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wlwcatalogue · 8 months

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Chinese GL Webseries & Shorts for the Wuxia-Uninclined

Have you ever wanted to venture into the world of Chinese GL webseries and short films, only to find yourself at a loss about where to begin, or intimidated by the unfamiliar tropes and terms of the wuxia genre?

Well, worry no more! Here's a selection of non-wuxia webseries and short films curated by yours truly. Now you too can enjoy the lavish costumes and location shoots of these Chinese productions, so rarely seen in F/F works outside of feature films and the occasional TV series~

By the way, these are all translated and subbed by the inimitable Douqi (@douqi7s), whose immense contribution to the English-language baihe fandom is surely in breach of anti-monopoly laws. Offer up your thanks at her Tumblr and Twitter!

At-a-glance list

Webseries:

Ye-Mu Season 2 (1 hr 20m total, 2023) - standalone

The Vampires (41m total, 2022)

Ye-Mu Season 1 (27m total, 2022) - standalone

The Lost World (1hr 5m total, 2023)

Short films - order corresponding to the pictures above:

A Tale of Yearning (5 mins, 2022)

"She Brought Colour Into My World" (2.5 mins, 2023)

"I'm Her Weapon" (3 mins, 2022)

Miss Shen and the Woman Warlord (6 mins, 2023)

Women's Script (5 mins, 2023)

The Caged Canary (5 mins, 2023)

The Beauty of the Law (6 mins, 2023)

Flowers Bloom; Flowers Wither (9 mins, 2022)

Commentary under the cut!

FYI, I've opted to link directly to the subtitled versions since they're probably more difficult to find than regular anime, TV series, movies etc. If a link is broken, please refer to Douqi's blog directly.

Important note for the uninitiated:

It’s a bit difficult to talk about canonicity in relation to live-action works made in the PRC, as things which would normally be used as evidence of canonicity all fall under the censorship regulations— explicit references to romantic relationships or queerness, declarations of love, kissing etc. are all off the table. So while these may not look canon in the most traditional sense, they are intended to be read as such and should certainly not be dismissed as queerbaiting or yuribait. Also, the creators can get very imaginative, so this is less of a problem than you may think – see the entries on Ye-Mu Season 2 and The Lost World in particular!

1. Ye-Mu Season 2 / 叶穆 2 (32 episodes / 1hr 20m total, 2023, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Despite the name, Ye-Mu Season 2 is completely unrelated to the first season; the only thing the two share is the cast, crew, and focus on Penthouse-style melodrama.)

Determined to take revenge for her mother's death, Xu Baiqing (Sheng Wei) marries a wealthy and much older businessman in the hope of finding evidence to put him behind bars. But first she must assuage the suspicions of his cheerily hostile second daughter, moody youngest son, and estranged eldest daughter (Ye-Mu Zhixia, played by Wang Laoji), the latter of whom Xu Baiqing dated in university and who is currently seething at the sight of her former girlfriend marrying her father...

If you want to get a sense of the potential breadth of Chinese GL webseries, this is a pretty good place to start. It does a decent job of matching the tone and presentation of a melodrama you might catch on TV (and in fact looks higher-budget than some I can think of), while committing to something that can’t be done on TV yet— namely, featuring an F/F exes-to-stepmother storyline and delivering on the drama inherent in such a premise. Of particular note is how the framing and behaviour of Ye-Mu Zhixia is very much consistent with that of a male romantic lead; thanks to some clever writing, it’s basically impossible to deny the nature of her relationship with the main character. They don’t even lean on the plausible deniability afforded by the label of “friendship”— in fact, in an early scene she is incensed when the protagonist refers to her as “[her] only friend”. There are a few caveats – the main character ends up in a lot of scrapes that her ex-girlfriend has to save her from, the reveals are often rather unsurprising, and the story shifts more to a mystery focus around halfway – but it’s still worth checking out if a Korean-style melodrama with an F/F take on a romantic storyline sounds appealing.

(CW: violence, murder, attempted sexual assault)

Note: See The Lost World (below), from the same creative team, for an even more impressive example of Chinese GL pushing the limits of censorship.

Links: MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation)

2. The Vampires / 吸血鬼鬼盲盒 (7 episodes / 41m total, 2022, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Spoilers for the first 15 minutes or so, because otherwise the summary would be “They end up locked inside with the monsters on board”, which wouldn’t tell you much more than the title already does)

Every night, Tianyue (Ye Miao/夜喵) has been having dreams about the mysterious cruise ship docked at the pier. Convinced that there is treasure hidden inside, she and her exorcist-cultivator girlfriend Xiao Ling (Wei Miao/微渺) sneak on board only to find that they are trapped there until the sun comes up. Things don’t seem too bad at first: although they run into two vampires – the cute, cheeky Xingming (Yang Fuyu) and her elegant mistress Su Tanya (Sheng Wei) – they are able to call a truce, on the condition that the humans help search the ship for the latter’s beloved (Fu Cha, played by Wang Laoji). But when Fu Cha wakes up without her memories, it is clear that something is terribly wrong, and that the ship and its inhabitants harbour more secrets than expected.

For a webseries, The Vampires takes a while to get started— it’s a bit difficult to tell what kind of story or indeed what kind of tone it’s going for just based on the somewhat campy and comedic first section. But after that wobbly beginning, it manages to pull itself together to tell a compelling – and sometimes genuinely tense – tale about a motley band of humans and vampires, and the truths they have to face together. While the ending is no happily-ever-after, I found it satisfying and hopeful, and surprisingly affecting. Also, a bunch of the characters have real polyam energy, and this is reflected in the narrative beyond mere flirting!

(CW: abusive parents)

Links - MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation) / YouTube (compilation)

3. Ye-Mu Season 1 / 叶穆 (12 episodes / 27m total, 2022, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Ye-Mu Seasons 1 and 2 are standalone stories; each season is entirely self-contained and the second season is not a continuation of the first.)

The head of the Ye-Mu family has died, leaving the next generation to squabble over the inheritance. It's a web of secrets, lies, and hidden resentments, as the characters dig out old grievances and fresh accusations in a desperate attempt to one-up each other. They're tangled up together to an almost incestuous degree, and indeed, the F/F subtext here is the ambiguous relationship between eldest daughter Ye-Mu Nanzhu (Sheng Wei) and second daughter Ye-Mu Nanmo (Wang Laoji) (rest assured that they are at least not biologically related).

Those who prefer darker stories and don't mind the pseudo-incest or other content warnings will find a melodrama which makes good use of its short runtime to deliver on twists, turns, and an explosive - if tragic - conclusion. That being said, the story is about the family drama in general, so do note that while the relationship between Nanzhu and Nanmo is narratively important, it is not fleshed out in great detail and certainly not the focus of the series.

(CW: suicide, ableist trope (spoiler – disabled character turns out to have been faking it), ableist language)

Links - MEGA / Internet Archive (compilation)

4. The Lost World / 夏夜知道风的甜 (1hr 5m total, 2023, dir. Zhang Zhiwei) - MyDramaList

(Note: Spoilers for the purpose of flagging triggering content, as it’s particularly easy to trip into for this show. Also, some vague spoilers for later episodes in order to highlight in order to highlight the themes etc.)

This webseries feels like two shows smushed into one: apart from the very beginning, the first half is a gritty, bullying-focused take on university life, while the second is a true-blue romantic comedy (aside from one blip – see the note below for details). But even if you’re wary of the bullying, I would still recommend watching the back half – which is basically standalone – as it’s a very funny and heartfelt story about two childhood friends finally getting their act together. Without further ado, here’s two blurbs!

From episode 1 onwards: After saving a classmate from the class bully, popular college student Xia Huaichu (Yang Fuyu) is subjected to a lengthy harassment campaign by the latter. She is suddenly faced with having to protect her reputation in the face of false allegations and fake nudes– despite the fact that all she wants to do is focus on reconciling with another classmate, a high school best friend whom she had previously lost touch with (Mu Qingfeng, played by Wang Laoji). From episode 14 onwards: Childhood friends Xia Huaichu (Yang Fuyu) and Mu Qingfeng (Wang Laoji) are caught in a weird gay purgatory where each has feelings for the other, and suspects that the other has feelings for them too. But both are exceedingly stubborn and want the other one to take the initiative in confessing, leading to ridiculous displays of I-don’t-care-isms and lots and lots of UST. (Does anybody use that term anymore??)

As you may have guessed, I’m not too keen on the first part of this show, nor the decidedly unnecessary attempted rape segment, though that’s partly on me for not checking the content warnings beforehand. And yet I’m very glad to have stuck with it, because the second half is not only hilarious, but also a masterclass in censorship-dodging that needs to be seen to be believed. Not just in terms of the suggestive scenes, of which there are many, either— the story is literally about two women starting a relationship and having to reckon with parental disapproval, homophobia, and other obstacles which platonic friends wouldn’t have to deal with. I honestly don’t know how this ever got approved, and can only applaud. Bravo.

Note: For those who want to avoid the triggering content, I’d recommend starting at episode 14, but make sure to skip episodes 19 and 20 as there is a foiled rape attempt.

(CW for entire series: bullying (incl. violence, fake nudes), sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, fatphobic language, homophobia

CW for episodes 14-24: attempted sexual assault in episodes 19-20, homophobia)

Links - MEGA / Dropbox

SHORT FILMS

Quick note: Click on the English titles for the subtitled versions, and the Chinese titles (which are really just the video titles) for the originals. And yes, although the majority of these are shampoo commercials, they really do hold up as short films in their own right. Give them a try, you might be surprised!

A Tale of Yearning / 一见误终生，不见终生误 (5 mins, 2022, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – A bittersweet story about a literature-minded young woman (Sheng Wei) and a Chinese opera performer (Ai Ye) who bond over their love of fiction, only to be torn apart by harsh reality. Tragic ending, but I liked the more literary turn of the dialogue. Shampoo ad. (CW: homophobia)

“She Brought Colour Into My World” / “她走后，我的世界又失去了颜色” (2.5 mins, 2023, dir. Zou Hui Qu Le/走回去了) – A very restrained short film (actually, more like a music video) set during the late Qing era, wherein a sheltered young woman (Xiao Yu Za/小宇咂) falls for her female neighbour, recently returned from studying abroad (Sheng Wei). Lovely use of music and visuals to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Tragic ending. Not a shampoo ad.

“I’m Her Weapon” / 我是你手里的一把刀 (3 mins, 2022, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – A moody, interior piece about an assassin (Ai Ye) who yearns for some sign of affection from her handler (Sheng Wei), only to be left devastated by her new assignment. Surprisingly not a shampoo ad.

Miss Shen and the Woman Warlord / 我们是孤独行走的钟，但也要做敲响希望的钟 (6 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – I’d like to describe this as being inspired by the story of Mai Jia’s novel The Message and the aesthetics of Kawashima Yoshiko (1990), but most Tumblr users would probably find those references deeply unhelpful. Basically, a female spy (Sheng Wei) disguises herself as a male soldier and infiltrates the mansion of a Republican warlord. There, she meets the warlord’s daughter (Ai Ye), who quickly realises that there is more to the promising young officer than meets the eye. Shampoo ad.

Women’s Script / 纵使“科考”无女子，无碍红袖书香，星辰有光 (5 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – While sailing down a river, a girl (Zhi Chun He/至春禾) catches sight of a woman writing poetry on the riverbank (Sheng Wei), and is fascinated by both her beauty and her flaunting of the rules against women’s literacy. Shampoo ad. (CW: domestic violence)

The Caged Canary / 如果这是一场骗局，那我也只愿意输给你 (5 mins, 2023, dir. Liu Yun Rui/流云蕊) – The protagonist (Ai Ye) is sent by her parents to beguile a wealthy young man into marriage, but ends up developing feelings for his modern-woman sister (Sheng Wei) instead. Shampoo ad. (CW: attempted sexual assault)

Flowers Bloom; Flowers Wither / 她们一个被铁链禁锢，一个被男装束缚，直到救赎彼此 (9 mins, 2022, dir. Qian Li Min/千里明) – Takes the romance between a cross-dressing noblewoman (Du Ruo/杜若) and her supposedly-mad stepmother (Rou Lian Cheng/肉脸橙) to tell a story about the restrictions placed on women in historical times, and how resistance, even when futile, can still have meaning. Tragic ending, obviously. Not a shampoo ad. (CW: domestic violence, misogyny, accidental misgendering, gender dysphoria)

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makeste · 10 months

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Plus One For All

so guys. can we talk about how there’s somebody chilling out inside of Katsuki’s mind who’s not supposed to be there.

hello there Mister All Might Vestige sir. you should not exist, just FYI. you’re not some Nighteye-type plot hallucination. because if you were, you would not be appearing here as Cloud Might, a version of yourself whom Katsuki has never met and has no frame of reference for. ergo he did not imagine you. ergo you are, in fact, real.

which means Katsuki has One For All.

because that’s the only way he could have a Vestige -- which is indisputably what this is -- inside of him. he has OFA. so. where did he get it. how does he have it. and why is it only making its presence known now.

let’s discuss.

okay so I’m going to try and lay this all out as clearly as possible while also attempting to be as succinct as I can. but knowing me, I’m probably going to wind up sacrificing the latter in pursuit of the former. I’ll do my best though. here goes.

1. Heroes Rising is canon.

which is a fact we’ve recently been reminded of not once, but twice -- first with the appearance of Katsuma and Mahoro in chapter 405, and then in chapter 406 with the “Bakugou no Kacchan” callback. the timing of this almost certainly isn’t coincidental. Horikoshi wants this to be fresh in our minds.

mind you, it is extremely unusual for movies, even technically!canon ones, to actually be relevant to the plot. but BnHA may be one of the few exceptions. we’ve already seen movie 1 impact the series both with Star & Stripe’s backstory, and with Deku’s new gauntlets. so there’s precedent, and it’s something I am paying very close attention to.

2. Deku giving OFA to Bakugou is canon.

just in case anyone here hasn’t yet seen or been spoiled for Heroes Rising, that is in fact what happens in that film! so yeah, that certainly seems like an extremely relevant detail right about now.

3. we never found out why and how Deku got OFA back at the end of the movie.

okay so I was looking for a clip to link before we discuss this next part, but I unfortunately couldn’t find one that hadn’t been edited to avoid copyright issues, so you’ll just have to make do with this.

skip ahead to about 7:10 for the relevant part. for the purposes of this theory, we’re just going to ignore everything All Might says here, because tbh he has no fucking clue what’s actually going on and is just guessing wildly lol. however, I do want you to take note of one thing which will be important later. and that’s the fact that, when OFA “returns” to Deku’s body, it’s only his body which starts glowing, and notably not Kacchan’s. the latter just keeps lying there unglowingly. nothing to indicate any kind of transfer is actually happening between him and Deku, in other words.

moving on.

4. OFA and AFO are probably the same quirk.

as summarized here and here. which is relevant because if they are the same quirk, or close to it, then OFA can most likely do anything AFO can do. so file that away for later.

5. AFO was able to split his quirk and give it to Tomura while still keeping a piece of it for himself.

what’s more, he was able to do the same with Garaki/Ujiko’s quirk, and presumably other quirks as well. while it’s possible that this quirk duplication has nothing to do with AFO and is simply something Garaki was able to figure out using ~*~Science~*~, I think it’s more likely that the two of them used AFO’s quirk in some way to accomplish this feat. particularly since Tomura not only received AFO, but a bunch of its stored up quirkdata as well, such as the information stored in Ragdoll’s stolen Search quirk.

6. OFA responds to Deku’s feelings and desires.

or at least this is the case according to Banjou in chapter 213. recall this interesting conversation on how Deku first activated Blackwhip.

he was thinking that he wanted to capture Monoma, and so OFA obediently activated his “capture Monoma” quirk. despite him being unaware he even had said quirk. it responded to his need, even though he wasn’t consciously trying to activate anything.

now then, let’s revisit that scene in Heroes Rising one more time.

7. during the climax of Heroes Rising, Deku was NOT thinking, “I need to give OFA to Kacchan.”

here’s the scene one more time for reference. this time you’re gonna want to skip to about 3:57.

here’s where we are going to get extremely technical, because this scene right here is the key to everything. Deku’s lines in this scene are, and I quote: “a way we can protect [everyone]... there’s just one way...!” but he very notably does not specify exactly what that “one way” is.

until we get to this scene a minute or so later, which spells it out for us very clearly.

two One For Alls. as in, “with two One For Alls, we could win this battle and save everyone.”

that’s what he was thinking at the moment of the “transfer.” NOT, “give OFA to Kacchan.” but, “we need two One For Alls.”

which, I think, may have made all the difference.

8. OFA created a copy of itself to share with Kacchan, so that both of them could have OFA and use the two OFAs to defeat Nine.

let’s recap. OFA is AFO. AFO can clone itself. so it stands to reason that OFA can presumably clone itself as well. and that’s exactly what Deku wanted to do. make a second One For All.

he didn’t know that he could do that. but as previously established in the Blackwhip incident, OFA is more than capable of making its own executive decisions in key moments just like this in order to help him out.

which would mean that what we saw at the end of Heroes Rising was not OFA being transferred from Bakugou back over to Deku. it was actually just Deku’s OFA briefly self-activating (possibly in response to his delirious apology to All Might -- kind of a “no worries bro, you’ve still got your quirk actually, so go back to sleep and stop stressing over it” type of thing). and Kacchan’s OFA doing... absolutely nothing. it didn’t actually transfer back into Deku. it didn’t actually go anywhere.

let me repeat that: it didn’t actually go anywhere.

in other words, Kacchan still has OFA. and has had it ever since Heroes Rising. he just didn’t realize it. and neither did anybody else.

9. Kacchan’s OFA went dormant once Nine was defeated.

okay, so. remember all of this exposition from chapter 304?

basically, if someone who already has a quirk receives OFA, using it will slowly destroy their body until it kills them. the Vestiges learned this from All Might while he was researching the past generations of OFA in chapter 241, incidentally. Heroes Rising takes place right around this same time (immediately following MVA if I recall). so by the time the film’s climax rolled around, the Vestiges would have known that giving OFA to Kacchan could have devastating consequences down the line if they did not take action immediately after the fight.

so they did.

once Nine was defeated, the Vestiges shut the whole thing down. the crisis was averted, and they no longer had need of a second OFA. they have this boy who is way too similar to Deku in terms of his willingness to put himself in harm’s way in order to achieve his goals. and they absolutely do not want any harm befalling this boy. more on that momentarily.

so they go dark. and they even seal his memory so that he’s no longer aware of even having the quirk. they are essentially in sleep mode. and if circumstances hadn’t eventually become desperate enough to force their hand, they might have remained inactive for the rest of Katsuki’s life.

now, you might be wondering to yourself, “why is OFA willing to go to such unusual lengths in order to protect Katsuki?” and well, the answer to that is pretty simple.

10. Kacchan does not have the same version of OFA as Deku.

Deku is ninth gen. Katsuki, however, is tenth gen. which means that his version of OFA has one additional Vestige. a Vestige whose presence immediately explains why OFA is so goddamn determined to protect him at all costs.

:’)

long story short, while Deku’s version of OFA has proven itself all too willing to enable him in his increasingly suicidal mission, Katsuki’s version of OFA is very much a different story, on account of it being under the management of what I’m guessing is the most willful Vestige ever to exist. and said management being just the slightest bit unhinged when it comes to Katsuki’s safety in particular. seriously, you can’t tell me this is not exactly how a Deku!Vestige would behave. “oh hell no. no OFA for you!! and no memories either, because you can’t be trusted, goddammit. we never should have done this. what the hell were we thinking. if anything happens to him I will kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

so yeah. dormant.

right up until they literally couldn’t afford to be anymore.

11. OFA can self-activate in moments of crisis to protect its user.

Sports Festival. chapter 33. Deku vs. Shinsou.

aw yeah. it’s all coming together.

12. OFA reactivated itself in order to save Katsuki’s life.

I would now like to briefly draw your attention to this scene from chapter 405, in which Edgeshot explains how Katsuki was finally saved. please note my man is very clear that he did not restart Katsuki’s heart himself. he was basically just performing quirk CPR up until Katsuki’s own quirk returned him to life apropros of nothing.

“what brought you back... was the power you’ve honed.”

except... that should have been impossible. because Katsuki was dead. meaning he should not have been able to activate his quirk on his own, on account of the whole “being dead” thing.

however, if he by chance had a quirk with just enough of a mind of its own to activate in critical situations in order to help its user. situations like being forced under mind control. or, perhaps, being stabbed through the heart. well then. that would certainly go a long way towards explaining all of this.

and oh hey, when exactly was it that we saw this guy, again?

oh? it happened at the exact moment when his heart was stabbed through? you don’t say. well that certainly is interesting.

in summary:

Deku cloned his quirk in Heroes Rising and gave Kacchan a copy of OFA. owing to the hyperprotective Deku!Vestige inside Kacchan’s copy of OFA, it shut itself down once Nine was defeated, and all of Katsuki’s memories of having OFA were deliberately wiped, or sealed away. OFA itself remained inactive until TomurAFO stabbed Katsuki through the heart, at which point OFA was forced to reactivate itself to save his life. which it did, by forcibly restarting his heart.

that’s it. no idea how close to the money any of this is, but I think it would explain most of the lingering mysteries and questions about what exactly is going on with Katsuki. and I’ll throw in one last observation as well -- Katsuki has a nine in his name (BaKUgou), but not a ten. which I know sort of contradicts what I was saying earlier about him being the tenth gen, lol. but he both is and isn’t. if Deku split his quirk, Kacchan would in theory receive everything that’s currently in Deku’s quirk right now, and that includes Deku’s own power that he’s been adding to the mix. so he’d still have the Deku!Vestige. but he’s also still ninth gen, because he and Deku are sharing that distinction now. or at least I think the argument could be made at any rate.

so yeah. I’ve been obsessing over all of this for the past few days lol. what do you guys think?

#bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #one for all #bnha meta #bnha theory #bakugou meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #it's also possible that I put way too much thought into this and in actuality katsuki is just using the OFA embers #or something else along those lines #we'll see lol #but in the meantime it's fun to speculate

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komakesthings · 10 months

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A while back I made Jareth's crop out of a metal cane and existing crop and I had this nagging thought in my head telling me "I bet you could make this from scratch and make it even more movie accurate too...". So here's version 2, made completely from scratch with some wooden dowels, worbla, a contact juggling ball, and a few other bits and pieces.

Really thrilled with how this turned out, super satisfying to have created something so cool from scratch. Shout out to the amazingly talented Alyson Tabbitha for her Jareth costume tutorial on Youtube, which I used to make the Jareth shirt used in the first photo. The pic of me as Jareth holding the crop has become one of my favourite pictures that I've taken of my prop replicas, so glad that it turned out exactly like I pictured in my head. I'll put a few WIP shots below!

I used two dowels for this project, a a 7/8 inch large wooden dowel for the handle, and a 7/16 inch dowel for the rod part. I drilled into the larger rod so that I could slot the smaller rod inside of it, and both rods were drilled into so I could insert a wood pin to strengthen the join.

I added some wire to help form the "talons" of the crop, which was then covered by worbla. I also used a cut off bit of a wooden door knob to form a little trim piece for the end of the crop handle.

The crystal is a 50 mm contact juggling ball, which had just enough wiggle room in the "Talons" where I can squeeze it in and out to make painting easier. Just as an FYI, the crystal in these WIP pictures was a smaller one that I swapped out later, so excuse that continuity error!

I used my heat gun to heat/form the worbla, but I made sure not to apply the heat to the contact juggling ball as it was made out of acrylic and could deform with heat. I would use the heat gun to warm the worbla, then while it was still hot I would put the ball in place and form the worbla around it. Any blemishes on the ball (From either the worbla or the paint in the later stages), came off with a q-tip dampened with rubbing alcohol.

For this project, painting was using a filler primer, followed by a black glossy spray paint, followed by a silver spray paint, a wash of black acrylic paint to bring out the details, and some silver rub n'buff on the highest points of the sculpt.

Then I just wound the rod with some leather binding tape, patterned out the slappy bit of the crop, sewed a little pocket onto the slappy bit so that it could slot onto the crop, and then tidied up the join area with some waxed thread.

#jim henson #labyrinth #jareth #labyrinth 1986 #sarah williams #dance magic dance

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ilikethisacompletelynormalamount · 7 months

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Just FYI, DO NOT purchase All of Us Strangers from Amazon Prime! They've done unspeakable things to the color and white balance. Everything is flat and all the warm hyperreal color is lost. The dark scenes are impossible to see. And once you start playing it they won't give you a refund, so buyer beware!

I've spent a long damn time looking at scenes from the film so I know what it should look like AND THAT AIN'T IT!

Adding that I haven't yet tried to watch it on a television, it could be that their mobile app player is just universally awful and hates color, I will report back later when I am sure, but the other two copies I've seen (Hulu and 🏴‍☠️) which were FINE, were also on mobile versions of their apps, so no excuse Amazon.

Update: even on a tv it looks terrible. Everything was still dark and flat and slightly greenish. (I'm still not sure if the problem is the movie or the Prime Video player in general.) I finally broke down and bought it again, this time from YouTube, and it looks perfect, the color is exactly as it was in the promo versions! 🎉 Lesson learned, that's the last time I buy a movie from Amazon Prime.

#andrew scott #paul mescal #andrew haigh #all of us strangers #jamie ramsay should sue!#When the pirated version is better #you know it's bad

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ck-17088 · 26 days

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Transformers One Theories Part 1: Sentinel Prime and how he gained power on Cybertron (Special Guests: Quintessons)

Hello, Transformers One has taken over my mind so I’ve been rewatching the trailers and reading some interviews/articles. One thing I’ve noticed is that the marketing for this movie is mainly focused on Orion Pax and D-16’s friendship and the tragedy of their eventual fallout. However, there is little information on Sentinel Prime and the role he plays in the movie. Since I’m delusional, I came up with these crazy theories about Sentinel Prime, specifically on how he’s the villain in this story.

Before we get into my theories, here is some extra information that I’ll be referring to when explaining:

What We Know (trailers, interviews/articles, TV spots already released)- be warned, potential spoilers from articles/interviews released in Summer 2024

FYI- I will include screenshots from both trailers, so they should be images you've already seen- so no unexpected images.

In an IndieWire interview, the film was described as an “epic story about the rise of two leaders… including the start of a revolution, a years-long conspiracy and war with other aliens…”

In an interview with Josh Cooley ( aka the director), he says that he “embraced the chance to explore.. political corruption, revolution, and war”

Cybertron is currently undergoing an Energon crisis/drought (from other interviews)

There was another conflict, which involved the Primes, that occurred before the events of the movie- at the SDCC panel, they showed a clip of Sentinel Prime giving a speech about a past battle that killed all of the Primes and some veterans.

Source Material (?)

Cooley also mentioned in an interview (and at the SDCC panel) that Hasbro gave him a “bible” of Transformers lore

In a different interview, he also said that in the original story for the movie, Megatron was a gladiator. In fact, there were gladiatorial fight scenes planned, but were eventually cut out.

In addition, he and Orion Pax originally came from very different social backgrounds.

Does that sound familiar? (It should)

The “bible” of Transformers lore with D-16 as a gladiator and Orion Pax from a different social background would be the “Binder of Revelation”- which is what the Aligned Continuity (WOC games, TFP, Rescue Bots) is based on.

I’ll be referring to the Aligned Continuity as “AC” from now on. Yes, I know it sounds like air-conditioning, deal with it.

Therefore, I’ll also be talking about AC Sentinel Prime, as I believe that TFO Sentinel is heavily based on that version.

In the AC, Cybertronians initially did not know how to transform, but everyone was born with a dormant T-cog.

The Quintessons showed up later, pretending to be emissaries who wanted Cybertron to join the galactic community. They pretended to magically give the Cybertronians T-cogs and the ability to transform (they were activating the dormant T-cog). As a result, they were welcomed on Cybertron and gained public support from its inhabitants.

Afterward, they set up a global puppet government ruled by Sentinel Zeta Prime and a small council of Cybertronians. They also established the social caste system where one’s alt mode determined their role in society.

However, their facade was uncovered when a few individuals found out about their plan to sell Cybertronians.

Sentinel Prime led a rebellion that kicked the Quintessons out of Cybertron.

Afterward, Sentinel stayed as the leader of Cybertron and continued to enforce the caste system- making it the absolute way of life on Cybertron- which would later become one of the reasons for the start of the Great War.

(Taken from TF Wiki)

Now.. finally- my theories

THEORIES

Sentinel Prime is business partners with the Quintessons (sort of?)

The first trailer shows some Quintessons arriving on the surface of Cybertron. Later shots show Sentinel Prime landing in front of one of the ships. In the background, there are also two trains,Airachnid, and some Vehicon-looking soldiers. It seems that they were expecting the Quintessons. They would have brought more soldiers and weapons if they were unexpected guests. Also, when one of the Quintessons grabs Sentinel, he seems distressed but makes no effort to escape. If it was an unexpected action, he may have reacted more violently. None of the soldiers in the background react to this too- meaning that this interaction isn't new. My main takeaway here is that Sentinel has interacted with the Quintessons before.

In AC, the Quintessons secretly took over Cybertron and exploited its people and resources. What if they are doing something similar here? Some interviews said that an energon crisis/drought is happening on Cybertron, and Orion Pax and D-16 are energon miners working to help in this crisis. But what if there isn't a crisis going on? What if this is a cover-up for the truth that all of the energon is going to the Quintessons instead of the people? The trains in the background came from below the planet where the mines are- so they may be carrying energon to give to the Quintessons. But is Sentinel willingly giving the energon to the Quintessons or is forced to? If he's doing this out of his own free will, then why?

Which brings me to the next theory….

Sentinel Prime was somehow involved with the demise of the original Primes

At the beginning of the second trailer, there appears to be a monument under attack (explosions and Cybertronians running away from it). Other shots of the trailer show that this monument has the Matrix of Leadership and figures (at least 7) engraved in it. This is most likely a monument for the original Primes (and current) because other shots show statues of Sentinel Prime-they are blue and gold and have wings - surrounding it.

As mentioned previously- before the Iacon 5000- Sentinel gives a speech about the Primes and how they perished in battle. Based on the giant monument and Sentinel’s speech, it’s safe that the Primes are well known and are considered important figures- perhaps heroes- on Cybertron.

BUT- the first trailer shows the bodies of the Primes in a cave, where they are covered in vegetation- as if they were abandoned. If the Primes are considered important, heroic beings, why were their bodies left on the surface of Cybertron? Why were they not taken back to Iacon to be given a proper funeral?

….. Something is fishy here.

Like I said- this is a crazy theory, but I think Sentinel was responsible for the demise of the original Primes. Sentinel giving a speech about the Primes and the event/battle of their deaths suggests that he knows HOW they died. The fact that a battle is mentioned indicates a war or conflict before the events of TFO. This lines up with what another interview said- that the movie would include wars with other aliens.

These two pieces of information make me believe that before the movie's events, there was a war between Cybertronians (specifically the Primes) and Quintessons, who were invading the planet. To support that- in a shot with Orion Pax, D-16, and Bumblebee looking at Alpha Trion's recording, Alpha Trion is holding a blaster- he's directly involved in combat.

As said before, in AC, Sentinel was installed as the leader of a puppet government controlled by the Quintessons. But instead of being installed as leader directly by the Quintessons, he probably became leader in a different way in TFO.

Sentinel may have been under the direct command of the Primes or was one himself. Tying back to the first theory- I think he made a deal with the Quintessons. He betrayed the Primes- by leading them into a trap/battle where the Quintessons killed them (only Alpha Trion survived- somehow). In exchange for the Quintessons killing the Primes, which would allow him to become Cybertron's leader, he would give them the planet's energon. As a result, the Quintessons would have someone who would give them the resources (energon) they want.

Also- in the same clip with Orion Pax, D-16, etc.- Orion says that the recording is an SOS call- I betting this was sent when the Primes were overwhelmed by the Quintessons. Since the call never made it through, someone-maybe Sentinel- blocked it or hid it until the main cast found it.

Overall, this would be a beneficial situation for both parties- Sentinel gets control/power over the planet, and the Quintessons get Energon without spending time and resources trying to conquer Cybertron. This may also explain why no one is allowed to go to the surface- they might see the Quintessons and discover the Primes’ bodies- and put into question Sentinel’s true loyalties. There is supposedly a “years-long conspiracy” involved in this movie, which may be referring to this- the Primes were murdered, and the Quintessons have control of the planet’s resources through Sentinel, who has been lying all these years about the fates of the Primes and where the Energon actually goes.

Summary of my theories:

Before the events of TFO, there was a war between Cybertronians and Quintessons, with the Primes defending Cybertron. Sentinel made a deal with the Quintessons. He betrayed the original Primes, allowing the Quintessons to kill them, thus giving him leadership over the planet. This benefits the Quintessons because they get a leader who willingly gives them the planet’s energon. To prevent the Cybertronian population from discovering Sentinel’s role in the Primes’ demise AND the Quintessons, they are not allowed to go to the surface under the assumption/lie that the surface is dangerous.

This would be a new twist on the events in the Aligned Continuity while also combining a few elements of other versions of Sentinel into one: the jerk from TFA, the betrayer from Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and the leader who only gained power through association with the Quintessons from AC.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my rambling. I have no clue if both of my theories are straight up wrong or somewhat correct... but regardless there will be a part 2 of Sentinel Prime Theories coming later....

#transformers #orion pax #megatron #ck17rambles #transformers one #tf one #tfo #transformers one movie #tfo sentinel #sentinel prime #transformers theories

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piglet26 · 10 months

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Reylo Scenes: TFA

The day after the Force Awakens Ren and Rey were christened Reylo. I always laugh when Lucasfilm and JJ Adams tried to keep this pairing neutral and "suggestive" like seriously. The seeds were laid in the first film for FinnRey and Reylo, but really Reylo was always going to reign supreme not only because of the chemistry between Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver but the writing, art direction, acting and even costuming leaned Reylo heavily.

Reylo are introduced as Ying Yang right off the bat. Ren arriving in Jakku by night in black with a black mask. Rey meet on Jakku by day in white with a white mask.

The first time Ren hears about Rey or "the girl" he reaches out towards the camera and Rey reaches back towards him.

It's stated that Ren and Rey had similar visions of one another without understanding who the other was. In Rey's lightsaber vision she sees Ren very clearly setting up that he, bringing him back to the light, is her future.

On Takodana, it's canon that the production team wanted Ren's arrival to be like a prince arriving at a castle to meet a princess. "In this scene she is drawn to this place almost like Cinderella." FYI Ben Solo is an actual Prince. You know the twisted Star Wars version.

Then there is their first scene in Takodana. In the novelization this moment is more intense than the already intense movie scene. Kylo Ren recognizes that this is the girl that created a ripple in the force. He's fascinated with her. The standby stormtroopers actually are noted to having a reaction to his odd interaction with her. Despite the fact that he probably could've taken the information from her then, he bridal carries her out.

Having circled her, he moved even close peering into her face, her eyes

"It is you," he murmured.

The interrogation scene - the moment the Reylo fandom was born. Does it bother me that she's strapped to a BDSM stand? No. It's actually very clear that she's a peer. He doesn't approach her like he did with Poe Dameron. He's kneeling down as he observes her. She's a powerful force user and he does respect her on that level. He also does want her to be comfortable hence taking his mask off and girl....

I know you were not expecting this fine ass man to be behind that mask.

Believe me, I would've had all kinds of images in my head he would've picked up on.

He also checks her out physically. He's focused on the information he needs but overall he is attracted to her and very interested.

Rey surprised him but not being the simply girl she was in the forest. She is actually powerful in the force "untrained but stronger than she knows."

"Don't be afraid. I feel it"

Reylos "Feel what exactly. The minds want to know."

It's also canon in this scene that their force bond starts in this moment. She actually learns how to get in his brain from him getting into here's.

Force bonds between masters and apprentices aren't new. It used for defense/offence and it makes it so skills are easy to translate to apprentices.

Now their fight scene which was filled with sexual tension that everyone noted. It's still complex. Rey's instinct is to defend herself and Finn. She also just saw him murder someone. Ren is fleshing her out and testing her. It's like sparring. Where it's get's interesting is when they spiritually connect.

Daisy Ridley "Finding the force together"

Ren "You need a teacher. I can show you the ways of the force"

Many people read the moment as Rey finding the force on her own but it's actually the both of the moving through the force together. Kylo Ren actually finds a powerful ally/kinship with her and reaches out for that connection. Considering he rejects most of his connections this is actually a big deal. Is looking for a girlfriend? No, but he is looking for somebody.

Rey has such a conflicted view of him and an off kilter one.

Rey beating Ren is stupid. Even if he is injured, emotional damaged and surprised. It's stupid. It should've been a draw.

His stunned "Just Marry Me" face is also really great.

It's a great start and a unique relationship especially in the Star Wars universe. It's ridiculous that adults who grew up on Han/Leia find romance something purely feminine now and so unlike Star Wars hahaha either way Reylos stay winning.

#reylo #star wars #finnrey #the force awakens #kylo ren #kylo x rey #general hux #rey star wars #reylo prompt #rey skywalker #ben solo

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anthrophobixx · 2 months

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Since I don't often talk abt stuff over here, I think it's safe to assume ppl don't know abt my version of olandy either, so here's an extremely LONG post w all my olandy headcanons so far :33

(fyi I project onto both of these guys, esp randy, so some of these headcanons are a bit more personal o(-( u don't need to know which ones tho)

Randy always gives the corniest but cutest compliments and Oliver is extremely flattered by them

They have cute matching nicknames for each other, Randy calls Oliver sunshine n Oliver calls Randy moonlight 🙏

Randy is always hesitant on accepting gifts from Oliver cuz he feels guilty for not being able to give him stuff in return even tho Oliver has told him multiple times that he doesn't owe him anything

Randy tries to save up money whenever he gets his paychecks so he can get something nice for Oliver once in a while too :33

Oliver's only topic around other ppl is literally just Randy. He's sooooo in love rhgrgrhrh

Oliver usually hums songs for Randy to comfort him or to help him fall asleep

Randy often visits Oliver at his place (and by that I mean bro literally just lives there atp)

They like to go on walks together or to watch movies after work, depends on what they're in the mood for

Randy is a great listener and Oliver *loves* that about him. He's comfortable with rambling abt whatever comes to his mind because he knows he's paying attention and Randy loves it when he's talking abt random stuff cuz he thinks it's cute

They're both touch starved as fuck, the difference is that Randy is terrified of physical contact while Oliver desperately craves it

Randy always feels like Oliver deserves a lot better than him and whenever the topic comes up Oliver tells him to shut the fuck up and showers him in compliments

Whenever one of his scars starts healing Randy always shows it to Oliver and Oliver being the lovely bastard he is hugs him tightly n repeatedly tells Randy how proud he is of him

Oliver and Randy definitely have matching kuromi n melody plushies

Oliver calls Randy up every single hour during work cuz he misses him

Randy is a cat person and Oliver's a dog person

Whenever they're on walks and they run into a stray cat they need to stop asap cuz Randy just *has* to pet the lil creechur

Randy needs constant reassurance from Oliver that he's infact dating him because he actually loves him and not just out of pity

Adding onto that, Randy often feels like he's annoying Oliver by constantly worrying about stuff that he knows aren't true. He can't get rid of the constant feeling of guilt and he often tries to just swallow it all n suffer in silence. Oliver knows this and he tries to get Randy to open up to him more often, but he also doesn't want to pressure Randy into saying anything he's not comfortable with

Randy stopped having nightmares so often n waking up randomly in the middle of the night once he moved in with Oliver n they started sharing a bed :33

Randy's the one that cooks food in the house since he's surprisingly really good at cooking, even though he hasn't been in a kitchen for god knows how many years, he's probably even better at it than Oliver :o

Whenever Randy gets a compliment from Oliver he just starts muttering nonsense since he's not used to getting complimented n Oliver thinks his reaction is really cute

Oliver is the one to always arrive home first n he likes to wear Randy's iconic denim jacket until Randy finishes his shift, cuz the dude literally goes through the 7 stages of grief multiple times a day without his loser bf

Whenever they're in crowded places Randy either hides behind Oliver or closes his hoodie completely, let's Oliver drag him by his arm n lead the way

Randy often reads stories and poems out loud to Oliver cuz it helps him with his stutters

Randy always slightly twitches whenever Oliver touches him (his fight or flight just kicks in ok)

Oliver has a bug collection Randy's terrified of

Oliver often steals Randy's hoodies bc he likes baggy clothes and because Randy really can't do anything abt it ☠

Oliver gets extremely happy whenever Randy buys him small gifts like chocolate or tiny stuffed animals, although he often feels bad cuz Randy's spending all the money he gets from his job on him and waaaaaa why would he do that :'O

Although Randy's terrified of being touched, he actually craves hugs *specifically* from Oliver quite often n Oliver does not hesitate to give him as many as he needs :D

They hold hands whenever they get the chance. They hold hands when they walk, sit, eat, talk, lay in bed, etc etc.

Randy is still surprised Oliver gave him a chance, cuz at first he thought Oliver found him annoying and pathetic for his stutters, constant apologies, for his jobs, etc. He has never actually felt more loved by anyone before and he can't thank him enough for his kindness

Ever since they've been together Randy has become more confident, stronger even, both mentally and somewhat physically too

Oliver taught Randy how to fight back and he has become more confident since. His self esteem also grew and he feels sm happier this way

That being said Randy is still a very sensitive person. He panics extremely quick when he feels like he fucked up and WILL apologize for hours on end, ESPECIALLY if it's someone dear to him. Although if he feels like HE was wronged, he won't hesitate to stand his ground, even if it results in him crying by the end of it

Oliver likes to run around in the rain when it's dark and he always drags randy out with him, he says it feels like the entire world is theirs

Oliver taught Randy how to cook !! Yay !! Randy almost burnt the entire kitchen down once but hey someone had to believe in him regardless, especially since he's an amazing cook present time

Randy used to live with his swan and his pet possum at the ticket booth. He tried introducing Oliver to them and the swan got used to him rather quickly, meanwhile the possum kept hissing for a good few days whenever Oli tried to approach it. They all get along now tho

Oli has a shitload of vhs tapes with old cartoons on it that he got from Mr dickens and they have to bingewatch at least one of them every week

RANDY CAN SING I'M DYING ON THIS HILL LITERALLY FIGHT MEEEE they sing together a lot btw

They both had a pokemon phase, Randy was just more….deeply into it

Oki p sure this is all I got !! Sorry for any broken english I uh. copied all of these from older twitter threads

Feel free to use any of these btw :DD

CRINGE CULTURE IS DEAD I FUCKING LOVE OLANDY OKAy BYEEEEE

#gina says stuff #dialtown #olandy

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sugasiren · 1 year

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☆ASTRO FACTS☆ ♈️

The Aries Woman & Her Real Power ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Pt 1

**FYI - this blog contains mature content.

Time to clear up some misconceptions! And confirm some truths. So pull up your seat, grab a snack & prepare for TOTAL fucking honesty. 💯 While this post is primarily about Aries Suns, much of it can also be applied to other Aries placements in general. So take whatever resonates.

♈️ Aries Women are usually into more dominant, masculine types. They adore men who are stronger & smarter than them whom they can learn from. 👍While Aries Women are indeed fully capable of taking care of themselves, they love knowing that they can lean on and trust the man that they love if needed. They prefer reliable partners with backbone. They have NO respect for passive males, as they will DESTROY a weaker man's soul. 🔥 Eat him alive just like the large plant in the 'Little Shop of Horrors' movie. 🤣 It truly ain't pretty!

♈️ Contrary to popular LIES... many Aries Women are VERY feminine. They aren't doormats though! Nor the girl-next-door type. Ram Women typically embody the "Hot Girl" or the "Femme Fatale" brand of Femininity. ❤️‍🔥 She's often the Leader of the pack whom other women model themselves after & want to be like. Jayne Mansfield, Diana Ross & Mariah Carey - Aries Sun 🌞; Sade, Janet Jackson, Pam Anderson - Aries Moon 🌙; Marilyn Monroe & Liz Taylor - Aries Venus ⚘️. Are any of these women Tomboys?? FUCK NO! They are womanly, spicy & passionate beings. Learn the damn difference.

I sometimes find that Taurus, Cancer & Virgo Women can push the "masculine" stereotype onto Aries Women the most because they wish to be more like them in certain ways. 💯 For instance, most Aries Women aren't taking care of ANY man. But I've seen Taurus paying for men, Cancer mothering men & Virgo trying to train men into being obedient dogs! Add to that, Scorpio Women are often control freaks who insist on leading. Sag & Aquarius Women are rebels who often try to compete with & emasculate any man that they encounter. So who's actually lacking in Femininity here?? Not Aries, from what I see. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Lots of projection going on.

♈️ Aries Women are indeed outspoken. They are typically confident & in possession of strong boundaries. They are open & honest communicators who aren't afraid to ask for what they want. Most Men LOVE this about them and wish more women were like this! 🩷 Alternatively, deep inside of every Ram Woman is a sweet, adventurous little girl with a heart of GOLD who yearns to feel safe. ❤️‍🔥 A maiden wanting her protector! They're an astonishing blend of pure innocence like the Spring Goddess Persephone + the wit & warrior spirit of Goddess Athena. 🙌 There are sooo many interesting layers to the Aries Woman!! It's insanely fascinating. They are deeply selective with who they disclose all of this to, though. So they can be misunderstood at times.

♈️ Aries Women are Masters of keeping men ON THEIR TOES in a healthy way. They like men and men adore them. 👌 They highly value autonomy, so they extend that to their partners and give them breathing room. They inspire men to be better, more powerful versions of themselves. They do have tempers!! But they don't hold grudges and their sex more than makes up for the trouble. 😺 They are playful and NEVER boring! How TF do you think we keep attracting the best of the best?? Not by being a Basic Bitch, my friends. 🤣

♈️ According to Marriage Statistics: Aries Women have the longest-lasting marriages with Leo Men, Sagittarius Men, Aquarius Men & Aries Men. ⚘️⚘️ After that, we also have solid odds with Capricorn & Taurus Men. We most often divorce Virgo, Gemini & Libra Men which makes TOTAL sense to me. Not surprised! Aries Women do not enjoy flaky and/or nitpicky partners.

♈️ Aries Women are just as sensitive & intuitive as Cancers in certain ways - we just follow our GUT instincts more than the emotions of our heart. 🔥 We're rarely wrong about someone's character. We bully the bullies! And *if* we care about you, we have your back until the very end. But if you betray us?? You will go from feeling like the most special person in the world... to the most worthless piece of gum scraping off the bottom of our shoe as we walk away from you FOREVER. 🙌 Do not play with us!! Don't play yourself by losing the best prize you'll ever have.

That's all for now, darlings. Happy Aries Season!! ♈️ And thanks so very much for all of the new follows, shares & support!

#astro observations #astro notes #aries season #aries woman #aries astrology #aries #aries sun #astro tumblr #astroblr #leo sun #sagittarius #aquarius #capricorn #persephone #athena

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hairstevington · 2 years

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Freaky Friday (Steddie's Version)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Dustin is fed up when his two friends, Eddie and Steve, hate each other for stupid reasons. The universe decides to bring them together by having them switch bodies until they get over themselves. Link to Ao3

Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5

Word Count: 7K, more chapters to come

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, slow(ish??) burn, canon universe (more or less) set before season 4, Dustin gets bullied at the beginning which is a bit sad but it's brief, body swap, angst, revenge, POV switching, Steddie both love Dustin so much, honestly just tons of fun lmao

A/N: A while back I made this post where I had a Steddie AU idea I never really got out of my head and then I started writing it and now I can't stop lmao. FYI this starts in third person Dustin POV but switches to Steve/Eddie midway! Please enjoy, I'll have it up on Ao3 soon probably like I do with everything else :)

Dustin had enough of this shit.

He had been bummed that Steve graduated from Hawkins high the year before Dustin entered the ninth grade. Having Steve there would have been a buffer for Dustin, who - although he rarely admitted it - actually didn’t like being unpopular. As much as he hated being the victim of bullying, he hated the thought of changing himself even more - which is why he refused to.

He showed up to his first day of high school in his Weird Al shirt, because he would be damned to give an inaccurate impression of himself. He knew that after graduation, he’d turn out better than all the other assholes at the school anyway. He was smarter than them, he was better than them. He could get through four years of their bullshit until he proved that.

Although…Having Steve around would have made it a lot easier.

But, whatever. Steve had graduated. Dustin still called him all the time, and they hung out every so often, but Dustin knew that nineteen year olds didn’t have a lot in common with fourteen year olds, at least not enough to hang out regularly. They were like brothers, more than anything, and they were in a weird spot.

Thankfully, through some grace of God, Dustin met Eddie.

It was bound to happen, considering Dustin had wanted to join the Hellfire Club anyway. He’s already informed the rest of the group - Mike and Lucas - so that the three of them could still play DnD together. Lucas had seemed hesitant, but that was to be expected. Things were changing.

He missed Will. Will would have loved Hellfire, had he not been in California.

Dustin met Eddie Munson at lunch - his first lunch in high school. The food Hawkins High served was mildly disturbing and likely lacked any nutritional value, so Dustin was grateful that his mother had kept up the tradition of packing him a lunch special for his first day. She even included chocolate pudding, since it was his favorite.

Mike and Lucas weren’t going to be at lunch on the first day, because Lucas wanted to check out the basketball team, and Mike wanted to see if he could call El - she wasn’t starting school until the following week. This meant that Dustin was alone in the cafeteria, and he wasn’t entirely prepared to face the brutal sting of rejection, so he didn’t want to just pick a random table and try to make friends. He already had friends, they just weren’t there.

He stopped in his tracks and scanned the room, pondering his next move. There was no way he’d sit with the jocks or the cheerleaders, and the rest of the tables were unrecognizable in terms of what cliques they represented. This was nothing like he’d seen in movies - he didn’t even really know who the popular ones were versus the unpopular ones.

He must have been standing there for a bit too long, because suddenly he was nudged hard in the shoulder.

“Move it, loser,” a guy twice his size said. “You’re in everybody’s way.”

“S-sorry,” Dustin apologized. He took a few steps backward, deciding to just start walking and see what happens, but then he bumped into someone else.

“Jesus, kid,” another voice said. “You’re like a pinball.”

Dustin looked up to see a tall, rather intimidating man with long, curly brown hair. He was dressed in denim and leather, the Hellfire logo splayed across his chest. He looked way too old to be a high school student, but way too scary to be a faculty member.

Not scary in a dangerous way - Dustin had experienced enough real danger that most normal things didn’t faze him - but scary in a way where Dustin felt the person standing in front of him had some kind of power in the school. A reputation, at least, whether it be good or bad.

“Welcome back, Freak,” another random student remarked at him as they walked past. Dustin watched as the enigmatic metalhead flipped the student off with zero hesitation.

Ah, so it was for sure a bad reputation. Noted.

“So, I’m the school freak,” he said, theatrically bowing as he introduced myself. “Eddie. Eddie Munson. And you are…”

“Dustin Henderson,” he answered without a second thought.

“I was going to say -” Eddie continued, “- you are….wearing a Weird Al shirt. Bold move for your first day, Dustin Henderson.”

“How did you know it was my first day?” Dustin asked, grateful to be having some sort of civil conversation, even if he had no idea where it was going.

“Just a hunch,” Eddie replied with a shrug. Dustin looked back at Eddie’s shirt.

“You're in Hellfire?” he asked. Eddie grinned, then pointed at a table where a bunch of people were wearing the same shirts.

“Hellfire is my pride and joy. We play a game called Dungeons and Dragons, have you heard of it?” Before Dustin could confirm, Eddie kept talking. “Of course you’ve heard of it, look at you. You’re one of us, I know it.” Eddie gestured for Dustin to follow him to the Hellfire table, which he gladly did.

“Eddie, who’s this?” a member seated at the table asked when they approached.

“This, Gareth, is Dustin, and he’s sitting with us today.” Eddie pointed at an available seat, then looped around to his own. Dustin noticed a textbook in front of Gareth and chimed in.

“You’re taking chemistry?” he asked. Gareth nodded. “That’s cool. I love chemistry. I went to this awesome summer camp called Camp Know Where -”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Eddie interrupted. “Did you just say you love chemistry? What kind of kid actually enjoys that shit? Are you a masochist? I failed that class twice.” Eddie’s rambling was entertaining, to say the least.

“Isn’t Camp Know Where that science program where all the geniuses go?” another person at the table asked.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie exclaimed dramatically. “Okay, Dustin Henderson. I will protect you, since you so desperately need the protection. In return, you will join Hellfire, and occasionally help me with homework because you’re obviously smarter than half the people in this school. Deal?”

“Only half?” Dustin joked - although, it wasn’t really a joke. Dustin knew for a fact he was smarter than at least 75% of the school. “Fine, I accept these terms. Can my friends Mike and Lucas join too?” Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed.

“You’re killing me,” he said. “Yeah, yeah. Bring all the Freshies in, I guess. No one will come near you if you stick with us, but you’ll avoid being stuffed in lockers at least.” That seemed like a good enough deal to Dustin, for now. “Alright, kid. Welcome to Hellfire.”

Dustin recounted this entire interaction with Steve the moment he’d gotten home from school.

“Eugh, Hellfire?” Steve said over the phone, acting disgusted. “That club’s for nerds.”

“Earth to Steve, I am a nerd,” Dustin deadpanned. “And Eddie said -”

“Oh god, not Munson,” Steve groaned. “That guy’s trouble, I swear. Seriously, you should get out of this while you can.”

“And go where?” Dustin retorted, starting to get agitated. “It’s not like I can float through school like you did by joining all the sports teams. I’m gonna be made fun of either way, and you know it.” Steve was silent on the line for a bit, knowing that Dustin was right.

“I wish I could be there to watch over you, ya know,” he said at last.

“Yeah, I wish you could too, but I have Eddie at least.”

Eddie. Ugh. Steve hated that guy. He was always doing something weird and dramatic to try to get a reaction from people.

“Yeah, okay. But I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything, alright?” Dustin laughed.

“Sure you will, Buddy.”

Mike and Lucas were far more terrified of Eddie than Dustin was. He knew why - Eddie had shown a bit of kindness that first day, but he wasn’t usually like that. Eddie was the kind of guy who loved attention, and he knew the best way for him to get it was through negative attention. He consistently made an ass of himself.

Dustin enjoyed it. Mike and Lucas didn’t not enjoy it, but they still felt like he was unhinged. Maybe he was. Dustin didn’t think about it that much.

Him and Eddie had bonded pretty quickly, especially since Dustin would hang around after lunch or club meetings to talk about homework. Eddie had a lot of questions, and he was kind of a horrible student. This was especially evident when Dustin discovered he was a third year senior, which explained why the guy looked so goddamn old.

“Damn,” Dustin said once he found out. “You’re even older than Steve. Wait - you might know Steve actually. He graduated last year. Steve Harrington?”

Eddie Munson did an actual spit take with his soda. Dustin had only ever seen that in movies.

“No shit,” Eddie responded. “You know that asshole?”

“He’s not an asshole,” Dustin replied immediately, quick to defend his friend. “He’s awesome.”

Dustin opened his mouth to continue, but it was hard to explain why Steve was awesome when he had to leave Upside Down stuff out of it. He totally saved us from a bunch of Demodogs, and one time he got tortured for information underground by evil Russians. Dustin considered mentioning the time Steve protected the kids from Billy - that was unrelated to the secret world the group had been privy to - but, considering Hargrove’s death, it felt in bad taste to bring up now.

“So you’re trying to tell me that you’re friends with the guy?” Eddie asked suspiciously. “Why? I mean, why would he be friends with a kid so much younger than him?”

“Why are you?” Dustin retorted. Eddie chuckled.

“Touche. But I know why I’m friends with a bunch of kids, why is he?”

“It’s complicated,” Dustin replied with a shrug. “But Steve’s pulled through for me a lot. He’s cool. You should give him a chance.”

“Give him a chance? I don’t ever see him. Are you trying to have us all hang out for a slumber party or something?” Dustin shook his head and was about to respond, but Eddie was on a roll (as usual). “Listen, Henderson. You’re cool and all, and I’m glad you joined our little clan here. But you wouldn’t want to hang out with me outside of this hellhole we call school, and I certainly wouldn’t want to hang out with Steve goddamn Harrington.”

There was a definitive finality to his statement that let Dustin know there was no point in arguing. But it did leave him wondering what exactly had happened to cause them to dislike each other so much.

Dustin blew through his first few weeks of school like this. He’d visit Steve and mention Eddie, and Steve would complain about how Eddie was a bad influence and would probably get arrested before graduation, if he ever did graduate. Any time Dustin brought up Steve in Hellfire, Eddie would groan and complain about the forced conformity and bullshit societal infrastructure at the high school that separated the good from the bad and blah blah blah. Dustin probably had that speech damn near memorized. Eddie seemed to hate the jocks, and for decent enough reason - the jocks hated him. And Dustin knew that Steve was kind of a dick in high school, but he’d changed now.

So, yeah. He’d had enough. He just thought that if maybe he could get the two of them in the same room, they’d start to understand why Dustin liked each of them so much. They were both good guys who were protective of him, and he wanted them to get along, dammit!

Steve always went to the basketball games to support Lucas and the rest of the team, which was nice. On nights where the games coincided with Hellfire, Steve would drive Dustin home after.

On one of these nights, Dustin hatched a bit of a plan. Usually, Hellfire got out before the game was over, so Dustin would meet Steve outside of the gym. This time, Dustin intentionally stayed late to help Eddie clean up and talk his ear off about his upcoming biology report. Eddie seemed to be in decent enough spirits, fresh off another successful campaign, and Steve was in a good mood because he now had a job again with Robin. It gave him money to take women out on dates, which he did often.

As Dustin chatted with Eddie, there was a pounding on the door.

“Hey, Dipshit!” Steve called from the other side. “Are you in there? Did Munson kill you or something?” Dustin grimaced as he gaged Eddie’s reaction to the comment, but thankfully Eddie seemed amused more than anything.

“Sure did,” Eddie shouted back with a grin. “Bite me, Harrington.” Dustin rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine, Steve!” he yelled. “Come in!”

“You’re inviting him into my sacred space?” Eddie asked with feigned offense.

“Your sacred space?” Dustin mocked. “You mean the drama club room? Based on the shit I’ve heard, it’s the least sacred spot on school property.” Eddie was laughing as Steve opened the door and came in.

“You guys making fun of me?” he asked, his chest puffed out in his silly Steve way. Dustin didn’t find Steve or Eddie that intimidating, because he saw right through their tough guy act. They were both goofballs.

“Always,” Eddie replied, returning to his cleaning tasks. “So, you’re Dustin’s ride home huh? How’d you guys become friends in the first place?” Steve hesitated, facing the same issue Dustin had when he’d been asked the same thing. Thankfully, he’d had more time to prepare since then.

“Steve used to date Mike’s sister,” Dustin stated plainly. Steve opened his mouth to object to the sharing of that information, but then Dustin added - “And then I annoyed him into being my friend.”

“That’s not really -” Steve grimaced, then realized that was the best version of the story either of them could provide. “Yeah, okay. The kid really worms his way into your heart.”

“I know, right?” Eddie replied absentmindedly. Dustin was thrilled to see them agree on something. It was a moment where he hoped they’d realize they could actually get along. “I remember when you dated Nancy Wheeler. I’m surprised it didn’t work out, since you were so perfect for each other.”

Okay, so maybe they wouldn’t get along. The way Eddie had said the word perfect almost seemed like an insult. To Eddie, it was. Dustin noticed Steve tensing and felt the need to mediate.

“Anyway,” he said, searching for something, anything, to redirect the conversation. He wasn’t sure when he was gonna get them in the same room again, so he couldn’t just leave. “How was the game, Steve?” Eddie rolled his eyes when Steve lit up again.

“We lost,” he answered. Dustin noticed Eddie hiding a smirk under one of his ringed hands. “It’s a shame they keep Lucas on the bench, although he’s a Freshman so it makes sense I guess. I mean, that’s how it always has been.”

“You mean to tell me,” Eddie interjected. Oh boy. “- that a high school sports team values a players popularity over their talent?” He scoffed. “Probably why you got so much airtime, right Harrington?”

Oh Jesus Christ this is bad. This is going badly. Steve was clearly offended by that comment, and rightfully so.

“Eddie, can you just - be nice?” Dustin pleaded.

“Since when am I nice?” Eddie shot back, picking the last of his papers up and stuffing them in his bag.

“You’re nice to me,” Dustin pointed out.

“Yeah, because I like you,” Eddie replied, “-and as I’ve said to you multiple times, I don’t like him.” Eddie gestured vaguely in Steve’s direction.

“What did I ever even do to you, Munson?” Steve questioned, finally deciding to stand up for himself. “Seriously man, you’re being a dick.”

“I know what you think of me,” Eddie answered plainly. “I’m just calling it like I see it.”

“Okay, well this has been sufficiently awkward and horrible,” Dustin sighed, finally giving up. “I was wrong, you two are hopeless. Eddie, Steve’s right. You’re being a dick.” That accusation actually did seem to have an effect on Eddie, even though he tried not to let it show. “Steve, let’s go home.”

On the walk to the car, Steve had already seemed to brush the whole interaction off.

“I told you that guy’s no good,” he said. “Thanks for defending me, by the way.”

“I promise he’s not usually like that,” Dustin assured him. But, come to think of it, that kind of was how Eddie usually spoke to people, especially the popular kids. But Dustin was in Hellfire, he was one of them, as Eddie said, and he treated the freaks far differently and with more respect.

His two cool older guy friends were bound to hate each other, he realized. No getting around it, no point in trying to change it.

_______________________________________

Eddie had gone to Family Video countless times over the years, because what else were people supposed to do in Hawkins, Indiana? It was cheaper and involved less people than going to the movies, and it was something to entertain him while he was home.

Imagine his surprise when he walked into the store one day and saw none other than Steve Harrington behind the counter.

The green vest Steve was forced to wear was a lot more masculine than the get-up he’d worn at Scoops Ahoy over the Summer. Eddie had the pleasure of seeing him a few times at the mall in his little short shorts and stupid hat, and it was an image he sorely missed. Seeing King Steve pathetically dressed and striking out with women post-graduation? Delicious.

He’d only let himself visit once, although he may have done it again had the mall not burned down. But alas, Steve’s sailor outfit days were short-lived, and now he was back to being the same old boring jock he always had been - just now, he didn’t even play sports.

Eddie may have been in his third go-around of senior year, but at least he wasn’t pretending he was someone he wasn’t. He embraced his freak nature, and had grown comfortable in it. Life hadn’t been kind enough to him to give him the option of the niceties people like Steve took advantage of.

“Hey, man,” Steve greeted him as he entered the door. He was so nonchalant about it, like he didn’t even care about Eddie’s presence. Eddie didn’t care too much about Steve being there, except he did. There was a fire in Eddie's dislike for Steve that seemed one sided. Steve being almost indifferent made Eddie hate him even more. “Let me know if I can help you find anything.” Eddie ignored Steve’s surprisingly sincere customer service and went directly to the row of movies he always went to. He scanned the selection - it looked about the same as it had the last ten times he’d reviewed it - then picked one of his favorites and brought it to the counter.

Steve didn’t say anything more than that as he went through the rental process. It was all over in less than two minutes, and Eddie was mildly disappointed in the lack of drama. If Steve wasn’t an asshole, then what? Was Eddie the asshole all along?

Yeah. Yeah, he absolutely was.

He was on his way out when he stopped, then spun on his heels to face Steve at the counter again.

“Listen, man,” he began. Steve looked up from the pile of VHS tapes he was sorting, seemingly unbothered by any of this. “I’m sorry about, uh - about the other night.”

“Thanks,” Steve responded with a nod. Eddie could never really just leave things alone, though.

“Dustin was right,” he continued.

“The little shit usually is.” Steve had returned his gaze to the movies in front of him.

“Yeah,” Eddie chuckled, a bit too forcefully in an attempt to ease the tension. “I’ll see you around, then.”

“See ya,” Steve responded. Eddie pouted, not satisfied with how that went, and he wasn’t sure why. But whatever. He was gonna go home, get high, and watch the movie. A good night was ahead.

He paused at the door when the phone rang, pretending to get distracted by a cardboard cutout near the window.

“Family Video,” Steve said on the phone. “Woah, shit. Dustin, calm down. Where are you?” This got Eddie’s attention, and he raced back to the counter. “Okay, I’ll figure something out.”

“What’s up with Henderson?” Eddie asked, his concern growing.

“I guess some guys are picking on him. He called from the side of the road on a pay phone near the power plant.”

“Jesus, what did they do to him? Is he okay?”

“He’s great, that’s why he called,” Steve shot back sarcastically. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know if I can just leave my shift since I just started this job like three days ago. Shit.”

“I’ll go,” Eddie offered. “The plant is right by my place anyway. Don’t sweat it.” Steve eyed Eddie suspiciously, then nodded.

“Okay, I guess. Just - can you call here once you know he’s safe?”

“Sure thing, Harrington.” It was a brief, genuine moment between the two of them, both desperate to protect the tiny child they each adored so much.

And with that, Eddie bolted out of Family Video, to his van, and towards the plant.

Dustin had apparently been chased down and recaptured after he called Steve, because Eddie found him tied to a pole a bit further down the street.

“Eddie!” he yelled once they locked eyes. “Get me out of this shit!”

Dustin was doing his damndest to break free from the binds, but it was no use. Eddie took his pocket knife out from where he always kept them tucked in his jeans and got to work, successfully freeing the little twerp once he stopped squirming.

“Who did this? Where are they?” Eddie felt the heat rising in his chest, up his neck, and to his cheeks. “How’d they even get a hold of you? Why are you all the way over here? What -”

“Jesus, Eddie,” Dustin interrupted him. “It doesn’t matter. I just wanna go home.”

Eddie looked Dustin up and down and noticed a bruise forming on his jaw.

“Come on, my trailer is right there,” Eddie said, pointing in the vague direction of Forest Hills. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”

_______________________________________

Steve tried to wait idly by while he entrusted a guy like Eddie to go rescue Dustin. He tried to do the responsible thing for once and stay at his stupid job so he could keep said job. He tried not to think about how Eddie could have been behind this whole thing, for all he knew. Some sick twisted mind game. He tried not to think about any of that.

He lasted two minutes before he called Robin and begged her to fill in. She accepted after a few minutes of persuasion - after all, Steve didn’t ask her for things very often, and he always drove her around, so she kinda owed him. It took her about fifteen agonizing minutes to get there, and just as she walked in the door, the phone rang.

“Family video,” he greeted, hoping a familiar voice would be on the other end.

“Steve, it’s me,” Dustin’s voice called through the phone. “I’m at Eddie’s. I’m okay.”

“Where does he live?” Steve asked, still hellbent on leaving.

“At the trailer park. You don’t have to -”

Steve dropped the phone and ran out the door, not even bothering to hang it back up on the receiver. He headed to Forest Hills, and was thankfully able to locate Eddie’s trailer pretty quickly due to the beat-up red van parked in front of it. He stumbled out of his own car as soon as it stopped, nearly forgetting to take his keys from the ignition. Maybe it was silly for him to worry about Dustin so much, but after what they’d been through together, Steve had learned to treat everything as life or death.

The door pushed open from the stress of his knock alone, so he let himself in.

Eddie’s place was small, messy, and smelled of smoke. But, it was clear the place was a home. Steve’s house was a hundred times bigger and somehow contained less.

“Dustin?” Steve called as he walked deeper into the living room. “Eddie?”

“Bathroom!” Steve followed the voice down the hall to where Eddie was tending to a bruise forming on Dustin’s jaw.

“Who did this? Where are they?” Eddie chuckled, and Steve almost lashed out because of it, but then Eddie explained.

“That’s exactly what I said when I found him, Harrington.” Steve took note of the care that Eddie was actually putting into his first aid. It was surprisingly gentle. “Good luck getting him to rat the bastards out.”

“I told you, it doesn’t matter,” Dustin groaned.

“Whoever it was, we can take ‘em,” Steve insisted. He noticed Eddie smirk at the inclusion of them both taking the bullies down.

“You idiots!” Dustin snapped, standing up from where he was sitting on the lip of the bathtub. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to ‘take ‘em.’ It was embarrassing enough to have them pick on me, I don’t need you guys to go down there and humiliate me even more.”

“We’re just trying to protect you, man,” Eddie replied.

“I don’t need protection!” Dustin shouted, causing Eddie and Steve to back up. “My bike isn’t far. I’m going home. Eddie, thanks for cutting me down. Steve, thanks for leaving work when I asked you to. You’re both really good friends, and I appreciate it. I just want to go home.”

It broke Steve’s heart to know that Dustin was getting picked on. He just wanted to help, but he understood the whole pride thing. Steve had fought many uphill battles in the past in the name of saving face. Ironically, his face was usually what took the brunt of the consequences.

“You sure you’re gonna be -” Eddie began to ask the question before Steve was able to, but stopped himself when Dustin shot a glare at them both. “Right, okay. Can you just call when you get home okay?”

“Me too,” Steve added.

“Okay, mom and dad,” Dustin replied, rolling his eyes. “Or, Steve could stay here ten minutes and then I’d only have to make one call. Unless you guys will murder each other by then.”

“Jury’s out,” Eddie muttered. Steve felt like it was a joke, but also Eddie gave off psycho killer vibes, so anything was possible. “Sure, Harrington. You can stay here until he gets home.”

Steve wanted to think of a witty comeback, but his head was empty. He could stay, and then he figured he should get back to work.

“Fine,” he agreed. “But the moment you walk through your door, got it?”

“Yes, dad,” Dustin deadpanned.

“I thought I was dad,” Eddie cut in.

“You think I’m mom?”

“Ten minutes, no murders,” Dustin reminded them before heading out the door. There was a beat of silence before Steve and Eddie turned to each other once again.

“So, we’re definitely gonna go to that plant and kick some ass, right?” Eddie asked, his tone completely devoid of its usual teasing. Steve smirked.

“Finally, we’re on the same page,” he replied.

Ten minutes later, Dustin called as promised. Seconds after the call disconnected, Steve and Eddie made a beeline for the front door.

It was getting dark, even though it was a bit too early for the sun to set. Clouds were forming in the sky, a bleak omen of the impending storm that neither Eddie nor Steve had prepared for.

They walked to the plant in silence, because what was there to be said? They were going to tolerate each other to defeat the common enemy.

A group of misfits were in fact still camped out under one of the towers. They were all smoking and laughing and spouting nonsensical vitriol about the student body - kids like Dustin, as well as the women of the school. If Eddie and Steve weren’t heated already, the few comments they’d overheard sent them over the edge.

“Hey!” Steve shouted, cutting one of the guys off. Five pairs of eyes flickered over to the pair, who’d realized once they were in the situation that they were vastly outnumbered.

“Steve Harrington?” One of the boys questioned. “What are you doing over here?”

“And with Munson?” Another added. “I never thought I’d see the two of you together.”

“Neither did I,” Steve and Eddie said in unison. They glanced at each other, awkwardly acknowledging that they’d said the same thing at the same time, then hastily moved on.

“Is this about the boy?” The leader of the group was probably a Junior, and shorter than both Eddie and Steve, but he had enough audacity to make up for it.

“Found him tied to a pole,” Eddie reminded them through gritted teeth. This was news to Steve, who’s blood boiled at the thought. A few years prior, Tommy and Carol used to do shit like that. Maybe not to that extent, but it was all the same.

“Why do you care so much about that dumbass anyway?” The leader (was his name Chad?) asked.

“He’s totally harmless,” Steve said.

“Us on the other hand…” Eddie interjected.

“Oh yeah,” Steve agreed. “I’ve been known to throw a punch, and Eddie over here is actually insane, I’m pretty sure.”

“Aw, thanks man,” Eddie grinned devilishly, smacking Steve on the back. “Our point being, you stay away from Henderson and we won’t break anything, okay?”

Thunder cracked in the distance, followed by a flash of lightning.

“Yeah, okay,” Chad mocked. “We’re not scared of you.” Eddie and Steve looked at each other, shrugged, then both trudged forward. Eddie took Chad while Steve went for the one who appeared to be second in command. They each pushed them against the metal pillars, gripping them by the collar of their shirts, and drawing their other hand back into a fist.

“How about now?” Eddie asked with darkness in his eyes.

“Let’s get out of here,” one of the others in the group said, and within moments the other three bullies scampered away into the night.

“Some loyal friends you got there,” Eddie teased. Steve was getting agitated at how many stupid quips Eddie had. Was he supposed to be all quippy too? Was that the secret to winning one of these goddamn things?

Thunder rumbled again, this time much louder than before. Rain started to fall hard against their skin, distracting them enough for the two pathetic bullies to slip from their gasps and follow their friends out of sight.

“Shit,” Steve groaned, realizing that they’d just made a fool of themselves. “Not only did we not hurt them, but they’re definitely going to tell people about it, and then -”

“Is that seriously what you’re worried about right now?” Eddie interrupted, the rage in him still burning. “Your reputation? Claaassic Steve Harrington, always thinking about himself.”

“That’s not what I was saying, asshole,” Steve responded. “Dustin’s going to find out, and then -”

“So what if he does?” Eddie asked. Steve was sick and tired of being interrupted. “If they mess with him again, then -”

“Could you let me finish a goddamn sentence? Holy shit,” Steve exclaimed, thoroughly irritated. The rain was falling steadily now, the drops heavy as they hit him. His hair was already starting to feel weighed down to his scalp. Perfect. Just perfect. “Dustin told us not to do anything, and then we did, okay? So what do you think that little shrimp’s gonna do when he finds out, huh?”

“He’ll handle it, Harrington,” Eddie shot back. “He’s a big boy.”

“Oh, come on!” Steve groaned. “Don’t give me that bullshit when ten minutes ago you dropped everything to rescue him like he was some lost puppy.”

“Because he was tied to a pole!” Eddie responded.

“That would have been helpful to know before we headed out here, by the way.” Steve put his hands on his hips and planted his feet in the mud. It was way too late to worry about his appearance, now.

“Oh, Jesus H. Christ,” Eddie sighed, taking a step towards Steve. “You’re just as awful as I thought you were.”

“Oh, really?” Steve said, taking another step forward to meet Eddie. “Back atcha.”

“Fuck off.”

There was another loud crack of thunder as both of them shoved the other at the same time, causing them both to stumble backwards until they each hit one of the metal pillars extending down from the plant.

A flash of light. A quick, searing pain. Then, they each dropped to their knees and fell into the mud.

It felt like a sudden hangover, and a bad one. Eddie opened his eyes and cringed at the feeling of mud under his fingernails and up his arms.

For a moment, he’d forgotten how he ended up on the ground. It felt like he was somewhere different, and he wasn’t sure why. He sat up, extremely disoriented, and then focused on a similar crumpled heap across from him. It took a second for Eddie to make out Steve’s features in the dark, but then his head angled upwards, their eyes met, and everything got a whole lot more complicated.

“Steve…” Eddie began, speaking slowly. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Why the hell do you look like me, man?”

The man across from him had the same features Eddie had come to know in his own reflection - the same style, same hair, same everything, but no - that didn’t make any sense.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” the man replied. The man, who answered to Steve, but couldn’t possibly be. No, Eddie was dreaming. He’d done some hallucinogenic and forgot and now he was tripping. That had to be the case.

They both stood up, mirroring each other, and for a moment Eddie thought that maybe that’s all this was. Some trick of the light. Maybe, there was a mirror at the power plant for some reason, and he was just staring at himself. Sure, the other guy responded to him, but he couldn’t think about that.

He waved at himself, but the guy across from him didn’t wave back. There went the mirror theory.

It was still raining, but it had lightened up quite a bit. The two men took a few tentative steps towards each other, their eyes adjusting.

“So, this is…I mean, we are…” Eddie fumbled over words that didn’t make sense.

“What kind of weird cult shit did you do to me?” Steve accused, his voice rising. “Did you drug me? Sacrifice me to the devil or something?”

“Dude, are you fucking serious right now?” Eddie groaned, throwing his head back. “I didn’t do shit.”

“Then what happened?” Steve snapped. “How did we - Like, you’re seeing this too, right?”

“Yeah, I’m seeing it.” Eddie finally took a moment to look down, noticing a vastly different wardrobe than the one he remembered putting on.

Including a green vest.

“Holy shit,” Steve said. It was weird hearing his voice with Steve’s words.

The idea of saying it out loud - dude, we switched bodies - seemed too batshit insane to consider. So, naturally, Eddie did what he knew best.

“No. Nope. Not happening.” he shook his head and took off towards his trailer.

“Hey. Hey!” Eddie’s own voice echoed behind him, followed by footsteps that got louder and louder as Eddie desperately tried to get away. He didn’t even look back until he was safely in his trailer again, the feeling of home making him feel slightly more at ease. “Dude, we gotta figure this out.” Steve followed him in, of course.

“Why? Why do we have to? Why can’t I just shower and go to sleep and hopefully wake up from this nightmare?”

“Because I don’t think we’re gonna wake up,” Steve said with a shrug. “And because if you shower right now you’re gonna see my dick, and so I think we should, like, talk first.” Eddie barked out a bitter laugh.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Harrington. Would you feel better if I bought you dinner first?” He continued to walk down the hall to his bathroom, where first aid supplies were still strewn about, and that’s when he caught himself in the mirror.

Sure enough, Steve Harrington stared back at him. He looked a little worse for wear with his hair wet and disheveled and streaks of mud on his face, but no amount of dirt could change the pretty boy Steve was and always would be. He nearly spat at the image. Eddie’s familiar figure joined him in the bathroom, where they stood shoulder to shoulder and stared at themselves for an absurd amount of time. It was the closest they’d ever been to each other for more than a few fleeting seconds, but they were too stunned to do anything about their proximity.

“Okay, so…” Steve said, watching Eddie’s mouth move as he said it.

“I’m you,” Eddie responded, finishing the thought.

“And I’m you,” Steve finished. Their eyes stayed focused on their reflections for a while longer. How long exactly, it was tough to say.

“So, what the fuck do we do now, then?” Eddie asked, finally breaking his gaze to look at Steve - er, himself, he guessed.

What did they do now? That was certainly the question.

____________________________

Steve had gotten used to weird shit happening to him, but this was a whole new world of weird.

“I guess…” Steve searched for a plan, but he had no semblance of one. His head was completely empty. Probably because I’m using Eddie’s head, he thought to himself. “I should call Robin and tell her I’m not coming back to work.”

“You mean I should call Robin, since I am you now apparently.” Steve scoffed.

“You’re not me, alright? You just look like me, for some reason,” he argued. “Maybe we should call Dustin.”

“Yeah, because he’s soooo happy with us right now,” Eddie responded. “What do we say when he asks us what happened? We did the thing he told us not to do, and now we’re facing the consequences.”

“Consequences?” Steve repeated. “No, no. On any other day, in any other town, we would have done what we did and nothing would have happened. This isn’t a consequence, this is just my goddamn luck.”

“You’re acting like this is just any regular day for you,” Eddie complained. “Do you body swap with your enemies often?” Steve shot him a glare. The actual answer of, no but I’ve had a bunch of other weird shit happen, was on the tip of his tongue. If only Eddie knew what was really going on in Hawkins. Steve thought Eddie probably had his head up his own ass too much to notice, anyway. “Fine. I’ll call Robin.”

“Don’t say anything I wouldn’t, okay?” Steve warned, suddenly terrified at the power Eddie had to do some damage if he wanted to.

“Don’t worry, I know exactly what to say.” Eddie went to his phone and dialed the number to the video store. “Hi, Robin. It’s me, your coworker, Steeeeve Harrington.”

Great start. Jesus.

“Dude,” Steve whined, nudging Eddie’s shoulder. “I don’t sound like that.”

“Yeah, I’m still at Eddie’s,” he continued on the phone. “Dustin’s okay. Can you finish my shift?” Huh. After the playfully performative introduction, Eddie seemed to actually act normal on the phone. “Great, thanks a bunch.” Just when Steve thought they were in the clear, Eddie tagged on a final line. “See ya later, Sweetheart,” followed by a bunch of kissing noises.

Steve wrestled the phone from ‘Steve’ and slammed it against the receiver.

“What the hell was that?”

“That -” Eddie said with a grin, “- was fun.” Steve’s eyes narrowed as anger began coursing through his veins. Anger, mixed with fear. Fear of this guy he hated, who now had full control of his life.

“If you mess with my life, Munson, I swear to god -”

“What?” Eddie cut him off, barely fazed. “What are you gonna do? Get me back? Harrington, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m already the school freak, nobody gives a shit what I do.”

He had a fair point. Steve scrambled to think of a way, any way, he could get under Eddie’s skin the way Eddie was under his.

“You have Hellfire,” he blurted out. Steve knew from Dustin just how much Eddie loved that stupid club. Based on Eddie’s reaction, Steve had made the right call. “I could tank it,” he continued. “Give up your title as dungeon manager or whatever.”

“Dungeon Master,” Eddie corrected him through gritted teeth. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would,” Steve insisted. “If you mess with me, I’ll mess right back.”

They stared at each other, knowing that each of them were serious.

“Fine,” Eddie agreed. “I will play nice.” He stuck his hand out in front of him for Steve to shake. Steve hesitantly did so, not sure if he believed a word out of Eddie’s mouth.

He was right to be mistrusting. Eddie had the fingers of his other hand crossed behind his back.

_____________________________________

#st fanfic #writing #steddie #steddie fanfic #dustin henderson #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve and eddie #eddie munson x steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie x steve #freaky Friday Steddie’s version

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