#Concert Hopper

[concerthopperblog]

Heart is the Hero Tour 2023: The Wood Brothers live at the Georgia Theatre!

In the late nineties, there was a jazz fusion/acid jazz/jam band/soul jazz group named Medeski, Martin, & Wood (MMW) that caught my attention and quickly became one of my favorite modern jazz groups. On bass for MMW was Chris Wood who I considered one of the premier bass players in the modern jazz genre. Fast forward a few decades to 2004 with the formation of The Wood Brothers by brothers Chris Wood (upright bass) and Oliver Wood (acoustic and electric guitars) with Jano Rix (multi-instrumentalist). Grammy-nominated The Wood Brothers music is considered folk rock/roots rock/blues rock/Americana with a twist of gospel and some elements of jazz (thanks to Chris’ time with MMW). The Wood Brothers have released nine (9) LPs with Heart is the Hero being the latest release (April 14, 2023).

Incidentally, on June 21st, The Wood Brothers announced a winter tour entitled Heart is the Hero Tour 2023 that would begin on October 18th in Marietta, OH at The Peoples’ Bank Theatre and conclude December 8th in Charleston, SC at the Charleston Music Hall. Lucky for Athens, GA, the Georgia Theatre made the cut on the night before the last tour date on December 7th. This would be my first time seeing The Wood Brothers and I was excited to see them finally perform live. This tour stop just so happened to occur on the same evening as the downtown Parade of Lights in Athens, GA. to add a little holiday festivity to the mix.

The Wood Brothers revealed that for this tour they would bring special guest The Watson Twins out on tour with them for their sixteen (16) shows tour to close out 2023. The Watson Twins are an Americana/indie folk band that formed in 2006 and consists of sisters Chandra and Leigh Watson. The Watson Twins have released six (6) LPs, one (1) collaboration LP with Jenny Lewis, two (2) EPs, five (5) singles, and one (1) compilation. The Watson Twins version of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” is incredible and I was crossing my fingers that they would play this at the Georgia Theatre.

Their latest release, Holler, was produced by Grammy nominee Butch Walker and released to rave reviews on June 23rd on Bloodshot Records. The Watson Twins started off the evening for the excited and eager crowd who braved the traffic of the Parade of Lights traffic with “The Palace” which is off their latest release. “Honky Tonk Heart”, “Hustle and Shake”, and “HOLLER” were three of my favorite songs that The Watson Twins performed during their fiery set.

Check out The Watson Twins setlist from this evening below:

·         “The Palace”

·         “Southern Manners”

·         “Honky Tonk Heart”

·         “My Name”

·         ‘Hustle and Shake”

·         “Devil in You”

·         “Two Timin”

·         “HOLLER”

Head over to The Watson Twins' official store and show them some love today!

The Wood Brothers took the stage at the historic Georgia Theatre, and you could hear the crowd roar as they cheered on the band. The Wood Brothers have a loyal fan base that travels very well when they tour. The Wood Brothers have developed a knack for sharp songwriting, adding their ability to weave intricate storylines and be musical virtuosos in the Roots music/Americana scene has cemented them as fan favorites. On this memorable evening at the Georgia Theatre, The Wood Brothers performed an exceptional set chock full of groovy songs for the fans. The Wood Brothers effortlessly performed songs such as “Pilgrim”, “Line Those Pockets”, “Little Blue”, “American Heartache”, and the crowd’s favorite sing-along “Luckiest Man”.

You can follow this link to The Wood Brothers' Official Store and show them some support. Although The Wood Brothers might be done touring in 2023, they already have some tour dates scheduled for Europe and the United States in 2024. Check them out below:

FEB 3 SAT                            Oran Mor                                                                            Glasgow, United Kingdom

FEB 4 SUN                           Deaf Institute                                                                     Manchester, United Kingdom

FEB 5 MON                         The Bodega                                                                        Nottingham, United Kingdom

FEB 6 TUE                            Lafayette                                                                             London, United Kingdom

FEB 7 WED                          Exchange                                                                            Bristol, United Kingdom

FEB 9 FRI                              TivoliVredenburg - Pandora                                         Utrecht, Netherlands

FEB 10 SAT                          Elbphilharmonie                                                               Hamburg, Germany

FEB 27 TUE                         Rialto Theatre w/Rainbow Girls                                     Tucson, AZ

FEB 28 WED                       The Sound at Del Mar w/Rainbow Girls                      Del Mar, CA

FEB 29 THU                        The Fonda Theatre w/Rainbow Girls                            Los Angeles, CA

MAR 1 FRI                           The Fillmore w/Rainbow Girls                                        San Francisco, CA

MAR 2 SAT                          The Fillmore w/Rainbow Girls                                        San Francisco, CA

MAR 5 TUE                         The Center for the Arts w/Rainbow Girls                    Grass Valley, CA

MAR 6 WED                       Arkley Center for the Performing Arts w/Rainbow Girls       Eureka, CA

MAR 7 THU                        Revolution Hall                                                                  Portland, OR

MAR 8 FRI                           Moore Theatre w/Rainbow Girls                                   Seattle, WA

MAR 9 SAT                          Wild Buffalo w/Rainbow Girls                                        Bellingham, WA

APR 3 WED                         Southern Theatre                                                             Columbus, OH

APR 4 THU                          Ryman Auditorium                                                          Nashville, TN

APR 5 FRI                             Old National Centre - Egyptian Room                      Indianapolis, IN

APR 6 SAT                           Clyde Theatre                                                                     Fort Wayne, IN

APR 7 SUN                          Orpheum Theater                                                             Madison, WI

APR 10 WED                      Englert Theatre                                                                 Iowa City, IA

APR 11 THU                       Madrid Theatre                                                                 Kansas City, MO

APR 12 FRI                          Minglewood Hall                                                              Memphis, TN

APR 13 SAT                         The Pageant                                                                      St Louis, MO

APR 20 SAT                         Moon Crush 2024                                                             Miramar Beach, FL

 Curious about Concerthopper? You can find more music-related articles, interviews, various photo galleries, indie music reviews, our ‘Bars & Bites’ section, our exclusive “She Said, She Said” column, or become a Concerthopper at www.concerthopper.com. Sign up for our monthly newsletter by following this link: The Setlist! Please ‘Like’ our page on Facebook and follow us on Instagram to stay up to date in 2023, on all music-related events/festivals such as Suicidal Tendencies plus special guests Live at The Ranch (Fort Myers), Blackout Tour Part 1: From Ashes to New w/ The Word Alive, Catch Your Breath, and Ekoh @ Rapids Theatre, Greensky Bluegrass Winter Tour 2024: Live at The Eastern, We The Kings: Live at Rec Room (Buffalo), 10 Years of Wage War: House of Blues (Orlando), Metalcore Dropouts – 2nd Semester: Fit For a King & The Devil Wears Prada Live at Town Ballroom (Buffalo), Zakk Sabbath w/ The Native Howl: Live at The Masquerade, Life Is But A Dream… North American Tour: Avenge Sevenfold Live at KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Shoot For The Moon Tour: Sierra Ferrell Live at The Eastern, Seasons World Tour 2024: Thirty Seconds to Mars & AFI Live at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Dresden Dolls: Live at The Eastern, The Deathless Tour: Set It Off w/ Crown the Empire, Caskets, and Death By Choice Live at Water Street Music Hall (Rochester), and Crypta Live at Boggs Social & Supply by following us on all social media formats: Concerthopper on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also follow my concert hopping on Facebook and Instagram.

[kafkasapartment]

John Koch. The Concert, 1954 Oil on canvas.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Going to the P!nk concert taught me that my fandom brainrot is so bad that now I can't go to a simple concert anymore without only being able to think of that rinney/brance/biffin The Black Phone (2022) fic where Robin, Griffin, and Vance are in a famous band called The Ghost Boys and Robin brings Finney on stage to reveal him as his boyfriend and sings at him, and also Billy is a famous reporter despite not yet having graduated from bOSTON UNIVERSITY and gets the first ever interview with The Ghost Boys through the nepotism of being Finney's roommate, and Bruce is also a hot famous model who also lives with them and I'm unclear as to if he's also going to BU. Also that Finney was famous online under the pseudonym Angel as Robin's boyfriend and the only people that seemed to know who he was were The Ghost Boys, and two random famous people that lived with Finney. How no one figured Finney out before that is bEYOND ME.

But yeah all I can think of every concert now is how entertaining it would be for the celebrity to bring out a surprise boyfriend in a leather skirt and sit them on a stool and sing at them. Imagine if that's what Shawn Mendes did at his next concert or something, that is so fucking funny. Love that fic, it was endlessly entertaining.

[cornwalltotheball]

Love just putting Vance in Situations where he's generally just being a menace without physically doing anything. Mister Withholds Info For Months because he generally doesn't care about you enough to be quick about it.

[pretty-emo-dad]

“Will listens to the clash” this “Mike models his style after Eddie” that EL HOPPER IS RIGHT THERE YOU FOOLS!!!!

Not only did she jam to Kali’s music and get a punk ass makeover but her official playlist also calls her a riot grrl!!!!

[crossxxing]

[some-bunniii]

Lucifer meeting an artist reader

・❥ The King of Hell admires your paintings

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |

x: reader is g/n :) no use of pronouns or y/n

warnings: some raunchy details of your painting & mild swearing

When you arrived in Hell, the first thing you did was scream.

Where were you? Why was it so hot? What happened to your bed?!

“You’re in Hell, kid.” A blue bat-faced man had broke the news, as you stood helpless and confused on the street.

Hell? Like, demons and dark satanic magic kind of Hell?

That couldn’t be right. Were you that bad of a person to deserve such a fate? Did the few times you passed the Salvation Army donation bucket without dropping a coin damn you to this place?

Your death was fuzzy, a trail of shattered memories that could only give you bits and pieces of your final days. Did you go quickly in your sleep? Maybe, you hit your head so hard it caused you some kind of post-death amnesia?

Whatever had happened, you were here now with no way out.

During your first few days scouring for answers, you began to notice that Hell had an eerie similarity to life above ground. There were clubs, casinos, concerts. Heck, even TV! Sure, the things broadcasted were dark and sometimes disgusting.. but at least you had something to watch.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all? At least, compared to being thrown into dark, fiery pits for all of eternity like some cruel game of sink or swim.

Minus the people, of course. Most of them were pretty bad. Your first day watching a man get shot in the chest and lines of cocaine across tables in a diner made you decide to stay away from the streets of the city.

Which meant you had to get busy making a life for yourself. It started with working odd jobs as a bartender or a bell-hopper. You’d scrap together enough money to head to the nearest art supply store, and fill your bag with paints and charcoal pencils.

“You an artist or something?” The clerk had asked you as she scanned your items, taking note of your vast amount of diverse tools you were slowly collecting every time you stopped by.

“I usually paint, but yes, I used to do all kinds of mediums professionally when I was.. alive,” You had whispered that last part out with a pang of sadness, the reality of your situation still a fresh wound in your mind.

You had found an ad for an art studio, ran by a demon named Alexandre. You had showed him a few of your pieces, some pretty landscapes, a rendition of the Starry Night Sky which you had replaced the backdrop to be Pentagram city instead of whatever little village it was originally, and a self portrait.

“You got talent, i’ll give you that,” He had hummed, as his eyes scanned your paintings with intrigue, “But the subject? Not really what we’re looking for.”

“What do you mean?” You had asked, confusion evident in your voice.

“We’re in Hell, demons ain’t into pretty ponies and happy, little trees. They want more— eh how do i put this — sinful behavior?”

“Like…?”

“Like tits or anything that can be turned into a kink. They like blood and guts, and dead people splayed around. Dead angels too. Stuff like that.”

Tits? Dead people? You didn’t have much practice with that! At least not enough to make a career out of it.

But you had agreed anyway, this was your only shot. You stayed up late into the night, sometimes even into the early mornings, perfecting your skill when it came to much more risqué visuals. You would buy stacks of pornograohic magazines, flipping through for poses to memorize.

Slowly, you began to master the craft, and your time at the studio increased as you finally settled into life in Hell.

All you had to do was churn out painting after pastel after acrylic in the little cramped room you now called home. Alexandre would then take your pieces and sell them to the highest bidder. You’d get a percentage of the commission, using the money for whatever necessary.

Seeing as you could be mugged at literally any point in time, or anywhere for that matter, you made sure to keep a large sum of cash locked away in a double-bolted safe.

“You know Ozzie’s, that club down in the Lust Ring?” Alexandre had approached you one day, excitement in his eyes.

You shook your head as you sat behind the easel, your brush an inch from the canvas.

“Run by Asmodeus, one of the literal seven deadly sins?”

You shook your head once more.

“Fuck, you still have a lot to learn. Well, he really likes your art. He wants to buy a bunch of paintings for his club, and he’ll drop a shit ton of cash too. Ya think you can handle it?”

Your eyes had widened when he told you the exact price this sin guy was willing to pay. You had jumped from your seat, shaking his hand in profuse thanks, before scurrying off to gather more supplies.

And for a time, that’s how it went. You’d sell your steamiest paintings to Asmodeus, and other private commissions you took one after the other.

Apparently, your painting hung up in Ozzie’s was getting a lot of attention. Especially from a certain spider demon named Angel Dust.

After hearing Charlie’s decision to look for another member of their staff— someone who’d be in charge of decorating the premise with promises of love and tranquility up in Heaven— Angel Dust had taken a few snaps of your work with his phone, before showing it to Vaggie and Charlie. He had complimented your work, claiming it was ‘the best’ oil paintings he’d ever seen.

Although, in his line of work, he probably hadn’t seen many to compare yours so.

“ls this what we want in our hotel?" Vaggie had asked, motioning to a woman on the canvas that was drenched in sweat and white fluid, her private parts exposed to the audience as she posed suggestively on a stripper pole.

To which Charlie has responded, "I think it's... unique! You can definitely see she knows how to, um, really bring the scene to life! l'm sure she'll be open to creating our vision!"

Your phone had rung one night, with a voice on the other end begging you to come to her hotel and at least hear her offer for a new job.

Which lead you to the Hazbin Hotel, a slightly run down building that obviously needed more work. Inside and out.

“Oh my gosh! Hi there! My name is Charlie, and this is my hotel! it’s such a pleasure to meet you!”

“Thanks.. but I don’t see many guests around.” You had told her, your eyes darting around the lobby as you absorbed your surroundings.

“Well, we’re still trying to get our name out there. We’re not just any hotel, we’re a hotel set on redeeming sinners!” She exclaimed with pride.

“Redeem?” You had asked her, an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

She shook her head vigorously, “This hotel.. it’s going to be amazing! We’re going to turn Sinners into well.. non-sinners! They’ll be rehabilitated, and have morals! And honor! Heaven won’t be able to do anything but welcome them as angels!”

This idea had sounded a little far-fetched when you first heard it.

“You’ll be in charge of making art that reflects such views! Something that will make Sinners go, ‘Wow! Now that’s where I want to go!’”

“What’s in it for me?” You had asked.

“Well you’ll have your own room, and your own little studio too! I’m sure it’s much bigger than the one you already have. Plus we have a bar, and good company!”

You turned your head to the small crowd of demons a few feet away. A pornstar, a gambler, a snake guy with weird little walking eggs, and a really creepy man in a red coat that shot you a wide smile with eyes that seemed to stare right through your soul.

This was good company?

You contemplated her words, thinking deeply. Did you really need to leave the studio you were already a part of? You already had a room and place to paint, anyway.

Charlie must have noticed your hesitation to accept before quickly adding,

“Anddd you can sell your pieces here too! Plus, you can keep a hundred percent of the earnings.”

You perked up at that, the money made from your art would be... all yours? And, you’d get a breather from the drawing people having sex? That didn’t sound so bad after all!

“Deal!” You had reached out a hand, shaking hers with delight.

It had taken you a day or two to map out the interior of the hotel and figure out what could go where. You began to slowly brainstorm, what could make a sinner stare at a canvas and want to redeem themselves?

During your time on earth, you studied many artists through history. Most notably however, were those from the Renaissance. You remembered walking through the Sistine Chapel when you were younger,

staring at awe of the paintings of winged angels and heavenly skies.

You perked at that thought. That was it! The inspiration for your paintings, an ethereal perspective on what one would find in heaven. The feelings of bliss and care-free joy.

You spent your first few days in an undisturbed area of the hotel, it was a large room on the farthest side of the lobby. It must’ve been a guest room at one point, but other than a bed and few cushions that the ‘Radio Demon’ had placed for you, it was empty.

It was quiet enough that you could sit there, undisturbed, as you drew upon your memories and vast knowledge of histories in art as you slowly began to bring your ideas to life. Slowly, the room also took form into being yours, personal knick-knacks and stacks upon stacks of blank canvases waiting to bring your visions to life.

At the end of every day, you'd come out with your hands covered in charcoal and paint, your hard work on full display.

You had even grown closer to the other residents in the hotel, beginning to see them as more than their initial appearance. Even Alastor, who still kind of gave you the creeps, you had regarded as someone you could speak to without hesitation.

You’d sit on the couches with Angel Dust, drowning in popcorn as you watched whatever was on TV for the night. Sometimes, you’d sit with Husk at the bar as you listened to his stories from his days at the casino and as an Overlord.

It was there, when Charlie had summoned the courage to call her father, Lucifer, the King of Hell, to come visit the hotel and decide on getting her that meeting with the higher powers in Heaven.

Upon hearing about Lucifer's impending visit, you felta mixture of nerves and excitement. You've heardstories about him-his charisma, his power--but you never expected to meet him, let alone showcase your art to him. Would he even like them? He's no doubt seen much more beautiful sights.

As preparations for Lucifer's visit got more chaotic by the minute, you found yourself back in your Atelier, quickly cleaning up your room and berating yourself for any little mistakes you found in your paintings. Each stroke of the brush carried with it a sense of urgency, a desire to impress not just your friends at the hotel, but also the King of Hell himself.

The current piece you were working on was your most intense one yet. It depicted that of an almost nude man, flying high in the skies. His back was faced towards you, his face hidden from view. He was faced towards the sun, which bathed him in a warm glow. Arms outstretched, knees curled in, it seemed as if the angel was going to give the sun a large bear-hug.

It wasn’t until you heard loud commotion in the lobby did you realize Lucifer had arrived. Quickly dropping the brush you were holding, you sneaked down the stairs and quickly neared the archway of the lobby.

Peaking your head out, you canned the large room. Until your eyes locked in a pale figure. Lucifer.

He was beautiful, definitely held the looks of an angel that fell from heaven. His light blonde hair curled elegantly around his face. The candles from the chandelier above basked him in an ethereal glow, as though he could replace the sun itself. Just like the angel from your painting.

His eyes reminded you mostly of a snake. Calculating and cold, but holding so much wisdom and depth. There was a slight sadness there as well, as though itate at him slowly, consuming his soul. It was masked incredibly well though, and you only caught a glimpse before it disappeared.

His attitude toward his daughter made your heartmelt, it was obvious he cared about her in the way heacted and spoke to Charlie, even if his absence didn't speak so fondly of him.

As Lucifer and Alastor butted heads, you quickly scurried back to your room. You had hoped to finish your work-in-progress by the time he arrived, but the struggle to get those damn angel wings to be anatomically correct was a pain.

You hurriedly continued your work, trying to calm your nerves by busying yourself with the painting in front of you.

Charlie's voice broke you out of your concentration soon after, multiple footsteps closing in on where your room lay. You shot up from your seat, and stood up straight, ready to meet the man of the hour.

You couldn't help but feel a flutter of anticipation mixed with apprehension as they approached your make-shift gallery.

Charlie, Vaggie, and— wow, he looked so much better up close— Lucifer stepped through the doorway.

“Dad, this is the newest addition to our staff! They are in charge of helping to inspire our future guests through the power of art!" Charlie proclaimed with glee, pulling you by the arm towards her father.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty. I apologize for being so messy, I was just finishing up another painting." You had greeted him softly.

"Don't worry, you look great," He assured, a gleam in his eyes, "and the pleasure is all mine, anyone who is willing to help my little girl is someone worth meeting,"

You stood there for a moment. Unsure of where to go next, before you felt a slight nudge from Charlie that pulled you back to reality, "Why don't we take a look at your paintings? I promise you, Dad, they are amazing!" She squealed softly.

Beckoning Lucifer forward, you took him through each painting. You described your feelings for each piece, and what made you choose them for the hotel.

You rambled on and on, and Lucifer never said anything, he just listened as you spoke.

Which made you nervous, what was he thinking? Did he like them, or was he just waiting for you to stop talking so he could quickly escape to something of more interest to him? The thought made sweat dribble down your forehead.

To your surprise, Lucifer's reaction to your art was not what you expected. Instead of dismissing it as mere frivolity, he studied each piece with genuine interest, his expression thoughtful and contemplative.

He mostly stayed quiet, but once in awhile would throw in a joke here and there if he noticed anything of interest in the paintings.

His goofy nature that you caught onto watching him earlier was barely evident though, unlike when he was trying to impress his daughter.

After finishing the small tour, you turned to him in anticipation. Your hands nervously rubbing together, as you shot a glance to Charlie, and she gave you an uncertain look. You both held the same question in your gaze: What is he thinking?

"These paintings.." Lucifer began, his voice low and melodic, "Are different than most i've seen down here, not just some scandalous display, but with real meaning. They evoke emotions long buried, memories of a time before.. all this."

His words caught you off guard, and you found yourself nodding in agreement, unable to tear your gaze away from his intense eyes.

The one he was staring at in particular was a recreation of The Garden of Eden by Jan Breghal, a painting that depicted the place where humanity was birthed, and where it fell.

“Does it look like.. how you remembered?" You had asked slowly, if anyone could validate the truth in your work, it would be him.

"Actually, this is much prettier. The real deal doesn't do your painting justice," He replied, "It was so boring, just green on green."

Also," He added, "An unfortunate lack of ducks. Humanity should be grateful that I got them out of that forest, so they could see something actually worthwhile.. and with ducks."

You giggled softly at his words, have you ever met someone that seemed to love ducks as much as him?

As Lucifer continued to explore the room, you couldn’t help but notice the way he lingered on certain paintings, his fingers tracing the delicate lines with reverence. It was as if he saw something in your art that no one else did, something profound and personal.

Perhaps your choice of baby-faced angels, and ethereal landscapes brought back memories of his time in Heaven. Hopefully, that wasn't a bad thing.

When Lucifer finally turned to you, his gaze softened, a hint of something unreadable lurking beneath the surface. "You have a rare gift," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "To create beauty in a place like this... it's truly remarkable."

He looked at you for a moment, before a smile crept onto his lips. He was Lucifer, he knew exactly what you meant. It's what drove him to manipulate Eve to eat from the Tree of Life in the first place.

Was he finally getting a glimpse of the good free will brought to humanity? Was there actually meaning in his past actions that sent him to the depths of Hell?

His gaze narrowed in on the canvas behind you, and he slipped past you. "What is this?" He asked with intrigue, pointing towards your unfinished painting.

“My final piece. I've been working on it for days, but I just can't get the wings right.. believe it or not, i've never actually seen angel wings in person." You said that last bit as a joke.

His smile sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach. For the King of Hell, it was surprisingly warm, and kind.

Then an idea struck you, but you tried to desperately to push it down. Except it seemed like the only time you could ask someone with angel wings to let you use them as a reference. How many fallen angels were in Hell, anyway?

"I'm so sorry if this is out of line, but. could I, um, borrow you for a little bit? I've just been having trouble drawing the wings correctly and you, well, have them?”

His eyes widened, and his chest puffed slightly at your question. He shot you a toothy grin, “Paint me? Why didn't you mention that earlier?! I have the perfect figure for such a thing.”

Behind him, Charlie rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips. You smiled too, you should've known he'd have no problem with it, he was the embodiment of pride after all.

He plopped down on a stool before you, and removed his overcoat. Beneath what seemed to be a red and white gatsby vest that hugged his frame perfectly. Jeez, he was almost too good looking.

He stretched out his large wings, folding the otherfour behind him, only revealing the two much largerones. They were breathtaking, truly. They looked so fluffy too!

You guided him on the exact position you needed them to be in, before making your way to the canvas and getting to work.

Assuring the group you only needed to get a visual on the canvas, the actual work you would do on your own. Slowly, you traced the frame of his wings, etching out the soft lines of his feathers and the curvatures of its form.

You could only imagine how soft those feathers were and what it would be like to curl around them like a pillo-

You shook your head to rid those thoughts. Why were you thinking such things about Lucifer like that? It's not like he would even want to let you go anywhere near him or his wings.

Would he?

You continued your painting, trying not to meet his gaze as you would occasionally peak your head from behind the large canvas to get another good look at his wings.

There was a moment when you two did lock eyes, and he sent a half-lidded smirk in your direction. Thankfully the large object between you two helped hide your growing blush. He was obviously just trying to get you worked up, you assured yourself. Just like he did with Alastor. In a different way, of course.

"This reminds me of when Charlie was younger" Lucifer began, filling the silence, "We sat for a good few hours trying to get a family portrait painted and she would just not sit still!”

“Dad.. please, not right now." Charlie growled out in embarrassment, her cheeks flushed. Vaggie only smiled beside her, listening intently as Lucifer filled everyone in on her younger years.

“lt got to the point where I had to summon her favorite toy to get her to stop squirming, everything was smooth sailing after that.

"And what was her favorite toy?" You inquired softly behind the canvas

“A rubber duck! Like the ones you play with in the bath? She could not get enough of it whenever it squeaked. One time the squeaker broke, and I went to my workshop and crafted her a magical one that meowed instead! Haha!"

Okay, this family really has a thing for ducks!

“She hated it, but that only inspired me to keep making more. Sometimes, we'd sit together on the work bench, and I would just come up with ideas like confetti-spitting, or color changing ducks. She wasn't too good at speaking at that time, so every time she'd laugh that was my clue that she liked it!"

It was sweet, the way he rambled about his daughter. He never spoke of himself or his accomplishments, despite embodying the sin of pride. It was almost like his only pride was his best creation, Charlie.

He continued, the room full of jokes and laughter, even from Vaggie, regarding Charlie's life as a youngling. You listened intently to his stories, his voice dripping with amusement as he recounted story after story.

lt was so sappy and you loved it. Which made you grumble quietly to yourself, why did you have to have a thing for DILFS?! Concentrate on the painting!

After a moment, Lucifer's eyes turned back to the paintings around him, his gaze scanning each painting once more. "I've noticed that you seem to have a repetition in your work.. not that that's a bad thing!" He quickly corrected.

“But in all of your paintings featuring angels, there's always a swan swimming or resting nearby. Do they hold any significance, or are they just a passion for you?"

You looked up from the canvas, and also traced the angelic figures across the room. He was right, with the images of the divine beings also came the appearance of the large, white water fowl. Lying lazily beside the angels, or swimming across pools of water as the care-free beings danced and frolicked.

You contemplated for a moment, before speaking truthfully.

“I just think Swans are elegant and ethereal creatures. They embody the purest of souls, untouched by the taint of sin that consumes the world, just like how their feathers remain untouched from the waters they glide on"

Lucifer's eyes lit up slightly, drinking up your words.

“Plus," You continue, "they mate for life, and allow themselves to just.. decay once their significant other departs from the world. It's very romantic, and love is one of the purest emotions in the world."

Lucifer wasn't looking at you when your eyes met his again, his stare was far off. Past the room entirely, as your words echoed through him. There it was again, the glimpse of sadness that he tried to hide so painfully well.

“Does such love like that exist?," he murmured so softly you had to strain your ears.

There was a few moments of deathly silence before Charlie piped up, asking her father something about heaven. You tried to listen, but your mind was stuck on his words. Lucifer was in heaven once, and he still didn't fully believe in such things?

If there weren't others in the room, perhaps you would’ve asked him.

It took a few more minutes before you were able to wrap up fully, but you had no regrets of asking this man for help, the angel on the canvas actually looked like he had wings, not just stumps of white tuft.

You got up from your seat and walked towards him, noticing that Charlie and her girlfriend were not present anymore. It was just you and Lucifer in theroom now.

“Well, thank you, Your Majesty. You really helped me out here, and it'll go a long way to make the hotel look even better"

“Please, call me Lucifer. The formalities are only for subjects, not friends," he replied, "l did really enjoy getting to see your paintings, you are quite a phenomenal artist. I wasn't lying when I said your work was different from the rest. If only you were around for those family portraits."

You were so taken aback by his praise that you only shrugged it off, like it was no big deal. Even though, coming from the King of Hell, it was.

Glancing behind him, you saw Charlie and Vaggie whispering to each other in the hallway outside of the door. You assumed they probably wanted to finish up so they could get him to agree to the meeting with Heaven.

lgnoring his previous statement of formalities— he was the king, you thought, you weren't going to just pat him on the back and say 'see ya! —you lowered your head and bent down to curtsy, just like you were taught when you were younger, placing your hand slightly in front of you.

Usually, you'd use that hand to shake or grasp the other person's, but it felt wrong to treat this powerful angel like any other man.

Suddenly, you felt the soft touch of fingers gliding across your hand. In confusion, you looked up at those golden eyes and that charming smile. Trying to get a glimpse of what he was thinking.

His hand gripped yours gently, and with a bow of his own, lowered his lips, and pressed a soft kiss your knuckles.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you feared to blink, soaking in his beauty for as long as you could before he had the chance to pull away. You wanted to say something, but your tongue was refusing to work as your mouth opened and closed silently.

When he finally released your hand, he adjusted his hat and turned towards the door. Leaving you standing there, your face burning hot

He cleared his throat, and turned his head slightly, his eye catching yours. A playful smile dancing on his lips.

“l look forward to our next portrait together, hopefully where I am the motivation behind your strokes. Not just these dull wings."

And with his words hanging in the air, you were left alone, with the growing itch to press your face into a pillow and squeal.

——————

awww man, my first fic! I was trying to make this more dating-centric, but i couldn’t stop writing for their first meeting and it got too long haha! If y’all like this one enough, i’ll make a dating version!

let me know what you think 🙏 i reallyyyy appreciate all comments and criticisms!!

wonderful art i commissioned by DawnDrawnS on twitter! <3

[astonmartinii]

guess who? | yuki tsunoda social media au

pairing: fem yuki tsunoda x popstar!reader

wait, who is y/n's special guest?

Hello! Idk if you take in request for Yuki Tsunoda? But I'll give this a try! Pairing: Yuki Tsunoda x Popstar!YN (face claim could be sabrina or whoever you want!) Summary: yuki is caught attending yn's concert and then some of yn's fans mentioned that maybe yuki is the special guest yn has been hinting at. So, everyone on social media + the drivers are going crazy to see if YN and Yuki know each other. And then some eagle eyed YN+Yuki fans point out how one of YN's songs are about Yuki - @notesmadefromthedark

MASTERLIST | TIP JAR

y/ncentral

liked by y/nstan, user1 and 12,964 others

tagged: yourusername

y/ncentral: y/n at her show in london last night. she mentioned that she had a special guest in attendance and some familiar faces in the crowd included f1 drivers pierre gasly, charles leclerc, daniel ricciardo, max verstappen and yuki tsunoda !! do you think it might be one of them?

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user2: can one of the f1 girls give us a quick run down on these men?

user3: quick fire. pierre - slag but has a gf. charles - homie hopper but has a gf. daniel - goofy. max - serious on track but goofy off track. yuki - lilttle cinnamon roll (do not listen to his radios)

user2: thank you for your service - who should i root for to be with y/n?

user4: if she's dating max at least she'd be dating a serial winner?

user5: but i feel like her and daniel would such a fun couple like?

user6: but yuki is a king and i honest to god hope it is him

user7: can this be fake news? my wife is at home with our kids?

user8: the way i know this trip was yuki's idea

user9: ???

user8: yuki mentioned in a marketing video a while back that he loves her music

user10: + pierre said the best thing about no longer being teammates with yuki is that he doesn't have to listen to him blast y/n's music

user11: + in a q&a he was asked who he'd most like to meet at a race and he said y/n or jason statham?

user12: the more i hear the more i want it to be yuki

user13: i need it to be yuki so that all the y/n fans can be yuki fans and we can become unstoppable

yourusername

liked by yukitsunoda0511, danielricciardo and 1,341,788 others

tagged: mysteryman

yourusername: london you were beautiful :)

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user14: WHO WHO WHO are they from 😭😭😭

user15: daniel 🤞

user16: yuki 🙏

yukitsunoda0511: wonderful show y/n :)))))))))

yourusername: thank you lovely, great to see you again x

yukitsunoda0511: safe travels !

user17: he's such a dork i love him

user18: i just stalked his page it needs to be him your honour

user19: AGAIN??? AGAIN??? WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS

danielricciardo: sick set y/n but i think being a superfan of you just comes with being an alpha tauri employee

yourusername: i didn't see you complaining buster

danielricciardo: obviously i have welcomed this period of enlightenment in my life

yukitsunoda0511: you said you enjoyed karaoke :(

danielricciardo: i did !! but i was under the impression that it would be more songs than just y/n ones

yukitsunoda0511: :(((((( i had fun :(

yourusername: i'm sure you have the voice of an angel

yukitsunoda0511: :) x

user20: i don't know what the hell is going on but if it's not yuki then i think he might get his heart broken

pierregasly: i think yuki saw god that night

yukitsunoda0511: and god is a woman :)

yourusername: 😊

user21: i've seen enough - Y/N PLEASE MARRY THIS MAN

liked by yukitsunoda0511

yukitsunoda0511

liked by pierregasly, yourusername and 603,498 others

tagged: yourusername

yukitsunoda0511: best concert ever ! thank you y/n :)

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user22: for my sanity i need them to be together

maxverstappen1: thanks mate. it was actually a group trip to london, glad to see we made it to the post

charles_leclerc: we're nothing to him compared to y/n

yourusername: as he should

pierregasly: what about his beloved friends who slaved away to get the tickets?

yourusername: 🤷‍♀️

yourusername: also i sent you those tickets ???

pierregasly: shush they don't need to know that

yukitsunoda0511: thank YOU for the tickets y/n, sorry i had to bring along these stray cats

maxverstappen1: ugh i'm literally a pedigree bengal but whatever 🤷‍♀️

yourusername: their little arguments are quietly endearing

yukitsunoda0511: as long as you liked me the most they can endear you all they want

yourusername: of course you're my fave yuki :)

charles_leclerc: 🙄

user23: very much enjoying y/n getting involved in all of these tussles between the grid

user24: okay but the real question here is when are we getting the y/n x xnda collab?

danielricciardo: do OUR sushi dates mean nothing?

pierregasly: you're only just realising that we're nothing to him

yukitsunoda0511: you guys are so dramatic

liamlawson30: i was the first victim of yuki. you think you're special to him and then BAM

yukitsunoda0511: they weren't sushi dates. we went as pals. of course i wouldn't post that

pierregasly: so it was a DATE? 🤨

user25: we need investigator gasly on this immediately

yukitsunoda0511: as if the baguette man could do anything

pierregasly: SACRE BLEU ?!

yourusername: 😭 😭 😭

pierregasly: you have changed yuki-san and GASP! y/n i expected better of you

yourusername: why are you typing your stage directions ???

pierregasly: i am EMOTIONAL

user26: yukierre found dead in their la mansion

yourusername

liked by taylorswift, pierregasly and 1,320,566 others

tagged: mysteryman

yourusername: a soft launch suitable for my soft boy

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user28: you might want to soft launch but we don't want to

user29: the suspense might just kill me

pierregasly: inchresting, very INTERESTING

yourusername: you got something to say buddy

pierregasly: maybe now i know where the little man gets all his sass

yourusername: or maybe you are just slayphobic

pierregasly: as if ! have you seen this hair, that is a serve. my gf told me so

yourusername: i have also seen your hairline

kikagomes: oop.

pierregasly: blocked.

user30: the way this little scuffle just proved the soft launch invalid cause it has to be yuki - only he would know the hairline blow

user31: golly gosh this is all very dramatic

user32: the way we know yuki was feeding her all these insults.

user33: i know that hairline comment cut deep

yukitsunoda0511: that sunset is almost as pretty as you

yourusername: you're so sweet yuki!

user34: f1 girly here - is this how y/n flirts or is she just being nice

user35: it is in my professional opinion that she is down bad

user36: plus they've clearly been together a while if y/n is able to playfully argue with his friends like this

charles_leclerc: as the intellectual on the grid, what is your current read?

yourusername: before the coffee gets cold - recommended by the REAL intellectual on the grid

maxverstappen1: INTELLECTUAL MY ASS

danielricciardo: stop trying to look good in front of the pop star we're all freaks

yukitsunoda0511: speak for yourself daniel

user37: not to be the real freak here but before the coffee gets cold is a japanese book so more evidence of mystery man being yuki !!

user38: do NOT threaten me with a good time

yukitsunoda0511

liked by danielricciardo, yourusername and 1,034,742 others

tagged: yourusername

yukitsunoda0511: i've been quiet too long, look at my girlfriend !!!!!!!!!!

view all comments

user39: wake up babe new mum and dad just dropped.

danielricciardo: worst kept secret of all time

yourusername: we've been together for over a year, dan.

danielricciardo: WHAT

yukitsunoda0511: aren't you proud of me daniel? i'm sorry i didn't tell you but you've got a big mouth both figuratively and literally

danielricciardo: i am SHOCKED. why did you just gag me so bad?

yourusername: you saw the show. i have sass. he has sass. together we are unstoppable

pierregasly: run daniel you saw how they came for my hairline

user40: wait it was so obvious it was yuki based on the london nonsense outro: my baby be screaming down the microphone, with me you don't have to watch your tone, i just want to come and sit on your throne

user41: the microphone? as in the radios? the iconic yuki radios?

user42: "with me you don't have to watch your tone" EAT MY MASS HELMUT MARKO

user42: wait NOT LIKE THAT

maxverstappen1: for all of our sakes please do not analyse the throne line

yourusername: it's a throne fit for a queen ❤️

yukitsunoda0511: hehehehehehee

maxverstappen1: SHUT THE FUCK UP

user43: living for yuki and y/n terrorising the grid

pierregasly: also don't think i didn't see you said OVER A YEAR - are you kidding me right now ???????????

yukitsunoda0511: nope.

pierregasly: i am HURT

yukitsunoda0511: why? you have an even bigger mouth than daniel, y/n and i just wanted privacy

pierregasly: i would NEVER

yourusername: you once commented on a public instagram about liking doggy

pierregasly: well..... when you put it like that....

yourusername: i love you yuki, thanks for the best year ever and for the best forever with you

yukitsunoda0511: i love you too, i can't wait to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate

yourusername: my muse ❤️

user44: i just got called single in like ten billion different languages :(

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, yukitsunoda0511 and 1,623,077 others

tagged: yukitsunoda0511

yourusername: f1 and all that jazz 👍

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user47: when two queens come together to maximise their joint slay

yukitsunoda0511: can you always be there when i get out of the car?

yourusername: i wish i could :(

yukitsunoda0511: not even if i say pretty please 🥺

yourusername: i don't think i can ever say no to you baby

user48: your favourite bite size couple

pierregasly: guys don't make fun of them they will try and bite your ankles

yourusername: you're literally 5'5

yukitsunoda0511: only real men can be short kings, you're a short peasant at most

pierregasly: actually y/n you're now banned from the paddock

yourusername: you're too busy watching out for your ankles when you should be watching your mirrors

pierregasly: are you threatening me?

yourusername: i have full faith in yuki, it's a promise

yukitsunoda0511: thanks babe x

user49: i love when a couple don't play about each other

user50: yuki has publicly been in love with y/n for years and landed his dream girl, he's standing on business

fernandoalo_oficial: yuki-san! you've done well, you and y/n are a wonderful couple

pierregasly: so they weren't mean to you?

yourusername: we respect our elders

yukitsunoda0511: and we love fernando!

fernandoalo_oficial: wait. i'm not old

yourusername: we meant wise!

yukitsunoda0511: no we didn't old man

user51: yuki was patient zero of the sassy man apocalypse

yukitsunoda0511

liked by landonorris, yourusername and 802,884 others

tagged: yourusername

yukitsunoda0511: couldn't be happier, oh p5 was pretty good as well

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user52: i love how he got alpha tauri's best points finish of the year so far but he's like no my hot gf is more important

user53: he is what all men should aspire to be

yourusername: couldn't be prouder, racer boy x

yukitsunoda0511: had to put on my best performance for my love

yourusername: i'd be proud no matter what baby

yukitsunoda0511: do i still get a reward?

yourusername: about to inspire a whole new nonsense outro

charles_leclerc: okaY THAT'S ENOUGH

user54: the way yuki was practically bouncing off the walls in the post race interviews

user55: his smile was impressively wide when he was asked about any extra motivation this weekend

landonorris: yuki-san when were you going to introduce me to y/n? i'm the only one who willingly did nonsense karaoke with you - i sang about your dick with you? does that mean nothing?

yukitsunoda0511: lando !!! we love you and your willingness to sing about my dick

yourusername: what he means is that i'm doing an acoustic session and would love to invite you. he got cornered by max after the race and has had far too many gin and tonics

landonorris: omg count me in, yuki i love you and i love your girlfriend

yukitsunoda0511: NOT MORE THAN ME

landonorris: no buddy, i'll let you have that one

yukitsunoda0511: I LOVE Y/N THE MOST EVER IN THE WORLD

yourusername: love you too baby @maxverstappen1 no more g&ts

maxverstappen1: whoops 😬

user56: drunk yuki you have my heart

user57: i will do anything for an invite to the acoustic session I DESERVE IT

danielricciardo: can you two stop being so cute, you're making me look bad

yourusername: no can do, i wanna treat my man the way he should

yukitsunoda0511: i was put on this earth to worship y/n 👍

yourusername: * and slaying in f1

yukitsunoda0511: and slaying in f1

yourusername

liked by danielricciardo, yukitsunoda0511 and 1,409,387 others

tagged: yukitsunoda0511

yourusername: the boy who made me a certified sap :)

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user61: so like can we start counting down to the new album yet

user62: ready for a full album with the energy of nonsense

yukitsunoda0511: not the jacket picture

yourusername: but it's so cute, you playing rugby does something to me

yukitsunoda0511: the guys said i was pretty good

yourusername: no no no just for my eyes your face is too handsome to get mashed up

yukitsunoda0511: why thank you, but no one will ever be as beautiful as you

user63: yes they are mother and father, but they also need to shut the fuck up i am too lonely to read this stuff without being institutionalised

user64: so real of you

alexalbon: faves. but also. i can't believe i'm so good at photography that i made yuki look TALL

yukitsunoda0511: it's not how tall you are but how you are tall

yourusername: exactly

alexalbon: what the fuck is that supposed to mean

yourusername: some people are tall and act like they're short whereas some people are short but have taller energy

alexalbon: is this just a riddle about how big yuki's dick is

yourusername: you said it not me. i wasn't lying when i said i sit on a throne

yukitsunoda0511: hehehehe

alexalbon: i started off being nice today. but you people have pushed me too far it's already bad enough that whenever lily blasts your album that i know it's about yuki

yourusername: sounds like a you problem

user65: y/n really out here like oh you think yuki is JUST a cutie pie ?

fin.

note: thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed and this is what you were looking for. yuki is so underrated and that rugby video did actually change my life. also if you didn't see, i'm starting a small business for my dumb f1 art - if you want to follow it's @badlydrawnf1cats on instagram xx

[trashmouth-richie]

hi, ziggy! ahhh i missed hih ❤️ could you pretty please do something for jealous!eddie where maybe somebody flirts with tooty because she got that milf glow after she had the babies lmao ily ❤️

anon💕💕 thank you for the req! this took a little spin and has an open ending, but!!! the twins are in this and some other familiar faces ❤️ might get a part 2? who knows!

a night out without the kids. almost an unheard of event. but tonight corroded coffin were performing their annual concert the night before halloween.

sissy & oz toted their overnight bags up the paved sidewalk to grandma and grandpa’s house— the same house you had once called home when the wheeler’s took you in as a teen.

reaching the front door eddie squats to eye level with the twin three year olds. “okay you two,” he says in his fatherly tone, “last time you stayed the night grandpa said you terrorized the cat.”

“i no do it daddy,” sissy speaks her little voice high pitched and tattling, “ows chaseded hims.”

a frown spreads on her brothers face his brown eyes pleading, “i did not! sissy made tinky swim in the potty!”

eddie bites his lip to hide a laugh and you take a deep breath, “that’s another thing, the cat’s name is bruce, not stinky.”

“but mama,” sissy complains, head held high in a defiant pose— one eddie recognizes as a mini version of his wife, “boose 's hard to say.”

eddie ruffles her hair and stands up, talking out of the side of his mouth, “always arguing like someone else i know,”

his large hand slides down the curve of your ass pinching the leather fabric snug on your skin, giving it a tight little squeeze.

“eddie!” you scold, swatting his hand away, “not in front of the babies.”

he grabs your waist and pulls you back into him before you can rap your knuckles on the front door. his mouth is hot in your ear, “sorry mama,” he purrs, dancing his tongue on the shell of your ear, “you just look so fucking hot tonight.”

sissy and oz are both slapping the door with both palms as it swings inward. “who’s makin’ all that racket?!”

“gwampa! it’s us!”

“issy and ows!”

wayne smiles as big as he always did when his grandbabies visited, “are you sure y’all ain’t no robbers are ya?”

“gwampa’s silly, daddy!” oz squeaks, squeezing wayne tight around his leg.

eddie grins and chuckles, “aww nah buddy that word is ‘senile’”

you smack eddie in the chest and usher the kids inside to play with their cousin, alex. “thanks for watching them tonight, we really appreciate it,” you say to wayne reaching through the threshold and giving him a hug.

“ah, ain’t no problem,” wayne says flipping eddie the bird behind your back, “karen and i love these little turds.”

“u too oh two be good for grandpa and grandma okay? eddie hollers, “be nice to the cat, sissy… i’m talkin’ to you.”

her little nose wrinkles into a pout and her brows furrow together.

“swear to christ himself, that kid is the spittin’ image of you, tooty.”

“god help me.” eddie pouts, “i’m gonna go gray before i’m forty.”

—

you kiss the kids goodbye and wave from the windows of your jeep before heading to the hideout. eddie looked particularly good tonight, leather pants, a cut off shirt, he even let you smear some eyeliner on his eyelids before tonight’s gig.

“nervous?” you ask, carrying some cords from eddie’s old van that now belonged to big d.

gareth walks past you with an amp, “not really, the hideouts like home away from home, makes me feel 18 again.”

you smile and ruffle his still thick curls, “will coming tonight?”

a sad look replaces his smile, “haven’t talked to him in a week… last i heard from jonathan he was staying with joyce and hopper.”

“he’ll come around man,” eddie says coming through the back door, “he loves you.”

“yeah, i hope.”

—

the boys— men now— rocked a killer show, fans still screaming for the band even though half of them were married and the lead singer had two kids.

you were front in center, in your designated spot that you always stood after the first show where eddie sang ‘lady evil’ just for you.

now you were sporting a new homemade shirt, ‘sitter’ crossed out with ‘mama’ his old leather jacket on your shoulders.

a hand sits on your lower back you giggle, “jeez nance, how drunk are you?”

only it wasn’t nancy, but a random guy. burly and tall, a thick beard on his face matching the short hair on his head, balancing a cowboy. you didn’t recognize him from anywhere and you pull back with a shocked face,

he smiles and you can smell liquor on his breath as he leans in real close, “been watchin’ you all night little darlin’ looks like you need a drink.”

you scowl and turn away from him, looking for jonathan and nancy but they’re nowhere to be found.

“hey,” he blunders stumbling towards you, “you like cowboys?”

you don’t want to give him the time of day or even the satisfaction of a tasteful retort so you do your best to ignore him, looking at eddie as he turns to thrash the guitar riff with jeff.

eddie turns back around to continue the song and shoots you a wink, the same time a big sloppy pair of lips press on your cheek, hard and unwelcoming.

you didn’t see eddie’s eyes turn to black or the way he dropped the neck of his guitar hands balled into fist, you were seeing your own scarlet red, turning and slapping the face of the drunk asphalt “cowboy”.

eddie cuts the band and grabs the mic, “hey fucker!” he pushes his lips in a smooch and whistles like a dog, “here boy, up here.. yeah you— the guy who just got slapped.”

cowboy slap face looked up to the band, “what?”

“you must be new to town, huh? a drifter maybe?”

he lifts his head and spits on the ground, “what’s it to you?”

eddie laughs a little crazy-like, “… that,” he says pointing to you, “is my wife… and i’m sure you don’t know this or maybe your marbles are a little rattled up there with the cobwebs, but..” he jumps from the stage in a dramatic flare, wet hair bouncing behind him, skin slicked in sweat.

he tossing the mic behind him, standing tall and flicking the brim of the guys hat, toe to toe. “i’m not afraid to kill a man.”

“you’re bluffin’,”

“wouldn’t be my first, and for her,” he says moving you behind him, “won’t be my last,”

….

[artiststarme]

After the Upside Down, Steve decided to thank Eddie for staying alive. He had to stay in the hospital for weeks to recover from the bat bites and blood loss but he’d done it. Then he had to spend a few weeks in County Jail until Dustin and Hopper were able to brainstorm and come up with a way to clear his name. So Steve figured he deserved something nice after going through all of that.

But when he presented him with tickets to the Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica concert scheduled for July in Evansville, Eddie burst into tears.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry! Did I get the tickets to the wrong band? Don’t worry about it, I’ll try to sell them. You don’t need to cry!” Steve was horrifyingly embarrassed. Great, he was trying to do something to make Eddie feel better and instead he made him cry. Nice going, Steve.

He certainly didn’t expect Eddie to pull him in by his shirt collar to plant a kiss on his lips. His eyes stared at Eddie’s closed lids until he pulled away. Did… did Eddie just kiss him?

“What- um, what was that for, Eds?”

“I love you, Harrington,” Eddie’s voice wavered slightly with nerves but his eyes met Steve’s dead-on.

“Oh, thanks. I-uh, I love you too. We should probably go on a date first though.”

Eddie chuckled at him softly. “Of course, I’m taking you to the concert. You’re gonna love it, Big Boy.”

And like always, Eddie was right. He did love the concert and he loved watching Eddie having fun. Most of all though, he loved loving Eddie which he did from that day forward.

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential Spoilers for Stranger Things 5!

A compilation of recent tweets made by Alex and others about the mileven ‘making out in a field’ leak. Alex is insisting that this scene is separate from the sequence involving them talking on the rooftop, the scene which was leaked as a video back in January. According to 011scenes this scene happens ‘at the beginning’ aka in episode one.

The issue? Alex’s sources are people who speak to paps (which she lied about in answering a cc question; either that or she’s clueless), and who deliberately feed her inconsequential things production dgaf abiut because it distracts from the juicy shit e.g., what Mike and Will are doing. She was told ‘Robin and Will have a scene’ and that morphed into ‘Will is in his unrequited mopey Steve era, Jonathan and Robin don’t share scenes’, etc. The source said nothing about Byler being finished or about passionate makeouts.

I’m suspicious of the second anon’s claim about Finn, as Noah is straight-up went on TikTok live right before filming commenced in January to read out byler endgame and Byler kiss comments lmao. The bit about the love triangle being kept under wraps seems accurate enough - they’re openly passing out scraps of mileven to leakers to pass onto Alex, and it’s pretty clear they didn’t care about that mileven video hitting national news website in the Uk (daily mail). Byler? On lockdown. The only thing we know is the hospital stuff and that’s due to specific leakers, and even then it’s not that much. It is clearly a big question going into s5 for the GA, so it being kept tightly guarded is unsurprising.

The context of the kiss will be interesting, regardless of if it’s pro-mileven or somehow anti-. Alex indicates that it’s only them present in the field - BUT she’s also said that she outright leaves Will out of ‘leaks’ and gave the example of Max, Lucas, and Will having a scene but her only reporting Lumax having a scene, so… S4 mileven was a concerted effort to show that the characters had matured from s3, and that their fight was more serious. They only kissed once, and that briefly, and were… unaffectionate at the end of the season, to say the very least. The reversion to kissing in broad daylight, in an apocalyptic setting when El will be mostly hiding with Hopper from the military, feels a little out of character - and will certainly be jarring tonally and thematically.

Alex received this dm ^ back in February (discussed in my first leak post), which stated that hopper is annoyed by mike’s continuing presence around el. I and many others (including Alex iirc) dismissed it, as Hopper and Mike are on good terms at the end of s4. If Mike and El are still doing reckless things in s4, and if the old pattern of isolating El from others just to kiss re-emerges, though… The veracity of this is very shaky: the time skip occurs gradually over episode one, not in between episodes 1 and 2.

It’s important to note that many leaks are undoubtedly missing context. Just today, Alex brought up how she was right about Mike ignoring Will at the airport, about their fight, and about the airport kiss. Yes, she was, but she lacked the tonal subtext of the scene itself, which portrayed Mike’s behaviour as inexplicably phony - and of course, she lacked the lynchpin of this plot, which is that Will is in romantic love with Mike. She completely missed that, and it meant she missed every important aspect of this plotline.

Byrhop, a highly reliable st acc who’s closely following filming, was able to ascertain that Vickie is at the farm.

Lastly, I want to go over everything I know to try and map a trajectory. The Byers are living in the radio station before it’s overrun by military and they flee to the Turnbow farm - I personally am not sure of when exactly this occurs. There is a leaked hospital file showing that Karen Wheeler is attacked by a demogorgan. The file is dated as 1/1987 but it could be a prop error, as I’ve seen claims that she’s attacked when Holly is taken..

As we know, according to the leaked episode 2 title, Holly Wheeler goes missing. This likely occurs at the end of episode one, but the chronology is unclear. Karen being attacked could happen here, and I’ve seen claims that it happens in episode 2. Mike and El kiss in episode one, and as I’ve said this has been overblown greatly by Alex. The chronology of this is also unclear. At some point in episode one, Mike and Dustin are at the high school and interact with the jocks. Mike is wearing the same outfit he wears on the rooftop - dark trousers, blue and black shirt with a yellow collar, etc. As this is what he wore in the official pic released by Ross of him in his room, I am speculating that this is the first outfit he wears in the story proper, after the last time jump to November 1987, and that he may wear it throughout episode 2 as well

In episode 2, Mike, Nancy, and Karen have a plotline at the hospital. From official BTS pics, we know Robin and Vickie are there as well. The above anon does not mention Mike being injured, and its description of Karen’s mindset does not tally either with her having being attacked by a demogorgan prior or with Holly being abducted. It’s likely that they have partially but not totally accurate information; or else it’s a point in favour of Holly being taken and Karen being attacked after this happens, at the end of episode 2. I have confirmation that Mike is injured in episode 2, as are several other people - I discussed this in a post a few days ago - please discount the forehead kiss anon section of that post. This was confirmed by an extra who played a nurse on the scheme and by a different source later. The second source confirms that Will shows up last, and is crying and blaming himself for what happened. - I also have confirmation that El doesn’t show up to the hospital at all. The nurse extra also confirmed that Mike and Will ‘share scenes’ although he was not present for those so can’t speak as to what happened in them - I don’t have an image of that text so didn’t include it yesterday.

The forehead kiss anon is definitely not real (check @will80sbyers) but the rest seems to be.

Lastly, Atlanta-filming insinuates that the m*leven rooftop scene occurs after the hospital subplot. It’s unknown how they came to this conclusion.

To summarise: m*leven kiss in episode one, potentially during one of the staggered time jumps (my speculation) and the short rooftop conversation between them likely in either episode one or two immediately before something involving Hopper and Joyce occurs down in the field that alarms El. I’ve seen conflicting into on when Holly is abducted - either episode one or episode two. In episode 2 Mike, Karen, and Nancy go to the hospital for plot reasons. If this occurs after Holly goes missing, it is likely to be related to that. I am speculating that Holly vanishing, whenever it happens, accelerates the byler plotline, as Mike will more-than-likely seek out Will for advice, reassurance, information. In episode 2, Mike gets injured somehow at the hospital, along with several other people in a small-scale mass-casualty event, and ends up being admitted to the hospital. As I’ve said, it seems to be rock-solid that Will arrives and is crying and blaming himself for what happened, and Will stays with him but El is nowhere to be found in this plotline. We know from BTS pics that Robin and vickie are also there, and I’ve seen claims that Jonathan shows up to be with Nancy, but have no proof or knowledge of the providence of such claims, so… take that for what it is. It is pretty certain, as far as I know, that El is not there.

One possibility is that Will is possessed at least temporarily in 501-2. Perhaps there’s another superspy, ‘it’s a trap’ situation? Will Byers would never be reckless with the safety of Mike Wheeler or his family… but I bet Vecna and the mindflayer are just itching to attack the one salvation standing between them and Will. Something to muse on.

The timing of the rooftop scene is very important. El not showing up at the hospital is unlikely to happen after it. The scene is very clearly about affirming their relationship- whether as lovers or as friends. It’s likely that she’s distracted by Max, who is her main plot, but this is a narrative. El not being present for Mike, while Will is there and crying and staying by his side? That is telling of a potential rift that opens up in their relationship between episode one and two. There is a pattern of problems arising in their relationship in episode twos. In s2 El reached out to Mike during his call but he walked away while an ominous stinger played. In s3 they broke up at the end of episode 2. In s4 they had their disastrous roller rink date.

A few days ago, I gif’d the rooftop scene, and speculated that they’re discussing being friends, and that El apologises for not being there and Mike says ‘No. You should have been.’ before basically saying that he’s okay because Will was and “you’re all friends to me.” The ending of s4, to me, potentially marks a shift in Mike’s attitude to El, as much as it does for hers to him. In the hospital she seeks him out by resting a head on his shoulder, and she did speak briefly with him prior about Brenner, but he offers her no comfort beyond a stiff arm around her. When they arrive at the cabin, he walks in with the other boys instead of staying with her - as shes’s clearly very nervous and emotional about reentering the cabin. Finally, as we have all observed, she directs an almost angry look at Will and Mike before stomping into her room and slamming the door - a parallel to s3 after the phone call with Mike where she knew he was lying. When it pans back to Mike, and Will asks if they’ve talked? He rolls his eyes. Unlike in 403, he does not seek her out and push through her self-isolation. He leaves her be. This, coming from Mike the Paladin, suggests that he’s kind of done with trying.

El’s attitude has been convincingly dismissed by M*levens as simple grief over Max causing her to retreat as she always does. It is bizarre, however, that the monologue did nothing at all to make her feel she could rely on Mike, and much more so that he’s very apathetic.

I posit that they might, maybe, fall into old habits of passivity and inertia and string the relationship along over the time jump. Perhaps the kiss is from one of the interim jumps between March 1986 and November 1987? I could see El having too much on her plate to really address it, and feeling that she doesn’t want to push him away - after all, he did give the big damn speech. The kiss could be a parallel to Boyce and Stancy. If that Hopper leak is accurate (doubtful), perhaps they fall back into habits of clinginess and immaturity while still being deeply unhappy. Nurse extra stated that Mike is no longer trying to be normal, and that he’s discovering himself, being himself again, and being the support he once was - the wording rather implies that it means being the support to Will.

Of course, I could be wrong, and it could be that they’re doing very well, and that the kiss is indeed as happy and loving as Alex paints it out to be… but I am skeptical bc of the hospital, and because of El the brave protector not rushing to her boyfriend’s side. It’s simply too early to say. If my musing on whether Will was possessed and effectively set Mike up (against his will ofc) is correct, and if my lip-reading is correct, Mike speaking affectionately of Will here could be due to the fact that he’s intimately witnessed Will being possessed, and he knows Will would never do something like that on purpose.

Finally, definitely worth noting that there have been no signs of any NPC love interests. Will’s storylines are being protected well from leakers, so people could be missing something, but there has been no indication of it. What we are getting, though, is a focus on Will’s love of Mike, and his selfless devotion.

All of this is incredibly shaky, and I’m interested to hear your guys’ opinions on alternate sequences of events. Whatever the truth, clearly m*leven is inconsequential to the production, as it’s being deliberately leaked to distract from the real juicy stuff.

Oh, and I just want to wrap up by mentioning this bit of idiocy. Someone in Alex’s inbox sincerely thought that the production actually kills fields they want to look dead-looking, rather than editing it. And Alex agreed.

[ladykailitha]

Not All That Glitters is Gold Part 15

The second part being released today. And it's looking like people really want more of this AU. Which, I really should have seen coming.

So once I get my backlog up for Moonlight and Indiana (I just need to write one more chapter each to get the stories up to three chapters) I will start working on it for you.

And because I've been zooming past my daily goal of 400 words a day (I'll often get 1500-2000 words a day) I've decided as a way to pump the breaks so that I don't get too far ahead again is to spend my evenings editing stories for my beta to edit for AO3. I already have one in the works, I'm just waiting for her final edits to put it up on AO3.

In this we have Steve being awesome at what he does, he dodges one hell of a bullet because Robin is awesome, and Eddie falls just a little more in love with Steve.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

****

Steve was busy leading up to Eddie’s rut, Chrissy being right about him getting more clients just from being on Eddie’s arm.

Everyone clamoring to see what it was that made Eddie fall head over heels in love with the omega escort.

Steve ate up the attention. He had talked to Eddie about the actress and how it made him feel.

Suddenly Eddie was all apologies. The actress was a good friend of his and he had just been so excited to see her that he forgot what it would look like to Steve. Especially since Eddie hadn’t introduced them. Plus it had left Steve open to Tommy’s sneering.

Steve had backpedaled then. He hadn’t meant for Eddie to make a big deal out of it. He had thought that Eddie would apologize, they’d fuck about it and Steve would learn that with Eddie being as famous as he was, Steve would just have to learn to share him.

But Eddie wouldn’t let him. He had hurt Steve’s feelings over something that he could have and should have avoided. Now he knew why Tommy’s words had stung as badly as they had.

So he showered Steve with all the affection in the world. Taking him on picnics to the beach one day and bowling and miniature golf the next. Fancy dinners and shopping sprees. Intimate to formal, fun to stately. Concerts and plays.

Every spare moment Steve had was spent being wined and dined by Eddie.

The courting was intense, but then again so was Steve. He liked intense, he was intense.

Steve was getting ready for a final rut, before Eddie’s next week when Robin called him up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Steve asked in confusion. “What’s up?”

“Management just flagged the client.”

Steve’s blood ran cold. It took a lot for management to flag a client. They always did checks on their clients before letting them hire their escorts. But sometimes they’ll do a deeper check if they feel something is off.

“What caused the flag?”

“Something in the wording,” Robin said. “I had been trying to pin down where I had heard it before. It was only yesterday I realized it sounded like some of the stuff the alpha from the Grammy’s was spouting as we hauled his ass out of the venue.”

If Steve was cold before, now his spine was ice. “Holy shit.”

Robin hummed her agreement. “So I had Hopper dig deeper. It’s–it’s not good, Steve.”

“Just tell me.”

“The idiot had used his real accounts to plot your kidnapping after going through all the work to hide who he was to the company,” Robin said grimly.

Steve sat down on the sofa with a thump. “Was he–did he know where I–Robin I’m scared.”

“I’m already in the elevator, babe,” she said softly. “He doesn’t know where you live or even where Eddie lives, okay? Starcourt alerted his security detail as soon as the plot was uncovered.”

Steve breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Will I still be able to service his rut?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’m at your door, I’ll tell you all about it, face to face, okay?”

“Okay.”

Robin let herself in and hurried over to the sofa to throw her arms around him.

“Everything is okay,” she promised. “There hasn’t been a successful kidnapping of a Starcourt omega since the 1940s. Trust us, we’ve got this on lock.”

Steve nodded. “Tell me about Eddie’s rut.”

Robin grinned mischievously. “You’re going to love it.”

“Oh?” Steve’s interest was piqued. That interest drew him from his fear and anxiety, just like she knew it would.

“It’s going to happen here.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit!”

“It gets even better,” Robin said sing-song.

“How could it get any better than that?” Steve asked once he had picked his jaw up off the floor.

“Management is letting him know where you live,” she squealed.

Steve’s hands went to cover his mouth. “Shut up! Tell me everything!”

So she did.

She broke down what would happen if Eddie’s rut broke through the scent.

She went over the different things that would happen due to it being in Steve’s room with his nest, but it was amazing news.

“What made them decide to let Eddie in on the secret?” Steve asked when she was done.

Robin set down her tablet she had used to go over all the information and turned her full attention to him.

“Because he tried to cancel his rut servicing with you but with you still getting paid because he was worried that you might be followed to his place,” Robin explained.

Steve blushed a deep red.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

He looked up at her with glistening eyes. “He really loves me, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, yes he does.”

****

Steve didn’t have any other clients that week, so he spent the week getting his penthouse suite ready for his alpha. He already knew Eddie’s favorite snacks and how he could just eat handfuls and handfuls of trail mix as long as there weren’t raisins. So Steve subtly tried out other dried fruits and found he loved dried apricots. So those replaced the raisins.

Protein shakes were okay as long as they had some chocolate in them. But he could tell if there was any herbs to them. Thyme, basil, you name it, if it was there, Eddie wouldn’t drink them.

It was actually kind of fun tailoring the rut servicing to what Eddie enjoyed. Cotton sheets over satin. Certain brand of bottled water. How often he was lucid during the five days.

His nest was carefully packed away into another room, so that Eddie’s scent didn’t get embedded into the materials. There would be plenty of time for that when they bonded, doing it too soon could result in a faux bond and Steve would get sick.

Which was the last thing either of them wanted.

Steve was fluffing the pillows for the millionth time when Robin radioed that Eddie was about to pull up. He made his way to the front of the hotel and watched as Xander pulled up to the curb.

Eddie stepped out onto the pavement and looked up at the hotel in shock.

“La Rose?” he asked Steve in confusion. “Isn’t this where we met up for drinks after my interview?”

Steve grinned, taking Eddie’s bag from Xander. They walked past the hotel bar and Eddie turned to him.

“Holy shit!” he gasped. “It is! I thought we met up here.”

Steve giggled. “We did. I just came down the elevator instead of arriving by car.”

“How the hell did you manage that?” he asked, bumping Steve’s shoulder with his own.

“Robin,” Steve said proudly. “She can work any magic she wants to with management. I swear she has blackmail information on key members.”

Eddie threw back his head and laughed. “That sounds like Buckley.”

They finally got to Steve’s floor and he pointed to a room to the far right. “That is where you’ll be taken if I go into a mini heat.”

“Wouldn’t they want me to be far away from you as possible?” Eddie asked.

Steve shook his head. “They want to whisk you away to a nearby room on the same floor so your scent could calm me down and help me through my heat. If they took you off the premises I could get rejection sickness.”

Eddie blinked at him a moment.

“Oh.”

Steve smiled and led the way to the door that would lead to his apartment. He opened the door and moved out of the way so Eddie could enter first.

“Wow, Stevie,” Eddie murmured. “This is amazing. You live here all by yourself?”

“On this floor,” Steve answered. “Have a seat, we’ll talk about the coming rut and then get you settled. I’ll just put your bag in my bedroom.”

Eddie did as he was told, sitting on the nice fluffy sofa.

“All right,” Steve said, sliding onto the sofa next to Eddie. “So walk me through your ruts, what happens?”

Eddie squirmed a little. This was Steve Harrington, professional escort, and not Stevie, his hot omega boyfriend speaking.

“My pre-ruts start hard and fast,” he said, rubbing his chin in thought. “Then they last five days and I’m barely lucid through them. It’s how I got caught by that omega who told me they were infertile. I wasn’t conscious for much of it.”

Steve nodded. “When do you lower the light in wherever it is that you spend your rut?”

Eddie blinked at him. “Lower the lights, what do you mean? You don’t have sex with the lights on?”

“You’ve always had light on during your ruts, even at night?” Steve asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Not lucid enough to turn them off,” he said with a shrug.

Steve picked up a remote from the coffee table and closed the drapes and dimmed the lights.

He could see the physical change that came over Eddie. His shoulders relaxed and his eyelids drooped. His skin color which had been pale and clammy when he arrived was starting to get color back in his cheeks.

He tilted his head up as he examined the lights. “What is this feeling? I feel warm and drowsy.”

Steve sighed. “It’s how ruts are supposed to start. But it’s not mentioned in health class or anything. The bright lights signify to our poor little lizard brains that we’re still out in the open where we can be attacked, instead of safe in our caves. It wasn’t until the advent of modern light that it was ever a problem for alphas, but the science of it has come a long way in recent years.”

“Huh.”

Eddie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You think that’s why I’ve had trouble staying lucid because I’ve been forcing myself to be on high alert all the time?”

“Could be,” Steve agreed. “But even if it isn’t, you can trust me to keep you safe. I will not trick you and I will not harm you. You want condoms on all the time, I will be sure to change them as often as required. I’ve been on birth control for twelve weeks as you requested.”

Eddie blushed. “Thanks for sending me the video of you taking the pill every day, that must have been so humiliating for you.”

Steve shrugged. “I’m an escort, the amount of humiliating things I’ve had to do, that doesn’t even make the top twenty.”

“What, now?”

Steve laughed. “Alphas will sometimes hire us for humiliation roleplays. Did a fair number of those before I was big enough to reject them. But I know a couple of omegas that live for that shit, so if a new omega is really uncomfortable with it, the roleplay will be passed to one of them.”

Eddie blinked again. “Darlin’, the more I learn about your profession the more intrigued I am.”

“At least you’re intrigued,” Steve chuckled. “Most aren’t. They tend to be pearl clutchers about it.”

“Not even the highest paid actresses have to do the kind of work you do,” Eddie breathed. “Why aren’t there award shows for you escorts?”

Steve smiled sweetly. “Because it’s all confidential. But maybe I can convince a couple of my friends to do our own version of that for booze and prizes. I think it’d be a hit.”

Eddie grinned. “Oh to be a fly on that wall.”

Steve reached out and rubbed his arm. “How are you feeling? Is the pre-rut still progressing or have you hit full rut yet?”

Eddie frowned as he took stock of his body.

“Still in pre-heat,” he said thoughtfully. “Huh. My uncle was a beta, so he wasn’t able to teach me this sort of shit, but you would have thought that someone along the line would have said something.”

“The education in this country is still woefully behind for anything regarding sex,” Steve said ruefully.

Eddie snorted. That was like calling a hurricane a little summer storm.

“But at least they teach you this shit,” he said.

Steve grinned. “Indeed they do teach me this shit.”

He got to his feet and gently led Eddie to the bedroom. He got undressed and sat down on the bed. He took Eddie’s hand and directed it to his thighs.

“Is it time, baby?” Eddie murmured, looking down at this beautiful, smart, talented omega in utter awe.

“Almost, alpha,” Steve purred. “But being in bed when it hits is easier on the knees.”

Eddie cackled and Steve’s omega chirped happily.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he cooed back, “the things that cute little noise does to me.”

Steve laid down on the bed, as pretty as a picture and oh how Eddie wanted.

He got undressed and slid the first condom on. He straddled Steve’s hips and kissed him deeply.

“Oh, Stevie,” he murmured. “I feel so good.”

Steve stroked Eddie’s cheek. “And I promise it will continue to feel good for the next five days.”

Eddie looked into his eyes and believed him.

****

Part 16 Part 17

Tag List CLOSED: @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @redfreckledwolf @emly03 @itsall-taken

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369

​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @messrs-weasley @goodolefashionedloverboi

@maya-custodios-dionach @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv

@wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @bookworm0690 @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee

@littlewildflowerkitten @vecnuthy @scheodingers-muppet @y4r3luv @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

@genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @irregular-child @nburkhardt

@apomaro-mellow @yellowdevilkitten @eyehartart @mangoinacan13 @demolvr

@ellietheasexylibrarian @rememberthatiloveyou @slowandsteddie @r0binscript @alyelf

@melodymeddler @mogami13 @annabanannabeth @disrespectedgoatman @manda-panda-monium

[smileyfacemojisworld]

Eah Fanfic Ideas

For Mind-Blocks

Dexter and Darling asking Raven to help them switch bodies and their experiences

Dexter and Raven going to a Tailor Quick concert together (/with Apple and Darling as a double date?)

Royals and Rebels switch sides and each character’s experience in the other side

The Hood-Badwolf family having a secret picnic(Hunter and Ashlynn unexpectedly came across them? Or Cedar)

Melody and Justine perform together for the talent show

Adventures of the Trios: Briar, Cupid and Hopper; Daring, Dexter and Darling; Maddie, Kitty and Lizzie; Apple, Briar and Blondie?

A day in the life of:*insert character name*

Duchess’s Journey of finding a Happily Ever After

“Family Moments”

Blondie’s and Cupid’s podcasts collab

COMMENT A SHIP PLEASE AND I WILL LIST DOWN FANFIC IDEAS

[wheels-of-despair]

The Devil's Trip Pairing: Eddie Munson x You Summary: Eddie and Evil Woman embark on an epic spring break road trip… in which everything goes wrong. Contains: Good tunes, snacks, a cooler full of drinks, the open road… also traffic, poor planning, a heroic Hopper rescue, bad food, accidental injury, blood, spring break just not going like it should. Words: 3.3k

"Music?"

"Check!" You shake the shoebox full of cassettes in your lap.

"Snacks?"

You reach back and rattle a bag full of snacks. "Check!" There's also a cooler full of soda and stuff to make sandwiches.

"Kiss?"

"Wayne's still up, you've got time to run back in if you want to."

"UGH, get out of my van," Eddie groans. You laugh and lean over for the pre-road trip kiss.

"Check," you whisper against his lips before straightening.

"Alright, let's blow this popsicle stand."

Eddie turns the key and his van roars to life, sending a few stray cats scattering in the morning sun. He reverses out of his spot in front of the trailer. When he puts the van in gear and it lurches forward, you remove the correct tape from its case. Eddie stops at the edge of the trailer park to check for traffic on the main road, and you slip Road Trip Mix #1 into the tape player.

He waits for Ozzy to shout "All aboard!" before gunning it and hitting the highway.

You're kicking off your spring break by going to a music festival in Illinois. Just you and Eddie and an epic road trip and two days of up-and-coming bands. You've got three new rolls of film and plan to fully document every memorable moment. Rest stops, cheesy roadside attractions, sleeping in the van, the concert stage. You've been planning your escape from Hawkins for weeks.

Two songs into Road Trip Mix #1 later, a look of concentration settles on Eddie's face. The "Leaving Hawkins" sign comes into view. You both wait until the exact moment you pass before yelling "FUCK YOU, HAWKINS!" The first time he did it, it scared the crap out of you. Now you yell with him.

You grin at each other and face the road… seconds later, the van shudders. Eddie's brow furrows, and his eyes dart between the needles on the dashboard.

"The fuck?" you ask.

The van shudders again, and the engine sputters and dies. Eddie curses and coasts to the side of the road. When the van comes to a stop, he sighs and turns to you slowly.

"Gas?" he asks, one eye scrunched.

"Shit."

You stare at each other for a second, and then burst into laughter.

"Well, we're off to a great start," Eddie laughs.

"How the fuck did you forget to get gas?!" you ask.

"I meant to do it last night… but someone had her hand creeping up my thigh on the way home, and it distracted me."

"That slut," you deadpan. "Tell me who she is, I'll kill her."

Eddie grins. "Uh, there's a station about a mile back, they probably have a spare gas can for emergencies such as these… rock, paper, scissors?"

You glare.

"Orrrr I could go get it and you could stay out here… by yourself… on the side of the road… all alone…" He bats his eyelashes.

"What are we waiting for?" you ask, opening your door and sliding down to the ground. You reach up to lock it, slam it, and meet Eddie at the rear doors.

You walk in silence for a few minutes, then Eddie asks, "Wanna play a game?"

"Is it called Guess Who Forgot to Get Gas?" you tease.

You take another few steps, notice he's no longer beside you, and turn back to see why. He grins and takes a leap at you, attaching himself to your back.

"Oof!" you grunt. "What are you doing, moron?"

"I'm gonna have to carry a gas can back, so you're gonna have to carry me to the gas station."

"That does not seem at all like a fair trade," you grumble, but try to keep walking. You stagger a few steps under his weight, waiting for him to take pity on you and hop off, but he does not.

Until a siren chirps.

Eddie lets you go and hops to the ground, and you both turn to see Chief Hopper leaning out of his Blazer's open window and looking unamused.

"I don't know what you're doing, I don't want to know what you're doing, I just need to know if you require my assistance in a professional capacity."

You glance toward Eddie, entirely unsure if he's going to play with Hopper or be serious for once in his life.

"Van ran out of gas, so I tried to hitch a different ride. But she ran out too." You elbow him, and he grins.

Chief Hopper sighs and hangs his head. "Get in, delinquents."

"Can I sit in the front this time?" Eddie asks excitedly.

"No!" Hopper barks.

Eddie laughs and crosses the road to open the door for you. You slide in, and Eddie slides in behind you. He laces his fingers behind his head and stretches out, making himself comfortable in Hopper's back seat.

"Where you kids headed?"

"…the gas station?" Eddie says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Where were you going before you ran out of gas, smart-ass?"

You stifle a laugh and Eddie grins. "A music festival in Illinois."

Hopper makes eye contact with you in his rearview mirror. "Your mom know where you're going and who you're with?"

"Yes," you answer simply.

He studies you in the mirror for a second before returning his attention to the road.

"What, she says one word and you believe her?" Eddie asks incredulously. "We go way back, Hop! You grill me ALL the time!"

"She's got an honest face. You look like a gremlin."

You snort, and Eddie's jaw drops.

Before he can formulate a snappy response, Hopper pulls his Blazer into the gas station. He takes his time getting out and walking around the back to extract his gas can. Finally, he opens Eddie's door and hands it to him. Eddie hops out and takes the can to fill it, and you're left alone with the police chief.

He hovers outside the open back door, blocking your way out. You're a little nervous… until he speaks.

"He being a gentleman?"

"He tries," you smile. Hopper comes off as gruff, but you know there's kindness underneath it. Otherwise, you'd probably be writing Eddie letters in jail.

"Your mom really know where you're going?"

You nod. "She even gave me a new roll of film and told me to bring her back a souvenir."

Hopper nods his head in approval.

"I'm glad he's got somebody," he says lowly. "You're keeping him outta my hair."

"If you miss him, I can set him loose every once in a while," you grin. "I don't think he's been properly chased away from the water tower in ages."

Hopper laughs. "Nope, all yours."

Eddie announces his presence with a grunt, heaving the full gas can into the back of the Blazer.

"Filled, paid, it'll get us a ways."

"You're gonna stop and fill up before you get back to empty, right?" Hopper asks, glaring down at Eddie as he squeezes back into the truck.

"Yes, Mom," Eddie grins.

Hopper rolls his eyes and slams the door. He gets into the driver's seat and takes you back to the van quickly, but doesn't let you out right away.

"Illinois cops aren't as nice as I am, Munson."

"I knew you had a soft spot for me," Eddie grins.

"I mean it," he says, turning in his seat to face the two of you. "You screw up outside of Hawkins, and I'm not gonna be there to give you a lecture and send you home."

You look nervously between them. How much trouble has Eddie gotten into?

"We'll be fine, Hop," Eddie says boredly.

"Are there any illegal substances in your van?"

"If there were, would I tell the Chief of Police?"

Hopper growls and turns his attention to you. "You gonna keep him out of trouble?"

"It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it," you smile, glancing over at Eddie.

"You both realize I'm a legal adult, right?" he scoffs.

"Could've fooled me," you and Hopper say together. Eddie rolls his eyes. Hopper laughs and gets out to open the rear door. You hop out, Eddie retrieves the fuel and empties it into the van's gas tank, and hands the empty vessel to Hopper.

"Have fun, behave, watch that gas hand, do not take any illegal substances across state lines, et cetera."

Eddie puffs out his chest and salutes, and Hopper gives him a shove toward the van. You smile and wave. Hopper puts his gas can back in the truck, waits until Eddie gets the van started, and heads back toward Hawkins.

"Alright, take two!" Eddie says as he pulls back onto the road. It was a little quieter this time; you were a little paranoid about getting busted with substances that may or may not be in the van, and a little stressed from barely making it out of Hawkins before the first sign of trouble. It's only a hiccup, you told yourself, just to keep you on your toes for the rest of the trip.

You made it a few minutes down the winding road before running into a long line of stopped traffic. You couldn't see far enough ahead to figure out what was wrong, but after what felt like an hour of waiting, traffic finally began to crawl through. A car lay upside down in a ditch. Tire marks on the road. A crew sweeping up glass in the other lane.

"You okay?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah," you whisper.

"It's a bad curve," he explains. "Not the first time."

It's also not the first time you've been through here with him at breakneck speeds. He reaches over and puts a hand on your thigh as the long line of traffic slowly proceeds.

Eddie pulls off at the next gas station, to let the traffic thin out and properly fuel up the van. You take the opportunity to stretch your legs by walking through the store and looking for snacks you don't already have.

You spot a clearance rack full of off-brand chips you've never tried before, for only ten cents a bag. You grab one of each flavor and bring them to the register at the same time Eddie comes in to pay for his fuel.

Eddie pays, the cashier stuffs your chips in a plastic bag, and you head back out. The traffic is still moving slowly.

"Wanna hang here until traffic starts moving again?" he suggests.

"Sure," you smile. "We can sample our chips and see if it's worth going back in for more." Eddie moves the van from a pump to a parking spot, and comes to join you atop the rotting picnic table in the grass beside the store. He plops down two drink cans from the cooler, and you lay out your different chip options.

"Six flavors," you announce. "What do we want to sample first?"

"Hmmmmm… this one." Eddie picks up a red bag with flames coming off of the text. Of course. He rips open the top of the bag and offers it to you. You pull out one very threatening-looking red chip. Eddie extracts one too. You gently tap them together in a super classy gas station potato chip toast, and pop them in your mouths.

When the heat hits you, you spit it out. Eddie lasts a few seconds longer, but spits his out too. You both pop open your cans and guzzle, hoping the cold liquid will put the fire out and mask the awful taste.

"Okay, fuck THOSE," Eddie says, setting that bag aside. "You pick next."

You select the cheesy ones, hoping they'll be mild. You open the bag, and you each pull out a chip.

Eddie sniffs it. "This smells like feet."

"Yours, or a normal person's?"

He throws his chip at you and has to pick another.

You skip the toast, but both bite down at the same time.

Not good, but not so bad that you have to spit it out. You repeat the process with barbecue, salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, and plain. Neither of you eats more than one chip out of each bag.

"Did all of those suck, or did the first one just burn our taste buds off?" you ask after you drain the last of your soda.

"Kinda wish it HAD burned my taste buds off," he says, looking warily at the six almost-full bags of chips. "What are we gonna do with those?"

You look disdainfully at the awful snacks. "Take 'em home and give 'em to the boys for the next movie night. Tell 'em we had to sample each bag and make sure they were suitable for nerd consumption."

Eddie laughs and shoves the chips back in the shopping bag. You tie it - because surely staleness wouldn't improve the flavor - and hold it up to give it a spin.

"There we go," you smirk. "A heartfelt gift for our dear friends." Eddie snorts.

"Looks like traffic's moving quicker," he notes. "Wanna get back to it?"

"Let's roll," you nod, rising from the picnic table with the bag full of awful chips. Eddie hops off of the table and lands with a hiss. You whip around at the sound.

He's holding his hand in a fist. You step closer and uncurl it to see what's wrong. The table gave him a splinter.

"I've got tweezers in my emergency bag, c'mon, I'll fix you up." You pick up your empty cans and toss them in a nearby trash can, crawl into the back of the van, and start digging. Eddie sits on the floor by the back door until you locate your emergency supplies.

"Damn, is there anything you're NOT prepared for?" he teases when he sees the packed box.

"Nope," you answer, dabbing alcohol on his hand. He hisses again. You make quick work of the splinter extraction and bandaging. You lean down and kiss the bandage when you're done, before he can even pout and ask you to kiss it and make it better. He smiles when you sit back up.

Three minutes later, you're on the road again, and it's time for a new tape. You pop out Road Trip Mix #1 and swap it for #2.

"Damn, we make a good mix tape," Eddie remarks.

"Mix tapes," you correct. "There are six of them."

"And each one is better than the last," he says, reaching forward to turn up the volume…

The knob comes off in his hand.

"Shit."

"Give it here," you say loudly, so he can hear you over the deafening screams of Judas Priest. You hold out your hand, and he drops the knob into it. You lean in close and try to figure out how it goes back on so you can turn it the hell down. You've nearly got it when a blinding pain shoots through your head.

"Shit, fuck, I'm sorry!"

You don't know what's going on. You're seeing spots, your head is killing you, and there's… blood? On your shirt?

Eddie's hand reaches out to grab you and keep you from lurching forward with the van when it comes to an abrupt stop on the side of the road.

"Fuck, fuck, look at me," he says hurriedly. You're still transfixed by the blood dripping on your shirt. Suddenly, everything goes quiet. You look up in surprise, but it's just because he's turned the van off and the music isn't blaring anymore. His eyes widen.

"Are you okay?"

"I… don't know?"

"A fucking cat ran out in front of me and I hit the brakes so I wouldn't hit it and you hit your face on the dash," he explains hurriedly.

You take a second to process it.

He reaches into the back and grabs a spare hoodie. "Here, he says, lifting a sleeve to dab at the blood that had spurted from your nose. You laugh at the absurdity of it all. This is the trip from Hell.

"Ow!" you screech when he touches a sensitive spot, done with your laughing.

"Sorry! Fuck, I'm so sorry."

You take the hoodie from him and mop up the rest of the blood. Good thing it's black.

"You starting to think maybe this trip is cursed?" you ask, muffled through the hoodie.

Eddie sighs.

"You wanna go home?"

You shrug. You don't want to ruin his trip. You know how much he's been looking forward to this. You'll stick it out with him.

"Let me see you," he says, reaching for the fabric hiding half of your face. He removes it, and his eyes widen. "Yeah, we're going home."

"Eddie, you don't have to--"

"Shut up," he orders, getting out of his seat to dig in the back. He comes back into view holding a cold can of soda, which he wraps in the hoodie. "For your face," he says, offering it to you.

"That bad, huh?" You smile, which is a mistake. "Ow."

"Buckle up, relax, this hell-trip will be over soon."

He searches the floorboard until he locates the volume knob, twists it back on, and immediately brings the noise down when the van starts up again.

Eddie waits for a break in traffic and turns around in the middle of the road. Once you're headed toward home again, you lean back in your seat, hold the cold can up to your face, and stare out the window over top of it.

The first sign you see is the one stating that Hawkins is six miles away. You start laughing.

"…are you okay?"

You laugh harder.

"Shit, do I need to take you to a hospital?"

"No," you wheeze, "this trip really is cursed."

He looks at you like you've grown another head.

"Think about it," you chuckle. "We made six mix tapes. We bought six awful bags of chips. And we made it a whole six miles outside of Hawkins Fucking Indiana."

As if on cue, "The Number of the Beast" starts playing. You look at each other and lose it. You cackle until your sides ache and your face aches more before.

"Ow," you whine, trying to focus on the road and stop laughing. When your body finally stops shaking, you sink into your seat and close your eyes.

"Best trip ever," you mumble.

You hear him chuckle.

"Babe?" Eddie asks after a moment of silence. You open your eyes. You're passing the Welcome to Hawkins sign. "You wanna go to my place or yours?"

"How bad do I look?" you ask, turning to face him. He grimaces. You lean your head back against the headrest and close your eyes again. "Take me wherever the adult on duty is less likely to beat your ass for doing this to me."

"…kind of a toss-up," he laughs quietly. "Which bed do you like better, mine or yours?"

"Don't care, as long as you're in it."

"You know… we've got lots of supplies… mattress in the back… we could just park in the woods by Lover's Lake for a few days."

You consider it while he drives.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I wasn't done."

"…okay?"

"I love you, but I'm not peeing in the woods for a week."

He snorts and puts on his turn signal.

Taking an epic road trip and camping out in a field in Illinois with a bunch of kick-ass bands you'd never heard before was a nice idea.

But hanging out in your basement and listening to Corroded Coffin practice the same songs as always wasn't bad either.

[upsidedownwithsteve]

hey emmy, i hope you’re having the best day!

maybe a blurb about modern!eddie being forced to go to a taylor swift concert with reader, even though it doesn’t fit his super cool, edgy, metal vibe?

love all your work, smooches

You knew that the majority of the crowd was made up of girls. Screaming girls, actually. Dressed in glitter and sequins, red lipstick and hidden wine bottles in their platform boots. But Eddie seemed enraptured by it all, sticking out like a pretty sore thumb in the chaos of it, all shades of black in a sea of colour. 

He held your hand with a renewed tightness, clinging to you tightly as you manoeuvred you both into a position where you could see the stage, but you weren’t crushed between eager fans. The arena was already filling up, the overhead music barely noticeable under the din of a thousand conversations. The girl next to you was already crying, mascara streaked, tiny gold stars leaking down her cheeks. Eddie was staring. 

“Hey, stop,” you told him, nudging at his ribs with your elbow. “You’re being rude.”

“I’m concerned,” he said in response, leaning down to talk into your ear, his lips just touching the shell of it, his hand curled over your hip bone. “I knew this would be mental, but this— this is unreal.”

You sympathised, taking in his wide eyes and parted lips as he surveyed the crowd, groups of friends making tiktoks on the outskirts, people screaming at the sound guys on stage, asking the man who was fixing a lighting rig where Taylor was. 

“Thank you,” you said for the eighteenth time that day, “for coming with me, you didn’t have to.” You smiled, warm and fond. “I appreciate it, Eddie.”

Nancy had been struck down with a sickness bug only hours before you were due to meet her in town, both of you planning to grab some food before jumping on the subway to the arena. She’d apologised profusely between throwing up, her texts littered with rare spelling errors as her hands shook with the fever that had come on so quickly. 

Robin was adamant about looking after Nancy, Jonathan was out of town with Argyle, Steve laughed and said absolutely not and Max was on holiday with El and Hopper, some camping trip in the middle of god knows where. You didn’t ask the boys, you didn’t want to waste your breath. And then Eddie texted you, with a screenshot from Robin telling him his friend needed a date along with the words: “what time will I pick you up? :)”

The boy shrugged, smiling right back. “Couldn’t have you all alone.”

You made a face, because although you wouldn’t have loved standing on your own for a concert you’d paid far too much money for… you knew this wasn’t Eddie’s kinda scene. You told him as such and he grinned, nose scrunching as he avoided the eye contact of a girl who was taking way too much interest in him 

“S’fine,” he said, “I know some songs, I can scream along.”

“Oh yeah?” You raised your brows, amused. 

Eddie scoffed, shuffling closer as more people filled up the floor space, edging towards the stage. “You kiddin’? A little Lover? Anti-hero? I’m down with the kids.”

A crowd of newcomers surged past you as you laughed and you winced as your shoulder got knocked by someone’s bag, no doubt crammed with glass bottles of the alcohol they weren’t supposed to have. Eddie tutted, taking you gently by your wrist until he coaxed you to stand in front of him, your back to his chest. You felt a little more safe there, his solid warmth a protective wall behind you. His hands ghosted over the dip in your waist before they dropped again, like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. 

You looked up, head on his chest and you grinned your appreciation. 

The boy looked like he was blushing, cheeks a little pink and lips twisted to his the smile that was threatening to break out. Despite the leather jacket, the ripped denim and all the chains, Eddie Munson still looked like the softest boy there. 

“Can you see okay?” He asked, bending down to you again so you could hear. He smelled like the aftershave he always wore, like smoke and spice. “You good?”

You nodded, pleased at his closeness, all the attention he was giving you and god, this was starting to feel a little more like a date, despite the other few thousand people around you both. “Yeah, I’m all good.”

Eddie nodded, “good. Maybe to make up for it, you can come with me to see one of my favourite bands.” His smile was teasing, but his words and his eyes seemed hesitant, like he was asking a question he wasn’t sure of the answer to. 

You turned, still close to the boy, toe to toe and you tilted your chin up to beam at him. “Yeah?” You asked, pleased at the idea of another outing with just Eddie. Most of the time, you saw him with the rest of the group, too busy catching up with Robin and letting Will show you his new art pieces to talk to the person you wanted to most. “I can do that.”

Eddie blinked, surprised but grinning all the same. “Yeah?” He asked back. “Rammstein is playing in Chicago next month.”

You squinted at him, familiar with the name. “Is that the German guys who sound kinda demonic?”

The boy looked proud. “That’s the one, sweetheart.” He half expected to you to firmly, but politely, turn him down. German heavy metal was most definitely not your kind of music. But then again, Taylor Swift wasn’t really his either, and here he was. 

“Will you take me to dinner first?” You said instead and Eddie’s heart stuttered. 

Warmth bloomed in his chest, a heat that crept up across his neck and cheeks and he swallowed, nervous. “Dinner? Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

He could most definitely do that. 

“Great,” you beamed again, eyes bright and a flush to your cheeks that made him think you were as happy as he was at this outcome. “It’s a date.”

Eddie didn’t have time to reply to that, ‘cause the crowd started screaming and Taylor Swift came out on stage, the opening chords of Love Story ringing through the arena. You turned, clapping along with the rest of the girls around you, your body firmly pressed to Eddie’s and by the third song, his arms were around your shoulders, his hands tangled between yours as he tried his best to sing along to the songs he knew through the grin that wouldn’t leave his lips.  

...

[balladofsallyrose]

Dennis Hopper and Phil Ochs during the Friends Of Chile benefit concert 'An Evening with Salvador Allende', May 9, 1974.