#duct tape for packing boxes

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[sugaroto]

My mom keeps stealing duct tape from her work so I can pack lol👍

[andvys]

Dancing with our hands tied | S.H.

Chapter twenty five ⭐︎ Who could stay? You could stay

Warnings: none really, just a lot of fluff, a bittersweet ending, lots of love and tooth rotting sweetness

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Summary: You and Steve take another step and move into a whole new chapter.

Word count: 8.5k

Author's note: this is it, guys. this is the last chapter, all we got is an epilogue coming and thats it, the story is nearly over! It's been six months of dwoht!!!! six months of plotting and writing with @hellfire--cult ily roe, thank you for doing this with me ♡

Series Masterlist ⭐︎ Previous Chapter

♡

Moving boxes litter your entire house, some are in the hallway, the kitchen and the living room, some already emptied, some of them are still unopened, sealed with duct tape. Most boxes are in your bedroom though, yours and Steve’s bedroom. 

David Bowie’s voice sounds through the speakers, the wind that blows through your open window touches your bare skin, you are only wearing a t-shirt of his, your hair is pulled up in a scrunchie that he picked out for you when you went shopping together, your knees dig into the soft carpet beneath you as you sort through his movie and comic collection, taking them out of the box and stacking them up on your shelf where you had already made space for him. You were honestly a little surprised to find the Captain America comic books in one of his drawers back at his house, he never mentioned them nor did you see him ever holding a comic book in his hand but apparently he only liked them when he was a kid and he grew out of his ‘nerdy’ phase when he turned thirteen. Sure. He told you not to pack them, he told you he doesn’t need them anymore but you saw the look in his eyes, the comfort that teenage boy got from getting lost in a world of superheroes, so you packed them into the box and now they’re finding home on your shelf, ready for him to reach whenever. 

You don’t feel his eyes on you at this moment, you are too focused on the memories he packed, on the pictures you find next, of the teens, of Robin and Eddie, of his parents and some of his from his childhood, pictures of you. 

Steve had never felt more at peace than he does now, standing in your now shared bedroom, he is sorting through his clothes, placing them on the hangers and into your closet, he is sneaking glances at you, wearing the biggest smile on his face. Your hair is falling out of the scrunchie, his shirt is riding up on your thighs, a soft look resides in your eyes and on your lips as you flip through the pictures he took to his new home. His heart skips strongly as he looks at you, he’s got everything he ever wanted, absolutely everything. 

When you asked him to move in with you after only two weeks of dating, he didn’t waste a second to say ‘yes’, perhaps he even sounded a little too desperate when that word left his lips but he couldn’t help it. He hated to be away from you, even more so than before, when you weren’t dating yet. He didn’t want to spend a second without you, and neither did you. You clung to each other from the moment he asked you to be his girlfriend, not a single night was spent without the other. You ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together, you showered together and cuddled on the couch in front of the tv, every night. You never went to sleep without one another, so ‘why wait?’, you said before you asked him. 

He had no trouble leaving his house, it was only ever home because of you and he felt more at home here than he ever did back there. He felt no sadness to leave it behind, only excitement and happiness to enter this chapter of your life together. 

Steve looks at the polaroid camera next to your bed, feeling the urge to keep this moment not only in his memory but also in a picture. He places his yellow sweater into your closet before he makes his way over to the nightstand, he picks up the camera and turns it on, removing the cap leans, he tip toes closer to you and kneels down, squinting one eye shut as he aims the camera at you and he captures a perfect moment. 

A look of surprise flashes in your features, your brows are pulled up, your lips parted as you stare at the notes in your hand, the notes that fell out of the little notebook that you can only assume to be from his days at school. You didn’t mean to open it or even look inside, it could be a diary, after all. But the notes fell out when you took it out of the box. 

You blink, once, twice. You feel as though your eyes are betraying you as you read the words on the white paper. The ink is a little faded, but you can still see every letter clearly. 

Your heart is skipping in your chest. 

What are you looking at perv?

Your handwriting. 

Your note. 

You remember that day, you remember how you caught him staring at you, throughout the whole class, the hopeless girl in you was blushing but… the teenage you was annoyed, thinking that he was just messing with you, thinking that he somehow found out about your crush on him and decided to tease you, to play with you. 

You put the note down on your lap and read the other. 

Very funny, are you running out of girls to flirt with, King Steve?

You don’t even hear the clicking sound of the camera, you pay no mind to the flash going off either. You are too surprised by what you see as you keep flipping through the notes that he kept, the ones he kept for years, back when he didn’t even like you.

You flinch in surprise when you feel a pair of arms around your waist but quickly relax and melt into him, into his embrace, into his warm touch. Your lips curl into a smile when his own press soft kisses to your neck, whispering into your skin. 

“King Steve was an idiot, wasn’t he? He couldn’t throw away these notes but still kept acting like a dick to you.” 

The thought of him struggling to throw your notes into the trash, makes your chest swell with warmth. 

You tilt your head back to face your boyfriend, you place the notes down and wrap your hand around his wrist. 

“Did… you keep them on purpose?” You ask as for a moment, you thought that he might’ve forgotten them. 

“I did, my heart just didn’t allow me to throw them away.”  

You chuckle at his words and shake your head, “yeah, sure.” 

“It’s true, honey!” He exclaims, squeezing your waist. 

You flinch in surprise, a giggle falling from your lips as you hold his wrists tighter. 

“It always knew who it belonged to.” He whispers with no humor in his voice, just genuine honesty, because it’s true, his heart knew, it always knew. 

“You’re such a sap, Steve Harrington,” you say, though with nothing but a wide smile on your lips. 

“Yeah, I’m your sap,” he grins, clinging tighter to your waist, he nuzzles his face into your neck, breathing you in and kissing you there, feeling his heart swelling in excitement, in love as he thinks of his future now, a future he thought he would only ever dream of, a future you both want, with one another. He will get to wake beside you every morning, with you in his arms, greeted by your soft touch, by your sweet kisses, he will get to sit at the breakfast table with you, write the grocery list with you while you enjoy your morning coffee, he will kiss you before leaving for work and he will come home, not to an empty house like he used to, no, he will come to you, his home. 

You cup the side of his face when you tilt your head back, chasing his lips with your own, you both giggle when your noses bump together before your mouths touch and you both get lost in the sweet kiss you can never get enough of. 

His feelings grow stronger and stronger, each passing second, they get bigger and brighter, evolving into something he never thought was even possible to feel, something bigger than love, something he can’t even describe with words, even if he tried to but he feels like the happiest man in the world – in the fucking universe. 

He feels bonded to you, he belongs to you and you to him. 

He pulls away from the kiss with an even bigger smile on his face than before, he caresses your cheek and looks into your eyes, “I think… no, I know,” he corrects himself, pressing his lips to yours once more, “you’re my soulmate.”

A soft giggle escapes you, you tilt your head to the side and move closer to him. Staring at the loving look in his hazel eyes, the relaxed and happy smile he now constantly wears. 

“You really think–”

He cuts you off with a kiss to your lips, “I know so,” he whispers against your mouth, “my heart knows, I know.”

“Soulmates,” you whisper and wrap your arms around your boyfriend's neck, crawling into his lap, he happily pulls you tighter against him. “I love the sound of that.”

“I chose you.”

“Oh, did you?” You giggle. “We weren’t made for each other? You just chose me? That’s how it works?” 

Steve squeezes your waist, moving one hand up your body, he cradles your face again and tucks your hair behind your ear, leaning in to kiss your cheek, “oh honey, I think we were made with each other, but I still chose you,” he whispers in confidence, though struggling to word his feelings, his beliefs correctly. 

You gaze into his eyes, trying to make sense of his words, though your mind can follow, your heart understands. 

“Well, I chose you back, Steve Harrington.”

He smiles and he can’t hold back from kissing you again, kissing the love of his life, kissing you until he can no longer breathe. 

Neither of you heard the car pull up into your driveway, or the slam of the front door, or the loud ‘hello’. You are too caught up in each other, in the kiss, in the perfect touches. 

“Guys?” Eddie’s voice sounds through the house, “I brought food!”

You are the first to pull away, giggling when he frowns at you and chases after your lips, pecking them once more. 

“He brought food.”

“Mhmm, I’d rather eat something else right now,” he murmurs and trails his kisses down to your neck, holding your waist tighter when you try to move away. 

Your stomach flips, skin growing warm beneath his hands and his lips, “l-later, Stevie…” You stutter, trying to control your breathing when his lips find that one spot.

“Guys, stop fucking or I swear to Ozzy, I’m gonna come upstairs and–”

“Alright, alright!” Your boyfriend yells out to him, chuckling, “we’re coming!” 

“We so are coming,” you giggle into his ear, kissing his cheek before you pull away from him, amused by the groan that falls from his lips, “later.” 

His hands fall from your waist as you stand up and walk over to your dresser to grab a pair of shorts to wear, not wanting to flash your best friend by accident. 

Steve gets up as well, though his eyes never leave your form, they’re glued on your butt. He licks his lips as he watches you bend over, those silky pink panties look so perfect to rip off… later. He nearly groans again when you pull your black shorts over them. Coming up from behind, he grabs a handful of your ass, earning a squeal from you that only makes him grin when you look back at him. 

“You’re obsessed,” you snort and swat his hand away weakly. 

“With you? Yes, I am,” he smiles proudly as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and starts leading you out into the hallway. 

“No, with my ass.”

At that, he grabs your ass again, giving it a squeeze, “that too.”

Your giggle echoes through the hallway, and your best friend instantly looks up at the sound of that, standing in the middle of the chaos, surrounded by Steve’s boxes, with two bags of takeout and a confused frown on his face. 

“Hey guys.” 

“Hi Eds,” you smile at your best friend.

Steve greets him happily, a big smile resting on his face, Eddie isn’t sure if he has ever seen him like this but ever since you two started dating, Steve hasn’t stopped smiling and you are just the same, you’re basically skipping down the stairs, your eyes are shining, your skin is glowing, you are the happiest you have ever been. 

You and Steve found each other. 

Two pieces that always belonged together. 

Two pieces that became one. 

Eddie’s eyes move back to all the boxes in your hallway, the handwriting on them is unmistakably Steve’s. 

“So uh, what’s all this?” He asks, he has an idea of what this is but a part of him believes that he is just mistaking something. 

You and Steve glance at each other, eyes lighting up even more, lips curling into even bigger smiles. You bite your lip and turn back to Eddie. 

“Steve is moving in!” 

Eddie’s brown eyes grow wide, his lips part in surprise and he nearly drops both bags of takeout, he stares between you two with an expression on his face that nearly makes you both laugh. 

He looks around again, catching a glimpse of Steve’s favorite armchair now standing in your living room, along with an opened box, a blanket falling out of it, the one that always decorated the big couch in the living room back at his house. 

Clearly, you aren’t joking. 

He squints his eyes as he looks back at the two of you, watching the way your boyfriend pulls you back into his chest, his arms slowly moving around your waist. 

“Uh, aren’t you guys moving a little too quickly?” He asks, looking between you both bewildered. 

You and Steve turn to face one another, you both smile, gazing into each other’s eyes for a moment. His flash with… mischief as his hand begins to travel south, settling on your lower belly. 

You both turn back to the metalhead. 

“Nah,” you speak in unison. 

Eddie blinks, eyes flicking back and forth between you and Steve. 

“We uh… sort of cooked a little nugget… a little too soon,” Steve explains, biting back his laugh. 

You press your lips together as you stare at your best friend. You place your hand over Steve’s and lean your head back on his shoulder, melting into him when he kisses your temple. 

If Eddie’s eyes could grow any wider, they would. He blinks a few times before he closes his eyes completely, shaking his head, his curls bounce. He furrows his brows so strongly, he looks as though he is in pain. He opens his eyes again and takes a deep breath, he looks at your serious face, at his and then at Steve’s large hand covering your stomach protectively. 

Little nugget. 

You and Steve wait patiently for his reaction. 

“Jesus Christ! You horny fuckers don’t know how to use protection!?” He exclaims, raising his arms up, the paper bags in his hands rustle. You’re surprised they didn’t rip yet with the way he is flailing his arms around. “A little nugget!? What the– I need to sit down.” 

Steve snorts quietly, amused by the shock on his face. 

“Oh, this is crazy,” Eddie sighs, like a shocked father whose teenage girl just revealed her accidental pregnancy. 

You can no longer hold it in, bursting into laughter, you infect Steve with it too. His arms tighten around you as you laugh at your best friend. 

Eddie’s eyebrows rise up now, his jaw dropping slightly as he finally catches on. 

“You really fell for it,” you giggle, blinking back the tears of amusement. 

“Can you blame me!?” Eddie nearly yells, pointing at you and Steve, “you’re at it like some goddamn rabbits! Besides, we all know about his breeding kink!”

Your giggles might not ever die down today, Steve’s red cheeks make this moment even better. 

“Dude,” he groans. 

“It’s true,” Eddie snorts as he relaxes again, coming down from the shock. 

“It is,” you nod. 

Eddie opens his mouth again, though his smile quickly falls and he scrunches his nose when he looks between you both, a smirk now pulling at Steve’s lips. 

“Oh… okay, yeah uh, let’s change the topic,” he shakes his head again, holding up his hand as he squeezes his eyes shut. 

“Alright, well, there are no nuggets on the way yet, so you can relax.” 

Eddie nods, chuckling to himself. 

“Yeah, so uh… are you guys hungry?” 

You look down at the bags in his hand, only now registering the smell of fries, your mouth waters and your stomach feels empty, all of a sudden. 

You nod and open your mouth, but before you or Steve can respond, a knock on the door interrupts you. 

Eddie turns to the door before he looks back at you, brown eyes flicking back and forth between yours and your boyfriends, “are you expecting anyone?” He asks, placing the takeout bags on the dresser. 

You and Steve both shrug. 

“Not really,” you mumble. 

Eddie steps forward and opens the door, stepping aside to let you see who is standing on the other side. 

“Oh, hello ladies,” Eddie grins, waving at the little girl in Max’s arms. 

Your eyes light up in excitement, a warm smile graces your face when you see your niece who is babbling away, waving with her little arms and tugging at Max’s hair who doesn’t even flinch. 

“Oh my god,” you nearly squeal, leaving your boyfriend’s embrace, you make your way over to the two girls, “hi! Come here, princess!” You grin, lifting your arms up, giggling when Francine squeaks at the sight of you, making grabby hands before you take her from Max’s arms. 

“I missed you so much, Francis!” You whisper and tickle her side, kissing her chubby cheek. 

Steve’s heart flutters, a sweet smile tugs at his lips, his cheeks turn rosy and he feels warm all over. Every time he sees you holding your niece, he can’t help but picture you with your own little family. He takes a few steps forward, wrapping his arm around you and taking Francine’s tiny hand, “hi angel,” he whispers, cooing at her when she gets jumpy in your arms, excited to see him. He tickles her belly, making the little girl giggle, “you got so much bigger since the last time!” 

Max furrows her brows, not knowing about the day you and Steve babysat Francine together. She chuckles when your niece clasps her tiny hand around his finger. 

“Hi guys!” Your sister finally catches up, walking into the house, car keys in one hand and pizza boxes in the other. She stops next to Max, and nudges her shoulder against hers, “I ran into Max downtown when I stopped by to get some pizza!” She explains, placing the boxes on the dresser next to Eddie’s takeout bags, “oh, you got takeout already.”

“Yep, I got some fries and burgers for Blondie and boyfriend over here,” Eddie grins teasingly, knowing that you haven’t introduced him as your boyfriend to her in person yet, you didn’t get the chance to until now, she only just came back from her vacation. 

Max snickers at your flustered expression, her and Eddie share a look, both amused by the way you’re trying to hide your face in Steve’s chest which only prompts Francine to grab a handful of his shirt, making him chuckle. 

“Oh right,” your sister grins, looking between you two as she makes her way over to you, already opening her arms so she can greet you properly. 

Steve lets go of you but Francine doesn’t let him step away, she still holds his finger tightly, making both him and Eddie chuckle when she stares up at him with her big eyes, babbling away. 

“She’s just like her auntie,” Eddie comments, laughing when you shoot him a playful glare over your sister’s shoulder. 

“How are you, Daisy?” Your sister smiles, squeezing you tightly before pulling away. 

You see the teasing look in her eyes when she glances at your boyfriend behind you.

“I’m good,” you reply, unable to do it without a smile, something that makes the look in your sister’s eyes soften because it’s the first genuine ‘I’m good’ that she heard from you in years. You always lied to her about your true feelings, never letting her in, never giving her the words she wanted to hear from you, you kept it all to yourself, not wanting to ‘share’ your misery with the people around you. 

She never got through to you, no matter how hard she tried, she never succeeded, but the people in this room did – Eddie and Max did, they gave you back that smile that she missed seeing on your face, they broke you out of that little shell, you were so comfortable in for the past years. 

And Steve, he… gave you everything. 

You are more than just good. You are happy, happy in a way you have never been before. The walls around you have crumbled completely, the look in your eyes is one of love and contentment, your skin is glowing, your eyes are shining, you are just… happy. 

“So… are you gonna introduce me to your boyfriend properly this time?” She teases, only having heard from you about it all on the phone. 

Your cheeks grow hot, you know how long she had been waiting for this moment, always teasing and hoping for you to finally fall in love – as though you weren’t hopeless for years already, she was pointing out cute guys for you to date, not knowing that there was only one you had your eyes set on. 

“Twinkie–”

“You know that’s not my name,” your sister interrupts you with a glare, making you and Max chuckle. 

“Fine,” you snort, saying her real name this time as Steve wraps his arm back around you again, pulling you into him, he grins excitedly as he stretches his hand out to your sister, like it’s their first time meeting, like she didn’t walk in on you and him cuddling on your couch with baby Francine in his arms. She takes his hand with an amused smile. 

Max and Eddie share a look, amused by this little introduction. 

“That’s my boyfriend Steve,” you say with a giggle, feeling your heart burst with happiness. Francine squeals in your arms, like she’s happy to hear those words, as well, making everyone laugh in the room. 

“Steve, that’s my sister.”

“Nice to meet you, Twinkie,” Steve chuckles, earning a glare from her. 

You lean your head on his shoulder, adjusting your baby niece on your hip. Steve lets go of your sister’s hand and wraps his arm back around you again, kissing your temple. 

“I meant to say that I will kick your ass if you hurt her but I think that Max might beat me to it.”

“You’re right,” Max nods at your sister, crossing her arms over her chest, she gives Steve a pointed look, “he’ll wake up in Billy’s car again if he ever does anything stupid.” 

Steve’s eyes widen, he shakes his head at her, holding his hand up slightly with Francine’s hand still wrapped around his finger, “no way, Mayfield.” 

Eddie smirks as he throws his arm around Max’s shoulder, grinning at the redhead, “don’t worry, Steve. She’s getting driving lessons from me now.”

You snort. 

“That’s even worse, Munson,” Steve scoffs, pointing at Max, “a maniac getting driving lessons from another maniac? Yeah, no goddamn way, you’re getting driving lessons from me now.” 

Eddie looks a little offended by his words, he places his hand over his heart, “I’m a good driver.”

“Yeah, besides I’m good enough to drive by myself, I don’t need an instructor, I watched and learned from Billy.”

“Great, another maniac,” Steve sighs.

Your sister laughs at the interaction, she looks around, finally noticing all the boxes though she doesn’t say anything, even as her brows furrow and a curious, confused look flashes in her eyes. It doesn’t take her long to figure out what this means, it’s obvious, even more so with the clear excitement in both yours and his eyes. 

You look away from your friends and your boyfriend, drowning out the conversation as you look back at your sister, noticing the look in her eyes and the way she stares at the boxes. You grow a little nervous, not knowing what she thinks of this, what she will say about this but when she meets your eyes, she only shakes her head at you with a smile on her face. 

She takes a step closer, placing her hand on her daughter's back as she leans in to whisper in your ear, “when you know you know, and you always knew.” 

You nod with a smile on your face, feeling the heat of his body against yours, feeling his loving touch on your shoulder, feeling safe in his embrace. 

“Yeah, I did.” 

You knew it from the very start.

You were ruined for anyone else, before he even touched you. 

And when his lips touched yours for the first time, you knew you were done for, you thought it was over for you, that you would never find happiness after that but now you’re here, he is here, he is all yours and sometimes you are still in disbelief about it all, no matter how many weeks have passed, you still can’t wrap your head around it all, about how lucky you are, just like him. 

But there is someone else who is still in disbelief, Dustin. He was so convinced that you were dating Eddie, he just couldn’t understand how it all went by him that you and Steve had been a thing for months already, that you weren’t Eddie’s girl but Steve’s girl. 

He is even more in shock now as he is in your living room, taking in the sight of Steve’s belongings in your house, all the moving boxes. 

You invited all your friends over after the surprise visits you had already gotten, the amount of food Eddie and your sister brought was way too much anyways, so Steve made a call and invited all your friends over, well, most of them. 

Argyle went back to California. Jonathan who declined both college acceptance offers to Lenora Hills Community college and Emerson, made his dream come true of going to NYU, after a long and honest talk with Nancy, they decided to follow their own dreams, but still sticking together, even with a distance between them. Boston and New York aren’t that far apart, after all. 

So, after a little goodbye party at the hideout where Eddie and his band played, they all left Hawkins after a wild night filled with booze and weed – from both Argyle and Eddie.

Robin and Vickie went on a trip to Chicago before the latter leaves for College as well, but Robin knew all about Steve’s moving plans, he called her right away to tell her the news. 

Everyone is entering a new chapter and this time, it’s all, only positive changes, only ones you all look forward to, ones that you don’t step into nervously and with uncertainty, no, for once, you are all at peace, you are all happy, all excited for the future. 

Your living room is filled with friends, with family, it’s filled with laughter and smiles, something that has been lacking in the past few years. A house that was once just filled with sadness and a grayish glow, is now filled with life, the golden sun that shines inside, reflect the emotions in you now. 

Steve who is sitting on the couch, is holding your niece in his arms, she is sitting on his lap, happily. Babbling and giggling more than she did before, she is waving her arms around, giggling louder every time he makes a funny face or tickles her belly. 

Eddie sits beside him, cooing at the little girl every time a giggle escapes her, “oh, a fairy was born,” he tells her after each giggle from her. 

Steve gives her tiny hand a kiss when she places it on his cheek, which only prompts her to laugh again. 

“Oh, and another,” Eddie chuckles and taps her nose. 

A loving smile stays on your lips as you watch your boyfriend with your niece, adoring the mesmerized look on his face. He chuckles every time she turns to Eddie and looks at him with her big eyes before she turns her attention back to him, squealing and waving her arms around. 

Your sister sits beside you, looking stunned, “huh, he is a natural.” 

“Mhmm, he is,” you nod. 

Lucas and Dustin sit on the floor, bickering about something as always, while Max rolls her eyes at them every few seconds or so, cursing at them when Dustin throws one of the pillows at his friend. 

“Hey!” Steve shakes his head at him, giving them a disapproving look, “stop that! How old are you two? Francine over here is maturer than you two,” he grumbles, gesturing to the little girl in his arms who looks back and forth between Dustin and Lucas with a curious look on her face. 

Eddie chuckles beside him, nodding.

“You really got yourself a dad boyfriend,” your sister whispers into your ear, snickering as she sips on her coke. 

You giggle and nod your head. You love this side of him and you love how he looks with a baby in his arms. 

Steve catches you staring at him, and the scowl he previously looked at the teens with, quickly vanishes, a smile appears on his face and he tilts his head at you, beckoning you to him. 

You put your drink down on the table, pushing aside your empty plate from before, you get up and make your way over to your boyfriend. 

“Can I hold her?” Eddie asks, holding Francine’s tiny hand in his, smiling at the little girl. 

“Oh, now you wanna hold her?” Your sister chuckles, teasing him. “Thought you were scared of babies, Eddie.” 

“Only when they poop.”

“You are such a child, man.” Lucas snorts at him. 

“Hey, you’re not the one who was chased down with a diaper full of poop!” He exclaims, glaring at Max who only giggles in response. 

“You chased him down with a dirty diaper?” Lucas asks his girlfriend, who nods with a smirk on his face. 

He starts laughing and raises his hand at her, high fiving his girlfriend. 

Eddie shakes his head at the two, rolling his eyes before he looks back at Francine, reaching his hands out to her, she looks at him curiously, grasping his thumb, she holds it tightly. 

“Come here, princess,” Eddie whispers as he carefully takes her from Steve’s hands, lifting her into his arms, he cradles the back of her head even though she doesn’t even need the support anymore. “Holy shit, she’s so light.”

“Language,” Steve glares at him as he relaxes back in his seat once Eddie leans back with her in his arms. The metalhead ignores him, too mesmerized by your niece in his arms, who stares up at him, curiously and with big eyes. 

Your boyfriend reaches for your hand, not letting you sit beside him, he pulls you onto his lap instead, wrapping his arms around your waist, he takes you into his embrace, kissing your shoulder once you’re settled on top of him. 

“Hey, keep it pg in here, there’s kids and a baby in this room,” your best friend teases your boyfriend, smirking at him. 

“We’re not kids anymore,” Lucas scoffs. 

“Yeah, bet Max and Lucas meet up at Skull Rock to kiss–”

“Dude!” “Dustin!” 

Lucas and Max yell in unison, glaring at their friend with flustered faces, causing you all to laugh at them. 

“It’s the truth,” Dustin smirks, shrugging – and that is how all the bickering starts again, though this time, Max joins. 

Shaking your head at them, you turn away to watch your niece instead, laying your head on Steve’s shoulder, your heart flutters in your chest when he tightens his hold on you and kisses your temple, rubbing circles into your hip, he whispers the softest I love you into your ear. 

“Oh my god,” your best friend whispers in awe, watching your niece falling asleep in his arms, tiny hand still gripping his finger, face nuzzled into his chest comfortably. Eddie looks around, shushing at the teens. 

You and Steve look at each other in surprise, not even five minutes have passed since Eddie took Francine from Steve’s arms, and she is already fast asleep in his arms. 

“Well now we know who can babysit her,” your sister jokes, also stunned by how fast she passed out in the metalheads arms. 

“Yeah, and our  future kids too,” you say without thinking, completely unaware of the feelings those words cause inside of Steve. 

He blushes a deep red, warmth spreads inside of him and he shifts with you on his lap, gripping you tighter and clearing his throat when your best friend smirks at his reaction. 

That shuts the teens up, their bickering coming to a stop the moment they realize what you just said, they all share a look before they turn to you and Steve. 

While Lucas smirks and wiggles his brows at Steve, Max is giggling at his blushing cheeks but Dustin, he only raises his eyebrows and shakes his head, not in disapproval though.

He raises his hands up, closing his eyes for a moment, “you guys gotta give me a moment, I’m still trying to get used to this,” he wiggles his fingers between you both. 

“What do you mean?” Your sister chuckles, cocking her head to the side. 

Dustin blinks at her, gesturing to you once more, “them being a couple, I mean have you seen them before!? They were constantly at each other’s throats!”

“Yeah, cause Steve was an idiot,” Lucas laughs. 

Steve gives him a pointed look, but doesn’t fight him on that, he calls himself that, all the time, for everything that happened between you in the past. 

“I thought she was with Eddie!” 

Your sister laughs with a confused look on her face, shaking her head, “why, because they’re always together?” 

Steve rolls his eyes at Dustin, holding you a little tighter.

“Yeah! And like I said, they were always fighting!” 

“Mhmm, and suddenly they didn’t, I wonder why,” Lucas smirks, wiggling his eyebrows at you both again. 

“He really wanted them together, by the way,” Max tells your sister, pointing her finger at her boyfriend. 

“From day one,” he nods proudly, “and now they’re together, moving in together! I always knew what’s up. I mean, I always knew about Steve’s little crush on her, a guy just knows it.”

Dustin looks at him confused, he frowns and blinks at your boyfriend, staring at him for a long moment, he looks at you and then back at him before his eyes widen and he jumps up, “that is why you gave me the shittiest advice ever! You told me chicks dig it when guys are mean to them!”

“The key with girls is acting like you don’t care,” Lucas and Max mock him, giggling with each other. 

Steve groans and throws his head back when you turn to face him with an amused smile, “wow, that’s some good advice, babe.”

“Well, it clearly worked,” Eddie snorts, glancing at you briefly as he adjusts Francine in his arms. 

Dustin grins at Steve, “oh, that’s why you were so mean to her! Bet you expected her to fall at your feet but instead she was mean to you too! That’s why you didn’t stop there and just kept going because you wanted her attention – oh, now I understand!” He laughs, shaking his head as he stares in disbelief, like he uncovered something groundbreaking. 

“You know what, Henderson?” Steve mumbles, straightening his back, he leans closer to you, pressing his chest against your back, he leans his chin on your shoulder, “you’re right.” He admits after a long pause, despite hating to boost that boy’s ego, he admits it. 

He is right. 

Steve was always infatuated with you, he just never wanted to admit it, not even to himself, not even when he kept those notes that you had found earlier. He ignored what he desired, who his heart desired, because that teenage boy in him, was too proud to admit that he liked someone who didn’t like him back but he also couldn’t fight those feelings, they irritated him, they made him mean. 

So yeah, Dustin was right but so was Lucas. 

And now they continue to tease him about it all, while you sit back and watch in amusement, enjoying the redness that covers your boyfriend's cheeks while he holds you in his arms and plays with your hands, toying with your ring finger the way he always does, he tries to hide the smile on his face but fails to do so when your eyes meet his and he sees the joy in them, the one that has been there since the night he confessed his love for you. 

He loves you so much, he can’t even think of a moment when he didn’t – it’s impossible to think of one. 

You adjust on top of him, turning and twisting your body until you can lay your head on his shoulder, snuggling into him, not caring about anything around you, about the vulnerability, the softness, the affectionate side of you, you’re displaying so casually – something you would have never done before. 

Steve’s heart could burst at this very moment. 

He knows how much you struggled to show your true feelings and emotions, how you hid from the world, for years. How you never let anyone see the real side of you, how closed up and sheltered you were, how you dug yourself a hole and stayed in there for the longest time, thinking that you were better off in hiding, thinking that you had to stay in the void forever, all alone, all by yourself, with fears and a feeling of deep sorrow, you just couldn’t let go of. 

But through the darkness, through the pain that the upside down had brought you, had dragged you into, you found a family, just like he did. 

Eddie stepped into your life, a best friend you never thought you would have again after you lost both Billy and Chrissy so tragically. You didn’t want to let him in, you feared that the curse upon you that you believed you had, would take him from you too, that it was only a matter of time until the darkness would drag him away from you as well, just like it had dragged away everyone else that you have loved. But he didn’t allow you to push him away, he didn’t let you believe for a second that any of what happened was your fault, he stuck to your side, from the day at skull rock, he stuck to your side in the upside down and after, he stayed, no matter how hard you tried to deny that bond between you, he stayed. 

Max, the stubborn girl that refused to ever leave your side, who never once stepped away from you, who sees you as her big sister, just like Lucas. The two teens had to be forced out of your hospital room after what Jason did to you, they never left without a fight.

And through the darkness, through the worst days, you and Steve have found each other, through monsters and pain, through bloodshed and tears, you finally found your way to each other – neither of you are surrounded by sadness any longer, by emptiness and a longing for love you could only ever find in each other. 

This room that was once filled with silence and sadness, an emptiness, a dark cloud that always hung over your home is now gone. You are no longer alone, you’re surrounded by people who decided that you are worth loving, worth staying for, you both are. 

You have found home in each other, and you found a family. 

That night, when you are back in your bedroom, you sit on your floor next to each other, surrounded by candlelight, two glasses of wine on each side of you, a bag of your favorite candy before you and a bunch of pictures all across your floor, surrounding the corkboard that lies on the carpet. Your TV is on but neither of you pay attention to the movie playing on the screen. The smell of fresh bed sheets lingers in the room, along with the scent of his and your body wash, your hair is still wet from your shower together. 

Your giggles sound through the room as he laughs at the silly picture he took of Dustin earlier, unable to stop as he stares at the face the teen made. 

“We’re definitely putting that picture up,” Steve snickers as he pins it to the corkboard – the corkboard that was his idea, to put up pictures of your favorite memories, of the people that mean the most to you. 

“I think we’ll need a second corkboard,” you chuckle as you look at all the pictures that have taken up the entire space of the board. 

“Yeah,” Steve smiles as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and looks down at the pictures on your lap, he reaches for the one of you and Eddie, that one was taken in his backyard, both yours and his eyes are bloodshot, lazy smiles are on your faces, your hair is wild and all over the place, Eddie is wearing two pigtails, his arm is thrown over your shoulder, a joint sticking between his fingers, Steve remembers that night, the way you all got drunk and high and played hide and seek in Eddie’s backyard, like a group of kids – it wasn’t long after you and Steve made your little arrangement. That night, he pulled you behind one of the high bushes and kissed you breathless while your friends were looking for you. He was the reason for your messy hair and your puffy lips. 

Steve takes the picture with a grin on his face, taking up one of the last spots on the board, he pins it. 

“Really? This one?” You question and tilt your head back to look at him, “why?”

“Cause you look adorable,” he whispers and leans in to peck your lips, “with your hair all messed up from my hands,” he murmurs against your mouth, kissing you once more.

“Making out in the bushes was definitely something,” you giggle, nuzzling your nose into his. 

He cradles your cheeks and nods, smiling as he leans his forehead against yours. You sigh in contentment as his lips brush against yours, his warm touch sends sparks through your body, he is melting into you the way you melt into him. You look into his hazel eyes, into his loving gaze, a breathy, sweet chuckle escapes him before he closes his eyes and kisses you deeply. 

Your lips move slowly against his, you savor every second of each kiss, you both do, even though you know you have the rest of your life to do this with each other. You taste the wine on his lips and the candy, you feel his protective, soft touch, his thumb caressing your cheek as his tongue slips past your lips, clashing against your own. 

His heart flutters in his chest when you whimper into the kiss, when you throw your arms around his neck and press yourself against him, crawling into his lap with his help. 

Steve holds you tightly, his hand travels to the back of your neck, running his fingers through your wet hair, he runs his fingers up and down your spine before he cradles your cheek again. His free hand pats the space around him, touching the carpet as he searches for the polaroid camera, sighing and moaning into the kiss when you press yourself tighter against him and deepen the kiss, running your fingers through his messy hair. 

The flash of the camera doesn’t even make you flinch, it only makes you giggle as you pull away from your boyfriend, your eyes flashing with amusement when he opens his own and meets you with a grin. 

“You’re so sneaky, Stevie,” you whisper as you glance at the polaroid camera in his hand. 

Steve laughs and steals another kiss from you, he puts the camera down after you pick out the picture. 

You look down at the still developing picture, waiting for the reveal. You press your lips together, sighing when he kisses your neck. 

“I’m so happy, baby, I hope you know that,” Steve whispers against your skin, slipping his hand underneath your shirt as he hugs you against his chest. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He murmurs adoringly, the sight of your smile, of the joy in your eyes makes his heart swell so strongly. 

Many months ago, he told you to get yourself a boyfriend and stop getting on his nerves — you don’t know why this moment flashes in your mind now, why this takes you back to that day at Family Video but the memory makes you giggle. 

“What’s so funny?” Steve asks, amused. 

“You told me to get myself a boyfriend… and I did.” 

Steve furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side, he purses his lips as his hazel eyes gaze into yours, they widen and a huff leaves his mouth before he chuckles. 

“Yeah, and I fucking love it, baby. I’m your boyfriend,” he says, proudly, wiggling his eyebrows at you. 

“Well, I love to be your girlfriend, Stevie.” 

His heart will always flutter at these words, at the way you look at him, at the way you touch him, like he’s something perfect. 

“You caught me,” he whispers, pressing his lips to yours strongly, “and I caught you.”

You hold onto his neck, running your fingers through his hair, you refuse to look away from him. 

“And I’m never letting you go,” he promises, “you’re mine and I’m yours.”

Your cheeks nearly hurt from how hard you’re smiling, and it only gets worse when he leans in to pepper your face in kisses, “my girlfriend.” Kiss. “My beautiful, gorgeous girl.” Kiss. “My future wife.” Kiss. “My stars.” Kiss. “My sun and my moon.” Kiss. “My whole galaxy.” Kiss. 

You can’t stop giggling, your eyes tear up from all the laughter that falls from your lips and when you lean your head back, it only turns out to be a mistake when Steve latches his mouth onto your neck, tickling you with the stubble on his cheeks. 

“Steve!” 

His chuckles vibrate against you, he buries his face in your neck and breathes in your scent, “I’m so in love with you.”

He reminds you of that, all day, when he doesn’t whisper those words into your ear, he lets you feel it, with touches, with small gestures, leaving notes around the house or by waking you with coffee every morning when you’re not the one beating him to it. 

Steve pushes you down on the carpet and crawls on top of you, pressing one hand on the carpet beneath you, he looks away from you for a moment, taking the fully developed polaroid picture, he smiles at it as he pins it into the middle of the corkboard. 

You admire him, raising your hand to cup his cheek, you brush your fingers through his hair, it got so much longer but you love it like this, how it covers his forehead, how it curls on the nape of his neck, how messy it looks. 

“Steve?” 

“Yeah?” He whispers as he reaches for your hand, entwining his fingers with yours, he looks down at you with loving eyes. 

“I’m in love with you.”

These words always feel like a warm and comforting embrace. There is so much love that he holds in his heart for you, he can’t even put it into words just how strong it is, not even if he tried to. 

You trace his features with your fingers, touching him softly and carefully, making him melt into your touch as a smile graces his face, he slowly leans in, closer and closer until your lips are brushing against each other. 

“Forever?” He asks you, gazing into your starry eyes. 

You wrap your arms around his neck, smiling when he presses himself against you, staring at you in a way that makes all your insides tingle. 

“Forever and ever!” You grin before he slams his lips back on yours, kissing you deeply and feverishly, smiling happily against your lips as his hands make their way under your shirt while yours get lost in his hair. 

“Forever and ever,” he murmurs against your lips, opening his eyes, they basically sparkle with stars. “My darling, forever and ever, I fucking love the sound of that.” He whispers and kisses your cheek. “I love you.”

You pinch his chin between your fingers and kiss his lips, smiling brightly at your man, the golden light in your room makes him look so ethereal. His hazel eyes shine so golden, his skin inviting your lips, his hands lay on your body so perfectly, like a touch of an angel, perhaps he is one, he is yours. 

You went through the storm, the one you have always been so afraid of, you went through it, through the darkest of storms, through ones you didn’t even think existed and you didn’t come out unscathed, you were knocked off your feet and you were harmed, you took scars with you, on your body and in your heart but even through that, you came out alright – because he was always there, he always reached his hand out to you, he always waited on the other side, he was always there, even when you both didn’t realize just how close he always was, just how ready he always was to fight for you the way you always fought for him. 

You both went through so much, you both suffered greatly. 

But now you are here, with each other, where you both belong. 

Steve leans his forehead against yours, he takes your hand in his, bringing it up to his lips, he kisses your ring finger, making that smile on your face bigger and brighter. 

“I love you, Steve Harrington,” you whisper back before you melt into each other, yet again. Getting lost in the kiss, one of endless to come. 

Hell was the journey but it brought you both to heaven. 

Hands tied,

♡

well, it's over, this is the end :') (actually there's still gonna be the epilogue so I'm gonna save my sappy comment for that one)

@prettyboyeddiemunson @taintedcigs @mysticmunson @ibellcipem @joekeerysmoles @thecreelhouse @maroon-cardigan @corrodedcorpses @moon-flowerrs @munson-mjstan @munsonlore @sherrylyn0628 @agirlwholovesrockstars

[momotonescreaming]

home

Rating: T | WC: 1.8k | Eddie & Wayne Munson Family, Angst, Hurt/Comfort [read on ao3]

“Hey, Wayne?” Eddie asks, looking over at Wayne, trying to keep his voice steady — although he’s sure his uncle heard the waver in his voice anyway. He always does. He’s the one person who knows him inside out and upside down. Every which way. “Can I talk to you?”

He clutches his book tighter in his hand, crumpling the pages, and Eddie finds himself not caring all that much. The gentle scratch of the paper under his hands grounds him, way more than the lumpy motel couch he’s sitting on does. It feels wrong. He feels wrong. Like he’s held together with string and rubber bands, one thread pulled and he’s about to fall apart. About to come tumbling to the ground, all tangled together.

Wayne’s always been good at knowing when Eddie feels like he’s falling apart. Knowing when to shore up the banks, when to wrap Eddie up in metaphorical duct tape until he can stitch himself together. He looks at Eddie from across the tiny living section of their motel room, slouched in an arm chair that doesn’t look anywhere near as comfortable as the one from their trailer. But it’s what they’ve got now.

“You already are,” Wayne retorts gruffly, the way he always does, but he folds down the newspaper and rests it in his lap. Gives Eddie his full attention. Like he can tell that this is going to be a bigger, more important conversation. They’ve been having a lot of those lately, after everything.

Wayne doesn’t say anything else, just lets the moment sit, and gives Eddie the space he needs to get the words out. He appreciates it. Wayne always knows when to push, and when to pull back. When to give Eddie space, and when to crowd him. Jeff’s gotten close, Steve as well now. But no one is as good at reading him as Wayne.

Everyone always thinks that Eddie always knows what to say. How to make himself loud. Heard. Understood. He’s the bard, a wordsmith, the Dungeon Master, the voice of the freaks and weirdos. Not many understand that sometimes Eddie needs the silence. Likes it, even. That he’s not always a bundle of energy and anticipation. Coiled up and ready to spring. Ready to spit and snarl and poke the bear. Antagonise the jocks and the popular kids.

He takes a deep breath, and fidgets with the dog-eared cover of his book. Picks at it with his nails, peeling back the colour. Scuffs his holey socks along the worn motel carpet. Looks up at his uncle, in his familiar blue jeans and flannel and feels his throat start to tighten. Chest clenching as he forces the words out.

“I, um,” Eddie starts, voice thick and wet and his voice wavers already. Can’t stop it this time. He knows what he wants to say — what he needs to say — and he doesn’t think it’s going to come out clear. He can’t hold it in anymore, but he’s scared of Wayne’s reaction. What he’ll say, what he’ll think. He’ll love him, Eddie knows this, but he can’t help the spiral of what if. His bottom lip wobbles, tightly quavering, and Wayne tilts his head as he listens. Gives Eddie space. “I don’t think I can do it anymore uncle Wayne. Stay in Hawkins. I don’t— I can’t— I can’t. They cleared my name and it’s like no one cares. I didn’t do anything but everyone still wants to kill me, uncle Wayne.”

He sat on the other side of the room to Wayne to give himself space. Room to breathe, to get the words out. But as soon as the words are out he regrets it. He’s on an island alone and he can’t do it anymore. The rubber bands snapping, his being falling to pieces.

Eddie’s barely left the motel room since he and Wayne moved into it. He isn’t even sure if the owner knows he’s here. If they think it’s just Wayne and the remainder of his life, all packed up in boxes. He made it out alive, physically fine and un-scarred, no longer wanted for murder. And yet. The first time he tried to go to Melvalds some man he didn’t know cornered him. Accused him of killing Chrissy, and Patrick, and paying off the cops to get away with it. Spitting vitriol and cursing his name. And then everytime he showed his face in public it was the same. Jeff invited him round, and he couldn’t even make it up Jeff’s driveway before one of his neighbours tried to chase him off with a literal pitchfork. And then everytime he went out after that was the same. Someone swearing, or yelling, or trying to kill him under the guise of justice.

He couldn’t do it anymore.

The tears bubble over, everything coming out in a deluge. There’s no going back now, Eddie doesn’t think he could handle that either. Face contorting as he cries, salty tears leaving tracks and trails down his face. He can feel it in the crease of his nose, trailing down into the corners of his mouth. He can taste the salt. Curling into himself, eyes shut, hands curling into fists as he presses them into his own face. Book falling to the floor, forgotten.

Eddie falls apart.

All he can hear is the blood rushing in his ears, his hitching breath and hiccoughing cries. He doesn’t hear Wayne get up, or say anything. But Eddie feels the couch cushions dip next to him, and feels a calloused hand brush across his shoulders. Grip him tight and pull him in. Eddie lets himself fall, body tilting, head spinning. Chest cracking open with every wailing cry, desperate and hurt and he just wants it to stop.

Wayne’s holding him, tucking him into his side like Eddie’s just a boy again. Like when he first took him in. Just a wee thing. Scared and hurt and angry and lashing out like a wild animal. Wayne whispering comforting nothings — I’m here, I’ve got you, just let it out, you’re safe, I’m here Eddie — voice gruff, but soft. Not angry. Never angry. The shape of his words, the gentle slope of his accent falling around him. Pushing past the rushing in his ears and soothing him, just a little. Just enough. Eddie clutching at the worn fabric of Wayne’s shirt, desperately anchoring himself to it as his uncle holds him. Hugs him. Gently rocking them in place on the lumpy motel couch as Eddie cries himself out.

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that. How long he cries, how long Wayne holds him. Until his tears start to slow, no longer feeling like he’s ripping his insides out with his angry cries. Throat tight, but no longer shredding his voice on the inhale.

Eddie doesn’t move, if anything he tries to make himself smaller. Tuck himself completely into Wayne’s side. Where he can feel the warmth of him press into his side, feel the beating of his steady heart, can sink into the comfort. He sniffles, feeling snotty and gross with a tear stricken face. Still clutching Wayne’s shirt, resisting the urge to bury his face in it. Listening to his uncle gently humming now, an achingly familiar tune as he helps draw Eddie back together.

“’m sorry uncle Wayne,” He murmurs, voice still thick and wet sounding. He feels pathetic. He sounds pathetic. And yet Wayne doesn’t move. Doesn’t let go. Doesn’t care that his grown-ass nephew is curled up like a kid.

“You ain’t got nothing to be sorry for, kid.” Wayne replies, voice steady as if it was an easy thing to say. As if Eddie wasn’t a burden to him. Eddie can feel him rest his head on his, and he shudders out a breath as he sinks into it. Still holding him close. “I’m always here for you. Always. That’s how this works.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asks, and he hates how wobbly his voice comes out. How weak. How cowardly. Seeking comfort, validation, reassurance.

“Yeah.” His uncle replies simply, running a hand up and down his shoulder in small comforting motions. It’s nice. The warmth, the weight, the reassuring presence of him. “So if you say you can’t be in Hawkins anymore, I’m askin’ you where’re we going.”

Oh.

Wayne’s words settle over him with the familiar gruff scratch and roll of his voice. Like gentle rain on the trailer roof. It’s soothing in an instant. Eddie’s voice still comes out small and wobbly as he replies. “We?”

“If you think I’m letting you out of my sight after this, boy, you’ve got another thing comin’.” Wayne simply says, that deadpan humour edge to his words rounding out the sounds. Lightening his tone. Eddie takes a breath. “So if you need to leave to feel safe, so do I.”

It’s only then that Eddie peels himself off of Wayne’s side, just enough that he can look at his uncle, at his face. Can read his expression and try to see what he’s feeling the way he does with him. Just sees straight through him.

Eddie feels like he has vertigo. Like he’s been punched in the face and is caught mid-recoil. Gripping Wayne’s arm, feeling the flannel under his fingers, trying to anchor himself again. He’s not sure it’s working.

“Wh— but— Hawkins is your home? Your whole life is here and you’d what — give that all up just for me?” Eddie asks, feeling a little like he’s been struck dumb as the words tumble out of his mouth. He sniffs, wiping at his face with his sleeve before continuing. “You don’t have to do that, I can get an apartment on my own, I’d be fine.”

Eddie’s voice wavers as soon as he says he’d be fine. He knows he’s lying but he has to say it. Has to push back. He loves his uncle, wants to live in the comfort of his embrace, but he can’t make him do that. He can’t. He can’t burden him like that. Not more than he already has.

His uncle clocks it immediately.

“Of course I would. You’re not forcin’ me, I’m offering.” Wayne says simply, face calm and open. “You’re my boy, Eddie. My kid. So if you feel safer movin’ out of Hawkins? If you feel better having me with you? Then we’re going together.”

“Oh.” Eddie replies, voice quiet, warmth blooming in his chest the way it always did when Wayne called him his boy, his kid. They both know it’s just one step removed my son.

“Yeah, oh. If you think I hold any kindness for a town that was so quick to vilify you, then you need a smack upside the head.” Wayne deadpans, tugging Eddie back into his side again and Eddie lets out a wet snort as he lets himself be pulled.  “Hawkins wasn’t home because of the trailer, or my job, or my friends. It was home because of you, Eddie.”

[oncasette]

𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗦 (𝗦𝗢 𝗗𝗢 𝗜)

KINKTOBER ACT II, eric northman x fem!reader

summary: 2.7k

“You smell fucking amazing,” he groans and his teeth drag against your pulse point. Before you can make any sort of comment on that, you feel his teeth puncture into your skin just as two of his fingers sink into your cunt. His incredibly long and devastatingly thick fingers that are already stretching you out as they slowly thrust in.

or the one where eric has a specific taste for blood. yours.

warnings: not beta’d, smut, significant age gap (eric is like 1000, r is early 20s), dub-con, mind control on the low, blood drinking, high sex (eric's blood/v), smoking

masterlist | taglist | kinktober

When vampires had first come out of the coffin, you’d been barely above the age of seventeen, and their integration into the mainstream had been a whirlwind you’d been utterly unprepared for. Being from the south, your parents had instilled a deep sense of distrust in your fanged counterparts. Or, in your own words, fear. 

Your parents had nearly tried to keep you out of college because of it, claiming you’d be much safer here at home, but you’d nipped that in the bud fairly quickly. Still, that didn’t mean you were going to let it slip to them where you were going on your evenings spent at home over the summer. All they needed to know is that you’d be home in the morning. 

Your friends had been begging you to go to this bar across town with them for ages. They’d been going for years, but, being the only one in the group not willing to get a fake ID, you’d been left out of all the fun. Now, though, that you were over the legal drinking age, you figured it wouldn’t hurt to check it out seeing as your friends seemed to like it so much. Or, as you came to find out, seeing as they apparently liked the owner so much. 

“You’re gonna freak when you see him,” Rachel says, looking over at you from the driver’s seat. You’d been friends with Rachel for forever, longer than you can remember. She’d gone off to school somewhere in the northeast–a liberal arts college with less than two thousand total students–and it’d been ages since you’d last seen her. 

“I don’t get what’s so special about him?”

“Are you kidding me?” Rachel squeaks. “About Eric fucking Northman?”

Anyone who’d been west of Baton Rouge knew the name Eric Northman. It was undeniable. Someone could whisper the name in a corner of a packed ballroom, and a hush would fall over the crowd. 

And, yet, somehow, despite living in Shreveport since your conception, it hadn’t crossed your path. 

“Yeah?” you drawl. “He’s probably just some guy.”

“Some guy,” Gina scoffs. 

“He’s quite literally the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen,” she says as she fiddles with her engagement ring. “He’s a fucking god.”

“Sure,” you say, rolling your eyes. 

It isn’t much longer before you’re pulling into a shady parking lot behind a vacant liquor store. There’s a couple other cars in the lot, mostly what your father would call shit-boxes that have either been sewn together with duct tape or have bumpers that have been left to drag the ground. Slamming the passenger door shut, you reach into the pocket of your jacket to take out the pack of cigarettes, stamping one on your bottom lip as you dig further in the pocket to find your lighter.

Your friends have already walked across the lot to step into line when you finally get a light, shoving your materials back into your jacket as you jog over to where they are at the back of the, thankfully, fast-moving line. 

“Really?” Rachel asks. 

“Just be glad I didn’t do it in the car, okay.” You offer a squint of your eyes in a pseudo smile. 

“Whatever,” she sighs. 

The bouncer lets the three men in biker jackets ahead of you in and stops to examine you. She seems to recognize your friends and nods at them to follow the men, only to stick a manicured hand out in front of your chest as soon as you take a step. 

“I’m with them,” you huff, tapping the ashes out of your cigarette. 

“Sorry, sweetie. I’m gonna need to see some ID,” she drawls. The sweetie comes out in a sharp bite that has you taking a step away from her outstretched arm. She grabs the butt from between your lips and stamps it out beneath her stiletto’d heel.

“Fine,” you say. Digging in the other pocket of your jacket, you grab your wallet and hand over your driver's license. You’re thankful you’d just recently gotten your ID updated and have the horizontal one now, or you’re sure she would’ve kept you back. Where, you’re also sure, your friends would have left you to sit for the rest of the night. 

“Have a good night,” she says, handing it back to you and allowing you to step into the crimson bar. As soon as you’re through the door, you dig your pack out and light a new cigarette. Bitch. 

Your eyes gravitate toward the stage. A very large throne sits to the side of it, flanked by two overgrown men with their eyes scanning the small dance floor at the foot of the stage. The man in the throne is bigger. Much bigger. Large to the point that he dwarfs the chair you think would swallow you whole. You watch as he sits up, spine straightening as he looks the crowd over. 

You don’t think anything of it until his gaze falls on you. He seems to smile, and it’s then that you see the sharp canines extending out of his gums. 

You suppose coming to a vampire bar should’ve made you mentally prepare to come into contact with a vampire or two. 

The man on the throne appears before you in an instant, fangs retracted as he gives you a softer smile than he’d had previously. It unnerves you, still, with the way his eyes seem glazed over and his body hovers over yours. You glance back at the stage, eyes flickering nervously back and forth as if it’d just been a trick of the lights and you’d catch him lounging there again if you blinked hard enough. 

“You are… a pretty thing, aren’t you,” he says, voice growling in a register lower than you’d been expecting. It sends a shiver down your spine. He’s tall. Frighteningly, inhumanly tall in a way that has you cowering beneath him. Even seeing him on the stage before, it’s much more shocking up close. “It’s a shame you feel the need to taint it with that.”

He gestures to the stick between your lips with a flippant gesture, plucking it from your mouth to stamp it beneath his boot. What’s with everyone stealing your cigarettes tonight?

“Hey-”

“Still,” he leans down until his nose is inches away from your jaw and inhales. You don’t have the time to push him back before he’s returned to his full height. 

“Who the fuck are you?” you ask, attempting to take a step back only to bump into one of the bustling–and fairly sweaty–bodies behind you. The man raises his brow in surprise. 

“My, my,” he says. “Coming all the way out to my little bar and you treat me this way?”

“Eric,” you exhale. Your friends were right. He’s beautiful. 

“And you are?” You give him your name in a huff. 

“Follow me,” he says.

“I don’t know-” His fingers come up beneath your chin to tilt your face so that you’re like him in the eye. Something swirls within them, something you can’t place. You do your best to ignore the dull throb emanating beneath your dress. 

“Follow me.”

Your legs seem to move of their own accord, hand reaching up to take his as he leads you across the dingy floor towards a door beside the bar. You dodge bodies crumpled together between tables and chairs and slink behind him as he nods at a bouncer guarding the door. Once it’s open, he gestures for you to enter first. 

It’s a small office looking room. Various pictures and files line the walls and every surface is drowned in boxes and other small objects. You don’t have the time to get a good look at any of them, though, before Eric is spinning you to face him once again. 

You can see the way his lips twitch as you meet his gaze, nostrils flared. His hand lands on your shoulder, dragging down the side of your arm as goosebumps sprout in its wake. You want to blame it on the fact that he’s freezing, on the fact that he’s got fangs. On the fact that he owns this whole bar and now you’re standing in his office with the door locked. Not on the fact that he’s probably got decades of experience. Or, god forbid, centuries. 

“Why did you bring me here?” you ask. It comes out in a whisper, voice hoarse from swallowing hard. Breath hitching, your knees do their best not to buckle as Eric steps into you, forcing you back until your ass hits the edge of his desk. His leg comes to press between your thighs. With a nudge, his knee would be pressing directly against you, and you’re thankful he gives you the space. You inch up the desk until you’re halfway sitting on it. There’s no reason for you to be as hot as you are right now, and less of a reason for him to know about it so soon. Honestly, he can probably smell it on you. 

“Why do you think I brought you back here?” he asks, hands falling against your thighs. There’s no pressure, just their presence. 

“I don’t fuck random guys in bars,” you say. 

He stalls, hands crawling up to rest on your hips. 

“I’m the owner.”

“So I was right,” you say. “You lured me back here just to fuck me.”

He hums. You can’t tell if it's in agreement. His knee presses into you fully and you hope he chooses not to comment on how you’re pulsating against it. 

“Would you like that?” he asks. He brings his hands down again, this time to the hem of your dress. He begins to push up. Slowly. Oh, so slow, you barely register it until it’s bunched up at the tops of your thighs. You’re not sure why you nod. You think if asked you at a different time, a second before or after, you would have shaken your head and allowed him to lead you back out to the patrons, to your two friends who would lose their minds if they knew where you were right now. 

His mouth finds yours as he pushes your dress the rest of the way up. You can feel the way you’re leaving a damp spot against his pants and try not to whimper as he applies more pressure with his knee. You don’t succeed in that venture. He tilts his head to deepen the kiss. It’s not nearly as rough as you had expected it to be, but it’s far from soft. His tongue is in your mouth, licking at the flats of your teeth. His fingers dig into your skin as he thumbs at the seam of your panties, pressing it to the side enough to gather the wetness coating your slit and drag it up to your clit. Your hips jump against him. 

He disconnects your lips to trail his kisses down the dies of your face and down your neck. Pulling back, he draws your eyes up to look, and the dark swirl from earlier returns. “Don’t scream,” he says. “Unless it’s my name.”

Before he re-attaches himself to your neck, you watch as his fangs click out, and you feel the cold rod of fear as it slides down your spine. 

“You smell fucking amazing,” he groans and his teeth drag against your pulse point. Before you can make any sort of comment on that, you feel his teeth puncture into your skin just as two of his fingers sink into your cunt. His incredibly long and devastatingly thick fingers that are already stretching you out as they slowly thrust in. 

“Eric,” you squeal. You’re already dizzy, his tongue laving at the skin of your neck. Finally, he pulls back and you feel seconds away from passing out. His fingers are still inside of you, massaging your walls. His free hand comes up to his mouth, and you watch as his fangs pierce the skin there and he’s holding his bloody palm up to your mouth. 

“Drink,” he says. You oblige and suddenly you’re dizzy in an entirely different way. Every touch feels heightened, every item in the room seems to glow, and Eric truly, honestly, looks like a fucking god. The open wound on your neck stops aching and you swear you feel the holes close up. 

“Eric, please,” you whine. He tugs your panties down first, balling them up in his fist and tossing them somewhere behind his desk. Then his belt comes undone and he’s yanking his pants down just enough to pull his cock out of the confines. And if you thought his fingers were big before. 

“That’s not gonna fucking fit,” you gasp. He jerks himself until he’s fully hard. 

“Trust me, sweetheart. It will,” he says as he notches himself against your entrance. 

“No, I swear, you’re gonna rip me in half!” “Trying hard not to do that, already,” he says. He pushes in with one solid thrust. Even only halfway in, you can feel him in your throat. “Feel even better than you taste.”

Your ankles link around his back and your feet dig into his ass in an attempt to get him to move, to push into you until you can feel his pelvis against yours. He does. One thrust, then an agonizing pull back before he slams back in. 

Every part of you trembles as his pace picks up. 

“Oh my god? Oh my god,” you squeak. 

“Just me,” he quips and his head falls back. He’s fucking you at a superhuman speed, hips snapping into yours with so much force you think he’s close to bruising your cervix. And still. It feels good. It feels so fucking good. Every touch leaves you tingling and you think you’re going to explode with his hand finding your clit again. He pushes your legs open wider, allowing him to press into you further. 

You’ve never been this wet in your life. Not with your vibrator, not with any of your boyfriends, not even with the one you swore you were in love with when you were a sophomore in college. The squelch of his cock driving into you rings in your ears and you don’t think you’ll ever forget the sound. A coil within you begins to wind tight, your body on the precipice of turning into jelly in Eric’s hold. 

“I want you to cum for me, sweetheart,” he growls and it’s enough to send you flying. You clench around him, walls fluttering and throbbing as you feel his dick twitch in you. 

As soon as you’ve regained your consciousness enough to offer him a weak smile, he’s pulling out of you and spinning you around so that the front of your hips are against the desk. He thrusts into you swiftly once more, never once faltering from the ruinous pace he’d started up previously. Your back arches into the desk. Your pussy feels raw, overstimulated, melting into the pleasure he’s driving into you. Another orgasm is sure to follow. And quickly. 

“You are mine, whether you agree to it or not,” he growls. His thrusts begin to grow sloppy, cock twitching with every pump of his hips. With a final push in, he cums and offers you the first bit of warmth he’s been able to give you all night. You fall down the same rabbit hole moments later. Your entire body twitches as you do and you can barely feel anything as he pulls out of you. 

He gives you a minute to catch your breath, to gather yourself and spin around to face him as you tug your dress back down your thighs. You’re panting, still, as he wipes the semi-dried blood off of your neck and brings it up to his lips to lick clean. 

“No more cigarettes,” he says. “I can’t wait to see how you taste when you’re… pure.”

“I don’t know if I can promise that,” you say. 

“You will.”

He grabs your chin between his thumb and forefinger. 

“Sweet dreams, sweetheart,” he says. “I’ll be seeing you.”

He’s gone before you can ask what he means by that. 

[thinemoonshine]

𓆰𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 ♡𓆪

cha hyun su x female reader genre: romance, angst , fluff (because hyun su is a cutie) type: series (but can be read as a oneshot) word count: 1,791

part 1 of series ◄◄ ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ part 3 of series

౨ৎ ⋆｡˚ synopsis: cha hyun su and (y/n) go on a mission together to find items requested by eunhyuk but then, meets an unexpected danger that threatens their life and death. monster hyun su makes a small appearance ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚

"Hyun Su."

(y/n)'s call snaps the said other to whip his head to her- eyes widening and brows raise along with the makeshift spear in his hands. "Huh?"

"Let's check this room," she says and points to a door she then, swings open. Hyun Su follows her inside before taking the lead once they slip through the entrance.

They're now on a joint task to find a couple of things needed for the livelihood of the residents. Okay, well one of them was assigned on a mission and the other made the choice to tag along. Guess who's who?

Asking Eunhyuk wasn't option. Everybody knows how uptight and aloof he can be- for good reason of course but, that's exactly why (y/n) had to go behind his back. She went ahead and stalked Hyun Su like a tail the moment Eunhyuk left after giving him a rundown of his objectives for the day.

"You shouldn't have come," Hyun Su quietly expresses his disagreement to her decision but (y/n) just shrugs and scans the room for valuables.

Contrasting Eunhyuk's constant character however, Cha Hyun Su had changed little by little. He's more vocal regarding his feelings now compared to before and he's less solemn. He's also less hesitant to reach out to (y/n) when it comes to asking for comfort although, it rarely happens. Still, there a lot of things he keeps silent about such as when he was zoning out before; what thoughts were he thinking, he won't say. All those time (y/n) used to accompany him in the quarantine room bore fruit.

"Ooh! Batteries," she alerts with subtle excitement and points to a torn 4-pack battery set peeking out from under a shattered mirror. She reaches out to grab it but is intervened by Hyun Su who quickly picks it up.

"...You'll get cut," is all he mumbles while stuffing the batteries into his backpack. A small smile stretches on (y/n)'s face at his attentiveness towards her. "These are my tasks."

Her smile widens at his proclamation that indirectly means for her to just do nothing. The search continues.

"So, duct tape's the last one. Where can we find that?" (y/n) wonders aloud after they found the rest of the items in the list. She's responded with a tug on her sleeve to which she reacts with letting Hyun Su drag her away gently to the upper level and in front of a door. "Janitor room?"

Hyun Su nods and quickly pulls his hand away from her shirt- afraid he'll get greedy for her hand if he were to hold longer. "I once saw the janitor tape the hinges of the electric box together before the electricians came. I think, he should have one. Hopefully."

The words he speaks sound incoherent to (y/n)- the letters blurred and jumbled in her head as his rapid action of pulling away causes a slight undesirable tug in her heart. But she manages to brush it off and reach for the doorknob.

Yet once again, being interrupted by her knight in shining armor who sneakily slips to the front and opens the door. He walks in to search for the tape and lets (y/n) to just stand and watch. He mimics a cat when his face snaps towards the tape with large eyes sparkling with quiet glee.

"Here's the ta—" His sentence is cut after he takes the object and turn to (y/n) whose hair gently flutters to the side from a breeze. His brows furrow and (y/n) shares the same reaction.

She turns her face to the direction of the source and lips part in shock at the sight of a broken window. "Hyun Su, that window's broken. Something must've got in."

"What?" Hyun Su blurts and throws the tape in his bag before rushing out to shield her. His eyes then darts to the camera before belatedly realizing that the CCTV on the floor had broken down. This meant that whatever it is that happened here, Eunhyuk would be unaware of. No one will know if anything is to happen to them here. If anything happens to (y/n).

Dread fills him as panic ensues like a sprout rapidly growing its stems and roots to every end of his figure- a siren blaring in his head and heart pounding faster than ever. "(y/n), we have to go."

A faint whimper follows.

He frowns, confused by her lack of response despite feeling her standing behind him. So he turns- and the sight is enough to shatter him whole.

A monster with what seems like the deformed head of a spider and a twisted figure of a sea creature with debris and broken glass sticking out of its back had coiled its tentacles around (y/n) who's frozen with fright. Her eyes are wide with horror as she stays still- trying her best not to agitate the monster who only captured her soundlessly yet have done nothing after.

In fact, it's now staring at Hyun Su with its 8 black protruding eyes that look like they'll pop any second- all blinking in different times which rises goosebumps in their skin.

But Hyun Su's much too terrified at the possibility of losing (y/n) that he sees nothing but a target to kill.

SLOSH!

He stabs his spear into one of its eye, causing it to explode and inadvertently loosen its grip on (y/n) who quickly limps to the ground.

"(Y/N)!" Hyun Su shouts and pulls her up before dashing through the halls with her almost floating behind him. "In here!"

He slips into a room and shuts the door before falling to his knees to be eye-level with her who's desperately trying to catch her breath. The monster's tentacle had suffocated her, turning her skin and lips a shade of blue. Her head's spinning from the lack of air.

"(y/n)! (y/n), are you okay?" Hyun Su asks frantically as he constantly brushes her hair away from her face as she holds her head in his hands. His gaze heavy with concern scans her but is interrupted by a large growl, followed by a slam near their door. "...It's going to find us."

(y/n) sees nothing but colours and shapes and suddenly finds herself in an enclosed space before seeing Hyun Su's face near hers.

His lips form words. He's saying something. But (y/n) can't hear them. She's having trouble keeping her eyes open as her chest heaves for air. Seeing her dazed state, Hyun Su then forms a small smile, a smile that doesn't reach his eyes but for some reason, it reaches so deep into her chest. It... stings.

His shadow then swallows her when he bends down slightly- letting their foreheads touch for just a few seconds long before he hesitantly pulls away.

The light then disappears around her as the closet doors are closed by Hyun Su who leaves a gap big enough for air but not enough to replenish hers completely.

And so, she faints.

She awakes with a gasp and she quickly shoves the doors open- tumbling forward as a result but feels something minimally soft cushioning her.

Hyun Su's backpack.

Panic overtakes as she recalls the mangled monster and the life threatening situation she experienced. And yet, it's now strangely quiet and... Hyun Su is nowhere to be seen.

"Hyun Su," she mutters and rushes out the room with the bag only to gasp at the large volume of blood smeared on the floors and walls- but what scared her the most is the bloody handprints scattered around the windows which eventually increased on the layers of duct tape used to cover the crack they saw before. "He covered this. He's alive! Hyun Su!"

It's as if she's a madman- running around the hallways in search of him and completely disregarding the fact that there could be another monster. It's unlikely, anyways, or else they would've came out before.

"Hyun Su! CHA HYUN SU!" She shrieks and drifts to a stop in front of the janitor room where the door is open by ajar. She's scared to swing it open wider. What if what she sees is worse than a 'missing' Hyun Su? What if... he's not just gone?

But relief settles in the moment she sees him collapsed on the ground, breathing and alive- although, battered and bruised.

"Cha Hyun Su," (y/n) sobs and pulls him into her arms. He stirs.

He pants onto her back as she lays his head on her shoulder. "...(y/n)? Why are you h-here?"

"For you," she answers without pause and she feels him flinch.

"I told you to not come for me... If I don't come back, don't search for me," he strains his voice and (y/n) pushes him up- tightly holding his cheeks against her palms with a glare.

"Stop being sappy and just rest up, will you?" She scolds and Hyun Su's eyes flicker between her angry ones- feeling a thump in his chest and question marks seem to appear on his head. "Now, shush."

She pulls him back down to her shoulder and hugs him tightly in hopes to hide the tremble of her arms and the tears that brim her eyes. Acting tough seems to work, thankfully.

No, it doesn't. Not at all.

And yet, as selfish as it sounds and as much as he wants to hit himself for it, Hyun Su feels... grateful that she's so deeply affected by him. That she's moved by him. His lips stretch to a grin as he nuzzles further into her shoulder- shuffling to the crook of her neck to feel the warmth of her skin.

"...If you try to sacrifice yourself for me again, you better stay alive," she suddenly says.

"Alri—"

"So I can kill you personally."

"Oh..."

Despite her death threat, the joyful miens they each wear show their heartfelt feelings for one another.

'I'd like to see her try,' a voice that's eerily similar to Hyun Su's chuckles in his head and his smile drops- eyes turning completely black before they fade just as quickly.

'Shut up,' Hyun Su snaps back in his head and wraps his arms around (y/n)'s waist- unintentionally leaning towards her for security and comfort which causes a blush to creep on her cheeks.

a/n: do leave a like and reblog if you like them because they will totally help in motivating me!! thanks for reading ઇ♡ଓ

copyright © 2024 thinemoonshine all rights reserved

[official-penis-posts]

Do you still do advice?

So I'm moving away soon, to college actually (finally!) and as I move all my stuff to my new dorm, I need to somehow transport all my sex toys and penis-shaped objects (and some rope) to the dorm.

Problem is, the people helping me move are my family and I CANNOT let them find that stuff,,

Any ideas of how I could securely hide dildos, packers, etc in my items while I move and hopefully nobody finds them?

Hmmm…how many orifices do you have? 😅

Dildo cosplay! Dress them up as dolls/action figures, whichever your parents would find more appropriate. 🤣🤣

OK no though seriously, pack them in a box with books. Put books underneath them and around them, and put books on top of them, and firmly tape the box shut with duct tape and label it “books”. Tell your parents that you will unpack your books on your own, since those aren’t a high priority item.

I mean if they’re dressed up as dolls while they’re in boxes, though, even better!

If even that makes you too nervous, you could ship those to your new address using the slowest shipping method possible.

Oh and for the love of God, remove any batteries before you do any of this stuff because that will be a giveaway! And yes that happened to me on a group roadtrip once…”why is [REDACTED]’s bag vibrating?” 😂😂😂

[crackedpumpkin]

|| ɪɴꜰᴜʀɪᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴍᴇʟᴏᴅɪᴇꜱ || ꜱᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇ! ᴀᴜ ||

a/n: guess who procrastinated and ended up writing a thing :) 

In all seriousness I’m a complete and utter simp for Cole Brookstone and he is unreasonably attractive in looks personality and everything in between, especially for a goddamn lego man.

Playlist reference: https://youtu.be/j45ogZNaCis

Soulmate AU: Everyone has a soulmate designated to them since the moment they’re born. The tell-tale sign to single them out are the fact that you can hear what songs the other is listening to at any moment of the day.

Ugh. Not this again.

You groan, sitting up as the all-too-familiar sound of soft rock starts playing in the back of your mind. You shake your head slightly to rid the grogginess threatening to lull you back into comforting sleep.

You grab your headphones, immediately sliding them onto your ears as the soothing sound of chill pop music quickly drowns out the soft rock. On the bright side, it means that your soulmate exists.

On the other hand, it also means that whoever they are, they get up at ungodly hours of the day.

You stare blearily at the digital clock.

Five AM. 

You'd gotten used to the routine by now, but the days when your soulmate slept in were few and far between. Nonetheless, it's surprisingly boosted your productivity since the music started playing a couple months ago. 

"Stop it already!" 

You grumble, grabbing a pillow and covering your face with it. You press your face harder into the soft material, willing with all your might for the music to stop.

It'd been three days since it had started, and you abhorred every second. 

It was annoying, repetitive, and not your preferred genre at all.

You'd seen many compatible couples with similar music tastes, so why was your soulmate so adamant about having such lousy taste in tunes? Feeling bitter, you decide to drown it out with a playlist of your own. It was custom-made by you, and it took you ages(half a year, to be exact) to put it together.

It was a compilation of your favourite songs and the exact opposite of your soulmate's preference. You knew it annoyed them because every time you played a specific song they hated, they'd play something else you usually shut out in the first three seconds by aggressively playing the music they disliked on repeat.

It took a while, but you had finally called a truce(for now) with your soulmate by playing one of their favourite songs, and they begrudgingly did the same for you in return. 

Your friends were weirded out when you first revealed that you hated your soulmate's music taste. Obviously, they had never faced that issue. You were met with confused questions, your friends clueless and oblivious that people could dislike their soulmates. 

It was a foreign concept, but it was one that you were living. 

At first, you were excited that you could finally hear the songs your soulmate liked to listen to. 

That same excitement soon morphed into disdain for the genre they listened to. 

Now, you survey the bedroom you're in, taking note of all the scattered cardboard boxes. They were filled to the brim with various items of yours, some containing knick-knacks you've picked up randomly off the streets or in night markets. 

"Are you ready to go?" You turn your attention to your mother entering your room. She eyes the mess with a disapproving gaze, and you smile weakly. "I'll clear it up before the moving vans come?" You negotiate, hoping to escape an earful after getting out of bed so early.

She sighs. "Fine, but make it quick." She leaves the room with a pointed glare, shutting the door behind her. You sigh in relief, grabbing a roll of duct tape from your dresser and taping the boxes shut. You grab a marker and label each box with the contents inside.

 It took a while, but you were finally done. You wipe the sweat off your brow, glancing around at the now neatly packed and stacked boxes, arranging the last one in front of you. You grab the bag you had packed the night before, all the necessities inside. By now, the music from your soulmate had stopped playing(thank god for that), and you were halfway through your playlist. 

"Ready to go?" Your dad calls from outside. 

"Yeah, coming down in a sec!" You yell back, standing in the doorway. You look back at your room. The gentle sunlight shining through the bare windows breathed life into the room and the curtains that once decorated the small window seat. Where your bed once sat was empty with the polished mahogany wood underneath. 

Endless nights of laying in your plush bed with your bedside lamp's dim yet warm glow seemed so distant in your memories. Your hand lingers on the doorknob, mumbling a soft goodbye before shutting the door and heading downstairs to where your parents are waiting.

"Are your friends not seeing you off?" You're immediately greeted with a question as soon as you shut the car door, sitting in the back. You look up to see your dad looking at you with a raised brow, waiting patiently for your answer. You pause the music, and the sweet sound of silence greets your ears.

"Yeah, we already said our goodbyes yesterday." You reply with a shrug. Alicia and the rest of your friends brought you out for dinner at the pizza place you often frequented, and you spent the night giggling and reminiscing past memories. 

They dropped you off at two AM, and you snuck into the house without anyone noticing. Your friends had made you promise to text often, and you'd definitely update them as soon as you reached Ninjago City. 

Your dad seems satisfied with your answer and starts driving off. 

Your phone beeps and you pull it out to see messages from your friends. 

'Send souvenirs! Or face my wrath when we meet up again.' - Alicia

'Brooo' - Brenden, image.jpeg attached.

'Call when you reach! And make sure you drink plenty of water, you dehydrated fungus.' - Nico

You giggle at the messages, opening up the group chat to see a short video they filmed in the morning before school. You slide your headphones onto your ears, pressing play.

"Yo, have a safe trip or whatever!" Brenden's black hair is frizzy and unkempt, a clear sign that Alicia had probably dragged him out of bed for this. He's shoved aside, and the phone is grabbed, a familiar face coming close to the camera. 

"Nico, she can't see your face properly if you hog the camera!" Alicia complains, grabbing Nico by her coat and snatching the phone away. A head of red hair comes into view, a stark contrast to the shy brunette beside her. 

"Bring souvenirs!! I heard that the candy over there is to die for." Alicia demands with a bright grin, and you roll your eyes. 

"Guys, Ms. Fergurson is coming!" Nico warns. 

Alarm is apparent in all of their eyes. "Oh god, okay, we gotta go now, or we'll get caught! Bye, Y/n, love you stinky three thousand." The video is cut short, and you stifle a laugh at the sudden ending.

'Thanks guys, love you stinky three thousand.' 

You quickly type out the response and continue to scroll through Instagram for the remaining time it takes to get to the capital city. 

You stir, eyes fluttering open at the annoying sound of drilling and construction. You blink a few times, sitting up from where you had slumped against the window while you slept. Your vision clears, and you move your hands away to see bright lights and skyscrapers galore around you. 

You're here. 

Ninjago City is filled to the brim with people and endless traffic. Your dad scowls at the long line of cars in front of him, glaring at the red light that seems to take forever to turn green. 

"That's the school you'll be attending tomorrow." Your mum points out from the passenger seat, and you follow the direction she's pointing to. You stare at the large school on the right. 

‘Ninjago High School’

You hum in thought, already filled with anxiety for the following day. It didn't help that you were from the outskirts and had a different(and probably lacking) curriculum. You fiddle with the games on your phone, focusing intently on beating the next level of Candy Crush. 

You mumble a cuss when 'Game Over' appears on the colourful screen, and your mum instantly turns with a suspicious gaze. You smile nervously, trying to play it off as though you hadn't said anything. 

She turns back around, choosing to let it pass. 

You stare out the window, watching the shops pass by in a blur until you spot one that catches your eye. "Dad, could you drop me off here?" He doesn't question your sudden request, making a turn and parking next to the sidewalk. 

You open the car door and exit, looking up at the sign on the storefront. 

'Ninjago Doomsday Comix'

"There's a Chinese takeout nearby if you wanna grab dinner before meeting us at the new house." Your dad has a GPS pulled up on his phone, texting you the address of your new home. 

"Yeah, I'll grab some food on the way back. Gonna take a look around the place, y'know, before I get lost tomorrow." You joke. You adjust the straps of your small bag before settling it in a comfortable position on your back. 

"See you later then, kiddo. Call us if anything happens. Should be safe since those ninjas are around." 

Before you can question what he means, he drives off with all the rest of your luggage. 

"...Ninjas?" You mumble in confusion before shrugging it off. You were lucky that your dad had visited the city multiple times on business trips and that he was primarily a hands-off parent. Your mum usually just went along with his whims. 

The door swings open easily, a jingle catching you off guard. A man at the cashier counter greets you with a friendly grin that eases your nerves, and you walk up to him. 

"Hi, do you know where to find Starfarer comics?" 

"Well, right here, of course!" You cringe at his response, realizing how poorly worded your question was. It elicits a chuckle from the man in front of you. 

"Just kidding. I'm Rufus, Rufus McAllister, or you can call me Mother Doomsday. You're a new face around these parts. What's your name?" 

"Uhm, I'm Y/n. I just moved here, so maybe that's why." You reply, clutching the straps of your bag with a small smile at the friendly man.

"Well, welcome to Ninjago City! I hope the city treats you well. We got the ninja protecting us, so that's added security too." 

Your brows furrow, wondering why everyone around you knew what these ninjas were, but you had no clue. "Ninja?" 

Rufus pauses with his lips parted, seemingly processing your words. A relaxed grin slowly forms on his lips, and he waves off your question. "You'll find out soon enough." He glances towards a specific aisle, seemingly contemplating. 

"It should be fine then…." He mumbles. You're just lost in where this conversation had ended up. 

"Aisle Eight is where we keep the best-stocked Starfarer comics." He gestures to the area he had been staring at earlier. You thank him with a brief nod, walking over. 

The aisle is relatively empty, save for two other people. A blonde guy in a green hoodie is flipping through the latest issue of Starfarer with keen interest, engrossed in the colourful pages.

Next to him is another boy with slightly wavy and choppy black hair, the smooth and silky strands making you both envious and curious about his hair care routine. In contrast to his friend(you assumed), he regards you with a suspicious gaze. 

He’s kinda cute.

You find it odd, feeling mildly unsettled by the intense stare he gave you. It wasn't a good one; it was more on the wary side than interested. You brush it off, ignoring the pair and scouring the shelves for issue number three.

You finally find the issue you're looking for, but it's directly opposite the pair. 

After all, what would you be if not cursed with bad coincidence?

You practically tiptoe over, clearing your throat slightly as you grab the comic book and start reading. Green Hoodie(Greenie, you decide to nickname) looks up in surprise, only now noticing your presence. Mr. Grumpy Pants(The nickname suits him perfectly), on the other hand, doesn't bother hiding the grimace on his lips at your presence, looking away.

You stiffen, eyes narrowing into a glare.

Rude.

Greenie hits his friend's shoulder in a light punch, looking at you with an expression of apology. 

"She should be fine. Rufus wouldn't send anyone over here without vetting them first." Greenie whispers to Mr. Grumpy Pants, referring to his earlier behaviour.

"Yeah, but what if they're…you know? I don't want another repeat of what happened with Jay." 

Damn.

You almost drop the comic book in your hands, caught off guard by how attractive Mr Grumpy Pant’s voice is. You tense, now more aware of their presence. Even though you don't want to eavesdrop, you can't help how your ears practically perk up, hoping to hear more of the deep voice from earlier. 

Plus, they weren't doing a very good job of keeping their conversation a secret.

"I trust Rufus. He's a good friend." 

"...Maybe." 

"Is that…? OMG! It's them!!"

You're interrupted from blankly staring at the same page for the past fifteen minutes, having focused on the conversation behind you, though the pair had stopped talking a while ago.

You look up at the store's glass windows, startled by the sudden sight of a group of girls pressed against the glass, staring intently at the two boys behind you. 

"Oh no." You watch all the color drain from Greenie's face while Mr. Grumpy Pants smacks his palm against his face, sliding it down and sighing heavily with an utterly defeated expression. 

"Not again…" You hear him mutter.

The girls grab their phones, snapping photos of them. You realize that you're probably in them, too, considering the lack of distance between you both. 

"Girls, there's the door!!" The tallest and most commandeering of the group holds open the entrance to the comic book store, and they swarm towards it.

"Cole, run!!!" Greenie yells, taking off to the back door that Rufus quickly ushers them both through. You grab the issue of Starfarer that Greenie dropped on the floor in his hasty exit, watching the fabric of Cole's shirt almost get stuck in the doorway.

At least now you know Mr. Grumpy Pant's name. 

You place both the comics back on the shelf, leaving with a quick wave to Rufus, who nods goodbye. You pull out your phone, look up directions to the Chinese Takeout store and slowly make your way there. You grab your earbuds, put them both in your ears and start your playlist from the beginning.

You're next to an alleyway, just steps away from the Chinese Takeout, when your arm is grabbed and pulled into an alleyway next to you. A yelp rips free from your chest, losing your balance and almost fall. 

A strong and warm arm holds yours firmly, pressing you against the cold brick wall. Your eyes automatically squeeze shut when your back hits the wall with a grunt, opening your eyes to see Mr. Grumpy Pants from earlier. 

His hand is pressed firmly against your mouth, and your hands curl into fists, punching his chest weakly. Unfortunately, your body's affinity to whatever created muscles in your body was little, making you regret not going to the gym after years of procrastination.

He shushes you, and you only just notice his pinched brows and the shine of sweat on his forehead. You hear the gradual approach of his fangirls and realize that he had tugged you behind a wall that separated into a small alcove, out of sight from the sidewalk you were on earlier.

"Turn that nauseating song off." Cole winces, muttering through clenched teeth. Your punches slow to a stop, confused by his words. He grabs your phone out of your hands, pressing pause on your beloved playlist. You allow him to do so, your mind blank and realization slowly dawning on you. 

Your eyes widen in shock, staring up at his stupidly handsome face. His dark brown eyes are filled with the fear of being caught, and you catch yourself admiring the shaggy black hair that frames his face in the most annoyingly perfect manner.

Your mind races with incoherent thoughts, but one sticks out like a sore thumb.

Your soulmate's a celebrity?

You'd think that being a celebrity would mean that his music taste would be of at least adequate quality.

"Am I getting kidnapped right now?" You voice out the most pressing concern on your mind, though it comes out muffled. He turns back to face you with an incredulous expression.

"You don't know who I am?" His voice is hushed, waiting for the horde of fangirls to run past your hiding spot. 

Your eyes narrow, pushing his hand off of where it's placed on your shoulders. You try to ignore the tingle his touch leaves behind that spreads to your hands and how his choppy bangs somehow manage to fall over his eyes in a somewhat attractive manner when he turns to face you. 

"In the past twenty minutes, you've glared at me, been rude, and practically held me hostage," You snap at him, irritated by the lack of common human decency he seemed to display. "And what do you mean nauseating song? If anything, you're the one giving me headaches with that god-awful noise you call music that you play daily!"

You finish your mini rant, having reached the end of your already thinning patience with the boy in front of you. You pant slightly, trying your best to reign in your temper. 

"Noise? Noise?? I could say the same for you! You're disturbing my sleep at night with those ear-splitting synths and breathy singing that sounds like they're on the verge of hyperventilation!" Cole retorts with thinly veiled disgust, taking a step back, dusting off his hands, and wiping them on his pants. 

You eye the action, feeling insulted. Both of you stand in the alleyway, silently glaring at each other. Cole breaks the stare first, scanning the area behind him once he realizes the fangirls are gone. You grin, elated at the quiet victory. 

"You really gotta get more variety." Your smile drops as soon as the words leave Cole's lips, and yours press into a thin line. 

"Speak for yourself." You can barely hold back another biting remark. If anyone were to see you now, they'd definitely mistake you as enemies rather than the soulmates that you actually are.

He groans, rolling his eyes. You're tempted to ask what he does for a living but choose to stay silent. You shake your head, still in disbelief that you've found your soulmate. "How on earth are we even going to get along…." You mutter to yourself.

Cole looks up, seemingly having heard your quiet mumbles. "I could say the same thing. I can't be with someone who can't tell the difference between good music and bad!"

How insufferable.

But you can't help ogling his arms when he props his hands on his hips, the muscle ready to tear through the thin material. You tear your gaze away, crossing your arms. Unfortunately, he catches your eyes wandering, a cocky smirk tugging the corner of his lips up. 

Your cheeks instantly warm, and you look away in embarrassment.  

"Well, whatever. Just find me when you want to learn what real music sounds like!" 

"Fine!"

"Fine then!"

With that, the conversation ends, and you both turn to face opposite ends of the alleyway, walking away from each other with flushed faces and burning cheeks.

'Wait, I didn't give him my number.' 

You realize, turning around.

"I'll find you!" Almost as if he senses your hesitation, he answers your unasked question.

You turn with a huff, “Didn’t ask!" You yell back. 

To drive home your point, you place your earbuds back into your ears and hit play on your playlist.

Immediately, Cole's songs start playing in the back of your mind, much louder than before. You let out an irritated sigh, but surprisingly enough, the tune didn't sound as vexing as before. 

It might even be a little bit endearing.

[octuscle]

im a skinny 18 year old nerd who is also a wimp and super shy. i'm 5 foot 7 inches tall with an iq of 160 .one afternoon i was walking across the college campus was on my way to  the Chemistry Lab when a pair of big burly hands grabbed me , punched me in the gut. When i came to ,i was tied to a bench with rope in the male locker room. my legs were tied to a bar below the bench and my hands two the pegs above. my mouth was coved with duct tape with a mouthguard inside my mouth. i look down to see all my clothes were gone i was wearing only a jock strap . i have never worn a jockstrap before it was so uncomfortable .i look to see my red star trek t-shirt , my jeans, my sneakers and socks & my "geeky" white briefs were are cut up on the floor. i look up to see that i was surrounded by the hairiest, most manly, most self-centered, most muscled guys on campus : The college football team. the football team was wearing gray tank tops & crimson basketball shorts. the football players were at least 6 feet 3 inches tall in height and is broad-shouldered and muscular in build .their faces have thick beards, .they took off their tank tops i saw they all have 6 pack abs , substantial pecs and arms They told me that each fall they capture a college freshman nerd they take him to the locker room & the jocks take that geek & they make that geek into one of their own. that this year i was that nerd & that soon i will be unrecognizable that my nerdy body will be going though the changes of having a nerds body into growing & becoming a jocks body. soon i will have a body of a jock. that the mouthguard in my mouth is not only collecting spit in my mouth in process of changing my high nerdy voice into a deep jock voice .they will let me keep my iq ill be the team linebacker & tutor. i will also tutor the cheerleaders& sorority girls who also will find me  the  object of sexual desire for most of the women on campus . i saw a gym bag in a corner with other pairs of boxers& jockstraps& clothes such as gym shorts, tank top, sweats, a box of  XXL Magnum condoms  and a table right in front of me on that table was a football uniform, The helmet, cleats, jersey, and gear .they shoe me the jersey with my last name. also on the table other items that will turn my nerds body into a jocks body items such as jock deodorant& shaving cream which change my hair less nerdy armpits into hairy jock armpits& will also cause my face to grow a thick brown beard. a protective cup which when the team put the protective cup under my jockstrap caused my dick to grow into a huge jock dick. i watch as they change my nerds body into a jock body with a genius iq. afterwards the team had practice then take my team picture with in my football uniform .after practice i changes my clothes into a gray tank tops & crimson basketball shorts same outfit as the other guys on the team for a party at a frat house at the frat house the guys on the team took off my tank top to show my jock body that i now have a 6 pack abs , substantial pecs and arms which lead the cheerleaders & sorority girls to bid on who i will lose my v card to now living my as a tall nerd jock hybrid with a genius iq who is a chem major . my jock build & broad-shouldered, alongside my wavy dark brown hair, perfectly puts me into the description of "tall, dark and handsome. As result of my good looks (and sometimes solely because of them), i am is often the object of sexual desire for most of the women on campus. the women on campus have been known to physically objectify me. i have also have model recruiters after me . i'm generally oblivious to my attractiveness

Bro, what else can I add… But I don't understand what you have with the cheerleaders and the chicks?

As far as I know, the smell of the quarterback's sweaty hair makes you horny and wild…

But anyway, the world needs more hot nerds. Have fun!

[americas1suiteheart]

Better Off As Lovers

Patrick Stump x Reader

This was also posted on Ao3 if you prefer that platform, this whole text is the link. :)

[Summary; You and Patrick have been friends since middle school and have been going to tours with him and the band to watch their shows. At one of the shows, Patrick decides to play one unreleased song he just so happened to write for you to confess his feelings. (I dunno this is kinda the summary but I'm also dumb as shit and can't make a correct summary).

[Notes; I felt like writing a little something for him as I've been wanting to for a while now, and here it is! And honestly, guys, if I end up wring more Patrick x Reader fics they're all most likely to be song fics or fics based off of some of the music videos, sorry but man I'm a sucker for song fics.

[Warnings; Some cursing and some bickering back and forth between Pete and Y/n over stupid stuff. Really really cheesy and unrealistic ig. Also Y/n is kind of really fucking stupid as well, but for the sake of the fic.

[Word Count: 4,068 (This is literally the longest fic I've ever written oh my gods.)

<Playing- Bang The Doldrums by Fall Out Boy>

1:32 ────ㅇ────── 3:31

God, why are these tour bus seats so uncomfortable? You'd figure that because they were meant for people to sleep in, they would be more comfortable.

You get up and stretch, heading to the cupboard where the band keeps all of the snacks to look for your hidden stash in the back.

"Where the hell are they?" You say, muttering to yourself.

You continue to scrounge through the cabinet to try and find your two twin packs of Twinkies, only to give up and walk to where the boys were hanging out.

"Hey, did any of you guys eat my Twinkies?" You call out as you walk to where you can hear the boys talking; a curtain was the only thing acting as a door for the area.

Just as you open the curtain to the "room" (aka the six loft beds that were separated by just a curtain), you see Pete and Joe munching on your beloved creme-filled cakes.

"Are you kidding me?" You say, your mouth agape and eyebrows raised.

"I told you guys so."

The two boys look at each other and then at you, a twinge of fear apparent on their faces, the creme filling on the corners of their mouths, and the wrappers thrown onto the floor.

"You two so totally owe me two boxes of Twinkies, I mean it! One box from each of you two! How did you find them?! I hid them!" You flail your arms about towards the boys, the guilt becoming more apparent on Joe's face.

Pete and Joe shuffle in their spots, licking their fingers and corners of their mouths to get the creme off from their messy way of eating.

"Honestly, you're kinda bad at hiding stuff; it wasn't that hard to find them," Pete says with a shrug.

Patrick kicks his shin from where he was sitting from across, earning a hiss of pain and a dirty look from Peter.

"I'm gonna eat all of your fucking Blow-Pops." You say, leaving the sleeping area and heading back to the snack cupboard. You can hear Pete's shouts, telling you not to touch them.

Opening the cupboard, you immediately spot a party-size pack of Blow-Pops with a large piece of duct tape stuck on to the bag, big bold letters drawn with a black Sharpie reading 'PETE'S LOLLIPOPS!!! DON'T TOUCH!!!'

Pete really liked those things, and he would individually count them to keep track of how many he had, so that way, if someone decided to take one or two of them, he would know. Which is kind of insane of him now that you think about it. Actually, scratch that, Pete was insane—PERIOD!

You grab the bag and grab three handfuls of lollipops, shoving them into your hoodie pockets and putting the bag back into the cupboard.

"Give them back, Y/n!" Pete says, grabbing your shoulders just enough to keep you from moving.

"Hell no! Buy me back my Twinkies and then I might just give you all of them back." You say putting one hand into your pocket to take out a Blow-Pop.

"Those Twinkies were practically begging to be eaten by someone, man; come on, those were in there for days without being touched."

You unwrap the lollipop, pulling your hand up to pop it into your mouth, Pete's mouth falling agape as you do so.

"Was that one of the apple ones..."

You nod your head, taking it out of your mouth. "And I've still got more. And as I said, I'm not giving them back until you buy me back, my Twinkies,"

"God, fine! But promise not to eat anymore until we get to a gas station! Especially not the Apple ones!"

"Will do," You pop the Blow-Pop back into your mouth as he lets go of your shoulders, looking defeated as he walks back to the room all of the others were still in.

You smile to yourself, sitting back into the seat you were originally in.

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

You and the boys get out of the bus, heading into the gas station as the drivers fuel up. You immediately head for the drink section, looking for a can of Arizona tea.

What the hell man, where are they?

You continue to look for another minute or so until you finally give up, heading to the soda section where Patrick was.

You had somewhat of a crush on Patrick. You always have to be honest.

You went to high school with Patrick, so you've known him since sophomore year. You had a lot of classes with him too and often hung out with each other both inside and outside of school, making you closer to Patrick than you were to any of the other kids and considering him your best friend.

When he first started playing with Joe and Pete and officially being in a band with them, you started going over to practices with him, getting to know the two better, and when Andy joined the band, it was the same with him.

Now that you think about it, you have no clue how liking him could have been avoided. He's sweet and smart—a little awkward at times too, but nonetheless an incredible guy.

I mean, the whole reason why you started looking into learning some music technology was so that you could be with him more often. A lot of what you started doing was to get to hang out with him more often.

"Boo!" You say, grabbing Patrick's arm gently.

"N/n, there you are," Patrick says, turning around to look at you, holding out two cans of Arizona tea to you.

"What the hell, I just spent like, two minutes looking for these; where the heck did you find them?" You chuckle, taking one of the cans.

"I'll never tell.." Patrick chuckles, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Well, thank you Patrick. I appreciate your kind gesture very much."

Andy and Joe run by you and Patrick, with Pete doing the same shortly afterwards. Some screams and laughs came with that as well. You could see the cashier trying their best to make it through all the noise, with a look on their face that could only be explained as exhaustion and frustration, clearly not wanting to be at work.

You look at Patrick and sigh, knowing that you'll have to yell at the three once again as if they were children, regardless of the fact they were all older than you and Patrick.

You walk to the snack aisle, where you can see Joe and Andy crouching down, assumingly hiding from Pete for whatever reason, and walk up behind them. Andy had a bag of skittles in his hand and a sprite in the other, while Joe carried a twin pack of Twinkies—just as you asked him for—and a bag of chips and diet coke in his arms.

"What are we hiding from?" You whisper to the two, who jump slightly and look back in response.

"Pete," Andy replies quietly.

"Well, we've gotta go; you guys will have to finish this up some other time, preferably when we aren't in a public place."

You hear footsteps from behind and stand up, turning around to see Pete walking slowly, putting a finger up to his lips as to say "don't say anything," and you shake your head and mouth, "No."

"Come on guys, go check out we need to get back on the road," you say, turning back to Andy and Joe.

Pete groans and fully stands up, Andy and Joe doing the same.

"God, you're such a grump all the time, no fun," Pete says, walking up to the cashier.

Patrick comes up from behind you, putting his hand on your back. "Is everyone ready to go?"

You blush from the contact, nodding your head in response, and walk to the register where the boys were checking out.

"No, I paid the last time. It's Andy's turn to pay now, remember?" Pete argues. The cashier looked like he was about to snap; if it was a cartoon, steam would probably be coming out of his ears right now.

"I'll pay, fine dude, just chill out," Andy says, pulling out his wallet and handing the cashier his credit card.

The cashier puts their items into a plastic bag, and Andy grabs it and leaves with the other two.

You and Patrick walk to the register, putting your items down on the counter.

"Sorry about them by the way, they get rowdy sometimes," Patrick says, attempting to break the awkwardness by making small talk, leading it to get worse.

"Your total is $9.34," the cashier says with a deadpan look on his face.

The two of you pull out your cards and look at each other. "Let me pay for it, please; you had paid the last time, and it was almost 20 dollars," Patrick says with puppy eyes.

God, this guy always knows how to get his way with that look.

"Alright then, Pat. Thank you," You thank him, putting your card away.

Patrick pays and the cashier puts our stuff into a plastic bag, handing it to him, with him thanking the guy and telling him to have a good day.

You two walk back into the bus, and Patrick places the bag on the couch in the lounge.

"Do you want both of these in the mini fridge?" Patrick asks, taking one of the tea cans out of the bag.

"I'll have one now and save the other for later, if you can put one in though, that'd be awesome."

Patrick nods and puts one can and one of his sodas in the mini fridge plugged in next to the counter where the broken toaster sat. Now that you think about it, how long has that thing been broken? Why haven't any of us bothered to replace it?

You open one of the cans, walking into the bunk area, and sit on your bunk at the top, letting your feet dangle above the middle bunk.

"Y/n, here you go," Joe says, handing me two twin packs of Twinkies.

"Thanks, Joe. Here are your Blow-Pops back dickhead," you say, taking the wrapped cakes and taking all of the blow pops out of your pocket, handing them to Pete, who was sitting next to Joe.

"Jesus, dude, how many of my fucking Blow-Pops did you take?" Pete exclaims.

"A couple handfuls, I think," you reply, taking a drink of your tea.

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

"Alright guys, we've got a couple more songs to play; are you ready?" Pete shouts into his mic, earning cheers from throughout the crowd.

The boys continue playing a couple more songs.

The band had been playing for an hour and a half now, playing some of their newer songs from the newest album they were working on, those of which you had the pleasure of getting to listen to before they played them for others, as well as songs from Take This To Your Grave and From Under The Cork Tree. The crowd was singing the lyrics along with the band, enjoying all of it.

"This is the last song for tonight and is another one from the album that we're currently working on; this one me and Patrick worked on together is called Bang The Doldrums!" Pete says, wiping some of the sweat off of his forehead.

Patrick adjusts the strap of his guitar slightly, walking up to the mic. Him and Joe begin to play together, with the rest of the band joining in.

You listen to it for a bit, you hadn't recognised the name but you figured that they had probably changed it.

'I wrote a goodbye note in lipstick on your arm when you passed out,'

What the hell? I haven't heard this one yet.

'I couldn't bring myself to call, except to call it quits,'

This is great; why hadn't they shown me this one? They all sound amazing.

Patrick looks at me as he sings the next verse; his face tinted a slight red, maybe from how out of breath he was getting? God, he always looked so pretty like that.

'Best friends, ex-friends till the end, better off as lovers, and not the other way around,'

You listen to the lyrics; why did he look at me like that in that exact verse? Maybe I'm just going crazy.

'Racing through the city, windows down, in the back of yellow-checkered cars,'

You continued to listen, enjoying the sound of the way they were playing.

Then once again, Patrick looks at you, looking less nervous and giving a slight smile as he sings the same verse.

'Best friends, ex-friends till the end, better off as lovers, and not the other way around,'

You can feel your face rapidly becoming warm, oh?

You think for a bit, your mouth slightly agape as you stand still. You just hope what you think is happening and what he's implying is actually what it is. No, no way. You guys have just been friends since high school; there's no way.

'..in the back of yellow-checkered cars. You're wrong, are we all wrong?

'Best friends, ex-friends till the end, better off as lovers, and not the other way around, ex-friends till the end, better off as lovers!'

The song ends, and the band thanks the crowd before exiting the stage, allowing the stage technicians to begin striking and taking everything down.

You were still standing there as the crowd began to clear out. Shit, you should get to the boys. What do I do about how Patrick looked at me? What if I ask him about it and I'm totally wrong? Oh god, I'm screwed.

You begin to head to the door that lead to the backstage lounge, a security guard protecting it from letting anyone else in. The guard immediately notices you and lets you in.

You nervously walk to the same area that the boys were in, knocking on the door and hearing Joe shout, "Come in!"

You open the door and smile at the boys, who were sitting down, drinking water and using towels to dry themselves off.

Where's Pat?

"Hey guys! You sounded awesome tonight, what was with that last song though? I'd never heard it before." You greet, sitting down on one of the metal pull-out chairs across from everyone else.

"Thanks! We were going to show you Bang The Doldrums when we were first working on it, but about halfway through writing it Patrick had said something about waiting to play it at a gig instead, something about surprising you, I dunno," Pete says in response, taking a chug of his water bottle.

"Where is Patrick, by the way?" You ask, rubbing your hands on your thighs.

"I think he went to go and look for you actually; try ringing him or go and look for him; he's somewhere around here," Andy says.

"Shit really? I'll go try to find him now. Do you guys need anything that could be outside of this room?"

"Can you get us some more water? I'm still totally parched man," Pete asks, taking the towel he had on his shoulder to wipe his face off.

You nod and get up, leaving the room and closing the door to go and look for Patrick.

How on earth do you know where every place in this theater would be? This place is huge..

After searching around, you finally decide to go outside to check if he was in the tour bus by chance, only to see him sitting on a curb next to the door hidden from all of the different fans still exiting the venue.

"Pat? What're you doin' out here without a sweater on? It's freezing right now." You speak out, walking to where he was and sitting to the left of him.

"Oh, I went to look for you, and when I came out here, it was way cooler than it was in the theater, so I stayed out here to cool off a little bit," Patrick says, straightening his back and looking at you.

You nod in a way of understanding.

"How'd you like the show, though?" Patrick says, after a few seconds of silence.

"It was great! You guys never have a boring gig; everyone was loving it. What was the last song about though? I had never heard you guys play it up until just now." You say excitedly.

Patrick shifts slightly, looking away from you as his face flushes, now looking slightly embarrassed.

"I mean, it's not that it sounded bad or anything; it sounded great, but, during that chorus, you kept looking at me and, well," You say awkwardly, avoiding saying what you actually wanted to say.

It stayed silent for a couple of seconds before Patrick broke it.

"Sorry about that, I don't know if it made you weirded out or anything." Patrick says quietly.

"'Weirded out?' Pat I don't think you can really do anything to weird me out honestly. I didn't mind the contact all that much really." You lightly laugh, quietly mumbling the last part.

After saying that, you notice Patrick relax a bit, as if he were relieved and a little bit of a weight was off his shoulders.

"Y/n, can I tell you something?" Patrick says looking down at his shoes, his voice shaky.

"Yeah, of course," You reply, anxious for his words, yet somehow excited at the same time, wondering what they might be.

"This is going to sound so stupid, gosh. Um," Patrick chuckles, trying to calm his nerves as he twiddles his thumbs together, then proceeding with what he was saying. "I uh, would you hate me if I said that I really liked you, and not in a friend sort of way but um,"

You stay quiet for a few seconds, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. You're glad that it was dim in the little corner you two were sitting at so that he wouldn't see how red your face was turning.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anythi-" Patrick apologises before getting cut off by you.

"Patrick, don't be sorry," You say.

Patrick furrows his brows, creasing his forehead slightly, turning to look at you with confusion clear on his face.

"You have absolutely no idea how long I've waited for you to say something along the lines of that," You continue, grinning widely.

Patrick's face softened, a small smile appearing onto his face.

"So, does that mean that, well, you know," He says, looking at some cracks in the concrete, kicking at a pebble aside.

"Yeah, it means exactly that, Trick," You put your hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention back.

He looks back at you, smiling, his eyes that you looked into so often seemed to shine brighter underneath the dim light that the venue had over the door in the back that barely showed any light where you two were sitting.

Patrick brings a hand to your face, caressing your cheek. You lean into his touch, doing the same as he did.

His eyes glance at your lips for a millisecond, quickly returning to your eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" Patrick asks quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

You nod your head and lean in as he does, fluttering your eyes closed.

Patrick closes the gap between the both of you, his breath warm. The kiss is soft and sweet, not pressed too hard against each other but still with passion. Your lips seemed to fit perfectly with his, as if they were made specifically for the both of you and just the both of you alone.

You two pull away, pressing your foreheads together, panting ever so slightly from the lack of oxygen the both of you got during the kiss.

There was a peaceful silence for a few seconds, you swear that if it weren't for the muffled music and talking of the crowd outside Patrick would've been able to hear your heart beating out of your chest.

"God, if I knew this would be the outcome I would've told you years ago," Patrick chuckles lightly.

You smile, now realizing that this wasn't a dream and that your best friend since high school really confessed what you dreamed he would for years now. That you two really kissed and it wasn't some guy that you pretended to love in hopes of letting your feelings for Patrick disappear, and you were so glad that your mind and heart didn't let that happen.

"Oh my god finally, you two are idiots," Pete says, standing on the steps that lead to the door to get backstage.

You and Patrick quickly pull away from each other, your face burning up quickly.

"What the hell do you mean 'finally'?" You say, looking at Pete in confusion.

"We've been waiting for you two idiots to finally say something to each other for years now,"

You look at Pete for a few seconds, the cogs in your head turning.

"What?"

"I mean, you two were so painfully obvious, I'm honestly surprised that you two didn't figure it out way earlier man. Oh! Wait, wait, who confessed first? Was it you Y/n?"

Joe and Andy walk out and stand next to Pete.

"Did it finally happen? Who said it first, do you know?" Joe asks.

You and Patrick stare at each other, completely baffled.

"Was it Patrick?" Andy asks.

You flush even more, looking back at the three, then quickly looking away.

"It was totally Patrick, I called it! Come on pay up you two,"

Joe and Pete groan, taking out their wallets.

"Did you guys place bets on us?" Patrick asks, getting completely ignored by them.

"How much was it again, I don't remember it's been like 5 years now," Pete asks, looking at Andy.

"I think it was either ten or twenty,"

"Can we just say it was ten? I don't have a twenty or two tens on me and I don't want to go to the ATM tomorrow morning." Joe says, rummaging through his wallet.

"Sure that works," Pete and Joe both hand Andy one ten dollar bill each.

"What the hell, was Andy the only one that thought I would confess?" Patrick says. He seemed more upset at the fact that Pete and Joe put their bets on you confessing first rather than him.

"Come inside, it's freezing out here and we still haven't gotten our waters yet," Pete says, holding the door open for Andy and Joe.

You get up and gesture for Patrick to do the same, walking to the doorway.

"I fucking hate you and I hope you know that," You whisper to Pete jokingly, proceeding inside with Patrick and Pete behind you.

"Love you too N/n.." Pete says sarcastically, walking to the table where a load of plastic water bottles were, grabbing three of them.

"I hate him," You say, looking at Pete walk away and disappear into the room the three were in before.

"Me too sometimes but honestly if it weren't for him I probably would have never said anything," Patrick looks at you.

"What do you mean?"

"He's the one that organized the whole plan of playing Bang The Doldrums and not showing it to you until earlier during the show," Patrick answers, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Huh, he told me you said something about not showing me until now. You know, maybe I don't hate him as much anymore now."

Patrick laughs, grabbing your hand and pulling you along to the table, grabbing two bottles for himself and you.

You smile to yourself, looking at your entangled hands then at him as he walked you to the room the boys were in.

You couldn't have been happier in all the years of your life up until now, and you wouldn't change or trade it for anything in the world. You were happy that you finally got to be like this with Patrick, the boy that was always so nice to everyone no matter what, the boy that knew exactly what to say if anyone was ever down, the boy that never left you no matter how difficult or bad it got.

This was the boy that you fell in love with since the moment you saw him, and he loved you back.

3:13 ─────────ㅇ─ 3:31

This took me forever to finish, and thank gods that I hyper fixated on FOB again (more than many times throughout the making of this fic,) because if not it wouldn't have ever gotten finished. I think I might end up writing more fics for Patrick, let me know if you would like for that to happen, send in some requests if you would like as well! Thank you for reading this seriously, regardless if your new or if you've been a follower since I started posting my fics on here, I appreciate you all for continuing to read my stuff because it makes me truly feel like I'm getting better and that people enjoy my stuff.

[souldagger]

can you talk about how you made the costume please 🙏🙏🙏

:D sure!!! putting it under cut bc it's a lot lol

when i got the idea i had absolutely No clue as to how people even go abt cosplays like this, so step 0 was obviously One Billion Youtube Tutorials (this one - it's in polish but has eng subtitles - was my best friend <3 but there's really sooo many for every little aspect of making armor cosplay i owe them my life)

anyway. proceeding. assume every step takes a fuckton of trial and error and at least 3 failed attempts

REFERENCES:

collected all the covers where u can see mb's suit well, some fanarts that interpreted it in ways i liked, the 2 previous mb cosplays i found

PLANNING:

little to no planning (bad idea. btw.)

MATERIALS:

regular long-sleeved shirt+pants+cycling gloves+fanny pack. (sorry murderbot. but the armor piece over its crotch literally looks like a fanny pack)

the armor's made out of smth called EVA foam (similar to yoga mat in terms of texture/stiffness), had to order it from a cosplay-specific online shop

heat gun (i was lucky bc my dad's an amateur handyman and turned out to already have one) bc EVA foam's much easier to form+less absorbent when heated

contact glue (also known as contact cement) for glueing the armor pieces whole, superglue for details here and there

straps (the kind u use in backpacks etc)+plastic buckles+velcro. so much velcro. i'm never hand-sewing thru velcro again

wood glue+smth called glossy universal lacquer (p sure it's just car paint.) for painting

transparent plastic mask + rit dye for dyeing it (bc i couldn't find one that was already dark 😔)

tape+cling wrap for patterns

MAKING PATTERNS FOR ARMOR:

okay so. you wrap [Given Body Part] in cling wrap (yeah just regular kitchen cling wrap). put tape (i used duct tape at first but switched to masking tape bc it's cheaper) all over. draw, roughly, the shape you want the armor piece to be. cut urself out, cut away the excess edges, bam! pattern. like these:

(the chest piece was the tough part. i wanted the characteristic rounded shape so i didn't use cling wrap there, it was a lot of trial-and-error with cutting shapes out of paper, putting them against my chest, adjusting things, rinse&repeat.)

(also, the helmet - for the face shield i got these v cheap plastic masks that were advertised as lawn mowing masks (???), then tried to dye them black with Rit Dye for synthetics. that was a Whole Ordeal & my best try still turned out too see-through & more orange-tinted than i liked, but i was out of time so (shrug emoji). & for the pattern, i put on the mask + a beanie before wrapping my head in cling wrap dkjfgn)

i cut the patterns into shapes that could be flattened & copied them onto paper (to be able to transfer them onto foam more easily):

ACTUALLY MAKING THE PIECES:

the annoying part: outlining all patterns on the foam and cutting them out with a box cutter. This Sucks. then, shaping them with the heat gun. This Doesn't Work As Well As It's Supposed To. then, glueing the pieces together with contact glue. This Takes Ages.

(& it's like. near-impossible glueing them so the seams don't look terribly obvious 😭 i'm sure there's a way to cover it up well, but the method i tried (foam clay) worked Eh at best)

oh right also the. thingy around the neck. that's just a tube made out of some leggings i was gonna throw out. filled with a bunch of cotton i stole from a pillow. improvise adapt overcome

ATTACHING IT ALL:

That's Velcro, Baby 👍 it's either glued onto the foam or sewed onto the straps Everywhere. it's how the forearm & thigh & lower leg pieces close, how the chest & back pieces connect, how the face shield's made removable. Velcro All The Way Down.

the 2 exceptions: the thigh pieces are attached to a belt with some straps bc they kept sliding off; & the tiny armor pieces on my feet have a loop of string glued on the inside that i just pulled my shoelaces through

PAINTING:

the issue with EVA foam is that it absorbs stuff v easily, so before painting it i had to prime it (aka cover it in 2-4 protective layers of wood glue). then for actual painting, i sprayed all the pieces with 2 layers of universal lacquer (outside on some cardboard ofc). here it is all drying in the garage (bc it stank 💀):

and that's it!!!! done!!!! a bit over a month of work in total :]

[cattimeswithjellie]

Stream Recap, GoodTimesWithScar, 6/26/24

((Geez louise, ten thousand words on this bad boy, it took literally a full day and evening. Worth it though, because this one is jam packed! So many meetings with friends, so many wild mob encounters, so much death! I ended up needing to do detailed recap on all but the last half hour, which was Disney talk that can be watched on the VOD for anyone who would like to.))

9:15 Scar starts his stream in studio view, imploring his audio to “please work” after the madness of last stream. Audio is fine today. Scar is relieved. He greets Chat and shows off the ConCorp shirt he found in his closet. Today’s plan is to hunt mobs and look at spoilers. Scar didn’t finish the video he was hoping to, but he’s going to show off what he’s done, and he’s going to get a Magic Hands Man for the villain car! He thanks subs and donos. Chat asks how he’s doing, he is okay and they’re all going to have some fun today! There are a lot of subs and donos coming in today.

12:30 Some voice donos come in wishing Scar luck on the surgery and commenting on how funny the echo stream was. ((In Scar’s 6/23 stream an audio issue that ran almost 40 minutes caused endless audio looping and much hilarity and distress for Scar.)) Scar laughs and admits he thought about cutting that portion out of the VOD but decided to leave it in because it was funny. Chat agrees that was a great decision. Scar says that the VOD channel has been doing really well for hits lately, people must like it! A lot of chatters use Scar as comfortable background atmosphere and he is very cool with that.

16:03 Chat notices that the broken headset is still conspicuously unburied and unsent to a nice farm. Scar shows off the brand new duct tape job he has done, conveniently ignoring his promise last stream to get new headphones. The headphone is visibly sliding down the side of Scar’s head. Scar switches to game view, where he is standing on top of Ore Mountain with an amazing view of the Magic Mountain dig site. He tells chat that someone is trying to frame him as the Ore Snatcher! Not for the first time, either! This is especially egregious considering that Scar is the chief investigator. Scar shows Chat the landscaping he has been working on, an artificial extension to the river with an engineered shoreline, then tells them to ignore it because it is not finished yet.

18:00 Scar shows chat his rocket shulker, which he left in front of the train last night. Sometime last night between the time Scar signed off around 11:30pm and the time he came back, the Ore Snatcher struck! Scar opens the shulker and reveals five deepslate diamond ore blocks, each one named “Doc’s Diamond Ore.” Scar thought there were only four ore missing, but Chat corrects him to six. Scar is a bit embarrassed to realize the chief investigator did not know that. He makes a notation in the Scroll of Scrolls. He also notes that whoever the Ore Snatcher is, they probably smell bad.

19:40 A voice dono message comes through and Scar misses it. He admits to Chat that while he wants to hang onto his headphones as long as possible, the left side doesn’t actually, you know, _work_ anymore, and that makes some things very hard to hear. A chatter sends Scar a tip to watch the clip in his Discord channel. Joe and Cub are super sus. Scar agrees that all this finger-pointing is indeed super-sus. His lead mod signs on and Scar opens the rocket box again to show off the framing evidence. It is sus to name the diamond ore as well, very sus.

21:25 Scar is briefly distracted quizzing chat on the name of his rocket box, which is “272,300 – RP-1.” Chat is mostly baffled, guesses maybe coordinates, but one clever chatter correctly guesses that it is the amount of RP1 rocket fuel needed for the Falcon 9. Chat is impressed by the deep dive, if nothing else. He shows off his other box, which is “810,700 – RP-1,” which is the amount needed for the Saturn rocket. Chat agrees that Scar is a nerd.

22:35 Time for work! Scar tries to remember what work he wanted to do today. He remembers, magic hands man acquisition! He explains that there is an empty village behind Bdubs’ base with a single nitwit safely buried underground. This is just enough village to trigger a raid. But once a raid is triggered and the evoker is acquired, how to get it back? Scar’s theory is that if he puts a magic hands man in the back of his boat and rows real fast, maybe it won’t be able to kill him. Chat agrees that rowing fast might be the only answer. Scar shows how the waterway goes all the way from the village to the train, so it would be perfect if he could avoid death. A ravager could also go in a boat, so he has the same question there. Chat doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but they really want to watch Scar try.

25:00 Scar says that he and Tango have fixed Minecraft. It is not right, he claims, that one cannot ride a ravager. The solution is to make rotten flesh useful by feeding it to ravagers in exchange for temporary riding privileges. Chat says sorry, Minecraft does not allow fun. Scar sighs agreement for that one. He promises once again that he will get lava for Frank, the sad cold strider. He shows off the Vindicator he has already secured in a boat, then gets ready for his adventure. He brings a lot of totems, mentioning that Hermitcraft operates by the laws of the high seas, which means that if somebody builds a farm in the ocean, it is okay to steal from it. Which he did. A voice chat about Genie+ puts Scar into Disney rant mode, but a second voice chat telling him that it’s Stitch Day distracts him and a third about Star Wars gets him ranting in a whole new direction. He shoots the bannerman he’s been keeping boated up and heads for the village.

30:30 Scar has decided to consider Star Wars TV shows as the McDonalds food of the franchise, good enough but not really filling or as good as you thought about it in your head. He’s also unhappy about how much more they are spending on The Acolyte than on House of Dragon for less result. Scar is loving House of Dragons though. He arrives at the village, starting an immediate raid, and begins wiping out pillagers. The problem with this particular village is that there are a lot of places for pillagers to hide. He finds two of the first wave hiding inside a building, and then can’t find the second wave at all. As he searches, he talks about Disney’s propensity for unnecessary sequels.

37:30 The raid is really lost. Chat tells Scar he should’ve brought the bell he stole from Doc on Day One. Scar thinks they might be right, because he clearly needs some help. A chatter makes a large donation and wishes Scar “Happy Stitch Day!” Scar is flustered, touched, grateful and slightly enraged. The raid is still nowhere to be seen, so Scar enables freecam mode and goes exploring. He doesn’t find the raid, but he dips down into the massive and impressive empty space left by Doc’s tunnel bore. Scar is impressed and makes a note to come down and grab some amethysts.

40:00 Scar consults the chat for help. They suggest up on the mountain and ringing the bell. Scar doesn’t have the bell, but he keeps looking. No luck. He needs help! Chat really thinks he should go get the bell (and turn on hitboxes.) Scar eventually goes to get the bell off Magic Mountain. He talks to Chat about his surgery, explaining that it is a less intense surgery than some he’s had before, mostly correcting stuff that was done wrong with his feeding tube back in 2021 and 2022. Hopefully he will not have to go under full anesthetic, which will substantially reduce recovery time but may provide less info to the doctors. In any case, the surgery is tomorrow and hopefully he can go home right afterwards. If things don’t go right and he ends up on a ventilator, that means an ICU trip and a few days of weaning. Right now everything is geared towards avoiding the ventilator option.

44:40 Even with the bell, the raid is not revealing itself. A chatter asks what happened with the first surgery. Scar is just beginning to explain the previous J-tube surgery ((A J-Tube is a type of feeding tube that is implanted directly into the intestine, as opposed to a G-tube which goes into the stomach.)) when someone shoots a flaming arrow at him! It’s Impulse! Scar tells him he needs to work on his VelociTE skills, Impulse claims he didn’t actually want to kill Scar when he was already having raid troubles.

45:10 Scar asks Impulse if he’s seen the clip of Scar’s echoing call for his help. Impulse has indeed seen that clip and enjoyed it very much. He asks if Scar got it fixed and Scar says sort of, but there is some kind of underlying microphone issue as well. Impulse makes some audio recommendations, but Scar’s audio setup is a disaster mess and his new Roadcaster is not fully set up yet, plus his headphones are they way they are. Impulse casually flexes the fact that he has the bigger version of the Roadcaster that Scar has and it shouldn’t be too difficult to set up and troubleshoot together in a couple of hours. Scar asks if Impulse is a big expert on raids; Impulse has faced a few. They start looking for the raiders together.

48:00 Scar and Impulse work through their guilt about using “cheatycam,” deciding their need is dire because they just can’t find this raid. Scar finds a cat and mentions that Tango keeps murdering the cats that spawn in his steam tunnels. Chat is not happy with this news. Scar suggests Tango should start a cat army. Impulse says Tango could be the next server cat lady. They resort to freecam, Scar is very confused by Impulse’s soundbyte of voice-altered Tango saying “That’s cheating!” They both start camming around. Impulse points out that there is something to be said for the patented Grian method of just ignoring the raid, but Scar says he actually needs his magic hands man. Impulse explores this premise further, Scar is actually going to catch and move an evoker? On a livestream? In front of people? Scar finds his skepticism unflattering. Impulse asks if Scar would like to tackle a redstone project live on stream next. Excited, Scar asks if Impulse wants to see his redstone. Impulse hastily demurs and runs away. Lots of raiders to catch, after all!

51:00 Outraged, Scar insists that they go and look at the redstone RIGHT NOW. He thinks Impulse doesn’t believe that he has completed a real live redstone project and there’s only one way to fix it. Scar begins flying back toward the Shopping District. Impulse does not follow. Scar demands his attendance via game chat. He does not specify who should comes to Poe Poe HQ, so Cleo says “Okay.” Impulse, in a stroke of wonderful luck for him, has found the raid. Scar flies back to join him. Chat feels a little bad about leaving Cleo hanging. Scar has a hard time finding Impulse and the raid both now, but Chat leads him to the right spot. There are no evokers in this phase, but they can at least kill the pillagers and move the raid along.

54:10 With the second wave taken care of, it suddenly occurs to Scar tht it might be nice to have a boat or minecart or something. Impulse is nonplussed, he sort of expected Scar to have this stuff since it’s his project and all. Scar digs the appropriate gear out of his ender chest, then suggests that maybe they should just go see his redstone instead. Impulse agrees, then immediately distracts Scar with the weird behavior of the pillager wave that is just spawning in. They fight the next wave. Impulse thinks it is possible to put a ravager in a boat, but he doesn’t know if it will kill the rower. He thinks it sounds like something fun to do the science on. If he wants a ravager and an evoker, though, multiple raids might be required. Impulse agrees with Scar that players should be able to ride ravagers.

57:00 Another pillager wave, still no magic hands man. Scar shoots several pillagers and also Impulse by accident. They complete the wave and another one spawns, this one with the coveted evoker! Fresh Animations make pillagers look very fast! The evoker falls in the water, but Scar is pretty sure pillagers can swim. They can, though how they swim with their arms in villager pose is a mystery. Scar tells Impulse some stories of swim team practices that make the dad in Impulse very alarmed. They decide that Impulse will kill the ravager and Scar will get the evoker. The magic hands man releases the vexes, but Scar knew that would happen. He wore his ConCorp shirt today and everything! Scar flees from the vexes and accidentally drops the boat, but manages to put a totem into his hand and fly off before dying.

1:00:40 Scar returns to earth to find that Impulse has not killed the ravager quite as much as would be desirable, and in fact the ravager has made it all the way to the evoker pond and is killing Impulse. Scar is faced with an angry ravager sitting in the middle of a pile of Impulse bits, some of which have fallen into the water with the evoker. It is not great. Scar has also replaced his offhand totem with a bit of rail somehow. He shoots the vex in the boat and dives in the water to retrieve Impulse’s stuff, and is almost immediately killed. Chat, who has been yelling about the totem for quite awhile now, saw this coming. Scar is upset that he and Impulse are going to mix bits now. Chat has feelings about that phrasing.

1:02:10 Scar jumps back in the water. He is still trying to keep the evoker alive, which makes things more dangerous. He actually does a pretty good job of collecting bits under fire until he sees the evoker treading water. He gets way too caught up in a bit about what a good swimmer the evoker is and begins to drown himself. Catching himself, he gets his first load of items into a barrel on shore, but many important things are still missing, including Scar’s sword. Impulse was apparently carrying 52 ender chests. Scar dies to vexes in the water again.

1:04:00 Scar jumps back in the water. He pops a totem and dies again. Impulse who apparently had not set his spawn, finally makes it back. Scar dies again. Vex can fly underwater. This is really bad news. Impulse and Scar meet up and trade bits. Tango, alerted by Scar’s death loop, arrives to mock them but also to help. Scar and Impulse catch him up on their totally normal and not-dangerous situation. Scar shares his theory that if he can row a boat fast enough with Magic Hands Man in it, he can avoid the vexes and be safe. Tango does not think this will work but he would very much like to see Scar try it. Scar begins sketching out a plan to get the evoker out of the water and onto the thin strip of land separating the pond from the river. Tango digs out a canal to connect the two bodies of water. Scar is sad he did not think of that.

1:08:20 Scar goes into one of the village huts to sulk for a moment and discovers an indoor hot tub. Impulse discovers an outdoor vindicator and dies of it. Tango and Scar watch contemplatively as Impulse runs around, shrieking, pursued by a vindicator and then by another evoker he has found. He asks if they are going to help at any point, but they are busy being entertained by the cartoon antics. Scar encourages Impulse to get back in there for another round. Tango suggests that maybe Scar could at least put the evoker in a boat since it is literally on the edge of the water. Scar, who has his chin on his fist and is looking very much like a guy who is not intending to do anything right now, says the evoker looks too intimidating with his magic hands right now. Impulse dies again. Chat is having an _excellent_ time.

1:09:30 Tango and Scar are having an excellent time and agree this is much better than the original plan. Impulse dies again and suggests that maybe SOMEONE who has an actual WEAPON could HELP A LITTLE. Scar cheers Impulse on. In chat, Cub cheers Impulse on as well. Scar asks what Magic Hands Man’s actual name is. Tango tells him it is the evoker. While Scar is thinking about that, the actual evoker comes up and sics a bunch of vexes on them. Scar and Tango scatter.

1:10:20 Scar puts the evoker in the boat and jumps into it himself, then begins rowing for his absolute life while yelling to the others that he got him! Tango yells for him to go, go go! Scar switches between first person and F5 as he paddles as fast as he can. He almost gets hung up on a piling but squeaks through before getting vexed to death. The evoker is constantly casting behind him and making a sort of rocket-propelled visual effect behind the boat. Impulse and Tango fly alongside, cheering him on. They are all excited that this is working, but Tango wants to know what the exit strategy is here. Scar admits that’s a little more freeform and may involve some painful rail-line building. Chat is super excited to be a part of this amazing science.

1:13:20 Scar successfully parks the boat outside his train and ejects without dying. He did it! Now the Evoker just needs a nametag. It also needs to stop attacking them with vexes and stone teeth. Scar explains the plan to have Magic Hands Man in the villain car. Tango, who spent all of last season killing himself and his friends with hostile mobs, thinks this is a great idea. Scar rustles up a nametag and an anvil from his ender chest, but needs Tango to make the “Magic Hands Man” tag. Scar pops it onto the evoker and the deal is sealed! Tango asks if Scar plans to build the rail up into the car and everything today. Scar admits he couldn’t get his video done anyway, so he has nothing but time today.

1:16:10 Scar pulls out his Roller Coaster Tycoon shulker for rails and carts, then asks Tango and Impulse if they ever played RCT. Neither of them did. He asks them incredulously if they ever even had fun. They agree that no, there was no fun back then. Impulse says he had the best toy as a child, it was an empty can of soda and they kicked it down the street for fun. Scar asks if Impulse grew up in the fifties. They all do their best old crotchety grandfather impressions.

1:17:40 Impulse has to go, but he’s going to raid into Scar. Scar is disappointed that Impulse doesn’t want to see his redstone. Impulse promises he will see it another day. Before Impulse goes, Scar wants to ask one more question. He murders the name “Rotterdam” about ten times while telling Impulse that the TwitchCon there is doing BuildMart IRL. It sounds amazing! Impulse didn’t think Build Mart IRL means people will be getting out of their seats and doing stuff, but Scar is pretty convinced. (While this conversation is going on, Scar is talking to Doc, who has just signed on, in chat. He tells Doc to come to his base.) Impulse is mostly jealous because the MCC Live there has Ace Race and Railroad Rush, all the good games. “But do they have kick the can?” Tango asks. They decide that’s the next big MCC game, definitely, and Tango and Impulse will win every game. Scar says he would be so good at IRL Build Mart because he would grant his team a natural shopping cart advantage. He could also roll over people’s feet and knock them out of the game. He namedrops Tubbo as the first MCCer to be foot-rolled. He wants to go to TwitchCon very much.

1:21:00 Doc arrives and Scar has other things to do! He hurries off while Tango and Impulse head out. Scar shows Doc the diamond ore and explains the whole frame-up. Including the block that the Ore Snatcher left on top of the armor trim shop, this means all the ore is accounted for. Doc talks about what happened during Scar’s last stream while Scar makes notes on the Scroll of Scrolls. Doc believes that Scar is innocent, but wants to know if Scar is eating chips or something. That would be new for Scar. Scar explains the scroll, then tells Doc he thinks that whoever is framing him may not actually be the Ore Snatcher. There could be multiple actors at this point. Impulse raids into the stream. Doc and Scar agrees that this is a bad framing attempt, nobody would believe this.

1:24:40 While Scar is airing his investigation-related grievances, he demands to know how he is supposed to investigate with a warden in the shop! Doc tells him that is fixed already, the alarm is reset. Chat asserts that it is definitely Cub. Scar wants to know if Doc wants to see his redstone, but Doc is on a roll. Doc believes that the Ore Snatcher is done and won’t act again, and if there are no more attacks and no one confesses, the mystery could haunt him for the rest of his life. Doc and Scar decide to go to the trim shop and look at the signs again. As he flies, Scar points out to chat that three people have now refused to look at his redstone. Chat suggests asking Pearl or Bdubs. Chat also mentions that Doc saw Scar’s redstone on his most recent stream and was not exactly a fan. Scar tells Chat that he’s crossed Mumbo and Zed off the suspect list, but if Mumbo did it, it would be really, really funny.

1:27:00 Scar lands at the trim shop, only to find the alarm in full swing and very loud. He lands next to a new shop that is a dragon head and a creeper head and tries to see what’s going on. Doc says someone triggered the alarm again. He thinks for a moment that the warden is not free, but then everything goes dark. The warden is definitely free. Scar raises his concerns about breaking a wallet setting off the alarm and Doc points out that the shop isn’t even open yet. Nobody should be using their wallets there! He goes in to fix the alarm system and Scar takes off with a very pointed message about going to see his redstone that nobody will look at. Scar flies to his countdown clock and flips the switch. The pistons make a lot of noise and absolutely nothing happens. Scar waxes enthusiastic about how awesome his redstone is for a couple of minutes. Chat is confused. Scar thinks for a minute about possible Ore Snatcher culprits. Chat has lots of ideas, but there is still no proof for anything. Scar plays his suspicions close to his chest, but he doesn’t think it’s Grian.

1:31:00 Scar goes back to the shop, even as he tells chat that he really does need a new headset. He said the same thing last stream, but now he has really come to terms with it. Back at the trim shop he sees the sixth ore block and its mocking sign. He and Doc talk more about possible culprits with no evidence or proof. Scar does believe that the ore from his rocket box came from Ore Mountain and somebody just named it. He asks Doc when the shop will be opening, because he actually would like to buy some trims. Doc explodes that the shop would’ve been open two weeks ago if people weren’t TORMENTING him! All this alarm and warden stuff is not good for shop opening. Doc monologues a little bit about his many troubles.

1:34:00 Cleo arrives, greets Doc cheerfully and asks how his broken shop is. Doc asks if Cleo triggered the alarm. Cleo says no, but they could, would Doc like them to right now? Doc says that the alarm is disabled right now; Cleo is disappointed. Ren arrives as well, Doc demands to know what all these Hermits want with him. Cleo confirms that Doc has no safeguards on his shop at all right now. Doc insists that he is going to turn the alarms on before he leaves. Scar feels a little bad for how put-upon Doc is, but it’s also very funny. Cleo critiques Doc’s armor stand work, Ren and Scar critique the fashion choices in his shop. Red and diamond just clashes too badly. Scar compliments Ren’s taxi pants, sort of. Cleo accidentally triggers the machine, which produces a trimmed hat on an armor stand. Cleo is momentarily alarmed, but Doc takes it as an opportunity to show off his machine. The Hermits are impressed! Scar asks if he can give Doc’s machine a bang. Everyone ignores him.

1:36:40 Doc produces an entire example set of armor with the machine. Everyone thinks it is very cool. Doc makes Ren just want to give up and uninstall Minecraft because he can never measure up. Scar compliments Ren’s pants again, and his cool skin, and belatedly his base. He had a great time talking about Star Wars for two hours on stream in Ren’s cockpit! Cleo asks bemusedly whether Ren and Scar ever do anything on their streams. Doc gives up on the conversation and goes to set the alarm as Scar relates an extremely confusing version of his boat-evoker adventures to Ren and Cleo. Ren is temporarily convinced that Scar won a boat race with a vindicator.They eventually figure out what he is talking about and are moderately impressed by his magic-hands-man-wrangling.

1:40:10 Doc comes back and asks everyone to leave the shop, reminding them that it is not open yet. Cleo protests because she really wants to place and break a block to set off the alarm. Scar, who is not paying even a little bit of attention to Doc, fishes around in his ender chest and finds some food to replace what he lost in the evoker chase earlier. He places down his lunchbox and gets some food out of it, then collects it back up. The alarm goes off. Doc moans in agony while Cleo howls with laughter. Scar protests that he just needed some food! Ren suggests that it might be a good idea to get rid of the ender chest in the shop while the alarm is armed. Doc resets the alarm again while the others criticize his alarm system as very bad for business. Doc tells them that the alarm system shouldn’t have to run during opening hours! Scar wonders if there are specific times the shop is open. Ren suggests only when Doc is streaming, Cleo suggests only when the alarm is triggered. Doc chases them out of the shop.

1:42:10 Scar asks again if the shop will ever open. Doc tells him he can’t open the shop because _certain people_ are suing him and he needs to prepare for his lawsuit. Cleo protests that this is not true, they were talking to Joe earlier and he mentioned they’ve done no preparation thus far. Court is tomorrow and apparently Joe and Doc have not talked to one another at all. Doc protests that he tried to talk to Joe yesterday but Joe was drunk because his partner was doing the citizenship test and he was nervous about it. Chat loves this information. Cleo starts laughing and announces that yeah, she ((Joe’s fiancee, BadgerSpanner)) passed and will be in the US in three weeks. Doc says that’s great, but that being too drunk to talk with a client is behavior unbecoming of a lawyer. His only strategy now is to plead the fifth and then let Joe ramble and run Powerpoint presentations until everyone is bored to death and presumably surrenders. Doc turns his attention to Ren and insists that Ren is also at fault because he was summoned via Discord as a witness and didn’t respond. Cleo protests that they did discuss this and Ren doesn’t need to appear if he doesn’t want to.

1:43:40 Ren says he didn’t get a summons, but he was actually hoping to be a witness. Doc says he can be, so long as he speaks in Doc’s favor. Cleo points out that Ren’s testimony is irrelevant to Doc’s stated strategy. Doc counters that because he and Ren are husband and wife, he’s going to use the fact that Ren can’t testify against him. Cleo refuses to believe they are husbands (Chat is a little hung up on the “and wife” part) because there is no documentation signed by Judge Bdubs available. Scar is completely lost and has no idea what is happening. Someone is drunk, someone is becoming a citizen and someone is married, but he can’t figure out who. Ren wants to know if, as Doc’s husband, he can score a front row seat in the courtroom with the lawyers. Cleo and Doc don’t think it works that way, but Scar shakes off his confusion to insist that as the Poe Poe, he can get Ren a prime seat for only ten diamonds.

1:44:40 Doc sighs over how corrupt the judicial system around here has become while Cleo points out that Scar isn’t even going to be there tomorrow. Scar admits he does have an important prior engagement. Doc rants that Hermit society is in a downward spiral, where respectable merchants need to install burglar alarms. Scar turns to look at his own shop, which is of course a massive patch of ground being exploded by a giant smiley face at the moment, and agrees that this is a bad neighborhood. Cleo points out that it’s not all merchants who need burglar alarms, only Doc. Doc points out that maybe when the Ore Snatcher is done snatching ores, he might just start snatching cats from certain cafes. Cleo says that’s fine, and Scar asks Doc if he’s admitting to being the Ore Snatcher. Ren says that the Beacon shop is on the good side of town, where all the Starbucks are.

1:45:20 Scar remembers that there was another suspect that he wanted to discuss with Doc. Doc immediately suggests False, just because she’s flying under everyone’s radar right now. Doc knows what they’ve been discussing; he’s seen transcripts of their whole stream. ((Doc asked on Twitter for a detailed analysis of Cleo’s 6/23 stream, which was helpfully provided by the recapper.)) Cleo has seen those too and thinks it’s weird. ((The recapper resists the urge to hide under the bed forever.)) Scar and Ren tell Doc that they think the culprit is Karin, Doc’s partner. Doc is not receptive to this line of conjecture, but does admit that it is not quite as stupid as the theory that Doc has a split personality and is doing it himself. Cleo says she does not believe it’s a split personality, but that Doc might well steal from himself just to cause drama. Doc is appalled at the very idea that he would do ANYTHING to cause drama. Of course, when 1.21 rolls around it’s going to be a different story, he promises. There will be Hermitcraft meetings with Doc’s behavior as a talking point again, he guarantees it.

1:46:40 Doc and Cleo argue about loopholes and whether or not they work on Hermitcraft. Cleo points out that you cannot have loopholes in a system with no written laws. Scar proudly holds up the Scroll of Scrolls and declares that he does, in fact, has a copy of all written laws plus the progress of the investigation! Cleo and Ren are both interested in hearing this. Scar shakes the scroll a few times and then admits he forgot what they were talking about. Doc makes everyone turn around so he can get into the alarm system again. Nobody turns around. Ren tries to protest that he is Doc’s husband and the most loyal of Hermits. Scar suggests that Ren has spent a lot of time these past few streams talking about how loyal he is. Doc still thinks the culprit is Cub. Cleo says of course the culprit is Cub. Ren says maybe Grian, and Cleo shuts everyone down. They are not spending another stream doing the pointless speculation thing, everyone knows it is Cub and they are all just going to pretend they’ve forgotten.

1:49:40 The sky darkens and Ren pulls out a bed to sleep. Scar claims to have blanked again and not know what they’re talking about, but seems to be using that as an excuse to break the bed under Ren. This of course triggers the alarm again. Cleo and Scar laugh, Ren apologizes, and Doc threatens the life of unspecified parties. Chat loves it. Ren says he has to sleep, and Scar protests it’s just instinct to break a bed. Doc resets the alarm again. Ren promises the never sleep on the stairs again. Doc gets tagged by the Warden. Scar suggests maybe just putting the warden away for awhile. Ren is worried about all the stress his husband is under. Cleo asks if Ren’s considered the possibility of dementia, given that Doc is the oldest hermit. Ren allows that this is true. Doc scolds them all for picking on the elderly (and also Cleo is old too!) Cleo says yes, but not as old as Doc! Doc points out that they all know Scar is 48, which draws immediate, vociferous protest from Scar. ((A ‘famous birthdays’ website once asked Scar to provide his birthdate and when he declined, they just made something up. Scar has been fighting the rumors ever since. The Hermits like to exaggerate even that, since the website claimed that Scar was born in 1982.)) His headphone falls off again.

1:51:50 Cleo asks Scar if he’s really going to tolerate that sort of insult from Doc. They think Scar should go ahead and accuse Doc of ore-snatching right now. Scar thinks about that for a moment and then breaks a sand block. The alarm goes off again. “Don’t call me 48!” he insists over the noise. “Jesus Christ,” Doc mutters and goes to fix the alarm again. He only came online because he wanted to measure the targeting on the new TNT cannon he is designing. Everyone thinks that sounds like fun. Scar and Cleo ask if they can see Doc’s redstone. Scar breaks another block and sets off the alarm for a fourth time just as Doc resurfaces, then says they really probably ought to leave Doc alone. Cleo protests that that’s no fun. Ren wants Doc to know he had nothing to do with any of this. Cleo places a block of polished diorite, then protests that they haven’t done anything since they haven’t actually broken it yet. Scar sees the possibility inherent in this and begs Cleo to put a hat on the goat statue. Preferably a propeller beacon.

1:54:00 Scar asks if everyone has heard the good news of the upcoming popup shop ban, enforced by the will of the Poe Poe and their clock. Cleo has heard of it and compliments Scar on his excellent redstone. Doc points out that his redstone doesn’t actually do anything. Scar tells Doc kindly that it’s ultra-redstone and he wouldn’t understand. Cleo agrees that Scar is operating on a whole other level. Scar tells Doc that he and his Shadow Collective ((a seldom-used channel on Scar’s Discord where he goes for redstone help)) operate in a whole different realm. The Shadow Realm. Doc heaves an incredibly audible sigh. He spent a long time doing incredibly repetitive tasks today and just came on to dig a little hole, but now he is here and it has been an hour and none of them have learned anything but he’s starting to wonder if the Ore Snatcher is just going to troll him by setting off the alarm and leaving. Cleo agrees this is an excellent and easy way to troll.

1:56:00 Ren finds the diamond ore block on top of the shop. Doc has already seen it, but Ren insists that the omission of capital letters is some kind of clue. Doc thinks that the use of glow ink is important. Ren thinks it was Joel. Doc agrees that Joel has a motive, because he got roped into a sand revenge he had no part in earning. Joel believes sand duping is fine, so he should’ve been excluded from revenge, ergo: motive! Cleo wants to make it very clear that Doc is never going to get sand duping. “We’ll see about that,” Doc replies. They relitigate the sand duping issue for a minute, but finally Doc concludes that the culprit is Joel or Cub. “It’s CUB,” Cleo reminds everyone again. Scar insists that he is the investigator and he’ll be doing the finger-pointing here. He did see Cub once pull out an entire box of signs that he uses to place funny signs around for people. The conversation winds around for several more minutes until somehow Doc is arguing that it was Cub and Cleo is arguing that it wasn’t necessarily Cub. It’s starting to get dark again. Cub sleeps through the night.

2:02:30 Despite their best intentions, the Hermits keep speculating about the identity of the Ore Snatcher. Cleo puts forth the idea that it’s a Mission Possible task set by Iskall, and that multiple people are involved. Investigator Scar likes this idea and wants to hear more. Chat is unconvinced by the theory. Cleo thinks there’s a Mission Possible task that is “Take a diamond block from Doc’s redstone, but do it offscreen and secretly” and that several people have gotten it by now. There may also be a task to put diamond blocks back in Doc’s redstone. ((Skizz actually did replace diamond ore as part of an MP task, but the task was “Do a good deed for another Hermit and don’t take credit.)) Doc points out that the Mission Possible tasks tend to be generally wholesome and not all-out griefing, while Ren points out that the purpose of Mission Possible is to generate content, which cannot be done with a mission that must be offscreen and secret. Scar points out that they’ve literally spent several streams doing almost nothing but talking about this, so content accomplished? Chat is pretty sure Iskall has said that no Mission Possible tasks are specifically targeted.

2:03:50 Doc says it’s time for everyone to leave and do the things they need to do. Cleo hasn’t got anything to do, that’s why she’s here. Ren is just waiting for Skizz to get online so he can be deposed ahead of tomorrow’s court case. Scar points out that Skizz’s new skin looks like the Quaker Oats man. Cleo says it’s supposed to be a barrister’s outfit, that barristers and solicitors are British lawyers and they wear little white wigs. Scar asks what the difference is, but Cleo is not sure. Everyone has their own theory on the matter. ((Barristers practice trial law and make court appearances, solicitors handle legal affairs and paperwork matters. Only barristers get to wear white wigs.))

2:05:30 Scar sees a pillager scouting party and considers starting another raid at the sacrificial village. Doc goes to find somewhere to blow up. Scar shakes his head as Doc leaves, saying that he needs to step up his investigations game before Doc loses his mind. Cleo disputes Doc having a mind to lose. Scar tells Ren and Cleo a less convoluted version of his great success with Magic-Hands-Man-wrangling. Ren is impressed. Scar tells him he can catch it on his VODs channel! They go and investigate Jevin’s new head shop. A chatter asks Scar who wrote the notes of mayoral advice that were supposedly from Jellie in Season 7. Scar says of course it was Jellie.

2:07:30 Jevin’s shop is accessed through the dragon’s mouth, which reminds Scar of Disney. Cleo has never been to Disney. Scar remembers that Cleo’s Disney trip was cancelled due to the pandemic. They are both sad about it. Scar sees barrels on the wall with each Hermit’s name on them. He asks what they’re for. “They’re our heads,” Ren explains. “But they’re empty,” Scar protests. Ren says that the prices in the shop are too low, that Jev is only charging one diamond per cat head, for instance. He would charge much more, who wants to kill cats? Cleo, Scar and Chat are all upset. Scar immediately confiscates the two Jellie heads from the box, on the order of the Poe Poe, and announces that Jev is welcome to sue him but he will NOT be selling Jellie heads from that box. Chat is howling for slime.

2:09:20 Cleo raises the half-hearted defense that she doesn’t think Jev probably thought about the fact that he was killing Jellie cats because, well, Jev. Ren is still preoccupied by how little Jevin is charging for various heads, calling them “Season 6 prices.” Scar insists that they need to bring back Season 6 prices. He has only three diamonds. Ren also has zero diamonds. Cleo, who is actively trying to give away some of the many, many diamonds she has earned from her shop, gives Scar four diamond blocks. Scar is happy. Ren suggests they go diamond mining, a very lucrative activity in this version of Minecraft. Scar wants Bdubs to get off the dime and get his lawsuit rolling, because he is owed some serious diamonds by an imaginary man and some snails!

2:10:35 Ren realizes that Scar has a literally mountain made in large part of diamond ore blocks. Scar insists that those are an escrow account, though does not specify to whom or for what reason. Also the mountain has a large hole in it, thanks to those snails! Gem, who is stream sniping, calls it an escargot account. Cleo gives Ren some diamond blocks too. Ren notices the escargot joke and laughs until his eye starts hurting. Scar complains that his ear hurts from the headphones. Cleo yells at him, in a very muted fashion, to get new headphones. Scar cannot hear her because he needs new headphones. In chat, Gem boasts that Ren cannot handle her dad jokes.

2:11:50 The group leaves the head shop, Ren sadly predicting that Jev won’t get good trophies from the shop at these prices. Cleo tells them that she got the 2500 diamond trophy today. Ren experience a moment of disgust at the rampant capitalism until Cleo points out that she _literally just_ gave him a bunch of diamonds. Scar wants to see the trophy. He also wants to know where to sign up for trophies, now that he has a shop. Cleo takes him to sign up for trophies. He is disappointed that Hermits have to pay for his own trophy. He says this is like the time that his brother saved somebody’s life and the Navy told him that if he wanted the medal, he had to pay for it. Chat thinks that is strange because usually service members don’t pay for medals, but Scar promises there’s a story and he will tell Chat later. Cleo and Ren note that Ren’s head is not on the leaderboard yet, he is represented by a squid. Cleo says that’s easy to fix, just put down a bed and she’ll kill him. Scar doesn’t wait for such niceties as spawn-setting and kills Ren in two shots. He says it just felt like the right thing to do.

2:14:00 Ren reports that he is at spawn with nothing. Cleo and Scar collect all his stuff and take it to him. Pearl comments in chat that Spawn isn’t that far from the trophy shop, indicating that she is stream sniping as well. Scar loves Ren’s fancy hat and says it reminds him of Season 7 when he was Mayor Scar. Ren gets killed by Gem. Scar tries to Hotguy Gem, but misses, much to his chagrin. Scar tries to justify a “no thinking, just doing” philosophy as the reason he killed Ren so quickly. Cleo contends that this philosophy is in fact Scar’s problem. Gem puts on a Ren head and jumpscares Scar. Ren reassembles his inventory bit by bit, then stares at Gem to ask why she has to be this way. Cleo says Gem looks beautiful; Ren agrees that Gem looks especially beautiful now. Gem says it’s just the way she is. Ren asks why her head is so _massive._ Gem doesn’t know, it’s Ren’s head. They stand side by size, Gem’s Ren head is much bigger. Ren asks if all Hermit heads do that. Cleo and Scar say yes, but Gem believes there is only one way to find out and kills Scar. They are indeed all the same size.

2:18:00 Scar wants to make it clear that Jellie cat heads are illegal on the server. Cleo asks him not to say that because she always wants to do things that are illegal and she actually has a Jellie cat available. It was in the cat cafe but she took it out and put it in her basement so it wouldn’t make Scar feel bad. Scar doesn’t know how to feel about this, but does feel bad about the poor Jellie in the basement. Cleo protests that Jellie’s in the nice part of the basement. Scar asks for his shovel back, Gem finds it in her inventory and tells him he should name his tools. Scar did name them, but they all broke or fell in lava. That reminds Cleo to ask about whether Scar ever actually finished paying for all the books he took from the shop the other day. Scar gives back all the diamonds that Cleo just gave him. “How many books did you _take?_” she asks, appalled. He reminds her that he lost everything. Cleo takes pity on him and gives him half of the diamonds he just gave her. The group talks a little bit about Scar’s Minecraft face. Ren says it’s very hard to look off to the left and smirk with the right side of the mouth. Cleo can do it. Scar is visibly trying on the facecam. Chat is also trying, with varying results. Scar concludes that it isn’t that difficult and Ren says maybe it’s just him.

2:21:10 Cleo says it’s probably the chocolates. Ren asks if she thinks they’ve done permanent damage. Scar doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Cleo tells the story of the chocolates while Scar plays the Inside Joke horn. Cleo explains that at Christmastime they and Ren were playing Plate Up and Ren mentioned he was hungry and had found some chocolates, did Cleo think they were safe to eat? Cleo said probably yes because chocolate doesn’t really go off, but what Ren did not mention was that these were milk truffles he’d found behind a radiator, behind a cupboard, left by the people who’d had the apartment before him. “And you ATE them?” Scar asks. “They were sealed!” Ren insists. Gem plays the most appropriate “Don’t put that in my mouth” horn ever played. Cleo confirms that Ren did eat them, on camera, and nearly vomited. Ren agrees they were foul. “Oh my god,” says Scar, stunned. “Oh my god,” agrees Gem’s Impulse horn. Gem’s horn game is extremely on point today. Cleo realizes suddenly that she already has four copies of Ren’s head and never needed to kill him in the first place.

2:22:55 Ren tells them all that they are the actual worst humans to ever human. Cleo insists that she is definitely not the worst human, Gem proudly insists that she is. There are several minutes of conversation about Gem’s skin and what Space Buns are. Cleo insists that Gem’s skin’s hair design is called Space Buns but they are completely distinct from and have no relationship to Princess Leia’s hair buns in Star Wars. Scar and Ren cannot comprehend how any hairstyle called “space buns” could not be related to Princess Leia. They eventually agree to disagree, on the theory that Scar and Ren are incapable of understanding things unrelated to Star Wars. ((A cursory internet search indicates that everyone is half-correct, the “Space Buns” hairstyle of two buns in the back two quadrants of the scalp is popular on its own and is not the same as Princess Leia’s famous rolled side buns in Star Wars, but basically every source on the internet agrees that the name was inspired by Princess Leia.))

2:24:40 Scar asks if everyone has seen Ren’s spaceship base. Cleo and Gem have seen it, but they want to see Scar’s base. He leads everyone to the front of the train for a tour and is immediately embarrassed by the oxidation on his portal frame. He keeps meaning to wax that. Scar shares the lore of the Swaggon Inc brand zoo train as it travels the world. Cleo steals a few design ideas along the way. He shows off the carnivore car and Doc, who is now stream sniping, asks if he said carnival car, as in clown train. Scar insists it is not a clown train. Doc giggles. Everyone who saw Scar’s disaster mess of a storage area in the engine is impressed with his new storage car. He leads the way through the turtle and dolphin tank and tells them that when he’s done with his surgery, he and Tango are going to figure out a way to keep dolphins alive. Fifteen dead dolphins is enough. Everyone loves the giraffes. Scar leads the group to a safe distance to show off the villains car and explains his plans for that. Cleo scolds him for Fred’s sorry state of coldness. Gem and Ren agree. Scar is the zookeeper _and_ the police, how can he be torturing animals? Scar shows them the blue parrot tethered to a tree. Cleo tells him he is unconscionable. Gem says she’s going to dinnerbone the bird so it flies upside down and is even worse.

2:35:00 Scar shows off the villains of the villain car, with a bit of mayhem as the result. Turns out the witch has a surprising range with potions, and Magic Hands Man has just been itching to send out more Vex. They retreat to a safe distance and Scar explains his plan for the last, floating car. He shows everyone the back of the train as well, with the elephant and big pumpkin. Scar loses his headset again, then shows everyone the mountain he’s tearing down and Cub’s 44th hideout. Scar and Ren agree that the sign is very similar to the one on the armor trim shop. Cleo, who believes more than anyone that Cub is the culprit, still feels compelled to point out that this is extremely circumstantial evidence indeed. Scar tries to trick Cleo through his death portal but she is wise to his tricks. He goes through the safe bit of the portal and waits to see who follows him. Joe (who was also stream sniping) is under the portal waiting to hit Cleo with a trident, but Cleo doesn’t follow Scar through. Joe models his new courtroom attire of a bright green asymmetric jumpsuit, modeled after the court fashions of Star Trek.

2:42:10 Scar jumps back through the portal to see where everyone else went. Cleo insists they went through the portal and then jumped back when Scar was not there. Scar insists they were not, because he and Joe were on the other side and Joe was showing him his tight but stretchy pants. Cleo though Skizz was bad enough with the wig, but Joe has picked an even weirder outfit for lawyering. Scar points out that it is very on-brand for Star Trek, though. Joe pops through the portal to show Joe his clothes. Ren thinks they’re cool, but that Joe should get a wig too. Joe says he’s channeling the future. Scar suggests going bald entirely. Joe is concerned that if he removed the hair from the Juppet skin, it would be creepy not in the way he wants. Scar asks if Cleo likes Star Trek, Cleo confirms yes, they’ve even gone to conventions and stuff. Scar is thrilled. Apparently it was a Voyager convention specifically, though Cleo doesn’t remember who all the guests were, having been a teenager at the time. Joe can’t believe anyone could ever be so young as to not remember meeting Robert Picardo. Cleo confirms that they did, in fact, meet the Doctor. Joe is very happy.

2:45:00 The group talks for a few minutes about the mysteries and intricacies of the convention circuit, first the Star Trek convention circuit and then the Hermit-related circuit. Joe mentions that he had to pay to fly out to PAX Unplugged last year and talk with Beef about the TCG cards. Scar asks if Joe has revealed his cards, because Joe’s card is one of his favorite. Joe asks to post the link in Scar’s chat. Chat is excited to see it. Scar doesn’t have a link to his own card, but shows a sneak peek on his phone. His card depicts Volleyball Hotguy, shirtless of course. He says Grian said he needs more abs and asks what chat thinks. Chat melts down. Cleo thinks Scar’s card is amazing. It is top abs. Needs more scitties, but the abs are great. Chat melts down harder. Cleo and Scar talk about the time last year when Tumblr created a Scar Minecraft model with truly popped-out pecs, and then did the same thing to Joe. Joe is fine with that. He misses the days when he was in Marine Corps officer training and was, as his friends put it “uncomfortably ripped.” Chat has many feelings about Jitties, and they love Joe’s adorable TCG card.

2:48:20 Skizz signs on so Ren must go, it is time for his deposition. Joe wants to go crash in on Skizz and say hello. Scar thinks that idea is dangerous, they might catch Skizz in a cursing mood again. Ren mentions that the Rendog common dropped today. He has trouble getting the link from Twitter, but one of Scar’s mods drops it into chat for him. Ren points out how it’s awesome that the world behind him is square. Ren takes off and so does Cleo, who has a headache brewing. Scar bids Cleo and Joe goodbye and flies away. He notices that the diamond ore is gone from his rocket chest and lets Doc know that he needs it back, it’s evidence! What he really needs, he decides, is a giant whiteboard to keep track of all the things he needs to keep track of.

2:52:20 Scar has an evoker and that’s great, but what he really wants is to see if he can also get a ravager in a boat. Chat loves that idea. Scar makes some boats and kills another boated bannerman, then goes and triggers another raid. This reminds him that he was talking about his surgery a couple hours ago and he promised Chat the story. He tells it why they fight the raid. In 2021 he got a Psuedomonas infection in his J-tube, which is a slow-moving infection but has a very particular smell and color to it. He went to the ER for it but they didn’t take it seriously. Scar pauses for train talk and a Cleo raid. A chatter tells him he can’t boat a ravager, but other chatters disagree. Scar explains how the untreated infection led to PICC lines and full surgery to replace the tube that involved some complications. This surgery will hopefully finish correcting everything that’s still a problem from back then.

2:56:30 Scar keeps fighting the raid as he talks, popping a totem as he goes. When he had his accident at TwitchCon Las Vegas where he fell and got the concussion, he went to the ER, saw a doctor for about 13 seconds, and got some scans done. The bill for that was $22,000. Chat is appalled. After insurance and everything, they sent a bill to Scar for two cents, which they actually want paid. Scar wants to know if he’s really supposed to send them two cents. The raid ends without a ravager. Everyone is disappointed. Scar hits up a pillager outpost to restart the raid. A chatter suggests sending the hospital a nickle and asking for change. A chatter asks for cat name ideas. Chat has so many ideas.

3:01:00 Scar wants to share some good news he got on Discord. He is halted by a voice chat suggesting he use a credit card to pay the two cents, since it will cost the hospital about 20 times that in processing fees. Scar likes that idea. Scar’s news is from Hoffen, the art books are created and ready to ship within the next couple of weeks! Anyone who ordered a book and has changed their address, now is the time to get that sorted out. Scar bought 24 copies and can’t wait to get them. He has lots of plans for them! A chatter asks if Scar is coming to TwitchCon San Diego, he answers yes. More information will come later, but he has stuff cooking!

3:04:00 Scar fights the new raid and answers chat questions. A chatter immediately gets him on a Disney rant. He finds a ravager and clears the rest of the raid around it. The ravager does not go in the boat after all. It is disappointing, but Scar has a minecart too. He forgets that the minecart has to be moving, but does a very good job kiting the ravager. The fact that he’s still doing his Disney rant and his headset keeps falling off only slows him down a little bit.

3:15:50 A chatter voice-texts to remind Scar to move the minecart. Doc advises him in game chat to build a little circle of track, but Scar is on a Disney roll. He pulls the ravager back to the minecart, gives the cart a hard nudge and captures the ravager quite neatly. Everyone celebrates!

3:19:30 Scar places a little bit of track and then realizes how long it will take to minecart back to his base from here. He decides to release the ravager he just caught and let it chase him all the way home, avoiding Bdubs’ base because it is rude to ravage your friends’ yards. He realizes he can’t nametag the ravager because he has no levels, so it will be a dangerous race back home to keep the ravager from despawning. He accidentally hits the ravager four times with his pick while trying to break the minecart. Doc suggests using an activator rail to pop the ravager out of the minecart without harming it. Scar decides instead to dig a hole under the ravager and break the minecart from beneath, dropping the ravager on his own head. He flees in terror before the ravager can smash him, and the chase is on!

3:21:10 Chat would very much like to see what would happen if Scar took the ravager to Bdubs’ house, but he leads it across the water instead. Ravagers swim very slowly. Ore Mountain comes into silhouette in the distance. Scar talks about the new Monsters park at Universal Studios. He loves it and wants Disney to bring a Villainsland to their parks so much. The ravager remains in hot pursuit, but Scar’s Decked Out skills serve him well.

3:28:30 Scar arrives back at the train but realizes he doesn’t have his stuff ready to hold the ravager at the end of the line. He hastily builds a circle track like Doc suggested and gets the Ravager back into it, then breathes a sigh of relief. The ravager rides the circle track like a very angry teenager on a preschool carousel. It will keep for now.

3:30:00 Scar goes back to studio view and thanks everyone for watching and for all the subs and donos. He doesn’t have his video finished, but hopes to finish it soon after his surgery. It was a fun stream, he enjoyed it a lot! Chat gives him hundreds of good wishes. Scar is so, so close to raiding Tango and ending, but the urge for murder is too strong. Scar drops back into game view and flies wildly across the server. Chat informs him that Tango is ending his stream as well, time is almost up! Chat also reminds Scar that Tango helped him not three hours ago, making Scar hesitate just long enough for Tango to end his stream. Scar lands next to a convenient wildcat, raids into Antfrost and ends his stream.

[luveline]

jade can i request some spin the bottle with rockstar!sirius where r works on the crew, moving equipment and such, and has been a fan (and in love) with sirius since forever? <3 ily

join luveline's halloween party ♡

YES YOU CAN ily ♡ rockstar!sirius x fem!reader

"I don't know how you can stand it," you admit where you're on your knees, packing the more expensive small pieces of equipment away into their padded boxes.

"It's not as awful as you think it is," Sirius says.

"It sounds fucking dismal," Mindy, a fellow roadie, says succinctly from beside you. She's quicker than you at this sort of stuff, deft-handed from the year and a half of experience she has compared to your five months.

"It's alright," he says with a warm laugh.

Where Mindy is faster, you have help. Sirius tucks the last core microphone into your case and lets you do the honours. You close it with two satisfying clicks and beam at him, delighted that he'd come to help.

"I'm just saying, there's, like, things you have to do before, right?" Mindy tips her head to one side and holds up her first, counting off her points on long fingers. "Getting naked in front of other people, ew. Waxing. The flashes. Being a piece of meat for people to salivate over. Models."

You giggle and add, "I'm sure he hates the model part."

Sirius doesn't even blink at your sarcasm. "The worst part is absolutely the waxing." He scratches his collar at the memory, looking so much like a normal boy it's hard to picture him on the cover of Rolling Stone as he had been last week. "Fucking agonising."

"You don't have to tell us," you mutter ruefully.

"Yeah, Black. I've been waxing my legs since I was twelve."

"Twelve? What for?" Sirius asks.

Mindy gives you an Is he for real? sort of look, but you like Sirius, so you slide in before she can get too mean.

"Because," you explain lightly, "if you don't, boys will call you disgusting and other girls'll ask, 'are you a feminist?'"

Sirius frowns. "What's wrong with being a feminist?" he asks, purely perplexed.

"Nothing! It's just the way they say it. Passive aggression."

He nods and he's endearing — he looks so, so lost. You suppose he's been pretty distracted by everything else in his life to bother caring about leg hair.

Mindy shrugs as she stands, rolling her shoulders back with a very erotic moan. She's, unfortunately for you, a bit of a sex demon, or a seductress, and you're very worried she might be succeeding. "Well, I'm going to lie down. And find Carson. Not in that order."

"Carson?" Sirius asks as she walks away.

You look down at the floor, solid black massacred by duct tape residue and rubber skid marks. "That's her, uh, fuck buddy."

You can't explain how emboldened you are by his lack of interest, "Cool. So, what are you doing now? Going to find someone to lie down with?"

"No," you say, trying a coy smile and failing.

"No? Wanna come and lie around with me?"

"Sirius!" you chide.

Funny to get to chide him like this. You used to watch him on TV with your nose pressed to the screen, and now he's your friend. His suggestion sends a happy little wave of pleasure all the way to your toes.

"You are gonna come and watch a film though, right? It's a horror night."

"And you need somebody to cling to?"

"Desperately."

You laugh and then force yourself to stop. With Sirius, you're always getting ahead of yourself. Hurting your own feelings. The closer you get, sometimes, the further away he feels. You just had a conversation about his being on a magazine cover, and now he's asking you to go watch a movie.

"Or not, I mean- if you have plans," he says.

"No, I don't-"

"I think I might be monopolising you-"

"I want you to."

You stare at each other, Sirius' mouth quirking up into a smile you don't understand. It's smug but far from condescending, pretty pink lips pulled tight on one side. "Good. Do you wanna get changed first?"

You look down at your shitty uniform, loose slacks and a polo. Hardly attractive, but he sees it everyday. "Should I?"

"Not if you don't want to," he says, starting down the hall. He has longer legs; you have to rush to catch up.

"Do I look bad?"

"You look perfect." You grin, and then he ruins it, "Polos are super in right now. Think I saw some of the girls at Rolling Stone wearing one."

"Dickhead. You can cuddle Remus when you get scared, if that's how you wanna play it."

His cheeks are painted with slightest hint of blush, tan skin darkened. "He's not quite so soft as you are, sweetheart."

That shuts you both up.

[withacapitalp]

Countdown Pt 3

Part One Part Two

Tw: Slight suicidal ideation and general grieving

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

They only carry a couple things with them on the run. 

Surviving the apocalypse isn’t pretty, and it’s easier to make a quick escape if they’re always traveling light. Essentials only, with a few sentimental items so they don’t completely lose their minds. 

Nancy had her journals, Max had her skateboard (even if she couldn’t use it right now), Will brought a pack of colored pencils, and Steve was pretty sure Hopper had somehow saved a half a pack of smokes. 

And Steve….Steve has a shoebox. 

It’s an old thing, held together with duct tape and decorated with sharpie doodles. Wayne had given it to him right before he left town, along with the necklace that Steve kept around his neck every moment of every day. 

He’s never let any of them look in it. They think he’s insane, but they’re not the ones with zeroed out timers.

This shoebox is all he has left of his soulmate. 

What’s inside would seem like junk to most people. A handful of rocks of varying size, shapes, and colors. A leather cuff with spikes that Steve had immediately put around his timer wrist to hide it from view. A matchbook from a gay bar in Indianapolis, a Spalding bouncy ball. Some hand-sewn patches with logos he didn’t recognize, three different mini figures, a dozen faded beautiful photographs, and a single mixtape. 

Only Robin knew about the mixtape. He had only told her in case they needed a song for him. That mixtape was the only thing in the world that had the song that could save his life. 

But the most important thing in that box was the letters. 

He read one every night. He had promised himself he wouldn’t read more than one. It was routine. When it was his turn to be on watch and the rest of their family was sound asleep, Steve would open his shoebox, pull out a letter, and read it. 

The first one is probably his favorite. It was written in dark red marker on yellow construction paper, the edges ripped and torn with age. The marker bled through the back of the paper where the child who wrote the letter had pressed down too hard, and Steve could imagine the way his fingers must have stained from the ink. Blood red. The same way his fingers were stained when he died. 

7/4/1971 

TWO SULMAYT,

HI.

I AM EDDIE MUNSON. I AM FIVE YEARS OLD. I LIKE TRUKS. YU SHUD LIKE THEM TO. WE CAN WATCH THE BIG TRUKS! 

WHAT IS YUR NAMY? 

BIE

LUV EDDIE

P. S. I HAD A NANA FOR BRIKFEST. YUM. 

There was a picture of two giant monster trucks under the words, and a tiny thing Steve assumed was a banana under the postscript. Steve keeps that one tucked in his jacket pocket, just in case he ever loses his bag or his precious shoebox. 

He keeps the first in his side pocket, and keeps the last one in the breast pocket right above his heart

6/13/1986

Hi Love,

The first one says ‘Two Sulmayt’ but every one after that starts with ‘Hi Love’. 

Steve can’t help wondering if Eddie would have eventually called him ‘Love’ if they had gotten more time. 

Well, if you’re reading this, then I guess my plan to be the one that lived really didn’t work out. Damn, that sucks. Probably a little bit more for you than for me. 

I don't know how you dealt with knowing we only had five days, but I thought it was kinda fucked. Like damn, really? Five? The universe sure has a funny sense of humor, doesn’t it, Love? Or maybe it just hates me. That is also a very real possibility. 

Maybe. But if the universe hated Eddie, then it must hate Steve more for making him continue to live. For giving him other people to love, people to care about, people to force him to not give up. 

Anyways this is how I dealt with it. If you only get five days to have me, I’m going to make sure you know me. Or know who I was at least. One letter a month for the last 12 years, and a bunch of random one off ones from when I was little. Before I lived with Wayne it was kind of catch as catch can with paper and stuff, and I was also like seven, so how many letters do you really want from a seven year old who still can’t spell ‘Difficulty’?

I know how to now, by the way. Mrs. D, Mrs. I, yada yada. Do you ever wonder why all those women are married? I think that’s stupid. Forced conformity, even in our nursery rhymes. 

That joke always made Steve laugh. He’s read this letter so many times it’s starting to come apart at the creases, but it still made him pause and chuckle. 

Anyways. This is yours. Eleven letters a year for twelve years is one hundred and thirty two. Adding in the ones from before, it’s probably around a hundred and fifty. It’s not the same as having me around, but if you spread them out, you might get thirteen years or so before you have to start rereading them. 

Or read them all in one sitting. Do whatever you want. 

Steve had counted. It was one hundred and forty one. He read one new one a night, because every single day they survived seemed like a miracle right now. 

He only had seventy three more left. 

Not like I can stop you, haha. 

That’s probably not as funny to you as I want it to be. Sorry, Love. 

It wasn’t funny. Not in the slightest. Steve wanted Eddie here, wanted him to tell him to wait. He wanted Eddie to write him more letters. 

Oh, I also included a bunch of stuff I thought was too cool to lose, and a mixtape with songs that I wrote for my band. I thought you might want to get to hear my voice. It’s probably stupid, but you don’t have to listen to them if you don’t want to. 

Steve listened to it. They had been forced to scrounge up new batteries for his walkman three times because it kept dying. 

Everything in this box is yours, Wayne has strict instructions to give it to you. And, anything of mine Wayne doesn’t want is for you too.

Wow. A whole trust fund of trailer park trash. Some people leave their soulmates huge inheritances. I left you rocks and pictures and a shit ton of letters. Aren’t you lucky, Love? 

He was lucky. He had seventy three more letters. Seventy three more reasons to survive another day. 

After that…Steve wasn’t sure if he would be lucky anymore. 

Now if you’re good at math- which I hope you are, because I’m terrible at it- then you might be saying to yourself ‘Is my soulmate an idiot? Does he not know there’s twelve months in a year?’ 

No. I’m actually incredibly smart, even though my grades don’t really show it. I rewrite this top of the box letter every year on my birthday, and then I burn the last one. It’s a fun, extremely morbid, tradition. 

I’m 20 today, Love. I wonder how old you are a lot. I hope you’re close to my age at least. Maybe you’re like fifty years older than me, and I meet you when you’re on your deathbed, and that’s why we only have five days. 

They had only gotten five days because Steve hadn’t just taken Eddie and run. He should have just told Eddie to go as far from Hawkins as possible the second he realized. Fuck the rest of the world, fuck stopping the apocalypse. The best part of Steve was already dead. 

Two whole decades, but somehow I’m still in high school. I failed. Again. I wrote a lot about it in my letter last month, so I’m not going to talk about it again. Suffice to say I’m pretty bummed. I mean, c’mon, even Steve Harrington managed to graduate last year, and that guy barely even went to class during senior year. 

That part of the letter always made his stomach turn. He hated the reminder of all the wasted time, the little nudge that always told him it was his fault they barely had any time. 

If he had only looked up. 

Oh, well. This one is it. ‘86 baby! I’d say I want this to be the year I meet you, but I really want to graduate, so maybe hold off for just one more year? Stay wherever you are for just twelve more months, Love, just to be safe. Then I can put a picture of me flipping off my principal in this box for you. I’ll add my diploma in too, just to prove to you I did it. 

Eddie wasn’t going to get a diploma. 

If you wait a year, I’ll give you twelve more letters. So just wait one more year. By then, I think I’ll know what to say to make this better. I’ll know what to do to fill the gap I know you’re going to have. I’ll have something to say that will fix all this. I say that every year, and I never do, but hey, ‘86. 

Nothing anyone said would fix this. Nothing Eddie could write would fill the hole left in Steve’s soul. Nothing. 

I’m sorry. 

I say that every year too. 

Steve didn’t want apologies. He didn’t want letters. He didn’t want a hard to hear voice on a single mixtape. 

He wanted Eddie. 

Well. Happy birthday to me. One more year without meeting you. Eleven more letters. You better be doing something just as nice for me in case it's you that bites it, or I’m bringing your ass back just to kill you again. 

Steve didn’t care if Eddie killed him. Eddie could reappear right now and immediately shoot Steve and he would die happy. He just wanted one more minute. Just a little more time. 

…Wait just a little bit longer. I’ll have better words next year. 

Can you do that for me, Love?

P.S. You should read the first letter I wrote to you, just to appreciate how eloquent and charming I am in this one. 

Eddie called him ‘Love’. Eddie asked him to wait. Eddie wanted to have the right words. He wanted to live long enough to save Steve from his own broken heart.

Steve wishes he had waited.  

[incorrect-tmnt2012-quotes]

[Raph is wrapping a large package in duct tape when Leo walks in]

Leo: Hey, Raph. What're you doing?

Raph: Packing. Mikey's taking a little vacation.

Leo: Really, where's he going?

[Raph tosses the package into a crate]

Raph: As far away as possible.

Leo: How long is he going to be gone?

Raph, hammering nails into the top: Hopefully a long time.

Leo: Wow, doesn't sound like you're going to miss him much. So why are you helping him pack?

Raph: Because the lame-brain kicks like a mule.

Mikey, from inside the box: FOR THE LAST TIME! I'M SORRY I REPLACED YOUR MOUTHWASH WITH SHAMPOO CONDITIONER! CAN'T YOU TAKE A JOKE?!

Raph: And now for the air holes. 

Raph: *pulls out his sai*

Mikey: *screams and bursts his legs out of the box and runs while Raph chases him*

[chuckeroo777]

Chuck's Backpack Hero Mods

So, I've obviously been hyper-fixating on Dungeon Meshi lately, but that isn't all I do. For the past year, I've been making mods for my current favorite game: Backpack Hero!

My collection of mods! Look here if you want to check out any of these mods for yourself!

So in this post, I thought it would be fun to go over all my mods, and share some of my favorite details.

Chuck's Bionicle Mod: contains 245 items

Naturally, my first mod was a Bionicle mod. I love Bionicle. While I did a lot of custom spritework for this mod, shout out to Danska's Bionicle Builder, which is what I used for the masks and set-accurate weapons.

The mod's main gimmick is loot boxes! You can find mask packs, and equipment packs which can be opened for random items from the corresponding set wave. If you're real lucky, you may even find a bulk parts pack, which contains random equipment packs!

Nearly every set is represented, and a wide assortment of items from MNOG and VNOG are included too. As my first pack, the balancing was pretty spotty at first, but a few updates have fixed the more egregious examples. Did you know it took me 6 months to realize that the nektann robots had accidentally been set to unfindable?

Chuck's Plants vs Zombies Mod: contains 654 items??? (probably cut that down to like, ~350ish, since packets don't really count as a separate item)

My second mod, and hoo boy is it a doozy. Probably my favorite mod, this mod has a ton of work put into it, containing every plant from the orginal game, PvZ 2, and chinese PvZ 2. Thats a lot of plants!

The main gimmick of this mod is plant packets. Instead of finding plants as loot, you get packets, which grow over time. Once enough encounters occur with it in your pack, it grows into the plant.

But plants aren't the only thing in this pack. There is also a suite of zombie equipment, which grows stronger based on how many plants you have. Not to mention watering cans, pinatas, guppies, and other essentials to help fuel your botanical battle pack!

Chuck's Bloons Mod: Contains 134 items (again, effective number is a lot lower due to upgrades)

Ah yes, my bloons mod. This is probably my least favorite mod, simple because of how jank it is.

Basically, monkey's grow more powerful based on how many bloons they pop. As they reach thresholds, they get upgraded. However, spriting and programming so many upgrades gets rather tedious. This, combined with the fact that playing with the mod is rather feast or famine makes me not particularly fond.

Getting enough bloons can be tricky if you don't find one of the generators, and some monkeys are just way more useful than others, since due to the effort required, fully upgraded monkeys are mostly an endless mode thing, and some of them just don't scale into endless very well.

That being said, most of the monkeys are at least okay at a base level, so in casual play, they are decent, if not exciting.

Also, the monkey loot packs being barrels makes me giggle.

Chuck's Random Items Mod: contains 10 items

A simple little pack containing a few endless focused items. Originally meant for random ideas, but the next mod ended up taking that role.

Some neat examples include the white manastone, which acts as fuel for the vanilla black manastone, the sticky token, which acts as both energy and duct tape, at the cost of gimping defense, and the Fatum Ruptor, my signature sword.

Chuck's Pack of Mediocre Items: contains 109 items

This is a fun one. Basically, when modding, one tends to make things stronger than vanilla. So I challenged myself to make a pack with intentionally weak, but useful items. That doesn't mean it's bad, just lacks a lot of the raw power my other mods have.

As such, it is my recommendation for if you want a more vanilla style pack. Some of these items are literally just vanilla items with a twist. Such as the glove of knife. Just the one. Glove of knives was OP anyway.

Plenty of cheeky little references in here too. Like the candy cane horns which fill you with rage, or the pristine blade which fractures into one of ten different variants.

Chuck's Terraria Mod: contains 111 items

Ah yes, my favorite Minecraft clone. This pack has a little of everything. You got arrows, spears, tomes of ichor based magic, what's not to love?

If you're really lucky, you might find a crate containing items from my second and third favorite mods, Thorium and Calamity. (Sorry guys, you aren't even close to beating Magic Storage in the top spot.)

This pack also has few item type gimmicks I think are cool. Spears can only be used once per turn, but they have strong AOE attacks. Bullets are arrows that can also be used only once per turn. And then there is the copper shortsword. If you swing it 999 times, something cool might happen.

Chuck's Stick Ranger Mod: 174 items

Anyone else remember this game? Man, Stick Ranger was awesome. Pity they never made a sequel. Anyway, this pack contains a wide assortment of items, including 16 weapons from each class, except angel and gunner. Gunner only gets 8. Angel gets... 34???

Yeah, I like rings. I gave them a cool mechanic where they buff other adjacent rings, like a variant of Satchel's hammers. So of course I included a ton of them.

Also, the imperial crown used to hold the record for the laggiest item I ever made, but engine optimizations has made it actually viable to use. Hooray! Much like the game it comes from, the crown massively boosts the threat enemies pose, but greatly rewards you for it.

Chuck's Neo-Battledome Mod: contains 130 items

To be perfectly honest, I never got past the level of duel-wielding scarab rings before I got banned due to my account getting hacked. Hasn't stopped me from obsessively keeping up with battledome weapon releases, even if they're currently releasing, like, three a year.

That's right, did you ever play Neopets and wished you could wield the Darigan Sword of Death? Or really wanted to own a Weird Scarab, even though it was an impossible to find yet completely ineffectual item? Well, now you can do the next best thing!

Chuck's Elder Scrolls Mod: contains 59 items

Ah, Skyrim. My first M rated game. Which I bought without my parents' permission. Honestly, get rid of those terrible blood splatters, and the strangely mild swearing, and it would pass for T. (Seriously, how do Skyrim and Stick of Truth have the same rating???)

Anyway, this mod contains items from not just skyrim, but oblivion and morrowind too. And maybe even an item or two from arena and daggerfall if you're nice.

If you collect 24 Stones of Barenziah, absolutely nothing happens. Just like in Skyrim.

Chuck's MSPA Mod: contains 49 items

Ah yes. Homestuck. I'd say it's pretty good. Shame it ended at act 7. Anyway, here's some items to shove in your sylladex backpack. Lots of Problem Sleuth items too. Those are probably a bit less polarizing.

Probably best to swiftly move along.

Chuck's Enchanting Crystals Mod: contains 18 items

A small, but simple pack. These crystals can be used to add permanent buffs to your items. The more powerful ones contain downsides though, so be careful.

Chuck's RPG Classes Mod: contains 68 items (Only 9 of which are actually findable, lol)

One of my most popular mods, this adds essences which boost various play-styles. They start off weak, but as you kill enemies, they level up! When leveling up, they branch into two options, with six of the base essences each having four different final forms.

Let me give you a hint. If you're using this, or any of my mods with upgrading items, I won't get mad if you use debug mode to check what items will do when they grow up.

Chuck's Card Slinger Mod: contains 88 items

Ask any Backpack Hero player who the worst playable character is, and we'll all agree. It's Tote. So here's a mod to try and make her more fun. Excuse the use of the thumbnail instead of a pack of items. Carvings are a pain to screenshot.

This mod contains carvings for Tote based on a variety of card games, like Hearthstone, Eternal, MtG, Inscryption, and more! Seriously, some of these are obscure as heck. Like the ones from my own card game that I have never shown off publicly.

Generally fitting into a discard-light setup, the minion cards attack each turn, but get discarded if you get attacked too many times. There are also self-discarding spells, and cards which buff your other cards.

Crown of Possibilities is my favorite TCG card of all time, and you can't change my mind.

Chuck's Mod of Loathing: contains 36 items

Couldn't really get into Kingdom of Loathing, but dang if West of Loathing and Shadows over Loathing aren't amazing games.

Anyway, items in this pack are neat, but I may have created the worst item ever in the Spittoon. It hurts you when used, but gives treasure! Most of the treasure is awful. There is only one good item in its pool. And it's a damn good one. So there I go. Reaching into every spittoon I find, taking ten damage for no reason, hoping to get lucky. If that doesn't capture the essence of the spittoon, I don't know what will.

Chuck's Backpack Battles Mod: contains 47 items

Ah yes, my third favorite backpack based game.

Some pretty neat mechanics in this mod. The versitile dagger and thirsting blade both have a mechanic where after using them for a while, they upgrade into a random crafted version. The gems also upgrade over time.

I also added some dragon eggs. I thought they were really swell. How swell? Well...

Chuck's Dragon Eggs Mod: contains 641 items!!! (Like the PvZ mod, cut that roughly in half.)

Originally based on Dragon Cave, I had to take it down and rework it with my own original sprite art. I'd say it turned out pretty good.

This mod contains eggs which hatch after a while into dragons. It is mainly focused on Pouchette, who can find the full selection, but the others can find a more limited selection too. (Except Tote. Tote never gets to have fun. Except when she finds a Darigan Sword of Death.)

I had a lot of fun figuring out the flavor for this mod. There are a ton of different dragon types, each with it's own type of effect. Tarasques are defensive, drakes have power in numbers, bug dragons are totally a real thing, and weren't the result of running out of unique body plans...

Chuck's Randomly Generated Mod: contains 38 items

Exactly what it says on the tin. I set up a random table, rolled two effects, a trigger, and a character, then made an item inspired by the results.

Chuck's Hyperrealistic Mod: contains 15 items

Gonna be honest, this one's a shitpost.

Chuck's Undertale Mod: contains 92 items

This was a fun pack to work on. I love Undertale and Deltarune, so I certainly wasn't lacking inspiration. Most of the equipment and consumables are in there, along with plenty of memes. I got you're stopsigns, a punchcard that provides massive value if you know how to exploit it, maybe even a Prunsel if you're good.

My favorite item has to be the cell phone. Each battle, you receive a random call, providing a small benefit. You might get Undyne slapping spaghetti against the receiver, you might get Papyrus complaining about spike regulations, you might get [half price baloney], you never know!

Chuck's Dredmor Mod: contains 36 items

Ever played Dungeons of Dredmor? It's very silly. And hard. I've never won a run.

Anyway, here's some random items from that game cause I felt like it. What more do you want?

Chuck's Dungeon Dice Mod: contains 52 items (more like 7 lol)

Contains items which randomize their effects at the start of each battle. Pretty cool.

Anyway, those are my mods. Enjoy a screenshot of the nonsense you can get up to with all my mods active.

Hope you enjoyed reading, and maybe enjoy playing with them!

Stay tuned for my next mod, based on Chips Challenge! This may or may not be a joke.