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steddieunderdogfics · 4 months

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This week's writer's spotlight feature is: @rindecision! With forty-two works on Ao3 in the Stranger Things fandom, they've written thirty-one (!) works with the Steddie ship tag!

Nominated by @skjachukson, they recommend the following works by rindecision:

You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid

Nectar

Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire

From Hell and Back

Rindecision has been a great friend throughout the Steddie holiday exchange, and their writing is just so fantastic. - @skjachukson

Below the cut, @rindecision answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

It started when my partner asked me to. I’ve always loved writing, but I never got into fanfics until they asked me to write a specific type of story that led to the creation of The Devil of Hawkins. From there it was a slippery slope!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

Due to ADHD and the corresponding comprehension issues, I rarely read. Not just fics, but anything really. Although, I do personally enjoy whatever the sneaking around trope is. The characters being intimate in places or situations where they shouldn’t be.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

So far I’ve found that I enjoy FWB to Lovers with Steddie. Most of my fics tend to revolve around that.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

I’m currently enjoying ‘I Think I Could Have Been Someone’ by @madaboutmunson

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I’m new to fandoms so honestly I don’t really know a lot of tropes by name, but I have a long list of fics I want to write at some point. I have a ‘Through The Ages’ Steddie series in mind that I hope to do at some point.

What is your writing process like?

Harrowing. It’s honestly pretty complex as I’m using writing fanfics as a means to improve as a writer in general so I can be more confident when I get around to my originals. But the short version is: Rough Draft -> Proof Read 1 -> Beta Proof -> Proof Read 2 -> Grammar Edit -> Text-To-Speech Edit -> Final Beta Proof.

Do you have any writing quirks?

Probably, lol. I try to keep my writing concise and leave little up to the imagination. The partner that requested I write fanfics has aphantasia (lack of imagination) and they read everything I write, so I want them to be able to enjoy it just as much as anyone else.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I’m kind of chaotic on this one. It depends on the fic to be honest. So far, I’ve found I prefer posting ongoing fics without a schedule that I just post a chapter on as soon as I’m done editing it, whenever that happens to be. Other than the ‘You Know Where to Find Me’ series, the only fics I’ve posted on a schedule have been event fics and it’s been a bit more stressful than I expected it to be.

Which fic are you most proud of?

That would have to be my ‘You Know Where to Find Me’ series. Particularly the first one: ‘Valentines ‘85’

How did you get the idea for You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid?

I needed something powerful between ‘Independence Day’ and ‘First Day of School’ but couldn’t think of anything that would work. @stardust-walker helped me work out the details. That entry genuinely wouldn’t exist without their help.

When writing Nectar, what was something you didn’t expect?

Managing to stay under the 20k word limit. 😅

What inspired Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire?

A Twitter post about mechanic Steve in cut-off shorts.

What was your favorite part to write from From Hell and Back?

That’s a hard one. I don’t think I have a singular part that I liked the most, but I really enjoyed being able to explore the logistics and lore around Eddie being a shapeshifting demon. In and out of Steve’s bedroom.

How do/did you feel writing Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire?

I was surprised by the reception it got, and I can’t wait to get back to writing it as soon as I’m done with the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang

What was the most difficult part of writing You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid?

The time limit. I had 2 weeks to write and edit nearly 30k words. It made me hit burnout HARD, but I got it back pretty quickly.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I think that would have to be the first kiss in The Devil of Hawkins. It was also the first Steddie kiss I ever wrote. 🤍

“You aren’t stopping me, Harrington.” Eddie’s lips barely grazed over Steve’s as he spoke. “I know,” Steve squeaked. The feeling of Steve’s lips plucking his like a guitar pick was more than he could handle. He leaned forward, finalizing the kiss. They both let out a small groan. Eddie placed his other hand on the back of Steve’s neck, holding his head carefully, yet firmly. Eddie pulled away for a moment and looked at Steve; there was a look of longing on his face. An expression that Eddie was hoping for. He faintly smiled before pushing Steve’s lips to his own, plunging his tongue between them. He could feel Steve tense below him before relaxing into it.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

‘You Know Where to Find Me’ will be coming to a close in March, but there will be at least 5 more entries to it. I will also be posting my entry for the STRBB in March. I hope after those are done I can jump back into my ongoings.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that’s read my work, and a platonic hug and kiss for those who have gone out of their way to leave comments or reblog them. It means the world to me 🤍🖤

Thank you to our author, @rindecision and our nominator, @skjachukson! See more of @rindecision's work featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer's Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

#steddie fic recs #steddie #steddie writers #writer's spotlight #rindecision #steddieunderdogfics #steve x eddie #steddie fics #steve harrington #eddie munson

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cressthebest · 8 days

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Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 15

chapter 26: (check tags for triggers)

1. james’ stab wound will heal, but of course he’s gonna have to use a cane for the rest of his life. my poor darling. but also! CHARACTERS WITH DISABILITIES THAT WONT BE ERASED!!! HELL YEAH!

2. this nurse is pissing me off. sirius is asking if james and reg are gonna be okay, and all she can talk about it appearances and scars. not if they’ll be okay

3. sirius and reg are reunited. thank god. this is what the world needs

4. “"I love you. You're my brother; of course I love you. Always have, always will, and nothing—absolutely nothing in this world could ever change that, do you hear me? You're enough for me, and I love you. Never, never fucking doubt that."” AHHHHHHHHHHHHH reg needed to hear that so bad, and james needed to say it so bad

5. 😧😟 reg is vomitting blood. yikes. wow. that’s yikes. it’s not even HIS BLOOD that he’s vomiting. and i wanna know who’s blood filled that river. i want to know who was killed to make blood for that river

6. “”It's fine. I didn't even like this shirt.” (Sirius really liked this shirt.)” 😭😭

7. 😊 siblings! sirius wipes reg’s face, and reg threatens to vomit on him again

8. reg questioning if he actually made it out. that breaks both mine and sirius’ heart. “"I—I thought it made sense, because why would I have scars if I was dead?””

9. reg breaking down and sobbing to his brother. wow. i- wow

10. gosh, remus and sirius are already like a married couple. i love them

11. regulus would just wake up and ask for james. that hurts. in no way was my experience any where near as bad, but i know it must suck to wake up, calling for someone, and them not to be there. when i woke up from wisdom tooth surgery, i called out for my mom many times, and the nurses jsut told me to be quiet, and i can’t see her. i was so distressed that i cried. my pain is not anywhere like james or reg’s but i know that it sucks.

12. sobbing. reg needs to shower, but doesn’t want to get in the water. he’s scared of the water. like wow

13. god, james wakes up and starts fighting people. he never should have had to go through that.

14. james is begging to see regulus, and regulus begged to NOT see james. idk how zar could have hurt me any more, but here we are

15. james and sirius have matching scars! that’s horrific! but! they’re matching!

16. sirius’ words before james went into the arena. we get to know them. and it’s both healing to know the memory, but also hurts like a motherfucking truck

17. sirius asking for remus to kiss him! consent!

18. shit. remus realized he loved sirius. like. loved him. wolfstar better be granted happiness in this universe

19. authors end note: “you think regulus is unhinged? sirius is so, so much worse 😳”

chapter 27:

1. god, regulus needs to take a shower. he must STINK. but also, i do not blame him for not wanting to

2. i appreciate remus’ honestly. he will not dance around the point with reg, and honestly, that’s what he needs

3. oh my god. is remus gonna get reg to take a bath? honestly, if anyone could do it, it would be remus. nobody else could do it

4. remus sharing the petty hallow drama 😭😭

5. james and sirius friendship is all i need in this life

6. oh wow. sirius is hurt that james never told him about his crush on regulus. not that james likes regulus. i love when fics do that instead of sirius being angry

7. i love that it’s no issue for james and sirius to share a bed. they need comfort. they share. that’s that.

8. sirius not letting james have a drink cause he knows it’s a slippery slope >>>>>>

9. ✨remus lupin✨

10. 😧 reg but sirius as a reflex from the arena. and immediately apologized. he’s never hit sirius before. and wow. that-

11. sirius is admitting something he never even told james. that he accidentally hit effie. and 😧😧😧

12. AWWWW REMUS CALLED JAMES SWEETHEART

13. honorable mention for all pandora did in this chapter. she is a lifesaver, she is a queen, she is a goddess, and she deserves so much

#marauders #regulus black #james potter #fanfic #jegulus #sirius black #tw vomit #vomiting #cw vomit #tw blood #remus lupin #wolfstar #pandora rosier #pandora lovegood #crimson rivers

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senkusphone · 6 months

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Dr. Stone chapter 1D Trivia post

Spoilers ahead

We knew there was a slippery slope but we didn't know which one it was.

First things first, as we saw, Kaseki was not dead after all, and neither was Francois.

This clears things from chapter 232.5 (Dr. Stone Terraforming) where Kaseki was not shown at all, and although Francois was shown to be at the plane at the moment of the crash, they were never shown to be rescued.

We do get a glimpse at Senku throughout his lifetime (hypothetically at least). The pictured time machine, just like the large one they are building, features the telltale disk from the movie "The time machine" (duh) from 1960, based on a novel by H.G. Wells, written in 1895.

We also see him using a bunch of yagi antennas again, as well as a small satellite dish, all pointed in different directions in his homebrew setup, perhaps in an attempt to catch the signal regardless of which direction it's coming from. A concern I've heard is why would Byakuya contact Senku's future attempt but not the one from his childhood, and the answer likely boils down to the technology. As Xeno said they used a specialized detector to spot tiny bursts of petrification beam

I am not sure what such a detector might entail, but since the petri beam involves a flash of light, perhaps something like a photomultiplier tube could do it, as they can detect individual photons

The Tokyo Sky Tree is a radio tower, housing a restaurant and an observation deck, it is also the tallest manmade structure in Japan with a height of 634 meters, or 532.7 times the canon height of Suika in chapter 178.

Here it looks like they've drawn the wrong design for the medusa capsule, this one has a speaker on the inside like the original that was sent to the moon, whereas once whyman was discovered, they changed the design to one with a small antenna in its place, and a speaker/microphone on the outside for them to communicate.

This is what I feel like in university

Yes we are

next up, energy

1.21 Exawatts has no basis I know of other than being a reference to the 1.21 Gigawatts used by the time machine from Back to the Future. 1 exawatt = 1000000000 gigawatts, so I guess Dr. Brown's machine was actually very fuel efficient.

The (exa)watt is technically not a unit of energy but rather of the rate of energy transfer (or how fast energy's being delivered in layman's terms).

I assume he means (exa) watt-hours, a multiple of the watt-hour, which is an energy unit handy for working with electricity calculations. This amount of energy is equivalent to a bit shy of 900000 megatons of TNT. However, if you could capture 100% of the sun's output (and I mean all of it, a la dyson sphere, not just what hits the earth, and with 100% efficiency) and store it, you could collect that amount of energy in just under 30 seconds. This amount is also probably larger than the consumption of humanity over the last 60 years. It is in fact larger than the energy consumed wordwide between 1800 and 2010 by a factor of about two, going from adding and converting the data here.

https://www.encyclopedie-energie.org/en/world-energy-consumption-1800-2000-results/

Helium 3 is an isotope of helium with a nucleus made of 2 protons and 1 neutron (unlike normal helium which consists of 2 and 2 of each).

Because it's a very light gas, it tends to float away from the earth and get swept off into space much like regular helium does, and it is believed that larger amounts of it will be available on the moon, where it is formed naturally in a slow but steady supply when natural lithium is bombarded with neutrons from cosmic rays. Helium 3 can theoretically function as fuel in a fusion reactor, having the advantage that it does not release neutrons in the reaction, meaning it does not bombard other materials inside the reactor making them radioactive (and He-3 is not radioactive itself either).

The big issues are its low availability and the fact that a reactor for this fuel would need even higher temperatures than the reactors we are experimenting with today, and we are barely starting. On that note, Tsukasa eating chip

These robots are very strange, they walk on their claws, only having wheels at the back and carrying what looks a lot like an old time minecart. If anyone knows what the name Johnny 7 might be referring to, let me know. So far I can see that there was a sentient robot named Johnny 5 in the 1986 film Short Circuit, which looked like this.

I could also note that the robots have "Battery A" and "Battery B" noted on them.

It might just be a coincidence, but I like to think it might be a nod to an early project in the series, the cellphone.

The cellphone had two battery packs, the lead acid pack to run the vacuum tube filament, and Gen's manganese battery pack, which ran the tube anode. Historically these two battery packs were designated "A" and "B".

For the record this is also the reason you can buy AAA, AA, C, and D size cells, but no B batteries. Those batteries used to exist, but they don't anymore, since the equipment they powered is long obsolete. Next up, Chrome has a flashback to Ruri's flashback.

Kirisame's headpiece has reverted to the seldom seen spiral horn version, she is most typically seen with the one shaped like cat ears.

Next up:

No, I will not apologise

This does not seem to be the same restaurant mentioned in chapter 43, though I guess it could have changed, since Senku seems older (might it be the restaurant in the sky tree?)

Also Senku puts on Byakuya's coat that was on the back of his chair.

Speaking of chapter 43...

Ukyo is not well

It's no longer Nanami Corp, it's just Ryusui

To conclude, my take on what is happening

It's been hinted multiple times that we may see the involvement of alternate timelines, which comes as an answer to the occurence of a paradox if Senku were to travel back in time or even just contact himself. The title of the chapter comes to echo this. Higher dimensions have been a bit of a popular topic lately with people making games in four dimensions, etcetera. This however is not that by the looks of it, the fourth dimension mentioned would be an additional time dimension, which can be interpreted as the existence of convergent or divergent timelines. One of the less obvious things that remain to be seen is how Byakuya (or someone pretending to be him) knew when and where to contact someone in a different timeline. We also don't know where in time they are located. It is assumed at first that the incoming message is from the future but if we are dealing with a parallel universe it may as well be coming from the past or even be coming in in "real time" (as if such concepts of relative time held up in multidimensional time).

Suika cute pose

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Recent Read Manga Recommendation Round Up (plus anime!) - Part 3

Manga/anime I’ve been enjoying recently! Links to part 1 and part 2.

Twitter link to this post here.

~Links to my other manga posts~ My personal favs/ones I super enjoyed will have a ✨ on them :)

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

✨GANGSTA. by Kohske

(8 volumes + chapters released past vol.8, hiatus)

Available in English

Please check out my dedicated post I linked for this series. I worked super hard on it!

If you take one recommendation from this list, let it be GANGSTA. I’m begging… This series is going in my all-time favs. I have a whole “Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out” section in my dedicated post, so definitely take a look at that! But in short: Do you enjoy great character writing? A diverse, adult cast featuring different races and disability rep (deaf MC)? A gritty setting? A FOUND FAMILY OF DORKS?

I'm obsessed and I'm making it my mission to take as many of you down with me as possible...

TIME TRAVEL, SUPERNATURAL

Link Click directed by Li Haoling

(24 Episodes - Season 2 Coming Soon)

Link Click is a donghua from Studio LAN and streamed on Bilibili — the Chinese streaming service that I do some subs for, if you're unfamiliar with them — as well as Funimation. I enjoyed the art, animation, and atmosphere. The premise is that two guys working at a print shop time travel through photos to help their clients. And who doesn't love a trio of kids with a big-hearted jokester, the quiet, mature one, and a feisty girl who reins them in? I think this is my first donghua and I enjoyed it!

Plus, the opening and ending themes are pretty slick ->

youtube

Season 1 Opening Theme - Adding it to the playlist.

MECH, POLITICAL, SCHOOL

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury by Yatate Hajime

(12 Episodes + Prologue - Season 2 currently airing)

Let me tell you about me and Gundam.

I used to work at a translation company in Tokyo where I translated some Gundam figure commercials/interviews (which are currently privated on Youtube, unfortunately) amongst other things. I'm telling you guys, every time I walked into the office and saw an email from Bandai/TAMASHII NATIONS with a new Gundam translation request in my inbox, I would cry a lot little inside. I had never watched anything Gundam and didn't know what the heck was going on in the stuff I had to translate. There was this one interview with a figure designer where I was like, "Oh, you have to be a Gundam fan to understand what the heck he's talking about..." I remember me, another translator, and our editor staring at our screens exasperated. We managed, though. Big shoutout to the Gundam Wiki — not that I understood anything from it LOL.

If you told me back then that I would enjoy a Gundam thing, I would've laughed — but here I am, enjoying a Gundam thing. I'm not into mechs, even though I think robots/robot-adjacent stuff + space are cool. Still, I could never get into mechs for some reason. So if you're like me, try The Witch from Mercury. Our MCs are these two girls who end up engaged to each other in a rather hilarious way imo, with a colorful cast of supporting characters. The political themes I hear Gundam is known for really hooked me, and I LOVE how the kids handle a situation they end up in. I won't say more so as not to spoil it, but I think this is a great entry point for Gundam newbies!

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Season 1 Opening Theme - Am I turning into a Gundam fan? Wild. Who would've thought the day would come? What if I start getting into Gunpla? A slippery slope, really.

SLICE OF LIFE, SCHOOL

✨Skip and Loafer by Takamatsu Misaki

(8 volumes, ongoing) + Season 1 Anime

Available in English

I remember seeing volume one of this series at the bookstore I frequented in Ikebukuro Station when it had just come out. Sooooo many times, I almost picked it up over the years. But I always passed because I was swamped with work, school, and current reads.

Now, I have a little more time on my hands, and the new anime adaptation has so much love put into it! A great coming-of-age story following young Mitsumi as she moves to the big city for school. This series is so wholesome, it's cavity-inducing.

youtube

This opening is the most delightful thing~

SLICE OF LIFE

Hotel Metsäpeuraan e Youkoso by Fukuta Seira

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the mountains of Finland is a hotel run by two men. One day they see a young man outside in a snowstorm, and bring him inside. The men can tell that teenager Jun seems to have a heavy past and offer him a job and place to stay at the hotel.

Super cute, wholesome, and has great found family vibes!

SLICE OF LIFE, FOOD

Samenai Machi no Kisaten by Hasha

(2 volumes, complete)

JP only

A chill read with a touch of melancholy. At the end of each chapter is a recipe! The art is very cute and pleasing.

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI

✨Fool Night by Yasuda Kasumi

(6 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the future, the sky is blacked out, not allowing any sun through. To survive, technology has been developed to turn people into plants. I'm in love with the art and atmosphere of this series. I can't wait to read more!

ROMANCE

Gakusou by Tsurimaki Nodoka

(oneshot)

JP only

This is a super short one-chapter oneshot. Cute little read with lovely art! By the same author as 聖血の海獣/Seiketsu no Kemono, a 3-volume manga I've been meaning to read.

LGBTQ+, DRAMA, COMEDY

To Strip The Flesh by Tooda Oto

(oneshot/anthology)

Available in English

An anthology that has some funny stories, and some that made me feel too seen...

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI, CRIME, ACTION, POLITICAL

✨PSYCHO-PASS by Urobuchi Gen

Check anilist for all content because the seasons, movies, manga, light novels, and watch order are a little all over the place.

The Psycho-Pass: Inspector Shinya Kogami manga is available in English from publisher Dark Horse.

Set in the future, Japan has implemented a surveillance state that measures people's psyche and flags anyone with the potential to do crime, even if they have not done anything or will never have done anything.

I watched season one back when it first came out in 2012. Since then, I would see ads for new content at the train stations in Japan and thought I’d catch up. There’s a new movie, PSYCHO-PASS PROVIDENCE, releasing May 12, 2023.

I've been having a lot of dumb, edgy fun with this series and its on-the-nose political themes. It's kinda camp-y? I do wish it spent more time on character moments, though.

I love me a trio (which seems to be a theme in this round-up lol) and this series has a good trio! Akane is such a great character, and Shinya and MY BOY GINOZA NOBUCHIKA!!! have been thoroughly entertaining me.

I love him. I wanna bully him and stuff him into a locker...

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fuckyeahfanfictions · 1 day

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Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: DCU, Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Assumed Relationship, Hilarious misunderstandings, Good Intentions, BatLube, entire drums of it, The Awkward is Strong, Batfamily Bonding, Actual Good Birthday, Tim gets a cat, Trolling, Humor, Tim Drake Birthday Hunt Exchange, Crack Treated Seriously Summary:

Nightwing almost misses his landing, arms pinwheeling as the import of those overheard words sinks in. He barely manages to avoid falling right off the rooftop. It doesn’t even register, his mind far too busy trying to make sense of what he just heard to even consider his own situation.

Jason and Tim are having sex, he thinks, dazed and shying away from examining how he feels about two men he considers his family becoming involved with each other in that way.

Then the rest of what they said percolates through his stunned brain, and he almost falls again.

And they’re doing it wrong.

#jaytim #njw #ficrec

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study-with-aura · 2 months

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024

I texted Julien today to ask if we could discuss my biology assignment, and he called me right after! It was nice hearing his voice as always. He isn't coming home for spring break because he's doing an alternative spring break program that he's excited about. I'm happy for him that he's so happy on his campus, but I still miss my brother.

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Reviewed perimeters and areas of similar polygons + learned about measurements in similar solids + practice

Lit and Comp II - Studied Unit 18 vocabulary + read chapters 17-19 of Emma by Jane Austen + worked on my newspaper writing assignment

Spanish 2 - Read health informational stories in Spanish then filled out the chart + reviewed vocabulary

Bible I - Read Joshua 5-6

World History - I went back and tried the quizzes from yesterday, and they were finally up, so I completed those + watched part 1 of Edwardian Farm Episode 3 + took notes + half of New Hidden Killers: The Edwardian Home and started a chart of inventions with their problems

Biology with Lab - Read about the impact of humans on the environment + discussed with my brother about aspects of the article + continued working on my endangered animal project (saola)

Foundations - Read more on persuasiveness + played 5 minute mystery + learned about false cause, appeal to emotion, and slippery slope fallacies

Piano - 60-minute piano lesson + practiced for one hour

Khan Academy - Completed High School Geometry Unit 9: Lesson 3 part 6

CLEP - None today

Duolingo - Completed at least one lesson each in Spanish, French, and Chinese

Reading - Read pages 233-260 of Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Chores - Laundry

Activities of the Day:

Ballet

Pointe

Journal/Mindfulness

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful that I was able to speak to my brother today.

Quote of the Day:

Don't forget - no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.

-The Blue Girl, Charles de Lint

🎧English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807 - Johann Sebastian Bach

#study community #study blog #study inspiration #study motivation #studyblr #studyblr community #study-with-aura

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hbyrde36 · 7 months

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Chapter 10!

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

ao3 link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Eddie woke in the dark.

He rose with the knowledge that he was free, no longer feeling the psychic weight of the heavy chains laden with crosses that had been trapping him inside this forsaken box for far too long.

It could only mean one thing.

Steve had done it. He had succeeded in defeating Billy, and managed to free Eddie and his people from their torment at his hands. He only hoped their side hadn’t paid too high a price for the victory.

Eddie had called a handful of different vampires Master over the years. By no means was Billy the worst, but it was as if the older he got, the less patience he had for taking orders from morally reprehensible leaders.

This was his chance, he could feel it. The longer he was away from France, the more powerful he could feel himself becoming. He had theorized that the vampire who turned him, the one he’d served under for longer than any other, had been somehow dampening his power. It seemed he might finally have his confirmation.

He knew he would fare best if he could convince Steve to join him, to take on the last two marks and become his human servant for real, but he would not force him. He wanted Steve to offer himself up willingly. For them to unite because it was what they both wanted.

Eddie had always been pretty, even by vampiric standards. A fact that led to him being passed around as no better than a piece of meat to anyone his master wished to curry favor with. He knew what it was to be forced, to be violated, and he would not do that to others if he had a choice.

He had already made mistakes with Steve. Though he had his reasons for doing what he had, giving the first mark to save Steve's life, and the second mark to save his own, Eddie knew no matter how good his excuses were, he was on a slippery slope. The road to Hell being paved with good intentions, and all that. He would go no further with their bond without Steve’s consent. He would wait. He could be patient, no matter how long it took to earn the other man’s trust.

He pushed up to open the lid of his coffin and climbed out, and If he had any say in the matter, it would be the last time he would ever set foot in one of them again. It was such an outdated concept in his opinion. A necessity for some, sure, but they were underground here. Well below street level, deep under the theater with no windows or doors that opened directly to the outside. There was simply no reason for the vampires who lived here to spend their days in a light proof box.

The first thing Eddie noticed as he surveyed the room was the smell of bleach. That told him, as much as anything else, that whatever had happened here was over, and the cleanup was already well underway. He noted, with a glance, that all of the other caskets were open, and empty, save for one. A modern model that sat just on the other side of Billy's abandoned ancient coffin.

Dustin.

Eddie stepped up to the box, hurriedly opened the lid, and let out a sigh of relief. The young boy was just fine. Dead to the world for now, and would be until the sun had set completely, but fine.

He smiled fondly as he looked down at Dustin’s sleeping form, noticing for the first time that the kid had taped photos all over the inside of his coffin. Eddie chuckled, it was a very Dustin thing to do. He didn’t recognize most of the people in the pictures of course, though the one face he did recognize was in nearly every single one. Steve.

He felt silly suddenly for having been so worried. Of course Dustin was okay. The boy might be in Eddie’s care now, but long before that he was Steve’s charge.

From day one the kid had talked about his old babysitter ad nauseam. Only to Eddie, though. Dustin wasn’t stupid, he figured out pretty quickly who to trust, and who to keep his head down around. Truth be told, Eddie didn’t mind being the kid’s sounding board.

Within 6 months of Dustin's transition, Eddie felt like he knew everything there was to know about the intriguing figure called Steve Harrington. He’d fallen half in love just listening to Dustin's stories. When he did finally set eyes on Steve in the flesh, the first time he’d come calling with the police, Eddie knew he was a goner.

Normally, he wouldn’t have even considered pursuing a human in such a way. It was far too dangerous in his world to hold a mere mortal so close, but once he got that first taste of Steve’s power, he couldn’t help thinking that maybe, just maybe, this one could handle it.

Eddie was undeterred by the fact that they were natural enemies. Steve was a vampire hunter and executioner, after all, but it was nothing they couldn't overcome. No relationship was perfect.

He knew that Steve wanted him too, he’d smelled it, that reluctant desire, at their first meeting. He was stuck somewhere between denial and playing the worst game of hard-to-get ever, but Eddie was sure it was only a matter of time before Steve would stop lying to himself about his true feelings.

Eddie stepped away, leaving the top to Dustin's coffin open so he would know he was free. He would need to look at a clock to be sure, but he guessed that it was mid-afternoon. Eddie had been waking earlier and earlier these days, another sign of his growing power, but it would be at least a few hours before the younger vampire woke.

The sound of voices off in the distance interrupted Eddie’s thoughts. Whoever it was sounded calm, relaxed even, so he wasn’t too concerned, but he still ventured out into the hall cautiously, not taking any chances in case he was wrong.

He found his guests gathered in the lowest room of the compound, the one Billy had liked to call the dungeon. He was greeted by three overgrown rats, and a small but tough looking woman with dark hair.

Palms raised, Eddie approached the darkest of the wereanimals, recognizing Gareth in his rat form. They weren’t friends, but Eddie had made it clear from the beginning that he was no big fan of Billy, so he’d earned a little of the rats' respect.

“You’re up early.” The wererat king commented casually. “I didn’t think you had that kind of power.”

Eddie shrugged. “What can I say, I'm full of surprises.” He didn’t sense any hostility from Gareth, so he lowered his hands. “Mind filling me in on what I missed while I was indisposed?”

“I’m afraid I can't give you many details, Munson. I helped your Steve and a woman to get in early this morning through our passageways, but then we had to keep our distance until Billy had been taken care of.” Gareth explained.

“He’s not my Steve, not yet anyway.” The vampire clarified. He didn’t want Steve to hear even a rumor that Eddie was claiming him as his property. “So it’s true then?”

The wererat nodded, or at least gave the closest approximation to a nod as he could in his current form. “Yes. Billy and his servant Heather are dead, as well as his scumbag of a father, and anyone else who was known to support him. Also, it turns out the animator, Martin Brenner, was the one killing vampires. He’s been disposed of as well.”

“Good.” Eddie declared. “Thank you for all your help. How can I repay you?” He asked.

Gareth’s whiskers twitched as he considered how to respond. “I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but we didn’t do this for you, or for Steve. We just wanted out from under the master’s thumb. As long as you don’t have rats as your animal-to-call, we’re square.”

“I think you’re safe from me.” Eddie smiled. “I have never felt a particular affinity with your kind.”

Then he had a thought.

“I do wonder though, if your people would be willing to work for me for a time. I’d pay you, of course, and extend any protections I have to give. I’ll need to fill this place out again. We lost a lot of vampires to the murders even before this. There are a few of my followers scattered through the city, those that chose not to live with the master, but our numbers are small. I’m going to have to bring in some outsiders to fill out the ranks. I could use some security in the process.”

Gareth was quiet for a long time, and Eddie was sure he’d gone too far, but then the rat-king gave that funny looking nod again. “I think we could work something out, Eddie, as long as my people are employees and not slaves.”

“Of course.”

Eddie watched as the small group scurried one by one back through the hole, leaving the way they’d come, with Gareth taking up the rear. The rat-king paused before replacing the grate, taking one last look back at the vampire.

“You should know.” Gareth began. “I don’t think Harrington meant for me to overhear, but you know sometimes with our abilities it’s hard to avoid eavesdropping, and the girl was under your protection, I believe, so..”

“Spit it out, man.” Eddie said.

“Chrissy is dead.”

Eddie’s stomach dropped. He grit his teeth, willing himself to maintain some decorum, and not show weakness in front of his new ally. He gave a solemn nod in acknowledgement of the information ,and walked away as soon as Gareth had disappeared into the dark.

He held it together until he reached the coffin room, nothing more to do for now except wait for Dustin to wake up so he could find out what the hell had happened.

Eddie fell to his knees in the center of the room, face twisted in pain as a sob was torn out of his chest. He pounded hard on the concrete floor until his fists were bloody, and he worried he would crack the hard surface.

He jumped up, grabbing the nearest casket with two hands and hurling it at the wall. It hit with a satisfying crack, hard enough to splinter the wood into dozens of pieces. He repeated the process with every box in the room, saving Billy’s for last.

He knew Billy had killed her. Even without knowing any of the details, that much he was sure of. He broke Billy's coffin apart with his bare hands, snapping it one piece at a time until it was nothing but a pile of kindling.

As a vampire, Eddie had no need to draw breath except to speak, but he knew if he was human his chest would be heaving, heart pounding with the exertion. He didn’t often miss those things, but in that moment he would have given anything to feel the abuse he was putting his body through, because he deserved it. He deserved the pain. Deserved to be punished. Though others may have been responsible for actually ending Chrissy’s life, he blamed himself most of all.

Eddie sat in the corner of the room, back against the wall, curled in on himself as he cried for his dead friend whom he had loved so much. He was too busy wallowing in his guilt to hear it when Dustin clambered out of his coffin, and too distracted by his own anguish to notice the boy moving closer.

He startled when a hand latched onto his arm. He reared back, hissing in alarm as he looked up into a set of wide concerned eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Dustin asked in a panic. “Is it…did something happen to Steve?”

Eddie wiped at his eyes and tried to blink back any remaining tears as he cleared his throat. He must have been sitting there for hours and not realized. He hadn’t meant for the kid to see him like that.

“Not Steve. Chrissy. She’s dead.” Eddie managed to say, pushing himself to his feet before continuing. “Do you know what happened?”

He fought to keep his voice even. He was so angry. At Billy, at the world in general, at himself, but he would not put this on Dustin. He just wanted to know the truth.

Dustin’s face fell, eyes shining with sympathy. He may not have known Chrissy that well, but he knew how close she and Eddie had been. “Neil took her from the club. I’m sorry, but that’s all I really know. As soon as I realized what was happening I called Steve for help, but Billy caught me and threw me in my coffin before he got here.”

“It’s okay.” Eddie murmured. It seemed if he wanted real answers, he would have to talk to Steve.

“What happened in here, and why are we free?” Dustin asked.

“The mess is my fault, I might have taken my anger out on the furniture. As far as the rest, it turns out your old babysitter is apparently just as badass as you always made him out to be. I was told he and some woman came in here and took care of everything. It’s over.”

Dustin grinned. “Oh! That'd be Nancy.”

Eddie rolled his hand, making the universal gesture for, ‘please tell me more about this human woman who the object of my affection trusts enough to fight with him side by side.'

“She’s the sister of a childhood friend. She’s a vampire hunter too. I think her and Steve used to date or something. They work together sometimes. I hear she’s really good.”

“Good for her.” Eddie seethed. It was true that he had no real claim on Steve, no right to be jealous, but that didn’t change the fact that he was.

Later that night, Eddie sat in his office at Guilty Pleasures, waiting for the hour to grow late enough that Steve would be asleep. He’d considered having Dustin reach out to him instead, to set up a meeting of some kind where he could hear the full story of what had happened, and maybe start to repair things between the two of them, but he didn’t want the kid to feel like he was caught in the middle.

Eddie felt it when Steve slipped off to sleep. He wasn’t sure he would, but he supposed it was hard to keep your guard up when you’re trying to drift off. It was a subtle thing, a split second where his entire body relaxed, mirroring what Steve was feeling, wherever he might be.

Eddie locked the office door and laid himself out on the crimson couch, the same one Steve had rested upon not too long ago, if Jeff were to be believed. He closed his eyes and turned his attention inwards towards the bond.

Steve’s mind felt so different once he slipped into slumber, it was like the walls he’d built to keep Eddie from getting too close became softer, more flexible, and if he pushed hard enough and in just the right spot he could get through.

Things were different now, though. Before, Steve had been aware, at least on some level, that he was dreaming when he was with Eddie, but now he knew that it was real. That Eddie was himself in their dreams and not some figment of Steve’s imagination. Now he knew he could keep Eddie out if he wanted to.

He approached Steve's mental barrier slowly, calmly, trying to project an air of, ‘I come in peace’. He gently caressed the wall with a metaphorical hand, and was pleasantly surprised when it vanished beneath his touch. Steve was going to let him in.

He materialized in the corner of Steve’s bedroom, the same setting as their last shared dream, foregoing the bed this time in an effort to make Steve more comfortable. It was a good choice, considering Steve himself was pacing a hole in the floor, tense even at rest.

“Are you alright?” Eddie asked, walking slowly towards the other man.

Steve’s head snapped up, furious eyes boring holes into the vampire’s own as he ignored the question. He rounded on Eddie aggressively. “What do you want?!”

It stopped Eddie in his tracks. He had expected to be greeted with some level of anger. He’d thought he was prepared to take it, and to apologize, but the rage radiating off of Steve was far beyond anything he’d anticipated. It threw him off kilter. He was immediately defensive and felt himself wanting to respond in kind. Had he wronged Steve to an extent? Maybe, but what right did he have to react this intensely when they hadn’t even talked about things yet!

Eddie smoothed his face out into a blank mask. “I wanted to congratulate you on your victory, of course. I knew you could do it.” He said, beginning to stalk a very slow circle around Steve.

He knew it was the wrong thing to say, and wasn’t what he had planned to open with at all.

“Fuck you.” Steve spat.

“Ooh. Touchy, touchy.” Eddie's face split into a wide grin as he held his hands up.

He hated himself even as he mocked Steve for his fury. He should have had sympathy for the man, and he did, but Eddie found that he was angry too.

“Yeah you’d be touchy too if someone forced themselves on you like this.”

Eddie didn’t know whether Steve meant the dreams or the marks, but it hardly mattered, the implication was the same. He saw red. This human had no idea what Eddie had been through over the course of his very long life. If he had even the slightest inclination he would never have accused him of such a heinous crime.

He continued to pace his circuit as he sneered. “Don't stand there and act like I've stolen your virtue. I gave you a GIFT!”

“You would see it as a gift to be tied to you for eternity!” Steve spouted.

Eddie halted his movements, facing the other man head on. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

Steve didn’t back down, in fact he stepped into Eddie as he taunted him, “Sure it’s not.”

Eddie took a step in as well, his anger propelling him closer. “I saved your life!” He shouted.

Steve moved again. They were practically nose to nose as he said, “Yea, and I'm so grateful, considering you did it just so you could use me to kill your enemies.”

“Do you really think so little of me?” Eddie asked.

Steve's eyes were glued to Eddie’s lips as he spoke. But he quickly looked away when he realized what he was doing.

“If the shoe fits, princess.” Steve was trying to be snarky but it just came out breathless.

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to think when his body was this close to Steve’s. Even as they raged at each other, he had never wanted someone more.

“Fuck you.” Eddie said through tight lips.

“No thanks.”

Eddie growled in frustration. “Just tell me what happened to Chrissy, and I'll leave.”

He had hoped to hear the whole story of Billy's downfall but it was clear that Steve had very limited patience for him at the moment. Which was fine. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter how it all went down, Billy was dead, and they were alive, but Eddie needed to know what happened to his girl.

Steve stepped back abruptly, so much so that he almost stumbled. It took everything Eddie had not to spirit to his side to steady him. It’s not as though Steve could be hurt, it was only a dream after all, but the instinct was hard to tamp down.

Steve stared off, lost for a minute in his own thoughts.

Eddie tried again. “Dustin said she was taken and that he called you for help. I know she didn’t..make it, but you are the only person left alive who saw what happened.”

“Why do you care?”

The question hit Eddie like a punch in the gut. Why did he care? “She was my friend, Steve, and she was under my protection. I never thought…”

“No you didn’t think.” Steve snapped. “You just had to go and piss your boss off and get yourself thrown in that damn coffin, leaving her with no one to look after her!”

The accusation drained all of the fight out of Eddie. He couldn’t argue with what Steve had said. He wasn’t even angry anymore, just sad.

“You were there for her.” Eddie said, softly.

“As much as she’d let me.” Steve admitted, deflating a little. “I should have tried harder.”

That’s when Eddie finally saw it, the guilt Steve was carrying for Chrissy’s loss. “It’s not your fault, Steve.”

Eddie wanted to reach out, to hold him and tell him there was nothing he could have done. Why were they fighting when they could mourn together? But then Steve’s eyes flashed with that rage again.

“No. it’s yours.”

Eddie sighed. “I know.”

There didn’t seem to be anything more to say to each other after that. He couldn’t keep pushing, if Steve didn’t want to talk about it, he'd have to accept that.

Eddie didn’t know what Steve wanted from him, or how to move on from here. Maybe they just needed some time. He turned away, about to step out of the dream when Steve spoke again.

“Eddie?”

“Hm?”

“I know there's no way to reverse this thing between us, but I want…” Steve paused and blew out a long breath. “I need you to stay away from me.”

“Okay, Steve. If that’s really what you want. You know where to find me if you ever change your mind.”

“I won’t”

A few months had passed since Steve went toe to toe against Billy and won, with Nancy’s help and the wererats, of course. He hadn’t seen or heard from Eddie again after that first night, when the vampire had visited his dreams for the last time to ask about Chrissy.

Steve was still mad, and he still didn’t want anything to do with the guy or his damn marks, but with a little distance he was starting to think that maybe he’d been a little too harsh. It hadn’t been fair to blame Eddie for Chrissy’s death.

Nancy had left town without a word a few days after the fight. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and Steve didn’t take it personally. They weren’t the type of friends who kept in touch on a regular basis. He knew she’d come back around the next time she had a job in the city, and until then she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Going back to work had been rough. He couldn’t exactly tell Bert, his boss and father, why he’d been out of touch. He and Nancy hadn’t had an order of execution for Billy. Technically, it was murder, though it wasn’t likely that anyone would ever find out what they’d done. No one outside of the monster community had really known the master’s identity, and it’s not as if any of the remaining vamps or wereanimals would report him missing. There would never be an investigation.

So, his dad was ON HIS ASS.

He gave Steve an ultimatum. Start showing up for work consistently again, or you're fired. He was pretty sure it was an empty threat, it’s not like there were other animators lining up to take his job, but Steve needed the money, and so he re-committed himself to his career. Thanks to his new drive, and a slight downturn in supernatural crime, he had managed to not miss a single night that he was scheduled.

Steve spent what few evenings he had off with Dustin, their rekindled friendship the one good thing to come out of this whole mess. It was nice getting to know him again. They couldn’t just go out and grab dinner casually, with Dustin being what he now was, so they got creative. Late night movies, rounds of pool at a local dive bar, and bowling; which they were both terrible at. It didn't matter in the slightest though, because they would laugh at each other until their sides hurt, and it was so much fun. They never talked about Eddie.

His days were spent with Robin. If Steve wasn’t sleeping, they were together. She had decided that the best thing for all of his woes and problems was to keep busy. She even stopped complaining about their work out sessions, which was terrifying and occasionally made him think he wasn’t doing a good enough job at hiding how much he was struggling. It was the only explanation for her going on a jog with him, willingly.

Robin had asked about Eddie only once, the morning after his final dream with the vampire. She’d slept over that night and he woke up in her arms. She held him while he cried, and said he didn’t want to talk about it. She never brought it up again.

Steve was just getting out of the shower when his phone rang. He hastily wrapped a towel around his waist and ran for his bedroom to grab it. He was late to pick up Robin, they had plans to meet Dustin downtown together, and he had no doubt it was her calling to make sure he was alive. She worried too much. But so did he, hence the running.

“Hey, Sorry Ro…”

“Are you watching this?” She interrupted.

“Watching what?”

She exhaled loudly into the phone. “The news, Steve! Turn your T.V. on, right now.”

He did, switching the channel over to their local CNN affiliate, one of the few networks that didn’t cater to ring-wing crazies. It was a live feed, a crowd of reporters sat in rows like an audience in a large open space. It looked like the ballroom at the Conrad hotel, if Steve had to guess. Apart from the fact that scattered amongst the crowd was a slightly bigger police presence than would seem necessary, it looked like your average press conference.

“What am I looking at here, Robs?”

She shushed him, muttering, “Just watch.”

The live feed switched momentarily to a view of the podium, Mayor Kline stood nervously to one side of it, smiling tightly amid the odd camera flash when one was pointed his way.

A hush fell suddenly over the room, it must have been nearly time for whoever was about to address the crowd to arrive.

The camera angle changed again, and flashbulbs all around the room began to go off at a quickened pace. The picture finally settled on a set of double doors, just in time to catch Eddie Munson entering the room. The vampire paused in the open doorway, smiling for pictures for a beat or two before making his way up to the microphone.

Steve dropped his phone, letting it fall to the floor with a loud clatter as he gaped at the television. That’s when he finally noticed the news ticker running along the bottom of the screen.

:Master of the City of Indianapolis comes out of the coffin:

When Eddie reached his place at the podium the heading changed.

:Vampire and local business owner Eddie Munson reveals his identity as Master of the City:

Steve scrambled to pick up his cell, managing to get it to his ear as Robin asked,

“Did you know about this?”

He shook his head, answering out loud once he realized she couldn't see him. “No, Rob. I mean, I knew he was powerful but I didn’t realize...”

“You basically put him on the throne.”

“I know.” He said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Do you think… was this his plan all along?” She asked.

Steve didn’t respond. It was exactly what he had accused the vampire of months ago. He just didn’t know, and did it matter? His head was spinning and his heart raced. He couldn’t help the feeling that Eddie had just drawn a giant target on his back.

Not that he cared what happened to the guy.

Did he?

No, he was just in shock. He hadn’t thought about what would happen after he killed Billy, effectively leaving behind a power vacuum in the city. He’d been so intent on ignoring all things vampire, apart from Dustin, that he hadn’t let himself consider the possibilities.

“Steve?”

He could hear Robin distantly saying his name but he was too caught up in his thoughts.

Why hadn’t Dustin said anything? How could he let Steve get caught off guard like this? No. That wasn’t fair. The kid was only doing what he had asked by not talking about vampire business, and Eddie in particular.

Steve sighed. He had no one to blame but himself for not knowing. He wasn’t sure if this was good new or bad news. Either way, it’s not like there was anything he could do about it now even if…

“STEVE?!” Robin shouted.

He shook himself, staring back at the tv where Eddie had finally started addressing the room full of reporters.

“Sorry Rob, I uh, I gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Steve hung up quickly before she could convince him to go through with their plans, or offer to come over. He wanted to be alone. He wasn’t going anywhere that night, and he certainly wasn’t up for facing Dustin in the midst of it all.

He sat on the edge of his bed, still dressed in only a towel, and turned the volume on the tv up, bracing himself to listen to Eddie’s speech.

“Good evening. My name is Eddie Munson and I am the master of the city of Indianapolis. You may be surprised that I have come to you like this. It is rare for one of my kind to be so publicly open about their identity and the role in which they play within the vampire community. What I will say to you is this; I think it is far past time for the vampires in this country to step into the light and claim our position alongside our fellow Americans. Two years ago the United States voted in favor of giving vampires legal status. With that came many things, including the right to live without worry that we would be hunted down like dogs for simply being what we are; without crime and without cause. Regardless of these strides, most of my people still hide. They live in the shadows, many ashamed of their basic nature. That is why I have chosen to reveal myself, and my position. I can only hope my actions will inspire others to come forward and take their place in full view of society, instead of continuing to be its dirty little secret. Let this be the start of a new age of vampire history and politics. I won’t lie to you and tell you that things will be easy. There are bad vampires in the world, just as there are bad humans, but I can promise that the overwhelming majority of vampires wish nothing more than to live alongside you in peace.”

It was groundbreaking. No vampire had ever addressed the general public quite like this, broadcast right into people's homes. Even Jason Carver, the closest thing to a vampire public figure that had existed till now, had never allowed himself to be filmed. You had to visit the center if you wanted to see him or hear him speak.

Eddie took questions for over an hour following his speech. Steve knew he should shut it off, or leave the room, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He couldn’t help feeling like everything was about to change. For himself, for his city, maybe even for the country at large. He just hoped he was ready for whatever came next.

Chapter 11

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #ao3 #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #vampire hunter steve harrington #vampire eddie munson #steve harrington: vampire hunter

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magicalmysteries777 · 3 months

Text

The Bloody-Handed and the anguish of loving them - Chapter One.

Summary: Almost a year has passed since Eddie Munson died and it feels like the only person that isn't moving on is Steve.

After spending the night studying a Dungeons and Dragons handbook, Steve is convinced he's figured out how to defeat Vecna once and for all. Not only that, but bring Eddie back too. Now he just has to prove it.

Pairings: Steve Harrington x Vampire Eddie Munson

Masterlist: Here.

Chapter: 1 of 10.

Chapter WC: 2165.

CW: Drinking, depressive episode, PTSD.

A/N: Welcome to the ramblings of a girl who plays too much Baldur's Gate, has Steddie brain rot, and lives in constant delusion that Eddie is coming back for season five.

I hope you enjoy.

This story can also be found on AO3 here.

March 7th, 1987.

Steve Harrington was, without a doubt, an absolute mess.

Long gone were the High School glory days filled with basketball games, parties, and echoed chants of “King Steve!” blaring down the hallways. Long gone were the days of trying to pick up girls at Scoops and Family Video with Robin’s so-called ‘guidance’. Long gone were the days he would spend ‘babysitting’ the six youngest of his odd group of friends, secretly loving every minute despite how much he would complain at the time. All that remained now was the husk of the man he once was.

On March 27th of the previous year, Steve’s life had changed monumentally. With the help of his friends, he had tried and failed to kill Vecna, resulting in the destruction of the town where they had all grown up. The worst part was that nobody else except for that small group of people knew the horrid truth.

The news had claimed that it was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that destroyed the town of Hawkins. Reporters and camera crews plagued the town with their presence for the first few weeks - reeling on the devastation of the town for the sake of a story, whilst the residents quietly grieved their losses and began to rebuild the town.

Two weeks after the ‘earthquake’ Steve’s nightmares returned; unfortunately, he was no stranger to the symptoms that came with post-traumatic stress disorder. The last time he was showing symptoms Robin had quickly intervened before he could spiral too far down the rabbit hole. She had gone through everything with him - the capture, the drugging, and the torture. This time was different. This time he was grieving too.

With a half-empty litre bottle of vodka clutched in one hand and Eddie’s denim vest in the other, Steve let his tears fall freely. All he ever seemed to do these days was cry. He’d wake up, cry, vomit, cry some more, start drinking, cry again, get too drunk to cry, get angry, and eventually pass out. Losing his job just one month after the building had reopened did not help with his slippery slope of a coping mechanism.

It had been three months since he’d last seen Robin and any of his other friends. Looking back, Steve wasn’t surprised. Hangovers make him very short tempered and as of late, he’s an angry drunk. Opting for the English tradition “hair of the dog” as his preferred hangover cure essentially made him a 24/7 ticking time bomb. Jonathan pouring away his last bottle of whiskey at the latest ‘intervention’ that Nancy and Robin had orchestrated was the trigger. He cussed them all out for a solid five minutes in a blind rage, begging them to just leave him the fuck alone, before throwing them all out of his house, the empty bottle following shortly behind.

Pushing people away and losing his friends hurt, of course it did, but nothing hurt more than losing him.

One short week of really knowing Eddie Munson was all it had taken for Steve to fall head over heels in love with him - not that he realised it at the time. Hell, he hadn’t even realised he liked guys at that point. Not that it mattered any more, of course, because Eddie was dead. Dead because Steve hadn’t gotten to Vecna in time. Dead because Steve hadn’t kept his promise. Dead because of him.

Steve quickly chased his thoughts with another large mouthful of vodka, praying that he would soon be at the ‘too drunk to cry’ stage.

“Look at you, you’re a fucking wreck,” he spat at his reflection. He wasn’t wrong. Steve’s hair hadn’t seen a can of Farrah Fawcett hairspray in months, or a pair of scissors. His once infamous locks were now hanging limply down to his chest, knotted and frail. Swapping barbells for bottles had caused his six pack to fade away over the months, and the bags under his eyes were rivalling Hopper’s this time last year.

“This is all your fault. It’s all your fucking fault,” he cried, his forehead pressed against the glass. His grip tightened around the bottle neck, his knuckles turning white. “You didn’t keep your promise. He’s dead and it’s-”

“Steve?” Robin asked cautiously from the doorway.

“Robin?” exclaimed Steve, spinning around whilst wiping the tears from his face. “W- what are you doing here? How the hell did you get in?”

“You left the door unlocked. Look, Steve-” she began.

“If Nancy put you up to this again, you can leave now.”

“She didn’t. It’s just me, no hidden surprises in the living room this time. Please, Steve, just hear me out.”

March 8th, 1987.

Steve opened his eyes cautiously, the light blaring through the opened curtains stinging whilst they adjusted.

“Morning,” Robin greeted upon entering the room. Steve groaned and rolled over, covering his face with the pillow in an attempt to shield himself from the morning sun. “Steve, get up.”

“Would you please, for the love of god, speak a bit more quietly. My head is throbbing.”

“Get a shower before you come down for breakfast, we’re going to the barbers.”

Steve only emerged from under his pillow once he had heard the door close behind Robin. He sat up slowly, not wanting to aggravate his already swirling stomach, and reached for the bottle of vodka he’d left on the night stand. It was gone. He dragged himself to the other side of the room to get his back up bottle from the dresser. That was gone too. Robin had wasted no time in clearing out his stash while he was passed out.

It was going to be a long day.

March 14th, 1987.

On Wednesday night Steve attended what Nancy had claimed was definitely just a “small gathering for everyone to catch up”.

After two and a half hours of listening to all of his friends, along with Joyce and Hopper, take it in turns to say how much they missed him and how worried about him they were, Steve agreed to cut back heavily on his drinking, see a therapist, and start seeing his friends more often. That was how he found himself, rather begrudgingly, wedged between Jonathan and Robin on the three-seater sofa in Mike Wheeler’s basement on a Saturday night.

“No Vickie tonight then?” asked Jonathan.

“Depends what time she gets off work. Saturdays are still super busy, the novelty of going out again hasn’t worn off yet for some people,” Robin answered.

“Can’t blame them really though, can you? I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since it happened.”

“I can. We’ve been practising our song for the memorial three times a week for the last two months, I haven’t been able to forget about it,” Robin replied, rolling her eyes.

“Really?”

“The whole of Hawkins is going to be there, team, we must get this right,” Robin replied with a shockingly accurate impression of Mrs Baird, the Hawkins High music teacher

“Nance is pretty swamped too trying to get all the pages sorted for the memorial book. I’m helping where I can with the photos but she’s still pretty stressed,” Jonathan admitted.

“I think it’s hitting everyone a little bit. It’s like you can feel the tension in the air.”

“At least the kids seem okay,” he smiled, gesturing to the game occurring in the middle of the room.

“What say you, Will the Wise?” asked Mike, his Dungeon Master voice earning a small chuckle from El.

“Fireball!” roared Will.

“I didn’t think you liked D&D?” Jonathan asked, nudging Steve in the ribs with his elbow.

“What?” Steve blinked, realising he’d been staring at Mike’s Hellfire t-shirt a little too long.

“I said ‘I didn’t think you liked D&D?’ You’ve been watching them play for the last twenty minutes without saying a word,”

“Oh, right. Um, well, I thought perhaps I should give it a go,” Steve lied quickly. “You all said about getting a new hobby. Just trying to get the basics.”

“That’s a great idea,” encouraged Nancy, rejoining the group. She handed Jonathan a beer before offering Steve and Robin bottles of water with a sympathetic smile.

“Thanks,” Steve muttered.

“What character are you thinking of playing as then?” asked Jonathan.

“Uh… I don’t know. What is there?” Steve asked.

“You don’t have a clue what’s going on, do you?”

“No,” Steve admitted.

“Hey, guys, can Steve borrow one of your handbooks?” Jonathan called out.

“Really?!” beamed Dustin. “You’re finally going to play?!”

“Really.”

March 22nd, 1987.

Unable to keep up the facade when left to his own devices, Steve decided that drinking himself to sleep only when he really needed to wasn’t too much of a betrayal to his friends. Plus, what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them. With the anniversary of Eddie’s death around the corner, sleeping through the night had started to become harder and harder.

“Oh God, Eddie,” Dustin sobbed.

“Bad, huh?

“No, no, we just gotta get you to a hospital, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Alright, come on,”

“I think… I think I just need a second, okay?”

“Okay.”

“…I didn’t run away this time, right?”

“No, no, you didn’t run.”

“Make sure you keep saving those… those lost little sheep for me… yeah?”

“No. You can save them yourself.”

“Nah, man. Say ‘I’m gonna look after them.’”

“I’m gonna look after them.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m actually gonna graduate. I think it’s my year, Henderson. I think it’s… finally my year…”

“Mhmm.”

“I love you, man.”

“I love you too… Eddie? Eddie?! No, no, no, Eddie! Eddie?!”

Dustin’s screams of anguish for his deceased friend filled Steve’s head to the point where it was almost painful. He wished he’d never asked Dustin what they spoke about towards the end, as though not knowing would have made it any less painful. Perhaps it would have? He downed another mouthful of vodka, his throat burning.

“It’s not fair,” he thought, “not fair he didn’t graduate, not fair he didn’t get to have his big break, not fair he didn’t get to really live, not fair that he died and I-”.

He took yet another shot of vodka rather than finish the thought.

Three hours later, still very much awake and very much drunk, Steve fell onto his bed. His eyes locked with the book he had borrowed from Will Byers over a week ago but had yet to touch.

“Dungeons and Dragons: A Player’s Guide,” he read to himself. Was this the same handbook Eddie had started out with?

The contents of the book made very little sense to Steve, who had no idea what a bard or barbarian was. He flicked through the pages, eyes scanning the pages but not really retaining any of the information.

‘Character types include: Dwarves, Elves, Half-Elves, Gnomes, Humans, Halflings, Tieflings, and Orcs.’

‘Classes: Cleric, Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard.’

‘Known Enemies: Demogorgons, Gollems, Kas the Bloody Handed, Lich, Mind Flayer, Trolls, Vampires, and Vecna.’

His eyes clung to the familiar words before him. Demogorgons. Mind Flayer. Vecna. It was one thing to speak freely about all the creatures he’d faced amongst his friends but seeing it written before him, in an actual book, made everything suddenly feel more real to Steve.

He knew the kids had named everything and everyone they’d fought after characters from their games, they told him the first time he had to ask what a Demogorgon was. What he didn’t know was why, although he has a horrible feeling he was about to get the answer to that question too. For the first time since picking it up, he read with as much concentration as he could muster.

‘Demogorgons: A large creature that can walk uprights or on all fours. Identifiable by its elongated limbs and large, star-shaped mouth. Highly dangerous with limited intelligence. Known to obey Vecna.’

‘Mind-Flayer: made up mostly of dark particles and/or any victims it can flay, this enemy can take on any shape it wants, however, it usually takes the shape of a large spider. Highly intelligent, it is known to possess its victims if necessary.’

‘Vecna: Also known as The Arch Lich or Lord of The Rotted Tower. A dark wizard with great power.’

There it was. Angry drunk. Angry at himself, angry at Eddie, angry at Vecna, angry at goddamn everything. He flicked through the pages quickly, hoping something would catch his attention and distract him.

‘Magical items: Horn of Beckoning Death, Staff of Rejuvenation, Sword of Kas, and more.’

Steve flipped through the pages containing pictures of different maps you could play on, one of them being oddly familiar. He flipped the page again.

‘Cantrips, Spells, and Scrolls.’

In an attempt to figure what the hell a cantrip was, Steve leaned back and began to read again. Three pages into the lists and descriptions, Steve’s eyes stopped in their tracks and widened. There it was, his answer.

‘Scroll of revivify.’

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie x steve #eddie munson x steve harrington #post canon #fix it fic #angst #angst with a happy ending #alcoholic steve harrington #steve harrington has ptsd #kas the bloody handed #vampire eddie munson #dont look at the d&d lore too closely #steddie

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squarebracket-trickster · 3 months

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Characters Out of Context Tag

Another tag game I've been sitting on since August??? Thank you @serenanymph and SORRY!!!

Rules: Include one character quote of your choosing ⁠from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you'd like). Give absolutely no context, save for what's between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

No pressure tagging as many people as I have chapters: @sunset-a-story, @touloserlautrec, @mjparkerwriting, @captain-kraken, @authoraemoseley, @star-studded-whales, @ryns-ramblings, @athenswrites, @moonandris, @breath-of-eternity, @tabswrites, @dontjudgemeimawriter, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @kjscottwrites, @words-after-midnight, @sarandipitywrites

Quotes below cut. I am only doing them for draft 3, and the chapter of draft 2 I am currently editing into draft 3. Because I am not skimming 77 000 words for this.

Chapter 1 (draft III) - Isolde

"I wonder how long a person could live without skin? I heard that the eyes of severed heads sometimes follow the executioner as he walks off the gallows. Do you think that means they are still alive? Do severed heads feel their body still attached like a phantom limb? Perhaps someone should invent a language entirely in blinks. Then, when you are all beheaded you can tell me."

Chapter 2 (draft III) - there is no dialogue in this chapter and the internal monologue was very straightforward.

Chapter 3 (draft III) - Isolde

He might as well have called me Aldus of Pussy.

Chapter 4 (draft III) - Henry

"Assuming she did not drown or get swallowed whole by a shark..."

Chapter 5 (draft III) - Alan

"Welp, there goes peace in the region…”

Chapter 6 (draft III) - Isolde

This will only stop when Henry has me pinned - oh no. I can’t keep the grin from my face...

Chapter 6... this was a long chapter so it gets two (draft III) - Uthman

“It’s amazing, truly, how agreeable a person becomes when faced with a knife to the throat.”

Chapter 7 (draft III) - Alan

“Good fellow, find a pond and look at yourself. If you wished to bed a princess all you’d have to do is ask.”

Chapter 7... another long chapter, gets two (draft III) - Isolde

“There go your glorious plans to duel every man in the camp.”

Chapter 8 (draft III) - Isolde

“So that’s why you can’t breathe without flirting.”

Chapter 9 (draft III) - Wulfrith

“Find yourself a rich man then, best if he’s old or sickly. Have his son, do away with him while the boy’s still young and needs his mother to manage his inheritance, and… don’t get caught.”

Chapter 10 (draft III) - Isolde

Stop thinking about food, Isolde. You don’t want to know what was in that soup.

Chapter 9 (draft II) ... will be chapter 11 in draft III - Henry (Sorin)

"Up to you what sex you want to be here. But either way, you have to wash your face.”

There were too many good ones in this chapter. Here's a few more. - Isolde (Isadred, in disguise as Adris)

“No, actually, I’m not Adris... you’ve been captured by witches and I’m here to steal your voice and sew your mouth shut.”

- Isolde (Isadred)

“Sewing by the fireplace is a slippery slope. Next thing we know we’ll be dozing off together in these chairs!”

- Henry (Sorin)

"Option two: kill us. Pros: we’re dead. Cons?”

- Also Henry (Sorin)

“You mean, let’s assume they know that we know that they know why we are here.”

#wipvii #tag game

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generalluxun · 6 months

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Fanfic Author 20 Questions

Thanks to @erisluna35 for sending this along! 1. How many works do you have on AO3?

On AO3? Right now 63, soon to be 64(tomorrow probably) and a couple on FF.net

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,020,860 on AO3 plus another ~86K fic I never ported over to AO3, as my 'recent' stuff, starting back in 2021

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Miraculous Ladybug, I did others a long time ago before joining AO3, but that was a long time ago. I've considered a couple others recently too, but nothing yet.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

At The Gala- A Chlonette fic inspired by fanart, and actually the sequel to my #2 by Kudos. This is just a cute series of strange interactions with Chloe from Marinette's PoV, culminating in understanding and discovery on a fated evening.

Slippery slope- Little Chlonette ficlet inspired by a fanart. Very short, it's about how a single unexpected moment can change someone's entire world.

Ever After- A long chapter fic set more than a decade post-canon that looks into the idea that 'Ever After' can be a long time, and that expecting life to be solved at 14 is a recipe for eventual disaster. Yet at the same time life continues to offer new experiences, new possibilities, and new ways to grow. Ships include Adrienette, Chloadrien, and Felinette.

Showing Love- An alternate ending to Queen Wasp, where instead of reuniting Chloé with her horrible mother by highlighting everything horrible about her (seriously, what?) Marinette comes face to face with the reality that a mother really *can* not love a child. Being Marinette she can't let such a thing stand, even if it is Chloé. Marinette&Dupain-Cheng family goodness.

What Do you See?- Adrigami fic that kicks off right in the middle of Kuro Neko. While Adrien is struggling with the pain of giving up Cat Noir, one thing crosses his mind. He can finally give one important person the truth she deserves. After all, he *Was* Cat Noir, not *is*. The two both struggle to navigate the ramifications of this revelation, especially when Plagg shows up once more with the ring. (there's a little bit of eventual Lukanette)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to respond to most, especially any questions or curiosities. I love engagement.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh heck this is so not fair. I am in love with bittersweet ending, and have a couple of doozies.

I can't decide between three.

What Happened- The 'real reason' Chloé Bourgeois's redemption arc failed. What do you di when you do everything right, only to find out your happiness causes the end of the world, in every timeline?

A Modest Proposal- Marinette is happily impatient for Adrien to finally propose to her. Little does she know, a secret long kept is going to come back to haunt her. It's worse than you think.

The Risk Outweighs- A look into someone else's life during the episode 'Risk'. The courage to do anything finally gives Chloé the strength to break from the cycle. But the Ladybugs must set things right, and a few moments of clarity weigh nothing against a lifetime.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, lots with happy endings, though I prefer 'open' endings, so...hmmm

Cafe Noir- has an unambiguously happy ending, but I specifically set out to write a romcom so that feels like cheating.

Dog Daze- probably has the most comprehensively happy ending, Adrien's dad even managed to try to parent. They do go through a lot on the way to the happy ending though.

In Direct Opposition- My latest work, seems to end on a solidly happy note for all involved.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Ever After drew some upset people that expected their OTP to be the main ship. I never tried to deceive anyone, but a few people were just really upset.

I also had this weird thing where someone thought I was someone else, and stalked my comments for a while. That's why I use moderation now.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've done M rated fics. I'm not sure 'smut' works for them, even if there's lots of sex narratively, it's usually mentioned rather than being detailed. I did one single 'this will be a smut fic' fic. And even that ended up with like, 5K words mostly plot, and about 2 paragraphs of (I think emotional and important) sex.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nah, I've never had the crossover itch. I generally find each world intriguing enough on their own.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep! I had someone ask if they could translate one of my fics to Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. Talked about it before, but never went through with it. Not against the idea. I do a lot of rubber ducking for my friends though, so some of my ideas can end up in their finished fics.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I'm going ot have to go with adribrina, my goobers. I like exploring all kinds of ships, and these two I threw together on a whim but Oh, they're so comfy! I wrote Puppy Love to see how they would work, and then that evolved into Dog Daze, my Largest work to date. I had *intended* for them to amicably break up and Sabrina to be a wing-woman to Adrien in the canon ship of Adrienette.... but they just did not want to break up. Even if they wouldn't admit they were dating, they were just too *comfy* together. These two make me happy. (Marinette ended up okay though, she's happy!)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

A third fic in my Senti-Sentai AU. 'Worlds Collide'. It was set in 'vague eastern Europe country in the middle of violent conflict' and then that suddenly got too real, too quickly.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character voice. I write third person limited, and I've been told many times that I do a very good job of writing characters as their canonical selves, just in different situations that bring about different outcomes or changes in them. I consider that a high compliment, because the characters are what I am here for.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Brevity. Even simplistic plots 'enemies to friends road trip' become detailed 'Marinette manipulates Chloé into chasing Adien and Lila across the globe to prevent Lila from wheedling an arranged Marriage out of Gabriel' and then that blossoms into a 98K fic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I feel like my last of understanding grammar and colloquialisms for another language would have me sounding like bad google translate. Singular words used? Viable.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

SWATKats. My first ever fanfic was a 30K fic about that show.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

They are all my babies! This is so not fair. I've spoken about some of my favorites earlier though, so I'll use this spot to mention some other ones :)

He's Perfect- Gothic Horror Adrienette! It even has a sequel and an entire AU in my head if I can circle back.

The Orphan and the Marionette- Written to feel like one of Grimm's fairy tales. Chlonette(kind of) with a heavy dose of magic and a surprise appearance from Marianne.

There are so many more but I'll plug Dog Daze again, because I to like how it flows and the alternate S5 we get from it. It also inspired a raft of 'post story' one shots, and I have another chapter fic waiting in the wings to continue the AU. There's plenty of stories to tell here.

@taketwoinink Tag, if you would like to play.

#ask #fan fiction #fanfiction #writing #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #adribrina #chlonette #so many ships

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