#time is the worlds biggest dweeb

[localicecreambiter]

lu got several and mina got some so i think its time i show @linked-maze the same love via doodle page! and in typical me fashion, its more words than art :D hope you love reading because the amount of notes i add is insane

thanks to the yellow background and pink outlines, coloring this was a little weird- those green pants? yeah thats brown :) the shoulder pad? pink (skull emoji) anywayyysss i hope you enjoy my goofy antics

[harmonictechnicality]

Memory Log: Day 52

part 1 here | part 2 here | part 3 here | part 5 here | part 6 here (ao3 link here)

After seeing his ink-smeared biography all over Eddie Munson’s arm, Steve becomes extremely motivated. Obsessed, even.

He assembles a makeshift army. Eddie’s Memory Soldiers, he calls it. Okay - he doesn’t call it that out loud, only to himself (because even Steve is self-aware enough to know how deranged this all sounds).

Steve compiles a ragtag group of Eddie’s friends to nudge his brain along faster. Band mates, theater dweebs, potheads that can carry a tune. All of them bring mixtapes on their visits. After two weekends, there’s already a fuckload of thrashy melodies for Eddie to choose from.

He lets them take the reins on this music-healing plan because there’s no fucking way Steve will be helpful in that department. It means less visits that include his presence, which sort of sucks, but it’s worth it. Worth it to get Eddie back to where he used to be.

Before Steve heads out for one of his morning visits, Robin interrogates him. Asks him the question he’s been ignoring for weeks.

“Steve… not to sound harsh, but why do you care so much?” 

Yeah. Why does he care so much? 

She quickly follows it up with, “I just didn’t know you two were friends now. So I’m just curious, I guess.”

They’re not friends. They’re lukewarm tolerators - tethered together by monster hunting and Dustin Henderson.

They’ve flirted, sure. But who doesn’t? Steve would flirt with half of the leggy cartoon characters that appear on Saturday Mornings if he could. So that’s a weak argument to assume they’re more than just friends. Tolerators. Whatever.

So he lies. To Robin. To himself. Lies so much that it sits in his stomach like motion sickness.

He answers the exact same way he’s been answering since day one:

“I’m just doing this for the kids, Robs.”

He’s pretty sure neither of them are buying that statement. He tries again. Stamps the words onto his confused brain. Considers writing them on his arm just like Eddie might do.

“I’m doing it for them.”

Eddie is always on his Walkman (Steve’s Walkman) now that he has skyscraper of cassettes on his desk. Pretty much every time Steve returns, Eddie is head banging. Won’t stop until the nurses scold him.

Or Steve. He’ll stop if Steve scolds him too.

“You can’t keep jostling up your brain, Munson.” Steve whips the headphones off of Eddie’s ears. “Gonna undo all of our hard work.”

“Our hard work?” Eddie attempts to grab the headphones back. Gives up as soon as their hands make contact. “And who might be included in this our that you speak of?”

“You know…” Me. “The doctors and nurses and your friends.”

“Right.”

This is how things have been going lately. Eddie teases him mercilessly and Steve bats it all away. Doesn’t encourage it for a second.

Which blows so hard because he wants to flirt back. Steve wants to know what Eddie feels like beyond tubes and bandages and hospital gowns. He wants way too much after watching Eddie fall asleep smiling that night. After finding out that Eddie scams his own mind into remembering Steve in technicolor details every day.

But it feels wrong. Deep down, there’s this part of Steve that worries that Eddie only likes the scribbled notes, the good qualities of himself. The non-prickster qualities.

He doesn’t scribble the bad qualities on his arm. Eddie lets himself forget about those every night. 

So it seems wrong. Unfair to let Eddie only remember the good parts of him and take advantage of his weak mind.

Life was a fucking breeze before Steve cared about not taking advantage of people. Shit, he used the world’s biggest advantage-taker before all of this evil wizard nonsense.

“Quiz me, Harrington.” Eddie insists.

So Steve does. Steve goes down the list of questions. Things that Eddie’s memory typically hesitates to recognize. 

Music helps Eddie remember his childhood memories the best.

That’s the biggest discovery they’ve made over the last fourteen days. Tapes that include songs from the early to mid 70’s have the biggest mental impact on his memory skills. Every day, he recalls more moments from his past.

Winter birthday parties. Recess and tire swings. Nineteen chickenpox. A pet hamster named Sterling.

“Can’t believe Wayne trusted you with a living creature.” Steve sneers.

“Never said he did.”

He always gets fuzzy with stuff from the late 70s though. And the early 80s is just a jumbled-up shit show. That’s when Eddie really starts failing his quiz.

“What year did you get the tattoo on your chest?”

“You mean this one?” Eddie pulls down the wrinkly hospital gown, exposing way too much of his collarbone. “Or this one?” He pulls the fabric down even further.

They must’ve finally turned the heat on in this place. Or maybe Steve’s sweater is just extra itchy, scratching his skin all splotchy red. He rubs furiously at the collar, spreads the flush all over by accident. 

His eyes dart up to the fluorescent lights. Away from Eddie’s chest. “Um… the… creepy guy.”

“You’ll sprain your neck looking up like that.”

“Good thing I’m in a hospital then.”

“Okay - seriously, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Sure.” Eddie snorts. His heart monitor beeps faster. Steve hates that laughing must be a bit painful for him. “And he’s not some creepy guy. He’s a creepy demon. Please respect the body art and get your facts right.”

“Fine.”

Not flirting back makes Steve feel like he could break out into hives. He has a fucking stockpile of pickup lines. He hoards provocative catchphrases like a horny pack rat. Talking is becoming increasingly difficult when he can’t banter back the way he wants to.

“Don’t remember what year I got it.” Eddie admits. “Sorry.”

Steve pulls his focus away from the ceiling and scribbles that down:

Eddie still can’t remember when he got his tattoos.

“Gee mister,” Eddie imitates a very masculine Shirley Temple voice. “Am I failing the pop quiz already?”

Eddie remembers who Shirley Temple is (weird, but okay).

Eddie does a really shitty impression of Shirley Temple.

Steve just keeps writing. Not even writing words anymore, just moving the pen to stay focused. Stay distracted from flirting.

The energy starts to feel swampy and stiff as he continues to give short responses with lifeless enthusiasm. Steve can tell that Eddie is picking up on the weirdness too. 

He’s so fidgety. Drumming his fingers, twisting the one ring he’s allowed to wear on one of his less busted fingers. Bobbing his knees and kicking off his blankets. 

Eventually, Eddie puts his (Steve’s) headphones back on and closes his eyes. A nonverbal surrender. A borrowed Walkman instead of a white flag. Why does it feel so shitty to see that he is just as defeated as Steve?

Once Eddie is asleep, Steve peaks over at his arms.

The notes are still there. Fading, but there.

It shouldn’t jab him in the heart the way that it does every time he checks, but christ. It’s so fucked up.

Slowly but surely, Eddie is gaining pieces of his past, but never his present. Why the fuck is that? Steve is so selfishly pissed about that because he’s a main role in Eddie’s present life. 

He’s the one that’s here most days. He’s the one that listens to Eddie’s rants and incessant complaints. He’s the one that calls the nurses when Eddie is too prideful to admit when he’s in pain.

Steve should be remembered without smudgey reminders and foggy recollections.

Steve should be un-fucking-forgettable.

After an unhealthy amount of moping, he comes up with an idea. Well, Dustin comes up with an idea, actually. Steve bribed him with nougat and R-rated movie rentals to construct a gameplan.

“And you need Eddie to remember your favorite sweater…why?” Dustin’s mouth is full of chewy candy as he asks.

Steve chucks a raisinette at his dumb hat. “I thought we agreed this was a no questions asked request.”

“You suggested that.” Dustin points at Steve. “I never agreed to it though.”

This is the part Steve despises. If he admits it to others, he has to admit it to himself. And while he’s come a long way since that first day with Eddie, he’s not there yet. His pride can only take so much vulnerability before it fractures completely. “Just… I’m testing a theory I have on his newest memories.”

“Right. And what theory would that be?”

That he thinks about me in kissable ways. “That he remembers more than he gives himself credit for.”

Dustin chugs back his soda and scrunches the can in his grasp. “Okay. Well, the mixtape theory is working decently well with older memories, right?

“Yeah. Definitely.”

“So maybe it can work with newer memories too.”

Steve is lost already. “Meaning?”

“Find songs that relate to you.” Dustin shrugs like duh. He must sense Steve’s hesitation, so he sputters back into his brainy explanation. “Think about it: you’re there all the time -”

“Not all the time, but -”

“Shut the hell up. You’re there all the time, so he must remember the essence of Steve Harrington.”

Steve fake gags. “Don’t say essence, that’s fucking gross.”

“Will you stop interrupting? Jesus christ.” Dustin yells, scrunching the soda can even more with his irritation. “Just make a mixtape with stuff that relates to you. Get his current memories to stick with lyrics and shit.”

Steve twists his mouth to one side. Then the other. “That’s…”

“Genius?”

“I was gonna say worth a shot, but sure.” Steve agrees. “We’ll go with your conceited analysis.”

Dustin finally picks up the raisinette from earlier. Throws it back at Steve. “You should be nicer to me. I possibly just solved your dilemma.”

“I should be nicer to you?” Steve tosses the raisinette into his mouth, despite its questionable duration on the floor. “Dude, you’re never nice to me.”

“Yeah, but it’s affectionate hostility.”

“And that makes it better?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Fine.” Steve rolls eyes, offers a hand to Dustin. “Thank you for the hostile affection.”

Dustin accepts the handshake. He’s overly smug about it too. “You’re very welcome.”

Memory Log: Day 53

Right away, Steve determines it’s a Kathy Day. Eddie is a verbal nightmare already, whining about the dead batteries in his tv remote.

“I’ll get Sam to grab some batteries when her shift starts.” Steve reassures the bitchy entity possessing Eddie Munson’s body at the moment.

“Why don’t you just get the damn batteries?” Eddie bites back. “You have legs, don’t you?”

“You have eyes, don’t you? Of course, I have fucking legs.” Steve can play it this game. Doesn’t want to but he can be just as obnoxious if Eddie keeps going with his attitude. “Please don’t pull this Kathy shit today.”

That simultaneously shuts them both up for a while. Steve begins flipping through one of the outdated magazines on Eddie’s desk, avoiding the escalated atmosphere. At this rate, there’s no fucking way Steve is going to bring up his mixtape. Kathy/Eddie will probably smash it. Roll over it with the wheels on his imprisoning hospital bed.

Eddie clears his throat, speaking softer than he did at Steve’s arrival. “You know… you were sort of a Kathy yourself yesterday.”

Eddie remembers Steve’s weird mood from the day before (needs to check Eddie’s arm notes to make sure he didn’t write that down).

“Yeah well… I’m allowed to be the pissy one sometimes.” Steve doesn’t look up. He just keeps pretending to read the fossilized magazine in his hand.

“Whatever you say, Harrington.” There’s another pause. Just as awkward as the last one. Their dynamics today are clashing harder than their music styles. Eddie breaks through the awkwardness once again. “So… what’s on the brain agenda today?”

Eddie remembers their pop quizzes.

Right. The quiz. The quiz that Steve has no intention of administering today because he’s supposed to give Eddie this stupid mixtape. 

And look, Steve is pretty good at avoiding shit - homework and phone calls and extended family members. He’s good at dodging shit too, like the relentless one-night stands that can never seem to take a goddamn hint.

But this situation is different because Steve would clearly like to avoid the potential weirdness of giving Eddie Munson a gift. However, he’s innately aware that this particular gift could be helpful. Maybe more to himself than to Eddie, but who knows? If Eddie gets his memory tank back on track and Steve gets someone that reciprocates his affections? 

The payoff might be worth the weirdness.

“I actually wanted to contribute to your…” Steve gestures apathetically at the stack of tapes.

Eddie looks over at them and then back to Steve. “Oh you mean, Munsonopolis?”

“Boooo.” Steve heckles him immediately for that.

“You think of something better then.”

Steve thinks about this way too hard. “The Ed-pire State Building.”

“Boooo.” Eddie imitates Steve’s heckling.

“Better than yours.”

“Says who?”

“Says anyone with a sense of humor.”

“Brave of you to call that a sense of humor.”

“What can I say?” Steve clicks his mouth twice and does the most douchey finger-gun bit, blowing out the nonexistent smoke from each index finger. “I’m something else.”

Eddie bites down over his lip, hard enough that it goes white for a second. Doesn’t take his eyes off of Steve while he bares down.

“You sure are, Steve.”

Oh shit - did they just mindlessly segue onto Flirtation Boulevard without even trying? Is it really that natural with Eddie? Damnit, Steve needs to get his mind on the task at hand.

“Here.” He walks over, lays the tape on Eddie’s lap.

“Is this another one from Gareth?” Eddie flips the tape over, studies the back. “Cause I already assured him that I remember the concert we went to back in ‘84.”

Eddie remembers one of his closest friends.

“No, this one is actually…” Just fucking own up, Steve. “Well, I made it.”

Eddie’s eyes do that sequin thing again. Almost turn into disco balls. “You made me a mixtape?”

Ugh. “Don’t get too flattered, Munson.” 

“Too late.”

Steve was afraid that might be the case. So he does his damndest to channel Dustin Henderson. Provide a scientific explanation to his crush-driven theory. “It’s just an extension of our little music experiment. Some stuff that will help you remember me.”

“And why exactly do you want me to remember you?” Eddie does the same lip biting thing from before. He bites harder, and the color stays white even longer this time.

Steve involuntarily glances down at Eddie’s arm, giving himself away.

“Oh.” Eddie stops biting his lip, swiftly lifts the blankets over his arms. Hiding what Steve already knows is there. “Look… that’s just -”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, really.”

Eddie looks down, nodding in agreement. “Right. But it’s not-”

“Eddie.” Steve places a firm hand on Eddie’s shoulder because he can’t. He can’t listen to whatever Eddie is about to confirm or deny. “It’s okay. I mean it.”

He’s not ready for it, for whatever barricade that’s between them to come crashing down. Steve didn’t bring the proper tools to shield himself from raw emotions or desperate declarations of true feelings. And from the way Eddie goes breathless and tense under Steve’s shoulder-grip, he doesn’t think Eddie has the proper tools for that either.

“So you uh…” Eddie peers down at Steve’s hand. Catches a glimpse then abruptly looks away again. “Do you want me to listen now or…”

God no. Steve releases his grip at that thought. “Wait till I leave.” 

“Got it.”

The rest of the visit goes both fairly smoothly. There are only a few lingering particles of awkward tension left behind. It doesn’t bother Steve, not necessarily. The whole day has been kind of all over the place, just like Eddie’s Literary Behavioral Scale. So this uneasy atmosphere is to be expected.

They talk about movies while Steve packs up his things to leave. Eddie asks about all the new movies that have come out since he’s been in the hospital. Steve tells him to make a list of the ones he’s interested in seeing. Tells him that they’ll have a marathon at his place once they’re released to vhs. Eddie says he knows a guy that sells bootlegs before the vhs release date, but Steve shoots that idea down so fucking fast.

It’s not their usual banter, but that’s okay. At least they're talking. Getting along. Tolerating one another at a lukewarm temperature again.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?” Steve is met with the most anxiety-ridden face. Eddie’s whole forehead is covered in wrinkles, like that one fancy dog breed that his next-door neighbor used to have. There’s no shimmer in Eddie’s eyes, no disco balls. It’s all just dull. Fearful.

“Sorry if the arm thing made you...” Eddie trips over his words. He pinches the skin between his eyes, makes his even more forehead wrinkles. “I don’t know what’s the word I’m looking for.. Uncomfortable, I guess.”

“Don’t worry. It didn’t.” It made Steve a lot of other things: gutted, determined, confused, sulky, smitten. But no. Worried did not make Steve’s grocery list of Feelings.

“Don’t forget to tell Sam about the batteries on your way out.”

Eddie remembers bitching about the batteries.

Yeah, Steve’s memory isn’t the faulty one here. Even so, Steve reassures him:

“I won’t forget, Eds.”

Day 56:

Wayne had a couple days off from work and took over Steve’s Wednesday and Thursday shifts in the hospital. It’s probably for the best - especially since Steve decided to do the most high school shit ever, and gift Eddie a fucking bouquet in the form of radio hits and plastic.

He’s breaking out from the stress, just marinating on what Eddie’s thoughts might be of the mixtape. It can’t be good. None of the songs are his typical riffs of eternal damnation or whatever. But it certainly sounds like Steve Harrington in a Speaker. So it better help him picture Steve dressed in the tackiest, most burnable sweaters imaginable, goddamnit.

But like, why is he breaking out from thinking about Eddie Munson? Absurd. All of it. The feelings and the acne. His weird little crush is making him regress into adolescent woes and it’s pissing him off.

After popping the zit and crossing his fingers that it’s not outrageously noticeable, Steve sucks in a deep breath, and heads into Eddie’s hospital room.

“There’s my favorite Material Girl.” Eddie lowers the headphones, smiles bonus-level wide.

Steve’s gulps. His face feels like a fucking toaster. “I take it you listened to the tape?”

“I didn’t just listen to the tape.” Eddie picks up the Walkman and smacks it against the side of his head. “I practically absorbed that bubblegum bullshit. Think some of it is still stuck in my teeth.”

Steve plays along, hoping that his face will return to its usual complexion. “You should see a dentist about that.”

“With what insurance?”

“That’s fair.” Steve slides his hands into his jean pockets. He’s so rigid. “So?”

“So?”

“Final conclusion?”

“Oh, I hated it.” Eddie says bluntly. “In a very stick-that-syringe-in-my-neck kind of way.”

“Shocker.” Steve actually expected a meaner response than that.

“Why did you put so many songs on there that use Girl in the title?”

“Hey - it’s not my fault that all of the rich poster child songs are about women.” Steve gets defensive about that one. Honestly, it’s true. There needs to be more music about wealthy guys with genetically flawless hair. Somebody needs to get on that shit so Steve can have more songs that apply to him.

“Whatever you say, man.” 

“So did it…” Steve is still standing. Hovering a bit. “Did it help?”

Eddie sticks out both of his arms, flipping to reveal his forearms to Steve.

They’re blank, besides the usual tattoos and contusions. They’re as blank as Eddie’s arms can be at the moment. No more Steve Cheat Sheet to be found.

Steve exhales all of his relief. “And you remember me?”

“Remembering you was never the problem, Steve.”

“It wasn’t?”

Eddie shakes his head. “But if I ever allowed myself to forget, I…” He taps rapidly over the Walkman. Steve’s Walkman. “I just didn’t wanna risk starting over.”

“Oh.”

“With you.”

The metaphorical arrow, the one Steve has alway seen on department store Valentines Day cards, goes straight through his chest. Eddie aims the words with you directly for Steve’s heart. Punctures that wall he built up after Nancy Wheeler.

The monitor connected to Eddie is beeping faster again. It’s not like that day Eddie was writhing in pain. No, it’s a different tempo.

It sounds like his nerves are conducting the pattern. He’s nervous. Steve is making him nervous.

Or Steve’s lack of response is making him nervous.

But how does Steve respond? Is this Eddie giving him permission to flirt back again? To keep driving down the detour of attraction, take the scenic route?

Eddie’s heart monitor is screaming, ‘say something, Steve.’

But Steve’s archive of failed relationships is screaming, back, ‘don’t fuck this up, dickhead.’

Steve tries to meet the two in the middle. Say something inviting yet keep it simple.

“So… do you wanna make fun of the shitty soap operas together?” 

Steve puts a little emphasis on the together part, hoping it’ll tame the monitor. Make the tones evenly paced. He lets his hand tap once against Eddie’s arm. Right over his newly blank wrist. So clean. No more scribbles.

“I don’t know, I’ll have to check my schedule.” Eddie teases with his words, sure. But his hand lifts up. Tapping Steve back. Twice. “I’m a very busy man, you see.”

Steve shoves him away, laughing as he does it. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You’re not wrong.”

His monitor is ballad again.

One of Eddie’s (many) doctors walks into the room during their third hour of mocking the Home Shopping Network. Eddie has developed an elaborate backstory that they’re all cyborgs who are taking civilian money to grow their army of killer robots. Steve is surprisingly on board with this theory after the second hour. Some red headed lady twitches her eyes way too much to be human.

The doctor runs a few tests, looks over Eddie’s chart, the typical procedure. However, at the end of the visit, he decides to put Eddie on a new medication for his headaches. 

Headaches…

Steve flips back to that first day he started visiting Eddie. Finds the note he passive-aggressively took back then:

Eddie has a headache (that’s not a memory thing - he’s just told Steve a thousand times now).

He fans through the other pages as well. At least two-thirds of them mention Eddie complaining about headaches. How did Steve miss this? How could he be so stupid? He was too busy fantasizing about Eddie’s chest tattoos and making shitty mixtapes, that he glossed over something so significant.

Dustin wouldn’t have missed this. Robin wouldn’t have missed this. Nancy definitely wouldn’t have missed this - hell, she would’ve already cracked the Case of the Missing Memories by now. 

Steve is the wrong man for this job. Not enough brainpower to fix a broken brain.

“Uh oh.” Eddie says. “Where you’d go, Harrington?”

Steve glances up to see Eddie pointing his finger at Steve’s head. “Just.. thinking.”

“Share with the class, please.”

Steve struggles to make his voice sound causal about this. “I should’ve known about the headaches. Paid better attention.”

“Are you joking?” Eddie asks. “Because if you are, we need to work on your delivery.”

“Not joking, no.”

Eddie’s tone is mildly annoyed, still gentle though. “Stevie… that guy gets paid a shitload of money to figure out my problems. Truly - the reason there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is because it’s going straight into that guy’s pocket.”

Steve snorts. It’s even funnier to visualize because the doctor is kind of short.

“What I’m saying is, it’s his job to have a big brain.” Eddie’s eye contact is sharp. Broken bottle to his neck sharp. “And your job is to be my eye candy. Sit there and look cute while I try to not hack up my dinner.”

Steve’s hearing went crackly at all of the compliments. “Eye candy, huh?”

“Pretty much.”

Steve no longer has an excuse not to flirt back. Eddie has his mixtape; his arms are bare. He’s obviously encouraging it, even with the knowledge that Steve is a spoiled brat. He likes Steve, not just the good stuff. Eddie is still willing to pursue this even with Steve’s bad qualities.

So fuck it. Steve is gonna delve into his stockpile of pickup lines. He’s gonna rummage around his hoard of provocative catchprashes. Be the horny pack rat that he was born to be.

“Is the sitting part of my job description mandatory?” Steve leans forward, elbows resting on his knees.

“Oh, I’m very lenient on that detail.” Eddie’s voice drops lower. “The cute part… not so much.”

“So you’re only keeping me around for what? My great hair? My symmetrical bone structure? My biceps, maybe?”

“Definitely not your humility, that’s for damn sure.”

They share a smile as Steve gets up, inches closer to Eddie’s bed. He reaches out and pinches the sleeve of Eddie’s hospital gown between his fingers. He cautiously rubs it over a few times, waiting to see Eddie’s reaction to this droplet of affection.

Eddie catches Steve’s wrist with his other hand. Mirrors the rubbing motion Steve set in place with the material.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Steve nudges Eddie lightly. “Is this okay?”

And before he can even get a response back, Eddie’s face starts turning grayish-green. 

This happens. Eddie throws up biweekly, so it’s not a big deal at all. It’s just that Steve is usually not laying on the moves when Eddie is about to blow chunks. Honestly, it knocks Steve’s astronomical ego down a few notches.

He probably deserves it.

Eddie is really sick. He pukes three more times, and he starts running a fever after the second time. He’s all clammy and curled into a pillow, clutching it with shaky fingers.

It’s all side effects from the new medication apparently. Yeah, Eddie’s head is no longer splitting open, but his body is rejecting all of the cardboard hospital food.

Steve keeps an eye on him, not that he can do much about it. He gets a styrofoam cup of ice chips so Eddie can chew on it whenever his temperature spikes. He wipes the sweat off Eddie’s temples because one - it’s a nice gesture, and two - it gives him an excuse to be nearby.

The shivering is driving Steve crazy though. He’s so on edge just watching Eddie like this. Eddie keeps making jokes like ‘at least I’ll remember your stupid worried face in the morning’ or ‘damn, my past better be worth all of this.’ And Steve will chuckle halfheartedly each time.

The heart monitor is all jumpy now. Even, uneven, even, uneven. If Steve focuses on it for too long, it starts to sound like he’s driving by a highway collision. A pileup of beeps and tones.

He gets another cup of cafeteria coffee. Hopes the bitterness and chalky creamer will be enough to muffle his hearing. Steer his mind to an empty exit lane.

“What? No coffee for me?” Eddie is under an extra blanket now.

Steve scoots his chair even closer to Eddie’s bedside. “What’s the point? You’d just puke it all up.” He’s pretty lousy at supportive words, isn’t he?

“Aren’t visiting hours almost over?”

“You trying to get rid of me, Munson?”

“Never. Just figured you needed to catch the bus or whatever.”

Eddie remembers Steve taking the bus.

“Robin finally gave me my car back.” Steve conveniently leaves out how he demanded  for it to be returned to him. “So, I’ll stay until they kick me out… if that’s cool with you.”

He places his non-coffee holding hand over top of Eddie’s open palm. It’s sort of instinctual. Doesn’t give his mind a moment to wonder if this is crossing a line. 

Holding hands in a hospital doesn’t mean romance. It never has. People do it all time, no one bats an eye at them either. It’s just a gesture of helpless support. It’s what people do to signify, ‘I can’t heal you with medicine, but I can warm your under-circulated skin just a little.’

But when Eddie’s fingers curl around his own, Steve’s stomach swells like its romance. It swells with hot air, helium maybe. It swells and stays swollen. Stays thermal and full.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to pay my eye candy overtime.” Eddie’s face rushes all pinkish-red. Almost as if he’s trying to combat his blush with humor, but it’s not working. He’s all the colors now. And with or without them, he’s attractive.

“You don’t pay me at all.”

“You got me there.” Eddie shakes a frizzy curl in front of his cheek. A poor effort to hide his flushed face. “I’m a terrible employer.”

Steve traces the grooves of Eddie’s palm lines. Pretends that they form a railroad track. “The worst.”

Once his fever finally breaks, Eddie falls asleep. His body unfolds, his fingers uncurl. It’s a heavy sleep, one that makes him all languid and soft. Any traces of bones are questionable now.

And even though Steve is about to pass out from exhaustion, he doesn’t move his hand from Eddie’s. He’d rather give up his whole arm than move it.

Sam peaks in just before Steve nods off. She lets in the bright hallway light, not too much though. Not enough to wake Eddie. Honestly, not a lot of things wake Eddie up these days.

“Sorry.” Steve yawns. “I overstayed my welcome.”

She shrugs, checks the fluids in one of Eddie’s IV bags. “You know, you can stay the night, if you’d like.”

“Really?”

“It’s pretty late… you shouldn’t be driving on the highway at this time of night.”

“Won’t I…” Steve reworks the phrase. Tries to be less selfish about it. “Won’t you get in trouble for letting me stay?”

“Oh no.” She winks. “Because I never saw you here.”

Steve smirks. “Got it.”

“But if I did see you here,” She gestures her head to the door on her right. “I would tell you there’s extra pillows in the linen closet over there.”

Sam deserves a fucking raise. Steve would become a goddamn patron of this hospital just to give her more money. Let the godsend of a woman retire early for christ’s sake.

“Thanks, Sam.” Steve whispers.

“Thank you for keeping him company.” She whispers back. “He’s lucky to have someone like you.”

Steve doesn’t know if that’s true, if Eddie is lucky to have him, but he nods anyway. Gives a gentle wave as Sam heads back out of the room.

He sets the pillow next to Eddie’s leg, keeping their hands connected as he dozes off. Steve falls asleep the same way he used to fall asleep in class. All bent over in his chair, one cheek flattened out on the desk. It’s very reminiscent of that.

Only better because he’s with the guy that makes his chest swell, even when he’s being sarcastic or melodramatic. Even when he’s cobwebbed himself into a maze of cords. Even when he’s bitching about batteries and Steve’s vomit-inducing fashion sense.

Steve thinks maybe he likes the undesirable traits of Eddie Munson just as much as the desirable ones.

And once he’s knocked out entirely, the rhythm of his heart matches the beeping monitor hooked up to Eddie’s chest.

Day 57:

It’s been a long time since Steve has had a decent dream. And this dream he’s in right now? It’s fucking luxurious.

He’s at the hair salon, because of course he is - it’s his home away from home. 

His head is reclining back in that giant sink thing. The one that’s like a soup bowl for hair or whatever. The stylist is shampooing his scalp, scrubbing all of those foamy products into his roots. This is Steve’s favorite part of getting his hair done, he always feels blissed out of his mind afterward.

They keep washing it for the whole dream, digging their nails into his head, dunking water over his hair every so often. It’s downright perfection. A dream he could stay stuck in forever. 

The scenery of the dream flickers out, but the sensations linger as he gains consciousness. His squints both of his eyes open, immediately greeted by too much brightness, too much sunlight. Steve shuts them again, soaking up the remnants of his dream. The hair scratching that’s ongoing even though he’s awake.

Awake.

Steve is awake and can still feel all of that salon paradise. His brain finally wakes up enough to realize it isn’t a dream. It’s Eddie’s hands in his hair, combing it thoroughly.

Fuck, it feels so good too. Steve wonders if Eddie is aware of what he’s doing or if he’s also in that suspended place between awake and asleep.

It doesn’t matter, not really. It all feels way too incredible to care about the logistics. Steve nuzzles deeper into the pillow to hide the happy little hums that keep escaping through his mouth. 

Eddie doesn’t stop. He keeps moving his hand around. Twirling strands and releasing them. Ruffling strands and smoothing them. Massaging the pads of his fingers in all the right places. Every bit of it is dreamy. Better than the dream Steve initially believed to be unbeatable.

Being Eddie’s own personal petting zoo is way better. Miles, light years better. Is there any form of measurement longer than lightyears? Because it’s bigger and better than that too.

Eddie tugs a little harder, just once, but once is all it takes to make Steve melt. He open-mouth sighs into the pillow, hoping the fabric mutes the neediness of it. There’s drool on the pillow and it’s unclear if it’s from when he was asleep or if it occurred just from that one hair tug. 

“Steve?” Eddie’s voice still sounds coated in sleep. “Is this weird?”

Steve shakes his head no, still unable to lift his face from the pillow.

“Should I stop?”

Steve shakes his head much faster. Absolutely not. Stopping should be banished from Eddie’s vocabulary. The word ‘stop’ should be homeless as far as Steve is concerned.

Eddie tugs again, more firmly this time. The tug goes straight to Steve’s dick, which yikes. Humiliating. Yeah, it’s morning and this shit happens, but not this kind of boner. Not one brought on by hair salon fantasies and a metalhead with magical fingertips. This can’t be the reality of Steve’s life right now but somehow, it is.

“I think I combed through all of that cake-up hairspray.” Eddie talks as his hand continues to roam around Steve’s scalp. “Feels like cashmere now, so you’re welcome.”

Steve sighs again, pretty sure it’s much more audible this time because Eddie laughs.

“Embarrassing.” Steve mumbles. That’s all he can muster out without becoming a puddle of humiliation.

“The sounds you’re making?”

Steve nods.

“Oh that is not the adjective I would’ve gone with.” Eddie claws his fingers all the way down to Steve’s neck. “Not even close.”

Steve is all hormones now, all slurred speech and thoughtless words. “So good, Eddie.”

“Oh my god.” Eddie whines, sounds breathier than Steve. “You cannot say my name like that when I’m in a tissue-thin gown.”

Steve wants to sneak a peek, see if what Eddie is suggesting holds any truth. He resists, only because he’s trying to sort out his own tent-pitching problems at the moment.

He gradually lifts his head off of the pillow, back cracking as he straightens his spine out after hours of being shaped like fucking tetris piece. It’s the last thing he wants to do because it means Eddie has to take his hand out of Steve’s hair. But as Eddie pulls away, his knuckles brush against Steve’s ear, awakening this newfound urgency to not let this moment fizzle out.

Steve hops up onto the bed, sitting side-saddle next to Eddie. He looks through Eddie’s eyes, the ones that remind him of shimmery dresses and the backseat of his car on prom night. He looks through to find a reason to stop his actions. Stop his need to touch Eddie’s jawline or thumb over his lips. He’s searching for a reason to stop and finding none whatsoever.

“Do you remember me?”

“You’re Steve Harrington.” Eddie kind of stutters as he says it. “Hometown Slut extraordinaire.”

The nerdy bastard is never going to let that one go.

Steve gives a quiet laugh, leaning in to his impulses. He slides his thumb over Eddie’s bottom lip, curving around, mapping invisible outlines. A blueprint for his imagination when they’re apart later. “Am I reading this wrong?”

Eddie’s gaze is glued to Steve’s lips as he shakes his head no.

“Good.”

Steve uses his free hand to lift himself up, get closer. Breathing in the same stale oxygen, sucking up the same early morning courage, existing in the same dizzying climate.

He can feel Eddie exhale softly over his skin when there’s a knock at the door.

Steve has never stood up so fast in his damn life. Gets a head rush that’s so overwhelming that his vision speckles out momentarily. 

It’s Sam. Thank god it’s only Sam. But also, screw god for interrupting what almost happened just now. Not cool, sky man.

“Just a heads up,” she starts, shutting the door behind her. “You have another visitor that just arrived.”

Right. It's the weekend.

Steve and Eddie say it in unison. “Dustin.”

Sam hums in reply. “I can stall him for a couple minutes. Give you time to sneak out the stairs that are tucked in the back hallway.”

“You’re the best.” Steve says. “I’ll be quick.”

She leaves, cracking the door on her way out.

Both of them just look at each other for a moment. There’s no time to even discuss the events that just took place. No time to recover the kiss that is already sneaking out the back hallway stairs.

Steve nervously whistles. “So…”

“I’ll see you Monday?”

“Monday.” 48 hours apart seems insane. “Yeah.”

Steve hurriedly makes his way to the door - refusing his horny impulses the opportunity to kick back in and ruin everything. “See you later, Eds.”

Eddie licks over his bottom lip - the one Steve mapped out with his thumbprint. “Later, sailor.”

Um. What?

Steve’s eyes go large. “What did you just call me?”

“Go.” Eddie flashes the wickedest grin. “We’ll talk all about your ocean of flavor on Monday.”

This can’t be happening. “Ocean of -”

“Get out of here already!”

Steve flings himself out of the room, sprinting down the hall. Does Eddie actually recall Steve working at Starcourt? How can that be possible? Steve doesn’t remember seeing Eddie outside of school ever. 

Plus, they’ve never even talked about his job at Scoops Ahoy. Family Video? Sure, that’s more recent. But Scoops? Steve tries to forget just about everything from his time at that seaside shithole.

Goddamnit, this is confusing. The hair foreplay. The almost-kiss. The nautical nickname. Confusing is an understatement. Steve needs to go back to high school and learn a better word for what this is. Confusing isn’t cutting it anymore.

If Steve can make it till Monday without spiraling into a bucket of nerves, he deserves a fucking trophy.

And a kiss on the lips.

Mostly the second option (although a trophy would be nice too). 

[ayoitspatricia]

Hi do you still write for disney's descendants? if so can you do headcanons of being siblings with the VKs? and if possible the siblings came with them to the school. sorry for my bad english

Being siblings with each VK + going to Auradon with them would include :

IM BAAAAACK!! It has been a while since I have posted so I am currently working through requests :)

Mal :

Homie would be overprotective af

This lady ain’t having any Auradon dweebs getting you on her watch

Always encouraging you to be the best version of yourself

Or in Maleficent’s case the worst

Y’all are not that big on boys, girls etc before Mal meets Ben

Mix and matching leather jackets

Being the biggest chaos causes wherever you guys go

Finding it hard to be positive about school when Mal wants you to be miserable about it all

Her helping you to control your powers which are cool im gonna be honest

Sharing differences and similarities with Mal

She just wants to keep you safe from bad people in the world

Ironic for a VK right?

Especially from rats in Auradon

Feeling pressured by your mom when she wants you to steal the magic wand

Liking Ben and not finding it difficult to adjust to being good

Evie :

Now this one encourages you to interact with others

She wants to get you as far out of your shell as possible

Cause poor girl ain’t got a clue what will happen if you all get caught stealing the wand

Wanting you to get a partner

But asking them lots of intimidating kind questions if you do

Doing group sewing + art!

Always trying on each other’s clothing

Having matching magic mirrors

Creating a Chad hate club

Evie being the favourite child but always defending you

Going on shopping sprees when you arrive at Auradon

Trying hard to empress everyone

But then realising that it is really impossible

Evie wanting to dye your hair

Her chasing you around with the hair dye

Actually secretly wanting to be good from the beginning

Carlos :

Always being super close to each other

Thing 1 = you / Thing 2 = Carlos

Actually quite liking dogs

Lol your brother did not like that one

Until you got Dude obviously (you was his fav)

Always having super fluffy jumpers or cardigans

Enjoying sweet treats with him at midnight

Literally menaces to the cooking club

Softest member of the VK’s

Collecting stuffed animals to annoy Carlos

Then proceeding to throw them at each other

Fairy Godmother actually really liking you

You going into Remedial Goodness 101 early so you both can have a chat

Honestly loving the Auradon vibe

Cheering Carlos on when he plays Tourney

+ shipping him with Jane!!

Literally acting like kids the whole time

Wanting to open an animal club in Auradon

Tbh you was already sliding to the side of good as soon as you arrived

Jay :

My mans is on a whole other level of protective

Like you thought Mal was bad

Whether your on the isle or in Auradon this boy has your back

Him always glaring at the boys whenever they look at you for too long

Even at poor Carlos, who has no clue what is going on

Teaching you how to steal

Reminding your father of Jasmine

You + Evie + Mal are the perfect trio

Doing laps around the museum to try and find any lamps

Not your proudest moment ngl

You plus Lonnie equals BESTIES!!

Jay making you always watch him play sports

Stealing his beanies all the time

Hiding in spots around Auradon so he has to try and find you

You best hope that none of them princes disrespect you

Cause they gon get an ass whoopin

Honestly not caring about whether you’re good or not

As long as you have your brother and your friends

[mecachrome]

Hi k! I love reading your ojp scholarship, as he has crept up on me and taken over my brain. Weird question but why do you think he picked Lando as his guy to be a bit weird about?

hi anon 🥺 first off thank u for indulging me & also that is not a weird question at all!!!

ok obviously this is just me saying Anything so i apologize in advance T__T but tbh i think a lot of it ultimately goes back to the idea of lando's ~Proximity~ and how a very specific mélange of career circumstance laid out a foundation for oscar's interest extremely early on... which. let me explain!!! more behind the cut:

not to go on too much of a tangent but if you look at the current drivers in f1 who are roughly within a few years of oscar's age and could have feasibly been someone he'd looked up to coming up the ranks, i'd say the cutoff is like, 2018? so the group is basically charles/george/alex/lando, of whom the first 3 were alr in intrepid together (albeit in diff categories) when oscar had barely started karting at all. also alex moved up to single-seaters very early and his career/road to f1 is obviously a lot more complex than the others, so in reality the only ones oscar would have properly "followed" are lando and george, and then having gone through rfm & british f4 himself it makes sense that he'd lean more toward lando.

...idk how to put this succinctly but basically it's Like: so you're a kid in australia who believes in yourself so much you're willing to move halfway across the globe and attend boarding school by yourself while all your friends and family and the World As You've Always Known It grows and changes without you, and the team you're determined to prove yourself at has semi-recently achieved victory with a guy named lando norris, who is now british f4 champion and runs three separate series the same year you move to europe and goes on to win them all, who is extremely accessible on social media and is kind of awkward but charming and uses dumb unfunny gifs that match your level of online humor exactly, and all the while you're learning to navigate a new country, learning what it really means to prioritize the endless grind of motorsport, and you wouldn't dare look too far ahead into the future but sometimes you see him and think if he can keep winning everything then why not you?

So. also i think what always krills meeee about young_814 lore is that you have to really envision what they looked like circa 2016 like they were undersized dweebs for a majority of their lives!!! anyway. but also nasdlfnagk every time oscar is like i thought you were 30 with your goatee going on haha xD it's like U knowww he's flashing back to that image of little baby lando in his mind..... ok i need to relax.

there are of course other people oscar could have been weird about but in the end it's kind of just a Skill Issue thing / matter of attrition. like from the rfm pack max and logan and guanyu never progressed the same way lando did, and you also have to remember that by the time lando was a mclaren junior he was genuinely their Golden BoyTM, and i know we often talk about lando's competency kink but oscar is also similar to that but in like a ........ he needs to respect you on some fundamental level to be obsessed with you. so the fact that he genuinely rates lando contributes (imo) massively to the fundamentals of their dynamic!!!

also tbh to me one of oscar's biggest mental strengths is specifically that he isn't a very sentimental person, as in if he left to another team i don't think he'd be torn up or anything about not having lando as a teammate lol. but i DO believe he's someone who adapts very well to unfamiliar environments and is always willing to match someone's energy/meet them where they're at (again - especially when he respects them), so he's basically the perfect person to vibe with lando's idiosyncrasies and engage in all the lighthearted push/pulling they have going on. because like he genuinely thinks lando is funny and is more than happy to follow along his meandering bantz and the weirder lando is the weirder oscar is in response and that's just how they Work ?__? so At the end of the day it's: oscar was once a teenage boy who followed (still does) at ladbible instagram and watched the same gaming streamers lando likes or whatever and has seen lando grow into the man he is today (way more confident and "visible" and successful, very much a menace, brutally honest as ever) from this Very Specific vantage point of basically the only other junior after lando to have followed the same path to f1 and been Equally as good / achieved the same stock.

*__* does any of that make sense. 

do u ever think about how lando (extensively nurtured by the team as their only junior) and oscar (basically crashlanded belatedly into his seat) are the only driver pairing in team history to have both debuted with mclaren........ do you ever think about how in a way lando's karting success indirectly influenced oscar's move to europe. do you ever think about how if alpine weren't an abject mess we would have never gotten 814 as teammates and lando would have just been Another Guy On The Grid to him........ 😮‍💨

[flyingspicerack]

Inside Job Pt2Ep3 Myc Analysis Pt1

ALRIGHT FUCKERS! AS THE OFFICAL CEO OF MYC ITS TIME i GIVE YOU MY BREAKDOWN ON EP 3 BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WILL!!!!!

THIS IS GONNA BE A BIGGUN AND PRETTY MUCH A PLAY BY PLAY SO STRAP IN!!!

The way he's clinging to the rope here? Oh so cute. But also! Very telling of how he's able to distribute his weight? Body and tendrils seem much like.... idk squid/octopus like? Also in this scene, all of the insults he throws around <3 He's such a catty little bitch I also love that Gigi is the one he doesn't insult the most through the ep? Like I know everyone is like OMG ANDRE AND MYC are such good 'friends' and all that (yes i am one of those too) but we see in pt1 that Myc and Gigi hang out a fair bit and I like to think he's got like, a respect for her? Idk

The fucking way the little itty bitty orb inside his orb gets smaller when the flashlight from the security guard hits him is so brief but oh so important to me, oh my GOD this little bit of detail has me HGFUIEOHGFOI:SGHJIO

HHHHH OK FIRSTLY! Reagan tells Myc to, and I quote "Spurt on that guy!" And he refers to himself as a soft serve machine that needs to warm up and cannot just jizz on command, which definitely makes sense. He also says for no one to look at him so.... hes shy

SO THAT leads me to believe, that his jiss doesn't actually need to be processed at all to become the stuff they put in the memory erasing guns, so, they can just erase minds... SO what does that mean for sex with humans, as well as that one time Andre licked Myc's flagella on the yacht during the wedding, he didn't get erased.... thoughts thoughts thoughts

REAGAN YELLING AT HIM AND CALLING HIM A WASTE OF SPACE FUCKING HURT ME

OH MY GOD BABY! NO DONT CRY!!!!!!! UAOGH WHAT THE FUCK

Reagan: Okay I was not ready for that" ME NEITHER BITCH????? MYC CRYING????? WHY WOULD HE CRY????

WAS ANISE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING IN THAT MYC IS ACTUALLY A DWEEB???? UH YEAH?????? IM AS SURPRISED AS YALL ARE

god ok you guys im never gonna stop talking about this, we got so much mushroom lore, we have so much mushroom plot, we have so much MYC LORE AND I AM HERE FOR IT!!!!! AND IM WRITING IT ALL DOWN IN ONE PLACE!! RIGHT HERE!!!

Myc LIED about how old he was prior to this. In Pt1Ep3 we see his RightSwipe profile says 4041 for his age, but this here is his 5000 year reunion, so he's says he's younger than he really is.

He's from "A million year old mushroom hive cluster from the center of the earth" MILLION!!!!!! HES OLDER THAN WE CAN EVEN COMPREHEND

FIRST he apparently lied and said that everyone was jealous of his "huge dong" and he left, THEN JUST IN THIS SCENE, he says that they kicked him out because he was too much of a rebel, AND THEN AT THE END OF HIS RANT he finally comes clean and says that he never went to prom, graduation, AND no one signed his yearbook BECAUSE HE WAS A FUCKING DWEEB THAT LOOKED LIKE THIS:

(yeah honey i'd hate you too)

he was .... a fucking DWEEB! HE WAS A NERD!! THE BRACES?! THE PIMPLES! THE.... somehow.... FACIAL HAIR?? The hat.. yeesh boy ouch

WHEN HE LEFT HE WANTED TO PROVE HE COULD BE SOMEBODY! oH MY LORD!!!! HE CALLS HIMSELF A SINGLE MIDDLE AGED LOSER.... HOW OLD IS HE IF HES MIDDLE AGED IM GOING INSANE OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!

also his name, can we take about the name we have a real full name for him its not Magic Myc, its fucking MYC CELLIUM im going feral here and frothing

This uh.... this makes me..... hes so.... PATHETIC!! He's crying!!! HES FUCKING WHIMPERING AND CRYING AND SNIFLING CAUSE HES SO ASHAMED ABOUT GOING TO HIS REUNION LIKE WHAT THE FUCK HES LITERALLY BABYGIRL I DONT UNDERSTAND???????????????????

why are you so moe? WHY ARE YOU THE CUTEST GUY EVER! HIS GASP! Also like, Reagan, you REALLLY think this dude is never gonna insult you again? I thought you were a super genius? How can you literally be this stupid.

SORTA MUCUS SORTA JIZZ CALLED JUCUS!!!!!!!

I think it is SO AMAZING that the hole down to the mushroom hive is in Oregon, cause like, the worlds biggest mycelium network is under there.... hehe

FRUITY FLAILING ASS BITCH!!

OK If you go to 4:40 and look in the bg, you can see Myc get on the elevator down and he is fucking TREMBLING!! HE is SO nervous!! IM FUCK NGKJENSfewtgfwsg

Myc confirmed leftist, so thats a W but an L for thinking u can ge a nobel prize in podcasting... then again hes a mushroom and doesnt care so he is always a W in my heart

Look how far his flagella can stretch

HOLLOW EARTH! OH ITS SO LOVELY! AND I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT IT

I am very curious to know, if when Myc tells the hive to put a 'psychic metaphor' over the place, is that... only for the characters in the show or is it also for the viewer? It has to be, because we are also human and therefore wouldn't be able to comprehend the societal differences of mushroom dynamics! RIGHT?! SO I will also touch upon things as they happen later with this mindset.

FUCK!! RIGHT HERE!! Myc's asking Reagan if his BREATH smells bad!!!! He touches the top little frills and then puts his tentacle under Reagan's nose!! Does he... His scent glands?? WHAT?? AHHHHH I DONT KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS???

... I got one thing to say about stem-mantha... myc sure does love pink bitches .... makes eye contact with anise

LOOK AT HIM ALL.... NERVOUS!

Okay so then... Stem-Mantha asks if Myc was the guy who did puzzles with her parents so she could go have sex... SO, yes, the fucking mushrooms DO fuck each other, AND they have like, parents They dont just grow?? (As seen from Myc wanting to be a mommy in Pt2Ep7)

THEN Myc gets fucking pelted with a goddamn football and we are now included on the information that Myc ran out at graduation before everyone merged consciousnesses and became assimilated. SO It is OH SO interesting to see that each of these mushroom clusters are there OWN individual personalities but THEN they all are joined and have a shared consciousness thats a part of the hive!

Stem-Mantha then asks if the gang are Myc's parole officers, so does that mean that everyone was under the impression he went to like, jail topside after he left hollow earth??

HIS TENDRIL HEART IM FUCKING LOSING IT AHHHHHHH

ALRIGHT!!! FUCKERS FIRSt things first. Yes he wore that stupid fucking "NO FAT CHIX" hat but are we talking about it? NO, well YES, in that he wore it because he was in denail thats it thats the story thank you very much

SECONDLY here is were I'm touching upon the psychic metaphor thing again right here. I am thinking waaaay too deeply about a silly little cartoon and i feel very much like 'charlie pepe silvia meme' right now in idk how meta this whole thing is supposed to be? Like I don't think Myc was actually into dragon ball Z considering it was 5000 years ago and dbz didn't exist then, and we're just supposed to believe dudes was the mushroom equivalent of a little itty bitty pathetic nerd with pimples and acne, right??

but im also crazy coo coo bananas insane in thinkiing how fucking funny would it be if dbz was some kind of true space epic and myc is like, the equivalent of a greek mythology nerd in that hes a little fanboy.

THIRDLY. MY MANS GOT EXTRA STRONG POWERS THAT MAKE HIM EXTRA SENSITIVE?????? HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NURSE

His fucking signature babygirl i loooove you its so cute what the FUCK!! and look at how he carried himself like a fucking .... beanie babie, hes full of beans or whatever, i just love how this fucker carries his weight its so cool to look at wtf

HES NERVOUS AGAIN IM JUST GFJHEL"GSGJ"LG I KNOW ITS NOT IMPORTANT BUT IT IS TO ME

They are SO fucking mean to him. But also this scene, you can see that not everyone is on board with Reagan doing this, like they're all really uncomfortable when she pulls this picture up, and Brett isn't even there

Why is there so much jucus... was he tearing up about getting found out? OH LAWDY I HOPE NOT ILL FUCKING CRY?????

HAHHA SO this post has gotten waaay too long so i think i'm gonna make it two parts, so part 2 will be post assimilation!!! Also because posts can only have 30 images and we at the max babes

[autisticlancemcclain]

“Oh, please,” Lance scoffs, not even looking up from the stitch he’s making. “You’re so full of bullshit. Keith is the biggest baby in the world.”

“I am not,” Keith protests.

“Are too.”

Keith pouts. “Am not. You’re just mean to me.”

Lance finally looks up for the first time in a while, for the sole reason of raising an eyebrow at Keith.

“Is that so, Mr. I Cried During High School Musical 2?”

Keith flushes from his forehead to his neck. “The break-up scene is really emotional, okay? It’s moving!”

Lance laughs. “Please, it’s hilarious —”

“It is not! They’re both breaking each other’s hearts!”

“Keith, you dweeb, they’re so dramatic and ridiculous —”

“Heartbreak, Lance, heartbreak!”

“Time out,” Pidge calls, holding her hands up in a T. “Time fucking out. Lance, you’ve seen Keith cry?”

“Uh, no shit,” Lance says, with no small amount of attitude. “He is literally the loudest crier in the world. How could I not?”

Keith rolls his eyes, kicking Lance in the ribs. “I am not.”

Lance gapes at him. “Who do you think you are, you gangrenous shitdick? Come back here —”

Lance makes a valiant attempt to drag Keith over to him for revenge, but since Keith is a literal, actual ninja, he fails. (Also, Keith runs and hides behind his brother like a fucking coward, so there’s not much Lance can do.)

“I feel like we kind of brushed over the fact that you’ve seen Keith cry, Lance. Like, with your actual eyes.”

Once again, Lance gives everyone a weird look. “Uh, yeah,” he says, like everyone is a total dumbass. “Like I said. He’s a baby. He cries all the time.”

Keith sticks out his tongue over Shiro’s shoulder, then throwing himself backwards with a shriek as Lance lunges forward. Shiro is too stunned to move, not even flinching when Lance’s pointy elbow accidentally clips him in the ear.

“Does he really?” Shiro asks. He’s almost breathless, staring at Lance in wide-eyed shock.

“Yes,” Lance repeats as emphatically as he can while Keith has him in a chokehold. He wraps his fingers around Keith’s forearms and jerks his torso forward, flipping Keith right over. He hits the floor with a loud groan. “I honestly don’t know why you guys are so shocked. Does he not cry around you? Really?”

“I have never, not once in our time in space, heard Keith cry,” Hunk says solemnly. Pidge nods in agreement.

“Well, that’s weird,” Lance says, darting forward to sit on Keith’s chest before he recovers from being bodyslammed. He sits criss-cross-applesauce once he situates himself, looking serene. Occasionally Keith makes a half-hearted attempt to throw Lance off, but he looks to have mostly given up and accepted his fate.

Suddenly, the sound of a sniffle fills the room. Everyone whips around to look at Shiro, who is visibly weeping.

“Jesus, Shiro, what’s wrong?”

“I’m just so happy that Keith trusts someone enough to let his guard down fully,” he sobs.

Keith goes red. Again.

“Fuck off! It’s not like that!”

Lance gasps delightedly, shifting so he’s no longer sitting on Keith’s chest but straddling it, hands on either side of Keith’s head and leaning in close.

“Keithy-kat! No way! Is that true? You love me the most?”

“No,” Keith says, but it’s a little weak. The blush on his face has not lessened at all.

If anything, really, it’s worse.

“Aw, come on. Tell me the truth.”

“No.”

“You love me. You think I’m the best person on Earth,” Lance teases.

“We’re not even on Earth,” Keith complains, but notably stops denying anything.

“Aw, Keith!” Lance exclaims, and finally leans down to press a kiss to Keith’s forehead with a loud ‘mwah!’ noise.

Shiro sobs again. Someone hands him a tissue.

“Ew,” Keith complains again. “Germy.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “You had no problems with my germs earlier this morning.”

“You were less annoying this morning.”

“I really wasn’t.”

“True. You’re always annoying.”

“Mhm. You love me though.”

“I guess so,” Keith grumbles, but a smile pulls up the corner of his lips.

“Hold the motherfucking phone,” Pidge says, with the air of someone who has just discovered that Santa isn’t real. “Are you two dating?”

“How many stupid things are you going to ask us today?” Lance asks, squinting at her. “We’ve been together for months!”

“No the fuck you haven’t!” Hunk squeaks. “I would have known!”

It’s Keith who looks confused, now. “I tell you how much I want to marry Lance like, every day, dude.”

“I thought you were just pining!”

“Who the hell pines that badly without doing anything?!”

“I dunno! You!”

“No way! That would be humiliating!”

“You’re humiliating!”

“That family is a mess,” Lance says with great fondness. “I love it here.”

“I love all of you so much,” Shiro wails, blowing his nose. “I’m so proud of you.”

Keith sighs, reaching over blindly to pat Shiro on the leg. “There, there, you big baby.”

“I heard Shiro sobbing and came as quickly as I could,” comes a new voice. Allura pokes her head into the room, hair half-braided and sticking up everywhere (but somehow still looking more elegant than anyone else in the room). She blinks as she takes in the room at large. Then she sighs, stepping into the room fully to give them all her patented Oldest Sibling Look Of Judgement, pinching the bridge of her nose and everything. “Why is it that whenever I leave you humans alone for more than one hour, I come back to chaos? And, Lance, I swear on the entropy of the universe that every time I see you, you are inches away from another man’s face. Usually Keith’s. Why are you like this?”

Hunk answers for the human population. “Human’s natural inclination for drama and conflict?”

Lance answers for himself. “Whore tendencies?”

Pidge, still incredulous, does not answer at all. “Did you know Keith and Lance are dating?”

To her credit, Allura accepts the subject change with grace. For all her grumbling, she has learnt to handle humans very well. “Obviously. They can’t take their hands off each other.”

“Maybe I’m secretly a dumbass,” Pidge says to no one, bewildered.

“Quite possibly,” Lance agrees, because there’s a fair amount of distance between him and Pidge and he’s closer to the door, so he can’t get mauled. Plus, she’s distracted, and if things get messy he can always sacrifice Keith.

“Shiro, darling, pull yourself together.” Allura has a gentle hand on his back, looking at him in concern. “You are going to dehydrate yourself.”

“I’m trying,” Shiro says, still a little teary, “but Keith’s growing up. I’m emotional.”

Allura does her best to hide a smile. “I see.”

“I’m twenty goddamn years old,” Keith grumbles. “Stop being surprised that I’m grown up.”

“Let him be,” Allura scolds. “I’m sure when you and Lance have a child you will be much worse than Shiro.”

At the mention of his and Lance’s hypothetical future child, Keith begins sniffle.

“No way,” Hunk says. He and Pidge stare at Keith with wide eyes.

Keith’s face crumples, and then he’s crying just as much as Shiro (who started up again when Keith teared up). “It’s just — you and me — one day we’re gonna —”

“Aw, babe,” Lance coos, grinning. “It’s okay. Let it out.”

Keith does, getting much louder than Shiro, as Lance hugs him tightly and rubs gentle hands on his back.

“We’re gonna be family,” Keith wails.

Lance kisses his temple. “We already are, sweetheart.”

Keith cries harder.

“Damn,” Pidge mutters. “He really is the loudest crier in the world.”

[ralseinumberonebiggestsupporter]

HI EVERYONE HERE'S THE LONG ASS POST EXPLAINING MY LIGHTNER RALSEI AU

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so basically in this au ralsei isn't the prince of the dark, he's just some kid (part boss monster part shadow monster). i already explained how he ended up in the adoption center here. that's basically the premise 0_0

susie and him are close buddies because they were in the same adoption center and susie became protective over him because the other kids made fun of him. over time they became like siblings so they never managed to get adopted because they didn't want to go if they couldn't go together, and since they were very different species there weren't any parents who were able to take care of both. so eventually they just ran away and are now living in hometown.

they've been in hometown for two years (currently they're both 16) so they aren't that new............ they're not really friends with anyone but That's Subject To Change.

(they live in one of the apartments in the complex, the landlord let them stay because people just Didn't move to hometown anymore. they just help them clean and go grocery shopping for them (i still have to decide who the landlord is lol) in exchange for the house. also as soon as they got old enough they started doing little jobs (susie helps at 'sans, ralsei helps at the flower king) so they're "basically fine" (no they're not))

^ outdated, they got surprise adopted by sans 😈😈

susie really disliked kris at first because they had a happy loving family, but then learned that there's more to them... they're also a huge dweeb

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since ralsei isn't in the dark world anymore there's someone else in castle town, his name is earlis and he's made out of a heart shaped locket that kris lost as a kid. he's rude to anyone who isn't part of the prophecy and is hopelessly in love with kris (despite only knowing them for two days...) which kris finds a bit weird but. they still want to be friends. earlis especially hates ralsei because he's not even part of the prophecy, and yet kris treats him with basic respect and even finds his dark world powers cool?!?!? FOR SHAME!!!! susie's part of the prophecy so he doesn't necessarily dislike her, he just hates the people she associates with....

his character arc over the chapters would involve him learning to be less judgemental and overcome his Darkner Struggles. also he will be friends with everyone and become less of an asshole

in chapter two he makes rooms for everyone except ralsei, for whom he places a dog bed inside susie's room. one day he will give him a normal bed

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ABOUT THE DARK WORLD!!!!!!

ralsei's still a wizard of sorts, but he's more of an evil shadow man you know. he uses shadow magic which is useful for putting enemies to sleep in one way or another (spooooookyyyyyyy).. kris thinks it's cool. susie also thinks it's cool. everyone thinks it's cool except earlis.

earlis's magic is basic bard abilities, he has a heart shaped string instrument which he can use to heal or hypnotize ET CETERA ET CETERA

susie and kris don't change much lol

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

CHAPTER ONE!!!!!! DA BEGINNING

sooz and rals go with lancer while earlis goes around with kris, acting like a shoujo protagonist ("omg kris you're giving the ribbon to me????? do you think i would look cuter.." "your defense is shit") and he encourages pacifism (just to make r & s sound like Brutal Evil Killars) despite being the world's biggest violence fan. he is a bit of a hypocrite

everything goes about as well as you can imagine but at some point susie and ralsei have a conversation about the whole sooz being overprotective thing. ralsei says he's not five anymore and can defend himself pretty well and susie apologizes for her behavior 💔😢 they firends. sbiblings

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CHAPTER TWO!!!!! SUSIE DELTARUNE BECOMES GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY

it's!!! normal cyber world stuff!!! but with two goat boys!!!!!!!

ralsei's popup ads are "humans 4 monsters in ur area" and he starts crying about how he thought it was a friend making site, "dragon blazers rom hack working 20XX" and he installs a virus on the popup, and "shadow wizard money gang"

earlis's popup ads are "how to make them fall for you qwikihow", "cool blue knight dating sim" and "learn to curse someone in ten easy steps". self explanatory

in ralsei's room in queen's castle he has pixelated kittens from his search "kittycat pixel gif", "minecrap cat gif", "pixel gif cat" etc... a poster of a goth band from "disintegration album streaming free", and a list of names taped to the wall from "names that start with ral" (hes trying 2 find his parents...)

earlis doesn't have a room. he becomes a butler 👻

for the ferris wheel / acid tunnel they split up like this

susie goes on da ferris with noelle

ralsei goes on da boat with kris (didn't want to ruin the moment for susie)

earlis gets stuck on berdly duty

sus and elle talk about normal girl stuff. ralsei and kris talk about being orphans. earlis rants to berdly about how much he deserves to be kris's babygirl and berdly thinks he's hallucinating. very nice and cool

blah blah the roaring is coming waaaaahhh they go have a sleepover at kris's. new fountain who dis

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that's basically it gamers... LIKE AND SUB

[chaoticgouda]

For Chime beloved!

😭 CRYING - what makes them cry? do they cry easily?

😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

CHIME... THE DWEEB...

😭 CRYING - what makes them cry? do they cry easily?

Chime is the sort of person who cries more for others than for themself. In public, anyway - she feels vulnerable and unappealing while expressing negative emotions, and would far rather overindulge in positivity in order to avoid pushing others away or being a drain. So a particularly sad story will lead to a few shed tears and hugs, but it's not necessarily like... An emotional outburst, y'know? It's more empathy.

Injustice, tragic endings and abandonment make her cry the most, I'd say.

😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

Adding this sprite you drew bc i love it so much cero ghfgkdj

Chime is definitely wayyyy more of a lover than they are a fighter, let's be real here - Her default response is to fawn if possible [pardon the pun] and attempt to charm or sweet-talk their way out of any trouble. If that fails, then she's faster than she looks. If that fails?

Prepare to get clonked repeatedly in the head by a rock-hard pair of hooves while a frantic voice cries "Sorry, sorry!" over and over.

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

So Chime would probably tell you that their true dream is to join the ranks of the most notable bards in history, her legacy living on in the words of others for generations. But not through any old song or couplet. No, she wants to coin the most groan-inducing pun in all the realms. DND's equivalent of "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The paragon of parent jokes. That's the dream.

But really, the thing they want most is to feel that they belong. That someone will love her, all of her, without hesitation or resignation. Even when they mess up. Especially when they mess up.

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

The cop-out answer is "Any!", but they're partial to the time of year where the outer world gets a little colder and crueler, so people turn to one another for comfort and compansionship. Bringing in the last of the harvest, lighting the hearths, coming up with festivals and customs to make the long dark of each winter feel a little more bearable.

When she was younger, she wanted nothing more than to sit beside others and enjoy the simple joy of a log fire. The kind of ears-to-toes warmth that comes from a mug of mulled wine and a good story. That was happiness, to them.

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

I've already went over their fear of abandonment, so I'll go with... Being misunderstood. Whether through jokes not landing, having her more... Impulsive habits miscontrued as malice, or people assuming they're dumber and less intuitive than they actually are. People only seeing the entertainment and levity she offers to others, and ignoring her once they stop being so entertaining. A jester is only as funny as their last joke. And sometimes she's scared that she might be the punchline.

Mundane fear: Eating fish without obsessively dissecting it for those annoying little bones that stick in your throat and make swallowing feel like a cat is raking its claws through the soft flesh.

[cantsayidont]

Recentish adventures in gay vampire movies:

THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR (2024): More properly a bisexual vampire movie (eventually, if you're patient), this is a dumb low-budget comedy about a 20-something dweeb, Cameron (Alex Matthews), who's persuaded to act as chauffeur/getaway driver for his hot new next-door neighbor Victoria (Jessica Ferguson) while she does some vampire murders around town. Meanwhile, Cameron is secretly in love with his hot blond bestie Diane (Bella Chadwick), for whom hot himbo Martin (Andrew Larkin) wants Cameron to do the Cyrano de Bergerac thing. An underwhelming throwback to the dopey (PG-rated) teen sex comedies of the '80s (with ONCE BITTEN an obvious comparison), the movie spends so much energy on the romcom stuff that it takes forever for the vampire stuff to come into focus, and, as in many bad '80s comedies, an awful lot of the plot hinges on Cameron being an "innocent" Peeping Tom. Sort of amiable despite having no real redeeming virtues, but it's weighed down by Alex Matthews, whose character is unsympathetic and whose head-lolling performance suggests that he's recently been hit with a tranquilizer dart.

BIT (2020): MEAN GIRLS meets THE LOST BOYS, featuring a teenage trans girl from Oregon, Laurel (Nicole Maines), who comes to L.A. to spend the summer with her brother (James Paxton) and falls in with a clique of gay vampire girls led by the sardonic Duke (Diana Hopper). Funny and stylish, it suffers from trying to cram at least five hours' worth of plot into 90-ish minutes of screen time. Many of the component pieces are interesting and fun, but as a whole, the movie feels jumbled and unresolved: Various subplots and secondary characters go nowhere; the other vampires (Zolee Griggs, Char Diaz, and Friday Chamberlain) get hardly any character development — Griggs' character Izzy is there mostly as Laurel's love interest, and Diaz and Chamberlain barely have any lines; and Laurel remains curiously underdeveloped, reducing her to a fairly generic teen movie protagonist. Maines is an appealing screen presence, but she can't compete with Diana Hopper, whose commandingly bitchy performance as Duke is the centerpiece of the movie. There's a lot to like about BIT, but it might have worked better as a TV series, giving the characters and story more room to breathe.

THERESA & ALLISON (2019): Extremely low-budget cinema verité horror comedy-drama about gay college girl Theresa (Arielle Hope), transformed into a vampire after a disastrous one-night stand, as she struggles to navigate her new vampiric existence while nursing a crush on a somewhat older vampire, Allison (Sarah Schoofs) — who is totally, definitely (not) broken up with her obnoxious boyfriend Tony (Charles D. Lincoln, who also wrote the script), who now won't leave Theresa alone. The production values are modest and the acting is uneven, but this is a much more cohesive movie than the other two, with far and away the most intelligent script and many inventive ideas (like the fact that New York City has social services for vampires, although like most urban social services, they're underfunded and totally inadequate). Its biggest strength is the way the story builds its vampire-related elements around familiar real-world gay girl travails, which is sometimes very funny as well as horrifying. The caveat is that this is still definitely a horror movie, and goes some quite dark places (requiring CWs for suicide and sexual violence, beyond the usual for vampire stories), with an ambiguous but rather harrowing ending.

[yuridovewing]

Do you have any pmd ocs?

*grabs my toyhouse* do you know what you've just done

I'VE GOT TOO MANY!!!

Jokes aside, my biggest hyperfixation is my own PMDverse lmaoooo. It involves both my interpretations of canon characters and plotlines (which take a backseat admittedly but theyre fun to ruminate on while i replay the games) and my own PMD plotline! It's called Starfall and it features these three dweebs called Team Starlight as they're all trapped in Ultra Space and have to make their way back home, as well as find the other Pokemon who have been lost to Ultra Space (like Asha's family, the Rescue Team Silverwind)

There isn't really a Hero/Partner dynamic with any of these, though the closest would probably be Skylar/Asha.

Valerie is a Popplio with aura deficiency from being kept in her egg for too long, so she's had a very sheltered upbringing due to her overprotective brother. She's in the most dangerous position and she's the newest victim to Ultra Space, so Skylar and Asha have taken her under their wing to protect her. She's a very kindhearted and loving Pokemon, who tries to see the best in others, but she's also rather ignorant. She also harbors deep insecurity though because of her condition. She has always wanted to be an explorer, but never believed she could be one. While she's frightened, a part of her is also a little excited at the opportunities being in Ultra Space will give her. Though she doesn't know what sort of plot she's been thrown into...

Skylar is the "Hero", a human who was turned into a Pokemon with no memories of their human life. They're the de facto leader of the group and are actually very excited to be in Ultra Space: they're fascinated by how the Ultra Beasts live and they welcome the adventure they've been thrown into. They can be very rash and run into situations- they get a little too comfortable too quickly, which can annoy the Ultra Beasts. They don't really even mind being an Espurr- Aside from the headaches, it feels better than their human body... at least for now. But their amnesia terrifies them- whenever they're asked about their human past, they can't say anything- they just feel anxiety.

Asha is a Gligar that's very cautious and reserved, and wants as little nonsense and distraction as possible at achieving their goal of finding their family and home. Which is hard when you're a dimension traveler with two very curious companions. She's the one keeping everyone on track... with varying success. But her biggest issue is that she's actually a "glitch". She's the child of two Pokemon from different timelines that were never supposed to meet. So her aura is very unstable and can cause distortions. She believes that strong emotions make it worse, so they try to keep their emotions under wraps- which is difficult since they have a short fuse. She's deeply ashamed of this and is very resentful of her condition, and even wonders if she's more of a liability than an asset. Though they want to find their family again... they wonder if it'd be safer to stay out of their lives.

Can't get into all of it without spoilers but yeah I'm kinda obsessed with them. Those are the main three but I have several ocs that I sorta hyperfixate on one at a time- current one is Team Silverwind actually but I haven't properly updated their bios LOL. Please ask me about them though I love them sooooo much

(I also have a PMD OC askblog called @bugsofpetalroot which I haven't updated in a hot minute because I got too anxious, which I've been trying to work on, but I'll get back to it a in a bit I swear. It's about autistic bugs trying to find community in a world that feels like it's out to get them. Also I primarily post about these guys on my main @perenlop and art blog @asterbats. I actually just posted some stuff of my new PSMD team last night hee hee :3)

[zombubble]

I am very curious about the rewrite of The Nature of Things! So uh, consider this ask an excuse to share whatever really specific thing you want to share about it?

There's so much, but the biggest thing I'm doing (and looking forward to doing) is really... fleshing out the earlier parts of the story. We have so much in the later chapters, and by then I'd had significantly more practice, but I've always felt the earlier chapters were lacking.

It makes sense, given TNOT is the first longfic I wrote and I didn't have nearly the amount of writing experience that I have now. I didn't have the narrative tools I needed to do the story justice, but after spending a year or two working on TNOT and then the last few years writing almost constantly (though most of it is not destined for publication), I've improved a lot.

Now, I feel like I can tell the story I wanted to tell, that I can do it justice properly, and most of my focus has been on the first couple of chapters.

In the story as it was written, it's mostly driven purely by character interaction and thought processes. We really only see Yuuri in relation to Viktor (by which I mean, it's just the way he interacts with Viktor (and Phichit, some) that we see in the first few chapters). I'm working on expanding Yuuri as a person (Viktor, too, but to a lesser degree).

A lot of this means showing Yuuri in different contexts, yes, but I'm also looking to add more depth, both as far as his personality goes and as far as the secret he's trying to keep. I talked so much about the clues Viktor had seen that he wasn't entirely being truthful, and so much about the Yuuri he'd known before, but I don't feel like either of those has been adequately portrayed. I feel like I can do better.

(For example, I have this snippet from the revised version of the scene where reporters show up at the rink:)

When Viktor opens the door, he sees Yuuri still curled up, but playing a handheld game system. Turning it off, he stands up and tucks it into his bag, rubbing at his face as he exits. Then he sees Phichit and his face goes dark. “I'm sorry,” Phichit says softly. “I misunderstood.” Yuuri bites through gritted teeth, “You—you know—” “Yeah, I… I didn’t hear him say it was just a possibility. We can talk at home?” It’s clear Yuuri's trying not to let his anger get the best of him, which is good considering it was an accident, but Phichit looks remorseful, nonetheless. Glancing at Viktor, Yuuri takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Cool. Okay.” He sighs. “I… I need to clear my head. Go for a walk or something. Panic attacks always mess me up.”

For first-time readers, this would make make sense given the assumption Yuuri's anxious and reporters showed up and he's not used to fame. For someone re-reading, or who read the first version, this is going to be understood as Yuuri being upset that he was put in a position where he could be exposed, when Phichit had known it was a possibility. (To Phichit's credit, he really did misunderstand, rip.)

Stuff like this, and also moments where Viktor's watching Yuuri doing something mundane or decidedly un-Prince-like (such as, say, laughing hard enough his drink comes out of his nose) which the reader will be able to look at and be like "Dude you have the privilege of watching the Crown Prince of Akitsushima--hidden from the world--wiping a drink off his face like a dweeb."

I'm also trying to include context of his surrounding life, trying to give a fuller picture of the barista/college student/secretly-rich kid he'd gotten to know. This is definitely going to include more "tells" (Yuuri, a barista, paying his coworker $20 to bus the tables for him because he doesn't want to, because he can afford it, for example) but also more of... him being a part of society. He interacts with his coworkers. Viktor's going to see him talking to teachers and through him, I want the audience to get a much fuller picture of Yuuri.

Additionally, I'm trying to develop both of them more as people outside of each other. In the original, we see a lot of Yuuri when he's focused on Viktor, and a lot of Viktor when he's focused on Yuuri or at a competition (during which he's... also focused on Yuuri).

I'm throwing in more stuff!! Yuuri studying with coworkers!! Viktor going to photo shoots and talk shows and Being A Celebrity. I'm trying to drive in the perceived differences in the first half (World Famous Heartthrob dates Normal College Barista) so the second half feels more like a massive shift.

I say second half but it's more like the other 75% of the story.

I anticipate fewer overall changes in the later chapters, though they, too, will be rewritten (and the political machinations improved).

(Small tangent: everything I fucking write seems to end up with politics involved. I thought TNOT was the end of it but noooooooo I have MDZS fic with politics and that is driving me up a wall why do I keep doing this to myself)

(Tangent over.)

In addition to this, I'm trying to make the change in circumstances and stakes more... idk, is 'brutal' the right word? LOL. For instance, in the revised version of Chapter Six (the chapter where everything goes to shit/Yuuri becomes king) I have him being met inside the airport by security. Viktor figures out because of a news article about increased security at the airport (which, let's be real, would be Big News--increased airport security means Something Big) and Yuuri telling a guard (silently, with a very slight shake of the head) to stop staring at him.

This change is mostly because I just could not see it going down like it had in the original (them letting their Crown Prince, the next king of the nation, who's been at great risk his entire life, walking by himself all the way out to the baggage claim? No, I think they'd want him secured as soon as possible, to have the greatest amount of control over his re-entry into public life.

I know this is very general but it's also getting very long, but like... Idk. I'm really loving the re-write and I'm excited to write it and even more excited to talk about it alskdjfl.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity!!!

[tsuki-sennin]

Geats~! 42 and 43! I slowly continue to get back on the ball. Things spiral ever quickly out of control. Shit's really hittin' the fan now.

Spoilers, I guess... though at this point, you know more about this than me.

-Festering parasites, Keiwa becoming truly ruthless, and a world

-Holy shit, not even an execution, this is a full-force beat down.

-Azuma...

-I think it's rather interesting that Keiwa's wish technically stays the same but his reasons for it have clearly radically changed.

-I wouldn't be surprised if Ryuga Sato's career blows up after this is all over the way Fumiya Takahashi's did.

-You're giving me absolutely

-J

-JITT????

-I thought Jitto was kinda dumb but like

-Jitt is a word the crappy (first) English localization of Azure Striker Gunvolt made up to substitute cussing.

-I can never take your ass seriously again, you steel rod wielding fuck

-Motherfucker's got a hitlist.

-Daichi's gone full Orteca.

-"It's all mine now~!"

-Oh thank god, Michinaga, you're here.

-Human memories, hoarded within the treasure room of his mind palace.

-Brain Tomatoes.

-And then there's this little demon.

-"Despair's a way better look for my oshi!"

-New Rider Forms, yippeeeeeee

-Premium Kekera! Premium Beroba!

-"...those are not Rider Forms."

-Frog Man's got hops.

-Oh shoot Command Form.

-Haven't seen that in a while.

-Y'know Buffa's kinda doing a lot better than expected.

-I mean it makes sense, Michinaga's a seasoned veteran and Beroba and Kekera did just get these forms.

-Azuma...

-"Oops. Oh well, not my problem."

-Yo there, Neon.

-Oh hi Ace. Nice of you to join us.

-"Dude, you're vibe is all off. Absolutely rancid."

-"It's called apotheosis, fox boy. Maybe if you just laid down, this'd be unnecessary."

-No justification, just an "eye for an eye".

-Hello, Samas. Guess you're enjoying your newfound promotion.

-Now comes the climax of the episode.

-A true battle of the dweebs.

-...that is nasty, even for a Reiwa Rider villain's standards.

-Now that I can compare them, the Premium Supporter forms look a lot like the

-Bujin Sword.

-They're bleaching her!

-OH?

-AN INSERT? AT A TIME LIKE THIS???

-Okay, sure!

Daichi: Kekera! What the fuck?! Help me, you piece of shit!" Kekera: You kidding!? This is exactly what I want!

-I'm convinced that if Kekera were real, he'd be the biggest Snyder-Verse dick rider.

-Daichi, I realize you're about to be as extinct as the trilobite you transformed into, but I don't think pointing fingers over things that you clearly planned meticulously is a good idea.

-"Yesssss! Kill!"

-Hello, Geats.

-Nooooo, not Negaiiiii

-Little Bro Ace... Big Sis Tsumuri...

-Oh

-She broke out!

-Somehow!

-...I won't lie though, she kills in that white hair look.

-Jitty don't play nice.

-Congratulations, Keiwa Sakurai! You brought back everybody who ever lost their lives to the Desire Grand Prix! Are you proud of yourself?

-Oh, new head molds?

-G

-Gya-Go???

-Oh man, Old Man Kousei's apparently done being a deadbeat jerkoff.

-The World of Keiwa Sakurai.

-"This is different."

-Good job! The DGP gave you exactly what you wanted! And as a cool bonus, they gave you new friends~!

-Oh Christ, a wild hog!

-For the record, in the United States we have a massive problem with invasive hog species that results in a lot of destruction of wildlife and (often) human casualty.

-"GEATS WHAT THE FUCK?"

-"Don't look at me, man! Tycoon was the one who made the wish! ...terribly!"

-I swear if Geats IX struggles against Mr. Warthog, I'm gonna shit.

-What's his name, anyway?

-"GEATS?! OH MAN!"

-Head?

-Honestly Keiwa you have nobody but yourself to blame for this one.

-"They're all dead! Again!"

-Kirito... Kirito???

-Damn, he grew up to be a real bastard.

-Guess all that digital.

-"Bad End, kid. Game over. Thanks to you, ratings have spiked thanks to our sadist fans."

-"...this isn't the kind of jailbreak I wanted."

-NEON

-Yeah, that fire extinguisher works.

-OHHHHHHHHH THAT'S AKARI'S KIDNAPPER

-He was a DGP player too?

-Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

-Neon...

-You are far too good for us.

-Hello, Keiwa-kun.

-"I"m going to kill every last one of you."

-Not even a second.

-"That's my boy."

-The shogun now has his army.

-Instant green.

-...is this a game mechanic?

-"Goddessfication" sounds like an absolutely horrifying

-Sunk cost fallacy is a hell of a drug.

-"I need to fix this."

-You're pitiable, old man.

-"Good job, idiot." Michinaga's never gonna let any fan of Daichi's quiz show success live this down.

-It all amounted to absolutely nothing, huh Daichi?

-Guess this guy just had nothing better to do with his life than ruin someone else's.

-Irumi and Kousei, as cruel and selfish they were miserable.

-It's like a fuckin' Greek tragedy.

-What a terrible realization to never have until too late.

-Neon's just 100% done with all this. At this point what, if anything, would make her hate Beroba any more?

-Once upon a time, Kousei Kurama met a fox on the bridge.

-Is that Kirito's snout? Are we reusing suit parts mid episode now?

-Oh, that's... that's new.

-"I want to play your game. There's a mistake I can't even begin to make up for without your help."

-Time Fire!

-Fantasy!

-...that's Brave's Fantasy Gamer armor.

-Nice repaint at least, I like the blue and gold.

-Oh!

-He's a wizard.

-A mountain lion wizard.

-"It's rude to open fire on the show, you know."

-NA-GO RETURNS LET'S GO

-I'm constantly flip-flopping on how much I like Geats, but right now it's in the "Yeah, this is epic" zone. Might change, might not, who knows?

[chocomd]

ATLA rewatch thoughts, Book 2 (ep 15)

15) The Tales of Ba Sing Se

Toph and Katara: This is a cute story about Toph and Katara bonding over a girls’ day out (and dunking some mean girls in the canal lol). It’s also a story about Toph’s insecurities. As Katara says near the end, Toph is strong, confident, and self-assured. But even though Toph says she doesn’t need anyone’s approval, what people think about her still matters to her. Katara sees this and gives her friend the encouragement and friendship in just the way she needs.

Iroh: When Iroh is buying a basket in preparation to honor Lu Ten’s memory: “No, it's not a romantic picnic, but it is a special occasion.” MY HEART 😭 He spends his part of this episode sharing his wisdom and being kind to the strangers around him. At first, it seems like we’re getting a closer look at the reformed soul that the FN general and FL’s brother has become. But his story ends with him honoring his dead son. This isn’t a story about the wise and caring person that Iroh has become - what we are seeing is his redemption in action. The first thing he says to Lu Ten’s portrait is “If only I could have helped you.” And then he sings Leaves From the Vine, which sounds like a song about young men who grow up and leave home to fight, and about the same young men who fall in battle and “return” home. I think Iroh means more than “I wish I could have kept you from dying in battle.” His perspective on life and the war have changed dramatically in the years since he lost Lu Ten, but they also continue to change during the course of ATLA. I think that Iroh helps the people around him to help make the world a better place because that is his biggest regret about himself and Lu Ten - that he walked the path of violence and bloodshed and destruction and raised Lu Ten to do the same, and they both paid the price, with Lu Ten losing his life and Iroh losing his throne and his son. Iroh is living out his redemption as well by trying to be the father to Zuko that he couldn’t be to Lu Ten.

Aang: I love how Aang the Air Nomad, who flies free as the wind, wants to give the zoo animals a place where they won’t be cooped up in cages anymore. Also: “Don't worry, I'm great with animals” and “This was so much easier in my head.” 🤣  I loved the airbending and earthbending too and just all the chaos in general 😂

Sokka: Sokka barging in on a ladies’ haiku club meeting and getting into a 1v1 with the teacher! ‘Nuff said. So many burnnnnns lmao

Zuko: Ahhh, Zuko’s infamous date with Jin. HE’S SUCH AN AWKWARD DWEEB LMAO 🥲 And damn, Jin sure put up with a lot and still was into him (how?). “You have ... quite an appetite for a girl.” rip 💀 But at the end, Zuko actually does something genuinely sweet - he lights the lamps at the Firelight Fountain. And while he’s firebending, Sun Warrior music is playing. This is one of the few times (only time?) in ATLA that Zuko firebends to bring joy and life and not destruction. And then of course Jin kisses him (and he kisses back) and he says “It’s complicated. I have to go.” Oops, dramatic Zuko is back 💀

Momo: Momo misses Appa so much that he dreams about him and sees him everywhere 😭 Also the way he made friends with the scary panther cat things 🥺 Also HOW are there scary panther cat things roaming the streets of a city???? I guess that’s what the animal catcher is for 💀 AND THE WAY THE EPISODE ENDS WITH MOMO CURLING UP IN APPA’S PAWPRINT 😭👀👀👀

[thearchivist-theprime]

Fuck it, y’all are going to be hearing about my all time favorite fanfics today

It’s All Right by empresskatariah

The level of honey nut feelios this gave me cannot be described. Like, this was written pretty soon after the All Might vs All for One fight in the manga. And just the concern and care they showed him and he’s fought for so long and so hard for them???? 😭😭😭 It reminds me a lot of that scene with the train passengers in the second Toby Mcquire Spider-Man movie, and that is the biggest compliment I can give a superhero related thing.

I had so many feelings about it I had to draw a scene from it.

Last Lullaby by Ardent Aspen

*vibrates* have I told you about my lord and savior Last Lullaby??? The fic that left me so inspired I had to write my own??? Fuck I absolutely adore this fanfic. Like, this fic rocked my world because I had never read this dynamic between Megatron and Optimus and it was SO GOOD!!!

Let Me Hear You Whisper by scancrasher

I don’t think you guys understand the depth I adore Megatron/Soundwave (particularly TFP). It’s like, one of my all time favorite ships, and this fic absolutely feed into that obsession. The characterization and world building is so so so *chef’s kiss*

Come Morning Light by NotHereForIt

My all time favorite Mob Psycho 100 fic. Mogami arc in the anime got high key nerfed, but this really captured the horror presented in the manga. It really hit me hard, man

A Courtship by nev_longbottom

Look, I’m not really sure what to say in my defense, I just like gender role fuckery. And this hit a spot I desperately needed hit.

The Sum of All Our Parts by Windsett

Fuckkkkkkkk, I liked Hermann a lot okay??? And I’m just so genuinely absolutely obsessed with idea and his relationship with Newton and this fic messed me up (affectionate)

Tears Are Gems of the Soul by akblake

The world building is some of the best I have ever seen, I am in awe every time I read it. And this fic is the perfect middle ground to something heavy enough it gives me plenty to be consumed by, while not being so overwhelming it takes me a week to read it.

The Bat Paladin by thecityofthefireflies

Look I don’t know SHIT about Voltron after like,,, season 1, and frankly after what I’ve heard I don’t want to, but I’m absolutely obsessed with “Batman adopts orphans from other shows” and something about this one is really fucking fun?? And deliciously angsty.

Subject E by Ook

To this day I am dealing with severe Maximum Ride brainrot, because I’m obsessed with human experimentation stories. It’s the perfect vessel for whump and angst and a shitton of comfort and learning/relearning how to rejoin society.

I think this is only fic that survived my rage after X-Men……………..went the direction it did. But that’s neither here nor there.

Mr. Yagi by AoiMikans, Swiftwidget

Im so obsessed with the idea of All Might and heroism, even when he’s not using One for All. What does Toshinori Yagi mean to people?

Number One In Our Hearts by SilverInkbolt

I have a huge guilty pleasure of outsider POV/social media fics y’all have NO IDEA. And with All Might being a hero, in and out of costume?? Love at first read.

Sword and Shield by SilverInkbolt

I like the duality of it. All Might is a ducking dweeb and I love him, but I ALSO love when he’s terrifying. And the show is all about learning to be a hero, so reading about him showing off his years of hero experience just made me so happy.

Laugh Out Loud by Deviation

Honestly I’m not sure what to say I love this one. Aizawa reaching an understanding about All Might was so delightful to read, and it’s just so satisfying.

o that i were a man by dvldegg

Not sure if I found this before or after my Trans Realization™️, but I love it. Beatrice and Benedict are great characters to be smacked with the transgender agenda 😂😂

Overpowered by galaxysoup

This fic reads so fucking Autistic to me. Maybe I’m biased, but I have had sensory meltdowns like this. And honestly? With how much masking Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan do throughout the show, to me it’s not a stretch.

Step One: Don’t Fall In Love (Step One Failed) by ApatheticRobots

This is actually pretty new to the list, but it’s still really fucking good. I had tricked myself into shipping Starscream/Optimus and was genuinely surprised by how good a lot of the stories were!! This one perfectly balanced being so absolutely hilarious and also a grounded way for these characters to grow close. Stop Me by megadoomingir is also incredible, but is a very big investment. Worth it though!!

Carry On Wayward Son by Kenyastarflight

Another new one to my list, but still so fucking good. And then after being so freaking good it has to remind me of Last Lullaby and my own fic. The audacity (complimentary)

Keep Me Safe by NovemberBear

The Batman (2022) really fucking did me in okay! And then this fic had to come along and kick me while I was down!! I think I just really enjoy superhero stories where we see how the public reacts to these heroes. The symbiotic relationship between the person that saves and those they save. So this just really gave me intense feelings.

When I’m ready to die from these wounds by xantissa

I don’t exactly know how to explain why I love this fic, but it’s incredible. The plot is just awesome, and I love how alien Aziraphale and Crowley are here. They feel not human. I guess I like it when two characters are a bit fucked up for their love of their life. It’s just so absolutely delicious and it deserves so much praise.

Satan is Tired by Your_Narrator

The Devilman Crybaby fixit we didn’t deserve. It is legitimately glorious and I adore this fic so fucking much.

Sebei by ariasune

I rewatched Yu-Gi-Oh around 2017/2018 and I absolutely fell in love with Rishid’s character. And this fic just scratched absolutely everything I need.

A Handful of Water by ariasune

This fic is THE SHIT if you love Rishid. I love his convictions he makes regarding the situation, Malik’s confusion and angst and guilt, and Isis just backing Rishid up. Their hug meant EVERYTHING to me.

[streetslost]

Of course, Scott got her a box of chocolate covered strawberries and roses- they were situated nicely upon the table with balloons. But what stole the show was his arms spread wide, ready for a hug. An interesting blanket, gripped within his fingers, fell behind him like a cape. He got her a burrito blanket. "You are my favorite bae-rrito"

              GAZE WAS PLASTERED TO HIM.  trying to retain some sense of seriousness ( and not immediately lunge for the strawberries ).  green depths narrowed, brows furrowed.  lips pulled back in a half-grin, half-tease while hands found their ways to her hips.  cat laughed, finally unable to hold the bubbling in her chest.  head shook, tendrils of wild hair SLAPPING against her cheeks before she puffed out the air she had been holding in her concentration.  she couldn't even read the blanket quite yet, but she could make out the image well enough to get the gist.  it wasn't the first time she had been compared to a burrito... it certainly wouldn't be the l a s t, it seemed.

     "you're famous.  people love and adore you.  and you're actually the biggest dweeb in the entire world..."

                         voice trailed, steps drawing her closer, soon standing just before his embrace.  it was barely half a second before she was fully in his arms, burying against him, relishing in the warmth and love and hold.  he was eveything and more.  even better than the delectible treats waiting for her.  d e e p inhale, breathing him in, a smile present, love etching her features.  "but you're my dweeb... i love you."

              of course she had something for him.  some board games, some wine, and some of his favorite ice cream and cookies.  a date night, really.  nothing too fancy, but an excuse to spend an evening with him.  quality time was more than anything to her; something she shared in her own expressions of affection.

@famefound

[gdwessel]

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2022 - 5/1/2022: A Good Night For The Bullet Club, BOSJ29 Participants & Blocks Announced; NJPW Strong Episode 88 - 4/30/2022; NOAH Majestic 2022 Night 2 - 4/30/2022; DDT, TJPW, STARDOM, Dragon Gate, Marvelous, Osaka Pro, Onita Fire Pro Wrestling Results

As I said would happen in Thursday’s post, the @StrongStylStory Twitter account is not under that name any longer; it is now @gdwessel. If you happened to follow the previous @gdwessel account, its name has changed, and you should follow the proper @gdwessel one now. Thanks!

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Today was Wrestling Dontaku 2022. Usually the show happens on May 3 (and for the past couple of years, it has been a two-night show). It was streamed live on NJPWWorld, and features a lot of title matches.

Wrestling Dontaku 2022 - 5/1/2022, Fukuoka Pay Pay Dome (NJPWWorld)

Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] d. Shiro Koshinaka, Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Taichi > Shingo, Taichi-Style Gedo Clutch, 10:15)

Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. YOH [CHAOS] (Timebomb II, 9:59)

Tanga Loa [GoD] d. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] (Apeshit, 11:33)

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato © d. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] (Taguchi > Kanemaru, Rollup, 9:10) - Team Six or Nine succeed their 2nd defense

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] © and Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Owens > Goto, Rocket Launcher Elbow Drop, 9:42) - Cobb/O-Khan fail their 1st defense - Fale/Owens are the 94th champions

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [GoD] d. EVIL [Bullet Club] © (Gunstun, 13:25) - EVIL fails his 3rd defense - Tonga in the 36th champion

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. El Desperado [SZKG] © (Bone Lock, 14:40) - Despy fails his 4th defense - Ishimori is the 92nd champion

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (High Fly Flow, 23:20) - Tanahashi is the 14th champion

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] © d. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (Rainmaker, 34:12) - Okada succeeds his 4th defense

Okada retains against Naito, and is attacked by the entire “new” Bullet Club, which now includes Juice Robinson as a member, with “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows making their first appearance in Japan since 2016. Jay White challenged Okada, while Juice stole the IWGP US title belt. Wrestling Dontaku is the anniversary show for the Bullet Club, formed at the 2013 edition of this show. I mean, sure, wrestling is all a work and the talk of him leaving the company was now all a part of that work. I guess that we are in 2022, and the solution for “We have no ideas left for this guy” is to put him with the Bullet Club. (Or United Empire, sure. But the Empire is still a relatively new unit, and they need numbers.) They’ve done it now with EVIL and SHO the last two years, and but for mere short-term gain; long-term, nobody wants to see EVIL and SHO now, their matches deflate the room. It’s like their one idea for a heel turn now (well, two with the Empire); WCW did the same thing, had their one idea for a heel turn, which was to put somebody, ANYBODY with the nWo and we all know how that turned out long-term.

Yes, Juice v. Tana for the US title makes sense. Why it has to be with Bullet Club is beyond me. But then, this has been one of the biggest issues creatively with NJPW even during the good times in the 2010s. The unwillingness to break up and create new units and stables has made things really stale in that regard. Bullet Club is now nine years old. CHAOS is thirteen, and is so far removed from its original intentions that they may as well be part of the Hontai now. Even Los Ingobernables de Japon is hitting seven years in existence this year, and absolutely none of the founding members of the original Los Ingobernables are even with CMLL anymore. The United Empire felt like a breath of fresh air, despite having scummy dweebs like Ospreay and TJP, because it took five years for a new unit to be formed since LIJ first coalesced in October 2015. That they haven’t been more successful is more how things have gone because of the pandemic than anything. Well, and Ospreay’s injury/whatever last year too.

Look at the landscape of, say, Dragon Gate, and I guarantee you within two years from this writing, none of Natural Vibes, HIGH-END, Gold Class, Z-Brats or even the tag team D’Courage will be around. Three of those were only formed in the last couple of months. A little thing like splitting up existing stables and forming new ones with different members would go a long way to make the booking, which HAS improved in 2022 it must be said, a lot fresher these days.

Overall, however, it was a good night for the Bullet Club, despite EVIL losing the NEVER title to the founder the BC kicked out, Tama Tonga, winning his first ever NJPW singles title. But they gained not only the IWGP junior title, but also, the heavyweight tag belts, with a new configuration, Fale & Owens. I’m pretty sure O-Cobb are not done with the titles either.

Shiro Koshinaka became the new partner for Shingo & BUSHI, with Tatsumi Fujinami waylaid with COVID-19. Shingo challenged Taichi to a rematch soon, probably Dominion if I had to guess.

The blocks and participants for Best Of The Super Juniors 29 were announced, as the tournament returns to its traditional calendar spot after the last two years of Olympics, pandemic and Olympics delays because of the pandemic. It starts 5/15/2022 from Nagoya, ending 6/3/2022 at Tokyo Nippon Budokan. Several debuts from outside NJPW (and one from within) feature this year, as we return to a 20-man field, divided into two blocks.

In A Block, Clark Connors makes his way over from the LA Dojo, whilst Alex Zayne, who has featured on Strong and in GCW, also makes his debut. The Empire’s newest member Francesco Akira is here, as well as Ace Austin of Impact Wrestling.

Meanwhile, B Block gets Wheeler Yuta’s NJPW Japan debut, representing AEW and his stable, the Blackpool Combat Club. El Lindaman of #STRONGHEARTS, GLEAT’s inaugural G-REX Champion, makes his BOSJ debut here as well. Not a debut, but a return, is CMLL’s Titan, meaning the relationship between NJPW and CMLL is still on in some form or fashion, despite NJPW now working with AEW & Impact, both of whom have partnerships with AAA.

Here are the blocks, with debutants in italics:

A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH [CHAOS], Clark Connors, Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables], Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG], Ace Austin [Impact], Alex Zayne [GCW], Francesco Akira [United Empire], Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club], SHO [Bullet Club]

B Block: Master Wato, Robbie Eagles [CHAOS], Titan [CMLL], BUSHI [Los Ingobernables], El Desperado [SZKG], DOUKI [SZKG], El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS], Wheeler Yuta [AEW], TJP [United Empire], El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Last night’s NJPW Strong continues (or concludes?) the matches from Strong Style Evolved from St. Petersburg, FL.

The DKC d. Kevin Knight (Reverse Double Armbar, 7:45)

Mascara Dorada [FREE] d. TJP [United Empire] (Dorada Screwdriver, 10:50)

Ren Narita d. Jay Lethal [AEW] (Lethal Injection, 12:17)

In other news, Minoru Suzuki will face Brody King at Capital Collision on 5/15/2022. Also, a new NJPW Strong taping, Ignition, has been signed for 6/19/2022 at the Vermont Hollywood in LA once again. Tickets are already on sale.

Last night in Seattle, DEFY Wrestling held its Wild Ones event featuring as its main event, Jon Moxley of NJPW & AEW defeating the NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. El Phantasmo was also on this show, falling to Steve Migs. Other talents who work, or have worked, Strong were on this as well. It was shown live on PLUTO Channel 732. I have no idea how PLUTO actually works, and don’t know if there is a VOD option for this show or not. I did not see it live as it started too late for me, especially after AAA Triplemania XXX Monterrey last night went til midnight my time. UGH. One bad thing about the idea we are somehow past the pandemic, is that wrestling cards are getting way too long again.

The next NJPW tour will, of course, be Best Of The Super Juniors 29. No cards or matches announced yet. Stay tuned for that.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

The second night of Majestic was yesterday, at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. You can see it now on Wrestle Universe if you’d like.

Majestic 2022 - 4/30/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Wrestle Universe)

Slex & Kai Fujimura d. Alejandro & Yasutaka Yano (Slex > Yano, Close Of Business, 10:22)

Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo] d. King Tany, Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito [Funky Express] (Soya > Yone, Ballistic, 12:55) 

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] d. NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, Texano Jr., Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (HAYATA > Eita, DQ, 9:28)

Kazushi Sakuraba & Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] d. Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] & Don Fujii [Dragon Gate] (Kashin > Mochizuki, Schoolboy, 6:47)

Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE] d. Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance] & Daiki Inaba (Wagner > Inaba, Moonsault Press, 10:51)

Michael Elgin [FREE] d. Masa Kitamiya (Elgin Bomb, 12:33)

GHC National Championship: Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] © d. Simon Gotch [FREE] (Referee Stoppage, 9:47) - Funaki succeeds his 3rd defense

Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG], Extreme Tiger [FREE] & Ninja Mack [GCW] d. Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Junta Miyawaki (Bane > Miyawaki, Bane Twister, 16:33)

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Satoshi Kojima d. Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada (Kojima > Okada, lariat, 15:01)

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun] © d. Kenoh & Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] (Suzuki > Nakajima, Double-Arm Suplex, 23:36) - Sugiura/Suzuki succeed their 1st defense

GHC Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Go Shiozaki d. Kaito Kiyomiya (Strong Arm Lariat, 30:02) - Shiozaki is the 38th champion

Shiozaki becomes the champion, which, to be fair, I am pretty sure was the plan to begin with. Why they decided to sacrifice Kaito Kiyomiya on that altar instead of someone else, I don’t know. Shiozaki was challenged by NJPW’s Satoshi Kojima, who was also Naomichi Marufuji’s mystery partner. Kojima was wearing a NOAH shirt all night, and seems to be looking to be around NOAH for a bit. That match is now set for the CyberFight Festival on 6/12/2022.

Sugiura-gun retain the tag titles, and are challenged by Rene Dupree & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., which will happen on the Tokyo Korakuen Hall show on Wednesday 5/4/2022. Super Crazy & Texano Jr. challenged for the junior tag belts held by Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway. Texano Jr. is a junior heavyweight in the same way Shingo Takagi was in his first nine months in New Japan; that is, not at all. Masa Kitamiya asked Michael Elgin for a partnership, which Elgin agreed to. Which means NOAH is planning on using Elgin, at least in the short-term. Puke.

Keiji Muto returns to action on 5/21/2022 from Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, where he will team with Marufuji & Kojima against Shiozaki, Kiyomiya & Masato Tanaka.

The next two shows are the beginning of Dream On 2022, both from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. The Hi69 you see is Nio, who had to revert back to this name after his loss to Hao on Friday, something I neglected to mention.

Dream On 2022 - 5/4/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (ABEMA)

Simon Gotch [FREE] v. Kinya Okada

NOSAWA Rongai, Texano Jr. & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] v. Alejandro, Kai Fujimura & Yasutaka Yano

Kenoh & Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] v. Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] & Slex

Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 [Kongo] v. Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG] & Extreme Tiger [FREE]

Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya [Kongo] v. Masa Kitamiya & Michael Elgin

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] v. Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY, Hao & Junta Miyawaki

Kaito Kiyomiya v. Ninja Mack [GCW]

Go Shiozaki, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura v. Satoshi Kojima, Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance]

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun] © v. Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE]

- 5/5/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Slex v. Kinya Okada

Atsushi Kotoge & Hao v. Texano Jr. & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon]

Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hi69 [Kongo] v. King Tany & Muhammad Yone [Funky Express]

HAYATA [STINGER], Seiki Yoshioka [STINGER], Yuya Susumu [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano v. Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG], Extreme Tiger [FREE] & Alejandro

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance], YO-HEY & Ninja Mack [GCW] v. Kenoh, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo]

Manabu Soya [Kongo] v. Michael Elgin

Simon Gotch [FREE], Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Chris Ridgeway [STINGER] v. Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & Junta Miyawaki

Satoshi Kojima v. Yoshiki Inamura

Go Shiozaki, Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance], Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba v. Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun], Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun], Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE]

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

DDT held the Mega Max Bump 2022 in Yokohama event today, which you can see now on Wrestle Universe. Four title matches, and a special challenge tag match between the GM Hisaya Imabayashi & team against Danshoku Dino’s Pheromones unit to end that feud. We think.

DDT Mega Max Bump 2022 in Yokohama - 5/1/2022, Kanagawa Yokohama Budokan (Wrestle Universe)

KANON d. Yuya Koroku [Burning] (Just Cobra Twist, 7:22)

Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura d. Antonio Honda & Yuki Ishida (Yoshimura > Ishida, Harai Goshi, 9:33)

Shinya Aoki d. Toi Kojima [The 37KAMIINA] (Leglock, 5:04)

KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship: Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba © d. Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Gota Ihashi (JULIE > Hirata, Cattle Mutilation, 8:45) - JULIE/Sasaki/GENTARO/MIKAMI/Toba succeed their 1st defense

Maya Yukihi & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] d. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani [Eruption] (Katsumata > Okatani, Totono Splash, 10:28)

Hisaya Imabayashi, AKIRA & Muscle Sakai d. Danshoku Dino, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari [Pheromones] (Imabayashi > Dino, Jackknife Hold, 16:55)

Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON [DAMNATION TA] d. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Soma Takao (Sasaki > Takao, Crossface, 10:43)

Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi [Eruption] d. HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX] & Hikaru Sato (Higuchi > HARASHIMA, Brain Claw, 14:25)

DDT Universal Championship: MAO [The 37KAMIINA] © d. Asuka (Cannonball 450, 13:56) - MAO succeeds his 2nd defense

KO-D Tag Team Championship: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi © d. Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada [Burning] (Takanashi > Okada, Cradle, 21:09) - Calamari Drunken Kings succeed their 1st defense

KO-D Openweight Championship: Tetsuya Endo [Burning] © d. Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA] (Burning Star Press, 31:17) - Endo succeeds his 1st defense

MAO & Asuka settled their differences in the ring, and challenged Calamari Drunken Kings for the tag titles. Masahiro Takanashi of CDK challenged MAO to the Universal belt as well. Recent signee KANON is the mystery new member of DAMNATION TA that Daisuke Sasaki teased. Prominence (specifically Suzu Suzuki) attacked Shunma Katsumata. Sasaki is also booked to fight NOAH’s Kenoh at CyberFight Festival 2022 on 6/12/2022. Yuki Iino will defend the DDT Extreme title against AKIRA on 6/1/2022. Gota Ihashi took the place of Gorgeous Matsuno in the KO-D 10-man title match as Matsuno had a family emergency crop up.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Joshi held the second of two nights at Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall yesterday, the final build show to Tuesday’s Korakuen Hall show.

TJPW Spring Tour ‘22 - 4/30/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Suzume d. Kaya Toribami (Ring A Bell, 9:50)

Yuki Aino d. Arisu Endo (Full Nelson Of Love And Fire, 8:48)

3-Way Match: Raku d. Rika Tatsumi & Haruna Neko (Raku > Neko, Doctor Yellow, 7:43)

Maki Itoh d. Moko Miyamoto (Itoh Punish, 8:46)

Miyu Yamashita & Miu Watanabe d. Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu (Watanabe > Kiryu, Kick de Bakoon!, 12:56)

Hyper Misao, Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta d. Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (Misao > Nakajima, Vanitas, 11:20)

Challengers beat the champions in the last prelude match to Tuesday’s title matches, with Hyper Misao getting a direct win over Shoko Nakajima. Indeed, here’s the card for that show:

TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 – Spread The Wings Of Your Dreams - 5/3/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Exhibition Match: Reika Saiki v. Arisu Endo

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu v. Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami

Suzume v. Julia Nagano

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai v. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku

Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh v. Hikaru Shida [AEW] & Moko Miyamoto

Princess Tag Team Championship: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki © v. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta

Princess of Princess Championship: Shoko Nakajima © v. Hyper Misao

Apparently, Yuka Sakazaki will be getting on a plane immediately following this show as AEW has asked for her to be present for a match this week (which show, I don’t know, there are several to choose from). Ironically, they just gave an out for Hikaru Shida to not be there next week, as she just lost a feud-ender against Serena Deeb on Dynamite this past Wednesday. (In other DDT Talent In AEW news, Konosuke Takeshita will be featured on AEW Dark this week versus Rhett Titus.)

The kicker with this, is on Thursday’s show, the winners of the tag title match are supposed to be teaming with both Maki Itoh and the winner of the Princess of Princess match against Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. So, possibly a giveaway for the tag title match? We’ll see!

STARDOM

STARDOM are running a Golden Week Fight Tour all week, which began today. Thursday’s show will be the big one as it has three title matches and an Elimination match.

Golden Week Fight Tour 2022 - 5/1/2022, Hiroshima Big Rose

Thekla [Donna del Mondo] d. Momo Kohgo [STARS] (Dokugumo Death Drop, 5:56)

Ruaka & Starlight Kid [Oedo Tai] d. AZM & Hina [Queen’s Quest] (Kid > Hina, Moonsault Press, 8:06)

Giulia, Maika, Himeka, Natsipoi & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Mayu Iwatani, Saya Iida, Janan, Koguma & Hazuki [STARS] (Giulia > Hanan, Backdrop, 10:38)

Saki Kashima, Rina & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] d. Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] (Kashima > C, Kishikaisei, 13:12)

Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei & Konami [God’s Eye] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unigi Sayaka & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Konami > Tsukiyama, Triangle Lancer, 19:40)

God’s Eye’s newest member beats the rookie of Cosmic Angels, with Waka still waiting for her first win.

The tour resumes Tuesday.

Dragon Gate

The Gate of Passion 2022 tour continued through the weekend.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 16 - 4/30/2022, Fukui Tsuruga Kirameki Minato Building

YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Kagetora [HIGH-END] d. Kzy, U-T & Genki Horiguchi [Natural Vibes] (YAMATO > Horiguchi, Galleria, 12:29)

SB KENTo & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Takashi Yoshida & Yosuke Santa Maria (KENTo > Yosuke, MCC, 10:13)

Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. Strong Machine J, La Estrella & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Fujiwara, R-301, 11:15)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Yoshioka > Okuda, Frog Splash, 12:09)

Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu, Jacky “Funky” Kamei & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk, HYO & Shun Skywalker (Yokosuka > HYO, Aikata, 18:09)

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 17 - 5/1/2022, Aichi Tsushima Bunka Hall

Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi, Big Boss Shimizu & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk, HYO & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Yokosuka > HYO, Yokosuka Cutter, 12:11)

Shachihoko Boy & Strong Machine J d. Yosuke Santa Maria & Ho Ho Lun (J > Yosuke, Machine Suplex, 10:46)

Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. Eita, Ishin Iihashi & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Ishin, R-301, 13:21)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Kagetora & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Dia > Okuda, Double Cork, 13:29)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Ben-K [HIGH-END] d. Kzy, U-T & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (YAMATO > Kamei, Galleria, 19:24)

K-Ness has announced that following his retirement, he is now leaving Dragon Gate entirely. Best wishes to him in his life post-wrestling.

Founder Ultimo Dragon was in AAA last night, wrestling at the Triplemania XXX in Monterrey show. He went on first, defeating Penta 0M in the opening match, which was also the first in the Ruleta de la Muerte tournament. The tournament actually sees the loser advance to the next round, as the Final will be a mask v. mask match, taking place at the Triplemania XXX show in October.

The tour wraps up with two livestreamed shows on DG Network on Tuesday & Wednesday, then Dead Or Alive 2022 on Thursday.

Other News

Marvelous held its 6th Anniversary show today at Korakuen Hall. The main event saw Rin Kadokura & Itsuki Aoki beat Tomoko Watanabe & Kaoru Ito to fill the vacant AAAW Tag Team Championship for the first time since 2005. Afterwards, Kadokura announced she was now married, and her mother-in-law was none other than Akira Hokuto. Meaning, her father-in-law is Kensuke Sasaki, and her husband would most likely be Kennosuke Sasaki. I guess congratulations are in order.

Osaka Pro crowned its new champion today, as Zeus defeated the previous (Openweight) champion Kazuaki Mihara with a Jackhammer in 24:25, becoming the 34th champion, and the first for this new revival of the promotion.

Atsushi Onita ran two Fire Pro Wrestling (not the videogame) shows from Shimane and Hiroshima this weekend, featuring Rising HAYATO, Koji Doi and Hokuto Omori from All Japan. The main events both nights were Electric Current Blast Explosion Bat deathmatches, that saw Onita team with both Osamu Nishimura and a switching third partner between nights, against Mr. Pogo and various others. Onita won yesterday, whilst Devil Magician got a win on Onita today.

Shows also took place by BJW, HARD HIT, Michinoku Pro, 2AW, Kyushu Pro, Colega, Ice Ribbon, ChocoPro, ZERO1, and other one-off events through this Golden Weekend.

I’ll be back Tuesday.