#we would like to go shopping in public again I think we just refuse because men pretending to be women are allowed in our dressing/bath room

[dailyautophagy]

[babayagakeanu]

Dating a jealous John Constantine includes…

Requested by a lovely anon, they asked for a jealousy!headcannon with our boy, John, and the reader is just a pure little ball of fluff.

John is an asshole, let’s face it, never to you, but to everyone else. He’s protective that way, keeps a long distance between him and everyone he meets, because his job requires him to. You, on the other hand, are his light in the darkness that surrounds him. One smile of your’s and John’s nerves go slack at one glance.

You’ve been dating for some time, in fact, in January it’ll be two years. Before John, you were a barista at a local coffee shop and stumbled upon him when you were attacked by a winged creature while walking to your car. John just happened to be the unlucky bastard to be there.

He was wrong. After saving your life, he looked at you, flushed cheeks stained with tears, eye’s bloodshot and wild, your h/c hair blowing wild in the wind and boy, was he stuck. Even in great terror, you remained beautiful.

It wasn’t long until you asked him out. Yes, you had to do it. It was months until he was able to hold your hand, and you were patient with him, still are. Every outburst, every fight, you never yelled, or shouted at him. Hell, your first fight was about you leaving a candle lit in the apartment while napping, and after you cried as he shouted at you, he knelt down and apologized, saying he was never going to treat you again like he just did.

John grew a lot within your relationship, he quit smoking, by your doing. You refused to kiss him after he smoked, and that started to get under his skin after a while, so he ditched the cigs and switched to nicotine patches.

John is a very jealous creature!! This man refuses to let go of you in public, always having a very protective arm casted around you as you walked the streets of your bustling city.

With you being so calm and pure, you were unaware of how beautiful you actually were. You had curves that drove John absolutely manic, and guys turned their heads at you all the time.

“If that dude keeps fucking looking at you, I’m gonna shoot him.”

“John, stop, you can’t walk around public saying you’re gonna shoot people!”

John let you wear what you wanted, but if men kept stealing glances and acting like peeping Tom’s, John would eventually make a show of putting his suit jacket around you, heart warming up at the sight of you in all black.

As we move into the sexier side of things, praise kink galoreeeee!

John loved praising you in bed, always coaxing you through your orgasm.

“My good girl is doing so well coming around my cock, you take me so good, baby.”

And his hands are constantly all over you, ass grabbing as he passes by you in the small kitchen, laying a hand on one of your breasts as you watch tv, John just loves you.

Jealousy sex would go crazy! His hips snapping into you as you lay on the kitchen table, breasted exposed out of the top you wore put that night, your mewls and whines playing like a broken record throughout the apartment.

“You think anyone can fuck you like I can?” His hands would definitely be around your neck, not choking you, but very much a possessive hold. “No way anyone could make my good girl cum like me, can they?” He asks, and he definitely has a sort of mocking tone to his voice. All you can do is nod as pleasure tears through your body, a loud cry of his name rattling the apartment.

To make a long story short, John may have his jealous ways, but somehow, you tamed the beast roaring inside him, and taught John how to properly love and be loved.

[goquokka00]

The Little Things (Jisung Ver.)

The small things he does every day that make you feel oh, so special.

Bangchan | Minho | Changbin | Hyunjin Jisung | Felix | Seungmin | Jeongin

| Compares Hands |

Jisung is one of those people where I just get the vibe where he'd be one to regularly compare his hands to yours. Why? I don't know. But I just get the feeling that whenever the two of you are cuddling, Jisung's got your hand in his, and he's just...comparing them.

Your hands are so different compared to his. They're smaller, so much more feminine. They're so soft, probably because you use that one lotion you hidden from him every day on them. They're nothing like his, which we've seen pictures of them and dear GOD, his hands are absolutely fine. They're veiny and long, they're probably rough, but are just so gentle.

A lot of times, Jisung will take your hand and place it against his to directly compare them. And he'll comment on it, too. "Your hands are so cute, baby," or, "Our hands look so perfect together." They're never bad comments, he just likes to tell you how he feels.

| Shares Earbuds |

This is probably a given. Jisung loves music, and we all know this. And that means he's open to hearing a whole variety of music, mainly to help inspire him for songs for Stray Kids. Where else is better to get that than from the person he loves the most?

If you guys are ever out in public or walking around, Jisung will almost ask for an earbud so he can listen to whatever you're listening to. It doesn't matter what you're music tastes are, either. Kpop, rock and roll, pop, country, hip hop, rap, indie, latin, jazz, he'll listen to it all. And if he recognizes the song, he'll happily sing the lyrics.

There are other times where Jisung will want to share his earbud with you, too. I feel like he wouldn't play any spoilers for upcoming albums (Bangchan would murder him alive), but he'd play music that he listens to regularly, wanting to expand your own horizons. As a bonus, I also think that the two of you would make one big playlist of both of your favorites, and you'd listen to that together a lot.

| Holds Your Arm |

Jisung really likes to be close to you at all times. And that means that whenever you two are shopping, or going to different places outside of JYPE or your work area, or even the apartment, there are times where his arms are wrapped around whichever arm of yours is closest to him. Sometimes your arms are linked, but other times, he's clinging to your arm.

I do have a strong feeling that he'd mostly do this if his anxiety was acting up. If he was starting to spiral because of crowds, or his thoughts were overwhelming him because of work, he'd cling to you to try and ground himself. And of course, you'd be there to comfort him.

He'd probably apologize for it. He'd feel bad because you'd have to put up with him like that. But you really don't care. You'd gently rub his hand, keeping it there while guiding him to a less populated area so you two could chill and just breathe. And while he'd feel guilty, Jisung would be so grateful for it.

| Back Hugs in the Morning |

I've said this once in my first ever post, and I'll happily say it again. I am a firm believer of Jisung not being a morning person at all. The late nights down at the studio, writing songs for hours until the early hours of the morning just drain him, and getting up is quite literally a chore in Jisung's mind.

And so, while you're probably making breakfast, I think that Jisung would be the kind of person to come up behind you and pull you back against his chest, the man still half-asleep as he rests his head on your shoulder. He refuses to talk, as it takes too much energy. And so all you get are grunts, hums, and any other noises he decides to make.

Jisung will just cling to you for as long as he needs. If you need to walk to a different area of the kitchen while you're cooking, Jisung will just follow you, not giving you any space whatsoever. Even when he's finally awake and alert, he's not letting you go. At least, not until he gets his good morning kiss.

| Spoils You |

Guys, I kid you not, Jisung will buy you anything and everything you want. You want food from that one restaurant you went to a few weeks ago? Done. You spotted a sweater that you really like? It's yours. You need something for a hobby of yours? Say no more. As long as you're happy, Jisung's happy.

It doesn't even matter how expensive it is. Nothing is too expensive if it's for you. You can complain all you want, too. You don't want him to spend all of his money on you? Too bad. You're happy with just being his? Yeah, but Jisung wants to make you even happier.

I also have this irk that Jisung would buy you souvenirs from wherever he travels to. If it reminds him of you, he'll buy it for you and then give it to you once he gets back to South Korea. And I'm not kidding you, this man would be like so giddy as he watches you react to each and every single gift. He just loves to spoil you beyond belief, and he will NEVER stop.

Hey! Firstly, thank you so much for reading this post, and I really hope you enjoyed! If you did, please like, reblog, or comment so I can see how I'm doing with writing and getting feedback! I hope you have a lovely day! Sleep well, stay in good health, and eat something if you haven't! ❤️❤️❤️

[seohwang]

XXXX.

First kisses with Ateez - Jongho ver.

Genre: fluff

Word count: 755

Warnings: none, Jongho is just too smooth for his own good, that's all

A/N: While working on my other bigger projects, I've decided to post another member's part of my First kisses with Ateez reaction series!! This time, the member of choice is Jongho, as I've been especially focused on him lately. Hope you enjoy and see you again soon! ♥

A/N 2: Btw, this is part of a small event I did on both this blog and my other, more nsfw one, @kp-alice! Go check it out if you're interested in some fun sub!yeosang smut ♥

Now, I think Jongho is a simple man

Not in a bad way, of course not!!

He just likes to take things at a slow, comfortable pace, especially when it comes to relationships

So he would definitely be one of the less nervous members when it came to your first kiss

He wouldn’t worry about it much, deciding that he’d stress about it when it actually happened

And in the meantime, he'd want to get to know you as much as possible, resulting in many relaxed, quiet dates where the two of you would get to hang out and talk, or even just vibe silently in the other’s presence

Whether it would be at a park, at home, or at some cute and cozy café - much like right now

You were just planning on taking a short walk around, wanting to enjoy the unexpectedly pleasant weather today

But then you saw this cool hand-made artisan shop, and this beautiful public art display, and-

Before you knew it, you strayed way off your original starting point, walking through unknown streets and exploring your new surroundings

Had it been just you walking around, you would have been a bit worried by now, pulling out your phone to try and find your way back

But with Jongho, you knew you had nothing to be concerned about

He just held your hand and pulled you along, a small smile never leaving his lips as he did so

And really, this did help you relax and allow yourself to roam freely

Until you noticed the sullen, grey sky looming above you, warning the two of you that the weather wouldn’t be staying nice for much longer

You told Jongho right away, making him reluctantly agree with you to call it a day just to be safe

But not even a few minutes later, rain started falling from the sky, growing in intensity with every street you passed

This alone would have been doable, but once the freezing wind picked up as well, you were starting to question your life decisions

Noticing your wet shirt, Jongho offered you his jacket to warm yourself up, but you quickly refused, not wanting him to get sick

But Jongho obviously didn’t want that for you either

And so, after a second failed attempt at convincing you to just take the jacket because he’d rather catch a cold himself than have you suffer, he thought of a different plan

Before you knew it, you were being pulled into the nearest café, a small bell chiming above your head as you entered

You tried to protest, but Jongho just gently shushed you, tugging you with him to a cozy table tucked in a far-away corner

There, he helped you get seated before taking off his jacket and sitting down next to you

“Jongho, we really don’t have to stay here, we’re not that far from-” “Of course we’re staying. I’m freezing cold and I was wearing more layers than you. No way I'm letting you out there before the rain stops,” he quickly retorted before reaching for the menu on the table

“But,” you tried again, nervously biting on your lip as you continued, “I didn’t even bring any money, I didn’t expect us to order anything today…”

You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, silently scolding yourself for leaving your purse at home

The entire day was going great, but now you were going to ruin it with a small, stupid mistake

You wanted to apologize, to try and maybe save this situation somehow, but then…

???

Before you could say anything, you felt Jongho’s lips on yours, effectively shutting you up

Instinctively, you closed your eyes, resting a hand on his thigh for support as you leaned in for more

Shortly after, Jongho pulled away, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear

“And who said I’d let you pay?” He retorted with a smile, lowering his hand to cup your cheek, “I chose to bring us here so it’s my treat. All you need to do is warm yourself back up and stop worrying.”

And with that (and a light blush blooming on his face), he turned back to the menu, skimming the drinks to find something for the two of you while you still sat there, shocked

Needless to say, thanks to Jongho, you did feel a lot warmer already.

Thank you so much for reading! And remember, feedback is always appreciated!! <3

[sparkplug02]

My take on the Final Fifteen

To Aziraphale, I don’t think the choice was “stay with Crowley on Earth” or “leave Crowley for Heaven.” I think the choice was “go to Heaven with Crowley” or “go to Heaven without Crowley.” In other words,

“No” wasn’t an option (to Aziraphale) (gif is not mine).

From the coffee shop scene where the Metatron orders coffee from Nina:

Metatron: “Do people ever ask for death?”

Nina: “What?”

Metatron: “The name of your establishment, ‘Give me coffee or give me death’ - I assume they always ask for coffee?”

Nina: “They don’t ever ask for death, no.”

Metatron: “I don’t suppose they do. So predictable.”

Death isn’t an option. “No” isn’t an option. Not to Aziraphale, who goes along with Heaven as best he can.

With Job, there was wiggle room to bend the rules and interpret things in Job’s behavior. Aziraphale lied but he didn’t outright refuse anyone. Technically, Crowley was the one who made the trick happen. Aziraphale only affirmed it.

During the Final Fifteen, Aziraphale had effectively just started a war. To quote Crowley, “Heaven won’t like that.” Then Voice of God personally came down and, rather than issuing a punishment for using his halo, the Metatron told Aziraphale he would be the new Supreme Archangel.

If God (or God’s voice) says so, then it must be. Aziraphale IS the new Supreme Archangel. The Supreme Archangel must reside in Heaven, so Aziraphale will go to Heaven. For an angel, there is no choice in that. I doubt it crosses Aziraphale’s mind that refusal mighty be an option. There is no option.

Aziraphale’s time on Earth is up. Maybe that is how he sees it. Nothing lasts forever, and he has to go. I doubt he wants to go alone though.

(gif still not mine)

If Crowley came with him, that would make Heaven more bearable. Making Crowley into an angel again might not be an “I can fix you” but a “this is the only way we can stay together.” It is not within Aziraphale’s new jurisdiction to refuse the call of the Lord, but it is within his jurisdiction to give a call of his own. I doubt any angel has the power to make a demon an angel again, so the Metatron was probably banking on the fact that Crowley doesn’t trust Heaven and would never willingly return there, but I also doubt Aziraphale knew that.

If you approach this from a perspective of no alternative, no choice for Aziraphale to stay or leave, only the choice for Crowley to join him or stay behind, then the response to “tell me you said no” was a very honest and genuine “I couldn’t.” Not because Aziraphale values Heaven over Crowley, but because he has no choice in the matter. He IS going to Heaven. He doesn’t see a way out of that.

Of course, Crowley does, and why wouldn’t he? He makes his ‘too late’ love confession, and when that doesn’t work outright, he tries to convince Aziraphale that he has a choice, that he can refuse, that he should refuse, that he ought to refuse.

One of the things I learned in a public speaking class (shoutout to Donna) is that if you’re trying to persuade someone, you can’t expect to get them to swing from one extreme to another. You have to know where your audience stands on the issue and aim to move them one, maybe two degrees towards your side at a time. If you want to change someone’s mind the easy way (talking to them instead of forcing them through an experience that changes their perspective), you have to go slow and steady. If you try to argue someone from one extreme to another, then all you’re likely to do is push them even further away from the stance you want them to take.

This was not a slow and steady persuasion. This was a last-ditch attempt at a long shot. Aziraphale had just started to separate himself from Heaven, enough that he stopped Armageddon with Crowley, but he wasn’t completely detached from them. They still sent Muriel to watch him, which implies that he’s still under Heaven’s control, even if he has gone rogue.

Aziraphale doesn’t see staying behind as an option. He cannot do it, it will not happen. He spends all that time trying to convince Crowley to come with him because that it is the only thing that will make this inevitable future bearable. He must go to Heaven, he will go to Heaven. When Crowley asks him if he said no, he doesn’t respond because this isn’t something he can say no to. It doesn’t occur to him, and he doesn’t consider any possibility…

…until Crowley kisses him.

This is only one example. He keeps turning around, keeps looking back. THAT is one step in the right direction. THAT was enough to make him hesitate, to wonder if maybe he could choose not to go to Heaven and that maybe he should. One fabulous kiss and now, all of a sudden, he’s second-guessing himself.

He still goes, but in the elevator, the Metatron tells Aziraphale about the Second Coming. Crowley figured this out earlier, and Aziraphale knows it now. That final look? Well, they both know how Crowley thinks the Big One will end. Heaven and Hell against Humanity.

In order for Crowley to succeed at stopping the Second Coming, Aziraphale would have had to stay with him. In order for Aziraphale to succeed at thwarting the Second Coming, Crowley would have had to come with him. They probably both feel like the other is abandoning them in their greatest time of need.

Here’s the thing, though: Aziraphale may be Supreme Archangel now, but he was Guardian of the Eastern Gate first and foremost. Aziraphale might stand by and watch Heaven and Hell fight, but the second Heaven turns against Humanity, ohhhhhh it’s over. He was only willing to kill Adam because he thought the rest of Humanity’s survival depended on it. He knows humans kill each other and die all the time, but the last time he’s watched a holy or unholy being kill people was the Flood, and that was God Herself doing it. If his captors fellow angels start killing humans as collateral for the Second Coming, then that will knock him over the edge.

And Heaven doesn’t want that. The Metatron gets Aziraphale in line before the Second Coming starts. If Aziraphale and Crowley team up (you know, the angel and demon who tried to subtly perform a double-half-miracle and instead produced a 25 Lazari smoke signal), it’s over. The day Heaven loses their grip on Aziraphale is the day Heaven loses.

I think Crowley’s kiss worked better than he thinks it did. It made Aziraphale doubt, and it walked him one step closer to turning around. Aziraphale’s protective Principality nature will take care of the rest, and as soon as Aziraphale realizes he has a choice, we all know the choice he will make. Crowley is an optimist. He’ll be there when Aziraphale figured it out.

He’ll be pissed off, but he’ll be there. They both will. Crowley is still on Their Side. My guess is that Aziraphale will go radio silent for an episode or so before he sabotages Heaven so bad that the only way they can recover is by teaming up with Hell. The second Crowley sees Heaven’s plan going up in flames, he’ll know his angel is behind it. He’ll know Aziraphale is on Their Side again.

[arcadianambivalence]

IWTV S2E2 and History

One thing I really appreciate about this show is how it interacts with its historical setting. I worried that when Louis and Claudia left New Orleans last season, the show would start to shirk the historical details, but the latest episode has given me enough historical tidbits to chew on (pun intended).

Hidden behind the humor of lines like "Paris is shit" and the thrill of meeting other vampires, there's a sense of foreboding lingering beside the recent traumas.

As with the first episode of season 2, Louis and Claudia are surrounded by reminders of war, even if they do not have the context (or empathy) for the survivors they encounter. Claudia complains that she has to pick twice as many pockets to get by, but the two are still able to afford an apartment. Meanwhile, food staples and clothing are still rationed, but people and pigeons are easy to come by.

"Paris was Nazi scar tissue at the time..."

Louis explains, but the scars historically ran deeper than a tourist (and Louis is The stereotypical tourist in this episode) could understand. Blackouts, food shortages, rations, soldiers, and refugees linger at the corners of the episode.

Even Madeline is introduced to us by a man warning Claudia that she was a collaborator or Nazi sympathizer (he does a subtle salute and points to the shop window), which will certainly influence how the next episodes take her through her narrative beats.

The plays performed by the Théâtre des Vampires cross 1920s to 1940s expressionism with absurdity and horror. Even after all this time, Louis is unenthused about the theatrical performances.

"The plays were weird. They always ended in death or some kind of cruel, barely motivated violence."

Armand's reply is dulled by the onstage spectacle:

"Life is cruel. Life is violent. [...] It was all a seduction to lure the cattle into a willing belief of disbelief."

It's a line that is all the more concerning if you know where the story is going...

Annika, the doomed woman onstage, is from Belgium, yet another country recovering from occupation and war. When she desperately tries to convince the audience to flee (not just for them to help her, but to save themselves), she speaks Dutch, so neither the French nor English-speaking audience members understand her.

Still in character, Santiago pretends to offer her a choice. She could live if she gives up someone to die in her place, if she, as the phrase goes, "turns someone in." First, he offers to take her husband, and she refuses. Then he offers to take her son, and again she refuses. Finally, he points to a man in the audience. She nods vigorously, but it's a cruel joke.

Santiago has already made up his mind about her. He addresses the man, warning him against trusting his neighbors:

"They'll give you up in a wink."

As if someone who spent the last five years in occupied France would need reminding.

The warning is for us, the viewers.

Later, the troupe takes Louis and Claudia to a mansion, ostensibly to eat people who, apparently, hoarded resources from the black market. Another show for Claudia and Louis, tourists who still think of themselves as the "good" vampires. Because why would a troupe of vampires concern themselves with that? They don't need anything from the black market. They don't eat anything from the black market. Where was this sense of justice in recent years?

As with Annika, it's yet another excuse to enact cruel and public violence against people they consider less than them.

So when Santiago's introductory prologue includes lines like:

"Being vampires, and by nature superior to you mortals, we can [...] disrupt your tiny ship called human decency."

"Our jobs, which is at the heart of it, to laugh alongside your misery while you cry and scream for more."

"Everything you're about to see is real. Remember that when you leave here tonight. You are all complicit [...] I love you for it."

You know things are not going to get better for Louis and Claudia.

[not-goldy]

All I gotta say is thank goodness Jikook didn't let me down & enlist with someone else, because I would've threw in my shipper hat. The way everyone is losing their minds with excuses & miserable. Could never be me. There'd be no reason to stay in the shippersphere, cause it would be proven they're not real, cause I'm sorry, you don't enlist with someone else when you have a chance to be with your partner. You'd go ALONE if there was a reason you didn't want too together. Not disrespect your partner & go with someone else. And this is why everyone is mad, cause they know it too. Going alone is one thing, that wouldn't affect them being real. Going with someone else, yeah you wouldn't find me making a 100 excuses for them, cause the outcome would still be the same. My ship isn't real. I'd take the hint. You don't make a life decision to enlist like this with someone other then the person you are closest too. Does it mean they're dating? NO, I'm not saying that. I'm saying, would it mean they aren't dating if they enlisted with another member or outside friend, yes. It would be the straw that breaks the camels back. That or them claiming someone they have leaked pics with or go public holding their partners hand or out right telling me to get out of my imagination. I'd pack it up & peace out & immediately stop thinking they're together & just enjoy their friendship. You'd never hear me making excuses again because I'd always remember they chose someone else, when it really mattered & wouldn't bat an eyelash to their behavior anymore. And seeing how people still ship their favs after Taennie and now enlistment. I REFUSE to reach that level of braindead insanity. No thanks.

I see what you mean but I hope you are exaggerating when you say you will throw in your shipper hat had jikook enlisted with other people.

Cos, if it were Vmin enlisting together that wouldn't be sooooo like ship shattering you know 🤧

I mean it's Vmin.

But then I get you cos if jikook are a couple you'd expect them to do couple things.

Enlisting together IS A BIG DEAL

If there were best friends or a couple in a group it's more likely they would be the ones to enlist together. And since Vmin didn't do it together, we are left with the couple.

I for one will not chalk it down to the fact Jikook are "friends" which is why they enlisted together for the simple fact they don't hold themselves out to be the besties of the group.

I recall saying to someone that Vmin calling themselves the soulmates of the group affects the status of Jikook as friends cos on the face of it,one would think Jikook were the soulmates of the group- for whatever soulmates means and whatever its worth.

You can't call yourselves best friends when yall are best friends with other people in the same group😩

Which of course is not to take away from Vmin's friendship.

But it begs the question, if Vmin are soulmates what are Jikook and I don't think Jikook themselves have cared to straighten it out.

Had they not enlisted together there are others out there who would never have assumed perhaps that they are the closest in the band. Simply because they are lost in the crowd and are drowned by lots of barrel ships making loud noises.

The barrel is noiseist when it's empty.

But of course if Jimin could serve 2 years with another person away from JK we would all pack our bags and close down shop cos then it would be so obvious we are WRONG about them.

I recall us expressing concerns about them not being able to handle being away from eachother for 2 whole years and the trip they took together before service was consoling because it's very normal for couples to want to spend quality time together before sending eachother off.

I won't lie, I felt that trip was too short and too close to service to mean anything to me💀💀💀💀💀💀

My reasonable expectations was for them to spend a whole lot of time (however short) together factoring in their schedules and the fact some of them were released from work so they could spend time with friends and family before leaving.

So when I heard they were still filming content for hybe so close to leaving for MS I was concerned. Either hybe wasn't thoughtful enough or sensitive enough or these people didn't really have intimate relationships or relations that mattered to them. Cos if they did they would want to spend sometimes with them before leaving.

Like I don't expect them to spend a week with their friends right before leaving, but a week with family would be reasonable.

I've said and will maintain this position, Jikook behave very much like any reasonable couple hiding their relationship in broad day would more so than any traditional ship I've seen in a decade.

You can lie about who you are intimate with but you can't hide that intimacy. not for this long.

[whirlwindimagines]

Fluffy oneshot of Vash proposing to his s/o 🥹

Well how could I refuse this request? <3 nice and cheesy just for you guys <3

‘It’s like the sun came out’

Vash x Reader

Vash fiddles with his prosthetic nervously, his arm was fine really but he didn’t know what else to do with his nervous energy. You were out shopping wanting to restock on supplies before the two of you headed out again.

He offered to secure a room for you both for the night, grateful for the alone time, not that he wanted to be away from you! Vash just needed some time to think. He stopped messing with his arm to dig through his coat pockets, almost dropping the small box when he pulled it out.

Opening carefully, he sighed with relief to see the simple ring still tucked safely in the ring box, this is what he needed time to think about. What to say to you, how to even ask you, he could count on one hand the number of times he’s almost had then backed out at the last moment.

What if you said no? He closes the box and sets it on the table with a sigh, Vash knew he was overthinking, he loved you and you, him. God, you would start shouting it from the rooftops if he even thought about doubting your care for him. 

Placing the box back in his pockets, Vash stood he agreed to meet you outside the hotel so he could show you the room and then maybe find a place to eat. Leaving the room and down the stairs, he spots you in the lobby his gaze softens as he watches you look out the window the sunlight casting a soft glow over you making you ethereal, he didn’t think he could be any more in love with you. 

You turn feeling eyes on you, and your eyes light looking over at Vash. Raising an arm to wave at him, he quickly joins your side. Grasping your hand in his and giving it a quick squeeze before letting go. You know Vash isn’t one for public displays of affection, he's worried about someone recognizing him and then using you to hurt him. You’ve told him time and time again, that it didn't matter who saw that you were proud and happy to be with him. Vash could be so set in his ways about that, but you knew he did it out of love, so you would respect his wishes. 

“Shall we eat?” you asked, taking a step closer to him, your shoulder brushing against his. “I saw a cozy little diner, in the middle of town and thought you might like it.” He blushes at your proximity after all this time, you could still fluster him over the littlest things it was sweet. 

Vash nods and the two of you head out of the hotel, side by side hands brushing every once in a while, he seems a little nervous, you're about to ask but he grabs your upper bicep, pointing towards the diner, “Is this it?” distracted, you nod leading him in and getting a booth in the back of the restaurant it's private which is perfect for the two of you. 

Vash helps you into your seat, and you roll your eyes at his wide smile as he sits across from you.  “Such a gentleman” you coo at him, as you pick up a menu, one of his hands goes to rub the back of his head with a nervous laugh, picking up his own menu. “I try,” he says hiding his face behind it.

A waitress comes by to take your orders and the two of you order something simple, the waitress leaves “What's on your mind? You’ve been spacing out a lot” you ask grabbing his hand across the table, he smiles at you nervously. “I guess I've just been thinking about us.” “Us?” you prompt, for a moment you are worried, what was going through his head? Was something wrong, was he unhappy with you? 

He must see the look on your face because his own face looks panic-stricken, he reaches for your other hand to hold them both in his, “Nothing bad! I promise! I was just thinking about how Lucky I am that you are so willing to stay with me and well put up with me.” He ends this with a chuckle, and you frown, “Vash I don't just put up with you, I love you. You know that don't you?”

Before he can answer, food is placed down in front of the two of you and Vash drops your hands, “Let's talk about this later, okay?” you nod, digging into your food and sticking to lighter topics, however, your mind keeps going back to what he said. The both of you finish quickly, the waitress comes back with the bill but before you can pay Vash beats you to it, giving you a cheeky smile as he does. 

Vash helps you out of your seat, and the two of you leave the diner heading back to the hotel. Vash grabs your hand swinging it between the two of you, and you can't help but laugh as he does. You want to ask, but you also don't want to ruin the moment. You yawn as Vash slows his pace, “Tired?” he asks, “It's been a long day.” you reply, as Vash stops his pace letting go of your hand in the process, he comes to stand in front of you. “Want me to carry you?” he teases.

You smirk, “Sure.” he starts to stutter, not expecting your answer you laugh waving your hand, “Okay.” he said quietly, turning around and crouching, now it's your turn to blush and you don't even know why. Placing your hands on his shoulders gently and then slipping them around his neck, you jump as he hooks his hands under your knees and stands. 

“Handsome and strong, I'm so lucky!” you tease, watching his ears go red, he pretends to drop you and you let out a yelp arms tightening around his neck, Vash laughs loudly at your reaction. You huff, but can’t help but laugh as well. 

Vash carried you back to the hotel, and you hop off once the two are you in front of the door, noticing that no one was around you lean in and give him a light kiss on the cheek. Vash opens the door for you and you head in while you thank him.

Leading you to the hotel room, you swipe the hotel room key from Vash’s hand with a smirk and enter the key in the lock to unlock the door. You head in with Vash on your heels, once in the room, you collapse on the bed with a groan. Vash sits at the end of the bed untying your shoes and yanking them off, “you don’t have to do that Vash.” 

He takes off your other shoe, “it’s fine you relax.” Once your shoes are off you turn on, you’re back sitting on your elbows to watch Vash take his own boots off, he turns to look at you and you pat the space beside you, “Want to continue our talk.” you ask quietly, Vash nods taking off his red coat he folds it and places it at the end of the bed before sitting beside you. 

Vash grabs one of your hands holding it in his, “I just been thinking about how lucky I am that you're by my side, that you love me even when I don't deserve it.” you turn to interrupt, but he shushes you so he can continue speaking, “Let me finish, I just want to thank you for sticking by my side no matter what, and that I want to continue to be by your side and you mine.” You rest your head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand. 

“Loving you is easy Vash, I don't want you to think it's not, it's the easiest thing I can do.” You reply softly, you hear Vash sniffle, and you turn your gaze to him giving him a smile when you notice the tears in his eyes. “You don't need to cry it's the truth,” you say lifting a hand to place on his face, holding his face gently. “Close your eyes,” Vash whispers you do so, without question you trust Vash with your life. 

He moves, and you place your hands on your lap as you hear him shuffle around the room. Before the bed dips beside you again, you don't open your eyes, “Hold out your hands.” you do, as he places a small box in your palms, “You can open her eyes.” Vash whispers his voice is shaky, opening your eyes and looking down at your hands you gasp softly eyes filling with tears. 

Sta in your hands was a delicate ring box, open and inside a simple golden band. You look at Vash eyes wide, as takes the box from his hands and takes the ring out holding it out to you, “You don't have to say yes right now, but would you marry me?” Vash lets out a yelp as you throw your arms around his neck holding on to him tight and start to cry.

“Yes! Yes, Vash of course!” you can hear him let out a shaky breath as he wraps his arms around you holding you tight. “Really?” he asks quietly his voice is strained; you can tell he's trying hard not to cry. You cup his face pulling back, smiling widely at him “Yes, I would love nothing more than to marry you.”

Vash grabs your left wrist pulling his hand off of his face, and with shaky hands of his own places the simple band on your ring finger. Once it's on you pull him into a kiss, he's crying a lot now but you really don't mind you know you are too. Pulling back from the kiss you smile brightly at him, as Vash does the same resting his forehead against yours. “Thank you.” he whispers against your lips, and you laugh softly, “You don't need to thank me, I love you Vash more than anything.” and God do you mean it. 

You close your eyes as Vash kisses you again, smiling into the kiss you press in close to him. Vash pulls back placing a soft kiss on your forehead, giving you a bright smile and pulling you close. The two of you resting in bed holding each other close, you admire the ring on your finger. You don't think you could be any happier than at this moment with Vash, you are truly thankful you met him, and hope to give him all the love he deserves.

[houseofbrat]

Comments from DataLounge...

The video is so stagey and artificial.

It reminds me of nothing so much as a television ad for a medication--all it needed was a smooth jazz soundtrack and for an announcer to list possible dangerous symptoms after taking the medication.

Did you catch my “I’m just an innocent little girl happy to be with her loving family” act?

Pretty convincing, right?

Thanks for your support.

Here’s to a brighter tomorrow.

Agree with R13. The video is the moving image equivalent of Canva-generated "graphic design" for frauen who own hand-made candle shops. Or Taylor Swift's "Folklore" album.

The ending wasn't ominous. The woman doesn't want to go back to work full time, ever. Now she has the perfect excuse in perpetuity. The pointlessness and fakery of it probably gave her cancer in the first place.

You think raising two future Kings, a hyperactive brat and a pint-sized psychopath isn’t work?

Nice free trips for treatment, I drove myself to each and every treatment, just for spreading her legs for a good for nothing. Aren't we beyond this

They played this all wrong from the very beginning and then used cancer as a way to get out of the hole they dug for themselves and guilt people into feeling bad for questioning the way they handled this. All they had to do was follow Charles' example, but they didn't.

What is the point of discussing your cancer diagnosis and recovery but yet refusing to disclose the kind of cancer you have. The royal family are such weirdos to a degree. King Charles isn’t but the kids are. Shit is fkin weird and borderline offensive.

R59 But then why discuss it at all. What shame is there in the public knowing what type of cancer you have as we are championing and cheering for a rousing successful recovery. It could make someone having the same type of cancer have more hope. That’s because there is some type of pretension behind it and she probably got cancer from Prince William being a whore.

Anyone know if there is a GoFundMe page?

Glad she’s recovered. And that her sweet kids seem to be coping. Clearly she won’t be doing too much in the future beyond attending the mens Wimbledon final and her Christmas concert.

But that video is awful with the cheesy costume changes and organised frolicking. It’s like a commercial for a feminine hygiene product made to air on the Lifetime networked and edited with Canva.

In my eyes, Catherine, Princess of Wales hasn't set one high-heeled, nude color pumps foot wrong. I'm one of her biggest DL stans.

So, it's saying something when I agree with r13, r23, r62.

I think it would have been so much more effective if she had gone back to the same setting of where she announced her cancer and just as forthrightly said what she said here.

I enjoy cheapo Hallmark and Lifetime moves, the cornier, the better, but I don't want the same effect from a Kensington Palace announcement.

I'm surprised Catherine OK'd this, unless the presence of William and the children is meant to divert from more serious stuff that they absolutely want to keep private.

That's the only explanation I can think of for releasing this awkward treacle.

A few comments from the British peanut gallery:

Mawkish. I find it gross and insulting to the enormous health inequalities and struggles millions face. Nothing inspirational or touching about it at all.

I was waiting for William to say something really cringy while giving Kate a piggy back ride.

Oh my! It feels like an advert to join a cult, or for sanitary products in parts.

It’s an absolute self indulgent wank fest.

The video looks like the Twilight films.

Are William and Kate Scientologists now?

I think it was a “soft” way,of indicating to the public that she won’t return to public duties in the same way again. ----So she's going to do even less than before? Good grief.

R72 But you aren’t a public figure. They are releasing videos to be seen for mainstream consumption. There IS a difference.

R77 The British peanut gallery is right. This video is so tone death.

[quote]Why do you need to know?

No one needs to know. But notice how no one knows what type of cancer Charles has, but he's not getting the same kind of smoke. It's called understanding how to deal with the public and not whatever the fuck is going on at the Wales house.

King Charles is not milking his cancer the same way and he is 80 something years old. They are just so fraudulent and fake.

Here’s a little starter for those of you new to the “Die, Kate, die!” threads:

She is obviously wearing one of those new Post Chemo Thinned Hair Look wigs - she’s completely bald under there.

My neighbor’s veterinarian’s fuck buddy just finished chemo and looks terrible - it’s all a ploy for sympathy. There’s nothing wrong with her.

The whole family except Kate is wearing her signature color of blue. Coincidence? I think not! She is signaling either her imminent demise or divorce. Or both.

No skinny jeans for Kate in this video - only loose dresses. Can you say “permanent colostomy bag”?

Just found one site that said she had 90 public engagements in 2022. That means she had 75% of days of the year with zero public engagements. (or more than 75%, assuming some days had more than one stop...)

So "stepping back" from that low level of work is extreme privilege no matter how one looks at it. I don't begrudge her but she is not exactly hand in hand with the vast majority of cancer patients who still have to worry about paying the bills.

Campaigning for more paid leave and other support for ALL cancer patients might be a good project for her in the future.

R118, careful there! I said something similar in one of the other Kate threads and got ripped a couple new assholes.

[quote]So "stepping back" from that low level of work is extreme privilege no matter how one looks at it.

The Princess of Wales is extremely privileged??

**gasps in shock and surprise**

They released an overly produced three minute video. We are allowed to critique it. She could have sat on a bench and read a statement. Her choice.

I don’t think the video is that bad and I don’t think it’s receiving heavy criticism. I think it was designed for a fawning audience, and it shows.

[quote] I didn't like the part in the video where William is straddling her on the blanket and kissing her on the neck. That was tacky.

I missed that part. Straddling her is over the top.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

you've talked about a lot of people your age are risk-averse homebodies; do you put that down to just helicopter parenting, or is everyone being broke also a factor?

Oh jeez is that post going around again.

Listen. Helicopter parenting is one of many factors. And I think that Helicopter parenting is only as common as it is because of Reagan era moral panics still having hold on society because of complex factors that have a lot to do with American exceptionalism and the cold war and American hyper individualism.

I don't think that being broke has much to do with it actually, I'm not saying it isn't part of it but it's kind of negligible in the specific problem of people refusing to touch grass. Like people are much poorer than their parents generally and it's a huge problem but it is possible and even easy to go out and hang out with people when you have no money. Literally go out and fuck around in the woods with your friends. Do it. It is easy and free and people have been doing it since the beginning of time.

No the issue is that the third space is being completely removed and part of that is manufacturing consent for it. For example community centers, if they haven't closed down altogether, have a lot fewer things for adults. You used to be able to go take a pottery class or some shit like that at a community center and it might cost you some money but those sorts of things were always intentionally affordable. Now everything is ages 5-12 if it exists at all. And as for spaces that aren't meant to be third spaces but which people use that way, loitering is being prosecuted way more now, especially in racially marginalized communities, but not just in marginalized communities. Like think about shopping malls for instance. In the 90s and 00s there used to be roving gangs of teenagers in those things now they're ghost towns. A lot of those stores will ask you to leave if you're not there to buy something. Those two things are directly connected. Bathrooms in coffee shops didn't used to be for customers only. When I was a kid I could walk into a coffee shop and sit down with a book and no one would tell me to buy something or leave as long as I was unobstructive, it's not like that anymore. Obviously COVID is a factor but that was happening before COVID.

Also people are wayyyy less religious than they used to be, which I think is good, but one side effect of it is that another third space disappeared. You used to go to church or temple or whatever once a week and Idk what non church places are like but usually you would sit for an hour and listen to some guy talk about God and you'd sing some songs and then you would go into the church basement and have coffee and food and talk to the other people who were there getting coffee and food. And the churches would have food drives and things of that nature on days other than Sunday. That stuff still happens if course but young people aren't there because we don't believe in that shit. Which yeah the church is a pretty bigoted institution and I think organized religion gives too much power to the leadership. If you connect god with some human guy that human guy can take advantage of your faith it happens all the time. But we have to replace that ritual of gathering somewhere and getting coffee and food with people once a week or we're gonna have a poorly socialized populace. And you can't really replace it with coffee shop because you have to buy your food there and you're not really encouraged to talk to other people you don't know that well the way you are at a church.

And yeah there's the financial aspect of it but it used to be easier to jump the fence and get into a concert, the bar didn't always have that cover charge, there used to be a public bathroom there, there used to be a public water fountain, there used to be a 30$ craft class, that used to be a public park and they'd do block parties and Shakespeare in the park there and now it's a parking lot, and so on and so forth.

Frankly one thing I find shocking is that even places that are expensive are getting less friendly to adults seeking activities. My town has 4 dance studios and not a single one of them offers beginner level dance classes for adults. And I'm not just talking about ballet either, they don't teach any classes to adults. I'm a drag queen that's a thing id be interested in paying for with my tip money so I can get more tips in the future. They don't have it.

Idk it just feels like "I'm broke :/" ok well being broke didn't used to mean that you had to stay in your apartment all day.

[complicatedchelsea]

Fallen Through Time For You

Chapter Twelve: Built This House of Memories

Masterlist:

(gif not mine)

(Sydney's POV)

Halloween 1986

“Are you sure we can’t talk you into going, Stevie?” Eddie teased as we waited for Robin to come out of Steve’s house. It was Halloween and Robin insisted she had to get ready at Steve’s because her parents couldn’t know that she was going to party and what she chose to wear would give her mother a ‘heart attack’.

Steve crossed his arms from where he was leaning against the doorway, the sound of the younger ones yelling from the TV room was very prominent. “And leave the kids alone in my house? I think not.”

“Mom doesn’t want to go trick or treating this year?” I teased as I peered through the doorway to see them bickering over a movie.

They had all decided they were too old to go trick or treating, but too young to get any invites to a high school party. With one look from Dustin and Max, Steve had offered up his house for a horror movie marathon, refusing to go to a high school party when Robin offered. Eddie jumped at the suggestion saying that parties were a great place to make some cash and talked me into going because I had never gone to any. Plus spending the night with a potentially drunk Robin? What could  possibly happen?

“Fuck off,” Steve laughed as he nudged me. “Those kids in there couldn’t pay me to go trick or treating with them.” He looked Eddie and I up and down. “I’m surprised he managed to talk you into going.”

“More like she wasn’t going to let me go by myself,” Eddie said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Do you like our costumes? Sid picked them out.”

“She is right here, thank you very much.” I said with a laugh as Eddie twirled me away from him, dress flaring out. “I couldn’t resist.”

“Are they being gross again?” Robin asked as she made her way towards the door, fixing a generic witch hat over her hair. “I won’t be able to put up with it tonight.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “You’re just jealous because you didn’t ask Vickie to go with you.”

Robin rolled her eyes with a smile. “Can we talk about your costumes instead? What made you think it was a good idea?”

“You saying I can’t pull off white, Buckley?” Eddie asked as he let go of me to sweep his arms out. 

Eddie let me have full reign over our costumes this year and I just couldn’t resist the duo. After all the shit that happened back in September and being harassed in public (which thankfully had come to almost a complete stop), I had decided that Eddie should be the opposite of what everyone thought he was. Especially if half of the school was going to try and buy from him tonight, I wanted them to work for it. 

I dressed Eddie as an angel. A white, blowy shirt that we definitely took from a pirate's costume, white-tight jeans that showed off his great ass, his white Reeboks that took way too long to clean, and some cheap angel wings we found when we went shopping with Robin. He put his hair up in a loose bun and the whole costume had me flushed since he first walked out of his bedroom with it on. 

Since he was an angel, he insisted on me dressing as the devil. A red colored lace dress, fishnets tucked into a pair of Robin’s boots, fake horns on top of my head, and we topped it all off with one of those plastic pitchforks. Robin thought the matching costumes were hilarious, Steve just shook his head with a sigh claiming he put up with our antics enough during the rest of the year. 

“You are going to be the talk of Hawkins High tomorrow,” Robin said as she hugged Steve and started towards the van. “I can’t wait to watch the jocks squirm tonight.”

“Call me if there are any problems?” Steve asked us before we left. “I’ll come straight over.”

“Don’t worry,” Eddie said as he clasped Steve’s shoulder. “No one is going to piss off the drug dealer at a party and risk getting thrown out.” Eddie shook his metal lunchbox. “Plus I’ve got my own personal devil watching over me tonight, what could go wrong?”

The party was in full swing when we arrived. Eddie parked further up the block, but we could still hear the music when we got out of the van. 

“I’m getting drunk tonight,” Robin said as she put her arm through mine and pulled me towards the house. “I can’t believe this is going to be my last highschool party.”

“Poor Steve is going to have his hands full with you.” Eddie said as he appeared beside me. “You’re not drinking, are you?”

I shook my head. “Even if I liked alcohol, I wouldn’t drink at a highschool party. But no, I’m staying completely sober tonight.”

“I won’t make you drive the van back to Steve’s,” Eddie said as got to the doorway. “If you really wanted to let loose.”

I shrugged. “Alcohol just makes me tired, plus I really don’t fancy my first time getting drunk at a highschool party. Have you seen what they do to the punch? No thank you.”

Eddie just smiled and pushed us through the door. The party was in full swing, music blaring and party-goers dancing around the house. We were barely three steps into the house when one of the Hellfire guy’s caught Eddie.

“Eddie!” He yelled and went in for a hug, punch sloshing out of his cup that Eddie had to avoid. “You made it!”

Eddie laughed and patted him on the shoulder before using that arm to pull me closer. “Wouldn’t miss it. The rest of the boys here?”

He nodded his head towards the back of the house. “Jeff and Gareth have already set a spot on the back porch for you.” Grant nodded our way. “Robin and Sydney! Looking good!”

Robin rolled her eyes with a smile, “I bet you're telling everything lucky lady that tonight.” She looked past them and waved to someone further down the hall. “That is my cue. Find me in a bit?”

Eddie shook his head. “No need. Sweetheart,” Eddie jerked his head towards me. “Keep an eye on that one for me? Come find me in a while, maybe we can scare one of the jocks?”

Eddie wiggled his eyebrows but laughed as Grant started pulling him towards the back of the house and leaving Robin and I to our own devices. I heard Grant give Eddie some shit about his costume and I watched Eddie just shrug his shoulders with a laugh. 

“So alcohol?” Robin asked as she took my hand and led me towards the kitchen. We pushed past plenty of sweaty people, a few that Robin knew and a few that sent me some dirty looks. In the kitchen, there were a handful of people surrounding an orange looking punch bowl, and with one swing from a cup I could see the disgust on Robin’s face. 

“I told you so, babe.” I said, trying to hold back a laugh. “Was it worth it?”

“Shut up,” Robin muttered as she poured herself another cup. “Let’s go have some fun.” 

Robin’s definition of fun was to find the rest of her band friends and proceed to get tipsy as they played different card games. After losing UNO to Vickie again, I left Robin at her side and decided it was time to find Eddie. I hadn't heard anything come from the back of the house, but I missed him. I was expecting a bit more of his presence tonight and possibly getting a few kisses by the angel before the night was over.

When I pulled the sliding door and stepped onto the back deck, I could see the Hellfire boys rough-housing in the yard. Turning to my left, I could see Eddie in all of his “angel” glory sitting on the railing, metal lunchbox sitting next to him as some girl dressed as a cheerleader was handing him some cash. 

“Are you sure I can’t get a discount?” I heard her ask as I walked over. “Surely with how you are dressed tonight you can’t be a little gracious?”

I humphed as I got closer to the pair, making myself and my disgust to the statement known. 

Eddie smiled widely and held out a hand as I passed the girl to help me up on the railing next to him. I intertwined our fingers and used my other hand to wave at the girl. “Are we done here?”

She crossed her arms, pom-poms swishing with the motion. “And who do you think you are?”

I let my smile turn a little sharper and crossed my legs. “Ever heard of the phrase “angel on your shoulder”? Well I’m the “devil of this railing” and I suggest you’d pay the angel or move on.”

“He doesn’t belong to you,” She snarled. “He can do whatever he likes. If he wants to give me a discount, he can give me a discount.”

I laughed and turned to look at Eddie. “Do you not belong to me, baby?”

Eddie leaned forward,a manic grin on his face as he pressed his lips to mine in what I’d call a very possessive gesture. When he pulled back, his hand tugged me closer so I was pressed up against him, his hand falling to squeeze my thigh. “It’s written right here on my wrist, so I’d say I belong to her. Now are you going to pay full price or not?”

She gave him the money with a huff, making her way back inside and slamming the sliding door back closed. Eddie chuckled and tossed the money into his lunchbox before turning his attention back towards me. 

“Having fun?”

I shrugged. “I missed you. There’s only so much I can take from drunk nerds and their card games.”

Eddie laughed and leaned forward to press his face into my neck, his nose rubbing against me. “I missed you too, sweetheart. I’ve been so lonely without my other half tonight.”

“Anyone give you any trouble?” I asked as he sat back up, a loving smile on his face as he looked at me. 

“Just you,” he said as he closed the lunchbox. “I think I’ve sold enough for the night. Gotta keep enough for my regular’s tomorrow.”

A yell from the yard drew our attention as we watched Grant and Jeff try to dog pile on top of Gareth. They landed in a pile, resounding groans coming from them as the rest of the party goers continued around them. 

“So,” Eddie started to get my attention. I watched him check his watch, “We have almost two hours before we said we’d get Robin home. Do you wanna check on her and maybe find an empty room and give you the full party experience?”

“Edward Munson,” I gasped mockingly and pressed my free hand to my chest. “How easy do you think I am?”

Eddie’s face turned red and he gently shoved me as he jumped down. “It’s your mind that went to the gutter! I was suggesting getting high-my true party experience bu-”

I leaned forward to kiss him and stop whatever train of thought that was about to come out of his mouth. 

“How about this?” I asked as I pulled back to see the dopey look on his face. I flushed slightly at the thought that I was the one to pull that expression out of him. “Let’s go check on Robin and just maybe you can show me some of the highlights of a highschool party?”

Three hours later we had finally gotten a drunk Robin back to Steve’s. Eddie helped me drag her to the couch and I took off her boots as Eddie went to collect the rest of her stuff from the van. 

“I thought you were going to watch her!” Steve said as he pulled a blanket over her. Robin smiled drunkenly from the couch, going on about something Vickie and one of the other girls did in the one hour that Eddie and I was missing.

“We did! It’s not my fault she got talked into shots the one hour that I was occupied!”

“Occupied?” Steve asked with his signature hands-on-his-hips pose. “What could you have possibly been doing?”

When I didn’t answer, Eddie decided it was the perfect moment to enter the room. He was tying his hair back up, exposing all the work I did to his neck. 

“What’s all the yelling about?”

Steve took one look at me and how my hair was hiding my neck  and to Eddie, his neck now proudly showing off what we got up to in that hour. 

“You two,” Steve pointed between us. “Are taking the guest bedroom tonight. If you make any noise to wake me, I will not be happy. Got it?”

“Steve!” I exclaimed as Eddie laughed. 

“Don’t worry Stevie,” Robin slurred from the couch. “Vickie talked me into it, just a little bit of Vodka!”

Steve groaned and pressed the palms of hands to his eyes. “This is what’s going to finally kill me.”

Thanksgiving 1986

“Wayne, are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?” I asked from the table. Wayne was stirring a pot on the stove; he had been in the kitchen all day excited to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for the group that was coming tonight. Well, a group that consisted of Max and Steve. After I found out that Steve was going to be alone for Thanksgiving, it didn’t take much to persuade Wayne to invite him over. Same deal with Max, her mom was working the late shift for extra cash and I couldn’t just leave her across the street. Wayne always understood when I made requests like this; taking in Eddie when he had no one else. Wayne knew what it was like to have a mismatched family. 

 “I could at least-”

Wanye didn’t hesitate to send me the look that I had been well acquainted with over the last few months. I thought Eddie was stubborn? Wayne put the man to shame. I had been trying to barter with him all day, to let me do something to help out. But Wayne dug his heels in, claiming that what I made for dessert was going to be good enough. Dinner wasn’t going to be ready for at least another hour, but Steve had already called and said he was on his way, bringing over a movie that he claimed he always watched at this time when he was a kid. Max was already over, sitting in front of the TV with Eddie watching an episode of Scooby-Doo and the both of them were already in their PJ’s. It was a Munson tradition to wear PJ’s for the major holidays; Eddie said it was because of the shifts that Wayne used to work when he was younger. Eddie just getting up and Wayne getting ready to go to bed. 

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said as he outstretched a hand in my direction. “Please come sit with us. I promise it won’t kill you.”

“I just might if you get gross,” Max said from his side. 

“What about you and Lucas?” I asked as I rolled my eyes and left Wayne to his devices to sit with them. I took Eddie’s outstretched hand and he pulled into his lap without warning. Max made a sound of protest and rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything else as she shared the blanket with the two of us. 

“What are you going to do when Steve gets here?” Max asked. “Can four people really fit on this small couch?”

Eddie sent me a mischievous look. “Well he can just sit on your lap then!”

Max snorted. “In your dreams.”

I laughed and Eddie just sighed dramatically and dropped his head to the back of the couch. “I guess he’ll just have to sit on top of you, sweetheart. It’ll be like a Steve and Eddie sandwich.”

I shook my head, the ridiculous image coming to mine. “Please don’t, the couch would just break under our weight.”

Max laughed and tugged on the blanket a bit in warning. “Here comes the good part.”

It was weird, watching an episode of Scooby-Doo a week after it came out when I had seen it from my time, way ahead of its actual air time. There was one week when Eddie was watching Saturday cartoons that I had spoiled the episode by accident because it was one that I had repeatedly seen in my time, but in this present time it was just airing. Eddie had pouted the whole day, refusing to forgive me until I had kissed it out of him later that night. 

Eddie was sitting mostly still, one hand rubbing up and down my back and the other messing with my fingers in my lap. I could tell he was excited. This was the first year that Wayne was actually here for the day of the holiday and he had more family over. He had woken me up so excited that morning, kissing every inch of my face as he rattled off all that he had planned. After dinner we were going to go over to the Byers-Hopper house (which came to a shock to no one when El showed up to invite everyone) for dessert, and Eddie had something planned for all the freshmen that he wouldn’t even tell me about.

It wasn’t too much later that there was a knock on the door before the door opened and Steve peered into the living room. “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Max echoed the sentiment with her eyes still glued to the TV as Steve sent the both of us a smile as he shut the door and hung his jacket by the door. “Scooby-Doo again?”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Harrignton?” Eddie mocked as he moved me off his lap to stand up. “If you are going to hate on Scooby-Doo, you won’t be allowed back in this house.”

Wayne made a noise in the kitchen. “Stop terrorizing our house guests! Steve, do you mind helping me with something for a minute?”

My mouth fell open in betrayal as Steve made his way into the kitchen, passing Eddie the movie he brought with him. Max scooted closer to me, laying her head on my shoulder and threading her arm through mine. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Of course, squirt,” I said as I rested my head on hers. “I wasn’t going to leave all alone next door. You guys are the first family I’ve had in a long time.”

“Me too,” Max admitted to me, but she didn’t dare move her eyes away from the screen. “Since everything, Eddie’s made a point to check in with me, but since you’ve been here it’s like I have an older sister across the road. It’s been nice having someone else to rely on.”

I moved to pull Max into a side-hug. “You’re like the sister I never knew I needed, Max. Anytime you need me, just come straight over. I need you guys just as much as you need me.”

Max didn’t reply verbally, just chose to cuddle closer to me as we watched the episode progress. It wasn’t too much later before Wayne called for dinner, all five of us deciding to sit around the coffee table in the small space. 

“So,” Wayne started as he settled into his recliner angled towards the coffee table. He placed his coffee down and set his plate in his lap. “Eds and I have this tradition where we like to say one thing that we are thankful for that happened this year. I’d like to do that this year if everyone is alright with it?”

When none of us complained, Wayne smiled and picked his mug up. “While I have a lot to be thankful for this year, I’m thankful for the health of my nephew. I know that whatever happened during Spring Break was drastic, but I’m eternally grateful that he gets to sit here with me today.”

Wayne smiled at all of us. “Eds?”

Eddie cleared his throat, his face flushing slightly as he looked around the table and his gaze settled on me. He reached his hand over to grasp mine. “I’m thankful that I finally got to meet you this year, sweetheart. While it wasn’t the best circumstances, I’m so glad that I was able to have you in life. Even though you’ve only been here a few months, these have been the best months I’ve ever had.”

I squeezed his hand back. “I’m thankful that I was able to be with you, too. For whatever that brought me here, I have to be thankful that they brought me to you. My life was so boring without you, Eddie. And now I can’t imagine a day without you. You’ve given me a better family than I’ve ever had.”

Eddie sent a wide smile. 

Max cleared her throat. “Can I go now?”

It was two hours later that we found ourselves at the Byers-Hopper house. Wayne chose to stay back, wanting to watch the game and turn in early before his shift. He looked so happy as he hugged us bye, making us promise that we would bring him a piece of pie back. 

He stopped me just before I walked out, everyone already waiting in Steve’s car with Max arguing over the radio. “I wanted you to know that I’m thankful for you too, Sydney. With you being here, I’ve never seen Eddie so happy. You’re a part of this family now and for every future holiday.”

“Wayne,” I said as I felt my throat get thick with emotion. “You’re my family too. I’m so thankful that you took one look at me and decided I would be a part of your family.”

I was now sitting on the porch swing like I did my very first night, but this time I was watching through the window as most of everyone was laughing in the living room, some movie that Will put in was playing on the TV. Eddie had his journal in hand, Will and Jonanthan at his side as he made gestures to some conversation I couldn’t hear. I was okay with sitting out here to watch them for a bit, the love I was feeling making my chest feel full. 

“Sydney?” I turned to see El standing at the doorway. “Can I join you?”

I patted the seat next to me as El joined me on the swing, spreading a blanket over us that I didn’t see her bring out. “What are you doing out here?”

“I just needed a moment,” I said as I started to push us, El curling up beside me. “This is the first happy Thanksgiving I’ve had in a long time. No fighting, no passive-aggressive comments. I just needed a moment to soak it all in out here.”

“This is the first Thanksgiving I’ve had with everyone together,” El said. “Last year we were in California and while it was nice being with Joyce and Jonathan and Will, I missed Dad so much. I keep waiting for something to happen.”

“Me too, kiddo.” I said as I moved an arm to bring her into a side hug. “Nothing’s going to happen to us, all those people in that room would lie down their lives for you.”

“You too,” El argued. “You are just as important. We are all important to each other.”

I didn’t bother to argue with her and just kept swinging us. El was quiet for a few moments, following my gaze through the window. Joyce and Hopper had made their way into the living room, Hopper’s arm around Joyce as she laughed at something Steve said. 

“Dad says that he’s your guardian now, like he’s mine.” El said as she peered up at me.

I nodded. “Murray had to have a paper trail follow me here. The only way that he could do that is if he had me “placed” in Hopper’s care. Are you okay with it?”

El’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

I shrugged. “I’m used to people not wanting me.”

El sighed. “Well we both now have people that want us. Does that make you scared?”

“It does.” I paused. “There are some days that I am scared that I will wake up back in my old life and have no way to get back to Eddie.”

El shook her head. “I’d never let that happen. I’d find you anywhere that you’d go to.”

I hugged her closer to me. “I know you would.”

El sat up, determination etched into her face. “I don’t think you do, that’s why you are sitting out here. Away from everyone. You are a part of this family, Sydney. You are my sister just like Hopper is my dad. We are not related by blood, but that doesn’t matter.”

I pulled El into a strong hug, her arms coming around me to hold me just as tough. I let her break the hug, pulling back to wipe some of the tears that gathered under her eyes. 

“If I wanted to have a family dinner, would you come?” El asked. “Just us and Dad?”

“You could make it a weekly thing and I’d be there.” I said as El smiled and tugged me off the swing. 

I followed her into the house with no complaints, only being stopped as Hopper pulled the both of us into a hug. Eddie was waiting for me on the couch,  arms wide as I sat in his lap.

“Are you okay?” He asked me quietly so no one else would hear.

I looked around at the group in the living room. Steve and Robin taking the other end of the couch and throwing popcorn at each other, Dustin and Lucas arguing on the floor in front of the TV, and Joyce and Hopper sharing a mug between them.  

“I feel really loved,” I answered as I snuggled closer to him. “Thank you for letting me be a part of this.”

Eddie pressed a kiss against my cheek in response and just tightened his arms around me. “Thank you for wanting to be a part of it.”

Christmas 1986

When I came to, it was to Eddie’s humming and the soft touch of his hands down my back. I laid there for a moment, soaking it in and wondering how I got so lucky that I could wake up to this now. That Eddie shared his touch so easily with me, like we couldn’t survive without each other. When I opened my eyes, I became aware of our placement. Sometime during the night, Eddie had ended up on his back, myself draped over him and curled to his chest. Eddie’s head was leaned back on to his pillow with his eyes closed but looking completely content in the moment. 

His eyes peaked open and glanced down at me. When he saw that I was awake, his humming abruptly stopped as a wide smile stretched across his lips. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

I couldn’t help but grin back. “Happy first Christmas, baby.”

His eyes brightened in excitement. “Shit, it is our first Christmas. How does it feel?”

“Just waking up with you is making it number one for me,” I enjoyed the way Eddie’s face flushed. 

He groaned and his arms moved from around me to cover his eyes. “Do you have to be so sweet in the morning?”

I moved to straddle his lap and pouted at him. “You won’t let me be sweet on you at Christmas?”

Eddie peaked his eyes out of his arms. “Are you really asking me that, sweetheart?”

Before I could process, Eddie had flipped us, me underneath him as he straddled me now, moving his hands to my hips as he leaned down to kiss at my face, his curly hair tickling my neck. I laughed as he squeezed at my sides, legs kickin to get him off of me. 

“Eddie” I laughed out. “Get off of me!”

“That’s not my name, sweetheart.” Eddie sang as his kisses became more sloppy and moved down to my neck.  

“Baby,” I relented as I pushed my hands into his hair, still giggling. “Please!”

Eddie’s hands stopped and slid up to cup my face. “Was that so hard?”

I shoved at him before he caught my hands and held them over my head as he leaned down to give me a proper kiss. I sank back into the pillows, too occupied with his mouth to form a smartass remark.

A banging on the bedroom door broke us apart, Eddie’s face hiding in my neck as I felt the heat that came off his cheek from his embarrassment. 

“Kiddos! I made breakfast!” Wayne shouted from the other side of the door. “Come out so we can celebrate Christmas!”

I giggled quietly as Eddie groaned in my neck before he sat up in my lap. I raised myself onto my elbows as he stretched his arms over his head before looking down at me. I felt myself flush under his gaze. “What?”

He smiled before rolling off of me and standing next to the bed to help me up. “Just looking at you, sweetheart. Just looking at you.”

Similar to their Thanksgiving traditions, the Munson’s had their fair share of Christmas traditions. Wayne made a huge real breakfast in the morning, pancakes from scratch that barely took any begging from Eddie to have chocolate chips in them. Eddie turned the TV to a channel that was showing kid’s cartoons, claiming that when Wayne worked the night shift he would come home and watch a few cartoons with Eddie before opening gifts and heading to bed. Some Scooby-Doo episode played on the TV as Eddie made sure I was comfortable before heading to help Wayne in the kitchen. I couldn’t even complain before Eddie was throwing a blanket on top of me and giving me a mug of hot chocolate with a look that said not to move. 

When breakfast was finished, Eddie returned with two plates stacked high with pancakes and just downed in syrup. “Are you trying to give me diabetes?”

Wayne laughed as he dropped into the recliner next to me, his plate stacked just as high but missing the sugary syrup. “I don’t know how he doesn’t have it already with all the sugar he eats.”

I pouted as Edddie sat next to me, fixing the blanket in my lap and moving my mug to the coffee table.”You eat all this sugar but won’t let me be sweet on you?”   

Wayne let out a gruff laugh as Eddie’s face turned red and instead of replying he just shoved a bag of pancake in his mouth.

Eddie could barely wait for Wayne and I to finish breakfast, bouncing on the touch and taking the plates to the kitchen to soak while Wayne sat up with a groan and headed towards the tiny tree in the corner of the living room.  It was a whole event to get the Christmas tree up. I had never had a real Christmas tree before with my father being allergic, and Wayne had just pulled the most offended face and we went that day to get one. When Wayne had left for work that night, Eddie and I spent hours decorating the TV and different parts of the trailer with Metallic playing on low. Eddie had demanded that we spent the night watching Christmas movies and combating the coldness of the trailer. 

Now, in the present watching Wayne open the gift that the kids picked out, it felt like my first real Christmas. No being forcibly woken up to cook breakfast or either being given the cold shoulder because the gift wasn’t deemed “expensive” enough. But now, watching Eddie as he pulled out another Garfield mug to add to the collection, this felt like an actual Christmas. 

“Now,” Wayne started as he put the rest of the wrapping paper in a trash bag. “I have one more gift for you, kiddo. It’s not anything special, but I just wanted you to have it.”

Wayne reached into the tree and pulled out a tiny wrapped box. He handed it to me silently, choosing to take a seat on the coffee table in front of me. With a questioning glance at Eddie and one sent back at me, I unwrapped it to find a very tiny white box. 

“Wayne-” I started. 

“Sydney, just open it.”

Inside the box was a golden key. 

“Now I know that you have lived here for months,” Wayne started as I stared down at the key. Is this what I thought it was? “And you’ve been a part of this family since the moment Eddie brought you through that door. But you deserve a key because this is your home and I need you to feel like you are welcome here. No matter what happens kiddo, you always will have a home in this trailer.”

I felt my throat get thick with emotion and tears blurred my vision as I looked at Wayne. 

“Are you sure?”

Wayne let out a gruff chuckle and pulled me forward into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms tight around him in return, my new house key pressing harshly into my palm. “Kiddo, there is nothing more I want than you having a place here.”

I laughed wetly and felt Eddie wrap his arms around me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I was surrounded by my new family, one that I didn’t know how I got so lucky to belong to. 

Several hours later, Eddie offered the idea of going on a walk before the sunset and the temperature got too low outside. We left Wayne inside to a sports game and I got to lock the trailer door with my new key, Eddie laughing at my excitement.    

Bundled in several layers to ward off the cold, Eddie walked us around until we reached a rusted out playground on the other side of the trailer park. He wasted no time pulling me over to the iced over swings, taking off one his layers to place on the swing before forcing me to sit and push me gently. It started to snow softly around us, the sun becoming more and more amber in the sky, creating a beautiful sunset in the midst of the cold in Hawkins. 

“How does this Christmas rank now, sweetheart?” Eddie asked me from behind. His hands gently pushed my upper back, my feet making trails in the packed snow below me. “Is it number one?”

I planted my feet to stop the swinging, making Eddie pause for a moment before his hands left my shoulder and then he was kneeling in front of me. His beautiful brown eyes were glowing in the setting sun, his cheeks rosy against the harsh cold. I moved to take a glove off, wanting to touch his rosy skin with my hands. 

“Just waking up with you this morning already made it number one.” I confessed, my breathing coming out in a cloud of fog between us, his breath matching mine. “But I don’t think I’ve ever felt as loved as I have today.”

Eddie smiled widely, biting at his lip as he rested his arms on my dangling legs. “Really?”

In this moment, in front me, Eddie looked so perfect. With the snow gently falling around us and landing in his beautiful curls, to the way he looked at me. An emotion so great swelled in my chest, one that had been slowly building since I woke up here all those months ago. It was burning in my veins, feeling up every inch of me on the inside; fighting to get out and to be known to him. 

“I think I’m falling in love with you.” I confessed to him, my quiet voice carrying across the frozen wonderland. 

Eddie’s face didn’t change for a moment. His eyes searched mine before his cheeks flushed even more and his smile won out against him biting his lip. He leaned up at me to kiss me so softly, his gloved hands cradling my face like I was the most precious thing he had ever held in his life. The moment was so tender, so sweet, that I felt tears start to swell in my eyes. I had never been held this tenderly, kissed with this much emotion that I could feel it being passed back to me through the mark.  

“Sydney.” Eddie breathed as he pulled back and moved his hands from my face. He tore his gloves off in a hurry, his hand searching for my wrist and running his fingers over our mark. “Falling? Sweetheart, I fell for you the moment I saw my name on your wrist. I’ve been in love with you for all of my life, I just hadn’t met you yet. But I can wait for you to catch up, to be completely in love with me. I’ve waited lifetimes for you, what’s a little more?”

For a second time that day, I cried. I leaned down to meet him halfway again, kissing him with what I hoped was every ounce of love I had in my body. Eddie sighed quietly, and the adoration that he felt for me, I could feel that tenfold through the mark. He only pulled back when he needed to breathe and with a mischievous smile, he pulled me down into the snow next to him. Our laughter lighting up the snow-filled sky. 

1987

“So no vodka for you,” Steve said as he snatched the bottle out of Robin’s hand and replaced it with a wine glass that I believe was filled with a softer liquor. “I am not having a repeat of Halloween.”

Robin protested at Steve as he sat down next to her on the pool lounger, tugging his bottle of beer closer to his chest. 

I felt Eddie’s chest shake into my back as he wrapped his arms tighter around me, grabbing at the blanket that Steve threw overtop of us when he took all of us out here. It was a last minute decision to have a New Year’s Eve party at his house, but Steve wanted to be able to celebrate the new year with the people he loved. Even if that included all the underage ones in the house, watching the ball drop with cups of apple cider that they liked to pretend was alcohol. 

Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Eddie, and I were all camped out by the pool, drinks in hand as the year was counting down. Nancy talking about how excited she was to be able to graduate and attend Emerson, Robin choosing to take a gap-year to figure out exactly what she wanted to do, and Eddie determined to make ‘87 his year and finally get done with Hawkins High. 

“Did you accomplish any of your new year resolutions?” Nancy asked me. “Do you have any in mind for next year?”

I smiled as I cuddled closer to Eddie, feeling his arms tighten around me in return and a kiss being pressed to the back of my head. “As corny as it might sound, I actually think I did. I, ah, I said that I was finally gonna get out there and find people of my own. I was going to try and move out from under my parents and become my own person.” I turned my head to look up at Eddie. “I kind of did all of that in one day, didn’t I?”

Eddie smiled sweetly down at me. “What are you gonna set for this year?”

“Ah, ah.” I said as I waved a finger at him. “I don’t think I should tell you, you might try to steal mine.”

Eddie gasped dramatically and pulled me closer to him, teetering us over the side of the chair. “The betrayal!”

I laughed and heard the sound of groans around us. Nancy cleared her throat and when I looked at her, she was smiling. “As happy as it makes us that you two are happy, I might just wish for a little less PDA this year.”

Steve raised his beer in agreement and Eddie’s mouth dropped open. “We aren’t that bad!”

Jonathan snorted into his cup and Eddie had the audacity to look shocked. 

“Baby,” I said as drew his attention towards me. “We are kind of clingy.”

“Clingy?” Eddie repeated and scoffed. “If they think this is clingy then they haven’t seen anything yet.”

Before Nancy could argue, the backdoor slid open with El and Will standing in the doorway. El was bouncing with excitement. “It’s about to start! Come in so you can do the countdown with us.”

Jonathan laughed and pulled Nancy up with him as they started towards the door. With a ruffle of Will’s hair, the three of them disappeared into the doorway. Steve pushed Robin off the chair with a laugh and the two of them bickered as Robin threw an arm around El and they made their way into the house. As I stood up to take Eddie with me, he stopped me. 

“Do you think we could stay out here for this?” He asked me as I sat back down in front of him, his hand already reaching for mine. “I want to be able to kiss you and not hear any complaints from there.”

“You know they were just teasing us, right?” I asked him as I let him take my hand. I don’t think there would ever be a day that I wouldn’t not let him take it. “But if you want to stay out here, that’s fine with me.”

Eddie smiled and his cheeks flushed. “No, I know. I just want to be with you for the countdown. Bring the year in together, just us?”

I laughed and leaned into his space to kiss his cheek. “That’s fine with me.”

Eddie settled back against the chair and with grabbing motion towards me, I let him pull me back against his chest. He moved us forward just a bit so he could pull the blanket back over us, and then sighed as he settled down behind me. 

“So,” Eddie started, his fingers tracing shapes around my mark. No matter where we were, or where he was touching me, Eddie’s hands always seemed drawn to my mark. “I have to make sure before the new year comes ringing in. I’m your boyfriend, right?”

I let out a surprised laugh but stopped when I realized that Eddie had froze behind me. I moved forward in his lap so I could turn to face him. “Wait, you’re not serious are you? Of course you are, Eddie.”

Eddie’s gaze moved to his lap, his fingers twisting around each other. “It’s just, I didn’t think I asked you?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?” I asked him. “We are soulmates, aren’t we?”

Eddie groaned and pushed his palms against his eyes. “I just got nervous about asking you! I just wanted to make sure that we were going into 1987 being on the same page!”

“Baby,” I sighed softly and moved so I could take his hands away from his eyes and intertwine them with my own. “What’s going on?”

Eddie took a moment to look up at me. “You’ve been here about three months, right?”

I nodded and squeezed his hands. “And?”

Eddie shrugged. “I was just thinking about the future today. It’s about to be the new year. New year means that things are going to be changing. Are you going to go through these changes with me?”

“Baby,” I said as I moved forward to be completely in his lap. “Wherever you go, I go. Whatever we decide to get up to this year, I’m going to be right beside you.”

“Are you scared?” Eddie asked me.

“Not since the day I met you,” I told him and I meant it. Sure, I was worried and had a minor freakout about my predicament. But being with Eddie felt right, being here in 1986 with him I felt more at home than I ever had. 

Eddie smiled and we could hear the start of the countdown from inside the house. He wrapped his arms around me, drawing me closer to him with our chests brushing against each other. I felt his warm breath hit my face and the cold air around us seemed to disappear. 

“To making ’87 our year,” Eddie murmured against my lips as loud cheers reached our ears. He surged forward to bring his lips completely against mine, kissing me passionately as I heard the noise of some fireworks going off in the distance. When I pulled back, I could see the lights reflecting off his beautiful face. 

“I love you,” I breathed into the air between us. 

Eddie’s eyes searched mine, his chest rising and falling harshly against mine. When he found what he was looking for, a love-sick smile made its way across his face 

“I know,” Eddie muttered. 

It took me a moment to process his response before I reared back, leaning as much as I could out of his space with his arms around me. “I know? Eddie, did you just quote fucking Star Wars to me?” 

Eddie’s mouth dropped open in amusement and I just pushed against him trying to get out of his lap. “I take it back.”

“Wait!” Eddie laughed as I stood up and wrapped the blanket around me. “Sydney! Don’t walk away! I’m sorry, sweetheart!.”

“It’s too late!” I said dramatically as I pushed away his arm as he tried to stand up. “I can’t believe you quoted Star Wars to me the first time I said I loved you!”

Eddie fell off the chair and grabbed at my ankle as I went to walk towards the house.

“Sweetheart!” Eddie laughed and I could barely keep my laughter in. He knew I wasn’t mad at him, he could feel the adoration I had for him through the mark. “I love you! Please!” 

Valentines Day 1987

“Steve!” Robin groaned. “Do not start this now!”

“I’m just saying,” Steve argued back at Robin. “Eddie has the advantage that Sydney is literally his soulmate, she has to like his flirting. That aside, I don’t think Eddie is that good at flirting!”

Currently Eddie and I had gone into Family Video to rent a movie and were sucked into an argument that Steve and Robin were currently having. Steve was laminating about his lack of dates for Valentine’s Day while Robin had blamed it on his horrible flirting. 

I snorted and Steve sent me an annoyed look. “I’m sorry Steve. Objectively, I am not going to be able to help with your argument. I can hardly tell when Eddie is flirting half the time.”

Eddie’s mouth dropped open. “I flirt with you all the time!”

I waved my hand. “Point made. Social cues, not really my thing. If Eddie’s name wasn’t on my wrist, I don’t think I would have realized he was it for me until he literally had to spell it out in front of me.”

Eddie gawked at me while Robin tried to hide her laughter behind her hand. “Do you think you could do any better?”

I raised my eyebrows at Eddie. “Is that a challenge?”

Eddie moved to lean his back against the counter, elbows bent and resting there. I moved to step in front of him, Steve and Robin taking a step back from the counter to watch us. I took a moment to gather my thoughts before I let a small smile paint my lips. 

“Eddie, baby. Can I hold your hand?” 

I heard Steve scoff from behind Eddie, but I paid it no mind as I stepped into Eddie’s space and held my out for him to place his in. Eddie’s eyes were wide, but gave nothing away as he gently placed his hand in mine. I made a point to gently trace a finger around his palm before I flipped his hand over and traced at his knuckles. 

“As nice as your hand feels in mine,” I started as I gazed up at him under my lashes trying to hood my eyes. “I think it might feel better wrapped around my neck.”

Eddie sucked in a shocked breath, his face turning very red. I heard Steve sputter and Robin bust into laughter. 

“I-uh.” Eddie tried to say as he stood up from his slouched position, but making sure his hand stayed in mine. “Sweetheart?”

Steve threw his hands up and I couldn’t help but giggle as I leaned closer to Eddie. 

“Didn’t mean to fluster you, baby.” I said as I dropped his hand and moved to push a rouge hair from his ponytail behind his ear. “Just had to let you see how well I can dish it out.”

Eddie’s other hand came up to rest against his chest, his face still beet red. “You can’t say things like that to me in public, sweetheart.”

Steve slapped a case down on the counter behind Eddie. “That is so not fair. I can’t just say that to a girl!”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe to the ones you are chasing. But the right one? You’ll have her melting in her seat.”

Robin had finally quieted down before reaching forward with her hand above Eddie’s shoulder. I slapped her open palm for a high-five while Eddie just rolled his eyes with a smile. “You gotta teach me how to flirt with girls like that. Steve is no help at all!”

Steve sputtered again. “Robin!”

“It’s okay, Stevie.” I teased as I moved around Eddie to pat his hand. “You know how to flirt with some girls. I might just help Robin with the rest.”

Steve just took a deep breath as he stared at the ceiling. We all gave him a moment, fighting smiles as Steve had to reel himself in. He cleared his throat. “To change topics, what is everyone doing for Valentine’s Day?”

Robin shuffled some cases around. “Vickie and I might be going to see a movie?”

“Robin!” I exclaimed excitedly. “Look at you!”

Robin shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s a date. How do you see if it’s a date without giving it away that you want it to be a date?”

Steve shrugged. “You’ll know.”

Robin groaned and lowered her head into her hands. “That’s literally no help.”

“I’ve got something planned,” Eddie butted in. He sent me a wink. “Something that you’ll definitely enjoy.”

“You’re not going to share with the class?” I asked with a smile as I leaned into his side. “You know I don’t like surprises.”

“Oh, I know.” Eddie chuckled as his arm wrapped around my shoulders to keep me there. “But you won’t know until than.”

That’s all Eddie gave me, and I had to wait days to find out. Valentines Day fell on friday, which meant Eddie still had to go to school and our plans had to wait until after. Before I headed to Steve’s for the day, I stuck an obnoxious card in his lunchbox for him to find during the day. When school ended and I tagged along with Steve for Robin pickup, Eddie was sitting at the back of his van with both doors thrown open. He didn’t waste any time throwing the passenger door open and pulling me from Steve’s car, twirling me in a circle.

“Eddie!” I laughed as I lost my balance and fell into his chest. 

“Sydney,” Eddie said as his arms wrapped around my waist. “You can’t just leave cards for me to find like that. I might think you’re in love with me.”

My face flushed as I peered up at him. “I love you.”

Eddie groaned and his head fell back. “You can’t just say things like that!”

I laughed and moved out of the way so Robin could get in the passenger seat. “Have fun!”

Robin gave me thumbs up as Steve drove off and it just left Eddie and I in the parking lot. “C’mon,” Eddie said as he tugged me towards the van. “We have to go back to the trailer to change and then we will be on our way.”

To my surprise, when we got back to the trailer Eddie insisted that we change into some PJ’s. Giving me a hoodie of his to wear, he sent me off the bathroom to change with a promise of dinner. Once we were both changed, we got into the van and Eddie started driving in the direction of town. No matter how much I pleaded, the man would not give any answers. 

When Eddie parked next to the diner that we usually go to, I sent him a questioning glance as he told me to stay put and raced to the doors. He came back a few minutes later with a bag full of takeout boxes that he put in the back and would not let me peek. After we were driving a few minutes, I realized that the area around us was getting more and more wooded. 

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked him as he turned off onto a dirt road. 

Eddie groaned but sent me a smile as he turned the music down. “I guess I can’t really ruin the surprise since we are already here. I figured I would take you to Lover’s Lake to enjoy a picnic and watch the stars once it got dark. I thought that everywhere else in town would be busy, and I know that you would be more comfortable out here.”

I reached over to grasp his hand. “That sounds perfect.”

Once we got to the lake, Eddie parked with the back doors to the lake. He jumped out to get the back situated and I was surprised to see the amount of blankets and pillows stashed at the back of the van. 

“Are we having a sleepover?” I teased as I crawled between the seats instead of getting out and going around. “Is that why we are in our PJ’s?”

Eddie shrugged with a smile. “Since someone has a habit of falling asleep against me, I figured we might want to be comfortable. Plus, it’s going to get chilly later and I hate for you to get cold.”

Eddie was right. Once we had finished dinner and laid out to watch the sky darken, it was so peaceful I could fall asleep right against him. He was so warm, laying against all the pillows in the back of the van, the cool air blowing through the open doors. His voice was gentle and with the tone he was using to tell me about the latest campaign, I felt so at peace with him here. 

“Sweetheart,” Eddie nudged me as the sky got completely dark and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. “Can I give you my gift?”

I let him sit me up as he reached for something behind the driver seat. I moved to my bag, pulling out a small wrapped box as well. 

“Can I go first?” I asked him as he moved to sit with his legs dangling out of the van. 

Eddie smiled and held out his hand for the small gift. He didn’t open it, motioning for me to continue. “I really didn’t know what to get you for Valentine’s Day. Sure, I could get you some material items, but I wanted to get you something special.”

When I motioned towards the box, Eddie ripped open the wrapping paper and moved to take the cover off the box to see a ring sitting in the middle of the box. I felt my face flush a bit. “I know that you already have all these rings, but I came across this when Robin, Max, and I went shopping a few weeks ago. I know that you already have my name on your wrist, but I wanted to see something else of mine on you too.”

The ring was simple. It had a thick band, colored dark gray, and had a small moth etched into the top of the ring. When Eddie turned it over, he could see that I had our initials engraved inside the band of the ring. With another glance at me, Eddie slid it onto his ring finger, sitting proudly with the others of that hand. 

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said as he cupped my face to kiss me. The rings cool against my cheeks. “I love it.”

“It doesn’t have to mean anything!” I rushed out to say it because of the load of anxiety that washed over me. “I just wanted you to have something else to look down on and remind you of me. Also, it seemed like a really cool vintage ring and this one you don’t have to tape to fit your fingers!”

“Sydney” Eddie laughed softly as his hands tightened on my face. “I know and one day it just might mean something else. But for right now, I know what it is.”

I know that I was smiling love-sick at him, but I couldn’t care. Not with the emotions that I felt in my chest and pulsing at my wrist. “I love you.”

Eddie dropped his hands to thrust his gift at me. “Open it.”

I took the box gently, carefully opening it to see his guitar pick necklace sitting there. “Eddie?”

“I love you, sweetheart.” Eddie started as he reached forward to get the chain out. In that moment when he leaned over, I noticed for the first time that I didn’t see that chain wrapped around his neck. “I had a similar thought. I know that my name is etched into your skin and just seeing it some days brings me so much joy. But I couldn’t resist giving you the necklace. Now when you have your wrist covered, everyone will be able to see that necklace and see that you are mine.”

For the first time in a while, I felt pressure behind my eyes as I willed myself not to cry. Eddie moved to clasp the necklace around my neck, leaning back to let it fall against my chest as it seemed to catch some of the light from the stars above. “Hey,” Eddie cooed softly as he reached forward to brush at my cheeks. “What’s wrong, pretty girl?”

I sniffled and moved to place one of my hands against his. “Nothing. I just didn’t think I would ever be here with someone like you.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked me with a smile.

“I love you so much,” I told him. “And there are days that I just look at you and I can feel it tenfold back through the mark and I just wonder about how I got so lucky. I literally fell into your lap.” I laughed wetly. “And giving me this means so much to me. You wear this everyday, aren’t you going to miss it?”

“I have something else to wear now,” Eddie said as he wiggled his hand at me. “But I love you too, sweetheart. I will never have to doubt anything because there are days for me too that I just look at you and I can feel all of it.”

Eddie dropped his hand and with a wave of his fingers, I followed his movements so I was laying against him in the back of the van. We could still see some of the stars that were further out in the distance; but here now with Eddie, it felt like we were the only ones in our little world. With his arms wrapped around me and the feeling of Eddie tracing shapes into my back, I felt perfectly at peace. 

“Happy first Valentine's Day, sweetheart.” Eddie said and I felt a kiss at the top of my head. 

“How are you going to top this one next year?” I asked him.

Eddie laughed and I could feel his body shaking against mine. “That’s all on you sweetheart.” A pause. “But you know what would make this better right now?”

“What?” I asked him as I looked up at him, my chin resting against his chest. 

“If you kissed me. Kissed me alot, actually.” Eddie said with a mischievous smile. 

The first time I leaned up to kiss him, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face which barely made it a kiss at all. But when Eddie rolled us over so he was hovering above me, the kiss was definitely more passionate. 

And it was no one’s business if we ended up falling asleep out there under the stars. 

Only for us to be rudely awakened by our bladders several hours later. 

Sydney’s First Birthday in the Past

“Happy birthday to you,” someone was singing in my ear quietly as I was roused from sleep. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

I groaned and opened my eyes to see Eddie laying on his side beside me, a tired smile on his face. “What?” I asked, still on the edge of sleep. 

Eddie reached forward to tuck some hair behind my ear, biting his lip at me. “It’s your birthday, Sydney.”

I blinked a few more times before I was fully awake. “It’s my birthday?”

Eddie laughed and shuffled closer so he was laying against me, an arm wrapped around me and his forehead coming to rest against mine. “Well that’s what the government paperwork says. Is it true?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “What would you do if it was?”

Eddie pulled back a little to look at me. “Do you not like your birthday?”

I shrugged again. “It was always a mute point when I was younger. It always fell on a weekday so I had to go to school and my parents refused to do something for me when they got home for work. My brother, though? They would pull him out of school for the day and always take him out to dinner.” I tried not to show how much it bothered me. Eddie has already done so much, I didn’t want him to feel like he had to go all out for this too. “It just became another one of those things.”

“Well,” Eddie said as placed a kiss on my forehead and then trailed them from my cheeks to my chin. “We celebrate all holidays and birthdays in the Munson household. Sorry, sweetheart. You are just going to have to tough it out this year.”

I tried to pout at him, but his smile was so infectious that I couldn’t help at the one that tugged at my lips. “So Dungeon Master, what do you have planned?”

Eddie laughed and moved to sit up, pulling me along with him. He grabbed one of my hands in his, the other moving to trace lines against the back of it. “Wayne made you a special breakfast.”

I groaned in protest. “Please don’t tell me you dragged Wayne into this.”

A gruff chuckle tore my attention to the doorway to see Wayne standing there, sleeves of his flannel rolled up with a smile on his face. “All the boy had to do was mention that your birthday was coming up.”

I sent him a small smile. “Morning Wayne.”

Wayne nodded his head. “There are fresh cinnamon rolls in the kitchen if you are interested.”

“You made me fresh cinnamon rolls?” I asked excitedly. “No one has ever made them for me!”

Eddie chuckled beside me. “So get your ass in gear and get some while they are still warm.”

I threw the blanket off and followed Wayne into the kitchen. It smelled so great in there I couldn’t help but melt when Wayne placed a plate in front of me at the table. One bite and I was trying to hold back a moan. “Oh my god, Wayne. These are so good.”

Wayne laughed into this coffee mug, placing the comics he was reading from the newspaper back onto the table. “Don’t butter me up.”

“I’m serious!” I laughed and took another bite. “This is the best thing anyone has ever made for me.” 

In one second Eddie appeared behind me, smelling strongly of his body wash and leaned forward to take the bite off my fork. I turned to look at him, betrayed as he swallowed. 

“Go get ready, sweetheart.” Eddie said as he took my hand and helped me up from the table. “You’ve got a day ahead of you.”

I frowned. “Eddie, I don’t wa-”

Eddie held up his hand. “I already know you don’t want me skipping school. So I’ve made other plans for you.”

A threw a nervous glance at Wayne and he just took a drink of his coffee. “All I know is that we are meeting up later for dinner.”

I narrowed my eyes at Eddie. “What do you have planned?”

He winked at me and took another bite of my cinnamon roll. “Go get changed and you might just find out.”

I ran and took a quick shower, towel drying my hair as I grabbed one of Eddie’s sweatshirts to put on. It clearly was a P.E. sweatshirt, but the arms had been drawn all over with designs that looked similar to what was on Eddie’s D&D notebook. 

When I got back into the kitchen, Wayne was already in his recliner watching some morning TV while Eddie was on the phone. When he saw me, he abruptly got off the phone before making his way to me. 

“Comfy?” He asked as he leaned down to kiss my forehead. 

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What did you do?”

Eddie just smiled mischievously at me and motioned towards the door. There was no Max waiting for us at the van, and Eddie shrugged like he didn’t know who took her to school. I let him keep up his charades as we started the familiar path towards town, only slightly surprised when we pulled up to the police station. 

Hopper and Joyce were leaning against her car in the parking lot, their faces lighting up when they saw us pull in. I had only just gotten out of the van when Joyce had wrapped me in a tight hug. 

“Happy birthday!” She said really loud as she pulled back to look at me. “Do you feel any older?”

I rolled my eyes in amusement as Hopper stepped around her to pull me into a quick side -hug. “Happy birthday, kiddo.”

I smiled at both of them and felt when Eddie joined my side. “So what is the plan for today? Eddie won’t tell me anything.”

Joyce shrugged, but the smile on her face said otherwise. “I thought you and I could have a girls day. Give you a treat for your birthday.”

“Joyce-” I started to argue that it wasn’t necessary before she sent me a look. 

“You are one of my kids now, Sydney.” Joyce said as she reached out to squeeze my shoulder. “If I want to do things with you for your birthday, I sure as hell am going to.”

I laughed and nodded my head in defeat. “Okay then.”

Joyce made a happy noise and turned to start her car while Hopper waved at us and started to make his way into the station. I only turned to Eddie when I felt his fingers intertwine with mine, giving my palm a gentle squeeze. 

“Is this okay?” He asked me, nervously. 

I smiled at him. “It’s perfect.”

Eddie perked up and with a quick glance around he leaned down to kiss me. I let him, getting lost in the sensation of his body against mine, whining slightly when he pulled back. He chuckled, using his free hand to play with the chain that had been sitting against my neck for some time now. “I love you, sweetheart.”

My smile widened if possible. “I love you too, baby. Will I be seeing you after school?”

Eddie’s smile turned mischievous. “Well I still have a present to give you. But, I don’t know. Will you?”

Eddie stepped back from as I felt Joyce’s arm wrap around mine. “We ready to go?”

“Have a good birthday, sweetheart!” Eddie yelled as he got back into his van, the music blaring as he buckled himself in. “See you later!”

Joyce and I watched him peel out of the parking lot, some of the people walking around town shaking their heads at all the noise. When he was fully out of sight, Joyce tugged me in the direction of her car. “You ready to get our day started?”

Joyce’s first stop was a little bookstore a few town’s over. We roamed the shelves for a bit, me picking out a few books that I hadn’t read in years but seemed to be new releases here. I couldn’t resist the dragon bookmark in the fantasy section, but I knew that it wouldn’t be me using it and Joyce must have had a similar idea with the look of amusement on her face. 

Our next stop was a tiny hair salon two shops down on the same street. It was run by a lady that knew Joyce by name, taking me back to the chair and telling me whatever I wanted was already covered. I sent a look towards Joyce, but she just shrugged and sat down in the chair next to me, already talking away to the lady bringing her a coffee. 

I frowned in the mirror, one of the books that I bought sitting in my lap. “It’s been years since I’ve had my hair professionally done. What do you suggest?��

“Is this wave natural?” The lady asked me as she ran her hands through my hair.

I shrugged. “I believe so. If my hair isn’t down, most of the time I have it braided back in some way.”

“Hm,” The lady said as she moved to get a cape and secure it around my neck. “How about we cut a few of the dead inches off and go from there? What about a color?”

I moved my hand to pinch some of the hair between my fingers. All my life I had been a lighter shade of brown, borderlining on strawberry blonde. “Why not?”

It took a lot of debating and a long talk of my preferences before the hairdresser-Angela, asked me to trust her and I agreed. If I hated the color, I could always color over it? Joyce had finished not too long ago, sitting with me as I sat under one of those obnoxious hairdryers. 

“I think she picked a great color,” Joyce said with a smile. “Are you having a good time?”

“The best,” I smiled at her. “You know, my mom would never do something like this with me.”

“Her loss.” Joyce said, a tone to her voice. “You’re one of my kids now, sweetie. Anything that she wouldn’t do with you, I will. Don’t you worry about that.”

After my hair was processed and washed out, I let them keep the element of surprise as they turned my back to the mirror so they could style it for me. When they were finally finished and I got to turn around, I couldn't help but gasp. Angela styled my hair in soft curls falling down my back, nothing like the corkscrew curls that I’d seen at least two women walk out with today. As for my hair color, it was a deep copper color that really stood out against my skin tone and made my hazel eyes pop. 

“Woah,” I said as I reached up to feel a strand. 

Angela clapped beside me. “It’s a perfect fit!”

Her excitement was infectious and I couldn’t help but laugh along with her. “You did such a good job!”

With the promise of coming back for a touch up, I followed Joyce out of the salon and to a tiny cafe a street over. We had a small lunch, Joyce making small talk about the kids and Hopper but I could tell something else was bothering her. 

I sighed. “What is it?”

Joyce watched me for a moment. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

I nodded. “Why do you ask?”

Joyce reached out a hand to place over mine on the table. “It’s just your first birthday away from your parents, your friends. Eddie was worried today might be hard for you.”

I frowned. “Why would he think that?”

“El might have told me about a conversation she had with you at Thanksgiving,” Joyce said with a shrug. “I realized I might not have been checking in with you as much as I should.”

“Joyce,” I let out a relaxed laugh. “El brags me to family dinners with you guys almost every other week. You see me all the time.”

Joyce nodded. “I do, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that you could come to me about stuff.”

I squeezed her hand. “I know that I can.”

Joyce took a sip of her coffee. “You know Murray mentioned something to me the other week.”

“Hm?”

She placed her cup down. “He mentioned that when his partner was brought to the past, a box of some of his more personal items showed up. Has that happened to you?”

“No?” I shrugged. “I didn’t know that it was possible for that to happen. Nancy never mentioned it to me.”

Joyce frowned. “He should be back in Hawkins for a few days. Maybe you could ask him?”

We didn’t stay too much longer, Joyce saying it was her turn to carpool, but letting me know that Eddie had planned to meet with us at the school. 

“Not that I don’t think of El as my own,” Joyce said on the drive back. “But I really want you to know that you have a place in my family.”

I smiled. “I know that I do. I think between you, Hopper, and Wayne acting as parents with Steve trying to prove that he is my brother; I’ve got all areas covered. I promise you since I’ve woken up here I haven’t felt truly alone.”

“Good,” Joyce said. “We’re a weird group, aren’t we?”

I don’t think I could have asked for a better one.

When we got to the school, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the group that was waiting at Eddie’s van. I only had a second once I got out of the car to get bombarded by the younger ones, trying to pull me in hugs and El trying to sing me happy birthday. 

“Guys,” I laughed delighted at the love I was receiving. I almost had to stop for a second at the sheer feeling of adoration that hit me, but it wasn’t hard to place where that emotion came from when I met Eddie’s eyes. He was leaning against the van, a smile on his face as he waited for his turn to get to me. 

Steve stepped forward, pulling me into a quick hug before throwing an arm around Dustin. “Since you didn’t tell us how important today was, we didn’t have any time to throw something together.”

I shrugged, not bothered about it. “I didn’t want you guys to make a big deal about it.”

Steve pointed at me. “Well, we will. Just wait.”

After a few more minutes of ‘Happy Birthday’ wishes and hugs from everyone, they all split into groups between Steve and Joyce. I waved back at them as they all got in their cars, leaving Eddie and I in the almost empty parking lot. 

When I turned to him, he was still leaning against his van with his hands tucked into his front pockets. He pushed off the van and slowly made his way to me, reaching out to pull at a loose curl. “You changed your hair?”

He tucked a strand behind my ear, fingers trailing along my jaw. “Do you like it?”

“Like it?” Eddie asked as his other hand joined the one on my facing, moving to rub his thumbs against my cheeks. “Sweetheart, that color does wonders to you. Damn,” Eddie let out a groan and closed his eyes with a smile. “Are you trying to kill me?”

My laughter was silenced as Eddie leaned down to kiss me, my eyes fluttering closed at the intensity of it. When one of Eddie’s hands moved to grasp mine and his fingers brushed against my mark, I almost gasped at the feelings I felt thrown back at me. 

Eddie broke away from me, staying close enough that our lips lightly brushed when he talked or more like whispered to me. “As much as I enjoy kissing you, we do have dinner plans.”

“We do?” I whispered back. 

He stood up fully now, but never letting go of my hand. “Wayne wants to take you out for your birthday. Can’t argue with the man.”

I smiled. “Well if he insists…”

“Now you’re getting it!” Eddie exclaimed as he moved to open the passenger door of the van and help me into the seat. I see him sprint across the front and as soon as he turns the keys, the van is filled with the loud music of Blue Oyster Cult. Once we’ve stopped at the trailer long enough to pick up Wayne and let Eddie dump his stuff, before we are on our way towards town. 

“Maybe next year we can actually make a plan since I know when your birthday is.” Wayne said he slammed the door shut. 

“Wayne-” I started to explain before he held up a hand. 

“Eds was the same way.” Wayne said as he pulled me into a side hug, Eddie raced ahead claiming to get the best booth in the back. “The first year he lived with me he didn’t want to celebrate anything. But I get it, kid. One day, you’ll want to start celebrating it too.”

Wayne opened the diner door for me, ushering me and as I turned to try and find Eddie-

“SUPRISE!”

The diner seemed to be empty except for my mismatched family. Eddie was standing closest to the doors, my favorite smile on his face with his arms stretched out wide. Steve and Robin off to the side of him, eyes bright as their smiles. Joyce, Hopper, and Murray sitting down in the booth off to the side, drinks raised at me. Lastly, all the younger ones were standing right in the middle with Nancy and Jonathan behind them, balloons and party favors in hand. 

I felt my eyes get wet, and it took me a few blinks to convince myself not to cry. Wayne squeezed my shoulder before moving around me and heading towards the other adults while Eddie moved to stand in front of me, taking one of my hands in his. 

“This okay?” He asked as he squeezed my hand.  

“I don’t know what I would do without you.” I said instead. 

Eddie beamed, leaning down to kiss my forehead before moving to wrap an arm around my shoulders and led me to the chaos of my surprise birthday party. “You’ll never have to know, sweetheart. Now why don’t we get some of that cake?”

Ah, hello my beautiful people. It's been a few weeks, hasn't it? Well I'm back and better than ever (had a whole allergic reaction and I won't bore you with the details but I am better and on medication for it now so no worries :) ). So this is a long one, I hope you enjoy the meal! I've been anxious to get into the main part of the story, and it's going to start in the next chapter so be prepared! I figured we could see a glimpse of the life Sydney and Eddie are living before I get into the nitty gritty. Leave a comment telling me if you liked it!

Also just in case we need to know, what should be have as Sydney's Vecna song? I'm trying to decide between something that easily accessible (which means the song is already out), or the potential issue that the song hasn't been written yet. Let me know what you guys think!

Leave a comment if you want to be tagged!

Taglist: @silky-luxe @disaster-in-waiting @sadbitchfangirl@welliguessiwritethingsnow @comboboo@tuttigunner@avalon-wolf @goth-cowgirl-03

[is-not-a-unicorn]

I'm having a bad mental health day

I'm really struggling to do anything. I'm not even going to the house today because I need a break. I'm trying to take it easy so I can calm down. I did some Journaling when I woke up. I stopped by my partner's work to visit with him and bring him lunch and I did some shopping. I thought getting out and doing stuff would help me feel less depressed but it didn't. I took a shower and I'm gonna nap after I post this. Maybe that will help.

CW: angry rant after the cut

I was up all last night and couldn't sleep because I was thinking about how angry I am with my roommates.

This entire floor was covered in piss & shit with paper towels cemented to the tile. My roommate kept saying he would clean it up. Did he? No!! My partner and I did. I spent like $200 on cleaning supplies, he had everything he needed to clean. He said he was going to but days went by and nothing. He said he would clean on Tuesday and we came back Sunday and nothing was done. My partner couldn't be in the house because of the smell so we cleaned it ourselves. It still smells like urine but not as overpowering as it was 😢

I'm just tired of being the one doing 95% of the cleaning. I did ALL of the cleaning the first two years we lived together. After I stopped cleaning up after them everything went to shit. I haven't used the kitchen in 5 years because it smells like urine. And they never cleaned it.

The basement was flooding last year and the plumber refused to come in the house. I wasn't even living there, I was with my partner in his apartment. And I'm still the one that cleaned the kitchen and the laundry room.

The other roommate always says thank you and tells me how great it looks and I HATE that. I don't care that you're grateful. I don't want to always be the one doing the cleaning. I work more hours and have a harder job. I haven't lived in the house for the past two years. Clean up your own fucking mess. I don't want praise. I want them to clean up their own shit.

Talking to them does nothing. They say they'll clean up but they DON'T. I swear I'm gonna start charging them $75/hr to clean up after them and just take the money from the household account idc.

I'm scared to live in the house again. I was so depressed living there before, things got REALLY bad. It'll probably be better this time because my partner will be there to support me. My partner keeps telling me it will be okay. But I'm still scared. I keep having break downs and crying if I think about it too much.

And my partner's mad too. He thinks my roommates shouldn't have a dog if they can't take care of it. But the dog is extremely reactive and wouldn't be able to be rehomedso he's not going to say anything to my roommates about that. My partner is going to try to work with training the dog since my roommates haven't. He feels absolutely terrible that this dog has been forced to live in her own urine and feces. It's unsanitary and cruel. My partner is also worried that the urine soaked through the grout and damaged the foundation of the house.

I don't even know how my roommates' cats are because they stay in their room. But my roommates always smell like cat pee and it's a little bit embarrassing for me to be around them in public.

I don't even know what to do except keep cleaning. Next week. Not today.

[woodsfae]

I think of myself as a non-confrontational person, which generally amuses the people I know, because my definition is a little different than theirs. I am not a push-over, and I will not be moved in certain situations. Like, for instance, if I'm being harassed outside a bar (a sadly common occurence). I won't placate the assholes, I'll say "fuck off," louder and louder till they cave before my 5'2 pillar of fury and go away. To me, this is only logical, and I didn't start the confrontation, I ended it.

Today I was reminded that in my hometown, after I finally successfully ran away from home, I basically tried to fistfight the entire community at once. They didn't like it that I refused to pretend everything was hunky-dory. I felt like I would die if I played along with them, so I didn't. If someone asked me how my ex-mother was (which was often), I would tell them we didn't speak anymore because she was abusive - and generally shared a few specifics. If they had ever asked me before, I would clarify that nothing had changed.

So many people told me I was a bad daughter. Told me I should be more considerate of my ex-mother's feelings. I always responded with some variation on "If she didn't want me to call her a bad mother in public, she shouldn't have been a bad mother!"

Again, to me this was not confrontational. I didn't start it. I was just doing my grocery shopping.

[cha-melodius]

Hi*

So I love your writing, and I've had this idea knocking around in my head that I wanted to suggest to you since I had a massage last November (ironically enough, the same day that I started writing my first TMFU fic). I had another massage today, reminding me to send you this idea.

So basically, the idea is Illya is a massage therapist, and Solo is his client/patient. Solo is an ambulatory wheelchair user (like an incomplete spinal cord injury), but due to pain in his back, he is having more bad days than average or good days, so he's using his wheelchair more often than before.

Waverly is his doctor and suggests that he should try getting massages to help manage/reduce Solo's pain. Solo is resistant to the idea but after a few months and several appointments where Waverly suggests he gives it ago he mentions it to Gaby and Gaby is like:

Wait I know a guy, you should totally give it a go. You've been miserable and in pain for months, what's the worst that can happen?

Solo begrudgingly agrees to one session to get her to stop nagging him about it. From the first session, it was incredible. He feels better, so he agrees to another appointment. As the months go by, he starts to feel better, his back pain has been reduced, and he has more good days again. He can start using his other mobility devices like crutches and canes again.

There's obviously the obligatory bumping into each other in public (maybe it's in public that Illya sees Solo using crutches for the first time, so he doesn't notice Solo at first and realises for the first time how tall Solo is, obviously not as tall as Illya but taller than the average dude). Both falling for each other and mutual pining for each other, thinking that the other isn't interested and that their feelings are born from the intimate nature of the massages (also imagine Illya's mortification at falling for one of his patients/clients.)

Then the whole kissing and Illya having to hand Solo's case over to another (not as good) massage therapist, but that's not a big deal when Illya can give him a massage whenever.

*I'm using my laptop for once, and the keyboard is fucked, so please excuse the extra 'e' or absence of 'e' that I have overlooked.

Hey anon, thanks for sending this in! These types of AUs have SO much potential for mutual pining, which is always excellent, because the of the forbidden nature of the relationship.

I imagine that Illya is an exceptional masseuse but he, shall we say, is lacking in the bedside manor department, lol. He's gruff and prickly; clients will try to chit-chat and he just barely responds (or doesn't at all). Of course, this just makes Napoleon want to talk to him more. I also always see Napoleon as an incorrigible flirt, and though I think he'd try to tone it down some given the circumstances, he also can't help himself (not anything suggestive, but stuff that's more harmless). Of course then Illya gets into the massage and renders him speechless. 😂

I think it would take a while for Illya to start opening up a bit, because he absolutely doesn't have personal relationships of any kind with his clients. Maybe when they bump into each other, Napoleon offers to buy him a coffee or something and Illya tries to refuse, but eventually Napoleon convinces him to accept it and they end up sitting in the coffee shop and talking far more than they ever have before.

I feel like Illya would hand off the case earlier than anything really happening because of the conflict of his feelings, but that actually has great potential for angst because Napoleon is upset that Illya's "breaking up" with him as a client, and they don't see each other for a little while.

Lots of great potential here, anon! Thanks for sharing!

[jabbasyogainstructor]

Here’s my wild take on Edna Turnblad (using John Travolta because he’s fresher in my mind, but any version works)

So if you look around during all the scenes of the Turnblad home, you’ll see that they did stage various photos of the Turnblad family at various points in time. There’s actually a really prominent picture of Wilbur and Edna’s wedding. Edna is thinner, but still not conventionally attractive, and she’s noticeably taller than her husband, both in the photo and just generally in most shots, in a time period where women would have absolutely commented on that frequently. Travolta is about 6’2” without heels while Walken topped out at around 6’ and probably has shrunk slightly due to his age. To top it all off, you can tell in many of these photos, she’s more than just tall, but big boned, broad shoulders… to even attempt fit into the styles of the age, she probably would have had to starve herself. My mother was tall and big boned as well, and huge feet for a woman, which is something that I think everyone she ever met pointed out when she was growing up in the 60s. (Mom is still very insecure about her appearance. ) Commenting negatively on appearance was the national pastime of women like Velma “former miss Baltimore crabs” Von Tussle in the 60s. Just bullying each other like we had a caste system. Watch another 1960s era film, there are plenty of examples. The Help is particularly noticeable: just sitting around talking shit about each other.

So poor Edna, who we’ve established is really insecure to begin with, has a baby! And she loves Tracy and Wilbur loves Tracy and Tracy clearly adores both her parents. Their relationship appears to be pretty healthy as we see in present day 60s Baltimore. But after giving birth, I bet Edna struggled to get that weight off. The lyrics for “without love” reference that a life without love are like “my mother on a diet.” Edna probably tried dozens of diets in the last 16 years. When she takes Tracy clothes shopping, she says she hasn’t left the house and the neighbors have not seen her in over a decade. On the surface, it sounds like she’s exaggerating, but to a degree, I don’t think she is. She has clearly avoided going out in public as much as possible. She only starts to regain some confidence when Mr Pinkley offers to dress Edna as well as Tracy. For some of you that have never had trouble finding clothes that fit, plus size stores for women are actually a relatively new idea. They definitely would not have been widespread in the 1960s. I would bet dollars to donuts that she had to make her own clothing. She’s a laundress, back then, tailoring as well as cleaning would have been an incredibly useful skill, it’s not a huge leap to think if she couldn’t buy herself clothes, she made them. Again with the insecurity, so what she made was full coverage and frumpy. Look at what she’s wearing when we first meet her: a plain, white housecoat that covers her from neck to calf.

So Edna has been hanging around her house, gaining weight, refusing to go outside, and her husband and young daughter have absolutely no idea how to help her. Mental illness treatment at the time consisted of mostly treatment for the truly impaired, a therapist just to talk to weekly, for postpartum depression, anxiety, weight issues… that was not widespread. Even if she had gone looking for treatment of any kind, she likely could not have been helped. So more than likely, grocery shopping or any other expenditures were done by Tracy or Wilbur, even going to Pinkley’s shop was almost shunted onto Wilbur as a task because she didn’t want to be seen.

I’m sure you all knew that already. But I think people sleep on how badly Edna was really treated. She had a child and husband who adored her no matter what, she was a successful business owner and she was still terrified to leave her own home. She overcame all of these issues to ensure that not only Tracy had a better shot at life and a great deal more confidence than she herself could ever seem to gather, but she went out and marched for other people’s kids. She kicked her own fears to the curb with a new wardrobe and a literal breaking bread with someone else who was heavyset and was absolutely thriving.

She is the secondary protagonist to beat all secondary protagonists.

I had to get it all out there. I adore Edna Turnblad.

[thebettybook]

Leona character headcanons pt 2

🍓: My Pt 1 post is here

🍓: Again, I can’t sleep so here’s another post of my Leona character headcanons + analysis (I’ve also had this in drafts for a few weeks now lol)

🦁 During the first Halloween event in TWST EN this year with the Magicam Monsters, some of the NRC visitors recognized Leona as the Magift player they saw on TV, and not as a prince of Afterglow Savannah. Like, throughout the whole Magicam Monster fiasco, none of the Magicam Monsters recognized Leona as a prince (because if they did, they’d probably take pics or videos of him for clout). This makes me think that Leona probably doesn’t join his family much for royal engagements, or he just chooses to not go to public events as a member of the Kingscholar royal family a lot (if at all).

🦁 But also…I wonder if Leona feels that it’s nice people recognize him as a Magift player and not as a prince. Because all his life back home, he was regarded as the second prince who could harm anything and anyone with his Unique Magic. And here at Sage Island/NRC, he’s recognized for his prowess and talent in Magift.

🦁 Everytime Leona comes home for break or a holiday, Cheka would barge into his room with a plushie in hand at night and sleep next to him. The cub got his own room ever since he turned five, but hates it because he doesn’t like being a big room all alone.

🦁 Anyways, Leona always tries to get Cheka to go back to his own room by saying “Y’know that if you don’t sleep in your own room like a good cub, a monster will come out of your closet to scare ya” (a reference to Monsters, Inc. hehe). However, this tactic doesn’t work on Cheka; it only makes the cub more scared at the thought of a monster in his closet and cling onto Leona.

🦁 So Leona always has to double—no, triple check that there aren’t any monsters in Cheka’s room every night by looking under Cheka’s bed and in his closet (fun headcanon, Cheka’s current room was the one Leona had as a kid). Even if Leona does make a show of checking that there aren’t any monsters, Cheka refuses to leave his side.

🦁 Leona’s not an extravagant gift giver, but he’s a good gift giver. He’s not the type to buy someone a random gift without the person’s interests in mind assuming that they’ll just like it because “it’s the thought that counts” or “it could be useful.” He’s perceptive of people’s likes, dislikes, and interests.

🦁 Adding onto the point above, I thought about the Camp Vargas event and how Leona gave Ruggie his credit card to buy clothes for the two of them for the camp. We could assume Leona doesn’t worry or care about money since he’s royalty and thus from a rich family, but Leona is also really smart and analytical. He may not be economically shrewd like Azul or good with money like Ruggie, but Leona isn’t so privileged or out of touch with reality to the point where he’s apathetic to the value of money.

🦁 After all, Leona basically trained and taught himself the qualities and knowledge of a king. One of the qualities a ruler of a country has to have is to be knowledgeable and smart about money/currency, which shapes the present and future of a country.

🦁 Thus, during the Camp Vargas event, I’d say Leona kind of gifted Ruggie new clothes when he gave Ruggie his credit card to buy clothes for the two of them. This may be me reaching, because Leona probably just needed clothes and Ruggie did too, BUT if Leona didn’t care, he’d tell Ruggie to buy his own outdoor wear with his own finances.

🦁 Leona was also probably aware that the designer outerwear Ruggie bought for himself and Leona were pricy (which again, is probably not an issue for Leona), BUT if Leona didn’t care about Ruggie to some degree, Leona wouldn’t have let Ruggie use his credit card for Ruggie’s clothes. Because usually, we’ve only seen or heard of Ruggie buying stuff for only Leona using Leona’s credit card.

🦁 And during the Halloween event, Leona and Ruggie went to Mr. S’s Mystery Shop to buy refreshments for the Savanaclaw members who were working at their stamp tour spot. This was Leona’s idea. Ruggie even asked Leona “Why can’t you admit that you care?”.

🦁 All in all, Leona cares about his underclassmen, his Savanaclaw members, and his family, even if he doesn’t show it outright. He’s a generous and perceptive person, which makes him a good gift giver.

🦁 Leona doesn’t use social media much, if at all. He’s not like Malleus where he’s completely clueless about technology and social media, but Leona just doesn’t see the point of social media. He’s not into customizing his phone either with wallpaper or widgets suited to his interests (does he even have a favorite color??).

🦁 If he has a Magicam, it’s private with no profile pic and with less than ten followers. He only uses Magicam to follow collector chess board accounts, and for the occasional cute cat or kitten videos (they’re cute, ok?).

🦁 Leona, being the uncle that he is (yes he’s a young uncle, but still an uncle), also isn’t too familiar with social media slang. Ruggie texted him once “brb” when doing an errand and Leona asked out loud “What the hell does ‘brb’ mean?” A Savanaclaw member who happened to be there incorrectly told Leona “brb” stands for “birb”, which is a cute way to say “bird.” Leona wondered for a sec if Ruggie found a bird on his way doing errands and captured the bird for lunch or something.

🦁 Pfft I just realized in the far, far future when Cheka has kids someday (say in like twenty-thirty years from now), Cheka’s kids will call Leona “Gruncle” Leona, like how Mabel and Dipper from the show Gravity Falls call their great uncle “Gruncle” Stan.

🦁 During the second Halloween event in TWST EN in the Spectral Realm, Leona was ready to sing “Be Prepared” to Ace. It seems like “Be Prepared” was a song Leona loved as a kid since he always asked his caretakers to sing that song for him instead of “It’s a Small World.”

🦁 I love to think that Leona still sings “Be Prepared” sometimes when he takes a shower, and that’s the only time he’ll sing because he doesn’t like people hearing him sing.

🦁 I don’t think he’s a bad singer, he’s probably an average singer who gets really fired up and passionate when singing lyrics he relates to.

🦁 He doesn’t seem like the type that would enjoy or seek out musicals or rom-com shows and movies (unless his sister-in-law made him watch it with her).

🦁 Leona strikes me as the type of person to watch sports games or even like those game shows like Jeopardy! because he likes figuring out the answers before the contestants on screen can.

🦁 Cheka makes Leona watch cartoons with him when Leona comes home for break, and all those cartoon theme songs are stuck in Leona’s head.

🦁 More of a Cheka headcanon but the cub has a little calendar given to him by his parents so that he can learn how to read and use a calendar, but the cub only uses it to cross out with crayon the days until Leona comes home :’).

🦁 Last headcanon for now but isn’t it interesting that for Leona’s Dorm Uniform SSR card (arguably his main card), his powers are Flora??? Which really contrasts with his Unique Magic “King’s Roar.”

🦁 It makes me think that Leona might’ve spent a lot of time throughout his childhood or early teen years honing his flora magic to prove to people back home that he was so much more than his Unique Magic “King’s Roar,” but people still feared him.

🦁 Leona deserves so much love 😭💖