#clarkson ficlet

[shares-a-vest]

Prompt: Love is Love (Discord Drabble)

Wayne begins to panic as soon as Eddie sits down at the opposite side of the breakfast table, looking all rumpled and grumpy like he does every morning.

He takes Scott's hand under the table and shoots his now-official partner a look. Scott nods firmly, despite the weary glint in his eyes.

He's gotta do this. He can do this.

At least he thinks so until he looks back to his nephew, only to find Eddie rubbing sleep from his eyes and muttering a curse about the morning sun. He watches as the boy takes a swipe at the thin curtain that dresses the window and snaps it shut.

Scott flinches and Wayne sighs.

They have been hiding this long enough. And there is only so much seeking around they can do before Eddie catches them, which would be a very real kind of betrayal his nephew will (perhaps rightfully) never let him hear the end of.

"I - uh, we need ta talk to ya, kid."

Now that sounds different on Wayne's tongue. He has sat Eddie down many times before over the years, mostly all for reasons that left the boy in a puddle of tears. Like when he had to break it to the kid that his father was going to jail, or when he had to repeat senior year – and then again the following.

But this time is for a good reason – a great one, Wayne reminds himself as he takes his and Scott's intertwined hands to rest up on the three-seater table and right out in the open.

"You guys are dating," Eddie deadpans, looking at the hands, "I know."

He looks more awkward than anything as he offers a shrug.

"Oh gosh," Scott gasps with relief and slumps back in his seat, "That was easy."

But Wayne finds himself frowning, "How'd ya know?"

Eddie makes a face like it's painfully obvious, that sarcastic little quirk in his brow Wayne started to recognise back when his nephew was eight and far too smart (but not quite book smart) for his own good.

"Since my Uncle started hanging out with Scott Clarke, Dork of the Century," Eddie retorts with a grin.

Wayne hangs his head, readying himself to at least attempt to explain to Scott how such... colourful names are merely terms of endearment. Well, at least he thinks that's what is going on here.

"Y'know what?" Scott starts, playfully pointing at Eddie with his free hand in that all-too-chipper way he does, "I'll take it, Edward. I sit here before you, proudly a dork."

"Oh, Jesus," Eddie groans, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"But we just want you to know, Eddie," Scott continues, reaching now to place his hand on Eddie's shoulder and Wayne has to stifle a chuckle as his nephew freezes up, "That love is love, and that's A-okay."

Eddie looks Wayne dead in the eye and stage-whispers, "Why did you have to pick somebody so lame!"

[unclewaynemunson]

After Eddie and Max were brought into the hospital, the waiting room was packed with people. But as time passed by, it got quieter. One by one, worried parents came by to pick up their kids.

“Are you sure you don't wanna come with me?” Robin asked Steve when her mother arrived.

Steve nodded. “Go home, Rob, it's okay. Just wanna make sure Max's mom and Eddie's uncle get here.”

She shot him a worried look, but she knew him well enough to recognize when she wouldn't be able to persuade him – and Steve in turn knew that there was no way Mrs. Buckley would leave the hospital without Robin, after all that had happened that night.

So Steve stayed and waited with Lucas in Max's room for Mrs. Mayfield. When she arrived, he decided to give them some privacy and wandered over to Eddie's room a couple of doors down the hall.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if Eddie would already have returned from the operation room – and if so, if it would be good or bad news waiting for him on the other side of the door.

He swallowed. Waiting motionlessly in the corridor wouldn't change what he'd find. So he raised his hand and slowly pushed the door open.

Eddie was inside, leaning against a pillow in his bed. He was as white as the sheets around him and he had large stitches in one of his cheeks, but other than that, he looked – alive.

“Eddie,” Steve breathed out while an overwhelming wave of relief washed over him.

It was only then that he noticed the other people in the room and stopped in his tracks.

Eddie's uncle was sitting at his bedside, wearing sweatpants and only an undershirt underneath his denim jacket. He looked exhausted, but just as relieved as Steve felt.

But that wasn't what had sparked Steve's surprise. No, the thing that Steve couldn't make sense of, was the man who was sat in the chair next to Wayne Munson. It was Steve's old middle school science teacher, Scott Clarke. He was dressed in a plaid flannel that seemed more Mr. Munson's style than his own, buttoned askew on top of a pair of striped pajama pants.

“Mr. Clarke? What are you doing here?” The question tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

“Who are you?” Mr. Munson asked Steve before Mr. Clarke could say anything. It sounded defensive on the verge of being aggressive, but Steve couldn't really blame him for that, considering what the majority of Hawkins currently thought about Eddie.

“Steve Harrington,” he said, holding out his hand.

The lines on Mr. Munson's forehead deepened.

“He's my friend,” Eddie said. His voice sounded hoarse and weak, but Steve still felt a rush of warmth course through his whole body because of the words he said. “He saved my life.”

“Oh.” Mr. Munson's eyes widened slightly and he finally took Steve's hand. “Wayne Munson. Eddie's uncle. Pleased meetin' ya.”

“It's good to see you again, Steve,” Mr. Clarke remarked. “You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you.”

“I didn't expect to see you here, Mr. Clarke,” Steve noted, still trying to make sense of what exactly his old science teacher was doing in this room.

“Uncle Scott is also my uncle,” Eddie explained.

Steve looked back and forth between Mr. Munson and Mr. Clarke, trying to find any kind of resemblance between the two of them.

“You're brothers?” he couldn't help but ask, unable to keep the astonishment out of his voice. He would never have guessed that those two men were related to each other.

“Steve, no...” Eddie's voice was almost a whisper and had an undertone of something that sounded an awful lot like exasperation. Steve knew that tone all too well; he had never been good at restraining himself from asking stupid questions, after all.

He noticed how the two men exchanged some kind of meaningful glance with each other.

“Um, I think we should go get some coffee, Wayne,” Mr. Clarke said. “Leave the boys to catch up.”

Mr. Munson nodded, but before he got up, he looked at Eddie. "You'll be alright?" he asked, a worried frown on his face.

Eddie nodded. "It's fine, Uncle Wayne." He said it softly, like he was trying to reassure his uncle, and only after Eddie gave him another emphatic nod, Mr. Munson started following Mr. Clarke out of the room.

Just when Steve realized Mr. Clarke must be Eddie's uncle from his mom's side while Mr. Munson had to be his dad's brother, Wayne let his hand linger on the small of Mr. Clarke's back. It was a tiny moment, that only lasted a second right before they went through the door, easy to miss if one weren't paying close attention. But it was still enough for Steve to understand the exasperation in Eddie's voice and the unease on his uncles' faces. That one touch told Steve all he needed to know: there was this casual, easy kind of intimacy behind it that only long-term partners shared. He had seen his parents act like that, and Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair...

“No fucking way,” he breathed out at the moment the door quietly shut behind Mr. Munson. He turned back to Eddie with wide eyes and his jaw dropped.

“Your uncle is – and he's with Scott Clarke?”

Eddie's jaw clenched. “You got a problem with that?”

In his pure astonishment, Steve barely even registered Eddie's question.

“That's impossible!” he all but exclaimed. “Here – in Hawkins? How?!”

Eddie looked slightly past Steve's face, to the bare white wall behind him. “Jesus Christ, Steve,” he said. “You've seen dozens of hell monsters and walked through an alternate dimension to fight an evil sorcerer, and this is what you decide is impossible?”

“Well, it is,” Steve stubbornly said.

He remembered how he once felt about his teammate Thomas, back in his freshman year, remembered the ache in his chest exactly because of how impossible it was. He remembered Robin talking about Tammy Thompson in that bathroom stall filled with the scent of their puke. But Tammy Thompson is a girl, he had said, in his instinctive and perhaps naive confusion - not because he deemed it impossible for Robin to feel that way about a girl, but because up until that point, he had deemed it irrelevant. He knew better than anyone that those kind of feelings would flare up from time to time around certain people, but as far as he was concerned, it didn't matter. There was no way to act on it, no point in lingering on something that was impossible to have anyway.

“They've been together for over a decade,” Eddie said. His voice suddenly lacked its usual warmth; a warmth that Steve had gotten used to over the past few days; a warmth that left a weird feeling of loss behind in Steve's chest now that it wasn't there. “They make each other happy. They don't hurt anyone with it. So don't fucking tell me it's impossible, man. They love each other, and if you're gonna be a dick about that, I'm gonna have to kindly ask you to fuck the hell off.”

“Woah, woah, woah, wait,” Steve hurriedly sputtered. “I'm not – I didn't-” The words got stuck in his throat, somehow. He didn't quite know how to explain the storm that was raging inside of him, the many emotions he felt upon discovering that there were two men happily sharing their lives together, who lived in the same town as he did. Two men who were just like him, who had figured out a way to not hide away, who had somehow found their way to each other, and who had fallen in love without it being something they needed to repress.

“I didn't know – that it could be like that,” he finally managed to stutter. “I never even imagined a future like that for myself. I didn't know – I thought we were just supposed to pretend like those parts of ourselves don't exist and marry a woman. I never met anyone who did it differently.”

Finally, Eddie averted his gaze to look at him again. His eyes were a little bit wider and he was staring at him so intensely that Steve felt something stir deep in his stomach.

“Stevie,” he said, his voice quiet and so much warmer than before in a way that sent a shiver down Steve's spine. “Jesus, I'm sorry, I had no idea. I thought you were saying..." He cut himself off and inhaled deeply, slightly shaking his head. "Listen, man, there's always a choice. I'm not saying it's easy; my uncles have to hide a lot of what they mean to each other when they're in public. They're risking Scott's job, and maybe even a whole lot more if the wrong people find out about them... But there is always a choice. They're much happier together than they would've been if they had chosen to hide and marry a woman, or if they'd spent their whole lives alone.”

Steve had to take a moment to let Eddie's words sink in. Eddie merely kept looking at him, not making a single sound, patiently waiting for him to get his thoughts straight again.

“Are there more people like them, here in Hawkins?” Steve finally asked.

“Not many,” Eddie answered. “Most people who are different move to the bigger cities, where you're a bit more free to be yourself. But they're friends with this lesbian couple who lives a few streets over. And they know some people in Indy, but Wayne refuses to move there. He's too much of a small town boy, he says.” Eddie rolled his eyes at that last part, as if he could in no way comprehend the thought of preferring Hawkins over a big city like Indianapolis.

But Steve did comprehend it. Hawkins was his home. Even after everything that happened to him here, it was where he belonged. It was where everyone he cared about was. He wasn't naive, he knew that that was bound to change at some point, but he had never dared to dream about going someplace else himself. He had never even dared to dream about being someone else. Yet here he was, sitting at the bedside of a boy whose eyes he hadn't stopped thinking about for days.

Maybe it was about time to change his perception of what was possible and what wasn't.

“I know one person who's like – like me,” he admitted. He wanted to tell Eddie about Robin. He knew that there was nothing to worry about – but he also knew it wasn't up to him to share her secret. “I don't know if this is a weird idea," he continued, "but maybe we could all, like, get together sometime. Your uncle, mister Clarke, their lesbian friends...” The idea of it made him feel weirdly excited. He couldn't really imagine what it would be like, to spend a whole evening surrounded by people he had this one thing in common with.

“Not a weird idea,” Eddie told him, that soft look still shining in his big brown eyes. “Sounds awesome, actually.”

“If we do something like that...” Steve hesitated for a moment. “Would you be there too?”

Despite the stitches in his cheek, Eddie managed to smile, dimples and all. He raised a pale hand and pulled a strand of his hair across his face, like he was trying to hide something written on the skin around his lips. “I thought that was obvious,” he said with a chuckle.

Steve chuckled as well. “Just needed to be sure,” he admitted.

He stretched out his hand and put it on top of Eddie's, where it was resting on top of the sheets. It only took a few seconds: he gently squeezed Eddie's hand, then pulled back again, still nervous and not quite knowing what exactly they were headed towards. But no matter how short, the touch still sent sparks through his whole body.

“I'm glad you're alive,” he said, softly.

Eddie's smile became just a little bit wider, and a faint blush colored his pale cheeks. “Me too, big boy. Believe me, me too.”

(I wrote this bc this post by @boldlyvoid refused to leave my brain for literal months)

[resident-gay-bitch]

🏳️‍⚧️ Trans Tuesdays 🏳️‍⚧️

3 times Eddie was shocked to find out things about his friends dating life, and 1 time he was shocked about his own. (Transfem Stevie)

“Wait, what?!” Eddie shouted, staring at Robin incredulous.

“I’m. A. Lesbian.” She repeated, clapping her hands between each word, “Do you need a dictionary definition on what that means, dingus? Because it’s not-“

“No-“ Eddie interrupted, shaking his head, hands sternly on his hips, “I know what a lesbian is, don’t worry. I just didn’t know you were one!”

“Oh… well, yeah, I am.” She shrugged, “Obviously! Whose idea did you think it was to have a Michelle Pfeiffer movie marathon?”

“Huh.” Eddie nodded, giving her a once over, “Well that clears some things up.”

“God, you’re such a dingus sometimes.” Robin snorted, scruffing up his hair, “Come on, we’re gonna be late to meet Stevie if we don’t leave now.”

☆ ★ ☆

“Wait, what?!” Eddie said, doing a double take and charging backwards, almost stacking it down the stairs to the Wheelers basement.

“No! Nothing!” Will shouted, slapping his hand over his mouth, Mike beside him groaned.

“Nuh uh, not nothing. Don’t try to lie to me you little shits. I saw you two smooching it up.” He said, his voice a harsh whisper as he stared down at them. Or, well, attempted to since they’re almost taller than him these days. “Spill.”

“We don’t have to tell you anything.” Mike sassed.

“Oh, yeah?” Eddie sassed right back, “Tell that to the three headed fire breathing dragon who has it out for you, Mighty Palladian.”

Mike groaned, “We’re not gay!”

“Well, last I checked you’re both dudes.” Eddie tutted, “So, what’s this, hmm? I’m not letting you be a little bitch and use your best friend as your experiment.”

“I’d never do that!” Mike clipped.

“Experiment?” Will asked, his face scrunched up.

“Oh, yeah, been there.” Eddie scoffed self-deprecatingly, chucking a thumb at himself, “Don’t tell anyone, but I went through half the football team.”

“Wait, you’re gay?” Mike glared at him.

“Nuh duh.” Eddie blabbered, tongue rolling out of his mouth, “I thought you little shits knew.”

“I knew.” Will shrugged.

“Why did you know?” Mike argued.

“I just knew.” Will said back.

“Hey now, little dudes, enough of that.” Eddie shook his head, “Now come on, what’s going on here? Is this some creepy weirdo exploration thing or have you gone all sweet ‘n shit on each other.”

“Don’t tell anyone, okay.” Will hissed, grabbing Mike's hand, “We’re dating.”

“He didn’t need to know that.” Mike groaned.

“Wouldn’t you rather someone know?” Will raised an eyebrow, “Someone you actually look up to and like?”

“Aww, Little Wheeler, you look up to me?” Eddie asked, a hand splayed over his heart, “I’m honoured.”

“I’m outta here.” Mike rolled his eyes, pushing past Eddie and up the stairs, “I swear if you tell anyone, I’m gonna go steal all your Dungeon Master notes-“

Eddie gasped dramatically, “You wouldn’t!”

“Watch me.” Mike rolled his eyes, accidentally letting a smile slip before he was fully turned around.

☆ ★ ☆

“Wait, what?” Eddie asked, choking on his sandwich, staring up at his uncle.

“I said-“

“I know what you said.” He shook his head, “I just… you are in a relationship?”

“Yes.” Wayne nodded, “I’m very happy.”

“Oh, wow.” Eddie breathed, “I did not expect this happening when I woke up this morning.”

Wayne chuckled at him, “It ain’t that crazy, son.”

“Yeah it is!” Eddie protested, “I didn’t think you even cared about relationships or nothing. You’ve always been just Wayne to me.”

“Yeah, cause you were a sad little kid that needed my full attention.” Wayne huffed, “Now, you’re an adult and I’d like a relationship.”

“Huh…” Eddie nodded, and began to eat his sandwich again, “So can I meet him?”

“You already have.”

“When?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brow.

“His name’s Scott, and I love him very much, and we met at your middle school parent teacher interviews and have been putting off our feelings since then.”

“That long? Wayne!” Eddie groaned, “Is he like a single dad or something?”

“No, he’s your old science teacher.”

“Wait, what!”

☆ ★ ☆

“Wait, what?” Eddie asked, scrunching his face, looking at Steve on the verge of short circuiting.

“Yeah, I just can’t do this anymore, Eddie.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I like you, so much, and I just…”

“Stevie, I’m gay.” Eddie said, now looking at him with desperation, “Steve I’m so gay, I’m the gayest any dude could ever be. Holy shit, I like you too!”

“You are?” Steve said, his eyes beginning to well up a little.

“Yes!” Eddie said, jumping on the spot, “I’m so fucking gay, Stevie. Gayer than the day is long! Please go out with me.”

Steve huffed, giving Eddie a saddened smile, “I’m not a guy, though.”

“Wait… what?” Eddie asked, scrunching his nose, “What do you mean?”

“I’m transgender…” Steve said, looking at the ground, “I’m actually a woman.”

“Wait, you’re transgender?” He asked, whispering the next part to himself, “God, everythings happening this week…”

Steve nodded her head, “Yeah, I can’t… I’m sorry, Eddie, but if you’re gay-“

“I’m bisexual, actually. I’m so bisexual, please go out with me.”

“Eddie, you can’t just change your sexuality.”

“Uh, well, apparently you can, because I just did.” Eddie sassed, “I was gay, now I’m bisexual, cause I have a big ol’ crush on you, and if you’re a woman, that makes me bisexual.”

Steve glared at him.

“So, can I take you out on a date now?” He said, staring up at Steve with stars in his eyes.

“Are you being serious? This isn’t just a joke, Eddie, it’s my identity.”

“I know.” He said, deadpan, “It’s mine too. Hell, I’m finding so many things out this week, it’s crazy. So like, do I still call you Steve or…?”

“I prefer Stevie.”

Eddie grinned, “Sick. So Stevie, about that date?”

Stevie huffed, “You realise if this goes anywhere I’d be your girlfriend, not your boyfriend.”

“Holy shit, you wanna be my girlfriend?” He beamed at her, “This is so metal, can I kiss you, I wanna kiss you so bad, Stevie, please be my girlfriend right now.”

“Oh…” Stevie muttered, finally smiling, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Eddie just about fainted.

Stevie has my heart oh my fucking god I love her *Screams hysterically from the rooftops*

[lauronk]

Hmm... Maybe an AU fic where ellie is a singer and joel is her bodyguard? Idk

okay so this one i just did as a ficlet but also i could fully see myself coming back and fleshing this out later, it would fit so well into alterationsverse!

chasing all those stars

length: ~1.9k words tags: joel & ellie; alternate universe - modern; brief mentions of attempted assault; brief mention of someone being killed; depression; father-daughter relationship; joel's still the best dad no matter the universe; no beta we die like david

i kind of just jumped into the middle of this one, but like i said, i might come back and make more of it at some point. hope you enjoy!

Ellie doesn’t really remember a time when she wasn’t doing this. Sitting on stage with a guitar, singing songs she scribbled on napkins. First in dive bars, open mic nights, pretty much anywhere that had a microphone and a stool for her to sit on, even places she shouldn’t have been because she was too young. Her voice wasn’t really anything to write home about - she wasn’t gonna be the next Kelly Clarkson - but it was good, and really Ellie’d always had more of an eye to being a songwriter than anything. Plus…she just wanted out of her house, wanted to earn a little bit of pocket money that her foster father couldn’t touch.

But then some record exec had happened to be at an open mic one night at the Mohawk, and before she could blink it felt like Ellie had been swept away to New York to record a demo. And the demo had been well-received, and she’d been given a contract and then she was recording an album, at the grand old age of fifteen. You’ll be the next Taylor Swift, someone had said to her, and then promptly been confused when Ellie had cringed away. She had nothing against Taylor - she had the entire Red (Taylor’s Version) vault on repeat most days- but she couldn’t think of an artist more opposite than herself.

And now here she was, twenty years old, third album almost complete, three Grammys and four People’s Choice awards under her belt, management already gearing up to promote her tour, and Ellie was just…

Exhausted.

She’d bought a house out in Boston that she never got to spend time in because she was always on the road somewhere, doing some promotional appearance, on a tour, filming a music video. Never enough time for herself, barely time to do what she really loved, which was writing songs. Half of this album was songs other people had written, and Ellie felt those songs chafing against her skin every time she sang them.

Ellie’s head rolls along the back of the chair, turning until she’s looking out the studio window to where her bodyguard sits, brow furrowed as he scrolls on his phone.

At least she’s got Joel. Through all the insanity, she’s always got Joel.

He looks up at her now, corner of his lips tilting up when he sees her already looking, and he pushes to his feet when she tilts her head. He moves a bit slower these days - he’s just turned sixty, which is well past the usual age for a bodyguard, but she’s got younger, more scarily muscular men to guard her when she really needs it.

Joel is…he’s like an emotional support blanket at this point, not that she’d ever tell him that.

“You about ready to go, kiddo?”

Ellie sighs and holds out her hands for him to pull her up, which he does obligingly. He’s still strong, even at his age, still could probably hold his own in a fight. Definitely still lethal with a gun when necessary, definitely still willing to kill for her. He’d only had to do it once - and her foster father had really had it coming - but Ellie knew he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Joel picks up her guitar case before she can and slings it over his shoulder, guiding her out of the rented studio with a careful hand between her shoulder blades. Ellie doesn’t say anything as he loads it in the back of his SUV and opens the back door for her - he never lets her ride in the front - and he starts to drive them back to her penthouse.

She stares out the window, not really seeing their surroundings, until Joel calls her name from the front seat. He’s watching her through the rearview mirror, furrow in his brow.

“Y’alright?”

Ellie blows out a breath, watching the buildings grow taller and taller around them. Nothing against New York, really, she had just never quite pictured herself living here.

“Is it stupid that I’m unhappy?” She asks, looking down at her hands. Her cuticles are already picked raw, so she leaves them alone, instead tugging at a loose thread on her absurdly expensive designer jeans.

“Why would it be stupid?” Joel flicks on the blinker, making a right. In the distance, Ellie can see her building. Her manager had said the penthouse was a good investment, prime real estate, excellent price, secure building. And it was all those things.

But it was also all modern angles, glass, dark furniture meant more to be looked at than sat on, and so many goddamn windows. Two years with it as her primary residence and it still didn’t feel like home. It was like a crash pad instead, a place she was borrowing from a stranger - not somewhere she could see herself living forever.

“Because.” Ellie pulls on the thread even harder. “I’m rich and successful and have the life a gazillion people would kill for. What’s there to be unhappy about, right?”

Never mind that she hadn’t been able to make it work with Cat, or that her friend Riley had been killed by a crazy fan who had broken into Ellie’s last apartment, or that her foster father had tried to swindle all her money and then assault her, and she’d had to watch Joel blow the man’s brains out to save her.

It’s Joel’s turn to sigh. “Just because you're rich don’t mean you don’t have problems. You’re allowed to be unhappy.”

Ellie makes a noise of assent but doesn’t say anything else as they pull into the underground parking of her building. Joel carries her guitar again - and he’s the only one she lets handle it, seeing as how he gave it to her - and then swipes the keycard for the elevator.

It’s not until they’re upstairs, her guitar carefully removed from its case and set on its stand, that Joel nudges her to sit down on the couch. He lowers himself to the coffee table across from her and rubs a hand over his chin. He fixes her with that look that he so rarely gets, the one that says he’s about to make her talk about shit she doesn’t want to talk about.

But Ellie doesn’t stop him, because if anyone’s got the right it’s him. She stopped pretending two years ago that Joel was just her bodyguard and not the closest thing she’s ever had to family, and so had he.

“Talk to me, baby girl,” he says gently, and the knot of anxiety sitting in her chest slowly unravels.

Ellie sucks in an unsteady breath, annoyed to find herself blinking back tears, and she whispers, “I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.”

Joel doesn’t look the slightest bit surprised by her words, just nods slowly. So Ellie keeps going.

“I always just…wanted to write songs. Didn’t really care about performing them, just needed a way to get all this shit out of me. And it felt like suddenly here I was, given all this,” she waves her hand towards the apartment she hates, “over people who worked way harder and wanted it way more. And I feel like an asshole for not being grateful enough for it, not appreciating it, just wishing I could give it back.”

The tears are flowing freely now, and Ellie digs the heels of her palms into her eyes, pressing until roughened hands encircle her wrist and gently tug.

“You’re not an asshole,” Joel says firmly. “You’re not,” he insists when she starts to shake her head, “and you ain’t allowed to bad-mouth my kid like that.”

Ellie lets out a wet laugh, the same flare of warmth erupting in her chest that she always gets when Joel calls her that. “Sorry.”

He swipes at her cheek with a thumb. “You wouldn’t be the first person to achieve their dreams and find out it ain’t what you thought it would be, Ellie. There’s no shame in admittin’ that. And if it’s makin’ you so unhappy, you can always walk away, baby. All the wealth and fame and awards in the world ain’t worth you bein’ miserable.”

“Walk away to where?” Ellie asks softly, hating how much just the suggestion of it has lifted her spirits already. Logistically, of course, it wouldn’t be that easy - she’s contractually obligated through at least this third album and one more tour in support. But after that?

After that, she could just fucking leave, and the realization makes Ellie feel like she can breathe for the first time in…years.

Joel shrugs. “Dunno, ‘s up to you to figure that out. But –” he hesitates, rubs a hand over his jaw again. “When’s your next big thing? Appearance or anythin’?”

Ellie wants to tease him for not knowing when he’s the one that’s supposed to be escorting her to all these things, but it’s not like she can think of it either, so she pulls out her phone to open her calendar. There’s over two dozen unanswered texts and another ten missed calls, and Ellie’s heart rate spikes even as she ignores them.

“Looks like three weeks from now,” Ellie says slowly. “And that’s the time where I’m supposed to be getting a few more songs down for the album.”

“Well,” Joel scrapes his palms over his thighs, “why don’t you and I take a roadtrip? I ain’t been out to see my brother since last Christmas, and he’s been on my ass about it.”

Right, Joel’s brother. The one with a lawyer wife and a toddler son, who owns a ranch out west somewhere. Ellie’s never met him, despite Joel trying repeatedly to make it happen, but she’s afraid that Tommy won’t like her or won’t think Joel should still be guarding her. And what the fuck would she do then? She can’t lose Joel.

“We can drive out there,” he says coaxingly, reaching forward to shake her knee, “spend a couple weeks relaxin’, you can do all that introspection you ain’t got time for anymore, figure out what you wanna do. Maybe even get some songs written while you’re at it.”

He says the last part teasingly, and Ellie whacks him with a pillow, rolling her eyes. “Never should’ve told you I was blocked,” she mumbles, even as she knows it’s not true. She always tells Joel everything, shit that reporters would kill to find out. He was the first person she came out to - she trusts him more than anyone else.

Joel bats the pillow away and leans down, arms braced on his knees. “We don’t gotta do that, baby. We can figure out some other way, but I just thought…couple weeks out in middle-of-nowhere Wyoming might do you some good.”

Ellie chews her lower lip, mulling it over. The more she thinks on it, the more she likes the sound of it. Even if Tommy and his family don’t like her - despite Joel assuring her repeatedly they would love her - she can at least get a bit of peace and quiet.

“I’ll even let you ride in the front seat,” Joel tacks on, grin pulling at his mouth, and Ellie feels an answering one spread across her own face.

“Swear?”

“I swear,” Joel replies, still grinning, and Ellie sticks out her hand for him to shake.

“Deal.”

thanks for reading!

[werepuppy-steve]

🦌 cj. 26. he/him. 🦌

writer's tag | steddie ficlets | fic recs | wip posts | answered asks | playlists | ko-fi

18+ only. minors do not interact. blank blogs, harry potter blogs, and spam likers will be blocked.

❄️ ao3 fics ❄️ (registered users only)

🎁 haunted by the ghost of you (take me back to the night we met) - T, 2k, vamp eddie

🎁 the magic that we'll feel is worth the lifetime - M, 7k, est. relationship, post season 3/pre season 4

🎁 silent spark - G, 4k, animal crossing au, aspec steve

(more on ao3...)

❄️ tumblr ficlets ❄️

🎁 nurse steve (modern au)

🎁 it takes a village (steddie dads)

🎁 can't you hear that scratching (vamp eddie)

🎁 [ hiraeth; ] (appalachian eddie masterpost)

(more ficlets...)

☃️ the besties ☃️

@hammity-hammer @yournowheregirl @corrodedcoughin @scarcrossdlvrs | @starrystevie @inairbinad @courtjestermunson @flowercrowngods @judasofsuburbia @steves-strapcollection @fireandgrimstone @starryeyedjanai @legitcookie @matchingbatbites @corrodedbisexual @wewilllivehappilyandstrong @thefreakandthehair @steddieas-shegoes @theheadlessphilosopher @stobinesque @potentialheartofdarkness @sidekick-hero @patchworkgargoyle @sentient-trash @vecnuthy @wormdebut @wynnyfryd

❄️ tag masterlist ❄️

eddie | steve | robin | nancy | jonathan | argyle | the party | hopper | mike | dustin | will | lucas | erica | el | max | jonathan & will | will & el | eddie & robin | robin & steve | lucas & erica | dustin & his brothers | steddie | ronance | jargyle | buckingham | eddie & chrissy | spicy six | emma munson | uncle wayne | chrissy | clarkson | ftm eddie | ftm steve | ace eddie | ace steve | corroded coffin | hellfire | punk steve | jezebel munson | scoops troop | bat eddie

dividers & banners by: @saradika updated: 11/23/23

[lisbetadair]

just wanted to share but a song rec for reading your fic "The Honey in The Lion" is die first by nessa barrett.. and also maybe hard days love by lily moore..

however your "a sadness of ficlets", i think kelly clarkson's behind these hazel eyes and because of you are.... Mandatory

It's always such a privilege to hear that someone has read something of mine, but especially so that you've been moved enough to come back with song recommendations. Thank you very much for doing this and I'm sorry it's taken me a few days to get into a space to listen.

The first two I'd never heard before but ooft! I'm surprised Die First isn't on every Soap/Ghost playlist ever made, being so obviously about a depth of feeling, of intertwining, but also feels like it belongs with people for one whom one dying is a real possibility. First class recommendation.

Hard Day's Love strikes me more as being in the same category as Kate Nash's Foundations, about being in a relationship that's run its course, but no one has the fortitude to call time on and leave. Certainly a new direction for the pairing of these two, because I've never seen someone take the idea of the two of the them surviving the events of the game, but despite their shared experience, just find themselves in a doomed relationship. It's certainly an exciting direction to take the two of them; although it's not where I see the story going.

I do really like the two Kelly Clarkson recommendations! Definitely fitting the vibe of Ghost being left behind, and the loss of Johnny being something that profoundly affects how he approaches life and relationships as he grieves.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to send me this! It was a pleasure to hear some new music.

[flowercrowngods]

dio. 🤍

ao3 • writing tag • time travel au tag (stories & snippets) steddie drabbles & microfics ☕️ ko-fi vibes only. mostly steddie, sometimes clarkson.

🌷 WIPs & multi-chaptered stories

➤ i’ll try. i’ll try. (but i couldn’t be better) WIP M | 74k | 12/? | time travel au, angst, steve whump Sent back to 1983, Steve tries to save his friends from everything that's coming and takes on the battle against the Upside Down alone with El by his side.

➤ nice to meet you, where you been? T | 12k | 3/3 | tattoo shop au, pure fluff, trans eddie Chrissy sends Eddie to check out a tattoo shop. Little does he know it belongs to Steve Harrington, or that they’ll both be falling for each other at lightning

➤ untitled knight!Steve / bard!Eddie WIP T | 10k | 2/? | tumblr: part 1 | part 2 | ... regency au (freeform), enemies to lovers Eddie is a bard of great renown who returns to Hawkins ready and willing to spite the people who cast him out all his life. He is in search of his muse: the knight Dustin has been writing to him about who has inspired his greatest ballads and poems. Dustin’s Sir Steve is nowhere to be found, but Lord Harrington seems to hold a grudge against Eddie and he wants to find out why.

➤ see the stars shining through the cracks of my broken heart | steddie week fic T | 14.7k | 3/3 | tumblr: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 in which Eddie and Chrissy get engaged and Steve is heartbroken. yearning ensues. a story about love requited and unrequited, breaking and healing, and hope (steddie & buckingham)

➤ shattered on the cliff’s edge, trapped by the tides WIP M | 5.8k | 2/7 | tumblr: part 1 | part 2 | ... A steddie ghost story. Steve Harrington, disgraced and disowned by his father for moral insanity, has been haunted by eerie dreams of a mysterious lighthouse ever since he was a little boy. His lighthouse quickly turns from recurring night terror to gruesome reality when his superior delegates him to fix the broken light and be the new keeper. But he soon finds out that it is he who is being kept.

➤ tales of blue | who did this to you? WIP M | 13k | 3/4 | tumblr: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | Eddie POV, pre-s4, injured Steve, hurt/comfort One summer's day in 1985, Eddie finds a very injured Steve in the boathouse, and even though he doesn't want the kind of trouble that this might bring, he can't just leave him there. So, scared though he is, he takes Steve to the one person he trusts to always make everything better.

➤ untitled kas!eddie / steve WIP M | 5.3k | 1/? | tumblr: part 1 | post-canon, hurt/comfort, enemies steddie The extent of his brain injuries and the intensity of his migraines is something Steve has been keeping secret from everyone. When he goes to Kas to let him feed, however, the sudden blood loss gives him a migraine. Kas decides to take care of him.

one shots & ficlets under the cut (ao3) -> ao3 link in the tumblr fic post

🌷 fluff & floaty

floor time fic (ao3) Eddie POV, falling in love, fluff, neurodivergent steddie

eddie likes Good Words (ao3) Steve POV, stablished relationship, neurodivergent steddie, echolalia

rambly Steve in love Eddie POV, established relationship, love confession

soft insomniacs (ao3) Eddie POV, short trans Eddie, soft Steve, bickering, established relationship

3 am phone call (ao3) Steve POV, soft, pre-relationship

car ride in love Eddie POV, floaty, boys in love, Andante, Andante

stargazing Steve POV, floaty & soft, boys in love

sick fic Eddie POV, domestic fluff & silliness, steve is sick, eddie is in love

first kiss Eddie POV, floaty, boys in love

loving eddie munson (is a full body experience) (ao3) Steve POV, floaty, boys in love, introspection, love confessions

floaty steddie date hours Eddie POV, established relationship, date night, marriage proposals, softness, dancing in the rain

sick fic 2 (woollen bat hat) Eddie POV, sick!Steve, soft boyfriends in love, cuddling, Eddie reads Momo to Steve

🌷 yearning

✨yearning hours (a-side) (ao3) Eddie POV, heart-wrenching yearning, light imagery, (mis)communication, vulnerability, first kiss

✨yearning hours (b-side) (ao3) Steve POV, insecurity, trauma, darkness imagery, vulnerability, first kiss

✨yearning hours (bonus track) (ao3) Eddie POV, light imagery, vulnerability, getting together

summer nights were made for steve (ao3) Eddie POV, yearning, getting together, the stars are pretty but steve is prettier

✨yearning hours (hidden track) (ao3) Steve POV, floaty music, getting together, sudden love confession, pining, A Flock of Seagulls

✨ high yearning make-out fic (smutty) (ao3) Eddie POV, recreational drug use, dry humping, coming in pants, so much yearning, so much kissing, spicy six as friends

🌷 hurt/comfort

insomniac eddie & human weighted blanket steve Eddie POV, developing relationship, comfort

Eddie being inexperienced at relationships Eddie POV, established relationship, dramatic eddie, boys in love, cuddles

spiralling writer eddie Eddie POV, established relationship, comfort, emotionally intelligent steve

‘You’d be a great dad’ Eddie POV, established relationship, insecure Eddie, comfort

steve has seizures (ao3) Steve POV, angst, self-isolation, seizures, post-s3, found family, background steddie

nonverbal steve gets a hug (ao3) Steve POV, established steddie, nonverbal steve, caring eddie, touch starved steve

sensory overload steddie Steve POV, soft boys, building relationship, nonverbal steve, touch-averse eddie, floor time as the cure

🌷 angst & hurt/no comfort

spiralling steve Steve POV, traumatised steve, nonverbal steve, established steddie, eventual comfort

breakup Steve POV, steve is not okay, breaking up

My Boy Steve POV, major character death, post-s4, inspired by My Girl funeral scene

memory wipe musings Steve POV, post-canon, established relationship, breakup-ish

post-breakup steddie Steve POV, a follow-up for @steddieas-shegoes prompt-fill | years after breaking up with steve eddie writes him a letter and they talk, mentions of drug abuse and rehab, starting over, 2nd chances (it's hopeful but it's kinda really sad)

knightmærs Eddie POV, prince!steve, traitor!eddie, lovers to enemies who are still lovers but it's intrigue, brainwashing, torture, eddie whump, manipulation, open ending, violence & threats of death

🌷 smut(ish)

steve wants to hear eddie Eddie POV, established relationship, anal sex

sexytimes in a tent Steve POV, trying not to get caught, established relationship, hand jobs

sub!kas eddie (drabble) (tag for more) Steve POV, good boy kas, soft dom steve

school reunion sex Eddie POV, chubby!steve, dom-ish top steve, belly kink, light degradation kink, multiple orgasms, semi-public sex, reunion sex, good boy eddie

misc. & gen

steve and nancy finally have A Talk Steve POV, apologies, communicating like adults, making up, platonic stancy

steve and mike coming out to each other (ao3) Steve POV, bisexual lighting, established background steddie, mike & steve sibling relationship

why'd you jump? (ao3) conversation at the quarry, coming out (kinda), working through trauma together, steve & mike sibling relationship, big brother Steve | cw: could read as suicidal tendencies or intrusive thoughts

a study in grief: steve and mike talking about barb (ao3) Steve POV, Barb's death anniversary, Barb was Mike's friend, grief, mourning, big brother Steve, Mike character study

stobin arsonist tendencies (drabble) Steve POV, robin wants to burn down steve's car and house, fucked up platonic besties, neurodivergent swag

🌷 i'll try-verse (time travel au) oneshots

steve takes el to see her first meteor shower

el calls steve magic

eddie finds nonverbal steve

tina's party steddie hug

steve meets wayne

clarkson fics

meet-sweet | kids duty (ao3) clarkson origin post with @unclewaynemunson. Wayne POV, first meeting, slow burn, pre-relationship, soft

coursework, caffeine and cuddles (ao3) teacher student!steve, domestic fluff, established clarkson & steddie, found family

if i fell in love with you (ao3) Scott POV, soft, established relationship, domestic fluff, If I Fell

home. (ao3) Scott POV, comfort, floaty, established relationship, after-school car ride, domesticity

quiet. (ao3) Scott POV, hurt/comfort, domesticity, established relationship, wayne doesn’t like how quiet scott’s house gets

don’t let go (i won’t) (ao3) Scott POV, hurt/comfort, found family, post-s4, shared trauma, steddie, established relationship, wayne gets a bad flashback and scott calls steddie for help

ronance fics

snow angels for @thefreakandthehair's spicy six winter fic challenge, Nancy POV, pining, first kiss, getting together

yearning hours (ao3) Nancy POV, pining, yearning, realisations, pre-relationship, semi-floaty

[just-two-blokes]

Comfortember day 17: Falling asleep on someone - A Thomas Barrow x Richard Ellis Ficlet

In search of a Fic idea I looked at the prompts of the last comfortember event for which I have also written some Thomas x Richard fics in the past. And I came across this prompt as well as an other one that I haven't written for and that I really like.

So here we are, my first Tumblr Fic after a long break. A little feel-good ficlet, that helped me process some feelings and emotions that are spinning in my head at the moment.

---

When Thomas unlocks the door to their cottage that evening, Richard instinctively notices that something is wrong. Even though Thomas' waves off his concerned enquiry in an exhausted gesture and assures him several times that he is fine, Richard has known Thomas long enough to know when the butler is lying. Because if there is one thing Thomas Barrow is not good at, and Richard Ellis thinks Thomas really is good at just about anything, it is lying.

And incidentally, the dark and deep rings around his eyes and the tense posture with which he strides into the cottage also give him away.

But Richard also knows that Thomas can't stand being pushed and so Richard vamooses in the kitchen to prepare dinner, as well as Thomas' favourite dessert (dark chocolate cake).

Dinner is a rather depressing affair. Thomas' chews listlessly on his roast and Richard feels they are tiptoeing around an issue that will inevitably reveal itself sooner or later.

And finally, when Richard himself is almost finished eating, Thomas finally blurts out.

'This day… has been horrible.'

Richard raises his eyebrow and gives him an encouraging smile.

After a moment's hesitation, Thomas' continues.

'First Andy almost fell down the stairs and broke twenty plates of silverware. Well, better the crockery than Andy's bones, but Lady Mary wasn't too pleased about it.

Then Mrs Patmore spilt boiling water over her hand while cooking a stew and I had to ask Dr Clarkson to come in on an emergency basis. So in the end I had to help with the cooking myself, as Mrs Patmore was of course no longer fit for anything.

And Andy has asked for a day off, and I feel bad because I really can't give him that now. Not with all the chaos that's going on at the moment.'

Richard, who has been listening attentively the whole time, gives Thomas a sad look before he finally stands up, circles the table and takes Thomas in his arms.

Thomas lets himself fall into the embrace and snuggles close to the valet, while his eyes keep falling shut from exhaustion.

Encouragingly, Richard takes Thomas by the hand and leads him to their shared bedroom. Once there, Richard re-drapes the pillows on the bed and gestures Thomas to lie down.

'But', Thomas wants to reply, but Richard nips his protest in the bud.

'No arguments', a sly grin steals onto his face, 'You've earned a break'.

With these words he leaves Thomas standing in the small bedroom and disappears into the kitchen. Sighing, Thomas surrenders and drops onto the bed, exhausted. His field of vision is blurred and everything seems to spin around him.

After a few minutes, Richard reappears in the doorway with a fluffy woollen blanket, a large piece of chocolate cake and a steaming cup of tea. There is an affectionate smile on his face and he motions for Thomas to move a little to one side.

For a few seconds Thomas just stares at him, stunned and overwhelmed, until finally he hesitantly slides a little to the side and Richard drops down beside him on the bed. Then he holds out the tray with the tea and cake to Thomas and carefully spreads the blanket over their legs.

Thomas still looks completely perplexed until he finally finds his voice again with a brief clearing of his throat 'I… why…?'

Richard just smiles at him with that stubborn grin that drives Thomas crazy every time.

'Because you deserve a nice, quiet and cosy evening', Richard replies and gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead before fishing a small storybook from his bedside table and opening it.

'Good night story?'

Thomas' eyes light up and he nods mechanically.

Richard taps on his chest and Thomas lies down, resting his head on Richard's chest as Richard tells him the tale of the Seven Little Goats.

As Richard closes the book at the end of the story, he realises that he hasn't heard from Thomas for a while. Only the weight on his chest has grown heavier with each page read aloud, and when Richard finally puts the book down and looks at his chest, he realises that Thomas has probably long since drifted off into the realm of dreams, his head resting on Richard's chest, his arms crushed uncomfortably beneath him.

Richard gives Thomas an affectionate smile as he wipes a few dishevelled strands of hair from his forehead and finally manoeuvres him carefully from his chest onto the pillow.

Thomas turns onto his side in his sleep and smacks softly, eliciting an imperceptible giggle from Richard. Gently, Richard covers Thomas' sleeping body with the duvet and gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Thomas mumbles something in his sleep and Richard rises with a smile to put the tray in the kitchen and get into bed as well.

The washing up can wait until tomorrow.

They have definitely done enough work today.

[bluiex]

When writing that oneshot I wanted a theme.

Strength and moving on.

My best friend is currently going through a cheating break up. He’s not doing too well.

So I put a lot of his personality into Scar.

Eventually we all emotionally check out. We stop caring because it hurts too care. Scar isn’t a completely vengeful type, never could be with Grian.

So he opts instead to move on, he picked up the pieces of his heart on that lonely mountain in Last Life. And put the shattered remains back together. For a long time he was resentful and better in his own isolation.

But then he came to accept it. Emotionally there was nothing left between him and Grian. And finally saying those words out loud to himself, made all the difference for his heart and mind. The words felt like a breath of fresh air.

Scar knows now, in Double Life, his own worth. And can be happy for Grian because he knows that he doesn’t have to let it get to him anymore. Grian is allowed to be happy too.

Songs like

Piece by Piece - Kelly Clarkson.

Stronger - Kelly Clarkson.

Fighter - Christian Aguilera

Survivor - Destinies Child

These were the vibes I was listening too. Scar became stronger without Grian, and took care of himself. He doesn’t need him to survive anymore.

For Grian, well, we never know how precious something is. Until we lose it. So what’s worse? Knowing they can be happy for you? Or knowing they are happy without you?

Ough JAAAADE that's so perfect qoq it's literally how I went through my own cheating break up. (It's why the ficlet I related to so hard and did tear up a bit) And it's so freeing to be just over it and uncaring now. Cuz ykno fuck that person! I know my worth-- and jade you expressed it SO bloody well in the ficlet <3

[speeed-and-power]

new fic page + fandom statistics

continuing on my quest to make my blog generally more accessible and generally better all round, I’ve updated the page where you can find all the fics I’ve written. it has filters so you can sort by pairing, rating, and genre, and is infinitely more readable than my last one!

it’s also allowed me to do some ~fun fandom fic statistics~ which my autistic self loves! I’ve put them below the cut because they’re dull.

Pairings

I’ve written 22 fics about Clarkson, Hammond and May, but for the purposes of these statistics I’m excluding my dribble/drouble/drabble roundup fic because I can’t be bothered including those 12 or so little ficlets. So, of the 21 fics:

Je/R was the first pairing I wrote

it was obviously my favourite for a while, because 10 of the 21 fics are Je/R

7 are J/J

3 are OT3

1 is Ja/R

I find this interesting—I like reading all pairings equally, and in theory like the idea of writing all pairings, but clearly I find myself drawn overwhelmingly to Je/R and J/J. I adore OT3 but find it tricky to write, and I also enjoy Ja/R but it doesn’t come as easily to me as anything with Jeremy in, so that’s why I think I’ve neglected it up until now.

This compares interestingly to the fandom overall, where the most popular pairing differs by platform! I’m just focusing on the main four pairings here (sorry Andy, Stig, and others D:) in order to more easily compare to my own writing.

On dreamwidth (which includes aggregate posts from the old LJ comm):

Ja/R leads with 1,551

J/J comes second with 1,455

OT3 is third with 1,109

Je/R is last! with 1,003

On ao3 under the Top Gear (UK) RPF tag:

J/J is first with 746 fics

Ja/R is second with 540 fics

OT3 is third with 442

Je/R is last again with 396

It’s fascinating to me that clearly the LJ comm was the place for fics, even though ao3 has been around since 2007. Although in saying that I believe it only really started to get popular from 2010 onwards (the first thing I ever posted on there was in 2013, a since-orphaned, really bad James Bond/Raoul Silva fic that I wrote when I was 16 LOL) and I know the comm has been active at least back to 2008.

Lastly, on ao3 under The Grand Tour (TV) RPF tag:

J/J is first with 200 fics

Je/R is second with 146

Ja/R is third with 125

OT3 is last (just!) with 124

Obviously we can’t take these numbers as being set in stone because fics may have multiple pairings and thus multiple tags (and I know most people tag both fandoms on ao3, which doubles up the numbers), but they do give us a good idea. What’s consistent about all three platforms is that J/J is at the top or very near the top (this doesn’t surprise me; anecdotally I always thought it was the most popular pairing) and OT3 is at the bottom or near the bottom. It’s also interesting to me that in recent years Je/R seems to have leapt in popularity, and I wonder why. Were there a bunch of primarily Ja/R writers back in the day who have since left fandom?

Moving on to...

Ratings

When it comes to my fics (and keep in mind I’m using the Australian rating system of G/PG/M/MA/R here) it’s not an exact science and I’m not very good at rating but I’ve done my best:

9 are G/PG (maybe a little smooching)

3 are M (perhaps some over-the-clothes action, or more mature themes)

1 is MA (slightly smutty without being explicit)

7 are R (smut)

I’m surprised at this, because I didn’t realise I’ve written that much smut. Of those rated R fics, though, 3 are Je/R, 2 are OT3, one is J/J and one is Ja/R. So I’m at least a somewhat equal opportunity porn provider.

To make it confusing, both ao3 and the DW comm use different rating systems to each other and to me (the DW one I think is the american system and is thus incomprehensible to me, and ao3’s has always seemed vague), but let’s look at them anyway:

dreamwidth

rated G - 178 uses - 5th

rated PG - 272 uses - 3rd

rated PG-13 - 329 uses - 2nd

rated PG-15 - 133 uses - 6th

rated R - 228 uses - 4th

rated NC-17 - 505 uses - 1st

I find it interesting that these numbers don’t correspond to the amount of fics with pairings that are listed in the comm, meaning I guess a lot of fics on there aren’t tagged with their ratings. I’m thus not too sure about the accuracy of these numbers—but regardless, of what’s tagged, the people want smut it seems! LOL

ao3 - Top Gear (UK) RPF

General Audiences - 618 uses - 3rd

Teen & Up Audiences - 736 uses - 1st

Mature - 525 uses - 4th

Explicit - 668 uses - 2nd

Not Rated - 155 uses - 5th

ao3 - The Grand Tour (TV) RPF is largely the same, except General Audiences and Explicit switch places:

General Audiences - 197 uses - 2nd Teen & Up Audiences - 225 uses - 1st Mature - 146 uses - 4th Explicit - 177 uses - 3rd Not Rated - 80 uses - 5th

I find it interesting that Mature is as unpopular as it is, but otherwise, I’m not too sure what else to glean from these statistics. Moving on to my final data point...

Genres

This was nearly impossible for me to quantify because I am good at tagging my fics but a lot of the tags I use are quite specific (“First Time”, “Episode Related”) so I find it hard to fit my fic into the commonly-accepted overarching ‘genres’ of fic: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, and smut are the four that first come to mind. A lot of my fics ended up being fluff, a few smut, one or two angsty, but there are more than a few that I left untagged completely when it comes to genre because they’re kind of nothing! If anything they were maybe fluffy, but fluff to me implies tooth-rottingly sweet and these pieces didn’t really scream that to me.

smut (everything rated R basically): 7 fics

fluff: 6 fics

untagged: 5 fics

angst (but it’s weak angst by my standards, ‘minor conflict’ or ‘morose pining’ would probably be a better tag, LOL): 4 fics

double tagged (fluff/smut, smut/pwp x2, angst/smut): 4 fics

porn without plot: 2 fics

alternate universe: 1 fic

Let’s look at dreamwidth first. It has a lot of tags, which is excellent for my purposes! I haven’t included all of them; I limited myself to the top 7, an arbitrary number just cuz.

alternate universe: 428 uses

humour: 317 uses

fluff: 159 uses

gen: 150 uses

dribble/drouble/drabble: 144 uses

established relationship: 138 uses

angst: 111 uses

I suspect we’re looking at the same issue we had when examining the ratings (where people in the past have tagged their fic with the pairing but nothing else). I also suspect AU leads the pack because there’s no corresponding ‘not AU’ tag, but in all honesty I’m surprised by those numbers. Keep in mind, though, I don’t really read AU fic and don’t tend to write it (with one exception) so of course that would surprise me LOL. Humour is kinda a given with these boys, and I’m not surprised fluff is up there either. Now onto ao3!

ao3 - Top Gear (UK) RPF

Fluff: 317 uses

Established Relationship: 226 uses

RPF: 174 uses

Angst: 163 uses

Hurt/Comfort: 157 uses

Slash: 134 uses

Episode Related: 126 uses

ao3 - The Grand Tour (TV) RPF is quite similar with one amusing tag added:

Fluff: 133 uses

Established Relationship: 83 uses

Hurt/Comfort: 83 uses

Angst: 60 uses

Friendship: 46 uses

Not Beta Read: 44 uses

RPF: 39 uses

The addition of ‘Not Beta Read’ made me lol because I can identify with it a lot, but I didn’t expect it to show up in the tags! Hey, if anyone needs a beta, let me know—I love doing that shit. :D

But let’s not get bogged down with ‘oo didn’t beta ‘oo, I find the fact that RPF is on both lists to be interesting because I’ve never bothered tagging for RPF (especially as it’s already in the fandom tag). I guess it’s polite to, I just hadn’t thought of doing it! Otherwise, unlike dreamwidth, the denizens of ao3 largely seem to shun AUs (it does not appear on the list of tags at all for Top Gear (UK) RPF, and appears last in the list for The Grand Tour (TV) RPF), but we can see that fluff is right up there just like in the comm.

Conclusions

I found it interesting how the tastes of the fandom mirrored or differed to my own when it came to my writing. I found the pairing breakdowns especially fascinating with how they seem to have changed over time!

More personally, looking at my back catalogue, I truly think that anything written pre-2017 (published before of sunlight and smoke; I had my fics on a pseud of one of my kpop accounts before I deleted them all and reuploaded them on my current ao3 account which is why the dates are all a bit shonky) is a bit shit. The titles are meh, the descriptions all end in ellipses, and I just don’t think the writing is all that good.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing egregiously wrong with them. They’re just not particularly memorable; they don’t have strong plots or story beats and most were written as prompt fills. There is NOTHING wrong with prompt fills—I still love writing prompt fills—but a lot were written to fulfill a purpose (fill the prompt) and as such I didn’t have complete creative control and didn’t desire to expand on them any more than I had to. And I’m not saying my most recent works have groundbreaking premises either, but at least I can read through them and not cringe, LOL!

Anyway, if you’ve read this far, feel free to expand upon these stats yourself! I’d love to see how your writing compares, or see your own hypotheses about why the pairings have shifted so much in popularity over time!

[blue-eyed-cutiepatootie]

💜 tag list announcement 💜

I use a tag list for my art (and now a few fics) so if you're interested in that, like this post or comment or something so I know to add you!

Master list under the cut 💜

Destiel in Mabel Pines’ sweaters Masterlist

Flower Cas painting

Dean in the Folklore Cardigan painting

Destiel telephone painting

Pimk Sunset Deancas painting

Baby Jack sketches (one : two : three)

Autumn Baby Jack

Bubblegum Dean and Cas colored pencil drawings

Pink Dean colored pencil drawing

Blue Cas colored pencil drawing

Pink Cas colored pencil drawing

Bi lighting Dean painting

Aroace lighting Cas painting

Red and black Dean painting

Bloody Cas painting

Bloody Dean painting

Lily wings Cas painting

Even Angels Need Hobbies crocheting cas painting

Castiel with Worm painting

Two leaves in love (a deancas drabble)

Eddie Munson drawing 

Pink Cas from Dean's journal drawing

I'll Always Take Care of You (a deancas fic) (also on ao3)

Growing pains (a deancas ficlet also on AO3)

The house is too loud (deancas ficlet also on AO3)

I need more lights (deancas ficlet also on AO3)

Anxious Driver (deancas ficlet also on AO3)

You're Worth It (deancas ficlet)

Two Sand Dunes (deancas ficlet)

Shelter (deancas ficlet)

Abandoned and Banished (deancas ficlet)

A Sea D Sea (deancas ficlet)

Liv’s Gifts for Friends Masterlist (flower paintings, etc)

Pink Nick Nelson fanart

Love is the Point of it All (deancas fic)

Restless (deancas fic)

The Best Goddamn Soup (deancas fic)

Radar Indicated (deancas fic)

Dolphins at Midday (heartstopper fic)

Cuddle Me, Sweetheart (deancas ficlet)

Yoga With Cas (deancas ficlet)

DEFCON 5 (deancas ficlet)

love incarnate poem

tulip cas painting

destiel christmas sketch

destiel christmas digital painting

roadtrip cas digital painting

polaroid cas 1 digital painting (field, blowing bubbles)

polaroid cas 2 digital painting (hiking)

polaroid cas 3 digital painting (baking in kitchen)

polaroid cas 4 digital painting (library)

polaroid cas 5 digital painting (cas drawing with plant)

polaroid cas 6 digital painting (watermelon)

polaroid cas 7 digital painting (destiel lady and the tramp)

polaroid cas 8 digital painting (coffee in kitchen)

polaroid cas 9 digital painting (destiel lake, kelly clarkson)

polaroid cas 10 digital painting (convenience store)

castiel digital painting

castiel with bees gouache painting

dean in crayon digital painting

destiel digital painting (dean back from the store)

destiel treehouse date digital painting

horsegirl dean digital painting

who will take care of me (destiel ficlet)

red knuckles (destiel ficlet)

[shares-a-vest]

Prompt: Bringing someone home (Discord Drabble) @bowtieandflannel I fear I have a resurging case of Clarkson brainrot. Also yeah, sorry to the stwg but this is once again probably not a drabble.

Eddie shuffles into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and needing a caffeine hit (or three). He blinks hard and rubs his eyes, vision clearing enough to see a figure standing at the stove. His mouth waters at the smell of bacon, praying that his uncle has save him some.

"Hey, Wa-ay – AHHHH!"

He screams and claps a hand over his mouth at the sight of Scott Clarke, funky bowtie-wearing middle school teacher and all-around dork of a science nerd, standing in his kitchen making breakfast.

"Oh, gosh!" Scott says, dropping the egg slider in the pan as he jumps back and clutches his chest, "Wayne said you weren't home!"

"I am," he takes a moment to frown before going back to gawking to the point his eyes might fall out onto the cracked linoleum.

"He's um..." Scott looks out the front window.

"I need to..." Eddie thumbs to the door.

"Yeah!" Scott agrees with great enthusiasm.

Eddie whips around at break-neck speed to fling open the front door and the accompanying fly screen, thoroughly testing the hinges. He's sure he will receive a scalding from Wayne soon enough.

He braces himself, perhaps not nearly as much as he typically would because Scott cries out, "Oh golly, the toast!" as the fly screen smashes shut again, the metal frame rattling away.

"Oh, shit!" Wayne cusses, looking uncharacteristically spooked as they make eye contact.

See, it's things like this that are bolstering Eddie's growing assertion that Scott Clarke should one-thousand percent not be cooking in their kitchen in a pair of boxer shorts and one of his uncle's flannels, saying things like "gosh" and "golly".

Wayne meanwhile, looks as shocked as he oughta be, sitting on the edge of the second-hand couch they have out on the porch.

Eddie opens his mouth to speak but again, he has nothing.

"Boy," Wayne says, stern with a warning finger, "Don't you start!"

"Why is Scott Clarke in our kitchen!" he shrieks, promptly smacking his mouth shut when his uncle shushes him.

"You told me you wouldn't be home."

"I wasn't. But then... Steve... work... eh!"

He gives up on the whole speaking words thing and pinches his nose. Maybe if he applies enough pressure, his brain will explode and he won't have to think about his uncle waiting on bated breath for him to leave the house, giving him the all-clear to bring a goddamn date home.

A date...

He winces.

"Darn it, Eddie!" Wayne says as he rubs at the back of his neck, "I guess I should'a told ya. This whole thing is..."

He stops and nods, grumbling as he looks down at his worn grandpa-like slippers. Eddie's heart sinks. That's the same look he's seen on his uncle's face many times. And each and every time that look has had something to do with Wayne feeling like he screwed up as Eddie's parental figure.

"I just need..." he struggles.

"Time to think it all over?" Wayne asks.

He nods meekly, flopping down to sit with his uncle. Wayne pats him on the knee, neither of them saying anymore.

That is until the fly screen squeaks and they both look up to find Scott fully dressed and gesturing inside.

"Uh..." he hums and Eddie looks down, forgiving of his awkwardness - he feels like an asshole, now, "Breakfast is ready."

He hums to himself and looks towards Wayne's truck.

But Wayne stands and steps towards him.

"You're staying," he insists before turning back to Eddie, "And you're coming inside too."

"Can I um..." he really does feel like a goddamn kid again, "Can I eat in my room? I, uh... I just need to think about things."

"Thought is essential to our growth as human beings," Scott muses.

[unclewaynemunson]

It's October when the autumn chill officially dawns over Hawkins. Wayne wakes up to fogged-up windows, and his bones protest loudly when he stretches to get up and make himself some warm coffee. It's too early in the year to turn on the heating; if they start that now, they'll be bankrupt before it's even January. So while the coffee is brewing, he shrugs off the old shirt he uses as a pajama, and puts on as many layers as he'll need to keep himself warm: first an undershirt, then a soft flannel, and then a faded brown sweater that's been sitting uselessly in his closet all through the summer. It's patched up at the elbows to conceal the holes that have fallen into it, but still warm and comfortable, which is all Wayne can really ask for.

'Ed, got coffee for ya!' he calls out when he's changed into his jeans and the coffee is almost ready.

Some muffled noises sounding vaguely like 'lemmesleeeeeep' emerge from the other side of the thin wall.

Wayne chuckles as he turns on the gas, deciding he might as well make scrambled eggs for breakfast; a thinly-veiled excuse to heat up the trailer by using the stove.

'And eggs in a minute!'

Another string of muffled sounds emerges from Eddie's bedroom, 'stoocold' being the only semi-decipherable one.

For a moment, Wayne feels guilty. He knows, deep down, that this is nothing more than his Eddie being dramatic. But that doesn't change his wish that he could simply turn on the heat without giving it a second thought and make Eddie's Sunday morning just slightly more comfortable. He doesn't care about the chill in his own bones, he's had worse. He doesn't care about the condensation on the windows, that is now changing into thick droplets that are gliding down to the windowsill, leaving traces of soot in their wake. He's not even sure if he'd ever want to live in a real, proper house. But the one thing he does want, is to get his nephew through the season warm and comfortable without having to count every penny.

Eddie finally emerges from his bedroom, with only his head peeking out of the blanket he has wrapped himself in, and a sleepy look in his eyes. The phone starts ringing just as Wayne greets him, and Eddie, who's closer to it, shuffles towards it.

Almost immediately after he picks up, his eyes shed their drowsy look and light up in a way that Wayne has come to know all too well, while his mouth curves into a wicked grin.

'No, sir, he's not here,' Eddie says into the phone, his eyes wide and innocent. 'When he didn't come home last night, I assumed he'd be spending the night with you. I guess he must have a secret lover we both don't know about.'

Wayne abruptly turns off the gas and barges towards Eddie, who barks out a laugh while he jumps back as far as the phone cord allows him.

'Just joking, Mr. Clarke, he is here!' he calls out in an annoyingly triumphed tone. 'And he can't wait to talk to you, here he is!'

Wayne playfully shoves Eddie against the wall as he takes the phone from him.

'Sorry for my menace of a nephew, Scott,' he says.

He hears a chuckle on the other side of the line, slightly distorted through the horn. It's as if his hand has a will of its own, clenching around the phone and pressing it almost painfully close to his ear; like he'll be able to catch the sound of Scott's laughter better if he could only press himself tighter to his phone.

'Luckily I'm used to middle schoolers, nothing I can't handle here.'

Wayne snorts and turns towards Eddie, who is now shamelessly staring at him from above his blanket-cocoon a few steps away from him.

'Scott says you should stop behavin' like a damn middle schooler,' he grumbles.

'Yep, that sounds exactly like something sweet Scott Clarke would say,' Eddie remarks, that devilish grin still plastered on his face.

'What can I do for ya, Scott?'

'Well, I just came downstairs for breakfast, and when I looked outside, I realized this is our first proper fall day.'

Wayne directs his gaze to the wet kitchen window. He hadn't even thought to look through the droplets on the glass; but now that he does, he realizes Scott is right. The trees around Forest Hills are definitely showing more yellow and orange than they did yesterday, and some patches of fog are still lingering a few feet above the wilted grass and muddy roads. The skies are a light shade of gray, telling Wayne that even though it'll be cold, it won't likely start raining anytime soon.

'I was wondering if you have any plans for today?' Scott's continues in his ear. 'We could go for a walk in the forest, admire the colors, see if we can find some cool mushrooms... What do you think?'

Wayne wonders whether he's imagining the nervous edge to Scott's voice, merely hearing in there what he wants to hear.

'I'm free all day,' Wayne says. He clamps the phone between his ear and his shoulder, needing both his hands to fumble around in his chest pocket and find a cigarette and a lighter. 'You wanna come over after breakfast? I can make a thermos of coffee and we can head into the woods here, I know a nice path around Lov- around the lake.' He can feel Eddie's gaze burning on him, but he refuses to look at his nephew, instead closing his eyes as he places the cigarette between his lips and lights it.

Scott is kind enough to pretend like he didn't notice Wayne's unfortunate stutter.

'A walk around the lake sounds perfect,' he says instead, his voice still as chipper as ever. 'I'll be at yours in an hour. Enjoy your breakfast with Eddie.'

'Real smooth, Uncle Wayne.' Eddie's amused voice cuts through the silence as soon as Wayne has hung the phone back on the hook.

'Don't be ridiculous now, boy,' Wayne grumbles. 'He's my friend.'

'With whom you're gonna hang out at Lover's Lake. Like friends do.' The sarcasm is dripping from Eddie's voice.

'I liked you better when you were still asleep in your bed,' Wayne remarks.

Eddie laughs loudly. 'You shoulda thought about that before you made me come out of it to freeze to death.'

Wayne crosses his arms and shoots Eddie an unimpressed look. 'Are you gonna do anything today or just spending your whole day makin' fun of me?'

Eddie shrugs – or rather, that's what Wayne supposes is happening underneath the moving blanket. 'I'm gonna take the kids to the pumpkin farm with Steve.' He lowers his voice and leans closer towards Wayne, continuing in an conspiratorial voice, 'We call that a date. Maybe you and Mr. Clarke should stop being cowards and come join us. Make it a double date.'

Wayne doesn't say anything; he simply rolls his eyes and walks back to the stove, lighting the gas underneath the frying pan again so he can direct all his attention to his eggs.

---

An hour later, Eddie has left – with a pit stop at the Mayfields' trailer – to pick up Steve. Wayne has done the dishes, dried the windows and filled a thermos with fresh coffee. By the time Scott parks his car in the spot where Eddie's van had been earlier, most of the fog outside has disappeared. Wayne watches him get out of his car through the kitchen window, but he doesn't come outside just yet, afraid it'll make him seem too eager.

Scott knocks on the door and then lets himself in, like he's done many times over the summer that now lies behind them. He's wearing a woolen coat in a dark gray color, with a simple black scarf around his neck.

Wayne feels his hands twitch with the desire to wrap themselves around Scott's waist, to tug him close and bask in the warmth of his body. Would his scarf feel as soft as it looks? Would he smell like fresh autumn air? Would his touch be as warm as the quilt on his couch?

'Oof, it's chilly in here,' Scott remarks, rubbing his hands together.

'I don't get cold that fast.' It's only partly a lie.

'I like the sweater.'

The easy and earnest compliment catches Wayne off-balance; he doesn't know what to do, where to look, where to keep his hands. He wants to escape Scott's approving gaze and hide away somewhere no one can perceive him.

Instead, he clears his throat and thanks the heavens for the fact that Eddie has already left.

'Ready to go?' he asks.

They head into the woods and Wayne leads the way as they stray further from the trailer park. Their feet easily find a rhythm that feels natural to both of them, avoiding the bigger puddles on the path and stopping every now and then to admire toadstools, dewy cobwebs, and fallen leaves in beautiful colors.

As they make their way around Lover's Lake, Wayne ponders what exactly the difference is between what Eddie would call a hangout, and a date. He doesn't exactly have a lot of friends who he hangs out with. He has his colleagues at the plant, of course, who he'd always kept at a distance, which proved him right when they were all too ready to come for his Eddie last March. He has some neighbors he's friendly with; he helps them with a thing or two around their trailers and in return they share a beer or a smoke with him. But he wouldn't call that real friendship either. He has learned long ago how dangerous it can be to let people come too close. Some people only wanted certain things from him, others would judge him when they'd find out a thing too many about him. And the pain of losing a rare, true friend became all too clear to him back in Vietnam.

After that, he mainly stuck to himself. And then it became him and Eddie against the world. He never needed anyone else. He was good at being alone, after all. There was a certain level of comfort to be found in loneliness.

So this thing with Scott – whatever it is – is not something he can compare to anything else. The only thing he knows is that it's definitely not lonely. And that he doesn't want to mess it up and lose the only true friend he's had in decades.

'What's on your mind?' Scott asks when they sit down on a fallen tree at the edge of the lake to enjoy their coffee. 'You've been quiet.'

'I'm always quiet,' Wayne points out.

It makes Scott chuckle softly before he takes a sip of his coffee.

'Not as quiet as you think,' Scott says. 'Today, you're thinking loudly. I can almost hear your thoughts.'

Wayne carefully places his own mug on the tree, then grabs himself a cigarette and lights it, all to buy himself some time. But even after a long drag and another sip of coffee, he still doesn't quite know how to voice his thoughts.

'Was just admirin' the fall colors,' he decides to say instead, when the silence starts taking too long.

He can practically feel Scott's eyes on his face as he stubbornly stares over the water in front of them.

'It really is the perfect day to do that,' Scott finally says. Apparently he has decided he'll let Wayne get away with it this time. Or maybe it isn't like that. Maybe he decided that he'll allow Wayne the time he needs to sort out his thoughts before he can voice them. Maybe he understands that Wayne sometimes needs a while before he's ready to talk about things. Maybe he decided that he didn't want to intrude. Maybe he decided that he values spending time with Wayne, no matter if they're talking or sitting in silence. And maybe this fall will be a little less cold than the ones Wayne has gotten used to, because when he risks a glance towards his left, he sees Scott wearing a smile that's appreciative of the nature around them. It's a smile that warms Wayne from the inside, in a way that the heater in his trailer has never managed to do.

[zayne-s]

stranger things | cast

eddie | steve | robin | nancy | jonathan | argyle | gareth | jeff | will | mike | el | lucas | dustin | max | erica | joyce | hopper | steddie | ronance | jargyle | jancy | byler | lumax | elmax | elumax | fruity four | spicy six | hellcheer | derica | stobin | jopper | stancy | bandqueen | corroded coffin | hellfire | will/el | byhop sibs | byers bros | byhop fam | steve/robin/eddie | robin/eddie | steve/eddie/dustin | joseph quinn | joe keery | | st 4 bloopers | st 5 | bat!eddie | jezebel munson | clarkson | appalachian eddie | punk steve | eddie munson tiktok saga | uncle wayne | steddie ficlets

[songbookff]

Songbook Fanfic Master List

Hello all. I have gotten a lot of new followers this year and I’m so happy to welcome you all. For the end of the year, I have created several lists of my work over the years, organized here in a Master List. I have broken them all up by fandom, so you can click on the fandom(s) you are interested in to see more. 

I’m really proud of the work I’ve written over the years and some of it is clearly better than others. But I have always written fanfic for myself and any joy it can bring other people is a bonus. So even though some of this writing is rough around the edges, they all hold a special place in my heart. 

Songbook’s Legend of Korra Fanfiction: Seeing as most of you are have found me from my Kyalin fic, here is all the LoK fics have written both here and on AO3. It is not all Kyalin, but I love them all the same. 

Songbook’s Harry Potter Fanfiction: This is the first fandom I started writing in (most were written under the penname Minerva’s_Soul). Minerva McGonagall remains one of my favorite characters and I really enjoyed writing in the HP Universe. 

Songbook’s Star Trek Fanfiction: So one of my favorite pieces that I ever wrote is a Star Trek AOS story. I also have a couple of other pieces (mainly on FF.net and are old, so read at your own risk). 

Songbook’s Downton Abbey Fanfiction: After LoK, this is the fandom that I have written the most for...and every single one of them is Isobel Crawley/Richard Clarkson. There is one fic that I never finished and may rewrite next year which features multiple characters/couples. We shall see...

Songbook’s Doctor Who/Sarah Jane Adventures Fanfiction: I have only written Sarah Jane Smith fanfics in this fandom, because she’s my absolute favorite.

Songbook’s Star Wars Fanfiction: I started writing Leia/Amilyn Holdo fanfic...and found myself delving into the world a bit. I would love to play in this sandbox some more because there’s so much potential. 

Songbook’s The 100 Fanfiction: There is only one fic in this fandom and it’s a fix-it fic all the way back in Season Three. Clexa fans will know what I’m talking about. 

Songbook’s X-Men Fanfiction: I don’t know how to explain these and I almost left them off the list. But I wrote them. And honestly, they are what I needed at the time that I wrote them and helped me become a better writer. So take a look at your own risk.

Songbook’s Gunpowder Milkshake Fanfiction: Here are my entries in this new fandom. 

Songbook’s Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon Fanfiction: A few small ficlets in the GoT fandom. 

As always, I hope you enjoy whatever fandom you are interested in. Please feel free to message me or leave an ask. I always enjoy interacting with people and I do take requests (although I do not claim to write for every request, but I will try my best). 

Happy New Year! Love, Songbook

[secondgenerationnerd]

songs pls!! 🎶

Ok so I want to point out these are songs that remind me of a character or what I use as inspiration for a characters mood. I’m including couple songs because I can as well as songs that remind me of the whole team. I might include an explanation or just let the song speak for itself!

The whole team:

I’m good-Band together project

People like us- Kelly Clarkson

We own the Night- The Wanted

I Lived- OneRepublic

High hopes- Panic at the disco

They don’t know about us- one direction (I want the boys to sing this to the girls at some point)

You’re gonna go far kid - the offspring

Angel with a Shotgun- the cab

Speeddemon:

Perfect duet- Ed Sheern ft. Beyoncé

As Long as You’re Mine- Wicked (original cast is my preference): for me this is probably a song they’d dance to at their wedding. Not their official song but like one later in the night so Damian can hold her close.

According to You- orianthi (Irey sings this at an ex and the “him” in the song is Damian)

Good parts- Andy Grammer

Don’t Give Up on Me- Andy Grammer

Back Home- Andy Grammer

Love someone- Lukas Graham

Superstar

Dance with Me tonight- Olly Mars

Can I have this Dance- High School Musical 3

Fighter- Loving Caliber

Body like a Back Road- Sam Hunt: ok I will 💯 write a ficlet of Jon removing her garter at their wedding to this song if someone wants lol

She’d say- Andy Grammer- something I can see mar’i humming to their kids.

Speeding arrow

Crazy Beautiful- Andy Grammer

Can I be him- James Arthur

Best of me- Andy Grammer

Scars to your beautiful- Allessia Cara

MilagroxColin (what’s their ship name?)

A Million Dreams- P!nk version

Despacitio- Luis Fonsi version (because I love the idea of Colin singing it to her in really crappy Spanish to make her laugh)

Fire n gold- Bea Miller

I won’t give up- Jason mraz

Theme songs:

Colin Wilkes: Main Attraction -Jeremy Renner

Irey West: Brave- Sara Barallies

Milagro Reyes:Like a Girl- Lizzo

Mar’i Grayson: Better when I’m Dancin’ -Meghan Trainor

Lian Harper: I Dare You - Bea Miller (most of Bea Miller’s songs remind me of Lian/ what I imagine her singing like)

Jon Kent: Waiting for Superman- Daughtry

Damian Wayne: Carry on my Wayward Son- Kansas

Jai West: Born to Run - American Authors