#Dark homonyms | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eddie-sweetheart · 2 years

Text

🏕 Camp Lovers Lake - Chapter Eight 🏕

An Eddie Munson x Female Reader summer camp story. Set just before the beginning of season 3 of Stranger Things, with a few diversions from the original plot of the series.

🏕 Chapters List

Pairing and tropes • Eddie Munson x Henderson Female Reader - fluff, forced proximity, slightly slow burn, summer camp clichés ♥︎

Summary • June, 1985. Close to the city of Hawkins, Indiana, the placid waters of Lovers Lake stand as the perfect background for the homonymous summer camp, where you’re about to be a counselor for the last time before senior year and then, hopefully, college. Your brother Dustin Henderson won’t be with you this year, as he’s chosen to attend Camp Know Where until July - but with your best friend Robin Buckley at your side and the unexpected addition of Steve Harrington to your duo, the upcoming months seem to promise endless fun and exciting adventures nonetheless. However, as you get closer to Eddie Munson, resident metalhead and drug dealer who’s been forced by his uncle to work at Camp Lovers Lake after another missed graduation, your plans for the summer might have to go in an unexpected direction.

Chapter warnings • Swearing, attempted SA, (underage) drinking.

Chapter notes • I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who read, share, like, and comment this story: it wouldn't really happen without you and all your kind words lately have really given me the right motivation to keep going with this fic! I'm sorry if the updates are slow, and I hope you'll like this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Thank you for sticking around 🤍 I see you, and I'm grateful!

Chapter word count: 7.1 k

🌹 Masterlist 🌹

Finally, sleep.

It’s incredible how wearing warm clothes after spending time in the cold can work wonders for sleepless people - especially if mixed with an unexpected dose of adrenaline and excitement that is suddenly wearing down.

Too caught up in your own (for once, positive) thoughts about the almost-kiss with Eddie and his invite to see him and his band at the Hideout this weekend, you don’t really register getting back to the cabin, changing into your spare dry pajama and sneaking into bed, among sheets that unexpectedly feel as soft as a cloud and as comfortable as a hug.

That’s Eddie’s power, you guess, as you finally drift off into a calm, shapeless dream: being able to make you unwind, forget the bad things, and look forward to something good. It’s the way his hands feel so right when they wander on your skin, the inner beauty you were able to catch beyond his starry gaze; how he held you close, to protect you without imposing himself. Always the unexpected, snarky gentleman, always with a laugh to share and ironic jokes that mean everything but resignation.

You can’t wait to see him again, tomorrow - which is probably today already, you realize with sleepy glee as you roll around in your bed, the sheets up to your neck like a cozy cocoon. You also realize that you'll have to ask Steve and Robin about sneaking out, but you’re so happy and free of worries that you’re sure they’ll say yes. The hoot of an owl seems to confirm that thought. Then, it’s all dark, and you’re fast asleep.

— 🏕 —

Knock knock.

You turn around, pushing your face against the warm pillow and grunting lightly. You pretend you didn't hear the sound - you really want to ignore it, the comfortable safety of sleep still within your reach, the empty, calming dream still at the tip of your fingers…

Knock knock.

It’s louder this time, but you’re more determined than that. The bedsheets instantly rush to cover your head, their white cotton held tightly in place by your hands as you try once again to drift off. But now the light has reached you behind your eyelids, and it’s annoyingly luminous. So very hard to ignore.

“Hellooooo, anyone home?” The creak of the wooden door and then Robin’s voice fills the room. You’re doomed once and for all, and if it wasn’t for your friendship she would be, too.

“Jesus” you groan, staying under the covers with your eyes shut. “I was sleeping, Robin. What time is it?”

Robin takes a few steps closer to your bed, and you can smell something tempting and delicious: maple syrup?

“Good morning, sleepyhead” she says, lifting up the corner of the bedsheet and peeking underneath. “You really shouldn’t be this mad, because it’s almost midday. I covered for you, saying something about 'that time of the month' and God, it’s embarrassing how that works every single time, like clockwork. And, I brought you pancakes. So stop being a grumpy kid, get out of there and tell me what you and Munson were up to last night - and pleeeease let it be all kinds of naughty things”.

You blush violently, and wonder if you should try to hide your embarrassment by rolling to the other side of the bed and pretending you’re still half asleep; however, you quickly decide that sooner or later you’d really want to tell Robin everything about last night. So, no time like the present - especially since your friend has already acknowledged the redness spreading on your face with a cheeky smirk.

“Before I explain” you say, climbing down the bed and heading towards the full plate Robin has left on the small desk, “how did you know?”

Robin knowingly scoffs. “You should thank your friend Steve” she says, “he’s way more observant than I thought, even if I bet it’s mostly unintentional. He kept rambling about how his clothes were soaking wet this morning because Eddie put his own dripping pajama on top of them and Eddie blushed - I mean, can you believe it? Hardcore, rebel, trademark metalhead Eddie Munson actually blushed - groaning something like ‘come on man, I said I’m sorry, can you leave it?’ and at that point I put two and two together just like that” she concludes, snapping her fingers in your face with a proud smile. “Because, of course, this morning my foot was welcomed by a pool of lake water right as I got up, since you left your own equally wet pajama on the floor”.

You give her an apologetic smile, your mouth full of food. “Sorry, Robs” you mumble, “I didn’t want to wake you up”.

Robin smiles, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “Please, at least tell me it was worth it”.

“Well”, you carefully reply after gulping down a piece of pancake, “I think we almost kissed”.

Robin’s eyes grow wider and wider, her eyebrows shooting up and her mouth opening into a flabbergasted “O”.

“WHAT?” She exclaims, grabbing your arm and shaking you excitedly, her contagious smile making you giggle. “What do you mean you think? And what the hell is an almost kiss? Oh my god, I knew I was right, I knew it!”

You tell her all the details from last night’s occurrences, from the mysterious creature lurking on the banks of Lovers Lake to the trip on the canoe, your heartfelt speeches and the closeness between the two of you, and then the unexpected bath in the cold waters of the lake. As you tell her everything, you find yourself re-examining all the little gestures and moments you shared with Eddie, trying once again to understand if that kiss was actually going to happen. And even if a part of you almost doesn’t want to believe it, as it would be definitely too good to be true, by the time your story has reached the goodnight greetings outside Eddie’s cabin, you realize that yes - that kiss was 99% going to actually happen. And that realization takes your breath away - in the best possible meaning, of course.

“Okay” Robin says, watching you finish your breakfast with a big smile, “so what now? I mean, we need to find a way to make you guys get to the bottom of it”.

As you move away from the desk and start getting dressed for the day, or whatever’s left of it, you smile at her use of “we”. And you remember the second most important detail from last night.

“There’s a concert this weekend” you say, throwing your white and green camp t-shirt on, “Eddie and his band are playing. It’ll be at the Hideout, which apparently is not far from here, at 10 pm. Eddie invited me… us, really. You and Steve, too. Oh, and we’ll need to take Steve’s car because the others are going with their friend Grant, who’s their bassist, and it’s going to be so cool and maybe, I don’t know, me and Eddie could…”

“Y/N” Robin interrupts you, “are you telling me that you want us to sneak out of camp, go to a biker bar and listen to a metal concert?”

You stop in your tracks, your poor rambling diversion completely ignored by Robin - as you should have expected, since that’s usually her own tactic. So, in order to convince her, you opt for your best attempt at puppy eyes.

“Please, Robin, it would mean so so so much to me, pleaseee“ you try, going as far as to clasp your hands together in prayer.

“Begging, really? Are we at this point already?” Robin wonders with a shake of her head, but the smile on her face is everything but mocking. “But, I guess, if it makes you happy, I’ll do this illegal and frankly crazy thing for you. But just this once” she finally concedes, earning a hug and an excited grin.

“God, if he does anything to wipe that smile off of your face, I’ll break his neck” Robin mutters as you link your arm to hers and make your way outside.

— 🏕 —

“But why do we need to use my car?”

Somehow, in all your grand plans to make Corroded Coffin’s concert the highlight of the summer, both you and Robin kind of took Steve's agreement for granted. However, after telling him the plan while accurately avoiding any reference to the romantic side of the endeavor, his blank reply makes you realize that maybe you shouldn’t have.

“Because you’re the only one of us who has a driving license” Robin bluntly replies, popping up from behind a tree with a handful of dry, fallen branches in her hands. You’re collecting wood to burn at the Great Bonfire, the official camp version of your very own clandestine experience.

“And, because you’re our dearest, favorite friend” you echo her, grabbing a few sticks from the ground and placing them in the basket hanging from your arm. “Come on, we really want you to come with us. It’ll be cool, and we’ll have fun”.

Steve looks at you with curiosity. “I’ve heard about the Hideout” he says, and the fact that he still hasn’t agreed is starting to make your stomach drop. “I mean, it’s surely a place, but I don’t know about the fun. Unless you like bars that are packed with old bikers with long beards and where they only play rock or metal music”.

“Come on, Harrington” Robin affectionately jokes, throwing one arm around his shoulders and squeezing, “let’s try something different for once. And don’t try to play the good boy card: you might have never sneaked out of camp before, but I know it's not the first time you’ve done something like this - and yes, this time it won’t be for a girl, but see it this way: you’ll do it for two girls. What do you think?”

Steve loudly groans, almost dropping his own basket in an attempt to shrug Robin off of him, but when he speaks again he says exactly what you’ve hoped for. “Alright, alright. But we’re coming back at midnight”.

You and Robin (not so) silently cheer behind his back.

“What day is it going to be?” Steve asks, going back to inspect the ground for more wood.

“Uhm” you hesitate, realizing that you actually don’t know. “I’ll have to ask Eddie. He didn’t really specify it”.

Steve pops one eyebrow up at you, but as he’s about to say something Robin shoves him with a wide grin. “Lovely” she says, making her way back to the cabins and dragging you both with her, “let’s ask him tonight then”.

And tonight it is, indeed - as you’ll all be together at the Great Bonfire.

As soon as the sun lowers on the farther edge of the lake, its rays glittering red and warm on the flat surface of the water, campers and counselors alike start grouping up around the huge pile of wood and branches you’ve collected during the day. The Great Bonfire is one of the most beloved traditions at Camp Lovers Lake, turning dinner time into an unofficial roasting contest that ranges from classic sausages and marshmallows to melted cheese and burnt corn.

Once you get there with Robin, the fire has just been started and Eddie, Steve, Gareth and Jeff are already sitting beside it, right in the middle of the crowd of chattering teenagers and excited little kids.

“Good evening ladies” Jeff greets you, scooting along the tree trunk he’s sitting on to make some space for you to join them, “we saved you a seat and some food. You won’t believe how feral these little ones are - we’ve almost run out of corn already”.

Both you and Robin sit down and thank him as you grab the handful of sticks he’s offering you, with all sorts of vegetables and sausages stuck on them. Right behind you, on the outer sitting circle around the fire, you can hear Eddie, Steve and Gareth arguing about something that sounds like the best meat-to-cheese ratio on skewers.

“Hey, Eddie” you call out as you turn around, careful not to be too loud.

Immediately stopping his argument in support of Gareth’s “infallible 2/3 solution”, Eddie turns to you with a big smile that reaches deep into his dark, beautiful eyes.

“Hello, princess” he says, placing his elbows on his knees as he leans forward and closer to you, his ringed hands dangling between his legs. “How are you? I haven’t seen you all day”.

You blush, and this time you’re not so ready to blame it on the heat of the fire - even though it’s due to something that highly resembles it.

“That’s because I turned into a lumberjack today. See all that?” you joke, nodding towards the roaring flames, “we went out into the woods to make this beauty happen”.

Eddie nods, amazed. “I see” he says, the fire glittering in the dark of his eyes, “that’s hot. Like, literally”.

You look at him stunned for a second, before bursting out into a laugh that he joins immediately, making the others turn their heads with a curios frown - and a satisfied, knowing smirk from Robin.

“So, what day is the concert this weekend?” You ask Eddie as you try to take a breath between one fit of giggling and the other.

“Oh, Jesus Christ” Eddie sighs, drying one tear with the heel of his hand, “I didn’t say it, did I? It’s Saturday”

Your heart starts beating a little faster with anticipation. “So in two days. Cool, thanks” you say, turning back around towards the fire to stick your dinner among the flames.

A small movement of the air behind you and the sudden increase in your body temperature, completely unrelated to the heat of the bonfire, let you know that Eddie’s leaning forward, closing the space between the two of you.

“I can’t wait” he whispers in your ear, his breath (or his hair?) tickling the back of your neck.

— 🏕 —

Friday somehow goes by, your impatience for the weekend to come and the tedious tasks of kitchen duty making it an endless day of prepping and serving meals and scrubbing pans until they’re squeaky clean under the hawk-like gaze of Mrs. Janet. By the end of dinner, your hands are swollen and dry, but you really don’t care - because, once you wake up the next morning just as the sun rises above the farthest shore of Lovers Lake, Saturday is finally here.

You don’t see Eddie for the whole morning, and for the whole day really. You only manage to catch a glimpse of him at lunch, as he comes with Gareth and Jeff to the Headquarters to grab a sandwich and a coke, say hi and disappear back into his cabin with the other two at his heels.

“They don’t have their guitars and stuff here, so they couldn’t practice for tonight” Steve explains to you and Robin as you go back to your meal, trying to hide a tiny little pang of disappointment at not being able to spend some time with Eddie before the concert. “So, he’s stressing them out by going over and over the tracklist and examining each song into detail that it’s way heavier than the metal music they’re going to play. Oh, and of course I’m banned from my own cabin for the rest of the day. Go figure if that’s fair” Steve complains, shaking his head as he pokes at his food.

“You can stay at ours if you want” Robin says, kicking him lightly under the wooden table with the tip of her shoe, “enjoy some girl time, paint your nails for the show, maybe. I bet you’d love that”.

Steve grunts, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “Thanks, Buckley” he annoyedly replies, “but I really don’t think that’ll be necessary. He’ll have to let me in after dinner, if he wants me to get changed, get my keys and drive your lot to the Hideout. I mean, it’s my cabin, too”.

Robin lifts her palms up in surrender. “As you wish. Good luck with that”.

As always, of course, Robin was right. Not even the luckiest planet alignment in the universe could have helped Steve in his mighty task: Corroded Coffin’s dedication to their music and to the upcoming show is way stronger than Steve’s right to get back in his cabin, as it clearly turns out once he comes knocking at your door straight after lights out.

“Hello, big boy” Robin welcomes him, moving away from the entrance as she holds the door open to let him in. “Ready for your makeover?”

Steve doesn’t even reply, his mood darker than the night sky outside. He steps in silently, greeting you with an acknowledging nod and puffing with exasperation as he sits down on the desk’s chair, a bundle of clothes in his lap.

“So they gave you your stuff, then” you observe before going back to impatiently rummaging into your travel bag, desperately looking for something that doesn’t scream off-duty camp counselor.

“They threw them at me” Steve specifies with a piqued tone, “from the window. I think it was Gareth, but they closed it so fast I couldn’t even see. At least they remembered the keys”.

“Come on, dingus, relax” Robin states, offering him a beer can still dewy with condensation. “Drink this. We stole a few from the stash”.

“Robin, he has to drive” you observe, causing Robin’s eyes to widen and snatch the can away from Steve’s grasp just as he’s reaching out for it.

“Seriously?” Steve protests, dropping his hands in his lap on top of the clothes.

Robin lifts her eyebrows, handing the can to you instead. “I’m sorry, Steve, but I’m not risking my life in a car accident, dying in the middle of the night in these creepy woods with wild beasts ready to feast on our corpses just because you decided to drink and drive”.

“But you just offered it to me!” Steve hisses.

“Yeah, well, on second thought I think she needs it more than us” Robin replies, making Steve’s head turn towards you as she does the same.

“Yeah” he says, suddenly calmer and more collected, “I think you might be right”.

You haven’t even realized it, but you’ve scattered all of your clothes on Robin’s bed, which now looks like the aftermath of an explosion. Your foot is nervously tapping on the cabin’s floor, and you’re gnawing at your nails while sipping beer and staring with wide eyes at the mess of t-shirts and jeans, without a clue of what you’ll wear. Sure, from the outside you might actually look a little crazy.

With a sigh, Robin comes to you and moves a few items of clothing away until she finds what she’s looking for. As you look at her with hope and surrender, she picks up a denim miniskirt and an oversized white shirt and throws them at you. You grab them with your free hand, holding on for dear life to the beer can in the other.

“With the black boots” she says, then she moves to her own suitcase and after a few seconds of poking around she takes out a slightly big black leather blazer and hands it over to you. “Add this and you’ll be okay. And take care of it, it’s my favorite”.

You look at her in surprise and, somehow, the outfit starts to make sense in your head. Then, Robin grabs a pair of dark green shorts for herself and pairs them with a cream-colored button-down with black leaves printed on it.

“Come on, Harrington” she exclaims, clapping her hands at him and receiving a confused look in return. “Ugh, turn around, close your eyes, do something for god’s sake”.

Steve groans as he gets up and turns towards the door, leaning his forehead against it as he closes his eyes, probably regretting his decision to agree to this mayhem while you and Robin get changed.

“Are you done?” He asks after a few seconds, and once you give him the go-ahead he turns back around again. His eyes widen as he looks at you both.

“Oh” he says, “you look good without the camp t-shirt. I mean, with something else than that”.

“Perv” Robin scoffs, rolling her eyes, but her smirk reveals that she actually appreciates the comment. As you do, really, even if it’s someone else’s opinion you’re really caring about tonight.

Steve makes you both exit the cabin as it’s his turn to get changed. While you wait in the dark, Robin pokes at you with her elbow.

“He’s going to faint when he sees you” she states, making you blush a little. “You look hot, y/n. And it’s all because of my jacket”.

You smile at her. You don’t know if she’s right, but for now it’s all you need to hear. “Thanks, Robin. I don’t know what I’d do without you”.

“You probably wouldn’t get laid” she says, and you both giggle in the night.

In the distance, you hear the rumble of an engine and as you turn around towards the camp’s entrance you notice two tiny luminous dots among the trees. They stop for a minute or two, then you hear a door shutting closed and then the dots disappear.

“That must’ve been their ride” Robin observes. You look at your watch and realize that it’s half past nine.

“Come on Steve, hurry up” you whisper while knocking softly on the cabin door. You’d yell at him, if only you didn’t have to avoid getting caught.

Thankfully, the door opens almost immediately, letting out a panting Steve - who looks exactly the same except for a blue polo.

“What?” He asks you and Robin, who are throwing confused and annoyed looks at him just as you start hurrying towards the parking lot.

“What the hell took you so long?” You ask, scanning the area to look for his car. “You’re basically wearing the same clothes”.

Steve stops in his tracks, looking at you with an offended glare. “I had to fix my hair” he replies, patting the pockets of his jeans. “And now that you’ve rushed me out, I can’t find my keys”.

“Maybe you’ve left them in the cabin” Robin groans, “go check”.

Steve rushes back, muttering something under his breath. Five minutes pass, and he still hasn’t come back. You look at your watch: it’s 9:45 pm.

“You know, it won’t be that bad if we get a little late” Robin tentatively tells you, easily guessing your thoughts. “Guys love to be kept waiting. Or so I’ve heard”.

You sigh, getting closer to Steve’s car and checking yourself in the dark reflection of its windows. Of course, your make-up had to come out decently on the day you’re going to miss Eddie’s concert.

“Got them” Steve whispers loudly as he finally appears back from the woods, his car keys jingling in his hands. “They were under the bed. Let’s go”.

Your heart beats faster as you get in the passenger’s seat, while Steve starts the engine and Robin almost literally throws herself on the backseat. Steve keeps the headlights off and drives as slow as possible until he’s out of the parking lot; then, once you finally hit the road and the Camp Lovers Lake sign gets smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, Robin leans forward between the two of you in the front to turn the radio on and the volume up to a Scorpions song. Adrenaline and excitement, as well as the realization of what you’re doing, finally hit you all and make you sing along to “Rock You Like A Hurricane” at the top of your lungs.

— 🏕 —

As fast as Steves dares to drive, however, you finally reach the Hideout at 10:20 pm.

Turns out that looking for a place you’ve never been to in the dark of the night isn’t that easy, even if it should be right at the side of the road. Thankfully, after a few wrong turns and a lot of bickering, Steve’s BMW slows down into the large parking lot of a battered pub, whose neon sign confirms indeed that, finally, it’s the Hideout you’ve been looking for.

Steve manages to park the car between a truck and two motorcycles, not without some difficulty as the place is packed with all kinds of vehicles and people walking around, making it way different from the “crowd of five drunks” Eddie told you about.

The bar itself seems quite spacious - sure, it’s not huge, but judging from the number of bikers and customers going in and out, it looks like it could hold quite a decent crowd.

You make your way past some bearded men with distressed denim vests and giant beers in their hands, and for a moment you feel like a fool. They must be wondering what three late teens who are clearly underage are doing in a place like this, one wearing a polo and the others looking like lost sheep; they’re probably mocking you, and maybe they’ll try to pick a fight or something, and you’re not really sure that Steve would be able to face them all… but as you brush past them, they don’t even seem to notice you. Well, one of them actually does, at some point, but his reaction is nothing but a small smile and a silent cheer as he lifts his beer at you.

It feels surreal to you, but you smile back - and then, Steve pushes the door open and suddenly it’s all loud music, and smoke, and lights. And people, lots of people.

“I thought he said it was small” Robin yells in your ear, trying to overcome her shock and the loud rock’n’roll jamming that’s happening on a small stage at your left, far back into the room.

A waitress that looks 40 but with the body and the outfit of a teenager walks fast beside you, pushing a few bikers away as the six drinks on her tray dangerously shake and tilt, but never fall.

“I thought so, too” you yell back, looking around and trying to make sense of your surroundings - and hopefully, find Eddie and the rest of your friends.

To your right, a long wooden counter separates three busy bartenders from a crowd of people standing against it - both men and women, mostly wearing denim, leather and boots while laughing and chatting loudly. Not far from them, towards the center of the room, there are many small, round tables scattered all over, with customers drinking and smoking and occasionally eating large hamburgers and platters of brownish fries. Some of them are nibbling handfuls of peanuts, whose shells are littering the floor and being reduced to dust as boots crash and walk on them.

Just beyond that set of tables, there’s another group of people standing - but these ones are dancing to the music, half-empty glasses spilling all kinds of drinks as they move and shake their heads to the fast rhythm of some rock song, which you don’t know.

Thankfully, in spite of your lateness, as soon as your eyes land back on the stage to identify the source of the music, you notice that the band playing is definitely not Corroded Coffin. You start wondering how long a set lasts, thinking that maybe you’ve completely missed Eddie’s performance, but your attention is grabbed by a tap on your shoulder before you can give yourself an answer.

“Look” Steve mouths, pointing to a poster stuck on a wall beside the entrance and displaying some colorful words on a black and white picture of a man playing the guitar. On top of the poster, you read the words Live Music Night and below the guitarist there’s a timetable with a list of bands and what seems to be the time they’re going to play; someone, however, must have corrected the setlist, as a double-headed arrow pointing both at the 10 pm and 11 pm slots seems to suggest that Corroded Coffin and The Red Strings have switched places.

You take a deep breath in relief, knowing you still have some time before Eddie’s going to play.

“Let’s go find them” you shout at Steve and Robin, but she’s already done that.

“They’re right there” she exclaims, nodding towards a table at the opposite side of the room. You follow her gaze and your heart skips a beat as soon as you catch a glimpse of him.

If you thought that seeing Eddie at the secret bonfire meant seeing him at his best and in his element, you now realize that you were completely wrong. The way his slightly crooked smile is shining, putting his dimples on full display, and the way his eyes are glittering even this far away from you, right as he sips his beer and laughs at something Jeff has said, literally takes your breath away. And it’s not just how completely comfortable and confident he seems in this place - he looks incredibly hot, as well. His wild hair and messy fringe are partly covered by a black bandana with skulls printed on it, tied on top of his head and making his curls stick out a little more than usual; he’s wearing his usual black leather jacket, but instead of the denim vest you’ve already seen on him he’s styled it with a black and red checkered shirt left open underneath it. Under that, you spot a black t-shirt with a white, spiky font spelling out “Corroded Coffin”. And, to top it all off, a beautiful dark red electric guitar is hanging across his back, making him look like the star he is.

You see Eddie put down his glass as he nods absentmindedly at the conversation Jeff, Gareth and another guy you’ve never seen before are having; then, he scans the room with his eyebrows slightly furrowed - and his eyes finally land on yours.

His whole face lights up and the brightest smile you’ve ever seen blooms on his lips as he lifts an arm and starts waving a hand to make you see him. You smile back and you could swear you’re floating on cloud nine as you make your way towards his table, gently pushing people away as you move through the crowd, Robin and Steve right behind you.

Eddie’s eyes never leave yours, but as you’re about to make it past a particularly tight-knit group of customers the energy in the room suddenly shifts. All it takes for your heart to break is a few seconds: the perfect slot of time for a young, blonde woman to reach them before you do, drop a couple of beers on the table, sit down right on Eddie’s lap and place a kiss on his blushing cheek as she swings an arm around his shoulders.

The smile freezes on your lips and you almost stop in your tracks, but as Robin unexpectedly trips behind you she pushes you forward, making you cover whatever space is left between you and your friends with a few tumbling steps.

“Hey, guys!” Jeff exclaims, standing up from his seat to welcome you. “You’ve made it! See, Eddie? I told you so”.

Eddie looks up at you, tempting another smile as he says an unusually shy “Hi”. You manage to smile back and utter a “Hi” yourself, your mind going on autopilot as you’re trying to process what’s going on.

“Oh, so these are your friends” the girl says with a grin before tightening her grip on Eddie’s shoulders and shaking him a little bit. “Thank god you guys switched place with The Red Strings, uh? Hi, I’m Barbara”.

You don’t know if the weird note in her voice is irony, but you’re too caught up in realizing how beautiful she looks to understand it. You’re still staring at her incredibly tight and low-cut leather dress and fishnet tights when Robin addresses her, trying to make your silence less awkward.

“I’m Robin, that’s Steve and she’s y/n” she says, holding out her hand and shaking Barbara’s. “Eddie’s surely mentioned her- I mean, us?”

“Oh, well” Barbara says, looking down at Eddie and then back at you. “Actually no, not really, but it’s nice to meet you! Are you ready for the show?”

For the next fifteen minutes, you completely ignore Eddie, even if he tries to speak to you across the table. You pretend you don’t hear his vague questions and his attempts at starting a conversation, and instead you focus on Grant, the fourth member of the band that you’re meeting for the first time, and on drinking shot after shot - leaving Robin to deal with an increasingly confused and worried Eddie.

After a while, the band on stage stops playing and a wave of applause and loud cheers accompanies them as they climb down the wooden platform, their songs now replaced by a rock playlist echoing from some speakers on the ceiling. The short break before the next live performance doesn’t stop people from dancing and singing, though.

After you gulp down another glass of whatever’s liquor the waitress is bringing to the table (“bottomless drinks are one of the few perks of unpaid shows” Grant jokes), you feel Robin’s hand squeeze your arm.

“Hey” she says, looking at you with a worried smile, “Come dance with me?”

“Sure” you nod, not really understanding why she’s suddenly so eager to hit the dance floor. Steve looks up at you, not interrupting his conversation with Jeff and Gareth, and keeps staring as you both stand up and head towards the group of people moving to the first notes of another rock song - one that you’ve heard before, but whose title you can’t really recall.

“Y/n” Robin asks you once you’re hidden among the crowd, “are you okay?”

You scoff, and you remember that it’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard. You like the song, and you start moving to its rhythm.

“I mean, maybe she’s just a friend” Robin tries, following your movements as best as she can and unexpectedly making you smile. A smile that soon turns sour as you see Steve talking to her back at the table, and wondering why he’s making friends with the enemy.

“Yeah” you say, “because I sit on your lap and smooch you all the time, right? Is that what friends do?”

Robin shrugs. “I don’t see why he would have asked you to come, then. If he knew she’d be here”.

“Maybe he didn’t” you reply, barely noticing a particularly drunk guy almost crashing into you. “Or maybe he knew, and since he doesn’t really feel what we thought he felt, it wasn’t a problem. After all, who am I to him? He didn’t even tell her we were coming”.

Robin grabs you by your shoulders, keeping you still in place. “Listen, we might not know who she is, but I know for sure that he likes you. Don’t even try to argue with me about that. I also know that right now you’re upset and all, but we came here to have fun: so why don’t we try to actually have some and maybe find out more about her later? We might even ask her, to clear things up once and for all. But let’s dance a bit first, yeah? To take the edge off”.

You don’t know if that makes total sense to you, but for now you agree. You’ll trust Robin to make any decision tonight. You’ll just follow her lead. And it actually feels nice, dancing in the crowd to the guitar riffs of the song, swaying your hips and lifting your arms up as you sing along, the alcohol in your system making everything seem ethereal and not really that big of a problem. Even the table at the edge of the room feels miles away - unlike Eddie’s eyes, though, which are glued on you, making you almost feel his gaze as you move and dance under the neon lights of the Hideout.

You twirl, but the music changes and the crowd moves, and in the blink of an eye you lose sight of Robin. As you turn around to look for her, you end up against something - someone, actually, and as you look up you realize that it’s the drunk guy that almost crashed into you earlier.

“Hey” he exclaims, sneaking a hand around your waist and pulling you closer to him, “What’s a beautiful young lady like you doing here at this hour?”

You try to push him away, looking around for Robin, but he’s strong, and you can smell the alcohol on him as he moves his face closer to yours.

“Come on, don’t be so uptight” he whispers in your ear, and with a cold shiver of dread you realize that while he’s keeping you against him with one hand, the other is slithering down your back and towards the edge of your skirt.

It never reaches it, however, because someone grabs the guy from the collar of his shirt and yanks him away from you.

“Don’t fucking touch her, man” Eddie almost growls, positioning himself between you and the guy, his arm protectively and gently moving you behind him.

“Woah, calm down” the guy replies, staggering. “We were just having some fun. Right, gorgeous?”

You instinctively grab Eddie’s arm, holding on to it as he tenses up.

“I don’t think so” Eddie says, slowly, “Now go and don’t ever come close to her again, you understand?”

“Or what?” The guy says, frowning as he crackles his knuckles, making you shiver.

You see Eddie’s fists tighten, but before things escalate Steve and the others appear almost out of thin air.

“Come on, dude” Steve says, taking a step closer to the guy, followed by the others. “Go have another drink and sleep it off, yeah? It’s not worth it, there’s five of us”.

The guy stares at him and then he starts walking backward. “Keep your fucking girlfriend on a leash next time” he says, spitting at Eddie’s feet before disappearing into the crowd.

Eddie doesn’t give him a second glance, as he’s too busy turning towards you and grabbing your face with his hands.

“You okay, y/n? Did that asshole hurt you?” He asks, his dark brown eyes scanning your face with worry, and for a second you forget all about Barbara.

“I’m fine” you reply, “really”.

Eddie sighs in relief. “Good. That’s good” he says, the tips of his fingers absentmindedly grazing your cheek.

“You saved the day, Prince Charming” Barbara exclaims, bringing you back down to reality. Hard. “Now hurry and go get ready backstage, before they cancel your gig. Hush hush”.

Eddie gives you one last smile before dropping his hands away from you, adjusting the strap of his guitar and walking away with Jeff, Gareth and Grant right behind him.

“Let’s go sit, shall we?” Barbara says, grabbing you under your arm and leading you away from the crowd. You look at Robin, and she shrugs as you all get back to the table.

There isn’t any music now, only the loud chatter of the bikers and bar customers occasionally interrupted by high-pitched feedback sounds as a few staff members are fixing the microphones and adjusting the speakers on stage.

“So, is this the first time you’re seeing them live?” Barbara asks you as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Yeah, it is” you tentatively reply, drumming your fingers on the table.

Barbara smirks. “Oh, you’ll love them. I’m always here when they play, and their shows are always amazing - especially the backstage celebrations, if you know what I mean” she says, winking. “And Eddie… he’s special, that one. If you’ll ever get to know him like I do, you’ll see that music is not his only talent. The boy surely has many, I promise you that”. She concludes with a sigh and a giggle.

If you weren’t sure what to make of her until now, now you do. You know girls code too well not to get what she means, and by the stunned look on Robin’s face you know she gets it, too.

A presenter walks on stage, but you can’t see him that well, since tears blur your sight and threaten to fall down your cheeks. He talks into the microphone, speaking a few words to introduce the next band, a small metal group from Hawkins that’s played at the Hideout before, and whose name makes cheers erupt from the crowd.

“Steve” Robin suddenly says as Corroded Coffin walk on stage, “I don’t think I feel very well - must be something I ate at dinner”.

You all turn towards her to see her grimace and hold her stomach with both hands.

“Jesus, Robin, are you sure?” Steve asks, his eyebrows up in surprise.

Robin nods eagerly, her eyes on yours. You understand and giver her a small, almost unintelligible nod.

“Yeah, it hurts sooooo bad” she complains, closing her eyes and breathing deep.

Barbara rushes to grab her bag, opening it and poking around inside it. “Maybe I have a pill or something, would you…”

“Oh no” Robin shakes her head, interrupting her. “I think it’s better if we go… Steve, can you drive us back?”

Steve looks back and forth between you and Robin, uncertain. You hear a few tuning riffs coming from the stage, but you don’t look.

“Yeah, let’s take her back to camp” you quickly say, sniffing briefly.

“But the show…” Steve observes, softly staring at you.

You shrug, getting up just as Eddie introduces himself and the band to the crowd. “It’s fine, we’ll come to the next one. Can you tell them it was an emergency?” You ask Barbara, who’s worriedly looking at a suffering Robin.

“Yes, sure” she replies, “They’ll be so bummed. I mean, Eddie-“

“Cool, thank you so much” Robin says, jumping to her feet and grabbing you with one hand while holding her belly with the other. “It was nice meeting you. See you next time!”.

With a fairly confused Steve following you, you walk across the room to head outside and go back to the fresh air of the night, the door closing behind you just as the first few notes of Corroded Coffin’s opening song start playing.

— 🏕 —

Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Feedback is always welcome!

Taglist • @meaganjm @emwhite1 @juggernort @final-girllll @mermemerald @sarcasm-is-my-form-of-attack @stardustworlds @eddiesbirdie @carolineesnell @djarintreble @earthtokace @copycatkillerfics @purpleorbvoid @shinydixon @kiribabyy @whoreforhowl @eddiesskittle @princesseddie @a-time-for-wolvess

161 notes · View notes

taylortruther · 1 year

Note

taylor: i'm gonna make this one especially easy for y'all, this relationship was so RED it was dark RED

swifties for some reason: is this a test? did she hide this under homonyms and three layers of metaphor that don't make grammatical sense? 💀

stop please i'm still laughing over "it means she was MAROONED"

79 notes · View notes

everyneji · 2 years

Note

Why do all of your neji’s have swastikas

MY Neji? I'm not the one drawing him. 😭 Taking this question in good faith as a chance to discuss Neji's design elements ...

"The cursed seal's design (卍) is based on the manji also known as a swastika, a Hindu and Buddhist symbol. Because the inverted form (卐) is commonly associated with Nazism outside of Asia, the anime instead uses an "X" for the cursed seal, to avoid confusion. " (X)

The term 'manji' ("10, 000 character") is tied closely to Buddhism and the concept of longevity and good fortune. Its use in the seal is a kind of cruel irony, taking a positive, sacred symbol and using it to imprison someone. The Chinese word based on the swastika, wan, is a homonym to "ten thousand" or "infinity." It reinforces Neji's belief that this is an eternal fate, one that cannot be escaped.

Interestingly, in Hinduism the left-facing swastika (sauwastika) is associated with the night, which also ties into more Neji visual coding:

There are layers here. In the yin-yang tradition, the yin is more closely associated with the feminine, dark, passive, and negative, and the yang with the masculine, light, active, and positive. This is playing with both Neji being "lost in the darkness" and the the fact that Hinata can be spelled with the same characters as Hyūga, "a place in the sun." The Hyūga are strongly associated with light, with the main family (+ Hizashi) being all named in some respect with daylight, sunlight, fire, fireworks, etc. ... Neji is perpetually at odds with his family.

The yin-yang is carried further into Neji's design and the Hyūga's Chinese-influenced aesthetic/martial traditions. In the Bagua "eight trigams" used in Taoist cosmology, yin and yang are represented by lines composed into trigrams:

The Gentle Fist is of course based on Baguazhang, a martial art style grounded in the concept of "walking the circle" (Airbending was also based on this.) Circles are carried through the Hyūga martial style in the presence of the yin-yang in the Sixty Four Palms and the kaiten. There is also the evasiveness, the redirection of your opponent's energy, and chaining attacks to reach the Fajing, the final explosive blow -- your sixty fourth palm if you will.

The "sixty four" evokes the "sixty four hexagrams" that are made of combinations of trigrams in the I Ching, a text on divination. Neji's interest in fate parallels these understandings of the world. Neji is a very philosophically grounded character, whose beliefs are echoed in the techniques he uses.

Altogether he is a very cohesively designed character: the swastika and the yin-yang are also linked in the way that they a geometric, symmetrical pattern representing a larger concept. Even the whiteness of the Byakugan represents purity, divinity, and the light, thus of course their vision is superior ... and I think you can make an argument about it echoing a sense of emptiness/beinglessness/supreme everything that predates yin-yang in Taiji or Wuji but that's far more speculative lmao.

TL;DR: Neji is not a Nazi.

#not everyneji #ask #neji hyuga #naruto meta #.thank you for the ask #.i do like talking about the visual design elements #.barring the kinkaku brothers i think kishi generally slays at character design

181 notes · View notes

transformers-mosaic · 5 months

Photo

Transformers: Mosaic #543 - "The Magnificent Five"

Originally posted on September 17th, 2010

Story - Juan Pablo Osorio, Franco Villa Art - Ben Pirrie Colours - Sara Guyon-Gellin Injecticon concept - Chris Frayne

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

Later revised and annotated for Transformers: The Lost Seasons

wada sez: I’m just going to add some hyperlinks to Villa’s annotations from TFW2005: “The title is a nod to both the notorious The Magnificent Seven movie and the Marvel UK Annual "The Magnificent Six" story. The "Kings of the Wild Frontier." credits are a nod to the homonym Marvel US issue. The ending panel is a vague nod to the Beast Wars episode "Coming Of The Fuzor". The Injecticons concept, created by Chris, is backed up by dozens of the characters that Chris designed. [...] The Protectobots are based on their War Within: The Dark Ages version. The Feudal Lord is based on one of the Decepticon statues seen in TFTM86 (Floron? Devron? Don't remember, sorry!). The Lawless Times were created by Juan Pablo for the Lost Seasons project.” Clean inks and Italian translation below, together with a preview of tomorrow’s strip...

#Transformers #Transformers Mosaic #Maccadam #Sunbow Transformers #Transformers: The Lost Seasons #Juan Pablo Osorio #Franco Villa #Ben Pirrie #Sara Guyon-Gellin #Chris Frayne #Hot Spot #Streetwise #Blades #Groove #First Aid #Aragon #Zetar #Cromar

10 notes · View notes

elluia · 3 months

Text

Little gems of the French localisation of Fire Emblem

Hi! I wanted to share a few nice details of the French localisation of the Fire Emblem games with you all 😊

First, I’ll cover the tome names (using Radiant Dawn’s ranks, as it goes all the way to SS), name changes in Tellius, then the Houses names in Three Houses, and finally a baffling line censored (?) in Radiant Dawn that puzzles me to this day.

~.~.~

✨Let’s start with magic tomes. They all have a unique name, and do not follow the El-Arc-Rex English naming convention. The final rank, SS, is called S+ in French. And probably in all of Europe, for obvious historical reasons. I sure hope so.

Descriptions will go like this:

RANK: French name (translation, lit. translation = English name)

🍃 WIND MAGIC (Magie du Vent)

E: Vent (=Wind, same) C: Tempête (Storm = Elwind), A: Ouragan (Hurricane = Arcwind) S: Tornade (=Tornado, same) SS: Fimbulvetr (= Rexcalibur) Siege: Blizzard (same)

Note that the wind rises with each rank…

The SS wind tome uses ice animations, Fimbulvetr makes perfect sense as a name!

Fimbulvetr is generally the high to highest tier of wind magic in the French localisation: A in the GBA games, S in PoR, SS in RD, A in Awakening, B in Three Houses, Emblem Soren’s spell… and just C in Fates.

🔥 FIRE MAGIC (Magie du Feu)

E: Feu (= Fire, same) C: Inferno (self-explanatory = Elfire) A: Embrasement (blaze, burning, or blazing up = Arcfire) S: Bolganone (same) SS: Brasier (lit. raging fire, inferno = Rexflame) Siege: Météorite (=Meteor, same) Cymbeline is unchanged.

💡 Fun fact: The Hunger Games’ second novel, “Catching Fire”, is called “L’Embrasement” in French.

⚡ LIGHTNING MAGIC (Magie de la Foudre)

E: Foudre (Lightning = Thunder) C: Éclairs (Lightning bolts = Elthunder) A: Feu du Ciel (Heaven’s Might, lit. Heaven’s Fire = Arcthunder) S: Thoron (same) SS: Mjölnir (= Rexbolt) Siege: Fulguration (Fulguration, lit. a flash lightning = Bolting)

Lightning magic is the most interesting.

Two synonyms are used for ranks E and C. “Thunder” is “Tonnerre” in French, which refers to sound only. The translators chose the visual representation instead.

🔮 For the SS rank, they went back and used the name of the Jugdral Holy Weapon! Again, Fates makes Mjölnir a C rank tome…

🌞 LIGHT MAGIC (Magie du Jour, lit. Day Magic)

E: Lumière (=Light, same) C: Éclat (Spark, Brilliance = Ellight) A: Flash (self-explanatory = Shine) S: Aura toxique (Toxic aura = Valaura) SS: Aura (Aura = Rexaura) Siege: Châtiment (Punishment = Purge) Creiddylad, Thani, and Nosferatu are unchanged.

In my opinion, Valaura’s name change is very weird and makes the two late-game tomes sound too similar.

💖 The siege tome is used in the phrase “châtiment divin” (divine punishment), it’s absolutely fitting to smite your enemies!

🌚 DARK MAGIC (Magie de la Nuit, lit. Night Magic)

C: Larve (= Worm, same) B: Carreau (same) S: Verrine (same) SS: Balberith (same) Siege: Fenrir (same)

Nothing changed! C rank is a literal translation.

I love the increasing intensity with each new rank! It gives Fire Emblem magic some… personality 💪

~.~.~

Now for name changes in Radiant Dawn!

While it’s rather well-known that Mist is called Alja in German, there are two names localised differently in French!

First is Ena, called Ina instead. Could work as a diminutive, but quite unnecessary in my opinion.

Then, there is Gatrie, who becomes Gatorie. I think they tried to avoid “Gatrie”, a homonym of “gâterie”, which can mean "treat" or can be a slang for… a blowjob. For a character who likes women so much, that’s quite unfortunate (and hilarious!). Even funnier, Gatorie almost sounds like “rice cake”… (or is it just me?)

Finally, there is Ike’s own epithet of “Radiant Hero” or “Hero of the Blue Flames”. In newer games, it’s always translated as “Héros de l’Aube”, meaning Hero of Dawn. It pairs well with Micaiah (“la Fille/Prêtresse de l’Aube” = the Maiden/Priestess of Dawn). Only his ending card calls him “Héros de la flamme”, or Hero of the flame.

In Engage and Heroes, Tellius is still called “Monde de Radiance” (World of Radiance), instead of using Dawn, the common name for its two heroes.

~.~.~

🔎 Another neat change we have is the Houses names in Three Houses, in fact.

Colours sound silly for a class name in French (it’s mostly fine for naming kindergarten classes), so the localisation team switched to precious metals and gemstones. You can even check in the artbook, they stand out compared to all the other languages!

Black Eagles = Aigles de Jais = Jet Eagles (as in, the jet-black gem)

Blue Lions = Lions de Saphir = Sapphire Lions

Golden Deer = Cerfs d’Or = Golden Deer (same, and the precious theme is kept!)

Ashen Wolves = Loups Cendrés = Ashen Wolves (same, and no gem because the name is justified by Nabatean lore in-game)

It’s neat! And absolutely necessary in French. Great localisation right there.

~.~.~

🤦‍♀️ Now let me mention a particularly failed translation, twice in a row.

In Part I Chapter 7 of Radiant Dawn, Izuka and Sothe exchange two lines with an aside in parenthesis, showing their inner thoughts. And for some reason, it’s the only big deviation in the whole localisation.

Izuka (EN): But Laguz... They're powerful! (and expendable...) Just what we need. By all means, invite them to join! Izuka (FR) : Car les Laguz sont très puissants (et extrêmement flexibles) ! C’est tout à fait ce dont a besoin notre armée ! Dites-leur de se joindre à nous ! Izuka (literal) : Because Laguz are very powerful (and extremely flexible)! This is exactly what our army needs! Tell them to join us!

(Flexible can be taken as stretchable or adaptable here, but we’re nowhere close the cruel original intent…)

Sothe (EN) : They're good friends. I'm sure they'll agree to help if I ask (you mumbling creep). Sothe (FR) : Ce sont de bons amis. Ils accepteront de nous rejoindre si je leur demande (moi aussi je peux faire des apartés). Sothe (literal) : They’re good friends. They’ll join us if I ask them (I can also do asides).

WTF happened here? We lost two important pieces of information in the asides…

Izuka’s comment sounds almost goofy, not ominous!

Do I have to assume French!Sothe became self-aware for a split second? He’s supposed to question Izuka’s character, not make meta quips.

There are a few possibilities for Izuka:

(The most likely) The translator took “expendable” literally = it’s expansible in French, synonymous with flexible. The second word is shorter and more common.

Is it meant to censor Izuka’s cruelty?

Or is it meant to hide his motives to the player?

A better translation could have been: (et facilement remplaçables) = (and easily replaceable).

But for Sothe...

(The most likely) Did the translator want to censor an insult?

Did they want to make the situation lighter with a meta joke?

Did they think the aside was unnecessary considering Sothe’s obvious suspicion of Izuka?

Did they run out of characters to translate the insult in that text box? (It is full.)

The translation could have been: (ce type est louche) = (that shifty guy). And indeed, finding an appropriate insult for a Teen rating was hard…

Truly a mystery for the ages.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 🙇‍♀️

#tellius #fire emblem #fe10 #fe16 #radiant dawn #fe3h #translation #localization #feh #Happy Birthday Radiant Dawn!

5 notes · View notes

deathlessathanasia · 8 months

Text

"However, if Hesiod had little notion that the world was a κόσμος , scholars are as quick to tell us that Chaos has no relation with its English homonym. Rather based on the root χα ‘gap’ and χάσκειν or χαίνειν ‘to gap’, it refers to yawning or gapping and in no way contains ‘the idea of confusion or disorder’. 11 Although an etymological connection between Χάος and χάσκειν is plausible, we should remember that etymologies reveal linguistic histories rather than common understandings and these two aspects seem to have diverged widely. The cosmological poet Pherecydes of Syros appears to have equated Chaos with primal water, perhaps based on the verb χεῖσθαι to flow (DK 7 B 1). While this is often dismissed as a later addition by the Stoics, who similarly understood the word through the related verb χείομαι (SVF 1.103), I see no reason why the view cannot have been held by both Pherecydes and the Stoics. Wordplay is very common in early Greek poetry and the imagery of a watery beginning is well established in Mediterranean cosmologies. 12 Even Homer calls Okeanos and Tethys the father and mother of all the gods (Il. 14.200–4).

If Pherecydes’ Chaos resided in the water, for others it was found in the underworld. Aristophanes in Birds (698) describes Chaos as the winged partner of Eros. While Chaos’ wings may simply complement the play’s feathered protagonists, when Chaos is said to mingle with Eros in a recess of Tartarus, it is unlikely that the audience envisioned a gap. Nor is the god happy to remain in a single location and elsewhere in Birds , Chaos appears in the sky (192). Aristotle differs again, interpreting Chaos in relation to making space, this time perhaps etymologizing it according to the verb χωρέω (Phys. 209a). 13

Moving effortlessly between flowing, gapping and making space, Chaos also at times appears to be exactly what so many scholars distance it from: disorder. Pseudo Lucian (Amores 32) describes: σὺ γὰρ ἐξ ἀφανοῦς καὶ κεχυμένης ἀμορφίας τὸ πᾶν ἐμόρφωσας. ὥσπερ οὖν ὅλου κόσμου τάφον τινὰ κοινὸν ἀφελὼν τὸ περικεί μενον χάος ἐκεῖνο μὲν ἐς ἐσχάτους Ταρτάρου μυχοὺς ἐφυγάδευσας … For you [Eros] gave shape to everything out of dark confused shapelessness. As though you had removed a tomb burying the whole universe alike, you banished that Chaos which enveloped it to the recesses of farthest Tartarus . . . 14 This too was the Chaos opted for in Latin by Ovid. In his Metamorphosis, Ovid (1.7–9) describes it as rudis indigestaque moles nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. A shapeless, unwrought mass of inert bulk and nothing more, with the discordant seeds of disconnected elements all heaped together in anarchic disarray. 15 This understanding also appears in some Egyptian translations and when the Gnostics searched for an equivalent for the Egyptian cosmological term Nun (the primal waters of disorder) they settled on Χάος. 16

While we may rightly claim that these authors – some of them quite late – simply misunderstood the word, it is unclear why Hesiod was not equally susceptible to such a misunderstanding. Indeed, at the very least the widespread ancient confusion serves as a word of caution against an over-reliance on etymologies as vehicles for understanding historical usage."

- Chaos, Cosmos and Creation in Early Greek Theogonies: An Ontological Exploration by Olaf Almqvist

#chaos #cosmogony #quotes #excerpts

9 notes · View notes

brightlight-dazzlingeyes · 1 year

Text

the french exit | epilogue

kylian mbappé x original female character [+18]

synopsis: alice is a lonely rich girl whose biggest fear is to become a lonely rich woman. ever since they moved to paris, her fiancé doesn’t seem to be interested in her anymore. so alice decides to find comfort in the arms of another man. warnings: cheating; angst; smut; i have never been to france; minors dni.

previous chapter | masterlist

Epilogue

Life is easier when you're in love. When you feel understood and connected to another person. Alice goes home everyday to her favorite person in the world, and she doesn't have to ask: he’s always there, he’s always looking at her and understanding her. And loving her back.

The guilt still creeps up on her, naturally. It comes sometimes in the shape of a nightmare, she jumps in bed in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and gets too scared to sleep again. Liar. Other times is during the day, under the sun, when, for a second, she thinks she forgot her engagement ring before leaving the house. And then she remembers. Liar.

A week before the date of the wedding, David announces through social media that he’s dating someone else – a French woman who works at his office – and Alice is reminded that she wasn’t alone in her wrongdoings. It was a group project. A sinful ballad played by four people. Liars.

But life is easier, still. Because she’s in love. Cat has a name now, it’s Renoir. The name was chosen after the kitten completely destroyed a homonyms book that described the famous painter's work and used to sit at the coffee table in the living room. Alice interpreted it as a sign and treats baby Renoir as the proper artist he is, ever since.

Alice is suspicious that Renoir likes Kylian more than he likes her, but she can’t blame the kitten for it, since she makes him watch a lot of PSG matches with her. It makes sense that he would nurture some sort of admiration for the talented player.

“I want you to meet my family.” Kylian asks one day, over breakfast. “I want to meet your family as well, I want us to be official.” He’s holding her hand. “I guess what I’m really asking is: do you want to be my girlfriend?”

She does, so she says yes. It’s different this time, being someone’s girlfriend, they have been living together for months, if you count the first time she brought a toothbrush and a luggage to the apartment, and you really should count since then. They are intimate with each other, they share dark secrets already, so early into the relationship and they know each other so well. The honeymoon phase is long gone. So it’s different. It 's easier.

“Here, I brought you something.”

They are getting ready for a dinner party they’re hosting. They invited their closest friends, it’s the first time they’re doing something like that. Kylian hands her a red box, it says Cartier on top. Alice gasps when she opens it – it’s a beautiful diamond necklace.

“Oh my God, Kyky, it 's gorgeous!”

“Do you love it?”

Secretly, he always wished to cover her in diamonds and jewelry. To give her a bigger ring than the other guy had. He bought the necklace when she was still with that other man, when he was still a secret. When nobody knew about them. Ever since she became his official girlfriend, he’s been waiting for the right time to give it to her.

“I love it!” Alice laughs and hugs him. “Thank you so much!”

She hasn't done her makeup or put on her dress yet, standing in the bedroom in only her bra and pantyhose. She asks him to put on the jewel for her, and he guides her to the floor length mirror, standing behind her.

“Do you think it looks good on me?” Alice asks, touching the necklace. Kylian still has his hand on her hair, holding it up. He enjoys the view, and while looking at her through the mirror, he gives her soft kisses on her neck and takes his lips up to her ear where he whispers.

“Everything looks good on you, baby.”

Alice feels him hardening in his pants, behind her.

“Kyky, we don’t have time!” She giggles. “Our friends will be here any minute now.”

“That’s why we need to take care of it now. You don’t me like this during dinner, do you?” Kylian bites her ear and goes back to the neck kisses. His hand guided her hips closer to his, rubbing himself on her, making her feel him.

“You’re evil.” He’s taking off her bra as she says that. “You know I can't resist you!”

“No, you can’t. Can you?” He laughs, she’s wearing nothing but the diamond necklace now. “My baby could never resist me.”

Kylian pushes her closer to the mirror, she has her hand and face resting on it as he starts fucking her from behind.

“Thank you.” She says as soon as he enters her. She needs him to know that she’s thankful, need him to know how happy it makes her having him inside of her, where he belongs.

“Look at yourself!” He pulls her hair and move her face so she can see, his other hand on her breast, pinching her nipple. “Look, baby. The necklace compliments your tits.” He fucks her harder, as if to prove a point, her breasts and the jewel moving according to his command. “So pretty.” Kylian’s voice is rough, they’re in a hurry and he didn’t forget. His hand finds her clit and he touches her with expertise. He knows her too well, it doesn't take long to give his girl an orgasm. “That’s right, baby, cum for me. Yes, I’m cumming too. Fuck.”

Dinner dates with friends are easier when you’re in love. They have a hand on each other at all times during the meal. ‘You two are disgusting!” – their friends point out multiple times in the evening. When Alice tells her mother about Kylian, and about the fact that they’re living together, Caroline laughs and says: “Well, if you decide to marry him at least we already have the dress!”

...

@mywhimsyjournal @lalunaenamoradasworld

#the french exit #kylian mbappe #football fanfic #football fic #kylian fanfic #kylian mbappe fanfic

46 notes · View notes

cyarskj1899 · 6 months

Text

25 Essential Black-Metal Albums

From Venom and Bathory to Behemoth and Deafheaven

From its origins in England, Sweden, and Switzerland to its murderous Norwegian prime and its U.S. resurgence, black-metal has proven harder to extinguish than a fire consuming a church. And while sensational violence and a flirtation with the occult have often threatened to eclipse the genre's artistic merits, it is ultimately the music that has given this dark practice its longevity. Here, Revolver picks 25 albums that define the malefic movement.

(Black Mark, 1984) This cult Swedish studio band took the lo-fi shittiness of Venom and added icy Norse paganism to the garbled mix. Written and coproduced by vocalist-guitarist Quorthon (who died in 2004), Bathory's homonymous debut also features drummer Jonas Åkerlund, who went on to direct videos for both Madonna and U2 (plus the 2002 crystal meth flick Spun), not to mention the forthcoming controversial Lords of Chaos movie.

(Noise, 1984) Before vocalist-guitarist Tom G. Warrior formed Celtic Frost with bassist Martin Ain, he was the leader of another Swiss metal trio called Hellhammer. Though the band existed for less than two years, the harsh cacophony of the Apocalyptic Raids demo perfectly expressed black metal's caustic furor.

(Peaceville, 1991) This Norwegian duo's second album marks drummer-lyricist Fenriz and vocalist-guitarist Nocturno Culto's defection from the traditional death-metal territory of Soulside Journey to the chilling realm of "unholy black metal."

(Misanthropy, 1992) The debut by Burzum, the one-man studio project of J.R.R. Tolkien aficionado Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh), was originally released on Mayhem guitarist Euronymous' Deathlike Silence Productions. Remarkable for its militaristic severity and creepy synth ambience, Burzum remains one of black metal's earliest masterpieces.

(Century Black, 1993) Also originally released on Deathlike Silence, De Mysteriis was Mayhem's scorching full-length follow-up to the seminal Deathcrush mini-LP. The album features longtime drummer Hellhammer, current vocalist Attila Csihar (ex-Tormentor, ex-Aborym), and Burzum's Varg Vikernes (on session bass), who would stab guitarist Euronymous to death shortly after the album's release.

(Cacophonous, 1994) Back when vocalist Dani Filth was still known as Daniel Davey, British goth ghouls Cradle of Filth unveiled their full-length debut — complete with elaborate keyboard intros, female backing vocals, and naked vampire chicks. Taking said formula to its baroque breaking point over following releases, CoF rose to be possibly the most well-known band in black metal (if you considered them "black metal" at all), not to mention a onetime personal favorite of Bam Margera.

(Candlelight, 1995) Emperor's full-length debut — and final recording with drummer/convicted murderer Bård "Faust" Eithun, In the Nightside Eclipsemarked the beginning of symphonic black metal, a style later spit-polished and propelled into the mainstream by Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir.

(Nuclear Blast, 1995) Led by guitarist-vocalist Jon Nödtveidt, Gothenburg's Dissection blurred the line between black metal and the melodic death metal their Swedish city made famous. The band's second album was their last (and finest) riff blizzard before Nödtveidt was imprisoned for murder.

(Nuclear Blast, 1996) Long before they dragged their chain-mail-encased tits onto Ozzfest's main stage, Dimmu Borgir announced made their symphonic bid to dominate Norwegian underground with Stormblåst. The native-tongued LP was rerecorded in 2005, only increasing its original frostbitten grimness.

(Osmose, 1996) Although they have suffered chronic touring setbacks due to vocalist-guitarist Morgan Håkansson's felonious history (which allegedly includes assaulting a police officer and grave robbery), black-metal berserkers Marduk know how to throw down in the studio. On Heaven Shall Burn, the Swedes unleash a blast of unapologetic blasphemy captured devilishly by producer (and Hypocrisy main man) Peter Tägtgren.

(Century Media, 1997) Although the band would take a severe turn into proggy histrionics (see 2005's Blood Inside), Ulver's third full-length — a savagely shrill concept album about werewolves (subtitle: Eight Hymns to the Wolf in Man) that was supposedly recorded outdoors in an ancient Norwegian forest — could turn any mere man into a murderous beast

(Nuclear Blast, 1998) Four years in the making, Gorgoroth's fourth effort borrows the title of Kiss' 1976 album, boasts four different vocalists (sensing a pattern here?) — including their particularly notorious former frontman, Gaahl — and features guest drumming from Satyricon's Frost. Unrelenting from front to back, Destroyer closes with a cover of Darkthrone's "Slottet I Det Fjerne."

(Nuclear Blast, 1999) Widely discounted by apparently deaf journalists as some sort of goth/industrial crossover release, Rebel Extravaganza sounds more like a black-metal version of Voivod than anything else. Satyricon's fourth album is not just another underappreciated sonic blitzkrieg, it's actually Phil Anselmo-approved: Pantera tapped the band to open their 2000 European tour.

(tUMULt, 2000) In 2000, Weakling created a world all their own with Dead as Dreams, following in the footsteps of early Emperor, Ulver and Burzum to create moving, beautiful black metal that crossed over into ambient and post-rock. Hands down one of the most important USBM (U.S. black metal) LPs of all time, highly influential to the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room and Deafheaven, the group's lone full-length is also a crucial release for black metal at large.

(Century Media, 2001) On their fifth album, this Japanese trio (now a quartet) shed their corpse paint but not their insatiable appetite for increasingly progressive black-metal. Imaginary Sonicscape revels in the pleasures of magic mushrooms, evil moog keyboards, and dizzying arrangements; plus, the lyrics to "Nietzschean Conspiracy" were written by then-imprisoned Emperor drummer Faust.

(Nuclear Blast, 2002) Since reissued with a bonus live DVD, the seventh album from Norwegian power triad Immortal is practically unstoppable. Produced by Peter Tägtgren, Sons of Northern Darkness combines fierce riffery with a Maiden-esque sense of epic dynamism. (Fun fact: One of the band's promotional photos for this release mistakenly caught guitarist-vocalist Abbath with his fly down.)

(Moribund, 2004) The one-man plague of professional tattoo artist Jef Whitehead (a.k.a. Wrest), Leviathan are the vanguard of the American isolationist black-metal phenomenon. Whitehead's second full-length under the Leviathan moniker, Tentacles is a vicious display of lo-fi pyrokinesis that takes its cues from the Burzum back catalog.

(Moribund, 2004) Another one-man outfit, L.A.'s Xasthur is the brainchild of Scott Conner, a.k.a. Malefic, also known for his live guest "vo-kills" with sub-harmonic drone overlords Sunn O))). The bleak psychedelic hellscapes that bleed black through each of his many LPs, EPs, and splits are at their most unsettling on this, Xasthur's fourth full-length.

(Ajna Offensive, 2005) Little is known about this reclusive French posse; the band refuses almost all interview requests. But Kénôse is one of the most powerful, ideologically intriguing black-metal releases in the history of forever. Ominous and brooding, the hypnotic fury of the album's three epic tracks is matched only by its enigmatic artwork.

(Candlelight, 2005) Along with Darkthrone, the reunited Emperor, Varg Vikernes and the surviving members of Mayhem, Enslaved are the last of Norway's living black-metal O.G.s. Their Grammy-winning eighth album is a rousing Viking feast that makes you wanna burn and pillage all the way to Valhalla — and proof that these originators are still well ahead of most of the pack.

(Total Holocaust, 2005) Much like Varg Vikernes did through Burzum's experimentation with keyboards, Leviathan's Jef Whitehead (re)established black metal as not just a sound, but a feeling and approach, with his project Lurker of Chalice and its sole, self-titled offering. Wildly inventive, employing everything from electronic samples to wind chimes and chorus vocals, the album proves that all the chilling darkness of the subgenre can be conjured without a lo-fi tremolo riff.

(Season of Mist, 2007) Despite their infamous penchant for literal mid-set bloodbaths, the Swedish pyromaniacs Watain have always been a band defined by sharp songcraft, not just provocative showmanship. Case in point: Sworn to the Dark, which saw the Satanic firebrands culling from thrash, hard rock, prog and dark ambient to deliver one of the most stylistically diverse black-metal albums of the 2000s.

(Metal Blade, 2013) While their music arguably leans more death metal, these Polish blasphemers' explicitly Satanic philosophical stance and corpse-paint-and-hellfire onstage presentation clearly place them within the black-metal movement. Behemoth's comeback album after frontman Nergal's near-fatal battle with Leukemia, The Satanist stands as a majestic and vital (re)statement of intent.

(Deathwish, 2013) Deafheaven's sophomore LP Sunbatherrepresented a true paradigm shift in black metal both in its aesthetics and attitudes, from its pink album cover to its sunny riffage. Indeed, the first notes of "Dream House" evoke something not often heard in the genre: a feeling of optimism. Sunbather leaned on the creativity of bands past, but took it next level, embracing elements of shoegaze, post-rock and screamo in the way that hadn't been done before. But its greatest innovation may be the way the album rides on the belief that black metal doesn't have to be antisocial in spirit; indeed, it can come with open arms.

Sent from my iPhone

6 notes · View notes

ganbaruwayo · 25 days

Text

メアメア・Mare Mare

Kairiki Bear ft. Kizuna Akari Translation by Platonic水を食べる / Free to use with credit and a link back to this post.

もう頭の中沸いてんだ Ahh, my head’s already about to boil over 手取り合う振りしてどんどん Pretending to hold hands; my head is pounding. 陰口ばっか寒いんだって Since the all the shit-talking feels so cold 耳伏せましょうラッタラ I’ll turn a deaf ear to it; la-tta-la 仲良しゴッコの末路は The end result of pretending to be good friends is that １＋２で『惨』だらけって One plus two is just a tri-tragedy* 偽善者笑顔嫌いだって Since I hate the smiles of those hypocrites 手を切りましょうラッタラッタ　タ I’ll cut off that relationship; la-tta-la ta-tah

ねえ独りになって笑うんだ Hey, turning out to be all by myself made me laugh ２－２で何にも無いな Two minus two is just nothing at all, huh 胸の奥悴んだりして The heart in my chest is growing numb to the cold ハラホロヒレハレ Halla-hollo-hillee - oh my, ラッタラッタ　タ La-tta-la ta-tah…

痛くなくならない？ Does it have to hurt? いなくなくなりたい？ Don’t you want to disa-disappear? 居たくないなら背を向けて If you wanna disappear, then, turn your back to it all!

止まんない雨々 The rainy-rain won’t stop, ガラクタみたいな人生 Right on my garbage-looking life 抱え込むココロも Saddled with cradling my heart, 腐ってくシヌマデ It too, is rotting ‘til I die わかんないあれあれ I don’t get it - what’s up with that 不正解だらけの人生 Life full of nothing but test mistakes? 塞ぎ込むココロも Saddled with my brooding heart, 喰らってくシヌマデ It too, is being eaten ‘til I die

もう歪んだ仮面見慣れたんだ Ahh, I’m already used to seeing warped masks 手取り合って取り繕って Ones that hold hands, keep up apperances 綺麗事掲げて誇れって And boast about touting lip-service around, 目も当てられないナイナナイ God, I can’t look at this any-ny-mo-more ドクドク孤独の末路は The end result of my steady, steady solitude is that 惨×惨＝『苦』で傷縫って A tri-tragedy squared equals stitching up wounds with sapo-nines** 偽善者ばっか嫌いだなって I’ve come to hate all the hypocrites, ハラホロヒレハレ Halla-hollo-hillee - oh my, ラッタラッタ　タ La-tta-la ta-tah…

いつか報われたい？ Do you want to be repayed one day? いつか救われたい？ Do you want to be rescued one day? いつかシアワセになれない？ Can’t I just get used to happiness one of these days?

止まんない雨々 The rainy-rain won’t stop, ガラクタみたいな人生 Right on my garbage-looking life 立ち込む暗がりに The darkness crowding this place, 縋ってくシヌマデ I’m clinging on to it ‘til I die わかんないあれあれ I don’t get it - what’s up with that 不正解マミレの人生 Life smeared full with test mistakes? 微かな希望さえ My dimming hopes and wishes, even 奪ってくシヌマデ Are being taken away ‘til I die

ここは悪夢ココロの明くる I’m in a nightmare; after my heart, 孤独の泳ぐ I’m swimming through solitude ここはメアメア I’m in a nightmare-mare, ココロの雨はこの灯の病めだ The rain in my heart is like a faulty lamp ここはメアメア I’m in a nightmare-mare, 拘る夢は来ない運命だ My destiny is that the dreams I’m obsessed with will not come true ここはメアメア I’m in a nightmare-mare この降る雨は… This falling rain is…

止まんない雨々 The rainy-rain won’t stop, ガラクタみたいな人生 Right on my garbage-looking life 抱え込むココロも Saddled with cradling my heart, 腐ってくシヌマデ It too, is rotting ‘til I die わかんないあれあれ I don’t get it - what’s up with that 不正解だらけの人生 Life full of nothing but test mistakes? 照らしてく明日も The shining brightness of tomorrow, 喰らってくシヌマデ It too, is being eaten ‘til I die 今宵も雨々 Tonight, it too, is rainy-raining.

*This reads “one plus two equals three”, but using a homonym for three which is an adjective that means “to be pitiable or to be saddened.” I tried my best. **An expansion of the previous pun, this is “three times three equals nine” with the characters for three being the same homonym as before equalling a homonym for nine meaning “pain/anguish.” I shortened “a tri-tragedy times a tri-tragedy” to “a tri-tragedy squared” to keep the brevity of the original line (and 3^2 = 3x3 anyway). For the pun on nine I browsed a really long list of “words containing ‘nine’”, but I eventually landed on ‘saponines’ and it fit perfectly -- the character used there is the same character in the word for ‘bitter’, and saponines are a bitter toxin that are used in medicines!

#mare mare #kairiki bear #kizuna akari #vocaloid translation #vocaloid

2 notes · View notes

tiny-librarian · 1 year

Photo

A mural by Franz Anton Maulbertsch in the Riesensaal at the Hofburg in Innsbruck documents how Maria Theresa kept alive the memory of her deceased children. Following the death of her husband, who expired there suddenly and unexpectedly in 1765, she had this room painted into a monumental memorial for her family. It shows the four little girls bearing floral wreaths and seated on a cloudy stairway to heaven: in the foreground Johanna Gabriele, who died at the age of 12; behind her Maria Elisabeth, the firstborn, dead at three; then Maria Carolina. who died shortly after her first birthday; and in the background, discernable in the dark only as a schematic putto, the second child, stillborn Maria Carolina. The three girls who passed away at an especially young age lived on symbolically in their homonymous sisters: there was a second Maria Elisabeth and even a third Maria Carolina. In the house of Habsburg, Christian names were always chosen from the same limited reservoir of saints, in ever varying order. The aim was not to stamp children as one of a kind individuals but to mark dynastic identity and continuity.

Maria Theresa: The Habsburg Empress in Her Time - Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger

(Note: The stillborn Maria Carolina referred to as “the second child” was in fact her tenth child.

There are a few curiosities regarding this portrait. The eldest child is said in this book to be Johanna Gabriela; however the room has a portrait of her as a young lady as well, which is a bit confusing to have her depicted looking like a child here, if it’s indeed supposed to be her.

Another curiosity regarding the portrait is that it’s labelled “Elisabetha, Carolina, and Christina”. Her only daughter named Maria Christina lived into her mid 50s)

#maria theresa #maria carolina of austria #maria elisabeth of austria #Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria #house of habsburg lorraine #18th century #austria

14 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 years

Photo

The Soul Bone Once I said I didn’t have a spiritual bone in my body and meant by that I didn’t want to think of death, as though any bone in us could escape it. Maybe I was afraid of what I couldn’t know for certain, a thud like the slamming of a coffin lid, as final and inexplicable as that. What was the soul anyway, I wondered, but a homonym for loneliness? Now, in late middle age, or more, I like to imagine it, the spirit, the soul bone, as though it were hidden somewhere inside my body, white as a tooth that falls from a child’s mouth, a dove, the cloud it can fly through. Like bones, it persists. Little knot of self, stubborn as wildflowers in a Chilmark field in autumn, the white ones they call boneset, for healing, or the others, pearly everlasting. The rabbis of the Midrash believed in the bone and called it the luz, just like the Spanish word for light, the size of a chickpea or an almond, depending on which rabbi was telling the story, found, they said, at the top of the spine or the base, depending. No one’s ever seen it, of course, but sometimes at night I imagine I can feel it, shining its light through my body, the bone luminous, glowing in the dark. Sometimes, if you listen, you might even hear that light deep inside me, humming its brave little song. —Susan Wood, from The Book of Ten (University of Pittsburg Press, 2011)

#The Soul Bone #Susan Wood #soul #words and writing #my favorites #poem #poetry

37 notes · View notes

eddie-sweetheart · 2 years

Text

🏕 Camp Lovers Lake - Chapter Five 🏕

An Eddie Munson x Female Reader summer camp story. Set just before the beginning of season 3 of Stranger Things, with a few diversions from the original plot of the series.

🏕 Chapters List

Pairing and tropes • Eddie Munson x Henderson Female Reader - fluff, forced proximity, slightly slow burn, summer camp clichés ♥︎

Warnings • Cursing, possible mentions and/or depictions of violence, sexually suggestive language. Having no idea where this is going myself, you’ll need to be 18+ to read this fic just in case!

Chapter notes • Driven by desperation, I managed to finish this chapter exactly before leaving for my summer holidays ✨ Be patient with the slow burn, it will be worth it I promise! Also, if you can spot the little movie-related Easter egg I put in this chapter, let me know ;)

Chapter word count: 6.7k

🌹 Masterlist 🌹

After the bonfire, you, Steve and Robin start hanging out with Gareth, Jeff and Eddie more and more every day - and time starts running just a little bit faster.

In the following days, even if you’re often paired with other counselors on your different tasks, you always find a way to spend some time together. You have now reclaimed your own spot at the counselors' table in the Headquarters, where you all sit together both at lunch and dinner - during which you’ve discovered Gareth’s pure disdain for vegetables and Eddie’s preference for chocolate cake over apple pie.

Sometimes, you even find each other hanging out together outside one of your cabins before bedtime, sitting on the creaky, wooden steps of the tiny porch in the late evening warmth, with crickets chirping in the background as Robin snickers at Jeff’s jokes or Eddie comes up with a witty remark at Steve’s attitude. In those moments, you look at them in the dim light of the sunset and your heart warms a little as you realize that becoming friends with a couple of nerdy metalheads and an ex-popular heartthrob who just graduated high school is not what you expected for the summer - but it’s way better than you thought.

And thank god you’ve made friends with a group of musicians, you think as you now stride towards dinner with a couple of scribbled paper sheets and a pen under your arm, because you desperately need all their songwriting skills right now.

As the main door opens under the push of your hands and you start scanning the room once you get in, it doesn’t take much for you to find your friends. They’re sitting at the usual table (your table, you think with a smile) and as you make your way past the other campers to reach them, you feel your cheeks blush lightly and a soft smile bloom on your lips as you notice that Eddie’s there, too.

Well, of course he is - why wouldn’t he? But, even if you've all started hanging out together whenever you can, every time you catch a glimpse of his messy hair and bright grin, you still can’t help but be pleasantly surprised at how he wiped the idea you had of him completely clear now that you’ve gotten to know him better. After the grim (and probably prejudiced) description Steve made of him during the first camp dinner, you pictured him as a dark, dangerous guy with a troubled life - but you would have never imagined that he is, instead, a funny, witty, passionate and overall nice person to be around. And you like to have him around - a lot. As a friend, of course. A friend that also happens to look extremely handsome every time he bursts out in a laugh that can light up a whole room-

You shake these thoughts away as you finally approach the table, slamming the papers on the wooden surface and startling the whole group with your arrival.

“Jesus, y/n” Steve exclaims, clutching his chest with one hand, “you really need to stop doing this”.

“At least this time it’s not a tray full of perilously balanced food” Robin observes, scooting to the side to let you sit down between her and Steve. “What took you so long? There’s not much food left, and I was not ready to fight some prepubescent kid to save an extra serving of spaghetti for you - And also, what is that?” She asks you as you plop down on the bench that runs along the table, pointing a finger at the files you’ve brought with you.

“This” you reply with a sigh, your eyes shooting up across the table to Eddie, Jeff and Gareth as you tap lightly on the sheets, “is something I need your help with”.

The three of them stop eating and exchange some surprised looks, eyebrows furrowed and mouths agape in confusion as their forks hang in mid-air.

“Our help? With writing?” Gareth asks, trying to get a closer look at the scribbled and scratched words on the paper, “I don’t know how we could-“

He suddenly stops with a hiss of pain, one hand darting under the table to massage his leg as he swiftly turns towards Eddie. “Dude, what the hell?”

Eddie, however, ignores him and focuses on you, his deep brown eyes casually wandering over your face as he props his head on one ringed hand. “Shoot it” he chimes with a nod, “we’ll do our best”.

You thank him with a smile. “As you all know” you explain, “the big treasure hunt is tomorrow”

“Treasure hunt?” Eddie and Steve exclaim in unison, exchanging a puzzled look as Robin rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, dinguses” she says, her eyes darting between the two. “Haven’t you checked the schedule? You’ll be both on patrolling duty”.

The two guys lift their eyebrows in confusion, but you dismiss their perplexity and bring the focus back to your papers by hitting them with the palm of your hand. “For the hunt, we need to set up and hide hints all over camp” you continue. “You know, like, little pieces of burned paper that resemble pirate parchment or something of that kind”.

“That’s Mr. Smithson’s idea” Robin chips in, addressing Steve and Eddie, “the kids love that stuff”.

Across the table, Gareth nods absentmindedly with a smirk, probably thinking about last year’s hunt and how he managed to redirect everyone to the bathrooms by misplacing all the hints and creating utter chaos.

“The thing is” you go on, rotating the papers upside down so that they face the three guys in front of you, “the hints need to rhyme. And I have to write them, which I’ve been trying to do for the past three hours, but I can’t find the right words or make them sound good for the life of me. So, I thought-“ your words falter as you realize that probably this is stupid, or it might even offend them - but you’ve gone so far now, so you have to shoot your shot. “I thought that maybe you could help me with that”.

Three pairs of eyes move up from the papers and land on you, puzzlement still permeating their look.

“You know” you hesitantly add, mentally crossing your fingers, “you’re in a band, and you write music… and lyrics… I thought you’d be way better at this than me”.

Indeed, you remembered how Eddie talked about Corroded Coffin during the hike, and how it impressed you finding out that they even write and perform a couple of original songs - that’s why, in the heat and stress of the moment, you thought about asking them for a little help. And right now you really, really hope that wasn’t presumptuous of you - as Max Mayfield, another of Dustin’s friends, would definitely say.

Once you finish speaking, Eddie is the first to smile, and you realize that most of your nervousness actually depended on his reaction. You smile back, and remember to breathe again - not noticing Robin’s narrowed gaze and slight smirk as she stares at the two of you.

“Let me see” Eddie says, grabbing the paper sheets and the pen you’re handing him as Jeff and Gareth huddle closer, the food left on their trays now forgotten. They start to read what you’ve written so far, occasionally exchanging a few words that Eddie diligently reports on the paper with messy, slightly crooked handwriting.

While they work under the intrigued stare of Robin and Steve, you stand up to go get whatever food’s left - and when you walk back to your table, you’re too distracted by Gareth and Jeff’s sudden arguing about which word rhymes better with “pinecone” to catch the mean glare Jason Carver throws towards your group.

— 🏕 —

The following day, the atmosphere pervading every inch of camp is filled with electricity - and not just the one coming from the excitement and expectation of the young campers, who are ready to dart in every direction to find the trail of clues you and a few other counselors hid around the area and in the surrounding grove before breakfast.

The buzzing on the ground is indeed matched by a similar tension in the sky, as dark heavy clouds hiding sudden flashes of light are looming beyond the line of the trees across Lovers Lake, a stark contrast to the bright blue above the cabins.

And it’s exactly the thunderstorm that seems to be approaching camp with relentless slowness the main topic of the last-minute meeting you’re holding in the staff room behind the Headquarters, where Mr. Smithson is showing you today’s weather bulletin.

“The storm shouldn’t be here until later tonight” the camp director is saying, slightly rising his tone to overcome the nervous chatter of all the counselors crammed in the room. “So, the treasure hunt will still be held, but with a few extra precautions” he adds as he nods towards one of the older girls, who starts rummaging through some drawers in the back of the room. After a few seconds of loud poking around, she ends up taking out a box of walkie-talkies.

“You will do your patrolling rounds in couples” Mr. Smithson continues, while the background talking finally lowers at the sight of the devices, curiosity taking over everyone - you and your friends included. “I’ll read you the list before you head out. Each of the couples will be equipped with a walkie-talkie - you can use it to communicate with everyone else and to facilitate an eventual regrouping of the kids in case the weather conditions worsen faster than we predict. Those who are not on patrol duty will be helping Mrs. Janet with the food. Snacks have already been made for lunch, so you will make sure that everything’s ready for dinner”.

“For once I’m glad I’m on kitchen duty” Robin states, happily drumming her fingers on the table beside you. “I’ll be free the whole morning while you guys will have to deal with crazy kids running around the woods with a storm incoming. You should really start worrying” she chimes as she turns around to look up with a slightly mocking smile at Steve, Eddie, Gareth and Jeff - who are standing on their feet behind your chairs due to the lack of seats in the full room.

“Thanks for rubbing that in, Buckley” Eddie observes with his trademark lilt, arms crossed on his chest as he flashes her an ironic upside-down smile. “Don’t get offended if I’ll never come to you for friendly advice in the future, ‘kay?”

The idea of Eddie confiding in Robin for whatever reason makes you let out a low chuckle, but Robin is quick to notice it.

“Laugh all you want, y/n” she jokingly says, nudging you lightly, “but you’ll be out there in the rain, too”.

You attempt to reply, but you’re interrupted by Mr. Smithson’s declaration of the patrolling pairings for the day. Once a couple is called, they get up and head towards the door, grabbing a walkie-talkie on the way out.

Thankfully, you’re paired with Steve this time, so you’re glad that you’ll be able to spend the day in good company. You’ll be monitoring the kids along the banks of the lake, very close to the Headquarters (and, consequently, to eventual shelter from the rain); the same goes for Jeff and Gareth, who’ve ended up together after switching partners on Gareth’s idea. Eddie, instead, is the one who has it worse: he’s been positioned in the closer edges of the woods with none other than Tammy Thompson, who looks more scared to be with him than of the low rumblings in the sky that can be heard in the distance.

As he walks away with the girl, the almost funny contrast between his unimpressed expression and her almost terrified and pleading one making you unexpectedly sorry for him, an idea pops into your mind.

“Steve” you exclaim, suddenly turning towards him, “why don’t you and Eddie switch places?”

Steve looks at you with a bewildered expression in his eyes, and you immediately realize that blurting that out like that could lead to a number of misunderstandings.

“I mean, you’re very, uhm… close with Tammy” you explain, “and you could spend more time together this way. Also, she doesn’t look very comfortable around Eddie… I don’t think it’s the best feeling for him, as well, being judged like that”. You hope he understands that you’re asking this for Eddie, with a possible advantage for Steve himself; sure, you really wouldn’t mind spending the day with Eddie - on the contrary, a very deep part of you hidden beneath your chest is already exulting at the idea, but that’s not really the point right now.

“Yeah, I think we can do that” Steve hesitantly replies, confusion still hinting through his tone - but as you both look back towards the trees you realize that you’ve lost sight of the two other counselors.

“Too late, I guess” he adds with a small sigh, patting your shoulder with one hand as he catches the disappointment on your face. “He’ll be alright, though, don’t worry. She’s harmless, and I believe he doesn’t care that much about what she thinks” he tells you with a small smile.

“Yeah, yeah, of course” you quickly reply, not very convinced about that last part. “You’re the one who’s dating her, so I will take your word on that”.

“Actually” Steve speaks again as the two of you start walking towards the dark waters of the lake, “I don’t think we’ll date any longer. We’ve actually never properly dated, to be honest”.

You look at him in surprise. “And why would that be, heartbreaker?” You jokingly ask him, causing him to smile.

“I don’t think she’s the right one for me” Steve shrugs, “she kept going on and on about my hair and how I look even better up close and stuff like that” he continues while you listen, your smile softly matching his as he reveals a new side to you. “I mean, of course I like receiving compliments - I don’t spend an hour in the morning to get this bad boy to look this good for nothing” he adds, passing one hand through his actually perfect hair, “but I’m not just that. I’d love to talk about other things, too, you know?”

As you finally reach the edge of the water, it’s your turn to pat his shoulder. “I have to agree with you on this one, Steve” you tell him, “you’re actually a very nice guy with a lot to say, under all that Farrah Fawcett hairspray”.

Steve’s cheeks blush slightly as his eyes widen in surprise. “How do you even know I use that?”

“Someone I know might have mentioned that” you reply with a laugh.

“Dustin” Steve exclaims, clapping one hand to his forehand as he realizes. “I swear to god, next time I see him-“

“Harrington, Henderson, are you in position?” Mr. Smithson’s voice croaks through the walkie-talkie, cutting Steve’s words off.

“Yes sir” he replies, his tone still slightly annoyed from your conversation.

“Good” the director states, before making the final announcement. “Attention everyone: we’ve just given the go-ahead to the campers. The hunt starts now!”

As soon as those words are uttered, you can hear the excited cries of the younger campers as they start scattering all over - some running along the lake and passing next to you and Steve, others darting beyond the cabins and towards the woods.

The following hours go by without anything exciting or noteworthy really happening - except a little kid tripping on a misplaced stone on the shore and needing to be escorted back to the Headquarters for a little fixing up.

You and Steve spend most of the time chatting, playing silly word games and riddles and walking up and down the edge of the lake with the walkie-talkie in your hand.

The dark clouds seem to have slowed down their approach, so you forget about them for a while - until, after you’ve had your packed lunch on the pier, your eyes always fixed on the shore, a low rumble makes your gaze shoot up. Right above you, the sky has turned completely gray, with flashes of light peaking through the now thicker and messier clouds.

Steve throws a glance at his wristwatch, his brows furrowing in concern.

“It’s 2 pm” he states, answering the silent question in your eyes. “And it doesn’t look like it’s going to hold for much longer”.

“Do you think we should start calling the kids in?” You ask, clutching your own naked arms as a sudden gush of wind makes shivers run on your skin.

Steve thinks on it for a second, but just as he is about to reply his word are cut off by the sudden buzzing of the walkie-talkie, followed by Mr. Smithson’s voice.

“To all counselors, please regroup the campers and head back to the Headquarters” the director announces with a hurried tone, “seems like the storm is about to break sooner than we expected. See you in 15 minutes. Over and out”.

You and Steve almost jump to your feet as you swiftly walk back, calling and sending every kid you meet along the lake’s shores back towards the main building. After a few minutes, when no one else is in sight, you follow them to the Headquarters’ porch, where the staff and the other counselors are doing a headcount of the campers as they walk inside the main room.

Robin’s there too, leaning against the wooden railing as she worriedly scans the sky. You and Steve walk up to her, earning a grin as you reach her.

“You’re lucky this thing was called off” she exclaims, winking at you as she nods towards the kitchen. “I managed to steal a couple of chocolate chip cookies, we can have them with the hot choc we’ve made for the kids”.

“Sounds like a plan” Steve replies, shivering at the chilly breeze that’s getting more and more intense by the minute.

“An amazing plan, I’d say” you add as your stomach growls in agreement, causing Robin to chuckle.

“Then let’s get you inside, dinguses” she jokingly says, turning around and making her way past the other counselors crowding the porch to head towards the door with Steve right behind her, running his own hands up and down his arms to warm them up.

As you throw a last glance at the trees and pines beyond the cabins, billowing and bending under the growing strength of the wind, you suddenly stop in your tracks.

“Guys, wait” you exclaim, grabbing Steve and Robin by the back of their camp t-shirts just as they’re about to set foot inside. When their gaze follows yours, they see Jeff and Gareth rushing towards the Headquarters from the woods. When they reach you, panting and sweating from the effort of avoiding the upcoming rain, Gareth leans against the wooden wall of the building while Jeff greets you between a deep breath and the other.

“Jesus, that was one hell of a run” he states with both hands on his hips as he continues to breathe, “have you guys seen Eddie? He wasn’t here when we came back from our spot, so we went looking for him” he continues, rubbing one hand on his forehead, “but he’s nowhere to be found”.

“Yeah, no shit” Gareth adds, finally catching his breath, “we even tried to contact him on the radio, but he never replied”.

An abrupt weight drops on your stomach at Jeff’s words, the thought of Eddie being out there with a storm coming worrying you more than you expected.

“No, man, we haven’t seen him” Steve replies, while you and Robin start scanning the porch to check for him. As much as you’d be relieved to see his tall figure towering over the few counselors that are still outside, Jeff’s statement still holds true: he’s not there. However, a blonde ponytail catches your gaze - and that’s when you know that something’s not right.

“Hey, Tammy” you call out, waving at Tammy Thompson once she turns around. She sees you and starts walking towards you, flashing glimpses of turquoise eyeshadow as she bats her eyes at Steve.

“Hi Y/n, Robin” she briefly greets you and Robin, whose slight blush disappears as soon as Tammy turns to look up a Steve with a wink. “Hello, handsome” she flirtatiously says, her southern accent noticeable in her voice as she curves her lips in a big smile - which turns into a less genuine one as she becomes aware of Jeff and Gareth’s presence behind you.

Steve hesitantly smiles back, but you’re quick to take him out of his embarrassment by addressing her again.

“So, Tammy” you begin, hoping to get some answers out of her. “Where’s Eddie? He was with you during patrol, right?”

Tammy looks at you with big, clueless eyes. “You mean Munson?” She asks, permed curls falling on her shoulder as she tilts her head. “Sorry, haven’t seen him”.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen him?” Robin interjects, any leftover trace of her previous crush on the girl now completely gone. “You didn’t walk back here with him when Mr. Smithson canceled the treasure hunt?”

“Oh, God no” Tammy replies, the ghost of her smile now turning into a slightly annoyed grimace. “I left him in the woods”.

“You did what?” Gareth exclaims, taking a few steps closer with raging eyes just to find himself blocked by Steve’s arm.

“You left him in the woods? Alone? Does he at least have the-” Steve calmly asks Tammy, but he cuts the question off once his gaze falls on the walkie-talkie that she is fidgeting with. “Jesus, you took the walkie-talkie with you?” He blurts out, one hand nervously rushing through his hair.

“God, Steve, calm down” Tammy exclaims, taking a step back. “He was being all creepy, trying to make some conversation and then being completely silent - also, after what Jason told us, I really didn’t want to spend more time alone with him than it was necessary, so I left as soon as I heard Mr. Smithson on here” she explains, waving the walkie-talkie in front of you. “Munson said he saw a kid walking off the trail and he wanted to go get him, so I didn’t think it was necessary to wait for him. He basically left me alone in the woods” she concludes with a snort, her words causing you all to look at each other with worry.

You don’t even want to know what she means with her reference to Jason Carver, not now at least. “Steve, we need to go look for him” you plainly state, your whole body tense and ready to sprint towards the trees. “It’s dangerous to be in the woods with a thunderstorm, and he doesn’t know the area. We need to hurry”.

Tammy raises her eyebrows at you in genuine curiosity. “Why do you even care so much about someone like him?”

Her question is met by five pairs of glaring eyes. “Because he’s our friend” you all reply in unison, startling her as she looks back and forth between all of you to focus back on Steve.

“Geez, Harrington, I thought you shared everyone’s opinion that Munson’s a freak” she blurts out at him, her head shaking in disbelief.

You might want to punch her here and now, but Steve gently places a hand on your arm and speaks.

“Listen, Tammy” he tells the girl, who’s standing between you and the porch steps, “I might have been a dick in the past, but I regret it and I’m trying to be better than that. Yes, I might have thought of Eddie Munson as a freak once, but I know better now - and you should too. He’s a person, just like me and you, except he’s probably nicer. Now, please move, we have to go”.

Flabbergasted, Tammy stares at you in complete silence as you and Steve turn back to Jeff, Gareth and Robin.

“Wait for us here, and keep your walkie on” you state, completely ignoring Tammy, “we’ll update you as soon as we can”.

“Got it” Jeff replies with a nod, his eyes following you as you move past a still astonished Tammy Thompson and head towards the cabins and the grove beyond them.

The low rumbles coming from the sky accompany you along the whole path, often paired with flashes of lightning that create long, yellow veins across the dark clouds. It’s still early afternoon, so you can clearly see the trail you’re walking on, the same one you took when you went on the hike on the second day of camp - but this time, the strong wind that’s running through the forest slows you and Steve down a bit, causing the branches and leaves to shake uncontrollably in your line of vision.

“Uhm, y/n, you know where we’re going, right?” Steve asks you, moving a particularly long branch away from you to let you pass.

You nod firmly, your eyes stuck on the path ahead. “Besides the shortcut to the bonfire spot, this is the only trail leaving from camp. He mustn’t be far - hopefully” you state, stopping every now and then to listen to your surroundings, examining the woods around you to look for any trace of Eddie’s presence.

Steve looks at you as you keep moving forward, his eyes investigating your worried expression. “Don’t you think that maybe we… we should have warned the staff? Set up a search party or something?”

“A… a search party?” You stop in the middle of the trail and turn to Steve, your eyes now filled with dread at the idea that maybe you underestimated the situation: why did you have to rush like that, away from camp without telling anyone? And why did it have to be you looking for Eddie? His friends know him better, they could probably find him faster…

As soon as Steve catches your quickened breath and quivering lips, he rushes to you, reassuringly placing both his hands on your shoulders.

“I’m sure he’s fine, y/n” he tells you, looking straight into your eyes, “I really do. But since this thing up here seems to be moving pretty fast” he adds, motioning with one hand towards the sky, “and we are quite deep into the woods, maybe we should head back and tell Mr. Smithson. Then the staff could come out here and help look for him before the storm hits-“

“Shhh” you suddenly cut him off, placing your index finger on your lips, your eyes wide as you listen to the woods around you. “Do you hear that?”

Steve looks left and right, trying to find any sound that isn’t the rustling of the leaves and bushes or the wind blowing through the trees. Then, he hears it too - a low but not too distant high pitched voice, yelling something that sounds extremely close to “shit”.

As Steve’s eyes widen, you let out a short chuckle filled with relief. “Eddie?” You start crying out, moving fast towards the sound, which is coming from the right side of the path.

“Eddie, where are you?” You and Steve both scream, getting off the trail and into the bushes.

A loud rumble covers whatever response you get, but it doesn’t take much for you to find the source of the voice. With Steve following you close, you keep walking in the same direction, until you turn up in a very small clearing among some pine trees. There, frantically pacing on the soft grass, you finally see Eddie.

“Shit, shit, shit” he’s nervously yelling, his hands tearing at his unmistakable curly hair, “it all looks the fucking same, for Christ’s sake-“

You stop in your tracks at the sight, making Steve almost bump into you at the edge of the clearing - but you don’t care, because sweet relief is filling your chest and reminding you how to breathe.

“Eddie!” You call his name one last time, making him turn around with a startle.

“Y/n?” He exclaims - and as soon as he realizes that it’s actually you, a smile finally breaks on his lips as he rushes towards you. “Thank god, I was starting to think I was fucked for good”.

You sprint to him, too, your lips matching his grin - but both of you stop just before you crash into each other.

“You’re- you’re here” he stutters, his hands wavering in the air as you let out a chuckle, “you found me”.

“Yeah” you reply, your eyes meeting his, “we did”.

“We…?” He asks, but as he utters those words he notices Steve walking up into the clearing as well.

“Oh, hello Harrington” Eddie casually says, his cheeks blushing with… embarrassment?

“‘Sup, man” Steve replies, greeting him with a wave, “you gave me and y/n here quite the scare. How did you even get lost?”

Eddie’s eyes dart between you and Steve, his expression now unreadable. “I, uh… I think I saw one of those little shi- one of those kids running around, so I thought I’d grab him and take him back” he explains, casually walking up to a tree and unexpectedly throwing a few soft punches at its trunk, making you and Steve look at him with confusion. “You know, didn’t want them to be left out here in the fucking apocalypse. But I guess no one was actually there, so… yeah”.

“Well, thank god y/n rushed to your rescue then. Not even the fucking apocalypse could stop her” Steve says as he makes air quotes with a knowing smile, earning a death glare from you.

Eddie’s gaze turns back on you. “You- it was your idea? To come get me?” he asks you, his expression softening again.

You hesitate, not knowing what and how much to let out in the open (wait, is there something to let out about it?). “Uh- yeah, I mean, I know the area so I thought we could find you fast enough” you blabber, not really knowing if your words make any sense.

Eddie seems like he’s about to reply, but anything he wanted to say is abruptly cut off by a loud crackle - signalling the first thunder finally falling closer to the woods.

“Time to get out of here, guys” Steve exclaims, urging you to follow him back to the path.

You walk fast behind Steve, Eddie marching beside you as you make your way back to camp. No one speaks, as you’re all focused on making it through the vegetation in the now darkened light before all hell breaks loose. And you almost make it.

As you reach the final stretch of the path before the woods thin out to reveal the cabins, the first few, thick droplets of rain start pattering on the ground and on you, causing dark splotches to appear on the green sleeves of your camp t-shirts.

You quicken your pace, but it’s too late now: in a matter of seconds, after a few more claps of thunder and rumbles, heavy rain is washing over you, the last trees of the grove offering you little shelter.

“Run!” Steve cries out, sprinting towards the cabins and, further ahead, the safe and dry main room of the Headquarters.

You move to do the same, not completely sure if you’re going to make it before you get soaked to your bones - but your thoughts turn into a completely different direction as the feeling of Eddie’s hand grabbing yours and pulling you into a run with him hits you like lightning.

As your legs rush ahead on their own, rain pouring around you in the most intense summer shower you’ve ever witnessed, time seems to slow down for a moment. All your senses are pulled towards the point where your palm is touching Eddie’s skin, where the hard metal of his rings occupies the space between your fingers, where - if you could focus a bit better right now - you swear you could feel his heartbeat.

The moment breaks suddenly and you realize you’ve made it to the front porch of the Headquarters. Soaked, yes, but safe and sound beside Eddie and Steve

“That was fun - shit” Eddie states with a grin, strands of curly hair plastered to his face as he looks down on you. As soon as he does that, he realizes that he’s still holding your hand, so he lets go - lightly flexing his fingers open as he takes a step away. The grin, however, doesn’t fade.

“Guys! You made it” Robin’s voice echoes from behind you, her face peering from the door with a huge smile as she throws a glance at the three of you, her eyes settling on Eddie. “Glad to know you’re okay, Munson”

Eddie nods his thank-you in her direction, while Steve starts making his way inside.

“Are you guys coming? I don’t want to catch something by staying outside a minute longer” he asks, one of his hands already on the doorframe.

“Sure” you reply, following his lead. “Eddie?” You question him once you notice that he doesn’t move.

“I need to get something from my cabin first” Eddie states, earning a surprised look from you, Robin and Steve.

“Are you sure about that?” Robin asks, clearly referring to the downpour that is still going.

“Yeah, it will take me a minute. I’m soaked already anyways” Eddie replies, a reassuring smile painted on his lips.

And he is, soaked. You’ve obviously noticed the way his wet camp t-shirt is clinging to his torso, hints of dark ink now visible under the almost transparent cotton. You glimpse some vague figure tattooed on his upper chest, but you’ve restrained your eyes from lingering on him for too long.

However, you can’t help but let out a spontaneous question, one you almost regret as soon as you utter the words.

“You’re not going to get lost on me again, are you?” You blurt out to Eddie, hoping he won’t notice your blushing cheeks.

He looks at you with a weird expression, something between amusement and softness. “I won’t, princess. I promise.”

— 🏕 —

The dining room is filled to the brim with campers and counselors, seeking some shelter from the storm that’s raging outside.

The raindrops patter hard and incessantly on the wooden walls and on the thick, old glass of the windows, thunders occasionally cracking and startling the younger kids, grouped tightly around a few reassuring counselors.

Half-empty mugs of hot chocolate are scattered on every table among cookie crumbs, board games are opened and set up and dry camp t-shirts and sweatshirts are handed around for those who got caught in the rain. You’ve got one as well, probably a size or two too big for you, but it doesn’t matter: you’re just glad to be safe inside, sipping on your hot drink at your friend’s table.

It doesn’t take much for Eddie to come back from his cabin, either. After less than five minutes since he bolted under the pouring rain, the doors of the main room open to reveal his tall figure once again. He strides towards your table, holding something under his arm.

“Theeere we go” he exclaims in his signature sing-song tone once he reaches you - and this time, it’s his turn to place a pile of papers on the table, neatly collected in a black ring binder.

“What’s that?” Robin curiously asks, throwing at Eddie an extra camp t-shirt that he can change into. As he peels off the wet one he’s been wearing so far and exchanges it with the dry one, you force yourself not to stare.

Gareth and Jeff’s eyes widen and smile, as they seem to recognize the contents of the binder. “This one” Gareth states, his dreamy stare fixed on the closed folder, “is a gate to a whole other world”.

“Are we really going to play?” Jeff asks Eddie with the biggest grin you’ve ever seen on his face. However, you, Robin and Steve still don’t know what they’re talking about.

“Given that all other activities for the day just went into a literal drain and I was already working on a new quest for Hellfire” Eddie explains, gesturing with his hands in the air as he sits down on the wooden bench, “I thought it might be cool to try out a short campaign and make this forced camp vacation a little more fun. So, fellow counselors” he announces, his eyes going from Steve to Robin and finally setting on you, “what do you say about embarking on a Dungeons and Dragons adventure?”

“Was that what you were writing a few nights ago?” Steve asks him, ignoring the proposal and earning a glare from you and Robin.

Eddie looks a bit sidetracked. “Maybe” he replies, opening up the binder and extracting three sheets of paper. “I was setting up your characters. If you want to play, that is”.

“I’d love to” you quickly say, causing Eddie to smile brightly. He hands your character sheet over to you, his fingers brushing against yours as a few tiny butterflies start fluttering their wings in your stomach. You’ve always secretly wanted to try the game, and knowing that Eddie set everything up for you to play makes this even more special.

“Me too” Robin echoes you with a shrug, reaching out towards Eddie to grab her character sheet. You’re a bit surprised, because that doesn’t really strike you as something she’d like, but you’re happy that she wants to join - happy that Eddie won’t feel disappointed or judged by your best friend.

Now everyone’s gaze is on Steve, who still hasn’t replied - but it doesn’t take long for him to nod hesitantly.

“Alright, let’s see how this works” he says, taking the last character sheet and furrowing his eyebrows as he starts reading it, “maybe I will finally know what Henderson likes so much about it”.

It takes a while to get used to it - especially because Steve and Robin are a bit hesitant in the beginning, while you realize that your knowledge of how the game works is definitely too vague. But after a careful explanation on behalf of Eddie, Gareth and Jeff and Eddie’s incredible DM and storytelling skills, you quickly find yourselves immersed into a new, fantasy world.

Your character is a half-elf bard - just as you told Eddie during the hike, and the fact that he remembered warms your heart a little bit. He also managed to pick the perfect choice for your friends: Steve, of course, is a human paladin, while Robin is a halfling rogue.

You end up playing for the rest of the day, the rain providing the perfect background noise as you explore secret caves, kill evil goblins and raid wooden boxes that reveal hidden treasures and gold. You manage to go on a little longer even after dinner, and what’s most surprising is that Steve’s the one who starts booing, followed suit by Jeff and Gareth, as soon as Mr. Smithson announces the lights out.

“Shit, I almost had that asshole” Robin grunts, referring to a hobgoblin she was about to slay with her longsword, “I just needed one more attack roll”.

“Next time try to use your weapon with two hands” Gareth suggests, “you’ll do more damage”.

“I also wonder what’s hidden behind that locked door” you excitedly say, “I don’t think I can deal with the cliffhanger”

Eddie’s eyes glitter with happiness at the sight of your enthusiasm. “Fear not, brave adventurers” he declares with a satisfied grin as he starts collecting all his papers and files back into the binder, his gaze proudly lingering on you, “the quest will continue”.

— 🏕 —

Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Feedback is always welcome!

Also, thank you to @eddiesbirdie for suggesting the concept of Eddie getting lost in the woods :)

#eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #stranger things 4 #stranger things x reader #camp lovers lake #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson au #stranger things x you

185 notes · View notes