#yes i am referring to the wheelers

[smoosnoom]

hi im writing a very long fic . do i split it up into parts and post it earlier as a multichap OR do i just post way later and post it as one huge thing

[artaxlivs]

Were they kidding with this bullshit? Like, seriously? So many gates opening up to different dimensions now that there were too many for Supergirl to close and this? This is what they got? Fuck this. Seriously.

"Are you a virgin?" Mike asked like the total little dickhead he is.

"So what if I am? Aren't you? And the rest of your little friends?" Eddie sniped back at the rude little bastard but then, he blanched, "actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

Why did this have to be happening when Eddie was on a perimeter check?

Mike rolled his eyes like he couldn't believe how ridiculous Eddie was being, "Dumbass, we're children. Unicorns never go to innocent children in fairy tales. Because we're all innocent. They go to innocent adults. Virgins." He put far too much emphasis on the word because he is, as mentioned, a little dickhead.

"Listen, fuck you and the unicorn you rode in on. I'm not fucking innocent. I've done...things. Things I'm not gonna tell you about!" Eddie sputtered, crossing his arms and almost losing his precarious balance on the tree branch.

He needed to be careful because there was a unicorn circling underneath him. And not the beautiful, ethereal kind. It was beautiful, sure, but it had blood all over his muzzle and splattered across it's chest and on it's front hooves. Probably from the last virgin it had tracked down in god knows what dimension and trampled slash eaten to death. It's eyes were blazing red fire and it had fangs. Fangs. Fuck. That.

Eddie heard Steve sighing and then he flailed an arm from Eddie's tree branch to Robin and said, "It can't be trying to get you because you're a virgin, it's not going anywhere near Robin!"

The girl in question squeaked. Her ears and cheeks went bright red. All three of them turned to look at her.

"Wait, what? Was it you know who? From the...? You didn't tell me? When did you...?" Steve asked cryptically, shedding absolutely no light on who Buckley was knocking boots with.

"Yes after we met at the...place." Robin supplied lamely and then bared her teeth and said through them, "After. But before we went back in to fight Henry slash Vecna slash One." She shrugged and let out a hysterical sounding giggle. "It was...End of the World Sex. Just in case, you know?"

"Ohhhh I'm so proud of you!" And oddly, Steve really did sound proud. Which was weird. Eddie was pretty sure Robin was gay which meant the caginess was in reference to a girl but the fact that Steve was so supportive was a little suprising.

Without actively thinking about the repercussions, Eddie's mouth decided to test that theory, "Well damn, wish I'd have thought of that. Steve - want to deflower me so this unicorn leaves me alone?" The hysterical giggle Eddie let out rivaled Robin's.

Slowly Steve turned back to him but before he could reply, Mike scoffed, "You are his type. Skinny, big bushy hair, big eyes, you and Nancy both talk like everyone is just waiting to listen to you to speak." He rolled his eyes, "Annoying."

"Rude!" Eddie tilted his head thoughtfully, "You know what though? I'm fine with it. Nancy Wheeler is a badass and I want to be her when I grow up. Or when I get down from this tree." Eddie cringed, staring down as the unicorn stopped and looked up, one of it's flaming eyes bore into him. It neighed, shaking it's gorgeous mane but also splattering little droplets of blood everywhere.

Gross. So gross.

"Huh. Now that you mention it..." Robin stared up at Eddie thoughtfully, "I totally see it."

Steve just dragged his hand down his face and glared at the angry unicorn, "Okay, we need a real plan because Eddie isn't coordinated enough to have sex in a tree." He put his hands on his hips like a baseball mom wondering if she brought enough orange slices and Shastas for the whole team. "Do we know any other adult virgins to lure this one away?"

Mike snorted, "Those are probably more rare than the unicorn.'

Eddie flipped him off, "You're rolling at disadvantage on all charisma and persuasion checks for the rest of time."

"We'll have to find a new DM when the unicorn gores you anyway," Mike shrugged. "Whatever."

Then he wandered off. Just walked away, like Eddie wasn't two feet away from being mauled by a feral beast who's name was probably Glitter Sparkle or some shit. What a dickhead.

Looking away from the unicorn, Eddie watched Robin wave Steve over and whisper to him. They had a hushed conversation for several minutes while Eddie yelled things like, "Wanna share with the class?" and "Good friends don't make shitty plans in secret!" But they ignored him. Bastards.

Until Steve turned to the tree and asked, "By 'things' what do you mean?"

What?

"Harrington, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You said you've done 'things' but not had sex. What things?" Steve brushed a hand through his miraculously still perfect hair, and sighed, obviously frustrated, "We're trying to figure out what the unicorn considers virginity. Robin's never..." He petered off and glanced back at her and then over at Mike who was half way down the block with his radio out, sitting on a bench with his back to them, probably telling everyone that Eddie still had his V card. Traitor.

He was too far away for them to hear his conversation so he was probably too far for theirs.

Robin cleared her throat. "I've never had, you know, penetrative sex. Just...um...uh...third base!" She squeaked again and then covered her face with her hands.

"You're being extremely weird about sex talk while a blood covered unicorn is stalking me like a jungle cat!" Eddie informed her. "Oral. Just say oral sex, you weirdo!"

"Ok fine!" She shouted, "I've given and reciprocated oral sex! Jesus." Then she crossed her arms and grumbled under her breath, tapping one foot on the grass.

Eddie couldn't help it. He laughed with glee. "Was she cute?"

Robin sputtered, mouth dropping in shock.

What? Did she think she was a subtle lesbian? Because she wasn't. Not at all. Her high tops had boobs drawn on them like some twelve year old boy just hitting puberty. He rolled his eyes.

Steve looked up at Eddie then. His eyebrows were arched in that way they get when he's thinking up a plan. They're not always good plans but he carries them out and everyone usually lives so, Eddie could do worse. "Well - Big Boy?" Steve's lips twitched in a smile at using Eddie's nickname for him. "I'm guessing when you said you've done 'things,' you were lying?"

"Yeah, duh." Eddie retorted, snapping in his irritation and mounting fear. Mounting, ha. Like a horse and like sex. Mounting. He bit his lip to contain the very poorly timed giggle.

Robin rolled her eyes, grabbed Steve's arm and gave him a severe 'be careful' look and then hustled over to where Mike was sitting. When Steve tucked his bat into his backpack and started to creep around the tree, he realized she was giving them privacy. Holy shit.

The unicorn didn't even acknowledge Steve's presence as he skirted around it and climbed the tree, grunting and complaining under his breath how nobody better call him the Virginsitter because he swears to God. Then the rest of his grumbling got lost, buried under the sound of Eddie's heart pounding in his ears.

Holy shit.

And that's how Eddie lost his mythically constructed virginity in a tree to Steve Harrington who was apparently bisexual and very, very good at blowjobs.

Neither of them even noticed which way the unicorn went.

[jo-harrington]

Lack of Faith (Eddie Munson)

Summary: Eddie Munson. Dungeon Master, Rock Star Wannabe, King of the Freaks and the Nerds. Can you believe that he doesn't like Star Wars?

Characters: Eddie Munson, Corroded Coffin, Wayne Munson, Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair

Themes/Warnings: Our nerdy boy being a nerd, and his nerdlings making him worse, Star Wars references, might borrow some dialogue from the movie Fanboys (2009), boys will be boys, angst-ish, hurt/comfort-ish?, friendship, reference to some FOI characters, don't worry about it.

Note: This has been a thought that's lingered in my mind for quite some time as I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. And a little talk with @br0ck-eddie today (an unrelated topic) brought this back to the forefront of my mind. Tagging @fracturedarkness and @courtingchaos for no reason other than "you'll like it."

This is not an xReader fic. This is about Eddie and Star Wars and if you nerf-herders can't accept that, you can get the kriff out of here. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT JIZZ IS, KEEP FUCKING MOVING NORMIE.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

It was a normal lunch period.

Well, as normal as it could be when you sat at Hellfire Club's table in the cafeteria. There was no talk of homework, or dates, or crushes.

Instead Gareth was tapping a beat against the edge of the table with two unsharpened No.2 pencils, Dave was working on a new character sheet with Eddie after he suffered a tragic and untimely death during their last session, and the freshman were arguing about something down at their end of the table.

Their heads were bent together, occasionally Mike would throw his head back and groan, and then get right back to his furious whispers. And although Eddie, gracious and fearless leader that he was, was typically grateful that they kept their mindless drivel to themselves, today he was curious.

He could hear little tidbits of their conversation and they intrigued him enough:

"...they still kissed."

"That was to make Han jealous."

"That was the second time, what about the first time?"

"The first time they were about to die!" Dustin got to his feet now, staring at Mike with wide, incredulous eyes. "They were swinging ten-thousand feet in the air!"

"Hey!" Eddie shouted at them now, as kids at the surrounding tables started to stare and laugh. And usually, yes, he'd flip them off, tell them to mind their own business. Pull the whole freak card to get them to look away. The freshman needed to learn when to not place a target on their own backs; he hopefully wouldn't be here to protect them forever. "Shut up! Sit down!"

The three boys immediately clamped their mouths shut and Dustin sunk back into his seat as the older boys snickered.

"What's so important that you're about to start throwing punches over there?" Eddie questioned. The boys seemingly made themselves smaller and Eddie had to sigh. "Come on, I'm not gonna bite your heads off."

The entirety of Hellfire Club shot a skeptical look at him and his rolled his eyes.

"M-maybe you can help us," Mike suggested. "We're in the middle of a debate."

"A debate? What kind of debate?"

"One of the utmost importance," Dustin said desperately. "Because Mike is insane."

"I am not! You're the one who's lost it. 'There's something innate.' Did we even watch the same movie?"

The boys all started to bicker again, louder this time, and Eddie needed to whistle to get them to quit it.

"See that's not very helpful. Why don't you tell me what movie, and what the problem is, and I can offer final and absolute judgement."

"Because you're right all the time," Jeff muttered under his breath to Gareth, causing Eddie to toss an eraser at him good-naturedly.

"Star Wars," the three freshman all answered simultaneously, and then they started talking over each other about whether Luke and Leia knew they were siblings when they kissed or if he had a thing for Leia and if Han was really weirded out by it all when he found out.

They were so caught up in their explanation that they didn't notice the members of Corroded Coffin get all tense, or the way that Eddie began to clench his fists and grit his teeth.

Until aforementioned lead guitarist stood up himself and hauled his backpack over his shoulder. They all stared at him, his bandmates with fearful eyes, and the freshman with hopeful ones.

"Easy," Eddie answered with a sardonic smile. "Star Wars is a dumb shit movie and you shouldn't waste your breath arguing over it."

And he walked past his friends just as the bell rang signaling the end of the period.

---

"What do you mean you don't like Star Wars?"

"Drop it Henderson."

"Is it...are you more of a Trek fan? Is that it?"

"It's not--"

"Because it's ok if you are! I like Star Trek too. I got Vulcan ears for Christmas last year and I have the new Klingon dictionary on hold at Waldenbooks. Pretty sure I'm already better at it than Latin."

"Do you not understand the meaning of drop it?" Eddie slammed his locker shut and stared at the younger boy. "I just don't like it. It's...it's--"

"It's a cultural phenomena!" Dustin cut him off. "It's only the most detailed and expansive fictional universes I've ever experienced. Even better than Tolkien."

"That's blasphemy," Eddie scoffed.

"Ok maybe not Tolkien," Dustin conceded, hands held out innocently. "But seriously, it's insane. I thought that you'd be all over it. I was gonna even talk to you about helping me plan a small one-shot for Lucas' birthday set in the Star Wars universe. I would DM!"

Eddie, though annoyed with the topic conversation, fondly pushed the bill of Dustin's hat over his eyes.

"Come on!"

"Listen I'll help you," Eddie promised. "Whatever you wanna cook up for Sinclair's birthday, I'm your guy. I'll even get the guys to come and play if you want a bigger group. Just anything but Star Wars ok?"

He started to walk away but Dustin was hot on his heels, dodging other students left and right to stay in-step with Eddie.

"Why not? Just give me one good reason why you don't like Star Wars, and I'll drop it. Is it because Obi-Wan wasn't secretly Luke's father? Or..." He fumbled over his words, struggling to find a reason that his friend didn't like one of his favorite series. "Or...because Wedge was a better pilot than Luke but somehow Luke was the star of the Rebel Alliance."

"Stop it now."

"Do you not like C-3P0? No one likes C-3P0! Wait...is that your favorite character and you don't like the movie because everyone else hates him?"

Dustin was sure he'd hit the nail on the head and offered explanations and tried to convince Eddie that he was all wrong. And all of it fell on annoyed ears until Eddie, at his wits end, turned and grabbed Dustin by the shoulders. He stopped them dead in their tracks in the middle of the hallway, uncaring of the other students groans and insults as they pushed past.

"I don't like Star Wars," Eddie said through gritted teeth, a sense of finality in his words so the subject could be dropped once and for all. "Because I've never seen the movies. And I don't want to. They're overhyped, and dumb, and just a way to get little idiots like you to spend their money on posters and action figures and life savers."

"Lightsabers," Dustin corrected him, but then backtracked. "Wh--Eddie? What do you mean? You have to have seen them! Ed...Eddie wait!"

The metalhead let him go and the quickly retreated into the crowd leaving Dustin to call after him, confused.

---

Of course, news spread to the other freshman quickly. Dustin was devastated, Lucas was lost, and Mike felt betrayed that his role model--loose definition--hadn't seen the movies that shaped him as a person to this day. Shaped all of them.

Into nerds.

Even Max was surprised to hear that her neighbor hadn't seen it, as she was dragged to the depths of the Wheeler's basement along with the boys to discuss how this all could have happened.

They thought of everything. Body swaps and mind control. A curse! Mike was dead set on Eddie being a die-hard trekkie and, as someone who disliked the Trek himself, got irrationally angry about it.

"I swear he didn't even bat an eye when I told him about the Klingon!" Dustin exclaimed. "I just...I don't know."

"Well have you asked the rest of the geek patrol?" Max questioned, and all the boys turned to stare at her. "If Eddie hates it so much that he doesn't want to talk about it, the others have known him for a lot longer than any of us have. They're bound to know something right?"

"See this?" Dustin snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "This is why we need you in Hellfire. Eddie wouldn't be able to trick us anymore, you'd see right through it."

"Not gonna happen," she deadpanned.

The boys protested her refusal to play DnD with them, but took her advice and ran with it.

For a solid week, they pestered Jeff, Gareth, and Dave. And for a solid week, the older boys refused to budge. They tried everything. Bribes, blackmail, threats.

"You think," Gareth laughed when the boys cornered him outside the locker room before PE. "That I'm gonna tell you anything after you threaten to have Steve Harrington beat me up? That guy might've been a big douchebag few years ago, but I know he's a loser working at Family Video now."

All hope was lost as he was about to head to class. Until Mike spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, leaving the athletics hall for their next class, and he was struck with inspiration. He called out to Gareth.

"What if I can get you one of my sister's bras?"

Gareth skidded to a halt and looked over his shoulder with shock and, surprisingly, intrigue.

"...go on," he nodded.

Thus, a negotiation was made before the coach blew his whistle. And a few days later after school, at the picnic table out in the woods behind the football field, the exchange took place.

"Gimme the goods," Gareth held his hand out for his bounty.

"Story first, bra later," Lucas scoffed at him. "Otherwise what's to stop you from taking it and leaving."

Gareth clenched his hands and then let out a long-suffering sigh.

"At least lemme see what color it is."

The three freshman ducked their heads together to discuss the risks, and then Mike unzipped his backpack and flashed the tiniest peak of pastel purple lace at him.

"Nice," Gareth nodded. "Alright! You better not have anywhere else to go, we're gonna be here for a little while."

"My mom's not coming to get us until 6," Dustin agreed.

Gareth then took the time to weave the tale. One he heard from Jeff, who heard it from some guy named Dougie, who heard it from a girl named Ronnie, who only knew about it because she was there.

"It's his closely kept secret," Gareth explained. "Ronnie was still here when I was a freshman, and she wouldn't say shit about it. Which is why this can never make it back to me."

"We swear," the boys said simultaneously, and all crossed their hearts.

Apparently, Eddie had been all excited for the very first Star Wars movie when it first premiered. He saw the posters for it at the Hawk and babbled on and on about what it might be about. He'd always been a little interested in space, thanks to Star Trek--

"I knew it!" Dustin exclaimed.

"God damn it!" Mike cursed. "He's a Trekkie!"

"Are you gonna let me tell this story?" Gareth hissed.

"Sorry," Lucas apologized and slugged both of his friends in the arm.

--and he thought Star Wars was gonna be the next big thing. He was sure of it. Not only that, it was gonna be his new favorite thing. He was hesitant to ask his dad to buy tickets for the two of them to go and see the movie together. What with money being tight and his dad's unreliable presence. Still, he heard that the local radio station was giving two tickets away and he called and called and called until he won them.

"Wow," Mike was awestruck. "Two tickets for the opening day of Star Wars. Can you imagine? What a lucky son of a bitch."

"Uh," Dustin watched Gareths shifting eyes and pursed lips. "Mike I think you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"He didn't see it, dipshit," Gareth sneered. "Duh. Isn't that the whole point of you guys bothering me with this? Did you forget?"

Eddie, excited for the day, told his dad, Al, two weeks in advance. He and Ronnie had picked up the tickets for the show after school one afternoon, lying to Ronnie's grandma about having detention. And Al Munson, father of the year, promised that he would be around to take Eddie.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said and flashed his charming smile at his young and hopeful son. "We can make a day of it, how's that? You got the tickets, I've got dinner at Benny's afterwards. And you can get a sundae for dessert."

Eddie was over the moon, happy that his dad was finally excited for something that he enjoyed. He couldn't be bothered with Lord of the Rings or Narnia or any of the other stories that Eddie enjoyed, but he was excited for this. Probably because it had Wars in it. But that was ok. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

And then the morning finally came. A Wednesday in May, almost time for summer break. Al was sitting on the couch looking at something in the newspaper and Eddie reminded him about the movie before he left to catch the school bus. Al simply patted him on the head and promised to pick him up at 3 so they'd have plenty of time to get a good seat and watch the previews.

"And then the asshole never showed up," Gareth scoffed and broke all the kids hearts.

They didn't know a whole lot about Eddie's dad; he purposefully said precious little except that he was in jail and "belonged there, good riddance." If a good word was said about anyone in Eddie's family, it was said about his uncle Wayne. And even then it was scarce. Hearing this whole story though instantly put a bad taste in their mouths about the elder Munson.

Gareth continued the story, telling them how Eddie sat at one of the picnic tables for his dad until Ronnie and her grandma offered to drive him to the theater so at least he could see the movie. Ronnie even offered to see it with him. But Eddie refused.

"He was sure that his dad was coming. Waited there for hours. Until the movie had started, and then was over. And then he walked home alone."

"But..." Mike frowned. "But then why didn't he try again? Why didn't he go to see it when Empire came out...or...or Lucas...remember when your dad took us to see Return of the Jedi a couple years ago? And we tried to get him to take us all to the midnight showing of the whole trilogy?"

"Yeah! He told us we were crazy for wanting to sit there for 8 whole hours."

"But he didn't wanna see it," Gareth shook his head. "That's the whole point. His dad pissed him off, and now...he's written it all off. He refuses, because...I guess he doesn't wanna admit how upset he was. I don't even know if he cried! Ronnie never told anyone what happened afterwards. We all just know not to say anything about Star Wars around him."

Gareth got his bounty in the end and left, and the three freshman all sat there, defeated.

"I almost wish he was a trekkie," Mike said sadly.

"My dad's left us and it's still somehow not that bad," Dustin whispered.

"Listen," Lucas straightened his shoulders and looked at his friends. "This...man it really sucks, but we can't just give up. Eddie deserves to know all the ups and downs of Star Wars. He would love it. Probably more than the three of us combined. Hell, even Max thought so!"

The other boys nodded in agreement and sat upright as Lucas got to his feet.

"Are we just gonna sit here and let our friend who always looks out for us miss out on the best thing that he's ever seen just cuz his dad's a big asshole? Or are we gonna look out for him too?"

Mike and Dustin clapped and cheered and whooped.

And then the three of them got out their notebooks and began to scheme.

---

Eddie rang the doorbell of the Wheeler's house and waited silently on the porch, hands fiddling with the small gift and binder in his hands.

9am was too fucking early for a birthday party, in his opinion, but for the kids--for Lucas--and for Dungeons and Dragons...eh...he could stand to lose some sleep on a Saturday.

As long as they were done by 7 so he could go make a few bucks at Matt Donovan's party over on Elm. He'd lose out on sleep, but not cash.

The door opened and a tired-looking Ted Wheeler looked Eddie up and down with a sigh, then waved him in.

"They're all downstairs," he droned. "Snacks and sodas in the kitchen. Karen's gone to the store to get more. We're ordering pizza for lunch and there'll be cake a little later."

"Great," Eddie gave him a stiff nod. "Thanks."

Ted grumbled something about "having enough birthday parties for his own three kids let alone their friends too" and Eddie rolled his eyes.

Asshole.

He kicked off his sneakers in the pile by the stairs to the basement and then shuffled down the steps, eager to join his favorite group of idiots for a day of fantasy escapism.

And he was excited; it had been a while since he'd gotten to play one of his characters and Dustin had put together a fantastic campaign for Lucas.

Only...when Eddie got to the basement, he was in for a shock.

No tables and chairs, no dice, no maps or figures. No binders or books or character sheets. Nothing.

Just his friends all sitting together on and around the couch facing the tv set that had been set up in front of it.

With lightsabers in their hands.

They all cheered when they saw Eddie, Lucas the loudest of all.

Well, not all of them. Jeff, Gareth, and Dave all looked about ready to run. Especially when they saw the scathing look on Eddie's face.

"You're finally here!" Lucas laughed. "You're late.

"Happy Birthday," Eddie deadpanned and threw the gift to him. "What the hell is going on here?"

"What does it look like?" Dustin snarked. "It's Lucas' birthday."

"It was supposed to be Dungeons and Dra--"

"Well, I changed my mind," Lucas said smugly. "I thought...you know what, save it for the summer so we can make it longer than just a one-off campaign. Dustin worked really hard on it after all."

Eddie couldn't deny that. Still he glared at the plastic...toys that the boys all held.

"And you just happened to pick Star Wars?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest as he eyed them all skeptically.

"It's my favorite," Lucas insisted. "Not the first time I've had a Star Wars themed party. First time we're watching the trilogy all the way through though."

"Yeah cuz someone fell asleep last time we tried," Dustin jabbed Mike in the shoulder with his lightsaber pointedly.

"That's why we're starting so early this time," Mike parried with a jab to Dustin's stomach.

"So," Lucas stared Eddie down with challenge in his eyes. "Are you just gonna stand there and ruin my party? Or are you gonna sit down? Because we're never gonna get to Empire by the time the pizza gets here if we don't start soon."

Eddie stared at the hopeful expressions in all of his friends--his little sheeps--faces. Even the ones who were familiar with his feelings about the franchise.

And he weighted his options.

Eddie was a man who abided by the code. He'd gotten burned to many times in life not to. And that code included things like never trust your dad, rich people are assholes, popular girls are bad news. Somewhere in that list though, between always change your underwear when you think they're still clean and shake the can of soda before you hand it to your friends was never watch Star Wars.

It'd been that way for years.

But since the start of the school year, since Eddie had met these three kids...he'd started changing his code.

Steve Harrington wasn't an asshole. Well he used to be, but he proved that he could change.

Not all popular girls were bad news. Nancy was helping him work towards a better grade in biology and the student council president had slipped her number into Eddie's locker the other day.

And while there might be things that would never change--his father wasn't trustworthy, end of story--he figured...for his friends he might be able to bend some of his self-imposed rules.

Eddie sighed and looked at television screen with the words A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... frozen, and he felt a little pang in his heart.

And if he could do things like that for his friends...

His inner 10-year old self was sitting at that picnic table still, waiting for the van to pull into the parking lot. Only this time, he wasn't left high and dry. This time a much older Eddie drove up and popped open the van doors for little Eddie to hop in. They could finally fulfill this dream together.

...he certainly could do things like that for himself.

"Alright," he closed the distance and pushed his way through his friends so he could plop front and center on the floor in front of the television. He tried to keep the sour attitude, but as a blue plastic lightsaber was pressed into his hands, he couldn't help but crack a smile. "Let's see what all the hype is about."

The group cheered and Gareth pressed play on the remote.

And as the swell of music began and STAR WARS flashed on the screen, Eddie said aloud...

"Hey guys, what if it sucks?"

[bifuriouswaterbender]

He's All That

Rated T - 4,768 words - 1/? chapters published - No Archive Warnings Apply - Written by me, image by @maikaartwork

It started when Nancy broke up with him. In hindsight, Steve maybe should have known better than to listen to Tommy at a time like this.

“Come on, man, you’re better off this way,” Tommy insisted as he leaned against Steve's locker. “I mean Wheeler’s cute and all, but she almost destroyed your popularity. Where’s the old king of the keg stand? Where’s Mr. Funny Guy who has a joke at every teacher’s expense? I’ve missed you, dude. You straightened up too much for her. It’s time to let loose, prove you’re still you.”

“Shut up.” Steve rolled his eyes. “I haven’t lost my popularity. I can absolutely still rule these halls.”

“Oh yeah?” The gleam in Tommy’s eyes should have been a warning sign. Instead it was a point of interest. “What if I made you a bet? I can prove you’re slipping.”

“You can’t,” Steve shot back. “I’m not. I’m popular enough to make anyone else popular too. Nancy’s social cred shot up when I started dating her.”

“Is that the angle you want to take?” Tommy asked. “Sure, we can do that. You can make anyone popular? How popular?”

“Top of the food chain,” Steve shot back, running a hand through his hair. He paused to grin at a couple of girls walking past, and they both giggled. He totally still had it. King Steve hadn’t gone anywhere.

“Prom court?”

Steve’s eyes snapped back to Tommy. “With a crown.”

“Perfect!” Tommy spun around, looking around them. “But I pick the target.”

“You don’t have to refer to her like that,” Steve said with a sigh. “She’ll be Carol’s new best friend in a matter of weeks.”

“Not her,” Tommy said, and Steve froze at the giant smile spreading over his face. “Him.”

“Him?” he repeated, whirling around to see who Tommy was looking at. “No way. Not possible. Dealing with a weird personality would be one thing, but scary and inaccessible? No can do. Besides, I thought you’d pick a chick. Dating someone is how I can make them popular. At very least, I figured you’d pick someone like Robin. What the hell am I supposed to do with Eddie Munson?”

“Like I was about to pick your band geek weirdo,” Tommy scoffed. “She’s weird, but she’s hot. That would be too easy. No, I want you to have a challenge. You don’t get to use dating you as the social cred they’re building.” He took a step forward into Steve’s space. “You said you’re up for it. You’re not giving up already, are you?”

Steve huffed, staring at Munson. As though he felt their eyes, Eddie looked up. He took taken aback for a moment, then glared before stomping away.

“I’m not giving up,” Steve said, “but it might be a little more difficult than anticipated.”

“Hey, you have months,” Tommy said with fake optimism. “I’m sure he’ll be the kind your band geek can take home to Mom in no time.”

Later that day, Steve realized he’d need help.

As much as Steve was loath to rely on someone else so quickly into the bet, he did need backup. He needed someone with a less biased opinion of Munson to help him figure out how to even approach the guy. If he went right now, Steve figured he’d get punched or at least laughed at. He needed a way in.

“Why are you asking me about Eddie?” Robin pressed her lips together and surveyed him carefully.

Steve shrugged and tried to look casual. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never stopped to really consider him before. He seems like an interesting guy.”

“Not really your type of interesting,” Robin pointed out.

Steve rolled his eyes. “What? I’m not allowed to ask questions about people who don’t play sports?”

“Or wear short skirts,” she shot back. “Something you’re trying to tell me here, Harrington?”

“What?” Steve sputtered. He didn’t want to sound offended by the question, not when Robin had trusted him enough to tell him about herself. “I’m not… Even if I was, Eddie wouldn’t be my type.”

“What would your type be? Tommy Boy? I bet he’d say yes if you asked real nicely.”

Steve sighed, resting his hands on his hips. “Look, if this is a ploy to change the subject, it’s not going to work. Seriously, Robin, what’s his deal? I mean obviously he’s been around, but he’s never really been on my radar before. Plus, I figured you’d have a better understanding of him than anyone else I hang out with. I don’t think Tommy’s ever interacted with him outside buying pot for my parties.”

“You make your friends sound like such winning people,” she said dryly, but his argument must have worked from the way Robin sighed and stood up straight. “Fine, you want to know about Eddie? I’ll tell you what I can, but I don’t know how helpful I can actually be. We’re not friends or anything. He’s in band. Plays percussion—and guitar when we have a jazzier piece that needs it. That’s the only reason I know him really, but we have some friends in common. He runs Hellfire, so like, your little dweebs would probably love him.”

At the blank look on Steve’s face, Robin added, “It’s a Dungeons and Dragons club. You know, the game they play?”

“I know they play it,” Steve said, maybe a tad too defensively. “I guess I didn’t realize the school had a club for it.” At least that explained the shirt the dude wore all the time. “What’s with his look? I have never seen anyone wear a leather jacket year round the way he does.”

Robin shrugged. “I think it’s a music thing. Punk or whatever. You done with the twenty questions yet?”

Steve rubbed the back of his head as he said, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good,” she said. “What’d you get on the test for Click? I swear if you got below an 80% with the way we studied…”

It was easy to let Robin pull him to other subjects. He really did enjoy hanging out with her—way more than he liked spending time with Tommy and Carol these days if Steve was completely honest with himself. Besides, she’d given him more than enough to work with hopefully. Dungeons and Dragons seemed like the best way in. He could use the excuse of asking for the sake of the kids next year, get Eddie talking about that, and take things from there. He could steer the conversation once it was started.

And he did have to start. Steve absolutely had his work cut out for him, so the sooner they got started, the more dramatic a transformation Eddie could make.

[Read the rest of Chapter 1 here] Written in part as the free space square for both the @eddiemunsonbingo and @steveharringtonbingo

[waylibee-analysis-firm]

mustang theory (ch09)

guys im being so serious rn. im so scared to post this. but bee is being wonderfully supportive (as usual <3) and i am going to be. so very Brave. this may not be coherent, but...i hope it makes some sort of sense ok. anyways here is the theory for ch09:

mike and will leave the camp dance early bc of Bad Memories and/or they would rather just be making out (which is. fair) 

(fearless lore is referenced throughout but also will be theorized/posted about separately) 

this would be proven by the references to wish you were sober by conan gray (yes ik it’s not in relation to ch09 but. this part Could Happen at the end of ch08…just saying). 

this specific theory is fueled by the weird eureka moment i had regarding this post. is this a reach? yes. do i fucking care? no.

they take mike’s car, despite will’s grumblings abt his stupid fucking mustang.

ch01 im staring. Directly at you. shut up. shut up. i hear what you’re saying and i just can’t listen right now okay. ch01 we’ll get back to you i prommy

“Also, God forbid I have to leave the grounds in Mike Wheeler’s stupid fucking Mustang more than once this summer," he adds, nearly spitting. (ch01)

need i say more.

also this would totally be building more on their trust....plus probably some references from follow the sparks that i don't know off the top of my head

also could have been foreshadowed by ch02…when will refused to get into mike’s stupid. fucking. mustang. just saying….

ch02 is also biggest fearless lore references we have that i can think of but that is for another time

“Don’t tell me you’re driving that thing,” Will scoffs, eyeing Mike’s car in trepidation, eyes sweeping along the length of the racing stripes. (ch02)

...forcing Will to declare a lesser of two evils: throwing dignity to the wind and accepting a ride in the Mustang — the undeserving bane of Will’s existence...(ch02)

CAR EMOJI !!!!

this chapter is “thea’s baby”. well thea is also the resident car expert.

im literally so funny for this sorry not sorry im cracking myself up ->

either something happens between them and they end up pulled over OR something happens to the stupid fucking mustang

THIS could be that one post thea made…which could have been totally innocent OR it could have been COMPLETELY SINISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUT TO GET US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! putting on my tinfoil hat

smth happens between them...backseat driver will (mentioned in ch02) as well as the stupid. FUCKING how to drive manual that's been driving me INSANE the past couple of days (found here.)

side note: thea i love you but you are driving me Bonkers (mwah <3)

alternative to the above point is that mike pulls over to 1) make out with will (again. which is again. fair.) 2) chat with will about what they Are

option 2) would require some sort of shift in their relationship/situationship beforehand…im thinking this could mean you know that i caught it could take place BEFORE or DURING ch9… this could be the They Know motif coming to a head (meaning everybody. they Know for real this time. and now mike’s confused about it. “what are we?” talk from ch05 but times a million)

“save me ‘till the party’s over/kiss me in the seat of your rover”

^^ regarding this. i wrote all of this before i rediscovered that wish u were sober has nothing to do with ch09 (supposedly). im just too lazy to change it bear with me please.

will gets mad at mike for some reason?

if the original point made (something happens to the stupid fucking mustang) ends up happening, this could be will’s breaking point bc he’s overwhelmed and panicked and stuff is happening too fast for him

ch09 is a will pov chapter.

also frustrated crier (some ask about ch04 that i need to find to link before this gets posted)…just saying.

will gets mad at mike continued and reverts back to his I Need to Hurt You phase bc it’s safe and he doesn’t know how to handle the UNDOUBTEDLY romantic feelings n thoughts he’s having about mike…

he’s scared of getting hurt again like he was with derek and he’s scared of the unfamiliar territory that comes with being nice to mike/having mike be nice in return

This type of gentleness is certainly a facet of Will that Mike has known, having seen it more than a handful of times over the years, but it’s not quite one he’s accustomed to. (ch06)

this ^^ goes both ways i assume...there's gotta be evidence abt it in a will pov chapter but i am. exhausted.

he lashes out at mike that they aren’t anything, they’re just a casual fwb situationship, etc. 

wow would you look at that…this is paralleling the fearless lore theory…

cue "straight up" by paula abdul for mike pov (i've been a fool before/wouldn't like to get my love caught in the slammin' door/how about some information, please? // straight up now tell me/do you really want to love me forever oh, oh, oh/or am I caught in a hit-and-run?/straight up now tell me/is it gonna be you and me together oh, oh, oh/or are you just having fun?)

“Hit-and-run” CAR IMAGERY ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

"straight up" by paula abdul is on mike's driving playlist and i've been going insane about it since i saw it. btw. i love this song.

mike's unsure abt what they Are/what will is thinking so he reverts to the childish fighting thing too...pushing will's buttons is second nature for him by this point...evidence for this in a mike pov i will find later prommy

this is also wish you were sober coded “trip down the road, walking you home/you kiss me at your door/pullin’ me close, beg me ‘stay over’/but im over this roller coaster/imma crawl out of the window now/gotten good at saying ‘gotta bounce’/honestly you always let me down/and i know we’re not just hanging out”

first half here. could be about how mike is begging will for a relationship. but will is “over the rollercoaster” and the push and pull of their friendship to rivalry to fwb situation. 

second half here. will’s metaphorically leaving mike (crawling out the window). he’s “gotten good at saying ‘gotta bounce’” bc he’s done this to mike Before when they kissed when they were thirteen…i Think (fearless lore theory). “honestly you always let me down” could be a reference to. will being angry with mike for not just being happy with their fwb, even though he wants more too? “i know we’re not just hanging out” come ON this is will saying he KNOWS THEY CANT JUST BE CASUAL. HE LITERALLY SAYS THIS IN CH05 I BELIEVE. OR MIKE DOES IN CH06. THEY CAN’T BE ANYTHING BUT EACH OTHERS EVERYTHING. 

^^ literally kill me now i can't believe none of this is related. curling up into a little ball and sobbing.

this would be the beginning of the Angst that’s a 3-4 on a scale of 10 bc we know they're both idiots just miscommunicating But. hey.

so that's uh. that's the outline of the Theory we currently have...it's our most fleshed out one rn fs but there are a few Others that were referenced here that we need some more information on...

anyways. thanks for being insane with us. <3

[zannolin]

🛒🎶 for the fic ask game :)

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

so i literally made a bingo sheet for my fics because i am truly writing the same fic over and over again. stand-outs include: talking about ribs and skinned knees, astronomical metaphors, compass references, oranges, the inherent tragedy of growing up, friendship or familial estrangement, rooftop bonding scenes, how fucking miserably angry being fifteen makes you, giving characters highly specific music or reading tastes (you can pry abba fan jason walker, owl city girlie billy batson, and annie dillard reader mike wheeler from my cold dead hands btw), jigsaw puzzles, grief, and the mug of stars.

thematically yeah i'm a bit hurt/comfort and grief girlie. i love to write about finding love and the desire to live in unexpected places. major character undeath and reunions are favs. found family, best friends, the works. basically i feel like you can look at any of the themes i consistently write about and realize i was someone who was fundamentally changed at ten years old when i went to see the muppets (2011).

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

yes but also no. usually i listen to instrumental music but lately it's become like, too much? bad stim. so either i'm listening to "good luck, babe!" by chappell roan or "don't come around here no more" by tom petty & the heartbreakers or "santa monica dream" by angus & julia stone on loop, because those are songs i can apparently write to without losing it, or i have nothing on. the only exception is my brain has been letting me play the stranger things ost sometimes, depending on what i'm working on, but i'm using my vinyl to do that because i love the sound quality, but that means i then have to get up and flip the record every 20 min so. that's a bit disruptive.

separate from whilst writing, i am of course always looping glb + the cxloe cover of it. i'm also on an "i love you, i'm sorry" by gracie abrams kick and "waiting room" by phoebe bridgers, as well as "brother" by the aubreys, "cleopatra" by the lumineers, the acoustic vers of "pink pony club", "every breath you take" by the police and i'm back on my john denver's greatest hits bullshit. begging someone to take these songs away from me (but also don't i NEED them).

fanfic writer emoji asks!

[moonlit-orchid]

Ah yes, the time I got bored in class and gave dub names to all those who didn't have any dub names

Also this

"Mark Adams" is because Yusei went by Yusei Adams to pretend to be a janitor in the dub and I went with it. Did I pick Mark because he's marked? I have no idea.

Yes, Mokuba is 'Will' because Will Byers. And yes. Parson is a reference to Priest Set. I went with all profession based ones because we already have a Wheeler, a Taylor, and a Gardner.

I couldn't change Yugi's because, well "Yugioh" but if I did... I saw someone somewhere use Felix or Avery. Maybe Oliver. Or Philip aka "Pip/ Pipsqueak".

I went and renamed the Zexal dub cast because I FELT LIKE IT

Yes I gave Astral the name Halo because it seemed like a dub-name (Halo as his codename, his real name's still Apis...or Elpis)

I have no logic for any of the Tsukumos' names except that "they look like a-". Yuma and Kazuma especially look like a Dexter and Martin... and then I realised Dexter is too much like 'Dextra' so I had to change that too :) I am lowkey proud of coming up with Psyche and Leon though

Also the logic for the Tenjous' dub-surname is because Byers= Will and Jonathan who immensely reminded me of Kite and Hart

[ur-mom-64209]

Would you mind giving a detailed description of your thoughts about Billy Hargrove? I've been trying to get a lot of information from both ends of the argument on this topic. If not I one hundred percent understand!

yeah sure

i'll start with the easiest thing i can, he's racist. canonically racist. he specifically targeted lucas. he said "people like him" (if it's not word for word oh well) when referring to lucas. you can't really defend that.

why does this matter to me? i'm not black, but it still matters. i'm mexican and have been told i have the darkest skin out of everyone in my family. i've experienced racism in many forms.

1. casual

jokes about my skin color, jokes about my culture, shit like that. usually followed up with "it's just a joke"

2. passive aggressive

more silent racism, like the stereotypical white woman clutching her purse as i walk by. like you just know they want to call you some shit but they don't

3. flat out aggressive

slurs, trying to fight me (idk why though)

4. miscellaneous (idk what section to add these to)

people saying they "don't see my color", denial of their racism, saying white privilege doesn't exist, sexualization, cultural appropriation, tokenism

so i am pretty sure i can confidently say i have seen and experienced racism, so i know what it looks like.

and obviously i know racism will look a bit or very different when applied to different races.

examples: i have never been called the n word, that's something black people experience. i have never had comments made on my eyes/had them been made fun of, that's something mainly asian people experience (same with stereotypes on food).

i have a lot of people of color in my friend group, and we have all discussed what racism we've experienced. and guess what, billy has done what some of my friends have described. crazy how that happens.

yes yes, i know he's fictional. but does that automatically mean i'm going to throw away my morals at the sight of fiction? no.

another thing is SOME of his fans have god awful takes.

example 1. saying that 12 year old mike wheeler was more racist than billy was.

yes what mike said in season 2 was racist. but racism is racism. mike had one situation of my knowledge. billy did what i previously said, and acted violently. if you say him grabbing and pinning 12-13 year old lucas against that dish cabinet or whatever the fuck that was, wasn't violent or attacking, reevaluate why you think it isn't.

then obviously there is him trying to run the party off the road, he saw lucas in the group and only have a shit max was hanging out with lucas.

he didn't care that dustin had obvious feelings for max, billy only cared about lucas being around max.

example 2. he was possessed by the mind flayer, he had no control.

that was in season 3, not season 2. yes he was possessed in season 3, but in season 2 he didn't even know about the upside down, so that argument is entirely irrelevant when discussing season 2 billy.

and yes i know he was abused, and that's tragic that he's relatable. i would never wish what he and a noticeable part of his fan base have experienced.

i also know his abuse traumatized him into commiting the actions that he did. i think it's pretty unfair when people who are anti billy say things that can quite literally mean "just get over it". but i also think it's incredibly unfair when people who are pro billy just ignore the negative impact he left.

i had some difficultly rewatching some of his scenes that he was in, because of his racism. again, i experience racism daily. so i'll say it again, i can't just throw away my morals for fiction, i'm sorry, i just can't.

[tenpintsofsundrop]

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE BACK!

Honestly, you're the first Tumblr account I saw and read. You got me into Tumblr, and it's honestly great. I got incredibly sad when I saw that your original account was deactivated. The first work I saw was the Robin Buckley series (which I loved of course) and then I think it was a work on Nancy Wheeler. I loved them both, you inspired me to start an account and here I am now, I have other friends on this and you started it.

Thank you.

aaah thank you <33

I am so glad that you enjoyed by fics and that it inspired you to make an account <3 I really hope that you enjoy the new stuff I've been posting, because I've been enjoying working on it, and I've been getting back to really realizing what makes me enjoy fanfiction again

like it's so funny to hear you reference pinkchubbiebunnie as my 'original' account, cause I've had like 4 accounts in total?? my original personal account (which was ravenclawsnerd, later changed to pinkchubbiebunnie until I moved) my original fanfiction account (which was imaginethesedorks, and then thesoundofpurple until it got deleted) - and then the one that I just deactivated - the pinkchubbiebunnie that I moved to in 2020

and now I have this one <3 so like I'm not a stranger to making tumblr accounts/moving. it's so fucking funny how tumblr has Dora the Explorer level tutorials when setting up an account now, and I just wanna hit a skip button, because I'm a tumblr vet and I wanna be like Ron in Parks n Rec "I know more than you." - like I set up both of my blogs (this one and the side blog) with mobile themes and web themes, and I'm still getting the little pop up that's like "did you know you can customize your blog!!!" yes, I know. I did it

anyway, I'm glad you found my new blog, and I hope you stick around here and enjoy my new fics <33

[smoosnoom]

can’t believe that i finally decided to comment all ur works that i read before daily compliments.

“let me steal this moment from you” became my first victim. tbh i haven’t read it since november i think?? and part of my brain which is responsible for memory is too occupied by remembering facts about u so i don’t remember plot sorry. this one is gonna be like the first time 🙏🏻

“If anything, it’s a miracle any of them are still awake and functioning.” no fr. they spent like a week in that uncomfortable van and the first thing they did after returning to hawkins is cleaned the cabin?? not even shower.

“At least it would save the catastrophe of seeing Argyle and Ted Wheeler interact.” ohh, i’d like to see that

“It’s blue. He imagines painting a yellow sun on it.” 🥺🥺 bc he’s yellow and sunshine and lights up every room he walks in. sorry i love him so much

“He wonders if he's more of a monster than a mistake.” ok i had 10 minutes tears break after that ���🏻‍♀️ maybe i Am crybaby idk

“He’s pretty sure it’s the first time they’ve laughed together since they’ve arrived back in Hawkins.” poor boys haven’t laughed in Weeks :( i wish i could fix everything for them

will wants to make “smalltown boy” with mike so bad and i can’t blame him. my boy deserves be as far away from hawkins as possible.

“He doesn’t have any time for self-doubt when Mike turns his hand over in Will’s grasp, until their hands are properly entwined” it’s all them. best friends, each other reassurance and safe space, soulmates if u want. i just love them ughhh. that’s why they hits so hard.

“we aren’t kids anymore” omg how do u exactly know where to put references?

“And we got to bury Jonathan in a bunch of sand, which was pretty fun.” oh wait!! i remember ur Fantastic fan art! writer And artist how talented u are!!

“Night Seven” ofc its night seven. love that it could have been 5+1 but it’s byler so it’s seven instead.

“and it seems to be the right move when Mike lets out an appreciative hum” my “naturally good kisser will” agenda never dies. he just knows what to do he didn’t need practice 🙏🏻

“He probably looks like a kissed-dumb idiot.” he is. good for him!

god, ilysm. ur so talented u have no idea. and u make me feel things.

i love that fic so bad and if u like it too u should thank moon for it!!

if it helps i dont even Remember most of "let me steal this moment", every time i click post it's like every associated memory just vanishes from my brain

im glad u get to experience it all over again i wish i could do the same with other fics </3

"the first thing they did after returning to hawkins is cleaned the cabin?? not even shower." U ARE SO RIGHT i thought abt that the first time i watched vol 2 like what do u mean u arent even going to change !!!! u have been in those close for Days !!!!

i almost did write a ted wheeler and argyle interaction . Almost

that is so real . will byers my sunshine sweetpie

HEOEOKPJY IM SO SOSRRY

so real and true ! i need these two far far away from hawkins and HAPPYYY

u get me !!!!!! theyve alwyas been best friends first and thats why they hit so different

oh god not the drawing 😭😭😭 can we pretend that Didn't happen . maybe . my artistry isnt grea t

IM SO HAPYPPYY U NOTICED !!!! night seven !!!! it was a seven !!!!!!!

will is just naturally good at it idk what to tell u . yes he has never kissed anyone Yes he is a loser yes hes also great as kissing . sorry

so honored to have made u feel things <3 alya my beloved it is Always the best day of my life whenever u decide to read something of mine :D

[fuwaprince]

One final moment of riot before I relax for the rest of dusk! That's it! Only thinking about good things and taking care of myself after this! To the wet world for a shower and to the kitchen with you (talking to myself)

So I just reblogged a post about romantically leaving me with a scarf and I would just like to say out loud that I fucking hate guns <3 and that one time over summer when some fuck left his gun crap in my shit as a cute little "haha look i forgot! when can I come back to pick it up? also do you want to marry me now? how about now" ploy was so NOT HOT!

Yes it's the same shallow guy who always touches me and purposely scares me :/ Yes he fuckin couldn't help but touch me AGAIN today and I told him that I'd rather ram my fucking head into the side of his car window to avoid his touch and then i did and asked why he was so okay with making me hurt twice as bad.

No, not even me smashing myself into the side of the window would stop him from touching me anyways. :/

I wish his hands would fall off but then he wouldn't have hands and that's mean of me! Not that I should give a fuck but naturally I do and it's why he still has hands. He can say it's because I'm bitchy and can impolitely ask about my period possibly being early ( btw fucker, do not track my period unless you want a tampon shoved up your bloody ass. Talk about my fucking period one more time. ONE MORE TIME AND YOU'RE CAPTAIN HOOKSSSSS WITH AN S!!! ALSO WHEN I REFER TO MY BUSSY AS A BENIS DO NOT FUCKING "CORRECT" ME, CAPEESH? It is law *smacks gavel*).

He tries to call me a honey badger as if to take away something I'm proud of. I'm proud to honey badger up against cruel fucks. Keeping your hands to yourself is fucking Pre-K shit dude. I'll tell it to you like it is and I don't care if you cry over my ferociousness in front of your mother and tell her to call me a bad woman for not marrying you. I'm not even your girlfriend dude. I'm not even a girl? I mean I am but that's only if you're a lesbian otherwise it's Sir and He/Him and BENIS to you. Maybe STOP being a boner. Sigh. Changing contexts.

Today I was already anxious and I got more nervous when we were driving next to two 18 wheelers. So I said something and he said "oh what, these trucks?" and then drives up closer to them for no damn reason "is it these trucks that make you nervous?". Nah, it wasn't the trucks looking back on it. Hardly.

I don't even care if he wants to shadily check my tumblr on some burner account. I don't give a fuck if he's reading this. If I had ANYBODY in my corner backing me up irl maybe I wouldn't rely on him. I wish I wish I wish I could rely on myself but doing that 100% is a fucking myth so I can't. I tried. I'm still trying to make 90% work. I wonder if I'll somehow indirectly hear about this. I don't even care. Just wish I didn't have to deal with that shit all the fuckin time.

[bakujho]

I posted 8,781 times in 2022

77 posts created (1%)

8,704 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@wizardpotions

@joey-wheeler-official

@miamitu

@queen-of-cats

I tagged 1,972 of my posts in 2022

#daytime reblob - 28 posts

#lol - 27 posts

#twst - 17 posts

#fuck - 10 posts

#for real - 9 posts

#twisted wonderland - 9 posts

#yes - 7 posts

#incredible - 6 posts

#oh my god - 6 posts

#anyways - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#she was talking about how this one author in her field is really inspiring and she wants to collab with the person and bounce some theories

I sent 3 gifts in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

FLOYD COFFIN PUMPKIN!

See the full post

85 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

#4

TWST common headcanons mistaken for canon

I Made a thread on twitter about some of the common headcanons/misconceptions/misinfo about some of the stuff in twst, so thought I could maybe post it here too. (I am working on a few more posts but those will be longer and come later- this is just the simple stuff.)

“Floyd gives fish nicknames as a sign of affection”

Nope! When it is brought up in Ep 4-24 he refers to Kalim as Sea-Otter which Grim is confused about, and Jade goes on to say that he prefers to give people sea-creature themed nicknames. The addition of “sign of affection” was not in the original version!

“Herbivore is only used for Yuu (and used as a sign of affection)”

Nope! Leona calls several characters besides Yuu/Grim Herbivores, it seems to be his “go to” insult. (Ex. rival magift team members etc)

“Cater used to be the Heartslabuyl Dorm Leader”

Nope! He and Trey had been roommates for 2 years, and dorm leaders get their own rooms so they wouldn't have had to share. Also, Riddle mentions that it’s one of Trey’s “upperclassmen” rather than “classmates”.

“Floyd threw a fit first year because he (or Jade) got sorted into a different dorm”

Nope! This one was theorized due to one of Jades home voicelines, but in Floyd’s Beans Day personal story, he clarifies that he teased Riddle during the ceremony until he got blasted with magic.

“Azul and the twins are childhood friends”

Er, Sort of. Depending on where you draw the line for ‘childhood’. They’ve known Azul since elementary school, but weren’t friends with him at the very least until middle school, and only then did he change from Tako-chan to Azul.

“Floyd only calls people he likes/respects by their real name.”

Maybe, but not confirmed. The only characters he calls by their names are Jade and Azul, and Azul’s changed after X amount of years on his radar as Tako-chan. Everyone else, including the staff, have fish names.

“Child-of-man is specifically used for Yuu (and a sign of affection)”

Nope! He refers to the entire VDC group as ‘children-of-men’ in 5-67, as well as humans in general (as in 6-52)

“Malleus redecorated Ramshackle for Yuu after the STYX incident”

Nope! It was fixed by STYX and the VDC gang! (6-84)

“Ortho is a sweet baby that would never hurt a fly”

Nope! Ortho has threatened to destroy the school on multiple occasions (Ghost marriage, halloween, fairy gala) with his proton beam. Not to mention humiliating the Dia mob characters in his Dorm SSR story. ****SPOILERS FOR EP 6*** DO NOT READ THIS ONE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED** YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!*** and definitely wanted to destroy the world but you know. I personally think Ortho should be allowed to fire the beam, just once, as a treat.

“The Leech Family are Mafia”

Let’s be real there’s a GOOD fucking chance this one is true, but I think one that’ll stay HC because of that Disney label. The information about the Leech family status and business dealings leads pretty pointedly towards fish crimes, but as Jade assures in his first birthday card, it is all ‘VERY normal’.

“X character is __ sexuality”

Schrodinger's canon, all of it is canon and at the same time none of it is canon. All of them are up for interpretation (and will likely always remain so to rake in $$$). The only thing mentioned is that Ace had a girlfriend in middle school. Some characters seem more “coded” (gay, bi, ace, etc) than others, but outside of that one mention of Ace’s ex, nothing has been confirmed.

91 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

#3

Bread.

208 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

#2

Another rant about another eel

It’s been a while since my last eels rant, but here I am again to rant about good ol’ Jade Leech and how the fandom seems to uhhh… gloss over the canon information we’re given and give him whatever personality they feel like. As always, if you don’t care about canon lore, or the blatant information we’ve been given and prefer house husband uwu soft Jade, carry on and do what you will. I’ll put the rest of this under a cut because it’s likely to get long because I am salty and so so so so so sick of takes that completely ignore his canon characteristics to replace it with uwu baby he’s so soooofft instead. At this point I am BEGGING the EN twst fandom to read more than bad youtube translations of the main story only, and read the card stories and events since the characters get their own spotlight and time to actually dig into their personalities because the uwuification of Jade is the *worst*

*ahem*

So, one of the VERY FIRST THINGS we learn about Jade, is that he enjoys playing with people, and using them to best suit whatever plans he’s aiming to achieve. For example, the conversation in Jade’s robes story spells out REALLY QUICKLY what kind of person he is

Jade: Frightening students so quickly after they entered school….. 

Jade: Don’t you think there’ll be plenty of chances to do that later?

Floyd: Eeh~. If you want to tell people something, isn’t it best to say it straight away? That’s way faster! 

Jade: Of course, that’s one way to do it….. But it’s not preferable. 

Jade: The thing I desire the most is not fear, but chess pieces that can be moved for the sake of Octavinelle 

Jade: And in order to get that, one of the most important things is “public confidence”. And to obtain that, first impressions are crucial

Jade: In addition to the country of origin, hobbies, preferences, the food they dislike and subjects they are bad at…

Jade: I also listed all their MagiCam accounts. I just happened to come to know about those too.

Azul: Oh….. And the ID’s listed under “private”?

Azul: Incredible, could it be that you managed to obtain everyone’s private accounts despite their attempts to hide them? 

Jade: Ah, oopsie. It was so incredibly easy to find, I may have accidentally gone and written all of those down too.

Azul: Oh, how terrible. If this list were leaked, everybody would be oh so troubled. 

Jade: In that case, you should make sure to properly manage the list so that it does not get leaked. 

This isn’t some misunderstanding, or fear of Azul to act, or some other misplaced garbage softboy bullshit the fandom sometimes spouts, he knows exactly what he’s doing, and it’s something that he ENJOYS. It's why he and Floyd work so well together cause Jade will happily fuck with their head before Floyd breaks their bones (standby for the ‘stop uwufying Floyd’ rant cause you know I have one of those too). And Azul knows and takes advantage of that exact fact. None of them are soft uwu babies, they all know what they’re doing, and are exceptionally good at it. 

I’m not sure if this is at large just a “we didn’t read that card or the translation was bad (like the Floyd fish nicknames for affection when it just says nicknames) or read at surface level or inability to understand what’s NOT being said” etc, but I see it a lot. A lot of things about Jade aren’t said outright, because that’s EXACTLY the game he plays to fly under the radar. He’s Monsieur Mastermind for a reason, Rook knows that every single one of his actions and mannerisms is thought out and pre-planned so I don’t understand why some folks out here are refusing to see it, especially when even in universe the characters regularly comment on this exact thing. There’s MULTIPLE instances of Jade using people and being facetious to keep up the facade of Azul’s lackey without much else going for him at all. His magic is understated, he fades into the background and lets Azul/Floyd be the standout Octa students, but he always seems to know *exactly* what is going on and where, and how to manipulate the situation to suit what it is he’s after. 

In his own dorm card he pretends to leave Octavinelle in order to manipulate Vil into doing some free promo work for the lounge, and no one is sure of his intentions the entire time he’s there. Rook and Vil know that he’s using them but can’t quite put their finger on what he’s up to, BUT because he’s so good at his job they let their inhibitions go and let him get on with whatever he’s up to. Jade knows how to act and what to do to get people to trust him, and part of his charm is that he keeps to himself so that there isn’t any negative correlations with him like there are Floyd. It seems everyone is afraid of Floyd’s mood swings, but no one suspects Jade of having any ulterior motive because he’s always so well behaved and kind to people. Even when Kalim is making him tea and he’s thinking to himself that his teeth are going to rot out of his mouth, he keeps up the kind demeanor and drinks the tea, because Kalim could always be a powerful pawn (which he then becomes in ep 4). During beans day 2 Azul mentions that between the twins, Jade is the more dangerous of the two, and who better than the one that knows them best to make the observation. I think it’s pretty obvious that Jade’s favourite type of game is playing chess with those he’s around (he even mentions he likes terrariums because he controls everything inside of them), but I think the focus on mushrooms and mountains sometimes detracts from that. Even sociopaths have hobbies, friends!

And that I think is where it gets confusing for some people, there’s the sociopathic tendencies, but he has friends and likes mushrooms and mountain climbing and smiles genuinely sometimes, so he can’t be all that bad! Except, having things you enjoy isn’t reserved for good people. Plus,  look at the people he’s closest to. Floyd is what I would personally call a psychopath (I know there’s a lot of takes on this, but that’s an essay for another day), and Azul is a few screws loose of being normal himself. They’re all brilliant, but that doesn’t mean they’re good people. Some of the examples I’ve seen for how Jade is ‘misunderstood’ as ‘evil’ are easily debunked by canon, because he almost always says something facetious and creepy afterwards to undermine the ‘sweetness’ of it. Not to mention that good and bad isn’t black and white. You can do good things while still being a bad person and vice versa, and doing good things while being a bad person is Jade’s bread and butter. Twisted wonderland in general is very much about morally grey characters where none are implicitly good or evil, and I think we’ve yet to see anyone *actually* evil, BUT the Octavinelle trio are the closest to classic disney villain bad guy we’ve gotten to see so far. 

To go off topic here a bit, I do wonder if the uwu-fication of the Octavinelle trio as a whole is due to the whole weird purity push that makes it so you can’t enjoy morally grey characters unless you can find the redeeming and good qualities in them. Hmmm. I understand wanting to find the good in people and so on and so forth, but the whole redemption of the villain to be able to like them without getting cancelled or whatever it is is really stupid. Let the shitty characters be shitty, because that’s what makes them interesting. It’s like with Crowley, he’s not a good role model but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad character because he’s a teacher and should be a good role model (or whatever mental gymnastics are there). The point of having a colourful cast is that not everyone is static or good and the characters grow, though sometimes that growth isn’t in a positive way, and that’s okay because it’s fiction. 

Okay back on topic, and back to Jade. 

So if we’re operating on the assumption that not every character needs to be a good person to be a good character, Jade is an EXCELLENT example. He is very multifaceted and if you look at him just on the surface he seems like a really decent dude. He IS very helpful, and he CAN be very kind, and he DOES enjoy wholesome things wholeheartedly, BUT i think boiling it down to those points and ignoring the sea of red flags is the entire point of his character. He wants to fly under the radar and not stand out as a bad-guy. That’s how he gets things done. Even in canon it’s commented on by Trey and Riddle, with Trey being taken in by the good guy act and Riddle mentioning he needs to look beyond the surface because Jade never does anything without reason. I think one of the best examples of how Jade thinks is in Silvers FG card. He immediately changes his tactic when dealing with Silver when the latter balks at Jade mentioning “forcing” the fairies to do anything for them. He immediately sees the change in atmosphere and as such changes the way he interacts with him and takes control of the situation with the fairy to get the results he desires. Silver, being the goodest of boys, doesn’t seem to see the point of Jades plan and words to manipulate both of them into doing the work he needs done. Afterwards, Jade seems amused by Silver’s words that he ‘spoke from the heart’ as if it’s something he himself had never tried. 

Jade: I didn't expect you to flatter them to receive it. You are quite the negotiator, aren't you?

Silver: Negotiator…? I only spoke from the heart.

Silver: If you speak with sincerity, it does not matter if they are human or fae, they will understand.

Jade: From the heart… I see. Well now, that is a wonderful vision.

“Sounds fake but okay” - Jade Leech, probably. This point in the story could be where we see more character development in that Jade learns that maybe shady and underhanded isn’t the best way to go about things, BUUUUUUUT, since the event is an “IF” version of a side event, I wouldn’t count on it happening anytime soon (if at all). Jade is definitely one of the most nuanced characters in TWST (imo) so I think it is easy to miss all of the hints and things that have been scattered between the main story, character stories, voice lines, and events, but once you put everything together I think it it paints a very clear picture what kind of person he is, and unfortunately it’s not the uwu soft boy house husband pushover that most of the EN fandom stuff I see seems to take him for. Again, if that’s your personal preference you do you, but I find it very hard to ignore the information that is SUCH a big part of his character. (Speaking of, I did see a complaint that most of the fandom is with me on the ‘Jade is a sociopath’ front, so like… can someone tell me where to find it cause I always find the opposite) To throw it all out the window to focus on the much smaller parts of his personality I think are doing him and his character a huge disservice by just … missing the point. Jade is a good character BECAUSE he’s a bad person, and because he doesn’t seem to want to be a good person at all. He (and Floyd) enjoy causing problems, and watching chaos unfold, and ignoring it for the less often seen softer points is lame. 

Moving onto how he cares for people. Of course he’s able to genuinely interact and appreciate those that he cares about. His relationship with Floyd and Azul of course is different in nature than it is with anyone else at the school. He’s known Floyd since birth and been friends with Azul since middle school, that being said… that doesn’t mean that there’s no tension there at all. During beans day, Jade mentions he’s glad to be on the opposite side as Azul so that he can challenge him, and can’t wait to see the look on Azul’s face when he loses (rip tho lol). He does provoke Floyd occasionally as well when he’s in a shitty mood, so it’s not as if he’s all sunshine and rainbows with them either. He does after all, fully agree with Azul to wringing the eel slime out of Floyd despite knowing that it’ll be really painful for him, laugh at him when he gets blasted by Riddle at their entrance ceremony and tease Azul after his overblot. In regards to the overblot, of course he’s worried afterwards. Azul is his friend, whereas the same can’t be said for most other people in the cast. Azul is more than a pawn, and though he would likely not hesitate to use Azul if necessary, Azul knows him well enough to help with his schemes openly knowing about any shady reasoning behind it so there would be no reason to. I think as far as friendship goes for him, the only ones he truly opens up to are people like himself (like Azul and Floyd) not because he’s worried that he’d frighten them, but because he wants people that will help him and enjoy the same things as him. His hobbies are his own personal interests so Azul and Floyd not sharing them with him is fine, but when he has the more malicious intentions, as is shown SO many times, he wants to have friends that will increase the chaos rather than trying to diffuse it. Even in his official profile it says that he dislikes being bored. 

See the full post

291 notes - Posted June 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I have this headcanon that when Azul was still Tako-chan, the twins used to bother him similar to how Floyd bothers Riddle now. Before he figured out their game he'd get angry and fight back, but because he is a slow Tako it didn't amount to much. What it did do though, was make Azul better at drafting his contracts, since the twins would and did exploit every mis-step he made and every loophole he didn't realize he gave them. Once he figured it out, his contracts became air tight since while he was writing them he'd think of the pesky twins and what they'd do to get out of it.

Once Azul realized how they operated he began fighting back by anticipating their actions and countering before they could strike. If he wasn't able to counteract in time, he kept his composure instead of getting angry. The twins noticed the change in his reactions and actions and that's when he went from Tako-chan to Azul. He wasn't just their prey any longer, he was like them. And that was interesting.

So now, they all keep each other in check and on their toes because everything could be a test, and none of them want to be caught in a trap they should have expected. So I think they all work together so seamlessly because they all keep each other engaged and interested because in their three-way power struggle there's no definitive winner.

I also have thoughts on how this would translate to shipping, but that's for another day.

301 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

tumblr out here fucking shaming me. let me live my life. Gonna delete the tags off this one too, eat it, tumblr.

[every-dayiwakeup]

I've noticed that, too. I've heard people say he was a murderer, and I was like... just say you live under a rock.

Possessed: influenced or controlled by something (such as an evil spirit, a passion, or an idea).

Billy was possessed, just like Will. But no one tried to save Billy, now did they. These parallels are explicitly stated, and yet the writers still treat Billy differently.

The narrative shows blatant favoritism, which leads me to believe that if that favoritism didn't exist, this fandom would either not be so pigheaded, or they wouldn't know who to root for.

Not only that but extreme bias. You cannot attack one character for a certain action while praising another (especially if it's a main character) for that very same thing.

Let the audience decide who to root for, I say! A character can express how they feel about another character, and how they may affect the storyline, but if an author is practically shoving their favorite characters down your throats while neglecting and slaughtering your favorites, and if you can tell that the only reason a character is alive is that the creator loves them, not to mention NOT KILLING OFF YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS AND INTRODUCING NEW ONES JUST TO SIDELINE PERFECTLY GOOD CHARACTERS YOU ALREADY HAVE WHICH MAKES NO SENSE BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST GOING TO KILL THE NEW CHARACTER ANYWAY-

One thing in season three that seems really minor but says a lot to me is how the Party talks about Billy while he’s flayed. It’s a noticeable shift from season two with Will. When it comes to the Mind Flayer possessing Billy, it’s always “what Billy is doing” and “what Billy did.” It seems insignificant but it says a lot about how the narrative is never blaming Will for what he did while possessed, but it blames Billy for all of his actions.

[sh1tbird-shantytown]

“I have a crush on Nance.”

Steve froze from where he was shelving tapes and looked over on his right, hair flopping.

“Nance. Like Nancy Wheeler? Our Nance?”

Robin stood tense. Tense and scared and shaking a little in her converse.

“Yes. That Nance.” Steve looked off in the distance in front of himself, hummed, and then resumed shelving with his eyebrows creased. Robin but at her cuticle and stomped her feet in a marching pattern. “Say something before I lose my goddamned mind, Steve!”

That jumped him into action. He almost dropped the remaining three boxes. “Okay, okay!” his hands went up in self defense and he seemed to stutter over his words. He paused. “What exactly am I supposed to say?”

Robin pulled at the roots of her hair and spun around as she thought, “I don’t know! What are you supposed to say when you’ve been told your best friend has a crush on your ex-girlfriend that you totally still have a thing for?”

Steve held up his finger like he did at the kids when they talked back at him, “Hey, I do not still have a thing for Nance.”

Robin folded her arms, “You totally do! You make googily eyes at her all the time!”

Steve scoffed and turned his back to her, “I think it’s more of a process then I thought it was going to be. Nancy was my easy way out of trying to find my true love.” He turned back around and shrugged. “I fell in love fast with her and sometimes I remember all that bullshit I conjured up in my head for us and I fall back into this game of sad sack limbo.”

Robin laughed through the clogged up emotion in her throat, “So, you don’t, like, hate me?”

Steve looked offended and darted forward, hugging her tight, “Never, ever gonna happen, Bob.”

“That’s a stupid nickname, Steve.”

“You’re just jealous I’m so creative.”

She leaned her forehead into his shoulder and sighed, “You’re a dingus.”

He laughed into her hair and pinched her side, “No bullying other associates.”

Robin pulled away and flicked his nose, “I’ve bled with you, I’ll do what I want.”

Steve’s rolled his eyes and picked his tapes back up, “I’m glad you’re back to normal.”

“I’m always pining after girls I can’t have,” she leaned against and shelves and sighed, “That’s never gonna change.”

Steve looked over again after shelving the last tape and walked over slowly, “If it makes you feel better, she’s a really bad cook.”

Robin peaked over again, “Wow, Stevie, what a deal breaker. How will I ever manage to survive without a kitchen savvy wife?” she asked sarcastically.

Steve was grinning anyway, “She’s also a bad gift giver.”

Robin lifted her eyebrows and nodded slowly, “Wow, does she sound like a muppet too?”

Steve actually thought about it, “Sometimes.” When Robin laughed and then went quiet, Steve spoke again. “What happened with Vickie?”

Robin sighed and shrugged, “She’s going through a big break up and we haven’t spoken in a while with her touring all these big shot colleges I definitely won’t be going to.” Steve rubbed her shoulder and she smiled weakly. “I’m a lost cause, Stevie. I’m never going to get someone to fall in love with me.”

Steve shook his head, contemplating, “Can I tell you something serious without you knocking me around?” She nodded as they both looked off into the vacant store. “I’ve never told anyone this, Robin.”

She nodded again and turned her head to look at him, “It’s okay.”

He smiled in that way he did when he felt bad about something, when these boulders of guilt fell on his shoulders in the middle of the day.

“You remember how it took me weeks to leave my house after Starcourt?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember how I had all those nightmares?”

“Of course. You didn’t sleep for three days straight.”

Steve nodded again and then again for good measure, “I lied about what they were about.”

Robin’s head stuttered for a moment, “What? Why?”

“Because it was about something else. I wasn’t reliving the torture, I was reliving watching him die.”

Robin was silent, calculating for a long moment as to who Steve was referring to. And then she got it with a confused tilt to her head.

“Billy?”

Steve smiled and sighed, “Yeah, him.” There was a faraway look in his eyes that Robin understood as melancholy memory. “My real point is,” he faced her and took her hands in his own, shook them a little, “That if that asshat could make me fall in love in the little time we had; you can do the same.”

He laughed when Robin clutched into his shoulders.

It turned into an ugly sob, but she understood and they held each other anyway.

“I don’t think either of us are ready for more heartbreak,” she wiped her nose so it didn’t get onto his sweater.

[havecourage-darling]

When You're Gone // Just Like Heaven (2005) AU

Chapter One: New Beginnings - 1/5 || AO3 || Masterlist

Adopted Female! Wheeler Reader x Eddie Munson

wc: 5.8K

warnings: cursing

A/N: This is a Just Like Heaven (2005) AU that absolutely no one asked for. It's my coping mechanism for S4.

For dialogue/plot purposes I made reader a Wheeler but my headcanon, for this story, is that they're the adopted second born. There should be no reference to size/race/features.

I am not posting the rest of this on tumblr** if you want to follow the rest, check it out on my masterlist/AO3

“You promised,” Nancy’s glare shot through the phone and into your skull. If your older sister was good at anything, it was getting her way. Usually with you or Holly. Mike always managed to slip through her fingers. You really needed to get him to teach you how to do that.

“I’m not backing out on that promise!” You said, flipping through a patient’s chart. Oh, he needed a CT scan before you could ask your attending on releasing him. You placed that file to the side.

“Are you even listening to me?” Nancy demanded, a loud sound of the timer going off behind her. “You said you’d be here by six!”

“I will be!��

“The hospital is a thirty-minute drive.”

“So?”

“It’s five forty-five,” she said, dryly.

You shot up, looking at the clock and wincing. “I meant six thirty.”

“Please don’t show up in scrubs.”

“I won’t! Jesus Nance, have some faith in your sister, please. You’re turning into mom.”

Nancy’s sigh was audible through the phone. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, I’m just worried. You can’t keep going this way, you’re going to burn out. Undergrad, med school, your residency – it’s been nonstop for almost nine years. You need to do something other than your career, that’s what your twenties are for!”

“Hey, I took you on vacation!” You exclaimed, remembering the beach in Mexico fondly.

Nancy’s voice was like a cold bucket of water. “That was three years ago.”

Rolling your eyes, you hauled your charts back to the nursing station and dumped them into the correct bin. “I promise you Nance, I’ll be there. I will wear that dress you bought me, I’ll be nice, socialize, be a regular human being.”

“You better be!”

“Alright, alright, I love you,” you huffed, rolling your eyes again. If you strained them, you were billing her for the invoice.

“I love you too. Hurry up!”

Hanging up, you walked towards the bathroom and smiled when you saw Barb at the sinks washing her hands. “Hey you,” Barb said, glancing at her watch. “You’re still here?”

“It’s only been a few hours,” you said defensively.

“Try twenty,” she shook her head. “You did you long night two days ago – you’re not scheduled on for this long until next week.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, fixing your hair and making sure you didn’t have anything stuck in your teeth. “Besides, I’m on my way out.”

“Good. You need food and sleep, doctor’s orders.” She winked.

“Ha ha! You’re so funny Holland!”

Barb glanced at your fretting and smiled. “Nancy finally get you to go on that blind date?”

“Yes,” you groaned, “I fought her off for years and now she’s back at it again with a vengeance.”

“She only wants what’s best for you,” Barb said, laughing. “She’s always been like a dog with a toy when she wants something.”

“It’s because our parents moved to a different town after the earthquakes. She’s worried that I’ll feel alone,” you huffed.

“It’s a valid concern,” Barb said, shooting you a look, “although, with our schedules who has time for anything? Charlie and I have rescheduled our date for three weeks now.”

Barb had recently moved out of your building and into a new condo with her long-time boyfriend. You were almost positive he was trying to propose but if you barely left the hospital, Barb practically lived here. She was a senior resident, vying for a permanent position that had recently opened up.

“See, and you’re pointing the finger at me,” you said, applying some lipstick. Barb laughed and nudged you.

“We’ve known each other for too long for me not to,” she said, handing you some blush.

Before long you were finally making your way towards the elevators. “Wheeler? I need another set of eyes on this,” a notoriously cranky senior resident called out. You hesitated, flickering towards the opening doors and sighing when the resident snapped their eyes to you.

“Sorry, were you busy? Should I find another willing intern?” He goaded.

“No, sir. What did you want me to look at?” You said, sighing internally as you followed him towards the nursing station.

An hour later, you were half running towards your car and all but flinging yourself in. Checking the time, you winced when you saw 8:00PM flickering back at you.

“She’s going to kill me,” you sang softly to yourself as you backed out the spot and drove a little faster than needed towards the highway. “But she has to love me anyway!” You tried to console yourself.

You’d managed to catch an issue in the scan that the senior resident hadn’t – in front of the attending, who had congratulated you on your foresight. Not wanting to pat yourself on the back in front of the scowling resident, you let yourself celebrate a little now. Turning the radio onto your favorite station you bopped your head along, wiggling in your seat a little, and grinned. Tonight, was going to go well, you could feel it.

Just as you came to a stop, you checked both ways before letting your foot off the break. A flash of lights - a screeching sound that reverberated in your bones - and the world went dark.

Eddie looked up at the building with skeptical eyes. The façade was crumbling brick with a peeling brown painted trim. The front door, next to a bar, was an ugly yellow color. Or, it’d once been yellow and had now faded to a pale oxidated orange. Following his friend, he walked into the makeshift, narrow lobby and fought the urge to scrunch his nose. The inside was even uglier than the outside, if that was possible.

“Are you sure about this place?” Eddie asked Robin, his brows raising at the dated interior. The bar directly under all the units might also have been the reason for his question. While Eddie had absolutely no room to judge questionable bars – the Blue Ocean Bar looked…bad.

“Yes, and considering that you didn’t like any of the other nicer places in your budget, you should really try and tone down that judgmental tone Munson,” Robin said, shooting him a look over her shoulder. “Besides, don’t judge a book by its cover. You should know that more than anyone.”

Clasping his chest, as if she’d shot him in the heart, Eddie gasped. “Alright, there’s no need to be rude,” Eddie said, laughing when Robin rolled her eyes at him.

He groaned, climbing up the fourth floor walk up that Robin had managed to help him find at the last minute. He’d been looking for a new place for almost two months now, with nothing but a brand-new appreciation for real estate brokers to show for it. Robin was the only one who’d managed to not sucker punch him after so many apartments. Although being one of her best friends might have something to do with her sympathy for him.

“How’d you even find this place?” Eddie asked, catching his breath at the top of the stairs. Man, he needed to cut down on the cigarettes. “You said it was a sublet right? Someone can’t own a unit in this building, right? No one’s that demented.”

“Again with the judgmental tone!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Eddie wheezed as Robin pushed the key into the door.

“It was listed almost two months ago, fully furnished, but with a month-to-month lease. It’s not ideal but we’re both desperate right? Holy shit, look at the kitchen in this thing,” Robin whistled. “I’m not sure who’s listing it since the leasee is working through a private broker. She was very tight lipped about it. There are a few conditions with the apartment but Jesus, look at that view.”

Robin was right, Eddie mused. The apartment was small, a one-bedroom, but it was beautifully designed. The kitchen and living room were open concept, everything looked modern but homey. It looked…lived in. Like someone’s entire life was in this apartment but they hadn’t bothered to come back and retrieve any of their things.

It was clear that photographs were removed from the walls, and other personal items, but it did have pretty much everything he was looking for. The windows were big and spanned across the entire west wall, letting the setting sun warm the entire space. The apartment fit him.

Goddamn it. He hated it when Robin was right. She’d be smug for weeks.

“Alright,” Eddie said, not wanting to prolong the torture, “you were right. It’s pretty good.”

“And you haven’t even seen the best part,” Robin said, smirking. She motioned for him to follow her and walked back out into the hallway. There she procured another key to a door directly to the left of the apartment. “It’s only accessible to the unit on the last floor, private entrance. The handyman told me that the previous tenant mostly climbed up through the fire escape in the bedroom but knowing you – you’d fall out.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Eddie said dryly, climbing after Robin up the steep stairs. Eddie popped his head out and realized they were on the roof. There was rooftop deck. Jesus, she’d really never let him live this down.

“Shed has some of the previous tenant’s stuff, a few musical instruments apparently. We’re to leave it alone if you’re interested in the storage. I took a look and it’s just an acoustic guitar and some gardening tools,” Robin explained. Eddie’s interested peaked at the guitar but his attention was pulled onto the sectional in the middle of the roof. It had a tarp over it, clearly in a lazy effort to conserve the sofa’s integrity, but….

“How the fuck do you get a sectional that big up here? That staircase is too narrow.”

Robin shrugged. “Don’t question it, it’s comfortable.”

“Yeah, fine, fuck it, I’ll take it.”

Pumping her fist, Robin stuck out her tongue and mimicked his earlier statement. “Are you sure Robin? It looks old Robin,” she said in a high-pitched poor imitation. “That’ll teach you to doubt the Buckley intuition.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Eddie said, sighing.

Walking back down into the apartment, Eddie took a quick glance at the bedroom and bathroom down the hall. “So, like I said – the tenant had a two-year lease and was only halfway through. The owner of the building and the previous tenant’s family wants to keep the apartment as is. You’ve got to keep the furniture in the same condition and the major point made by the agent was that the books need to be left alone,” Robin said pointing to the bookshelves that framed the television. “They’re important to the people leasing this out so, you keep your paws off them. Don’t eat near them, don’t drink near them, shit don’t even think about them. Alright?”

“Yes mom,” Eddie huffed. “What’s with all the ladybugs?”

The question was out before Eddie could stop it but, he was curious. The apartment was sprinkled with random ladybug trinkets. Most of them were cluttered by the shelves but he had to ask.

Robin glanced at the shelves. Two ladybug paperweights winked at them as a sunbeam hit them, a crystal shaped ladybug sat at the top of the left shelf while the other had a ladybug clock above it and a pretty large stuffed animal.

“I don’t know, they remind me of an old friend though,” she said, smiling a little sadly. “Alright. Let’s call them and see when you can move in, yeah?”

And it was really that easy. Eddie had met the owner, Chief Hopper of all people, and his wife and kids. Joyce, Jane, Will, and Jonathan. Eddie faintly recognized Jane and knew Will was one of Dustin’s friends. They didn’t live on site – rather in a house in the woods on the other side of town – but, Eddie was confused as to why Hopper would own a building in downtown of all places.

“It was my dad’s,” he had huffed at Eddie, scowl on his face. “Haven’t been able to sell it yet. Keep the apartment clean, don’t go breaking shit, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie promised.

“If you need anything, don’t call me, call Saul.”

So, with that warm and generous welcome, here he was. Fully moved in three days later sitting on the couch with the coffee table cluttered in beers and the ashtray overflowing. Shit, he’d have to dump that soon.

“Fuck it,” he said, pushing the tape into the VHR. He sat back down with a grunt and felt the familiar sucker punch when he heard her laugh.

“Corroded Coffin, first real gig!” She giggled, her blonde hair swaying. “I’m so proud of you babe!”

Eddie’s wide grin filled the camera, his lips coming down to hers in a loud smack. The guys behind the camera groaned and wolf whistled until they separated. “Alright guys! Let’s do this!”

The camera was shaky but it zoomed into the well-lit stage with a moderate crowd and everyone grabbed their instruments. Chrissy cheered, her hair falling into the lens, creating a curtain of blonde strands. He watched himself, eyes happy as he glanced at her, announce into the mic: “This one’s for Chrissy!”

“Fuck this,” he groaned, heaving himself up to his feet and going to grab a joint to go with his beer. He was still too sober to get through the entire video. Eddie held his freshly rolled joint and padded his way back to the living room, feeling his heart drop into his feet when he saw you standing by the couch, looking confused.

Whirling around at the sound of him, your eyes widened. “Who the fuck are you?” You screeched, voice bouncing off the walls.

“Me? Who the hell are you? This is my apartment!” Eddie said, fumbling with the beer in his hand.

“I don’t know how you got in here,” you said, voice steady and no nonsense, “but you need to get the hell out or I’m calling someone.”

“Oh yeah, what are you going to tell them? You’re in my home!”

At that, your calm stance cracked and your eye twitched. “For fuck’s sake I live here!” You ran for the phone at the same time he did and Eddie watched you completely disappear before you touched.

Eddie froze. His eyes darted around the room, as if you’d pop up from behind something, and frowned down at the joint clutched in his hand. Slowly putting it down onto the dining table, he stepped back. Maybe…that was enough for one night. Clearly, grief and booze were clouding his mind.

They’d been clouding his mind for years now, that’s why he liked them, his mind supplied.

Yeah, but he’d never fucking hallucinated. Holy shit, he was finally going crazy. He was cracking under the pressure.

Either way, that was enough for one night.

By the next morning, Eddie had managed to convince himself that he’d been seeing things. It was new to him but definitely not uncommon. His counselor had told him that – grief did strange things to people. Maybe he needed to slow down on the beer and smoking.

Eddie had just managed to convince himself of the fact when one morning, he was woken up by ABBA screeching from the stereo. He jolted up, stumbling blindly into the living room and almost tripping over his pile of discarded clothes.

“Fuck,” he groaned, drowsily slapping a hand against the volume and half-landing on the couch. “What the fuck?”

A loud chuckle echoed faintly behind him and Eddie’s hair stood on end. Whirling around, he saw nothing.

It was fine. This was a fluke. Shit like this happened all the time, right? He wasn’t going crazy. He wasn’t.

At the end of the week, Eddie finally cracked and called Steve. In a span of six days, Eddie had managed to find his cigarettes snapped in two – no matter how many he bought – the stereo waking him up with increasingly bad bands, and most worrisome, it felt like someone was watching him.

He’d entertained the idea of having lost his mind, descending fully into paranoia, and if anyone was up for the task – it’d be Steve.

“What the hell is this bar choice man?” Steve asked quietly, making a face as he sipped his drink. “The beer on tap is shit.”

“His new place is upstairs,” Robin reminded Steve, taking a big gulp from her fruity drink before offering it to Steve who didn’t hesitate in swapping. “How’s that going for you?”

“Well,” Eddie started, eyes glancing around the deserted seating area. How the hell was this place still in business? He never saw more than a handful of people. Shit, the bartender had told him to call for her if he wanted any more drinks before disappearing.

“I’m seeing someone,” Eddie admitted, fingers picking at the beer’s label.

Robin and Steve exchanged excited glances. “That’s great!”

“What?” He blinked at his friends, confused.

“The last time I tried to set you up you bailed, you made me look like an asshole,” Steve said, shooting Robin a look. “The fact that you initiated this? That’s amazing dude, you’re getting out your comfort zone!”

“Who is she? Do we know her? Is she from school?” Robin asked, her expression so eager that Eddie had to take a moment and appreciate his friends.

“I’m seeing someone who isn’t there,” Eddie clarified.

Steve frowned. “Someone who’s emotionally unavailable? I mean, so are you – why are you judging her for it?” Robin elbowed Steve at Eddie’s look and understand dawned on him. “Oh, you mean a hallucination?”

“Twice, in my new place,” Eddie mentioned, pointing upwards. “A woman.”

“Was she hot at least? Ouch, Jesus Robin, it’s a fair question.”

“I think I’m stuck more on the fact that he’s now hallucinating Harrington,” Robin hissed.

Steve’s expression morphed into something more serious, his brows furrowing like they usually did when they were psychoanalyzing him. His hand reached for a napkin and he grabbed a pen from his pocket. “Alright, were you on something when you saw her?” Steve asked in his therapist voice. Eddie had always thought that the jump from babysitter to psychologist wasn’t much. Steve was always a natural at being a good listener.

“I was a little drunk, I’d been watching the last performance Ch-” Eddie’s voice caught on her name. “I’d had a few beers. I was going to light up when she appeared. Why are you writing this down?”

“It’s a shrink thing,” Robin sighed, reaching across the empty bar and pouring three shots, “he can’t help it.”

“I gotta stop drinking,” Eddie muttered, dropping the beer in his hand, the label in tatters.

Steve straightened. “No! God, don’t. I mean, keep it in moderation obviously – when it becomes a problem, I’m here for you. I can give you a good discount-”

“-when?” Robin snickered at Eddie’s narrowed look.

“Until then, drink, smoke, whatever! Just do it with people. Socialize. Look around, this is the first time you’re at a bar in how long? Rejoin the world Munson, it’s been two years. It’s time,” Steve said, eyes going soft in a way that Eddie hated. He hated the sympathy. It’s all he got from people for the past few years.

“Hey, we’re not pitying you,” Robin said, proving his guess that she was a mind reader. “We’re just saying that we’re your friends dude. We’re available, come out with us every once in a while.”

Eddie sighed. “I’d really rather listen to ABBA on repeat than go out and socialize.”

“Dude,” Steve said, with his therapist ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look. It usually worked on Eddie. “Come on.”

“It’s – I’m not ready.”

“You’ll never be ready, you just gotta throw yourself back out there,” Robin said.

Eddie rolled his eyes and focused back onto his drink. “It’s a scary world out there Buckley, it’ll chew me up and spit me back out.”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, then you get back up and try again.”

“Isn’t that the beauty of it all?” Robin asked.

Eddie sighed. He hated when they ganged up on him.

Eddie wasn’t willing to admit and say that getting out of the apartment had helped this little ‘losing his mind’ moment of his but he’d managed to have another week go by with no incidents. Maybe Steve was right? Eddie snorted. Words he’d never utter aloud in his lifetime.

Coming back to his apartment after a long day of unpacking and packing up equipment for a local band, Eddie had only one destination in mind. Locking the door behind him clumsily, he stumbled over to his bed and flopped down. God, this stupid bed was comfortable.

Groaning when his knees cracked, Eddie pulled the pillow under his head tightly and started drifting to sleep. While he didn’t want to admit it, Eddie did miss the pull of performing. He’d been with his band for almost a decade before he suddenly dropped out. Jeff and Gareth were always calling him, letting him know he had a spot ready for whenever he wanted to come back. But…Eddie wasn’t ready. The story of his life. Never ready. So, he’d settled for being a crew member, helping wherever he could locally.

It was good work, he liked the band he was working with now, but his joints were always sore for the two days after a tour date scramble. Glancing at the time, Eddie promised himself that he’d get up and order some pizza in an hour – after this nap.

Finally, some peace.

“Oh my God are you still here?” You screeched, shattering his illusion of tranquility.

Eddie jolted up, a familiar situation nowadays, and saw you standing in the doorway. You were illuminated by the light in the hallway and stood with your arms crossed – like an angry toddler. Eddie fought the delirious, exhausted urge to laugh.

Apparently, he didn’t try hard enough because your expression went from mildly annoyed to livid.

“How the hell do you keep getting in here?” You asked, hands moving to your hips. Tapping your shoe against the floor, Eddie sighed.

“You are a hallucination. You are not real.” Eddie said, flopping back onto the bed and pulling the pillow over his head. “Go away!”

“Oh,” your voice came out softer this time, as if you’d discovered something fascinating. “I see what’s happening here.”

“Please, enlighten me, figment of my imagination,” Eddie huffed.

“Has your recent alcohol consumption increased?”

What? That was not what he was expecting.

“Yeah. So?” Eddie asked, sitting up against the headboard, wanting to keep distance between you two. Hallucination or not, he didn’t want to touch you.

“Are you seeing things that aren’t really there? Auditory hallucinations are most common. Hearing anything?” You asked, stepping closer to him.

Eddie snorted. “I’m looking and hearing one right now.” You barely batted an eye, a sympathetic expression coming over you.

“Have you recently sought mental health support? From a professional?”

“How the fuck did you know that, wait a second, stay away from me,” Eddie said, a touch louder than he meant to as you took another step. Eddie felt like a cornered animal in a cage with some kid’s meaty paw swiping at him.

“Right, okay, a little defensive.”

“You’d be too if you were me, okay?!” He exclaimed, hand going to his hair.

“I was afraid of this. Okay, listen to me, you’ve somehow convinced yourself that you live in an apartment that in fact belongs to someone else. This is my apartment. I’ve been leasing it for almost a year.” At Eddie’s silence and confused stare, you continued. “I’ll prove it. These bedsheets? They have a hole in the top right – right there.”

Eddie’s fingers traced the small coin sized tear he hadn’t noticed. “I tore them like two seconds into getting them, I was so mad. There’s a cracked tile in the shower, right? I broke it recently, I slipped and slammed into the wall. That’s why one of the shower curtain rings is broken. How would I know that if this wasn’t my apartment?”

Holy shit, how would you know that? Eddie felt his grip on his sanity loosen. Maybe he needed to call Steve again.

“These are my bedsheets, that’s my nightstand, those are my photos- wait, where are my polaroids?” You froze, hand midair while Eddie was contemplating his existence in the universe.

“What polaroids?”

“My entire wall above that desk, I had taped polaroids to them!” You placed your hands back on your hips and Eddie frowned.

“When I got here there were no polaroids, I swear.” Great, now he was trying to placate the woman who’s apartment he stole – or the hallucination. Oh my God, maybe he really was mentally ill.

“Did you take them? Who does that?” You snapped, stomping over to the phone on the wall. “That’s enough! I’m calling the police!”

Eddie shot up, worried for his sanity either way. “Wait please!” Eddie’s voice trailed off as he watched your hand disappear through the phone.

Holy shit.

“What’d you do to my phone?” She hissed. Her hands unable to grab the phone, disappearing angrily as she swiped for it. For the first time, Eddie saw fear bleed into her eyes. “Stay right there, I’m using the one in the kitchen.”

Your footsteps lightened until you’d disappeared completely.

Eddie slumped, rubbing a hand down his face. Had he almost been convinced by his hallucination that he was delusional? Had he almost believed you?

This was getting fucking ridiculous. If he didn’t do something, he was going to end up in a nuthouse. He wasn’t going to let the community of Hawkin’s get that satisfaction.

This ended now.

And that was how Eddie found himself at the occult bookstore downtown. He’d passed by it so many times coming and going from school years ago but he’d never really given it a second glance. People in this town already thought he was devil worshipper.

Which, from his point of view, wouldn’t be the worst thing. He eyed the crystals lining all the bookshelves and front desk warily. Maybe they wouldn’t be so bad at this point.

“Hey Robin?”

“What’s up Munson?” Robin asked, her voice booming through his phone.

“Do you remember anything that broker told you about the previous tenant?”

Robin hummed, the sound of a printer in the background echoing. “Not really, the agent told me that there had been a tragedy in the family. They didn’t seem to want to talk about it so I didn’t press. I didn’t even get the name of the tenant – the apartment is under Chief Hopper’s name. They’re family friends, I think. Why?”

“No reason.”

Eddie had woken up this morning from the worst sleep of his life, and contemplated his options. He was either hallucinating and needed to be institutionalized. Or this woman was really there and for some reason, only he could see her. A ghost.

The first option didn’t leave much to be desired so Eddie was steering into the latter. As dumb and ridiculous as it sounded. He had to admit, he’d come up with weirder twists during a campaign.

Eddie glanced at the spiritual section, the books blending together and giving him a headache. A familiar voice came from over his shoulder. “Can I help you with anything sir? Wait, Eddie?”

“Sinclair?” Eddie said, grinning despite his situation. “Dude, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Holy shit, yeah,” Lucas said, surprising Eddie with a hug.

“How’s Dustin? I haven’t seen Henderson in almost a year either,” Eddie asked, his older memories shaking off their cobwebs.

“He’s good, everyone’s good,” Lucas said, a familiar look seeping into his eyes and Eddie groaned. He could recognize that look from a mile away. It’d been his whole life since the accident. “Hey man, I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“It’s-” the word fine died on his tongue and he watched Lucas smile genuinely at him. Maybe other people didn’t mean it but he knew Sinclair – he’d known him since he was a short little freshman. Lucas didn’t have a malicious bone in his body. “Thanks, man. How’s Mike? I haven’t seen him since I graduated.”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Lucas asked, sympathy morphing into sadness.

Eddie frowned. “What?”

“His-”

“Lucas!”

Max popped up, chewing gum. She pointed to the flickering lights by the UFO section. “They’re going haywire again, can you check downstairs? Oh, hey Munson,” she said, as if it hadn’t been a good six years since he’d last lived in the trailer across from hers. Her red hair was still neatly braided into pigtails, her expression characteristically serious.

“Hey Max,” Eddie said, smiling at her attitude. He had always liked her.

“It was good to see you man,” Lucas said, “we should get a beer or something.”

“Jesus, you’re old enough to drink? Get out of here man.” Eddie joked, shoving his shoulder. Lucas laughed, his head shaking as he walked over to inspect the light.

“Sorry, was he helping you with anything?” Max said, crossing her arms.

“Uh, do you believe in this stuff?” He asked, a little confused as to how someone like Max worked here.

Something flashed across Max’s face but it was gone before Eddie could pinpoint it. It looked almost, worried. “Yeah,” she glanced at the book he’d picked up. “Don’t take that one, it’s outdated.” She pointed to one in front of him and another a few shelves above.

“Thanks,” he said, pulling them from their spot.

“What kind of encounter had you had?”

“What?”

“People only come in here for a few reasons. Most common, a weird fetish. Second thing? Encounter,” Max said, sounding like the leading expert on the topic. She’d always had enough confidence in her that she could sell water to a fish.

At his stunned silence Max rolled her eyes. “Here, these should help if you’re trying to get rid of it,” she piled on a few books into his arms and Eddie frowned. He was glad she hadn’t assumed he had a fetish but – to just believe him? That he wasn’t going insane wasn’t the easiest and most logical answer?

His life was getting weirder by the moment.

Not wanting to waste any time, Eddie plowed through the books. Some seemed weirdly rational – if you had energy and spirit when you were alive, why would death take that from you? Others seemed downright idiotic. Apparently rubbing lemon onto your elbows and putting some skunk’s pee under his bed helped ward off evil.

Were you even evil? Eddie thought back. Annoying? Yes. Evil? No. The most you’d done is shed a few years off his life by blasting Dancing Queen at six in the morning. And snap his cigarettes – making him chain smoke his pack before he got into his apartment.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Eddie muttered to himself, feeling ridiculous. He waved the special candle he’d bought from the store a few doors down, and waved it in the air. “My intentions are pure, I mean no harm, I seek only to guide!”

He repeated the chant a few more times before sighing. This was bullshit. Before he could put the candle down, Eddie felt his hair stand on end. The air in the room shifted to something weirdly appealing and Eddie couldn’t help but feel like he was being laughed at.

“Are you there? I think you are,” he said, feeling stupid when there was no answer. Great. This is what his life was reduced to. Doing some weird demonic ritual thing and calling his hallucination ghost girl forward.

Alright, fuck this. He grabbed the first book he saw off the forbidden bookshelves, popping it open, he grabbed at the base of the page and held it up, like he had an audience.

“I’ve got one of the fancy books in my hands. It looks expensive and old. I’m going to oops – accidentally tear at the corner…”

“Don’t you dare!” You admonished, a wonderfully deep scowl in your face, and Eddie immediately dropped the book. “Oh my God! That’s a first edition, pick it up!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Eddie put it down back on the shelf gently. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” You asked, as if any part of this conversation was normal. Like you’d both always been roommates.

“Do you find it weird, about how you’ve been spending your days?”

“Yeah, it’s weird having some fucking stranger in my living room, squatting!”

“I’m not-” Eddie reigned in the fire that lit within him. This woman drove him up the wall. “Let’s start over – I’m Eddie Munson.”

“I’m…uh, I’m…” You frowned eyes glancing around the room. “I – don’t worry about it.”

Eddie fought a smile at the sight of your frustrated glare. “Fine, let’s settle on Lou.”

“Lou?”

“Short for hallucination,” he said, only mostly joking.

“I am not a hallucination.”

“Alright then, uh, what about Bug?” He said, gesturing to the thousands of random ladybug assorted items.

Weirdly, your face smoothed out at that. “Sure. If that gets us to the end of this conversation, sure.”

“When was the last time you remember speaking to anyone? That wasn’t me.”

“The other day!” You said, indignant.

“Okay, what do you do when you’re not here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” you responded with so much venom that Eddie really had to take a second not to smile.

“Has anything traumatic happened to you recently?”

“What?”

“Like, oh, maybe dying?”

“What.”

“I’m trying to help you face the fact that you’re dead,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder only for it to go directly through.

“Do not touch me!”

“I’m sorry! I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to help!”

Her face twisted into something resembling heartbreak and Eddie froze. “What would help me is if you’d get the hell out of my apartment!”

“Do you see a light? The books say to not be afraid of the light!” Eddie said, picking up the book he’d left opened. He’d read some passage about guiding troubled spirits to the light. The afterlife, the big paradise, whatever. He could be someone’s guidance counselor as long as you got the hell out of here.

“There’s no fucking light weirdo! I’m not dead!”

“Have you tried, Bug?”

Your face twisted into something endearingly stubborn. “On second thought I hate that nickname and for the fiftieth time, I’m not dead!” Eddie realized he’d backed you into the middle of the table, only your torso visible. You glanced down and gasped. “What is happening?”

“You’re dead! I just want to live in peace in my own home!” Eddie exclaimed, frustrated.

“This is not your home!” You screamed, hands planting themselves on his chest and subsequently disappearing when you toppled through him and out the window.

“Rest in peace!” Eddie huffed, feeling relieved. He turned and jumped when he saw you with your arms crossed.

“I’m not leaving.”

Jesus, why was it always him? Couldn’t he catch a break?

A/N2: Some things were changed to help fit the story, obviously, there will be some plot holes – let’s just smile and wave boys! Also, I have no idea what a first/second-year intern’s schedule looks like. So anyone in the medical field, pls forgive me lmao

[atlastfree]

So, I was surprised to find out there aren’t exactly many translated scenes from YGO: TFSP going around; especially considering that it’s not only relatively recent, but also a play on being a Yu-Gi-Oh dating sim LOL so I decided that, until I get the rom to the game, that ill translate some interactions from the “dating” routes that i find on youtube/niconico/etc.

the search has been full of perils, but here’s a scene i managed to get my hands on from your second date with mai. Please note that it’s not the best translation and i did adjust some of it to fit an english flow of conversation; but otherwise it’s as close as i’ll get!

-

Mai: PLAYER, you came!

Mai: Looks like we’re on a date today too!

Mai: Last time, on the way home from school… The idea of looking for just the right place at just the right time, away from the school… that wasn’t a bad idea of mine.

Mai: So, just like before, I’ll look around the city while keeping a good distance from the school.

Mai: Now that I think about last time… Maybe it was just subconscious, but I found myself wandering it to a lot of women’s shops.

Mai: Based on that, I think we should go somewhere that boys usually go.

Mai: Ok! Let’s go!

(You guys go somewhere; likely another women’s store)

Mai: I thought I could do it this time, but I guess not…

Mai: Oh, that’s…!

Mai: Wheeler’s friend!

Ryou: Oh, Mai-san.

Duke: Crazy seeing you here, on a day we’re not with everyone else.

Ryou: Everyone else… You mean Yugi?

Mai: Also, Honda. And Joey Wheeler.

Duke: I’m usually with him, but…

Ryou: Yeah, I happened to have something to do today, so we all split up.

Mai: … Do you have any idea where you are?

Ryou: … I don’t know where I am now…

Duke: But… I come here often… If you wait around, you’re bound to see me…

Ryou: You know, I was wondering if I’d be able to join in on something if I came around here…

Mai: So… Should I just wait for something interesting to happen?

Ryou: Yes. ^_^

Mai: …

Ryou: …

Duke: …

Ryou: …

Ryou: That’s it!

Ryou: There’s no point in standing here and not doing anything with four people!

Ryou: Let’s tag duel together!

Duke: Oh, good, let’s do it!

Mai: That’s a good idea, but… You know I’m strong, right?

Duke: That’s fine. I look forward to saying that whenever I see my muscles. (???)

Ryou: I wonder how my Occult Deck will go against strong opponents like Mai… I’m looking forward to it!

Mai: PLAYER is good, too, you know. Well, then, let’s go!

Ryou: Duel!

(You win the duel)

Ryou: Oh… Did I lose?

Ryou: I guess I couldn’t match Mai-san after all.

Mai: (taken aback) You’re…— When you’re dueling, your feelings change a lot.

Ryou: Eh… Is that so?

Mai: Well… There is that type…

Mai: The type of people who are usually quiet, but when it comes to duels, they attack violently without thinking about defense.

Mai: You’re usually kind, but your deck is full of cards made for obstruction.

Ryou: Ahaha!

Duke: I lost… But that was a good duel. It was fun.

Mai: Yeah, it was a good duel!

Ryou: I don’t think we have time for another one.

Mai: Yeah, it has been a while…

Ryou: We should get going home.

Duke: Oh, right.

Mai: Well, I’ll be around, even if Joey doesn’t show up.

Ryou: See you.

Mai: (sigh) Today was a waste of time again, wasn’t it?

Mai: Well, PLAYER… See you later.

Mai: You’ll go out on another date with me, next time, though, right?

(End)

-

some footnotes:

this is the second of what i assume to be three dates of mai’s route.

it’s implied that the whole gang was together, but then ryou had an errand to run, and otogi decided to tag along with him.

and then they (ryou) got lost.

its implied that by ‘waiting for something’ and ‘joining in on something’ they’re referring to joey just showing up i guess.

for some reason they all think ryou’s idea to stand around and wait for something to happen like idiots is a good idea. they genuinely just stand there staring at each other in complete silence before ryou gets frustrated at his own idea

i’m not sure what duke was trying to express or why he said it when he brought up seeing his muscles (lit. his arms)

mai says something similar to ryou that she does to yami bakura in duel links; that when ryou is dueling, he completely changes. however, it’s canon to TFSP that yami bakura has nothing to do with this particular duel, and that ryou genuinely just gets like that sometimes.

although i didnt include it, she also may note that she gets that way in a duel sometimes as well.