#I refuse to tag every single one of these dudes

[deus-ex-mona]

such is the tale of a ✨chronically online hypocrite✨

[steddieas-shegoes]

hiii not sure if you’re still taking requests but

no upside down au where teen single dad steve approaches eddie after hellfire bc every parenting stuff keeps mentioning how reading to babies is super important for their development but his dyslexia makes reading so hard let alone be expressive w it too and the kids keep mentioning how eddie is amazing on dnd. eddie is skeptical cause how come no ones has heard of king steve’s one year old ? but he accepts when steve offers paying but after seeing steve w his baby and understanding how he changed he refuses the money and cue them slowly falling in love and becoming a family <333

Sorry this took *checks watch* like 9 months to finish! I kinda took some creative turns, but it's done!

read on ao3

rated t | 5,182 words | no cw | tags: mostly fluff, single parent steve, not canon compliant, mutual pining, getting together, love confessions

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Early August 1985

“Steve, it’s not like he’s gonna fuckin’ bite, dude,” Dustin said from the passenger seat.

“Language.”

“She’s not even awake,” Dustin whisper yelled. “I promise he’s cool. The worst he’ll say is no. It’s not like he’s gonna bully you.”

“No one else knows I’m asking him this, right?” Steve was suddenly worried that all the kids knew about Steve’s learning disability and they’d think he was actually stupid and-

“No, it’s just me. But if you don’t hurry up and go in before everyone else gets here, they’ll find out.”

Steve glanced in the backseat, smiling to himself at his sleeping daughter. She’d been out for nearly the entire drive from his house to Dustin’s to the high school, so she’d probably be waking up within the next 20 minutes and she’d be ready to stretch her legs.

She was a squirmy thing from the moment she figured out how to scoot around the floor, and it only got worse when she learned to walk at 11 months. The only time she was still and staying out of trouble was when she was asleep.

“If she starts crying, just sit back there with her. She just likes having company,” Steve reminded him as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Yep. I’ve literally babysat for you before. I can handle her for 5 minutes.”

“Attitude.” Steve shook his head and opened the door, getting out and only closing the door most of the way so it wouldn’t wake her up.

Eddie always showed up 30 minutes early for Hellfire Club to set up according to Dustin. He took this club very seriously, even as a third year senior. He kept it running all summer so that incoming freshmen would have time to get acquainted with his style of DMing or whatever.

Steve respected the dedication, though he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that dedication were put into his homework, he would’ve graduated in May with Steve.

But Steve couldn’t actually judge. Not with the fact that he was pretty close to not graduating himself. He had a pretty good reason, but still.

The auditorium door closed loudly behind him, making him jump and clench his jaw painfully.

“Door’s broken. You gotta hold it while it closes so it doesn’t slam,” a voice said from the door to the backstage area.

Steve squinted through the semi-darkness and felt his stomach turn. Eddie.

“I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had to open it. Figured they would have fixed it by now,” Steve replied, walking closer to the guy he needed to talk to.

“No shit! Is that King Steve? In the flesh?” Eddie’s dramatics were endearing, even if it was slightly annoying that he pulled out the stupid high school nickname he’d lost well before he graduated.

“Yeah,” Steve sighed. This wasn’t gonna go well.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of your precious kiddos have made it yet. It’s still early.”

Steve nodded. “One of them’s sitting in my car in the parking lot. Um, Henderson? He’s an incoming freshman.”

“Ah. Dustin’s got a place in Hellfire if you’re worried. I don’t turn anyone away who wants to be here.”

“No, no, that’s not it.” Steve needed to just spit it out. “He said you’re like, great at storytelling or whatever. Like you’re the best DM he’s ever seen and he knows I could use those skills for something.”

“Oh? What could Steve Harrington need DM skills for?”

“My daughter.”

The silence following his confession was louder than the door slamming only a minute ago.

He probably could’ve revealed his motives a little better, work up to the fact that he even had a daughter maybe. Very few people actually knew, and he had to keep it that way until he could leave his parent’s house.

“Your…daughter.”

“Yes. She’s just turned one and the doctors said reading to her is like, super important for learning words and helping her learn how to have an imagination and stuff. And I do read to her!” Steve suddenly felt worried that Eddie would think he was a bad parent. “I try to. But I’m, well, Nancy says it’s dyslexia? So words are kinda hard and it gives me a headache if I try to read for more than a few minutes and I’m so busy focusing on the words I don’t think I’m making it very fun for her-“

“Woah. Steve. Slow down.” Eddie braced his hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeezed. “I didn’t even know you had a daughter. Does anyone know you have a daughter?”

“The kids do, yeah. My parents do because they kinda helped cover it all up and made sure I still graduated so I didn’t embarrass them or whatever.” Steve looked down at the floor, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn’t really want to go through the whole thing with this guy. “Robin Buckley knows? She’s my best friend. The Byers and Wheelers, Hopper. Some teachers know but were sworn to secrecy.”

“Huh.”

Steve looked up to see Eddie stepping closer to him, soft smile on his face.

“So what do you need me for exactly?”

“Dustin said you’re really good at telling stories and I figured maybe you would be willing to read to her? Not every day, like I can work with your schedule or whatever. Evening would be best for me, but it’s not really a big deal if it has to be other times. She comes to work with me so if it had to be during the day, you could sit in the office or something, I dunno.” Steve shrugged. He hated asking for help. But Dustin insisted Eddie was actually a good guy and would keep his secret. No one who saw her at work assumed Steve Harrington was a single parent at 18. That would just be absurd. “I just don’t want her to miss out.”

Eddie’s hand drifted down his arm, holding his hand for a moment before he stepped back.

“My schedule is kinda random. But I’m sure we can work something out.”

Steve’s shoulders fell as his body relaxed. “Yeah? I can pay you. Not much. My parents mostly cut me off.” Steve was scrambling. “I can give you gas money and stuff for having to come to us. And like, food? I can cook.”

Eddie’s eyes were intense, watching his every move, making him nervous.

“How ‘bout a free trial? I’ll do it for a couple weeks and then we can see about payment.”

Steve nodded eagerly. “Yeah, yeah. Cool.” Jesus, he was embarrassing. What happened to his charm? “Would you be able to start soon?”

“Normally, I’d say I can come by after Hellfire, but I have an…appointment right after tonight. I can come by tomorrow?”

Steve smiled. “Tomorrow’s good. I work until five.”

“I can be at your house by seven.”

“Great! I have plenty of books. Right now, she’s really into Old Macdonald, but I think it’s just because it sorta sounds like her name and we get to make silly noises,” Steve smiled to himself, not seeing the way Eddie was smiling too. “I think she’ll probably like whatever you read to her, though.”

“What’s her name?”

“Mackenzie. Robin read it in a book and said it meant fire-born or something? It sounded cool. We call her Mac or Kenzie for short so she hears Macdonald and thinks we’re giving her another nickname,” Steve laughed. “Anyway, I better get back to the car. If she’s awake and Dustin has to deal with her crying for too long, he gets an attitude.”

“Mackenzie. I like it.” Eddie nodded once. “See you tomorrow, Stevie.”

Steve agreed and waved, turning around to leave. By the time he realized Eddie’s nickname for him, Eddie was already backstage.

****

Steve was nervous.

He nearly burnt the chicken he was cooking for dinner just from getting distracted by thoughts of Eddie being in his home.

He didn’t even know why. Maybe it was the fact that he’d always thought Eddie was kinda rough around the edges and was surprised he’d agreed so easily. Maybe it was bringing someone new into the small group he’d had around for a couple years. Maybe it was the way Eddie’s hand on his shoulder seemed to leave a permanent mark despite being one of the softest touches he’d felt from another adult in a while.

Mackenzie was in her high chair already, eating some of the noodles he’d made as a side. She’d been practicing using a fork, so quite a few had fallen on the floor, but Steve still smiled and told her she did a great job any time she managed to get one to her mouth.

The doorbell rang and Steve felt his heart stop.

“Daddy!” Mackenzie squealed when the bell rang. She knew that usually meant Hopper was here. Everyone else just came inside on their own. “Hop!”

“No, baby, not Hop. Not tonight. It’s my friend, Eddie. He’s gonna tell you a fun story, okay?” Steve ran his hands through her hair as he walked by to get the door.

When he opened the door, Eddie was standing there with a handful of books, a box of crayons, and what looked like a hairbow.

“I’m here to entertain the princess!” Eddie exclaimed. “Lead me to her highness!”

Steve couldn’t hide the grin on his face if he wanted to. “She’s currently trying to stab noodles to death. I’m sure you’ll be entertained.”

“Ah, they must have wronged her. I’ll assist,” Eddie made his way past Steve, walking towards the kitchen.

Steve knew he’d been to a couple of the parties he threw to sell, but had no idea he remembered the layout of his house. Maybe he had one of those picture minds.

As Steve entered the kitchen, he noticed that Eddie had set down the pile of books on the counter before he sat down in front of Mackenzie.

There were a few books he recognized: an ABC book that he was pretty sure he’d had when he was a kid but had since lost, a book of fairy tales with Rapunzel on the cover, something by Beatrix Potter, and a couple of coloring books that featured princesses and dragons and horses.

“She isn’t really old enough to color, is she?” Steve asked, interrupting what must have been a very amusing conversation of mostly babbling. “I don’t have any coloring stuff.”

“Coloring with skill? No. She definitely doesn’t have the motor skills to color in the lines or even use the right colors for the right things. But it does help her learn how to hold a crayon. My uncle couldn’t really afford much when I was a baby, so for every Christmas until I was in school he would get me new crayons and coloring books. I don’t really remember how I did, but I do remember having fun.” Eddie turned back to Mackenzie. “And sometimes it’s fun to just make a mess, right?”

Mackenzie clapped her hands together, sending the toddler fork she’d been using to the floor with a noodle attached to it. Steve wordlessly grabbed one of her spoons from the drawer and gave it to her, kissing the top of her head before he knelt down to pick up the fork.

Eddie watched silently, something soft about the way he didn’t interrupt anything even though he could’ve kept talking.

“I made chicken and pasta. It’s probably not my best work, but I made enough for you if you haven’t eaten yet,” Steve offered as he walked to the stove to start plating the food for himself.

“I wouldn’t turn it down. Wayne’s not exactly known for serving five star meals,” Eddie joked. “He believes in the power of fried bologna and cheese sandwiches with a bag of chips.”

Steve grimaced. “Okay, well I made enough for you to bring home some leftovers too.”

“You don’t have to-”

“You’re taking home leftovers.”

Steve turned to see Eddie’s widened eyes and open mouth that slowly formed into a smile.

“I guess I’m taking home some leftovers.” He turned to Mackenzie and tickled her neck. “Your daddy is pushy isn’t he?”

Steve blushed, but continued making up a plate for Eddie.

As they sat and ate, Eddie talked about all of his favorite books for little kids, and how he remembered sneaking into the library after school for years because he knew he didn’t wanna go home. He talked about the first time a teacher wrote a positive letter home, an English teacher who said his fictional essay was the best in the class and he should consider writing as a career. He even talked about his plans for the school year campaigns, but made Steve swear not to mention anything to the kids.

“I’ll know if you tell them,” Eddie winked.

Steve believed him.

When they were done, Steve grabbed Mackenzie from her chair.

“I’m gonna give her a quick bath if you wanna bring all that stuff to her room. Second floor, third door on the right. It’s a little messy right now. Someone decided to pull all her toys from her box yesterday and I haven’t had time to clean it up,” Steve tickled Mackenzie’s side, making her giggle and turn her head into his shoulder.

“You need me to clean this up?” Eddie asked, gesturing to the table.

“Nah, I’ll do it while you read to her.”

Despite his efforts, bath time was never truly quick. Mackenzie loved to splash around and play with her toys, and if he tried to wash her hair too quickly, she would be grumpy for the rest of the night. He definitely didn’t want that for Eddie.

He set a timer for 10 minutes and tried to explain to a very excited Mackenzie that when the timer went off, it would be time to wash her hair and get out.

“You wanna have time to play with Eddie, so we can’t play for too long in the water.”

She didn’t seem to pay any attention to him, already too busy making her rubber duck fight with her mermaid Barbie.

He observed while she played, bringing in the rubber car she liked to pretend to drive on the side of the tub.

When the timer went off, she let him wash her hair without a fuss, and he quickly wrapped her up in a towel to get her into pajamas.

Eddie was waiting in her room when he got there, coloring books spread out on the floor. He smiled up at them from where he sat, legs crossed, hands in his lap.

“Squeaky clean?” He asked, waving at Mackenzie.

“Definitely lacking noodles in places noodles shouldn’t be at least,” Steve said, making his way to her changing table to get her dressed. “She must be pretty excited about you being here. Usually bath time takes at least 30 minutes and I have to bribe her with chocolate milk to get out.”

“She knows we’re gonna have a lot of fun. I think I’m gonna read Goodnight Moon first. That’s one of my favorites.”

“She’ll love that,” he said as he buttoned the snaps of her onesie.

As soon as he set her on the floor next to Eddie, she reached for a coloring book with a mermaid on it.

“Daddy! Muh!”

“Yeah, baby, it’s a mermaid! Just like your doll in the bath.” Steve pointed to the fish next to the mermaid. “And that’s a fish. Fish swim in the ocean.”

He felt Eddie’s eyes on him while he pointed to some other sea creatures and told Mackenzie what they were.

Eventually, he looked over at Eddie, blushing at the soft smile on his face. “What?”

“You’re a really good dad, Steve.”

“Oh. Uh. Thanks,” Steve felt heat flood his body.

It’s not that no one had ever said that to him. Robin had told him plenty of times, Joyce had whispered it to him when no one else was paying attention, even Hopper had given him a handshake and said he was doing a good job once. But hearing it from Eddie, in this situation, when he’d been feeling like such a failure lately, was enough to make him want to cry.

He had to get out of this room.

“I should go clean up and leave you to it.”

“Sure, yeah. We’ll be right here.”

Steve booked it out of the room, rushing down the stairs to try to get busy with cleaning before his brain settled on crying over a compliment.

But the table was cleared. The high chair was wiped down. When he turned to the sink, the dishes were stacked up to dry in the rack. The counters were wiped, the dish towel had been put back on the handle of the oven to dry, and leftovers had been put in a container to finish cooling down.

Steve let the tears fall.

Fuck it, if Eddie was going to be this nice, he could have a little cry.

He walked quietly to the bathroom to put all the bath toys in the basket, but stopped outside Mackenzie’s bedroom when he heard giggling.

He’d closed the door halfway, just so she wouldn’t get too distracted if he walked by the room, but he couldn’t help looking in.

He felt like crying again when he saw Mackenzie sitting on Eddie’s lap, pointing at something in the book.

“Where’s the moon?” Eddie asked.

“Moo!” Mackenzie said, smacking at a place in the book.

“There’s the moon! Good job, little one.” Mackenzie leaned back against Eddie’s chest. “And where’s the…toys?”

She pointed again, but slightly less enthusiastically. Steve could see her energy dropping quickly.

He watched as Eddie told her she did a good job again and then continued reading.

Her eyes drooped more with every page. Eddie’s voice got closer to a whisper with every sentence.

Steve fell just a little bit more with every second that passed.

*****

October 1985

Eddie came every day. Despite the fact that Steve insisted he didn’t need to, that he didn’t want to ruin his schedule, Eddie showed up like clockwork at seven every single evening.

Steve learned to expect him, always made enough dinner for all of them to enjoy before Mackenzie had her bath and then got to read with Steve.

Every night, Eddie would clean up while she took a bath, and every night, he’d let her pick a page to color while he read something to her, switching to a bedtime story when she started crawling into his lap.

Steve would watch them often, laying down on the carpet and smiling as he listened to Eddie use different voices for characters, asking her questions so she was involved, and whispering when she started to drift off.

Other times, he’d try to get something done he’d been putting off, like cleaning the bathroom or folding laundry.

Eddie never accepted payment.

Steve tried bringing it up once school started, certain that this time spent here could’ve been better spent on homework or a part-time job that paid better than what Steve could offer. Eddie just shook his head and insisted that other than Hellfire every Thursday, he would be there for free.

They got to know each other over dinner, and Steve found that he was right to have butterflies every time Eddie smiled at him, every time he would touch his hand as he walked by to say hi to Mackenzie.

“Halloween costume ideas?” Eddie asked with his mouth full. Steve had given up long ago on trying to get him to wait until he was done chewing. It wasn’t that big of a deal. “What did this little miss go as last year?”

“Oh. She was a bumblebee.” Steve smiled at the memory. “Cutest costume I saw all night.”

“I bet.” Eddie took a sip of his water. “And you?”

“Oh, I didn’t dress up.”

“What? Why not?” Eddie sounded genuinely upset.

“Just got away from me, I guess? By the time I thought about it, nothing good was left at the store,” Steve shrugged, unbothered. He’d never been that into Halloween. His focus was making sure Mackenzie had fun.

“And no one offered to help you make something?” Eddie was no longer eating and Mackenzie had turned her attention to him when his tone became serious.

“I didn’t ask.”

“But no one offered.” Eddie stood up and walked over to his backpack. “Okay, we’ve gotta plan. Did you already pick something for her?”

He came back holding a notebook and a pencil, brows set in a straight line. Steve had never seen him look so serious.

“I had a few ideas, but I wanted to let her pick something at the store,” Steve said.

“Lay them on me.”

They discussed costumes for the next 30 minutes, but after only 10, Mackenzie whined to get out of her chair. Eddie wordlessly stood up and picked her up, setting her in his lap and letting her poke and prod at him and his notebook.

Steve watched them both, accepting for the first time that this wasn’t just a crush that was gonna go away.

He’d fallen completely head over heels for Eddie, and he had no clue what to do about it.

*****

November 1985

Steve was the only one who had space to host Thanksgiving.

He became manic a week before, realizing that his work schedule would not allow him to have much time to clean unless he did it at night. The problem was that he would get a migraine if he didn’t sleep.

“So let’s work on it together. I can come right after school. Cancel Hellfire this week,” Eddie offered.

“But you already won’t have it next week because of Thanksgiving. I can’t ask you to-”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. If I’m gonna be eating here, I should probably help clean up at least.”

So they worked on a little at a time.

Eddie wasn’t always helpful, getting distracted by some of the smallest things. But his company was appreciated all the same.

“You could invite Wayne, ya know,” Steve offered while he dusted the shelves in the living room. “Plenty of room and food.”

“Thanks, but he always works Thanksgiving day for the double pay. We usually do something the day after,” Eddie answered while he cleaned up all of Mackenzie’s toys.

“If he decides not to work, just let him know.”

“Will do, Stevie.”

He didn’t just help clean, he helped him do the shopping, too.

“I know it’s way harder with a baby, so if you give me a list, I can handle the shopping,” Eddie said while Steve plated their dinners.

“You don’t-”

“Have to, I know. But I can and will.” Eddie’s hand brushed against Steve’s lower back. “Let me help.”

Steve could barely resist the shiver that took over his entire body.

“Okay. Sure.”

Some of the brands were wrong, and he forgot the apples for the apple pie, but Steve still felt immense relief knowing that he had someone to help.

And without it, Thanksgiving would’ve been a disaster.

It was still a bit of a mess, but that was mostly because the kid’s table turned into a food fight that Max started and Mackenzie, of course, continued, until everyone was involved.

But the picture Jonathan took would get framed and hang up near the fireplace in the living room anyway.

******

December 1985

“I cannot believe you waited until Christmas Eve to wrap gifts. That’s not what parents actually do, is it?” Eddie asked as he fought with the tape dispenser for the fifth time in less than an hour.

“I don’t know if I’m the best judge of what parents do. Mine weren’t around much and probably didn’t even wrap my gifts themselves.” Steve took the tape from him, pulled some loose from the roll, and handed it back. “But I kinda always pictured it like this.”

Robin made him swear he’d talk to Eddie about his feelings before the end of the year. The end of the year was soon, real soon.

What better shot did he have than while Mackenzie was asleep and they were wrapping presents together?

“You pictured last minute wrapping with bribed help in your living room?” Eddie asked, amusement in his tone.

“Not exactly,” Steve huffed out a laugh. “More like spoiling my kid with someone I care about.”

Steve watched Eddie’s hands freeze against the clothes box full of new finger puppets they’d both gotten her. He looked over and felt his stomach swoop as Eddie’s eyes found his.

“Stevie-” Eddie set the box down and turned to face Steve.

“Wait, I just. Before you break my heart, hear me out.” Steve already felt his world shrinking, his heart rabbiting in his chest at the thought of losing Eddie entirely. “I’ve spent a lot of time with you for months. Like, more than almost anyone else. I’ve watched you with Kenzie, and how much she loves you and always asks for ‘Ed’ even when it’s way before when you’re gonna be here. You make me smile and laugh and that’s not always easy to do these days. You helped me when you didn’t have to, when you had absolutely no reason to trust that King Steve was a better person. You’re there for all the other kids even though you’re trying to get through school for real this time. I didn’t really plan a big speech, sorry. This is just rambling, I’m doing what Robin does.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie placed his hand on the side of Steve’s neck. “I get what you’re saying.”

“You do?”

“I think so.” Eddie stepped in closer. “But I think you might just be lonely.”

It stung. It wasn’t inaccurate, but it still hurt to think Eddie thought so little of him.

“I think I know how I feel.”

Eddie’s hand dropped from his neck and he took a step back. “I don’t wanna argue, Stevie. I just think you might need to separate yourself from the situation. I’m just always around, ya know?”

“You’re always around because I want you around!” Steve was just a bit too loud, but he knew Mackenzie was a heavy sleeper. “When you aren’t here, I check the clock to know when you will be. I get excited to leave work now because I’m not coming home to do the same thing I always did before. I get to see you and hear about your day and talk to you about mine and see you with my daughter, who probably loves you as much as I do.”

“You…love me?”

“Yes. I do. And I promise it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I still want you here, reading to Kenzie. But I know how I feel. I know why I feel the way I do. You can’t tell me how to feel.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to.” Eddie sighed. “I’m just kinda surprised. Didn’t expect you to be into guys, let alone me. I’m not exactly good boyfriend material. Or stepparent material, either.”

“Oh, fuck that. You’re more her other parent than her mom ever was. She gave her to me the moment she had her and wished me luck before her entire family moved across the country.” Steve felt tears in his eyes. “I trust you. I want you around. I love you.”

Eddie swallowed, eyes pointed towards the carpet.

A minute passed, two. It was rapidly approaching awkward when finally Eddie spoke.

“But I’m so bad at wrapping presents.”

Steve snorted, but felt relief wash over him. “I can do the wrapping. This Christmas, next Christmas, as many Christmases as you’ll stay.”

“All of them?”

“Sounds good to me.” Steve leaned in slowly, let his hands grasp at the front of Eddie’s shirt to pull him closer. “How many Christmases do kids usually believe in Santa?”

“I dunno. I stopped believing when I caught my dad stealing the two presents under our tree when I was four.” Eddie let his hands fall to Steve’s hips. “But something tells me the little princess will be a believer for a while. Better get used to me ripping holes in the paper and using too much tape.”

“Think I can handle it.”

Every time Steve had pictured kissing Eddie before this, he’d thought it would be like any other first kiss, maybe a little awkward since it was his first with a guy.

Instead, it was soft, sweet, slow, perfect. He’d kissed a lot of girls in high school, had kissed them well. Not all of them were great, but even a less than good kiss was still decent.

This was more than any other kiss he’d ever had.

Eddie held him like he would never let go, like this kiss would last forever.

It couldn’t, but that’s how it felt.

When they finally pulled apart, Steve rested his head on Eddie’s shoulder.

“You wanna stay tonight? We can both do the Santa gifts with Kenzie before all the kids bother us,” Steve asked.

“I should call Wayne. I told him I’d be home by midnight.”

“He can come over in the morning, too,” Steve said. “If you want.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for Wayne? He can be a little…gruff.”

“I’m not worried,” Steve kissed Eddie’s cheek. “Hopper’s basically my dad. Plus, Mac’s got a way of breaking the tough old men down.”

“Bets?”

Steve pulled away and started wrapping another present before he got too distracted. “I give it ten minutes.”

“Oh, how generous. I’m giving it five.”

They both laughed as Eddie decided he’d be more help putting already wrapped presents in her stocking and under the tree and making sure everything was put away when Steve was done.

And for the first time, Eddie stayed the night, holding Steve against his chest while they slept.

They both cried when Mackenzie opened her presents excitedly. She was too little to do it herself last year, so seeing her tear through the paper and find joy in throwing it around the room was like a dream come true for Steve.

Eddie admitted he felt like he was intruding for some of it, but Steve quickly reminded him that he was the first person she toddled over to with her new set of princess books and said “Ed, read.”

She sat in his lap right then, even though she still had quite a few presents to open, and he read every single book to her, making her giggle with his high-pitched voices for the princesses and silly accent for the prince.

By the time the kids were coming through the front door, Steve was rushing to shush them, pointing at the couch where Eddie was passed out with Mackenzie curled up against his side.

Steve was never happier than in this moment.

Until the next one, and the one after that.

[daydreamtofiction]

The Feature XIX // Benedict Cumberbatch x Reader

Series Overview | Previous Part | Next Part

Chapter Summary: (Female Reader) Apparently I don't know how to write summaries for this story anymore lmao. Anyway, Quinn and Ben are back, woo.

Chapter Word Count: 3.3K

Chapter Warnings: Morally-grey reader, strong language, adult and sexual themes. Readers must be 18+

A/N: Welcome back my dudes 😛 Here's a lil chappy chap to get us all back into the swing of things. I know it's been a lifetime since this story went on hiatus, so please feel free to go to the series overview for the entire contents page if you need a little refresher. Thank you to everyone still here and supporting me & this story. 🤍

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The media always made dating a celebrity seem so appealing; the red carpets and designer gowns, romantic getaways in private jets and secret rendezvous' shrouded in luxury and mystique. But you were failing to see the glamour in hauling your overnight bag on a train to Kent in the middle of a rainstorm. Sitting in a cramped carriage that smelled of stale coffee and wet dog, surrounded by screaming toddlers and men with the inability to keep their legs together. 

You stared out of the window as the countryside passed in a blur of greens and greys, wondering when exactly the sparkle of being involved with an A-list actor would reveal itself. Would you find it in the dodgy train station sandwiches or the spotty phone signal? In the pockets of your rain-sodden parka or the man asking for spare change as he roamed the aisle? 

 You hadn't seen Ben in weeks since he'd began filming a new movie. And though he'd only been an hour outside of London the whole time, the long hours and his demanding schedule meant that he might as well have been on the other side of the world. You'd talked when you could; brief texts and quick calls that barely skimmed the surface of what you both really wanted to say. So when he invited you to visit him on location, you'd taken little persuading. Though boarding a busy train to Kent wasn't exactly akin to jetting off to some secluded beach resort. 

The train rolled to a stop at the station. You waited as the carriage emptied, passengers practically climbing over one another to get off, a new person blocking your way every time you attempted to slip out from your seat. When you finally saw an opening, you muscled your way into the aisle and reached for your bag in the overhead luggage rack. But it was caught on something, refusing to budge, even as you hung from the handle with your entire body weight like a child dangling from a monkey bar. You looked up at the extremely tall man waiting to get off behind you, glaring at him as he watched on impatiently without ever offering you a hand.

You finally got it free, hoisting it over your shoulder and stepping off the train onto a bleak platform; cracked pavement, a single lamppost flickering against the dusky sky, and an inexplicably large puddle that stretched across the entire exit. You tried to hop over it, but it was too wide, rainwater flooding your trainers and soaking the ankles of your jeans. 

"Fabulous," you muttered sarcastically to yourself. 

The rain hadn't yielded. If anything, it seemed to grow heavier as you stood beneath the shelter of the station, looking down at your phone and trying to make sense of the directions Ben sent you earlier.

Take a left out of the station, follow the main road and look for signs to The Mocketts. It's not too far.

Easy enough, you thought. Or at least it would have been if your feet weren't squelching in your shoes, if the main road didn't turn into a complex maze of winding lanes and hedgerows that all looked the same in the bad weather and diminishing daylight. You pulled up your hood, though it was an entirely futile act; the rain already bleeding through your coat, your hair clinging to your face as you squinted up at the faded road signs, none of which seemed to match the directions Ben had given you. 

As you trudged down the narrow, muddy road, you wondered why you'd agreed to this at all; why you hadn't just told him to make the drive back to London to visit you, why going to him seemed like such a good idea when all it had gotten you was a runny nose, ruined shoes and a spot on the missing persons' register when you inevitably disappeared down a ditch somewhere. 

Your phone buzzed in your pocket. You took it out, wiping the rain away from the screen to read the message. 

Are you close?  It read. 

Depends, you replied with wet, numb fingers. If by 'close' you mean standing in the middle of nowhere with no clue where I am then yes, I'm very close.

The phone began to ring a few seconds later. 

"Why didn't you call a cab?" he asked. 

"Because you said it wasn't far so I assumed I could walk," you replied, sniffing and wiping away the rain dripping off the end of your nose. "Now I'm so lost I wouldn't even know where to ask a cab to pick me up." 

"Right, just... stay where you are. I'll come and find you." 

You looked around, trying to find some kind of landmark. But all you saw were puddles, hedges and a single cow in a distant field. "I refuse to die in fucking Kent, Ben."

He chuckled down the phone, the sound providing you a slight comfort. "Did you make any turns off the main road?" 

"I don't think so." 

"Okay, don't move, I'll be as quick as I can." 

You stood on the side of the road for what felt like an eternity, teeth chattering, body tensing against the cold. Whenever a car would zoom past, you would hold your breath for a moment, letting it out again in a deflated sigh when it carried on past you. 

Eventually, a set of bright headlights appeared around the bend, a big 4x4 splashing through puddles with its huge tyres as it rolled to a stop beside you. The passenger window lowered, revealing Ben's concerned face peering out at you. 

"Get in!" he shouted, his voice barely audible over the white noise of the storm. 

You yanked open the door and climbed in, soiling the pristine interior in mud and rain as you heaved your bag over your shoulder into the back seat. Ben leaned over to kiss you, but you were too busy peeling off your coat to respond, the warm air blowing from the grates in the dashboard onto your freezing skin. 

He watched you battle with the wet fabric, a blend of amusement and pity on his face. "Rough journey?" he asked, unable to hold back a smirk.

You glared at him as you finally freed yourself from the coat and threw it into the back with your bag, waiting for him to make a joke about your appearance, your lack of navigation skills. But instead he simply reached out, gently stroking the hair out of your face. 

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should've just come and picked you up from the station." 

You sighed, sinking back into the heated leather seat. "It's fine. I shouldn't have thought I could walk it." 

He smiled, tilting his head slightly to look at you. 

"What?" you asked. 

"Nothing. Just... Hi."

"Hi," you replied softly, finally allowing a smile of your own. 

He leaned in again, and this time you accepted his kiss; the warmth of his lips a stark contrast to the dreary, miserable day you'd endured. 

He was staying in a cottage on a stretch of vast, green farmland, and you couldn't help but frown as the Jeep rolled over the uneven ground towards it; more mud, wonderful. You looked around as he drove, searching for the set; the studio, trailers, cameras, crew. But there was nothing besides fields and trees, barns and cottages. 

"I'm not staying on the set," he said with a laugh, as though he'd read your mind. 

"Just thought it'd all be a bit less... rural," you replied with a shrug. 

"I like the privacy. Plus, we're only filming about ten minutes that way. You can come with me tomorrow if you'd like, I'll give you a little tour." 

He parked up and you climbed out, grimacing at the smell of manure and damp earth, wondering why he couldn't have taken a job somewhere like Fiji or The Seychelles instead. He grabbed your bag and coat from the back seat, ushering you out of the rain towards to the cottage. When he let you inside, you breathed a sigh of relief, the dry, warm house like a safe haven.

He put your things down near the door and switched on a light, turning to look down at you with his hands on his hips. You'd somehow failed to properly take in his appearance until now, as though the chaos and discomfort of your journey had clouded your perception. 

"Nice pornstache," you teased, reaching up and running a finger over the hair adorning his top lip.

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks. No, that's great, cheers." 

You giggled as he walked away from you. "What? I like you with facial hair." 

He gave a cynical hum, making his way towards the stairs. 

"Where are you going?" you asked. 

"To run you a bath." 

"Oh, you don't have to do that." 

He turned to look at you, his eyes slowly trailing you from head to toe.

You looked down at yourself, at the clothes sticking to your body like a second skin and trainers caked in mud, the puddle that had formed on the wooden floor beneath you. "Okay, fair enough." 

He breathed a soft laugh. "Come on." 

"Will you get in it with me?" you asked as he climbed a few steps.

He turned, looking down at you with a smirk. "Nice try." 

You huffed, bending down to take off your shoes and socks and leaving them by the door before following him upstairs. 

The cottage was bigger than it seemed from the outside, yet still cozy, with thick carpets and charming olde worlde features. You walked towards the sound of running water, a steamy warmth and clean, soapy aroma. You pushed the bathroom door open to find him leaning over a deep, clawfoot tub, pouring bubblebath into the stream as it flowed from the tap. And for the first time all day, you felt your muscles relax. 

He glanced up at you as you began to undress, letting your jeans fall to the floor and peeling your top over your head. His eyes lingered on your body, his gaze darkening as you unclipped your bra to reveal your breasts, hooked your thumbs into the elastic of your underwear and slid it down over your hips. It was satisfying to know that his desire still existed; that while he was staying strong in his refusal to go further than a kiss, the hunger remained. 

You stood naked in the doorway, watching as he rose to his full height and cleared his throat.

"I'll leave a towel out for you," he said. 

"You sure you don't want to join me?" you replied. 

He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly with a slight smile. "I'm sure." 

"Because I've really missed you." You crossed the small bathroom, taking his wrists in your hands and sliding them around your waist. 

"I've missed you too." 

You reached up, weaving your fingers into the back of his hair and pressing your lips to his neck. "Don't you want to show me how much you've missed me?" 

"Quinn..." he warned, a soft growl in his voice. 

"What harm would it do?" You raised up onto your toes, moving your kisses to his jaw, his mouth. "To just do it... Once?" 

He was losing his resolve, you could feel it in the firmness of his grasp, how his fingers pressed into your skin as he began to return your kisses between heavy breaths. 

"It doesn't have to be purely... physical," you pressed, keeping your voice soft and enticing. "It can be slow, tender, intimate-"

"Quinn," he finally whispered against your lips. "Stop it." 

You huffed, letting go of him and dropping down off your tiptoes. "Fine."

You turned and walked back out onto the landing without bothering to redress, making your way towards the stairs.  

"Where are you going?" he called out to you.

"To get my vibrator out of my bag," you called back, hearing his quiet chuckle echo from the bathroom. 

You had never felt better; washed hair and warm, dry clothes, the musky scent of earth replaced by the clean, masculine scent of Ben's body wash. Your limbs buzzed from the wine you'd been sipping as you stood at the stove in the kitchen, stirring a pot of pasta and listening to music from a small speaker on the counter. 

The night sky was black as ink, the quiet countryside making the world outside seem nonexistent, as though the small cottage was the only place left on earth. And you were sure you wouldn't have minded if it was. Ben came up behind you, snaking his hand around your stomach to hold you close as he pressed a kiss to the back of your neck. You smiled, feeling your skin tingle beneath his lips, a slight tickle from his moustache. 

He picked up the bottle of wine from the counter beside you and topped up your glass. 

You glanced at him from the corner of your eye. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"A little bit." 

You exhaled a soft laugh, picking it up and taking a sip. 

"I'm really glad you could come down," he said, filling his own glass and sitting at the dining table behind you. "It's been weird not talking to you every day."

"I know, I'm great." 

He chuckled. "You are." 

You turned around, leaning back against the counter, glass in hand. "Did you ever think after our first meeting you'd be saying that about me?" 

"After our first meeting? I knew I’d be saying something about you, though I assumed it would be to a lawyer."

Your lip curled with a smirk as you sipped your wine. "Now look at us, making dinner together in a little cottage in the countryside. Not a lawyer in sight." 

"Exactly. See, the no sex thing is working." 

"Oh, you think that's why we're getting along so well?" You raised an eyebrow, your smirk spreading.

He leaned back in his chair, a playful glint in his eyes. "Well, it certainly hasn’t hurt. We’ve actually gotten to know each other. I mean, look at you - no knives in hand, no threats of bodily harm..." 

"Mm. I wouldn't completely credit the abstinence. Maybe I'm just too tired from all this non-sexual bonding to argue with you." 

"Or maybe you just enjoy my company." 

You paused, biting your lip as you looked down at him, before turning to save the pot from bubbling over on the stove. 

"Why's it so hard for you to just admit I was right about taking it slow?" he asked.

"I got a train to Kent for you. I think it's already quite clear." 

He laughed, and you listened as the legs of his chair scraped the floor, his footsteps approaching as you drained the pasta over the sink. 

"You've really never done this before, have you," he said. "Dating, courting." 

"Courting?" you scoffed. "Okay, granddad." 

He slid his arms around your waist, pressing his chest against your back as he spoke slow, quiet, his voice deep and intimate. "Just imagine, Quinn. All the waiting; the frustration, anticipation. Imagine how... incredible it's going to be when we finally do it." 

You felt a shiver run down your spine, desire bubbling deep in your stomach. He pressed his lips to the side of your head, the heat of his body making you melt against him. 

"I know I seem cruel," he continued. "Turning you down, making you feel like I don't want you. But trust me, I do. And I've been thinking about it a lot, how good it's going to feel." 

You inhaled through your nose in an attempt to compose yourself, to quell the growing ache between your legs. You continued what you were doing, tipping the steaming pasta into an empty pot. 

"I want to take my time with you," he murmured. "Reacquaint myself with every inch of your body." 

You felt his arms tighten around you, his hands gripping you more firmly. 

"When I finally touch you, really touch you, it's going to be slow, intense; I want to make sure you feel every brush of my fingertips, every kiss, every..." He trailed off, but you knew the picture he was painting. His voice like a dark, seductive promise, pouring his intentions directly into your ear. "I want to watch your face as I make you fall apart beneath me. Hear the sounds you make as I push you to the edge and pull you back, just so I can do it all over again."

Your legs felt weak, and you were grateful for his arms around you, holding you steady. It was impossible not to get lost in his words, in the way your stomach coiled, your core throbbing with need.

 "And when we finally come together," he continued, his lips brushing against your earlobe. "I'm certain I will never be able to keep my hands off you again." 

You let out a shaky breath, your voice barely a whisper. "You’re really not making it easy to be patient, you know."

He exhaled a laugh. "I just thought you might like to know I'm not finding this easy either. But there's reason behind it." 

"I know," you replied with a sigh, turning in his arms to face him. "I know I've been giving you a hard time about it but it's only because you're right - I don't date, I don't... court." 

"You don't court?" he teased.

"No, old man, I don't court." You laughed. "I've never wanted to. So I always just... skip to the physical stuff, ignore the rest." 

He stroked a stray lock of hair out of your face, tucking it behind your ear. "But you're not ignoring it with me. Look, you're here, you're trying."

"Mm. I suppose I just never liked someone enough to make dinner and drink wine with them before. Never cared enough to nearly die in the Kent countryside for them." 

He gave a deep laugh in his throat. "You didn't nearly die." 

"We'll agree to disagree." 

He smiled, tilting your chin up with his fingers and kissing you softly. "I guess I should consider myself lucky then," he said. "That you're here, even though it’s not your usual thing.”

“I don’t know if it’s luck, Ben. Maybe it’s just... you.”

His eyes crinkled, the corners of his mouth curving into a gentle smile. “I’ll take that.”

You both stood there for a moment, wrapped in each other’s embrace, the flames licking in your core now dwindling to a comfortable smoulder. 

“You know,” he said after a moment. “We could make this our thing.”

"Make what our thing?" You raised an eyebrow. 

"This." He gestured to the space around you. "Every time I’m on location, you can brave the wilderness-"

“And risk my life,” you interjected.

"And risk your life,” he agreed with a grin. “Just to come cook dinner and drink wine with me. It’ll be like a... tradition." 

You tilted your head, pretending to think about it, before giving him a slow, teasing smile. “Throw in a few tropical countries and I might consider it." 

“I'll see what I can do." 

He kissed you again, deeper this time, pressing you gently against the edge of the sink before pulling back, resting his forehead on yours for a brief moment. You stood there as you watched him finish off the dinner, taking in the comfortable sight of him moving around the kitchen in domestic ease. He hummed to himself contently as he chopped and stirred, stopping every now and then to take a sip from his glass, twirling utensils between his fingers. 

It was strange, how this easy, unremarkable moment was something you’d never quite known before. How you'd never taken heed of the quiet, subtler parts of another person. Yet here, in the warmth of the kitchen, surrounded by the clatter of pots and the aroma of garlic and basil, you felt a kind of intimacy you hadn’t expected to find.

It wasn’t the grand gestures or passionate moments you'd come to crave, but rather the simple act of sharing space, of being present together. The quiet companionship that came with just being in his company. It was a different kind of closeness; genuine, chaste, something you hadn’t even realised you’d been missing.

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[tumblingxelian]

How do some even think that RWBY has male characters “hijack the narrative?” It’s like they project what their grievances with past stories on what looks like the same but not really.

Like Jaundice in Volume 1 flies right by marathoning the season. No bigger than a single episode of TV at 20+ minutes.

So the answer to that questions ranges from what you said to several things like:

Not watching un years & misremembering what was watched, being misinformed & not having watched at all, lying and such. But, I think I hit on another major reason for this problem and its kind of hilariously twisted so please hear me out.

Every arc I've noticed that a certain strain of "Fans" get very attached to one or two male characters and start projecting the idea that they are the real MCs & then get offended when it turns out they aren't.

In V1 to 3, it was Jaune & Adam. Then in volumes 3 to 6 it was Qrow & then Ozpin, Followed by Ironwood in volumes 4 & 7.

All these guys are introduced either in a typical shounen hero or antagonist or mentor and ally role.

Then have the layers people back to show what exists beneath the archetype and what they either have to overcome to remain on the actual main characters side. IE, Jaune, Qrow & Ozpin.

Or what it is that they long since failed or will fail to overcome and grow from that makes them into villains, IE, Adam and Ironwood.

The reason this keeps happening is because that particular strain of "fan" has such a "Men as default" head-space that they cannot, genuinely cannot grasp that they are watching a story about women. Thus they keep expected ay given guy who shows up to be the "real" main character.

Aside:

You may also notice Ren, Oscar & Marrow never gets on the above list. The closest they get is being someone else's cheerleader or not mentioned at all. Meanwhile the white (Or perceived as white in Qrow's case) cis and overtly straight men do get said treatment. I wonder why that could be? Such a mystery :/

But I digress, this is important because it reflects a deep subconscious bias in those "fans" & I think said bias also exists in the people making claims like this.

IE, because they treat men as the default & the protagonists in a given scene, while subconsciously placing women below them and more as accessories, their focus on any given scene is always on the men.

Kind of like those tumblr posts that are explicitly about women & have a bunch of people with piss poor reading comprehension tagging it with dudes or even going so far as to say "Just say gay men". & rather similar to that observation that a lot of fandom treats men, any man from a piece of media, as an inherently deep and complicated character with so much to analyze or so much freedom to expand on. Meanwhile dismissing women out of hand as awful & or boring.

Thus, when they see a group conversation scene, they instinctively assume that the one leading the conversation, with the most to gain from the conversation, with the most narrative weight in the conversation is a man.

Even if he barely said anything and all the lot relevant, interesting character stuff and such was being done by women.

This head-space persists consistently and inflames any given scene, story beat or exchange.

But, here's the twist, these "critics" know o a conscious level that RWBY is about women and that, that is a selling point. But then they look back over their memories, subconsciously blurring out the women and think, "Wow, the girls didn't do anything, it was all about the guys!" Even though its actually just cos they refused to pay any attention to a character that wasn't a man.

Then they get mad because "Clearly the writers are doing this wrong" and ten they get madder when these men fail, or are villains or have to learn lessons, because in their eyes, those guys are the righteous protagonists, and super complicated, "Can't these blank slate girls realize that? Can't the writers!?" But again, its just because they weren't paying attention, rather tan it being a problem in the writing.

Its very similar to that trend of, "There was no queer foreshadowing, they were both obviously straight!" & then their evidence is like, she looked at a man once, & so therefore every interaction with women she has is platonic by default and therefore does not contain foreshadowing.

Damn, could have just led with that, its male bias, rather than straight bias, but the end result is the same. They don't perceive the women on the screen, they don't see the queer signals.

Then, when the story develops around those women, when queer characters & events set up across years happens it slaps them across the face & they insist it must have come out of nowhere.

Sadly, nothing you can say is liable to change their minds, because in a way, they really are watching an entirely different show.

It'd be like if I went into Naruto thinking Rock Lee was the main character & then never adjusted from that perspective.

Not an identical situation, but one that conveys my point regarding why they claim so much nonsense with such confidence.

[luvscr]

price, ghost and alejandro reacting to m!reader's sh scars (hcs)

cw/tags: depression, sh, scars, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff fluff fluff, probably ooc characters but idc🫶

apologies for any grammatical erros!

long ass note:

so i got this request which i won't be showing in case it might trigger someone nor will i tag the person who requested this bc im not sure if he would be comfortable with it. i've never written about sh hurt comfort before, simply because i didn't feel like i could do justice for the comfort part but i tried my best and tried to make it not so triggering. your media consumption is your own responsibility, please proceed carefully and do not read if you're not in the right mindset. if you're struggling, i know it's hard but please reach out to a loved one or even me. you're not alone, you matter.

—

price:

it was purely on accident that he saw your scars. he wouldn't mention it to you but he would ask around, people you interact with if they've heard or seen anything. when they asked questions he would simply shut them down or use his rank and pull the "classified information" card. he wouldn't really know what to do, given he's your superior so it was kind of his responsibility, so he got in touch with kate to help him find a therapist. his first instinct is to get professional help if needed. he would invite you to his office so it's just the two of you and make you comfortable, even make you a cup of tea. he would approach the topic carefully and wouldn't force you to tell anything you didn't want to, reassure you that he's not upset, he just wants to help. if you refuse to get a therapist it's okay, he completely understands and will offer you to talk to him instead. he may come off as stern sometimes but it's just because he genuinely cares so much about you and is worried constantly, no matter how old the scars are. he would try to think of alternatives for you to put that energy into if you still struggle and would be there anytime to comfort you. he kinda acts like a dad (like w everyone bruh)

—

ghost:

oh sweet lord this man. he kind of had a feeling when he noticed that even in the hottest weather you only wore long sleeved clothes. he would notice them when your sleeve and the somewhat shorts you had on accidentally rolled up. you just ignored his eyes burning holes through you, given it was normal for him to just stare menacingly at anyone. (not on purpose tho he just looks mean by default) i wouldn't say it would trigger him, but it would definitely stir up some unpleasant feelings inside of him because of his past. he knows exactly how you feel and wants to help you, no matter if you're a friend or just some rando at the base. just like price he would approach the subject carefully, knowing well how hard it is to reach out for help and how it's even harder to open up and actually talk about it. he isn't the best at comforting but he's is a damn good listener and he'll let you know that if you need him don't hesitate to talk to him even if it feels useless. will crack those stupid jokes of his to make you feel better lol tbh i feel like he would be the best kind of person to open up to because he relates so much, he completely understands the feeling of being ashamed of self-destructive activities and would be the sweetest during a relapse. would caress gently the older scars on your body if you allow him to :(<3

he strikes me as a very straightforward person bc of the graves scene. my dude just straight up told the cabrón to stfu (as he should!!) so based on this i think as soon as he sees he's all up in your business. of course not with the intention to make you uncomfortable but he just wants to make sure you're okay and is absolutely willing to help whether it's finding a therapist or just giving a shoulder to lean on. he values every single person in his life and would literally do anything for them and obviously you're no exception. ngl it would be kind of uncomfortable and awkward as you're not used to so much attention especially surrounding your mental health, but he just wants to do good and he's willing to do anything to help and i mean anything. you need a break from work? done. a hug? you don't even have to ask. he will do everything for you if you feel too drained to do even basic things such as cooking meals, helping you shower if you're comfortable with that and etc. basically becomes a househusband for you!

—

alejandro:

[rogueddie]

Fluffy Steddie Fic Recs

Important: READ THE TAGS! Also, leave a comment and kudos! These fics are amazing and I love them and I hope y'all do too 🎀

Steve Harrington Tears the Munson Doctrine to Shreds

Peachesandpears

Eddie had always been more than happy with the quick and dirty of Indy. He’d always been content to get his rocks off with some guy with the mutual understanding that they’d never have to see each other again. It was the beautiful symbiotic relationship of two gay dudes who would forever be a stain on the collective American moral conscious. And he loved being a stain on moral consciouses.

But Steve fucking Harrington, the goddamn bastard, is making him yearn. Tore the Munson Doctrine to shreds, the sacrilegious asshole.

Words : 8,325 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

Thank Our Lucky Stars (That We Can Call This Ours)

steddieeddie

A lot has happened in Steve Harrington’s life, specifically in the last six years. Too much stuff for one person to deal with, and he’s held onto it for too long.

When Robin tells him that shaving his head will help him let go, because hair holds onto bad energy? Well, he’s willing to try anything.

Words : 2,330 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

Bambi, can't you understand?

19_empty_vacancies

“Even if you can’t get the words out, Steve, there’s no disguising the way you look at him. Have always looked at him. You walk around shooting him the big eyes like you’re Gomez Addams looking at Morticia, ready to pounce.”

“Oh God, do you think he ever noticed?”

Words : 4,675 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

A King and His Poet

steviewashere

Steve makes his way to a stack of notebooks. All piled precariously on Eddie's way too cramped desk. One has a large beer stain on the cover. Another is burned in the corner from a dropped joint most likely. There's one more with an ominous yellow stain, Steve doesn't touch that one.

But there's one that catches his eye.

It's a leather bound, small journal.

Words : 1,639 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

listen to the siren's song

atimelessfiction

Corroded Coffin plays at The Hideout every Tuesday, but Steve doesn’t go because of them. He doesn’t go because of Eddie Munson, whose fingers dance over the guitar strings with such a beautiful precision that Steve sometimes wonders if he made a deal with the devil.

No, Steve doesn’t go because of a band with stupid music and a stupid band member who has stupid hair and a stupid voice. Steve goes because his friends go. 

That's the only reason.

Words : 4,512 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

There Is A Pleasure In The Pathless Woods

crow_of_crimes (Theyna_Shipper)

Hey, um… Do you want to go for a hike?”

If you’d asked Steve what he’d expected when he opened his door at 9am on a Wednesday in March, it wouldn’t have been Eddie, hands in his pockets, chewing on his lower lip, asking that, but somehow it doesn’t phase him.

“Sorry, this is weird,” Eddie adds before Steve can respond. He’s doing that thing where he rocks back and forth on his heels and darts his eyes everywhere, refusing to choose a single spot, like a rodent scanning his surroundings for predators. He’s not sure he’s ever seen Eddie Munson stand completely still. “Shouldn’t have just… showed up like this.”

“It’s alright, man,” Steve says, truthfully. He doesn’t get a lot of visitors alone in his parents’ huge house, except Robin, and she can’t keep him company all the time, especially now that she has her own friends. Dammit.

Words : 4,791 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

Side B

Frckn

Steve keeps trying to tell Eddie he loves him, but it never feels like the right time. They keep getting interrupted, and as much as Steve loves their friends, they’re driving him crazy. All he wants is a moment alone with his boyfriend. It really feels like the world is against him.

Words : 8,153 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

starsdontsleep

Dustin might ask him to watch DnD, but Steve attends because of Eddie.

Words : 2,241 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

At the speed of love (nothing changes faster)

Guardthenest

Somehow, Robin has talked Steve into an LGBT Speed Dating event on Valentine's Day. He's just doing it to be a good friend, he definitely does not care about finding love. Definitely not. But when it happens to sit down right across from him, who is he to say no to Cupid?

Words : 4,695 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

Absolute Beginners

IntoTheStardust

Eddie asks Steve and Robin to fill in for two of his D&D members. Steve has more fun than he could have imagined.

Words : 3,488 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

it's supposed to be fun (turning twenty-one)

pricklywhicket

“So what you’re telling me is that you’ve never had a birthday party that was for you? No nerdy superhero themes, no dinosaur balloons, nothing?”

“Nope,” Steve replies, popping the ‘p’ in a way that Eddie just knows he’s picked up from Robin. “The last couple I’ve been too busy to even remember. So, like I said. Not a big deal, don’t make a thing out of it.”

“Oh Steve. Stevie. Babe.” Eddie’s voice has taken on a manic quality that almost always means trouble.

Words : 7,457 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

The "Friend Date" (oneshot)

jamsin_3

Steve gets stood up by a girl. Before he can make the walk of shame out of the diner, he's surprised when Eddie enters to erase Steve's humiliation. Based on that one Tumblr post about getting stood up on a blind date and a stranger swoops in to try and save the date.

Words : 3,885 Chapters : 3/3 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

A Kiss for Luck and We're on Our Way

badfanfictionaire, LittleMissKnowItAll

It’s the week of Steve and Eddie’s wedding, and boy are they ready to get hitched! Will the week fly by in a flurry of fluff and bliss, or will their emotions get the best of them?

A day-by-day fic leading up to the big day.

Words : 25,503 Chapters : 10/10 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

[skzfairyyydreamz]

Family <3

genre: Fluff, Comfort, Bf!Skz, Sibling!Skz, Bsf!Skz, gn!reader

© Skzfairyyydreamz - Plagiarism is a crime. Do not repost, alter, translate or copy without my consent.

requests and taglist are open! (M.Lists)

(gifs not mine; credit to owner)

imagine…

Coming home from what had been a horrendously long and stressful day to see your sweet boyfriend in a cozy pair of sweats and t-shirt, he was sat on the living room sofa chatting with his two best friends about whatever it is producer dudes talk about. he looked so stinkin adorable with his natural fluffy hair all disheveled and curly as his glasses sat calmly on his beautiful bare face and you had all intentions on napping in his arms after the day you had today regardless to who was in your house right now. You came in kicking off your shoes at the door, dropping your keys and bag on the island counter and heading straight to your room to change without acknowledging anyone in the house. That immediately had changbin snapping his neck in your direction taking notice of the exhausted look on your face without breaking his current conversation. About 5 or so minutes later his eyes lit up to see you coming to join them in the living room in your fuzzy pj’s holding your favorite pillow and blanket.

“Hey family.. please excuse me while i nap” you sigh kissing the top of changbins head then sitting down next to him getting ready to lay your head in his lap and take the nap of your life, but before you could

“far out! mate are we invisible??” channie said to jisung as he crossed his arms with furrowed brows at you. “you do remember that we knew you before binnie right!?” jisung added. “yet he’s the one that gets all the love? im so done with you” channie roles his eyes

binnie giggles to himself putting his head down like he always does refusing to interfere anytime you and channie would get into it. you sigh again getting up from your seat walking over to the sofa opposite you and your boyfriend. “i would offer a sassy rebuttal normally but i’m just way too tired today.. come here channie my bestest most favorite sweetest big brother ever” you lean down from behind the sofa hugging him around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head “yeah whatever looser.. im your ONLY big brother.” “Where you ever able to order the flower arrangements for mom’s birthday dinner this weekend?” he added looking up at you “ i haven’t had time today i was super swamped. But i can definitely do it in the morning!” “Dont worry about it i’ll handle it.” “you sure? tomorrow’s an off day for me i can do it.” “no worries, i got it. you just make sure you rest up on your day off.” “okay” you kiss the top of his head once more before moving over to jisung giving him the same hug and kiss you did your older brother.

“i didn’t forget you jiji” “dont act like you love me now, im tired of being chosen last!” “just like when were kids??” you teased reaching down to steal a handful of popcorn from the bowl in his lap. “please do not bring up my childhood trauma right now! you chose me last for every single game of freeze tag when im literally faster than you!” everyone bursted into laughter at jisungs dramatic episode as you walked back over to your spot on the sofa next to your boyfriend.

“Okay goodnight family, i legit cannot keep my eyes open any longer” you grabbed your pillow placing it in changbins lap laying down as he wrapped the blanket around you.

“Night night, jagi” your boyfriend whispered as he ran his fingers through your hair.

“Sleep tight!” jisung added

“We love you kiddo..” chan smiled.

You fell asleep instantly, as your boyfriend brother and best friend all went back to continuing their previous conversation. the room felt so warm and fuzzy filled with love. You were beyond grateful for the men in your life they were your everything. your back bones, your protectors, your safe spaces. They were your family, and you couldn’t even fathom the thought of living life without theses three in it.

taglist: @hanniemylovelyquokka @milknhoneyracha @tinyelfperson @jiisungllvr @turtledove824 @laylasbunbunny @armystay89

buy me a coffee?

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)

1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn’t allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.

Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It’s a video game; her competence is determined by the player’s, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn’t STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn’t the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I’ll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?

2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She’s introduced in the middle of a male characters “trilogy” (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that’s a throwaway and still can’t do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.

3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don’t have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it’s done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it’s not even about her it’s about simon’s lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad

KOTORI MIZUKI/TORI MEADOWS (YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL)

1.) first: ygo zexal is directed (and partially written) by known misogynist shin yoshida who is on record as saying that he would Never write female characters if he wasn’t being forced to by higher-ups. kotori’s voice actor signed a legal contract forcing him to include her character in Every Single Episode. she gets no duels that aren’t tag duels (2v2 duels), one of those is interrupted in the middle and all others she both loses, aren’t even shown in full, and all happen in the same episode. she is literally contractually required to be a major character and the dude in charge still point blank refuses to do anything with her despite the fact that she’s supposed to be the female lead of the series. please take pity on her for being handed to one of the worst people in the world and how despite the active attempts by other people to make her relevant in the story she was still denied that

2.) She only dueled once in the whole show and it was when she was brainwashed. Her main role is to only cheer the male protag on and say his name during his duels I guess.

[we-were-so-beautiful]

2. day six

holy shit hi! it's me! I'm back! I will be very surprised if anybody remembers me or this story given that it's been literally six months since I posted the first chapter. my motivation, interest, energy and amount of free time for this project all fluctuate, but... this story feels like it wants to be told, and I want to tell it. so hopefully I'll manage to pop up around here with an update for it every once in a while.

Content warnings for this chapter: box boy universe, pet whump, dehumanization, cages, blood mention. I'm still getting the hang of how to tag these so please let me know if there's anything I missed.

[masterlist] [chapter one] [chapter three]

Vanessa means to wait until an hour before closing time to go to the shelter. Really, she does. She wants to give this guy as much of a chance as he can get to go home with someone, literally anyone, who’s better for him than she is. But it’s lunchtime and she’s already practically vibrating. She’s not even used to being awake by noon anymore, much less having already been up for hours refreshing the site so often it’s making her nauseous. Or maybe that’s just the all-consuming anxiety of suspense.

What if the assholes at the shelter decide that six days is close enough, and take him away before she even gets there? What if she’s fucked up and counted the days wrong, and he’s actually scheduled to die today? What if the subway’s delayed, or the shelter closes early, and she’s too late, and another person dies because she made a stupid fucking mistake?

What if, says the voice in the back of her head that she refuses to listen to, somebody takes him who’s even worse for him than me?

“Oh, fuck literally all of this,” she says to the empty room, and grabs her coat.

—

“Uh, hey, I’m here to…”

“Sign in on the sheet.” The bored-looking shelter employee doesn’t so much as glance up from her phone. Vanessa looks around; the lobby is totally devoid of anyone save for the two of them.

“I just want to know if—”

“Sign in on the sheet.”

Vanessa breathes out through her nose until her hand stops ticking long enough to write. She scribbles her name and the time, and sets the pen down with a deliberate clack on the desk directly in front of the employee.

The woman barely raises her head. “How can I help you.”

Vanessa steels herself. “Is, uh… Do you still have…” God she hates talking about people like this she hates it she hates it she hates it. “Is pet number 414374 still here? I want to…” She wants to choke on the word. “...I want to adopt him.”

The employee’s affect goes duller than ever. “Oh, he’s still here, alright,” she mutters grimly.

Vanessa only realizes how much tension she’s been holding when it floods out of her so fast she almost loses her balance. “Can I see him?”

“If you really want to,” the employee sighs. “But I’m tellin’ you, lady, you’re not gonna like what you find.”

—

“That’s him?!”

“Told you you were gonna be disappointed, lady.”

Vanessa gapes. It’s not like she’s been expecting to be okay with seeing people in cages, but she sure as shit didn’t expect… whatever the fuck she’s looking at now.

The dude is filthy, caked head to toe in blood, dirt and worse. The hair that flowed around him in his picture is matted down his back now, littered with scores of dead and decaying leaves. His ice-blue eyes are dull and unfocused. His breaths are quick and shallow, and the way they rasp in his throat makes Vanessa twitch. 

He’s lying in a heap on the single layer of newspaper between him and the inch-wide mesh of the shelter-standard cage. Vanessa sucks at math, but she thinks it can’t be more than three by three by five. The shelter profile listed him at six foot two.

The employee bangs on the metal with the back of her hand, making a horrible clanging sound that makes Vanessa want to claw her own ears off. “Hey, look alive, refurb. You got one more interested owner. Maybe try to impress this one for a change?”

“Can he even—” Vanessa starts, but the guy surprises her by slowly, painfully lifting his head. The dirt that coats his skin cracks and flakes as he struggles to push himself up on his elbows. He reaches jerkily for the front of the cage, arms trembling violently with the effort, his breathing growing more and more labored as he tries to meet her gaze.

In the split second before he collapses again, she swears he manages it.

—

“I want him.”

The employee has already turned to go, talking over her shoulder as she ambles back toward the desk. “Yeah, so if you're lookin’ for a fancy one you could try the Manhattan shelter, they sometimes—hang on, you what?” She twists back abruptly as the words actually register.

“I want him,” Vanessa says again.

The employee stares at her for a long, long minute. Vanessa can almost see her fighting the urge to blurt out, “why?” Finally, though, she collects herself, with a wildly overexaggerated shrug of her shoulders.

“It’s your money, lady,” she says, and unlocks the cage.

[theprinceandagcd]

WIP Wednesday <3

Happy Wednesday, my dudes! Taking the open tag from @kiwiana-writes and getting this out of the way early so that I can focus on some graduate school stuff that is a lot less fun. Also, yes, I just put some text on a screenshot bc I have no artistic ability but I wanted a lil thing for wip tag stuff :/

jesus christ, ANYWAY. I'm still slaving away over writing one single thread of gold tied me to you from Henry's perspective - title is officially "hell was the journey, but it brought me heaven" just btw :)

Turns out, Henry has VERY complicated feelings in this fic and sometimes he absolutely refuses to talk to me. Which is fine. I'll figure him out eventually. Until then, here's a snippet <3

Maybe, if he treads carefully, they can stay friends. It wasn’t their entire relationship that he shouldn’t have partaken in - being Alex’s friend was one of the only good things Henry has ever done. Taking it further than that cherished bond was a selfish and alcohol-induced mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Chewing on his bottom lip, Henry is preparing to type when he glances up at the news broadcast in front of him and sees his soul mark staring back at him.  No, not his.  Alex’s.  A perfect fucking match to his.  No. It’s not possible.  Yet, there it is.  Henry knew, though, didn’t he? Alex, the only thing in his life that has ever made sense. Alex, the beautiful and bright spot in an otherwise miserable existence. Alex, who had called him upset on Christmas minutes after Henry had started feeling nauseous and called him in a panic in February moments after Henry had woken with a racing heart.  He’d ignored every single sign out of self preservation, refusing to let himself entertain an idea that was wonderful in theory but would ultimately only cause heartache. Alex’s soul being tied to his is a punishment to them both - Alex, for wanting a soulmate and getting one that he cannot have; Henry, for being in love before he knew and now understanding that he has to be the one to take Alex’s dream away from him.

tags :) @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @heybuddy-drabbles @anincompletelist @firenati0n @dani-dabbles @inexplicablymine @ninzied

[lokiinmediasideblog]

1 + 12 :D

The Loki fandom has more schisms than the Catholic church at this point. So I'll give multiple answers for the main schisms (pre-Loki series and including it).

character everyone gets wrong. If it's pre-Loki series and such, I think it's both Thor and Loki. And there's many variations of it. I think any characterization that flattens one into just good and the other as bad misunderstands these morally gray characters. With Loki, he's portrayed as a waifish and bookish boring character that can't fight/kill/or lie which takes the fun out of it and makes him seem rather pathetic and not!Loki complimented with either a sunshine himbo savior Thor or brutish evil Thor. With Thor, he's the precious sunshine cinnamon-roll with a purity of heart contending with Christ with either the waifish Loki, comedically murderously evil Loki, or just plain cruel Loki which makes Thor seem dumb and ridiculously gullible. The former is more popular in Tumblr in general, but casuals interpret it as the latter usually. And the comics pre-reincarnation have a lot of the plain cruel Loki with ridiculously gullible and Gary-Stu-ish Thor.

If we're including the Loki series, I'd say Mobius. I can't recognize him in most fanfics (and as such I don't read much Lokius) because most refuse to engage with the darker cannon aspects of his characterization and try to turn Lokius into Ineffable Husbands 2.0 which have nothing in common apart from some superficial level of edgy gothy man + white-haired desk job dude. This guy had access to every instance of Loki's life. Isn't that creepy? And he's responsible for the capture and pruning of many variants. There should be more fic where he's conflicted about his actions. Granted, I have a fanfic where he's terrible (dark!Mobius) and I specify it on the tags. I think the only time it's not annoying to mischaracterize characters is if the author is aware and warns of it in the tags because they're in a kick.

2. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them. I don't like telling people to like characters. I'll defend them if they get things wrong about them, but it just feels guilt-trippy to me. I know I get annoyed when people get guilt trippy for not caring about the W3 or Sif as much as I care for Loki (who has way more screentime and lines). Pre-Loki series, I think I like Heimdall more than the average Loki fan. I like that he also commits treason against Odin, not just Loki. I think the implications of the All-Sight make him interesting, though he doesn't have that much screentime. I like to portray him as conflicted over his responsibilities, and if I need some Gatekeeper to be an asshole to Loki, I make one up that preceded Heimdall and is responsible for Loki's overall dislike of Gatekeepers and why he learned to hide from the All-sight.

I understand why it happens because seeing everything is rather invasive and we live in a society with increased surveillance every fucking year. But I wish to avoid the "Black character is racist to fantasy race" trope. You can justify Loki learning to hide without pulling that trope, you know? Make up a gatekeeper before Heimdall (I'm not convinced he knew Loki was Jotun and that'd mean he was hired after Loki was adopted). You can make a story. I have plenty of HCs about Loki's distrust of Gatekeepers and that Heimdall was hired after a Noodle incident involving Loki that caused the previous Gatekeeper to quit. It's more interesting than just pure fantasy racism from the start.

If we're including the Loki series:

The character I think was unfairly hated was Sylvie. I say this for the level of vitriol the poor actress received. It's fine not to like Sylvie, but a lot of those posts claiming SdM and Sylvie are single-handedly responsile for "bad rep" when SdM has no influence on the script and it's a DISNEY show (notorious for executive meddling) is unfair and pointing fingers at the wrong direction. FOR THE MCU DISNEY+ SERIES THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE SHOWRUNNERS! THIS IS A VERY BAD PRACTICE AND INDICATIVE THEY'RE JUST CHURNING SHIT OUT!

I'm also of the opinion that the comics have more harmful tropes than the show's "self-cest" (specifically talking about Loki stealing Sif's body and Amora and Lorelei's noncon powers M.O.) but I often see the same people praising one and not the other because they think the comic book designs are more stylish. If the shoe doesn't fit, I'm not talking about you. BTW. Just some people I've seen.

[writersmorgue]

Febuwhump Day 9 - alt. Lightning Strike

I legit couldn't think of anything to do for bees that wasn't too similar to something I've already written, so here's this instead.

TWs in tags || read on Ao3 || wc: 1,063

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

“What kind of ugly ass scars are those?”

Denki hides his body for a reason. 

“It looks like you were struck by lightning, is it from your quirk, Kaminari?”

They’re ugly, he knows they are. 

“Kaminari, can you move? Your skin is freaking me out.”

People with mutant quirks are treated well at UA, especially the powerful ones like Shouji and Tokoyami. Physical differences mean little to nothing when you can kick anyone’s ass who gives you crap. 

But Denki’s scars are different. They’re completely his fault. 

Every time he goes stupid with overexertion, his quirk fires off at random intervals. Since he’s not conscious to prepare for it, it creates these lines in his skin. Lichtenberg figures, they’re called. 

They’re raised, dusty pink lines on his skin, wrinkled and perpetually tingling. They stretch out all over him, centered on his inner forearms and chest, where his quirk focuses on output. They follow a senseless pattern, weaving across his skin. He used to have a lot of freckles on his body, but many of them have been overtaken. 

When new electricity pulses through them, they get hot and irritated for days after. Denki has to sleep sitting up, leaning over his giant Pikachu plush. It’s tear-stained, looking just about as miserable as he feels on those nights. 

He changes in the showers in the locker room, hiding away from his closest friends. People he trusts with his life. 

Bakugo always looks at him weirdly when he refuses to take off his long sleeves. The guy has some pretty gnarly scars himself; All won in hard-fought battles. Each one tells a story of badassery that Denki could never dream of reaching. 

Just yesterday, during training, he’d overworked himself again. The figure going up his back took the beating and crawled up just past his costume collar. Good thing Todoroki has single-handedly made turtlenecks come back in fashion. 

He’s angry at his weakness and frustrated at his lack of control. 

Shoving his costume in its case, he tugs his long-sleeved sweater down self-consciously.

A gruff voice calls his name, and he curses when the sudden movement his neck makes sends an arrow of pain down his back. 

“Hey man,” He smiles, “what’s up?”

Bakugo’s eye twitches, and before he can so much as breathe, Denki is dragged to the empty offices in the gym. 

“Uhh,” He falters, tripping at the last step before he’s gently (for Bakugo) shoved into a wall. 

“Roll up your sleeves.” His classmate sneers, crossing his arms and glancing to the door as if expecting someone to interrupt and ruin whatever intervention is happening. 

Denki frowns, tucking his hands behind his back and trapping them against the wall. “Kind of a weird request, dude. Do you mind explaining before I strip for you?”

Bakugo flushes, eye-twitching, “You’re stalling, fuckface. I’m not- fuck,” He sighs, glancing to the door again, “I’m not letting you walk out of here if you’re gonna hurt yourself.”

“Oh,” Denki blinks slowly. He’s not wrong, but he’s only doing what they all do during training, “It’s just collateral. I’m fine, Bakugo.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“What the fuck about cutting yourself is collateral, you fucking moron!”

“Cutting my-” Denki mumbles, looking down at his arms. Is that what Bakugo thought?

Huh. 

He looks up at Bakugo suspiciously, “Are you the one who stole my exacto knife and my scissors? Bakugo, I’m not doing that. It’s just scarring from my quirk, like Kirishima’s eye.” He sits on that for a second, “Well, I guess Midoriya’s arms would be a better analogy.”

He brings his arms forward and tugs his sleeves up, exposing his wrists for Bakugo to inspect. “See? From the electricity.”

Bakugo squints, aggressively taking one of his wrists as he’s been given a time limit. 

“How come you cover them then?” He grunts, letting go when satisfied. 

Denki rolls his eyes, “They’re ugly, Bakugo. I’m not blind.”

“Well, as long as you fuckin’ know. Loser.” Imaginary Bakugo jeers, shoving Denki into the wall again and exiting swiftly… Probably giving him a middle finger. 

In reality, he just kind of… stands there. 

After a few moments of silence Denki is far too weirded out to stay quiet. “Uh… dude?”

Bakugo blinks, looking back down at Denki’s arms and grabbing at one to pull up to his face again. He investigates them, eyes darting over the skin, where the thickest of the figure is. “It’s not ugly.”

Um, what?

“Um, what?”

Bakugo tsks at him, waving his own arm in his face, “I said they’re not ugly. Where’d you even get that idea?”

Denki sweetie, Haru’s mom said your arms scared him, so you have to keep the jacket on for the whole play date, okay?

What are you, fifty? What’s with the gross wrinkles?!

Do you, like, wear a full surfer suit when you swim?! If I were you I wouldn’t let anyone see me without a shirt!

No, you sit by him! If he shocks me I’ll look like that!

Denki sighs, leaning back against the wall, “Everyone says that, dude. Since my quirk manifested and I went stupid for the first time.”

Bakugo’s nose scrunches like he smells something bad, “They’re fuckin’ stupid. You’re just like anyone else with scars. Everyone in our class has some, it’s part of the damn job.”

“Yeah, but mine are-”

“Normal, dipshit.” Bakugo interrupts, waving his hand at Denki, “If anyone in our class says shit, I’ll fuckin’ kill ‘em. Only thing ugly about you is your stupid face. Always smiling. It’s gross.” 

Denki can’t help but blush in response. He thinks that’s the closest Bakugo’s ever come to complimenting him! Even if it was just followed by an insult. 

“Aw, thanks Kacchan,” He grins when the tips of Bakugo’s ears pinken. 

“You’re fucking stupid. Are you gonna quit moping now?”

Denki nods, grinning eagerly, “You bet, and I’ll show some skin just for you!”

Bakugo flushes bright red, “Wh- that’s not! Fuck you!!”

Denki giggles, skirting around his fuming classmate before he blows up the office they’ve borrowed. “See you, Kacchan.”

He pauses by the door, catching his hand on the frame, “And thanks, by the way, I appreciate it.”

Bakugo shakes his head, shoving his hands into his pockets, “Whatever dunce face, I better see you in the locker room tomorrow.”

“You know it!”

[calciumdeficientt]

I can’t stop loving your headcanons and I would like to see headcanons from you again, but this time I want friendship headcanons between Kirby and Dan, Gord and Chad, Parker and Gord (I think they are kind of friends), Mandy and Zoe (many people forget that they were friends). Sorry, I have so many requests, I’d just like to see your view on their friendship ^^

hiiii! so glad you’re liking my stuff. these are gonna be super short but if you want more in depth analysis….. might i suggest the ko-fi i have special section just for character analysis

MISC FRIENDSHIP HCS

KIRBY OLSEN AND DAN WILSON

The two runts of the football team! These two share a lot of common interests. Where these two differ is one of them is on the field, and is fairly happy about it, while the other is on the bench and seething. It’s a balancing act, Kirby can’t talk too much about the games without pissing dan off. Dan can’t complain too much about being benched because it’ll make Kirby feel bad.

There’s a mutual respect for each other that I think the other, larger jocks don’t give them. It takes serious balls to be a high school athlete that’s not so jacked its mildly concerning to onlookers. They’re ballsy little dudes.

GORD VENDOME AND CHAD MORRIS

Bitching buddies! These two chat to each other frequently, and make time for gossip. Chad is more level headed than Gord so he is able to keep the other boy grounded when his rumours start to spiral out into the realm of being absolutely ludicrous.

These two take walks around Old Bullworth Vale, often with Chester tagging along. Chad has tried repeatedly to get Gord to walk Chester but he has outright refused every single time. He doesn’t do dogs… what if they ruin his clothes?!

PARKER OGILVIE AND GORD VENDOME

A relationship built on sympathy. A pity friendship, if you will. Gord saw how lonely Parker appeared to be, and how much he appeared to need a friend. It was perfect for Gord because he always did need someone to carry the shopping, Stimpson was losing his edge in his old age.

Eventually, the pity turned into respect. The more they hung out, the more Gord began to realise that Parker was an intellectual equal just as much as he was a social equal, and the pair grew closer.

MANDY WILES AND ZOE TAYLOR

Became friends through the cheer squad, this was before Mandy was promoted to cheer captain. They bonded over music and were pretty close, then the Burton incident happened and they grew apart. Mandy looked up to Mr Burton as a kind of father figure, so she just couldn’t believe Zoe, which naturally strained their relationship.

Zoe really misses Mandy, and wishes they could re-kindle their relationship. The barrier of Mr Burton is the only thing stopping her. Unluckily for Zoe, Mandy has already moved on.

[possumteeths]

2022 Writing Wrap Up

Tagged by: @screwyouflightlieutenant (thanks for thinking of me! 💖)

Total words published: 308,920 (christ???)

Additional words written:

Im gonna ballpark and say maybe 150 k other words with additional projects that arent fanfic lol (as well as fanfic wip)

Grand Total of Words: 458k ish?

Fandoms:

Various horror movies, Dragon age, Fallout, Mass effect, RDR, the boys

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments):

Unsurprisingly, its my the Boy chaptered fic Love Me Cancerously, This blew tf up and I really didn't expect it to. It is SO cool that other people like this not great movie and are so down for this rollercoaster i've been writing.

Highest Kudos to Hits Ratio:

It's still my Brahms fic, and the runner up is ANOTHER Brahms fic but that one's a oneshot.

New Things I Tried:

x readers! I never really liked reading or writing x readers ever until recently. I really like second person as a device and I just refuse to acknowledge things that use like blanks or the Y/N device lol. Realizing this totally changed the way I like to write. I think second person is excellent for storytelling. Leaving the reader insert extremely vague and writing from the perspective of the character is SO fun.

Fic I Spent The Most Time On:

Love Me Cancerously AGAIN lol. Usually I just kinda write things in one go, but for this fic I put it through multiple stages of editing.

Favorite Thing I Wrote:

This completely nonsensical fallout raider gangbang. I rarely enjoy reading or writing OC x OC works, but I really unlocked something in my brain with this fic. I am so in love with the characters, they still live in my head. I wanted it to be SILLY DUMB and it was just so much fun to write. This is the most "me" I think of anything I've ever written, and I fully just went balls to the wall ridiculously porny and it was so much fun.

Favorite Thing I Read:

dude ANYTHING by my buddy @ventiswampwater (here's her ao3) every single one of her fics make me INSANE. We have such similar ideas of characterization for this DUMB movie that for some reason we're obsessed with. I love cerebral poetic weirdo porn I just consume everything she's done over and over again. Seriously some of the best x readers i've ever come across.

@some27-url 's Deacon X SS series, I cant get ENOUGH of this fucked up dynamic. I gush on and on about this and I dont want to be annoying but I cannot shut up about how much I love this series

OH! This Yautja harem x OC work I found, literally I've never had the patience for LONG LONG fics before but I honestly wish there was MORE of this. I loved!! the characters and everyone involved, the story was so smutty and good. You dont need to know shit about predator lore this fic may as well be its own story. This fanfic is better than any smutty xenophilia/monsterfuckery romance book that i've ever read.

@brimbrimbrimbrim 's Vigilante x reader fic was so much fun, characterized SO well. It was silly fun and I loved it hahaha like I love this author but this fic really stuck out to me hahaha.

Writing goals for 2023:

I'd like to just bite the bullet and submit to publications as well as random magazine challenges or whatever else. I often debate whether I should or shouldnt for so long that I then miss the deadline for the actual challenge lmao! I submitted to a few horror magazines as well as some poems to indie publications asking for submissions this year but I'd like to just submit as much as I possibly can because fuck it y'know. This year, I got ONE poem selected to be in a book and then it was actually removed from the eventual publication coming out in 2023 so like... lmao?

New Works:

I've actually been editing my short story horror anthology off and on, cleaning it up and formatting it and all the boring shit. I'm looking to trad pub or at least submit certain stories to challenges. I'm also hoping to saddle up and adapt my raider gangbang fanfic into a more developed story that I'll eventually KDP publish. As for fanfics, I've got SO many fkn horror baddies x readers in the works rn, and like 21u314398240 90% done fanfics that I just need to edit and publish to ao3 lol.

tagging: @some27-url @gaeadene (girl I gotta know how many words u uploaded this year LOL) @ventiswampwater @korblez @wolfbirbisme @flaggermuser @butterbabyflapjack

Happy new year yall! Lets go full nuts and write WHATEVER ur silly lil heart desires. I declare this year the year of balls to the wall FUCK IT on ao3 lmfao

[made-ofmemories]

When Life Tears You Asunder, But You’re Not Alone

(Chapter 20/20) - epilogue

General Warnings/tags: Found family, implied Wayne/Susan in future chapters, Max & Eddie have a sibling like relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort, Lumax and Steddie make appearances throughout the chapters but the primary focus is on the familial bonds between characters

Chapter specific warnings/tags: Steddie, Lumax, Susan x Wayne, corroded coffin, just pure fluff from start to finish

Word count: 3064

Summary: Billy was a pretty shitty brother, there was no denying it, but Max still finds herself mourning for the sibling relationship they never got to have. With him gone she thinks so are her chances of ever having the big brother figure she’s always wanted. Then in a turn of events that she never saw coming, Eddie Munson waltzes into her life. Or more like, almost runs her over.

Notes: Here it is, the final chapter. This is a little epilogue for you set a few years after the original 19 chapters. We decided to post a little early to make up for last weeks later chapter.

The detail of Max’s dream car was taken from the runaway Max book.

I do recommend reading on AO3 for optimal reading experience. We’ve been working on this fic for so many months now and it really has been a labor of love. It has been a pleasure sharing it with you and if you could spare a moment to leave a comment (even just a single word or a key smash) it would make our days.

Co-written with the wonderful @ladydorian05 and crossposted on AO3.

Series masterlist

-------------------------------------

Max is sitting at the kitchen table when Eddie walks in. The space is a lot bigger than what either of them had been used to in their respective trailers, just one of the perks of the little house Susan and Wayne had managed to afford. Eddie hasn’t lived here for a while now, but he still has a key and visits when he can.

Most of his time now is spent at the apartment just outside of Hawkins that he shares with Steve and as of the past couple of months, Robin, who occupies the spare room they have to have to avoid people's very correct suspicions that they’re anything more than just a couple of dudes living together. 

“It just makes sense, I drive her to college every day and she spends most of her time here anyway.” Steve had explained, though he really didn’t need to, Eddie was never going to say no to him. Robin was important to Steve and she’d grown increasingly closer to Eddie over the years too, Eddie was more than happy to have her around.

It’s not much, but they make it work. It puts Steve and Robin closer to college and Eddie is grateful for any distance he can put between himself and Hawkins no matter how small.

“Hey,” Eddie greets, taking a seat opposite Max who is tapping her fingers against the wooden table between them.

She doesn’t say anything, just slides a paper envelope across the table.

“What’s this?” He asks, picking it up and flipping it over in his hands, it’s still sealed.

“It’s from MIT,” Max explains.

Her friends had received acceptance letters from their schools of choice over the past month or so, including Dustin who had gotten his MIT letter a week earlier. She was happy for them all, but being the last one had only made the wait for her own response that much more nerve wracking.

“Oh shit.”

“Yup.”

“You should open it.” He holds it out towards her, but she refuses to take it pushing it back in his direction instead.

“You do it.”

“Max- I, I really don’t think-”

“Please?”

Eddie sighs, “Alright,” He says, ripping open the envelope. He pauses before he pulls out the letter enclosed inside and meets Max’s eyes from across the table, “Are you sure?” She nods and he starts reading. He lets his expression drop, his brow furrowing and expression morphing into one of disappointment and sympathy.

“What is it?” Max asks frantically, “Is it bad?”

“Dear Miss Mayfield,” He begins reading aloud, “We are delighted to offer you admission to our mechanical engineering program-”

“No way.” She cuts him off in her excitement as she jumps up, rushing to read over Eddie’s shoulder, “That can’t be right, I… I got in?”

“Yup.” Eddie says with a shit-eating grin spanning from ear to ear.

“You asshole! You made me think they rejected me!” She scolds with a punch to the shoulder, but it’s impossible to wipe the smile from her face, “Oh my god I have to call Lucas, and Dustin, and, and- oh my god.” 

“Congratulations, Red!” Eddie calls after her, laughing as she rushes off in her excitement, likely towards the nearest phone.

Max is still on the phone when Wayne and Susan return home. Wayne is carrying a bag of groceries which he sets on the kitchen counter with a greeting to Eddie as he passes.

“It’s nice to see you, Eds.” Susan adds, letting her hand brush against the back of his shoulder as she passes. Eddie returns her warm smile with one of his own. 

“Someone sounds excited.” Wayne says from the other side of the kitchen when the sound of Max’s chatter carries into the room.

“This came in the mail this morning.” Eddie can’t hide the smile on his face, he’s already read it at least 5 times since Max ran off to the other room to use the phone and he hands it over to Susan now so she and Wayne can see for themselves. 

Wayne crosses the kitchen and places a hand on the small of Susan’s back as he leans in to read the letter. They’ve been together for the better part of 2 years now and Eddie still isn’t used to them being so… domestic. He doesn’t mind it though, Wayne seems happier than he has been in a long time.

“She got in!” Wayne exclaims with a chuckle at the same time Susan lets out a squeal of excitement.

“What’s going on?” Max asks, rounding the corner only to immediately be dragged into a suffocating hug by the pair of them as soon as she’s in sight. 

Susan catches Eddie’s attention over Max’s shoulder, gesturing for him to join in and who is he to refuse a family group hug? He practically throws himself into the mix and Max lets out a little “oomph” at the impact.

“As much as I’d love to stay here and be smothered to death,” Max lets out a grunt as she tries to wiggle her way out of the embrace, “We’re going to the diner.” She says looking to Eddie, who is hearing of these plans for the first time. 

“We are?”

“Yeah, the others are going to meet us there, come on!” She explains, already pulling on her shoes.

He knew the party had agreed to celebrate once all the kids, he really was going to have to stop calling them kids now that over half of them are legal adults, had gotten their acceptance letters he just hadn’t realized it’d be happening so quickly. 

“Have fun, we’ll celebrate when you get back, ok?” Susan says, still clutching onto the acceptance letter, Eddie thinks she’d probably frame it if Max would let her.

“Ok.” She calls back, already out the door, leaving Eddie jogging to catch up.

“Hey!” He exclaims when she swipes his keys from his hand.

“I’m driving.” She beams, rushing towards the van before he can stop her.

The diner is surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon, at least it was quiet until Max, Eddie, and 8 of their friends showed up and overtook the booth in the corner of the room that they usually occupied. How Max was able to get all of them in the same place at the same time so quickly, Eddie has no idea. Some days he struggles to even organize movie nights with Steve and Robin and they both live with him.

Eddie finds himself on the vinyl bench that squeaks against his jeans every time he moves, wedged between Steve and Gareth. Gareth had become an official member of the party after he and Will had started dating. He had technically graduated the year previous but chose to take a year out of school, he’d be attending the same community college as Steve and Robin in the fall. Max sits opposite them on a chair upholstered with the same creaky fake leather next to Lucas. 

It’s going to be strange, once they’ve all gone off to do their own thing. Gareth, Robin and Steve are the only ones staying, the rest of them are going to be scattered across the country which means no more impromptu diner visits, no more movie nights with the whole gang crammed into their tiny little apartment, no more D&D sessions held in Mike Wheelers armpit of a basement. He’s happy for them, he really is, but a selfish part of him wishes they’d stay forever. Especially Max.

“Hey,” Max says, kicking his leg under the table to get his attention, “You ok?”

“Yeah.” He says with a smile. The others are still chattering unaware of the exchange, their loud voices and laughter drowning out their quieter conversation.

“You were thinking too loud.” She explains, face twisted with skepticism. She doesn’t believe him.

“I’m ok, I’ll be ok,  promise.” He assures her and he knows it’s true.

--------------

Summer brings with it warmer weather and conflicted feelings. The pride of watching the kids graduate and begin preparing for college mixed with the sadness of knowing they’ll be leaving sooner than any of them are ready for. 

Eddie barely holds it together at the sight of Max sitting cross-legged on the floor of her room as Lucas helps her sort through her things. He nearly breaks when he sees her packing up her denim battle vest in the college box, she’s accumulated quite the collection of patches and pins since the Christmas of ‘86.

He knows he’s not alone, Susan doesn’t even try to hide her tears, and Steve is barely holding it together most of the time. He gets it, Steve has spent the better part of 5 years looking out for the little twerps and suddenly it feels as though they don’t need him anymore even if that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Most of Max’s summer break is spent at the garage with Eddie after Mr. Carson offers her a part-time summer job. She loves it, finally getting to do more than run silly errands and hand over tools to the people doing the actual work and in her spare time she helps Eddie work on his little side project that lives in the corner of the garage for most of the summer. He refuses to tell her who it belongs to, just that he’s fixing it up for an old friend. She can’t imagine any of Eddie’s friends driving something like this, a cherry red ‘68 camaro Z/28 with two thick white stripes on the hood. 

It’s a week before she’s due to leave for Massachusetts and she and Eddie are at the end of their shift when he tosses the keys at her from across the garage.

“Want to take her for a test drive, make sure everything is working ok?” He asks gesturing with his head to the Camaro, and she’s in the driver’s seat before he’s even finished the question. They never let her drive the customers’ cars, especially not ones that look like this. 

Eddie hops into the passenger seat just in time to see her grin when she turns the key in the ignition and listens to the engine roar to life. 

“This is awesome.” She beams, even though all she’s done is ease the car out onto the street. 

“Go left here.” Eddie directs, leading them onto some of the quieter roads on the outskirts of town. 

The smile never leaves her face the entire time that they spend cruising along the roads in the evening sun, following Eddie’s directions.

“I have something to tell you.” Eddie blurts out about 10 minutes into their journey to nowhere in particular. 

“Oh god, I knew it was too good to be true,” Max groans, “You let me drive the car to soften the blow when you tell me you’re dying or whatever.”

“Jesus, Max. That’s where your brain goes?” Eddie chuckles, “It’s a good thing.” 

“Ok…”

“Corroded Coffin got a record deal.”

“What?!” She explains, her head whipping to look at him and the car swerving into the road so quickly that Eddie has to reach over and correct the steering before they end up destroying all of their hard work, “Are you being serious?”

They’d been working hard lately, writing new original music, traveling more, doing more gigs, and Max could always be found in the front row. Eddie had even cut his hours at the garage to accommodate for his music. They deserved it, Max still never saw it coming.

“Yeah, Red. I’m serious. We’ll have to move, only temporary to start with, but eventually.” He shrugs, ”Steve’s going to stay here for now, but he’s going to try transfer schools for the last year of his EMT program before he starts his paramedic training and internship. Wayne has Susan now, once Nancy has graduated Robin will probably follow her wherever she wants to go, you kids are going off to college. There’s nothing keeping me here anymore.”

“Oh my god, you better come tour in Massachusetts so I can brag to everyone that I know the band.”

“Sure thing, Red.” He smiles.

“Who knows?”

“Susan, Wayne, Steve and now you. I’m going to tell Dustin and the others tomorrow.” He explains and Max nods in understanding, “Oh, take the next right.”

She frowns, a little confused but takes the turn anyway, “This isn’t the way back to the garage.” She knows this road like the back of her hand.

“We aren’t going to the garage, we’re dropping the car off.”

“Dropping it off where?”

“With its owner.”

She’s still suspicious, she knows him well enough to know when he’s up to something but she can’t figure out what it is just yet so she goes along with it. 

“Alright what’s going on?” She turns to him, putting the car in park where Eddie had instructed her to pull over, on the driveway of their home. Steve’s car is there too, something that wouldn’t usually raise suspicions but something is definitely going on and she wouldn’t be surprised if Eddie had roped him into it somehow.

“It’s yours.” He states simply.

“What is?”

“The car, it’s yours.” He clarifies, “If you want it, I know it’s no barracuda and I didn’t know if getting a camaro would be too much, y’know because of Billy and all but-”

“You’re shitting me.” 

“I knew it, I should have asked before buying it, but it was the only car worth repairing  in the lot and-”

“Eddie. Stop talking, I love it!” She assures him, taking off her seat belt so she can launch herself over the center console and pull him into a slightly awkward hug.

“We all chipped in.” He explains once she’s let him go and nods to the front door where Wayne, Susan, and Steve are standing. So that’s why Steve is here, “You sure it’s ok?”

“It’s perfect.” She says, still not entirely convinced she isn’t dreaming.

“I’m still going to get you that barracuda,” He promises, “Once Corroded Coffin makes it big.” 

Watching her and the rest of the kids go that August may have been one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, even if he knew they were leaving to follow their dreams, even if he knew he could always keep in touch with them on the phone, even if he knew that they will see each other again. But those are all logical facts, and right at that moment, Eddie was anything but a logical, rational thinking being. Steve is the first to break, Eddie doesn’t hold back his tears for long after that.

 It’s three years later in the summer of 92, when Eddie and Steve arrive in a 70’s purple Plymouth Barracuda to the party’s annual Hakwins reunion. 

“Holy fuck! No way!” Max shouts when they get out of the car and Eddie throws her the keys.

“Yes way. I promised, didn’t I.”

“Holy shit! Thank you, Eddie!” She runs to him and jumps into his awaiting arms.

“Anything for my little sister!” Eddie spins them around before letting her shoes touch the ground again, “Come on, help us with our luggage before you take it for a ride.”

They unload their bags from the back seats and the suitcases from the trunk between the three of them.

“Why did you guys bring so much stuff?” Max asks, setting down a black duffle bag with a huff of exertion.

“Steve’s skin and hair care products.”

“Yeah, sure, blame it on me.” Steve leans over closer to Max and cups a hand around his mouth as he faux-whispers loud enough for Eddie to hear very clearly whilst pretending he’s being stealthy about it, “He packed three more suitcases, had to convince him to leave them in the tour bus.”

“He made me leave my sweetheart on the bus, can you believe it!?”

“I’m more surprised you went along with it.”

“It was that or leaving my stay-in comfortable clothes.”

“Babe, two weeks, it’s just two weeks until you’re reunited with your other sweetheart for the Indianapolis dates.” Steve assures him with a tone that screams ‘long-suffering boyfriend’. Max has missed this, listening to them bicker over the phone just isn’t the same.

“Two agonizing weeks.” Eddie dramatically places an arm over his eyes.

“Did you bring the tickets?”

“Never doubt me, Red. Backstage passes and all that.” Eddie says digging in his pocket and producing a lanyard which he dangles in front of her.

There’s a new ring on his left hand, or one she doesn’t recognize at least, but she only gets a quick glimpse before he’s stuffing the lanyard back into his pocket. He usually tells her when he gets new jewelry over their weekly phone calls. 

Wayne and Susan greet them from the kitchen when the three of them walk through the front door, arms filled with Steve and Eddie’s luggage. Eddie gets enveloped by his uncle’s arms first and then Susan’s.

They’ve been timing and organizing their vacation days so that the four of them, well five with Steve, could spend some time together before Corroded Coffin’s first concert date in Indianapolis and Lucas had promised to stop by for dinner later that night after his shift at his summer job.

Max helps them move their things into the room Wayne and Susan always have ready for Eddie. She’s about to leave, let them unpack and have a bit of privacy when Steve practically shoves Eddie her way.

“Go, have fun driving your dream car for the first time.” Steve smiles at them, “I can unpack our stuff. Just be careful with the speed limit, Hopper may still be the Chief, but if another officer pulls you over, you will be getting a ticket.”

“Yes, mom.” They reply in unison.

With a reminder from Susan to not be late for dinner, they jump in the car. Max takes them down the same road they took when Eddie gave her the keys to her Camaro for the first time. After she’s had enough, for the day at least, of speeding up and down the empty road, she drives them to their spot in the quarry right in front of the water.

“Shit, this brings back memories.” Eddie muses, stretching his back as he climbs out of the passenger side.

“You talk like an old man,” Max snorts, “we were here just before I left for college a couple of years ago.”

“An eternity ago!” he exclaims, dramatically throwing his hands in the air.

“Come sit your ass down, you drama queen.” He takes the place she’s patting to her right, “Tell me, what have you been up to since we last talked on the phone like… what? 6 hours ago?”

“7, I called you when we were at the gas station.” He tells her, “Got recognized by a couple kids as I was leaving, well teens really, it was pretty cool either way, I’m never going to get used to that.”

They catch up on everything they didn’t feel comfortable sharing through a phone, about how things are going between Max and Lucas, and all the little things and juicy tidbits from their lives, in the serene space that has been theirs for years now.

“So… Are you going to tell me where you got that new ring? You told me about the snake one with red gems for eyes but you didn’t mention this one.” 

“Well, that’s because I didn’t get it myself,” Eddie says, toying with the new addition on his left ring finger, “Steve gave it to me.” his cheeks redden as he admires how the gem in the center of it reflects the light from the afternoon sun.

“That’s nice of him, he really knows the kind of jewelry you like… wait a minute, let me see it,” she grabs his wrist and pulls his hand closer to her so that she can inspect the ring. A silver band with a black stone.

“Hey! Careful with the merchandise!”

“No fucking way! Damn it, Steve! This means Wayne and I owe my mom 50 bucks!”

“You guys still remember that bet!?”

“Of course we do! We’ve been waiting for this to happen since Steve followed you halfway across the country.”

“It might be frowned upon by the law, but fuck the law and neither of us is really religious so,” Eddie shrugles his shoulders. “It's fairly recent we haven’t decided if we’ll have a party, some kind of made-up ceremony or whatever.”

“I’m happy for you guys,” She smiles sweetly at him.

“Thanks, Red. I’m happy too.”

“Good.” She says, stares out at the water for a second then turns to him with a frown when something occurs to her, “Just don’t tell mom yet, I don’t have 50 bucks to spare right now.”

“Not to worry, we’ll make the big announcement when we decide what to do.” he laughs, “But on that note, we better go back, it’s getting late.”

Max takes them the long way home, making the most of the late summer sun. Dinner is already on the table when they walk in. Steve is in the kitchen with Lucas, pouring out 6 glasses of water, and Max doesn’t even stop to toe off her shoes before she goes to greet her boyfriend. Steve shakes his head and gives them a fond smile as she drags Lucas outside to see the barracuda parked in the drive. Her ‘cuda.  

Dinner is a noisy affair, excited chatter overlapping as everyone takes their turn to catch up with each other after months apart.

And everything in the world is good.

[drkineildwicks]

Packing for Hogwarts

Just giving you guys a head’s up that I’ll probably be real quiet on social media for a bit because starting tomorrow I’ll be playing Hogwarts Legacy

I am very excited for this game I think the only other game this year I’m this excited for is the Breath of the WIid sequel

“But Kineil it’s problematic!”  Shush.  The game is purchased, the game has been purchased since early January when I told Mom about it and she whipped out her credit card, it’s an open-world Harry Potter game and I haven’t seen one of those since Chamber of Secrets for the PC ages ago and that one barely even counts.

“But Kineil you shouldn’t pre-order games.”  This is probably true!  In an era where games are famously rushed out half-baked with big day-one patches (looking directly at you, Pokemon), you should be very careful when buying games early on.

As such, I’ll be biting the bullet for you all and letting you know how gameplay goes, no politics involved.  I understand it’s Souls-like and I have no experience with that sort of game, but I’ll definitely let you know.  I have a degree in Game Art and have a general idea of how games are put together, so the reviews will mostly be centered around functionality.

Also, since CBR refuses to functionally cover this game out of fear of discussing JK Rowling, this will all be for free on Tumblr.  There’s a lot of political shenanigans and controversy surrounding the whole HP-verse, but normalizing the idea that we can disown a creator from their creation is a very dangerous path that I refuse to go down.

In other news, I would like to personally thank every single person who dedicated so much energy to hating Hogwarts Legacy.  If it wasn’t for them, I and so many other people would have never realized the game was coming out and bought it.  The game has topped every single chart it’s on thanks to their hard work.

Also to these people: “I can’t believe people can be so forgiving of a video game!”  My dudes you have clearly never been in the Pokemon fandom in the past twenty years if people can forgive scarvi’s buggy performance they can play through anything.

Once again I will be reviewing the game on Tumblr for free and giving a politics-free assessment of the game for everyone’s reading pleasure and so they can make their own decisions on whether or not they will play the game because people are unique and possessing of free will.  Mom suggests I also point you to my Patreon and Ko-Fi accounts if you desire to tip, but the content itself will be free and tagged with “Kineil plays.”