#flutter RH

[camfredkitties]

14. Flutter

[bonebabbles]

Extremely Minor Characters in RH and River's Kin

“I don’t have any kin,” River Ripple explained. “But my parkmates will be worried.” His heart ached, longing for gentle Moth, plucky Stoat, and the warmth of Squirrel, his nestmate when he was a kit. And most of all... “And Flutter.” -Riverstar's Home, Chapter 2

I don't remember any of the spoiler threads ever mentioning Squirrel ever again, but then again, most of them seemed to "run out of steam" by the time we got to the re-appearance of the Park Cats later

So anyway I'm going to be making mental notes of the random guys. Very interested in what parentage was like for Park Cats, which I'm sure the writers really didn't intend.

Seems like they don't really have "fathers" back in the park. You get assigned to a mentor, and then are expected to become a lot closer to your fellow Parkmates than any familial bonds. Interesting.

I like Stoat lmao. Guy whose only known trait is "plucky." No gender, no fur color, no nothing. Xey're pluckygender.

[sassenach77yle]

7x12 “Carnal Knowledge”

The haze had thickened into steel-gray clouds, coming purposefully up the river, muttering with thunder. I took a deep, lung-filling whiff of ozone and then another, of his skin. I detected the basic male animal, very appetizing in itself, but he seemed to have acquired a rather unusual—though savory—bouquet in addition: a faint whiff of sausage, the strong bitter scent of cabbage, and . . . yes, mustard, underlaid with something oddly spicy. I sniffed again, repressing the urge to lick him. “You smell like—” “I smell like a large plate of choucroute garnie,” he interrupted, with a slight grimace. “Give me a moment; I’ll have a wash.” He made as though to get up and go toward the river, and I reached out and seized him by the arm. He looked at me for a moment, then drew a deep breath and, reaching slowly out in turn, pulled me against him. I didn’t resist. In fact, my own arms went round him in reflex, and we both sighed in unison, in the sheer relief of embrace. I would have been quite content to sit there forever, breathing the musky, dusty, cabbage-laced smell of him and listening to the thump of his heart under my ear. All the things we’d said—all the things that had happened—hovered in the air around us like the cloud of troubles from Pandora’s box,—but for this one moment, there was nothing but each other. After a bit, his hand moved, smoothing the loose, damp curls behind my ear. He cleared his throat and shifted a little, drawing himself up, and I reluctantly let go of him, though I left my hand on his thigh. “I wish to say something,” he said, in the tone of one making a formal statement before a court. My heart had quieted while he held me; now it fluttered in renewed agitation. “What?” I sounded so apprehensive that he laughed. Only a breath, but he did laugh, and I was able to breathe again. He took my hand firmly and held it, looking into my eyes. “I don’t say that I dinna mind this, because I do. And I don’t say that I’ll no make a fuss about it later, because I likely will. But what I do say is that there is nothing in this world or the next that can take ye from me—or me from you.” He raised one brow. “D’ye disagree?” “Oh, no,” I said fervently. He breathed again, and his shoulders came down a fraction of an inch. “Well, that’s good, because it wouldna do ye any good if ye did. Just the one question,” he said.

“Are ye my wife?”

“Of course I am,” I said, in utter astonishment. “How could I not be?”

His face changed then; he drew a huge breath and took me into his arms. I embraced him, hard, and together we let out a great sigh, settling with it, his head bending over mine, kissing my hair, my face turned into his shoulder, openmouthed at the neck of his open shirt, our knees slowly giving way in mutual relief, so that we knelt in the fresh-turned earth, clinging together, rooted like a tree, leaf-tossed and multi-limbed but sharing one single solid trunk.

The first drops of rain began to fall.

HIS FACE WAS open now and his eyes clear blue and free of trouble—for the moment, at least. “Where is there a bed? I need to be naked with ye.” I was entirely in sympathy with this proposition, but the question took me momentarily aback.[...]

glanced at the river, wondering whether, after all, a nice, sheltering bush—but it was late in the afternoon, cloudy, and the gnats and mosquitoes were hanging in small carnivorous clouds of their own beneath the trees. Jamie stooped suddenly and swept me up in his arms.

“I’ll find a place.”

THERE WAS A wooden thump as he kicked open the door of the new potting shed, and suddenly we were in a light-streaked darkness smelling of sun-warmed boards, earth, water, damp clay, and plants.

“What, here?” It was abundantly clear that he wasn’t seeking privacy for the purpose of further inquiry, discussion, or reproach. For that matter, my own question was largely rhetorical. He stood me on my feet, turned me about, and began undoing my laces. I could feel his breath on the bare skin of my neck, and the tiny hairs there shivered.

“Are you—” I began, only to be interrupted by a terse “Hush.” I hushed. I could hear then what he’d heard: the Bartrams, in conversation with each other. They were some distance away, though—on the back porch of the house, I thought, screened from the river path by a thick hedge of English yew. “I don’t think they can hear us,” I said, though I lowered my voice.

“I’ve done wi’ talking,” he whispered, and, leaning forward, closed his teeth gently on the nape of my exposed neck.

“Hush,” he said again, though mildly. I hadn’t actually said anything, and the sound I’d made was too high-pitched to draw the attention of anything save a passing bat. I exhaled strongly through my nose and heard him chuckle deep in his throat. My stays came loose, and cool air flooded through the damp muslin of my shift. He paused, one hand on the tapes of my petticoats, to reach round with the other and gently lift one breast, heavy and free, thumb rubbing the nipple, hard and round as a cherry stone. I made another sound, this one lower-pitched.

I thought vaguely how fortunate it was that he was left-handed, as that was the hand nimbly engaged in undoing the tapes of my skirts. These fell in a swishing heap round my feet, and I had a sudden vision—as his hand left my breast and the shift whiffed up round my ears—of Young Mr. Bartram suddenly realizing a dire need to pot up a batch of rosemary seedlings. The shock probably wouldn’t kill him, but . . .

“May as well be hung for sheep as lambs,” Jamie said, having evidently divined my thought from the fact that I’d turned round and was shielding my more private bits in the manner of Botticelli’s Venus. “And I’ll have ye naked.”

He grinned at me, whipped off his own dirt-streaked shirt—he’d thrown off his coat when he set me down—and yanked down his breeks without pausing to undo the flies.

He was thin enough to make this possible; the breeches hung on his hipbones, barely staying up by themselves, and I saw the shadow of his ribs beneath his skin as he bent to shed his stockings.

He straightened and I put a hand on his chest. It was damp and warm, and the ruddy hairs prickled into gooseflesh at my touch. I could smell the hot, eager scent of him, even over the agricultural fug of the shed and the lingering smell of cabbage.

“Not so fast,” I whispered.

He made a Scottish sound of interrogation, reaching for me, and I dug my fingers into the muscle of his breast.

“I want a kiss first.”

He put his mouth against my ear and both hands firmly on my bottom. “Are ye in a position to make demands, d’ye think?” he whispered, tightening his grasp. I caught the faint barb in that. “Yes, I bloody am,” I said, and adjusted my own grip somewhat lower. He wouldn’t be attracting any bats, I thought.

We were eyeball-to-eyeball, clasped and breathing each other’s breath, close enough to see the smallest nuance of expression, even in the dimness. I saw the seriousness that underlay the laughter—and the doubt beneath the bravado.

“I am your wife,” I whispered, my lips brushing his.

“I ken that,” he said, very softly, and kissed me. Softly. Then closed his eyes and brushed his lips across my face, not so much kissing as feeling the contours of cheekbone and brow, of jaw and the tender skin below the ear, seeking to know me again past skin and breath, to know me to the blood and bone, to the heart that beat beneath.

I made a small sound and tried to find his mouth with my own, pressing against him, bare bodies cool and damp, hair rasping sweetly, and the lovely firmness of him rolling between us. He wouldn’t let me kiss him, though. His hand gripped the tail of my hair at the base of my neck, cupping my head, the other hand pursuing the same game of blind man’s buff. There was a rattling thump; I had backed into a potting bench, setting a tray of tiny seedling pots to vibrating, the spicy leaves of sweet basil trembling in agitation. Jamie pushed the tray aside with one hand, then grasped me by the elbows and lifted me onto the bench.

“Now,” he said, half breathless. “I must have ye now.” He did, and I ceased caring whether there were splinters in the bench or not.

I wrapped my legs round him and he laid me flat and leaned over me, hands braced on the bench, with a sound halfway between bliss and pain. He moved slowly in me and I gasped. The rain had grown from a patter to a ringing din on the tin roof of the shed, covering any sounds I might make, and a good thing, too, I thought dimly. The air had cooled but was full of moisture; our skins were slick, and heat sprang up where flesh touched flesh. He was slow, deliberate, and I arched my back, urging him. In response, he took me by the shoulders, bent lower, and kissed me lightly, barely moving. “I willna do it,” he whispered, and held tight when I struggled against him, trying vainly to goad him into the violent response I wished—I needed. “Won’t do what?” I was gasping. “I willna punish ye for it,” he said, so softly I could barely hear him, close as he was. “I’ll not do that, d’ye hear?” “I don’t frigging want you to punish me, you bastard.” I grunted with effort, my shoulder joints creaking as I tried to break free of his grasp. “I want you to . . . God, you know what I want!” “Aye, I do.” His hand left my shoulder and cupped beneath my buttock, touching the flesh of our joining, stretched and slippery. I made a small sound of surrender, and my knees loosened. He pulled back, then came back into me, strongly enough that I gave a small, high-pitched cry of relief.

“Ask me to your bed,” he said, breathless, hands on my arms. “I shall come to ye. For that matter—I shall come, whether ye ask it or no. But remember, Sassenach—I am your man; I serve ye as I will.” “Do,” I said. “Please do. Jamie, I want you so!” He seized my ars* in both hands, hard enough to leave bruises, and I arched up into him, grasping, hands sliding on his sweat-slick skin.

“God, Claire, I need ye!”

Rain was roaring on the tin roof now, and lightning struck close by, blue-white and sharp with ozone. We rode it together, forked and light-blind, breathless, and the thunder rolled through our bones.

24 WELCOME COOLNESS IN THE HEAT, COMFORT IN THE MIDST OF WOE ~ Written in My Own Heart's Blood

[jayceofprogress]

Journal entry: 13.0.12.9.10/995AN

Env. Cond. T = 26° RH = 61%

Result # = Nil

Observations: N/A

Note: Want to make sure I write this all down so I don’t forget any of it. Been a few weeks since the last entry, because Sky found my journal on the lab floor (long story), and I’ve been too paranoid to write anything. As a result…a lot’s happened.

Testing’s been on hold. Still have the S sample, but haven’t been able to do anything with it yet—once the upgrades for the Gates are done, hoping to get started in the next few days.

The gala Cassandra hosted went well. Spoke to the investors from Bolbok’s division—nothing much there worth pursuing; they’re only looking for steel and raw mineral for trade, which I’ve told Bolbok about ten times isn’t us. I’m pretty sure he turns off whatever mechanism he uses for listening during half our meetings so he can doze in his seat.

I’d managed to convince V to come. Guilt-tripped him that I didn’t want to go alone, more like, but hell, it worked. Felt bad I had to leave him to go rub shoulders with half of House Andrille. Nobody had anything of substance to ask or say to me, they all just wanted to be close to me, laughing at jokes even I knew weren’t funny, leaning in close to touch my arm, fluttering eyelashes, licking their lips. Would’ve been flattering if I didn’t know it wasn’t for me. Not really. It was for the posters, and the speeches, and that other guy that gets up on the stage to wave and smile and talk about things like Progress and Innovation like they’re brand labels slapped on empty bottles.

Every time I glanced over to check on V, all I wanted to do was go sit down beside him. I wished I could’ve listened to him taking apart all the stupid, self-absorbed diplomats in the room, and brought him something from the canapé trays all the servers were holding out of his reach, and pretended not to be staring at how good he looked in his nice going-out suit.

By the time I did actually make it over to him, it was late and neither of us were in much of a mood to stay any longer. He’d had a lot to drink—way more than me, by the looks of all his empty glasses, though it didn’t make him any less articulate than usual.

Offered to walk him home. Then insisted on it. Pretended it was a manners thing, even though it wasn’t; just me being selfish, wanting to soak up his company for as many minutes as I could. Maybe it was because of the champagne, or how pretty the stars were that night, or just something finally breaking in my head, but I agreed to come inside. Just for a drink. I never imagined anything else would happen. Well, okay, maybe I’d imagined it, but I never thought it’d actually happen.

We talked. About nothing, really, just work, and then V mentioned he’d wanted to invite me over before, and…

I told him how I felt about him. Not completely, not right away, but. Enough, I think, that he understood. Said there was nobody in the world I’d rather spend my time with. And that he was the best part of me. That losing him would be like cutting all the worthwhile parts out of myself. His reaction scared the shit out of me. He looked horrified, or upset, or something. I thought I’d fucked everything up. Felt like the worst kind of idiot, cursing myself for drinking so much and letting my mouth run away from me. Was ready to die of embarrassment, wanted to leave and throw myself off a bridge, but then.

He kissed me.

The rest of the night’s kind of a blur. I took him to bed. Or maybe he took me. Maybe it was fucked up of me to do that when we were both drunk. I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about it; the way he sank his teeth into my shoulder, tugged his fingers in my hair. The mark he left on my neck is still fading. The way his voice sounded, breaking on my name. I told him I loved him. I didn’t mean to. It just came out, like being inside him made my brain forget there’d be consequences for all of it the next day.

I stayed the night, and woke up with him coughing—it was bad, frankly, there was blood—and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since, even though he was adamant it was nothing. And now it’s awkward as hell. We’re tiptoeing around each other in the lab; all ‘Please, Viktor’ and ‘Thank-you, Jayce’ and cool professional civility. It’s killing me. I feel like we need to talk, but the thought of that is killing me even more.

How would I try to explain it to him? That for seven years, it’s felt like life began and ended in the hours we spent making impossible things real together, holding magic in our hands, his eyes on mine over the light of it all. I don’t know how to tell him that I’m tired of those in-between hours where everything’s just a shade of what it could be. We could come home together at the end of the day, instead of watching each other moving in opposite directions. I could cook for him, instead of just myself, and let him oversweeten both our teas, and wrap his cold, bony feet up in my hands on the couch while he reads, or talks, or laughs at me so hard his eyes crease closed.

I could take him apart at the end of the day—braces first, letting him breathe again, easing his skin with my mouth and holding him up through however much pain he’s in—and then put him together again in bed. In our bed—a place I could share with him. I could hold him together, in my arms, in his sleep.

Council meeting this afternoon, then I need to do more speech prep. Feels like a huge fucking waste of time when I could be here instead.

I’m tired of being Jayce Talis, whatever that even means now—someone I don’t recognize anymore. I just want…whatever I am, and whatever that’s worth, to be Viktor’s. He can do with it as he wishes.

- J.T.

[bonefall]

After doing a tad bit of research (so this might not be completely accurate) surprisingly the first shopping mall introduced into the UK was actually made in 1571 called the Royal Exhchange. It wasn’t like a mall you’d get today obviously, it was open and seemed more akin to a trading hub. The first closed mall , more in line of that we see today, was opened in 1964 called the Bull Ring.

Also, if you decide to keep Rivers kits from RH, you could rename Dawn Smoke to Fluttering Dawn, so their named after Flutter.

OH I should mention the new name scheme for Park cats here because I finally figured it out and have a system I like

So Park cats, which is the cultural group that makes the River Kingdom and Wind Coalition, are born nameless. They're referred to by a physical characteristic. The white-spot, the small-of-ear. Once assigned to a mentor, they earn their first name.

This name is ALWAYS nickname of mentor + possessive + paw (bean).

Arc's Paw, River's Paw.

(In Parkmew it also referred to the mentor's dominant paw. In real cats, their dominant paw is based on sex, but for BB I'm choosing to go with human-handedness because I think lefties are cool and I want to make an ancient phrase for "maverick" that comes from "trained by a left-pawed mentor")

Once they become adults, they would take a new name from an achievement. This was three words at most. River's Ripple, Arc of Park, Drizzle, Public Universal Friend. Accumulating titles was a sign of progression in life.

So one cat's apprentice name could be Hawk's Paw, but a few years later, the same mentor trains Glory's Paw because they have a new title.

This of course becomes the apprentice system we know today, codified into law when the cats all gather to amend the code after the Succession Crisis. In CLAN culture, raising apprentices is said to be very important to preventing nepotism, it solidifies bonds to the chosen Clan instead of just your family.

Historically, the King trains their successor. The prince's first name is the King's Paw.

Riverstar chuckles fondly in his memory of how happy he was to finally have earned his own name through his connection to the river of their new home, and intentionally made it sound like he was an eternal apprentice of the river. The River's Ripple. It was the water that gave him freedom away from his responsibilities, for just a little while.

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Round III of Excerpts from The One True School Master of Vault 41

Agatha turned to the Rafal. "Interesting,” she nodded. "I'm sure you don't remember the names of all the masses you've murdered, but tell me, whose face do you see in your nightmares?" she prompted expectantly.

“Rh—h-hACK,” said he, the Evil sorcerer.

“What? Come again?” Agatha prodded all too knowingly as she got to her feet.

Rafal seized up and started to convulse silently. Something was obstructing his airways.

Sophie hopped up from her seat. “Aggie! He’s choking, Aggie!” she squawked.

“Oh! Well, do something then! He’s yours to look after!” Agatha crossed her arms and stared Rafal dead in the eye as he suffocated, daring him to try anything.

“B-but, I don’t know how to—" Sophie’s voice died in her throat as she fluttered her hands in distress. She looked at Agatha in askance. "Would you revive or resuscitate..."

Agatha shook her head stubbornly. She was Sophie's savior and no one else's. On occasion, she would save Tedros, but he usually wouldn't let her save him. "If he dies now, there'll be no one to blame and it'll be of natural causes. And, I'll be doing Tedros a favor by sparing him a heart attack. He's been through so much already, I'm not sure his heart could take another shock, like the one in front of us."

Sophie exhaled, ready to blow up, flustered and red. She could barely get words out, and froze in place. Her ribcage throbbed with panic, like she’d swallowed her heart whole.

She turned to Kiko, next, to seek help, but found that Kiko was gone! Sophie hadn’t noticed that the Evergirl, the only one she could expect a scrap of human decency from had fled from the table!

Turning bluer by the second, Rafal stopped clutching his throat.

He stood up abruptly, chair scraping the glass floor as it skidded back with a screech. He motioned with his hands to signal to the girls that they didn’t have to intervene, dismissing them.

Gripping the table, he leaned on it, bent over its edge, and thrust his fists against his diaphragm hard, dislodging what had caught in his throat.

A saliva-coated coin of cucumber shot out of his windpipe and hit Agatha squarely in the eye.

Sophie sagged in relief.

The slice of cucumber slid down Agatha’s cheek leaving a trail of spittle. “Well, that’s settled,” she griped sullenly. She flumped down on her seat cushion again, long, rangy limbs askew. “Too bad you’re alive.”

“Too bad indeed. For you,” Rafal smirked, stretching his tensed jaw so it clicked.

Agatha winced. “After yet another run-in with death, you’re still here. Guess my luck’s run dry for good. Will Lady Fortune ever be on my side?”

“Not if you don’t cease with the complaining,” he taunted, “If only I could stretch you beneath her wheel, but alas… I’m beholden to your dear friend.”

“Enough,” Sophie boomed as she slammed her hands on the glass table. The table shuddered, and the filigree bone china jittered as several serving dishes clinked together.

Agatha and Rafal swiveled to look at her.

“That’s it,” Sophie fumed, “I’ll put up with none of this infantile bickering while I’m present. You two must learn to cooperate. I know you don’t trust him, Agatha, darling, and admittedly, I don’t either, but I think he’s trying, at the very least, to be helpful, so be civil. The same goes for you as well, Rafal. At least try to look contrite. And remember: my say is final.”

All three fell silent for a moment.

"If you actually were wondering,” Rafal told Agatha, "The answer is Rhian. His face has haunted my dreams every night since he died.”

⸻

[Note: A lot comes to pass between these two scenes, so don’t expect them to be perfectly chronological. I just thought the shift could be fun to see.

And, this second section takes place earlier on in the plot by the way. We're nowhere near the climax with these two excerpts.

Also, watch what you think, Agatha. Some dreadful irony will come back to bite you, and everyone to be fair.

Oh, and did anyone catch the Shakespeare reference?]

Good's glass walls beamed back the moonlight like searchlights spilling from the columns. The walls were truly a spectacular sight, the mazes of halls all illuminated in silver.

Yet beauty and brilliant lighting do not the optimum conditions for breaking and entering make.

Every polished facet contained Agatha’s reflection, exposing her in her black robes. And, she was well-aware of this disadvantage, but she would never be able to slip away during the day, so night it was.

She rounded the bend and her spine prickled with the familiar sensation of being watched.

After her run-in with Professor Anemone, she now roamed the halls with much less fear. This time, she encountered a different petrified faculty member. Pollux.

She reached up and knocked lightly at the space between his eyes. Nearly soundlessly, it echoed, muffled by his thick-skulled, furred brow.

Just what she’d thought, he had nothing but a load of fluff in there. Agatha laughed to herself.

The labyrinthine glass breezeways, went winding and overlapping every which way, breathtaking in their complexity, but Agatha had discovered that no matter which corridor she turned into, the swathes of friezes lining the walls would direct her, pointing her in the same direction, hopefully the right direction.

The pearlescent friezes were inlaid with nacre, and they cast ribboned, iridescent rainbows when it was day. Though now, they gleamed a dim silver.

There they were, the figures frozen in motion, a goose girl’s tresses, a farm lad’s cap blown in the wind, trees doubled over, all bowing to the same current.

Certainly, they had been revised, but by whom?

All in one, singular direction they went, one after another in a sundry procession: fairy godmothers’ crystalline wands, soldiers’ spears, kings’ scepters, shamans’ pipes and tapering beards, Seers’ gazes, wizards’ staffs, fair maidens’ dismembered, white fingers, birds’ beaks, mermens’ tridents, agrarians’ pitchforks, crowds’ pennants, jousters’ lances, heraldic banners fluttering aloft, sylphs’ wispy tails, cupids’ arrows, and quixotic princes’ swords.

Agatha could not make heads or tails of these strange alterations to the scenes acting as her guides. They were most probably leading her to her final destination, as if they were conspiring to help her. But her theft would be a far cry from a Good Deed. It breached the Rules.

It was as if the School itself were supporting her theft from it. Or, could it be?

She stopped short.

And a prideful voice projected from somewhere sounded, reverberating through the glass-enclosed tunnel. “Move,” it told her with marked disdain and thinly veiled impatience.

It was coming from the walls, she concluded. Agatha looked about uneasily, thoroughly unsettled, and spun on her heels to face them. The carvings.

She stared intently at the wall closest to her.

A lean, cloaked prince was posed in the midst of slaying a serpentine creature that curled in on itself, swallowing its own tail. It was circular, made of a writhing mass of things.

Agatha shuddered involuntarily as she studied it. The beast’s scales resembled Japeth’s Scims a great deal. All snakes reminded her of Japeth these days. A wyrm, was it? No, it was an ouroboros.

And the prince’s banner, it was a gloomier, storm-cloud grey, silver like the Wish Fish. And it had a swan gracing it, an odd, obsidian piece of glass set into the frieze, looking darker than the rest of the banners. Still, it held gleams of iridescence. It was just duller and darker in finish than the other coats of arms. Almost, just almost, Evil’s banner.

The prince turned to her from his carved position, pointed his sword ahead and glared right at her. His swan crest blinked and seemed to glare down at her as well.

“Move, you imbecile,” said a cold, villainous, not particularly princely voice from the carved figure. “We don't have all night.”

Agatha stared dumbfounded.

"Yes, it's me,” Rafal’s voice seethed. “And I can't hold them frozen forever. So, go.”

Agatha stepped away from the wall, and proceeded down the last few lengths of the hall.

No, impossible. Rafal helping her was impossible, she thought breathlessly. Laughable. She was tempted to scoff, but held herself back since she didn’t want to take this one-time occurrence for granted.

Rafal. Of course. Always had to represent his own side, she supposed. The depraved madcap. Couldn’t masquerade as Good for a day, could he? If he had to be Good, he’d croak. She was sure of it. There wasn’t a single thing in these green Woods he could do to repent, help or no help. Not a thing.

He always had to be so maddeningly obvious about his darker, murderous instincts. His cold voice had been a dead giveaway. Even Sophie was subtler. And Sophie, subtle? No chance of it! He was just worse by comparison, that was all.

All the doom and gloom and the no-nonsense demeanor, it got tiring after a while. Christ, had she been like that before?

Agatha had masqueraded as a witch her whole life and look where it had gotten her. Just once, she wished she could see him beaten down and forced to act a harder role. Imagine, him, dealt a harder role to play. Like hers.

Had he ever been oppressed in his life? He was an oppressor! Well, Evil had been oppressed, but that was his own doing. He’d brought the curse upon himself by slaughtering his own brother!

You could do anything while Evil. But Good came with restrictions. The Nevers were freer, truly. They didn’t chastise bad manners and loud chewing. Well, Rafal seemed to, for Sophie’s sake. But Agatha knew most Nevers wouldn’t care a jot about tea party etiquette.

So long Rafal and thanks for all the help. I hope you wind up dead.

She had the urge to look back, but nevertheless, she turned away from the carved prince as he took up his sword and animatedly resumed fighting his battle with the ouroboros, blade clashing against scales, as if he were fighting his own violent rebirth.

Agatha was certain that this robbery wasn’t exactly the sort of cooperation Sophie had in mind, but it would have to do. It was the most they could muster up. And what did it matter now?

She gripped the crystal knob to Professor Dovey's office and turned it. Locked. Drat!

Then, she heard a clink and something pin-like skidded across the floor. The carved prince’s tiny sword.

She inserted it into the lock, and silently thanked Rafal. Maybe, he wasn’t so corrupt after all.

She tucked the sword into her pocket, and tentatively entered Professor Dovey’s office. She didn’t look back at the frieze, now converted into an ivory scene of bloodshed instead of victory. Nor did she catch sight of the tiny prince being disemboweled by the ouroboros, gutted through the gaps of the plating in his armor, leaking entrails, and succumbing to a theatrical “death” without his tiny sword.

The miniature black swan banner finally tipped and sank with a metallic clank, fluttering up like a flag of surrender before it settled on the ground.

After he was “killed,” Rafal exited the wall. A decent practice session in dying, he thought. Though it wasn't quite right. And being eviscerated wasn't a pleasant way to go, he found. He mentally crossed that method off his list.

The frieze reverted back to a prince frozen in the motion of slaying the ouroboros once again, banner branded with a white swan, as if Rafal had never been there at all.

[aloneinthehellfire]

For the RH Reader Version can we pretty please get the scene in RH4 where reader faints in the Upside Down (she wakes up in Eddie's arms)? I've been longing to find out what happened in between, like with character interactions and how she ends up in Eddie's lap? Love u and ur work btw 💜

ooh you won't believe this, but this has been saved in my drafts from where i had started writing scenes for (eddie's version) and now i get to share this with all my eddie loves <3

RAINING HELLFIRE (READER'S VERSION)

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of blood/death, not proof-read because i wrote this on a lunch break from uni

Set in RH4: Chapter 12: Riding To Freedom

Find all Raining Hellfire works here <3

Summary: Just when Eddie started thinking they'd never find you, you quite literally show up at their door... sporting a knife and a terrified expression.

[A/N: Whilst we are all aware that Eddie isn't the endgame, I hope we can still appreciate that they have a bond that could never be broken, even if it isn't romantic]

RH4: THE THIRD TIME EDDIE THOUGHT HE LOST YOU

When you had come creeping in through that door holding a knife, that petrified look on your face, Eddie felt so… weak.

His heart had jumped at the sight of you stood there, alive. He was so afraid when he found Steve in the Upside Down alone, rambling about you being dragged away. Part of him always knew you would survive. You were strong. Stronger than him, at least.

But now here you were, staring at them like they weren’t real, a shaky hand aiming the knife at your friends. You thought this was all in your head, you were doubting yourself, that strength he had grown so accustomed to shattering your armour into pieces. He wasn’t going to let you lose control so easily.

“Queen of the Demogorgons.” Eddie suddenly blurts and everyone looks to him, confused. He makes sure he’s in your line of vision before continuing. “That’s the name I gave you when you stopped that fight with Tommy. You… You called me King of the Freaks. Would Vecna even care enough to know that?”

You stand there for a moment, pondering the thought. He waits in bated breath for you to believe him. For a moment, he thought you wouldn’t, and then you were letting out a shaky breath and lowering the knife until it slipped from your fingers and clattered on to the floor.

“Thank god.” Robin mumbled under her breath behind him and he feels his shoulders relax.

“You okay?” Nancy asks tentatively, being the first to move toward you. Eddie watches in silent disdain as you wipe a tear from your eye, a strange look on your face.

“Um… actually…” You try, but then you’re blinking rapidly and his stomach drops.

“Y/n?” He takes one step forward and suddenly you’re on the floor, eyes fluttering shut. “Shit.”

He runs over, still calling your name. But you’re not responding.

“What happened?” Steve asks to no one particular, crouching beside you as well as Nancy shakes her head in disbelief.

“I don’t know, I don’t-” Her words are cut off and Eddie whips his head to her, following where her trembling hands hovered. Your stomach was covered by a dark red jumper. Which, to Eddie’s sudden burn of panic, he realised it was never the original colour.

“Shit, okay, shit-” Steve spits out, suddenly spinning around to where Robin stood, her eyes wide. “There could be a first aid kit around here somewhere, maybe the kitchen-”

“Bathroom.” Nancy nods, her hands already applying pressure on your stomach. “Upstairs, to the right.”

“Okay.” Robin nods quickly, flailing her arms as she finds the staircase and starts sprinting her way up, barely balancing herself.

“What do we do?” Eddie asks in a whispered voice, not liking the way your lips looked paler. He was scared, way too scared to be able to help you when you looked like this.

“We need to wrap the wound.” Steve states, much more confident in his decisions than Eddie could ever be. That’s probably why you picked him in the end.

“I don’t have…” Nancy glances down at herself, frowning. Her eyes start darting around the room. “Maybe the curtains, or the… I don’t know. I don’t know.”

As she and Steve debate over various materials, unsure of if it would only add an infection if they pressed something from the Upside Down against it, Eddie took look at himself and already knew what he needed to do.

“I got it.” Eddie decides, standing up and slipping his jacket off. Nancy looked surprised, but nodded nonetheless and started peeling away the jumper from your wound.

“What’re you doing?” Steve frowns up at him as Eddie slips his Hellfire shirt over his head. He chucks it over at him.

“Rip that up.” He orders, already slipping his jacket back on. “I don’t care how much you use.”

Steve stared at him for a minute, an unrecognisable expression on his face.

“Steve.” Nancy snaps him away from Eddie and nods, making quick work of ripping up the one shirt Eddie held dearest to him. It was Hellfire, the decision that changed his high school life forever, his way of being a hero to all the sheep in need of their shepherd. But you needed him right now. And that trumped everything else.

He’s not sure what else he can do as Nancy hisses at the blood pouring from your stomach. The wound matches those currently scattered across Steve, who was currently looking like it pained him to realise.

“She tried saving me.” He says and Eddie looks at him, noting the way Steve’s eyes never left your face. “Using those… powers. If she hadn’t, maybe Vecna wouldn’t have found her.”

“Vecna took her?” Eddie frowns. Steve didn’t inform them of this the first time he explained your disappearance.

“I think I heard him.” He nods slowly, finally meeting Eddie’s eyes. “He’s not gonna stop until he has her. We need to get her out of here before he tries anything again.”

Eddie can’t help his eyes drift to the darkened table behind him, your scratched but still worthy Walkman laying there. He had picked it up from where it had been abandoned in that dried up lake, using it to grasp onto that hope that you were alive.

“I got it! I got… it.” Robin jumps off the bottom step before focusing on them. “Why have you got your shirt off?”

Eddie glances down before slowly zipping his jacket up to hide his bare chest. “Bandages.”

“Uh-huh.” She dismisses, crouching beside Nancy and handing her the bag. “Here.”

“Thanks.” The girl breathes out, rooting through. “Shit.”

“What?” Steve frowns.

“It doesn’t have the stuff I want….” She mumbles before shaking her head and pulling out a bottle. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll use what I can.”

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Robin asks, eyes shifting between each of their faces. “I mean… it’s Y/n. She always bounces back.”

“Yeah.” Steve says with certainty, but his expression was telling a different story.

“I did what I can, but....” Nancy leans back, your stomach now wrapped in black and white bandages, a splash of red from where Eddie’s logo was peaking through. “I don’t know what else to do.”

They didn’t have time to think about what to do next when something started humming in the walls around them.

“… hey… guys… there?”

It was indistinguishable until Dustin’s voice blared through and Nancy jumped to her feet. When Eddie looked over, he was surprised to see her eyes already on his.

“They got your message.” She smiles and Robin sighs in relief.

“What now?” She questions and Nancy’s eyes are light.

“Now we find a way to communicate.”

Eddie sat on the floor with your head on his lap as the others rushed around him, desperately looking for a Lite Brite that was apparently going to get them home? He wasn’t entirely paying attention. His only focus right now was you.

Nancy was quick-witted, immediately figuring out the best course of action. With a little yelling back and forth, picking up on some words, they managed to decide that they needed to go to her room.

Steve had offered to carry you up, and he would have if Eddie hadn’t suggested that his bites, while they were cool, would make it a little difficult. So Eddie took you instead.

“Got it!” Steve shouted up from the stairs, Eddie paid no attention.

Every so often he would slip his finger to the pulse point in your neck, reassuring himself mostly. He didn’t want to lose you again. Especially not like this.

The first time Eddie lost you was when he decided his pride was more important than your friendship. That night on your porch steps, the look of defeat in your eye when you realised he wasn’t going to let you keep your secrets. He walked away from you, then, knowing he had lost the only person that truly cared about him.

The second time ended with a kiss, thinking it was going to be the last time he saw you. Part of him wishes he hadn’t done that. Kissing you only made each day you were gone that much more painful. He didn’t have someone to laugh with, no one to argue over Lord of The Rings, or even sit and watch those long practice sessions with Corroded Coffin. He thought he would miss your lips, your touch. Turns out, he just missed your presence. He missed his friend.

And now he thinks he might be losing you again. He’s tried so many times to wake you up, subtle to avoid suspicion from the others. They assured him you would be fine, recollections of a fainting that happened three years ago. But he wouldn’t be assured until you were awake and talking.

“How’s she doing?”

He looks up to see Steve stood there, running a hand through his hair as he stares woefully down at you.

“Um… still breathing. Hasn’t woken up yet.” It was stating the obvious, but Steve looked grateful anyway. When he doesn’t move, Eddie frowns. “You good, man?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I, uh…” He stops his thought and does something Eddie didn’t think he would. Steve gestures for him to step aside with him and he’s so confused by the matter that he does exactly that.

Carefully laying you back down, and making sure Robin gave him a thumbs up when she could see he was leaving, Eddie follows Steve out into the hallway.

“What’s up?” He asks sceptically.

Steve leans against the wall, looking like he hadn’t thought it through. It was silent for a few seconds before he finally sighs. “I’m sorry, man.”

Eddie shifts from his position, unfolding his arms. “For what?”

“I…” He begins, tightening his lips. “I know why you and Y/n broke up. I… I only found out last summer but, I, uh… I’m sorry if I ever…”

Is Steve Harrington apologising to me right now? Eddie ponders as he struggles to find a response.

“No… worries.” Eddie frowns and Steve lets out a breathy laugh.

“No, I- I genuinely am sorry.” He persists, checking with a glance that no one was at the door listening in. “I never meant to get between you. And I knew how much she cared about you, still cares.I, uh, I had that happen to me once. I know how shit it feels. If I had known, I swear to you I would never have- shit, I don’t know. I’m just sorry.”

Eddie lowers his head. This feud he had been having with Steve had apparently been completely one-sided for the last two years. He just assumed Steve knew, that you had told him everything you’d argued about, right down to the grit of it. But you hadn’t said anything. And, judging by the look on Steve’s face, you had never said a bad word about him at all.

“It’s not your fault.” Eddie sighs, running a hand down his face. “We weren’t, uh… it wasn’t gonna end well either way. Even if you weren’t there with her that night, we… we probably would have broken up anyway. I was the one that messed up. Not her. Not you.”

“What do you mean?” Steve’s brows pinch together and Eddie lets out a breathy laugh.

“Come on, I’m- I’m resident freak. I snuck around her back, hell, even my uncle’s back for months. And I was so scared of getting found out that I just used the first excuse I could find.” He admits, starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the amount he was sharing. So, he clears his throat and straightens. “I should…”

Steve merely nods and Eddie is free to walk away, back to where Robin was crouched beside you, returning to his post.

“What were you boys whispering about?” Robin asks with raised eyebrows. “Guy stuff?”

“Guy stuff.” Eddie responds with an amused grin. “Don’t you have some weird light shit to get to?”

“Okay, okay.” She raises her hands in surrender and pushes herself to her feet. “I get the hint.”

He didn’t bother looking up when Steve eventually returned to the room, running a hand through his somehow still perfect hair and helping the girls with their set up. I knew how much she cared about you, still cares, he had said. Eddie couldn’t deny how that made his stomach flip just a little.

When you had left last summer, he had expected you’d call, or write, or anything. He expected something. But you hadn’t. It invoked this deep-seeded fear that maybe you realised how much of a screw-up he was. One of the last things he had said to you was that he was dealing drugs, of course it would make you rethink everything. Him. So rather than spend each miserable day laying on his bed and smoking until the marijuana kicked in, he tried to forget you. It was sad. But it was true.

All it did, however, was make him look back on the past three years. You and him meeting, getting off on the wrong foot. Discovering mutual interests, sharing something he hadn’t shared with anyone ever. He loved being around you simply to be around you. He cherished that, and after eight long months he finally realised he wasn’t in love with you anymore.

He just didn’t expect to be thrown into the Upside Down and start questioning everything again. Why the hell was he reminiscing romance when a few short hours ago it never once crossed his mind?

You stir in his arms and he tenses, eyes wide.

“Y/n?”

A soft groan leaves your lips and he’s never been happier to hear it. Your hand instinctively moves to your stomach but he’s quick to stop you, just in case the pressure will cause you pain.

A warm smile stretches his lips when your eyes finally meet his once again, his name falling from your lips. The heavy weight of dread finally lifts from his chest, letting him breathe in the relief that you were okay.

if you would like to request a new pov scene for the Raining Hellfire universe, please feel free to put it into my ask box and I'll get to it when I am available :)

[the-owl-tree]

They like, literally changed the dialogue in that scene in RH from where it was in the bonus scene where it was originally shown just so that they could make Flutter his mate instead of Arcs sister. Why? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE????

Clearly they haven’t axed enough female characters for man pain! Throw more into the wood chipper, quick!!

[mydollsmovearoundatnight]

RH Series 4 Episode 3 notes:

Kim got snubbed so bad. Her animation is meh and she barely got any screentime. Sucks because her doll is mostly cute.

Okay so they DID do a separate challenge. Good.

An accessory challenge... Sucks that Ainsley isn't here. I feel like that was done on purpose.

The way that every single contestant said "hi Sunny!" when Luna spoke to them was genuinely upsetting. I still smell a bias here.

Aidan is such a good hypeman, he clearly loves and supports Avery so much.

The rainbow heels are Amaya's, nice 👍

Yeah no they are super basic though, glad that they did more.

My little gay heart fluttered when I saw Avery in her dress!

OH MY GOD Aidan looking down at Ms. Garcia like "you BETTER appreciate her 🤨" YES SIR SUPPORT YOUR QPP

Okay characters time. Kim was barely there.

Skyler baby I love you.

Michelle is a girlboss as usual

Victoria...

That's it that's the commentary

I love you Olivia mwah mwah

Priscilla you are interesting but I think I like you

Avery and Aidan obviously I loved

Someone PLEASE give Aidan a full 24 hours of fucking SLEEP please. Take your Lexapro baby I promise that it helps.

Seriously I am giving him the tightest hug in the world Aidan I love you

[nrkss]

A Comprehensive Guide to Prenatal Checkups

Prenatal care refers to the medical attention received during pregnancy. Your healthcare professional checks on you and your developing child at every appointment. These visits help medical professionals diagnose any issues early, administer required immunizations, and provide advice on lifestyle, diet, and general health. Meet the top obstetrician in Siliguri for prenatal checkups and expert advice.

Why Do Prenatal Exams Matter?

Track the mother's health and the growth of the fetus.

Determine and take care of any possible pregnancy issues.

Inform parents about postpartum care, labour, and delivery.

Give necessary immunizations and tests.

Provide psychological and emotional assistance.

The risk of pregnancy issues including gestational diabetes, hypertension, and birth abnormalities might rise if prenatal visits are skipped. A safe and secure pregnancy journey is ensured by routine appointments.

Prenatal Checkup Schedule

The stage of pregnancy determines how frequently prenatal appointments are scheduled:

Monthly visits during the first trimester (weeks 4–12).

Monthly visits during the second trimester (weeks 13–28).

Biweekly visits during the third trimester (weeks 29–36).

Weekly visits throughout the latter weeks (weeks 37–40).

More frequent visits may be necessary for women who have been diagnosed with high-risk pregnancies. Missing prenatal exams can raise the risk of issues including birth abnormalities, hypertension, and gestational diabetes.

Seeing an obstetrician-gynecologist (OBGYN) on a regular basis is crucial for all pregnancies. This helps make sure your pregnancy proceeds according to plan and that no unexpected issues come up. Here is a helpful guide to prenatal care to help you make the most of the experience and manage the demands of a pregnant visit schedule.

First Trimester Prenatal Appointment

A comprehensive record of your medical, psychiatric, gynecological, and obstetrical history will be compiled by your practitioner during your first trimester prenatal visit. It falls during the second month of pregnancy.

An OB-GYN will discuss your medical history and current health, including medication. The doctors may ask about your exposure to anything that could be toxic medications you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, or supplements.

Your expert also talks about your lifestyle, including your use of tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, and recreational drugs, traveling to areas where malaria, tuberculosis, Zika virus, monkeypox, or other infectious diseases are common. Genetic testing, ultrasound, blood tests, and urine tests are mostly given.

Second Trimester Prenatal Appointment

During the second trimester of pregnancy, you may expect to see your OB-GYN less frequently. But they will also involve blood pressure, urine, and weight tests. To ensure your health and the health of the fetus, your pregnancy care provider will need to keep an eye on both of you during this phase.

Your doctor will measure the size of your abdomen, listen to your baby's heartbeat, check for fetal movements, including belly kicks or flutters, and evaluate your baby's growth during these visits.

At this point, you can be offered additional prenatal screenings or tests, such as an iron and blood count check, a gestational diabetes screening, Rh factor, and a genetic or chromosomal problem screening. Fetal ultrasounds are performed at this point to examine the anatomy of your body.

Third Trimester Prenatal Appointment

During the third trimester, your healthcare provider may enquire about any symptoms you may be experiencing. These include symptoms like bleeding, fluid leaks, or contractions. Doctors also measure your weight, blood pressure, and the heartbeat and movements of your infant.

Your OB-GYN will guide you to managing discomfort when to seek medical care, etc. At this phase, doctors also check the baby’s position, such as headfirst in the uterus, frank breech (bottom-first), complete breech (feet-first), and oblique (head is down but directed at one of your hips).

In weeks 35–37, doctors may order a test for group B strep test to look for germs that might harm the unborn child during birth. Week 36+ may be a cervical Exam: Determines whether labour is imminent.

Talk about the labour and delivery plan, including hospital protocols and preferences for giving birth. If necessary, the last ultrasound measures the baby's growth and the amount of amniotic fluid. Prenatal checkups are a fundamental part of a healthy pregnancy, ensuring both mother and baby receive the best possible care.

Attending regular visits, following medical advice, and staying informed about each stage of pregnancy can lead to a positive and smooth experience. Always consult your healthcare provider for any concerns and enjoy the journey to parenthood with confidence. Visit the best obstetrician in Siliguri City for thorough expert guidance and care.

Prenatal exams are essential for a successful pregnancy, looking after the health of both the mother and the unborn child. A good and easy experience might result from going to appointments regularly, listening to your doctor's recommendations, and keeping up with the latest developments about pregnancy. Consult your top obstetrician and gynaecologists in Siliguri for medical support.

[riverripplespeaks]

Hi river! Please lore dump about your kintype if you have the time i'd love to hear about it :>

THANK YOU THANK TOU

okay i might do multiple

so for river ripple for some reason i remember being a he/him lesbian?? so thats fun anyways flutter was like a sister to me i didnt have a crush on her. i was good friends with night and remember her being nice to me. i wasnt as battle hungry as rh says i was, i was more strategic and preferred using words instead of claws all the time. i remember supporting thunder when clear sky wouldnt. i also absolutely adored the river, and often spent time having fun swimming. i remember the time clear sky said starclan blessed him with the fallen tree. like okay idiot. anyways i remember scaring him by having all my warriors suddenly just walk out of the water when he was there at night. was super funny i knew he was scared but he held his ground. i always tried to avoid fighting him, but great starclan he would NOT stop

i also remember in starclan there was essentially a huge pool and riverclan cats could breathe underwater and we had glowing spots on our fur rainwing-style. was SUPER fun in starclan. i love being gorgeous and literally glowing. we could change our colors too. so fun..,

[bonebabbles]

Riverstar's Home: Mall Scene

After decades of feedback that their traveling chapters were so boring they bordered on agonizing, the writers brainstormed the perfect solution that would surely make every journey interesting:

Spinning a big wheel to pick a random proper noun for the cats to interact with. In ASC it landed on "CARNIVAL." in RH it landed on "MALL."

Queue shenanigans

Three-sided canyon = Alleyway

Pawless monster filled with food = Dumpster

A garbage truck comes in and they rush through the first door they see open in the side of the alley. They bolt past several humans turn some corners, and come to a court in the mall,

Humans try to grab them, they run around for a bit, find an escalator, and end up bolting into an elevator

More running, then they get out of the mall. They find some random food on the ground and eat it, and Riverstar has a moment where he's sad about Flutter again

This is not as interesting as I thought it would be <:/ It's really just a distraction where the writers describe a mall in abstract terms. They shout and run around for a bit and that's the chapter.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Starlings really MUST be mimics.

There’s a starling in the tree right outside my front window, and aside from chattering in a Usual Starling Voice, it just mimicked a fucking CROW CALL. It was slightly faster and more soprano than an actual crow, but it stopped my heart for a moment because I was like “I didn’t know the local murder was back!” Nope, just a mimic.

It also mimicked a child screaming for a moment. So that’s fun.

What has this bird  s e e n ?

[azsazz]

Bloody Knuckles and the Songs of Death

Azriel x Reader

Summary: This lovely piece stemmed from me thinking about how SJM describes Azriel’s voice in the High Lord meeting as “cold death.” It got me thinking that if he’s cold death what if reader is warm death? She is the last hug someone receives before their soul is entrapped in death’s icy snare. She’s the last breath exiting someone’s lungs, the heat of the final exhale passing through their parted lips. She’s the heat of their blood as it spills through split skin and that warm hand cradling their hands as they bleed out.

Reader is everything that Azriel is not. Opposite feelings but equal death in the end.

AKA: Half a rewrite of chapters 43-47 of ACOWAR where reader is now there as part of the Autumn Court, excited to meet Azriel. The other half are my own ideas.

Warnings: Major themes of death, ACOWAR spoilers, blood, gore, mentions of abuse, smut.

Word Count: 1,987

Notes: Sorry about the long summary, but I felt it was necessary to help understand where this came from before reading it. Yes, this will be multiple parts :)

_________________________________________

The Vanserras are late. Undoubtedly and uncaringly late.

You don’t see why it matters, anyway. You certainly aren’t one to concern yourself with matters involved in other courts unless you’re asked. But when Eris had come to you with a request on behalf of the High Lord of the Autumn Court, to tag along to some High Lord’s meeting – the first in nearly three centuries – you could hardly contain the feral grin threatening to carve your face in two.

For you it is a chance to play.

The Vanserra family is silent as you’re escorted through the lavish halls of the Dawn Court.

It’s incredible, what you’ve seen so far, glimpses from the windows of the High Lord’s palace. Your first time to the solar court, and you drink in everything that you can. The cobalt sky tinged by the rosy pinks and creamy oranges, the remnants of sunrise long into the day, the edges of the low hanging clouds gilded with golden light. Dewey freshness lingers in the air, lush with the evocative scents of rain in the countryside, the weight of the summer nearly upon it.

Inhaling deeply, your eyelashes flutter as you listen to the clatter in the meeting room as you approach, your senses nearly overwhelmed by all of the different scents winding together. There’s the one you’re most familiar with, the crisp wind and singed spices of Autumn, but as you part your lips to taste the other aromas in the air, you pick out the subtle tinges of the rival courts: sandalwood and coconut oil from the Summer Court, seawater and clean clothes billowing in the breeze from Day. The overpowering perfume of vanilla that coats your throat thickly followed by the melancholic neutral cold breath that stings your lungs is most definitely the Winter Court.

And of course, the intoxicating night-chilled mist wafting from the Night Court fae, who sit up straighter in their chairs when you enter the room following Beron, his wife, and his sons.

But even sweeter than that, underneath all of the niche and savory odors, is the scent of life.

You see they’ve brought a whole committee, the Night Court. Unsurprising for their High Lord, who always has one of his pets do his bidding for him, not a wrinkle to be had to be put into his pressed suit if he had to help it. Why get all messy when he could have someone do it for him?

You. That is who you are to the Vanserras. Someone to torture and kill for information, just like his spymaster, minus the protective shadows hovering over his shoulders like warped darkness that follows you around at night, always watching and always listening.

The difference is…is that you love death.

You are death…in a way.

Just like him, who sits next to the cocksure commander of armies, behind his Lord and–Lady, you now realize as you catch sight of their clasped hands, the gleaming ring settled snugly around Feyre’s left ring finger, a matching one on Rhysand’s. 

Your gaze travels across them in an instant, and theirs over you. There’s a shift as they assess you, in line with Eris, following closely behind Beron and Amaretto. Perhaps they think you’re Eris’ mate. That would surely be something, you think. You can practically see the gears grinding in their minds as they scramble to figure out who you are, and you know it’s because no one has ever seen you before, Beron wouldn’t ever let someone close enough to recognize you. 

You recognize the familiar glazed look they get over their eyes when they speak into each other’s minds, and then there’s a caress of claws inside of your head, gentle at first, but a slash when it’s met with nothing but resistance, your walls reinforced over years of practice. It’s a warning, a scare tactic, but you are anything but intimidated by the Night Court High Lord and his comrades. 

You commit everything to memory in the quick once over you give, eyes eager to settle back upon the shadowisnger. The jeweled crown upon Feyre’s head, the female behind her with the near-matching facial structure. Lovely Mor is here, too, going stock still as her chocolatey gaze locks on Eris before she’s looking anywhere but.

Your mouth twitches into a wry smirk that the spymaster immediately zeroes in on, clenching his hands where they’re settled on his knees, his gaze fiery and his siphons flickering.

Azriel, the male who separates souls from bodies without so much as a grimace, a blink, a quiver to his perfectly straight lips.

He is breathtaking in more ways than one. The sharpness of his golden gaze as he glares at you from his seat, like he’s ready to wreak death upon you with those large, icy, massacred hands just itching to wrap around your warm throat, watch the light drain from your pretty eyes, the color empty from your lips, face, your body going slack in his grasp.

His wings. They look how you’d imagine an angel’s would, if they had betrayed the Mother and had been touched by flame, the delicate and purely white feathers singed and burnt from the skin and bones beneath, much like the pink and puckered scars adorning his fingers to his wrists.

The Reaper.

The Taker of Death.

But you are the Bringer of Death. The warmth of it all. The last hug one receives before the Reaper swoops their soul into his icy snare. You are the last breath exiting one’s lungs, the heat of that final exhale plating their parted lips. You’re the swelter of their blood as it spills through split skin and the burning one feels in their heart when they realize they’re in love and that searing in their stomachs when they feel sick.

You are everything that he is not. Opposites in feeling but equals in the end.

To you, death is a beautiful thing. Intriguing, evoking, fascinating. 

To Azriel, death is anything but. A finite solution to seek information. Routine and cold and inevitable and lonely.

The violence simmering off of the Night Court party as you enter through the archway is not new, their harsh stares a reminder that you need to be alert, on your game, not itching with intrigue about the male you’d heard so much about.

Autumn Court’s presence alone is enough to make the Peregryns feathers ruffle, the remaining sons sneering at the Court with the most strained ties. The Vanserra offspring are a rowdy bunch, you’ve known that for centuries, have often been on the other side of the leer Pyrolas sends to Cresseida, earning a flash of teeth in warning from Varian.

Beron doesn’t bother to check them. Perhaps he likes having most of the other courts dislike him, letting his kin do as they please like half-wild beasts.

But Eris cares, a sweet soul trapped in a tainted family, of that you know. He is the one you prefer, the most emotionally intelligent, even if only in private. Your best friend, the one you’d run to after a long day of working for his father, someone who understands and you trust with any secret, with your life.

“Enough,” Eris murmurs and his younger brothers finally fall into line. All three of them; Pyrolas, Oakland, and Foxe.

Beron stops halfway across the room, hands folded before him. Even from where you’re positioned behind you know that he’s scowling at the Night Court attendees like they’re a pack of mongrels.

He is the oldest here, and the most awful, something that you and all of the other Courts can agree on.

Rhysand greets the Vanserras smoothly, eyes drifting over you as if you aren’t even there, though you know that he’s seen a lot with that fluttering glance. His power is heavy in the air, a silent rumble that serves as a reminder of the magic coursing through his veins.

As if he’d ever let anyone forget it.

“It’s no surprise that you’re tardy, given that your own sons were too slow to catch my mate. I suppose it runs in the family.”

Beron’s lips curl slightly as he looks her over, at the onyx clad crown settled upon her head.

“Mate–and High Lady.”

You had to give it to Feyre. You’ve seen many balk from Beron’s hot stare more times than you can count, but she looks everything that Rhysand has just said, High Lady, as she sits in her chair as if she’s the one running all of the overinflated egos in the room, spine straight, chin high, and face neutral in the same way that Azriel’s is.

She turns her gaze to each of Beron’s sons. Eris smiles, amused and aloof before Feyre’s sharp gray eyes flicker to you.

If Eris is smiling, you’re practically glowing, eager to see where this meeting will go, if you’ll get to play or not. Your power thrums beneath your skin, a fervent buzz begging to be unleashed.

The red siphon-clad warrior watches Eris like a hawk studying its next meal. Eris deigns a glance at the Illyrian general and inclines his head in invitation, subtly patting his stomach. Ready for round two.

You stifle the urge to roll your eyes at your friend. He’d told you all about what had happened on that ice when he and his brothers were chasing the female they hadn’t known was the High Lady of the Night Court, animatedly telling you of the battle you wished you’d been there to witness, and grumbling through the parts of the story when the Illyrian had landed a hit on him as you dabbed at his wounds with a healing salve.

You’d even been there to hold him when he whispered so softly about his youngest brother that you were half sure he was delusional from blood loss or that you hadn’t even heard.

You cringe when Eris’ attention shifts to Mor, knowing all about what transpired between the two centuries ago. His caramel gaze sweeps over her with a disdain that makes Feyre’s eyes narrow in anger.

The blonde only stares blankly at him. Bored.

You bite back the twitch of your lips and notice Viviane doing the same.

So more than just a few of you know what had been done.

Azriel sits so still in his chair you aren’t sure the stone-faced male is even breathing as you sit in your chair to Eris’ left, settling into the plush cushion that faces the Night Court members.

Thesean, your Dawn Court host, begins. “Rhysand, you have called this meeting. Pushed us to gather sooner than we intended. Now would be the time to explain what is so urgent.”

Rhysand takes his time, blinking slowly before he responds, “Surely the invading armies landing on our shores explain enough.”

“So you have called us to do what, exactly?” Helion challenges, bracing his forearms on his muscled, gleaming thighs. “Raise a unified army?”

“Among other things,” Rhys says mildly, in a way that irks you. If he has such pressing matters then why isn’t he getting to the point? “We–”

His words falter as power crackles through the chamber. Everyone falls silent and the scent of spring prickles your nostrils, evading your senses as it sweeps through the room on a pollen-filled gust. Something about it is too sweet, too flowery, too potent, nearly choking you as the beast himself prowls in through the doors, later than your court had been.

Tamlin.

He enters the room alone, like a crack of lightning, winnowing into the chamber, gaze directed at Feyre, smiling like a wolf.

You and Eris share a glance, his face impassive, cool, but you catch the amusement glittering in his copper gaze, the slight curve of his mouth as the air drains from the room and the shields surrounding every High Lord and their courtiers locks into place.

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 4: No Use Pretending

Raining Hellfire (Eddie's Version) | Part One

Word Count: 5441

Warnings: swearing, mentions of drugs, missing persons, fluffyness, the contrast between the og RH and this chapter is honestly heartbreaking

[A/N: currently writing two other fics and oh my god i am so excited to share them!!!]

No Use Pretending

Paired With RH1: Chapter 4: Maybe We're Not So Crazy

Eddie hadn’t paid any attention to the girl that had sat in front of him the night before, her brunette hair shaking as she gave an unnecessary explanation to her interest in buying.

“So, yeah. That’s why I need it. Hello?”

He had snapped out of his daydream with a blink, leaning away from the bench and taking a breath.

“Right, yeah. Understandable.” He had nodded, lying straight through his teeth.

The answer had seemed to satisfy her and the deal was over as quickly as it started, another 50 straight into his pocket.

The rest of his night had been spent staring at the ceiling, back against his bed as he mindlessly strummed the strings of the guitar resting against his abdomen. And there were only two thoughts in his mind. You and Jonathan.

It must have been happening since the beginning of high school; Eddie hadn’t noticed you back then. But now you were in his mind, your presence surrounding him like fluttering moths to the flame of his brain.

He remembers now, brief memories flashing past of you and Jonathan walking down the hallways together, laughing and bumping shoulders. The shattered camera repaired and reversed back in time to when it was hung around your neck, a trophy of what you and he were. A misty haze of watching you walk the younger Byers home, a familiarity in your steps.

How had he been so blind?

The day had gone by swimmingly. Eddie hadn’t seen you wandering down the hallways but honestly, he figured that was for the best. He shouldn’t be trying to get involved with someone he barely knew, especially not someone already spoken for.

His Hellfire comrades were a helpful distraction from it all. It felt like he was falling back into his usual routine, sat atop these benches while delivering a dramatic retelling of his uncle’s mishap with his fold-up bed. Their laughter was enough to fuel his appetite for normality, surely.

And then his eyes drifted onto something that made him realise just how much he was missing.

He watches as you and Wheeler smile towards eachother, the warmth that radiated from the tilt of your head, the subtle scrunch of your nose.

Jeff and Phil began debating alternate routes to Frodo’s journey and Eddie was thankful they weren’t asking for his input; it felt like his eyes were compelled to look at you, observe. It was then that he caught the way your face suddenly dropped, his heart plummeting with it. You looked scared, upset. And then you were guiding Wheeler into the small alley between buildings, out of sight.

Eddie shifted away, shaking his head. He didn’t care. He didn’t care.

“Yo, you okay?” Jeff whispers to him, a slight tremor in Eddie’s hand at the sudden voice.

“What? Yeah, fine.” He brushed off his nerves, earning a lifted brow but Jeff wasn’t going to batter him for answers.

Eddie had tried not to notice Nancy Wheeler’s determined stride as she sauntered out of the alley minutes later, face cold and hardened as she gripped the strap of her bag. Once she had reached the end of the stretched building, she dropped the bag from her shoulder and pressed her hands into her eyes, leaning against the bricked wall.

A few seconds later, you emerged, shaking your head before spotting your friend. There was a kind of conflict dancing along your brow as you joined her, comforting while leading her into the building. To class, he presumed, a concept he should be abiding to soon.

He didn’t care. He. Didn’t. Care.

Except he did. A lot. And the more he tried to deny it, the more obvious it became that there was no use pretending.

The bell rang soon out its shrill echo and everyone was dispersing from one another.

He and Gareth started heading around the field, their classes situated the other side of the school. They both heard the car tearing away from the parking lot, heads whipping to the noise of an engine revving. Behind the wheel were a couple Eddie thought he recognised, the woman wiping tears into a tissue while the man shook his head. He looked… afraid?

“Shit, man, that’s sad.” Gareth tuts, pushing into the building and propping his foot against the door to grant his friend passage.

“What about it?” Eddie frowned, their car long gone in the distance.

“Those were the Hollands.” Gareth stated, eyebrows heightened at Eddie’s confusion. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Eddie frowned, stopping just outside his Geography door.

Gareth does a little jog up the corridor to peer into his own classroom, running back when he was sure his teacher hadn’t arrived yet. He and Eddie were notorious for collecting late marks on their report cards.

“Okay, you know Barb Holland? Redhead, glasses?” Gareth spieled and Eddie nods.

“Yeah, think I’ve seen her, why?”

“That’s it.” Gareth shakes his head, shoulders raising. “No one knows where she is.”

“What?” Eddie steps closer and Gareth nods.

“Apparently she’s missing.”

“Where the hell d’you hear that from?”

“Phil’s dad’s friend knows a guy who’s friends with a cop.” Gareth explains with little effort. “Her parents just filed a police report or something. They think she ran away. Or worse.”

“She’s not dead, dude.” Eddie rolls his eyes just as Gareth clocks the shadow of his History teacher entering the hallway.

“I don’t know, man.” Gareth widens his eyes and makes a ‘spooky’ gesture with his hands. “We don’t know what’s lurking around Hawkins.”

And with that, he sprints away, ignoring the yell of disapproval from his teacher as he bolts into the classroom and slams the door shut. The sight would usually make Eddie laugh, but the conversation had him questioning.

He entered the room with barely a glance from the man at the front readying the board for session. Eddie saw you just yesterday with Barb Holland. It seemed to be an overreaction to claim someone missing because they’re missing one day of school. But then there was today, you and Nancy whispering. Maybe you had both heard the gossip too, speculating what he assumed was just another rumour circulating Hawkins to abide the boredom of the town. And yet, he couldn’t stop picturing the Hollands and their pained expressions.

Eddie looks up and immediately frowns.

His usual seat was situated in the dark corner of the room, just behind the girl that always wore her hair up and puffy much to his dislike. But it kept him out of sight of the wannabes and royalty of the school. Which is why he didn’t expect King Steve to be sat there, anxiously tapping his foot and staring blankly at the pages in front of him.

Eddie slumped his shoulders in defeat. Why was everyone acting so weird today?

Slipping into a nearby seat, he sent one more curious glance to the boy and started opening his notebook. A world map was drawn down at the front of the class and he suppressed a groan. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Geography, to see all the places he would surely play in gigs that was far far away from this town. He just hated the teacher.

You used to be a star pupil, Mr Munson. What ever happened to those sky-rocketing grades of yours?

Every single lesson, this teacher has to remind him how he was slowly becoming a failure. No matter how hard he tried, he had ‘lost his talent’. Hawkins High truly was a staple for striking confidence in children.

Just as he was ready to slide further down into his chair and doodle furiously onto his lined paper, the door of the classroom started opening inch by inch. He raised an eyebrow, clocking his teacher’s unbothered nature. And then he felt himself smile.

You slipped in quickly, their warden’s back facing the students as you weaved through the tables, heading to one… right next to him.

As you slumped into your chair with a sigh, he realised you hadn’t even noticed him. It was almost amusing to him, your consistent tendency to be distracted. Eddie thought about pretending like he hadn’t noticed you either, but you were hard to resist talking to. After all, trying to avoid you was proving to be harder than he thought now he knew you existed.

After a second ticked by, he leant over and whispered. “Queen of the Demogorgons. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

You quickly straightened in your seat, turning your head to the right with wide eyes. You relaxed a little, cocking a curious gaze.

“I could say the same.” You said, smiling at him. Then your face drops. “Wait, have we been in the same class this whole time and never spoken to eachother?”

“Probably.” He shrugged, casting a glance at your teacher before moving closer to you. “I’m usually sat in the back wall corner but someone beat me to my seat today.” He rolled his eyes and tilted his head in the direction of the desk.

He saw your eyes shift to the darker corner of the room and your face twisted into something he didn’t recognise. Some kind of empathy? Regret? Whatever it was, he felt unsettled by the sudden reaction to seeing Harrington.

“I’m not complaining.” He whispered quickly, catching your attention once again and you flashed him a genuine smile.

“I should hope not.” As you retort, a smirk quirked on your lips. “Unless you want to exchange hair products with him.”

Eddie slaps his hand onto his chest, mouth dropping. “I have never been more offended in my life.”

“Shh!” A girl sat in front of you span around in her seat with a finger to her lips, glaring. Rather than look embarrassed, however, Eddie watched as you brought your hand up and dragged them along your lips, miming a zipper. The girl looked annoyed but turned back around nonetheless.

“Always a troublemaker.” Eddie commented, shaking his head and tutting lightly.

“You still free after school?” You suddenly asked, looking directly at him. When your eyes bore into his, he felt himself melting on the inside, surely resting heat on his cheeks. He didn’t ever want you to stop looking at him like that.

“Yeah!” He finally spoke, clearing his throat. “I mean, uh, yes. Yes, I am.”

Awkwardly, he places his chin in his hand and attempts a nonchalant approach. He was pretty sure it wasn’t working.

“Good. I’ll meet you at the benches.” You smiled, turning back to your paper and Eddie couldn’t believe how effortlessly cool you were.

You were meeting him after school. You and him. Hanging out. And you seemed like you actually wanted to. Maybe he was wrong about the Byers thing. Maybe… you liked him.

And now he was trying to ignore how embarrassing it was that he had spiralled over a relationship that has never existed. Way to jump to conclusions, dumbass, Eddie thought, unsuccessfully fighting against the grin threatening his features.

For the first time in a long time, Eddie felt happy to be sat in this classroom. He was taking notes, listening intently with a giddy smile on his face. The year was just starting to be one for the ages.

The teacher’s monotone voice came to an abrupt halt when the classroom door swung open, drawing the eyes of bored students hoping for a miracle. Eddie straightened in his seat, watching as his Principal’s eyes scanned the room. Fuck. What had he done this time?

Her eyes finally settled and he was so sure she was staring at him. But their eyes weren’t quite meeting.

“Sorry to disturb your lesson,” She nods to the front before stepping in, “but I need Y/n to come with me.”

A sea of eyes turned in amusement and Eddie watched as you froze, not much different from his own reaction. Except your gaze drifted to the darker corner of the room, and Eddie didn’t need to turn around to know who you were staring at.

Then your eyes flickered to his, and he couldn’t help studying your expression. The cold set stone of your features, lips slightly downturned as something worrying swam behind your eyes.

You probably didn’t realise you were breathing in forced even intervals as you packed your things. Eddie thought it looked as if you were preparing yourself for the worst, maybe even controlling a freak-out. And, as you weaved through desks and followed your Principal out, Eddie was still staring at the door long after it had shut behind you.

You were a mystery he wasn’t sure he should be wanting to solve.

Eddie didn’t see you for the rest of the day after that. You never returned to class, you and Wheeler weren’t sat chatting away like you usually were. You had pretty much disappeared.

Harrington’s pale face haunted him, though. It had whitened as soon as you left the room, leaving the boy in the corner sat uneasily and nervously tapping his foot in quicker paces. He looked panicked, afraid, and Eddie wondered if he knew the truth.

“Didn’t know King Steve was in your class.” Gareth comments with a scowl, expecting the ritual shove from the jock as he passed. But it never came and Gareth stood frowning. “Turn of events.”

“Got pale immediately after Y/n was pulled out of class.” Eddie murmured, mostly to himself, as he shoves his books back into his locker.

Gareth groans at the mention of your name, earning a pointed stare. “Y/n this, Y/n that. It’s all you talk about, man.”

“Literally the first time I’ve said her name.” Eddie sighed, slamming the metal casing shut and turning around.

“Maybe but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right not to trust her.” Gareth defends, crossing his arms and watching as students floated by. “And getting pulled out of class? Bad news.”

“You’ve been pulled out of class more times than you’ve actually been in school.” Eddie retorts and Gareth nods.

“Exactly. And I’m bad news.”

“Whatever.” He sighs, beginning their walk towards the exit doors. They had half an hour to chill before their final class. Considering their track record, it was unlikely they’d actually be attending it.

They had made it halfway up the field when Gareth decided to continue the conversation Eddie hoped was over, bringing unwanted information into Eddie’s circling doubts.

“You know she used to hang around with Harrington, right?”

He stops walking, turning to his friend with pinched brows. “What are you talking about? Why do you know that?”

“Don’t be mad.” Gareth raises his hands, “But…. I may have been asking around about your mystery girl.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Eddie continues walking to the benches, Gareth hot on his tail.

“Look man, I don’t know this girl. You don’t even know this girl. And, as it turns out, nobody knows this girl. Which is really fucking weird.”

“Your point?” Eddie plants himself atop the bench, leaning forward so his arms rested on his thighs.

“She suddenly appears in Hawkins out of nowhere, right?” Gareth stays standing in front of him, hands exasperating his findings. “According to some good intel I found, she was spotted multiple times with Chief Hopper and someone thought they saw her literally arriving to town in a cop car!”

“Maybe she already knew Hopper.” Eddie offers, in complete denial of Gareth’s insinuations. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation.

“Okay, fine, yeah, maybe. Highly unlikely, but sure.” He nods, clicking his tongue. Eddie thinks it’s finally over until he raises his finger. “But did you know she lives with her uncle?”

Eddie raised his eyebrow. That was a new piece of information, something that only made him believe even more that you could be the only person in the world that could truly understand him.

“What’s wrong with that?” He challenges and Gareth’s face drops.

“Nothing. Other than the fact that there’s no way she willingly came to Hawkins of all places.”

“Maybe she and her uncle get along.” Eddie suggested and Gareth looked exasperated. “Come on, man, just give up.”

“What about the Harrington thing, huh?” Gareth was nodding, pointing his arm across the field where Steve Harrington was currently sat with his adoring fan club. “Apparently they were buddies back in freshman year, yeah? And then suddenly they hate eachother. And that’s not the worse part.”

“Oh, please, I’d love to hear it.” Eddie’s voice dripped with sarcasm, rolling his eyes.

“Phil was saying how he remembers seeing them together at, get this…” Gareth tightened his lips, leaning back. “Skull Rock.”

Two words shouldn’t have any impact on a human being, but these felt like a sucker punch to his ribs. Skull Rock. Publicly known for it’s human-like structure, infamously known for it’s exclusion from said public, meaning that teens have been running there for a secluded place to make out.

A place you had been. With Harrington. You and Harrington… in freshman year. Freshman year. Not now. Then. A long time ago now.

“Doesn’t matter.” He finally decides, feeling happy with his answer.

Gareth looked baffled by his response and Eddie just shrugs.

“Even if something did happen, it’s not happening anymore. Like you said, they hate eachother.”

“And what about that other rumour, huh?” Gareth moved forward with determination, narrowing his eyes.

The ‘other rumour’ wasn’t one Eddie needed spelled out. It was the talk of freshman year for a hot minute, speculation roaming the halls, jagged stares sent the new girl’s way. But, it was just a rumour. No proof, no real grounds to stand on. And Eddie had been ignoring the idea ever since he met the real you.

“Jesus, man, let it go.” Eddie leant away from him, slightly scared by his friend’s persistence on making him drop you from his life. “Why are you so obsessed with this?”

“Because…” Gareth starts, dropping his shoulders and sighing. “Look, we’ve been treated like shit our entire lives. Starting Hellfire… it helped, a lot. We’ve built up this little community, right? The freaks all banding together just so we don’t have to feel like freaks anymore. I’m looking out for us. What if this girl isn’t who you think she is and she ends up tearing us all apart?”

Eddie pushes away from the bench, placing a hand on Gareth’s shoulder. “I promise you, that’s not gonna happen. Y/n isn’t gonna affect Hellfire or what we’ve created whatsoever.”

“Other than shifting our schedules to Friday.” Gareth reminds him, but there was a smirk on his lips, pushing Eddie’s hand away lightly. “Fine, whatever, don’t say…”

His voice trailed just as blue and red lights blended together in the atmosphere, eyes drawn to their flashing hues before they were suddenly cut off, like their display had been an accident. They watch two cops slide into their car and take off down the road, siren silent, pulling away from the school’s entrance. How long had they been there?

“Told ya.” Gareth nudges him, nodding. “Something freaky’s going on. Maybe it was your new girlfriend.”

Eddie shoves his shoulder, making no remark.

“Either that or you’re busted.” Gareth laughs before clocking Eddie’s unamused expression. “Too soon?”

The bell rings out for what feels like the hundredth time of the day and Gareth lets out a sound of protest.

“Hell really is never-ending.” He complains as they trudge back onto the grounds, less than excited for a riveting conversation about Charles Dickens.

Eddie was at the benches as soon as the final bell rang, desperately hoping he’d find you there, waiting under the November sun with a warm smile on your face. But all he found was the bare wooden tops, sun rays illuminating his disappointment.

You hadn’t really settled on a time, he realised. Only a specification that it should be after school. There was still time before he had reason to believe you’d stood him up.

Instead, he clambers up on top of the bench and lays back against the wooden surface, hand resting against his stomach. There wasn’t much else to do as he waited; he’d left his bag in his van so any hope of reviewing tomorrow’s campaign was a good distance away. What if collecting it would mean you’d then show up to empty benches and assume he wasn’t coming?

And what if laying here would leave him embarrassed from ever thinking you would show up in the first place?

“I heard clouds really put on a show sometimes.”

Eddie suppresses a grin as your voice lights the very air he breathes, turning his head to your direction before slowly sitting up.

“And she arrives! I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.” In attempt to hide his excitement, Eddie places his face in his hands and makes a fake wailing noise.

He feels your hand brush against his as you bat it away, and he’d left grinning at you. You were closer now and Eddie could just see the red of your eyes, something glistening on your cheek like a tear that had avoided capture.

“Yeah, sorry about that, it’s been a really weird day.” You shrug, leaning against the wooden bench and biting your lip.

“Did old Princi try to lock you up?” Eddie attempts a joke, but the worry wasn’t lost on his words. You look tired, worn out by whatever had ensued. And why had you been crying?

“Actually the police did.” You respond, no sarcasm on your words, not even a little hint of a smirk.

Eddie’s face dropped. The cops outside of the school, not seeing you after you were removed from the classroom, your reddened eyes. He knew you had secrets, hell, everyone does, but he didn’t think it was jail-worthy. Did you do something horrible? Is Barb really dead? Is she dead because-

“I’m kidding.” You notice the lack of oxygen entering his system, smiling in reassurance and he lets out a breath, heart beating erratically.

“Damn, you’re really good at that.” He laughed nervously. You really did have his head spinning whenever you talked. “So no cops?”

“Oh, no, there were cops.” You nod and he raises a brow. “They were asking Nancy and I about Barb…”

Your voice trailed off and it looked like you were about to cry again. There was so much empathy behind your stare. How could Eddie ever even debate that you could have been a god damn murderer.

“I heard about that. I’m sorry.” Eddie felt his stomach clench. Gareth had been right about one thing in the end.

“It’s okay.” You reply almost instantly before scrunching your face. “I mean, it’s not okay but I’m okay. I think. I don’t know, can we talk about something else?”

“Yeah, yeah. Uh…” He stood up quickly, feeling particularly sparse of ideas in the hot seat. “So… the weather, huh? Crazy stuff.”

You just stared for only a millisecond before bursting into laughter. Eddie was taken-aback, a smile spreading at your joyous nature. You only kept laughing, an uncontrollable display of utter disbelief.

“What?” Eddie was clutching his stomach now, the laughter spreading as he collapsed to the grass.

“The weather?” You barely got the words out, wiping tears from your eyes.

“Well, I don’t know! You put me on the spot.” He exclaimed, the clenching pain finally dispersing and he led back, small giggles still erupting from his mouth as he pointed upwards. “I’m not wrong, just look at it! I swear those clouds are looking at me, it’s crazy stuff!”

He turned his head to see you finally coming down from your laughing fit, a grin plastered onto your face and he couldn’t help but stare. It made every inch of his body alight with a heavenly glow to know he was the one that made you laugh like that.

“Okay,” You finally say, laughter still stuck in your words, “I have a good topic change.”

“I don’t know how you can beat clouds but go ahead.” He chuckled, sitting back up just in time for you to plop on the grass next to him, legs crossed. He was so consumed in how iridescent you looked that he almost didn’t notice you were holding out your hands to him, palms hidden beneath gifts.

“Cassette tapes?” He questions, gently taking them into his and feeling the warmth of your skin against his as he did.

“Yeah, uh… I remember that you said I should recommend you some tapes and I think you’d love them. I mean, obviously you know Metallica but Iron Maiden has some pretty great stuff…”

As you explained the tapes, Eddie was clutching onto them for dear life. You cared. You really cared. You put so much thought into what you thought he would love, not what you wanted him to. And no one had ever really taken that into consideration before, taken him into consideration. His whole life has been based off of what other people wanted him to do and be. The freak, the orphan, the drug-dealer. But here, with you, he was just a boy. He felt like he was somebody he always wanted to be. Loved.

Eddie didn’t even realise he was staring. And you seemed to have taken it the completely wrong way when you reached for the tapes.

“But you don’t have to listen to them, it’s stupid.” You rambled, not meeting his eyes. Protectively, he hugged the tapes to his chest in protest.

“Woah, no way! They sound awesome.”

“Really?” You smile but there’s still a bit of hesitation.

“Yeah!” He grins. “If you’re not careful I’ll end up stealing them from you.”

“I’d like to see you try.” You laugh, finally relaxing and a sudden thought strikes Eddie’s mind. Shit.

“I’ll listen to them as soon as I… fix my tape player.” In his utter awe and admiration, he had completely forgotten one of the reasons he was selling behind Wayne’s back.

“You don’t have anything to listen to them on?” You frown and he sighs, eyes glued to the small metal coverings.

“No.” He shakes his head, visualising the tape player snapped to pieces that currently rested on his kitchen counter. “My tape player’s been broken for a while. Slowly building up the money for a new one, though.”

There’s a moment of silence before you suddenly stand up. “Well that won’t do.”

Eddie watches as you jog towards your bag and pull something from it. You bound back over to him and place it in his lap.

“Here.”

His eyes widen as he stares at the Walkman resting on his legs. The same pair of headphones you had been so protective of that day he apologised, a pair he has seen you wearing like it was a religious requirement. You loved this Walkman. That he was sure of. And you were giving it to him?

“I can’t-” He starts but you shake your head.

“Yes. You can. Until you can afford a new player. I have an old one at home anyway so I can just use that.” You shrug it away like it was simply an object. Eddie liked to think he knew you better than that.

He also knew that he wouldn’t win this fight with you. He felt utterly proud in himself that you trusted him with something so important to you.

“Thanks.” He smiled genuinely, tilting his head as he looked at you. He never thought this would be how his year was ending. Perfect.

“What?” You giggle, scrunching the skin between your brows.

“I’m…” He searched for the words, already lost in your gaze. “I’m just very glad we met, Y/n no last name.”

Something he said sent your face dropping and he snapped out of his haze, blinking with a quickened heartbeat. His no last name remark just slipped out before he had even realised. Maybe you didn’t like it. And maybe he’d just messed up everything with one little joke he failed to register.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No!” You quickly interrupt, “No! It’s not you! It’s just… it’s hard to explain.”

There was a battle going on behind your eyes until you took a deep breath and smiled, ignoring whatever it was you had kept pushed down. “I’m very glad we met, too.”

After that, you seemingly drifted off into your own thoughts, mindlessly fiddling with your jacket hem. Eddie did a quick search of the surroundings before he smirks. He needed just one more test, one more reason he shouldn’t give up on whatever this was.

“You know,” He breaks the silence, leaning closer to you, “These benches are great and all but I know a better place.”

An amused flicker of curiosity flashed in your eyes as you followed suit, challenging him with the tilt of your head. “Oh, really?”

Eddie’s palms felt a little sweaty as he carefully places the tapes on top of the Walkman, feeling the space between you closing. “You’ll be kicking yourself for not finding it sooner.”

His sentence had ended in a whisper, nerves travelling in electronic waves across his body, moving him closer, but not close enough. He wanted to breach that gap, noticing the way your gaze flickered to his lips. He couldn’t feel your breath fan against him and knew you were holding it just like he was.

He wished he could just seize the moment, ignore every doubt that fluttered by and just kiss you, feel your lips against his in a seal that meant he could rest easy knowing he had someone that chose him. But he realised he didn’t need to. Because you were leaning in closer, lips barely a breath apart…

“Y/n! There you are!”

The interrupting voice sent you both apart, leaving Eddie mentally cursing. He was so close.

Eddie lifts his head to see the widened eyes of Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Wheeler looked startled, almost embarrassed while Byers was seemingly frozen in time, lips tightened like a child that had been caught.

“Oh. Um, hi.” She spoke and the boy behind her gave a small wave.

“Hi.” Eddie replied, amused by the situation all of a sudden. Even if they did intrude on what would have been the greatest moment of Eddie’s life, they didn’t diminish whatever spark was between you. He knew it would have happened if they hadn’t appeared when they did, and that was enough.

“We’ll… wait over… here.” She points in a vague direction, grabbing Byers and pushing him away from you both.

“I assume you know Nancy.” You laugh, waving your hand in the direction of their awkward display.

“Yeah, she’d dating Harrington, right?”

Your nose scrunched at the mention, shaking your head. “Don’t let that define her character. I genuinely have no idea why those two are dating.”

Making sure the items were securely in his hands, he figured you had somewhere to be and stood up. “Well I wouldn’t want to keep Wheeler waiting much longer so I should go. Thank you for these.”

“Just make sure to take care of my Walkman. She’s basically my baby.” You laugh, swinging your bag onto your shoulder. But you looked reluctant to leave, and that made Eddie feel just a little more important.

“I shall protect her with my life.” He vows, resulting in his usual display of promise by crossing his heart and saluting. As he did so, the tapes almost fell before he managed to catch it, laughter erupting from you both at the irony.

As you shook your head with a smile, you started moving backward, towards the rounded bush your friends had decided to hide behind.

“I’ll see you soon.” You say and Eddie grins regardless of if it was a courtesy departure.

“Oh, yeah?” He asks as you walk away.

“Duh. I’m dying to know what bench could possibly be better than mine.” You reply, sending him a smile over your shoulder.

Eddie couldn’t help but give a little dance in celebration once you were out of sight, fist-bumping the air and almost dropping a tape once again.

Just this morning, he was trying to convince himself that he could carry on with his life without you in it. But that soon rendered useless, because he couldn’t deny any of these feelings that sheltered him like a blanket. He can’t ignore the way his heart skipped a beat whenever you smiled, or how his senses felt alight when your skin brushed against his.

There was no use pretending he wasn’t in love with you.

Chapter 5: Coming Soon

taglist: @cherrymedicine13 . @nix-rose .

[seakittens]

Feelings and Emotions about Final Stroke Volume 2

So @kudouusagi and I ventured into Mexico this weekend to check out the hopefully FINAL Free movie. And it was a wild adventure. But more importantly, the movie was probably some of the most I've enjoyed Free since Take Your Marks! I absolutely loved it! That doesn't mean it's not without flaws. But as someone who has watched every piece of Free media, read every single bit of side content and spent untold dollars on Free merch, it hit the sweet spot.

And I thought I'd share my impressions with those of you who may not see it for a very long time.

Okay, let's get some general disclaimers out of the way. 1.) I am not going to summarize this movie. You've read the summaries, you know how the movie goes. This post is just going to be my stream of conscious RinHaru/Free fangirl babble about how the movie affected me in various scenes. It will be in mostly chronological order because that's how I remember things, but I can't guarantee perfectly accurate flow. MOST IMPORTANT I AM A RINHARU FAN AND THAT IS MY PRIMARY FOCUS. If you are not here for that, this is not the post for you! Again, you have actual summaries. This is just a feelings ramble. 2.) I am not going to focus on characters that I am not overly concerned with. Others have covered what they’re doing. 3.) I am not going to mention any dialogue, unless it's dialogue that's been covered in other summaries since my Japanese is garbo and I don't want to lead anyone astray. 4. This movie is EXTREMELY visual-based. Dialogue is kind of minimal compared to most Free content and visual storytelling is KEY. No summary is going to quite convey the same feeling as the movie because framing and visuals are so important to really APPRECIATING this movie. There is a lot that is just surreal as far as dream sequences and out of body experiences. Endless metaphors. Constant flashbacks and Best of RH screen reels. It is just A LOT. So seeing it will be your best way of truly FEELING this movie. But I will do my best to capture my feelings at least. 5.) This movie is not perfect and I will have a section for nitpicks. It's just how I roll.

ONTO THE IMPRESSIONS - HERE THERE BE SPOILERS

THE MOMENTS THAT MADE MY FANGIRL HEART FLUTTER (Or just the really cute/cool stuff) - Ikuya teasing Sousuke about being lost after Sousuke appears out of freakin' nowhere in the beginning scene. - The acoustic version of Dried Up Youthful Fame plays over a combination of the RinHaru fight in FS1 and flashbacks to basically every RH scene in existence. This works AMAZINGLY well and gives you all the emotions. ;; This is the moment when I realized this movie was even MORE RinHaru than previously advertised. It just screams THIS IS THE IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP OF THE SERIES and I love it. You see their whole evolution even as you see everything breaking down. And as you know, you get new dialogue and new angles of their reactions during the fight. Simply gorgeous. - THE PINING - PART HARU. Haru is so miserable without Rin. He's also exhausted from overworking himself but Sousuke bringing up Rin sends him into total Rin despair. Complete with RinHaru flashbacks. - Natsuya appearing in Sousuke's car after Sousuke drops Haru off. I swear to god I thought Natsuya appeared out of nowhere and must have been sleeping on the floor lol. - THE PINING - PART RIN. Rin just sounds so broken for the first section of this movie. Both in his attempting to convince himself his choice in FS1 was right, as he talks to Mikhail's closed door. And in his scene with Asahi in the laundromat, when he basically melts into the bench. It's the most depressed I've ever seen Rin, and this includes Season 1. The poor thing. The way he says "Haru" to Asahi nearly broke me. HE'S SO SAD. - Another case of a character appearing out of freakin' nowhere. Mikhail isn't in the room when Rin opens the door but somehow appears right behind him. Why does this keep happening? - Baby Haru falling in love with a video of a waterfall was too precious. All of baby Haru in the water was too precious. - Makoto watching RinHaru's greatest hits via home movies in the theater. Technically, Nagisa is here too, but this is shown to be Makoto's dream so I'm going with him dreaming about Nagisa being here. It is again just SO MUCH RINHARU. And yes, the scene with them as superheroes is hilarious. The music here is a medley of Boy in the Water, Ever Blue and Words that Changed My Life. ;; - Also Haru is having dreams about running away from the relay and crying and you can see tears in his eyes and WHY DO YOU HURT ME THIS WAY KYOANI. Also bizarre how dream him falls through the screen and tries to stop bb Haru but passes through him like a ghost~. Also bb Haru in Albert clothing was suitably creepy. XD - You really feel how badly Haru and Rin are doing without each other, just unable to reach their full potential in swimming and the coaches keep commenting on it. - Ryuuji is a tsun disaster in this movie but I absolutely love him. - I have no idea what Makoto texted Rin because when he showed up to yell at Ryuuji, he was basically ON FIRE. He was pure rage and manhandling Ryuuji and it was just really intense. Then Makoto calms him down (though dude, Makoto, this is your fault, what did you say to him??) and Ryuuji basically starts hauling Rin around with the same intensity. I swear the angle made it almost look like he had Rin by the throat when it was just his collar. And Rin looks ready to tear up. He doesn't cry but just the sheer broken emotion on his face is SO GOOD. Especially after Ryuuji says his piece about Rin telling Haru how he feels and Rin breaks away. - Makoto and Rin trying to find Haru was suitably dramatic. I love Rin beating himself for everything he's ever said to Haru and just falling and rolling in the dirt until he reaches his sakura. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW HE COULD BLOODY TELL THAT WAS HARU. I could barely tell that was Haru. All you see is the back of Haru's head. Rin must have eagle eye vision. Though the look in his eyes is so awestruck when he finds him that I guess I will forgive the surreality of it all. - Okay words cannot describe how hilarious it is that Rin called Makoto to tell him Haru was there and then waited for Makoto to show up and then the SECOND Makoto shows up and tries to walk toward Haru, Rin stops him and goes over to strip. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY RIN WAITED TO DO THIS. HOW LONG WAS HE JUST STARING AT HARU FLOATING IN THE WATER? WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS, RIN? - The night pool is another thing that can't be put into words. It's gorgeous. The softness between Rin and Haru when Rin challenges him is just amazing. The moment in their race when Rin realizes Haru is racing normally again, the expression on Rin's face, just top fucking notch. So good. Also love the lighting during their race. Even if they are basically racing to techno porno music. I LOVE LIKE A MAGNET OKAY. - Haru is so friggin soft when Rin hugs him. The whole hug scene when they're being honest with each other about their feelings, they are so soft. Just the way Haru just sort of drops his head and looks so tender. And the teasing affectionate look in his eyes. And their gentle smiles at each other. I CAN'T OKAY I CAN'T. It's so fucking intimate I feel like a voyeur watching this. DO I HAVE THEIR CONSENT TO BE VIEWING THIS? - I love them pulling Makoto into the pool without warning. Lol they are such asses. They tease Makoto about it too. I liked that for a split second Makoto looked like he did in Season 1 Episode 1. Great callback. - So we know they ask to train together. And this actually brings my FAVORITE moment of the whole movie. There's this super fast clip of Rin and Haru doing laps with each other. And they swim past each other in different lanes. And Rin does his usual grin at Haru. And Haru does the MOST AMAZING SMILE (click to see it) back at Rin. I was DYING. You have no idea how long I've waited to see Haru happy while smiling with Rin IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT. I can't even explain why it means so much to me. It just really captured how far they've come. Because it's an allusion to when Rin beat Haru in Season 1 and he had that wild grin and Haru just looked shocked. Except now Haru is DELIGHTED. And ahhhhh my heart. - Also their cute bickering at one another while everyone freaks out and Makoto just shakes his head. Haru is so tsun in that scene too. XD - I loved the Ryuuji flashback when Mikhail basically does the Rin shoulder lean on Ryuuji before Kiyo shows up. It really cements them as the original MHR trio. Even down to how tsun young Ryuuji is and how Kiyo keeps calling him chan. I loved this. It was just really sweet. - I love Kinjou in this movie in general. But I especially love when he's being tsun about Haru since he cares about Haru's condition more than anyone. I'll never get why we never SAW his redemption arc but I do love slightly more unhinged "Rin" basically. XD - I have long detested the back-walking on Sousuke's arc in Eternal Summer BUT I really like Sousuke in this movie. And I truly enjoyed his race with Rin. It was very sweet and cathartic for them both. I just love Sousuke being wholly his own person in this movie and having so many other relationships with Makoto, Natsuya, Kinjou, Hiyori and Haru. Just good stuff for the lad. Also using "Clear Blue Departure" for their race was very very good. - So there's this scene when they all qualify for Nationals and are celebrating and I could barely pay attention BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL DRESSED SO AWFUL. It's like this is the most important moment of your lives and you are an embarrassment to fashion. Anyway, the positive here is Asahi who is the purest cinnamon roll and so happy about his qualification. YOU DESERVE THE WORLD, ASAHI. ;;b - I love all the races in this movie. Haru defying Ryuuji's advice in his Kinjou race was done really well. It was super intense. And I love the music. Drag Racer indeed. - I am a sap so of course I loved Rin and Ikuya showing up with Makoto when Haru's recovering in the clinic. - As always, I love Rin and Ikuya interactions in general. They're such a great pair. They don't have as much here as FS1 but they're still precious. Them hugging each other after getting their medals MY SOUL IS LEAVING MY BODY. - I AM SO UPSET HARU DIDN'T SEE RIN WIN HIS RACE. (More on that later.) But I did love the callback of Gou wearing Rin's medal to when Tora let Rin wear his medal and told Gou she could wear it next time. MY EYES ARE LEAKING. Also Rin's mom mentioning something that Rin still has to do. Which I'm assuming is about swimming with Haru but GEEZ YOU TOLD YOUR MOM ABOUT HARU TOO, RIN? Have you at least brought him to meet her yet? Anyway, supportive Miyako ftw. - I absolutely LOVED the scene where Haru leaves Makoto in the clinic. It's framed like a relay exchange. Where Haru thanks Makoto and then grabs his hand for a moment and strides past him, as if he's diving forward (into the water). This was SUCH A GOOD symbolism for their relationship. I loved it so much. I loved the metaphor of Makoto turning the race over to Haru aaaaah. - Oh about Haru's crazy dream sequence while he's unconscious. I really liked how he manages to grab his younger self to keep him from running. It's so dramatic. And bb Haru's tears. ;; - Total chaos with the relay changeup. I loved this madness. Even if poor Asahi got screwed over again. YOU'LL GET THEM NEXT TIME, ASAHI. ;;b Oh, I’m squeezing in Ikuya’s absolutely precious smile to Hiyori just before his race. It stole my heart completely. God it was gorgeous. - I love Kinjou seeing the "sight" in his race because he's so darkly unhinged about it and it's just such a cool contrast to Season 1 Rin seeing the "sight." This was a great scene. Kinjou is awesome. What a dick. XD - Okay, the final race was insanely good. From Samezuka getting all possessive over Sousuke. To Seijurou showing up and being all intensely supportive. To the way the powerful music CUTS OFF COMPLETELY when Haru dives over Rin (cue Rin eyecatch of Haru) and only picks up again once he hits the water CHILLS. And just Haru's racing is so fucking INTENSE. I knew how this would end and I was honestly EXCITED AND ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. Free has never made me feel that way about a race because the winner never matters. But it mattered here and it WORKED. - Oh yeah, I generally loved everyone cheering for everyone. This is something that was sorely lacking since Season 1 after Eternal Summer started the teamsplit trend. And I think everyone cheering for everyone really captures the spirit of Free so this made me REALLY HAPPY. - I also like the flashing back to everyone else watching the race, including Misaki and his friend and Rin's homestay parents and Winnie. D'awww. - I admit being a RH, my hackles DID go up for a moment when bb Haru reached out to bb Albert in the same manner as Haru reaching out to Rin from Season 1 Episode 12. BUT I was relieved that Albert just grabs his hand so it's a different feeling. And I loved Haru "saving" Albert. The whole transition of the dark water around Albert to the bright beautiful water around Haru. - Speaking of Albert, they don't really let him speak that much in this movie. And it's almost entirely to Haru. But I love his lines. He's still an adorable bear. I love his rivalry with Haru so much. They're so good. - Of course I loved the final relay hug. And everyone crying with joy. Even Haru. FEELS. - It was so surreal watching Haru just DROP out of that group hug and fall on the floor. As much as I love Rin holding him on his knee after he falls, it's just such a surreal scene. It's seriously framed like Haru is dying. Bizarre. - OKAY SO HUNGARY. We know about the tracks and this creative version of a Words that Changed My Life playing against Ever Blue. But what REALLY sells this scene is the huge smirk/grin on Haru's face when he answers Rin's question about if he wants to see how the dream continues. That is one HAPPY CONFIDENT MAN. I love it! - Oh yeah, so on the final RinHaru note, I'm going to be real. The way they frame this movie, where Haru is constantly asked or asking himself questions about why he swims, why he swims competitively and what he's after... and then have Rin be his savior more or less. It really frames it that RIN and his relationship with Rin ARE those answers. Like it's not even ambiguous. You really have to SEE this framing to get what I mean. Especially with how the movie starts and ends with RinHaru's relationship. It's just stunning.

THE WHAT THE FUCK MOMENTS THAT STOOD OUT - Who let Sousuke drive? Why is this man driving? Why are people in a car with him? They could have at least shown him with a GPS or something. - Rei and Ai's introductions to Ikuya's team. Compared to Nagisa. Nagisa's is a normal bouncy introduction to Kinjou's team while Rei and Ai break out into full interpretive dance. I don't even know man... - Why is Makoto having dreams of RinHaru's Greatest Hits? It's just so weird. XD Also evil goldfish always blocking him. - WHY IS NAGISA GOING AFTER PRO COMPETITIVE SWIMMING? He has so many other choices. He has never shown interest in wanting to do this forever. He just liked swimming with his friends and THAT'S FINE. He gets to competitive swim but Nao and Makoto don't? The people who ACTUALLY WANTED TO PURSUE THIS? Why? Why does freakin' everyone go into pro swimming except for Nao and Makoto? It's so STUPID. Why can't anyone have any other path? I can buy Rei and Ai since that ties into their "need to get better at swimming" arcs. BUT NAGISA NEVER EVEN IMPROVED AT SWIMMING. He has no swimming arc! They just did this because they didn't know what else to do with him. And yeah, him and Kinjou are incredibly cute but this plotline is STILL STUPID. And miserably unfair to both Nao and Makoto. - SPEAKING OF MAKOTO, we're going to talk about AN INTERESTING SCENE. So Makoto relays the story of how him and Nagisa wanted to get Haru a charm to cheer him up after him losing to older kids when they were younger. An undercurrent of this is Nagisa wants Makoto to tell Haru how he feels about him. He eventually tells him he loves his swimming and is adorably embarrassed. We got back to real life and Haru's reaction to this? HE DOESN'T FREAKIN' REMEMBER. DUDE DON'T TELL HIM THAT. SAY ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT. THIS DUDE POURED HIS HEART OUT TO YOU IN STORY FROM AND YOU TELL HIM YOU DON'T REMEMBER THAT. i can't even. i can't. Anyway, Rin is clearly feeling bad for Makoto after Haru's usual blunt nature so he tells him that he remembers hearing about a kid who defeated a bunch of older kids. And apparently this adds another level to the growing pyramid lore of how Rin first heard about Haru. Lol. But yeah, it was just so weird to have Haru react like that to what seemed to be an important story to Makoto and something he's been trying to convey since the last movie (maybe? we'll get to that). Why? I don't get it. - While I love the scene of young Ryuuji and the others. IT BREAKS THE PKH LORE. Since young Ryuuji is tsun. Now I figured originally that tsun Ryuuji was the result of losing his friend and that's why he didn't have PKH's charming personality. But no Ryuuji was still tsun as a youngster. SO WHERE DID THAT ULTRA LADIES MAN PKH PICTURE COME FROM? He seems like a completely different person from young Ryuuji. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

- WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE SURPRISED THAT SOUSUKE IS SWIMMING BACK? Like the whole point of the second half of the movie is they’re all training together. But it’s this huge surprise when Sousuke competes in back and qualifies. Was Nao hosting secret swimming lessons at night ala Rin/Rei from Eternal Summer? When did this special regiment happen? Why did nobody know about it? Why was it a secret? Was it supposed to be a secret? This just completely DOES NOT WORK with their whole theme of working together toward their goal. It surprises the audience sure but it holds no logical consistency to what they established about the joint training. It’s so dumb. - I hate the Haru passing out/collapsing storyline. It's stupid and adds nothing to overall story. It just makes dumb artificial drama. Especially since he basically gets over it at the end. It also means Haru sleeps through most of the tournament. Missing BOTH Rin and Ikuya's races. Which pisses me off. Don't you think it would have done him good after being traumatized by his friends' losses in Sydney to see them win here? This just really bothered me. He doesn't see the qualifying relay team either. He loses the chance to cheer for any of his friends. :/ This was a dumb choice. F minus. - So there's a scene where Makoto and Ryuuji are discussing Haru's decision to do the relay and Ikuya and Rin are hanging outside the closed door and Ikuya asks if Rin should be in there and Rin is like "Our relationship isn't like that." And honestly, WTF. This isn't a private moment. They are literally discussing Haru doing a final tournament swim. You know the thing you've been pushing him along for YOUR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP. You can cry on his face, hug him and pour out your heart, wake up at his bedside... But sure, listening to him discuss his swimming plans THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR YOUR RELATIONSHIP. what the actual fuck. And this comes AFTER Rin says he's going to stop playing it cool around Haru. >_< I know it's supposed to be a callback to FS1 where Rin tells Ikuya his relationship with Ikuya is "more complicated than that." But COME ON. - I don't know why anyone is in Hungary. This scene makes no sense. Are they there for a race? Why is Makoto there? Why is Makoto looking around for someone (presumably Haru) and then being shocked to find him? Why does Ryuuji know that Rin is in Hungary but Makoto has to tell Haru that? Why does Makoto have to tell Rin that Haru is there? WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING???

- I don’t think they actually really resolved Makoto’s whole thing he needed to tell Haru in FS1. They set it up as this big moment of Makoto needing to tell Haru something and have him flashback to bb Makoto chasing after Haru and being blocked by goldfish. And I guessss it’s supposed to be the backstory Makoto tells him about him and Nagisa. But this just feels very weaksauce compared to how this was set up as some BIG IMPORTANT THING in FS1. And if it IS the big important thing that Makoto was pining to tell Haru all of FS1... Haru’s blasé reaction is EVEN WORSE. orz

- Wait! I forgot to complain about the utter insanity of making Momo and Ayumu team captains. Momo has the emotional maturity of a kiwi and Ayumu CAN’T EVEN SWIM. Do they even have enough swimming members for a relay team at this point? Captains have to swim! They need to demonstrate things and be the team representative. You don’t always have to SHOW the captains, KyoAni. It’s okay sometimes for people to just mention their new captain and say they’re learning a lot. Just. SIGH.

THE HORRIBLY MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

- Nao. Just Nao. Basically they gave the recovery arc to Sousuke and forgot Nao entirely. HS sets it up so his eye operation isn't supposed to have a long recovery and he can swim again. DF sets it up so he has to keep recovering so he can swim again. WHY DOES HE NEVER SWIM WITH NATSUYA WHEN THIS IS CLEARLY SET UP AS A THING THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN? Why is he doing virtually nothing this whole movie? I guess he helps training with Makoto a little but it's barely there. What a wasted character. 

- Natsuya wasn’t used that great here either, but at least he got to relay and react to Ikuya’s win. They were still cute. And yeah, at least Nao and Natsuya are cute now and then. I’m just overall disappointed with both their arcs. Especially since Ikuya got less focus in FS2 so the whole Kirishima brothers taking on the world thing lacked proper oomph. I’m not as disappointed with Ikuya since he still gets to relish his win and he is overall AROUND.

- Rei. Rei does nothing. Woo he makes some bracelets. This is a far cry to Rei's role in Season 1 and Eternal Summer. He is basically there to be cute with Nagisa and nothing else. He doesn't even qualify in Nationals so his whole learn to swim arc is ongoing I guess. He never even gets a suitably meaningful scene with Haru or Rin. Which is the MOST disappointing part of all. But he just feels really flat in this. - Albert. He just really needed more time in this. We needed to see more of his rivalry with Haru. We needed to know if he actually broke away from his mean coach. We needed to see more of his pure swimmer side. He just feels there for Haru to have a goal beyond wanting to swim with Rin. Not well executed. - Kinjou. Again, why didn't we see his redemption arc? Why did he suddenly change between FS1 and FS2? I love Kinjou in FS2 but it just feels so abrupt. And they barely resolve his issues with Hiyori or Kiyo. It's upsetting. - Asahi and Rin Connection. Come on, you had a huge scene with them. You couldn't have fit in a moment of Asahi seeing a pic of Rin's dad at the tournament and pointing out his own father in the pic. KyoAni connected every character under the sun after Eternal Summer but they couldn't even manage the ACTUAL meaningful connection between characters. No instead we get Ai and Mikhail being relatives. :/ This was so friggin' simple. Fail.

- THE FRIGGIN SAKURA TREE. I know they do this beautiful metaphor with the night pool and the way the lights are like blossoms and the colors and it’s great. But you found a way to get Albert’s friggin’ father to Iwatobi but you can’t get Rin and Haru back there to see the damn tree bloom. The thing that has been promised since Season 1, since the Eternal Summer Drama CD. It’s like YOU HAD ONE FUCKING JOB... I still can’t believe they failed this. What we got was beautiful but I can’t pretend this doesn’t irk the hell out of me. >_< - This isn't really a missed point. But dammit Asahi don't sell yourself so short. You qualified for the national team. YOU CAN DO THIS DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM. ;;b JUSTICE FOR ASAHI. He suffers the fate of butterfly swimmer. There are just too many butterfly swimmers. 8(

Overall, despite the WTFs and missed opportunities, I did truly love this movie and think it's the perfect ending to Free and the story they set up since Season 1. I'm amazed they managed to pull this off, given their need to showcase EVERY FLIPPING CHARACTER THEY EVER INTRODUCED. But it somehow worked and RinHaru's relationship shown as the centerpiece it always has been. What a ride, Free fans. What a ride.

P.S. Listen to the OST. It’s sooo good.