#d) get to talk about fics

[rainbow-nerdss]

"How come you never talk to me about sports?"

It's late in the afternoon on a lazy Sunday, and they're just curled up on the couch together. Eddie's got a book in one hand, and he's carding the fingers of his other through Steve's hair. Steve's got the sports pages from the morning paper in his lap, and he's looking through it idly.

He stops when he hears Eddie's question, though, cranes his neck back to look at him.

"Huh?"

"How come you never talk about sports? I just realised I don't even know what teams you support." Eddie dog-ears his book and sets his book aside as he asks.

Steve frowns. "But… you don't care about sports. Like, at all. Why would I bore you by talking about it?"

"Are you bored when I talk about D&D?” Eddie asks, hand stilling in Steve’s hair. Steve shakes his head. “I tell you about my sessions all the time. I tell you about the books I'm reading and music shit, and you always listen to me. You don't really care about any of that stuff, either."

Steve shakes his head. "Yeah, but that’s different,” he tries to argue.

“How so?”

Steve wracks his brain for the words to describe it. “I like listening to you talk about D&D because you get so excited. I like hearing you talk about something you care about."

Eddie smiles and kisses Steve’s forehead. He looks almost smug, like he’s won a debate Steve hadn’t even realised he was part of.

"So let me ask again. Why don't you talk about sports more?"

Steve is quiet, staring at nothing in the distance as he puts the pieces together.

"I never... Nobody ever.... I mean, except Lucas, but Robin and Dustin always rolled their eyes when I made references to it, so..."

Eddie cups Steve’s face and looks him in the eye. "Tell me something."

"What?"

"I don't know. What's the drama right now? How's your team doing in the league or the championship or whatever it's called? Tell me about the last game you saw on TV! I wanna hear you talk about your interests, too."

Steve feels warmth burst in his chest as he sets the newspaper aside. 

Eddie leans back against the couch, watching fondly as he listens. Steve is hesitant at first, stumbling over his words. A little voice in the back of his head keeps tripping him up, telling him Eddie doesn't care about any of this and you're boring him, wrap it up.

Every time he lets the voice win, though, every time he stops talking, trails off, or tries to change the topic to something Eddie might enjoy more, Eddie asks him a question.

"What does that rule mean?"

"How does team selection even work?" 

"What would your dream line-up look like right now?"

And Steve answers. And Eddie listens.

When Eddie finally runs out of questions, Steve's surprised by how happy he is.

"You're really cute when you talk about sports, you know that right? Your face lights up with it."

Steve leans in and kisses Eddie. "I love you."

"Love you too, babe. I really do."

[fluffyartbl0g]

Someone get this man a younger sibling that ISNT like. Twice his height.

[beanghostprincess]

tired of people completely ignoring luffy's insane obsession with zoro!!! it's always "zoro's devotion this" and "zoro worshipping him that"!!! what about my boy luffy absolutely being head over fucking heels for his swordsman??? what about luffy being constantly afraid of losing zoro the way he's lost other people???? what about luffy being so clingy because he needs zoro so so close it hurts to be apart from him???? what about his possessiveness over zoro??? that's HIS swordsman!! what about luffy trusting zoro blindly and knowing he'll be fine if he needs to lead the crew??? c'mon! luffy's love is different but it doesn't make him any less obsessed with zoro.

[dirwael]

thirteen really puts mc's death and the related angst into a new perspective... unless she tampers with their life candle, she's forced to watch as it slowly melts until the flame finally goes out. she'll likely be the first person to know of mc's death unless they're with others. but what will she do afterwards? will she get to handle their soul? will she let them go? will she keep them?

could she even revive mc?

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

okay i finished watching the episode and i'm

IM ABOUT TO EXPLODE RAAAAAA

[buff-muffin]

I’m just. Just thinking about how the ASL brothers might have different feelings on Dadan and her hut.

Like for starters Ace. Dadan is the woman who raised him though let’s be real he probably heard every step of the way how she never wanted to, how he was a burden on her. That piled on with the whole Roger’s offspring never should have existed, probably never made for a good pairing. But the funny thing with children is. A part of them, especially when young and developing want to make their caretaker happy and so. Maybe that’s why Ace was so independent from a young age. Being out of the house and caring for yourself meant he wouldn’t be a burden. Meaning Dadan would be happy. Though being alone also means he doesn’t have to listen to her or the others talk behind his back either.

Then after the fires. I think it clicked in his and her head of what they mean to each other. After all. Dadan says these horrible things about him yet she saves him from the fire and Bluejam pirates. He’s heard her say all this terrible things since he could remember and he patches up and care for her wounds carrying her home. I think after the fires. Ace really registers that Dadan is safe. And that’s why after Sabo left he and Luffy didn’t build their forts far in the privacy of the forest but right at her side. Because she’s safe.

Then there’s Luffy. Unlike Ace, Luffy to some degree had a stabile home growing up with Makino. Yes the girl was busy and yes she never had time for Luffy. But her bar was always open to him and she would always be there caring for him. Luffy knew what security was. And he also knew security came in all shapes and sizes. After all the red haired pirates were scrappy drunkards that would pester, tease, bully and heckle him any chance they got. But they cared for Luffy and he knew it. Shanks lost his arm for Luffy to keep him safe. So the bandits behaviour probably never threw him off. But the fact they were BANDITS did. You can’t blame him. His first traumatic experience that was a big part in the shaping of his childhood was caused by bandits.

But every day he came home battered, beaten, muddied, bruised. And just like Makino they would al patch him up. And just like Shank’s crew, would tease torment and bully him. Luffy knew they were safe from day one, and really he probably doesn’t think of her as a mother but she is still definitely family. She when he left on his journey. The fact they were bandits to him just meant they weren’t as cool as pirates. But she was still the best damn bandit in the world.

And finally Sabo. He actually has very little interaction with Dadan throughout the whole flashback besides farting while she talks and sharing a meal. But honestly that quick ease around her made me think. For someone who had such shitty absentee parents and then raised himself on the streets for at least months maybe even years. He was so… trusting? Sure he’s ten, and ten year olds aren’t really that suspecting of the world yet. But of someone of the background, it strikes me as odd.

Do you think he had heard about Dadan from Ace? Like come on, preteens be preteens. Surly Ace has arrived whining about Dadan and her bandits and to Sabo, tales of fighting for each meal. Being literally thrown into a bath tub and her screeching at other bandits and things probably sounds crazy, surreal, like a dream. He’d never say he’s jealous of Ace. After all he knows Dadan isn’t the best but a ‘family’ that talks to you must have sounded amazing. Sabo fit right in at Dadan’s hut because this was the family he had always wanted. And even if for a little while he got to treasure.

[aauroralightss]

happy work in progress wednesday!! here's a passage from my current multichapter wip! the premise is fallen angel vash au, but this is an interaction in chapter nine with livio :)

---

“A roommate?” Livio’s eyebrows shoot up. “In that tiny rental?”

“Well, it wasn’t—planned. He’s sleeping on the couch.” Wolfwood scratches the side of his neck. “But yeah. His name’s Vash. He’s…” Wolfwood struggles for the right word to use to describe his roommate, actively fighting the urge to call him angelic or heavenly, knowing how that would sound to his brother. (Even if it would be really funny to recount to Vash later.) “He’s a nice guy. You’d probably like him.”

Livio’s eyes widen. “A nice guy. You like him!”

“I—what?”

“As a person,” Livio clarifies with a hand lifted. “Unless—”

“No.”

“Okay, then as a person.” Livio grins. “But you definitely do. The only other person you’ve ever outright called nice is that Millie Thompson.”

Wolfwood can’t deny that—or at least he can’t deny that Millie is nice—but it’s a little humiliating that Livio has been keeping track. “...So? I’m living with him, I’m allowed to like him.”

[dootznbootz]

With how I'm planning my fics, since Menelaus and Agamemnon spend some years at Tyndarius' palace, I kind of have them all be childhood friends in a way before Agamemnon and Menelaus take back their kingdom (Aga is around 19, Menelaus 15 when they leave. 5-6 years later they get married.) With how their marriages work out when talking about "Old times", Odysseus is the "odd one out" as he was the only one who didn't grow up alongside them. The poor guy is left out.

Odysseus: "Wait, why is everyone laughing? What does that mean? I don't get it." Penelope: "Well you see-" Goes on about a silly story but the inside joke is dumb. "...You probably would've had to have been there to get it" Odysseus:

[skepsiss]

Long Road Ahead - pt 1.2

So this is a backtrack episode. Just a very small vignette into a moment Steve and Eddie shared near the beginning of the summer. It's extremely soft. I wanted to touch on how men/boys really have it drilled into them that they can't be physically affectionate with one another (especially in the 80s). Whether it is friendship or romantic, there is such a barrier that is drilled into guys to 'keep all their emotions in.' Just Steve being a soft boy and Eddie being a fragile, broken thing.

CW: Mention of physical recovery (Max), emotional damage/healing from the past.

Pt1 Pt1.2  Pt2   Pt3 Pt4 Pt5

----

Steve always said the perfect things. He didn't talk that much, especially when they were in a group. He observed or zoned out, or sometimes paying such close attention his brows knitted together, but when he did speak Eddie couldn't help but feel a shot to his heart. Whether he was frustrated, confused, or enamored it didn't matter, it always felt like Steve had the punchline to every joke. Even when no one was laughing. Even when things weren't funny and Steve wasn't trying to lighten the mood. 

Steve directed subtly; asked questions, and only shied back after speaking when the kids made him feel stupid. It wasn't stupid, it was brave. Asking when you didn't know something. He was engaged, he cared; asking questions was something Eddie shrank away from. 

When he was confused, he just had to live with it. Asking questions led to getting hit or yelled at, but even when Steve asked questions and someone would snap at him, he kept asking questions. And the questions made sense. He asked them so other people didn't have to. When Eddie himself felt confused and when everyone else seemed too scared to ask for the details; it was like Steve knew how to bring people together. He was all love and he didn't know better so he didn't pretend to play smart. No one knew anything, Steve was just brave enough to be the stupid one. 

Bless him, he was also the best at explaining things. Adding context, trying to bring the new traumatized teen up to speed on all things weird. So Eddie instantly felt drawn to him. He felt safe not only because he had seen Steve bite the head off a bat and worse, but because his ability to protect extended beyond the physical. In a group filled with over-zealous, fantasy-happy kids with a hero complex, Steve brought reality back to them.

No, we should not be putting our lives at risk. No, the children should not be handling guns. No, I don't want more people to get hurt. 

Things that seemed obvious but everyone else seemed to forget about, even when ultimately he got outvoted. He still said it, he was still willing to be the stick in the mud. 

It went deeper than that though because even when things weren't dire and the world wasn't ending, when kids got to be kids and drop-outs got to be drop-outs, Steve was still that person. He still cared and smiled, spoke and teased, listened and asked questions. Maybe that was it... he just inherently understood the perfect balance between listening and speaking. You always felt heard around Steve. He was engaged. He laughed at jokes and had a snide remark up his sleeve because he was engaged. 

So, when Steve had asked Eddie subtly if he was 'okay' after everyone else had flitted away it took all of Eddie's willpower not to break down. 

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Eddie lied after he had stared wide-eyed at Steve for a long moment. 

He had alluded to something, made some kind of self-deprecating joke that people had clicked their tongues at or laughed with him about, but Steve had stayed quiet because he had been listening. He had really been listening. 

Steve was quiet for a moment to Eddie's response, watching him as if he was going to reveal something else. The scrutiny of his gaze had Eddie squirming, the rest of the party far off and out of earshot by now. Steve had lingered and Eddie, maybe, had subtly wanted him to stay behind. 

"What, you don't like humor anymore?" Eddie asked, feeling the weight of the silence getting to him, teasing his way through his discomfort.

Steve stopped staring and looked forward again, walking with Eddie along the trail they were on. They could hear Dustin yelling about something around the bend, his voice echoey as he hollered at Max. 

Walks were supposed to be good exercise for her, rebuild the muscles or whatever, so instead of making it a chore they all tried to make it an outing instead. Eddie knew that the reason he and Steve were here was because they were worried. If something happened at least someone slightly older could pick up the slack. 

"I didn't think it was very funny," Steve said quietly, not looking at Eddie. 

Eddie's heart sank at the words, not because he wasn't funny, but because Steve was picking at a part of him that he didn't want to show. A part that was raw and sensitive still, even after all this time. 

"What was the joke?" Steve asked, "which part was funny?" 

Eddie clammed up, his lips tight as Steve got to the heart of it. What had been funny about what he had said? It's funny because I'm a coward Steve, that we should look starkly at the world and realize that being alive is one big fucking joke. But he couldn't say that, he didn't want that to be out in the world, for the reality of how he felt about himself to be spoken. 

Eddie shrugged, looking down at his feet as he shuffled along the dirt path. Things went quiet again, and Eddie felt the itch to speak even though he didn't want to answer. 

"Am I supposed to explain how to walk your way into a joke, Harrington?" He was being mean. He could feel it. He was using the 'you're stupid' as a defense mechanism and he really didn't like it when people treated Steve like he was stupid.

"I dunno man," Eddie said, backtracking, "dark humour I guess. Not everyone finds that stuff funny. It's not a big deal." 

Steve was quiet still, not looking at him as they walked. They rounded the bend and could see the kids way up the path. They were joking and teasing each other, Lucas's arm protectively on Max as he helped her keep her balance on too-weak legs. Kids just getting to be kids. 

"They look up to you, you know?" Steve suddenly said and Eddie couldn't help but look over at him, shy with the intensity of what that comment could mean. He wanted to reply to that, to say something smart and quippy so this conversation could be derailed, but Steve kept talking before he could reply.

"I don't think... it's great for them to hear you talk about yourself like that." 

Eddie's heart sank again, looking at his feet as he slowly shuffled to a stop. Steve got a couple of steps away before stopping to looking back at Eddie, the two of them at a bit of a standstill. 

Fuck.... why did Steve have to be so engaged? Why couldn't he just not care like everyone else in the goddamn world? 

Eddie pinched his lips together, looking away like a scolded child. He was a mix of anger and fear, his emotions roiling, but under it was this feeling of want, of sorrow and adoration. Like he was a kicked dog trying to decide if he was going to bite or rollover. 

"Are you okay?" Steve asked again and Eddie felt his spine straighten this time. He still wasn't looking at Steve, but that question felt so loaded he didn't know what to do with it. Too open of an invitation. 

"What if I said no?" Eddie half laughed, putting on a smile and looking up toward the sky. "What then? What would you do? What would anyone do? Hold me like a baby and let me cry it out?" 

"Would that help?" 

Eddie had been joking, but his throat got tight when Steve asked his question. He knew exactly what to ask, huh? Every time? He knew exactly what question got to the root of everything; what question would rip someone raw?

Eddie had meant to laugh, but it came out more like a broken thing, his voice hitching as his body betrayed him. Tears started to splash down his face and Eddie turned his head away, covering his face with his sleeve, still smiling bitterly as he shielded himself from Steve. 

"Don't be stupid," Eddie found himself saying, and then instantly cringed. He hated that, he hated that he was just as bad as everyone else. That Steve's care was too big for him too. Everyone pushed Steve away. 

"No, I'm sorry," Eddie swallowed, turning around, having to put his back to Steve, "it's not stupid, I just--" Eddie felt a hand on his back placed between his shoulder blades providing a comforting pressure. He grew still, his body even forgetting to cry momentarily as he stood there. He wasn't used to people initiating contact with him, offering up their hand first. He had to fight for every bit of affection he had ever got, he wasn't used to this. He wasn't used to being cared about.

Why was it so taboo? Why was it so fucking weird for a guy to ask for a hug? Eddie hated that. He hated it so much. He hated that he had to squash down every feeling that wasn't masculine or macho or whatever the fuck they fed you. He hated it. Don't care, don't cry, don't let people know you have feelings. And maybe that was why a touch to his back from Steve felt all the more loaded. Eddie rebelled against everything, but Steve? Steve had grown up in the perfect shape of a cookie-cutter life: A popular jock with good looks and money. You couldn't get more American Dream than that. 

"I'm okay man," Eddie lied, wiping his face and stuffing his hands in his pocket for a cigarette. He fumbled with the pack, but Steve didn't move his hand. 

"You're not stupid, you know?" Eddie said, feeling himself ramble, "you're just practical. Like, why else would someone's mind jump to telekinesis and demons or whatever the fuck? That's not normal, like it's fucking weird and it's fine that you don't know that crap. Who knew that memorising the presidents was going to be useless but memorising the monster manual was going to be life or death? Huh? Not me, not you. This is stupid, this reality, what we're dealing with. That's stupid, not you, you're not stupid. I didn't mean it, you know?" 

Through his rambling Eddie had shakily gotten a cigarette between his lips, tears starting to fall down his face anew as he fumbled with his lighter. He was trying to wipe his face between attempts to light his lighter, his face still turned away as if he could pretend like he wasn't crying. But Steve... god, Steve, he knew how to say the perfect things. 

"I don't think I have the presidents memorized either," he said quietly, his hand still on Eddie's back.

And god, bless him, Eddie couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped him at that. The break of tension as he covered his eyes, cigarette still hanging from his lips. He was smiling though, he was smiling as he stood there. 

"What's the monster manual?" Steve asked and Eddie felt his chest clench. He was redirecting, he was asking a question and redirecting. It was like a fucking dance, he knew how to ask the perfect questions. 

"It's a D&D thing," Eddie said, knowing full well that it was easier for him to talk about his interests than his feelings, "it's a book like a field guide or something that has all the monsters in the world in it. They've got like stats and stuff to reference and read, lore and all that." He was blubbering a bit, but his tone was less frantic, less panicked. 

"And you have it memorized?" He asked and Eddie hung his head, smiling still as he took the cigarette out from between his lips. 

"Practically," he answered, "like the order and the base of it, I have to reference it for details and stuff." 

Steve took his hand away and Eddie instantly missed the touch, but it let him gather himself. He stuck the cigarette back in his mouth and finally got it lit, puffing a few times before giving his face one last wipe and turning around towards Steve. He wasn't looking at him, he was looking at the trail where the kids had disappeared, their voices carrying just a little through the brush. 

God, even just in profile he looked amazing. Regal almost. 

Eddie stirred, taking a drag from his cigarette, wondering how often people really listened to Steve. Wondering if anyone else picked up on how smart he was, how good he was at understanding the feelings behind people's words. 

"Do you want to like... hug it out?" Eddie asked, going out on a limb as he looked at Steve. 

Steve turned, staring at him slightly shocked, obviously not expecting the question. 

"Huh?" He asked, obviously processing and not actually needing to have the question repeated. 

"You know, my... what I said. Do you want that?" Eddie tried again, stumbling through the words. 

Steve obviously didn't know what to do, suddenly on the back foot with an emotionally loaded question. Eddie didn't feel smug, but he did feel a bit more confident. It felt like he had hit the nail on the head, like he had listened a little bit to what Steve had been saying. 

"Why? Do you--" 

"No, no," Eddie interrupted, taking a quick drag from his cigarette before wildly throwing his hands to the side, "I asked you first." 

Steve waffled again before smiling ever so slightly. 

"Actually, I think I asked you first," he retorted. 

Eddie nodded his head from side to side, before pulling on his cigarette and stubbing it carefully out on the bottom of his shoe. 

"Okay, fair," Eddie replied, pinching the last of his smoke and sticking it back in his pack of cigarettes. Steve had asked--more or less--first. 

"Kind of lame though," Eddie said, sticking his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet, "that neither of us can say it." 

Silence drew out between them again, and Eddie licked his bottom lip, the spot a bit raw from the amount he smoked. Neither of them moved and Eddie wondered quickly if he had got it wrong, if he had guessed at Steve's words in the totally wrong direction. He had asked though, right? Steve had asked him if it would help---but that wasn't an offer, that didn't mean he was willing to do it. 

Shit, he had shown his hand and had probably made Steve feel awkward as hell. 

"Yes." 

Eddie looked up sharply, his eyes a bit wide as he stared at Steve. He had just said 'yes,' right? Yes, to what? That it was lame or that he wanted a hug? Or something else? It felt like he was missing something, like he wasn't asking the right questions.

He didn't need to. Steve closed the space between them and pulled Eddie into a hug, holding him around the shoulders. 

Eddie felt pinned. Steve was hugging him... Steve was hugging him? Thank god the tears didn't start anew, but it still took a moment before Eddie eased into the contact. For him to take his hands out of his pockets and wrap his arms around Steve in return. And, god, he indulged. Eddie pressed his face into Steve's shoulder, squeezing him with affection, the contact filled with all these unspoken emotions. He had needed this, he had needed this for years. Screw the Upside Down and whatever horrors were behind or in front of them, his body had needed this healing from way before all of that. To be held selflessly whether there was love or care there, whatever it was, just to be held like this. 

Steve didn't say anything this time as he stood there, arms wrapped around Eddie. It felt perfect, it felt like all of the stress Eddie had been holding onto was flowing out of him and back out into the universe never to be seen again. It felt amazing to press his face into soft-washed cotton that smelt like Steve and laundry detergent. It felt amazing knowing that even though he wasn't saying anything Steve was still listening to him. Still caring. He didn't need to say anything. Sometimes the perfect question was silent and unknown; a kindness that didn't need to be put into words.

Pt2  

[dazais-crab-addiction]

Guys guys guess what!!! I'm still struggling with health issues and writing takes a lot of effort I just don't have the energy for. But some friends decided it could be fun to do a little fanfic/fanart collab. And it's just a silly casual thing so its okay that it will take me a really long time. So im gonna be working on an enby Dazai fic that will get fanart with it!!!! I'm really excited. I hope it turns out good. This will be the first project I'm working on since I went of hiatus and im worried it will escalate my issues again but im going to try anyways. Wish me luck!!!!

[teledild0nix]

so i'm writing an 8th year fic and h&d are taking a muggle studies class together in which they read one of shakespeare's plays, and i'm trying to write a final project (for which they are partners) but like. hogwarts academics don't seem all that uhhhhh rigorous to me (like we see the students complaining about having to write a foot of parchment which is essentially ONE PAGE HANDWRITTEN) and i'm a little worried that my assignment is too rigorous.

it involves a lot of like. thinking analytically and using your imagination wrt the motivations of people unlike yourself, and that's not rlly something they do much at hogwarts as far as i can see. BUT it is muggle studies, and like. they could definitely all use some practice at those skills, following the recent implosion of their society.

[dragonsdendoodles]

I dunno about y’all but loop day’s pretty busy for me, I got a date ✌️

[worstloki]

prediction for @galaxythreads' fic You Screamed For So Long We Forgot To Care Anymore 

[bijoumikhawal]

I'm thinking again about how much it annoys me when fics make Parmak a follower of the Oralian Way and Garak a scornful atheist when the material they draw on for that characterization portrays Garak as religious and as this being apart of his heritage- and connects Parmak to the Oralian Way in no way whatsoever. Aside from my general feelings about Hebitians and class in Cardassian society it makes my eye twitch because it almost feels like its implying they're like this because of their respective moralities and implying religious people are inherently good and kind and atheists are... whatever you want to call Garak... is pretty fucked.

[theokusgallery]

Why did you make this AU?

Short answer: I love unethical men.

[insecateur]

Me, looking at vulgar french words for penis: Oh neat they also have Verga

Also tbt to the time a teacher of mine said "Le bilo bitte" instead of Bic and we spent a full hour laughing

"verge" is commonly used in french smut and is at least marginally better than "membre" which is a nightmare imo. "organe" is another euphemism which i feel like you need to be very confident in order to pull off. i haven't written smut in french in so long i'd like to write some this year

"bite" is always funny altho i do think going a step further and reaching for "teub" gives it a real special flavor