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idontparticularlyliketoast · 7 months ago

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That fucking robot got in my head dog

***

BOOT UP SEQUENCE READY

FIRMWARE

LATEST UPDATE: (2112.08.06)

CALIBRATION

EXPIRED

NEW CALIBRATION REQUIRED

AUDIO OK

“-works!” A voice said. It echoed strangely.

There was the sound of an engine humming, but smoother, quieter. Not the tell-tale gurgle of blood-mechanisms.

VIDEO OK

It’s vision flickered on, a ceiling looming above it. Old stone. Something next to it was glowing, a faint yellow hue filling the space.

MECHANICS ERROR

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

MECHANICS DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

FOREIGN MATERIAL DETECTED

FOREIGN CODE DETECTED

CRITICAL SYSTEMS COMPROMISED

FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

SHUT DOWN IN 3 2 1

“What– no– don’t– ugh.” The person beside it shifted, and the light pulsed blue.

ERROR

SHUT DOWN HALTED DUE TO FUEL DISCREPANCY

ALL SYSTEMS POWERED

FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

ERROR

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

CALIBRATION DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

FOREIGN MATERIAL COMPATIBLE WITH UNIT MECHANICS

FOREIGN CODE COMPATIBLE WITH OPERATING SYSTEM

ACCEPT FOREIGN MATERIAL?

YES

CALIBRATION RESUMED

MECHANICS OK

A thousand connections fired, a thousand little servos testing a new body. The resulting feedback was clear. The legs were standard issue, as was the right arm and head. The foreign object was the left arm, and a section of the diaphragm.

STATUS UPDATE:

MACHINE ID: VI

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE SITUATION

V1 rotated its head, inspecting the changes. The new arm resembled their right in form, but it was a completely new material, golden and glowing.

It then glanced up.

Standing beside it, holding a clip-board, was an angel.

Prior experience determined this was a new subtype. It had a more human form than a Virtue, but it didn’t have enough armor to be an arch-angel. A gold and silver helm with a design that mimicked rings of eyes. Some basic vambraces. All the rest of their form was covered by cloth drapings.

ERROR

PRIORITY OVERRIDE

REASON: FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND FUEL

Prior experience indicated that V1 would be strapped down to the table. It was standard procedure when working with blood-fueled machines. It would be idiotic to wake up a hungry machine and not at least restrain it. V1 prepared to break the restraints.

V1 was not strapped down. It automatically discarded that strain of data-analysis, its core frantically trying to conserve energy. Energy that it shouldn’t have, because it didn’t have any blood.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: BLOOD

The angel didn’t have any time to react before they were on the ground, V1 on top of them. The new arm was no Knuckleblaster, but it still smashed in the angel’s chest. Crimson splashed upwards, and its strikes grew in speed. Over and over again, it crushed glowing flesh, fists trading blows with ruthless efficiency.

Only when the blood stopped flowing, and the flesh stopped glowing, did V1 stop hitting.

FUEL RESERVES AT 41%

DATA ANALYSIS:

MANKIND IS DEAD

HELL IS GONE.

BLOOD IS FUEL.

THIS UNIT WAS FUNCTIONING AT 0%.

RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND A WEAPON

It scanned its surroundings. The work-station it had been laying on was nothing more than cut stone. Around it, someone has set up various tables, which held unknown tools and substances. The tables were definitely a newer addition– everything else in the room was covered in a fine layer of dust, including the blood-splattered floor. The room was a square of sharp stone angles with V1’s slab in the center. The only thing else of interest were a series of shelves cut directly into the rock walls.

Most of the shelves held crumbling books, irrelevant. But just behind where V1’s head had lain, on a particularly large shelf, were guns**. Large ones, small ones, even a few that looked like they’d been pulled right off the back of other machines.

V1 started throwing them into its wings with gleeful abandon. It had just finished shoving a massive rail cannon into its storage when the data connected; these weren’t random guns, these were its** guns. And, if its internal storage systems were working correctly, they had ammo.

It continued shoving them into its storage, and then began exploring the room.

NEW OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE

There was no clear door for the angel to have come. Could it have teleported inside? Possibly, but V1 was not sure the tables were small enough for an angel to teleport. Especially one of a lower power-level. Prior experience suggested there was a relation between matter moved and power expended. V1 noticed a break in pattern; there were only shelves on three walls of the room. It jumped over to the wall, and punched it with the new arm.

It flashed gold, and the stone cracked. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the small chamber.

It considered the glowing arm, and labeled it Godpiercer. Godpiercer was sending what V1 could only interpret as off-signals for certain temporary conditions. It switched a random one on.

The arm prompted a further selection:

SPECIFY FORM:

MEMORY/FEEDBACKER

MEMORY/KNUCLEBLASTER

MEMORY/WHIPLASH

FEEDBACKER OK

The golden metal glowed brighter, and began to twist and warp. Metal plates wrenched apart, light growing in a sudden and violent osmosis. A second, more familiar arm, tore itself free from its sibling. “Feedbacker” glowed with an alien light. V1 made a quick inspection; a near perfect copy.

FUEL RESERVES AT 39%

Immediately, the machine switched the function off. The mimic arm was reabsorbed instantly, but the burnt fuel didn’t return.

NEW OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE MECHANISM USED BY ANGEL. IF FUEL DROPS TO 37% BEFORE OBJECTIVE COMPLETION, THEN SUMMON KNUCKLEBLASTER AND DESTROY WALL.

It returned to the body, and reached down to tear the skull off, before stopping. It was not in Hell, and if the angel had to be decapitated to use the mechanism, it wouldn’t have been able to revive V1. It settled instead for picking up the entire corpse and hucking it towards the wall.

No result. It scanned the rest of the room.

There was nothing else except the books and the angel’s tools. It began pulling books off the shelves, scanning through them as quickly as its processor could handle.

No relevant data. Many of the books were poorly constructed, damaged or otherwise unreadable. It was mostly disconnected sentence fragments, with no clear relation to the stone chamber or the construction. Its processor flagged some passages as containing familiar phrases and names. They were disregarded as irrelevant to the current objective.

Nothing. It returned to the angel’s tools, and began scanning and categorizing them. Group context suggested they were tools for repairing complex machinery and robotics, though many of them were completely alien.

It picked up a screwdriver. It threw it at the wall. The screwdriver tinged off, falling onto the angel’s body with a slightly wet thunk.

V1 began throwing all of the tools at the wall.

It succeeded in destroying a good amount of the angel’s tools, and the carefully pristine room was now a complete wreck. There was no other effect.

Its fuel reserves ticked down.

NEW OBJECTIVE: BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THAT WALL

It sprang to the new vacated bookshelf on the far side, its legs crouched, springs coiled. It summoned Knuckleblaster, the gold and red mass pulling free with the sound of a sword unsheathing. Then it powered its legs, aiming right for the spot it had previously cracked.

Shining metal met stone with the force of a bullet shot at point-blank, and the wall shattered.

A moment later, the machine stood up out of the rubble, and scanned its surroundings. It was dusk, and V1 was in a forest.

This was not a visual error. It double-checked.

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

MEMORY DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

EARTH WAS A BURNT RUIN

MANKIND WAS DEAD

HELL WAS DESTROYED

THIS UNIT CONTINUED OPERATION FOR 5.6 YEAR(S) PAST PROJECTED TERMINATION DATE DUE TO GABRIEL

ESSENTIAL MOBILITY AND FUEL RETAINMENT SYSTEMS DEGRADED AND WERE UNABLE TO BE REPLACED

THIS UNIT DIED

ALL DATA CORRECT

That was… exactly what it remembered. It explained nothing. There was no sign of memory tapering in the diagnostic or gaps in recording. It had** died in a corpse of a world bled dry. And now it was standing in a forest, alive.

And it was still hungry.

FUEL RESERVES AT 36%

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND FUEL

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: FIND ANSWERS AND/OR GABRIEL

#ultrakill #toast talks #went into a fugue state. stayed up till 3am. bon apetit!#fanfic #Formatting on mobile is a nightmare #But the colors are fun #no idea how to do that on ao3 #Tagging this as #gabv1el #since he shows up later and they have a nice time beating the shit out of eachother

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kalinara · 8 months ago

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Hello! New to the X-men fandom, drawn here by Scott Summers (I love your blog so much!) Two questions, if you don't mind:

1. What would you consider essential reads for Scott specifically? There are so many starting points it seems.

2. I did finish Whedon's run of Astonishing X-Men (at the recommendation of reddit) and was wondering if Scott (now?) doesn't need his ruby quartz glasses/visor? Sorry if that's a run-specific question!

Hello!

The first question is surprisingly difficult, only because Scott's such a staple throughout the entirety of the X-Men. So let me kind of give you a run down of your options.

The 60s comics are really fun, if you want to see where things began. It is very 60s though, and the style may not be to your taste. There's also some period sexism that's not great (though surprisingly less than I expected. Possibly because Jean's meant to be a fairly liberated teen, as opposed to older ladies like Sue Storm or Janet Van Dyne.)

The Claremont Era (Starting with Giant-Sized X-Men, which introduces staples like Storm and Wolverine) is probably what will be the most familiar to folks who became used to the X-Men from other sources, like the cartoons. The Animated Series and X-Men '97 adapt a lot of Claremont era stuff, so it'll be pretty familiar.

It's also soapy and dramatic, and Scott (and Jean) feature very heavily. You'll also meet Rachel. Rachel is fun.

X-Factor's first run is something I'd recommend only after you've gotten into the character more. It's actually really good, IMO, and an amazing deconstruction of how much of a trainwreck the poor guy actually is. It's not always a flattering portrayal though, which is part of what makes it interesting. (It is good though to read the Madelyne stuff for yourself eventually, summaries tend to ignore the aspects that make Scott's side of things a bit more understandable, if not sympathetic.) Baby Cable is here too.

The 90s X-Comics are pretty fun too, like the earlier Claremont era, this is likely what folk are familiar with if they remember the cartoons. Costumes, characters, and so on. Scott is one of a very large cast, but he tends to have some really good arcs here and there. The art takes getting used to it. This is where you'll start seeing adult Cable as a major character. And another AU Summers child, Nate Grey. He's complicated.

the 2000s-2011 era of Comics have a lot of upheaval and events. Scott is still an idealist, but he's been jaded by a lot of events (and will be jaded by more). You'll see him get darker here, but not evil. It's pretty sad though. SO MANY big events though, Scott pulls off a lot of wild shit.

In 2011-2016, we have two Scotts basically. Avengers vs. X-Men is a massively huge event that changes Scott's role for a long time. For our main Scott, the next few years are going to read a lot like whump fic. He's going to suffer, people are going to blame him (unfairly, imo!) for a lot of things, and he'll be treated like a monster at times. That said, there are people who do see the truth and end up even joining him.

But also around this time, through shenanigans (read: Hank McCoy), the timeline is disrupted and the 1960s era Original Five (specifically circa issue #8) are brought to the future. They have their own adventures in lines like All-New X-Men (v1. and v2.), X-Men Blue, and Scott specifically has a solo series early on and then joins up with Kamala Khan's Champions and it's darling.

Eventually older Scott "dies" (it happens in comics). Young Scott continues though. When Young Scott goes to the past again, older Scott comes back (unrelated reasons).

For 2019-2020, there's a short run by Matthew Rosenberg, starting at issue 11 or so. The original team of X-Men is presumed dead (really they're dealing with some multiversal nonsense. Possibly Nate Grey's fault), and a returned Scott starts gathering new X-Men. It's intense, angsty and kind of bleak. This isn't about saving the world anymore, just maybe going out doing what they should.

From 2020-2023, we get a massive, amazing change in direction called the Krakoa arc. Scott's not featured as prominently here (It's Xavier's show), but he's solid in any series that he appears (Adjectiveless X-Men will always have him somewhere. He's very prominent in Teen Cable's book too.) Krakoa is something very different than anything the X-Men series(es) have done before and it's definitely worth reading. Though for my own taste, I like the return to form that comes with...

Our current era is "From the Ashes" and it's not actually a bad place to jump on. Everyone's a little scattered and out of sorts since the fall of Krakoa, but Scott, being who he is, has already pulled his own book together for the kind of mutant-rescuing heroics that he is wont to do.

As to where to start? Honestly, I'd go with whatever seems the most fun to you. Eventually, I think, you'll find yourself branching out and it won't be nearly so confusing. (There are also wikis, podcasts, and annoying pedants like me who like explaining everything.). Fans will often have their favorite special books (Children of the Atom, for example, is probably my favorite version of the O5 origin. It came out in 2001 and has a truly horrifying Jack Winters), and we'll always leap on the opportunity to share those things.

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

as for 2. I don't know if you read the Giant-Sized finale of Astonishing X-Men, but they do have a scene where Scott's eyes start glowing again and Emma places the visor on him. It's a nice, quietly somber scene.

In current X-continuity, Scott does still need the visor. The inability to control his blasts may have a psychological component but there's also physical brain damage. (In the Krakoa arc, there are mechanisms where he might have repaired said damage, but it actually does come up at some point, and he specifically chooses not to. I hope I can find that page again, because I feel like there's a lot of interesting potential meta in that choice.)

I don't think they ever really revisit why Emma (or Cassandra, possibly) had been able to neutralize Scott's blasts/restore temporary control over them, but I tend to go with the interpretation that a powerful enough telepath could force a bypass with his powers, but it's an incredibly traumatic, potentially damaging, and ultimately temporary solution. Hence, what we see.

For her part, Jean Grey (at least in the modern era) is able to psychically block his powers. And that's always fun. (And sometimes a little kinky!)

#scott summers #cyclops #a sorta timeline?#hope it helps!#I like asks!

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kerakeriza · 1 year ago

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damian's design: part one

i was inspired to make a post outlining how damian's design shifted a bit in his early appearances. it took a while for it to settle into what it was - and even longer for it to settle into what it is now.

so... here's part one. this is everything before batman and robin v1.

(batman, v1, #655)

(batman, v1, #656)

(batman, v1, #657)

in his first full appearance, as drawn by andy kubert, we can see he has pale skin, black hair, blue eyes, a long face, a smaller nose, somewhat thin lips, and slightly-thick and sharp eyebrows with a hook at the end. his hair is short, spiky, and slightly swept back, but it mostly just sticks up. his ears are quite big, too. his jaw is square, with a strong chin. he seems to have hooded eyes. he has high, strong cheekbones.

(batman, v1, #665)

again, by kubert, we see most of his appearance is the same, but the sides of his hair stick up taller than usual. this is likely just to show a devilish or bat-like appearance, given that this is a nightmare that bruce is having. his high cheekbones are more visible, too.

(batman, v1, #666)

once again, this is by kubert. this is an alternate future where we get our first look at batman!damian. in this original appearance, he is bald, with his nose larger and more hooked than before. his ears are still big. his jawline has filled out even more over the years. he doesn't clearly have hooded eyelids anymore, but he still has high cheekbones.

(batman annual, v1, #26)

damian's eyebrows are much thinner in this appearance, as depicted by david lópez. a small tuft of his hair hangs down over his forehead, and his nose bridge seems much smoother. his eyes are still blue, but they appear to have a different shape. (it's hard to tell, but he may have epicanthal folds or hooded eyelids again.) his skin is a bit more tan than before, and his chaw is still square. his ears are smaller, but his lips remain thin. his cheekbones are still quite obvious.

(robin annual, v2, #7)

damian, as depicted by jason pearson, has clearly pale skin again, a smaller, round and upturned nose, and thick, rectangular eyebrows. he retains his prominent cheekbones and square jaw. this time, however, his cheeks are also chubbier, and his lips are thicker. his eyes are black, and may be hooded or he may have an epicanthal fold. (again, it's not very clear...)

(batman, v1, #670)

damian retains most of his kubert traits in this depiction by tony daniel, however, his thicker eyebrows are notably less hooked at the ends, and his cheeks are fuller, as in his depiction by pearson.

(robin, v4, #168)

his face appears longer, more... rectangular, in this appearance by freddie e. williams ii.

(nightwing, v2, #138)

damian's nose appears bigger and more hooked, and his lips seem a bit more full, in this depiction by don kramer.

(robin, v4, #169)

david baldeon depicts damian with thin eyebrows, small, round blue eyes, a bigger nose, and a far smoother jaw.

(nightwing, v2, #139)

this time, kramer (and the colorist) shows damian with brown skin, the clearest tan he's had since his initial appearance.

(detective comics, v1, #839)

ryan benjamin shows damian with a very upturned nose and a smooth jaw. damian's skin is pale again.

(batman, v1, #675)

benjamin now shows damian with a long face, a big, square jaw, and a downturned nose.

(batman, v1, #680)

tony daniel returns with a damian whose cheekbones are very strong, indeed.

(batman: battle for the cowl, v1, #1)

tony s. daniel gives us a damian with chubby cheeks and flat hair.

(batman, v1, #687)

ed benes portrays damian with those same high cheekbones that we've seen before, his square jaw and strong chin, but with small ears and thin eyebrows. the inking makes it look as if he has a beauty mark under his eye. his nose is quite straight but short, also.

#damian wayne

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ohbaby-here-we-go-again · 1 year ago

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Hello ! So I saw @kaddyssammlung do an analysis of ‘Granite’ and as it’s one of my favourite sleep token songs, particularly from a lyric perspective, I was inspired to do one of my own :]

General overview of lyric/story construction:

Ok so for me part of what makes this song so great is the story telling and use of double imagery. Conceptually it’s split between talking about a bad relationship (A imagery) and a car crash (B imagery), though the lines dedicated to B imagery can almost always be read as metaphors for the bad relationship. For me I also see it as a story split up into 3 different time slots: past (focuses just on vessel and the relationship), present (vessel in the car crash, and in moment leading up to the crash), and future (post crash where I think that vessel/his character has died). I generally see the first verse as future, the chorus as present and, the second verse as past.

Line by line analysis:

“Sulfur on your breath”

For me I always associate Sulfur with Hell, specifically the concept of ‘fire and brimstone’ (brimstone is an old name for Sulfur) and the ‘lake of fire’ in the bible which burns with brimstone. From this line we learn a lot about the person vessel is singing about (I’ll refer to them as S).

Vessel uses Hell associated language to describe S, meaning he knows they aren’t a good person/aren’t good for him. Additionally, when sulfur burns it produces sulfur dioxide (SO2), which turns into (potentially deadly) sulfurous acid (H2SO3) when it comes in contact with water - something our moist lungs have a lot of. So for someone to have “sulfur on [their] breath,” and potentially in their lungs, alludes to the idea that this person is not only bad for for vessel, but also self-destructive to a dangerous degree.

Also fun fact: Sulfur burns blue and when you see it, particularly across large areas, it looks a lot like water. Which I just thought was neat considering sleep token’s love of using water imagery and the colour blue.

“Granite in my chest”

This is definitely some sweet sensory imagery from vessel to set you in the song’s mindset/emotion

But I also think within the context of the story, the granite he could be referring to is the little bits of decomposed granite they sometimes use in road base. if the car crashed and he ended up on the road with chest injuries, he could very well have got some of those little bits stuck in there.

“You won't ever have to talk about it // You'll never have to talk about it”

I feel like the ‘it’ he’s talking about here, is referring to both their relationship and the crash/his body. Like S never wants to talk about how toxic their relationship is with vessel, and when they crash the car, they run away from the site/ves’s body and don’t talk about it for legal reasons to not go to jail for manslaughter.

Also the reason I think ves (in this song) died in the crash is cos of the chorus phrasing - specifically the past tense and use of the word “body” to refer to himself.

“Fury too damn late”

I agree with the idea of seeing someone for what they really are/wishing he got angry sooner. Like, maybe if he did, and decided to leave, he wouldn’t have been in the car with them when it crashed (and hence wouldn’t have died).

“Reason dislocates”

Vessel at it again with the awesome imagery that ties songs together ! The word ‘dislocate’ definitely ties in with the car accident imagery. But using it to refer to ‘reason’ makes me think he’s using it to describe/explain his not leaving/bad judgement. Like if you run it on from the line above, he’s saying ‘I didn’t get mad and leave when I should have because I wasn’t seeing the relationship with sound reasoning’ (due to an injury aka ~past trauma~ baby).

CHORUS

“I was more than just a body in your passenger seat”

Here B imagery is being used. with now deceased vessel talking to S about how, because they didn’t value him, he’s just a body in their wrecked car.

Additionally this could be metaphorical for their relationship. Vessel feeling like S is very controlling, maybe specifically over him, maybe just over the type of relationship they had. Either way he didn’t feel like he had much agency in what was going on.

“and you were more than just somebody I was destined to meet”

Honestly I’m not super clear on the meaning of this line, but I think he’s talking about how his own trauma, and self destructive tendencies, lead him to a lot of toxic relationships (including S), but despite that he feels he really did love S.

Like, because he hasn’t healed from something in his past, he repeats these patterns when it comes to the people he gets with. This can be the result of something called ‘emotional addiction’ where you seek out things that trigger certain emotions in order to produce chemicals in the brain that mimic a ‘reward’ feeling (similar to drug use). Often this is the result of when you’ve had periods of your life (often in childhood) that were unstable and chaotic, so you brain has come to register ‘home’ - and by extension ‘safety’ - as something choatic, and will hence seek out people that provide those ‘emotional hits’ even if they’re not good for your physical and/or mental health.

So basically ves is saying ‘ yea, I got with you because the trauma cycle I’m in makes the traits you exhibit attractive…but then I loved you for who you are. Your soul meant more to me than the chemicals.’ …. which obviously isn’t a super healthy thought, but it is honestly heart breaking, and makes me want to give vessel a hug if that’s anywhere close to the truth.

“I see you go half-blind when you're looking at me”

Ok so i feel like this is talking about both ves feelin like S doesn’t see him for who he is in the relationship, but also if they’re in the car, potentially arguing, S turning to look at vessel while driving means they’re ‘half-blind’ to the road…which is obviously not good.

“But I am // Between the second hand smoke and the glass on the street”

This could be painting an image of both the car crash, ves’s body laying between the glass and smoke of the wreck, and earlier in the relationship, where vessel and S are hanging out and there is smashed glass (possible from alcoholic drinks) and smoke from cigarettes. Images which conjure a chaotic and self destructive atmosphere, playing off the themes we’ve seen in vessel and S so far.

“You gave me nothing whatsoever but a reason to leave”

this line is pretty straight forward. No matter what time slot we’re in S wasn’t treating him good.

“You say you want me, but you know I'm not what you need // But I am”

At first I was a little confused by this line because it sounded like it was contradicting itself. But what I think is happening is vessel is quoting S, saying they ‘wanted to be with him but on some level knew the relationship was toxic and not good for either of them,’ and then vessel is say ‘no I am what you need.’ It feels like this is another ‘vessel no!’ moment…. Like while this song does talk about S in a way that you can tell he understands that S and the relationship weren’t good (man’s is comparing it to a car crash were he dies, so there’s some self awareness) there are these softer moment like the ‘more than destined to meet’ line where he shows that despite all the bad shit, he really loves this person. To the degree where if the Big Thing (in this case the crash and death) hadn’t of happened, it sounds like he might have still pursued this relationship, or this ‘love’ he’s feeling. Which honestly is kinda a theme with ST songs.

Like if you look at some of the others you see this theme of vessel (or the character he’s created) being in these relationships that aren’t good for him because he is so desperate for someone to love him that he either ends up betraying himself - “I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody,” - he tries to take care of the person he’s with (which would make him needed and therefore loved) “I will be watching for your enemies //To let them know that they contend with me,” “give me all that you can give // All your darkest impulses” -or he’s like cool yea it’s ok if you fuck me up so long as for a moment I feel loved “a sacrifice in your name //But I know you've got a taste //So just take a bite of me,” “I know for the last time //You will not be mine //So give me the night.”

….anyways psychoanalysis tangent over sorry haha

“When you sit there acting like you know me //Acting like you only brought me here to get below me”

pretty self explanatory. Ves is feeling used, and S sees the relationship as something different than what he does.

“Never mind the death threats, parting at the door //We'd rather be six feet under than be lonely”

Giving you scope of the relationship, where they seem to have intense arguments that involve at least one of them threatening the other and then leaving…only to come back because obviously neither of them like to be alone with themselves so for long periods of time - making even the (potentially many) ‘bad days’ of the relationship ‘worth it’ in their eyes.

“And if you had a problem, then you should've told me //Before you started getting all aggressive and controlling”

Also pretty straight forward. vessel is expressing frustration at S’s lack of communication and emotional maturity

“You only drink the water when you think it's holy”

it sounds like S is very stubborn. Additionally, you need water to survive, and only drinking the water that you have decided is ok, based on some arbitrary reason, could be bad for your health if it’s not readily available (you need to hydrate!), and put a strain on relationships you have with people who just want what’s best for you. This could also allude to some religious friction within the relationship but obviously I can’t guess specifics.

“So keep an eye on the road or we will both be here forever”

back to B imagery related to pre car crash. Obviously literally S should be watching the road so they don’t crash the car and kill them both (which would mean they both stay there forever). But there’s also an element of hey if you keep acting the way you do this relationship will never get better and we’ll be stuck here emotionally forever (because again ves seems to really love and be invested in S and not want to leave the relationship).

After this the chorus just repeats.

End Notes:

Obviously I don’t know vessel or anything about his life so this is all speculation based on the vibes of the song haha (plus he might not even be writing from personal experience ya know?). Idk I just really like this song (ngl there are portions of it that give me spider man meme moments haha) and I wanted to share my thoughts with you guys :)

Also I love love love the way ST writes lyrics so if anyone thought this was interesting and wanted to hear my thoughts on other songs, I have many and am willing to share pfft

#sleep token #sleep token band #sleep token vessel

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unknownfrom34 · 2 years ago

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Courtship

For @muzzleroars

On this post, I write a MichaelxV2 fanfic. Fluff writing about the Angelic courtship dance performed by a robot so I decided to be like this part. (Where they dance. Haha. I hope you won't mind 😅) Plus pronouns for V2 will be He/Her btw. I had edited out last minute edits before posting this so I hope you'll like it.

Enjoy. ——————————————————————————————————

"...And V1 had done that? To your brother?"

Michael nodded. He couldn't and still can't, believe that Raphael had helped but it made his already literally rotting heart flutter with reassurance that he tried.

"Yes indeed. He had helped the Machine to court Gabriel into marriage but I am surprised that he helped regardless."

"It must've been shocking." V2 tilted her head to the right.

Michael laughed gently as he placed his hand on his helm, a finger tenderly tracing the cracks. "I can't ridicule him for doing this." he spoke after a moment, still tracing the helmet's cracks mindlessly. "He is my brother and helping others is in our nature."

Michael finally removed his hand and turned towards the red automation. A mirror. A near perfect mirror of her processor painted as red as blood as the protector of peace. Blood tubes painted blue to ensure that he stood out of V1, the newly risen robotic angel and symbol of his brother's love Gabriel willing to give.

V2's processers is recording her findings on culture of Heaven. She had learned a lot from Gabriel in Fraud Layer she lived in, only from what he had been told from his perspective but when offered to see it for herself. It is truly a place of Paradise for what's left of Humanity to go to. Free of pain and suffering and found something she had been lacking in her making: Peace.

Still, the courtship dance is one of the private parts of Heaven over an millennia after Lucifer had fallen down with many other angels as it is considered a taboo by the Father. He had seen them prior to the former banished into Hell itself. The Hell that she and V1 had been born into when New Peace was established.

Curiously a few of his eight wings twitched slightly with another question in her hard drives as Michael took a sip from a cup provided by Raphael, due to a rotting jaw that seemingly be made of light gold, he was recommended to only drinks now.

"May I ask you again, Michael?" "Please do," He accepted, "What is it on your mind, Machine?"

He hesitated. "Have you ever been courted before?"

Michael nearly spit out his drink.

"I beg your pardon?" "Has anyone ever court you before?"

Michael went silent for a moment. He placed a palm on his exposed ribcage adorn with colorful radiant jewels and chains of sliver and gold.

"No." He answered honesty. "I have not been courted by any an angel nor human, Machine." he shook his head lightly. "Many had looked at and up to me as a leader chosen to lead His people and man kind throughout these centuries." He placed his hand again on his helm with a hint of flustered and nonsenses of the question. Turning away from V2. "Many of them knew this is an forbidden act to do, and even worse, the Prince of Heaven in place of Lucifer's and the Lord. I never even try to do courtshiping ritual."

V2 looked at him for a moment.

"Michael." V2 said finally, with a little bit of worry but confidence so little in his machinal voice. "Do you think that I..." Michael turned to look at her once again. "That I... that I do the heavenly courtship dance?"

"You?" Michael could almost chuckle but it was raspy due to a ruined larynx, it was ruined due to the event had had tried to sever his Light in attempt to show his loyalty to Lord he had long-since searched for... and Failed. He will save that story for later yet the machine like V2 could do the ritual is rather funny to him but...

But since Gabriel fell, since V2 was rebuilt and since, for him too much to bare; Even tried binding his brother before reason was struck into him by Gabriel's words, even in Hellish language, they still reached him and even worsen to do to him, he had tried to get him to see V1's corruption by having V2 himself as his date but... All of those failures, taken away his pride but made room for love, humble and a door open for a way for his own sins to be forgiven.

The plan to "open his brother's eyes" had backfired when feelings of this machine, the same way as Gabriel had and... To be honest when he looked back on it. He guessed that's what the race of Man calls "Petty."

Nonetheless, Michael had learned more of V2 being a replacement, ruined and will perish one day like himself will too. He could... He could watch her try. And if he was courted, well, only he will decide to tell or not tell the masses of Heaven.

"Well," He began to say, thoughtfully. "I cannot why not."

V2's optic seem to opened up a little, stars in his eyes with wings flutter a little behind him as he stood upright and then hand over his metallic abdomen and bowed with another arm extended out from him.

Head rose up and then one foot back and then he jumped into the air in a twirl, golden glowing wings flared out in display and then sticks the landing on two feet like a ballerina. Silent amazement resonating in Michael as he watched on. On the right and left of four appendages each. The right bottom one twitched slightly before one after another followed suit going up and then on the upper left appendage repeated this going downwards.

Then them both do it upwards and downwards before crouching down on fours as eight of them gone together to make it seem like they had only one pair of two wings before slowly raises up on two feet once again. Before too long, the eight wings came back but yellow faded into sapphire blue as two of each go downward and then soon out on display.

"This is..." She started to say, "This is so confusing to me, how do you all do it?" Michael, watching the progress had come to an metaphorical halt, placing his drink down and then stand up. He was feeling ridiculous for explaining this but he will feel even more not doing so. He said "Allow me." simply but his voice is gentler by the sound of it.

In his own display of wings, his four wings unfolded in brilliant shades and gradients of pinks, purples, magentas, and violets for a machine or soul to see. The wings then came around and covering Michael slowly and purposely to insight curiosity from the latter and then spun away before he unfolded the wings and then dashed towards V2 before stopping in front of him. The helm barely reached his ribcage and Michael is staring down at them before crouching down, wings flapping down to touch the floor before he stood up and hands grabbing onto forearms (so not to tear the skin and flesh off) after placing them behind his back and circled around him gracefully and leisurely.

V2, stunned but mesmerized, watching the head chief prince closely with wings behind her gently lowered down with her CPU was recording this in wonder before abruptly disappeared in a flash of light. Her optic blinked and looked to her left and right before something shines behind him.

Before he could turn to see, a pair of hands quickly covered his optic and wings enveloped around her as feeling of a helm lightly touching the surface of her own as his head was lifted up a little. Hands then removed themselves from his optic to see Michael roving above him, allowing the small robot to bathe in the glowing lights of his wings.

Both of them lost in a void of a colorful light.

Eight wings of his own twitch with surprise softly, blue began to share a gradient of light pink as he looked up at the Prince of Heaven before one hand lightly taking a hand, a hand that is nearly identical to V2's left one before raising it up and then spun the peace-keeping machine around with trails of neon blue and pink following behind her as four wings flown away steadily.

He kept spinning them to his right before letting go and catching V2 as a leg was raised up while he leaned backwards before lifting upward, lightly urged by a hand on her back with her wings fanning out as she was brought close to his chest.

Feet kept going in a dance of wings of beauty and grace for as long as it could go, a ritual was in fact an success by this point.

Midway, Michael had his hand on V2's back again and the other holding his hand, fingers intertwined, as they looked at each other.

"You have a surprising amount of grace for a machine." Michael commented, looking at his optic with interest. "Oh yeah?" V2 chuckled lightly. "Well, you've got a surprising amount of bugs for an angel."

Michael chuckled at the joke. She wasn't wrong but it was good to laugh once in a while.

"And the expecting tact."

They then spun around as they let go, wings behind them before they flapped, neon and natural light coming off from both pairs and soon they came back together with hands holding onto them and then twirled as they held on. Wings made from metal and divine light flapped and fanned out before fluttering and danced on their accord as their feet had became accustomed to the ritual.

They continued on in their rhythm of the heart beats and fans spinning before letting go.

At last, they bowed to one another.

"So, this is what the courtship dance is like." V2 commented as he turned to look at his wings, colors fading into the tips of his wings as they went from pink to blue and finally going back to default yellow. "Dance with someone you are close to."

Michael laughed, both lightly and worryingly as he tilted his head. "It is, Machine." he added. He is worried.

Someone will know that he had been courted and even worse, it was with this machine but they are in his private quarters, the chambers that was once... Once Lucifer's. Still, since they had danced the ritual here, this could be where a little white secret could lie until he will confess this sin. This sin that made him happy.

Michael cleared his throat gently as his wings folded and soon faded from existence. "W-Well, I enjoyed our time together." he said as his fist was placed behind his back and closed his eyes. "Please," He wanted V2 to leave back to his apartment but he hesitated. "It is getting late, do you think you can travel back to the Eighth Layer?"

V2 looked at the pillar that overlooks outside, stars have already decorated the skies as night time has begun and below were a small city and villages built since the Uproar after the Father's death. "I will but-" V2 turned over to Michael, with another question in mind. "Do you think that I could stay here, but for the night?" he asked as he used his hand to rub his arm. "I haven't seen an actual night like this." No. No you will not.

That's what he wanted to say.

"Of course, but only for one night... V2." He answered this instead.

V2 light up a little before bowing her head. "Thank you, Michael."

Michael bowed his head as well. "You are welcome, I hope you will enjoy the night." he said as he watched him sitting down and crossed his legs on one of many luxurious pillows to watch at the skies with wonder and silent joy.

Michael just wanted to offer her a room of her own but stopped himself. "Have a good night, V2." He bided good night before he turned and then headed towards his own resting chambers as V2 bids him a good evening as well.

Oh God Almighty, what is he even doing?

He had offered the machine to sleep over in the Eighth Sphere of Heaven for the night and only for the night. And all after that ritual of courtship!

He moved a fabric leading into his room away and letting it fall behind him as his head looked at it. He turned to his left arm and noticed new flowers have grown from the wounds. He must've accidentally scratched it during that dance as he carefully recognized them.

Peace lilies, cosmos and apple blooms.

No doubt this was related to the dance.

Michael turned to the fabric once again and peaked to see V2, still there right where he left her, watching the view and a dim lunar light before letting the fabric drop once again. It was the first time he had participated the ritual and he hoped it would also be the last yet.

His wings made from glass and metal, stamina long enough to keep up with him and the look in the optic. An angel of iron and blood he had greeted as an plan to restore Gabriel yet he could've known that this robot...

Never meant to be an replacement. Striped of purpose. Failed in securing something far from her reach. Stoic. Intelligent.

V2 was just like himself. He could come to talk to Raphael for advise on this newfound friendship but still on the same matter, maybe he could ask him if they could dance one more time before turning in for the night.

#Ultrakill #Fanfic #Not my oc #Michael #V2 #Fluff #Writing #Courtship #Dance #Archangel #Robot #Angelic bird courtship dance #Rise and Fall AU

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lynnbecks-mainblog · 2 years ago

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hello, I know absolutely nothing about Ultrakill besides gun, flesh and

COIN

Please enlighten me. Do not hold back. I want to hear every excruciating detail, from lore to gameplay.

and if you want to know *exactly* how much I know, all the media of ultrakill I have consumed is random pictures of the sentient security camera and Gohrdahn’s video on SPARECHANGE%. also asking people who have no idea what’s going on about what’s going on is funny, so so far all I’ve picked up is that you’re a robot angel thing from hell and you fighting your way to heaven. Machines killed everyone and I wonder if the protagonist finds the metal areas more disturbing than the fleshy areas; after all, they’re seeing what is basically their insides, no?

No offense, but wow is that summary incorrect! Let's rectify that!

I'll only be covering the lore because, even though I've finished the game (so far), I don't fully understand the mechanics.

Be warned that some information may be incorrect since my memory sucks, and it also may become outdated in the future, as the game is still in development.

Also, I really recommend just playing the game. It's very good so far!

Anyway,

The ULTRALORE

Long ago, humanity had a Big War™ and built robots powered by blood. Remember that last point, it will be important later. One of these robots is our protagonist, V1; a blue robot with large, glowing wings that it uses to store its weapons, Hammerspace-style.

Eventually, the war ended, but humanity still used the robots for stuff like security. They also discovered Hell, which coincidentally happened to be structured identically to Dante Alighieri's interpretation, as seen in the Divine Comedy (Limbo -> Lust -> Gluttony -> Greed -> Wrath -> Heresy -> Violence -> Fraud -> Treachery).

An indeterminate amount of time before this, Minos, king of the layer of Lust, tried to improve the living conditions of his people, believing it to be wrong that they were being judged for the "crime" of love. He was killed by the archangel Gabriel (yes, that one) and had his soul imprisoned within the Flesh Prison, a half-demon half-angel living cage, forced to watch his gigantic corpse destroy his own realm. At another point in time (though I am not sure when it happened in relation to the last one), King Sisyphus (yes, that one) tried to rebel against Heaven, and was killed; unlike Minos, whose body lived on as a gigantic Husk, Sisyphus was beheaded and crucified within a secret chamber inside a pyramid in the Greed layer, while his soul was imprisoned within the Flesh Panopticon.

Back to the present, V1 got a younger, more-advanced sibling named V2, designed for security purposes and equipped with an explosive punch. Meanwhile, the people exploring Hell discovered that the entire realm is alive.

And then all of humanity died of probably robot-related causes.

So naturally, the robots made a beeline for Hell; after all,

MANKIND IS DEAD. BLOOD IS FUEL. HELL IS FULL. BABA IS YOU

One of these robots is V1. It entered Hell through some kinda funky mechanical entrance thing, where it encountered other Machines, as well as Husks (the embodiments of human souls) and Demons (statues filled with Magic Meat™ that animates them and gives them powers), collecting blood as it went. Eventually, V1 reached the gates of Hell (which, much like in the Divine Comedy, have the phrase "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" written across them), defeated the Cerberi (a pair of Demons resembling simplified versions of the Thinker), and entered Limbo.

The ULTRAKILL version of Limbo is interesting, though fairly basic compared to the later layers; the "sky" is made of screens, ambient nature-sounds come from poorly-hidden speakers, and there are folly-like "ruins" everywhere. V1 continues its journey, fighting the Hideous Mass (a large Demon resembling a scorpion or maybe lobster with the Creation Of Adam carved onto the tops of its claws, along with a harpoon-tail, and lots of exposed demonic flesh leaking out from large gaps in its armour) on the way. Eventually, it reaches a serene church, where it encounters V2. After a long battle, V2 escapes, dropping its left arm; V1 takes it and leaves, entering Lust.

Lust is a gigantic Cyberpunk cityscape, with Minos's gigantic Husk towering in the distance.

It's one of the most beautiful areas in the entire game.

As V1 travels through the layer, it gets closer to Minos, until the dead king himself attacks V1; it kills him, and a gateway to Gluttony appears in his throat.

At time of writing, Gluttony is the most conceptually-obvious layer, being a big organic thing with wobbly meat-walls, giant searchlight-eyes, spine-bridges and lakes of stomach acid. Shortly after arriving, V1 is contacted by a mildly-peeved Gabriel, telling it to "turn back now", as "the walls of this palace are not for your kind". Naturally, lacking any sense of self-preservation, nor any percievable emotion, V1 proceeds to battle Gabriel in front of a gigantic beating heart. Gabriel loses, swears his revenge, and proceeds to have a tantrum and call V1 an "insignificant fuck", then teleports away in a blinding flash of light. V1 drops down the hole in the bottom of the arena...

Disgrace. Humiliation. Unseemly and unwelcome at the feet of The Council. Their eyes ablaze with bitter resentment, glaring through Gabriel's wounds of body and soul, bore outward for all to see. "Has this one abandoned the way of our creator?" "It is unworthy of its Holy Light." "The Father's Light is indomitable." "This one sees fit to squander it." Their words resonated in Gabriel's limbs, coursing through as lightning upon wire, a searing hiss that would strike lessers deaf and blind. The Holy Light within him, an unstoppable force of divine fury. Insurmountable for mere Objects. This he knew. "Holy Council, my devotion to our creator is absolute. I have never strayed from the will of The Father, but a machine-" "You dare imply the might of The Father could be shaken by mere objects?" "Impossible." "Heresy." "Unspeakable." "Heresy." "Heresy." "Silence." "Your treachery will not be tolerated. As punishment, The Father's Light shall be severed from your body. You have 24 hours before the last of its embers die out." "And you with them." "Prove your loyalty." "Unmake your mistakes." As the Light was ripped from his being, Gabriel's screams were silenced in the hiss of gospel in praise of God. A boiling anguish to which even the fires of Hell could not compare. Through the blaze of torment a single burning hatred was forged anew. If the machines seek blood, he would give it freely; and with such fury, even metal will bleed.

... before landing in Greed, a vast desert with literal golden sand, with recreations of various famous landmarks. V1 fights a Sisyphean Insurrectionist, and later re-encounters V2, who has a new hookshot arm, but manages to beat the newer robot; the two end up in a high-speed chase down the side of a pyramid, but eventually V1 manages to get V2 to fall, with it landing hard on a nearby bridge, turning into a large, red stain.

V2 is canonically dead.

V1 grabs its arm, and leaves for Wrath.

Once upon a time, Wrath was the River Styx (yes, that one), before it suddenly turned into vast ocean. The souls of the damned literally fight for air, while those who lose hope fall to the bottom and [REDACTED FOR SPOILER REASONS].

V1 fights through a flooded underground complex, before ending up outside on a stormy night; they fight through many enemies, and manage to summon a gigantic cruise ship captained by a skeletal Ferryman, leading to ULTRAKILL's only moral choice at time of writing; using the revolver's Marksman mode, it is possible to throw a coin to the Ferryman. Alternatively, V1 battles the Ferryman (who is a gigantic Gabriel fanboy that carves demons into enemy-protecting Idols). Either way, this opens the path to inside the boat, which is attacked by a vast sea-monster; after escaping the now-capsized boat, V1 fights the Leviathan (a gigantic demon whose flesh was made from the Husks who gave up and sank to the bottom of the Ocean Styx; its heart, which sticks out of its head, has multiple angelic spears impaled into it, and constantly screams). V1 defeats the Leviathan, which explodes into a shower of blood, and the ocean splits open to reveal the entrance to Heresy.

Heresy is the most "hellish" layer yet; it's bright red, there's fire everywhere, and a lot of the buildings have goat-skulls on the walls. Gabriel, more furious after having his divine link severed, awaits V1. He goes off on one at it for killing everything in Hell, then tries to kill it again.

He loses, but this time, he's more graceful. Gabriel leaves to think, and his giant pipe-organ opens, revealing the entrance to Violence. That is where the story ends for now.

Silence. Introspection. How many had he killed? Had he ever thought to count? How much cruelty did he embody... and to what end? How many did he condemn to hell and who did it benefit..? Two defeats at the hands of the machine had changed Gabriel. The world of the one supposed Will of God was now shattered and only he was left to put the pieces back together. They collected before the light of a dying fire that fresh fuel couldn't sustain, this new light showing the truth to Gabriel: The pieces never fit together to begin with. The supposed Council of "the people" who boasted a God that wasn't there. Gone. Vanished. The Council still chased after the light of God's fire, their memory of its words and will grown twisted and warped, and the rest of the aimless masses of Heaven follow their footsteps. The angels still act in The Father's name but His kingdom has changed. Now the fire was dying, sputtering out as the heat failed to gain purchase. Gabriel looked upon the embers with a perfect clarity. He drew his blade and held it in contrast to the dying light. In its reflection he saw a weapon reborn, no longer wielded by the will of another, but his own. He knew words alone would never sway the masses. He chose to do something drastic. Death stains the auditorium. The littered corpses of the once mighty council now strewn against its surfaces, their last gasps of life dripping down the dissident blade of Gabriel's sword. The last councilor, now backed up to a wall, scrambles for words between panicked breaths as death approaches with measured steps. "W-wait! Y-you can't do this! Out status forbids it! This is treason, heresy, murder! We are the supreme authority, our law commands you! "You command nothing. Your words hold no power over me, or anyone else. Lest you truly believe you can talk my blade back into its sheath." "B-but the people are on our side! The citizens of Heaven know that we are just!" "The masses only follow you out of fear and desperation. I will show them there is nothing to be afraid of, for there is not species nor origin, vested rank or holy status that will stop the sharp edge of a sword. We all bleed the same blood, and the cushions of your thrones have made you weak and impotent." "P-please, Gabriel, see reason! The council follows the will of The Father! You seek to go against our creato-" "Face it, brother. God is Dead. The fire is gone. You're chasing phantoms." Gabriel's silhouette now towers over the councilor, his shadow cast upon a soon lifeless corpse. He raises his sword for the final cut as the crying mess on the floor stammers out its final feeble argument. "B-b-but the Father's light! Without me you cannot hope to reconnect with it! I-i-if you kill me, you'll be dead in a matter of hours!" ... "I know." A clean, silent cut glides through the councilor's neck, severing his spine with elegance and ease. His head falls onto the marble floor, the rest of his body following soon after. Bereft of status but brimming with purpose, Gabriel gave a final message to the angels amassed at the gates of the auditorium before leaving Heaven for the very last time. His arm outstretched, without a word, the people saw. In the silence the message rang out to the far ends of the cosmos.

The terminals encountered in Prime Sanctums and other secret levels reveal a bit more; most importantly that A. the terminals get bored, explaining the infinite Cyber Grind mode, and B. God regrets condemning Lucifer to Hell.

There's more, but honestly, play the game. It's really good.

that moment when you realise that Gorillaz lore is probably easier to explain than ULTRAKILL

#ultrakill

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novankenn · 2 years ago

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Saints of the Sword (v1-2)

(I am going to very BLUNT with this statement, even though it seems like it... THIS IS NOT an everyone betrays Jaune fic. There is much more going on including Jaune's own low sense of self-worth.)

“Ms Denois.” Goodwitch gave Jeanne a nod, before returning her attention fully upon Cardin, “You have made a request to speak with the Headmaster, and as you have completed the… favor he requested, I shall take you to see him. Is it to be all of you?”

“No, just myself.” Cardin answered, “The others will see about our horses, and storing our gear. We do have accommodations available here, correct?”

“Yes, those arrangements have been made.” Goodwitch replied, “We have three dorms set aside for you and your group. Two are next to each other, one is across the hall from the others.”

“Thank you for the hospitality.” Cardin replied very formally, “One of our number is in need of rest, could him and two of ours be directed to these room?”

“Of course.” Glynda looks over her shoulder and spots teams RWBY and JNPR standing there looking rather shocked. Glynda could guess why, but it didn’t matter. “Ms Nikos, please come over.”

“Yes Professor.” Pyrrha called back, as she started to move forward. Her partner Jade also started to move forward.

“I only require the assistance of Ms Nikos, Mr Hedera.” Glynda commented her tone and firm. Making it obvious to anyone with in earshot that it was not a request. Jade paused and latched onto Pyrrha’s wrist. “Is there a problem, Mr Hedera?”

“Jade, let go.” Pyrrha hissed at him. “I warned you not to touch me like this.”

“Have Etienne, and Jean, go with him.” Cardin leaned in a whispered into Jeanne’s ear, as they waited for the scene to play out. “Don’t trust her, don't use his name, and don’t let her see his face.”

“I don’t trust them.” Jade openly admitted, without saying what his reason was, even though he did reluctantly release his grip on Pyrrha’s wrist. “I don’t feel Pyrrha should be… alone with, such obviously, rough individuals.”

“I can handle myself, Jade!” Pyrrha snapped.

“Got it. Are you good with doing the meet up solo, or you want someone?” Jeanne, whispered in response as her blue eyes watched the altercation.

“No, I’ll be fine. Get our stuff stowed, and Jaune taken care of… that’s more important than backing me up at a stuffy meeting.” Cardin replied, his voice still barely above a whisper.

“Mr Hedera, enough of that childish behavior.” Glynda gave the young man a look. “While you may have misgivings about these individuals. I do not. Ms Nikos will be perfectly safe while in their company.”

“Got it. What about this cluster…” Jeanne asked, her voice also almost inaudible.

“Let them work it out.” Cardin continued to whisper while shaking his head at the display. Jeanne nodded, and leaned away from Cardin before turning and moving over to their comrades.

“Etienne, Jean.” Jeanne called the pair over. Jean, hesitating before leaving the side of her charge. She was quickly replaced by Sky Lark. When they pair reached her, Jeanne leaned in and whispered their instructions.

“You two are going with Jaune. Make sure he’s comfortable. Don’t trust her, don’t let her see his face, and don't call him by name around her. Got it?”

The pair nodded, and Jeanne gave them a quick nod, they made their way over to replace Sky who returned to working with the horses. Jeanne waited and watched as the scene between Nikos and Hedera finally played out, with Nikos walking away from him and directly towards Jeanne.

“Ms Nikos, please escort some of their group to their lodgings, here.” Glynda showed Pyrrha her tablet, listing the rooms set aside for Cardin’s crew. “You know where these rooms can be found. Correct?”

“Yes Professor.”

“Thank you.” Glynda returns her attentions to Cardin. “Mr Winchester, if you would, I shall take you to the Headmaster.”

/== Table of Contents ==/

#saints of the sword #volume one #rwby #cardin winchester #jaune arc #various OCs #team jnpr #team rwby #team crdl #mental manipulation

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krispyweiss · 2 months ago

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youtube

Song Review: AJ Lee & Blue Summit feat. Lindsay Lou - “Tear My Stillhouse Down”

Stripping away the blues to leave only the grass and bringing Lindsay Lou along to add harmonies, AJ Lee & Blue Summit take possession of Gillian Welch’s “Tear My Stillhouse Down.”

The lyrics and a touch of electric guitar are the only remaining traces of Welch’s original tale of a bootlegger’s final wish.

Tell all your children that hell ain't no dream/’cause satan, he lives in my whisky machine/and in my time of dying I know where I’m bound/when I die, tear my stillhouse down/oh, tear my stillhouse down, let it go to rust/don’t leave no trace of the hiding place/where I made that evil stuff, the expanded band sings over a double-time, pure-bluegrass arrangement with a loose-stringed acoustic-guitar as its solo spotlight.

“Stillhouse” announces Lee & Blue Summit’s forthcoming (no release date announced) Cover to Cover V1 EP. The fact they could alter the song so much without blunting its essence says as much about Welch’s songwriting as Lee’s arranging and performing.

It’s “one of our favorite Gillian Welch songs; we like to call it Appalachian rock ‘n’ roll,” Lee and the band said in a statement.

“ … We can’t wait to sing it live with (Lou) sometime soon.”

Grade card: AJ Lee & Blue Summit feat. Lindsay Lou - “Tear My Stillhouse Down” - A

5/14/25

#Youtube #aj lee & blue summit #lindsay lou #gillian welch #tear my stillhouse down #cover to cover v1

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digitalmore · 3 months ago

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#IFTTT #DigitalMore.co

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requirecookie · 6 months ago

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2024 - Stormy's Year in Writing & 2025 Villains Planning

I'm writing this at 3.45pm on the 31st, and I have some plans to pick at my current WIP chaper a bit more, but I'm not suddenly going to pull 10k words from the ether, so this is going to be representative.

(I will skeet out a closer-to-midnight count later - I got a BlueSky, I hope to maybe actually use it).

2024 Word Count: 146,657

Words Per Day: 400.70

For most of the year, it was...nothing. Ash & Blue book #4 went on hiatus, and I just picked at a few side novellas without much success.

Then

And I started to pick at Villains, as even when I was doing the first draft in 2023, I had imagined a 2025 release - though I had really planned on starting the second draft before September of this year.

It didn't start of great.

The series, which is yet to be named, but that I generally just call Isekai was developed as I was writing the first draft of Villains, things that were canon when I was writing the first half of it had been thrown out by the time I got to the end of it. (It's fantasy, that's not unusual, but it did leave a big clean-up job for V2 and beyond).

And Chapter 1 had a lot of work to do, without overwhelming the reader - the concept is easy to get "reality broke, now any fictional character from any piece of media can appear in the real world", but establishing that, the basic status quo, and our main character...took a few tries.

Maybe five tries. It's going to get another pass before it goes to beta, and I expect to tweak it more for V3/final.

It's interesting to compare it to A&B Chapter 1, because that is more in media res, and you don't necessary get everything that's going on, you're thrown a bunch of information and concepts, but largely, you learn things as Stef does.

Whereas, with Villains, Parker is coming at the world through the lens of someone who knows a lot about how everything works, has lived with this phonomena for half her life, and works for the people who have to deal with most of the weirdness.

After the hurdle of the chapter 1 rewrite

Look, this one didn't even earn all caps, I think it was only three revisions - though it needs another - the rest ran a lot smoother.

Maybe too smoothly?

My biggest self-gripe with Isekai in general, and Villains in specific, though one I've made peace with, was that it was supposed to be short.

My initial idea was one short novel, say 50k, maybe a couple more if ideas struck me. However, into the V1 draft, it rapidly overshot that - between my loves of worldbuilding and slice-of-life detail, I probably should have known that a short project was never on the cards.

V1 was incomplete, 106k, and about thirty chapters. (I got burned out at the end, and already knew it was going to take at least one full rewrite, so I was happy to leave it incomplete, or with placeholder sentences where chapters would go).

I knew I had to add some more stuff around the middle, as well as the last couple of chapters, so with that and rewriting, I figured maybe 120-130k. That's not unreasonable, that's the same range Mirrorfall falls (heh) in, coming in at 129k.

As it stands on 31/12/2024:

Chapters Written: 20 of 33 (33 is definitely a minimum, I do expect it to be more like 40)

Word Count: 86,406 At approximately the same point in the V1 draft, this is about 56k

So I do truly expect it to be somewhere around 160-170k at this point. I'm definitely going to have to kill some darlings for V3.

I had hoped to go to beta in January, I'm now pretty sure that's not going to happen (except for the couple of people I have who are happy reading it in chunks), but I don't think it will change the overall plan for 2025 too much, as I had a bit of buffer time built in.

Villains Release Plan

January - finalise blurb & get audio copy recorded

February - beta, though I'll likely get interest during January

May/June - ARC copies

July 2nd (my birthday!) - Book release (ebook - exclusive to Kindle Unlimited, paperback, and audiobook)

August 2nd - podcast of audiobook begins (fortnightly episodes)

January 2025 - going off numbers, will either reenroll in KU or do a wide release to other retailers

So, it's going to be interesting to come back this time next year, hopefully sitting at about this same point in the cycle with book #2, Zombies (though its real title will be public by then), and see how well things went to plan.

#TCAFOV #Writing #Urban Fantasy #Isekai #Word Count

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cahouser · 1 year ago

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When Sarah said, "Just be thoughtful," as her only hint for how I should propose, I knew I had my work cut out for me—after all, being thoughtful on demand is like trying to be cool at a high school reunion: easier said than done.

First up, I thought about popping the question at Desnudo Coffee, our favorite haunt before it became the hipster headquarters it is today. Picture this: me, sneaking behind the counter to hijack the intercom. Instead of calling out "Sarah, your latte is ready," I’d blurt out "Sarah, will you marry me?" I ditched the idea when I realized a public proposal was more Broadway and less 'us'. Plus, with my luck, the espresso machine would choose that exact moment to explode.

Next, I flirted with the idea of a trip down memory lane to Mexico City, where we first tested our travel compatibility (spoiler: no one got left at a rest stop, so, success!). But the thought of a shiny ring in a bustling city felt more like a heist movie than a romantic getaway. So, scratch that.

Plan C? France! Because nothing says 'marry me' like croissants and the Eiffel Tower. But then, practicality—my constant party pooper—reminded me of our schedules.

Ultimately, I opted for something low-key yet high stakes at our own abode. I laid out a veritable feast of her favorites: blue cheese (which to me tastes like sadness feels), Marcona almonds, and a bottle of Beaujolais—our annual nod to her dad. Fleetwood Mac serenaded us from the speakers because nothing sets the mood like "Dreams" on repeat.

The big day was nearly derailed by a crisis at Sarah’s work—because why wouldn’t it be? After navigating the corporate storm, and a two-week delay, I finally set the scene while she was in the shower, hiding the ring like it was the last piece of Halloween candy.

When I went down on one knee, my rehearsed speech turned into a 'Mad Libs' edition of a proposal. Thankfully, Sarah found my verbal fumbling endearing, saying it was nice to see me lose my cool, proving I’m human after all.

We celebrated at Nomade, where the staff was in on the secret. They ushered us to a table decked out with flowers and bubbly. The hostess, Sunshine, eyed Sarah's hand like it was a celeb sighting. We feasted on Aztec salsa and guacamole fit for royalty and ended the night with a dessert that shouted "congratulations" in chocolate script.

In the end, the evening was perfectly 'us': low-key, a little goofy, and very, very full—of food and of love.

=============

Sarah once told me, "Be thoughtful," when we talked about getting engaged. So, I made a plan with lots of personal touches because that's important to us both.

I first thought about proposing at Desnudo Coffee, our favorite coffee shop from before it was popular. I wanted to surprise her by asking over the intercom when they called her for her coffee. But, I worried it was too public and things could easily go wrong, like noise from the crowd or the wind.

Then, I considered a trip to Mexico City, where we had a great time early in our relationship. It felt right, but walking around with a new ring might be risky there. I also thought about a last-minute trip to France, but scrapped that idea too.

Instead, I chose to propose at home, where it was just us. I planned a special evening with a bottle of Beaujolais wine, which we drink yearly to remember her dad, and snacks she loves like blue cheese and Marcona almonds. I don’t like blue cheese, so it was a small way to show I cared about her preferences. I also set up a Fleetwood Mac playlist because we both love their music.

On the day I planned to propose, Sarah was overwhelmed with work, facing long hours and layoffs at her job. So, I postponed everything for two weeks until things settled down.

When the day finally came, I got everything ready while she was in the shower. I laid out roses, the snacks, and the wine. I played our favorite songs. Then, I proposed, and even though I stumbled over my words, she said yes. She actually liked that I was a bit nervous—it showed how much it meant to me.

We went to celebrate at Nomade, a Yucatan restaurant on South First Street. I had told them I was proposing right before our dinner, so they were ready for us. They gave us a special table with flowers and champagne. The hostess and the staff were all excited for us, and they made sure we felt celebrated. They served us a special Aztec-inspired salsa and guacamole, and ended our meal with a congratulatory dessert.

It was a night filled with simple, personal moments that meant a lot to both of us. It was just as Sarah wanted—thoughtful and full of love.

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lightingsbllslighting · 1 year ago

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How to Connect Your PAL Lights to The Attendant

Connecting and configuring your PAL drivers and lights to The Attendant is a simple process. Once you have completed the physical wiring connections from the lights to the driver, you can proceed with the following steps. Wiring To wire a single PAL driver, connect the “+ and – terminals on DMX In” on the driver to the “D+ / D- terminals” of a BUS port on The Attendant. Make sure to keep the DMX Line Terminator attached in the light controller. DIP Switch Settings Each light zone you have wired on your PAL drivers must have a light device configured on The Attendant. The addresses for red, green, and blue are derived from the combination of the DIP switch settings within each PAL driver. For the PAL model PCR-2DMX driver, the addresses for the two zones that this controller supports are defined by two banks of switches – Module Config and Other Config. You can find the settings and corresponding values in our online chart located here. For the PAL model PCR-3DMX driver, DIP switches 9-1 define the addresses for the 8 zones that this controller supports. The location of these switches is marked in the following image. Again, you can find the settings and corresponding values in our online chart located here. Basic Configuration Example For most installations with one PAL driver controlling two zones, the DIP switch settings should be as follows: Module Config: 1 ON, 2 ON, 3 OFF, 4 OFF Other Config: all 4 OFF (down) Referencing our table, you’ll find the Red/Green/Blue addresses for each zone. Depending on the model of your driver, use the values for either v1 or v2 of the schema. As v2 is the most recent update from PAL Lighting, assume you have the latest model driver and use addresses 1 through 6 to set up the lights in the app. Advanced Configurations Using More than One PAL Driver in Series When you have more than one driver providing lighting to additional zones, you need to connect them together using the In and Thru terminals on the communications board. Ensure power is disconnected when working with devices. It is important to avoid powering on devices when changing DIP switches or connecting them to one another to prevent accidental damage. From driver 1, wire D+, D-, and Shield from the Thru output and connect them to the In input on driver 2. Remove the Thru terminator jumper from driver 1 but don’t remove it from driver 2. Make sure that driver 2 does not use the same DIP switch settings as driver 1. This is required as using the same settings will result in the lights not working. Refer to the reference chart to find the matching addresses for the DIP settings of the second driver and configure the lights in the Poolside app accordingly. Frequently Asked Questions Q: Can I connect multiple PAL drivers to The Attendant? A: Yes, you can connect multiple PAL drivers to The Attendant. Just make sure to follow the advanced configurations mentioned in the article. Q: What should I do if my lights are not working after connecting them to The Attendant? A: Double-check the DIP switch settings on both the PAL drivers and The Attendant. Ensure that the addresses are correctly configured in the software. Q: Are there any safety precautions I should take when working with PAL drivers and lights? A: Yes, always disconnect the power before making any changes to the DIP switch settings or connecting the devices. This helps to avoid any accidental damage or malfunction. Q: Where can I find the online chart for the PAL driver DIP switch settings? A: You can find the online chart with the PAL driver DIP switch settings here. Q: Can I use older models of PAL drivers with The Attendant? A: Yes, you can use older models of PAL drivers with The Attendant. Just make sure to follow the specific instructions and settings provided for your model.

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lightingwebsitesbllslighting · 1 year ago

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How to Connect Your PAL Lights to The Attendant

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ledlightingdesignbllslighting · 1 year ago

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How to Connect Your PAL Lights to The Attendant

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havecourage-darling · 3 years ago

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Lucky Number Seven

blue-serendipity asked: Hello you :) To say i fell in love with the way you write Eddie is a total understatement! Idk if you have your requests open but i thought to just try my luck. Was thinking of Eddie X Reader where the reader has similar powers to Eleven and knows the whole Hawkins gang from before Season 4 ? She (or GN Reader) is also quite Eddie's age, maybe 1-2 y older. If you ever have time for this, you would make a tiny fan from far away mega happy! Anyhow, lots of love and can'T wait for more stories^^

A/N: You might have been looking for something a little more romantic lol but I already had most of this written and on the backburner while finishing the Firsts series. It's barely proof read so excuse any inconsistencies or typos. Additionally, I had a POC reader in mind when writing this, but should read easily. Hope you like it! xo

(also, if anyone has any burning requests...I'm happy to try my hand at any!)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Female Adopted!Hopper Reader

wc: ~6.8k

warnings: cursing, S4 V1 spoilers

Masterlist || AO3 link

You knew you should’ve gone to California with your sister.

Hawkins was never going to let you out of its grip. Eleven knew that, Joyce knew that, that’s why they left this haunted town. But now it was too late. You were here and you were the only thing left that could help your friends. Your family. You were a Hopper now. Hoppers didn’t run from danger.

“I’m setting up base of operations here,” Dustin said, and you glared at him.

“I spent all morning organizing those tapes,” you said. Dustin waved a hand, your usually affective glare never worked on him. From the moment you’d met him when he’d found you and Eleven in the woods, he’d never been afraid.

“I need to find Eddie’s friends phone numbers,” Dustin said to Steve.

You glanced at Robin who shrugged and sighed as she picked up the tapes he’d knocked over. Eddie? Who was Eddie?

“Your new best friend who you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?” Steve asked, his tone betraying his jealousy.

Hiding a smile, Robin bumped her elbow with yours as she handed you the tapes.

“I never said that!” Dustin argued. “Besides, Sev is the coolest out of all of you.”

Steve shot him an indignant look and you punched Steve in the shoulder. “I am cooler than all of you,” you said.

Max nodded. “That’s true, Lucky is above you all.”

“What, just because she has superpowers?” Steve hissed. “Not all of us can be that cool.”

“So, you admit, I’m cool?” You said, smiling when he shot you a look.

You don’t remember when everyone had started calling you Lucky but you think it was around the time Eleven had been shortened to El. She still called you Seven and you still called her Eleven. The ink on your wrists made sure you’d never escape it, so why bother trying?

“Saturday is our busiest day,” Robin snapped, organizing the paperwork that had gone flying.

“This cannot wait!” Dustin half shouted and you hid your grin. You would deny it, but Dustin had always been your favorite. Well, and Will – you’d already been out to visit once and the two of you had been attached at the hip. He never thought you spoke too little and he never minded when he needed to explain things you didn’t understand to you.

“Do you want to strangle him or should I?” Steve asked.

“Lucky could dangle him in the air maybe?” Robin said. “That would teach them.”

You grinned at that, imagining Dustin’s outraged expression as you lifted him into the air.

“Don’t you dare,” Dustin said, not looking away from the computer. “You shouldn’t waste energy like that.”

And like that, the smile dropped from your expression.

“Dude,” Steve hissed. “Too far.”

Max’s expression turned sympathetic and you whirled away from them. You should’ve made peace with it already – Eleven seemed to and she’d completely lost her powers. After Starcourt, and the Mind Flayer, your powers had weakened and dwindled to a fraction of what they had once been.

You’d been practicing over the winter and had gotten better. Slowly. Painfully slowly. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas had taken to holding practice in the woods by your cabin after school. Steve and Robin showed up half the time, to supervise they’d say. You knew Steve was just worried you’d be pushing yourself too far.

“Sorry,” Dustin said, finally breaking his gaze with the screen and offering up his fist. “Too far.”

Bumping his fist, you accepted his apology. “What are you two doing here anyway?”

Max and Dustin exchanged looks. Oh no. The knot in your chest tightened even further.

As you watched Dustin lead you all towards the boat house behind this stranger’s house, you felt Steve tug at your wrist.

“Are you okay?” He asked, eyes darting around the dark woods.

“I’m fine,” you said, smiling at him. Steve, Robin, and you had become a lot closer after working together at Scoops Ahoy. It was your dad that had suggested you get a job and make friends that summer. When he’d adopted you and Eleven – his ‘nieces’ – you knew the town had a harder time with you. You didn’t look like they did. You didn’t blend as easily. You didn’t fit in as well as Eleven did, which was saying something. Your friends knew it, everyone did really, and without Jim or Eleven…your friends made you feel a little less alone.

“Don’t worry, it might be nothing,” Robin said, coming up to your other side.

“Or he might be just a regular murderer!” Steve said.

Dustin whirled around and glared at you three. “He’s not a killer!”

“I don’t know him,” you clarified, and you didn’t. You had managed to take to school a lot better than Eleven and were able to graduate within two years. You hoped she was having a good time with Mike’s visit. She had been hoping that you’d visit but, you didn’t want to spend too much of the money Hopper had left you both. You wanted Eleven to go to college, to have a normal life. You could wait until she was set.

The door creaked open and you pushed Dustin and Max behind you. “Stay close,” you said to them, voice not leaving room for arguments.

“He’s not a killer,” Dustin insisted.

“I don’t care if he’s goddamn Mother Theresa, listen to her,” Steve hissed at them. Max stayed close to your side, her eyes darting across the smaller room.

You watched Steve grab an oar and begin stabbing at the boats. Dustin and Steve started squabbling and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.

“I know you think it’s funny but considering that everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times,” Steve said, hand on his hip, “personally, I think it’s just good sense. Besides, we’re trying to conserve her energy, remember?”

Crossing your arms, you nodded. Steve was right, in Hawkins, caution was always best.

Dustin opened his mouth when the tarp flew off the boat and a man with a broken bottle in his hand jumped towards Steve. Instinctively, you shoved Max and Robin behind you. A hand grabbed the back of your jacket tightly in their fists and your hand was already reaching for Dustin.

“Eddie! Eddie! Stop!” Dustin screamed, his hands up. “It’s me! It’s Dustin! This is Steve!”

When there was no recognition in his eyes, you lifted your hand. Eddie’s eyes went to you and Dustin’s panic elevated.

“Wait, wait, Luck – don’t. Give me a second!”

His words fell away at the sight of the glass pressed against Steve’s throat. His eyes were lit with fear and the need to protect the last of your family surged within you.

“Dustin,” you said, words pried from your throat.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, everyone calm the fuck down!” Dustin shouted. “This is Steve, he’s not going to hurt you, right Steve?”

“Right, right,” Steve said, voice strangled.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?”

At the loud sound of the oar dropping, Eddie pressed the bottle more firmly to Steve’s throat and you had had enough.

“No more,” you said, and Eddie’s eyes darted back to you. Reaching within, you grasped at the smaller, but still powerful, embers in your chest. They lit up, responsive, and you concentrated on removing the threat.

“Luck – wait – no, shit! Robin!”

Before anyone could touch you, you lifted Eddie into the air and tossed him to the other side of the room. He landed with a thud and you ran to Steve. Planting yourself in front of him, Steve’s hand came up to your back.

“Hey, I’m okay, I’m okay,” Steve murmured, squeezing your shoulder. “It’s okay. Dustin, go check on Eddie.”

Dustin scampered over to Eddie and you watched as the man in question bounced up to his feet. “What. The. Fuck. Was. That!”

“That was…um, that was,” Dustin scrambled, looking a little panicked, “I – she’s-”

You watched Eddie tremble and a faint bell rang in the back of your head. You’d seen him before – you recognized him. He sat at the loud table at school – Nancy had pointed him out to you a few times when he was shouting in the cafeteria. His usual smug look was gone and he looked…scared, of you. You didn’t like that.

“I’m Lucky,” you said, stepping forward slowly, hands up. “I’m Chief Hopper’s daughter.”

Eddie’s brown eyes darted to you and he took a step back, stumbling into Dustin.

“She’s cool, Eddie, I swear she’s cool,” Dustin rambled, “you just scared her. She’s a little…protective.”

“She just lifted me into the fucking air man,” Eddie’s voice shook.

Chewing on your cheek, you knew there was no way to talk yourselves out of that one.

“How about we all explain what we know…you first…” Robin said, walking slowly to them, “we just want to know what happened.”

“You won’t believe me,” Eddie said, eyes still on you. Tilting your head, you realized he looked panicked but not scared of you, not anymore. That was new. Everyone always looked a little scared of you – both of you – at first.

“Try us,” Max said.

“You’re gonna scare him,” you said to Dustin, tone unapproving.

“Why would I scare him?” Dustin asked, forging ahead with the bags in his hands. You narrowed your eyes and Robin huffed a laugh.

“Scaring people is not nice,” you said to Steve who nodded solemnly. You elbowed him and he cracked a smile.

“It’s fun,” Robin said, watching as Dustin kicked the door open and Eddie’s loud Jesus Christ made Steve laugh.

Walking in after them, you felt a little apologetic when handing Eddie the cereal you’d picked out. Instead of mistrust, you saw his eyes light up as he reached for it eagerly. Your hands brushed as he took it from you, both of you freezing at the contact. His eyes met yours and you furrowed your brows. What was that? Why did that feel like you’d been shocked?

Trying to look normal, like always, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and moved towards Steve. You watched his face fall as Dustin explained to him what you’d all figured out.

“Hunt the freak right?” Eddie said, voice angry.

“You’re not a freak,” you said, despite not really knowing much about him. You didn’t like that word. Everyone looked over at you, surprised, and you shied away into Steve’s shoulder. Eddie’s mouth curved up before turning back to Dustin.

“We are down a few members,” Steve admitted, scratching at his face, his other arm coming around you. “We usually rely on El and Luck, to be fair.”

Dustin nodded.

“Who’s El?” Eddie asked, eyes darting between you all.

“My sister,” you said, your fingers dancing across the numbers on your wrist. “She’s my sister.”

Eddie’s brows raised. “And does she have the force also?”

“I don’t get that one,” you whispered to Steve who smiled almost instantly. You turned to Dustin who sighed.

“Star Wars, remember, I showed you the movies?”

You shook your head and turned to Eddie. “I don’t know a lot of things,” you said, clarifying. Eleven always felt embarrassed by both of your lack of knowledge – she had thrown herself into magazines and Max had helped her along the way. You, however, didn’t mind so much. Usually someone was happy to explain it to you.

“What she means is, she doesn’t know pop culture,” Steve said, looking a little defensive at Eddie’s snort. “She’s not dumb. She graduated with a 3.5 GPA,” he said, looking proud and you smiled. Nancy had practically lived at your house – tutoring you.

Dustin sighed. “The point is, yes, they both have the force.”

“That’s cool,” Eddie said, eyes still on you. Usually, it made you uncomfortable when people stared – and they always did. His was okay. It felt…nice? “Where exactly did they get the force from?”

“We went over this yesterday,” Robin reminded him.

“They were experimented on, in the lab, remember?” Dustin said quietly.

You didn’t know why everyone felt so weird about it. Whether bad or good, it was still the truth. Eleven and you had come to the conclusion that it made people uncomfortable to think of what you’d both gone through. They weren’t necessarily bad memories, not all of them.

Eddie’s eyes traveled up to yours and you smiled, trying to seem less intimidating. His returning grin was wide, and made your stomach flip.

You all heard the sirens at the same time and whirled into action.

“Tarp, tarp!”

Darting to the window, you saw the patrol cars zoom past Rick’s house.

“They’re going somewhere in a hurry,” Steve said, already reaching for his keys.

“Let’s follow them,” Max said, grabbing her backpack. You walked back to the boat, slowly peeling back the tarp and nodded down at Eddie.

“They’re not coming here,” you said quietly, giving him room to sit up. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His eyes darkened, his hands clutching at the cereal box. “Thanks, Hopper.”

You smiled at the sound of your last name. It still never ceased to bring you a bittersweet feeling. If you lived long enough, you wanted to do something good with your life. So his name would still live on. Lucas once said you’d make a good lawyer.

“Luck, let’s go,” Max said, beckoning your forward. You glanced at Eddie before shaking your head.

“You guys go check it out and come back for me, okay? I’ll stay here with Eddie.” Robin and Max nodded, both of them already heading out for the car. Dustin hesitated at the door, eyes tracking you both.

Steve, however, protested. “Absolutely not, what if someone comes by?” Steve said, hands on his hips.

“That’s why I’ll be here,” you said, looking up at him. “To keep him safe.”

“I meant for you,” Steve said, hand coming up to your shoulder, “you don’t have as much juice anymore. What if someone sees you with him? You’ll be added onto their list. It’s too risky – no offense Munson.”

“None taken!”

Steve’s worry felt familiar, he always worried for you. Dustin usually did too – a little more subtly than Steve.

“I killed a demogorgon,” you reminded him, “I helped close the gate. No one is scarier than the Mind Flayer. I’ll be okay. I’ll have the radio. You can call me if you’re worried.”

“Luck-”

“Steve, she’s decided. Besides, it’ll probably be safter for both of them here. Come on,” Dustin said, shooting you a look before jogging out the door.

“I’ll be back, okay? If you need me, come find me. Seriously.”

You hugged Steve tightly and shook your head. “If you need me, let me know. I’m still the strongest one.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, squeezing you. With one last glance, Steve disappeared out the door.

“You two are sweet,” Eddie’s voice was teasing. You turned around to look at him and felt confused. Steve could be sweet but he could also be annoying.

“I guess?” You said, not sure what the right answer was.

“I didn’t know you two were dating,” Eddie said, kicking his feet up onto the edge of the boat. “Didn’t keep up with Harrington when we were in school.”

“I’m not dating Steve,” you said, disgust in your voice evident. “He’s like…he’s like…” you tried to search for the right word.

“Was on the varsity basketball team? On the swim team? Everyone’s type?”

“…my brother,” you said, grinning when you found the right word, “he’s like my brother.”

Eddie’s expression stilled before laughing. “Okay, that’s not what I was expecting,” Eddie said, shaking his head.

“It’s like Jonathan and El,” you said, nodding as the words came to you. “Jonathan Byers?”

“Yeah, I know him,” Eddie said.

“Jonathan and El are like Steve and me,” you said, proud of yourself. “You know?”

“Not really,” Eddie laughed lightly again, he had a nice laugh, you thought, “but I get the gist of it.”

Smiling, you sat onto the floor, with your back against the door. “I don’t think anyone wants to date a freak,” you said, pointing at yourself.

Eddie’s brows rose. “A freak?”

“Did you think you were the only one?” You asked. “This town doesn’t like me either.”

Something flashed across Eddie’s face, too quick for you to read.

“Then they’re idiots because I already like you and you’ve thrown me across the room with your mind. I’ve only known you for like, a day.”

Flustered, you didn’t know where to look and settled on your hands. “Thanks.”

“Why did you stay?” He asked.

“What?”

“Your sister, El, she left with the Byers, right?”

You nodded.

“Why did you stay if this town is cursed?”

Robin had asked you that the day after El had left. She’d found you crying in your cabin, alone.

“Because it is cursed. This is where I was born,” you said, “this is where my dad lived. I don’t know anywhere else. El…needed to leave. The bad memories stayed with her. I don’t want to run from them, I have spent too much time running.”

“That is…incredibly insightful and sad.”

You laughed. “I’ll leave one day. Maybe New York City?”

“I’ve heard it’s pretty cool there, great music scene,” he said, coming over to sit by you. At your look, he grinned. “I can hear you better from here.”

His shoulder pressed into yours and you suppressed the smile building at the contact.

“Alright then, Hopper, let’s play twenty questions.”

“Is that…what happened to Chrissy?” You asked quietly. Your mind replayed the sound of Patrick’s bones snapping.

Your emotions were all over the place. The adrenaline was wearing off and you felt exhausted.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Eddie muttered, trying to start the engine.

“Eddie!” You screamed.

“I’m trying!”

You watched Patrick and Jason’s bodies getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Patrick disappeared.

“Wait,” you said, “where’d he go? Where’d the other one go?”

Eddie turned to glance at the water and he stilled. “Oh no.”

The lights from the boathouse flickered and Eddie groaned.

“It’s happening again,” he mumbled, hand coming to your leg. Your eyes stayed on the water, ready to act, when his body was flung into the air. Surprised, you stumbled back, landing hard on your hip.

“What’s happening? Eddie, what is that!”

“Fuck it, come on,” he said, pulling you into the water. You swallowed a mouthful of water, not ready, and felt Eddie pull you towards the shore.

“I can help him!” You said, looking around for what was hurting him. “I don’t see anyone!”

“There isn’t anyone,” Eddie reminded you, “he’s in the upside down!”

Once you felt dirt beneath your feet you whirled around at the sound of breaking bones. “Eddie!”

“Don’t look, don’t look,” he insisted, pulling you to him.

Your heart broke as you heard his body hit the water.

“We have to go, Hopper – come on.”

“Hey,” Eddie said, “you’re shivering.”

You were. Your entire body was soaking wet and the night air had cooled off enough to make you feel like you were inside a freezer.

“Here,” he said, pulling his jacket over your shoulders. Eddie’s scent immediately filled your sense, the jacket chasing the chill away.

“Thank you,” you said quietly.

“Is that…what you’d dealt with before?”

Shaking your head, you closed your eyes, trying to forget the sight. “No…I could always fight something before. This time…it was invisible. I’ve never been helpless like that.”

“Hey, you couldn’t have helped,” Eddie said, sitting down next to you, “nothing could’ve helped him.”

You frowned, shaking your head, and feeling despair in every atom of your body. Leaning into his warmth, you couldn’t help but tuck your face into his chest. His arms came around you, one hand rubbing your back.

“You did everything you could,” he said, stern. “This is not your fault. You’re not fucking invincible. You’re not a superhero.”

Shoulders dropping a little, Eddie pulled you into the space between his legs. You glanced up at him, surprised, and he smiled. “Trust me?”

You nodded without hesitation and he huffed a laugh.

“Lean back,” he instructed. You pressed your back to his chest and he laid his head against the rock behind him. “I’ll take the first watch, try to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep,” you protested, “what if someone finds us?”

“Then I’ll wake you up,” he promised, “look, it’s almost – shit, my watch broke. Well, it’s probably one in the morning at this point. We’ll try to find the others the second the sun is up and we’re not fumbling blindly in the dark. You look ready to fall over. You said you trust me.”

You narrowed your gaze. “Friends don’t lie,” you told him.

“Friends don’t lie,” he echoed, pulling you back into his chest.

“Thank you,” you said, after a beat, “for pulling me to shore.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you there, you were freaking out,” he said, his breath fanned over your ear, making you shiver. “Still cold?”

“No,” you said, burrowing into the collar of his jacket. “I’m good.”

“Luck?” Steve shouted. You sat up, excited to hear your friends. You’d both barely slept as the sun rose. You’d both managed to steal a walkie from a nearby policeman and notify the others of where you were.

“Steve!” You shouted back.

Despite your eagerness, Eddie planted himself between you and the direction of the footsteps.

“It’s them,” you told him, placing a hand on his arm.

“I know,” he said, still suspicious. His expression caused your stomach to flip. You could break someone’s arm without much strain and he was worried about you.

Within seconds, you saw Dustin’s relieved face. “Here they are!”

“Holy shit, I was fucking worried,” Steve said, running towards you and all but swinging you in the air. “What happened?”

Eddie launched into the explanation, words frantic and fast.

“When we got to shore, we tried to call you guys but the walkie was dead man,” Eddie took the water canister from Dustin and opened it. Handing it to you gently, you felt his eyes on you as you drank from it. With shaking hands, you handed it back to him. He eyed you a bit before taking a sip.

Pulling Eddie’s leather jacket around you tightly, you shivered. You’d never seen anything like that…the way his body had snapped. Eleven mentioned it once, a long, long time ago when you were both a lot younger. You’d been taken out the lab for a test in a town over after…after Eight had escaped Papa wanted to test your powers – to see if he could control them easier.

When you’d come back, everyone was gone. Everyone except Eleven. Papa told you not to ask any questions and that it was important you stayed safe. He kept you and Eleven closer after that.

“That wasn’t normal,” you said to them, “what happened to that boy…that was…that-”

Eddie pulled you into his arms and you fought off the memories that flooded your mind. You weren’t in the lab anymore. Papa was dead. He couldn’t hurt you. El was safe. You were safe. It was okay.

“We’re good, okay?” Eddie said quietly. “We’re okay.”

Taking a deep breath, the way Hopper had taught you, you counted up to ten.

One, two, three, four…

After a few deep breaths, you stood up again. Shaking your arms out you nodded to your worried friends. “I’m okay – I’m okay now.”

You half-heartedly listened to them talk about how to kill Vecna and what your next move should be while you kept an eye on the trees around you.

“Wait, maybe…we sneak into his lair and she can end him, right?” Lucas said, motioning to you.

Wanting to feel useful, you nodded. “I can help, when do we go? How do I get to him? Maybe the house?” You wanted this threat gone. Nothing could come over to this world – not after it had threatened Max. If it got Hawkins and El found out – she’d come home. If she came home, she’d be in danger. You couldn’t risk her. Not any one of your friends.

“No!” Steve and Eddie said at the same time.

Everyone looked to the two of them with varying degrees of surprise.

“Why not?” You asked, crossing your arms. “I’m the best option.”

“Well, for one, you and El never fought separately. You usually used both your powers,” Steve said.

“And it’s too dangerous,” Eddie added.

“Your powers aren’t what they used to be,” Max said.

You frowned and motioned to where you were standing. “Look around, there’s nothing else coming to help us. We don’t have any other options. It has to be me.”

“No,” Eddie said again, standing up and crossing over to you. “You haven’t slept in days, you barely ate anything, and you swallowed like a liter of lake water when we swam out the lake. It’s too risky.”

Exasperated, you turned to Steve who shook his head. “I’m with Munson on this.”

“Dustin!” You shouted, wanting back up. He ignored your cry and raised his arm.

“Boom! Bada, bada, boom. I was right!”

“No way,” you said, stepping forward to keep Dustin from getting on. “You stay with Max and Lucas. Keep them safe.”

“What! That’s not fair, it’s my goddamn theory,” Dustin complained.

“You heard her,” Robin said, hand reaching for his compass.

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin said.

“I did,” Robin said.

You crossed your arms. “Plus, I’m the strongest,” you said again, “do I need to remind you guys how many times I’ve saved your asses?”

Eddie snorted, sitting down and grabbing an oar.

Steve pushed the boat off into the water and climbed in at the last second. “Hey!” Dustin screeched.

“Holy shit, can he get any louder?” Robin groaned as she pulled the oar.

Eddie smiled at you, brows raised and you rolled your eyes – hiding your smile as you turned around. How had you spent the last twenty-four hours with a practical stranger and now you felt connected to him in a way you’d never felt before. The way his eyes stayed on you made you wonder if he felt it too.

The boat reached the middle of the lake quickly and Robin pulled you all to a stop. Glancing at the compass, you realized you must be on top of it now. Without a word, Steve started to pull at his shoes and you straightened.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“It has to be me,” he said.

“Absolutely not,” you said, standing up, “I’ll go.”

“You barely know how to swim,” Steve said.

“You taught me!”

“Yeah, barely,” he snorted, “you almost drowned us both at the pool last summer. Remember?”

“I did not,” you huffed, “what if there’s something down there?”

“Luck, Steve’s got this,” Robin said, tugging you.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, dragging out the word, “I vote for Harrington.”

“Of course, you do,” Steve said, snorting. “At least I know you’ll try to keep her safe.”

Confused, you tried to argue when you realized Eddie was turning red. Annoyed, you crossed your arms and sat with your back to Steve until he tossed his shirt at your head.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll be right back,” Steve said, hand squeezing your bicep as you scowled. Without another word, he bent his knees and dove into the water.

Eddie’s hands came up to you as the boat wobbled precariously. “He’ll be fine,” he said, plucking a cigarette into his mouth.

“Gross,” Robin said, grabbing it from his mouth and snapping in half.

“Hey!”

“She hates it,” Robin said, nodding at you. You had. Hopper had quit a few months into you living with him. The smell always reminded you of the bad man with the electric stick. Eddie immediately dropped the pack onto the boat. Eyes on the water, you tried to ignore them both.

“Nancy,” you said, practically ready to dive in after him.

“One minute,” she said, peering over the edge with you.

“Everyone calm the hell down, he’s fine,” Eddie said, hand gripping your – his – jacket so you wouldn’t fall in.

A second later, Steve gasped and splashed water on the other side. Almost tipping the boat in your rush, you placed your hand over his. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I found it, I found the gate,” he said, gulping air down. “It’s more a snack size gate than a mama gate but still, it’s pretty damn big.”

Your chest tightened. Not again. You’d closed the gate, hadn’t you? You and El? And Hopper. After Starcourt this was all suppose to be over. That was the reward after the price you paid. This was over.

Pulled from your memory, you watched Steve get pulled under again. Your grip on his hand had him surge up. Confused, you both looked at each other before he was ripped from your grasp.

“Steve!” You screamed, panicking.

“What the hell was that?” Eddie shouted.

Robin and Nancy shifted, rocking the boat precariously. Your mind was running a million miles a minute and you knew Steve didn’t have much. Whatever pulled him under was probably pulling him through the gate.

Without thinking twice, you stood and felt a hand wrap tighter around your jacket. “No, you can’t – you can’t go in there.”

“Stay here,” you said, slipping out the jacket - and his grasp - and dove into the cold water. Kicking hard, you found yourself slipping through the gate quickly. Gravity quickly took hold of you and slammed you into a rough floor.

Blubbering, you tried to cough out the water from your chest when you heard Steve screaming. “Steve!” You shouted, trying to find him. The ground was cracking, the sky dark and ominous. Every hair on your body stood and you ignored it all until you saw Steve fall to the floor.

“I’m coming!” You screamed, running towards him. As you ran, you reached for the energy inside you, bending it to your will. Before, you would’ve been able to dispatch all three of them but you could only barely control two. Aiming for the one wrapped around his neck you pulled at the thread you could see in your mind.

Seconds later, it exploded. The blood splattered and Steve gasped for air. The ones on his side screeched, aiming for you and you panicked. Closing your eyes, you frantically aimed for the closest and it split in half. The other slammed into your chest and you went down.

Arms flailing, you felt like you were underwater, hitting whatever you could reach. Its claws sank into your skin and you screamed.

“Get the fuck off her!” A third voice joined you, slamming it into the air and it’s loud screeching abruptly cut off.

You blinked, dizzy, and saw Eddie peer down at you. “Why the fuck did you jump? You stupid brave hobbit!”

“Incoming!” Nancy screamed, oar flying in her hand.

“Get me up,” you said, “help me up!”

Eddie’s arms darted under yours and he hauled you to your feet. Swaying, you closed your eyes and tried to concentrate.

“What are you doing?” Eddie said, voice panicky and high pitched.

You ignored him and tried to remember what you were fighting for. You needed to get out of here alive, you needed to keep your friends alive, and your sister safe.

Pulling from what felt like the depths of your soul, you imagined Papa, staring at you and wanting results. With your arms up, you let out a scream as the creatures burst, all at once, carcasses dropping onto the ground with a disgusting sound.

Going limp, you felt Eddie catch you, sinking to the floor with you.

“What did you do?” Steve screamed, blood dripping from his face. His hands darted around your body, looking for wounds he could take care of but you knew he wouldn’t find any.

“Is she okay?” Robin asked anxiously, her hand gripping Nancy’s shoulder. You blinked, gaze going to the wide-eyed boy who’s lap you were in.

“Hi,” you said, voice a little slurred.

“Hey,” he answered back, his tone a little shocked. “Has anyone told you that you’re kind of amazing?”

“Yeah,” you said, honestly, liking the laugh he barked out after.

“Okay, lets go back through the gate before she passes out and can’t hold her breath. I can push her up to the surface with me if one of you helps me,” Steve said to your left.

“Look, there’s more,” Nancy whispered.

“I can get them,” you struggled to stand.

“Yeah, and lose whatever you have left? I don’t think so,” Steve said, tone leaving no room for argument. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I can do it,” you insisted.

“Hey, we got it, okay?” Eddie said softly.

You stopped struggling against his hold and slumped back down. “Okay,” you said as another wave of nausea hit you.

“We can take them,” Steve said, voice trailing off as all your heads turned up to watch a flock come your way.

“Let’s go into the woods!” Nancy said, grabbing your arm and hauling you onto your feet. She wrapped an arm around your stomach and yours around her shoulders. “Munson! Look alive!”

Eddie came to your other side and they pulled you forward into the trees.

“Steve, Robin, I’m fine,” you assured them for the tenth time in five minutes.

“You didn’t wake up for a few minutes,” Robin said.

“But I’m awake and fine now,” you said. Mostly. The nausea still rolled through you every so often. You were almost at Nancy’s house – it wasn’t too much further.

“In their defense, it did look a little worrisome for a while there,” Eddie jumped in, his hand still in yours. Nancy had fallen away once you’d woken up by Skull Rock, all of them leaning over you. Eddie had given you a relieved smile and threaded his fingers through yours. Just in case, he’d said.

Robin had shot you a look but you hadn’t minded. His hand felt…nice.

“I’m fine!” You said, the eleventh time.

“Okay, okay,” Steve said, backing up a few steps and turning to Eddie. “Make sure she stays awake and don’t let her use her powers.”

“I think I couldn’t stop her even if I wanted to dude,” Eddie said, saluting Steve as they jogged up to Nancy.

You shivered and Eddie pulled you to a stop. He pulled his jacket back over your shoulders and you glanced at him. “It looks better on you anyway,” he said, cheeks pink.

Ducking your head, you smiled and reached for his hand. “Just in case,” you echoed his earlier statement.

With a wide, beaming grin, he intertwined your fingers and pulled you closer to him. “Obviously.”

“We never finished twenty questions,” he said, after a beat of silence.

“I think we asked more than that,” you replied, stepping over a vine.

“The number is a suggestion, the game only ends when both parties agree to it,” Eddie said, matter of fact.

“Alright,” you said, smiling at him, “it was your turn then.”

“Why Lucky?”

You shrugged. “I don’t have a name and I think it made people uncomfortable,” you said, not really remembering who had suggested Lucky so long ago. You thought it was Will.

“What about Luck? Lucky?” Will asked, cheeks red.

“That sounds like a dog,” Lucas said, rolling his eyes.

“Lucky,” Eleven breathed, her shoulders wrapped in your arms. “I like it.”

At everyone’s blank looks, Will shrugged. “She’s like Lucky number Seven. We’ll always win as long as she’s here.”

“I am Seven.”

“I think you should pick a name you like,” Eddie said, “something badass like you.”

Flustered, you almost tripped over a vine. “Badass?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, keeping you steady, “you just fucking leapt into the water after Harrington without looking back. I saw you basically destroy half the bats with your fucking mind. That’s metal. Badass.”

“Badass,” you repeated, nodding. “Bitchin’?”

Eddie laughed and you realized it was the first time you’d really heard it. You liked the sound.

“Yeah, bitchin’.”

Nancy’s eyes caught yours, hers widening and pointedly looking at Eddie. Her knowing smile made you even more flustered, like you were doing something you shouldn’t be.

“I haven’t thought of another name,” you admitted. You hadn’t found your mother yet, or if you ever would. You didn’t know if you ever had a name – not the way Eleven had. Hopper had been the first person to ask you if you had wanted to switch yours. All your documents connecting you to him said Lucky. “My dad…called me sweetheart?”

Something in Eddie’s eyes changed, they became soft and like he only saw you.

“I think you should come up with a name you like,” he said, “not one assigned to you by anyone else. Sweetheart is a good one though.”

What name did you like? You liked Eddie’s name. Or maybe you just liked him?

“I like Hopper,” you said slowly, “I don’t want to change my name. It was my dad’s name.”

“That’s fair,” he said, “what do you want me to call you for now?”

You considered the question. “Seven,” you said firmly. It may make everyone shift a little, their eyes never quite meeting yours, but that’s what you were used to. For now. Until you found something badass.

“Okay, Seven Hopper,” Eddie said, bowing dramatically, “I’m Eddie Munson. Pleasure to meet you.”

You let him take your hand and press a kiss to the back of it. Warmth surged through your body and you felt the need to hide. Without thinking too much, you surged forward and kissed Eddie’s cheek. “Nice to meet you too, Eddie Munson.”

His face turned pink and you smiled at him. Despite where you were now, and what you had to accomplish, you were glad to have met him.

“Munson! Stop flirting and keep up!” Steve shouted, shooting you the same smile as Nancy had.

Eddie winked at you, not denying it, and pulled you forward with him.

The portal broke open, pieces of flesh and vines dropping onto the floor. Eddie’s hand shot out to yours and he pulled you behind him. You blinked, surprised. Why did he seem determined to shield you from everything? You smiled when he glanced back at you, relief evident when he saw your expression.

Most people you knew pushed you to the front of the line, you were after all the best defense they had. But…not Eddie. He didn’t treat you like a weapon or something to be used. The weird flutter in your stomach woke, the sensation making you feel weightless. Eddie’s shoulders blocked most of your line of vision but Robin’s knowing smirk showed she’d seen your expression.

“Okay, Seven first,” Eddie said, ushering you towards the makeshift rope.

Steve’s eyes got a familiar teasing glint in them and Nancy shot you a knowing look.

“I’ll stay last,” you said quietly, ignoring their looks, “if anything happens, I can fight the best.”

“I don’t know,” Steve started.

“No,” Eddie said, frowning.

You nodded. Everyone knew it. Even if your powers had weakened and you felt a little drained you were the best bet. You might not be able to do the same damage you once had, but you were better equipped than the others.

Robin started to climb and Eddie looked ready to argue. “Munson, I’ll stay with her – just go,” Steve said.

With a disgruntled look on his face, he climbed. You kept your eyes around the trailer, watching for anything that felt wrong. Glancing up, you were caught by Eddie’s worried gaze. His eyes didn’t move from yours, tracking your movement as Nancy climbed.

“Okay, no arguing Hopper, you go,” Steve said.

Rolling your eyes, you focused on the current inside you – weak, but ready to answer. Steve yelped as he flung through the air and landed hard on the mattress on the other side.

“I hate it when you do that,” Steve moaned, clutching his stomach. You smirked.

“Lucky!” Dustin shouted. “You shouldn’t use up your energy like that! Hurry!”

Without much thought, you climbed the rope, feeling gravity shift as you landed on your back.

“Her name is Seven,” Eddie’s voice echoed in the small trailer. His warm hand enveloped yours and he pulled you up. His warm eyes ran over you, as if assessing you, and he sighed when you reached to hug him. Eddie’s arms wrapped around you instantly and tightly pulling you into his chest.

“I’m okay,” you promised, not used to anyone besides Steve worrying this often. You didn’t know what to say, what to do.

His answering smile was blinding and his thumb came up to wipe the blood from your nose. Everyone around you started discussing what you’d seen, what they’d been through, but you couldn’t help but keep your eyes on Eddie despite the chaos. He’d glance at you every few minutes, smiling when he saw your stare. He squeezed your still clasped hands and you felt something within you shift.

Maybe staying behind in Hawkins wasn’t so bad after all.

#eddie munson x reader

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