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adelrambles · 5 months

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Tips on Writing Bishop

I've been asked a couple times for advice on how to write a good (03-style) Bishop, and I'm well-aware he can be a bit tough to get a grasp on. As someone who's studied him specifically to learn how to write him as accurately as possible, I figured I'd compile some thoughts in case it'd be helpful to anyone else. I know a lot of Rise takes on him are basing off the 03 version, so maybe this could help generate ideas, too. SO!

Big Overall Points!

At the core of EVERYTHING Bishop does are two primary motivations. The first: the protection of the earth. What this means to him can get tricky, because it doesn't necessarily mean protecting the people, at least not all of them. But it will be better understood alongside the other:

The second: The protection of his sense of safety. Bishop has been deeply traumatized, and everything he does is born of a want to avoid that pain ever again. In his mind, earth is a safe area, a controllable factor, and anything outside it is a danger that must be eliminated. This is why he will still be willing to put himself and other people on the line in service of this; any sacrifice is worth the greater goal. (It's worth noting, Bishop will claim the first as his motivation freely, but is likely not consciously aware of the second.)

Bishop deals in Big Picture ONLY. Another reason Bishop will willingly throw away anything, including the lives of the people he claims to protect, is that he seems incapable of understanding things on a small, individual basis.

Bishop is a cold personality. He does not have strong displays of emotion. He does emote, but for the most part it's muted, so I recommend using emotional bursts very sparingly. (In my own writing, as an example, I try to limit my use of exclamation marks in his dialogue as much as possible.)

At his core, Bishop is afraid, and his response to fear is aggression. This also makes it particularly difficult to talk him down, if he's put in an emotional state. His response to not being in control is often violent retaliation.

With those basic tenants understood, let's move next to some major personality traits:

Bishop is a controlling personality. This is a direct result of his trauma response. Things that can be controlled are safe, therefore he must control everything. If something cannot be controlled, it's a threat that must be eliminated. If he doesn't know why something happened, he becomes angry (including even when it benefits him.)

Bishop is very low-empathy. When writing him, I try to keep in mind that he cannot put himself in the perspective of others. (Or if he can, he doesn't care to.)

Bishop is a sadist. He gets personal enjoyment from hurting others.

Bishop likes fighting, but only when he's winning. He will quickly leave if he can't see a guaranteed victory.

Bishop is paranoid. This is probably self-evident, but it's the reason he's often so well-prepared even when things don't go to plan.

Bishop genuinely seems to enjoy science. He's shown to be far more lenient with scientist characters than anyone else, and he seems to involve himself in his scientists' projects to a degree. Enough to, at the very least, understand their work. (Given he was the one set to dissect the turtles, it might also be argued he has some medical or biology background, himself.)

Bishop is an opportunist and scavenger. He can roll with failures as long as he can find something to get out of it. If he's presented with an opportunity to stab someone in the back, and he has something to gain? He'll take it without a second thought.

Bishop is deeply self-blind. For all his perceptiveness and strategic prowess, Bishop is not very self-aware in the slightest. He is completely blind to his own hypocrisies, and thoroughly confident in his own righteousness.

Bishop adapts fast. He accepts situations for what they are and acts (Though he may still be angry about them, or what have you.) This is likely a skill developed via longevity; the world around him has changed rapidly, but he doesn't feel out of place at all.

Bishop will take extreme risks and thinks wildly outside the box. Also self-evident, if you're familiar with the plans he enacts throughout the show. He'll put a lot on the line if he thinks the reward is worth enough, and he's willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wants, even if his plans would be considered crazy by normal standards.

Bishop is persistent. If he wants something, he won't stop until he gets it. If he fails, he'll retreat, make a new plan, and try again. It is very difficult to convince him to back down (and certainly not on moral grounds.)

Habits and triggers I've noted:

Being restrained of any sort puts Bishop in a panic. He is more likely to have an emotional response in these scenarios, and seems to have (an albeit muted) desperation to escape. (See: Leatherhead restraining him in the first encounter; His reaction to being trapped on the surgical table in Head of State.)

When being duplicitous or suppressing a reaction, Bishop will go to adjust his tie. This could possibly be considered his tell.

Bishop seems to have a particular fear of aliens blending in as humans. His slayer project was built around the assumption that this is a common threat. (Worth noting: This makes The Shredder the model of the exact threat Bishop is afraid of. Technically, Bishop himself may also fit the description of a threat shaped like a human.)

Writing considerations:

In 03's narrative, Bishop is EPF and EPF is Bishop. Narratively speaking, any organization Bishop is head of acts as if it is an extension of his will and character.

Bishop is shown to strike fear and/or discomfort into most characters he interacts with. Anything beyond this is an outlier, and will draw a reader's attention.

Dialogue-wise, Bishop is generally succinct and blunt. He does dabble in gloating, though, and especially likes to upset others. If he's given a chance to be mean, he'll usually take it. It can help to consider he has a Mission Mode and a Normal Mode. When it comes to Mission Mode, he gets straight to the point and hates unnecessary talking. Otherwise, he's still not very talkative, but will take the time to make pointed jabs or talk through a plan. A lot of his sense of humor seems to be rooted in how He's Better Than You (And You're Going To Die Painfully.)

It's a common pitfall that Bishop is depicted as seeking out the turtles. In 03, once he gets their DNA, he's done with them. Any encounters after that are incidental. Bishop does not care about anything that won't effect his greater goal. If he's targeting another character, it should have to do with a greater plan.

Bishop is an extremely competent combatant, shown to be able to handle up to 7 opponents at once. For a breakdown on his fighting style check out my other post on that!

Bishop is hard to kill, and oftentimes he accidentally contributes to his own defeat. (The hook from Bishop's Gambit is an example I get a LOT of mileage out of, as a perfect symbol of his self-defeating prophecies.)

We almost only ever see Bishop in the context of his work. While it could be construed that he depersonalizes himself, it's much more clear that the narrative depersonalizes him. As far as we, the audience know, Bishop's work is all that he is.

It's unclear if Bishop was released from his abduction or escaped. Depending on which you ascribe to, this can have ramifications for his mindset on how to deal with the alien threat. (Personally, because so much of his inability to cope hinges on a feeling of helplessness, I believe he was released. If he escaped on his own power, that undercuts it, somewhat.)

Thematically-speaking, Bishop parallels both his own torturers and his own victims at the same time. He has perpetuated the cycle that traumatized him in the first place by trying to fight fire with fire. (In that vein, I don't think he's capable of understanding that, not seeing aliens as people in the first place, just dangers. Considering how deeply ingrained his trauma is in his worldview and actions, it would probably ruin him, if he were ever able to actually grasp it.)

Bishop and EPF are likely a commentary on the military of the time 03 was coming out. This can be something worth keeping in mind, when figuring out his greater themes in your story, though it can just as well be discarded if it doesn't fit.

Adding to that, Bishop has an extensive american military background. His skills and knowledge will reflect that.

Bishop also plays on and references a number of real-life alien conspiracies. It can be worth digging through conspiracy history to drum up ideas and themes, too.

The ethical and philosophical quandaries of Bishop's body-hopping and humanity tend to not hold too much weight, because Bishop, himself, doesn't seem to care.

If I think of more I'll certainly be adding on to the reblogs of this post! Or, if you have more thoughts, please feel free to add! If you're in the mood for more Bishop ramblings, that's practically most of this blog atm, but this post is a particular favorite. If you're interested in Fast Forward!Bishop, specifically, consider this post! (also read Taking Pawns. slipped in that self-promo, nice.)

#agent bishop #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #And man I still gotta make an analysis on 2012 Bishop #my man is so underrated #There are only a handful of fics out there that include him at ALL and for the most part I find he's blended with 03's characterization #Which takes away what makes him fun in his own right and muddies 03 Bishop's character basis imo #anyway I had this post on the backburner for a while and finally got the motivation to finish her up #And of course if ever there are more questions on characterizing him I'd be happy to help! I love rambling about this guy ad nauseum #oooh stray thought I should do one for Rat King too. Went through that guy's episodes recently theyre GREAT #I've also been very tempted to compile most of these posts into a big ol video essay. idk if I could pull it off but it sure is an idea

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risingsunresistance · 9 months

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TRUE!!! the original post was just made in reference to things that had inspired my own design and a wish to see more variety among the masked long-haired braided human designs that were absolutely DOMINATING the place at the time (nothing wrong with that, love those ones and i've drawn a few myself, just came from a perspective of missing seeing the truly unique designs that made me associate the design with the artist ;-;) but yea it definitely applies outside of just him. and outside of just pigs, looking at random animals can be a great reminder of how varied and weird some stuff can actually be :D

one of my favorite ocs, who i have drawn a grand total of two times bc i have been very lazy with art lately, actually ended up happening only because i got inspired by my own post fkjdhg

even tho it's a full year old at this point, still a pretty good drawing imo. i like his face :]

babirusa btw if you couldn't tell. he's a zombie piglin who has been withered :0

#i should draw him again #oh i should. wait i should give him an outfit i've had sitting on the backburner for a while #i have more nether outfits but just havent had any use for them. i should give him one i've been thinking about #this post was made solely to ramble a bit and show him off again #dude it is. so funny looking back at the 2019 art i have saved #and then seeing when The Shift happened. where everyone got inspired by the big artists at the time and it just took over #AGAIN NO HATE TO THOSE ARTISTS OR ANYONE WHO FELT INSPIRED I AM TRYING SO HARD TO MAKE SURE I DONT SOUND HATEFUL #IT WAS JUST REALLY FUNNY TO WATCH EVERY OTHER DESIGN DISAPPEAR FOR A LITTLE WHILE HKJFDG #some old designs are So <3 i still look back on those pieces a lot #anyone remember the short hair blond ones. miss those guys #that art of him with the knives on his fingers. if you know you know. evren this is targetted at you specifically fkjdhg #a lot of ppl have been expanding their horizons and straying from the expected designs which is fun to see again!#i still see a lot more human/humanoid art tho (not that i see much art today anyways) which sucks bc i looove how varied the pig designs ge #yes i play favorites. i favor the pig design a lot. i am a biased party <333

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sanctus-ingenium · 1 year

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Another one of these since i haven't done it in a while! Sketch -> finished illustration

Thoughts & process below the cut :>

Out of Bounds: i deleted the sketch of this off my ipad because i didn't like it, and for months it only existed as a screenshot on discord. finally in january of this year i was like Wait Actually and decided to keep working on it. I didn't achieve the look I was going for (kind of foggy and vague. It came out too sharp and high contrast) but it was fun to throw the kitchen sink at it for an afternoon and then call it done finally. I don't remember which horse this was originally supposed to be, I think Macha?

I reused the pose, you'll find the same one in my Pascal sketchbook from the section on gait studies. That's the cool thing about doing 30 sketches at once, you can finish them up any time you like for a different drawing

The Fool ft Islin: the original concept for this is from [takes a moment to decipher the american date system on discord] January 2022

It wasn't dynamic enough, but I've had this on the backburner for sooo long. I think I completed like 4 cards in between this sketch and the final version lol. But, for a bit of background, this is from my series of major arcana based in Inver, and in particular the events of the 1860s-era book series, Moth Viper Foal (a demo of the first book, Said The Black Horse, is available for free/pwyw in my shop). This scene is a companion to Said The Black Horse, depicting the aftermath of the traumatic fight that caused Islin to storm off. He had been working at the mill as a semiprofessional back alley surgeon when he received an offer to join the church and work as a trained surgeon in their hospital. But when he brought the good news back to his friends it was met with utter rejection, driving him to basically run away to join the church. while gay and trans. thus the card.

he didn't actually bring a bag with him when he ran out but for the sake of the card i drew him with one

Gryfon and Pantera: This is how 99% of holy beast drawings start out, even the super stylised ones. I struggle a lot to draw them in procreate so they start in sai and then i transfer them over. The story of this is already explained in the caption of the original post so I'll just talk about the process which was... honestly torturous. I actually don't like too much textures and effects on things (wild, I know) and this one and Out of Bounds are ones where I kind of preferred it pre-texturising.

The text on the side is the official in-universe report of the event, detailing the casualties, the valiant actions of Gryfon's knight before he died and so on. There's also spoilers in there :>

My main struggle with this art style is how it always ends up slightly TOO sharp and crisp in a way the just a blur filter never can correct. There's not a lot of immersion to break, to be fair, but I think this still does it a little. I need to get more comfortable doing the lines with larger and softer brushes, and allowing imperfections.

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highway-tuna · 3 months

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When The Morning Comes

pairing: Danny Wagner x Reader

wc: 2.4k+

warnings: none

summary: Seems like it's just your luck that you get sick right before a date. But not just any date, a Valentine's Day date. But not just any Valentine's Day date, a double Valentine's Day date with your good friend, Danny. So much for being a good wingman. With nothing better to do, you settle into your coziest blanket and sulk, doomed to spend your Valentine's Day evening alone. Or so you think...

a/n: I saw @seenoversundown's GVF Valentine's Day Writing Event and decided to workshop this regular idea I had in the backburner to something more in theme! Hope you enjoy, I've written fan fiction in general for a long while, but this is actually my first one-shot. Happy Valentine's Day!

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

“I know, I know!” You groan into your phone, staring down at the bright, red glow of the electronic thermometer. You’d been feeling under the weather since this morning, but you didn't think it was this bad. The sleek dress hanging from the closet door practically mocks you while you already beat yourself up. “I didn’t think I’d feel this… shitty. I’m sorry.”

Danny chuckles over the phone, seemingly unbothered. “You sure you aren’t faking it? You’re always somehow not feeling well right before events.” He sucks his teeth and you can only imagine his dumb disapproving smirk. “Seems pretty convenient, (Y/N).”

“It’s not convenient, Daniel. It’s bad luck.” Collapsing into your bed, you sigh, practically radiating guilt. “Especially tonight. I feel terrible having to bail on this date. It’s like my first real date since…” A grin creeps its way across your lips as you giggle at the thought.

“Since our date?” The both of you begin laughing, a clear confirmation of his response. Danny was simply a friend of a friend of a friend before you two had met. New to the area and looking to start dating, a friend of yours thought Danny would be the perfect match for you. Instead of allowing you to interact in any way beforehand to let things naturally take its course, the casanovas that were your mutual friends decided the blind date approach would be best. And of course it wasn’t. The chemistry just wasn’t there. You were awkward. There was a lot of dead silence and extremely polite small talk. To make matters even worse, everyone had failed to mention he was fresh out of a relationship. Only after the fact did he tell you he wasn’t even looking for a relationship, that our friends had basically forced him to go on the date.

Lucky for you, he was always interested in making friends and that’s what you became. Good friends. Really good friends, in fact. Joined at the hip, your friends would say with a tacked on eyeroll for good measure. “Yes, since our date. No one could treat me nearly as well as you did that night.”

“Oh? Is that why you haven’t been on any other dates?” You both laugh at his quip, but it does leave a strange feeling in your chest. Unbeknownst to Danny, he was the reason you hadn’t been on any other dates. Sure, the date didn’t really leave you with any feelings, but once your friendship blossomed so did your unrequited crush. Being around Danny just felt… easy. Which is exactly why you had to leave it as is. It’s such a cliche, but it’s cliche for a reason. He’s basically your best friend at this point. To make things awkward or face rejection from one of the most important people in your life is something you’d go through hell and back to avoid. “I guess I’ll just have to cancel the date.”

Just the thought makes you feel even more guilty. “Danny, no. You can’t just ditch the girl. On Valentine’s Day, no less.” It’s a bit comforting that you don't have to go on a double date on Valentine’s Day and watch the man you’d rather date, date someone else. “Oh man, I should probably call him to cancel, right?”

“It’s fine, I’ll-”

“You’re going on this date, Danny. Let me know how good it went tomorrow, alright? Bye!” You end the call intentionally before he could utter another word. Searching for your date’s contact in your phone, you get a text notification that simply says one word.

Asshole.

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Bundled up on the couch watching reruns of old shows isn’t how you expected to spend your Valentine’s Day, but here you are. Your eyes fall to the time on your phone. 7:36pm. If that damn thermometer didn’t say you had a fever, you could’ve been out right now at a fancy restaurant, eating fancy food, dressed all fancy. Probably still feeling like shit, but at least you would’ve looked great. Not like how you look now: hair matted down from resting in your pseudo blanket fort, eyes dark and weary, falling in and out of consciousness. It’s an exhilarating time.

Grabbing the phone, you scroll mindlessly online and occasionally check the status of your DoorDash order. A little comfort fast food should make you feel better, right? It’s supposed to be here soon. As you swipe through your socials, you see a picture of… your date and Danny’s date together? Which wouldn’t be too weird except for the fact that Danny is in none of these pictures. Your first instinct is to send the pictures over to him with simply a question mark. A few moments pass and you see that he sees your message, but doesn’t respond. Asshole.

A knock on your door startles you from staring at your phone. With an achy groan, you stand from your couch and peer out your window, hoping to see someone with a bag of food walking from their car, but no. Nothing from this view. They really must’ve dropped it off and zoomed away. You swing the door open, desperate for your food.

“Danny?” His name leaves your mouth in shock before you even process the rest of the view. A beautiful bouquet in hand, dressed equally as comfortable as you, and… your bag of food? You point at the brown paper bag, very confused. “How did you-”

“He was bringing it out the same time I was walking up to your door so he just sorta handed it to me,” he laughs, whether it be at the situation or at your general look of shock, staring at him with mouth slightly agape. It’s as if he could read your mind, ready to question him. “You really thought I was gonna let you spend Valentine’s Day by yourself, (Y/N)?”

“Well, yeah! You had a date!” You weakly shove him and chuckle.

“It’s fine. She was understanding. I had someone I needed to take care of.” The flush of your cheeks are impossible to hide. Narrowing your eyes, your mouth opens and shuts as you try to find a rebuttal, but nothing comes out. Accepting your defeat, you step aside and silently invite him in. He hands you your bag of food and beelines straight for the kitchen.

You watch him with your head tilted while he scavenges through your cabinets. “What are you doing?” He mutters something, but you can’t quite catch it. “What- Oh.” He pulls out a vase and fills it with water, setting the bouquet inside. With an almost childish look of pride, he stands beside it and gestures with his hands.

“For you.”

“Thank you… for the hand-me-down flowers.” He shakes his head, making his way back to your living room. A gentle squeeze of your shoulder while he passes that will surely echo in your head the entire night.

“I got them specifically for you. I canceled right after our phone call. These plans-” He motions to everything around him before tossing himself onto the couch, clearly getting comfy right beside your sick blanket pile. “-were already in motion.”

You sigh before sitting beside him, wrapping your blanket around your shoulder and placing your bag of food on the floor. “You really didn’t have to. Plus, you’re gonna get sick.” His hand waves dismissively and he tugs on your blanket, now wrapping around both of you. This closeness between you two isn’t unusual by any means, but tonight, there’s just something different about it. Maybe that’s hope or delusion talking. Or maybe you’re just loopy from cough medicine. Probably that.

Grabbing your food, he takes a handful of fries and puts them in his mouth. “I never get sick.” You snatch the bag back and start eating as well, begrudgingly sharing with him. Falling into idle chatter, the two of you get more and more comfortable. His arm draped over your shoulders, your head practically nestled into his neck. Just friends being friends. He really came here on Valentine’s to do… absolutely nothing with you.

Your eyes begin to slowly flutter shut on occasion, the weary and tired energy taking over you. “You okay?” He pulls away ever so slightly to glance down at you, just checking in. That small retreat from him causes you to instinctually latch onto him. The vibration of his soft laughter reverberates against you. “Alright, let’s get you to bed.” You groan, but comply as he stands from the couch, leaving you with an empty space that you long for him to fill. He takes your hand and guides you to your own bedroom.

Like a moth to a flame, your bed calls out to you. Without moving the top sheets or decorative throws, you face plant directly into a pillow and let out a heavy sigh of relief. It’s almost enough to forget about Danny, admiring you with a soft chuckle. You roll over and look up at him, standing at the foot of your bed. Just the image is enough to make you blush, considering this scene in another circumstance, but you quickly shirk those thoughts. Something suddenly comes to mind. “Oh, check my vinyls. I got a new one,” your voice comes out slow and groggy, tinged with your sleepy smile.

He steps over to your record player, crouching down to look into your box of vinyls. Sitting right in front is Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette. You watch as a small grin crosses his lips. “One of my favorites,” he plainly mutters, sliding the record out of the sleeve and putting it on the turntable. When The Morning Comes starts to play, filling the space in your room.

“I got it because I remembered you talking about it. Hall & Oates is also just great so,” you mumble, the sleep still pulling you in and out of consciousness. Your eyes close for a moment and you feel the bed shift beside you. Opening them slightly, you glance over to see Danny laying beside you, his fingers tapping on his chest along to the beat of the song. Without a word, you cuddle up to him, resting your head against his arm. “Staying the night?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” You both chuckle at the response. It’s a little forward of you, but with how tired and weak you are, you let your walls come down. “Y’know, I’m really glad you came over tonight.”

“There’s nothing else in the world I’d rather do than spend time with you.” His eyes fall on you while he adjusts, bringing you into his arms. “Even if you’re practically dead right now.”

“I am.” You’re honestly glad the meds and the illness are making you as loose as you are right now. Because otherwise you’d be through the roof with all this attention and affection he’s giving you. “So dead, but I’m still happy you’re here. Does this count as our second date?”

He laughs and shrugs. “If it is, I think it went way better than our first.” His fingers absentmindedly rake through your hair as you continue to drift off. A small silence falls between you before he quietly speaks. “Maybe we should try that again…” Hearing that shocks you, but physically, you can’t hold your exhaustion back. A small mhm leaves your lips as you fall unconscious.

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

Sunlight pours into your bedroom, casting a soft glow across you. You yawn and try to stretch, but feel an assortment of your limbs tangled with something else, someone else. Looking over, Danny’s fast asleep, his arms wrapped around you in a bear hug, his legs intertwined with yours. It causes you to chuckle, but deep down, your heart races being so close to him. His dark curls falling over his face, his soft lips parted ever so slightly, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes deeply.

In a moment of selfish desire, you take his hand in yours, trailing your fingers with a gentle touch along his skin. A twitch causes you to quickly withdraw. You feel him stir in his sleep, but he only pulls you closer. “Morning…” His voice, groggy and husky, almost startles you just as much as it intrigues you. It’s as if you can feel his hesitation, a hesitation you share as he loosens his grip, allowing you to fully turn and face him. Just inches apart, a strange feeling between you two lingers.

“Morning. Sleep well?”

“Amazing.” You can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not. “I can feel your sickness in my immune system as we speak.” Yeah, sarcasm.

“Well, I actually do feel better now.”

There’s a short pause, a moment where your eyes lock and a shared chuckle occurs. “Just admit you wanted me all to yourself last night, that you weren’t sick at all.”

“I was sick, but…” Feeling emboldened, you shoot back, “Maybe it was both.”

“Did you… hear what I said last night? Before you passed out.” For the first time in a while, you hear what seems to be nerves from Danny’s voice. Just in bringing it up, it seems obvious that he was being genuine. Something you would’ve casted off as just a joke because he wouldn’t really want to go on another date with you, surely.

Your eyes can’t help, but quickly flit between his lips and his own dark eyes, staring straight through you. “I did.” It’s as if he’s holding his breath, waiting for you to answer with actual awareness this time, but you hold back. If something like this is truly happening, you want him to fully repeat it.

“Do you want to try again?” The moment only grows in intimacy once his hand slowly comes up to your face, pushing aside strands of hair. “I think we’d have a better shot this time, (Y/N).”

You nod, causing you both to smile. “I think so too.” His eyes do the same dance as yours, admiring your lips. Accepting the invitation, he leans in, connecting his lips to yours. It’s a sweet and safe kiss, very brief. “You usually kiss girls before the first date?”

He laughs and shakes his head, rolling his eyes in a playful display of annoyance. “It’s basically our third.”

“God, our third date. Things are going pretty well for us, I guess.” Another kiss is shared before you pull away, giggling. “And we just missed Valentine’s Day. That would’ve been a perfect date.”

“What do you mean? Wrapped up on the couch with you coughing all over me was my dream date.”

“Oh, you’re definitely gonna get sick.”

“And it’ll definitely be worth it.”

#gvfvalentines #gvf #greta van fleet #greta van fleet x reader #danny wagner #danny wagner x reader #fanfic #oneshot

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girlylukehughes · 9 months

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In Between

Luke Hughes x Reader

Word count: 4.3k

a/n: this is based on the song in between by gracie abrams!

Luke Hughes and Y/N “Birdie” L/N have hated each other since three months after they met. When Birdie joined Luke's class in fifth grade she wore pink glasses on her face and a tight braid in her brown hair. Her teeth adorned in blue braces she had gotten three weeks before, and Luke didn't notice a single thing. Well not until she ran straight into him with an open carton of chocolate milk in her hand, and it just so happened that Luke was wearing a white hoodie. After a ruined day and a ruined sweater Luke Hughes swore to hate Y/N L/N forever, what he didn't account for was her becoming best friends with his brother Jack. Jack and Birdie were attached by the hip within four months of her moving to town. Jack is the reason she has the name Birdie. The day Jack started calling her Birdie was probably the funniest day of his life and it was all thanks to Luke. Luke, Jack, and Quinn were in the midst of a prank war that had been lasting about three weeks. Luke thought it would be funny to recreate the glue and feathers prank from Home Alone, but instead of Jack walking through it Y/N did, and there and then Birdie was born.

During their freshman year if highschool Birdie and Luke got stuck as lab partners in biology, and oh boy was it a mess. Being forced to sit and work with each other the entire school year was not good for them. For the first semester every lab, experiment, and dissection ended in a heated argument between the pair. After the first semester they tried their hardest to put their hatred on the backburner for the sake of their grades, but that just lead the arguments to ensue at the Hughes house after school or during the car rides home.

When senior year came around Luke and Birdie had been successful in avoiding each other both in and outside of school. Jack and Birdie had started hanging out either at Birdie’s house or at the rink. The last time Luke saw Birdie before college was his graduation party. She had stopped by to drop off a simple present, a peace offering of sorts. She handed Luke a neatly wrapped box wishing him luck before walking out and to her car. Later that night when he was opening his gifts in the privacy of his bedroom he noticed Birdie’s was the last one left, with delicate hands he untied the silver ribbon holding the box shut to reveal a white hoodie. Even though Luke would never admit it there was a slight blush on his cheeks as the right corner of his lips quirked up into a half smile. Unfolding it a note fell out of one of the sleeves.

Dear Luke,

Consider this a peace offering so we can start this new chapter of our lives without any grudges being held and nothing to worry about from our pasts. Best wishes at umich, I've never said it but you're a superstar on the ice, continue to kill it.

From,

Birdie

Luke was stunned, but he kept that little piece of paper folded up and in a pocket in his wallet, and it's still there to this day.

When Luke was packing up his freshman dorm room to go home for the summer he stopped when he reached the picture frame that sat on the nightstand next to his bed. It was a picture from 8th grade when Birdie had tagged along for one of their family vacations, Ellen and Jim treating her like one of their own. In the picture Luke and Birdie got stuck next to each other while Jack and Quinn were on the opposite sides of them. Luke lets out a breathy chuckle as he looks at the picture. Birdie’s eyes are squinted shut behind her glasses with the biggest smile on her face as her arms are wrapped around Luke and Jack. Luke looks like this is the worst day of his life. His eyes squinted, not from a gleaming smile on his face, but from the harsh sun blaring in his face. His mouth is set in a straight line and his left arm is wrapped around Quinn while his right lays down the side of his own body. Looking at the picture he laughs at the memory, this was the year they spent on the beaches of Malibu. Birdie had never been to California before so when Ellen and Jim invited her to go along she was ecstatic, Luke on the other hand groaned and complained the entire time claiming he “can have fun” if she was there. Looking back on it he knows he was being dramatic, hell he doesn't even really hate her anymore, but he'll never admit it.

When Luke and his family arrived at the lake house that summer he was surprised that Birdie wasn't already there. When he asked Jack where she was you would have sworn Jack turned into the Cheshire Cat, a sly grin from ear to ear adorning his face. He had told Luke she'd be arriving tomorrow due to her last final being today. Luke gave him a weird look before walking up to his room and unpacking the months worth of clothes into the dresser and closet. Walking out of his room he stopped at the door right in front of his, Birdies room. The door was slightly cracked so he pushed it open to look into the room and the look of the room was just so her. The baby pink gingham comforter laid perfectly crisp across the bed, an assortment of stuffed animals she had won from the local fair they go to each summer laid neatly on the bed using the wall to rest on, the white lacy curtains that don't really do much but decorate, and next to the bed sat a vintage nightstand she had refurbished with Quinn two summers ago after they found a matching dresser and vanity at a garage sale. His eyes landed on the picture frame sitting on the nightstand, this picture wasn't one he remembered taking and he doesn't even think he's seen it before. It was another picture of the four of them, this time sophomore year of high school. Birdie had finally gotten her braces off and her white teeth were put on display once more, but this time instead of looking at the camera, she was looking at Luke. Her eyes trained on the side of his face while he stared forward at the camera, a dazzling look in her eyes and a slight blush on her cheeks. This time Luke had actually wrapped his arm around her, his hand planted on her hip. Before his brothers could catch him he placed the frame back in its spot and walked out of the room.

The next day Luke was the last one awake, as he padded down the stairs with messy hair, wearing only his plaid Michigan pajama pants he stopped when he saw a girl in his kitchen. Brown hair falling down her back until it reached the curve of her hips as she stood in front of the sink wearing a light green sundress. When she turned around Luke thought his heart was gonna beat straight out of his chest, because standing right in front of him was Birdie. Glasses no longer adorning her face and her hair no longer tightly pulled into a braid. He never realized how gorgeous the girl actually was. When her eyes met him she sent him a shy smile, trying(and failing) to keep her eyes off of his toned stomach, her cheeks heating up. “Hi Luke” she practically whispered. “Hi Birdie” he whispered back, morning voice on full display. Birdie felt her knees go weak. See while Luke hated Birdie, she always had a small crush on him. The moment between the two was broken when they heard someone clear their throat, Jack and Quinn standing at the back door watching the two with smug looks on their faces. “Boats ready for the day, Luke go get changed we have breakfast in the cooler.” Jack says and Luke just nods his head and walks back up the stairs. Tucking her hair behind her ears she continued filling the water bottles on the counter before grabbing her bag and walking out the door. Sitting on the dock she began contemplating how she was going to tell the boys she was transferring colleges. It wasn't that she hated the University of Illinois, she just didn't feel like they were her people. So when Michigan offered her a full ride scholarship and a photography internship, she couldn't pass it up, she just didn't want to step on Luke's toes. A hand in front of her face broke her out of thought. There was Luke, the sun shining around him basking him in the golden light, offering her a hand to help her up and onto the boat. Cautiously, she accepted it, blushing from her ears to her toes. A small thank you left her mouth as she disconnected their hands and walked up to the front of the boat. Placing her tote bag down on a seat she kicked her sandals off, she sat down with her back against the armrest and her knees tucked to her chest as she pulled a book out of her bag. As Quinn took off into the lake she rested her chin on her knees and looked out at the water. She loved Michigan in the summer, the way the sun bounced off the water during sunsets leaving the usually blue water an array of pinks and oranges. She loved the fact that she got to see the boys finally let the stress off their shoulders and have fun. What she loved most of all was the fact that she got to see Luke and they wouldn't argue. In seventh grade when Birdie first started going to the lake house, Jack and Quinn made the youngest two sign a contract saying they weren't allowed to fight or else they would be banned from the house the next summer. Lake house summers were the only time Birdie got a glimpse of who Luke really was behind the wall of hate he usually had built around him. She saw that he was a sweet boy that loved his brothers more than anything else, even hockey. Luke though, he never paid much attention to Birdie, blocking her out so he wouldn't start a fight. So he never noticed that by the end of that seventh grade summer, she was looking at him like he hung the stars in the sky. Jack and Quinn did though, giggling to themselves as they made a bet on when the two would finally get together.

Watching her from the back of the boat Luke sat eating a breakfast sandwich. When Jack plopped down next to him, he didn't even realize until his brother said something that made him snap his head to the side. “She's pretty isn't she?” Jack quietly said to the boy. “Yeah,” Luke whispered, “I never really realized it until this morning. She's gorgeous.” By the tone of his voice Jack knew this summer was gonna end for Luke the same was that seventh grade summer ended for Birdie, totally in love. Putting her book down as Quinn threw the anchor in the water, she pulled her sundress over her head, leaving her in a white bikini that had little yellow daisies all over it. Luke felt like there was a lump in his throat as she pulled her hair into a bun at the top of her head, small pieces falling out to frame her face. She rummaged through her bag for the sunblock before pulling it out and rubbing it into her skin. Jack and Quinn looked at each other knowing she was gonna ask someone to get her back and shoulders, they jumped into the lake leaving only Luke up on the boat to help her. She shyly walked up to him, playing with the pendant from the necklace she was wearing and quietly asked if he could help her. He choked out a yes before she turned around. When his fingers hit her skin it felt like the both of them had been electrocuted, fireworks bursting from his fingertips into her shoulder blades. It was Luke's turn to blush, he felt like he'd just gotten off a roller coaster, stomach doing backflips. When she gave him a soft thank you all he could do was nod his head as he watched her lay out on the boat seats, eyes shut lightly with a smile on her face.

That night the four of them were sat around the fire pit when Birdie finally spoke up. “I have some important news.” She rushed out. “What's up Bird, you can tell us anything.” Jack said, slightly worried. “I'm- um- I'm transferring from U of I.” Her voice is quiet, like she's awaiting judgement. “Where are you going?” The other three turn to Luke, who asked the question before he could stop his mouth. “Well, uh- UMich offered me a full ride and a photography internship with sports media, and I accepted. Being in Illinois just didn't feel right ya know? Like I didn't have any friends, I barely talked to my roomate, and watching hockey there sucked. Michigan is home and I felt like I could benefit from transferring here.” Her words rushed, finally admitting she was unhappy. “Well if you need someone to show you around when you get on campus, you have my number.” Luke said with a soft smile. Her eyes widening in shock before the said thank you and they changed the topic of conversation over to Jack and how he was doing with the devils.

Sure enough when Birdie showed up on campus she shot Luke a text asking if he knew where the library was, and the minute he opened the text he was stealing the keys to the moped and running out of the sophomore house. When he pulled up Birdie couldn't help but laugh at him, a 6 foot 2 boy sitting on a scooter was probably the funniest thing she'd seen in a while. Rolling his eyes he told her to hop on the back. He wasn't expecting her to wrap her arms around his waist, her hands resting on his toned stomach. A shiver ran up his spine and she brushed it off that he was just cold. As they drove around campus he was pointing out where everything was and the smile on Birdie's face was brighter than the sun. When they pulled up outside the library Birdie climbed off the back, “Thank you, I really appreciate this.” She said with a smile. “Anytime, I'm just a text away.” He smiled back. “Alright, well I have to get some books but I'll see you around.” And with that she walked up the steps into the library.

Two days later she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest, she had been assigned to the hockey team's media team and it was her first day. She was worried about what Luke would think. Would she be in his way? Would he be mad? Trying to push her anxiety down she walked into Yost and headed to the media room. She was told she would get her camera and offically meet the team as they walked around the stadium giving her the tour. She luckily had her own skates, ones Jack got her for Christmas last year, so she was able to actually get on the ice today. Lacing her skates up she heard the team whizz by and onto the ice starting their warmup laps. When the coach had everyone huddle up they brought her out in the ice and Luke froze. “Alright listen up! This is Y/N, she's our new media intern. She just transferred here from Illinois so please make her feel welcome! Now introduce yourselves.” The team went around introducing themselves, some of them she could already name from following Luke on instagram and other she tried to remember as she crammed all the information into her brain. When they got to Luke, Dylan had to elbow him in the ribs so he would pay attention. “Hi Birdie.” He smiled at her and the rest of the team looked extremely confused. “Hi Luke.” She said with a grin. Luke's teammates stood silent until Ethan spoke up, “Do you two know each other?” That broke them out of their trance as Birdie answered, “Yeah we grew up together,” she softly smiled, “His brother is my best friend.” The boys all nodded taking in the information. “Why'd he call you Birdie I thought your name was Y/N?” A deep blush covered her as she covered her face with her hands while Luke let out a laugh. She looks up and scowls at him, “Tell them and I'll tell everyone what your mom found under your bed two summers ago.” Suddenly Luke stops laughing, “You wouldn't.” He scoffs. “Do not underestimate me Hughes you know full well that I will. Anyways! It's so nice to be here and I'm glad I got put with a sport I actually understand instead of one I don't.” She finishes with a smile. “Now that we are all acquainted, Y/N is going take some pictures during practice so be mindful of where you're skating, now move it!” The coach says. “Wait! You guys can call me Birdie, I haven't been called by my first name in like 10 years.” She says with a laugh. “Alright get into lines!” And with that she skated to the edge of the rink and pulled out her camera.

By the end of practice the boys were all gross and sweaty but her eyes were glued to Luke. He was talking to Ethan and had this huge smile on his face, she zoomed her camera in so she could see him clearly and snapped a picture. Little did she know they were talking about her.

When Ethan skated up to Luke he said something that made Luke blush from head to toe. “You like her don't you?” Ethan asked and that's when Luke got that big ole smile on his face. “Yeah she's great, something really changed over the summer. We had a really bad start when we were younger, I'm talking arguing constantly and I swore on everything I hated her. But then when I woke up on the second day of summer and she was standing in the kitchen at the lake house my heart just kinda stopped, and nothings been the same since.” He says with a soft smile. “Awwwww Lukey boys in loooovvveee.” Ethan says shaking the boys shoulders. “Yeah I guess I kind of am.” He whispers.

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birdsworld: a soph-house september!

tagged: lhughes06, edwards.73, dylanduke25, markestapa

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jackhughes: I don't even wanna ask about the pasta.

jackhughes: also why is ethan tapped to the ceiling?

—birdsworld: we got bored and he was willing

edwards.73: picture four is me finding birdie at a party she said she wasn't going to

—birdsworld: luke said i could drive the moped if I went

_quinnhughes: @jackhughes you'll owe me $100 at new years

—jackhughes: no it's gonna be spring break

——birdsworld: what

———_quinnhughes: none of your business

lhughes06: when did you take that last picture?

—birdsworld: my first day!

——edwards.73: oh I'm gonna tell her

———lhughes06: do it and I'm taking your key to the moped.

————edwards.73: god damn it

trevorzegras: I feel replaced

—colecaufield: me too

——_alexturcotte: me three

———birdsworld: losers

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Mid October was when Birdie got asked out on a date by some guy from the football team. This was her first date ever, considering she usually had the Hughes brothers scaring off every guy she ever looked at. So she sat there in the local diner waiting for an hour and her date never showed. While she was walking home she called Luke. “Hey Birdie what's up I thought you were on a date?” He answered no more than two seconds after she hit the dial button. “Yeah,” she sniffled, “He uh, he didn't come. He stood me up.” Her voice soft and raspy. “Did I do something wrong Luke? Am I just not enough?” She was fully sobbing at this point. “Hey hey Birdie no, you're beautiful, and you're funny, and you're smarter than anyone I've ever seen. He doesn't deserve you.” He pauses for a minute before telling her to stay out and he'll come pick her up. When he arrives in a car instead of on the moped she knows he stole Nolan's keys and lets out a small laugh. When she gets in the car Luke doesn't drive her home, he drives her to sonic, where they eat dinner and talk about how their classes have been. Unexpectedly Luke parks when they get to her dorm hall, “I'll walk you in.” He says opening her door. “Ok thank you.” A smile finally pulled on her face. Their walk to her dorm is quiet before Birdie toes the line between them, pulling Luke in for a hug. He stiffens for a minute before he wraps his arms around her and she nuzzles her head into his chest. “Thank you.” She whispers. “Anytime. Sorry if this hug is really awkward. I'm still new at this us being friends thing, but I'm glad we are Birdie.” “Me too.” With that she's pulling away from the hug and opening her door. She pauses when she steps through the threshold before turning around and placing a kiss on Luke's cheek. “Goodnight Luke” she smiles. His face is the color of a tomato but with the biggest smile, “Goodnight Birdie.” Closing her door and pressing her back up to it she holds her hand to her heart, feeling it nearly beat out of her chest. Luke sat in Nolan's car for five minutes completely frozen before he drove back and walked into the house with the biggest smile on his face, the boys put two and two together on where he went in such a rush.

Two days later is when everything changed between Luke and Birdie for good, they were having their first argument in over a year. All because Birdie was talking to a guy at a party. “God I don't get why it's such a big deal Luke! You flirt with girls all the time! Why am I not allowed to flirt with guys!” She was screaming at him in the backyard of the party not caring that it was pouring rain. “You ain't get it do you! It's different!” Luke screamed back. “How is it different Luke? Huh? Tell me!” The next thing Luke said is what changed everything. “Because I'm in love with you Birdie! God I have been since this summer!” She freezes, her face falling, “What?” She whispers, her voice wavering. “I'm in love with you.” He reaches forward putting his hands on her cheeks, wiping the few tears that fell away. “It's ok if you don't feel the same i just had to—” Luke was shut up as Birdie grabbed his face and kissed him. It was slow at first, but as soon as Luke realized what was happening he grabbed her waist and brought her impossibly close, kissing her harder. When they finally broke apart Luke rested his forehead on hers and smiled. They sat there for a minute before Birdie spoke, “Luke Hughes I've been in love with you since seventh grade summer.” Luke's eyes widened. “You're lying,” he said with a gasp “there's no way I was a dick to you for like ten years!” Birdie just giggled, “Yeah but I got to see the real you during the summers, I learned who you really were when you weren't hating me.” Like just kissed her again, no longer a hungry kiss but one filled with love and passion. “Let's get inside?” “Yeah probably a good idea.” She giggled. As they turned around they see Ethan, Mark, Mackie, and Dylan standing at the glass door clapping enthusiastically, Ethan handing Mark and Mackie $20 each

When New Years came around, Luke and Birdie were officially together. Well only at school, not on social media and not to Luke's family. They thought it would be hilarious to fuck with Jack and Quinn.

Birdie and Luke were laughing their asses off before winding down and packing. They arrived at the house together receiving weird looks from all the guys. “What?” They asked at the same time. “I thought you guys were bringing people?” Jack asked both him and Quinn confused. Turcs and Cole caught it right away giggling to each other as a result of the three beers they already drank. “Hey Jack,” Birdie said, “you owe Quinn $100.” A sly smile on her and Luke's faces. Quinn and jack gasp, “NO FUCKING WAY!” and “I TOLD YOU!” being shouted at each other. “Wait what just happened I'm so confused.” Trevor says frowning and Jamie just face palms. “They're dating you idiot!” Turcs says to him receiving an “ohhhhhh” from Trevor.

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lhughes06: sparks fly when we kiss, i love you birdie <3

Tagged: birdsworld

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In the end Birdie and Luke had been enemies, lovers, and everything in between.

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#luke hughes #luke hughes x reader #umich hockey #jay speaks!!🪩#SoundCloud #enemies to lovers

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kaiowut99 · 3 months

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youtube

A Special Announcement~ | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special Re-Translation Project!

I've been itching to get around to posting about this for a few months now, but wanted to wait until I'd worked on enough for it, but also had the idea to create an announcement trailer to go with it for added good measure--after recording and editing clips for a couple weeks and leveling the audio last night, heremst we are! (For some clips, I forgot to turn off the PPSSPP emulator's DevMenu option so that shows up in the top-left, buuut I didn't feel like re-recording those, lmao.)

Details worth reading below the cut here, but tl;dr work has been in progress for over a year in between things, work will continue to be in progress for a while, and the release will happen when everything's ready, but stay tuned, fun's getting started etc etc~

So, I'm sure most of us are familiar with the as-yet-unlocalized-by-Konami TFSP, the seventh and last entry in the Tag Force series on the PSP that came out early in ARC-V's run (featuring the first five series which was a cool first), as well as the current translations out there originally worked on by the guys at XenoTranslations (omarrrio and ScrewTheRules/ClickClaxer01 at GBATemp handling the card and story/etc translations, respectively) and how there are... some issues with what's out there. Everything from the DM story mode being loaded with YGOTAS references (no shade to YGOTAS and much respect to LK/Martin for his ongoing work on it still making me laugh sometimes, ofc) to the off-the-cuff edginess of 2014-2015-era internet culture and the problematic (in some cases, derogatory) language that permeated it--though to its credit, some parts do have some level of translation attempted, but taken as a whole, it can definitely turn people off from giving the game a try and seeing what it brings to the table (which is still a good amount despite the corners Konami cut here/there compared to prior TF games).

I actually did attempt a translation of my own back in 2015 (if you've been following me for a long time, you might remember it lol), tackling the GX story text starting with Judai's heart events, but eventually put it on the backburner as I focused more on my GX subbing work and beginning to finalize everything (which I'm still doing). Sometime in 2022, a friend over on NeoArkCradle (the "anonymous YGO fan" in the opening screen) was poring over the story text and patching it up the best he could to remove the references and inaccuracies with more coherent work, and after a while of seeing what he was working with in the Discord, I was a bit blown away by just how inaccurate much of it was--so alongside him, and using the better tools available since then (including some really awesome work from both nzxth2 [who did a proper re-translation of 5D's TF6 not too long ago and was kind enough to release his tools for it] and our coding helper Xan1242 who we eventually reached out to for some help), I decided to *cracks knuckles* get involved and help give everything a more accurate and professional translation, much like I do with my GX subs, working directly off the Japanese text and files. I've been taking cracks at everything in between the GX episodes I've been finalizing going back to at least last January (and I'd used my little hiatus after finalizing GX Season 2's subs to really get at some other stuff throughout the game), starting with re-translating DM's story text but also properly translating other aspects of the game, from the character names (using the original Japanese names, including those of the TF-exclusive characters, partly since Konami made a whole mess of them in English TF1-5), in-duel dialogue, pack descriptions, and more to images with Japanese text (such as localizing the in-duel cut-in onomatopoeia as you see in the video above, or other little images throughout) using some Photoshop skills I've picked up. And it's been a joint effort, as said NAC friend and I have been bouncing off how we'd like to see this go between us to stay on the same page and all, while also checking with other translators there for second/third opinions as needed.

Our plan is to release two versions of a translation--one which uses the OCG [translated] card names in Story Mode, in-duel, and other text but not in the game's card system (mainly to deal with story-relevant notes like Osiris vs Slifer with the Gods or things like not-Utopia Hope being symbolic between Yuma and Astral, akin to how I do my GX subs), and one which uses the TCG card names in everything (like how the official subs go about it). While we're mostly working with the Japanese game files due to how the Xeno team went about decoding everything, we'll be using the card-system-related files from the fixed ISO provided by FLSGaming which fixed some issues that had been present there. And Xan has helped us with a plugin that will be used to apply our translations to the system files that were hard to edit otherwise (things like the character and recipe names, as well as the pack names pulled from for the Card Description screen), but more on how that'll work once this is ready for release, lol. At some point, I'd like to also look at HDifying textures and things, but that's definitely a bonus-level thing for after the main work here is done.

SO.

Currently, Story-Mode-wise, I've gone through everything up to Yusei's events--so Dark Yugi/Kaiba/Jounouchi/Ishizu/Mai in DM, Judai/Manjoume/Asuka/Misawa/Ryou in GX, and Yusei in 5D's have been fully retranslated, though I took initial cracks at Yuma and Yuya's events to get content for this video lol (I've also been intentionally holding off on as much ZEXAL as I can until I've properly watched the whole show so I have context). I haven't tackled overworld text yet, though (like pre-duel or the tournament-related text, which is all in the same file as all the story text). I've also been handling the in-duel dialogue as I go through the character stories, so also just up to Yusei, though I did take initial cracks at Aki's, Yuma and Shark's, and Yuya and Yuzu's for the video.

Other things tackled that were sprinkled into the video, along with some other notes:

Pack names and descriptions have been retranslated, though the descriptions may see minor edits closer to release for a little variety between worlds given the different characters at the shop. Character recipe names were also retranslated, with Yugipedia's translations for them used as an occasional second opinion, though ones based on pack names had to be abbreviated in spots.

Menu text, from the Options to Help screens and stuff in between, has been retranslated, as have in-duel text strings (so, you'll see a full "Activate Effect" instead of "Activate" or "Switch to Attack/Defense Position" instead of "Switch to ATK/DEF Position", etc--also fixed the "BATTELE PHASE" graphic typo, and NAC friend created a new translation for the "Turn Change" graphic for accuracy since ENG TF1-5 made that into "Next Player's Turn").

Database stuff, such as the Sound Test, Tutorials, Duel Missions, etc., have been retranslated closer to the Japanese text; originally I retranslated the Tutorial text via hex editor, with compromises done on quite a bit of it due to the space limits, but as Xan recently updated a text extractor tool of theirs to more cleanly pull out and reinsert that text, I've been going through and fleshing out those translations more (on my commutes to/from work mostly, to be productive lol).

As mentioned, I've been localizing/translating Japanese-text images throughout the game as I come across them, like with the in-duel onomatopoeia that come up during cut-ins or images in the shop/duel/etc screens using Japanese text, to make sure the game is fully translated.

The series logos, used during the title sequence and in the Series Select screens, were updated with translated fan edits shared on Deviantart (which we'll credit in the final release) for DM and GX, while the 5D's-ARC-V logos were edited to enlarge the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" text on them that was pretty hard to see originally.

The game's original opening sequence starts on an anti-piracy message before going into the Konami logo and then a "From Yu-Gi-Oh!..." screen before the opening animation for each series logo--the original team decided to use the first image to vent their frustration at Konami for not localizing this game, and while that's valid (to some extent), we thought we'd use the opportunity to dedicate this project to Kazuki Takahashi for inspiring our love for YGO and the place it's had in our hearts for all these years.

We'll be updating the names of cards that had TCG releases after the original patch was worked on/updated by FLSG to those corresponding names.

Xan has been working on many UI fixes for us to apply with this, among them 3-line dialogue box text as is used in the ENG TF1-5 games--once implemented for TFSP, I'll be going over everything to make full use of that extra space where needed, so things might not look as they do in the video by then.

Character bios will be worked on after I've done the story stuff, though I've taken initial cracks at it for Yuma and Yuya's bios for the video, along with translating the location/affiliation names ("Domino High School," "Satellite," etc).

Currently no release date is planned, as I'm working on this between my GX-finalizing work and actual IRL work, though we'll see how later this year looks as more work gets done--but as noted in the video, all things being equal, it will be released when everything is ready. I'll try to post regular updates or rambles now that this announcement's been made, lol, but do try not to constantly check in on a release date. 🙏🏽

All that said, I think that covers just about everything I wanted to put out there with this, lol. It's been fun to work on this so far and getting to see what I've re-translated in-game is definitely neat; looking forward to us being able to release everything when ready.

Stay tuned for more; the fun's just getting started!

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ell-arts · 2 months

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Dragons of Black, Gold, and Crimson

Remember that poll I put out some time ago of whether or not I should draw a map of the Netherworld or draw the main trio as dragons?

Well :)

I'm putting the (apparently-very-difficult-to-make) map on the backburner and dove into this piece. It's been sitting around unfinished for too long and I finally got around to it.

I've wanted to draw the Pac trio as dragons for a while now, so this was quite fun! Some of the details in their designs might get tweaked, but overall very happy with how this turned out. I decided to give them their own dragon-sounding names too, each starting with the same letter that their original names started with.

So, meet Cevaali, Pavalon, and Soverik. Check below for individual close-ups and design info!

Pac - Right off the bat I knew he was going to be a golden dragon. I wanted his horns to look extravagant but also fit with the golden theme, so I tried to make his horns kinda resemble fire. The final touch was making the horn/crest on his nose form the Pacman symbol, cuz why not :D

Spiral - He was the most difficult one to design, because I knew I wanted to give him spiraling/curly horns, but had a hard time making them look right. That, and blue and red are QUITE tricky to work with as a colour palette - they are naturally opposite colours, so certain hues can clash weirdly. Out of all the designs, Spiral's is the most likely one to get tweaked. But I am keeping the little "beard" spikes on his chin >:D

Cyli - I wanted something a bit different and overtly gothic for her design, something a bit more mysterious and spooky. So I made her all-black with just a few pink accents, BUT I also liked the idea of modeling her head to look skull-like. So, Dragon Cyli does not have any eyes or nostrils, just a blip of burning light in her eye sockets that acts as pupils. She can still see and smell clearly though because ✨dragon magic✨

All three of their dragon names don't mean anything in particular, I just came up with ones that sound draconic enough :) Here's how to pronounce them: Cevaali (Suh-vaa-lee), Pavalon (Path-a-lon), Soverik (Sov-er-rick, first five letters rhyme with sovereign).

#pmatga #pacman and the ghostly adventures #pacster #cylindria #spiral #pmatga fanart #my art #pmatga dragons #I plan on doing dragon versions of other characters too #Pavalon #Cevaali #Soverik

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masterdetectivexx · 5 months

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Hi Detective, what did you think of Movie 26?

Movie 26 (Black Iron Submarine) Review

Raw feelings:

I'm completely speechless by this movie. It was way beyond any of my minimal expectations. It was extremely good!

I was baffled out of pure disbelief at how much main plot stuff they were revealing in this movie to the point that my brain fried. You could immediately feel that it was a movie you needed to rewatch multiple times in order to fully digest and appreciate its greatness. It was pure fanservice in the best way possible, not the botched M20 way, where fanservice scenes didn't feel earned, mystery being completely gone and main plot/cast characters getting sidelined. Everyone had their moment to shine.

After 15 years, I get a DC movie that finally topped M13 as my new all-time favorite DC movie. I was so thoroughly satisfied that I couldn't help but clap at the end.

Haibara (Sherry)

Haibara truly shined in this movie. Not only did she have proactive role in rescuing herself, Naomi and later Conan, but her personal romantic feelings, childhood past and current relationships with her dear friends were further fleshed out. I was floored by the degree that she got exposed, to the point of the OG antagonist Vodka standing right in front of her next to Pinga, ready to kidnap her, and then later interrogating her about her identity.

I truly adore how the movie also revealed what started the bullying she went through in America (protecting her fellow half-japanese) and how Naomi's story complimented Haibara's childhood. It was a beautiful touch having Haibara's childhood classmate Naomi realizing Haibara's true identity by the end of the movie.

I also love how the movie depicted how highly Haibara viewed Conan/Shinichi and his protective reassuring face. It was cute seeing her face light up with happiness when he showed up. I was shocked, but also very appreciative of how respectful she was trying to be of Shinichi's relationship with Ran (more than the fandom clearly) that she went to the degree of passing on her CPR kiss with Conan to Ran.

Mizunashi (Kir)

Kir was one of the big standouts in this movie. You could truly feel the shift in spotlight focus between her and Bourbon, seeing as Bourbon was truly put in the backburner for Kir to get more shine, and it was perfectly handled and a true overdue for her (since she has been neglected in the franchise overall). I couldn't stop grinning and appreciate her nonchalant stunts to aid in Haibara's escape by pretending to not know how to open the exit tube in the submarine so Vodka could thoroughly explain it as Haibara overhears everything through the transmitter.

I especially loved her less indirect and confrontational move towards Gin, when she directly interferred with his murder attempt of Haibara & Naomi, and how she calmly talked back at Gin when he aimed the gun at her. She was a true badass worthy of her NOC title, that I've longed to see in the series, only to get it in this wonderful movie.

Pinga

I really enjoyed Pinga's role in the movie as well, and especially appreciated how he wasn't written to be similar to Irish and Curacao (who had a more sympathetic antagonist development) but rather to be a more selfish greedy psychopath with more ambition than Gin, but less talented. It was interesting to learn how he was deep undercover as an engineer for interpol since 5 years back while disguised as a woman.

I especially enjoyed seeing his fights with Ran, and how she became a troublesome enemy for him (giving Ran good spotlight like in M13), as well as how Conan straight up shit-talked to him while giving Gin praise in comparison, to the point of riling Pinga up.

Vermouth

Vermouth was the true MVP in this movie. She had such a central role in saving Haibara from the organization's suspicion. It was extremely exciting to see Vermouth immediately sensing the potential of Naomi's All-age Recognition System (ARS) and how it could expose the boss identity and whereabouts, but more importantly to her, expose Shinichi's shrinking, that she'd rather keep hidden like a pandora's box. I was shocked and loved how she manipulated the Boss into giving her the order to destroy the ARS for his own sake, when she in reality wanted to not only conceal the current APTX shrinking effects from him, but also protect Shinichi. The way she used her disguising skills to invalidate the ARS' accuracy was just a genius move by her.

The biggest surprise to me was how she was revealed to be the old woman from the start in disguise, who was given the sale ticket for a Fusae brand brooch by Haibara out of selfless kindness, and how Vermouth was basically revealed to also be repaying that kindness back to Haibara by protecting her from the BO, further deepening her motivations and multi-faceted nature in such a beautiful way as she gazes at the confused Silver Bullet (Conan) who is questioning them after getting Bourbon's intel.

Rum & Karasuma Renya

The Biggest shocker in this whole movie was without a doubt the big reveal that Rum, the no.2 of the Black Organization, is unaware of the Boss' whereabouts in recent times and that, apart from having Pinga request Naomi to sell the ARS to them so they can modify it and also use it to erase the BO's activities in security cameras (according the boss' orders), had intended to use the ARS to locate Karasuma Renya (the Boss).

This was a huge bombshell reveal, yet to be revealed in the manga, that further clarified the current ongoings within the organization. It basically as good as confirmed that the Boss is hiding a de-aged form from his subordinates (including his very close associate, Rum) and that no one other than Vermouth is aware of his hidden whereabouts. This revelation is further supporting my "Child of seven (Nanatsu no ko)" theory (the Boss being a shrunken 7-year-old who is only contacting his subordinates through phone to hide his child appearance and maintain authority). This also further established a distrustful relationship between Karasuma Renya and Rum, seeing as the Boss has kept Rum out of the loop, and how Rum has persisted to locate the Boss against his wishes, creating a very small divide within the organization's power structure. This is extremely exciting for the future of the series and has gotten me very hyped for what's left of Rum's development in the Rum climax.

Conclusion

This movie was overall a 10/10 product, that gave all the fans outstanding fanservice. Conan's devotion to save Haibara, Ran's supportive contribution to the point of almost getting shot, Agasa's deeply moving heartfelt tears after Haibara's kidnapping, Kuroda's helpful backing of Conan, Bourbon's informational support and Akai's loyal aid in taking down the submarine were all just the tip of the iceberg. All the beautiful callbacks to canon events were also among the best of the fanservice. I especially loved Haibara's callback to how a child (Ayumi) had once changed her life through their actions (File 437), Pisco kidnapping her despite wearing glasses (File 240), Ran reminding Haibara of Akemi (like in File 434), Kir's callback to her father sacrificing himself for her in response to Naomi's cry (File 604) and all the moments Haibara recalled when Conan comforted and moved her (Bus hijack, Haibara intro, Reunion, etc).

Gosho's involvement in the story was clearly noticeable, just by the sheer quality of the movie, and all of his many drawn keyframes were beautiful.

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hairstevington · 1 year

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i can't tune you out (part 1)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Eddie Munson is an up-and-coming rock and roll artist living in LA. Steve Harrington (under the stage name HARVEST) has been taking the radio by storm lately. When the fans start shipping them together as a couple, Steve and Eddie consider it an opportunity to boost their upcoming albums. There's just one problem - they can't stand each other. (Link to Ao3)

Part 2 Part 3 - the rest on Ao3!

Word Count: 4.5K

Warnings: Rockstar!Eddie, Indie!Steve, modern day AU, enemies to lovers, slow burn, fake dating/PR relationship, they are both assholes lowkey but they'll get better later in the fic I promise, Drunk!Steve, Nancy is still a heartbreaker, oh look Robin and Chrissy are also here

A/N: Here you have it folks, the much awaited return of Rockstar!Eddie. I've had this story on the backburner for a while now and am so excited to dive into it! Don't worry - I will be updating Flowers and Ink soon, I just got inspired and wrote this first chapter as a little teaser for you all ;)

It all started with a t-shirt.

Steve was playing his own show the night Robin went to a Corroded Coffin concert with a friend from work. He wasn’t upset or anything, because Robin had been to Steve’s shows countless times in the past. Besides, he didn’t like Corroded Coffin’s music anyway.

Apparently, Robin liked the show enough to go to the merch table, where she bought a Corroded Coffin t-shirt, and the rest is history.

“Ridiculous,” Steve muttered to himself. His dryer was busted AGAIN, which meant he had to call the stupid landlord to have it fixed AGAIN.

He’d been so busy with shows that he hadn’t had a lot of time to do laundry, and this was him finally catching up. Of course, the damn thing broke. Now he had no clothes.

He sighed and went to the designated Robin drawer she insisted she have at Steve’s apartment. She was there a lot of nights anyway, so she always kept some pajamas and things just in case. Thank god for Robin’s love of oversized clothing.

He grabbed the first shirt he saw, threw it on, and headed to the grocery store.

Steve wasn’t even conscious of what the shirt said. Maybe he should have glanced in the mirror before he left, but he was tired and just needed to get food for the week. He’d been out of town on tour for a while now, so there was nothing at home.

People were staring at him, but that wasn’t too unusual. His stage name was HARVEST, which was nice because he could separate himself from his music when he wanted to. His persona when he performed was vastly different to the guy wandering a grocery store in his best friend’s clothes, and he liked that. It was freeing. It gave him some semblance of privacy, because most fans of his music didn’t even know his real name.

The more devoted fans, however…

People took his picture sometimes without asking first. That was common. It wasn’t great, but it was common. Steve was never that concerned with looking ugly on the internet, anyway. Although, if people went up to him and asked, he usually said yes if they were nice about it.

It took about three hours for the notifications to pour in. Steve ignored them, at first. His publicist would handle whatever it was. But then, Robin called.

“Steve!” she greeted when he answered. “You wore my shirt out?”

“Uh, yeah?” Steve responded. He looked down to see that it was a band t-shirt. Nothing too crazy about it. “That okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she assured him. “It’s just funny because somehow now people think you’re Corroded Coffin’s number one fan.”

“That’s…strange,” Steve said, confused. “All because I wore their shirt one time?”

“Yeah, well people looked into it and they found out you and Eddie Munson went to high school together -”

“Ah,” Steve acknowledged, starting to understand.

“- and now people are shipping you with him and all that.”

“Wait, what?” Steve’s face fell. “They’re - Like, that’s insane. It’s only been a few hours and - I mean, I don’t even know the guy.”

“Yeah, but do you remember that TikTok you made last year?” she asked. “The one where you took the metal song and stripped it down, sang it in your style instead?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.”

Steve did that a few times with a variety of genres. He liked taking music to weird and unexpected places. So, sometimes when there was a viral song or sound, he’d put his own spin on it.

“Okay, well that was a Corroded Coffin song,” Robin explained.

“It…was?” Steve genuinely had no idea. He didn’t look into the artist before he’d made the video.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “You seriously didn’t know?”

“No,” Steve answered. “So, that combined with the t-shirt and now people think I’m having an affair with this guy or something?” He scoffed. He’d never understand why people were so hellbent on creating stories from nothing.

“It’s just the internet, Steve,” Robin replied. “People say all kinds of things.”

“Yeah, but -” Steve sighed, shutting his eyes tightly. It wasn’t just that he was being shipped with some random guy, it was that Steve wasn’t even out yet. It was kind of a whole thing he and his team had been working on. His new album was supposed to announce it, not some random pairing based on zero evidence.

“Yeah, I know,” Robin said. Steve knew she understood completely, even without him saying anything. She knew his sexuality before he did. “I promise it’s not a huge deal. Sorry the internet sucks.”

“Thanks,” Steve responded. He hung up, groaned, and collapsed onto his couch, where he fell into a deep sleep.

“Eddie, we can use this.”

Eddie held back the groan he so desperately wanted to let out. He was on the phone with his manager, Carla, who had just told him that people online were pairing him with some other musician that Eddie had heard on the radio a few times and - yikes. It wasn’t his vibe.

“Use it for…?” he asked, completely nonplussed. He picked up a rubber band ball on his desk and rolled it around in his hands.

“You both have albums coming out soon,” she continued. “So, if you’re dating him then - I mean, think of the publicity.”

“Dating him?” Eddie echoed, confused. “Aren’t we jumping the gun, here? Do we even know if this dude likes other dudes in the first place?”

“No, but you should find out,” Carla insisted. “I mean, it’s HARVEST, Eddie. His music is everywhere right now.”

Eddie knew that much, at least. He didn’t listen to the music when he could help it, but people talked about it all the time. The mysterious HARVEST who wore disguises on stage and left cryptic posts on social media. Eddie couldn’t think of a single person he wanted to date less, and he didn’t even know the guy’s name or what he looked like.

Eddie, on the other hand, had been busting his ass to maintain the little audience he’d accumulated over the last five years. Corroded Coffin started as a high school passion project, then devolved into a more serious band that played sporadic shows in his hometown, and then went through a series of changes and replacements until Eddie was the only original part of it that remained. Well, that and the name, of course.

Eddie Munson. Corroded Coffin. They were pretty much synonymous at this point. The fans he had knew who he was and what he looked like. He rarely used social media, but when he interacted with fans he was blunt and to the point. No games. No mystery. This HARVEST guy kinda seemed like a tool.

“Yeah, I’ll pass,” Eddie said, snapping one of the rubber bands rhythmically.

“Eddie,” Carla prodded. “If you do this, you’ll blow up. Think of what you could do with the money. Merch. A tour. A vacation. A new house. Whatever you wanted, you could get.”

Money sounded nice, but it’s not like Eddie was living in poverty or anything. Well, he was in a tiny apartment in a shitty area of town, but it was Los Angeles. Who could afford anything more than that? Besides, he’d lived in places that small and shitty his whole life. Then again, he’d never had any other choice. Money would give him the choice.

The popularity aspect was also intriguing, because Eddie loved attention almost as much as he loved music. Sure, there were downsides to fame, but he adored the glimpses of it he’d had so far, and it’s not like being around HARVEST was going to turn him into Leo DiCaprio or something.

“Okay, so if I agree to this, what does that mean? Do you want me to DM him or something?”

“Actually,” Carla said. The playfulness in her tone caused Eddie to drop the rubber-band ball, because she only talked like that when she had a creative idea that he tended not to like. “He’s going to be at this launch party tonight that I may or may not have gotten you an invite to…”

Yup. That sounds about right.

“So you want me to crash the party and proposition this guy?” Eddie asked.

“Of course not,” she replied. “You’re invited, so it’s not crashing.”

Eddie had to chuckle at that one. She was a sneaky one, sometimes, and damn good at her job.

“Fine,” Eddie agreed. “Send me the details and I might go.”

“Will do!” Carla responded. He could hear how excited this made her, and he was glad at least one of them was into this whole thing. “You don’t have to do anything too wild, okay? Even if you’re just spotted with him, it will spread the narrative that something is going on. Deal?”

It felt a little gross to go somewhere just to track a random guy down and cling to him for popularity. It was kind of a dick move, really. Then again, Eddie was kind of a dick.

“Deal,” he replied.

“This will never not be the coolest thing to ever happen to me,” Robin said, as she always does when Steve takes her as his plus one to events.

“Yeah, well since Nancy dumped my ass, get used to it,” he teased. “You’ll be filling in for a while.” Steve nudged her shoulder, causing her to laugh. She was wearing this beautiful, brand new jumpsuit. It was pressed and ironed and cost almost a full paycheck. Lucky for her, she didn’t have to pay for it. Steve was doing pretty damn well for himself financially.

The Uber driver pulled up to the bar and dropped them off. Since it was the grand opening or something, the place was entirely closed off and only people on a list were allowed in.

“Name?” the security guard said at the door.

“Uh,” Steve stuttered. He never knew which name was on these stupid lists. “Steve Harrington, and my guest.” He gestured to Robin beside him, who blushed.

The security guard nodded, crossed them off, then opened the door for them to go inside.

“Holy shit!” Robin said as they walked in. The place was nice, even by Steve’s standards. They headed to the bar to order their first round of drinks.

Steve went to these kinds of things pretty often - he’d go, have a few drinks, hang out with people, then do it all again a few weeks later. He enjoyed them, for the most part.

Well, except for one thing.

Steve choosing to do music under the stage name HARVEST was great in a lot of ways. It was kind of like the whole Miley Cyrus vs Hannah Montana thing, except Steve wasn’t gonna show up to these parties wearing sunglasses, a wig, and an ugly vest - his signature look when he performed. He showed up as Steve, who was a nobody, and that felt kind of lame. To everyone else at the party, he just looked like a normal guy. Even Robin stood out more than he did.

Steve had this whole thing where HARVEST rarely posted anything or did interviews, and when he did he was in disguise and using a voice changer. It started as a joke and then just…stuck. HARVEST was a completely separate entity from Steve. HARVEST was all the parts of him that made him popular in high school, and Steve was whatever was left underneath.

He and Robin enjoyed the night anyway. They were handing out some sponsored cocktail throughout the night until everyone was good and drunk. Whatever was in that thing was lethal. Steve had only had two and he was feeling pretty tipsy. Robin was already on the dance floor after one. She’d pulled him to the photo area while a slower song played, urging him to get a picture with her and commemorate the night before she got too sweaty from dancing.

They held up their branded glasses and smiled. The light flashed so bright they both winced, then laughed at their dramatic reaction. When they began stumbling away from the camera, Robin paused.

“What?” Steve asked, confused.

“Eddie Munson is here,” she said.

“Where?” Steve asked. She pointed vaguely in Eddie’s direction, trying to act like she was just playing with her hair. Steve searched the room until his eyes locked in on the curly-haired brunette that the world wanted him to be with, apparently. Eddie was at the bar, talking up some of the other guests. “What is he doing here?” Robin shrugged.

Steve had never seen Eddie at one of these parties before. His band wasn’t really that popular. Their only claim to fame so far was a chorus of one of their songs going viral on TikTok. Then, like an idiot, Steve had done a cover of the damn song, and now he was in a whole mess of a situation. Eddie Munson was going to inadvertently reveal Steve’s bisexuality before his album even came out.

It wasn’t Eddie’s fault, and Steve knew that. Fans were going to say what they were gonna say. But still, Eddie being at the party was a crazy coincidence, considering the circumstances.

Steve took a sip from his third cocktail and decided not to think about it.

Eddie had never in his life been invited to something like this before. He’d had to talk to a guard and get let in, like some bigshot celebrity. If being around this HARVEST guy gave Eddie more opportunities to go to shit like this, maybe it was worth it.

Once he got inside, he went to the bar to get a drink. They were serving some cocktail that Eddie had no interest in drinking, so he ordered a whiskey on the rocks as he chatted with the people around him. They were all nice, although it was a bit too loud to have any actual conversation. Plus, most of the guests were well on their way to being drunk.

All in all, it was Eddie’s exact kind of chaos.

He scanned the room for a man that matched his only reference point of what HARVEST looked like. Eddie had seen a few pictures of him on stage, and his outfits were always a little out there. He had different hair every time, but his absurd style stayed consistent.

Nobody at this goddamn party looked like that.

“Hey,” Eddie said after nudging the person beside him. “You know where HARVEST is?”

He realized as soon as he asked that he probably could have just Googled him to see what he looked like. Whatever.

“Uhh, you mean Steve?” the woman responded. “He’s here somewhere. His date is in this gorgeous glittery blue jumpsuit. Find her and you’ll find him. He follows her like a shadow.” She finished her description with a light chuckle. Eddie turned back to face the rest of the bar and continued searching the crowd.

Okay, first of all - Steve? The man, the myth, the legend known as HARVEST was actually just…a guy named Steve? Eddie almost burst out laughing.

Secondly, he brought a date. Of course he brought a date. A woman, at that. Eddie wasn’t cool enough to have a plus one, but Steve on the other hand…

Wow. Eddie didn’t think he’d be able to find the glittery jumpsuit as fast as he did, but it really was a dead giveaway. It sparkled under the lights of the bar, and the girl next to Eddie was right - it was gorgeous. Steve’s date was gorgeous overall, actually. No wonder he was following her around.

“Him?” Eddie asked, pointing to the guy dancing with the woman in the jumpsuit.

“Yup,” the guest at the bar confirmed. She took the last sip of her cocktail and set the glass down on the counter. “So, do you wanna dance?”

Eddie froze. He wasn’t a huge fan of dancing in public, and he also wasn’t sure if this dance was just a dance or if it was something else.

“Well, I, uhhhh -” he began. “I mean, I’m like - ya know - gay.” She laughed in response, her face red from the alcohol.

“No shit,” she replied. “You obviously have heart eyes for Steve, and he’s dancing with someone else, so let’s go out there and you can make him jealous and I can dance until someone who likes women steals me away.”

Eddie grinned. This chick was dope. He held out his hand for her to take it, and then he walked her to the dance floor. He figured that he could strike up a conversation, get Steve to take a picture with him at the photo area, and then call it a night.

“What’s your name, by the way?” he yelled over the music.

“Chrissy!” she yelled back.

“Eddie!” he responded. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but notice how drop-dead gorgeous she was, too. Everyone at this party was perfect-looking, actually, and it was intimidating and weird. Eddie was grateful he'd decided to wear his nicer clothes.

And then they danced. Eddie did his best to jump to the music and twirl Chrissy around. Over the course of the first song she managed to glide them through the crowd and strategically place them right by Steve.

Chrissy was a total boss.

“STEVE!” she shouted, acting much drunker than she actually was. She threw her arms around Steve, who returned the hug with a warm smile. “How are you?”

Steve said something, but it was so loud on the dance floor that Eddie couldn’t hear it.

“I’M ROBIN,” blue jumpsuit woman said. She looked like she was having the time of her life. “NICE TO MEET YOU!”

“YOU TOO!” Chrissy replied. She turned to Eddie. “THIS IS MY FRIEND EDDIE!”

Oh, shit. Okay then.

Robin and Steve just kinda looked at him and didn’t say anything for a moment. There was no equally loud greeting for Eddie Munson, no sir. He immediately felt judged, and almost bolted right out of there. He didn’t fit in with this crowd at all.

“H-hi, Eddie!” Robin finally said. “I actually know you! I went to your show a few weeks ago!”

“Woah, really?” Eddie responded, shocked. Nobody had recognized him here, yet. Maybe he wasn’t so different from these people after all.

“YOU’RE A MUSICIAN, TOO?” Chrissy asked, amazed. Eddie nodded. Suddenly, the most beautiful man Eddie had ever seen approached Chrissy and asked her to dance. He recognized the guy as this famous actor who’d been in a ton of movies. Score for Chrissy, although she was perfect, too, and barely fazed. Instead, she took the actor’s hand and smiled. “GOTTA GO, SEE YOU GUYS LATER!”

And then, she was off. What a crazy life these people led.

Steve spoke again, but only Robin could hear him properly. She nodded, then gestured for Eddie to follow them to a less loud part of the bar.

“Much better,” Steve said once they could all hear themselves think again. The light in the bar was dim, so it was hard to make out all of Steve’s features, but Eddie could have sworn he looked familiar. “So, you’re the famous Eddie Munson?”

Eddie thought for sure he’d heard Steve wrong. Like, he must have, because no way in hell Eddie could be considered famous among this group of people. Unless Steve was being condescending, in which case…ugh. Sure, whatever.

“I - I mean, yeah,” Eddie replied. He turned back to Robin, who he already liked more than Steve. “So, you’ve seen Corroded Coffin in concert?”

“Yeah!” she said, her face lighting up at the question.

“Why?” Eddie asked before he could stop himself. Robin and Steve laughed. “I just mean, you’re not really my usual demographic -”

“I’m full of surprises, Eddie,” she teased. “Okay, so I only went because my friend had an extra ticket, but still.”

“Ouch,” Eddie responded with a laugh, clutching his heart as if he’d genuinely been distraught.

“What the fuck is in these things?” Steve said, staring intently at the drink in his hand.

“It’s basically a long island iced tea with all their cheapest liquor and a splash of sprite,” Eddie answered plainly.

“How did you know that?” Robin asked, amused.

“I asked,” Eddie replied with a shrug.

“The bartender?” Robin pressed. Eddie nodded.

“Yeah. I have this thing where I never shut up, so I tend to talk to everyone,” Eddie joked. Well, it wasn’t really a joke. “Anyway, how many have you had?” Steve’s brow furrowed as he desperately tried to remember his drink tally.

“One more than he should have had, apparently,” Robin said, taking the glass from Steve and setting it down on a table. “I’ll go get him some water.”

She disappeared with no further warning, leaving Eddie alone with Steve. Am I supposed to babysit this guy until she comes back or something?

“So, you and Robin,” Eddie said, shifting back and forth on his feet. He really could not for the life of him stop talking, especially with whiskey coursing through him. “Are you guys, like -?”

“Just friends,” Steve snapped back. He almost seemed pissed at the question. “She’s been my best friend for, god, I dunno, since college.”

“Cool,” Eddie replied. Steve was clearly very drunk, and Eddie wasn’t sure how much of that was contributing to his standoffishness. “Are you okay, man?”

“Why're you even here, dude?” Steve asked, his words slurred. “What made you come here?”

“Uhhh, I was invited?” Eddie answered. This guy’s a real trip.

“So it wasn’t because strangers online want us to be together, and if that happens you get more fame or whatever?”

Oh, damn. While that's exactly what was happening, Eddie sure as hell wasn't going to admit it. To save face, Eddie did what he did best - he defaulted to assholery.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he responded. “I’m here for the same reason you are.”

“So, it’s a total coincidence that I see you at one of these things for the first time the same day people started talking about us online?”

“Maybe I’ve been to a ton of these parties and you’ve just never noticed,” Eddie retorted.

“I doubt it,” Steve shot back.

“Why?”

“Because you’re hard to miss, Munson. Always have been,” Steve replied.

“Always?” Eddie echoed, confused. Then, the lights hit Steve’s face and illuminated it entirely. Enough for Eddie to remember where he’d seen him before.

“Got your water!” Robin announced as she returned. She handed Steve the new glass, and he took it without breaking eye contact with Eddie.

“Ohhhh my god,” Eddie said, stunned. “You're Steve Harrington. HARVEST is Steve goddamn Harrington.”

“Sure is,” Steve replied, his voice even.

“I missed something, didn’t I?” Robin asked.

“I mean, kind of,” Eddie said, raising his voice. “Just a couple years of King Steve bullying the school Freak.” Robin turned to Steve, alarmed.

“Wait, you bullied him?”

“How did you not know it was me?” Steve asked, getting agitated now. “Did you seriously come here to try to mooch off me without even doing your research first?”

“I never said I came here for you,” Eddie replied.

“You didn’t deny it either,” Steve reminded him. “You still aren’t, by the way.”

“Okay, fine!” Eddie relented. “You caught me. I came here to cash in on your fame, like some poor commoner in need of charity, and I didn’t even bother to look you up first because honestly? Your music kinda sucks.”

“Oh, I definitely missed something,” Robin muttered nervously.

“You wanna talk about shitty music?” Steve said through gritted teeth.

“Okay!” Robin interjected, inserting herself between them. “No more of this. It was nice meeting you, Eddie, but I think we should split.”

“No need,” Eddie replied. “You stay, I’ll go. You’re the ones who belong here anyway.” He did a slight bow and walked away, leaving Robin and Steve behind.

So much for fame.

@lemondar93 i thought the whole #steddie thing was a reach but saw them together tonight and uhhhh 👀 idk there's something there

@izzierosieb wait omg at the Frolique grand opening? How tf did you get in??

@lemondar93 suuuuper lucky! Matty was supposed to go but he’s sick and I was backup!

@geegeedaheed tell us everything!!!!

@julijmonroe if steddie is real I will actually lose my mind wtf

@chasityseventeen no fr because we have so little and yet I’m already INVESTED

@belloca123 NOT THERE ALREADY BEING FANART OF THEM AHAHAHAHA

@camerohno Everyone just remember that these are real people and we shouldn’t be speculating about their lives even though they’re obviously secretly married

@lemondar93 LMAO

Steve woke up the next morning with the hangover from hell. After Eddie left, he and Robin stuck around for another song or two before heading out themselves.

Steve never really liked Eddie that much in high school because he was a show-off. He loved making a scene in the cafeteria and he always acted like he was better than everyone else just because he refused to like anything that was popular. Sports, music, TV shows. They were never going to be friends, because Steve usually liked the stuff that other people liked. He used to follow the pack, so to speak, and do what the people around him expected him to do. Eddie tended to do the opposite. Eddie was abrasive and loud and obnoxious.

Back in high school, anyway. Steve knew that people had the capability to change (after all, he sure did), but after reuniting with Eddie at the bar, he was skeptical any growth or development had actually occurred in the last six years.

Eddie was still a dick, and Steve had no interest in ever seeing him again.

He pulled out his phone to see that it was still blowing up. There was a new tag trending - #steddie. Yikes. He’d also gotten even more followers. Then, another update caught his eye.

His new album had double the pre-orders it had the night before.

He’d put his heart and soul into this album, and he wanted more than anything for it to be recognized. He was popular, yeah, but mostly for a couple singles that played on the radio all the time. This album was a piece of art from top to bottom that Steve had painstakingly planned and created from scratch.

Maybe. Maybe this stupid ship with Eddie Munson could be worth something. But not enough to contact the guy. No way.

Steve opened his Instagram and then felt his heart drop.

@nancywheeler: Life hack - date a photographer so you get amazing candids on vacation 💕

It hadn’t even been that long since Nancy left Steve for Jonathan Byers. Well, maybe it had been long enough, but still. Cute couple’s posts already?

Oh, no. Steve wanted Nancy to feel like he did, and he knew what would do the trick. She was always a bit of the jealous type.

God dammit.

(Part 2!)

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@paintballkid711 @abraca-fxckyou @allbimyself26 @jellybabiesforall @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @justaloadofgarbage-blog @alliemunsonsstuff @undreamingscatworld @thefruityfours @hobbitnarwhal @calivanus @wreckmyplans-thatsmyman @antheia @goodolefashionedloverboi @lillemilly @missmagillicuddy @steviesbicrisis @gamerdano @menamesniall eyeslikewildflowers111 @callmesirkay @stringischeese @eds-trashmouth @mnl-enuh @redfreckledwolf @itsanarrum @soulsofstarsliveinyourveins @gregre369 @stevesbipanic @momotonescreaming @aryakanojiaa @wrenisflying @comicmadlover @lilacrobin @itch-my-b0nez @anonymousbandgirl @disastardly @dangdirtydemons @daisyellsong @val-from-lawrence @starryeyedpoet17 @taikawaiteatea @clumsiluni @hollysimone @swimmingbirdrunningrock @witchofhawkins @steddiegarbage @suddenlyinlove @ricekristytreaty @eddielives1986

#eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson x steve harrington #steddie #steddie fic #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #writing #steve and eddie #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham #i can't tune you out #modern day au

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jaskierx · 2 months

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im not trying to start shit and be all "boo taika" but i guess i'm just curious as to your take in this article. i realize this might be a complicated thing to answer but idk when i read it i was like "well this isnt great"

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/509912/chelsea-winstanley-i-was-married-to-someone-who-was-on-their-own-buzz

hey anon!

fascinated (affectionate) to hear that i am someone whose opinions people are interested in lmao

i read this article yesterday and my overall feelings towards it are that this doesn't change anything for me and shouldn't change anything for most people

the gist of the article seems to be that taika got offered the thor ragnarok job and it came with a ridiculous paycheck and there was no way he was ever going to turn it down (valid). chelsea didn't want to put her own career on the backburner or uproot her kids to move to australia while he was directing it (also valid). this led to their relationship breaking down, which is totally understandable, because if you're in a couple it's really fucking difficult when you're forced to make a decision that is going to heavily favour one person.

he may or may not have cheated. if he did, he's not the first person to cheat, and he won't be the last. if he didn't, that doesn't mean the relationship was perfect and had nothing else going on.

i will happily sit here and call people out for spreading misinformation about taika when it's demonstrably false (clock my pinned post etc). but i've never engaged with any of the shit about 'he cheated on his wife' 'he abandoned his kids' 'he's a bad dad' etc because ultimately i don't know anywhere near enough about his family to make a judgement on that, it would be very weird if i did, and i don't care!

i don't know the guy! i'm never going to meet him! he's never going to directly impact my life or the lives of anybody i care about! i really enjoy his art, and one of my main hobbies is shitposting on this hellsite about a show that he's a lead actor in, and i appreciate an attractive gifset of him, but that's where it stops.

maybe he cheated on his wife. maybe he's a terrible father. it doesn't matter to me bc i'm not going to marry him and he's not my dad. he's a good director and a good actor and that's as far as i'm interested.

#asks #anon #taika waititi

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drabbles-mc · 9 months

Text

Off the Backburner

Steve Murphy x F!Reader

For Day 22 of @narcosfandomdiscord's July Smut Challenge: virginity

Warnings: 18+, language, alcohol, smut, precanon

Word Count: 4.1k

A/N: this fic is a day late and I've rewritten it an absurd amount of times. But it's done. And that's all I have to say about that! 😂

Narcos Taglist: @garbinge @winchestershiresauce @sizzlingcloudmentality @panagiasikelia @616wilsons @hauntedforsst @mirabee @buckybarneshairpullingkink @boomclapxox @nessamc @southotheborder @supersanelyromantic @padbrookcottage @mysun-n-stars @raincoffeeandfandoms @justreblogginfics @ashlingnarcos @proceduralpassion @artemiseamoon @hausofmamadas @cositapreciosa @narcolini (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

It wasn’t something that ever really came up in conversation. With anyone, really, but definitely not with someone like Steve. Truth be told, it wasn’t even something that really crossed your mind very often at all. You were so busy with everything else, especially since you enrolled in the police academy, that you didn’t have time to think about dating, or sex, or the fact that you’d never had sex. There was more important shit taking up your brain-space, and it wasn’t exactly the type of conversation you’d been looking to have with Steve over a couple beers in the time that you’d known him.

Over the last few weeks of suffering together, the two of you had become something resembling friends, but even so, you weren’t the type of friends who had those kinds of conversations. When you’d first met Steve, you didn’t think that the two of you were going to end up being friends at all. His first impression wasn’t the best, not that you expected much from most of the men in your class. Your expectations for boys in their twenties were low, even lower for twenty-something’s who were enrolled in the police academy. It was you and two other women alongside all those men, and it was going about as well as any of you had expected it to.

But you were doing well, doing great even, despite the social stressors of being around a bunch of men who had too much testosterone in their systems for their own good. You and Steve were at the top of your class for your marksman scores—as a matter of fact, you were neck and neck. And despite some of the sharp remarks the two of you had traded in the past, that seemed to be the thing that broke the stalemate. He was still ridiculous, still said things that made you roll your eyes and shake your head. But at least now when you told him to watch his mouth, he would try.

You never had to think about it very often—it wasn’t like anyone’s sex life got brought up while you were all struggling your way through academy together. It’d slipped your mind completely in all the times you were out getting beers with everyone at the end of the day.

But in moments like this it was hard to not be aware of the reality of it. Steve’s hands were slipped into the back pockets of your jeans, keeping you pulled tight against him as he kissed you, tongue running along your bottom lip letting you taste the beers the two of you had just finished in the bar. You had one hand on the side of his face, the other resting against his chest, fingertips pressing into the skin exposed by the few buttons of his shirt that he’d left undone.

You would’ve been more than content to stay like that, pinned up against the side of Steve’s car with his lips on yours, for the rest of the night. The feeling of his body pressed so tightly to yours made your head spin. The entire situation was something that you would’ve thought to be so outlandish only a few weeks before, but here you were.

When the two of you finally came up for air, Steve was immediately digging his car keys out of his pocket, his body still close enough to yours that you could feel the heat radiating off of him. He stole another lingering kiss from your lips before asking, “Wanna come back to my place?”

You hesitated for a moment. Your pause was long enough to make Steve lean back and get a better look at you. You swallowed hard, knowing that this was, in one way or another, going to be a make or break point for the two of you. “Steve, look, I…” you trailed off, not really sure how to end the sentence. You knew how you should end it, but it felt so blunt.

Panic washed across his face for a brief moment, like he was trying to figure out how much damage control he was about to have to do if he’d been misreading the entire situation. “Shit.” He dragged his hand back through his hair. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—if you don’t wanna—” he paused, trying to get his words together enough to finish at least one sentence. “Sorry if I had this wrong,” he finally said as he made a small gesture between the two of you.

“It’s not that,” you told him, shaking your head. “I just…”

“What? You got a secret boyfriend you forgot to mention before now?” he almost said it like a joke, but you could tell that for a second it was a legitimate concern.

You laughed at the mere thought of it. “No. Jesus. I haven’t had the time for a public boyfriend let alone a secret one.”

“Then, what is it?” It wasn’t that he was upset, per se, more just confused. If it was something that he did, or something that he didn’t do but should’ve, he at least wanted to know.

“I just, um,” you raked your nails back along your scalp as you tried to think it through, your thoughts all still spinning, “I don’t do stuff like that, really. I…I don’t hook up with people I work with,” you paused for a moment, “or cadets that I’m in academy with.”

His lips twitched as he nodded, processing what you were saying to him. “Alright.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, a small pang of regret going through you as the words left your lips. It wasn’t that you didn’t want him, but you were also keenly aware of all the ways it could get messier than it was worth if the two of you went through with it.

“Don’t be,” he countered, and it sounded genuine, which you hadn’t been expecting.

“Okay,” was all you could think to say. You wished that you could turn back the dial to a few minutes before when he’d been kissing you. Everything was so much better then.

“But if you’re worried it’s gonna be weird,” he continued, “or that I’m gonna, I don’t know, say something to someone, I won’t. And it doesn’t…doesn’t have to be weird.”

“I believe you,” you told him honestly.

He nodded. “Good. Um, alright.” He paused for a moment, like he was trying to figure out if you had more to say or if he should just take his loss on the chin and leave. “I’ll see you Monday, then?”

You nodded, already kicking yourself into the next week over all of this. “Monday, yea.”

He twirled his keys in his hand. “Goodnight.”

You had the stupid urge to kiss him before you walked away but you stopped yourself. “Goodnight.”

You peeled yourself off the side of his car and started to walk away, back towards your own. You waited until you were behind him to drag your hands down your face, silently cursing yourself over everything that had just transpired. You were all set to go home and mull over your regret, but once the sound of him opening the car door hit your ears, your impulses took back over.

Stopping in your tracks, you weren’t thinking about what you were doing as you were doing it. That momentary pause became you turning back around and going back to him. “Steve?” You gave him enough time to turn around and face you before you crashed your lips against his, hands landing on the sides of his neck. You felt the shock go through him, but then he was kissing you back again. Pulling back, you asked, “You meant what you said?”

He nodded, eyes locked onto yours. “Yea. All of it.”

Your heart was palpitating and you just hoped that Steve couldn’t hear it or feel it. “Okay.”

His eyebrows lifted just slightly, but he nodded. “Okay.”

The tension in the car on the drive to his apartment was thick enough to cut with a knife. There were only a few words traded between you on the ride. You thought you were going to feel uncomfortable, but you didn’t, not really. A little anxious, maybe, but more excited than anything. It wasn’t a long drive from the bar to his place, but his hand was rested on your thigh the entire time.

When the two of you were finally in the privacy of his apartment, door closed and locked behind you, Steve was right back on you again. Hands on your sides, lips pressed to yours. You melted into him almost instantly, the feel of his hands creeping underneath the sides of your shirt sending shivers straight down your spine.

He gripped onto your sides, not tight in a way that hurt, but just enough so that he could pull you and guide you along with him. You felt him reach behind you, turning the knob and pushing open the door to what you assumed was his bedroom. Now you were certain that your heart was pounding loud enough for him to hear it.

You knew that if you were going to say something, you needed to say it sooner rather than later. For a moment you wondered if you even really had to say anything at all. You wondered if it would really change anything if he knew. It wasn’t as though you’d never dated anyone, never done a little bit of fooling around, but it had just never gone far enough to the point of crossing that line. Things just never got that serious with anyone, although you were keenly aware that it wasn’t as though they were all that serious with Steve either. But even just kissing him felt different. None of your previous experiences with people had been bad, but they also hadn’t really felt this good either.

Even with your eyes closed as you kissed him, you could tell by his motions that he was toeing off his sneakers, and you moved to do the same with your boots, the precarious balancing act of trying to do that while also letting him guide you farther into the bedroom. You were able to rid yourself of your boots just before you felt the backs of your legs press against the side of his bedframe and mattress.

There was no hesitation in your movements or his as you laid yourself out on the bed, Steve following right behind you. He was hovering over you, one leg slotted between yours as he started to kiss you again. You pulled him closer to you by the collar of his button-down, reveling in the way it felt as he used one hand to cup the side of your face.

You let out a low moan when his tongue pushed between your parted lips, your grip on his shirt tightening as he shifted your positions just slightly, just enough so that your legs were on either side of him. Bringing his hand from your cheek, he trailed it down over your chest and stomach before sliding it back up again, this time underneath your shirt. You gasped as he cupped your breast, his fingers deftly pulling the cup of your bra out of the way to give him more access.

You pulled your lips off of his with a quiet, “Fuck,” as your hands quickly set to work undoing the buttons on his shirt. You heard the breathless chuckle he let out as he let you push it down off his shoulders. He got it off the rest of the way, tossing it somewhere in the room that you couldn’t see and didn’t care to. He kissed you hard on the lips once more before reaching to slide your shirt up and off over your head, casting that aside too. He looked down at you, eyes raking over you as you laid beneath him in just your bra and jeans. Other times when you found yourself in almost this exact same position with other people, you found yourself wanting to hide. That’s when you would turn tail and run—no one who had you feeling like that deserved any more of you.

But even with as slowly as Steve’s eyes were wandering, you didn’t find yourself wanted to pull away. His hand glided up your stomach and over your chest, creeping up until he was cupping the back of your head and leaning in to kiss you again. Your hands started on his shoulders, but only stayed there for a moment until they slid to his back, fingers exploring wherever they could reach.

It wasn’t until you felt his other hand start at the button of your jeans that the thought crossed your mind again that you should say something. It was so easy to get distracted as he kissed you, but you knew that the invite back to his place had a heavier connotation to it than that.

Reaching, you placed your hand over his as you pulled out of the kiss. “Steve.”

His eyes were locked on yours. “Yea?”

“I, um, I know I said I don’t usually do this,” it was hard to get your words together when all you could think about was the feeling of his hips pressed against yours, “which is true. But, I also just, I’ve never done this.”

He nodded, slight traces of confusion on his face. “Okay.”

You knew he didn’t get it. Resting your other hand against his chest, you felt the quickened pace of his heartbeat. “No, I mean,” you pressed your lips into a thin line for a moment, “I’ve never hooked up with anyone I work with. But I also have just never…never hooked up with…anyone at all.”

His eyes widened slightly as it finally clicked with him what you were saying. “Oh.”

“Yea.” You paused, waiting for him to say something, waiting for him to pull away. “We still okay?”

He nodded. “Yea. I, I just…you sure you wanna do this?”

You smiled, nodding. “Yea—I’m sure.”

His voice was softer than it had been when he said, “Okay.” He leaned in, kissing you again before telling you, “Just tell me if you wanna stop, okay?”

You nodded. “I will.”

He looked at you for another moment longer, like he was making sure that you were both really on the same page. When he didn’t see any regret, any hesitancy on your face, he kissed you again. And it was back to that for a little while longer, just the feeling of his lips on yours, his hands caressing wherever they could, holding you tight.

When he went to undo the button and zipper on your jeans again, you didn’t stop him. He paused for a moment, giving you the opportunity to change your mind, but you didn’t. Pulling the denim down your legs and finally off of them completely, he threw them out of the way with everything else. His lips grazed along your leg, hand running up the other. Your breath trembled as he kissed along the inside of your thigh, along your hips, just above the waistband of your panties. Your hands clung to his shoulders involuntarily. He looked up at you, and just the sight of him like that with your legs on either side of him, eyes darker than you’d ever seen them before, made every inch of your body tingle with electricity.

He pressed a kiss over your clothed core, the action making you want to squirm with desire and anticipation. “This okay?” he asked, and when you only nodded, he shook his head, “I gotta hear you say it, sweetheart.”

The husk of his voice when he addressed you like that made all of your bones turn to jello. You nodded again, managing to say, “I’m good,” in a voice that no longer sounded like your own.

He smiled at that, giving the tiniest nod as he pulled your panties off next. You let him hook your legs over his shoulders, humming in approval as he kissed the inside of your thighs. You felt the warmth of his breath against your core and the whine that came out of you was something that was beyond your control. Lifting your head off the pillow beneath you, you couldn’t help but to look down at him.

His eyes were locked onto yours as he kissed you again, only this time there was no barrier between you, his lips connecting right to your core. You sucked in a quick breath at the contact, feeling something akin to relief, but more than that you were just feeling desperate for more. He must’ve seen it in your face, too, because he slowly dragged his tongue along your folds. You gasped, body arching into the contact.

He repeated the action a few times over, lips wrapping around your clit for the briefest moment before he pulled back. His eyes wandered back to your face and he was wearing the most sinful smile as he said, “You taste so fuckin’ good.”

Your jaw dropped open, like you wanted to have something to say to that, but all you could do was look at him. He watched you for a moment before letting out a low, breathy chuckle and diving back between your legs again. Your hands tangled into his hair, wanting to pull him closer but also wanting him to keep doing exactly what he was doing.

He shifted, kissing your thigh before getting your attention. “Hey,” he whispered, breath warm against your skin. He waited for you to look down at him again, and for a second he just admired the way you looked, the rise and fall of your chest as your breathing sped up. “I wanna give you more.” He kissed you again. “That okay?”

You nodded again, catching yourself this time as you said, “Yes, please.”

He dragged his tongue up and down your folds again, and you watched him with bated breath as he put two of his fingers in his mouth. He trailed those along your slit as well, pressure that made you writhe with excitement. He waited for your eyes to meet his again as he slowly started to push them into you. You gasped, not from pain, but from the shift of the sensation. He didn’t move his hand at first, making sure that you were okay. Then he slowly started to move, the slow drag of his fingers in and out of you causing you to utter sounds you’d never made before. He found a slow, steady rhythm before his lips attached to you again, wrapping around the bundle of nerves between your legs. That time you did pull him closer by his hair, whimpering out his name over and over again because your brain couldn’t conjure up anything else to say.

You felt your muscles starting to tense, your excitement bubbling over. There were no coherent thoughts in your head, just stars behind your eyes as you bucked into him, hands dropping so that you were grabbing onto his shoulders. You vaguely registered his moans of approval, the sound barely reaching you over the sound of your own breathing.

You gasped again when he pulled his fingers out of you, legs trembling slightly as he kissed his way up your thighs, to your stomach, to your chest, up your neck until his lips were almost touching yours.

“You okay?” he asked, one hand holding your thigh, the other cupping the side of your face.

“Yes,” you rasped out before pulling his lips to yours in a brief, rough kiss. “Fuck,” you said with a breathless laugh.

He chuckled, the vibration of it going through your chest as well. “You sure?”

You nodded, kissing him again. “I’m sure.”

There was a brief pause, the silence filled with lingering kisses and Steve’s hand wandering from your thigh until it was teasing ever-so lightly between your legs.

“You wanna keep—”

“Yes,” you cut him off, legs pulling him towards you, “please.”

The smile on his face got a quiet laugh out of both of you. You watched him as he pulled away, shedding his jeans and boxers. Your teeth sank into your bottom lip as you watched him bring himself back to you. He kissed you, and you were extremely aware of how you could feel every part of him against you now, skin to skin. He pulled his lips off of yours, turning so he could open the drawer of his bedside table. You heard the sound of the condom wrapper crinkling. Unable to pry your eyes away, you watched as Steve stroked himself a few times before sliding it on.

He situated himself between your legs again, his face hovering just above yours. You felt the way he was lined up against you, and with your hands on his sides you could feel the way his muscles were taut with anticipation. He wanted you, and it made you want him more.

“Tell me what you’re feeling, alright?” he said, quietly, carefully before brushing his lips against yours. “Whatever it is. And if you feel like you wanna stop, we will.”

You nodded, heart fluttering in your chest for a moment. “Okay.”

He felt your fingertips dig into him as he slowly pushed into you. You whimpered, but you didn’t want him to stop. Once he was fully inside you, he stilled. For a few precious moments it was just the two of you, his hips pinned to yours as he leaned in and kissed you on the lips. Your hands came up to either side of his face pouring all of your desire into the kiss that you could.

“Feels good,” you murmured against his lips, giving him the reassurance that he needed, that you needed too.

He started to move his hips then, slow and controlled. You buried your face in the crook of his neck as you let the sensation wash over you. You kissed his shoulder, his throat, wherever your lips could reach without having to move too much. His hand was gently holding your thigh, holding you steady as he slowly thrust into you.

You felt his breath against your ear for a moment before he said, “Let me look at you.”

Those words hit your bloodstream like fire, your entire body feeling warm as you pulled your face away, head dropping back against the pillow. Steve’s eyes didn’t leave your face, and any thought of being self-conscious was eradicated immediately as he brought his hand up and cupped your chin. He kissed you softly, gentler than you ever would’ve thought him capable of prior to all of this.

“You’re beautiful.”

You let out a quiet moan in response to his words. He could feel your desire in the way your walls fluttered around him. He began to move faster, thrusts becoming more intense. He listened to your breathing, your body, in case you hesitated. But you didn’t. Your whines and whispers of encouragement spurred him on more. Soon enough you were tumbling over the edge again, nails digging into his back as you did. He wasn’t far behind—you felt the stutter of his hips just before he came, just before his body went lax against yours.

Your body was heavy against the pillows and mattress beneath you. Your eyes were shut as you tried to catch your breath. Steve’s chest rose and fell out of sync with yours, your hands resting between his shoulder blades.

“Hey,” he lifted his head up so he could look at you, waited until you opened your eyes before asking, “you okay?”

You smiled, nodding. “More than okay, yea.”

He braced his hands on either side of your head, hoisting himself up a little more. “I didn’t, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

You gave a small shake of your head as you moved your hand, thumb grazing his cheek. “No.”

He nodded, letting you pull him into a kiss. “Good.”

Once you’d both caught your breath, Steve grabbed both sets of underwear from the floor, cleaning himself up and giving you a chance to do the same. He didn’t bother asking if you were planning on spending the night, the answer obvious in the way that you immediately fell back into bed beside him.

You were laying with him, head resting against his side as your fingers trailed along the skin of his chest. He was looking at you but you couldn’t see it. His arm draped around your shoulders, his hand lightly holding onto your bicep.

“Steve?” you mumbled, sleep starting to weigh down your voice.

“Mhm?”

“We’re still okay, right? Like you said?”

You felt the way his lips curled into a smile as he pressed them to the side of your head. “We’re okay.”

#narcos netflix fanfiction #narcos fanfiction #narcos netflix #narcos #steve murphy #steve murphy fanfiction #steve murphy x you #steve murphy x reader #x reader #x reader fic #nffalphabet #my writing #fanfiction #drabblesmc

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abyssalzones · 5 months

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hi i recently just found your blog and have been enjoying scrilling through the gf tag you have and seeing all your wonderful art! i’m curious if you ever have any other interests that are as long, or even almost as strong as gravity falls since i think i’ve seen your art that was back in 2017! really like your passion! passionate people for the win!

UHM. EXTREMELY GOOD QUESTION. I don't know actually... there are a number of things I can say I've been invested in since then-- some of which I've done fanart for, like wander over yonder, various moomin stories, adventure time-- hell I even draw art for things I used to be passionate about before gravity falls, like old mcyt stuff I grew up with (despite not engaging with them much anymore)... but I can't say there's anything I've cared about for both as long and as strongly.

I think around 2021-2022 is when I realized that if I didn't feel really passionate about something, I couldn't force myself to draw it. for whatever reason, gravity falls has been a cornerstone of whatever inspires me to draw, and I've been trying to embrace it rather than feel really self conscious about drawing a lot of one thing.

Other than GF, I draw a lot of my own original stuff- I've had escape velocity (a comic I'd like to make) on the backburner for a while but I still feel very strongly about that, and it's the only other art folder in my drive I have sorted into individual years because there is a Lot of it. I'd also say I'm very into drawing natural scenery, which goes all the way back to me wandering around on hikes as a kid. I'm very passionate about life/environmental sciences and nowadays all my notebooks are full of trees and other weird stuff I see or think about.

(and thank you, by the way!!)

#lab notes #askbox #really interesting question to think about

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ladyfromaspookyforest · 11 months

Text

What Is Will's Arc if Mlvn Is Endgame?

A Byler trying to make sense of the show from a mlvn POV

I like to be informed on both sides of a debate. So I'd like to understand what evidence mlvns have to support their ship. Unfortunately, most Milkshakes think mlvn endgame is obvious and therefore that they don't need to prove it. So basically, this is me trying to explore the one thing that just Does. Not. Make. Sense. to me from a mlvn endgame perspective. And that's Will's arc.

Will's arc IS STILL SUPER IMPORTANT when addressing the show from a mlvn standpoint because ships do not exist in a bubble. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge that Will is integral/central to the show and that supporting queerness has been an ST theme since day 1. Will's arc has never been about familial acceptance. The first episode of the show demonstrated that Joyce loves Will no matter what. We had a queer-coded acceptance speech from Jonathan in that same season (another in season 2) and a far more blatant one in season 4. The series wrapping up with yet another would be dissatisfying and redundant.

Acceptance from his friends is not it either, because we also saw his friends sticking up for him despite being bullied about his visible queerness. Not once did anyone stick up for Will by denying his queerness. This is likely a consequence of taking Will's lead, suggesting Will has never denied his own queerness. It is very clear that this has been going on for quite a while and his friends not only do not have an issue with people thinking Will is gay, but will defend him on account of it. Will's friends accepting him is no great revelation.

Will's conclusion CANNOT be something that has been a truth from the start. If Will's story begins with being loved by all of his friends and family whether he's gay or not, we can't watch five seasons of him struggling only for the conclusion to be that he is loved by all of his friends and family whether he's gay or not. There is ZERO development. It can't be romance if it's not Mike. The turnaround is too quick for Will's feelings to come into the open, for him to be definitively friendzoned, for him to get over these feelings, for him to meet someone new, for him to develop feelings for this new person, and for him to get involved with this new person. This is literally impossible to cram into the final season even for a side character we WOULDN'T mind a rushed romance for. But ESPECIALLY not for Will, one of the backbone characters of the show (*cough* whose queerness has been integral to the show's very makeup from the start *cough cough*).

So if I'm fighting for my life over here to make mlvn make sense for Will, in order for this to work, you have to remove romance from Will's arc completely. Yes, we as Byler shippers are fully aware of the moment romance became integral for Will.

BUT for the sake of this exercise, we're going to say that Will's romantic plotline is a dead-end (I'll come back to the queerness) and that he's going to have to put his feelings for Mike on the backburner for the sake of the world. With this logic, you'd have to acknowledge that Will is going to be at the center of the supernatural plot, which most people do but some mlvn dingdongs think he's a gay, irrelevant, crybaby. So. Pretending we have logic: Will's at the center of the plot. Here's an imaginary arc for Will I've constructed in which he does not get the boy OR get sidelined:

Scenario

This is extremely dependent on the parallels between Will and Henry.

For the sake of this exercise, Henry is queer. He may or may not be within the actual world of ST, but for this to work, Henry's queerness would need to be expressly stated within the show. Additionally, THIS IS NOT A THEORY and it's not what I THINK will happen, so anything related to timeline theory is being side-lined here. For this scenario to work, there is one Henry and he becomes Vecna. Henry feels like an outsider. He is made to feel "wrong" and different. It would be necessary to parallel Virginia with Lonnie and to introduce a friend or a neighbor or some boy Henry had a crush on. If we wanted to explore more mature feelings to be closer to Will's, this could even take place later in the lab when he's older.

The gist is that Henry would have to experience the heartbreak of having feelings for a straight boy combined with internalized homophobia and a lack of acceptance from the people in his life. Both Henry and Will would experience harassment, feelings of being different, unrequited feelings, and come to a confrontation with one another. For maximum impact, Mike just found out about the painting/Will's feelings and reacted poorly (because of the lying, not the gay). Now Will's in a trance, having a one-on-one with Vecna in his mind lair and Mike's freaking the fuck out and feeling like an asshole and Vecna tries to relate to Will and Will's big triumph is realizing that Vecna is RIGHT and they are so much alike, but despite what Mike said, Will knows Mike loves him anyway. And despite being sad, gay, and alone, Will still loves the people in his life and he has some big moment of AND I LOVE MYSELF TOO and yay Will self-love hurrah you're sad but not going to let it ruin you woohoo and he tells Vecna there was nothing wrong with him when he was a wee lad either and yada yada you get the gist.

Why it works and why it doesn't

Ignoring what this does to Henry (because that's a whole other thing), this actually concludes Will's struggles with his own queerness perfectly fine. THEMATICALLY, it's trash. And that's the big issue with Will ending up single. When you look at Will as a character within this body of work, sans themes, you can see his arc as one of needing to accept HIMSELF. As I said before, it isn't about his family or friends accepting him (although explicit scenes of this would be beneficial for Will's self-love journey). We know he has accepted his own queerness, but he still feels like a mistake. His arc culminating in his acknowledgement that he is NOT a mistake is super important for him. I do, in fact, believe it's a large part of his REAL arc. Being able to take ownership of this part of himself and feel happy with it is necessary for him with or without romance. And within the story, it's okay to tell a tale about a queer boy who doesn't get the boy he loves if the story ends with him learning to love himself.

The issue is that this body of work exists in the real world. It exists in a world where telling that tale of the gay kid not getting the boy is delivering a negative message about queerness. It exists in a world where PR has been done surrounding the show that both allowed and encouraged the shipping of these boys. If the show ends with this bittersweet conclusion of Will's arc, letting go of his love for Mike but gaining love for himself, it won't be JUST about Will. Because Will represents gay youth in general. And ending with Robin and Vickie together does nothing for this message. It doesn't serve to show us that queer relationships are good and possible and that Mike and Will just weren't meant to be. Because Rockie is not a stand-in for Byler. That PR I mentioned still exists. You cannot say, "well we queerbaited Byler, but we still gave you a queer relationship!"

And way back to the beginning when I mentioned that supporting queerness has been woven into the show since the FIRST episode, while my (stupid) scenario or something similar allow Will's personal arc to conclude in a way that doesn't negate the narrative, it DOES negate the message.

So...WHAT is Will's arc if mlvn is endgame?

Self-love, IMO. I think Will's arc is equal parts learning he is NOT a mistake and learning that he CAN find love despite his queerness, but if mlvn were to be endgame, it could only be the first half. And if the show played his journey strong enough, they could make that extremely powerful on its own. Unfortunately, it's impossible to create this ending without sending a negative message. So while I DO think it is possible to wrap up Will's arc sans Byler in a way that makes sense within the narrative, I don't think it's possible outside of it. In a world where people consume the narrative and recognize that sad gay boy ending up alone = bad message. That even if queerness is accepted, celebrated, and supported WITHIN the show, the show says the OPPOSITE by allowing the only single party member to be the gay one.

I think this is where a lot of mlvns get confused. I'm not talking about the extreme antis and the homophobes. But for the people who genuinely care about Will and ship mlvn (they exist), I think this ability to disconnect Will and his journey from the Real World the show airs in is what allows them to believe mlvn endgame is not harmful. The people saying "It's realistic!" about Will being sad and in love with his straight best friend in the 80s are failing to recognize that THIS IS NOT THE 80S. It's MEDIA.

This is the major difference between Mlvn + Will and Byler + El. Both El and Will need to learn to love themselves and find strength in themselves outside of other people's perceptions of them. But, even if we ignore the depth/nature of feelings both El and Will have for Mike or the ways in which their relationships with him have been portrayed. Let's say Will and El feel EXACTLY the same about Mike. Byler + El = sad but empowered El while Mlvn + Will = sad but empowered Will + bad message.

I did genuinely set out to try to explain this argument to myself, not to go on an anti-mlvn tangent. But...my conclusion is that I can't (shocker). Art was meant to be perceived. Thank you and goodnight (it's afternoon).

#byler #will byers #thematic exploration tangent that ultimately achieves nothing other than cementing my feelings about this show #my dumbass post

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