t say that, but it’s definitely got me reevaluating things.” About you.

I gave him a weak smile, hoping he couldn’t see through my words. “I will…talk about it soon. I’m just…still trying to wrap my head around everything.”

He nodded as he pulled me into a tight hug, cocooning me in his warmth and scent. I melted into him, all the tension leaving my body. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay there forever, basking in his light. He was making me feel things that I hadn’t felt in a long time - cared for, appreciated, and safe. All things I hadn’t really realized I was missing but now knew I wanted and I wanted them from him. Stop thinking like that, Kat. You can’t go there. Isighed, pulling away, “Let’s get to rehearsing. We probably need to film some too.”

He nodded, “Good point. I’ll go grab the equipment and set it up. We gonna do it on the terrace?”

I’d like to do it on the terrace…ugh, focus. I cleared my throat, “Yeah…yeah, that works.”

We spent several hours rehearsing, eventually getting rained on. It was a light rain, so we kept going. It definitely made things more interesting…and slippery. He nearly dropped me a couple of times during one of the lifts, but managed to catch me against his body before I made it to the ground. The close contact and the way he held me tightly against himself was definitely getting me worked up. It didn’t help that he looked sexy as hell with his wet hair hanging down over his smoldering eyes and his white shirt turning transparent across his broad chest as it was saturated with water.

I eventually hit my limit on self-torture late in the evening. We called it quits after we both began shivering from our wet clothes meeting the cool night air. I waited just outside the terrace door while Dieter ran to get towels, nearly busting his ass on the slick floor in the process, which caused us to burst into laughter. He returned a short time later, walking more gingerly across the living space, with several towels in hand. He held one open and wrapped it around me. Then he grabbed another and draped it over my head, gently squeezing it around my saturated hair before turning his attention to rubbing his hands up and down my arms to help calm the shivering. I leaned into his chest, dropping my head backward onto his shoulder, seeking his warmth. It was an involuntary response, not even thinking about what I was doing before I did it. He didn’t seem to mind as he pulled me tightly against his front and wrapped his arms around me, resting his cheek on the side of my forehead.

We stood in the doorway like that for a while, watching it rain and not saying a word. All the while my heart was beating out of my chest because of his proximity and the way he was making me feel. For a brief moment, I considered turning my head to press my lips to his but dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. I suddenly felt like we were crossing that invisible line and needed to put some space between us. I pulled away, giving him a shy smile.

“I think I’m gonna make use of that soaking tub then head to bed. I’m starting to feel a little achy…from the weather, I’m sure…I probably need to try and relax some.”

Dieter actually looked a little disappointed but nodded. “Do you need me to get you anything?”

I shook my head, “Na, I’m good. Thanks though. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I noticed his hand lingered on my side until I moved out of his reach. I could feel his eyes on me until I closed the bedroom door behind me.

(More after the pics. Click to enlarge to read text.)

As I got settled into the tub, my phone dinged. It was from Dieter, sending me a short video clip of us dancing in the rain “for an insta post.” I gave him a thumbs up, before saving it to upload to Instagram. Once I finished with that task, I noticed I had a new notification. Dieter had tagged me in a post. He had apparently taken a picture of me at the plant boutique and shared it using the tags #ShePutsUpWithMeBecauseSheHasTo and #SheSecretlyLovesMeThough. I felt a rush at seeing those words. This was the second time he had said something like that, and it was causing butterflies to form in the pit of my stomach. I sighed, setting my phone down. I don’t know how much longer I can fight this.

I tried to clear my mind and focus on relaxing in the steaming hot water. It was hard, but I finally managed. Once the water began to cool, I got out, threw a t-shirt and shorts on and climbed into bed.

My dreams that night were about Dieter. Just when things were about to get interesting, I was jolted awake by my phone ringing. I looked over at the clock and groaned. It was 6AM. Who in the hell is calling this early…

The call went to voicemail before I could answer it. Then I realized I had several missed calls and text messages from my sister, Lydia. I felt panic rush through me as I unlocked my phone and opened my messenger app.

LYDIA: Kat, I just saw the pictures, call me. LYDIA: Are you ok? LYDIA: Did you know? LYDIA: I knew I didn’t like that guy, he’s such a fucking asshole. LYDIA: Why didn’t you tell me you two had split? I have so many questions. CALL ME!

I let out a whispered “What the fuck…,” confused as to what she was talking about. I opened Instagram and checked my tagged posts. There were pictures of Alec and Lana all over each other outside of an LA restaurant. The video taken outside the hotel the previous day of me saying they should ask Alec why I was no longer wearing my ring was also circulating. I sighed, “Well, guess the proverbial cat is out of the bag now.”

I did a quick google search which led me to a TMZ article about the whole thing. Apparently “insiders” were reporting that Alec was having an affair with Lana and there had been a confrontation after the last live show. Insiders. Right. I wonder who that is…

This was about to turn into a shitshow, and I was not looking forward to it. To make things worse, I knew Dieter would inevitably be pulled into the middle of it. I sighed, continuing to read through the rest of the article. And there it was, the “insiders” also shared that Dieter was playing the role of a supportive friend and helping me through this difficult time. They added that this latest development was sure to make the show a lot more interesting going forward.

I puffed air out of my cheeks in frustration, “Well it looks like Stacia and Joe are getting their fucking wish.”

Since our split was no longer a secret, I took a few minutes to go through and remove all of the pictures of Alec off my social media. No reason to keep that nonsense there now. Then I sent a quick text to my sister to let her know that I was fine and that I would call her later because I couldn’t talk right now. I didn’t have time to go over everything with her because I still had to get ready to go to the studio with Dieter so we could film the Dirty Dancing skit.

Once I was ready, I made my way out into the living room. Dieter was at the dining table, uneaten food sitting in front of him. His head jerked up from his phone as he gave me a sympathetic look. Fuck. He’s seen it too.

I moved to sit across the table from him as he slid a cup of coffee and a wrapped food item in my direction. I sighed, picking up the coffee and taking a long drink from it.

“You doing ok?” he finally asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, it wasn’t a surprise or anything. I already knew.”

He reached over, taking my free hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, “You wanna talk about it?”

I shook my head, my eyes focused on the coffee cup in my hand as I responded, “Not right now. I’m not gonna let him ruin my day. I’ll tell you about it later.”

In my periphery, I could see him nodding with pursed lips. “Well, at least today should be kind of fun. Filming a skit together should be interesting.”

I chuckled quietly, “Yeah. Interesting is right. I’m about to make a fool of myself.”

He smiled, “Na, I’ve got you. There aren't a lot of speaking parts for you, and you shouldn’t have any issues with the dancing.”

I snorted, “Yeah, we’ll see.”

Interesting was indeed a good description. What they had settled on doing for the skit was basically a movie trailer parody. They handpicked several scenes and figured out how to make them as ridiculous as possible. The first scene that we shot was where Baby carried the watermelon to the party. Except this time, it was Dieter carrying two very small watermelons at crotch level as he approached me, turning it into an unintentional joke about having small balls as he attempted to flirt…badly. I was having the hardest time keeping a straight face through several of the takes. The both of us actually burst into laughter a couple of times, but we finally managed it.

The next scene we filmed involved me beckoning him onto the dance floor, attempting to show him how to do the ‘dirty dancing’ that everyone else around us was doing. The way he was flailing around initially had me in stitches. After giving him a quick ‘lesson’ he switched to humping the air as I shook my head and walked out of frame, still trying to hold in my laughter. He followed after me with his arms out, shouting, “Oh come on, that was good.”

We filmed several other scenes from the movie, including Dieter standing in front of me as I slid my hand down the underside of his raised arm and him giggling like a fool as I got frustrated, practicing footwork on a giant fake log and him falling off of it as I gave an exasperated look, and teaching him the final dance where he was doing the most absurd over the top exaggerated movements throughout. We also did the “Nobody puts Bravo in a corner scene” to which I absolutely lost it every time I said the line. I blamed Dieter and the ridiculous puppy dog thing he kept doing with his eyes as the line left my mouth. It took several tries, but we finally nailed it.

We also shot a scene practicing the lift, except I was the one lifting Dieter and dropping him multiple times. They had him rigged up on a wire system for that, but there were still several instances where he really fell on top of me as we went down. We laughed it off, but there was some serious sexual tension forming that I absolutely could not ignore. By this point, we were heavily flirting and couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Even when the cameras were not rolling.

We ended by filming the final dance scene. He was still making the moves look as comical as possible, intentionally of course. We did the lift again, nailing it for the final shot. I stood there pretending to hold him up, trying to hold my laughter while he posed with his arms out and had a cheesy ass grin on his face for the camera. As they lowered him, he wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me against his body, laughing into the top of my hair about the whole thing.

“This is going to be the most ridiculous thing ever,” he finally said. Then he kissed me on the forehead, “Thank you for doing this with me.”

I was stunned. It took me a minute to snap out of it and respond, “No problem. It has been kind of fun. I can’t wait to see the final product.” He pulled away as two guys came to unhook him from the rig. I scurried out of the way to stand in the corner to wait for him. While waiting, one of the cast extras came over and asked to speak with me. I smiled politely, not knowing what she could possibly want, then motioned for her to continue.

“I feel stupid for asking and it’s probably a long shot, but is Dieter dating anyone?”

That was not a question I was expecting. Several things went through my head. Was she serious? Was this a ruse to see if we had something going on? What were her intentions? On top of the questions, I actually felt a tinge of jealousy. It wasn’t like I had any right to feel that way. I could lie and say he was seeing someone, but that didn’t seem fair to him. Part of me sort of wanted to see how he would handle her asking him out.

I stalled, glancing over at Dieter, who was struggling to get out of his harness. “Uhhh, I don’t think so,” I finally managed to get out.

I turned my attention back to the girl. She was pretty. A young blonde thing that I’m sure any man would find attractive. I felt my insides twist at the thought of him being interested in her. Fuck. I’ve got it bad.

“So, you two aren’t…a thing?”

It took me a second to realize what she was asking, but then I shook my head. “Oh no, not at all. Just dance partners, nothing else.” I hoped she couldn’t hear the disappointment in my voice.

She visibly relaxed, “Whew. Ok, good. I didn’t wanna step on any toes. Do you think he would be weirded out if I gave him my number?”

At least she asked, I guess. I shrugged, my mouth hanging open for a moment. “I honestly don’t know. It’s Dieter…you never know what sort of reaction you’re gonna get from him.”

It wasn’t a lie, but I also hoped it would be a deterrent. It didn’t seem to be. As he moved to walk toward me, she intercepted him. I could tell the moment she brought it up because his eyes widened as he nervously glanced in my direction. He sort of shrugged, shaking his head from side to side. It looked like he said something about not having any free time before he heads back to LA, obviously trying to let her down easily.

After the girl walked away, he gave me a wide-eyed stare as he moved toward me a little faster than necessary. He huffed out a laugh, “Fucking hell. What is with this cast trying to get with me.”

I felt relieved, now smiling up at him, “So it was a no, huh?”

He scoffed, “You knew what was happening?”

I snickered, “Yeah, she asked if you were seeing anyone. I said I didn’t think so.”

He shook his head, “If anyone else asks you that, lie. Tell them I’m celibate or asexual. I don’t care what you say. Just shut it down.”

Laughter shook my body as he pulled me into his side. He chuckled, “You and Zee are the only women in my life right now. I don’t need or want any more.”

My laughter subsided as I peered up at him. I wasn’t sure how to take that. I knew he was joking, but I wanted it to be true. I wanted to be his.

He glanced down at me and smiled, “Hey, how about we head back to the hotel, get changed, and go out for a decent dinner tonight? There’s a fancy Greek restaurant nearby that I think you’d enjoy.”

I felt my heart flutter over the fact that he wanted to take me to a Greek restaurant of all places. He was always so thoughtful. He had also turned someone else down, only to ask me to dinner immediately after. Why did he do that?

I arched a brow at him, “So, you have time to take me out to dinner, but not the hot blonde?”

He shrugged, “We need to rehearse after…and she’s not really my type.”

My eyes narrowed, “You say that a lot. Do you even know what your type is?”

He thought for a moment, then gave me a mischievous smile as he leaned down next to my ear, whispering in a velvety smooth voice, “For starters, I prefer brunettes.”

I felt goosebumps prickling at my skin as my eyes widened. What the hell is he doing? Surely, I’m reading into all this too much because I want it to be true.

I side-eyed him, “Mmhmm, is that the problem?”

He turned to look at me intently, “Yeah, it’s kind of a deal breaker.”

I chuckled, “Alright. Noted. I’ll be sure to send the brunettes you’re way and tell everyone else you’re celibate and not dating.”

Dieter rolled his eyes, grabbing my hand to pull me into the hallway, moving toward the dressing rooms as he entwined his fingers with mine.

(More after the pics. Click to enlarge to read text)

We paused in the hallway for a minute so I could take a quick selfie of us. I was overdue for another ‘behind the scenes’ Instagram post. Dieter leaned in and surprised me with a kiss on the cheek just as I snapped the picture. I wasn’t expecting it, which meant I couldn't help the cheesy grin that spread across my face. It made me feel a rush of excitement that I had to work hard to contain.

Dieter leaned over my shoulder as I pulled up Instagram to get it posted. I took the opportunity to give a little tease about what we were up to by adding the hashtag #NobodyPutsBravoInTheCorner. Dieter gave me a nod of approval before I hit ‘post’. If this didn’t whip the Dieterina crowd into a frenzy, then I didn’t know what would.

After that, we quickly changed out of our costumes and headed back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready to go out for dinner. I had a nervous flutter in my stomach as I pulled on the little black dress I had brought. This almost felt like a date, except he hadn’t called it that. Why would he? We were just two friends hanging out during a work trip after all.

Once I was ready, I walked out into the living room. Dieter let out a low whistle from where he was sitting just outside the open terrace door. I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks as his eyes looked me over from head to toe.

“Damn girl, you pulled out the revenge dress tonight.”

I laughed nervously, “Shut up. I did not.”

I walked outside, standing next to where he was sitting as I took in the dusky view of the city. When I turned back to face him, I caught him pointing his phone in my direction.

“What are you doing?” I asked as my eyes narrowed on him.

He snickered, “Taking a picture for Instagram. Fine art is meant to be appreciated after all.”

I rolled my eyes at him, “If you say so.”

He tapped away on his phone for a moment before standing and snaking his arm around my waist, “You ready to go? I can’t wait to show you off.”

My eyes snapped to his as I tried not to be distracted by the way he was pulling me against his body. A small smile tugged at my lips, “I wasn’t aware that I was yours to show off.”

He laughed nervously, “I mean…you are my dance partner. I think I’m allowed to be proud of that.”

I bumped my shoulder against his, “Mmhmm, I suppose so…Ya know, you don’t look so bad yourself.”

It wasn’t a lie. He was wearing some well fitted dark wash jeans, a black button up dress shirt, and a black blazer. His button allergy was flaring up of course, allowing a nice little peak at his chest. I spent more time staring at that patch of bare skin than I should have. I knew it would serve as a distraction all throughout dinner.

We left soon after that, walking to the restaurant that was just a couple of blocks over. Dieter had called ahead to reserve a table, so we didn’t have to wait long. As soon as we were seated, we knew we had eyes on us. There was a woman a few tables over trying to be sneaky about snapping pictures. We both sighed heavily once we realized it. We tried not to let it bother us, but it definitely had us on our best behavior for the most part. It didn’t stop Dieter from touching my knee under the table when he laughed about something or encouraged me to try some of his food. Each time, he would squeeze gently, sending shivers up my spine. I found myself wishing we were at a more private table, so we could really enjoy our time with each other. We still had fun though, and the food was as amazing as he said it would be.

We walked back to the hotel arm in arm, discussing our rehearsal plans for the evening. We figured we could get at least four or five hours in before we needed to go to bed. We wasted no time jumping into it, quickly changing then going out on the terrace to get started. By this point, we pretty much had the choreography figured out and just needed to work on polishing things up. Dieter seemed to be feeling more relaxed about the routine than he had earlier in the week, smiling and humming along to the music as we worked through the moves. His deep soulful voice was reverberating through every inch of my body, making it hard to focus on the steps, but I didn’t want him to stop.

After several minutes of the humming, my brows arched as I smiled at him. He smirked before spinning me around. “What are you smiling about?” he asked.

I shook my head, moving back into a closed position as we floated around the terrace to the music. “You don’t usually sing along. You must be feeling this song.”

He shrugged, “Ehh, it’s growing on me. The lyrics are…”

His words trailed off as his eyes met mine. There seemed to be a longing in his gaze as he gave me a soft smile, pulling me against him for the first small lift. Once my feet were firmly back on the ground, I prompted him, “The lyrics are what? You can’t leave me hanging like that.”

He chuckled, “I dunno…their bittersweet. Makes me wonder if a love like that actually exists.”

My breath hitched. I really wish I knew what he was thinking. I wasn’t sure how to respond to him. I opted for a bit of humor so as to not give myself away, “Well, if you happen to find it, please share the secret.”

He stared at me for a moment, the look in his eyes almost wistful. He seemed like he was about to say something else but didn’t, instead transitioning to the next move and going silent.

We went through the routine one more time after that, seeming to have it down for the most part. When we finished, I followed Dieter back inside, watching as he went to grab us a couple bottles of water from the mini fridge. I sat down on the sectional and stretched out along one side of it. He handed me a water as he walked by, then leaned down to lift my feet off the couch so he could sit down in front of the TV. I scoffed as he sat, watching him take a quick swig of water, trying not to laugh.

He finally looked at me with a sneaky smirk, then patted his lap for me to prop my feet up. I furrowed my brows. This felt like crossing the line. I hesitated. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Then leaned down to grab my feet, lifting them into his lap as he pulled me closer, causing me to scoot down the sofa so that I was lying down. He put his arm across my ankles so that I couldn’t move, “Sit back and relax Kit Kat. You’ve been going all day. I don’t want you to overdo it”

I blew air out of my cheeks as I settled in and got comfortable. Dieter was flipping through the channels on the TV when my phone buzzed with a text from my sister. She wanted to check in and see how I was doing. I sighed. I knew she had good intentions, but I didn’t want to interrupt my time with Dieter to fill her in. I shot her a quick text to let her know I was ok and that I would give her a call once I got back to LA. As I laid my phone down on my stomach, I noticed Dieter giving me a questioning look.��

I gave him a tight-lipped smile in return, “It’s my sister checking on me. She saw the pictures.”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek, now turning down the volume on the TV. Then he shifted to face me, propping his legs up along the edge of the couch next to my hip.

“You wanna talk about that now?” he asked gently.

“I mean, you don’t have to tell me what happened, but it may do you some good to talk to someone about it,” he added as he took my bare left foot in his hand and began to gently massage it with his thumbs. Damn, that feels good.

I sighed, “Yeah, I mean…it probably would. I haven’t told anyone what happened.”

I rubbed at the crease between my brows, dreading speaking it out loud. I really hoped I could keep it together.

“There’s not really much to it…last Thursday morning, Alec and I were supposed to go get breakfast before rehearsals. We hadn’t really spent much time together since the show started, so we were making an effort to do that. He had spent the night after coming in pretty late. I have no idea where he was, but I can assume…The next morning, as I was getting ready, he came in and said he had to switch rehearsal times with one of the other couples…straight up lied to my face to get out of going out with me. After he left…I called to check about his studio time and found out he hadn’t switched with anyone. So, I went to his apartment and walked in on him fucking Lana…without a condom I might add.”

Dieter gave me a sympathetic look, “So you lied about being stuck in traffic that morning.”

My face scrunched up as I inhaled deeply, “I did, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t wanna fall apart while we were filming. I just needed time…to process it. I was sort of in shock I think.”

He shrugged, “That’s understandable, but I knew something was wrong.”

“I know. I’m sorry that I worried you. I was just very much in my head and trying to figure out next steps. I hadn’t expected to end my day with a trip to the local clinic to get checked out because of my cheating fiancé. I was feeling a lot of emotions and didn’t really know how to express them yet...”

He grimaced as his thumb dug into the arch of my foot a little deeper, causing me to melt further into the sofa. I had to fight the urge to moan from the feeling. He really did give a good foot massage. God, is there anything he can’t do?

“Did the pictures upset you this morning?” he asked.

I shook my head, “Not really. I’m surprised they were so public with it this soon, but I’ve already seen worse than that. So, I didn’t really feel anything but annoyed by the shitstorm they’re about to unleash on us.”

“That’s probably a valid concern. Looks like Stacia and Joe are gonna get their drama.”

I gave a dismissive laugh, “Yeah, guess so…but even with that, I still feel sort of relieved. I made a mistake giving him another chance. I was already hating myself for making that decision…but at least it gave me a good reason to finally kick him to the curb. He couldn’t talk his way out of that one.”

Dieter’s thumbs moved to lightly rub small circles on the inside of my foot, just under the ankle bone. He was staring at me intensely now. Between the way he was touching me and the way he was looking at me, it caused my thighs to involuntarily clench together. I noticed his lips twitching, like he was fighting a smile. Fuck. Please tell me he didn’t notice that.

“That’s true. At least you can move on to bigger and better things now,” he finally said.

His voice seemed lower, causing the forming ache at my center to become almost unbearable. I could feel my breathing pick up as his eyes studied me. I squirmed under his gaze, my core now contracting around nothing. I felt the pressure of his thumb increase as it slid toward my Achilles tendon. That familiar sensation of a pending release started to build, my body involuntarily tensing as a result. My jaw fell slack as a tingling sensation started in my foot where he was rubbing and shot straight to my aching cunt. What the actual hell was that? Is he doing that on purpose? I pulled my foot away before I had a full-on orgasm from a fucking foot massage.

He smirked, “Something wrong?”

I sucked in a breath with wide eyes, shaking my head. “N-No. It’s just a little ticklish. Maybe avoid that spot.”

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip as he chuckled, “Noted.”

He switched to the other foot at that point, still glancing my way with that fucking smirk.

“You sure you’re OK? You look a little flushed,” he asked in a teasing tone.

I could have kicked him in his stupidly handsome face. I felt like he knew exactly what he was doing. Why would he do that on purpose though? Surely that wasn’t the case.

I pulled my feet from his lap and moved to sit up. I needed to put some space between us before I lost my damn mind and what little self-control I still had.

“Actually…I’m really tired, I think I’m just gonna head to bed. What time do we need to be at the studio tomorrow?”

Dieter’s lips turned downward, “Umm, eight I think.”

I nodded as I stood from the couch, “Alright… I’ll uhh… see you in the morning…Goodnight.”

I nearly tripped over the coffee table when I turned to walk toward my room. I didn’t even acknowledge my clumsiness, I just kept walking. I could hear Dieter snickering as I closed the door behind me.

It took me forever to fall asleep. I was so wound up I felt like I was about to snap. I was half tempted to try and relieve some of the tension but was worried I wouldn’t be able to stay quiet enough so that Dieter wouldn’t hear me on the other side of the door. As I laid there with my eyes closed, I silently cursed him for not going to his room.

Thank God this week of fucking torture is almost over. I can’t take much more.

Next: Week 5 (Part 3)

A/N: Y'all still with me? Are you ready to come at me with pitchforks yet? I told you, its a slow build. If you think the tension is bad now...It gets worse (if you can believe that). Don't worry, in the next part, things are going down (and so does Dieter...). 😏

Once again, there was so much that happened this chapter. The news about Kat/Alec/Lana has broke. The drama is upon them. We had a lot of cute (and hot) interactions with Dieter and Kat. Which one was your favorite?

How about that foot massage? Fun fact, some people can actually have an orgasm from a foot massage. It's a thing! You have a lot of nerve endings in your feet that connect to other parts of your body. Do you think Dieter is aware of this? How big of a menace do you think he being?

Do you think Dieter is laying it on too thick? Or is he meeting Kat in the middle? They are both definitely putting off some vibes.

Poor Dieter can't catch a break. Everyone wants a piece of him. Do you think people hitting on him will eventually have any impact on Kat?

What do we think Alec was up to? Something nefarious, or just wanting his stuff?

So, I know I said 3 parts for Rumba week. I lied. It will be 4, because... smut happened. I'm not sorry. 😂

Part 3 is nearly done. I plan to get it posted sometime next week. Haven't started part 4 yet, so no ETA on that one.

What do you think is going to happen in part 3? Who is going to break first? What's going to cause it? I can't wait to get this one out to you!

HERE is the sexy Rumba video for this chapter.

CP Tag List: @titlee78 @legendary-pink-dot @survivingandenduring @wannab-urs�� @harriedandharassed

@hisandsnakes @misstokyo7love @readingiskeepingmegoing @runningmom94 @sin-djarin

@cakipy-blog @missladym1981 @guelyury @weho2kcmo @alokaerza

@girlofchaos @trulybetty @rhoorl @bitchwitch1981 @madnessofadaydreamer

@darkheartgatita @jazzloveslatte @timpletance @musings-of-a-rose @samiamproductions

@myloveistoolittle @for-a-longlongtime @copperhalfcent @auteurdelabre @drewharrisonwriter

@burntheedges @stevie75 @bunniboo0015 @quicax3 @jackie923

@sherala007 @pastelnap @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @jessthebaker @rebel-held

@gwendibleywrites @senorabond @annalovesflorida @sandaltoesocks @katw474

@txlady37 @inkmonster21 @sunnytuliptime @jeewrites @fifitheragertot

@pasc4lfuzz @pedrostories @dieterbravobrainrotclub

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal characters #dieter bravo #dieter bravo fic #dancing dieter #soft dieter #cat dad dieter #plant dad dieter #dieter bravo smut #dieter bravo fluff #slow burn #closed position series

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axolotlclown · 10 days ago

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So I finished Moominvalley season 4 and here is my review:

Of course, spoilers ahead! It's long. It's detailed. It's a bit much, and I spent hours writing it.

I greatly disliked this season, not just from one particular angle. When Moominvalley first came out, it was advertised as the first narrative-style adaptation. This would imply one concrete story that ran throughout the show. They said the story would take time and required patience, but there was a larger narrative story. What was that story exactly? In the beginning, each character was established with certain flaws that they needed to grow from.

For Moomintroll, throughout season 1, we see him struggle with his father's expectations. He never quite makes his own decisions—either doing what he's told or what other people in his life would do. In the last episode of the season, Midwinter Ancestor, Moomintroll is told by Too-Tikky to not open the closet door. Going against her wishes, he does so anyway. This is the first instance of Moomintroll making a decision for himself. In the end, it was a bad decision, and he regretted it, but it still was a big moment. We understand the importance of this journey when he changes out the picture by his bedside table. It was a baby photo with his parents; now, it's a photo of Moomintroll fully grown. This was meant to denote a journey of independence.

We see him continue with this struggle in season 2. The Hobgoblin's hat adds to the internalized identity crisis. During the lighthouse arc, Moomintroll is mostly doing his own thing, somewhat. Although, I think that cutting out his glade from the book sort of hurt this theme of independence. I hoped that they would revisit that somehow, but they never did. In season 3, Lonely Mountain, we see a sort of regression with Moomintroll. (Ignore how this affected Snufkin, I'll come back to this later.) When Moomintroll unpacks his things, we see a collection of items that represent Moomintroll's past. One of these items was the old baby picture. Aside from this episode, we don't see any notable growth from Moomintroll this season.

In season 4, we watch Moomintroll fall right back into his father's shadow. He continues to struggle to carve his own path. The set up for Comet in Moominland was promising, but ultimately did not deliver. When Moomintroll goes against his friends to make a decision for himself, it turns out to be a bad decision that he regrets later, and someone else has to guide him out of the situation.

Moomintroll ends from the same place he started as a character. All growth is erased and ignored. While this is the most egregious example—with him being the protagonist—he is not the only character that this happens with.

Snufkin probably upsets me the most, as he had so much potential to be the most interesting character in the series. In season 1, The Spring Tune, we see where Snufkin is starting as far as his strengths and flaws go. What particularly intrigued me was his relationship to attachment. We see that Snufkin ultimately fears abandonment, and he copes with this in conflicting ways. He wants to be with Moomintroll out of fear of being left behind, but he is afraid that he feels this way. He tries to create distance between him and Moomintroll in an attempt to ease what he experiences as pain. This is demonstrated further in the next episode, The Last Dragon in the World, when he frees the dragon. We see his struggle with responsibility and commitment in Snufkin and the Park Keeper.

In season 2, The Hobgoblin's Hat, Snufkin is explaining to Moomintroll what the King's Ruby is. The ruby functions as a metaphor for love throughout the season. Moomintroll imagines that the Hobgoblin must love this ruby, while Snufkin argues that he only wants to possess it. While both may be correct in their own ways, they fail to understand each other. As a result, Snufkin decides to leave Moomintroll out of fear of being possessed himself under the false pretense that he is helping with the hat (he did not). We never visit this plot point again.

Snufkin has some large developments in season 3. In the Lonely Mountain, we see Snufkin break down his walls and let Moomintroll in. He acknowledges his responsibility to him and his longing to see him. Unfortunately, this aspect of his character is completely abandoned in season 4.

Back to season 1, Snufkin and the Park Keeper, we get a flashback in which Snufkin is enjoying a party with Moomintroll until he is overwhelmed by the presence of others. He winds up abandoning Moomintroll and the valley. He does this again in season 2, The Hobgoblin's Hat, as discussed above. In season 3, Snufkin and the Fairground, Snufkin chooses not to abandon his responsibility to Moomintroll or the valley. When faced with an uncomfortable challenge, he chooses to stay and support Moomintroll.

In season 4, The Great Cold, when faced with a crowded challenge, Snufkin abandons Moomintroll again. While he appears later in the episode, it felt disingenuous to me. The original problem had already been solved. In Comet in Moominvalley, Snufkin does not abandon Moomintroll. In fact, he makes an active effort to stay by his side. But it feels strange, almost undeserved? We saw so little of Snufkin this season, and when we did, he spent his screen time backtracking his progress.

In season 3, Lonely Mountain, Snufkin has a small monologue about listening to the campfire as the sparks dance and fly. Well, the whole episode was about listening. Anyway, that was a call back to the season 1 episode, The Invisible Child, in which Too-Tikky tells Moomintroll that there are many lost souls in Moominvalley that needed to be heard. The screen then cut to Snufkin leaving the valley. It would have been really cool to find out what that meant!

His abandonment issues never really get addressed. Refusing to let Snufkin meet his father was just baiting the audience. It was also just bad writing! What's his deal—where's his lore?? Who made him like this? Why is he so afraid of intimacy? Why are basic fundamental questions about this main character being left unanswered?

It really is disappointing. Every adaptation (and the books, if we're being honest) treat Snufkin like a stoic hero. He doesn't want to be looked up to, yet he's always painted as a character that you should. This is the first adaptation that gave him flaws. He felt like a character that needed growth and time. He was never given either.

I won't spend so much time on Snorkmaiden, even though she was robbed, too. She never grew to be more independent apart from Moomintroll. In the same vein as Moomintroll and Snufkin, her character ends exactly the way she started. All of her character growth vanished in seasons 3 and 4. I love this version of Snorkmaiden. I certainly prefer it to her other portrayals. But the writers screwed her over so bad, it's heartbreaking.

None of the characters actually learn or change. Everyone sort of becomes a static character, which makes any semblance of a plot impossible to write. For the fun of it, I will try to decode a plot, anyway.

So, you're not crazy. Moomintroll and Snufkin were set up to be endgame. There was a way to make Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden endgame in a satisfying way, but the writers chose against it. It's a very suspicious backtracking that reeks of queerbaiting, but let me explain the narrative romance angles first.

I feel unsatisfied with the ending Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden got. Throughout seasons 1 and 2, they would frequently lie for each other's approval, and jealousy was a common player. They would ignore each other when someone more interesting came along. Ultimately, what led to the break up in season 2, Farwell Snorkmaiden, was the understanding that Snorkmaiden was just more mature than Moomintroll. In her own way, she was ready for a serious committed relationship, and Moomintroll was not.

However, there was never a formal conversation of them getting back together. They just sort of were? And all of the problems in their relationship were never resolved. They still lied to each other and ignored one another for something shinier all the time. It was irritating. These two became no better than Sniff in the end. I'm standing on business with that.

I'm also not convinced that Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden can have a healthy relationship after the finale. They will definitely break up again. They haven't resolved any of the issues that led to their original break.

Okay, so Moomintroll and Snufkin. Let's chat about that for a while. The first three episodes establish Moomintroll, Snufkin, and their relationship together (in that order). We, as viewers, are led to believe that their relationship (either romantic or platonic) is the key to understanding the story. Throughout seasons 1 and 2, every single motif for love (lanterns, fires, the ruby, etc.) that is introduced is done with Moomintroll and Snufkin. Regardless, different expressions of love and intimacy were the focal point of the show. That was almost completely abandoned in seasons 3 and 4. While turning the focus on the greater community could have added depth, it ultimately detracted from the close personal relationships that were driving the narrative.

So, the Groke. She does not just represent fear, she is a reflection of each character's own fears. I loved this! I thought it was a really cool concept, and the ways that she was portrayed in seasons 1 and 2 were excellent. Here's the thing. In her introduction in season 1, Night of the Groke, we are also introduced to lanterns/fires as a motif about love. The Groke is chasing love and craves acceptance. It's not quite something you can catch, and trying to is a failed endeavor. Brilliant episode. We saw what Snufkin's greatest fear was earlier in the season (loving Moomintroll), but we needed to pay more attention to see Moomintroll's fear. I think it was complex. On one hand, with the lanterns, Moomintroll could also be afraid to love Snufkin. However, as we saw at the end of Moomintroll and the Seahorses, he needs to learn independence before he can love someone. This was also reinforced through Snorkmaiden in Farwell Snorkmaiden. The fires and lanterns were constant reoccurring motifs (not just for Moomintroll and Snufkin, though that's where the focus is right now). Rewatch the season 3 episode, Lonely Mountain, and that one monologue that Snufkin gives will start to make sense.

By abandoning these important motifs, the Groke's conclusion feels unfinished. It just felt wrong. In the end, she did just represent fear. This completely erased the layer of depth that she had to start.

For Moomintroll to learn to be more independent and self-reliant, he needed to learn from Snufkin. For Snufkin to learn to accept love and responsibility, he needed to learn from Moomintroll. They were the keys to each other's growth. When they were together, the plot moved. When they weren't, the episodes felt like filler for the most part.

Also, small detail, despite the change in one photo (the baby photo to grown Moomintroll) the photo with Moomintroll and Snufkin never changed. Which narratively makes no sense.

The writers originally set this up for them to be romantically involved. Which, given the context of their dynamic in the books and comics, makes sense. It's not as much of a stretch as people are trying to gaslight themselves into believing. These characters were originally heavily queer coded. However, the original text is sort of a tragedy. No matter what happened, Moomintroll and Snufkin could never truly be together—no matter how much they tried. This mirrored Tove Jansson's relationship to her first fiance Atos Wirtanen as well as her relationship to her own queerness. However, it looked like Moominvalley wanted something different. Queer people had enough tragic stories told already. This one would tell queer kids that it was going to be okay, and that they were going to find love. Tove Jansson's original message about love and freedom was finally going to be understood.

Instead, not only was this potentially beautiful story abandoned, it was mocked. In the season 4 episode, Midsummer Meddling, there was a scene I found quite shocking. Sniff had convinced himself that he was to fall in love with somebody. One of his "love interests" was a male scarecrow. This is the only openly queer semblance of romance that we got and it was played off as a joke. In the final season. They didn't even backtrack Moomintroll and Snufkin, they just completely ignored everything that was set up.

In the final episode, Comet in Moominland, there was an incredibly brief exchange between Moomintroll and Snufkin about who looked up to who. This would have been a fantastic place to give these characters some sort of conclusion, but we don't get that. In all of the 45 minute special, the characters are never prioritized. In the whole season, even. Really, not a single character got a satisfying conclusion, but Moomintroll and Snufkin were the most important.

This is a powerful and historic piece of queer media. Tove Jansson's queer legacy was so iconic that she was directly cited as an influence in the legalization of same sex marriage in Finland. Her work proved to further the queer community. Despite sodomy laws and fear of incarceration, Jansson continued to do what she could to tell her own queer story. That is what Moomin is. That is its legacy.

I was prepared to defend Gutsy if Snufmin didn't go canon. At the end of the day, it's usually TV execs threatening to pull the whole show off the air. The show was too costly to risk any interesting writing. However, the writers didn't recover, and some of the writing just felt downright melicious at times.

Anyway, if you love slice-of-life content, you probably loved this season and the show's conclusion. It is such a shame that the creators promised something completely different from what the show turned out to be. It's no surprise that viewers are disappointed.

I do have one more thing to say ☝️😀. This is going to hurt Moomin's mission to expand to the US. It's been very obvious that they have been trying to expand to North America. Brave and bold writing would have caught the attention of new viewers. Instead, few Americans are going to recommend this show to others. Aside from that, the next logical move is to make an American adaptation. Good luck trying to find a competent YA cartoon creator that won't threaten to walk off the project if they can't have Snufmin. That being said, they'll have better luck making that canon here anyway. (Everybody say, "thank you Rebecca Sugar and Pendleton Ward.")

Well, in the end, I don't think the fight to make Snufmin a real, transparent queer story ends with Moominvalley. I can say, though, that the prioritization of profit over respect and love for others is not at all what Tove Jansson would have wanted.

Seasons 1 and 2 were peak, and season 3, episode 8, was batshit insane. That is all.

#this took me several hours to type out #but im glad i did #i feel like theres so much more to talk about #and theres so many more episodes i can rant about #but i more so want to hear what other people think #homophobia won today #and so did bad writing #sad!#thoughts of dante #moomin #moominvalley #moominvalley season 4 #side tangent #the joxter having a song called you keep me warm when we already have a motif about fires and warmth and love #and then we dont do anything with that #they barely did anything narratively with the joxter #i love him so much and i love his voice actor #but hes really representative of the greater problem with that season #huge missed potential #hes there for three total episodes but does not add to a single characters development and least of all the overall plot #maybe ill make a separate post and the motifs and how they were completely abandoned in season 4

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blicketdabest33 · 10 months ago

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Y'all remember that MCYT PJO au I asked for help with awhile ago? WELL HERE'S THE CABINS AND MY EXPLINATIONS BEHIND THEM!!

#1 Zeus Cabin: Jimmy, Joel Jimmy: He's a Zeus kid, but everyone somehow forgets about it. Joel: He's competitive and strong. Also, because Jimmy is his half brother through godly parent, i get to make a fun bit about him dating Lizzie. And one of his origins in Afterlife SMP was a thunderborn

#2 Hera Cabin: Scott Scott: Scott's whole thing is loyalty. Hera is the goddess of marriage and is insanely loyal to Zeus. However, I feel like Hera should get at least one affair. So now Scott can use peacocks as weapons.

#3 Poseidon Cabin: Skizz Skizz: Poseidon kids tend to be really, really loyal to a fault and heroic, both qualities I think Skizz possesses.

#4 Demeter Cabin: Sausage, Shelby, Bdubs, Stress Sausage: This man built Sanctuary in a jungle and has flowers in his hair. He sells wood. There is no other place to put him. Shelby: Mushroom gnome, spooky mangrove witch, powerful storm witch, i need not continue. Bdubs: Moss man. Stress: SHE HAS FLOWERS

#5 Ares Cabin: Martyn, False Martyn: His planet is Mars, which is the roman version of Ares. He ended Limited Life in such a violent way, i can't help it. He was also red for the majority of Secret Life. False: I just feel like False should get to kill people more often.

#6 Athena Cabin: Grian, Pix, Owen, Xisuma Grian: This sums it up pretty well

Pix: Smart man. Archeologist and definitely a nerd. I wanna see him skipping out on training just so he can read history books. Owen: He likes to explore and discover new things in Pirates. In Rats, he's a tinkerer. In New Life, he's an explorer who wants to study hybrids. In Empires, he's a Llama who's curious about how humans work. Just a very curious character overall. Xisuma: Admin. I'm not elaborating.

#7 Apollo Cabin: Gem, Oli, Lyarrah Gem: She is an Apollo kid because of her Empire in S2. She's the sunlight princess. Apollo kid. Oli: MUSIC. MAN. Lyarrah: She writes the captions for the hermitcraft recap.

#8 Artemis Cabin: Pearl Pearl: Y'know, Artemis could've just like... had a kid, even though she took that oath. It wouldn't even have to be with a guy. Gods can change to whatever gender they want. Anyway, Pearl gets to be an Artemis kid because her symbolism is moon, she loves dogs, and will commit murder and hunt at night.

#9 Hephaestus Cabin: Doc, Mumbo, Tango, Impulse, Cub, Zedaph, Fwhip, Iskall Doc: Redstone Mumbo: Redstone Tango: Redstone Impulse: Redstone Cub: Redstone Zedaph: Redstone Fwhip: Redstone AND has a red scarf (don't ask me how that's relevant) Iskall: Redstone

#10 Aphrodite Cabin: Keralis Keralis: Okay, I don't know why, but Keralis gives me the vibes of a very charming person. His voice is nice to listen to, so imagine how useful it'd be if I gave him charm speak.

#11 Hermes Cabin: Scar, Etho, Joe Scar: Trader Scar, scammer extraordinar. Etho: All i must say is Shady-E's. I get "jack-of-all-trades, master of none, often better than master of one" vibes from him. He's funny, he's mischievous, it just works. Joe: Comedy man. Excellent delivery. And, yet again, i look at this man and go "That right there is a multi-talented man with a habit for mischief."

#12 Dionysus Cabin: Joey, Beef Joey: *points at his season one empires theme* i need not say more Beef: Idk, food. I don't really have a reason. I don't know too much about Beef.

#13 Hades Cabin: Zloy Zloy: Zombie man. He writes the Hermitcraft recaps in the dark at 2am with nothing but pure spite.

#14 Iris Cabin: Katherine Katherine: SHE. HAS. COLORS. and also I couldn't put her in Demeter cabin because Shelby is already there and i am NOT excluding Nature Wives from this au

#15 Hypnos Cabin: Bigb, XB, Wels Bigb: Sleepy stuff, right? WRONG. Gaslight. Go in everyones dreams, make fake prophecies, peace out, and cause chaos. XB: I look at his fanon design, I see an alien, and I go "aha he sleeps" Wels: This guy (@dingdinghq) said so and i completely agree. Something about sleeping in S6.

#16 Nemesis Cabin: Edit: wels not here no more

#17 Nike Cabin: Ren Ren: VICTORY. I don't know much about Ren's story in the Life Series, but I look at this man and see someone who has won a lot.

#18 Hebe Cabin:

#19 Tyche Cabin: TFC TFC: Man goes mining and gets really lucky. That's it.

#20 Hecate Cabin: Lizzie, Cleo, Jevin Lizzie: Witchy vibes. Also, Arson. Cleo: Arson. She uses her magic for Arson. Jevin: He's a magic slime. Also, Arson. All Hecate kids love Arson.

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wen-kexing-apologist · 11 months ago

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Random BL Superlatives: 2023

Well @lurkingshan did it, so I must do it. So here are some random, WKA themed superlatives for the 2023 BL selection.

Best Hands: Mhok and Day, Last Twilight

gif by @singularities

Listen. I know. I KNOW. There are so many incredible options, and I have written at length about a number of them. I mean come on, La Pluie is right there, I Feel You Linger in the Air is right there, Sing My Crush, Moonlight Chicken etc. etc. etc. But

But, Last Twilight came in with the steel chair right at the end of the year here with that FUCKING HANDSING SCENE. Can you blame me? The handsing scene is shrimply too powerful.

Best Lighting: Playboyy

You know, it's funny cause I don't usually end up writing about lighting in shows, despite the fact that lighting design is absolutely one of my favorite things in film, stage, and television. Chains of Heart has really interesting lighting too, but Playboyy is an objectively better show, and it is doing some absolutely gorgeous lighting design.

Best Sex Scene: Olive Oil, I Feel You Linger in the Air

gif by @pharawee

THE OLIVE OIL SCENE, WHY ARE THERE NO GIFSETS OF THE OLIVE OIL SCENE? WHY IS TUMBLR SUCH A FUCKING HATER???? They didn't even fuck in that scene, but holy mother of GOD it was the best thing I've seen all year. I Feel You Linger in the Air has some of the most inventive and beautiful intimate moments, and spreading the olive oil as a stand in for arousal and masturbation was absolutely goddamn brilliant.

Best Faen (Non)Fatale: Porjai, Last Twilight

gif from @khaopybara

I know Last Twilight hasn't finished yet and will take us in to 2024, but Porjai and Mohk's relationship is absolutely my favorite lovers to friends dynamic I have seen this year. I was showering praise upon them all for this in the tags of a reblog today, so I have to give it to them. Massive shout out and extremely close call to Nara from La Pluie.

Best Emotional Roller Coaster: What Did You Eat Yesterday? Season 2

Ok there were quite a lot of shows that I think would have applied here, but man oh man this entire season has just run me through the wringer with how much Shiro has grown over the course of the last two seasons. Episode 11 had me laughing my ass off, and then absolutely sobbing by the end. So it's going to Kinou Nani Tabeta?

The Shirt I Want to Steal Most from Wardrobe: Blue and White Button Up, The Sign

gif from @ohshinytrinketsmine

I know this will be contentious when the Fart Proudly shirt is right there, but I really loved the blue and white button up shirt that Phaya wore I do not know what is in the water at IdolFactory, but they have hands down some of the best shirts I have ever seen. When I watched Secret Crush on You I wanted the entirety of Sky's wardrobe, now I am having shirt envy for this sexy little blue-with-white-lines-that-are-vaguely-rabbit-shaped (wka do not write a post about rabbits, do not write a post about rabbits-) button up.

The Character Who Most Changed my Opinion of Them: Phupa, OS2 x BBS x ATOTS

gif by @alexshenry (double PhupaPat whammy for @waitmyturtles)

Okay, so to tell you the truth, I made new superlatives cause if I took the superlatives from @lurkingshan's post it would have been at least half the same if not more (because as always, Shan is right about everything). But, I will put an overlap here because I absolutely could not let this year go by without applauding Aof, Earth, and Phupa for really putting in the work to help me understand this man better.

The Show That Most Surprised Me: Wedding Plan by MAME

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Okay not only was this show that I absolutely was not planning to watch or initially interested in actually one of the best of the year, but it was also a MAME show. And a lot of us have our critiques of MAME's writing, but this was so outside of her typical MO that I am shocked it came from the same writer. Love Sailom, love a Lavender Wedding, love Nuea, love it all.

The Trope This Year That Most Accounted for the Fact These Are Gay MEN: Boxing! Sing My Crush, Wedding Plan, The Sign

Sing My Crush did this the absolute best, but I really genuinely loved that multiple shows this year let men fight in controlled settings to get out some of their frustration and to process their feelings. Han Ba Ram crying in the gym? One of my favorite scenes of the entire year.

And yeah sure, Phaya and Tharn are fighting for the intricate rituals that allow men to touch the skin of men, we get the horny vibes, but fundamentally this fight does occur because Tharn is angsty and ignoring Phaya and that cannot stand. I like seeing Phaya sparring with the punching bag at the end of the most recent episode as well because he's fucking furious about Tharn telling the doctor about his dreams. I love it, I love it so much.

#bl superlatives #last twilight the series #playboyy the series #i feel you linger in the air #what did you eat yesterday?#kinou nani tabeta?#the sign the series #our skyy 2 x bbs x atots #a tale of a thousand stars #sing my crush the series

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beautifulterriblequeen · 5 months ago

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Teaser thoughts

I had to do adulting (leave for a suddenly rescheduled appt) 20 mins after the trailer dropped this morning, so I'm only now starting to get my thoughts settled but omg I have to write this stuff down or how will I know what I think

here we go

Rayllum flying together. Is it cute, romantic, or is it some twist where they're going somewhere for horrible reasons in a hurry and they can't even take the Shadowpaw. Where is the Shadowpaw why are they fl-

Does Ethari have his Shadowpaw back is that why they have to fly

Love the bisexual vibes here ngl

Starscraper is over land. It's not a deep thought shhh

The search for Zubeia. I'm curious why Ezran has let two of his best Crownguard leave his side. Surely this will have no consequences!

Janaya kiss with Amaya on her tippy toes. Janai has her crown on here. I feel that's relevant for uhh later. I hope this is real and not a dream Janai is having - those have not been going well for her.

This one makes me sad. The picture is torn, but then mended, and I love that. But it's set up like you'd see at a funeral.

Is this one super early on in episode 1 maybe? It could be the same night as the end of S5. That feels more likely than Terry catching up to Claudia later on... specifically in her allowing him close after what we got in the other trailer. Aahhh

This one has so much in it, I can't! It's got star bug stuff which I'm extremely here for, let the gods be gooey. It's got the whole quasar diamond crown right there. It's got Rayllum having a close moment. and it's posed like they're at the altar in a chapel getting married. Also the star is upside down in the stained glass window, so whatever theme is going on it's being consistent there.

This is one of my favorites: Ezran out on his own castle bridge defending it. Ye Olde Narrative of Strength got to him! Opeli looking worried has me worried - she's usually so certain and swift. This could be Viren trying to come home like a half drowned rat - will they let him in? Don't make me think of the men of Númenor right now, do not.

Battle couple battle couple! Rayla and Callum teaming up again! (she's the dark blob kicking free in the upper left) I love when a couple fights together. gonna be super normal about that.

This top down view of the Starscraper is a little dizzying, ngl. With Callum and Rayla tiny at the bottom, three floors down, these flying, circling elves give me shark vibes. What if they're not nice. like at all.

Why was Stella falling!? what are the Celestials doing, are they helping or are they trying thievery? Is this just a big mob of seagulls here

Janai is losing control of her emotions, she's furious and sad. She's setting fire to the Sun Seed tree. We know the Seed was stolen, but maybe this is her finding out, early on. It's less angsty if it's early, you know how things always get Worse during the course of a TDP season lmfao. If it's later on, maybe the fact that she isn't wearing her crown is... important.

Rayla in the frozen ship. Why's it burning, what's she there for? why did she go alone? This gives me some Banther Lodge infiltration vibes ngl.

Okay I am all about this altercation. Viren shoving Kpp'Ar to the floor in fury. are they arguing about Soren? dark magic? both? neither? What's the logo stand for, what's the I for in IK? Does he have a show called It's Kpp'Ar and they're just on set? lmfao the real reason there are gears everywhere is to change the rooms around isn't it. Kpp'Ar just got sick of those extra 29 steps to the kitchen.

Few things are scarier than a True Believer getting everything he wants. this shot of Karim being so filled with elation cannot be saying good things for Janai's prospects. He's got all kinds of cool Sunfire stuff on, too, including a crown, and his old tin ring from his mother. Those things were confiscated when he was exiled, which means he must not be exiled anymore. He could be king, having displaced Janai somehow, and he's fulfilling his intentions to his people by bringing back the glory of the Sunfire elves by healing their injured archdragon. Or so he hopes, anyway! We'll see if it works.

Sol Regem has come out of his cave and he's got that Power Dragon Wingspread going on. Looks like he's been convinced to take a swing for uhhh big dragon things! I wonder how far his power will reach... and his bitterness. We might get a new Dragon King that makes Avizandum look soft.

It's so interesting to me what we did not get to see in the teaser, too. There's no Aaravos, no Aanya, no Runaan or Ethari, no Kim'dael. If we get another trailer before July 26, maybe they'll be in there! Or maybe we'll just have to white knuckle it until release day.

Hold on tight! S6 is coming!

#tdp #tdp spoilers #tdp s6 #tdp teaser trailer #the dragon prince #karim #viren #janaya #rayla #callum #rayllum

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aspoonofsugar · 8 months ago

Note

What do you think about You Don't Know and other Hazbin Hotel songs?

Hi!

I love the songs in Hazbin Hotel and You Didn't Know is an absolute banger!

It is also one of my favourite songs when it comes to symbolism and themes. So here it comes a short analysis.

You Didn't Know explores the themes of ignorance, knowledge and questioning, as it is introduced by this exchange:

Charlie: Wait… none of you know what gets someone into Heaven? Sera: This questioning stops now. We know when a soul arrives, we know when they pass divine judgment, it is our job to ensure these souls are safe.

The angels have no idea why a soul is considered worthy of Heaven, which angers Charlie. Still, Sera insists it is not their place to know and that they simply must accept divine judgement. However, this idea is questioned by both Emily and Charlie:

Emily: But she was right, Sera She showed us a soul can improve He saw the light, Sera Checked all the boxes that you said would Prove a person deserves a second chance Now we turn our backs, no second glance?

Charlie: It's not fair, Sera Vaggie: Careful, Charlie, keep a cool head Charlie: No! Don't you care, Sera? That just because someone is dead It doesn't mean they can't resolve to change their ways Turn the page Escape infernal blaze

The two princesses point out how unfair the current system is and put some pressure on the angels. However, they too are still naive, which is why they get called out themselves.

By Sera:

Sera: It's not as simple as you think Not everything is spelled in ink

Sera: I 'm sure you wish it could be so But there's a lot that you don't know

And by Adam:

Adam: Gotta say, I can't wait to Come down and exterminate you! Emily:What are you saying? Let me get this straight You go down there and kill those poor souls? Charlie: You didn't know?

Adam: Don't you act all high and mighty Did you ever think your little girlfriend might be a liar? Vaggie: Don't, Adam, please! Adam: What's the fuss? Why hide the fact that you're an angel Just like us?

Emily and Charlie are ignorant when it comes to their loved ones. Specifically, they ignore the role of both Sera and Vaggie in the exterminations. They don't know Sera and Vaggie's shadows:

Still, this song has the characters' secrets come out, so that they can be dealt with. In future episodes we see Hell and Charlie do so, whereas Heaven and Sera refuse to. This is why season 1 ends with Hell's victory.

Still, why does Sera refuse to accept the truth? What is it that scares her so much?

Sera: They were uprising, Emily. It is my position as the head Seraphim to protect our people at all costs.

Sera fears the order might break, which could result in her loved ones suffering. In this sense, she is similar to Carmilla:

But if anyone knew, then all of Hell would rise to war And who's to say who'd survive the fray? I might lose the ones that I was killing for

That said, even if it is only temporary, Heaven's order is indeed lost throughout the song. This is shown by two visual motifs:

The metaphorical use of heights

The use of colors, especially blue and red

WHO HAS THE MORAL HIGH GROUND?

The seating in the courtroom is organized, so that it mirrors the characters' perceived morality:

Sera and Emily, as Seraphims and judges are at the very top

The other high ranking angels are the jury, so they are just below the two seraphims

Adam, Lute, Charlie and Vaggie are the two parts debating, so they are below the judges and the jury. Still, they are not on the same level. Adam and Lute are above Charlie and Vaggie.

This arrangement shows that Sera has no intention to be a fair judge, as she has already decided the Exorcist Adam has the moral high ground on the Princess of Hell. He is an angel and she is a demon. He is the first virtuous soul and she is Lucifer's daughter. He embodies the status quo, while she is trying to change it. So, Sera has already decided to favor Adam over Charlie. In other words, the moral high ground highlights not morality, but the influence Heaven has over Hell. It is nothing more, but the embodyment of their power dynamic.

Despite this, as the song starts things change in multiple ways:

1- Emily steps down

Emily empathizes with Charlie and gets down off the pedestal Sera has built for her. She is still above Charlie and Adam, but she invites the other angels to show mercy, to be just. This is because Emily strongly believes Heaven is a place where virtue and morality reign.

2- Adam and Lute look down on Charlie

Adam and Lute make their case and claim Hell is forever:

Adam and Lute: Did you forget that "Hell is forever"?

As they sing this part, they stand on the magical orb and look down on Charlie. They have the upper hand and judge her and the other demons as creatures inferior to angels. At this point, though, Adam flies down to threathen Charlie:

By doing so, he reveals the existence of the exterminations and shows that he himself is no different from a demon. So, Adam and Charlie are on equal footing.

3 - Emily reaches Charlie

The reveal of the Exterminations shocks Emily, who reaches the floor to better look at the destruction Heaven is causing. Her idealistic vision of Heaven gets shattered, so she is forced to re-evaluate the system and the current order. She stops positioning herself as higher than Charlie and goes down to better see things from her perspective.

4 - Sera flies down

Sera panics and hurries to Emily to convince her that what she has done is for the greater good. She is forced to step down and to confront the younger Seraphim on the floor:

Sera: You have to listen It was such a hard decision I wanted to save you, the anguish it takes to Do what was required

Still, Emily refuses Sera's explanation and calls her out:

Emily: To think that I admired you Well, I don't need your condescension I'm not a child to protect Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naïve to expect you To heed the morals you're purveying?

As she does, she flies higher than Sera because she is showing more morality than her mentor:

5- Charlie and Emily gain the moral high ground

As Charlie and Emily sing together in anger and frustration, they jump on the magical orb. Their pose mirrors Adam and Lute's one, but their point is the thematical opposite:

Charlie and Emily: If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie!

Adam and Lute claim "hell is forever", whereas Charlie and Emily answer that "if hell is forever, then heaven must be a lie". Not only that, but they say it looking down on Sera, who is supposedly the higher ranking angel and the judge.

Charlie starts the questioning at the very bottom, but in the climax she gains the upper hand. Sera should be at the very top, but in the end she is reduced to look up to the two girls from the floor.

The questioning starts as a farce and a demonstration of political power. However, Charlie's determination and Emily's sense of justice make it the real deal. Hypocrisy disappears and the truth becomes visible to everybody. Even if just for a moment.

6- Sera takes back control

Sera uses Adam's reveal about Vaggie to re-assert order over the courtroom. She and Emily fly back to their seats and Sera is free to be the judge again. Her final decision is the one she was determined to make in the beginning:

Sera: I'm sorry… but this court finds that there is no evidence souls in Hell can be redeemed.

Sera refuses Charlie and Emily's pleas and goes back to the pre-established order.

RED DEVIL AND BLUE ANGEL

Charlie and Emily unmasking the truth about Heaven and Hell is highlighted also by the way red and blue are used throughout the song. In general, Hell and Heaven are color-coded. Hell is red and Heaven is blue. For example, Charlie and Vaggie wear red, whereas St Peter, Sera and Emily wear blue:

Not only that, but Sera and Emily's wings have blue details and shades. Lucifer is a Seraphim too, but his wings are red inside, as he is the titular devil:

That said, You Didn't Know breaks this color scheme to show how angels like Adam, Lute and Sera are behaving like devils. This clip of Sera makes it clear:

Hell's flames are mirrored in her eyes and make her look scary, when she is trying to be reassuring. A stark contrast with the blue and gold idealized imagery Emily has of her:

By the moment Charlie and Emily state their powerful come-back the colors are basically mixed. Just like the Princess of Hell (red) and the Youngest Seraphim (blue) stand together and share the same moral vision:

Charlie and Emily: If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

Hell and Heaven are not red (black) and white (blue), but have shades (of gray). Just as Charlie and Emily sing this, the world around them changes to prove them right.

The two girls break the system and show clearly that:

Charlie is the one pursuing morality, as she is trying to protect people

Good and Evil are not so easily defined, as the angels behave like demons and demons show positive traits and virtues

Unluckily, this isn't enough to change things, as Heaven is stuck in their own rules:

Lucifer: Hohooo boy, Heaven, is not exactly as carefree as you might think. Yeah, they have rules, lots of rules, and they aren't very open minded as you'd hope.

A QUESTION TO BE POSED

The debate between Charlie and Adam is about the possibility or not to redeem souls in Hell. Deep down, though, it is really about something much more basic. Is it alright to question things? Every character has their own viewpoint on the matter:

Charlie: Well, if you know so much, what do you think it takes to get into Heaven?

Adam: Uhhh… well, uh… then why isn't he here then? Hm? Emily: Yeah, why isn't he here?

Lute and Adam: There's no question to be posed He's unholy, case closed

Charlie and Emily are genuinelly asking questions. They wanna know why some spirits end up in Heaven and why others do not. Adam and Lute, instead refuse to investigate things. Adam's question isn't real and it is just rhetoric used to prove a point. Lute directly states there is nothing to question. Charlie and Emily embody the theme, whereas Adam and Lute represent the anti-theme.

What about Sera? She is the negation of the negation, which is a thematic stance worse than the anti-theme. Charlie and Emily are ignorant, but want to know. Adam and Lute are in the dark, but they don't care to know.

Sera's sin isn't ignorance, though. It is knowledge:

Emily: Sera, tell me that you didn't know Sera: I thought, since I'm older It's my load to shoulder Emily: No!

She knows about the exterminations and she knows the system isn't fair. Still, she refuses to question it. Not only that, but she prohibits others to ask questions:

Sera: Please…. if you start to question… you could end up like Lucifer. FALLEN.

She is the judge of a questioning, but doesn't allow questions. This shows how hypocritical the whole situation is. How can there be a questioning, when one can't ask questions? And if asking questions is prohibited, then the final answer will never change:

Lucifer: Heaven never listens! They didn't listen to me, they won't listen to you!

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel meta #my meta #asksfullofsugar #anonymous #charlie morningstar #sera hazbin hotel #emily hazbin hotel #adam hazbin hotel #lute hazbin hotel

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daffodildelight · 2 years ago

Text

Enemies (Part One) | Shuntarō Chishiya x Reader

Title: Enemies (Part One)

Pairing: Shuntarō Chishiya x fem!reader

Summary: You and Chishiya always had a rocky ‘friendship’ if you would even call it that. But feels get revealed under intense pressure

Themes/Warnings: fluff, guns, season 2 spoilers

Word count: 2500sh

A/N: So unedited, will deal with it later. First ever fanfic lol so please be nice, made this in under 3 hours.

You and Chishiya always had a rocky relationship, you had arrived at The Beach after him but slowly made your way up the ranks. Becoming semi-close friends with the Hatter can do that for you. Since you were making your way up the ranks you began getting close with all the high-ranking members, you got along with most of them except for Niragi and Chishiya. Niragi because he saw you as a piece of meat and you would do all your power to get away from him and Chishiya because in you’re eyes he sees you as a weak little girl.

But your relationship with Chishiya started to change leading up to the 10 of hearts games. He would start to act nicer towards you, making sure you had arrived from your game unscathed or even trying to make conversation with you. You had to admit, it was kind of nice. But you also found this rather confusing so you went to the one person who you could get answers from Hikari Kuina.

You found Kuina sitting in the main bar at the beach, wearing her signature blue bathing suit while chewing on her dummy cigarette. ‘’Now look what the cat dragged in, how are you doing (Y/N)’’ she looked genuine when she says this but you can see a little glint in her eye. ‘’I know you and Chishiya have gotten closer in the past few months and I was wondering if I could ask a question?’’ You tried to sound as neutral as possible but Kuina could always see right through you. ‘’Let me guess, it has to do with our mutual friend Chishiya?’’ she smirked, always right on target.

‘’Yeah, why has he been checking up on me lately? It’s getting kind of weird because it’s not in his personality. Is he trying to use my connection with Hatter to get something? I mean it’s the only logical reason’’ Kuina laughed at your comment. ‘’Only logical reason! I’ll tell you this right now but you can’t repeat this to anyone, he totally has the hots for you.’’ Now it’s you bursting into laughter. ‘’Very funny Kuina, tell me the real reason why.’’. Kuina looks stunned ‘’You know I would never lie to you (Y/N)’’. Giving up on your line of question you left with a ‘’yeah whatever.’’

A few days passed, and tensions are rising within The Beach, you can feel it. Ever since Aguni has taken over from the sidelines things are going from bad to worse. Chishiya seems more in his head than usual. You were hanging out in the bar when suddenly the P.A. went off. ‘’We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for staying at Seaside Paradise, Tokyo…’’ A man with a calming voice spoke on the P.A. Everyone at the bar looked around confused as were you, then the man continues ‘’As a token of our appreciation, we will now commence a game with all 59 participants in the venue…’’ All the TV’s around the room flash with one image which gains everyone's interest. The 10 of Hearts. The Beach is a venue and it’s a 10 of hearts game? You were not looking forward to this. ‘’All participants must assemble in the lobby immediately. The rules of the game will be explained.’’ There was a feeling in your stomach that this game was gonna cause massive problems. So you and everyone else in the bar migrated into the lobby and grabbed one of the many phones on the table to register for the game.

While waiting for all the players to arrive you make eye contact with Chishiya from across the room, none of you pulls away and it was probably the first time you never felt a dislike towards him, instead it was something much different. My focus was pulled away when someone yells ‘’Momoka!’’ and there she was living lifeless on the floor with her orange and white striped bikini knife stabbed into her heart. Being a part of the games you had seen lots of death but watching it be someone who lives in the house as you and has been helping you since you arrived sets a horrible gut feeling within you. A ding rings from the phone in your hands which now gains your attention. ‘’Game, witch hunt. The murderous witch who killed this girl is hiding amongst you in plain sight. The witch role is not limited to women. To clear the game you must find the witch and burn him or her in the fire of judgement. Time limit: 2 hours.’’ Massive roars were held within the lobby and you knew things were gonna go south within seconds. As you were trying to think of a plan to do anything Chishiya carefully grabs you by the arm and walks you away from the group in the lobby without raising any suspicion. He leads you through multiple corridors and rooms before placing you in a wardrobe. ‘’Things are going to turn into shit (Y/N), stay in here and don’t the door open for anyone except me, I’ll get you when this is finished.’’ Chishiya gets up to close the door before you ask: ‘’Why are you doing this? How do you know I’m not the witch?’’.Chishiya looks at you carefully. ‘’Because I need to know that your gonna be safe, and I know your not the witch because your not the type to kill a person (Y/N).’’ He then leaves through the door and you stay in the closet. After around 10 minutes you believe this to be a good idea because you can lot of screaming and multiple gunshots.

After what seems like an hour and a half sitting in a closet listening to screams Chishiya opens the door and pulls you out of the closet. The hallways were full of smoke and dead bodies on the floor. Chishiya takes you to Kuina and you guys make your way to god knows where. ‘’Will someone please tell me what's happening? Who’s the witch? Where’s Hatter and Aguni? Where are we even going?’’ you groaned loudly while walking barefoot into the city. ‘’Everything will be explained to you soonly (Y/N)’’.

You make your way through some ground tunnels until you reach a room with loads of dead bodies and computer scenes. Then you finally explode. ‘’What the fuck is happening!? Someone explain everything to me now! I'm so confused… where are we? Where’s hatter?” Chishiya sits me down and gives it to me straight, how hatter died a few days ago and thats why aguni took over. How Asahi told everyone she was the dealer of the game, and why Momoka killed herself because she was the witch. It was very hard to listen but Chishiya sits next to me and comforts me the best way he knows how. By stroking my hair, it was really nice minus the horrible things he was telling but all that stopped when we heard footsteps coming towards the computer scenes. Arisu and Usagi walk through the darkness and Chishiya make us known to them. “So you actually found this place. I expected no less from you. Thanks to you two, I have all the numbered playing cards right here. Thank you.’’ Chishiya looks as smug as ever, you can’t help but feel a little bit more attracted to him.

Conversations were exchanged between the four of them, trying to figure out how each person got to the same place, and what even was this place. You tune yourself out of the conversation and decided to turn and sort out your conflicted feelings. Why did Chishiya save you? You don’t have anything to bring to the table, maybe a few hand-to-hand combat skills but that’s it. Why are you even having feelings for Chishiya? This was starting to get very annoying for you but your train of thought cuts out when all the screens turn on and you see Mira walk into the shot. Everyone exchanged confused glances. She goes on to explain how there are going to be new games and these games will be the ‘face’ card games. But it left all of us wondering, when will we ever get back home?

We all make our way into the centre of Tokyo trying to think about the new information Mira has given us. We look out into the streets of Tokyo and see multiple huge blimps with different kinds of face cards on them. One huge billboard with ‘Next Stage: Start’’ written on it. ‘’None of the games has started yet’’ spoke Arisu standing in the middle of the group looking so tired. ‘’Maybe we still have time’’ Usagi spoke next trying to reassure Arisu. ‘’Or they forgot to push the big red start button’’ Chishiya replied, Arisu and Usagi turned around and gave Chishiya a look, and I couldn’t help but give a chuckle. I noticed Chishiya smirk a little. ‘’They didn’t tell us about the rules for this one.’’ Signs Kuina. Everyone in the group continues to look around confused. Usagi looks like she notices something. ‘’What is it?’’ I ask with Chishiya to my right. ‘’I hear something’’ Usagi replies and looks towards the street. We all turn and watch the street with her. Multiple cars approach us, and I recognise them as Beach people. They all hop out of their cars and Arisu goes to investigate. ‘’What is this? What are you doing here?’’ He asks one of the members. The members of The Beach go on to say ‘’We saw the blimps show up, there are rumours that the next stage is starting’’. Arisu getting a little frustrated says ‘’Right… here's the thing’’ Suddenly the members of The Beach are getting shot down.

‘’A riffle, get moving,’’ Chishiya says in a weirdly calm way when people around him are dying. ‘’That thing is an anti-tank rifle. So I’d forget about hiding behind a car.’’ He tells the group. I decided to take initiative for Chishiya at this moment, I grab his arm and we follow Arisu towards some buildings. Chishiya runs ahead of me and covers me with the rifle. When the group meets behind the building Kuina asks ‘’Does this means the game started?’’ Chishiya quickly replies ‘’I don’t know’’. Kuina continues ‘’Did they give us any rules?’’ We slowly make our way around the building. ‘’Without rules this is just a massacre’’ Shouts Arisu. ‘’That rifle can kill from about a kilometre away,’’ Chishiya tells the group, he goes from covering me to holding my waist if not for the adrenaline I would assume my bodies reacting like this because of him. Different sounds now come from the gun. ‘’And now we’ve got an assault rifle.’’ Chishiya continues. We all huddle as a group and give comments about things we are witnessing and ideas on what could be happening. ‘’Maybe there are different shooters’’ Usagi speaks up, ‘’Other players are grouping up, I didn’t know there were this many players left’’ Kuina adds. ‘’There almost here!’’ Arisu shouts and backs away from the mysterious shooter. ‘’Let's go!’’ Arisu yells while taking the group back into the street. ‘’I don’t think this is a good idea Arisu!’’ I yell in hopes he can hear me but the blast from the rifle is too much. ‘’We need to split up’’ Chishiya yells and grabs me by the hand and pulls me from the group.

Chishiya and I start sprinting down the street, hands holding each other while bodies fall all around us. I trip on a rock and Chishiya is there to scoop me up from the ground and we continue running. Hands still interlocked tugging each other towards different directions. I see Kuina from a distance and drag Chishiya with me to catch up with her. Kuina looked grateful that somebody else was with her and the 3 of us crouched behind a car. Kuina looks down and see’s Chishiya and I’s hands interlocked. She gives me a knowing look and I turn around to focus on more important things like Arisu and Usagi running along the opposite side of the road trying to help somebody. I make eye contact with Arisu: ‘’Are you trying to get killed out there!’’ with that comment the gunman takes fire in our direction. I hide back behind the car. My back is up against Chishiya's torso and I can feel his breath on my neck. Kuina speaks up ‘’Where are they shooting from anyway?’’ we then hear a loud rumbling from above us and see the huge blimp with a kind of spade flag hanging below it. ‘’Huh, he must be the king of spades’’ Chishiya tells us he then turns to me. ‘’Take this it’s a good luck charm’’ He gives me a handmade explosive. ‘’Thank you Chishiya, I don’t know what to say’’ I can’t believe Chishiya would give up an explosive for me. ‘’Just use it if you have to.’’ and he gives me a smile. I turn to look away feeling a bit flustered but then I notice a man dressed in a long dark black cloak. I point towards him and direct Chishiya and Kuina towards what I’m looking at. ‘’That must be the king of spades’’ I whisper lightly. Chishiya whispers back into my ear ‘’I think your right’’ I turn around to say something but got caught looking into his eyes. My concentration on his eyes disappears when Kuina spots Arisu, Usagi and some random dead guy in the car next to us. ‘’Hey! You two okay? You hurt?’’ Kuina pipes up, and Chishiya gives them a wave. Shots continue to fire as we hide behind the car. ‘’We’re pinned down here’’ I say loud enough for us to hear. ‘’If we step out, he’ll get us!’’ Usagi replies. All of us try to figure out a plan to get out of there but nothing seems to be working out and the king of spades is getting closer. My train of thought gets broken when I green car that I’ve noticed from the beach before pulls in front of us honking its horn. ‘’Get in!’’ yells Tatta from the passenger seat. ‘’Tatta!?’’ Arisu and I yell in surprise and relief. ‘’Don’t just stand there!’’ someone yells from the driver's seat. ‘’Ann!’’ Kuina yells. Usagi and Arisu are the first to make their way to the car followed by Kuina, me and Chishiya. Ann opens the passenger seat and Arisu, Usagi and Kuina make it safely. Different story for Chishiya and me. A grenade is thrown towards the car door and Chishiya stops me from walking on it. ‘’That’s bad. Get going!’’ He yells towards Ann.

In a split-second decision, I decided to kick the grenade towards the kings of spades will Chishiya grabs my hand and tugged me the other way. ‘’(Y/N)! Chishiya!’’ I hear Kuina yell from the car. Chishiya pulls me behind a car and uses his body to shield me from the blast. At that moment I’m glad that I was stuck with Chishiya because I know that if I had to pick anyone out of the group to survive with it would be him and unfortunately for us, we won’t be seeing the group in a while.

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dr0wnmyselfinwhiskey · 4 months ago

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No one asked for this, but I need to get it out of my system, so here are my thoughts on Rite Here Rite Now (mostly in regard to the lore and what I noticed during the movie, as far as I can remember). This turned out way too long, you’ve been warned.

Seestor must have known for quite a while that she’s gonna die, and prepared for Copia to take over her position

Maybe she invited Mr. Psaltarian to overlook the orderly transition and keep an eye on C when she’s gone. That might also explain his grumpy attitude towards him, I bet playing nanny to a 50+ year old autistic man isn't exactly Psalty's idea of a dream job

Would also make sense if the additional coffin in “Tax Season” was meant for her

Speaking of “Tax Season”, where Copia plays ‘Driving Miss Daisy’. Could that be another hint that Psaltarian is supposed to be the calm and wise character guiding the now ‘widowed’ Copia? Interesting parallel

Another thing about Psaltarian (now that we know his name is written like that): most of the Psalms stem from King David, who, among a lot of other things, is considered the patron of the Meistersinger (master singers) and in the Dies Irae announces the approach of the Final Judgement 👀

Anyway, Sister’s illness was kept hidden from Copia, or maybe he knew but deliberately ignored the signs, and I loved how this was solved visually by having Sister sitting in a baroque chair in all shots from Copia's perspective, but in the counter shots from her perspective you can see the back and the backrest of the wheelchair 💔

During the father-son-conversation between Nihil and Copia (I didn’t cry, you cried), Nihil tells him how he always wanted to entertain people, and he can even do that after he died and then says something like "Do you think I imagined it like this?". Perhaps this indicates that Nihil, now that he's reunited with Sister in the afterlife, is ending his stage career for good and Miasma will be retired from the set list? I hope not, but to me, it sounded a bit like that. Overall, the movie felt to me like a farewell to many characters, especially Sister and Nihil, whose story is concluded by the scooby-doo-esque part during MOAC

Would also fit the overarching theme of the film: letting go, not clinging too much to the ephemeral, coming to terms with the fact that everything in this world is subject to change (a beautiful message, tbh, I totally wasn’t crying about that 🥺)

Speaking of change, I guess by now everyone and their aunt got the hint that Copia is apparently a fucking twin?!?

With this new information, can we just talk about how cruel Copia's naming is? It literally means "copy"? Hello?? Seestor, wtaf?!

Anyway, going by the visuals provided, I’m leaning towards fraternal twins (one blonde, one dark-haired) and there are a lot of theories about who the twin could be

I’m not a fan of the Defroque theory, because I just don’t see how he would be the frontman of the band, as he has an assigned actor with his own face and voice. But on the other hand, I was certain he would play a bigger part in the Ghovie, since he was featured in the JHKM Video and in the teaser-thing they did for Download. But he wasn’t even mentioned?

I love the Terzo theory, although I don’t think that one very likely, given TFs reluctance to repeat things. BUT, I always thought Terzo and Copia looked quite alike, and they are around the same age. And we’re talking about a fictional satanic cult here, there would certainly be ways to bring him back from the dead, so why not?

However, I think this twin storyline is the perfect opportunity to introduce a completely new character, like they did with Copia back in the day. Imagine the door opening and a man standing there with Copia's old face. And Frater Imperator is like ????? (But that might also be just my love and nostalgia for his old look speaking, OG Copia is my babygirl, I don’t think TF will pull that off, again because he doesn’t like to repeat things and C’s old mask was changed for a reason, so why go back?)

TF also said in an interview that he doesn’t want to just have Papa after Papa after Papa. What if the new guy is something else? A bishop? They also wear mitres. Or the whole shadow in the door thing is just TF trolling us again? Or the Romulus & Remus reference was meant literally and Copia and the new guy will try to kill each other? Damn, I’m so excited for whatever that silly swedish man has cooked up in that silly head of his! 🫶

Just one last thing I noticed because on my second viewing I paid close attention to the backstage set and all the trinkets and knick-knacks. Whenever Sister, Copia or Kevin looked at one of those control monitors or TVs, there were VHS boxes in frame. Most of them were titled after the chapters, I saw a “Meanwhile in Dublin” one, and “Tax Season”. But there was also one titled “Ghost in the Trees”. My research only brought up a song from the band “Thee Oh Sees” from 2008, but I couldn’t really make any connection to something Ghost related. Maybe it’s just a song that TF likes that has “Ghost” in the title?

Okay, I think that's it for now. Maybe I'll do an update when RHRN is available digitally, maybe not. This has already taken way too long for nobody to read it anyway.

#whiskey rambles #this is a wall of text I'm so sorry #rite here rite now #ghovie #the band ghost #ghost band #rite here rite now spoilers #ghovie spoilers #rhrn spoilers #ghost band theories

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oscconfessions · 1 month ago

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This is something that has been on my mind alot when I see the osc. And I think its time for me to open my mind.

Why is that everytime when someone makes a big mistake in the osc (not counting crimes, thats another story.) they are immedietly outcasted and sentenced to be seen as absolute monster in the eyes of the community? What if they genuienly and actually feel bad for what they did? What if they actually wanted to become a better person? Why must we only keep having this black and white morality in this fandom? Why must we not help each other to become better people? Why is it that when we make one bad thing, suddenly we are shunned forever and ever and ever and hated and judged in the eyes of people. Should they forever be defined by their past and never move on from it?

This is mainly about genuienly feeling bad about past mistakes and all that. None of that fake apology to win the crowd back. One doesn't have to forgive them for what they did nor forget what they did, but I believe that if someone wants to change for the better, become a better person, they need all the help they can get if they want to do that. If you dont want to see them again, its perfect, the story with the person you assossiates ends there but it doesn't end for you or anyone.

In Inanimate Insanity, theres this theme of change and growth I notice in characters like Balloon, Knife and Taco. These three had their own journeys of becoming better people than they were, all back in season 1. Balloon was a bully, Knife was a Jerk and Taco was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

But each of them are going through their own journey. Balloon wanted to become a better person after realizing his attitude in season 1 is not what someone should be in a competition, at that time in episode 9, the others didnt forget what he did in the past and well in that time, forgive him. But OJ gave him advice, to make new friends, and he met suitcase, someone that is worthy of a second chance and stood up for him when he actually tries his best for the team and acts like a true ally, which helped her stand up for Nickel. Balloon eventually regained everyone's trust with the letters and everyone accepted him again.

Knife met Trophy in season 2, and Knife was now put in this position where he became the bully, he was now put in the same position of how he mistreated Marshmallow and Paper. His experience with Trophy changed him and the other contestants knew how that affected him and they tried their way to help him, like Nickel giving him lessons about sarcasm and Suitcase offering him the "random act of kindness". Knife eventually found out the Nickel's advice in sarcasm isn't really helpful as it brings more out more harm when he saw what was going on and he went out to help Suitcase gain the courage to stand up for herself and protect Microphone's secret. He became a nicer but he still has his tough persona.

Unlike these two, Taco is still facing her problems as of now, she lied to everyone who she really is. She is still technically hiding from everyone. Other than Pickle, Baseball, Lightbulb, Microphone, Mephone, Suitcase, Mepad and Knife who all know her presence as of now. Taco is shown to feel regret as she sent Pickle the letters which of course, he burnt them, and honestly I'd be pretty pissed too if I found out my friend lied who they were and never really saw me as a friend at the time. Eventually, as with nothing heard from Pickle, Taco met someone new: Microphone. Taco and Microphone worked together so Mic could win and split the million, but as they work together, things became really risky and dangerous and also make Mic incredibly uncomfortable with Taco's tactics, she is taking matters into her own hands, which made Microphone quit the partnership, this eventually made Taco open her eyes to what she was doing, as well as the game itself. She believes HERSELF to be unworthy of redemption and a fatal flaw that I believe she has is Pride. Taco has a lot of pride in herself and she always puts a wall up in those around her, both Mic and Pickle. Mepad helped her recognize that she needs to confront these problems herself instead of hiding from them, and when she finally meets up with Pickle, she is still putting these walls up. Its something we do alot when coming face to face with our problems, its like when Baseball mentioned about how taking the first step is always scary. Something that I think its important to bring up here is Knife's advice to Pickle, how we cant just give up on something already, and how we always have to try again when things go wrong and that theres always another chance to try again.

Balloon and Knife are doing better now, but Taco is still drowning. It's something I notice alot in the osc when it comes to experience, we have Balloons, we have Knives and we also have Tacos too.

Inanimate Insanity is truely an amazing object show of all time and I think Adam and the crew is doing such an amazing job with it, I am excited to see act 2 and see who will win. So remember, if someone is drowning in their mistakes, please get them out of the water, help them to become better people and if you can't forgive them, that's alright and we have to respect that decision and not do anything forceful. We are human beings, this isn't some court thing where you make a small mistake and its punishable by Isolation from everyone. We are all growing and learning. Beautiful isn't it?

(Please note I wrote all this late at night, like around 2:00 am, so I'm pretty tired and this has been keeping me up all night and english is not my first language, it is now 2:45 am)

#confession #/ii #/ii/balloon #/ii/taco #/ii/knife

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sidekick-hero · 10 months ago

Text

💫 Sandy, she/her, 30s, Europe 💫

writing tag ✍️ My AO3

🌈 Multichapter Fics 🌈

Suitcase of Memories (55k | explicit | co-written with @legitcookie)

Boy meets boy. Boy meets boy again. And again, so they decided to go on a date about it. But as they grow closer, Steve's insecurities threaten to pull them apart before they can even begin. Will fate intervene?

I wore his jacket for the longest time (58k | explicit | co-written with @legitcookie | Sequel to we pass the ghosts that haunt us later)

Steve has made some bad choices in the past, choices that have cost him his marriage, and even worse than that, Eddie. The man he didn't realize he was in love with until it was too late. Now Steve must pick up the pieces of his life and figure out how to become the man he wants to be.

It's a story about love lost and love found, about the importance of friendship and family, and most of all, about second chances and how it's never too late to change.

I'll keep you like an oath (may nothing but death do us part) (20k | mature)

When Steve's grandmother dies, he finds out that he can only get his inheritance - half a million dollars - if he marries someone. It's her way of forcing Steve to live a heterosexual life. Sucks for her that gay marriage has been legalized since she wrote her will. Sucks for Steve that he doesn't have a man or woman in his life to marry.

Cue Eddie Munson, roommate and best friend of Robin's girlfriend Chrissy and the guy Steve has had a crush on for years. What could possibly go wrong?

I’m tired of asking to settle the debt (18k | explicit)

5 times Eddie warms Steve's hands and that one time Steve returns the favor.

Or: What if Steve and Eddie had met before the events of season 4? What if they kept bumping into each other because it was meant to be?

hold me close (I’m shaking apart) (WIP (2/3) | 15k | explicit)

It all came down to one simple truth: Steve Harrington was not at all what Eddie expected him to be, and it was confusing him to no end.

Or: Steve asks Eddie if he wants to experiment. Eddie wants so much more, but he takes what he can get and tries to not let it break his heart.

Dear Future Self (14.5k | explicit | pwp)

After the events of March '86, Eddie pines for his new friend, the former king of Hawkins High. Too scared to make a move, he has resigned himself to a life as Steve's friend and nothing more. That is, until one hot summer day, a naked guy appears out of nowhere in Steve's bedroom.

The naked guy is him from the future, and he says he's here to help Eddie pull his head out of his ass. It turns out that he and Steve are a happy couple in the future.

And as if that wasn't enough, he also offers to teach Eddie how to properly fulfill Stevie's needs. Sexy shenanigans ensue.

tangled with what I never said (4.1k | mature | angst with a happy ending)

And they were roomates.

🌈 Series 🌈

Modern AU - Teacher Steve and Musician Eddie (11k in 5 parts | rated T to explicit)

Just some snippets from the life of Teacher Steve Harrington and Wedding Band Singer turned Rockstar Eddie Munson.

Runner Steve Verse (14k in 2 parts | explicit)

Steve starts running to get out of his head. He finds that maybe he's been running towards something (or someone) all along.

🌈 One-Shots 10k+ 🌈

to the rhythm of eternity (18k | explicit)

The last two years Steve and Eddie have been doing the long distance thing when Steve visits Eddie in London for Christmas and falls in love with the city as well.

Emotional Motion Sickness (16.5k | explicit)

Steve's first night at a gay bar turns into something he never expected. He accidentally stumbles into a theme night - Kink Night - and discovers something new about himself.

🌈 One-Shots 5-10k 🌈

Would you fall for me? (8.8k | explicit | Porn with plot)

One-sided enemies to lovers au inspired by that cake scene in red, white and royal blue.

I'm down on my knees (I wanna take you there) (8.5k | explicit | Porn with feelings)

"I liked... how it felt when you held me by the throat. Just. Feeling your hands, knowing that I could let go and you'd got me. I felt, I dunno, safe? That's what I liked about it, I think."

Sequel to Emotional Motion Sickness.

Will you cleanse me with pleasure? (8.4k | explicit | PWP with tentacle love making)

Steve thinks it’s safe to say that he knows everything important about Eddie when they finally decide to move in together.

Everything, it turns out, except that Eddie sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night at least once a week.

he's all that I've got (don’t take that sinner from me) (8k | explicit | open but hinted at happy ending)

Eddie is on the run after still being blamed for the murders in Hawkins, but he can't run away from Steve.

Part 2: take you with me (mature | 2.1k)

The way you touch, the way you taste (7.1k | explicit | PWP)

Gareth, Jeff and Freak hire Steve to take Eddie's virginity on his birthday. Eddie takes Steve's heart in the process. Entry for the sub Eddie week.

You know I'm a show off (I would let you get some) (6.4k | explicit | PWP)

Eddie's neighbor is the hottest man in existence, so when he finds him washing his car in the shortest shorts known to man he can't stay away.

Love from the other side (6.2k | mature)

Steve works in the emergency room, where he has lost several patients with gaping wounds on their necks, the blood drained from their bodies. It's only because of Eddie, who is a vampire himself, that Steve doesn't end up like them, but what will he do when it's Eddie who needs help?

Part 2: sink you teeth

we were meant to be (we live happily in my fantasy) (5.6k | explicit | PWP)

Eddie is a Big-Shot-Rockstar and Steve is the escort he hired to get people off his back. Too bad he fell in love with him.

When I open my eyes to the future I can hear you say my name (5k | explicit | PWP)

Even after almost a decade together you can still discover new kinks.

Will the man become the monster, or the monster become man? (5k | explicit | PWP)

Beauty and the Beast AU with a twist: What if, once a month, the prince turns back into the beast?

🌈 One-Shots 1k-5k 🌈

I’ve got to get you out of my mind (and back into my arms) (4.7k | explicit | PWP)

Every once in a while, Steve and Eddie like to spice up their sex life and go out to play.

Lay all your love on me (4.6k | explicit | porn with feelings)

Steve feels lonely on Valentine's Day '87 and a certain metalhead sets out to change that.

wear me like a locket around your throat (4.5k | explicit | PWP co-written with @yournowheregirl)

It doesn't really matter why, the fact remains that Eddie is making Steve a little bit feral, and the animal part of his brain demanded that he do something about it.

And that's why he bought Eddie a fucking collar, of all things.

tell me it's love, tell me it's real (4k | explicit | PWP co-written with @yournowheregirl)

The infamous piano scene from Pretty Woman (1990).

Carry You (4k | teen)

Written for @steddielovemonth, prompt: Love is letting someone take care of you.

Eddie is living the rockstar life, but it comes with a prize. When he reaches a point where he can't go on like that, will he finally let Steve carry him?

Part 2: Dear Steve (teen | 2.3k)

we tangle endlessly like lovers entwined (3.4k | explicit | Porn with feelings)

It's canon Steve likes to hold hands during sex.

Safe Haven (3.2k | teen)

Eddie finds a hurt wolf in the woods and takes him home. He has no idea that there is more to this particular wolf than it seems.

Part 2: Eat you alive (wc: 1.8k | mature)

Drowning In You (3.2k | teen | co-written with @legitcookie)

Steve and Eddie spend some time swimming at the quarry. At night. In just their underwear. As you do.

on the tip of my tongue, on top of my thighs (2.8k | explicit | PWP)

Eddie may be a little obsessed with Steve's chest. Okay, drop the a little.

The road to hell (2.8k | mature | demon!Steve crack fic)

Based on the prompt: It’s a bit awkward that you managed to actually summon a demon; almost as awkward as that demon being your ex spouse.

He was sweet like honey (2.7k | explicit | PWP)

Steve loves mint chocolate chip ice cream. Eddie loathes it. But Steve has an idea how he can change Eddie's mind.

will you take me home (2.7k | teen)

Robin wants to adopt a cat, so why does Steve end up with one, too?

Rooting for you (2.6k | explicit)

Steve screwed up, no way around it. Fucked up big time.

In his defense, he didn't know that Eddie was in love with him. How could he have known? For all intents and purposes, they were just two horny guys hooking up.

safe & sound (2.5k | teen)

What happens when Steve meets Eddie Munson, who has just failed his senior year for the first time, during one of his nightly drives?

are you still mine? (2.4k | teen)

"He kissed me," Steve blurts out, and to Robin's credit, she doesn't react except for her hand on his to twitch in surprise. She makes a questioning sound in her throat, clearly waiting for more.

So much (for) Stardust (2.3k | teen)

A scene from an upcoming fic Pickup Note with @thefreakandthehair and art by @firefly-party. Steve can't sleep and Eddie takes him stargazing.

the past, the future, through death my arms are open (2.1k | mature)

second part to are you still mine? where Steve remembers another moment from their shared past where Eddie has been there for him even when he didn't ask for it

will you find me in the stars (2.1k | mature)

In every life, in every universe, they will find each other again. What’s a lifetime if you measure it in eternity?

true colors (2.1k | explicit)

Eddie's heart is beating for Steve but it takes Steve a bit to understand what it is saying.

Slaying Dragons (2.1k | gen)

Eddie was six years old when he first met Steve, not that he would remember it until much, much later.

Blinded by you (2.1k | teen)

The one in which Eddie is a hot mess but Paramedic Steve doesn't mind.

Crutch (2k | mature)

Steve loves Eddie, he really, really does. He just can’t say it.

Louder (2k | explicit | PWP)

While laying in bed, the two of them can't help but overhear their upstairs neighbors going at it rather loudly. Eddie turns to Steve after a while, and asks, You wanna fuck louder than them to establish dominance?

(I just) died in your arms (1.9k | teen | co-written with @legitcookie and @yournowheregirl)

"Hey, Steve, hi. You're probably wondering what I'm doing here." Eddie smiles nervously. When Steve just blinks at him, he takes that as a cue to continue.

"Funny story, actually," He laughs. The lack of sleep must be kicking in, which always makes him feel a little drunk and giddy. "There's this really annoying pipe in my room that's slowly driving me crazy, and I really, really, really need to get some sleep, man. I might even start crying if I don't get some soon. So, I was wondering... Could I crash in here?"

Someone New (1.7k | teen)

After Vecna, Eddie thinks he lost something vital, the one thing that made him Eddie. Steve teaches him that that's not true.

Butterfly Effect (1.5k | mature)

Eddie Munson is bad at feelings, but Steve makes him talk about them anyway, at least in metaphors.

Your scent (it clings to every blanket, sheet and pillowcase) (1.5k | mature)

Life after March '86 is very different from life before. For one thing, he never almost died before. Nor did he ever have anyone accuse him of murder, never mind murders, as in plural.

But then again, he didn't have Steve Harrington before either.

Until I found you (1.5k | mature)

Steve reminds Eddie that you can't buy happiness, you find it in each other.

You got a fast car (1.4k | teen)

"If we leave now, we can be in Indiana before midnight," Steve hears himself say, the decision already made, because the alternative is blood and pain and sorrow.

something about us (1.4k | teen)

What starts out as one of the worst nights of his college life turns into something else when Steve meets Eddie while being banned from his dorm room in the middle of the night thanks to some asshole setting off the fire alarm.

when we were made it was no accident (1.2k | teen)

Steve and Eddie just started dating, it's all new, it's all fragile and most of all, it's still a secret. So when they have a soundcheck coming up, they can't both be late because they can't make themselves to leave the bed, can't they? (part of @thefreakandthehair and @firefly-party and mine project pickup note)

we can be heroes (1.2k | gen)

Love makes Steve brave. And Steve loves fast and hard.

Once those two things become a certainty in Eddie's mind, other things fall into place.

When it rains and shines (1.2k | teen)

written for the stwg daily prompt kiss in the rain

only soul I ever saved (1.1k | explicit)

With Steve, Eddie can be soft. Obediant and sweet. With Steve, Eddie can be a good boy.

hate to be lame (1.1k | mature)

Eddie and Steve are spies working for competing agencies. They make it work.

Somehow, I just want you more (1k | teen)

When Chrissy sets Eddie up for a blind date he did not expect to find a ghost from his past waiting for him.

🌈 Drabbles (<1k) 🌈

I want you to want me (921 | teen)

let the impulse to love and the instinct to kill entangle to one (918 | teen)

Connoisseur of Comfort (652 | gen)

Grow back your sharpest teeth, you know my desire (548 | explicit)

Show them (Baby I'm yours) (534 | explicit)

Sugar, I got a taste for you now (480 | explicit)

Okay, so I'm the dragon. Big deal. (442 | gen)

always on the tip of my tongue (387 | teen)

Deflated. Devoured. Defiled. (311 | explicit)

hole-in-the-wall (404 | gen)

love bites (404 | mature)

mine (404 | explicit)

Ahoy Sailor! (404 | mature)

My arms belong around you (509 | mature)

Like real people do (846 | gen)

that ultra-kind of love (you never walk away from) (509 | teen)

Let Go (509 | explicit)

Anything for love (790 | teen)

moonlit bonding (388 | teen)

blow my candle (290 | explicit)

Strangers Passing (380 | teen)

Sir Lancelot (482 | teen)

On top of the world (616 | teen)

Along for the ride (510 | teen)

#steddie #steddie fanfiction #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steddie fanfic #steddie fic #steddie fluff #steddie ficlet #steddie smut #steddie au #eddie x steve #my writing

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