#like seriously slow burn

[fragilecapric0rnn]

[series now cross-posted to ao3! stay tuned for more! ] Have been watching a lot FRIENDS lately bc its one of my and my gf's comfort shows and, of course, i cannot stop thinking about Stranger Things-ifying the hell out of it. the vision came to me SO CLEARLY [PART 2]

Sitting around the coffee shop that is basically a second home to the gang.

Nancy sits on the chair across from Argyle, one leg tucked under her, legal pad balancing on the arm, a pen being held between her pointer and middle finger, tapping incessantly on the pad. The other hand tucked into a fist and holding up her chin.

Argyle sits with his legs draped over the arm of the oversized chair, flipping through the latest Steven King book, one arm perched behind his head.

Jonathan has the NYT crossword in his lap, Robin peering over his shoulder, making him nervous.

A normal Saturday afternoon routine for the group of twentysomethings. The rain from outside softly hits the windows nearby, complimenting the soft chatter and gentle clanking of dishes.

But Robin can only seem to focus on Nancy's damn tapping.

"Nance?"

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna need you to stop tapping. I'm trying to beat Jonathan's puzzle."

"Just take it," he hands the paper over to her, annoyed.

"No! It's more fun when it feels like I'm beating you."

Jonathan looks over at Nancy, who is staring blankly at the wooden support beam a few feet away.

"What's going on Nance?"

"Nothing." Her pitch high, grabbing the rest of the groups attention, so much so that they all inch closer to her chair.

"Sounds like a whole lotta nothing," Argyle pulls a nearby chair up next to hers flipping it around and resting his forearms on the back of it.

Robin sits on the ground next to her and Jonathan takes a seat on the coffee table right in front of her.

"Fine!" She takes a look over her shoulder, toward the front door. "I have a date."

"Why are we whispering?" Argyle asks, also whispering.

"Because you know who could walk in any second."

"Why are we whispering and speaking in codes?" Jonathan asks, still whispering.

And as an act of divine timing, the front door to the coffee shop opens, and they all turn their heads to see a slightly damp Eddie shake his hair out and shed his leather jacket in one fell swoop. His face fixed in the same frown that's plagued his face for the last two weeks.

"Hey," the group says in unison, not moving a muscle from where they're still crowded around Nancy.

"What did I say about that tone," Eddie whines, flopping himself down on the couch that previously held Jon and Robin.

"How're you doing?" Robin asks, shifting her body, still sitting on the floor, toward him.

"All of her stuff is gone which means that all of my stuff is gone."

No one says a thing. Not even when the sound of a ceramic coffee cup shatters somewhere in the distance.

"Eddie?"

"What?"

"I don't mean to sound insensitive dude, but shouldn't you be a little less depressed considering... " Argyle trails off.

"Considering what?"

"Considering you're the one that left her?" Robin finishes the thought that everyone is having.

"I didn't leave her." He scoffs.

"No, but when you tell your long-term girlfriend about recently discovering that you're gay, one might see that as you being the one to end that relationship."

"We've been over this." He balls up his jacket and shoves his face into the wet leather. The group share a look, Nancy gesturing to Eddie's state as if to say this is why I'm not talking about the date.

He chucks the balled up jacket at Jonathan, who kicks his feet out in surprise as he catches it with his chest. Eddie's hands are now on either side of his face.

"The love was there! I could've loved her if..."

"If she was someone else?"

He deflates, lets his arms slump down and his shoulders do the same.

"Eddie, my friend, my pal, listen up." Argyle moves seats for the third time, now squeezing himself into the space between Eddie and the arm rest on the couch, draping his arm over his shoulders.

"You have just entered a whole new world, my man. So, you're gay? We're in New York City, so is everyone! Welcome home! All that love you were ready to give to Michelle? You get to hold onto that and give it to someone else. Someone who makes your heart sing."

"But I knew her just as long as I knew you guys." He whines, again, gesturing to Robin, Nancy and Jonathan. "It was easy. It was safe. How am I ever gonna find romance with someone? Where we have an established - I don't know - thing! A connection! A history! How?"

Eddie stares at them like he expects them to answer, forcing the rest of the group to share glances, let the air settle with Eddie's words.

The front door flies open just as a roaring thunder booms overhead, making for a dramatic entrance.

Robin's the first one to swivel her head toward the ruckus, the only one who has a perfect view of the person who burst into the shop.

A man dressed in a tux, drenched, like, just hopped out of a swimming pool drenched. Fighting with his bow tie with one hand and running his other hand through the unforgettable head of hair that sends Robin right back to Hawkins, Indiana. Back to the summer before her senior year.

Huh?

Unable to move a muscle in her body, she watches him clumsily go up to the counter and ask for her and Nancy, by name. The sound of her name sends her up to her feet and pushes her toward the man. An air of chaos surrounds him, drawing an offense amount of curiosity out of Robin as she finds her words.

"Steve Harrington?"

He turns around, his face lights up, and he does the weirdest thing.

He hugs her.

She remains stiff as he pulls back from the hug, hands still on either side of her arms.

They were buddies that summer scooping ice cream at the mall. Nothing crazy, or maybe even that memorable, but they started the summer as acquaintances at best and left as friends.

But then he left for college and she stayed and they never spoke again. A few run-ins here and there. But nothing substantial.

"I knew I'd find you here, I remembered that the last time I was in the city I ran into you guys and you're here!" He sounds drunk, but also like he drank a vat of espresso.

Clearly, it was substantial enough for him to come looking for her. Dressed in a tux soaking wet?

"And you're here, overdressed." She says, taking him in, unable to unscrew the confused look from her face.

Is that a boutonnières?

Oh no. Oh fuck.

"Steve?" Jonathan and Nancy say in unison as Robin brings him over to the couch.

Robin thinks Eddie might have summoned the ghost of hopeless high school crushes past, the way Eddie looks like he's just seen a ghost.

[vroomian]

skip beat isn’t completed??? i remember reading that back in elementary school and now im almost graduating from college!

Skip beat has been going for twenty slutty slutty years

[amelie-isnt-french]

Dating people?? No thank you, I'd rather slowly fall in love with a kind, tea-making coworker/friend and not realise I have feelings for them until it all culminates in a dramatic showdown after which we basically get married and go off to live in Scotland - as Jonny Sims intended.

[butteronabun]

Hellooo butter! What are your thoughts on Diluc as a senior? School or college au? 🤔 my friend and I were speculating this(+kaeya) and I thought your contribution to this topic would be just perfect!

okay. okay.

first of all, thank you for thinking that my contribution regarding this topic would be perfect. i am honored that you think that way, thank you for thinking that! 🤍✨

second — here, let me dump all the high school au concepts i thought about for diluc ( which may or may not have been already been written in my debut fic :D ):

In a modern au, hs student Diluc would be a "golden retriever"

He’s kind, gentle, and sweet. Man has good grades and perfect attendance. Charming and handsome to the point that he’s deemed as one of the ‘Campus Crushes.’ Well-liked and very popular. Dominates the basketball varsity team (he’s a team captain) and is often the MVP. Joins clubs that benefits his academics and is running for student council. One of the math wizards who partakes in school vs school competitions. Filthy rich.

Seriously, he’s the guy you usually find in those romcoms.

He who opens doors and waits for the other students to enter the cafeteria.

He who provides support to those who are nervous in reporting their chemistry presentations. He who offers his jacket quietly to that girl when she had blood stains on her skirt. 

He, who, has a smile that lights up the room and makes everyone’s hearts skip a beat.

His name is always the talk of the town 

His lockers filled with rose-scented letters & cheap chocolates every 14th of Feb 

The crowd cheers for his number when he gives them a 3 point shoot, 

Before proudly celebrating the well–deserved golden trophy with his team 

He who is sincere with his speeches regarding “changing the system.” 

Regarding unfair school policies, more renovations for campus facilities, and less homeworks for those who are unfortunate and come home late 

He who dreams of following his father’s footsteps 

By doing his best in school 

Even if it’s a simple thing like tutoring his friends when it comes to math 

Or something more complex when he’s the face of his batch to compete in academic competitions. 

And you bet that this man is favored by so many of his teachers

Bro posts something on social media and it probably gets a hundred likes and numerous supportive comments from friends and others.

He’s practically untouchable. And despite all the fame, he’s pretty private. ( and no one will ever mention how Diluc almost beat up some fools who bullied his younger brother for dreaming to become a pirate. )

He has everything and yet he can’t get the girl that he likes, because unfortunately, she— whose identity is private, for now—doesn’t seem to like him or even notice him

I like to think that Diluc has a lady friend who he can confide with. Maybe, in this case, it’s Lisa. One time, she was sitting beside him during lunch and was very much amused when she caught him staring at that one girl who laughed way too loud with her friends.

He was staring with a little flush and seemed to get a little timid whenever she passed by. 

Lisa couldn’t help but smile behind her fingers as she witnessed the beginning of a new chapter — a blooming flower.

Most people in Diluc’s life ( the judgmental and the nosey ), who think that they have opinions worth mentioning for, always think that they’re right: they expect Diluc to end up with someone like him – and yet he is besotted with that girl who played step foot with her friends outside their classroom despite the class rep reprimanding them to quiet down. That girl ( who had many dreams and becoming a director was one of them ) nearly got her camera confiscated when she was recording her friend climbing on the roof, as if her incident with her math teacher wasn’t enough ) and That. Girl. who somehow became his seatmate during their field trip when they both got late together and had to sit in front. That same girl who offered him if he would like some chocolates that she bought from duty free because it was her birthday soon.

That girl who laughed when she hit her head on the ground while playing basketball and was delivered to the emergency room afterward.

But despite all these “not-so charming flaws,” Diluc finds himself falling anyway.

He wants to try all sorts of things, and he imagines a future where she’s in it.

But he knows that he’s not that intriguing for her eyes. She doesn't seem to be interested in him or befriending him. Was it because he became hot and all sweaty during that one time in their field trip? When he awkwardly made conversation ( despite being praised for his articulate and cohesive speeches and arguments ? ) Was he way too boring and too ambitious for someone as spontaneous and going with the flow? Did he not tick all the checkboxes in her list of the Ideal Types that she wants to date? ( Kaeya informed him that she was sharing her ideal types with her friends, and him being curious was an understatement. )  

Because every time he sees her, she doesn’t bat an eyelash. She focuses so much on her friends and it seems that she has forgotten that she smiled at him during that field trip. When she commented on how the sunset looked beautiful behind him, when he was sitting on the window seat. 

He’s aware that she’s friendly but she’s not befriending him. :( 

And if people are going to ask you what happened between the two of you, perhaps, you’ll just raise a quizzical brow and tilt your head.

“Uhhh. . . What? Who? Ah. Him. The MVP guy? We became seatmates during the field trip and that’s it. We didn’t really talk because I slept throughout the whole ride. He was listening to music so I assumed he didn’t want to have a conversation with me. And I’m out of his league, so next question.”

( Diluc had earphones on but they were lowered down because he wanted to hear her small giggles — and, well. Ridiculous as it was, he was playing stupidly romantic love songs. Kaeya was right, maybe using Spotify premium once in a while wasn’t bad. )

Here’s another hs au concept:

So it starts like this: two fingers clutching a chess piece—a pawn, she recalls—and lips pursing in thought, you inadvertently sigh in defeat and simply put it on a black square. 

However, you confidently eye him anyway and grab his queen piece. You declare a “Checkmate!”

And the guy—the guy who’s sitting right across from you—with the wild, beautiful red hair tied in an elegant ponytail, releases an amused chuckle. You’re sure that the girls watching from the sidelines just swooned from that and you mentally roll your eyes. 

“Last time I’m aware, that’s not how the game works. That’s not how the queen moves.” 

His voice is deep and nice to hear. But the irritation boiling in your gut shoves that comment away and you cross your arms with puffed cheeks. 

“That’s how this queen moves,” You stand from your seat and take your bowl of soggy french fries from Potato Corner. “Checkmate.”

And from that very moment you leave — you think it’s a cool exit, because you know you’ll never see him again, and you’ll never play Chess again, because there are a lot of students in your high school with quirky hair and even stranger personalities. 

Like, who even randomly starts a chess duel during lunch, and in Mondstadt High’s quadrangle? Apparently, that guy. 

You don't really understand why a lot of students are drawn to him so much, especially your classmates. You don’t hide your disdain of course, but your amazing friends decided to pull something underneath their arses to somehow make you meet the guy. Make you meet the guy you weren’t really interested in getting to know. Even if he was quote unquote, a 10.

Thus, leading to that unexpected encounter—them registering your full name when the guy was searching for another player to duel with. For fun.

And you didn’t really know how to play chess, but you were in the mood for some shenanigans, so. . . that happened.

( tldr: u had an interesting meeting with diluc and thought u will never meet him again but then he becomes ur romeo to ur juliet when u joined the theater club. shenanigans ensue. )

i hope this is enough to satiate the people who want a part 2 of the hs au diluc <3 also, it's up to anyone's interpretation if they wonder if my debut hs au fic for him would end up with the reader.

[ edit at 1:02 am: oh. . . diluc in a high school au as a senior. . . oh anon. . . i did not read it carefully and immediately assumed - help - i said too much. . . GSJJDK 🧎🏻‍♀️] and third. . . so. uh! i had one fear. ONE FEAR when i started this writing blog. one fear if i would eventually get that one specific ask, and me from the past was like: no way, there’s a buuuunch of AUs in the world and surely, they wouldn’t ask about college au, right?? / pos

WRONG.

so ummm… regarding the college au. are you gonna believe me if i told you that i had been plotting & writing a diluc college au since last year 🫣 all supported and aided by a wonderful pal ofc :)

here’s a glimpse:

you guys don’t understand how much of a fixation the DILUC college au was for me. like at all FJDHDK only my bestie witnessed how feral i was over this au. it was seriously my life source / j

anyway, i’m not sure if i’d post it because it’s seriously hella of a mess ( like table filled with papers stacked over each other mess ) and i don’t even know if people will enjoy it - i have some crazy projections here 🤸🏻‍♀️

and to end this: if you guys are curious abt diluc and the reader’s dynamic in this one, it’s evidently grumpy x sunshine ( because i am a forever sucker for that trope with diluc ) and she is his first love and he is her last

cheers! 🥂

[cookiesandbiscuits]

Listening to "Spring Snow" by 10CM is just making me daydream of Lucifer x Camellia again...

[camellcat]

dunno if it really fits them but the thought won't leave my brain so here's a doodle

[aylinaliens]

episode one of low frequency really had thames buying lube literally ten minutes after meeting mon and had him stand there with a shit eating smile on his face as its being rang up

your honor i think i already love this idiot and this silly little bl

[onereallygoodlambonastick]

if nothing else u must remember in ur hearts of hearts disposability is the way of our world currently. waste, alienation, isolation, grimdark shounen, all that glaze and polish and bandaids being traded out for prettier bandaids like ai fanart/art and my local university renovating every community structure without ever divesting. you must remember what u see. U have an ability to remember. It is essential u get it back and go back for it, every day, like taking a healing medicine, to remind urself u have the ability to remember and to cease forgetting.

[clandestinegardenias]

First draft of my VegasPete University AU is complete and we’re clocking in just over 31,000 words, y’all. And it fucking SLAYS. 

[townslore]

discovery of the day

[royalwhumpness]

Guys I did it!! I wrote a second chapter to a fic!! I’ve never written this much before. I must seriously be passionate about the subject-

I’m so proud of myself

[chirpsythismorning]

Want to know what I'm most excited about for byler endgame?

All the gays who didn't see it coming.

Like there are plenty of queer ships out there with huge fanbases. And unfortunately, yes, a lot of these ships over the years weren't canon and were very clearly queer-bait going nowhere.

A lot of fans have been here before, many times. Looking for crumbs, looking for the bare minimum, and so it's not even about the pairing actually getting together in the end, it's about appreciating all the moments in between. That's valid and honestly as good as it gets most of the time and so I don't really blame them.

Which is why I think, when it comes to Stranger Things, despite the canon queer characters, SO many queer viewers who haven't even watched the show or only watched it maybe once casually, are just not picking up on any of the subtext, despite picking up on stuff from shows where it was almost entirely accidental.

And it is fascinating!

Hearing fans of other queer ships that are confused about why byler was #1 on Tumblr this year and even just coming off as sort of condescending about it, I can't even be mad.

Because from their perspective this is just another mainstream show with horrible queer-bait, which is why they haven't even allowed themselves to genuinely consider it.

And so I cannot wait for their reactions when they find out they were wrong. That they thought they would be right because they've been wrong so many times before about queer ships that didn't end up together. Except this time they'll be wrong for assuming they wouldn't end up together...

Then, that's when they'll finally allow themselves to go back and watch it and pay attention, without worrying they're being tricked like they've been every other time before... and they're going to lose their shit.

[deprivedmusicaljunkie]

i have been spoiled for abbott elementary s3e15 and i am desperately waiting for the “i fixed your light” moment

[highfantasy-soul]

So with the news that Netflix has cancelled Shadow and Bone season 3 and the Six of Crows spinoff, I feel extra justified in supporting the changes made to the show, specifically the advancement of Kaz's revenge story and Wesper. (This also goes for the Wheel of Time show that I feel shares many similarities to the process of adaptation that S&B faces)

In this day and age, showrunners can't expect 7 seasons of 24 episodes anymore. They have to cram as much into the (shortened) seasons they do get as they possibly can - which is where I and so many others get the frustrating feeling that they aren't sitting in the moments as long as we want them to.

BUT, script writers are having to work within insanely small parameters which makes sprawling fantasy stories (specifically ones based on books and with heavy internal dialogue and a huge cast of characters spread out over the world) extremely difficult to tell without having to cut massive sections to streamline the story or fast track some things/make things much more obvious than is shown in the book (as the internal monologues take care of clearing up confusion in written media).

So the frustration with ending 'slow burn' romances in visual media, while objectively I agree that it sucks we don't get more time to explore the character's feelings for one another, I'd much rather have canon, on-screen Wesper than another 'queerbait' flirtation that those who haven't read the books could just interpret as two guys being pals. Both Jesper and Wylan are side characters to the side characters in the show - they just couldn't get as much time to develop their relationship as say, a show with only two main characters who are the slow burn romance.

I'm glad the Crows got their due in the show - I felt they were all so incredibly in-character even doing things that weren't in the books (as of course, the Crows weren't in the Shadow and Bone books at all) and I love that we got to see more of Matthias in prison and Kaz got his revenge on Pekka in a wonderfully book-accurate way.

People who want one-to-one on-screen adaptations with books seem to ignore the logistical factors showrunners face with their shortened episode counts and the threat of cancellation looming over just about every single first season a show gets now. (Honestly, it's a miracle that Wheel of Time got a 3 season deal to start with so the showrunners could plan out three full seasons to make their bid to keep going with the story as Shadow and Bone didn't even get that).

Should we demand better from companies like Netflix that continually cut budgets and axe shows despite their massive popularity so they can save money? Yeah, duh. But let's put our anger and frustration where it deserves: on the powers that be, not those who are desperately trying to write a meaningful story in those terrible conditions.

Kind of a huge part of the writer and actor strikes was against these practices that make it so difficult for artists to make a consistent living in conditions that can sustain art rather than just content. We've still got a ways to go, but in the mean time, I'm going to enjoy the work they are able to create and view it from a more grounded perspective, understanding that they have time, monetary, and casting constraints they've got to work within.

If you want slow burns, go to books where authors have an infinite number of pages they can stretch the romance out in and you get all the juicy inner dialogues. For now, slow burn anything isn't really possible in the visual media sphere - not ones that are guaranteed to come to fruition at least.

[cupoteahatter]

It's Wyler loving hours bitches

[ghost-proofbaby]

please don't make 24 hours as slow and boring as you did the shire is burning lol