#Eddie’s definitely the type of person to see something in weird shapes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

laundrybiscuits · 4 months

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This is the start to a wholly unasked-for sequel to wait for the season that I’ve been poking at for some time. It’s definitely even weirder than that already-kind-of-weird fic, so maybe give it a miss if you’re looking for the standard fare. Steve isn’t even mentioned in this snippet. I'll post something more normal soon, I promise.

From the living end of memory, the past seems inevitable.

You had to go through that terrible thing so that you could become the type of person who would survive that later, more terrible thing that most likely occurred in a thematically resonant way—and with a little determined creativity, the thematic resonances start popping up all over the place.

So then you arrive on the other side of the terrible thing, the second terrible thing, with your memories all worn smooth like rocks that have been jostling around in a pocket for years. They fit together now, no inconvenient angles or edges anymore. It’s all one continuous shape, the shape of how things happened, and you tell yourself that there was no other way for your story to go.

It was always going to happen this way.

It was always going to be the concrete; the buzzing overhead lights; the placid, thoughtful voice saying “Let’s see if we can get it to wear some clothes, why don’t we?”

Embarrassingly enough, that’s the first thing Eddie remembers from his new life. He’s seen clips of the grainy footage from the months before that, but when he tries to remember lurching around and sinking his teeth into some disgusting raw slab of meat, it’s like a black hole. His mind doesn’t even want to get near the edges. He feels irrationally like if he thinks too hard about it, his mind will decide that actually, sentience isn’t such a hot shit idea after all, and he’ll tip right back down and down and down.

———

Wayne’s old now, and it makes Eddie uncomfortable in a way he doesn’t really want to look at too hard.

Wayne had never been young, exactly; Eddie doesn’t remember a whole lot from back when he first went to stay with Wayne, just a lot of promises that it was temporary, promises that stopped coming after a while. But what he does remember looks a hell of a lot like Wayne when Eddie was nineteen or twenty: wrinkles, bald spot always hidden under some ballcap or other, grumbling I’m an old man but Eddie never truly believing it because somehow, over the years, he’d got to believing that Wayne would always be there. Fucking stupid! So so fucking stupid from Eddie, who on paper looks like someone who should know better.

Now Wayne’s actually old. Now he moves so slow, Eddie gets impatient just watching him through the lit-up window, doing the washing-up and puttering around the kitchen with stooped shoulders.

It’s easier on him if I don’t, thinks Eddie, but he already knows he’s lying as he thinks it. Or rather, he’s lying in a very specific way: it’s easier for Eddie if he pretends Wayne is dead, but probably not so much the other way around.

That makes him a pretty terrible person, he guesses, but then again—not exactly a person anymore. He doesn’t know how much that matters.

It would hurt him, thinks Eddie, tentatively, and that might actually be a little bit true. It’s just not as true as the other truth: that Eddie wants to keep Wayne locked in the box marked BEFORE because it’s too difficult to even think about explaining. That if Wayne’s back in his life, Eddie has to reckon with him as someone who will just continue to get older every single day until one day Wayne is as old as he will ever be.

It’s easier if he doesn’t. Doesn’t he deserve an easier life? Didn’t he go through purgatory? Hasn’t he paid and paid and paid? He should get whatever he wants, he should rip through the skin of the Earth to sink his teeth into the candy flesh, chew it up—

So yeah, he’s a monster in more ways than one.

———

There’s BEFORE and there’s AFTER, but really that’s just a narrative device. Really there are a lot of before-afters.

There was before-after Eddie woke up; that’s the big one, maybe. Then there’s before-after Eddie is Eddie again and could think in words like a human. Like a person. Then there’s before-after it becomes scorchingly, irreversibly clear that Eddie is neither human nor person.

And of course, there’s the before-after Eddie finds himself outside in government-issued sweatpants and a plain blue t-shirt, looking up at the gibbous moon for the first time in his new not-quite-life, and feels absolutely nothing about it.

It hits him later, kind of. He doesn’t even try to get somewhere safe (for whom?) to bunk that first night, just curls up in the nearest Greyhound terminal and felt sorry for himself, performatively. It seems like the thing to do. Woe is Eddie, friendless nightmare beast, freakier than anyone’d ever guessed he could be, and not in a fun way.

He hadn’t even—

Back before, like before he’d even died in the first place, he probably would’ve taken it harder. Hah. Harder.

But it hadn’t even occurred to him to reach into his own stringless scrubs and make baby Jesus cry, not for a long time. When it had, he’d felt oddly proud, as if that was proof that he's not some mindless beast at his core. That's probably not quite right, though. He thinks about it some more and decides it doesn't mean anything after all.

And then when dawn hits the Greyhound terminal, he belatedly realizes that shit, maybe he should’ve been thinking more about what vampires can and can’t do, traditionally, and he’s a little worried about burning to a crisp but it’s already too late, so he just rolls under the bench with the last of his consciousness and hopes like hell he looks too dangerous to mess with.

Somehow he’s okay; somehow the cops aren’t even called. This is by way of being an inference, given that once the sun is out for real, Eddie is for all intents and purposes no longer a participant in goings-on. But he wakes up in the orange light of the sunset and everything seems to be the way he left it, maybe a handful more Burger King wrappers and fresher eau de urine gathering in the corners. The slim roll of go-away-please cash is still in his white cotton briefs. He’s not in a drunk tank and nobody’s prodding him. Nobody’s even around. Cautiously, he wonders if it’s another freaky power they just never thought to check for.

He doesn’t feel much like testing it, and also it’s actually really fucking uncomfortable to be crammed underneath a bench like he is, so he crawls out and starts trying to pull together some kind of life.

———

“Eddie,” the labcoat says, while he’s still staring up at the night sky for the first time in almost a decade.

Yeah, that whole thing where he walked outside and looked up at the moon wasn’t actually that romantic. They didn’t exactly let him waltz out into the wide world with a bindle on his shoulder; they decontaminated him, made him sign a bunch of stuff, and had this labcoat in sensible shoes slip him a shifty fifty in exchange for promising to come back on a regular basis for “check-ups” that they both know aren’t for Eddie’s benefit. They pretend otherwise, because it’s nicer that way.

“What,” says Eddie. “I’m just saying, I dunno how the economy works nowadays, but I’m guessing fifty bucks isn’t gonna get me too far.”

The labcoat pushes gold-framed glasses up her nose. “You understand that we did not have to do this at all, right?” She doesn’t sound—she’s not being mean, or even condescending. She’s just telling him so he understands. “You do not legally exist.”

That’s all she says, but Eddie knows what she means. He also knows that this money’s coming with strings, and he wants to get the absolute most he can out of this while he still has something they want.

“Okay, but—”

The labcoat rolls her fucking eyes and reaches into her own fucking pleated slacks and pulls out her own fucking wallet, counting out two twenties and a ten gone soft around the corners. She probably gets paid real good. There’s a picture of a kid in the wallet, maybe five or six years old; it looks like a school photo with that weird cloudy blue-grey background. The kid looks happy. He’s grinning. His name is probably Chris or Lionel or Jacob. He’s probably in some kind of youth T-ball league where he mostly sits in the outfield and eats grass. He’ll probably get into a good college someday, maybe on a baseball scholarship after he gets really good at T-ball after all and hits the winning home run for his high school varsity team. It will be a whole different millennium and he will never, ever know that the Psych 101 class he’s skipping to dry-hump his English-major girlfriend was paid for by the three and a half years his mommy spent administering heavy-duty sedatives to Eddie so they could run all their little tests without Eddie getting bitey.

“Thanks,” says Eddie, because he’s got manners. He’s still got manners.

“We’ll see you in a month,” the labcoat says.

#okay so—I’ve been reading a lot of postmodern fiction lately #I’ve generally been a pomo enjoyer for many years despite the fact that it makes me a parody of myself #but that is why this is a wee bit more experimental. I do not expect people to like it!#this is pure self-indulgence #fic: maybe when the earth starts to melt #fic: wait for the season to come back to me

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zenexitwrites · 5 years

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new reddie fic up, check it out here or under the cut

The Derry Townhouse that the Losers stayed in wasn’t one they had made out of choice. When it came to the small town of Derry Maine, there wasn’t a particularly large range of options. Although it might have been a nice thought to think they had coincidentally chosen the same small inn due to secret bonds between them leading them to the same place… It was actually much more left up to the simple fact there was only one inn. Derry wasn’t particularly known for its tourism industry. Rather, it wasn’t known for anything at all, even if it did have some pretty remarkable statistics. At least, it did in the crime department.

Some of the Losers had planned out their sudden vacation back to small town roots a little bit better than others. That is to say, Richie hadn’t bothered to call ahead at an Inn he knew barely managed to stay open. What he, or any of the Losers, hadn’t anticipated was the carnival being in town and how Derry might manage to actually make people want to come to it. In fact, the vast majority of his friends had already checked in at the hotel. Richie had stopped by the Townhouse in a rush and had left his bags with an attendant, telling him how he would check in later and request them up to his room. Eddie waited behind Richie, wanting to request something at the front desk for his room that he was smart enough to call beforehand to get.

The smile stretching across Richie’s face fell quickly talking to the receptionist. A smile that just before had been aimed at Eddie right after a dry quip Kaspbrak was less enthused than Richie about.

“No rooms? What, did the place flood?” Richie asked dryly. It was half of a joke, as Derry hadn’t been particularly good in the past about its water levels. As seen in case in the day George Denberough had been swept up into a storm drain in the Loser’s youth. Huh, that was a memory that seemed a little out of place.

“No rooms left, we’re completely booked up with the fair in town.” The girl at the counter said dryly. Her eyes were tired, bracing for impact on Richie’s reaction.

Aside from Eddie behind him, all of the other losers had already said their goodbyes before they had all lined up to get into their individual rooms like it was a school lunch. Shuffling away with their suitcases while Richie and Eddie were bickering, leaving the two of them completely alone. Meaning, it wasn’t like Richie had a whole room to poll asking for help.

Eddie’s brown eyes quickly moved from Richie’s face, to the girl at the check in desk, and back to Richie. His dark eyebrows were pulled together, his mouth tight lipped. Richie could practically hear the mental process in his head, could almost see the steam pouring out of his stupid perfectlty shaped ears. Richie offered him what he considered his most hopeful and happy grin. One that said, oh please Eddie dear, don’t you want to offer to help me in some way?

“Did you have the reservation for Kaspbrak?” Eddie asked, stepping forward. He got up closer to the counter than Richie had been. “Spelled K-A-S-P-B-R-A-K. Should be under Edward.”

Huh, it seemed like Richie wasn’t the only idiot who hadn’t checked in properly earlier.

Promptly the girl at the counter began typing into the computer. An amount of typing Richie was sure was unnecessary, but what did he know? He had never worked at a hotel, but to him it had always looked like something idle and fake hotel people did to look busy while the computer loaded more slowly than most guests could handle. Eddie slid an ID and a credit card across the counter unprompted, clearly used to staying in hotels. Richie watched all this silently, still trying to keep up a kind of stupid smile, hoping it would guilt either of them into wanting to help him.

Richard Tozier had a lot of faces, a lot of voices, he found very easy to slip into. Before he was able to cut it on the standup scene, he had done practically anything that would pay his bills. He had done a shitty AM radio station in his backyard for example, with ravings of a wild child protesting anything and everything. He had also filled up the air space with voices of his, characters and people who didn’t exist until Richie got to droll them out happily on an air he wasn’t sure anyone was listening to. There was something good in doing that, in making or performing a character for standup everyone thought was Richie Tozier. In performing a fake silly man on the radio. Something so deeply pleasing in not being Richie Tozier, for escaping his own thoughts and person and becoming something completely different.

“We have it sir, and your bags you checked in earlier under that name have already been dropped off.” The girl said back plainly. She ran the two cards through the machine and turned to hand a quickly printed receipt off to Eddie along with a room key that was an actual key with the number eight on it.

“Do you need anything else today?”

Eddie looked sideways at Richie, a guilty look in his eyes as he continued to think about what to say. Richie smiled brightly at him.

“Do you have the bags dropped off under Tozier still?” Richie asked the girl hopefully. She sighed in response and began to ruffle through records Richie knew at any other hotel would probably be nowhere near this front desk. It took her only a few moments to collect everything she needed, and Richie was a little amazed at how organized she was.

“We do have them. Do you want us to bring them out to you?”

“Actually, can you just bring them to Mr.Kaspbrak’s room, please?” Richie asked, trusting his gut. The woman sighed and nodded and wrote something down on a paper.

Eddie opened his mouth to complain, and probably yell at Richie, but he cut him off with a loud thank you to the receptionist while grabbing everything on the counter and tugging Eddie away.

After getting to the room, to no one’s surprise, there was of course only one bed. It wasn’t very long before Eddie was calling the front desk and nagging them about bringing down extra pillows and blankets, an extra cot, and of course pestering about where Richie’s bags were.

It was funny, how little time had seemed to change Eddie. Richie couldn’t help his eyes from falling on Eddie’s ring finger, the small silver band sitting there in an almost mocking way. Saying, look at me! Eddie is married! And not to you jackhole! Richie wanted to shake him after that, his skin crawling in a weird way he couldn’t explain. All of this, it felt out of place. Like something on the tip of his tongue. A foggy abscess in his mind he didn’t know he should try to reach for, or to run from.

When Eddie finally hung up the phone Richie smiled at him, as devilishly handsome of a smile he thought he was capable of.

“Stuck with me in your bed, huh?” Richie asked knowingly. Eddie would be shit to be in a hostage situation with, he repeated every line he heard from the other end of the phone. Eddie let out a loud groan in response.

“You know you can’t just invite yourself into people’s hotel rooms, right? You know that’s fucked up, right?” Eddie began, his hands already moving to point and slap his hands in agitation.

Richie hummed in response and walked over to a minifridge he knew would be filled with overpriced snacks. Or in this case, two bottles of tall water and one half assed bag of trailmix. Richie frowned and only grabbed the $6 water to drink from. Something in the back of his head had reminded him then of Eddie’s allergies. Ones he hadn’t been at the restaurant to overhear, but remembered anyway. Strange.

“Oh and now you’re going to run up my bill. Great fucking job Trashmouth, just act like you own the place and then I know you’re going to run out on the check.” Eddie said, waving his hand wildly at the water.

Richie gave a little snort while he sipped on his water.

“Dude, it’s fine. I can pay for the whole room if you want me to.” He said this almost boredly. Since making it, money hadn’t been really an issue for Richie anymore, and that was in LA. Richie knew he could buy practically anything he wanted here in this tiny town of Derry and probably not even see his bank balance budge. Eddie was probably well off too, considering his job seemed like it revolved around firing everyone in businesses he didn’t work for. But hell if Richie even knew what a risk analyst was, it definitely wasn’t the sort of thing a kid would say he wanted to be when he grew up.

Eddie mumbled a few things under his breath then and moved around the room, picking things up as he went. He had some large blue bag in his hands and tugged it with him into the bathroom.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Eddie announced from the bathroom, and then walked about out as if suddenly worrying Richie would not be able to hear him.

“Alright Eds, I can behave while you’re gone. I won't throw some mad party in the next twenty minutes.” Richie said with a laugh and worked on settling in the room.

While Eddie was gone, Richie tried to hum to himself under his breath trying to keep his mind busy. He put his suitcases when they arrived in a good corner of the room, trying to make sure Eddie still felt like he had his space. It wasn’t a particularly big room, but Eddie did get a king bed so they would both fit on it just fine tonight. When Richie was done gathering his things, he changed into something to sleep in. Blue flannel pants with cigarette holes burned into them from the few times he or someone else had fallen asleep around him smoking. Those pants and whatever comfortable shirt was on top of his shit.

Richie locked eyes with the bed itself. It looked like a regular run of the mill hotel bed, sheets and blanket neatly tucked around all corners. Richie went ahead and began tugging at it, pulling the large comforter untucked so he would be able to sleep with his feet hanging out the bottom of it. After that, he walked lazily over to the air and turned it town a few degrees. He ran hot when he slept. Richie didn’t stop to think and wonder about how Eddie might feel about this.

One thing Richie wasn’t so sure about, was how little this all bothered him. Here he was just standing in a hotel room he was going to be sharing with another man. And not just any man, but Eddie Kaspbrak, a childhood friend of his he had forgotten he had until less than twenty four hours ago. It should have been enough to make him want to run from here and never come back, hell everything that happened tonight should have done it. But once they were all back at the hotel, and had made the choice to stay and hear Mike out, there wasn’t really going to be any changing it. But Eddie… There was something about him that made Richie feel different than the rest of the Losers did. Something about him he knew he was missing was a piece of that he couldn’t find. Like a puzzle that wasn’t complete, and Richie already knew he had lost about twenty pieces, but he was still trying to solve it.

Richie crawled into bed then and stared at the ceiling for whatever time he had left before Eddie finished up in the shower. It was a popcorn ceiling, the kind you could tell was just due to budget cuts, because who the hell would willingly want a popcorn ceiling?

Something about Eddie was just pulling at his heartstrings. He felt like he was on high alert, and everything Eddie did seemed to hit twice as hard. For whatever reason, Richie knew he could list off everything Eddie had done or said that night. It wasn’t that Richie wasn’t observant of his friends, it just seemed to be hyper focused on Eddie and everything he was doing. Richie could tell you everything Eddie spit out into his napkin that night, or all the different drinks he had drank, or those he had pretended to. There had been alcohol at dinner of course, but nothing to even stir a buzz in Richie.

Richie felt some sort of guilt stirring up inside of him when he thought about Eddie being married. Or, maybe it wasn’t guilt. Was it pity, for whatever poor woman had gotten saddled with marrying him? Was it… Jealousy? Richie swallowed then.

Was there some part of him, buried deep inside his repressed (but by who?) memories of Eddie, where he yearned for him? Did he forget some sort of long forgotten feelings for his best friend? Richie frowned then. Had Eddie been his best friend, or was it Bill? He had spent every day with Eddie though, hadn’t he? Days spent with the Losers together, or days where they had spent it huddled at the arcade just the two of them. On those days their interactions would be filled with loud laughing and jeers at each other. Days where Eddie and Richie had spent as long as they could at Richie’s house, before Eddie’s mom would come banging on the door for her son to come home.

Or the days that had been Richie’s favorites, during weekends where him and Eddie had somehow persuaded Mrs. K to let Eddie come over and spend the night, or vice versa. Where the two of them would share a room, a bed. Richie would lay there with Eddie, pressed tight against his back while the two were snuggled under blankets. It didn’t matter what the temperature was, Eddie was always cold and Richie was always hot. They’d lay like that, almost spooning every night they could, while Richie’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. His hands would be sweaty, so he’d cling to the pillows above their heads and hope and pray maybe Eddie’s would brush his.

Richie was laying there in bed, still staring up at the ceiling, while his head and heart raced with memories he didn’t know he had forgotten. Desires he didn’t know he had. Suddenly, there were nerves flicking up at him while laying there. Maybe he should have packed better pants to sleep in? Hell, Richie didn’t usually sleep in pants at all, so this alone should be impressive. Not that Eddie would know that though, he had certainly always worn pants to bed when he stayed over. Richie’s hands were clammy and his throat felt like it had something stuck in it. This shit had to stop right away.

The water turned off in the distance as Eddie finally finished up. Richie listened faintly for a moment while Eddie was getting out and grabbing a towel, before realizing he had been sitting there doing nothing. Richie leaned over and grabbed the TV remote off the table and rushed to turn it on and pull out the guide. He settled on the first acceptable thing he could, Forensic Files. Satisfied, Richie did his best to look politely interested in the TV when Eddie stepped out of the bathroom.

Eddie’s hair was wet, but he had clearly tried to comb it to the side to stop it from dripping in his face. He had a loose towel around his waist, and Richie suddenly felt very insecure about any and all body fat he had put on since being thirteen years old. Eddie looked like he went to the gym every single day, and Richie was willing to bet he did with how much of a health nut he used to be. Riche subconsciously licked his lips for a moment looking at Eddie and the glint of water on him and then caught himself acting like a horny teenager. He grinned instead at his old friend.

“You forget your clothes pal?” Richie teased.

Eddie rolled his eyes so hard Richie could see it from across the room. He remembered suddenly Eddie wasn’t aware he did that, like actually rolled his eyes, and snickered a bit under his breath.

“Well, you look hot. If I looked like that I would forget my clothes too.” Richie said appreciatively and then looked casually back at the TV. He had no idea what the hell was happening in this episode, but he could pretend he did and not like he wanted to stare at Eddie for hours on end. Half naked and wet like that, it gave a man ideas.

“Okay dude, whatever.” Eddie said absentmindedly. He moved to his suitcase and worked on getting his things out while Richie did his best to mind his own business and watch Eddie work. He managed, for the most part.

When Eddie left to get changed Richie let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding in. Closing his eyes tight he breathed slowly and deeply for a few moments, trying to remind himself how to act like a normal person again with regular breathing habits. The kind of person who wasn’t thirsting for a man he had forgotten existed and now had to share a bed with.

Eddie came out in a matching pajama set. Blue top matching blue pants he frowned and rubbed his arms a bit before climbing into the other half of the bed. There was enough space where he and Richie wouldn’t be at risk of touching each other, but not enough to where Richie couldn’t feel electricity shooting between him and Eddie. His body felt like it had been turned up to a degree it didn’t know it could be.

Hell, Richie had been with men before but it hadn’t felt like this. It hadn’t made him feel like a teenager stranded on some beach in the middle of nowhere, gasping loudly for air. His lungs and sides burning while he tried desperately to come back to shore, but didn’t know which way was up and which was down. Derry had some undertow to it, and Richie suddenly couldn’t remember how to swim.

“You got enough space?” Richie asked, flicking his eyes over at Eddie.

Eddie chuckled a bit and looked back at Richie in the same way. “What, are you feeling bad suddenly about inviting yourself over?”

“No, no, not at all.” Richie said with a laugh. He yawned then, in a fake sort of way, and stretched himself out every which way across the bed. Richie’s foot and arm bumped into Eddie when he did this, and his heart sped up. He was making excuses to touch him again, like a boy who was too afraid to say who he was.

Not that Richie had ever come out exactly. The only men who knew Richie was gay, where the few that he had slept with. The kind of men he had met in bars, or at his shows. The kinds who didn’t know him, and wouldn’t have any expectations of him for him to let down. Maybe his mom knew, Richie had a sinking feeling Miss Maggie Tozier knew, but she sure as hell hadn’t brought it up to her son. There was no way Richie wanted to change any of this. He wanted to control what people thought of when they saw him, and being gay wasn’t in that equation exactly.

Richie flipped on his side to grin at Eddie like they were back in school, conspiring and whispering at each other during the dead of night. Desperately hoping Eddie’s mom wouldn’t wake up, but needing to get out whatever was so important to them at the time.

“Hey Eds?” Richie asked.

Eddie looked down at him, then looked up just as quickly. It had to have been just Richie’s imagination, but it felt like there was a soft pink to Eddie’s cheeks then. A pink even the hot water hadn’t caused in Eddie’s face from his shower. He was holding the blankets by his chest tightly.

“Yes, Richard”? Eddie asked back, voice careful.

“I’m not going to say this again, but I’m glad I’m spending time with you again.”

Eddie made a noise, and went to speak but Richie quickly cut him off.

“Shh, don’t ruin this with words sexy.” Richie said reaching out to put a finger to Eddie’s lips who let out a loud laugh in response.

“Dude, you’re the exact same huh?” Eddie asked, still laughing.

Richie grinned from ear to ear, even if he didn’t feel quite like smiling. Maybe he was the exact same, but he had forgotten about all of this, so was it really some pathetic rut he was stuck in? If a tree didn’t know it was in a forest and it fell- wait, that didn’t make any sense.

“I guess so, love, I guess so.” Richie mused in response. His eyes went back to the TV then, watching some scientist somewhere explain something about lab work.

There was something burning between the two of them, or at least on Richie’s end. Something soft and strong, packed with feelings neither even knew had been there. Ones right below the surface, and like a balloon, and finally popped and released back up to the air. Richie wasn’t sure what would happen from here. His mouth was dry while he thought about it, about not knowing how any of this bullshit with this clown was going to go down. About not knowing how to do anything with Eddie, or say anything, or if maybe past him was right and it was better to let it fill the silences instead.

#reddie #IT movie #reddie fic #it 2017 #it 2019 #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #my writing

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secretblog1212 · 5 years

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Love is a Train Wreck, and That’s okay.

To @onceyoukaspbrakyouneverkaspback I hope you enjoy it! Don’t worry, it has a happy ending!

A story of hopeless idiots falling in love through many trial and errors. Many many errors. and miscommunications.

Prompt used: a soulmate au with reddie (eddie/richie)

Warnings for: not descriptive but some nsfw, angsty upset boys, them not understanding feelings, internalized homophobia, homophobia, repressed feelings and of course the big gays.

Richie chuckled thinking about how he and Eddie finally realized they were meant to be. It truly was a story from some romance book Beverly would read. But the six desperate teens sitting in front of the Losers, looking up to their Uncle Richie with big, hopeful eyes that meant he couldn't refuse.

“Well, my dear children, the story of how me and Your Uncle Ed's got together is a bit of a wild story, so buckle in. We didn’t figure it out as quickly as your parents all did. This one is gonna be a bumpy ride.”

Richie sent a loving glance to his husband. His beautiful, amazing, handsome husband then took a deep breathe and began to tell a love story of the ages.

Richard Tozier was fifteen when he figured out who he would love for the rest of his life. He had spent an entire half of the year waiting for some magical sign, or some movie scene where the light shines on some girls hair and time seems to slow down. Maybe she would walk past him and drop some books, and he would smile and help her pick them up then ask for her number and they would start dating.

That’s how it goes in the movies, right? But this isn’t a movie, and there is no way Richie's life could give him an easy win.

Richie found out one day when he was looking at the most beautiful, dedicated person he knew. They were in the middle of an argument with Bev over “Who the best superhero is?”.

Bev was immediately down for IronMan, an egotistical man changed due to trauma brought on by his own fame turned vigilante then officially turned superhero. Classic character turn around, and Tony Stark had the sass and sarcasm to spice up any movie or comic he was in.

She gave a strong argument. Tony was one of Richie's personal favorites so it was hard not to side with her straight out of the gate. But when he saw Eddie, red in the face, fully dedicated and willing to defend SpiderMan till his dying breath, Richie felt a swarm of butterflies escape into his entire chest. Since when was Eddie so pretty?

Maybe he always was, Richie decided, but he was too much of a dumbass to realize. It took a full five minutes for Stan to point out his staring problem, which, valid. Ben even went on to joke that he better be careful not to let any flies in.

Richie laughed it off like a joke, because maybe his mind was just playing a joke on him. Yeah he knew he played for both teams but he couldn’t ever date another boy. His parents would kill him! So no, no thank you body. He would have to find someone else, a nice, pretty girl to be soulmates with before the year was over or else he might have some trouble in the future.

Things only got worse the farther into the year they got. Richie was asked at least once a week if he had “Found the one” and he couldn’t very well say “Well yeah, but I can’t date Eddie ‘cause that might make everything weird.”.

So he just laughed it off, said some joke about how maybe it was that smoking waitress or Claire Welsman from history. Soon enough everyone stopped asking.

Things got easier to hide the longer this went on. He wouldn’t let himself stare when they stripped in the locker room or at the Quarry. He still forced himself to make jokes and kiss Eddie's cheek just to see him go pink in the face. He still cuddled up with everyone during movie nights and threw popcorn at Eddie and Bev till all the pieces were either thrown in their mouths or on the floor.

He just had to keep reminding himself that the lovey dovey feeling in his chest when Eddie laughed at his jokes wasn’t real. That Eddie wasn’t adorable, and neither was the dimple in his left cheek or the way he would curl into Richie's side and fall asleep, which really really wasn’t adorable. Eddie definitely was not cute when he would get so wrapped up in homework or studying that his tongue would poke out the side of his mouth. No most definitely not.

And his perfect world lasted for years. Richie was able to convince the others that there must of been a fluke because he had no idea who his heart belonged to. Until college at least. Well, he did manage to last most of it anyway.

Eddie's number just so happened to be twenty three, eight years later than Richie. By that point Richie had had many girlfriends and hookups at parties. If he was going to keep denying that he was in love he would at least play it well.

And when Eddie began to question the gut twisting feeling he had when saw Richie with girl after girl he thought nothing major of it. He just didn’t like to see his friend going with people who were just after a quick fuck.

But he could no longer deny it when he walked in on Richie and some slutty cop at a Halloween party and ran to Bill crying. The realization had just hit him in the face like a tsunami wave and he wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

Bill let him spend the night and they went out to the gas station to get a few tubs of their favorite ice creams (Bill’s favorite is Neapolitan while Eddie is much more of a Rocky Road type of guy). He didn’t ask any questions either. The next morning, both of the now adults (scary) woke up with brain freeze headaches and had to get ready for classes.

Eddie could pretend that this never happened. He didn’t feel sad when replayed Richie without a shirt, hovering over a girl who had no clothes on at all. His gut didn’t drop to the floor and his heart didn’t shatter when he replayed the sounds that came out of said girls mouth. He didn’t know her name. Did Richie even know her name before they had gone upstairs? He definitely didn’t feel betrayed when he saw Richie walking around with hickies over his neck weeks later and was making jokes about it to Stan.

No, Eddie didn’t want to know and he had to focus on the new diagram his Professor had pulled up with the different muscles on the human leg. He didn't have time to be having any romantic realizations or think about if Richie even liked him the same way. There wasn’t any time for his gay panic.

So with a lot of self control he pushed his thoughts to back of his brain and focused on learning about how legs worked.

Eddie's next birthday came and passed and no one mentioned how he hadn’t given a name to his mystery person like Mike had last year. Or how Ben and Bev had when they were both nineteen. Even Richie didn’t make a joke about it, maybe because he was the only other one who hadn’t spilled the beans.

But college was crazy and they all were stressed for exams so no one had enough time to try to weasel it out of the smaller man. Once the summer started though, that was free game.

Bill was the first to ask, they had been friends the longest and was just curious to know what would of kept his normally self assured friend quiet. And after a few hours of rambling and more than one drink Eddie told.

Bill swore to keep his secret until Eddie was comfortable, but at the next Losers movie night he couldn’t hold back the sly smile he shot Eddie's way when he cuddled up with the lankier man.

Life kept moving, and parties came and went. So did Richie's one night stands and short flings with various girls.

Eddie was stressing out. Maybe he really wasn’t Richie's soulmate. Maybe he was destined to love someone who would never love him back. Eddie wasn’t even sure if Richie liked guys that way, Eddie had come out years ago in high school but so far as Eddie knew Richie was as straight as a ruler.

Eddie got good at pretending. Pretending that he didn’t love how warm Richie was when he laid next to him during movies. Or think that his many, many freckles weren’t the cutest thing in the world. And his curly hair definitely did not make him attractive in anyway shape or form thank you very much.

It was only on their last few weeks of college that anything new developed in the relationship, or rather the lack thereof, of Eddie and Richie.

Richie was still fully convinced that there had to of been a mistake, Eddie would of said something otherwise right? So he allowed himself to find some random girl and take her upstairs. Being sad wasn’t fun but neither was having a broken heart. At least sex gave him an escape for a few hours so he could pretend to be normal for just a little bit.

Of course Eddie had to go looking for him half way through the deed. Richie didn’t have any clothes on and neither did his counterpart, he thought her name might of been Sarah but he wasn’t sure.

Richie didn’t know how long Eddie had been standing there but he definitely heard the door thud against the wall and saw Eddie Kaspbrak staring at him from the doorway. And yeah, maybe his heart broke a little on the inside when he looked through smudged glasses at his best friends face, but his heart shattered when he saw the man he loved one of his closest friends turn away from him and practically run down stairs.

Richie removed himself from his compromising position with Sadie and found his pants as fast as he could, grabbing his shirt to put on on the way to wherever Eddie was headed.

It didn’t take long to find him surprisingly. Richie had been prepared to search all night, but he was only maybe ten feet outside the frat house, staring into the darkness of the woods.

Richard Tozier walked up to his friend, he didn’t know what to say. What even could he say? I’m sorry? That wasn’t good enough.You shouldn’t of had to see that? No. Not good enough for Eddie. His Eddie who he ignored for over eight years now.

“I- I am so sorry Eddie. You deserve so much better than me.”

Eddie did not turn around when he cleared his throat and responded. His voice was strong, and he was sure of himself.

“Who said I wanted you in the first place.”

Richie’s heart must not of broken before hand. What he felt was only a fraction of the crippling pain that throbbed in his chest at those words. But he deserved it. He fully deserved it.

There was not a single thing he could say as he watched his Eddie walk away.

And when Bill found him sitting on the curb a hour later he walked him to his apartment and told him to get some sleep, that he would call Bev and Stan and have them come over but Richie asked for Bill to go check on Eddie.

Bill hurried on his way over to his best friend. He had kept his secret all year, he was the only one who knew what was going on between them and he knew how much this must hurt both of them.

When he found Eddie he was sobbing on his porch floor, his hands were shaking too much and his vision too blurry to get the door unlocked and open. Bill let Eddie cry on his shoulder for days until he ran out of tears to cry. Then he just felt hollow and sore on the inside which might of been worse.

Eddie and Richie did not talk for two weeks. It was tense and awkward but Eddie decided he had enough crying and that he and Richie needed to have a talk so things could go back to normal again. Eddie hated unexpected change.

Eddie knocked on Richie’s apartment door, waiting patiently for his life long friend to answer. He was not expecting red rimmed eyes or tear stained cheeks to answer the door. That wasn’t his Richie, his Richie was the one who smiled and goofed off. His Richie didn’t cry.

“I think we need to talk Rich.”

Richie just opened the door further and Eddie walked in. They sat on Richie's hideous, lumpy couch in silence, both gathering their thoughts.

“I shouldn’t have-”

“It isn’t my place to-”

Their eyes met for a second and Richie chuckled for the first time in two weeks. “You first Eds.”

Eddie cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. They were sweaty and gross, no matter how many times he wiped them on his pants the clamminess wouldn’t go away.

“It isn’t my place to tell you who you can and cannot have… have sex with. And it wasn’t fair of me to be angry at you when I never said anything before and I really shouldn’t be jealous or angry because we aren’t dating but I- I think I love you Richie.”

Richie was at a loss for words. How could he tell this amazing person that he had every right to be angry. Richie knew he was in love with him since they were fifteen and he had practically been cheating on him this whole time! And wait- what did Eddie say. He must of heard him wrong.

“No! It’s my fault Eds. I. Ever since we were fifteen. I knew but I didn’t tell you. You have every right to be angry with me, be furious. I know I’m a trash human being and I’ve basically been cheating on you this whole time because I knew and-”

“Woah woah, you haven’t been cheating on me at all Richie. We weren’t even dating which is why me being upset is ridiculous and I wanted to apolog-”

“But it isn't. I knew I was in love with you when we were still kids and I thought maybe If I pretended not to be that you would get someone who deserves you. You should get someone so much better than me Eddie.”

Richie felt his throat closing back up, and his voice was croaky again. He didn’t want to cry right now. God why was he so bad at this. Eddie deserves so much better than some crybaby cheating bastard like him.

“Richie, I don’t want anyone else. I have no right to be upset with you and I did the same thing by pretending that I didn’t… feel anything towards you. You’re one of the best people I know and one of my best friends. It just hurts. Seeing someone else with something that you wanted so badly.”

“God Eddie.” Richie could feel tears threatening to start running down his cheeks but his face already felt sticky and gross and he didn't’ want to cry anymore. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to tell you that for years.”

They didn’t say I love you after that. Eddie held Richards hand while he cried and wiped away his tears. They turned on a movie but didn’t cuddle up this time, just watched it in silence, holding hands, before both of them passed out.

Things didn’t go back to normal immediately either. They were still stiff and figuring things out but they went back to being friendly to each other and after a few months explain to the very confused losers that Richie was Bi and had kind of been in love with Eddie since they were fifteen.

They laughed about it a few years later. Richie and Eddie were going strong for three years when they were able to laugh about how stupid they were as kids. Both were so much happier, and so what if Richie never told his parents or when Eddie told his mom and she cried and screamed about how he was sick and she would help him “Baby just please come home. Come home to mommy and let me fix you up.”.

They could live independent of Derry. They had for years now.

A couple more years passed and Babies started rolling around. None of them theirs yet. Adoption was an idea but that was for much later down the road. The Losers were all so excited. Of course those kids would be born with their own numbers that would tell them when they would find the love of their life. And like all curious kids they would ask questions to their Mom, Dad, Aunts and Uncles.

Another couple of years and Eddie would come home to Richie looking at babies with a wanting glint in his eyes. Sure Stan and Bill had kids with their wives and Bev was trying but Richie had always wanted a child to love and call his own. Papers were made and the two began the long process of finding a child who fit them perfectly. She was four and they both loved her with their entire hearts.

It took some getting used to but their lovely daughter loved her dads, and her dads loved her. They loved each other more than they ever could of imagined. They were scared. Scared of repeating their parents mistakes. It wasn’t fair, life hadn’t treated them kindly, they had to work for everything they got and they held it to their chest like every second meant to world to them, because it did. They had to fight before they could be happy, and they never wanted to need to fight for that right again.

“So yeah, we had a bit of a rough start but when it’s someone you love it all works out. So don’t stress about who it is or having the perfect romance together. Sometimes having a train wreck is what brings you together.”

#Reddie #Soulmates #soulmate au #it #fic exchange #happy ending #gay #angsty #my soul throbs because it hurt to write some parts #but also I love writing angst to oof #Thank you for being amazing #love you!#richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #losers #fic

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cntcrtainmcnt-blog · 6 years

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Okay so, classes are starting on Monday, meaning I’ll probs be slower(or faster, it’s also a definite possibility). In any case, I will most likely slow down when it comes to bringing new muses in so hopefully this is my last intro post in a while. If you’d like to plot with any of them, please like this or just message me!

EDWARD “EDDIE” HALE is a 23 years old CISMALE who looks just like LUKE BENWARD. He has been described as ALTRUISTIC yet SUPERSTITIOUS.

Eddie is the younger brother of Terrence, and from the moment he was born, he was expected to be just as good as his brother was. While he did try to live up to it at first, it also gave him some issues, mostly relating to confidence, since he was always compared to his brother and felt like he wasn’t good enough.

Being 6 years younger, at least, he was mostly the one Hale kid people knew in his school year. During that time, mostly in elementary school, it was a relief, since he had a break of living up to everyone’s expectations.

Then, the closer he got to high school, the more people started to hear about his brother and everything.

All through high school, he tried to just blend in, and not get linked to his brother. By that time, people knew all the things he did, Terrence was basically like a legend in their high school, and Eddie was definitely not the same type of character.

Every single time his brother brought a girlfriend home, he’d end up surprisingly bonding with her, enough to care and try to help them after his brother broke their heart. But he personally didn’t have a girlfriend until the very high of his senior high school year.

By the time he graduated, Terrence had moved out to Kola, looking for good job opportunities. Eddie still doesn’t know what happened in his mind, but at one point, he received a text from his brother asking if he wanted to move in with him in Kola and open a confectionery with him. Since he decided to not go to college and was just working a shit job, Eddie accepted. Not like his relationship with his parents was that good anyway.

So moved to Kola when he was 19, and he lives there in an apartment with his brother. Since he never studied, Terrence thought he’d be better running the front shop, greeting people, selling stuff, managing the employees, while he was working mostly backstore with finance and all that.

Not a day passes without him regretting his decision to move to Kola.

While definitely help you if you’re in trouble, even if he doesn’t know you or won’t get anything out of it.

STYLES MCKINLEY is a 28 years old CISMALE who looks just like BEAU MIRCHOFF. He has been described as GENEROUS yet SAD.

So Styles. Is. A. Sad. Puppy.

He was the second son, his brother being about 5 years older than him. When he was only 3, his mother passed away. He was told it was a certain disease, but he was never told what.

Anyway, he grew up looking up at his dad and his brother, and never really minded not having a mom. Although after a moment, he started getting upset whenever someone would mention his mom, and then they’d apologize when they learned about her fate. It’s not like he really knew her, and yes, it’s sad, but it’s something he’s gotten over a long time ago.

When he was 12, his father(43) remarried with a woman that was 24. It was... weird to have a step-mom this young, but it was weirder for his brother. Anyway, they already knew the woman, she was their dad’s secretary, and actually babysat both boys when they were a little younger. So she was already well acquainted with the family.

Anyway, a year later, she was caught cheating on her husband with no one else than Styles’ brother. That completely tore the family apart. His dad divorced, his brother was kicked out, and his step mom was fired and he never heard of her again.

And when he started high school, his father(who’d started abusing alcohol) was deemed ot good enough to care for him, so he went to live with his brother(who was now 19 and had a steady job in a restaurant). But that wasn’t the rockiest part of his high school experience.

See, Styles was a rather talented soccer player, and so quite popular. But unlike his friends(who tended to be cruel and manipulative), he was just the most caring person, he just never showed that side often. Or at least, people would mistake him as just another cruel boy.

Anyway. Early in sophomore year, they started picking on this girl, Louise, who was, really, just minding her own business. But they didn’t like that she was never mingling with people, and they really wanted her to like... do it with them. Well, Styles never said anything out loud, but she categorized him as one of them, and he totally gets why, since he never stepped in to stop it. Which he was kind of sad about because if he was honest, she seemed really nice and he thought he could definitely like her.

Well, he did end up stopping them, about a month and a half later. It was a party(which she surprisingly decided to go to), his “friends” had cornered her in a room. He was standing in the back at first, but when he realized what their intention was, he just want ahead and got them, not so pacifially, to leave. That was the beginning of his story with Louise, and honestly the end of his popularity(and soccer career, since he quit, refusing to play with such jerks).

At first, Louise and him were distant, mostly because he was grumpy he went from everything to nothing, but he quickly warmed up. And that was the beginning of a wonderful love story that would’ve lasted for ages, had it not been a horrible diagnosis.

It was during senior year, she was getting sicker and sicker, so she went to the doctors. And when she got her results, she was devastated. So was Styles, when he learned she had cancer, and it wasn’t an early stage, and it was almost terminal.

Well, anyway, they decided it wouldn’t stop them. The next year, while she was transferred to a better hospital and he decided he would go into medicine in a close by hospital, they did the most impulsive thing either have ever done, and they got married. She just wanted to live as much as she could, before it was too late.

She was strong, lasted for a very long time, but the more time passed, the more they realized the day was going to come. Louise passed away 3 years ago, when they were 25. Styles was devastated, but at least, he knew she had a good life. She had the life she wanted.

So he kind of knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in that town much longer after her death, so he decided to head back to Kola. He’s now a resident in oncology, and his biggest dream would be to help cancer patients.

TAMI SULLIVAN is a 20 years old CISFEMALE who looks just like SHANNON PURSER. She has been described as MAGNANIMOUS yet SELF CONSCIOUS.

Tami is the youngest sister of a pageant queen who went out to become a model. She was originally expected to also follow in those steps, but she had no interest in beauty contest, and much prefers imaginary worlds.

While her sister would always be out partying with friends, Tami would just stay home and read books after books. Literally never stopped, it’s all she did. So while she wasn’t so good in classes such as sciences or maths, she was skilled in English or Literature classes.

So she’s not really popular? Never has been? But she’s also got a bunch of friends. You know how it is, unpopular kids tend to bond together, and they nearly always have more genuine friends than popular kids. So she’s really happy being unpopular but with real friends.

She’s currently studying to become an editor, since she loves reading and it would be a perfect job for her. She would totally write her own stories, but she’s just lacking a little in the imagination skill.

While she lives well being unpopular, constantly being compared to her model sister has given her body issues. She knows all shapes are pretty, curves are pretty, people tell her she’s pretty, but it’s sometimes just really hard to believe when you’re sister is tall and skinny and poses on magazine covers.

TERRENCE HALE is a 29 years old CISMALE who looks just like GLEN POWELL. She has been described as AESTHETIC yet COCKY.

Born from two overachiever parents, Terrence was expected to do good. And while he had an immense ego and self-confidence, he was also surprisingly smart. So of course, when his brother was born, he was taken as a model.

To not look like a complete nerd, Terrence acted like a real brat in school, hanging with the popular kids. Hell, he was one of the most popular kid out there. He just made sure to study double the amount at home so his grades would stay up.

Definitely did a lot of shit, dated countless girls(often now more than a few days), did all kind of crazy dares, which ended up getting him suspended quite a few times, but also gave him a name in the school, which would end up lasting for years.

Once he graduated high school, he went on to study accounting in Kola University, keeping up the same game he played all through school, aka he was a frat boy who acted like he gave no shit about classes, but definitely had the best grades in the class.

After graduating, he didn’t really know what he wanted to do. He knew he would never go home, somehow being far from his parents felt good, so he just looked around for jobs, but nothing really interested him.

Until he was binge-watching all of the Harry Potter movies, with a gigantic bowl of candies. He then realized there weren’t that many confectioneries in Kola, and that was definitely something the town needed more. (he might have been high when that happened...)

It was really on an impulse that Terrence looked around for a place to rent, to found one, and called Eddie to know if he wanted to join. Honestly, that confectionery was going to happen whether he said yes or no, but he definitely wanted his brother to be a part of it. He was just always close to him, and he knew he was most likely looking out for a good opportunity career-wish.

The confectionery, called Candy Hale, was opened about 4 years ago, and its popularity keeps only increasing. Terrence mostly works the accounts, but he also doesn’t mind helping up front if needed.

#fckits:intro #cancer tw #death tw #alcoholism tw #abuse tw #just in case #body issues tw

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colleydogstar · 7 years

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A Ranger’s Tale - 3 - The Three Sisters

Story and all other character by @rollem-bones. As mentioned before, the log has a mix of 1st/3rd person tenses due to play styles.

Our story continues...

The standing stones. 'The Three Sisters' as Salicia explains to you when you arrive to the clearing. The three stones with their runic carvings aren't the only ones, merely the three centerpieces of a megalithic site. "Pritchard's going to do his thing," Donnel explains to you while the caster makes his way to inspect the stones and speak in strange whispers. "In the meantime, tell me what there is to you?" he questions, arms across his broad chest. It would seem, you think that the canine demihumans at least are no shorter than the humans.

Rhodie watches with curiosity to see what Pritchard is about to do. She then looks at Donnel, slightly intimidated by a combination of now being shorter, and him just seeming a bit intimidating since they first met! "What there is to me?" She rubs the back of her head, "Not sure I follow exactly. Like... what's special about me?" She shrugs, "I'm just some guy who tries to entertain people back home. I've never really been the big adventure-y type outside of the tabletop games my friends and I would play. Was just a guy with a show and a pencil to draw when I wanted to."

"Games?" Donnel asks. "You roll bones, then?" he gets a chuckle out of that. "A right gel she is. Maybe you'd fit in with us more'n I thought." He takes a few steps away, looking over the slightly sloped clearing around the Three Sisters. "Gel, Salicia gave you that knife. Come on over here and show me how you handle it."

"Is it weird being called a 'gel' feels less weird than being called a girl? That's probably weird." Rhodie shakes her head, more things to get used to. She slumps a bit at Donnel's request. "Aaaaand here goes all the good things you were starting to think about me, right out the window." She takes the blade out, giving it a good moment, to judge the weight in each hand before gripping the handle. Rhodie's other hand hovers over her gripping one, almost like a guard, as she steadies her breath. This guy is way, way more knowledgeable on this stuff and is probably about to kick her ass. Still, that's probably gonna happen at some point, so better to do it now, right?

Donnel draws his blade. A simple looking longsword. It doesn't look like the ones from the faires. It isn't ornate. It isn't costumed, it's worn and stained from oil and use. The handle is wrapped in leather and the pommel is scratched, the crossguard has clearly been used. It doesn't look cool or shiny, but it does look very used to being used. And the stocky schnauzer turns and wields it like it were made of air. "Now then. Let's not draw much blood. No use in wounding. But don't you hold back none," he says, eyes focused on you as he holds his sword cross and his bushy mustache twitches.

Rhodie lets out a nervous laugh, "And here's where I embarrass the hell out of myself." She takes a breath, and then goes to strike. She tries not to swing to widely, more 1/4 circle angle, than half.

Donnel is waiting for the attack. The flat of his blade catches your arm and he steps aside, letting you slash the air with a slight push. "Fast," he remarks, keeping his guard up and waiting for your next move.

Rhodie immediately turns and moves to get in closer. "Lighter body, feels FASTER!" She says the last part as she goes for another short swing.

Again Donnel is waiting. You're lighter, probably stronger pound for pound, but you're untrained and the older Sergeant makes that clear when he steps into your swing and bops you on the joint of your neck and shoulder with the worn pommel of his blade, then gives you a shove back away from him. "You're green, gel. I won't be holding back next time."

The older demihuman presses his attack. With you bopped and pushed back, he makes for a relentless assault against you, stepping in and thrusting his blade, pushing toward you to keep you on the back of your heels, or paws as the case may be.

The setter girl lets out a yip as she's bopped, stumbling forward. She recovers in time to turn, and sees the follow-up coming at her. She goes to try and dodge to the left of the blade, twisting her body.

Fast as you are, Donnel is a step ahead of you. His thrust, which you deftly avoid, turns into a swift elbow at your ribs. Just a bit winded, you're not licked yet. However, the older man hasn't broken a sweat yet.

"Came in too fast, gel, can't feint like that," Donnel says, reading your motions. Your swing meets the flat of his blade, catching on the crossguard, and then you find that his open hand finds it slapping hard across your face. He steps back again and makes one more quick rush. "Let me show you how it's done," he says before he quickly reroutes his motions in mid step. Faster on his feet than he looks.

Rhodie stumbles back with another canine yelp as she's slapped in the face. She tries to bring the blade down to defend against the sword, using her free hand to try and reinforce her grip. "Crapcrapcrap"

The former human is starting to look panicked. She knew she was going to be outclassed in every way in this, but it doesn't really do much for her anxiety knowing that! She goes for one more attack, at the last moment, transferring the knife to her free hand as she tries to jump up and punch Donnel right in the dog nose.

Your jumping catches him off guard. He turns, moves from you. But you're on the ground running. Running and darting. Smaller, with a smaller weapon, but you're faster than him. Still, you're expecting an attack from one direction, ducking under the blade swiftly, when right before your eyes his closed fist appears as though from nowhere.

Rhodie grins a bit, she's starting to adapt a bit to the body. Then the fist catches her right in the dog face.

And you go tumbling tail over tea kettle on the grass. The world spins as you've been knocked for a loop, but it focuses on Donnel looking down at you a moment later. "You got quick feet, gel," he says, reaching down to take your hand and clasp your shoulder so he can hoist you up to your paws and pat down your cloak. "But you fight like a street urchin. All slash and know control."

Rhodie grunts, holding her muzzle, and wincing as she's helped up. "Hnngh, like I said.. was all training for shows, not actual combat." She hangs her head. "Well, I'm as good as dead in this world if I ever get into trouble."

Donnel barks a laugh, clapping you on your back. "Nonsense," he cries. "We'll learn you good, gel. You ain't too old to teach. We'll start with that little thing you got there. You ain't got the arms for Salicia's axe, but I can show you how to use a blade and a bow proper. How'd you like that?" he offers, holding his hand out to you.

Rhodie looks at the hand, still holding her muzzle. That hurt, she hasn't been punched like that since high school. She takes Donnel's hand with her free one. "I'm all for learning if it means I don't die as an Irish Setter... or a girl..." Donnel's laughing, he's not glaring angrily at her. This is good right?

"Good," Donnel says. He walks back over to Salicia to speak with her. He leaves you to stand on the grass while the two of them talk, and Pritchard walks about the stones, still focused on whatever it is he is doing with them.

Rhodie replaces the blade in her belt, pausing to look over her hands and arms. Her tail sags behind her as she sits down on the ground. She pulls her legs in to rest her head on her knees as she looks out at Pritchard. She's sorta watching, but also sitting in thought.

Pritchard works, stopping at some of the runes carved into the old stone. He runs his fingertips over them and a faint silver wisp rises from them as his lips speak silent words. He's a fairly tall man, young, it's not hard to notice his hair being a grey that doesn't quite look natural, especially for his age. He stops at the second stone and the wisp rolls against the runes there, glowing faintly in his passing. He stops and looks to the side, at something, but seemingly only he can see it at the moment.

The dog-girl watches, but not even the impressive real magic happening in front of her seems to be snapping Rhodie out of the funk she let herself slip into. At first at least. She lifts her head when Pritchard doesn't move toward the third stone. Should she ask if he's OK, or would that interrupt... ah screw it, "Everything OK, Pritchard, sir?" She calls down

Pritchard stops. He hums and looks over his shoulder toward you. "Were you watching?" he asks. "Are you curious? If you'd like, come closer. I know this must be more alien to you, far from the dullness I'm inflicting on Salicia and Donnel."

Rhodie gets up and cautiously makes her way over, straightening her borrowed cloak. "Completely and utterly alien. I've only seen stuff like this in stories back home. But yeah, definitely color me curious."

Pritchard holds his hand over the runes. "These glyphs speak to old power. In reading them, in passing some of my own talent through them, I can speak in a way to that power." He looks at you and offers his hand to you. "I do this to consult with the entities of these forests to understand their concerns. This land may be owned by the Meister, but even he must pay fealty to the forces at work here."

Rhodie looks the glyphs over, and then over at Pritchard as he talks. She reaches out to take his hand. "So the lands here are in a way, somewhat sentient?"

Pritchard nods. "Spirits, gods, geists, what you may call them." He interlaces his fingers with yours to lift your hand up to the runes. They glow under your fingertips, or probably under Pritchard's. "Listen with your mind, not with your ears," he says, though his words sound like they come from the far end of a tunnel despite him being next to you. The world seems to pale about you, covered in a rolling fog that seems to hide shadows and shapes moving in the swirls and eddies. They watch and whisper in languages you don't understand.

"Sooo... surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy toge-" She stops when she sees the glow, staring at their hands. "My mind... right." She takes a breath and tries to focus. "Oh.... oh wow." Comes an awed whisper.

Pritchard pulls your hand from the runes. "Less binding and more a terribly dangerous group of forces that can demand your attention should their whims dictate, but can also help you if your needs align," he explains to you, releasing your hand.

Rhodie nods, taking it in. She ponders, "Could their powers be along what you mentioned my first night here then? Like.. what brings the..the.. Oh, what you called me. But brings people like me here for whatever purpose they might have?"

"It is possible," Pritchard admits with a nod. "The Three Sisters is a holy site. One of several. Older than the Meister's grounds. I may work for Silberschmidt through the Order, but I understand what really controls this forest and that's the powers that be here." He looks at the third stone. "Not much left to speak with here. There are dangers, weeds that need culling. Something is making restless dead." He sighs, looking back at you. "You will assist us, won't you?"

"Holy site... Wow, OK, them gathered here like that makes a lot of sense then." She then thinks, and gives a small bow in direction of the pillars, hoping to show a sign of respect. "Thank you..ah.. forces.. for allowing me to listen, even if I don't understand what was said yet." She looks back to Pritchard. "I'm still not sure I won't be more of a hinderance, but I'll gladly do what I can. You three are helping me, it would be rude not to return the favor."

Pritchard smiles at you. "Thank you, Rhodie, I appreciate that," he says, putting a hand at your shoulder before he walks off. "But with the information gained here, I think we can move on with a slight detour to put some dead back into the ground." He pauses. "Also, I'm not really a holy man, or a druid, take much of what I say with a grain of salt. My philosophy is at odds with many of theirs."

Rhodie laughs a little, "That ok, most of the holy men on my world are at odds with each other as well. No one person is ever going to get it right by themselves. ...Wait, dead back in the ground. Like... zombies? Undead?" Her tail sags again.

"Of course," Pritchard says in a matter-of-fact sort of tone. Indeed the undead, in such a casual manner.

#Ask Rhodie #rhodie #rhodie's tale #ranger's tale #irish setter

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markisan · 8 years

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High School Albums that Forged My Fantastic Musical Taste

Fine! You win, nostalgia! Here’s my list of 11 albums that shaped my musical taste as a teenager. And because I’m a writer, I have to tell everyone why.

U2 "Achtung Baby" 1991

This is the first album I ever bought on CD and it came in one of those long, cardboard box things. I may have or may not have saved said box and used it as bedroom wall art next to my giant, laminated D&D puzzle. Achtung Baby is unquestionably one of the best albums of all time and one of the very best amalgams of rock and electronics I’ve heard. Absolutely seamless. I still listen to this regularly, I own the deluxe LP package and I know all the lyrics by heart.

Matthew Sweet "Girlfriend" 1991

An important transitional album for me. Before high school I was probably listening to Tiffany and Bobby Brown or some crap. And definitely lots of hair bands like Cinderella and Bon Jovi. This album started steering me toward college/alternative rock by merging great pop with super hot riffs. I could sing this album with a fat smile and air guitar to it. Plus, those anime videos for “Girlfriend” and “I’ve Been waiting” were awesome.

Dracula Jones "Heavy Pop/Speak" 1991

Dracula Jones was a local Syracuse, NY hard rock band that became really popular in my hometown and the surrounding area. They came close to signing with a major label before they imploded. I attended many of their shows and I still have the cassettes they released in the early 90s. Dracula Jones is probably the first band I saw live. Ever since then I have loved going to shows. I hear Dracula Jones actually got back together and they play from time to time. I would love to see how the old bastards held up.

Pearl Jam "Ten" 1991

If you know me at all, you know how much I love Pearl Jam and have continued to adore them as an old man. I remember creating a binder full of interpreted Eddie Vedder lyrics to help me sing along to this 90s beast of a record. I probably still have it in storage somewhere.

STP "Core" 1992

Back when MTV was actually about music, STP’s “Sex Type Thing” got a lot of air time on shows like 120 Minutes and Headbanger’s Ball. At the end of High School I slowly started gravitating toward metal and hardcore, and “Core” was a bridge of sorts for me into that world because it had a harder edge than what I was listening to. This record also came out at the time when I visited Belize with a bunch of students as part of a Rainforest educational program. I was there for 2 weeks. That experience was one of the most transformative of my life. I played this record on my Walkmen countless times in the jungle and on the beach while I was there. I associate it with a time in my life where I felt like I was becoming the person I wanted to be. By 1994 I was perfect.

Singles Soundtrack 1992

Probably the record most responsible for really getting me to love 90s hard rock and grunge, which obviously holds a special place in my heart according to this list. 25 years later this is still a hell of a soundtrack with some absolute classics like “Drown” from Smashing Pumpkins, "Would?" by Alice in Chains and “State of Love & Trust” by Pearl Jam. I recently re-watched the film too. Love it.

The Tragically Hip "Fully Completely" 1992

My Uncle Michael introduced me to a lot of new artists in the early 90s because he represented MTV as a lawyer and would get a ton of free albums from them. Often times he’d receive advance records by bands no one knew about yet. The Hip was the one that made the biggest impression on me. Their sound has changed a lot since I first heard the song “Blow at High Dough,” but what hasn’t changed is the unique vocal style and remarkable lyrical ability of Gord Downie. I had never heard his kind of modern poetry in songs before. As a young writer, his songwriting spoke to me like nothing else on the airwaves. The Hip never made if big in the States, but in their home country of Canada they are royalty. I was fortunate to live in Upstate New York which is close enough to Canada to feel the influence of Canuckian rock. Fully Completely is the Hip album that really solidified my love for this band.

Jeff Buckley "Live at Sin-e" 1993

Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” is my favorite album of all time, which people think is weird because I mostly listen to metal and late night ambient music today. It came out in 1994, when I was in my first year of college, but I was lucky enough to stumble upon this live 4-song EP during my last year in high school when it was released. Just Jeff in a coffeehouse with a Fender. One listen to Jeff Buckley’s music and it’s apparent how immensely gifted he was, but it’s the incredible emotion he could convey in his voice, coupled with that musical talent, that made him so special. No music moves me quite like a Jeff Buckley song. I wish he was still here with us.

Radiohead "Pablo Honey" 1993

I adore this album and listen to it a lot even today. My brother bought the CD for my birthday because I had recorded the video for “Creep” (probably on BetaMAX) and would play it constantly. At the time I had just purchased a receiver and a CD player in preparation for college, but no speakers, so I would listen to this album on headphones in my room. Over and over. I am still a big Radiohead fan, but man do I miss their more guitar-centric sound on records like this one and The Bends, which is my all-time favorite Radiohead album. A little aside – I remember having a subscription to Spin magazine when it was good and they crucified The Bends when it came out. So did a lot of other critics. When I saw the review I hesitated on buying the album, but my love for Pablo Honey was so strong, I decided to get The Bends anyway. After I listened to it I thought it was the best record I’d ever heard. That’s the day I realized that a lot of critics are wrong. Except for the critics who’ve praised VORACIOUS. They are absolutely wonderful and correct.

Earth Crisis "Firestorm" 1993

Another local band that rose to prominence in the Syracuse area, but also found fame worldwide. I saw Earth Crisis live quite a few times. I’d say they are directly responsible for getting me into hardcore right at the end of high school. The song “Firestorm” in particular was a big anthem for Teen San. What’s interesting about this band is that they were/are straightedge, militant vegans. I love meat and will always eat meat because it is delicious, but the band’s politics didn’t turn me off. Mostly because I couldn’t understand their lyrics. Everything was growled. By the time I found out what they were actually singing about I was already invested in the brutality of the music and had started seeking other bands with similar styles.

Tool “Undertow” 1993

When I first saw the video for “Sober” I was absolutely mesmerized. That dark, heavy guitar chug washing over sinister, stop-motion visuals just wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen or heard. It felt like something new had risen up from the depths on an obelisk of bone and beauty. It was glorious. When I listened to the rest of the album I knew there wasn’t any turning back for me. I plunged headfirst into the vast abyss of metal, where my heart now permanently resides.

#high school #favorite albums #nostalgia #grunge

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