#and then i remembered the trope of magically induced fuck or die scenarios

[trensu]

How about a Magic is Real au with a dash of cursed item dubcon thrown in? I feel like there should be more of this type of au in the fandom. Y'know, for funsies.

--

Okay yeah, Steve probably shouldn't have touched the cursed object. Like, it's practically in the name, right? And Steve might not be genius-smart like nearly everyone in his friend group but he's not an idiot. He's got common sense. He's the one that grabs Dustin by the collar or steps in front of Nancy when they get into their heads to run some genius plan without taking into account that, like him, they're frail mortal humans.

Which is why he touched the cursed object himself--a handwritten poem on some thick paper that's yellowed with age--because if he hadn't, they both would have gone for it. He saw them start to reach out because they're both too stubbornly curious for their own good. He figured if the object was actually cursed, it's better that he carry the curse and have the genius-level smart people on the job of figuring out how to break it rather than them being cursed and benched for it. It's sensible! Of course none of them listen to him. But he's feeling fine so really, what does it matter?

"Okay, hand it over," Dustin says after Steve didn't display any negative effects.

"Nope! Not happening, Henderson," he responds cheerfully. Dustin tries to protest but Nancy cuts him off.

"No one else is touching the thing until it's been put in the neutralization circle. Just because Steve hasn't had a visible reaction to it doesn't mean something didn't happen."

"Look at the bright side," Robin tells the still grumbling Dustin. "We get to visit your favorite dragon master!"

"Dungeon," Dustin says exasperatedly. "Eddie's a dungeon master."

Steve and Robin roll their eyes simultaneously. "Whatever."

So they trek over to Eddie's place. Nancy and Dustin trade off questioning Steve the whole time.

"What does it say?" Dustin asks.

"I don't know, it's just some poem? No name on it. Looks kinda...sappy," Steve shrugs. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

"Better not," Nancy shakes her head. "It might be a spell that activates by voice. How does it feel?"

"...like paper. It feels like old paper."

"No weird sensations? Is it lighter or heavier than you'd expect? Does it look odd when you read from it?"

"No, Nance, it literally just feels and looks like some old-timey English homework."

"And you're still not feeling weird?" Robin asks, because she's his platonic soulmate who cares about him doesn't get wrapped up in every new puzzle that shows up like Dustin and Nancy.

"Still feeling fine. Seriously, I'm starting to think the rumors were just, y'know, rumors." He tucks the supposedly cursed paper into his jacket pocket, ignoring Nancy and Dustin's indignant protests.

They finally arrive at Eddie's place. Eddie opens the door with his usual mischievous grin.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company today, my lords and ladies?" he asks with a lazy half-bow.

"Eddie! We need to use your neutralization circle," Dustin starts to explain.

Steve should probably try to pay attention but he can't because Eddie is here. Eddie is here and taking up all his focus, and if Steve doesn't kiss him right now he might die. Steve moves without a second thought, shoving Dustin to the side to get right into Eddie's space. Eddie's bambi eyes widen (fuck he's beautiful, how is he so beautiful) and tries to take a half step back and hey, that's not allowed.

"Whoa there, big boy, what--"

Steve doesn't know what he was about to ask because he's pulled Eddie close and nipped at his lips. Eddie yelps in surprise, and Steve takes advantage to deepen the kiss The shocked whimper that escapes Eddie's throat thrills Steve. Eddie starts to relax into his arms and all Steve can think is yes, yes, this is what he wants. Distantly he hears someone squawk in shock, followed by other similar exclamations from other people that really really don't matter right now because Eddie is in his arms and Eddie wants him and he needs Eddie to take him to bed right now.

Eddie tears his mouth away from Steve and wait no, why's he doing that, oh, hang on Steve can work with this. Steve presses wet kisses along Eddie's jawline.

"S-Steve," Eddie gasps, and doesn't that just sound delicious? But it would be even better if Eddie would just scrape his teeth against Steve's neck. Huh. That's a...what do you call it? Dilemma? Yeah, a dilemma. How can he get Eddie to cover him in love bites and talk to him in that voice at the same time. He pulls back for just a moment to ask Eddie what he would rather do, because Steve is down for whatever Eddie wants, and in that moment the worst possible thing happens.

Someone else's hands grab the back of his shirt and yank him back while Eddie takes the chance to also shove him away?? Why is he shoving Steve away?

"What the fuck," Eddie says, sounding slightly hysterical. "What the fuck just happened?"

Did Steve upset him? Oh god, what did Steve do wrong? He knows Eddie wants him so he must've screwed up big time if Eddie's pushing him away now. Steve has to fix it, he has to.

He tries to get back to Eddie but the hands on him tighten their grip and Steve nearly growls in frustration.

"Steve what are you doing?!" Nancy asks, voice high pitched and grating and Steve feels a flare of annoyance because wasn't it obvious?

"I was kissing Eddie," Steve bites out.

"Why?!" Dustin screeches.

"Because I'm good at it and I want him to fuck me," Steve snaps. Because, again, this should be obvious and they are getting in his way.

Dustin slams his hands over his ears, screeching again. "NOPE, NO, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS."

Underneath the screeching, Steve hears Eddie giggle. When he looks over to where Eddie's plastered himself on the opposite wall (and damn, why hasn't Eddie shoved him up against the wall yet? He can't think of anything better than having Eddie manhandle him), he sees that while Eddie is giggling, he doesn't look exactly happy about it. He looks skittish, which is the opposite of what he's supposed to look like. He's supposed to look like he wants to eat Steve up with a spoon. Steve tries to smile at him anyway because he loves Eddie's laugh and he hates seeing Eddie distressed. For some reason, Steve's smile makes Eddie look more distressed.

"Uh," Robin clears her throat. "So, um, is this something new? Because, I'm kind of insulted you didn't tell me you were dating, Steve. We're supposed to tell each other these things!"

"We're not, we're so not. I have no idea what's happening right now" Eddie interjects and Steve feels his heart splinter a bit. Alright, Eddie might technically be right in that they haven't actually done or said anything about dating or making out or doing dirty dirty things to each other before but that doesn't matter because he knows Eddie wants him and he needs Eddie.

"Eddie," Steve says, "Eddie it's fine, I just want...why are you so far away?" Steve takes a lurching step towards him.

Suddenly, Nancy's hands move from where they'd been gripped into his shirt and puts him in a chokehold. "Nance," Steve rasps. "What? Let go."

"I think we've found the curse, Steve, so no, I'm not letting go," Nancy says firmly.

"Curse?" Eddie asks, looking straight at Nancy and not sparing Steve even a glance, what the fuck. Steve struggles against Nancy's hold but she doesn't budge an inch.

"We were following up a rumor about a cursed object and we found a handwritten poem--"

"--that the dingus of course just had to grab--"

Well that was rude. Steve's gotta find himself a better platonic soulmate. But that's a problem for later, right now he has to figure out how to coax Eddie back.

"He said he was fine though," Dustin whines. "He was acting completely normal!!"

"We were coming over to use your neutralization circle so we could investigate the item safely. And yes, Steve was behaving normally before we got here," Nancy continues to explain. God, why did these people have to talk so much? Can't they see they're wasting their time?

"I am fine, I don't know why you all are acting like this," Steve complains and tries to wriggle out of Nancy's grip again.

"Why we're acting like this?" Dustin splutters.

"We're not the ones acting weird, idiot," Robin says.

"You're keeping me from Eddie," Steve says as an explanation. "Nancy let me go!"

"Yeah, that's not--this is not normal behavior for you, Steve-o," Eddie says, and he might as well have stabbed Steve in the heart. How could Eddie not know how much Steve needed him?

"Eddie," Steve whimpers. He needs to fix this immediately. "Don't say that, Eddie. I'm sorry, whatever I did, I'm sorry okay? Tell Nance to let me go and I'll make it up to you. Just give me a chance. I'll make you feel really good, Eddie, I promise. You want me on my knees don't you? I can do that! You can even pull on my hair."

Eddie makes a strangled sound. Nancy on the other hand makes a disgusted noise that was almost inaudible under another of Dustin's screeches. Robin starts to babble something about getting the paper into the circle yesterday.

Steve really doesn't understand why everyone is freaking out.

(one additional bit to the au)

[doitsuxi]

Top five Omae Gotoki WN moments

Full of spoilers, of course!

5 - Party at the Wealthy mansion

I’m talking about the party they have at the end of the Chimera arc. There isn’t much to say about this one, everyone is celebrating they have gotten rid of Necromancy, the Children of Origin and Chimera, the main characters are chilling and then the last line hits you like a a sack of bricks, this shift in the mood sent a chill down my spine when I first read it, I had to double check I had indeed translated it correctly. Perfectly executed cliffhanger.

4 - Hunting down Satlis

So, as I’ve stated before, I really like Flum because while she’s not an all-loving heroine, she’s not an edgelord either. She’s nice to those in need and has a strong desire to help her friends, but the hardships she has been through took a major toll on her mental stability, and it’s made very evident when Satlis, the previous owner of Milkit, kidnaps her with the intention of torturing her to death. Flum had already decided she would kill Satlis since she’s the one who had given Milkit the poison that disfigured her face before the story began, which speaks volumes about Flum’s sense of morality. Then she goes on a rampage when Milkit goes missing, a side we had already been introduced to at the end of the second arc, but this time she systematically hunts down Satlis, finds her hideout and proceeds to give her a horrible, horrible death. I like this part because it thoroughly shows something the story’s been saying or just showing a glimpse of for two arcs now: Flum ‘the hero’ doesn’t really exists, it’s all because Milkit is by her side she’s even trying.

3 - Cyrill vs Crosswell

This one is from the extra chapters. I liked this fight for a lot of reasons, but the main reason is that it had three parts: Cyrill in the dreamworld, which brings back memories from the End of the World arc and then you realize, hey, the hero doesn’t remember this, she never actually experienced any of this. It’s a great ‘what if’ scenario and the way she handles it makes it clear she’s way more mentally stable than people give her credit for. Second part is Cyrill and Crosswell in his ‘office’, which brings interesting parallels between the both of them. Crosswell’s reasoning is finally explained, he wanted to save his little sister and failed. He knows there’s no point on blaming everything on Cyrill, but he just doesn’t give a fuck and even endangers Chocolat in order to get to Cyrill, which ends with the hero nonchalantly killing him. And finally, the third part Cyrill vs Dream Crosswell. My God did Cyrill get some serious ass-whooping. It’s not only an entertaining fight, it also shows how not even the hero is immune to Shea’s dream magic (which is too OP if you ask me, but I think that was the whole point) and how, even when lying on the floor bleeding out, her will to fight is still strong. The part where she outplays Crosswell by summoning a fake Origin core is too fucking cool, and the consecutive bit with her trying to resist the urge to kill with all her might is fantastic, but I gotta admit I’m biased because I’m a sucker for the ‘cooldown hug’ trope. At first I was kinda of indifferent towards Cyrill, but this chapters put her on my top three favorite Omae Gotoki characters. 

2 - Flum vs Echidna

The End of the World arc is one of my favorites, I remember reading the little warning at the beginning of the arc, the one that goes ‘there will be a lot of disturbing things on this one!’ and thinking to myself ‘then wtf do you call everything so far’ and diving head first on the story and oh boy it was some serious shit. All of the chapters on this arc transmit very well the feelings despair and hopelessness of the situation the characters are going through, it truly feels like everything is lost and they’re all going to die, everyone loses important things and they can’t even stop to grieve. The most despair-fueling scene in the first chapters of this arc is, in my opinion, is when Echidna shows up. She’s just so fucking strong, so fucking far from human, so intimidating and nightmare inducing. She takes away Flum’s greatest strength, the cursed sword, and destroys it. Until that point, most of the time I thought ‘no matter how horrible her wounds are, she’ll heal so it isn’t really a big deal’ but the moment she lost that power I legit though she was going to die, there was just no way she could do anything against the monster Echidna had become, so while it’s not the best battle, it’s the only one that made me actually think ‘Flum’s going to die for real this time’.

1 - Flum and Milkit’s wedding - before the final battle

This one fucking destroyed me. I’m gonna admit a lot of things on this WN made me shed some tears, but I was honest to God crying my heart out while reading this. It’s a very well-structured scene, Flum taking Milkit to the church in the middle of the night in a devastated village of a fallen kingdom, in a world that’s about to end, and deciding that the last thing she wants to do before going to the final battle is marrying her, at the same time we learn Jean, of all people, is sorry Flum might not get to see Milkit ever again. This part made me like Jean, not only because he decides to be upfront with Flum, but also because he does all of this knowing he’s going to die. But of course, that’s secondary in this touching scene, it was just so bittersweet because Flum and Milkit simply can’t live without each other after all they have been through, Milkit promises to wait as long as it takes, Flum promises she’ll be back not because she’s the hero and heroes come back to protect humanity, but because Milkit is the love of her life and she wants to live with her for the rest of their lives more than anything else in the world.