#let them be a main focus without being the main romance | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

There are dozens of funny blogs to kill time on Tumblr.

#let them be a main focus without being the main romance

yazthebookish · 2 months

Text

I avoid talking about the other ship specifically but I feel like letting my thoughts out on some arguments I see sometimes. Not that I have any interest in engaging in any discourse with the other side but it's my page so I can post whatever I feel like posting.

"Gwyn's purpose in the bonus chapter is to hint at her Lightsinger powers"

Okay, so you think one of the most important points about the bonus chapter is to prove Gwyn has luring powers so my question is what are the implications of that? Her drawing Azriel away from Elain? Azriel and Elain exposing her true powers in front of everyone to reveal she is the reason she's been keeping them apart? She is being manipulated by Merrill and Koschei? She has powers she's using unknowingly and can't control them so she'll need Az and Elain to help her?

You're setting up Gwyn to be prominent in an Azriel/Elain book because of her powers, so will they spend time dealing with other plotlines or mainly focus on Gwyn? Because that kind of thing definitely needs resolution since it directly impacts Nesta and the Valkyries dynamic.

So do Azriel and Elain's fantastic romance needs another female character to be used as a scapegoat to pin all their issues on her because the bonus chapter wasn't a good look on them? Or simply because his scene with Gwyn and with Clotho ended on a hopeful note than his scenes with Elain and Rhysand?

Gwyn is an irrelevant character and serves Nesta's story only.

But your argument is she has luring powers and is using them on Azriel, so will that go unaddressed? Then why would SJM throw hints about her powers if it won't mean anything?

Gwyn was used just as a marketing ploy in the bonus chapter.

She's considered a new character and no one knew she was in Azriel's bonus chapter and the bonus chapter was strictly advertised to be focused on Azriel, please be serious.

The bonus chapter is irrelevant.

The author confirmed she planted things in it specifically and in ACOSF in relation to Azriel so I would disagree. The great "forbidden romance" trope wouldn't exist without it and Azriel and Elain spoke to each other more in the bonus chapter than they ever did in the main book, I can pin-point the scene where they speak to each other only ONCE in a 800+ page book and it was about Nesta dancing with the Duke.

Gwyn has powers.

She's Fae of course she has powers but why is the immediate assumption that her powers are nefarious? She didn't harm any character and there was zero hints of her having any bad intentions towards anyone. She deals with survivor's guilt and her trauma, but she had many opportunities to let that evil secret side show but it never did. Why? Because she's obviously not set up to be an evil character or even one with questionable intentions. This is the same character who was ready to sacrifice herself to save her friends and stood by Nesta to face hateful males who wanted to k*ll them.

She's a Lightsinger.

Pretty easy to debunk because there is no correlation based on what we know and we never even see any Lightsingers. Even if she happens to be one, I believe it'll play out way differently than what some people try to push. And come on, Lightsinger and Shadowsinger? You think SJM wouldn't go for that dynamic? But for now I disagree with it since canon tells us they're monsters who k*ll for sport and Gwyn does none of that. Even if she had other different powers that are not wholly good, it's not a point of concern because many characters have questionable powers that did not erase the fact that they were good characters. It's like people never read fantasy books with characters who had dark powers but it didn't corrupt them, for some reason there's an insistence that Gwyn already caused harm despite the serious implications of having a character who is SA victim portrayed as someone luring other people against their will.

Azriel ended up at the library because Gwyn was singing during the service.

1. Clotho is seen at the service, so her being at her desk when Azriel shows up at the library is a good hint that the services didn't start yet.

2. For a singing power to work, the victim should be able to hear the singing and Azriel made no note of any singing at the library.

3. The image he sees of Gwyn's joy didn't pop up randomly, it was triggered by Clotho after she thanks him for the joy the gift will bring her and tells him that Gwyn deserves something as beautiful as this.

The shadows stay around him because they sense a threat but she's luring them.

How is she luring them when she's not even singing if it's been established that her singing has powers? Also, that statement contradicts what's in the text because the shadows were curious at start of the scene and by the end they were described to have calmed and were content to watch Gwyn. In ACOSF, they were seen dancing around Az when Gwyn addresses him.

Nesta reacted to Gwyn's singing the same way Azriel did.

Context matters and a lot of arguments that support this statement are always taken out of context. Nesta loves music so if she is going to admire Gwyn's beautiful voice, it'll be simply for that and nothing more.

There is no way to 100% pin point what caused Nesta to have visions of the Prison during the services but it doesn't only have to be Gwyn's singing but also the lyrics which were found under Level Seven and are written in an ancient language. When Nesta gets the vision she says she can visualize what the song spoke of, meaning the song itself could be talking about story of the Prison/Land of Dusk.

"But Azriel's shadows reacted to her singing"

— "How was the party?" Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music.

Silent music, not singing. Not song. Just like how Hunt mentioned hearing some beautiful music between his and Bryce's souls. Just like how Nesta and Cassian when they consummated their bond heard the music between their souls. Strong sign of Mateism friends.

"But Azriel still heard a beautiful singing, not just music."

— Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

Could she be singing? Maybe though unlikely since she returned to training to cut the ribbon right after he left. If she did, maybe the shadows like her voice? Maybe that's a sign they're fond of her? And if it's not maybe that's another sign that the singing they're hearing is the mating bond, which was once described as the Song of the Soul.

The Shadows having a reaction to singing isn't necessarily a bad sign, we saw them dance to Azriel's humming in HOFAS.

Gwyn returned to the library, her story is over.

I have to assume you haven't read ACOSF or skimmed it if that's the conclusion you came to, because there were clear signs that not only Gwyn but Emerie have ongoing journeys and they will leave where they are right now to see the world outside. Gwyn literally states at around the 70%-80% mark that she's sick of staying in the library for two years and wants to leave. She returned to the library because that's her current residence and where she works, it's not like she'll immediately move out right after facing the Blood Rite. This is one argument I can't take seriously because it clearly contradicts what canon points out and I think it's mostly out of convenience to invalidate any discussions about her healing journey and incomplete arc.

Casual readers don't even ship Azriel and Gwyn and have no knowledge about the bonus chapter

A lot of casual readers do in fact see a potential in Azriel and Gwyn as a romantic pairing because they have canon interactions in ACOSF. Plenty of readers shipped them even before they read the bonus chapter. Casual readers are dismissed when they address that and are claimed to be hardcore shippers that hate Elain when it's not the case since they just point out what they think is the obvious in the book to them. Every casual reader will have a different opinion but for some reason if theirs is not in favor of Elain and Azriel, they'll be dismissed so that says much.

Just a hot take that I wanted to put out there since I'll be avoiding fandom discourse moving on (unless I feel like it Lol).

#gwynriel

151 notes · View notes

angstics · 1 year

Text

on my chemical romance's history of racism:

(edit: i wont rewrite anything since that will create discrepancies in reblogs. however, i will include these important additions: post 1 and post 2)

cultural appropriation is a neutral term that turns negative when people co-opt a culture without consideration to its people and history, or their prejudices and privileges. the rising sun japanese flag is an imperialist symbol used during japan's occupation of other countries from 1870 to 1945 (the guardian 2019). unlike other symbols of terror, the rising sun is normalized because of the japanese government's refusal to acknowledge its history. the symbol's meaning was popularized a few years ago when people from south korea protested its legality in the 2020 tokyo olympics (bbc 2020). aware or unaware of its history, americans have long appropriated the rising sun. in part because of their fascination with japanese art, in part because of orientalism -- a fixation on asian cultures that centers "exoticism".

my chemical romance has been associated with the rising sun symbol a couple of times. frank iero used to have a tattoo of it. gerard way designed frank's killjoys outfit to include it (seen in concept art and music videos). it is often used in mcr fanart.

tokenism is when something contains limited diversity to divert criticisms for the lack of it. my chemical romance has had a very white cast of characters in their music videos and stories. in the "i dont love you" music video, a main character is in black body paint. in the casting call, they specifically asked for a white man (there is 100% an online source -- please let me know if you have it). even casting a black person for this role would place him in a video that appropriated his skin color to mark his "difference" from the light-skin female character.

the female character points to the band's main problem with tokenism. if they arent casting a white woman, theyre casting a light-skin asian woman. the woman in the "i dont love you" mv is fetishized for physical traits stereotypically attributed to east asian women: big eyes, daintiness. east asian women feature most prominently aside from the band and main characters in the "welcome to the black parade" music video and photo shoot. the photoshoot is the only place where an ashy-faced black man and ambiguously tribal? brown man are seen (brought in by photographer chris anthony per the "making of the black parade" book). the director antagonist of the danger days music videos (shown in "sing") is a japanese woman. she is the only main character of color in the music videos and the killjoys: california comics. the focus of this post is on my chemical romance, but the comics are important to showcase that the reality is never "color-blind casting" or "limited roles". it's mostly white creatives (band members and directors and artists) who ignore non-white people when they cant use them, reflected as much by gerard way years later (nyt 2019).

"japan takes over the world" is a media trope that is built on the late 20th century fear of the return of imperial japan. this trope frames japanese people as unique aggressors, feeding into "yellow peril" fears of asian people "taking over" the white race. this trope is suggested all over the danger days universe, where the corporation BL/ind overthrows the US government. the appropriation of the japanese modern flag and lettering on the killjoys outfits, the primary BL/ind villain being a japanese person who only speaks japanese in videos, the official BL/ind website having a ".jp" domain and english-japanese translations. japanese people and culture only exist in this universe to decorate and threaten.

the point of this post is not to punish my chemical romance. in the decade+ since, they have made meaningful changes -- the sing it for japan project to aid japan during the 2011 earthquake-tsunami, developing diversity in gerard's comics / tv show, a mexican-american main character in the 2020 summoning video. people of color treated as real goddamn people.

however. all these faults exist in frozen time. there is no discussion attached to the work. so anyone, fan or casual, may come across it and not notice or care for these important issues. i know all this shit and i still fail to see instances of what i highlighted. it's difficult locating not only your own prejudices but those of others. those you look up to.

"my chemical romance" is the product of many people from 2001 to 2013. many of these people were male, white, american, and/or, most radically, liberal. clearly laying out what they did wrong is important. being careful with history and culture and personhood is important. prioritizing growth is important. constantly. forever.

#mcr #this has been weighing on me for a long time. i just didnt know how to say it. why i should say it if someone else already has #and well. thru writing this i figured everyone should say it to really understand it #qessay

2K notes · View notes

phoenix-fell · 1 year

Text

Anti-Bumbleby criticisms answered with BB analysis - Big post

As expected, as Bumbleby gets more attention from the show, the anti-BB crowd have surfed in on their tidal wave of bitter lemons. So, I’d like to put my degree, job and training to use and compile my thoughts down in one place - a one-stop shop if you will - it’s long and will be largely unfiltered as I tackle the weirdest and most common criticisms and BB analysis. (I kinda miss Bumbleby analysis Megaposts, I might make one sometime to go alongside this as a point of reference as most I’ve seen end around Vol 6).

TIA for anyone who actually takes the time to read my ramblings and please feel free to give your thoughts/analysis and I’ll edit it in. FIRST EDIT - 8th Mar 2023 presenting labels and sexuality in Remnant - 4th from end.

Credentials: Double major 1st class grad in Literature and Creative Writing, specialising in fairy tales and WLW representation in media. Recipient of dissertation award exploring character psyche and the presentation of psychological themes. Literary critic, writer and content specialist.

Let’s start off with a cracker from Reddit!

“Why couldn’t the BB scenes be more of a background thing? Why do they need to focus on them like they’re a main plot or something?”

Is... Is it stuffy under all that homophobia? I could easily rhyme off a string of sarcastic quips like ‘gee, I wonder why, it’s almost like it’s important to the development of two of the main characters or something.’ But it’s so lost on some people that I’mma spell it out:

We’ve seen Blake and Yang’s trauma painted across the screen from ‘Burning the Candle’ when Yang first confesses her abandonment issues, to the White Fang / Adam arcs that gave us a picture of the abuse Blake has endured - not just as a Faunus, but from her partner (“Adam used to get into my head, make me feel small.”), right through to their separation that dealt with their respective issues with running away/being abandoned and the shared trauma which has tied them both together indefinitely. They’ve been apart, they’ve repaired their relationship, they’ve grown together. In a current volume that’s so inherently focused on character’s individual development, seeing Blake and Yang together was almost inevitable as they’ve been so completely involved in one another’s development throughout the entire series. This is without going into their fairy tale allusions that tie them together which I’ll go into further down or the references to Yin/Yang and numerous romantic tropes that show how integral they are to one another’s characters. Contrary to belief, it’s not romance for the sake of romance - in this instance, the romance very much strengthens their development individually.

Asides from all of this, it was decided from the very beginning that Yang would lose her arm (foreshadowed in the Yellow trailer). The moment they decided that Yang would lose her arm protecting Blake, was the moment a decision was made to invariably tie these two narratives together on a very fundamental level.

But also, don’t clown yourself into thinking you’re not a homophobe if you think any LGBT content belongs in the background whilst also rejoicing any onscreen developments between straight ships.

“If BB was meant to be a thing then they wouldn’t have had Sun as a romantic interest.”

Is there a universe where love triangles and bisexuals are a foreign concept?

But in all seriousness, I think that certain corners of fanbases seem to struggle with any concepts that are non-linear; something I often see with anime. By ‘linear’, I mean: love interest introduced > build up > canon > together forever. As opposed to ‘non-linear’; a character that goes on their own journey of discovery and, through which, has more than one interest and path over time and has the ability to change their mind. The show was never a ‘romance’ as a primary theme; it’s an action/adventure which has some romantic subplots. But to honest, Blake changing her mind shouldn’t really be this much of a shock to the fanbase given that our FIRST ever interaction with Blake, in her TRAILER, is her changing her mind about her partner (and first romantic interest) and deciding to pursue a new journey. A scene which is actually referred back to in the Season 6 opener when Blake uncouples the train and sees what she believes to be a hallucination of a hooded Adam on the opposite carriage, foreshadowing the importance of that original decision later in the series (“you didn’t leave scars, you just left me, alone”).

The arc that follows Blake thereafter is inherently tied to Adam (amongst other important themes), who is predominantly based off Gaston and the rose (or curse of the rose) from Beauty and the Beast. Blake and Yang are interchangeably alluded to as both Belle and the Beast throughout their character arcs from as early as the Red Trailer: “Black the beast descends from shadows / Yellow beauty burns gold.” and as recently as Blake describing Yang to the Hunter Mice in Vol. 9 Chapter 1. I can rhyme off these allusions until I’m blue, but again, I may save this for a master post.

The story that Blake is based on is a love triangle - she was never meant to have one set path from the beginning and romantic interests were always meant to play a huge part in Blake’s story/development; she was always going to have a romantic decision to make after conquering the curse / Gaston. Blake being haunted by her first romantic interest is foreshadowed in the ending of her trailer and first referenced in her conversation (with Yang) at Mountain Glen, and becomes an undeniable path of exploration once Yang loses her arm to Adam at the end of Volume 3. Let it be noted that Sun was present when Yang announced she was going to find Blake at the Battle of Beacon - a decision was made here for Yang to be the one to lose her arm protecting Blake, as was Adam’s poignant promise to take away everything Blake loves - “starting with [Yang]” or, otherwise, the solidifying of this romantic subplot. Which, again, is called back to with the infamous line: “What does she even see in you?” besides the obvious subtext, it’s setting the stage for these parallels between Adam and Yang, past and future, the previous love interest identifying something in Blake that used to be reserved for him, now directed towards Yang.

This season began with Blake declaring that Yang “seems scary, but isn’t”. Because, once Belle knows the Beast isn’t scary, she allows herself to fall in love (conveniently, this is said whilst walking through a fairy tale).

I could go into a big post about romantic foils and the ways in which Yang, Adam and Blake are all foils to each other but I might make a separate post instead for anyone new to the FNDM. Either way, I feel it’s worth mentioning as it’s Blake who directly compares Yang to a past love interest who was designed with semblances and characteristics that mirror each other. Point being, no one should be shocked that Blake has multiple interests given the character and fairy tale she’s based off and heavy allusions where Yang is concerned.

“Oh yeah, because Yang ‘literally purred at guys in their underwear’ Xiao Long and Blake ‘literally kissed a boy’ Belladonna are clearly bisexual because of [insert out of context reasons]” and “yes but Monty said...”

1. You mean... the one, and only one scene in 9 entire volumes where Yang shows any interest (albeit jokingly) in a guy, and the literal scene directly before she sees Blake from across the crowded room and proceeds to never express interest in men again? (Ignoring the very obvious implied trope here). And, in fact, only expresses interest in a woman from this point onwards? This is your frame of reference? Personally, I find it quite lovely that Yang’s perspective is never the same from the moment she sees Blake. Asides from this, while ‘bisexual’ is the label that these guys have gone with, Yang’s sexuality hasn’t been confirmed outside of being sapphic - it’s not outside the realm of possibility that she is, in all likelihood, lesbian. It’s important to note here that any young character expressing an interest in a man would not invalidate that same character being a lesbian. In fact, if we apply this to real life, it’s not uncommon for people not to realise that they’re queer immediately (I myself didn’t until I was 21). But in the opening episodes of the series especially, I’d very much chalk this up to writers exploring the characters.

2. As for Blake - there are, from what I remember, three kisses in the entire show so far. The one between Jaune and Pyrrha - on the lips after prolonged romantic allusions between the two (their romance is explicitly referenced by Nora - “practice what you preach, Pyrrha.” - almost fitting that it’s Nora to call out the Bees in Season 7 - A Night Off, no? Neat little parallel for y’all). The one between Ren and Nora after trying to work out the status of their romantic relationship - again, on the lips. And the one where Blake says goodbye (and thank you) to Sun by kissing him... On the cheek. (So hot, I know). Which is immediately followed up with Sun telling Neptune “it was never about that”. One of these is not like the other, can you guess which? I’ll wait.

As for referencing Monty - I could go on all day about this one, and the quote most notoriously used is ‘they’re a sisterhood’. Firstly, let me just say that I find it disturbing that anyone would use the show’s deceased creator as ammunition, whilst also disregarding his other comments on LGBT rep - specifically, ‘maybe there are LGBT characters there now / they’re just kids rn and figuring it out / it needs to be earned’. But also, it’s really disturbing and egotistical that anybody would pretend to know what Monty wanted better than the crew he handpicked, worked with, collaborated with and was friends with (special mention to the fact that his own brother is one of the cast). If you truly want to honour his legacy, then show respect to the people he put his trust in.

“I don’t have an issue with BB, but why does it always have to take away from Yang’s moments with Ruby?” / “All Yang’s feelings for her sister transferred to Blake.”

One from the hall of fame. The age old question of ‘can a girl have a romantic partner and still care about her family?’ I wish this wasn’t a serious question, but there are actual sides of the Fandom that seem to think that Yang’s forgotten about her sister that she raised because she has feelings for someone and that the sole purpose of Yang’s existence is to be her sister’s keeper.

I’mma address this on 3 fronts. 1 - Logistically, the episodes for RWBY, excluding the intros, are 15-20 mins long currently and typically oversee several different storylines particularly as the cast grows larger, leaving us with... What? About 5 minutes of team RWBY interactions? It’s not a lot of time to pack in character development, relationship development, plotline, strategy etc. so often if they’re wanting to develop more than one relationship, they will alternate between putting these themes in the background (such as the yellow in Blake’s sword, references from other characters etc.) and foreground, and some developments have to be shoulder-to-shoulder to fit them in. This isn’t an indicator of how much one character cares for one another and is more a demon created by people’s perception of how they ‘think’ a protective sister should act.

Additionally, it should be noted that Yang fawning over Ruby and not allowing her to develop other relationships outside of her sister, would actually offer us nothing from a development perspective for both Yang and Ruby’s characters and would, instead, steer these two strong female characters down a path of co-dependency.

2 - It feels like a very easy excuse for Anti-BB folk to throw out there, conveniently forgetting how great of a sister Yang actually is (contrary to the number of RWDE videos I’ve seen arguing otherwise, as this is an essay I could write in itself). These very often take isolated incidents out of context and conveniently forget important information like Yang 1. Literally sacrificing herself twice to protect her sister 2. Sacrificing her entire childhood to raise her sister and 3. Importantly, the fact that Ruby is her (self-sufficient) Team Leader needs to be factored into their dynamic, as Yang gives her space to find herself as a leader and steps in when her sister actually needs her - not when the audience thinks she does. People hear ‘protectiveness’ and seem to think that this should mean that Yang should be overbearing.

3 - Anyone who says this doesn’t have siblings. I have older and younger siblings and, having largely raised my younger sibling, I can safely say that I still love them even when I’m in a relationship. I also feel extremely secure in arguing/disagreeing with any of my siblings because I inherently know they will still be there at the end of the day - a sibling love goes deep (referencing ‘Fault’ from Volume 8). However, in a romantic relationship that is not established and very new... you will feel insecure, that’s normal, it doesn’t have the luxury of established stability that siblings do, and therefore you will overtly express more anxiety about this as a result. It’s a very strange concept that if you have a sibling, you need to give them all of your attention and ignore any love interests. Yang has gone through her own traumas, she has every right to care about others, heal herself, and have a life that isn’t defined by being a caretaker for her sister. ESPECIALLY as she already gave up her childhood to fulfil this role, unselfishly AND as the person she’s bonding with is best poised to understand Yang’s trauma. Yang as a character deserves to receive the love she constantly gives out. Again, this is a demon born from the fact that it either doesn’t reflect the relationship commentors have with their siblings, or the fact that they’re *imagining* how that relationship should be.

Bonus picture below: Yang putting aside her anguish for Summer Rose, who she considered to be her mother, to prioritise comforting her sister about that same loss.

“I hate BB shippers because they pass off BS interactions as platonic. BS made more sense, there was no build-up to BB until Vol 6 and they let the BS build-up go to waste to force BB.”

First off, there’s nothing wrong with BlackSun as a ship. Shipping shouldn’t be dictated by canonicity and people have the right to ship it and to their opinions. And while a few of these seem to have referenced BS, I don’t actually think that BS shippers are at fault for the hatred coming this way, but rather that the ship seems to get used as ammunition from the Anti-BB crowd - to summarise, Anti-BB and BS shippers are not synonymous. I personally don’t ship BS, but I do enjoy the debate and actually think that Sun is a very important part of Blake’s development and arc. There did seem to be some form of mutual attraction between Blake and Sun. Had they gone down that route, I wouldn’t have hated it, I just never felt excited by it, which seems to be a large consensus amongst BB fans. An appreciation whilst feeling there was a better alternative.

Believing all the development between Sun and Blake was ‘wasted’ is also very closed-minded given how much he helped Blake in the White Fang arc and also disregards the importance of their friendship. BS has the potential to be one of the best and most supportive friendships in the series, I stand by that.

That said, I don’t think it’s entirely wrong to acknowledge that a lot of (not all) interactions between BS were platonic from Blake’s pov while Sun’s feelings were more explicit. The only real hint I saw of Blake reciprocating was a blush at the Vytal festival. Maybe the dance at a stretch, but there’s hints at both BS and BB and I will fight you on it. Now, it might be a question of timing; Adam was still a prevalent threat during this time which will have been weighing on Blake given the resurgence of the White Fang, and is clear when Adam rocks up seeking vengeance in Volume 3. For this reason, I honestly think it would have been disingenuous to have explored Blake in a full relationship with anyone at this point given these loose ends, and Blake undergoes a lot of development over volumes 4-6 as a direct result of this.

Additionally, if BB didn’t begin until Volume 6 then that means that BS had 4-5 volumes to happen - 2 of which where they were in their own arc, separated from the main cast. It didn’t happen. What happens instead is Blake’s guilt over Yang weighs heavily on her while she deals with her arc and Sun helps her come to terms with this, ultimately redirecting her back to her team, and Yang, while Sun’s interactions with her become increasingly platonic from his side.

Lastly, the only way you don’t see build up for BB, is if you actively will yourself not to see build-up. If you replace Blake and Yang’s moments with Sun, I don’t feel there’d be any misunderstandings on how these moments are supposed to be interpreted. Take off the hetero goggles, and we’re cool.

But on a sidenote and personal pet peeve of mine, the cries of ‘BB is forced while BS had build-up’ will forever irritate me - BB has a slow burn, a full arc, developed from a friendship and partnership as well as several tropes and allusions without going into too much detail. BS, firstly, never ended up happening, but it starts when Sun runs past, winks at Blake, magically knows she’s a faunus, then proceeds to follow around a girl he doesn’t know for two days who, at his own admission, didn’t speak that whole time. But... BB is forced? I’d say it’s subjective, but logic defies when this is the barometer for a natural introduction of a romantic pair.

“BB is ‘queerbait’”

Let’s address the ‘Goliath’ in the room, shall we? ‘Queerbaiting’ gets thrown around like a reflex at the moment by pseudo-fans who I don’t believe actually know the gravity of their statements or the meaning behind the word. I often see this slur paired with BB being strung out to keep the shippers watching. Now, there’s an essay in itself that could exist in this section, but are people really still clowning themselves that a show that’s explicitly shown that it wants to have queer representation in the cast and foreground is ‘queerbaiting’ it’s audience? Even weirder for me is the part of the FNDM saying that it’ll be baiting if they make BB canon. Please stop this nonsense and do some research.

Now, one thing I would like to tackle is that, sadly, some will still see pairings on the show through heteronormative glasses, so let me use that here. If the pair were a m/f couple and had several seasons of development and increasingly intimate moments, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that 1. It was heading in the direction of canon and 2. That it was a slow burn romance that’s building to its’ climax. Interestingly, the show actually does use the hetero goggles to frame BB on several occasions by paralleling this budding romance with several straight ships such as Arkos and Renora. Why? Because this is a narrative technique often used by writers to frame LGBT romances to separate them from ‘just friendships’ and, let’s face it, use an unconscious heteronormative bias to their advantage.

“BB is badly written, they barely interacted in volumes 1-3 then didn’t speak for two volumes.”

Tickle me pink. Volumes 1-3 are a very strange reference point for ‘in-depth’ development between characters. Crumbs, sure. The odd scene, absolutely. But let’s be real here - the show started as a low budget web series with an onus on cool fighting scenes and, most importantly, the episodes were around 5 minutes long whilst entertaining teams RWBY and JNPR, the White Fang, the Vytal tournament and several other plots. Nobody particularly interacted much but the writers did the best they could with what they had and the rest is left to us, the audience, to interpret that relationships are developing off-screen. Though from a critique POV in the interest of fairness, I would say the current season is a breath of fresh air by re-focusing the plot on the central characters as I think the show can sometimes be guilty of taking on too many plotlines.

As for volumes 4-5, while they’re in different continents, it’s obvious that they’re prevalent in each other’s arcs. Whether it’s Yang admitting she’s struggling with Blake’s abandonment - in the same episode the first lesbian character is revealed confessing their feelings to Blake (sidenote, all of team RWBY left Yang, and it’s Blake she’s mad at, this was always meant to be framed differently to her other teammates and IMO the struggle they go through is meant to frame the characters coming to terms with the depth of what they mean to each other), the parallels of them both getting onto the ship (named ‘Pride’ - wink wink), or Blake actively struggling to talk about Yang, yet referencing it when Sun is hurt (“Not again!”) showing it’s at the forefront of her mind. All of which culminates in their reunion in the Vol 5 finale.

Is it the best writing ever? No, nothing’s perfect. But they do explicitly use parallels throughout the series to drive the narrative forward as a foreshadowing tool to strengthen subplots.

“Blake being bisexual makes no sense - she was interested in Sun, it just seems so out of the blue, she and Yang just seemed like friends to me.”

Funny, because she and Sun seemed like friends to me too.

There are so many things I wanted to fire back at this, from the insinuation that if a woman first shows interest in a man then it’s out of the blue that she’s bisexual now that she’s showing interest in a woman... Like, how do you think it happens for bisexuals IRL?! Did you want her to burst onto the scene in Volume 1, announce she likes men and women, and then express explicit simultaneous interest in both of them? Start a harem? Proposition a throuple?

This particular take amuses me most of all as someone who is very openly bisexual. Yes, she and Yang seemed like friends. Great friends, in fact. That hold hands and blush and want to spend all their time together. And check each other out when the other isn’t looking. And make excuses for casual physical contact and flirt and giggle like a couple of giddy teenagers. Just like me and my ‘best friend’ did, before I realised I was bi. I’m sure that a lot of people thought it came out of the blue for me too. Blake being oblivious to being bisexual until it becomes too obvious to ignore is actually a very realistic scenario.

Bonus headline - just because you don’t understand/identify with something, doesn’t mean that it’s not good representation or realistic. I feel it’s also important to mention Blake’s VA, Arryn Zech, is bisexual and has spoken numerous times on the matter. The reason I bring this up is because it’s clear that the way in which the bisexuality of her character is presented on the show is actually something that’s incredibly important to Arryn - because good representation is significant.

Presenting labels and sexuality on Remnant: A Theory and - “BB is a terrible representation of LGBT and your critique ignores the female and LGBT people that have spoken out against it.”

They say, to someone who is both female and LGBT. Credit to the Anon who charged into my inbox to accuse me of the above - hope you enjoy. Now, there’s a couple of things I’d like to cover before I go into how sexuality is perceived in-universe. The first is that if you use this argument against someone who is queer without seeing the belligerent hypocrisy of your statement, please check yourself as, clearly, you only care about LGBT voices on representation when it aligns with your own rhetoric and ready to dismiss any narrative to the contrary from that same community.

Secondly, the queer/LGBT community is a vast and vibrant community of *individuals* with their own opinions and own voices. I didn’t nominate anyone to speak on my behalf, just as I don’t speak on the behalf of the rest of the community. Moreover, any art is open to interpretation. My opinion does not override theirs, nor does their opinion erase my own. And, believe it or not, it’s quite possible to have two or more differing opinions within one community without being at war with one another. I respect their opinion, just as I hope they respect mine.

We clear? Great. Onto the analysis! Huge shoutout to @crimsonxe for the brilliant discussion and assistance with the analysis in the comments that helped me construct this section! You’re awesome.

Let’s dive in with the headline - Homophobia doesn’t appear to be an issue on Remnant and labels don’t appear to exist, in the sense that it doesn’t appear anywhere in-universe. Now just to pre-emptively disclaimer: this may change, but in 9 volumes and however many supplementary materials, we’ve not heard any labels or had any representation of this type of discrimination. If that changes, I’ll happily remove this.

So why is this important, you ask? Ultimately, when you take away the inherent ‘fear’ that a lot of the LGBT community face IRL along with prevalent ignorance towards the community and society’s insistence on labelling sexualities and gender identity, it creates a world divorced from our own and is, from a narrative point of view, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows the characters to explore themselves in a non-discriminatory environment that is inherently more fluid and free, whilst the audience will inevitably want to compare that to their own experiences. But we can’t - not properly - due to the still very real stigma and discrimination that exists in our own world. Instead, what we see are characters who express an interest in other characters and find other ways to allude to their preferences or identity. A prime example of this would be May, canonically a trans character, who does not use this term in-world but instead says, “To the Marigolds that meant I wasn’t their son, and I made sure everyone knew I wasn’t their daughter.” This is a theme that is poignantly reflected in the accompanying media for the series - such as the books; for instance, Coco, canonically lesbian, referring to “breaking the hearts of many women.”

How does this tie into the relationship with Blake and Yang? Glad you asked. If you bear in mind that Remnant has a very fluid outlook on sexuality and more of a ‘love who you love’ ethos which is blind to gender norms, it immediately subverts the assumption that interactions between m/f are romantic while f/f are platonic. It’s an open field, if you will. BB is a steady build from partner/best friend (though I’d argue that at least Yang had an immediate attraction, with Blake figuring herself out) with interactions that become increasing more intimate. Eye rolls and jokes become winks and innuendo (“I love it when you’re feisty!”), nudges become intimate hugs (Burning the Candle), become hand-holding (it isn’t coincidence that these two have held hands more than any other pair in the series), becomes pining, blushing, forehead touches (BB and Renora - remember those parallels), which evolves into flirting and... More. And yes, some of their interactions will still resemble the friendship they built their foundations on. But in a world where labels don’t exist, that journey from friend-to-lover is much more subtle and embedded in a gentle upwards curve of increasing intimacy.

“BB is only happening because the horrible BB fans demanded it, the show caved and gave in to the toxic fanbase, it wasn’t planned from the beginning.”

I’ve seen this in so many places, like a broken record. I have no doubt that there are BB fans that are fanatical, and I’d never justify the behaviour of any so-called fan that resorts to death threats or violence in any way. I’m hoping this surely must be a minority that has, hopefully, shrunk over the years as the audience has matured. However, this also really isn’t how shows work...

As many have pointed out in recent weeks, the show would be a very different landscape altogether if CRWBY were, in fact, that easily swayed by fans; namely, I’m thinking of Clover/Qrow, Pyrrha, Penny etc. While I don’t doubt that show-makers pay attention to the fanbase where needed and where it’ll be beneficial (seeing how fans react to developments, if allusions are clear etc.), sending death threats or whatever is actually much more counterproductive than anything else. But also... You’re not on the crew, you’re not part of those discussions. I feel confident that Miles, Kiersi and Kerry aren’t writing BB content with a gun to their head.

Lastly, the ‘it wasn’t planned from the beginning’ war cry is a tale as old as time. Like Beauty and the Beast. (See what I did there?) Asides from the fact that 1. Yang and Blake were actually the first created out of the team, and made with each other in mind, regardless of in what context (check out the original character designs/concepts) 2. Even if it wasn’t planned from the beginning, what difference does it make? There are tonnes of examples where the writers have felt the chemistry between two characters as the story’s gone on and decided to put them together (case-in-point from outside the anime world.. Chandler and Monica from Friends). In fact, while some writers like to plan every element of their plot from the beginning, there’s a great many writers who allow the characters to steer the plot as they grow - especially arcs with romantic undertones. The series was made predominantly for the action - it’s not a romantic series, so if they didn’t plan it from the beginning that wouldn’t be unusual, especially given that the episodes of the first few volumes are literally 5-10 minutes long. But regardless of whether the romance of the two was planned or not planned, it does not make it any less meaningful.

But let’s be real, the issue at heart isn’t that they weren’t sucking face in the first 3 seasons, it’s that they thought Blake would be with a guy, and she chose a girl. To which I say... Get over your bruised ego, and move on.

“BB fans deserve the hate they get because of x, y, z and cos it has toxic shippers.”

And you’re... Not... Toxic? If you’re an Anti-BB shipper and go out of your way to stalk and comment on BB tags/accounts just to harass shippers etc, then are you any better than the toxic fans you supposedly hate? To me, following BB tags and looking at BB content whilst being an Anti-BB shipper is so weird, why you trying to hurt your own feelings?

Also, saying that innocent shippers who are just living their best life should bear the burden of the toxic FNDM, is literally the definition of tarring everyone with the same brush. Some of us just want to eat our crumbs in peace, and from our POV, you’re the toxic ones being disrespectful. Bonus point: others being toxic does not give you licence to be hateful to anyone you come across that doesn’t agree with you.

“I’m no longer watching the show cos it’s trying too hard to be ‘woke’”

This ain’t an airport, you don’t need to announce your departure. But since you are, if your issue is the gay representation in the show then wake up and look around... We’re everywhere. The show is literally just reflecting the diversity you see day-to-day; but you keep sipping that haterade, my dude, we’re here to stay.

#anti rwde #rwby analysis #bumbleby #rwby

589 notes · View notes

pinkyjulien · 5 months

Text

I really, really hate the "Female V is canon" vs "Male V is canon" debate that been popping here and here in the tags those past weeks

Cyberpunk 2077 is a Role Playing Game, there is no "canon" protagonist, that's the whole point. We all have a different playstyles, different stories and headcanons, our custom V is The Canon V of Our Own playthroughs!

After Phantom Liberty dropped, I've seen a lot of players, on Tumblr or Twitter, voicing their concerne and disappointment in how much more Female V focused the official promo, videos and even in-game credits became

I was one of them too, expressing my feelings multiple times, sometimes awkwardly, frustrated that Male V players were once again brushed to the side, because that's how it feels like, right?

Well, it might feels like it, but this isn't the case AT ALL, far from it. This is only what I would call a "Fandom Phenomenon" and I want to talk more about it a bit

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine who works in the game industry and it opened my eyes on the matter, and I've since been really interested in seeing RPGs statistics!

Because it's really, really important to make the difference between the Casual Player Base (majority of players) and the Fans / Fandom Base (minority of players)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I always been lurking in fandoms here on Tumblr, since Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and now with Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3

First I want to drop some stats- might be completly wrong, but I'm only sharing my point of view here, in an attempt to explain why some people are frustrated with Female V being the focus (and why we shouldn't be!)

I think it's not wrong to say that fandoms are mostly occupied by women and fem-identifying individuals; fandoms are a safe place for players and fans to share their passions. Women are STILL HEAVILY harassed and hated in the gaming industry as a whole, it doesn't take a lot of digging to catch a vile comment on Twitter or on Twitch for example, you cannot go far without seeing someone either attacking or sexualizing them

This is a huge problem in the industry still, every games that release with a female protagonist get trashed- just look at the bullshit surrounding GTA 6 just because players will be able to play as a woman as an option

Fandoms are also safe for non-gender conforming people, non-binaries, trans people and queer men, but I think fem individuals and women are a clear majority, at least on Tumblr (only talking about genders identity here and not about being queer or not, not talking about sexualities or attraction) (not an official stat at all and only my point of view and experience from being on Tumblr since ~2012)

Now let's talk about Cyberpunk 2077- because this is my main fandom since 2020, and what prompted me to write this post in the first place

CDPR didn't share any stats recently, but it's REALLY SAFE to assume the MAJORITY of players are playing a straight Male V romancing Panam, followed by a lesbian Female V romancing Judy, but the player pools for both options are still majoritarly cis hetero men (and they are still the focus for AAA studios to sell their games, this is sadly just how it is)

However on the fandom side, Fem V was always the focus; virtual photography, mods, ships, OCs... She was always more popular than Male V, getting more interactions and notes and why trends like "Male V monday" were created and why there is still a lack of male V focused mods (non-binaries and trans fem folks and characters are also sadly under-represented in all type of content and art)

So, being yourself as a non-fem player, playing as a Masc V, seeing CDPR officially make the switch from Male V to Female V, when the space you've been in for the past 3 years has been overwhelmingly Female V focused on all front, was a bit of a punch in the guts; like I said earlier, I was reaaally frustrated with this too!

And I'd say it's "normal"? or at least "ok" to feel this way, it makes sense considering how little attention Male V in general get in the fans community

BUT. BUT... It's REALLY important here to realize how we sound and how we look like when we voice our frustrations on the matter; we sound and look just like all the misogynistic people over on Twitter who screams about "woke games" everytime there is a female protagonist in their "non political games". We have to remember that fandoms are suuuch a small part of the game industry

Baldur's Gate 3 recently shared their stats and this interesting tweet got into my dash

▶ tweet

Astarion is nowhere to be seen in the official most romanced companions statistic, but I'm sure a lot of people will agree that he's probably the most popular one in the fandom side!

Another stat here from Mass Effect and really interesting info coming from David Gaider about how the hardcore fanbase aka fandom's choices were WILDLY different from the casual / main player pool

▶ tweet

Getting my head out of the fandom bubbles and seeing the bigger picture, how much under-represented women still are in official medias (not talking about fan content) and how insanly misoginistic the game industry still is, both on the player and devs sides, helped me handle my own frustration on the matter, accept and even celebrate Female V being the focus for the Phantom Liberty campaign

With all that said tho, we all should be able to vent about the lack of Male, Masc and Non-Binary content in the fandom side, while still being aware of the industry state, it CAN co-exist! It doesn't make anyone a bad or misogynist person!

We are all humans and can be awkward and make mistakes, especially when voicing frustration or talking while in a negative mood. Let's educate one another in good-faithed manners when we slip instead of jumping to conclusion and throw accusations

Not gonna lie I kind of lost my train of thoughts and not sure how to finish this post, but I hope this can enlight some people on why CDPR made this choice!

Repeating this as a finale note; this doesn't mean that Female V is the "main" V or "canon" V . It's simply her time to shine, and it's well deserved! The industry needs it

#cyberpunk 2077 #phantom liberty #text #long post #like- LONG LONG post hgfhgf #hope my rambling makes sense #I legit been really interested in reading these statistics #hope CDPR will drop a similar sheet since the Ultimate edition is out :O #pinky hot take

129 notes · View notes

stick-ball · 6 months

Note

pspspspsp Kevin's trauma and his choice to stay with Thea, why her why not someone else? How does it work considering his characters as whole books/ec , does it make sense or just feel "random"

This responce has been sped up by the people who asked Nora on twitter to break Kevin and Thea up, making me see red KillBill style, so:

For me, Kevin's and Thea's relationship makes perfect sense. Maybe it's the realist in me, maybe its the idealist in me, I don't care. When it comes to Kevin's traumas, I think that since most people can't really relate to a majority of them, they get all hung up on the one they most definately can, as in, his mommy issues. When we relate to something, it becomes a really big deal. And here we go! Thea/Kevin suddenly is feared to be toxic instead of being seen for what I think it is: finding love in a hopeless place.

The main issue i see discussed is the disproportion of power at the beginning of the relationship. The main concern is the age difference. I personally don't really get the hate about the age gap between them, because if you read the extra content you will know that while they met when Kevin was 14 and Thea 18, it's not like anything happened between them at that age? First, Kevin saw her as an impressive player, when he did actually see her. That wasn't all that often bcs from what I understand from the EC, Kevin and Riko trained with the Ravens sometimes before they joined the team but a big part of their training happened without them, as well as their life growing up was more detached from the Uni students than people seem to think. And honestly, do you think Tetsuji would just let all the freshmen know they signed into the Yakuza sportsTM? Methinks not, but be delulu if you want I guess. 💋

So anyway, from the EC, it seems like Kevin had a crush slowly build up for Thea over the years, growing from his appreciation of her skill and athletism. Considering how cold that guy is, it probably took him some time to realise, after his irritation at her romances (yeah hello she was dating people her age when Kevin was mooning for here as a pathetic teenage boy, bye bye Thea haters) with other teammates started having nothing to do with the fact it could result in the teams distraction during the game, bcs of their hormones and feelings, and turned to conscious jelousy. And here I have to applaud young Kevin because he did not even realise he was distracted from the game by being jealous. Knowing how oblivious Kevin can be about non exy issues, it likely took quite a while.

So what's next? The "getting together"? Kevin and Thea only started having a sort of physical relationship when Kevin and Riko were already freshmen for Edgar Allan, at 18/19.

Whoever wants to fight me on this being a toxic age gap, what exactly is your angle?

Anyway, Kevin was the one to initiate their relationship, after Riko was done with his distraction from the game and his focus on picking fights with Thea, and told him to sleep with her and get it out of his system. (And that's how i met your mother.) It wasn't much more than that for a long time, because having a relationship on a 12 hrs day/night full of training and uni and juggling two other teams on top of that as well as celebrity status literally sounds like the most insane schedule ever, so it's insane they even managed to talk privately at all.

Now, we circle back to the question, why Thea? Why not someone else? Well, first and fucking foremost, because Nora Sakavic said so. Second of all, because Jung and Freud weren't as stupid as imternet memes would have you believe. (Read their books, read all the books please, i can rec you like a 100 psychology texts, dont be shy)

To keep it short, we do base our attraction on the role models we have, one way or another. I saw enough of my friends pick partners that have the exact character quirks that make them just slightly like an after image of their guardians. Kevin doesn't really have a father model, but his mother? She's always going to be a huge part of his life, is it really so weird and dangerous, that he got infautated with a strong, driven, 4 years older woman, who's incredibly talented and just as determined as him? I don't think so. Is it unhealthy? Is it unsafe? As much as life is, I guess, no one is perfect, but I think he could've done much much worse for himself.

Why did Kevin decide to stay with Thea? I would find it pretty obvious, because she doesn't actually need him. She built herself, but she wants him. Even if she will never have the same fame and recognition in her career that he does. Being wanted this way must be really new for Kevin, who was always a trophy to show off because of his legacy, always a property. But Thea is not competing with him, she doesnt want to own him either. I believe his mother is as much of a role model to her, as to him. So, they have sex, when they want to, they talk - when they feel like it. They don't, well fucking fine, so they don't, they fall in love anyway. It's okay if exy comes first in the beginning, considering both spent a lot of time in cult mentality, I think neither is all that bothered as long as its not obsessive (we could discuss how reasonable it was of Kevin to ghost her for over a year and not tell her about how he broke his hand but thats a whole other essay).

What's really wild to me, is that I think the power imbalance in this relationship is the opposite of what many may think.

Kevin holds all the cards. Thea joined the Ravens as a 18 years old talented athlete, she was one of the only girls on the team, and the Nest was not a place to make friends, on top of that it was a mafia cult. She had everything to prove there, and no way of being prepared for all the grooming. On top of that, she knew nothing of the Moriyamas or even of what actually went down with the whole Perfect Court thing. Kevin knew everything, on top of that, up until he left, he had nothing to prove. He ghosted her, is it so hard to believe she accepted his cold shoulder in this dynamic, in which she obviously is not at the top of the foodchain? He kept secrets from her, is it really so hard to believe she was angry? I think neither of them was ready for neither what life at the nest was like, or for a relationship when it happened, but I also think they are incredibly lucky that they have eachother, their shared passion for exy, their daughter, their dog and friends from the dog park who can't talk about exy to save their lives.

I think Kevin was incredibly lucky for finding Thea, because maybe she did not know everything, maybe it wasn't easy for them, but they understood that Rikos death wasn't a one dimensional victory, that it was just as much of a tragedy for them, for Kevin. I'm happy with the canon and I wish more people appreciated this ship, as its very soothing.

As an ending fun fact, did you know I am the only person to make a playlist for Thea Muldani in all of spotify? Pretty insane if you ask me.

#i hope this is okay #i dont have the brainpower for big words left #but this essay is like a thrid of what i have to say about them xd #i refrained from adding citations to ec bcs this is just a fandom thesis #phenomental #aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #kevin day #thea muldani #kevin and thea meta #thea muldani meta #kevin day meta #nora sakavic #best ask ever

89 notes · View notes

intuitivesef · 11 months

Text

Who is your future spouse?

Pick a card reading

Don't second guess yourself when choosing a card. Trust your intuition.

Take what resonates, leave what doesn't.

Summary of the reading: 1 bad quality (red) and 2 main part of their personality (green). 1-2 songs channeled for your connection.

Masterlist

Moodboard

Pile 1:

Materialistic:

Your future spouse is someone who focuses on materialistic possession, though they like being spiritual to a certain degree, their main focus is on their wealth. They have worked hard for the money they have in their bank account and they have pride in it. It’s healthy pride, more of an “I’m so proud of myself for accomplishing what I truly desire” type of energy.

Spirituality:

They are an intuitive person and they have visions. They can only see the future and not what will happen in the present. They tend to focus on the past, to a certain extent but their main focus is on the present and the future and that future includes you. You will definitely be a part of their world, no question about it and you will also rock their world.

Possessive:

They can be possessive but not toxic, I am hearing, “They’re mine because I love them too much. I don’t wanna be possessive like those scums. Baby, but you know I can’t also let you leave me too my little mouse. Like I just love you too much my little pumpkin. I’m sorry if my personality scares you….I hope it doesn’t—maybe it’s my insecurities that make me think I’m scary or whatnot but do know I’m so fucking madly in love with you. Everything about you drives me absolutely crazy and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Song:

You Rock My World - Michael Jackson

Want to give me tips, thank me, pay me, etc for my channeled readings? - $intuitivesef - thank you.

Pile 2:

Sensitive:

Instantly I am feeling a hint of anxiety and sadness coming from your future spouse. I am definitely getting that they’re a hopeless romantic but those sad and mopey types. They will definitely be very affectionate with you, no question about that however they’re on the sensitive side of things. For example, if you were to say something insulting to them whether you were mad or not, it would crush their heart without hesitation. This is because they hold you to a high place; they don’t hold you on a pedestal but they love you so much and for you to hurt them, it would crush them—imagine dying in a loop by a knife to your heart by the person you love. Just like that.

Hopeless Romantic:

Your lover is a hopeless romantic, all the cliches of romance and all of the basic nicknames like love, darling, dear. They have some traditional attributes with them but they also are free spirited. Which is a little silly because their qualities always contradict each other in a sweet way. They will absolutely love and adore you. Admire you and compliment you like no tomorrow. Cuddles are very prominent in this relationship. Gift giving and kisses on the cheeks and forehead too. Believe it or not but they like PDA (public display of affection) despite their introverted nature. I hear, “So what, I’m an introvert but you wanna hold hands in public? Ok! We are holding hands and no buts and uts. Wanna cuddles in front of someone? Sigh, ok! We will do that too. I make sacrifices only for you my prince/princess because I really do love you. I do. I promise. Actually!!!! I pinky promise, now that’s a big thing to me!”

Rudeness:

They don’t necessarily have a heart of gold, but at the same time, they do. They are also rude to people (they aren’t racist rude or sexiest rude. Just a “leave me alone” type of rude) because they don’t like people…and then don’t like attention either. A very big introvert. But what about you? Don’t worry about that. Think about the troupe: I hate everyone but you. That’s your troupe.

Songs:

Yellow - Coldplay

Home - Paravi Das

Want to give me tips, thank me, pay me, etc for my channeled readings? - $intuitivesef - thank you.

162 notes · View notes

namisweatheria · 5 months

Text

Conversation from these posts-

I'd like to address both of these at once, because I think they're very much related.

One Piece is not actually very interested in explicitly condemning almost anyone. Constantly, characters who have done things many may view as beyond unforgivable, are still portrayed in ways that make them likable, and are accepted by main characters. Not because the main characters approve of their past actions, but because as they're not actively harming anyone at the moment, they see no reason to disapprove of them. Or, because they have no inclination to judge them and simply take them as they are.

There are countless characters whose terrible deeds are not censored or sugarcoated, who are still made to be enjoyable, likable characters. Their motivations are not just explained, but portrayed with the full depth of their emotions. This could be interpreted as sympathetic, but I think it's rather matter-of-fact. There's a wide spectrum of this, and it may come across that those on the lighter end of it are being justified or forgiven by this portrayal, but taken in the full context of what One Piece has to say about these characters, I think it's clear that the judgement is left up to us.

In a lot of simpler stories aimed at younger audiences, the main characters are moral guides for the reader. One Piece is not one of them. Not that I don't think it's not trying to teach us anything, but rather than right and wrong, it's how to enjoy life to the fullest. Right and wrong is left for us to discern ourselves without the overt cues of a morally didactic story. I think the depth of the portrayal of bad and questionable actors is primarily to be compelling and enjoyable, but it's also a candid expression of humanity.

I don't think Shanks is a perfect moral character, nor is he supposed to be. He's Luffy's hero, not ours. Same with Roger.

It's true that being called to the sea is given a particular romance, but their misdeeds made in the name of following it aren't just glossed over. Rather, I think the focus on it is very much on purpose, because the same will lives in Luffy and The Strawhats.

Who aren't just avoiding the same mistakes because they're inherently better, but because they're informed by the mistakes of the previous generations.

Usopp, like Yassop, longed for the sea. But he anxiously made sure Kaya was on the way to health, taken care of, and okay with him leaving before he left. He's looking forward to coming back to see her. As much as Usopp has always had a kind heart, you can't say this wasn't influenced by his experiences with his parents.

Luffy, like Roger, longed for the sea. Like Roger and Garp, he has deeply selfish inclinations. However, Luffy is sensitive to the suffering of others, and would never leave anyone behind. This has a lot to do with loving Ace and Sabo, respectively victims of Roger's selfish pursuit of his dream and the institution of injustice Garp carelessly lives by.

I don't think it's a stretch to say Nami was influenced by Arlong's inability to forgive humanity, strengthening her resolve to break the cycle and forgive Jinbei for letting Arlong loose.

Anyways, I think the lack of judgement on the part of Luffy and Shanks is a big part of their power to get people to follow them, and a big part of their successes. But the narrative isn't telling us to also accept murderers and deadbeats, or that they're actually great people. It simply shows them how they are, which is human.

#i think about one piece. a lot.#one piece #yassop #shanks #op meta #i guess #usopp #luffy

66 notes · View notes

kayann9 · 24 days

Text

The Magic of Wine

Thank you all again! I am on play through 2 of BG3 and still can't stop myself romancing the wizard! Send help!

A little one shot from the Tiefling Party: definitely some innuendo in this one. Just a little flirtation and frolicking!

Pairing: Gale X F Tav (Serena)

Words: 718

Rating: M for mature

Thank you all in advance if you do read anything I write :)

By the Gods he’d had too much wine.

Over a year since Gale had attended anything resembling a party and he’d managed to embarrass himself by indulging far too much in the cheap alcohol and comparing the woman he could not help but feel an inherent attraction to, to a tressym. A tressym that he cared deeply for but how was she ever fully meant to grasp that concept.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

When had he become so useless?

Had he not been the lover of a goddess?

And now, now he was perplexed by a mortal? It had not even occurred to him on this most bizarre of journeys that he would be even remotely interested in anyone, yet here he was, watching her as she danced around the group, whilst everyone vied for her attention.

Serena had worn her hair down tonight; something he hadn’t seen yet. It had oddly caught him off guard having only seen her in the damaged armour she’d grabbed from the Nautiloid and being seemingly perpetually covered in blood. Of course, he’d seen she was beautiful from his first glance, he was nothing if not appreciative of finer things in life, but now she looked truly resplendent. Her glowing smile and the tiniest of flirtations she’d thrown his way, had left his already slightly broken knees even weaker.

He sipped more wine against his better judgement.

Serena seemed to be in deep conversation with the First Druid. Another admirer, he’d concluded.

He’d supposed, after hearing listening to the flirtations of the others, that she was quite the woman; naturally charismatic, fierce and unyielding but, most importantly in his eyes, kind. She’d jumped in to help this place without a second thought. She’d jumped in the fight with the goblins with no questions. She’d saved the tiefling child with not a murmur or need to recompense. She’d stood in front of a cross bow, arms folded and gaze unwavering, as if staring down death itself. Goodness was something he hadn’t been too privy to in Faerûn.

“Are you sure I can’t tempt you to dance?” Serena’s light tone swam through his mind and he had to shake his head to regain some sense. “I always imagined a learned wizard would be quite practised in a dance.”

The wine drifted through him logic once again. “I am practised in many things, but dancing is not one of them.”

She lifted an eyebrow, the look he’d worked out meant trouble for him. “Oh, do tell.”

His mouth dried but his conviction forced him to ignore it, along with the smirk on her lips. “As you are probably aware, a scholar of my nature, research is my main focus; there is nothing I enjoy more than curling up with a book in the study of a new topic.”

“So, attentive.”

“Most definitely. And let’s not forget, a wizard’s hands are his most valuable asset. Deliberate ministrations are most important in the accurate casting of spells, particularly at the level I was operating at.”

“Good with your hands.” Serena nodded. “Check.”

Confusion flooded him for the briefest of moments, until he watched her teeth drag across her lips.

“I imagine, wizards are also fairly proficient with their mouths. It would do no good to have a slovenly incantations along with those deliberate ministrations.” Serena sipped her wine, grinning as he moved from foot to foot.

“I, well, yes. I have been known to be talented in the art of verbosity.” Gale straightened his spine, regaining the shred of composure he had left, ignoring the swirling in chest. “I had no idea you had taken such an interest in the ways of The Weave.”

“Yes, The Weave, that’s what I am interested in.” She winked and laughed. “I shall leave you to your wine and your verbosity mighty Wizard.. However, if you do find yourself taking an interest in dancing, please consider me as tutor.” She curtseyed before twirling away towards the music.

“I would consider nobody else.” He called after her, trying to convince himself that the secret smile she threw him as she moseyed away was nothing more than a figment of a highly over-active imagination.

The dangerous flutter of the dark magic beneath his skin, told a very different story.

#bg3 #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 tav #gale bg3 #gale x tav #f!tav

29 notes · View notes

carlyleandco · 20 days

Text

okay my fellow Cdrama fanatics, I’m in need of some recs as someone who is still fairly new to the scene…

Historical Cdramas I’ve enjoyed

Story of Minglan ~ this show is my Roman Empire…like I don’t go more than a couple of days without thinking about it. Love how much depth there was to the characters and their relationships. I got so much satisfaction from watching Minglan run circles around every one else using her intelligence and wits. Every time Gu Tingye popped up in the background as her backup support I lost it! Talk about power couple.

Love Like the Galaxy ~ first historical Cdrama I have watched and apart from Minglan, I think it has ruined the rest for me. This drama has so many layers. Niao Niao is an intelligent, and opportunistic female lead. She is unabashedly herself, and the story is not afraid to depict her as unlikeable at first instance. I deeply appreciated the focus on female relationships and family. And Ling Buyi has ruined all other antiheroes for me lmao

Destined ~ I thought this one would be on par with Minglan at first, but it did lose its way in the latter half. I felt the female lead was relegated to the background, which was frustrating as they built her up to be this shrewd businesswoman and then we never get to see her in action. I did appreciate how wholesome and untoxic Jiu Si was as a romantic lead. I thought her relationship with the SML could have been drawn out more, however.

Romance of Tiger and Rose ~ I don’t think this drama is anywhere on par with the above three, but I still enjoyed it. Definitely a fun and unserious romp. Zhou Lu Si is just so likeable in all her roles.

Xianxia I’ve enjoyed:

Love and Redemption ~ I literally fell down a hole with this drama. I could not stop watching. Even though the female leads starts with that token immaturity Cdramas are known for, it’s explained in-world and she goes through a noticeable growth/stepping into adulthood arc. I also LOVED how powerful she was and how often she got to use her powers. Also the romance? Sifeng?!!? Yeah I was a mess. However, one thing that irritated me was the lack of agency Xuan Ji had toward the end of the show.

Eternal Love ~ it’s a classic for a reason. I loved Bai Qian’s resolve, steadfastness, and maturity. Her relationship with Ye Hau blossomed naturally, and they had different obstacles to face as a couple as opposed to what I have seen so far.

Love Between Fairy and Devil ~ speaks for itself, and I love enemies to lovers.

Extra: points if the female lead is powerful, or is on a journey to realising her power. Whether that’s through her intelligence, empathy, or in the case of xianxia, actual mystical power. Bonus points if she’s a character like Xuan Ji who can go supernova and destroy everyone lol

Historical dramas I have not enjoyed:

The Sword and the Brocade ~ I didn’t even finish this one. My overall impression was, having already finished Minglan prior, eating cardboard after having been to a 5 star Michelin restaurant. Everything was so bland and dull, even down to the cinematography.

Princess Silver ~ I dragged myself to the finish line with this one. The plot just became so utterly ludicrous and relied on the audience being invested in the main leads witho no ut actually letting them spend screen time together. I also hated that we had glimpses of the female leads power but that she never got to fully realise this. Just overly contrived and trite.

Xianxia I did not enjoy

Ashes of Love ~ this was the first xianxia I ever watched some years back. Given I was new to the genre, I think I found some of the characteristic features a bit jarring and I stopped watching Cdramas as a result. If I watched it again now I may be able to make it through. Ultimately, I just could not stomach how naive the main female character. I understand this is typical, but it was another level of nauseating that I have not found an equal to since.

#need recs badly!#cdrama #chinese drama #the story of minglan #love like the galaxy #destined #eternal love #ten miles of peach blossoms #love and redemption #love between fairy and devil #romance of tiger and rose #kinda tossing up between love and destiny / joy of life / maiden holmes #three lives three worlds #tmopb #cdramaedit

31 notes · View notes

urfavstargirl1 · 1 year

Text

time after time - finale

Part 7 and FINALE to the series Chemistry, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6-- Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

stranger things masterlist | Spotify playlist

summary: Y/N stands up to her parents with the help of her friends, Eddie, and Uncle Wayne, plus an epilogue at prom

cw: angst, fluff, anxiety, hurt/comfort, shy/nerdy!reader, pre-ST4, cocky!Eddie, swearing, strict parents, sex and smut 18+, minors dni,

a/n: sorry for the wait and the minimal editing and heres a happy ending i hope u love it bye

The next morning, Y/N wakes up to sunlight peeking through the blinds in a lazy haze. Birds nesting in the tree outside her bedroom window chirp peacefully. Y/N softly opens her eyelids, letting them flutter as they adjust to the light.

She turns her head to the side and reads the time on the alarm clock resting on her nightstand.

“Today’s the day,” she whispers determinedly.

After weeks of seemingly never ending isolation and misery, Y/N decided that she would no longer say goodbye to romance. That she wouldn’t let the broken wings her parents clipped hold her down.

And what better time than now? She has to take what might be her one and only chance before it fades away. There’s only one way to know if the sun may shine again.

On that electric Saturday morning filled with hope and possibility, Y/N eats breakfast in a hurry and gets ready to surprise Eddie at the trailer.

She knows she’ll have to bike the whole 7 mile ride there, but it’s her only option. She needs to do this on her own terms, and avoid the risk of anyone finding out. It’ll be much easier to figure things out with Eddie before they get anyone else involved.

An hour later, she walks down the stairs and towards the door to the garage.

“What are you doing,” her sister calls out.

“I’m going out.”

“Going where?”

“To make things right.”

Y/N walks out the door and grabs her bike. She opens the garage door and hops on. She rides her bike onto the street and pedals furiously, leaving her parents and sister in the dust.

She turns on the same streets she’s always known. She pedals hard and fast. Her breathing harsh and visible in the unseasonably cold November air.

She pedals and pedals and pedals, body growing warm with heat. Her only focus? The road before her.

There’s no turning back now.

She passes the neighborhoods of two story colonials and onto the neighborhoods with single story homes and chain link fences. Soon, she’s on the main road with nothing but trees and the occasional car to keep her company.

For a moment, she almost wishes she had asked someone to drive her there, growing slightly weary from the bike ride, but there’s enough adrenaline to get her there and the allotted time gives her space to think about all the things she might say.

Eddie, I came here to talk to you. I want to… apologize. I’m sorry for all the running and hiding. I thought I was doing us a favor. Saving us the trouble. But, in the end, you were right.

And now, all I know is that I need you in my life. It hurts more to be without you and that terrifies me. I don’t know what to do.

After several miles and an almost collision with a runaway deer, Y/N turns into the trailer park.

She scans the beige metal buildings till she finds the one she recognizes as Eddie’s trailer. She presses the brakes on the bike and slows to a stop in front of it.

She sits on her bike for a moment, catching her breath from the ragged breathing pattern she acquired along the ride.

Too lost in thought and anxious about what will happen next, she barely has enough room in her brain to observe the rather empty surroundings of the trailer.

She hops off and kicks the kickstand. She takes a moment to breathe deeply. Despite being in the zone only moments before, she is now acutely aware of how shallow her breath is. How sweaty she is under her jacket. How rapidly and violently her blood is pumping.

She catches her breath for a moment and smoothes her hair. She walks up to the front door and pauses a moment before lifting her fist up and knocking.

She waits a moment for someone to answer the door, but no one does. When the moment grows a little too long, she decides to try again.

She brings her knuckles to the door and knocks. She looks around and realizes Eddie’s van is gone. She takes in her surroundings. She could have sworn this was Eddie’s trailer. Is she at the wrong one? Is Eddie not home? This early on a Saturday morning?

“Hello? Is anyone… there?” She asks. She waits for a moment, nerves flowing all throughout her system, but nothing happens.

What do I do now?

She sighs, and is just about to turn on her heel when the doorknob turns and the door opens, revealing an older man with worn down features and graying hair buzzed closely to his scalp.

“Hello?” He asks, not having expected some teenage girl to knock at the door.

Y/N’s eyes widen and she steps back. This must be Eddie’s uncle.

She blinks before shaking her head. She pants between sentences, “H-Hi, I’m… Y/N Y/L/N... I’m a friend… of Eddie’s… is he… is he home?”

Wayne quirks an eyebrow. So this is the girl Eddie’s been so worked up about?

“No, I’m afraid not. You just missed him,” he answers, concerned about her frazzled and breathless state.

“Oh,” she wheezes as she puts her hands on her hips and doubles over.

“Are you alright, darlin’?”

Y/N nods. “Yeah… I just… I biked over from my house… and car rides… they make the distance… seem a lot… shorter.”

“Uh huh,” Wayne nods cautiously, “Well, I’m Wayne, Eddie’s uncle. Come on in. Let me fix you up a glass of water.”

Y/N stares blankly as Wayne turns over his shoulder and heads into the trailer. She cautiously considers the offer for a millisecond, before instantly taking him up on it, too thirsty to even really care.

“Thanks Mr. Munson… It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Please, Mr. Munson was my father, call me Wayne,” Wayne roars a laugh and smiles at her as he pulls a glass cup out of the cupboard. “And it’s nice to meet you too.”

“Take a seat,” he gestures to the dining table.

Y/N catches her breath as Wayne fills up a glass with water. He sets it down in front of her and takes the seat across from her.

“Thank you,” she whispers before beginning to chug.

Wayne crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair, “Listen now, Eddie didn’t tell me where he was going so I couldn’t really tell ya when that boy’ll be back. But you’re more than welcome to stay until then if ya like.”

Y/N’s eyes widen as she jerks her head forward. For all they know, he might be out all day.

Wayne looks at her dismayed demeanor and sighs.

“May I ask,” He looks at her curiously, “What exactly brings you over? I know my nephew wouldn’t make a young girl like you come all this way by bike. Or leave if he was expecting you.”

Y/N looks up at him, “Oh, no, he wasn’t. I’m sorry to show up unannounced like this. But I came to surprise him. I was really hoping I could, um, talk to him, and maybe-maybe even apologize.”

“Apologize? Shoot, must be something serious I reckon. I love my nephew to pieces but I know he ain’t exactly a saint. Usually the one giving the apology, not gettin’ it.”

Y/N inhales through her nostrils, feeling the tension in her shoulders as they climb upward, “Yeah, I’m not usually the one apologizing either, but… I think I might’ve messed things up.”

Wayne nods and looks at her in understanding, silently inviting her to go on if she so wishes.

“You see, the thing is…I really like your nephew. A lot. More than I’m allowed to. Boys are sort of… off limits at home.”

“I see,” Wayne nods.

“We’ve been working together on this assignment at school and it was surprisingly a lot of fun. We would spend a lot of time together and I didn’t even get the chance to realize just how strong my feelings for him were before my parents caught us together, and I got in a lot of trouble for it.”

Wayne lifts a hand and strokes the stubble on his chin with his thumb and forefinger, “Eddie’s no stranger to trouble, but I reckon you are, aren’t ya darlin’?”

Y/N nods sullenly. “Yeah, it’s awful. And now, I just feel stuck. Like I’m in this game of tug of war and on one side is being with Eddie and on the other is not letting my parents down but I can’t have both.”

Wayne looks at Y/N, worried she might start crying on him. Barely accustomed to Eddie’s own emotional waves after so many years, he’s ill-equipped to handle this.

But then, Y/N takes a deep breath and looks up at Uncle Wayne. “Hurricane Eddie came into my life with no warning and turned it all upside down,” Y/N nervously jokes.

Wayne chuckles, “Believe you and me, I see the aftermath of Hurricane Eddie everytime I walk into his room.”

“I know right? I love Eddie but that boy is such,” Y/N laughs before pausing a moment and quietly adding, “a mess.”

Love?

Her heart skips a beat and she looks up at Uncle Wayne with puzzled eyes as he warmly smiles at her.

She shakes her head, “Anyways, I just… I don't know what to do. At first, I thought, if I had to choose, I would choose my family. I would always choose them, even when it meant being under house arrest for a month and cutting Eddie out of my life. But after all was said and done, it didn’t seem to change much. In fact, it only made me more miserable.”

Wayne nods as he processes her words.

“And no matter what I choose, there’s no going back. All my life, I’ve been the good girl with good grades who never misbehaves. And after what happened, I know I’ll never be that girl again. Not to my parents and not to myself. But I don’t know who else to be.”

Wayne sighs and smiles at her, “Take a load off sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about carryin’ the weight of the world on your shoulders ‘round here.”

Y/N nods patiently and makes a show of exhaling and dropping her shoulders.

“Have you ever heard the sayin’, Rome wasn’t built in a day?”

Y/N frowns and cocks her head to the side, “No, not really.”

“Well, it wasn’t. Took the Romans years to build everything they write about in them history books.” “Okay?” Y/N responds, not entirely sure why he’s bringing this up.

“What I’m tryna say is, there’s things in life that you just gotta take day by day. You won’t solve the conundrum of forbidden love by tomorrow.”

Y/N nods and blushes, feeling sheepish that she hadn't made the connection sooner.

But even still, it feels like if she doesn’t figure this all out now, she never will.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it just feels like we’re running out of time, you know. We only have so long before we graduate and I go off to college.”

Wayne nods contemplatively.

“And what about my parents? Am I just supposed to accept the fact that they may not be happy with me right now, but as time passes, their anger will just fade?”

“That’s exactly it,” Wayne smiles.

“Now that’s science fiction if I ever heard it,” Y/N mutters.

Wayne laughs. Yeah, this girl’s been hanging out with his nephew alright.

“Believe me, if you’re anything like Eddie says, I’m sure your folks know just how great of a daughter you are, they just wanna keep you safe. I wanna do the same for Eddie sometimes, but I know I gotta let him be a kid and make his own mistakes. It’s the only way to learn.”

Y/N pouts as she nods and looks into her lap. “I know, but I don’t like making mistakes. It feels awful.”

“It’s a part of life sweetheart. You’re gonna fall. But the real question is, are you gonna stand back up?”

Y/N’s shoulders loosen and her eyes soften, “I want to, I just don’t know how.”

Wayne examines the puzzled look on her face. It oddly looks like the same one Eddie has when he’s off in his room, frustrated with a chord he just can't seem to get right or he comes across a roadblock in that D&D game he loves so much.

Wayne sighs and places his hands on the table and clasps them together. “Listen, how ‘bout I tell you a story?”

A story? Isn’t Y/N a little too old for story time? What’s next, a bit of milk and cookies too?

Despite biting her tongue, her thoughts must be evident on her face.

“Don’t deny an old man one of the few pleasures he has left in life,” Wayne says in a joking tone, but Y/N’s immediately softens her shoulders and gaze, almost apologetically.

“I see how you kids these days seem to carry a lot of burdens on your shoulders and I ache for ya’, I really do. You’re too young to be this cynical.”

Y/N shrugs, not sure how to respond.

“Sometimes I worry about what this world is coming to, but at the end of the day, I know I can only control so much. And what I can control is having a loving home for Eddie and his friends. And that includes you too darlin’.”

Once Wayne’s put it into these words, Y/N immediately understands what Wayne is building up to. He’s about to share some generational wisdom with her.

There wasn’t a whole lot of that to go around in her own family, so there’s something to be said about the subtle buzz of excitement Y/N’s feels. Perhaps, her situation is just a tale as old as time. One she’ll never be alone in because generations of people before her have also been in her shoes.

“Now, I know things are different these days, but you remind me an awful lot of someone I used to know. Someone I met back when I was about your age.”

“Who?” Y/N cocks her head to the side and furrows her eyebrows.

“Well, back in the fall of 1837,” Wayne starts, making Y/N chuckle.

“My parents had just moved my sister and I to Hawkins. We’d spend the better years of our youth growing up down south but then my daddy went and got a job at one of them new automobile factories up here.

I had just graduated high school and without fail, my mama and daddy made it loud and clear, I was to work and work only. Anything else was a waste of time and money.

Now, for a while, I firmly believed in this. I figured it was more important to help make ends meet than run around with some girl or go out partying with the big boys.

So I went and got a job at the local lumber yard. It wasn’t nothing fancy but it was good work. Pay was decent. For a while I could focus on that. Helped having enough food on the table, newer clothes, a few more presents at Christmas time, things like that.

I had a duty to my family, and I had no problem fulfilling it.

I’d spend all my hours at the lumber yard and was content with it. I’d made friends with some of the other boys that worked out there. We’d horse around on the job, but after work was done, I’d go home to my family like I’d always done.

Sort of like a routine for me. Safe and reliable.

But then one sunny June day, I met this girl. Mind you, I wasn’t even looking for her or nothin’ like that. But she sorta just found me. And my life was never quite the same after that summer.”

Y/N’s eyes widen. She gazes at him curiously, imploring him to go on.

“Her name was Sally. She was a beauty, I’ll tell you that. I can still see her pretty golden hair and big brown eyes.

On our first date, I had learned that she came from a good family. A real good family. She was a descendent of some of Indiana's first settlers. Her daddy was a big shot in local government, and her mama an heiress. She lived in a big house with some of the finest china you ever did see. What’s more, she was set to go off to Yale for college, just like her parents did. It’s where they met, after all.

But you never woulda really guessed by the way she carried herself. She was beautiful without letting it go to her head. She was sharp as a wip but never held it against ya. And she was the kindest person in the whole world. She was unlike any girl I’d ever met before,” Wayne says wistfully.

Y/N clutches her empty glass, “What happened?”

Wayne sighs longingly, “We fell in love. She made me laugh and she opened my eyes to a whole world I never even knew existed. She was a wild card, that one. I was always in for a surprise with her, but I could never seem to get enough. For the rest of the summer, I went and saw her anytime I wasn’t working. We talked on the phone all night. We even thought about running away together, starting a new life.”

“Really? Why?”

“Our parents didn’t approve of us being together. Hers said I didn’t come from the right kind of family. Mine said I was wasting time.”

Wayne pauses for a second, but a look of pain never crosses his face.

“What did you do?”

“All we could do,” he shrugs, “She’d be off to Connecticut in the fall, so we made the most of what little time we had left together that summer. ”

Y/N furrows her eyebrows in confusion. She was almost expecting him to say he stood up to their parents and fought tooth and nail to be with her.

“What?”

“Listen darlin’, I knew I couldn’t change her folks’ minds and I wasn’t gonna kill myself trying. I knew I could either spend the summer with her and nothing more or I could simply leave it at that.”

“What about her parents? And yours? Didn’t they still object to you spending the summer together?”

“They did at first, but then they got over it when they realized how temporary it was. At the time, I wasn’t even thinking of marriage. All I knew was that I was young and in love. I didn’t know how long it would last and I wasn’t very interested in planning it all out. I just wanted to enjoy it for what it was. And I promised myself I wouldn’t let things get in the way of taking care of my family.

As for her parents, well, they never liked me or even respected me, but they came around to tolerating me. I was like a stray dog that made their little girl happy, coming around sparingly but one they would never come to call their own.”

Y/N frowns at the thought. It breaks her heart to hear Uncle Wayne refer to himself like that. And if that’s what she and Eddie are going to be like, she doesn’t want her parents to just tolerate Eddie… but would that be better than nothing?

“Were you happy? Even though you knew it was short lived? And neither of your parents supported it?”

Wayne takes a moment to think about it, reflecting on the long lost memory.

“I don’t think we thought about it that much. We were just a couple kids trying to have fun. Life’s too short to take it so seriously. We had the rest of our adult lives to do that.”

Y/N frowns, not too satisfied with his answer. How is any of that supposed to help? The only reason she’s gotten this far in life is by thinking about things too much.

“But to answer your question, we were happy. We were happy the whole time, but it helped not having so many people breathing down our necks by the end.”

Y/N nods contemplatively, a bit more content with that answer.

“What happened after the summer was over?”

“Well, just as you might expect. We said goodbye and went our separate ways. She went off to start her first semester of college and I stayed here. I kept working at the lumber yard for a while, taking care of my family.”

Wayne looks away, slightly forlorn and Y/N feels slightly guilty for making him relive some of these memories.

“Was it hard? Saying goodbye?”

“The initial time apart was tough. I’m not gon’ lie to you. I could hardly look at any other girls ‘cause in one way or another they never compared to Sally.”

Y/N frowns. To her knowledge, there’s never been a Mrs.Munson in the picture. She wonders if Sally was his first and only love.

“We wrote to each other for a while, but after a certain point, the letters stopped. Years later, I found out she had gotten married to some senator and started a family out in Virginia.”

“Wow,” Y/N says painfully, “I’m so sorry.”

Wayne shrugs, “That’s life darlin’. It keeps going on whether you want it to or not. But it’s important to not let the tough stuff like pain and heartache keep you from living it.”

Y/N nods and fidgets with her fingers.

“I knew it’d be worse to let my life pass me by just because things didn’t turn out like I’d hoped. So once my sister had gotten older and my family was in a better place, I picked up and left town for a while. Sorta like my daddy, I thought the change of pace might help.”

“Did it?”

Wayne nods, “I held odd jobs in different towns across the state. It wasn’t much, but enough to get me by. What’s more, I got to meet a lot of new people. People from all walks of life with all sorts of different problems. And somehow it made my problems at home seem a lot smaller, more manageable to deal with.”

“Did you ever fall in love again?”

Uncle Wayne squints his eyes for a moment before opening them again and shaking his head.

Y/N exhales and slumps in her seat.

“Alright now, don’t you go on and worry about me darlin’. I’m still alive and that’s one of the greatest gifts of life.”

Y/N nods, feeling as though her foot has been caught in her mouth.

“I’m sorry Mr.Munson, I mean… Wayne. I just, I hope you can experience love again someday.”

“Listen sweetheart, I’m gon’ be alright. Ya hear? I’ve got all the love I need right here in this home.”

Y/N nods sheepishly.

“The world works in mysterious ways, but don’t you ever be mistaken, love is always there.”

Y/N nods again, reflecting on the ways she finds love in her life. Her parents, in their own weird way, come to mind, and even her friends.

“As for your predicament with Eddie. Well, if you two are anything like me and Sally, then all I can really tell ya is that relationships are either a lesson or a blessin’. Period. You don’t get to choose which one it is. The only thing you can choose is whether or not you want to experience it.”

Y/N thinks about the new choice laid out upon her: She could choose to be with Eddie.

It would be hard. It would mean defying her parents. It would even mean having her heart broken when she leaves for college.

But, it would also mean she could be happy. It would mean he could be happy too. It might even mean truly and deeply falling in love.

“It all just seems so risky,” Y/N huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“That’s life darlin’, always gonna be a little risk for something you love.”

“Wow, I’ve never thought of it like that.”

“It’s all about perspective, sweetheart.”

At the mention of the word sweetheart, Y/N’s mind runs to Eddie, and suddenly, it clicks.

She gasps.

“That’s it,” she scoots her chair back and rises, smiling at him triumphantly. “I know just what I need to do!

Before Wayne can even say something, Y/N moves away from the table and pushes the chair back. “I need to go! Thanks… Wayne!”

“Uh, glad I could help,” Wayne replies with an earnest smile and a chuckle.

Y/N nearly races out the door and Wayne follows her, standing in the doorway. “Wait, do you want a ride?”

“No, it’s ok,” Y/N calls out as she mounts onto her bike. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for all your help!”

Wayne yells something back, but Y/N is too lost in thought about her course of action, so she just waves him off as she rides her bike into the distance, fueled by adrenaline.

She pedals and pedals and pedals, preparing to make her mighty rebel yell.

She has one big decision to make and only seven miles to figure out how she’ll spend the rest of her senior year without any regrets.

***

Y/N pedals down the same roads she came through no more than an hour or two ago. Halfway along her route, a random thought pops up into her head that she should stop by Michelle’s house before she goes to speak with her parents.

She’s not sure why. Maybe Michelle could give her a pep talk. Or maybe it would help to talk to someone about how she’ll convince her parents to let her date Eddie. Even then, it’s not like either of those things seem dire, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that she has an inexplicable gut feeling that she needs to go to Michelle first.

As she makes her way through the neighborhoods of Hawkins, she mulls it over and figures that it wouldn’t hurt to run things with Michelle. Facing her parents is a daunting task and maybe a friend who can lend an ear will help.

But as she reaches Michelle’s street, her house visible in the distance, she finds an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Perhaps it’s an illusion and the car is in the neighbor’s driveway.

But as Y/N’s pedals and comes closer, she begins to recognize the big beige van that is definitely in Michelle’s driveway.

No, it can’t be.

But as soon as Y/N approaches, she knows for sure that that is Eddie’s van.

The shock of seeing that Eddie is at Michelle’s house is enough to make her sharply press on the brakes with a death grip that sends her jolting to a stop, propelling her to fly off her bike, into the air, and onto the pavement.

She whines at the screeching noise and a loud thump can be heard when she hits the pavement. Her palms dig into the street to break her fall and she curses aloud.

She slowly pushes herself up to sit on her bottom and brings her palms forward. Her knee is throbbing and her palms are all scratched up and swelling, blood threatening to burst at the seams.

She didn’t even realize she was crying till a few hot tears slip from her cheeks and onto her asphalt dusted, very scratched up hands.

“Are you okay,” an authoritative male voice asks.

Y/N avoids looking at whatever good samaritan has approached her. She’s about to graduate high school and she's sitting in the street crying after falling off her bicycle like some child.

Y/N waves him off, “I’m okay sir, I just fell off my bike.”

“Sir? Don’t give me any ideas now sweetheart,” the same voice replies, somehow sounding younger and much snarkier.

Just as he lays a warm hand on Y/N’s upper back, between her shoulders, Y/N looks up into the sweet pair of big brown eyes she loves most in the world.

“Eddie,” she cries out as she wraps her arms around him, pulling him close to her.

Eddie lets out a yelp as though the action knocked the breath out of his lungs. But as he processes the feeling of her body against his, he instinctively returns the gesture and kisses the top of her head.

“C’mon, smartypants, let’s get you inside,” Eddie whispers in her hair as he keeps one arm wrapped around her midsection and the other under her knees as he picks her up and carries her to the house.

It’s all happens so fast that Y/N can barely keep up as Eddie walks across the lawn, carrying her bridal style as the rest of her friends come pouring out the front door.

“Y/N!”

“What happened?”

“What’s going on?”

Eddie explains that he saw her fall off her bike as he takes her inside, leaving the other girls to bring her bike inside and turn the bathroom into a full on operating room.

Michelle goes to grab the first aid kit while the other girls find something in the freezer to use as an ice pack while Y/N sits helplessly on the bathroom sink.

“I’m fine really, it’s just a scratch,” Y/N mutters as Eddie inspects her hands, feeling somewhat exposed as she sits on the counter of the bathroom sink, despite the layers of clothes she currently has on.

Eddie cups her cheek, wiping away the remaining moisture from the tears that had slipped away only moments ago. Even in an emergency, he can’t help but sarcastically say, “Mhm, I’m sure it is.”

Once the girls have brought in the supplies, Eddie politely asks them to wait over in the living room, leaving some privacy to complete his very important medical procedure. Y/N can’t tell if he’s being serious or just joking, but the girls follow his order and give them their space.

“Seriously, you guys are overreacting. It’s just a few scratches and probably some bruises. I’ll be okay.”

Y/N hisses as he tenderly applies antiseptic treatment to the cuts on her hands.

He glances up at her through his eyelashes, giving her a knowing look only for her to stare blankly back.

Y/N watches him as his eyes are lost in focus, in the zone of caring for her.

“Why are you so good at this?” Y/N softly asks.

Eddie smiles and chuckles, “What? Being your little nurse?”

Y/N pouts but nods.

Eddie looks up from her hands and into her eyes and in a low voice says, “Well, let’s just say I’ve had a lot of practice.”

Y/N frowns at his answer and Eddie could just kiss the little wrinkles in her forehead away, but he can’t. Sure Y/N is at least talking to him and smiling in his presence, but there’s still a wall between them, one he wishes he could just break down with a wrecking ball.

“From what?” Y/N whispers.

Eddie carefully wraps her hands in bandages. He holds Y/N’s hands in his, palms up so his thumbs can gently brush across them.

Eddie shakes his head and forces a smile trying to say in the most light-hearted way possible, “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.”

“Eddie,” Y/N softly whines, bringing her right hand up and gently cupping his face with her fingertips,”I’m going to worry about it.”

Eddie looks at her with a hardened face, but in his eyes, Y/N can see the softness. She can see the struggle in them.

She gently pulls away as she realizes her mistake.

The two look at each other for a moment, wanting to say so much, but afraid of saying the wrong thing.

“Let’s just worry about your recovery, huh?” Eddie jokingly diagnoses as he places a gentle hand on Y/N’s knee for comfort. But instead, she winces in pain.

He immediately grabs the frozen bag of peas wrapped in a dish towel and he instructs Y/N to hold it on her knee to ease the swelling.

After an awkward moment of silence, Eddie decides to diffuse the tension by teasingly saying, “So was that your first time riding a bike or something?”

Y/N huffs and rolls her eyes, “No, Munson.”

Eddie can’t help the small smile that forms at hearing her call him by his last name.

“In fact, this is all your fault!”

“My fault?”

“Yes! I just came to see Michelle and then I saw your car in her driveway. I almost thought I was hallucinating.”

“Well fear not sweetheart, for it is I, the humble Lord Munson, here in the flesh,” Eddie dramatically says in his D&D voice as he bows in front of her.

He peers up at her through his lashes, finding her to only glare at him.

He stands back straight and leans forward to whisper in her ear, “If you really want to make sure you’re not hallucinating, feel free to touch as you please, princess.”

“Eddie,” Y/N scolds as she uses her fingertips to push him away.

Eddie snickers and smiles at Y/N, heart warming to find her smiling at him too.

Even Y/N can feel a warmth in her chest despite squirming under his gaze.

For a moment, she looks away. But when she looks back at him, she properly takes him in for the first time that day.

Now that the adrenaline of the moment has passed, suddenly a million questions overcome her.

What are Eddie and her friends doing here? And why is Eddie dressed like that?

He’s wearing a maroon cable knit sweater and a cream colored carpenter’s jacket over it. It’s sort of weird seeing him out of his normal clothes, but, unsurprisingly, he still looks hot.

It’s like he’s unlocked a new superpower to her. He could pull off any look besides the rocker type if he ever wanted to.

And his hair! She’s never seen it like this before. When his hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, it feels like she can see his face in a way she never has before. Maybe it just looks more complete now that she can see his ears too.

But the question still stands: what is happening right now?

It takes everything in her not to just reach out and grab his hand or something when she asks, “Seriously Eddie, what are you doing here?”

Eddie exhales and looks her square in the eyes. There’s no use in even pretending, is there?

“I’m here… for you.”

“For me?” Y/N asks simultaneously, surprised and confused.

Eddie looks down and nods as he begins twiddling his fingers, lacking the chunky metal rings he usually fidgets with.

“We, uh…” Eddie momentarily looks up at Y/N and his breath gets caught in his throat.

Y/N doesn’t understand what’s making Eddie so nervous.

“You can tell me, you know that right?”

Eddie looks down and Y/N reaches forward and gently twiddles her fingers with his. It should be reassuring. And Eddie shouldn’t even be afraid to tell her this. But for some reason, actually saying his plan out loud suddenly feels ridiculous.

Eddie gulps, “Your friends and I- We were supposed to go over to your place.”

Y/N smiles and her eyes widen in amusement, as if Eddie had just told her a joke.

Eddie looks at her with a sense of guilt written all over his features.

“Eddie, why?” Y/N asks as she realizes he’s being serious.

“We were gonna talk to your parents.”

“Wh- My parents?!”

Eddie takes a deep breath and interlaces his fingers with hers. He squeezes her hand and tries too hard to make a joke of the words, “We thought we could try talking some sense into them.”

He offers her a lopsided grin. Y/N’s eyes widen as she squeezes his hand bone-crushingly tight.

“Eddie, what are you talking about?”

Eddie looks down at their hands and loosens his grip to withstand the near pain hers are causing.

“Eddie!”

“I know, I know,” Eddie winces and Y/N loosens her grip. “We were all just worried about you. Your friends told me you won’t even talk to them. That you haven’t been not acting yourself. Not ever since that night.”

Y/N avoids his all encompassing gaze.

“It’s not right what they’ve done to you,” Eddie mutters under his breath.

Y/N looks at him blankly and shrugs sullenly.

“No offense, but, we just thought your parents ought to know the hell they’re putting you through.”

Y/N snorts and Eddie looks at her in alarm having never heard her make a noise and startled by the unnerving reaction.

“Is that why you’re dressed like this?” Y/N asks teasingly as she reaches forward and grabs the collar of the jacket.

Eddie huffs and nods albeit displeased.

“C’mere,” Y/N whispers as she lightly tugs him toward her by the fabric of his jacket. Eddie obliges and shuffles forward as Y/N spreads her legs wider for him to fit between them.

Y/N locks eyes with Eddie and leans forward. She brings her arms to the back of his neck, gently taking out the elastic band holding his hair back. She removes it and places it around her wrist before fluffing his hair back out. She drapes a few strands over his shoulders and smiles at him.

“There.”

Eddie looks at her cautiously, unsure of her actions.

“I have to admit, this look is definitely doing something for me. But Eddie, you should know, I don’t care what you wear. You look hot either way”

Eddie crinkles his eyebrows and laughs at the sentiment.

“Were you really going to barge up to my parents house like this?”

Eddie looks at her sheepishly, suddenly embarrassed at the idea that seemed so fool proof only moments ago.

“With a huff and a puff you were gonna glow the house down?”

Eddie rolls his eyes and places his hands along her thighs for leverage. “Again, what else was I supposed to do?”

“Let me handle them,” Y/N says as she runs her hands over Eddie’s.

“You don’t have to handle them alone. You know that right?”

Y/N bites her lip, unsure of what to say.

“Hey,” Michelle pops by and leans against the doorframe.

Eddie immediately retracts his hands, as if it were Y/N’s parents he was being caught by.

“What’s the verdict, doc?”

He recovers by putting on a solemn face and placing a hand to his heart. “I’m afraid I have bad news… She only has six hours to live!”

Michelle dramatically brings the back of her forehead and cries “Oh God, why?”

Eddie and Michelle proceed to crack up at each other's silliness leaving Y/N to watch in nothing but utter confusion. It’s sort of nice but mostly foreign to see her best friend and her… Eddie to be bonding like this.

“Nah, she’s just a little scratched up on her hands and bruised on her knee, but she’ll make it out alive.”

“Thanks Eddie,” Y/N squeaks as Eddie helps her off the bathroom sink and leads her to the kitchen and dining room where all the other girls are milling about snacking on chips and soda.

“Hey,” Y/N awkwardly waves as she walks in the room. “You guys having a party or something?”

“Basically,” one of the girls says jokingly.

“We were just about to take it to your house too,” another adds.

Y/N looks over to Eddie and Michelle, “So I hear.”

“Eddie ‘Blabbermouth’ Munson told you how we wanted to go ambush your parents, didn’t he,” Michelle asks as Eddie shoves a handful of chips into his mouth.

“Hey!” He grumbles with his mouth full.

“I love you guys, but that was a murder-suicide mission waiting to happen,” Y/N jokes as she reaches into the bag of chips Eddie is holding. She looks pointedly at Michelle, “And you! I told you talking to my parents wouldn’t do anything.”

Michelle sighs, but before she can say anything, Y/N adds, “Seriously, I appreciate the lengths you guys would go to do something like this for me. And I’m sorry about the way I’ve been acting these past few weeks. It wasn’t very cool of me. But, a wise man once told me that relationships are a lesson or a blessing.”

Y/N looks at her friends, “You guys are my blessing.”

“And you,” Y/N looks over at Eddie and takes a few steps towards him. She points a finger to the middle of his chest, “Well, I’m still trying to figure out which one you are. But I know now that I can’t choose which one you’ll be. I can only choose to find out. And I do. I want to find out.”

Eddie’s eyes gleam as he looks at Y/N. He could just kiss her, but he can't. There’s still a wall. Sure she’s knocked down a few cinderblocks already, but it's still there.

Before he can even decide, Y/N turns on her heel and walks back to the table where she grabs a bottle of coke, “I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I got some good advice from Eddie’s uncle-”

“You talked to Wayne,” Eddie asks as he places a death grip on his bag of chips, resulting in a pronouncing crackling noise.

Y/N takes a swig from the bottle, “Yeah. You weren’t home, and he was. He ended up having a lot of good advice to give.”

“When did you go over to the trailer?” Eddie asks firmly as he takes steps in Y/N’s direction, unnerved by her casual demeanor.

“This morning. That’s actually where I was coming from before I fell off my-”

“Why didn’t you call?” Eddie asks with shock and frustration.

Y/N scoffs, “Because I wanted to surprise you. And don’t even be mad at me Munson because it looks like you had the same idea.”

Eddie opens his mouth to say something, but closes it. Too many questions whirl around his brain for one to get out. But he knows that she’s right. He can’t get mad at her for having the same idea as him.

“So what did he say,” one of the girls asks.

Eddie looks over from her to Y/N, awaiting the answer to one of his many questions.

“He told me a story about his first love. How they were sort of like Eddie and I.”

Eddie looks at Y/N as if she had just said the same sentence in fluent french. He’s never been one to pry when it comes to his uncle. They had this unspoken rule where the less they knew about certain things, the better.

But Y/N must’ve done something special to make him open up like that. The thought makes even more questions come to mind.

“His was more of a summer love, but talking to him made me realize that I was putting too much pressure on myself and what this relationship could be. And that it doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t know how long it’ll last but for the time that it does, it makes me happy and I’m not hurting anyone, so why should I deny myself.”

“So what are you going to do now?” Michelle asks.

“Well, for one, I have a very important question to ask,” Y/N says before turning to Eddie and reaching forward to grab one of his hands in both of hers.

Y/N looks into his eyes and says, “Eddie, I know I haven’t been very nice to you. I said some things and did some things I’m not proud of. I know it was just because I was scared and angry, but that doesn’t make it okay. And I’m sorry. But if you’ll have me, I’d really like to see what this could be.”

Eddie stares at her for a moment, trying to convince himself this isn’t just a dream and that he needs to say something.

But when he takes a moment too long to respond, Y/N casually turns around to face her friends and say, “And secondly, you all have given me the confidence I need to do what’s right. So now, I’m going to talk to my parents. I’m not sure what I’m going to say. If I'm just going to ask them or tell them, but all I know is, I’m not going to be their puppet anymore. Starting today, I’m gonna start pulling the strings in my own life.”

***

Later that evening, Y/N sweatily stands in the kitchen at her parent’s house, laboring over the stove with a variety of pots and pans in her wake.

Back at Michelle’s house the girls and Eddie helped Y/N come up with a plan to make the grand declaration to her parents.

Y/N was adamant that this was a conversation she needed to have alone. And that when the time was right, she would bring Eddie into the same picture as her parents.

They figured if Y/N buttered them up a bit by doing some extra chores around the house and making dinner, they might be more receptive to her decree.

And by the end of the night, she promised she would call Eddie with the news of how things went and that the girls would all go out to the diner for breakfast tomorrow whether or not it was a celebratory meal or a time to comfort her if things didn’t work out.

So here she was, blasted with the heat of all the burners on and multiple aromas swirling around her nose.

Y/N hoped and even prayed that things would all go well, it was that serious. She braced herself for her parents to be mad or to not understand, but she didn’t know what she would do if they punished her again.

She prayed she wouldn’t have to find out either.

By the time dinner was ready, Y/N’s stomach was clenching and her heart was racing. Her parents were delighted by the surprise, blissfully ignorant to the request Y/N was about to make as they all sat around the table.

Dinner started with compliments by her parents on how delicious the food came out. Y/N just meekly smiled and thanked them, gathering up the courage to ask for what she wanted.

Her parents talked about menial things like their plans for the next day and some of the errands they would have to run. But it all just became noise before Y/N couldn’t take it anymore.

Her silverware clanked against the plate as she loosened her grip, “I have something to say.”

Her parents and sister looked at her blankly. Her parents looked at each other in confusion when Y/N opened her mouth but nothing came out.

“What’s wrong Y/N?”

Y/N looked at the three sets of eyes glaring at her and instantly chugged from her glass of water.

She set the glass down and cleared her throat, “Um, there’s something I wanted to, um, say.”

“Okay,” her mother said earnestly.

“I…I just, um…”

“Just spit it out Y/N,” her sister said before returning to her own plate.

Y/N glared at her before remembering the task at hand.

“I, um, I got an acceptance letter from Purdue in the mail earlier this week. And a waitlist letter from Notre Dame.”

That is not what Y/N meant to say, but for some reason it felt like she needed just a bit more ammunition.

“That’s great honey,” her mom said with a smile.

“Your mother’s right. We’re very proud of you,” her dad added.

“Thanks mom and dad. It’ll still be a while before I hear from U Chicago, but it’s good to have other options till then.”

Her parents nodded. And now, she has them right where she wants them.

“But in the meantime, there’s something I wanted to…”

Ask? Say?

“What is it sweetie?”

Y/N gulps, “I, um, I wanted to talk about, um, the house rule… about boys a-and dating.”

Her dad quirks an eyebrow at her as he brings a forkful of food into his mouth.

“Oh, well, what’s there to talk about?” Her mom asks casually.

“Um, I just wanted to say that I see the logic behind the rule, but, um, would like to counter with the proposition that even though I’m not in college yet, I will be in a few months. I’ve already gotten accepted to one and my grades are still good. And-”

“Y/N, we’ve talked about this,” her dad dismisses.

“I-I know, and I-I’ve learned my lesson but I think I’ve proven that I can be mature and not let boys distract me from my educational goals.”

Y/N’s dad chuckles, “Don’t be so naive, Y/N.”

Y/N’s stomach turns. “B-but I’m not. I-I know I’m capable of handling the demands of both school and a relationship on top of my family, friends, and everything else.”

“School comes first in this house, always. Relationships come and go, but no one can ever take your education away, you know that Y/N,” Y/N’s mom says.

“I know, but why can’t I have both? Why does it have to be one or the other?”

“Y/N this is about establishing priorities. We want you girls to place a high value on your education. For any young woman, it should take high priority over some short lived high school sweetheart.”

“I know. School i-is important. I’ll never lose sight of that. I’m just saying that, yeah, school will always come first, and family comes after that but, don’t you think third or fourth place are up for grabs on the ol’ list of priorities,” Y/N nervously smiles, feeling like she’s some kind of stand up comedian hoping the joke lands.

“Y/N, you know our decision was final. You made a mistake and you learned from it. Now it’s time to move on and focus on graduating,” Y/N’s mom counters.

Y/N presses her lips together and silently fumes in her seat.

It’s not a question about whether she will graduate or not. She’s on track to graduate as third in her class. What gives?!

Y/N’s parents look at her blankly and Y/N turns to her sister, pleading with her eyes to help defend her.

Her sister gives her a blank stare, but she can see something going on behind those eyes. Y/N can’t tell what it is or if it will even break the threshold of their dinner conversation. But she has to keep trying.

She didn’t want to have to resort to this, but she has one last card to play. She’s practiced this speech for a while now, but she never thought she’d have the chance or courage to ever actually deliver it.

“Well, if I’m being honest, I think you should know that I love you both and I care a lot about what you think. But the truth is, for the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling like-like I can’t breathe. Like nothing in life even matters besides getting into UChicago. A-And that’s no way to live.

And I know, there were things I did that weren’t okay, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I went behind your backs. And I’m sorry I broke the rules.

But… But I’m not sorry about my feelings for Eddie. I like him a lot and I’m tired of hiding it. Eddie’s a good person. He makes me happy.”

Just thinking of Eddie makes Y/N’s lips quirk up slightly and she sits up straighter in her chair.

“I-I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I’m well aware of what the consequences might be. I know the likelihood of heartbreak. But I'm willing to take that risk. And I know that longevity may be an issue, but I’m not too concerned about that. Whether this relationship lasts till the time I go to college or not, I think I’ll be okay–”

“Y/N, I know you must–”

“I’m not finished,” Y/N declares, looking her parents square in the eye despite the tremble in her fingers or the red hot fire flowing in the blood in her veins. Instantly she knows she’s set off a bomb in her parents by the look on their faces, but she has to deliver the rest of her speech before it goes off and demolishes everything in their wake.

“A-and I’ve made my decision. I-I’d rather take my chances and take months to recover than to spend years regretting what could have been. I’m determined to explore what this could be. I say this with all the love and respect in the world, but at the very least, I hope you can trust the daughter that you’ve raised. I know I’ve proven time and time again that I have a good head on my shoulders and that I’m on the right track, so I hope this choice doesn’t make you think any differently. Because I’m still the daughter you raised to be trustworthy, responsible, and a good judge of character.”

For a moment, all Y/N’s parents can do is look between each other and her. The smoke coming out of their ears has seemed to fade, so now, Y/N can’t tell if they’re only fuming inside or if the ice coating their hearts is beginning to crack.

The silence continues as her parents ruminate over her proposition. But the silence is threatening to slowly kill any dream Y/N might have had about being with Eddie.

Right when Y/N’s parents are about to say something, Y/N’s sister clears her throat and the attention of everyone around the dinner table turns to her.

“I had a boyfriend in high school,” Y/N’s sister says casually before bringing a forkful of food into her mouth.

Y/N’s mom nearly chokes on her drink and Y/N’s dad bursts into a hearty laughter.

Y/N’s eyes widen as she looks at her sister in awe.

“I’m serious. It was Daniel. We dated for almost two years.”

“Daniel? Your friend Karen’s brother?” Her mom asks irately.

“Why is this the first we’re hearing of it,” her dad asks as he drops his silverware onto his plate.

Y/N’s sister shrugs and briefly makes eye contact with them, “Because I knew you and mom would act just like this. And unlike Y/N, I don’t need your approval to live my life.”

Her parents look from one daughter to the other.

“Did you know about this?” Y/N’s mom asks.

Y/N looks at her sister then at her mom but doesn’t say a word.

Y/N’s mom raises a palm to her face, “Oh, dear God, where have I gone wrong? What did I do to deserve such disobedient daughters.”

Y/N sighs while her sister rolls her eyes.

Her dad softly calls her mom by her name and places a hand on her arm. Not as distraught, but newly concerned by all these skeletons making their way out the closet.

“Mom, please,” her older sister scoffs, “I may not be at UChicago but I’m at least in community college, I don’t do drugs, and I’m not pregnant. Y/N’s on a much better path than I am. I’m pretty sure you’re doing just fine in terms of parenthood.”

Y/N’s mom drags her palm down her face and looks between Y/N and her sister. She looks over at Y/N’s dad who subtly nods and shrugs.

“You’re right,” he says before Y/N’s mom can. “Perhaps your mother and I have been…”

Her dad pauses and looks over at Y/N’s mom, his own pride getting in the way of admitting his faults.

“We’ve been too hard on you girls haven’t we?” Y/N’s mom asks, as though the thought is revolutionary. But Y/N’s just relieved that her parents have come to this conclusion on their own.

Y/N’s eyes widen as she looks between everyone at the table, unsure if she’s dreaming or if the moment is just unfolding at light speed in front of her.

Her mom sighs and her dad grabs her hand.

“We just didn’t want to see you girls have to go through the same struggles your mom and I went through. We thought you'd be better off for it,” her dad says.

“But we didn’t realize how much it was affecting you. We never wanted you to feel like you had to lie or suffer in silence,” her mom adds.

Y/N squeezes the napkin in her hand. There’s no way this is real life. Her parent’s apologizing? Admitting their shortcomings?

Even Y/N’s sister looks at her in concern.

“We swore we’d never be like our own parents, yet here we are,” her dad says in a teasing tone.

Y/N feels a pang of guilt hit her chest, even though none of what her parents just said is her fault.

She always thought that her parents were so strict because that’s just how they are. Parents are supposed to be hard asses. But it never occurred to her that they act that way because of experiences they had in the past. That they had fears and dreams beyond parenthood too.

“It’s that MTV rockstar looking boy you want to date, isn’t it?” Y/N’s mom asks with no hint of disappointment or anger, only wanting to understand.

Y/N wishes she could shrink to the size of a mouse and just crawl in the cupboard, but now is her moment.

Even then, all she can do is meekly nod, but it seems to be enough when her mom says, “Well, if that’s the case, then you’ll need to bring him home so we can properly meet him.”

“We’ll need to see if he’s good enough to date our little girl,” Her dad says and pauses before adding, “But if he can manage to get in our good graces, then we might just see about you two dating.”

What?

Is that what Y/N thinks it is?

Is this her in?

Sure she’ll have to bring Eddie over and he’ll have to meet her parents. Face to face. And make a good impression.

But her parents are theoretically almost okay with her dating Eddie! And somehow that was more than she was expecting.

“Really,” she squeals as she clasps her hands together.

Her parents nod and Y/N practically shoots out of her seat and runs over to give each of her parents a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She yells in their ears as she wraps an arm around each of their necks, pulling them closer to her.

“Slow down, honey,” Y/N’s mom says.

“We’ll have to lay some new ground rules,” Her dad adds.

She squeezes them tight and holds on for a second before letting them go, resulting in a loud and exasperated sigh from both of her parents.

She pulls away and looks between them, “May I be excused from dinner, please?”

Her dad looks at her in confused amusement while her mom also amusedly asks, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I need to make a phone call,” Y/N says cautiously, trying to subdue the excitement bubbling in her stomach. “Pretty please?”

“You can call after dinner okay, missy, we need to discuss new ground rules,” her dad orders.

Y/N pouts and reluctantly returns to her seat. As she finishes the rest of her plate, her parents begin throwing around ideas like how Eddie won’t be allowed upstairs, how they’ll need to meet Eddie’s parents, to which Y/N has to correct them and say they’ll meet his uncle, how her sister will have to chaperone their first few dates, and something about a new curfew.

It’s not music to her ears, but it’s waayyyyy better than a big fat NO.

After dinner, Y/N runs to place her dishes in the sink and zips her way up the stairs and runs to her room. She softly closes the door behind her and practically gets carpet burn from sliding across the floor and over to her nightstand.

She picks up the phone and dials Eddie’s number before flopping onto her bed and sighing as the phone rings.

Eddie picks up on the first ring and frantically answers, “Hello? Y/N?”

“Eddie, baby, it’s me,” she answers in a honey sweet voice

Y/N doesn’t know where that came from. She’s never called Eddie, baby, before. She’s never called anyone that before. Before Eddie, she might have thought it cringey or grounds to throw up on whenever she heard anyone else say it to their significant other.

But, now, it’s like the word was invented for her and Eddie. Like no one was ever anyone’s baby till Eddie and Y/N were.

And if Y/N’s not mistaken, she hears the sound of a muffled groan over the receiver before Eddie’s gruff voice says, “What happened?”

Y/N pauses for a moment, not to give Eddie any further anxiety from the anticipation but to figure out how to describe what just transpired.

“Th-They said yes. They’re letting us date!”

“Fuck! Are you serious? They really said that,” Eddie asks and Y/N can hear the excitement in his voice.

“Yeah, well, on one condition though.”

“What is it,” Eddie asks in alarm.

“They want to meet you.”

“They… what?”

“They want to meet you and get to know you. You know, properly interrogate you to make sure you’re good enough to date me,” Y/N says in a naive attempt at a joke, making fun of her parents words and easing the tensions from the daunting proposition.

But it doesn’t land, and all she hears is silence from the receiver.

“Eddie,” Y/N asks in concern.

“Yeah,” Eddie responds neutrally.

“Doing alright over there?” Y/N asks as she twirls the cord of the phone with her fingers

“Mhm, juuuust trying to figure out how I can spontaneously transform myself into whatever Prince Charming your parents want me to be,” Eddie sarcastically responds.

“Michelle and the girls seemed to do a good enough job of that this morning,” Y/N teases again, but it’s as though she can hear Eddie gulp over the phone.

“Baby, it’s gonna be okay,” Y/N says, surprising herself with how natural it feels to say the term of endearment but also hoping he’ll like it enough that hearing her say the word will help soothe him. “Look, we both know that you’re the perfect guy for me. There’s nothing you need to prove to them, you know that right?”

“Kinda feels like the opposite if we’re being honest here princess,” Eddie says teasingly, hoping it hides the nervousness he’s feeling.

“I know Eddie, but I promise it’s not. My parents just want to know you. I know you, but to them, you’re still a question mark, you know?”

Eddie barks out a laugh which takes away the tension in Y/N’s shoulders.

“And besides, I wouldn’t change a hair on your head. If they have any shit to say, they’ll have to get through me first, okay?”

Eddie makes a noise between a laugh and a sigh before tauntingly saying, “Yeah tough girl? Gonna talk back to your parents for me?”

And sure, the words Eddie says aren’t meant to be menacing but by the way he says them? They are most certainly a threat. And Y/N can feel their impact in the sudden fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Now it’s her turn to audibly gulp over the receiver. “I think my good girl wants to bring her bad boyfriend home, doesn’t she?”

“E-Eddie,” Y/N asks as she clutches the phone in both of her hands, her mind entering a haze. She takes a breath and Eddie can hear the shakiness over the phone.

He hadn’t meant to turn the phone call in this direction but by god is it sweet sweet music to his ears to hear her react this way, just for him.

It’s relieving to know that even after all this time, it didn’t have to take much to know he still stands right where he wants to be.

But as much as he wants to be the biggest tease in the world right now, he knows he has time for that.

He’ll have plenty of time to find out how to make Y/N’s skin crawl in the best possible way or discover just what makes her tick.

Little does he know, he’s giving Y/N plenty of material to report back to the girls over brunch tomorrow.

***

May 3rd, 1986

Y/N looks at herself in the mirror, swiping on a coat of lip gloss on her lips and adjusting the wisps of hair framing her face. She takes one last look, searching for any other imperfections.

Tonight's the night. If she plays her cards right, something very big could happen.

This sort of thing used to frighten her, but for him, she welcomes the possibility. She wants it to happen with him. There’s no one else she’d rather do it with than him. They’ve even gotten close, but it hasn’t happened yet. And it very well could… tonight.

Ding dong.

Y/N hears the front door open and a series of muffled voices.

“Y/N,” her mother calls out from downstairs, “Your date is here.”

Y/N takes a deep breath in and smooths out her puffy light pink gown. The smooth satin above layers of tulle run under her soft fingers.

Y/N smiles at herself and takes one last look around the room, making sure she hasn’t forgotten anything. Her eyes land on her shimmering silver heels set out next to the door and she walks over to put them on.

She leaves the room and slowly descends the stairs, clutching onto the railing so as not to trip and fall. She’s too lost in concentration to focus on the party’s reception of her below.

As she makes the final step, she looks up into a familiar pair of warm brown eyes who look like they’ve just landed on an angel, sent straight from heaven.

Y/N’s eyes meet his and her smile widens from ear to ear.

He’s wearing black jeans and a soft white dress shirt with a black bow tie to match. The ensemble is complete with his signature leather jacket sans jean vest, chain hanging from his hips, combat boots, and silver jewelry adorning his skin.

His hair, as beautiful and long as ever, with wispy bangs covering his forehead, is organized in loose neat curls falling down his back.

“Hi,” Y/N says breathlessly as she takes the final step on the ground floor.

“Hey,” he whispers, simply gleaming at her.

Y/N slowly walks toward him and stands arms length away. She could just kiss him or hug him, but she isn’t quite comfortable doing that sort of thing in front of her parents.

Even though they’ve been dating for almost six months now, Y/N doesn’t think she’ll ever feel comfortable enough to put on a public display of affection in front of her parents.

But for now, the two smile and gaze into each other's eyes until a bright flash and the sound of a snap can be heard from the polaroid, Y/N’s mom is nearly shoving into their faces.

“Agh, mom,” Y/N whines as she brings a hand up and blinks to regain focus from the dizziness of the bright light.

Eddie takes this moment to also snap out of his gaze. “I, uh, I brought you this.”

Eddie holds up a plastic container with a rose the color of her dress.

“Is that a corsage,” Y/N smiles and cocks her head to the side. Her eyes land on the boutonniere placed on the lapel of his jacket, matching the corsage in the box.

She smirks, as if to taunt the freak for going so conformist on her. And sure, it isn’t very metal to be doing the tux and prom thing in front of mommy and daddy, but love has made him do stranger things.

Eddie nods sheepishly, unaware of the subtle pink tint to his cheeks as he shakily reaches for her wrist and places the corsage gently along the soft delicate skin.

Y/N gleams at him, feeling like an absolute princess, “I love it! Thank you, Eddie.”

Eddie sighs and smiles in relief.

“Alright you two,” Y/N’s mom coos from the side, “Let’s get some more pictures.”

Her mom whips out the trustee Polaroid camera and begins snapping a few more photos. The unexpected flash startles them.

“Mom,” Y/N complains.

“Okay, now Eddie, put your arm around Y/N,” Y/N’s mom smiles while her dad supervises from her side.

Eddie awkwardly places his arm around Y/N and the two forcibly smile. The flash nearly blinds them again.

“Ok, another one!”

Y/N and Eddie resume their smile as the flash pops again.

“Okay, mom we gotta go,” Y/N grabs Eddie by the wrist and nearly drags him out the door.

“Wait,” Y/N’s mom calls out and Y/N and Eddie freeze in their spots, hand just about to touch the doorknob.

“Here you go, Eddie,” Y/N’s mom says as she hand’s one of the polaroids to Eddie and smiles at him, “For a night to remember.”

Y/N’s mom hugs Eddie and then turns to hug Y/N. Before she pulls away fully, she raises her thumb to Y/N’s head and does the sign of the cross while saying, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” in Spanish.

“Mom,” Y/N whines as she flushes underneath, knowing her mom only ever does the gesture before any major life event or if she does something risky like when she took the SATs or went off to summer camp for the first time.

“You two be safe out there, okay,” Y/N’s mom pleads.

“Have Y/N home by midnight, you hear,” Y/N’s dad orders and Eddie straightens his posture, nodding profusely.

Eddie opens the front door and ushers Y/N to walk through first.

“Bye you two, have fun,” Y/N’s mom calls from the front door as Y/N and Eddie make their way over to his van.

“But not too much fun,” her dad forcefully adds.

“Bye,” Y/N turns over her shoulder and waves.

Eddie opens the passenger door for her and helps her into the van before closing it and jogging over to the other side.

He puts the key into the ignition and turns it on, making the van roar to life. He’s just about to lean over the edge of his seat to give her a kiss when she gently nudges his shoulder and pushes him away.

She shakes her head and looks over to the open doorway where her parents are waiting for them to drive off, “Not till we’re out of sight.”

“Afraid we might get caught?” Eddie teases her.

Y/N rolls her eyes, “No, it’s just weird. I don’t want them to see me kiss a boy.”

“What about kissing, a man?”

Eddie closes his eyes and leans forward, puckering his lips to a comedic extreme.

“Shut up,” Y/N shoves him away harshly and laughs. “Just get us out of here and then we’ll talk.”

Eddie backs out of the driveway and turns onto the street, pausing to wave to Y/N’s parents who are still waiting in the doorway.

Eddie smiles and leans close to Y/N’s ear to huskily say, “Oh trust me sweetheart, we won’t be doing much talking if I can help it.”

Y/N tenses and her smiles fades, arm frozen mid-wave.

And then Eddie drives off and before they know it, they’ve arrived at the Hawkins High School gym.

Trust a town as small as Hawkins to have an event as big and extravagant as prom to be held in the town’s only high school’s gym.

But as Y/N and Eddie meet up with Y/N’s friends and their dates, they enter the gymnasium and are welcomed by a space absolutely decorated to the nines.

There’s no way this is the same place that’s home to sweaty jockstraps and musty basketballs.

Instead there are dozens of lights strung about the ceiling, twinkling like stars above them, with a disco ball as full as the moon in the center of it all, reflecting light onto the blue and cream colored streamers hung in waves all around them.

Y/N and all her friends' dates run off to get them punch while the girls find a place to sit. They find a table at the edge of the dance floor and gush over how pretty they all look in their dresses or how well their dates, especially Eddie, cleaned up.

When Eddie arrives with a cup for Y/N, he takes a seat next to her and Y/N looks at him as if he hung the moon up in the night sky.

Eddie smiles in confusion as he settles in and wraps an arm around her, “What?”

Y/N smiles and shakes her head. Without warning, she leans forward and presses a loving kiss to his lips. And for the first time that night, she can smell the cologne he’s wearing. She’s used to him smelling like cigarette smoke and irish spring soap, a scent she’s come to love, but something about the cologne ignites something animalistic in her.

When she pulls away, it’s the second time tonight Eddie’s blushing. He lightly chuckles and squeezes the hand placed on her shoulder, “What was that for?”

Y/N leans forward and chastely kisses him again, “Nothing.”

“Feels a little more than just nothing,” Eddie innocently teases, attempting to read the look in her face or gleam in her eyes.

Y/N places a hand on the top of Eddie’s thigh, close to his knee, and gently runs her fingers along the fabric.

Eddie knows whatever it is, she must be feeling good. It took him almost three months to get her to initiate any sort of PDA and even then, she only ever does it first whenever she’s really in the mood, always preferring for him to lead the way.

Y/N shrugs but the grin never leaves her face, “I'm just really happy we’re here. That I get to share this moment with you.”

Eddie almost wants to give her some smug look and tease the hell out of how gushy she’s being right now, but he can’t even properly make fun of her because he feels the exact same way.

So his only natural response is to lean forward and let his lips do the talking, and by talking, they practically give a speech dedicating his devotion to her, even though it means he’s gotten some of her lipstick on him. But it’s okay, he’ll be sure to give her a good amount of hickies later tonight to get even.

Midway through practically making out, the DJ plays Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and Y/N breaks away from the kiss and shrieks.

“I love this song,” Y/N squeals and shoots up from her chair.

Eddie, still lost in the haze of the kiss, looks up at her in confusion. Y/N grabs his hand and drags Eddie to the dance floor.

Eddie stumbles along with her, wondering how the moment got away from him.

As they make their way across the waxed wooden floor, Eddie leans close to Y/N’s ear and yells so she can hear him say, “Uh, I don’t dance.”

“Well, sweetheart, you are tonight,” Y/N smirks back at him as she continues to lead the way to the pit of students smushed together moving their bodies to the beat of the song.

And now he really knows she’s so far gone. This is Y/N’s night now and the last thing he wants to do is get in her way.

As they find a spot on the dance floor with her other friends and their dates, Y/N faces Eddie and starts swaying her body to the rhythm.

“Uh,” Eddie says under his breath but it’s too loud for anyone to hear. He looks at her and forcibly smiles while mechanically trying to mimic her movements. He figures that if he can focus on her, maybe he can forget about the many pairs of eyes staring at him right now.

“You’re too stiff,” Y/N huffs as she places her hands along his biceps and squeezes them.

Eddie tries to loosen his limbs but the apparent lack of alcohol or THC in his system is making itself a problem right about now.

“I told you babe, I don’t dance,” Eddie says apologetically.

“Edward I’ve seen you dance, you just didn’t know it,” Y/N says with attitude. It should be annoying that she’s calling him out like this, but it’s kind of hot when she gets feisty, especially since it doesn’t happen so often.

“Just pretend you’re doing a set with Corroded Coffin. Move your body to the rhythm. Let the music flow through you,” Y/N says as she guides the movement of his arms to the guitar solo at the end of the song.

Eddie starts to loosen up a bit and then the song transitions to “If You Leave” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and that’s when things really click for Eddie.

Y/N loved that Pretty in Pink movie so much, she made Eddie watch it with her in theaters three times. Against his will, he knows the song like the back of his hand. But it’s proving to come in handy right now as he slowly starts to loosen up and match Y/N’s energy as she dances along to the beloved song.

Months ago, he never would’ve expected to see Y/N like this. Back then, he never would have thought it possible for her to be able to just let go and have fun, but he likes to think her ability to do it now is partially his own doing.

Even as “I Melt With You” by Modern English comes on next, Eddie can’t help but laugh and smile as he terribly dances along with Y/N and her friends.

Never in all his years did he think he would ever even go to prom, let alone have fun at it. But Y/N seems to be his lucky charm in that way.

He thrashes around with Y/N as “Blue Monday” by New Order comes on next and the rest of the crowd has been long forgotten at this point.

Y/N does zany silly moves to make Eddie laugh, not even caring what anyone else thinks. And Eddie does the same, knowing there’s only one person he would be willingly looking like an idiot on the dancefloor with.

From “Rio” by Duran Duran to “Come On Eileen” by the Dexys Midnight Runners, Eddie would never admit to any of his friends just how fun it is to dance to stupid Top 40 stuff.

In a way, he’s sort of relieved that none of them came because they’re too young or didn’t have a date. This is a side of him that he isn’t ashamed of, but is much more comfortable showing knowing he won’t be teased.

But another part of him knows he and the boys would absolutely demolish the dance floor without a regard for what anyone thinks. It would have been so much fun to show up to prom with his boys and prove high school didn’t break them.

He hopes that no matter what happens, his younger friends can have the time of their lives like this too. That they can experience more joy than what Eddie’s had over the past six months.

High school was a shit show for him, but it’s ending on a pretty high note. But the night isn’t over just yet.

When the DJ plays “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins, a song that apparently annoys Y/N for some reason, as though it isn’t the same flavor of bubblegum pop as the other songs, at least to Eddie’s ears.

But Y/N tells Eddie she wants to take a break and get some punch so Eddie walks her over to the refreshments table.

The chaperone behind the table, undoubtedly some member of the PTA, smiles at Y/N and hands her the cup of punch.

“Hey Munson,” someone calls over from the other side of Eddie.

Eddie turns in the direction of the voice, leaving enough room for Y/N to see a face that’s familiar but she doesn’t exactly remember why.

“Carver, to what do I owe the pleasure,” Eddie asks with gritted teeth.

Y/N doesn’t know the blond boy or how Eddie knows a guy who would wear a varsity jacket to prom, but the tension in his shoulders and grit to his voice say it’s not for a good reason.

Y/N takes the opportunity to snake her arm around Eddie’s waist and hold on to him, leaning into his side as she gazes at the boy across from them, hoping to comfort him from whatever is unfolding.

The sudden motion catches the boy’s attention and his eyes move from Eddie to Y/N. If Eddie’s not mistaken, Jason’s eyes seem to widen a bit and linger on Y/N for more than he’d like, so instinctively, Eddie wraps his arm tightly around Y/N, pulling her into him even more.

“This your girl,” Jason asks as he juts his chin out in Y/N’s direction.

The motion isn’t threatening but something about it makes Y/N want to crawl out of her skin.

Y/N and Eddie look at each other before looking at Jason.

“Yeah, what’s it to you,” Eddie asks menacingly.

Jason throws up his hands in mock surrender, “Nothing man, she’s just pretty is all.”

Jason continues to oogle a bit longer at Y/N but she can’t even figure out what to say to make him stop.

“How’d a freak like you manage to get a girl like her?” Jason asks with a sense of genuine curiosity. Like their relationship is the big bang theory and he needs to ask questions to make any sense of it.

And then it hits Y/N that she does know him. It’s Jason Carver and she tutored him before basketball season in junior year. He was struggling with physics but would spend half the time flirting with her even though he had a girlfriend on the cheer team. It always made Y/N uncomfortable, no matter how nice it was to hear that she was so smart and pretty.

“Doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out, Jason. But for you, maybe a little tutoring might help,” Y/N says with a smirk.

Eddie looks at her in confusion while Jason looks just about like he’s been caught red-handed, realizing just where he knows Eddie’s girlfriend from. All the embarrassment from her rejection comes back to him in waves.

“Newton doesn’t have any laws of physics to explain it, but I’m sure it can’t be that hard to believe a smart girl with a pretty face could be into such a hunk with a heart of gold like Eddie,” Y/N adds before innocently taking a sip of her punch.

Jason’s jaw drops and is rendered speechless as Y/N smirks at him confidently.

Eddie has so many questions but more than anything he just wants to take Y/N to the back of his van and have his way with her, but there’ll be time for that later. For now, he kisses the top of her head and smirks back at Jason.

The instrumentals to “The Promise” by When In Rome begins playing from the sound system, prompting Y/N to let her fingers drag behind Eddie’s back down to his hand. She holds his hand but walks forward to Jason

“If you’ll excuse me,” She says as she hands the cup to Jason, “I’m gonna go have the time of my life with, the freak, out on the dance floor.”

Jason looks at her as if he’s frightened by any move she makes.

Y/N takes another step and whispers into his ear, “And by the end of the night, he’ll probably take my virginity too. And I don’t know if that’ll make me a freak or not, but all I know is that if you ever have a word to say about Eddie Munson, I can promise you, I will hunt you down and make you regret ever using your tongue against that boy. Am I clear?”

Y/N pulls away slightly, just enough to be within earshot and still look into Jason’s blown out dark blue eyes.

“Say you understand,” She yells at him authoritatively, still close enough to hurt his eardrums.

“I-I I under st-stand,” Jason says as he winces.

“Now apologize to Eddie,” Y/N commands.

“I-I’m sorry man,” Jason blinks nervously.

“Say it like you mean it, Carver. I know you can do better than that,” Y/N goads.

“I-I’m sorry Munson. For everything. Really.”

It’s taking every fiber of Eddie’s being not to bust out laughing at the sight of a flustered Jason Carver. It’s not even like he’s dreamed of this moment either. He wasn’t exactly banking on ever seeing remorse from one of his bullies, but he sees the effort Y/N is putting into getting justice for him and he couldn’t be more head over heels in love with this girl.

Eddie tries to hide his smile and nods but he can’t even bring himself to thank Jason or accept the apology.

Y/N’s the one to thank here. He does so by leaning forward and capturing her lips in his.

Y/N kisses him back before pulling away and saying, “C’mon baby, let’s go dance.”

Y/N takes his hand and leads him back to the dance floor where the DJ has now transitioned the set to play “Hold Me Now” by The Thompson Twins.

Y/N and Eddie join the other couples slow dancing and Eddie is grateful the positioning is hiding the front of his pants. The scene back there kind of awakened something in him.

Y/N wraps her arms around Eddie’s neck as Eddie wraps his arms around her waist before slowly dragging them to her hips and landing on the softness of her behind.

“Goddamnit sweetheart, I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight but I’m fucking obsessed with it,” Eddie groans in Y/N’s ear.

She can feel something hard against her leg and the resulting heat it brings to her cheeks. She nervously giggles, unsure of how to acknowledge his words or his body’s reaction.

Eddie moves his head back to look into Y/N’s soft eyes. Y/N smiles shyly at him and he wants nothing more than to make her smile like that for the rest of his life.

But now that the heat of the moment is over, Eddie’s mind won’t let him get past the thing we’re all wondering: What the hell was that? How does Y/N even know Jason?

So as they slow dance, Y/N explains everything. She even mentions how she remembers Jason teasing Eddie in the cafeteria at lunch. She always knew Jason was a dick, but at the time she never knew Eddie and now that she does, she wanted to do what was right and stand up for him.

“It was fuckin’ hot baby. I’m pretty sure you either made him jizz or piss in his pants. I was trying so hard not to laugh”

Y/N rolls her eyes and smiles, flushed at Eddie’s crass words, but agreeing with them nonetheless.

“I love you Eddie,” Y/N says as she holds him tighter, “And I told you, I won’t let my parents or any high school dickhead get in the way of that.”

Eddie chuckles and holds Y/N tighter against him, firmly squeezing her ass in the process.

Y/N lets out a small yelp in surprise as Eddie smirks at her.

It’s not long before one of the chaperones, Eddie’s English teacher, scolds him and commands the two to be “arm’s length apart.”

But as soon as she’s out of sight, Eddie resumes their position and Y/N lays her head against his chest.

Eddie and Y/N hold each other and sway in silence till the song ends and “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper is played next.

Y/N stiffens slightly and pulls away to look into Eddie’s warm brown eyes.

“What?” Eddie asks in concern.

Y/N lets out a small breath. The first few notes of this song always take her back to when she was grounded for going out with Eddie. The Dark Ages.

She would listen to this song and think about him. She would imagine what it would be like to ever talk to Eddie again. What she would say or how she could ever move forward from the time they spent together.

But in the end, she always had hope that she could have a somewhat happy ending. That with time, things would get better, even if it meant not being with Eddie in the way she wanted.

And then it played on the radio that one day he gave her a ride home. And just like the song said, Y/N was lost but Eddie looked and he did find her. Time after time, Y/N fell but Eddie caught her and waited for her to return home.

Time after time, Y/N never would have thought she could make it to this moment. After all the sleepless nights and headaches and puffy eyes. She can’t believe she’s here with Eddie at prom. They’ll be graduating in a few weeks. And in a few months, she’ll be headed off to Chicago.

“Baby, what’s wrong, why are you crying,” Eddie asks as he cups Y/N’s cheek and wipes away the stray tears slipping down her cheek.

Y/N leans into his touch and closes her eyes as a few more sobs escape her.

“I’m sorry Eddie,” is all she can manage to choke out.

“Don’t be sorry princess. What’s going on?”

“I’m just,” Y/N sniffles, “I’m so happy. I can’t believe I get to be here, with you. It feels like a dream come true. I love you so much, I can’t handle how happy I feel.”

Eddie smiles, feeling that same wave of unbridled emotion wash over him. Now, it wouldn’t be very metal of him to be crying in front of all these people, at prom no less, but when the girl he loves is crying before him because she’s so happy to be with him that it feels like a dream, well he’ll be damned if that isn’t enough to make a grown man cry.

Eddie pulls away slightly and looks Y/N the eye, “Let’s get out of here.”

Y/N pauses for a moment and looks around. Some of her friends have started to leave and a few couples are walking out the gym doors.

Y/N looks down at her wrist and realizes she left her watch at home.

“What do you say, Cinderella, it’s only 9:30,” Eddie adds.

Y/N looks at him and wipes a tear from her cheek and nods.

Eddie wraps his arm around her waist and leads her to the doors of the gymnasium. Before they walk out, Y/N looks over her shoulders and looks at the room one last time.

A night to remember.

And then Eddie whisks her away to his van and the two go for a drive. Eddie puts in a tape and Y/N is sure he must have made it for tonight. It isn’t playing the normal zany stuff he likes. It’s slow and melodic. Borderline sensual but still with that rock edge.

Plus, there’s a bit more Journey and Foreigner than she imagined Eddie would have listened to.

Among the myriad of questions in her mind, “Where are we going,” is the first to come out of Y/N’s mouth.

Eddie briefly looks over at her from the driver's seat as “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner comes on next.

“I thought we might make a pit stop at the trailer,” Eddie says casually as his gaze returns to the road before him. “Wayne’s got the night shift, so it’ll be just us.”

Y/N looks at him nervously. This isn’t the first time she’s gone over to Eddie’s place at night when Wayne wasn’t there. But none of those nights ever had the kind of possibility tonight has.

Before she can even begin to think or overthink the events of the night, Eddie pulls up to the trailer and turns off the ignition, effectively killing the song before it has the chance to reach its prophetic chorus.

Eddie gets out of the car and walks over to open the door for Y/N. He holds his hand out for her to grab as she carefully steps out of the vehicle.

He cautiously leads Y/N to the front door and nervously fumbles with the keys before unlocking the door and holding it open for her to go in first.

Y/N steps in and awkwardly stands in the kitchen, watching as Eddie closes the door and locks it before mechanically taking off his jacket and hanging it on the nearest chair.

He walks over to Y/N and gently caresses the skin of her cheek before leaning forward and kissing her.

Y/N feels stiff against him and he can feel her try to loosen up, but something won’t let her so he pulls away.

“Sorry Eddie, I-”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Eddie reassures her as he runs his hands up and down her arms.

He looks into her eyes and says, “This is just like any other night, okay? I’ll only go as far as you let me.”

Y/N looks away and nods.

Y/N and Eddie hadn’t exactly planned to have sex for the first time on prom night. Neither really acknowledge the possibility in the weeks leading up to it. Eddie has been respectfully going at the pace Y/N is comfortable with, but the tension has been running high.

Y/N wants to and he knows it too. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want it either. But in Eddie’s mind, tonight may be the night, or it may just be another night. If she feels up for it, that’s great, but he doesn’t want her to feel any pressure just because it’s prom night.

“C’mon,” Eddie says as he grabs her hand softly and slowly guides her to his room. He flicks on the light of one of his lamps and motions for her to sit on the bed.

Y/N follows his silent command and watches as he puts in a tape in the sound system in his room. It has the same tape from the car and is now playing “Fluff” by Black Sabbath, one of their favorite songs.

Eddie smiles shyly at Y/N and walks over to her. He kneels on the ground before her and gently takes her left foot in his hand. He slowly undoes the strap of her heel and removes the shoe. He lightly massages her foot and Y/N softly groans.

Eddie smiles and moves on to repeat the process for her right foot.

“Thanks Eddie, my feet have been killing me,” Y/N says appreciatively.

“Anything for my princess, so pretty in pink,” Eddie teases and Y/N blushes.

Eddie rises to his feet and proceeds to undo the bowtie around his neck. He moves down to unbutton the buttons of his dress shirt when Y/N rises to her feet and makes a closed-mouth noise.

He looks at her in confusion but she just waves away his hand and starts undoing the rest of the buttons herself. Her nimble fingers shake as she breathlessly undresses him.

Eddie can sense her nervousness as says, “It’s okay baby, you’re doing great.”

Y/N slightly chuckles and whines, “Eddie, this isn’t…”

This isn’t some marathon race she needs to be cheered on for. It’s just a normal night at Eddie’s trailer. She’s been here hundreds of times. She’s made out with Eddie on his bed hundreds of times before.

Why is tonight any different?

“C’mon, let’s just lay down for a bit and cuddle,” Eddie offers.

Y/N weighs the proposition and decides to accept.

“Should I take off my dress?” She asks as she looks down at the layers of fabric.

Eddie shrugs, “If it’s more comfortable.”

Y/N looks at him and nods. She turns around and asks him if he can undo the zipper. As he does, he can feel shivers run down her spine as the skin of his fingers brush against her back.

The dress pools down to her ankles, revealing her in a matching white lace bra and panties.

Eddie hisses at the view from the back, trying to contain himself knowing it’ll be even better from the front.

“C’mon,” Eddie’s voice cracks as he closes the door to the room and walks over to the bed.

Y/N mechanically mimics him and the two get under the covers. Eddie shimmies off his jeans and moves closer to Y/N. He wraps an arm around her, pulling her close to his side. Y/N snuggles him, but stiffly drapes an arm over his warm and bare stomach.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Eddie asks as he draws small circles into her arm.

“Mhm,” Y/N responds with her cheek pressed against Eddie’s chest.

“What was your favorite part?”

“Seeing you dance,” Y/N giggles.

Eddie scoffs and rolls his eyes even though she can’t see from her vantage point. “I told you sweetheart, this body was not made for dancing.”

“No, but it was so good. I don’t care if you’re a good dancer or not. It was so much fun. All my favorite songs were played. All my favorite people were there. Tonight was perfect,” Y/N says and then shuffles to look up at Eddie.

Tonight has been perfect and it’s not over yet. And as she looks into his eyes, she realizes she has nothing to be afraid of. It wouldn’t be the perfect end to a perfect night without the perfect boy to be a part of it.

So she grins from ear to ear and leans forward to kiss him. Eddie is slightly taken off guard, so it takes him a moment to readjust to her lips, but when he does, it’s like nothing he’s ever felt before. Like he’s kissing her for the first time all over again.

He brings a hand up to cup her cheek and kisses her passionately back. Without breaking the kiss, he gently nudges her to lie back. He rests his forearm against the mattress for leverage and leans over her.

As Y/N lies back on the mattress with her head resting against the pillow, she brings her hands forward to cup Eddie’s cheeks, his soft lips never leaving hers.

Eddie uses his other hand to gently trail from Y/N’s shoulder to her arm, and lowers down to her waist. He moves his touch to her lower back and firmly presses her body against his.

Y/N gasps in the kiss and Eddie smiles, using the moment to slip his tongue past her lips, wanting to taste every bit of her he can.

Y/N whimpers, quickly turning into a puddle of goo at the lightest touch. She lowers one of her hands onto his shoulder and uses the other to slide past his scalp and run through his hair, tightening the hold on particularly pleasurable moments.

Eddie continues to touch along her skin and feels a sense of pride whenever her body reacts to it. The squirms and moans all rev his engine to the point where Y/N can feel him against her.

Without breaking the kiss, she reaches down and touches him, making him groan and fall out of the kiss.

He hovers over her breathlessly, his curls hang in a curtain over her head.

“Hold your horses there princess,” he says in his theatrical D&D voice making her giggle. “We’ll have time for that later, but tonight is about you.”

“I want it all Eddie,” Y/N replies simply. It’s simultaneously a plea and a command. “I want to feel it all with you.”

“Yeah,” Eddie asks incredulously.

Y/N nods underneath him and pulls him in for a chaste kiss.

“If at any moment you ever want to stop, just say the word and-”

“I know,” Y/N smiles at him shyly, grateful that he’s being so careful with her.

“I love you,” Eddie whispers before moving down and kissing her with more passion and fever than he even knew was possible. Y/N returns the kiss in a similar manner, as though she were in a desert and Eddie was her lone source of water.

But the warmth of the soft touches and loving kisses doesn’t nearly compare to the heat of Eddie’s touch as it migrates south. Touching her in places she’d dare not let anyone else go. Pushing buttons only he knows exist. Loving her body the way only he can.

Eddie’s tongue and lips move expertly as he gives her the pleasure he knows she deserves. With Eddie’s head between her thighs, Y/N’s almost certain this must be heaven on earth.

That is until he begins using his fingers and the feeling is just too good, but she knows she wants more. No needs more.

She needs Eddie unlike anything she’s ever needed before.

And as the night progresses to where Y/N and Eddie are joined at every possible place, she knows she’ll never get enough. To feel so full and complete with Eddie like this is a feeling unlike any other.

Eddie’s own body is electric. Red hot blood pumping violently throughout his veins.

He sloppily kisses Y/N between thrusts and Y/N can barely think or breathe. All she can focus on is Eddie and how good he feels and how much she loves him.

Y/N’s arms are wrapped around Eddie’s neck and her legs lock around his hips, holding him closely to her. As though any inch spent apart is too far.

Something primal overcomes both of them as they consummate their love for one another.

With no one around to hear, they cry each other's names out with each rocking motion. The slapping of skin and sounds of haggard breaths fill the air.

It all just feels too good, like unearthly good. Eddie’s never even felt this way before. Like he was just made for loving Y/N.

“It’s okay, let go for me baby,” he coaxes. Y/N is on the verge of tears. The pain and pleasure become all too much for her.

The coil of tension within her snaps. She cries out Eddie’s name in release and soon he’s crying out hers too.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” he whispers into her neck.

Y/N whimpers and shudders under his touch as she sees stars. He rocks her through her pleasure as she comes down.

She breathes heavily and as the sensations slowly subside, she lays down blissed out with Eddie and his heavenly body lying next to her.

After a moment to catch their breaths, Y/N and Eddie turn to face each other. Eddie pulls her body against his. He wraps his arm around her waist to hold her close.

Y/N closes her eyes and smiles in bliss. Eddie places soft kisses on her lips and ends on her forehead.

Y/N hums contentedly and nuzzles her head into his chest.

While trying to catch her breath, Y/N manages to say, “Oh Eddie, that was-that was so good.”

“Yeah? You liked it?”

You run your fingertips along the plane of his shoulder, “Mhm. Did you?”

“Every second of it. You did so well, baby.”

Y/N’s heart flutters at his words. “I love you Eddie.”

“I love you too baby.”

Eddie says he loves Y/N all the time. It’s not like it’s the first time he says it at all. But after what just happened, Y/N feels like it has a whole new meaning. Like he loves her for the first time in a way that is much deeper than any other time he has ever said it before.

She looks over at him and admires his full lips or soft cheeks. She can’t believe she gets to be here with him like this.

Far from her mind are the thoughts or what happened months ago or what will happen months from now.

All she can think about is how happy she is and how much she loves the boy lying next to her.

***

Taglist: @dotslabyrinth @aedicn @fancyghosttrashhero-blog @churchmuffins @urallidjits @delusionalbabe @astrolockley @ebueller @im-julessssss @kimmi-kat @protecteddiemunson4vr @littlestarfighter03 @rosie-posie08 @prestinalove @luvrsbian @tvserie-s-world

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson headcanon #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst ##stranger things fanfic #stranger things s4 #stranger things season 4 #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #urfavstargirl1

142 notes · View notes

nedjsmlfavs · 10 months

Text

Why I Love Ladrien

If I write a fic where the square gets together pre-reveal and I then actually write about them dating instead of skipping straight to the reveal, the side that I’m going to do it for is Ladrien. Here’s why:

It’s the side that lets them share their trauma. Most of Adrien’s struggles come from his civilian life and most of Marinette’s struggles come from being Ladybug. But Chat Noir can’t tell Ladybug about his home life and Marinette can’t tell Adrien about her Ladybug struggles. Only as Adrien and Ladybug can they be fully open about the part of their life where they need the most support.

Ladynoir is on equal footing for my favorite dynamic and its comedic potential skyrockets with Ladrien. There are so many ways to mess with Chat Noir or to give him the time of his life while Ladybug stays totally oblivious. Any Ladrien fic that I write is going to see lots of Ladynoir as a compliment. Ladynoir for the comedy, Ladrien for the fluff (see: Villainous Matchmaking)

The civilian/hero sides of the square have the most potential for identity shenanigans and I live for identity shenanigans. To me, it’s the main appeal of pre-reveal dating.

Their mutual celebrity status puts them on equal footing and allows for a myriad of setups where they get to know each other or even secretly go on a public date without attracting any suspicion. It’s just two famous people talking at an event. Nothing to see here!

The non-Miraculous stories that I write are basically all a ‘friends to lovers’ dynamic with getting together being the climax of the relationship arc, so it’s fun to change things up and write a story where the characters are in love right from the start. You still get the relationship deepening that comes in all romance stories, but doing that while they’re dating instead of having dating being the end is a nice change of pace. Dating stories are rarely all that interesting to me because the tension dies as soon as they start dating, but add in the identity shenanigans, secrets, and ever-present threat of Gabriel and, suddenly, there’s still loads of tension and the dating scenes are now the fluffy, sweet moments to temper the surrounding drama.

I like to get my characters together before putting them through hell so that they can support each other through the angst, building their relationship up through that struggle. Ladrien fics let you do that without having to do all of the hard work of getting the characters to fall in love and get together before you put them through hell, meaning that I can write much shorter stories with a much clearer focus on the struggles over the budding romance.

Ladrien’s fun! It deserves more love! I'd rank it as equal to Ladynoir on my personal preference meter, but it's so under-explored that it holds the strongest draw for me.

(Description for the linked fic: When Chat Noir is tragically unable to attend an event with Ladybug, the mayor calls in a favor from a designer ‘friend’. Now she’s attending in style, on the arm of the hottest male model in Paris. Which would be fine if it weren’t for one, tiny issue: Paris’ favorite domestic terrorist now knows how Ladybug feels about his son. This leads him to his greatest plan yet, using Ladybug’s extremely obvious crush on Adrien Agreste to akumatize Chat Noir.

Come on, you can't tell me that's not fun! Ladrien is comedic gold.)

#love square #ladrien #my writing #miraculous ladybug #I'm just tired of seeing people dis Ladrien #Ladrien defense squad!

85 notes · View notes

mylight-png · 10 months

Note

Sorry to be a bother, but I (mid-conversion) have a request, if you aren't too busy and don't mind.

Could you please reccomend some great fiction books, YA, Adult, other, where the main character just happens to be Jewish? And preferably not made a victim or a villain by the author, written by a jew would be even better.

Thanks for your consideration:)

Omg yes absolutely yes. When The Angels Left The Old Country is absolutely amazing. It's so completely Jewish that I honestly feel like it'd be inseparable from Judaism. If one is to take everything Jewish out of that book then that book cannot exist anymore. The writing and representation is absolutely incredible. It does have some antisemitism portrayed in it due to the historical setting of the story, but it isn't the main focus of the book.

Black Bird Blue Road is also really really centered on Judaism, also to the point where the book couldn't exist without it. It's definitely meant for a younger audience, but even so it is an absolutely fantastic book that I believe can be enjoyed by anyone.

Anya And The Dragon was by far one of my favorite books by a Jewish author that I've read. It's set in imperial Russia, so there is also some antisemitism, but it isn't the center of the story. This book is significantly less centered on Judaism, but even so the author does not let the reader forget that the protagonist is Jewish. There's even a scene where the protag is at an event with food and ends up barely eating anything because nothing was kosher, which I'd honestly never seen addressed in a book before. While both of the previous books were written about Judaism in big ways, this book (and its sequel) were focused on the seemingly smaller things that still ended up being big things. It is also worth noting that this book had a strong focus on Russian folklore and I'm not sure if some references to it would make sense to those who are unfamiliar with it, but those details would seem like interesting bits of world building anyway, so don't let that dissuade you from reading it!!

What I Like About You is definitely a book I'd recommend. It's solidly in the YA category, as opposed to the previous two. The protagonist is Jewish, but part of the book is her connecting with Judaism a bit more. If I remember correctly, antisemitism isn't really addressed in this book, but there are representations of panic attacks and anxiety about dying, so if those may be an issue then this is a book to skip. The book is centered on romance, and I have read it like five times. There's also representation of very observant Jewish characters, as well as mixed Jewish characters, so the protag isn't the only Jewish character.

As If On Cue is so so good. It's by the same author as the previous recommendation and it does have a scene or two where antisemitism I'd addressed, but it is done so well. Both protagonist and love interest are Jewish, but not very observant. Even so, the author portrays how their Jewishness affects how they interact with the world in some parts of the books. This book is the ultimate rivals to lovers book and I highly recommend.

There are a few other books with Jewish protagonists that I could recommend, but I think these are the best ones that I've read. All of them are written by Jewish authors and are amazingly written.

This was such a great question to get though omg, I love books so much. Books are like most of my personality. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to rant about Jewish books!!

#jewish #judaism #jumblr #jew #opinion #jewish joy #wholesome #books #reading #ya books

136 notes · View notes

tgammsideblog · 9 months

Text

Consequences of obsession with shipping (Or why Tgamm fandom doing shipping from the start was a mistake)

So, i think this is something that needed to be addressed for a while now. Some of you probably aren't surprised for me to write a post about this since you have noticed this problem ages ago.

Disclaimer: What i'm going to talk about in here isn't against people who like shipping or against ships like Molly x Libby or Molly x Andrea. I'm fine with those ships, i even have rebloggued fanart of those myself in the past. What this is about is how far some people have taken these shipping thing in the fandom, even when the creators have clarified multiple times that some things weren't going to turn out as people expected them to be.

So, shipping, pairing up two characters or more, usually around the same age, because they have good chemistry together or people want to see how they would interact. At times people do things called ¨crack ships¨, which two characters that have no chemistry whatsoever being paired up together for the sake of the funnies.

Shipping exists in almost every fandom, is normal and the rule for it to exist. It isn't surprising to see that some ships exist in Tgamm fandom because of this too. That's all fine now. The problem is how much emphasis some parts of the Tgamm fandom have gave to shipping (mainly twitter and tiktok) to the point this brought problems to the fandom, which i'm going to talk now.

Some backstory

When Tgamm premiere was back on October 1st of 2021, around two years ago, people were going nuts over shipping between Molly with Libby or Andrea. It wasn't terrible but people were giving too much focus to that instead of talking about the characters or the themes of the show. It got so far that one of the creators, Bob Roth, had to intervene and clarify on twitter that people were looking too much into it and that, and i quote: ¨the internet has piled heaps of expectations on Molly based on very little data¨ and that ¨I think the best way to enjoy the show is to watch without preconceived notions and let it unfold naturally.¨

Source: https://twitter.com/automaticgravy/status/1444708477520072705

Sections of the fandom were giving too much emphasis on shipping in a show that barely had any romance at that point and it was mainly about the friendship-relationship between the two main characters Molly and Scratch. It was frustrating for people like me who were just trying to enjoy the show for what it was and what it was doing that instead of if a x ship became canon or not.

In a way i think this obsession with shipping really hurt the fandom and still has effect on it today was in how Scratch was perceived and analyzed as a character by the fandom and outside the fandom in general.

Scratch is one of the most complex characters in the show and one that changes the most from the first episode to now, in the second season (and still changing). In any other fandom Scratch would be a very popular character because of this, and yet, somehow in this fandom there are parts of it that seem to ignore his characterization and complexity, even when a good part of the story revolves around him and his growth.

Now, while there could be other factors that play a role in this, such as Scratch being a non-human character, or the younger audience relating more to the teen characters, i think it is hard for me to ignore that shipping had an impact in the way people view his character and the way talk about him. Because those who have watched the show without getting into shipping that much really like and appreciate his character. And they appreciate the show for what it does and the messages it gives.

After the creators clarified what their intentions with the characters were, the fandom seemed to calm down a bit and over time people started to appreciate the show more for its characters arcs, humor, themes and nice continuity for a slice of life show. All seemed to be going okay after season 1.

...Until some trolls around August-October 2022 leaked some footage from Season 2 introducing the Chens as characters, spoiling an important surprise for some fans and revealing some scenes of Molly crushing on the new boy character: Ollie Chen.

This scenes were clearly leaked with the purpose to start drama in the fandom, because things like this are what get fans too invested in shipping riled up. And that's what happened. Some fans got really mad over what was Molly having an innocent crush on a boy from her age. Something very normal for a girl of her age to have.

Months before the Season 2 premiere ¨The New (Para) Normal¨, some tiktok fans and parts of twitter (i assume teenagers) were creating accounts with the sole purpose to hate on Ollie's character way before they could see how the show was going to develop his character or was introduced on screen. Let me repeat: This was happening months before Season 2 premiere, some sections of the fandom were throwing shit to Ollie for no other reason than ¨interfering¨ with their ships (which no one was stopping them for shipping them even if it wasn't canon). Not to mention that the creators have clarified that some things weren't going to happen as people expected them to be, a statement that seemed to be ignored by some fans regardless.

I won't deny that some Ollie Chen fans or Mollie (Molly x Ollie) fans can't be toxic as well. I'm sure there is more than one example of Mollie shippers that can be annoying or start drama. The thing is, a good chunk of this is a consequence of certain parts of the fandom hating on a character and ship months before the Season 2 premiere. Of course this is going to lead to fans who are just trying to enjoy the show for what it is getting tired and angry of this shipping drama. I'm not saying that Mollie fans being toxic towards other fans is correct, what i'm saying is that i understand why that happened and perhaps it would have been avoided if fans had acted more normal about shipping.

Jump to April 2023, Season 2 premiere and the episode ¨I Wanna Dance with Some-Ollie¨ airing. In this episode has Molly and Scratch clashing over Molly having a crush on Ollie, with Scratch acting rather controlling of Molly (for personal issues he has) and Molly letting herself being too ¨blinded¨ by her crush on Ollie.

It's an episode that it is not hard to see where the two characters come from when you analyse it: Molly just wants to be with someone she really likes, has a lot in common with and she is struggling with all these feelings at a very young age. She also believes that Ollie can change and let go of his views among other things. Scratch has a reason to dislike Ollie because he is a ghosthunter and he suffers from some abandonment issues and is afraid of losing Molly as a friend in the episode.

The two have an ugly argument but they don't take long to make up, they both apologize to each other and Molly decides to avoid Ollie for the moment because it is too dangerous for Scratch, thus ending the ¨romance arc¨ between Ollie and Molly.

Despite Molly and Scratch making up at the end of episode, some people decided to start drama over this and call Molly a ¨horrible friend¨ among other things for... acting like a teenager would do at her age, making rushed decisions and not thinking straight. Something that Molly has been shown to be in previous episodes like ¨Ready, Set, Snow!¨. Of course, this discourse had to do with shipping again. Some people realized that it was very unnecessary since the problem was solved in the same episode it took place, with Molly ending her relationship with Ollie for that moment.

Eventually Ollie gave up his views against ghosts, apologized for his actions and later joined the Ghost Friends team to help other ghosts instead of capturing them. In some of the latest episodes he has been seen hanging out with Molly in more friendly way than romantic terms and both seem to be good friends with feelings for each other. I have talked about Ollie's character arc in other posts so i don't feel like repeating what i have already said again in here to not make this post too long.

Present Day, Present Time

Now most people (at least from what i have seen on Tumblr and Discord) seem to A) Like Ollie as a character or are okay with him or B) Are neutral about him and are fine with others liking him as long as they are respectful of their opinions

While the fandom in some ways appears to have grown past that whole shipping drama, there are still fans that everyone once in a while push their headcanons on other people and came up with things that aren't true about the show. I don't want to give names, but i know that one of my mutuals was harassed for posting some Mollie fanart she made a while ago. The user kept insisting how this artist was being ¨homophobic¨ among other things for... making fanart of a canon ship. To be fair, this user clearly had some issues but it is an example of something that still happens nowadays.

I'm going to be honest, at this point i don't consider people like this mentioned user ¨real fans¨ since they don't seem to even watch the show at all and only care about pushing their ships unto other people. They don't seem to care about what the show is trying to say or the way it is written. Again, it has nothing to do with them disliking Ollie or Mollie, that's fine by me. My issue is when they ignore everything else about the show and very likely don't watch it and then want to push their opinions on people who do watch it. These are people i don't want to be associated with and would rather avoid them instead.

TLDR: Leaks suck and people should try enjoying shows without getting too obsessed over shipping because it can make them ignore everything else the show is trying to tell and turn a fandom toxic in some ways. Enjoy shows for what they do and judge them based on that.

#the ghost and molly mcgee #tgamm #tgamm season 2 #tgamm scratch #tgamm fandom #ollie chen #molly mcgee #mollie #scratch mcgee

78 notes · View notes

thevindicativevordan · 2 months

Note

MAWS getting a comic series? didn’t see that coming

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

Josie Campbell is writing and since she's the head writer for MAWS this should have no problem capturing the elements that made the show great. Pablo M. Collar on art, don't know him but long as he isn't too big a departure from the style of the series, I'm sure he'll do a fine job.

In the new comics series, Clark Kent is spending Christmas alone in Metropolis when he gets a tip about a monster in the sewer that absorbs anything it touches, and investigates the mystery with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

Campbell says this aims to bridge the gaps between S1 and S2 with material they didn't have space for in S1. From the synopsis it sounds like we're getting another take on Parasite? Sure sounds like him, maybe this will be a more traditional Parasite to contrast with Ivo. My preferences for this series is that we get some of the Superman villains the show won't have room/space to use, more expansion on the Clark/Jimmy friendship since the Clois romance is the main focus of the show, and more love for the Daily Planet crew. MAWS has such a fantastic take on Perry, Steve, Cat, and Ronnie that I want to see more of them! Steve got a great showcasing in S1, if they don't have enough time/space for the rest in S2, then flesh one of the other Planet reporters out here.

Oh and if you must have the other DC heroes show up - do it here. The Batman Adventures comics introduced a non-canon long haired Superman, this can do the same for a MAWS Batman or (my preference) Wonder Woman. You can use them here without ever having to worry about being beholden to the comics if people don't dig the take. Also I don't want them to ever appear in the show (ok maybe in S5 they could appear), hopefully letting the weirdos who expect a Batman cameo in everything get a cameo here will shut them up.

#my adventures with superman #josie campbell #pablo m collar

35 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

holdupnoyoudidntbowbow

Who got the power

jeidafei

Jeida's Gray World

bringskeletonsintoyourworld

Bring Color Into Your World

ask-stellanoctis

Ask Stella

lukeschofieldphoto