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unclewaynemunson · 8 months

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Yall voted for the sober version of this premise so here ya go:

Steve doesn't know exactly what he had expected kissing Eddie would be like, but it sure as hell wasn't this. He would've expected something rough and raw, bared teeth and maybe fingers pulling at his hair. But what he gets instead is something infinitely soft, something resembling tenderness... It makes it all the more difficult for him to pull back.

“What's wrong, Stevie?” Eddie asks after one look at Steve's face.

“I need to tell you something,” Steve manages to choke out.

And Eddie wraps his arms all around him, pulling him closer until his head is lying right against Eddie's beating heart. That heartbeat, steady and reassuring, is all he focuses on while he talks.

“Remember last summer? The mall fire that wasn't really a mall fire?”

“You finally gonna tell me what happened there?” Eddie says. It doesn't sound accusatory, just curious and a little confused as to where this is headed.

“I don't really like to talk about it,” Steve confesses. He closes his eyes, flashes of what happened back then floating to the surface of his mind again.

“We – Robin and I – we were captured by Russian soldiers. They tied us up and interrogated us for hours. They thought we were spies, so they tried to get us to give up information. They hit me.” He pauses to take a breath. “They hurt me real bad, Eddie. Until I was bleeding all over. Until I lost consciousness and Robin thought I was dead. The only reason we survived is because they thought we would have useful information for them.”

“Jesus Christ, Steve...”

Eddie's grip around him tightens, but Steve lifts his head up and makes a half-hearted attempt to crawl away from him. The hardest part has yet to come.

“I really, really like you, Eddie,” he says. “But I can't do this with you.”

Confusion flashes over Eddie's features: his eyes widen and the lines around his lips become deeper. But he still doesn't loosen his grip.

“What do you mean?”

“It's the –“ Steve clears his throat. “I know what it means, the – your hanky. I got a cousin in New York who knows all about that shit, they send me magazines sometimes when my parents aren't home. I'm sorry, Eddie, but I can't do that, like, ever. It's only gonna make me relive that shit from last year. There's no way I can ever give you what you need, so it wouldn't be fair to...” He trails off, not quite knowing how to finish that sentence.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Eddie still looks as confused as ever.

“Your hanky,” Steve uselessly repeats. “You're flagging, aren't you? You're into, like, hurting people, right?”

Steve watches how Eddie's jaw drops, almost in slow motion.

“This?” he asks, grabbing behind him and taking the black piece of fabric, covered in skulls, out of his back pocket.

Steve nods.

Eddie laughs, but it sounds fake and on edge, quickly dying out again. “Steve. This is a metal thing. It looks badass, y'know. I literally have no idea what you're – flagging?”

A gasp escapes Steve's lips and he feels his heartbeat speed up with something that must be hope.

“Are you serious?”

Eddie nods, his brows still furrowed and that endearingly confused look of I-have-no-clue-what-the-hell-is-going-on not leaving his eyes.

It feels like Steve's heart is starting to run laps in his chest, now. He can barely suppress the laughter that's bubbling up inside of him.

“What the hell are you trying to tell me, Steve?”

He grabs the hanky that's still in Eddie's hand.

“I thought you were flagging,” he weakly explains. “It's like a code. To signal what you like to do, y'know, in the bedroom. The black, it means – I thought you were into, like, BDSM shit. Things I can't do: being tied down, getting hurt...”

“Why the hell would I get off on hurting you, Stevie?”

It sounds so ridiculously innocent and horrified: Eddie the freak, Eddie the scary metalhead – Eddie who is genuinely shocked at the suggestion that he had in any way created an image for himself in which it made sense that he'd be into pain.

“I mean, if you would, I wouldn't wanna judge you or whatever,” Steve is quick to say. “You'd be surprised how many people are into that shit, I'm not here to shame anyone. But if you aren't... I'm really fucking relieved, man.”

He still vividly remembers what happened when he was dating Daphne, who had once taken his wrists in her hands and pinned them down on the mattress above his head while she was on top of him. Or when he was with Melissa, who had half-jokingly slapped his ass one time when things were getting heated between them. Anything restricting his movements, anything unexpected, could make him lose his shit now, as he had had to find out the hard way. It had made him believe that he could never actually have Eddie, that that would be asking too big of a sacrifice of either one of them, an impossible kind of compromise, no matter how much they liked one another. But instead, here he is, with Eddie looking at him with the softest look in his eyes, actually having talked about his shit before they even got up to anything more than kissing.

So he tells him, stumbling his way through the words, about his experiences with Daphne and with Melissa. And Eddie listens to him patiently, his big eyes never once leaving Steve's, nodding as if he's mentally taking notes of what to do and what not to do.

“We can take it as slow as you need to,” Eddie tells him when he's finished, his voice sincere and reassuring.

“It's not about taking it slow,” Steve assures him. “It isn't about not being ready. It's more about...” He pauses to think. “It's about trust. I trust you.”

Eddie's hands, that are still wrapped around Steve's torso, tighten for a moment and he blinks rapidly a few times. He looks overwhelmed by Steve's words.

“Okay,” he finally says, a little bit more hoarse than before. “So if it's about trust, can I trust you to tell me whenever something I do is bringing back unwanted memories?”

Steve nods. “Yeah, I can do that.”

It's always been difficult for him to talk about what happened that day underneath the mall. But he realizes he has already done the difficult part: Eddie already knows about the memories he is carrying with him. That must make it easier to talk about it in case it will ever be necessary.

Soft lips press against his temple and he drops his head back on Eddie's chest.

“Good,” says Eddie. The sound of his voice vibrates through Steve's whole body; he doesn't think there's anything more comforting than being completely wrapped up in Eddie like this.

A hand lands in his hair and starts stroking through it softly.

“Thank you for telling me this,” Eddie mumbles. “That couldn't have been easy.”

In return, Steve wants to thank Eddie for being as sweet and understanding as he has been, but the exhaustion of having this talk is washing over him in big, heavy waves. So he merely hums and lets his eyes fall shut.

“You wanna stay the night?” Eddie asks. “We don't have to do anything right now – we can go straight to sleep, how does that sound?”

Steve nuzzles his head further into Eddie's chest. “Sounds good,” he murmurs. He can't imagine ever wanting to sleep on his own again.

#don't mind me rambling about stranger things #thought i'd finally put in my own 2 cents about them hanky debate #if you even care #seriously have fun with your hc's however you like but #let's address the trauma here alright #and let them be unbearably soft #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #fanfic #fruity ficlet

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fandoms-in-law · 17 days

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Manual Mood Ring

Summary: To keep up popularity and the Harrington reputation Steve couldn't show many emotions. That didn't mean he didn't feel them, only that he didn't always recognise what feelings he hid. So he wore rings, swapped them out according to his moods. And a few people noticed them.

Authors note: It won the poll by 1 vote and honestly I'm glad about it. In typing the other fic up I realised how not finished it is. This has been a great fic to procrastinate work with over the last couple weeks, but I'm glad with where I finished it.

/\/\

Steve would never say, except to Robin, but it all began because of Eddie and curiosity. If the guys he'd been friends with at the start of high school had paid attention, they could've worked it out too, but none of them thought twice when the week after he noticed, and accidentally cause some bullying over, Eddie's rings, Steve came in wearing one of his own.

The ring, or rather rings, he wore weren't expensive, just simple things he'd spotted in a shop window, but somehow everyone thought it was a wealth thing when they noticed it and so far as Steve heard, nobody realised there were 6 different rings he'd swap out. They definitely didn't question when he swapped them either, not even Nancy.

Robin did know. She only admitted noticing them when Steve dragged her out to buy more after the Russians took his original rings and none of the government agents mentioned finding them. She was the one who asked about why he needed multiple rings when he'd only wear one at a time.

It didn't help the assumptions they were dating when Robin insisted on taking his hand to check which ring he was wearing every time they met up after the explanation that he used them as an indication or self check-in of his mood.

/\/\

Eddie knew Steve Harrington wore a ring. When he started to the gossip in Hawkins High said his father insisted on it due to a tradition but if that was the case then the ring was too plain in Eddie’s opinion.

Then he noticed Harrington changing rings after getting a question wrong in class and was certain the rumour was wrong, even if he couldn't figure out the actual reason for it straight away. After he'd seen that first swap, it was too clear for him to notice the times that the ring got changed, especially since he decided to try and figure out why Harrington would do that.

Spotting Harrington's ring enough to tell the differences in it wasn't easy in school, especially outside of their shared classes, but a theory soon grew in Eddie's mind of them being some sort of manual mood ring. This was only backed up when he visited Scoops Ahoy once or twice over the summer.

Before the fire Eddie even thought he was close to knowing what emotions some of the rings might indicate, but they all changed after that, not even one remained the same as before and, thankfully for Eddie's curiosity, the new ones had more noticeable differences.

With all his curiosity over Harrington's rings, it confused him to realise the kids he'd brought into Hellfire seemed to know nothing of them. Once Mike even commented ' Steve would be cooler if he just wore rings like Eddie's.' as if he wasn't already wearing one constantly. Eddie could spot it glinting on Harrington's finger when he picked them up afterwards, not hidden at all.

From paying attention to those lifts and Harrington's expressions and reactions to the brats gave Eddie some clues on what colour or general shape of rings matched good or bad moods, even if he never saw the detailing on them.

Except for one.

Eddie saw one ring in detail once. Hellfire had an extra club meeting that apparently none of the kids Harrington gave a lift to had mentioned to him until he came storming through the school half panicked. Even after confirming they were safe Harrington made everyone move along the table so he could sit next to Eddie and listen until the end.

The ring that time was in a woven pattern, made of silver and Eddie was certain it meant fear or stress. It had to, given how Harrington only looked away from his kids to watch the door or, for some reason, analyse the ceiling for damage and suspiciously eye the lights.

Who knew getting an answer about one of the rings meanings could give Eddie so many more questions?

/\/\

Survival and fear were the only things going through Eddie's mind. He didn't know what happened to Chrissie or if it would happen to him next. He didn't know if he was trying to hide from that or from the town he was sure would blame him.

He definitely wasn't calm enough to recognise any of the voices yelling for him and dived into the boat as they got closer.

The conversation of the group looking for him was heard but barely understood as Eddie tried to get ready to jump up and fight or run through the hard jabs from an oar he thought was mentioned.

It wasn't the oar or the gaze of the man he pinned that broke through Eddie's fear when he decided to get out.

The hand holding the oar wore a silver woven ring. It wasn't polished and definitely showed signs of tarnishing in the indented areas and it echoed how he felt. He knew the ring and what emotion he was certain it meant.

And he knew that other rings were kept in the back pocket from classes where they'd get swapped out. Those are what he reached for now, still pinning Harrington with one hand which made it harder to separate the bronze ring that tended to be worn if he'd be joking when picking the kids up.

“Guess you're not here to have a go at me, or this would be worn.” Eddie mutters eventually into the silence that had fallen in the boathouse.

“I wouldn't do that. Dustin would never talk to me again if I did that. And how do you know anything about my rings?” Steve's words tumbled past each other, but seemed more confused now, instead of the panic he'd shown when first getting pinned.

“What rings?” Dustin demanded, somewhere behind Eddie.

Steve glanced over, “Forget the rings actually. What happened? We want to help.”

/\/\

Steve hadn't changed his ring in days.

Eddie glanced at it each time they came to give him supplies, came to try and talk him into staying with one of them despite how they'd need to hide him from parents, every time he got the change to.

It was still the silver woven effect ring.

He could only hope he'd live to see another ring take its place and was beginning to suspect Steve was hoping the same thing. A few times he'd been caught looking at the hand wearing the ring, but Steve never said anything, only brought his hand back to the pocket with the rest of them.

“You got the bronze ring wrong.” Robin commented on one of the few moments everyone else was distracted. “It's not when Steve's truly happy or whatever you think.”

Eddie glanced at her, gaze returning to Steve straight away. “What is it then?”

“Forced positivity. It's when he's struggling to believe we want him here so tries to reach out subtly for most of them.” She explained.

“And you?”

“Check his rings when I first see him so give him reassurance as needed. Although you might've changed its meaning now.” Her words sounded slow as if she was musing on the idea. “We'll see after Vecna's defeated.”

Eddie wasn't quite sure what to make of that but Robin was already over with Steve again, catching up with whatever they were working on. At least being in hiding gave him lots of time to think through her cryptic comments for breaks from panicking.

/\/\

“That's my ring.” Eddie stated. He'd been staring at the hand since waking up, originally cause it was clinging tightly and then as his memories filtered through the medication clouding his brain, to see if Steve was still stressed out. How was he meant to understand seeing his own ring being worn by Steve?

Steve's chuckle was watery, and there were tears in his eyes when Eddie looked up. “Yeah, mine now. Glad you're awake finally.”

Somehow that was what made him realise he had none of his rings on at all. “Where are the rest? What does my ring have the honour of meaning?” They felt like dumb questions but Eddie was scared to ask the more serious ones.

“Dustin's got them and your pic necklace. He'll be here as soon as visiting hours start along with at least a few of the other brats. Not sure which are seeing you first today other than him. Wayne's at the trailer salvaging what he can. Added me as an emergency contact so you wouldn't wake up alone.” Steve offered, thankfully guessing what he'd want to know first. “As for the ring, I don't know. I've been a mess, unable to figure out what I'm feeling so it's currently a question mark ring.”

That felt like a familiar feeling as Eddie blinked. He had no clue why things would need salvaging from the trailer at all. “What happened?”

The explanation carried on through the kids arriving, Dustin trying to push the rings onto Eddie and being stopped by nurses not wanting the jewellery in the way, and plenty of interruptions and additions. It covered how the attack that had left him in an induced coma to heal had only partly succeeded and everything that had come after and ended with Steve pushing his hair back into place sighing, “Thankfully most of us decided against sleeping through it all. Vecna is gone now and we're just waiting for people to wake up and heal.”

“And get Steve to explain how he's worn a ring so long without us knowing.” Dustin insisted, glaring at said man.

Eddie grinned, shaking his head alongside Steve. “It's not the king's fault if his friends don't pay attention to him. After all, I'd never spoken to him before all of this and I knew about the rings.”

“Lies.” Robin called, appearing in the doorway. “You spoke to him precisely 7 times as I never served you when you came into Scoops.”

Steve tilted his head, thinking before he shook his head at her. “Nope. He just pointed and handed over the money. I spoke to him before it all, but not the reverse. Such an unsociable customer.”

“You couldn't get Eddie Munson to talk to you? That board needed more tallies under you suck.” Robin teased, coming over and smiling at Eddie. “How are you feeling?”

For a moment it was silent as Eddie didn't realise the Steve and Robin show had finished with a question to him. “Oh, I'm – Honestly I feel like I died and this is a bizarre form of purgatory. Could be hell from the pain levels but you're all being too nice for that.”

/\/\

Robin loved Steve's rings. She saw them as a small rebellion against his parents rigid views of gender as well as a good idea for someone who wasn't often allowed to express his emotions.

Even before she knew what they showed, back when they were just co-workers and former classmates, she paid attention to the rings and the ways Steve swapped them out. She knew the original set of 6 almost as well as she knew the ones she'd helped Steve find to replace them.

And she knew they definitely shouldn't be in Nancy Wheeler's jewellery box, still bagged with a label from the US government stating they had been goods confiscated by the Russians.

When she saw them it wasn't sensible to mention it. They were still dealing with Vecna and trying to find out more about him, but she remembered and once everything was over, and all that was left to do was healing, she wasn't going to stay silent any more.

“You know, Nancy, I've had a question for a while.” She stated, off hand, but laser focused on getting answers.

It was just her, Steve and Nancy for the moment so seemed like the best time to bring it up without anyone else interfering.

Nancy didn't seemed concerned either, just smiling. “Which is?”

“You never had anything to do with the Russians during the Starcourt fiasco, right?” Robin didn't immediately mention the rings, knowing just bringing up any of the events was likely to get the guard up of all of them.

Guarded eyes now looked at her, and beside her, Robin knew Steve was trying to catch her eye to silently ask what she was doing. “No. You know I was researching for the paper or with the kids basically the entire time.” Nancy agreed.

“Okay. So why, when we were trying to figure out info on Vecna, did I find a bag of items labelled as things the Russians had confiscated in your jewellery box?” Robin still didn't mention the rings, but knew Steve would immediately think of them.

After being given his keys back he'd tried asking about them but been told nothing else was found. Both of them had watched the government agent then go to talk to other members of their group but assumed that wasn't regarding any other items.

Nancy narrowed her eyes, but stood, going over to the jewellery box to get the bag. “Because the government agents said they'd found them and they seemed most likely to belong to me.”

Robin nodded, holding her hand out for the bag. “So little miss reporter got handed some items she knew definitely weren't hers and instead of say, asking any of the people who had actually been in the Russian base if they knew whose they were decided to keep them for herself and never question the origins?” She challenged, reaching out to take them when Nancy showed no sign of handing them over.

“I recognised them. I've tried remembering why I recognise them so I could return them.” Nancy insisted.

“Again, why didn't you just ask me, ask Steve, Dustin, Erica, if any of us knew who these rings belonged to?” Robin challenged, Steve's hand coming to rest palm up on her shoulder although he remained silently watching the scene.

Nancy glared, “Because I should know whose they are.” She snapped. “If I could just-”

“Pay more attention to the people around you, you'd know.” Steve interrupted when it looked like Nancy would go into a rant about her memory to try and justify not asking. “The reason you'd recognise these is I was always wearing one of them the entire time you knew me.” His voice was calm, but Robin could feel the tension in him, and a glance over at him showed his current rings had been swapped. She didn't think he'd go back to using the set she held even as she put the bag in his hand.

For a moment it looked like Nancy would scoff before she narrowed her eyes on Steve's hands, as if only just realising he still wore a ring. “But why would there be 6 of them?” She asked. “Only Eddie wears that many or more at a time.”

“Because I swap them out when I feel like it.” That wasn't the explanation Robin had received and she doubted the full one would be offered right now. “Thanks for returning them finally. I'm more annoyed that even when I asked specifically about the rings those agents didn't mention them to me at all.”

“Oh.” Nancy deflated as she realised Steve wasn't going to yell at her. She seemed not to notice Robin's gaze was still hard. “Yeah, sorry I didn't remember or, as Robin rightly said, ask whose they were earlier.”

At that Robin leant forward again, knowing her smile was colder than she'd normally direct at friends. “Please do ask if this happens in the future, because Steve shouldn't have had to replace his rings for you to delay solving a mystery this long.”

Nancy nodded, “I will. Are you two sure you aren't-?”

“Best friends and protective friends at that. You might be pretty but you aren't Stevie.” Robin reaffirmed, before sighing and trying to let her annoyance go. “Shall we put a film on or something?”

Steve hopped up, going to the stairs to listen for where Nancy's parents might be. “Probably not a film. I think Ted is still watching something, unless you're about to suggest going back to mine.”

“Funnily enough, Dingus, I was.” Robin agreed, also getting up. If she hadn't wanted to get him his rings back she'd have suggested going there to hang out from the start but now that was done she would happily swap hang out locations.

/\/\

Perhaps he'd just been young, but Steve had never thought he'd have to get more rings, after finding six of them. Emotions had seemed simple to him, nothing like the tumult he'd been going through and while six rings had stretched before now he was learning that getting more was necessary.

He didn't question how, in getting those original rings back, he knew that one already meant heartbreak and grief, while the rest weren't needed any more. It just seemed reasonable; an escalation of the swap from the ring saying everything is good to saying his world was crashing before he lost them, to now having its hopefully final meaning be grief.

Then there was Eddie's ring, the mixed feelings ring, or as Steve still thought of it, a question mark ring. He hadn't meant to claim it, but when taking the rings off so the hospital didn't dispose of them he hadn't been able to let it go, even to hand it to Dustin. He'd covered by swapping it out with the stressed ring and repeating that Eddie wanted him to wear a different ring.

Honour: A word Steve had only ever heard directed to him jokingly, but Eddie used for his ring being worn. It boggled his mind a bit to realise how sincere the other was being with him. A lot of things did when it came to Eddie, like the fact he'd called Steve a good person out of nowhere and without prompting. Most people just complained about or insulted who he used to be and when he tried talking with Robin about it she'd got mad at herself before repeating how good a person he was now. That hadn't helped his bewilderment, just added another cause for it.

“Dingus, why are you glaring at your rings and a notebook?” Robin asked, draping over his shoulder and bringing Steve's mind back into Family Video and the slow work day they were trying to keep busy through.

“I need more of them but don't want to go around with even more rings in my pocket. Or know how to label what feelings they'd be for.” He grumbled.

She leant closer, forcing Steve to bend with her so she could see the notebook better. “Yeah starting from scratch is dumb. Write what you have rings for already, Your terms not mine or anyone else's, and see what you think is missing after that. Then see which stand out as unlikely to be worn often. Those could live in your car or wallet or something instead of your pocket.” Saying this she moved to his side and laid the rings out on a clear page of the notebook.

As Steve considered the idea Robin wandered off to check on the only customer. It was a pretence he knew, but one he's grateful for, even as the biggest necessity in his list becomes evident.

There's nuance, and different rings for sadness, anger, confusion, embarrassment, heartbreak, but only 'good' and 'trying to see positives' for good emotions. Good was one he barely knew how to quantify now and 'trying to see positives' didn't actually feel good to wear. But Steve wasn't feeling constantly bad, he knew that. He felt hopeful, amused, warm, and loved; like these friends were a real family.

Plus the question mark ring was where good and bad emotions were fighting in him.

“Do you think Eddie will come ring shopping with us?” He called out, settling on the four emotions he needed new rings for and looking around the store for the first time in a while.

“I think I can fit that in, yes Stevie.” Eddie replied, leaning on the counter opposite him. Robin was stood beside him looking over at Steve in amusement.

He shifted a little, looking between them, expecting to get teased. “You've been here how long?”

“Couple minutes, was going to block the page to say hi but you looked so adorably focused.” Eddie shrugged. “Are these all your current ring meanings? You've still not told me-” The words broke off as he read the list, fingers tapping over empty spots noted for new rings

Robin had started snickering, needing no words to tease once Steve met her gaze, but stopped in confusion at Eddie's reaction. “Sure they are. He's decided he needs to show more emotions than that now.”

“Like more positive ones, you mean?” He asked, a sharp gaze stabbing at her. “Little Miss Platonic, why haven't you told him to get more or change all the meanings so he doesn't only have negative emotions to show sooner?”

“What?” The demand was when Steve realised their focus might be surrounding him but it didn't currently involve him. “When did those change?”

He blinked at them, seeing a tussle break out for the notebook and wondering what Robin meant as he glanced as the ring on his finger now, bronze, looking for positivity, then back to her. “They didn't?” He asked, trying to remember what he'd told her they meant. He'd probably described situations which made him change to each ring he was replacing after Starcourt since describing his feelings isn't easy without them. “What did you think they meant?”

Instead of saying anything she snatched the pen to start writing her understanding of the rings down, Eddie's eyes getting wider as he read them. “That's – That's some difference.”

“Did I explain when I'd swap to wearing them before?” Steve asked, unable to read upside down and just getting frowned at as Robin made it clear he had and she didn't like the meaning mix-up it had apparently caused. “You still know how to help anyway.” He tried to reassure, hoping to lessen the glare.

“Just how pissed should I be at Nancy?” Robin demanded instead, angrily gesturing to the embarrassment ring. “How much didn't you say when I thought you might date her again?”

Both Steve and Eddie stepped back from her anger as Steve frantically tried to remember what he'd used to explain that ring and how it involved Nancy. “You literally said you didn't need to know that story.”

“Apparently I do now if just her visiting your workplace has you feeling embarrassed enough to change rings over it.” Robin insisted. “So, story-time please Steve. What happened with Nancy Wheeler?”

/\/\

“Did you argue with Buckley?” Jonathan asked, sitting down beside Nancy and taking in the glare levelled at them.

She looked over as well but soon looked away. “The rings were Steve's. She found them but didn't seem this mad then.”

For a moment he just nodded, before straightening to look for Steve. “I didn't imagine the rings he used to wear then? I guess between you giving them back and now we've been spoken about. Makes sense I think.”

“What does?”

“Steve's best friend being pissed when he told her what happened between us three. I did wonder if she knew anything beyond the rumours.” He explained, waving when Steve emerged from the kitchen.

Nancy stared, trying to understand how Robin's anger came from that, even as she smiled at Steve coming over.

“You two okay? Your move back to Hawkins going well?” Steve asked, relaxed, a ring shaped into a shield on his hand.

“We're good, are you?” Jonathan asked, but carried on without pausing for a reply, “Realised that we never apologised for everything during that Halloween. I thought you'd broken up honestly, until Dustin said you were taking flowers to Nance when he asked for help.”

“I'm good and thank you. It's all history now and I'm pretty sure there was no coming back from that argument. I'm sorry for everything bad I did back then too. Some fault on both sides, I think.” Steve hurried to accept the apology but followed Nancy's gaze when she looked back over to Robin. “And Robs will calm down soon enough. She just got the meanings of some of my rings wrong and is mad about it.”

“What meanings do they have?” Nancy asked, glancing back at the ring he currently wore. “Eddie too? He did the hand hold thing too today.”

His nose scrunched but he looked amused, “Yeah but also no. That's cause Henderson tried using Robin's ring checking as evidence I'm dating her and Eds wants to see if he'll insist the same for someone else doing it. I'm preparing for anything Robin does to me to get copied or escalated for a while.”

“You're cool with that?” Jonathan challenged, looking shocked at the thought and Nancy could remember their fight from years back, wondering if that was why.

“Robin would kill me if I wasn't. Plus it means my empty home is a lot noisier with laughter now.” Steve mused. “Yeah, I'm pretty happy about Eddie's game.” As he finished speaking his hand dipped into his back pocket, a practised gesture that seemed absent enough to be unnoticeable as his ring was swapped out while he looked around the gathering. “I'd better check the kids aren't causing trouble over there.”

There was silence between them for a moment as he headed away. “So that's the first time I've actually seen that happen.” Jonathan eventually commented.

“No wonder. If he hadn't just mentioned his ring I'd have missed it.” She agreed, wondering why Steve would hide the gesture but do it so openly. It was more evidence that she hadn't known him as well as she thought.

/\/\

Dustin was getting frustrated. He'd thought it was a blatant lie when Robin said she was checking Steve's ring each time she took his hands upon greeting. Then he'd thought maybe it was valid but still an excuse after noticing them was what started calming Eddie down in the boat-shed.

Now Eddie kept waiting behind Robin as she checked Steve's rings, draping himself over the side of him left free when they watched movies. It was getting honestly difficult to get a hold of either of them separately and Dustin didn't trust it.

“Why are you leading Eddie on?” He accused one of the few times Steve picked him up without the other already in the car.

“I'm not, but thanks, really flattering view of me you have there.” Steve huffed.

Dustin narrowed his eyes, “You're straight Steve.” He stated as if he was being dumb. “Why are you accepting his flirting when you aren't into him? Are you going to hurt him?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “One, that's not for you to question for me. Neither of us are going to get hurt. Two, Eddie checked and keeps checking we both know where we stand in this. Three, thanks for winning me that bet.”

“Bet? What bet?” He demanded but they'd pulled up in the trailer park and Eddie was already climbing in.

He'd clearly heard the question and leaned over Steve's seat, pulling his hand up to check the ring while asking, “Yeah Stevie, what bet are you telling Dustin about?”

“One I won cause he got in telling me off for leading you on.” He smirked, taking his hand back to pull off again. “Seatbelt.”

“As if I wouldn't follow you anywhere, Big boy. Keep leading.” Eddie remarked flippantly before swatting at Dustin, “But talk about clouded vision, Shithead. So when Robin does it they're dating but I do it and I'm being led on.”

Dustin spluttered for a moment, but Steve's smirk got sharper, “So that's me and Robin one each, you none. Lucas could be anyone's but I think you have a shot at Mike.”

/\/\

Robin helped Steve find it, the final ring he’d buy for himself hopefully. She’d helped with everything else in his realisations since Eddie’s game began and was trying to make him share his feelings with Eddie now.

The ring had been both Steve’s way to delay that admission and his hope that Eddie would bring the conversation up for him. If only because he had no intention of advertising the feeling it meant at all.

It should have worked too, except he was never wearing the ring when Eddie first arrived, never able to get privacy when the change was noticed by the other and didn’t see how it could change with their kids all wanting attention constantly. He almost felt like his crush was doomed to silence and Robin’s teasing over it but refused to accept it, adapting instead. He started swapping rings when even slightly feeling besotted, hearing Dustin raving over something Eddie had done or a song reminding him of the other. Steve even started practising demanding private moments and dragging Robin off during her greetings, just waiting for Eddie to question this new ring.

“Is it my turn to ask for a private chat, big boy?” Eddie asked, finally seeing Steve’s latest ring worn as he arrived.

Everyone else was filing through the house to the kitchen or Steve’s pool and barely glanced their way as Steve tugged Eddie upstairs, blush only noticed by Robin as they went.

“You like my ring then?” He asked only after they were alone. It was partly to delay the admission, but mostly a genuine question. When looking for this ring he’d specifically wanted something that reminded him of Eddie’s rings and the coiled serpent design seemed fitting.

/\/\

Eddie for the first time in a while didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ramble about how much he liked it and wanted a similar one for himself; wanted to interrogate Steve on this new ring when he’d been resolute on pairing rings up if he found an emotion missing from their meanings in the future; wanted to ask if it was a way to get his attention.

It was mostly the last of the list actually, but that felt too vulnerable to say.

“It’s metal, but why? You said you didn’t want to get any more after our shopping spree.” He asked, holding back all the words trying to tumble out.

Steve fell backwards onto his bed, heaving a sigh and making Eddie wonder if he’d asked the wrong thing. “Because a crush isn’t as simple an emotion to indicate and I didn’t want you to make similar errors to Robin if I paired it up with other rings straight away.” He muttered to the ceiling.

Hope flickered to light where it had dimmed at the sigh. “A crush? On who?” There was a guess, especially with how Dustin had been distracted from his questions the week before, but he wanted to hear it for himself.

“You.” Steve said, rolling onto his side and watching Eddie as he stood just beside the door, never having moved since they came in.

He moved now, taking the hand and brushing his thumb over Steve’s ring. “That explains why you weren’t wearing it when I wasn’t around at first, but not why you’re wearing it now.”

“Will mentioned you earlier, some of the chats you’ve had with him over Mike.” He hummed.

“Your love for those kids is cute.” Eddie grinned, kneeling on the bed beside him. “It also doesn’t say what you want to happen now. You seem plenty happy with me copying how Robs treats you but are you wanting more than that?”

Everything in Eddie was screaming to just ask for more, or lean down and kiss Steve, or do something other than gently prying more details out from the gorgeous boy rolling around on the bed.

“Maybe you could kiss me too sometimes, see how we feel about going further when my house isn’t full of everybody else.” Steve smirked up at him, as if reading the desires on his face. “Oh and invitations to either your band practices or performances. I want those too. Who knows maybe the Corroded Coffin boys could just fit in with this chaotic family of ours over time.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked, leaning so their lips were millimetres apart. “Want to join our families? You already thinking of marriage, big boy?”

Steve leant up for a small kiss, “Forever with you sounds like torturous bliss. Where do I sign up?”

“I think you already have.” They both grinned into the deep kiss Eddie pulled him into then.

#stranger things #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #steddie #nancy wheeler #platonic stobin #dustin henderson

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babiebom · 10 months

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When You Fall (i)

A/N: My first full fic on this blog! Thank you to everyone who voted! I will try my hardest to write and upload quickly, though I am not going to promise anything seeing as I have a job interview this Friday that I'm writing this(already passed by the time this is uploaded) and if I get it I'll be working more often. Though again thank you for voting and I hope you enjoy! Also a bit of a warning, some things from the game are obviously changed to make sense irl, like instead of there just being seasons there are actual months!(pictures not mine.)

Next Masterlist

TW: death, self harm in the form of overworking, cursing, depression, negative thoughts, funerals. Etc just sad

Genres: angst, potential happy ending, romance, some fluff. Multichapter Fic

WC: 4k

You hear your name being called, the voice is quiet under the ringing of your ears.

"Y/N!"

You attempt to force your eyes to adjust on the person, head and neck snapping quickly to face towards them. "Huh"?

"I asked if you were going to be alright getting to the graveyard alone…?"

You nod, swallowing even though your mouth and throat were dry. The funeral home was almost empty now; only you, your aunt and uncle, and a few friends that knew both of your parents and/or grandfather. Standing up straighter, you try to fix your face subtly, trying to act as if you weren't out of it for the entire funeral. "Yeah…yeah, I'll be fine. I promise." You clear your throat and offer her a smile.

She hesitates, lips trembling before she slowly gives you a hug. "Your uncle and I are here for you".

"I know".

As the two leave, as well as the rest of the stragglers, it's only you left with the bodies of your parents and grandfather. A sour laugh leaves your lips, tears kissing the corners of your eyes as you drag your feet closer to their caskets. To keep from crying you clench your jaw and curl your lips inward, slowly becoming overwhelmed with the idea of never seeing any of these three people again. If you would've known this was going to happen, you would've visited more, called more. If you would've known…well it doesn't matter anymore because you didn't know, and now you can't do any of those things.

Slowly and one by one you press a kiss to each of their foreheads, letting your own head rest on top of theirs for just a moment before moving on, hoping the warmth from you would cure the cold coming from them. You stayed there for so long the funeral director had to escort you out, reminding you that they needed to be buried.

Slowly you got into your car, remembering that everyone was probably on their way or already waiting for you and the bodies to show up. They were all going to be buried in Pelican Town, the same place your father had grown up, the same place you spent your summers during your childhood.

Entering Pelican Town, nothing had changed since your childhood, and that made everything worse. Things hadn't changed for the town, and yet it wasn't the same for you. Everything has changed for you. The only difference was a couple new headstones, the graveyard now housing your mother, father, and grandfather; though you had noticed the additions of some that weren't there when you had last been here. The mayor was standing next to the open graves, making your heart clench at the finality of it all; the second they were filled with dirt would mark the last time you ever got to see their faces.

Instead of standing with the rest of the crowd, you stand off to the side, crying silently as you watch the mayor pray over their bodies before they get lowered into the ground. You have to fight yourself to keep from yelling out, knowing that making a scene, making this whole process longer would affect everyone around you. It’s the middle of winter after all, everyone probably wanted to hurry and get back to their regular lives. Swallowing harshley, you only step forward when it's time for all of the guests to throw some dirt on top of the caskets.

“I love you,” you whisper into the air, clenching your eyes closed and tossing the dirt in. A soft thump is all you get in response, the dirt scattering over the caskets. Your mother and father are sharing a grave, and your grandfather was being buried with your grandmother, the two finally being reunited after a decade and some change of being apart.

You move backwards again, allowing the others who had arrived to say their final goodbyes. Avoiding looking at what was happening, you focused on the scenery instead. Pelican Town had always been nice, and being covered by snow it was no different. Everything had sort of a Christmas-y vibe to it, but that only made you feel worse. Letting your eyes continue to roam, you spot some of the towns-people walking around, obviously trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. They were walking far too slow to actually be trying to get somewhere, or maybe the calmness of a small town allowed them to take it easy even when they had errands to run. Your eyes connect with a woman with orange hair, her eyes growing wide the second yours stopped on her. She hurried away as soon as she realized she had been caught watching, moving from the large tree that she was under to presumably hide somewhere else. You scoff and turn your head to watch someone else, not really offended but somewhat annoyed that the public can watch as your normal life is ripped away from you. Bitterly, you wondered when the last time this town had held a funeral, or had even had someone die.

Everything looked peaceful, your presence disrupting the environment and if that woman with the orange hair was anything to go by, this funeral was something that shook the small town that probably knew your grandfather better than you did. You wonder why none of them showed up to the funeral or to this burial. Your thoughts are disrupted by everyone bustling around you, hands on your shoulders words spoken to you, you figure out that the burial is finished by the people moving around you back towards the way you came.

The second you fully realize that the burial had ended, you race out towards your car, not wanting to stop and talk to anyone, not wanting to cry on someone’s shoulders. You decide then that the best course of action would be to throw yourself into your work. So, without another glance back, you drive away from Pelican Town, hoping you would never have to return to the place again.

Scrunching up your nose and frowning, you slam the drawer to your desk harder than you need to, ignoring the sound of the contents inside spilling and moving around. The sound of typing overwhelms your senses, and unlike the persona you’ve put on for the past couple of months, you get up and stalk towards the bathrooms. As you pass the other cubicles, the oncoming anxiety attack immediately takes over your being.

You push open the bathroom door, wheezing and trying to suck in as much breath as you can. Yet it still feels like you’re drowning, as if every breath you suck in is instead water, and it’s impossible for you to come up to the surface. You fall onto the sink, leaning over it and heaving. Your legs threatened to give out, not wanting to hold you up any longer. Giving in, you allow yourself to sink to the dirty bathroom floor, dragging yourself in between the sinks and the wall, the gross overhead light giving you a headache.

Your body shakes, still struggling to breathe. As you close your eyes, flashes of the funeral and the last time you saw each of them alive consume you. The second your ears start to ring, you realize that you’re already too far gone, and any of your attempts to self soothe were now made in vain because you couldn’t calm down. You needed help, but at the same time that was the last thing that you wanted. You can feel yourself shake, violently, and your head falls back and forth as you shake, and in the madness you realize that someone was shaking you, it wasn’t you yourself. “Please!” you heard someone plead, yet they sounded too far away from you.

You open your mouth to reply, but nothing comes out of it, you want them to go away, and to leave you spiraling here on the ground, and in the back of your cloudy mind you hope that you still get paid for having this breakdown during work hours. Joja Co. wouldn’t take away your wages for this, right? You’re shaken again, this time rougher and your eyes begin to focus on someone kneeling in front of you. The ugliness that was Joja blue assaulting your eyes. You groan, and as you feel yourself begin to surface, realize that you had been screaming. Your throat now raw and hoarse as you begin to calm.

The woman in front of you is someone you recognize, though you couldn’t recall her name. You only knew her as your supervisor that you rarely actually saw in the office, and behind her were two coworkers looking absolutely frightened and worried for you. Swallowing, you shake your head and haul yourself off of the ground, muttering a ‘sorry’ and pushing your way out of the bathroom. It was painful, the walk back to your cubicle, everyone was simultaneously watching you, but still not really looking at you. As if they wanted to pretend that your breakdown didn’t happen, and you are all too aware of how insane you probably looked, coming out of the bathroom with puffy red eyes, and messed up hair.

It wasn’t uncommon for someone to have a breakdown at work, the expectations of your superiors and the company itself were always too much for some people to handle, yet you realized that you probably looked different than them, having run all the way to the bathroom, and not out the doors to the elevators. After a breakdown, the person always quits, yet here you are, sitting silently in your cubicle, brushing your hair out of your face as if everything was normal.

Again you open the drawer and look at the letter that had arrived on your desk weeks ago.

Dear, Y/N

If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.

The same thing happened to me, long ago.

I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life…real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I’ve enclosed the deed to that place…my pride and joy: New Hope Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life.

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name, my grandchild.

Good luck.

Love, Grandpa.

P.S. If Lewis is still alive, say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?

Taking in a breath, you laugh quietly to yourself. Your face still wet from your tears. It was ridiculous, hilarious even, that the very place you wanted to return to ends up the very place you flee in order to get back to yourself.

You can hear clacks of shoes nearing you, coming from the direction of the same bathroom you just fled from. The woman stops in front of the opening to your cubicle. Staring down at you in your seat with aggravated eyes. The lack of concern annoys you to your very core, and with the least amount of emotion you can muster, you stare back up at her, the letter wrinkled in your hand.

"Yes?"

"That little breakdown you had there was very disruptive," she shifts her weight, "now you're one of your best workers, so we'll give you another chance, but next time something this unprofessional happens we'll have to let you go."

"Right," you swallow harshly, "about that, I need to take time off."

"Time off? Why do you need to take time off?" She asks loudly. You can see the people across from you look over with wide eyes. Vacations were never accepted, and were more likely to be taken as an insult.

"Well, half of my family has just died...and I don't think I have a good enough mental state to-"

"We gave you time off already, we let you go to the funeral and have an extended weekend. How much more time do you need?"

You scoff in disbelief, the woman staring at you with all seriousness of a person who has just been told the worst joke in the world. Did she not just witness the breakdown you just had? You sit back roughly in your chair, running a hand through your hair. Your patience started to run thin with the woman, and so in a huff you slam down the letter rather roughly before looking back up at her.

"Can I take a vacation or not?"

She gasps before angling her body back, now glaring daggers at you. "I am the boss, you do what I say. You've already taken time off, so you don't need any more. I'm really very disappointed in you-"

"But-"

"-and I don't think you realize just how lucky you are to be working for Joja Corporation. There's no other job as liberating and rewarding than working for and growing the Joja family."

You make a noise of indignation, completely taken aback with how she had decided to handle this situation, especially after seeing you in the worst state you've ever been in. "You know what?" You slam your hand on your desk, letting out a huff of air through your nose, now staring at the place your hand had settled. "I quit!"

You turn to watch her face as your words sink in. She splutters and takes in breaths as she struggles to come up with something to say as a retort. Laughing loudly in her face, you stand and push past her, going straight towards the supply closet, where you know there are extra boxes. Picking up the smallest that could fit all of your things, you completely ignore your now ex-supervisors desperate pleas. "You have to put in a 2 week notice!"

"Nah, no I don't." You shake your head, now filling the box with all of your things. You'd rather die than leave any of your cute cubicle things behind for them to throw away. Smirking, you carefully place the last plant you had on top of the other knick knacks you had, looking over to the angry woman with the best shit eating grin you could muster.

"I would say it was a pleasure to work with you, but that would be a lie."

The time taken to get back to Pelican Town was doubled due to you selling your car and opting to take the bus instead, and in that time you started to rethink your plan of starting anew without any backup plan. Everyone else that was riding with you had gotten off long ago, and you were left with those who were just along for the ride, having nothing else to do but stay until they were kicked off.

You were grateful for the emptiness though, no one spoke a word on the way there; they simply allowed you to exist among them, thinking your thoughts without interruption.

You grunt in pain as you're launched out of your seat, suitcases toppling over loudly. Embarrassed, you scramble to get up, hoping no one was secretly laughing at you because it would honestly cause another breakdown. The bus driver shouted out your arrival, staring at you specifically through the rear view mirror. Sniffing, you grab your suitcases and hurry off of the bus, squinting from the change of lighting.

"Hello! You must be Y/N" an orange haired woman standing waiting at the bus stop, friendly looking and sweaty. "I'm Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He's there now, tidying things up for your arrival."

You stare at her before taking her hand in a firm shake. She's pretty, and young looking but from the look at her hands she had to be older than you think. Her grip takes you off guard only slightly, rough calluses coming in contact with your own soft skin. You nod and grab your things again, wanting to get out from under the sun. There was a cool breeze cooling your skin, but just having been on a musty bus for the past couple of hours made you feel grosser than you normally would've.

"The farm's right over here, if you'll follow me"

You want to tell her that you already know the way, that you've been here multiple times in your childhood, but you stay quiet not wanting to bring up memories that will just hurt you. You think staying silent is an even better idea when she takes two of your suitcases and heads down the road.

Walking in silence is awkward for the first minute, and so you begin a conversation that you already regret happening the moment the first syllable leaves your mouth. "So," you swallow thickly, "how long have you been waiting out here?"

She shakes her head and scrunches her nose. "Not long, maybe 15 minutes? First day of Spring is always brutal with the weather change."

You nod and keep walking, wanting to ask her more questions, yet you know that it would only serve to make everything more awkward. "Do you want something to drink? I have like a spare Gatorade if you're thirsty."

She makes a noise of acceptance and takes the drink from you, gulping it down quickly. The walk takes about 5 more minutes before you make it to a broken down fence.

"This is New Hope Farm."

You gasp loudly, a choked noise forcing its way out of your throat at the look of it. Grass overgrown, trees everywhere, boulders. It looked as if the place had been abandoned for years, and maybe it has been. Your grandfather must've been too old to continue the last couple of years, having been bedridden the months before his passing. The air smells fresh, though, fresher than you've ever smelled it before, at least since you've grown up. A sense of calm settles over your being, just over the hurt and anxiety. At least you're okay for now.

"What's the matter? Sure it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication you'll have it cleaned up in no time."

You smile at her as you open the gate for you both, entering the messy fields. It's another minute and a half before you actually make it to the farmhouse, "and here we are, your new home".

You raise your eyebrows at the look of your grandfather's old cottage, it being slightly run down since you had seen it last. Your heart clenched at the sight, realizing that everything did in fact get old without you, or maybe alongside you. Taking in a deep breath, you jump as the door to the house opens loudly. A man, shortish and white haired leaves out of it. He looks slightly familiar, but obviously older.

"Ah, the new farmer! Welcome I'm Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town." You wait for him to descend the steps, stopping in front of you. You faintly remember him, with less whites in his head and a smaller mustache. His old hat on top of his head is the same from when you were little. You shake his hand, reminding him that you had met him before.

"Ah, my apologies!"

You shake your head with a small smile, slowly getting tired of pleasantries. "It's fine I was like…maybe 9 the last time I saw you."

The conversation staggers a bit before Lewis sucks in a breath.

"You know, everyone's been asking about you. It's not every day that someone new moves in. It's quite a big deal!" He looks around, a flicker of sadness in his eyes causing you to wonder how close he and your grandfather were.

"So...you're moving into your grandfather's old cottage. It's a good house…very 'rustic'." You raise an eyebrow at his words, it was obvious that the house had seen better days.

"Rustic? That's one way to put it. 'Crusty' might be a little more apt though." Robin remarks, looking around.

"Rude!" Lewis gasps, whirling around to stare at Robin in shock. You guess it's the fastest he's moved in a while because his hands grasp at his knees for a split second.

The woman lets out a laugh, slapping a hand over her lips in amusement. You let out a snort, silently agreeing with her.

"Don't listen to her, Y/N. She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades." Lewis says, sending the woman a glare. Robin, in turn, gasps in shock, her eyes darting between you two before frowning and huffing. Maybe she was trying to get you to buy an upgrade.

"Anyway…you must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would appreciate that." You nodded to him, but refused in your mind, not wanting to go parading around town introducing yourself to the villagers like some happy-go-lucky extroverted tv character. Lewis begins to leave, but stops a couple feet, maybe even a yard away. He has to yell in order to speak to you, and you sort of understand when you would rather not have to walk all the way back just to leave again.

"Oh I almost forgot. If you have anything to sell just place it in this box here. I'll come by during the night to collect it. Well…good luck!" His voice is strained, when he shouts. You smile and wave, saying a goodbye to Robin as she walks after him. Turning to the cottage, you feel a sense of overwhelming sadness, your chest growing tight. You know that grieving is a process, and that healing isn’t a linear path, but a thought pops into your mind that this was a bad idea. How are you meant to process, heal, and move on when you’re surrounded by things that make you want to tear your hair out? Sighing, you head inside, setting your things down and snatching an axe off of the wall.

You think to yourself that the healing can come later, preferably after you demolish the trees taking over the land, at least you’ll be able to see far enough to farm. Stepping back out into the sun, you get to work swinging the axe over your head as well as you can. The thump of the axe embedding itself into the tree sends vibrations up into your bones, yet the pain and unfamiliarity of the feeling makes you feel lighter than you had in weeks. Maybe you just had anger issues. But, chasing that feeling you swing again, and again, and again until both the tree and it’s stump has been reduced to logs that you could pick up.

You leave the logs on the ground and move on to the next tree, and then the next, and you keep going until you can feel the sweat drip down your back, pooling around the edge of your jeans and your hips. Your breaths come in short, you huffing as you try to bring the axe overhead once more. Your chest is tight, and your head feels as if it’s not screwed all the way on. ‘One more time.’ You think to yourself, bringing the axe upwards. You can tell that the tree was close to being fully chopped down, and so with the last of your energy, you force yourself to at least complete it. Telling yourself that it was more about clearing everything quickly, you knew deep down that you just wanted to feel something other than sorrow. Your arms shake as the tool almost slips out of your grasp above your head. Arms burning, you force them forwards as you swing down, you hear the thump of the axe in the wood, and you fall over ears ringing, your vision fading to black.

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mrsmarinara · 1 year

Text

Summerfest 2023

Jack Hughes x reader

I usually write stories and longer fics on my main blog but I thought I’d give this a shot. I finally looked up summerfest tickets and that inspired this.

Y/nusername

Liked by trevorzegras, Elblue6, jackhughes and 25,076 others

Y/nusername: Drove a little further right this summer and ended up at Summerfest. Is it even a good summer without good music, humid weather and getting drunk friends? 🎶 🍻

jackhughes the best summers are the ones I get to spend with you ❤️

Y/nusername and I didn’t even have to tell you to say that. Aww 🥰 I love you babes 😘

trevorzegras I’m gonna barf 🤢

y/nusername don’t be salty just because you weren’t here

trevorzegras it wouldn’t have hurt anyone to at least invite me!!

jackhughes your invite probably got lost like the one you sent me for Coachella

trevorzegras …now who’s salty 🧂

Elblue6 Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see you all in a week.

y/nusername I’m counting down the days!

_quinnhughes idk it’s pretty chill here without Jack and his friends

y/nusername pretend all you like but I know you love me

_quinnhughes @/y/nusername it’s true I’ve petitioned to make you a permanent member of the family in exchange for getting rid of Jack

jackhughes I always knew you were plotting to get rid of me @_quinnhughes

_quinnhughes how’d you know? @/jackhughes

jackhughes Winter of ‘09 when you pushed me into a freezing lake kinda gave me an idea

lhughes_06 or Jack could just nut up and propose and we could have both of them forever.

Liked by y/nusername

User1 is it just me or did Jack get awfully quiet

User2 with all the country artists that play at summerfest I’m surprised Jack hasn’t been before

ryleigh_white still sad Dawson and I couldn’t make it but that video you sent of Noah Kahan will sustain me for a life time

y/nusername I hope one song came through clear and without me screaming over it

_alexturcotte I vote we do this every summer

trevorzegras “we”???

y/nusername 🧂

jackhughes 🧂

Ybf/username 🧂

jackhughes

Liked by y/nusername, _alexturcotte, lhughes_06, and 43,674 others

jackhughes maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea

y/nusername so you admit I was right? Going to Summerfest was a good idea?

jackhughes I feel like if I say yes you’ll hold it over my head forever

y/nusername I would never. You wound me.

lhughes_06 smells like a lie 🤥

y/nusername @/lhughes_06 we still have to drive back to Michigan. Don’t think I won’t leave you stranded on some farm land.

lhughes_06 you wouldn’t @y/nusername

y/nusername try me moosey 😈

nicohischier we had a great season you deserve to have a good summer

jackhughes thanks cap. Will do.🫡

trevorzegras and here I was worried that @y/nusername was gonna take my place but now I gotta worry about @/_alexturcotte

y/nusername @/trevorzegras honestly I’d call you jealous but that little hussy has a picture before me. @/jackhughes explain yourself.

jackhughes i… 🏃💨

_alexturcotte Alexa play Pretty Girl Rock 🎶

colecaufield the fact that I’m not getting 📸 cred on that last picture should be a federal offense

y/nusername it’s a lovely picture @/colecaufield thx ☺️

jackhughes don’t be cocky @/colecaufield

dawson1417 I would say I wish I had been there but I just know that Jack and y/n were probably sucking face the whole time

lhughes_06 forget being attached at the hip they’re attached by the lips

y/nusername 💋

Upload more comments

#Sunny’s insta edits #jack hughes #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes insta edit #nhl imagine #jack hughes imagine #jack hughes blurb #my writing #23 regular season

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bitterpotionn · 8 months

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Johnny Slaughter - Crush

I present my first-ever series. After a poll vote, I decided to make this a mini-series. I'm aiming for two parts. Each part is a good length so we can get the best of both worlds.

No smut in this one, but expect a lot of it in the next coming parts.

The title of this is another Ethel Cain nod, inspired by her song "Crush."

As always any feedback or constructive criticism is welcome! I appreciate all of the feedback on my fics so far, I appreciate it so much.

-pt.2

Warnings: Minimal use of Y/N, SFW, Johnny is a sleaze, pining, smoking, peer pressure, kissing

Growing up in a small Texan town did have its upsides. The tight-knit community, the great food, and Johnny Slaughter. At least, that's what she always thought. She grew up in a traditional small town. From long dirt roads to small corner stores. Small-town living was something she was very fond of. She was also very fond of the local troublemaker, Johnny Slaughter.

While they had known each other their whole lives, their paths were very different. Johnny's family was…outcasted, to say the least. Hell, Johnny didn't even attend public school. His mother Nancy, boasted about her teaching abilities, opting him for homeschooling. Nancy was protective, making her contact growing up with Johnny limited. She would see him a few times on the playground when they both would play in the sandbox together. She was always so proud of the castles she would build, only for Johnny to kick the sand right back in her face. Or they would swing together on the old rusty swing set the small park had to offer. He would then proceed to push her too hard, her face hitting the dirty mulch below with a thud.

As they both grew, they didn't have much contact. How could they? She was too busy with school and extracurriculars. While he was busy working the Slaughter Family farm. As months grew into years, the two hardily interacted. That was until the summer two years after she graduated high school.

"He is quite muscular huh?" giggles erupted throughout the small group of girls. They sat on a picnic blanket in the field next to the Slaughter family farm. They would often go there to hang out. They had a clear view of the Slaughter property, where they watched Johnny, doing some yard work on the fence. The girls stared at Johnny as he worked, not doing much to conceal their giggles and hushed whispers.

"Sarah, c'mon we all know he's nothin' but trouble," Lacy said, rolling her eyes as she sipped on her lemonade. Sarah gave her a pout as she rolled onto her stomach, blowing the smoke of her cigarette towards the sky. "I don't think he's as bad as people say guys, I mean I used to know him when we were kids" Y/N explained, setting her book aside. "Plus he's not too hard on the eyes" Y/N giggled poking her friends. Y/N couldn't help her years-long crush on Johnny. After all, he was handsome, strong, and seemingly always available.

"He is as bad as people say, Y/N" Lacy continued grabbing a new cigarette out of her purse. "He's slept with like every girl we know from high school, and I heard Becky Farland gets her dope from him," she said in a hushed whisper, her eyes going wide. "Oh please" Y/N rolled her eyes and glanced back over to him, he was still working on the fence. "Those are just rumors right?" Y/N frowned as she thought more about it. They were awfully different, she was a virgin and relatively sheltered while he was…far from it.

Sarah shrugged and looked in his direction. "I would gladly volunteer as one of his hookups" Sarah gave a loud dramatic side, her hand going to her forehead as she fell into Y/N's lap. They all giggled and shushed each other. "You sure you don't want one Y/N?" Sarah asked offering her cigarette to her. Y/N shook her head looking back in Johnny's direction. "Those things will kill both of you. Then I'll be left to stare at Johnny alone," Y/N tickled Sarah's side, pulling laughs from the both of them.

"The only thing that's gonna kill me are my parents if I don't get home soon," Lacy said, standing up and gathering her things. Sarah pouted and followed suit. "No more Johnny time for us I suppose!" Sarah nudged Y/N with her elbow, both of them giggling.

They walked down the road, making their way past the Slaughter family's yard. As they walked and talked, someone clearing their throat made them go silent. They all looked over to the source of the sound, revealing Johnny smirking and leaning on the gate. "You ladies enjoy the view?" he snickered, a cigarette hanging from his fingers. "In your dreams, Slaughter," Lacy spoke up, rolling her eyes. He feigned a pout and put a hand over his heart "You wound me."

Y/N stood there awkwardly, somewhat hidden behind Sarah, gripping her book to her chest as she avoided his piercing gaze. Johnny walked closer to the group and bent down to meet Y/N's gaze. "Y/N L/N. I haven't seen you in forever, darlin'" Lacy moved quickly in front of Sarah and Y/N. "I wish I could say it was nice to see you Johnny, but like usual it wasn't," she held Y/N's hand as they began walking away together. Sarah gave Johnny a dopey smile and waved as she followed suit. Y/N's face was heating up as she buried her face into Lacy's arm. "Oh my god that was so embarrassing," she squeaked out, as they walked further away.

"Embarrassing?!" Sarah giggled out "Johnny Slaughter, The Johnny Slaughter just acknowledged you Y/N. This is amazing," she said while giggling, tickling Y/N's sides. Y/N playfully swatted Sarah's arm. Finally feeling brave enough to escape from Lacy's side. "No that was embarrassing, I stood there like an idiot," she huffed out, walking with her shoulders drooping. Lacy shook her head "No, we shouldn't even be talkin' to him. Looking is one thing, but we don't want to get caught up in his mess, especially you Y/N."

After her shift at the bookstore, she decided to stop by the local farmers market. Her mom mentioned the previous night she needed some vegetables and she figured she would pick some up before she went back home. She hummed as she strolled to different booths, scanning the wide variety of vegetables and fruits.

"Hey darlin'" she heard a deep voice behind her. She jumped a bit and quickly turned to face behind her. There, standing right in front of her was Johnny Slaughter. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him, not able to get a word out. "It's nice to see you out and about without your bodyguards," he snickered, leaning against the worn wooden stall. Y/N felt her face rapidly heat up as she nervously fidgeted with the strap of her homemade shoulder bag. "Ha…yeah Hi," she quietly said, avoiding his gaze.

"You're awfully shy, I remember you being more talkative when we were kids," he hummed out, reaching into his back pocket, and pulling out a cigarette carton. Her eyes widened in surprise as she shifted her gaze up to him "You…uh remember that?" she said her eyebrows raising. He chuckled lowly at her reaction, lighting the cigarette. "Of course I do, have to admit. Had a bit of a crush on you back then," he smirked down at her and watched her reaction carefully.

Her eyes widened and she shifted her gaze back down. She felt her heart racing rapidly. "Oh…don't play around with me like that…" she let out a nervous laugh. "I would never darlin', I really did," he bent down a bit to meet her gaze, blowing some smoke her way. "Truth be told, I think I'm still keen on you" She gripped the strap on her bag, nervously shifting, not meeting his gaze. "C'mon Johnny, don't be like that," she looked up at him, he was closer to her now.

"I'm serious," he said, his smirk widening "I wouldn't mind takin' you out sometime if you're up for it," He gently brushed his hand against her arm, trying to regain her attention. She gave him a small shrug "I dunno Johnny…" her mind raced back to Lacy and the things she'd said about Johnny, maybe she was right. "Look, I know what your friend says about me, all that stuff is just small-town rumors, darlin'. At least let me take you out for ice cream?" She bit down on her lip, nervously chewing. "Oh…alright," she gave him a nervous smile as her eyes flicked up to meet his stare.

"Perfect, I'll take care of ya, don't worry," His finger hooked underneath her chin and angled her face upwards. "So, tomorrow? We can meet at my place?" He smiled widely down at her. She just nodded, a nervous smile painting her face. "Perfect," he gave her one last smile before sauntering away, heading back to his truck. She noted that he didn't even buy anything, she wondered why he was even there in the first place. However, she didn't have much time to think as she wanted to get home so she would tell Lacy and Sarah.

"You what?!" Lacy sat up from her lying position in her bed, her mouth wide open. Sarah almost spit out her drink, her head turning quickly to face Y/N. Y/N sighed loudly and sat down in Lacy's purple beanbag. "I-I don't know what happened, we ran into each other at the farmers market, and he just asked me out. I didn't know what to do. I can't just say no to him. I've been obsessed with him for years!" she leaned her head back as she rambled on, her leg nervously fidgeting.

Sarah giggled a bit and pulled at Y/N's leg. "This is actually amazing, Y/N and Johnny," she threw her arms up in the arm "It's actually happening!" Lacy wasn't so thrilled as she glared at Sarah, causing Sarah to put her arms down and go quiet. "This is a bad idea, Y/N. Johnny just wants to get in your pants, like with every other girl" Lacy explained rolling her eyes. Y/N winced and sunk further into the beanbag. "I guess I want to see how things go…maybe he's different than the rumors, Lacy," Y/N said frowning.

Sarah looked over at Lacy. "C'mon Lacy, one date isn't going to kill her, we could always stalk her durin' the date" she giggled and crawled over next to Y/N. "She's been crushin' on Johnny since grade school, this is like her teenage fantasy," Sarah said, leaning her head on Y/N's shoulder. Lacy let out a sigh and looked over at them. "I can't stop you from going, just please be cautious. I have a bad feeling about him," Lacy got up and sat next to them both. "We need a full report when you get back," Lacy said poking at Y/N's side. "And I need some Johnny memorabilia!" Sarah said. They all giggled and hugged each other.

She made her way to his house. She felt a deep hard pit in her stomach. She was wearing a yellow and white sundress, and she had her bag snug against her side. She made sure her hair and makeup were perfect, and she spent hours getting ready. She's never felt this nervous before. As she got closer to the Slaughter house residence, she saw Johnny's truck parked right outside the entry gate. He quickly exited the car and jogged to her smiling wide. He was wearing his usual getup, blue jeans, and his work boots. However, he did bother to put on a nicer shirt than he usually wore.

"Hello darlin'" he gave her a sensual hug, pulling her close to his broad chest. She didn't have much time to react but she hugged back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled away, his hand still on her waist. "Wow, you look amazing doll" his hungry eyes scanned her up and down. His eyes felt like a warm wave drenching her entire body, his gaze made her shake. "T-thank you, Johnny," she said softly, rubbing his arm slowly. He chuckled and took a firm hold of her hand, walking to his truck with her.

The ride to the ice cream parlor was nerve-wracking. Johnny made small talk about the farm and asked about her family. She could barely focus, his hand was resting a bit too close to her thigh and it was making her feel like a nervous teenager.

Once they got there, Johnny helped her out, taking her hand in his and leading her to the order counter. She couldn’t help but notice the passing stares from people around the town. In a town this small, everybody knew everybody. She was sure people would start talking. Johnny's reputation wasn’t the best and hers was relatively spotless, the two of them together would be big news. Johnny ordered for the both of them, even paying. He handed her the chocolate Ice cream cone, smiling. They both sat down at one of the tables outside.

“You enjoying it?” He asked smirking at her. She smiled shyly and nodded “Yea thank you for paying,” she continued to lick her ice cream. She was hyper-aware of how she was eating, being sure not to be too suggestive about it. His eyes followed her tongue as she ate away at her Ice cream. “No problem, darlin’ my treat,” he chuckled and leaned back in his chair, he was eating his ice cream out of a cup with a spoon. He ordered her the cone instead, she had an idea why he did this.

“Are you still workin’ at that bookstore?” He asked, still staring at her intently. “Oh yeah! I really like it…it’s quiet,” she smiled a bit and shrugged. He nodded and grinned back at her. “Bet you’re good at it too. Hard to say no to that pretty face Hm?” Her face heated up and she bit down on her lip. “Oh hardly…” she let out a small laugh as she finished up her ice cream.

After a while of talking about work, family, and friends the sun was already setting. The date went a lot longer than she intended, she wanted to be home before dark. He must have noticed the slight panic because he soon got up and reached for her hand, "I'll drive ya home if you want, so you're not walkin' all alone at night," he gave her a smirk and motioned his head towards his parked truck. She hesitated before ultimately nodding, squeezing his hand.

As they walked hand in hand, Johnny pulled out another cigarette. He titled the carton towards her, offering her one. She quickly shook her head and gave him a strained smile "No thank you" He was seemingly taken aback by this "You don't smoke?" She answered again, shaking her head. "Have you ever smoked?" She felt like she was being integrated, and she once again shook her head. He chuckled at this and let out an amused sigh. "You really are just perfect huh?" Once they got to his truck she reached for the door handle but he smoothly got in front of it, leaning against the truck with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"You gotta at least try a hit, for me. I'll pop your cherry" Her eyes suddenly widened at his brash language, playfully hitting his arm. He snickered and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her so she was practically leaning against the front of his body. The hand still holding the cigarette found its way to her lips, he positioned the cigarette so it was facing her. Her eyes were wide with hesitation, she bit down on her lip. "Johnny…I dunno…" his words interrupted her nervous ramblings "Go ahead," his tone was almost demanding, it made her feel like she was being lectured by her father. So without another word, she leaned back and took a hit of the cigarette. The thick smoke ripped through her throat and she started coughing wildly, it tasted horrible. He laughed at this and kept her steady as she coughed.

By the time her coughing fit was done, her eyes were watering, she looked back up at Johnny. He just stared at her, with this look on his face, like he wanted to just eat her up right then and there. "You're awfully pretty all teary-eyed, darlin'" he chuckled and hooked his finger underneath her chin, angling toward him. Her heart started racing, was he going to kiss her? She felt like she was going to throw up. He started to lean in towards her, and she felt her eyes flutter closed, she had never kissed anyone before and she couldn't believe her first kiss was going to be with Johnny Slaughter. Right when she thought he was going to. Nothing happened.

She peeked open her eyes, just to see Johnny grinning down at her. He leaned his head back on the truck and rubbed her waist this his free hand. "You bout' ready to head home doll?" he said standing straight up and opening the car door for her. She didn't know what to say or do. She felt so embarrassed and humiliated, of course, he wasn't going to kiss her. All she could manage was a curt nod before sitting in the passenger seat of his truck.

The drive back to her house was relatively quiet. His hand did find its way to her thigh at one point, he absentmindedly stroked her thigh was his thumb. The sheer contact was making her heart flutter. Her mind was still racing about the lack of a kiss. Did he even like her? Surely he did, I mean he was touching her. Her thoughts were a thick cloud that prevented her from having any meaningful conversation with him on the ride back, but he didn't seem to mind the silence. Once they pulled into the gravel driveway of her home he stopped the car.

Her eyes scanned each window, checking to see if her parents were watching, surely they were waiting up for her. Johnny leaned back in his seat and looked over to her. "Thank you for takin' me Johnny…" she said in a low voice, turning to face him. He smirked and nodded, his arm hooking around her waist, pulling her across the seat to be closer to her. "My pleasure," he hummed out, staring down at her. Her eyes again flicked to each window of her house, she half expected her parents to burst out the front door and yell at her for being with him.

She awkwardly sat next to him. Her hand found his and she interlocked their fingers gently. He chuckled at his and gave her hand a firm squeeze. "You warmin' up to me?" he said in a low voice, his head resting on hers as she leaned against him. She giggled a bit and nodded. "You're not as bad as people say…" her words trailed off. "Can't let your friends decide who you hang out with, darlin'" he said rubbing the top of her thumb with his. A hint of annoyance was laced in his voice. "T-they don't…they just wanna protect me…" she said quickly, trying to defend her friends. He snickered at this and cupped the underside of her face, angling her towards him. "Protect you from what? Me?" he smirked and leaned forward, capturing her lips in a sensual, slow kiss. She felt her heart skip a million beats as she eagerly kissed him back. She felt a bit lost, trying to match his movements. His lips moved against her as he pulled her closer to him, she was practically on her lap when he decided to pull away, nibbling a bit on her lip as he did so. She was panting when he pulled away, her cheeks felt like they were on fire, and she could swear her heart was beating out of her chest.

"See, I ain't so bad, darlin'" he chuckled and ran his hand down her back, urging her to cuddle closer to him. She let out a small laugh at this and nodded, leaning her head on his chest. "I should get goin', I don't want my parents comin' out here…" she looked up at him, analyzing his face. For a split second, she could have sworn a look of anger flashed across his face, but just as quickly as it appeared. It was gone. Replaced with his usual cool demeanor. "Alright," he got out of the truck and walked over to the passenger side door, opening it for her. She scooted off the seat and dropped down, her feet meeting the gravel. Johnny leaned down and caught her lips one more time, this time with more hunger and angst. His hands found their way to her waist, practically lifting her up to meet his lips. She giggled through the kiss and pulled away from him. "Johnny c'mon I gotta go," she placed both of her hands on his chest and smiled up at him. "You're killin' me" he let out a dramatic sigh and pecked her lips one more time before patting her waist.

She gave him more last smile before she headed into her house, shutting the door behind her. Johnny stood there, watching the front door, just for a second. He got back into his idling truck and drove back down the country road.

"He kissed you!?" Sarah squeaked out, giggling like a schoolgirl. Y/N nodded and gave her a cheery smile. Lacy wasn't too impressed, she gave a gagging sound as she set out the girl's lunch for the day on the picnic blanket. They were in their usual spot, in the field next to the Slaughter house property.

"Don't be like that Lacy! Our Y/N is becoming a woman!" she said throwing her arms up in the arm and falling back into Y/N's lap. Lacy rolled her eyes and handed them both a lemonade. "I'm happy for her, just not happy about it, Johnny Slaughter is a sleaze. No matter how good of a kisser he is" she shot Y/N a skeptical look. Y/N gave her a knowing smile and shrugged, taking a long sip of her lemonade. "It was a nice first date, I think he actually likes me," she said, running her spare hand along the grass.

Lacy just gave a strained smile and shrugged. Sarah noticed the awkward silence and suddenly sat up. "Can we eat I'm actually starving" she rummaged through the wooden basket Lacy brought, pulling out all the food.

After about an hour of eating and talking the group decided to head back to town. Lacy walked beside Sarah and Y/N who were walking arms interlocked, giggling about the date and saying things in hushed whispers. Lacy let out a loud groan and tilted her head back in annoyance as she spotted Johnny outside the gate, seemingly waiting on them. Sarah and Y/N both suddenly looked up and smiled, waving at Johnny.

Johnny walked over to the group and smirked. "I think I need to steal Y/N over for a second hm?" his eyes flicked over to Lacy, a cocky smirk adorning his sharp features. Y/N nodded and looked toward her friends, "It will be quick" she said smiling at them. Lacy just nodded and walked a bit away, giving them some space. Sarah gave a wide smile and nodded, following Lacy to allow the two some privacy.

"I don't think your friend likes me very much," Johnny said leaning against the gate to talk to her. She shrugged and looked up at him, not wanting to talk bad about her friend. "Anywho, how bout' I come pick you up tonight and we can see a movie" he suggested, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close. She hesitated before looking over towards Lacy and Sarah. They were talking in hushed whispers, looking over at them every so often.

"I had plans with Sarah and Lacy…we were going to go…" her words trailed off as she looked up at his face. His face went stoic and annoyed as he tipped his head back. "But we can reschedule I'm sure…" she said giving him a smile. He smirked back and nodded "That's what I like to hear…" he leaned down and kissed her slowly. She tried to kiss back but she felt too awkward with her friends a stone's throw away. She pulled away and patted his chest. "I should go but I'll see you tonight…" she gave him a smile and kissed his cheek. He huffed and nodded, rubbing her waist possessively. Like he didn't want her to go.

She eventually made her way back to her friends and interlocked her arm again with Sarah as they started walking. She turned back to give Johnny one last smile. He stood there and waved before walking back into the property. She turned back to her friends and bit down on her lip nervously. "So…I might have to reschedule tonight guys…"

pt.2

#johnny slaughter #texas chainsaw massacre #johnny tcm game #tcm #tcm game #johnny slaughter x reader #johnny slaughter smut #bitterpotionnfics #smut

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mamirhodessxox · 3 months

Text

His Strange Addiction

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4.

Cody Rhodes x Fem Wrestler!OC (Milena Reyz)

Desc: Milena is getting quite sick of Bianca eying her soon to be husband almost everyday so she takes it upon herself to be involved in a wrestling match with Bianca on Monday night raw & show exactly who Cody belongs to. Melina decided to go with a storyline within WWE where she’s downright psychotic, Talking to herself etc & Cody has no idea until Milena makes her way into the ring.

Contents: Angst, Fluff, Arguing, Milena serving cunt, Cody being a whore for Milena, Mentions of insecurity, 1 Year time skip, slightly toxic duo, Violence. Mentions of Cheating, Accusations of cheating. Implications of smut.

{~I'm very serious with you guys interacting with my writing!!!! it would make me so happy & excited, the more comments & reposts the more inspiration i have to write :) Votes and comments are strongly appreciated so please COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMEENNTTT the more comments the more content <3!!!~}

It had been at-least 2 months since the wedding of Cody & Milena, it was now finally summer slam season, it was July & the couple just arrived to Miami, the only issue was Cody had torn his pec while working out the other day & he was just about to go into a match with Seth in less than 30 minutes.

Milena had just left her dressing room in a referee crop top & shorts since she was reffing for his match and made her way to find Cody to check up on him, but she couldn’t find him anywhere so she went up to Jey “Hey JJ have you seen Cody anywhere?” He tossed his water bottle in his bag “Yeah I’m pretty sure he’s in the back of the locker-rooms with Montez talking about the pec issue.” She nodded thanking him and made his way to the locker rooms expecting to see Montez but instead saw Bianca with him & felt her heart drop. She squinted her eyes and poked her tongue against her cheek before crossing her arms leaning against the doorway while listening to Bianca talk “I’m just so..happy for you cody, truly, but um..if you have any issues with her I’ll have open arms.” And open legs, Cody nodded & thanked her awkwardly while she ran her hand down his arm smiling.

Milena scoffed enough to have the two of them look over at her, Cody immediately knew she had the wrong idea especially if she just saw this happen, Milena nodded her head looking at Cody “Your so fucking insufferable cody, truly. You’re up in 5 minutes.” Cody watched her walk off and clear his throat before glaring over at Bianca “I don’t know what game your trying to play but I swear to fucking god on everything I own if you ruin my goddamn marriage Bi, I will end your career & future careers for as long as you live, and you DEFINITELY shouldn’t trust Mills when she’s as calm as that, she’s going to beat your ass. In the ring and out of it.” He spat his harsh words at her leaving her in shock, Seth just finished his entrance & was In the ring while Milena circled it holding up the championship belt while Cody was making his entrance.

Seth stared down Mills as she stood on one of the ropes flashing the belt towards the crowd with a grin on her face while Seth started talking “Had anyone ever told you that your wife looks fucking amazing today? Maybe after I kick your sorry ass and send you back to Georgia I’ll maybe..give Milena a visit..” he grinned over at Cody while he entered the ring clenching his jaw while She had just let out a laugh at the remark. Before blowing her whistle to start off the match.

Cody was insanely pissed off, He immediately beat Seth to the ground, threw some VERY real punches & stomped into his chest & even got to the point where he left claw like scratches on his face so the announcers had Milena call off the match & Drag cody backstage, The minute that door shut their biggest argument started “What the FUCK was that?!” She shouted while Cody scoffed unwrapping his hands from any bandages & glared “You heard what the hell he said about yo-“ she stopped him with a laugh of mockery “Your fucking kidding me right? Just a few months ago you CRAWLED up my ass for beating the shit out of Bianca for what she said to you and that goddamn shoulder touch and FUCK ME EYES! But when YOU do it suddenly it’s okay?! Your fucking ridiculous.” Cody pointed his finger in her face with a condescending tone“Watch your fucking tone.” She smacked him across the face “Don’t you EVER talk to me like that ever again. It truly amazes me how you’re okay with Bianca making inappropriate suggestions despite our fresh fucking marriage but the minute Seth does it you go fucking insane.” She spat at him.

“And the minute I get my fucking hands on her she’s fucking done and you know it, especially after that little connection with her earlier.” She glared while Cody wiped blood off his lip scoffing “Don’t you da-“ before he could even finish Milena stormed out of the dressing room and everyone in the locker room heard the entire argument and ran after Mills to stop her including, Roman, Seth, Montez & Jey but she was to fast, she found Bianca & Immediately the other girls such as Becky, Liv & Rhea tried stopping her but she was yet again to quick, “Jey go get cody & tell him to grab Milena before she ends up in a damn cell tonight.” Jey ran off to get Cody “Your chick is about to beat Biancas ass you better go on and get’er” Cody furrowed his brows and started running to where everyone was & saw Milena & Bianca slamming into lockers & pulling onto each-others hair but Milena grabbed Bianca by the back of her head and slammed her head into a wall yelling at her. Cody & Roman pushed their way through the crowd trying to stop the girls & both of them grabbed Mills while roman kept shouting at Bianca to either ‘shut the fuck up’ or ‘Go somewhere before I let her go.’ Milena fought against Cody still yelling at Bianca calling her a Cunt & other harsh names before He dragged her away from the scene “You need to take a goddamn breath Milena.” Her chest heaved up and down while Cody held her arms trying to get her to calm down but she was still furious “Your sleeping with Bianca aren’t you? Why the FUCK do you both have some sort of chemistry and connection since I’ve came to WWE?”

Cody groaned and ran his hands down his face “I’m not fucking sleeping with Bianca Milena!” She scoffed “Bullshit! You two have something going on, Your on the same fucking cover for that dumbass game and have shared moments together behind the scenes of a goddamn photo shoot, let me find out your lying to me Cody and I swear to god I will make this marriage a living hell for you.”

She stormed off leaving Cody by himself, for hours they gave each other the silent treatment during the entire summer slam event, Jey & Seth walked into the dressing room while Jey handed Milena coffee he cleared his throat “So how are you handling the news??” She quirked up an eyebrow “What news?” Seth looked over at Jey & Her confused “I thought Cody told you Bianca & Him used to sleep with each-other before you joined WWE?” Milena immediately had a facial expression that showed the pair she had no idea they had any sort of connection to her. “Are you a fucking dumbass Seth?” Jey turned to him automatically stressed out “Why do you always run your mouth jesus fucking christ.” Seth awkwardly laughed while Milena stood up “Where the fuck is he?” Jey blocked the door and held his hands “Milena n-“ She got closer to him and started putting her hair up “Tell me where he is now before I tear this entire room apart and find him myself.” Seth shoved jey out of the way “empty confrence roo-“ before he could even finish she left and went to the exact room Cody was in & just stood there, They both stared at each other “When were you going to tell me Cody?” Her voice croaked but she still held herself together while he exhaled standing up walking over to her “Were you even going to tell me and just make me sit here looking like a fucking dumbass??”

Cody frowned and tried holding her hands but she pushed him away “Answer me! It’s the least you could fucking do! Is this why you kept giving her the benefit of the doubt! Are you STILL fucking her?” He held out his hands “Sweetheart I was going to tell you until everything died down, I didn’t intend for any of this to get as far as it did I’m not sleeping with her in-fact I stopped the moment I found out you were back.” She shook her head “I can’t trust you Cody, not as a husband or a person I do not fucking trust you. I won’t divorce you but I need you to start being honest with me for as long as we’re married if you want my trust.” He nodded and pressed his hand against her cheek “I’ll go as far as getting her out of the goddamn company if I have to for you.”

She nodded in silence “Let me handle that alright?” He nodded and pulled her into his arms, Cody knew if she was this calm she was plotting & scheming, summer slam wasn’t going to end until atleast 12AM, Just as Roman finished his promo Milena went out into the ring with a microphone, Cody & Jey watched backstage “How the fuck is she so calm right now?” Jey asked with minor concern while Cody leaned into his seat “She’s about to reveal the shit she’s been plotting and scheming since her fight with Bianca.”

She cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone “Some of yo- ALL of you know of the rivalry between me & Bianca & I have decided, That next week I will be challenging Bianca into join me in a Hell In a Cell match, 1 on 1, No limits & No disqualifications.” Roman sat in the room with Jey & Cody and sighed “She’s going to kill Bianca.” Milena stood there before speaking again “This will be my last warning to Bianca, I know your listening to this & I’m going to say this VERY clearly, I suggest you back off of my husband Cody or I will make your life a living hell in & out of the ring, If I need to fuck him right in front of you to get that through your thick skull because your pony tail is to tight it explodes your braincells then I absolutely will.” She stared directly into the camera while the crowd started freaking out, She walked backstage & looked overt at Cody, Jey & Roman.

“I know one of you have her husband’s personal phone number, and one of you are going to give it to me & let me handle things My way. Since she wrecks my marriage then it’s only fair I wreck hers.” They all looked at each-other and Cody muttered under his breath a quiet “Shit.” while roman started pulling out his phone. This was not going to go well for Bianca in the slightest.

🏷️ list: @ginswife @coolpastelartshoe @greatkoalawizard @cokolin044 @kotoriarlert @alicerosejensen @bunnybot55 @agent-dessis-posts @adollonyourshelf @valkyrurr @alyyaanna @niknakbucks92 @mini-rhodes @southerngirl41

xtripleiiix’s Masterlist

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ratgrinders · 13 days

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I can't get over how not a single person has voted for Ivy as their favorite rger; it's very funny, but also a LITTLE sad cause I personally would love to know more about her, as right now we have. Nothing. Her being Fabian's foil could imply that she has some kind of rich family, but absent parents, but she didn't seem to show any sign of being posh like Fabian is/was, she was just... mean. Same goes for Mary Ann in terms of knowing nothing about her, especially not how she contrasts to Gorgug. I really hope we get more information! Do you have any guesses?

Yes it's so funny 😭😭😭😭but also understandable unfortunately lmaooo. She's the Rat Grinder we objectively know the LEAST about, she's had maybe like what, one and a half scenes? We know she's besties with Oisin, and that type of dynamic within the larger group of the Rat Grinders is VERY interesting to me, but other than that??? Nothing. I DO hope we learn more though ghfsfks just because right now there's not a lot to dig into!

As for the second part of your question, oh god WILD speculation time only tenuously based in canon under the cut lets gooooo:

I think the basis for the Rat Grinders status as the Bad Kids' foils is that they have what the Bad Kids want, but have superficial beef with the Bad Kids based on the version of them they have in their head. So you got Kipperlilly who wants Riz's tragic backstory despite her allegedly normal and whole family at home. Oisin is rich thanks to his family while Adaine struggles with money thanks to hers, and maybe seems to have beef with the Elven Oracle as that's what led to Kalvaxus' defeat. Ruben has the song of the summer just as Fig is in the middle of an artist's block. Etc, etc.

So going off of that, what does Fabian want more than anything else this season? To not be lonely. I think it'd make sense then if Ivy actually had a really present, loving(?) family who nonetheless still turned out kind of mean. I think she has no problem living up to her family's expectations, no matter what they are. As for the family itself, well the Gloom Stalker subclass is "at home in the darkest places i.e. in primeval forests". And what's the nearest dark forest with a population of wood elves? Sylvaire, formerly the Forest of the Nightmare King. Specifically Arborly, since that's the town near there that protects the entrance to the forest. I think Ivy is possibly how the Rat Grinders got the Nightmare King connection in the whole reviving a dead god thing. Of course, this is all WILD speculation.

As for Mary Ann, what does Gorgug want? This is a bit less clear as his arc developed over the course of the season, but I'd say he wants a stronger connection to his artificing (and by proxy, his gnomish parents), he wants a balance between that and barbarian and a healthy relationship to his rage, and I think part of what ticks him off so much about Mary Ann is just how uncaring she seems, that she can seem so unengaged about things and still be such a great barbarian while he has to CONSTANTLY balance and filter his emotions and focus to succeed in his two classes. So I think it's possible Mary Ann was also adopted by a different species, but this time by barbarians so there was never any struggle on her part to relate to the classes of her parents. Her parents just Got rage immediately, she grew up with an innate understanding of it and is able to perfectly modulate it despite seeming so monotone outside it. And I think it'd be very funny if specifically Mary Ann, and only Mary Ann, has no outward beef with the Bad Kids and is actually kind of ok with Gorgug lmao.

I can't WAIT for all of this to get Jossed by the end of the season lmaoooooooooooo.

#this was fun i like excessively detailed headcanons with very little basis in canon!#dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #original post #fhjy spoilers #rat grinders #ivy embra #mary ann skuttle

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yutaholic · 2 years

Text

the tight end (M)

PAIRING: Jaehyun (NCT) + reader (female)

YOU: for the past two years, you have managed to avoid your ex, the boy who broke your heart. but in order to move on, you need to heal those old wounds. you need to talk to him about what went wrong in your relationship. it’s time you started mending bridges instead of burning them.

HIM: when Jaehyun broke up with you, he still wanted to be friends, but since then, he has accepted you want absolutely nothing to do with him. so when you approach him out of the blue, wanting to clear the air, Jaehyun is ready to admit he’s missed having you in his life.

WARNINGS: mild language; explicit sexual content

NOTES: 7k words; this is part five of smashing the six

You were sixteen when you fell in love.

Even now, years later, you remembered like it was yesterday. The moment your eyes met. The way your heart skipped a beat.

It was the Friday night football game. You were new to town and new to the high school. You didn’t know anyone, but a few of the girls had deemed you pretty enough to welcome into their clique.

Normally, you had no interest in sports, but you desperately wanted to fit in which was how you ended up on those uncomfortable bleachers, surrounded by shouting onlookers, watching a football game that seemed to go on forever.

Finally, the clock ran out of time. Your new school had won. Pretending to be thrilled, you stood and cheered with everyone else.

And that was when you saw him. He was the tight end, not that you had any idea of what that position meant in the scope of football, but apparently he was important to the game because the other players hoisted him up to celebrate that he had scored the winning run.

Jeong Jaehyun.

Your eyes met from across the way. Never in a million years would you have thought he could pick you out from the crowd, but fate had her way and he did.

After the game, the girls brought you down the bleachers with them to flirt with the boys, as supposedly was custom. You rolled your eyes. Until Jaehyun marched right over to you, introduced himself politely and asked for your name.

The rest, as they say, was history.

Bitter fucking history.

Looking back on that time always made a familiar void that you’d come to live with ache inside your chest. What a happy, naive girl you had been. Stupid was often the first word that came to mind.

Jaehyun swept you off your feet and made you fall in love with him at the speed of light. Like you were his to love and his only. And you were content with that. The first time he kissed you - your first kiss - you thought you could fly. The feelings were overwhelming for someone who had never felt them before. You were convinced that love was what made life worth living.

You were busted more than once making out with your boyfriend beneath the bleachers or behind the gym. Every boy at school knew to keep their distance, because you belonged to Jaehyun. He was your date to ring dance, to homecoming, to prom. Hell, the senior class voted you two as most likely to get married out of high school.

And Jaehyun would just smile like he was the luckiest guy alive.

You used to hold his hand as he walked you to class and think, I made it. I have officially succeeded at life. You had a boy that loved you, you loved him, and that was all there was to it. You were planning the wedding, trying to decide how many babies you wanted to have, and decorating a house in the suburbs all in your mind.

Then, as quickly as it came, the dream was gone.

Jaehyun broke up with you over the summer right before you both started at NCTU. Two years of your life spent with Jaehyun, loving him, was over. Time that you would never get back.

You swore to whatever gods would listen that you would never fall in love again. It was a mistake; a painful, costly mistake.

But now, that feeling was back. Every touch with Mark, every kiss, had been enough to set you on fire. He had thawed your frozen heart and made you forget it was broken.

You tossed and turned, thinking about Mark, thinking about Jaehyun. It was an endless cycle. Passion lingered inside you, tickling across your skin and keeping you awake. Mark was to blame for that, but you would never hold it against him.

Your phone dinged on the nightstand and you chuckled, assuming it was the boy that had left a very obvious bruise on your neck. When you opened your messages, however, you frowned.

It was a text from an unknown number.

Where did you sneak off to, baby girl?

You swallowed the lump that had suddenly wedged in your throat. Damn it, did they have people lurking on every goddamn corner of this campus? You read the text again and again, wondering how in the hell you were supposed to answer.

Your phone chimed again and the text read, Don’t test my patience.

I needed to clear my head, you replied quickly.

Alone?

That sent adrenaline through you like nothing else before. They were watching you and you had no idea why. Smashing the six was some dumb challenge. It didn’t warrant this level of attention.

Or so you had thought. Perhaps you had misjudged your opponent and that was a fatal mistake in any sport.

Alone, you lied. You’d be damned if you risked Mark in all of this. You could deal with neonet. It was your battle to fight, not his.

Very well, came a swift reply, followed by, But if you’re lying to me, I will find out.

I understand.

No rest for the wicked.

You narrowed your eyes at that last text with an anger and indignation that surprised you. Were they referring to you or themselves?

Were you wicked?

And with that, you got up and put on music, resigning yourself to no sleep.

Across campus, Mark couldn’t sleep either. It had only been a few hours since you hooked up and he couldn’t stop thinking about you. Had he dreamt all of it? Was that moment with you even real?

First and foremost, he wanted to be angry as hell. He didn’t deserve being used like a pawn in your little games. But he couldn’t hate you. He knew you weren’t malicious, just reckless. No matter how adorable he found that to be, it wasn’t very healthy for the state of his heart.

I love you. Mark would never forget how you looked at him when you said those three little words, staring him dead in the eye. No one had ever looked at him like that. Like they actually saw something in him worth loving.

Mark tried to cling to his obstinance. In the morning, he dragged himself out of bed and was determined to focus on his classes for the day and whatever dull ass article he would write for the paper about which new calamity was happening in the world.

He made it through political science, which was his favorite subject, and realized he had been thinking of you the whole time.

Fuck it. Mark forsook all pride and texted, I miss you.

You were searching on Jaehyun’s neonet profile. There wasn’t much written about him. He stayed out of trouble and didn’t make waves. Jaehyun always marched to the beat of his own drum and wasn’t afraid to march alone. He liked really old music and really basic wine. Parties just weren’t his scene.

And it seemed no matter how many girls practically threw themselves at him, Jaehyun wasn’t the least bit interested. Neonet did imply he liked to have the occasional fling during the summer. Off campus, obviously.

There were only a few photos of him. He still had that boyish charming smile that used to make you melt. He seemed happiest when on the field with his teammates or when playing a melancholy tune on the piano with his nimble fingers. He was the pride and joy of the music instructor.

You rolled your eyes with a chuckle. Jaehyun was good at everything he attempted. And to make things worse, he was painfully humble about it.

Running a hand through your hair, you grumbled. How in the hell were you going to work up the courage to talk to him? After two years, no less.

The last time you spoke to Jaehyun was when he dumped you. Needless to say, you weren’t thrilled by the prospect of revisiting that conversation.

Mark’s text flashed up on your screen, tearing you away from Jaehyun. You grinned at your phone, heart skipping a beat. Thoughts filled your mind of the boy you loved and how his kisses had stolen the air out of your lungs.

He missed you. That sent a little flutter through your chest and a spark of lightning down your spine. You texted back, Where are you?

And that was how you ended up making out with Mark between classes in some random closet.

Mark pressed you against the wall, your legs wrapped around his hips, and groaned, “Fuck,” into your mouth. He’d had one hit and was addicted. There was no hope for him.

You had a solid grip on his hair, kissing him like you were starved. As if you hadn’t just slept with him the night before. The faint soreness between your thighs was a reminder of that.

Fortunately, both you and Mark silently agreed not to continue the previous argument and chose rather to focus instead on the feelings stirring between you.

“Come to my dorm,” Mark said, nibbling beneath your ear.

You shook your head, eyes rolling back as he sucked on your neck. Right where you were most sensitive. Your hips rolled into his, searching for friction. “I can’t. I can’t,” you told him. Weakly.

Mark sucked in a breath. He knew you could feel he was rock hard in his pants and with the way you were grinding on him, it was safe to assume you wanted it as bad as he did. “Don’t make me beg,” he whined, in the most adorable voice he could muster. “Because I will.”

“I have class,” you reminded, but the rational half of your mind was already halfway out the door. The carnal part was behind the wheel and she was ready to go for a ride.

“Fuck class,” Mark growled, pulling back to give you a wry little smirk. Very effective. “Fuck me instead.”

And you did. More than once.

Wandering hands explored every inch of skin, learning each other’s bodies. From that day on, you and Mark snuck around and fooled around whenever you could get away with it. Both of you were always on the lookout for watchful eyes, neonet’s little spies, but at some point, you stopped giving a damn.

You forgot about neonet. You were forgetting about Jaehyun. Even the editor in chief position seemed some distant thing that you no longer needed and you couldn’t remember why you had wanted it so badly in the first place.

Something else had stolen your attention. Sitting across from Mark as the two of you ate lunch together, watching him laugh that big, loud laugh of his, you realized how lucky you were to have fallen in love with your best friend.

You were back in that place of believing in love. That maybe it made life worth living. Maybe it wasn’t such a painful, costly mistake.

Propping your head in your hand, listening intently to Mark giggle as he tried to recap the chaos that had happened at hockey practice though you didn’t give a single shit about hockey, all you could think was, This boy is where I have laid all my affections.

A very notable contrast to where you would be in just a few hours, laying next to him in bed, desperately trying to catch your breath and wondering how in the hell he could keep fucking the shit out of you, never leaving you unsatisfied.

“Mark, you’re trying to kill me,” you rasped, covering yourself with his sheets.

Mark searched the clothes scattered on the floor of his dorm room, finding his boxers and pulling them on. “You come so hard. Jesus fucking Christ,” he said, smirking with a shake of his head.

You stared up at the ceiling, grateful his bed was comfortable because you were officially zapped of all energy and your mind was blank.

It had been barely two weeks of stealing time with Mark and he had your body mapped out and mastered.

To say nothing of your heart. You didn’t want to think about how much you had given him of yourself in such a short amount of time, but you were long gone, falling deeper and deeper.

As deep as you could go. As far as your heart would allow.

Mark crawled back into bed, pressing a few affectionate kisses to your face, and slipped an arm under the sheets, wrapping around your naked waist. “You crashing here again?” he asked, though he knew the answer.

“Mm,” was all you said, eyes already fluttering closed.

Mark grinned from ear to ear. It was still surreal, having you here in his bed, in his arms. Then, he sobered a little and asked, “Are you mine?”

You were in such a malleable state. How could you not be after he so expertly drowned you in release? You whispered tiredly, “I want to be.”

He pressed, “What’s stopping you?”

“Promise you won’t break me.”

“I will never hurt you, baby. I promise.”

Jaehyun had said that too and in the end, he had hurt you most of all.

You drifted off, content to sleep and dream in Mark’s arms where nothing could touch you. Where all the pain was a distant, faded memory.

Mark blinked sadly. Then, he left one last kiss to your temple and settled in beside you, joining you in sleep.

As the days went by, you had a whole folder of pictures of you and Mark. Sometimes, you caught yourself scrolling through them, smiling until your cheeks hurt.

It had to be a crime that a boy could make you this happy.

Mark didn’t press the issue about your relationship, but there was a little nagging voice in the back of your head that only said one word.

Jaehyun.

You needed, now more than ever, to resolve things with Jaehyun. If that wound he’d left behind stayed open, you would never heal. Things would fester.

As you sat on one of the benches beneath the trees, watching Mark play badminton with some of his friends, you were rehearsing the speech you prepared for Jaehyun in your head.

God, where would you even start?

Yes, hello. Remember when you broke my heart into a million tiny pieces? Why the fuck did you do that?

Unfortunately, you didn’t get to rehearse for very long, because Lisa came around the bench and said your name with disdain.

You peered up at her curiously. “How can I help you, Lisa?”

Lisa sat down, but with a wide space between your bodies like you were possibly radioactive. “The last time we spoke, I called you a ‘stone cold bitch’ for the story you wrote about me blowing the biology professor.”

You bobbed your head, unaffected. You’d certainly been called worse. “I remember.”

Lisa folded her arms and leaned back. “He had to leave campus. I was just trying to get a good grade on my final.”

“It’s a huge breach of ethics for a professor to have sex with a student,” you told her levelly, as if you were reciting from a manual. Not to mention, Lisa wasn’t the only girl he was leveraging sexual favors from in exchange for extra credit.

“Oh, cut the bullshit,” Lisa snapped. “You would bang half the faculty at the rate you’re going to get at neonet.”

You froze a little. Was it common knowledge now that you had been trying to get neonet’s attention? That would be very bad for you in the grand scheme of things. It would attract way more eyes. “Go straight to hell, Lisa,” you growled, defensive.

Lisa smirked a little, then she followed where your attention was focused - Mark. He wasn’t very good at badminton, but with the way he laughed, he was having the time of his life. “Cooling down a bit?” she asked, suddenly coy.

You looked at Mark fondly and sighed. “Yeah.”

Lisa leaned in, lowering her voice. “What I really want to know is where in the hell do you get off thinking you’re the slayer of neonet?”

Now, where had you heard that before? You turned to her sharply. “Been sleeping with Ten lately?”

She deflected, “I mean, you’re no different. Are you? How many secrets have you aired out? How many people have you embarrassed with what they do behind closed doors?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and said nothing. You did not like the direction this conversation was going.

“You’ve exposed people for cheating, for fucking, for snorting lines of cocaine in the chem lab. Tell me again how you and neonet are so different.”

That weighed on you. Never had the notion crossed your mind. Or maybe it had and you did everything in your power to smother it down. “I guess we aren’t,” you said in a small voice.

Lisa huffed, “Yeah. By your own logic, you need punishing as much as they do.”

“I’m done, Lisa,” you spoke up, looking at Mark again. For some reason, he steadied you, even from across the way. “I’m trying to be happy.”

Lisa hated that you were backing down, hated that you accepted your penance when she felt you deserved way more judgement. “Good luck with that,” she hissed, standing to leave. “No one gets a happy ending in this fucked up town.”

You watched her go, relaxing a little easier in your seat once she was far enough away. You didn’t like the things she made you confront about yourself. And there was something off, foreboding even, about her words.

Why did you feel exposed and unsafe?

Mark jogged over to you, having seen the distress on your face. “What was that about?” he asked worriedly.

You forced a smile, because the last thing you wanted was to talk about it, and said, “Oh, just being reminded how many enemies I’ve made in my time here.”

Mark leaned in and pressed his lips to yours in a quick chaste kiss, hoping to put you at ease.

You bit your lip, his face dangerously close to yours like he clearly wanted more, and asked, “What was that for?”

“I really like kissing you,” Mark purred.

“Then, do it again.”

Mark didn’t hesitate to seal his lips to yours and for a very brief moment you were drowning in the way he made your heart spin.

Then, a prickle of adrenaline split its way down your back.

“Not out here, Mark,” you said hurriedly after giving his chest a little shove. You were an idiot for kissing him in broad daylight for anyone to see.

Mark groaned. “Remind me again why we aren’t dating?”

“I’m delaying the inevitable,” you deadpanned.

Mark snorted.

You thought about Jaehyun again. Goddamnit, why did things have to be so complicated?

Just talk to him, for fuck’s sake, you chided yourself and threw in for good measure, You big baby.

“If you ever want to talk, just come find me,” Jaehyun had said when he broke up with you. He was unreasonably kind about the whole thing, despite effectively crushing your heart.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Ever,” you had shot back, walking away because you’d be damned if you let him see you cry.

Jaehyun had since grown accustomed to you avoiding and ignoring him, no matter how much it pained him. If you passed in the hallways, you pretended he was invisible. Which broke his heart, because Jaehyun had wanted to stay friends with you.

Maybe he had been naive. Two people with the kind of history you had couldn’t just be friends. It wasn’t one-sided. He had given you so much of himself. He had been in love with you. You weren’t the only one that had been picturing a white picket fence and kids running through the house.

Countless times, Jaehyun wanted to approach you. He wanted to clear the air, but he didn’t want to cause you anymore pain and instead he kept a safe distance. For your sake.

So when you walked up to Jaehyun out of the blue with two iced coffees in your hands and said, “Hi,” Jaehyun almost turned to look over his shoulder, assuming you were talking to someone behind him.

“Hi,” Jaehyun stammered out, his cheeks reddening.

You handed him one of the coffees, which he took with a gracious thank you and the most confused, bewildered look on his face. “How have you been?” you asked, voice trembling. You were a bundle of nerves talking to your first love.

“Are you okay?” he questioned, as if he’d not heard you.

No, not even a little. You took a breath. “I’m ready to talk now.”

Jaehyun blinked in surprise. “Now you’re ready to have the break up talk?”

“Yes.”

“Two years later?”

You gave him a furtive nod. “Yes.”

Jaehyun studied you a moment. Then, he offered a comforting smile. “Okay,” he said, cocking his head toward the boys’ dorms. “Let’s go.”

You said nothing as you followed him to his dorm room and Jaehyun was just as quiet. Your heart was beating so fast it pulsed in your ears. The iced coffee did nothing to take the edge off, only serving to make you more antsy at the hands of too much caffeine.

Jaehyun closed the door behind you and slipped out of his shoes. You followed suit politely and waited for him to tell you where you could sit. There were no chairs or even a couch, only a bed on one side and a piano on the other. His room was neat and tidy, but uncomfortably plain and empty.

Like he didn’t dare keep anything around that he could get emotionally attached to. Sentiment was like a double edged sword.

You decided any small talk would be a waste of time, so you jumped right in. “Did you love me?”

Jaehyun clocked you a glance as he sat on the edge of his bed. His gaze and tone were stern. “Of course I loved you,” he said, offended by the question.

Hearing him say it made your eyes burn. “Then, why aren’t you as broken as I am?”

Jaehyun sighed heavily. “I was.”

You watched Jaehyun pat the empty spot beside him and you approached unsurely, climbing onto his bed and leaning back against the wall. “So, why didn’t we stay together?”

“You know why,” Jaehyun said, handing you a pillow considerately. “We drifted apart.”

You knew that, but you didn’t like hearing it. It was hard to rationalize or justify. Pain was supposed to come with a reason. “Why?”

Jaehyun spent many nights wondering the same thing. His answer was ready. “I don’t know. It just happens. You felt it just like I did. Things fizzled out.”

You were an endless well of questions and Jaehyun didn’t seem to mind. Almost like he had been prepared to answer every last one of them until you were satisfied. “Why does that happen?” you asked softly.

Jaehyun shrugged. “I wish I knew. We were kids. Neither of us did anything wrong.”

You shivered with the threat of tears when you finally said what had weighed on your heart for two whole years, “We just totally fell out of love with each other.”

Jaehyun lowered his head. It was like a slap across the face. “Yeah.”

“It hurts.”

“I know.”

You wiped at your cheeks with a rough fist, but you decided not to be ashamed of your tears. They were cathartic and absolutely necessary. You had been cramming them down for so long that you were going to burst if they didn’t come out.

Jaehyun wasn’t immune to this either. There was so much emotion on his face, but he wouldn’t dare cry while you did. He would wait till after you left. This was your moment. His would come later.

“Have you tried again?” you asked curiously. “To love someone?”

Jaehyun nodded.

Part of you was scared to ask, but you were interested. “How was it?”

Jaehyun couldn’t help his lips twitching with the urge to smile. “It was good.”

You perked up at that. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said wistfully. “And even though it didn’t work out in the end, I still look back on the memories. I was lucky to have loved her for the time that I did. Just like I was lucky to love you.”

You smiled at him. He was such a good person. Now you felt selfish for having robbed yourself of letting Jaehyun be a part of your life for two years. “Your memories are bittersweet,” you said sadly. “Mine are just bitter.”

“Change the way you look at it.”

You snorted. Easier said than done. How could you when you had attached all of your hopes and dreams to a person you thought would never leave?

So many regrets. So much wasted time. You were terrified to go through that again. Surrendering yourself to someone and to fate was the scariest thing in the world. You were giving them the power to destroy you and hoping - praying - they would never use it.

Jaehyun clambered over to you, sitting beside you and taking your hand in his. He looked down at your fingers laced through his and all the memories came rushing back. “You were my first everything and I was yours. I get it.”

You met his eyes. All those moments played across your mind too.

Jaehyun continued gently, “We didn’t want to let go even though we knew the love was gone between us, but that doesn’t erase what love we did have.”

You frowned, more tears gathering in your eyes. “Our relationship was beautiful and then it was just… gone.”

Jaehyun squeezed your hand. “I know, but it’s no one’s fault. We changed as people. We grew. This isn’t Neverland.”

You stifled back a laugh.

Jaehyun turned toward you more, looking into your eyes when he said, “I still love you, but not the way I did. If you needed me and called me in the middle of the night, I would be there for you, no questions asked. But we’re not in love anymore.”

You were so overwhelmed, all you could do was fold into him, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face in his shoulder. “I wish I could understand it,” you whimpered, tears staining his shirt. “How could I have been so in love with our relationship, but not be in love with you anymore?”

That was the thing. When Jaehyun broke up with you, you weren’t surprised. It didn’t come as a shock. You had felt all the sparks die between you and him for weeks, but Jaehyun didn’t want to lose you and you’d been in denial.

If you had stayed together, you would have grown to resent each other. Staying together just for the sake of what?

Jaehyun rubbed your back, resting his cheek on your head. “Because it was perfect?”

You spoke your thoughts aloud, “Life is imperfect. Maybe my life was so full of bad that when I finally had something good, I couldn’t bring myself to let go.”

Jaehyun nudged you and asked, “So, you would rather hold onto a memory than make any new ones?”

You tipped your head back and groaned, “God, I did not come here to get deep and shit.”

Who were you kidding? That was exactly what you’d come to him for.

Jaehyun chuckled and peered down at you, his dimples showing. He looked at you with nothing short of love and affection that made your heart swell. “You can’t fool me. I know you,” he countered. “You came here to finally settle this. You’re ready to move on.”

You exhaled loudly.

After a little pause, Jaehyun said, “Mark’s a good guy.”

You simpered. It would seem your ex had kept tabs on you. Maybe he’d seen you and Mark eating lunch together. Perhaps he had noticed the way your eyes twinkled when you looked at Mark.

The way they used to shine when you looked at him all those years ago.

You felt so whole and content, like the loose pieces of you were clicking back into place. “I know he is,” you replied softly.

Jaehyun smiled, happy that you had found someone to love. His heart felt light. He couldn’t believe you were in his life again. There had been an empty space you’d left behind that only you could fill. Jaehyun wanted desperately to be your friend. He missed your presence more than words could say.

It was a strange place to be in - loving someone so much but not being in love with them anymore. He understood why it had been so hard on you. God knew it had been hard on him too.

But now, he was smiling from ear to ear. Here you were, back in his arms. There was no tension, no hard feelings. Just you and him finally being the friends you were meant to be.

Jaehyun whispered your name and said, “I’ve really missed you.”

A few fresh tears burned your eyes and you blinked, making them roll down your cheeks. “I missed you too, Jay,” you sighed, holding him tighter.

You stayed in his dorm for the rest of the day. Jaehyun had food delivered. The two of you caught up on the past few years of each other’s lives. It was ridiculously comfortable. Like two old friends reunited after time apart.

Jaehyun listened eagerly when you told him about smashing the six and your attempt to get at neonet, and he was amused, but also intrigued. He had no love for neonet either and would thoroughly enjoy seeing it shutdown. Or potentially set on fire.

He also offered to beat the shit out of anyone that disrespected you over it.

You told Jaehyun everything. He was a good listener and didn’t judge you. He told you all there was to tell about his quiet little life on campus. Jaehyun let very few people near him and trusted even less. He was guarded with his heart, same as you.

That night, you accepted his offer to crash with him for old time’s sake. Jaehyun gathered you in his arms, holding you close. He lifted your phone and took a selfie, because he was on the football team, after all. It was believable. He was shirtless. You were curled up in his bed with your head on his naked shoulder.

You faded into sleep, wrapped in the warmth of him. You fell into memories, seeing them through a new lens.

A memory of Jaehyun’s deep laughter after you wiped out at the beach. You had been throwing a football back and forth, gotten a little overzealous, and tumbled into the sand. Jaehyun came running over, laughing all the while, and scooped you up.

You held his shoulders as he walked into the waves, submerging both you and him into the water to clean the sand off of you. The moment he came back up, your lips were on his, tasting the salt of the ocean on his tongue.

A memory of Jaehyun’s smile as you told him you wanted to be a journalist, but the kind of journalist that powerful people feared because you never let them know a moment’s rest. You wanted to expose corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen. Jaehyun would grin. If anyone could do it, it was you.

He wanted to be a teacher. For now anyway. Jaehyun had yet to find his calling in life. The problem with being good at everything was that there wasn’t one thing he excelled at and Jaehyun hadn’t discovered his niche. Being the golden boy didn’t feel like a blessing. More like a curse.

And finally a memory of Jaehyun’s soft moans as he came inside you, your legs wrapped around his hips. There was nothing left now. You had given him all of you, mind and heart, body and soul. You would never forget the pleasure on his face and how good it felt to be locked together with him.

No regrets.

You knew that you were lucky to have fallen in love with someone as gentle and as loving as Jaehyun. All of your experiences, all of those firsts, were good ones because of him.

That was enough. Your time with Jaehyun wasn’t a waste.

The next morning, you slipped out of his bed and pressed a sweet, grateful kiss to his brow. Jaehyun mumbled something about texting you later and with a smile, you told him to go back to sleep and thanked him for being there for you.

You walked across the yard to your dorm. The sun had started to come up, painting the dawn in hues of orange and pink. As you walked alone, you oddly enough felt like a new person.

Or maybe the old you that you had grown to miss was back in some way. You felt lighter, freer. Like a massive weight had been lifted off of you. But you were also stronger, ready for whatever life threw your way next.

That seemed to be a theme with these boys. With each time you let your walls down and allowed one of them in, they left your heart in a better state than when you’d met them.

Now, there was a twist you never saw coming.

Stopping still, you peered down at your phone, studying the photo Jaehyun had taken last night. For a moment, you stood there, finger hovering over the delete icon.

Then, you swiped. You looked through the photos of you and Mark. Johnny followed and Yuta and Jeno. These photos were personal. They meant something.

There was no doubt in your mind that they should never be seen by anyone else.

You didn’t want the story anymore. You would find something else to write. If Doyoung didn’t take into account all the pieces you’d written for the paper to date when considering his replacement, well, you’d just have to live with that.

But did you even deserve it? After all, as Lisa said, you had made your career out of exposing scandals and sins. If you sat on the editor’s chair, you wouldn’t be a team leader. You would be a tyrant. Someone who only knew how to chase what would benefit her.

“Damn it,” you murmured, running a hand through your hair. The past few months had changed you, really changed you.

The campus started to wake up and you scurried into your dorm room. You took a shower, preparing for a day of classes and more importantly, another day spent stealing moments with Mark.

You couldn’t wait to tell him that you were all his. No holding back anymore. No more doubts or fears.

After dressing and fixing your hair, you pulled out your phone again and took one last look at the photos. Deleting them felt like the right thing to do; what you knew in your heart of hearts needed to be done.

Before you could, an alert chimed on your phone.

There was a new post attached to your profile on neonet.

You opened it hurriedly and your heart sank into the pit of your stomach.

Do mine eyes deceive me or did our campus slut do the walk of shame out of the golden boy’s dorm room early this morning? This is breaking news. Now, who is going to break it to the mama’s boy? He’s in love with her, after all.

You read it again. And again. No, this couldn’t be real. This was straight out of a sick and twisted nightmare. There was no way in hell someone had seen you leave Jaehyun’s dorm.

Even worse, someone knew about you and Mark.

Your hands were shaking. Turning on your heels, you raced out of your room. You flew across the grounds, back in the direction of the boys’ dorms. You had never run so hard in your entire life.

And as you did, you called Mark over and over, but he didn’t answer his phone. Not that you expected him to. You didn’t hook up with Jaehyun, but you knew how it looked. You knew no one would believe you.

Panting and out of breath when you reached the dorms, you were surprised to see a lone figure sitting on the stairs.

It was Haechan.

“Where’s Mark?” you asked desperately, picturing a furious Mark storming out of the dorm and Haechan, still dressed in his pajamas, trying to calm him down.

Haechan was seething, scowling at you with disdain, and said emotionlessly, “He went for a walk. Needed to clear his head.” Then, he pointed to the path on the right.

“Fuck.”

You sprinted down the path, wondering if Haechan had spitefully sent you in the opposite direction of his best friend. You wouldn’t have blamed him, but it would cost you precious time that you didn’t have.

Relief and fear gathered in your chest when you came upon Mark shortly, considering how fast you’d been running.

“Mark, let me explain,” you called, reaching out and grabbing his arm.

Mark had been marching. He was angry enough to break through walls, to say nothing of how much pain his heart was in. Never in his life had he felt so betrayed. Yanking his arm out of your grasp, he rounded on you and spat, “You didn’t mean any of it, did you?”

“I meant every goddamn word,” you told him firmly, still trying to catch your breath. “Please let me explain.”

Mark shook his head vehemently. “No. I don’t want to talk to you.” He didn’t even want to look at you, to be honest. You had just crushed him so badly Mark was convinced he would never recover. No one had ever wounded him like this.

That’s what love was, after all. Handing someone the power to hurt you and hoping they didn’t use it. And if they did, you had no one to blame but yourself.

“It’s not what it looks like,” you pressed, reaching for him again. The words wouldn’t come. You couldn't get your thoughts together fast enough.

Mark was trying to hold it in, but he couldn’t. “God, I fucking hate you,” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Do you know that? And do you even know why?”

You were rooted in place, panicking that the boy you loved was slipping through your fingers. All you could say was, “Why?”

Mark’s eyes were brimming with tears. “Because if you wanted me as part of your six, all you had to do was say that. We could have fucked and that would have been it. But you said you love me! You brought love into this! Why would you fucking do that?”

His voice was breaking. Mark was getting buried alive by his own emotions.

“Because I meant it,” you cried, tears pouring down your face. “You mean something to me!”

“You played with my feelings. You used me just like you use everyone else to get what you want.”

Your heart was panicking. He hates me.

You gave one final plea, “Mark, please. Nothing happened. I love you!”

“No, you don’t. You love no one but yourself,” Mark hissed, which was worse than if he had shouted the words in your face.

You stood there and watched him go, covering your face as you cried. You couldn’t breathe. Rather than pain, there was rage. You had spent so many years in pain, you maxed out.

There was only anger. It felt like a wildfire coursing through your body, leaving nothing unscathed and burnt to the core until only ashes remained.

Finally, you had come full circle. You had finally come to terms with your feelings. You settled the past with Jaehyun and accepted a future with Mark.

Neonet had taken that away from you. They had crossed the line.

Wiping away your tears, you walked back to your dorm with purpose in your step. Once inside your room, you opened your profile on neonet. Never had you posted there. Not once.

You pressed send, publishing your first post on the site. And it consisted of only two words.

Fuck you.

#nct #nct smut #jaehyun #jaehyun smut #jaehyun x reader

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princeloww · 5 months

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Summertime Blues - Campbell Bain

This might be a bit of a major stretch, but I was listening to Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues and it got me thinking about it and Campbell Bain.

It's kind of the first song we (well, I, anyway), associate with Campbell. He is singing it after Eddie's first show; the show that he listens to, and then decides he wants to be a DJ.

Summertime Blues itself seems to have a pretty clear story to it: the singer is a teenager who is forced to work over the summer. His parents insist that he needs to make money - but he doesn't want to. He is frustrated that his boss is constantly making him work late, meaning that he can't see his girlfriend. He attempts to lie to get out of work, but his parents catch him out and don't let him use their car.

He decides to take his struggles to a congressman, but this congressman quickly brushes him off because he is not old enough to vote (therefore, he doesn't really matter to the congressman).

The song ends with no real resolution, per se. There is no cure for the summertime blues - he simply has to work, has to make money, and can't mess around and go on dates like he wants to.

But --- maybe I'm just drowning in brainrot --- doesn't it kinda fit Campbell?

Campbell finds out that he is going to be discharged from St. Judes. He excitedly begins to list the things he wants to do - like losing his virginity, for example. Yet, his dad quickly shuts him down, telling him that he needs to finish school and think about getting a job.

He wants to mess around and go on dates and not really get too invested in the future or money or that kind of thing. He wants to live on impulse, doing what he thinks is fun and following his next fun dream (this time being a DJ -- we learn that he has a pattern of having different, ambitious dreams and fully devoting himself to them, before just sort of moving onto the next thing).

His dad wants him to, essentially, grow up. His dad wants him to knuckle down and learn his responsibilities and think about getting a good job and results. In the play, Campbell is compared to his much more successful siblings, who have jobs and are dedicated to them.

His dad won't let him take the car out, unless he goes to work.

And Campbell's response to this is to have a dramatic reaction and pretend that he's not well enough to leave the hospital, because he just doesn't want to. He wants to stay and do the station. He wants to follow his dreams and be happy - not have a job he doesn't like, and live only to make money.

Deciding to reach out to a politician over a not very urgent, domestic matter is a very Campbell thing to do. He (in the play), thinks he's funny, so he goes to the BBC and tells them he's the best comedian in Britian. He then probably refuses to leave, and the police are called. That whole part of the song - about bringing the matter to the United Nations - is just very Campbell.

And, still on that part - the politician dismisses him because he is too young. He does not take him seriously because he's too young to vote; he can't benefit the politician, so the politician doesn't care to help with his issue. Obviously there's nothing the politician could even do about it, but it's an interesting thing for the congressman to say.

Campbell's dad dismisses his desires because he sees them as "loony ideas". In the play, Campbell says he thought his dad would be proud of the radio show, but that he just thinks he's manic and being a loony. He dismisses his issues quickly, not seeing Campbell's opinions or ideas as overly important, because he's not "well". This part is admittedly a lot of a stretch, but I dunno, I think it's interesting.

Finally - Summertime Blues. Blues, in this context, means sadness. We don't really get to see the "depressive" side of Campbell, apart from for a few short moments when his dad is visiting (when he shuts down and stares into space a bit) - but he definitely has one. He has periods of what one might call "feeling blue", or "blues".

There is no cure for the Summertime Blues - the blues brought on by both his disorder and his dad not understanding it, and pushing him to go to school and "get well".

This is the song that Campbell hears and then decides he wants to be a DJ. He decides, after this first show, that he wants his own show. This song, out of them all, must've stuck with him even a little bit - as he's singing it before Eddie comes in, and also attempting to play it on his guitar.

I'm not saying this song was definitely an intentional choice for our first proper introduction to Campbell (outside of the part where its framed like he's a nurse, rather than a patient), but it certainly works as a meaningful one, and somehow tells us a lot about Campbell (if you're mental and stretch it to make sense, like I am / do).

Just fun to think about !!

#campbell bain #meta #takin over the asylum meta #tota #takin over the asylum #takin' over the asylum #taking over the asylum #campbell takin over the asylum #david tennant

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ygobigbang · 2 months

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Everyone, thank you very much for the responses! We’ll go over our plans for what to do next, and what you should keep an eye out for!

Firstly, thank you for all your patience for the new mod team! You can find us and our experience listed HERE as well as our names on our Tumblr page (desktop mode). We hope you continue to give us your support as we settle into our new roles.

Second, for all the Misawas and number lovers out there, we'll go over the IC numbers after the end of this announcement.

And third and most important of all, we’re announcing our first project as a SPRING SEASON MINI-BANG. We’ll be releasing more details over the coming week, and hopefully have sign-ups ready by the end of the month. This will be a much smaller event, with 1k minimums, so that everyone can get used to working together and getting warmed up before the main event!

Once again, thank you for your interest, and we’ll see you soon!

And now, from Mod Pan, this:

First off, "Do you want to participate in a General/All Series Bang?"

That's 62,7% yes, 37,3% maybe, and no "No"s! Love to see how people interested in talking about it want to participate, should circumstances allow.

Next is "If yes, what role?"

At 40,3% writers take the lead, but 32,8% artists and 26,9% as a combo of both means people of all artistic tendencies are well-distributed!

So we've got the peeps, so when do we start? That's the next question!

The two leaders were a (North) Summer Start at 67,2%, followed by a (North) Spring Start at 25%. The other results were one vote each, for 'either', 'both', 'anytime', 'not sure', and a shout-out to whoever asked if these seasons were North or Southern Hemisphere- They're all North, for the record, due to that being where the majority of the mods are located. It was a good heads-up, though, and I'll try to mention specific months next time alongside seasonal names.

Last two multiple-choice questions!

For writers, what minimum word count are you comfortable with?

The clear winner here was 10k words, at 48,3%, with 15k next at 13,3%. A full 26% were just artists clicking the "I'm an Artist" button, and the other options (5k, 25k, and 'anything from 10-20k depending on concept") got a single vote each, except 20k words, which came in around 8% instead. I like this excitement!

And for the artists: What fic length are you most comfortable working with?

Everyone continues having 10k as their sweet spot number, as the 36,7% votes show, and this has definitely been taken into account. Next is 15k at 25%, and every subsequent 5k increment loses another 5% votes. And to the two who don't really know and are just gonna go with the flow, and are willing to read all the way up to 50k as long as the concept interests you, we'll do our best at matchmaking so it won't feel like a sacrifice, no matter how excited the writers get!

And that's it for math time! The non-multiple choice answers won't be discussed here, since even without names attached those were private responses, but do be sure the mod team has read all of them and will be keeping all of them in mind going forward.

See y'all next time!

#yugioh #big bang #fandom event #ygo #ygo 5ds #ygo arc v #ygo dm #ygo go rush #ygo vrains #yugioh go rush #ygo sevens #ygo gx

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stalkerofthegods · 3 months

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Athena Pallas/Minerva Deep dive

I was going to originally say Athana, but due to respect to her late friend Pallas (not the titan/giant), she will be called Pallas Athena from now on, please forgive my ignorance. To the wisest of the wise, to the goddess that tells us the wisdom, may we all cheer for her, like how men and women and all equal in war would cheer after victory.

Herbs • Olive tree, Tiger lilies, geranium, oak, cypress, Hellebore (Christmas and Lenten rose), and citrus tree, walnuts, pears

Animals• owl, snake, rooster, griffins, horses (she taught men how to tame horses), female lambs, doves (as a symbol of victory), rams, eagles, tigers, leopards, and other cats (could not find why but many were in agreement.)

Zodiac • She was mostly celebrated in June/July so I would say, Gemini, Cancer, and Leo.

Colors • gold, orange, yellow, emerald green, and royal blue

Crystal• bronze, metal, gold, silver, Azurite, Iolite, ruby, star sapphire, turquoise, lapis lazuli, ivory, Amazonite, Iolite, Bloodstone, Clear Quarterrtz, onyx.

Symbols• owls, olive trees, snakes, the Gorgoneion, golden shield, and helmet, serpents

Jewelry you can wear in their honor• you can veil in their honor

Diety of • knowledge, knowledge in war, crafting, inspiration, strategy

Patron of• Military, justice, skills, close combat, good counsel, prudent restrain and practical insight, weaving, and spinning, crocheting, the defense of towns, heroic endeavor, and protection agriculture, she is known in the arts as well with Hephaestus, protectress of the phratries and houses, authority of the law, the order in the courts and the assembly of the people, mathematics, strength, asexuality, librarians, peace, judges, protests, metalwork, birds (called the goddess of the birds), teachers

Offerings• She was sacrificed bulls, rams cows, all female except a lamb, it must be a male lamb, Locrian maidens or children are said to have been sacrificed to her every year as an atonement for the crime committed by the Locrian Ajax upon Cassandra (do not do, just here for historic offerings.), Olives, Bread, Grains, Olive oil, Cakes, Olive tree branches, Owl figurines or imagery, Silver jewelry, Honey, Milk, Books, Strategy games, Quality chess boards, Snake figurines or imagery, Fountain pens, Handmade objects, Clay items ( ex- plates, bowls, vases), Yellow and/or white candles, Yoghurt, Daggers, Swords (including small decorative versions), Devotional poems, Studying, Learning something new, Using what you learn as a way of growing and developing as a person, Standing up for yourself, Improving yourself, Owl pellets, Owl decoys for gardens,Work out clothes/gear, Fidget toys for when you’re working, Brain imagery, Spider imagery, Crafts you have made, Certificates/degrees/awards for achievements, Favorite books/books on mythos or Greece, Knitting/crocheting/crafting materials, Needles, Your glasses, Coffee/tea, Nice pens/pencils, Journals/notebooks, Voting stickers/cards, Spears/swords/daggers/helmets, Protest signs, pears, walnuts, Garlic bread, Start a small side business.

Devotional• Read a book, become a librarian as a summer job, or simply check out or return a book, join a book club, host a book club, learn Battle strategies, learn Wars and how they were won, learn What led to wars being lost, read The Art of War by Sun Tzu, learn about Politics, Democracy in Ancient Greece, learn about Armor and weapons, Catch and release spiders in your home, do Pottery, learn about Cross stitching and knitting, Tutor someone/get tutoring for areas you need help in, Watch TED talks/listen to educational podcasts, Plan out your day/keep a planner, Thinking before taking action, controlling our anger, Learn new vocab words, Make your notes pretty, Learn study techniques, Take appropriate study breaks, Do projects for Her, Challenge yourself, Learn grounding techniques, Do your homework, Give up things that are unhealthy for your brain (ex- smoking cannabis, drinking.), work out, Learn basic first aid, take CPR classes, Take care of your body, Go to protests/advocate

Ephithets• will post later, postponed due to motivational issues, will come soon.

Equivalents• neith (Egyptian), thrud (Norse), Minerva (roman), Athena (Greek)

Alter• I would not put her alter near Heaphestus, be tried to violate her in a myth, I would not put her alter near Aphrodite because they are known to not get along in myths, but things could have changed. She does work well with heroes, so if you worship Hercules or Perseus I would put her alter near them, I would not put her near Arachne and keep her alter away from spider areas, etc. Keep her altar clean and orderly. She does not like the giant Pallas, he tried to ruin her chastity.

Signs they are reaching out• Encounters with owls, olive trees, or feelings of wisdom and inspiration, seeing owls in the day, going to the library more often, staying after school.

Vows/omans• to stay a virgin forever, and to change her name

Number• 6 or 7 and 5 (I couldn't find a website that could agree.)

Morals• Morally lawful

Personality• Strong, endearing, respected, smart, confident, practical, clever, a master of disguises, and a great warrior. Brings Harvard teachers to shame.

Home• Mount Olympus

Mortal or immortal • Immortal

Fact• Some say she invented the flute, she invented the plow, and the rake, borrows tools from Zeus to do war saves people when fate counts on it, she repels Ares, some say Athena’s full name is Pallas Athena, but they say she added the name Pallas to hers after she accidentally mortally injured her friend Pallas during a practice session in her youth. Athena was seen naked bathing, she felt bad for the man, she covered his eyes and made him blind, making him an oracle.

Curses• blindness, more spiders, spilling tea, dyslexia getting harder, losing ur glasses, no one knowing who you're dressed as during Halloween, getting into fights, unjust detentions, no one showing up to class, getting fired as a teacher or librarian (unjustly), dropping books and learning stuff all of the sudden, forgetting materials that you learned on your test, your quizzes and tests get lost.

Blessings• remembering test materials, witty replies in arguments, detentions all of the sudden going away, getting into your dream college, getting into a book club, finding ur books, getting a librarian or teacher or tutor job.

Roots• Greek, near the river Triton born after or in the Titanomachy era.

Friends• Pallas (her friend growing up)

Parentage• Some say Poseidon then she went to Zeus after a dispute and became his daughter, and some say metis and Zeus, some say Hepeastus.

Siblings• Artemis, Aphrodite, the Muses, the Graces, Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Hebe, Hermes, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Minos, Perseus, and Porus.

Children• She does not have any romantic lovers, but she has adopted children, who are, Erikhthonios/Erichthonius.

Pet• one white and three dark horse and an owl, (she shares a chariot with Artemis)

Appearance in astral or gen• a stately woman armed with a shield and spear, and wearing a long robe, crested helm, and the famed aigis with the the Gorgon Medusa on a shield

Festivals • The cleansing Festival/Plynteria and Kallynteria Festival, the threshing festival/Skira Festival, the festival of Minerva/Minor Quinquatrus, The panatheanaea/Athena Festival, The Vintage festivalOschophoria Festival, the artisans Festival/Chalkeia Festival.

Day • she does not have any day of the week, the 23 of each month, and the first day.

Sacred places• The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her, and Athens.

Status• Wisdom goddess, One of the major theoi and goddesses in Greek mythology

What angers her • If you stop worshiping her, I would clean up and part respectfully and know she understands, she does not like the sudden removal of an alter and the trashing of one.

The music she likes• classical and lo-fi study music.

Planet• Pallas Athene (minor planet) and the Asteroids 93 Minerva and 2 Pallas

Her Tarot cards• queen of swords, queen of wands, justice card, balance card

Remind me of• the saying “hitting the books” and someone actually throwing books, twilight from My Little Pony, Dead Trees (books)

Scents/Inscene • Patchouli, dragon’s blood, musk, indigo, orange blossom, cinnamon, and cedarwood

My opinion • She's cool.

Prayers•

Prayer To Athena by Liz “Morning Dove” La Posta

Oh, wise Athena with your spear and shield, protect me and my family from injustice and harm. Council me with your wisdom so that I may make the best decisions. Grant me success in my endeavors, but keep me humble so that I might not become condescending to others. I thank you for the many times you have guided me on my Path. Share with me your mysteries and I will do my best to follow. Athena my Goddess, I pray this in your sacred name, and I vow to always be your faithful dedicant.

Prayer to Athena for Wisdom

Clear-eyed Athena, unrivaled in wisdom, daughter of Zeus and Metis whose craft and wit excelled among the mighty Titans: Athena, I pray to you. Wise in all things you are, goddess; your cunning and guile are well known. In time of war you have no equal in tactics or in strategy; many armies have you guided to victory. In time of peace your blessings fall on those whose work is of the mind–friend of the philosopher, the scientist, the student. Advisor of kings, patron of clever heroes and bold-hearted adventurers, defender of the thinker, mistress of reason and understanding, goddess to whom a strong arm and a sharp sword are nothing without the sense to wield them well and the insight to know when words are worth more than weapons. Athena, grant me a sound mind and steady temper, bless me with good judgment, show me the long view.

Links/websites/sources •seleniangnosis https://www.theoi.com/Cult/AthenaTitles.htmlhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Athena-Greek-mythology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenahttps://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/athena.html https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Athena.html

https://www.worldhistory.org/athena/#google_vignettehttps://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/athena/https://olympioi.com/greek-gods/athenahttps://ilfiorello.com/athena-the-importance-of-the-name/https://www.theoi.com/Cult/AthenaTitles.htmlhttp://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Rituals/Festivals/index.htm ATHENA'S BIRTH ON THE NIGHT OF THE DARK MOON - JSTOR 881 Athene - Wikipedia Athena | Olympian Goddess of Wisdom | Born from Zeus SkullGoddess Gift https://www.crystalvaults.com/goddess-athena/#:~:text=Crystals%20such%20as%20Azurite%2C%20Iolite,Athena%20can%20bring%20to%20you.Athena: Greek Goddess Of Wisdom And Craftsmanshiphttps://www.museandmoonstone.com/blogs/blog/crystals-goddess-athenaThoughtCohttps://www.thoughtco.com › what...What Are the Symbols of the Greek Goddess Athena?numeralgame.64g.ruhttp://www.numeralgame.64g.ru › ...Numerology and ancient Greek myths. Pythagorean numerological number 5. Goddess Gifthttps://goddessgift.com › goddessesAthena: Greek Goddess Of Wisdom And Craftsmanship Number Seven Facts, Symbolism & Meaning - Study.com Holy And Unholy Numbers - Street Directory Athena: Greek Goddess Of Wisdom And Craftsmanshipseleniangnosis travelingthief Titanomachy Definition, Myth & Impact - Study.com Athena Siblings - 1379 Words | Internet Public Library - IPL.org Athena Justice, Mythology Tarot Enamel Pin - LitJoy Crate Inner Goddess Tarothttps://innergoddesstarot.com › go...Goddesses in Tarot: Athenahttps://www.hellenion.org/athena/prayer-to-athena/https://www.tumblr.com/tarotbee

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artiststarme · 1 year

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Oblivious Eddie

This is kind of the opposite of @ladykailitha's current story. It turned out a lot longer than I anticipated lol. Featuring the screaming match that you guys voted on! I hope you guys like it and please share your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve was at his wit’s end. Things were now back to normal in the summer after the supernatural happenings of the Upside Down in the spring. The older teens had graduated from high school (Eddie included), the younger kids were off at camp or work or rehab respectively, and Steve was working his usual shift at Family Video.

He was alone today since Keith was out of town on vacation and Robin was touring the campus at Indiana State. He was bored out of his mind. The entire day, he’d had a mere four customers with plenty of time to rewind the returned tapes, organize the shelves in a way Robin would hate, and take a variety of magazine quizzes. He now knew that his spirit animal was a golden retriever, Tom Cruise would date him for his personality, and that his zodiac sign would find fortune in the next month.

However, if something interesting didn’t happen in the next ten minutes, he was going to do something drastic like pull his hair out or something. As the minutes ticked on, he started getting worried. Steve prided himself on being a man of his word and he made a decision which meant he had to stick to it. But did it count if it was a thought to himself? Would he have to pull his hair out by the clump to prove a point to his own brain? Maybe he-

His spiral was cut off by the jingle of the door’s bell. Steve let out a sigh of relief, “Welcome to Family Video, is there anythi- Eddie! Hey man, what’s up?”

Eddie had gotten a part-time job at Thatcher Tire and was trying to bring in some money from work of the legal variety. He said it was time to make money like an honest man and develop the good habits of the working class. Steve thinks that Hopper threatened him about the drug dealing and Eddie had no choice but to abide by his rules because he was the one who cleared his name in the media and with the cops. Either way, Eddie should be at work but instead he was walking straight towards Steve with a swish to his hips.

“Heya Big Boy, guess what.”

“What?” Steve asked in curiosity. He didn’t know what would make Eddie so happy but his face was nearly splitting with the force of his beaming grin.

“I got a call from a concert venue in Indy and they want Corroded Coffin to perform! They said that my notoriety from Spring Break could work as publicity and bring in more people. They want us to play this weekend!” Eddie was practically jumping up and down in excitement.

Steve hopped the counter in order to envelop Eddie in a hug, “congratulations man! What did the kids say? Are they excited for you too?”

Eddie pulled back slightly, just enough to place his hand on Steve’s shoulder and look him in the eye whilst pulling a strand of hair from its position stuck in his mouth. “The kids? I don’t know, I came directly here to tell you.”

The comment in Eddie’s earnest tone caused butterflies to flutter in Steve’s stomach. He wanted to tell him first? That’s so sweet. Then he shook his head, it wasn’t sweet. It was just a dude telling his bro some exciting news. That’s all.

“They’re going to be thrilled, Eds! You’re going to do great, I wish I could see it.”

“That’s kinda why I’m here. Would you, Steve Harrington, do me the honor of watching me perform the most metal concert ever in a dingy venue in Indy this weekend? I’ll be honest with you, I’m a little nervous and having you there would make me really happy.” Eddie looked at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster, trying to persuade Steve to go. And honestly, he didn’t even have to. As soon as he had told Steve about the gig, his mind started thinking over blackmail he could use to get Keith to cover his shift.

But, as he looked into Eddie’s pleading eyes and pouty lips, all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss him. Which… what the fuck?! Steve wasn’t gay, he liked boobies! He still liked boobies! But now he thinks he liked the picture of Tom Cruise in the magazine from earlier and maybe Matthew Broderick on the movie poster over there and definitely Eddie, fuck. Steve needed to have a mental breakdown, STAT.

“Fine, yes, I would be honored to go with you. Now, get out of here and tell the kids. They’re going to be thrilled,” Steve said as quickly and nonchalantly as he could muster in the face of his fast-approaching sexuality crisis.

“Yay! Thanks Stevie, I swear you’re going to love it. I’ll see you tomorrow for movies and beer at mine, right?” Eddie asked over his shoulder while walking to the door.

Steve felt like he was being strangled as he watched Eddie’s ass walking away, “yep, I’ll be there. See you later, Alligator!”

The second Eddie’s van drove out of the lot, Steve was rushing to lock the door and turn the closed sign. He needed to have a breakdown in peace. He slid down the wall of the disgusting Family Video bathroom and let the pent up sobs explode out of him. He knew he was freaking out over nothing but he couldn’t help it. It felt like in the few minutes it took for Steve to realize he liked guys, his entire world had changed. He was an outsider now, a queer, a freak. Deep down, he knew there was nothing wrong with being gay. Love is love. But why him?

Honestly, this wasn’t the worst thing he’d gone through. Yeah, he couldn’t be open with his love for another dude without being targeted which sucked. But he fought literal monsters with a bat and came out of it relatively unscathed. So this obviously wasn’t the end of the world.

Steve tried to think of what Robin would say in this moment but couldn’t come up with anything. He felt a rush of irrational anger at her because of it. Why did she choose to tour a college campus now? She was already planning on leaving him behind and now she missed his crisis when she was supposed to be there with him? Ridiculous, some platonic soulmate she was.

After another several minutes of freaking out, he started to calm down. This wasn’t an awful thing despite his initial thoughts. He knew Eddie was gay after one two many beers and a miniature freak out on Eddie’s part. And he knew his friends should be okay with it. And Eddie was amazing, they went through the same things, and they’ve bonded over their matching bat scars. Looking back, maybe that’s why Steve hasn’t been able to get a girlfriend in months… because he like-likes Eddie!

A plan started to form in Steve’s mind. He was going to woo Eddie and show him what it would be like to have the full ‘Steve Harrington Dating Experience’. He’d flirt, take him on dates, the whole shebang. And when Eddie inevitably fell for him, they could be boyfriends. With the plan in mind and the crisis averted, Steve left the bathroom, opened the door to the shop, and continued plotting for the rest of his shift.

This would be a piece of cake.

~*~*~*~

This was much harder than Steve had originally anticipated. He did not consider how utterly unobservant Eddie was or how oblivious Eddie would be to his affections. Steve had been flirting with this fucking guy for a month now and he was no closer to making him his boyfriend.

He’d started smooth the night after his breakdown when he and Eddie watched movies and smoked weed in his trailer. Steve had given Eddie a compliment on his outfit, brought beers, and rested his arm on his shoulder during one of the scarier movies. What did Eddie do? Nothing! Steve thought he might’ve seen the barest hint of a blush when he wrapped his arm around him but it was gone before he could check to make sure. So he vowed to spend more quality time with him to be more obvious.

The next time was at Eddie’s concert. Steve drove Eddie’s van with Eddie and the rest of the van the entire way to Indy. During the drive. They kept up conversation about metal music, summer plans, and the kids. At one point of the drive, Steve straight up grabbed Eddie’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Eddie didn’t even break his train of thought and continued speaking, rubbing his thumb along Steve’s knuckles. Steve couldn’t even focus on listening as if Eddie’s thumb rubbing circles didn’t make Steve want to stick his fingers in his mouth. Physical touch was also not affecting his guy.

He tried words of affirmation next and those didn’t work either. His flirts initially started small. He would compliment Eddie’s clothes, his hair, or the things he liked. Then they escalated to comment on his character, his personality, and ‘how adorable he was’. Yesterday, Steve literally told him that his ass looked great in his black jeans but would look better out of them. That statement made Eddie’s jaw drop and he let out a loud guffaw before continuing his conversation like Steve hadn’t just implied that he wanted to see his bare ass. Son of a bitch.

He was trying out acts of service when Eddie called him out. Steve had been doing the dishes at the Munson trailer while he waited for Eddie’s shift to end when he came in. And he came in hot. He slammed the door behind him and waved his hands around in flailing outrage.

“Harrington, what the actual fuck! What are you even doing? You’re so fucking confusing!” He screamed as he saw Steve scrubbing at a stain on a white cutting board.

Steve whipped around to look at him and narrowed his eyes. He was the confusing one? He’d been flirting with this dumbass nearly every day for a month and getting nowhere. “I’m confusing? That’s rich coming from you.”

Eddie blinked in shock before his lips pulled back in a snarl. “First of all, nothing about me is rich. Second of all, yes it’s you that’s confusing! You’ve been fucking flirting with me for weeks and no you’re doing my uncle’s dishes! That’s confusing.”

“Why is it confusing? I’m doing the dishes because you weren’t home yet and I needed something to do. I’m flirting with you because I like you. What’s confusing?” Steve was legitimately confused at this line of questioning and he really didn’t understand why Eddie was yelling.

“You like me? Newsflash- you’re straight. You’re the straightest person that I have ever met. I don’t know why you keep flirting with me or what angle you’re trying to play here but I’m not interested in being your experiment, Harrington.” Eddie yelled at him, his finger pointing at Steve accusingly before moving to hug himself in self-comfort.

Steve saw his discomfort but elected to act defensively and yell back at him. “I’m not straight, I never said I was and you never asked! I like both and it’s really shitty of you to try and tell me who I like when you have no idea what’s going on!”

Eddie opened his mouth to talk but Steve plowed on, “your whole schtick is nonconformity and sticking it to the fucking man but you draw the line at me liking guys and girls? Maybe I don’t like you as much as I thought I did. You’re obviously just as rude and judgmental as everyone else. And you’re welcome for the dishes, fucker.”

Eddie grabbed his arms as he went to move past. “Harrington, Steve, Stevie. I’m sorry, please just listen to me. Steve!”

Steve jerked his head to the side to glare at him. “What?”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you or not be appreciative of you washing our fucking dishes. I just, I didn’t know you liked both and I was losing my mind the past few weeks because I couldn’t figure out if you were flirting with me or if it was just you being a good friend or if you were playing a prank or something. I’m sorry and I do appreciate you,” Eddie was biting his lips nervously and his hand was still wrapped around Steve’s upper arm. He looked earnest and like he genuinely regretted his actions.

Steve sighed, “I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-”

“I’m not uncomfortable! I was just really confused and I didn’t know what was happening. But uh, I like you too.”

Steve’s eyes met Eddie’s. “You do?”

“Hell yeah, man. You were my gay awakening in middle school. That’s why I’ve been so frustrated this past month. I didn’t know if I was imagining it or if I actually had a shot,” Eddie chuckled.

Steve stepped closer to him and put his hand on the back of Eddie’s neck. “You definitely have a shot.”

And then, Steve pulled Eddie’s face closer to his own and their lips smashed in a kiss. Eddie groaned as their teeth gnashed in the bruising kiss. When they finally pulled apart, they pressed their foreheads together and breathed in the same air. Steve whispered, “you were my gay awakening too.”

Eddie’s answering cackles were so loud, Max came over to tell them to shut the hell up. She got a free front-row seat to their liplock and let out a scream so high-pitched that the window glass quivered before running back to her trailer. On the bright side, they wouldn’t have to come out to the kids.

@doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @straight4joekeery @trippypancakes @pyrohonk

#Steve saw a magazine with love languages and really went for it #Robin comes back from touring colleges and visiting family to Steve with a boyfriend #Max absolutely squeals to the kids and everyone is surprised besides Will because of course all of Hopper's kids are gay #stranger things #steddie #fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #max mayfield

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queercontrarian · 3 months

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summary: rhysand and tamlin meet in the summer court. obviously they are just friends and neither of them wants anything more. they are totally normal about having feelings.

(that's it that's all you get. i suck at summaries)

cw: none but rhysand isn't very kind to himself

for @sjmromanceweek

It wasn’t hard to find Tamlin. It never was these days and it left Rhys wondering if he’d really become so familiar with him that he was somehow impossible to miss. It was already getting dark when he arrived on the beach and still it took only five minutes to locate the other prince.

To be fair, there weren’t a lot of people on the dunes near the shore of Adriata. They were just outside of city limits so there was no way the guard would know they were there, but Rhys still reached for his wrist and the band of pearls twisted around it. Just in case. He didn’t know how Tamlin had gotten them - a favor, maybe, from the princess - but they would get him out of all the trouble he could potentially get into tonight. A carte blanche.

He didn't get a greeting as he walked up to Tamlin, his friend only moved to the side to make space for him on the blanket, throwing his own jacket and bag into the sand next to him. There were some couples around, some families in small groups along the beach. It seemed like no one was paying attention to them but that didn't mean much. Rhys sighed and turned around to face the sea while his friend brushed the dust and dirt off of the blanket.

“Is anyone we know out here?” he asked, a bit louder than necessary to clear his throat.

“Haven't been recognized yet,” Tamlin replied, kicking his legs out again and leaning back. “Sit.”

Rhys cracked his knuckles, trying to distract himself from the way his heart skipped a beat or two. It was ridiculous to get this worked up over spending time with a friend, over hearing his voice, over a thing so small as a night out on the beach or a stupid charming accent. It wasn't normal - Rhysand would know; he had spent his entire life chasing “normal”. Tamlin was ruining years of hard work with a smile and Rhysand couldn't even hate him for it.

“I'll put a glamour up anyway,” he said, his voice steady as always as he got to work.

“I already did.”

“I know, and it's not good.” He could practically feel Tamlin rolling his eyes through the silence. It was true though. Tamlin had never been good with glamours, or any kind of learned magic in general. He could do the basics, and he was incredible with the magic he pulled from within but his hands were not made for the intricate work of spellweaving or any of the tricks Rhys had spent years of his life studying.

“You could always teach me how to do it better.” His heart stuttered again.

“Sure. I will, eventually,” he replied, the last threads of magic melting into the glamour. He threw it out around them like a net in the air and it shimmered against the night sky for a moment before becoming invisible to their eyes.

When Rhys finally turned around, Tamlin smiled. “Beautiful,” he said.

“Someone warn the ladies, the poet is out tonight,” Rhysand answered mockingly, glad that the sun was long gone so the blush creeping up his neck was hidden in the shadows. Tamlin ignored his comment.

“Maybe after the meetings end you can teach me, yes?”

Rhys sighed, unbuttoning his coat so he could sit. “If the meetings ever end. We've been at it for days; Dawn keeps blocking the vote.” He could feel how warm the sand still was under the blanket and for a moment he felt the urge to lay down, to take off his shoes and bury his feet in the sand. It wouldn’t be proper. It wasn't a normal thing to do for a prince.

“Well, Thesan isn't stupid,” Tamlin said easily.

“How would you know? You don't even show up to the meetings,” Rhys snapped, the frustration of the day bubbling out of him so suddenly it surprised both of them. He tried to soften his tone when he added, “I haven't seen you in a month. I’ve been here all week, you didn’t feel like coming over?” It was meant to sound playful but the hurt behind the joke stuck. Tamlin had been in Adriata for months, just a few miles across the delta from its sister city Apri. It would have been easy for Tamlin to winnow or to cross over by boat, hell, he could have shifted into a whale to swim the distance. But Tamlin only shook his head.

“With both Meilyr and Father in town? Not a chance.”

“So what, you just keep making me come to see you? That’s how it works?” Tamlin shrugged.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” he said, his sharp teeth gleaming for just a second under the moonlight as his lips twisted into a crooked grin.

“Oh fuck off,” Rhys groaned, leaning back on his hands just as Tamlin bumped his shoulder against his. The truth was that he didn't want Tamlin anywhere near his family. Here, he was warm and alive and happy, and Rhysand had missed him more than he cared to admit. He balled his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching out. Be normal.

“Don't take it so hard. Besides, it's easier to hide here where there are less people than in Apri. After all, we've already established that I suck at glamours,” Tamlin teased, brushing his long hair out of his face.

“I didn't mean it like that,” Rhys said, struggling to find a middle ground between apologetic and defensive.

“I know what you meant.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while. Tamlin seemed to be deep in thought and Rhys didn't quite know what to say without interrupting him or letting his heart jump off his tongue, so he just watched the crowd forming on the beach from their place high up on the dune. If this was fewer people than in Apri he didn't want to know what the streets there looked like. It was getting very dark now but he could still make out the colorful costumes the faeries were wearing, each one a hand-crafted, endlessly detailed masterpiece. Carnaval started tonight and he'd fully forgotten about it over setting up this meeting with Tamlin. He wondered if Tamlin had any plans to go into the city later to celebrate with his hosts. If he did he hadn't dressed for it, which Rhys hoped meant that he could keep him all night.

"Have you seen fireworks before?" Tamlin asked finally. Rhys cleared his throat, then nodded.

"Yes," he said quietly, "In Dawn. But it was only a small demonstration. As I understand, the spectacle tonight will be far more grand." Tamlin had never seen fireworks. His father did not care for them, and that was enough explanation. There were so many things the Spring Court missed out on because of the High Lord, and Rhys was set on introducing Tamlin to all of them.

Before he could dump everything he knew about the fireworks on Tamlin though his stomach rumbled. He'd skipped dinner to make it to Adriata in time and he was starting to feel it, even though he would never say. He didn't need to.

Tamlin wordlessly grabbed the bag he'd brought and carelessly tossed aside earlier. He opened it up with one hand and offered Rhys half a dozen small pastries wrapped in paper. His mind and his heart were racing as he accepted the food. Accepting food from a loved one - Rhys shook himself out of his stupor. Normal, he reminded himself. Just be normal.

"The one with spinach is mine, but you can have the rest."

"Are you serious?" Rhys asked, his voice measured as he carefully unfolded the paper. The smell alone made his mouth water: sweet and sugary and so, so delicious. Tamlin nodded.

“I know you like these and you never get to have them because your father doesn't eat them. So I thought I'd bring some,” he explained, finding the spinach pastry easily amongst the others and eating it all in one bite. Fighting down the fluttering in his chest, the feeling of all kinds of abnormal hunger, Rhys reached into his own pocket and dropped a small bag of dried fruit into the other male's lap.

"I brought these for you from Day." Tamlin swallowed so quickly Rhys feared for a second he'd choke.

"Candied lemon peel?" His friend ripped into the bag faster than Rhys could answer.

"Yes, and some other stuff. Figured you were running out again." He couldn't suppress his smile as he watched Tamlin pick through the sweets. He grabbed one of the pastries at random - blackberry, his favorite.

“I love you,” Tamlin said seriously, holding up a piece of candied fruit to the moon. “You're the best person that has ever happened to me.”

His heart stuttered again and Rhys tried not to choke on his pastry. It didn't mean anything. It never meant anything. The Spring Court was just like that. Tamlin used words like these all the time and it wasn't his fault that it meant more to Rhys than to him. He couldn't know the degree to which praise was earned in his family, how much love was based on conditions - presenting him with his preferred sweets was the very least Rhys was willing to do to hear those words from Tamlin's lips.

They both flinched when the first fireworks exploded over Apri, light and color bursting across the sky. Down by the water people were clapping and screaming, pointing at the display, the art unfolding high up in the air.

Rhysand blinked away the bright explosions, gaze slipping away to land on Tamlin instead. His friend was still staring at the sky, head tilted to the side.

"Do you like them?" he asked. Tamlin tilted his head to the side. Rhysand liked that Tamlin took the time to think things like these through. He liked a lot of things about Tamlin - too many things.

"I do," he said finally, "I just don't like how loud they are"

“Our stars are quiet,” Rhys said, “And twice as beautiful too.” Tamlin only looked up at him and smiled.

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Rhys replied emphatically before lowering his voice into a forced casual drawl again. “You should come see them and convince yourself of it. It's nothing like this muted, tired sky.”

If he were honest he'd admit that he was dying to see Tamlin in his Court, under his sky. He wanted to show him the mountains, the Illyrian Steppes and the Rainbow in Velaris. Maybe Tamlin could write a poem about the beauty of the Night Court too. Maybe he'd learn to love it just as much. Maybe he could keep him there, make him a star next to his own on the firmament.

They were silent again, listening to the crowd shrieking with joy as the fireworks kept coming, the wind picking up the music played in Adriata and carrying it to the shore.

"I think there's a special kind of beauty in things that aren't made to be beautiful," Tamlin said finally. Rhys groaned.

"Oh, leave the poet at home for just one night will you,” he muttered, nudging his friend until he slipped off the blanket under them.

Tamlin chuckled but his expression turned earnest again when he said, "I would like to see them one day though, the stars you describe. They sound beautiful."

“I'll take you,” Rhys promised. He'd take him anywhere as long as he could be with him.

#sjmromanceweek2024 #tamsand #the little things #acotar #summer court #no beta we die like unnamed family members

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gallavichthings · 9 months

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Gallavich Things Events Calendar

Hello, lovelies!

The poll I made last week isn't closed yet, but it's clear to see where it's heading. Therefore, and to ease everyone's anxiety, here's the calendar with the events this blog will be hosting FOR THE NEXT YEAR (with more details about each event after the cut):

Sep./23

1st or 2nd week: guidelines and prompts for the Kinktober will be posted.

Oct./23

Kinktober

Nov./23

1st or 2nd week: guidelines for the Masquerade posted/sign-ups open

Dec./23

1st week: sign-ups for the Masquerade close

2nd week (exact day TBD): Masquerade

also 2nd week: guidelines for the gift exchange posted and sign-ups open

Jan./24

2nd week: Deadline to send guesses about the Masquerade (possibly extended if there's a large number of fics);

also 2nd week: Sign-ups close for the gift exchange and prompts are posted

Feb./24

14th: gift exchange (possibly taking over more days, depending on the number of participants)

Mar./24

My birthday lol; jk, we rest. We rest, ok? And you can participate on other events posted by other blogs. But if you want to send me birthday gifts, I'll accept. XD

Apr./24

Spring cleaning again??? Or we rest some more, idk.

May/24

Gallavich Week themes revealed

Jun./24

2nd or 3rd week: Gallavich Week

Jul./24

We rest again? Go outside? Enjoy the summer?

Aug./24

A.U.gust again? Rinse & repeat?

And now for more details:

About the Kinktober, I probably won't be doing a theme per day because I feel like that might be tiring. Also, we just did that for A.U.gust and I saw another Gallavich blog posting something like that for September, so I figured we give people a bit more freedom this time around. I'm thinking of either just a list of prompts that you can post whenever, or a bingo, or one ample/general theme per week... But I'm open to suggestions.

About the Masquerade: Yes, I know most people voted to have it along the Kinktober, but there was also a quite significant amount of people who said they'd rather have it after it. I figured the people who voted to have it alongside Kinktober would still participate it if I had it later, but the opposite was likely not true, so I figured this was better. Also, I will be requesting sign-ups, but they're just so I can organize everything, so the deadline will be quite close to the posting day. Posting will likely be on an AO3 anonymous collection (I'll have to test that first), and the guesses will be made through a Google Form. One more thing: I think it would be nice to have fanart/videos/gifsets as the prizes (preferably about the Masquerade fics themselves), both for the person (or people) who manage to guess the most authors correctly and for the author who manages to "deceive" more people (still deciding on that, but anyway...), so if you make any of this and would like to volunteer, let me know.

About the gift exchange: it was postponed for next year for three reasons: 1) there was no set event in February, so I figured this would be cute and fit the theme of Valentine's Day - instead of secret Santas, you'll have secret admirers ;) ; 2) it gives people more time to participate, since most other fandoms have their gift exchange events at the end of the year; 3) it leaves the Masquerade at the end of the year, which is an event with lower stakes (no one is expecting people to produce anything, so it's easier to cancel their participation if something happens). I reserved actual Valentine's Day for it, but I believe it'll actually happen throughout the week. The format will be the same as in the last couple of years, with participants picking the prompts they'd like to fulfill.

I assumed we'll be doing A.U.gust again next year, but that's not set in stone. Spring Cleaning is also a possible event, but we'll see. Gallavich Week will be happening, as always.

I hope this has helped! If you have any questions,suggestions or comments at all, feel free to send me an ask.

#Gallavich #events #mod post #Shameless US #Shameless

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grison-in-space · 9 months

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Via a conversation on Metafilter about the state of Florida's decision to crush its public institutions, a person I think is particularly wise left a comment about the state of the legislature on higher education in Wisconsin.

The situation in Florida is atrocious, but it's important to be aware of how widespread this movement on the part of MAGA politicians to ban all academic and support programs related to gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality is. I'm a professor in the Wisconsin state university system, where, in addition to my regular fulltime work in my home department I direct the LGBTQ+ Studies Program (a more-than-halftime job I have done for many years in return for zero additional salary, or summer funds, or course buyout, or any other compensation...).

This summer, the Wisconsin state legislature, gerrymandered into permanent Republican control, voted to ban all DEI programs in the state university system, and cut $32 million from the university budget, which it stated was amount of "taxpayer money being wasted on divisive indoctrination efforts" (to paraphrase Assembly Speaker Robin Vos). This comes after years of successive budget cuts and a ten-year tuition freeze and years of faculty and staff taking pay cuts in the form of "furloughs" through which we were expected to just keep working. The situation is now somewhat improved in that Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, vetoed the DEI ban, but he cannot restore the funding. Anyway: a few days after the legislative vote to ban DEI , I was giving a talk about the range of state bills attacking trans youth and adults, and there was a Democratic state legislator on the panel. When we were introducing ourselves and I told her I directed the LGBTQ+ Studies Program, she said, "Oh, but that's no longer legal. Well, unless Evers vetoes the ban; we'll see."

After doing some blinking, I responded by explaining the difference between DEI programs and academic programs. DEI programs provide student support services, which is deemed administrative work, in contrast to academic programs. The LGBTQ+ Resource Center and the LGBTQ+ Studies Program at my university are both vital and important. But the resource center organizes support groups and social activities for students, while the academic program teaches classes and sponsors academic talks. Academic programs are not part of the DEI system--and the very same legislature that voted for the DEI ban had spent years prior threatening sanctions against students and faculty for supposedly not sufficiently respecting the absolute value of free speech in academia. Legislators presented instructors as censorious ideologues, students as snowflakes in love with a victim narrative, and the legislature as the champion of teaching and discussing all ideas freely.

The image of DEI programs presented by Republican legislators is some kind of kink fantasy, in which cis straight white men are forced to prostrate themselves, declare themselves to be bad and deserving of punishment, and lick the boots of students who are trans and queer, of color and feminist. The reality is that university DEI programs are providing mental health services and tutoring and social support to college students, at a time when their levels of mental health challenges are very high. They have zero to do with the kink humiliation fantasy, they really are about inclusion, and it is ludicrous and cruel to cut social support to marginalized college students.

But even if the state ban were not vetoed, a DEI ban does not dismantle programs like Gender Studies or African and African Diaspora Studies or LGBTQ+ Studies, because they are academic programs, I explained to the Democratic legislator. But from her response, it was clear that not only did Republican Wisconsin legislators think they'd banned all academic programs examining race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and who knows what else (disability studies? Jewish studies and Islamic studies?), but that the Democratic legislators seemed to believe so as well.

The flip from "we are the party of free speech!" to "we are the party that bans books and entire academic disciplines!" happened with dizzying speed. But take it from me as a trans person--these legislative attacks can burst across the country in the space of months, shifting the landscape radically. The thing about the MAGA movement is that it is made up of people who believe that the situation is desperate, the American project is on the verge of failure, and the time has come to destroy or be destroyed. Most Americans, including non-MAGA Republicans, want to see the culture war cool down and Americans get along, but MAGA-sorts want it to go hot. And I have to admit some despair about what to do about this, because of the unpersuadability of this group. Take a look at Question 39 from this CBS/YouGov poll of Iowa voters last week, and what percentage of Republican voters there believe they are being lied to by various parties. The percentage of MAGA voters who said they said they believed they were being told the truth by Trump was 71%, in comparison to 63% for friends and family, 56% for conservative news sources, and 42% for religious leaders. Only 32% of Iowa Republicans generally believed they were told the truth by medical scientists. (The figures for Joe Biden and "liberal media" were 10% and 8% respectively.)

It is hard to persuade people with facts and logic and calls for empathy when they think you are a liar attacking their great leader with whom 99% say they identify. What we have to do is persuade others to stand up. And I don't want to be doomy, but my experience with resisting transphobic legislation and action causes me a lot of concern. It's not just "the face-eating leopards won't eat my face" problem. The fact is, frankly, that a lot of institutions and people are craven. This past year I was in a working group with medical and social scientists advising the HHS about creating guidelines for research with intersex and transgender populations, and then Libs of TikTok spread lies about hospitals supposedly performing "sex changes" on little kids, and several children's hospitals received bomb threats--and suddenly most of the medical researchers working with trans youth were pulled from the working group by the hospitals they were affiliated with. Hospital administrators are shutting down research on trans youth and clinics serving trans youth, rather than having the backs of threatened doctors and patients, handing a victory to the face-eating leopards who growled at them.

My conclusion is that we need to focus energy on teaching people who have not dealt with serious bullying before how to stand up to bullies. For people like concerned parents considering attending school board meetings to oppose book bans, we could teach basic mutual aid strategies, like forming a supportive group to attend together. But what we are to do about people like college administrators and corporate executives who would like to do the right thing for students and employees, but not as much as they'd like to avoid offending a wealthy donor or receiving negative conservative media attention. . . that's a big question to me.

I have left my own longer comment in the wider thread.

(If you also like longform, thoughtful text conversation, this is my regular plug for Metafilter as a platform. If you DM me an email address, I can send you an invitation link for a free account.)

#metafilter #education #public education #colleges #legislators #cannot fucking believe the DEI thing #the thing is I have collaborated with this person in the past and he is a deeply sensible human being #so if he says this is what the legislators think #I believe him

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