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starcurtain · 6 days

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A Look at Ratio and Aventurine... and Ratio/Aventurine

I was morally obligated to use this picture.

Anyway, I got an ask about my understanding of Ratio and Aventurine's relationship both in canon and as a ship that I have been holding on to for a while now because... phew, there's like... a lot to talk about there... But I felt I should at least give it a try, so here is my attempt to comment on the intersection of two of Star Rail's most complicated personalities. Long post is longgggg; you have been warned.

First, Aventurine's canon relationship to Ratio:

In the interest of not hitting tumblr's image limit, let's just throw out some of the information we have in one go:

It's pretty complimentary. (Yet somehow...)

The implication of the infamous "Keeping Up with Star Rail" video is that Ratio understands Aventurine better than anyone else, and Aventurine knows this. At the very least, putting all shipping aside, Ratio is the person who can explain Aventurine's behaviors best. He's the person Aventurine chooses do so. This suggests significantly more knowledge of each other's lives than the game first led us to believe.

Other people (read as: my GOAT Owlbert) perceive respect from Aventurine to Ratio, and although I read them as a bit sarcastic, the 2.1 mission logs not only repeatedly confirm that Aventurine views Ratio as smart and reliable, but that Ratio is reliable "as always," again indicating a longer and closer history of collaboration than we get to actively see in game. The devs were working hard to tell us "Penacony isn't Ratiorine's first rodeo," which is interesting--given Topaz's voiceline recommending the Trailblazer avoid working with Aventurine whenever possible, we're led to believe through 2.0 and 2.1 that not many people will willingly work with Aventurine more than once, let alone many times.

While going through psychological scrutiny from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come his Harmony-infused self, the "Future" Aventurine suggests that Ratio and Aventurine are quite similar, and that Aventurine puts a surprising amount of trust in Ratio, to be willing to hinge such a dangerous plan on something as untested as Ratio's ability to act. At the very least, Aventurine's own psyche is pondering on Ratio and whether or not their connection has any emotional meaning.

But despite all this evidence suggesting Ratio and Aventurine spend significantly more time with each other than we get to see in game, Aventurine's own thoughts cast strong doubt on whether he and Ratio are actually close.

Aventurine's "About Dr. Ratio" voice line suggests that Aventurine believes Ratio does not particularly like him. He seems to think that Ratio would prefer to stay away from IPC operations where possible, and it's "unfortunate" for Ratio to be stuck with Aventurine as a conversation partner. He's tolerated, rather than enjoyed. His overall impression seems to be that Ratio mostly views them as distant coworkers.

When the "Future" Aventurine suggests Ratio did not betray Aventurine willingly, actual Aventurine immediately pushes back:

(Personally I'm on the fence about whether this was real doubt or just a ploy to continue sussing out Sunday; see my other post about this scene for some more thoughts.)

But if we take this statement to be played straight, it implies that Aventurine doesn't fully believe Ratio will side with him, even (maybe especially) in dire circumstances. If this statement is real doubt, then despite considering Ratio the person who best understands him, despite building an entire life or death gamble around Ratio's loyalty... Aventurine still doesn't think Ratio even likes him.

Aventurine's not stupid or blind, so theoretically he should be able to read the situation better than that. But actually, there's plenty of evidence both in the game and outside it to suggest that Aventurine is not the most accurate judge of his own relationships to others and is a down-right terrible judge of his own worth as a person.

"Future" Aventurine suggests that one of Aventurine's deep inner flaws--the truths that he rejects about himself--is a massive inferiority complex. This is backed up well by the mission text, where Aventurine's thoughts about himself spiral into self-harm, and the scene in the maze, where "Future" Aventurine taunts our Aventurine with the unforgettable fact that his entire life was only worth pennies:

There's also pretty consistent self-deprecation, with both "Future" and real Aventurine noting several times that he's a pathetic mess of a person that other people don't trust or like.

The overall impression 2.0-2.1 left me with is that Aventurine is perfectly capable of respecting and caring for others, but virtually incapable of accepting other people genuinely respecting and caring for him.

Part of this seems to stem from the directly-stated sense that he's a failure whose only worth is in transactional exchanges, using and being used by others (there's so many layers to this--internalized racism even), but I also suspect that much of his inability to accept genuine connection from others is defensive behavior.

Aventurine's true self, Kakavasha, is deeply hidden away, like the ghost of the child that manifests from his Harmony delusion in the Dreamscape. Although Aventurine clings to that person, claiming that he has "never changed," he actively coats over his beliefs, his kindness, and his authenticity with the mask of a "cavalier gambler," with glitz and glamor and showy distractions. No one gets to see Kakavasha. No one gets to know him, because being buried deep in the dirt is the only way to remain untouchable, and fiercely keeping one's distance is the only safe bet. (For both Kakavasha and any fools who would doom themselves by daring to care for him.)

So: Canon is telling us that Ratio is one of, if not the, closest people in the world to Aventurine. But canon is also telling us that that still means absolutely nothing at all, because Aventurine won't let himself be close to anyone living.

Aventurine's senses of self-worth, trust, attachment, and safety have been warped so badly by ongoing and untreated trauma and mental health issues that, at least until the end of 2.1, I just don't think he was capable of even accepting genuine friendship from Ratio, let alone anything more.

(Interesting side note here: Ratio is actually one of the people Aventurine calls "my friend" the least. He only says it directly to Ratio a single time in all of their lines of dialogue across 2.0 and 2.1, and even then, does so only when right outside Sunday's door, while almost certainly being spied upon by the Family. Anyone who knows how often "my friend" is peppered into Aventurine's dialogue otherwise should know that the absence of the phrase is actually pretty telling. It almost feels like canon Aventurine's not even sure he can call Ratio his friend, at least to Ratio's face.)

Which makes Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine quite sad and ironic:

From start to finish, Ratio canonically esteems Aventurine more highly than almost any other character in the game. I'm not even talking about shipping when I say that there is no character Ratio is closer to in the entire game.

At present, Ratio has only four voice lines about other characters, and of those four, Aventurine's is the only one that isn't someone from the Genius Society. The only one. Ratio's voice lines are also notably, uh, not very complimentary. Herta is "talented but not helpful to others" and "sees no one as her equal" (read as: she's self-absorbed). Screwllum is a "monarch, rather than a genius" (with the vague implications of being a tyrant), and Ruan Mei is overly ambitious and "fooling everyone."

Meanwhile, Aventurine is "our man" (who is "our" Ratio? who?) whose success "can't all be chalked up to luck," implying that part of Aventurine's success must come from skill. Ratio notes that Aventurine questions his own ability... but as far as Ratio's evaluation goes, he seems to doubt that Aventurine will ever experience a downfall. For someone who thinks 99% of the people he meets are mediocre failures scrambling around in the filth of existence, to be recognized as skilled and unlikely to fail is quite obviously glowing praise.

Then, of course, there are numerous moments that echo Aventurine's hints, implying that Ratio spends significantly more time with Aventurine than we see on-screen, that he knows Aventurine extremely well, and, although he tries (vainly) to pretend he isn't, he's clearly quite concerned with what Aventurine thinks of him.

Especially this last one. "No wonder that gambler likes you so much" is pretty intentional on the devs' part, confirming that Ratio and Aventurine are having off-screen conversations we players are not privy to, which obviously would indicate a closer relationship than the in-game cutscenes could cover.

Then, Trailblazer has the option to flat out ask Ratio to "rate" Aventurine. (Star Rail ship bait is not even subtle.)

At first, this line might read as all over the place:

"The bosses say we're partners but I wouldn't say that" -> Read as: Ratio wants people to know how their relationship is classified but doesn't want to admit to being actually invested.

"I see myself as the teacher to everyone I meet" -> Read as: Ratio at least pretends that he doesn't view anyone as his equal; everyone is either above him--geniuses--or below him--students.

"Aventurine is not that bad of a student" -> High praise; even Ratio can't pretend Aventurine's untalented.

"Actually, Aventurine's probably in metaphysical danger" -> Read as: Ratio is aware of the "void" Aventurine is experiencing and his mental struggles.

The ultimate takeaway of Ratio's "rating" actually says more about Ratio than Aventurine. When it comes down to it, Ratio's choice to answer this question for the Trailblazer instead of dismiss it tells us that Ratio has spent time quantifying and trying to define his relationship with Aventurine, is willing to at least discuss that relationship with other people (when we have no evidence he ever discusses any other personal/non-academic matters with anyone), and that Ratio pays attention to Aventurine's mental states.

Canon Ratio is not beating the allegations, I'm afraid.

But actually, I think the biggest tell about Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine is that Ratio's behavior completely changes the moment Aventurine appears in the game.

In every single one of Ratio's other appearances, two facts are hammered home again and again:

First, Ratio hates interacting with fools and "noisy" people. He wears his plaster bust so that he doesn't even have to see them. Canonically, we're informed by both March 7th and Argenti that Ratio brought and was wearing his headpiece in Penacony. Curiously though...

The players never see it throughout 2.X--probably because 90% of Ratio's scenes are with Aventurine, and Ratio is never shown wearing his bust on screen with Aventurine--even in their very first meeting in the Final Victor lightcone. Aventurine clearly knows of the bust, but despite Ratio verbally going on and on about how Aventurine is the most "flashy" and "devoid of logic" person Ratio knows... the devs deliberately send their message: Ratio has chosen not to cut himself off from Aventurine.

Aventurine can be more "clamorous" than a screaming peacock, but Ratio will still not put up walls against him. This isn't accidental. The devs had every opportunity in the world to go the opposite route and make jokes about Ratio refusing to take the bust off in Aventurine's obnoxious presence; instead they decided that Ratio apparently has a glaring, Aventurine-shaped exception to his "I don't want to perceive you fools or be perceived by you" life rule.

This "willing to tolerate shenanigans only if Aventurine is involved" behavior continues basically throughout all of Penacony's plot. In 2.3 for example, if you turn around and talk to Ratio again on the Radiant Feldspar, he flat out says:

But there's no actual explanation for why he's there in the first place. He mentions he was assigned to watch over "the IPC's ambassadors," which theoretically should apply to Jade and Topaz, yet we never see him interacting with them in any capacity. He's never even shown in the same room as Jade or Topaz, and he's not shown doing any other form of business for the IPC on the Feldspar either. Theoretically, he could have been on the Feldspar to meet regarding the Divergent Universe... except Screwllum wasn't there yet, and Ratio doesn't mention a single word about the Divergent Universe to the Trailblazer.

The only person Ratio talks about in his dialogue on the Feldspar is Aventurine, and the only non-Trailblazer he talks to in 2.3 at all is also Aventurine, replying to him and only him in the group chat.

He looked like he might give it a shot to try to befriend Boothill and Argenti at the end of 2.3... but immediately changes his mind and leaves without saying a word to them.

It's not really a stretch to suggest that the only reasonable excuse for Ratio to attend the party on the Feldspar was if he was there for Aventurine, a behavior that he himself notes is out of character. ("A waste of time" he says, as he stands there anyway.)

But, second and even more importantly: Ratio's single most defining character trait is that he believes people need to pick themselves up. The entire point of his debut appearance in the game was to present his philosophy that if the powerful or privileged intervene to continually "save" the mediocre, ordinary people will never learn for themselves or get the chance to grow. It is in times of desperation, he says, that fools exceed their limits and reach greatness.

This is why, in 1.6, he insisted on Asta and the Trailblazer being the ones to solve the attacks happening on the space station, without relying on Screwllum or the other geniuses. Although Ratio did actively intervene a little (using the phase flame to save the researchers from death), he did so only from behind the scenes, where his actual help would not be noticed by those affected and where it had no impact on their decision-making or their struggles to solve the mystery.

He let Asta and the Trailblazer panic. He let them flounder. He even deliberately misled them at points, claiming that Duke Inferno must have kidnapped the researchers (when it was actually Ratio himself who re-routed them).

Ultimately, Ratio let Asta and the Trailblazer grow from their experiences.

This is also why he lets the Trailblazer go blazing in to fight Ruan Mei's faux emanator of the propagation, despite knowing that Trailblazer was not actually strong enough to win. Ratio watched and was ready to intervene... but in the end he did not, because it was the Trailblazer's fight to lose.

Ratio's most defining character trait is that he believes standing back and observing is the true kindness, rather than inserting oneself and denying people their autonomy or opportunities to grow.

Buttttt... then there's Aventurine, and suddenly the story is completely different.

Suddenly, Ratio isn't an observer but becomes essential to the plan. He's even walking around making big claims about being the manager of the task, flexing all of his C+ acting ability to actively carry out their mutual ploy.

In 2.3, he claims he was just there to watch, and his Penacony sticker asserts he's only "a supporting character"--yet we have never seen Ratio take a more active role in the entire game. Unlike with the Trailblazer in 1.6, he's not primarily watching events unfold from shadowy corners. He's in Penacony as Aventurine's active partner in crime.

And, even more telling--he later jeopardizes their entire mission just to ask if Aventurine needs help.

What? Huh? The character who is famous for the voice line "You look distressed. Is something troubling you? If so, you can figure it out for yourself" is suddenly offering his assistance entirely unprompted?

The guy whose motto might as well be:

Is suddenly out here throwing his own core philosophy out the window to solve Penacony's mystery for Aventurine and save him from himself in Aventurine's hour of greatest need?

A lot of people get hung up on the second half of Ratio's letter, the part about staying alive, which of course is very sweet. But I think the second half causes people to forget that the first part of Ratio's letter is, quite literally, the answer to Penacony's mystery.

Ratio gave Aventurine the answer.

This is like if your professor just gave you and you alone the score key to the final exam and then turned around to insist he "doesn't play favorites."

Of course, Aventurine is brilliant and didn't need Ratio's answer about dormancy, which makes the fact that Ratio went out of the way to give it to him even more odd. Ratio despises unnecessary repetition. If he wasn't dead worried, he would never have given Aventurine an answer that Aventurine had the power to find on his own.

And, as far as canon tells us, Ratio has never done this for anyone else.

The difference is night and day. It's literally the Gordon Ramsay meme, with everyone else in the entire game being the "fucking donkeys" to Aventurine's "Oh dear. Gorgeous."

So: Even if we entirely put aside shipping, if we look strictly at what we're given in canon:

Ratio treats Aventurine with more respect than he treats most other characters in the game.

He involves himself in Aventurine's struggles in a way that he flat out refuses to do for anyone else.

He compromises his own beliefs purely out of concern for Aventurine.

So, at least as far as we've been shown in canon, it is accurate to state that Aventurine is the closest character to Ratio--and unlike Aventurine (king of self-gaslighting), Ratio isn't even good at acting like he doesn't care.

Frankly, the whole thing is a little sad. Ratio's behavior is so blatantly out of character that a smart person like Aventurine should easily be able to determine it is genuine, but Aventurine's personal hang-ups and ongoing trauma make it difficult for him to even see that authenticity, let alone put faith in it. Even in canon, Ratio is mostly unable to help himself when it comes to Aventurine, which is especially unfortunate given how badly skewed Aventurine's perception of himself and others is by the start of Penacony's story.

PHEW! I finally made it through canon content!

Now there's just... everything else... 🫠

Well, to be honest, I don't think I could ever manage to put all my thoughts about this ship into one post. Probably not even fifty posts.

So rather than trying to say everything there is to say about Ratiorine, what I want to focus on is how fantastically these two characters just fit together. Like puzzle pieces that need to be mirror opposites in order to link, these two characters parallel each other while also perfectly filling in each other's voids. It's some of the best character pair writing I've seen in a long time (though I'm still sort of convinced it was at least 50% sheer luck on Hoyo's part), and my perspective on their ship can really be tied to my underlying perception of Ratio and Aventurine's characters as remarkably similar individuals:

It's obvious that Aventurine is not a healthy or well-adjusted adult man, but like... neither is Ratio.

Both of these characters are "not quite right" marginalized people who, at least in my interpretation, have essentially given up on even faking normality and are now just vaguely play acting their way through being functioning members of a universe that is entirely unequipped to accept them for who they are. In a world full of cyborg cowboys and people with wings growing from their heads, the game still manages to somehow convince us that Aventurine and Ratio are odd ones out.

Kakavasha can't even exist in the dystopian capitalist hellscape of the IPC's machinations. "Aventurine" isn't even a real person, just a never-ending performance, a slick, devil-may-care persona without a single ounce of substance.

Ratio, meanwhile, is a world of one, rejected from the only place he thought he could find validation and acceptance but unable to lower himself to fit in anywhere else.

Aventurine is so bad at making genuine connections that he turns everyday conversations into gambles because he doesn't believe people will care enough to keep talking to him without tangible incentive.

Ratio's insistence on treating everyone as students, not as equals, also means he has an excuse to never emotionally engage with anyone he meets. (This is not at all a textbook method of intentional avoidance to prevent any chance of social rejection. Not at all.)

At the end of the day, Aventurine and Ratio both come across as desperately lonely, and so caught up in their own situations that they really don't have the ability to climb out of that hole on their own.

Preventing them from even being able to maintain any form of relationship is also the fact that neither one of them can even find justification. Neither one of them has a reasonable answer to the question "Why am I alive?" anymore, because Aventurine's reason died on Sigonia and Ratio's reason died with an IPC invitation instead of a Genius Society letter. Though their differing perspectives have led them on opposite paths pursuing their own answers to that ultimate question of "Why should I keep living?" (Aventurine was headed toward giving up before the end of Penacony, while Ratio has invented an immeasurable, impossible goal to distract himself from feeling purposeless), both of them are pretty much miserably unfulfilled in their current lives.

They're also both violently allergic to emotional vulnerability and to having any of their flaws or true desires actually be perceived. Both of them put up insanely high walls. Aventurine pushes boundaries with everyone he meets to provoke their hatred in advance, before they can come to disdain him for his "real" flaws. He acts out harmful racist stereotypes to use others' preconceptions for advantage, manipulating every situation he's in--incidentally affirming the stereotypes against his people by doing so.

Ratio puts a physical wall of plaster between himself and others, but the plaster bust actually doesn't have anything on the mental and emotional gymnastics he's engaged in to justify his isolation from the world, doing everything in his power to convince himself that he's isolated by choice, that it's perfectly logical for Veritas Ratio to have nowhere to truly belong, no one to truly belong with. He's so mundane after all. Of course the geniuses don't want him, that's just commonsense. But everyone else is so... different, so foolish, so illogical... It just wouldn't be reasonable of him to try to become one of them either, to be their friend instead of their distant educator. (You know, if you never try to integrate with others, then they can't reject you. Ratio has learned his lesson.)

Somehow, Aventurine and Ratio are two of the most competent and successful people in Star Rail's entire universe and simultaneously also two of the most misfit, reject, dysfunctional messes in the game. Like... Blade has a better support network than Aventurine and Ratio combined. The 7000-pound murderous mech with a disabled, genetically-modified war veteran who never got to live a normal human life hiding inside it is more capable of making friends than Aventurine and Dr. Ratio.

Which is why I love that the devs decided to make their canon backstory: "Some absolute treasures in the IPC and the Intelligentsia Guild had the galaxy-brained idea of pairing Ratio and Aventurine as strategic partners." The game's writing really said: "These two characters are so socially stunted, they have to be assigned a relationship like it's homework."

They may not have it all figured out yet, but the fans see the design: Now that Ratio and Aventurine have each other, they're not alone anymore. I have never seen two characters better fit the "Is anyone going to match my freak?" meme only for the actual answer to be "Yes."

Ratio is "plays chess with himself" levels of loner weird? No problem--Aventurine is "Wanna take bets on who's going to die today?" weirder. Ratio wears a plaster bust to ward off idiots? Aventurine transforms into a monster on command, which is pretty much guaranteed to achieve the same effect.

Ratio wasn't chosen by Nous? That's fine, Aventurine's one job as a "chosen one" was to save his people and now they're all dead. Nobody can keep up with Ratio in conversation? Watch a single comment from Aventurine turn him into a fumbling mess on live television.

Ratio's inability to relate to the experiences and development of any peers his own age have left him extremely isolated and with a permanently scarred sense of self-worth? Wow, I wonder if Aventurine knows exactly what that feels like.

They just... fit.

And, changing focus a little here at the end: While I personally think that recovery from trauma requires internal motivation and self-kindness foremost, I also think that Ratio and Aventurine's relationship should be considered from the perspective of how they help to fill each other's gaps.

Unlike any connection at the Genius Society who will always evoke unpleasant memories of Nous's rejection, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel intellectually inferior. Aventurine has nothing but good things to say about Ratio's intelligence, and it's even apparent that Ratio felt comfortable enough to at least mention his Genius Society woes to Aventurine, something he explicitly does not do with anyone else.

Even when it comes to social interactions, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel inadequate, because honestly? Aventurine's almost as bad at them as Ratio. Aventurine is much better at faking it socially, but when it actually counts? When he's trying to be real with others? A solid 70% of the people who meet Aventurine still end up wanting to strangle him. The guy tried to apologize for threatening to detonate the Trailblazer like a bomb by buying them a model train...

Then there's this:

Aventurine is the only character explicitly called Ratio's equal in game, and more than just treating him respectfully as an equal, Aventurine also exhibits one extreme appeal that no one else in game has ever shown to Ratio: Aventurine makes Ratio feel needed. For Aventurine, Ratio is not a forgettable after-thought as he is to Herta and most of the other geniuses. He's not just "some weird guy who scolds me about school" like he is to the Trailblazer. Ratio's intellect and skill were integral to Aventurine's plan from step one to the very end. Ratio has a place in Aventurine's plots. For a character who directly assesses worth by how beneficial a person can be to others, the fact that Aventurine can make Ratio feel wanted and valued probably produced some of the strongest personal fulfillment Ratio has had in years.

On the opposite side, Ratio's in a unique position. Out of every relevant character in Aventurine's story, Ratio is the only one who has nothing to lose by choosing Kakavasha over "Aventurine." Ratio doesn't profit off Aventurine or take any expensive gifts from him, like the Trailblazer does. He doesn't need Aventurine's luck for anything at all. He'd be able to work for the IPC even if Aventurine wasn't in it. Ratio certainly doesn't want the glitz and glamour of a shallow gambling hustler persona. His work doesn't require Aventurine's continued involvement like Topaz's and Jade's does. He'd probably prefer not to know any Stonehearts at all, thank you for asking.

Outside of deliberate-acting insults about Sigonians for Sunday's sake, we're not told that Ratio has any connections to--and therefore has no preconceived biases against--Sigonians. Being a person who values self-determination and a refusal to live in mediocrity above all else, he would have nothing but esteem for how far Aventurine has managed to come despite the harsh circumstances of his life. Ratio probably wouldn't even think Aventurine's belief in Gaiathra is that strange; one of Ratio's doctorates is actually in theology.

Unlike literally everyone else in the universe who needs "Aventurine," we have every indication that Ratio's respect and admiration will only grow when he finally gets to meet "Kakavasha."

Loneliness, rejection, betrayal, a lack of understanding from others--all of these can leave wounds that only genuine, deep bonds with others can heal.

On death's doorway, in the darkest shadow, when Aventurine had to make the choice between passing on to be with the family that loved him and choosing to return to a reality without them... Ratio's letter was there, telling Aventurine the exact thing he needed to hear to choose life: Someone is waiting for you to come home.

If the resounding rejection of Star Rail's Nihility is belief in humanity's power to make meaning in our own lives through our connections to others, then the ultimate message of Ratio and Aventurine's arc in Penacony is that no one needs to be alone. The world is not as empty as you fear.

And that is a message that Ratio and Aventurine can learn best through each other.

(I just... love them so much...)

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ween-kitchens · 3 months

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I believe you (i'm not wrong)

2042 words

gem winces as she nicks her finger with the hammer for what she's pretty sure is the fourth time tonight, but she's not really been keeping count. it might be the fifth. it- okay, gem knows she should sleep, but she just- it- she doesn’t like the idea of sleeping right now. you can’t keep your mind off stuff if you’re asleep—they just turn into nightmares, and gem really doesn’t want to have another nightmare again. it's- she doesn't want to bother scar again.

this will make no sense if you don't know this au, and it is so self indulgent, but it's easier to format fics on tumblr than on discord GKFHD

anyway this is an au that me and stiff came up with and then made increasingly more angsty. this is the happiest part of the whole plotline if you can believe it

cw: panic attack, hurt/comfort

she could bother joel. hypothetically speaking, gem could go up the mountain and knock on his door and awkwardly explain at three in the morning why she can’t sleep and that she needs his help, but- void, there is nothing she wants to do less right now. she loves joel- really, and it's more than likely that he'd be pretty helpful actually. it's- it's just too much right now. gem would rather build her problems away.

it takes longer than it probably should have done for gem to realise that her hand is bleeding, but she can’t be bothered to do anything about it; it doesn’t hurt much. besides, it's just another scar to add to the list of silly accidents she's had while building—like that time she almost took her finger off because she wasn't paying attention when she was dismantling some iron bars with less care than she should have been.

wiping sweat off her forehead, gem steps back for a second, taking in her work. her very wonky work. void, gem really needs to sleep soon, but there's no way that's happening without at least four nightmares, regardless of how much she tries to keep her mind occupied by something else. it's all she can think about- she's barely even done anything, despite 'building' for at least six hours now. the wood is unevenly cut, the moss is slowly dropping chunks into the sand from the roof, and the whole house looks like it's about to collapse on itself. that's- okay, that's the look she was going for, but it was meant to be structurally sound in actuality.

this was a bad idea- building a town that reminds her so damn much of where she grew up. it wasn't- it's not like gem really thought it through until it was too late to change her theme, and now she's kind of stuck. how in- anyone's name did she not even realise what she was building until after the nightmares started again?

.. don't answer that, actually. she doesn’t want to know.

maybe if gem sits down here, she'll fall asleep before she can start thinking about.. anything she doesn’t want to be thinking about. it feels like her limbs are made of lead, and gem has begun to debate on which sleep deprivation is worse: the exhausted building or the nightmares. maybe she'll flip a coi- what the fuck was that.

a figure- there's something- it's coming-

she hasn't- why the fuck didn’t she sleep- she knows what happens if she doesn’t sleep. can it reach her? can it make it onto the sand- can it outrun her? what if- what if it can walk, and she just never- gem never knew because she only encountered it whilst sailing but- she's endangered the whole server because of her stupid mistake-

stealing a glance behind her, gem's heart drops into the abyss- it's gaining on her. she's dead, she's going to die, she's doomed everyone, there's no escape-

something grabs her arm.

a strangled scream forces itself out of her tattered lungs, and she swings- desperation flooding her mind. she's gone- she's going to die- she's going to die-

"gem! please- it's me! it's me."

she opens her eyes, breaths still tearing their way through her throat, and- when did she get on the floor? her vision swims, body shaking too violently to steady herself and she thinks she must be drowning. there's a figure above her- there's- there's something above her.

her hands are numb and she's shaking and she's on the floor and she's not drowning, but she may as well be because she can’t fucking breathe. she's going to die and she's going to deserve it- she's- it's all- there's nothing left-

someone is holding her hands. she is having a panic attack and someone is holding her hands. she's not dying- she wishes she was dead. why would- who is- where is she? who is talking?

there's- there's her name. she feels like she's falling, but someone is talking and holding her hands and she's not drowning. did she- did she break something? was it her fault? she didn’t mean to.

a hand- a thumb against her face. gem was- she is crying. her vision is clearing but nothing will process and she just- she just wants to go home. she doesn't have a home anymore. she broke her home.

she didn't mean to. she's sorry- she just wanted to fix it. she's sorry. she is breathing, and she's not drowning, and she's not dying. right? is- is she right?

"right." there's a voice, and it sounds like home. she is crying again. "you’re okay."

no that's- she's not- she can’t be okay, ever again- she ruined it. there's nothing- she can’t- there's nothing left. she broke it- she ruined it. she's sorry.

her hands are warm. someone is holding her hands, and she's breathing and she's not drowning. there's a figure in front of her- there's scar in front of her.

"i’m sorry." gem's voice is sore, and comes out quieter than she expected it to. she's not drowning. "I never- i’m so sorry."

scar is crying, and gem is holding his hands. "I know." he says, and he’s quiet too. "I didn’t- void. I don't think i’ve- ever been on the receiving end of that."

it takes gem a moment to understand what he means, and her chest fills with emotion. she tries to say something, but nothing comes out.

"what-" scar's voice breaks, and gem wants to hug him. she doesn’t know if she's allowed. "what did you think I was?"

gem takes a shaky breath, shaking her head. "I never- I never knew what they actually were." she whispers. "they'd- if you didn't sleep, they'd appear."

scar is silent, and gem almost apologises, but her voice seems to have abandoned her. maybe this is all she can ever have- was she asking too much of him just now? void- the whole plan was to avoid pestering scar, and now she's had a panic attack because she mistook him for- that- okay, it doesn’t matter what, but now he’s dealing with her and she doesn't know if he even wants to, or if he just feels obligated-

"can you stand?" scar asks suddenly, and gem takes a second to recalibrate. can- what? can she stand? of course but- why is she standing? gem doesn’t actually ask any of this, of course, but the questions arise nonetheless.

gem lets go of scar's hands and pushes herself upwards on weak legs, but she doesn’t let it show. she wipes her face and takes a breath, bolstering herself for whatever it is she has to do next.

but scar just holds his hand out. "can you come sleep?"

gem is so surprised, she takes half a step backwards before she realises how rude that looks, and steps forward again, hoping she can play it off as rocking. "I don't- what?"

scar looks almost embarrassed, and gem finds herself getting even more confused. "well- if you-" he clears his throat awkwardly. "if- I can’t, um. I can’t be mad if you're.. not sleeping."

is scar being deliberately vague, or is gem's brain just too tired to understand what is going on? she shakes her head, still trying to process what scar could possibly mean. "I don’t- I don’t know what you-"

"I don't want you to stay up so late." scar says, and his voice is soft like gem hasn't heard it in months, and she might cry. again. "I just- I know you can’t sleep unless you have a distraction. I was trying to ask- can I be the distraction?"

gem takes a shaky breath. "oh." it's all she can manage- it's all she can think right now. gem is tearing up again and she wipes her eyes hurriedly. "I- are you sure?"

scar nods, smiling tearfully. "I miss you. I never- I didn’t expect how much." he holds out his hand again. "will- will you come with me?"

there's a moment of hesitation, of is she allowed, before gem slips her hand into scar's and squeezes. "i'd be happy to."

the conversation between her and scar on the way to his base was awkward and best, and plain old silence at worst, so gem was a little nervous for what it'd be like when they tried to go to sleep. what if scar changed his mind- or if one of them had another nightmare and suddenly both of them couldn't sleep? what if scar was just- lying, or something, and he was just expecting gem to say she was fine on her own?

gem has never been happier to be so wrong about something in her life.

in all the time she's known scar, gem has never seen scar transfer into bed so fast—and he practically pulled her after him before she'd even got her shoes off. once gem crawled under the duvet, she and scar may as well have just become one body. it's so bizarre, how easily they can pick up where they left off, even after so much time, and when gem rests her head against scar's chest, it feels like home.

and- void, gem missed this so much. the way they fit against each other like they were made for each other, the feeling of scar's hand in her hair, the warmth in her stomach as she burrows under the duvet- it's the closest to perfect that gem thinks can exist. it feels as if she could close her eyes and drift off in an instant, she feels so safe.

scar buries his face in gem's hair. "I love you." he mumbles, and gem almost starts to cry again.

"I love you too." she holds scar tighter, voice wavering embarrassingly. "i’m sorry- i’m so sorry. it- for everything."

"i’m sorry too." scar whispers, sounding close to tears. "I shouldn't have- i’m so sorry gem." he presses a kiss to the top of gem's head.

gem's throat is tight, and she swallows a sob. "it- it's okay. I didn't- you didn’t mean it."

"neither did you." scar's voice is painfully soft, and gem blinks back tears. "it wasn't- I have to-" scar gives a little huff—the one he does when he's tripping over his words. "I- gem, I forgive you."

it hits her a moment later, like something melting in her chest, and the tears that had been threatening to spill over come clawing back up her throat. I forgive you.

gem is sobbing into scar's shoulder, and scar is holding her tight and he’s crying too, and she knows that if she asked why, he'd say that if she's crying then he's gonna cry too, and she's missed him so much. her chest aches with each breath, and she doesn’t care because he forgives her, and she doesn't deserve it, but scar thinks she does, and there's nothing in the world more important than that.

"you’re- you’re so important to me, gem." scar says, voice thick with tears, but gem can hear his smile—which only wants to make her cry more. "I couldn't- there was nothing that would have kept me from you. not even myself."

"I love you." gem is still crying, and she's smiling, and she's hugging scar, and there's nothing that could ruin this moment. "i’m- I could never-" she chokes on her words and dissolves into another sob, holding scar like a lifeline.

"if- if you keep crying, i’m not gonna be able to stop." scar says, hiccuping a weak laugh.

"that's- that's your fault." gem manages through sobs, half laughing. "I blame you."

scar pulls her closer, and gem melts into him, tension she didn't even know she was holding leaving her. "you're so wonderful." he says, and gem almost sobs.

"you’re not- i’m gonna keep crying if you say stuff like that." gem says, and scar is laughing, and she's a mess but she doesn’t care.

scar forgives her.

#it's 3am and I am once again fighting with the formatting on tumblr #elven duo #geminitay #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #that man has too many tags you only get two okay #this au doesn't have a name yet. despite how much we've been talking about it GLFSH #it just occurred to me how little context this fic actually has for the rest of the plot #if the emotional scenes feel weird it's because I have officially forgotten how emotions work #just ignore that KGFKS #hermitfic #hermitcraft #don’t tag as ship please and ty #wren writes #endless guilt au #<- WE HAVE A NAME

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fireheartwraith · 4 months

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I don't get the obsession with defining "oh i'm a dkbk" "i'm a bkdk". Guys. They're the same characters

#i don't get why it matters who you think tops #“oh but it changes their dynamics”#in the BEDROOM #they don't suddenly gain new personalities #the only fandoms i'm in or around that i've seen this be a widespread thing is mha and jjk #if i walked up to haikyuu fandom and started saying i ship hinakage because i think tobio bottoms people would call me insane #not because my take is not valid (i'm right and i should say it) but because IT DOESN'T MATTER #the ship name is a way for us to identify each other and having too many makes it confusing #the only order that matters is the order in which their name flows better #imagine a world where you don't have to tag five different ship names in every bkdk thing you make #THAT'S EVERY OTHER FANDOM #WHY ARE WE DOING THIS #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #mha #bnha #bkdk #dkbk #ktdk #izkt #mha bkdk #bnha bkdk #you see how ridiculous this is?#bakudeku #dekubaku #katsudeku #izukatsu #let's all choose a ship name and STICK TO IT

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zu-is-here · 2 years

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the secret garden

Horror from horrortalecomic by sour-apple-studios

Farmer by GuinongTale_AU

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theredrenard · 2 months

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I’m all alone (I need you now)

Accidentally acquired a new wip.... post-s7 platonic buddie + background bucktommy.. Eddie is drinking in the middle of the night (reason is still TBD) and doesnt want to be alone with his thoughts

This isn’t posted to my Ao3 yet but it will be soonish.

"Mm, Evan-?" Tommy mumbles as he blearily cracks one eye open. The comforting, warm weight nestled against his side had vanished, and the bathroom light was on, the glow from the bulb spilling underneath the bottom of the nearly-closed door. Evan's low, tense voice floated indistinctly through the open gap, the words unclear but the tone unmistakable. He was worried about whoever was on the other end of the phone, and if Tommy knows his boyfriend, he knows that the other person just has to be Eddie. There's nobody else that he'd answer the phone for at this hour, except maybe his sister or his captain.

Read more under the cut!

Tommy kicks the blankets off and swings his bare legs over the edge of the bed, stretching and feeling his shoulder pop. He stands, readjusting his boxers so they weren't halfway up his ass before shuffling towards the bathroom with a yawn.

"Evan, honey, what's wrong-?" He murmurs, carefully pushing open the bathroom door. Tommy screws up his face as the light momentarily blinds him, his eyes adjusting to the difference in brightness. Buck blinks at the sudden presence of his boyfriend, almost like he'd forgotten the man had stayed over at the loft that night.

"I, Uh- I need to over go to Eddie's. He-" Buck flaps his hands uselessly in front of him, searching for words, and- was that guilt on his face? "He asked me to come over, and he sounded like shit. I- sorry, I just-"

"It's alright." Tommy presses a brief kiss to his forehead. "Eddie's your best friend and you're worried about him. You don't have to apologize."

"I know, I just- You came over specifically to spend the night with me and now I'm leaving-"

"It's fine, Evan. Really. Go check on him." Tommy offers a soft smile. "I'll be here when you get back."

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wildflowercryptid · 1 year

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older!newrival phone doodles bc they've been rattling around in my brain recently

[ og meme i redrew in the first pic ]

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black-stede · 11 months

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after stede recovers from the heartbreak and they regroup and he sees that somehow there is peace, happiness between jim, archie, olu and zheng yi, that somehow something that should have been by society’s standards convoluted and messy and painful turned out quite lovely actually, he thinks

he thinks of ed. it’s always been ed, since the day they laid eyes on each other as stede laid bleeding out on the deck of his ship. it was ed when they crashed the party and watching the ship go up in flames and saying he wore fine things well and as he was stabbed through his stomach after not going to doggy heaven and through acts of grace. through the shaving of beards and miscommunications and backslides to old habits

it was ed when he threw love notes in bottles into the salty waves and when two women were poisoning each other and the house went up in flames and buttons turned into a fucking bird. as they celebrated calypso’s birthday and they were being tortured and when stede killed the man who hurt his crew and insulted ed. when he slammed him into the wall and ed nodded and they slept together under the fireworks. even when he left, it was still ed

except now there’s a man with a horse leg who he kind of loathed for months but now is something like a friend, a confidant even? who has trained greats and might even have something to teach stede. who slaps his ass to get him to rope swing and tells him like it is and guides him to be the captain he can be. who commiserates with him about falling in love with the same broken man. who sings as he and ed make love and congratulates them in the morning. who is there after ed leaves. who stays by him, watches over him when no one else does.

and the thing is, stede had never anticipated ed. even on his whim of piracy there was never anything beyond that. except then there was ed and maybe he is capable of love after all. and then there’s this annoying man that he doesn’t hate anymore and then ed leaves him and he is lost.

there is a way out, he knows. this can’t be the end for him and ed he is sure. except izzy is the only one at his side when he challenges zheng yi and he is grounding him when the attacks happen and suddenly if ed is his ship, izzy is his anchor. or something like that in this weird analogy he thinks up.

and then he sees archie’s arm around jim who is leaning on olu who is holding zheng yi’s hand gently and they are all covered in soot and blood and panting with exhaustion but together. he doesn’t know exactly how it will work, but apparently they do because they all seem content, happy to simple be in the others’ presences

and he thinks

and he lets himself hope

…

maybe this isn’t the end

maybe it’s the beginning

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ultimatetrashgoblin · 2 months

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RIP Jett Slater you would’ve loved blasting JOYRIDE by Kesha with the sole intent of bugging Leon (and Nikolai too tbh)

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teatitty · 3 months

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Genuinely I think my most contraversial take is that the anime only backstory for Mizuki fucking sucks and I hate how fandom took that and ran with it and basically fandomised him as Iruka's abusive ex or just a shitty friend in general because to me his betrayal hits way harder if he genuinely was a decent good dude before that point in his life so it isn't just a shock to Iruka but the village as a whole since absolutely nobody expected it

If you decide that everyone but Iruka noticed his shitty behaviours it just kinda... cheapens the effect of the betrayal, especially since the kids trusted him and looked up to him too. Naruto, for instance, is fucking devastated by everything that happens there. Idk man it just kinda irks me that so many fics jumped on the anime bandwagon of making him a piece of shit from day one when I think there's so much more angst potential in him having been a good friend all of Iruka's life only for this to happen yanno?

#naruto #to be fair I've never been a fan of mizuki x iruka as a ship anyway #they're one of those duo's where I go 'man you know friendships are just as important as romance right? can we explore that angle more pls'#like. imagine you are recently orphaned. you have nothing to your name and no-one in your corner #and you meet and befriend a fellow orphan who becomes your closest bestest friend ever #you become teachers together. probably went on many missions together #everyone likes him and trusts him and you know he'll always have your back #and then he not only betrays the village he also betrays *you* and goes after one of the kids you both swore to protect #too bad iruka isn't a main recurring character bc it would've been so cool to see how the effects of that fucked him up after

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bittersweet-mojo · 1 year

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Remember when people had book interpretations? yeah.

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toytulini · 1 month

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name some canonically nonbinary characters why dont you

#toy txt post #those 'name 10 female characters' posts got me rolling my eyes again. just ultimate performative bullshit huh #its giving i think picking a favorite blorbo os activism. by shipping an appropriate amount of femslash in a way that is genuine #but not overbearing or that might be fetishizing! and im not forgetting the characters for the ships not like those nasty m/m shippers!#and by doing this i will reinstate abortion rights. with my Feminist Tastes. im putting words in ppls mouths and being petty but good god #like everyday this shits on my dash. can you all just start blocking the annyoing misogynist m/m shippers you dislike then?#'dont name a male character you just call babygirl' are you normal about trans headcanons? im sure im SURE you are getting the most #annoying fuckers in the world in your notes just calling male characters babygirl without it being a trans headcanon but i have seen so #many posts of this flavor now. are you consuming media correctly? are you consuming the correct media correctly? are you doing it right?#are you meeting your ship quota? are you caring about the characters outside of their ships enough? are you shipping the characters of #color the right amount the right ways to the right characters but not too much cos that might be fetishy? are you headcanoning them aspec?#are YOU aspec? we'll give you a begrudging pass for headcanoning marginalized characters as Aspec MAYBE but dont get too annoyed about #seeing ships and you have to be so polite about everyone equating aspec headcanons with infantilization with no thought to the irony that #in doing so theyre infantilizing aspecs. its honestly 50/50 if you get a pass to headcanon a character as aspec. but we will talk about #doing so as a one to one example of writing the character out of the way of your ship. you and i are not the same. name ten female #characters. name 5 of their albums and recite all the lyrics from memory. produce 5 pieces of heartfelt fic or fanart to prove your genuine #love of the character. are you going to be normal about it if someone names a cano ically male character they headcanon as a trans fem?#or will you start on some shit about how that doesnt count cos shes not a real girl? or do you know better than to say that bc that would #be genuinely shitty. are you doing it right? are you doing it right? are you doing it right? prove your fandom activism to me. write a #feminist retelling of the narrative. what if i name 10 female characters that im headcanoning as transmasc or nonbinary and calling them #babygirl? are you doing it right? am i doing it right yet? am i performing fan engagement correctly?#am i correctly engaging with fan content? is this going to please your algorithm? but not too much. just a little spicy. a little punk. but #not so much i get banned from the platform. for fandom. am i doing it right? are you shipping Pure and Wholesome Ships?#are you Cool and Edgy? do you only ship characters that hate each other that kill each other that are siblings that are problematic? have #you gone so far the other way you think youre cool to scoff at those silly tiktok puritans who only ship pure ships? you wont even think #about a show if its Politically correct you want it to call you a slur. cos youre tough and cool not like those mentally weak uncritical #tiktok puriteens. are you winning son? are you winning? are you having fun yet? are you doing it right? pass my gauntlet #are you a fake nerd girl? name five obscure comics characters to prove youre a real fan. do you hate women? are you winning?#are you winning at correctly engaging with media content? do you get a sticker? is there a sticker for naming 10 female characters? what #about 20. do you completly write off media with Less Women? put your money where your mouth is then. ship the girls in fast and furious

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lostlimerence · 2 years

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“Munson…what the fuck?! Put that down!”

“Chill out Sunshine I’m not going to eat it!

“You can’t eat it…”

“Ahh stop getting technical…eat it, suck it’s blood, same difference,” Eddie snuggles his nose into the cats fur with a grin, flashing a sharp fang at Billy. “It’s so cute I just wanted a cuddle, I forget how exciting it is up here compared to down there,” he sighs.

“Hey, you’ve got me down there!” Billy grumbles, dusting himself off (the portal from the upside down isn’t exactly clean).

“I do baby, I do, but you’ve gotta admit our one day of freedom up here is pretty fuckin sweet!” he puts the cat down, watches it as it sprints into the bushes.

“See it was shit scared of you Eds,” Billy throws his arm out in the direction of the cat.

“Aw California I didn’t know you were all soft on cats! Should be King of the witches not the ghouls” Eddie raises his hands wiggling his fingertips in the air.

“And you shouldn’t be King of anything you royal loser…” Billy grabs him by the collar and pulls him in the direction of the town “hmmm, wonder what Stevie will be when he dies?“ Eddie muses, as he shakes off Billy’s hand and falls into step beside him, then immediately regrets asking when he sees Billy’s shoulders bunch a little.

“Sorry sunshine, I shouldn’t have said that, I know it’s hard,” Eddie frowns.

“It’s just…we were so young Eds…it’s going to be years until ya know, and they only let us up here on Halloween so…” he says it to the ground.

“But then baby, it will be us three for the rest of our lives? No our undeadness? Think about that yeah?” Eddie squeezes his arm.

Billy huffs a laugh, let’s the smile of it stay “yeah, and it’s the day we get to see him”

“Sure is! Just need to find him!”

“Yeah and you need to not suck any blood…unless it’s Steve’s”

Eddie shudders at the thought, presses his tongue to the point of his fang.

“Hear me Munson?” Billy drawls.

Eddie gives his head a quick shake “Yesss, I only sucked that persons blood for like a second and it was ages ago, I was still getting used to the whole undead thing…besides you’re one to talk you literally smashed a rock with your fist last year!” Eddie presses an accusatory finger into the side of the ghouls head.

Billy’s eyebrow twitches, arm flexes, as he says “they were mocking me, I was just showin them what would’ve happened to their skulls if they’d kept going…”

“Mmhmm, yep and then when we’d both have inevitably been found out, lost our cool-ass titles and been banished to fuck knows where” Eddie tosses his hands in the air.

“Yeah well that’s exactly why I didn’t bash their skulls in” Billy stresses, as they approach the clearing, trees frame a street full of trick or treaters, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, zombies, “why’s no one ever dressed as a ghoul?,” Billy pouts as they step onto the street, the one day of the year they blend in seamlessly with the locals, “not as sexy baby,” Eddie sticks out his tongue “hey!” Billy gapes brow furrowing slightly.

“I’m sorry but it’s true, undead demon thing that loves hanging around graveyards vs sexy undead thing that can drink your blood sexily? No contest!” Eddie shrugs in a ‘what can you do about it’ kind of way.

Billy grumbles affronted “I’m sexy.”

“Yes you are darling trust me, but some of your loyal subjects,” Eddie shudders “not so much…and…” he’s interrupted by a sharp prod to his shoulder “oi, isn’t that your little nerd kid Dusty over there” Billy gestures to the porch of a house across the street where a kid wearing what looks like a potato costume stands.

Eddie frowns “it’s Dustin stop pretending you don’t know his name you big lug and,” Eddie looks properly “yeah, yeah it is! Potato’s an interesting choice but whatever.. So that means..”

“Steve’s probably nearby, sniff him out!!”

“Hey! I’m not a dog! I’ve just got insanely cool powers!”

“Ah stop getting technical dog, vampire…same difference,” Billy grins proud of his parroting, Eddie rolls his eyes and focuses slightly overwhelmed by the sheer number of scents mingling in the air, it takes him a moment but he catches the familiar rich scent of Steve, “got it” he mumbles, they keep their heads down, ensure they avoid Dustin’s eye-line as they head round the corner.

Steve is leant against a wall with his back to them. He jumps with a little yell when Billy leans in and says “a sailor pretty boy? That ain’t very scary,” his shocked expression morphs quickly into one of delight, his cheeks flushing red “hey! Yeah um would you believe this is actually my work uniform” he chuckles rubbing his palm over the back of his head, skewing his hat a bit to the right.

“No way Stevie, you’ve been hiding that cute outfit from us!!” Eddie flashes his fangs.

“Cute? It’s ridiculous!”

“I mean it is cute but we could go get it off” Billy rumbles, crowding Steve back into the wall.

“You haven’t seen the kids yet, I can go get…”Eddie cuts in “we were thinking maybe we just go back to yours? We’ll pop in and see the kids just before sun’s back up.”

Eddie’s dressed head to toe in black, hands covered in rings, a chain round his neck, his tongue runs across his teeth. Billy’s shirtless, thick thighs pressed into tight black jeans, his blue eyes blown wide, fists clenched like he’s trying very hard to hold himself back.

Steve’s doesn’t take long to decide.

…

Fangs graze gently at the skin of his nape, his breath hitches in anticipation, blood singing in his veins. God he craves this, can’t believe how long he has to wait for it every year. Eddie tongues the skin gently, the area tingles, and when he finally bites Steve feels euphoric, then he sucks and Steve groans. Eddie drinks and drinks until Steve’s aching and hard.

A whimper sounds from the corner, Billy’s enthralled, he sits hands pressed to the tops of his thighs, Eddie had told him to wait and enjoy the show for a bit.

Eddie lifts his head from Steve’s neck, locks eyes with their beautiful blonde and smiles softly, speaks with gentle command “Christ, Billy baby, you’ve been so good, come here, it’s about time we properly worship our King...”

For @a-redharlequin thank you for your creative prompt:

“it's spooky season! So Ghoul King Billy and Vampire King Eddie back from the dead and find King Steve <3 (harringroveson)”

I really enjoyed writing this thank you so much for taking the time to send a prompt I find them so fun!

And sorry it turned out to just be a lot of Billy and Eddie banter with a sprinkling of Steve, their undead bickering carried me away a bit 😂

#billy hargrove #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #fic #harringroveson #stilldie #steadily #metal sandwich #writing #harringrove #mungrove #they have too many ship names pls we need a consensus!#halloween #vampire #ghoul #strangerthings #sunshine and California are nicknames from fic if I stare too long and the authors were just spot on with them I love it

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