#why do i always include benverly

[reddieorrnot]

18? — pasteleddiekaspbrak

i know this trails off a bit, but i hope it’s still good!

number 18 from this list

“I think this would look so cute on you!”

Eddie’s head snapped up from the pants he was previously looking at, and saw Beverly holding up a baby pink t-shirt, with a butterfly embroidered on the chest. 

He knew that bringing Beverly along to his shopping trip at the mall would be a good idea, she always had such a good eye for fashion. Originally, Richie was supposed to tag along. But he had an appointment to get new glasses. 

The foolish boy had broken his old ones in half while skating home from school the day before. Eddie had been with him, and watching Richie take the trip and fall made his heart ache. But the second Richie made a joke about how much Eddie cared, Eddie pretended to walk away from the scene. Richie’s begging for Eddie’s medical assistance brought him right back, though.  

“It’s really pretty, Bev,” Eddie grinned and walked over to her, touching the fabric. It was incredibly soft, and Eddie had no doubts about making this purchase. 

“Try it on!” Beverly urged him, pushing him lightly toward the fitting rooms. With a light laugh, Eddie accepted and went to try on the shirt. He made his way, and entered one of the rooms. Slipping off his shirt, Eddie stared at himself in the mirror for a second, taking in his attributes. As a younger teen, Eddie had always been so skinny, convincing himself he was weak. Out of the desire to change how he viewed his strength, Eddie had started working out more. He offered to spend some days with Mike, helping him at the farm. Mike always made sure to give Eddie the cleaner jobs but ones that still produced more muscle definition over time. And over a few months, the chores had done their job. That’s why Eddie smiled at his reflection, feeling satisfied with how he looked. He also hadn’t minded it whenever the group of friends went to the quarry, and he’d catch Richie gaping at his shirtless image. While Eddie didn’t like to think about what it meant, he sure liked thinking about Richie’s shocked expression. 

Slipping on the clothing, Eddie already knew he loved the article. It fit him incredibly well, and made him feel like he looked adorable. He ran his fingers along the butterfly a few times, then pulled back the fitting room’s curtain to show Beverly, who had been patiently waiting outside.

“Oh, Eddie!” She squealed, jumping up onto her feet from the chair she had been in. “It looks amazing! I bet Richie would agree,” She gave him a sly wink. Eddie hoped how hot his cheeks got wasn’t visible, and simply replied to Beverly with an eye roll as he pulled the curtain shut. 

After taking the t-shirt off and checking out, he and Beverly made their way to a nearby frozen yogurt stand. They planned on just grabbing cups to go and heading home. Eddie stuck with more simple flavors, such as vanilla, strawberry, and occasionally chocolate. But he knew that was bad for your skin, it all was, but especially chocolate. Beverly, on the other hand, got nearly every flavor. Eddie’s face scrunched up in disgust as he watched Beverly pull the lever on “Blueberry blast”. 

“You know that’s like, all artificial, right?” He told his friend as they walked up to the cashier. 

“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” She giggled, taking his cup, signaling she was covering for both of them. Usually, Eddie wouldn’t allow it, but he had just bought something and wasn’t feeling up to spending any more money. He gave her a kind smile, one that indicated thankfulness. 

As they walked out of the mall, frozen yogurt cups in their hands, Eddie felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. 

“Can you grab my phone?” He asked Beverly, his hands being full. She complied with a nod, then got his phone for him. She took the bag from his hand, exchanging it with his phone. It was lit up, and on the screen was a text from Richie.

“ditch bev, come hang out at my place w me :(((“ 

Without thinking, Eddie grinned at his phone. This meant that Richie was back from getting new glasses. Richie wanting to be with him made his heart flutter in ways he knew it shouldn’t. But he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t help a lot of things he did or thought about when it came to Richie.

Beverly noticed the look on Eddie’s face, recognizing it as something she’d seen many times before. 

As they got in the car, Beverly driving, Eddie texted a reply to Richie.

“No need to ditch, just finished shopping. Can I ask her to drop me off at your place?”

Quicker than expected, Eddie’s phone buzzed again. 

“yes PLEASE” 

Eddie giggled, which made Beverly speak up.

“I know you’re texting Richie,” She told him, not looking away from the road. Eddie looked at her, embarrassed. Then shook his head.

“You don’t know anything.” 

“Sure, sure I don’t,” She smirked, “So… am I dropping you off at your house?”

Her tone suggested that she knew she didn’t need to ask that, and that she knew Eddie’s reply even before he answered. Which he did so with an annoyed huff. 

“No, Richie’s,” He mumbled merely above a whisper. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?” 

“Richie’s, you heard me now?” He groaned.

“Loud and clear, no need to be cranky!” 

Beverly’s playful tone made it hard not to be amused, but Eddie still managed. She carried the conversation on, talking about how excited she was for later plans with Ben, and how they were going out to go see a movie. It all sounded so sweet, and Eddie loved seeing the smile that appeared on her face whenever she spoke of their friend. It went like that the whole drive to Richie’s, Eddie mainly listening. It was okay, anything was better than Beverly teasing him. Once he had finished his frozen yogurt, Beverly had offered to just throw the cup away for him when she got home, he thanked her. As they pulled up to the Tozier house, she said nothing, just shooting Eddie a wink as he waved goodbye to her from outside of the car. Eddie acted like he hadn’t seen it.

Walking up to the front door, Eddie thought about how much he truly loved Richie’s family and his home. Maggie Tozier always treated him so kindly, and behaved as if he had always been apart of the family. Went was the same, always making jokes with Eddie, and picking on Richie alongside. Richie liked to comment on how he didn’t know whether Eddie was his best friend or his parents. He knew Richie was just kidding around, but the idea of him even making that joke made Eddie feel so welcomed and safe. It had always felt like some sort of sacred haven of peace when Eddie was a kid, where there was no Sonia Kaspbrak to yell at him because his shoes had gotten dirty. If his shoes had indeed ever gotten dirt on them, he always walked with Richie to his house first, where Richie’s mother would offer to clean them off. Then afterward, he would go home, looking as clean as he had before he had left the house. This convinced his mother that he wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything she wouldn’t approve of. He absolutely adored coming over.

He adored it even more when Maggie’s familiar face opened up the door greeting him enthusiastically. 

“Eddie!” She pulled him in for a hug, causing the plastic bag in his hand to make a noise. Pulling away from the hug, Maggie joked, “Bought something for me? Oh, you shouldn’t have!”

Eddie laughed, feeling the smallest amount of guilt, even if he knew she was just fooling around, “Next time, Mrs. Tozier. Just came back from the mall with Beverly.”

“I miss her so much! She doesn’t come around here enough, tell her she’s still as welcome as always!” 

Eddie beamed, and made a mental note to let Beverly know what Maggie had said. 

“Richie’s in his room, I believe. Just head on up there.”

With a nod, Eddie went up to the staircase and in the direction of Richie’s room. 

Eddie had always been so fascinated with Richie’s room. He had never seen something so alike to the inhabitant's personality. There were posters essentially all over the walls, along with photographs and magazine cut-outs. Not the types of magazines where all the woman wore bikinis, but the ones with his favorite bands or singers. While it wasn’t necessarily messy, it wasn’t organized to anyone but Richie himself. Eddie, personally, wouldn’t be able to find a thing in Richie’s room without help. But Richie? You could ask him for a pin and he’d know exactly where to look. It was impressive, Eddie had thought. 

Eddie knocked on Richie’s room door and heard the familiar voice. 

“Has my Eds arrived?”

Opening the door, Eddie replied, “No, but Eddie’s here.”

Richie was sitting on his bed, a comic book in hand. As he looked up to Eddie, everything in the world stopped. 

Richie wasn’t wearing his old glasses, the ones that had broken. But he wasn’t wearing his new glasses either, the ones he was supposed to have gotten earlier today. Yet, even at the absence of glasses, Richie wasn't helplessly squinting. And maybe that’s why Eddie had never noticed how blue his best friend's eyes were. How Eddie swore he could see the most beautiful sky in Richie's eyes, and how all he wanted was to be laying down on the grass, looking at that exact sky. But that wasn’t all, Eddie swore he saw the clearest ocean as well. One where just hearing the waves crash made all of Eddie’s problems disappear, and all that mattered was Richie. 

“You like ‘em?” Richie laughed.

“Huh?” Eddie answered, confused. He dropped his bag by the door and walked over to Richie’s bed, sitting beside him. The desire to just drown in Riche’s eyes only grew stronger as Eddie moved closer. 

“My contacts! When I went to the eye doctor, he gave me new glasses, but also these things,” Richie pointed to his contacts, “They feel a little funny at first, but I can see without annoying ass glasses in the way.” 

Eddie swallowed nervously, “Yeah.”

“So? You like ‘em?” Richie looked like a child waiting for candy, excited to hear Eddie’s reply. This was one of those moments where Eddie didn’t think through what he said. His brain just decided it was confident enough itself to let the next words he said spill out from his mouth.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?”

He must’ve not been expecting something like that, because Richie’s eyes widened and his face got red. Eddie was sure he had crossed some line. Richie called Eddie cute and pretty all the time, but maybe that was a thing only he could do because he was always kidding. Maybe Eddie couldn’t say that stuff… because they both must have known he wasn’t kidding. Eddie went to back up, make some joke to cover it all up, but Richie spoke first. His tone was bashful, full of flattery.

“Gee, Eds. I don’t even know what to say, that was so sweet.” 

Thankful for nothing bad happening, Eddie didn’t risk anything further. He didn’t even say anything on the nickname. 

“Yeah, well, I’m like that sometimes,” He told Richie with a shrug. 

Richie’s flushed complexion wasn’t diminished though, as he had a dumb grin on while looking at Eddie. Desperate to get the attention off what he said, Eddie thought of the first topic change he could.

“I bought a new t-shirt today.” 

“Ooo, where is it? In that bag?” 

Eddie nodded, getting up and walking over to where he had dropped his shopping bag. He bent over to grab the t-shirt, and if he had turned around fast enough, he would have seen Richie getting red all over again at the sight of Eddie in that position. 

As he walked back to the bed, Eddie unfolded the shirt and held it out, showing it off. 

“It’s real cute, just like you.” 

“Oh, shut it, Rich,” But Eddie knew he didn’t mean it. He considered what he was going to say next, then just blurted it out. “Want me to try it on? So you can see how it looks?”

Richie only stared at him, making Eddie nervous.

“Only… Only Beverly saw me with it on, and sometimes she doesn’t… she doesn’t really tell me when something doesn’t look good. And I wanna make sure it looks good?” Eddie tried to make sense of his words, but the way he trailed off and looked anywhere but Richie betrayed him.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Richie finally said, tone hushed and breathy. 

Eddie nodded, putting the shirt down, and slowly grabbing the bottom hem of his shirt and pulling it up, over his head. He let his eyes fall on Richie, before he grabbed his new t-shirt, and Eddie would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t see how Richie was looking at him. With his eyes dark and his mouth slightly agape, staring at Eddie’s bare chest. Eddie felt his hands get sweaty, realizing the silence between them. Even if he had wanted to make a move, which a small part of him did long to do, Richie seemed too in trance to do so. The concept would have made Eddie laugh if he hadn’t been so nervous. So he finally pulled on the shirt that he had been clutching, and clutching hard, he realized. 

“How does it look?” He finally managed to say, not looking at Richie but instead the floor.

There was a beat of stillness in the air.

“It looks good. But you, you look beautiful.” 

Eddie looked back up, expecting this to be one of Richie’s countless jokes. But what he saw instead was nothing but honesty in those stunning blue eyes.

Eddie so, so, extremely fucked.

[ayyyymichele]

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

HOO BOY. You weren’t joking about having questions! Ok. Let’s do this!

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? 

I will once and a blue moon upload pictures to my art Instagram which is @ dear_doodle and sometimes I post fanart/cosplays/meeting cast members/conventions on my personal Instagram which is @ ayyymichele.

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

Uh. I have one that I won’t promote because I really need to delete it because it’s sole purpose was unhealthy for me. I have been half of @stenbroughasks and I also am the mod of @ask-eddiekasp

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

So I was never super into the mini series, but I had watched it because one of my best friends was terrified of Pennywise...so what better motivation to give it a whirl? I was super excited when Chapter 1 came out though because I loved the Pennywise design so much more. And because, once again, my friend was having a fit over it so for some reason it made me all the more excited? After I saw Chapter 1 and watched how the Losers interacted in it, I HAD to make Xan watch it aaannnnnnnd the rest is history.

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

Ships: Reddie, Stenbrough, Hanbrough, Benverly

Characters: I really love them all, but my favorites are Richie and Eddie.

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

I draw, but I am afraid they aren’t super popular, but that’s ok! I share other content creators works, and I run the Ask Kasp blog. I roleplay off of Tumblr too.

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

OH SHEESH. HOW DO I EVEN LIST EVERYONE HERE?!?! The IT fandom is filled with so many talented creators and such supportive people who always have such kind feedback. Admittedly, Xan keeps most of my muse and fuel alive because we rp, talk headcanons, share drabbles, blah blah

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

I feel like @caliceal art and mini comics, @kmcarras Reddie Storyboard and @slashpalooza Loose Ends are my favorite story-telling and art related works. Gwen is the Captain of Cuteness and kills me with adorableness, Kat is so talented with nailing characterizations and facial expressions, and Romax just absolutely crushes the anatomy and character designs.

There are so so so many great fanfictions out there, but I am an idiot who does not save anything and then can never find it again. THERE WAS ONE I WAS READING WHERE THE LOSERS WERE DEVELOPING POWERS AND I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME FIND IT AGAIN AND I DON’T REMEMBER WHO WROTE IT OR IF IT EVER UPDATED.

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIGH. I am Queen of Pity Parties over my uploaded art so I am always bummed over most of my art and the lack of notes. Which once again, shouldn’t matter because the people who do like, reblog, comment and all that good stuff mean so much to me anyway! I’m not even going to link anything. I don’t have a style that stands out or is really distinguishable for characters. Like, you wouldn’t see it and think “Oh Reddie!” So I think between that and the fact its more anime/chibi styled I think it gets overlooked. 

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

I have not. I have been asked and I have thought about applying to things, but I am not a dedicated artist who can commit to deadlines. I draw when I want and what I want so it doesn’t make for great participation skills, even if I always wanted to do them! I suck. 

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

A sense of more open-mindedness and less policing people. Obviously unless there’s some seriously problematic shit going on. 

[srclovers]

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find me doing fannish things? I only use this blog to repost reddie related things, but you can find me on Ao3 as srcbabies! I dabble in social media reddie fics (ch12 of Meant to be should be posted soon...) :P

What other names have I gone by on these platforms? Just these two in the IT fandom: srclovers + srcbabies 

When did I join the IT fandom and what got me into it? Saw the first movie and loved it, but still wasn’t obsessed, and then it was announced that Bill Hader was playing Richie... and it snowballed from there. Saw the second movie for Bill, ended up falling in love with Eddie + Reddie and never looked back, so late 2019 :) 

Favorite ships, or characters, and why? I love all the main ships (benverly, bike/hanbrough, stanpat) but my main otp is reddie <3 and I would truly die for any of them but Im an Eddie Kaspbrak stan first and foremost.

In what ways do I participate in the fandom? I sometimes make the occasional post but, I mostly write reddie fics :)

Any in-fandom inspirations? A TON. I wish I could tag every single person who writes reddie fics here, but the writers who are still keeping the fandom/ship alive are all AMAZING and DESERVE THE WORLD. If I had to name one author in particular, it would be Lynn1998 <3 

Favorite works: I Want To Know Your Heartbeat by SereneCalamity 

Do automata dream of electric spaghetti? by Mere_Mortifer

Agent K by Lynn1998

The king of the damned by Webtrinsic

Overthinking With My Heart by minthalo

Do I have any works of my own that I feel proud of? Definitely my two huge social media aus, Reddie Rights! and Meant to be. RR! was the first fic I was seriously invested in writing and it got so much hype and love from the fandom, it’ll always have a special place in my heart. The fact that it still gets kudos to this day makes me smile. Meant to be is my current passion project, the scenes I wrote for reddie’s development are my favorite that I have ever written. The amount of thought and detail I put into every chapter just makes me :) and I appreciate every person who tunes in for every update. 

psst. I also have a legally blonde reddie au 

Have I ever participated in a fannish event? I haven’t but maybe one day!

What is something I feel this fandom is missing? More Stanpat content! Theyre cute as hell!!!!

[theoniprince]

If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

First of all thank you so much for asking me!!! 8D It was a pleasure to answer all these questions. During this I got quite emotional (haha Stanpat, Eddie). It showed me again how much I love this 8DDD

( I apologize in advance for all misspellings and my sloppy English =_=)

If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Oh, what a start XD I'm not that into nicknames. Generally people using my first name to address me or my username which is mostly onyprince (in reference to a character from Hakuouki) ID Sometimes they say Oni or J(ay) (Nickname for my first name). Do as you wish (though I like ‘J’ the th most) 😉

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

Twitter. But everything I post there is also here. Feel free to follow my account, but you don’t have to. https://twitter.com/oniprince_

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

Oniprince_ (Twitter) yeah… you see, I am pretty boring XDDD

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

Actually 23 years ago (haha I am old XD) When I was eleven I saw the miniseries with my cousins for the first time. The horror factor wasn't that important to me or maybe I didn't see it that way. It was more like an adventure story with an unfunny and nasty clown. A group of friends who had to endure an adventure. In any case, it entertained me well, even if I was not aware of some elements like that it’s a story about growing up, friendship, love and all these issues around becoming an adult XDD Then with 13 I read the book. It was a  new experience, and I loved every single word. Over the years I talked with friends and Kingsianer (XD) about it and read it for a second and a third time. At this point I could start a list with things I don’t like about the movies, but I’d rather mention on thing I really appreciate about them: they are a good opportunity for a new generation to explore this universe. Every adaption like the book itself is a reflection of a specific decade and what is more yeah… immortal, universal and diverse than a story about growing up. It was a discussion with a dear friend about book to movie adaptions some weeks ago that probably brought me back to this fandom

Nevertheless there are things from the book I would have loved to see in the movies. Let’s be honest at this point if you want to adapt such a brick of a book you simply have to cut some elements. You can’t please everyone

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

Ships:

Stanpat - orz q__q they are such a sweet couple and it is so heartbreaking, they never ever had a real chance to become parents. They would have been excellent parents. Imagine them on a beautiful summer day. They have a picnic with their children and Stan would watch birds with them. He would tell them all about the birds and keeps a journal about their observations with his kids

Reddie - Despite the constant teasing their realtionship seems like a natural, casual und easy thing from the start. And Eddie likes the nicknames. These secret names are like another identity. He can be someone else. They take care of each other. Their relationship is a deeper friendship that runs mostly on an emotional level and is sometimes expressed through small, physical gestures. The chemistry between them is indescribable. It is cute when 90s Eddie immediately starts to giggle as soon as Richie makes a dumb joke at their reunion. And thing about the little moments when Richie pokes Eddie and calls him cute. I am won’t quoting this one passage in the book that leaves much room for speculations, but there is no doubt their special bond is official. In any case, the decision to make Richie gay in the movies gave the ship another push. I don’t complain. I love it. Though I still think Eddie would have been a better option. There are already some scenes in the book which are like an invitation to speculate about his sexualityTheir chemistry is very obvious and believe me, there is nothing I would more appreciate than a happy end for them Q__Q

Benverly  „Your hair is winter fire

                   January embers

                  My heart burns there, too

This is one of sweetest things I have ever read in a book and that is all I need to explain why I love this ship.

Fav, Characters:  Hmm when I read „IT“ for the first time I had a crush on Bill. He ist the born leader and in my childish, pre-teen way found his stuttering cute. There is something about him that cast a spell on you. It is perfectly understandable that he was a role model and an inspiration for his friends – especially for Eddie. In my personal opinion book!Bill ist the best Bill.

Richie - I love this chaotic megane dude. He is this silly type who use jokes, pranks to protect himself. His voices are like safe heaven (the same goes for Bill, whose stuttering almost disappears, when he pretends tob e someone else). He hides himself and his insecurities behind them. It is a shame that he doesn’t know what an impact he had on his friends. Richie seems to never ever shut up and sometimes his trashmouth is still talking, when he better should be quite. And I am famous to fall for funny characters. He can lights up the mood immediately ( and OMG…. I love Harry Anderson in the miniseries. A real entertainer, BUT BILL HADER…. Bill Hader…just to make it clear BILL HADER  did such an amazing job. He rocked the movie and I still think, not just because I love this dude since over a decade, without him… the movie wouldn’t  have been so entertaining)

Eddie - He is in these abusive relationships. First with his mother, who keeps him small and makes him believe that he is weak. At the end her own fears of beeing left behind prevented her son from becoming a self-confident adult. Eddie always thought he is weak and fragile. Although he knows that he doesn’t need all this medication, his childhood experience were the reason for his coping-behavior as an adult – he still uses his inhaler. He married a woman who is like his mother. Mike's call was something of a turning point. Until this call Eddie could not overcome his fears and had to face them again as an adult. I can remember. While reading the book there were several moments of silence and I stopped reading and thought: poor Eddie.

Ultimately, his story is about a hero who surpasses himself, overcomes his fears and by sacrifice himself he protects what is most important to him - his friends. It just touched me. Eddie gave his life for his friends and I think you can say he's my favorite character. His death may be a tragedy, but it was necessary for his character arc. My theory is that Eddie represents someone who has lost track in his life and prefer to stick on old but unhealthy patterns.It is almost like Eddie stands for missed opportunities, but at the same time it is never to late to change something. He is a hero. There are so many things I would like to talk about, therefore I should start an own thread XDDD

Oh and Bev - I could always identify with her (not bc of abuse or domestic violence. My childhood was amazing). She is the only girl around the losers and I was the only girl in my  favourite clique too. We spent most of our time outside  - it was great. Of course I had other friends (female) as well, but with my boys… it was always special).. As you know as an adult she falls back in old patterns. Her husband is tyrannical man like her father. Again Mike’s call is a turning point.  Maybe the Benverly arc is the most satisfying. I was… I am very happy that Bev got her happy end.

Last but no least - I like Ben, Mike and Stan too. They have all there unique character treats and you sympathize with all of them. The Loser’s club is bunch of adorable idiots who just doing their best to become adults. I think it is normal that their friendship feels more intimate in the book – I highly recommand the book.

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Mostly fanarts, but recently I thought about posting my own theories and sharing my hcs and random stuff about the characters and the different relations.  

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

The fandom is full of amazing artists and writersand actually it would be a, but i want to name those who inspired me the most (mainly artists – hopefully I copied the links correcty):

https://tonyofthetrees.tumblr.com

https://meowsteryyy.tumblr.com

https://slashpalooza.tumblr.com/ ( you have to check out ‚Loose Ends‘)

https://coldcigarettes.tumblr.com

https://vvanini.tumblr.com/

https://eggocrumbs.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/10_sgan

https://twitter.com/kasphacked

https://twitter.com/tac_nor

(oh.. the list got longer than expected IDDD)

Do you know this?

https://ragnarozzys.tumblr.com/post/189890790551/those-early-hours-after-a-sleepover-when-you-wake

Have you ever seen something as cozy and cute before I///D? – me neither XD

Trust me they are all worth a visit and I am sure most of us already know them 8D

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

My art I provide on tumblr can be found here:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/tagged/myart

Honestly I like these the most:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649446311120273408/my-first-reddie-sketch-now-scanned-the-quality

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649548606679007232/close-to-you-now-scanned-with-coloured

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/650697175346593792/hammock-iconic-richie-is-reading-a-monthly

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Oh… unfortunately I am not feelin‘ very confident about my own artworks. Sometims I have the feeling I am not creative enough and that my ideas are more or less boring. Nothing special ID Totally dumb – I know. As I mentioned before I came back lately to the fandom… I guess I missed many amazing IT weeks. I participated in some weeks/mainly shipweeks in other fandoms (Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku, FFXV) If I find an interesting annoucement I can imagine to participate in the future ; )

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

In general… the fandom is really friendly – I hope so. Lately I have seen some salty comments on different stuff, topics… and well.. I have just an advice: life can be exhausting enough and time is always running. Don’t spend time on things you don’t like. Discussions can esclate quickly and worde can hurt too. So, just thing about before you jump in.

Thanks again! <3

(Special lil sketchy piece of art I did for this ask)

[booverlymarsh]

okay but: shark puppy holiday album special s/o to @grumpystan and @sarka-stically for coming up with these with me

each of the losers has their own song they sing (except for bev and ben, who originally were going to do fairytale of new york together, but ben couldn’t handle insulting bev that much, so they went with baby, it’s cold outside. benverly stans went nuts)

richie, ever the wham! whore, sings last christmas. reddie shippers are pumping out theories left and right and it becomes a whole debacle on twitter. some people wonder if there’s any hidden meaning or if richie just really likes that song (it’s mainly the latter, but if he lets a little bit of his feelings slip into the song, it’s no ones business but his) 

eddie claims santa baby and it drives everyone crazy tbh. cause this boy has vocals, no doubt, but no one was expecting those sultry vibes. everyone’s trying to piece together why eddie chose this song which leads to arguments and more reddie speculations, until someone tweets “it’s the shorts” and the fandom mutually decided that was the only valid explanation 

mike sings it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas, mainly because the losers told him he sounded good singing it. he’s got a smooth voice, of course he’s going to sing a classic. shark puppy fans were quick to agree mike’s vocals are to die for. it quickly became a fan favorite on the album

bill sings i saw mommy kissing santa claus. he’s unhinged, the song’s unhinged, that’s it

stan writes his own single called “i’m jewish but the doctor who christmas special is always good” and it’s another one of the fan favorites. it’s just him monotone rapping to the sound of birds chirping for three and a half minutes. he just woke up at 2 in the morning, probably stoned, wrote it in 30 minutes, and then slept through the next day.

there’s a music video to go along with stan’s song that’s recorded on an iphone of him staring out of a car window with eddie driving. he gets beverly to record it, so it’s kind of shaky and you can hear her muffled laughter in the background, along with the GPS that clearly states the three of them are on their way to m&m world

the last song on the album is all i want for christmas is you. its sung by all of them (including stan, due to richie’s persistent pestering) and recorded in richie’s room on some cheap microphone he bought to record demos on. it kind of sounds like screaming more than singing, but it’s the most popular song on the album

there’s a music video that goes along with that one too, and it’s the seven of them dancing around ben’s house (which is completely decked out for christmas) recorded on a shitty camcorder. there’s a full minute of footage that’s just bev and eddie lip syncing at each other while jumping up and down on ben’s bed. there’s also footage of bill and mike playing with ben’s dog, richie standing under the mistletoe and grabbing any loser that passes by him (and if he hopes that eddie walks by him at some point, he doesn’t tell anybody), all of the losers in the kitchen having a food fight while baking, and stan sitting in the middle of the living room floor, spinning a dreidel

just... shark puppy holiday album  @sharkpuppyofficial

[loserslibrary]

pairing: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier [Reddie], Stanley Uris/Patricia Blum Uris [Stanpat], Mike Hanlon/Bill Denbrough [Hanbrough] & Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh [Benverly]  written by: Ashley rating: Teen word count:  2,905 prompt: from @ticomat​ “Ok, so, for a prompt, how about the Losers having a Dinner night in which all pairings have big news they planned to tell the others, and end up collectively stealing each others thunder?”

Eddie knew that he and Richie were the boring friends. They had been for years, and Eddie supposed that was normal. When you’ve been in a serious, committed relationship since… well, forever, it seemed only natural that they wouldn’t have as many crazy stories as their friends. Especially since Richie had been banned from telling sex stories. Eddie didn’t mind, he was never bored with Richie, and he much preferred the most adventurous part of his month being he and Richie trying a new brand of pasta sauce that gave Richie stomach cramps over failed Tinder dates or coworkers setting him up on blind dates with horrible, poorly smelling people. 

Eddie and Richie have been together officially since he turned sixteen, but they’d practically been together for years before that. They’d had their rough spots like any other couple; choosing colleges had been one of the lowest points that Eddie could remember and he still sometimes felt sick when thinking about how close he and Richie had come to ending things when it came down to New York City vs Los Angeles. Richie had crawled through his bedroom window, crying and swearing to go to with him to New York City- or “wherever the fuck in the world he wants to go”- and Eddie couldn’t imagine them ever living anywhere else.

So, no. Eddie didn’t feel any lack luster in his life and he didn’t envy his friends’ wild stories whenever they got together the past couple of years. As they rapidly approached their thirties, Eddie was more than content with being settled down and married. Job he liked, financial stability, a loving husband in a surprisingly spacious New York apartment. It was more than Eddie had ever thought he’d be able to have growing up, and he wouldn’t trade it up for all the dating scene moments in the world. He wasn’t sure why anybody would. 

There was, admittedly, one thing in his life that he and Richie had been discussing. Something that could only make things even more perfect. And tonight, Eddie was sure that he and Richie would finally have the most exciting news at the reunion table. 

“You sure you want to tell them?” Richie asked, rubbing his hands between Eddie’s shoulder blades as Eddie used the mirror to do up his tie. Dressing up to Richie was a button up shirt with jeans that didn’t have rips in the knees or thighs, but Eddie always tried to go that extra mile when they were going out for a meal. Especially one that felt as important as this one.

“Yeah, of course.” Eddie said, finishing up the tie and pressing a quick kiss to his husband’s cheek. “I know that maybe we should wait until we have more news but- the Losers are as much family as your mom and dad, Rich. I want them to know.”

Richie smiled and pulled Eddie in for a quick kiss, and rubbed their noses together as he pulled back. “Alright, then I guess we better get going then. Bev is going to talk our ears off the second she sees us. Since the dweeb skipped Christmas.”

“I’m sure that her finishing the designs for her first leading collection  was more important than our Boxing Day dinner.” 

“You sound just like her.” Richie swung his car keys around his fingers as Eddie slipped into his jacket. “You’re such a sham, Edward Spaghetti Kaspbrak. You don’t need a jacket from here to the freakin’ car. You just wanna show off your nice threads to our friends when we get there.”

Eddie buttoned up the jacket up and beamed at Richie. “So what if I do? My husband has a big fancy Saturday Night Live job now, so I can spend my salary on whatever I want. Jackets included.”

Richie rolled his eyes and guided Eddie out of their apartment door. “Yeah.” He said in a soft voice. “For now.” Eddie never thought he’d be so happy to have financial restrictions.

Bill and Mike were already sitting around the table when Eddie and RIchie were shown to the Losers’ usual table. “Hey guys!” Richie half-jogged over to them as Eddie thanked their hostess. He tossed an arm around Bill’s shoulders and tugged him into his side. “Mikey, I swear you get hotter every time I see you. How do you do it?” 

Bill yanked away from Richie and punched him in the side. Richie made a loud, wounded noise and Eddie came over to give him a patronizing pat on the cheek. “Hush.” He said softly, before smiling at their friends. “How was Florida?”

Bill and Mike exchanged small looks that made alarm bells start ringing in the back of Eddie’s mind, but they both quickly replaced the looks with smiles. “It was amazing!” Mike said happily, waving towards the entry of their private room as Stan came in with Patty on his arm. 

Stan had started dating Patricia Blum about three years earlier, and she had been an instant click with their tight knit group. It was rare for anybody to connect with the other Losers so quickly, more often than not the Losers’ partners found their little group hard to fit into. Patty hadn’t been like that, thankfully. She and Richie had been practically best friends by the end of their first meeting. 

This was made apparent again, as Richie launched himself from Bill’s side and rushed through the little room to scoop Patty up in his arms and spin her around. 

“I swear, Richard.” Stan rolled his eyes but there was smile spreading across his face. “We saw you not even two months ago.”

“Awwe.” Richie cooed, putting Patty back on the ground and moved to kiss Stan hard on the head. “You know me, Manly Stanny. I’m like a dog, waiting for you to get back from work. Very over excited when you come back inside because you forgot your keys.” 

Stan chuckled at Richie’s awkward analogy and flicked him in the face. “Yeah, you’re a big oversized lap dog. I don’t know how Eddie puts up with you.”

Eddie walked over and wrapped his arms around Richie’s mid section and stuck his tongue out at Stan. 

“I told you we’d be the last ones here.” Ben said, quickly undoing his scarf and giving everybody a forced smile. “Sorry, sorry! Somebody claimed the traffic wouldn’t be that bad.”

“Don’t blame me!” Beverly said, swooping into the room in all her usual beauty. She pressed a kiss to Mike and Bill’s cheeks before turning to look at Ben with her arms on her hips. “I live in New York! I don’t drive. I take the subway like any self respecting New Yorker.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Richie cheered, despite none of them having ordered any drinks yet. The group all started moving towards the big round table, chattering amongst themselves. Richie bumped his hip against Patty’s and grinned at her.

“Take your hand out of your pocket, baby doll.” Richie whispered in her ear. Patty turned him, cheeks turning a little pink even under the red tinge of the dining room. She just shook her head and Richie leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Well, congratulations. Even though I’m not supposed to know.” 

Patty smiled to herself, and reached out to grasp Stan’s hand under the table with her own. Richie couldn’t hide his own grin as Eddie took the empty seat next to him. Never one to disguise his affections, Richie leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Eddie’s cheek. 

Beverly made overly loud gagging noises and Richie rolled his eyes lovingly at her. “Cram it, Marsh. Let me love on my husband!” 

“Oh I’m sure that you smother Eddie enough in the privacy of your own home.” Bill said with a chuckle. 

“It’s not smothering!” Eddie shot to him, before pressing an almost rough kiss to Richie’s stubbly cheek. He immediately pulled away and wiped his hand across his mouth. “Oh god, Richard, you need to shave. I’m not going to keep kissing you if it feels like rubbing my face against sandpaper.”

Richie tossed his head back and cackled, wrapping an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulling him against him. Eddie whacked at his chest lightly, and Richie kissed him on top of the head.

“Truly disgusting.” Bill said with a roll of his eyes. “But enough of Dad and Dad’s domestic crap. How have you guys been. Some of us haven’t seen each other since the summer.”

“How targeted.” Beverly laughed, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher in the middle of the table. “But I’ll admit, I actually do have some news since the last time I saw you guys. And before you ask, no, it’s not about my new line so you don’t have to pretend to understand what I’m talking about.”

There was a moment of relief around the table, as they all smiled at their childhood female friend. Even after they’d started having more women in their group, Patty, or Bev’s roommate from college Kay, or Bill’s ex-girlfriend Audra whom he was still friendly with, they’d never really joined forces with anybody who was on Beverly’s level with clothes or trends. The closest was probably Richie- and only because with his career, he has to at least attempt to keep up.

Beverly reached out and tangled her hands with Ben’s on the top. Eddie looked at Richie from the corner of his eye, getting a raised eyebrow in return. Ben and Beverly had been having the ultimate will they or won’t they story in the history of the world, tracing back all the way to the eighth grade. They’d dated off and on all throughout high school, somehow always finding some sort of reason to break up, and then another to get back together. Two years earlier, they had rekindled the high school relationship and the Losers had been sure that they were going to be in it for the long haul this time. Then Ben’s job had promoted him six months into the relationship, sending him to live in Chicago, and they had broken it off once again. Not feeling as though the long distance could work for them. Though the two years had passed since then, the Losers could all tell that the feelings still lingered. Would possibly always linger between them. It was one of the few things that they all knew better than to interfere with. 

Ben smiled sheepishly, rubbing his thumb along the back of Beverly’s hand. “My company are starting a new project to create affordable living in New York City. They want me to head up the project.” His sheepish smile broke into a full blown grin. “I’m moving back. For good.”

The table erupted into cheers, which were quickly and embarrassingly quieted when the waitress came to take their drink orders. As she left, the gang all turned their attention back to Ben and Beverly, whose hands were still clasped together on the table. 

“So…” Richie sang, wagging his eyebrows. “Somebody’s gotta address the elephant in the room-”

“Jesus, Rich.” Bill groaned, though his voice hinted at laughter.

“Are you guys gonna be New York’s Next Hottest Couple or what?” Richie barrelled over top of Bill as though he hadn’t spoken. 

Ben and Beverly glanced at each other, stars in their eyes, before Beverly looked back at Richie and nodded. “That was my news. Ben and I are back together- and we’re moving in together.”

Softer, but no less enthusiast, cheers broke out then. Mike reached over and clasped Ben on the shoulder. The other man’s face had turned a bright red under the attention, always a shy boy deep in his heart, and started waving the others off. “Thank you guys! Really! But Mike and Bill! How was Florida?”

“Yeah!” Beverly jumped onto Ben’s attempts to deflect. “We want to hear all about it!” 

Bill cleared his throat. “It was great. You know, it’s always nice to go somewhere warm and know that your friends are all somewhere else freezing their asses off.”  

The group all grumbled and complained, while Eddie narrowed his eyes at his oldest friend. His hand was clenched around his glass and he used it to gesture towards Bill. “You’re holding back. Something happened. What is it?”

Bill and Mike glanced at each other. “Welll…” Mike said slowly. “I sort of feel like we’re stepping on Ben and Bev’s toes here but… Yeah, something did happen.”

“Oh shit, did you guys fuck?” Richie blurted out. Stan let out an exasperated “Richie” while Eddie swatted at his arm. “What!?! We were all thinking it!” 

“That’s not exactly the tactful way the rest of us would have put it.” Eddie said before knocking back the rest of his drink. 

Richie just rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, pouting until Eddie reached over and rested his hand on Richie’s knee. Richie dropped his hand on top of Eddie’s and squeezed. 

“Okay, so that’s not exactly how we wanted to say it either.” Mike said with a small smile. Bill was watching him from the corner of his eye, leaving all eyes on Mike. “But yes. We’re dating now. We’ve taking it slowly because we weren’t sure what this was, so please don’t be upset that we didn’t tell you right away-”

Eddie burst out laughing. “Billy. Richie and I were together for like two years before you we told you guys. We’re the last people be mad about that.”

“We weren’t talking to you.” Bill said happily with a toothy grin. “We were talking to all our normal friends.”

“Well, that’s fucking rude.” Richie muttered under his breath. A small rumble of laughter moved through the group, even Eddie chuckling. “Whatever. I haven’t decided if I saw this coming or not, and my gaydar is definitely a little off, but I’m so happy for you guys!”

“There’s no such thing as a gaydar.” Ben said with confidence.  Eddie, Mike and Richie all exchanged looks and Beverly kissed Ben gently on the cheek. 

“Well…” Patty spoke up then, her face looking like her cheeks were about to burst with joy. Richie nudged Eddie and wiggled his eyebrows, while Eddie frowned at him. 

Patty lifted her hand up away from Stan’s and held it out towards the table. The light coming from above them reflected off the rather large diamond on her left hand.

“Oh my God…” Beverly whispered. A hush fell over the table following Beverly’s words, everybody silently awaiting the confirmation of what they’d already pieced together. 

“We’re engaged.” Patty said softly. Stan’s ears and the back of his neck were both a deep red under the attention. The group remained quiet for a moment, then broke into cheers so loud that Richie was surprised they weren’t kicked out of the restaurant altogether. 

Everybody jumped to their feet, quick to hug the happy couple. Richie scooped Patty up in his arms and spun her around slightly, nearly sending their table flying. Both laughing, Richie sent Patty off into a teary Ben’s awaiting arms and turned to find himself facing Stanley. Stan’s cupped the back of Richie’s head as he pulled him into a hug. 

“You’ll be my best man, right?” Stan whispered directly into Richie’s ear. Though his friends would often say he had none, it took every inch of Richie’s self control not to immediately burst into tears as he nodded into Stanley’s shoulder. 

It took a couple minutes to get everybody calmed down and back into their seats, and their poor waitress came in to take their food orders. Richie was sure that once they sat back down all the couples were holding hands under the table. They all gave small chit chat until their meals showed up, and Richie dug in excitedly. 

“Oh, wait!” Beverly lowered her spoonful of pasta and blinked dramatically. “We totally forgot! Eddie, Rich, what’s new with you guys? Anything big happening in your lives since the last time we all hung out?”

Without even needed to look at his husband, Richie knew exactly what to say.

“Nope. You guys know us.” Richie draped his arm around the back of Eddie’s seat. “28 going on 88. Watch the news, in bed by 7.” 

The table all laughed, and dinner carried on without anymore cheering. The meal was peaceful and comfortable, Richie feeling almost blissful with Eddie’s heat pressing into his side while surrounded by their closest and most beloved friends. 

After saying their goodbyes, Eddie and Richie walked hand in hand to their car. “So,” Eddie started, with a smile in his voice. “Not ready to tell them after all?”

Richie laughed. “Nah, we’re ready.” He said. “But I didn’t wanna steal anybody’s thunder. We got enough news tonight. Ours can wait.” Richie pushed Eddie up against the car and kissed his jaw lightly. “What do you say? Let’s keep it our own little surprise. Just show them all by posting it on Instagram. Show up at the next get together with a baby.”

Eddie grinned. “We wouldn’t be the boring friends anymore.”

“Hell the fuck no.”

[reddie-fangirl24]

For the reddie fic request: hmmmm....What about...a/b/o reddie family fic where they have a little one named Georgie. (They named their kid in honour of Bill’s little brother, and even though Bill will deny it, he totally cried and became a stuttering mess. His wife Audra recorded it.) Bonus points if you can include : Benverly, and StanPat too. (Hope this request is okay.)

NOTE: As you can see I am obsessed with Friends. Thank you so much for this request. It was a lot of fun to write. 

Holding one another’s hands, despite that Richie’s were sweating from how nervous he was, Eddie and Richie waited, encouraging Chloe who groaned as she pushed hard. The doctors kept giving her instructions, never letting her give up. This was the moment. This was the day. They were going to be the parents of this child.

Finally, a wail echoed in the room, and the doctors held a baby in their arms immediately wrapping it into a blanket. “It’s a girl!”

Losing the ability to speak, Eddie pressed a hand against his beating chest as the doctors cleaned her up. She was so small. “She’s so beautiful,” Richie’s voice broke unable to keep his emotions together any longer. 

They couldn’t hold the baby yet, but Eddie bent down to the little girl. “Hi, there,” he said to her, his voice cracking. He felt Richie put a hand on his back. The baby was still trying to adjust to her new surroundings, hardly able to open her eyes. “I’m your Dad.” He pulled Richie closer to the scene who was still rendered speechless. “And this is your Daddy. We are going to love you so much!”

Hugging, the couple felt so lucky. “Chloe, thank you so much!” Richie put a hand on the young woman’s shoulder whose head flopped into her pillow. At first, when they met, Chloe was hesitant to give her baby to them. Somehow, Eddie’s name was smudged making it look like his name was Ellie. Eventually, Chloe came around, admiring their dynamic. “How do you feel?”

“Tired!” Chloe took a breath as sweat dripped off her face. “But, I am so happy for you guys! The baby is going to love you.”

“Well, you don’t have too much time to rest,” the doctor told her. “The other one will be along in a minute.”

Snapping their heads at the doctor, Eddie and Richie’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “Excuse me?” Eddie was the first to ask seeing how Richie’s jaw fell to the floor.

The doctor looked at them as if they were insane. Even Chloe was surprised, staring at her abdomen which was still swollen. “The next baby. It should be along in another minute. You know it’s twins, right?” The doctor asked them, raising an eyebrow. 

“Are bug eyes and our mouths falling to floor look like the faces of two people in the know!” Richie exclaimed.

“Uh, you see, we only ordered one baby!” Oh, that felt so cruel to say. Then again, Eddie felt a different feeling that he never felt before.

Now the doctor was not sure what to do or make of the situation. Clearly, he needed to deliver the next baby. “I don’t understand, this has never happened before. We had that it was twins in the paperwork based off on your check-ups,” The doctor said to Chloe.

“Did you know that it was twins?” Richie asked Chloe who was still shocked at the news.

Chloe shook her head. “Well, during one check-up the doctor told me that both heartbeats were strong and I thought that meant mine was strong, too, which is good!” She took a beat to think. “Now that I think about it, twins actually run in my family.”

Richie made a ‘now you tell us’ face at her before feeling an arm pulling at him. Eddie took him to the side of the room so they could talk privately. 

“What are we going to do?” Richie asked, tugging at his hair, anxiously. 

“What do you mean?”

“Two babies, Eddie! TWO!” Richie indicated with his fingers. 

Eddie relaxed a hand on his husband’s shaking shoulder. “I know. Richie, you’re panicking.”

“Why am I the only one who’s freaking out about this? We were only expecting one baby!”

“Richie, we can’t just split them up! That would be wrong. What if the other one doesn’t go to a happy home. Or they have to go to an orphanage. Or live its life on the streets. Do you want that?”

Nodding in agreement, Richie put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, looking at him worriedly. “Eds, what if we’re not ready for two babies.”

Eddie touched his hand, looking into his husband’s eyes. “We have waited so long for this, Richie. I know you’re nervous, believe me, so am I. But, these are our children. I don’t care if it’s two, three or the entire cast of Full House that comes out of there!”

Richie wrinkled up his eyebrow. “You have really been watching too much TV.”

“Oh, shut up!” Eddie lightly whacked him. Growing serious again, they looked into each other’s eyes agreeing that this was for the best. Taking a deep breath, and giving one another a hug, they rejoined the scene where Chloe was just about ready to give birth to her second child. 

“It looks like we’re just about ready,” the doctor examined. “Start pushing again, Chloe.”

Chloe screamed out in pain, howling, as she pushed. Tears streamed from her eyes. Eddie went over and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Following, Richie did the same until they heard another cry emitting through the room. 

“Here he comes!” The doctor announced. 

“He? It’s a boy?” Richie asked as the doctor nodded, holding the little baby in his arms. Turning to Eddie, the two shared a kiss. “Now we have one of each!”

“And that’s enough!” Eddie put his hand out, his eyes growing big.

“I thought you said...”

“Forget about what I said!”

                                                               ---

Unable to contain their excitement, the Losers waited for Richie and Eddie to return home. The moment Chloe felt that her babies were on the way, everyone was scrambling about, almost falling over chairs.

Stan feverishly inspected Eddie and Richie’s house. “Okay, they really need to have one of those baby gates on this side of the stairs!” He was only looking out for his friends. That was Stan. That’s what he did. Patty tried to calm him down, eventually getting him to sit down with the other Losers who were all sitting by the window, taking up the couch. 

Mike placed a hand on Stan’s shoulder once he sat down. “Stan, it’s going to be okay.”

“I think Richie and Eddie have everything taken care of,” Bill said, holding Audra’s hand. Audra spent two hours talking with Eddie over the phone this week. Poor Eddie was so nervous wanting to make sure that they had all the supplies that were needed. 

“They’re going to make great parents,” Ben added, smoothing Beverly’s shoulder. “Once their kid is old enough then Lexi will have a playmate.”

Beverly smiled, kissing his nose. “That would be great.”

Just then, the front door opened. Everyone turned to see Eddie walk in with their daughter wrapped in a pink blanket. Smiling big, they all wrapped around Eddie looking at the new baby.

“She’s so beautiful!” Patty said. Audra took out her phone to capture the moment on film.

“Hey, guys!” That was when Richie walked in, holding their son in his arms. Grinning widely, he could not wait for everyone’s reactions. Some of the Losers turned, greeting him. All at once, the best double-take in history happened! Everyone’s eyes went wide when they saw the second baby.  

“Surprised?” Richie asked with the most gigantic smile.

Stan put a hand up, a lecture immediately coming to his mind. “Okay, just to clarify, the hospital knows that you took two babies home, right?”

Eddie laughed. “Yes! It turned out that Chloe was pregnant with two babies and she didn’t realize.”

“Wow! This is great!” Beverly congratulated them. 

“What are their names?” Mike asked, holding the baby that Eddie had in his arms.

“Well, this one is a girl,” Eddie indicated. “So, we decided to name her Chloe.”

Ben was just trying to hide the tears, but he was breaking. “Aw, after Chloe herself? That is so sweet.”

“And, uh, this little guy,” Richie indicated to the baby that Bill was holding. “We decided to call him Georgie.” 

Bill looked up at him, his eyes wide. Trembling, he tried to duck away so nobody would see the tears. “T-T-That’s beautiful! Thanks, y-you guys!”

“Oh, you made Bill emotional! Audra hollered still holding up her phone camera, capturing the moment. Even she had tears in her eyes.

Stan came up and put Eddie and Richie on the back. “You guys are going to make... really interesting parents.”

“Stan, can I just tell you how much I’ve always loved your honesty?” Richie commented giving his good friend a side hug. 

[skepticalcatfrog]

Stay Ahead and Stay Alive Chapter 1

First Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: When Bill Denbrough starts his third summer at Camp Half Blood, everything seems perfect. He's finally getting used to his cabin, he gets to see his friends again, and he's even getting the hang of fighting with a sword. But that perfection is quickly turned on its head when his little brother goes missing. Bill is determined to do whatever it takes to find him, even if that means he and his friends need to go to the Underworld.

Pairings: (Eventual) Reddie, Stenbrough, and Benverly

Word count: 3,254

Author's Notes: New series! This one isn't Sanders Sides, because I've recently gotten very into the It fandom, and I figured I'd try something new. For those of you who are currently reading Among The Stars, don't worry, that will still be continuing. Chapters might just be coming out a little slower than usual. Now, on to the important information! As some of you may have noticed, there's a new category under these notes. That's because this fic will be switching perspectives between the main characters from chapter to chapter. Enjoy!

POV: Bill Denbrough

I held my brother's hand tightly as we ran up Half Blood hill towards the camp boundaries. We weren't running from anything, just wanting to get to camp as fast as possible. I smiled when I saw the pine tree at the top of the hill, using my free hand to point towards it.

"N-not much further!" I glanced at my brother. "Think y-you can m-ma-make it?"

"Yup! You've got nothing to worry about!" Georgie said confidently, speeding up a little bit to prove his point. I just smiled a little wider.

We ran all the way up the hill and stopped only once we were sure we were past the boundaries, sitting down to try and catch our breath. We looked at each other then started laughing, for no reason in particular. I leaned back into the grass to get a better view of the sky. Georgie did the same. Everything was quiet for a moment, aside from the chatter from the other campers in the background. I just watched the clouds pass by. Then something (or someone, rather) blocked my view.

I smiled up at one of my best friends, Stanley Uris. He was the head counselor of the Athena cabin, and had been going to Camp Half Blood the longest out of all of us. Six years as of this summer, nearly twice as long as how many years I've been here. His eyes were a dark silver, like a sky full of storm clouds. He had brown hair, which was almost untamable due to how curly it was. If you got close enough, you'd notice freckles across his cheeks. Not that I'd ever gotten that close. He dressed like that kid in class who got straight A's every year, all button down shirts and khaki shorts. He offered me his hand and when I took it, he helped me stand up again.

"Hey, Bill. When did you get here?" He asked me, letting go of my hand quickly as soon as I was standing.

"Just now." I told him. Georgie stood up and was next to me again. "W-w-what about Richie and Eddie? Have y-you heard anything from th-them yet?"

"I have, yeah. Richie's only been here for four hours and he's already been to the infirmary twice. Eddie's taking care of him." Stan said. He gestured towards the infirmary. "It's nothing serious though, so he should be out again soon."

"Figures." I laughed. "S-s-sometimes it's li-like he does it on p-p-p-purpose."

As if on cue, Richie Tozier sauntered out of the infirmary, followed closely by a clearly frustrated Eddie Kaspbrak. Richie was a Hermes kid, which meant he was prone to getting into trouble. And more often than not, he would end up getting hurt. Then he would go to the infirmary, where he would be patched up and then scolded by Eddie. Eddie was an Apollo kid. He was probably one of the most qualified people in the infirmary, because he knew an unhealthy amount about diseases. He was like a tiny ball of anger and medical supplies. As they got closer to us, I could hear their conversation a little more clearly. But they didn't stop walking, so we just had to walk right alongside them.

"Arts and crafts? Are you kidding me? How do you get hurt in arts and crafts?" Eddie's nose scrunched up as he spoke.

"It's the beads, Eds. Their sharp edges will get you when you least expect it." Richie shrugged.

"The beads?! The beads are round, Richie. They have no sharp edges." Eddie's mouth was running a mile a minute, like a fast-forwarded recording. "The box says three and up. Are you over three? Because last time I checked, you were. But sometimes I can't tell based on how often you do stupid things. First it was the rock wall accident, now this. You do know that we don't have contests at the infirmary, right? You won't get a prize for being our most frequent customer."

"It was an accident!" Richie held his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion. Then he finally noticed me, Georgie and Stanley. "Hey, Stan the Man, answer me a question. Is it possible to cut yourself on a bead?"

"Maybe if it broke in half, then it might have a sharper edge. Otherwise, no, not possible. Especially not by accident." Stan shook his head.

"Aha! I was right." Eddie poked Richie on the shoulder. He suddenly remembered that there were other people there, and turned towards me and Georgie. "Oh, hi, by the way."

"Hey." I waved at him.

"Hi!" Georgie waved even more enthusiastically. He looked up to my friends for some reason, which was probably a mistake. Really the only good role model in our group was Stan.

"Speaking of our good friend Bill, what are your plans for this summer Mr. Son of Aphrodite?" Richie nudged me with his elbow. "Maybe finally asking Beverly out?"

Oh, right. Beverly Marsh. Beverly was the current Oracle of Delphi, plus the girl who I'd had a confusing relationship with since I first got to camp. Everyone thought we liked each other, and I guess it was kind of true, but there wasn't really anything there anymore.

"Since when do you like Beverly?" Stan asked, looking around at everything except for me.

"I-I-It's complicated." I sighed. "Long story sh-short, I'm p-p-probably not going to ask her out."

"Did you know that they kissed two years ago? There weren't many witnesses, but there were a few, so you can ask them if you don't believe me." Richie said, his voice just a little too loud for my liking.

"Oh m-my gods Richie c-c-could you please just be quiet?" I hissed, my charmspeak kicking in near the end. Some children of Aphrodite, including me, can use charmspeak. To put it simply, it's kind of like hypnosis. For example, when I said that, Richie finally decided to shut up.

"Speaking of Beverly…" Stan muttered.

There she was, waving at us from the mess hall. Her curly red hair had grown a bit since she'd cut it near the end of last summer, but her icy blue eyes were still the same. She also had freckles, and when I say freckles I mean a lot of them. She walked up to us, hands in her pockets.

"Hey, guys! I haven't seen you yet, when did you get here?" She asked.

"I've been here the whole time." Stan crossed his arms. He stayed at camp year-round, instead of leaving at the end of the summer like the rest of us. I never really knew why, but he always said it was because he knew he'd be safer there.

"Well obviously I know that, you do that every year. But I haven't seen any of them yet." Beverly gestured to the rest of us. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Me and Billie just got here. We ran from the car all the way up the hill, and it was so fun!" Georgie told her, practically jumping up and down from excitement. A small smile grew on my face and I nodded, confirming the story.

"Richie got here a few hours ago, but he's been too busy in the infirmary to do anything." Eddie scowled "He's already been there twice in the four hours he's been here, and I've had to take care of him. I thought that maybe this year he wouldn't get hurt as much, but I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Like seriously, how hard is it to just-"

"That's nice, Eddie." Beverly cut him off. The rest of us let out a sigh of relief, because we knew that if she hadn't done that, then Eddie could've gone on for hours. "I've got to get going, but hopefully I'll see you guys later!"

"Y-yeah, hopefully!" I waved as she walked away. Richie started clapping quietly.

"Bravo, encore!" He teased. "You're a true poet Bill, you really do have a way with words."

"Leave him alone, Rich. At least he tried." Stan's sharp gray eyes glared at Richie.

"Yeah, a-at least I t-tri-tried." I echoed. Sometimes I just didn't know what to say, but for some reason Stanley always seemed to be able to think of something. "Georgie and I still need to g-get settled in, so we'll b-b-be in our cabin if you n-need us."

"Okay. I actually have to go too, they'll probably need counselors to deal with new campers." Stan nodded.

"I'll go too then." Richie went to follow Stan.

"Richie, you're not a counselor. The whole camp would be in flames if you were a counselor. You can go with Eddie, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to do." Stan pointed to our blond friend, who was indignant.

"Nope, no, not a chance. I have important things that I need to do, and I don't need Richie to be there while I do them." Eddie protested.

"Too bad then, I guess." Richie wrapped his arm around Eddie's shoulders, which Eddie immediately pushed away. "Looks like we're stuck with each other, Eddie Spaghetti."

"Fine. But I really do have work to do, so don't be distracting." Eddie turned around and started walking away, Richie following him.

"Alright, well, just find me if you need anything. If we don't get a chance to talk then I'll see you tomorrow." Stan waved and went back to his cabin. Georgie and I went to ours as well.

The Aphrodite cabin was definitely intense, if you were looking for a way to describe it. The first thing you'd notice would be the smell of things like perfume, hairspray, and nail polish. It would hit you like a brick wall the second you walked through the door. Posters of various celebrities were all over the pink walls, and a circular rug sat in the center of the room. There was a row of beds on one wall, and another one on the opposite side of the room. Everything was very neat and orderly, except for a few stray love letters. They came to the Aphrodite cabin regularly, since most of my half siblings were the subjects of many crushes at camp. Multiple small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, being the only light source aside from the windows. Overall, it was never boring in cabin 10. There was always some sort of activity, and no matter what it was, it always caused excitement.

My brother and I put our bags down on our respective beds, and unpacked all of our stuff. Some other campers had gotten there earlier than we had, and were already settled in. By the time we had all of our stuff put away, we had to go to the mess hall for dinner. The tables were sorted by cabin, so I didn't get to sit next to any of my friends. The table for the Hermes cabin was always more crowded than anywhere else, because it held all the children of Hermes, as well as kids who didn't know who their godly parent was yet. I remember staying there for a while at the beginning of my first year at Camp Half Blood. It was where I'd met Richie. After dinner, we all sat around the campfire for a little while. We sang songs, talked, and told jokes until it was completely dark out. Georgie looked like he was about to fall asleep where he sat by the end of it. I couldn't blame him, the first day of camp was always tiring. We walked back to our cabin and got ready for bed.

It felt like forever before I started to fall asleep. I was tired, but for some reason I just couldn't sleep. I got there eventually, but then I was woken up by a tapping on my face. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was Georgie sitting next to my bed and tapping me on the forehead.

"Georgie, w-what are you s-s-still doing up?" I whispered. I didn't want to disturb anyone else.

"I'm not tired. I slept for a little while, but then I woke up, and now I'm not tired anymore." Georgie explained quietly, a small pout on his face.

"Well what do y-you want me to d-d-do about i-it?" I asked.

"Let's go on an adventure!" Even with the whispering, the excitement in his voice was clear.

"Georgie, you know we're n-not supposed to be out thi-this late." I shook my head.

"Since when do you care about the rules?" He asked. I couldn't deny that he was right, I'd snuck out even later than that many times. I hesitated.

"Fine." I reluctantly got out of bed. My brother grinned.

"Yes! I knew you'd do it!" He stood up.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed a flashlight from my bag. I looked out the window. The magical barrier around the camp kept bad weather out, but I could tell it was raining outside the border.

"Get your j-j-jacket." I told Georgie. We usually ended up wandering outside the boundaries of camp anyway, so I figured wearing our jackets would be a safe choice. "It c-could be cold in the ra-ain."

"Okay." He nodded, getting his raincoat.

We left once I had my jacket on. I put the hood up, because since it was a dark color, I would be less visible. Plus it would protect my head when we were in the rain. I didn't turn my flashlight on yet, either. I knew we were outside the barrier when I heard the pattering of the raindrops hitting the hood of my jacket. I flipped the switch on my flashlight and saw the beam of light spring forward, illuminating a path ahead of us.

"Well, we're h-here. What now?" I asked, glancing at my brother. He looked around and thought for a moment.

"Let's go… that way." He pointed towards a forest that had a dirt road cutting through the middle. He immediately started walking, and I had to walk a little faster just to keep up with him.

I slowly started to lose my nervousness about being in the woods that late. We weren't even supposed to be out of our cabins at night, let alone out of the camp completely. It was like a free meal for monsters. But I'd left camp so many times before that I barely thought about it.

"At least the t-tr-trees block most of the r-rain." I held out my hand and only felt a couple of raindrops hit it.

"But there are still puddles on the ground!" Georgie stepped in one of the puddles, then frowned and looked down at his feet. He didn't have rain boots on, only sneakers. "Oh… now my feet are all wet."

"D-d-do you want to g-go back to camp?" I reached out and took his hand. He had a tendency to run off when he saw something interesting, and I just didn't want to lose him.

"No, I'm fine." He shook his head, starting to walk again as if nothing had happened. "They'll get dry again in a little while."

"Okay, if you're sh-sure." I nodded.

Suddenly, a steep hill stood right in our path. It was so tall that we couldn't see what was on the other side. I let go of my brother's hand.

"I'm just going to ch-check and see i-i-if it's safe on the other s-side." I looked at Georgie, and my charmspeak kicked in. I knew he probably would've done whatever I said anyway, but I wasn't going to take any chances. "I n-need you to stay right here until I get back, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded. I started to walk away, and he stood completely still as I did.

I climbed up the side of the hill. It was steep, and the grass was slick with rain, so I had to hold on to trees to stop myself from slipping. It was even more difficult to climb down the other side. I didn't fall, but I did slide about half the way down. Once I regained my footing, I looked around for a moment. All that was on the other side of the hill was more forest, there didn't seem to be anything too bad. I was about to turn around and climb back up the hill… and that's when I heard it.

"BILLIE!" My brother cried out from the other side of the hill.

My eyes widened and I could feel my heart beating. I turned around and started running, but I didn't get very far up the hill before I fell forward and slid down again. I got back up and tried again, now covered in mud. I used the trees to brace myself as I dashed up the hill as fast as I could. I slipped again when I got to the top, and sliding down the other side felt almost like falling into Tartarus. At the bottom of the hill, I was met with my worst fear. A puddle of water, stained red. My brother was nowhere to be found.

My hand started to shake, and my grip tightened on the flashlight I was holding. I started to run, as fast as I could, back the way we'd come from. I didn't stop to think, I didn't stop to collect myself, I just ran. My hood flew off of my head, but I didn't care. When the camp was in my sights I sped up. The second I was past the border I stopped, looking around frantically. No one would be awake, I wasn't even supposed to be awake, so who could I go to? I could only think of one person who might be able to help me.

I opened the door to the Athena cabin as quietly as I could in my panicked state. When I saw Stanley, I knelt down next to his bed and put my hand on his shoulder. He was completely asleep. I shook him a little bit.

"Stan? Stanley?" I tried to be quiet, but it wasn't easy. "Stanley Uris I s-swear, if you don't w-wake up right n-n-now-"

"I know, you can't sleep, but that doesn't mean you have to-" Stanley muttered. He opened his eyes, but his eyelids were heavy from drowsiness. When he saw me, he seemed to wake up a little more. "Bill? Why are you here, you're supposed to be asleep. And why are you covered in mud?"

"I'll explain l-later, right now I just n-n-need your help." I told him, wiping the tears from my face.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Stan sat up, suddenly becoming much more alert.

"I-I-It's Georgie, he's m-m-m-m-m-" I could barely get the word out. Because saying it made it real, and I knew it couldn't be real.

"It's okay, just breathe." Stan was about to take my hand, but he hesitated, and decided against it. "Everything's going to be okay. Now, do you think you can tell me what happened?"

"Georgie… is m-missing. We w-were out in the w-w-woods, and I l-l-left him alone, and now..." I burst into tears, burying my face in my hands. "Shit, I left him a-a-alone!"

Stan seemed surprised at my sudden outburst. "Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?"

"Y-y-yes, of course I'm sure!" I looked up again and met his eyes. "And I n-need you to help me f-find him."

[the-sweetest-dragon]

A Summer Like Never Before

- A Summer Job AU - no Pennywise - Georgie is still alive - Mostly tomfoolery -

Fandom: It

Characters: Bill, Mike, Bev, Eddie, Richie, Stan, Ben

Ships: Eventual Reddie, Benverly, and Stan x Patty

Word Count: 1146

Warnings: out of character?

AN: I couldn’t help myself.  I had this already written and I couldn’t wait to share it with everyone so here it is!  Please reblog if you enjoy it, it helps move it around way more than just liking it.  Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter!

Tags: @just-another-shipper-01 @nerdsarebetter @audder17 @sapphic-bottlexap @mmarciac

Chapter One

___________________________________________________

Chapter Two

Mike Hanlon is a good guy.  An extremely good guy.  But when Bill went and broke his toe (his toe of all bones to break this idiot broke fucking toes), he snapped a little bit.  Not on the outside, of course.  But, he was seething on the inside.  Mike knows that Bill doesn’t mean to mess up so much but it’s so frustrating to watch the guy fuck up so much.  

The clock behind them reads 4:45 and they close at five.  So, of course, the football team walks in and any hope that Mike has for the day to end early and easy is totally shot down.  He knows without a doubt that they will all want floats because they’re assholes.  Mike also knows that they will spend ninety percent of their time just looking for a soda to make into a float.  He looks over his shoulder to see Bill watching with wide eyes, the straw of his juice box hanging uselessly from his mouth.  

They browsed for about ten minutes, walking around and talking about different things.  Mike and Bill wait with baited breath, knowing that they will all get a float of some sort.  As Mike checks them out, he realizes with horror that he won’t have enough ice cream for all these floats.  Bill’s eyes widen as he realizes the same thing.  

“Oh fuck Mikey.”

Oh fuck is an understatement.  Mike does the only thing he can think of as he scoops the last little bit into an angry sophomore’s cup; he calls Beverly Marsh.  

“Yo, whats up Mikey!”  Mike narrows his eyes and pulls his phone down from his ear to check that he dialed the right number.  He did.

“Trashmouth, why do you have Bev’s phone?”  Mike can hear a soft scuffle in the background, and Richie Tozier saying ‘ow’, before Bev’s voice came over the receiver.

“What's up?”  Bev always sounds so calm.  It settles his own nerves.

“I hate to do this but, I have a favor to ask.”

“Shoot Mikey,” she says with a small laugh.  Mike can hear Richie in the background making noises that sound like a monkey.  If they were together, then they must both be at the diner.

“Are you at work?  And would you be willing to bring me a huge container of vanilla ice cream?”  Mike crossed his fingers.  The football players were growing anxious.  

“C’mon man. How long does it take to make one stupid float?” one pipes up.  Bill shoots them a glare and they all go silent.  He was something of an all star when it came to sports; he ran cross country, did high jump in track, and played baseball.  He didn’t play football, but most of these kids played baseball with him and they knew his word was law.  

“Yeah, I can bring you over a gallon.  But you’ll owe me Hanlon.”  Mike sighed with relief.  They said their goodbyes and Mike waited.  Bill was giving him a funny look, but Mike just shook his head.

Mike wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that his ex was doing Mike a solid.  They had broken up right before prom; it had been mutual, but messy.  Bev and Bill danced around the fact that they weren’t really friends anymore but felt like they needed to pretend to tolerate each other for the sake of their friends.  The dynamic had been forever changed and there was no going back.  

It took Bev and Richie a whole four minutes to get to the Pop Stop with the gallon of ice cream.  They walked in with smiles on their faces, which slowly dropped when they saw the small crowd surrounding the cash register.  

“Holy shit!  You weren’t kidding when you said you needed help Mikey!” Richie said.  He brings in the ice cream and nearly trips over Bill causing the gallon to almost fly out of his hands.  “Oi Bill!  Watch where you put your foot!” he said with a horrible British accent.  Bill grimaces, the pain had resurfaced when Richie knocked into him.  

Bev gives Bill a look of confusion before helping Richie steady himself.  

“Alright, let's get to scooping.”  Bev, Richie, and Mike all start scooping ice cream into cups and making floats galore.  Mike breathes a sigh of absolute relief as the final player leaves the store with his cup of sugar.  

“I can’t thank you enough Bev.  You totally saved our asses.”  Mike and Bev share a smile as they walk (or in Bill's case, hobble) out so Mike can lock up the store.  

“Yeah… Thanks Bev,” Bill mutters.  Richie goes wide eyed, like a living surprised Pikachu face.  Mike just holds up his hand as if to say, do not this day has been weird enough.  Richie pouts, saddened by the fact he can’t make a snarky retort on behalf of his friend.

You see, after the breakup the Loser’s were somewhat divided.  They didn’t talk about it very often but you knew who was on who’s side.  Ben and Richie were on Bev’s side of the argument while Stan was on Bill’s.  Mike and Eddie were trying their best to stay neutral.  They had been doing a good job so far but Eddie was very quickly being pulled to Bev’s side by Richie.  

“Not a problem guys,” Bev says with a smile.  She had a sadness in her eyes when she looked at Bill but Mike knew that she could do better.  No offense to Bill, but Bev has always been more of a free spirit, down to do almost anything that sounds fun.  It’s one of the reasons her and Richie get along so well. 

Bill, just isn’t.  His confidence soared once he lost the stutter and started playing baseball.  He wasn’t boring, but he liked to do things by the book.  Their personalities just didn’t mesh very well.  Sure, they were cute together for a bit, but once you see a couple fighting in the hallway over a pen you begin to think that love is a waste of time and energy.  

“Well, Trashmouth and I are headed back to the diner.  See you guys soon?” Bev asks.

“Yeah of course!  We still need to do our annual thing at the Barrens!”  That seems to set some smiles on their faces.  

“Only if our annual thing now includes an orgy.”  Richie wiggles his eyebrows, which gets a groan from Bev. She grabs his ear and starts to tug him towards the diner. “OW LET ME GO YOU MINX.”

Mike chuckles and turns to Bill who has a weary look on his face as he watches them go.  

“Need a ride back, Bill?” Mike asks, a worrisome feeling settling in his chest.  Bill turns to him with a slight smile playing on his face.

“Yeah, that’d be nice Mike.”

[kaspbrak-tozier-reddie]

Paparazzi - pt.1

Based on this request: AU 37 (Stenbrough with #3, #4 & #29

Pairings: Stenbrough (main), sides of Reddie and Benverly

Warnings: swearing,

--------------------------------------------------

It is 5 years since they all had graduated from college, now all at the ages of 27-28, Bill decided that they should all get back together and catch up. They all are still very close but haven’t hung out as a group in ages, Bill, still being the ringleader, decided he better step up and organise something.

That’s where they’re at now, all over at Bill’s house, his paycheck for his first book just came in and he indulged in a nice house. It isn’t big or expensive, it’s a good start off, he didn’t want to spend most of his money on a mansion or an overly expensive house. 

“So this has become a celebration?” Bill asks.

“You bet Big Bill, you’re practically famous now,” Richie exclaims popping open a bottle of champagne. 

The even takes a turn in a direction that Bill didn’t plan on and he didn’t mind. It’s a nice feeling celebrating with his ‘family’ since his actual family didn’t care about Bill’s choice of career.

“You deserve this, the stories you told us as kids were amazing!” Ben pipes up, “hurry up with that champagne Tozier.”

“Just be patient, geez you’re almost as bad as Mrs K!” Richie snaps.

“Beep beep Richard!” Eddie grumbles. Richie finally manages to pour everyone flute of the bubbly alcohol. 

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Stan announces. “I would like to congratulate William on his first success and put us all to shame. You have earnt this William, we are all proud of you, including Trashmouth. Congratulations Bill.” 

Stan raises his champagne flute and the others follow suit. “TO BILL.” They all yell together towards the author. Bill laughs and clinks his own flute against the others that are raised. 

Ever since Georgie had gotten cancer and had to have his arm amputated because of it, Bill was a second glance. He would certainly not call them bad parents, it’s just he wished that he could receive some the praise that Georgie does. Bill was more than often told by his mother, to become a lawyer or an accountant. When he tried that pathway, he wasn’t happy, but he still continued wanting to have something to fall back on if writing didn’t work out.

His friends all loved his stories, those he told at their monthly sleepovers or whenever they were down in the clubhouse. Everyone in the group knew that he was going to grow up and become the next Stephen King. 

“Richie, we get it you’re jealous,” Eddie says looking up at the tall brunette. “Let it go, babe.”

“Oh, no, don’t you start on that. I’m not jealous, I’m happy for Bill.” Richie replies to the smaller man on his lap. 

“Rich, you’re literally throwing out jealous vibes, don’t worry your time will come,” Bev says.

“Can’t you try SNL? They’re looking for both writers and comedians.” Bill suggests, Stan gives Bill a look. “Stan, he’s been wanting this forever and I don’t like the attention. It’s Richie’s thing.” Stan rolls his eyes, it used to drive everyone insane but they’ve all learnt to deal with it.

“Yeah true, I mean, a lot of people started off there,” Richie whispers. “Okay, let’s talk about something else.”

****

By the time everyone went to sleep, Bill is wide awake, his mind still processing the fact that what was meant to be a nice quiet evening, like it used to be, turned into a huge celebratory evening with takeout pizza and Chinese food. Bill started to clean the kitchen, quietly, when he hears soft footsteps coming towards him.

“What are you doing? It’s almost 2 am,” Stan whispers, coming into view.

“Can’t sleep so I decided to clean,” Bill replies tying up a garbage bag.

“Don’t pull an Eddie on me. Come to bed, we’ll all help clean in the morning.” 

Bill agrees and walks back to his makeshift bed on his living room floor. 

“If you really wanna be like Eddie, come cuddle with me,” Stan whispers, Bill chuckles and shakes his head. “Thank goodness.” It isn’t that he doesn’t want to, it’s just he has a huge crush on the light-brunette haired man. He looks over at Mike for a split second, he had told Mike ages ago about his feelings for a certain Jewish boy, if Bill got into Stan’s sleeping bag, Mike would lose it. Especially since Bill didn’t consult with him first. 

On the cot, beside Bill, Stan lays awake, facing the wall beside him, hitting himself, mentally, for offering to cuddle with Bill. Stan was hoping that Richie was awake but since Eddie was cuddling him, he’d say not. Richie knows about Stan’s massive crush on the man lying beside him, both were miserable one day in high school because of some event, Stan can’t remember if it was homecoming or prom. All he knew was that he had to buy a suit. 

Richie was the first to complain before Stan followed, completely unplanned but trusted Richie, not that he’d willingly admit that to anyone.

*

Richie had offered to drive Stanley to school on this one particular morning since Stan’s car was getting fixed and he really needed to tell Stan something. Richie was beyond nervous once Stan had gotten into the beaten up ute. Stan kicked away an old box of cigarettes and a shit ton of empty wrappers and energy drink cans so that he could place his bag at his feet.

“Okay, what is it Trashmouth?” Stan asked, taking a sip of his scolding hot coffee.

Richie sucked in a deep breath, “The guy I like is taking this bitch to prom, I found out she’s only going with him because of some dare. Because making fun of a gay kid is fun apparently.” The last sentence was laced with so much sarcasm, Stan could tell that Richie was beyond pissed. 

“Can’t you tell this guy?” Richie was about to speak, “wait, who is he?”

By this point, Stan didn’t care that Richie was going in the opposite direction to the school. He was thinking long and hard about what Richie was saying, the fact that Richie trusted him surprised him. Normally Richie would go to Bev to talk about this kind of stuff, over weed and beer.

“Richard, if you don’t tell him, he’d be hurt.”

“Stan, trust me when I say that I can’t.” Richie pulled over near the outskirts of town, nobody came all the way out here unless they were leaving or entering the town. “Look, I want to but I can’t.”

“Who is he? Do we know him?” Stan had a hunch and if he was right then every single member of the Losers Club knew the boy. Richie said nothing. “It’s Eddie?” Richie nodded, not having the courage to say anything else.

“He’ll understand Rich. He always trusts your judgement, in fact, the day he said yes, he ran around looking for you but you were so pissed off that she had asked him that you went to the Barrens.” 

Richie sighed, he didn’t want that morning to be about him complaining about some bitch and Eddie. He wanted to know if his hunch about Stan and Bill was true.“I’ll talk to him later, what about you Staniel?” 

“I like Bill.” Was all Stan could say, “the bloody bastard is going with that chick in History, you know the one he constantly talks to in the morning.”

The two laughed and continued to talk about their respective crushes but only one of them was going to make an effort and talk to his. Stan was thrilled that Richie felt comfortable enough to tell him something as deep as that. It was only Eddie, Bev and Stan that knew that Richie was gay. But they had been friends for ages, Stan too trusted Richie, though he’d never say that out loud, especially in front of the Losers. 

The advice that Richie had given Stan, that day, was helpful. Stan had taken three steps forward instead of three steps back when dealing with Bill. Bill was bi as was Stan and Richie would never want to get involved in other’s relationship unless he had a good reason. He never told Stan but Bill too confided in him, Richie knew Bill liked Stan but still asked the History girl to prom because he thought Stan would say ‘no’.

****

The following morning, the Losers had made their way to a cute diner near a cute little park. It’s quiet, only just now reaching 7am. “Out or in?” Bill asks the 6 others.

“Out,” Mike says. “It’s a beautiful day, why not take full advantage?”

“Mikey has a point,” Ben jokes, punching Mike’s arm lightly. 

“Table for 7 outside thanks,” Bill says to the waiter. They’re led to the side where there’s a long table with 8 seats. Bill sits at the head and the rest sit down where they see fit. But Stan plonked himself next to Bill and Richie.

“Remember what I told you all those years ago?” Richie whispers in Stan’s ear. 

“Yeah,” Stan whispers back. “What about it?”

“Do it, it’s subtle and I know for a fact that he’ll do it back.” Stan leans away from Richie, who smirks and nods.

He really doesn’t want to do it but he trusts Richie, secretly. Of all the times he had followed Richie’s advice, it actually worked. He wouldn’t say anything, careful to not inflate Richie’s already big ego. 

Stan reaches under the table and squeezes Bill’s thigh without looking up from the menu. He feels pressure around his knee and then the feeling of someone intertwining their fingers with his. Briefly looking up, he sees Bill smirking and he relaxes, both hands swinging comfortably down between them.

What Richie and Stan didn’t know was that there was paparazzi in the bushes, across the street. Nobody was sitting in the alleyway that the losers are at, giving the people with cameras a clear view of Bill’s hand entwined with Stan’s. 

“Would you like to order?” The waitress asks, Bill and Stan immediately pull their hands away. 

*

Once the waitress leaves, Richie gives Stan a nudge and motions back to Bill, Stan was about to initiate but Bill beat him to it, the feeling wasn’t like what he felt only moments before, this time he felt the electricity, a tingle like feeling, shoot up his arm. 

The tingling feeling leads to a kaleidoscope of butterflies swarming around in his stomach. He tries everything in his power to not blush, trying to think of anything but the cute man beside him. “So Michael, how’s the library?” Stan asks, trying to distract himself from the butterflies in his stomach.

“It’s interesting, it’s a great job but I obviously want to leave Derry and do something with my life.” The librarian says. 

“Well, you still have time. What about business? You’ve already got a career in it.” 

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it and I may go ahead and pursue so I can start my own.”

“Mike, you should work for me, I run my own clothing brand and it’s starting to lift off. I’ll need a second set of hands.” Beverly chimes in.

“Really?” Mike pipes up.

“Yeah, I could use your bookkeeping and organising skills. I reckon Stan may even teach you accounting shit.”

“Bev’s right, if you want I can help you.” Stan shudders as he feels a thumb roll over his knuckles. He had completely forgotten that his hand was tangled with Bill’s, it’s so surreal to him.

****

“For the love of God Bill, answer the bloody phone!” Richie yells in annoyance. Bill’s phone had been dinging and vibrating nonstop since they got back from breakfast.

“Oh shit!” Bill exclaims and drops his phone, the phone clattered in the tiles, cracking the screen. 

Ben’s the one that picks it up and sees the headline through the freshly cracked screen. 

Bill Denbrough Seen with Boyfriend and Friends

Ben immediately passes the phone back to Bill, shock on his face, he looks to Stan who is confused. “I didn’t know that you two are together,” Ben says.

“We aren’t,” Bill replies, Stan snatches the phone from Bill and looks at the article. As he scrolls, there were several photos of Bill and Stan holding hands, panic set in. 

“What?” Ben asks, “the photos clearly show ...”

Beverly was quick to take the phone from Stan, she looks through the photos and looks to the two men. There isn’t much to see, both are just friends. Only Richie and Mike know the truth though.

Mike looks over Bev’s shoulder and smirks at Richie, knowing full well that Richie had told Stan to make a move, as Mike had done the exact same with Bill. 

“I know what the photo shows but we act like Richie and Eddie ... before they started dating, in secret,” Bill explains. 

“So you two cuddle and hold hands, angrily flirt at each other privately?” Mike asks, he subtly smirks at Bill. 

“Yeah,” Stan replies. 

“Hey! I take offence to that Hanlon.” Richie exclaims.

“Cool it Trashmouth.” Bev retorts on behalf of Mike.

Bev passes the phone to Eddie who squeaks, he clamped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment. Needless to say, he was shocked, it wasn’t in Bill’s or Stan’s nature to keep something like this a secret.

“Richie, did you tip them off?” Stan demands.

“What?! Stanley, I would never, you know me. I may be an asshole but I’d never pull a stunt like that.” Richie replies, the shock in his voice alerts Stan. He knows that Richie wouldn’t try to pull a stunt like this but he had to make sure. 

“You’re right, fuck, I’m sorry.” As soon as the words fell out of Stan’s mouth, every single loser looked at him. “I may or may not trust Richie.”

“We could tease the media?” Bill suggests. “I mean, it would be a fun prank. Would teach them a lesson.”

“I don’t know,” Stan replies but Richie elbows him in the ribs. “On second thought, it would be fun.”

[torterragarden]

For the character thing, Beverly Marsh!

Yay, thank you!

How I feel about this character:

Oh boy lmao. Depends on which version of Beverly we’re talking about, but it’s always a mixed bag. 

Miniseries!Bev is probably the least messy and the least offensive but I also think she’s the most bland. She’s not bad, I just don’t remember that much about her, honestly. 

Movie!Bev is my favorite overall, mostly thanks to Sophia Lillis and Jessica Chastain’s performances. Sophia brought a lot of strength and also a lot of vulnerability to the character as well as an actually consistent personality which Bev needed lmao, and Jessica followed her performance nicely while doing the best she could with a bad script, she and Ben are easily my favorite parts in Chapter 2. There are definitely some things I could have done without, like... I get that the filmmakers were going for a “oh uuhh pretty girl what do” vibe for the losers’ pov of Bev and I don’t think they were actually trying to be objectifying and weird but. Did we really need a scene where they watch her sunbathe.

That said, however cringe movie!Bev can sometimes be, it never reaches the depths of awfulness that the book’s portrayal of Bev reaches at its worse. But with THAT said, the movie at its best never really hits the same as the book at its best and that does include Bev too. But with THAT said lmao I cannot stress enough how much I hate the way book!Bev is written most of the time it’s so gross. The good parts involving her just don’t make up for how much I long to be Jared, 19 at certain parts. I feel like I love book!Bev simply because she’s part of the Losers, and I love the Losers, but I don’t really love Bev as an individual character, you know what I mean? 

tl;dr the takeaway is essentially that I love Bev in theory but her portrayals in every version of canon are varying levels of Gross and Mess so it’s difficult

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

As an intellectual I only ship her with Ben, I really do love Benverly. I love how pure Ben’s love for her is, how he never feels entitled to her or pressures her, he never has any bitterness toward either her or Bill, Ben just genuinely wants her to be happy even if it’s not with him. Even the poem he wrote for her, he never expected recognition for that? He just wanted to do something nice for her and figured she would assume someone else wrote it, and he was fine with that. And I love how while Bev’s feelings for Bill are very idealised and hero worship-y, her feelings for Ben are rooted in trust and security. There’s this emphasis on how she feels completely safe with Ben and how she knows she never has to be afraid of or around him, it’s so important considering Bev’s history. It’s all just really sweet and I’m soft for it

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Any of the losers, but I specifically have a soft spot for Bev and Richie’s friendship and I understand the movies have a lot of characters to juggle and not a lot of time but I’m always a little bitter about Richie’s “who invited Molly Ringwald to the group” remark cause like. YOU DID BITCH FHFHDSJ it just makes me salty cause I love the idea of Richie and Bev chilling and smoking cigarettes and teasing each other and just. if the movie had just left that out that would have been one thing but that line goes out of its way to make it seem like Richie doesn’t care for Bev :( like why was it necessary

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Don’t know if I have one? As far as I can tell we all agree that Bev is cool in theory but badly written, right?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish she was written better lmao

[askpolylosersclub]

Also Bev can you describe things you love about Ben please. I'm thirsty for Benverly if you haven't noticed

Of course I can. I could talk about Ben for hours and never get bored. How could anybody not want to?

His eyes

We talk about Bill's blue eyes a lot, and Eddie's massive doe eyes possibly even more, but have you ever seen Ben's completely underrated, beautiful, warm brown, sparkling, perpetual puppy-dog eyes? They're set in a constant state of 'I'm completely in love with you and I'm kind of sorry about it', and it is the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my whole life. He looks at all of us that way; when we're not looking, when we are looking. He has thick lashes and whenever he makes any sort of expression he gets these tiny little crinkles at the outsides of his eyes that I am so madly and impossibly in love with! Everything about Ben's eyes is amazing.

His voice

Rich talked about this before, but Ben has a really deep, gravelly voice, but it's also sooooo soft. It's like he's trying to be gentle so hard that even his voice can't go over a certain number of decibels. He has a very emotive voice, too. You can always tell how he's feeling because you can hear it in the way he speaks. He truly has the mind and the cadence of a poet...an artist.

His demeanor

Ben is legitimately the only person in the universe (yes, including my other 5 loves) who I have never, ever, not for a single millisecond of my life, felt the tiniest bit afraid of, mad with, disappointed in or embarrassed by. He is the gentlest human being I have ever met, and everything he does, he does for other people. I trust him implicitly, intimately, with anything and everything. There is nothing about me he doesn't know, because there isn't a single thing I wouldn't tell him. He probably knows more about me than I do. The love I feel from him, just in his presence, radiates from him so naturally it's like feeling love for the first time every time we're together. I honestly cannot say how sorry I feel for every other person in existence that they can't experience what I feel when I'm with Ben. Because nothing else can ever come close.

These are just a few things. Of course, I love everything about him. Why wouldn't you?

- Bev x

[eddie-boii]

Never Let You Go (Part 3/14)

Fic info: Both Eddie and Stan live because I do what I want. Multichapter.

Rating: Teen and up (may change). Strong language.

Pairings: Reddie, Benverly.

Ao3 link: here

Summary: The Losers prepare for a wedding. Here’s a dinner gathering including Stan that we were robbed of.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

*

“Time to place bets,” said Richie as the Losers - including Ben who they’d met with on the way back from shopping - stepped foot over the threshold of the restaurant. “How long ‘til we get kicked out of this place?”

“Ten minutes,” said Stanley.

“Harsh.”

“Five if you sit next to Eddie.”

Richie placed a hand over his heart in feigned offence. “You wound me.”

“He’s guh-got a point,” said Bill and Richie thumped his arm.

The waitress who met them at the door led the group to their reserved table in a private corner where they’d be least likely to disrupt other guests. It was so familiar, the Losers Club all taking their seats around a large round table to eat and laugh and catch up on each other’s lives after so long apart. But it was so different, too. They still had their memories, there was no weight of a malevolent entity resting in the air above them, and there were no seats left empty.

Stanley sat between Bill and Beverly, glasses perched on his nose as he scanned the menu. “So everything's on you, right Ben?” he said, looking up at his friend with a playful and slightly mischievous smile.

“You wish,” said Ben, flicking a crumb of complimentary bread at him. “I know for a fact every one of you is well off.”

“I vote Bill pays,” said Richie. “He’s just got that new hit book out. Bestseller. With an actually decent ending.”

“Fuck off,” said Bill, the corner of his mouth tilted up. “Didn’t you just get a contract for a rrr-r-radio show? If anyone’s paying, it's you, jackass.”

“That was supposed to be a big surprise!” Richie protested. “Now the big reveal I planned is ruined!”

“You’ll just have to think of something else,” said Mike. “Congrats anyway, man.”

“Let’s save the toasts ‘til we have drinks,” said Beverly, flagging down a waitress. 

“Do you have a gluten-free menu?” Eddie asked once the waitress had arrived.

“No fucking way are you hypoglycaemic too,” Richie snorted.

“No, but there have been studies to suggest gluten increases your risk of intestinal cancer-”

“That’s such bullshit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you a doctor?”

“Three minutes,” said Stanley which shut them both up for the time being.

“Alright, I’ll need you to give the chef a list of my allergies,” Eddie said, returning to speaking with the waitress, the poor girl looking a little terrified under his intense expression. “It’s very important. I could realistically die.”

Richie listened to him ramble off a list of food items about a mile long and marvelled at how he had anything left to eat. He spoke so fast, so passionate about everything, his hands flying all over the place as he spoke, and Richie felt kind of bad for the waitress who was frantically trying to scribble everything down in her notebook, but Ben would no doubt give the girl an enormous tip to make up for everything, so he didn’t dwell on it much, just watched Eddie’s face as it cycled through about a million expressions.

“Richie?”

Richie blinked and looked up to see that another waitress had arrived to ease off some of the workload from the first, and the rest of the Losers were looking at him expectantly.

“Drinks?” Beverly prompted when Richie just stared at them all blankly.

“Shots!” said Richie instantly, clapping his hands together. If he was already getting distracted by Eddie, he sure as hell needed alcohol to get through the rest of dinner. 

“No way. You are at least staying semi-sober tonight,” said Beverly. “He’ll have a beer.”

Richie pouted at her but didn’t protest, and the waitresses finally went away. Drinks arrived, then food - a huge sharing platter of sushi - and the Losers slipped easily into comfortable conversation, laughing and joking and reminding each other of embarrassing moments from childhood, then catching up on their lives.

“So, Stan, you and the missus went on a trip with Mike, right?”

“Yeah, it was great until he tried to push me into the grand canyon.”

“That was an accident!”

“It so was not!”

Another round of beers came and went, empty bottles piling up in the centre of the table.

“So the divorce finally went through, Eds?”

“Yep.”

“Did your mom make it difficult?”

“Her name is Myra, and no, it was fine.”

“That easy?”

“We had a prenup. I’m a fucking risk analyst, you think I wouldn’t be prepared?”

The sushi plates emptied and the second-course was served. Richie finally persuaded Beverly to let him order shots and downed three in one go.

“So you two, like, got a dog? What’s its name?”

“She’s called Ember-”

“Is that after that fucking poem?!”

“That’s adorable.”

“I just threw up in my mouth you two are disgusting.”

“Shut up, Trashmouth.”

Once Richie was drunk enough that he lost any trace of verbal filter he may have possessed, the Losers inevitably turned the conversation on him.

“So about this radio show,” said Ben.

Richie was leaning his chair back on two legs precariously, eyes closed and smiling vaguely at the warm, full feeling in his chest, though whether it was being around his friends or just the surplus amounts of alcohol he wasn’t sure. “What about it?” he said, slurring the words a little.

“Come on, man, I know you’re dying to brag about it,” said Mike. “Why the big change?”

Richie tipped his chair back to all four legs and shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you guys. My manager booted me after I bombed my show and fucked off to my childhood home to do shit I couldn’t tell him about, so I ended up with a new guy who thinks I’d be a great radio personality.”

“Are you actually gonna do your own jokes?” said Eddie.

“You know what, Eddie-spaghetti? I am.” He waved his hands in the air vaguely. “Whole fresh start, ya know?”

“That’s great, Rich!” said Bill, leaning across the table to give Richie a friendly bump on the shoulder.

“Wait, wait,” said Stanley, “how come you weren’t writing your own jokes before?”

“Hey, it wasn’t like I didn’t try!” said Richie suddenly feeling a little sick and wishing he had listened to Beverly telling him not to drink so much. “My old manager just didn’t go for it.”

“How come?” said Ben.

Richie waved his hand and grunted. “I dunno, jj-just uh -” Shit he was really drunk. “It was a lot of, like, personal shit, ya know? Dude said no one would relate and it would flop I guess.”

“What kind of personal shit?” said Eddie who suddenly seemed a lot more attentive.

Richie swallowed. “Just- just shit.” He waved a hand again and suddenly became very aware that all the Losers were looking at him. “I- fuck.” He rubbed a hand down his face, dislodging his glasses, then grabbed a glass of water and splashed a little on his face. He was way too drunk to start talking about personal stuff, but here he was. “Guys, I gotta tell you something.”

“What’s up, man?” said Bill, concern clear on his brow. Damn that bastard for being such thoughtful friend.

“I, uh, shit.” Richie pressed his palms to his eyes to avoid looking at his friends, his glasses pushed up over his knuckles. “I’m, uh, I’m… How do I put this eloquently? Super fucking gay.”

The room was silent with just the lull of other customers in the background, and Richie lowered his hands just enough to peek through his fingers at his friends, a part of him expecting awkward silence, disgust, loathing… But they were all grinning.

“That’s great, man,” said Bill.

“Proud of you, Rich,” said Stan.

“Thanks for telling us, honey,” said Bev, squeezing his knee under the table.

Richie blinked at them. “You, uh, don’t seem surprised…” His friends glanced sheepishly at each other. “Don’t you fucking dare tell me you already knew!”

“Of course we didn’t know!” said Stanley. “You never told us, how could we know?”

“We suspected,” said Mike slowly. “A little…”

“You overcompensate a lot, man,” said Ben apologetically. 

“Way too many ‘your mom’ jokes,” agreed Eddie.

“Well, that’s just fucking great!” said Richie, throwing up his hands. “This shit’s been eating away at me for fucking years, I had that dumb fucking clown mocking me for it, and you’re telling me I was a fucking coward for nothing!”

“You're not a cuh-c-coward, Rich, you’re the b-bravest of us all,” said Bill, his expression one of utmost honestly. 

“No one can blame you after growing up in that crap-town,” said Stanley. “Be proud, Rich. You’re the first of us to openly say anything.”

“The first-” Richie repeated, then stopped, looking around at his friends with wide eyes as they all nervously fiddled with drinks and avoided eye contact. “Are you fucking telling me I don’t even get to be the token gay in the Losers Club?!”

“Oh, honey, this has always been more of a ‘token straight’ club,” said Beverly, nudging her thumb not-so-subtly at Ben.

“I was born this way, I can’t help it,” Ben shrugged.

“Seriously?” said Richie, looking at each of his friends in turn before his eyes finally landed on Eddie. “Et tu, Eduardo?” he said, part of him dreading the answer, whichever it may be.

Eddie glanced up at him, pulling that awkward white boy, no-lipped smile. “Why do you think I got a divorce?”

“Coz you married your fucking mom!” said Richie because this seemed obvious. 

“Other reasons, too,” said Eddie, acting way too interested in his glass of water. “We never, uh-” He coughed. “Never managed to… consummate anything.”

Richie gaped open-mouthed at him, then burst out laughing. “Holy fucking shit, Eds!” he exclaimed, tears in his eyes as the other Losers tried to hide their own snickers behind their hands. “Are you still a fucking virgin?”

“No, I’m not a fucking virgin you fucking asshole,” said Eddie, instantly back to his usual defensive self.

“Are you sure about that?”

“If anyone’s a fucking virgin here, it’s you, dickwad!”

“Just coz I managed to fuck your mom and you didn’t.”

“We just established you’re fucking gay and you’re still at it with the ‘your mom’ jokes?!”

“Guys, GUYS!” Beverly interrupted, having to shout just to be heard over their bickering. She held her glass aloft. “I propose another toast before we get kicked out again.”

“To you and Ben,” said Bill, raising his glass too.

“To leaving that shit-hole town behind us,” said Mike.

“To Rich,” said Eddie, glancing at Richie and smiling slightly in a rare moment of softness.

“To not being straight,” said Stan.

“Do I join this one?” Ben whispered to Beverly.

“Sweetheart, you’re marrying me, you have to join whether you like it or not,” Beverly replied.

“To the Losers Club!” yelled Richie, and they all brought their glasses to the centre of the table, the chimes ringing out across the restaurant as they clashed lightly together. 

They all downed their drinks and fell back into their seats as one, and Richie leaned back and looked around the table at each of his friends in turn. To Beverly, Ben, Stan, Bill, Mike, and to Eddie. His family, who loved him unconditionally, who accepted him as he was and always would. He smiled softly to himself.

To the Losers.

*

Previous Next

[dirkxcaliborn]

is it just me or does the novel have literally zero build up to Benverly? Like you have that whole Bill/Ben/Bev love triangle thing except Bev seems completely and utterly focused on and in love with Bill all the way to the end???? it just feels like Bev ends up with Ben because Bill's married and loves his wife and oh well Ben's in love with her so why not?

This isn't anti-Benverly this is anti King making Benverly endgame without including anything to show Bev developing any interest in Ben specifically (and I say specifically because they do have some moments but she's always like "I love all of you :)" which again doesn't really serve to dispute the idea of her ending up with him because it's convenient) unless he hid something in the shitty child sex train scene.

I wish King had given Bev more personality and agency besides "well she's a girl and she loves all of them but especially Bill :)"

[eddieeatsass]

Stripped Bare - Chapter 1

Summary: Eddie gets an offer from his company to work in Barbados over the summer. Beautiful weather, all expenses paid trip, and a stay in a suite at one of the most highly rated resorts in the world. How could he say no? Unfortunately, Eddie soon realizes there were a lot of reasons to say no. His skin doesn't take kindly to the harsh sun, his suite ends up being the size of a shoe box, and, oh yeah, it's also a nudist resort. Pairing: Reddie (side Benverly and Stanlonbrough) Rating: E Warnings: Eventual smut, explicit language

Read on AO3

Dear Eddie Kaspbrak,

Having you work for us at our Portland location for the past five years has been an enriching experience. As sad as we would be to see you go, we must ask if you would be interested in working over the summer at our Barbados location, as it appears we will be short staffed. Your entire trip would be covered, as well as your stay in one of our suites for the duration of your work period. If you’re interested, please let us know as soon as possible.

Included is a PDF file with the additional information about our Barbados location.

-  Wise Resort and Spa

Eddie reread the e-mail three times as he rubbed sleep out of his bleary eyes. Checking his e-mail first thing in the morning was a habit that didn’t result in the best retention. His brain struggled to put together what he’d just read in layman’s terms, AKA, early morning terms. His company wanted him to work in Barbados… and they were going to pay for it? There had to be a catch, but in his current state it seemed like the universe had finally taken pity on him. A vacation in Barbados was exactly what he needed to cut through the boring routine that had become his life. Granted, he’d be working the whole time, but he’d be doing the same thing if he stayed in Portland so why not do it wrapped in the warmth of the Caribbean sun instead? Without over thinking it, as Eddie is prone to doing, he shot off a confirmation e-mail and chucked his phone back on to the pillow next to him, burying himself deeper in his comforters to daydream of new desires.

The flight was god awful. Eddie ended up squished between a woman with a screaming baby, and an older man who needed to squeeze by Eddie to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Eddie was just starting to question if taking this job had even been worth it when he chanced a glance out the window. Past the thin haze of clouds was an expanse of the bluest water he’d ever seen, glittering as the sun cast down on it. It was like a completely different world from Portland, and a completely different planet from the small town he’d grown up in. It felt like a physical disconnect from the life he’d lived up until now.

The flight attendant’s voice crackled out of the speakers announcing their beginning decline to the ground. As if everyone around him had synced up to his newfound feeling of freedom, the baby beside him finally settled down, and the man on his other side controlled his bladder for the remainder of the flight. Twenty minutes later and they were touching down.

The entrance to the resort was eerily similar to what Eddie had ingrained in his brain alongside a feeling of dread, only the backdrop was entirely different. Bright green palm leaves shook in the wind, rustling the trunks they sat upon with dangerous vigor. The sun was already beating down against Eddie’s skin relentlessly, but it also shone out from behind the giant sign announcing the resort’s name. It was oddly beautiful, something so familiar yet so new. It was an invigorating feeling.

Eddie walked into the main building with a bit of a pep in his step, confident enough as he strode up to the front counter and greeted the friendly face behind it.

“Hi, uh, I’m supposed to start working here this week? I’m the transfer from Portland.”

The man behind the counter smiled wide, a friendly grin that revealed rows of perfect white teeth nestled between full lips and dimpled cheeks. All that combined with smooth dark skin and defined muscles nearly had Eddie swooning before he could respond to the guy’s next comment.

“Eddie! We’ve been excited for you to arrive. I’m Mike Hanlon, I’m your supervisor.” he extended a hand towards Eddie. Mike’s hand completely engulfed Eddie’s own and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t send a little jolt down his spine.

“I’m a bit busy right now,” Mike continued, clearly not having noticed Eddie’s flush. “But Bill over here can show you around.”

Mike clapped a hand on the shoulder of another form, a body that Eddie had somehow completely missed during the greeting. He had his back turned and was busying himself with something behind the counter, but at the mention of his name, he gave Mike his full attention.

The man was cute. Like, next door neighbor crush cute. Was Eddie going to fall for every semi good looking employee at this resort? So far it was two for two, so the odds weren’t in his favor (or were, depending how you look at it).

Cute neighbor boy, Bill, Eddie corrects himself, stepped out from behind the desk and slung his arm around Eddie, completely bypassing the courteous approach Mike had taken.

“Alright fresh meat, let’s get you acquainted.”

Bill was tall, and Eddie struggled a bit to keep up with his pace and pull his suitcases behind him at the same time. When Bill noticed, he removed his arm from around Eddie’s shoulders in favor of picking up both suitcases and carrying them along as if they weighed nothing. Eddie wanted to be embarrassed about the difference in strength, but Bill gave him no time, already back to rambling on about the do’s and don’ts of the job. Eddie realizes he should be listening, knows he’s probably missing out on important information, but watching the way the muscles in Bill’s back tensed up as he walked was much more favorable.

When he’d finally finished ogling his new co-worker, they’d arrived in front of a small wooden door.

“37B.” Eddie reads aloud.

Bill nods, putting down one of Eddie’s suitcases so he can fish a card out of his pocket. He swipes it through the lock on the door and a little green light announces their permission to enter. Pushing open the door with his shoulder as he grabs Eddie’s suitcase once again, Bill welcomes Eddie to his room.

“So, this is where you’ll be staying for the next three months.”

Eddie takes in the room around him. It’s tinier than he’d expected, definitely not the ‘suite’ he’d been promised, but it was cozy. There was a small bed pressed up against the nearest wall and sliding glass doors that opened up into the courtyard. A small dresser and closet decorated the room, with not much else to show for. The adjoining bathroom held a shower bath and a toilet close enough to the sink that you could shit and wash your hands at the same time. Quaint, Eddie thought.

“This is the employee floor, so you won’t run into any guests while you’re down here. My room is just down the hall.” Bill supplied.

“Oh, are you also a transfer from out of town?” Eddie asked curiously.

“Nah, I just like staying here. I work such early shifts it’s easier than making the commute every morning, so boss man lets me stay here when there’s empty rooms, which there almost always are.”

The words from the e-mail ring back in Eddie’s mind. Short staffed, they’d said. The resort seemed pretty busy when he got here, so why would they have a problem with employing people? Unless the management was terrible. Oh no, what if the management was terrible? What if Eddie was stuck working with horrible people for the duration of the summer? He should have taken more time before responding to the e-mail, should have done more research, should have read reviews and called around and-

“Wanna head down to the pool deck?” Bill interrupted Eddie’s snowballing thoughts.

“Sure.” Eddie managed, giving Bill a tight-lipped smile as he tried to swallow down his anxiety.

They left Eddie’s suitcases in his room and made their way down to the deck. Bill finally mentioned what his job was, he was the lifeguard, meaning him and Eddie would be working the same area. Eddie was relieved to hear that he’d at least know someone on his first day.

That relief left his body the second they stepped out on to the deck.

Penis. That’s a penis. That’s definitely, undoubtedly, a penis.

“Dude,” Bill nudges Eddie’s shoulder. “Rule number one, don’t stare.”

Eddie tries to avert his attention but lands on a pair of breasts. He averts it again, this time it’s lean tan muscles leading down to, yep, another penis. Another penis by the bar, a pair of breasts climbing up the pool later, an ass bending over to- Nope. Nope nope nope. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut as panic began taking over his body. What was going on?

A warm hand circled around Eddie’s bicep and turned him around, guiding him for a few steps until the temperature changed around him and noise became distant.

“Uh, you can open your eyes now.” Bill’s voice says, confusion evident but no judgement present.

Eddie only dares to peek one eye open, keeps it squinted in case he needs to shut the world out again. But all he sees is the ugly upholstery he’s used to seeing every day, green and brown leaf print that covers the majority of the furniture in the lobbies of The Wise. So, he eases his other eye open, glances around him in an attempt to re-orient himself, and then settles his gaze back on Bill.

Bill is sporting a subtle smirk he’s clearly trying to fight down, but there’s also distinct worry in his eyes.

“Well that’s the most dramatic reaction I’ve witnessed so far, sure you have the stomach for this job?”

Eddie’s brain short circuits.

“What job!?” Eddie squeaks.

All the humor is gone from Bill’s face now.

“Um, are you serious dude? This is a nudist resort. You knew that… right?” The hope laced in Bill’s question leaves Eddie’s heart hurting.

No. He didn’t know that. How was he supposed to know that! Isn’t that the kind of information you tell someone before offering them a-

Eddie can almost feel the ground disappear beneath him when he realizes it.

The PDF file.

He never read it.

The “additional information” Eddie decided to forgo reading. Because how different could one resort be from the next? Apparently, very.

Eddie had been silent long enough that Bill flagged down Mike from across the room. A soothing voice was coaxing Eddie back into this plane of existence, and once he was finally able to clue into some of the words being said he also felt a hand settled low on his back.

“-ecause if you need us to call someone or-”

“What?” Eddie interrupted Mike a bit too bluntly, watching Mike reel in relation to his tone.

“Sorry, I… What were you asking?” He recovered.

“You seemed a little zoned out there, I was just checking if you needed anything, or wanted us to call someone for you?”

Eddie blinked dumbly. He wanted to… help? Eddie’s old supervisor would have been yelling by this point. Eddie’s had enough panic attacks on the job to expect the worst once he pulls himself out of them. But Mike seemed to be genuine, and Bill was still wearing that worried expression he’d held previously.

“No, no, I’m fine.” Eddie nodded a bit too eagerly.

“Okay, if you’re sure… Well, hey, while I have you here, I have a bit of a favor to ask you.”

Bill’s ears seemed to also perk up at this, all attention on Mike.

“You wouldn’t happen to know any other employees from the Portland area who would be willing to transfer, would you? We just got word that one of our transfers quit last minute. We’d still be able to scrape by without her, but it would be a lot easier on all of us if we were a little less short handed around here.”

The answer was easy, Eddie really only had one co-worker in mind.

“Stanley Uris.” He blurted out, before thinking through his answer. Stan would never work at a nudist resort. But then again… If he didn’t know…

“Amazing! I’ll send in the request right away. Do you know him well? If you could talk to him for us, maybe put in a good word, that would be great. The last thing we need is another employee dropping out right under our noses.”

You could say that Eddie knew Stan well, if being best friends for the last 15 years counted. They’d stumbled into working for the same company purely by accident, going in for the same interview as a friendly competition and both coming out with a uniform and a name tag. It had been so exciting, finding out they were going to get to work together. It stayed exciting for approximately one week, until they discovered how terrible the job was. Well, the job itself wasn’t bad, but the environment was depressing, and the clientele was awful. Their boss wasn’t the worst man in the world, but he was stuffy and old and a bit too loud. It made Eddie skittish. He also had the sense of humor of rock, making any kind of playful banter completely null. Stan hated working there just as much as Eddie did, but they stayed there together out of solidarity.

So, yeah Eddie knew Stan well. And if there was anyone he needed in a time like this, it was Stan. But he’s not entirely sure how he would pull off convincing him to work at a place with naked people walking around.

“Is your co-worker going to be okay working here, what with…” To finish off his point, Bill gestured vaguely in the direction of the pool deck.

“Yeah, oh yeah, he’ll be fine.” Eddie tried to sound convincing. It didn’t work.

“Will you be fine?” Bill asked, that little smirk creeping its way back into his features, still not unkind.

Eddie sighed but nodded along. “Yes. I’ll be fine. As long as, oh dear god, wait, don’t tell me employees need to be nude too!?” Eddie’s eyes widened comically as he felt dread pool in his stomach at the thought.

Bill’s laugh was warm. “No, we have uniforms.”

“Oh thank god.” Eddie breathed out, earning another laugh from Bill. He joined in this time, feeling himself lightening up just slightly under the presence of someone with a calmer mind.

Later that night, as Eddie was getting ready for bed, he played over conversation scenarios in his head. He could tell Stan the truth, but then there’s no way he’d come. He could lie, but then there’s no way he could live with himself, knowing he’d conned his best friend into something he’d never otherwise do. But if he were to just… omit the truth… That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Besides, how many times had Stan tricked him into an uncomfortable situation? This could be payback for all the years of dragging Eddie to “a concert” (the Opera), “a casual hangout with friends” (a blind double date), or who could forget the “small family gathering” (IT WAS HIS AUNT’S WEDDING).

Before he could talk himself out of it, Eddie was pulling up his text conversation with Stan and shooting off a message, then slamming the phone face down on the counter as if it might be able to read through Eddie’s thoughts and judge him.

Eddie Kaspbrak: I may have put your name in for a transfer today.

The response came in surprisingly fast.

Stanley Uris: You did what now?

Eddie Kaspbrak: Come on, we could work together all summer like usual. You know you miss me.

Stanley Uris: I’m sorry who is this

Eddie Kaspbrak: Ha Ha very funny. Seriously, Stan, this place is beautiful.

Technically, not a lie. It was beautiful if you just held your thumb over the nude bodies standing in front of the sunset.

Stanley Uris: It’s Barbados, of course it is.

Eddie Kaspbrak: Soooo come enjoy it with me. It won’t be the same without you.

Stanley Uris: Are there lizards? Eddie Kaspbrak: What

Stanley Uris: Lizards. Are there lizards there?

Eddie Kaspbrak: I haven’t seen a single lizard since I’ve been here. Stanley Uris: Okay. As long as there aren’t any lizards. And as long as you admit that you can’t go a single day without me.

Eddie Kaspbrak: Seriously Stanley Uris: I mean, unless I’m reading this whole thing wrong and you actually don’t need me…

Eddie Kaspbrak: Fine. I can’t go a single day without you. You’re the light of my life, the yin to my yang, the sun shines out of your asshole. So, are you in or what?

Stanley Uris: I’ve been in this whole time. They called me a few minutes before you texted. I’ve got a flight on Wednesday.

Eddie Kaspbrak: Fuck you very much Stanley

[dedeimagines]

It (2017) Masterlist

It (2017)

The Losers Club:

1. Being in the Losers Club Would Include…

2. Being Irish and part of the Losers Club Would Include…

3. Swimming

4. Panic

5. Replaced

6. Being Filipino and Part of the Losers Club Would Include…

7. Floating

8. Unexpected Haircut

9. Coming Out as FTM to The Loser’s Club Would Include…

10. A Date

11. Being Argentinian and Part of The Losers Club Would Include…

12. Best Friends

13. Nothing

14. Welcome

15. Being A Short Mexican Badass And Part Of The Losers Club Would Include…

16. Being The Shortest Member Of The Losers Club Would Include…

17. Being The Tallest Member Of The Losers Club Would Include…

18. Coming Out As Bisexual To The Losers Club Would Include…

19. Experiencing Snow For The First Time With The Losers Club Would Include…

20. The Losers Club Reacting To Your New Piercings Would Include…

21. A Girl?

22. The Losers Club Reacting To You Having A Panic Attack Would Include...

23. Having Social Anxiety and Being Apart Of The Losers Club Would Include...

Beverly Marsh:

1. Dating Beverly Marsh Would Include…

2. Being Beverly’s Sibling Would Include…

3. Bloody Knuckles

4. Being Shy and Dating Beverly Would Include…

5. True Love

6. Chicken

7. Perfect Shot

8. Secrets

9. Just In Case

10. With You

11. Girls Night

12. Listening to Music with Beverly Would Include...

13. School Party

14. Forever Single

15. Let Me Know

Bill Denbrough:

1. Dating Bill Denbrough Would Include…

2. Prom

3. Stutter

4. Guilt

5. Leader

6. Dumb

7. It

8. Not You

9. Sunsets

10. Paranoid

11. Miss You

12. A Little Get Away

13. Not So Private Kiss

14. No One

15. Always Welcome

16. Phone Call part 2

17. Being British and Dating Bill Would Include...

18. Couple Contest

19. It’s Been A Long, Long Time

20. The Idea’s In His Mind

Ben Hanscom:

1. Dating Ben Hanscom Would Include…

2. NKOTB

3. Books

4. Cuddling With Ben Would Include...

Eddie Kaspbrak:

1. Dating Eddie Kaspbrak Would Include…

2. Don’t Die

3. In Love

4. Lies

5. Germs

6. Big Brother

7. Hospital Visits

8. Crowds

9. Skater

10. I Can Fix This

11. Shoulder To Cry On

12. Dating Eddie and Being Taller Then Him Would Include…

13. No Sleep

14. Make It Better

15. The Night We Met

16. Interrupting Mom

Mike Hanlon:

1. Dating Mike Hanlon Would Include…

2. Hold You

3. 1 am Cuddles

4. Milkshakes and Star Gazing

5. Breakup

6. You’re Okay

7. Bullies

8. Why?

9. Surprises

10. Bikes

11. Naked

12. I Wouldn’t Mind

Richie Tozier:

1. Dating Richie Tozier Would Include…

2. Korean Reader x Richie Headcanon

3. Eye Rolls

4. Just Friends?

5. For Science

6. Chapstick

7. A Chance

8. Cute

9. Shopping

10. What You Want

11. Help

12. Missing Cat

13. Backwards

14. Don’t Run Away

15. Deserve Better

16. Being Richie Tozier’s Younger Sister Would Include…

17. Partners part two

18. Calm

19. Quiet

20. Shut Up

21. 3 Years

22. Finally Over

23. Bad Timing

24. Runaways

25. Alibi

26. Making Out

27. Something You Love

28. Music

29. So Much More

30. Pathetic

31. Lights

32. Rick Astley

33. Drive-in

34. Stupid Fights

35. Cold

36. Stars In Your Eyes

37. Don’t Leave

38. Opposites

39. Chill Out

40. Want Me?

41. Impressions

42. Family Party

43. Being A Cheerleader and Dating Richie Would Include…

44. Blushing

45. Im Better With You

46. A Real Kiss

47. Ruin Everything

48. Pranks

49. Tired Rambles

50. Hold Your Breath

51. Non Friendly Way

52. Being Fascinated By Supernatural Things and Dating Richie Would Include…

53. Missing Sandman

54. Soulmate AU HC

55. No Filter

56. All I Ask

57. Drunken Flirting

58. Broken

59. Being Australian and Dating Richie Would Include...

60. Ruiner

61. Accidental

62. Weezer

63. Dating Richie and Being Taller than Him Would Include...

64. Being Richie’s Twin and Being Completely Opposite to Him Would Include...

65. Doing Face Masks with Richie Would Include...

66. Directions

67. Let Me Think

68. What Are You Waiting For?

69. Richie Falling in Love with Someone who’s Afraid of Falling in Love Would Include...

70. Company

71. Thanks Asshole

72. Being Eddie’s twin and Dating Richie Would Include...

73. Damn That Accent

74. Shines Brighter

75. Drunken Aftermath

76. A Replacement 

77. Dating Bad Boy Richie Would Include...

78. Richie Being Super Whipped While You're Dating Would Include...

79. Don’t Even Think About It

80. Coming Out As Lesbian to Richie Would Include...

81. Nobody’s Here

82. I Remember

83. Disapproving Parents

84. Being Best Friends With Richie Would Include...

85. Movie Night With Stan and Richie Would Include...

86. Headache

87. Boyfriend Material

Stan Uris:

1. Dating Stan Uris Would Include…

2. Bird Books

3. Plus Size Reader x Stan Headcanon

4. Crushes

5. Don’t Lie

6. Love

7. Bad Dreams

8. A Flirt

9. The Future

10. Bird Watching

11. Angel

12. Perfect

13. Paintings

14. Feelings

15. Holiday Party

16. Comfort

17. You Left Me

18. A Bet

19. Too Loud

20. All-Nighter

21. Love You

22. School Dance

23. Being Popular And Dating Stan Would Include…

24. Twister

25. Stan Uris Dating A Short Biracial Person Would Include…

26. Wanna What?

27. Bed Sharing

28. How Stan Would Tell You He Likes You HC

29. Exam

30. To Forget

31. Stood Up

32. Leaving On A Jet Plane

33. First Encounters

34. Drunk Phone Calls

35. Gentlemanly Acts

36. Bad Day

37. Isolation

38: Romantic Escapades

39. Movie Night With Stan and Richie Would Include...

Stozier:

1. What Do You Hate?

2. The Floor is Lava

3. Same

4. Stozier as Parents Would Include…

5. Cant Sleep

6. Order

7. Say It Again

8. Richie’s Birthday

9. Don’t Sweat It

Reddie:

1. Reddie as Parents Would Include…

2. Hoodie

3. Why?

Beverie:

1. Relationships

Bichie:

1. Hot

2. Voices

3. Missing Shirt

Benverly:

1. Flowers

Stenbrough:

1. Just Talk to Me

Series:

1. Into The Woods