#looking at the trailer i think they've done that

[fereldanwench]

i'm still holding off final judgement until the gameplay today, but seeing some stills on twitter kind of helped me solidify what i found so off-putting about the style in the companion trailer

although before i post those, a few counter arguments because i'm already tired of ppl bashing the ppl who aren't vibing with it, and my head is clear enough to put these thoughts down:

"cinematic trailers rarely look like the actual game" - true to a point. however: 1) typically cinematic trailers strive to look like a higher definition version of the game, which seems to be the opposite here. in the case of DAO and DA2, i would say the cinematic trailers actually strived for more realism, not stylization, as that was the trend at the time. 2) this is a cinematic trailer, but it is also done in the game engine so it's not unreasonable to assume that the end product is gonna look somewhat similar 3) this was supposed to be their best foot forward so suddenly going "don't worry, it's gonna look better in-game" is just a bad marketing move. it's not on the audience to give this company the benefit of the doubt (particularly in light of all the shit that has gone down there in the past decade)

"not everything has to be super realistic!" - agreed! not liking elements of this particular style doesn't mean i'm opposed to stylization in DA at all. i think DA2 is much more stylized than DAO, and not only does it look nicer, it looks more distinctly dragon age. DAO visually is also very generic, especially for its time. i still love the almost painterly look of DA2, even all these years later

and i think DAI has issues with the character models, especially the uncanny valley disconnect between the really stiff animations and realistic faces (having played it within the past year, they've aged pretty roughly), but in terms of environment and armor and whatnot, it did build off the style presented in DA2 in a way that effectively modernized it for that era. it did go for a more realistic look, but it was cohesive and still distinctly dragon age

"people reacted like this to DA2 and DAI's trailers too" - no, they did not, lmao. DA2's trailers were the reverse--they looked more realistic than the actual game. now there was some backlash against the stylistic choice in the actual game. i remember david gaider talking about it in a panel at dragon con in 2012--apparently ppl were upset that the companions looked like they were made with cosplayers in mind, which i thought was an interesting criticism. but no, the trailers did not get this sort of response.

and DAI's trailers used a lot of in-game footage, and the cinematic ones were both pretty accurate to the game and well-received by the audience. DAI's marketing was also absolutely bonkers and nonstop for like 9 months before the game was released, which in hindsight i think was way too much, but in terms of visuals, we knew exactly what we were getting.

"you guys just think anything with a style to it looks like fortnite" - lmao, okay, yeah, describing it as fornite is probably unfair and inaccurate, but i know for me, i kind of use it as a shorthand to reflect my general dissatisfaction with the way so many 3D styles (in both games and movies) just have this bland, cartoonish look to them. the pixar-ification of everything. i just don't like it.

and the logo with the bright purple and overly smooth text doesn't really help here either. i think a less saturated and darker purple paired with a grungier font would also help in making this feel like less like fornite season 3458345: dragon age avengers.

plus it was originally gonna be a live service game and i think that it still has some of that dna artistically

SO ANYWAY

these stills, which i think are also in-game engine but im not entirely sure if they're from cinematics, gameplay, or just renders but they seem to be in-line with the trailer:

and seeing emmrich and to a lesser extent neve in these pics solidified why the stylization didn't work for me on a visual level (never mind it being paired with the light-hearted planning-for-a-silly-little-heist vibes)

so when i first saw the trailer, and i saw varric, i was like "nice"

he looked like a higher definition, older version of a DA2/DAI hybrid of his model. he looked really good. i thought harding looked good, too. it did take me a minute to realize who she was, but it really wouldn't be a DA trailer if we weren't left wondering who tf a returning character was lmao (remember the confusion over alistair's appearance in one of the DAI trailers? this is actually tradition now)

but as the trailer goes on, the style doesn't even stay consistent--it just gets progressively more cartoonish right up to emmrich, which is the exact moment that made me go WHAT

he looks like a cartoon character. the hard lines in his face, the stiffness of his hair, his overall proportions--he looks like he should be a villain in a pixar movie. like i'm digging his overall vibe and as a concept of a character design, i love it. but this execution of it next to fellow old wrinkled man varric looks so off

and then we go right into davrin who is beautifully rendered and designed--he doesn't look out of place next to varric or harding

some characters have the soft, wispy hair while others have hair that looks like a hard shell with lines carve into it. some characters have finely detailed wrinkles while others have thick, cartoonish ones. some characters have realistic proportions while others have more exaggerated features.

stylization is only effective when it's purposeful and consistent, and from what i've seen so far, it's not. it's all over the place.

so there's my thesis about why i dont like the art direction in the trailer lmao

and like i've been saying since it dropped, i am reserving full judgment for the gameplay reveal, but based on the other stuff bioware has teased, i'm not expecting this aspect to change too much. i've seen other ppl who were on the fan council thing say the tone in the game is more in-line with the tone in the other games, so maybe that'll help smooth out this disconnect

[keian44]

I have a lot of thoughts on the trailer for DA4, and the reaction surrounding it, but my thoughts are disjointed, so bear with me.

Firstly, I can see why people were criticizing the art direction. It did look more stylized in the trailer, and certain moments (like the googly-eyed-looking large darkspawn during Davrin's intro) did make me raise an eyebrow. That said, if a more stylized direction keeps them away from the uncanny valley/facial glitches from Andromeda, or the now very soulless stares of modern RPGS like Starfield (because they didn't use mocap like Larian), then I'm all right with it. I appreciate all art, including stylized--and as long as it's well-done, feels alive, and is appropriate for the setting--sure.

Characters aside, the backgrounds and environments look stunning so far. The city streets behind Lucanis's intro looks gorgeous; they recently released a clip of Minrathous that looks amazing; the screenshots they released of other environment looks dark, foreboding, and atmospheric. I am not concerned with the direction of the environment/world-building at all, and am excited to see more of it, especially since they've said we'll visit countries in Thedas that we've never seen before. (Fingers crossed that the open world is done well and isn't just a barren landscape.)

Next, the tone. Yes, I see what people mean when they say that it was huge departure from the tone of the series. BUT, I think the trailer was meant to be a fun intro of the companions--not establish the tone of the game. It was told by Varric, who we know loves to embellish his tales, and I think Bioware was banking on that fact and on our love of Varric to carry through. Unfortunately, Bioware is on very thin ice with gamers, thanks to disappointments like Andomeda and Anthem, so it was a definite miss to release the trailer when they did. All we've heard about for years now is how the game has been scrapped and changed; they laid off a bunch of veteran folks; then they just announced a name change. We don't know what the hell is going on. The smart thing to do would have been to release a trailer (like the gameplay teaser they've recently released: https://www.tumblr.com/felassan/752915533833306112?source=share) that shows the direction of the game, so people know what to expect, then release the campy Varric-narrated companion trailer. (Also to those who say the trailer feels really disney/marvel/fortnite (of which I've seen lots of comments about)... it's Varric. He's probably retelling the story. It sounds like Varric to me, anyway.)

Varric being used so heavily in marketing when they unceremoniously laid off his creator/writer last year is something else I've seen people be upset about. And fair. It does suck. That's an EA/top of Bioware (which goes back to EA) issue, though? Why are we faulting the Bioware devs who are still trying to make a good game despite their bosses' poor business practices? Ngl, I was suprised by the amount of hate in the trailer's youtube comments--like sure the trailer wasn't fantastic, but to claim that all the good devs left and all the bad ones remained? That seems inappropriate to me. Sure, Bioware's lost so many people over the years that it's not even the original Bioware anymore, but there are still old-timers there. The creative director for DA4 is someone named Jon Epler, who's been there since before DA:O. Trick Weekes is still there--you know, the person who wrote Solas. Sheryl Chee, the original writer of Leliana, is there too. But also, why is the old automatically better than the new? They've hired so many new people, and I'm sure that breathes life into the IP. Pretty sure some of the devs over at Larian were inspired by Bioware (distinctly remember reading how one of the lead Larian writers grew up on Garrus/Shepard fics) so heck, maybe Bioware's just as talented or maybe even more talented now than before. (I have no clue; I have no insight into Bioware.) Change isn't inherently bad.

One thing that hasn't changed? BioWare's commitment to representation, as shown by the companions. They were one of the first studios to have queer characters, characters of color, etc. and they are still doing it! Even with EA's boot on their necks! That alone makes me want to support that group of devs, because if they flop, what will that do? BioWare gets shut down? Then what? Do we win anything? No--but we'll lose a dev group who's still committed to equality and showing diversity. It might even show corporate heads that maybe they should just focus on catering to the white males gamers after all.

I think BioWare is in the unenviable place of dealing with decades of expectation (which they can never meet, because people have had so long to headcanon and build up their own unique expectations) and being heavily scrutinized due to recent flops (which is fair, their two most recent releases have been mediocre at best). It feels like gamers want to hate on them, though, and are just waiting for any excuse to. They are scrutinized in a way that goes above and beyond the norm. I then noticed a decent amount of comments on Youtube about "wokeness" and "DEI" and realized some of the complaints about art direction might actually be bigots complaining about all the diversity they see on screen. Through those comments I discovered the most recent game director is a trans woman, and previously mainly worked on the Sims. (These claims were lobbied like damning revelations.) Learning that, and seeing all the representation on screen (Bellara is asian, Davrin is black, Neve has an artificial limb and is a POC, Emmrich is old, Taash is qunari, Harding is a dwarf, and Lucanis might be the only conventionally-attractive possibly-white man?) made me want to circle my wagon around them and defend them. Because, yeah, sure, EA is evil and has predatory business practices. If they release the game piece-meal, have season passes, etc. you can be sure I'll be voicing my displeasure, but Bioware? I can bet the people who work there are just creatives who are trying to make a good game. (Again, I don't have insight into the studio, so if anyone does and reveals it's actually a toxic work environment then oops.)

Now, if you don't enjoy open-world or the fast-paced action combat that they're advertising, fair enough. I personally prefer turn-based rpgs or one involving more tactics like Origins, too. But whatever, I can deal, if the game is fun and well made. I've had 2 games and close to 15 years to accept they'll never make another dragon age like Origins again. And I did just say that change isn't inherently bad.

I guess to conclude... maybe check if you're being overly critical of a game without having even seen real gameplay footage yet. Maybe the game will suck, and that will suck for all of us. But I'm rooting for the devs to pull one out of their hat.

[naturallylonesomefool]

I am appalled by the negativity in the comments of the reveal trailer. Not exactly surprised, but appalled.

I'm not saying you need to love it, there are some things that aren't quite sitting well me either–such as the overly cartoony graphics–which I'm hoping might look better and less mobile game-like in the actual gameplay trailer.

But the amount of people in the yt comments complaining about how it doesn't look like dark-fantasy anymore and how "woke" it seems ?????

If of all criticism, the thing you're pressed about is the representation (the ONE thing I think they've done pretty well afaict), then Dragon Age IS NOT FOR YOU. IT NEVER WAS.

As for the dark-fantasy thing- Dragon Age hasn't been strictly dark-fantasy in years. If you've even looked at a Dragon Age game in the last 10 years, you know this. Doesn't mean it can't still have some elements of it, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see, right?

Personally? The graphics in the trailer kinda caught me off-guard, but that's also been true of all cinematic Dragon Age trailers (remember how weird everyone looked in Inquisition's trailers?). And even if they do end up looking similar in-game, I'm sure I'll get used to it, as graphics haven't really stayed consistent through the first 3 games anyway.

It looks fun and like a great mix of Origins and Inquisition's high stakes with DA2's chaotic nobody protagonist surrounded by a merry band of misfits.

[infinityinakiss]

look, the atla live action has one job, and that is not to be better than the og because that's impossible. it is to be better than the movie.

[yabakuboi]

thinking about oldman yaoi steddie like—

trucker eddie picks up drifter steve at a pit stop some where in the middle of cornfield ohio. they've both had pretty rough lives, but eddie's a softy and when a pretty guy (despite his ragged appearance) flashes him a smile and says "hey handsome, got room for one more?" eddie lets him up in the passenger seat

a hundred miles later, eddie loses him and the last $10 out of his wallet, but that's okay. to be expected really and steve was pleasant company for a while. he doesn't think he'll ever see steve again.

except that he does, nearly half a year later, and eddie recognizes steve where he's sitting outside a truck stop in new mexico. steve obviously recognizes him too by the way he's carefully not looking at eddie. still, eddie buys two sandwiches and drops one in steve's lap before he heads over to the well-graffied picnic table outside the gas station. it takes a moment, but steve follows, sits across from him.

"i don't want any trouble," he says, warily placing his sandwich in the middle of the table, like an offering if eddie wants to take it back.

"no trouble to be had," eddie tells him, and slides it right back.

they eat in silence after that, and when steve's done, eddie asks if he needs a ride anywhere.

he drops steve off near atlanta this time, sighing when steve refuses to take any money but leaving him with a number to Eddie's trailer if he ever needs it. eddie doesn't take much time off, so he's rarely there, but steve takes the little paper from eddie almost reverently all the same. if he calls, he never leaves a message, and he never calls when eddie's home.

so they don't see each other for maybe a year this time, until one day eddie's passing through tennessee and the roads are wet and icy and there's steve again outside another truck stop. he looks at eddie with wide eyes, like a man that hasn't seen a lot of luck in his life and whispers, "i never thought i'd see you again."

and eddie asks "it's almost christmas time. you might as well come on home with me."

"i don't want to cause trouble with your family."

"no family to trouble," eddie tells him seriously.

so he brings steve home, and they eat frozen pizza for christmas dinner and drink cheap beer for new years. eddie gets called out on the road again, but he leaves steve at home. he calls the first night and steve's still there. and the next night, and the next. and when he's next in hawkins, steve is waiting for him on the porch and eddie thinks he must be mirroring eddie's shock, the two of them surprised that steve's still there.

steve's still there though, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years later, long after eddie's retired from trucking. they got a little RV now and a dog and they roam far and wide, but always together

[starrystevie]

eddie figures out that he likes steve all because of nancy fucking wheeler.

it isn't often that they find themselves hanging out just the two of them, quite the opposite. this is the first time they've ever done it and the only reason nancy is even stepping foot inside the munson's new government-provided trailer is because she's having a crisis.

"but what does it mean," she asks, voice muffled as her lips wrap around the opening of her beer bottle before taking a swig. her cheeks hollow and her eyes shut against the feeling of the carbonation bubbling up before she fixes eddie with a glare that he doesn't think is for him. "it didn't... feel this way with barb."

and eddie's just sitting there on the couch, rolling a much needed joint for both of them, trying to follow along with what nancy is saying. she's pacing a hole in the carpet and her hands are flying around in a way that eddie himself does when the wheels in his brain are spinning too fast.

"... what didn't feel what way?"

nancy glares at him again and he gets the feeling that it's directed at him this time. he feels himself shrink under her eyes and wants to raise his hands up in surrender (he gives in and does indeed raise his hands in surrender).

"i think i'm in love with robin, please try and keep up."

eddie stills, his hands in the air and mouth open in shock. nancy's still muttering about something but his brain is stuck on the being-in-love-with-robin part of her tirade. it's not an issue, not in the slightest, and sure he's heard of people who... but he's never met someone who actually-

"are you even listening?" nancy asks, her tone firm. she has a hand on her hip while the other is clenched tightly around the neck of her beer. "what am i supposed to do?! am i just supposed to kiss her and tell her that her eyes are my favorite color and that i miss her when she leaves a room even for just a minute?"

"how should i know?! i'm not in love with robin!" eddie responds and he knows it's the wrong answer by how nancy's whole face falls in the span of .02 seconds. she looks like she's on the brink of tears, frustrated or hopeless or sad, and eddie doesn't know what to do with that either.

"but... you know. what about steve?" nancy's voice is soft now, and paired with her puppy dog eyes, eddie almost doesn't process what she says. "how'd you know with him?"

and if eddie thought he was stunned before, this takes the cake. a nervous laugh bubbles out of him, his face hot and heart pounding. his arms feel a bit like liquid and he doesn't know if he's even breathing anymore.

"nancy, i'm sorry but i think we're on two different wave lengths here." he needs to do something with his hands so he starts to fiddle with his lighter, flicking the zippo open and shut until the clink of the metal sounds too loud in the quiet room. "i don't.... love steve."

tears start to roll down her cheeks and yeah, eddie definitely messed up somewhere. she's wiping the drops away furiously like she's surprised they even dared to show up and she's biting her lip in a way that looks like it hurts.

"what are you talking about? of course you do." her eyebrows furrow which makes her look even angrier or disgusted and eddie feels like they're on a tightrope in his living room that's about to snap away from underneath them.

"well yeah, i... love him," he stutters over the words, "like i love you and rob and everyone. but not like... love love."

nancy's laugh sounds way too harsh for it to have come out of her. "are you sure? you stare at his ass more than i stare at robin's." she takes a deep breath, ignores the gasp of indignation that her statement gets out of eddie, and tilts her chin up like she's taking the high ground.

"i do not!"

"do too! and you're always looking for him when you walk into a room, like it doesn't matter if we're there, you only look for him. and you sit right next to him even if there's an open seat that's more comfortable. and you have this little, i don't know, tic when he smiles that makes you wiggle your fingers and you-"

"wheeler, you gotta stop."

"-always listen to him and he does all of that back for you and it's so obvious. i can't believe you didn't know you were in love with steve! you do everything that i do for robin and i'm in love with her so it must mean you're in love with steve and- holy shit i'm in love with robin."

the silence after nancy stops rings loud in his ears. honestly, he hadn't really given it any thought before but it makes sense.

the very idea of steve has his heart feeling a way it hasn't since he was nine and tracy nichols gave him a shiny rock on valentine's day. he does always look for steve when he enters a room, his very presence calming and dependable. he does sit next to him no matter what, their sides pressed together, heat radiating between them like a blanket. and god, when steve smiles, he does have to move his fingers, something to get out these jolts of energy that he feels licking through his veins.

steve is good and steve is a bit of an asshole but eddie likes that and suddenly the line between platonic and romantic seems to have vanished because holy shit, how did he live for the past year without spending every day loving steve harrington?

eddie reaches for the half rolled joint, licks at the paper to close it and lights up quickly. he holds the smoke in his lungs for probably too long but couldn't care less because he's now having a crisis of his own thanks to nancy.

"goddamnit," eddie hisses out as he exhales. "i'm in love with steve."

nancy looks smug, her arm extended as she waits for eddie to pass the joint to her before taking a hit. "that's what i'm saying."

"but i'm not... you know."

nancy rolls her eyes. "it's not going to bite you if you say it, eddie."

"i'm not gay."

the silence seems louder now as the paper on the joint sizzles. there's a dog somewhere in the park barking and he can hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"neither am i." nancy responds quietly with a shrug of her shoulders. "but i am for robin. and you are for steve."

she passes the joint back over to eddie and stands up from the couch, wipes off imaginary crumbs from her pants like she didn't just turn eddie's world upside down.

"i think i'm gonna go. i have a lady to woo." nancy looks happy. it's a good look on her, one he doesn't see all that often what with everything that's happened to them in the past year. she deserves it, he thinks, happiness.

"let me know how it goes," he calls to her as she stops at the trailer door.

"i will." with a tilt of her head and a with a gleam in her eye, she gives eddie yet another look that he doesn't know if he wants to try and decipher. "you should call him."

eddie snorts and takes a hit, rolling his eyes as he stares up at the ceiling so he doesn't have to look at nancy's all knowing eyes. it isn't that he's scared to call steve, it's that he's terrified. petrified. what would he say? what would steve say? he just figured out that he loves him, he hasn't had time to prepare a whole speech to declare it and-

"eddie." nancy's voice is sharp but certain and part of him thinks that robin is a lucky woman to have nancy wheeler falling in love with her. "trust me. call him."

after she's gone, he finishes the joint. he sits in the silence of his trailer and pulls hit after hit of sticky smoke until it's down the end and burning his fingertips. he stares at the ceiling some more, contemplates what to say, how to say it, how to do anything without throwing up.

he wonders if wayne knows, if he saw what nancy saw, what he thinks of eddie falling in with a guy. he wonders if this will change everything. wonders if it'll change for better or worse. wonders if he'll have to skip town and change his name like he imagined doing after he was cleared of murder.

picking up the phone is easy, dialing is easier when he has steve's number memorized like the back of his hand.

"hello?" steve mutters like he's been roused out of sleep. his voice is scruffy and somehow soft and eddie knows he's going to throw up.

"steve."

"hey, man. is everything okay?"

and it makes eddie's heart flutter in a way that a generic question shouldn't but damn it, he's in love. he's allowed.

"yeah, yeah. everything's good i just-" eddie sighs, scrubs a hand down his face to stop from twirling the phone cord in his fingers. "do you wanna maybe come over? watch a movie or something?"

eddie can almost hear the smile in his voice when he breathes out a yes, thanking whatever higher powers there may be for nancy wheeler.

[monkiebois]

I'm awake now lol, i'm gonna say my piece and i think im done talking about the animation for season 5 till anything new comes up.

This is the new studio that's working with the LMK team to make LMK. They are a good studio. They've made genuinely good shows with entertaining and fun animation. It isn't shown here, but they've also worked on Ninjago. Sonic prime's animation was amazing and so much fun to watch.

But that's the thing, each of their shows are either 3D or puppet 2D.

Puppet. 2D

that's why the season 5 trailer looks so off-putting. Because their specialty IS NOT 2D HAND DRAWN ANIMATION.

They are a genuinely good studio with well-made series, but LMK is not something within their specialty. LMK has been a show with dynamic and stylized animation, the animators curated over each new season.

This feels disrespectful af. and no I don't mean wildbrain.

Lego is the problem. Whoever the fuck is in charge of choosing studios, handling the budget. All of that stuff.

This is highly unprofessional and disrespectful to the show and to animation in general. This studio is not equipped to handle the style of LMK. This is the reason why it looks so...off. In my opinion, it's not even up to par to the average animated kids show because how of unequipped they are to handle LMK's style.

I've been hearing about budget cuts, strikes, and I genuinely hope that whatever is happening on the side we don't see gets sorted out for the better of the animators. honestly, they could have chosen a NUMBER of other animation studios that while they might not have been exactly the same...wouldn't be what we have.

it's okay to be disappointed in the animation. But please don't harass or blame the animators. This is the result of bad choices by leadership.

So if you're going to say anything. Please continue to show support for the show. Don't drop it because of the bad animation. That won't do shit. It'll just make things worse.

Continue to show support but go after Lego. Question Lego and their choices. Not the animators. They did their best with what they had after being handed a show with a style that they were not equipped to animate. Go after Lego.

[corrodedcorpses]

Boys on Film

Pairing: PS!Steve x PS!Eddie x Virgin!reader

Summary: Eddie and Steve have been your best friends for years. Although they've never done or said anything to make you feel bad, you can't help but feel inadequate to them when it comes to sexual experience. After they star in their first Threesome together, some weird emotions arise.

Warnings: Smut (18+), light angst, Masturbation (female), Voyeurism, Oral sex (m & F), Double penetration, watching porn (?)

Word count: 5.7k

a/n: I know I said I was going to post part 2 of this on my Ao3 but I think this account has finally revived itself! So part 2 will be up on here and Ao3 in a couple of days!

Also thank you to everyone for sticking around while my account was doomed, ily 🖤

Part 2 // Part 3

Eddie and Steve have been your closest friends for years.

Your friendship with Eddie started out your first week of highschool and the first week of Eddie’s third year. Eddie had seen you wandering the crowded halls, head down and gripping the strap of your worn backpack, trying to draw as little attention to yourself as possible. 

There was something about you, your shyness and innocence that Eddie seemed drawn to. He had thought about approaching you but couldn’t work up the courage or a good enough excuse to talk to you. 

Everytime your eyes met for a brief second you quickly looked away and Eddie saw, what he assumed, was fear in your eyes everytime you did. He was honestly surprised how fast his reputation spread, even to the newer students, but he was used to it by now. 

Luckily for him, as you sped through the halls at the end of school one day, head down low and staring at the floor, you had unknowingly stepped right into his path… and smashed right into his chest. 

You looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes and he offered you a kind smile back. He expected you to just run away, no one else bothered to apologise when they ran into him, but instead you stammered out a tiny “S-sorry, I didn’t see you, there’s just um, so many people”. 

Eddie was shocked for a second, his cold heart melting slightly at your tiny voice, but quickly regained his confidence and reassured you that “It’s totally fine, gets pretty crazy here at the end of the day”. 

“Yeah,” you’d replied with a sigh, “It’s gonna take some getting used to that’s for sure. People don’t just create a path for me when I’m coming.” you’d said with the slightest, still nervous chuckle, attempting to lightheartedly tease him. 

Eddie’s chest ached at the sound. “Well stick with me little one,” Eddie assured, throwing an arm around your shoulders and changing his original direction to walk with you, “I’ll protect you.” 

You rolled your eyes at his dramatics but couldn’t help looking up at him with awe in your eyes, blushing when he winked and smirked at you. “Now, where are we headed?” 

After that it seemed Eddie had decided that you were (somehow) worthy of his friendship and affection. You still don’t know why he had decided to be so nice to you that day but you were more than thankful. You’d both been inseparable ever since and although it had never progressed to anything more than friendship, you loved him dearly. 

4 years later at the end of your (Eddie’s third) senior year, he introduced you to the “now super metal” Steve Harrington.

At first you were apprehensive of Steve after hearing the rumours of “King Steve” and being no stranger to insults being thrown your way from Tommy H, Carol and the rest of the basketball team, even after Steve had graduated. 

Just like Eddie. 

Which is why you were so confused when he insisted on you giving Steve a chance and that he was sure you’d actually like him. You’d also heard the kids from Hellfire (especially Dustin) also gush over Steve, so eventually, with a lot of convincing, you decided that maybe he deserved a chance. 

Your first time meeting Steve properly was over at Eddie’s trailer, he’d insisted that the best way to break the ice was to all get high together, a habit you’d picked up thanks to the metalhead himself. You weren’t surprised that Steve also smoked, having heard about his infamous parties. 

Eddie had given you a ride home from school that day and you thankfully had a few hours with just him before Steve arrived after work. You were hoping that hanging out with Eddie would calm your nerves at spending time with Steve but unfortunately you spent the whole time practically pacing around the whole trailer, while Eddie watched you from the couch. 

Eddie found it amusing (and a little bit cute) how nervous you were but did his best to try and reassure you. 

“Don’t you remember that awful rumour that Carol spread around school about me?”

“You’ll have to be more specific sweetheart, which one?” He teased with a chuckle. Not helping. 

You glared back at him. “My point exactly. And Steve just stood there as they all laughed at me, at us practically the whole way through highschool!” You were almost yelling now. 

“Yeah but Steve didn’t do any of the actual bullying,” Eddie tried. 

You gave him a look of come on and he just shrugged in return. 

Luckily, before you could completely spiral, you both heard a knock on the door. You froze in your current pacing spot and looked at Eddie with fear in your eyes, realising you were closest to the door. 

You quickly ran and sat down on the other side of the couch before Eddie could even think about suggesting you get the door. Eddie looked at you confused while standing up, mumbling a don't worry, i'll get it with a fond shake of his head. 

He’d never admit it to you but he loves how shy you are, more specifically loves how shy you are around everyone but him and how you seem to always look at him to protect you when your nerves get the better of you. He liked feeling needed and trusted so much by you. 

Eddie had quickly opened the door, surprising you by pulling Steve into a quick friendly embrace. While Steve, even more to your surprise, gladly returned the hug. Eddie then stepped to the side to let Steve come in. Steve went straight to the kitchen, placing the two white bags on the counter and saying something about bringing reinforcements. 

It was only then that Steve seemed to notice you on the couch as you sat awkwardly fiddling with the hem of your skirt. 

“Where are my manners?” He asked rhetorically, striding over to the couch with his hand outstretched. You stood, timidly taking his hand to shake. 

“Hey I’m Steve, Steve Harrington”

“Hey, y-yeah, I know” we went to the same school dumbass, “I’m y’n”.

“Right,” he says, placing his other hand on top of yours, “Eddie didn’t tell me his “best friend” that I’d be meeting was so pretty.” 

You blushed hard at that. Hating his cheesy one liner and hating how much you wanted to like it. You shot Eddie a glance that said a mix between seriously? This guy? And please save me. 

Eddie gave you a look back that said play nice but asked Steve to help him grab some stuff from his room. You sunk back into the couch relieved as they walked away, how were you supposed to survive a whole night of Steve Harrington?

As Eddie and Steve got to the room you heard Eddie whisper “Seriously Man?” way too loudly.

“What?” Steve had whispered way too loudly back. 

“You’re coming on way too strong.”

“What? No I’m not, she's a total babe!” you rolled your eyes at that, there's no way Steve had changed as much as Eddie thought. 

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Eddie replied, “just chill out with the flirting, you’re gonna scare her off”.

I know? Eddie knows that you’re a babe? 

You did not have time to fully process what he meant when both boys returned from Eddie’s room with his trusty black lunchbox. 

You were relieved when Eddie sat next to you on the couch and Steve took the recliner. It was awkward at first, you were easily getting lost in the conversations with both of their big personalities but they made sure to ask you specific things and let you have enough room to talk. 

After you had all passed a few joints around it got even easier. You were surprised to find that Steve obviously cared a lot about Eddie, even remembering small details of the latest D&D campaign Eddie had been working on and making sure his favourite snack was in his plastic “reinforcement” bags.  

You also, despite yourself, started having fun and actually laughing with Steve Harrington for once and not at the expense of others as you’d seen him do too often in highschool. 

You were also surprised to see that maybe he wasn’t as confident and sure of himself as he used to be. He was still certainly confident but not in the same intimidating and arrogant way. 

Also, much to your detest, you started to find his lame flirting actually quite endearing. Eventually, you had no choice but to agree with Eddie that Steve Harrington was a really good dude now. 

Ever since, the three of you have been inseparable. 

They were your shoulders to cry on, someone to pick you up after a bad day, someone to tell all your secrets and dreams to. All three of you supported each other through every failed and successful endeavour. 

Especially Eddie who, after finally graduating, realised he really didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He started out at a shitty music store straight out of highschool but he soon grew tired of it, never one to settle for the mundane. He wanted something more. 

Although his ultimate goal is still to be a “rockstar” and the band is doing pretty well, Eddie soon realised that there was something else (other than guitar and Dungeon Master-ing) that he was extremely good at: sex. 

You’re still not sure how he got into it, if he’d decided himself one day or if he’d been approached by someone but somehow Eddie Munson finds himself as a semi successful pornstar.

When Eddie had first told you and Steve that he’d stared in a porno, neither of you believed him. You really thought he was playing some weird joke on you both as it wasn’t unlike him to. So, in order to prove to you both that he was in fact, telling the truth, he got a copy of the film. 

You were completely shocked when the tape started playing on Steve’s TV. The obscene images and sounds like a slap to the face, something you never thought you’d get to see or hear from your best friend. But, you had to admit, Eddie was good and he looked hot. 

You tried to ignore the growing ache between your legs as you and Steve had grilled Eddie all about it for the rest of the night, asking if it was good or awkward, how much money he made, did he think he would do more? How did he even get in this situation in the first place? 

He answered all your questions about how it was a little awkward at first but ultimately good and a lot of fun. He didn’t give specifics of how much he made but assured that it was definitely more than he made at the music store. He also was adamant that he definitely wanted to do it again. 

He wouldn’t go into specifics, and still won’t, about how he started up, always saying something along the lines of “being chosen by the sex gods” or “it just seemed a shame to not share my talents with the world”. Each time he was rewarded by a massive eye roll from you and Steve but neither if you decided to pry more than that. 

You were especially surprised by the interest Steve seemed to have in it, asking more about the technicalities of how it all worked. Steve, like Eddie, really didn’t have much of a plan after High School. You knew that although he enjoyed his current job, he didn’t want to work there forever. So it didn’t come as a total shock when Steve had asked Eddie a couple of months later if he could help Steve land a role in one of the films. 

That was about a year ago now. 

Although you loved your two friends dearly and although they have never done or said anything to make you feel inferior to them, you couldn’t help when those ugly feelings rose in your chest. It wasn’t easy being friends with two very confident, very attractive men. 

Being pushed aside by girls who shamelessly threw themselves at them or worse the ugly looks you’d get when they’d casually throw a friendly arm around you while you were out or the fact that you were hopelessly sexually inept compared to them. 

Especially seeing as those two men literally had sex for a living and well… you were still a virgin.  

It wasn’t for your lack of trying though, you’d just never seen yourself as an overly sexual person, having not even really touched yourself that much. Besides, most of the time when you try to, you can hardly ever make yourself finish.

You’d never understood when your friends would talk about their sexual experiences or toys they’d tried. You just didn’t get the interest but it was something you were definitely insecure about. Almost convinced something must be wrong with you. 

It also didn’t help that there were never any guys during High School that peaked your interest, other than maybe Eddie. But you were sure he didn’t feel the same way and didn’t want to risk ruining your friendship over a silly crush. 

So, in the past year, while Eddie and Steve were becoming more popular, staring in a bunch of different films and having a heap of different sexual experiences, you’d only found yourself in a brief relationship with a total dick. 

He was nice enough at first but had pressured you a bit more than you would have liked to do things you probably weren’t ready for. You’d eventually given in and tried to give him a blowjob but he was way too pushy and forceful and you didn’t enjoy it at all. He’d said afterwards that he’d return the favour, but after about 2 minutes kept asking over and over again if you were getting close yet. Eventually you’d just faked it for him to stop, not really feeling anything the whole time he had.

After that the relationship kind of dwindled and he’d broken up with you. There were many issues with your comparability, but he’d made a point to mention that you weren’t sexual enough. That part had really ruined your confidence to ever try anything again with someone else. 

You’d of course told Eddie and Steve about your relationship and how much of a douche he was when it all ended. They’d done their best to cheer you up and reassure you that you should never have to do anything with someone just because you’re in a relationship with them and that there was no shame in having little to no experience. 

You appreciated their words but can’t help but feel insecure in the fact that their job is to have sex and make other people feel good and you can barely even make yourself cum. 

****

It’s Thursday night, a night reserved for your weekly (when your busy schedules allowed) dinners with Eddie and Steve. They were always at your house too as you were the only one that lived alone. 

You didn’t mind though, you liked being in your little space that you had created and having the two people you loved the most inside it. 

You were especially excited for tonight as it had been about a month since you’d all be free enough to finally have dinner and you had missed them both. 

You all spoke on the phone regularly but it was different than actually being with them, missing how your body seemed to instantly relax the minute you saw them. 

Eddie must have picked up Steve as you heard the familiar sounds of his van approaching and two sets of people jump out. 

You immediately ran to the door to greet them, excitement practically bubbling out of you. They both shared your excitement, quickly pulling you into tight hugs. 

They’d picked up some food on the way and you’d already set the table, so you all sat and ate straight away. 

“So,” you say with a mouthful of food, “what did I miss in the lives of my two sex gods”. You giggle as you say the last part overly dramatic and teasing. Eddie smirks at your use of the nickname he’d given himself on many occasions as Steve just rolls his eyes at you. 

“Oh you know, same old stuff,” Eddie replied casually. 

“We’ve both just been doing a couple of different films, trying new stuff,” Steve expanded. They never seem to give you much detail, which you think you're thankful for. 

“Dazzling the world with our tallent,” Eddie not so subtly added. “Oh! And we did a threesome together the other day.”

You almost choked on the food in your mouth as you felt your eyes practically fall out of your head. “You what?”

“Yeah, well I’ve been doing more threesomes lately and we needed another guy for one and they’d asked if I knew anyone,” Eddie explained like it was the most casual thing “and I of course immediately thought of Stevie, especially because I know he’s been keen to try one.”

You took a second to process all of this new information. Your two best friends, had a threesome, together, for Steve’s first threesome. 

You tried to figure out the weird emotions you were feeling at knowing this, more thankful now than ever that they usually didn’t tell you details about their job. 

Steve and Eddie exchanged a confused look at the unreadable expression on your face, they certainly hadn’t expected this reaction. They actually weren’t sure what reaction they had expected but it certainly wasn't this. 

“Hey,” Steve tried, “it’s not like a big deal or anything, I mean it’s just work.” Steve didn’t really know why he’d said that, you knew it was work and you’d always been supportive of them both. And it’s not like you’d be jealous or anything but he needed you to say something. 

“Ouch Harrington,” Eddie teased, “not a big deal? You mean to tell me it wasn’t earth shattering, that I haven’t changed your life forever?” 

Steve just rolled his eyes and shook his head at Eddie but could help himself but laugh at him. You found yourself laughing too, finally coming back to your senses. 

“Right,” you said finally, “sorry, I mean it’s fine obviously I just guess I was kind of shocked?” 

“Yeah we get that,” Steve assured you. 

“Wait- Steve, since when do you swing that way?” you asked

Steve just shrugged in response. He didn’t really know what way he swung these days, he didn’t really care as long as he was having fun and besides, Eddie is hot and he definitely knows what he’s doing. So of course anyone would jump at the opportunity to star in a Threesome with him, right?

“He only swings that way for me,” Eddie teased while grabbing Steve’s hand from across the table and quickly brushing his lips against his knuckles, “isn’t that right?”

You giggle at Eddie’s usual overly dramatic, complete disregard of personal space flirting but don’t miss the fact that Steve doesn't pull away. You feel a pang of jealousy at how they seem closer now, they’ve shared an experience with each other that you’d never get to share with them. You’re confused as to why that hurts so much but you start to feel even more inadequate at your lack of experience. 

“You’re full of shit Munson,” Steve replies, luckily bringing you out of your thoughts as he pulls his hand away finally. You don’t miss how much he’s blushing though, and neither does Eddie. 

“Wait, you guys said threesome right?” They both nod. “So… I'm assuming that means the third person was a girl?” You’re not really sure why you asked, something inside you just compelled you to dig deeper about the whole situation. 

“Yeah, a pretty little thing,” Eddie replies.

“Mmm, she was sweet,” Steve comments. 

“Oh and so good,” Eddie expands as you feel bitterness rise in your throat. 

“Mmm”, Steve agrees through a mouthful of food. 

Of course she was good, that’s her job, you try to reason with yourself. But god you wish you could also be good at something like that. 

Your dinner continues with no other world altering revelations thankfully but you keep coming back to the fact that they’ve done a threesome together. 

You keep asking them how it was. Good.

Had they done stuff together or just to her at the same time? 

Together and to her at the same time. (You tried to ignore the ache between your legs when they’d mentioned they’d touched each other and not just her).

And many, many questions about her and what she was like and what she was good at. 

They’d kept their answers brief but from what you could decipher she was amazing. Some of the things and positions they’d mentioned seemed impossible. The fact that they had fucked her throat and practically bent her in half and both fucked her at the same time one in each hole? It seemed crazy to you. 

Every time you asked a new question you felt worse and worse about yourself but you couldn’t stop. You both needed to know everything and needed them to never talk about it again. 

Thankfully, you thought it seemed as though they hadn’t picked up on how awful you felt by the end of the night. 

But Eddie had, we’ll sort of. He knew you better than anyone and could tell you were feeling a bit insecure but mainly took your interest as being curious about the technicalities of it all. Which was also true, you couldn’t imagine much about sex with one person, let alone two. 

This gave him a wicked idea…

***** 

The next day you get home from work exhausted. All day you’d been messing up everything. You were completely exhausted, distracted and just not yourself, your mind constantly wandering to Steve and Eddie. 

You’d tossed and turned all last night after they’d left, the ache between your legs growing unbearable but again, you’d tried and failed to relieve it. 

You felt the weirdest mix of jealousy and arousal. You knew Eddie and Steve were hot but you’d tried your best to never think of them like that knowing you couldn’t have them. 

But after knowing someone had had both of them together you couldn’t help but think about what they would be like and about all of the times you could’ve had that. 

Maybe if you’d been more sexual your late night smoke sessions or the nights when you’d all stumbled home from the bars or from Eddie’s shows could’ve led to more. 

But every time you thought about that and let yourself fantasise about them, and their bodies and their lips and how they would feel all over your skin and their hands roaming all over you… you felt guilt. 

These were your best friends and you knew that thinking about this stuff would only lead to heartache. You weren’t sexual and you honestly didn’t know if you ever would be, they wouldn’t want you. Especially not now. 

Now they were more out of your league than ever. 

You’re so caught up in your thoughts of them again you don’t see it on your kitchen counter until you almost squish it with your bag: a tape. 

You pick it up to inspect it, almost certain you didn’t leave one here this morning and find a note taped to it. 

Seeing as you were so interested. 

Sprawled out in Eddie’s handwriting, complete with a winky face. 

You gasp and quickly put the tape back on the counter as you realise what’s on it. As if the tape itself was as dirty as the contents were sure to be. 

You stare at it for a moment, this is the tape. With video proof of your best friend’s threesome. You shake your head and huff off to your bedroom. Trust Eddie to do something like this. 

He was messing with you, there’s no way he’d actually want you to see it! I mean you did see another tape that one other time he showed you and Steve… but that was only to prove he’d done it!! 

God, did Steve even know Eddie dropped the tape off? Surely… right? Eddie wouldn’t drop it off if Steve didn’t know. 

You weren’t even sure why you cared that he’d given it to you; it wasn't like you were actually going to watch it. It’s not like you’d been fantasising about nothing but the contents of the tape for the last 24 hours…

I mean… if you just watched it at least you wouldn’t have to fantasise about what could be on it anymore right? 

God what am I thinking? You scold yourself. There’s no way you’re considering this. 

You get changed and start your nightly chores around the house as well as making dinner. But more times than you’d like to admit you find yourself picking up that damn tape to put it back down again.

Eventually you find yourself sitting at the table staring at it, dinner long finished and the house completely spotless. Your leg is bouncing uncontrollably as you bite the skin around your nails, there's no way you’re considering this. But, what’s the worst that could happen?

Fuck it. 

They, or at least Eddie, left it here for me. And I’m sure heaps of other people have already watched it so why would it be weird for me to? 

You rush to the living room and pop the tape in the player, sitting on the carpet in front of your tv. 

You sit nervously as the tape starts, opening with all three of them making out and touching each other on a bed. It was surreal to see Eddie and Steve on your tv and even more surreal to see them like this. 

You watch as they all slowly got undressed, your eyes bulged as you see both of their cocks spring free, heat shooting directly to your core. 

You watch as the girl sat back and started to touch herself as they both watched, fisting their cocks slowly. 

She looked so confident, you thought. So sure of herself and her body. The moans she was making were intense to say the least but it seemed like both of the boys were enjoying it. 

You felt that ugly feeling of jealousy rise in your chest once again. Oh how you wished you could be that confident, how you wished they were looking at you like that. 

You shook your head and turned off the tape quickly. That was a mistake, you don’t even want Eddie and Steve, why would you care how they were looking at her? You didn’t care. 

But the tear that slipped down your cheek betrayed you. You quickly wipe it away, annoyed at yourself. 

You decide that you’ve obviously just had a long and stressful day and that it is definitely time for bed.  

You shower quickly, doing your best to stop more tears from slipping and to try and get the images of your two best friends out of your head. 

You pick out some fresh comfy pjs and slide into bed, hoping sleep will take you quickly. 

It doesn’t. 

You toss and turn for what feels like hours, you can’t get comfy and you can’t get rid of the damn aching between your legs. 

You can’t stop thinking of them… of their bodies. How big they both are. The lustful look on their faces as they watched her in awe. Would they look at you the same if you were her? God, how their muscles tensed as they stroked themselves… 

Oh fuck this. 

You throw the blankets off yourself, suddenly overheating and plunge your fingers straight into your soaking hole, as you always do. 

Your head is filled with nothing but thoughts of Eddie, of Steve, of Eddie and Steve of them, them, them. 

You think of their toned bodies, Steve’s slightly tanned and hairy, Eddie’s pale and littered with dark ink, some you didn’t even know he had. 

You think of the lust blown looks on their faces and their laboured breaths as they touched themselves. Pretending it’s you they’re looking at like that. 

You think of their cocks, so hard and throbbing in their hands. How Steve’s was big and gloriously thick where Eddie’s was thinner but oh so long. 

You feel the coil start to tighten in your stomach but just as you think it’s about to snap it disappears. Again. 

You groan in frustration as you throw yourself out of bed. Body moving before your brain can keep up. 

You find yourself sat in front of the tv again as you start the tape where you’d turned it off just hours before. You lean back on one of your hands as the other snakes between your legs once again. Your legs bent and spread in front of you. 

You watch as they move towards her, no longer watching her touch herself. Eddie bends down and buries his head between her legs as she cries out in pleasure. He must be good. 

Steve kneels beside her and kisses her while playing with her nipples. You feel another pang of jealousy at watching Steve kiss her like that but your arousal overtakes the feeling as you continue to watch and finger yourself. 

You watch intently as they change positions. The girl is now on all fours on the bed as Steve comes to stand in front of her and Eddie behind her kneeling on the bed.  The girl starts to suck Steve’s dick, taking it so deep from the start. He lets out a guttural moan which shoots straight to your core, coating you in more slick. 

Eddie starts massaging her ass before shoving two fingers inside her. This causes her to slightly gags around Steve’s cock but this only makes Steve moan louder. 

You move your fingers faster as Steve’s moans increase, god his sounds fucking filthy. 

Eddie then lines himself up with her hole and slowly pushes all the way in till he bottoms out inside her with a deep groan. He sets a brutal pace from the start, letting out even louder moans than Steve. 

Of course he’s still loud when he fucks. 

You feel more jealousy and more arousal build in a weird mix in your stomach as they continue to fuck her. Both letting out dirty praises and sounds that you wish were directed towards you. 

Eddie then snakes his hand around to rub at her clit. You watch in awe as her legs start to shake, you’ve never been able to make your legs do that. 

She must cum then as both Steve and Eddie praise her for being such a good girl and Eddie tells her how good she feels squeezing his cock. 

Shit, you wanna be their good girl so bad. 

They both pull out then as the girl sits back on the bed panting. Much to your surprise Eddie moves over to Steve and captures his lips in a sloppy kiss. The sight alone is enough to get you so close. 

Then Steve mumbles something about wanting to have a taste of her too while shooting her a ink, you think he’s about to have a turn at eating her out but instead he drops to his knees. 

Eddie looks slightly surprised but quickly recovers and laces his hands in Steve’s golden brown hair. 

Steve licks a broad stripe from Eddie’s balls to the tip before taking the red tip in his mouth. He starts to bob his head enthusiastically and Eddie lets out a loud, almost high pitched moan. It sounds different to the other moans, more real. 

You don’t miss the look on Eddie’s face as he watches Steve, he looks almost proud and so turned on. 

This definitely isn’t the first time Steve’s done this but he still isn’t quite as good as the girl was. He gags a lot more but everytime he does Eddie tips his head back with a groan, so it must feel good. 

This sight alone has you moaning out loud, head tipping back and eyes screwing shut as you feel your orgasm finally approaching. 

They must change positions again because you hear the girl moaning too, but you’re too close to open your eyes again, too focused. 

You hear Eddie and Steve praising again, moaning out that’s it, good girl and look at you, taking us so well. Also some dirtier ones like you like that, you filthy slut and taking both our cocks so well in your dirty fucking holes. You didn’t expect it but you like those ones just as much as the nicer ones. 

You finger yourself faster as you pretend it’s you they’re talking to and finally, finally you feel the coil snap in your stomach.

You cum hard around your fingers with a high pitched gasp. Your head swimming with thoughts of Eddie and Steve. 

You see stars as you have easily the most intense one you’ve ever had, granted, that wasn’t too hard. 

Your orgasm lasts for what feels like hours but finally you start to come down from your high, head feeling dizzy and cloudy. Fingers falling from your abused hole. 

You finally open your eyes and take note of what’s happening on the screen. You’re shocked to find a close up of Eddie and Steve’s cocks fucking both her pussy and asshole. 

This snaps you out of your post-orgasm haze and you quickly jump up and turn the tape off at the sight. All previous grey morals from arousal gone. 

You slump back on the ground and rub your face as you realise what you’ve just done. You feel ashamed but also don’t? You stand on shaky legs, making your way back to your bed.

You slump down, suddenly exhausted. Tonight has been weird and has revealed some weird emotions you’re still not sure of. There’s one thought and feeling in particular that won't leave your mind though: 

You really want to fuck your best friends. 

____________________________________________________ Tagging some mutuals that may be interested: @andvys @pxrxcxa @wroteclassicaly @eddiemunsonfuxks @usedtobecooler @corrodedhawkins @prettyboyeddiemunson

[clairedaring]

if you're hoping for joe 2.0 to get his 'revenge' in the second half of the series...

warning: mild novel spoilers (but also not really because i'm just discussing things that have been shown in the trailer)

i really think you should either drop the series or give up the hopes of a satisfying makjang revenge storyline in my stand-in instead of setting yourself up for disappointment. because that simply isn't the story that my stand-in is trying to tell.

so what is my stand-in about really?

well, for me i think its a romance tragicomedy drama about an idiotic scum male lead losing the person he loves most because of his own arrogance and refusal to listen to his heart and the series of unfortunate events that happened consequently for our protagonist who was living a peaceful and quiet life as a stunt actor before the scum male lead entered his life.

joe 2.0 and his approach to life

i've mentioned it twice now that one of my favorite traits of joe/zhou xiang is that kindness in his strength where even if he can be choose to be mean or cruel, he simply doesn't because he has such a soft heart and he's weak to see others in pain (joe is my fellow enfp people pleaser okay) (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)⁠っ which is why even in his 2.0 life, you won't get to see joe turning 180 degree and going around to hurt everyone who's ever hurt him like it's some makjang kdrama.

and while that seems like it could be fun, i think the reason why i loved professional body double (my stand-in novel) so much in the first place is because that very distinction between joe and other rebirth/second chance at life protagonists that you often see in revenge kdramas/cdramas/thai lakorns.

logically, if my stand-in was a 24-episode one31 lakorn/thai soap opera, joe would be full of hatred and burning rage after his rebirth and started his intricated revenge plot while still falling in love with ming whom he should hate the most.

and yet he isn't (or at least it seems to me so far).

if you read the lyrics 'Die For You' - the opening ost of my stand-in, i think you can have a good guess of what the second half of the story will be like.

Even running away to death can't help. If my heart had chosen to stop at you I'll have to surrender with the confusion I feel. To come back to the same old place. Even if I have to die, disappear and then be reborn But the love is still buried deep inside, even if it's been shattered into pieces Even if my life ends, I can't stop my heart from calling out to you Because this whole body, life, spirit It is yours only, for all eternity.

and even from the trailer of my stand-in, you can tell that joe 2.0 has a lot of internal conflicting feelings about whether he could trust ming again after the betrayal he faced in his 1.0 life. and i feel like essentially the journey of ming proving to joe 2.0 that he really does love joe is very much the central plot in the second half part of the story.

so i'd like to take this part to note how well the series has done to adapt the novel so far. i think a good adapted change they've made is this early realization of feelings for ming in the joe 1.0 timeline. i do think the novel made him realized his feelings a little bit later but my stand-in did well to show within ep.3 what happiness could have looked like for joe 1.0 and ming and i think it rationalizes a bit more more for why joe 2.0 would still have feelings for ming 'buried deep inside' even when he's been badly hurt the first time around. and reading the story i've always found it interesting that they took this route to focus on the re-entangled complex relationship between mingjoe rather than going for a joe-centric revenge makjang plot (i swear if this was your typical thai lakorn, joe would seduce ming while planning to take down his whole family or something).

of course, that's not to dismiss that there's a lot of character growth for joe in the second half of the story, especially in his building of self-confidence, self-worth, the ability to put himself first and the fight for his own happiness above all. but like i've mentioned above, his growth journey is not at the expense of a drastic personality change in regards to the kind hearted joe we saw in his 1.0 life. instead, we get kind hearted joe 2.0 who quickly adapts to his new life and attempts to start anew while conflicted feelings resurface for him as he is pulled back into the relationships he once had.

all in all, my stand-in is still at the heart of it, a love story. perhaps, a dark romance as my friend @dragonsandphoenix would call it, but a romance nonetheless. i think that is what also makes professional body double such a compelling read too, because the progression in the feelings and complex emotions of these characters are so tightly written that it's convincing enough for me (maybe not for others though) to believe that yan ming xiu has/will always love zhou xiang (to the point ymx would probably eliminate anyone else who dared to steal zx from him). obsessive love? yes. do they both need therapy? probably. yet i still believe in their happy ending? of course.

final note/disclaimer: then again, this is just my PERSONAL opinions based on the novel and up til 3 episodes of my stand-in (which seems to be very faithful to the novel so far), who knows maybe they can anger novel fans and adapt it completely differently later on (something i sure hope they don't but we'll seeeee) ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

[eisforeidolon]

[Following on from talking about Kim Manners for a while]

Mark: He was just an amazing guy -

Jared: The best.

Mark: He was something else. And look, I've worked with a lot of people, and I've known you since you were a lot younger.

Jared: Hey! Same! Same!

Mark: A lot younger. And the truth is, to - it sounds so corny [mocking voice] 'Oh, this show is a family'. Look, this is a place where we went to work with 150 of our friends for over, y'know, a decade and a half. I did nearly a decade of it. And I think the energy that he instilled upon how to behave on a set was absolutely the reason why anybody could walk on that show and be treated like gold. [Jared nods as he's talking] You could succeed if you came with your A game, you were looked after and you were carried. And if you were crap? You were looked after and you were carried. I swear to God I have seen this, couple people that didn't - I won't ever say what it is, but didn't make it beyond a certain small amount of an arc, they just didn't have the right thing or didn't get it or whatever.

Jared: Yeah, the right attitude. We even had people that recurred and returned, who maybe they weren't as solid of an actor as a Mark Sheppard or a Mark Pellegrino type, but they were good enough and they were kind. And they showed up and they wanted to work and they wanted to laugh and they knew their lines and hit their marks and they showed up on time and there was no bullshit. It was like, okay, we can work with this. And so let's keep on going -

Mark: There was a trust element that was mind-blowing, and I've worked on some amazing sets in my time, but it was special, man. To know that every single person in that crew had my back every single day.

Jared: Amen.

Mark: When we did the end of season 8, when you and I were doing hours [Jared says something here I can't make out] and hours and hours of this stuff. That group, right, so in between shots, right? In between shots, you've gotta move lights, you've gotta move cameras, you've gotta do stuff. And they don't have to be quiet. They're working all day, they've been there three hours before us, they're leaving three hours after us -

Jared: And it was a long trek, it was like an hour away from town. On some, like, beautiful lake that Phil Sgriccia -

Mark: Oh, on the outside when we did - but when we went to the stage, when we came back to do the interiors?

Jared: Yes, yes.

Mark: And we did the interiors in there, they didn't make a sound between takes for two days. Because the boys are being serious, we'll support 'em. And that's how we got through those pages and pages of stuff. Jensen -

Jared: It was a couple of - two or three days or something.

Mark: It was two or three days -

Jared: And then Jensen and Alaina come in.

Mark: It was nuts. It was so - but we, like, you see all the gag reels, right? You see how silly everything gets? The reason why the gag reels are fun is cause we work hard, so one mistake -

Jared: [?] you're done, never forget. I will say this, a lot of y'all know Mark and have known him many times or met him many times, and a lot of y'all know, can agree with me, he doesn't shut the fuck up. Ever.

Mark: [Mark holds his hands up and nods] I talked my way through six heart attacks, trust me.

Jared: Other than the two or three day span where we were in that chapel. And it was so - it was before the AKF campaigns, it was - what Sam was going through, in a very different way, was similar to what Jared kinda had gone through and was going through? And so I went to a weird place, it's the only time in my 480 episodes of television I've ever listened to music during - in between scenes? And Mark is tied up, you know, you're my Marley moose and all that bit? And like, usually when you're tied up during a scene, they call cut and they move the cameras, it takes twenty minutes and you go like, untie me, I'm going to my trailer to pee and have some water? He just stayed there and was quiet the whole time, because I just sat there in the corner, he was just there for me, so kudos to you, Mark Sheppard.

Mark: And kudos to Jensen. Jensen was off-camera for a day and a half. Off-camera, in character, for a day and a half. It's - you suddenly realize that everybody's got your back and it's just the greatest feeling in the world. When you're trying to do - there's never enough time, there's never enough money, there's never enough ability to make the best that you can make of it, you know? We're all trying, but when you know everybody is trying to make the best possible thing for you guys [gestures to audience] that we can make, with all our hearts, with everything that we care about? It's just a fantastic experience. And what I love about, I was talking about the gag reels, what I love about the gag reels is you're seeing the antidote to that.

Jared: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mark: So when Jensen for the first time in his entire history can't get a line out of his mouth, which is I'd rather be smacked during sex by a girl with a Zorro mask -

Jared: He kept messing it up!

Mark: He messed it one time, and you killed him.

Jared: Oh for sure. For sure.

Mark: We have thirty eight takes of that. He never messed a line up in -

Jared: Worth it. He kept on removing a word or adding a word and I was like [frustrated voice] that's not the word! But it was good. Anyways. Great time, great family, let's get some questions.

[somewhat-insane]

Okay, so, I know a lot of people were discouraged after the LMK S5 trailer. The art is different, yes, but remember there are still people working behind the screen; passionate about this story they're trying to tell. To rebuild faith and re-spark hope, I'm going through the trailer frame by frame and sharing anything cool I find. (There is some (what I hope is) constructive criticism in here, but I would like to reiterate something other fans have said. DO. NOT. HARRASS. ANYONE. WORKING. ON. THE. SHOW. They're doing their best with what they have available to them. We're lucky Wildbrain decided to pick the show back up because if they hadn't, we may not have gotten the rest of the story.)

They've been brought in front of the council to discuss their car's extended warranty. ALSO WHERE IS MK'S JACKET AND BANDANA? THEY WHOLE ASS PROBABLY SNATCHED THIS POOR BOY OUT OF HIS BED WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING

Don't worry, babygirl, I still think you're pretty ^3^

Okay, they gave him his clothes back, phew.

Hehe, tiny monkies.

At least our child is still adorable.

Synchronized heart attack.

He is so traumatized, lol. Someone brought up how this design for the circlet wasn't the previously established design in the show, but it COULD be based on the design used on the cover of the Journey to the West novel (as seen below)

It's not exactly the same but the shape is similar.

Anyway.

WUKONG ANGST WUKONG ANGST WUKONG ANGST

I'm realizing while doing this that Wildbrain doesn't use as many smear frames as Flying Bark did. As funny as it is to pause and see something like this in season 1-4:

It makes the animation look a LOT smoother and more energetic. Flying Bark also seems to use more frame-by-frame while Wildbrain probably uses more tweening. I suppose it makes sense though because Wildbrain is more used to 3D animation and the 2D animation they have done in the past is more paper-doll-like and doesn't need as much bounce and action.

Back to the trailer, no need to dwell.........

MO. HANG IN THERE.

MONKEY ANGST MONKEY ANGST MONKEY ANGST aposhdgpafoshdfosfapsdofpa

Oooh, wait, this frame actually kinda goes hard. I'm kinda hyped... I should draw this.

NO BRO DON'T MAKE ME CRY JUST BECAUSE OF A TRAILER

You know what this makes me think of...? Did any of you guys ever play that game called "Journey"?

It's a beautiful game with beautiful music. Y'all should play it if you haven't. Oh, and sometimes if you're playing at the same time as someone else in the world, your games will merge and you get a little play buddy :3

Genuinely love how distressed he is here.

SHADOWPEACH ANGST SHADOWPEACH ANGST

Looks like we're still gonna get cool backgrounds and background character designs!!!!

This looks like it may be some kind of storybook or memory sequence like when Chang'e was talking about how she found the ring in S3 or when LBD was talking about Macaque's death... what memory do you think we're going to be exploring this time?

This goes pretty hard. I would paint this on a wall or something.

Mk is flabbergasted.

Yay!! Mk has the support he needs. ALSO MORE SANDY

They're mortified. Probably because they just watched a giant dragon and white tiger fucking evaporate.

Hehe bord

I can't wait to see fanart of him. I'm so excited!

SHADOWPEACH SHADOWPEACH SHADOWPEACH

He's thinking about kissing him, honest.

I think he's purty

MORE PIGSY-

I've run out of room for pictures, but I hope this helped get y'all all hyped again for the new season! Have hope, stay strong!

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Been thinking about Izzy's whole thing this season, and ultimately I've landed on feeling that they could have done it better, but I understand why they didn't.

We're told and not shown a lot of Izzy's growth, and to an extent that feels really jarring. But we do get to see him reaping a lot of what he's sown, and while given his characterization a lot of his actions feel self-serving and it doesn't always feel consistent that the crew would rally for him like they have, I also get why they did and why it inspired such a big turnaround for him. The crew are, ultimately, kind people and they've learned from Stede to foster a mutually supportive atmosphere. If Izzy's gotten his head out of his ass long enough to realize and take advantage of that, honestly, cool.

Do I wish we'd seen more of this development? Yes. Do I wish that he needed to learn, apologize, and atone on screen the same way Ed is having to? Absolutely. Am I also glad to sacrifice that if it means we get more Ed/Stede development scenes in a shorter season? Also yes.

At the end of the day, this season looks (from the trailers and bts materials we've gotten) that it's going to end with a lot of our pirates, even those who aren't on the best terms with our crew right now (like Zheng Yi Sao and Spanish Jackie) working together against a larger enemy (looks like the British Navy and Prince Ricky). I can see why they wanted to get Izzy's development out of the way fast so it would make sense for him to be on our crew's side when the shit hits the fan.

[formosusiniquis]

A Steddie / Buckingham comedy of errors of sorts. It goes like this.

Robin thinks Chrissy Cunningham might be her non platonic soulmate. She's smart, a little goofy, observant, seems like a great listener, and after what the rumor mill is saying was a pretty intense summer has really come into her own. It's a shame she went straight from dating Jason to Eddie Munson.

"She said she's working on herself," Steve claims, more in tune with the gossip than she is, "pretty hypocritical of you to say guys and girls can't be friends."

Which is pretty hypocritical of him when she knows he only cares cause he's already planning his wedding to Chrissy's new boyfriend; he needs Eddie to be single otherwise he's pining away for his perfect co-babysitter for nothing.

But it doesn't matter if they are dating or if they aren't or if Chrissy Cunningham with her perfect strawberry blonde ponytail is her soulmate, because her parents keep trying to set her up with some friend of a friend. She needs to do something quick before disaster strikes.

Melissa and Richard Buckley still know how to tie one on, when the occasion strikes. They're parents now, they've settled down some. Given in to the picket fence life, keep their yard mowed so Gayle Collins down the way stops glaring. They haven't done anything really crazy since that weekend they left Robin with Minerva and went to see what that whole Woodstock thing was about. Now they mostly just stick to getting as high as they can and stargazing on the weekends that Robin is off with Steve, a sweet boy kind of a square but the brownie recipe he gave them makes the best edibles.

Melissa can tell her daughter is lonely, she notices a lot of things about Robin that she won't tell them. Richard has noticed that their dealer Eddie has started bringing a friend along with him. Eddie is a sweet boy too, raised well respects his elders something they care about now that they've become them, he is also obviously and fantastically gay. Like all the parents in Hawkins, Richard and Melissa have heard how Wayne Munson has taken in that Cunningham girl after she came back from her trip out of state. Melissa remembers being a vaguely out of control youth and knows that a trip out of state is code for one of two things, and Chrissy doesn't look like she's ever been pregnant. Chrissy seems like a girl who might like their daughter.

Steve would die before he denies Robin just about anything. She is the platonic love of his life, they nearly died together, they've come out together. He's pretty sure as long as he has Robin and his kids he'd be content for the rest of his life, romance be damned.

A sentiment Robin seems to agree with since she wants him to fake being her boyfriend. Obviously, he says yes. Steve is a good boyfriend, he's always been a good boyfriend. He's attentive, great with parents, knows when to keep the pda to a minimum but also knows when to put on a show. He used to be pretty sure that Mr. and Mrs. Buckley liked him. So he's not really sure why they pulled him aside before movie night.

"Your parents hate me."

"There isn't a parent in Hawkins who hates you."

"You mom just asked me if I didn't think it might be better if I found someone more suited to me."

"What does that even mean?"

"It's basically mom code for I think your the worst person my daughter could have brought home. If I had the choice I'd kill you so why don't you do us both a favor and fuck off."

"I don't think that's right."

"Rob, I love you but conversational nuance isn't exactly your thing."

Eddie likes his job. Sure it's technically not honest work, but who knows maybe down the line they'll legalize it. He's getting in on the ground floor, an entrepreneur. Hawkins is surprisingly pro-weed and Eddie is just fine sticking to that after this summer. His favorite customers are the old folks. Like Miss Brenda at the library or the Buckleys. He always brings Chrissy along when he goes out these days, she feels weird staying in the trailer by herself and he likes having her nearby. She puts people at ease.

Except the Buckleys, who seem strangely obsessed with her. They ask her pointed questions about Dorothy, and surely they mean an actual Dorothy, surely the nice middle aged couple aren't trying to figure out if Chrissy is queer. Sure he got some vibes off of Buckley the younger, but that was before she started dating the love of his life. Now he's starting to think his whole gaydar has gone to shit.

Chrissy, a baby gay who has just broken free of the nastiest case of comp het Eddie has ever seen, answer honestly. She doesn't know a Dorothy, is that one of Robin's band friends? How is Robin, she is so sweet. Chrissy just wishes she had more time in the day so they could see each other more. She's dating Steve right, they make just the cutest couple, don't they think?

Eddie can tell Melissa doesn't. A surprise when even Wayne likes Steve Harrington, thinks he's the bees knees. Loaned him a screwdriver or some shit when the guy was over fixing something at the Mayfield place. She smiles though and agrees that Steve is quite sweet, in a tone that Eddie is far more used to hearing used when people are talking about him than about Steve Harrington. He blinks and the next thing he knows Chrissy is agreeing for them both that dinner on Friday sounds lovely; she'll bring a dessert.

Like she's ever baked in her life.

Chrissy Cunningham has had a rough couple of months, but she's settled now. Sure, she had a breakdown so bad in Eddie's trailer that she ended up having to get professional help; but she got that help and a new support system for herself. Really, the only way life could be much better is if she were dating Robin Buckley.

Eddie likes to tease her, calls her a baby gay like she's a wobbly legged deer still figuring things out. She's had eyes on Robin since the fifth grade, when she got her hair cut short to her shoulders the first time and her teeth still had a gap before her braces went on. Steve is a great guy, she's seen him with the group of freshmen that follow him around like ducklings; she's also watching him now and he's spent most of dinner making moon eyes at Eddie instead of his girlfriend.

She doesn't understand how, Robin is a vision. Full of spit and vinegar, she is firecracker mad glaring at her parents across the table. "You really brought him here? I'm dating Steve, can you not accept that?"

A lot happens at once, Chrissy isn't entirely sure what is going on but it feels a lot like a pot boiling over, something left too long unattended.

"We aren't trying to set you up with our dealer," Mr. Buckley said. "You're not exactly his type."

"Chrissy is such a nice girl." Mrs. Buckley tries.

"You said you stopped that," Steve to Eddie, a lethal pout on his lips and downturned eyes.

"Well, I stopped with the kids," Eddie tries, "I gotta pay the bills somehow, sweetheart."

"Chrissy?" If Robin was a vision in her sharp eyed rage, she's radiant in her pink cheeked surprise.

Once the shock, surprise, and comedy wear off Chrissy thinks there will be tears. Robin's parents seem nice. They seem like the kind of parents you confide in and who hold you tight. She thinks about her mom doing something thoughtful, thinks of her quietly accepting who she is and who she loves; and when she can't do that she thinks of Wayne and Eddie and knows she'd cry once they were alone and the theater of it all was over. So she thinks she might need to make the most of her moment while it's there. "I don't want to be a homewrecker," she jokes, something she's picked up from Eddie, "but I think your boyfriend has his eyes other places."

"Boyfriend, what boyfriend?"

"They're showing Clue at The Hawk this weekend, if you want to go with me?"

Robin can't nod her head fast enough.

"Stevie, I noticed you find yourself newly single," Eddie says, sorrow so fake he should rethink his decision to go within 10 feet of the drama department. "If you could bear it, would you want to crash their date make it a double?"

Steve agrees so fast a bit of hair escapes his coif, it falls in a curl at his forehead.

Robin's parents both seem pleased, pleasant smiles that chrissy is becoming more accustomed to seeing on adults now that she resides in the Munson place. "They'll be smug about this forever," Robin confides. Her smile betrays her lack of real dismay.

Chrissy got her girl and her best friend got his boy, so she thinks it's all's well that ends well.

[sissylittlefeather]

Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming: Chapter 2

A/N: Second installment of the Elvis x OC Vivian Choquette series! We pick up in 1961 during the filming of Blue Hawaii. I really hope you all stay on board for this one. I have the next 4ish chapters planned out and there's some fun stuff coming...

Need to catch up? Here's my Masterlist.

As always, thank you for your help and encouragement, bestie @ccab!

Warnings: Still pretty tame, kissing, cussing, alcohol use, references to sex/oral sex, fist fighting

Word count: ~2k

"Hello again..."

******

"Hi..."

"Oh, you two know each other?"

"Yeah we met in..."

"Germany." She finishes the sentence for him because he doesn't seem to be capable of it. He's still in awe of her. She hasn't changed much since the last time he saw her and he's still spellbound.

"Good. That should make this easy then." The director turns away from the conversation and leaves them to get reacquainted.

"I-I I didn't know you were an actress?" He tries not to visibly cringe when his nerves make him stutter. She gives him a half smile.

"Yeah, I'm just starting out really. This is my first movie role."

"And you're the lead?"

"You're the lead. I'm just your girlfriend." I wish. He thinks, but doesn't say it out loud.

"Well, still, good for you."

"Thanks... so listen."

"Hmm?" He shifts a little as someone walks behind him and forces him closer to her. She looks up at him and he notices how her eyes are the same color as the ocean when it's deep.

"Let's not make this awkward, okay?"

"Oh, of course not." He nods reassuringly.

"We can be... friends." His heart sinks a little. Friends. That's all she wants.

"Sure. Friends sounds good." It doesn't sound good at all, but he'll settle for friends if that's what it takes to be around her.

"Elvis! Come meet some of the other cast members." The director calls from across the room. Elvis nods at Vivian.

"I'll see you around. I gotta..."

"Yeah. Go, Mr. Movie Star." She pats his shoulder lightly and a shiver runs all the way down his spine. He hopes he'll be able to keep it together around her for the whole movie.

******

"CUT. VIVIAN! THAT'S STILL WRONG." The director is yelling from his place behind the cameras. Elvis stands and watches as she struggles to do what she needs to do. He can tell that she's getting more and more frustrated as the takes go on and on. For some reason, she can't seem to wrap her head around the necessary lines. Elvis is dying to try to help her, but it's not the time or the place. She looks at her feet and shakes her hands and he knows she's trying not to cry. Every time the director yells at her, she gets more flustered.

"OKAY. AGAIN."

They try the scene again and Elvis holds his breath, begging God to help her get it right.

But she doesn't. She misses it again.

"CUT. Alright. That's enough for today." They've been trying to get the scene all day long and the director is done. Elvis hangs his head as the director stomps over to Vivian. He can't really hear what he's saying, but when she starts crying and begging, he takes a couple steps closer.

"Please, please let me try again tomorrow. Please don't do this to me. Please."

"I'm not wasting another day of filming. We're replacing you. We have another actress ready to go. You're fired."

"No! Please!"

"Okay. You're not completely fired. You can have a non-speaking part." The director turns and walks away from her. Vivian looks around at everyone watching and takes off running away from the set.

"Viv! Wait!" Elvis calls out to her and tries to follow her. He loses her somewhere in the trailers though and isn't exactly sure where she's gone. When he finds her trailer, he knocks on the door, but he doesn't hear any noise inside. He waits for a few minutes and then turns to walk away. Thats when he hears something hit the door and break. He knocks on the door louder this time.

"Viv, let me in!"

"Go away!" He decides to try the door. It's unlocked, so he opens it and slips inside.

CRASH

He ducks quickly as something hits the wall above his head and breaks.

"Viv! What the hell?!"

"I need another glass." He looks at her sitting on the couch with a bottle of vodka clutched to her. "Or maybe I don't."

She takes a pull straight from the bottle and grimaces.

"Vivian." He walks over and sits down next to her. She offers him the bottle and he declines.

"I got fired."

"I know. Are you okay?" She looks at him and laughs.

"I feel like you're always asking me that. I'll answer the same way I did last time. Do I look okay?" She takes another swig from the vodka bottle.

"No. You don't." He grabs the bottle when she gets it back to her lap and sets it on the coffee table.

"Hey..." She goes to reach for it and he pulls her to him, holding her with her head on his shoulder.

"No, that's enough." Even he's surprised by his command of the situation, but he knows more alcohol is the last thing she needs. He's not sure how much was in the bottle to start, but there's only about a third of it left. Her body quakes as she begins to cry again.

"I p-promised my stepdad I would make this acting thing work out."

"Why does he care?"

"He's tired of the burden I've become since I'm not married. He said he never dreamed I'd still be around." A wave of rage washes over Elvis. He's never met the man, but he imagines punching him if he did.

"Honey, it's not your fault you're not married." She sits up.

"Well I know that. Tell him!" She settles back into his shoulder. "Kinda is my fault though because I won't just marry anyone."

"Oh?" He dismisses the fleeting thought of proposing just to give her a way out.

"No. I want to be madly in love when I get married. I want to be so in love that we can't stand to be apart from each other for another minute." She sits up again and turns to him with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I want to positively burn for my husband and I want him on fire for me. You know?"

He nods as his heart races. Could she love him like that?

"I know exactly what you mean." He whispers.

Just then, she grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him into her, pressing her lips to his. He melts into her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him. She opens her mouth and slides her tongue into his and the passion mounts as their tongues take turns dipping into the other's mouth. He can feel her hands against his chest and she whimpers a little. He pulls back and looks into her deep-ocean eyes and then leans in and kisses her cheek, down to her jawline, and then on down to her neck. She snakes her arms around his shoulders and pulls him with her as she lays back on the couch. He rearranges so that he's on top of her, rolling his hips into hers.

Is this it? Is this how they begin? His mind is racing as they continue to kiss deeply.

"Elvis, stop."

"What?" He backs away breathlessly and looks into her face.

"Are you in love with me?" His heart skips a beat. Is he?

"I-I-I..."

"Because I need you to know that this would just be sex. I'm really drunk and sad and I'm just not... I don't want to give you the wrong idea."

"How drunk?"

"That was a new bottle of vodka." When she says it, he notices how heavy her eyelids are and that her words are a little fuzzy around the edges. He feels like someone has knocked the wind out of him. Sitting up, he runs his hand through his hair and closes his eyes.

"You are, aren't you?" She asks him calmly.

"I didn't say that."

"Then why did you stop?"

"You're too drunk. I don't even know if you want this." She laughs and he looks down at her sadly.

"Oh, trust me. I want it."

"Well, I don't. Not like this." She sits up and glares at him.

"Then why the hell are you here, Elvis?!"

"I don't know."

"Fine. Get out, then." He stands up, grabbing the bottle of vodka as he does. He tries to head for the door, but she yanks the bottle away from him "Goodbye, Elvis."

Deeply discouraged, he walks out the door and down the steps to go back to the hotel. Is he in love with her?

******

The next day, he's sitting around with the guys during a break. They've brought in the new actress to play his girlfriend and she's great, but he wishes they'd given Vivian another chance. He looks up just as she walks by to sit with another actress about twenty yards away.

"You see her?" Joe asks the group of guys with a wry smile.

"Vivian?" Elvis asks confused.

"Yeah. She's got a hell of a mouth on her." He laughs raucously and pushes one of the other guys.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Joe?" Elvis feels himself start to seethe, hoping Joe isn't talking about what he thinks he's talking about.

"She came to my room last night. She gives great h-" Without another thought, Elvis is on top of him, throwing punches. The idea of him with Vivian makes him see red. And then him here talking that way about her pushes him over the edge. All the guys jump and holler, trying to pull them apart.

"Elvis, stop!!" It's Vivian's voice that cuts through the rest of the noise and gets to him. He drops Joe and stumbles backwards, breathing heavily. Blood drips from his nose where Joe landed a good defensive blow. "God. Men. Come with me."

She drags Elvis to a chair and makes him sit down. Then, she disappears for a bit. He considers getting up, as mad as he is, but he stays put until she comes back with some wet napkins to clean up his nose.

"What the hell were you thinking? You... with Joe?!"

"Elvis, I told you I was drunk and sad. You said no, so I found someone else." He feels another wave of rage rush through him.

"Just like that, huh? I really don't mean anything to you."

"You said you weren't in love with me. I told you we could be friends. That means you're going to have to be okay with me being with other guys. But if you're in love with me-"

"I'm not." It feels like a lie, but he wants it to be true.

"Good. Then, get over it." She says it softly as she finishes with his nose and pats his cheek gently. Then, she puts a hand on each arm of the chair and leans in close to him. "Listen, I like you a lot, Elvis. You're a great guy and it's probably a good thing you said no because I could fall in love with you. But I've seen you with girls. I know you have several on the hook right now. We can never be more than friends for that reason alone. I need someone on fire for me and no one else. Can you understand that?"

He looks down at his hands in his lap where bruises are starting to form. It's true, he does have a steady rotation of girls. And he has no way to make her believe that he would stop all that if they got together. Even he's not sure he could be true forever. But he'd certainly try, for her. Still, why would she ever trust him?

"Friends?" He looks up into her deep-water eyes again.

"Friends." She takes one of his bruised hands and kisses his knuckles gently. He actively ignores the way his heart skips when she does.

"With benefits?" He smiles coyly and she puts her hand on his forehead and pushes it backwards.

"We'll see..."

******

Until next time... thoughts?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist (let me know if you want to be added or removed!):

@ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @tacozebra051 @your-nanas-house @deniseinmn @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @louisejoy86 @rjmartin11 @from-memphis-with-love @deltafalax @jhoneybees @everythingelvispresley @returntopresley

[superpowered-dirt]

i never post on here but i have so much in my head about twd: the ones who live i honestly feel like i might explode.

i know all anyone really wants to talk about from episode 2 is That Part of their reunion (which is fair, don't ask me how many times I rewatched it), but now, the part that keeps playing over and over again in my head is this tiny bit:

and i just need to say, danai and andy are so insanely talented bc this clip?? this clip—short as it is, with not a world of dialogue—says SO much about where our two characters are at.

first, rick. i watch this clip and i think holy shit, yeah, that is a broken man. andy does a masterful job at displaying through his eyes and the way he carries himself the extent of the psychological damage and anguish within rick, not to mention the guilt he carries. you can see the gears turning in his head as he reminds himself how he basically gave up on her. how he gave up on himself. how he told himself that he was done, he was never seeing her again, and let himself fold into the CRM. i think it's safe to say he hates himself for his choice to move on. he's utterly crushed by it. like look at him, he can't even meet her eyes!!

and michonne? she sees it. once the euphoria of I Found You has begun to wear off and she lets herself really take him in, she immediately clocks that this is not the same rick that "died" on the bridge. not the rick that led alexandria. not the rick that got them out of terminus. and definitely not the rick that stood up to the saviors. in fact, the last time she saw this version of him, it was right after the first time they ever lost to negan, and that horrifies her, because if that rick is back, then something truly terrible has happened. the look on her face in the clip says a million things, but most loudly, she's wondering, understandably and devastatingly, "my love, what have they done to you?"

the final clue for her that her rick is gone, at least for now, is their next interaction. since forever, both of their instincts anytime they've been told that something bad is coming their way have been to either hoof it for the safety of their family or stand back to back and dispatch the threat. it's the panic in his voice, the sheer desperation as he pleads with her to stand down instead and hide herself after she suggests they go that tells her she has no idea what he's been through or what she's in for now that she's in the shit with him. and even now, if the trailer for E03 has been any indication, she still fails to grasp the danger they're both in. i know what people online have been saying, but she's not being careless, this is michonne we're talking about, she just doesn't understand how careful she really has to be. and then throw jadis and her bitch ass bowl cut into the mix and suddenly a whole new threat looms over alexandria and the commonwealth that ultimately all comes back on rick too? the guilt he now has to face for not only dragging his wife into his mess, but through jadis, also his daughter and all his friends?? and if he finds out now that he has a son too, then there's even more guilt??????

i could go on for hours but i won't. all i'll say is that we're definitely in for such an emotional ride tomorrow. and really there's no one else i trust more than andy and danai to deliver that for us.

[starfxkr]

in regards to your post about disgust between jj nd kitten & tp!jj nd tp!reader… oh moony youve bewitched me again!!!!! i love nd could go on about how far jj’s depravedness is nd how much it gives kitten the ick foreverr… (as im someone who isnt necessarily germaphobic, i just need to be clean nd hate gross people) yet theres still a raw nd unbridled attraction to his vulgarity, nd trust he’ll make you tap into whatever unsavory ideas youve kept secret due to embarrassment which i think is so appealing :3 sure, he definitely does give off “bad boy” vibes, but thats so surface level to his character nd its so much more than that (this is where that bully conversation comes in) hes just your mutt of a boyfriend nd its so hot!

as for tp!jj… you make him into such a hard pill to swallow (which he is!) i wouldnt call it the sense of impending doom, but you really have to know what youre getting yourself into with him (which is already known around the park). like you said, different lines are being crossed constantly nd unbeknownst to you (until a certain point) theres been so much damage done to you emotionally, mentally, nd most importantly your psyche! his hot & cold nd push & pull attitude nd the random switch to the paternal like instinct he has over you is whats really jarring! you tell yourself its all in the name of love when tbf, youre not sure if youre looking for a father who loves his daughter or a lover who loves their partner. but whatever to fill that void, shes such a mess </3 nd its all his fault

— 🦢

see see u get it. with jj and kitten they've seen such nasty, depraved, mean parts of each other and he truly sickens her. like even beyond him being gross physically she also finds his personality to be kinda horrid! he's petty, and selfish, and reckless, and greedy and he's so so so angry. but for the most part he keeps a lid on it, all the girls who've hooked up with him or also had a situationship with him just view him as this generic bad boy from deep in the cut but like. kitten knows better. so she pokes and prods at him like a festering wound because she hates the facade, she hates how he lies to himself and other people. this is a girl who sure she seems mysterious but she's not, she lays it all out but it makes people uncomfortable so they ignore it. she tells gross stories of being a compulsive masturbator as a child to make people uncomfortable and the only person who laughs is jj. truly deep down she's kind of his ID which says a lot because he's already pure ID. he's gross, he smears cum on your face, he's mean, and he's a literal anal fiend. jj can only be his true self around her because she won't lie to his face and tell him it's okay or tell him it doesn't bother her, she's upfront with how much he makes her sick and yet she loves him because of it, not in spite of.

tp!jj...i fear i can not solely give yall the sexy forbidden age gap that most people would expect because that's just not fun. there's nothing to chew on. because everyone knows jj's no good, but he normally relegates that to women his age or just a few years younger not a whole 21, not one he used to buy water guns for when she was a kid. he remembers when your mom got knocked up (because she was 15 when he was a whole 21 like. come on there's layers here), he knows your dad fucked off because he was also a 15 yr old, he's seen you wandering around the trailer park as young as 13 looking for someone to let you stay the night because your mom locked you out. it's as clear as day how neglected you are and how you're starving for any kind of love and affection, and the thing is jj feels no real qualms about the age gap. that he doesn't care about. but there's this internal battle of whether to be your father or your lover so he kinda says fuck it and does both. but he's never quite had a good example of what a father is so even then he's emotionally distant and does the bare minimum of a roof over your head and food in your belly, but all the older men you've been with never even gave you that. you think he's in love with you (he will be, just not yet). you're constantly crying and telling him you love him and you only get a "mhm" as a reply if you get one at all which leads you to constantly craving his affection. he thinks he's doing you a favor by remaining emotionally distant while feeding and fucking you and not caring that it's blurring too many lines. he doesnt care that you call him dad on accident, it doesn't rattle him the way it rattles you because as long as he gets to fuck you later what's the harm in playing at being your daddy for a bit?